Before the day was over, the signal was made from the Serpent that Captain Parker had ceased to breathe. Captain Wood therefore a.s.sumed the chief command, and ordered the Red Dragon to come near that he might go on board her, leaving Waymouth in command of the Lion.
A consultation of all the chief officers was now held, and it was determined to abandon and destroy the Sunshine and Lion"s Whelp, to shift their crews on board the two largest and least injured of the Portugal ships, to select a third on board which to put all the prisoners, and to burn the remainder. The plan was at once put into execution, and the wealth of all her prizes was carried on board the Lion. Not, however, till two days had pa.s.sed were the prizes sufficiently gutted of their stores and provisions to be abandoned. A short time before nightfall they were set on fire; and it was a sad though a fine sight to see eight tall ships burning away together.
Master Walker again had reason to shake his head.
"Another example of man"s folly," he exclaimed. "See yon beautiful fabrics, on which so much thought, time, and labour was expended, being destroyed in a few short minutes!"
"But you would not have us tow the useless hulls round the world, Master Walker, would you?" asked Waymouth, with some little hastiness not to be wondered at.
"No, Captain Waymouth, but I would that the hulls were not useless, and still freighted with honest merchandise, that we and the Portugals were at peace, as Christian men should be, and each pursuing our own course as gentlemen adventurers for our own profit and advantage and that of our respective countries. When I joined the expedition I understood such was to be the case. We were to be armed to resist attack, as is lawful--not to attack others, which is wrong. But all these doings of blood and destruction have opened my eyes, and made me wish that I had remained quiet at home, even though my stipend was small and precarious.
I love you right well, as you of a surety do know, Captain Waymouth, and I tell you that no good can come of these doings."
"I see not the strength of your reasoning, Master Walker," said Waymouth. "We all knew when we left Old England that we were embarking in an adventure in which we should meet with hard blows as well as rich prizes. We are in no wise worse than Drake, and see what honours have been heaped on him."
"I say nothing against the powers that be; and her gracious majesty may have had her reasons for honouring Sir Francis; but there are persons who consider his expedition round the world as worthy only of a sea-rover of old or of a downright pirate," observed the minister.
"Let be, let be, Master Walker," exclaimed Waymouth petulantly; "I can brook more from you than from any man alive, but I have heard enough."
The minister was too wise to proceed, but he shook his head mournfully.
The prisoners were now all collected on board one ship. Among the wild spirits found among the English crews some were not wanting who suggested that they should be sent adrift without compa.s.s, guns, or provisions; some even hinted that to bore holes in the ship"s bottom would be the surest way of disposing of them; others considered that it would be wise to keep them as prisoners, and to insure their keeping with the fleet they should only be furnished day by day with the necessary provisions, and that two ships should be appointed especially to watch them. More generous counsels, however, prevailed.
"No, no, by my halidom!" exclaimed Captain Wood; "Portugals though they are, they have fought bravely, and like honest gentlemen shall be treated. We"ll give them arms to defend their lives, and provisions to fill their insides, and a compa.s.s to find their way to some one of their own ports or factories on the coast of the Indies, and all we"ll demand of them is that if they find any Englishmen in the same plight as they are themselves that they treat them in the same way as they are treated by us."
Waymouth warmly seconded the admiral"s proposal; so did several of the superior officers, though others grumbled at letting the prisoners off without a ransom, or trusting to their honour to return the favour they were to receive.
Away sailed the Portugal ship with all the prisoners on board; not, however, without Waymouth having extracted a promise from all the officers to make inquiries for his friend Raymond, and to let him know, if alive, where he was to be found. Waymouth hoped that among them some at least would do their utmost to redeem their promise.
Once more the English fleet was sailing proudly over the seas, but sadly diminished in the number of their men. The wealth collected seemed prodigious in the eyes of the crews, and little short of that obtained by Drake of the Spaniards. Still their success only made them greedy for more, and the seamen especially expressed their aversion to the trading part of the enterprise, and loudly proclaimed their desire to cruise against any enemy to be found--Dutch, if Portugals could not be found, or Spaniards if they could be fallen in with. Waymouth, especially, found that he had a very mutinously inclined crew to deal with. Who was the chief instigator he determined to discover, in the hope that by punishing him he might bring the rest under better discipline.
The officer next in command to him was Miles Carlingford, an honest, straight-forward seaman, on whom he knew that he could depend as well as he could on Master Walker and the surgeon Ap Reece as to faithfulness; but Master Walker was a non-combatant, and would be averse to any stringent measures; and Ap Reece, from his hot-headed impetuosity, would be likely to betray any counsel with which he was intrusted.
Captain Wood had brought two cabin-boys with him--or, as they would now be called, midshipmen--and these he had left under Waymouth"s especial care. Poor fellows! early indeed were they to be initiated into the stern realities of life. It would have been difficult to find a stronger contrast than between the two lads, and yet they were great friends. The eldest, Alfred Stanhope, was of high birth, of which he was fully conscious. He was refined in appearance and manners, and was light-hearted and gay in the extreme. He was never out of spirits or out of humour, and was utterly indifferent to danger. His talents, however, were not great, and the knowledge he did possess was very superficial. His father was a spendthrift and a ruined man, and had allowed him to come to sea in the hope of his being provided for in one way or another.
His companion, Oliver Marston, was the son of a stout English yeoman to whom Captain Wood"s family was under some obligations, and, as a way of repaying him, he had offered to take Oliver, one of ten sons, on an adventure through which he would be certain to secure his fortune. The lad, though he had never seen a ship except worked on tapestry, had no objection to go to sea. He was a short, stout, strongly-built little fellow, able to hold his own with all compet.i.tors. While poor Alfred Stanhope had been nurtured in the lap of luxury, Oliver had been brought up in the roughest style, and was therefore much better able than his companion to buffet with the storms of life they were doomed to encounter. He had much more sense and shrewdness in his round little head than might have been supposed, while all about him was sterling stuff of the toughest nature, except his heart, in one respect, and that was as soft and gentle as that of a true sailor is said to be. Oliver was a favourite with Waymouth, who, though he did not spoil him, encouraged him to speak more openly to him than he allowed any one else to do except Master Walker.
It was night. Waymouth was seated in his cabin. A lamp hung from the beam above, the light of which fell on a chart he was anxiously scanning. Unwonted cares oppressed even his buoyant spirit. His ship had suffered much; he had a large amount of wealth on board; his crew was much weakened, some were disaffected, and he was about to enter seas difficult of navigation, and where typhoons might be expected. He mourned, too, his friend Raymond"s loss, though he did not believe that he was dead, but that he had been carried off a prisoner by the enemy.
Still, how could he hear of him, and how rescue him if he was a prisoner? He fell into a reverie. He was aroused by the sentry at the announcement that an officer wished to see him.
"Let him come," was the answer; and Oliver Marston stood before him.
"What now, Oliver?" asked the captain.
"You know, Captain Waymouth, that I am not a tale-bearer; but I"ve just heard some matters which I bethought me I ought to convey to you without delay," answered Marston. "There"s mutiny in the ship, sir, or what may come to worse."
"Ah! how come you to know that, boy?" asked the captain anxiously, for the announcement somewhat confirmed his own suspicions.
The youngster answered promptly--"It is my first watch, sir, and as I had no fancy for turning in for a short time, I lay down for a snooze on a chest outside the boatswain"s cabin. I was afraid of oversleeping myself, so quickly awoke, and was about to jump up, when I heard voices near me. The words were spoken in an undertone, as if the speakers desired not to be overheard. Who the speakers were, I am not certain; they talked of the wealth that was on board, and how you and the other captains would get the lion"s share, but that if they acted with spirit and stuck together they might have the whole of it."
"And you heard the whole of this, and were not dreaming, boy?"
"Every word, sir, and I was wide awake," answered Oliver.
"You have done well to come to me at once," said the captain. "Speak to no one of what you have heard, and appear even to your messmates as if all were going on right. To-morrow morning I will communicate with the admiral, and we will soon have these would-be mutineers in limbo. Have you no idea who were the speakers?"
"I like not, sir, to bring an accusation against any man without perfect certainty, but to the best of my belief there were Peter Hagger, the boatswain, and John Moss, his mate, among the chief speakers," answered Oliver. "As to the rest I might be mistaken, but I think not of those two. I recognised also d.i.c.k Soper"s voice, and he is not likely to be left out if such work is proposed."
"He"ll swing ere long at the yard-arm, an" I mistake not; but enough now, lad," said the captain. "Keep counsel and your eyes about you, and we"ll defeat the rebels. They"ll attempt nothing while we are with the admiral; they know him, and I thought they knew me too. Who has the first watch?"
"Mr Carlingford, sir," said Marston.
"Tell him to keep close up with the admiral, as I want to speak him at dawn," said Waymouth; "and call me should the weather give signs of change. You have acted most commendably."
The lad took his leave well pleased with the praise bestowed on him by his captain, and very indifferent to the danger to which he as well as all the officers on board were exposed.
The young captain sat for some time meditating on the matter. He could not tell how many of the crew might be engaged in the plot, and on what support the conspirators depended. He might discover who were the ringleaders, but find that the greater part of the crew sided with them.
Caution, courage, and decision would be required--he trusted he should not be wanting in either of the three. The last few days had been a time of unusual exertion and care. He required rest to restore his well-nigh exhausted energies. Examining his fire-arms with more care than usual, and placing his sword by his side ready for instant use, though he firmly believed that no attempt would be made by the mutineers, he threw himself on his bed. He had resolved to take the Lion next morning under the guns of the Red Dragon, and having informed Captain Wood of what he knew, call out the three men whose voices young Marston recognised, and send them on board the flagship for punishment.
He soon, however, forgot his anxieties in a sound sleep. He was awoken by the voice of Oliver Marston loudly calling him.
"What is it?" he asked, starting up with his sword grasped in his hand.
CHAPTER FOUR.
"What is it?" exclaimed the young captain of the Lion, as he sprang from his bed, on which he had thrown himself without undressing. He did not require the cabin-boy"s answer, for by the way the ship was heeling over he knew that it was blowing a heavy gale. "I bade you call me the instant there were signs of a change of weather," he observed as he hurried towards the cabin-door to gain the deck.
"The ship but this instant was struck by a squall, sir, and we are shortening sail as fast as we can," said Marston, though the captain did not stay to hear his last words.
The deck of the Lion appeared, as the captain reached it, to be a scene of the greatest confusion. Showers of spray, torn up from the ocean by the sudden squall, were thrown over her in dense ma.s.ses. The wind howled and whistled through the rigging, the sails were flapping loudly in the gale--some torn from their bolt-ropes, others with the sheets let go, which were lashing and slashing wildly and twisting into a thousand knots. Huge blocks, too, were swinging to and fro, threatening the seamen with destruction, while some of the spars wounded in the action now gave way, and their fragments came thundering down on deck, sweeping all before them. The sea roared, the thunder in crashing peals rattled along the sky, and the forked lightning ran hissing in vivid flashes from out of the dark clouds along the foaming waves, and played round the ship. The officers were shouting to the men--many, with axes and knives in their hands, rushing here and there at the risk of their lives to cut clear the blocks and the wreck of the spars, without which it was scarcely possible to go aloft to furl the remaining sails.
Waymouth at once saw that the only safe course to pursue was to put the ship before the wind. As he issued the required orders he looked out for the admiral"s ship, but the signal lanterns at her stern were nowhere to be seen. Mr Carlingford a.s.serted that they were close to them when the squall struck the ship; so did Stanhope, who did the duty of a signal midshipman. The captain could only hope, therefore, that the admiral had at once bore up when the hurricane struck his ship. Two lights were still visible in the direction the other ships were supposed to be, but at some distance, and the Lion was apparently fast leaving them. Her crew had indeed enough to do to attend to themselves--their own safety demanded all their energies. Waymouth"s firm, commanding voice soon called order out of chaos. The ship answered her helm, and, getting before the wind once more, rose on an even keel, and flew rushing on through the darkness. Sail after sail was taken in--the loftier masts and spars had been carried away by the wind, and were mostly cut clear of the ship. The foretopmast had escaped being hit in the action, and had stood. The hurricane was increasing in power, rolling up the ocean into huge seas; higher and higher they grew, their crests curling ma.s.ses of foam, following eagerly astern as wild beasts in pursuit of their flying prey. Often, while the forked lightning played round the ship, had the captain gazed anxiously at the foretopmast to ascertain how it stood the increasing pressure deprived of its usual support. He scarcely hoped to save it. The hurricane gave no signs of abating; on the contrary, it was increasing in strength.
"It must be done!" he exclaimed, seizing a sharp axe; "better choose our time than let it fall when we are unprepared. Volunteers to cut away the foretopmast!"
"I"ll go," cried Miles Carlingford, and his words were echoed by several others.
"No, Carlingford; you stay to take care of the ship. I can let no man lead but myself in a task of such peril."
Marston and Stanhope both volunteered, but the captain ordered them to remain with the lieutenant.
Followed by a daring crew, Waymouth sprang aloft, each man armed with axe or knife. Some remained on deck to cut the ropes which led down there. All had their tasks a.s.signed them. The least important ropes and stays were first severed.
"Remember, lads, wait till I give the word, and then cut with a will,"
cried the captain. As he stood on the top his axe was lifted in the air. "Cut!" he shouted, as, gleaming in the lightning, it descended with a force which half severed through the spar. Over it fell with a crash into the sea, and, free from all ropes, floated clear of the ship.
The crew uttered a hearty cheer as the captain descended on deck after the performance of this gallant and skilful act without the loss of a man. None cheered more loudly than the boatswain and his two mates.
The ship drove on before the hurricane, but, relieved of so much top hamper, she laboured far less than she had been doing. The storm had not abated its fury; the mad waves followed fiercely after the ship, and leaped up, foam-covered, on either side, threatening to fall down on her decks and sweep everybody from off them, or to send the stout bark herself to the bottom. The thunder roared loudly as at first, the lightning flashed vividly as ever, and ran its zigzag course crackling and hissing through the air, and along the summits of the waves, and round the storm-driven ship, now seeming to dart along her spars, and then to light with a lambent flame the summit of her masts.
The crew were collected on deck ready for any work required of them, sheltering themselves as best they could under the bulwarks for fear of being washed away. Waymouth stood with his first lieutenant on the aftercastle away from the crew. He told him of the conspiracy of which he had gained information.