Produced by Martin Robb
By Right of Conquest:Or, With Cortez in Mexicoby G. A. Henty.
Contents
Preface.Chapter 1: A Startling Proposal.Chapter 2: Bound To Unknown Parts.Chapter 3: The Voyage.Chapter 4: Among The Islands.Chapter 5: Shipwrecked.Chapter 6: Anahuac.Chapter 7: A Wonderful Country.Chapter 8: At Tezcuco.Chapter 9: Life In A Palace.Chapter 10: News From The Coast.Chapter 11: Cortez.Chapter 12: The Fugitives.Chapter 13: The Massacre Of Cholula.Chapter 14: In Mexico.Chapter 15: Again At Tezcuco.Chapter 16: A Treasure Room.Chapter 17: The Insurrection.Chapter 18: The Rising In Mexico.Chapter 19: The Passage Of The Causeway.Chapter 20: At Tlascala.Chapter 21: A Victim For The Gods.Chapter 22: Home.
Preface.
The conquest of Mexico, an extensive empire with a numerous andwarlike population, by a mere handful of Spaniards, is one of theromances of history. Indeed, a writer of fiction would scarcelyhave dared to invent so improbable a story. Even the bravery of theSpaniards, and the advantage of superior arms would not havesufficed to give them the victory, had it not been that Mexico wasripe for disruption. The Aztecs, instead of conciliating by wiseand gentle government the peoples they had conquered, treated themwith such despotic harshness that they were ready to allythemselves with the invaders, and to join with them heartilyagainst the central power; so that instead of battling against anempire single-handed, the Spaniards had really only to war with agreat city, and were assisted by a vast army of auxiliaries.
Fortunately, the details of the extraordinary expedition of Cortezwere fully related by contemporary writers, several of whom wereeyewitnesses of the scenes they described. It was not necessary forme, however, to revert to these; as Prescott, in his admirable workon the conquest of Mexico, has given a summary of them; and hasdrawn a most vivid picture of the events of the campaign. The bookfar surpasses in interest any volume of fiction, and I shouldstrongly recommend my readers to take the first opportunity thatoccurs of perusing the whole story, of which I have only been ableto touch upon the principal events.
While history is silent as to the voyage of the Swan, it isrecorded by the Spaniards that an English ship did, in 1517 or1518, appear off the port of San Domingo, and was fired at by them,and chased from the islands; but it was not until some twenty orthirty years later that the English buccaneers openly sailed tochallenge the supremacy of the Spaniards among the Western Islands,and to dispute their pretensions to exclude all other flags buttheir own from those waters. It may, however, be well believed thatthe ship spoken of was not the only English craft that entered theSpanish main; and that the adventurous traders of the West country,more than once, dispatched ships to carry on an illicit tradethere. Such enterprises would necessarily be conducted with greatsecrecy, until the relations between Spain and England changed, andreligious differences broke up the alliance that existed betweenthem during the early days of Henry the 8th.
G. A. Henty.
Chapter 1: A Startling Proposal.
On March 3rd, 1516, the trading vessel the Swan dropped anchor atPlymouth. She would in our days be considered a tiny craft indeed,but she was then looked upon as a large vessel, and one of whichher owner, Master Diggory Beggs, had good reason to be proud. Shewas only of some eighty tons burden, but there were few ships thatsailed out from Plymouth of much larger size; and Plymouth was eventhen rising into importance as a seaport, having flourishedmightily since the downfall of its once successful rival--Fowey.Large ships were not needed in those days, for the only cargoessent across the sea were costly and precious goods, which occupiedbut small space. The cloths of the Flemings, the silks and satinsof Italy, the produce of the East, which passed first through thehands of the Venetian and Genoese merchants, and the wines ofFrance and Spain were the chief articles of commerce. Thus thefreight for a vessel of eighty tons was a heavy venture, and nonebut merchants of wealth and position would think of employinglarger ships. In this respect the Spaniards and the ItalianRepublics were far ahead of us, and the commerce of England was asmall thing, indeed, in comparison with that of Flanders.
In Plymouth, however, the Swan was regarded as a goodly ship; andMaster Diggory Beggs was heartily congratulated, by hisacquaintances, when the news came that the Swan was sailing up theSound, having safely returned from a voyage to Genoa.
As soon as the anchor was dropped and the sails were furled, thecaptain, Reuben Hawkshaw, a cousin of Master Beggs, took his placein the boat, accompanied by his son Roger, a lad of sixteen, andwas rowed by two sailors to the landing place. They were delayedfor a few minutes there by the number of Reuben's acquaintances,who thronged round to shake him by the hand; but as soon as he hadfreed himself of these, he strode up the narrow street from thequays to the house of Master Diggory.
Reuben Hawkshaw was a tall, powerfully built man, weatherbeaten andtanned from his many comings and goings upon the sea; with a voicethat could be heard in the loudest storm, and a fierce look--but,as his men knew, gentle and kind at heart, though very daring; andhaving, as it seemed, no fear of danger either from man or tempest.
Roger was large boned and loosely jointed, and was likely some dayto fill out into as big a man as his father, who stood oversix-feet-two without his shoes.
Reuben was wont to complain that he, himself, was too big forshipboard.
"If a crew were men wholly of my size," he would say, "a ship wouldbe able to carry but a scant crew; for, lie they as close as theywould, there would not be room for a full complement below."
For indeed, in those days space was precious, and on board a shipmen were packed well-nigh as close as they could lie; having smallthought of comfort, and being well content if there was room toturn, without angering those lying next on either side.
The merchant, who was so stout and portly that he offered a strongcontrast to his cousin, rose from his desk as the latter entered.
"I am glad, indeed, to see you back, Cousin Reuben; and trust thatall has fared well with you."
"Indifferent well, Cousin Diggory. We have a good stock of Italiangoods on board; but as, of course, these took up but a smallportion of her hold, I put into Cadiz on my way back. There Ifilled up with three-score barrels of Spanish wine, which will, Iwarrant me, return good profit on the price I paid for them."
"And you have met with no accidents or adventures, Reuben?"
"Not more than is useful. We had a fight with some Moorish pirates,who coveted the goods with which, as they doubtless guessed, wewere laden; but we beat them off stoutly, with a loss of only sixmen killed among us. We had bad weather coming up the PortugalCoast, and had two men washed overboard; and we had another stabbedin a drunken brawl in the street. And besides these there are, ofcourse, many who were wounded in the fight with the Moors and indrunken frays ashore; but all are doing well, and the loss of alittle blood will not harm them, so our voyage may be termed aneasy and pleasant one.
"That is well," the merchant said, in a tone of satisfaction. "Wecannot expect a voyage like this to pass without accident.
"And how are you, Roger?" he asked, turning to the boy, who wasstanding near the door with his cap in his hand, until it shouldplease his elders to address him.
"I am well, I thank you, Master Diggory. It is seldom that anythingails with me. I trust that Mistress Mercy and my cousins are well."
"You had best go upstairs, and see them for yourself, Roger. Yourfather and I have weighty matters to talk over, and would fain bealone."
Roger was glad to escape from the merchant's counting house and,bowing to his cousin, went off with a quiet step; which, after hehad closed the door behind him, was changed into a rapid bound ashe ascen
ded the stairs.
"Gently, Roger," Mistress Beggs said, as he entered the room whereshe and her two daughters were sitting, at work. "We are truly gladto see you, but you must remember that we stay-at-home people arenot accustomed to the boisterous ways of the sea."
The reproof was administered in a kindly tone, but Roger colored tothe hair; for indeed, in his delight at being back again, he hadforgotten the manners that were expected from a lad of his age, onshore. However, he knew that, although Mistress Beggs was somewhatprecise in her ways, she was thoroughly kind; and always treatedhim as if he were a nephew of her own, rather than a young cousinof her husband's. He therefore recovered at once from his momentaryconfusion, and stepped forward to receive the salute Mistress Beggsalways gave him, on his return from his voyages.
"Dorothy, Agnes, you remember your Cousin Roger?"
The two girls, who had remained seated at their work--which had,however, made but little progress since their father had run in,two hours before, to say that the Swan was signaled in theSound--now rose, and each made a formal courtesy, and then held upher cheek to be kissed, according to the custom of the day; butthere was a little smile of amusement on their faces that wouldhave told a close observer that, had their mother not been present,their greeting would have been a warmer and less ceremonious one.
"Well, well, Roger," Mistress Beggs went on, "it is marvelous tosee how fast you grow! Why, it is scarce six months since yousailed away, and you seem half a head taller than you were when youwent! And so the Swan has returned safely, without damage orperil?"
"No damage to speak of, Cousin Mercy, save for a few shot holes inher hull, and a good many patches on her side--the work of aMoorish corsair, with whom we had a sharp brush by the way."
"And was there loss of life, Roger?"
"We have come back nine hands shorter than we sailed with, andthere are a few on board still unfit for hard work."
"And did you fight, Cousin Roger?" Dorothy Beggs asked.
"I did what I could with my bow, until I got alongside, and thenjoined in the melee as well as I could. The heathen fought bravely,but they were not a match for our men; being wanting in weight andstrength, and little able to stand up against the crushing blows ofour axes. But they are nimble and quick with their curved swords;and the fierceness of their faces, and their shouting, would haveput men out of countenance who had less reason to be confident thanours."
"And the trading has gone well?" asked Mistress Beggs, who wasknown to have a keen eye to the main chance.
"I believe that my father's well satisfied, Cousin Mercy, and thatthe venture has turned out fully as well as he looked for."
"That is well, Roger.
"Do you girls go on with your work. You can sew while you arelistening. I will go and see that the preparations for dinner aregoing on regularly, for the maids are apt to give way to talk andgossip, when they know that the Swan is in."
As soon as she had left the room, the two girls threw down theirwork and, running across to Roger, saluted him most heartily.
"That is a much better welcome," Roger said, "than the formalgreetings you before gave me. I wonder what Cousin Mercy would havesaid, had she chanced to come in again."
"Mother guessed well enough what it would be, when we were alonetogether," Dorothy said, laughing. "She always thinks it right onspecial occasions to keep us to our manners, and to make us surethat we know how it is becoming to behave; but you know well,Roger, that she is not strict with us generally, and likes us toenjoy ourselves. When we are staying up at the farm with AuntPeggy, she lets us run about as we will; and never interferes withus, save when our spirits carry us away altogether. I think weshould be glad if we always lived in the country.
"But now, Roger, let us hear much more about your voyage, and thefight with the Moors. Are they black men?"
"Not at all, Dorothy. They are not very much darker than our ownfishermen, when they are bronzed by the sun and wind. There areblack men who live somewhere near their country, and there wereseveral of these fighting with them. These blacks are bigger menthan the Moors, and have thick lips and wide mouths. I believe thatthey live as slaves among the Moors, but those who were with themfought as bravely as they did; and it needed a man with a stoutheart to engage with them, so ugly were their faces."
"Were you not terrified, Roger?"
"I was frightened at first, Dorothy, and felt a strange weakness inmy knees, as they began to swarm up the ship's side; but it passedoff when the scuffle began. You see, there was no time to thinkabout it. We all had to do our best, and even had I been frightenedever so badly, I hope that I should not have showed it, for itwould have brought shame upon my father as well as myself; but intruth I thought little about it, one way or the other. There theywere on the deck, and had to be driven back again; and we set aboutthe work like Englishmen and honest men and, thanks to our pikesand axes, we had not very much trouble about it; especially when weonce became fairly angered, on seeing some of our friends undone bythe heathen.
"I myself would rather go through two or three such fights, thanencounter such another storm as we had off the coast of Portugal,for four days. It seemed that we must be lost, the waves were ofsuch exceeding bigness--far surpassing anything I had ever seenbefore. My heart was in my mouth scores of times, and over and overagain I thought that she would never rise again, so great was theweight of water that poured over her. Truly it was the mercy of Godwhich alone saved us, for I believe that even my father thought theship would be beaten to pieces, though he kept up a show ofconfidence in order to inspirit the men. However, at the end of thefourth day the gale abated; but it was days before the great seawent down, the waves coming in long regular hills, which seemed tome as big as those which we have here in Devonshire; but smooth andregular, so that while we rolled mightily, there was naught to fearfrom them."
"I should not like to be a sailor," Agnes said. "It would be farbetter, Roger, were you to come into our father's counting house.You know he would take you into his business, did Cousin Reubendesire it."
Roger laughed.
"I should make but a poor penman, Agnes. I love the sea dearly, andit is seldom that we have such gales to meet as that; and afterall, it is no worse to be drowned than it is to come to any otherdeath. I am well content, cousin, with matters as they are; andwould not stay ashore and spend my life in writing, not to be asrich as the greatest merchant in Plymouth. I almost wish,sometimes, I had been born a Spaniard or a Portugal; for then Imight have a chance of sailing to wondrous new countries, insteadof voyaging only in European waters."
"It seems to me that you have plenty to see as it is, Roger,"Dorothy said.
"I do not say nay to that," Roger assented; "but I do not see whySpain and Portugal should claim all the Indies, East and West, andkeep all others from going there."
"But the pope has given the Indies to them," Dorothy said.
"I don't see that they were the pope's to give," Roger replied."That might do for the king, and his minister Wolsey, and thebishops; but when in time all the people have read, as we do,Master Wycliffe's Bible, they will come to see that there is nowarrant for the authority the pope claims; and then we may,perhaps, take our share of these new discoveries."
"Hush, Roger! You should not speak so loud about the Bible. Youknow that though there are many who read it, it is not a thing tobe spoken of openly; and that it would bring us all into soretrouble, were anyone to hear us speak so freely as you have done.There has been burning of Lollards, and they say that Wolsey isdetermined to root out all the followers of Wycliffe."
"It will take him some trouble to do that," Roger said, shrugginghis shoulders. "Still, I will be careful, Dorothy, for I would noton any account bring trouble upon you, here. But, thank Heaven,England is not Spain, where men are forever being tortured andburned for their religion. The English would never put up withthat. It may be that there will be persecution, but methinks it israther those whose opinions lead them to make speeches that arere
garded as seditious, and who stir up the people into discontent,who fall into trouble; and that, as long as folks hold their ownopinions in peace and quiet, and trouble not others, neither kingnor cardinal will seek to interfere with them.
"It is not so in Spain. There, upon the slightest suspicion that aman or woman holds views differing from those of the priests, he isdragged away and thrown into the prisons of the Inquisition, andtortured and burned."
Mistress Mercy now returned, and she and the girls busiedthemselves in laying the table for dinner.
That evening, after Mistress Mercy, the girls, and Roger hadretired to bed, Reuben Hawkshaw and his cousin had a long talktogether, concerning the next voyage of the Swan. After MasterDiggory had discussed the chances of a voyage to the low countries,or another trip to the Mediterranean, Reuben, who had been silentlylistening to him, said:
"Well, Cousin Diggory, to tell you the truth, I have been turningover a project that seems to me to offer a chance of greaterprofit, though I deem it not without risk. That is the case, ofcourse, with all trading affairs; and, as you know, the greater therisk the greater the profit, so the question to be considered iswhether the profit is in fair proportion to the risk run. I thinkthat it is, in this case, and I am ready to risk my life incarrying it out. It is for you to consider whether you are ready torisk your venture."
"What is it, Reuben? There are no other voyages that I know of;unless, indeed, you think of sailing up to Constantinople, andtrading with the Grand Turk."
"My thoughts go farther afield still, Diggory. It is a matter Ihave thought over for some time, and when I was at Cadiz the otherday I made many inquiries, and these have confirmed me in myopinions on the matter. You know that the Spaniards are gaininghuge wealth from the Indies, and I heard at Cadiz that, after theconquest they made, a year since, of the island they call Cuba, thestores of precious things brought home were vast indeed. As youknow, they bring from there gold and spices and precious woods, andarticles of native workmanship of all kinds."
"I know all that, Reuben; and also that, like dogs in the manger,they suffer none others to sail those seas; and that no Englishship has ever yet traversed those waters."
"That is so, Diggory; but by all I hear the number of islands islarge, and there are reports that there lies, farther west, a greatland from which it is they procure, chiefly, the gold and silverand precious things. Now it seems to me that, were the mattersecretly conducted, so that no news could be sent to Spain, a shipmight slip out and cruise there, dealing with the natives, andreturn richly stored with treasures.
"The Swan is a fast sailer and, did she fall in with the Spanishships, would show them a clean pair of heels. Of course she wouldavoid the places where the Spaniards have forts and garrisons, andtouch only at those at which, I hear, they trade but little;" andhe took out a scroll from his bosom, unrolled it, and showed it tobe a map.
"This I purchased, for ten gold pieces, of a Spanish captain whohad come to poverty and disgrace from his ship being cast away,while he was asleep in liquor, in his cabin--a fault which is rareamong the Spaniards, and therefore thought all the more of. I methim in Cadiz, at a wine shop near the port. He told me his story aswe drank together, for he spoke Dutch, having traded much with theLow Countries.
"He took out a map, to show me some of the places at which he hadhad adventures. I said that the thing was curious, and would buy itof him, if he was disposed to sell. He said that it would be asmuch as his life were worth to part with it, to an Englishman; and,indeed, that it was only captains of ships trading in those seaswho were allowed to have them, seeing that all matters connectedwith the islands were held as a state secret. After some troubleand chaffering, however, he agreed to make me an exact copy, and tosell it me for ten gold pieces.
"This is the copy. It is exact, for I compared it with theoriginal, before I paid for it. Now here, you see, are laid downthe position and bearing of all the islands, together with all theports and places where the Spaniards have their settlements. Thisline over here represents the mainland, but it is, as you see, butvaguely drawn; seeing that, except at one or two points, theSpaniards themselves have but little knowledge of it. Now it seemsthat, with the help of this, I might so navigate the Swan as toavoid much risk of falling in with the Dons; and might yet make ashift to fill up the ship with goods of all kinds, such as wouldsell here for great prices. I know, of course, that were we takenwe should be killed without mercy; but in the first place theywould have to catch us, which would not be easy; and in the secondto capture us, which, methinks would be more difficult still,seeing that a crew of stout Devonshire lads, fighting with haltersround their necks, would give a good account of themselves, even ifoverhauled by a great Spanish galleon.
"What think you of the scheme, Cousin Diggory?"
"It is a perilous one, certainly, Reuben," the merchant replied,after a long silence. "There is the risk of the loss of the shipand all her freight, and there is the risk of the loss of your lifeand of those of the crew; and I would rather lose even the Swan,Reuben, than that harm should come to you and Roger. Then it maywell be that, even if you carried the scheme to a successful end,and returned laden with wealth, the king and his counselors, whenthe matter came to their ears--which it would be sure to do on yourreturn, for it would make a prodigious talk--might be grievouslyoffended, accuse us of embroiling England with Spain, confiscatethe cargo, visit me with fine and imprisonment, and treat you andthe crew as pirates."
"I do not fear that," Reuben said. "Our relations with Spain havegrown cold, lately, and there is a talk of peace between us andFrance. In the next place, I should say that the king would bemightily glad to see a chance of us English having a finger in thispie, that the Spaniards want to keep to themselves; and that hewill perceive that great advantage will arise, from our obtaining ashare of the trade with the Indies. There is a rare jealousy in thecountry, at the Spaniards and Portugals keeping all the trade ofboth the Indies in their hands; and methinks that, even if hejudged it necessary to make a show of displeasure against the menwho led the way in this matter, there would in the end be muchhonor, as well as profit, in this venture."
"It is a grave matter, Reuben, and one not to be undertaken withoutmuch thought and calculation. Still, I own that the proposal is atempting one, and that the possession of this map, which I willexamine at my leisure, would help you much in your enterprise.Truly, as you say, although the king might frown, there would bemuch honor as well as profit in being the first English merchant todispatch a ship to the Spanish main. I love not the Spaniards and,like all Englishmen who think as I do on matters of religion, haveviewed with much disfavor our alliance with men who are such cruelpersecutors of all who are not of their religion."
"I hate them," Reuben Hawkshaw said, energetically. "They swaggeras if they were the lords of the world, and hold all others as ofno account beside them. If you resolve on this enterprise I shall,of course, do my utmost to avoid them; but should they try to layhand on us, I shall be right glad to show them that we Englishmenhold ourselves fully a match for them."
"Well, well, we must not think of that," Diggory Beggs said,hastily; "but, nevertheless, cousin, if the Swan sails for thoseseas, I will see that she is well provided with ordnance and smallarms, so that she shall be able to hold her own with those whowould meddle with her."
"That is all I ask, Diggory. We shan't meddle with them, if they donot meddle with us; but if they treat us as pirates, to be slainwithout form of trial, they must not blame us if we act as pirateswhen they come upon us. They hold that they are beyond the law,when they are once beyond sight of land, going westward; and wehave only to take them at their word.
"As to piracy, if the things that are whispered as to their crueltyto the natives be true, pirates are an innocent and kindly folkcompared to them. They openly proclaim that all found in theseseas, which they claim as their own, will be treated as enemies andslain without mercy; and we shall be, therefore, fully justified intreating as an enemy any
Spanish ship that we may come across; andholding her as a fair prize, if we are strong enough to take her."
"But you must not go out with that intent, Reuben. If I fit out theSwan to go to the Indies, it is that she may trade honestly withsuch natives as are ready to trade with her, and not that she maywage war against the Spaniards."
"I quite understand that, Cousin Diggory," Reuben Hawkshaw said,with a grim smile; "and that also is my intent, if the Spaniardswill but let me adhere to it; only if we are attacked, we mustdefend ourselves. If they try to capture us, and we beat them, itis but natural that we should capture them."
"Against that I have nothing to say, Reuben. I can find noauthority, in Scripture, for the Spaniards claiming a portion ofthe seas as their right. The world is all, as it seems to me, opento trade, and neither the pope nor anyone else has a right toparcel it out, for the exclusive use of one or two nations. As weall know, the seas within a mile or two of shore are held tobelong, naturally, to those who own the land; but that is adifferent thing, altogether, to holding that more than half theseas, inasmuch as we know of them, are to be held as privateproperty by Spaniards and Portugals.
"Well, we will say no more about it, at present. There is plenty oftime to think it over, while the Swan is unloading. I certainly donot like to take so great a risk as this would be on my ownshoulders; but if I could get two or three others to join me, Ishould be willing enough to embark upon it."
"I need not tell you, Diggory, that it behooves you to be rightcareful as to those to whom you may broach it. Remember that anincautious word might ruin the enterprise altogether. If so much asa whisper of it reached the ear of the Spanish ambassador inLondon, he would apply to the king to put a stop to it; andwhatever King Harry might think of it, he could hardly permit theSwan to sail in the face of such a remonstrance, for to do so wouldassuredly embroil him with Spain."
"I will be careful, Reuben; for I see this as well as you do, andshall only speak to men who have, before now, worked with me injoint adventures, and on whose discretion I can surely rely. I willtalk the matter over with them, Reuben, first; and if they appearfavorably disposed, you shall meet them here, show them your map,and explain your intentions fully to them. If three others join me,in equal shares, I shall propose that, as it is your idea, and asyou have obtained this map, you shall have an equal share with eachof us in the business; and shall, in addition to your pay asmaster, take one-fifth of the profits, after payment of expenses.Will that content you?"
"Right well, Cousin Diggory; and from this moment I shall, I cantell you, regard myself as a rich man."
The unloading of the Swan occupied some time. There was no unduehaste, in those days. The bales were hoisted by whips from thehold, and then carried up to Master Beggs' warehouse. The sailorshad earned a fair time for repose, after the hardships of thevoyage, and took matters easily, and it was more than a week beforethe Swan's hold was empty.
During that time the merchant had not made any allusion, to Reuben,as to their conversation on the evening after the Swan came intoport. But Reuben was neither surprised nor anxious at this silence.He knew that his cousin although an enterprising was a cautiousman, and had hardly hoped to find his proposal so favorablyentertained. He had looked for absolute refusal at first, andexpected that he would only arrive at his end after long disputesand discussion. Therefore he doubted not that Diggory was turningthe matter over and over in his mind, settling the details, andperhaps broaching the matter to the merchants he had spoken of.
The Swan, once empty, was laid up on the shore; where she dried atlow tide, so that she could have her seams caulked, and a coat ofpitch laid on below the waterline, and be made tight and sound forany voyage on which she might be dispatched. Reuben Hawkshaw hadlost his wife years before and, when in port at Plymouth, alwaysoccupied lodgings in a house a short distance from that of hiscousin; spending his evenings mostly at Master Diggory's, butrefusing to take his breakfast or dinner there.
"I know what is what, cousin," he would say, when the merchantpressed him and Roger to come to breakfast or dinner. "Women arewomen and, as is only right, they hold to the nicety of things; andnothing displeases them more than for people to come in late fortheir meals. When I am at work I work, and if when the clockstrikes the hour for meals I am in the middle of a job, I see thatit is finished before the men knock off. Then there is the matterof washing and cleaning up, for one gathers much dust and dirt inthe hold of a ship; so that, do what I would, Roger and I couldnever reckon upon being punctual, and the matter would weigh on mymind when I ought to be thinking of other things. No, no, Diggory,we will be free men, taking our bite and sup on board, as we canmake shift to get them; and then, when work is over, coming withclean hands and a clear mind, to supper with you. When the Swan'shold is empty, it will be time enough to talk about amusement."
The evening after the unlading of the cargo was completed, MasterDiggory said to his wife:
"Get the table cleared as soon as you can, Mercy, and bring twoflasks of that last batch of Spanish wine out of the cellar, andput them and some cups on the board. I have two or three friendscoming in, to talk over a matter of business with Reuben and me."
As soon as the table was cleared, Roger asked permission of hisaunt to take his cousins for a walk upon the Hoe. This was readilygranted, as there was no other room in which they could well bebestowed; and having set the wine upon the table, Dame Mercyretired to look after domestic matters, of which she always foundan abundance to occupy her.
In a short time Master Turnbull, Master Streatham, and MasterWinslow, three worshipful traders of Plymouth, arrived.
"Cousin Reuben," Master Diggory said, "I have spoken to these goodfriends of mine in respect of that venture which you proposed tome, and they would fain hear more of it, from your own lips. Youcan speak with confidence before them; for, whether they agree tocast in their lot with us or not, no word of this matter will passtheir lips."
Reuben addressed himself to his task, and that at much greaterdetail than he had given, when first speaking of the matter toDiggory. He told them what he had gathered from the sea captains,and others, as to the articles with which the Dons traded with thenatives. That they were for the most part cheap and common, andthat the amount required for a sufficient stock of such merchandisewould be very small. Small hand mirrors, strings of colored glassbeads, brass rings and trinkets, colored handkerchiefs and brightcloths, were the articles chiefly used in barter. Knives and axeswere greatly prized, the natives considering iron to be morevaluable than silver or gold. Small bells and brass vessels werealso valued, and iron spear and arrow heads were eagerly soughtfor; but the Spaniards were chary of providing such goods, seeingthat they might be used in conflicts against themselves.
Then he produced a list of the stores that would be required forthe ship and crew.
"In this matter," he said, "you will think, perhaps, that mydemands are excessive; but I am of opinion that money in this waywould be well spent. As a rule--though I say it before menaccustomed to victualing ships--our crews are vilely provided for.Salt meat they must eat, for no other can be obtained at sea; butit should be of good quality, likewise the other provisions. I wantnot biscuits that are alive with maggots, nor moldy flour, nor peasor other things that cattle would turn up their noses at. I wanteverything to be the very best of its kind, with cider good, andsound, and in fair abundance.
"This is not an ordinary voyage. We shall be away for many months,maybe for a year or two; and unless the men are well fed they willassuredly lose their health, and likely enough become mutinous. Ifwe come upon a Spanish ship when three parts of the crew are weakwith scurvy, we shall make but a poor fight of it. Therefore, Iwant to keep my men in good strength and in good heart, and to dothis they must be well fed. Such a voyage as this no English shiphas ever made before and, cooped up as we shall be in the Swan--forwe must carry a great crew--everything depends upon there being nofair ground for grumbling. Many a ship has been lost from the crewbeing we
akened by scurvy, and if you are to bring this enterpriseto a good end, I say that there must be no stint in the matter ofprovisions, and that all must be the very best of their kind.
"I trust that, once out there, we shall be able to obtain anabundance of fruit and vegetables from the natives; for these arethings, above all, necessary to keep men's blood sweet onshipboard.
"Then, as to arms. I think we should carry twelve pieces, six of aside; of which four should be of good size, and yet not too largeto be quickly handled. In the matter of weight, the Spaniards aresure to have the advantage of us; but if we can shoot much morequickly than they can, it will equalize matters. Then, of course,there will be bows and arrows. I do not hold greatly to the newmusketoons--a man can shoot six arrows while he can fire one ofthem, and that with a straighter and truer aim, though it is truethey can carry somewhat farther. Then, of course, there will bepikes, and boarding axes, and a good stock of powder and balls forthe cannon. These are the complete lists I have made out.
"Now I hold that we should carry from eighty to a hundred men.These I should pay only the ordinary rate of wage, but each shouldhave an interest in the venture, according to his rank. As to theprofits, I would leave it to you, my masters, to reckon; but seeingthat in fair trade one can get gold, to say nothing of silver,weight for weight for iron; and other things in proportion; you canjudge for yourselves what it will amount to--to say nothing of thechance of our falling in with a Spanish treasure ship, which may berash enough, regarding us an easy prize, to fall foul of us."
"There is no doubt that the profits will be great, if you returnsafely home, Master Hawkshaw," Nicholas Turnbull said; "but thechances of that seem but small."
"I think that the chances are good enough to risk my life upon,Master Turnbull," Reuben replied; "and no man can show greaterconfidence than that. This is the map of which my Cousin Diggoryhas no doubt spoken to you. You see that the islands are many, andsome of them great; and that the places at which the Spaniards haveports are few, in comparison. We have to avoid these, but anywhereelse we can open trade with the natives. If we are chased, and findthe place too hot for us, we can make away to the mainland and,cruising along there, may come upon places that the Spaniards havenever visited, and may there gather great store of gold and silver,without danger. But I wish no one, and certainly not my CousinDiggory, to enter upon this affair unless with confidence and goodheart. I would far rather take a horse and travel to Bristol, andlay my scheme before some of the traders there."
This idea was most distasteful to the traders, for Plymouthregarded Bristol with great jealousy; and Diggory Beggs at oncesaid:
"No, no, Reuben. My friend Master Nicholas Turnbull did not meanthat he regarded your scheme as hopeless, only that the risks weredoubtless great. But we all know that to earn great profit one mustrun such risk; and the venture, divided between four of us, wouldnot be a very heavy one--that is to say, not beyond what we arejustified in periling.
"Would you leave us for a while, Reuben? We will examine theselists that you have made, and reckon up the total cost; and weshall then see the better how much we shall each have tocontribute, to make up our venture."
Reuben nodded and, putting on his hat, left the room, saying, "Inan hour I will return;" and then strolled over to a tavern muchfrequented by the masters of the ships in the port.