A MANLY FANDANGO.
"While feet and tongues like lightning go
With--What cheer, Luke? and how do, Joe?
Dick Laniard chooses Meg so spruce,
And buxom Nell takes Kit Caboose."
"Now around they go, and around and around,
With hop, skip, and jump, and frolicsome bound,
Such sailing and gliding,
Such sinking and sliding,
Such lofty curvetting
And grand pirouetting,
Mix'd with the tones of a dying man's groans,
Mix'd with the rattling of dead men's bones."
Twilight had taken the place of the red sun, the stars came timidly out
one by one, and then in sparkling clusters the brilliant constellations
illumined the blue heavens as the rosy twilight faded again away. Then
the ripple of the inlet came with a tranquil musical sound upon the
white pebbly beach, the lizards in the holes and crevices of the rocks
began their plaintive wheetlings, the frogs and alligators joined in the
chorus from the low lagoon in the distance, and the early night of the
tropic had begun.
But louder far than the hum of the insects and reptiles, and brighter
than the lamps of heaven, arose the wild shouts and songs of the pirates
carousing, where the torches and wax-lights lit up the scene of their
orgies with the glare of day. The great mess-room was a blaze of light
from candles and lamps, stuck in brackets or gilt sconces about the
walls, or hanging awry in broken chandeliers from the lofty beams. The
remains of their feast had been cleared away, and the tables were
covered with bottles, cups, and glasses, with boxes of cigars and pans
of lighted coals. At one end of the room was a large table, on which was
laid a black cloth with a broad silver border--sometimes used by the
padre on great occasions--and covered with cards and piles of Mexican or
Spanish dollars. At the other end was a raised platform, where four or
five swarthy fellows with guitars in their hands were strumming away in
the clear rattling harmony of Spanish boleros and dances, shrieking out
at intervals snatches of songs in time to the music, or twirling the
instruments around their heads in a frenzy of excitement. At the
tables, too, were more of the excited band, vociferating with almost
superhuman fluency in various languages their exploits, pausing
occasionally amid the hubbub to clink their glasses together, and then
chattering and yelling on as before. In the centre of the apartment were
some half dozen of the same sort, either spinning around the floor in
the waltz, or moving with a certain air of careless, manly grace one
toward another in the gavotte or bolero. There were at the least some
sixty or seventy of these fellows in the room together, most of them
above the middle height, with finely-developed muscles, broad shoulders,
bushy whiskers, and flowing hair. They came apparently from all climes,
from Africa to the Mexican Gulf, and their features and complexions
partook of every imaginable type, from the light skin and florid
complexion of the Swede, to the low brow, oval olive cheek of the
Mediterranean, and the coal-black hue and flat nose of the Bight of
Benin. Their dress was uniform--frock collars cut square and thrown well
back over their ample chests; their nether limbs incased in clean duck
or brown linen trowsers, with silk sashes around their waists, and large
gold rings in their ears. Mingled here and there in the moving throng,
or leaning over the large table with the black cloth cover, were a few
fellows in the uniform rig of the Guarda Costa, in navy jackets and
black silk belchers around their throats; but all were without weapons
of any description, and were enjoying themselves each after his fancy.
Sentinels stood at the doors of the mess-room with drawn cutlasses over
their shoulders, so that in case of a violent quarrel or row, in dance,
drinking, or gaming, the culprits might be cared for.
While the uproar was at its height, and the lofty tiled roof was ringing
with the gay and ribald songs and shouts of the excited crowds, two
persons appeared in the doorway at the middle of the room, and entered.
In a moment, as the busy revelers beheld them, the dance ceased, the
music of the guitars died away in a tinkling cadenca, the glasses
stopped clinking, the dollars no longer chinked, and the songs and
shouts were hushed. You might have heard a _real_ drop for a minute,
until one of the individuals who had entered slowly walked forward a few
paces and threw his right hand aloft in salutation. Then burst forth a
hoarse, simultaneous shout of
"_Viva nuestro amigo! Viva el capitano!_"
Captain Brand did not pause until he had reached the centre of the great
hall, where he stood calmly looking around upon the swarthy groups, who
crowded about in circles at a respectful distance from him; and then
amid the silence he spoke up, in a frank, off-hand manner,
"Well, my men, I am glad to see you all once more around me. You have
not been so successful as I hoped, but we must take the good and ill
luck as it comes, and I have no fault to find with you. The times,
however, are bad enough; for I have certain news that our retreat here,
where we have so long been hid, may be discovered"--the villains around
held their breath and let their cigars lie dead in their mouths--"but,"
went on their commander, "I shall do all that is prudent in the
circumstances for the benefit of all of us; and when we leave here you
will still have me for your leader, with my head, heart, and blade ever
ready to advise or protect you." As he stopped speaking another cheer
arose:
"_Viva, nuestro amigo! viva! viva! El 'Centipede' y el capitano! Hasta
muerto!_ Long live the captain! We stand by you until death!"
"Thank you, my friends; I have but one more word to say. The men who
have the relief at the signal-stations and the water-battery must keep
sober. Now go on again with the music."
The captain, however, did not immediately quit the hall, but, while the
revel began once more with all its enthusiasm, he moved amid the crowd
of its adherents and said a cheerful word to many.
"Ah! Pepe, your arm in a sling, eh! a graze of a grape-shot, eh? Why,
Hans, you here! nothing can hurt _you_! Well, Monsieur Antoine, how well
thou art looking; and that pretty sweetheart of thine at St. Lucie! Bah!
never look sad, man; thou shalt see her again. What, my jolly Jack Tar!
an ugly scratch, that, across your jaw--a splinter, eh? Never mind; a
little plaster and half allowance of grog will put you all right again.
So good-night, my friends. _Adios!_"
Saying these words, all addressed to the individuals in their different
languages, he gave a graceful wave of his hand and passed out of the
building. As he rejoined his friend, the commander of the "Panchita,"
who had waited at the threshold, while his wary glim of an eye searched
the faces and read the thoughts of all the villains who clustered about
the room--they both stepped out into the court-yard and sauntered
pleasantly on toward the crag. They had not, however, proceeded many
paces before they encountered the padre and the doctor.
"Ah!" exclaimed the captain, who was in advance, "how goes it with my
doctor?" shaking his hand as he spoke. "Oh, _mi padre_, how art thou?"
turning to Ricardo.
"_Salve!_ my son; not been so well this morning, with the old rheumatism
in my head."
"Drunk!" said sententiously the doctor.
Then again with a gay laugh to the other, "Well, my doctor, your first
cruise has not been so pleasant in the 'Centipede' as I hoped it might
be, but the next may be more agreeable."
"Perhaps so, Captain Brand; but I shall have a word or two with you on
that subject to-morrow; and, in the mean while, _senor_, I brought a
little boy back with me who is ill from fever, and my quarters are so
stifling hot, and the air from the lagoon is so bad, that I would like
to stow him for a day or so, with your permission, in your quarters,
where it is cooler."
"Certainly, doctor; why not? my house and all in it are at your service.
By the way, I was about to ask you and the padre to dine with me and Don
Ignacio there. Will you join us? Yes? Then let us move on, for dinner
must be ready by this time, and it would be a sin to keep Babette
waiting."
Excusing himself for a few minutes, the doctor went for his sick charge,
and returned with him in his arms to the pirate's dwelling.