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diff --git a/25472.txt b/25472.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6849c5f --- /dev/null +++ b/25472.txt @@ -0,0 +1,8280 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Blackbeard: Buccaneer, by Ralph D. Paine + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Blackbeard: Buccaneer + +Author: Ralph D. Paine + +Illustrator: Frank E. Schoonover + +Release Date: May 14, 2008 [EBook #25472] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK BLACKBEARD: BUCCANEER *** + + + + +Produced by Robert Cicconetti, Emmy and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This +file was produced from images generously made available +by The Internet Archive/American Libraries.) + + + + + + + + + +[Illustration: THIS LEAN, STRAIGHT ROVER LOOKED THE PART OF A COMPETENT +SOLDIER] + + + + +BLACKBEARD BUCCANEER + +_By_ RALPH D. PAINE + +[Illustration] + + _Illustrated by + Frank E. Schoonover_ + + THE PENN PUBLISHING + COMPANY PHILADELPHIA + + + + + COPYRIGHT + 1922 BY + THE PENN + PUBLISHING + COMPANY + + Blackbeard: Buccaneer + + Made in the U. S. A. + + + + +Contents + + + + I. THAT COURTEOUS PIRATE, CAPTAIN BONNET 7 + + II. THE MERCHANT TRADER, _PLYMOUTH ADVENTURE_ 21 + + III. HELD AS HOSTAGES TO BLACKBEARD 43 + + IV. THE CAPTIVE SEAMEN IN THE FORECASTLE 62 + + V. RELEASING A FEARFUL WEAPON 79 + + VI. THE VOYAGE OF THE LITTLE RAFT 99 + + VII. THE MIST OF THE CHEROKEE SWAMP 114 + + VIII. THE EPISODE OF THE WINDING CREEK 132 + + IX. BLACKBEARD'S ERRAND IS INTERRUPTED 147 + + X. THE SEA URCHIN AND THE CARPENTER'S MATE 161 + + XI. JACK JOURNEYS AFOOT 177 + + XII. A PRIVATE ACCOUNT TO SETTLE 189 + + XIII. OUR HEROES SEEK SECLUSION 203 + + XIV. BLACKBEARD APPEARS IN FIRE AND BRIMSTONE 217 + + XV. MR. PETER FORBES MOURNS HIS NEPHEW 232 + + XVI. NED RACKHAM'S PLANS GO MUCH AMISS 248 + + XVII. THE GREAT FIGHT OF CAPTAIN TEACH 260 + + XVIII. THE OLD BUCCANEER IS LOYAL 274 + + XIX. THE QUEST FOR PIRATES' GOLD 288 + + + + +ILLUSTRATIONS + + + PAGE + + THIS LEAN, STRAIGHT ROVER LOOKED THE PART OF A COMPETENT + SOLDIER _Frontispiece_ + + THE BRAWN OF THESE LADS MADE THE PIKE A MATCH FOR A + PIRATE'S CUTLASS 83 + + THE FIRST MATE LEAPED UP WITH A HORRIBLE YELL 120 + + JACK ALMOST BUMPED INTO THE DUGOUT CANOE 129 + + THEY CAPERED AND HUGGED EACH OTHER 164 + + HE LOOMED LIKE THE BELIAL WHOM HE WAS SO FOND OF CLAIMING + AS HIS MENTOR 224 + +[Illustration] + + + + +Blackbeard: Buccaneer + + + + +CHAPTER I + +THAT COURTEOUS PIRATE, CAPTAIN BONNET + + +THE year of 1718 seems very dim and far away, but the tall lad who +sauntered down to the harbor of Charles Town, South Carolina, on a fine, +bright morning, was much like the youngsters of this generation. His +clothes were quite different, it is true, and he lived in a queer, rough +world, but he detested grammar and arithmetic and loved adventure, and +would have made a sturdy tackle for a modern high-school football team. +He wore a peaked straw hat of Indian weave, a linen shirt open at the +throat, short breeches with silver buckles at the knees, and a +flint-lock pistol hung from his leather belt. + +He passed by scattered houses and stores which were mere log huts +loopholed for defense, with shutters and doors of hewn plank heavy +enough to stop a musket ball. The unpaved lanes wandered between mud +holes in which pigs wallowed enjoyably. Negro slaves, half-naked and +bearing heavy burdens, jabbered the dialects of the African jungle from +which they had been kidnapped a few months before. Yemassee Indians clad +in tanned deer-skins bartered with the merchants and hid their hatred of +the English. Jovial, hard-riding gentlemen galloped in from the indigo +plantations and dismounted at the tavern to drink and gamble and fight +duels at the smallest excuse. + +Young Jack Cockrell paid scant heed to these accustomed sights but +walked as far as the wharf built of palmetto piling. The wide harbor and +the sea that flashed beyond the outer bar were ruffled by a piping +breeze out of the northeast. The only vessel at anchor was a heavily +sparred brig whose bulwarks were high enough to hide the rows of cannon +behind the closed ports. + +The lad gazed at the shapely brig with a lively curiosity, as if here +was something really interesting. Presently a boat splashed into the +water and was tied alongside the vessel while a dozen of the crew +tumbled in to sprawl upon the thwarts and shove the oars into the +thole-pins. An erect, graceful man in a red coat and a great beaver hat +roared a command from the stern-sheets and the pinnace pulled in the +direction of the wharf. + +"Pirates, to be sure!" said Jack Cockrell to himself, without a sign of +alarm. "'Tis Captain Stede Bonnet and his _Royal James_. I know the +ship. I saw her when she came in leaking last October and was careened +on the beach at Sullivan's Island. A rich voyage this time, for the brig +rides deep." + +The coast of South Carolina swarmed with pirates two hundred years ago, +and they cared not a rap for the law. Indeed, some of these rascals +lived on friendly terms with the people of the small settlements and +swaggered ashore to squander the broad gold pieces and merchandise +stolen from honest trading vessels. You must not blame the South +Carolina colonists too harshly because they sometimes welcomed the +visiting pirates instead of clapping them in jail. Charles Town was a +village at the edge of a wilderness filled with hostile Indians. By sea +it stood in fear of attack by the Spaniards of Florida and Havana. There +were almost no crops for food and among the population were many +runaways from England, loafers and vagabonds who hated the sight of +work. + +The pirates helped them fight their enemies and did a thriving trade in +goods that were sorely needed. Respectable citizens grumbled and one +high official was removed in disgrace because he encouraged the pirates +to make Charles Town their headquarters, but there was no general outcry +unless the sea-rovers happened to molest English ships outside the +harbor. + +It was Captain Stede Bonnet himself who steered the pinnace and cursed +his sweating sailors in a deep voice which went echoing across the bay. +He made a brave figure in his scarlet coat, with the brass guard of his +naked cutlass winking in the sun. His boat's crew had been mustered from +many climes and races, several strapping Englishmen, a wiry, spluttering +little Frenchman, a swarthy Portuguese with gold rings in his ears, a +brace of stolid Norwegians, and two or three coal black negroes from +Barbadoes. + +They were well armed, every weapon burnished clean of rust and ready for +instant use. Some wore tarnished, sea-stained finery looted from hapless +prizes, a brocaded waistcoat, a pair of tasseled jack-boots, a plumed +hat, a ruffled cape. The heads of several were bound around with knotted +kerchiefs on which dark stains showed,--marks of a brawl aboard the brig +or a fight with another ship. + +Soon a second boat moved away from the _Royal James_ and many people +drifted toward the wharf to see the pirates come ashore, but they left +plenty of room when the captain scrambled up the weedy ladder and told +his men to follow him. Charles Town felt little dread of Stede Bonnet +himself. He knew how to conduct himself as a gentleman and the story was +well known,--how he had been a major in the British army and a man of +wealth and refinement. He had left his home in Barbadoes to follow the +trade of piracy because he couldn't get along with his wife, so the +rumor ran. At any rate, he seemed oddly out of place among the dirty +rogues who sailed under the black flag. + +He looked more the soldier than the sailor as he strode along the wharf, +his lean, dark visage both grim and melancholy, his chin clean shaven, +his mustachios carefully cropped. There were respectful greetings from +the crowd of idlers and a gray-haired seaman all warped with rheumatism +spoke up louder than the rest. + +"Good morrow to ye, Cap'n Bonnet! I be old Sam Griscom that sailed bos'n +with you on a marchant voyage out of Liverpool. An' now you are a fine +gentleman of fortune, with moidores and pieces of eight to fling at the +gals, an' here I be, a sheer hulk on the beach." + +Captain Stede Bonnet halted, stared from beneath heavy brows, and a +smile made his seamed, sun-dried face almost gentle as he replied: + +"It cheers me to run athwart a true old shipmate. A slant of ill +fortune, eh, Sam Griscom? You are too old and crippled to sail in the +_Royal James_. Here, and a blessing with the gift." + +The pirate skipper rammed a hand in his pocket and flung a shower of +gold coins at the derelict seaman while the crowd cheered the generous +deed. It was easy to guess why Stede Bonnet was something of a hero in +Charles Town. He passed on and turned into the street. Most of his +ruffians were at his heels but one of the younger of them delayed to pay +his compliments to a pretty girl whose manner was sweet and shy and +gentle. She had remained aloof from the crowd, having some errand of her +own at the wharf, and evidently hoped to be unobserved. Jack Cockrell +had failed to notice her, absorbed as he was in gazing his fill of +Captain Stede Bonnet. + +The girl resented the young pirate's gallantry and would have fled, but +he nimbly blocked her path. Just then Jack Cockrell happened to glance +that way and his anger flamed hot. He was about to run after Captain +Bonnet and beg him to interfere but the maid's distress was too urgent. +Her blackguardly admirer was trying to slip his arm around her trim +waist while he laughingly demanded a kiss from those fair lips. She +evaded him and screamed for help. + +There were lusty townsmen among those who beheld the scene but they +sheepishly stood in their tracks and were afraid to punish the insolent +pirate with his dirk and pistols. He was much taller and heavier than +Jack Cockrell, the lad of seventeen, who came of gentlefolk and was +unused to brawls with weapons. But the youngster hesitated no more than +an instant, although his own pistol lacked a flint and was carried for +show. + +His quick eye spied a capstan bar which he snatched up as a cudgel. +Chivalry had taught him that a man should never reckon the odds when a +woman appealed for succor. With a headlong rush he crossed the wharf and +swung the hickory bar. The pirate dodged the blow and whipped out his +dirk which slithered through Jack's shirt and scratched his shoulder. +Undismayed, he aimed a smashing blow at the pirate's wrist and the dirk +went spinning into the water. + +The rascal tugged at a pistol in his belt but it was awkward work with +his left hand and he was bewildered by this amazing attack. Before he +could clear for action, Jack smote him on the pate and the battle ended +then and there, for the pirate staggered back, missed his footing, and +toppled overboard with a tremendous splash. + +Leaping to the edge of the wharf, Jack saw him bob to the surface and +strike out for shore. Then the doughty young champion ran to offer his +escort to the damsel in distress. But she had hastened to slip away from +this hateful notoriety and he saw her at the bend of the street where +she turned to wave him a grateful farewell. + +He would have hastened to overtake her but just then Captain Stede +Bonnet came striding back in a temper so black that it terrified his own +men. His wrath was not aimed at Jack Cockrell, for he laid a hand upon +the lad's arm and exclaimed: + +"A shrewd stroke, boy, and a mettlesome spirit! You struck him swift and +hard. 'Twould please me better if you had killed the dog." + +Stede Bonnet waited with folded arms until the culprit had emerged from +the water. Jack Cockrell had punished him severely and there was no more +fight in him. His head was reeling, the blood ran into his eyes, and he +had swallowed much salt water. Captain Bonnet crooked a finger at him +and he obeyed without a word. For a moment they stood face to face, the +wretched offender trembling, the captain scowling as he said: + +"And so you mistook a lady for a common serving wench, Will Brant? Would +ye have Charles Town rise and reeve the ropes about our necks? Is this +your promise of good behavior? Learn a lesson then, poor fool." + +With the steel-shod butt of a pistol Stede Bonnet hit him squarely +between the eyes. He dropped without a groan and lay stretched out as if +dead. The captain kicked him once and carelessly shouted: + +"Ho, men! Toss this squire o' dames into the pinnace to await our +return. And harkee, take warning." + +Jack Cockrell felt almost sorry for his fallen foeman but the other +pirates grinned and did as they were told. It was a trifling episode. +Resuming his stroll to the tavern, Captain Bonnet linked Jack's arm in +his and fairly towed him along while the assorted scoundrels trooped +behind them. It was shocking company for a lad of the most respectable +connections but he felt greatly flattered by the distinction. The name +of Stede Bonnet had spread terror from the Capes of the Chesapeake to +the blue waters of the Caribbean. + +"And so you were unafraid of this bullying Will Brant of mine," said the +captain, with one of his pleasant smiles. "You clipped his comb right +handsomely. And who may ye be, my brave young sprig?" + +"I am John Spencer Cockrell, may it please you, sir," was the answer. +"'Twas a small thing to do for a lady. Your pirate would have been too +much for me in a fair set-to." + +"Pirate? A poor word!" objected Captain Bonnet, his accents severe but +the bold eyes twinkling. "We are loyal servants of the King, sworn to do +mischief to his lawful enemies,--to wit, all ships and sailors of Spain. +For such a young gentleman adventurer as you, Master Cockrell, there is +a berth in the _Royal James_. Will ye rendezvous at the tavern and sign +your fist to the articles?" + +Jack stammered that his kinfolk would never consent, at which Captain +Bonnet forbore to coax him but kept a grip on his arm as though they +were chums who could not bear to be parted. Down the middle of the +street paraded this extraordinary company, the seamen breaking into a +song which ran: + + "In Bristowe I left Poll ashore, + Well stored wi' togs an' gold, + And off I go to sea for more, + A-piratin' so bold. + An' wounded in the arm I got, + An' then a pretty blow; + Comed home I find Poll's flowed away, + _Yo, ho, with the rum below!_" + +Charles Town might be glad to get the pirates' gold but it seemed a +timorous welcome, for the merchants peered from their doorways like +rabbits when the hounds are loose, and nervous old gentlemen took cover +in the near-by alleys. Stede Bonnet knew how to keep his men in hand and +allowed only part of the company ashore at once. They were like +hilarious children out for a lark, capering outside the tavern to the +music of a strolling fiddler or buying horses on the spot and trying to +ride them. When they were pitched off on their heads the mirth was +uproarious. + +In a field beside the tavern some townsmen were shooting at a mark for a +prize of a dressed bullock while a group of gentlemen from the +plantations were intent on a cock-fight in the tap-room. Here was rare +pastime for the frolicsome blades of the _Royal James_ and soon they +were banging away with their pistols or betting their gold-pieces on the +steel-gaffed birds, singing the louder as the bottle was passed. Captain +Stede Bonnet stayed prudently sober, ready for any emergency, his +demeanor cool and watchful while he chatted with old acquaintances. + +He talked often with Jack Cockrell to whom he had taken a strong fancy, +and pressed the lad to dine with him. Jack was uneasy at being seen so +publicly with a notorious pirate but the experience was delightful +beyond words. The captain asked him many questions, twisting his +mustachios and staring down from his commanding height with an air of +friendly interest. He had found a lad after his own heart. + +The seamen tired of their sport and sought new diversion. Some of them +kicked off their boots and clinched in wrestling matches for prodigal +stakes of gold and jewels. Others found girls to dance with them or +wandered off to buy useless trinkets in the shops. Jack Cockrell knew he +ought to be posting home to dinner but he was tempted to accept Stede +Bonnet's cordial bidding. Boyish friends of his hovered near and +regarded him as a hero. No pirate captain had ever deigned to notice +them. + +Alas for Jack and his puffed-up pride which was doomed to a sudden fall! +There advanced from a better quarter of the town a florid, foppishly +dressed gentleman of middle age who walked with a pompous gait. He was +stout-bodied and the heat of the day oppressed him. Mopping his face +with a lace handkerchief or fanning himself with his hat, he halted now +and then in a shady spot. Very mindful of his rank and dignity was Mr. +Peter Arbuthnot Forbes, sometime London barrister, at present Secretary +to the Council of the Province. + +He differed from some of his neighbors in that he abominated pirates and +would have given them short shift. A trifle near-sighted, he was quite +close to the tavern before he espied his own nephew and ward, Jack +Cockrell, in this shameful company of roisterers. The august uncle +blinked, opened his mouth, and turned as red as a lobster. Indignation +choked his speech. For his part, Jack stood dumfounded and quaking, the +picture of a coward with a guilty conscience. He would have tried to +steal from sight but it was too late. + +Captain Stede Bonnet enjoyed the tableau and several of his wicked +sailors were mimicking the pompous strut of Mr. Peter Arbuthnot Forbes. +Poor Jack mumbled some explanation but his irate uncle first paid his +respects to Captain Bonnet. + +"Shame to you, sirrah," he cried in a voice that shook with passion. "A +man of good birth, by all accounts, who has fallen so low as to lead +these vile gallows-birds! And you would entice this lad of mine to +follow your dirty trade?" + +Captain Bonnet doffed the great beaver hat and bowed low in mocking +courtesy. He perceived that this fussy lawyer was not wholly a popinjay, +for it required courage to insult a pirate to his face. The reply was +therefore milder than expected. + +"Mayhap I am painted blacker than the fact, Councilor. As for this fine +stripling who has so disgraced himself, the fault is mine. He risked his +life to save a maid from harm. The deed won my affection." + +"The maids of Charles Town would need to fear no harm if more pirates +were hanged, Captain Bonnet," roundly declared Mr. Forbes, shaking his +gold-tipped cane at the freebooter. + +"'Tis fortunate for me that you lack the power, my fat and petulant +gentleman," was the smiling response. + +"Laugh while you may," quoth the other. "These Provinces may soon +proclaim joint action against such pests as you." + +With a shrug, the Secretary turned to his crestfallen nephew and sharply +exclaimed: + +"Home with you, John Cockrell. You shall go dinnerless and be locked in +your room." + +The seamen guffawed at this and Jack furiously resented their ridicule. +He was on the point of rebellion as he hotly retorted: + +"I am no child to be treated thus, Uncle Peter. Didn't you hear Captain +Bonnet report that I had proved myself a man? I trounced one of his own +crew, a six-foot bully with a dirk and pistols." + +"A fig for that," rapped out Uncle Peter. "Your bully was drunk and +helpless, I have no doubt. Will you bandy words with me?" + +With this his plump fingers closed on Jack's elbow which he used as a +handle to lead him firmly and rapidly away. Behind them pranced a limber +young negro who showed every tooth in his head. Jack heard the derisive +laughter of the pirates who had hailed him as a hero. His cup of +bitterness overflowed when it occurred to him that Captain Bonnet would +despise a lad who could be led home in custody of a dandified tyrant of +an uncle. + + + + +CHAPTER II + +THE MERCHANT TRADER, _PLYMOUTH ADVENTURE_ + + +RUBBING his ear which Mr. Peter Arbuthnot Forbes had soundly boxed +before releasing him, Jack marched along in gloomy silence until he was +conducted into his small, unplastered room. His uncle stalked out and +shot the ponderous bolt behind him. Passing through the kitchen, he +halted to scold the black cook as a lazy slattern and then sat himself +down to a lonely meal. Jack was a problem which the finicky, middle-aged +bachelor had been unable to solve. He had undertaken the care of the boy +after his parents had died in the same week of a mysterious fever which +ravaged the settlement. The uncle failed to realize how fast this +strapping youngster was growing into manhood. He disliked punishing him +and was usually unhappy after one of these stormy episodes. + +Mr. Peter Forbes pecked at his dinner with little appetite and his plump +face was clouded. Shoving back his chair, he paced the floor in a +fidgety manner and, at length, opened the door of Jack's room. The +hungry prisoner was lounging upon a wooden settle, his chin in his hand, +while he sullenly stared at the wall. Always mindful of his manners, he +slowly rose to his feet and waited for another scolding. + +"I wish we might avoid such scenes as these, Jack," sadly observed Uncle +Peter, his hot temper cooled. "No sooner do you leave my sight than some +new mischief is afoot." + +"You do not understand, sir," impatiently protested the nephew. "In your +eyes I am still the urchin who came out from England clinging to his +dear mother's skirts. Would ye have me pass my time with girls or have +no other friends than snuffy old Parson Throckmorton, my tutor, who +tries to pound the Greek and Latin into my thick skull?" + +"He is a wise and ripened scholar who wastes his effort," was the dry +comment. "Most of the lads of the town are coarse louts who pattern +after their ribald elders, Jack. They will lead you into evil courses." + +"I shall always pray God to be a gentleman, sir," was the spirited +response, "but I must learn to fight my own battles. Were it not for +hardy pastimes with these other stout lads, think you I could have +cracked the crown of a six-foot pirate?" + +Uncle Peter gazed at the boy before he spoke. Tanned and hard and +muscular, this was a nephew to be proud of, a man in deeds if not in +years, and there was unswerving honesty in the straight mouth and firm +chin. The guardian sighed and then annoyance got the better of his +affection as he burst out: + +"Perdition take all pirates! You were cozened by this hell-rake of a +Stede Bonnet and thought it a rare pleasure! John Spencer Cockrell, own +nephew to the Secretary of the Colony!" + +"I did but copy older men of fair repute," demurely answered Jack, a +twinkle in his eye. "Graybeards of Parson Throckmorton's flock traffick +in merchandise with the pirates and are mighty civil to them, I note." + +"A vile business!" cried Uncle Peter. "It was decided at the recent +conference in Virginia that I should go to England as a delegate to lay +before His Majesty's Government such evidence as might invoke aid in our +campaign against the pirates. It was my intention to leave you in care +of Parson Throckmorton, Jack, but I have now resolved to take you with +me. And you will remain at school in England. No more of this boon +comradeship with villains like Stede Bonnet." + +Poor Jack looked most unhappy at the tidings. It was not at all in +accord with his ambitions. Here was worse punishment than he had dreamed +his uncle could inflict. Dolefully he exclaimed: + +"To live in tame and stupid England, locked up in a school? Why, I am +big enough to join the forays against the Indians, or to fight bloody +battles against the pirates if you really mean to chastise them. But I +cannot promise to attack Captain Bonnet. He is a friend of mine." + +"You shall come to see him hanged," shouted Mr. Peter Arbuthnot Forbes, +very red in the face. "The merchant ship _Plymouth Adventure_ is +expected soon, and you and I shall take passage in her for Merry +England, thanking heaven to see the last of the barbarous Carolinas for +a time." + +"Thank your own thanks, sir," grumbled Jack. "Captain Bonnet may be a +pirate but he is not nearly so heartless as my own uncle. He asked me to +dinner at the tavern. I am faint for lack of food. My stomach sticks to +my ribs. 'Tis a great pity you were never a growing boy yourself. For a +platter of cold meat and bread I will take my oath to chop you a pile of +firewood as high as the kitchen." + +The gaoler relented and bustled out to ransack the pantry. Having +demolished a joint and a loaf, young John Spencer Cockrell was in a mood +much less melancholy. In fact, when he swung the axe behind the fence of +hewn palings, he was humming the refrain of that wicked ditty: "_Yo, Ho, +with the Rum Below!_" He was tremendously sorry that he had been +snatched away from the engaging society of Captain Bonnet and his wild +crew, and the future had a gloomy aspect, but even these grievances were +forgotten when he descried, in a lane which led past the house, the +lovely maid whose cause he had championed at the wharf. + +She was Dorothy, only daughter of Colonel Malcolm Stuart who commanded +the militia forces of the Colony. Although she was the elder by two or +three years and gave herself the airs of a young lady, Jack Cockrell +hopelessly, secretly adored her. It was an anti-climax for a hero to be +serving out his sentence at the wood-pile and he turned his back to the +gate while he made the chips fly. But Dorothy had no intention of +ignoring him. She paused with a smile so winsome that Jack's heart +fluttered and he dropped the axe to grasp her outstretched hand. He +squeezed it so hard that Dorothy winced as she said: + +"What a masterful man it is, but please don't crush my poor fingers. I +fled from those pirates at the wharf, Jack, instead of waiting to offer +you my most humble thanks. Will you accept them now? They come straight +from the heart." + +For such a reward as this Jack would have fought a dozen pirates. Baring +his head, he murmured bashfully: + +"A trifling service, Mistress Dorothy, and 'tis my devout hope that I +may always be ready in time of need." + +"So?" she exclaimed, with mischief in her eyes. "I believe you would +slay a pirate each morning before breakfast, should I ask it." + +"Or any other small favors like that," gallantly returned Jack. + +"A proper courtier," cried Dorothy. "My father will thank you when he +returns from North Carolina. When I ventured to the wharf this morning +it was in hopes of sighting his armed sloop." + +The dwelling of Mr. Peter Arbuthnot Forbes was at some distance from the +tavern which was on the sloping ground that overlooked the harbor, among +the spreading live-oaks and magnolias. Borne on the breeze came the +sounds of Stede Bonnet's pirates at their revels, pistol shots, wild +choruses, drunken yells. Jack was not disturbed although Mistress +Dorothy moved closer and laid a hand on his arm. Presently the tumult +ceased, abruptly, and now Jack was perplexed. It might mean a sudden +recall to the ship. Something was in the wind. The youth and the maid +stood listening. Jack was about to scramble to the roof of the house in +order to gaze toward the harbor but Dorothy bade him stay with her. Her +fair cheek had paled and she shivered with a vague apprehension. + +This sudden stillness was uncanny, threatening. Soon, however, a trumpet +blew a long, shrill call to arms, and they heard one hoarse, jubilant +huzza after another. + +"Have Stede Bonnet's pirates mustered to sack the town?" implored +Dorothy. + +"I can speedily find out," replied her protector. + +"Oh, I pray you not to leave me," she tremulously besought him. + +"Captain Bonnet will wreak no harm on Charles Town," Jack assured her. +"I know him too well for that. You saw what he did to the base varlet +who annoyed you at the wharf,--felled him like an ox." + +"If only my father were here, to call out the troops and rout this +rabble of sea rogues, Jack dear," was her fluttering prayer. + +A little after this, the tumult increased and it was drawing nearer. It +was a martial clamor of men on the march, with the rattle of drums and a +loud fanfare of trumpets. Mr. Peter Arbuthnot Forbes came running out of +the house, all flustered and waving his hands, and ordered the two young +people indoors. The servants were closing the heavy wooden shutters and +sliding the bars across the doors. + +Jack slipped out into the lane and hailed a neighbor who dashed past. +The news was babbled in fragments and Jack scurried back to blurt to his +uncle: + +"An Indian raid,--the savages are within a dozen miles of Charles Town, +laying waste the plantations,--slaying the laborers. The militia is +called to arms but they lack a leader. Colonel Stuart is sorely missed. +Captain Bonnet called another boat-load of his pirates ashore, and they +march in the van to assail the Indians. May I go with them, Uncle Peter? +Must I play the coward and the laggard?" + +"Nonsense, John Cockrell. These mad pirates have addled your wits. Shall +I let you be scalped by these painted fiends of Yemassees?" + +"Then you will volunteer in my stead," shrewdly ventured Jack, with a +glance at Dorothy. + +"Um-m. Duty and my official cares prevent," quoth the worshipful +Secretary of the Colony, frowning and pursing his lips. Dorothy smiled +at this and winked at Jack. Uncle Peter was rated a better lawyer than a +valiant man of war. + +"Let us stand at a window," exclaimed the girl. "Ah, they come! My +faith, but this is a brave array. And Captain Bonnet leads them well." + +She had never expected to praise a pirate but there was no denying that +this lean, straight rover in the scarlet coat and great cocked hat +looked the part of a competent and intrepid soldier. He was superbly fit +for the task in hand. Catching sight of Jack Cockrell and Dorothy Stuart +in the window, he saluted by raising the hilt of his cutlass and his +melancholy visage brightened in a smile. + +Behind him tramped his men in column of fours, matchlocks across their +shoulders, bright weapons swinging against their thighs as they sang all +together and kept step to the beat of the drums. + + "But ere to Execution Bay, + The wind these bones do blow, + I'll drink an' fight what's left away, + _Yo, ho, with the rum below_." + +Behind these hardy volunteers straggled as many of the militia company +as had been able to answer the sudden call, merchants, clerks, artisans, +and vagabonds who seemed none too eager to meet the bloodthirsty +Yemassees. Their wives and children trailed after them to the edge of +the town, amidst tears and loud lamentations. The contrast did not +escape the eye of Mr. Peter Arbuthnot Forbes who reluctantly admitted: + +"Give the devil his due, say I. These wicked brethren of the coast go +swaggering off of their own free will, as though it were to a frolic. I +will remember it in their favor when they come to hang." + +A long roll of the drums and a lilting flourish by the pirate trumpeter +as a farewell to Charles Town and its tavern and its girls, and the +company passed from view. The lane was again deserted and silent and +Jack offered to escort Dorothy Stuart to her own home. As they loitered +across an open field, he cried in a fierce flare of rebellion: + +"My good uncle will drive me too far. Let him sail for old England and +leave me to find my own career. Upon my soul, I may run away to join a +pirate ship." + +Dorothy tried to look grave at this dreadful announcement but a dimple +showed in her cheek as she replied: + +"My dear Jack, you can never be braver but you will be wiser some day. +Banish such silly thoughts. You must obey your lawful guardian." + +"But did you see the lads in the militia company? Two or three of them I +have whipped in fair fight. And Uncle Peter wants to keep me tucked in a +cradle." + +"Softly, Jack," said she, with pretty solicitude. "Stede Bonnet has +bewitched you utterly." + +The stubborn youth shook his head. This day of humiliation had been the +last straw. He was ripe for desperate adventure. It would have made him +happy and contented to be marching against the Indians with Stede Bonnet +and his cut-throats, in peril of tomahawks and ambuscades. + +Small wonder that poor Jack Cockrell's notions of right and wrong were +rather confused, for he lived in an age when might ruled blue water, +when every ship was armed and merchant seamen fought to save their skins +as well as their cargoes. English, French, Spanish, and Dutch, they +plundered each other on the flimsiest pretexts and the pirates harried +them all. + +Still sulky, Jack betook himself to the rectory next morning for his +daily bout with his studies. Parson Throckmorton was puttering in the +garden, a shrunken little man who wore black small-clothes, lace at his +wrists, and a powdered wig. Opening the silver snuff-box he almost +sneezed the wig off before he chirruped: + +"Ye mind me of Will Shakespeare's whining schoolboy, Master +John,--creeping like snail unwillingly to school. A treat is in store +for us to-day, a signal treat! We begin our Virgil. '_Arma virumque +cano._'" + +"Arms and a man? I like that much of it," glowered the mutinous scholar, +"but my uncle makes me sing a different tune." + +"He accepted my advice,--that you be educated in England," said the +parson. + +"Then I may hold you responsible for this hellish thing?" angrily +declaimed Jack. "Were it not for your white hairs----" + +He subsided and had the grace to apologize as they entered the library. +The tutor was an impatient old gentleman and the pupil was so +inattentive that his knuckles were sharply rapped with a ruler. A +blunder more glaring and the ruler came down with another whack. This +was too much for Jack who jumped up, rubbed his knuckles, and shouted: + +"Enough, sir. I would have you know that I all but killed a big, ugly +pirate yesterday." + +"So rumor informs me," rasped Parson Throckmorton, "but you will give +yourself no grand airs with me. Construe this passage properly or I must +tan those leather breeches with a limber rod." + +This was too much for the insulted Jack who slammed down the book, +clapped on his hat, and tramped from the room in high dudgeon. Such +scurvy treatment as this was fairly urging him to a life of crime on the +rolling ocean. He wandered down to the wharf and wistfully gazed at the +lawless brig, _Royal James_, which swam at her anchorage in trim and +graceful beauty. A few men moved briskly on deck, painting the bulwarks +or polishing brass. Evidently Stede Bonnet had sent off word to be all +taut and ready to hoist sail for another cruise. + +After a while the truant went homeward and manfully confessed to the +quarrel with Parson Throckmorton. Uncle Peter Forbes was amazingly mild. +There was no gusty outbreak of temper and, in fact, he had little to +say. It was in his mind to patch up a truce with his troublesome nephew +pending their departure for England. He even suggested that the studies +be dropped and advised Jack to go fishing in his canoe. + +Several days later, Captain Bonnet and his pirates came back from their +foray against the Indians. They were a foot-sore, weary band, the +wounded carried in litters and several men missing. Their gay garments +were caked with mud, the finery all tatters, and most of them were +marked with cuts and scratches, but they pulled themselves together and +swaggered into Charles Town as boldly as ever to the music of trumpet +and drum. Stede Bonnet carried an arm in a sling. As he passed the +Secretary's house he cheerily called out to Jack: + +"Ahoy, my young comrade! 'Twill please you to know that fair Mistress +Dorothy Stuart may sleep in peace." + +"Did you scatter the savages, sir?" asked Jack, running out to shake his +hand. + +"God bless ye, boy, we exterminated 'em." + +The gratitude of Mr. Peter Arbuthnot Forbes was stronger than his +dislike and he came out to thank the captain in behalf of the citizens +of Charles Town. To his excited questions the pirate replied: + +"There be old buccaneers from Hispaniola in my crew, may it please Your +Excellency,--fellows who hunted the Indians in their youth,--tracked 'em +like hounds through forest and bayou. Others served their time with the +log-wood cutters of Yucatan. They laughed at the tricks of these +Yemassees of the Carolinas." + +One of the militia company broke in to say to Mr. Forbes: + +"Your Honor's own plantation was saved from the torch by this doughty +Captain Bonnet. It was there he pulled the flint arrow-head from his arm +and was near bleeding to death." + +Mr. Peter Forbes could do no less than invite the pirate into the house, +for the wounded arm had been rudely bandaged and was in sore need of +dressing. Jack fetched a tray of cakes and wine while his uncle bawled +at the servants who came running with soft cloths and hot water and +healing lotions. Captain Bonnet protested that the hurt was trifling and +carelessly explained: + +"My own ship's surgeon was spitted on a boarding-pike in our last action +at sea and I have not found me another one. You show much skill and +tenderness, sir." + +"The wound is deep and ragged. Hold still," commanded Mr. Peter Forbes. +"You have been a soldier, Captain Bonnet, commended for valor on the +fields of Europe and holding the king's commission. Why not seek pardon +and serve with the armed forces of this province? My services in the +matter are yours to command." + +Stede Bonnet frowned and bit his lip. All he said was: + +"You meddle with matters that concern you not, my good sir. I am a man +able to make my own free choice." + +"Captain Bonnet does honor to the trade of piracy," cried the admiring +Jack, at which his uncle declared, with a wrathful gesture: + +"I must remove this daft lad to England to be rid of you, Stede Bonnet. +You have cast a wicked spell over him." + +"To England?" said the pirate, with a sympathetic glance at the boy. "I +would sooner lie in gaol." + +"And reap your deserts," snapped Uncle Peter. + +"No doubt of that," frankly agreed the pirate. "And what thinks the lad +of this sad penance?" + +"I hate it," was Jack's swift answer. "Will you grant our merchant ship +safe conduct, Captain Bonnet?" + +"What ship, boy? You have only to name her. She will go scathless, as +far as in my power." + +"The _Plymouth Adventure_," replied Jack. "It would ruin my uncle's +temper beyond all mending to be taken by pirates." + +"I pledge you my word," swore Stede Bonnet. "Moreover, if trouble +befall you by sea or land, Master Cockrell, I pray you send me tidings +and you will have a friend in need." + +That night those who dwelt near the harbor heard the clank of a windlass +as the crew of the _Royal James_ hove the cable short, and the +melodious, deep-throated refrain of a farewell chantey floated across +the quiet water. With the flood of the tide and a landward breeze, the +brig stole out across the bar while the topsails were sheeted home. When +daylight dawned, she had vanished in the empty reaches of the Atlantic. + +The brig sailed without Jack Cockrell. His shrewd uncle saw to that. It +was not by accident that a constable of the town watch loitered in the +lane by the Secretary's house. And Uncle Peter himself was careful not +to let the lad out of his sight until the beguiling Stede Bonnet had +left his haunts in Charles Town. Life resumed its routine next day but +the boy's whole current of thought had been changed. He was restless, +craving some fresh excitement and hoping that more pirates might come +roaring to the tavern green. + +He found welcome diversion when the _Plymouth Adventure_, merchant +trader, arrived from London after a famous passage of thirty-two days to +the westward. Her master's orders were to make quick dispatch and return +with freight and passengers direct from Charles Town. Jack was given no +more leisure to brood over his own misfortunes. There were many errands +to be done for Mr. Peter Forbes, besides the chests and boxes to be +packed and stoutly corded. As was the custom, they had to supply their +own furniture for the cabin in the ship and Jack Cockrell enjoyed the +frequent trips aboard. + +He found much to interest him in the sedate, bearded Captain Jonathan +Wellsby of the _Plymouth Adventure_, in the crew of hearty British tars +who feared neither man nor devil, in the battery of nine-pounders, the +stands of boarding-pikes, and the triced hammock nettings to protect the +vessel against hand-to-hand encounters with pirates. The voyage might be +worth while, after all. There were to be a dozen of passengers, several +ladies among them. The most distinguished was Mr. Peter Arbuthnot +Forbes, Secretary of the Provincial Council, who was accorded the +greatest respect and given the largest cabin. + +It was an important event when the _Plymouth Adventure_ hoisted all her +bunting on sailing day and Charles Town flocked to the harbor with +wistful envy of the lucky people who were bound home to old England. +There were sad faces among those left behind to endure the perils, +hardships and loneliness of pioneers. Jack Cockrell's heart beat high +when he saw sweet Dorothy Stuart in the throng. He tarried ashore with +her until the boatswain's pipe trilled from the _Plymouth Adventure_ to +summon the passengers on board. Colonel Stuart, blonde and bronzed and +stalwart, escorted his winsome daughter and he praised Jack for his +deed of courage, telling him: + +"There will soon be fewer pirates for you to trounce, I hope, my lad." + +"The town will be a stupid place without a visit from the jolly rovers +now and then," honestly replied Jack, at which Colonel Stuart laughed +and his daughter suggested: + +"With my brave knight in distant England, deliver me from any more +pirates." + +Jack blushed and was both happy and sad when the dear maid took a flower +from her bodice and gave it to him as a token of remembrance. He +solemnly tucked it away in a pocket, stammered his farewells, and went +to join his uncle who waited in the yawl at the wharf. Once on board the +_Plymouth Adventure_, they were swept into a bustle and confusion. +Captain Jonathan Wellsby was in haste to catch a fair wind and make his +offing before nightfall. His sailors ran to and fro, jumping at the +word, active and cheery. Stately and slow, the high-pooped merchant +trader filled away on the larboard tack and pointed her lofty bowsprit +seaward. + +The watches were set, ropes coiled down, and the tackles of the cannon +overhauled. The skipper paced the after-deck, a long telescope under his +arm, while the passengers lined the rail and gazed at the rude +settlement that was slowly dropping below the horizon. The sea was +tranquil and the breeze steady. The ship was clothed in canvas which +bellied to drive her eastward with a frothing wake. Safely she left the +outer bar astern and wallowed in the ocean swell. + +The afternoon sun was sinking when a sail gleamed like a bit of cloud +against the southerly sky. Captain Wellsby held to his course and showed +no uneasiness. Soon another sail became visible and then a third, these +two smaller than the first. They might be honest merchantmen steering in +company, but the skipper consulted with his mates and the spy-glass +passed from hand to hand. The passengers were at supper in the cuddy and +their talk and laughter came through the open skylights. + +Presently the boatswain piped the crew to quarters and the men moved +quietly to their battle stations, opening the gun-ports and casting +loose the lashings. The boys fetched paper cartridges of powder in +buckets from the magazine and the gunners lighted the matches of tow. +Cutlasses were buckled on and the pikes were scattered along the +bulwarks ready to be snatched up. + +It was impossible to escape these three strange vessels by beating back +to Charles Town, for the _Plymouth Adventure_ made lubberly work of it +when thrashing to windward. She was a swift ship, however, before a fair +wind, and Captain Wellsby resolved to run for it, hoping to edge away +from danger if his suspicions should be confirmed. + +Before sunset the largest of the strange sail shifted her course as +though to set out in chase and overhaul the deep-laden merchant trader. +Captain Wellsby stood near the tiller, his hands clasped behind him, a +solid, dependable figure of a British mariner. The passengers were +crowding around him in distressful agitation but he calmly assured them +a stern chase was a long chase and he expected to slip away under cover +of night. So far as he was aware, no pirates, excepting Stede Bonnet, +had been recently reported in these waters. + +Here Mr. Peter Forbes broke in to say that the _Plymouth Adventure_ had +naught to fear from Captain Bonnet who had pledged his word to let her +sail unmolested. Other passengers scoffed at the absurd notion of +trusting a pirate's oath, but the pompous Secretary of the Council could +not be cried down. He was a canny critic of human nature and he knew an +honorable pirate when he met him. + +It was odd, but in a pinch like this the dapper, finicky Councilor Peter +Arbuthnot Forbes displayed an unshaken courage as became a gentleman of +his position, while young Jack Cockrell had suddenly changed his opinion +of the fascinating trade of piracy. He had not the slightest desire to +investigate it at any closer range. His knees were inclined to wobble +and his stomach felt qualms. His uncle twitted him as a braggart ashore +who sang a different tune afloat. The lad's grin was feeble as he +retorted that he took his pirates one at a time. + +The largest vessel of the pursuit came up at a tremendous pace, reeling +beneath an extraordinary spread of canvas, her spray-swept hull +disclosing an armament of thirty guns, the decks swarming with men. She +was no merchant ship, this was already clear, but there was still the +hope that she might be a man-of-war or a privateer. Captain Wellsby +looked in vain for her colors. At length he saw a flag whip from the +spanker gaff. He laid down the glass with a profound sigh. + +The flag was black with a sinister device, a white blotch whose outline +suggested a human skull. + +Captain Wellsby gazed again and carefully examined the two sloops which +were acting in concert with the thirty-gun ship. It was a squadron, and +the brave _Plymouth Adventure_ was hopelessly outmatched. To fight meant +a slaughter with never a chance of survival. + +The passengers had made no great clamor until the menacing ship drew +close enough for them to descry the dreadful pennant which showed as a +sable blot against the evening sky. Two women fainted and others were +seized with violent hysteria. Their shrill screams were so distressing +that the skipper ordered them to be lugged below and shut in their +cabins. Mr. Peter Forbes had plumped himself down upon a coil of hawser, +as if utterly disgusted, but he implored the captain to blaze away at +the besotted scoundrels as long as two planks held together. The +Honorable Secretary of the Council had been too outspoken in his +opinions of pirates to expect kindness at their hands. + +The sailors also expected no quarter but they sullenly crouched at the +gun-carriages, gripping the handspikes and blowing the matches while +they waited for the word. The pirate ship was now reaching to windward +of the _Plymouth Adventure_, heeling over until her decks were in full +view. Upon the poop stood a man of the most singular appearance. He was +squat and burly and immensely broad across the shoulders. What made him +grotesque was a growth of beard which swept almost to his waist and +covered his face like a hairy curtain. In it were tied bright streamers +of crimson ribbon. Evidently this fantastic monster was proud of his +whiskers and liked to adorn them. + +The laced hat with a feather in it, the skirted coat of buff and blue +which flapped around his bow-legs, and the rows of gold buttons across +his chest were in slovenly imitation of a naval uniform. But there was +nothing like naval discipline on those crowded decks where half the crew +appeared to be drunk and the rest of them cursing each other. + +Captain Jonathan Wellsby smothered a groan and his stern mouth twitched +as he said to his chief mate: + +"God's mercy on us! 'Tis none other than the bloody Edward Teach,--that +calls himself Blackbeard! My information was that he still cruised off +the Spanish Main and refitted his ships in the Bay of Honduras." + +"The madman of the sea," said the stolid mate. "A bad day for us when he +sailed to the north'ard. He kills for the pleasure of it. Now Stede +Bonnet loots such stuff as takes his fancy and----" + +"He loves to fight a king's ship for the sport of it," broke in the +skipper, "but this murderer---- An unlucky voyage for the old _Plymouth +Adventure_ and all hands, Mate." + +One of the women who had been suffered to remain on deck was close +enough to overhear the direful news. Her hands to heaven, she wailed: + +"Blackbeard! Oh, my soul, we are as good as dead, or worse. Fight and +sink him, dear captain. What shall I do? What shall I do? If I had only +minded the dream I had the night before we sailed----" + +Jack Cockrell sat down beside his uncle, a limp and sorry youth for one +who had offered to slay a six-foot pirate before breakfast to please a +pretty maid. With a sickly grin he murmured: + +"This cockerel crowed too loud, Uncle Peter. Methinks I share your +distaste for piracy." + + + + +CHAPTER III + +HELD AS HOSTAGES TO BLACKBEARD + + +TO discover the pestilent Blackbeard in Carolina waters was like a +thunderbolt from a clear sky. Captain Wellsby had felt confident that he +could beat off the ordinary pirate craft which was apt to be smaller +than his own stout ship. And most of these unsavory gentry were mere +salt-water burglars who had little taste for hard fighting. The master +of the _Plymouth Adventure_, so pious and sedate, was a brave man to +whom the thought of surrender was intolerable. From what he knew of +Blackbeard, it was useless to try to parley for the lives of his +passengers. Better it was to answer with double-shotted guns than to beg +for mercy. + +The British tars, stripped to the waist, turned anxious eyes to the +skipper upon the quarter-deck while they quaffed pannikins of rum and +water and cracked many a rough jest. They fancied death no more than +other men, but seafaring was a perilous trade and they were toughened to +its hazards. They were facing hopeless odds but let the master shout the +command and they would send the souls of some of these pirates sizzling +down to hell before the _Plymouth Adventure_ sank, a splintered hulk, in +the smoke of her own gunpowder. + +Captain Wellsby delayed his decision a moment longer. Something most +unusual had attracted his attention. A ball of smoke puffed from a port +of Blackbeard's ship, but the round shot splashed beyond the bowsprit of +the _Plymouth Adventure_ instead of thudding into her oaken side. This +was a signal to heave to. It was a courtesy both unexpected and +perplexing, because Blackbeard's habit was to let fly with all the guns +that could bear as the summons to submit. Presently a dingy bit of cloth +fluttered just beneath the black flag. It looked like the remains of a +pirate's shirt which had once been white. + +"A signal for a truce?" muttered Captain Wellsby. "A ruse, mayhap, but +the rogue has no need to resort to trickery." + +The two sloops of Blackbeard's squadron, spreading tall, square +topsails, came driving down to windward in readiness to fire their +bow-chasers and form in line of battle. The passengers of the _Plymouth +Adventure_, snatching at the chance of safety, implored the skipper to +send his men away from the guns lest a rash shot might be their ruin. +They prayed him to respect the precious flag of truce and to ascertain +the meaning of it. Mystified and wavering in his purpose, he told the +mates to back the main-yard and heave the ship to. + +Upon his own deck Blackbeard was stamping to and fro, bellowing at his +crew while he flourished a broadsword by way of emphasis. The hapless +company of the _Plymouth Adventure_ shivered at the very sight of him +and yet there was something almost ludicrous in the antics of this +atrocious pirate, as though he were play-acting upon the stage of a +theatre. He had tucked up the tails of his military coat because the +wind whipped them about his bandy legs and made him stumble. The flowing +whiskers also proved bothersome, wherefore he looped them back over his +ears by means of the bows of crimson ribbon. This seemed to be his +personal fashion of clearing for action. + +"There be pirates and pirates," critically observed Mr. Peter Forbes as +he stared at the unpleasant Blackbeard. "This is a filthy beast, Jack, +and he was badly brought up. He has no manners whatever." + +"Parson Throckmorton would take him for the devil himself," gloomily +answered the lad. + +And now they saw Blackbeard raise a speaking-trumpet to his lips and +heard the hoarse voice come down the wind with this message: + +"The ship ahoy! Steady as ye be, blast your eyes, or I'll lay aboard and +butcher all hands." + +He turned and yelled commands to the two sloops which now rolled within +pistol-shot. In helter-skelter style but with great speed, one boat +after another was lowered away and filled with armed pirates. They rowed +toward the _Plymouth Adventure_ and there were enough of them to carry +her by boarding. In addition to this, she was directly under the guns of +Blackbeard's powerful ship. One valorous young gentleman passenger +whipped out a rapier and swore to perish with his face to the foe, but +Captain Wellsby kicked him into the cabin and fastened the scuttle. This +was no time for dramatics. + +"It looks that the old ruffian comes on a peaceful errand," said the +skipper, by way of comfort. But the hysterical ladies below decks +redoubled their screams and one substantial merchant of Charles Town +scrambled down to hide himself among them. Mr. Peter Arbuthnot Forbes +folded his arms and there was no sign of weakness in his pink +countenance. His dignity still sustained him. + +As agile as monkeys, the mob of pirates poured over the bulwark, +slashing through the hammock nettings, and swept forward in a compact +mass, driving Captain Wellsby's seamen before them and penning them in +the forecastle. Having cleared the waist of the ship, they loitered +there until a few of them discovered the galley and pantry. They swept +the shelves and lockers bare of food like a pack of famished wolves. +Jack Cockrell looked at them from the poop and perceived that they were +a gaunt, ragged lot. The skins of some were yellow like parchment, and +fits of trembling overtook them. Something more than dissipation ailed +them. + +With a body-guard of the sturdiest men, Blackbeard clambered up the +poop ladder and, with wicked oaths, told the skipper to stand forth. +Clean and trig and carefully dressed, Captain Jonathan Wellsby +confronted these savage, unwashed pirates and calmly demanded to know +their errand. It was plain to read that Blackbeard thought himself an +imposing figure. With a smirk and a grimace he bowed clumsily to a woman +on deck who had refused to desert her husband. He growled like a bear at +Captain Wellsby and prodded the poor man with his cutlass as he +thundered: + +"You tried my patience, shipmaster, with your cracking on sail. A little +more and I'd ha' slit your throat. Blood an' wounds, would ye dare to +vex Blackbeard?" + +Captain Wellsby faced him with unshaken composure and returned in a +strong voice: + +"I beg no favors for myself but these helpless people, women amongst +them, came on board with my assurance of safety. They have friends and +kinsmen in Charles Town who will ransom them in gold." + +Blackbeard's mien was a shade less ferocious as he cried: + +"Gold? Can it cool a fever or heal a festering sore? A score of my men +are down and the others are tottering ghosts. Medicines I must have. A +foul plague on those ports of the Spanish Main which laid my fine lads +by the heels." + +Jack Cockrell, who had retreated to the taffrail, decided that this +unkempt pirate was not so absurd as he appeared. There was the strength +of a giant in those hulking shoulders and in the long arms which bulged +the coat-sleeves, and the man moved with a quickness which made that +clumsy air deceptive. The beard masked his features but the eye was keen +and roving, and he had a trick of baring his teeth in a nasty snarl. He +uttered no more threats, however, and seemed to be anxiously awaiting +the reply of Captain Wellsby, who said: + +"The few medicines and simples in my chest will not suffice your need. +Your ships are rotten with the Spanish fever." + +"A ransom, shipmaster?" exclaimed the pirate. "'Twas in my mind when I +flew a white flag for parley. I will hold some of your fine passengers +as hostages while the others go in to rake Charles Town for medicines to +fetch back to my fleet." + +"You will send my ship in?" asked the skipper. + +"No! This _Plymouth Adventure_ is my good prize and I will overhaul the +cargo and sink her at my leisure. My ship will tack in to Charles Town +bar. Then let the messengers go in the long-boat to find the store of +medicines. Harkee, shipmaster,--two days, no longer, for their return! +Failing this, the hostages feed the fishes. Such sport 'ud liven the +hearts of my doleful seamen." + +It was a shameful bargain, thus to submit to a pirate's whim, but the +wretched ship's company hailed it as a glad surprise. They had stood in +the shadow of death and this was a respite and a chance of salvation. +Captain Wellsby was heart-sick with humiliation but it was not for him +to take into his hands the fate of all these others. Sadly he nodded +assent. Jack Cockrell nudged his uncle and whispered: + +"Why doesn't he sail in with his three ships and take what he likes? The +town lies helpless against such a force as this." + +"Ssh-h, be silent," was the warning. "He is a wary bird of prey and he +fears a trap. He dare not attack the port, since he lacks knowledge of +its defenses." + +Jack's cheek was rosy again and his knees had ceased to tremble. There +was no immediate prospect of walking the plank. To be captured by +Blackbeard was a finer adventure than strutting arm-in-arm with Captain +Stede Bonnet. It was mournful, indeed, that Captain Wellsby should have +to lose his ship but 'tis an ill wind that blows nobody good and the +voyage to England, which Jack had loathed from the bottom of his heart, +was indefinitely postponed. Such an experience as this was apt to +discourage Uncle Peter Forbes from trying it again. + +There were sundry chicken-hearted passengers anxious to curry favor with +Blackbeard, who gabbled when they should have held their tongues, and in +this manner he learned that he had bagged the honorable Secretary of the +Provincial Council. The bewhiskered pirate slapped his thighs and roared +with glee. + +"Damme, but he looks it! Alack that my sorry need of medicines compels +me to give quarter! Would I might swing this fat Secretary from a +topsail yard! And a rogue of a lawyer to boot! He tempts me----" + +"I demand the courtesy due a hostage," exclaimed Mr. Peter Forbes. + +"Ho, ho, you shall be my lackey,--the chief messenger," laughed +Blackbeard, showing his yellow teeth. "Hat in hand, begging medicines +for me." + +The honorable Secretary was near apoplexy. He could only sputter and +cough. He was to be sent as an errand boy to the people of Charles Town, +at the brutal behest of this unspeakable knave, but refusal meant death +and there were his fellow captives to consider. He thought of his nephew +and was about to plead that Jack be sent along with him when Blackbeard +demanded: + +"What of the boy? He takes my eye. No pursy swine of a lawyer could sire +a lad of his brawn and inches." + +"I am Master Cockrell," Jack answered for himself, "and I would have you +more courteous to my worthy uncle." + +It was a speech so bold that the scourge of the Spanish Main tugged at +his whiskers with an air of comical perplexity. The headstrong Jack was +keen enough to note that he had made an impression and he rashly added: + +"'Tis not long since I knocked a pirate on the head for incivility." + +Mr. Peter Forbes gazed aghast, with slackened jaw, expecting to see his +mad nephew cut down by the sweep of a broadsword, but Blackbeard merely +grinned and slapped the lad half-way across the deck with a buffet of +his open hand. Dizzily Jack picked himself up and was furiously scolded +by his uncle. Their lives hung by a hair and this was no time to play +the fool. For once, however, Jack was the wiser of the two. In an +amiable humor Blackbeard exclaimed: + +"And so this strapping young jackanapes knocks pirates on the head! +There be lazy dogs among my men that well deserve it. You shall stay +aboard, Master Cockrell, whilst the juicy lubber of a lawyer voyages +into Charles Town. He may sweat an' strive the more if I hold you as his +security. Zounds, I'll make a gentleman rover of ye, Jack, for I like +your mettle." + +It was futile for the unhappy uncle to argue the matter. He could only +obey the tyrant's pleasure and hope for a speedy return and the release +of the terrified passengers. The _Plymouth Adventure_ was ordered to +haul her course to the westward and jog under easy sail toward the +Charles Town bar. Blackbeard was rowed off to his own ship, the +_Revenge_, leaving his sailing-master and a prize crew. These amused +themselves by dragging the weeping women on deck and robbing them of +their jewels and money, but no worse violence was offered. Middle-aged +matrons and elderly spinsters, they were neither young nor fair enough +to be stolen as pirates' brides. + +The _Revenge_ and the two sloops hovered within sight of the _Plymouth +Adventure_ and their sails gleamed phantom-like in the darkness. There +was little sleep aboard the captured merchant trader. Some of the +pirates amused themselves with hauling chests and boxes out of the +cabins and spilling the contents about the deck in riotous disorder. One +sprightly outlaw arrayed himself in a silken petticoat and flowered +bodice and paraded as a languishing lady with false curls until the +others pelted him with broken bottles and tar buckets. By the flare of +torches they ransacked the ship for provisions, cordage, canvas, and +heaped them ready to be dumped into boats. + +Jack Cockrell looked on until he was too drowsy to stay awake and fell +asleep on deck, his head pillowed on his arm. Through the night the +watches were changed to the harsh summons of the pirate sailing-master +or his mate. Once Jack awoke when a seaman staggered into the moonlight +with blood running down his face. He was not likely to be caught napping +on watch again. + +At dawn the _Plymouth Adventure_ was astir and the _Revenge_ ran close +aboard to watch Mr. Peter Arbuthnot Forbes and two prosperous merchants +of Charles Town bundled into the long-boat. Blackbeard shouted bloody +threats through his trumpet, reminding them that he would allow no more +than two days' grace for their errand ashore. Uncle Peter was deeply +affected as he embraced his nephew and kissed him on the cheek. Jack's +eyes were wet and he faltered, with unsteady voice: + +"Forgive me, sir, for all the trouble I have made you. Never did I +expect a parting like this." + +"A barbarous coast, Jack, and a hard road to old England," smiled the +Secretary of the Council. "Have a stout heart. By God's grace I shall +soon deliver you from these sea vermin." + +The boy watched the long-boat hoist sail with a grizzled, scarred old +boatswain from the _Revenge_ at the tiller. It drove for the blue +fairway of the channel between the frothing shoals of the bar and made +brave headway for the harbor. Then the ships stood out to sea to go +clear of a lee shore and the captives of the _Plymouth Adventure_ +endured the harrowing suspense with such courage as they could muster. +Should any accident delay the return of the long-boat beyond two days, +even head winds or foul weather, or if there was lack of medicines in +the town, they were doomed to perish. + +Jack Cockrell endured it with less anguish than the other wretched +hostages. He had the sublime confidence of youth in its own destiny and +he had found a chum in a boyish pirate named Joseph Hawkridge who said +he had sailed out of London as an apprentice seaman in a ketch bound to +Jamaica. He had been taken out of his ship by Blackbeard, somewhere off +the Azores, and compelled to enlist or walk the plank. At first he was +made cook's scullion but because he was well-grown and active, the chief +gunner had taken him over as a powder boy. + +This Joe Hawkridge was a waif of the London slums, hard and wise beyond +his years, who had been starved and abused ever since he could remember. +He had fled from cruel taskmasters ashore to endure the slavery of the +sea and to be kidnapped into piracy was no worse than other things he +had suffered. A gangling lad, with a grin on his homely face, he had +certain instincts of manliness, of decent conduct, although he had known +only men whose souls were black with sin. Heaven knows where he learned +these cleaner aspirations. They were like the reflection of a star in a +muddy pool. + +It was easy for Jack Cockrell to win his confidence. Few of his +shipmates spoke kindly or showed pity for him. And their youth drew them +together. Jack's motive was largely curiosity as soon as he discovered +that here was one of Blackbeard's crew ready to confide in him. The two +lads chatted in sheltered corners of the deck, between watches, or met +more freely in the night hours. Jack shuddered at some of the tales that +were told him but he harkened breathless and asked for more. + +"Yes, this Blackbeard is the very wickedest pirate that ever sailed," +said Joe Hawkridge in the most matter-of-fact tones. "You have found him +merciful because he fears a mortal sickness will sweep through his +ships." + +"You have curdled my blood enough for now," admitted Jack. "Tell me +this. What do they say of Captain Stede Bonnet? He chances to be a +friend of mine." + +Joe Hawkridge ceased to grin. He was startled and impressed. Real +gentlemen like this young Cockrell always told the truth. Making certain +that they could not be overheard, Joe whispered: + +"What news of Stede Bonnet? You've seen him? When? Did he cruise to the +north'ard? Has he been seen off Charles Town?" + +"He came ashore not long ago, and invited me to dinner at the tavern +with him," bragged Jack. "And he coaxed me to sign in his ship." + +"Yes, you'd catch his eye, Cockrell, but listen! What ship had he, and +how many men? God strike me, but I'll not tattle it. I'm true as steel +to Stede Bonnet. If you love me, don't breathe it here." + +"There is no love lost betwixt him and Blackbeard?" excitedly queried +Jack. + +"Mortal foes they be, if you ask Stede Bonnet." + +Feeling sure he could trust this young Hawkridge, Jack informed him: + +"Stede Bonnet flies his pennant in a fine brig, the _Royal James_, with +seventy lusty rovers. But what about him, Joe? Why does he hate this +foul ogre of a Blackbeard? Did they ever sail together?" + +"'Twas in the Bay of Honduras. Captain Bonnet was a green hand at the +trade but zealous to win renown at piratin'. And so he made compact with +Blackbeard, to sail as partners. There was Stede Bonnet with a fine ship +and his own picked crew. By treachery Blackbeard stole the vessel from +him. Bonnet and his men were left to shift for 'emselves in a rotten old +hulk that was like to founder in a breeze o' wind." + +"But they stayed afloat and took them a good ship," proudly exclaimed +Jack, with a personal interest in the venture. + +"True, by what you say. D'ye see the _Revenge_ yonder, Blackbeard's tall +cruiser? The very ship he filched from Stede Bonnet by dirty stratagem +and broken oaths!" + +"Then the powder will burn when next they meet?" + +"As long as there's a shot in the locker, Jack. And Blackbeard's men are +ripe for mutiny. Let 'em once sight Stede Bonnet's topsails and----" + +A gunner's mate broke into this interview with a cat-o'-nine-tails and +flogged Joe Hawkridge forward to duty. He ducked and fled with a +farewell grin at the nephew of the Secretary of the Council. Now all +this was diverting enough to keep Jack from bemoaning his fate, but the +other passengers counted the hours one by one and their hearts began to +drum against their ribs. They scanned the sea and the harbor bar with +aching eyes, for the two days were well-nigh spent and there was never a +sign of the long-boat and the messengers with the ransom of medicines +which should avert the sentence of death. + +Sunrise of the second day brought them no comfort. The sea was gray and +the sky leaden, without the slightest stir of wind. The drifting vessels +rolled in a swell that heaved as smooth as oil. It was a calm which +presaged violent weather. Against her masts the yards of the _Plymouth +Adventure_ banged with a sound like distant thunder and the idle canvas +slatted to the thump of blocks and the thin wail of chafing cordage. + +Captain Jonathan Wellsby was permitted the freedom of the poop by +Blackbeard's sailing-master who seemed a sober and competent officer. +They were seen to confer earnestly, as though the safety of the ship +were uppermost in their minds. Soon the pirates of the prize crew were +ordered to stow and secure all light sail and pass extra lashings about +the boats and batten the hatches. They worked slowly, some of them +shaking with fever, nor could kicks and curses and the sting of the +whistling cat make them turn to smartly. The sailing-master signaled the +_Revenge_ to send off more hands but Blackbeard was either drunk or in +one of his crack-brained moods. With a laugh he pulled a brace of +pistols from his sash and blazed away at the _Plymouth Adventure._ + +The two sloops of the pirate squadron had sagged down to leeward during +the night and were trying to work back to their stations when the dead +calm intervened. Their skippers had sense enough to read the weather +signs and had begun to take in canvas. On board of the _Revenge_, +however, there was aimless confusion, the mates making some attempt to +prepare the ship for a heavy blow while Blackbeard defied the elements. +His idea of arousing his men was to try potshots with his pistols as +they crept out on the swaying spars. + +It was quite apparent that the sailing-master was sorely needed in the +_Revenge_, if order was to be brought out of this chaos, but he received +no orders to quit the _Plymouth Adventure_. He was a proper seaman, Ned +Rackham by name, who had deserted from the Royal Navy, after being +flogged and keel-hauled for some trifling offense. Rumor had it that he +was able to enforce respect from Blackbeard and would stand none of his +infernal nonsense. + +"In this autumn season we may catch a storm from the West Indies, Mr. +Rackham," said Captain Wellsby. "The sea has a greasy look and this +heavy ground swell is a portent." + +"The feel of it is in the air, shipmaster. There fell an evil calm like +this come two year ago when I was wrecked in a ship-of-the-line within +sight of Havana. Four hundred men sank with her." + +"If my sailors were not penned in the fo'castle----" suggested the +merchant skipper. + +"None o' that," was the stern retort. "This ship is a prize to +Blackbeard and so she stays, and you will sink or swim with her." + +The morning wore on and the two days of grace had passed for those +doleful hostages in the _Plymouth Adventure_. They beheld the black flag +hoisted to the rigging of the _Revenge_ as a signal of tragic import, +but the bandy-legged monster with the festooned whiskers was not to +disport himself with this wanton butchery. The sky had closed darkly +around the becalmed ships, in sodden clouds which were suddenly obscured +by mist and rain while the wind sighed in fitful gusts. It steadied into +the southward and swiftly increased in force until the sea was whipped +into foam and scud. + +Staunch and well-found, the _Plymouth Adventure_ went reeling off across +the spray-swept leagues of water, showing only her reefed topsails and +courses. The two pirate sloops vanished beyond the curtain of mist. When +last seen, one of them was dismasted and the other was laboring in grave +peril. The _Revenge_ loomed as a spectral shape while Blackbeard was +endeavoring to get her running free in pursuit of the _Plymouth +Adventure_. But slovenly, reckless seamanship had caught him unready. +His sails were blowing to ribbons, ropes flying at loose ends, and it +was with great difficulty that the vessel could be made to mind her +tiller. + +Already the sea was rising in crested combers which broke with the noise +of thunder and the fury of the wind was insensate. Slowly the struggling +_Revenge_ dropped astern, yawing wildly, rolling her bulwarks under, +splintered spars dangling from the caps. She was a crippled ship which +would be lucky to see port again. It was to be inferred that Blackbeard +had ceased to cut his mirthful capers on the poop and that he would have +given bushels of doubloons to regain his sailing-master and men. + +In the _Plymouth Adventure_ things were in far better plight, even with +the feeble, short-handed prize crew. Prudently snugged down in ample +time, with extra hands at the steering tackles, they let her drive. She +would perhaps wear clear of the coast and there was hope of survival +unless the tempest should fairly wrench her strong timbers asunder. + +Lashed to the weather rigging, Captain Jonathan Wellsby wiped the brine +from his eyes and waved his arm at the helmsman, now to ease her a +little, again to haul up and thus thwart some ravening sea which +threatened to stamp his ship under. Sailing-Master Ned Rackham was +content to let the skipper con his own vessel in this great emergency. + +The mind of Captain Wellsby was very active and he pondered on something +else than winning through the storm. He had been helpless while under +the guns of the _Revenge_, with the two sloops in easy call. Now the +situation was vastly different. He had been delivered out of +Blackbeard's clutches. And in the forecastle were thirty British seamen +with hearts of oak, raging to be loosed with weapons in their hands. +Peering into the gray smother of sea and sky, Captain Jonathan Wellsby +licked his lips hungrily as he said to himself: + +"Not now, but if the storm abates and we float through the night, these +lousy picaroons shall dance to another tune." + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +THE CAPTIVE SEAMEN IN THE FORECASTLE + + +JACK COCKRELL was seasick. This was enough to spoil any adventure. +Curled up under a boat, the spray pelted him and the wild motion of the +ship sloshed him back and forth. He took no interest even in piracy. Joe +Hawkridge, tough as whip-cord and seasoned to all kinds of weather, came +clawing his way aft while the water streamed from his thin shirt and +ragged breeches. The pirates of the prize crew had sought shelter +wherever they could find it. The waist of the ship was flooded with +breaking seas. A few of the larboard watch were huddled forward, close +to the lofty forecastle where they were stationed as sentries over the +imprisoned sailors of the _Plymouth Adventure_. + +The commotion of the wind shrieking in the rigging and the horrid crash +of the toppling combers were enough to convince a landlubber that the +vessel was doomed to founder. But Joe Hawkridge clapped young Jack an +affectionate clout on the ear and bawled at him: + + "For his work he's never loth, + An' a-pleasurin' he'll go, + Tho' certain sure to be popt off; + _Yo, ho, with the rum below!_" + +Jack managed to fetch a sickly smile of greeting, but had nothing to +say. Joe snuggled down beside him and explained: + +"I wouldn't dare sing that song if Blackbeard's bullies could hear me. +'Tis known as Stede Bonnet's ditty, for a fight or a frolic." + +"By Harry, they can roll it out. My blood tingled when they chorused it +through Charles Town," said Jack, with signs of animation and a sparkle +in his eye. "Tell me truly, Joe. What about this pirate sailing-master, +Ned Rackham? He seems a different sort from your other drunken wretches. +He is more like one of Captain Bonnet's choosing." + +"Gulled you, has he?" cried Joe. "I was afeard of that. And he's getting +on the blind side of your skipper. This Cap'n Jonathan Wellsby is brave +enough and a rare seaman, but he ne'er dealt with a smooth rogue like +Ned Rackham. He stays sober to plot for his own advantage. He will serve +Blackbeard only till he can trip him by the heels. Now listen well, +Jack, seasick though ye be. You will have to warn your skipper, Captain +Wellsby." + +"Warn him of what? My poor head is so addled that I can fathom no plots. +How can Ned Rackham do us mischief while this infernal gale blows? He +toils with might and main for the safety of the ship." + +"Yes, you dunce, and let a lull come," scornfully exclaimed the boyish +pirate. "What then? A fine ship this, and well gunned. She would make a +smackin' cruiser for Ned Rackham, eh? He hoists the Jolly Roger on his +own account and laughs at Blackbeard." + +"Take our ship for his own?" faltered Jack, his wits confused. "I never +thought of that. Why, that means getting rid of us, of the passengers +and crew." + +Joe passed a hand across his throat with a grimace that said more than +words. + +"He has the ship's company disarmed and helpless, Jack. And pirates +a-plenty to work her till he recruits a stronger force. All hands of 'em +have a surfeit of Blackbeard's bloody whims an' didoes." + +"And Captain Wellsby will be caught off his guard?" said Jack, shivering +at the aspect of this new terror. + +"Can he do aught to prevent, unless he is bold enough to forestall it?" +answered the shrewd young sea waif. "Better die fighting than be slain +like squealin' rats." + +"Recapture the ship ere Ned Rackham casts the dice," said Jack. "But it +means playing the hazard in the midst of this storm. How can it be done? +A forlorn venture. It can but fail." + +"You are as good as dead if you don't," was Joe's sensible verdict. + +Jack Cockrell forgot his wretched qualms of mind and body. The trumpet +call of duty invigorated him. He was no longer a useless lump. The color +returned to his cheek as he crawled from under the boat and shakily +hauled himself to his feet. Joe Hawkridge nodded approval and exhorted: + +"A stiff upper lip, my gallant young gentleman. Steady she goes, an' not +too hasty. Ned Rackham is as sharp as a whetted sword. Ware ye, boy, +lest he pick up the scent. Fetch me word, here, beneath this +jolly-boat." + +Jack stole away, staggering along the high poop deck until he could +cling to the life-line stretched along the roof of the great cabin. +There he slumped down and feigned helplessness, banged against the +bulwark as a dripping heap of misery or kicked aside by the pirates of +the watch as they were relieved at the steering tackles. From +half-closed eyes he watched Ned Rackham, a vigilant, dominant figure in +a tarred jacket and quilted breeches and long sea-boots. Now and again +he cupped his hands and yelled in the ear of Captain Wellsby whose beard +was gray with brine. + +Jack saw that it was hopeless to get a private word with the skipper on +deck. The clamor of the storm was too deafening. The one chance was to +intercept him in the cabin when he went below for food and drink. Jack +dragged himself to the after hatchway which was shoved open a trifle to +admit air, and squeezed himself through. Before he tumbled down the +steep staircase he turned to glance at Captain Wellsby. Unseen by Ned +Rackham, the boy raised his hand in a furtive, beckoning gesture. + +The pirates had taken the main room of the after-house for their own +use, driving the passengers and ship's officers into the small cabins or +staterooms. The air was foul below, reeking of the bilges, and the main +room was incredibly filthy. The pirates ate from dirty dishes, they had +scattered food about, and they kicked off their boots to sleep on the +floor like pigs in a sty. + +Several of them were seated at the long table, bottle and mug in hand, +and the gloomy place was poorly lighted by a swinging whale-oil lamp. +Jack Cockrell crept unnoticed into a corner and was giddy and almost +helpless with nausea. It seemed ages before Captain Wellsby's legs +appeared in the hatchway and he came down into the cabin, bringing a +shower of spray with him. His kindly face was haggard and sad and he +tottered from sheer weariness. Passing through to his own room, a scurvy +pirate hurled refuse food at him, with a silly laugh, and others +insulted him with the foulest epithets. + +He paid them no heed and they returned to their own amusements. Jack +Cockrell aroused himself to stumble after the skipper who halted to +grasp the lad by the shoulder and shove him headlong into the little +room. The door was quickly bolted behind them. A lurch of the vessel +flung Jack into the bunk but he managed to sit up, holding his head in +his hands, while he feebly implored: + +"Did you note me wave my hand, sir, when I came below?" + +"Yes, and I followed as soon as I could," answered the master of the +_Plymouth Adventure_. "There was the hint of secrecy in your signal, +Jack. What's in the wind?" + +"I am the only passenger to win the confidence of one of Blackbeard's +crew," explained the lad. "This Joe Hawkridge is true to us, I'll swear +it. He is a pressed man, hating his masters. He bids me tell you that +Ned Rackham will seize the ship for his own as soon as ever the wind +goes down." + +"Um-m, is he as bold as that?" grunted the skipper, rubbing his nose +with an air of rueful surprise. "No honor among thieves, Jack. I thought +him loyal to Blackbeard. I have considered attempting something of my +own when the weather permits but this news quickens me. This young imp +o' Satan that ye call Joe,--he will side with us in a pinch?" + +"Aye, sir. And he knows this Ned Rackham well. There has been talk among +the pirates of rising against Blackbeard to follow the fortunes of +Sailing-Master Rackham. Here is the ship, as Joe says." + +"It has a plausible sound," said Captain Wellsby. "My intention was to +wait, but I shall have to strike first." + +"Can we fight in this storm, sir, even if we manage to release our +sailors?" asked Jack, very dismally. + +"Not what we can, but what we must do," growled the stubborn British +mariner. "The shame of striking my colors rankles like a wound. God +helping me, we shall wipe out that stain if we drown in a sinking ship. +I talk to you as a man, Master Cockrell, for such you have proven +yourself. And who else is there to serve me in this adventure?" + +"To set our sailors free, you mean, sir?" eagerly exclaimed Jack. "I +took thought of that. There is nobody but me, neither your mates nor the +passengers, who can pass among the pirates without suspicion. The knaves +have humored me, hearing the tale of the pirate I knocked on the head +and my braggart remark to Blackbeard. They have seen me about the decks +with Joe Hawkridge as my boon comrade. 'Tis their fancy that I am likely +to enlist." + +"Well said, Jack," was the skipper's compliment. "Yes, you might make +your way for'ard without interference,--but the fo'castle hatches are +stoutly guarded. Again, should my brave fellows find exit, they are +weaponless, unready. Moreover, they have been crammed in that dark hole, +drenched by the sea, cruelly bruised by the tossing of the ship, and +weakened for lack of food and air." + +"Granted, sir," sighed Jack. "But if some message could be smuggled in +to forewarn them of the enterprise,--would that brace 'em to the +assault?" + +"Will ye try it, Jack?" asked the skipper, with a note of appeal in his +hearty voice. "I know not where else to turn. You take your life in your +hands but----" + +The shipmaster broke off with a grim smile. It was absurd to prate of +life or death in such a strait as this. The boy reflected before he +said: + +"If--if I fail, sir, Joe Hawkridge will try to pass a message in to the +men. You can depend on 't." + +"A last resort, Jack. You vouch for him but I trust you far sooner. He +has kept sorry company." + +"When is the best hour, Captain Wellsby?" + +"Just before nightfall when the watches will be changing. I dare not +delay it longer than that. In darkness, my lads will be unable to find +the foe and strike hard and quick. Nor can they rush to lay hold of the +only weapons in their reach,--the pikes in the racks beside the masts. +Not a pistol or cutlass amongst 'em, and they must fight with these +wicked dogs of pirates who think naught of killing men." + +"Let your lusty sailors once get clear, sir," stoutly declared Jack +Cockrell, "and they will play a merry game with those long pikes. Then I +am to slip the message written by your hand on a bit of paper?" + +"That's it! I will command them to pound against the scuttle, three +raps, for a signal of response, and you must listen for it. Then it is +for them to stand ready, on the chance that you can slip the bar of the +hatch or the bolts on the door." + +"But if they have to come out singly, sir, and the sentries are +ready-witted, why, your men may be cut down or pistoled in their +tracks." + +"I am so aware," said Captain Wellsby, his honest features glum, "but we +cannot change the odds." + +He found an ink-horn and quill and laboriously wrote a few lines on a +leaf torn from the back of a sea-stained log-book. Jack tucked it +carefully away and thus they parted company, perhaps to meet no more in +life. Through the waning afternoon, Jack stowed himself on deck and held +long converse with Joe Hawkridge when they met between the keel-chocks +of the jolly-boat. Because he shared not the skipper's feeling of +distrust, Jack sought the active aid of his chum of a pirate lad. It was +agreed that they should endeavor to reach the forecastle together when +the ship's bell tolled the hour of beginning the first night watch. + +Joe hoped he might decoy or divert the sentries. If not, he had another +scheme or two. A gunner's mate of the prize crew had sent him to +overhaul the lashings of the battery of nine-pounders which were ranged +along the waist. With several other hands Joe had made all secure, +because the guns were apt to get adrift in such weather as this and +plunge to and fro across the deck like maddened beasts. Now Joe +Hawkridge had lingered, on pretext of making sure that one forward gun +could be fired, if needs be, as a distress signal should the ship open +her seams or strike upon a shoal. + +He had satisfied himself that the tompion, or wooden plug which sealed +the muzzle was tight, and that no water had leaked through the wrapping +of tarred canvas which protected the touch-hole. Before replacing them, +he had made two or three trips to the deck-house amidships in which was +the carpenter's room. Each time he tucked inside his shirt as many +forged iron spikes, bolts, and what not as he could safely carry. + +Unobserved, he shoved this junk down the throat of the nine-pounder and +wadded it fast with handfuls of oakum. He worked coolly, without haste, +as agile as a monkey when the ship careened and the sea spurted through +the cracks of the gun-ports. Well pleased with his task, he said to +himself, with that grin which no peril could obliterate: + +"God alone knows how I can strike fire to a match and keep it alight, +but the sky shows signs of easier weather." + +The fury of the storm had, indeed, diminished. It might be a respite +before the wind hauled into another quarter and renewed its ferocious +violence, but the air was no longer thick with the whirling smother of +foam and spray and the straining topmasts had ceased to bend like whips. +The ship was gallantly easing herself of the waves which broke aboard +and the rearing billows astern were not threatening to stamp her under. + +It lacked almost an hour of nightfall when Jack Cockrell crept along the +poop and halted to lean against the timbered railing by the mizzen +shrouds. All he could think of was that Ned Rackham might seize upon +this sudden abatement of the gale to hasten his own wicked conspiracy +and so ruin the plan to restore the _Plymouth Adventure_ to her own +lawful company. This menace had occurred to Captain Jonathan Wellsby who +stood tense and rigid at the sailing-master's elbow, watching him from +the tail of his eye. + +Relief o'erspread the skipper's worn features when he espied Jack +Cockrell who stood as if waiting for orders. A nod, a meaning glance, +and they understood each other. Striving to appear unconcerned, Jack +moved toward the forward part of the ship. He was aquiver with +excitement, and his breath was quick and small, but the sense of fear +had left him. Captain Wellsby had called him a man and, by God's sweet +grace, he would so acquit himself. + +The pirates were swarming out of the cabin to taste the clean air and +limber their cramped muscles. The ship still wallowed as she ran before +the wind and it was breakneck work to clamber about. From the topsail +yards fluttered mere ribbons of canvas where the reefed sails had +bellied. Ned Rackham shouted for the watch to lay aloft and cut the +remnants clear and bend new cloths to keep her from broaching to. + +Jack Cockrell's heart leaped for joy. At least a dozen of the most +active pirates would have to obey this order. This would remove them +from the deck for a precious interval of time. He slouched aimlessly +nearer the forecastle, stretching his neck to gaze up at the pirates as +they footed the ratlines and squirmed over the clumsy tops. Joe +Hawkridge joined him, as if by chance, and they wandered to the lee side +of the forecastle. There they were screened from the sight of the +sentries. + +The wooden shutters of the little windows had been spiked fast on the +outside and Jack was at his wits' end to find by what means he might +slip the fateful message to the captive seamen. He dared not climb upon +the roof and seek for a crack in a hatchway. This would make him too +conspicuous. + +Cautiously he stole around the massive structure and was all but washed +overboard when he gained the windward side where the water broke in +hissing cataracts. So great had been its force during the height of the +storm, that one of the shutters had been splintered and almost crushed +in. Clutching the bit of paper which was tightly rolled and wrapped in a +square of oiled linen, Jack pushed it through a ragged crevice in the +shutter. + +It was gravely doubtful whether the men would discover the message in +the gloom of their prison. It might fall to the floor and be trampled +unperceived. And yet Jack Cockrell could not make himself believe that +deliverance would be thwarted. He said a prayer and waited with his ear +against the wall of the forecastle. There he leaned through an agonized +eternity as the slow moments passed. It was like the ordeal of a +condemned man who hopes that a blessed reprieve may save him, in the +last hour, from the black cap and the noose. + +Up aloft the pirate seamen were slashing the torn canvas with their +dirks and casting loose the gaskets. Presently they began to come down +to the deck, one by one. Some whispered word must have passed amongst +them, because they drifted aft as by a common impulse although it was +not yet the hour to change the watch. Their gunner's mate, a gigantic +mulatto with a broken nose, went to the poop when Ned Rackham crooked +his finger and these two stood aside, beyond earshot of Captain Wellsby, +while they conferred with heads together. + +"They will strike first," Jack whispered to himself. + +The misty daylight had not darkened. The decks were not yet dusky with +the shadows which Jack had hoped might enable him to approach the +forecastle door in his brave endeavor to unbar it. The plans were all +awry. Tears filled his eyes. And then there came to his ear a muffled +knock against the other side of the forecastle planking. + +Once, twice, thrice! The signal was unmistakable. A little interval and +it was repeated. + +Softly the trembling lad tiptoed to the corner of the forecastle house +and peered around it to look for the sentries. Two of them had moved a +few yards away to join a group which gazed aft as if expecting a +summons from Ned Rackham on the poop. The third sentry leaned against +the forecastle door, a cutlass at his belt. He was a long, bony man with +a face as yellow as parchment from the Spanish fever and it was plain to +read that there was no great strength in him. + +Faithful Joe Hawkridge sat astride the breech of the nine-pounder at +which he had been so busily engaged earlier in the afternoon. He +appeared to be an idler who merely looked on but he was watching every +motion, and that hard, canny face of his had, for once, forgot to grin. +Releasing a three-foot handspike from its lashing beside the +gun-carriage, he awaited the next roll of the deck and deftly kicked +this handy weapon. It slid toward the forecastle and Jack Cockrell +stopped it with his foot. + +There was no time for hesitation. Snatching up the iron-shod handspike, +Jack rushed straight at the forecastle door. Just then the ship lurched +far down and he was shot headlong, like falling off the roof of a house. +He had the momentum of a battering-ram. The sentry yelled and drew his +cutlass with a swiftness amazing in a sick man. His footing was unsteady +or Jack would have spitted himself on the point of the blade. As he went +crashing full-tilt into the man the impact was terrific. They went to +the deck together and the handspike spun out of Jack's grasp. There was +no need to swing it on this luckless pirate for his bald head smote a +plank with a thump which must have cracked it like an egg. + +Not even pausing to dart after the cutlass which had clattered from the +lifeless fingers, Jack spun on his heel and wrenched at the heavy bar +across the forecastle door and felt it slide from the fastenings. He +tugged it clear and swung himself up to the roof to draw the bolts which +secured the hatch. Rusted in their sockets, they resisted him but he +spied a pulley-block within reach and used it as a hammer. + +All this was a matter of seconds only. The pirates grouped amidships had +been waiting for Ned Rackham's word from aft and they were muddled by +this sudden shift of action. The other sentries stared in foolish +astonishment. The brief delay was enough to let Jack Cockrell free the +hatch. While he toiled furiously, several pistols and a musket were +snapped at him but the flint sparked on damp powder in the pans and only +one ball whistled by his head. + +Out of the forecastle hatchway and through the door, the enraged sailors +of the _Plymouth Adventure_ came rocketing like an explosion. They +stumbled over each other, emerging head or feet first, blinking like +owls in the daylight but with vision good enough to serve their purpose. +Their goal was the nearest stand of boarding-pikes at the foot of the +mainmast. + +But as they came surging on deck, they were not empty-handed. In the +forecastle was a bricked oven for warmth in winter and for cooking +kettles of soup. This they had torn to pieces and every man sallied +forth with a square, flat brick in each hand and more inside his shirt. +Those who were first to gain the deck pelted the nearest pirates with +these ugly missiles. The air was full of hurtling bricks and the +earliest casualty was a stout buccaneer who stopped one with his +stomach. + +Driven back in yelling confusion, the pirates found their firearms +almost useless, so drenched had the whole ship been by the battering +seas, but they were accustomed to fighting it out with the cold steel +and they were by no means a panicky mob. The fusillade of bricks held +them long enough for the merchant sailors to escape from the forecastle +and this was an advantage more precious than Captain Wellsby had hoped +for. + +What the pirates required was a leader to rally them for attack. Quicker +than it takes to tell it, Ned Rackham had raced along the poop and +leaped to the waist at peril of breaking his neck. Agile, quick-witted, +he bounded into the thick of it, cutlass in hand, while he shouted: + +"At 'em, lads! And give the dogs no quarter!" + +With hoarse outcry, his gallows-birds mustered compactly while those who +had been in the cabin came scampering to join them. Curiously enough, +Captain Jonathan Wellsby had been forgotten. He was left alone to handle +the ship while the pirate helmsmen stood by the great tiller. To forsake +it meant to let the vessel run wild and perhaps turn turtle in the +swollen seas. And so the doughty skipper was, for the time, a looker-on. + +And now with Ned Rackham in the van, it seemed that the British sailors +were in a parlous plight and that their sortie must fail. Craftily the +pirates manoeuvered to drive them back into the forecastle and there +to butcher them like sheep. + + + + +CHAPTER V + +RELEASING A FEARFUL WEAPON + + +JACK COCKRELL sprawled flat upon the forecastle roof and knew not what +to do. He could lay hands on nothing to serve as a weapon and he bade +fair to be trapped like the sailors whose cause he had joined. With a +feeling of despair he let his gaze rove to the scrawny figure of Joe +Hawkridge who still bestrode the nine-pounder and took no part in the +fray. But Joe had no comfort for him, as a gesture conveyed. It had been +Joe's wild scheme to obtain the help of Jack and Captain Wellsby, at the +least, and so cast loose the gun and slew it around to rake the deck and +mow the pirates down. But the men were lacking for this heavy task, and +the sailors of the _Plymouth Adventure_ were too intent on fighting +against fearful odds to pay heed to Joe Hawkridge's appeals. He had even +skulked into the galley and was ready with a little iron pot filled with +live coals which was hidden under a bit of tarpaulin. + +Ned Rackham was a young man and powerful, with a long reach and a +skilled blade. He fairly hewed his way into the ruck of the dauntless +sailors who had no more bricks to hurl. Several pirates were disabled, +with broken arms or bloody crowns, but the others crowded forward, +grunting as they slashed and stabbed, and well aware that Ned Rackham +would cut the laggards down should he detect them. + +At the moment when there seemed no chance of salvation for the crew of +the _Plymouth Adventure_, Joe Hawkridge leaped from the gun and beckoned +Jack. The grin was restored to the homely, freckled visage and the salt +water gamin danced in jubilant excitement. Down from the forecastle roof +tumbled Jack Cockrell and went sliding across the deck, heels over head, +to fetch up in the scupper. Joe hauled him by the leg, close to the +wooden carriage of the gun, and swiftly told him what was to be done. + +Obediently Jack began to loose the knots which secured the rope tackles +but it was a slow task. The wet had made the hemp as hard as iron and he +lacked a marlinspike. Joe dodged around the gun, saw the difficulty and +sawed through one rope after another, all but the last strand or two. +Then the lads tailed on to the breeching hawsers, which held the +carriage from sliding on its iron rollers, and eased the strain as well +as they could. + +The ponderous mass was almost free to plunge across the deck. Joe +sweated and braced his feet against a ring-bolt while Jack Cockrell +found a cleat. Ned Rackham's men were moving forward, cut and thrust, +while the sailors grappled with them bare-handed and battled grimly +like mastiffs. + +"The next time she rolls!" panted Joe Hawkridge as the hawser ripped the +skin from his palms. + +"Aye, make ready to cut," muttered Jack. + +The ship heaved herself high and then listed far down to starboard. Joe +slashed at the last strands of the tackles and yelled to Jack to let go +the hawser. Instead of discharging the nine-pounder, they were employing +the piece itself, and the carriage of oak and iron, as a terrible +missile. The moment of launching it was shrewdly chosen. The pirates, +still in compact formation as led by Ned Rackham, were directly abreast +of this forward gun of the main deck battery. The deck inclined at a +steep and giddy pitch. With a grinding roar the gun rolled from its +station. It gathered impetus and lunged across the ship as an instrument +of fell destruction. It was more to be feared than an assault of armed +men. + +The warning rumble of the iron wheels as they furrowed the planking was +heard by the pirates. They turned from their game of butchery and stood +frozen in their tracks for a frightened instant. Then they tried to flee +in all directions. Their tarry pigtails fairly stood on end. Well they +knew what it meant to have a gun break adrift in a heavy sea. Two or +three who had been badly hurt were unable to move fast enough. The gun +crunched over them and then seemed to pursue a limping pirate, veering +to overtake him as he fled. He was tossed against the bulwark like a +bundle of bloody rags. + +The gun crashed into the stout timbers of the ship's side and they were +splintered like match-wood. It rebounded as the deck sloped sharply in +the next wallowing roll, and now this frenzied monster of wood and iron +seemed fairly to run amuck. It was inspired with a sinister +intelligence, resolved to wreak all the damage possible. The pinnace, +the water barrels, the coamings of the cargo hatches, were smashed to +fragments as the gun turned this way and that and went plunging in +search of victims. + +[Illustration: THE BRAWN OF THESE LADS MADE THE PIKE A MATCH FOR A +PIRATE'S CUTLASS] + +Left to themselves, the seamen of the _Plymouth Adventure_ would have +risked their lives to cast ropes about the gun and moor it fast. But now +they were quick to see that the tide had been turned in their favor. The +pirates were demoralized. Some were in the rigging, others atop the +bulwarks, and only the readiest and boldest, with Ned Rackham in the +lead, had an eye to the task in hand, which was to regain possession of +the ship. + +And now the boatswain of the _Plymouth Adventure_, a rosy giant of a man +from South Devon, shouted to his comrades to follow him. They delayed +until the runaway cannon crashed into another gun, and then they broke +like sprinters from the mark and sped straight for the mainmast, seeking +the rack of boarding-pikes. They ran nimbly, as men used to swaying +decks, and compassed the distance in a few strides. + +Ned Rackham perceived their purpose and tried to intercept but his few +staunch followers moved warily, expecting to see that insensate monster +of a gun bear down upon them. The swiftest of the merchant sailors laid +hands on the pikes and whirled to cover their shipmates, until all hands +could be armed. Then the gun came roaring down at them but they ducked +behind the mast or stepped watchfully aside. Men condemned to death are +not apt to lose their wits in the face of one more peril. + +These pikes were ashen shafts with long steel points and the merchant +seamen had been trained to use them. And the brawn of these lads made +the pike a match for a pirate's cutlass. Ned Rackham bounded forward to +swing at the broad, deep-chested boatswain. A wondrous pair of +antagonists they were, in the prime of their youth and vigor. The +pirate's cutlass bit clean through the pike shaft as the boatswain +parried the blow but the apple-cheeked Devonshire man closed in and +wrapped his arms around his foe. They went to the deck clutching for +each other's throats and the fight trampled over them. + +Meanwhile Joe Hawkridge and Jack Cockrell, unwilling to twiddle their +thumbs, had rushed aft as fast as their legs could carry them. It was a +mutual impulse, to release such of the men passengers as might have a +stomach for fighting and also the ship's officers. Into the doorway +which led from the waist, the two lads dived and scurried through the +main cabin now clear of pirates. Locked doors they smashed with a +broadaxe found in the small-arms chest and so entered all the rooms. + +The women passengers were almost dead with suffering, what with the +turbulence of the storm and the wild riot on deck. The lads pitied them +but had no time to console. Several of the men, merchants and planters +of some physical hardihood, begged for weapons and Joe Hawkridge bade +them help themselves from the spare arms which the pirates had left in +the great cabin. In another little room the boys found the mates, +steward, surgeon, and gunner of the _Plymouth Adventure_ and you may be +sure that they came boiling out with a raging thirst for strife. + +"Harkee, Jack," said Joe before they climbed to the poop deck, "if the +pirates are driven aft, as I expect, they will make a last stand in this +cabin house which is like a fort. These 'fenseless women must be hidden +safe from harm. Do you coax 'em into the lazarette." + +This was a room on the deck below, in the very stern of the ship where +were kept the extra sails and coils of rope and various stores. It was +the surest shelter against harm in such stress as this. Alas, Jack's +persuasions were vain. The frantic women were in no humor to listen, and +so the lads bundled them through the hatch as gently as possible and +for company gave them such male passengers as lacked strength or courage +to join the battle. + +While they were thus engaged, two pirates came flying down the ladder +from the poop deck into the main cabin. They revolved like windmills in +a jumble of arms and legs. Close behind them, in a manner more orderly +came Captain Jonathan Wellsby who had tossed the one and tremendously +booted the other. They were the helmsmen whom he had replaced with his +own officers at the steering tackles, while his first mate had been left +in charge of handling the ship. + +The skipper was now free to follow his own desires and he fell upon +those two stunned pirates in the cabin and trussed them tight with bits +of rope. Then he reloaded with dry powder all the pistols he could find +and made a walking arsenal of himself. The two lads who now joined him +needed no word of command. At his heels they made for the main deck and +the shout which arose from those British sailors, so sorely beset, was +mightily heartening. + +Blazing away with his pistols, the skipper cleared a path for himself, +the pirates being taken aback when they were attacked in the rear. And +they were leaderless, for Ned Rackham had been dragged aside with the +marks of the boatswain's fingers on his throat and a sheath-knife buried +in his side. He was alive but nobody paid heed to his groans. + +With the skipper in the thick of it, there was no danger of being penned +in the forecastle again. The pirates were crowded aft, step by step, +before the play of those wicked boarding-pikes. It would be hard to +match a sea fight like this, amid the spray and the washing seas, on a +deck that tipsily danced and staggered, with a truant gun smashing a +good ship to bits and the wounded screaming as they saw this horror +thundering at them. Captain Wellsby's men were at pains to drag their +helpless comrades to safety but the pirates were too callous and too +hard pressed to care for aught save their own worthless skins. They +fought like wolves but they lacked the gristle and endurance of the +stalwart sailors. Wheezing for breath, they ceased to curse and reeled +back in silence while the sailors huzzaed and seemed to wax the lustier. + +As was bound to happen, the stubborn retreat broke into a rout. It was +every man for himself and the devil take the hindmost. The pirates fled +for the after cabin-house, there to take cover behind the timbered walls +and use the small port-holes for musketry fire. Thus they could find +respite and it would be immensely difficult to dislodge them. + +The first mate of the _Plymouth Adventure_ and his own two helmsmen saw +what was taking place and they were of no mind to be cut off at the +stern of the ship. They footed it along the poop and the cabin roof as +the pirates were scampering inside and so gained the waist and were +with their comrades. The tiller deserted, the vessel careened into the +trough of the sea with a portentous creaking of spars and rending of +canvas. + +The mainmast had been dealt more than one splintering blow by the +fugitive gun. This sudden strain, of a ship broached to and hurled +almost on her beam ends, was too much for the damaged mast. It broke +short off, a few feet above the deck, and the ragged butt ripped the +planks asunder as it was dragged overside by the weight of the towering +fabric of yards and canvas. One merciful circumstance befell, for the +tangle of shrouds and sheets and halliards ensnared the ramping monster +of a cannon and overturned it. Caught in this manner, the gun was +dragged to the broken bulwark and there it was held with the battered +carriage in air. + +The mainmast was floating alongside the ship which it belabored with +thumps that jarred the hull. It was likely to stave in the skin of the +vessel and Captain Wellsby shouted to his men to hack at the trailing +cordage and send the mast clear before it did a fatal injury. A dozen +men risked drowning at this task while the others guarded the after +cabin lest the pirates attempt a sally. These besieged rogues were given +an interval in which to muster their force, organize a defense, and +break into the magazine for muskets and powder and ball. + +Now Captain Wellsby was no dullard and he purposed to make short work of +these vile pirates. Otherwise his crippled ship might not survive the +wind and weather. He conferred with his gunner who had bethought +himself, by force of habit, to fetch from aft his powder-horn and +several yards of match, or twisted tow, which were wrapped around his +body, beneath the tarred jerkin. + +"It grieves me sore to wreck yonder goodly cabin house," said the +skipper in his beard, "but, by Judas, we'll blow 'em out of it. Haul and +belay your pieces, Master Gunner, and let 'em have a salvo of round +shot." + +Reckless of the musket balls which began to fly among them, the sailors +jumped for their stations at the guns. First they set aright that +capsized nine-pounder which had wreaked so much mischief and found that +it could be discharged, despite the broken carriage. Joe Hawkridge and +Jack Cockrell blithely aided to swing and secure it with emergency +tackles and Joe exclaimed, with a chuckle: + +"This dose is enough to surprise Blackbeard hisself. 'Tis an +ironmonger's shop I rammed down its throat." + +The gun was laid on the largest cabin port-hole just as it framed the +ugly face of a pirate with a musket while another peered over his +shoulder. Joe shook the powder-horn into the touch-hole and the gunner +was ready with the match which he had lighted with his own flint and +steel. Boom, and the gun recoiled in a veil of smoke. Through the cabin +port-hole flew a deadly shower of spikes and bolts while the framework +around it was shattered to bits. It was a most unhealthy place for +pirates. They forsook it instantly. And the musketry fire slackened +elsewhere. It was to be inferred that there was painful consternation in +the cabin. + +With boisterous mirth, the sailors deftly turned other guns to bear and +were careful not to let them get adrift. The muzzles had been well +stopped against wetting by the sea and with a little dry powder for the +priming, most of them could be served. They could not be reloaded for +dearth of ammunition but Captain Wellsby felt confident that one round +would suffice. + +Methodically the gun-crews aimed and fired one gun after another, +watching the chance between the seas that broke aboard. The solid round +shot, at short range, ripped through the cabin walls and bulkheads and +buried themselves in the frames and timbers of the ship's stern. A good +gunner was never so happy as when he saw the white splinters fly in +showers and these zealous sailormen forgot they were knocking their own +ship to pieces. They were on the target, and this was good enough. + +The beleaguered pirates made no more pretense of firing muskets or +defying the crew to dig them out. Their fort was an untenable position. +At this sport of playing bowls with round shot they were bound to lose. +Captain Wellsby sighted the last gun himself. It was a bronze culverin +of large bore, taken as a trophy from the stranded wreck of a Spanish +galleon. With a tremendous blast this formidable cannon spat out a +double-shotted load and the supports of the cabin roof were torn +asunder. The tottering beams collapsed. Half the structure fell in. + +It was the signal for the sailors of the _Plymouth Adventure_ to charge +aft and finish the business. They found pirates crawling from under the +wreckage. It was like a demolished ant-heap. In the smaller cabins and +other rooms far aft, which were more or less intact, some of the rascals +showed fight but they were remorselessly prodded out with pikes and +those unwounded were hustled forward to be thrown into the forecastle. +It was difficult to restrain the seamen from dealing them the death they +deserved but Captain Wellsby was no sea-butcher and he hoped to turn +them over to the colonial authorities to be hanged with due ceremony. + +The badly hurt were laid in the forecastle bunks where the ship's +surgeon washed and bandaged them after he had cared for the injured men +of his own crew. Ned Rackham was still alive, conscious and defiant, +surviving a wound which would have been mortal in most cases. Whether he +lived or died was a matter of small concern to Captain Wellsby but he +ordered the surgeon to nurse him with special care. + +The dead pirates were flung overboard but the bodies of seven brave +British seamen were wrapped in sailcloth to be committed to the deep on +the morrow, with a round shot at their feet and a prayer to speed their +souls. There were men enough to work the ship but she was in a +situation indescribably forlorn. It was possible to patch and shore the +cabin house and make a refuge, even to find place for the wretched women +who were lifted unharmed out of the lazarette. But the stout ship, her +mainmast gone by the board, the deck ravaged by that infernal catapult +of an errant gun, the hull pounded by the floating wreckage of spars, +would achieve a miracle should she see port again. + +The combat with the pirates and their overthrow had been waged in the +last hour before the gray night closed over a somber sea. God's mercy +had caused the wind to fall and the waves to diminish in size else the +ship would have gone to the bottom ere dawn. Much water had washed down +into the hold through the broken cargo hatch and the gaps where the +runaway gun had torn other fittings away. The carpenter sounded the well +and solemnly stared at the wetted rod by the flicker of his horn +lantern. The ship was settling. It was his doleful surmise that she +leaked where the pounding spars overside had started the butts. It was +man the pumps to keep the old hooker afloat and Captain Wellsby ordered +his weary men to sway at the brakes, watch and watch. + +Joe Hawkridge and Jack Cockrell, more fit for duty than the others, put +their backs into it right heartily while the sailors droned to the +cadence of the pump a sentimental ditty which ran on for any number of +verses and began in this wise: + + "As, lately I traveled toward Gravesend, + I heard a fair Damosel a Sea-man commend: + And as in a Tilt-boat we passed along, + In praise of brave Sea-men she sung this new Song, + _Come Tradesman or Marchant, whoever he be, + There's none but a Sea-man shall marry with me!_" + +Thus they labored all the night through, men near dead with fatigue +whose hard fate it was to contend now with pirates and again with the +hostile ocean. The skipper managed to stay the foremast and to bend +steering sails so that the ship was brought into the wind where her +motion was easier. The sky cleared before daybreak and the rosy horizon +proclaimed a fair sunrise. How far and in what direction the _Plymouth +Adventure_ had been blown by the storm was largely guesswork. By means +of dead reckoning and the compass and cross-staff, Captain Wellsby hoped +to work out a position but meanwhile he scanned the sea with a sense of +brooding anxiety. + +Instead of praying for plenty of sea room, he now hoped with all his +heart that the vessel had been set in toward the coast. She was sinking +under his feet and would not live through the day. It was useless to +toil at the pumps or to strive at mending the shattered upperworks. The +men turned to the task of quitting the ship, and of saving the souls on +board. It was a pitiful extremity and yet they displayed a dogged, +unshaken fidelity. Only one boat had escaped destruction. The pinnace +had been staved in by the thunderbolt of a gun and the yawl, stowed upon +the cabin roof, was wrecked by round shot. The small jolly-boat would +hold the women passengers and the wounded sailors, with the hands +required to tend oars and sail. + +Nothing remained but to try to knock together one or more rafts. Captain +Wellsby discussed it with his officers and it was agreed that the +able-bodied pirates should be left to build a raft for themselves, +taking their own wounded with them. This was more mercy than they had +any right to expect. The strapping young Devonshire boatswain, with his +head tied up, was for leaving the blackguards to drown in the forecastle +but the shipmaster was too humane a man for that. + +It was drawing toward noon when the first mate descried land to the +westward, a bit of low coast almost level with the sea. In the light air +the sluggish ship moved ever so slowly, with canvas spread on the fore +and mizzen masts. Spirits revived and life tasted passing sweet. To +drift in the open sea upon wave-washed rafts was an expedient which all +mariners shuddered to contemplate. It was with feelings far different +that they now assembled spars and planks and lashed and spiked them +together on the chance of needing rafts to ferry them ashore from a +stranded ship. + +Well into the bright afternoon the _Plymouth Adventure_ was wafted +nearer and nearer the sandy coast. Within a half mile of it a line of +breakers frothed and tumbled on a shoal beyond which the water deepened +again. The ship could not be steered to avoid this barrier. Her main +deck was almost level with the sea which lapped her gently and sobbed +through the broken bulwarks. With a slight shock she struck the shoal +and rested there just before she was ready to founder. + +With disciplined haste, the jolly-boat was launched and filled with its +human freightage. The boatswain went in charge and four seamen tugged at +the sweeps. There were trees and clumps of bushes among the hillocks of +sand and a tiny bight for a landing place. The bulwark was then chopped +away so that the largest raft could be shoved into the water by means of +tackles, rollers and handspikes. It floated buoyantly and supported as +many as fifteen men, who did not mind in the least getting their feet +wet. Upon a raised platform in the centre of the raft were fastened +barrels of beef and bread and casks of fresh water. + +The jolly-boat could hope to make other trips between the ship and the +shore but the prudent skipper took no chances with the weather. A sudden +gale might pluck the _Plymouth Adventure_ from the shoal or tear her to +fragments where she lay. Therefore most of the men, including +passengers, were embarked on the raft. Captain Wellsby remained aboard +with a few of his sailors and our two lads, Joe and Jack, who had not +attempted to thrust themselves upon the crowded raft. + +The pirates were making a commotion in the forecastle, yammering to be +freed, but the skipper had no intention of loosing them until all his +people had safely abandoned ship. The jolly-boat made a landing without +mishap and returned to the wreck as the sun went down. More stores were +dumped into it, sacks of potatoes and onions which had been overlooked, +bedding for the women, powder and ball for the muskets, and other things +which it was necessary to keep dry. + +Captain Wellsby got rid of the rest of his men on this trip, excepting +the gunner and carpenter, and these lingered with him as a kind of +body-guard pending the ticklish business of releasing the imprisoned +pirates and forsaking them to their own devices. The jolly-boat was +laden to the gunwales and Jack Cockrell held back, saying to Joe +Hawkridge: + +"Why trouble the captain to set us ashore? Let us make a raft of our +own. The breeze holds fair to the beach and it will be a lark." + +"It suits me well," grinned Joe. "If we wait to go off with the master, +and those sinful pirates see me aboard, I'll need wings to escape 'em. +They saw me serve the gun that was filled with spikes to the muzzle. +Aye, Jack, I will feel happier to be elsewhere when Cap'n Wellsby unbars +the fo'castle and holds 'em back with his pistols till he can cast off +in the jolly-boat." + +"Yes, the sight of you is apt to put them in a vile temper," laughingly +agreed Jack, "and 'tis awkward for the master to bother with us. Now +about a little raft----" + +"Two short spars are enough. There they lie. And the cabin hatch will do +for a deck. Spikes for thole-pins, and oars from the pinnace. Unlace the +bonnet of the jib for a sail." + +"You are a proper sailorman, Joe. A voyage by starlight to an unknown +coast. 'Tis highly romantic." + +They set to work without delay. Captain Wellsby had occupations of his +own and no more than glanced at them in passing. Jack insisted on +carrying a water breaker and rations, he being hungry and too busy to +pause for supper. They would make a picnic cruise of the adventure. +Handily Joe reeved a purchase and they hauled away until their raft slid +off the sloping deck to leeward. With a gay hurrah to Captain Wellsby, +they paddled around the stern of the ship and through the ruffle of surf +that marked the shoal. + +In the soft twilight they trimmed the sail and swung at the clumsy oars, +while a fire blazing on the beach was a beacon to guide their course. +After a time they rested and wiped the sweat from their faces. The +progress of the raft was like that of a lazy snail. In the luminous +darkness they pulled with all their strength. The wind had died to a +calm. The sail hung idle from its yard. They heard, faint and afar, the +deep voices of the sailors in the jolly-boat as they returned to take +the skipper and his two companions from the ship on which a light +burned. + +The lads shouted but there came no answering hail from the unseen boat. +They were perplexed to understand how their courses could be so far +apart. Presently the night breeze drew off the land, bringing with it +the scent of green things growing. Joe Hawkridge stared at the fire on +the beach and then turned to look at the spark of light on the ship. The +raft had drifted considerably to the southward. Anxiously Joe said to +his shipmate: + +"The flood o' the tide must be setting us down the coast, in some crazy +current or other. Mayhap it runs strong through this race betwixt the +shoal and the beach with a slant that's bad for us." + +"I noted it," glumly agreed Jack. "The jolly-boat passed too far away to +please me. And this landward breeze is driving us to sea." + +"No sense in breaking our backs at these oars," grumbled Joe. "We go +ahead like a crab, with a sternboard. Think ye we can swing the raft to +fetch the ship?" + +"After Captain Wellsby turns the pirates loose and quits her?" scoffed +Jack. + +"I am a plaguey fool," cheerfully admitted Joe Hawkridge. "'Twould be +out of the frying-pan into the fire, with a vengeance." + +"And no way to signal our friends," sadly exclaimed Jack. "We forgot +flint and steel. It looks much like another voyage." + +"Straight for the open sea, my bully boy," agreed Joe. "And I'd as soon +chance it on a hen-coop." + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +THE VOYAGE OF THE LITTLE RAFT + + +THESE sturdy youngsters were not easily frightened, and Jack Cockrell, +the landsman, was confident that wind and tide would change to send the +little raft shoreward. So tranquil was the sea that they rode secure and +dry upon the cabin hatch which was buoyed by the two short spars. Joe +Hawkridge was silent with foreboding of a fate more bitter than the +perils which they had escaped. He had seen a lone survivor of a crew of +pirates picked off a raft in the Caribbean, a grisly phantom raving mad +who had gnawed the flesh of his dead comrades. + +They drifted quietly before the land breeze, beneath a sky all jeweled +with bright stars. The fire on the beach dimmed to a red spark and then +vanished from their wistful ken. They could no longer see the light on +the wreck of the _Plymouth Adventure_. Now and then the boys struggled +with the heavy oars and rowed until exhausted but they knew they could +be making no headway against the current which had gripped the derelict +raft. They ate sparingly of flinty biscuit and leathery beef pickled in +brine and stinted themselves to a few swallows of water from the wooden +breaker or tiny cask. + +"Hunger and thirst are strange to ye, Jack," said young Hawkridge as +they lay stretched side by side. "Hanged if I ever did get enough to eat +till I boarded the _Plymouth Adventure_. Skin and bone I am. I'll not +call this a bad cruise unless we have to chew our boot-tops. A pesky +diet is leather. I've tried it." + +"Truly, Joe?" cried Jack in lugubrious accents. "We may have more heart +when morning comes. A piping easterly breeze, such as is wont to come up +with the sun in Charles Town, and we can steer for the coast all taut +and cheery." + +"I dread the sun, Jack. For men adrift the blaze of it fries them like +fish on a grid. A pint of water a day, no more, is the allowance. 'Twill +torture you, but castaways can live on it. They have done it for weeks +on end. Here's two musket balls in my pocket. I can whittle a balance +from a bit of pine and we must weigh the bread and meat." + +"Two musket balls' weight of food for a meal?" protested Jack. + +"Not a morsel more," was the grim answer. "Granted we be not washed off +this silly raft and drowned when a fresh breeze kicks up the sea, we may +hold body and soul together through five or six days." + +"But some vessel will sight us, Joe, even if the plight is as dark as +your melancholy fancies paint it. And I thought you a light-hearted +mariner in danger." + +"The sea is a cruel master and she hath taught me prudence," was the +reply. "A vessel sight us? I fear an empty sea so soon after the storm. +And honest ships will be loth to venture out from port if the word sped +that Blackbeard was cruising off Charles Town bar." + +Jack Cockrell forsook the attempt to wring comfort out of his hardy +companion who refused to delude himself with vain imaginings. However, +it is the blessed gift of youth to keep the torch of hope unquenched and +presently they diverted themselves with chatting of their earlier +adventures. Jack was minded of his pompous, stout-hearted uncle, Mr. +Peter Arbuthnot Forbes, and wondered how he had fared, whether he had +set out to return to Blackbeard's ship with the store of medicines from +Charles Town when the great storm swooped down. Forgotten were Jack's +hot grievances against the worthy Secretary of the Council who had +sought to take a father's place. Piracy had lost its charm for young +Master Cockrell and meekly would he have obeyed the mandate to go to +school in merry England among sober, Christian folk. + +"Tremendous odd, I call it," exclaimed Joe Hawkridge. "Here I was a +pirate and hating the dirty business. And my dreams were all of learnin' +to be a gentleman ashore, to know how to read books and such. Blow me, +Jack, we should ha' swapped berths." + +"If my good uncle is alive I mean to commend you to his kindness," +exclaimed Jack. "We must cleave together, and you shall have a skinful +of books and school and manners." + +This pleased the young sea rover beyond measure and he diverted himself +with pictures of a cleaner, kindlier world than he had ever known. In +the small hours of the night, the twain drowsed upon their frail +platform which floated as a speck on the shrouded ocean. The waves +splashed over the spars as the breeze grew livelier and the piteous +voyagers were sopping wet but the water was not chill and they slept +through this discomfort. + +Jack Cockrell dreamed of walking in a green lane of Charles Town with +lovely Dorothy Stuart. A wave slapped his face and he awoke with a +sputtering cry of bewilderment. The eastern sky was rosy and the sea +shimmered in the eternal beauty of a new day. Joe Hawkridge sat huddled +against the mast, chin and knees together, his sharp eyes scanning the +horizon. With a grin he exclaimed: + +"The watch ahoy! Rouse out, shipmate, and show a leg! Turn to cheerly! +Holystone decks and wash down, ye lazy lubber." + +Jack groaned and scowled as he rolled over to ease his aching bones. He +was in no mood for jesting. There was no land in sight nor the gleam of +a sail, naught but the empty waste of the Atlantic, and the wind still +held westerly. + +"Let's have the beggarly morsel you miscall breakfast, Joe, and a swig +from the breaker. Are we bound across the main?" + +"Straight for London River, and the school you prate about, my bucko," +replied the scamp of a pirate. "Haul away on your belt and set the +buckle tighter. 'Twill ease the cursed hunger pain that gnaws like a +rat." + +They munched the pittance of salty food which made the thirst the harder +to endure, and then watched the sun climb hot and dazzling. It was +futile to hoist the sail and so they pulled the canvas over them as the +heat became more intense. By noon, Jack was begging for water to lave +his tongue but Joe Hawkridge laughed him to scorn and swore to hit him +with an oar unless he changed his tune. Never in his life had Jack known +the lack of food or drink and he therefore suffered cruelly. + +Worse than this privation was the increasing roughness of the sea. It +was a blithesome wind, rollicking across a sparkling carpet of blue, +with the little white clouds in flocks above, like lambs at play. But +the raft was more and more tossed about and the waves gushed over it +like foam on a reef. Through the day the castaways might cling to it but +they dreaded another night in which their weary bodies could not +possibly ward off sleep. Even though they tied themselves fast, what if +the raft should be capsized by the heave of the mounting swell? It was +the merest makeshift, scrambled together in haste as a ferry from the +wreck of the _Plymouth Adventure_. + +No longer did Jack Cockrell bemoan his situation. Taking pattern from +his comrade in misery, he set his teeth to await the end as became a +true man of gentle blood. After all, drowning was easier than the slow +torments of hunger and thirst. + +Every little while one of them crawled from under the canvas to look for +a ship. It was the vigilant Joe Hawkridge who, at length, discovered +what was very like a fleck of cloud on the ocean's rim, to the +southward. Afraid that his vision tricked him, he displayed no emotion +but held himself as steady as any stoic. Jack was wildly excited, +blubbering and waving his arms about. His hard-won composure was broken +to bits. But even though it were a ship, Joe well knew it might pass +afar off and so miss sighting this bit of raft which drifted almost +submerged. + +Slowly the semblance of a wandering fragment of cloud climbed the curve +of the watery globe until Joe Hawkridge perceived, with a mariner's eye, +that it was, indeed, a vessel steering in their direction. + +"Two masts!" said he, "and to'gallant-sails set to profit by this brave +breeze. A brig, Jack! Had she been a ship, my heart 'ud ha' been in my +throat. Blackbeard's _Revenge_ might be working up the coast, did she +live through the storm." + +"A brig?" joyfully cried Jack. "Ah, ha, I see her two masts plainly, +with mine own eyes. And they soar too tall for a merchant trader. Her +sails, too,--she spreads them like great wings. Who else will it be than +Captain Stede Bonnet in the _Royal James?_" + +"A shift of luck is due us, by the bones of Saint Iago," shouted Joe, in +a thrill of glad anticipation. "Watch her closely. You saw the brig in +Charles Town harbor. Bless God, this may well be Cap'n Stede Bonnet +yonder, an' perchance he cruises in search of Blackbeard to square +accounts with that vile traitor that so misused him." + +"A sworn friend of mine is Stede Bonnet," proudly declared Jack +Cockrell, "and pledged to bear a hand when I am in distress. He will +land us safe in Charles Town, Joe,--unless,--unless we choose to go +a-piratin' with him in the _Royal James_----" + +Jack's voice trailed off in tones of indecision so comical that his +comrade cried: + +"Not cured yet, you big numbskull? 'Cause this fine Cap'n Bonnet is a +gentleman pirate? His neck will stretch with the rest of 'em when the +law overtakes him. Thirteen burly lads I saw swinging in a row at +Wapping on the Thames." + +"I'll not argue it," sheepishly mumbled Jack. "However, we'll find a +safe deliverance aboard this _Royal James_." + +They clung to the swaying raft while the water washed over their knees +and watched the two masts disclose themselves until they fancied they +could not be mistaken. No other brig as powerful as this had been +reported cruising in the waters of Virginia and the Carolinas. By a +stroke of fortune almost incredible they had been saved at the very +brink of death. The brig was steering straight toward them, hauled to +take the wind abeam, and she would be up before sunset. + +Shading his eyes with his hand, Joe Hawkridge suddenly uttered a curse +so fierce and wicked that it was enough to freeze the blood. He clutched +Jack's shoulder for support as though shorn of all his strength and +hoarsely gasped: + +"Not two masts but three! See it? She lifts high enough to show the +stump of the foremast with head-sails jury rigged. 'Twas the storm made +a brig of her!" + +"Then she may be Blackbeard's ship?" faltered Jack, in a whisper. + +"Remember when the gale first broke and we parted company?" was the +reply. "The _Revenge_ lost her fore-topmast ere the swine could find +their wits." + +"Aye, Joe, but this may be some other vessel." + +"She looks most damnably familiar," was the reluctant admission. "A +great press of sail,--it fooled me into thinking her Stede Bonnet's +brig." + +Gloomily they waited until the black line of the hull was visible +whenever the raft lifted on the back of a wave. This was enough for Joe. +He recognized the graceful shear of the flush deck which had been +extended fore and aft to make room for a heavier main battery. Even at +a distance, a sailor's eye could read other signs that marked this ship +as the _Revenge_. + +"The devil looks after his own," angrily exclaimed Joe. "I'd ha' wagered +my last ducat that she was whirled away to founder. Blackbeard boasts of +his compact with Satan. I believe it's true." + +"Shall we pull down our mast and pray that he passes the raft as a piece +of wreckage?" implored Jack. + +Mustering his wits to meet this new crisis, Joe Hawkridge cried +impatiently: + +"No, no, boy! This way death is sure, and most discomfortin'. If it +suits Blackbeard's whim to pick us up, there is a chance,--a chance, I +say, but make one slip and he will run us through with his own hand." + +"We must arrange our tale of the wreck, Joe, to match without flaw. +Quick! What have we to say?" + +"A task for a scholar, this," grinned the sea urchin. "If it's not well +learned, we'll taste worse'n a flogging. Where be his prize crew of +pirates, asketh Blackbeard. Answer me that, Jack." + +"The _Plymouth Adventure_ was driven upon a shoal and lost," glibly +affirmed the other lad who had rallied to play at this hazardous game. +"Her boats were stove up. We left the pirates building a raft for +themselves and trusted ourselves to this poor contrivance, hoping to +gain the coast." + +"Good, as far as it goes," observed the critical Joe. + +"And it veers close to the truth. About the ship's company? What say +you?" + +"There I hang in the wind," confessed Jack. "Blackbeard would have flung +'em overboard, I trow. Have a shot at it yourself." + +"Well, leave me to answer that when the time comes. That we may agree, +suppose we say Ned Rackham needed the sailors to work the ship and so +spared 'em. Hanged if we can make it all true as Gospel." + +"But if Blackbeard searches for the wreck, or if some of those pirates +rejoin him, Joe----" + +"But me no more buts," snapped the sea rover. "We be jammed in a +clove-hitch, as the seaman's lingo hath it. Take trouble as it comes +and, ware ye, don't weaken." + +They stared at the oncoming ship, dreading to be rescued and even more +fearful of being passed by. Disfigured though she was by a shattered +foremast, the _Revenge_ made a gallant picture as she leaned to show the +copper sheathing which flashed like gold. Her bow flung the crested seas +aside and Joe Hawkridge muttered admiringly: + +"A swift vessel! She carries a bone in her teeth. A telescope can sight +us soon. Steady the raft, Jack, whilst I wriggle up this mast of ours +and wave my shirt." + +"A hard choice," sighed Jack. "Now we well know what it means to be +betwixt the devil and the deep sea." + +They saw the _Revenge_ shift her course a couple of points as the sheets +were eased off. A little way to windward of the raft, she hove to while +a small boat was hoisted out. Curiosity prompted Blackbeard to find out +who these castaways were and from what ship they had drifted. It +occurred to Joe Hawkridge that he might be in quest of tidings of the +two sloops of his squadron which no longer kept him company. Jack +Cockrell's teeth chattered but not with cold as the boat bobbed away +from the side of the _Revenge_. Presently Joe recognized the pirate at +the steering oar as a petty officer who had often befriended him. + +This fellow's swarthy, pockmarked face crinkled in a smile as he +flourished his broad hat and yelled: + +"Stab my gizzard, but here's the London 'prentice-boy a-cruisin' on his +own adventure." + +"Right-o, Jesse Strawn," Joe called back. "My bark is short-handed. I +need lively recruits. Will ye enlist?" + +The boat's crew laughed at this as they reached out to lay hold of the +raft while the two lads leaped aboard. Joe Hawkridge carried it off with +rough bravado as though glad to be among his pals again. They eyed Jack +Cockrell with quizzical interest and he did his best to be at ease, +permitting Joe to vouch for him as a young gentleman with a taste for +piracy who had won Blackbeard's favor in the _Plymouth Adventure_. They +were plied with eager questions regarding the fate of the merchant ship +and Ned Rackham's prize crew. It was a chance to rehearse the tale as +they had concocted it, and it seemed to hang together well enough to +satisfy these simple rogues. + +In his turn, Joe Hawkridge demanded to know the gossip of the _Revenge_. +The storm had sobered Blackbeard, it seemed, and he had displayed the +skill of a masterly seaman in bringing them safely through. In toiling +for their own lives, the men had forgotten their brawls and plots and +guzzling. And the great wind had blown the ship clear of Spanish fever. +There were no new cases and the invalids were gaining strength. Fresh +food and sweet water were needed and the opinion was that Blackbeard now +steered for an old rendezvous of his on the North Carolina coast where +his sloops would meet him if they were still afloat. + +Jack Cockrell found his courage returning as he clambered up the side of +the _Revenge_ and followed Joe aft to the quarter-deck. Unless they +bungled it, there was a chance that they might escape when the pirates +made their landing on the coast to refresh themselves and refit the +ship. The mate on watch greeted them good-humoredly enough and bade them +enter the cabin where the captain awaited them. Jack was all a-flutter +again but he managed to imitate Joe's careless swagger. + +Blackbeard lounged at his ease in a huge chair of carven ebony which +might have been filched from some stately East Indiaman or a ship of the +Grand Mogul himself. He had flung off his coat and the sleeves of a +shirt of damask silk were rolled to the elbow. Instead of the great, +mildewed sea-boots he wore slippers of crimson leather embroidered with +threads of gold. Gorgeous cushions, pieces of plate, costly apparel +strewed the cabin in barbaric confusion. + +What the two lads gazed at, however, was this bizarre figure of a despot +who held the power of life and death. It was one of his quieter +interludes when he laid aside the ferocious and bombastic play-acting +which made it hard to discover whether he was very cunning or half-mad. +The immense beard flowed down his chest instead of being tricked out in +gaudy ribbons. He was idly running a comb through it when his small, +rum-reddened eyes took in the two lads in dripping clothes who were +shoved toward him by the sentry guarding the hatch. + +Blackbeard let a hairy hand stray to clutch one of the pistols kept on +the table beside him. Jack Cockrell gulped and stole a frightened glance +at Joe Hawkridge who winked and nudged him. There was some small comfort +in this. Spellbound, they stared at the pistol and then at the pirate's +massive forearm on which a skull and cross-bones was pricked in India +ink. At this moment Jack earnestly wished himself back on the raft. The +barrel of the pistol looked as big as a blunderbuss. + +With a yawn, Blackbeard reached for a silver bowl of Brazil nuts, +cracked one of them with the pistol-butt and roared for the black cabin +boy who came running with a flask of Canary wine and a goblet. Jack +Cockrell's sigh of relief sounded like a porpoise coming up for air. He +was not to be shot at once. Suddenly Blackbeard exclaimed, in that +husky, growling voice of his: + +"I saw you rascals through the glass before I came below. What of the +ship I left ye in? Briefly now, and no lies." + +Together the lads pieced out the narrative as they had hastily prepared +it. The vital thing was to watch lest they tell a word too much. Jack +stumbled once or twice but his comrade covered it adroitly, and they did +not betray themselves. The sweat trickled into their eyes but the heat +of the cabin was excuse for this. Blackbeard studied them intently, +munching Brazil nuts and noisily sipping his wine. + +"The _Plymouth Adventure_ stranded yester-eve?" said he. "Know ye the +lay of the coast where the wreck lies? What of the shipmaster and Ned +Rackham? Were they able to fix the shoal by reckoning?" + +"No, sir," readily answered Joe Hawkridge. "'Twas strange land to all +hands." + +From a chest Blackbeard hauled out a dog-eared chart of parchment and +unrolled it upon the table. The boys foresaw his intention and feared +the worst. Presently they heard him mumble to himself: + +"A small wind setting from the west'ard,--twenty-four hours of drift +for the lads' raft,--a dozen leagues, I call it." + +He looked up from the chart to ask: + +"The wreck was lodged fast in smooth water and holding together?" + +"Aye, but in peril of working off and sinking like an iron pot," +answered Joe. "For this reason the people were in haste to quit her." + +"Her own crew made for the beach, I have no doubt," shrewdly pursued +Blackbeard, "but my men 'ud stay by the wreck and watch the weather ere +they shoved off. Trust the food and drink and plunder to hold 'em." + +He lumbered to the hatch and called up to the mate on watch. While they +conferred, Joe Hawkridge whispered to his perturbed companion: + +"He will hunt for the wreck, Jack. But unless the wind changes, he can't +beat in to the coast with his fore-topmast gone." + +"A merciful delay," muttered Jack. "I worry not so much for Captain +Wellsby and his people. They will hide themselves well inland when they +make out the _Revenge_, but what of you and me?" + +"'Tis a vexing life we lead. I will say that much, Master Cockrell." + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +THE MIST OF THE CHEROKEE SWAMP + + +THE dark cloud of anxiety was lightened a trifle by the fact that +Blackbeard displayed no ill temper toward the two young castaways. +Having obtained such information as they chose to offer, he roughly told +them to go forward and join the crew. Whether or no, Jack was impressed +as a pirate and it may have amused Blackbeard to recruit by force the +nephew of the honorable Secretary of the Provincial Council. For his +part, Jack was grateful to be regarded no longer as a hostage under +sentence of death. With Joe as an escort who knew the ropes, he went on +deck and was promptly kicked off the poop by the mate. + +They first found food and quenched their raging thirst with water which +had a loathsome smell. Joe reported to the chief gunner and begged the +chance to sleep for a dozen hours on end. This was granted amiably +enough and the pirates clustered about to ask all manner of curious +questions, but the weary lads dragged themselves into the bows of the +ship and curled up in a stupor. There they lay as if drugged, all +through the night, even when the seamen trampled over them to haul the +head-sails and tack ship. + +When, at last, they blinked at the morning sky, it dismayed them to find +the breeze blowing strong out of the southeast and the _Revenge_ +standing in to the coast under easy sail. They looked aft and saw +Blackbeard at the rail with a long glass at his eye. The whole crew was +eager with expectation and the routine work went undone. The ship had +been put about several hours earlier, Joe learned, and was due soon to +sight the shore unless the reckoning was all at fault. + +So cleverly had Blackbeard calculated the drift of the boys' raft that a +little later in the morning a lookout in the maintop called down: + +"Land, ho! Two points off the starboard bow she bears." + +"The maintop, ahoy!" shouted Blackbeard. "Can ye see a vessel's spars?" + +"'Tis too hazy inshore. But unless my eyes play me tricks, a smudge of +smoke arises." + +Jack Cockrell nervously confided to Joe: + +"That would be Captain Wellsby's campfire on the beach." + +"Trust him to douse it," was the easy assurance. "I feel better. Blow +me, but I expect to live another day." + +"Answer me why," begged Jack. "I am like a palsied old man." + +"Well, you know this bit o' coast, how low it sets above the sea. +Despite the haze, a man aloft could see a ship's masts and yards before +he had a glimpse of land." + +"Then the wreck of the _Plymouth Adventure_ has slid off the shoal and +gone down, Joe?" + +"Yes, when the wind veered and stirred a surf on the shoal. She pounded +over with the flood-tide and dropped into fifteen fathom." + +"Then we are saved, for now?" joyfully exclaimed Jack. + +"Unless we're unlucky enough to find some o' those plaguey pirates +afloat on a raft or makin' signals from the beach." + +The _Revenge_ sailed shoreward until those on board could discern the +marching lines of breakers which tumbled across the shoal. The smudge of +smoke had vanished from the beach. The lookout man concluded that the +haze had deceived him. Blackbeard steered as close as he dared go, with +a sailor heaving the lead, but there was no sign of life among the +sand-dunes and the stunted trees. And the _Plymouth Adventure_ had +disappeared leaving no trace excepting scattered bits of floating +wreckage. + +The pirate ship headed to follow the coast to the northward, on the +chance that Ned Rackham's prize crew might have made a landing +elsewhere. To Jack Cockrell the gift of life had been miraculously +vouchsafed him and he felt secure for the moment. Joe's theory seemed +plausible, that the pirates had abandoned the _Plymouth Adventure_ in +time to avert drowning with her, and were driven away from the bight and +the beach by Captain Wellsby's well-armed sailors. + +"Do they know Blackbeard's rendezvous in the North Carolina waters, +Joe?" was the natural query. "Are they likely to make their way thither, +knowing that honest men will slay them at sight?" + +"The swamps and the murderous Indians will take full toll of 'em, Jack. +I believe we have seen the last of those rogues, but I'd rest better +could I know for certain." + +"Meanwhile this mad Blackbeard may be taken in one of his savage +frenzies and shoot me for sport," said young Master Cockrell, for whom +existence had come to be one hazard after another. + +"He seems strangely tame, much like a human soul," observed Joe. "I +ne'er beheld him like this. He plots some huge mischief, methinks." + +And now the ship's officers drove the men to their work but they were +less abusive than usual. They seemed to reflect Blackbeard's milder +humor and it was manifest that they wished to avoid the crew's +resentment. Joe Hawkridge was puzzled and began to ferret it out among +his friends who were trustworthy. They had their own suspicions and the +general opinion was that Blackbeard was in great dread of encountering +Captain Stede Bonnet in the _Royal James_. It seemed that the _Revenge_ +had spoken a disabled merchant ship just after the storm and her skipper +reported that he had been overhauled by Stede Bonnet a few days earlier +and the best of his cargo stolen. Blackbeard had been seized with +violent rage but had suffered the ship to proceed on her way because of +his own short-handed condition. + +With a prize crew lost in the _Plymouth Adventure_, including +Sailing-Master Ned Rackham, and the two sloops of the squadron missing +with all hands, the terrible Blackbeard was in poor shape to meet this +Captain Bonnet who hated him beyond measure. As if this were not gloomy +enough, there were men in the _Revenge_ eager to sail under Bonnet's +flag and to mutiny if ever they sighted the _Royal James_. It behooved +Blackbeard to press on to that lonely inlet on the North Carolina coast +and avoid the open sea until he could prepare to fight this dangerous +foeman. + +It surprised Jack Cockrell to see how quiet a pirate ship could be. The +ruffians were bone-weary, for one thing, after the struggle to bring the +vessel through the storm. And the scourge of tropic fever had left its +marks. Moreover, the rum was running short because some of the casks had +been staved in the heavy weather and Blackbeard was doling it out as +grog with an ample dilution of water. There was no more dicing and +brawling and tipsy choruses. Sobered against their will, some of these +bloody-minded sinners talked repentance or shed tears over wives and +children deserted in distant ports. + +The wind blew fair until the _Revenge_ approached the landmarks familiar +to Blackbeard and found a channel which led to the wide mouth of +Cherokee Inlet. It was a quiet roadstead sheltered from seaward by +several small islands. The unpeopled swamp and forest fringed the shores +but a green meadow and a margin of white sand offered a favorable place +for landing. As the _Revenge_ slowly rounded the last wooded point, the +tall mast of a sloop became visible. The pirates cheered and discharged +their muskets in salute as they recognized one of the consorts which had +been blown away in the storm. + +Blackbeard strutted on his quarter-deck, no longer biting his nails in +fretful anxiety. He had donned the military coat with the glittering +buttons and epaulets and the huge cocked hat with the feather in it. He +noted that the sloop, which was called the _Triumph_, fairly buzzed with +men, many more than her usual complement. No sooner had the ship let her +anchor splash than a boat was sent over to her with the captain of the +sloop who made haste to pay his compliments and explain his voyage. He +was a portly, sallow man with a blustering manner and looked more like a +bailiff or a tapster than a brine-pickled gentleman of fortune. + +Blackbeard hailed him cordially and invited him into the cabin. The boat +waited alongside the _Revenge_ and the men scrambled aboard to swap +yarns with the ship's crew. Jack Cockrell hovered near the group as +they squatted on their heels around a tub of grog and learned that the +_Triumph_ had rescued the crew of the other sloop just before it had +foundered. There were a hundred men of them, in all, crowded together +like dried herring, and part were sleeping ashore in huts of boughs and +canvas. No wonder Blackbeard was in blither spirits. Here was a company +to pick and choose from and so fill the depleted berth-deck of the +_Revenge_. + +Finding the poop deserted, Joe Hawkridge ventured far enough to peer in +at a cabin window. Blackbeard was at table, together with his first +mate, the chief gunner, the acting sailing-master, and the captain of +the sloop. They were exceeding noisy, singing most discordantly and +laughing at indecent jests. Suddenly Blackbeard whipped two pistols from +his sash and fired them under the table, quite at random. + +The first mate leaped up with a horrible yell and clapped a hand to the +calf of his leg. Then he bolted out of the cabin, which was blue with +smoke, and limped in search of the surgeon. Joe Hawkridge dodged aside +but he heard the jovial Blackbeard shout, with a whoop of laughter: + +"Discipline, damme! If I don't kill one of you now and then, you'll +forget who I am." + +Inasmuch as none of the other guests dared squeak after this episode, it +was to be inferred that they were properly impressed. + +[Illustration: THE FIRST MATE LEAPED UP WITH A HORRIBLE YELL] + +In a little while the mate returned with his leg neatly bandaged, +announced that it was a mere flesh wound, and sat down as though nothing +out of the ordinary had occurred to mar the festive occasion. Through +the rest of the day, boats were passing between the ship and the sloop +in a convivial reunion. Supper was to be cooked on the beach in great +iron kettles and a frolic would follow the feast. The sloop had rum +enough to sluice all the parched gullets aboard the _Revenge_. + +Jack Cockrell had no desire to join this stupid revel but he was eager +to get ashore to discover what opportunity there might be to escape. But +the wiser Joe Hawkridge counseled patience, saying: + +"Wait a bit. We'd be as helpless as any babes should we take to our +heels in this ungodly wilderness. Is there a town or plantation near +by?" + +"I know not," ruefully confessed Jack. "Charles Town lies to the south, +and Virginia to the north. There my knowledge fetches up short." + +"And leagues of morass to flounder through, by the look of this coast," +said Joe. "We be without weapons, or food, or----" + +"I am a hot-headed fool, I grant you that," broke in Jack. "Now bestow +your sage advice." + +"You will not be allowed to go ashore, for one thing, Master Cockrell. +Blackbeard has no notion of letting you get away from him to betray this +rendezvous and stir the colonies to send an expedition after him. +Steady the helm, Jack, and watch for squalls. If I can read the signs, +there is trouble afoot. And we must seek our own advantage in the nick +of time." + +"But these wild sots no longer think of mutiny and the like, Joe. They +are content to let the morrow go hang." + +"S-s-s-h, 'ware the master of the sloop," cautioned Joe. "He makes for +the gangway, the big lump of tallow." + +They moved away while Captain Richard Spender clumsily descended into +his boat, his broad face flushed, his breath asthmatic. He had a piping +voice absurd for his bulk and the two lads amused themselves with +mimicking him as the boat pulled in the direction of the sloop. So safe +against surprise did Blackbeard regard himself in this lonely anchorage +that no more than a dozen men were left aboard to keep the ship through +the night. Among these was Jack Cockrell, as his comrade had foreseen. +It therefore happened that they remained together, for Joe had +volunteered to join the anchor watch. In a melancholy mood the two lads +idled upon the after deck. + +The sun dropped behind the dark and tangled forest and flights of herons +came winging it home to the islets in the swamps. On the sward by the +silver strand the throng of pirates had stilled their clamor while a +rascal with a tenor voice held them enraptured with the haunting refrain +of: + + "Sweet Annie frae the sea-beach came, + Where Jockey's climbed the vessel's side: + Ah! wha can keep her heart at hame, + When Jockey's tossed aboon the tide? + + "Far off 'till distant realms he gangs, + But I'se be true, as he ha' been; + And when ilk lass around him thrangs, + He'll think on Annie's faithful een." + +Forlorn Jack Cockrell had homesick thoughts and felt hopeless of loosing +the snares which bound him. All that sustained his courage was the +sanguine disposition of Joe Hawkridge, whose youthful soul had been so +battered and toughened by dangers manifold on land and sea that he +expected nothing less. Listening to the pirate's moving ballad, they sat +and swung their legs from the ship's taffrail while their gaze idly +roved to the green curtain of undergrowth which ran lush to the water's +edge to the northward of the beach. + +It was Joe who called attention to a floating object which moved inside +the mouth of the small, tidal creek that wandered through the marshy +lowlands. In the shadowy light it could easily be mistaken for a log +drifting down on the ebb of the tide. This was what the lads assumed it +to be until they both noticed a behavior curious in a log. The long, low +object turned athwart the current at the entrance of the creek and shot +toward the nearest bank as though strongly propelled. + +Joe lifted the telescope from its case in front of the wooden +binnacle-box and squinted long at the edge of the creek. Crude though +the glass was, he was enabled to discern that the object was, in truth, +a log, but evidently hollowed out. Rounded at the ends, it held two men +whose figures so blended into the dusk that they disclosed themselves +only when in motion. + +"A pirogue," said Joe, "and fashioned by Indians! What is the tribe +hereabouts? Have ye a guess?" + +"Roving Yemassees, or men of the Hatteras tribe," answered Jack. "Yonder +brace of savages will be scouts." + +"Aye, but there'll be no attack 'gainst this pirates' bivouac, right +under the guns of the ships. The Indians are too wise to attempt it." + +"Look, Joe! Hand me the glass. Those two spies have quitted the pirogue. +'Tis quite empty. They may lay up all night to creep closer and keep +watch on the camp." + +"Right enough, by Crambo! If we could but gain yon cypress canoe, and +steal along the coast by sail and paddle----" + +"'Tis the chance we prayed for," eagerly exclaimed Jack. "Dare we swim +for it?" + +"Not with a boat just coming off from shore. What if we try it in the +night and find the pirogue gone?" + +"We are stranded for sure, and Blackbeard will kill us." + +Baffled, they strained their eyes until the shore stood black in the +starlight, but as long as the dusk lingered they fancied they could +descry the empty pirogue. The ship's boat which presently drew alongside +contained Blackbeard himself and Captain Dick Spender of the _Triumph_ +sloop, besides several officers of the two vessels. They withdrew into +the cabin and there was prolonged discussion, lasting well toward +midnight. + +It was a secretive session, with trusted men of the boat's crew posted +to keep eavesdroppers away from the hatches and windows, nor was there +any loud carousing. Some business was afoot and Jack wondered whether it +might concern the trouble which Joe had sworn was brewing under the +surface. A circumstance even more suspicious was that three of the +sailors from the boat were called into the cabin. Joe Hawkridge knew +them as fellows loyal to Blackbeard through thick and thin. Drunken +beasts, as a rule, they were cold sober to-night. + +As quietly as they had come, the whole party dropped into the boat and +returned either to the beach or to the sloop which rode at anchor two +cable-lengths away. The _Revenge_ floated with no more activity on her +darkened decks. The few men of the watch drowsed at their stations or +wistfully gazed at the fires ashore and the mob of pirates who moved in +the red glare. Jack Cockrell and Joe Hawkridge felt no desire for sleep. +As the ship swung with the turn of the tide, they went to the side and +leaned on the tall bulwark where they might catch the first glimpse of +the shore with the break of day. + +Meanwhile they busied themselves with this wild scheme and that. Sifting +them out, it was resolved to swim from the ship at the first +opportunity. If they could not find the Indian pirogue, Joe would try to +get into the pirates' camp by night and possess himself of an axe, an +adze, a musket or two, and such food as he could smuggle out. Then, at a +pinch, they could hide themselves a little way inland and hew out a +pirogue of their own from a dry log. After hitting upon this plan, the +better it seemed the more they thrashed it over. + +Unluckily it occurred to them so late in the night that they feared to +attempt it then lest the dawn might overtake them while they were +swimming. 'Twas a great pity, said Joe, that their wits had hung fire, +like a damp flint-lock, for this was the night when the pirates would be +the most slack and befuddled and it would be precious hard waiting +through another day. Jack glumly agreed with this point of view. + +It was so near morning, however, that they lingered to scan the shore. +Then it was observed that a pearly mist was rising from the swamp lands +and spreading out over the water. It was almost like a fog which the +morning breeze would dispel after a while. Rolling like smoke it hung so +low that the topmast of the sloop rose above it although her hull was +like the gray ghost of a vessel. + +"No sign of wind as yet," said Joe, holding up a wetted finger, "and +that red sunset bespoke a calm, hot day. This odd smother o' mist may +stay a couple of hours. Will ye venture it with me, Jack?" + +"Gladly! Over we go, before the watch is flogged awake by the bos'n's +mate." + +They crept aft to the high stern and paid out a coil of rope until it +trailed in the water beneath the railed gallery which overhung the huge +rudder. Joe belayed his end securely and slid over like a flash, +twisting the rope around one leg and letting himself down as agile as a +monkey. Without a splash he cast himself loose and Jack followed but not +so adroitly. When he plopped into the water the commotion was like +tossing a barrel overboard, but nobody sounded an alarm. + +They clung to the rusty rudder chains and listened. The ship was all +quiet. Then out into the mist they launched themselves, swimming almost +submerged, dreading to hear an outcry and the spatter of musket balls. +But the veiling mist and the uncertain light of dawn soon protected the +fugitives. It was slow, exhausting progress, hampered as they were by +their breeches and shoes which could not be discarded. They tried to +keep a sense of direction, striking out for the mouth of the creek in +which the pirogue had been moored, but the tide set them off the course +and the only visible marks were the spars of the ship behind them and +the sloop's topmast off to one side. + +[Illustration: JACK ALMOST BUMPED INTO THE DUGOUT CANOE] + +Jack swam more strongly and showed greater endurance because he had the +beef and had been better nourished all his life than the scrawny young +powder boy who was more like a lath. Now and then Jack paused to tread +water while his shipmate clung to his shoulder and husbanded his waning +strength, with that indomitable grin on his freckled phiz. Of one thing +they were thankful, that the tide was bearing them farther away from the +pirates' camp, which was now as still as though the sleepers were dead +men. + +"Blood and bones, but I have swum a league a'ready," gurgled Joe during +one of the halts. + +"Shut your mouth or you'll fill up to the hatch and founder," scolded +Jack. "I see trees in the mist. The shore is scarce a pistol shot away." + +"I pray my keel scrapes soon," spluttered the waterlogged Hawkridge as +he kicked himself along in a final effort. + +Huzza, their feet touched the soft ooze and they fell over stumps and +rotted trunks buried under the surface. Scratched and beplastered with +mud, they crawled out in muck which gripped them to the knees, and +roosted like buzzards upon the butt of a prostrate live-oak. + +"Marooned," quoth Joe, "to be eaten by snakes and alligators." + +"Nonsense," snapped Master Cockrell, who had hunted deer and wild-fowl +on the Carolina coast. "We can pick our way with care. I have seen +pleasanter landscapes than this, but I like it better than Blackbeard's +company." + +There was no disputing this statement and Joe plucked up spirit, as was +his habit when another arduous task confronted him. Cautiously they made +their way from one quaking patch of sedge to another or scrambled to +their middles. There came a ridge of higher ground thick with brambles +and knotted vines and they traversed this with less misery. A gleam of +water among the trees and they took it to be the creek which they sought +to find. Wary of lurking Indians, they wormed along on their stomachs +and so came to the high swamp grass of the bank. + +They swam the creek and crept toward its mouth. Jack was rooting along +like a bear when he almost bumped into the dugout canoe which had looked +so very like a stranded log. It was tied to a tree by a line of twisted +fibre and the rising tide had borne it well up into the marsh. Here it +was invisible from the ship and only a miracle of good fortune had +revealed it to the lads in that glimpse from the deck at sundown. + +They crawled over the gunwale and slumped in the bottom of the pirogue, +which was larger than they expected, a clumsy yet seaworthy craft with a +wide floor and space to crowd a dozen men. Fire had helped to hollow it +from a giant of a cypress log, for the inner skin was charred black. +Three roughly made paddles were discovered. This was tremendously +important, and all they lacked was a mast and sail to be true +navigators. + +Something else they presently found which was so unlooked for, so +incredible, that they could only gape and stare at each other. Tucked in +the bow was a seaman's jacket of tarred canvas, of the kind used in wet +weather. Sewed to the inside of it was a pocket of leather with a +buttoned flap. This Jack Cockrell proceeded to explore, recovering from +his stupefaction, and fished out a wallet bound in sharkskin as was the +habit of sailors to make for themselves in tropic waters. It contained +nothing of value, a few scraps of paper stitched together, a bit of +coral, a lock of yellow hair, a Spanish coin, some shreds of dried +tobacco leaf. + +Carefully Jack examined the ragged sheets of paper which seemed to be a +carelessly jotted diary of dates and events. Upon the last leaf was +scrawled, "_Bill Saxby, His Share_," and beneath this entry such items +as these: + + "Aprl. ye 17--A Spanish shippe rich laden. 1 sack + Vanilla. 2 Rolls Blue Cloth of Peru. 1 Packet + Bezoar Stones. + + "May ye 24--A Poor Shippe. 3 Bars of Silver. 1 + Case Cordial Waters. A Golden Candle-stick. My + share by Lot afore ye Mast." + +Joe Hawkridge could neither read nor write but he had ready knowledge +of the meaning of these entries and he cried excitedly: + +"Say the name again, Jack. Bill Saxby, His Share. Strike me blind, but I +was chums with Bill when we lay off Honduras. As decent a lad as ever +went a-piratin'! A heart of oak is Bill, hailin' from London town." + +"But what of the riddle?" impatiently demanded Jack. "Whence this Indian +pirogue? And where is Bill Saxby?" + +"He sailed with Stede Bonnet, bless ye," answered Joe. "These two men we +spied in the canoe last night were no Indians. _They were Cap'n Bonnet's +men._ Indians would ha' hid the pirogue more craftily." + +"But they came not along the coast. Did they drop down this creek from +somewhere inland?" + +"There you put me in stays," confessed Joe. "One thing I can swear. They +were sent to look for Blackbeard's ships. And I sore mistrust they were +caught whilst prowling near the camp. Else they would ha' come back to +the canoe before day." + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +THE EPISODE OF THE WINDING CREEK + + +THE singular discovery of Bill Saxby's jacket was like a shock to drive +all else out of their minds. Now they found that it had been thrown over +a jug of water and a bag of beef and biscuit stowed in the bow. This +solved one pressing problem, and they nibbled the hard ration while +debating the situation. It was agreed that they could not honorably run +away with the pirogue if it really belonged to Stede Bonnet's men, who +must have come on foot along the higher ground back of the coast and +descended the creek in the canoe stolen or purchased from Indians met by +chance. + +Granted this much, it was fair to conjecture that Captain Bonnet's ship +was in some harbor not many leagues distant and that he knew where to +find Blackbeard's rendezvous, at Cherokee Inlet. + +"'Tis your job to stand by the pirogue, Jack," suggested Hawkridge, "and +I will make a sally toward the pirates' camp afore they rouse out." + +"Go softly, Joe, and don't be reckless. Why not lie up till night before +you reconnoitre?" + +"'Cause the mist still hangs heavy and I'm blowed if I dilly-dally if +good Bill Saxby has come to grief." + +"Supposing he has, you cannot wrest him single-handed from Blackbeard's +crew." + +"Well, if I can but slip a word of comfort in his ear, it'll cheer him +mightily, unless his throat be cut by now," was the stubborn response. +"Sit thee taut, Jack, old _camarada_, and chuck the worry. Care killed a +cat. These rogues yonder in the camp won't _molest me_ if I walk boldly +amongst 'em." + +"What if you don't return?" persisted Jack. "How long shall I wait here +with the pirogue?" + +"Now what the deuce can I say to such foolish queries? If things go +wrong with me and Bill and his mate, you will have to cruise alone or +hop back to the _Revenge_." + +With a laugh and a wave of the hand, the dauntless adventurer leaped +from the nose of the canoe, nimbly hauled himself into a tree, and then +plunged into the gloomy swamp where he was speedily lost to view. Jack +Cockrell settled himself to wait for he knew not what. Clouds of midges +and mosquitoes tormented him and he ached with fatigue. Soon after +sunrise the mist began to burn away and the mouth of the creek was no +longer obscured by shadows. In the glare of day Jack thought it likely +that the canoe might be detected by some pair of keen eyes aboard the +_Revenge_. + +To move it far might imperil Joe Hawkridge and Bonnet's two seamen +should they come in haste with a hue-and-cry behind them. Jack paddled +the pirogue up the creek and soon found a safe ambuscade, a stagnant +cove in among the dense growth, where he tied up to a gnarled root. Then +he climbed a wide-branching oak and propped himself in a crotch from +which he could see the open water and the two vessels at anchor. Clumps +of taller trees cut off any view of the beach and the camp but he dared +stray no farther from the pirogue. + +Tediously an hour passed and there was no sign of Joe Hawkridge. He had +a journey of only a few hundred yards to make, and Jack began to imagine +all kinds of misfortune that might have befallen him, such as being +mired beyond his depth in the swamp and perishing miserably. The +sensible conclusion was, however, that he had tarried among his +shipmates in the camp with some shrewd purpose in mind. + +A little later in the morning, Jack's anxious cogitations were diverted +by the frequent passage of boats between the _Revenge_ and the sloop +which was anchored nearer the beach. One of these small craft was +Blackbeard's own cock-boat, or captain's gig, which he used for errands +in smooth water, with a couple of men to pull it. Jack was reminded of +that secret conference in the cabin and Joe's conviction that some +uncommon devilment was afoot. It appeared as though "Tallow Dick" +Spender, that unwholesome master of the _Triumph_ sloop, had been chosen +as the right bower. + +And now there arose a sudden and riotous noise in the camp. It was not +the mirth and song of jolly pirates a-pleasuring ashore but the +ferocious tumult of men in conflict and taken unawares. Perched in the +tree, Jack Cockrell listened all agog as the sounds rose and fell with +the breeze which swayed the long gray moss that draped the branches. He +heard a few pistol shots and then was startled to see a spurt of flame +dart from a gun-port of the sloop. The dull report reached him an +instant later. He could see that the gun had been fired from the +vessel's shoreward battery. It meant that Blackbeard was making a target +of some part of the camp. Another gun belched its cloud of smoke. + +The noise died down, save for intermittent shouts and one long wail of +anguish. Presently a boat moved out past the sloop. A dozen men tugged +at the oars and others stood crowded in the stern-sheets. Jack caught +the gleam of weapons and thought he recognized the squat, broad figure +of Blackbeard himself beside the man at the steering oar. Behind this +pinnace from the _Revenge_ trailed two other boats in tow. They passed +in slow procession, out between the vessels. The boats which the pinnace +towed were not empty. Instead of sitting upon the thwarts, men seemed to +be strewn about in them as if they had been tossed over the gunwales +like so much dunnage. + +Jack rubbed his eyes in amazement and watched the line of boats turn to +follow the channel which led out of the sheltered roadstead to the sea +beyond. When they vanished beyond a sandy island, the lad in the +live-oak tree said to himself: + +"My guess is that Blackbeard has put a stopper on all talk of mutiny by +one bold stroke. A bloody weeding-out, and in those two boats are the +poor wretches who were taken alive. Alas, one of 'em may be Joe +Hawkridge unless he be dead already. He talked too much of Stede Bonnet +aboard the ship. And there were sneaking dogs in the crew who spied on +their comrades. We saw them enter the cabin last night." + +There was no getting around the evidence. It fitted together all too +well. Jack sadly reflected that, beyond a doubt, he had seen the last of +gallant, loyal Joe Hawkridge. Left alone with the pirogue, which he +could not paddle single-handed, it was folly to think of trying to +escape along the coast. And to wander inland, ignorant of the country, +was to court almost certain death. Nor could he now expect mercy from +Blackbeard, having deserted the ship against orders and known to be a +true friend of Captain Stede Bonnet. + +The most unhappy lad could no longer hold his cramped station in the +tree and he decided to seek the canoe and find the meagre solace of a +little food and water. He was half-way to the ground when he clutched a +limb and halted to peer into the swamp. Something was splashing through +the mud and grass and making a prodigious fuss about it. Then Jack heard +two voices in grunts and maledictions. Fearing the enemy might have +tracked him, he stood as still as a mouse in the leafage of the oak. + +Out of the swamp emerged a young man with a musket on his shoulder. +Behind him came one very much older, gaunt and wrinkled, his hair as +gray as the Spanish moss that overhung his path. They reached the edge +of the creek and then turned down to halt where the pirogue had been +left. At failing to find it there, they argued hotly and were much +distressed. Jack Cockrell's fears were calmed. These were no men of +Blackbeard's company, but good Bill Saxby and his mate. He called to +them from his perch and they stood wondering at this voice from heaven. + +In a jiffy Jack had slid down and was beckoning them. They hurried as +fast as they could pull their feet out of the muck, and were overjoyed +to jump into the hidden canoe. There they sat and thumped Jack Cockrell +on the head by way of affectionate greeting. The younger man had a +chubby cheek, a dimple in his chin, and blue eyes as big and round as a +babe's. + +"Bill Saxby is me," said his pleasant voice, "and a precious job had I +to get here. Joe Hawkridge told me of you, Master Cockrell." + +"Where is Joe?" cried Jack, dreading to hear his own opinion confirmed. + +"Marooned, along with two dozen luckless lads that were trapped like +pigeons----" + +"'Twas more like turtles all a-sleepin' in the sand," the old man +croaked in rusty accents. "A few was sharp awake and they fought pretty +whilst the rest rallied, but they got drove with their backs to the +swamp and a deep slough. Then the sloop turned her guns on 'em and they +struck their colors." + +"And Joe Hawkridge sided with his friends, of course," said Jack. + +"Would ye expect aught else of him?" proudly answered Bill Saxby. "He +searched us out where we lay trussed like fowls, all bound with ropes. +We blundered fair into the camp last night, and old Trimble Rogers here, +his legs knotted with cramps, couldn't make a run for it. They saved us +for Blackbeard's pleasure but he had other fish to fry." + +"What then?" demanded Jack. + +"'Twas Joe Hawkridge that ran to cut our bonds when the fight began. And +he bade us leg it for the pirogue and carry word to you. A pledge of +honor, he called it, to stand by his dear friend Jack, and he made us +swear it." + +"Bless him for a Christian knight of a pirate," said Jack, with tears in +his eyes. "Was he hurt, did ye happen to note?" + +"We hid ourselves till the prisoners were flung into the boats. I marked +Joe as one of 'em, and he was sprightly, barring a bloody face." + +"Marooned, Bill Saxby?" asked Jack. "What's your judgment on that +score? It cannot be many leagues from here, or the ship would have +transported them instead of the boats." + +"These barren islands lie strung well out from the coast, Master +Cockrell. Waterless they be, and without shelter. Blackbeard's fancy is +to let the men die there----" + +"An ancient custom of buccaneers and pirates," put in old Trimble +Rogers, with an air of grave authority. "I mind me in the year of 1687 +when I sailed in the South Sea with that great captain, Edward +Davis,--'twas after the sack of Guayaquil when every man had a greater +weight of gold and silver than he could lug on his back----" + +Bill Saxby interrupted, in a petulant manner: + +"Stow it, grandsire! At a better time ye can please the lad with your +long-winded yarns,--of marching on Panama with Henry Morgan when the +mother's milk was scarce dry on your lips." + +"I cruised with the best of 'em," boasted the last of the storied race +of true buccaneers of the Spanish Main, "and now I be in this cheap +trade of piratin'. The fortunes I gamed away, and the plate ships I +boarded! Take warnin', boy, and salt your treasure down." + +"This Trimble Rogers will talk you deaf," said Bill Saxby, "but there's +pith in his old bones and wisdom under yon hoary thatch. Cap'n Bonnet +sent him along with me as a rare old hound to trail the swamps." + +In a vivid flash of remembrance, Jack Cockrell saw this salty relic of +the Spanish Main among the crew which had disported itself on the tavern +green at Charles Town,--the old man sitting aside with a couple of stray +children upon his knees while his head nodded to the lilt of the fiddle. +And again there had been a glimpse of him trudging in the column which +had followed Stede Bonnet, with trumpet and drum, to attack the hostile +Indians. Jack's heart warmed to Trimble Rogers and also to young Bill +Saxby. They would find some way out of all this tribulation. + +"Whither lies Captain Bonnet's stout ship?" eagerly demanded Jack. + +"On this side the Western Ocean," smiled Saxby. "We shall waste no time +in finding her. We had better bide where we are a few hours, eh, +Trimble?" + +"Aye, and double back up the stream in the canoe to spend the night on +dry land and push on afoot at dawn. If we wait to sight Blackbeard's +boats come in from sea, 'twill aid us to reckon how far out they went +and what the bearings are." + +"So Captain Bonnet may sail to pick off those poor seamen marooned," +exclaimed Jack. + +"He is not apt to leave 'em to bleach their bones," said Bill Saxby. +"And when it comes to closing in with Blackbeard, they will have a +grudge of their own." + +They made themselves as comfortable as possible on the bottom of the +pirogue. Now and then Jack climbed the live-oak to look for the return +of the boats. There was no more leisure for the pirates left in the ship +and the sloop. Evidently Blackbeard had been alarmed by the tidings that +two of Stede Bonnet's men had been caught spying him out and had made +their escape in the confusion. The sloop was now listed over in shoal +water and Bill Saxby ventured the opinion that they intended to take the +mast out of her and put it in the _Revenge_. + +"Along with most of her guns, I take it," said Trimble Rogers. "What +with losing all those men, in one way or another, this Blackbeard, as +Cap'n Ed'ard Teach miscalls hisself, must needs abandon the sloop. The +more the merrier, says I, when we come at close quarters." + +Jack asked many curious questions, by way of passing the time. The old +man was easy to read. He had been a lawless sea rover in the days when +there was both gold and glory in harrying Spanish towns and galleons, +from Mexico to Peru. The real buccaneers had vanished but he was too old +a dog to learn new tricks and he faithfully served Stede Bonnet, who had +a spark of the chivalry and manliness which had burned so brightly in +that idolized master, Captain Edward Davis. + +As for this blue-eyed smiling young Bill Saxby, he had been a small +tradesman in London. Through no fault of his own, he was cruelly +imprisoned for debt and, after two years, shipped to the Carolina +plantations as no better than a slave. For all he knew, the girl wife +and child in London had been suffered to starve. He had never heard any +word of them. As a fugitive he had been taken aboard a pirate vessel. +There he found kindlier treatment than honest men had ever offered him, +and so grew somewhat reconciled to this wicked calling. + +On one of the occasions when Jack left these entertaining companions to +visit his high sentry post in the tree, he surmised that all hands had +been summoned on the vessel and lifting out her mast. He could see two +boats plying back and forth and filled with men. He lingered because +something else caught his interest. A little boat was putting out from +the seaward side of the _Revenge_ and it fetched a wide circuit of the +harbor. This brought the ship between it and the sloop so that its +departure would be unobserved by the toiling crew. + +Two men were at the oars and a third sat in the stern. At a distance, +Jack guessed they were bound to one of the nearest islands, perhaps in +search of oysters or crabs, but after making a long sweep which carried +the boat out of vision of the sloop and the beach, it swung toward the +shore, a little to the northward of the mouth of the creek. The errand +had a stealthy air. Jack Cockrell started and almost fell out of the +tree. He had been mistaken in his fancy that Blackbeard was in the +pinnace which had towed the prisoners out to be marooned. This was none +other than the grotesque fiend of a pirate himself, furtively steering +his cock-boat on some private errand of his own. + +As soon as he was certain of this, Jack fairly scurried down the tree, +digging his toes in the bark like a squirrel, and tumbling head over +heels into the pirogue. Breathing rapidly, he stuttered: + +"The--the devil himself,--in that little w-wherry of his,--c-coming +inshore. He must ha' seen the canoe. He is in chase of me." + +"Go take a look, Bill," coolly remarked old Trimble Rogers, who was busy +slapping at mosquitoes. "A touch o' the sun has bred a nightmare in the +lad." + +Bill Saxby swarmed up the live-oak like a limber seaman with fish-hooks +for fingers and he, too, almost lost his balance at what he saw. He +waved a warning hand at the canoe and then put his fingers to his lips. +Down he came in breakneck haste and urged the others to haul their craft +farther up into the sedge. He was plucking green bushes and armfuls of +dried grass to fling across the gunwales. + +Satisfied that the canoe was entirely concealed, they crouched low. The +old man was more concerned with the pest of insects and he reached out +to claw up the sticky mud with which he plastered his face and neck like +a mask. This seemed to give him some relief and his comrades were glad +to do the same. Bill Saxby was attentive to the priming of the musket, +which he passed over to Trimble Rogers, saying: + +"You are the chief gunner, old hawk. But hold your fire. I'm itching to +know what trick this Don Whiskerando is up to." + +"Fair enough," muttered the old man. "Cap'n Bonnet 'ud clap me in irons +if I slew this filthy Ed'ard Teach and robbed him of that enjoyment. +I'll pull no trigger save in our own defense." + +They heard the faint splash of oars. Soon the little cock-boat came +gliding around the bend of the shore and floated into the mouth of the +creek. Bill Saxby raised himself for a moment and ducked swiftly as he +whispered: + +"He is not lookin' about but motions 'em to row on up the stream." + +"Then our canoe is not what he's after?" murmured Jack. + +"'Tis some queer game. Were he hunting us, he'd fetch along more hands +than them two. Hush! Let him pass." + +The little boat came steadily on, the tide helping the oars. It sat very +low in the water, oddly so for the weight of three men. Blackbeard, +hunched in the stern, held a pistol in one hand while the other gripped +the tiller. This was not in fear of danger from the shore because he +kept his eyes on the two seamen at the oars and it was plain to see that +the pistol was meant to menace them. + +The boat passed abreast of the pirogue so artfully concealed in the +pocket of a tiny cove. The intervening distance was no more than a dozen +yards. Old Trimble Rogers wistfully fingered the musket and lifted it to +squint along the barrel. Never was temptation more sturdily resisted. +Then his face, hard as iron and puckered like dried leather, broke into +a smile. The idea pleased him immensely. They would follow Blackbeard +and watch the chance to take him alive. He who had trapped his own men +in camp was now neatly trapped himself, his retreat cut off. Tie a +couple of fathom of stout cord to his whiskers and tow him along by +land, all the way to Stede Bonnet's ship. There the worthy captain could +bargain with him at his own terms, silently chuckled the old buccaneer. + +They held their breath and gazed at the fantastic scoundrel who had made +himself the ogre among pirates. He had discarded the great hat as +cumbersome and his tousled head was bound around with a wide strip of +the red calico from India. Still and solid he sat, like a heathen idol, +staring in front of him and intent on his mysterious errand. The unseen +spectators in the pirogue scanned also the two seamen at the oars and +felt a vague pity for them. Unmistakably they were sick with fear. It +was conveyed by their dejected aspect, by the tinge of pallor, by the +fixity with which they regarded the cocked pistol in Blackbeard's fist. +Jack Cockrell knew them as abandoned villains who had boasted of many a +bloody deed but the swarthy, pockmarked fellow had been in the boat +which had saved the two lads from the drifting raft. This was enough to +awaken a lively sympathy. + +Trimble Rogers gripped Jack's shoulder with a strength which made him +wince and pointed a skinny finger at the boat. The fate of the two +seamen did not trouble him greatly. Those who lived by violence should +rightly expect to die by it. The sea was their gaming table and it was +their ill luck if the dice were cogged. Just then Bill Saxby stifled an +ejaculation. He, too, had discovered the freightage in the cock-boat, +the heavy burden which made it swim so low. + +It rested in front of Blackbeard's knees, the top showing above the +curve of the gunwales. It was a sea-chest, uncommonly large, built of +some dark tropical wood and strapped with iron. Old Trimble Rogers' +fierce eyes glittered and he licked his lips. He leaned over to whisper +in Bill Saxby's ear the one word: + +"_Treasure!_" + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +BLACKBEARD'S ERRAND IS INTERRUPTED + + +BLACKBEARD'S deep-laden boat was rowed on past the pirogue and turned to +follow the channel of the sluggish stream. Bill Saxby thrust aside the +cover of grass and boughs and shoved the log canoe out of the cove. So +crooked was the course of the creek that the boat was already out of +sight and by stealthy paddling it was possible to pursue undetected. Old +Trimble Rogers had forgotten his lust to slay Blackbeard. His gloating +imagination could picture the contents of that massive sea-chest after a +long cruise in southern waters. + +It was foolish to attempt to surprise Blackbeard while afloat in the +creek. In a race of it, the handy cock-boat could pull away from the +clumsier pirogue manned by two paddles only, for Trimble Rogers was +needed to steer and be ready with the musket. This was their only +firearm, which Bill Saxby had snatched up during the flight from the +camp. At the same time he had lifted a powder-horn and bullet pouch from +a wounded pirate. + +"If I do bang away and miss him," grumbled Trimble Rogers, "he's apt to +pepper us afore I can reload." + +"But you forswore shootin' him," chided Bill Saxby, between strokes of +the paddle. + +"Show me a great sea-chest crammed wi' treasure and I'd put a hole +through the Grand High Panjandrum hisself," replied the ancient one. +"Aye, Bill, there be more'n one way to skin an eel. We'll lay aboard +this bloody blow-hard of a Cap'n Teach whilst he's a-buryin' of it. Here +may well be where he has tucked away his other plunder. What if we bag +the whole of it?" + +"One more fling, eh, Trimble, and more gold than ye lugged on your back +from Guayaquil," grinned young Bill. + +They had spoken in cautious tones and now held their tongues. The +paddles dipped with no more than a trickle of water and the canoe hugged +the marsh. They were close to the next bend of the stream and the sound +of the oars in the cock-boat was faintly audible. As the tallest of the +three, the old man stood up after swathing his head in dried grass, and +gazed across the curve of the shore. By signs he told his companions +that Blackbeard was bound farther up the stream. + +They waited a little, giving their quarry time to pass beyond another +turn of the channel. Jack Cockrell was embarked on the most entrancing +excursion of his life. This repaid him for all he had suffered. His only +regret was that poor Joe Hawkridge had been marooned before he could +share this golden adventure. However, he would see that Joe received a +handsome amount of treasure. Trimble Rogers was muttering again, and +thus he angrily expounded a grievance: + +"A thief is this Cap'n Teach,--like a wild hog, all greed and bristles. +'Tis the custom of honest buccaneers and pirates to divide the spoils by +the strict rule,--six shares for the commander, two for the master's +mate, and other officers accordin' to their employment, with one share +to every seaman alike. Think ye this bloody pick-purse dealt fairly by +his crew? In yon sea-chest be the lawful shares of all the woesome lads +he marooned this day. An' as much more as he durst skulk away with." + +"Easy, now, old Fire-and-Brimstone," warned Bill, "or that temper will +gain the upper hand. Don't spoil the show by bombardin' Blackbeard with +that cross-eyed musket." + +Now here was young Master Cockrell, a gentleman and a near kinsman of a +high official who had sworn to hang every mother's son of a pirate that +harried Carolina waters. And yet this godly youth was eager to lay hands +on Blackbeard's treasure so as to divide it among the pirates who had +been robbed of it. It was a twisted sense of justice, no doubt, and a +code of morals turned topsy-turvy, but you are entreated to think not +too harshly of such behavior. Master Cockrell had fallen into almighty +bad company but the friends he had made displayed fidelity and readiness +to serve him. + +"How far will the chase lead us?" he inquired. + +"Did you men come down this same creek in the pirogue?" + +"Aye, in this very same mess o' pea soup and jungle," answered Bill +Saxby. "Two miles in from the coast, at a venture, was where we stumbled +on the canoe and tossed the Indians out of it. Beyond that the water +spreads o'er the swamp with no fairway for a boat." + +Once more they paddled for a short stretch and then repeated the +stratagem of hauling into the dense growth of the mud-flat and pausing +until the cock-boat had steered beyond the next elbow of the stream. It +became more and more difficult to avoid the fallen trees and other +obstructions, but Blackbeard was threading his course like a pilot +acquainted with this dank and somber region. The pirogue ceased to lag +purposely but had to be urged in order to keep within striking distance. + +Twice they were compelled to climb out and shove clear of sunken +entanglements or slimy shoals. But when they held themselves to listen, +they could still hear the measured thump of oars against the pins, like +the beat of a distant drum in the brooding silence of this melancholy +solitude. They had struggled on for perhaps a mile and a half, in all, +when Trimble Rogers ordered another halt. He was perplexed, like a hound +uncertain of the scent. From the left bank of the creek, a smaller +stream meandered blindly off into the swamp. Into which of these +watercourses had Blackbeard continued his secret voyage? + +Again they listened, and more anxiously than ever. The tell-tale thump +of the oars had ceased. The only sounds in the bayou were the trickle of +water from the tidal pools, the wind in the tree-tops, the rat-tat-tat +of a woodpecker, and the scream of a bob-cat. With a foolish air of +chagrin, Trimble Rogers rubbed his hoary pate and exclaimed: + +"Whilst Bill and me were a-paddlin' this hollow log down-stream, we took +no heed of a fork like this yonder. With the sun at our backs to guide +us, we knew we was makin' easterly to fetch the coast. What say, Bill?" + +"Cursed if I know. Spin a coin. The treasure has slipped us." + +"Rot me if it has!" snarled the old man. "We'll push on as we are, in +the bigger stream. That stinkin' ditch on my left hand looks too weedy +and shallow to float a boat." + +"It makes no odds. A gamester's choice," amiably agreed Bill. + +They paddled with might and main, flinging caution to the winds. Jack +Cockrell was well versed in handling one of these dugout canoes and his +stout arms made Bill Saxby grunt and sweat to keep stroke with him. When +the craft grounded they strove like madmen to push it clear. Trimble +Rogers tore the water with a paddle, straining every sinew and +condemning Blackbeard to the bottomless pit in a queer jargon of the +Spanish, French, and English tongues. It required such a lurid +vocabulary to give vent to his feelings. He was even more distressed +when he sighted the clump of gum trees near by which he and Bill had +purloined the pirogue. Beyond this the creek was impassable. + +"Throwed a blank! Wear ship and drive back to the fork o' the waters," +shouted the old man. "Hull down an' under though he be, we'll nab yon +_picaro_, with his jolly treasure. _Rapido, camaradas! Vivo!_" + +To make haste was easier said than done but the sluggish current was now +in their favor and there was no more than a half mile to traverse under +stress of furious exertion. The heavy canoe crashed through obstacles +which had delayed the upward journey and they knew where to avoid the +worst of the shoals. What fretted them was the fear that Blackbeard +might have buried the sea-chest and descended the creek while they were +engaged in this wild-goose chase. But this seemed unlikely and, +moreover, old Trimble Rogers was the man to nose out the marks of the +landing-place and the trail which must have been left. + +Where the two streams joined, the pirogue turned and shot into the +smaller one. To their surprise it presently widened and was like a tiny +lagoon, with the water much clearer as if fed by springs. The view was +less broken and there were glimpses of dry knolls in the swamp and +verdure not so noxious and tanglesome. Along the edge of this pretty +pond skimmed the pirogue while Trimble Rogers keenly scanned every inch +of it for the imprint of a boat's keel. A hundred yards and the water +again narrowed to a little creek. Impetuously the canoe swung to pass +around a spit of land covered with a thicket of sweet bay. + +There, no more than a dozen feet beyond, was the captain's cock-boat +from the _Revenge_. Its bow had been pulled out of the water which +deepened from a shelving bank. The boat was deserted but above the +gunwale could be seen the iron-bound lid of the massive sea-chest. Those +in the pirogue desired to behold nothing else. They were suddenly +diverted by a tremendous yell which came booming out of the tall grass +where it waved breast-high on the shore of the stream. A pistol barked +and the ball clipped a straggling lock of Trimble Rogers' gray hair. + +Driving his two seamen before him, Blackbeard rushed for his boat as +fast as the bandy legs and clumsy sea-boots could carry him. In fancied +security he had explored the nearest knoll. And now appeared this +infernal canoe, surging full-tilt at his treasure chest. + +Things happened _rapido_ enough to glut even an old buccaneer. The +consternation in the pirogue prevented any thought of checking headway +with the paddles. This hollowed cypress log, narrow beamed and solid at +both ends, still moved with a weighty momentum. Its astounded crew were +otherwise occupied. Blackbeard appeared to have the advantage of them. +Jack Cockrell ducked to the bottom of the canoe. Bill Saxby's eyes of +baby blue were big and round as saucers as he wildly flourished his +paddle as the only cudgel at hand. + +With a whoop-la, old Trimble Rogers leaped to his feet, the long musket +at his shoulder. Before he could aim at the savage, bushy figure of +Blackbeard, the prow of the pirogue crashed into the side of the +cock-boat, striking it well toward the stern. The ancient freebooter +described a somersault and smote the water with a mighty splash, musket +and all. Blowing like a grampus, he bobbed to the top, clawing the weeds +from his eyes but still clutching the musket. Nobody paid his misfortune +the slightest heed. + +The water deepened suddenly, as has been said, where the current had +scoured the bank. With the nose of the little boat pulled well up in the +mud, the stern sloped almost level with the surface of the stream. The +blunt, slanting bow of the pirogue banged into the plank gunwale and +slid over it. The force of the blow dragged the cock-boat to one side +and wrenched it free of the shore. It floated at the end of a tether but +the bow of the canoe pressed the stern under and tipped it until the +water rushed in. + +Listed far over, the sea-chest slid a trifle and this was enough to push +the gunwale clear under. The boat filled and capsized, what with the +weight of the chest and the pressure of the canoe's fore part. Down to +the oozy bed sank Blackbeard's treasure. + +The arch-pirate himself came charging out of the marsh-grass in time to +witness this lamentable disaster. His hoarse ejaculations were too +dreadful for a Christian reader's ears. Dumfounded for an instant, he +gathered his wits to fire another pistol at the pirogue. The ball flew +wild, as was to be expected of a marksman in a state of mind so +distraught. He had overlooked those two poor seamen of his who had been +impressed to bury the treasure, after which they were presumably to be +pistoled or knocked on the head. Dead men told no tales. Doomed +wretches, they were quick to snatch from this confusion the precious +hope of life. + +The pockmarked fellow, who was powerfully built, whirled like a cat as +he heard Blackbeard's pistol discharged just behind him. There was no +time to draw and cock another pistol. The seaman fairly flew at the +pirate captain's throat. Down they toppled and vanished in the grass +together. A moment later Blackbeard bounded to his feet, a bloody dirk +in his hand. He had done for the poor fellow who lay groaning where he +fell. Terrified by this, the other seaman wheeled and fled to the bank +of the creek, seeking the pirogue as his only refuge. + +He leaped for it but his feet slipped in the treacherous mud and his +impetus was checked so that he tumbled forward, striking the solid side +of the dugout with great force. He was splashing in the water but his +exertions were feeble. Either the collision had stunned him or he was +unable to swim. Bill Saxby and Jack Cockrell were trying to swing the +canoe clear of the boat and effect a landing. Trimble Rogers had rescued +himself from the creek and was ramming a dry charge into his dripping +musket. Blackbeard was a deadly menace and their attention was fixed on +him. + +When they endeavored to lend a hand to the helpless seaman he had sunk +beneath the surface of the roily stream. They saw him come up and turn a +ghastly face to them, but he went down like a stone before a hand could +clutch at him. A few bubbles and this was the end of him. Jack Cockrell +hesitated with a brave impulse to dive in search of him although he knew +the bottom was a tangle of rotted trees, but just then Bill Saxby yelled +to him to follow ashore with a paddle for a weapon. The luckless seaman +was already drowned, this was as good as certain, and Jack jumped from +the pirogue. + +Blackbeard had halted his onrush and he wavered when he beheld stout +Bill Saxby within a few strides of him and long Trimble Rogers galloping +through the grass with his musket. Another pistol shot or two would not +stop these three antagonists and a buffet from one of those hewn paddles +would dash out a man's brains. The most ferocious of all pirates for +once preferred to run away and live to fight another day. His boat +denied him, he whirled about to plunge through the tall, matted grass. +He was running in the direction of the dry knoll whence he had +appeared. + +Infuriated by the fate of the two seamen, Trimble Rogers made a try at +shooting him on the wing but the musket ball failed to find the mark. It +was necessary to hunt him down for the sake of their own safety. They +might have gone their way in the pirogue but this would have been to +abandon the sea-chest without an effort to drag it up or fix its +location. + +Now it might seem an easy matter for these pursuers, two of them young +and active, to run down this fugitive Blackbeard, encumbered as he was +by middle age and dissipation. They put after him boldly, with little +fear of his pistols. In this dense cover he would have to fire at them +haphazard and he was unlikely to tarry and wait for them. They saw him +in glimpses as he fled from one grassy patch to another, or burst out of +a leafy thicket, the great beard streaming over his shoulders like +studding-sails, the red turban of calico a vivid blotch of color. + +Nimble as they were, however, they failed to overtake him. This was +because he was familiar with this landscape of bog and hummock and pine +knoll. Jack Cockrell fell into a hidden quagmire and had to be fished +out by main strength. Bill Saxby was caught amidst the tenacious vines, +like a bull by the horns, and old Trimble came a cropper in a patch of +saw-tooth palmetto. They straggled to the nearest knoll after Blackbeard +had crossed it. Then he followed a ridge which led in the direction of +another of these dry islands. + +The pursuers halted to gaze from this slight elevation. There was not a +solitary glimpse of the crimson turban. Trimble Rogers plowed through +the prickly ash, short of wind and temper, with the musket again ready +for action. His language was hot enough to flash the powder in the pan. + +"Lost him a'ready, ye lubbers, whilst I fetched up the rear?" he +scolded. "Leave the old dog to find the trail. I be hanged if I take him +alive for Stede Bonnet. What say, Bill? Skin and stuff him for a +trophy----" + +"First catch the slippery son o' Satan," tartly answered Bill. "He hides +away like a hare. You can track him, no doubt, Trimble, but the sun will +be down ere long. I'll not pass the night in this cursed puddle of a +place." + +Just then Jack Cockrell roved far enough to find on the knoll a small +pit freshly dug, with a spade and pick beside it. Like excited children, +his two comrades ran to inspect the hole which Blackbeard's seamen had +dug ready for the treasure chest. Then they scattered to explore the +knoll in search of signs to indicate where previous hoards might have +been buried. Trimble Rogers scouted like a red Indian, eager to find +traces of upturned earth, or the leaf mould disturbed, or marks of an +axe on the pine trees as symbols of secret guidance. It was a futile +quest, possibly because the high spring tides, when swept by easterly +gales, had now and then crept back from the coast to cover the knoll and +obliterate man's handiwork. + +Like a hunter bewitched, the gray buccaneer was absorbed in this rare +pastime until Bill Saxby exclaimed: + +"Is there no wit in our addled pates? Quit this dashed folly! What of +the treasure chest that was spilled from the boat?" + +"It won't take wings. Wait a bit," growled Trimble. "_Madre de Dios_, +but there must be more of it here. This truant Cap'n Teach knew the road +well. Did ye mark how he doubled for the knoll, like a fox to its hole?" + +Jack Cockrell ended the argument when he spoke up, with a shamefaced +air: + +"We are three heartless men! One of the seamen is drowned, rest his +soul, and we could not save the poor wretch. But the other fellow was +stabbed and lies in the grass near the stream. For all we know, there +may be life in him." + +"Heartless? 'Tis monstrous of us," cried Bill Saxby. "This greed for +pirates' gold is like a poison." + +They hastened to retrace their steps. The wounded seaman was breathing +his last when they reached his side. They could not have prolonged his +life had they remained with him. Jack Cockrell stroked his damp forehead +and murmured: + +"Farewell to ye, Jesse Strawn. Any message before you slip your cable?" + +There was a faint whisper of: + +"Scuppered, lad! Take warnin' and avast this cruel piratin' or you'll +get it. A few words from the Bible 'ud ease me off." + +To Jack's amazement, the veteran sinner of the lot, old Trimble Rogers, +fumbled in his breeches and withdrew a small book carefully wrapped in +canvas. Solemnly he hooked behind his ears a pair of huge, horn-rimmed +spectacles and knelt beside the dying pirate. In the manner of a priest +the buccaneer intoned a chapter of Holy Writ which he appeared to know +by rote. Then he said a prayer in a powerful broken voice. Silence +followed. The others waited with bared heads until Trimble said: + +"His soul has passed. Shall we give the poor lad a decent burial?" + +"His grave is ready. He helped dig it himself," said Bill Saxby. "And +may his ghost be a torment to the fiend that slew him." + +It seemed a fitting suggestion. In the freshly made treasure pit on the +knoll they laid the dead pirate and used the spade to cover him. Jack +Cockrell had a sheath knife with which he fashioned a rude cross and +hacked on it: + + JESSE STRAWN + A. D. 1718 + +"Aye, his ghost will flit to plague this Cap'n Teach," said Trimble +Rogers. "We can leave Jesse Strawn to square his own account. Now for +the sea-chest, though I misdoubt we can fish it up." + + + + +CHAPTER X + +THE SEA URCHIN AND THE CARPENTER'S MATE + + +FOR the sake of a treasure sordid and blood-stained, it would seem +shabby to overlook the fate of hapless Joe Hawkridge marooned along with +the hands of the _Revenge_ who were suspected of plotting mutiny. His +behavior was courageous and unselfish, for he could have fled back into +the swamp when Blackbeard's wily attack threw the camp into tumult. From +a sense of duty he flung himself into the fray. What friends he had in +the ship were those of the decenter sort who were tired of wanton +brutalities and of a master who was no better than a lunatic. + +When the sloop opened fire with her guns, it was time to surrender. +Unhurt save for a few scratches and a gorgeous black eye, Joe was +dragged to the beach and thrown into a boat. Promptly the armed pinnace +took them in tow, as arranged beforehand. Several of the prisoners had +visited this rendezvous at Cherokee Inlet during a previous cruise and +had some knowledge of the lay of the coast. Five or six miles out were +certain shoals of sand scarcely lifted above high tide, so desolate that +nothing whatever grew upon them nor was there any means of obtaining +fresh water. + +"A pretty fancy,--to cast us where he can enjoy the sight of it when the +ship sails out," said one of them who held a wounded comrade in his +arms. + +"Some trading vessel may sight us in the nick o' time," hopefully +suggested Joe. "Never say die!" + +"Trust most honest skippers to give the Inlet a wide berth," was the +lugubrious reply. "This harbor was used by pirates afore Blackbeard's +time. I was a silly 'prentice-boy, same as you, Joe, wi' Cap'n Willum +Kidd when we lay in here to caulk his galley for the long voyage to +Madagascar." + +"A poor figger of a pirate was that same Kidd," spoke up another. "He +ne'er scuttled a ship nor fought an action. An' his treasure was all in +my eye. What did he swing for, at Execution Dock? For crackin' the skull +of his gunner with a wooden bucket." + +"They can't h'ist this Cap'n Teach to the same gibbet any too soon to +please me, Sam," croaked a horse-faced rogue with two fingers chopped +off. "He's gone and murdered all us men, as sure as blazes." + +Joe Hawkridge held his peace and wondered what had become of his +partner, Jack Cockrell, waiting alone in the pirogue. In the infernal +commotion at the camp, Joe had failed to note whether Bill Saxby and +Trimble Rogers had betaken themselves off or had been among those +killed. There was the faint hope that these trusty messengers might find +their way back to Captain Stede Bonnet's ship and so hasten his coming. + +The boats crept over the burnished surface of the harbor and passed the +nearest islands which were green and wooded. Beyond them shone the +gently heaving sea, with the distant gleam of a patch of sandy shoal +ringed about with a necklace of surf. It was remote enough from any +other land to daunt the strongest swimmer. The boats kept on until they +had rounded to leeward of this ghastly prison. There was no means of +resistance. The captives were driven ashore by force of arms, carrying a +few of their wounded with them. + +With emotions beyond the power of speech, they stared at the pinnace as +the oars splashed on the return journey to the _Revenge_. Joe Hawkridge +wept a little, perplexed that men could be so cruel to their own +shipmates. And yet what could be expected of pirates debased enough to +be Blackbeard's loyal followers? Recovering from their first stupor, the +twenty able-bodied survivors began to ransack the strip of naked sand on +which they had been marooned. It was no more than an acre in extent. A +few small fish were found in a pool left by the falling tide and perhaps +a hundred turtle eggs were uncovered during the afternoon. This merely +postponed starvation. + +There was not much bickering. In the shadow of certain death, these +outlaws of the sea seemed to have acquired a spirit of resignation which +was akin to dignity. They had lost the game. In their own lingo, it was +the black spot for all hands of 'em. With the coolness of night they +revived to bathe in the surf which made their thirst less hard to bear. +There was not much sleep. Men walked in restless circles, looking up at +the stars, muttering to themselves, or scanning the sea which had known +their crimes and follies. + +[Illustration: THEY CAPERED AND HUGGED EACH OTHER] + +Joe Hawkridge scooped out a bed for himself in the sand and dropped off +to sleep by spells, with dreams of ease and quiet ashore and learning to +be a gentleman. It was daylight when shouts startled him. The other +derelicts were in a frenzy of agitation. They capered and hugged each +other, and made unearthly sounds. Joe brushed the sand from his eyes and +saw a small vessel approaching the tiny island. Her rig was made out to +be that of a snow, which was very like a brig, the difference being in +the larger main-topsail and the absence of a spanker or after +steering-sail. + +Such trading craft as this snow came coasting down from Salem and other +New England ports to Virginia and the Carolinas laden with molasses, +rum, salt, cider, mackerel, woodenware, Muscavado sugar, and dried +codfish. They bartered for return cargoes and carried no specie, +wherefore pirates like Stede Bonnet seldom molested them excepting to +take such stores as might be needed and sometimes actually to pay for +them. They were the prey of miscreants of Blackbeard's stripe who +destroyed and slew for the pleasure of it. + +This trim little snow was making to the southward in fancied security, +having picked up a landfall, as the marooned pirates conjectured. No +doubt her master had failed to receive warning that Blackbeard was in +these waters and he was running his risk of encountering other +marauders. He must have seen that there were people in distress on the +tide-washed strip of sand. The snow shifted her helm and fired a gun. +The marooned wretches could scarce credit their amazing good fortune but +a grave, slow-spoken fellow who had been a carpenter's mate in the +_Revenge_ thought the rejoicing premature. + +"When that God-fearin' skipper takes a look at us, he will sheer off and +clap on sail, lads. For shipwrecked sailors you are a pizen lot o' mugs. +The only blighted one of ye what's the leastwise respectable is me." + +Here was a terrible misgiving which clouded the bright anticipations. +They were, indeed, an unlovely cargo for the little trading vessel to +take on board. One of them whipped out a pair of scissors and hastily +sawed at his unkempt whiskers while his comrades stood in line and +waited their turn. Others discarded gaudy kerchiefs and pistol-belts, or +kicked off Spanish jack-boots. Scraps of gold lace were also unpopular. +But they could not get rid of scarred faces and rum-reddened noses and +the other hall-marks of their trade. + +To their immense relief, the snow displayed no signs of alarm but sailed +as close as the shoaling water permitted and dipped her colors. The +pirates flattered themselves that they were not as frightful as the +carpenter's mate had painted them. And this New England shipmaster was +a merciful man who would not leave his fellow mortals to perish. They +saw a boat lowered from the snow and into it jumped half a dozen +sailors, soberly clad in dungaree, with round straw hats on their heads. +With a gush of gratitude, the pirates swore to deal courteously by these +noble merchant mariners and to repay them in whatever manner possible. + +Out into the murmuring surf rushed the mild-mannered rascals, eager to +grasp the boat and haul it up. It was Joe Hawkridge, hovering in the +background, who raised the first cry of astonishment. His voice was so +affrighted that it quavered. Before the boat was half-way from the +vessel, he perceived that these were no sedate seamen from the +Massachusetts Colony, even though they were in dungaree and round straw +hats. He was gazing at some of Ned Rackham's evil pirates whom he had +last beheld on the shattered deck of the _Plymouth Adventure_ where they +had been left to build a raft for themselves! + +The devil had looked after his own. They had floated away from the +stranded ship and instead of landing on the beach had been rescued by +this unfortunate snow whose crew had been disposed of in some violent +manner. This much Joe Hawkridge comprehended, although his mind was +awhirl. He was better off marooned. He had helped to turn the guns of +the _Plymouth Adventure_ against these very same men when they had been +blown out of the after cabin and the ship retaken by Captain Jonathan +Wellsby. + +Whatever other plans they had in store, the first business would be to +kill Joe Hawkridge. This was painfully obvious. He retreated still +farther behind his companions and had a confused idea of digging into +the sand and burying himself from view. The discovery that these were +Blackbeard's pirates in the boat created general confusion but there was +no fear of instant death. It was a situation excessively awkward for the +marooned company but nevertheless open to parley and argument. + +By hurried agreement, the carpenter's mate, Peter Tobey by name, was +chosen as spokesman. Before he began to talk with the men in the boat, +Joe Hawkridge called to him in piteous accents and begged him to step +back in rear of the crowd for a moment. Tobey shouted to the boat to +wait outside the surf and not attempt a landing. + +"What's the row, Joe?" he asked, with a kindly smile. "'Tis a +disappointment for all of us,--this tangle with Rackham's crew,--but why +any worse for you?" + +"I can't tell it all, Peter, but my life is forfeit once they lay hands +on me." + +"What tarradiddle is this? As I remember it in the _Revenge_, when all +hands of us were cruisin' together, ye had no mortal enemies." + +"It happened in the _Plymouth Adventure_," answered Joe. "There be men +in yon boat that 'ud delight in flayin' me alive. I swear it, Peter, by +my mother's name. Give me up, and my blood is on your head." + +The boy's words carried conviction. The stolid carpenter's mate pondered +and knitted his bushy brows. + +"I never did a wilful murder yet," said he. "Mallet and chisel come +readier to my fist than a cutlass. Bide here, Joe. Let me get my +bearings. This has the look of a ticklish matter for the lot of us. I +shall be keepin' a weather eye lifted for squalls." + +In mortal fear of discovery by the men in the boat, Joe flattened +himself behind a palmetto log which had drifted to the other side of the +island. Here he was hidden unless the boat should make a landing. The +carpenter's mate waded out to join his companions who were amiably +conversing with Ned Rackham's pirates. They had all been shipmates +either in the _Revenge_ or the _Triumph_ sloop and there was boisterous +curiosity concerning the divers adventures while they had been apart. +Rackham's crew had been reduced to eighteen men when they were lucky +enough to capture the snow, it was learned. With this small company he +dared not go pirating on his own account and so had decided to rejoin +Blackbeard. + +"Is Ned Rackham aboard the snow?" asked Peter Tobey of the boat's +coxswain. + +"He is all o' that, matey, though the big bos'n of the _Plymouth +Adventure_ shoved a knife in his ribs to the hilt. He is flat in a bunk +but he gives the orders an' it's jump at the word." + +"A hard man to kill," said Peter Tobey. "Take me aboard. 'Tis best I +have speech with him. Let the people wait here on the cay. They can +stand another hour of it." + +There was fierce protest among the marooned pirates but the carpenter's +mate gruffly demanded to know if they wished to be carried into the +harbor and turned over to Blackbeard. This gave the mob something to +think about and they permitted the boat to pull away from them without +much objection. + +"A rough joke on you lads, I call it, to be dumped on this bit o' +purgatory," said the coxswain to Peter Tobey. "The great Cap'n Teach +must ha' been in one of his tantrums." + +"It had been long brewing, as ye know," answered the carpenter's mate. +"These men with you in the snow 'ud sooner follow Ned Rackham, +flint-hearted though he be, than to rejoin the _Revenge_." + +"Not so loud," cautioned the coxswain. "We'll see which way the cat is +going to jump. Us poor devils is sore uneasy at findin' how you were +dealt with." + +"What of the master and crew of the snow?" asked Tobey. "Were they +snuffed out? That 'ud be Rackham's way." + +"No, we set 'em off in a boat, within sight of the coast. Ned Rackham +was too shrewd to bloody his hands, bein' helpless in this tub of a snow +which could neither fight nor show her heels if she was chased." + +Few men as there were aboard the snow, they were smartly disciplined and +kept things shipshape, as Peter Tobey noted when he climbed on deck. A +few minutes later he was summoned into the small cabin. Propped up in +the skipper's berth, Sailing-Master Ned Rackham had a pinched and +ghastly look. He was a young man, with clean-cut, handsome features, and +a certain refinement of manner when he cared to assume it. The rumor was +that he was the black sheep of an English house of some distinction and +that he had enlisted in the Royal Navy under a false name. + +"What is this mare's-nest, my good Tobey?" said he as the carpenter's +mate stood diffidently fumbling with his cap. "Marooned? Twenty men of +you on a reef of sand? Were ye naughty boys whilst I was absent?" + +"No more than them I could name who planned to go a-cruisin' in the +_Plymouth Adventure_," doggedly replied Peter Tobey who resented the +tone of sneering patronage. + +"Fie, fie! You talk boldly for a man in your situation. Never mind! Why +the honor of this visit?" + +"To make terms, Master Rackham. If us twenty men consent to serve +you----" + +"You babble of terms?" was the biting interruption. "I can leave you to +perish on the sand, as ye no doubt deserve, or I can carry you in with +me, when I report to Captain Teach." + +"But there's another choice, which hasn't escaped you," persisted the +intrepid carpenter's mate. "Enlist us in your service and you'll have +nigh on forty men. This snow mounts a few old swivels and you must ha' +found muskets in her. With forty men, Master Rackham, there's no +occasion to bow to Blackbeard's whimsies. You can h'ist the Jolly Roger +for yourself and lay 'longside a bigger ship to take and cruise in. I've +heard tell of a great buccaneer that started for himself in a pinnace +and captured a galleon as tall as a church." + +Ned Rackham's eyes flashed. Indeed, this was what he had in mind. This +score of recruits would make the venture worth undertaking. Men were +essential. Given enough of them to handle the snow and a boarding party +besides, and he would not hesitate to shift helm and bear away to sea +again. + +"You will sign articles, then?" he demanded. + +"Aye, I can speak for all, Master Rackham. What else is there for us? +Hold fast, I would except one man. He must be granted safe conduct, on +your sacred honor." + +"His name, Tobey?" + +"That matters not. Pledge me first. He has no more stomach for piracy +and will be set ashore at some port." + +"A pig in a poke?" cried Rackham, with an ugly smile. "If I refuse, +what?" + +"You will have sulky men that may turn against you some day." + +"And I can leave you to rot where you are, with your nonsense of 'making +terms,'" was the harsh rejoinder. + +"But you won't do that," argued Peter Tobey. "Your own fortune hangs on +enlisting us twenty lads. You bear Blackbeard no more love than we do." + +Ned Rackham was making no great headway with this stubborn carpenter's +mate who was playing strong cards of his own. + +"A drawn bout, Tobey," said he, with a change of front. "No more backing +and filling. You ask a small favor. Fetch your man along, whoever he may +be. He shall be done no harm by me." + +"Even though he made a mortal enemy of you, Master Rackham?" + +"Enough, Peter. I have many enemies and scores to settle. You have my +assurance but I demand the lad's name." + +"Not without his permission," declared Tobey. "Set me ashore and I will +confer with him." + +Grudgingly Rackham consented, unwilling to have a hitch in the +negotiations. In a somber humor, the carpenter's mate returned to his +impatient comrades on the island. They crowded about him and he briefly +delivered the message, that they were desired to cruise under Ned +Rackham's flag. This delighted them, as the only way out of a fatal +dilemma. Then Tobey went over to sit down upon the palmetto log behind +which Joe Hawkridge still sprawled like a turtle. The anxious boy poked +up his head to say: + +"What cheer, Peter? A plaguey muddle you found it, I'll bet." + +"Worse'n that, Joe. Rackham wouldn't clinch it with his oath unless I +told him your name. I plead with him for safe conduct." + +"I'd not trust his oath on a stack o' Bibles, once he set eyes on me," +exclaimed Joe. "As soon put my fist to my own death warrant as go aboard +with him." + +"That may be," said Peter Tobey, "but you will have friends. You can't +expect us to refuse to sail on account o' you." + +"Leave me here, then," cried the boy. "I'll not call it deserting me. +Take your men aboard the snow. Tell Ned Rackham you have the fellow +amongst 'em who implored the safe conduct. Pick out some harmless lad +that was saucy to Rackham in the _Revenge_, a half-wit like that +Robinson younker that was the sailing-master's own cabin boy. He was +allus blubberin' that Rackham 'ud kill him some day." + +"No half-wit about you," admiringly quoth the carpenter's mate. "But, +harkee, Joe, you will die in slow misery. Better a quick bullet from +Rackham's pistol." + +"Find some way to send off a little food and water, Peter, and I will +set tight on this desert island. And mayhap you will dance at the end +of a rope afore I shuffle off." + +"A hard request, Joe," replied the puzzled Tobey. "Unless I can come off +again with some of our own men, how can it be done? Let Rackham's crew +suspect I am leaving a man behind and they will rout you out." + +"And they all love me, like a parson loves a pirate," grinned Joe. "I +shot 'em full of spikes and bolts from a nine-pounder in the _Plymouth +Adventure_." + +"I shall use my best endeavor, so help me," sighed Peter Tobey. "What +for did I ever quit carpenterin' to go a-piratin'? 'Tis the worst basket +of chips that ever was." + +"No sooner do I crawl out of one hole than I tumble into another," very +truthfully observed Joe Hawkridge. "Insomuch as I've allus crawled out, +you and me'll shed no more tears, Peter. There's a kick in me yet." + +The disconsolate carpenter's mate returned to his fellow pirates and +bade them go off to the snow. First, however, he extracted from every +man the solemn promise that he would not divulge the secret of Joe +Hawkridge's presence nor reveal the fact that he had remained behind. +They were eager to promise anything. Several of them stole over to tell +him furtive farewells. They displayed no great emotion. The trade they +followed was not apt to make them turn soft over such a tragic episode +as this. + +When the snow was ready to take her departure, with almost forty +seasoned pirates to seek their fortunes anew, the wind died to a calm +and the little vessel drifted within easy vision of the sandy island +through a long afternoon. Peter Tobey tormented himself to find some +pretext for smuggling food and water ashore. He invented a tale of a +precious gold snuff-box which must have fallen out of his pocket and +begged permission to go and search for it. But Ned Rackham sent up word +that he had no notion of being delayed by a fool's errand, should a +breeze spring up. He was not at all anxious to linger so close to +Cherokee Inlet whence Blackbeard might sight the spars of the snow and +perhaps weigh anchor in the _Revenge_. + +Soon after dark the sails filled with a soft wind which drew the snow +clear of the coast. Peter Tobey had been mightily busy with an empty +cask. In it he stowed meat and biscuit and a bag of onions, stealthily +abstracted from the storeroom while his own companions stood guard +against surprise. This stuff was packed around two jugs of water tightly +stoppered. Then Peter headed up the cask with professional skill and +watched the opportunity to lower it from the vessel's bow where he was +unseen. + +The wind and tide were favorable to carrying the cask in the direction +of the little patch of sea-washed sand upon which was marooned the +solitary young mariner, Joe Hawkridge. The carpenter's mate saw the cask +drift past the side of the snow and roll in the silvery wake. Slowly it +vanished in the darkness and he said to himself, in a prayer devoutly +earnest: + +"That boy deserves a slant o' luck, and may the good God let him have it +this once. Send the cask to the beach, and I vow to go a-piratin' never +again." + + + + +CHAPTER XI + +JACK JOURNEYS AFOOT + + +IT is often said that a thing is not lost if you know where it is. This +was Jack Cockrell's opinion concerning that weighty sea-chest which had +splashed to the bottom of the sluggish stream in the heart of the +Cherokee swamp. With young Bill Saxby and eager old Trimble Rogers he +hastened from the grave of the pirate seaman whom they had buried on the +knoll and fetched up at the shore where the pirogue had been left. +Beside it floated Blackbeard's boat filled with water. + +Having cut two or three long poles, they sounded the depth and prodded +in the muddy bed to find the treasure chest. It had sunk no more than +eight feet below the surface, as the tide then stood, which was not much +over the head of a tall man. The end of a pole struck something solid, +after considerable poking about. It was not rough, like a sunken log, +and further investigation with the poles convinced them that they were +thumping the lid of the chest. + +"D'ye suppose you could muster breath to dive and bend a line to one o' +the handles, Master Cockrell?" suggested Trimble Rogers. "Here's a coil +of stout stuff in Cap'n Teach's boat what he used for a painter." + +"The bottom of the creek is too befouled," promptly objected Jack, "and +I confess it daunts me to think of meeting that drownded corpse down +there. Try it yourself, if you like." + +"I be needed above water to handle the musket if Blackbeard sneaks back +to bang at us with his pistols," was the evasive reply. The mention of +the corpse had given old Trimble a distaste for the task. To his +petulant question, Bill Saxby protested that he couldn't swim a blessed +stroke and he sensibly added: + +"What if you did get a rope's end belayed to a handle of the chest? Even +if the strain didn't part the line, we couldn't heave away in this tipsy +canoe. And I am blamed certain we can't drag the chest ashore lackin' +purchase and tackles." + +"The smell o' treasure warps my judgment," grumpily confessed Trimble +Rogers. "We ain't properly rigged to h'ist that chest from where she +lays, and that's the fact." + +"Give us the gear and we'd have it out and cracked open as pretty as you +please," said Bill. "Set up a couple o' spars for shears, stay 'em from +the bank, rig double blocks, and grapplin' irons for a diver to work +with----" + +"Which is exactly what Cap'n Teach will be doin' of when he finds his +ship again," lamented the buccaneer. + +"He will be some time findin' his ship afoot," grimly chuckled Bill. +"We have naught to smash his boat with, but we'll just take it along +with us." + +"If we make haste to report to Captain Stede Bonnet," spoke up Jack +Cockrell, "he may make sail in time to give Blackbeard other things to +think on than this treasure chest. And it is my notion that the need of +fitting the _Revenge_ for action is too urgent to spare a crew to +attempt this errand." + +"We shall have it yet," cried Trimble, much consoled. "And Stede +Bonnet'll blithely furnish the men and gear. For a mere babe, Master +Cockrell, ye leak wisdom like a colander. Our duty is to tarry no longer +at this mad business." + +"The first sound word I've heard out of the old barnacle, eh, Jack?" +said Bill Saxby. "We must be out of this swamp by night and layin' a +course for Cap'n Bonnet and the _Royal James_." + +"Whilst you empty Blackbeard's boat of water so we can tow it, let me +make a rude chart," was Jack's happy idea. "Some mishap or other may +overtake us ere we get the chance to seek the treasure again. And our +own memory of this pest-hole of a swamp may trick us." + +Bill Saxby's tattered diary supplied a scrap of paper and Jack dug +charred splinters from the inside of the canoe which enabled him to draw +a charcoal sketch or map. It traced the smaller stream from the fork +where it had branched off, the stretch in which it widened like a tiny +lagoon or bayou, and the point of shore just beyond which the pirogue +had unexpectedly rammed Blackbeard's boat. A cross designated the spot +where the treasure chest had sunk in eight feet of water. + +The knoll and the grave of Seaman Jesse Strawn were also indicated, with +the distance estimated in paces and the bearings set down by the +position of the sun. + +"There," said Jack, well pleased with his handiwork, "and once we are +aboard ship, I can make fair copies on parchment, one for each of us." + +"Thankee, lad," gratefully exclaimed Trimble Rogers who now had +something to live for. "'Twas a fond dream o' mine, when I sailed wi' +the great Cap'n Edward Davis in the South Sea, some day to blink at a +chart what showed where the gold was hid." + +They were, indeed, recovered from the intoxication of treasure and +recalled to realizing the obligation that was upon them. They had +swerved from it but now they pressed forward to finish the appointed +journey. The canoe moved down to the fork of the waters with the light +cock-boat skittering in its wake and perhaps the unhappy Blackbeard, +stranded in the swamp, hurled after them a volley of those curses for +which he was renowned. Once Jack Cockrell laughed aloud, explaining to +his laboring comrades: + +"Captain Teach will be combing the burrs from his grand beard when he +boards his ship again. He may get hung by the chin in a thicket." + +"He's sure to spend this night in the swamp, blast him," earnestly +observed Bill, "and the mosquitoes'll riddle his hide." + +"And may Jesse Strawn lose no time in hauntin' him," said Trimble +Rogers. + +There was an hour of daylight to spare when they had ascended the larger +creek as far as the canoe could be paddled. There they disembarked and +hid the dugout and the cock-boat in the overhanging bushes where they +could be found again in case of a forced retreat. Bill and Jack burdened +themselves with the sack of food and the water jug while the old +buccaneer set out in the lead as a guide. It was irksome progress for a +time, but gradually the ground became drier and the foliage was more +open. Dusk found them safely emerged from the great Cherokee swamp and +in a pleasant forest of long-leaf pine with a carpet of brown needles. + +In fear of Indians, they dared not kindle a fire and so stretched +themselves in their wet and muddy rags and slept like dead men. What +awakened Jack Cockrell before sunrise was a series of groans from +Trimble Rogers who sat with his back against a tree while he rubbed his +legs. Ashamed at being heard, he grumpily explained: + +"Cord and faggot 'ud torment me no worse than this hell-begotten +rheumatism. I be free of it in a ship but the land reeks with foul +vapors. It hurt me cruel at Cartagena in the year of----" + +"But can you walk all day, in such misery as that?" anxiously +interrupted Jack. + +"If not, I'll make shift to crawl," said the old sea dog. + +It was apparent to Jack and also to Bill Saxby that the ordeal of the +swamp had crippled their companion whose bodily strength had been +overtaxed. They debated whether to try to return to the coast and risk a +voyage in the canoe but Trimble Rogers swore by all the saints in the +calendar that he was done with the pestilent swamp. He would push on in +spite of the rheumatism. His hardy spirit was unbroken. And so they +resumed the march, the suffering buccaneer hobbling with the musket as a +staff or with a strong arm supporting him. + +Halts were frequent and progress very slow. Now and then they had +glimpses of the blue sea and so knew that they held the course true. It +had been reckoned that two days would suffice to bring them to the bay +in which Stede Bonnet's ship was anchored. By noon of this first day, +however, it was plainly evident that Trimble Rogers was done for. He +uttered no complaints, and withheld the groans behind his set teeth, but +his lank body was a-tremble with pain and fatigue. Whenever he sank down +to rest they had to raise him up and set him on his legs again before he +could totter a little way farther. + +"What say, Jack, to slingin' him on a pole, neck and heels?" suggested +Bill Saxby. "Can we make him fast with our belts?" + +"And choke him to death? In Charles Town I saw Captain Bonnet's pirates +carry their wounded in litters woven of boughs." + +The suffering Trimble put a stop to this by shouting: + +"Avast wi' the maunderin' nonsense! Push on, lads, and leave this old +hulk be. Many a goodly man have I seen drop in the jungle. What matters +it? Speed ye to Cap'n Bonnet." + +"Here is one pirate that won't desert a shipmate," declared Bill Saxby. +"And how can we push on without you, old True-Penny, to lay your nose to +the trail? I took no heed o' the marks and landfalls." + +"Like a sailor ashore, mouth open and eyes shut," rasped the buccaneer +of Hispaniola. + +"Methinks I might find my way in this Carolina country," ventured Jack +Cockrell. "It would be easier for a landsman like myself than for Bill +who is city-bred and a seaman besides." + +"More wisdom from the stripling," said Trimble. "Willing as I be to die +sooner than delay ye and so vex Stede Bonnet, it 'ud please me to live +to overhaul that sea chest of Blackbeard's." + +"I'll stand by this condemned old relic," amiably agreed Bill Saxby. "Do +you request Cap'n Bonnet to send a party to salvage us, Jack." + +"He will take pleasure in it, Bill. Before I go let me help you find +shelter,--dry limbs for props and a thatch of palmetto leaves." + +"Take no thought of us," urged Trimble. "Trust me to set this lazy oaf +to work. Now listen, Jack, and carefully. Cap'n Bonnet's ship waits in +the Cape Fear River, twelve leagues to the north'ard of us. You will +find her betwixt a bay of the mainland and a big-sized island where the +river makes in from the sea. There will be a lookout kept and I can tell +ye where to meet a boat." + +With a memory as retentive as a printed page, the keen-eyed old wanderer +described the landscape league by league, the streams and their +direction, the hills which were prominent, the broad stretches of +savannah or grassy meadow, the belts of pine forest, the tongues of +swamp which had to be avoided. Jack was compelled to repeat the detailed +instructions over and over, and he was a far more studious pupil than +when snuffy Parson Throckmorton had rapped his knuckles and fired him +with rebellious dreams of piracy. At length, the buccaneer was willing +to acknowledge: + +"Unless an Indian drive an arrow through the lad's brisket, Bill, I can +trust him to find our ship. Best give him the musket." + +"Me shoulder that carronade and trudge a dozen leagues?" objected Jack. +"I travel light and leave the ordnance with you." + +They insisted on his taking more than a third of the food but he +refused to deprive them of the water jug. There would be streams enough +to slake his thirst. It was an affectionate parting. Bill Saxby's +innocent blue eyes were suffused and his chubby face sorrowful at the +thought that they might not meet again. Trimble Rogers fished out his +battered little Bible and quoted a few verses, as appeared to be his +habit on all solemn occasions. Jack Cockrell knew him well enough by now +to find it not incongruous. Among this vanishing race of sea fighters +had been many a hero of the most fervent piety. Their spirit was akin to +that of Francis Drake who summoned his crew to prayers before he cleared +for action. + +And in this wise did Master Jack Cockrell set out to bear a message from +comrades in dire distress. Moreover, in his hands were the lives of Joe +Hawkridge and those other marooned seamen, as he had every reason to +believe. It was a grave responsibility to be thrust upon a raw lad in +his teens who had been so carefully nurtured by his fretful guardian of +an uncle, Mr. Peter Arbuthnot Forbes. Jack thought of this and said to +himself, with a smile: + +"A few weeks gone, and I was locked in my room without any dinner for +loitering with Stede Bonnet's pirates at the Charles Town tavern. My +education has been swift since then." + +He was expectant of meeting no end of peril and hardship and he fought +down a sense of dread that was not to his discredit. But it was so +decreed that he should pass secure and unmolested. At first he went too +fast, without husbanding his strength, and loped along like a hound +whenever the country was clear of brushwood. This wore him down and he +failed to watch carefully enough for his landmarks. Toward the end of +the day he became confused because he could not discern the sea even by +climbing a tree. But he tried to keep bearing to the northeast until the +sun went down. Afraid of losing himself entirely and ignorant of the lay +of the land by night, he made his bivouac in a grove of sycamore +saplings and imagined Indians were creeping up whenever the leaves +rustled. + +This fear of roaming savages troubled him next day as he wearily trudged +through this primeval wilderness unknown to white settlers. It spurred +him on despite his foot-sore fatigue and he was making the journey more +rapidly than old Trimble Rogers, for all his cunning woodcraft, had been +able to accomplish it. Almost at the end of his endurance, the plucky +lad discerned the sheen of a broad water in the twilight and so came to +the Cape Fear River. + +He had worried greatly lest he might have veered too far inland but +there was the wooded bay and the fore-land crowned with dead pines which +had been swept by forest fire. And out beyond it was the island, of the +size and shape described by Trimble Rogers, making a harbor from the sea +which rolled to the horizon rim. + +But no tall brig, nor any other vessel rode at anchor in this silent and +lonely haven. Jack had been told precisely where to look for it. He had +made no mistake. Some emergency had caused Captain Stede Bonnet to make +sail and away. + +A king's ship or some other hostile force might have compelled him to +slip his cable in haste, reflected Jack as he descended to the shore of +the bay. It was most unlike the chivalrous Stede Bonnet to abandon two +of his faithful seamen without an effort to succor them. Endeavoring to +comfort himself with this surmise, the sorely disappointed boy paced the +sand far into the night and gazed in vain for the glimmer of a fire or +the spark of a signal lantern in a ship's rigging. He could not bear to +think of the dark prospect should no help betide him. + +Some time before day he was between waking and sleeping when a queer +delusion distracted him. Humming in his ears was the refrain of a song +which was both familiar and hauntingly pleasant. It seemed to charm away +his poignant anxieties, to lull him with a feeling of safety. He +wondered if his troublesome adventures had made him light-headed. He +moved not a muscle but listened to this phantom music and noted that it +sounded louder and clearer instead of fading away. And still he refused +to believe that it was anything more than a drowsy mockery. + +At length a vagrant breeze brought him a snatch of this enjoyable +chorus in deeper, stronger volume and he leaped to his feet with a +shout. It was no hallucination. Lusty seamen were singing in time to the +beat of their oars, and Jack Cockrell knew it for the favorite song of +Stede Bonnet's crew. He could distinguish the words as they rolled them +out in buoyant, stentorian harmony: + + "An' when my precious leg was lopt, + Just for a bit of fun + I picks it up, on t'other hopt, + An' rammed it in a gun. + 'What's that for?' cries out Ginger Dick, + 'What for? my jumpin' beau? + Why, to give the lubbers one more kick,' + _Yo, ho, with the rum below!_" + + + + +CHAPTER XII + +A PRIVATE ACCOUNT TO SETTLE + + +THE ship's boat was bound into the bay, probably to lie there for +daybreak, and Jack Cockrell rushed down to the beach where he set up +such a frantic hullabaloo that the sailors ceased singing and held their +breath and their oars suspended. They had come to look for Bill Saxby +and Trimble Rogers, but this was a strange voice. It was so odd a +circumstance that several of them hailed the shore with questions loud +and perplexed. + +"Master John Cockrell, at your service," came back the reply. "Captain +Bonnet knows me. I am the lad that clouted a six-foot pirate of yours +for 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 boots +at the sound of ye." + +"What's the game, lad? Have ye taken a ship of your own to scour the +Main?" + +Jack ignored this good-natured badinage and, in dignified accents, told +them to come ashore and take him off to the _Royal James_. In this +company 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 a +torch of pitch-pine splinters. The fine young gentleman who had strolled +arm-in-arm with Stede Bonnet to the tavern green was a ragged scarecrow +and bedaubed with red clay and black mud. This aroused their sympathy +before he told them of his escape from the _Revenge_ and his adventures +with Bill Saxby and the crippled buccaneer. In their turn they explained +how Captain Bonnet had sent them down the river to await the return of +the two men who were now stranded in the wilderness two days' march +distant. + +"And why did your captain shift the brig from her anchorage off the +island?" asked Jack. + +This amused the boat's crew who nudged each other and were evasive until +the master's mate who was in charge went far enough to say: + +"A sloop came in from the Pamlico River. Our ship sought a snugger +harbor, d'ye see? There was some private business. We loaded the sloop +with hogshead of sugar, and bolts of damask, and silver ingots. His +Excellency, Governor Eden, of the North Carolina Province, turns an +honest 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 the +master's mate. "I confide this much to stave off your foolish questions +when ye board the ship." + +There was no reason to tarry in the bay and the boat pulled out to +follow the course of the river and return in haste to the brig _Royal +James_ in her more secluded harbor. The news that Blackbeard was at his +old rendezvous within easy sail to the southward eclipsed all other +topics. And when it was learned that he had lost the two sloops of his +squadron, there was fierce delight. Although the _Revenge_ was a larger +vessel and more heavily manned and gunned, they were hilariously +confident of victory. It was a burning grudge and a private quarrel, and +fuel was added to the flame by the tidings that a score or more of +seamen had been mercilessly marooned to perish because of their +suspected preference for Captain Stede Bonnet. + +When Jack Cockrell caught sight of the shapely brig as she loomed in the +morning haze, it seemed as though years had passed since he had +enviously watched her pass out over the Charles Town bar. Presently he +spied the soldierly captain on the quarter-deck, his spare figure all +taut and erect, his chin clean-shaven, his queue powdered, his apparel +fresh and in good taste. A ship is like her master and the watch was +sluicing down decks or setting up the rigging which had slackened with +the heavy dew. Jack felt ashamed to let himself be seen. This was no +place for a ragamuffin. + +Captain Bonnet strode to the gangway and stared down at this bit of +human flotsam. He was quick to recognize his boyish friend and admirer +and ordered the men to lower a boatswain's chair and lift Master +Cockrell aboard. Jack was, indeed, so stiffened and sore and weary that +he had been wondering how he could climb the side of a ship. + +"Tut, tut, my son, bide your time," exclaimed Stede Bonnet as they met +on 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 room +ready for the guest and fetched clean clothing from the captain's chests +and a tub of hot water. And as soon as the grateful Master Cockrell had +made himself presentable, he was invited to sit down at table with the +captain and enjoy a meal of porridge and crisp English bacon and fresh +eggs from the ship's hen-coop in the long-boat and hot crumpets and +marmalade. And this after the pinched ration of mouldy salt-horse and +wormy hard-bread! Captain Bonnet lighted a roll of tobacco leaves, which +he called a _cigarro_, and puffed clouds of smoke while Master Cockrell +cleaned every dish and lamented that his skin felt too tight to begin +all over again. + +He was now in a mood to relate his strange yarn, from its outset in the +ill-fated merchant trader, _Plymouth Adventure_. Eagerly he begged +information concerning her people after their shipwreck, but Captain +Bonnet had been cruising far offshore to intercept a convoy of rich +West 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 vowing +to hang all rogues of pirates." + +"But I must sail with you, sir, till you have saved Joe Hawkridge and +his shipmates and blown Blackbeard out of water." + +"Rest easy on that," exclaimed Stede Bonnet. "Those affairs are most +urgent. My ship will drop down the river to-day, with the turn o' the +tide, and heave to long enough to land a party, six men, to go in search +of Trimble Rogers who is the apple of my eye. I shall not ask you to +join 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 your +valiant old buccaneer's. And my feet are raw." + +"You have proved yourself," was the fine compliment. "I judged ye aright +when we first met." + +Soon the deck above them resounded to the tramp of boots and the thump +of 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 enjoy +talking with the youth whose manners and breeding were like his own. In +a mood unusually confidential he confirmed Jack's earlier impressions, +that he was a pirate with a certain code of honor which reminded one of +Robin Hood of Sherwood Forest who robbed the rich and befriended the +poor. Touching on his mortal quarrel with Blackbeard, he revealed how +that traitorous ruffian had proposed a partnership while he, Stede +Bonnet, was a novice at the trade. The plot all hatched to take Bonnet's +fine ship, the _Revenge_, from him, Blackbeard had disclosed his hand at +the final conference when he said, with a sarcastic grimace: + +"I see, my good sir, that you are not used to the cares and duties of +commanding a vessel, so I will relieve you of 'em." + +As soon as Captain Bonnet had mended his fortunes and had the goodly +brig _Royal James_ to cruise in, his ruling purpose was to regain the +_Revenge_ from Blackbeard and at the same time wreak a proper +punishment. + +"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 a +deed of mercy, besides affording me a stronger crew." + +The brig was soon standing down the river while the landing party broke +out an ample store of provisions and powder and ball, with canvas for a +tent. The plan was for them to pitch a camp near the shore of the bay to +which they could fetch back Trimble Rogers and Bill Saxby and there wait +for their ship to return and take them off. They were ready to go ashore +when Captain Bonnet's navigator ordered the main-topsail laid aback and +the brig slowly swung into the wind. The delay was brief and no sooner +was the boat cast off than the _Royal James_ proceeded on the voyage to +Cherokee Inlet. + +Clumsy as those sailing ships of two hundred years ago appear to modern +eyes, their lines were finely moulded under water and with a favoring +wind they could log a fair distance in a day's run. It goes without +saying that this tall brig was shoved along for all she was worth before +a humming breeze that made her creak, and during the night she was +reckoned to be a few miles to seaward of the sandy islands which +extended like a barrier outside of Cherokee Inlet. Jack Cockrell stood a +watch of his own, dead weary but with no thought of sleep until he could +hear the lookout shout "Land ho!" + +This cry came from aloft soon after dawn. The brig moved toward the +nearest of these exposed shoals while her officers consulted a chart +spread upon the cabin roof. They were wary of running the ship aground +with Blackbeard no more than a few miles distant. So bare were these +yellow patches of sand that showed against the green water that a group +of men on any one of them would have been easily discernible. The _Royal +James_ coasted along outside of them under shortened sail but discovered +nothing to indicate a party of marooned seamen. + +"But they must be out here somewhere," cried Jack Cockrell, in great +distress. + +"They ought to be, for no trading vessel would take 'em off," replied +the puzzled Captain Bonnet. "And if they were towed out in boats as ye +say, Jack, these islands must ha' been where they were beached." + +"But you won't give up the search, sir, without another tack past those +outermost shoals?" + +"Oh, we shall rake them all, but Blackbeard may have changed that +crotchety 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 poor +business to let Blackbeard glimpse my spars and so take warning." + +This was sad news and Jack walked away to hide his quivering lip. To +examine the islands again was a forlorn hope because already it seemed +certain that nothing alive moved on any of them. The brig passed them +closer 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 next +morning and meanwhile he would be vigilantly blockaded. + +Even Jack Cockrell, hopeful to the last, was compelled to agree with the +crew of the brig that not a solitary man could be seen on these sea-girt +cays and it seemed useless to send off a boat to explore them one by +one. There would have been some stir or signal, even if men were too +weak to stand. The air was clear and from the brig's masts it was +possible to sweep every foot of sandy surface. Here was another mystery +of the sea. It occurred to Stede Bonnet to ask: + +"You took it for granted they were marooned, Jack, when the boats passed +from your sight and you were hidden in the tree in the swamp. What if a +quicker death were dealt 'em?" + +"That may be, sir." + +The brig was leaving the coast astern. Jack moped by himself until his +curiosity was drawn to a group of seamen upon the forecastle head who +were talking loudly and pointing at something in the water, well ahead +of the ship. One vowed it was a big sea-turtle asleep, another was +willing 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 mermaid +or her husband. The after-deck brought a spy-glass to bear and perceived +that the thing was splashing about. The tiller was shifted to bring it +close aboard and soon Captain Bonnet exclaimed that it was, indeed, a +merman a-cruising with a cask! + +Jack Cockrell scampered to the heel of the bowsprit to investigate this +ocean prodigy. And as the cask drifted nearer he saw that Joe Hawkridge +was clinging to it. There was no mistaking that dauntless grin and the +mop of carroty hair. A handy seaman tossed a bight of line over his +shoulders as he bobbed past the forefoot of the brig and he was yanked +bodily over the bulwark like a strange species of fish. Flopping on deck +he 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 was +sick with worry for you. I left you in that swamp----" + +"And I thought you dead, Joe. For the love o' heaven, tell me how you +fared and what----" + +Captain Bonnet interfered to say: + +"I treated you more courteously than this, Jack. Let us make him +comfortable." + +Accepting the rebuke, Jack bustled his amazing friend into a change of +clothes and saw that he was well fed. Little the worse for his watery +pilgrimage, Joe Hawkridge explained at his leisure: + +"Ned Rackham took the others away in the snow, as I tell ye, Cap'n +Bonnet, and there was I in the doleful dumps. Prayers get answered and +miracles do happen, for next day there come a-floatin' to the beach a +cask full of grub and water. Good Peter Tobey, the carpenter's mate, had +a hand in launchin' it, no doubt, but the Lord hisself steered the +blessed cask. Well, while I set a-giving thanks and thinkin' one thing +an' another, I figgered that when I'd ate all the grub and swigged the +water, I was no further along." + +"And so you thought you would trust the Lord again," suggested Captain +Bonnet. + +"Aye, sir, that was it. By watchin' the tides I reckoned I might drift +to another island and so work to the coast, taking my provisions with +me. There was some small line in the cask that Peter Tobey had wrapped +the stores in, and I knotted a harness about the cask that I could slip +an arm in, and off I goes when the tide sets right. But some kind of a +dratted 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 Ned +Rackham'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 bloody +frolic with Blackbeard's bullies." + +"There is a share of his treasure for you, Joe, as soon as we can go +find it," gleefully announced Master Cockrell. "I have the chart drawn +all true with mine own hand. Let me get it." + +While the two lads pored entranced over the map of the branching creek +and the pine-covered knoll, the crew of the _Royal James_ were +overhauling weapons and clearing the ship for action. It disappointed +them to lack the twenty men whom they had expected to find marooned but +this made them no less eager for battle. Concerning Ned Rackham, there +was no feud with him or grudge to square and he could go his way in the +little trading snow without fear of molestation from Stede Bonnet. + +Under cover of night the _Royal James_ worked back to the sandy islands +and anchored in the channel. One of her boats had ventured within sight +of the Inlet for a stealthy reconnaissance and reported that the +_Revenge_ was still in the harbor. Captain Bonnet was considering his +plan of attack. He said nothing about it to Jack Cockrell and his chum, +the merman, and they greedily listened to the gossip of the petty +officers or thrashed out theories of their own. + +To sail boldly into the harbor was a ticklish risk to run as there was +no pilot aboard who knew the inner channel and the depths of water. All +the gunners were in favor of attempting it because they yearned to +settle it with crashing broadsides. But the battered, hairy sea-dogs who +had fought it out in hand-to-hand conflicts on the Caribbean were for +leaving the brig in safe water and sending fifty men in boats to board +the _Revenge_ at the first break of day. + +In the midst of the fo'castle argument, Captain Bonnet sent for Jack +Cockrell and told him: + +"You are to keep out of harm's way, my young gamecock. I have undertaken +to deliver you to your esteemed uncle with arms and legs intact, and +your head on your shoulders." + +"But I am lusty enough to poke about with a pike or serve at a gun +tackle," protested the unhappy Master Cockrell. + +"I expect you to obey me," was the stern mandate. "You will have +company. This Joe Hawkridge is to stay with you." + +"But he is a rare hand in a fight, Captain Bonnet. You should have seen +him 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 a +deserter." + +By this humane verdict the two lads were shielded from peril, as far as +it lay within Stede Bonnet's power. They should have felt grateful to +him but on the contrary it made them quite peevish and they sulked by +themselves up in the bow of the ship until it was time to eat again. +Then their gnawing appetites persuaded them to forgive their considerate +host. + +The pirates moved about the deck until far into the night while the +sparks flew from cutlass blades pressed to the whirling grindstone. Tubs +were filled with hand-grenades and fire-pots, the deck strewn with sand, +the magazine opened and powder passed up. Stede Bonnet was careful to +see for himself that all things were in order. At such times he was a +martinet of a soldier. + +Anxiously he watched the weather signs, as did every seasoned sailor on +board. It bade fair to be a bright morning with an easterly air and this +would carry the brig into the harbor with the minimum danger of +stranding if the lead were cast often enough. Joe Hawkridge and Jack +Cockrell were of some assistance in explaining the marks and bearings of +the channel, and Captain Bonnet consulted them over the chart unrolled +upon the cabin table. He had made up his mind to sail the brig in and +risk the hazards of shoal water. When he went on deck, Jack thought of a +topic as thrilling as this imminent duel between ships and he remarked +with joyous excitement: + +"Now, Joe, as soon as ever Blackbeard gets his drubbing, we beg a boat +and men and gear of Captain Bonnet and go up the creek to fish out the +treasure chest and dig in the knoll." + +"Hook your fish before you fry 'em," replied the sagacious +apprentice-boy. "This scrummage with the _Revenge_ will be no dancin' +heel-and-toe. A bigger ship, more guns and men, and a Blackbeard who +will fight like a demon when he's cornered. Crazy though he may be, he +is the most dangerous pirate afloat." + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +OUR HEROES SEEK SECLUSION + + +AN hour before dawn the anchor was aweigh and the _Royal James_ drifted +ahead like a shadow, in between the outer islands where the fairway was +wide and safe. Her gun-ports were open and every man was alertly at his +station. It was a silent ship excepting when an officer passed an order +along. Joe Hawkridge began to feel more sanguine of winning against +odds. He had never seen such iron discipline as this in the bedlam +aboard the _Revenge_. Stede Bonnet knew how to slacken the reins and +when to apply the curb. His men were loyal because he dealt out justice +as well as severity. + +"The captain says we must go below when the action commences, Joe," +dismally observed Jack Cockrell. + +"It goes against the grain but we will not dispute him," was the sage +reply. "We needn't be idle. You can lend a hand with the powder or pass +the water buckets to douse the fire if she gets ablaze. And there's the +wounded to carry into the cockpit and the blood to mop up, and----" + +"Enough o' that," cried Jack, getting pale about the gills. "You take it +like a butcher!" + +"What else is it, you big moon-calf? Set me safe ashore in that Charles +Town of yours, and I hope ne'er to see another weapon barring a spoon +and a knife to cut my vittles." + +"There is sense in that," agreed young Master Cockrell. + +Smartly handled, the brig crept in as far as she dared go without more +light by which to avoid the shallower water. The anchor was dropped to a +short cable and buoyed ready to slip. It was estimated that the distance +from Blackbeard's ship was somewhat more than a mile. The stars faded +and the cloudless sky began to take on a roseate hue. The light breeze +which had breathed like a cool zephyr through the night was dying in +languid catspaws. Gradually the dark outline of coastal swamp and forest +was uncurtained. And eager eyes were able to discern the yellow spars +and blurred hull of the _Revenge_ against the gloomy background. + +Stede Bonnet's brig was, of course, pricked out much more sharply with +the seaward horizon behind her. To her crew, in this hushed morning, +there came a prolonged, shrill note that was like the call of a bird. It +trilled with a silvery sweetness and was repeated over and over again. + +"A bos'n's pipe," said Captain Bonnet, a hand cupped at his ear. +"Blackbeard has sighted us and is mustering his crew." + +So faint was the breeze that the command was given to man two boats and +take a hawser from the brig to tow her through the inner channel. Before +they were in motion, however, the pearly mist began to roll out of the +Cherokee swamp as if a great cauldron were steaming. The weather favored +it, heat in the air and little wind. The mist seemed also to rise from +the water, hanging low but as thick as a summer fog. It shrouded the +coast and Blackbeard's ship and crept out across the harbor until the +brig was enveloped in it. + +"'Twas like this when we swum ashore and found the pirogue, Cap'n +Bonnet," said Joe Hawkridge. "A curious kind o' white smother from the +swamp." + +"And how long did it hang thus?" was the impatient query. + +"When the sun was well up, sir, it seemed to burn away like. It has the +same look as the fever-breedin' vapors of Darien and Yucatan." + +Captain Bonnet called his boats back and was in an ugly humor. There was +no towing the brig through this bothersome fog which obscured every mark +and left a man bewildered. And instead of surprising Blackbeard +unprepared, he would now have time to make his ship ready. However, +Stede Bonnet was not a man to wring his hands because a well-laid scheme +went wrong. Without delay the crew was assembled in the waist and he +spoke to them from the break of the poop. + +"We shall make this weather serve our purpose, lads. Fill the boats, +every man to his billet. The mates will see to it that the oars are +well muffled. Silence above all things. Nimbly now." + +There was no need to say more. They fathomed the strategy which would +enable them to approach Blackbeard's ship unheard and unseen and then +swarm over her side in a ferocious onslaught. Cheerily they took stock +of their weapons, drank a health from a tub of stiff grog, and lined up +for Captain Bonnet's inspection. They wore clean clothes, the best they +could find in their bags, as has always been the sailor's habit when +going into action. The ship was left in charge of the navigator with a +few men who were the least stalwart or experienced in such desperate +adventures as this. + +Stede Bonnet went in command of the largest boat to lead the party and +single out Blackbeard as his own particular foe. There was a large +chance that he might not return and he therefore left instructions for +the disposal of the brig, advising the navigator to take her to Charles +Town and there sue for the king's pardon in behalf of those on board. He +shook hands with Jack Cockrell and Joe Hawkridge, bade them be careful +of their own safety, and with no more ado took his place in the boat. +The flotilla stole away from the brig, sunburned, savage men with bright +weapons for whom life was like a throw of the dice, and the pearly fog +concealed them when they had passed no more than a cable-length away. So +skilfully was the sound of the oars deadened that you would not have +guessed that boats were moving across the harbor. + +"Blackbeard fights like a tiger but trust Cap'n Bonnet to outwit him," +said Joe Hawkridge, who stood at the brig's rail with Jack at his elbow. + +"It will be mighty hard waiting," was the tense reply. "We shall know +when they find the _Revenge_. They are not apt to miss her, with a +compass in the captain's boat." + +"Aye, there'll be noise enough. Plaguey queer, eh, Jack, to be a-loafin' +with nothing to see, like your head was wrapped in a blanket. They ought +to fetch alongside Blackbeard in a half-hour. Go turn the sand-glass in +the cabin." + +They fidgeted about in aimless fashion and fell into talk with the +navigator, or artist, as he was called, a middle-aged man who had been a +master mariner in the slave trade. He told them a yarn or two of the +Guinea coast but he, too, was restless and left them to stump up and +down the deck and peer toward the shore. Jack dodged into the cabin to +watch the sand trickle into the bottom of the glass. Never was a +half-hour so long in passing. + +A yell from Joe Hawkridge recalled him to the deck. He listened but +heard no distant pistol shots or the hoarse uproar of men in mortal +combat. Joe raised a warning hand and told him to stand still. There +came a faint splash. It might have been a fish leaping but Joe insisted +that it was made by a careless oar. Jack heard it again and then fancied +he caught the softened beat of muffled oars close at hand. + +"They lost the course. The fog confused 'em," said he, in great disgust. + +"But why come back to the ship?" demanded Joe. "They could lay and wait +for the fog to lift a little. And I told Cap'n Bonnet to bear to the +north'ard if in doubt and find the shore of the swamp. Then he could +coast back to the beach and so strike the _Revenge_." + +"Well, here they come, Joe, and there is sure to be a good reason. +Mayhap the fog cleared to landward and they intend to tow the brig in, +after all." + +Just then the foremost boat became visible and behind it was the vague +shape of another. The puzzled lads stared and stared and the hair +stiffened on their scalps for sheer horror. These were not the boats +from the _Royal James_. They were filled with Blackbeard's own pirates +from the _Revenge_! + +The explanation was simple enough. Joe Hawkridge read it at a glance. +Blackbeard was not the drunken chuckle-head that Stede Bonnet had +assumed him to be. He, too, had taken advantage of the fog to attempt to +carry the enemy by stealth. The wit of the one had been matched by the +other. And the two flotillas had gone wide enough in passing to escape +mutual discovery. In a way it was a pirates' comedy but there were two +spectators who foresaw a personal tragedy. They fled for the cabin and +scuttled through a small door in a bulkhead which admitted them to the +dark hold of the ship. + +It was their purpose to hide in the remotest nook that could be found. +Falling over odds and ends of cargo they burrowed like rats and stowed +themselves behind a tier of mahogany logs which had been taken out of +some prize or other. They were in the bottom of the ship, upon the rough +floor covering the stone ballast. Then these frightened stowaways found +respite to confer in tremulous whispers. + +"This is the very dreadfulest fix of all, Joe. I had a fair look at +Blackbeard himself, in the stern of the boat,--red ribbons in his +whiskers, and his sash stuck full of pistols." + +"That old rip isn't an easy man to mistake, Jack. Now the fat _is_ in +the fire," replied the Hawkridge lad who, for once, appeared +discouraged. "Cap'n Bonnet is a vast sight happier than us. He gets the +_Revenge_ without strikin' a blow." + +"But Blackbeard gets _us_," wailed Master Cockrell. "And I helped to +chase him through the swamp after we rammed the pirogue into his wherry +and capsized the treasure chest. Do you suppose he knew me just now?" + +"Those little red eyes of his are passing keen. But didn't ye tell me of +smearing your face with mud that day to fend off the mosquitoes? It may +ha' disguised you." + +"A little comfort in that, Joe, but to be found in Stede Bonnet's brig +bodes ill enough. Of a truth we be born to trouble as the sparks fly +upward ever since we joined the pirates. What is your advice?" + +"To stay hid below and pray God for another shift o' fortune," piously +answered Joe. "There is no fear of Blackbeard's rummagin' the hold at +present. He must decide if he'll fight the _Revenge_ or give her the +slip. And whilst him and his men are busied on deck, I can make bold to +search for stores fit to eat. Cap'n Bonnet allus had a well-found ship. +Blast it, Jack, my hearty, stock us up and we could lie tucked in the +forepeak for a month o' Sundays." + +"But the rats and the darkness and the stinks, and to be expecting +discovery," was Jack's dreary comment. + +"It would ha' looked like a parlor to me when I was on that barren cay +and sighted Ned Rackham's rogues coming off from the snow," said the +other stowaway. He was beginning to recuperate from the shock. + +They were in a mood for no more speech but sat in this rayless cavern of +a hold and strove to hear any sounds which might indicate the course of +events on deck. There was no hubbub of firearms nor the cries of wounded +men. It was foolish to assume that the dozen seamen who had been left to +keep the ship would attempt resisting Blackbeard's mob of pirates all +primed for slaughter. When quietude seemed to reign all through the ship +Joe Hawkridge whispered this opinion: + +"If his fancy was to deal with 'em later, he would pitch the lot down +here in the hold. Failing that, Jack, he has offered 'em the chance to +enlist. Being so few, they can't plot mischief, and he has lost the +hands he left aboard the _Revenge_." + +"But I thought all this crew was true as steel to Stede Bonnet, Joe." + +"Many a man'll change his mind to save his life," was the reply. "And +these lads aren't what you call Cap'n Bonnet's picked men. As for the +navigator, Blackbeard needs him to fill Ned Rackham's berth." + +Soon Joe Hawkridge told Jack to stay where he was. Now was the time to +explore the lower part of the ship. Squeezing his comrade's hand in +farewell, Joe crawled aft to make his way to a rough bulkhead which +walled off a storeroom built next to the cabin. The boys had passed +through it in their headlong flight below. Here was kept the bulk of the +ship's provisions. Joe Hawkridge had learned of the storeroom through +helping the steward hoist out a barrel of pork. + +With his heart in his throat the venturesome lad groped like a blind +man, grievously barking his shins and his knuckles, until he bumped into +the timbers of the bulkhead. Inching himself along, he came to the small +door which had been cut into the hold to connect with the main hatch. He +had slipped the iron bar behind him during his flight with Jack +Cockrell. Pulling the door ajar he wormed through into the storeroom +which was also dark as midnight. His fingers touched what seemed to be +a tierce of beef but he had no tools to start the head or the hoops. In +the same manner he discovered other casks and barrels but they were +utterly useless to him. Here was food enough, he reflected, if a man had +teeth to gnaw through oak staves. + +Now and again he had to cross to the other door which led into the cabin +passageway and press his ear against a plank to make certain against +surprise. Up and down the dark room he blundered, refusing to admit +himself beaten. The first bit of cheer was when his foot struck a round +object as solid as a round shot and he picked up a small Dutch cheese. +This renewed his courage and he ransacked the corners on hands and +knees. Blackbeard's treasure chest was not half so precious as a side of +salted fish which he ran down by scent, saying to himself: + +"With this rancid cheese and the slab o' ancient cod, ye could smell my +course a league to wind'ard." + +In a crumpled sack he found a few pounds of what seemed to be wheat +flour, by the feel and taste of it. Poor stuff as it was, dry and +uncooked, he added it to his stock. + +"Rubbishy vittles," he sighed. "They may keep a man alive but he'll +choke to death a-swallowin' of 'em." + +Water was the desperate necessity and it was not to be sought for in the +storeroom. There was rum enough, the place reeked with it, but to +thirsty throats it was so much liquid fire. Joe was resolved not to +return to Jack Cockrell without a few pints of water if reckless +enterprise could procure it. Was the cabin still empty? He stood for a +long time and listened but there was not a sound beyond the door of the +passageway. Taking his courage in both hands he pushed at the door and +it creaked open on rusty hinges. Light as a feather he moved one foot in +front of the other, halted, advanced another step, and so entered the +large cabin in which Stede Bonnet had lived with a Spartan simplicity. + +What Joe coveted was the porous jar or water-monkey which hung suspended +in a netting above the table. It was kept filled, he knew, in order to +cool the tepid water from the casks. A heavenly sight it was to him to +see the drops sweating on its rounded sides. He snatched it down and was +about to make a swift retirement, but still spread upon the table he +noted the chart of the Carolina and Virginia coasts which he had pored +over with Stede Bonnet. This he delayed to roll up and tuck under one +arm, not that he expected to employ it himself, but to make cruising +more difficult for Blackbeard. + +This bit of strategy held him a moment too long. He shot a glance over +his shoulder, alarmed by a tread on the companion ladder. Horrified he +beheld a pair of Spanish boots with scarlet, crinkled morocco tops, and +they encased bandy legs which were strong and thick. What saved the +miserable young Hawkridge was that the occupant of these splendid boots +paused half-way down the ladder to shout a profane command or two in +those husky accents so feared by all lawful shipmen. + +Before that sable beard came into his field of vision the lad was in +full stride, running like a whippet, chart under one arm, water-jar +under the other. He checked himself to ease the door behind him just as +the truculent captor of the _Royal James_ brig reached the foot of the +ladder and let his gaze rove about the cabin. Sinking to the floor of +the storeroom, Joe was afraid that for once he was about to swoon like a +silly maid at sight of a mouse. As he had truly said, this pirating was +no trade for a nervous man. Never mind, a miss was as good as a mile. +Thankful for the darkness that closed around him, he slung the +water-monkey over his shoulder in its hammock of netted cord, pushed the +side of codfish inside his shirt, poked the chart into his boot-leg, put +the cheese in the sack atop the flour, and was freighted for his journey +through the hold. + +This he accomplished after great difficulty and had to whistle and wait +for a response before he could be sure of Jack Cockrell's whereabouts. + +"What luck, Joe?" was the plaintive question. "I'd sooner starve than be +left alone in this dungeon." + +"Behold the dashing 'prentice-boy with another hairbreadth escape to his +credit," replied the hero. "Be thankful for your dinner 'cause +Blackbeard all but made a mouthful of me." + +"You saw him, Joe?" + +"Up to the middle of him, and that was a-plenty. Don't ask me. I had a +bad turn." + +"I feel sick, too," said Jack. "The smell of this vile bilge-water +breeds a nausea, and, whew, 'tis worse than ever." + +"Bilge, my eye! You sniff the banquet I fetched ye. Here's a prime +cheese that was hatched when Trimble Rogers was a pup." + +Jack offered a feeble apology and felt revived after a pull at the +water-monkey. What they craved most was a spark of light, the glimmer of +a candle to lift this appalling gloom which pressed down like a visible +burden. With nothing to do but discuss the situation from every slant +and angle of conjecture, it was Joe Hawkridge's theory that Stede Bonnet +would not rest content with regaining the _Revenge_ but would come out +to attack the brig as soon as the wind favored. His hatred of Blackbeard +was one motive but there was a point of honor even more compelling. + +"He called you his guest, Jack," explained Joe, "and I never did see a +man so jealous of his plighted word when once he swore it. He took +obligation to set you safe in Charles Town, d'ye see? And powder smoke +won't stop him." + +"Will Blackbeard tarry for a fight, Joe?" + +"Not to my notion. He knows well this brig is no match for the +_Revenge_, knows it better than did Cap'n Bonnet, what with all the +heavy metal slung aboard from the sloop. And what does Blackbeard gain +by having this brig hammered into a cocked hat? Fate tricked him +comically with this swappin' about of ships." + +"And will he linger on this coast? Oh, Joe, if he goes for a long +cruise, what in mercy's name becomes of us two?" + +"A long cruise, it looks like, shipmate. In the _Revenge_ he could laugh +at the small king's men-o'-war commissioned to hunt him down. He was +ready to slap alongside any of 'em. Now 'tis different. As another flea +in his ear, I stole the only chart of these waters. To the south'ard +he'll turn, and I will bet that rampageous cheese on it." + +"Clear to the Bay of Honduras?" said Jack. + +"As far as that, at a guess. Or he may skirt the Floridas to look for +Spanish prizes and put in at the Dry Tortugas which is a famous +rendezvous for pirates of the Main. He will be hot to fit himself with a +bigger ship, by capture or by some knavish trick such as he dealt Cap'n +Bonnet." + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + +BLACKBEARD APPEARS IN FIRE AND BRIMSTONE + + +HERE was a tragic predicament from which there was no release. Jack +Cockrell was firmly convinced that Blackbeard must have recognized him +that day in the swamp while Joe felt no less certain that he was marked +for death because he had been one of the party of marooned mutineers. +The hope of prolonging their existence by means of raiding the storeroom +had ebbed after Joe's investigation. Such provisions as had been broken +out of bulk were kept in lockers and pantries on deck where they were +convenient to the galley and forecastle. It was realized also that their +twittering nerves could not long withstand the darkness and suspense +once the brig had put out to sea. Joe Hawkridge had nothing more to say +about enduring it a month o' Sundays. + +While the brig remained at anchor they clung to the thought that Captain +Stede Bonnet might intervene in their behalf. It did bring them a gleam +of solace to imagine him hoisting sail on the _Revenge_ and crowding out +to rake the brig with his formidable broadsides. And yet they were in +doubt whether the _Revenge_ was fit to proceed at once, what with all +the work there had been to do, rigging a new foremast, caulking leaky +seams, repairing the other ravages of the storm. + +These pitiable stowaways had no means of telling one hour from another +until, at length, they heard over their heads the faint, musical strokes +of the ship's bell on the forecastle head. This led them to believe that +the fog had cleared else Blackbeard would not have revealed the vessel's +position. And lifting fog meant a breeze to sweep it away from the +harbor. + +"Eight bells she strikes, the first o' the forenoon watch," said Joe. +"We have been cooped in this black pit a matter of three hours a'ready." + +"No more than that?" groaned Jack. "It seems at least a week. We must +divert ourselves in some wise. What say if I learn you a bit o' Latin? +And you can say over such sea songs as come to mind, for me to tuck in +my memory." + +"Well said, my worthy scholar. 'Tis high time we bowled ahead with my +eddication as a proper gentleman." + +Jack began to conjugate _amo_, _amas_, _amat_, and the pupil droned it +after him but the verb _to love_ recalled a black-eyed lass who had +stolen his heart in the Azores and he veered from the Latin lesson to +confide that sentimental passage. So Jack hammered nouns of the first +declension into him until they grew tired of that, and then the sea waif +played his part by reciting such fo'castle ballads as "_Neptune's Raging +Fury_; _or The Gallant Seaman's Sufferings_," and "_Sir Walter Raleigh +Sailing in the Lowlands_." + +This was better than the slow agony of waiting in silence, but Joe +spoiled it by turning lovelorn and Jack bemourned fair Dorothy Stuart of +Charles Town whom he would never greet again, and they sang very softly +together a verse of "_The Maid's Lamentation_" which went like this: + + "There shall be no Scarf go on my Head, + No Comb into my Hair, + No Fire burn, no Candle light + To shew my Beauty fair, + For never will I married be + Until the Day I die, + Since the Seas and the Winds + Has parted my Love and me." + +This left them really in worse spirits than before, and they drowsed off +to sleep, and no wonder, after such a night as they had passed. +Accustomed to broken watches, Joe Hawkridge slept uneasily with one ear +open. Once or twice he sat up, heard Jack's steady snores, and lay down +again. It was the ship's bell which finally brought him to, and he +counted the strokes. + +"Five bells, but what watch is it?" he muttered anxiously. "How long was +I napping? Lost track o' the time, so I have, and can't say if it's +night or day." + +He sat blinking into the darkness and then had an inspiration. So +staunch and well-kept was the brig that the deck seams were tight and no +light filtered through. Joe left his hiding-place and groped along to +where he thought the main hatch ought to be. Gazing upward he saw a +gleam like a silvered line between the coaming and the edge of the +canvas cover which was battened with iron bars. This persuaded him that +the day had not yet faded, and he concluded that he had heard the bell +strike either in the afternoon watch or the second dog watch of early +evening. + +This he imparted to Jack, after prodding him awake. They mulled it over +and agreed that Captain Bonnet must have found the _Revenge_ unready to +weigh anchor or he would have engaged the brig ere this. Perhaps there +was not breeze enough for either vessel to move. Another hour of this +stressful tedium and they heard a sound of sharp significance. It was +the lap-lap of water against the vessel's side. No more than the +thickness of the planking was between them and this tinkling sea, and +Joe exclaimed, in an agitated whisper: + +"A breeze o' wind! Gentle it draws, but steady, like it comes off the +land at sundown." + +"The same as it did when we were blown offshore on the little raft, +after we quitted the _Plymouth Adventure_," replied Jack. + +"Blackbeard will take advantage of it to make for the open sea. There be +three things offered us, Master Cockrell, to starve or go mad in this +blighted hold, to sally on deck and beg mercy, which means a short +shift, or to climb out softly in the night and try to swim for it." + +"Swim to what, Joe?" + +"Swim to the bottom, most likely. But we might fetch one o' them cays or +the coast itself if he steers close in to find smooth water. 'Tis the +worst odds yet but I'd sooner drown than tarry in this vessel. One +miracle was wrought when the cask came driftin' to the beach to save me, +and who knows but the Lord can spare another one for the salvation of us +poor lads that mean to do right and forsake piratin'." + +As they expected, there came soon the familiar racket of making sail and +trimming yards and the clank of the capstan pawls. Then the anchor +flukes scraped and banged against the bow timbers. The vessel heeled a +little and the lapping water changed its tune to a swash-swash as the +hull pushed it aside. The brig was alive and in motion. + +"She makes no more than two or three knots," observed Joe, after a +little while. "Ye can tell by the feel of her. The wind is steady but +small." + +"Then he can't go clear of the islands till long after night," +thankfully returned Jack. + +Joe made another trip to crane his neck at the main hatch. The bright +thread of daylight had dimmed. He could scarce discern it. The lads +occupied themselves with reckoning the distance, the hour, and the +vessel's speed. Now that Joe had satisfied himself that the end of the +day was near, he knew what the ship's bell meant when it was struck +every half-hour. They would await the passing of another hour, until two +bells of the first watch, by which time they calculated the brig should +be in the wide, outer channel between the seaward islands. + +The plan was to emerge through the forepeak in the very bows of the ship +where a scuttle was let into the deck. There they might hope to lower +themselves to the chain stays under the bowsprit and so drop into the +sea. They would be washed past the ship, close to her side, and into the +wake, and there was little chance of drawing attention. True it was that +in this hard choice they preferred to swim to the bottom if so it had to +be. + +They crouched where they were hid, waiting to hear the fateful signal of +two bells. It struck, mellow, clear, and they were about to creep in the +direction of the forepeak. But Joe Hawkridge gripped his comrade's arm +and held him fast. A whispered warning and they ceased to move. Behind +them, in the after part of the ship, gleamed a lantern. It illumined the +open door of the bulkhead which walled off the storeroom. And in this +doorway, like a life-sized portrait, grotesque and sinister, set in a +frame, was the figure of Blackbeard. + +He advanced into the hold and the cowering stowaways assumed that he had +come to search them out. The impulse was to dash into the forepeak and +so plunge overboard, flinging away all caution, but before their +palsied muscles could respond, the behavior of Blackbeard held them +irresolute and curious. He had turned his back to them and was shouting +boisterously to others to follow him. Seven men came through the +doorway, one after the other, hanging back with evident reluctance. It +was impossible to discern who they were, whether officers or seamen. +Every one carried in his arms what looked to be a tub or an iron pot. +These they set upon the dunnage boards which covered the ballast and +made a flooring in the hold. + +Blackbeard bellowed at them to squat in a circle, which they meekly did. +He was in one of his fiendishly mirthful humors, rumpling his beard, +strutting to and fro, laughing in senseless outbursts. At such times his +men were most fearful for their lives. What sort of an infernal pastime +he had now concocted was beyond the imagination of the lads who were +concealed a dozen yards away. He was not hunting them, this much was +plain, and it seemed wise to be quiet and avoid drawing attention to +themselves. + +They saw Blackbeard ignite a torch at the lantern and poke it into one +pot after another. Flames began to burn, blue and green and yellow, and +lurid smoke rolled to the deck-beams overhead. Amid this glare and reek +of combustibles, Blackbeard waved his torch and tremendously proclaimed: + +"Come, lads, we be all devils together, with a hell of our +own,--brimstone fires and pitch. Now, braggarts, see how long ye can +bear it. 'Tis a foretaste of what's in store for all hands. At this game +I'll outlast ye, for, harkee, I sold my soul to the Old Scratch as is +well known." + +[Illustration: HE LOOMED LIKE THE BELIAL WHOM HE WAS SO FOND OF CLAIMING +AS HIS MENTOR] + +He stirred his infernal pots and the greasy smoke rolled upward in +choking volume. The brimstone fumes were so vile and noxious that the +victims of this outlandish revel soon gasped and wheezed. But they dared +not object nor move from their places among the villainous pots. +Blackbeard enjoyed their sufferings, taunting them as milksops and +poltroons who could not endure even this taste of Gehenna. He himself +appeared to be unaffected by it, lurching from one man to another, +whacking them with the burning torch or playfully upsetting them. In the +gaseous pall of smoke he loomed like the Belial whom he was so fond of +claiming as his mentor. + +Finally one of his involuntary guests toppled over in a faint. +Blackbeard was kind enough to haul him to the door and boot him through +it. A second man dragged himself thither. A third found voice to +supplicate. The witch-fires still smoked and stewed in the pots and +Blackbeard had proved that he was the toughest demon of them all. + +The two stowaways watched this demented exploit in sheer wonderment. The +fumes were not dense in their part of the hold and they could breathe, +but they well-nigh strangled in trying to refrain from coughing. The +fires of tar and brimstone and what not cast so much light that they +dared not betray themselves by crawling toward the forepeak. The upright +beams between the keelson and the deck threw black shadows over them and +they were in no great peril of detection so long as they stayed +motionless. + +Joe Hawkridge had heard gossip of this extraordinary amusement as a kind +of initiation for hands newly joining Blackbeard's ship. He therefore +read it that these unfortunates were some of Stede Bonnet's men who had +been captured with the brig. They had been allowed to enlist and were +being taught to respect their new master. + +Jack Cockrell had hugely admired young Joe for his ready wit and +coolness in other crises of their mutual fortunes but now came a moment +in which the astute sea urchin surpassed himself. It was not too much to +say that he displayed absolute genius with the sturdy Master Cockrell to +aid and abet him. Joe clawed in the dark until he found the sack with a +few pounds of wheat flour in it. A quick whisper and his comrade grasped +the great idea. They took no thought of a sequel. They would trust to +opportunity. Hastily they rubbed the flour into their shirts and +breeches. They covered their faces with it and lavishly sprinkled their +hair. They looked at each other in the shadow of the beams and were +pleased with their handiwork. + +Another whispered consultation and Joe possessed himself of the +cannon-ball of a cheese while Jack grasped the side of salt-fish by the +tail. They resembled two whitened clowns of a pantomime but in spirit +they were as grimly serious as the menace of death could make them. + +Blackbeard was dancing clumsily, like a drunken bear, and deriding with +lewd oaths the two or three tortured survivors of his brimstone +carnival. In a high, wailing voice which rose to a shriek there was +borne to him the words: + +"Ye dirked poor Jesse Strawn and left him rotting in the swamp. I was a +true and faithful seaman, Cap'n Teach." + +A deeper voice boomed out, filling the hold with unearthly echoes: + +"I am the shade of the master mariner whom ye did foully murder off +Matanzas and there is no rest for me ten fathom down." + +The apparitions flitted out of the shadow and were vaguely disclosed in +the flickering glare from the brimstone pots. The smoke gave them a +wavering aspect as though their shapes were unsubstantial. Blackbeard +stood beholding them in a trance of horror. With an aimless finger he +traced the sign of the cross and his pallid lips moved in the murmur: + +"_The ghost o' Jesse Strawn! For the love of God, forbear._" + +It was a petition as pious as ever Christian uttered. Forgotten was his +wicked counterfeit of the nether region. Again the shrill voice wailed: + +"Pity poor Jesse Strawn. I'll haunt ye by land and sea, Cap'n Teach. +Swear by the Book to let that treasure chest lie at the bottom of the +creek else I tear your sinful soul from your body." + +The terrible Blackbeard was incapable of motion. Huskily he muttered: + +"I'll ne'er seek the chest, good Jesse Strawn, an' it please you to pass +me by." + +The two spectres moved forward as the one of the deeper voice declaimed: + +"Doomed I was to find no rest till I overtook your ship, Ed'ard Teach. +Each night you'll see me walk the plank from your quarter-deck." + +The unhappy Blackbeard gibbered something and would have fled as the +spirits approached him. But those bandy legs tottered and before he +could turn the awful visitants were upon him. One raised a round shot +above his head, or so it appeared to be, and smote him full upon the +crown. The other whirled a flat bludgeon and hit him on the jaw. With +the smell of brimstone was mingled the pungent flavor of ripe cheese and +salt-fish. Blackbeard measured his length, and the ghost of Jesse Strawn +delayed an instant to dump a pot of sizzling combustibles over him. + +Then the spirits twain made for the cabin at top speed. Several of the +crew had rushed down to harken to the strange disturbance. They +scattered wildly at the first glimpse of these phantoms, being +superstitious sailormen with many a wicked deed to answer for. It +flashed into Joe Hawkridge's mind that all the men of the watch might be +chased below, the hatches clapped on them, and the mastery of the brig +secured. Blackbeard was absent for reasons best known to himself and his +pirates lacked leadership. A brace of ghosts could put them to panic +rout. And, no doubt, that wailing message of dead Jesse Strawn had +carried like the cry of a banshee. + +The poop was deserted in the twinkling of an eye, even to the pair of +helmsmen and the officer of the watch. Against the sky of night the +unwelcome phantoms were wan and luminous while the groans which issued +from them were enough to curdle the blood of the brawniest pirate. He +who had been Jack Cockrell in mortal guise was quick to slide the cabin +hatch closed and fasten it. For the moment they had captured the armed +brig _Royal James_ and as ferocious a crew of rascals as ever scuttled a +merchantman. + +Joe Hawkridge glided to the taffrail and peered over the stern. A boat +was towing behind the ship. It had been left there for taking soundings +or pulling the brig's head around while she was still in the shoaler +waters near the coast. This was better than Joe had dared anticipate. +Feeling his way along the rail, he found the end of the rope which was +belayed around a wooden pin. Heaven be praised, they would not have to +swim for it! He beckoned his comrade to say in his ear: + +"They will soon find their wits. It 'ud be foolish to try scaring 'em +under hatches now that the jolly-boat floats so handy. There's hard +cases amongst 'em that will begin shooting at us presently. Down the +rope ye go, Jack. I'll stand by and give 'em another dose of poor Jesse +Strawn." + +Over the rail flew the stouter phantom of the two and slid like a white +streak, fetching up in the boat with a most earthly and substantial +thump. With a farewell wail the other ghost flung a limber leg over and +shot down so fast that his hands were scorched. To such pirates as +beheld this instant vanishment, these disturbing spirits floated off +into space. Jack cut the rope with his knife and the boat dropped back +in the shining wake. They shoved out two heavy oars and fairly broke +their hearts in pulling dead into the wind where the brig would have to +tack to pursue them. + +The rattle of the oars and the discovery of the shorn rope's end must +have convinced the pirates who ran aft that they had been tricked by +mortal beings like themselves. A musket spat a red streak of fire. +Blocks whined as the braces were hauled to change the brig's course. In +the light breeze she responded awkwardly and soon hung in stays. +Meanwhile the jolly-boat was slowly working to windward while two +frightened lads tugged and swung until the flour turned to paste on +their dripping faces. + +Before the brig began to forge ahead, the boat was invisible from her +decks. This was evident because the spatter of musket-fire ceased. Soon +the fugitives heard Blackbeard's harsh voice damning all hands. That +thick skull of his had not been cracked by the impact of the solid +cheese and he had been released from his brimstone inferno. The ghosts +rested on their oars. They could watch the glimmering canvas of the brig +and see what her procedure might be. Soon she filled away and forsook +the attempt to find the boat. Blackbeard had wisdom enough to avoid +blundering about and putting the brig aground in a chase so elusive as +this. + +"Farewell, ye hairy son of Tophet," said Joe Hawkridge, waving his hand +at the disappearing vessel. "And here's hoping I set your whiskers +ablaze when I turned the pot over 'em." + +"Did you hear him swear not to touch the treasure chest, Joe? That was a +master stroke of yours." + +"Aye, it was bright of me. But he thinks different now. He knows we made +a booby of him." + +"But we learned one thing,--he hasn't recovered the treasure yet," +suggested Jack. + +"He is such a powerful liar that I don't know as the ghost o' Jesse +Strawn could budge the truth out of him. However, it was comfortin' to +hear him swear it on his marrow-bones. I fetched away the navigation +chart, the one I poached from the cabin table. It gives us the lay o' +the coast." + +"What ho and whither bound?" was Jack's question. "Here is a sail wound +round a sprit beneath the thwarts." + +"The wrong wind to head for Cap'n Bonnet and the _Revenge_. This +swag-bellied jolly-boat handles like a firkin. We had best wait for day +and then decide the voyage." + +"Nothing to eat and no water, Joe. All I can find is an empty pannikin." + +"You're a glutton," severely exclaimed young Hawkridge. "After the +banquet I served in the hold!" + +What Master Cockrell said in reply sounds as familiar and as wistful +to-day as when he spoke it two hundred years ago. + +"I have had enough of wandering and strange adventures, Joe. I want to +go home." + + + + +CHAPTER XV + +MR. PETER FORBES MOURNS HIS NEPHEW + + +IT seems a long time, in the course of this story, since the honorable +Secretary of the Council, Mr. Peter Arbuthnot Forbes, was forced to sail +in to Charles Town from the _Plymouth Adventure_ on that most +humiliating errand of finding medicines for Blackbeard's fever-smitten +rogues. For the sake of his own dear nephew and the other hostages +detained on board, he had endeavored to perform his bargain and was +returning across the bar when the threatening clouds and other portents +of a violent storm caused the seamen to lose heart. They put about and +drove back into the harbor for shelter in the very nick of time. + +These were pirates from Blackbeard's crew, it may be recalled, with his +grizzled, scarred boatswain at the tiller. They had felt safe enough to +swagger and ruffle it through the streets of Charles Town and to terrify +the people. Their worthless lives were protected by the hostages who +waited in fear and trembling. The town seethed with indignation and was +hot with shame. There would be no more of the friendly traffic with +pirates. + +It was fully believed that the wretched Blackbeard would be as good as +his word in allowing no more than two days' grace. Therefore when Mr. +Peter Forbes came back in the boat to inform his neighbors that he had +been unable to reach the ship, it was sadly taken for granted that those +helpless passengers had been put to death. Forthwith the pirates of the +boat's crew were seized and thrown in gaol. There they lay in double +irons until the Council met and ordered them to be tried. In accordance +with the verdict the six seamen and the boatswain were promptly hanged +by the neck from the same gallows at White Point hard by the town. And +the people no longer shivered at the name of Blackbeard nor feared his +vengeance. Their fighting blood was thoroughly aroused. + +Not long after this, there arrived from England a new Governor of the +Province, a man of honor and resolution who approved what had been done. +This Governor Johnson proceeded to organize the town for defense, +building batteries on Sullivan's Island, recruiting the seafaring men in +the militia, and seeking to obtain merchant vessels which could be +employed as armed cruisers. Learning that the Governor of North Carolina +was in a corrupt partnership with pirates, he sent messages to Virginia +to solicit cooperation. + +This activity made much work for Secretary Peter Forbes who forsook his +intention of going to England to beg the cooperation of his Majesty's +Government against the plague of pirates. Dapper and plump and +important as of yore, his florid face was clouded with sorrow and he +seemed a much older man. He mourned his nephew, Jack Cockrell, as no +more and felt as though he had lost an only son. Every angry word he had +ever addressed the lad, every hasty punishment inflicted, hurt him +grievously. + +It was a solace to talk with winsome Dorothy Stuart because hers was the +bright optimism of youth and she held so exalted an opinion of Jack's +strength and courage that she refused to abandon hope. And the fact that +he had confided to her his rash intention of running away and signing as +a pirate sooner than be transported to school in England, persuaded her +that he might be alive. + +"From what you saw yourself, Mr. Forbes," said she, "when Blackbeard +boarded the _Plymouth Adventure_ with his dreadful men, our Jack won his +fancy." + +"So it appeared, Dorothy. The boy boasted of knocking a tall pirate on +the head, and he read this monster of a pirate more shrewdly than I. +Yes, Blackbeard took it with rough good humor. But Jack would ne'er +consent to sail with him. 'Twas that confounded Stede Bonnet with his +gallant air that turned the lad's head. He cast a glamor over this trade +of murder and pillage." + +"Be that as it may," returned Dorothy, with a sigh and a smile, "I +confess to a romantic admiration for this bold Captain Bonnet. He wears +an air of mystery which is most becoming. We must not blame poor Jack." + +"No, no, I am done with all that," hastily exclaimed Uncle Peter. "All I +dare hope is that when Blackbeard is captured, we may learn what fate +befell the boy. It makes the torture worse to have him vanish without +trace." + +"And yet I have faith the sea will give him back to us, Mr. Forbes. He +will find you a chastened guardian, not so apt to box his ears." + +Uncle Peter was so distressed by this gentle raillery that the girl +begged pardon and vowed that she would never again offend. It so +happened that they were sitting together in Parson Throckmorton's garden +a day or so after this when a friend came running in with tidings the +most unexpected and incredible. A negro slave had come from a plantation +a few miles inland and he bore a letter written by none other than +Captain Jonathan Wellsby of the _Plymouth Adventure_. It narrated how he +and the survivors of his ship had journeyed that far after weeks of +suffering and frequent skirmishes with Indians. They were compelled to +rest and take shelter before undertaking the last stage of the journey. + +Councilor Peter Forbes was magically changed. He shed his dignity and +threw his hat in air. Clasping Miss Dorothy's slender waist, he planted +a kiss on her damask cheek. Parson Throckmorton was ramming snuff into +his nostrils, his wig all awry, while he sneezed trumpet blasts of +rejoicing. + +"Survivors? _Kerchooh!_ God bless me, that lusty stripling will be +amongst them,--_kerchooh_,--he can survive anything but Greek and +Latin,--_kerchooh_,--I will spare the rod in future." + +"I told you so, Uncle Peter Forbes," laughed Dorothy. + +"Not so fast," quoth he, in a mood suddenly sobered. "Captain Wellsby +includes no list of those in his party." + +"But, of course, one of them is _sure_ to be Master Jack," she insisted. + +"I am a selfish man and a laggard officer of the Crown," he exclaimed +with air of great self-reproach. "There are women in that company and +wounded men, no doubt. We must take them clothing, horses, food, a +surgeon." + +He bustled off to the Governor's house to find that energetic gentleman +absent at Sullivan's Island. Acting for him, the Secretary of the +Council sent the town crier to summon all good citizens to the tavern +green. In the space of an hour the men and supplies were assembled and +with Mr. Forbes in command the band of mercy made haste to reach the +plantation. During the march there was a buzz of anxious surmise. Was +this one and that alive or dead? Had the hostages been slain and were +these the sailormen of the _Plymouth Adventure_ who had been set adrift +by Blackbeard? Councilor Forbes winced at hearing such talk as this, but +his heart beat high nevertheless, so confident was he that he was about +to behold his manly nephew. + +There was loud cheering when they came to the cleared land of the indigo +fields and saw a tattered British ensign fluttering from the log +stockade which enclosed the huts of the overseer and his laborers. In +the gateway appeared the stalwart figure of Captain Wellsby in ragged +garments and with a limping gait. Other men crowded behind him and +responded with huzzas which were like a feeble echo. The friends from +Charles Town rushed forward to embrace them, loudly demanding to know +where the rest were. + +"We fetched the women safe through," answered Captain Wellsby whose eyes +were sunken and the brown beard streaked with gray. "Twelve good men of +my crew are dead, and three of the gentlemen passengers. The swamps took +toll of some and the Indians slew the others. We were besieged a +fortnight by the Yemassees,--a hard experience all of it, and wondrous +luck to have escaped----" + +Councilor Forbes delayed while his companions entered the huts to attend +the invalids. He struggled to ask a question but his voice was beyond +control. + +"I understand," kindly spoke the shipmaster. "Your lad is not with us, +nor can I say if he be dead or alive." + +"The Indians carried him off?" weakly inquired the uncle. + +"No, he was never seen after we abandoned ship. Your Jack and a chum of +his from Blackbeard's crew were for making the beach on a small raft of +their own contrivance. This was after nightfall, Councilor, and what +with a land'ard breeze and a crotchety set of the tide amongst the +shoals, they floated out to sea." + +"On a small raft," muttered Mr. Forbes, "and a vast ocean. I know of no +ship voyaging to or from these ports which might have found them." + +"I was in hopes of hearing news of the lads from you," sorrowfully said +the shipmaster. "There is the chance, tiny though it be, that they were +sighted by some vessel bound to foreign parts, across the Western +Ocean." + +The uncle shook his head in a manner profoundly dejected. There were +duties which summoned him and he choked down his own grief, turning from +the sympathetic mariner to minister to those in distress. Horse litters +were soon ready for the exhausted but heroic women who had been kept +alive by the devotion of the noble British seamen in accordance with the +traditions of the merchant service. Those unable to walk farther were +placed in carts. Clothed and fed, the sailors were in blithe spirits and +talked of going to sea again as soon as they could find a ship. + +In the crowd which met them on the outskirts of the Charles Town +settlement was Dorothy Stuart. She scanned the straggling column and +then ran from one cart to another. It was impossible to convince her +that Jack Cockrell was not there. But when she heard from Uncle Peter +the news that Jack was missing but not surely dead, her faith burned +anew, triumphant over fact and reason. + +"See how the great storm came to save him from Blackbeard," she cried, +her hand nestling in Uncle Peter's arm. "And look how he came unscathed +through that bloody battle with the pirates in the _Plymouth Adventure_. +Why, a cruise on a raft is merely a frolic after all that." + +"I would not discourage your dear dreams, sweet maid," was the gentle +response. "And may they be truer than my own forebodings." + +Charles Town was more than ever resentful when it learned from these +poor people how the pirate sailing-master, Ned Rackham, had plotted to +get rid of them and how mournful had been their sufferings after the +shipwreck. The one boat left to them had been too rotten to send along +the coast and they had plunged into a wilderness almost impassable. + +Meanwhile Governor Johnson, stirred by this episode, had received word +that the province of Virginia was both ready and anxious to join in an +expedition against Blackbeard. Governor Spottswood of Virginia would be +outfitting such craft as he could get together in the James River while +he awaited a reinforcement from Charles Town. + +The best vessel available for immediate use was a small brigantine, the +_King George_. There was no lack of eager seamen when Councilor Forbes +and Colonel Stuart proclaimed the muster on the tavern green. Among +those selected were several of Captain Jonathan Wellsby's sailors who +were primed to fight even though there was not much flesh on their +bones. He himself was a forlorn mariner who had lost his good ship and +found no joy in life. With a grim smile of gratitude he accepted the +invitation to go as master of the _King George_, with Colonel Stuart as +a sea soldier to drill the men and lead them in action. + +It was while they were slinging guns aboard the brigantine that some of +the men happened to notice a small boat coming into the harbor under a +rag of sail. At first it was taken for a fishing craft and there was no +comment until it was quite close. Then they saw that it was a ship's +jolly-boat much the worse for wear, with only two occupants. These were +half-naked lads, burned black to the waist, with a queer kind of canvas +head-gear as a protection against the sun. + +The boat was steered to pass under the stern of the _King George_ and +the crew was unable to fathom if these were pirates or victims of +another shipwreck. Captain Wellsby solved it by shouting: + +"Both your guesses are right! One is the pirate younker that served our +cause in the _Plymouth Adventure_ and t'other is Master Jack Cockrell!" + +One of the Charles Town volunteers heard only the word _pirate_ and +growled, with an oath: + +"One o' Blackbeard's spawn? We'll make precious short work of him. Hand +me a musket and I will save trouble for the hangman." + +"Here, stop that," said Captain Wellsby, beckoning his own men. "You old +_Adventure_ hands know better. Quell these lubbers. If there's to be +hostile feeling ashore I shall take this lad aboard under my own +protection." + +During this argument the sea-worn pilgrims in the jolly-boat had +recognized the shipmaster and were joyfully yelling at him. In response +to his gesture, they pulled down the sail and rowed to the gangway of +the brigantine. There was no need to fear the wrath of the Charles Town +seamen, because the _Adventure_ hands stood by as a guard while they +explained how this young Joe Hawkridge had valiantly helped to turn the +tide of battle against the prize crew of pirates. And there was such a +rousing welcome for Master Cockrell that all else was forgotten. His old +shipmates fairly mobbed him. + +"I will fire a gun and hoist all the bunting to signal the town," cried +the skipper, his face shining. "And presently I'll send you to the wharf +in my own boat, but first tell me, boys, who took you off the little +raft and whence come you in this ship's boat?" + +"Blackbeard rescued us. And we borrowed the boat from him," demurely +answered Jack, watching the effect of this bombshell of a sensation. + +"_Blackbeard!_" echoed the bedazed shipmaster and the others chimed it +like a chorus. + +"Aye, old Buckets o' Blood hisself," grinned Joe Hawkridge. "We had him +tamed proper when we parted company. First we chased him through a swamp +till his tongue hung out and left him mired to the whiskers. Then for +another lark we scared him in his own ship so he begged us on his knees +to forbear. We learned Cap'n Ed'ard Teach his manners, eh, Jack?" + +This was too much for the audience which stood agape. A dozen voices at +once implored enlightenment. With a lordly air for a youth whose costume +was mostly one leg of his breeches, Master Cockrell reproved them to +wit: + +"Captain Stede Bonnet was more courteous to our distress when we sailed +with him. He gave us a thumping big breakfast." + +"Right-o," declared Joe. "'Tis our custom to spin strange yarns for +clothes and vittles in payment." + +The men scampered to the galley and pantry but refused to let Captain +Wellsby carry these rare entertainers into the cabin. Graciously they +sketched the chief events, omitting all mention of the treasure chest, +and Jack explained in conclusion: + +"And so I was stricken homesick, like an illness, and Joe had his fill +of pirates, too. The wind was wrong to rejoin Captain Bonnet in the +Inlet harbor after we shipped as ghosts in the jolly-boat, and we had a +mariner's chart of the Carolina coast and----" + +"But what did you do for subsistence?" broke in Captain Wellsby. + +"Food and water?" answered Joe. "Oh, we landed when the thirst plagued +us too bad. And there was rain to fill a bight of the sail and a +pannikin to save it in." + +"And we lived on oysters mostly," said Jack, "and Joe killed a fat +opossum with a club, and we caught some fish in a net which I knotted +from a ball of marline that was in the boat. And we foraged for pawpaws +and persimmons." + +"And whenever the breeze was fair we put to sea again," said Joe, "and +it was a long and weary voyage, though not so many leagues on the +chart." + +The captain's boat was ready and they tumbled in, two wayfarers of the +sea who were as lean and sun-dried as the buccaneers of old Trimble +Rogers' fond memories. Hardships had seasoned and weathered them like +good ash staves. On the wharf was Uncle Peter Forbes and Governor +Johnson and a concourse of townspeople drawn by the joyous signals flown +from the brigantine. Jack looked in vain for Dorothy Stuart and was +thankful that her welcome was deferred. Shears and a razor and +Christian raiment would make him look less like a savage from the coast +of Barbary. + +Uncle Peter wasted a vast deal of pity, thinking the castaways too weak +and wasted to walk. Jack strode along with him, the crowd at their +heels, and soon had the plump Councilor puffing for breath. They +insisted on taking Joe Hawkridge with them although he was for seeking +lodgings at the tavern. He was one of the household, declared Mr. +Forbes, while Jack warned him to beware of impertinence lest he be +sentenced to chop wood for the kitchen fire. + +The neighbors and friends, as curious as they were joyful, were barred +from the house while the lads talked and Uncle Peter carefully made +notes of it all. It was too much for him to realize that Jack was +sitting there lusty and laughing and with the dutifully respectful +manner as of yore, in spite of the man's part he had played to the hilt. +Of all the exploits, that which most fascinated Mr. Peter Forbes was the +chase after Blackbeard's sea-chest weighty with treasure and the +discovery of the knoll in the Cherokee swamp where he might have buried +other booty. Here was a picaresque romance which allured the methodical +barrister and Councilor and he was as boyishly excited as his nephew. He +examined the chart which Jack had copied from his rude sketch made on a +piece of bark and this raised a question which he was quick to ask: + +"What of Bill Saxby and this old bloodhound of a Trimble Rogers? As +soon as Stede Bonnet could get the _Revenge_ to sea, I have no doubt he +sailed to Cape Fear River to get these pirate comrades of yours and the +seamen he left to find them. Once aboard, they would urge Bonnet to +return to Cherokee Inlet and let them go hunt the treasure." + +"That may be, but we can trust them to deal fair by us," replied Jack. + +"Possibly," was the skeptical comment. Mr. Forbes was not too ready to +believe in honest pirates. + +"I'm not sure Cap'n Bonnet had a mind to bother with this treasure +hunting," suggested Joe Hawkridge. "Leastwise, he may ha' put it off to +an easier day. He has friends that keep him well informed, such as the +Governor of North Carolina at Bath Town. And all this flurry against +piratin', here and in Virginia, 'ud be apt to make Cap'n Bonnet wary of +bein' trapped on the coast." + +"Joe is full of wisdom, as usual," said Master Cockrell. "And if +Blackbeard has cruised to the Spanish Main, as we suspect, the treasure +may lie undisturbed for a while." + +"Concerning Blackbeard, the evidence then in hand warranted your +conclusions," was Uncle Peter's judicial comment, "but I have received +later information. The rumor is, and well-founded, that he turned his +ship and made for the Pamlico River with the intention of obtaining +pardon from the false and greedy Governor Eden. This would baffle our +plans against him, or so he would assume. And it would enable him to +remain within convenient distance of his treasure." + +"Would this Province and Virginia respect such a pardon as that?" +queried Jack. + +"Not in the case of Blackbeard," snapped the Councilor, "because we know +it would be violated as soon as this treacherous villain could safely +return to his piracies." + +"Then Joe and I will enlist in the _King George_ brigantine," cried +Jack. "Captain Wellsby tells me she will sail for Virginia inside the +week." + +Uncle Peter was about to make violent protest but he checked himself and +his emotions were torn betwixt pride and yearning affection. He could +not bear to let his nephew go so soon to new perils, but what right had +he to try to shield him when the public duty called? It was idle to +pretend that Jack was too young and tender to embark on such service as +this. He was fitter for it than some of the other volunteers. And so the +unhappy Uncle Peter walked the floor with his cheeks puffed out and his +hands clasped behind him and said, with a tremulous sigh: + +"I swore to treat you no more as a child, Jack. 'Tis right and natural +for you to desire to go in the _King George_ as a fighting man tried and +true. As for Joe Hawkridge, I have acquainted the Governor with his +merits and his pardon is assured." + +"Thankee, sir," returned the reformed young pirate. "A respectable life +is what I crave, and the parson for company." + +"It sounds almost pleasant to me, including the parson," admitted Jack, +"as soon as we shall have settled this matter with Blackbeard." + + + + +CHAPTER XVI + +NED RACKHAM'S PLANS GO MUCH AMISS + + +THE armed brigantine had been out several days on the voyage to Virginia +when a vessel was sighted hull-down. Captain Wellsby and Colonel Stuart +decided to edge over and take a look at the stranger although they were +not anxious to engage an enemy of heavier metal. If, however, this +should happen to be Blackbeard in the _Revenge_ they were in no mood to +avoid him, despite the odds. After an hour of sailing in a strong +breeze, it was seen that this other vessel was a small merchantman which +shifted her course as though to shake off pursuit. + +"They take us for a pirate," chuckled Captain Wellsby. "I have no wish +to scare 'em, poor souls. They will feel easy as soon as we bring the +wind abeam." + +He was about to give the order when Joe Hawkridge, gunner's mate, called +to Jack Cockrell standing his watch at the helm: + +"Remember the snow I told ye of? Yonder is the same rig and tonnage, +alike it as peas in a pod." + +Jack spoke to the shipmaster who summoned Joe to the quarter-deck. The +boy was confident that this was the New England coasting vessel in which +Ned Rackham and his pirates had appeared off Cherokee Inlet and had +carried the marooned seamen from the sandy cay. + +"A brown patch in the big main-topsail, and the bowsprit steeved more'n +ordinary," said Joe. "Tit for tat, Cap'n Wellsby. Your men can have the +fun of jamming them in the fo'castle. And you won't find me or Jack +helpin' these picaroons to break out." + +"No fear of that," sternly spoke the shipmaster. "They shall make their +exit with a taut rope and a long drop when I deliver them in Virginia." + +It was to be gathered that the bold Ned Rackham had failed in his +desperate enterprise of capturing a larger ship and that he was probably +cruising up the coast in hopes of rejoining Blackbeard. The snow had too +few guns to cope with the _King George_ brigantine which could throw a +battering broadside. As soon as identification was certain, Captain +Wellsby hauled to windward to hold the weather gauge and Colonel Stuart +called the men to quarters. The _Plymouth Adventure_ hands were +disappointed that they would be unable to pay their own grudge. They had +no doubt that Ned Rackham would strike his colors without a battle. + +The _King George_ ran close enough for Captain Wellsby to shout through +the trumpet: + +"The snow ahoy! Send your men aboard or I'll sink you. No tricks, +Rackham. Lively, now." + +They saw the men running to cut the boat lashings and struggle to +launch the boats from the deck. Ned Rackham, handsome and debonair, +stared coolly at the brigantine but gave no sign that he had heard the +ultimatum. With a shrug he walked across the poop, glanced up at the +British ensign which flew from his main truck, and made no motion to +pull it down. + +"Blow your matches, boys," roared Colonel Stuart from his station in the +waist of the _King George_. "Five minutes' grace, no more." + +Captain Wellsby said to wait a little. The pirates were endeavoring to +quit the snow. And presently Rackham appeared to change his own purpose. +No longer ignoring the _King George_, he doffed his hat in a graceful +flourish and bowed with a mocking obeisance. Then he strolled to the +cabin hatch and went below, presumably to get a change of clothing or +something of the sort. But he failed to reappear and his men were in a +frenzy of haste, with one boat already in the water. + +So incensed was Colonel Stuart by the insolent refusal of Ned Rackham to +strike his colors in token of surrender that he gave orders to fire at +the mainmast and try to bring it down. An instant before the starboard +battery thundered, the snow seemed to fly upwards in a tremendous +explosion. The masts were flung out of her and the hull opened like a +shattered basket. So violent was the shock that men were thrown to the +deck of the _King George_ and she quivered as though her bows had +rammed a reef. Black smoke spouted as from a crater and debris rained +down on a boiling sea. + +A few survivors, scorched or half-stunned, were clinging to bits of +wreckage and wailing for succor. Where the snow had floated was a +discolored eddy, broken timbers, a lather of dirty foam. Captain +Jonathan Wellsby picked himself up, rubbed a bump on his head, and gazed +wildly at the tragic scene. Collecting his wits, he exclaimed: + +"That 'ud be like Ned Rackham, to blow up the ship sooner than be taken +and hanged. More than likely he had the train all laid to the powder +barrels." + +"He saved us a lot of trouble," said Colonel Stuart as he climbed to the +poop. "A fellow of iron will and courage, this Rackham, by all accounts. +I have conceived a respect for him." + +"I forgive him his sins," replied the skipper. "Now, lads, boats away, +and fish up those dying wretches." + +Joe Hawkridge emitted a jubilant whoop and dived over the rail without +waiting for a boat. He had caught a glimpse of a feeble swimmer whose +square, solid features and bushy brows were familiar. It was Peter +Tobey, the carpenter's mate, who had befriended him on the cay and who +had set adrift that miraculous cask of food and water. A few strokes and +Joe was at his side, clutching him by the neck-band and towing him +toward the _King George_ like a faithful retriever. Ropes were flung to +them and Joe saw his good friend safely aboard before he went up the +side. + +The carpenter's mate was both burned and bruised but his hurts were not +grievous and he was able to drag himself aft with Joe as a crutch. + +"My own particular prize, sir, by your gracious leave," said Joe +Hawkridge, addressing Captain Wellsby. "This is Mr. Peter Tobey, a poor, +faint-hearted pirate like me. May I have him to keep, sir?" + +"Bless me, but there will be no pirates left to hang," was the quizzical +reply. "Master Cockrell has adopted you, and now I am ordered to be kind +to Bill Saxby and Trimble Rogers if I meet up with 'em." + +"That's the whole list, sir. Ask Jack Cockrell. You can string the rest +of the bloody pirates to the yardarm, for all we care. Do I get +exemption for this Peter Tobey?" + +"What is your verdict, Colonel Stuart?" asked the captain. + +"I heard the tale from Hawkridge," answered the brusque but generous +soldier. "The carpenter's mate has won my allegiance. What say you in +your own behalf, Peter Tobey?" + +The blistered, singed survivor touched a hand to his forehead and +respectfully responded: + +"A carpenter by trade and nature, and allus was. I never see one happy +day a-piratin' nor did I shed the blood of any human creatur'. With a +bench and tools, you will find me a proper handy man in Charles Town." + +"That clinches it," cried Colonel Stuart. "I should call it a crime to +hang an artisan like Peter Tobey. Your prize is awarded you, Hawkridge. +See that he is well cared for." + +"The first booty that ever was handed me from a sinkin' ship," said Joe. +"Come along, Master Tobey, and roll into my bunk." + +"Verily I was castin' bread upon the waters when I gave that cask to the +wind and tide," devoutly murmured the carpenter's mate as he limped +below with his new owner. + +No more than a dozen other pirates were rescued alive and several of +these expired soon after they were lifted aboard the brigantine. This +was the only sensational incident of the coastwise voyage to the James +River. Comfortably quartered, with no more work than was wholesome, Jack +Cockrell and Joe Hawkridge thought it a holiday excursion after their +previous adventures at sea. + +In the roadstead of the James were two men-of-war, small frigates flying +the broad pennant of the Royal Navy. A conference was held in the cabin +of the senior officer, to which Captain Wellsby and Colonel Stuart were +invited. The latest advices made it seem certain that Blackbeard still +lurked off the coast of the Carolinas. Planters had reported seeing his +ship in Pamlico Sound and it was also learned that he had been in +communication with the disloyal Governor Eden at Bath Town. A letter had +been intercepted, in handwriting of the Governor's secretary, and +addressed to Captain Teach, which included these words: + +"_I have sent you four of your men. They are all I can meet with about +town. Be upon your guard._" + +This was readily construed to mean that Blackbeard was in haste to +recall such of his crew as had strayed ashore. At the council of war in +the frigate's cabin, a proclamation was read. It offered a handsome +reward for the capture of Captain Edward Teach, dead or alive, and +lesser rewards for other pirates. + +It was the decision that the two frigates were unhandy for cruising +inshore. Therefore officers and men would be chosen from them to fill +the complements of two sloops, light and active craft which would be +unhampered by batteries of cannon. They would be employed for boarding +Blackbeard's ship while the Charles Town brigantine _King George_ should +convoy them and engage in the attack if the depth of water should +permit. The naval officer selected to command the sloops was Lieutenant +Maynard who went off to the _King George_ to inspect her and make a call +of courtesy. + +He was especially cordial to Master Cockrell and Gunner's Mate Joe +Hawkridge, laying aside the stiff dignity of naval rank. To his +persuasive argument that they enter the royal service with promise of +quick promotion, they turned a deaf ear although they were wonderfully +taken with him. He was a gentle, soft-spoken young man with a boyish +smile who blushed when pressed to talk of his own exploits against the +Spanish, the Dutch, and the French in Britannia's wooden walls. His own +questions were mostly about Blackbeard's fighting quality. Would he make +a stand against disciplined tars who were accustomed to close in, +hammer-and-tongs? Joe Hawkridge answered to this: + +"I ne'er saw him in action against a king's ship, and all his wild +nonsense is apt to delude ye into thinkin' him a drunken play-actor. But +you will never take him alive, so long as those bandy legs have strength +to prop him up." + +"I look forward to meeting him with a deal of pleasure. It may be my +good fortune to measure swords with him," observed Lieutenant Maynard. + +Joe Hawkridge was puzzled by this gentle fire-eater with the complexion +of a girl. Nothing could have been more unlike the ramping, roaring +pirates of Blackbeard's dirty crew who tried to terrify by their very +appearance. After the lieutenant had returned to his frigate, Jack +Cockrell remarked: + +"A most misleading man, Joe. You cannot picture him seeking the bubble +reputation at the cannon's mouth, as Will Shakespeare saith." + +"Blackbeard will bite him in two," replied Joe. "He is too pretty to be +risked in such a slaughter pen. I own up to feelin' squeamish on my own +account, hardy pirate though I be." + +"This Lieutenant Maynard is welcome to measure swords with Blackbeard," +said Jack, "and I shall not quarrel with him for the honor. Pick me a +pirate with a wooden leg, Joe, or one that still shakes with Spanish +fever." + +"My only chance of getting out with a whole skin is to lug a sack of +flour under one arm and play the ghost o' Jesse Strawn." + +Expeditiously the brigantine and the two sloops sailed out of the James +River to head for the North Carolina coast and first rake the nooks and +bays of Pamlico Sound. There was no intention of offering Blackbeard +fair odds in battle. With men and vessels enough it was resolved to +exterminate him, like ridding a house of rats or other vermin. If he had +gone out to sea, then the pursuers would wait and watch for his return +to his favorite haunts in these waters. There was every reason to +believe, however, that he was concealed inshore, within easy distance of +his friend Governor Eden. + +Failing to find him in Pamlico Sound, it was debated whether to cruise +farther to the southward. Now Master Jack Cockrell and his chum had said +nothing to the officers concerning the treasure in the Cherokee swamp. +They felt bound in honor not to reveal it without the consent of Bill +Saxby and old Trimble Rogers who were partners in the enterprise. +Moreover, Lieutenant Maynard and the Virginia officers would feel bound +to turn the treasure over to the crown or its representatives. Governor +Eden of North Carolina would undoubtedly claim it as found within his +territory and this meant that he would steal most of it for himself. + +It thrilled the lads when Colonel Stuart told them that this Provincial +squadron would cruise as far as Cherokee Inlet before working to the +northward again. Information had led the officers to believe that +Blackbeard had lost many men by desertion while his ship lay at Bath +Town and near by. They had been roving about the plantations and making +a nuisance of themselves and seemed ready to quit their red-handed +despot of a master. In this event he might have sought his old +hiding-place at the Inlet sooner than risk a clash with the force which +had been sent after him and of which he had been warned by Governor +Eden. + +Lieutenant Maynard scouted in advance with the two sloops because there +was small danger of their getting aground and they could be moved along +with oars if the wind failed. The brigantine kept further offshore but +within signaling distance. She was running within sight of the +scattering barrier of low islands when Captain Wellsby summoned Joe +Hawkridge and informed him: + +"You will act as pilot, Joe, once we fetch sounding on the Twelve Fathom +Bank. The chart is faulty, as ye know, and me and my mates are in +strange waters with a'mighty little elbow-room. You know the marks, I +take it." + +"Aye, sir, I do that," answered Joe. "Then I stays aboard ship and miss +the chance to go pokin' about with a cutlass? I'm all screwed up to +terrible deeds, Cap'n Wellsby, after a spell o' mortal fear. And who +takes care of Master Cockrell if he goes in a boat?" + +"His own lusty right arm, Joe. Avast with your melancholy. We must first +catch this Blackbeard." + +Presently Joe Hawkridge footed it up the main shrouds to scan the sea +ahead and try to get a glimpse of that sandy bit of exposed shoal on +which he had been marooned. This would enable him to find the entrance +to the outer channel and so con the brigantine in from seaward. While he +shaded his eyes with his hand against the glare of the morning sun, one +of the sloops hoisted a string of bright signal flags and fired two +guns. The other sloop was seen to lower her topsail and wait for the +_King George_ to come up. + +Joe Hawkridge climbed higher and found a perch where he could discern +the spars of a vessel etched almost as fine as threads against the azure +horizon. He was almost certain that the ship he saw was very close to +that tiny cay of which he had such unhappy knowledge. Soon he was able +to perceive that the vessel's sails were furled. This was an odd place +for an anchorage. His conjecture was confirmed when the _King George_ +passed close to the nearest sloop and Lieutenant Maynard shouted: + +"Stranded hard and fast! And she is deucedly like Blackbeard's brig." + +Scampering to the deck, Joe Hawkridge mustered his gun's crew as Jack +Cockrell came running up to say: + +"Trapped on the very islet where he cast you and the other pirates! His +chickens have come home to roost." + +"Call me no pirate or I'll stretch ye with a handspike," grinned Joe. +"'Tis a plaguey poor word in this company. Aye, Cap'n Ed'ard Teach has a +taste of his own medicine and he will get a worse dose this day than +ever he served me." + + + + +CHAPTER XVII + +THE GREAT FIGHT OF CAPTAIN TEACH + + +YES, there was Blackbeard's ship hard in the sand which had gripped her +keel while she was steering to enter the Cherokee Inlet. There was no +pearly vapor of swamp mist out here to shroud her from attack. The air +was clear and bright, with a robust breeze which stirred a flashing surf +on the shoals. Under lower sails, the two sloops watchfully crept nearer +until their crews could examine the stranded brig and read the story of +her plight. She stood on a slant with the decks sloped toward the enemy. +This made it impossible to use her guns with any great effect. + +Captain Wellsby tacked ship and kept the _King George_ well away from +the cay, as Joe Hawkridge advised. With an ebbing tide, it was unsafe to +venture into shallower water in order to pound Blackbeard's vessel with +broadsides. Lieutenant Maynard came aboard in a small boat and was quite +the dandy with his brocaded coat and ruffles and velvet small-clothes. +One might have thought he had engaged to dance the minuet. Colonel +Stuart met him in a spick-and-span uniform of His Majesty's Foot, +cross-belts pipe-clayed white as snow, boots polished until they shone. +Such gentlemen were punctilious in war two hundred years ago. + +"Your solid shot will not pound him much at this range, my good sir," +said the lieutenant. "With his hull so badly listed toward us, you can +no more than splinter the decks while his men take shelter below." + +"I grant you that," regretfully replied the soldier. "And case-shot will +not scatter to do him much harm. Shall I blaze away and demoralize the +rascals whilst you make ready your boats?" + +"Toss a few rounds into the varlets, Colonel Stuart. It may keep them +from massing on deck. One boat from your ship, if it please you, with +twenty picked men. I shall take twenty men from each sloop as boarders." + +"Sixty in all?" queried the colonel. "Why not take a hundred?" + +"They would be tumbling over one another,--too much confusion. This is +not a large vessel yonder. We must have room on deck to swing and cut." + +"I will have my men away in ten minutes, Lieutenant Maynard," crisply +replied the blonde, raw-boned Scotsman with a finger at his hat-brim in +courteous salute. He proceeded to call the men by name, strapping, sober +fellows who had followed the sea amid the frequent perils of the +merchant service. Jack Cockrell was the only landsman and he felt +greatly honored that he should be included. Gone was his unmanly +trepidation. Was he more worthy to live than these humble seamen who +fought to make the ocean safer for other voyagers, who were true kinsmen +of the Elizabethan heroes of blue water? He tarried a moment to wring +Joe Hawkridge's hand in farewell and to tell him: + +"If I have ill luck in this adventure, old comrade,--do you mind +presenting my best compliments, and--and a fond farewell to Mistress +Dorothy Stuart?" + +"Strike me, Jack, stow that or you'll have me blubberin'," said Joe. +"Bring me a lock of Cap'n Teach's whiskers as a token for my lass in +Fayal if ever I clap eyes on her again. And you'd best take this heavy +cutlass which I whetted a-purpose for ye. 'Twill split a pirate like +slicin' an apple." + +With this useful gift in his hand, Master Cockrell swung himself into +the boat where Colonel Stuart stood in the stern-sheets. Perhaps he, +too, was dwelling on a fair maid named Dorothy who might be left +fatherless before the sun climbed an hour higher. The sloops were moving +nearer the cay under sail and oar, trailing their crowded boats behind +them. Blackbeard had hauled two or three of his guns into such positions +that he could open fire but the sloops crawled doggedly into the shoal +water and so screened their boats until these were ready to cast off for +the final dash. + +It was a rare sea picture, the stranded brig with canvas loose on the +yards and ropes streaming, her listed decks a-swarm with pirates in +outlandish, vari-colored garb, the surf playing about her in a bright +dazzle and the gulls screaming overhead. The broad, squat figure of +Blackbeard himself was never more conspicuous. He no longer strutted the +quarter-deck but was all over the ship, menacing his men with his +pistols, shifting them in groups for defense, shouldering bags of +munitions, or heaping up the grenades and stink-pots to be lighted and +thrown into the attacking boats. + +It was his humor to adorn himself more elaborately than usual. Under his +broad hat with the great feather in it he had stuck lengths of tow +matches which were all sputtering and burning so that he ran to and fro +in a cloud of sparks and smoke like that Evil One whom he professed to +admire. He realized, no doubt, that this was likely to be his last +stand. The inferno which he was so fond of counterfeiting, fairly yawned +at his feet. + +And now the sloops let go their anchors while from astern of them +appeared the three boats of the assailants. They steered wide of each +other to seek different parts of the pirate brig and so divide +Blackbeard's force. The boats of Colonel Stuart and Lieutenant Maynard +were racing for the honor of first place alongside. Blackbeard trained +two guns on them, filled with grape and chain-shot, and one boat was +shattered but it swam long enough for the cheering men to pull it to the +brig and toss their grapples to the rail which was inclined quite close +to the water. They were in the surf which broke against the ship, but +this was a mere trifle. + +Most of them went up the side like cats, leaping for the chains and +dead-eyes, slashing at the nettings, swinging by a rope's end, or +digging their toes in a crack of a gun-port. Forward they were pouring +over the bowsprit, vaulting like acrobats from the anchor stocks, or +swarming up the stays. It seemed beyond belief that they could gain +footing on the decks with Blackbeard's demons stabbing and hacking and +shooting at them, but in such manner as this was many a great sea fight +won in the brave days of old. + +Lieutenant Maynard gained his lodgment in the bows amid a swirl of +pirates who tried to pen him in front of the forecastle house. But his +tars of the Royal Navy were accustomed to close quarters and they +straightway made room for themselves. Chest to chest and hand to hand +they hewed their way toward the waist of the ship where Colonel Stuart +raged like the braw, bonny Highlander that he was. Almost at the same +time, the third boat had made fast under the jutting stern gallery and +its twenty men were piling in through the cabin windows like so many +human projectiles. + +In the _King George_ brigantine, Captain Jonathan Wellsby fidgeted and +gnawed his lip, with a telescope at his eye, while he watched the +conflict in which he could scarce distinguish friend from foe. He could +see Blackbeard charge aft to rally his men and then whirl back to lunge +into the melee where towered Colonel Stuart's tall figure. The powder +smoke from pistols and muskets drifted in a thin blue haze. Joe +Hawkridge was fairly shaking with nervousness as he said to the +skipper: + +"There'll be no clearing the decks 'less they down that monster of a +Cap'n Teach. And he has more lives than a cat. See you my dear crony, +Master Jack?" + +"No, I cannot make him out in that mad turmoil," replied Captain +Wellsby. "Nip and tuck, I call it, Joe." + +This was the opinion forced upon Lieutenant Maynard as he saw the +engagement resolve itself into a series of bloody whirlpools, his seamen +and the pirates intermingled. He won his way past the forecastle into +the wider spaces of the deck, with only a few of his twenty tars on +their feet. Colonel Stuart was hard pressed and the boarders who had +come over the stern had as much as they could do to hold their own. Thus +far the issue was indecisive. + +Jack Cockrell had kept close to the colonel, and felt amazement that he +was still alive. His cheek was laid open, a bullet had torn his thigh, +and a powder burn streaked his neck, but he felt these hurts not at all. +It was a nightmare from which there seemed no escape. He saw Blackbeard +rush at him with a raucous shout of: + +"The scurvy young cockerel! He will ne'er crow again." + +Colonel Stuart sprang between them, blades clashed, and they were swept +apart in another wave of jostling combat. A moment later the colonel +slipped and fell as a coal-black negro chopped at him with a broken +cutlass. Jack Cockrell flew at him and they wrestled until a hip-lock +threw the negro to the deck, where the colonel made him one pirate less. + +Formidable as these outlaws were, they lacked the stern cohesion which +had been drilled into the sailors of the Royal Navy and likewise learned +in the hard school of the merchant service. Very slowly the odds were +shifting against Blackbeard's crew. It was unmistakable when Lieutenant +Maynard cut his way through to join Colonel Stuart, while the third +group of boarders was advancing little by little from the after quarter. +This meant that the force was gradually uniting in spite of the furious +efforts to scatter it. + +And now there came an episode which lives in history two centuries after +that scene of carnage on the decks of the stranded brig. It has +preserved the name of a humble lieutenant of the Royal Navy and saved it +from the oblivion which is the common lot of most brave men who do and +dare when duty beckons. + +Blackbeard was bleeding from a dozen wounds and yet his activity was +unabated. He was like a grizzly bear at bay. His men began to believe +that his league with Satan, of which he obscenely boasted, had made him +invulnerable. He was all that he had proclaimed himself to be, the +wickedest and most fearsome pirate of the Western Ocean. And all the +while, the slender, boyish Lieutenant Maynard, sailor and gentleman, had +one aim in mind, and that was to slay Captain Edward Teach with his own +hand. Nor was he at all content until he had cleared a path to where the +hairy pirate was playing havoc with his broadsword. + +With a loud laugh in mockery, Blackbeard snatched a loaded pistol from +one of his men and fired at this foppish young officer who presumed to +single him out. The ball chipped Maynard's ear and he dodged the pistol +which was hurled at his head. It was curious to note a lull in the +general engagement, a little interval of suspense while men regained +their breath or tried to staunch their wounds. They were unconsciously +awaiting the verdict of this duel between their leaders. Jack Cockrell, +for instance, finding himself alone by some chance, leaned against a +stanchion and heard his own blood drip--drip--on the deck. + +It was a fleeting respite. Blackbeard swung his sword, with the might of +those wide shoulders behind it. The lieutenant stepped aside like +lightning and the bright weapon whistled past his arm. Then they went at +each other like blacksmiths, sparks flying as steel bit steel. Dexterity +and a cool wit were a match for the pirate's untamable strength. Gory, +snarling, Blackbeard shortened his stroke to use the point. The +lieutenant dropped to one knee, thrust upward, and found a vital spot. + +Blackbeard stood staring at him with wonder in his eyes. Then those +thick, bowed legs gave way and he toppled like a tree uprooted. He +passed out quietly enough, with no more cursing, and in this last moment +of sensibility his thoughts appeared to wander far to his youth as a +brisk merchant seaman out of Bristol port, for he was heard to mutter, +with a long sigh: + +"A pretty babe as ever was, Mollie, and the mortal image of its mother." + +To his waist the sable beard covered him like a pall and one corded arm +was flung across his breast and it showed the design of the skull and +cross-bones pricked in India ink. Then as if the dead leader had issued +the command, the surviving pirates began to fling down their weapons and +loudly cry for quarter. They need not have felt ashamed of the +resistance they had made up to this time, but now the delirium of combat +had slackened and Blackbeard was no more. One or two of his officers +were alive and they knew that the game was lost. Reinforcements could be +sent from the sloops and the brigantine as soon as they were signaled +for. And there was no flight from a stranded ship. Blackbeard had been +able to infuse them with his own madness. Better chance the gallows than +no quarter. + +Here and there a few of the most desperate dogs of the Spanish Main who +had followed Blackbeard's fortunes a long time, refused to surrender but +they were either shot down or overpowered. Captain Wellsby was sending +off two boats from the _King George_ with his surgeon, and the sloops +were kedging in closer to the cay with the rising tide. Half the seamen +were beyond aid and of the pirates no more than twenty were alive. Jack +Cockrell was thankful to have come off so lightly, and he consoled +himself with the notion that a scar across his cheek would be a manly +memento. Colonel Stuart had been several times wounded but 'tis hard +killing a Highlander. + +It was Lieutenant Maynard's duty to offer public proof that he had slain +none other than the infamous Blackbeard, wherefore he made no protest +when his armorer hacked off the head of the dead pirate. There was no +feeling of chivalry due a fallen foe, valiant though his end had been. +This horrid trophy was tied at the end of a sloop's bowsprit, to be +displayed for the gratification of all honest sailormen who might behold +it in port. It was not a gentle age on blue water and Captain Edward +Teach had been the death of many helpless people during his wicked +career. + +Lieutenant Maynard announced that he would take the two sloops into Bath +Town, before proceeding to Virginia, as they were overcrowded vessels +and the survivors of the boarding party needed proper care ashore. It +would also afford the unscrupulous Governor Eden of North Carolina an +opportunity to see his friend, Captain Teach, as a pirate who would +divide no more plundered merchandise with him. + +The brigantine _King George_ was ready to escort them into Pamlico +Sound, after which she would sail for Charles Town. Before the +departure from the entrance of Cherokee Inlet, the stranded vessel was +set afire and blazed grandly as the funeral pyre of Blackbeard's stout +lads who would go no more a-roving. + +Never was a nurse more devoted than Joe Hawkridge when his comrade was +mercifully restored to him. Jack was woefully pale and weak but in +blithe spirits and thankful to have seen the last of Blackbeard. + +"Hulled in the leg and a damaged figger-head," said Joe, as he sat on +the edge of the hero's bunk. "Triflin', I call it, when I expected to +see you come aboard feet first wrapped in a bit o' canvas." + +"I don't want to talk about it, Joe. Let's find something pleasant. Ho +for Charles Town, and the green trees and a bench in the shade." + +"And a tidy little vessel after a while, you and me and the Councilor +a-pleasurin' up the coast with men and gear to fish up the treasure +chest." + +"And you believe that Blackbeard never got back to the Inlet to save the +treasure for himself?" asked Jack. + +"Not the way his ship was headed when she struck the shoal." + +The brigantine was well on her way to Charles Town when Captain Wellsby +found that Master Cockrell could be carried into the comfortable main +cabin to rest on a cushioned settle for an hour or two at a time. It was +during one of these visits, when Joe Hawkridge was present, that the +skipper remembered to say: + +"Here is a bit of memorandum which may entertain you lads. Lieutenant +Maynard had Blackbeard's quarters searched before the brig was burned. +Some valuable stuff was found, but nothing what you'd call a pirate's +treasure." + +The lads looked at each other but kept their own counsel and Captain +Wellsby went on to explain: + +"There was a private log, Blackbeard's own journal, with a few entries +in it, and most of the leaves torn out. I made a copy of what could be +read, for the late Captain Teach was a better pirate than scrivener. +Here, Jack, you are the scholar." + +Jack read aloud this extract, which was about what might have been +expected: + +"_Such a day! Rum all out,--our company somewhat sober. A confusion +amongst us,--rogues a-plotting--great talk of separation. So I looked +sharp for a prize. Took one, with a great deal of liquor on board, so +kept the company hot, very hot. Then all things went well again._" + +"That sounds familiar enough to me," was Joe Hawkridge's comment. "And +the rest of his writing will be much like it." + +"Not so fast," exclaimed Captain Wellsby. "Scan the next page, Jack. +'Twill fetch you up all standing. Not that it puts gold in our pockets, +for we know not where to search, but I swear it will make your eyes +sparkle and your mouth water." + +Trying to hide his excitement, Jack saw a kind of rough inventory, and +it ran like this: + + "Where I Hid Itt This Cruse: + + 1 Bag 54 Silver Barrs. 1 Bag 79 Barrs & Peaces of + Silver. + + 1 Bag Coyned Gold. 1 Bag Dust Gold. 2 Bags Gold + Barrs. + + 1 Bag Silver Rings & Sundry Precious Stones. 3 + Bags Unpolyshed Stones. + + 1 Silver Box set with Diamonds. 4 Golden Lockets. + + Also 1 Silver Porringer--2 Gold Boxons--7 Green + Stones--Rubies Great & Small 67--P'cl Peaces of + Eight & Dollars--Also 1 Bag Lump Silver--a Small + Chaine--a corral Necklace--1 Bag English Crowns." + +Captain Jonathan Wellsby listened to this luscious recital with an air +of mild amusement. He was of a temper too stolid and sensible to waste +his time on random treasure hunting. Blackbeard might have chosen his +hiding-place anywhere along hundreds of leagues of coast. He could +understand the agitation of these two adventurous lads to whom this +memorandum was like a magic spell. Of such was the spirit of youth. + +"Any more of it?" demanded Joe Hawkridge. + +"The next page was ripped out of the journal," answered the skipper. +"What cruise did he mean? If it was this last one, he may have hid it on +the Virginia or Carolina coast." + +Master Cockrell gave it as an excuse that he had sat up long enough and +would return to his bunk. He was fairly bursting for a conference with +Joe, and as soon as they were alone he exclaimed: + +"It may be the sea-chest! What do you think?" + +"A handsome clue, I call it, something to warm the cockles of your +heart," grinned the sea urchin. "Aye, Jack, I should wager he wrote that +down whilst he lay at anchor in Cherokee Inlet." + +"It seems shabby of us to keep the secret from Captain Wellsby, but +there is an obligation on us----" + +"To Bill Saxby and the old sea wolf," said Joe. "We'll not forget this +trump of a skipper when it comes to splittin' up the treasure." + +"I am anxious for Captain Bonnet and his crew," remarked Jack. "With +this crusade against pirates afoot, our friends may be hanged before we +see them again." + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII + +THE OLD BUCCANEER IS LOYAL + + +SORROW mingled with rejoicing when the _King George_ brigantine sailed +into Charles Town harbor. The sea fight off Cherokee Inlet had taken a +heavy toll of brave seamen and there were vacant chairs and aching +hearts ashore, but the fiendish Blackbeard had been blotted out and +would no more harry the coast. Small and rude as was this pioneer +settlement, it was most fair and attractive to the eyes of young Master +Cockrell and Joe Hawkridge. In the house of Uncle Peter Forbes they +rested at their ease and planned sedate careers for themselves. + +Even the treasure ceased to be uppermost in their lively discussions. It +could wait a while. They were no longer under the spell of its +influence. This different world in which they now dwelt so contentedly +made their adventures seem like shadowy figments with precious little +romance in them. And neither lad expressed any great anxiety to go +exploring the noisome Cherokee swamp and to challenge the ghost of +Blackbeard. + +Without a sign of rebellion, Jack returned to his books and lessons in +Parson Throckmorton's garden. The learning already acquired he began to +pass on to Joe Hawkridge, who was a zealous pupil and determined to +read and write and cipher without letting the grass grow under his feet. +It was this young pirate's ambition to make a shipping merchant of +himself, and Councilor Forbes found him employment in a warehouse where +the planters traded their rice, resin, and indigo for the varied +merchandise brought out from England. Jack aspired to manage his uncle's +plantation and to acquire lands of his own and some day to sit in the +Governor's Council. + +Of a Sunday morning he went to the little English church, dressed in his +best and using a cane, for he limped from the wound in his thigh. Joe +Hawkridge walked with him, careful to banish his grin, and sat in the +Councilor's pew where he paid proper attention to the prayers and +responses. This caused some gossip but the ocean waif was winning his +way to favor by dint of industry, a shrewd wit, and his perennial good +humor. + +Frequently they escorted fair Dorothy Stuart home from church. She was +fonder than ever of stalwart Master Cockrell because the colonel had +told her he would have been a dead man had not the lad intervened to +save him from the stroke of a negro pirate. Alas, however, it was not +that sentimental devotion for which the lovelorn Jack yearned, and he +confided to Joe that his existence was blighted. This evoked no sympathy +from the fickle Hawkridge, who was forgetting his black-eyed lass in the +Azores and was already a slave to Dorothy Stuart. She laughed at them +both and was their true friend, tender, and whimsical and anxious for +their welfare. It was a valuable chapter in their education. + +One morning while Joe was at work in the warehouse near the harbor, he +heard a commotion in the street and was about to run out when his +employer came in and explained: + +"Two pirates captured,--just as I happened to pass. The knaves landed +from a boat in broad daylight, unaware that Charles Town has mended its +loose habit toward such gentry." + +"What will be done with 'em?" quickly asked Joe, with an unhappy +premonition. + +"They were recognized as two of Stede Bonnet's old hands that used to +resort to the tavern. Soldiers of the Governor's guard have been sent +for to drag them to the gaol." + +Joe hastened out but slackened his pace to lag behind the crowd of +idlers who were jostling the prisoners along with hoots and jeers. Yes, +there was the tall, gaunt frame and gray head of old Trimble Rogers +whose mien was so forbidding and masterful that the mob forbore to +handle him too roughly, unarmed though he was. At his elbow trudged +chubby Bill Saxby, gazing about him with those wide blue eyes in which +was not a trace of guile. Joe realized that for him to intercede would +make matters worse. He was a reformed pirate on probation and was known +to have sailed with Blackbeard himself. + +Therefore he darted into another street and sped to find Jack Cockrell, +who chanced to be at home. They rushed into the room where Uncle Peter +Forbes was writing at his desk and informed him that their two staunch +comrades had come ashore to find them and were already in custody and +something must be done to save them from the wrath of Governor Johnson, +who had a mortal distaste for pirates still at large. The Councilor +calmed the perturbation by assuring them: + +"I have already spoken to His Excellency in behalf of these two men +should they appear in this port. He was not wholly pleased but promised +clemency should they offer to repent and if I gave surety for the +pledge." + +"They will be ready to live as respectable as Joe," impetuously declared +Master Cockrell. "I'll go bail on it. Bill Saxby is a tradesman by +nature and if you will lend him enough money to set himself up as a +linen-draper and haberdasher, Uncle Peter, he can live happily ever +after." + +"And old Trimble Rogers has sailed his last cruise under the Jolly +Roger, Councilor," put in Joe Hawkridge. "His timbers are full o' dry +rot and he seeks a safe mooring." + +"There seems no end to the bad company you drag me into," quoth Uncle +Peter. "My hat and broadcloth cloak, Jack, and let us fare to the gaol +and see what these awkward visitors have to say. After that I will +attend upon the Governor." + +In better spirits the anxious lads followed the dignified Secretary of +the Council to the strongly built gaol on the edge of the town. In a +very gloomy cell behind iron bars they found the luckless brace of +pirates, shackled hand and foot. Bill Saxby took it like a placid +philosopher but the ancient buccaneer was spitting Spanish oaths and +condemning the hospitality of Charles Town in violent terms. He quieted +instantly at sight of his young friends and the harsh, wrinkled visage +fairly beamed as he shouted: + +"Our _camaradas_, Bill. Here they be, to haul us out of this filthy +hole! I forgive the unmannerly folks that allus used to welcome us." + +They shook hands through the bars while Uncle Peter stood aside. He felt +that his official station forbade his joining this fraternal reunion. In +the narrow corridor he chatted with the gaoler to pass the time while +Bill Saxby was explaining to the lads: + +"We was in duty bound, in a manner of speakin', to run you down as soon +as possible and make a report. Eh, Trimble?" + +"Aye, Bill, to see what was to be done about the treasure. We wouldn't +have 'em think we had run off with it. D'ye see, Master Cockrell, me and +Bill took Cap'n Bonnet into our confidence. He is an honorable man and +to be mentioned along with the great Cap'n Ed'ard Davis what I was +shipmates with in the South Sea and at the sack of----" + +"Stow it, grandsire," cried Bill. "I don't want to linger in gaol while +you spin that long-winded yarn. Tell the lads what they want to know." + +"If I weren't chained to the wall, Bill, I'd put my fist in your eye," +severely retorted the veteran. "As I was a-sayin', Cap'n Bonnet was all +courtesy and allowed the treasure belonged to us and he was ready to +help find it." + +"We told him we had to join up with our gentleman partner, Master +Cockrell, and win his consent," said Bill, "afore we put our hooks on +that blessed sea-chest." + +"Which is exactly how I felt about you," Jack told them and he was +greatly touched by this proof of their unbending fidelity. "But how did +you manage it to reach Charles Town?" + +"Cap'n Bonnet hove to outside the bar last night," explained Trimble +Rogers, "and gave us a handy boat to sail in with." + +The wary Joe Hawkridge took alarm at this and put a finger to his lips. +It was unwise to parade the fact that Stede Bonnet cruised so near. His +Excellency, the Governor, was anxious that he should share the fate of +Blackbeard. Jack Cockrell had no fear that his Uncle Peter would be a +tale-bearer. His private honor would forbid because this interview with +the two lads was a privileged communication. What made Jack a trifle +anxious was the presence of the gaol keeper in the corridor. He was a +sneaking sort of man, soft of tread and oily of speech and inclined to +curry favor with those in authority. + +Councilor Peter Forbes had tactfully withdrawn this person beyond +earshot but he began to edge toward the cell. Old Trimble Rogers tried +to heed Joe's cautionary signal but what he meant to be a whisper was a +hoarse rumble as he explained: + +"Cap'n Bonnet sends word he will be off this coast again in thirty days. +He will come ashore hisself, to Sullivan's Island to get the answer, +whether you are to go with us, Master Cockrell, to Cherokee Inlet." + +Jack glanced at the gaol keeper but he was a dozen feet away and deep in +talk with Mr. Forbes. There was no sign that this confidence had been +overheard. Bill Saxby scolded the buccaneer for his careless speech but +the old man had been a freebooter too long to be easily tamed. With +artful design, Jack led him away from this dangerous ground and +suggested: + +"You are done with pirating? And will you both be ready to stay ashore +in Charles Town after this,--this certain errand is accomplished?" + +"I swear it gladly and on my own Bible," answered Trimble Rogers. + +"Swear it for me," said Bill Saxby. + +Mr. Forbes interrupted and told the lads to go home and await his +conference with Governor Johnson. It proved to be a session somewhat +stormy but the upshot was a pardon conditioned on good behavior. The +convincing argument was that these men had been faithful to Master +Cockrell through thick and thin and had saved him from perishing in the +Cherokee swamp. Moreover, it might be an inducement to others of Stede +Bonnet's crew to surrender themselves and forsake their evil ways. + +No sooner were these two pirates released from gaol than they found an +active friend in Mr. Peter Forbes. He went about it quietly, for obvious +reasons, but he felt under great obligation to them for their goodness +to his nephew. Just at this time one of the shop-keepers became a +bankrupt because of unthrifty habits and too much card-playing. Through +an agent, Peter Forbes purchased the stock of muslins and calicos, of +brocades and taffetas, calash bonnets, satin petticoats, shoe-buckles, +laces, and buttons. And having given his promissory notes for said +merchandise, Bill Saxby proudly hung his own sign-board over the door. + +There was a flutter among the ladies. Here was a noteworthy sensation, +to be served by an obsequious pirate with innocent blue eyes who had +sailed the Spanish Main. A few days and it was evident that William +Saxby, late of London, would conduct a thriving trade. He was fairly +enraptured with his good fortune and congenial occupation and took it +most amiably when Jack Cockrell or Joe Hawkridge sauntered in to tease +him. He was a disgrace to Stede Bonnet, said they, and never had a +pirate fallen to such a low estate as this. + +Trimble Rogers was in no situation to rant at smug William, the linen +draper. The old sea wolf who had outlived the most glorious era of the +storied buccaneers, had a few gold pieces tucked away in his belt and at +first he was content to loaf about the tavern, with an audience to +listen to his wondrous tales which ranged from Henry Morgan to the great +Captain Edward Davis. But he had never been a sot or an idler and soon +he found himself lending a hand to assist the landlord in this way or +that. And when disorder occurred, a word from this gray, hawk-eyed rover +was enough to quell the wildest roisterers from the plantations. + +Children strayed to the tavern green to sit upon his knee and twist +those fierce mustachios of his, and their mothers ceased to snatch them +away when they learned to know him better. Sometimes in his leisure +hours he pored over his tattered little Bible with muttering lips and +found pleasure in the Psalmist's denunciation of his enemies who were +undoubtedly Spaniards in some other guise. He puttered about the flower +beds with spade and rake and kept the bowling green clipped close with a +keen sickle. In short, there was a niche for Trimble Rogers in his old +age and he seemed well satisfied to fill it, just as Admiral Benbow +spent his time among his posies at Deptford when he was not bombarding +or blockading the French fleet off Dunkirk. + +Jack Cockrell halted for a chat while passing the tavern and these two +shipmates retired to a quiet corner of the porch. The blind fiddler was +plying a lively bow and a dozen boys and girls danced on the turf. +Trimble Rogers surveyed them with a fatherly aspect as he said: + +"They ain't afeard of me, Jack, not one of 'em. Was ever a worn out old +hulk laid up in a fairer berth?" + +"None of the sea fever left, Trimble? What about Captain Bonnet? He is +due off the bar two days hence. My uncle frowns upon my sailing with him +to seek the treasure. He insists that I steer clear of pirates." + +"And that's entirely proper, Jack. I look at things different like, now +I be a worthy citizen. 'Tis better to fit out a little expedition of our +own, if we can drag silly Bill out of his rubbishy shop." + +"Oh, he will come fast enough after a while. We are all tired of the sea +just now," said Jack. "What about Captain Bonnet and meeting him at +Sullivan's Island to pass the word that we must decline his courteous +invitation?" + +"I shall tend to that," answered the retired buccaneer, "And from what +gossip I glean in the tavern, Cap'n Bonnet had best steer for his home +port of Barbadoes and quit his fancy piratin'. This fractious Governor +has set his heart on hangin' him. And Colonel Stuart is up and about +again and has ordered the _King George_ to fit for sea. 'Tis rumored he +has sent messages to the north'ard for Lieutenant Maynard to sail +another cruise in his company." + +"Then be sure you warn Stede Bonnet," strongly advised Jack. "I would +not be disloyal to the Province or to mine own good uncle, but one good +turn deserves another." + +Two days after this, Trimble Rogers vanished from the tavern and found +Jack's canoe tied in a cove beyond the settled part of the town. It was +in the evening of this same day that Jack was reading in his room by +candle-light when a tap-tap on the window shutter startled him. He threw +it open and dimly perceived that Dorothy Stuart stood there. Her face +was white in the gloom and she wore a dress of some dark stuff. At her +beckoning gesture, Jack slipped through the window and silently led her +into the lane. + +"Oh, Jack, I have been so torn betwixt scruples," she softly confided. +"And I hope I am not doing wrong. If I am disloyal to my dear father, +may I be forgiven. But I have made myself believe that there is a +stronger obligation." + +"It concerns Stede Bonnet," murmured Jack, reading the motive of this +secret errand. + +"Yes, you are bound to befriend him, Jack, on your honor as a +gentleman." + +"He has been warned to keep clear of Charles Town, Dorothy. Trimble +Rogers has gone off to meet him." + +"But it is worse than that. The keeper of the gaol, Jason Cutter, was +closeted with my father this morning. I heard something that was said. +Soldiers have been sent to Sullivan's Island." + +"To capture Captain Bonnet?" wrathfully exclaimed Jack. "Did Colonel +Stuart go with them? Does he know why Stede Bonnet risks putting into +this harbor in a small boat? It is to do a deed of pure friendship and +chivalry." + +"All my father understands is what the gaoler reported," replied +Dorothy, "and the Governor acted on this evidence. No, he did not go +with the troops but sent a major in command." + +"Too late for me to be of service, alas! If they take Captain Bonnet +alive, he will most certainly hang. And Bill Saxby and Trimble Rogers +will be embroiled in some desperate attempt to aid his escape from +gaol." + +"I am a dreadful, wicked girl to be thus in league with pirates," sighed +Mistress Dorothy, "but I confess to you, Jack dear, that it would grieve +my heart to see this charming pirate wear a hempen halter." + +"My rival, is he? So I have found you out," flared Jack, pretending vast +indignation. "Nevertheless, I shall still be true to him." + +"And to me, I trust," she fondly replied. "Oh, I feel so thankful that +faithful Trimble Rogers is keeping tryst. He will hear the soldiers +blundering about in time to make Captain Bonnet take heed and shove +off." + +Jack walked home with her, very glad of the excuse, but with jealousy +rankling in his bosom. It was not a lasting malady, however, and he had +forgotten it next morning when he went early to the tavern to look for +Trimble Rogers. There he found the major of the detachment at breakfast +with an extraordinary story to tell. He had made a landing on Sullivan's +Island after dark and deployed some of his men to patrol the beach that +faced the ocean. The squad which remained with him had surprised a man +lurking amongst the trees. Pursued and fired at, he had led them an +infernal chase until they burst out upon the open beach. There they +heard the sound of oars and voices in a boat which was making in for the +shore. The hunted man raised his voice in one stentorian shout of: + +"Pull out to sea, Cap'n Bonnet. And 'ware this coast. The soldiers are +on my heels. Old Trimble Rogers sends a fare-ye-well." + +The boat was wrenched about in a trice and moved away from the island, +soon disappearing in the direction of the bar. The major's men had shot +at it but without effect. When they had rushed to capture the fugitive +who had shouted the warning, they found him prone upon the sand. There +was not a scratch on him and yet he was quite dead. The prodigious +exertion had broken his heart, ventured the major, and it had ceased to +beat. His body would be prepared for Christian burial because of the +esteem in which he was already held by many of the townspeople. + +To Jack Cockrell and Joe Hawkridge it was sad news indeed but +tender-hearted Bill Saxby mourned like one who had lost a parent. He +closed the shop for a day and hung black ribbons on the knob. They +agreed that the end had come for Trimble Rogers as he would have wished +it, giving his life in loyal service to a friend and master. And perhaps +it was better thus than for the creeping disabilities of old age to +overtake him. + +"He knew he was liable to pop off," said Bill, "with the rheumatism +getting closer to his heart all the time. And he told me, did Trimble, +that his share of the treasure was to go to the poor and needy of the +town. Orphans and such was Trimble's weakness." + + + + +CHAPTER XIX + +THE QUEST FOR PIRATES' GOLD + + +A SMALL sloop was making its leisurely way up the Carolina coast with a +crew of a dozen men all told. The skipper was Captain Jonathan Wellsby +who was taking this holiday cruise before sailing for England to command +a fine new ship in the colonial trade. In the cabin were Jack Cockrell +and Joe Hawkridge, Councilor Peter Arbuthnot Forbes, and that brisk +young linen draper William Saxby. In the forecastle were trusty seamen +who had sailed in the _Plymouth Adventure_. The sloop's destination was +Cherokee Inlet and she was equipped with tackle and gear for a peculiar +kind of fishing. + +For once they made a voyage without fear of pirates. Safely the sloop +passed in by the outlying cay where the charred bones of Blackbeard's +brig were washed by the surf. An anchorage was found in the bight where +the _Revenge_ had tarried, close by the beach and the greensward of the +pirates' old camp. After diligent preparation all hands manned a boat +which pulled into the mouth of the sluggish creek. With axes to clear +the entanglements and men enough to shove over the muddy shoals the +boat was slowly forced up-stream and then into the smaller creek at the +fork of the waters. + +Uncle Peter Forbes was as gay as a truant schoolboy. This was the lark +of a lifetime. The two lads, however, were uneasy and depressed. To them +this sombre region was haunted, if not by ghosts then by memories as +unhappy. They would not have been surprised to see Blackbeard skulking +in the tall grass, his head bound in red calico, his pistols cocked to +ambush them. And, alas, old Trimble Rogers was not along to protect them +with his musket. He had lived and dreamed in expectation of this quest. + +"We'll find no treasure, nary a penny of it," dolefully observed Joe +Hawkridge who had actually begun to shiver. + +"Of course we can find the sea-chest, you ninny," scolded Jack. + +"Dead or alive, Cap'n Ed'ard Teach flew away with it afore now," was +Joe's rejoinder. "He was a master one at black magic." + +"Don't chatter like an idiot," spoke up Uncle Peter who was wildly +brushing the mosquitoes from a sun-blistered nose. "My faith, I cannot +understand how you lads got out of this swamp alive. It breeds all the +plagues of Egypt." + +They came to the tiny lagoon and rounded the bend beyond which the +pirogue had capsized Blackbeard's cock-boat. There was nothing to +indicate that any human being had visited this lonely spot since that +sensational encounter. No trees had been cut down to serve as purchases +for lifting the sea-chest from its oozy hiding-place. It was agreed that +some traces would have remained if Blackbeard had been at work here +before his death. + +A camp was made upon the higher ground of the knoll and the party went +about its task with skill and deliberation. Jointed sounding rods of +iron were screwed together and the exact position of the spot determined +from Jack Cockrell's chart and description. But neither he nor Joe +Hawkridge could be coaxed into lending more active assistance. They were +afraid of disturbing the bones of the drowned seaman who had fled from +Blackbeard's bloody dirk. Jack had seen him go down and it was not a +pleasant recollection. And so these two heroes who had faced so many +other perils without flinching were content to putter about +half-heartedly and let the others exert themselves. + +All one day they prodded and sounded but struck only sunken logs. What +gave them more concern than this was the discovery that the slender +rods, sharpened to a point, could be driven through one yielding stratum +after another of muck and ooze. Through myriad years the decaying +vegetable matter of this rank swamp had been accumulating in these +layers of muck. There was no telling how deep down the weight of the +sea-chest might have caused it to settle. + +Mr. Peter Forbes began to lose his youthful optimism and took four men +to go and dig in the knoll while the others continued to search for the +chest. The wooden cross still stood above the grave of Jesse Strawn and +the long-leaf pines murmured his requiem. Having selected at random a +place where he thought treasure ought to be, the worthy Councilor +wielded a shovel until he perspired rivers. + +"Confound it, Blackbeard must have left a scrap of paper somewhere to +give us the proper instructions," he complained. "'Tis the custom of all +proper pirates. Look at the trouble he has put us to." + +"I helped search the cabin afore the brig was set afire," replied one of +the seamen, "and all the writin' we found was in the bit of a book with +the leaves tore out, same as Cap'n Wellsby made a fair copy of." + +"That explains it," cried Uncle Peter. "I have no doubt the vile +Blackbeard destroyed his private note of where he hid it, just to make +the matter more difficult for us honest men." + +This was plausible, but it failed to solve the riddle. A day or two of +impatient digging and the portly Secretary of the Council was almost +wrecked in mind and body, what with insects and heat, ague and fatigue. +The ardor of his companions had likewise slackened. The boat's crew +swore that the condemned sea-chest must have sunk all the way to China. +Joe Hawkridge still argued that Blackbeard had whisked it away in a +cloud of smoke and brimstone. The unhappy Mr. Peter Forbes suggested: + +"What say you, lads, to dropping down to the sloop for a respite from +this accursed swamp? There we can take comfort and discuss what is to be +done next." + +Captain Jonathan Wellsby, who was a stubborn man, urged that they fish +once more for the sunken chest before taking a rest, and this was agreed +to. The sounding rods were plied with vigor and, at length, one of them +drove against some solid object deep in the mud. It was more unyielding +than a water-soaked log. The iron rod was lifted and rammed down with a +thud which was like metal striking against metal. The explorers forgot +the torments of the swamp. Uncle Peter Forbes was in no haste to flee +the mosquitoes and the fever. + +The sailors began to rig the spars and tackle as a derrick set up on the +bank of the creek, with grapple hooks like huge tongs to swing out over +the water and grope in the muddy depths. Absorbed in this fascinating +task, they were startled beyond measure to hear the _thump, thump_ of +thole-pins sounding from somewhere below them in the swamp. It was no +Indian pirogue. Only a ship's boat heavily manned could make that +cadenced noise of oars. Bill Saxby bade the men be silent while he held +a hand at his ear and harkened with taut attention. The mysterious boat, +following the winding channel of the creek, was drawing nearer. Voices +could be heard, a rough command, a curse, a laugh. + +"No honest men, I warrant," growled Captain Jonathan Wellsby, ready to +take command by virtue of long habit. "Who else can they be but pirates, +plague 'em. And they are betwixt us and the sea. All hands ashore and +look to your arms. Lively now." + +They were bewildered and taken all aback. In this holiday excursion +after Blackbeard's treasure the party had reckoned only with dead or +phantom pirates. There was some confusion, while Bill Saxby bawled at +the seamen as addle-pated lubbers. Deserting their boat, they scrambled +to cover in the tall grass while those busy with the derrick gear rushed +to catch up muskets and powder-horns. + +The strange boat was steadily forging up-stream and presently it was +disclosed to view no more than a cable-length away. It was a pinnace +filled with ruffianly fellows, more than a score of them. No merchant +seamen these but brethren of the coast, freebooters who were +gallows-ripe. Bill Saxby was quick to recognize two or three of them as +old hands of Blackbeard's crew who must have deserted their leader in +time to escape his fate. Presumably they had recruited others of their +own stamp to go adventuring in the Cherokee swamp. They could have only +one purpose. The very sight of them was enough to explain it. They were +in quest of treasure like bloodhounds trailing a scent. + +Against such a force as this, discretion was the better part of valor. A +ferocious yell burst from the pinnace and a flight of musket balls +whistled over the heads of the fugitives who had so hastily abandoned +their operations with the derrick and gear and the boat. Stout Bill +Saxby and his comrades, finding concealment in the swamp, primed their +muskets and let fly a volley at the pinnace which was an easy target. A +pirate standing in the stern-sheets clapped a hand to his thigh and sat +down abruptly. Another one let go his oar to dangle a bloody hand. + +The pinnace drifted with the tide and stranded on a weedy shoal while +the blue powder smoke hung over it like a fog. For the moment it was a +demoralized crew of pirates, roaring all manner of threats but at a loss +how to proceed. The other party took advantage of this delay to beat a +rapid retreat along the path which led to the knoll where the camp was +pitched. Upon this higher ground they might hope to defend themselves +against a force which outnumbered them. They ran at top speed, bending +low, hidden from observation, avoiding the pools and bogs. + +The pirates were diverted from their hostile intentions as soon as they +caught sight of the tall spars and tackle, and the boat with its +sounding rods and other gear. With a great clamor they swarmed out of +the pinnace and began to investigate. This gave the refugees on the +knoll a little time to make their camp more compact, to wield the +shovels furiously and throw up intrenchments, to cut down trees for a +barricade, to fill the water kegs, to prepare to withstand an assault or +a siege. + +The sun went down and the infatuated pirates were still exploring the +creek, convinced that they could straightway lay hold of the treasure +they had come to find. They kindled a fire on the bank and evidently +intended to pass the night there. This mightily eased the minds of the +toilers upon the knoll. Their predicament was still awkward in the +extreme but the fear of sudden death had been lifted. And it seemed +possible that these bothersome pirates might conclude to leave them +alone. + +It went sorely against the grain, however, to be driven away from the +precious sea-chest when it was almost within their grasp, to have to +scuttle from this crew of scurvy pirates. Jack Cockrell was for making a +sortie by night, gustily declaiming to his companions: + +"The sentries will be drunk or drowsy. I know these swine. A well-timed +rush and we can cut 'em down and pistol the rest. Didn't they open fire +on us from the pinnace?" + +"Aye, Jack, and we'll fight to save our skins," said the cool-headed +Captain Wellsby, "but 'tis a desperate business to attack yon +cut-throats, even by night, and there will be men of us hurt and killed. +Blackbeard's gold is not worth it." + +"Right sensibly put," declared Mr. Peter Forbes. "We had best spend this +night in felling more trees and notching logs to pile them breast high. +If these pirates find the sea-chest, they will leave us unmolested. If +they fail to find it, they may conclude that we have already discovered +the treasure. In that event, they will storm the knoll and give us no +quarter." + +"It would be rank folly to surrender," said stout Bill Saxby. "There be +men in the pinnace who have no love for me nor for the two lads. 'Twas a +shrewd suspicion of theirs that Blackbeard had played secret tricks in +this Cherokee swamp, what with his excursions in that little cock-boat." + +Keeping vigilant watch, they labored far into the night until the camp +on the knoll was a hard nut to crack, with its surrounding ditch and +palisade of logs behind which a man could lie and shoot. Now and then it +might have been noted that Jack Cockrell and Joe Hawkridge conferred +with their heads together as though something private were in the wind. +As soon as they were relieved from duty, some time before the dawn, they +stole very softly away from the knoll and groped along the path which +led to the creek. Curiosity and the impetuous folly of youth impelled +them to reconnoitre the pirates' bivouac. + +"We may hear something worth listening to," whispered Jack, "and perhaps +we can crawl close and steal some of their arms." + +"None of that," chided young Hawkridge. "I am a man of goodly station in +Charles Town and I would go back with a whole hide." + +"You have grown too respectable," grumbled Jack. "Here is the chance for +one last fling----" + +His words stuck in his throat. A gurgle of horrified amazement and he +tumbled headlong into the grass with a bare, sinewy arm wrapped around +his neck. He fought to free himself but the breath was fairly choked out +of him. Joe Hawkridge was desperately thrashing about in the swamp, +gasping and snorting, his cries also smothered. In a twinkling they were +captives, their arms tightly bound behind them, the stifling grip of +their necks unrelaxed. Weakened almost to suffocation, the two lads +could make no lively resistance. Jack uttered one feeble shout for help +but subsided when those strong fingers tightened the clutch on his +windpipe. + +The assailants made no sound. Not a word was uttered. There were several +of them, for the helpless prisoners were picked up bodily and lugged +along by the head and the heels. They expected to be taken into the +pirates' camp, believing they had been surprised and overpowered by an +outlying sentry post. It was an old game, reflected Joe Hawkridge, to +hold them alive as hostages. But he was vastly puzzled when these silent +kidnappers, deftly picking their way in the darkness, took a direction +which led them away from the bank of the creek. They had forsaken the +trampled path and were proceeding through the trackless swamp whose +pitfalls were avoided by a sort of sixth sense. + +A mile of this laborious, uncanny progress and the bearers dumped their +burdens and paused to rest. The two lads dizzily crawled to their feet +and peered at the shadowy figures surrounding them. They heard a +guttural exclamation and words exchanged in a strange, harsh tongue. + +"Indians, blow me!" hoarsely whispered Joe, his throat sore and swollen. + +"Comrade ahoy!" croaked Jack. "No pirates these, but Yemassees. Do they +save us for the torture?" + +"God knows. 'Tis a sorry mischance as ever was. I'd sooner meet up with +Blackbeard's ghost. Are ye badly hurt?" + +"Like a man hanged by the neck, Joe, but no mortal wounds. Had we minded +Uncle Peter we would be safe in the sloop by now. One more day of +hunting that filthy treasure undid us." + +The half dozen Yemassees squatted about them, talking in low tones, and +offered no further violence. Presumably they were waiting for daybreak, +having conveyed their prisoners beyond all chance of rescue. The two +lads shivered with fear and weariness. They were bruised and breathless +and the thongs which tightly bound their wrists made their arms ache +intolerably. Bitter was the regret at invading this baleful Cherokee +swamp when they might have remained safe from all harm in pleasant +Charles Town. + +Sadly they watched the eastern sky grow brighter while the gloom of the +desolate swamp turned wan and gray. The Indian captors became visible, +brown, half-naked men wearing leggings and breech-clouts of tanned +deerskin. Two of them carried muskets. They were not made hideous by +war-paint, as Jack Cockrell was quick to note. He said to his companion: + +"A hunting party, Joe. They were spying on our camp, like enough, or +keeping watch of the pirates. No doubt they wonder why white men come to +fight one another in the swamp." + +"They will wish to find out from us," was the hopeful reply. "They seem +a deal more curious than bloodthirsty. A stout heart, say I, and we may +weather it yet." + +Soon the lads were roughly prodded ahead and went stumbling and +splashing through the marshy verdure and slippery ooze until they came +to higher ground and easier walking. Upon this ridge they descried the +camp of the Yemassees--huts fashioned of poles and bark and boughs, a +freshly killed deer hanging from a tree, smoke rising from beneath a +huge iron kettle, plump, naked children scampering in play with several +barking dogs, the squaws shrilly scolding them. Several warriors lazily +emerged from the huts, yawning, brushing the long black hair from their +eyes. + +They moved more actively at perceiving the procession which approached +from the swamp. Two or three ran back to the largest shelter and +presently a big-bodied, middle-aged man strode out, his mien stern and +dignified, his rank denoted by the elaborate fringed tunic of buckskin +and the head-dress of heron plumes. He shouted something in a sonorous +voice. The hunting party hastened forward, dragging the two English lads +by the elbows and flinging them down at the feet of the chief. He stood +with arms folded across his chest, scowling, formidable. + +Then he spoke a few words of broken English, to the astonishment of the +captives. He mentioned the names of settlements on the Cape Fear River +where, it was inferred, he had been on friendly terms with the +colonists. His manner was not so much hostile as questioning. In Charles +Town both Joe and Jack had learned the common phrases of the Indian +tongue such as were used among the merchants and traders. Pieced out +with signs and gestures, they were able to carry on a halting dialogue +with the chief of this small band. + +They were able to comprehend that he hated pirates above all other men. +He recognized the name of Blackbeard and indicated his great joy that +this eminent scoundrel had met his just deserts. Many times the +freebooters of the coast had hunted and slain the Indians for wanton +sport. And perhaps the word had sped of that expedition of Captain Stede +Bonnet out of Charles Town when he had exterminated the Yemassees who +had set out to harry and burn the near-by plantations. The two uneasy +lads felt that they still stood in the shadow of death unless they could +persuade the chief that they were not pirates, that they were in no way +to be confused with the crew of blackguards which had ascended the creek +in the pinnace. + +The chief delayed his judgment. Two young men lifted the huge kettle +from the fire. It was steaming with a savory smell of stewed meat. The +captives were invited to join the others in spearing bits of venison +with sharpened sticks. Chewing lustily, with a noble appetite, Joe +Hawkridge confided: + +"My spirits rise, Jack. An empty belly always did make a coward of me. +How now, my lusty cockerel? Shall we flap our wings and crow?" + +"Crow we must, or have our necks wrung as pirates," said Jack, gnawing a +bone. "Which one of us shall make the first oration?" + +"The nephew of the Councilor, of course," cried Joe, "with his cargo of +Greek and Latin education. Make a power of noise, Jack." + +And now indeed did young Master Cockrell prove that all those drudging +hours with snuffy Parson Throckmorton had not been wasted. Standing in +an open space, clear of the crowd, he addressed the chief in loud and +impressive language. The gist of it was that he and his friends were the +sworn foes of all pirates and especially anxious to rid the world of +such vermin as those that had come into the Cherokee swamp in the great +ship's boat and were encamped on the bank of the creek. + +This other peaceful party entrenched on the knoll were honest, +law-abiding men of Charles Town who would harm no one. They had come in +search of pirates' gold. If the chief of the Yemassees would join forces +with them and smoke the pipe of peace, they would drive those foul +pirates out of the Cherokee swamp. And should the gold be found, it +would be fairly divided between the godly men of Charles Town and their +Indian allies. To bind this bargain Master Cockrell and Master Hawkridge +were ready to pledge their honor and their lives. + +It was a most eloquent effort delivered with much gesticulation. The +Yemassee braves set in a circle and grunted approval. They liked the +sound and fury of it. Jack hurled scraps of Homer and Virgil at them +when at a loss for resounding periods. The chief nodded his +understanding of such words as _pirates_ and _gold_ and actually smiled +when Jack's pantomime depicted the death of Blackbeard on the deck of +his ship. _Gold_ was a magic word to these Indians. It would purchase +muskets and powder and ball, cloth and ironmongery and strong liquors +from the white men of the settlements. + +The chief discussed it with his followers. During the lull Joe +Hawkridge said, with a long sigh of relief: + +"My scalp itches not so much, Jack. The notion of having it twisted off +with a dull blade vexed me. Ye did wondrous well. The mouth of Secretary +Peter Forbes would ha' gaped wide open." + +"Much sound and little sense, Joe, but methinks it hit the target. I +took care to sprinkle it with such words as yonder savage could bite +on." + +"If we find no gold, the fat may be in the fire again, but it gives us +time to draw breath." + +They rubbed their chafed wrists and sat on the ground while the savages +held a long pow-wow. The chief was explaining the purport of Master +Cockrell's impressive declamation. There was no enmity in the glances +aimed at the English lads. It was more a matter of deliberation, of +passing judgment on the truth or the falsity of the story. It was plain +to read that the Yemassees desired to lay greedy hold of Blackbeard's +gold. They were like children listening to a fairy tale. The fat little +papooses crawled timidly near to inspect the mysterious strangers and +scrambled away squealing with delicious terror. + +The hours passed and the verdict was delayed. Two young braves stole +away into the pine woodland on some errand, at the behest of the chief. +It was after noon when they returned. With them came a dozen Yemassee +warriors from another hunting camp, strong, quick-footed men in light +marching order who were armed with long bows and knives. The chief spoke +a few words and mustered his force. All told he had more than thirty +picked followers. The English lads were told to move with them. + +In single file the band flitted silently along the ridge and plunged +into the swamp. The prisoners were closely guarded. At the slightest +sign of treachery the long knives would slither between their ribs. This +they well knew and their devout prayer was that their friends on the +knoll might not commit some rash act of hostility and so ruin the +enterprise. With heart-quaking trepidation they perceived at some +distance the rude barricade of logs and the yellow streaks of earth +hastily thrown up. + +The cautious Yemassees concealed themselves as though the swamp had +swallowed them up. The chief made certain signs, and the lads understood +his meaning. Jack Cockrell ripped a sleeve from his shirt and tied it to +a stick as a flag of truce. Joe Hawkridge advanced with them, the +stalwart chief between them, his empty hands extended in token of peace. +The ambushed Yemassees, lying in the tall grass, were ready to let fly +with musket balls and flights of arrows or to storm the knoll. + +A sailor on sentry duty gave the alarm and the lads saw a row of heads +bob above the logs, and the gleam of weapons. Then Captain Jonathan +Wellsby moved out into the open and was joined by Mr. Peter Forbes. +They stood gazing at the singular spectacle, the bedraggled runaways who +had vanished without trace, the odd flag of truce, the brawny, dignified +savage making signs of friendship. The men in the stockade were ordered +to lay down their arms. They came running out to cheer and wave their +hats. + +Mr. Peter Forbes was torn betwixt affection and the desire to scold his +flighty nephew. They met half-way down the slope and Jack hastened to +explain: + +"Before you clap us in irons as deserters, Uncle Peter, grant a parley, +if you please. Our lives hang by a hair." + +"God bless me, boy, we thought the pirates had slain you both," +spluttered Uncle Peter, a tear in his eye. "What means this tall +savage?" + +"A noble chief of the Yemassees who used us with all courtesy," said +Jack. + +Captain Wellsby had drawn Joe Hawkridge aside and was swiftly +enlightened concerning the alliance with the Indians. Presently they +were holding a conference, all seated together in the shade of a tree. A +tobacco pipe of clay, with a long reed for a stem, was lighted and +passed from hand to hand. The chief puffed solemnly with an occasional +nod and a grunt. It was agreed, with due ceremony, that the pirates +should be attacked in their camp and driven away. The Yemassee warriors +would make common cause with the Englishmen. As a reward, Blackbeard's +treasure was to be fairly divided, half and half. + +The chief raised his voice in a long, deep shout of summons and his band +of fighting men emerged from their ambush in the swamp. There was no +reason for delaying the movement against the pirates. The Yemassees were +eager for the fray. They were about to advance through the swamp, +cunningly hidden, while the Englishmen followed at a slower pace to +spread out on the flanks. Just then there was heard a sudden and riotous +commotion among the pirates at the creek. It was a mad, jubilant uproar +as though some frenzy had seized them all. Bill Saxby leaned on his +musket and listened for a long moment. + +"The rogues have fished up the sea-chest, by the din they make," said +he. "We left that sounding rod a-stickin' in the mud. They save us the +trouble, eh, Captain Wellsby?" + +The skipper laughed in his beard and floundered ahead like a bear. Jack +Cockrell passed the word to the chief that the gold was awaiting them. +Like shadows the Yemassees drew near the creek and then, full-lunged, +terrific, their war-whoop echoed through the dismal Cherokee swamp. +Nimble Jack Cockrell was not far behind them, his heart pumping as +though it would burst. + +He was in time to see four lusty pirates swaying at a rope which led +through the pulley-blocks of the spars that overhung the creek as a +tall derrick. They were hoisting away with all their might while there +slowly rose in air a mud-covered, befouled sea-chest all hung with weeds +and slimy refuse. Two other pirates tailed on to a guy rope and the +heavy chest swung toward the bank, suspended in air. + +At this moment the screeching chorus of the Indian war-whoop smote their +affrighted ears, followed by the discharge of muskets. These startled +pirates let go the tackle and the guy rope and, with one accord, leaped +for the pinnace which floated close to the bank. The weighty sea-chest +swinging in air came down by the run as the ropes smoked through the +blocks. It had been swayed in far enough so that it fell not in the +water but upon the edge of the shore between the derrick spars. The +rusty hinges and straps were burst asunder as the treasure chest crashed +upon a log and cracked open like an egg. + +Out spilled a stream of doubloons and pieces of eight, a cascade of gold +and silver bars, of jewels flowing from the rotten bags which had +contained them. In this extraordinary manner was the hoard of the +departed Blackbeard brought to light. The unfortunate pirates who had +found the spoils tarried not to gloat and rejoice. They appeared to have +urgent business elsewhere. In hot pursuit came the ravening Yemassees, +yelling like fiends, assisted by the reinforcements of Captain Jonathan +Wellsby. + +What saved the lives of these panic-smitten pirates was the dramatic +explosion of that great treasure chest when it fell and smashed upon the +log. Indians and Englishmen alike forgot their intent to shoot and +slaughter. They rushed to surround the bewitching booty, to cut capers +like excited urchins. + +"Share and share," roared Captain Wellsby, shoving them headlong. "Half +to the Yemassees and half to us. Our word is given. Stand back, ye +lunatics, while we do the thing with order and decency." + +Already the pinnace was filled with cursing pirates who saw that the +game was lost. Some of them had left their weapons in camp, others fired +a few wild shots, but those who had any wit left were tugging at the +oars to make for the open sea. + +"After 'em," roared Bill Saxby. "Follow down the creek to make sure they +do not molest our sloop." + +A score of men, Indians included, jumped into the boat and pulled in +chase, no longer on slaughter bent. The only thought in their heads was +to despatch the errand and return to squat around the treasure chest. +Jack Cockrell and Joe Hawkridge remained to help scoop up the coin and +jewels and stow them in stout kegs and sacks. The stoical chief of the +Yemassees was grinning from ear to ear as he grunted: + +"_Plenty gold. Good! Hurrah, boys!_" + +Arm-in-arm Jack Cockrell and Joe Hawkridge danced a sailor's hornpipe +upon the splintered lid of Blackbeard's sea-chest while they sang with +all their might: + + "For his work he's never loth, + An' a-pleasurin' he'll go, + Tho' certain sure to be popt off, + _Yo, ho, with the rum below._" + + +THE END + +[Illustration] + + * * * * * + +Transcriber's Notes: + +Obvious punctuation errors repaired. + +Page 34, "Steve" changed to "Stede" (Stede Bonnet frowned) + +Page 77, "than" changed to "them" (rally them for attack) + +Page 85, "arsensal" changed to "arsenal" (arsenal of himself) + +Page 306, "Yemasses" changed to "Yemassees" (The Yemassees were eager) + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Blackbeard: Buccaneer, by Ralph D. 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