"That the vessel be beached on some remote coast, all the spoils aboard divided, and then the crew permitted to go where they please.
There will be some who may prefer continuing the cruise before destroying the bark, but I believe there are enough fairly honest fellows among them eager to escape this sort of life, to control."
"But the wretches below? Surely you would not leave them to drown?"
"No; they would have to be released with the others, after the division had been made."
"That would leave us at their mercy?"
"Yes," I whispered, "if we waited until that time. I do not propose taking any such chance. Here is my plan, and it seems the only feasible one left us. We are helpless if these men revolt, and they certainly will unless given their own way. I have no doubt but what their decision will be practically as I have outlined. Very well, I will acquiesce in it cheerfully enough to arouse no suspicion. I am the only navigator on board; the only one with any knowledge even of where we are. Not even LeVere could check up on me. The night the vessel is to be beached Watkins and Carter, with one or two they select, will get off in a small boat, carefully provisioned, and thus make our own landing. We"ll not worry about what fate awaits the others."
Her eyes sought mine anxiously, full of questioning.
"You are confident of being able to accomplish this without detection?"
"Yes; we can choose the right moment. With not men enough on deck to prevent our lowering a boat, and a dark night, the escape will not prove difficult. No one aboard except myself will know where we are."
"Have you considered Captain Sanchez?"
"Why no," in surprise, "he is helpless below, badly wounded."
"Not so badly as you suppose," she said swiftly. "He is able to be up and about his stateroom. I heard him moving, and I believe the steward has told him what has occurred on board, and endeavored to bear a message from him to those men amidships."
"You believe this? What did you do?"
"I held my pistol to his head and locked him in the pantry. He is there now, with the sailor you sent on guard. That is what I came on deck to tell you."
"But Sanchez! You saw nothing of him?"
"No; but there was certainly movement in his room after the man Gunsaules came out. I went over to the door and listened, but there was no way for me to lock him in. Surely it must have been him moving, as he was alone there."
I stood silent, my eyes first on the forward deck, and then sweeping about the horizon. The view by then was very narrow, the gathering clouds of mist so dense as to obscure everything, leaving a mere gray trail of sea revealed, scarcely a hundred yards in extent in any direction. I hardly perceived even this as my thought centered on this new peril. Yet why should I hold it a peril? The ending of it was in my hands, I need not await action, or permit him opportunity. The warning had come in ample time. Sanchez was still in my power, separated from his followers, incapable of doing us any serious harm.
All that was needed for me to do was to keep him in close confinement.
We were surely not far from the coast; twenty-four hours, perhaps twelve, would suffice, to make our escape from this cursed ship possible. I must get an observation so as to know our exact position; after that the course would be figured definitely, and I would then know the time required. My eyes again sought her face.
"He is a danger, of course, but not a serious one," I said confidently. "It is safe enough to leave him undisturbed at present with Cole on guard. The first thing I need do is to satisfy those men.
I"ll attend to that now, and then see to the proper securing of Sanchez."
"Shall I remain here?"
"You told the man Cole what you heard?"
"Yes, I explained everything to him before I came on deck."
"Then you are not needed in the cabin. He is a reliable man. Remain here with LeVere while I go forward, and watch that he does not attempt to go below."
The fellows had not finished mess, but I felt the danger of further delay, and talked to them as they sat on deck, explaining briefly the entire situation, and the causes leading up to the mutiny. I dealt with the matter in plain terms, making no apparent effort to influence them, yet forcibly compelling each individual to realize what would be the result of our recapture. They listened earnestly, asking an occasional question, and pa.s.sing comments back and forth freely among themselves.
I shall never forget that scene, the decks already wet with fog, which swirled about us in an impenetrable cloud of vapor, utterly blotting out the sea, and even rendering our faces strange and indistinct. The foremast disappeared at the lower fore-yard, while aft of the cook"s galley the bark was entirely invisible. We rolled heavily in the swell of the heaving water, barely retaining steerage-way, the closely reefed sails aloft flapping against the masts, the straining deck beams creaking noisily to every roll of the vessel. The sailors stared up at me, rough dressed and hairy, yet not a bad-looking lot as sailors go, but with here and there a face to be distrusted. I sent Watkins to the cabin for a roll of charts, and spreading these out, endeavored as well as I could, to make clear our probable position and the nearest point of land. This was largely guesswork, but I approximated distances and made the situation fairly clear. When I had completed the explanation, and stood before them awaiting decision, it was Haines who acted as their spokesman.
"This yere is Cape Howarth?" he asked, a grimy thumb on the point indicated. "An" yer say it"s "bout a hundred and fifty miles west?"
"Yes, about that."
"An" thar"s no settlement?"
"Some colonists fifty miles north is all." "That"s "bout right." He turned to the others. "Say mates, this is how I figure. We can"t go on no long cruise with all those b.l.o.o.d.y rats in the hold. They"re bound ter find some way out if we give "em time "nough. Fer as I"m concerned, I"m fer dividin" up whut we"ve got, and ter h.e.l.l with piratin". What "er yer say, mates? Shall we run the ol" hooker ash.o.r.e, an" leave her thar, while we tramp the coast? We"re just a ship-wrecked crew."
"What "bout them fellers down below?"
"Ter h.e.l.l with "em! Let "em take keer o" "emselves. Thet"s the way they"d treat us."
"He"s b.l.o.o.d.y well right, mates," said a loud voice heartily. "There"s plenty o" swag aboard ter give us all a fist full. I"m fer a division, an gettin" out with our lives--what say yer?"
There was a chorus of approval sufficient in volume to satisfy me, and I accepted this as a decision.
"All right, lads," I said briefly. "In my judgment your choice is a wise one. I"ll have an observation as soon as the fog clears and we"ll head in for the Cape."
"When do we divide the swag?"
"Fifty miles off the coast. That"s fair enough, isn"t it? And my share goes to you."
There was a straggling cheer, but I broke it up with a sharp order.
"Now stand by for work, all of you. Watkins and Carter I want you aft."
CHAPTER XXIII
THE PRISONERS ESCAPE
The two men followed me silently as far as the companion, where we paused a moment staring blindly about us into the fog. Even the guard at the main hatch was invisible.
"This can scarcely last long," I remarked, "but there may be a storm brewing."
"I don"t think so, sir," one of the men answered civilly. "I"ve run in to these yere mists afore "long this coast; it"s liable ter be all clear "fore the sun goes down."
"Well we"ll make the ship safe first Carter, you are an able seaman?"
"Yes, sir."
"Guard this after deck until Watkins and I come back. Under no circ.u.mstances permit LeVere to enter the cabin. You understand?"
He grinned appreciatively.
"That n.i.g.g.e.r ain"t likely ter get by me, sir; I"d just like for ter take one whack at him."