Not a sail was in sight. The low island with its groves of palm trees lay to the northward, and the wide expanse of the Caribbean Sea to the south. I scarcely knew what to do. I sat at the mast-head to consider, but was speedily aroused by a shout from Grey.
In a second, as the Yankees say, like greased lightning, I slid down the topmast backstay on deck. A Frenchman"s head was protruding through the fore hatchway, he having forced off the hatch, and Billy Wise, who had been stationed there, was endeavouring to drive him back--not an easy task, as others below were shoving a boarding-pike at him for the purpose of compelling him to retreat. Billy, however, stood his ground, and was working away with his elbow to get at his cutla.s.s, while he kept his musket pointed at the man"s head.
In the meantime others were thundering away at the main hatch, and, what was still more dangerous, a party had evidently cut their way aft, and were trying to force back the companion-hatch. We knew, too, that they must have firearms, so that we were altogether placed in a very difficult position. The fore hatch must first be secured. I was running to help Billy, when I saw him whip out his cutla.s.s, and before I could stop him, it flashed in the sun, and the unfortunate Frenchman"s head rolled on the deck.
"There, you Johnny c.r.a.peaus, if any of you likes it, I"ll do the same for you," he shouted, flourishing his weapon.
The body of the man fell below, stopping his companions from ascending, and though they might not have understood the words in which Billy"s liberal offer was made, they must have caught sight of the glittering cutla.s.s sweeping over the hatchway, and hesitated about placing their necks within its influence.
I sprang forward. So excited was Billy that he did not see me, and very nearly treated me as he had threatened to do the Frenchmen--taking me for one of them.
"Lauk, Master Merry, if I had a done it," he exclaimed, when he discovered his mistake.
I did not speak, but popping on the hatch, secured it before our captives could make a rush to get out. It was breathless work, it may be believed--indeed, I even to this day feel almost out of breath when I think of it. Leaving Billy at the post he had guarded so well, I ran back to the companion-hatch, inside of which we could hear the men working away with most disagreeable vigour.
"Oh dear! oh dear!" exclaimed Grey over and over again. "If we could but speak French, we could tell the men what we would do if they would behave themselves."
"But, as we cannot, we must show them what we will do if they don"t," I rejoined. "We must get them on deck somehow or other, for if we keep them much longer below they will die, I am afraid. It is hot up here-- it must be ten times worse in that close hold."
"I"ll tell you, then," he answered. "We must keep our loaded pistols in our hands, and get up one at a time through the companion-hatchway. If more than one attempts to come, we must shoot him; there"s no help for it. It will be a long process, but I suppose those who first come will tell the others how we treat them, and they will be content to wait."
"We must have some water, then, for they will be terribly thirsty," said I. "And we must have a good supply of lashings ready, to secure them."
We accordingly unrove all the running rigging that could be spared, and cut it into lengths, and then, leaving Billy Wise as sentry at his former post, we rolled two water casks over the main hatch, adding a spare sail and spars, so that there was little danger of its being forced. We all then collected round the after hatch. We slipped back the hatch sufficiently far to allow of one man pa.s.sing through at a time, then, holding our pistols so that those below might see them, we beckoned to the Frenchmen to come up. At first, from having discovered probably the way that Billy Wise had treated their countryman, they were unwilling to take advantage of our invitation, which was not to be wondered at. I ordered the men to take care lest they might fire up at us, for I suspected some treachery.
"Come along, mounseers, come along; we won"t hurt ye," said Ned Bambrick, the best man with us; indeed, there was not a better in the ship, though certain wild pranks in which he had indulged had prevented him from becoming a petty officer. "Come along, now, we"ll treat ye as if ye was all sucking babies."
Though the Frenchmen did not understand the words addressed to them, the tone of his voice somewhat rea.s.sured them, and at last one ventured up.
We immediately seized him by the arms, hauled him out, and shut to the hatch, greatly to the disappointment of those who were following. The Frenchman, who was a sailor, looked dreadfully frightened, and began to struggle violently, expecting probably that we were going to throw him overboard. We had, however, his arms very soon lashed behind him, and we then gave him water, and pointed to his shipmates sitting quietly round the side. He was once more satisfied, and we then signed to him, as well as we could, that he was to tell his companions below that no harm would happen to them. We concluded that he did so, for after he had shouted down the hatchway, another cautiously lifted his head above the coaming. He gave a cry as we seized hold of him, but we quickly had him up, and treated like the other. In the same way we got up a dozen, the last showing clear signs of having suffered most. At length a nearly bald head appeared, with a silver plate covering part of it, on which I read the word "Arcole," and then the high narrow forehead, gaunt cheeks, and thin body of the old colonel slowly emerged from the cabin.
He looked round with a confused expression on his countenance, as if not very certain what had happened; but, before he had had much time for consideration, Ned Bambrick politely took him by the hand, and helped him to step out on deck. When he found himself seized to be pinioned, he looked very indignant, and struggled to get loose, but we had the ropes round his arms in a moment. As a compliment, however, we secured him to the mainmast, with a heap of sail-cloth to sit on. He made so many extraordinary grimaces that even poor Toby, who was sitting opposite to him, in spite of his suffering, burst into a fit of laughter. Grey and I had, however, just then too much to do to laugh.
There were still nearly twenty men below, enough to overpower us and to release their countrymen, so it was necessary to be as cautious as at first. From the horrible effluvium which came rushing up the hatchway each time the hatch was slid off, we might have known that the men who had to exist in it long were not likely to be very difficult to manage.
In those days midshipmen, at all events, knew nothing of hydrogen and oxygen, and that human beings could not exist without a certain supply of the latter. A few more climbed slowly up. We thought that they were shamming, and treated them like the rest. At last no more appeared.
"What can they be about?" I asked of Grey. Then we heard some groans.
"What shall we do?" said Grey.
"I"ll tell you, sir, I"ll go below and find out," exclaimed Ned Bambrick.
It was the only way of solving the difficulty. We put on the companion-hatch, and lifted off the main hatch. We were nearly knocked down with the abominable odour which arose as we did so.
Notwithstanding this, Ned sprang down into the hold. He groped about for half a minute, when he sang out, "Send a whip down and get these fellows on deck, or they"ll be dead altogether."
We lowered the end of a rope, and ran up the men one after another, as he made them fast to it. They were in a very exhausted condition; but the fresh air, though it was still very hot, and the water we poured down their throats, soon revived them, and we had to lash their arms behind them, as we had the others. During this time Billy Wise volunteered to go down and a.s.sist Ned. We had hoisted up ten or a dozen when they both declared that they could find no more, so we took all the hatches off to ventilate the vessel, not forgetting to throw overboard the corpse of the poor fellow whose head Billy"s cutla.s.s had cut off.
Billy wanted to keep the head as a trophy, but we did not approve of that, and made him pitch it after the body.
"Well, now I hope you"ll find each other," observed Billy, with perfect gravity, as he did so.
It had certainly a very odd appearance to see our forty prisoners arranged round the vessel, with the colonel at the mainmast and the man we supposed to be the master at the foremast. We had, however, to wait on them, and to carry them water and food. Grey and I agreed that, though it was a very honourable thing to command a ship, we should be very glad to be relieved of the honour. Since we captured the vessel we had not had a moment to take any food. Hunger made us rather inclined to despond. We, however, found out what was the matter with us, and sent Billy Wise down into the cabin to forage. He soon returned with some biscuit and white cheese, and dried plums and raisins, and a few bottles of claret, but there was no honest cold beef or rum.
"It"s no wonder we licked the Johnny c.r.a.peaus when that"s the stuff they feeds on," observed Ned Bambrick, turning over the food with a look of contempt.
However, he and the rest stowed away no small amount of the comestibles, notwithstanding his contempt for them. When, however, he came to the liquid, tossing off the contents of a bottle, he made a woefully wry face and exclaimed,--
"Billy, my boy, we must have a full cask of this on deck--a chap must drink a bucket or two before he finds out he has taken anything. It"s vinegar and water, to my mind."
Grey and I took a few gla.s.ses of the wine. It did not taste so bad, especially in that hot weather, but we fancied that there was but little strength in it. As the men required refreshment, we did not object to their taking as much as they fancied. Persuaded by Bambrick, Billy went below, and soon sang out that he had found a cask of the same stuff as that in the bottles. A whip was sent below. A cask was hoisted on deck, and found to contain what was undoubtedly claret. When the old colonel saw it he shrieked out something about "monsieur le gouverneur."
"Well, Mounzeer Governor! here"s to your health, then," said Bambrick, draining off a mugful of the claret, which had been quickly tapped.
"This is better tipple than the other. Here, old boy, you shall have a gla.s.s, to see if we can"t put a smile into that ugly mug of yours."
The old soldier seemed not at all to object to the wine which Ned poured down his throat, and he smacked his lips as if he would like some more.
Fortunately Grey and I now tasted the claret, and though we were no great judges of wine, we knew enough to ascertain that it was remarkably fine and strong; and moreover we discovered, by the way Ned and Billy and the rest began to talk, that they had had enough, if not too much of it already.
"It was unwise of us to let them have any at all," observed Grey. "How we shall keep them from it I do not know; and if they get drunk, as they certainly will if they have much more, the chances are the Frenchmen will take the vessel from us."
"We must knock the head in," I answered. "It is our only security. I know from experience, that if seamen can by any means get hold of liquor, they will do so at all risks, and that they are in no way particular what it is."
"It will be better to serve it out to the prisoners," said Grey. "If we appeal to these men"s kind feelings they will do it, and if there is more than enough we must leave the spile out."
Bambrick and Billy, and the other men, were perfectly ready to do as we proposed. When the old colonel saw what we were doing he again shrieked out about the Governor, but this did not prevent the men from serving out the wine. It only made Bambrick turn round and say:
"All right, Mr Governor, you shall have some more, old boy."
He took care, at all events, that the old gentleman should have enough, for he gave him the greater portion of the contents of a jug.
We waited till nearly all the men were served, and then Grey pulled out the spile, and a good deal ran out. He had to put it in before the men returned for their last supply. Still, for fear that too much might remain, he kicked away the block of wood which kept it in its place, and then rolling over the cask, it was emptied of its remaining contents. I must do our fellows the justice to say that they treated the prisoners as they would like to have been treated themselves, and gave them as much wine as they would drink. The only difference was that they would have drunk five times as much as the Frenchmen, and not have been the worse for it.
They were rather inclined to grumble when they found that there was no more. I saw that it was time to exert my authority.
"You"ve done very well, lads," I exclaimed. "But suppose you were all to get drunk, what would the Frenchmen do with us, I should like to know? Shall I tell you? They would manage to wriggle themselves free, and heave us all overboard. If we don"t want to disgrace ourselves, let us keep what we"ve got. Not another drop of liquor does anyone have aboard here till we fall in with the frigate."
My speech appeared to have some effect, and I took care to give all hands ample employment, that they might not think of the liquor. As it was, by the springy way in which they moved about the deck, and the harangues uttered by Ned Bambrick on every trivial occasion, I saw that they had already had quite enough for our safety. Night was now approaching, but still the frigate was nowhere to be seen. Grey went aloft, and took an anxious look round.
"Not a sign of her," he said, as he returned on deck.
Darkness came on. All hands were naturally feeling very sleepy, but with so many prisoners to guard, even though their hands were lashed behind them, it was necessary for us to keep awake. However, Grey and I agreed that--if we were rested and brisk we could do more than if we were worn out--it would be best for us to take a little sleep at intervals, and allow one or two of the men to sleep at the same time.
One man was at the helm, and two others kept walking up and down the deck, with pistols in their hands and cutla.s.ses ready for use. Grey lay down first. He slept so soundly that I did not like to call him. The night was dark, but the prisoners were quiet, and there was but little wind; even that little had died away. I did not altogether like the look of the weather. The heat was very great, and though it was calm then, I knew that it was not far off the hurricane season, and I thought if we were to be caught in a hurricane how greatly our difficulties would be increased, even if we were not lost altogether. After a time Grey started up of his own accord. The instant I lay down on the after part of the deck I was asleep. It appeared to me that I had scarcely closed my eyes, when I was aroused by shouts and cries. I started up, fully persuaded that the Frenchmen were loose and upon us. The sounds appeared to come from the hold. As I ran to the main hatchway I heard a noise of scuffling and struggling, and a voice shouting "Oh, Master Merry, Master Grey, the ghosteses have got hold of me, the ghosteses have got hold of me." Looking into the hold, I saw, by the light of a lanthorn, Billy Wise struggling with two Frenchmen, while, forward, Grey and one of our men were, I discovered rather by my ears than by sight, engaged with another of the prisoners, who had apparently worked himself loose. Ned Bambrick had started to his feet at the moment that I did.
Together we leaped down below. We were not an instant too soon. Billy was almost overpowered, and as there were some cutla.s.ses at hand, the Frenchmen might have armed themselves and killed us while we were asleep. Bambrick knocked one over with a blow of his fist, and the other was easily managed. Where they had come from we could not tell.
They were none of those who had appeared on deck, and must have been concealed very cleverly when we sent down to search below. It was a lesson to Grey and me ever after to go and look ourselves when a search of importance was to be made. While Bambrick and Billy held the men down, I ran for some rope, with which we made them fast pretty tightly to some stanchions between decks. Grey and his companion had in the meantime re-secured the prisoner who had managed nearly to release himself, and we then made a more careful search than before through every part of the vessel. We had pretty well satisfied ourselves that no one else was stowed away below, when a loud cry, and finding the vessel suddenly heeling over, made us spring on deck. A squall had struck her. I did not expect to see her recover herself. Everything was flying away; yards were cracking, the sails in shreds fluttering in the gale; the masts were bending as if about to go over the side; blocks were falling from aloft; ropes slashing and whipping furiously; the water was rushing in through the lee scuppers half up the deck, and nearly drowning the unfortunate Frenchmen sitting there, who were shrieking out in dismay, believing that their last moments had come.
Ned Bambrick sprang aft and put up the helm: the after canvas was chiefly off her; she had gathered way, and now answering her helm, she flew before it. Never had I been in such a scene of confusion, increased by the roaring of the wind, the shrieks of the prisoners, the rattling of the blocks and ropes, the cracking of spars, and the loud slush of the water as it rushed about the deck. What had become of Grey I could not tell. It was too dark now to distinguish anyone. I called: he did not answer. A horrid feeling seized me. He must have been knocked overboard. I called again in despair. At that moment it would have been a matter of indifference to me if the Frenchmen had risen and taken the vessel from us. A faint voice answered me. It was that of Toby Bluff. "He was there, sir, but just now."
I had been standing on the weather side. I slid down to leeward, for I saw some one there. I grasped hold of the person, and hauled him up.
It was Grey. When the vessel was first struck, he had been knocked over by the tiller, which he must have just taken, believing that there was to be but a slight breeze. He had been half stunned and half drowned.
He speedily, however, to my great joy, recovered. I now mustered all hands, most of whom had been sent sprawling in among the Frenchmen, who kicked and bit at them, they declared, but which Grey and I did not believe to be the fact. We now set to work to get the ship to rights.
We squared yards as well as we could, furled the remnant of the canvas, and set a close-reefed fore-topsail, under which the little vessel ran on very comfortably. Our chief concern was, that we were, as we thought, running away from the frigate. None of us felt disposed to go to sleep again, so we kept a bright look-out, not knowing whether we might not be hurrying directly on to a coral reef, or another island.
The wind, however, soon began to go down, and I was proposing to Grey to haul up again, when Billy Wise, who was stationed forward, sang out--
"Starboard--starboard the helm--or we shall run down the frigate!"