The Port Watch mingled about amongst the people and told them of all the
wonderful things that had happened, and of the many more wonderful
things that would be sure to happen if they did not at once combine
together and get their master, the old Sea King, to change the watches.
Of course the doings of the Port Watch could not be concealed from the
Starboard Watch, who went about contradicting, and swearing there was
not a word of truth in the whole thing.
The cook took under his especial care the Buccaneer's Upper Chamber, and
it is tolerably certain that happiness would not come to Pepper on his
death-bed, unless that lumber room with all its antiquated furniture was
cleared out of the old ship, and replaced by some assemblage of men as
clever as what the cook was himself; but to get the modest number of
only twelve such men, in a whole kingdom, would be almost impossible,
and this is providential.
The butcher was not idle. He did not speak much; but when he did, it was
to the purpose, and no one could say more cutting things than could
Billy Cheeks. He also thought a good deal; he was driven to this
extremity because most people, and most things, were beneath his notice.
The carpenter took under his care the family of Hodge; the members of
which were generally accredited with a full share of stupidity and
ignorance; but it is wonderful how the aspect of things changes when you
want to get anything out of people. Then we find virtues that were never
seen before, and that the individuals themselves never even dreamt of.
Then in the distance was the large family of Sikes. No one as yet had
found much virtue in them; but they were ready for anything that might
turn up, outside of it.
"Honest Hodge," cried the carpenter from the top of a barrel, "for
generations you have been oppressed."
"'Ave I now?" exclaimed Hodge, scratching his honest head. "I thought
summut was wrong."
The boy Demos who had been playing pitch and toss with the cook, left
the game to attend to what looked to him more like business.
"For generations," cried the carpenter, "you have been ignored and
defrauded by one whose rights are arbitrary, and almost absolute, for
they extend from the heavens above, to the earth beneath, and to the
waters under the earth." Demos became a most attentive listener and he
liked the tack the carpenter was on.
Chips continued, "The minerals are his. The timber is his, and so are
the birds of the air, and the fish that swim in the streams, and I
suppose that the greater part of all that the industry and toil of man
has added to the original value of that property, is now practically
subject to the land owner's sole consideration and good. Now I want to
see you, honest Hodge, replaced upon the old squire's land, at a fair
compensation, of course."
Upon hearing this Demos winked at Hodge, but the latter being very slow
of intellect, and moreover honest, did not take the wink in.
"But," said Hodge, "if the squire won't part, maister; what be we to do
then?"
"If the squire will not do his duty," replied the carpenter, "he must be
made to."
"And what be we to get out of it?" Hodge asked.
"The least you can expect, will be three acres and a cow," was the
carpenter's reply; or the reply of a friend of his.
Here one of the Sike's family pushed his way to the front, and
addressing himself to the carpenter, said, "Master, what are we to get
out of this crib you're agoing to crack?"
The question being an extremely awkward one to answer, the carpenter
pretended not to hear it. This is always a safe way out of such a
difficulty if the questioner be not persevering.
The Port Watch struck a more popular, and at the same time, a more
honest chord. "Look!" they cried, "at our market places! They are full
of the cheap produce of our neighbours, who do a thriving business while
our own people are starving. They bring their goods here without let or
hindrance; but they shut their own doors against us, or make us pay
toll. Look at the river there! that used to be crowded with our own
craft. Now you see the flag of every nation floating upon its bosom,
while our own ships are rotting for the want of something to do. Foreign
competition is ousting you from your markets as the marten ousts the
squirrel from her nest. If you want a coat, or a pair of trousers made,
in comes your foreign tailor who will sew and stitch for sixteen hours a
day for what is barely sufficient to keep body and soul together. If
you, my lads, come down, he will come down lower."
At this speech loud cries of indignation rose up from a multitude of
listeners, and the spokesman of a crowd of sailors, jumping up on a tar
barrel, exclaimed, "Damme, my mates! (It is a bad habit, but sailors
will swear.) The gentlemen of the Port Watch says true. We are being
weathered by these lubberly furriners, who visit our shores in shoals
like mackerel; and thus take all the wind out of our sails. Damme,
mates! they are that mean that a well worn quid won't escape them, can
we work against such varmint as these?"
"No!" came from a thousand hoarse throats.
"Is it right, my hearties," continued the speaker, "that the old man
should treat us like this?"
"It ain't right," came from all sides.
"Where would our master be now without us?" cried the sailor, "where
will he be if he allows these furrin chaps to put us down below hatches?
Who then will he have to trim and shorten his sails when the stormy
winds do blow? Will these fellows club-haul him off a lee-shore in the
teeth of a gale of difficulties; or fight for him his battles? Not they,
I'll swear."
The old sailor's yarn met with very great approval, and as is the custom
with all sailors they freely damned their own eyes, and hitched up
their trousers and swore that things were not as they ought to be; but
the cheap-Jacks still went about amongst them and sold their goods, and
people bought. Up too spoke many others, and there was scarcely a man to
be found, or woman either, that was contented.
There was a movement amongst the crowd and the old cox'sn came forward,
and getting up on the place vacated by the sailor, cried out: "Heave to,
my hearties, whilst you hear to a brother sailor spin you a yarn." There
was a feeling now pretty prevalent that they were in for a good thing.
"No doubt," he said, "many of you here know me by name."
"Aye, aye, Jack, we know you," came from many; "you are as long-winded
as a sky pilot, or as old Bill Dogvane, and any one knows he has wind
enough to fill the sails of a line o' battleship."
The old cox'sn, nothing daunted, continued: "Belay talking, my lads. No
doubt many of you know me by name, but many of you have no other
acquaintance with me, more is the pity say I. Long-winded I may be; but
I don't go about emptying myself like a wind-bag; but let that fly stick
to the wall. Many a voyage I have taken with my old master, and when on
the Spanish main together, looking out for the Don, we learnt a thing or
two. The Spaniards say, my lads, that it is always a good, and safe
thing, to search well yourself when anything goes wrong with you, and
that is what old Jack Commonsense tells you now. You want our master to
do this, and to do that, to protect this trade and that; but damme,
shipmates, legislation never yet stopped a leak in a cask, nor made a
stale egg into a fresh one. My mates! you are all of you heading in the
wrong direction. There are breakers ahead, so put your helm down and go
about as soon as you can. Don't you listen to those wiseacres who are
going to put everybody and everything right. The cook, he is a clever
lad, and can spin a cheerful yarn, but let him stick to his trade, and
the same I say to the carpenter and the butcher. You can never put an
injury right by committing a wrong, and if the carpenter or anyone else
wants to put his hand into the squire's pocket, he is only inviting a
thief into his own house. Let the cook then keep to his galley and cater
for the general public. His dishes are spicy, and then when he treats us
to a tune in his leisure hours upon his barrel organ, well, so much the
better, for there is no harm done."
The crowd began to show signs of impatience, and old Jack was made
painfully aware that he was not a popular orator, for the lovers of
freedom hooted him; but he was not easily put down. "Here, lads!" he
cried, "is where my Spanish proverb comes in. Search well yourselves,
and see if any fault lies at home. It is no use anchoring yourselves by
your starns, and crying out that trade is going, and that the
cheap-Jacks are taking the wind out of your sails. You ain't obliged to
buy from them, and who brought them over, pray? If trade is gone from
amongst you; it is yourselves that you have to blame. In years gone by
you combined against your employers; I don't say you were at all times
wrong, but evil counsel sat at your boards, and with your bushel of good
came a sackful of bad, you drove your trade out of doors and now you cry
out: 'Help us or we starve!' If your platter and your pewter pot be
empty, you have yourselves to thank. No song, no supper, is a good old
saying. If you, my hearties, won't work your fair time for your fair
wage, there are others who will. When you combined against capital,
mess-mates, you frightened, if you did not kill, the goose that was
laying your golden eggs. She is a timid bird and will only lay where she
gets peace and quiet. Having done all this, you are now crying out to be
protected, and think that all will be well again if this thing and that
thing are only legislated for; but legislation, my lads, as I've said
before, never yet bolstered up either a rotten state or a decaying
trade. You may stop for a time the footstep of the one or the other, but
the fall will surely come again unless you tap the part affected and
stop the hole with good, sound, solid material. Look at you servants!
Why, you are always on the move; some of you even are idle and insolent.
Do you not see the gaunt form of Poverty in front of you? Away then will
go your airs and graces, your flaunting ribbons and your finery Beware
how you listen to the teaching of Demos. He is a dangerous companion and
generally turns and rends those who have housed and fed him. A bridle
for the mouth of an ass, and a rod for the back of a spoilt child."
There was here some good-natured bandying of words, and old Jack was
recommended to try the bridle himself, just to see, as they said, how it
felt and how it fitted. Jack being a good-tempered fellow, continued his
harangue: "My advice, my hearties, to you is this. Turn to and live
thrifty lives. Take your hands out of your pockets. Do away with the
quart pot and you will increase the amount of stuff upon your platter.
If you cannot do away with the pewter altogether--and I am no
teetotaller myself--then reduce its size to at least a half. By a strict
regard to economy, and by practising self-denial and by cultivating your
understanding in a proper direction, try to turn out a better and a
cheaper article than your neighbours and so beat them on their own
ground. Do this, my hearties, and you will win back trade and regain
your place in the markets of the world."
The old coxswain had been listened to for some time with a respectful
attention; but the doctrine he preached was not at all in keeping with
the general sentiments of the disaffected, who were stirred up and
incited to violence by Demos and his disciples, and very shortly there
was a disturbance of a serious nature. It was commenced by Demos, who
having gathered a crowd of followers round him, began to speak to them
in language peculiarly his own. The consequence of this was that some
one from amongst the crowd, aimed a brickbat, with too true an aim, at
the Buccaneer's old coxswain, who amidst the delighted yells of the mob
was knocked over. The excitement now was intense, for though old Jack
was not killed, he was severely bruised, and shaken, and taken very much
by surprise. Those who have never heard the angry howl of an infuriated
mob of Buccaneers can have no conception of the savageness of its sound.
The war whoop of the wildest Indians is soft compared to it, and the
roar of hungry wild beasts is less terrifying. Demos with what he called
"the people" now rushed to an open space, beautifully situated, but
called the Place of Discord, where four grim lions watch night and day,
but they never interfere, and nobody minds them. Here Demos harangued
the multitude; told them they were being starved and trodden under foot,
by the drones of the island. His language was violent in the extreme. He
called upon them to break their chain of slavery and to elect as their
ruler King Mob. This was but natural, so up on their shoulders they
hoisted the bloody tyrant and cried out: "Havoc and robbery; now shall
the gilded thieves disgorge their ill-gotten wealth." Away they made for
the rich quarters of the Buccaneer's fair city, intent upon plunder if
not murder; but they were met by the guardians of the peace, behind whom
came the old coxswain with a chosen band, cutlass in hand. He called
upon his men to rally round him. Now commenced a battle between the two
factions. The partisans of King Mob nerved on and excited by the hope of
plunder fell upon the champions of law and order. Heads were broken and
the combatants fell struggling to the ground, and the crowd swayed
backwards and forwards in fierce strife. At first the old coxswain and
his side seemed to be getting the worst of it, but he fought like a
veritable demon, laying about him in a fashion well worthy of the
Buccaneer's best fighting days.
What seemed most strange was, that the watchword was the same on both
sides, namely Liberty. Step by step, the old Coxswain was beaten back
through a narrow gorge which opened on to a small square in the centre
of which was a statue representing Victory in her idle hours, playing at
quoits. This open space was flanked on one side by a museum of Naval and
Military antiquities, glorious relics of a glorious past. On the other
side of the square and away from the narrow gorge was another museum,
which was filled with a most valuable collection of ancient fossils, and
other scientific remains. Back into this open space the old coxswain and
his men were forced. Inch by inch they disputed the narrow way. Old Jack
every now and again let fly a quaint oath or two; but as he afterwards
said, the occasion justified the deed. In a voice of thunder he kept
cheering his men on, crying out, "Rally, men! Rally!" Just as King Mob
was pushing old Jack extremely hard, assistance came from an unexpected
quarter.
The uncrowned queen had shut herself up indoors; but Madam Liberty upon
whom both sides had called, came now to the front and allied herself
with the coxswain. Knowing full well that if she allowed the ugly faced
monarch to gain the day, she herself would, in all probability, be bound
hand and foot, and cast into prison, with a gag in her mouth, she threw
all her weight on the side of the coxswain, and brought up just in time
her numerous followers to the rescue. Demos when he saw his mother
against him, made use of most disrespectful language, calling her all
kinds of bad names, which will not bear repeating. Just as Liberty
reinforced the coxswain in front, the Beggar Woman who was now mounted
on horseback, attacked King Mob with a strong force on his flank. Thus
assailed, and without either drill or discipline the would-be monarch
wavered, then turned and fled through the Place of Discord. The retreat
was disastrous, and his followers were driven back well within their own
quarters. As they went they did what damage they could; smashed windows
and laid their hands upon everything of value that came in their way.
Thus was Demos and his father for the time at least defeated, and the
old coxswain and his allies were hailed as the saviours of the people.
In olden days, no doubt, he would have been accorded by universal
acclamation a triumph, when he would have made a public entry into the
Buccaneer's great city, mounted on a magnificent horse richly
caparisoned; with his two lieutenants, Liberty and Patriotism, riding
one on either side of him. Such things, however, have long ceased to be,
and now we can only read of them in the pages of history.
The Buccaneer's people celebrated the victory in a manner more in
keeping with their character and disposition. When the noise and turmoil
of the battle were over and the fighting men had left off swearing; when
their passions had cooled down a little, the bells upon the old Church
Hulk rang out a summons to prayers. The joyful sound was taken up by
every belfry on shore, and soon the clang of the iron tongues vibrated
all over the island. The many idlers took their last sip at the cup of
pleasure. The churches filled; the people prayed, the priests all
preached and the great Hat was sent round. That was never forgotten, no
matter what was going on. Many consciences were eased and all were
strengthened and made more ready for the wear and tear of everyday life;
while the cheap-Jacks took advantage of the pious moments of the
Buccaneer's people to push their trade.
It is not to be supposed that the Buccaneer's Press gang were idle on
such an occasion. But to their credit it must be said that they all,
with about one exception, forgot their little differences and took the
side of law and order against the followers of King Mob.
But now the big mouthed cannon belched forth the joyful tidings of the
Buccaneer's return. Loud cries of welcome greeted his ears as he stepped
ashore. "Hail! all hail! to the old sea king; to the mighty trader! Hail
to the Defender of the Faith, the ruler of the sea; to him on whose vast
dominions the sun never sets! Hail! all hail," so cried the people.