Blackbeard: Buccaneer

by Ralph Delahaye Paine

  CHAPTER XII

  A PRIVATE ACCOUNT TO SETTLE

  THE ship's boat was bound into the bay, probably to lie there fordaybreak, and Jack Cockrell rushed down to the beach where he set upsuch a frantic hullabaloo that the sailors ceased singing and held theirbreath and their oars suspended. They had come to look for Bill Saxbyand Trimble Rogers, but this was a strange voice. It was so odd acircumstance that several of them hailed the shore with questions loudand perplexed.

  "Master John Cockrell, at your service," came back the reply. "CaptainBonnet knows me. I am the lad that clouted a six-foot pirate of yoursfor being saucy to a maid in Charles Town."

  This aroused a roar of laughter and there were gusty shouts of:

  "Here's that same Will Brant in the boat with us. He shakes in his bootsat the sound of ye."

  "What's the game, lad? Have ye taken a ship of your own to scour theMain?"

  Jack ignored this good-natured badinage and, in dignified accents, toldthem to come ashore and take him off to the _Royal James_. In thiscompany he had a reputation to live up to as a man of parts and valor.They let the boat ground on the smooth sand and one of them lighted atorch of pitch-pine splinters. The fine young gentleman who had strolledarm-in-arm with Stede Bonnet to the tavern green was a ragged scarecrowand bedaubed with red clay and black mud. This aroused their sympathybefore he told them of his escape from the _Revenge_ and his adventureswith Bill Saxby and the crippled buccaneer. In their turn they explainedhow Captain Bonnet had sent them down the river to await the return ofthe two men who were now stranded in the wilderness two days' marchdistant.

  "And why did your captain shift the brig from her anchorage off theisland?" asked Jack.

  This amused the boat's crew who nudged each other and were evasive untilthe master's mate who was in charge went far enough to say:

  "A sloop came in from the Pamlico River. Our ship sought a snuggerharbor, d'ye see? There was some private business. We loaded the sloopwith hogshead of sugar, and bolts of damask, and silver ingots. HisExcellency, Governor Eden, of the North Carolina Province, turns anhonest penny now and then."

  "The Governor of this Province is a partner in piracy?" cried Jack.

  "Brawl it not so loud, nor spill it to Cap'n Bonnet," cautioned themaster's mate. "I confide this much to stave off your foolish questionswhen ye board the ship."

  There was no reason to tarry in the bay and the boat pulled out tofollow the course of the river and return in haste to the brig _RoyalJames_ in her more secluded harbor. The news that Blackbeard was at hisold rendezvous within easy sail to the southward eclipsed all othertopics. And when it was learned that he had lost the two sloops of hissquadron, there was fierce delight. Although the _Revenge_ was a largervessel and more heavily manned and gunned, they were hilariouslyconfident of victory. It was a burning grudge and a private quarrel, andfuel was added to the flame by the tidings that a score or more ofseamen had been mercilessly marooned to perish because of theirsuspected preference for Captain Stede Bonnet.

  When Jack Cockrell caught sight of the shapely brig as she loomed in themorning haze, it seemed as though years had passed since he hadenviously watched her pass out over the Charles Town bar. Presently hespied the soldierly captain on the quarter-deck, his spare figure alltaut and erect, his chin clean-shaven, his queue powdered, his apparelfresh and in good taste. A ship is like her master and the watch wassluicing down decks or setting up the rigging which had slackened withthe heavy dew. Jack felt ashamed to let himself be seen. This was noplace for a ragamuffin.

  Captain Bonnet strode to the gangway and stared down at this bit ofhuman flotsam. He was quick to recognize his boyish friend and admirerand ordered the men to lower a boatswain's chair and lift MasterCockrell aboard. Jack was, indeed, so stiffened and sore and weary thathe had been wondering how he could climb the side of a ship.

  "Tut, tut, my son, bide your time," exclaimed Stede Bonnet as they meton deck. "Tell it later. The master's mate will enlighten me."

  He led the way into the cabin which was in order and simply furnished.One servant brewed fragrant coffee from Arabia while another made a roomready for the guest and fetched clean clothing from the captain's chestsand a tub of hot water. And as soon as the grateful Master Cockrell hadmade himself presentable, he was invited to sit down at table with thecaptain and enjoy a meal of porridge and crisp English bacon and fresheggs from the ship's hen-coop in the long-boat and hot crumpets andmarmalade. And this after the pinched ration of mouldy salt-horse andwormy hard-bread! Captain Bonnet lighted a roll of tobacco leaves, whichhe called a _cigarro_, and puffed clouds of smoke while Master Cockrellcleaned every dish and lamented that his skin felt too tight to beginall over again.

  He was now in a mood to relate his strange yarn, from its outset in theill-fated merchant trader, _Plymouth Adventure_. Eagerly he beggedinformation concerning her people after their shipwreck, but CaptainBonnet had been cruising far offshore to intercept a convoy of richWest Indiamen from Jamaica for the old country.

  "I will make it my duty to set you ashore at Charles Town, Master Jack,"said he, "and I pray you may find your good uncle alive and still vowingto hang all rogues of pirates."

  "But I must sail with you, sir, till you have saved Joe Hawkridge andhis shipmates and blown Blackbeard out of water."

  "Rest easy on that," exclaimed Stede Bonnet. "Those affairs are mosturgent. My ship will drop down the river to-day, with the turn o' thetide, and heave to long enough to land a party, six men, to go in searchof Trimble Rogers who is the apple of my eye. I shall not ask you tojoin them, but you can give directions and pen a fair map, I trow."

  "Gladly would I go," replied Jack, "but my poor legs wobble like yourvaliant old buccaneer's. And my feet are raw."

  "You have proved yourself," was the fine compliment. "I judged ye arightwhen we first met."

  Soon the deck above them resounded to the tramp of boots and the thumpof sheet-blocks as the brisk seamen made ready to cast the ship free.She was in competent hands and so Stede Bonnet lingered below to enjoytalking with the youth whose manners and breeding were like his own. Ina mood unusually confidential he confirmed Jack's earlier impressions,that he was a pirate with a certain code of honor which reminded one ofRobin Hood of Sherwood Forest who robbed the rich and befriended thepoor. Touching on his mortal quarrel with Blackbeard, he revealed howthat traitorous ruffian had proposed a partnership while he, StedeBonnet, was a novice at the trade. The plot all hatched to take Bonnet'sfine ship, the _Revenge_, from him, Blackbeard had disclosed his hand atthe final conference when he said, with a sarcastic grimace:

  "I see, my good sir, that you are not used to the cares and duties ofcommanding a vessel, so I will relieve you of 'em."

  As soon as Captain Bonnet had mended his fortunes and had the goodlybrig _Royal James_ to cruise in, his ruling purpose was to regain the_Revenge_ from Blackbeard and at the same time wreak a properpunishment.

  "So now if we can trap this black-hearted Teach before he flits to sea,"said Stede Bonnet, "you will see a pretty engagement, Master Cockrell.But first we must find the score o' men that he marooned. It will be adeed of mercy, besides affording me a stronger crew."

  The brig was soon standing down the river while the landing party brokeout an ample store of provisions and powder and ball, with canvas for atent. The plan was for them to pitch a camp near the shore of the bay towhich they could fetch back Trimble Rogers and Bill Saxby and there waitfor their ship to return and take them off. They were ready to go ashorewhen Captain Bonnet's navigator ordered the main-topsail laid aback andthe brig slowly swung into the wind. The delay was brief and no soonerwas the boat cast off than the _Royal James_ proceeded on the voyage toCherokee Inlet.

  Clumsy as those sailing ships of two hundred years ago appear to moderneyes, their lines were finely moulded under water and with a favoringwind they could log a fair distance in a day's run. It goes withoutsaying that this tall brig was shoved along for all she was worth beforea humming
breeze that made her creak, and during the night she wasreckoned to be a few miles to seaward of the sandy islands whichextended like a barrier outside of Cherokee Inlet. Jack Cockrell stood awatch of his own, dead weary but with no thought of sleep until he couldhear the lookout shout "Land ho!"

  This cry came from aloft soon after dawn. The brig moved toward thenearest of these exposed shoals while her officers consulted a chartspread upon the cabin roof. They were wary of running the ship agroundwith Blackbeard no more than a few miles distant. So bare were theseyellow patches of sand that showed against the green water that a groupof men on any one of them would have been easily discernible. The _RoyalJames_ coasted along outside of them under shortened sail but discoverednothing to indicate a party of marooned seamen.

  "But they must be out here somewhere," cried Jack Cockrell, in greatdistress.

  "They ought to be, for no trading vessel would take 'em off," repliedthe puzzled Captain Bonnet. "And if they were towed out in boats as yesay, Jack, these islands must ha' been where they were beached."

  "But you won't give up the search, sir, without another tack past thoseoutermost shoals?"

  "Oh, we shall rake them all, but Blackbeard may have changed thatcrotchety mind of his and taken the men back to his ship."

  "I fear I have seen the last of my dear Joe Hawkridge," exclaimed Jack.

  "From what you tell me, the young scamp is not so easily disposed of,"smiled Captain Bonnet. "I must haul out to sea ere long. 'Tis poorbusiness to let Blackbeard glimpse my spars and so take warning."

  This was sad news and Jack walked away to hide his quivering lip. Toexamine the islands again was a forlorn hope because already it seemedcertain that nothing alive moved on any of them. The brig passed themcloser than before as she made a long reach before turning out to sea.It was the intention to sail in to engage Blackbeard very early the nextmorning and meanwhile he would be vigilantly blockaded.

  Even Jack Cockrell, hopeful to the last, was compelled to agree with thecrew of the brig that not a solitary man could be seen on these sea-girtcays and it seemed useless to send off a boat to explore them one byone. There would have been some stir or signal, even if men were tooweak to stand. The air was clear and from the brig's masts it waspossible to sweep every foot of sandy surface. Here was another mysteryof the sea. It occurred to Stede Bonnet to ask:

  "You took it for granted they were marooned, Jack, when the boats passedfrom your sight and you were hidden in the tree in the swamp. What if aquicker death were dealt 'em?"

  "That may be, sir."

  The brig was leaving the coast astern. Jack moped by himself until hiscuriosity was drawn to a group of seamen upon the forecastle head whowere talking loudly and pointing at something in the water, well aheadof the ship. One vowed it was a big sea-turtle asleep, another waswilling to wager his silver-mounted pistols that it was a rum barrel,while a third announced that he'd stake his head on its being a mermaidor her husband. The after-deck brought a spy-glass to bear and perceivedthat the thing was splashing about. The tiller was shifted to bring itclose aboard and soon Captain Bonnet exclaimed that it was, indeed, amerman a-cruising with a cask!

  Jack Cockrell scampered to the heel of the bowsprit to investigate thisocean prodigy. And as the cask drifted nearer he saw that Joe Hawkridgewas clinging to it. There was no mistaking that dauntless grin and themop of carroty hair. A handy seaman tossed a bight of line over hisshoulders as he bobbed past the forefoot of the brig and he was yankedbodily over the bulwark like a strange species of fish. Flopping on deckhe waved a skinny arm in greeting and then Jack Cockrell rushed at him,lifted him bodily, and dragged him to the cabin.

  "What ho, comrade!" said the dripping merman. "Blast my eyes, but I wassick with worry for you. I left you in that swamp----"

  "And I thought you dead, Joe. For the love o' heaven, tell me how youfared and what----"

  Captain Bonnet interfered to say:

  "I treated you more courteously than this, Jack. Let us make himcomfortable."

  Accepting the rebuke, Jack bustled his amazing friend into a change ofclothes and saw that he was well fed. Little the worse for his waterypilgrimage, Joe Hawkridge explained at his leisure:

  "Ned Rackham took the others away in the snow, as I tell ye, Cap'nBonnet, and there was I in the doleful dumps. Prayers get answered andmiracles do happen, for next day there come a-floatin' to the beach acask full of grub and water. Good Peter Tobey, the carpenter's mate, hada hand in launchin' it, no doubt, but the Lord hisself steered theblessed cask. Well, while I set a-giving thanks and thinkin' one thingan' another, I figgered that when I'd ate all the grub and swigged thewater, I was no further along."

  "And so you thought you would trust the Lord again," suggested CaptainBonnet.

  "Aye, sir, that was it. By watchin' the tides I reckoned I might driftto another island and so work to the coast, taking my provisions withme. There was some small line in the cask that Peter Tobey had wrappedthe stores in, and I knotted a harness about the cask that I could slipan arm in, and off I goes when the tide sets right. But some kind of adratted cross-current ketched me and I'm sailin' out to sea, I finds,without compass or cross-staff. Bound to get to London River, eh, Jack,same as we started out on the silly little raft."

  "Whew, this adventure was bad enough," cried Jack, "but when you saw NedRackham's pirates in the boat, and you couldn't run away,--I wonder,honest, Joe, you didn't die of fright."

  "What for? This is no trade for a nervous wight. And now for a bloodyfrolic with Blackbeard's bullies."

  "There is a share of his treasure for you, Joe, as soon as we can gofind it," gleefully announced Master Cockrell. "I have the chart drawnall true with mine own hand. Let me get it."

  While the two lads pored entranced over the map of the branching creekand the pine-covered knoll, the crew of the _Royal James_ wereoverhauling weapons and clearing the ship for action. It disappointedthem to lack the twenty men whom they had expected to find marooned butthis made them no less eager for battle. Concerning Ned Rackham, therewas no feud with him or grudge to square and he could go his way in thelittle trading snow without fear of molestation from Stede Bonnet.

  Under cover of night the _Royal James_ worked back to the sandy islandsand anchored in the channel. One of her boats had ventured within sightof the Inlet for a stealthy reconnaissance and reported that the_Revenge_ was still in the harbor. Captain Bonnet was considering hisplan of attack. He said nothing about it to Jack Cockrell and his chum,the merman, and they greedily listened to the gossip of the pettyofficers or thrashed out theories of their own.

  To sail boldly into the harbor was a ticklish risk to run as there wasno pilot aboard who knew the inner channel and the depths of water. Allthe gunners were in favor of attempting it because they yearned tosettle it with crashing broadsides. But the battered, hairy sea-dogs whohad fought it out in hand-to-hand conflicts on the Caribbean were forleaving the brig in safe water and sending fifty men in boats to boardthe _Revenge_ at the first break of day.

  In the midst of the fo'castle argument, Captain Bonnet sent for JackCockrell and told him:

  "You are to keep out of harm's way, my young gamecock. I have undertakento deliver you to your esteemed uncle with arms and legs intact, andyour head on your shoulders."

  "But I am lusty enough to poke about with a pike or serve at a guntackle," protested the unhappy Master Cockrell.

  "I expect you to obey me," was the stern mandate. "You will havecompany. This Joe Hawkridge is to stay with you."

  "But he is a rare hand in a fight, Captain Bonnet. You should have seenhim in the _Plymouth Adventure_."

  "The boy is weak and all unstrung, though he carries it bravely, Jack.And Blackbeard's men would take special pains to kill him as adeserter."

  By this humane verdict the two lads were shielded from peril, as far asit lay within Stede Bonnet's power. They should have felt grateful tohim but on the contrary it made them quite peevish and they sulked bythemselves up in the bow of
the ship until it was time to eat again.Then their gnawing appetites persuaded them to forgive their consideratehost.

  The pirates moved about the deck until far into the night while thesparks flew from cutlass blades pressed to the whirling grindstone. Tubswere filled with hand-grenades and fire-pots, the deck strewn with sand,the magazine opened and powder passed up. Stede Bonnet was careful tosee for himself that all things were in order. At such times he was amartinet of a soldier.

  Anxiously he watched the weather signs, as did every seasoned sailor onboard. It bade fair to be a bright morning with an easterly air and thiswould carry the brig into the harbor with the minimum danger ofstranding if the lead were cast often enough. Joe Hawkridge and JackCockrell were of some assistance in explaining the marks and bearings ofthe channel, and Captain Bonnet consulted them over the chart unrolledupon the cabin table. He had made up his mind to sail the brig in andrisk the hazards of shoal water. When he went on deck, Jack thought of atopic as thrilling as this imminent duel between ships and he remarkedwith joyous excitement:

  "Now, Joe, as soon as ever Blackbeard gets his drubbing, we beg a boatand men and gear of Captain Bonnet and go up the creek to fish out thetreasure chest and dig in the knoll."

  "Hook your fish before you fry 'em," replied the sagaciousapprentice-boy. "This scrummage with the _Revenge_ will be no dancin'heel-and-toe. A bigger ship, more guns and men, and a Blackbeard whowill fight like a demon when he's cornered. Crazy though he may be, heis the most dangerous pirate afloat."