The Pirate Slaver Part 15

The man put his finger to his forehead in acknowledgment of my thanks, but continued to linger near me; and presently it dawned upon me that he had something further to say. So I turned to him and inquired--

"Is there anything particular that you wish to say to me, Simpson?"

"Well, yes, sir, there is, if I only knowed how to say it," answered the man, in a low, cautious tone of voice and with a somewhat hesitating manner. He paused for a second or two, as though in consideration, and then, looking me full in the face, said--

"I hopes you'll excuse me askin' of you the question, Mr Dugdale, but might you be a-thinkin' of gettin' away out o' this here brigantine, supposin' that you sees a good chance for to do so? I ain't askin' out of any impertinence or curiosity, sir, I beg you to believe; but my meanin' is this here, if so be as it happens that you _was_ thinkin' of any such thing, I was wonderin' whether we mightn't be able to go together, and be of sarvice to one another in a manner of speakin'."

"Oh," said I, "that is your idea, is it? Are you not satisfied with your present berth then, Simpson?"

"No, sir, I'm not, to tell the truth of it," answered the man. "I know that it's rather a risky thing to say aboard of this here wessel; but the truth is that I _ain't_ satisfied at all, and haven't been for a long while; not since Mr Arrowsmith--or Senor Mendouca, as he now calls hisself--took up to the piratin' business. So long as it was just a matter of runnin' a cargo of slaves across the Atlantic, I didn't mind so much, for there was plenty of dollars goin', and I didn't see that there was much harm in it, for I don't suppose the poor beggars is any worse off on the sugar and 'baccy plantations than they are in their own country. But when it comes to work like what's been done to-day, I wants to be out of it; and I don't mind sayin' so to you straight out, Mr Dugdale, because you're a naval hofficer, you are, sir, and of course as such you're bound to be dead against such things as has happened since you've been aboard here. Besides, I've been a-watchin'

of you, sir--askin' your pardon for the same, Mr Dugdale--and I've seen that this ship and her doin's ain't no more to your taste than they are to mine."

"You are right, Simpson, they are not," said I; "and since you have been so frank with me, I will be equally so with you. You have rightly guessed that I would gladly make my escape from this accursed brigantine, if I could; and I had quite made up my mind that if, as I fully expected, Captain Mendouca had run alongside that ship this afternoon, I would board with the rest, and then join the British crew in their defence of their own ship."

"It's perhaps just as well then for you, sir, and for me too, that matters was arranged different," answered Simpson; "because, if the thing had come off as you planned it, I don't suppose that your joinin'

of the other side would have made that much difference that they'd have beat off the skipper and his lot; and if they hadn't, and you'd fallen alive into the hands of the skipper, he'd have--well, I don't know what he wouldn't have done to you; but I'm mortal sure that you wouldn't have been alive now. But perhaps, sir, you've been thinkin', as I have, that even now it mayn't be too late to do somethin'."

"Yes," said I, "I have. While you have been talking to me a mult.i.tude of ideas have thronged through my mind, disconnected and vague, certainly, but still capable perhaps of being worked into shape. And I do not mind admitting to you, Simpson, that your proposal to join me in any attempt that I may be disposed to make simplifies matters a great deal. The most important factor in the problem before us is: How will yonder ship be dealt with when the _Francesca's_ people have done with her? Will she be destroyed, or will she be left, with those unfortunate pa.s.sengers--most probably with no knowledge whatever of nautical matters--to drift about at the mercy of wind and sea, to take her chance of being fallen in with, or to founder in the first gale of wind that happens to come her way?"

"No, sir, no," answered Simpson. "You may take your oath that Captain Mendouca won't run the risk of leavin' her afloat to be picked up and took into port, where her pa.s.sengers could tell what tales they liked about him and his doin's. She'll be scuttled, sir, and left to go down with all them pa.s.sengers in her, the same as that unfortunit' Portugee brig was that we took the slaves out of. But I've been thinkin', sir, that, even so, two sailor-men, like you and me, might do a good deal, with the help of the gentlemen pa.s.sengers, to put together some sort of a raft that would hold all hands of us and keep us above water until somethin' comes along and picks us up. Of course I knows quite well that it'll be a mighty poor look-out for the strongest of us, and a dreadful bad time for the poor women-folk, to be obliged to take to a raft; but I expect they'd rather do that and take their chance of bein'

picked up than go down with the ship; and if you're willin' to face the job, _I_ am too, sir, and there's my hand on it."

I took the fellow's proffered hand and grasped it warmly.

"You are a good fellow, Simpson, and a true British seaman, whatever your past may have been," said I, "and I accept your proposal, which I can see is made in perfect good faith. Now, it seems to me that all that we have to do, in the first place, is to get on board yonder ship.

The question is: How is it to be done without the knowledge of any of the _Francesca's_ people?"

"Well, sir," said Simpson, "I don't think as there'll be any great difficulty about that, so far as I'm concerned; and I don't think there need be much with you neither, if you wouldn't mind changing your rig and shiftin' into some togs of mine, so as these chaps of the _Francesca_, won't recognise you. Then, when the next boat comes from the ship, we'll tumble down into her and offer to give two of the others a spell; they'll be only too glad of the chance to get a little relief from the job of pullin' backwards and for'ards and the handlin' of a lot of stuff, and, once aboard the ship, we can stow ourselves out of sight until they leave her for good and all."

"Very well," said I, "that seems as good a plan as any, and we will try it. Let me have some of your old clothes, Simpson--a flannel shirt and a pair of canvas trousers will do--and I will shift into them at once.

And there is another thing that occurs to me. If we could manage to secure a little further help it would be so much the better. Now, if I am not mistaken, a good many of the crew of yonder ship joined the _Francesca_ this afternoon as the only means of saving their lives. We must get hold of a few of them, if we can, and, by means of a few judicious questions, find out whether they would be willing to throw in their lot with us and take their chance of ultimate escape, rather than become slavers and pirates. With only half-a-dozen stout, willing seamen a great deal might be done to better the state of affairs generally."

"You are right, sir, it would make a lot of difference, and I'll see what can be done," answered Simpson. "And now, sir, shall I go and get you the togs? I s'pose that whatever we do might as well be done at once?"

"Certainly," said I, "the sooner the better. I can see no object in delaying our movements, now that we have determined upon a definite plan."

"All right, sir, then here goes," answered Simpson. "I'll be back with the duds in a jiffey."

Simpson's "jiffey" proved to be a pretty long one, for it was fully twenty minutes before he returned with the clothes--a thin flannel shirt that had seen its best days, and was so faded from its original colour and so thoroughly stained with tar and grease that it was difficult to say what that original colour had been, but was therefore so much the better suited to the purpose of a disguise--a pair of equally faded dungaree trousers, and a knitted worsted cap. But his delay had not been profitless, for happening to find in the forecastle two of the crew of the _Bangalore_, who had been compelled to join the _Francesca_, and who, from their dejected appearance, he conjectured were not altogether pleased or satisfied with the arrangement, he entered into conversation with them, and soon contrived to elicit from them that his conjecture was well founded. Thereupon, as there was no time to lose, he took the bold course of asking them outright whether, in the event of there being a scheme afoot on the part of others to escape from the brigantine to the ship, they would be disposed to join in it, to which they replied that they would gladly, and that indeed they had been discussing the possibilities of such an attempt when he interrupted them by his descent into the forecastle. This was enough for Simpson, who at once brought them aft to me, and I, finding them fully in earnest in their expressed desire to have nothing to do with the pirates, forthwith unfolded my plans to them, carefully directing their attention to the somewhat desperate aspect of the adventure, but at the same time pointing out to them that every additional seaman whose help we could secure added very materially to the chances of a successful issue. What I said seemed only to render them the more determined to sever their brief connection with the pirates at any cost, and they unhesitatingly declared their readiness to join me, and to implicitly obey my orders. More than this, they informed me that there were others of the _Bangalore_ crew who, they were sure, would be equally ready with themselves, if permitted, to take part in the adventure, and they consented to hunt up as many of these men as possible at once, and to have them ready to meet me on the forecastle to discuss the matter in a quarter of an hour.

My scheme, which, prior to my conversation with Simpson, had been of the most vague and nebulous character, had now taken shape and wore so promising an appearance that I felt sanguine of its ultimate success; so without further ado I retired right aft to the wheel grating--that part of the brigantine being now quite deserted, and wrapped in total darkness save for the dim and diffused light that issued from the cabin skylight--and there, unseen, shifted into the clothes that Simpson had brought me. They were not particularly comfortable nor quite so well-savoured as I could have wished; but it was no time for ultra-squeamishness, and I was soon transformed into a very colourable imitation of a fo'c's'le hand. This done, I went forward, past the open hatchway down which the plunder from the _Bangalore_ was being struck, noticing with bitter distress and anger the forlorn, dejected, worn-out, and despairing att.i.tudes of the unfortunate blacks closely huddled together on the slave-deck, their forms faintly indicated in the yellow, smoky light of the lanterns which the men were working by, and noticing too, with keen satisfaction, that most of the crew had reached that stage of intoxication wherein the victim's whole attention is required for the conduct of his own affairs, with none to spare for those of others. Many had gone considerably beyond this stage, and were staggering about, pulling and hauling aimlessly at the first object that they could lay their hands upon, and proving far more of a hindrance than a help to their less intoxicated comrades; while there were some who had reached the final stage of b.e.s.t.i.a.lity, and were lying about the decks in a helpless condition of drunken stupor. Nothing more favourable for our scheme than this condition of general intoxication could possibly have happened, unless it were that Pedro was below, fully occupied in attending to his father, and was therefore the less likely to discover my absence from the brigantine until it should be too late to take any steps toward the investigation of the phenomenon; I therefore hurried to the rendezvous with a sudden feeling of elation and joyousness and confidence in the conviction that the time of release from my exceedingly uncongenial and disagreeable, if not absolutely hopeless, situation had at length arrived.

Upon reaching the forecastle-head--the appointed spot of our rendezvous--I found it tenantless; but presently a man came lounging up to me from the group of workers about the hatchway, and, after peering into my face, inquired--

"Got any 'baccy about you, mate? Mine's down below in my chest, and I haven't unlashed it yet. If you've got any, just give me a chaw, will ye, and maybe I'll do as much for you another time."

"I am sorry to say that I have not any," I answered. "I do not use it except in the form of a cigar now and then. But I expect my mate Simpson on deck every moment, and I have no doubt that he will be able to accommodate you. You are one of the new hands, shipped from the _Bangalore_, are you not? I don't seem to remember having seen your face before."

"No, perhaps not, and it's precious little you can see now, I should think, unless you've got cat's eyes, and can see in the dark," was the somewhat surly response. "Yes," he continued, "I'm Joe Maxwell, late carpenter of the _Bangalore_, and--well, yes, 'shipped' is the word, I suppose. And pray who may _you_ be, my buck, with your dandified talk-- which, to my mind, is about as like any fo'c's'le lingo that I ever heard as chalk is like cheese? Are all hands aboard this dashin' rover of the same kidney as yourself?"

"Scarcely that, I think, as you seem to have already had an opportunity of judging," I answered, laughingly, as I glanced in the direction of the hatchway. "No," I continued, determined to sound him forthwith, as his speech and manner seemed to indicate that he was by no means satisfied with his changed lot, "I am a naval officer, and a prisoner, I suppose I must call myself, although, as you see, I have the liberty of the ship. And now, having told you thus much, I should like you to tell me candidly, Maxwell, did you join this afternoon of your own free will, or under compulsion?"

The man looked at me searchingly for a moment, and then said--

"Well, I suppose when a man is asked a straightforward question the best plan is to give a straightfor'ard answer. So, mister, I don't mind tellin' you that I j'ined because I was obliged to; 'twas either that or a walk along a short plank."

"In fact, you joined merely to save your life," I suggested.

"Ay; pretty much as you, yourself, may have done," was the answer.

"I?" I exclaimed. "Surely, my good fellow, you do not mean to say that you imagine me--a naval officer--to have joined this crew of thieves and murderers?"

"Blest if I know, or care," the fellow answered roughly. "Only, if you're a naval officer, as you say, and haven't joined the 'thieves and murderers,' as you call 'em, I should like to know how you come to be rigged like a fo'c's'le Jack?"

I saw that the man was suspicious of me--perhaps thought I was endeavouring, for purposes of espionage, to fathom his real feelings with regard to the service into which he had been pressed; I saw, moreover, that my conjecture was correct, and that, despite his cautious replies, he was by no means satisfied with the arrangement, and so determined to be frank with him at once, tell him what I contemplated, and invite him to join me. As carpenter of the _Bangalore_ he would be an especially valuable acquisition to our party. I accordingly did so; and before I had finished I had the satisfaction of seeing that his suspicions had completely disappeared, and that he was listening to me intently and respectfully. When I had brought my disclosure and proposition to an end, he at once said--

"I'm with you, sir, heart and soul! _Anything_--even a raft--will be better than this thievin' and murderin' hooker and her cut-throat crew!

Yes, sir, I'm with you, for life or death. But, please G.o.d, it shall be life and not death for all hands of us. Let us get away aboard at once, sir; I'm just longin' to tread the beauty's planks again; and as to scuttlin' her--why, I'll make it my first business, when I get aboard, to shape out a few plugs and take 'em down into the run with me--that's the only place where they'll be able to get at her under-water plankin'--and as soon as they've gone I'll plug up them holes so that she'll be as tight as a bottle, and never a penny the worse for what little they're likely to do to her. But it would please me a precious sight better to knock out the brains of whoever dares to go down below to do the scuttlin' business."

"No, no," said I, "that would never do; the man would be missed, a search would be inst.i.tuted, and heaven only knows what the consequences would be. No, the scuttling must be allowed to proceed, and the pirates must finally leave the ship with the conviction that she is slowly but surely sinking. If all goes well this craft will be out of sight before morning, and then, once clear of them, we shall have leisure to make our plans and carry them out."

"Right you are, sir, and right it is," answered Maxwell. "You'll have to be our skipper now, sir, for poor Capt'n Mason and all three of the mates is gone--one on 'em--Mr King--killed in the scrimmage, and t'others made to walk the plank--so you'll be the only navigator that we can muster among the lot of us, as well as the 'riginator of this here scheme for gettin' the better of these here Spaniards, so' you're the fittest and properest person to take charge. All that you've got to do, sir, is to give your orders, and I'll answer for it as they'll be obeyed."

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN.

I ESCAPE FROM THE BRIGANTINE.

At this moment Simpson rejoined me, bringing with him three more of the _Bangalore's_ crew; and while I was talking to them the other two men-- those whom Simpson had previously discovered--came forward from the hatchway, where they had been lending a hand to strike the booty down into the hold, and informed me that they had found and spoken to eight of their shipmates, at work at the gangway and hatchway, all of whom were quite ready and more than willing to join me at any moment when the signal should be given. A little further inquiry elicited the information that our party now comprised all the survivors of the _Bangalore's_ crew who had, so to speak, made a virtue of necessity and shipped under Mendouca in order to save their lives; there being four others who had shipped _willingly_, and whom it had, therefore, been deemed inexpedient to approach with a proposal to join us, lest, in their zeal for their new chief, they should refuse and betray us all.

Our party, therefore, was now complete, and all that remained to be done was to carry out our plans with as little delay as possible, and with twelve men at my back I felt tolerably confident of success; indeed, when I first learned our full strength, the wild idea flashed through my mind of attempting not only to save the _Bangalore_, but also to capture the _Francesca_. A moment's reflection, however, convinced me of the impracticability of this scheme, for although, with the a.s.sistance of the ten male pa.s.sengers who, I learned, were at that moment prisoners in their own cabins on board the Indiaman, it might be possible to capture the _Francesca_, in the then disorganised condition of her crew, it would certainly involve some loss of life on our side, which we could not spare, and we should be able to do nothing with her when we had her, our whole available strength being hardly sufficient to handle and take care of the ship, should it come on to blow, much less to look after a prize as well. I therefore abandoned the idea, the more readily that I knew my story need only be told to the proper authorities to cause the brigantine to be hunted off the ocean, and her atrocities put an end to at once and for all.

Our arrangements, therefore, were soon made; and this done, we sauntered away to the hatchway, singly and by twos at a time, and began to lend a hand in getting the plunder out of the boats and sending it below.

Presently the _Bangalore's_ long-boat came alongside, loaded down to the gunwale with booty, and manned by half-a-dozen Spaniards who were so drunk that they could scarcely stand. One of them, indeed, would have lost his life but for Simpson and Maxwell; for the boat was steered alongside stem-on, and the shock of her collision with the brigantine completely upset the balance of the man who was standing in the bows to fend her off, so that he fell overboard between the boat and the brigantine's side. The fellow was partially sobered by his sudden immersion, and finding himself overboard, began at once to sing out l.u.s.tily for help, fully aware that there were probably several sharks still hanging about the two vessels, and momentarily expecting to feel their teeth; whereupon Simpson and Maxwell, both of whom happened to be at the gangway at the moment of the accident, sprang down into the boat and succeeded in dragging the fellow safely out of the water, though not a moment too soon, the water being all a-swirl with the rush of the sea-monsters as the man was dragged inboard. The fright that he had received completely sobered him, but at the same time so thoroughly shook his nerves that he at once scrambled on board the brigantine, declaring with many oaths that he had had enough of boating for one night. His mates were but little better, and were glad enough to leave the boat at my suggestion and allow me and my party to take their places.

We quickly roused the boat's cargo out of her, and then shoved off for the ship again, making a great fuss and splash with the oars as we did so. When a few fathoms away from the brigantine, however, where in the darkness our movements were not likely to attract a too curious attention, first one oar and then another was laid in until all had been laid in but one; and this one we shifted aft, sculling the boat with it not to the _Bangalore's_ larboard gangway, at which the other boats were working, but under the ship's stern and to her starboard mizen channels, where we made her fast, and cautiously scrambled up on to the p.o.o.p, one by one.

Here we separated, the carpenter boldly making his way forward past the noisy, jabbering, drunken crowd who were grouped about the main-hatchway, engaged in hoisting on deck the goods that the boatswain, down in the hold, was selecting from the ship's heterogeneous cargo, while the rest--excepting Simpson and myself--quietly stole up the mizen rigging, three of them concealing themselves in the top, while the rest, continuing on up the topmast rigging, made for the main and foretops by way of the stays; the lanterns which were being used to light the pirates at their work about the main-hatchway so effectually dazzling the drunken ruffians' eyes, that there was not the slightest fear of any of the silent, sober figures stealthily moving about aloft being seen by them; indeed so deep was the gloom created between the masts by the towering expanses of the Indiaman's canvas that even I, far away as I was from the dazzling light of the lanterns, was unable to follow with my eye the dusky, indistinctly-seen figures any further than the rim of the mizen-top. As for Simpson, it was quite possible for him to move freely about the ship and go wherever he pleased without exciting any suspicion, he being one of the _Francesca's_ regular crew; I therefore instructed him to go down into the saloon and ascertain whether any of his quondam shipmates were there, and to return to me with his information as speedily as possible.

While he was gone I had time to look about me a little, and note such of the most prominent characteristics of the ship as were to be seen by the dim light of the stars. She was a n.o.ble craft, as big as the generality of our first-cla.s.s frigates, though not quite so beamy, perhaps, in proportion to her length, not quite so high out of the water, and of course not so heavily rigged. She carried a magnificent full p.o.o.p that reached as far forward as to within about twenty-five feet of the main-mast, with companion, skylight, deck-fittings generally, and p.o.o.p ladders of polished teak, handsomely and elaborately carved. The fore-part of the p.o.o.p extended some six feet beyond the cabin front, and underneath it her steering-wheel was placed, with a door on each side of it giving access to the grand saloon. A long row of hencoops ran along each side of the p.o.o.p; and the deck was further littered with a large number of deck-chairs that had been hurriedly bundled out of the way behind the companion, probably when it was seen that the brigantine undoubtedly meant to attack. The main-deck exhibited all the confusion incidental to a sea-fight, the guns--sixteen twelve-pound carronades-- still unsecured, with their rammers and sponges flung down on the deck beside them, shot lying in the scuppers, overturned wadding-tubs, cutla.s.ses, pistols, boarding-pikes, strewed all over the deck, and-- horrible sight--several dark, silent figures lying stark and still in pools of blood, just as they had fallen in the fight. The ship's davits were empty, both her gigs having been lowered to facilitate the transfer of the plunder to the brigantine; her long-boat also was in the water, as already stated, but there were two fine cutters lying bottom up over the quarter-deck, their sterns resting on the break of the p.o.o.p and their bows-on the gallows. It was a strange sight to look abroad into the dusky star-lit night and observe the boundless Atlantic stretching silent and still on every hand, and then to turn one's eyes inboard and note the noisy, drunken, ruffianly rabble grouped about the hatchway, naked to the waist, and toiling in the dim lantern light at the tackles by which they were hoisting the bales of costly merchandise out of the hold.

But I had not much time to devote to moralising upon the incongruous sight, for after an absence of some three minutes Simpson re-appeared from the saloon with the information that the place was clear, and that, judging from the sounds he had heard, the pa.s.sengers had all locked themselves, or been locked, into their cabins.

This being the case, I determined to go below and make a brief investigation of the condition of the unfortunate pa.s.sengers, as well as to afford them such comfort as was to be derived from a communication to them of my intentions. I accordingly descended the companion-way leading down from the p.o.o.p, and found myself in a small vestibule, the arrangement of which I could not very well see, as it was unlighted, save for the lamplight that issued from the open door of the saloon; I caught a glimpse, however, of polished panels of rare, ornamental woods, with gleams of gilded mouldings and polished metal handrails, and found my feet sinking into the pile of a soft, thick carpet, which gave me a hint as to the luxurious appointments of the ship. From this vestibule I pa.s.sed into the saloon itself by a partially open door on the port side, and at once found myself in an exceedingly handsome and luxuriously furnished apartment. It was long and rather narrow in its proportions, having state-rooms on each side, as I could tell at a glance by the doors with Venetian slatted upper panels that occurred at regular intervals in the longitudinal bulkheads on each side of the cabin. These bulkheads were divided into panels by fluted pilasters with richly-carved and gilded capitals, supporting a heavily-carved cornice picked out with gold.

The panels and pilasters were enamelled in a delicate tint of cream, with mouldings picked out in French grey, the former being decorated with very handsome paintings ill.u.s.trative of Oriental views and scenery.

Richly-upholstered divans occupied the s.p.a.ces along the bulkheads between the several state-room doors; a long table of polished mahogany, having sofa seats with reversible backs on each side of it, stretched down the centre of the saloon, with another and shorter table flanking it athwartships at the after-end; a buffet loaded with richly-cut decanters and gla.s.s, backed up by a large gilt-framed mirror, occupied the whole s.p.a.ce against the fore-bulkhead between the two entrance doors; and a very handsome piano, open, and with some music on it, occupied a similar position at the after-end of the saloon, two doors in the after-bulkhead proclaiming the existence of at least two more state-rooms. The apartment was lighted during the day by a large skylight filled in with painted gla.s.s--in which were fixed opposite each other a barometer and a tell-tale compa.s.s--and at night by two very fine silver-plated chandeliers each carrying six lamps, only four of which, however, were now lighted; and the deck was covered with a rich, thick carpet, apparently of Oriental manufacture, into which one's feet sank with noiseless tread. The state-rooms were all in total darkness apparently, for I could catch no gleam of light issuing from the pierced upper panels of any of them; but the sound of an occasional sob or moan told me that some at least of them were occupied.

I located one of the cabins from which these sounds came, and tapped gently at the door; there was no response, but the sounds instantly ceased. I tapped again, and said--