"What!" said he, looking earnestly at me--"yet it must be--it is you, is
it not?"
"Yes, sir," replied I, "it is me. I've turned dark to please you, and I
hope it does please you."
"It does, boy, I can look at you now, and forget that you are white. I
can. I feel that I can love you now--you've got rid of your only fault
in my eyes, and I'm not sorry. I'm only glad that I did not--"
"Give me to the sharks," said I, finishing his sentence.
"Exactly so; say no more about it."
I immediately turned the conversation, by asking him what he required;
and I attended him while dressing. From that time he became very
friendly towards me, constantly conversing with me. I did my duty as
his servant for more than a fortnight, during which time we became very
intimate, and (I may as well confess it) I grew very fond of my new
master, and thought less about the ship and my shipmates. We were going
into a port, I knew, but what port I did not know.
I often had conversations with Jose and the American black, and gained a
great deal of information from them; but I could not discover much of
the history of the captain. On that point they refused to be
communicative; occasionally hints were given, and then, as if
recollecting themselves, they stopped speaking.
It was about three weeks before we made the land of Cuba, and as soon as
we did so, the schooner was hove to till night, when sail was again
made, and before ten o'clock we saw the lights of the Havannah. When
about three miles off we again hove to, and about midnight we perceived
under the land the white sails of a schooner, which was standing out.
Sail was made, and we ran down to her, and before she was aware that we
were an enemy, she was laid by the board and in the possession of our
crew. The people belonging to the vessel were handed up, and she was
examined. She proved to be a vessel fitted out for the slave trade,
with the manacles, etcetera, on board of her, and was just sailing for
the coast.
I was on the deck when the white men, belonging to the slaver, were
brought on board, and never shall I forget the rage and fury of the
captain.
All sail was made upon both schooners, standing right off from the land,
and at daylight we had left it a long way astern.
Jose said to me, "You better not go to captain dis day. Keep out of his
way--perhaps he recollect dat you white."
From what I had seen the night before, I thought this good advice; and I
not only did not go into the cabin, but I did not show myself on deck.
About eight o'clock in the morning I heard the boat lowered down and
orders given to scuttle the vessel, as soon as she had been well
searched. This was done, and the boat returned, having found several
thousand dollars on board of her, which they handed upon deck.
I remained below: I heard the angry voice of the negro captain--the
pleadings and beggings for mercy of the prisoners--busy preparations
making on deck; and several men came down and handed up buckets of sand;
an iron grating was handed up. The countenances of the negroes who were
thus employed appeared inflamed, as if their wrath was excited; now and
then they laughed at each other, and looked more like demons than men.
That some dreadful punishment was about to be inflicted I was certain
and I remained crouched behind the foremast on the lower-deck.
At last the men were all on deck again, and I was left alone; and then I
heard more noise, begging for mercy, weeping and wailing, and
occasionally a few words from the mouth of the negro captain; then rose
shrieks and screams, and appeals to Heaven, and a strong smell, which I
could not comprehend, came down the hatchways.
The shrieks grew fainter, and at last ceased, and something was thrown
overboard. Then the same tragedy, whatever it was, was acted over
again--more attempts to obtain mercy--more shrieks--again the same
overpowering smell. What could it be? I would have given much to know,
but something told me that I must remain where I was. Ten times was
this repeated, and then, as evening came on, there was a bustle on deck,
and after a time the crew descended the hatchways.
I caught the eye of the American, with whom I was intimate, and as he
passed me, I beckoned to him. He came to me.
"What has been done?" said I in a whisper.
"Captain punish slave traders," replied he; "always punish them so."
"Why, what did he do to them?"
"Do?--roast 'em alive. Dis third slave vessel he take, and he always
serve 'em so. Serve 'em right; captain very savage; no go to him till
morrow morning--you keep close." So saying, the American negro left me.
As I afterwards found out, the long boat on the booms had been cleared
out, the sand laid at the bottom to prevent the fire from burning the
boat, the captain and crew of the slave vessel laid on one after the
other upon the iron grating, and burnt alive. This accounted for the
horrible smell that had come down the hatchways.
It may be considered strange that I really did not feel so much horror
as perhaps I ought to have done. Had this dreadful punishment been
inflicted upon any _other_ persons than slave dealers, and _by_ any
other parties than negroes, I should not have been able to look at the
captain without abhorrence expressed in my countenance; but I know well
the horrors of the slave trade from conversation I had had with Bob
Cross; and I had imbibed such a hatred against the parties who had
carried it on, that it appeared to me to be an act of retaliation almost
allied to justice. Had the negro captain only warred against slave
dealers, I do not think I should have cared about remaining in the
vessel; but he had told me and fully proved to me, that he detested all
white men, and had never spared them except in my own instance.
I must acknowledge that I felt very much like going into the lion's den,
when the next morning, on his ringing the cabin bell, I presented myself
to the captain; but so far from being in an ill-humour, he was very kind
to me.
After breakfast, as I was going out, he said to me, "You must have a
name: I shall call you Cato--recollect that; and now I have a question
to ask you--What is that which you carry round your neck on a ribbon?"
"A letter, sir," replied I.
"A letter! and why do you carry a letter?"
"Because it is of the greatest importance to me."
"Indeed! Now, Cato, sit down on the other sofa, and let me know your
history."
I felt that I could not do better than to make this man at once my
confidant. He might take a strong interest in me, and it was not likely
to go farther. I therefore told him everything connected with my birth
and parentage, what my suspicions had been, and how the letter had
confirmed them. I unsewed the seal-skin, and gave him the letter to
read--without being aware that he could read: he took it and read it
aloud.
"Yes," said he, "that's proof under his own hand; and now, Cato, never
be afraid of me, for, however I may wreak my vengeance upon others, I
swear _by my colour_ that I never will hurt you, or permit others to do
so. I am a tiger--I know it; but you have often seen a little spaniel
caressed by the tiger, whose fangs are turned against every other living
thing. You are quite safe."
"I feel I am, since you say so," replied I; "and since I am to be your
pet, I shall take liberties, and ask you, in return, to tell me your
history."
"I am glad that you have asked it, as I wish you to know it. I will
begin at once--
"I was born in America, in the state of Pennsylvania, of free parents.
My father was a sail-maker, and was worth money; bet a free black in
America is even worse treated and more despised than a slave. I had two
brothers, who went to school with me.
"My father intended to bring me up for the Church. You look astonished;
but in the States we have clergymen of our colour, as well as white
ones; looked down upon and despised, I grant, although they do teach the
Word of God; but I was very unfit for that profession, as you may
suppose. I was very proud and haughty; I felt that I was as good as a
white man, and I very often got into scrapes from my resenting injuries.
"However, my education went on successfully, much more so than that of
my brothers, who could not learn. I could, and learnt rapidly but I
learnt to hate and detest white men, and more especially Americans; I
brooded over the injuries of people of colour, as we were called, and
all my father's advice and entreaty could not persuade me to keep my
thoughts to myself. As I grew up to manhood, I spoke boldly, and more
than once nearly lost my life for so doing; for most Americans think no
more of taking the life of one like me than of a dog in the street.
More than one knife has been directed to my heart, and more than once
was I then up before the judge, and sentenced to imprisonment for no
fault; my evidence, and the evidence of those of my colour, not being
permitted to be received in a court of justice. Any white villain had
only to swear falsely--and there is no want of that class in America--
and there was no appeal. At last I was sentenced to be whipped; then my
blood boiled, and I vowed a vengeance which I have fearfully adhered
to."
"I do not wonder at that," said I; "I would have done the same."
"The man who had sworn falsely against me in this last instance had come
up from the South; I obtained what money I could from my father, and
went away in pursuit of him. I found him--dogged him, and one evening I
accosted him, and plunged my bowie-knife into his heart. I fled that
State, and crossed the Mississippi.
"I had not been long in Arkansas before a man--a cotton-grower, who
owned about a hundred and fifty slaves--inquired who I was, and whether
I had a pass; I replied that I was a free man, born in Pennsylvania, and
was there on my own affairs. The next day I was taken up, brought
before the magistrate, and this scoundrel swore that I was his slave,
and had absconded from him ten years before.
"My defence--the proof which I offered to bring, was not listened to. I
was made over to him, and the rascal grinned as the constables brought
me away with him. His plantation was at the Red River. It was
difficult to escape and indeed, almost useless to attempt it: but the
fact was, that I did not wish to do so; I remained to have my revenge.
I tried to make the other slaves rise against him, but they were too
cowed; they even informed against me, and I was tied down, and flogged
by the drivers until the flesh fell from my shoulders.
"As soon as I recovered, I determined to do--or die. I heard that there
were some pirate vessels in the Barataria lagoons on the other side of
New Orleans; I resolved to join the crews, but first to have my revenge.
I did so: I set fire to the plantation house--struck the scoundrel who
had made me a slave senseless as he attempted to escape, and threw his
body into the flames; I then made the door fast, and fled. I was met by
one of the overseers, who was armed, and who would have stopped me: I
beat his brains out with his own musket, and then gained the woods. You
see that I am powerful; you hardly know how much so. After several
days' travelling, I arrived at the lagoons. I found this very vessel at
anchor. I offered myself, and they accepted me immediately.
"There were several of my colour on board--runaway slaves--and all good
determined men. These were the people I required, for they understood
me. Even on board of a pirate vessel, the same contempt was shown
towards us--still considered as inferior beings. All the heavy work all
the dirty work, was for the negro race; and we often worked like slaves,
while the captain and the rest of the crew caroused. I was three years
on board of this vessel. Our rendezvous where we are going to now, is a
small land-locked bay on the island of Cuba. No vessel in it can be
seen from seaward, and there is but one narrow pass by which it
communicates with the interior, and it is far from any habitation. A
better retreat for a pirate vessel could not well be found. We used
very often to go in to refit, and take in provisions and water; for in a
cave there, we keep the provisions which we take from other vessels.
"In a desperate fight which we had with an English man-of-war brig, we
lost nearly forty of our men. The captain, Chico, as he was called, was
obliged to fill up with black men, until he could procure others. The
consequence was, that with the ten before on board, there were fifty
blacks to seventy whites. It was then that I made up my mind that I
would retaliate for all that my race had suffered. I was sure of the
ten with whom I had sailed so long; I sounded the others, and found them
all willing.
"We sailed from the Mexican Gulf, and made for the Rendezvous Bay, in
Cuba. As soon as we arrived, of course, as with all pirate vessels, the
first day was dedicated to revelling and intoxication--that is, by the
white portion of the crew. We negroes were employed in getting the
casks ashore for water. That very night, when they all lay asleep and
drunk, we put every soul of them to death, and the Stella belonged to me
and my brave black who chose me for their captain, and swore by their
wrongs eternal enmity to the European race.
"As you may suppose, I was short-manned; but we soon found plenty of
men, and have now as fine a crew as ever trod a deck."
"How long is it since you took possession of the vessel?"
"About eight or nine months, during which time I have spared none except
you. The usual death is drowning; but if I fall in with a slaver,
then--you know what took place yesterday."
I was silent for a time. "I do not wonder," said I, at last, "at your
hatred of the whites, especially of the Americans. As for your wreaking
your vengeance upon those employed in the slave trade, dreadful as it
is, I scarcely pity them; but in your general warfare against the
whites, recollect that you may murder those who are your friends, and
who have done all they can to put an end to slavery. Even in America,
there are many who are opposed to it."
"It is impossible to make a distinction," replied the negro.
"What is your name?" said I, musing.
"Why do you ask? You may as well know; I wish it to be known: it is
James Vincent."
"But tell me, if you were to meet with a very superior force, what would
you do?"
"Run if I could; if not, fight."
"But you might be captured, and then--"
"Never, boy; never."
"Well," said I, "as you have begun by sparing me, I hope you will spare
others now."
"I don't know why I spared you. Had you shown any fear of death I
should not have done so; but I felt that you would not care about it. I
believe it was that."
About ten days after, we made the east end of the island of Cuba, and
ran into the Bay of Rendezvous, as it was named by the pirate. It was
very small, but completely land-locked, and the land so high on every
side that the masts of the vessel could not be seen from the seaward.
The bay on the land side was met by a deep, narrow ravine, between
mountains which were almost perpendicular, the ravine itself being
accessible from the main land by only one narrow path known to the
pirates, and which they seldom made use of, except when a spy was sent
to the Havannah to ascertain what vessels were about to sail.
On the high land which shut in the bay from the sea, the pirates had a
man constantly on the look-out, to report any vessel which might be in
the offing, and Vincent himself passed much of his time there, as the
breeze was fresh and the air cool to what it was down in the land-locked
bay. I was, for the same reason, very fond of being on the look-out
hill, and generally followed up the captain when he went out there. He
certainly now showed a strong affection for me, and I liked him better
than I ever thought I could have done. He was constantly telling me of
the treatment he and the other poor blacks had received in America, and
I could not help feeling my blood boil, and a conviction that, had I
been so treated, I should probably have been equally under the influence
of revenge. It is the world, and the treatment we receive from it,
which makes us chiefly what we are.
One day the captain told me he was going that evening to obtain
information, as the spy he had sent had returned unsuccessful, and that
he should be absent for three or four days.
Although I was not discontented with my position, still, as the reader
may well suppose, I had a strong wish to be out of it as soon as
possible, and I had determined to escape if I could; it immediately
occurred to me, that his absence would give me the opportunity.