CHAPTER NINE.
LIFE ON THE ISLAND.
When we got sufficiently near the beach to distinguish objects, we sawthe captain standing with a pistol in his hand, which was pointed at themate, who held a long knife in his hand, with which he was about, itseemed, to make a rush at his opponent, while three or four men hadarranged themselves on either side, and were nourishing various weapons.The shots we heard told us that they had already fired at each otherseveral times, but were too tipsy to take a steady aim. One man,however, lay wounded on the ground, and from the gestures of the mate,he would in another instant plunge his knife in the bosom of thecaptain, unless stopped by the latter's bullet.
"You knock up the skipper's arm, while I seize the other fellow,"exclaimed O'Carroll to me, springing forward.
I did as he bid me; he ran a great risk of being shot. The mate turnedon O'Carroll with an oath, and the captain snapped his pistol at me, butfortunately he had already discharged it, and in another instant Ibrought him, as he attempted to grapple with me, to the ground.O'Carroll had mastered the mate, and the other men stood staring at us,but offering no opposition. "Is this the way for men to behave who havejust been saved from death, to make yourselves worse than the brutebeasts? This--this is the cause of it!" exclaimed O'Carroll, kicking acask from which a stream of spirit was even then running out. "It wouldhave been no loss to us if you had killed each other, but we could notsee our fellow-creatures perish without trying to save them."
The bold and determined tone in which O'Carroll spoke, aided by thearrival of the rest of our friends, had such an effect on the seamen,that those who were still able to move slunk away to a distance, whilethe captain and his mate, when we let them go, sat down helplessly onthe sand, forgetting entirely their quarrel and its cause. There theysat, laughing stupidly at each other, as if the affair had been a goodjoke. While O'Carroll was emptying the rum cask, which it appeared hadbeen washed on shore and secreted by the captain, his men went to thewounded man. He did not speak: he seemed scarcely to breathe. I tookhis hand: it was already cold. All this time he had been bleeding todeath: an artery had been shot through. We did our best in the dark tobind up the wound and stop the bleeding; the spirit which might havekept his heart beating till nature, in her laboratory, had formed moreblood, was gone; indeed, probably in his then condition it would nothave had its due effect. The wretched man's breath came fainter andfainter. There was no restorative that we could think of to beprocured. We lifted him up to carry him to the camp, but before we hadgone many paces, we found that we were bearing a corpse.
"That man has been murdered," exclaimed O'Carroll, turning to thecaptain. "By whose hand the shot was fired which killed him I know not,but I do know that his blood is on the head of the man who ought to haveset a good example to his inferiors, and prevented them from broachingthe cask they had found."
Whether this address had any good effect we could not tell, but hopingthat the men would remain quiet and sleep off the effect of theirdebauch, we returned to our tent, leaving the body on the ground. Thenext morning we returned to the beach. The captain and his drunkencompanions still lay on the sand asleep. They were out of the reach ofthe sea, but the hot rays of the rapidly rising sun, which were strikingdown on their unprotected heads, would, I saw, soon give them brainfever or kill them outright, if they were to be left long exposed totheir influence. I therefore proposed that we should rouse them up, andadvise them to go and lie down in the shade of some shrubs and rocks ata little distance.
"Before we do so, we'll take away their weapons, and at all events makeit more difficult for them to do mischief to us or to themselves," saidO'Carroll. Some of the men grumbled on being disturbed, as we turnedthem round to take away their knives. We left the unloaded pistols,which, as they had no powder, could do little harm. Having taken theirarms to our tents, we returned and awoke them, not without difficulty,by shaking them and shouting in their ears. One after the other theygot up, lazily rubbing their eyes and stretching themselves, and staringstupidly about them. The captain was one of the last to come to hissenses. He started when he saw the dead body of his companion.
"Who killed that man?" he exclaimed, in an anxious tone.
"You did, most probably," answered O'Carroll. "We heard shots fired andfound the man dead."
The captain felt in his pocket, and drew out a pistol with the hammerdown: it had been discharged. "Then I am a murderer!" he exclaimed, ina tone of horror, his countenance expressing his feelings. "It wantedbut that to make up the measure of my crimes."
"It is but too true, I fear," said O'Carroll.
"Yes, too true, too true!" cried the captain, rushing off towards thesea, into which he would have thrown himself, had not O'Carroll,William, and I held him back. It was some time before we could calm himsufficiently to leave him alone. He then went and sat down in the shadeat a little distance from his companions, who looked on at him with dullapathy, while he gave way to the feelings which the prickings of hisawakened conscience had produced. How he and the mate had got possessedof the pistols we could not guess, till we found the chest of one of theemigrants, a young man, broken open, and from this they had helpedthemselves. One of them soon after came for a spade which had beenlanded, and we saw them hurriedly bury the corpse, as if eager to getthe silent witness of their crime out of sight. For the remainder ofthe day they were perfectly quiet, the mate coming humbly when theprovisions were served out to ask for their share; still we could nottrust them, as we knew that if they could get at more liquor, they wouldvery quickly again be drunk. In the evening, indeed, they were seenwalking along the beach, evidently watching for the chance of anothercask being washed on shore. They did not find one, however, and thenext morning were excessively sulky, keeping together and evidentlyplotting mischief. They, with the rest of us, were aroused, however,soon after breakfast by the appearance of a sail in the offing. Themore sanguine at once declared that she was standing towards us, andthat our fears regarding a prolonged stay on the island were groundless;others thought that she would pass by and leave us to our fate. Everyspyglass was in requisition, and numerous were the surmises as to thecharacter and nationality of the stranger.
"What if she is an enemy?" observed William.
"She will not find much plunder, at all events," answered Trundle."There is nothing like being at the bottom of the hill, so that youcannot be kicked lower."
"Even an enemy would respect our condition," remarked O'Carroll; "wehave nothing to fear from one, I should hope."
"No, but an enemy would leave us where we are: a friend would carry usaway, or send us assistance," said I. It was dinner-time, and Jacotothad prepared our messes with his usual skill; but so eager were thepeople watching the approaching stranger, that the food was scarcelytouched, except by the children, who of course little knew how muchdepended on her character. At length there was no doubt that she wasstanding for the island, and the exhibitions of joy and satisfactionbecame general among the unfortunate emigrants. They would now be ableto leave the island and reach their land of promise; every countenancebeamed brightly except O'Carroll's. After some time I saw his fall. Itgained a more and more anxious look. He scarcely withdrew the glassfrom his eye.
"What do you make her out to be, O'Carroll?" I asked.
"Braithwaite, as I am a living man, she's the _Mignonne_," he answered,in a hoarse voice, his countenance still further showing the agitationof his mind: "if that villain La Roche gets hold of me again, he'll notlet me escape with my life. And these poor emigrants to have hislawless crew come among them,--it will be terrible; better rather thatthey had all gone to the bottom in their ill-fated ship with theirdrunken captain."
Notwithstanding O'Carroll's opinion, I doubted whether the stranger wasthe _Mignonne_, for she was still too far off, I thought, for him to becertain on the subject. I therefore tried to tranquillise his mind,wondering that a man so brave, and cool, and collected, as he generallywas, should
have such a dread of the French captain.
"I tell you yonder vessel is the _Mignonne_, and if you had been treatedas I was, and had witnessed the scenes I saw enacted on board, you wouldnot have a less horror of La Roche and his scoundrel crew than I have.My reason does not help me; I cannot think of that man withouttrembling."
I understood him, for I have myself been affected in the same way withregard to one or two people who have done me some injury, or would, Ihave had reason to believe, do me one should they have the opportunity.
"The only way to escape the pirates is to remain concealed while theyare passing," he observed. "As there is no harbour here, and there areno signs of them having been here, they will, in all probability, go tothe other side of the island, and we may escape them."
As I still further examined the stranger I began to fear that O'Carrollwas right in his conjectures, and I therefore agreed to assist him intrying to persuade the rest of the people to hide themselves till theprivateer was out of sight. The emigrants, frightened out of their witsby the account O'Carroll gave of the privateer's men, were ready enoughto do as he advised, and began running here and there, not knowing whereto hide themselves. We advised them simply to pull down the tent, toput out the fire, and to sit quiet among the rocks and shrubs till theship had passed.
We then went on to see the captain and his men. As we got in sight ofwhere they were, we saw that they had already got up a spar, which hadbeen washed on shore, and were in the act of hoisting a man's shirt tothe top of it in order to attract the attention of the stranger. Onthis O'Carroll shouted out to them in no very gentle tones, "Fools!idiots! what are you about? would you bring an enemy on shore to murderus?" I then told them the character of the vessel in sight. "What'sthat to us?" answered one of the men. "All masters are much the same tous; they'll use us while they want us, and cast us adrift when they'vedone with us. Whether French or Spaniards, they'll not harm us.They'll have liquor aboard, and that is what we shan't have as long aswe remain here."
It was useless attempting to argue with such men. I turned to thecaptain. He had lost all authority over his people, who treated him asan equal, or rather as an inferior. He shrugged his shoulders andwalked away without speaking. I saw that it was time, therefore, tointerfere, and William and I, rushing forward, hauled down the signal,which one of the men was on the point of hoisting. "If you are willingto become slaves, we are not!" I exclaimed, in a determined tone,seizing the halliards and hauling down the signal. The men threatened,but as they had no arms, and we were firm, they did not attempt toprevent us from carrying off the spar.
The ship approached, and as she passed along the coast so that we had abroadside view of her, I had no longer any doubt that she was the_Mignonne_. I observed that even the seamen, notwithstanding theirbravado, kept so far among the rocks, that unless the privateer's menhad been especially examining the shore there was not much probabilityof our being discovered. We watched the vessel from the highest pointof ground we could reach, and we conjectured that she must have touchedat the other side of the island, concealed by an intervening ridge ofelevated land. "If we are careful we shall escape all molestation fromthe privateer's men," I remarked, addressing the emigrants. "They arenot likely to come to our part of the island."
It was curious to observe the change which had come over O'Carroll. Hewas no longer the bold and sagacious seaman, but an anxious, nervous,timid man. At night I frequently heard him crying out in his sleep,thinking that the dreaded La Roche was on him, and was about to carryhim on board the privateer. As we could not do without a fire to obtainfresh water, we were compelled to light one, though we thus ran therisk, should any of the privateer's men wander into the country, ofbeing discovered. Still that was a risk which must be run. It wascurious, also, to observe the humble way in which, after a few hours,the seamen came to beg for a draught of the pure liquid. I was veryglad of this, as I saw that it would enable us to exert an influenceover them and to keep them in order. The wretched captain held out forsome time, but at last came, with parched lips and bloodshot eyes,entreating even for a few drops of the precious fluid to cool the tip ofhis tongue. It raised our pity to see how the wretched man suffered,physically and mentally, and all the time without hope. In vain I urgedhim to seek for mercy as a penitent. "Impossible! impossible!" heexclaimed, with a wild laugh. "You do not know what I have done, what Iam doomed to do." And tearing himself away from me, he rushed off, andwas hid from sight among the rocks and bushes. Day after day passed by,and we kept anxiously hoping that the privateer would take herdeparture. It was suggested that if she came to the island to refit,the Frenchman might possibly have a storehouse, with boats, perhaps, ormeans of building one, and that we might thus be assisted to make ourescape. At last, so long a time had elapsed since her arrival, that webegan to fancy that she had gone out of harbour during a moonlightnight, and reached the offing without our perceiving her. To settle thepoint, William and Trundle volunteered to reconnoitre, and I, afraidthat they might venture too far, resolved to go with them. We fixed onthat very afternoon to start, our intention being to get as close to theharbour as we could before dark, and then to rest till the moon rose andafforded us light.
"I hope that you'll have success, but it is a dangerous work you aregoing on, young gentlemen," observed one of the emigrants, a Mr PeterLacy, or Lazy, as he was generally called, for it was most difficult toarouse him to any exertion.
"Never fear, Mr Lazy, danger is a sweet nut we midshipmen are fond ofcracking to get at the kernel--honour. We shall be back all safe beforemorning, and able to give a satisfactory report."
In good spirits we set off, for a considerable part of the distancekeeping along the shore, to avoid the tangled bush and rocks of theinterior. As, however, we approached the harbour, or rather the placewhere we supposed the harbour to be, we left the beach and kept a moreinland course, taking advantage of all the cover we could find toconceal ourselves. At last the sun went down and it quickly grew dark,so we called a halt, and ate some of our provisions with a goodappetite. We listened attentively, but could hear no sound, so weagreed to push on directly the moon got up. As we did not speak above awhisper, a very soporiferous proceeding, I was not surprised that bothToby and William fell asleep. It was more necessary, therefore, that Ishould keep my eyes and ears open. At last I saw what looked like theilluminated dome of some vast cathedral slowly emerge from the dark lineof the horizon; up it rose, till it assumed a globe-like form, andappeared to decrease in size, while it cast a bright silvery light overthe hitherto obscured landscape. I roused up the two midshipmen, whowere sleeping as soundly as if they had been in their hammocks. Weworked our way onward among tangled underwood, not without sundryscratches and inconvenient rents in our clothing, till we reached ahill, up which we climbed. From the top we looked down, as we hadexpected to do, on the harbour. Below us lay the _Mignonne_, or a shipvery like her; her sails were loose and bulging out with the landbreeze, while from the sounds which reached us it was evident that hercrew were heaving up the anchor preparatory to sailing; boats weremoving backwards and forwards over the surface of the calm water of theharbour, on which the moon shone with a refulgence which enabled us tosee all that was taking place. The anchor was shipped, the sails weresheeted home, and the privateer slowly glided out of the harbour on hererrand of mischief; two, if not more, boats returned to the shore fullymanned. Farther up the harbour lay three large hulks, with their lowermasts only standing; they were high out of the water, showing that theyhad no cargoes in them. There were also several smaller craft, but allwere dismantled, and looked as if they had been there for some time.The French, then, had a settlement on the island. The inhabitants weresure to be armed, and probably were as numerous as our party. If so, itwould be unwise to attempt gaining anything by force, though of coursewe might surprise them. We waited till the people in the boats had hadtime to turn in and go to sleep, and then descended to reconnoitre theplace more ne
arly. We crept cautiously on till we reached severalscattered cottages, or huts rather, built, without any regularity, asthe nature of the ground seemed most suitable. There were also two orthree storehouses close to the water; indeed, we saw enough to show usthat there was a regular settlement made by the French for the purposeof refitting their ships. The barking of several poodles in thecottages made us afraid of moving about much, lest their inmates shouldlook out and discover us. We therefore retraced our steps to the hill.
"A magnificent idea," exclaimed Trundle, as soon as we called a halt."We'll surprise and capture the place and hold it for the King ofEngland. You'll be made governor, Braithwaite, to a certainty."
"To be turned out by the first French privateer which enters theharbour--to be thrown into prison and perhaps shot. Thank you," said I,"I would rather not."
"This establishment solves a mystery," observed William. "We have oftenbeen puzzled to know what has become of vessels which have disappeared,and which, from the fineness of the weather, and for other reasons, wedid not suppose had been lost. We should do good service if we couldget away without being discovered, and send some of our cruisers towatch in the neighbourhood."
I agreed with William; at the same time the idea of capturing the placewas very attractive. If we should make the attempt and succeed,however, we should find liquor there, and the seamen would certainly getdrunk and mutinous. No object would be gained, either, unless we couldimmediately send a vessel to sea, to give notice at the Mauritius of oursuccess and obtain assistance. Discussions on these points occupied ustill daylight, when we recommenced our journey to the tents. The newswe brought was so far satisfactory to our companions, that we were notlikely to be starved to death, and as peace would come some day orother, we might then hope to make our escape. No one, however, seemedat all desirous of attacking the French settlement; the risk wasconsiderable, the gain problematical. It was finally agreed that weshould remain quiet where we were, and only in case of extremity makeourselves known to our foreign neighbours. The more energetic of theparty became, as may be supposed, very impatient of the inactive life wewere compelled to lead. We could do little else than fish all day, andmake expeditions in search of water. In this we were at lastsuccessful; the spring was more than a mile away, and it became aquestion whether we should move our camp there, the objection to our sodoing being that it was so much nearer the French settlement. The nextmorning, on going near the spot where the captain and his companions haderected their tent, I saw no one moving. I called to them. There wasno reply. I went to the tent. It was empty! It was supposed that theyhad gone to the newly-discovered spring, but those who had gone to bringwater from it told us that they were not there. While we were wonderingwhat had become of the men, as William happened to be sweeping thehorizon with his telescope, he cried out that he saw a sail in theoffing. In a short time afterwards another was descried, her topsailsgradually rising out of the water. She was pronounced to be larger thanthe first which had appeared.
"It is that scoundrel La Roche again!" exclaimed O'Carroll, after eyeingthe nearest stranger for some time. "I knew that it would not be longbefore he would be back again, and there he comes with a big prize,depend on it."
"But suppose, instead of the big ship being his prize, he has beencaptured by one of our cruisers, and has been sent in first to show theway?" I suggested.
"No, no, the headmost craft is the _Mignonne_, and the big one is anIndiaman, her prize, depend on that," said O'Carroll.
There seemed every probability that he was right, but this did notincrease our satisfaction. The only thing that could be said was thatwe should now have companions in our misfortune. As may be supposed,however, we watched the approach of the two ships with the greatestinterest, feeling assured that in some way or other they would have aconsiderable influence on our fate.