FEVER’S DREAMS--STRANGE ADVENTURE ON SHORE.
“So when a raging fever burns,
We shift from side to side,
And ’tis a poor relief we gain
To change the place but keep the pain.”
“But sorrow returned with the dawning of morn,
And the voice in my dreaming ear melted away.”
CAMPBELL.
“‘The fiendish atrocities and cruelties of the terrible pirate Morgan,’
begins Miguel Bassanto, in this final chapter of his log, ‘had almost
worn me out at last, and when cruising around Cuba, up the Gulf of
Mexico, and along the shores of Florida in search of Spanish ships and
gold, I was laid down with fever, and it was while thus prostrated that
I tried to take into review all the events of my past life during those
many, many years. Ought I to have remained with Morgan at all? I had
often restored him to life and health when laid low with the illness
that never failed to follow his drunkenness and awful carousals. Had I
been doing my duty in acting thus? Would it not have been better for my
poor, oppressed, and persecuted countrymen had I let him die, or even
slain him some day in his tracks? But no; I had ever shuddered at the
idea of committing murder, and by continuing to sail with Morgan I had,
unknown to him, so worked and plotted and schemed as to save many a
Spanish life, many a Spanish ship, and more than one town or village.
“‘Even when awake I could not accuse myself of remaining with Morgan’s
fleet to do aught save good, and I did not blame myself for having
spared his life, nay, even saved it many times, and oft for the simple
reason that he trusted me most implicitly. I could not kill even a
savage dog if he trusted me.
“‘But it was not all daylight with me during this burning fever. We were
lying at the time in a lonesome little harbour off the southern coast of
Cuba, and oh, when night fell--night and darkness, night but not
silence, for sunset but heralded the commencement of orgies fore and aft
that lasted long into the middle watch--then my spirits fell to zero. I
felt no comfort in life, and yet I desired not to die. But when I did
drop off to sleep at last, then the sufferings my dreams gave me were
ten times more terrible than those of my waking hours.
“‘Fighting and bloodshed were ever before me, and, worse than all, the
awful torture of innocent maidens and beautiful children. I daresay I
had ever a well-balanced mind, and one which it was difficult to
unhinge, else, when starting with gasp and shriek from dreams like
these, I would have hurried on deck and thrown myself to the sharks that
swarmed everywhere around us.
“‘One day Morgan, who, strangely enough, was sober, came off from the
shore accompanied by a curious little half-caste, partly Spaniard,
partly negro.
“‘“He is a native doctor, Miguel,” said the captain. “We are such old
friends that I could not bear to see you die.”
“‘This was the only real act of kindness I had ever known Morgan
perform.
“‘I thanked him, and so weak was I that the tears came trickling adown
my cheeks.
“‘I held out my trembling hand to the native doctor, and he felt it,
then pressed it down by my side.
“‘After examining me still further, he shook his head gravely and took
Morgan aside, and as he spoke to him I saw Morgan’s face fall.
“‘“Let me know the worst,” I said, when the native doctor left.
“‘“He says you are at death’s door, but he will make an effort to save
you.”
“‘And sure enough the little man came speedily back. He gave me medicine
that was both bitter and nauseous. He ordered me wine and raw meat, and
he gave me some soothing draft which entirely banished the fearful
dreams.
“‘When he came to see me next morning, he patted my cheek and smiled.
“‘And sure enough from that very day I began to get hopeful, and health
itself came close upon the heels of hope, so that in a short time I was
myself again.
“‘Soon after this we went to sea once more, for we had got word of a
bullion-ship, which, with her consort, a protective man-o’-war, might be
expected off the coast of Florida in a month’s time.
“‘The news came in a swift sloop direct from Gibraltar--a sloop that was
carrying letters and dispatches to British troops and sailors in the
West Indies.
“‘“The gold doubloons on board that ship,” said the messenger, “were
like ten great fortunes rolled into one.”
“‘Morgan believed him implicitly, and indeed the result showed that his
statement was perfectly true. But the news had one very strange effect
upon the arch-pirate. He became to a very great extent a reformed man as
far as drinking was concerned.
“‘He had at this time a bold little fleet of seven well-armed ships,
with about five hundred and twenty men in all.
“‘Now he assembled the captains and officers of these on board our own
ship. He gave them rum to drink, as was the custom; then he explained to
them the dangerous nature of the expedition he was about to undertake,
for the man-o’-war was larger than any he had yet encountered, and able,
unless soon crippled, to blow his ships, one by one, out of the water.
If, however, they could sink her and capture the bullion-ship, great
indeed would be their reward.
“‘“And now, men,” he continued, “it cannot have escaped your notice that
I have drunk but very little to-night. Only sober men can carry out an
enterprise like this with any hope of success. I charge you, therefore,
to keep your crews sober, and your rum under lock and key. You all know
me by this time, and you know I am a man of my word.”
“‘Here he placed a brace of pistols on the table;
“‘“You see these little guns,” he said. “If when cruising to meet the
ships I come on board and find any drunkenness on any ship, I shall with
my own hand shoot the captain of that vessel through head or heart, and
throw every officer on board of her into irons.”
“‘And every man gave his word there and then that Admiral Morgan should
be obeyed to the hilt.
“‘Then they separated, each lot of officers repairing to its own ship.
* * * * *
“‘The adventure I have now to relate is wholly and solely my own,’
continues Bassanto. ‘The admiral had spread his ships pretty well out
along the shores of Florida, and they were to cruise backwards and
forwards, to and fro, as it were, and thus go slowly north. There was no
hurry. A signal-gun fired from one would be heard three miles away, and
each ship would repeat it in turn, so that union could speedily be
effected.
“‘But the giving up of his customary stimulant had had a very
depressing effect upon Morgan, and arriving off the shores of a
beautiful and wooded island called Amelia, four miles from Florida, he
determined to send me off for a day to shoot, and thus bring back for
him some dainty that his stomach could relish.
“‘Though only about four miles wide and sixteen long, this island was
not supposed to be very safe, owing to a tribe of warlike Indians who
inhabited it. It was said, however, that there were one or two British
agricultural families here, so that, despite any hostility the Indians
might evince, I expected a hearty welcome. I was to take two well-armed
men with me, and stay for one night on the island.
“‘As I stepped on shore a feeling came over me that I was quite at a
loss to account for. A kind of wave of extreme happiness--I am unable
otherwise to express it--stole over my heart and brain. I experienced
for the time being a newness of life. Why had I spent all the long years
of the past on board the blood-dyed, pestilential ships of the
arch-pirate Morgan, when there was so much real joy and happiness
everywhere in nature?
“‘I never saw the ocean brighter, bluer, or calmer than it was to-day;
it reflected, too, the colour of the cerulean sky, with its patches of
green low down by the horizon, and its slowly-sailing fleecy cloudlets.
Then the still, quiet woods and jungles, many of the trees draped to
their very tops with a wealth of beautiful climbing wild flowers, and
the patches of sward between, also spread with a floral carpet--flowers,
flowers everywhere; and birds as well, birds that vied in the splendour
of their plumage with the flora around them. Oh, how I wished just then
that there was no necessity for me to evermore put foot on murder’s
awful decks! I confess I had half a mind just then to give up even
Morgan. I had money enough in the Jamaica bank to live a life of ease as
far as earthly comforts were concerned. I--but no, no, no, I must not
give up my trust yet a little; I must not throw Morgan over. So long as
his life lasted there would be hope of repentance.
“‘“Hide the boat in a clump of trees, my lads, and follow me.”
“‘“Ay, ay, sir,” one replied cheerily.
“‘In less than an hour’s time we were on the hunting path.
“‘I was surprised, however, to find so little game. We had wandered on
for many miles, and I only found two or three birds that in any way
resembled game.
“‘These I did not shoot. I preferred to take stock of the island to-day,
camp by the sea-shore all night, sinking some creels which I had brought
with me, and thus secure for the sick pirate some crabs and other
shell-fish, as well as a few birds, which would have gone bad if killed
this forenoon.
“‘It must have been nearly three o’clock, and although we saw some
Indians at a distance, and had even come in sight of an Indian village
of wigwams low down by the side of a hill and near a meandering stream,
there were no other signs of life.
“‘Judge then of my horror and astonishment when suddenly from a
neighbouring thicket there arose the most pitiful screams for help. The
voice was a girl’s, and she was evidently English.
“‘“Follow me, lads,” I cried, drawing my sword.
“‘Next minute I found myself in a kind of glade. Here, close to a fire,
were no fewer than five almost naked savages, their arms lying near by.
They were as fearsome as a nightmare, and covered with war-paint.
“‘But near by, and tied to a tree, was a young white girl, evidently a
captive, for whom torture unmentionable was being prepared.
“‘Although convulsed with terror and bedewed with tears, I could not
help thinking--and thoughts travel quickly--that she was exceedingly
beautiful.
“‘But I and my merry men gave those savages no time to think.
“‘I had a revolver in each hand. One fell dead at my first fire, and
another was shot through the shoulder.
“‘They quickly fled, and with a blood-curdling yell which spoke of
revenge to come.
“‘Then I turned my attention to the poor girl. My men cut her cords; but
her hands were so swollen as to be for a time paralyzed. So, too, were
her feet, so that even to stand was impossible.
“‘“To Heaven and you,” she said, as I lowered her down on a bank of
green grass--“to Heaven and you I owe my life.”
“‘“Do not talk too much just yet,” I said. “The savages will not return.
We should welcome them warmly if they did. But surely it was Providence
who sent us here.”
“‘Then I made her swallow a little of something from my flask. It was
well watered, and could not hurt.
“‘She revived a little, and with her own handkerchief I wiped the tears
from her eyes and face. Then I chafed her hands and tiny feet, and told
her she must rest until my men made a kind of litter to carry her to her
father’s home, which, she said, was very many miles away.
“‘Then she told me how the abduction had occurred.
“‘There dwelt here, she said, a tribe of what the few whites on the
island called the Amphibious Indians, because they lived as much on the
water, or even in it, as upon dry land. They were implacable savages,
but the whites and they had always been on the most friendly terms till
now, and Red Toad, the chief, often came to the Hall, as their home was
called, to beg for medicine for his braves, and never failed to bring
fish and game. The Indians who had stolen the girl were irreclaimable
renegades.
“‘“Oh,” she cried, tears beginning to flow afresh, “but for your
fortunate arrival the awful torture would have already commenced. Then
they would have buried me, and no one could have told what had become of
me.
“‘“I came away from home to-day to wander in the woods and cull wild
flowers. The servants will not even yet miss me. Father is in Florida,
but returns to-night. Mother, did you say? Ah! she is dead and gone
years ago, and I am the only child. But never before have the savages
attempted to molest us.”
“‘Well, if there was one thing more than another that I now felt certain
about, it was this: I had fallen suddenly but deeply in love with this
beautiful and innocent young girl.
“‘I lifted her gently into the litter the men had prepared. How light
she felt in my strong arms! Perhaps I held her therein just one brief
second longer than was necessary.
“‘I walked and talked by the litter all the way, I did not tell her all
my terrible story just then, however.
“‘I should wait.’”