the cavern. We saw two boats put off from each, filled with men wearing
the leather hats and steel cuirasses of the Spanish soldiery. Spying at
them with Hilary, I reckoned that they must number sixty or more. They
landed at a point near where my hut had been, and 'twas soon plain from
their cries that they had come upon parts of the wreckage of the
_Elizabeth_. Some of them ascended the cliff, and went into the
woodland, doubtless to gather fruits; whereupon I quitted the cavern,
and stealthily made my way up, to see what they were about. I entered
the woods after them, and witnessed their stark amazement when they
lighted upon signs of the recent felling of trees. Anon they hasted
back to their main body on the beach; a council was held, and then the
whole company, save only a few men left to guard the boats, set forth
with the manifest purpose to search for the woodcutters.
Thereupon Tom Hawke proposed we should seize the boats and row out to
the galleons and board them. But this bold device Hilary would by no
means countenance. Besides that we knew not what force of men there
might still be left on the vessels, we must needs go at the very least
two hundred yards in the open ere we could win to the boats, in full
sight of the men on guard. The alarm would be given, and the Spaniards
might be upon us before we could put off. But since the advantage is
ever with the attack, I made bold to put forward another plan, to wit,
that we should quit the cavern, steal into the woods, and lay an ambush
for the men that were prowling there. This proposal was debated for a
while among our assembly, and being presently approved by all, Captain
Q, who comprehended everything with perfect soundness of mind, set off
with drawn sword in the quality of leader.
We stole out of the cavern secretly by favour of the brushwood screen,
and followed him in great quiet round the shoulder of the cliff, winding
about thence until we gained the wood. There we stood fast, and I went
alone among the trees to discover the direction of the Spaniards' march.
I crept in and out as a hunter might stalk his quarry, and by and by
perceived them proceeding slowly, in close ranks, silently, and with
their matches already kindled. I knew that the course they were taking
would bring them in due time to a ravine, narrow, and of no great depth,
that wound through the woodland, a little brook running along its
bottom. Bethinking me that, could we gain the further side of the
ravine, we should be in rare good case to deal with the Spaniards, I
sped back to my friends, acquainted them with what I had seen, and led
them swiftly through the wood.
We had no sooner taken post in the copse I had designed for our ambush,
than we espied the Spaniards coming directly towards us. And then 'twas
Captain Q who made our dispositions. However disordered his wits might
be in common matters, he lacked nothing in the parts of a skilful
commander. Keeping ten with him, of whom I was one, he bade the rest to
steal down the ravine, ascend the nearer bank at a convenient spot, and,
when they should hear sounds of a fray with us, come with great speed
and fall upon the enemy in the rear. Hilary departed very willingly on
this errand, and we ten remained close in hiding with Captain Q. I
marked how his eyes gleamed, and his lips pressed firmly the one upon
the other, and I was fain to conclude he had a very great courage and
delight in battle.
His design was to wait until the Spaniards came to the brink of the
ravine, and then salute them with a volley. But just as it was the
vivid red of his garments that first drew my eyes to him, so now the
same brightness made our situation known to the enemy before they came
within gunshot of us. One of them spied him, and cried out; the company
halted and blew upon their matches; then their captain called to us in a
loud voice to yield ourselves, and when we made no answer, he bade his
men advance. They pressed forward until they were come within a few
paces of the ravine, and set up their muskets on the rests to have good
aim at us. And then, to be beforehand with them, Captain Q gave us the
word to fire, the which we obeyed all ten together, whereby a half-dozen
of the Spaniards fell; and while in all haste we primed our weapons
again, their captain divided his company into two bands, and sent them
to right and left to scale the ravine and come through the wood upon our
flanks. To a seasoned man of war, as doubtless he was, the fewness of
our numbers was made apparent when we discharged our guns.
There was not a man of us but knew we stood in great peril. The enemy
was of Spain's finest soldiery, and though by the grace of God we
English have beaten them many times on field and flood, we have had
proofs enough of their valour. If our friends should fail to come at
point to our aid, we could not by any means prevail against them. But
Captain Q bade us set our backs against trees, half of us facing to the
right, half to the left, and we stood there ready to do what Englishmen
might against our Queen's enemies.
We could not hear their approach; doubtless they hoped to creep close to
us and then overwhelm us in one general assault. My heart smote upon my
ribs, and my lips grew wondrous dry; 'tis no mean trial to a man to
stand thus awaiting an enemy whom he cannot see, and knowing that in one
swift moment he may be at grips with death. And suddenly there was a
roar of muskets, and immediately afterwards, through the smoke, I saw
the Spaniards rushing towards us. My musket was in its rest; blindly
and with fumbling fingers I set my match to the touch-hole and pulled
the cock, and, having fired my shot, drew my sword and stood to defend
myself. Our volley had checked the onrush, but only for a moment, and I
saw a crowd of Spaniards leaping as it were straight upon me. Then
Captain Q came to my side, crying out that we would fight shoulder to
shoulder, and his presence and cheerful words filled me with a new
courage.
The enemy were yet a dozen paces from us, and we had our swords
outthrust to meet them, when the air rang with English shouts, and a
great din of firing, and some of the Spaniards fell on their faces, and
rose not again. The rest came to a halt, threw a glance behind, and
beheld our men, with Hilary at their head, springing like deer from the
edge of the ravine. This sight was enough for their stomachs. The
Spaniards fled as one man, leapt into the ravine, clambered up the other
side, and made all speed by the way they had come, to regain their
boats. Our men ran after them, and pursued them to the verge of the
woodland, and would have continued to the very margin of the sea, but
Captain Q forbade them, fearing that, if the enemy saw the smallness of
our company, they would rally, and on the open strand would have us at
advantage. And so we did not show ourselves much beyond the line of
trees, but stood there and watched the Spaniards as they hasted down to
the shore, and, embarking on their boats, returned to the galleons.
[Illustration: THE SPANIARDS LEAPT INTO THE RAVINE AND CLAMBERED UP THE
OTHER SIDE]
The tale of our loss was exceeding small. One poor fellow was killed,
four had received hurts, but slight. We were all wondrous merry at the
happy issue of our ambush, and Captain Q put on the high look and
swelling port of a conqueror.
*III*
The enemy having departed, we wondered what they would do, scarce
supposing that they would sail away without making another attempt upon
us. Yet it appeared that this was their purpose, for as soon as the
boats were hoisted aboard, the anchors were weighed, and the ships stood
away towards the west of the island. This put Captain Q in a fury. He
commanded the men to make all speed to finish and complete their task at
the cavern, so that he might sail out and pursue the vessels. But this
was mere foolishness, and I humoured him with talk of other fights in
store. Hilary Rawdon again dispatched a sentinel up the hill, bidding
him to post himself at a spot whence he could see, with the aid of a
perspective glass, the channel between Tortuga and Hispaniola. It had
come into his mind that the Spaniards had perchance sailed away merely
to land on the southern shore of the island, with the intent to march
again upon us unawares. But the man told us by and by that one of the
ships had heaved-to in the channel to the south, while the other was
making all sail to the westward.
"'Tis bound for St. John of Goave or San Domingo, without doubt," said
Hilary, "to bring back a force sufficient to annihilate us."
"What grace have we before they can return?" I asked.
"Maybe a week, maybe more. 'Tis always 'to-morrow' with the Spaniards.
They put off both the evil day and the good, and many's the time they
have come to grief for no other reason than their habit of
procrastination. We will make all speed, Kitt. 'Twould be a sin to let
this great treasure fall into their hands through any sloth of ours."
The men worked with right good-will, hauling away the rocks from the
entrance of the cavern, until they left the passage clear. But even at
high tide there was no depth of water sufficient to float the galleon,
and we must needs take thought how to bring her to the sea. We soon
proved, to our great joy, that she rested on sand, and we had but to dig
beneath her, and to cut a channel, and with the flood tide we could haul
her out. But we could not begin this work until the next low tide, when
the water in the cavern, having now a free outlet, flowed away. We
built a dam to prevent its return, and then, by dint of toiling
steadily, some resting while the others worked, we contrived in two days
to grave out a dock wherein the vessel might ride. The work was done
with great quietness, for the enemy's galleon was anchored but a few
miles away, and 'twas very necessary that no sound should provoke them
to come and spy what we were about. The mariners knew how much hung on
their being left undisturbed until the ship could be rigged and towed
out to sea, and they put a great restraint upon themselves. There was
risk enough in the chance that a Spanish ship might appear off the
coast. The spectacle of a dismantled hull could not fail to attract her
notice, and if she should be a ship of war there was little hope that
the _San Felipe_ would ever sail the sea again.
To step the masts was no trifling business. The stump of the old
mainmast was broken off low down and jaggedly, and 'twas a full day's
work for the most skilful of the _Elizabeth's_ carpenters to fit the
stump for the pine stem they had prepared. The mast itself was but
roughly finished. It was not stripped of its bark: the time would not
serve for niceties; Hilary indeed doubted whether, with the utmost
expedition, we should have the vessel in navigable trim before the
galleons returned. By good luck the stump of the mizzen had not been
snapped off so low as the others; and a jury mast was rigged in a third
of the time the mainmast had taken.
The _San Felipe_ had no boats, all she had carried having been stove in
during the earthquake and washed away. But a boat of some sort was
needful to tow the vessel out; wherefore, while some men were scraping
the hull, and others rigging the spars, the rest hastened to the woods
and worked with might and main to fashion a canoe of cedar. Though we
employed every minute of daylight, the men taking turns to rest in the
hot hours, 'twas full ten days before the work was done. And then one
afternoon, when we were lying on the cliffs basking in ease we had not
known for many a day, the sentinel espied three sail low down on the
horizon to the west.
"Without doubt the Dons are coming back for us," cried Hilary. Then in
French he asked Captain Q, with a show of deference, to give us his
commands.
"We will sail forth and fight them," cried the dauntless Captain.
"'Tis a brave saying," said Harry Loveday; "but methinks 'twere best to
sail out by night and make what speed we may for home. We have the
treasure, and though I am as ready as any man to fight when there is
somewhat to be gained by fighting, I hold that in our present case, with
the enemy maybe four to one, 'twould best beseem us to secure what we
have. 'Twas for treasure we came, not for needless knocks."
"There is much reason in thee, Harry," said Hilary, "and I own if 'twere
sure we should escape these villain Dons and come safe to an English
haven, I might think thy counsel just. But consider: the wind is light;
our vessel is in no trim to make good sailing; and if the wind holds as
at this present we could scarce run out of sight of the Spaniards before
dawn. 'Tis full moon: we should be discerned from a great way off; and
when they see us they can run us down. Furthermore, the guns on our
galleon are light metal, and we have no great store of powder and ball,
so that we are in no case to fight a war-ship, furnished, beyond doubt,
with heavy guns. Remember, we barely outsailed the Spaniards even when
we were in our own well-found (but ill-fated) _Elizabeth_; and if we
could not stand to fight two, as all agreed we could not, how much less
can we stand to fight three?"
While Hilary was thus reasoning, Captain Q, who, having given his voice
for fighting, was confident we should obey without question, had gotten
himself away, so that we were left to converse at our pleasure. I well
knew that, by dint of my artifices of persuasion, I could bring the
Captain to believe that, whatsoever resolution we might come to, it
sprang from him.
"Well, then," said Tom Hawke in answer to Hilary, "if we must not run,
for fear of being overhauled, what is left for us to do? If we cannot
fight three Spanish ships on the high sea, assuredly we cannot fight the
crews of them on land, and 'tis certain as to-morrow's sunrise that we
must be discovered here."
"What if Captain Q be right?" said I. "Is not the bold course the best?
If we bide here and wait to be attacked, the event will be even as Tom
says: the don Spaniards outnumber us, and with all the will in the world
we can scarce hold out against them. But might we not attack the vessel
at anchor before the three others join with her? Aboard of her we might
show a clean pair of heels to the Dons."
"Why didst not speak before, Kitt?" cried Hilary. "The time is
fleeting, and while we still prate these vessels are sailing ever
nearer. In sooth, yours is the way, and we will obey Captain Q's
command."
We had cast down the dam that had been raised, and the tide being at the
flood, the sea filled our dock, and we saw with great delight the _San
Felipe_ float upright on her keel. The most of us got aboard her; the
rest towed her out of the cavern; then they also came aboard, and
Captain Q looked round with pleasure on his company.
Having hoisted the sails (poor patched things as they were), we set a
course eastward along the shore, the wind blowing from the north-east.
Our design was to round the island and come with the wind down upon the
galleon at her anchorage off the south coast. We hoped in the
night-time we might surprise her and take possession of her, and then
slip her cables and make away before the three vessels we had seen could
beat up against the wind.
The wind being so contrary, we could make no good offing, and were in
some peril of running on sunken rocks, to say nothing of that other
peril of meeting an enemy's ship or flotilla. But by sunset we came
safe at the north-eastern corner of the island. We rounded the eastern
side, sailing large, and turned into the channel betwixt Hispaniola and
Tortuga even as the moon rose upon our right hand. A black night would
have most favoured our design of capturing the galleon; but our master
said we had first to come at her, and being ignorant of the channel, he
was right glad to have some light upon the course.
The southern shore of Tortuga bends at its middle somewhat to the
north-west, so that for a time the galleon was hidden from our eyes, and
we could keep the mid-channel without risk of being seen. But when we
had come to that point, our master was fain to steer somewhat nearer to
the cliffs: 'twould mayhap ruin our scheme if we were espied too soon by
the Spaniards, wherefore he said we had best avail ourselves of the
shadows where we could. Hilary and I stood at the helm beside the
master, and we were troubled when we felt the keel graze a sandbank. At
the fall of night the wind had freshened, and we were making a fair
speed, so that if the vessel struck there would be but a small chance of
hauling her off, even if she did not spring a leak and take water. By
good luck and the care of our master we escaped these perils of shoals,
and drew nearer to our goal.
We did not doubt a good watch would be kept on board the galleon, the
which had taken up her present station, as we reckoned, so as to guard
against any attempt of ours to cross to Hispaniola on rafts or canoes.
Doubtless, also, they would have their guns ready loaded and their
matches kindled; and maybe the vessel was riding on a spring cable.
Hilary bade the most of our men to lie down out of sight, so that when
the Spaniards should behold us, as they must soon do, they might not
take alarm from a crowded deck.
"We must be wary, Kitt," said Hilary to me. "'Twould be rank ill-luck if
she should slip her cable and stand away to meet the galleons out of the
west, and maybe fire a gun to give 'em warning."
Being nearer shore, the _San Felipe_ went more slowly than when she was
out in mid-channel. We crept round the jutting points and across the
coves very stealthily, the men holding perfect silence, so that the
Spaniards on the vessel lying at anchor had no warning of our approach
and nearness until, as we fetched about a low spit of land, we came to a
straight reach of the channel, and beheld the enemy half-a-mile distant.
Since secrecy was no longer to be maintained, Hilary bade the master to
steer full into the broad path of the moonlight, so that we might be
distinctly seen. With his perspective glass the sentinel on the vessel
would discover the _San Felipe_ to be of Spanish build, and we trusted
that he would suppose her to be a friend. At Hilary's bidding some of
our men made ready their grappling-irons, and so we drew nearer to the
anchorage.
A light moved on the ship's deck, and we judged that we must now have
been seen. As soon, therefore, as we came within hailing distance,
Hilary commanded Richard Ball, who had some Spanish, to go into the bows
and question what the vessel was.
"The galleon _Bonaventura_, of his Catholic Majesty of Spain," came the
answer to his shout. "Heave-to, or we fire! Who are you?"
"The galleon _San Felipe_, chased by corsairs," cried Ball. "Can we
anchor hereby?"
"Aye. Heave-to; we will send a boat. Are the corsairs dogs of
English?"
"English and French," says Ball, cocking an eye at Captain Q, who was
reclining below the level of our bulwarks, so that his red garments
should not betray us.
"Cry that our helm is injured, and we will lower sail," said Hilary.
This Ball did, and our master bade the men to lower sail; but before
'twas done we had run very near to the _Bonaventura_, and there was
enough way on our vessel to bring her alongside. We had come within a
cable length of the Spaniard when we saw her boat let down, and then,
our helm being put up, we drifted still closer upon the enemy.
"Bid them beware, or we shall be foul of them," said Hilary.
And as Ball cried aloud, we heard much old swearing on the
_Bonaventura's_ decks, the which were at this time thronged with men.
The captain (as Ball informed us) cursed our damaged helm very heartily,
it being answerable, as he supposed, for this imminent risk of fouling.
But in truth our helm was in right good trim, and the master chuckled in
merry sort as he ran the _San Felipe_ close alongside of the
_Bonaventura_, their bulwarks just touching.
And then, at the word from Hilary, our men cast their grapnels aboard,
and our whole company, with machetes and half-pikes from the _San
Felipe's_ armoury, leapt upon the _Bonaventura's_ deck. Captain Q was
the first to board, and the Spaniards cried out in amazement when they
saw his tall red figure springing towards them, rapier in hand, and with
two score men behind, all silent, for Hilary had commanded them to hold
their peace, lest the other vessels should be near at hand.
The swiftness of our onset took the Spaniards all aback. Some of them,
being unarmed, shrank away from us; the rest gathered about their
captain at the mainmast, where they stood to ward off our attack, and
for some five minutes held us at bay. 'Twas a hand-to-hand encounter;
there were no fire-arms used; steel clashed on steel, and many shrewd
knocks were given and taken. But, saving in point of numbers, the odds
were all against the hapless Spaniards. The very look of Captain Q, his
strange garb, his war-lit countenance, had some part in daunting them,
and as we pressed vehemently upon them, Hilary and Tom Hawke in the
fore-front, they fell into a panic, and cast down their arms, crying for
quarter. Hilary bade our men instantly seize them and carry them below,
and within a little they were all safe bestowed and battened under
hatches.
[Illustration: THE SWIFTNESS OF OUR ONSET TOOK THE SPANIARDS ALL ABACK]
And now I espied their boat that had been lowered making all speed to
the westward, and I asked Hilary whether we should not pursue them,
believing that their intent was to acquaint those on the approaching
galleons with what had befallen.
"Let 'em go," cried he, with a laugh. "If they do fall in with the
vessels and tell them their tale, we shall be departed ere they can
bring them to us."
"And they will not reach them," said Tom Hawke. "See, the boat has run
upon a reef."
'Twas even as he had said. The crew strove hard to pull the boat clear,
but without avail, and then they leapt overboard and waded waist-deep
towards the shore. Not all of them came safe to it. On a sudden we
heard a blood-curdling scream, and then another. Beyond question some
of the hapless men had fallen a prey to ground-sharks.
*IV*
The _Bonaventura_ having thus become ours, we made haste to bring to her
such useful stores as the _San Felipe_ contained, and the chests holding
the treasure. I went with Captain Q into the cabin, and observed with
what pangs he saw his chests in the hands of our men. He stood on watch
when they were set on a cradle for slinging on deck; and followed every
movement with a jealous eye until the chests were bestowed in the cabin
of the _Bonaventura_. They were three in number, two large and one
small, and when the two former had been removed, Captain Q appeared
content, and was for leaving the third behind. I remembered that I had
never seen this one open, and knowing what delight he took in
contemplating and fingering the contents of the others, I could not but
suppose that the smallest chest held things of little worth. Seeing
that the Captain appeared in a mind to leave it, I asked him whether
that was his intent, and he replied that it held nought but old papers,
accounts, and bills of lading, and such-like things, and told me very
courteously that I might have it for my own. 'Twas not a gift I greatly
valued, but I would not vex him by refusing it, and so I made one of the
men convey it to the _Bonaventura_.
While the mariners were busied about transferring the things from the
one vessel to the other, Hilary took counsel with his friends as
touching the disposal of the Spanish prisoners now huddled in the hold.
I spoke for carrying them with us, and putting them ashore either on
some island we should pass on our homeward voyage, or on the coast of
Spain when we had crossed the ocean. But Tom Hawke cried out very
stoutly against this.
"Why should we burden ourselves with them?" he said. "The ship will
sail the lighter without them; and bethink ye what a monstrous deal of
food they will consume! Let us batten them down in the hold of the _San
Felipe_ and so leave them."
"As I live, a right good notion!" said Hilary. "Be sure they will be
found when the other vessels come up, and 'twould please me mightily an
I could see the meeting. 'Twill be a cause of delay also, for they will
assuredly tell what has befallen them, and every minute thus filled will
better our chances of escape."
"But they will increase our enemies' force, and, moreover, we shall lose
as many minutes in carrying them from this vessel to the _San Felipe_,"
said I.
"Which we shall gain by the lightening of our freight," replied Hilary.
"And we will e'en set about it at once, while the men are still bringing
the goods aboard."