CHAPTER FIFTEEN.
THE AFFAIR OF THE `FRANCESCA' AND THE `BARRACOUTA'S' BOATS.
I continued to industriously scrutinise the brig through thenight-glass, and, by so doing, contrived to keep Mendouca's attentionalso pretty closely centred upon her; but I could see that he was fullyon the alert. He appeared to instinctively scent danger in the air, forhe frequently assumed an anxious, listening attitude, with a growingirritability that manifested itself in repeated execration of the slavesfor the quite unavoidable splashing sounds that they made in working thesweeps. He was also intently watching the thin crescent of the settingmoon that was by this time hanging on the very verge of the westernhorizon; and I suspected that he was awaiting her disappearance to putin practice some stratagem--such as, perhaps, a further alteration ofthe ship's course--as an additional safeguard. But, whatever may havebeen his intentions, they were all altered by an unlucky discovery madeby one of the men on the forecastle, who, at the very moment when themoon was in the act of sinking behind the horizon, caught sight for amoment of a large boat full of men strongly outlined against the goldencrescent, and immediately reported the fact, coming aft that he might doso without raising his voice.
"A boat!" exclaimed Mendouca anxiously, when the man had told what hehad seen. "Are you _quite_ sure?"
"As sure as I am that I am now standing here speaking to you, senor,"answered the man, in a tone of conviction. "Jose saw it also. We wereboth watching the disappearing moon, and when she was about half-waybelow the horizon we suddenly saw a large boat, pulling, I should say,at least twelve oars, glide swiftly across her face, as though steeringto the southward on a line that would cross our course."
"Phew!" ejaculated Mendouca; "that looks serious. For it undoubtedlymeans that the brig's people are by no means as fast asleep as you haveimagined them to be, Dugdale. How far off did you judge the boat to bewhen you saw her?" he demanded, turning again to the seaman.
"A matter of a mile and a half, or perhaps a trifle more," was theanswer.
"Very well, then, that will do," answered Mendouca. "`Forewarned isforearmed,' as the English say. As you go forward pass the word alongfor the sweeps to be laid in and stowed away, and for the negroes to besent below, and the hatch gratings put on and secured. And, do youhear, everything must be done as noiselessly as possible."
"Bueno, senor," answered the man, as he turned away to do Mendouca'sbidding; and in a few minutes the sweeps were laid in and stowed away,and the brigantine's head gently turned more to the southward, in orderthat she might drift in that direction as long as she retained her way.Then, the slaves having been driven below and secured, the decks wererapidly but noiselessly cleared for action, the guns were cast loose andloaded, a liberal supply of grape and canister was passed on deck, armswere served out to the men, and the boarding nettings were triced up allround the ship. The whole of the work was executed so rapidly andsilently as to clearly demonstrate that the crew was a thoroughlyseasoned one, inured to fighting, and by no means averse to it when thechances were in their favour, as they certainly were in the presentinstance; and I was filled with chagrin and disgust at the thought ofhow simple an accident had sufficed to mar and defeat what mightotherwise have proved a perfect surprise to Mendouca and his crew.Still, although I could not conceal from myself the fact that thisapparently trivial accident had placed the attacking party at a woefuldisadvantage, by warning their antagonists of the intended attack, andthus putting them on the alert, I had seen enough of British pluck tohope that even yet, despite all, it might still prove successful; and Iawaited the event with no small anxiety, quite determined that if theslightest chance offered of affording any aid to the assailants, I wouldavail myself of it, let the consequences to myself be what they would.But Mendouca soon proved that he was not the man to overlook any suchperil as this; for presently, when by personal inspection he hadsatisfied himself that everything was in readiness, he came up to me andsaid, with just the suspicion of a sneer in the tones of his voice--
"Now, Dugdale, I will not pay you so poor a compliment as to suppose youcapable of treacherously making use of your present position on board myship, to raise your hand against the man who gave you your life, at themoment when his whole attention will be needed to protect himselfagainst outside enemies. Still, your conscience appears to be a verycurious and inscrutable thing, and there is no knowing what it mayprompt you to do under the influence of excitement and misguidedenthusiasm. In order therefore that you may be placed beyond the dangerof temptation to do something that you would probably afterwards havecause to bitterly regret, I will ask you to go below to your cabin,where, for your own safety's sake, I will take the liberty of lockingyou in, with a companion whose duty it will be to see that you remainthere and do not commit yourself by any rash act."
"Oh, certainly!" I answered, rather bitterly. "Needs must when thedevil drives; so lead on, most courteous senor."
"Look here, Dugdale," said he, apparently rather hurt by my tone, "youmust not feel yourself aggrieved at my action in this matter. What Ipropose to do is for your own good and safety, quite as much as by wayof a safeguard of my own. My men are fairly amenable to discipline intheir calmer moments, as you have doubtless discovered by this time; butI should be sorry to answer for them in the excitement of afiercely-contested fight, such as this is likely to be; and since youhave persistently refused to join us out and out, I honestly think itwill be safer for you to be below out of sight until we have driventhose meddlesome boats off."
"Very well," said I; "it must of course be as you please. Only, formercy's sake, spare me the humiliation of mounting a guard over me!"
He looked me intently in the eyes for a moment, and then said--
"All right, I will; you shall be locked up by yourself. Only, for yourown sake, be careful to behave exactly as you would in the presence of aguard; for I promise you that, if I have the slightest reason to suspectany treachery on your part, you will be sorry that I ever spared yourlife. Now, come along, for there is no time to spare."
I accordingly followed him below and entered my cabin, closing the doorbehind me, and I immediately heard him turn the key and withdraw it fromthe lock, after which he went on deck again; and for a time the mostperfect stillness and silence reigned throughout the ship.
The silence was not of long duration, however; for I had scarcely beenin my cabin ten minutes when I heard a low murmur of voices overhead,and the next instant Mendouca's voice pealed outs loud and clear, inEnglish--
"Ho, the boats ahoy! Who are you, and what do you want?"
There was some reply that I could not catch, the voice evidently comingfrom a point at some distance from the ship, on the opposite side tothat occupied by my cabin. It was probably an inquiry as to name anddestination of the brigantine, for Mendouca shouted--
"The _Nubian Queen_, of and for Liverpool, from the Brass river, withoil and ivory. Keep off, or I will fire into you! I warn you that weare armed, and are quite prepared to defend ourselves."
A long hail from the boats now followed, to which Mendouca replied--
"If you do it will be at your peril; I have been cleared out once beforejust about this same spot, and I do not intend to be robbed a secondtime. Keep off, I tell you! If you advance another stroke I willfire!"
And instantly afterwards I heard him say to his own men in Spanish--
"Now, lads, you have them all in a cluster, let them have it. Fire!"
The sharp, ringing report of the brigantine's nine-pounders immediatelypealed out, and even through the shock and concussion of the discharge Ithought that, as I stood with my ear at the open port, I caught thesound of a crash. Whether this was so or not, there could be no mistakeabout the screams and groans of agony that came floating over the waterin response to our broadside, mingled with cries of command, the rolland dash of oars in the water, a rattling volley of musketry, and thedeeper notes of two boat-guns fired almost together, the shot of one atleast of which I
heard and felt strike the hull of the brigantine.
All was now in an instant noise and confusion on deck; the silence thathad held the tongues of the crew was now no longer necessary, and thejabber, the oaths, the shouting, the loud, defiant laughs, the rumblingof the gun-carriages, the creaking of tackle-blocks, the thud of rammersand sponges, the calls for cartridges, all combined to create a hubbubthat would not have shamed the builders of Babel; and through all andabove all rose Mendouca's voice in short, sharp sentences of appeal,encouragement, and direction to his men. I could hear, by the furiousgrinding of handspikes, the breathless ejaculations of the men, and thecrash of the gun-carriages as the guns were run out, that the_Francesca's_ crew were working like demons; and almost before I couldhave believed it possible, they had again loaded their guns and a secondbroadside rang out over the still water, to be again followed by a stillmore gruesome chorus of cries and groans, and the sudden cessation ofthe sound of the oars, loud above which rose the exultant cheers of theruffians on deck.
"Hurrah, lads!" I heard Mendouca exclaim joyously; "load again smartly,but with grape and canister only this time. We have checked them for amoment, but they have not yet had enough, I fear; they will come at usagain as soon as they have picked up their shipmates, so now is yourtime; load and let them have it while they are stationary!"
And while he was speaking I could also hear a voice--that, unless I wasgreatly mistaken, belonged to Young, the first luff of the_Barracouta_--exclaiming at no great distance--
"Pull starboard, back port; now back, hard, all, and let us pick upthose poor fellows before the sharks get the scent of them! Easy all;steady, lads, steady; hold water! Now then, my hearties, lay hold ofthe oars and let us get you inboard sharp; we can't afford to lie hereto be peppered. Help the wounded, those of you who are unhurt. That'syour sort, Styles, bring him along here; is he still alive, do youthink? All right, I have him! Now then, coxswain, heave with a will,but don't hurt the poor fellow more than you can help. Gently, man,gently; now lift handsomely, so--"
_Crash_! the relentless broadside of the _Francesca_ again pealed forth,and again uprose that dismal wail of shrieks in testimony of its tooterribly truthful aim. Frantic cheers and shouts of exultation burstfrom the lips of the slaver's crew, in the midst of which Mendouca'svoice rang out--
"Now, stand by, men! here they come; but there is only one boat-load ofthem, and half their number must be killed or wounded. Stand by withyour pikes, pistols, and cutlasses, and let not one of them show hishead above the rail. Give them a volley from your pistols as they rangealongside, and then trust to cold steel for the rest. _Now_ is yourtime! Fire!"
And at the word there followed a tremendous popping of pistols, mingledwith the yells of the men on deck, a British cheer that sent the bloodtingling through my veins and made me anathematise my helplesscondition, the sharp, ringing clash of steel upon steel, and a furioustrampling of bare feet upon the planks overhead.
The scuffle continued for fully three minutes, and must have been veryhot while it lasted, for all through the hubbub the cries and groans ofthe freshly-wounded were continuous. I could hear the dull crunchingsound of the sharp cutlasses shearing through bone and muscle, theshrill scream of agony, the heavy thud of bodies falling to the deck,oaths and execrations both in Spanish and in English, shouts of mutualencouragement, yells of deadly hatred, the ceaseless trampling of feet,and all the indescribable medley of sounds that accompany a sharp andstubbornly-contested hand-to-hand conflict; and in my feverish anxietyto share in the struggle I forgot all about Mendouca's warning, anddashed myself frantically against the stout cabin-door in an effort toburst my way out. Before, however, I could succeed the hurly-burlysuddenly ceased, to be almost instantly followed by a yell of exultationfrom the crowd overhead as the hasty rattle and splash of oarsproclaimed that the attacking party had been driven off.
"Now, men, to your guns again, quick! Load smartly and give themanother broadside before they get out of range!" shouted Mendouca."Sweep them off the face of the water, if you can; let not one of themescape to tell the tale!"
A loud shout of exulting assent to this brutal exhortation pealed forth;and I heard the rumbling of the wheels on the deck as the guns were runin. This was more than I could endure; and again hurling myselffuriously against the cabin-door, I at length succeeded in bursting itoff its hinges. To emerge from the cabin and rush on deck was the workof a moment, and I reached the scene of action just as the loaded gunswere being run out.
"Stop!" I shouted. "What are you about to do, men? You have utterlymistaken your captain's orders if you suppose he meant you to fire uponthat boat! Order them to secure the guns," I continued, turning toMendouca; "it surely _cannot_ be that you are going to allow theexcitement of battle to betray you into the committal of a cold-bloodedmurder? You have beaten off your enemies, and they are in full retreat;let that satisfy you. Hitherto you have been _fighting_, and, as youare aware, the present state of the law is such that you are heldjustifiable in your act of self-defence; but should you fire upon thatboat now it will be _murder_, and I swear to you that if you do I willtestify against you for the deed, if I live so long. Man, have you noregard for _yourself_? Do you suppose that the captain of yonder brigwill be content to take the beating off of his boats as a finalsettlement of this night's doings? I tell you he will follow you andhunt you to the world's end, ay, and _take_ you, sooner or later! Andwhat do you suppose will be your fate if you murder that retreatingboat's crew? Why, you will swing for the deed, as certainly as that younow stand there glaring at me!"
"Have you finished?" he demanded, in a voice almost inarticulate withfury, his hand resting meanwhile upon the butt of a pistol that wasstuck in his sash.
"Yes," said I, "I have. That is to say, I have finished if I havesucceeded in preventing the perpetration of an act of miserablecowardice that in your cooler moments would cause you to hate anddespise yourself for the remainder of your life; not otherwise."
Slowly he removed his hand from the butt of his pistol and, with abitter laugh, drew a cigar from his pocket and lighted it.
"Secure the guns!" he shouted to his men. Then walking up to me andclutching me by the shoulder, he said--
"You have triumphed again. But I warn you that some day you will go toofar, and pay for your temerity with your life. Do you know that whileyou were speaking you were actually tottering upon the very brink of thegrave? Why I did not blow your brains out, I do not know. Boy, if youhave any wish to live out your days, never taunt me with cowardiceagain! There, go below, and do not let me see you again until I haverecovered my self-command, or even yet I shall do you a mischief."
"No," I said, "I will _not_ go below; it is my watch on deck, and I meanto keep it. I have no fear of your temper getting the better of younow, so I shall remain where I am--that is, if you will trust me withthe charge of the deck. I am fresh, while you are fagged with exertionand excitement, so it is for _you_ to go below and get some rest, notI."
Mendouca laughed again, this time quite genially, and said--
"Very well, let it be as you say; I _will go_ below and rest. And if itis any comfort to you to know it, I do not mind acknowledging _now_ thatI am glad you intervened to prevent me from firing on that boat. Keepher as she is going and let the niggers man the sweeps again; you areright about that brig, she will follow us to the world's end--if shecan, so we must put all the distance possible between ourselves and herwhile this calm lasts."
And, repeating to the boatswain his orders respecting the manning of thesweeps, this singular man nodded shortly to me and dived out of sightdown the companion-way.
In a few minutes a gang of slaves was again brought on deck and put tothe sweeps; and steering a course of about south-south-west, we weresoon once more moving through the water at a speed of about three knots.This course was followed all through the night and up to eight o'clockthe next morning, at which hour--one of the men having been sent aloftas far as
the royal-yard to see whether any sign of the brig could bediscovered, and having returned to the deck again with an intimationthat the horizon was clear all round--the brigantine's position waspricked off upon the chart and her head once more pointed straight forCuba.
We had by this time traversed a distance of fully sixty miles under theimpulsion of the sweeps alone, and everybody was anxiously watching forsome sign of a coming breeze; yet, despite the already long continuanceof the calm, the heavens were still as brass to us, clear, cloudless,blue as the fathomless depths beneath our feet, not the merest vestigeof cloud to be seen, the mercury still persistently steady at anabnormal height, the sea as smooth and motionless as a sheet of glass,and not the smallest sign to justify us in hoping for any change. Theheat was something absolutely phenomenal; the deck planking was so hotthat we all had to wear shoes to protect our feet from being scorched; agang of negroes was kept constantly at work drawing water with which toflood the deck; yet, despite this precaution, and despite, too, theawnings which were now spread fore and aft, the pitch in the seams ofthe planking became so soft that if I stood still for only a few secondsI found myself stuck fast. I pitied the unfortunate blacks from thebottom of my heart, for they were relentlessly kept toiling at thosehorrible sweeps without intermission all through the day, and that, too,upon a short allowance of water; but it was useless to interfere, foreven I had begun to understand by this time that, unless the brigantinecould be taken out of that awful region of apparently eternal calm,every one of us, black and white together, must inevitably perishmiserably of thirst.
This terrible weather lasted all through that and the following day,during which, with torment indescribable from thirst and the lash of theboatswains' colts, the miserable slaves propelled the ship no less adistance than one hundred and fifty miles. Oh, how fervently I beggedand entreated Mendouca to have mercy upon the unhappy creatures, and toat least give orders that they must be no more flogged, even ifinexorable necessity demanded that they must be kept toiling at thesweeps. But the wretch was as adamant, he laughed and jeered at mysympathy with the poor creatures, and--as much, I believe, to annoy meas for any other reason--persistently refused to give the order,declaring that, since they would receive many a sound flogging when theygot ashore--if indeed they ever lived to reach it--it was just as wellthat they should learn to endure the lash at once. At which brutalstatement I went temporarily mad, I think--at all events I did whatlooked like a thoroughly mad thing; I went on deck and, walking up tothe boatswain, informed him that if he or his mate dared to strike anegro again I would knock them both down. Mendouca, highly amused at myheat and excitement on behalf of the negroes, had followed me on deck,probably to see what I would next do; and upon hearing this threat hecalled out, jeeringly--
"Look out, Jose, my man! Senor Dugdale has warned you, and you may besure that if you strike one of those niggers again he will carry out histhreat!"
The boatswain saw at once how the land lay, and that Mendouca was onlyamusing himself at my expense; feeling confident therefore of hiscaptain's countenance and protection, I suppose, he, for answer, raisedhis colt and smote the nearest negro a savage blow over the shoulderswith it.
Of course, after my possibly foolhardy threat there was but one thing todo, and I did it forthwith, hitting out with my whole strength, catchingthe boatswain fair between the eyes, and rolling him over like aninepin.
"Ha, ha! well hit!" exclaimed Mendouca, laughing heartily at the sightof the boatswain as he reeled and fell under the feet of the negroes."I warned you, Jose, my lad; and now you see the evil results ofneglecting my warning! No, no," he hastily continued, starting to hisfeet; "put up your knife, man; that will never do! I cannot afford tospare Senor Dugdale--at least not just yet--ah! would you? Look out,Dugdale! bravo! well hit again! Serves you right, Jose; you shouldnever draw your knife upon an unarmed man."
For the fellow had hastily scrambled to his feet, and, with his drawnknife in his hand, made a rush at me, his eyes blazing with fury. And,as the only way of defending myself at the moment, I had seized hisuplifted right hand with my left, giving it a wrench that sent the knifespinning over the bulwarks into the sea, while with my right I againknocked him down.
"Now, Jose," exclaimed Mendouca, "that ends the matter; do you hear? Icannot spare Senor Dugdale, so if he is found with a knife between hisribs I shall hold you responsible for it, and I give you my solemnpromise that I will run you up to the yard-arm and leave you there untilit will not matter to you what becomes of your miserable carcase. And Ihope that the thrashing you have received will make you use a littlemore discrimination in the use of your colt. If a nigger _won't_ work,_make_ him, by all means; but so long as they are willing to workwithout thrashing, leave them alone, I say. As for you, Dugdale," hecontinued, in English, "had I suspected that you really meant to carryout your threat, I would have taken steps to prevent it. I will nothave my men interfered with in the execution of their duty. If they donot perform their duty to my satisfaction, _I_ will take such steps asmay seem necessary for their correction, so you need not troubleyourself further in that direction. Why, man, if I were to give you afree hand, we should have a mutiny in less than a week. Moreover, youhave made one deadly enemy by knocking Jose down, and you may consideryourself exceedingly fortunate if my authority proves sufficient toprotect you from his knife. Take care you make no other enemies amongthe men, or I will not be answerable for your safety."
This occurred shortly before sunset, and all through the hot andbreathless night the unhappy negroes were kept toiling at the sweeps ingangs or relays, the result being that when morning dawned the poorwretches seemed, one and all, to be utterly worn-out. Yet still therewas no respite for them; and when I again attempted to remonstrate withMendouca, that individual simply pointed to the serene, cloudless sky,with the blazing, merciless sun in the midst, and savagely asked whetherI wanted all hands to perish of hunger and thirst. This occurred whilewe were at breakfast; and when we went on deck at the conclusion of themeal, my enemy the boatswain drew Mendouca's attention to the upperspars and sails of a ship just rising slowly above the horizon on ourstarboard bow. I never saw so sudden a change in a man's demeanour astook place in that of Mendouca when his eye rested upon that distantobject; hitherto he had been growing every day more savage and morose,but now his good-humour suddenly returned to him, and, ordering thebrigantine's head to be pointed straight for the stranger, he shouted,in the gladness of his heart--
"Hurrah, lads, there is relief for us at last! We shall find what wewant--food and water--on board yon stranger, and also a way ofpersuading them to let us have it, or I am greatly mistaken!"
The significance of the last part of this remark was, to my mind,unmistakable. If he could not get by fair means what he wanted,Mendouca had already made up his mind to take it by force; in otherwords, to commit an act of piracy.
I was sorry for the crew of the unlucky craft, for I felt convinced thatMendouca would have but scant consideration for their future wants whilesatisfying his own; yet the sight of the stranger filled me with almostdelirious delight, for here was a chance--if I could but contrive toavail myself of it--to make my escape from my present surroundings.True, if I were permitted, or could contrive, to throw in my lot withthose people yonder, I should probably have to face terrible sufferingin the shape of hunger and thirst, but, after all, that would be lessunendurable than my present situation; and I determined that, whatevermight happen, I would certainly make an attempt to join them, alwaysprovided, of course, that the craft was honest, and not of a similarcharacter to the _Francesca_.
As we neared the stranger she proved to be a handsome, full-rigged shipof about a thousand tons measurement, or thereabouts, and I thought thatshe had somewhat of the look of one of the new British clipper Indiamenthat were just at this time beginning to supersede the old-fashioned,slow, lumbering tubs that had been considered the correct kind of thingby John Company; if she were, she would probably have a
crew strongenough not only to successfully resist the demands of Mendouca, but alsoto protect me, should I be able by any pretext to get on board her. Thedifficulty, of course, would be to do this; but if, as I ratherexpected, Mendouca should elect to lay the _Francesca_, alongside theship and endeavour to carry the latter by a _coup de main_, I wouldboard with the rest, taking my chance of being run through or shot downin the attempt, and immediately place myself under the protection of thestranger's crew. It was of course easy enough to arrange this scheme inmy own mind, but even a very slight deviation on Mendouca's part fromthe programme which I expected him to adopt might suffice to nullify it;nevertheless, it appeared probable that my surmise as to Mendouca'sintentions would prove correct, for if he did not mean to lay thestranger aboard and carry her with a rush, I could scarcely understandthe boldness with which he was approaching her in broad daylight, withhis strongly-manned sweeps proclaiming to the most unsuspicious eye thedubious character of the brigantine.