CHAPTER IX
A SPELL ASHORE
Ten days later they arrived at Jamaica, and Will at once went to make hisreport to the admiral.
"Well," the admiral said heartily, "you have brought in another prize, Mr.Gilmore. She looks a mere hulk, and is remarkably deep in the water. Whatis she?"
"She is the schooner that sank the _Northumberland_."
"You must have knocked her about terribly, for she is evidently sinking."
"No, sir, she is all right except that the stern is shattered. We havecovered it over with tarpaulins backed by battens; otherwise she is almostuninjured."
"I am glad, indeed, to hear that you have caught that scoundrel, Mr.Gilmore, but I hardly think she can be worth towing in."
"She is worth a good deal, sir, for both she and the cutter are choke-fullof loot."
"Indeed!" the admiral said in a tone of gratification. "In that case shemust be valuable; but let me hear all about it."
"I have stated it in my report, sir."
"But you always leave out a good deal in your report. Please give me afull account of it. First, how many guns did she carry?"
"Six guns a-side, sir."
"Then you must have done wonders. Now tell me all about it."
Will modestly gave a full account of the fight and of the steps he hadafterwards taken to prevent them from playing a treacherous trick uponhim, and of the land fight and the arrangements made to secure the goodshe found at their head-quarters.
"And now, what have you brought home this time?" the admiral asked.
"This is the list, sir. I took it from the bills of lading which we foundat the pirate head-quarters. Altogether the storehouses contained thecargoes of eleven ships. We picked out the most valuable goods and loadedthe cutter and schooner with them, but that was only a very small portionof the total. I have left nearly half my crew there to guard thestorehouses until you could send some ships from here to bring home theircontents. With the cutter to navigate and the schooner to tow I dared notweaken myself further. I have left sixteen of my men there under myboatswain, and have erected four batteries with cotton bales, eachmounting two guns, which are charged to the muzzle with grape andlangrage. I have every confidence, therefore, that the little garrisonwill be able to hold its own against a greatly superior force."
"It was a great risk," the admiral said gravely.
"I am aware of that, sir, but it was worth running the risk for such asplendid prize. The value of nearly eleven cargoes must be something verygreat."
"Indeed it must," the admiral said; "what are they composed of?"
"You will see the entire list in the bills of lading, sir. I should saythat nearly half the goods are sugar, rum, and molasses; the other halfare bales and boxes, of which the details are given. Those we have broughthome are silks, satins, cloth, shawls, and other materials of femaledress, coffee, and spices."
"Well, Mr. Gilmore, this certainly appears to be the richest haul that hasever been made in these islands, at any rate since the days of the Spanishgalleons. I will lose no time in chartering some ships. How many do youthink will be necessary?"
"I should say, sir, that if you had five vessels you could do it in twotrips. Meanwhile I wish you would give me another thirty men to strengthenthe garrison."
"Certainly I will do so. There are several vessels in the harbour whichhave discharged their cargoes and have not yet taken fresh ones on board,but are waiting to sail for England under a convoy. They will, no doubt,be glad of a job in the meantime."
Four days later the cutter again put to sea, with five merchantmen and afrigate, which was charged to act as a convoy. When they arrived off theinlet Will went ashore, and to his delight found the storehouses intact,and the little garrison all well. The crews of all the ships were at oncelanded, and in a short time the place was a scene of bustle and activity.In spite, however, of their exertions it was a fortnight before all theships were loaded.
Before setting sail again Will told off the thirty additional men toremain, and Harman was left in command. Dimchurch had reported that onlyonce had the pirates shown in force. He had allowed them to come within ahundred yards of the battery they were facing, and then poured thecontents of both guns into them, whereupon they had at once fled, leavingten killed behind them.
When the little fleet arrived at Jamaica again, Will found that the goodswhich he had brought in the cutter and schooner were valued at a farhigher price than his estimate.
The merchantmen were unloaded as fast as possible, and started again forCuba without delay. All was well with the garrison at the inlet. A seriousattack had been made on the forts the day after the fleet had sailed forJamaica, but the garrison had repulsed it so effectually that they had notseen a sign of the enemy since. Even the hope of plunder was not strongenough to induce the negroes to make another attempt, and as for thepirates, they had been almost entirely wiped out.
After the storehouses had been emptied they were burned, and Harman andhis party returned to the cutter, and the fleet once more sailed forJamaica.
Will immediately started again on a short cruise. This time he met with noadventures. At the end of three weeks he returned, and when he went tomake his report the admiral told him that the total value of the captureamounted to L140,000.
"I must congratulate you," he said, "as well as myself, on this haul. Ishould say it would make you the richest midshipman in the service. Myshare, as you know, is an eighth. You, as officer in command, andaltogether independent of the fleet, will get one quarter. Mr. Harman'sshare will be an eighth, and the rest will be divided among the crew, theboatswain getting four shares."
"I am astounded, sir," Will said, "it seems almost impossible that I canbe master of so much money."
"You have the satisfaction at any rate, Mr. Gilmore, of knowing that youhave earned it by your own exertions, courage, and skill. I think now thatit is only fair that I should send you back to your ship when she nextcomes in, and give someone else a chance."
"I agree with you, sir, and I cannot but feel deeply indebted to you forhaving put me in the way of making a fortune."
"I little knew what was coming of it," the admiral said, "when I gave youthe command of that little craft. If I had had the slightest notion Ishould assuredly have given it to an older officer."
Will returned to the cutter in a state of bewilderment at his goodfortune. When he came on deck a little later he found waiting for him agentleman who advanced with open arms.
"Mr. Gilmore," he said, "my name is Palethorpe. I am the father of theyoung girl whose life you so gallantly saved when the _Northumberland_sank. I have been trying to catch you ever since, but I live up among thehills, except when business calls me down here, and your stay here hasalways been so short that I never before heard of your arrival until youhad started again. I cannot say, sir, how intensely grateful I feel. Sheis my only child, and you may guess what a terrible blow it would havebeen to me had she been lost."
"I only did my duty, sir, and I am glad indeed that I was able to saveyour daughter's life. Pray do not say anything more about it."
"But, my dear sir, that is quite impossible. One man cannot render so vasta service to another and escape without being thanked. I have driven downhere to carry you off to my home whether you like it or not. I called onthe admiral this morning, and he said that he would willingly grant you aweek's leave or longer, and, in fact, that you would be unemployed untilthe _Hawke_ came in, as a master's mate would take over your command."
Will felt that he could not decline an invitation so heartily given.Accordingly he packed up his shore-going kit, left Harman in temporarycommand, and went with his new friend ashore. A well-appointed vehiclewith a pair of fine horses was waiting for them, and as soon as they wereseated they at once started inland. After leaving the town they began tomount, and were soon high among the mountains. The scenery was lovely, andWill, who had not before made an exc
ursion so far into the interior, wasdelighted with his drive. So much so, indeed, that Mr. Palethorpegradually ceased speaking of the subject nearest his heart, and sufferedWill to enjoy the journey in silence. At last they drove up to a handsomehouse which was surrounded by a broad veranda covered with roses and otherflowers. As they stopped, a girl of fourteen ran out. Will would scarcelyhave recognized her. She was now dressed in white muslin, and her hair wastied up with blue ribbon, while a broad sash of the same colour encircledher waist. She had now also recovered her colour, which the shock of heradventure had driven from her cheeks, and she looked the picture of healthand happiness.
"Oh, you dear boy!" she cried out, and to Will's astonishment andconsternation she threw her arms round his neck and kissed him. "Oh, howmuch you have done for us! If it hadn't been for you father would have hadno one to pet him and scold him. It would have been dreadful, wouldn't it,daddy?"
"It would indeed, my child," her father said gravely; "it would have takenall the joy out of my life, and left me a lonely old man."
"I have told you before," she said, "that you are not to call yourselfold. I don't call you old at all; I consider that you are just in yourprime. Now come in, Mr. Gilmore, I have all sorts of iced drinks ready foryou."
Alice and Will soon became excellent friends. She took him over theplantations and showed him the negro cabins, fed him with fruit until healmost fell ill, and, as he said, treated him more like a baby than as anofficer in His Majesty's service.
"The stars don't look so bright to-night," Will said, as he stood on theveranda with Mr. Palethorpe on the last evening of his visit.
"No, I have been noticing it myself, and I don't like the look of theweather at all."
"No!" Will repeated in surprise; "it certainly looks as if there was aslight mist."
"Yes, that is what it looks like, but at this time of year we don't oftenhave mists. I am afraid we are going to have a hurricane; it is overduenow by nearly a month. October, November, and the first half of Decemberare the hurricane months, and I fear that, as it is late, we shall have aheavy one."
"I have seen one since I came out, and then we were at sea and were nearlywrecked. I saw its effects on land, however, for we spent some weeksashore in consequence of it. The forest was almost levelled. I certainlyshould not care to see another one."
"No, it is not a thing that anyone would wish to see a second time. Wordscannot describe how terrible they are. I hope, however, if we have one,that it will be a light one, but I am rather afraid of it."
Nothing more was said on the matter till they retired to bed, when Mr.Palethorpe said, half in fun and half in earnest: "I should advise you tohave your clothes handy by your bedside, Mr. Gilmore, for you may wantthem quickly and badly if a hurricane comes."
Will laughed to himself at the warning, but nevertheless took the advice.He had been asleep for an hour when he felt the whole house rock. A momentlater the roof blew bodily from over his head, and at the same time therewas a roar so terrible that he did not even hear the crash of the fallingtimber. He leapt out of bed, seized his clothes, and hurried down. He metMr. Palethorpe coming from his daughter's room, carrying her wrapped up inher bed-clothes. They went down together to the front door. Will turnedthe handle, and the door was blown in with a force that knocked him to thefloor. He struggled to his feet again and tried to get out, but the forceof the wind was so tremendous that for some time he could not stem it.When he did manage to get through the doorway he saw Mr. Palethorpestanding some distance from the house. He fought his way towards himagainst the wind.
"Are you not going to get into shelter?" he shouted in the planter's ear.
"It is safer here in the open," the planter said; "I dare not get below atree, but I will put my daughter in a place where she will be safe."
Struggling along against the gale he led the way to a small shed where thegardener's tools were kept. It was about six feet long and three broad,and was built of bricks. The floor was some feet below the surface of theground, so in entering one had to descend a short flight of steps.
"Just hold my daughter on her feet," the planter said, "while I clear thisplace out."
Much as he tried, Will was unable to keep the girl upright, and after avain effort he allowed her to sink down on her knees and then knelt by herside. As soon as he had cleared away the tools Mr. Palethorpe came up andcarried her down into the shed.
"I think we are quite safe here," he said; "the wall is only two feetabove the ground, so even this gale will not shake us. The roof isstrongly put together to keep out marauders. Now, Mr. Gilmore, there isroom for us to crouch inside; it is the only place of safety I know of,for even in the open we might be struck by the flying branches torn fromthe trees. Besides, it will be a comfort to Alice to know that we are insafety beside her."
They spoke only occasionally, for the roar of the tempest was deafening.Every now and then they would hear a crash as some tree yielded to theforce of the hurricane. Towards morning the gale abated, and soon aftersunrise the wind suddenly stilled. When they looked out a scene ofterrible devastation met their eyes. Some trees had been torn up by theroots, and branches twisted from others were strewed upon the groundeverywhere. The house was a wreck; the whole of the roof was gone, andparts of the wall had been blown down. Inside there was utter confusion;the furniture was scattered about in all directions, and evenlooking-glasses had been torn from the walls and smashed. The planter,however, wasted but little time in looking at the wreck.
"You had better go up and dress at once, Alice," he said, "though you willhave some trouble in finding your clothes. I have no doubt that all theloose ones are scattered about everywhere, and that some of the things aremiles away. I will go down with Will at once to the slave-huts; I amafraid the damage and loss of life there has been great."
During his passage from the house to the shed the wind had several timesthreatened to tear Will's clothes from his arms, but he had clung to themwith might and main, and succeeded in carrying them safely into shelter.He had therefore been able to dress while they waited for the storm toabate. Mr. Palethorpe had felt so sure that a hurricane was impending thathe had simply lain down on his bed without taking off his clothes.Accordingly they started at once for the slave-huts. As they had expected,the destruction there was complete. Every hut had been blown down. Thenegroes, who had fled to various places for shelter, were just returning,and Mr. Palethorpe soon learned from them that many were missing. He atonce set all hands to remove the fallen timbers, and after two hours' worksixteen dead bodies were recovered, for the most part children, and nearlyas many injured. Some, also, of those who had come in had broken limbs.
Alice came down as soon as she was dressed, and brought a bundle ofsheets, needles, and thread, and Mr. Palethorpe took off his coat and setto work to bind and bandage the limbs and wounds. Alice suggested that aman on horseback should be sent down to the town for a surgeon, but herfather pointed out that it would be absolutely useless to do so, as,judging by what they could see, the destruction wrought in the town wouldbe terrible. Every surgeon would have his hands full, and certainly nonewould be able to spare time to come into the country. He decided to haveall the worst cases carried down to the town and seen to there; slightercases he could deal with himself.
"I don't know much about bandaging wounds," he said, "but I know a little,and some of the native women are very good at nursing."
Alice, aided by the negresses, tore up the linen into strips and sewedthese together to make bandages. Canes split up formed excellent splints.Will rendered all the assistance in his power. Now he held splints inposition while Mr. Palethorpe wound the bandages round them, and now hehelped to distribute among the wounded the soothing drinks that theservants of the house brought down.
"What are you going to do now?" he asked as the last bandage had beenapplied.
"I will drive down to the town and see how things are doing there. Petertells me that two of my horses are killed, but the other two seemed
tohave escaped without injury, as the part of the stable in which they stoodwas sheltered by a huge tree, which lost its head, but was fortunatelyotherwise uninjured. You had better come down with us, Alice; we must stopat our house in town till things are put straight here. I will, of course,ride backwards and forwards every day."
"Can't I be of some help here, father?"
"None at all; by nightfall the slaves will have built temporary sheltersof canes and branches of trees. The overseer is among those who werekilled; he was on his way from his house to the huts when a branch struckhim on the head and killed him on the spot. I will put Sambo in his placefor the present; he is a very reliable man, and I can trust him to issuethe stores to the negroes daily. I am afraid it will be some time beforewe get the house put right again, as there will be an immense demand forcarpenters in the town. We may feel very thankful, however, that we havegot a house there. It is a good strong one, built of stone, so we may hopeto find it intact."
The carriage was brought round and they took their seats in it. Theplanter ordered two strong negroes to get axes and to stand on the steps,and when all was ready they started. The journey was long and broken; atevery few yards trees had fallen across the road, and these had to bechopped through and removed before the carriage could pass. It wastherefore late in the day before they reached the town. Will could nothelp grieving at the terrible destruction wrought in the forest. In someplaces acres of ground had been cleared of the trees, in others the trunksand branches lay piled in an inextricable chaos. All the huts and cottagesthey passed on their way were in ruins, and their former inhabitants werestanding listlessly gazing at the destruction. Mr. Palethorpe had placedin the carriage two gallon jars of spirits and a large quantity of bread,and these he had distributed among the forlorn inhabitants while his menwere chopping a road through the trees.
When they arrived in the town they beheld a terrible scene of devastation.The streets occupied by the dwellings of well-to-do inhabitants had, forthe most part, escaped, but in the suburbs, where the poorer part of thepopulation dwelt, the havoc was something terrible. Parties of soldiersand sailors were hard at work here, clearing the ruins away and bringingout the dead and injured. Will, after saying good-bye to his friends attheir door, joined one of these parties, and until late at night labouredby torchlight. At midnight he went to Mr. Palethorpe's house, to which hehad promised to return, and slept till morning. Two long days wereoccupied in this work, and even then there was much to be done in the wayof clearing the streets of the debris and restoring order. Not until thiswas finished did Will cease from his labours. He then drove up with Mr.Palethorpe to his estate. They found that a great deal of progress hadbeen made there, and that a gang of workmen were already engaged inpreparing to replace the roof and to restore the house to its formercondition. The slaves were still in their temporary homes, but with theirusual light-heartedness had already recovered from the effects of theirshock and losses, and seemed as merry and happy as usual.
On his return to Port Royal, Will was the object of the greatestattentions on the part of the other passengers of the _Northumberland_,and received so many invitations to dinner that he was obliged to ask theadmiral to allow him to give up his leave and to take another short cruisein _L'Agile_, promising that if he did so he would take good care not tocapture any more prizes. The admiral consented, and in a few days thecutter set sail once more.
After they had been out a month Will found it necessary to put in to getwater. He chose a spot where a little stream could be seen coming downfrom the mountains and losing itself in the shingle, and he rowed ashoreand set some of his men to fill the barrels. When he saw the work fairlyunder weigh he started to walk along the shore with Dimchurch and Tom.They had gone but a short distance when a number of negroes rushedsuddenly out upon them. Will had just time to discharge his pistols beforehe was knocked senseless by a negro armed with a bludgeon. Tom andDimchurch stood over him and made a desperate defence, and just beforethey were overpowered Dimchurch shouted at the top of his voice: "Put off,we are captured," for he saw that the number of their assailants was sogreat that it would only be sacrificing the crew to call them to theirassistance. They were bound and carried away by the exulting negroes.
"TOM AND DIMCHURCH MADE A DESPERATE DEFENCE"]
"This is a bad job," Will said when he came to his senses.
"A mighty bad job, Master Will. Who are these niggers, do you think?"
"I suppose they are escaped slaves; there are certainly many of them inthe mountains of Cuba. I suppose they saw us sailing in, and came downfrom the hills in the hope of capturing some of us. It is likely enoughthey take us for pirates, who are a constant scourge to them, capturingthem in their little fishing-boats and either cutting their throats orforcing them to serve with them. I am afraid we shall have but very littleopportunity of explaining matters to them, for, of course, they don'tspeak English, and none of us understand a word of Spanish."
They were carried up the hill and thrown down in a small clearing on thesummit. Will in vain endeavoured to address them in English, but receivedno attention whatever.
"What do you think they are going to do with us, sir?" Dimchurch asked.
"Well, I should say that they are most likely going to burn us alive, orput us to death in some other devilish way."
"Well, sir, I don't think these niggers know much about tying ropes. Itseems to me that I could get free without much trouble."
"Could you, Dimchurch? I can't say as much, for mine are knotted sotightly that I cannot move a finger."
"That won't matter, sir. If I can shift out of mine I have got myjack-knife in my pocket, and can make short work of your ropes and Tom's."
"Well, try then, Dimchurch. Half those fellows are away in the wood, andby the sounds we hear they are cutting brushwood; so there is no time tolose."
For five minutes no remark was made, and then Dimchurch said: "I am free."Immediately afterwards Will felt his bonds fall off, and half a minutelater an exclamation of thankfulness from Tom showed that he too had beenliberated.
"Now we must all crawl towards the edge of the forest," Will said, "andthen, instead of going straight down the hill we will turn off for a shortdistance. They are sure to miss us immediately, and will believe that wehave made direct for the sea."
They had barely got into the shelter of the forest when they heard asudden shout, so they at once turned aside and hid in the brushwood. Aminute or two later they had the satisfaction of hearing the negroesrushing in a body down the hill. They waited until their pursuers hadcovered a hundred yards, and then they jumped to their feet and held ontheir way along the hillside for nearly a quarter of a mile, after whichthey began to descend. Just as they changed their course they heard anoutburst of musketry fire.
"Hooray!" Dimchurch exclaimed, "our fellows are coming up the hill insearch of us. That's right, give it them hot! I guess they'll go back asquick as they came." They now changed their direction, taking a line thatwould bring them to the rear of their friends. The firing soon ceased, thenegroes having evidently got entirely out of sight of the sailors, but bythe shouting they had no difficulty in ascertaining the position of theparty, who were pushing on up the hill, and presently Will hailed them.
"That is the captain's voice," one of the party exclaimed, and then ageneral cheer broke from the seamen. In another two minutes they wereamong their friends. Harman had landed with three-and-thirty men, leavingonly five on board _L'Agile_. Great was their rejoicing on finding thatthe three missing men were all safe.
"We had better fall back now," Will said. "There must be at least threehundred negroes at the top, and though I don't say we would not beat themwe should certainly suffer some loss which might well be avoided. There isno doubt they took us for pirates and believed they were going to avengetheir own wrongs. So we may as well make our way down before their wholeforce gathers and attacks us."
They retired at once to the shore, and had but just taken their places inthe
boats when a crowd of negroes rushed down to the beach. Four or fiveshots were fired, but by Will's order no reply was made. They pushed offquietly and in a few minutes reached the cutter.
"That has been a narrow escape," Will said when he and Harman weretogether again on the quarter-deck; "as narrow as I ever wish toexperience. If it hadn't been for Dimchurch I don't think you would havearrived in time, for they were cutting brushwood for a fire on which theyintended to roast us. Fortunately he was not so tightly bound as we were,and so managed to free himself and us."
"I cannot say how thankful I was when I heard your voice. Of course wewere proceeding only by guesswork, and could only hope that we should findyou at the top of the hill. If they had carried you any farther away wecould not have followed. I was turning this over in my mind as weadvanced, when we heard the rushing of a large number of men down the hilltowards us, and we at once concluded that you had escaped and that theywere in pursuit, and as soon as the negroes appeared we opened fire."
"Well, all is well that ends well. It was very foolish of me to wanderaway from the men. Of course there was nothing whatever to tell us that wewere being watched, but I ought to have assumed that there was apossibility of such a thing and not to have run the risk. I'll be mightycareful that I don't play such a fool's trick again. It was lucky thatDimchurch shouted when he did to the watering-party, otherwise we shouldhave lost the whole of them, and with ten gone you would have found itvery hazardous work to land a sufficiently strong party."
"I should have tried if I had only had a dozen men. I concluded that itmust have been negroes who had carried you off, and my only thought was torescue you before they set to work to torture you in some abominablemanner."
"Well, I expect it would soon have been over, Harman, but certainly itwould have been a very unpleasant ending. To fall in battle is a death atwhich none would grumble, but to be burnt by fiendish negroes would behorrible. Of course every man must run risks and take his chances, but onehardly bargains for being burnt alive. It makes my flesh creep to think ofit, more now, I fancy, than when I was face to face with it. When I waslying helpless on the hill, there seemed something unreal about it, and Icould not appreciate the position, but now that I think of it in coldblood it makes me shiver. I will take your watch to-night; I am quite surethat if I did get to sleep I should have a terrible nightmare."
"I can quite understand that you would rather be on deck than lying downand trying to sleep. I am sure I should do so myself, and even now thethought of the peril you were in makes me shudder."
For a time _L'Agile_ cruised off the shore of Cuba, effecting a few smallcaptures, but none of importance. Finally she fell in with three Frenchfrigates and was chased for two days, but succeeded in giving her pursuersthe slip by running between two small islands under cover of night. Thepassage was very shallow, and the Frenchmen were unable to follow, andbefore they could make a circuit of the islands _L'Agile_ was out ofsight. When the cutter at length returned to Jamaica the admiral decidedto lay her up for a time, and the crew was broken up and retransferred tothe vessels to which they belonged.
Will was greeted with enthusiasm when he rejoined the _Hawke_.
"You certainly have singular luck, Gilmore," said Latham, who was the_Hawke's_ master's mate. "Here we have been cruising and cruising, till weare sick of the sight of islands, without picking up a prize ofimportance, while you have been your own master, and have made a fortune.And now, just as there is a rumour that we are to go home you rejoin."
A few weeks after this conversation the _Hawke_ received orders to sailfor Portsmouth, and after a long and wearisome voyage arrived home late inthe summer of the year 1793.