CHAPTER EIGHTEEN.
WE TURN THE TABLES UPON MONSIEUR RENOUF.
It was drawing well on toward sunset when Renouf, having apparentlyappropriated all the most valuable portions of the Spaniard's cargo thathe could readily lay hands on, began to clear his disorderly rabble of acrew out of the ship, sending them aboard the schooner, a boatload at atime, and, to my surprise, using the Spanish boats, as well as his own,for this purpose. Meanwhile, the stories told by the men who had fromtime to time come from the Spanish ship had had the effect of graduallyenticing the more sober half out of the schooner and on board the _SantaTheresa_, until the _Jean Bart_ had at length been left practically inpossession of us five Englishmen, and some thirty Frenchmen, the wholeof whom were more or less helplessly drunk. And, this being the stateof things on board the schooner, it would have been a comparatively easymatter for us five to have overpowered the Frenchmen, who were lying orstaggering about the decks, and to have made off with the vessel; butnot even to secure our liberty did I consider that I should have beenjustified in leaving Renouf and the bulk of his ruffians on board the_Santa Theresa_, to wreak his vengeance on the hapless crew andpassengers. At length pretty nearly all the Frenchmen, save Renouf, hisbrother, and some half a dozen more, had rejoined the schooner, and Iperceived with intense satisfaction that, although they were, withoutexception, in an almost helpless state of intoxication, every manbrought with him at least a couple of bottles of wine or spirits; somemen brought as many as half a dozen with them; and, at a hint from me,Anstey and his shipmates zealously assisted in getting these preciousbottles safely up over the ship's side for their owners, who at oncetook them below and stowed them away in their hammocks. Among theearliest of the main body of arrivals, so to speak, came Dumaresq; hewas perfectly sober, and I was gratified to observe that his countenancewore a quite unmistakable expression of fiery indignation, in which Ithought I could also trace indications of horror and disgust. He caughtmy eye for an instant, as he sprang in over the rail; threw up his handsexpressively, laid his finger on his lips, and vanished below.
Only the schooner's gig and the Spanish ship's pinnace now remained tojoin, and I had found time to observe that the latter was being loadedwith a number of very small but apparently heavy packages, the nature ofwhich I shrewdly suspected, for I had seen something very like thembefore. At length the operation of loading the pinnace appeared to becomplete. There was a pause of about a quarter of an hour, and then thegig started for the schooner, with the pinnace in tow. As soon as I sawthese two boats coming I directed my four shipmates to go below and turninto their hammocks, as at least half the Frenchmen had done, and toremain there, if possible, until I should call them, at the same timewarning them not to touch a drop of liquor, as they valued their lives.In a few minutes the two boats were alongside, and I saw that mysuspicion as to the nature of the small packages was correct. Therewere just forty of them, weighing about one hundred pounds each; eachpackage was carefully sewn up in raw hide, and I knew that these smallbut exceedingly heavy packages were so many gold ingots! So the _JeanBart_ had made a very handsome haul, apart from the probably valuablebales that had come up out of the Spaniard's hold. As Renouf and hisbrother came up over the side I observed that their faces were flushed,as with excitement, or wine, or both, and their voices were thick andhusky, but neither of them was what might be called intoxicated. Asthey turned to go aft to the cabin the brothers glanced at the Spanishship, and the elder gave utterance to a brutal jest that made my handstingle to take him by the throat and heave him overboard. But I seldompermit my passion to conquer prudence, and I allowed him to go,promising myself that his unhappy victims should be amply avenged in duetime. Alas! even then I did not know the full measure of the villain'sinfamy, or I should have cast prudence to the winds, and daredeverything for immediate freedom of action. They went below for a fewminutes, and then returned to the deck to watch the trans-shipment ofthe gold, standing close to the gangway, and execrating in unmeasuredterms the incapacity of the drunken mob who were performing theoperation. For my own purpose I also assumed the demeanour of semi-intoxication, and accordingly came in for my full share of abuse. Thegold, as it was hoisted on deck, was passed down into the cabin, andwhen it had all been got safely aboard the schooner, the pinnace waspassed astern and made fast to the rest of the Spanish boats, when, tomy astonishment, we filled and made sail with the _Santa Theresa's_boats in tow!
For some time I was puzzled to divine what could possibly be Renouf'smotive in taking away the Spanish boats, for they could be of no use orvalue whatever to us. There was no room for them on deck or at theschooner's davits, and I could hardly imagine that a man like Renoufwould seriously contemplate the idea of attempting to tow them acrossthe Atlantic. It was while I was marvelling at this extraordinaryeccentricity, as I considered it, that I happened to allow my gaze torest abstractedly on the Spaniard that still remained hove-to, and as Igazed it dawned upon me that a subtle change was taking place in theappearance of the vessel. At first I could not satisfy myself at all asto the nature of the change, although I was convinced of its reality,but suddenly I understood it all. The craft was deeper in the waterthan before; she was gradually, almost imperceptibly, settling down, andalready the rise and fall of her upon the swell was becomingcharacterised by that heavy sluggishness of movement that marks a water-logged ship. The scoundrels had scuttled her--I could understand it allnow--and were taking away the boats in order that the miserablepassengers and crew might by no possibility escape to tell the tale ofRenouf's piratical behaviour. With this conviction strong upon me, Imade my way below, and at length found Dumaresq, sitting upon a chest,with his face buried in his hands, and wearing every appearance of themost abject melancholy.
"Dumaresq," exclaimed I, in a fierce whisper, grasping him by theshoulder and shaking him almost savagely in my agitation; "rouseyourself, man, and listen to me! I want to ask you a question or two.You have been aboard the Spanish ship, and were an eye-witness, Isuppose, of some at least of the deeds of Renouf and his crew. I wantto hear the particulars, as briefly as possible, and I also want to knowwhat is your feeling in the matter."
He removed his hands from his face and looked up at me, and even in thedim uncertain light of the 'tween-decks I could read the horror, sorrow,and indignation in his eyes.
"Bowen, my friend," he replied in low, cautious tones, "do not ask mefor I cannot tell you; I could not find words to describe the scenes ofwhich I have been a helpless, horrified eye-witness this day.Everything may be summed up in a few words: Renouf and his crew arepirates of the most ruthless character; men who absolutely revel inwickedness of the vilest description, who take positive delight ininflicting the most horrible indignities upon those who unfortunatelyhappen to fall into their power, who gloat over the unavailing tears andentreaties of their victims, and who scoff at the mere mention of theword `mercy'. Picture to yourself the very worst that you have everheard or read of piratical atrocities, and you will be able to arrive ata very accurate conception of the horrors of which that unfortunate shipwas the theatre to-day. And I, my friend, I was compelled to look on,powerless to mitigate a single horror; nay, worse, my remonstrances werejeered at, and if I ventured to intercede in behalf of a victim, someadditional insult or barbarity was at once inflicted upon the unhappycreature. And these are the fiends into whose power we have fallen. Itwould have been a thousand times better had we perished in the gig!"
"Is that your view of the matter?" I exclaimed contemptuously. "Then Ican only say, Monsieur Dumaresq, that I have been mistaken in you. Man,man!" I continued angrily; "what are you thinking about? Are you goingto crouch here, dumb, abject, and inactive, like a whipped hound,instead of bestirring yourself and helping me to put an end to thecareer of these fiends and bring them to justice, to say nothing of thepossibility of saving those unhappy wretches on board the Spanish ship,unless I am to understand from you that they have all been murdered incold blood."
> "No, no, it was not quite so bad as all that," he answered, looking atme with a bewildered air; "bloodshed there certainly was, and crueltorture to extract the secret of the hiding-place of the gold, but nolife was actually taken, so far as I know. What do you mean by yourtalk of `saving' the unhappy wretches on board the Spanish ship?"
"I mean," said I impressively, "that the ship has been scuttled, and isnow surely but slowly sinking, while Renouf has all her boats in tow, inorder that there may be no possible chance of escape for anybody onboard her."
"Merciful heaven! it cannot be!" he exclaimed, starting to his feet, andgripping me by the arm. "Why, nobody but a fiend incarnate would dreamof doing such a thing!"
"Then," said I, "Renouf is a fiend incarnate; and that is an additionalreason for putting an end to his career at once; for, as surely as thatyou are standing here, he has not only dreamed of doing such a thing,but has actually done it."
"Horrible, horrible!" exclaimed Dumaresq, smiting his forehead with hishand as he stared at me, still more than half incredulous. "But whatcan we do, my friend; what can we do? There are but six of us, at most,against more than eighty!"
"True," I answered; "but if each of those six is as resolute as I amprepared to be, we may prove sufficient for my purpose. Now, listen tome. This is my plan. Look around you. There is not a man below here,save ourselves, but is nearly or quite helplessly drunk, and those ondeck are little or no better. We must divide ourselves into threeparties of two each, and each party must tackle one of these drunkenwretches at a time, one of us clapping a gag between his jaws, while theother whips a lashing round him, and makes him fast, hands and feet. Inthis way everybody below here may be secured. Then, leaving two of ournumber here to deal with any others who may come down, the other fourmust go aft and seize Renouf and his brother; and when we have made themsafe, we must tackle Danton. This done, our next move must be to getthe schooner round, and return to the Spanish ship, and while we aremaking our way back we must go round the decks with a belaying-pinapiece, and simply knock the senses out of all who attempt to oppose us.It will not be a difficult matter, for I do not believe that there is aman on board, excepting ourselves and perhaps Renouf and his brother,capable of taking care of himself."
"_Mon Dieu_!" exclaimed Dumaresq; "but it is a desperate scheme, and Ido not believe that anybody but a Briton would have thought of it, muchless talked of it so coolly as you have done. But, Bowen, my friend,dare we attempt it? Is there the remotest chance of our beingsuccessful?"
"There is every chance, if we are but resolute," I answered, a littleimpatiently. "But, of course," I continued, "you are not called upon tojoin us if--"
"Nay, nay," he interrupted, "you shall never say that Anatole Dumaresqflinched when desperate work had to be done. I am with you, my friend,heart and soul. Let me but clearly understand what is to be done, andyou shall have no chance to say that I did not do my fair share. Thereis my hand upon it."
I silently grasped his extended hand, and then went to the hammocks inwhich Hardy and his mates were pretending to sleep, and told them totumble out at once. This they did, when I explained to them verybriefly what I proposed to do. Having made my meaning clear, werejoined Dumaresq, and without further ado the six of us seized a numberof jackets, trousers, and other clothing that had been hung to thebulkheads and beams, and unceremoniously cut them into suitable strips,which we rolled into gags.
On board the _Jean Bart_ the hammocks were never taken on deck, as theyare on board a man-o'-war--the schooner not being fitted with a hammock-rail,--but were simply laced up every morning. Each hammock wasconsequently fitted with a good stout lacing, which I thought wouldadmirably serve as a lashing for my prisoners.
Having provided ourselves with as many gags as we could convenientlystow in our pockets, we next stationed ourselves in couples alongsidethree occupied hammocks, and while one of the twain loosely and quicklypassed the lacing through the eyelet-holes the other stood by with thegag, which, at the proper moment, was slipped into the victim's mouthand lashed securely, the hammock lacing at the same moment being hauledtaut and made fast; and in this way each prisoner was silently andeffectually secured. It took the six of us fully twenty minutes tosecure everybody below--to the number of sixty-three,--as some of themhad to be gagged first and afterwards lashed into their hammocks; butthe work was done effectually, noiselessly, and without a hitch, everyone of the Frenchmen proving to be too completely intoxicated to offerthe slightest resistance worthy of the name.
This done, I crept up on deck, staggering and stumbling, with the mostvacant expression of face that I could assume, and generally imitating,as nearly as I could, the gait and appearance of a drunken man, for thebenefit of whosoever might happen to be in a condition to takeintelligent notice of me. Reeling and staggering to the fore-rigging, Iclutched at and hung on to a belaying-pin, and looked about me fore-and-aft. The deck was occupied by some twenty men or so, some of whom wereasleep in the lee scuppers, while others, in little groups of two andthree, hung over the bulwarks, staring idiotically at the white foamthat swept aft from the schooner's keen cut-water; and four, who hadprobably assumed the duty of looking out, staggered and lurched inpairs, holding each other on their legs, to-and-fro between the windlassand the fore-rigging, occasionally indulging in an ineffectual attemptto exchange remarks. So far, all was right; nobody here seemed capableof giving us the slightest trouble. In fact, discipline was for thetime being at an end, lawlessness reigned supreme, everybody was his ownmaster, and the schooner was practically left to take care of herself.Danton, however, was in charge of the deck, and although he was a trifleunsteady in his walk, I could see that he had his wits pretty well abouthim and would have to be somewhat carefully tackled if we wished tosecure him without giving the alarm to Renouf and his brother, both ofwhom, I took it, were below. Astern of us, or rather about a point anda half on our starboard quarter, and some four miles distant, lay theSpaniard, still hove-to, her brasswork and the glass of her sky-lightsand scuttles flashing redly in the last rays of the setting sun as shelaboured over the ridges of the low swell; and I was both startled andhorrified to observe how deep she had sunk into the water during thecomparatively short time that I had been below. It was clear enoughthat if the unhappy people aboard her were to be rescued there was not amoment to lose; I therefore staggered aft and, approaching Danton withdrunken solemnity, touched my forehead and, wavering upon my legs andspeaking thickly, asked him to come for'ard and down below and tell mewhether he could smell fire. The scoundrel's face blanched at the word,as he probably pictured to himself the frightful predicament of allhands--himself included--should my suggestion prove true; then, withouta word, he hastened forward to the hatchway, with me at his heels, andwent stumbling down the steep ladder. As he reached the bottom I flungmyself upon him, clasping him round the body and arms, and lifted himoff his feet, at the same time singing out to Hardy to gag him; and inanother minute we had him securely bound, hand and foot, and lashed hardand fast into a hammock.
"So far, well!" I exclaimed, as I dragged him unceremoniously away to adark corner. "We have now but to secure Renouf and his brother, and theschooner is ours. Hardy, Green, and Sendell, come you aft with me,providing yourselves with a belaying-pin each on the way; and you,Anstey, will keep Mr Dumaresq company on deck, mounting guard over thecompanion, to prevent anyone going below, or to knock down and secureanyone who may escape us and attempt to reach the deck. Our duty isvery simple; four of us will enter the cabin; and while Hardy and Iattempt to secure Renouf and his brother, the other two will stand by toassist, in the event of either of us becoming disabled by a pistolbullet. Come along, my hearties."
So saying, I led my little party aft. At the head of the companionladder Dumaresq and the man Anstey came to a halt, the former engagingthe drunken helmsman in conversation, while the remaining four of usstole down the ladder, bare-footed, and noiseless as cats. I hadalready mentally arranged my method of proced
ure; so, whispering toHardy that he was to tackle the chief mate, while I would look afterRenouf, I boldly knocked at the cabin door. A command to enter, givenin rather a drowsy, peevish tone of voice, was the immediate response,whereupon I flung open the door and passed into the cabin closelyfollowed by Hardy.
Renouf and his brother occupied a locker each on opposite sides of thecabin; and it was quite apparent that they had both been indulging in anap, which I had rudely broken in upon. They were in the act ofchanging from a reclining to a sitting posture, yawning and stretchingas they did so, when I entered the cabin.
"Captain Renouf," began I, as I advanced toward him, "I have taken theliberty to--"
My little ruse was, however, unavailing; the ruffian seemed toinstinctively and immediately divine my purpose, and in a flash he hadwhipped a pistol and a long knife--the blade of which I noticed wassmeared with blood--from his belt, and levelled the former straight atmy head. There was no need for further words between us; nor was theretime for hesitation; so, quickly ducking my head, I sprang upon him likelightning, and seized him by both wrists at the very instant that hispistol exploded; the bullet grazing the left side of my head, and neatlyclipping off a lock of my hair. The fellow was as lithe as an eel in myhands, and made the most desperate efforts to stab me with his long,murderous-looking knife; but I had him fast in so powerful a grip that,after a furious struggle of a few seconds, he dropped both his weaponswith a gasp of pain, my clutch having, as it presently appeared, forcedboth his wrists from their sockets. To snatch the remaining pistol fromhis belt with my right hand, while I shifted the grip of my left to histhroat, was the work of but a single instant; and I then turned to seehow Hardy was faring with his antagonist. He had apparently been lessfortunate than myself, for his cheek was laid open by a long gash fromthe chief mate's knife, which, even as I turned my head, again descendedand buried itself in Hardy's shoulder. The smart of this second woundseemed to fairly rouse my shipmate, and before I could do anything tohelp him his ponderous fist darted out with the force of a six-poundshot, catching the miserable Corsican fair in the centre of the face anddashing him backwards, with a shriek of pain, across the table. Thisblow settled the affair; there was no more fight left in either of thebrothers--indeed I had unconsciously gripped my prisoner's throat sotightly, while watching the termination of the struggle between theother two, that his tongue and eyeballs were protruding, and he wasalready going black in the face. So we securely pinioned the preciouspair, lashing their arms and legs together, and, bundling each into hisown cabin, locked the doors, the keys of which I slipped into my pocket.This done, I helped myself, from the trophy upon the after-bulkhead ofthe cabin, to weapons enough for our entire party; found Gaspar, thesteward, in his pantry, where I lashed him fast and locked him in; andthen the four of us hastened on deck to ascertain what effect, if any,had been produced by the pistol-shot fired in the cabin upon the smallresidue of the crew who had not yet utterly succumbed to the stupefyinginfluence of their immoderate potations.