CHAPTER XV.
IN SEARCH OF THE PLATE FLEET.
It had been night-time when the fleet cast anchor under shelter of theisland of Flores--the most westerly of the Azores; and if any of theyounger members of the expedition who had not before gazed upon foreignland had hoped to witness aught that was novel or surprising, they hadperforce to content themselves for the time being with the sight of astretch of dark land rising out of a blue moonlit sea. Here and there,it is true, they could discern the black outline of a tall date-palmagainst the lighter background of the sky, poised, as it were, on theridge of some rugged hill. But when the morning came the sloping landcould be clearly seen with its terraces of vine and its blossomingorange-trees and its plantations of olives; and at the foot of thecliffs there was a long white line of foam, where the Atlantic rollersbroke upon the rocky shores.
The _Revenge_ lay so near to the shore that the people of the island,who had come down from their village on the hillside, could bedistinctly seen standing in a group looking out in wonder at the ships.And some of them had even put out their boats and were paddling towardsthe ships in the hope of doing some trade in the selling of fresh fruit.When they came alongside, certain of the officers bought a few bunchesof luscious grapes or baskets of oranges and dates; but what was mostrequired was a supply of fresh water, and for this the English saw noreason why they should pay money or money's worth, and their own boatswere better fitted for the carrying of water-beakers than those of thenatives. So, ere the sun was yet high above the horizon, two boats ofthe _Revenge_ were launched, and a like number from each of the otherships, and they were pulled towards the beach.
In one of the _Revenge's_ boats went Gilbert Oglander. He sat at thetiller, and he steered her round under the stern of Jacob Whiddon'sbark, the _Pilgrim_, that lay but a cable's length away from his ownship. As he passed under her high counter one of her own boats shot outfrom her larboard side, and her men pulled vigorously at their oars asif intent upon having a race. Gilbert glanced at her rowers as she cameabreast of him, and as he caught sight of the youth at her helm hestarted in amazement. For a moment he could not believe the evidence ofhis own eyes. But when the youth turned half-round with his face full inview there could be no mistake as to his identity, and Gilbert criedaloud in a voice that carried far across the waves:
"Tim! Timothy! Timothy Trollope!"
And Timothy (for it was in truth he) touched his cap in salutation, andanswered cheerily:
"Give you good-morrow, Master Oglander. Prithee, hast had a pleasantvoyage, withal?"
"Ay, truly," returned Gilbert. "But 'sdeath, Tim, I thought not to seeyou here!"
And then the boats drew apart, and Timothy remained out of sight in therear for some ten minutes, until the keels grounded on the pebbles of alittle sheltered creek whither the boats from the _Defiance_ had alreadyled the way. And when Gilbert leapt ashore he ran across some rocks towhere Timothy's boat was arriving; he caught the painter-rope that wasthrown to him, and drew the craft inward through the deep green water tothe edge of the rock. As Timothy stepped out, Gilbert, rememberingnothing of the disagreement that had come betwixt them, took the lad bythe hand and clapped him on the shoulder in very joy.
"Well met!" said he; "well met!" he repeated. "But why, since thou'rtsailing i' the fleet, Tim, didst thou not come aboard the _Revenge_,quotha? There was ample room for thee."
Timothy smiled awkwardly.
"I cared not a groat which ship I sailed on, so that it were but in thefollowing of my lord the admiral," said he, as he strode over the roughrocks towards a little grassy knoll beyond. "'Tis true I had wished tobe aboard one of the Queen's ships rather than on a mere adventurer suchas Jacob Whiddon's _Pilgrim_. Yet so hard did my father urge my stayingat home, even to the last day, that 'tis a marvel that I did end bygaining his consent to my coming at all, and it was by sheer good luckthat I succeeded in getting a berth with Whiddon."
"Wouldst come aboard the _Revenge_ even now an I got thee entered on herbooks, Tim?" questioned Gilbert.
"Ay, gladly," returned Timothy; "for I do assure thee the life we havehad since leaving Plymouth hath been none too comfortable; and the foodis less to be desired than that which I have ofttimes seen bestowed uponthe swine at Modbury Manor. As for the beer they give us, I vow I'drather regale myself on the water out of the sea. Ay, gladly would Ijoin the _Revenge_. And yet," he added, with a curiously undecided lookin his eyes, "'tis surely passing strange, Master Gilbert, that thoushouldst ask me aboard the same ship with thyself, seeing that when lastwe parted it was upon no friendly terms."
"I should willingly forget and dismiss from my mind the matter thatparted us," said Gilbert. "And I will own now that I made a huge mistakein my judgment of thee, Tim. I fear thou wert right in thy estimate ofmy uncle. I blush to think it, but I am well-nigh convinced that he was,as you said, engaged in plotting on the side of our country's enemies."
"It may be that you will have proof of it when we return to England,"observed Timothy. And then with a "God-speed you", he turned andrejoined his shipmates, wondering the while at Master Oglander'sfriendly feeling towards him.
When Timothy again went on board the _Pilgrim_ he sought out her captainand told him of the offer that Gilbert had made, beseeching JacobWhiddon to let him join the _Revenge_ if it should so chance that SirRichard Grenville would have him. Captain Whiddon murmured someobjections, saying that his acquaintance with Timothy during the voyagehad taught him the lad's value.
"Nevertheless," said he, "if you are a handy man on board this smallcraft, I doubt not that you would prove even more so in a wider sphere.'Tis your own advantage that I consider, Timothy, and looking at thematter thus, it would ill become me to refuse your pleading."
For the rest of that day, and during the day that followed, Timothy castmany a longing glance towards the _Revenge_. So often did he look at theship that very soon he came to know every rope of her rigging, everyspar of her masts, and every plank of her richly-carved and gilded hull.She was a comely vessel, he thought, with her tall poop and herglittering brass guns, her waving flag of St. George, and her crew ofmerry, stalwart men. But the days passed and yet no message came to him,and he began to think that Gilbert Oglander had surely forgotten allabout him.
During these days the ships remained in the same positions as they hadtaken up when they had cast anchor. At times the boats would be sentashore, or to one or other of the victuallers; but there was no sign ofgrowing activity, nothing to indicate that the expected treasure-shipswere at hand.
Two weeks went by and still all remained as before. But on a certainMonday morning in early April, when Timothy sat with some of the menenjoying the bright sunshine on deck, he observed a boat putting offfrom the _Revenge_. He watched it idly, growing more eager when he sawthat it was approaching the _Pilgrim_, and that Gilbert Oglander sat inher stern seats.
Very soon the boat was alongside, and Gilbert climbed up the ship's sideladder and stepped on deck, and strode aft to the captain's cabin.There he remained for many minutes, delivering some message from SirRichard Grenville. When at length he came again upon the deck he soughtout Timothy Trollope--no difficult task, seeing that Tim was patientlywaiting for him at the gangway.
"Didst think I had forgotten thee, Tim?" said Gilbert. And then, withoutwaiting for answer he added: "Get thy trappings and baggage ready, lad,and come aboard the _Revenge_ with us; for Sir Richard hath consented tothy coming, and hath bidden me fetch thee."
It occupied Timothy but a few moments to gather his belongings together;for in truth they made but a scanty bundle, needing no greatconsideration in the packing. With his morion slung basket-wise on hisarm, his corselet gripped by the shoulder-straps, his sword dangling athis side, and his small canvas bag of spare clothing carried on hisback, he followed Gilbert Oglander into the boat, and waving a farewellto his old shipmates he was rowed alongside the _Revenge_.
Timothy was somewhat awed by the si
ght of Lord Thomas Howard on theship's quarter-deck, where the admiral, arrayed in a suit of spotlessgray velvet trimmed with silver lace, paced to and fro in earnestcolloquy with Sir Richard Grenville.
Lord Thomas, it seemed, had been making a tour of his fleet thatmorning, inspecting the ships and giving various instructions to hiscaptains. When Timothy came on board the whole company of the _Revenge_were being mustered on the upper deck. Gilbert Oglander presented him tothe purser, who straightway entered his name on the ship's books.
When the roll had been called, the admiral and the vice-admiral,standing at the forward rail of the quarter-deck, looked down upon thesea of sunburnt faces and continued their conversation. Presently SirRichard Grenville leaned over the rail and spoke to one of the officerswho stood below.
"Master Tremayne," said he, "send me up the man Hartop--Jacob Hartop."
And when the word had been passed forward, Jacob Hartop strode towardsthe stairs and mounted to the quarter-deck, where he saluted the twogreat men.
Lord Thomas Howard signed to him to approach nearer, saying at the sametime:
"It seemeth you are passing well acquainted with these islands, my man?"
"I have good reason to know them well, my lord," returned Jacob. "I lostmy ship off this same island of Flores--a ship that was loaded even tothe gunwales with Spanish treasure--and for two weeks I cruised amongthe Azores in an open boat in search of a vessel to fetch me home toEngland. I have been ashore on every island in the group, and have livedin Terceira for full three months. Yes, my lord, so please you, I knowthem well."
"Good!" nodded the admiral. "And I doubt not you can manage a small boatif need be?"
"Ay, or a large," said Jacob. "I am well trained in navigation, as SirRichard Grenville can avouch."
"Enough," said Lord Thomas. And then, becoming more familiar in his toneof speech, he told Jacob that he had a mind to send him off for a cruiseto the westward with the purpose of keeping an outlook for theappearance of the Spanish treasure-ships. "You shall have a good,swift-sailing fly-boat," he said, "and may choose your own companionsfor crew. And when you catch sight of the plate fleet it shall be yourobject to hasten back with all speed to our anchorage here and warn usof their coming."
"Right well do I understand," agreed Jacob. "Prithee, when do I setoff?"
"When you list," said Lord Thomas; "but at noon to-day at the latest,for it may be that they are already within a day's sail of the islands."
So Jacob Hartop, having received full instructions, returned to theupper deck. And as he was passing the main-mast he caught sight ofTimothy Trollope and touched him on the elbow, bidding him follow him.
"I am glad to see thee aboard of us, Master Timothy," said he, shakingthe lad by the hand. "And in truth you are in goodly time. Art willingfor an adventure, lad?"
"Ay, in faith am I that," said Tim. "I am ill of this weary waiting andceaseless idleness. But what mean you by adventure, Master Hartop?"
Then Jacob opened out to him his plans for the cruise in search of theenemy, and asked him to be one of his little crew.
Timothy at first leapt gladly at the proposal, but at the next moment heshook his head in doubt.
"How will it be," said he, "if the Spaniards should come before wereturn? I should then see naught of the fighting, and I would not foranything in the world miss such an experience."
"You need have no fear as to that, my boy," returned Jacob, "for shallwe not be the first to see them when they come? Yea, 'tis for thatreason that we go, so that we may hasten back and give the alarm. Come,be not afraid that we shall miss aught by our absence; for I do vouchfor it that if you remain on board the _Revenge_ it will be but a wearytime of waiting and inactivity, whereas in our boat we shall at theleast be moving from place to place with the chance of adventure. I hadthought that you would rejoice at the opportunity, as did MasterOglander when I broached the matter to him."
Timothy's face brightened up at these last words.
"You had not told me that Master Gilbert was to come," said he. "In thatcase, I will certainly consent."
"'Twas he who bade me ask you," remarked Hartop; "for you must know thatwe had word of the thing full three days ago, when Sir RichardGrenville, with more impatience than my Lord Thomas hath yet shown, sawthe merit of sending out scouts, and made up his mind to speak with LordThomas as he hath done this morning."
In something less than an hour's time Jacob was ready with his littlecrew, which he had chosen with the thought of friendliness rather thanwith any regard to their special fitness for the expedition. The oldgunner, Edward Webbe, was a useful man, in that he could not only managea boat, but could also, if necessary, speak with any Spaniards orPortuguese in their own tongue, and he also knew the islands. TimothyTrollope was strong for the pulling of an oar when the wind would notserve for the use of the sail, while Gilbert Oglander had marvellouslykeen eye-sight, and might therefore be depended upon for a look-out.Young Robin Redfern was chosen for no greater reason than that he hadpleaded to accompany Master Oglander, and because he was of no greatbulk and would therefore occupy very little room in a boat whoseaccommodation was limited. All five were disguised as fishers, and theirboat, which was rigged with a lateen-sail, might well be mistaken at adistance for a Biscayan fishing-boat. The provisions wherewith she wasstored were sufficient to serve for two weeks.
A light breeze from the south-east blew over the sea as Jacob Hartoptook his little craft out of the roadstead at the north of FloresIsland where the fleet lay at anchor. A projecting headland soon hid theships from view, and towards evening the land itself was but a dim blueline on the horizon in the east. At nightfall the crew was divided intowatches, and Timothy, Webbe, and Robin Redfern slept while Hartop andGilbert remained awake, keeping the boat before the wind as she sailedever westward. But at sunrise on the next morning the course was alteredto the south, and so maintained until noon, when it was again altered tothe north. And so, backward and forward, north and south, the cruisingwas kept up day after day. But it was not until the evening of the ninthday that a single sail was sighted.
It was Robin Redfern who caught the first glimpse of the vessel--a meredark speck against the sunset sky.
"They are coming! they are coming!" he cried, half in terror and half injoy. And in a moment his four companions were standing up on the boat'shalf-deck and gazing out with searching eyes across the ocean.
"What make you of her, Master Oglander?" questioned Jacob Hartop in aquiet, deeply earnest tone as he gripped one of the stays to steadyhimself while the boat rose to meet the great Atlantic rollers.
Gilbert shielded his eyes from the strong light of the sunset as hestood with one arm clasped about the mast.
"'Tis a goodly ship in the matter of size," he presently said; "yet Ican see but little of her hull, for she is bow-on, sailing eastward asit seemeth."
"Haply 'tis one of their quick-sailing advance guards," suggested Webbe.
But Hartop silently continued to look out upon the sea with his browsbent and an expression of grim expectancy in his cold gray eyes.
"Canst make out if there be more than one ship?" he asked after a longpause. "Mark it well, my boy; for it were best that we make the matterfull certain ere we fly back with the alarm."
Gilbert's eyes slowly swept the line of the horizon.
"No," he said; "there is but the one."
"Then we may not yet return," said Hartop; and turning to TimothyTrollope he added: "Take you the tiller, Tim, and keep our head to thewestward until the dusk hath fallen. By that time we should know more."
The wind served well for this new course, and the boat sped on. But whenthe sun had sunk the strange ship could no more be seen, for the brightyellow afterglow was speedily obscured by a gray sea-mist.
Earlier on that same day they had observed that the sea was plentifullystrewn with tufts of sea-weed, and below their boat, when they hadlooked over the gunwale and peered down into the depths of the water,they had seen dense forest
s of marine growth thickly entangled, andmany thousands of jelly-fish and other denizens of the deep.
Jacob Hartop had shown more interest and concern in this fact than anyof his companions.
"'Tis for all the world like what I have seen many times in the SargassoSea," said he. "And yet it cannot surely be that we have come so far tothe westward as that."
But as the evening wore on and the water became yet more densely full ofliving things, he shook his head gravely and murmured a wish that theyhad turned back towards the Azores. "For," said he, "if it be that weare on the fringe of the Sargasso Sea there is no knowing what maybefall us."
"And prithee, Jacob, what manner of dangers do you fear?" questionedEdward Webbe. "Sure there can be no peril in sailing over a forest ofharmless sea-weeds."
"'Twas in the Sargasso Sea that I lost my ship," said Jacob. "I know theplace full well, and never do I wish to be back in it again. Hast neverheard of it, Ned?"
Webbe shook his head and smiled as he answered:
"Mayhap I have heard the name. But it seemeth to me that we are now inthe Atlantic Ocean; and if thou dost declare that we are nigh unto anyother sea, why, I can only believe that thou art dreaming."
"Well do I know that we are in the Atlantic," returned Hartop, "though agood piece farther to the westward than we had intended. But you mustknow that this Sargasso Sea of which I speak, is itself a part of theAtlantic--and a part which all wise mariners do avoid. 'Tis in placesnaught but a solid mass of sea-weed, so dense as to support the weightof a man, yea, even of a ship. Once within its confines, 'tis rare thata vessel doth ever escape; and most men who have been through it willtell you strange and marvellous tales of hideous monsters with hundredsof arms, that dart out and entwine in their grip of death all who comewithin their venomous reach."
"Then I pray you let us adventure no farther," said Webbe, "for I, atleast, have no great wish to be embraced by such arms. Let us turn back,Jacob."
"I would that we were once more aboard of the _Revenge_," muttered youngRobin Redfern, who lay stretched upon the half-deck at GilbertOglander'a feet. "Who knows but that the Spaniards have already passedus, and been overmastered and taken home to England."
"There can be little harm in keeping on our present course untilsunrise," said Jacob Hartop, not heeding the boy's remark. "Then, if wesee no sign of the plate fleet, we can turn about and make a run forFlores."
"Ay," added Webbe, "it were even wise to turn at the first peep of dawn;for, mind you, it would go ill with us if we should find ourselves inthe very midst of the galleons without a chance of escape."
And so they held on westward; and when darkness fell over the sea,Hartop and Gilbert curled themselves up under their rugs in the boat'swell and went to sleep, leaving Timothy in charge of the tiller andWebbe and Robin on the watch forward.
It may be that the recent mention of the loss of his ship lingered inJacob's mind as he fell asleep, for, as he dreamt, he saw himself onceagain upon her deck. A great galleon she was. He had won her in battlefrom the Spaniards, and as she was a better vessel than his own poorcraft, he had converted her to his own use, and taking his own crewaboard of her had hoisted the red cross of St George and cruised withher as a buccaneer on the Spanish Main, conquering many another ship ofSpain and transferring their treasures to his own hold, until thegalleon was weighed down almost to her lower port-holes with the weightof gold that she carried. And then on a certain night when he washomeward bound he lay in his cabin asleep, and there had come to him oneof the ship's boys to tell him that the galleon had sprung a leak andwas sinking. He heard the boy calling him now as he lay in his dreams inthe _Revenge's_ boat, sailing on those same seas.
"Master Hartop!" the boy cried, laying his hand on the old buccaneer'sbreast. "Master Hartop! Quick! quick!"
Jacob turned over and sat up, and found himself not in his ship's cabinbut in an open boat. And the boy who had called him was young RobinRedfern, who now stood over him with a face as white as the sea-foam,and with his hand that held the boat's lantern trembling as if withpalsy.
"'Sdeath, boy!" cried Hartop. "What in the world hath happened?"
Robin raised his free hand and pointed over the boat's gunwale acrossthe water.
"Look!" he cried. "What can it mean?"