I had a good constitution which had not been impaired by any excess, and
as Mr Perigal and the other oldsters of the mess kept strictly to the
law by which they had awarded to themselves two-thirds of the
youngsters' grog, my blood was not inflamed by having imbibed spirituous
liquors. I therefore, under Macquoid's judicious care, very rapidly
recovered from the effects of my wound. In a few days I could have got
up and run about, but as poor Grey, who was much more hurt than I had
been, was too weak to leave his hammock, I promised to remain in mine to
keep him company. When Macquoid came to me, therefore, one day and told
me that I might dress and go on deck, I replied in a very faint voice,
that I had not strength to move, and groaned a great deal when he moved
me to dress my wound.
"Some internal injury, I fear," he observed, "I must see to it."
He then turned to Spellman, to dress his cheeks. He groaned exactly in
the way I had done, and spoke in the same faint tone, declaring his
inability to rise.
"Ah, poor fellow, some internal injury, I fear; I must see to it,"
remarked the assistant-surgeon in the same tone, as he left us.
Miss Susan, thinking that he had quitted the sick bay, sat up in his
hammock, and made a well-known and expressive signal to me with his
thumb to his nose, which Macquoid, who happened at that moment to turn
his head, could not have failed to observe.
"Miss Susan, you donkey, you have spoilt all. We are found out," I
exclaimed. "Macquoid saw your sign to me."
Spellman declared that did not signify; that he would explain how it
happened to Macquoid, and assure him that the gesture was one which he
frequently made when suffering from a paroxysm of pain.
I told him that he had better say nothing of the sort, and that he would
only make matters worse, but he persisted that he knew better than I
did, and told me to hold my tongue. Of course it was very wrong to sham
to be worse than I was, but I persuaded myself that it was not like
actual malingering, as I had a foundation for my assertion, and really
did not feel as if I could walk. Still I may as well say here, that
though I have ever been through life merry by nature, as well as by
name, and have loved joking as much as any man, I have learned to hate
and detest falsehood. It is un-Christian like in the first place, and
thoroughly low and ungentlemanly in the second. I say this, lest in
consequence of my having introduced the wonderful adventures of my
shipmate, Mr Johnson, it may be considered that I think lightly of the
importance of speaking the truth. To do Jonathan justice he took ample
care that his yarns should never for a moment deceive the most
simple-minded or credulous of his hearers. At that time, however, I did
not see things as clearly as I did when I grew older, and I was vexed at
having tried to deceive Macquoid, more from the fear of being found out
than from any refined sense of shame. He, however, when he came again
in the evening, treated us exactly as if we were still very weak, and
when Spellman persisted in talking of the odd position into which his
hands twisted themselves when he was in pain, he seemed to take it all
in, and agreed with him, that such was a very natural and common
occurrence. I had my doubts, however, of Macquoid's sincerity, and
having had some experience of his mode of treatment on a former
occasion, resolved to be very much better the next visit he paid us. I
said nothing to Spellman, whose spirits rose immediately.
"I told you so," he exclaimed, when Macquoid was gone. "I told you I
should humbug Johnny Sawbones."
"Now if we could but get the boatswain to come to us, and to go on with
his yarns, we should be all right and jolly," observed Grey.
I agreed with him, and soon afterwards Toby Bluff coming to see me,
which the faithful fellow did as often as he could during the day, I
sent him to invite Mr Johnson to pay us a visit, as he would have more
leisure then than at any other time of the day. Nothing loth, the
boatswain soon made his appearance.
"And so, young gentlemen, you want to hear more of my wonderful, not to
say veracious, narratives," he observed, while a pleasant smile
irradiated his features. "Well, I hold that the use of a man's legs is
to move about the world, the use of his eyes is to see all that is to be
seen, as he does move about, and the use of his tongue to describe all
that he has seen, and so I'll use mine to good purpose, and indulge you,
but, as I've said before, I say again, I will have no one doubt my word.
If there's any cavilling, I'll shut up as close as an oyster when he's
had his dinner, and, having made this preliminary observation, here
goes. Let me recollect, where had I got to?" Mr Johnson said this
while taking his usual seat on a bucket, between our hammocks, his huge
legs stretched out along the deck, and his big head sticking up, so that
his eagle eyes could glance round above them.
"I remember,--I was taking a walk to the North Pole. I did not think
that I could be many days' journey from it. But that did not matter.
The air was so bracing that I could take any amount of exercise without
fatigue, and was therefore able to walk all day, sitting down merely for
convenience sake when I was enjoying my dinner off the preserved bear.
I of course could not cut the flesh with my knife, as it was frozen as
hard as a rock. I was therefore obliged to chop it into mouthfuls with
my hatchet, and even when between my teeth it was some time before it
would thaw, but then you see, as I had nobody to talk to, I had plenty
of time for mastication, and it was undoubtedly partly to this
circumstance that I kept my health all the time. There is nothing so
bad as bolting one's food, except going without it. By the way, I have
had to do that more than once for several weeks together. Once for a
whole month I had nothing to eat but some round-shot and bullet moulds,
and an old jackass, which was washed up on the beach, after being well
pickled by the salt water, but that has nothing to do with my present
story. I wish that I had kept a diary of my proceedings during my
northern ramble. It would have proved highly interesting to Sir Joseph
Banks, and other scientific people, but, as it happens, I have my memory
alone to which I can trust, though that, however, never deceives me.
Well, after leaving my flagstaff I travelled on, neither turning to the
right hand nor to the left, and it is wonderful what a straight course I
kept, considering the difficulty there is in finding one's way over a
trackless plain without a compass. If I had had too much grog aboard, I
could not have done it, and it's a strong argument in favour of keeping
sober on all occasions, but more especially when any work is to be done.
I slept at night, as before, in a hole in the snow, but never suffered
from cold; this was partly on account of the quantity of bear's grease I
swallowed, which served to keep the lamp of life alive, and also because
every mile I advanced I found the atmosphere growing warmer, and the
Northern Lights brighter and brighter. There could be no doubt about
it; those lights were the cause of the unexpected warmth I encountered;
so warm, indeed, did the air become, that I am certain many a man would
have turned back for fear of being roasted alive, but I was not to be
daunted. Onward I went till I got within less than a mile of one of the
biggest fires I ever saw. The effect was grand and beautiful in the
extreme. You might suppose yourself looking at a city fifty times as
large as London, and every house in it as big as Saint Paul's, and every
part of it blazing away at the same time, and even then you would have
no conception of the magnificence of the scene which met my view, as I
beheld the source of those far-famed Northern Lights, the Aurora
Borealis, as the learned people call them.
"The flames, you must know, were not of that bright hot colour which
issue from a furnace, but were of a delicate pale red, flickering and
playing about in the most curious way imaginable, sometimes blazing up
to the height of a mile or so, and then sinking down to a few hundred
feet. The heat at the distance I was then from it was rather pleasant
than oppressive; it had not even melted the snow on the ground, but of
course that was so hard frozen, that it would have required a very warm
fire to have made any impression on it. Well, as I advanced I began to
lick my chops at the thoughts of the hot dinner I intended to enjoy--
for, after all, however philosophical a man may be, his appetite, if he
is hungry, must be satisfied before he is fit for anything--when I
beheld a number of moving objects, scarcely distinguishable from the
snow, encircling the fire. I could not make out at first what they
were, but on approaching still nearer, I discovered the truth, though I
could scarcely believe my eyes, for there, sitting up on their hams,
were countless thousands of polar bears, warming their paws before the
aurora borealis. It is a fact as true as anything I have been telling
you, and at once fully accounted to my mind for the disappearance of
bears from the arctic regions during the winter months, and fully
refutes the popular idea, that they sit moping by themselves in caverns,
employing their time in sucking their paws.
"Not liking the idea of losing my hot dinner, not to speak of the
disappointment of not being able to say that I had been chock up to the
North Pole, I determined to venture among them."
"It wouldn't give you much concern to say you had been there, at all
events, even if you hadn't," growled out a voice from one of the
hammocks.
"Sir!" exclaimed the boatswain very sternly, "I would have you to know
that I scorn to exaggerate the truth, or to make an assertion which is
not in strict accordance with the facts. If you doubt my words, stop
your ears or go to sleep, or I'll shut up altogether."
"Oh no, no, do go on, Mr Johnson," exclaimed several voices at the same
moment. "We don't doubt a word you're saying."
"Well, that's right and proper," said the boatswain, much appeased. "If
I do draw on my imagination at any time, it is because it is the only
bank I know of which would not dishonour my drafts, as many a gentleman
who lives by his wits would have to confess, if he spoke the truth.
Well, I resolved to venture on, and soon got up near enough to see that
the bears were sitting as close as they could pack, in a large circle
round the real, veritable North Pole, and that those who were moving
were merely stragglers, who could not find room to squat down with the
rest. I was standing contemplating the strange scene, when an immensely
big fellow, catching sight of me, came waddling up on his hind legs, and
growling terrifically with anger. `This is inhospitable conduct, Mr
Bruin, let me observe,' I shouted out, but he did not attend to me. I
had my gun loaded in my hands, so, when he came within ten yards of me,
I fired, and hit him on the eye. Over he rolled as dead as mutton, so
it appeared, and I had just time to cut a steak out of his rump for
dinner, when another rushed towards me. I loaded calmly, fired, and
knocked him over, but this was a signal for fifty others to make a
charge at me. I felt that, ready for a fight as I was, I could not hope
to contend against such overwhelming numbers, so I did what any person,
however brave, situated as I was would have done--I took to my heels and
ran as hard as I could go. I never ran so fast in my life before, and
good reason I had to put my best leg forward, for, in the course of a
minute, there were a thousand bears at my heels, every one of them
licking their jaws with the thoughts of dining off me. I must own that
I did not like it. On I ran straight for my signal staff, never once
looking behind me, for I could hear the bears growling as they followed
full tilt; and so clearly are sounds conveyed over those vast expanses
of snow, that they seemed close at my heels.
"By the time I had run for fully ten hours without stopping, I began to
get rather out of breath, and almost to fear that I should not hold out
much longer, when to my great satisfaction the growling grew less and
less distinct, as the bears, dead beat, dropped off one after the other,
till at last, turning my head, I found that I was alone. I cannot
express how comfortable this made me feel, so I sat down for half an
hour to recover my breath, and to eat my dinner, which was a cold
instead of the hot one I expected to enjoy.
"When I got up again, what was my surprise to see my flagstaff in the
distance, not two miles ahead, and it was only then I discovered how
very fast I must have run, for I had come back in a few hours a distance
which it had before taken me a week to perform. I have heard of fear
giving wings to the feet, but though I won't allow that I was afraid, I
must have flown along at a good pace. Well, I got up to my flagstaff,
and found my compass all right, though as soon as it was clear of the
snow it had a slight inclination to move northward; and so, to avoid
risk, I stowed it away carefully in my pocket. The handkerchief was
frozen as stiff as a board, and I had some difficulty in folding it up
for other purposes. I was glad also to get back my walking-stick, which
helped me wonderfully over the ground. Again I sat down. It was only
now the real difficulties of my position burst on me, but difficulties
never have and never shall daunt me. After a little consideration I
determined to discover the spot where I had commenced making the circuit
round the Pole. For several days I was unsuccessful; till at last I
beheld a dark object on the snow. I ran towards it, and it proved to
be, as I expected, the body of one of my shipmates, the last who had
given in--a Shetlander--Murdoc Dew by name, as good a seaman as ever
lived. I exchanged boots with him as mine were worn out with so much
walking, and then, pushing on, I came upon the bodies of my other
companions and the bears we had killed, by which I knew that I was
steering a right course for the spot where I had left the ship. I
calculated that had I gone south when I first thought of doing so, I
should have got on shore somewhere to the eastward of Nova Zembla, and
have had to travel right through Siberia and the whole of Europe before
I could have got back to old England, which, considering that I had not
a purse with me, nor a sixpence to put into it, would not have been
pleasant.
"On I went till I got into the latitudes where icebergs are collected.
They are, as is known, vast mountains of ice and snow, so that when I
once got among them it was impossible to see any way ahead, and as the
summer was coming on and their bases melted, they began to tumble about
in so awful a way, that I fully expected to be crushed by them. My
food, too, was almost expended, and Murdoc Dew's boots gave symptoms of
over use, so that at last I began to think that there might be a
pleasanter situation than the one I was placed in, when one day, having
climbed to the summit of the highest iceberg in the neighbourhood, I
beheld a light blue smoke ascending in the distance. Taking the exact
bearings of the spot, I slid down an almost perpendicular precipice, of
three hundred feet at least, at an awful rate, and then ran on as fast
as my legs would carry me, for after a solitude of eight months I longed
to see my fellow-creatures, and hear again the human voice. On I went,
but still to my disappointment no ship appeared in sight, till at last I
saw in front of me a low round hut, evidently the habitation of
Esquimaux--a people whose habits, manners, and appearance I was never
much given to admire. I should observe that what with my bear-skin
cloak and my long beard and hair, (I say it without any unbecoming
humility) I did, probably, look rather an outlandish character.
"As I understood something of the Esquimaux lingo--indeed, there are few
tongues I don't know something about--I shouted loudly to attract their
attention. On this, two men, dressed in skins, came out of the hut, and
answered me in so extraordinary a dialect, that even I did not
comprehend what they said. I then hailed them in Russian, but their
answers were perfectly unintelligible. I next tried French, but they
shook their heads, as was, I thought, but natural for Esquimaux who were
not likely to have been sent to Paris for their education. I then spoke
a little Spanish to them, but I was equally at a loss to understand
their answers. Portuguese was as great a failure; even several of the
languages of the North American Indians did not assist us in
communicating our ideas to each other. I tried Hindostanee, Arabic, and
Chinese, with as little effect. This was, indeed, provoking to a man
who had not exchanged a word with a fellow-creature for so many months,
till at last, losing temper, I exclaimed in English more to myself than
to them:--
"`Well, I wonder what language you do speak then?'
"`English, to be sure,' answered both the men in a breath, `and never
spoke any other in our lives.'
"`Are you, indeed, my countrymen?' I cried, rushing forward and
throwing myself into their arms, for by the tone of their voices I
discovered that not only were they Englishmen, but my own former
shipmates.
"They, of course, thinking that I had long been dead, had not recognised
me; indeed I had some difficulty, as it was, in convincing them of my
identity, and of the truth of the account I gave of my adventures since
I left the ship. I was certainly an odd object, with a beard of so
prodigious a length, that it not only reached the ground, but I had to
tie it up as carters do their horses' tails, to keep it out of the snow.
My hair and eyebrows had increased in the same proportion, so that I
was more like a wild beast than a man. This extraordinary exuberance I
attribute entirely to my having lived so completely on bear's flesh.
When cut off it served to stuff a large sized pillow, which I afterwards
gave to the President of the United States, who sleeps every night on it
to this day.
"My old shipmates told me that they were the only survivors of the
crew--that our ship had been nipped by two floes of ice with such
violence that she was sent flying into the air full sixty feet, and
that, when she came down again on the ice, she split into a thousand
pieces, which went skating over the smooth surface for miles, and that,
of course, the bones of every one on board were broken, but that they,
having been sent ahead in a boat at the time, escaped.
"Now I do not wish to throw any discredit on my friends' narrative, but
remember that I will not and cannot vouch for the accuracy of any man's
statements except of my own.
"My friends, having got over their first surprise, invited me to enter
their hut, where I must say I enjoyed a comfortable fire and a warm
chop--though I burnt my mouth when eating the hot meat, accustomed as I
had so long been to iced food. We washed down the flesh with some
excellent rum, a few casks-full of which my shipmates had discovered
near the scene of the catastrophe, in frozen forms, like jellies turned
out of a tin, for the wood had been completely torn off when the ship
went to pieces. When our repast was concluded we whiled away the time
by narrating our adventures, and though you may have observed that I am
not much given in general to talking, I confess I did feel a pleasure in
letting my tongue run on. It moved rather stiffly at first for want of
practice; but the hot food and spirits soon relaxed the muscles, and
then it did move certainly. My only fear was that I should never get it
to stop again. We talked on for twelve hours without ceasing, and,
after a little sleep, went on again the whole of the next day."
A loud guffaw from the occupant of a distant hammock made the boatswain
stop short, and look round with an indignant glance.
"I should like to know, Mr Haugh! Haugh! Haugh! whether you are
laughing at me, or at my veracious narrative? If at me, I have to
remark that it is over well-bred, whoever you are, officer or man; if at
my history, let me observe, all you have to do is to match it before you
venture to turn it into fun. It may have been equalled. I don't wish
to rob any man of his laurels; but it has not been surpassed, and so Mr
Haugh! Haugh! I've shut you up, and intend to shut up myself, too, for
it's time for me to go on deck and see what's become of the ship, and
that no one has walked away with her."
Saying this, the boatswain rose from his tub, and with his huge head and
shoulders bent down as he passed under the beams, he took his departure
from among the hammocks. He had not been gone long before Toby Bluff
made his appearance; and as he came up to me I fancied, from his
countenance, that there must be something wrong with him.
"What is the matter, Bluff?" I asked.
"Why, sir, I thought Mr Johnson was here," said he, without giving an
answer to my question.
"But what if he is not?" said I.
"Why, Muster Merry, I wanted to see him very much before he went on
deck," he answered.
"On what account?" I asked, convinced that Toby had something to say
which he, at all events, considered of importance, and I thought he
might just as well tell me before he communicated it to the boatswain.
He was Mr Johnson's servant, it must be remembered.
"Why, sir, I don't know whether I am right or wrong," he whispered,
coming close up to my hammock. "It's just this, sir. We have got, you
know, some three or four hundred French prisoners aboard, at all events
many more than our own crew now numbers, as so many are away in the
prize, and others wounded. Well, sir, as I have been dodging in and out
among them, I have observed several of them in knots, talking and
whispering together as if there was something brewing among them.
Whenever I got near any of them they were silent, because they thought I
might understand their lingo, though I don't. I was sure there was
something wrong. It might be they didn't like their provisions or their
grog, and were going to ask for something else, but, whatever it was, I
made up my mind to find it out. At last I remembered that there is a
boy aboard, Billy Cuff, sir, who was taken prisoner by the French, and
lived in their country for ever so long, and he used to be very fond of
coming out with French words, though he is not a bit fond of the French,
for they killed his father and his brother, poor fellow. Thinks I to
myself, if Billy has not got much wits he has got ears, and we'll see
what we two together can find out. So I told Billy, and I got him to
come and stow himself away near where I knew the Frenchmen would soon
collect, and sure enough, sir, from what Billy heard, they have made up
their minds to try and take the ship. They caught Billy and me stealing
away, and from their looks they would have pitched us overboard if they
had dared, but we tried to seem innocent like, as if we didn't think any
harm, and they still fancy it's all right. Now if any of them saw me
going up to speak to the boatswain they might suspect that something was
wrong, and be on their guard. I've done right, I hope, sir?"
"Indeed you have, Bluff," said I, highly pleased at the intelligence and
forethought he had shown. It proved that his wits were sharpening at a
great rate, that in fact he had got the hay-seed out of his hair very
rapidly.
I agreed with him that it would not do to let any of the Frenchmen see
him talking to the boatswain, because, if they were really going to
rise, they might do so before preparations could be made to withstand
them. He might go at once to Mr Bryan or to one of the other officers,
or to Captain Collyer himself, but then I thought it more than probable
that they would not believe him, so I told him to run up and to tell the
boatswain that I wanted particularly to see him.
In a short time Mr Johnson's long nosed, ruddy visage appeared above my
hammock. I then told him, in a low voice, all I had heard from Toby.
"I should like to see them attempt it," he answered, laughing. "It's a
cock-and-bull story, depend on that, Mr Merry, but still you did very
right in sending for me. It's possible that I may report the
circumstance to the captain, as it's right that he should know the zeal
and intelligence exhibited by boys Bluff and Cuff, though, as I say,
there's nothing in it, depend on that."
Notwithstanding Mr Johnson's assertion I observed that he immediately
sent for boy Cuff to his cabin, and, as Toby afterwards told me,
interrogated him very closely as to what he had heard. Nothing,
however, was said to me on the subject, and I began to fancy that boys
Bluff and Cuff had been deceived, or were making a mountain out of a
molehill. This matter had not made me forget Macquoid's promised visit
to us. The next morning, when we were all awake, I asked Spellman how
he felt.
"Very jolly," he answered. "But I have no intention of getting up and
bothering myself with duty for some time to come. I've done enough for
the good of the service to last me for some time."
"I should think so," said I. "I hear Macquoid's voice; here he comes."
I uttered a few groans, which Spellman repeated with considerably more
vigour. I let him go on, while I sat up with a pleased countenance to
welcome the assistant-surgeon, who appeared with a big bottle containing
some black-looking stuff, and a glass. Spellman went on groaning.
"Poor fellow, I've got something which will do him good," observed
Macquoid with a twinkle in his eye. "Here, take this, my lad; there is
nothing like it for internal pains."
As he poured out the nauseous draught, the smell alone was so horrible
that I resolved to do anything rather than take it. Spellman, however,
fearing that he should be detected if he refused, held his nose with his
finger and thumb, and with many a wry face gulped it down.
"Don't you think a little more would do him good?" said I, in a hurried
tone. "I don't want any myself; the fact is, Macquoid, that the
plasters you put on yesterday did me so much good, and you have treated
me so well altogether, that I feel getting quite well and strong, and
have been waiting all the morning for your coming, to ask if I might get
up."
Macquoid shook his head at me. "We'll see how the wound looks first,"
said he. "But you must take a little of my elixir asafoetidae et
liquorice first. You evidently properly appreciate its virtues by
recommending that Spellman should have more of it."
"Ah, but you know, as you often say, when you drink up my grog, `What's
one man's meat, is another man's poison,'" I answered promptly, for
Macquoid was very fond of making use of all sorts of proverbs,
especially when he wished to show that he was right in anything he chose
to do. "I have no doubt that it will do Spellman a great deal of good,
or of course you would not give it to him, it would be meat to him; but
as I am perfectly free of pains it would be positively throwing it away
on me, though I don't say it would be poison, of course not."
"Oh, you humbug, you arrant humbug," exclaimed Spellman, sitting up in
his hammock and clenching his fist at me. "Why, not five minutes ago,
you were groaning away worse than I was--that he was, Macquoid. Give
him some of your beastly stuff. It's not fair that I should take it,
and not him. He promised to keep me company."
"When the pains return he shall have more of it, depend on that," said
Macquoid, scarcely able to dress my wound for laughing. "He has tasted
it already. You shall have his allowance to-morrow if you are not
better."
Spellman having betrayed himself, had not only to drink the mixture
which was made as nasty as could be, though probably perfectly harmless,
but to get up and be ready to make himself useful if required. My neck
was rather stiff, but the pain was so slight that I felt almost able to
return to my duty. I was glad to get about the decks, because I wanted
to find out if Toby's information had been believed. I saw nothing to
indicate that anyone apprehended an outbreak of the prisoners. The
officers walked the deck as usual, singly or in couples, with a look of
perfect unconcern, and the marines were scattered about, employed in
their ordinary occupations. A Frenchman, who was, I guessed, the French
captain, was pacing the quarter-deck with Captain Collyer, and his
countenance looked very sad and troubled; but that arose, I concluded,
because he had lost his ship and was a prisoner Mr Bryan and some of
the other gun officers spoke to me very kindly, and congratulated me on
being about again. At length Macquoid sent me below, suggesting that it
might be wiser to take a little more of the elixir before I went to
sleep, but I declined the favour, assuring him that the very thought of
it restored me to unwonted strength. He laughed, and wished me good
night, advising me to make the most of my time, as I should soon have to
keep watch again. "Such wide awake fellows as you are cannot be
spared," he observed. I was soon asleep. I awoke with a start. All
was dark. I heard seven bells strike; I knew it must be towards the end
of the first watch. The voice of an officer hailing the look-out
sounded peculiarly distinct, and served to show the quiet which reigned
on board. The sea was smooth, we were carrying a press of sail, and I
could hear the rush of the ship through the water. Suddenly the silence
was broken by the heavy tramp of men along the deck, while loud shouts
and shrieks seemed to burst from every point. The drum beat to
quarters, and I heard the voices of officers in loud distinct tones
perfectly free from agitation issuing orders.
"What is the matter?" I exclaimed, starting up.
"What can be the matter," exclaimed Spellman, "Are we all going to be
murdered?"
"The matter is, that the Frenchmen have risen, and are trying to take
the ship," said I. "And though they may murder us, who are unable to
resist them, it's a consolation to feel they'll be knocked on the head
to a certainty themselves."
"I can't say that I feel it any consolation at all; oh dear! oh dear!"
cried Spellman, jumping up and beginning to dress, an example I
followed, for I had no fancy to be killed without resistance.
Grey at that moment awoke. I told him what was occurring, and that I
intended to stick by him, and was groping about to get something to
fight with, when I heard a voice high above the shrieks and cries, which
I knew to be that of the lieutenant of marines, shouting--
"Charge them, lads."
Then came the steady tramp of the jollies along the deck, lanterns were
quickly lighted, and looking out I could see the Frenchmen scampering
off, tumbling down the hatchways, or hiding under the guns. They
discovered that they had made a slight mistake. Not a trigger was
pulled, and except for a few prods with the points of bayonets, which
caught the Frenchmen in their nether ends, no blood was drawn. Captain
Collyer had not been quite so fast asleep, nor had boys Bluff and Cuff
been quite so stupid as the Johnny Crapauds had fancied. The jollies
had been warned to be in readiness, and before the first roll of the
drum had sounded along the decks, they were at their posts, ready, as
they always were, for anything.
The Frenchmen were soon put under hatches, and their officers, who had
not joined the conspiracy, (though they might if it had been successful,
because then it would have been a very gallant affair), going among
them, discovered the ringleaders, and, dragging them out, they were put
in irons.
It was some time, however, before complete quiet was restored. We, that
is to say my messmates and I, assembled in the berths, and having
discussed the matter, concluded that all the culprits would be hung next
morning.
As our purser's dips did not allow us to enjoy any extra amount of
light, we soon had to retire to our hammocks. What was our surprise
next morning to find that the Frenchmen were summoned aft, when their
captain appeared and addressed them. I learned afterwards that he asked
them whether they had been well fed, comfortably berthed, civilly
treated, and on their owning that they were, he told them that they were
a set of ungrateful scoundrels, a disgrace to the French nation, and
that they all deserved to be hung.
Captain Collyer then stepped forward and said that though they might
deserve hanging, as they had fought their ship bravely, and as no lives
had been lost, he should overlook their fault, but he warned them that
if they made a similar attempt they would be severely dealt with. The
Frenchmen retired, looking considerably ashamed of themselves. The
French captain then took off his hat, and making the most polite bow to
Captain Collyer, thanked him for his humanity, observing that the truly
brave were always humane.
I could not ascertain whether Captain Collyer had heard what Toby had
told me, but two days afterwards, he and Cuff were together, not far
from the captain, when he turned round and said:
"My eye is upon you, boys Bluff and Cuff, and, if you continue to behave
as well as you have done, your interest will be cared for."
Now, I could not help thinking that they really had saved the ship, but
it would have been inconvenient to have acknowledged this at the time,
and certainly have done Bluff and Cuff no real good; probably only have
set them up, and made them idle. I am convinced that the captain acted
in this matter, as he did in all others, with true kindness and
judgment.
Four or five days after this providential suppression of the mutiny, as
I was walking the deck, having volunteered to return to my duty, the
look-out at the mast-head hailed that a sail was in sight. The usual
questions were asked, and the master, going aloft to examine her,
pronounced her to be, without doubt, a line-of-battle ship. It was not
quite so easy to determine whether she was an enemy or a friend. If the
former, we might have another battle to fight, for Captain Collyer was
not the man to yield without one. Having the prize in tow, we were
making all sail on our homeward course.
On came the stranger. She was on our weather quarter, and soon showed
us that she sailed faster than we did.
Captain Collyer now hailed Mr Lukyn, who commanded the prize, to say
that he intended to fight the line-of-battle ship to the last, and then
explained to him how he intended to manage.
"With all my heart, sir," answered Mr Lukyn, and the crew of the prize
gave a loud cheer to show that they were ready.
The drum beat to quarters, and not only did all that were well assemble,
but even all the sick and wounded who could move crawled up on deck to
help man the guns. Though I should not have been sorry to have got home
without more fighting, I was as ready as any one, and hoped that I
should not get another wound, as I was quite content with the one I had
to exhibit. A guard was kept over the prisoners, who were told that
they would be shot down without mercy if they made any disturbance, and
then in grim silence we stood ready for the fight.
The stranger came on, but at length she began to make signals, and we
signalled in return, and then we soon found out that she was not an
enemy, but a friend. She proved to be the Hercules, 74, and as she was
homeward-bound, her captain said that he would keep us company, to help
fight any enemy which might appear.
We ran on for two days, when the Hercules made the signal of "fleet to
the south-east," and soon afterwards that several ships had borne up in
chase. We next learned that they were enemies. We had still the prize
in tow. Every stitch of canvas alow and aloft which the ship could
carry was packed on her. It was an anxious time. To lose our gallantly
won prize, and perhaps to be carried off to a French prison, were not
pleasant anticipations.