It was just six bells in the afternoon watch when we at length arrived
within a distance of about half-a-mile of the stranger, which had by
this time been unmistakably made out to be a British passenger ship of
one of the crack lines; first by her having hoisted British colours some
time before, and secondly by the crowd of well-dressed ladies and
gentlemen that, with the aid of the telescope, we could see congregated
on her poop. Mendouca also had hoisted the British ensign, and, to my
supreme indignation, a man-o'-war's pennant, his object in doing so
being, of course, to disarm suspicion as long as possible, and thus
leave the ship only a very brief length of time to prepare for defence
when our intention to attack her became no longer possible of
concealment. I remonstrated with him upon this desecration of the
colours that he had once fought and hoped to win fame under; but of
course my remonstrance was quite useless, the rascal only laughed at me.
Having arrived within the above-named distance of the ship, Mendouca
ordered the sweeps to be laid in, and the slaves to be driven below and
secured. This done, to my disgust his next order was to hoist out the
boats--of which the _Francesca_, unlike most slavers, carried three; and
as soon as they were in the water, the entire crew were armed, and the
whole of them, except my especial enemy, Jose, and an Englishman--a very
quiet, inoffensive fellow, whom I was surprised to find among a crew of
such ruffians--were ordered down over the side. This completely upset
my plans, for, of course, the only way now of reaching the stranger was
by means of the boats, or by swimming; and while I would gladly have
gone in one of the boats, and taken my chance of reaching the stranger's
deck alive, I was not quite prepared to throw away my life in an
unsuccessful effort to swim to the ship--for that is what it would have
meant, the water being alive with sharks that had followed us, day after
day, with alarming persistency, ever since we had taken to the use of
the sweeps. Besides which, I should of course not have been permitted
to make the attempt. Of course, had I chosen to tell a deliberate
falsehood, and declared my readiness to throw in my lot with Mendouca
and his crew, it is possible that I might have been given the command of
one of the boats; but not even for the purpose of effecting my escape
did I consider that such a course would be justifiable. So I had
perforce to remain where I was, under the jealously watchful eye of
Jose, if not of the Englishman also; Mendouca asking me ironically, as
he went down the side last of all, whether I had no letters for home or
elsewhere that I would like to forward by means of the stranger.
Now that the sweeps were laid in, and their everlasting grind and roll
and splash were no longer heard, the silence of nature seemed so
profound as to be almost awe-inspiring; there was literally not a sound
to be heard save such as were caused by human agency, such as the
movements and voices of the men in the boats, or the gasping sighs of
the unhappy negroes cooped up below in the stifling hold. Occasionally
a slight murmur of sound reached us from the distant ship; the call of
an officer uttering a command, the "Yo-heave-oh" of the crew, or a gang
of them, engaged upon some heavy job, and an occasional rumbling that to
my ear sounded very much like that of carronade slides in process of
being trained to bear upon some object. But if the ship was armed there
was no sign of it, her sides being decorated with _painted_ ports only,
so far as I could see. When, however, the boats had traversed about
half the distance between the brigantine and the ship, a man appeared in
the mizen rigging of the latter, and, hailing them in English in a voice
which rendered his words perfectly audible to us on board the
_Francesca_, demanded to know what they wanted. I saw Mendouca rise in
the stern-sheets of his boat, and heard him make some reply, but I could
not distinguish what it was, perhaps because he had intentionally made
it unintelligible. Whatever the words may have been, they were clearly
unsatisfactory; for the figure in the rigging waved its hand warningly,
and shouted--
"Keep off, whoever you are; you are far too strong a party to be allowed
to come alongside us; and I warn you that if you attempt to do so we
shall fire upon you! If you have any legitimate business with us let
_one_ boat, with a crew of not more than five, come alongside, and
welcome; but we will not have the whole of you if we can help it, and I
think we can!"
The boats had, up to this time, been paddling quietly and composedly
along, the men evidently husbanding their strength for a final effort;
but now, in response to a shout from Mendouca, they bent to their work,
and sent the boats foaming along in a style for which I certainly should
never have given them credit; they could scarcely have done better had
they been the British man-o'-war's men that they had pretended to be;
the oars bent, the water was churned into foam, and a miniature surge
gathered under each boat's bow as the little craft was suddenly urged to
racing speed. Then the figure in the ship's mizen rigging waved an arm,
and stepped quietly down on to the poop, which by this time was occupied
only by a band of men--evidently passengers--who, under the leadership
of a military-looking man, were handling their muskets and making ready
to open fire. At the signal given by the individual who had just
stepped out of the ship's rigging--and who was no doubt her captain--
eight hitherto closed ports in the stranger's bulwarks were suddenly
thrown open, as many dark, threatening, iron muzzles appeared, and, at a
second command, the whole eight blazed forth, and their contents,
consisting of round-shot with a charge of grape on top of each, went
hurtling through the air in the direction of the boats. The aim was
excellent, the shot flashing up the water all round the boats; but, so
far as I could see, not a man among either of their crews was touched.
I heard Mendouca cheer his men on, urging them to stretch out, and get
so close to the ship, that by the time that the guns were again loaded,
it would be impossible to depress the muzzles sufficiently to hit the
boats; and the men responded with the nearest approach to a cheer that,
I suppose, a Spaniard can give, pulling manfully the while. The ship's
crew were, however, too quick for them, and managed to give them another
broadside just before the boats got within the critical limit where it
would have been impossible to touch them; and this time the discharge
was very much more effective, a round-shot striking Mendouca's own boat
square on the stem just at the water-line, destroying her bows and
tearing several feet of her keel away, while the accompanying charge of
grape bowled over three of her men and shattered Mendouca's left arm at
the elbow. The crews of the other two boats suffered nearly as badly,
one of them losing three men, while the other lost one man killed and
five more or less severely wounded, besides having to stop and pick up
Mendouca and his crew, his boat sinking almost immediately.
I thought that this severe punishment would have sufficed the Spaniards,
and that they would have abandoned the attack, and so, I imagine,
thought the skipper of the ship, for while they were in this perilous
predicament, he magnanimously withheld his fire, giving them an
opportunity to retire without further loss. And so they would, in all
probability, had Mendouca been a born Spaniard. But, renegade as he
was, the British blood in his veins still told, and, despite the anguish
of his terrible wound, he no sooner found himself in the boat that
picked him up than his voice again rang out almost as loudly and clearly
as before, still urging his men to press forward, and reminding them
that they were fighting for their lives, or--what was the same thing--
food and water. It was probably this reminder that turned the scale
among the waverers, for at the mention of the word "water" they again
seized their oars, and with a yell gave way for the ship. Evidently
exasperated at this quite unexpected exhibition of determination on the
part of the pirates, the little band on the poop now opened a smart and
very galling fire with their muskets upon the boats, and I saw three or
four pairs of arms tossed skyward as the discharge rattled forth. But
before the weapons of this little party of volunteers could be reloaded
the boats were alongside the ship, the pirates dropped their oars, and
made a simultaneous dash for the fore and main channels, and there
instantly ensued a desperate _melee_ in which the popping of pistols was
for the first half-minute or so a very prominent feature. I fully
expected to see Mendouca and his crew driven back into their boats with
a very heavy loss; but, to my astonishment and sorrow, I soon saw that
they were more than holding their own, and in less than three minutes
they had actually forced their way inboard, and the right was
transferred to the ship's decks. It was evident that the British crew
were now making a most determined and desperate resistance, for the
fight was protracted to fully a quarter of an hour, the clink and clash
of steel, the shouts of the combatants, and the cries of the wounded
being distinctly audible to us on the deck of the _Francesca_. Then the
hubbub suddenly lulled, and I heard cries for quarter, cries which, to
my bitter grief, I knew to be the sure indication of defeat on the part
of the British crew. Then utter silence fell upon the unfortunate ship
for a few minutes, to be broken by the muffled sound of women's shrieks,
men's voices uplifted in fierce, impotent anger and denunciation, two or
three pistol-shots that sounded as though they had been fired in the
ship's cabin, and then silence again; an ominous, dreadful silence that
to my foreboding mind might mean the perpetration of horrors to which
those already enacted on the blood-stained decks were as nothing.
This silence prevailed for fully an hour, during which no sign of life
was visible on board the ship; then arose the sound of hilarious shouts
and drunken laughter; there was a sudden stir and commotion about the
decks; a crowd of men gathered on the poop, many of them with their
hands bound behind them--as I could see with the aid of a telescope--
while others had their heads swathed in blood-stained bandages; a long
plank was rigged out over the taffrail; and then Mendouca appeared to be
making some sort of a speech. If such was the case the speech was a
very brief one; and when it terminated a short pause ensued, and I saw
that a few of the prisoners--perhaps three or four, as nearly as I could
make out--were being released from their bonds. Then occurred another
short pause, at the expiration of which a man was led forward,
blindfolded, and guided to the inner extremity of the plank, along which
I could see that they were urging him to walk. He advanced a few paces,
paused, as though he had been addressed, and I distinctly saw him shake
his head. As though this movement of the head were a prearranged
signal, the inner end of the plank suddenly tilted up, and the
unfortunate man, with a staggering movement as though to save himself
fell with a resounding splash into the sea, where for a few seconds he
seemed to struggle desperately. Not for long, however; the sharks that
had been haunting us for so many days heard the splash, and after a few
restless movements, as though unwilling to leave us, darted off toward
the ship. I saw the horrid triangular fins cleaving the surface of the
glassy water, each leaving its own delicate wedge-shaped wake spreading
astern as it went, until the small ripples of the different wakes met
and crossed each other; then, as the distance between them and their
prey lessened, there was a sudden increase of speed which soon became a
rush, the black fins merged toward each other, the water swirled round
the drowning man, there was a single ear-piercing shriek of agony, and
the poor wretch had disappeared.
This dreadful spectacle appeared to have had its desired effect, for I
saw that several more of the prisoners were now being released from
their bonds, the released men, one and all, slinking down off the poop
and away forward toward the forecastle. There were others, however--
fifteen in all, for I counted them--whose courage was not to be shaken
even by this awful ordeal, and one after the other they boldly trod the
fatal plank, and went to meet their dreadful doom! All honour to them,
say I, for the lofty courage that enabled them to choose death rather
than an ignoble and crime-stained life.
Then there was another long pause, during which, as I afterwards
learned, the _Francesca's_ crew were rummaging the ship--a
homeward-bound Indiaman, named the _Bangalore_--and loading her decks
with booty of every imaginable description, preparatory to its transfer
to the brigantine. Mendouca, I must mention, had already compelled the
_Bangalore's_ surgeon to dress his wound for him; and now, having given
his orders to one of the men whom he considered the most reliable and
trustworthy of his crew, he returned to the _Francesca_, and, with the
aid of his son Pedro, was got into his bunk, where I could hear him from
time to time grinding his teeth in agony, although, such was the spirit
of the man, not a groan would he permit to escape him.
The sun had set, and the velvet dusk of the tropics was closing down
upon the scene, when at length the _Bangalore's_ boats were hoisted out,
and the work of transhipping the booty began. Mendouca must have felt
himself a second Kidd, for the ship was almost as rich a prize as one of
the old Acapulco galleons; there were bales of rich silks and shawls,
spices, caskets of gems, ingots of gold, exquisite embroidered muslins,
and I know not what beside--goods of a value sufficient, it seemed to
me, to make every rascal on the books of the _Francesca_ rich for the
remainder of his life, although they were of course unable to take more
than a comparatively small quantity of the _Bangalore's_ entire cargo.
Nevertheless, they contrived to find room for a goodly proportion of the
most costly and valuable contents of the vessel's hold, the transfer of
which, and of as much food and water as they deemed necessary to their
requirements, occupied the crew until midnight; for in Mendouca's
absence, as may be supposed, they did not trouble to exert themselves
overmuch. Moreover, a large proportion of them were in such a state of
intoxication they scarcely knew what they were doing--my especial
_bete-noir_ the boatswain among the number, he having seized an early
opportunity to board the ship after Mendouca had been safely bestowed in
his own cabin. I did not know this until told so by Simpson, the
English man whom I have already mentioned as having been left on board
the _Francesca_ that afternoon with the boatswain and myself, who added
to his information--
"Better keep your weather-eye liftin', Mr Dugdale, sir; that Jose's
full of spite as an egg's full of meat; he have never forgiven you for
knockin' him down, and have swore over and over again to put his knife
into you. And now that he's full of drink, and the skipper's on his
beam-ends, he's just as likely as not to try it."
"Yes, I suppose he is. Thank you for the warning, Simpson," said I.
The man put his finger to his forehead in acknowledgment of my thanks,
but continued to linger near me; and presently it dawned upon me that he
had something further to say. So I turned to him and inquired--
"Is there anything particular that you wish to say to me, Simpson?"
"Well, yes, sir, there is, if I only knowed how to say it," answered the
man, in a low, cautious tone of voice and with a somewhat hesitating
manner. He paused for a second or two, as though in consideration, and
then, looking me full in the face, said--
"I hopes you'll excuse me askin' of you the question, Mr Dugdale, but
might you be a-thinkin' of gettin' away out o' this here brigantine,
supposin' that you sees a good chance for to do so? I ain't askin' out
of any impertinence or curiosity, sir, I beg you to believe; but my
meanin' is this here, if so be as it happens that you _was_ thinkin' of
any such thing, I was wonderin' whether we mightn't be able to go
together, and be of sarvice to one another in a manner of speakin'."
"Oh," said I, "that is your idea, is it? Are you not satisfied with
your present berth then, Simpson?"
"No, sir, I'm not, to tell the truth of it," answered the man. "I know
that it's rather a risky thing to say aboard of this here wessel; but
the truth is that I _ain't_ satisfied at all, and haven't been for a
long while; not since Mr Arrowsmith--or Senor Mendouca, as he now calls
hisself--took up to the piratin' business. So long as it was just a
matter of runnin' a cargo of slaves across the Atlantic, I didn't mind
so much, for there was plenty of dollars goin', and I didn't see that
there was much harm in it, for I don't suppose the poor beggars is any
worse off on the sugar and 'baccy plantations than they are in their own
country. But when it comes to work like what's been done to-day, I
wants to be out of it; and I don't mind sayin' so to you straight out,
Mr Dugdale, because you're a naval hofficer, you are, sir, and of
course as such you're bound to be dead against such things as has
happened since you've been aboard here. Besides, I've been a-watchin'
of you, sir--askin' your pardon for the same, Mr Dugdale--and I've seen
that this ship and her doin's ain't no more to your taste than they are
to mine."
"You are right, Simpson, they are not," said I; "and since you have been
so frank with me, I will be equally so with you. You have rightly
guessed that I would gladly make my escape from this accursed
brigantine, if I could; and I had quite made up my mind that if, as I
fully expected, Captain Mendouca had run alongside that ship this
afternoon, I would board with the rest, and then join the British crew
in their defence of their own ship."
"It's perhaps just as well then for you, sir, and for me too, that
matters was arranged different," answered Simpson; "because, if the
thing had come off as you planned it, I don't suppose that your joinin'
of the other side would have made that much difference that they'd have
beat off the skipper and his lot; and if they hadn't, and you'd fallen
alive into the hands of the skipper, he'd have--well, I don't know what
he wouldn't have done to you; but I'm mortal sure that you wouldn't have
been alive now. But perhaps, sir, you've been thinkin', as I have, that
even now it mayn't be too late to do somethin'."
"Yes," said I, "I have. While you have been talking to me a multitude
of ideas have thronged through my mind, disconnected and vague,
certainly, but still capable perhaps of being worked into shape. And I
do not mind admitting to you, Simpson, that your proposal to join me in
any attempt that I may be disposed to make simplifies matters a great
deal. The most important factor in the problem before us is: How will
yonder ship be dealt with when the _Francesca's_ people have done with
her? Will she be destroyed, or will she be left, with those unfortunate
passengers--most probably with no knowledge whatever of nautical
matters--to drift about at the mercy of wind and sea, to take her chance
of being fallen in with, or to founder in the first gale of wind that
happens to come her way?"
"No, sir, no," answered Simpson. "You may take your oath that Captain
Mendouca won't run the risk of leavin' her afloat to be picked up and
took into port, where her passengers could tell what tales they liked
about him and his doin's. She'll be scuttled, sir, and left to go down
with all them passengers in her, the same as that unfortunit' Portugee
brig was that we took the slaves out of. But I've been thinkin', sir,
that, even so, two sailor-men, like you and me, might do a good deal,
with the help of the gentlemen passengers, to put together some sort of
a raft that would hold all hands of us and keep us above water until
somethin' comes along and picks us up. Of course I knows quite well
that it'll be a mighty poor look-out for the strongest of us, and a
dreadful bad time for the poor women-folk, to be obliged to take to a
raft; but I expect they'd rather do that and take their chance of bein'
picked up than go down with the ship; and if you're willin' to face the
job, _I_ am too, sir, and there's my hand on it."