Peter Simple; and, The Three Cutters Part 50

"I regret to say that I did hear it, sir; I little thought that ever such an expression would have been made use of on board of the _Rattlesnake_." Then, fearing he would ask me the man's name, and to pretend not to have recognised it, I said, "Who was that who made use of that expression?" But no one answered; and it was so dark, that it was impossible to distinguish the men.

"After such mutinous expressions," observed the captain, "I certainly will not risk His Majesty's brig under my command, as I should have wished to have done, even in her crippled state, by again engaging the enemy. I can only regret that the officers appear as insolent as the men."

"Perhaps, Captain Hawkins, you will state in what, and when, I have proved myself insolent. I cannot accuse myself."

"I hope the expression was not applied to me, sir," said Thompson, the master, touching his hat.

"Silence, gentlemen, if you please. Mr Simple, wear round the ship."

Whether the captain intended to attack the enemy or not, we could not tell, but we were soon undeceived; for when we were round, he ordered her to be kept away until the Dutch brig was on our lee quarter: then ordering the master to shape his course for Yarmouth, he went down into the cabin, and sent up word that I might pipe to supper and serve out the spirits.

The rage and indignation of the men could not be withheld. After they went down to supper they gave three heavy groans in concert; indeed, during the whole of that night, the officers who kept the watches had great difficulty in keeping the men from venting their feeling, in what might be almost termed justifiable mutiny. As for myself, I could hardly control my vexation. The brig was our certain prize; and this was proved, for the next day she hauled down her colours immediately to a much smaller man-of-war, which fell in with her, still lying in the same crippled state; the captain and first lieutenant killed, and nearly two-thirds of her ship's company either killed or wounded. Had we attacked her, she would have hauled down her colours immediately, for it was our last broadside which had killed the captain. As first lieutenant, I should have received my promotion, which was now lost. I cried for vexation when I thought of it as I lay in bed. That his conduct was severely commented upon by the officers in the gun-room, as well as by the whole ship's company, I hardly need say. Thompson was for bringing him to a court-martial, which I would most gladly have done, if it only were to get rid of him; but I had a long conversation with old Swinburne on the subject, and he proved to me that I had better not attempt it. "For, d'ye see, Mr Simple, you have no proof. He did not run down below; he stood his ground on deck, although he did nothing. You can't _prove_ cowardice, then, although there can be no great doubt of it. Again, with regard to his not renewing the attack, why, is not a captain at liberty to decide what is the best for His Majesty's service?

And if he thought, in the crippled state of the brig, so close to the enemy's coast, that it wasn't advisable, why, it could only be brought in as an error in judgment. Then there's another thing which must be remembered, Mr Simple, which is, that no captains sitting on a court-martial will, if it be possible to extricate him, ever prove _cowardice_ against a brother captain, because they feel that it's a disgrace to the whole cloth."

Swinburne's advice was good, and I gave up all thoughts of proceeding; still it appeared to me, that the captain was very much afraid that I would, he was so extremely amiable and polite during our run home. He said, that he had watched how well I had behaved in the action, and would not fail to notice it. This was something, but he did not keep his word: for his despatch was published before we quitted the roadstead, and not the name of one officer mentioned, only generally saying, that they conducted themselves to his satisfaction. He called the enemy a corvette, not specifying whether she was a brig or ship corvette; and the whole was written in such a bombastic style, that any one would have imagined that he had fought a vessel of superior force. He stated, at the end, that as soon as he repaired damages, he wore round, but that the enemy declined further action. So she did--certainly--for the best of all possible reasons, that she was too disabled to come down to us.

All this might have been contested; but the enormous list of killed and wounded proved that we had had a hard fight, and the capture of the brig afterwards, that we had really overpowered her. So that, on the whole, Captain Hawkins gained a great deal of credit with some; although whispers were afloat which came to the ears of the Admiralty, and prevented him from being posted--the more so, as he had the modesty not to apply for it.

Chapter LVI

Consequences of the action--A ship without a fighting captain is like a thing without a head--So do the sailors think--A mutiny, and the loss of our famous ship's company.

During our stay at Yarmouth, we were not allowed to put our foot on sh.o.r.e, upon the plea that we must repair damages, and proceed immediately to our station; but the real fact was, that Captain Hawkins was very anxious that we should not be able to talk about the action.

Finding no charges preferred against him, he re-commenced his system of annoyance. His apartments had windows which looked out upon where the brig lay at anchor, and he constantly watched all our motions with his spy-gla.s.s, noting down if I did not hoist up boats, &c., exactly at the hour prescribed in his book of orders, so as to gather a list of charges against me if he could. This we did not find out until afterwards.

I mentioned before, that when Swinburne joined us at Plymouth, he had recommended a figure-head being put on the brig. This had been done at O'Brien's expense--not in the cheap way recommended by Swinburne, but in a very handsome manner. It was a large snake coiled up in folds, with its head darting out in a menacing att.i.tude, and the tail, with its rattle appeared below. The whole was gilded, and had a very good effect; but after the dock-yard men had completed the repairs, and the brig was painted, one night the head of the rattlesnake disappeared. It had been sawed off by some malicious and evil disposed persons, and no traces of it were to be found. I was obliged to report this to the captain, who was very indignant, and offered twenty pounds for the discovery of the offender; but had he offered twenty thousand he never would have found out the delinquent. It was, however, never forgotten; for he understood what was implied by these manoeuvres. A new head was carved, but disappeared the night after it was fixed on.

The rage of the captain was without bounds: he turned the hands up, and declared that if the offender was not given up, he would flog every hand on board. He gave the ship's company ten minutes, and then prepared to execute his threat. "Mr Paul, turn the hands up for punishment," said the captain, in a rage, and descended to his cabin for the articles of war. When he was down below, the officers talked over the matter. To flog every man for the crime of one was the height of injustice, but it was not for us to oppose him; still the ship's company must have seen, in our countenances, that we shared their feelings. The men were talking with each other in groups, until they all appeared to have communicated their ideas on the subject. The carpenters, who had been slowly bringing aft the gratings, left off the job; the boatswain's mates, who had came aft, rolled the tails of their cats round the red handles; and every man walked down below. No one was left on the quarter-deck but the marines under arms, and the officers. Perceiving this, I desired Mr Paul, the boatswain, to send the men up to rig the gratings, and the quarter-masters with their seizings. He came up, and said that he had called them, but that they did not answer. Perceiving that the ship's company would break out into open mutiny, if the captain persisted in his intention, I went down into the cabin, and told the captain the state of things, and wished for his orders or presence on deck.

The captain, whose wrath appeared incapable of reflection, immediately proceeded on deck, and ordered the marines to load with ball-cartridge.

This was done; but, as I was afterwards told by Thompson, who was standing aft, the marines loaded with powder, and put the b.a.l.l.s into their pockets. They wished to keep up the character of their corps for fidelity, and at the same time not fire upon men whom they loved as brothers, and with whom they coincided in opinion. Indeed, we afterwards discovered that it was a _marine_ who had taken off the _head_ of the snake a second time.

The captain then ordered the boatswain to turn the hands up. The boatswain made his appearance with his right arm in a sling.--"What's the matter with your arm, Mr Paul?" said I, as he pa.s.sed me.

"Tumbled down the hatchway just now--can't move my arm; I must go to the surgeon as soon as this is over."

The hands were piped up again, but no one obeyed the order. Thus was the brig in a state of mutiny. "Mr Simple, go forward to the main hatchway with the marines, and fire on the lower deck," cried the captain.

"Sir," said I, "there are two frigates within a cable's length of us; and would it not be better to send for a.s.sistance, without shedding blood? Besides, sir, you have not yet tried the effect of calling up the carpenter's and boatswain's mates by name. Will you allow me to go down first, and bring them to a sense of their duty?"

"Yes, I presume you know your power; but of this hereafter."

I went down below and called the men by name.

"Sir," said one of the boatswain's mates, "the ship's company say that they will not submit to be flogged."

"I do not speak to the ship's company generally, Collins," replied I; "but you are now ordered to rig the gratings, and come on deck. It is an order that you cannot refuse. Go up directly, and obey it.

Quarter-masters, go on deck with your seizings. When all is ready, you can then expostulate." The men obeyed my orders; they crawled on deck, rigged the gratings, and stood by. "All is ready, sir," said I, touching my hat to the captain.

"Send the ship's company aft, Mr Paul."

"Aft, then, all of you, for punishment," cried the boatswain.

"Yes, it is _all of us for punishment_," cried one voice. "We're all to flog one another, and then pay off the _jollies_."[1]

This time the men obeyed the order; they all appeared on the quarter-deck. "The men are all aft, sir," reported the boatswain.

"And now, my lads," said the captain, "I'll teach you what mutiny is.

You see the two frigates alongside of us. You had forgotten them, I suppose, but I hadn't. Here, you scoundrel, Mr Jones"--(this was the Joe Miller)--"strip, sir. If ever there was mischief in a ship, you are at the head."

"Head, sir," said the man, a.s.suming a vacant look; "what head, sir? Do you mean the snake's head? I don't know anything about it, sir."-- "Strip, sir!" cried the captain in a rage; "I'll soon bring you to your senses."

"If you please, your honour, what have I done to be tied up?" said the man.

"Strip, you scoundrel!"--"Well, sir, if you please, it's hard to be flogged for nothing." The man pulled off his clothes, and walked up to the grating. The quarter-masters seized him up.

"Seized up, sir," reported the scoundrel of a sergeant of marines who acted as the captain's spy.

The captain looked for the articles of war to read, as is necessary previous to punishing a man, and was a little puzzled to find one, where no positive offence had been committed. At last, he pitched upon the one which refers to combination and conspiracy, and creating discontent. We all took off our hats as he read it, and he then called Mr Paul, the boatswain, and ordered him to give the man a dozen. "Please, sir," said the boatswain, pointing to his arm in a sling, "I can't flog--I can't lift up my arm."--"Your arm was well enough when I came on board, sir,"

cried the captain.

"Yes, sir; but in hurrying the men up, I slipped down the ladder, and I'm afraid I've put my shoulder out."

The captain bit his lips; he fully believed it was a sham on the part of the boatswain (which indeed it was) to get off flogging the men. "Well, then, where is the chief boatswain's mate, Miller?"

"Here, sir," said Miller, coming forward: a stout, muscular man, nearly six feet high, with a pig-tail nearly four feet long, and his open breast covered with black, s.h.a.ggy hair.

"Give that man a dozen, sir," said the captain.

The man looked at the captain, then at the ship's company, and then at the man seized up, but did not commence the punishment.

"Do you hear me, sir?" roared the captain.

"If you please, your honour, I'd rather take my disrating--I--don't wish to be chief boatswain's mate in this here business."

"Obey your orders, immediately, sir," cried the captain; "or, by G.o.d, I'll try you for mutiny."

"Well, sir, I beg your pardon; but what must be, must be. I mean no disrespect, Captain Hawkins, but I cannot flog that man--my conscience won't let me."

"Your _conscience_, sir!"

"Beg your pardon, Captain Hawkins, I've always done my duty, foul weather or fair; and I've been eighteen years in His Majesty's service, without ever being brought to punishment; but if I am to be hung now, saving your pleasure, and with all respect, I can't help it."

"I give you but one moment more, sir," cried the captain; "do your duty." The man looked at the captain, and then eyed the yard-arm.

"Captain Hawkins, I will _do my duty_, although I must swing for it." So saying he threw his cat down on the quarter-deck, and fell back among the ship's company.