Midnight Webs Part 21

"Quick as you can, sir," I whispered, "for there's some devilment 'most ready;" when mounting the table himself, Mr Ward put a chair ready, and helped Mr Bell and his sister up beside him. He then drew up the chair, planted it firmly, and was through the skylight in an instant.

He then asked Miss Bell to mount, but she would not until after her brother; and with the doctor's help, the poor feeble young fellow was dragged up. Then I heard a sound as startled me, and running to the table, I caught Miss Bell in my arms, and dragged her down and to one side, just before three or four pistol-shots came tearing through the bulkhead, making the splinters fly in all directions.

"Now, up, quick," I said; and leaping on to the table, I dragged her on, lifted her in my arms to Mr Ward, and the next minute she was in safety, when, expecting another firing, I jumped down again, and went on my hands and knees.

Just as I expected, they fired again; but being dark, their shots did not tell; and before they could reload, I had jumped upon the table and climbed out to the rest.

"It's a wonder almost that they did not try to make them safe before," I said, panting; and then, having made Mr Bell and his sister comfortable under the bulwarks, we began to take steps for making ourselves a little surer. For instance, we laid a tarpaulin on the cabin skylight, and a spare sail over, that, and then again on the sail we coiled all the rope and cable we could. The cabin and forksel hatches we served in the same fashion, so that it was quite impossible for any one to get up that way; while just about daybreak, when a head appeared over the rail close to the wheel, the chop Bill Smith gave it sent it back again in a moment, so that there did not seem much to fear at present.

Daylight, and then glorious sunrise--a big word that for a common sailor, but sailors, as a rule, think a deal of the bright sunshine and the dancing waters. And a bright morning that was, cheering us up all, so that with a grin I went up to Mr Ward and axed his pardon for hitting him; axing too, at the same time, how he found himself after the stab I put in his pocket. But there, instead of laughing, if he didn't turn almost like the fat pa.s.senger, for his lip went all of a tremble, and his voice turned husky as he shook me by both hands and says: "G.o.d bless you, Roberts, and forgive me for ever doubting so true a man."

"Don't you be in a hurry, sir, with your thanks. Maybe we ain't half-done yet. We've divided the ship, and got the deck and a breaker of water, and there's what rum them four didn't finish; but they've got the below-decks and all the prog, unless we can find some anywhere else.

We've got the upper hand, but now the question is, can we keep it?"

"No, you can't," shouts one of the fellows lying tied on the deck; "so--"

He didn't say any more, for Mr Tomt.i.t fetched him a slap on the face with the flat of his cutlash, and then the fellow lay and muttered most savagely.

We had a bit of a refresher in the shape of some cold water, with a dash of rum in it; when Mr Ward said that there were some provisions in their cabin below, and volunteered to get them if I stood at the skylight opening with two loaded pistols, to command the door that Van had kept on the outside.

I did not much like running any more risks than we could help; but food I knew we should be obliged to have, and if we could get it without attacking Van and his party, so much the better; for though I knew that it must come to that, I wanted to put it off as long as I could, and I was just making ready to go to the skylight with Mr Ward, when there was a shout from Mr Tomt.i.t, and at the same moment a bullet struck the bulwark close to where Miss Bell was sitting.

STORY TWO, CHAPTER SIXTEEN.

Mr Ward sprang like a tiger towards the cabin skylight, where, through a slit in the sailcloth and tarpaulin, you could see a hand holding a pistol twisting about to get back again; but, though it had most likely come through easy enough, the edges of the stiff tarpaulin now closed round the wrist, and though the owner seemed to struggle hard, and having a peephole somewhere, shrieked out as Mr Ward came on, there was no saving the hand, upon which the young doctor's cutlash came down like a streak of lightning, cutting it to the bone, when it was at last dragged through, leaving the pistol upon the deck.

Now, this came from the side of the skylight over the mutineers' cabin, for so far they did not seem to have got into the one where Mr Ward and his friends had been; and seeing this, Mr Ward again volunteered to go down, after we had moved Mr Bell and his sister for safety under the port bulwarks, thrown another sail or two over the skylight, and then bowsed up a bit of an awning, for the sun came out, and beat heavily upon the poor sick man.

But having been made a big man of now, and being consulted on all points, I give in against anybody going down, for, says I: "You're too vallable a man to be spared, Mr Ward, sir, and one can only go down after that there prog when we're reg'lar dead beat. Let's hoist a signal of distress, in case we're seen by any other ship, keeping on ourselves steady like, watching well, and taking things coolly as we can."

My advice was taken, though if it hadn't been, I don't know as I should have gone and hanged myself; and there we sat, listening to the movements of the mutineers below, and wondering what devilry they were planning, till all was still as still, the wind falling calm, and the sea turning like gla.s.s; while the only sound we could hear was the twitter, twitter of Mr Tomt.i.t's birds down below, which, by good luck, had got plenty of water and seeds, for, knowing as the little things had sense enough only to eat just as much as is good for them, I had well filled their boxes the day before.

"D'ye hear the birds, Roberts?" says Mr Tomt.i.t to me, just as if there was nothing else in the world but birds, and I do believe as he thought they was the most important things living, save only for a bit when he was thinking of Miss Bell, and perhaps, after all, he thought her only a kind of sweet song-bird as he would like to have along with the others.

However, "D'ye hear the birds, Roberts?" he says.

"Yes, sir, I do," I says. "I was just a-thinking about 'em when you spoke."

"Were you?" he says, brightening up, and laying down his pistol.

"Yes, I was," I says, "but don't you lay down that there bullet-iron, for you never know how soon you may want it, sir. While we're like this, sir, you'll have to sleep with both eyes open, and you a-nussin' a pistol; while as to what you gets to eat, you must pick that up on the point of your cutlash."

"But about the birds," he says eagerly. "How many are there left?"

"Well, sir," I says, "I can't rightly say; but I was a-thinking that if we could get 'em up on deck by shoving a hole through the wires with a boat-oar, there'd be enough of 'em, with 'conomy, to last us all for eight days."

"What?" he says, staring.

"Why," I says, "'lowancing ourselves to one big bird apiece, or two little uns, we could keep ourselves alive for a bit."

He didn't say a word, but looked just for all the world as if he thought it would ha' been a deal more like the right thing to do to cut one of us up small to feed his little c.o.c.k-sparrows and things, if they ran short of food. So, just out of a bit of spite like, I says to him dryly: "You might try Miss Bell with them two doves now, sir," I says.

"Hold your tongue!" he says quite fierce, and looking to see if Mr Ward had heard.

"Wouldn't make a bad roast, sir, and this here sun's hot enough to cook bullock."

"Will you be quiet?" he says.

"And she'd pick them bones, and thoroughly enjoy--"

"Roberts," says Mr Ward, just then in a whisper, "what's that?"

I'd heard the sound at the same moment as he did, and for a moment it didn't strike me as to what it might be; but the next instant I was at the side with a c.o.c.ked pistol in my hand, an example followed by all the others, for, through our bad watching, two men out of the fore-cabin had dropped softly overboard, and were making for the p.o.o.p, when I hailed them to stop, covering one with a pistol the while.

He saw that it was of no use, so he asked for a rope directly, and heaving him one, we had him aboard lashed and lying down upon the deck beside his mates in less than no time; but the other one swam on and on, diving down every moment so that I shouldn't hit him. But I could have done it, if I'd liked, though I did not want to shed more blood, so we let him swim on till he began to paddle behind and shout to Van for a rope, when we could hear the cabin windows opening.

"Here, this won't do, sir," I says; and "Hi! here, you, Sam," I shouts, "don't you leave that fore-hatch," for he was coming away and leaving it unprotected. So he went back; and getting hold of a line, I makes a running noose, and going right aft, I tries to drop it over the fellow's head; but he kept dodging and ducking under, till at last I made a feint, and the water being clear as gla.s.s, just as he was coming up again I dropped the noose over his head and one arm, drawing it tight in a moment, and there he was struggling like a harpooned porpoise.

I thought I'd lost him once, for a stroke was made at the line with a cutlash out of one of the cabin lights, but I soon towed him out of reach, when Bill Smith threw him the end of a rope, and we had him aboard too.

Now, what with two wounded men and four prisoners, we had our hands more than full, so after a short bit of consideration, it was decided to risk the opening of the fore-cabin-hatch, and make the four men go down one at a time; we, for humanity's sake, keeping the prisoners who were wounded.

So we took the four with their hands lashed, and then, with Mr Tomt.i.t only on guard, we four stood ready; and Mr Ward giving the signal, Sam raised the hatch, when one fellow leaped up savage, but I had a capstan-bar ready, and down he went again quicker than he came up. Then another tried, but I served him the same, when they stopped that game, and began to fire up the hatch, till I sang out that we were going to send down their mates.

But sending down was one thing, and making them go was another; for the first fellow turned rusty and wouldn't stir; till, seeing that half measures were no good, I nodded to Mr Ward, and he put a pistol to the fellow's ear, and at the same time I gave him just a tap on the head with a marlinespike, when he went down sharp, and the others followed.

Sam clapped the hatch down so quickly that the last chap's head must have felt it; but that put a stop to their firing up at us; and this being done, we felt safer, though none the less compelled to keep a strict watch.

And so the day wore away--not a long day at all--for rather dreading the night as I did, it seemed to come on quickly, and this was the time I felt sure the mutineers would make their attack, perhaps to get the better of us.

At one time I was for taking to the biggest of the two boats left, and leaving them to it; but without provisions, it was like running to meet death, and I was obliged to give up that idea, for, after all, it would only have been to get away till such time as they could overtake us and run us down.

The night turned out bright and starlight; and after making the best arrangements we could for the watch, we patiently waited for any new dangers that might befall us. Even Mr Bell, sick as he was, insisted upon taking his turn at watching, and having now plenty of arms, he sat with his sister by him to guard the fore-hatch, Miss Bell going from time to time to the side, and keeping an eye to the cabin window. Two or three times, too, she came to me, and talked about our position, in whispers; and somehow or another she seemed to grow upon one, until I swore to myself that I'd die sooner than the poor la.s.s should be left to the tender mercies of the scoundrels who had seized the ship.

We had two or three false alarms during the night, but that was all; and the next day broke, finding us all half-famished; and now it seemed that either we must attack Van's party in the after-cabin, or one of us must go down and try for some provisions.

Mr Ward said he would go, and he turned towards Miss Bell, as if expecting her to say something, but she never looked his way at all; so after making our arrangements, we lifted the tarpaulin, Mr Ward dropped through, and in a short time handed up to me several tins of preserved meat, some biscuit, and a couple of bottles of wine.

He made four journeys before I heard even a movement in the next cabin, and then there came a muttering as of some one waking from a drunken sleep, and we all made up our minds that, having plenty of rum below, the cabin party had had a drinking night of it.

I never expected to see him up on deck without a few shots being exchanged; but there he was safe; and after dropping the tarpaulin, the provisions in moderation were served out, and no meal was ever more welcome. As for the fellows in the fore-cabin, they were evidently well provided, for we heard nothing of them all that day.

Though we swept the horizon again and again, not a sail appeared in sight, so that I was not much surprised to see Miss Bell having a good cry all to herself, when she thought no one could see her; but I did, though I would not let her know that I was looking.