CHAPTER VII--AND AM MADE TO PAY FOR IT
And that was the end of the mutiny on board the _Mary Greenfield_. Thematch was struck by a negro; the flames were fed with rum; and the fireflared up, just to be stamped out by the one strong man on board.
Amos at once released both the captain and his mate; whereupon Daggtreated the crew to a long-winded, high speech upon the subject of whathe would do, if such insubordination occurred again; but as he had donenaught during the crisis, but to get knocked down the moment he openedhis mouth, there were few of his audience who were not laughing up theirsleeves.
I have told the full story of the disturbance, to illustrate thecharacter of Amos Baverstock. I have yet to write of the sequel to thetrouble, which more nearly concerned myself.
For Amos was as good as his word, and made short work of William Rushbyand of me. Though the crew had been bound over to keep the peace, asyou might call it, admonished to behave themselves in future, theboatswain was not only degraded of his rank, but forthwith cast intoirons.
As for myself, I was led before a kind of tribunal, assembled in thesaloon. Captain Dagg, Amos Baverstock, and Joshua Trust were my judges;and a strange triumvirate they made, Amos chewing his black cigar, andall three seated before their glasses of grog, with their greasyplaying-cards scattered before them on the table.
"Boy," said Dagg, "you joined in a mutiny. Do you know that, you whelp?Do you know what it means?"
"No, sir," said I.
"It means death," said Dagg. "The yard-arm--that's what it means."
I believed, for the moment, that they were really going to kill me; andso seriously had the great heat and the excitement affected me that Idon't think I cared very much whether they did so or not. Anyway, Iknow I answered boldly, though I had never the courage to look straightat Amos, whose eyes I felt were upon me.
"Captain Dagg," said I, "if you want to murder me, get on with thematter. I ask you to do no more than to remember this: I did not comeon board your ship of my own free will. I was kidnapped, and carriedhere by force, and I have no means of escape."
At that, Amos struck the table with his fist; and, bold though my wordshad been, I jumped as if a cannon had been fired.
"Silence!" he roared. "We are not here to argue with you. You weregiven your orders. You were told that on no account were you tocommunicate with anyone on board this ship, and you defied us. We havereason to suspect that you have taken into your confidence WilliamRushby, formerly boatswain. Do you deny it?"
He banged the table again. I looked right into his face, and it wasjust as if I was under fire. But I could never answer him. I had thepluck neither to lie nor to tell the truth.
"Good!" said he. "You admit as much. Well, then, we shall see that nosuch tricks are played us in the future. Rushby is in irons. As foryou, for the rest of this voyage you remain a prisoner in your cabin;and if we have any more trouble with you--I warn you fairly--you meetthe same fate as that hide-bound, cursed nigger."
And that was the lame and impotent conclusion of the mutiny on board the_Mary Greenfield_.
My lot was now even worse than before. For week after week I was lockedin a stuffy cabin, and got neither fresh air, good food, nor exercise.The calm broke up quite suddenly with a squall, followed by a shower ofrain. For about an hour the water came down like a cascade upon thesea, washing the ship from stem to stern, giving--as it appeared to me,looking out from my narrow port-hole--new life to the floating seaweedand the myriads of living things that were swarming in the midst of it.
The ship rocked, turning lazily from side to side, like a sleeperawakening, and then, lurching, took on a list to starboard, as the windgripped her hoisted sails. And then, once again, we were under canvas,ploughing westward across that great, lonely ocean.
A few days later, we struck a trade wind, and made even better progress.Though I myself was never more miserable in all my life, I had reason tothink that there was less discontent on board. I could hear the patterof the bare feet of the men on the deck above me, as they hastened abouttheir work, as sailors should, and the shrill note of the boatswain'swhistle--which caused me to wonder who the new boatswain was. It mustbe understood that during these days of my imprisonment I had nothing toread and nothing to do, but to meditate upon my own misfortunes.
Life was not made any the more pleasant for me inasmuch as I stillshared a cabin with Amos, though I was devoutly thankful that I sawlittle of him. Night by night, he would sit late at cards, trying--Ishould imagine--to win back what he had lost to Mr. Forsyth; and I madea point of being asleep, or pretending to be so, before he came to bed.
And now I have to tell of something which has a direct bearing upon allthat follows. I had become so despondent and forlorn, and I foundmyself in the company of such infamous and shameless rogues, that I hadactually forgotten my friends. I had forgotten that there were yet inthe world true, honest men who could be both brave and loyal.
One evening, I must confess, my heart was near to breaking. The worldseemed all so hopeless and so wicked that I brought my face to my handsand cried just as I had been wont to cry, when I was a little chap offour years old, when things had not gone for me exactly as I wanted. Andas I sobbed, I could hear the gamblers in the saloon beyond the cabindoor; the "clink" of the bottles and the glasses, and the deeper note ofthe coins upon the table; now and again, a gruff oath from Amos orJoshua Trust, and Mr. Forsyth's affected drawl. And then, a voice,quite near to me, whispered in my ear:
"Me lad, be quick! I want a word with you."
I sprang to my feet--I had been lying on my berth--and looked about me.I could see no one in the cabin, and had begun to think of ghosts andspirit-voices, when I heard the whispering again.
"Here, me lad! The port-hole."
I looked at the port, and could see a face by the light of the oillamp--a face in a frame studded with stars, the face of a man with ashort stump of a grisly beard.
"Rushby!" I exclaimed.
"The same," said he. "But speak low, for Heaven's sake! Those rascalsare at their cards in the saloon; the door's thin, and it's all up withus if we're discovered."
I went to the port-hole, so that my face was close to his.
"But how are you here?" I asked.
"I've not lived my life and done my duty," said he, "without makingfriends. One of the crew, of the name of Adams, to whom I have been ofservice in the past, has let me loose--just as you might unchain ayard-dog for a run. I have a few minutes at the best before I'm back inirons, but that's enough for what I have to say."
"But where are you now?" I asked, for he appeared to me to be walkingupon the sea.
He explained that he was hanging on to a rope, made fast to a stanchionon the deck above, but that he had something of greater importance totell me.
"Are we near our journey's end?" I asked.
"In three days," he answered, "we should sight the coast, unless thewind changes. What they intend to do with me at Caracas I neither knownor care. I will somehow find the means to escape, and make my way backto England; and then, Captain Dagg and Amos Baverstock shall pay forwhat they've done."
"I entreat you," I exclaimed, "do not meddle with Amos!"
Rushby laughed softly.
"And leave you at his mercy!" he cried. "That's not my way, nor--Ishould think, if all you have told me be the truth--the way of Mr.Bannister. This matter shall never rest where it now stands. I am hereto learn two things, though I am no better than a simple sailor, and itwill want a wiser head than mine before we're safe in port. Come, tellme, lad, where did you hide the map you snatched from Baverstock? JohnBannister may want it."
"In a rabbit-hole," said I; and I went on to describe, as best I could,how that rabbit-hole might be found.
"There's a warren," said I, "about two hundred yards to the west ofBannister's cabin----"
"And how am I to find that?" Rushby took me up.
I thought for a moment; and then I go
t a bright idea when most I neededit, for I realised there was little time to spare and that Amos, at anymoment, might enter and find Rushby at the port-hole.
I gave him my mother's address; for I had little doubt that Bannisterhad gone, long before this, to her. With my life in danger, he would--Iknew--soon get the better of his natural dread of women.
"That's all I want," said he.
And a moment after he was gone. It so happened that many months were toelapse before I set eyes upon him again--a true man and an honest, bigof heart and strong of hand, the type that has made the very name ofBritish sailor to rank so highly all the world across, from the oldthree-decker to the battle-cruiser of to-day. And I speak of the menwithout whose cutlasses and courage Blake and Drake, or even Nelsonhimself, had never been the famous admirals that they were.
For, when we were come to Caracas, I was discharged from that poisonousvessel like a worthless bale of freight. Unshipped by night into abroken-down two-wheeled cart, and conveyed through the narrow streets ofan evil-smelling city, where men talked loudly in a foreign tongue, withquarrelsome voices and much waving of the hands, and then I found myselfin a dirty hovel upon the slopes of tree-clad hills, where I could seethe round moon through a great hole in the roof, and lie listening tothe singing of millions of crickets, wondering what would be the end ofit all.