SIR JOHN AND MISS ALLEN
While I stood there, sweating in the heat and pain below, expecting the
reappearance of the old steward, I heard the windlass at work again, and
faint cries as of men straining up the topsails.
Suddenly I recognized Hawkson’s voice near the main-hatch, and a moment
later the section was slid aside and he came below.
“Get me out of this!” I roared at him, as he came up. “Get me out, or
there’ll be murder aboard.”
“Steady, steady! D’ye expect me to turn ye loose when ye talk of murder?
Sink ye, Heywood! what’s come over ye, anyways?”
“If you’re the man you claim to be,” I said, hotly, “turn my hands
loose, and stand before me for ten minutes. Only ten minutes, Hawkson,
and, if I don’t kill you, you may eat me alive. You may choose any
weapon, and I’ll take my bare--”
“Tut, tut, what kind o’ hysteria is this? What’d I want t’eat ye alive
for? Sink ye for a crazy boy! who’d eat a tough youngster like you, boy?
What--well--oh, ho!”
He had come close to me, and had noticed my ear. Then he chuckled in his
quiet way, his ugly face working with amusement.
“Yes,” I said, “that’s the old steward’s doings, and he’ll probably come
back to finish me.”
“Well, well, oh, ho, ho!” he laughed. “Didn’t I tell you the old fellow
would try his hand on you? But it’s a trifle; stand clear.”
Here he loosened the irons, and I stood forth, rubbing my sore wrists
that were now partly paralyzed by being held so long.
“It’s all right. Go up on deck and lend a hand, as soon as you get your
head cleared up. Mind ye, now, it was a rat that bit ye, understand?
Don’t make any more trouble. If ye want to kill the steward, do it some
other time. I had hard work savin’ ye, an’ I don’t want any more
trouble.”
I went forward, and, after bathing my sore ear, I went on deck in time
to see the last of Nassau.
The sun was shining brightly and the air was hot, but the trade-wind was
fresh, and we went to sea at a rapid rate under royals. Bill asked me
where I had been, and Martin stopped me to make some remark of the wild
day before, but neither appeared to know what had happened, save that
every one had gotten very drunk. Tim was not aboard, and I never saw him
again. He had disappeared, and nothing but his broken irons were left to
tell of his departure. The bos’n, however, was on watch, and he spoke
vaguely afterward about a small boat coming alongside with a woman in
it. Just what part Richards had played in the game, it was, of course,
impossible to find out, but before long I knew that Tim and his family
had made a voyage across the Florida channel in a small boat, and had
probably succeeded in evading pursuit. No further notice of the affair
was taken by the officers aft for reasons better known to themselves,
and Renshaw chose to remain ashore, taking no further interest in the
enterprise.
It was now evident that we had started on our voyage for blacks, and
that escape from the barque was impossible. I was angry enough, but
remembered that desertion merited some roughness, and, upon the whole, I
had been pretty well treated.
Henry gave me a furtive look from his ferret eyes as I passed him on
deck. He had done no more than his duty in chasing me, and I, therefore,
bore him no malice because he had been successful. It was several days
before he would trust himself near me, however, and kept his eyes busy
as we went about the vessel attending to our various occupations.
The day was perfect for navigating the reef, and, as my hands were badly
used up, I spent much time forward, watching the shoals and banks, that
were distinctly visible under five or six fathoms of water. We could run
in this, and at such a depth, with the sun shining, a very small object
could be seen upon the coral bottom. Yankee Dan and his daughter were
upon the poop with Hicks and Howard. The girl was to go with us as far
as St. Helena on our voyage to Africa.
Mr. Gull had volunteered this much information, and the men were
somewhat curious in their gaze aft.
The passengers took no notice of this, but spent the afternoon watching
the reef or bank, the young girl being much entertained by the various
sights upon the bottom.
In the afternoon I went upon the poop to clean the guns and otherwise
attend them, and the young lady gave me a nod of recognition. She
evidently remembered that shot, for I found out afterward it had cost
her father a pretty sum, and for a time it looked as if there would be
no slaver cleared at Nassau.
The governor, however, compromised on a handsome fee for damages, as the
shot had plunged clear through his parlour, leaving only a small hole in
both walls to mark its passage. How much of this fee found its way into
Howard’s pocket, it was hard to determine, but he evidently was not
forgotten. The affair was not alluded to again except among the men.
Hicks scowled at me, but said nothing, and then I kept close watch upon
him, as he appeared to still bear me some malice for having been present
at Renshaw’s mishap. He was a bold and unscrupulous rascal, and would
have taken a lively interest in my jump over-side, had they insisted on
it, with a shot to each foot. His manner toward the young girl irritated
me also, for, while I’m far from being a priest, yet there is a certain
respect for young women every honest sailor has, and which was
apparently entirely absent in this man’s manner. They were evidently
talking of Renshaw, for I heard Hicks mention his name sadly in
connection with the dishonourable affair at the card-table that had
caused his abandonment by people of his own class.
“I see,” said Miss Allen, “cheating over a game of cards is highly
wrong, but cheating a man out of his wife’s affections is highly
commendable. A strange code of morals you Englishmen have. In your
class, perhaps, the money is more valuable. Is that it?”
“Whatever his sins were, let us not judge them,” said Hicks. “As for the
class you speak of, I can only answer that a wife’s affections are
valued by most men according to the wife. Don’t you think a woman has
pretty much the same gauge to measure by?” And, as he spoke, he leaned
toward her, looking her straight in the eyes until she flushed crimson.
“I have broken all of the ten commandments for women,” said Hicks,
slowly, still keeping his gaze fixed upon her, “and I would break them
all gladly for the woman I love.”
“A self-confessed saint!” she answered, somewhat uneasily.
“Well, slaving is not the least of my ambitions,” said he, carelessly.
“Perhaps you think there is nothing in running a cargo of blacks? It may
be there’s little, but, if we were overhauled with your father aboard
and a crowd below, even ‘trading’ would not appear an innocent
occupation.”
“I know it, but what can I do? Do you suppose I think everything that
papa does is right?”
“I would hardly accuse you of such lack of judgment,” said Hicks,
laughing and glancing at Howard and her father in conversation near the
break of the poop.
“But because papa does strange things, you needn’t think I believe they
are good,” she said, with some feeling. “As for slavery, it’s only wrong
in the abstract. How could the poor blacks look out for themselves? They
must be taken care of. What on earth would we do without servants?”
“I was not trying to convince you that you were a desperate pirate,”
said Hicks, still laughing. “Only to show you what a saint had the
pleasure of talking to you. When you have lived with me a time, you’ll
realize it better--”
“When what?” she exclaimed.
“When we’ve been married a few seasons, you’ll--”
“When is a good word,” she said, angrily. “How dare you speak to me like
that, Sir John!”
“I dare much more,” he answered, quietly, his handsome face setting into
an expression of grim determination, “but this is hardly the place to
declare it.”
I thought it was about time for me to leave that vicinity, and I
strapped the vent-cover on the gun I was attending to ostentatiously,
and started forward. Hicks never gave me even a passing glance, but, as
I went forward, I heard steps sounding upon the companionway aft, and,
turning for a moment, I beheld the head and shoulders of Mr. Curtis
emerging from the cabin. He looked a moment at Hicks and the girl, and
then went over to where they stood, near the taffrail, while I joined
the watch on the main-deck.
As I went down the lee steps, I caught a glimpse of Watkins in the
cabin, making a grimace I could hardly fail to understand. He was out of
reach, and I could only stop and curse him, until Mr. Gull came out and
asked me what was the matter. Then I turned and lent Bill and Martin a
hand at the weather main-brace, for we had gotten well clear of the
bank, and were running off to the westward on our course for the other
side.