by G. A. Henty
CHAPTER V: THE PIRATE HOLD
"The frigate was again disguised as a merchantman, as, if she had passedwithin sight of the island looking like a ship of war, it would have putthe pirates on their guard, and I had told the captain there were gunsenough at the mouth of the cove to blow the ship's boats out of thewater. As to the frigate getting in, I knew she couldn't, for there wasonly just enough water at the entrance for the pirate vessels to enterin. I was not in irons now, but spent my time on deck; and a wretchedtime it was, I can tell you, for not a sailor on board would speak tome.
"For three weeks we cruised about, sailing round island after island,but at last as we were approaching one of them I saw the three trees.
"'That's the place,' I said to the boatswain, who was standing near me,and he carried the news to the quarterdeck, and brought back word I wasto go to the captain.
"You are sure those are the trees?'
"'Quite sure, sir.'
"'They answer to your description certainly,' the captain said. 'Keepher away, master, I don't want them to think we are steering for theisland.'
"The ship's course was altered, and she sailed along parallel with thecoast.
"'I beg your pardon, sir,' I said, touching my hat, 'but they have gotsome wonderful good glasses up at the lookout, and if I might make sobold I should say that they will make out that we have got a lot moremen on deck than a merchant ship would carry.'
"'You are right, lad,' the captain said, and he at once gave orders thatall hands with the exception of half a dozen should sit down under thebulwarks or go below. The captain and first lieutenant kept a sharplookout through their glasses until we had passed the end of the island.I pointed out to them the exact position of the cove, but it was so shutin that even when I showed where it was, it was as much as they could doto make it out.
"'Now, lad, do you know of any other landing places on the other side ofthe island?'
"'No, sir, and I don't believe there is any,' says I. I know the captainsaid to me the first day I was on shore, 'It's no use your thinking ofmaking a bolt, for there ain't no other place but this where you couldget to sea--not though you had twenty boats waiting to take you off.' Iexpect that's why they chose it. Anyhow, there never was any watch keptup on shore, though. I have no doubt there was many a one who had beenpressed into pirating just as I was, to save their lives, would havemade off had they seen ever such a little chance of getting away.
"'Just come into the cabin with me,' says he; 'I want you to show meexactly where are these batteries, and the position of the village onshore.'
"The first lieutenant came too, and I drew them out a chart as well asI could, showing them the position of things, and told them that everyevening a boom was floated across the entrance.
"'What sentries are there on at night?'
"'Four, sir; two close down to the water, one each side of the cove, andtwo in the batteries at the top. That's the watch, but besides thereare six men sleep in each of the other batteries, and six in each of thebatteries inside.'
"'Tell me more about the place and the life you led there,' the captainsaid, 'and then I shall understand the position of things better.'
"So I spun him a regular yarn about the place and the people. I told himabout the captain's wife, and she being an English woman, and how shewas taken, which indeed was the way of most of the women there.
"'I suppose that a good many of the men were pressed too,' the captainsaid.
"'I expects so, sir; but when we were together on guard or on board aship I noticed we never talked of such things. It seemed to me as ifevery one was trying to forget the past, and I think that made them morebrutal and bloody minded than they would have been. Every one was afraidof every one else guessing as he wasn't contented, and was wanting toget away, and so each carried on as bad as he could.'
"'I dare say you are right, lad; it must be a terrible position for aman to be in; but you see the law can make no distinctions. If itwasn't thoroughly understood that if a man took up the life of a pirate,whether willingly or unwillingly, he would assuredly be executed if hewas caught, we should have the sea swarming with pirates. Now, lad, youknow how this boom was fastened; can you suggest any way that we couldget over it or loosen it without giving the alarm?'
"'There is no way, sir. One end is fastened by a big chain which isfixed to a great shackle which is let into a hole in the rock andfastened in there with lead; that's the fixed end of the boom. The otherend, which is swung backward and forward when the ships go in port, hasgot a big chain too. It goes under an iron bar which is bent, and thetwo ends fastened in a rock. When they want to fix the boom the endof the chain is passed under this iron loop and then fastened to someblocks and ropes worked from the battery above, and the end of the chainis drawn up tight there, so that there is no loosing the chain till thatbattery is taken.'
"'And you say the guns of the lower batteries at the inner point sweepthe entrance?'
"'They do, sir. There are ten of them on each side, twelve poundercarronades, which are always charged, and crammed up to the muzzle withbullets and nails and bits of iron. The batteries on the top of thecliff at the entrance are the heaviest metal. They have got twenty gunsin each of them. They are loaded with round shot to keep a vessel fromapproaching, though of course they could fire grape into any boats theysaw coming in.'
"'This does not seem an easy business by any means, Mr. Earnshaw,' thecaptain said.
"'It does not, sir,' the lieutenant agreed in a dubisome sort of way;'but no doubt it can be done, sir--no doubt it can be done.'
"'Yes, but how?' the captain asked. 'You will be in command of theboats, Mr. Earnshaw, and it will never do to attack such a place as thatwithout some sort of plan.'
"'What is the boom like, my lad?' the lieutenant asked; 'is it lashedtogether?'
"'No, it is a solid spar,' I said. 'The entrance is not more than fortyfeet wide, and the boom is part of the mainmast of a big ship.'
"'It seems to me,' said the lieutenant, 'that the only way to get at itwould be to go straight at the boom, the two lightest boats to go first.The men must get on the spar and pull the boats over, and then make adash for the batteries; the heavy boats can follow them.'
"'It would never do, Mr. Earnshaw,' the captain said. 'You forget thereare twelve guns loaded to the muzzle with grape and musketballs alltrained upon a point only forty feet across. Would it be possible toland just outside the boom, lad, on one or both sides, and to keep alongthe edge, or wade in the water to the batteries?'
"'No, sir, the rock goes straight up from the water both sides.'
"'Well, the two sentries, how do they get down to the water's edge?'
"'They are let down by rope from above, sir, and the rope is hauled upas soon as they are down.'
"'This is a deuce of a place, Mr. Earnshaw,' the captain said. 'We mustdo nothing hastily in this matter, or we shall only be throwing awaythe lives of a lot of men, and failing in our object. I was intending tosail on and not return for a week, for no doubt they will be speciallyvigilant for a time after seeing a large ship pass them. As it is, Iwill return tonight to the back of the island, and will there leave thecutter and my gig. You will be in charge of the cutter, and Mr. Escombewill take the gig. I shall then sail away again before daylight; foralthough from what the lad said there is no watch kept on that side ofthe island, it cannot be more than three miles across, and any of themen or women might stroll across or might from any high point in theisland obtain a view that way. You will make a thorough survey of allthat side. The cliffs certainly seem, so far as we could see them as weleft the island, as perpendicular as they are on the side we passed;but there may be some place easier than another--some place where, bysetting our wits to work, we may make a shift to climb up. Get into theisland I will, if I have to blast a flight of steps up the cliff.'
"'I will do my best to find a place, sir,' the lieutenant said; 'and, ifthere isn't one, I will make one.'
"The lieutenant
told me that I was to accompany him in the cutter, andall was got ready for the trip. Water and a week's rations of food wereplaced on board the boats; for in that climate there was no saying whena gale might spring up, or how long the vessel might be before she gotback to pick up the boats.
"When we were fairly out of sight of the island we lay to till it gotdusk, and then her head was pointed back again. There was scarce abreath of wind stirring, and the vessel went through the water soslowly that a couple of hours later the captain ordered the boats to belowered, for he saw that if the wind didn't freshen the ship could notget to the island, much less get away again, before daylight. The oarswere got out and off we started, and after four hours' steady rowing,the lieutenant, who was steering by compass, made out the land loominghigh above us. Another quarter of an hour's row and we dropped ourgrapnels close to the foot of the cliffs, and the men were told to get asleep as well as they could till morning.
"As soon as it was daylight we were off again and rowed to the end ofthe island; for, as Mr. Earnshaw said to the third lieutenant, we hadbest begin at the end and do the work thoroughly. When we got to thepoint we turned and rowed back, keeping about two hundred yards fromthe cliff, so that we could see well up. They were about a hundred feethigh--sometimes a little less, sometimes a good bit more, and they wentas straight up from the water's edge as the cliffs at Dover, only thereweren't no beach. It was deep water right up to the foot.
"We went along very slowly, the men only just dipping their oars intothe water, and all of us watching every foot of the cliffs. Sometimes wewould stop altogether while the officers talked over the possibility ofany one climbing up at some place where the water trickling down fromthe top had eaten away the face a little; but not a goat in the worldcould have climbed up them, not to say men. So we kept on till we got tothe other end of the island, which must have been five miles long. Not aplace could we see.
"'Unless we are going to do as the captain said--blast steps up the faceof that rock--I don't believe it's to be done,' Lieutenant Earnshaw saidto Mr. Escombe. 'Well, there's nothing to do, lads, but to row inand drop your grapnels again and wait till we see the ship's lightstonight.'
"Although we rowed in to within an oar's length of the cliff, there waseight fathoms of water when we dropped the grapnels. We had been lyingthere an hour when the third lieutenant said:
"'I should think, Mr. Earnshaw, that if we were to bring the pinnacewith that four pounder gun in the bow and up end it, and with a smallcharge fire a ball with a rope fastened to it up into that clump oftrees we saw just about the middle of the island, it might get caught.'
"'So it might, Escombe, and the idea is a good one; but I doubt whetherthere's a man on board ship could climb a rope swinging like thatagainst the face of those cliffs.'
"'He might if we used a knotted rope,' Mr. Escombe said.
"'I wouldn't mind making a try, yer honor,' one of the sailors said, andhalf a dozen others volunteered their readiness to make the attempt.
"'I will put it to the captain,' Mr. Earnshaw said; 'if he agrees, asyou were the first to volunteer, Jones, you shall have the chance.'
"The day was dead calm, so was the night that followed it; and althoughwe rowed back to the end of the island from which we had come, no lightswere to be seen that night.
"The next day passed slowly. The sun was hot; but toward evening thelieutenant gave permission for the men to bathe; but warned us that noman must go far from the boats, because there might be sharks about.However, we didn't see none, and we enjoyed the dip, and were in betterhumor still when we found that a light breeze was springing up. Itmight have been about midnight when the men on watch made out a light toseaward, and we weren't long in getting up our grapnels and sitting ouroars. In half an hour we were on board, and were soon sailing away fromthe island again.
"The next night in we came again, and I saw that the third lieutenant'splan was going to be adopted; in fact, I guessed so before; for the sailmakers had been at work with two light ropes making a rope ladder, andthe ship's smith had got some empty shells on deck, and had made a shiftto screw some iron eyes into them for fixing ropes to. The gun was takenout of the pinnace and a little mortar fixed in her, and half a dozenropes, each a hundred fathoms long, had knots put in them every twofeet.
"The launch and the two cutters were lowered as well as the pinnace thistime, and the crews were armed with cutlass and pistol. I went with themas before, as I should be wanted to guide them when they got near thevillage. It was a bright starlight night without haze, so that when wegot close we could make out the outline of the cliffs, and could see thethick wood growing on the top. When we got within about a hundred yardsof the cliffs the boat stopped rowing.
"'Don't use more powder than you can help, gunner,' Mr. Earnshaw said.'In the first place, we don't want to do more than carry out the ropeto its full length; in the next place, we don't want to make more noisethan we can help. What wind there is is fortunately blowing seaward,and being so close under the cliff the sound will be echoed back. At thesame time the less noise the better.'
"'I will begin with very little, sir. If the ball don't go to the top ofthe cliff I shall put a trifle more into the gun next time; it's betterto make a mistake on the right side.'
"A small quantity of powder was put in the mortar, which was only a fourinch one. Then a wad was put in, and a shell with one of the knottedropes fastened to it dropped in the top. The rope had been coiled in atub so as to run out easily. The gunner applied the match. There was adull report, and every man held his breath to listen. There was a thudhigh up on the cliff and then a splash.
"'A few feet short of the top, I should say, gunner. You must put inmore next time, for the shell must go well up over the trees and dropamong them; otherwise it won't catch.'
"The gunner by the light of the lantern measured out half as much powderagain as he had used before, and then fired. This time we heard no soundtill there was a faint splash in the water.
"'The rope's gone, sir,' the gunner said, looking into the tub. 'Therewas a little too much this time.'
"'I don't think so,' Mr. Escombe said. 'I think that splash was the endof the rope touching the water. In that case it will be just right, ahundred feet up the cliffs, and five hundred feet among the trees. Nofear of the rope coming back to us.'
"It took us a quarter of an hour's search in the dark to find the rope;but at last we came upon it, and sure enough there was only four or fivefathoms in the water.
"'Now, Jones,' Mr. Earnshaw said, 'it's your turn. Put that light lineover your shoulders, and when you get to the top haul on it till youget up the rope ladder, and fasten that to a stout trunk and give a lowhail. We will hold the rope as steady as we can below while you mount.'
"'Ay, ay, sir,' said the man, who was an active young chap; 'I will beup there in a jiffy.'
"We fastened the lower end round one of the thwarts of the boat, andthen he began to climb. It was near five minutes before he got to thetop, for there were some nasty places where the cliff jutted out, andthe rope was hard against it; but presently the shaking ceased, and aminute later the light line was hauled tight. There was a low cheer inthe boats, and then up went the rope ladder. A minute or two later therewas a hail from the top.
"'All taut, sir.'
"'I will go first,' Mr. Earnshaw said.
"Accordingly up he went, and one by one we followed, each waiting forthe signal that the one before him had got up, till all had gone exceptthe two told off as boat watch. Then the men of the launch and cuttersfollowed, and in about two hours they were all at the top, and a lanternwas shown to tell the ship we were there.
"We started at once across the island, Mr. Earnshaw keeping the line bya pocket compass. It was rough work, though, and at last the lieutenantsaid:
"'We make such a noise going through the bushes that we had better waittill daylight, so just halt where you are, lads.'
"As soon as the first ray of light showed we were off again,
and an hourlater reached the edge of the slope down to the cove.
"'Now, remember,' the lieutenant said, 'that no woman is to be hurt.All the men who resist are to be shot or cut down; but you are to takeprisoners all who throw down their arms. Some of them may be able toprove themselves less guilty than the rest. At any rate, there is nofear of the Spanish authorities being too merciful. These pirates havebeen the scourge of these seas for the last six years.'
"Well, lad, there ain't much more to tell you. We took them completelyby surprise, and the men in the village were all knocked down and bound,without firing a shot. The men in the batteries tried to slew their gunsround, but we didn't give 'em time. They fought desperately, for theyknew what their doom was, and there weren't any prisoners taken there.As soon as the village was taken I went straight with Mr. Escombe tothe captain's house. His wife was standing at the door, and she gavea little cry as she saw the British uniforms, and ran a step or two tomeet us, then she stopped, and her arms dropped by her side.
"'What! you, Peter!' she said as we came up. 'Is it you who led themhere?'
"'Yes, ma'am, it was me,' says I, 'and the best thing I could do foryou, for you could not wish to stay here all your life with just thepeople that are here.'
"'But what has happened?' she said. 'How is it you are here? What hasbecome of the schooner?'
"'The schooner is sunk, ma'am, and the brig is captured.'
"'And my husband?'
"'Well, ma'am, don't you take on, but your husband went down with theschooner.'
"She tottered, and I thought she would have fallen, but Mr. Escombe puthis arm round her and led her to the house and left her there, puttingtwo sailors on guard to see as she wasn't disturbed. An hour or twolater the frigate was off the cove, and the captain landed. We stoppeda week there, and carried off all there was worth taking; and I tellyou there was enough to give every man Jack on board a handsome share ofprize money when the things came to be sold afterward.
"Money, there was lots of it, all stored away in what they called thetreasure house, for money was no good there. Jewels and ornaments,watches, and the things which they uses in them Catholic churches, andall kinds of valuable things, and stores of silks and velvets and allkinds of materials; and as to wine and such like, there was enoughto have lasted them for years, for from first to last it was shownafterward that those fellows must have captured more nor fifty vessels.Why they shouldn't have stopped ashore and enjoyed what they got was amystery to me. But I suppose they couldn't do without excitement, andthough every man talked of the time when the treasure would be dividedand they were to scatter, I don't suppose as one ever expected as thetime would really come.
"Well, arter everything was on board, and the women and children, theplace was burned, and we sailed for the nearest Spanish port. We hadhad a sort of court martial on board the frigate, and two or three youngchaps like myself, and two men as was proved to have been captured inthe pirates' last cruise, and who hadn't been to sea with them or takenpart in any of their bloody doings, was kept on board ship, and the restwas handed over to the Spanish authorities. Most of them was garroted,and a few was condemned to work on the roads for life. I and the otherswas taken back to England in the frigate, whose foreign time was up,and when we got to Portsmouth we was drafted into a regiment there, andlucky we thought ourselves to get off so easy. The captain's wife andsome of the other white women came home to England on board the frigate.She was very low at first, but she brightened up a good deal towardthe end of the voyage, which lasted two months. She grieved over herhusband, you see, but she couldn't but have felt that it was all for thebest. I heard afterward as how two years after she married Mr. Earnshaw,who by that time had got to be a captain. So that, you see, my lad, ishow I came to fight under the black flag first and then to be a soldierof the queen. I didn't mean it to be sich a long yarn, but when I oncebegan it all came back to me, and you see, I haven't spoken of it foryears. You don't think altogether as I was very wrong, I hope."
"I thank you very much for your story, sergeant," Jack replied. "I onlywish it had been longer; and although it's very easy to say that a manought to die rather than consent to be a pirate, I don't think there aremany lads who would choose death if they were placed as you were."
"I am glad you think that, young un; it's always been a sore point withme, I have done my duty since, and no one can say as he's ever seenSergeant Edwards show the white feather. But the thought that that onceI did not act as a brave man would have done has always troubled me."
The next day, as the sea went down, and the recruits recovered from theeffects of the confinement and sickness, they again began to talk amongthemselves. The fact that all the other vessels of the fleet were out ofsight naturally encouraged them. Jack observed, however, that the callto parade on deck was answered with more quickness than before, and theexercises were gone through with a painstaking steadiness greater thanhad been shown since the embarkation. When the men were dismissed fromparade Jack remarked this to the sergeant.
"Ay, ay, lad, I noticed it too," the sergeant said, shaking his head,"and in my opinion it's a bad sign. They want to throw the officersoff their guard. It's a pity you have been seen talking so much to me,because, of course, they won't say anything when you are listening; butone or two of the men who came into the regiment with me have droppeda word as they happened to pass this morning that they wanted to havea word if they could get one without being noticed, so I hope to hear alittle more tonight."
That evening, before going below, Jack had an hour's talk with SergeantEdwards.
"It's just as I thought," the latter said, "they've got an idea ofseizing the ship. The men I spoke of managed to get a few words with methis evening. They don't know anything about piracy. All they have heardis that there is a proposal to seize the ship and to carry her intoone of the northern ports of Spain, where the men will land and give uptheir arms to the Spanish authorities, and then either disperse and maketheir way home by twos and threes as best they can, or they will takeservice with the King of Spain, who, they think, will pay them a dealbetter than the English government.
"A part of the crew are in the scheme. These, the men tell me, do notintend to land, but only tell the others that they shall sail away.That's about what I thought would be. The greater part of these fellowsonly wants to get quickly home again, while the sailors, who may want togo abuccaneering, would not care about having the soldiers with them.I shall give a hint to the captain of my company tonight as to whatis going on, but I don't much expect he will pay any attention to it.Officers never believe these things till it is too late, and you seeI can't give them any names yet or prove what I say; besides, likelyenough, any inquiry set on foot would only bring the matter to a head.We must wait till we know something sure.
"You keep your ears open, my boy, and your eyes too, and I will do thesame. If it comes, and you see a chance of warning the captain of theship or the first lieutenant in time, you do it; but don't you do it ifyou don't think there's time enough, or if you can't do it without beingseen. If it's too late, and you are found out, they would just chuck youoverboard or knock you on the head, and you will have done no goodafter all, and perhaps only caused bloodshed. Like enough, if mattersgo quietly, there won't be no bloodshed, and the officers and those whostick to them will just be turned adrift in the boats, or maybe handedover to the Spanish at the port they go into as prisoners."
Jack promised to follow the sergeant's instructions, and went below. Hethought that the men were unusually quiet, and taking his blanket--foralthough some of the soldiers slept in hammocks, the majority lay on thedeck wrapped in their blankets--he lay down by the side of a gun whoseport had been opened to admit air between decks. After thinking thematter over for some time, and wondering what would be the end of it, hedropped off into a light sleep.
Presently he was aroused by a confused sound. Looking round cautiously,he saw by the dim light of the lantern that most of the men were ontheir feet. Some of th
em were taking down their firearms from the armracks; small groups were stooping over some of the sleeping figures; andto the mast, close to which one of the lanterns hung, two or threemen were bound, and two soldiers with pikes were standing by them. Thecrisis, then, had come, and Jack at once proceeded to carry out the planhe had thought out after he lay down.
Very quietly he crawled out through the porthole, and then raisedhimself and stood on the muzzle of the gun. There he could reach thefoot of the shrouds of the foremast, which happened to be immediatelyabove the port. He swung himself up, and, placing his hands on the edgeof the bulwark, cautiously looked over.
At present all was quiet there; the signal from below had not beengiven, and the troops on deck--for, owing to the numbers on board,one fourth were always on deck in fine weather--were standing about orsitting in groups. Keeping his feet on the ledge which ran round levelwith the deck, and his fingers on the top of the bulwark, Jack managedto edge his way aft until he reached the line of the quarterdeck. Herethe line of the bulwark ceased, the cabins of the officers rising, aswas usual in those days, in a double tier high about the waist.
The nearest porthole, which was open, was but three feet long, and Jack,reaching forward, put one hand in it and continued his way. The portholewas but just large enough for him to squeeze through. Looking in beforehe attempted it he saw an officer asleep immediately below him. It wasthe ensign of his own company. Leaning in he touched him gently. Afterone or two attempts, the young officer opened his eyes, saying, "What isit? It's not morning yet."
"Hush, sir," Jack said earnestly; "I am Jack Stilwell of your company.There is a mutiny, sir, forward. Please help me in, I want to warn thecaptain of the ship, and he will know what to do."
The young officer leaped from his bunk and assisted Jack to enter.
"I will come with you," he said, hastily dragging on his trousers andcoat. "Are you sure of what you say?"
"Quite sure, sir; the noncommissioned officers are bound; it may beginat any moment."
The ensign led the way to the captain's cabin, which he opened andentered without ceremony.
"What is it?" the captain exclaimed. The ensign said who he was, andJack repeated his story.
"The dogs!" the captain said, "we will teach them a lesson. Let me see,the second lieutenant is on duty; rouse all the other officers;" and hehimself assisted them to do so. In a minute or two they were gatheredhastily attired, with sword and pistol, in the captain's cabin.
"Do you, Mr. Hartwell," the captain said, addressing the firstlieutenant, "go below and rouse the boatswain and petty officers,and bid them get together all the men they can depend upon, arm themquietly, and be ready to rush on deck the instant a stir is heardforward among the soldiers. Any man who disobeys orders, shoot himinstantly. Do you, sir," he said to the second officer, "go to themagazine with four of the midshipmen, open it and bring up charges ofgrape for the guns on the quarterdeck. Be as quick as you can. Now,gentlemen, the rest of us will make our way up quietly, one by one,to the quarterdeck. Go well aft, so that the men in the waist will notnotice you. Directly the cartridges come up we will load the guns, andbe in readiness to slew them across the deck; and in the mean time, ifthey should attack before we are ready, we must hold the ladders to thelast."
One by one the officers stole out from the cabin with bare feet, andmade their way up to the quarterdeck, until some thirty of them weregathered there, being all the officers of the regiment, the navalofficers, and midshipmen. The night was a dark one, and this wasaccomplished without the movement being noticed by any of those in thewaist of the ship.
