whom, when on a former cruise, I had rescued from a Turkish Trader, was
a favorite with all on board. Although, in person, effeminate and
beautiful as a girl, and possessing the strong affections of the weaker
sex, he still was not wanting in that high courage and energy which
constitutes the pride of manhood. He was an orphan, and with the
exception of a sister and aunt, who were living together in England,
there was not, in the wide world, one being with whom he could claim
relationship. When very young, he had been entrusted to the charge of
the friendly captain of a merchant ship, bound to Smyrna, for the
purpose of improving his health. But the vessel never reached her
destined port. She was captured by an Algerine rover, and the boy made
prisoner. It was from the worst of slavery that I had rescued him, and
ever after the occurrence his gratitude toward me knew no bounds. He
appeared to be contented and happy in his present situation, save when
his thoughts reverted to his lone sister. Then the tears would spring
into his eyes, and he would talk to me of her beauty and goodness, till
I was almost in love with the pure being which his glowing descriptions
had conjured to my mind. I loved that boy as a brother, and he returned
my affection with a fervor, equalling that of a trusting woman.
As I leaned against the companion-way, absorbed in pleasant dreams of my
far home, a touch on the shoulder aroused me. I turned and Percy stood
by my side. The beauty of the evening had soothed his wild and agitated
feelings. He spoke of his wife with touching regret, as if certain that
she was lost to him forever. For nearly an hour he stood gazing on the
moon's bright attendant, as if he fancied it her home.
At length he disappeared below, and again Ponto, who seemed to be
wrapped in a deep revery, was my only companion. We had remained several
minutes in silence, when suddenly, as if it had dropped from the clouds,
a female form appeared far above us, on a precipitous bluff that leaned
out over the deep, on which the solitary moonlight slept in unobstructed
brightness. The form advanced so near the brink of the fearful crag,
that we could even distinguish the color of her drapery as it fluttered
in the wind. By the motion of her arms she seemed beckoning us on shore;
then, as if despairing to attract our attention, she looked fearfully
about, and the next moment a strain of exquisite melody came floating
down to us, like a voice from heaven. We remained breathless, and could
almost distinguish the words.
The strain terminated in a startling cry, and with a frantic gesture the
figure tore a crimson scarf from her neck, and shook it wildly on the
winds; at the same moment the dark form of a man leaped out on the
cliff. There was a short struggle, with reiterated shrieks of 'help!
help! help!' in a voice of agony, and all disappeared in the deep shadow
of another rock.
Ponto, who at the first burst of the song, had started up and grasped my
arm with a degree of wild energy I had never witnessed in him before,
now suddenly released his hold, and with a single bound plunged into the
sea. So lost was I in amazement at the whole scene, that for a moment I
remained undecided what course to pursue; then, not wishing to alarm the
ship, I ordered Waters, the midshipman of the watch, to jump into the
boat with a few of the men, and pull after him.
The head of my little favorite soon became visible in the moonlight.
With a vigorous arm he struck out for the shore, and was immediately hid
in the deep shadow of its mural cliffs. A moment, and I again saw him on
the beetling rocks, whence the female had just disappeared; then he,
too, was lost in the darkness.
Waters, after being absent in the boat about half an hour, returned
without having discovered the least sign of the fugitive. Hour after
hour I awaited the return of my adventurous boy, filled with painful
anxiety.
As the night deepened, the clouds, which during the day had slumbered on
the mountain battlements, as if held in awe by the majesty of the
burning sun, rolled slowly down the steeps and gradually spread out on
the sea, enveloping us in their humid embrace. A denser mist I never
saw; my thin clothing was soon wet through and clinging to me like steel
to a magnet, and we were completely lost in darkness. As I paced the
deck, not willing to go below while my young favorite was in peril,
Waters tapped me on the shoulder.
"Did you notice any thing then, Mr. Hackinsack? I thought I heard a
splash in the water, like the dip of an oar."
"Some fish, I suppose, Waters."
"I think not, Sir; besides, just now I saw a dark object gliding slowly
across our bow in the mist, which I then took for a drifting log."
I walked round the deck and peered into the fog on every side, but could
discover nothing. I listened; all was silent save the tweet, tweet, of
the lizards and the roar of the surf, as it beat on the rocks astern.
Presently old Benjamin Ramrod, the gunner, came aft.
"I wish this infernal fog would clear up!" said he, "for the last half
hour, I have heard strange noises about us! I am much mistaken, or we
are surrounded by enemies of some sort or other. When that shining
apparition arose from the bluff there, and began to beckon to us, I said
to myself, some accident is going to happen before many hours, and you
see if my pro'nostics ar'n't true. Minded you how, by her sweet voice,
she lured that poor boy, Ponto, overboard?--and even I, who may say I've
had some experience in such matters, began to feel a queerish sensation,
as I harkened to her witchery. Many a poor sailor has lost his life by
listening to their lonesome-like songs. I remember once when I was on
the coast of Africa, in a gold-dust and ivory trader, we heard the
water-wraiths and mermaids singing to each other all night long, and the
very next day our ship was driven upon the rocks in a white squall, and
wrecked, and only myself and a Congo nigger escaped alive, out of a crew
of twenty-three!--It strikes me, too," he continued, after listening a
moment, "that we shall have a storm before morning; the fog seems to be
brushing by us, and the noise of the breakers on shore grows terribly
loud. I would give all the prize-money I ever gained to be out of the
place, with good sea-room, a flowing sheet, and our bows turned toward
home--no good ever came of fighting these pirate imps.--Heaven help us!
what is that?" he exclaimed with a start, as a tall, white form shot
up, a few rods under our stern, seen but dimly through the fog.
The fact flashed upon me at once; our cable had been cut; it was the
spray of the breakers rebounding from the shore. The best bower anchor
was instantly let go, which brought us up; not however till we had
drifted within a cable's length of the breakers, which ramped and roared
all the night with maddening violence, as if eager to engulf us. The
alarm was given, and in a few minutes every thing was prepared for any
emergency that might occur.
I ordered Ramrod to clap a charge of grape into one of the bow-chasers
and let drive at the first object that came in sight. As I gave the
order the dip of oars could be plainly distinguished, receding from our
bows. Benjamin did not wait to see the marauders, but fired in the
direction of the sound. The fog was swept away before the mouth of the
gun, to some distance, and I caught a glimpse of a boat filled with men.
A deep groan told that the gun had been rightly directed.
There was now no doubt that we were surrounded by enemies. It was only
by the foreboding watchfulness of the gunner that we were prevented from
going ashore, where, doubtless, the pirates expected to have obtained an
easy victory over us.
About ten minutes after this incident I was startled by the faint voice
of Ponto, hailing me from under the schooner's side. I joyfully lowered
the man-ropes, and immediately had the adventurous boy beside me, on the
quarter-deck. He grasped my hand, and I felt him tremble all over with
eagerness.
"You heard that song; the voice was that of my own sister! That shriek,
too, was hers; do you wonder that I leaped overboard? I scarcely know
how I reached the rock from which she was dragged. I climbed up and up,
in the direction I supposed they must have taken, until I gained the
very summit of one of the hills. I looked down, and as it were floating
in the haze, many feet below me, saw the face of a rock reddened by the
blaze of a fire opposite. I clambered from cliff to cliff, clinging to
the branches of the trees, and letting myself down by the mountain
creepers that hung like thick drapery over the descent, till all at once
I dropped over the very mouth of a deep cavern. A massy vine fell in
heavy festoons down over the rugged pillars that formed its portal.
Securing a foothold among its tendrils, concealed by its luxuriant
foliage, I bent over and looked in. A large party of fierce-looking men,
with pistols in their belts and cutlasses lying by them, were seated
round a rude table, feasting and making merry over their wine beakers. I
paid little attention to them, for against the rough wall was an old
woman, and leaning upon her--as I live, it is true--was my own, my
beautiful sister, she whom I had left in England! I thought my heart
would have choked me, as I looked upon her pale, sorrowful face, and
heard her low sobs. In my tremor the vine shook; some loose stones were
started, and went clattering down into the very mouth of the cavern. Two
of the pirates sprang up, and seizing a flaming brand, rushed out. The
red blaze flashed over her face as they passed, and I heard them
threaten her with a terrible fate, if they were discovered through her
means. At the first start of the rocks I drew back into the vines, where
I remained breathless and still, while they scanned the recesses of the
crag. 'We were mistaken, Jacopo,' at length said one of them, 'it was
probably a guana, drawn hither by the fire.' Satisfied that no one was
near, they returned to their comrades, who ridiculed them for their
temerity.
"Again I listened, and heard them plan to cut the cable of the Dart, and
run her into the breakers. If they failed in this attempt, they were to
haul the Sea-Sprite out of her hiding place and leave the coast,
trusting, with the aid of the fresh land-breeze, to get beyond pursuit
before day-break.--The mist had come on, and knowing it impossible to
reach the Dart over the rough precipices in time to give you warning, I
remained in my concealment, undecided what course to pursue, when I saw
a party of the pirates leave the cavern to go to their boats. Perceiving
beneath me, on the bough of a wild tamarind, sundry articles of
clothing, similar to those worn by the bucaneers, a bold thought
occurred to me. When they had gone beyond the light from the cave, I
cautiously lowered myself down, and drawing on a jacket and one of the
caps, jumped with them into the boat, no one in the darkness suspecting
me.
"To appearance we were in the very heart of the mountains. I am certain
that rocks and foliage were piled up all around us.--After a short row
we passed through what seemed to be a deep chasm, between two crags,
which must have been very high, as the darkness between them was almost
palpable, and in a few moments we were riding over the long swell of the
open sea. We groped about in the mist for some time, till the position
of the Dart was ascertained by the chafing noise of one of her booms,
when, gliding softly up, with their sharp knives they cut her cable, and
she began to drift astern. The strictest silence was enjoined upon us
all, so that had I moved or made the least noise, as I had intended, my
life had been the forfeit. However, I had just made up my mind to run
all hazards, when the flame of the gun gleamed through the fog. One of
the pirates fell dead in the bottom of the boat, and in the hurried stir
which this produced, I contrived to slip into the water.
"Now let me conjure you to take measures for the rescue of my poor
sister. How she came into their power is a mystery. But my heart will
break if she is not soon freed from these lawless men."
I informed the captain of Ponto's discovery, but he saw at once that it
would be madness to attempt any thing in our present situation, with
sunken rocks around us, the breakers astern, and a thick mist wrapping
all in obscurity.
At last, after a night of the most wearisome watching, the day dawned,
and the mists returned to their mountain fastnesses. Burning for a brush
with the desperadoes, we towed the Dart out of her critical situation
and got her under sail. The launch and cutter were ordered out, but here
we were at fault. The morning sunlight slept calmly on the forest clad
ridges and gray cliffs, and every irregularity and indentation of the
shore were strongly shadowed forth; but not the least sign of harbor or
anchorage could be seen, except under the rocky promontory we had just
left, and every thing looked as forsaken and solitary as a creation's
birth. However, not doubting that we should be able to sift the mystery,
the boats put off, with full and well-armed crews, and on nearing the
shore discovered a narrow inlet, that wound in between the two lofty
cliffs, the one projecting out with a magnificent curve, so as entirely
to conceal the channel until we approached within a few rods of the
shore.
"We've got on the right scent of the old fox now, I think," said Waters.
"Speak low, gentlemen; if discovered we may meet with a reception here
not altogether so agreeable--I don't like the appearance of those grave
looking fellows, yonder," said Dacres, pointing to four cannon mounted
on a low parapet, with their muzzles bearing directly toward us.
"Why, the place is as silent as a grave-yard," muttered the old
cockswain of the cutter.
We advanced softly up the inlet, and found it to branch out into a broad
basin. Here was explained the mystery of the Sea-Sprite's sudden
disappearance; this was the _Pirate's Retreat_, and from their escaping
hither and into similar resorts known only to themselves, arose the many
wild stories that were abroad respecting their supernatural prowess.
Fifty well armed men might have defended the place against five hundred
assailants, as there was only one point, the inlet, susceptible of an
attack. The entrance was not more than thirty feet in width--only
sufficient for one vessel to enter at a time; but the water was bold and
deep, with a sandy bottom. An enormous cavern yawned at the farther
extremity of the basin, which Ponto immediately recognized as that where
the pirates held their revel the previous night. But now the place was
evidently deserted; the Sea-Sprite had made her escape.
The crew of the barge were despatched on shore to explore the premises,
while we, as a _corps-de-reserve_, lay on our oars, with fire-arms
loaded, ready for any emergency. While waiting I had an opportunity of
surveying the magnificent scene around me. We lay in the deep shadow of
a beetling precipice of such immense altitude, that the snow-white
morning clouds, as they floated onward, like messengers from heaven,
swept its summit. Thousands of gray sea-birds were sailing around their
eyries, along its dark craggy sides far above us, while its hollow
recesses reverberated their shrill cries, till to our ears they sounded
like one continued scream. The cliffs all around were tumbled about in
the most chaotic confusion, as if they had been upheaved by some
tremendous throe of nature. Stinted forest trees and brush wood, with
here and there a wild locust or banana, had gained a footing in the
seams and fissures of the crags, and thick masses of the lusty mountain
creepers, intertwined with wild flowering jessamin and grenadilla, fell
in gorgeous festoons down the embattled heights, draping their rough
projections in robes of the most magnificent woof. Nearly opposite was a
yawning ravine, filled with myriads of huge, shattered trees, ragged
stumps, loose stones and gravel, which probably had been swept from the
mountains, by the foaming torrents that rush down to the sea in the
rainy months. The desolation of this scene was in a measure relieved by
the quick springing vegetation that had found sustenance among the
decayed trunks, and in the black earth that still adhered to the matted
roots; so that green foliage, and wild flowers of the most brilliant
dies in sumptuous profusion, were waving and nodding over prostrate
trees, which perchance a year before, had stood up in the pride of
primeval lustihood, on the mountain ridges. Further back, beyond this
gorge, the sloping steeps were clothed with dark waving forests,
stretching up their sides, till they faded into the blue haze resting on
the mountain summits. The freshness of early day had not yet been
dissipated. Among the undergrowth and brakes, on the tips of the tall,
sweeping guinea grass, and in the cups of the wild flowers, the pure
dews hung in glittering globules, sparkling with brilliant prismatic
tints, as they flashed back the glances of the rising sun. Calmness and
repose reigned over the unequalled sublimities of the place; and
although the billows were madly beating and roaring against the outer
base of the crescent-like promontory, within, the water was silent and
unruffled by a breath, reflecting in its depths the wild and gorgeous
array of rock and verdure around, almost as unwavering as reality
itself; and had it not been for the tiny wavelets that rippled up a
small sandy beach, adorning the water's edge with a narrow frill of
foam, its likeness to a broad sheet of glass had been perfect.
At length, after the premises had been thoroughly reconnoitered, the
crew of the cutter were permitted to go on shore. They were soon
revelling amidst the costly merchandize and the luxuries, with which the
cavern was gorged.
"Holloa, Price!" said Waters to a fellow mid, as he came out of the
cave, dragging an old hag of a woman after him, apparently much against
her will; "I've found the presiding goddess of the place. Isn't she a
Venus?"
"Wenus indeed!" echoed the old beldame, "take that, young madcap, and
larn better how to treat a lady!" administering a thwack on his ear
that sent him staggering a rod from her.
Waters gathered himself together, and a general laugh took place at his
expense.
"A fair representative of the amorous goddess--quite liberal with her
love pats!" said Price in a tantalizing tone.
"Confound the old hag," muttered the discomfited mid, "if it were not a
waste of good powder and ball, I'd make a riddle of her in the twinkling
of a grog-can!"
This female and one man, found wounded and languishing on his pallet,
were the only denizens of the place.
"Croesus! what hav'nt we here?" exclaimed Price, glancing over the
medley of rich merchandize heaped together in one of the apartments of
the huge cavern; "boxes of silks and satins, sashes, ribbons, lace,
tortoise shell!--whew!--I say, Waters, what heathen are these pirates to
let such a profusion of pretty gewgaws lay here, which ought to be
setting off the fairy forms of the Spanish lasses! Now there's as
handsome a piece of trumpery as one often sees," tying a delicate
crimson silk _manta_ about him--"as I'm a sinner I'll carry that home to
Nell Gray!--Ha! Burgundy wine?
Inspiring--divine
Is the gush of bright wine;
'Tis the life, 'tis the breath of the soul,
'Tis the--the--
"Odds! but I must quicken my memory, and clear my pipes with a can of
the critter to get into the spirit of song!"
He drew a beaker from the cask and took a deep draught.
"Capital, by Bacchus!" he exclaimed, smacking his lips,--"Try it,
Waters, these fellows fare like princes."
"Bear a hand, Mr. Price, and don't set the men a bad example," thundered
the first lieutenant, who had stationed himself as a sentinel outside.
In the meantime the men had not been idle. The sight of such a profusion
of riches, all at their own mercy, had turned their brains, and the
confusion that prevailed among the silks and finery would have rivalled
that of a London milliner's shop on a gala day.
But the voice of the lieutenant, as if by magic, restored them to order,
and Waters ordered the most costly of the goods to be carried to the
boats.
"An 'ai'nt it Roary McGran 'as found a nest o 'the shiners," exclaimed a
son of Erin, as he emerged, covered with dirt, from a small, deep cavity
at the inmost extremity of the cavern, dragging after him a large bag of
doubloons,--"'Ai'nt them the beauties, Misther Waters?--its what they're
as plenty there as paraites in a parson's cellar."
Half a dozen similar bags were brought to light; besides which more than
a score of boxes containing rix dollars, and a great many parcels of
coin of different nations, silver and gold, tied up in old pieces of
canvas, were discovered.
"Some sport in sacking such a fortress as this," observed Price,--"no
blood and plenty of booty! By Jove, though, what a confounded pity it is
we hav'nt a ship of some size, that we might load her with these silken
goods? Our share of the prize money would be a fortune to us."
While the men were ransacking the cavern, I had climbed by a narrow
foot-path to the top of a lofty bluff. A small telescope, found in a
hollow that had been worked in the rock, assured me that this served as
a look-out station. It commanded a wide view of the surrounding ocean,
now tenanted only by the sun-beam and solitude, if I except the presence
of the Dart, which sat _lilting_ on the glittering swell, with her white
wings outspread, like a huge sea-bird stretching his pinions for flight.
* * * * *
The boats shoved off, loaded gunwale deep with gold and silver, ivory,
tortoise-shell and the most choice of the merchandise found in the
cavern, and in fifteen minutes all was safely secured on board the
schooner. After a short consultation it was agreed to run the Dart into
the Pirates' Retreat, and there await the return of the Sea-Sprite,
deeming that the bucaneers would scarcely be long absent from the chief
depository of their treasures. She was soon safely anchored in the
basin. A lookout was stationed at the mouth of the inlet, while Ponto
and Percy undertook, with the consent of the captain, the task of
watching from the cliff. Waters was then sent with a party of the men to
explore the cavern more thoroughly, and before noon there was not a
chink nor cranny of the place which had not been thrice overhauled.
Immense treasures, in gold, silver and jewelry, were brought to light.
Toward the latter part of the afternoon, Percy gave the signal agreed
upon for an approaching vessel, and directly after made his appearance
on the beach, informing us that they had examined her carefully, and
that there could be no mistaking her--it was the Sea-Sprite.
"Strange!" said the captain; "I knew that they were brave--fearless to
desperation, but I did not expect to see them show such fool-hardiness.
However, they shall meet with a welcome reception. Mr. Dacres, see that
all the men are on board, and have things put to rights for a brush. If
I mistake not, there will be desperate work ere the rascal receives his
deserts."
In a few minutes every thing was ready; the boats were got out forward,
and the Dart was towed to the mouth of the inlet, remaining concealed.
The Sea-Sprite, which could be seen from the outer edge of the rocks,
stood gallantly in, driving a drift of snow before her, till within
about a mile of the shore; when, as if she had discovered some signs of
our presence, she wore round, hoisted her studd'n'sails, and stood away
in a south-westerly direction.
"Pull away cheerily," said the captain to the men in the boats, who had
lain on their oars in readiness.
Slowly the Dart emerged from her hiding place--the sails were squared
round so as to present their broad surfaces to the wind, and away she
darted in swift pursuit, like an eagle in quest of his prey. A stern
chase is proverbially a long one; so it proved in this instance. The
wind was light, and although we hung out every rag of sail, the sun was
sinking beyond the sea when we approached within gun-shot of the rover.
Not a soul could be seen on her decks,--she was worked as if by magic.
"Mr. Ramrod," said the captain, "clap a round shot into the long-tom,
and let us see if we cannot make them show some signs of life."
Benjamin loaded the gun, and having got it poised to his fancy, applied
the match. Away whizzed the iron messenger. The chips flew from the
stern of the rover, and a swarm of grizzly heads, belonging to _bona
fide_ bodies, popped up above the bulwarks, and then settled down again,
like so many wild sea-fowl disturbed in their nests.
"Well done, Benjamin!--I see you have not lost any of your skill for
lack of practice."
The pirate, at length finding it impossible to escape us, shortened
sail.
"Now my men," said the captain, "to your duty!--let every gun be
double-shotted--a round shot and grape!"
By a well-timed manoeuvre, we ranged up under her stern. Our men stood
with their arms extended, ready to apply their lighted matches.
"Fire!" thundered Satan West.
A storm of flame burst from our side, and the Dart reeled half out of
water under the recoil of the overloaded guns. The iron shower raked the
pirate fore and aft, hurling those deadly missiles, the splinters, in
every direction, and doing terrible execution on their decks. Two more
such broad-sides would have sent her to the bottom.
"Helm aweather--jam hard!" roared the captain.