The stranger saw our approach, and from the eager way in which we
carried on sail, those on board must have had some suspicion of the
character of the schooner. She was a fine large ship, and was evidently
a fast craft, but still the schooner managed to overhaul her. As we had
hitherto stood on under easy sail, the _Dove_ was able to keep up with
us, but now we left her far astern. Before we parted company, however,
the captain signalised her where to meet him. I forgot to say that for
some time we did not know the name of the pirate chief, but at last we
heard him called Captain Bruno. Though this name had a foreign sound,
he was, as I have before said, either an Englishman or an American. The
schooner was called the _Hawk_, and she was not ill named.
As we drew near the ship we ran up English colours, while in return, up
went at her peak the stars and stripes of the United States. On we
stood. The ship, so Jerry and I concluded, did not suspect the
character of the schooner, for she made no attempt to escape us, but
appeared as if those on board expected a friendly greeting. I observed
Captain Bruno very frequently turn his telescope towards the stranger,
and examine her narrowly. The officers, too, began to talk to each
other, and look suspiciously at her. I asked Mr McRitchie, who was
near us, whether he thought the pirates would attack the ship and murder
the crew, as we believed they had done that of the brig.
"I dread something terrible, but I have very little apprehension for the
fate of the people on board the ship," he answered, in a low tone. "In
my opinion, the pirates will find that they have caught a tartar. Mark
me--yonder craft is no merchantman, but a ship of war, either American
or English, or perhaps Chilian. I should not be surprised to find that
she is on the watch for our friends here. Scarcely do I know what to
wish. If they fight at all, they will fight desperately, and we shall
run as great a chance of being killed as they will--though, if they are
captured, we may regain our liberty. If, on the other hand, they
escape, our captivity will be prolonged."
"But if yonder ship prove to be what you suppose, and the schooner is
captured, perhaps we may be hung as pirates," said Jerry. "How can we
prove that we are honest people?"
"There will be but little difficulty about that," answered Mr
McRitchie. "The pirates themselves will acknowledge that we have been
brought on board against our will, and the account we can give of
ourselves is too circumstantial not to gain credit. At all events, we
must hope for the best. But see, Captain Bruno at last suspects that
something is wrong."
We had by this time got almost within the ordinary range of a ship's
guns. Suddenly the captain sprang to the helm. "Haul aft the main and
foresheets!" he sung out in a voice of thunder. "Brace up the yards!
Down with the helm! Keep her as close as she'll go!" The crew flew to
obey these orders. They knew full well that their lives depended on
their promptness. Already the schooner had approached too near the
stranger. That she was a man-of-war, she no longer left us in doubt.
Before the orders issued by Captain Bruno were executed, a line of ports
were thrown open, and eight long guns were run out, threatening to send
us to the bottom if we showed a disposition to quarrel, and aft at her
peak flew the stars and stripes of the United States.
The pirates saw that they were caught through their own folly and
greediness, but the captain showed himself to be a man of undaunted
courage, and full of resources. "Hold on!" he sung out, before a sheet
was hauled in. "We may lose our sticks if we attempt to run. I'll try
if I cannot deceive these clever fellows, and put them on a wrong
scent." The pirates seemed mightily pleased at the thought of playing
their enemy a trick, and highly applauded the proposal of their captain.
The schooner, therefore, stood steadily on, till she ran close down to
the corvette. Then she hove-to, well to windward of the ship, however.
A boat was lowered, and Captain Bruno, with four of the most
quiet-looking of the crew, got into her, and pulled away for the ship.
When we hove-to, the corvette did the same, an eighth of a mile to
leeward of us. We watched the proceedings of the pirate with no little
anxiety.
"If that fellow succeed in deceiving the captain of that ship, I shall
acknowledge that impudence will sometimes carry the day," observed Mr
McRitchie.
"Couldn't we contrive to make a signal to let the people of the
man-of-war know that we are kept here in durance vile?" observed Jerry.
While he was speaking, I looked round, and saw two of the most ruffianly
of the crew standing close to us, with pistols cocked in their hands,
held quietly down by their sides. I hoped that our captors had not
overheard what Jerry had said. I touched him as if by chance on the
shoulder, and after his eye had glanced at the pistols he said nothing
more about making signals to the corvette. Our position was every
instant growing more and more critical. If the pirate captain was
seized on board the man-of-war, it was impossible to say how his
followers might wreak their vengeance on our heads. We watched him with
no little interest, till he ascended with perfect coolness the side of
the ship. Our anxiety still further increased, after he reached the
deck and disappeared below. Minute after minute slowly passed by, still
he did not return. The pirates with their pistols got up closer to us,
and one, a most hideous black fellow, kept looking at us and then at his
weapon, and grinning from ear to ear, as if he was mightily eager to put
it to our heads and pull the trigger. We tried to look as unconcerned
as possible, but I must own that I could not help every now and then
turning round, to ascertain in what direction the muzzle of the pistol
was pointed. The black and his companion looked so malicious, that I
feared, whatever occurred, we should be the sufferers. If Captain Bruno
escaped, we should still remain in captivity; or should he be suspected
and detained, probably the pirates would revenge themselves on us. I
was afraid of speaking, and almost of moving, lest, even should I lift
an arm, it might be construed into the act of making a signal, and I
might get a bullet sent through my head. The American corvette, with
her spread of white canvas, looked very elegant and graceful as she lay
hove-to, a short distance from us. I wished very much that I was out of
the pirate, and safe on board her, even though the former might get free
away without the punishment she deserved. But all such hopes, it
appeared, were likely to prove vain. After the lapse of another ten
minutes Captain Bruno himself appeared on deck. As he stood at the
gangway, he shook hands cordially with some of the officers. He seemed
to be exchanging some good joke with them, for he and they laughed
heartily when he went down the side, and stepped into the boat. As he
pulled back to the schooner, he waved his hand, and took off his hat
with the most becoming courtesy. "Well," thought I to myself,
"certainly impudence will sometimes carry the day."
He was soon again on board. "Make sail," he said with a calm smile;
"the corvette and we are going in search of a rascally pirate, which has
committed all sorts of atrocities. I wonder whether we shall find her."
The joke seemed to tickle the fancies of all on deck, for a quiet
chuckle was heard on every side. "Keep the rest of the people below,"
he said to Silva; "it might surprise the crew of the man-of-war to see
so many ugly fellows on board a quiet trader." The order was strictly
obeyed. A few only of the crew appeared on deck, and they were soon
seen employed in the usual occupations of a merchantman. The wind was
light, so the schooner began leisurely to set sail after sail, till
every stitch of canvas she could carry was spread. The corvette did the
same, and both vessels were soon going along under a cloud of canvas.
The schooner, we saw, had the advantage. Gradually we were increasing
our distance from the man-of-war. Captain Bruno chuckled audibly.
Still, at times, he cast an anxious look astern.
Jerry and I were allowed to walk about the deck, and to observe what was
going on. We remarked the captain watching the corvette. "Depend on
it," said Jerry, "he has been leaving some forged paper with the
Americans, or playing them some trick which he is afraid will be found
out." I thought at first this must be Jerry's fancy. We had no
opportunity of asking Mr McRitchie's opinion without being overheard.
Away we glided over the smooth ocean. More and more we increased our
distance from the corvette. The further ahead we got, the more Captain
Bruno seemed pleased; and as I watched his countenance, I became
convinced that Jerry's surmises were correct. As we walked the deck and
watched the captain, we agreed that if he dared he would like to wet the
sails to make them hold more wind. An hour or so passed away, when
suddenly the corvette yawed a little, a puff of white smoke appeared,
with a sharp report, and a shot came flying over the water close to us.
"Ah! have you found me out, my friends?" exclaimed Captain Bruno,
leaping down from the taffrail. "All hands on deck! Swing up the long
guns! We must try to wing this fellow before he contrives to clip our
feathers." In an instant everybody was alert: tackles were rove, and,
in a short time, two long and very heavy guns, with their carriages,
were hoisted up from the hold. The guns were quickly mounted and run
out, and a brisk fire kept up at the corvette. She also continued to
fire, but as to do so with effect she had to yaw each time, the
schooner, which could fire her stern guns as fast as she could load
them, had a considerable advantage. It was a game at long bowls, for
the two vessels were already so far apart that it required very good
gunnery to send a shot with anything like a correct aim. Silva seemed
to be one of the best marksmen on board. Several times, when he fired,
the shot went through the sails of the ship of war. The great object of
the pirates was to cripple her, as was that of the Americans to bring
down some of the schooner's spars. Had the latter found out the trick
sooner which had been played them by the pirate, the probabilities are
that some of our rigging would have been cut through, and we should have
been overtaken; now there appeared every chance that we should effect
our escape. Still, several of the shot which came from the corvette
struck us, or went through our sails; but the damage was instantly
repaired. The crew had got up from below a store of spare ropes, and
sails, and spars, so that even should we receive any severe injury, it
could, we saw, be speedily put to rights. As I before said, our
prospects of getting our throats cut, or our brains blown or knocked
out, were pretty well balanced against those of our being made free,
should the corvette come up with us; so we scarcely knew what to wish
for. Every time a shot came near the vessel, the pirates cast such
angry glances at us, as if we had had something to do with the matter,
that we half expected some of them would let fly their pistols and put
an end to our lives.
Hour after hour thus passed away. A stern chase is a long chase, as
everybody knows, and so the Americans must have thought it. The wind
continued much as at first for some time. This was all in favour of the
schooner, which sailed in a light wind proportionably better than the
corvette. Towards evening, however, clouds began to gather in the
eastern horizon. The bank rose higher and higher in the sky. Now one
mass darted forward--now another--and light bodies flew rapidly across
the blue expanse overhead. First the surface of the ocean was crisped
over with a sparkling ripple, and then wavelets appeared, and soon they
increased to waves with frothy crests; and the schooner sprung forward,
the canvas swelling, the braces tautening, and the masts and spars
cracking with the additional strain put on them. For some time, though
she still continued to fire, scarcely a shot from the man-of-war had
come up to us, as we had still further increased our distance from her.
She, however, now felt the advantage of the stronger breeze, and our
pace became more equal. Still the breeze increased. The captain stood
aft, his eye apparently watching earnestly every spar and rope aloft, to
see how they stood the increasing strain. Away we now flew, the water
hissing under our bows, and the spray leaping up on either side, and
streaming over us in thick showers. The white canvas bulged, and
tugged, and tugged, till I thought it would carry the masts away, and
fly out of the bolt-ropes. Captain Bruno, however, gave no orders to
take it in. He looked astern; the corvette was going along as fast as
we were--perhaps faster. This was not an occasion for shortening sail.
The crew seemed to have the same opinion. They were fighting with
halters round their necks, every one full well knew; and though this
consciousness may make men desperate when brought to bay, it will
assuredly make them run away like arrant cowards if they have a
possibility of escape.
The sea by this time had got up considerably, and the schooner began to
pitch into it as she ran before the wind. The corvette at first came on
rather more steadily, but she likewise soon began to feel the effects of
the troubled water; and away we both went, plunging our bows into the
sea as we dashed rapidly onward. I could not help feeling that the
movements of both vessels showed that serious work was going on. The
corvette, with her wide fields of canvas spread aloft, every sail
bulging out to its utmost extent, looked as if intent on the pursuit;
while the eager, hurried way in which the schooner struggled on amid the
foaming waves, made it appear as if she were indued with consciousness,
and was aware that her existence depended on her escaping her pursuer.
It was now blowing a perfect gale. Every instant, as I kept looking
aloft, I expected to hear some dreadful crash, and to see the topmasts
come tumbling down over our heads; but though the top-gallant-masts bent
and writhed like fishing-rods with a heavy fish at the end of the line,
they were too well set up by the rigging to yield, even with the
enormous pressure put on them.
Captain Bruno called Silva to him again. They held a consultation for
some minutes. They looked at the corvette, and then at their own sails.
The result was, that some of the people were summoned aft, and once
more the long guns were run out, and, watching their opportunity, as the
stern of the vessel lifted, they opened fire on their pursuer. "If we
could but knock away their fore-topmast with all that spread of canvas
on it, we should very soon run her out of sight," observed Silva,
stooping down to take aim. He fired. The canvas stood as before; but,
as far as we could judge, the shot had reached the man-of-war, and hands
were seen going aloft to repair some damage which it had caused.
The pirates cheered when they saw that the shot had taken effect,
"Hurrah! hurrah! Fire away again, Silva; fire away!" they shouted.
Thus encouraged, he continued firing as fast as the guns could be
loaded. Shot after shot was discharged. Still the pursuer came on as
proudly and gallantly as before. Now and then a shot was fired from her
bow chasers; but the difficulty of taking anything like an aim in such a
sea was very great, and they generally flew excessively wide of their
mark. Silva, indeed, after the first shot, had but little to boast of
as a marksman. His anger seemed to rise. He looked with a fierce
glance at our pursuer. Both the guns were loaded. He stooped down to
one and fired; then, scarcely looking up to watch the result, he went to
the other. The schooner was sinking into a sea; as she rose to the
summit of the next, a shot left the muzzle of the gun. Away it winged
its flight above the foaming ocean. Now the pirates cheered more
lustily than ever. Good cause had they. As if by magic, the wide cloud
of canvas which had lately towered above the deck of the corvette seemed
dissolved in air. The race is not always to the swift, nor does Fortune
always favour the best cause. The pirate's shot had cut the corvette's
fore-topmast completely in two, and we could see it with its tangled
mass of spars, and sails, and rigging hanging over the bows, and still
further stopping the ship's way.
"Now we may shorten sail," sang out Captain Bruno. "Aloft, my lads;
quick about it." The men needed not to be told of the importance of
haste. They flew aloft, and soon handed the top-gallant-sails, and took
two reefs in the topsails. Relieved of the vast weight which had been
pressing on her, and almost driving her over, the schooner now flew much
more easily over the seas, and with scarcely diminished speed.
We kept watching the corvette. She, of course, could carry sail on her
main-mast, but it took some time to clear away the wreck of the
fore-topmast, and to set up the fore-stay, which had been carried away.
This it was necessary to do before sail could be set on the
main-topmast. All this work occupied some time, and enabled the
schooner to get far ahead. Night, too, was coming on. The weather
promised to be very thick. The pirate's chance of escape was very
considerable. Our hearts sank within us as we saw the prospect of our
prolonged captivity. Proportionably the pirates were elated as they
felt sure of escaping. On we flew; the sails of the corvette grew
darker and darker, till a thin small pyramid alone was seen rising
against the sky in the far horizon. Mr McRitchie, who had joined us on
deck, heaved a deep sigh. To him captivity was even more galling than
to us. Darkness came on, and the corvette was lost to sight.
It was a terrific night. The wind increased, and the sea got up more
than ever--the thunder roared, and the lightning flashed; and as the
schooner went plunging away through the foaming ocean, often I thought
that she was about to sink down and never to rise again. The dark,
stern features of the pirates were lighted up now and again, as they
stood at their posts, by the lightning as it played around us; but,
strange to say, they appear to have far more dreaded the anger of their
fellow-men than they did the fury of the elements. Now and then,
perhaps, conscience whispered in the ears of some one not totally deaf
to its influence, that his last hour was approaching and that he must
soon stand in the presence of an offended God, whose laws he had long
systematically outraged; but, generally speaking, the consciences of
that reckless crew had long since been put to sleep, never to awake till
summoned, when hope should have fled, at the sound of the last trump.
On every side those countenances--bold, fierce, God-defying--broke forth
on me out of the darkness as the bright lightning gleamed across them.
Each individual face of the dreadful picture is indelibly impressed on
my memory. At length the doctor went to his berth, and Jerry and I
followed him to the cabin and crept into ours--wet, hungry, and
sorrowful. We slept--we had been so excited all day that we could not
help that from very weariness; but my dreams, I know, were strangely
troubled.
At last I awoke, and found that it was daylight. I sprang up, calling
Jerry, and we went on deck to learn what had become of the corvette.
She was nowhere to be seen. The wind had gone down very much, but it
was still blowing fresh, and a heavy sea was running. The sky, however,
was blue and clear, and the waters sparkled brightly as the beams of the
rising sun glanced over them. The schooner had escaped all damage in
the gale. Our spirits rose somewhat with the pure fresh air of morning,
and very well pleased were we to devour a good breakfast, when our
friend the black cook placed it before us on deck, in a couple of large
basins, with heavy silver spoons to feed ourselves.
All day we were looking out in expectation of seeing the corvette again.
Hour after hour passed, but she did not appear.
"She will not find us again, Jerry," said I. "I wonder what the pirates
will do with us?"
"Turn us into pirates somehow or other, I am afraid," answered Jerry.
"If we don't pretend to be satisfied with our lot, perhaps they will get
tired of us and will cut our throats, or throw us overboard, just to be
rid of us."
"That cannot, perhaps, he helped," I replied. "But Jerry, I say, do not
for a moment ever think of turning pirate, even if it were to save your
life. Do right, whatever comes of it, is what Cousin Silas has often
said to us--remember."
"I was not quite serious," answered Jerry. "But still, it we did, we
should have a better chance of getting away."
"That is the very thing that we should not do," I replied. "Never do
what is wrong that good may come of it. The pirates are not likely to
ask us to join them; but if they do, all we have to say is that we would
rather not. We need not go into the heroics about it, and show a vast
amount of virtuous indignation, but just quietly and civilly refuse, and
stick to it. Don't fancy that we shall get away faster by doing what is
wrong. As I said, let us do what is right, and trust all the rest to
Providence."
"I see of course you are right, Harry. I'll try and heartily agree with
you; but just now I was considering how we might deceive the pirates by
pretending to join them, and I thought that I had got a first-rate plan
in my head. But, Harry, from what you have been saying, I now
understand that I was wrong."
We took two or three turns on deck.
"I say, Harry," exclaimed Jerry, suddenly, "I wonder what has become of
the _Dove_?" So interested had we been with what concerned ourselves
especially, that we had not till that moment thought about her.
"If she did not go to the bottom during the gale yesterday, perhaps the
corvette got hold of her," said I. "If the corvette did catch her, the
people in charge of her are very likely to get their heads into a noose,
for they will be puzzled to explain in a satisfactory way how she came
into their possession."
Captain Bruno seemed to care very little for the loss of the people in
the little schooner. He swore and grumbled somewhat under the idea that
she might have fallen into the power of the corvette, and seemed rather
to wish that she might have gone to the bottom. However, as she was a
capital sea-boat, it was possible she might have weathered the gale, in
which case Jerry and I concluded that she would find her way to some
rendezvous or other with the pirate. We hoped she might, for vague
ideas ran through our minds that she might by some means or other enable
us to make our escape from our captors. We could not tell how, but we
thought that perhaps we might some night get on board her in some
harbour, when the large schooner was refitting, and run off with her.
Very slender hopes serve to buoy up people in circumstances like ours.
Three or four days passed away, and the pirates became pretty confident
that the man-of-war was not likely again to fall in with them. As Jerry
and I passed the compass, we carelessly cast a glance at it, and found
that we were still steering a course to the southward. The pirates were
now constantly on the alert. It was evident that they were on the watch
for some vessel or some island. We considered that they were looking
for a vessel, from the various directions in which they were looking
out--north, south, east, and west; and sometimes we lay hove-to for
hours together.
"I say, Harry, would it not be a joke if they were to fall in with the
corvette again?" observed Jerry, when no one was near. "The Americans
would not let us escape quite so easily as before."
"The pirates will be too wary for that," I answered. "But look! there
is something in sight from the mast-head. There is `up helm.' Away we
go in chase of her, whatever she may be."
There was a strong breeze from the north-west. Our course was about
south-east. Mr McRitchie joined us in our walk on deck. He looked
more grave and sad even than before. He had heard, we concluded, that
the pirates were about to commit some fresh act of atrocity. They
expected some fighting, at all events, we soon discovered; for the
magazine was opened, powder and shot were got up, and all hands were
busily employed in overhauling their arms, giving them an additional
cleaning, and loading their pistols.
We did not venture aloft, but we looked out eagerly ahead to discover
the vessel of which it was clear the pirates were in chase. First
royals, then top-gallant-sails, and topsails slowly rose above the
horizon. At last her courses appeared, and we could see the whole of
her hull. She was a large barque, and there could be little doubt that
the pirates were right in supposing her to be a merchantman. We had
just done breakfast when she was first seen; it was almost sunset by the
time her hull was completely seen.
Our appearance did not seem to have created any alarm on board, for she
stood on steadily in her course to the southward. We followed like a
blood-hound chasing its prey. The pirates were in high glee; they
recognised the vessel as one which had been unloading in San Francisco
when they had been there, and they seemed to have no doubt, from the
number of people who appeared to be on board, seen through their
glasses, that her passengers were gold-diggers, returning to their
distant homes with their hard-earned gains--some obtained, undoubtedly,
by honest, laborious industry--others, perhaps, by the many lawless
means to which people will resort when excited by the lust of getting
money.
As darkness settled down on the ocean, we could just see the vessel
ahead. We kept on in her wake. As we much outsailed her, we quickly
stole up after her, till we could make out the dark figures of her crew,
as they stood on her deck, wondering, probably, what we could be. Not a
shot was fired--no words were exchanged between the two vessels.
"Perhaps the large vessel is prepared for the strife," I thought to
myself. "If so, the pirates may again find that they have caught a
tartar; still, it is strange that no one on board takes notice of us."
We were still following in the wake of the stranger, but rapidly
overhauling her. Jerry and I remained on deck to see what would happen.
We had got close up on her quarter. Our helm was put to port, and this
placed us on a line which enabled us to run up alongside. Not till our
bows were almost up to the stranger's quarter did any one hail us.
"What are you? what do you want?" asked some one, in a tone of surprise.
"We'll show you," replied Captain Bruno.
"Oh! is that your game?" exclaimed a person on board the stranger. "We
thought so;--fire!"
The order was obeyed, and several shot came crashing into the bows of
the schooner. The pirates were not slow in returning the compliment.
Their fury was speedily worked up to the highest pitch. They laboured
away at the guns, shouting and uttering terrific oaths, more like demons
than men. We quickly ranged up alongside, keeping a little further off
than we probably should otherwise have done, in the hope of crippling
our opponent before attempting to board. The stranger had evidently
many more people on board than the pirates had expected. They fought
their guns well, and bravely too; but the further off we got the less
effect had they, showing that they were handled by men without practice;
while the pirates, on the other hand, seldom missed their aim. Thus
fiercely engaged--the roar of the guns and the shrieks and cries of the
combatants breaking the silence of night, while the flashes lighted up
the darkness and revealed the hideous scene--we ran on in the same
course as at first. The effect of the pirates' practice with their guns
soon began to tell on the stranger; spar after spar was shot away, and
her lofty canvas came dropping down in torn shreds on deck. The pirates
shouted with satisfaction and triumph as each fresh shot told on their
opponent. We consequently had to shorten sail to keep abreast of her.
Still, her shot sometimes searched out a pirate as he laboured at his
gun, and several lay writhing in agony on the deck, while the voices of
others were silenced for ever. At last down came the fore-mast of the
barque, followed by her main-topmast. She was completely in the power
of the pirates, for the schooner could sail round and round her, while
her crew were unable to fight their guns, overwhelmed as they were with
the wreck of the masts. The pirates cheered ferociously, and, keeping
away, crossed the bows of the barque and fired a broadside right into
them. Shrieks and cries arose from the deck of the stranger, but still
no signal was made that she had given in. On the contrary, as soon as
she could get the guns on the port-side to bear, she began firing away
again on us. We tacked, and once more stood towards her, so as to rake
her as we passed under her stern. For a minute there was an entire
cessation of firing; none of her guns could be brought to bear on us,
and the pirates were reserving their fire to pour it into her with more
deadly effect. Dim and indistinct, we could just make out her hull and
shattered rigging amid the gloom; and the pirates, believing that she
would quickly be in their power, were calculating on the rich booty
which would soon be theirs, when bright flames darted up from the midst
of her--a roar like the loudest thunder deafened our ears--up, up flew
spars, and rigging, and human forms, and pieces of burning plank--
illuminating the dark ocean far and wide around; while the fire, which
burned brightly, lighted up the countenances of the pirates as they
stood watching the catastrophe they had caused. Some gleamed with
anger, others with disappointed avarice; some few looked horrified, and
a few were pale with terror, lest the same fate were about to be theirs.
No attempt was made to save any of those who, escaping from the burning
wreck, might be struggling in the waves. Jerry and I fancied that we
could hear some shrieks and cries for help, but they were soon silenced,
as the waters closed over the heads of those who were struggling, but
struggling in vain. Uttering a fierce oath, Captain Bruno stamped on
the deck, to give vent to his disappointment, and then ordering the helm
once more to be put up, stood away on his course to the southward. Such
are pirates, such they have always been, in spite of the veil of romance
which has been thrown over their misdeeds.
For some days the schooner stood on, happily meeting with no other
vessel to plunder and destroy. We all the time were kept in anxious
doubt as to what was to be our fate. We had another cause of anxiety,
in observing that the crew were inclined to quarrel with each other.
The cause of this we could not understand, but the fact was very
evident. A party seemed to be formed against the captain, and it
appeared to us that Silva was at the head of it. Of course this was
only conjecture. He was certainly not on such good terms with the
captain as he had been at first. He was not a man of a quarrelsome or
ambitious disposition, and probably some of the rest of the crew put him
forward as their chief, knowing that he would be the principal sufferer
if their plans failed, and believing that they could easily get rid of
him if at any time they found it convenient so to do. Now and then
disputes arose to a high pitch. Knives would be drawn and pistols
flashed. More than once matters were brought to extremities; wounds
were given and received, and blood was spilt. It had the effect of
cooling their tempers for a moment, but at the slightest provocation
they again broke out.
One day two men were talking together, apparently on very good terms.
One of them we saw pull a dice-box out of his pocket, with several gold
and silver coins; the other likewise produced his money. They began to
play--at first laughing in a friendly way at the various turns of their
fortunes. Then the laughter ceased, and they grew more earnest and
intent on the game. One looked very triumphant, as the gold lately
owned by his antagonist began to swell his heap. At last the other had
no money left. He produced a watch, a clasp-knife and several jewels, a
golden crucifix (which he kissed before parting with), and a
silver-mounted pistol. His teeth were firm set; his eyes began to roll.
He played on. Again he lost; but he had nothing wherewith to pay. He
turned his pockets inside out. The winner seemed still to be insisting
on payment. A deadly pallor came over the countenance of the loser. He
sprang to his feet; a sailor was passing, with a long knife stuck in his
red sash; he snatched it from the man, and uttering an exclamation
equivalent to "Have at you, then! take all I have to give!" plunged it
up to the hilt in the body of the winner, who fell to the deck without a
groan. The action brought all those on deck around him. "He insulted
me," he exclaimed; "he won all I had, and then asked for more." The
bystanders seemed to acquiesce in the justness and rightfulness of the
action. They did not attempt to touch the murderer, but they lifted up
the body of the man he had wounded. He was already quite dead. None of
the officers attempted to interfere. The murderer searched in the
pockets of his victim for the money and jewels, and counting out the
coin, took possession of what had been his own. Again with blasphemous
mockery he kissed the cross, evidently believing that he was doing a
righteous action, and then sat down on a gun with folded arms, as if he
had been an unconcerned spectator of the scene which was enacting. The
rest of the dead man's property the pirates distributed among
themselves, and then lifting the body to the side of the vessel, without
an expression of regret threw it into the sea.
The tragedy was over, but the countenance of the murdered man haunted
us, while his murderer continued walking with an unconcerned look about
the deck, as if his hands were perfectly innocent of blood.
"Jerry," said I, "the sooner we are out of this, though even on a desert
island, the better."
"Oh yes, Harry; it is not safe to live with such wretches," was the
answer.
It would be better if men remembered at all times that it is not good to
dwell with sinners.