"Hold on," said he, and England stopped. "What"s the use of crowding in this thing like this? Some of us will get killed sure with seven fresh men out for it, and what"s the use? All for a gal. No, sir, says I, don"t go making a fool job of the thing. I ain"t out for murder, not fer no gal."
"You"ll do as I say or get done," answered Andrews, with a fierce snort, turning toward him.
Jenks backed toward us, and Bell tried to hold Andrews back. He partly succeeded, but was close enough to the old man-o"-war"s man to get a slight cut from a blow meant for Andrews. Then England took a hand, and with Journegan they held the a.s.sa.s.sin in check.
Jenks came toward us.
"I"ll go with you fellows if you say so," said he, and he tossed his knife over the rail to show that he meant no treachery.
""Tis a little late ye are, but ye"re welcome," said Chips, who had advanced at my cry nearly to him. Frank, the young English sailor, and Johnson were both close behind Chins, with the rest following. It looked as if there would be a collision, after all.
"Take the girl and go," screamed Bell, almost fainting from the cut received.
"Yes, take her and be d.a.m.ned!" cried Journegan. "Only get off before it"s too late."
"Seems to me," said Chips, "we could do for them now wid no trouble.
Let"s try "em."
Johnson advanced at the word, but I called him back just as Chips was making ready for a spring at England. The big prize fighter had made ready for the Irishman, and for an instant it seemed that we would have another ending of the affair.
"Come," I said to one of the young sailors who held back, "get aboard the small boat," and the fellow, who was shrinking from the knives, took the opportunity to get away. This made Chips hesitate, and in another moment I had two more of the men going over the side.
Miss Sackett came on deck. Her face was ruddy even in the moonlight, but she carried herself with a firm step to the mizzen channels.
"Stand by and hold her below there," I bawled, and a man received her into the boat. Then I called to the rest of our fellows and threw a leg over the rail to signify that we were going. They came along, Chips last, with Johnson at his side. The carpenter was furious and wanted to fight it out, and it would have taken very little to have set him upon them alone. They, however, when Andrews had been overcome, were by no means anxious to engage. This seemed strange to me, for they certainly were men who feared nothing, and the sooner we were out of the way, the surer they were of getting safe off with their necks. Just what made Bell so determined to have us go was a puzzle to me. As Chips climbed over the rail, England came to the side with Journegan. I expected some outburst, and for an instant the carpenter was at a disadvantage. But they let him go over without a hostile movement. He stood up in the bow while a man shoved off.
"Ah, ye raskils, it"s like runnin" away we are, but we ain"t. It"s but lavin" to th" hangman what I"d do meself, curse ye."
The boat of the _Sovereign_ towing at the quarter came abreast us as we dropped back. Chips still standing and glaring at the ship, with rage in his voice and eyes.
He stooped down and lifted an oar as the small boat came alongside, and with a half-suppressed yell smote her with all his strength upon the gunwale. The oar crashed through nearly to the water line under the power of the stroke.
"Blast ye," he cried, "ye"ll niver leave that ship alive," and he smote the boat again and again, crushing her down until she began to fill.
Johnson took a hand also in spite of England and Journegan hauling away at the painter. Our men backed water so hard they held her back until the boat was hopelessly stove and had settled to the thwarts. Then we let go and drifted away, while the men aboard the _Sovereign_ hurled belaying-pins and gratings at us.
"A pleasant voyage to you," came the soft notes of Mr. Bell"s voice; and then we rowed slowly away to the northward, leaving the _Sovereign_ a dark, sunken grisly thing against the moonlit sky.
"Rig the mast and sail," I said. "It"s no use getting tired before the struggle comes. We"re some six hundred miles out, and may not raise a vessel for days."
The oars were taken in, and the tarpaulin which had done duty for a sail was rigged. Under the pressure of the light air the whale-boat made steering-way and a little more. The moon now made the night as light as day, and although it was slightly chilly in this lat.i.tude, we suffered little from the exposure, each settling himself into the most comfortable position possible, and gazing back at the strange black outline of the wrecked ship. Her sunken decks and patched-up jury rig with the trysail set from the after-stay gave her an uncanny look, while her masts and spars with the set canvas seemed as black as ink against the light sky beyond. There she lay, a horrid, ghastly thing, wallowing along slowly toward a port she would never reach.
While I looked at her, Miss Sackett burst into a hard laugh which jangled hysterically. She had been silent since she had entered the boat, and this sudden burst startled me. Her eyes were fixed upon the grim derelict. They shone in the moonlight and she choked convulsively.
"Can I hand you some water, ma"m?" asked Jenks.
"What made you come with us, you rogue?" she asked, without turning her head.
"I was with ye from the start, s"help me," said Jenks. "I only goes with the other side when I feared they"d kill all hands."
"Well, it"s a good thing for you, you contemptible rascal," she answered in an even tone.
All of a sudden I noticed a flicker of light above the cabin of the _Sovereign_. It died away for an instant and then flared again, Miss Sackett laughed convulsively.
"Look," she said.
At that instant a red glare flashed up from the derelict. It shone on her maintopsail and staysails and lit up the ocean around her.
"Faith, but she"s afire," cried Chips. "Look at them."
I turned the boat"s head around and ran her off before the wind, hauling up again and standing for the wreck to get near her. Miss Sackett seized my arm and held it fast.
"Don"t go back for them!" she cried. "You shall not go back for them!"
"I haven"t the least intention of going for them," I answered; "I only wanted to get close enough to see what they"d do. Did you set her afire?"
I asked bluntly.
"Of course I did," said the girl, pa.s.sionately. "Do you suppose I didn"t hear them telling you I should have to remain aboard? What else was there left for me to do? Would you have me fall into their hands?"
"Lord save ye, but ye did the right thing," said Chips. Johnson echoed this sentiment.
"An" I knew ye ware up to somethin" of the kind when ye went below,"
said Jenks, "fer I smelled the smoke and thought to stop it, but there ware too much risk as it was to add fire, so I had to step out o" the crowd an" jine ye. I never did nothin" in the fracas, as ye know, except get hurt."
In ten minutes we were close aboard the derelict, and her cabin was a ma.s.s of flame. Figures of men showed against the light amidships, and I finally made out all hands getting out a spar and barrels to make a raft.
The oil in the cargo, however, was too quick for them. It had become ignited aft and had cut off all retreat by the stove-in boat. Several explosions followed, and the flames roared high above the maintopsail.
Journegan, Andrews, and another man were seen making their way forward across the sunken deck. The heat drove them to the topgallant forecastle and in a few minutes we could see all standing there near the windla.s.s.
The bitts sheltered them from the heat.
The oil in the ship was not submerged in the after part, owing to her tr.i.m.m.i.n.g by the head. It had been the last stuff put aboard and was well up under her cabin deck. Even that which was awash caught after the fire had started to heat things up well, and the entire after part of the _Sovereign_ was a ma.s.s of flames. They gave forth a brilliant light, glowing red and making the sky appear dark beyond. Great clouds of sparks from the woodwork above soared into the heavens. The light must have been visible for miles.
There was absolutely no escape for the men aboard now, except by getting away on some float. Journegan, Dalton, and England were working hard at something on the forecastle which appeared to be a raft. The one they had started aft they had been forced to abandon after an explosion. The carpenter"s tools being below in the hold when the ship filled, they had nothing but their knives and a small hatchet left to work with.
Suddenly Mr. Bell made us out in the darkness less than a quarter of a mile distant. He screamed for us to come back and take him off the derelict.
"Pay no attention to him," said Chips.
I hesitated, with the tiller in my hand. The end of those men seemed so horrible that I forgot for the instant what they had done.
"You shall not go back for them while I"m aboard this boat," said Miss Sackett, quietly, from her seat beside me, and she seized the tiller firmly to luff the craft.
"I didn"t intend to," I answered; "yet that man"s cry had so much of the woman in it that it was instinctive to turn."
"Instinctive or not, here we stay. He is the biggest devil of the lot,"
answered the girl. "There"s some horrible game in getting us away. I"m certain of it, but don"t know what it can be. We"ll find out when it"s too late."
"We might take them aboard one at a time and bind them," I suggested.
This was greeted with growlings from Chips and Johnson. Even Jenks declared it would never do, and the other sailors made antagonistic remarks. There was nothing to do but keep away and let them save themselves as best they might.
We sailed slowly around the wreck, watching her burn. Hour after hour she flamed and hissed, the heat being felt at a hundred fathoms distant. And all the while, the sharp, piping voice of our third mate screamed shrilly for succor.