The Rover's Secret: A Tale of the Pirate Cays and Lagoons of Cuba

by Harry Collingwood

  CHAPTER SIX.

  A REMONSTRANCE--AND ITS SEQUEL.

  Our instructions, it seemed, were that we should cruise to the southwardof Saint Domingo, from Cape Tiburon as far eastward as the Mona Passage,giving an occasional look into Port-au-Prince. We accordingly carriedon all that day, taking a second reef in the topsails at sunset, andheaving the ship round on the starboard tack at midnight, which broughtus well in under the lee of Cape Tiburon by daybreak next morning. Wewere then on our cruising ground; sail was shortened, and the frigate,being hove about, was allowed to jog along under easy canvas.Thenceforward, until Captain Pigot reappeared on deck, we had a pleasantand comfortable time of it; for although the discipline of the ship wasnever for one moment relaxed, there was an utter absence of all thatworry and petty tyranny, and, above all, those daily floggings which theskipper seemed to consider essential to the maintenance of a properdegree of subordination and smartness on the part of the crew.

  With the reappearance of Captain Pigot on deck, however, this briefperiod of rest and quietness came to an end. The pain and irritation ofhis wound, together, perhaps, with the reflection that he had beenworsted in an encounter brought about by his own arrogant andoverbearing demeanour, seemed to have chafed his temper almost to thepoint of madness. The floggings were resumed with greater severity thanever; and every time the hands were turned up a boatswain's-mate, armedwith a colt, was stationed at each hatchway, with instructions to"freshen the way" of the last man on the ladder. And the same withshortening or making sail, the last man out of the rigging on each mastreceived a liberal application of the execrable colt to his shoulders.It certainly had the effect of making the men smart in a double sense,but it also made them, perhaps, the most discontented crew in theservice.

  Thus matters went on, steadily growing from bad to worse, until themonth of September set in. We had been dodging off and on, carefullybeating over every inch of our cruising ground and looking into everylikely and unlikely spot, in the hope of picking up a prize or two, andour non-success had been simply phenomenal. It really seemed as thoughevery craft worth the trouble of capture had deserted our part of theworld altogether. This of course resulted, as was perhaps only natural,in a further accession of acerbity fore and aft, the brunt of which ofcourse fell upon the hands forward, who--what with drill of one sort andanother, perpetual making and shortening of sail, shifting of spars andcanvas, overhauling and setting-up of the rigging, lengthy, tedious, andwholly unnecessary boat expeditions, in addition to the incessantfloggings and coltings already referred to--at length found their livesa positive burden to them. This kind of treatment could, of course,produce but one result, and, by the period before-named, the crew hadbeen wrought up to such a pitch of exasperation and revengeful fury,that I am convinced they would have refused to go to the guns had weencountered an enemy. It may easily be imagined how difficult andanxious a task it was for the officers to carry on the duty of the shipunder such circumstances as these.

  It had by this time become clear to everybody--excepting, apparently,Captain Pigot himself--that the existing state of affairs could notpossibly last much longer; and at length the first lieutenant,recognising the gravity of the situation, took it upon himself to invitethe second and third lieutenants and the master to a consultation in hisown cabin, the result of which consultation was a resolve to adopt theextreme measure of making a collective representation and appeal to theskipper. This being decided, it was determined to carry out the resolveon that same evening, the time to be during the first dog-watch, itbeing Captain Pigot's habit to retire to his cabin after eight bells hadbeen struck, and to devote an hour or so to reading before dinner.

  Accordingly, no sooner had the skipper left the deck than I wasdespatched by Mr Reid to apprise Mr Douglas, Mr Maxwell, and MrSouthcott of the fact, and to state that the first lieutenant awaitedthem on the quarter-deck. We midshipmen had of course been left in thedark as to the proposed interview; but the message of which I was thebearer was of so very unusual a character that I at once suspected theremust be something out of the common in prospect; and when, a few minuteslater, I saw the four principal officers of the ship march withportentously solemn faces into the cabin, I determined that, right orwrong, I would know what was in the wind.

  Fortunately for my purpose it was my watch below, and my absence fromthe deck would consequently not be noticed. It took me but a moment toform my plans, and not much more to execute them. The ship had a fullpoop, under which the captain's cabin was situated; the weather waswarm, and all the ports were open. Slipping off my shoes and thrustingthem beneath a gun, where they were not likely to be discovered, I mademy way in my stockings up on to the poop, which was entirely deserted,and at once slipped over the side into the mizzen channels. The lid ofone of the ports was then immediately beneath me, and I knew beforehandthat there was just room for me to squeeze in upon it, where, though myattitude must be somewhat constrained, I should be perfectly concealedfrom every eye, whilst I should also be able to hear with tolerabledistinctness every word which might be spoken in the cabin in anordinary conversational tone of voice.

  Now, I am not going to defend my conduct. I know, and I knew at thetime, that I was doing what I had no business to do, but I was quitefree from any feeling of absolute wrong-doing; I had an instinctiveperception that the interview in which I was about to play the part ofeaves-dropper was in some way connected with the critical state ofaffairs then prevailing on board, and I felt that whilst my cognisanceof what was about to pass could be hurtful to nobody, the knowledgemight be advantageous to myself, and possibly to others also. If Iacted wrongly I must be content to bear the blame; the fact remains thatI posted myself safely and undetected in the position I had fixed upon,and overheard almost every word which passed in the brief interviewbetween the skipper and his visitors.

  As I swung myself out over the channels and settled myself into mysomewhat cramped quarters I heard Captain Pigot's strident voicespeaking in a tone of surprised inquiry; but I was too busy just then tocatch what he said. By the time he had finished, however, I was allready to listen; and I presently heard Mr Reid reply:

  "We have taken the unusual step, sir, of waiting upon you thus in abody, to direct your attention, in the most respectful manner, to thepresent condition and temper of the ship's company, the which weconceive to have resulted wholly from your excessive severity towardthem. They are, almost to a man, in such an excited and dangerous frameof mind that we have the greatest difficulty in maintaining discipline,and keeping them under proper control. Indeed, to adequately carry onthe duty of the ship has become almost an impossibility; and--to speakthe truth frankly, sir--on comparing notes with my brother officers wehave come to the conclusion that the men are no longer to be dependedupon in case of an emergency. Matters cannot possibly remain muchlonger in their present state, a change of some sort is inevitable; andwe would most respectfully suggest, sir, to your earnest and immediateconsideration the desirability of adopting a more lenient and generousline of policy--"

  "Great Heaven! man, do you know what you are saying?" gasped theskipper. And the crash of a falling chair together with the quiver inhis voice seemed to indicate that he had started to his feet in aparoxysm of fury which he was ineffectually struggling to suppress."How dare you," he continued--"how dare anyone or all of you presume tocall in question my conduct, or dictate to me the line of policy which Ishall pursue with regard to my crew--a lazy, skulking, cowardly set ofvagabonds, three-fourths of whom are foreigners? Why, man, if it hadnot been for the severe discipline of which you complain they would havehad the ship away from us ere now. I know the class of men I have todeal with, aboard here, and I also know how to deal with them; and youmay take my word for it that I will never rest satisfied until I havemade them the smartest crew in the service. As to the difficulty youprofess to experience in carrying on the duty of the ship, I mustconfess I have not observed it, the rascals have always appeared activeand willing enough wh
enever I have been on deck--thanks to thatwholesome fear of the cat with which I have imbued them; and if thedifficulty _really_ exists, I cannot but think, gentlemen, the faultmust be with yourselves, and it can easily be cured by a somewhat firmermaintenance, rather than a relaxation, of that rigid discipline whichyou deprecate. And I will take this opportunity of mentioning, whilstwe are upon the subject, my very strong disapproval of the manifesttendency which I have observed in the officers of this ship to overlookand condone what I suppose _they_ would term _trifling_ infractions ofduty. In so doing, gentlemen, you have made a most grievous mistake,which, however, I will do my best to remedy in the immediate future.There is nothing like plenty of flogging if you wish to keep such cursin proper order."

  During the progress of this speech the skipper had gradually recoveredthe control of his temper; the tremulous tones of anger in his voicewere succeeded by those of bitter sarcasm; and the manifest sneer withwhich he concluded made my blood boil.

  There was a momentary pause, then I heard the first lieutenant say:

  "With all submission, sir, permit me to say that I believe--nay, that Iam _convinced_--you wholly misunderstand the character and dispositionof the crew. Some of them--far too many of them, indeed--_are_foreigners, who have neither the strength nor the spirit to performtheir duties as efficiently as Englishmen would, but I believe that, forthe most part, they honestly do their best; and for honest service,faithfully performed, perpetual flogging seems to me but a poor reward.The jail-birds among our own countrymen are the most difficult subjectsto deal with, and flogging only hardens them; if I had to deal with themI should be far more disposed to look for a cure from the contempt andraillery of their shipmates. Besides, the rogues are so cunning thatthey frequently succeed in shifting the blame on to other shoulders; andwhen one man gets punished for another's offences we know that thetendency is to make him sullen and discontented. I could name at leasta dozen men who, from being bright smart, active, reliable men at thecommencement of the cruise, have degenerated into as many idle skulks,solely because their good qualities have received no recognition, andthey have been punished over and over again for the faults of others.And as to our leniency toward the men--"

  "There, that will do, Mr Reid; the less said on that head the better,"interrupted the skipper impatiently. "This discussion has gone farenough," he continued, "and I must now request you all to withdraw. Youhave--relieved your consciences, let us say, by entering this formalprotest and expressing your disapproval of my method of dealing with thehands forward; now let the matter drop. And hark ye, one and all, ifthere is any repetition of this impertinent interference with me, by theHeaven above us I will clap the presumptuous individual who attempts itin irons, and bring him to court-martial at the first convenient port wereach. Now go, and be hanged to you!"

  "Very well, sir," said old David, "we _will_ go; but, before we leaveyour presence, permit me to observe that--"

  I heard no more, for, perceiving that the interview was about tosomewhat abruptly terminate, I judged it best to effect an escape frommy place of concealment whilst escape was still possible, and Iforthwith proceeded hurriedly to do so. I managed to make my way backto the quarter-deck without attracting attention, and had barely securedmy shoes and replaced them on my feet when the first lieutenant and hiscompanions emerged from the poop cabin and began to pace the quarter-deck in apparently careless conversation, though I could tell, by thegloomy expression of their countenances, that they were discussing ananything but agreeable topic.

  At length the westering sun approached the horizon; and Mr Douglas andMr Southcott retired to their cabins in anticipation of Captain Pigot'sappearance on deck to watch the nightly operation of reefing topsails,leaving Mr Reid and Mr Maxwell to slowly pace the quarter-deck side byside. It being now my watch on deck, I stationed myself in the waist onthe larboard side of the deck and endeavoured to forget the gloomyforebodings which had arisen out of the conversation I had recentlyoverheard by abandoning myself to the soothing influences of theglorious eventide.

  It was indeed a glorious evening, such as is seldom or never to be metwith outside the tropics. The wind had gradually fallen away during theafternoon until it had dropped stark calm; and there the ship lay, withher head to the northward, gently rolling on the long glassy swell whichcame creeping stealthily up out from the northward and eastward. Thesmall islands of Mona and Monita--the latter a mere rock--lay broad onour larboard quarter about eight miles distant, two delicate purplishpink blots on the south-western horizon, whilst Desecho reared its headabove the north-eastern horizon on our starboard bow, a soft greymarking in the still softer grey haze of the sky in that quarter. Agreat pile of delicately-tinted purple and ruby clouds with golden edgeslay heaped up in detached fantastic masses along the glowing westernhorizon, shaped into the semblance of an aerial archipelago, with far-stretching promontories and peninsulas, and boldly jutting capes andheadlands with deep gulfs and winding straits of rosy sky between. Someof these celestial islands were shaped along their edges into a seriesof minute gold-tipped projections and irregularities, which needed onlythe slightest effort of the fancy to become converted into the spiresand pinnacles of a populous city or busy seaport; whilst certain minutedetached flakelets of crimson and golden cloud dotted here and thereabout the aerial channels might easily be imagined to be fairy argosiesnavigating the celestial sea. Gazing, as I did, enraptured, upon thatscene of magical beauty, it was not difficult to guess at the origin ofthat most poetical--as it is perhaps the oldest--nautical superstition,which gives credence to the idea that there exists, far away beyond thesunset, an enchanted region which poor storm-beaten sailors aresometimes permitted to reach, and wherein, during an existence which isindefinitely prolonged, they enjoy a complete immunity from all thoseperils and hardships with which the seaman's life is ordinarilyenvironed; wherein life is one long day of ineffable peace and rest andtranquillity; and from whence every disagreeable influence ispermanently banished.

  I was abruptly aroused from my fanciful musings by the sound of theship's bell, four strokes upon which proclaimed the end of the firstdog-watch. The momentary bustle of calling the watch immediatelyfollowed, in the midst of which came the customary orders to reeftopsails. Simultaneously with the appearance of the larboard watch,Captain Pigot issued from his cabin and, ascending the poop ladder, madehis way aft to the taffrail, from which position he was able to commanda view of the proceedings on each topsail-yard. The royals andtopgallant-sails were very smartly clewed up and furled; and, as thetopsail halyards were let run, I saw the skipper pull out his watch and,noting the time by it, hold it face upwards in his hand.

  "Soho!" thought I, "that does not look very much as though the firstlieutenant's remonstrance had produced any beneficial effect; there'strouble in store for some of those unfortunates on the yards if they arenot exceptionally lively."

  The hands themselves, who had not failed to mark the skipper's actions,seemed to think so too, and they set about their work with the activityof wild-cats. But "the more hurry the less speed" is an old adage; andso it proved in the present case, the men on the mizzen topsail-yardmanaging so to bungle matters that when, on the expiration of two and ahalf minutes--the outside limit of time allowed by the skipper forreefing a topsail--Captain Pigot closed his watch with a snap andreplaced it smartly in his pocket, several of the reef-points stillremained to be tied.

  "Now," thought I, "look out for squalls." And as the thought passedthrough my mind the squall came, in the shape of a hail from the skipperhimself.

  "Mizzen topsail-yard, there!" he shouted, "what are you about, you lazylubbers? Do you intend to spend the remainder of the watch in reefingthat topsail? Wake up, and put some life into your motions, for (andhere came an oath) I'll flog the last man off the yard."

  The work was completed ere he had finished speaking, and the men beganhurriedly and in some little confusion to lay in off the yard. Therewas a decided scramble for the topmast
rigging, each man naturallystriving to be off the yard before his neighbour, and thus exposinghimself and those immediately about him to a very considerable amount ofperil.

  Mr Reid, who was also on the poop near the skipper, saw this, andhailed the men with:

  "Steady, there, on the mizzen topsail-yard; steady, men, and take thingsquietly, or some of you will be meeting with a nasty accident."

  The men's fear of an accident was, however, less than their dread of aflogging, and the hustling went on, much, apparently to the amusement ofCaptain Pigot, who smiled cynically as he silently watched the struggle.The two captains of the to were in the most disadvantageous position ofall, as they, bent supposed to be the two smartest hands on the yard,had laid out, one to each yard-arm to pass and haul out the earrings andthey would consequently, in the ordinary course of things be the lastmen off the yard. This, however, meant a flogging for at least one ofthem, which they were resolved to escape if possible. Instead,therefore, of laying in along the foot-rope like the rest of the men,they scrambled up on the yard, by the aid of the lifts, and standingerect on the spar, started to run in along it toward the mast. Theymanaged very well until they reached the little struggling crowd aboutthe topmast rigging, when, to avoid them, the two men made a springsimultaneously for the back-stays. How it happened can never be known,but, somehow or other, both overleaped themselves missed the back-stays,and came crashing down on the poop where they lay motionless upon thewhite planks which in another moment were crimsoned with their blood.

  Captain Pigot turned ghastly pale as this sudden and terribleconsequence of his tyrannical behaviour presented itself to him; but henever moved a single step to help either of the injured men. The firstlieutenant, however, sprang forward and raised the head of one poorfellow, whilst I, springing up the poop ladder, went to the assistanceof the other. The man to whom I went lay on his face, and, as I turnedhim over and raised his head, I turned sick and faint at the ghastlysight which met my horrified gaze. The features were battered out ofall recognition, the lower jaw was broken, and from what appeared to bethe crushed face the blood was spurting in a torrent which almostinstantly drenched through my small-clothes and wetted me to the skin.Unable to endure the terrible spectacle, I turned my eyes in Mr Reid'sdirection, only to see that the unfortunate man whom he supported was inquite as bad a plight. It was evident not only that the poor fellow wasdead, but also that death must have been instantaneous, the neck beingbroken, and the crown of the skull apparently crushed in such a way thatthe brain could be seen protruding, and the deck also was bespattered.

  "Pass the word for the surgeon, there, somebody, and tell him to looksmart!" gasped poor old David in a voice so hoarse and changed withhorror and grief that I should never have recognised it as his had I notseen his lips move.

  In a minute or two the surgeon made his appearance on the scene, and avery brief examination sufficed to enable him to pronounce both the mendead.

  The first lieutenant undertook to announce the sad intelligence to theskipper, who still remained standing in the same position, apparently asunconcerned as if nothing had happened. I must confess that I, for one,fully expected to see some very decided manifestation of emotion on thecaptain's part when he learned the tragical nature of the disaster; but,instead of that, on being told the news, he--to the horror andindignation of everybody who heard him--simply said:

  "Um! dead, are they? Then throw the lubbers overboard!" And this wasactually done. Without the slightest pretence to ceremony or reverenceof any kind, without so much as a single prayer to consecrate theirdismissal to their final resting-place in the bosom of the deep, withouteven pausing to sew up the poor fellows in their hammocks, with a shotat their feet to ensure their safe arrival in the quiet and peacefulregion of the ocean's bed, the bodies were straightway raised from thedeck and, with a "One, two, three, _heave_!" were flung over the side,to be instantly fought over and torn to pieces by some half a dozensharks which had put in an unsuspected appearance on the scene. Many acurse, "not loud but deep," was called down upon the skipper's head thatnight by the shipmates of the murdered men--for murdered theyundoubtedly were--and many a vow of complete and speedy vengeance wassolemnly registered. Insulted, scoffed at, derided, their last spark ofself-respect--if indeed any such thing still remained to them--outragedand trodden under foot, the crew were that night changed from men todevils; and if, at the conclusion of those unceremonious obsequies, aleader had but stepped forward and placed himself at their head, theywould have risen upon us and, all unarmed as they were, torn us topieces.

  No such thought or fear, however, appeared to present itself to CaptainPigot, for, instead of evincing or expressing any sorrow for what hadoccurred, he imperiously ordered the hands to be mustered in the waist,with the evident intention of "reading them a lecture," as he was wontto term his too frequent hectoring addresses.

  The men, sullen, and with suppressed fury blazing in their eyes andrevealing itself in their every gesture, swarmed aft and stood inreckless expectation of some further outrage. Nor were theydisappointed.

  "I have sent for you," the skipper began, in his most sneering andcontemptuous accents, "not to express any hypocritical sorrow for theoccurrence which has just taken place, but to point out to you theobvious lesson which is to be learned from it--a lesson which I fearyour dense ignorance, your utter destitution of discernment and common-sense, would prevent your ever discovering for yourselves. Within thelast half-hour two men have come to their deaths. How? Why, by asneaking, cowardly attempt to evade the punishment justly due to thelazy, skulking, lubberly way in which they performed their duty. Itwould have been better for them had they listened to the firstlieutenant's admonition and come quietly down from aloft, to receive ata proper time the punishment which they richly deserved. But they mustneeds attempt to shirk it, with the consequences which you have allwitnessed; and, so far as I am concerned, I can only say that I thinkthey have met with no more than their just deserts.

  "But it is not of them I want to speak to you; it is of yourselves. Thesame shirking, idle, rebellious spirit which distinguished them isconspicuous in every one of you. It is little more than a couple ofhours ago that your officers waited upon me in a body to make formalcomplaint of your idleness and insubordinate conduct. There was nonecessity for them to do any such thing, for I am not altogether lackingin powers of observation, and I have not failed to notice that for sometime past there has been a general disposition on the part of all handsto thwart and oppose me in every possible way; but I just mention thefact of this complaint to show you that I am not alone in my opinion asto your conduct. Now, my lads, you are a great many, and I am only oneman; but if you suppose that on that account you will be able to getyour own way, or successfully oppose me, you will discover that younever made a greater mistake in your lives. You may shirk your work, orperform it in a slovenly, unseamanlike manner as long as you please, butI warn you, one and all, that I have made up my mind to convert you fromthe lazy, skulking, mutinous set of tinkers and tailors you now are,into the smartest and best-disciplined crew in the service; and byHeaven I will do it too, even though it should be necessary toadminister a daily flogging to every man in the ship. There are somefew of you who are a shade worse--a shade more idle, and lubberly, andinsubordinate--than the rest; you, Jones, are one; you, Hoskings, areanother, and you, Thomson, Kirkpatrick, Davis, Morrison, I have my eyeupon all of you; you are booked, every man of you, for an early taste ofthe cat; and I assure you that when it comes it will be a sharp one.You shall learn that, in laying yourselves out to oppose your captain,you have undertaken a task altogether beyond your strength. You shallhave neither rest nor peace day or night, henceforward, until I havecompletely quelled your present rebellious spirit and brought you to aproper condition of subordination and smartness. So now, my lads, youknow what you have to expect, and, whatever happens, you will never beable to say that I did not give you due warning. Pipe down!"

  The men t
urned away and dispersed in perfect silence. Usually after theadministration of a lecture, however severe, some irrepressible jokermight be detected with his head cocked on one side and his face with awaggish grin upon it, turned toward his next neighbour, evidently givingutterance to some jocular comment upon the lately-delivered address, ashe gave his breeches the true nautical hitch forward and abaft; but onthis occasion there was nothing of the kind, the indignation and disgustaroused by the skipper's arrogant and threatening speech appeared to bealtogether too overpowering to allow of the escape of a humorous idea tothe surface.

  The silence of the men was so complete as to be, to my mind, ominous,whilst their bearing was marked by that peculiar air of defiantrecklessness which is to be observed in individuals who feel thatFortune has at length done her very worst for them. How much longer, Iwondered, would they thus tamely suffer themselves to be hectored andbrowbeaten? how much longer go quietly to the gangway and submit to beseverely flogged for the most trifling offences? Then, too, I feltindignant at the unscrupulous way in which the skipper hadmisrepresented the nature of the officers' recent interview with him,and had conveyed the impression that they were rather favouring thandeprecating the severity of his discipline. Such conduct struck me asbeing not only barbarously tyrannical, but also in the highest degreeimpolitic; for what could any man of sense expect but that, bypersistence in it, he would make good men bad, and bad men worse. Andif the men were to turn restive in the presence of an enemy--which was,to my mind, not unlikely, though I never anticipated anything worse--what would be the result? The whole aspect of affairs lookedunsatisfactory in the extreme, and when I turned into my hammock thatnight it was to indulge in sundry very gloomy forebodings before Ifinally dropped off to sleep; though Heaven knows how far I was fromguessing at the scenes of horror of which the frigate was to be thetheatre before another twenty-four hours had passed over my head.