The Pirate Island Part 6

"Mutiny, sir; that and nothing less," gasped Carter, whose pa.s.sion almost deprived him of speech. "I thank you, sir, and you too, Mr Bowles, for coming to my rescue; but for that I should have been a dead man by this time."

"Oh, no, you wouldn't, Mr Carter," exclaimed one of the men. "We ain't murderers; and we shouldn't ha' touched you if you hadn't touched us first."

"That will do," exclaimed Captain Staunton. "If any of you have anything to say you shall have an opportunity of saying it in due time; at present I wish to hear what Mr Carter has to say," turning inquiringly once more toward that individual.

Thus pressed, Carter related his version of the story, which was to the effect that the men had refused to obey orders, and had come aft in so menacing a manner that in self-defence he had been compelled to arm himself; and further, that hoping to check the mutiny in the bud, he had shot down the "ringleader."

"So that is the explanation of the shots which awoke me," exclaimed Captain Staunton. "And where is the wounded man?"

"In his bunk, sir; bleeding like a stuck pig," replied one of the men, resorting to simile to aid his description, as is the wont of seafaring men generally.

"_Phew_!" whistled the skipper. "This is serious. Run, Bowles, and rouse out the doctor at once, if you please."

Mr Bowles sped to the doctor's cabin, and found that individual already "roused out," with an open case of surgical instruments on the table, and a drawer open, from which he was hastily selecting lint, bandages, etcetera; the medico having been awakened by the first pistol-shot, and, like a sensible man, bestirring himself at once in preparation for the repair of damages, without waiting to learn first whether there _were_ any damages to repair or not.

"Well, Bowles," he exclaimed, as the worthy "chief" made his appearance, "you want me, eh? What's the nature of the case?"

"A man shot," briefly replied Mr Bowles.

"Just so; heard the shots. Where is the seat of the injury? Don't know? Well, never mind, we'll soon find out. Let me see--tourniquet-- probe--splints--lint--bandage--um--um--yes; just carry these for me, Bowles, there's a good fellow, and lead the way."

So saying the worthy man put a quant.i.ty of splints, etcetera, into Mr Bowles' hands, and, gathering up the rest of his chattels, followed the mate to the forecastle, where he at once busied himself in ascertaining the extent of and finally dressing poor Boyd's injury.

In the meantime Captain Staunton, a.s.sisted by Mr Bowles, who had speedily rejoined him, had been holding a sort of court of inquiry into the case; and after much skilful interrogation, and the giving of a most patient hearing to the statement of each member of the watch, he had succeeded in arriving at a very near approach to the actual truth of the matter.

"This," he said, "is clearly a case wherein both parties have been gravely in fault. I am compelled in justice to admit that you," turning to the members of the watch, "appear to have received great provocation, inasmuch as there can be no doubt that you have been greatly hara.s.sed by Mr Carter's habit of unnecessarily interfering with the disposition of the canvas set on the ship. I have, indeed, myself noticed this, my attention often having been arrested by the sounds of making and shortening sail during the night-watches, when you all doubtless thought me fast asleep in my berth; and I have had it on my mind for some time past to speak to Mr Carter on the subject; I should have done so long ago but for my great repugnance to interfere with my officers except upon the most urgent grounds. I confess I had no idea that the provocation had been going on for so long a time; the master of a ship, like other mortals, requires sleep; and doubtless many things are said and done whilst he is taking his rest of which he can know nothing unless they are brought to his notice by others. It was therefore manifestly your duty, in justice to me as well as in obedience to the law, to make complaint to me of any grievances of which you may have considered yourselves the victims; and that, instead of doing so, you took it upon yourselves to resent your grievances by refusing obedience to the orders of your officer, const.i.tutes your offence--an offence which, in my opinion, has been sufficiently punished by the wounds inflicted upon two of your number. You have satisfied me that your lapse of duty was in reality a matter strictly between yourselves and the second officer, and in no wise a defiance of my authority, or I suppose I need scarcely say I should not take this lenient view of your conduct. As for you, Mr Carter," the skipper resumed after a pause, "you have placed me in the very unpleasant position of being compelled to suspend you from duty until the arrival of the ship at Sydney. You have proved yourself incompetent to command a watch with that tact and moderation which is so essential to the safety of a ship and the comfort of those on board; and, led away by your heat of temper, you have hastily and unnecessarily resorted to measures of extreme violence, which might, had the men been of a similar temper, have led to a dreadful disaster. You may retire to your cabin, sir. Mr Bowles, do me the favour to call Mr Dashwood."

Young Dashwood was found sitting on his chest, dressed and ready for any emergency, the entire occupants of the ship being by this time on the _qui vive_, and he was therefore in the presence of the skipper within a minute of the mention of his name. To him Captain Staunton at once delegated the command of the starboard watch, saying at the same time a few words expressive of confidence in his prudence and seamanship.

"One word more, men," said the skipper, again addressing the watch. "I have suspended Mr Carter not because I regard you as in the _right_, or as in any way justified in your behaviour, but because he was manifestly _wrong_. I must therefore very earnestly caution you, one and all, against again refusing obedience to any commands issued by your officers. If those commands are such as to const.i.tute a substantial grievance, or if they should by any chance be such as to manifestly imperil the safety of the ship or the lives of any of those on board, I am always to be found, and the matter must at once be referred to me. I shall always be ready to protect you from tyranny or intemperate treatment; but remember from this time forward there must be nothing even remotely resembling insubordination. Now, go back to your duty."

The men walked quietly away forward, and Captain Staunton, accompanied by Mr Bowles, retired below to make an immediate entry of the occurrence in the official log-book.

The occupants of the saloon were naturally greatly exercised by the event, which formed the staple of conversation next day. It was interesting to observe the way in which the subject was regarded by the various members of the little community. O'Reilly, the editor of the "Galatea Free Press," was wild with excitement at contemplation of the narrow escape they had had from a mutiny and its attendant fight; and he exhibited a curious study of mingled irritation and satisfaction--of irritation that the fight had not come off, and of satisfaction that he had not been compelled to take up arms against any of the forecastle hands, every one of whom he regarded in his free-hearted way as a personal friend, and with every one of whom he was a prime favourite.

The ladies, who really understood nothing whatever of the merits of the case, with that unerring instinct which invariably leads them to a right conclusion, sided unanimously with the seamen; while a few of the more timid among the male pa.s.sengers regarded Carter as a sort of hero- martyr, Mr Dale being especially loud and indiscreet in his denunciations of the recklessness manifested in "encouraging the mutinous rascals in their defiance of authority."

"It will end," he dismally prophesied, "in our all being murdered in our beds some night. Oh, dear! I wish I had never come to sea." Brook and one or two more, though they said little, went about the ship for some few days afterwards in evident perturbation of mind, though, to do them justice, had they been _obliged_ they would have doubtless fought and fought well. Rex Fortescue, perhaps, took matters the most coolly of any. He not only went himself forward as usual to hear the yarn- spinning and smoke his cigar on the forecastle during the dog-watches, but he also took Violet with him (he having noticed long before that the presence of a lady was always sufficient to ensure the strictest decorum on the part of the men); thus showing the crew, as clearly as he could, that he at least had no doubt of their loyalty.

Carter's suspension from duty removed the only discordant element which had ever revealed itself on board, as far as the crew of the ship were concerned; and thenceforward matters went smoothly enough on board the _Galatea_ for the remainder of the pa.s.sage, which proved to be a rapid one, notwithstanding the delay experienced in rounding the Cape. It was also an uneventful one--the foregoing occurrence excepted. Nothing further need therefore be said respecting it, than that in good time the ship safely arrived in Sydney's n.o.ble harbour, and, landing her pa.s.sengers, began forthwith the humdrum operation of discharging cargo.

CHAPTER FIVE.

HOMEWARD BOUND.

At the date of this story the discharging of a cargo was a much more leisurely operation than it is at the present day; and Bob therefore had several opportunities of taking a run ash.o.r.e and looking round the town and suburbs of Sydney. The pa.s.sengers--such of them, that is, as were residents in or near Sydney--had one and all given Bob most pressing invitations to visit them whenever he could obtain leave; and on the day but one following the arrival of the ship, a very prettily-worded and pressing little note had come to him from Blanche Lascelles to say that the friends with whom she and Violet were staying at Cookstown would be delighted to make his acquaintance; so that Bob was never at a loss for a place whither to direct his steps whenever he could get ash.o.r.e. He consequently managed to see a good deal of the place, and thoroughly enjoyed the seven weeks during which the _Galatea_ lay in Sydney harbour.

The outward cargo discharged, the homeward freight of wool began to come down, and the stevedores were kept busy all day long s.c.r.e.w.i.n.g it into as small a compa.s.s as possible in the hold.

Meanwhile Captain Staunton was in great tribulation. The gold-fever was then at its height in Australia. The precious metal had been discovered some years before, but about a month previous to the arrival of the _Galatea_ in Sydney, news had come down the country of the discovery of a new auriferous region, the richness and extent of which was said to be something past belief. The result of this rumour was that every idle loafer who arrived in an Australian port made it his first business to desert from his ship and start hot-foot for the gold-fields. If the matter had ended here the shipmasters would have had cause to congratulate themselves rather than the reverse, but unfortunately for them it was not so. The gold-fever had stricken _everybody_--merchants even, mechanics, clerks, all in fact but the few cool hands who realised that by remaining in the half-deserted towns they were _sure_ of making that fortune the winning of which at the diggings was problematical; and one consequence of this was that when seamen deserted a ship no one could be found to take their places; and Captain Staunton could stand on his own p.o.o.p and count at least fifty vessels whose cargoes were on board, hatches battened down, and everything ready for sea; but there they lay, unable to sail for want of a crew to man them.

Now the _Galatea_ was not in quite so bad a plight as this; for when the last bale of wool had been screwed in and the hatches put on, there still remained in her forecastle eight good men and true--six belonging to the port watch and two to the starboard--who had resisted all the alluring dreams of fortunes to be made in a day at the diggings. The other eight had deserted in a body one Sunday, very cleverly eluding the police, whose chief duty it then was to prevent such occurrences. The second mate and the cook were also missing. Hence Captain Staunton's anxiety. On the one hand, he was averse to the extreme step of taking his ship to sea half-manned; and on the other, he was haunted by the constant dread of losing still more of his men if he remained in port until he had made up his complement.

At length, however, to his infinite relief, he chanced upon half a dozen men who, in consideration of the payment of fabulous wages, undertook to ship for the homeward pa.s.sage. They were as lawless and ruffianly- looking a set of fellows as one need ever care to encounter; but, as Mr Bowles observed, they could at least pull and haul, and once at sea and away from the demoralising influence of the grog-shops, who knew but they might settle down into steady serviceable hands. At all events they would not want for a good example on the part of their shipmates, the remnant of the original crew, for these were without exception thoroughly steady, reliable men, although one of them was Boyd, the man who had been shot by Mr Carter for refusal to obey orders.

These men secured, Captain Staunton resolved to avoid all further risk by sailing at once. It was true that the ship would be still rather short-handed--which was all the more to be regretted inasmuch as she was in light trim and a trifle crank--but he reflected that he might lie in port for the next six months without securing another man; and it therefore seemed to him best under the circ.u.mstances to make shift with what he had, and get away to sea forthwith. Hasty summonses were accordingly despatched to the few pa.s.sengers who had taken berths; and these all coming on board next day, the anchor was hove up, and evening saw the _Galatea_ standing off the land and heading to the eastward, with every sail set and dragging at her like a cart-horse.

The pa.s.sengers were this time only six in number, namely, Blanche and Violet, Messrs. Dale, Fortescue, and Brook, who had lost the contract which they went out in the hope of securing, entirely through the obstinacy of the head of the firm, and a Mr Evelin, formerly a captain in the Royal Engineers, who had thrown up his commission to go gold- digging, and who, thanks to his technical training, supplemented by arduous special study of geology, had been successful to an extraordinary degree, and was now returning home master of a handsome fortune.

Launcelot, or Lance Evelin, was a tall handsome man of about thirty- five, with the physique of a Hercules, the result of some six months'

toil and exposure at the diggings, deeply bronzed, clear cut features, half concealed by a heavy moustache and beard of a golden chestnut hue, clear grey eyes, and wavy hair a shade darker than the beard. He proved an immense acquisition to the ladies, who would otherwise have been almost entirely dependent on Rex Fortescue for amus.e.m.e.nt; Mr Dale being altogether too savage at his recent failure to make an agreeable a.s.sociate, which indeed he never was, even at the best of times; while Brook, willing though he was to do his best, was too pugnacious, ill- bred, and illiterate to be more than just barely tolerated. Rex Fortescue and Violet, it was perfectly clear, were daily sinking deeper into that condition wherein people are conscious of the existence of two individuals only--their two selves--in the whole world; so that poor little Blanche would soon have found herself quite out in the cold had not Mr Evelin taken compa.s.sion upon her and devoted himself to her amus.e.m.e.nt. He knew London well; and, on comparing notes, it soon transpired that he knew several people with whom Blanche was also acquainted; so they got on capitally together, especially as Lance possessed in an eminent degree the art of making his conversation interesting. Later on, too, when he had thawed a little, he would relate story after story of his adventures at the gold-fields, some of which convulsed his companion with laughter, while others made her shudder and nestle unconsciously a little closer to the narrator.

But notwithstanding this Blanche still found time to chat occasionally with Bob. The lad was very fond of steering, indeed he had won the reputation of being the finest helmsman in the ship, and he was always ready to take a "trick" at the wheel during either of the dog-watches, and so give the rightful helmsman a chance to stay "for'ard" and amuse himself with his shipmates; and when this was the case Blanche generally used to seat herself in a deck-chair near him, and chatter away upon any topic which came uppermost.

She had been thus amusing herself one evening when, as eight bells struck and Bob walked forward on being relieved from the wheel, Lance Evelin, who had been smoking his cigar on the break of the p.o.o.p, and watching from a distance the "carryings-on" of the men upon the forecastle, sauntered to her side and opened conversation with the remark--

"How singularly exact a repet.i.tion of the same features you will observe in some families; doubtless you have often noticed it, Miss Lascelles?

Now, there is that fine young fellow Legerton, _anyone_ would recognise him as a connection of yours, and I have often been on the point of asking you in what manner you are related to each, other. Am I unpardonably inquisitive?"

"By no means, Mr Evelin. It is a question easily answered; I am not aware that we are related in the most remote degree."

"You are _not_?" he exclaimed in a tone of the greatest surprise. "I am sure I most earnestly beg your pardon; how very stupid of me to make such a mistake; but the resemblance between you two is so very striking that, although no one has ever said a word to lead me to such a conclusion, I have never doubted, from the moment I came on board, that you must be closely related. I am sure I am quite at a loss for words wherewith to express my apologies."

"No apology is necessary, I a.s.sure you, Mr Evelin," returned Blanche.

"On the contrary, I feel rather flattered by your supposition, for I greatly admire Robert's many sterling qualities. And what a bold brave fellow he is too, notwithstanding his quiet una.s.suming manner. If you feel any curiosity as to his history Captain Staunton will be only too happy to furnish you with full particulars; he can enlighten you far better than I can, and the story is worth listening to; the manner of their first acquaintance especially is a romance in itself."

Lance's curiosity was aroused; but, instead of referring to the skipper, he preferred to hear the story from Blanche's own pretty lips; and sinking down into a deck-chair beside her he listened with interest to all that the fair girl could tell him respecting Bob.

"Poor fellow!" he remarked when Blanche had finished her story, "and he has never been able to find a clue to his parentage! It is very singular; there surely _must_ be relatives of his still in existence somewhere. Did the fishermen who saved his life never make any inquiries?"

"No, it appears not," answered Blanche. "According to Robert's own account, though he always speaks with the greatest respect and affection of the old man who adopted him, the people among whom he was thrown are very simple and ignorant of everything outside the pale of their own calling, and it would seem that they really did not know how to set about inst.i.tuting an inquiry."

"Well, what you have told me has interested me so much, and the lad himself has made such a favourable impression upon me, that I believe I shall really feel more than half-inclined to undertake the somewhat Quixotic task of seeking his relatives myself when we reach England.

Who knows but that it might be my good fortune to gladden the heart of a father or mother whose life has been embittered for years by the loss of perhaps an only son?" half laughingly remarked Lance.

"Ah! do not jest upon such a subject," exclaimed Blanche. "You evidently have not the least idea what a complete blight such a loss may cast upon a parent's life. I have. There is my poor uncle, Sir Richard, who has never held up his head since he lost his wife and child at sea. My mother has told me that before his terrible bereavement there was not a more genial light-hearted happy man living than uncle d.i.c.k; but he has never been known to smile since the dreadful news first reached him; and though he has always struggled bravely against his great sorrow, I feel sure he looks forward eagerly to the time when he shall be called away to rejoin his wife and his baby boy."

"How very sad!" remarked Lance in sympathetic tones. "I am slightly acquainted with Sir Richard Lascelles, that is to say, I have met him once or twice, and I have often wondered what great trouble it could be that seemed to be pressing so heavily upon him. If it would not distress you too much I should like to hear how he met with his terrible loss."

"I have no objection to tell you," answered Blanche. "It occurred very shortly after I was born. My uncle was then a younger son, with very little expectation of ever succeeding to the baronetcy, for there were two brothers older than himself, and he had a captain's commission in the army. He had married a lady of whom, because she happened to have no money, his father strongly disapproved, and a serious quarrel between father and son was the consequence.

"Shortly after his marriage my uncle's regiment was ordered off to North America, and uncle d.i.c.k naturally took his wife with him. The regiment was moved about from place to place, and finally, when my uncle had been married about three years, was broken up into detachments; that which he commanded being sent, in consequence of some trouble with the Indians, to an important military outpost at a considerable distance up the Ottawa River.

"Of course it was quite impossible for my aunt to accompany her husband into the wilds, especially as she was then the mother of a son some eighteen months old, and the question which arose was, What was she to do?

"It was at first proposed that she should establish herself in Montreal until the return of the expedition; but a letter reaching her just at that time stating that her mother's health was failing, it was hastily decided that my aunt should return to England, taking of course her little son with her.