Below in the gun deck the buccaneers, sweating by their pieces, heard the news with cheers. The sloop shook to the jarring report of the starboard battery a moment later, and hardly had it ceased when she came about on the other tack. "Hurrah," cried Job"s mates, "we"ll show him this time! Wind an" water--wind an" water!"
The open traps showed the green seas swirling past close below, and off across the swells the tall side of the merchantman swaying in the trough of the waves. "Ready!" came the order and every gunner jumped to the breach, match in hand. Before the command came to fire there was a crash of splintering wood and a long, intermittent roar came over the water.
The brig had taken advantage of her falling off the wind to deliver a broadside in her own turn. Stede Bonnet"s voice, cool as ever, gave the order and four guns answered the brig"s discharge. The crew of the middle cannon lay on the deck in a pitiable state, two killed outright and the gunner bleeding from a great splinter wound in the head. A shot had entered to one side of the port, tearing the planking to bits and after striking down the two gun-servers, had pa.s.sed into the fo"c"s"le.
Jeremy jumped forward with his blanket in time to stamp out a blaze where the firing-match had been dropped, and with the help of one of the pirates dragged the wounded man to his berth. Almost every shot of the last volley had done damage aboard the brig. Her freeboard, twice as high as that of the sloop, had offered a target which for expert gunners was hard to miss. Jagged openings showed all along her side, and as she rose on a swell, Job shouted, "See there! She"s leakin" now. "Twas my last shot did that--right on her waterline!"
"All hands on deck to board her!" came a shout, almost at the same instant. Jeremy hurrying up with the rest found the sloop bearing down straight before the wind, and only a dozen boat"s lengths from the enemy.
A wild whoop went up among the pirates. Every man had seized on a musket and was crouching behind the rail. Bonnet alone stood on the open deck, his buff coat blowing open and his hand resting lightly on his sword. An occasional cannon shot screamed overhead or splashed away astern.
Apparently the brig"s batteries were too greatly damaged and her crew too badly shot up to offer an effective bombardment. She was drifting helplessly under tattered ribbons of canvas and the _Royal James_, whose sails had suffered far less, bore down upon her opponent with the swoop of a hawk.
As she drew close aboard a scattered fusillade of small arms broke out from the brig"s p.o.o.p, wounding one man, a Portuguese, but for the most part striking harmlessly against the bulwark. The buccaneers held their fire till they were scarce a boat"s length distant. Then at the order they swept the ship with a withering musket volley. The brig was down by the head and lay almost bow on so that her deck was exposed to Bonnet"s marksmen. Herriot brought his sloop about like a flash and almost before Jeremy realized what was toward, the ships had b.u.mped together side by side, and the howling mob of pirates was swarming over the enemy"s rail.
Job Howland and another man took great boat-hooks, with which they grappled the brig"s ports and kept the two vessels from drifting apart.
Jeremy was alone upon the sloop"s deck. He put the thickness of the mast between him and the hail of bullets and peered fearfully out at the terrible scene above.
[Ill.u.s.tration: Dave Herriot]
The crew of the brig had been too much disorganized to repel the boarders as well as they might, and the entire horde of wild barbarians had scrambled to her deck, where a perfect inferno now held sway. The air seemed full of flying cutla.s.ses that produced an incessant hiss and clangor. Pistols banged deafeningly at close quarters and there was the constant undertone of groans, cries and bellowed oaths. Above the din came the terrible, clear voice of Stede Bonnet, urging on his seadogs.
He had become a different man from the moment his foot touched the merchantman"s deck. From the cool commander he had changed to a devil incarnate, with face distorted, eyes aflame, and a sword that hacked and stabbed with the swift ferocity of lightning. Jeremy saw him, fighting single-handed with three men. His long sword played in and out, to the right and to the left with a turn and a flash, then, whirling swiftly, pinned a man who had run up behind. Bonnet"s feet moved quickly, shifting ground as stealthily as a cat"s and in a second he had leaped to a safer position with his back to the after-house. Two of his opponents were down, and the third fighting wearily and without confidence, when a huge, flaxen-haired man burst from the hatch to the deck and swung his broad cutla.s.s to such effect that the battling groups in his path gave way to either side. The burly form of Dave Herriot opposed the new enemy and as the two giants squared off, sword ringing on sword, more than one wounded sailor raised himself to a better position, grinning with the Anglo-Saxon"s unquenchable love of a fair fight. Herriot was no mean swordsman of the rough and ready seaman"s type and had a great physique as well, but his previous labors--he had been the first man on board and had already accounted for a fair share of the defenders--had rendered him slow and arm-weary. The ready parrying, blade to blade, ceased suddenly as his foot slipped backward in a pool of blood. The blond seaman seized his advantage and swung a slicing blow that glanced off Herriot"s forehead, and felled the huge buccaneer to the deck where he lay stunned, the quick red staining his head-cloth. As the blond-haired man stepped forward to finish the business, a long, keen, straight blade interposed, caught his cutla.s.s in an upward parry and at the same time pinked him painfully in the arm.
Jumping back the seaman found himself faced by the pitiless eyes of Stede Bonnet, who had killed his last opponent and run in to save his mate"s life. That quick, darting sword baffled the sailor. Swing and hack as he might, his blows were caught in midair and fell away harmless, while always the relentless point drove him back and back.
Forced to the rail, he stood his ground desperately, pale and glistening with the sweat of a man in the fear of death. Then his sword flew up, the pirate captain stabbed him through the throat and with a dying gasp the limp body fell backward into the sea.
Meanwhile the pirates had steadily gained ground in the hand to hand struggle and now a bare half-dozen brave fellows held on, fighting singly or in pairs, back to back. The brig"s captain, wounded in several places and seeing his crew in a fair way to be annihilated, flung up a tired arm and cried for quarter. Almost at once the fighting ceased and half the combatants, utterly exhausted, sank down among their dead and wounded fellows. The deck was a long shambles, red from the bits to the p.o.o.p.
While the hands of the prisoners were being bound, Bonnet and all of his men not otherwise employed hurried below to search for loot. The man who had held the boat-hook astern left this task and greedily clambered up the brig"s side lest he should miss his chance at the booty. Job alone stuck to his post, and motioned Jeremy to stay where he was. Cheers and yells of joy rang from the after-hold of the merchantman where the pirates had evidently discovered the ship"s store of wine.
After a few moments Pharaoh Daggs thrust his scarred face out of the companion, and with a fierce roar of laughter waved a black bottle above his head. The others followed, drinking and babbling curses, and last of all Stede Bonnet, pale, dishevelled, mad with blood and liquor, stood bareheaded by the hatch. He raised his hand in a gesture of silence and all the hubbub ceased. "We have beaten them!" he cried between twitching lips. "I Captain Thomas, the chiefest of all the pirates, and my bully-boys of the _Royal James_! We"ll show "em all! We"ll show "em all!
Blackbeard and all the rest! He, he, he!" and his voice trailed off in crazy laughter. The men of the crew stood about him on the brig"s deck dumbfounded by his words. Jeremy could hardly breathe in his surprise.
Suddenly he gave a start and would have cried out but that Job Howland"s hand closed his mouth. A swiftly widening lane of water separated the sloop from her late enemy.
CHAPTER IX
As she cleared the side of the waterlogged merchantman, the _Royal James_ began to move. Her sails which had been left flapping during the close fighting, now filled with a bang and she went away smartly on the starboard tack. Job had dragged Jeremy aft and the two were huddled at the tiller, partially screened by the mainsail, when a howl of consternation broke out aboard the brig. Few if any of the firearms were still loaded, or they might have been shot to death, out of hand. As it was, the sloop had drawn away to a distance of nearly a quarter of a mile before any effort was made to stop her.
Then a single cannon roared and a round shot whizzed by along the tops of the waves. When the next report came, Jeremy could see the splash fall far astern. They were out of range.
The two runaways now felt comparatively safe. It was certain that the brig was too badly damaged to give chase even if she could keep afloat.
Jeremy felt a momentary pang at the thought of leaving even that graceless crowd in such jeopardy, but he remembered that they had the brig"s boats in which to leave the hulk, and his own present danger soon gave him enough to occupy him.
Job lashed the tiller and going to the lanyard at the mainmast, hauled down the black flag. Then they both set to work cleaning up the deck.
The three dead men were given sea burial--slipped overboard without other ceremony than the short prayer for each which Jeremy repeated. The gunner who lay in agony in his berth had his wound bound up and was given a sip of brandy. Then the lank New Englander went below to get a meal, while Jeremy sluiced the gun decks with sea water.
Night was falling when Job reappeared on deck with biscuit and beans and some preserves out of the Captain"s locker. There was little appet.i.te in Jeremy after what he had witnessed that day, but his tall friend ate his supper with a relish and seemed quite elated at the prospect of the voyage to sh.o.r.e. He filled a clay pipe after the meal and smoked meditatively awhile, then addressed the boy with a queer hesitancy.
"Sonny," he began, "since we picked you up, I"ve been thinkin" every day, more an" more, what I"d give to be back at your age with another chance. Piratin" seemed a fine upstandin" trade to me when I begun,--independent an" adventurous too, it seemed. But it"s not so fine--not so fine!" He paused. "One or two or maybe five years o" rough livin" an" rougher fightin", a powerful waste o" money in drink an"
such, an" in the end--a dog"s death by shootin" or starvation, or the chains on Execution Dock." Another pause followed and then, turning suddenly to Jeremy--"Lad, I can get a Governor"s pardon ash.o.r.e, but "twould mean nought to me if my old days came back to trouble me. You"re young an" you"re honest an" what"s more you believe in G.o.d. Do you figger a man can square himself after livin" like I"ve lived?" The boy looked into the pirate"s homely, anxious face. He felt that he would always trust Job Howland. "Ay," he answered straightforwardly, and put out his hand. The man gripped it with a sort of fierce eagerness that was good to see and smiled the smile of a man at peace with himself.
Then he solemnly drew out his clasp-knife and p.r.i.c.ked a small cross in the skin of his forearm. "That," said he, "is for a sign that once I get out o" this here pickle I"ll never pirate nor free-trade no more."
The wind sank to a mere breath as the darkness gathered and Jeremy stood the first watch while his tired friend settled into a deep sleep that lasted till he was wakened a little after midnight. Then the boy took his turn at sleeping.
When the morning light shone into his eyes he woke to find Job pacing the deck and casting troubled looks at the sky. The wind was dead and only an occasional whiff of light air moved the idly swinging canvas. A tiny swell rocked the sloop as gently as a cradle.
"Well, my boy, we won"t get far toward sh.o.r.e at this gait," said Job cheerfully as Jeremy came up. "Except for maybe three hours sailin" last night, we"ve made no progress at all. I"ve got some porridge cooked below. You bring it on deck an" we"ll have a snack."
The meal finished, they turned to the rather trying task of waiting for a breeze. About noon Job climbed to the masthead for a reconnaissance and on coming down reported a sail to the east, but no sign of any wind.
The sky was dull and overcast so that Job made no effort to determine their bearings. They figured that they had drifted a dozen or more sea-miles to the west since the battle, and were lying somewhere off the little port of New York.
The day pa.s.sed, Job amusing Jeremy with tales of his adventures and old sea-yarns and soon night had overtaken them again. This time the boy had the first nap. He was roused to take his watch when Job saw by the stars that it was eight bells, and, still yawning with sleep, the lad went to stand by the rail. Everything was quiet on the sea, and even the swell had died out, leaving a perfect calm. There was no moon. The boy"s head sank on his breast and softly he slid to the deck. Drowsiness had overcome him so gently that he slept before he knew he was sleepy.
CHAPTER X
Jeremy"s first waking sensation was the sound of a hoa.r.s.e confused shout and the rattle of oars being shipped. He struggled to his feet, staring into the dark astern. Almost at the same instant there came a series of b.u.mps along the sloop"s side, and as the boy rushed to the hatch to call his ally, he heard feet pounding the deck. "Job!" he cried, "Job!" and then a heavy hand smote him on the mouth and he lost consciousness for a time.
The period during which he stood awake and terrified had been so brief and so fraught with terror that it never seemed real to the lad in memory. There was something of the awful hopelessness of nightmare about it. Always afterward he had difficulty in convincing himself that he had not slept steadily from the time he drowsed on watch to the minute when he opened his eyes to the light of morning and felt his aching head throb against the hard deck.
As he lay staring at the sky, a footstep approached and some one stood over him. He turned his eyes painfully to look and beheld the dark, bearded visage of George Dunkin, the bo"s"n, who scowled angrily and kicked him in the ribs with a heavy toe. "Get up, ye young lubber!"
roared the man and swore fiercely as the boy, unable to move, still lay upon his back. A moment later the bo"s"n went away. To Jeremy"s numb consciousness came the realization that the pirates had caught them again.
The words of the Captain on his first day aboard came back to the lad and made him shudder. There had been stories current among the men that gave a glimpse of how Stede Bonnet dealt with those who were treacherous. Which of a dozen awful deaths was in store for him? Ah, if only they would spare the torture, he thought that he could die bravely, a worthy scion of dauntless stock. He thought of Job who must have been seized in his bunk below. The poor fellow was to have short happiness in his changed way of life, it seemed.
Jeremy tried to steel his nerves against the test he was sure must follow soon. Instead of going to pieces in terror, he succeeded in forcing himself to the att.i.tude of a young stoic. He had done nothing of which he was ashamed, and he felt that if he was called to face a just G.o.d in the next twenty-four hours, he would be able to hold his head up like a man.
Time pa.s.sed, and he heard a heavy tramp coming along the deck. He was hoisted roughly by hands under his arm-pits and placed upon his feet, though he was still too weak to stand without support. A dozen faces surrounded him, glaring angrily. Out of a sort of mist that partly obscured his vision came the terrible leer of the man with the broken nose. The twisted mouth opened and the man spoke with a deliberate ugliness. The very absence of oaths seemed to make his slow speech more deadly.
"Ah, ye misbegotten young fool," he said, "so there ye stand, scared like the cowardly sp.a.w.n ye are. We took ye, and kept ye, and fed ye.
What"s more, we was friends to ye, eh mates? An" how do ye treat yer friends? Leave "em to starve or drown on a sinkin" ship! Sneak off like a dog an" a son of a cowardly dog!" Jeremy went white with anger. "An"
now"--Daggs" voice broke in a sudden snarl--"an" now, we"ll show ye how we treat such curs aboard a ten-gun buccaneer! Stand by, mates, to keel-haul him!"
At this moment a second party of pirates poured swearing out of the fo"c"s"le hatch, dragging Job Howland in their midst. He was stripped to his shirt and under-breeches and had apparently received a few bruises in the tussle below. Jeremy"s spirits were momentarily revived by seeing that some of the buccaneers had suffered like inconveniences, while the young ex-man-o"-war"s-man was gingerly feeling of a shapeless blob that had been his nose. Dave Herriot, his head tied up in a bandage, was superintending the preparations for punishment. "Let"s have the boy first," he shouted.
Aboard a square-rigger, keel-hauling was practiced from the main yardarm. The victim was dragged completely under the ship"s bottom, sc.r.a.ping over the jagged barnacles, and drawn up on the other side, more often dead than living. As the sloop had only fore and aft sails, they had merely run a rope under the bottom, bringing both ends together amidships. They now dragged the boy forward, still in a half-fainting condition and made fast his feet in a loop in one end of the rope, then, stretching his arms along the deck in the other direction, bound his wrists in a similar way. He was practically made a part of the ring of hemp that circled the ship"s middle.
Without further ceremony other than a parting kick or two, the crew took their places at the rope, ready to pull the lad to destruction. He set his teeth and a wordless prayer went up from his heart.
The wrench of the rope at his ankles never came. As he lay with his eyes closed, a high-pitched voice broke the quiet. "If a man starts to haul on that line, I"ll shoot him dead!" Jeremy turned his head and looked.
There stood Stede Bonnet, his face ashen gray and trembling, but with a venomous fire in his sunken eyes. He held a pistol in each hand and two more were thrust into his waist-band. Not a man stirred in the crew.
"That boy," went on the clear voice, "had no hand in the business, and well you know it. It is for me to give out punishments while I am Captain of this sloop, and by G.o.d I shall be Captain during my life.
Pharaoh Daggs, step forward and unloose the rope!" The man with the broken nose fixed his light eyes on the Captain"s for a full five seconds. Bonnet"s pistol muzzle was as steady as a rock. Then the sailor"s eyes shifted and he obeyed with a sullen reluctance. Jeremy, liberated, climbed to his knees and stood up swaying. Just then there was a rush of feet behind. He turned in time to see Job Howland vanish head foremost over the rail in a long clean dive. The astonished crew ran cursing to the side and stared after him, but no faintest trace of the man appeared. At dawn a breeze had sprung up and now the little waves chopped along below the ports with a sound like a mocking chuckle.
They had robbed the buccaneers of their cruel sport.