"Daggs"--a voice cut the air from close by his side. "Daggs, who made you bo"s"n of this sloop?"
The man whirled and nearly fell over, for Stede Bonnet was at his elbow.
"One more thing of this kind aboard, and I"ll maroon you," said the Captain sharply, and added, "Gray, put this man in irons and see that he gets only bread and water for five days!" Then he turned on his heel and went back to the cabin. So once more Jeremy"s life was saved by the Captain"s whim. He half carried, half supported his chum to their bunk and after rubbing his back with grease, begged from the galley, nursed him the rest of the day. By the following afternoon the Delaware lad had recovered his spirits and although he was still too sore and stiff to go on deck, had no trouble in eating the food Jeremy brought him. The absence of Daggs made life a.s.sume a happier outlook and it was not long before the boy was as right as ever.
August was nearly past. To the boys, who knew little of the geography of the coast and nothing of Bonnet"s plans, it was something of a surprise when the man at the tiller of the _James_, which was in the lead, swung her head over to landward one morning. Low sh.o.r.es, with a white line of sand beneath the vivid dark green of trees, ran along the western horizon. As the sloop ran in, the boys expected to see the broad opening of some bay but there was still no visible variation of the coast line.
No town was to be seen, nor even a single hut, when they were close in.
The trees were live-oaks, Bob said, though Jeremy had never seen one to know it before.
The _Royal James_ and her consorts held a slow course along the sh.o.r.e for several hours. The strip of sand was gradually widening and in places stretched inland for a mile in dunes and hillocks, traversed by little tidewater creeks. At last there showed a narrow inlet between two dunes, and Bonnet, who had now taken the helm, headed the sloop cautiously for this opening. One of the men constantly heaved the lead and cried the soundings as the ship progressed. The pirate chief kept to the left of the channel and finally pa.s.sed through into a wide lagoon, with a scant fathom to spare at the shallowest place. The _Fortune_ entered without difficulty, but the deeply-laden _Francis_ grounded midway in and had to wait several hours for the tide to float her.
Listening to the talk of the crew, Bob heard them say they had come into the mouth of the Cape Fear River in Carolina. From what he knew of the nearby coast he believed that it was a very wild region, almost unsettled, and that there would be slight chance of getting to safety, even if they were able to effect an escape. This fear seemed justified later in the day, when Bonnet said to one of his men that there was no need of shackling the boys as had been done in the Chesapeake. Turning so that they could hear, he added, "Too many Indians in these woods for the lads to try to leave the ship." Jeremy, who had seen enough of both pirates and Indians to last him a lifetime, remarked to his friend that personally he would risk his neck with one as soon as the other, but Bob had heard terrible stories of the red men"s cruelty and did not agree with him. "We"d best stay aboard and wait for a better chance," he argued.
All three of the sloops were leaky and needed a thorough overhauling in various ways. As soon as the _Francis_ was off the bar, therefore, they proceeded up the estuary for a distance of nearly two miles and secured their vessels in shallow water, where they could be careened at low tide.
Next morning and for many hot days thereafter the pirates and their prisoners toiled hard at the refitting of the ships. Lumber was not easy to come by in that desolate region and when they had used up all their spare planking, Bonnet took the _Royal James_ out over the bar to hunt for the wherewithal to do his patching. After a cruise of a day and a night to the southward they sighted a small fishing shallop which they quickly overtook, and captured without a fight. The two men in the shallop jumped overboard and swam ash.o.r.e when they saw the black flag, and Bonnet was too much occupied in getting the prize back to the river-mouth to give chase. It was an unfortunate thing for him that he did not do so, but of that presently. The shallop was run into the river-mouth and broken up the next day. With the fresh supply of lumber thus secured, the work of repair went forward undelayed, and within a few weeks the sloops were almost ready for sea again.
CHAPTER XX
It had been about the beginning of September when the pirate fleet had sighted the live oaks on the bars of the Cape Fear River. To Bob and Jeremy those first days were uneventful but hardly pleasant. Through the long still afternoons a pitiless sun blazed into every corner of the deck. Wide flats and hot-looking white dunes stretched away on either hand. Only the line of woods half a mile distant offered a suggestion of green coolness. When the sun had set the fo"c"s"le held the heat like a baker"s oven. One long, tossing night of it sufficed for the two boys, and after that they sought a corner of the deck away from the snoring seamen and lying down on the bare planks, contrived to sleep in reasonable comfort.
The days were spent in hard work for the most part. A good deal of washing and cleaning had to be done aboard all three vessels, and as labor requiring no special skill, it fell frequently to the lot of Jeremy and Bob. It was small matter to them whether they toiled or were idle, for the blistering sun allowed no respite and it seemed preferable to sweat over something useful than over nothing at all.
On the third day after the return of the _James_ from her foraging trip, Jeremy, who had been sc.r.a.ping and tarring ropes for hours on end, straightened his back with a discontented grunt and looked away to the edge of the woods, his eyebrows puckered in a frown. "Bob," he said in a voice too low for any of their shipmates to hear, "Bob, I"m going to run away if something doesn"t happen soon."
"You"ll be shot, like as not," answered the Delaware boy.
"Well, shot let it be," he replied doggedly. "If I"m to stay aboard here all my life, I"d _rather_ be shot. It looks like the best chance we"ve had, right now. Will you come tonight?"
Bob thought for a moment. "I"m not afraid of their catching us," he finally said. "It"s the Indians, after we"re into the woods. You say you know the Indians and trust them as long as they are treated right. That may be true of the ones you"ve known, but these Tuscaroras are different. They don"t talk the same language, and those words you learned would mayhap go for curses down here. I don"t think we ought to try it."
Jeremy admitted that his previous acquaintance stood for nothing, but argued, from the fact that Bonnet had been trying to frighten them, that he had probably exaggerated the danger. Finally, not wishing to leave his friend if he could help it, he agreed to abandon the plan for the present.
They worked at the rope-tarring till suppertime, then rose wearily, stretching, and went for their salt-horse and biscuit. When the coa.r.s.e rations were eaten, it was nearly sunset. Jeremy watched the sluggish water glide by below the canted rail, till at last small quivering blurs of light, the reflections of stars, began to gleam in the ripples. A faint breeze, sprung up with the coming of night, blew across the sweltering lagoon. Bob, tired out, fell asleep, his head pillowed on the deck. The pirates, some below in the bunks, some stretched on the planking, lay like dead men. After the hard labor of the day even the regular watch slumbered undisturbed. Jeremy"s thoughts went drifting off into half-dreams as the soft black water lulled him with its unending whisper. His head nodded. He raised it, striving, he knew not why, to keep awake. The gentle water-sounds crept in again, soothing his drowsy ears. He was close to sleep--so close that another moment would have taken him across the border. But in that little time the sharp double cry of a heron, flying high over the lagoon, cut the night air and startled the boy broad awake.
As he stared off over the dim whiteness of the bars, his senses astretch for a repet.i.tion of that weird call, there was a faint splashing in the water close to the sloop. One of the starpools was blotted out in blackness at the instant he turned to look over the rail. The boy"s heart seemed to be beating against the roof of his mouth. Thoughts of alligators crossed his mind, for he had heard of them from the pirates who had plied in southern waters. As quietly as he could, he moved to the rail and stood staring over, his eyes bulging into the dark and his breath coming short and fast. For perhaps a minute there was no sight nor sound but the lapping water of the lagoon. Then he became aware of a whiteness drifting close, and heard a familiar voice whispering his name. "Jeremy--Jeremy--it"s Job!" said the white blotch. It b.u.mped softly along the side, and at last the boy could see the homely features of his old friend, pale through the gloom. There was a loose rope-end dragging over the side, and Job"s hand feeling along the woodwork came in contact with it.
"Better not try to come aboard," whispered Jeremy. "They"re all on deck here. Can you take us off?"
There was silence for an instant as Job felt for a hold in one of the gun ports. Then he raised himself till his head was level with the deck.
"Is the other lad there?" he asked.
"Ay," replied Jeremy. "He"s here but he will have to be wakened."
[Ill.u.s.tration: "Don"t say a word--sh!--easy there--are you awake?"]
"Go to him and take his hand. Begin squeezing soft-like, and press harder till he opens his eyes. Don"t startle him," was Job"s admonition.
The boy did as he was bid. A gentle grip on the Delaware lad"s palm brought him to his senses. Jeremy was whispering in a cool, steady undertone, "Bob, that"s the lad--wake up, Bob--don"t say a word--sh!--easy there--are you awake?" When he was rewarded by a nod of comprehension, he told his comrade of Job"s presence and the chance they had to escape. Bob understood in a moment. They returned to the rail and first one, then the other let himself quietly down, holding to the rope.
Jeremy slipped into the water last.
Luckily they could both swim, though the sloop was so near the beach that swimming was hardly necessary. The tall ex-pirate crawled out upon the sand in the lead and they followed him quickly over a dune and across another creek. They were now far enough away for their flight to be unheard and Job began to run, the boys close behind him. They made a good mile to the south before he allowed his panting runaways to stop for breath. There in the reeds beside a narrow estuary, they came upon a small dinghy, pulled up. The seaman ran the boat into the water, bundled the boys into the bottom astern, and was quickly pulling down stream along the sharp windings of the creek.
When they had put three miles of sand and water behind them, Job rested on his oars to catch his breath. His voice came through the hot dark, pantingly. "Lucky you stood up an" came to the rail the way you did, lad," he said. "I didn"t know just how I was to reach you. When you came to the side I could see it was a boy, an" knew things was all right.
Well--we"d best be gettin" on--no tellin" how soon they may find you"re gone." Once more the big Yankee bowed his back to the task in hand and a silence fell, broken only by the faint sound of the m.u.f.fled oars and the swirl of water along the sides. Not even the thrill of the escape could keep the two tired boys awake, and it was nearly an hour later that they were roused by voices calling at no great distance. A tall black ma.s.s on which showed a single moving light rose out of the gloom ahead. The hail was repeated. "Oh, there, Job Howland--boat ahoy! What luck?" "All"s well," replied Job, and ran in under the ship"s counter. A line was let down and as soon as the skiff was made fast Bob and Jeremy and their deliverer scrambled up to the open port.
There was shouting and a moving to and fro of lanterns, as they were ushered into the cabin, and suddenly a tall man, half-clad, burst through the door at the farther end. He had the tattered form of Bob Curtis in his arms in an instant, and great boy though he was, the Delaware lad hugged his father ecstatically and wept.
Job and Jeremy, pleased as they were to see this reunion, were hardly comfortable in its presence and made a vain attempt to withdraw gracefully. The merchant was after them before they could reach the door. "Here, Howland," he cried, holding to Bob with one hand and seizing the ex-pirate"s arm with the other. "Don"t you try to leave yet.
Gad, man, this is the happiest hour I"ve had in years. I owe you so much that it can"t be put in figures. And this tall lad is Jeremy that you"ve told me of. Look at the sunburn on the pair of "em--pretty desperate characters to have aboard, I"m afraid!"
His roar of laughter was joined by the other three, as he showed the way to a couple of roomy berths, built in at the end of the cabin. The two boys were left, after a final boisterous "Good-night," and proceeded to make themselves snug between the linen sheets. Jeremy had never slept in such luxury in his whole life, and moved gingerly for fear of hurting something. At last their exhilaration subsided enough for the rescued lads to go to sleep once more. Jeremy"s last thought was a half-mournful one as he wondered how long it must be before he, too, could throw himself against the broad homespun wall of his father"s breast.
CHAPTER XXI
When they woke it was to the regular heave and lurch of a sailing vessel in motion, and Jeremy, looking out the port, beheld the crisp, sparkling blue of open sea.
There were two suits of every-day clothes upon the cabin bench and into these the boys climbed, impatient to get out on deck. The ship was the big merchantman, _Indian Queen_, though Bob, used as he was to her appearance, would hardly have known her in her new guise. Long lines of black cannon grimly faced the open ports along either side. The rail had been built up solidly to a height of about six feet, so that the main deck was now a typical gun deck, open overhead. Her regular crew of seasoned mariners was augmented by as many more longsh.o.r.emen, all good men, picked for their courage and hand-to-hand fighting ability.
Job, who acted as second mate and was in full charge of the gun crews, took the boys proudly from one big carronade to another, explaining each improvement which his experience or ingenuity had devised. His chief pride was the long nine-pounder in the bows. She was a swivel gun set on bearings so finely adjusted and well-greased that one man could aim her. Job patted her shiny bra.s.s rump lovingly as he looked across the blue swells ahead. He could hardly wait for the hour when he should set a match to her breach.
Clarke Curtis joined the group a few minutes later, and they went together to the main cabin. Bob"s father, Mr. Ghent, the Captain, and Job Howland settled themselves comfortably over long pipes and gla.s.ses of port, and prepared to hear the boys" story. Jeremy, bashful in such fine company, was persuaded to recount his adventures from the time Job had gone over the side till the kidnapped Delaware boy had come aboard.
Then Bob took up the tale and told with much spirit of the storm, the trip up the Chesapeake and the subsequent pursuit of the _Francis_ off the Capes. From this point on the two lads told the story together, eagerly interrupting each other to put in some incident forgotten for the moment. When they came to the discovery of Pharaoh Daggs" chart, Job sat up with a jerk. "I always thought he knew!" he exclaimed. "Jeremy, lad, could ye draw me a picture of what "twas like?" The boy readily consented, and given a piece of paper, proceeded to set down, from his memory of the outline and from the general measurements he had taken, a very fair copy of the original. The ex-buccaneer leaned over him as he drew, and shook his head doubtfully as the work went on. "No," he said when the boy had finished, "I can"t recall such a bay just this minute.
An" as there was nothin" on it to tell where it might be, I don"t know as there"s anything for us to do. Like as not it"s on some little island as isn"t set down, so "twould be scant use to look over the ship"s charts. Still, I"ll try it." A half-day of poring over the maps produced no result. There were bays large and small that resembled the one Jeremy had drawn, but none closely enough to warrant the belief that it was the same. "Well," remarked Job as he put away the charts, "Daggs"ll never live to reach his bay. He"ll swing on Charles Town Dock, an" I mistake not." But in that saying at least the ex-pirate proved himself no prophet.
The light wind held and the _Indian Queen_ made reasonable speed down the coast for nearly two days. Then, after drifting under short sail all night, she made in with the dawn, past the small island which nearly a century and a half later was to be the scene of a great war"s beginning, crept up against the tide till noon and anch.o.r.ed off the thriving port of Charles Town. Mr. Curtis and Job went ash.o.r.e in the cutter, as soon as all was snug aboard. On landing they went directly to the Governor"s house.
Governor Johnson was at home and gladly welcomed the Delaware merchant, who was an old acquaintance of his. When they had been shown into a large room where the official business of the colony was transacted, Mr.
Curtis proceeded at once to the point of his visit. He learned that the messenger from Delaware had arrived and his plea for aid had been duly considered. Johnson was troubled at having no better answer for his friend, but said that the treasury of the southern colony had not yet recovered from the strain put upon it four years before at the time of the Indian ma.s.sacres. He believed that he had no right at this time to spend the public funds in fitting out a fleet, unless it was to avenge an injury done some member of the colony. His honest distress at being unable to a.s.sist was so obvious that neither the merchant nor his chief gunner felt like urging their claim for help.
Mr. Curtis told of the rescue of the two boys, much to the discomfort of the blushing Job, and they rose to take their departure, feeling no ill will toward the Governor for his inability to help them. As they started to go out of the room, a loud insistent knock was heard. "Come in," said Johnson, and immediately the door was opened to admit a short, well-built gentleman, very much flushed as to the face, and whose eyes fairly shot forth sparks. He was followed by two other men, dressed in rough clothes that seemed to have seen recent hard usage. The leader advanced with rapid steps. "Look"e here, Governor," he said, "those confounded pirates are at us again. Here"s two of my men----"
"Gently, Colonel Rhett," interrupted the Governor, his eyes twinkling.
"Allow me to introduce Mr. Clarke Curtis of Delaware and his friend, Mr.
Howland. I believe your business and theirs will fall very easily into one track. Pray be seated, gentlemen."
The Colonel shot a keen glance at these new acquaintances and, when the four had taken chairs around the table, began again more calmly to tell his story. A fishing smack, one of a half-dozen open boats belonging to him, had been cruising along the coast to the eastward the week before, and when about forty miles west of Cape Fear had sighted a large black sloop under great spread of sail, bearing down upon her. The two men in the shallop put about and made for sh.o.r.e as fast as they could, using oars and canvas alike, but when they were still half a mile out they saw that the pursuing ship flew a black pirate flag. When, a few moments after, a round shot came dangerously close to their stern, they leaped over the side without more ado and succeeded in swimming ash.o.r.e, glad to come out of the adventure with whole skins. After a perilous journey of many leagues overland, they had just arrived in Charles Town and reported the affair to Rhett, their employer. "So you see," said the Colonel in conclusion, "we"re in for another siege of the kind we had with _Blackbeard_ unless we take some quick action on this."
Johnson sat thoughtful for a moment. "Let me put the matter up to you exactly as it now stands," he finally said. "There is a little money in the treasury. But to buy and fit out properly three ships would drain us almost as dry as we were in 1715. Would you have me do that, Rhett?" The Colonel shook his head. "No," he replied, "you must not." Then after looking at the floor for a moment he stood up with quick decision. "See here," he said, "we can get enough volunteers to do this whole business or my name"s not William Rhett." Mr. Curtis thrust out a big hand. "My ship _Indian Queen_, twenty-one guns, is in the harbor, ready for sea.
She"s at your service," he smiled. The Colonel gripped his hand delightedly. "Done," he cried, "and now let"s see what other commanders we can recruit. Will you give me a commission, Governor?" And receiving an affirmative reply, he led the way down to the docks.