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diff --git a/38795-h/38795-h.htm b/38795-h/38795-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..dfea092 --- /dev/null +++ b/38795-h/38795-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,13044 @@ +<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.1//EN" + "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml11/DTD/xhtml11.dtd"> + +<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en"> + +<head> + +<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=ISO-8859-1" /> + +<title> +The Project Gutenberg E-text of With Drake on the Spanish Main, by Herbert Strang +</title> + +<style type="text/css"> +body { color: black; + background: white; + margin-right: 10%; + margin-left: 10%; + font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; + text-align: justify } + +p {text-indent: 4% } + +p.noindent {text-indent: 0% } + +p.t1 {text-indent: 0% ; + font-size: 200%; + text-align: center } + +p.t2 {text-indent: 0% ; + font-size: 150%; + text-align: center } + +p.t3 {text-indent: 0% ; + font-size: 100%; + text-align: center } + +p.t3b {text-indent: 0% ; + font-size: 100%; + font-weight: bold; + text-align: center } + +p.t4 {text-indent: 0% ; + font-size: 80%; + text-align: center } + +p.t4b {text-indent: 0% ; + font-size: 80%; + font-weight: bold; + text-align: center } + +p.t5 {text-indent: 0% ; + font-size: 60%; + text-align: center } + +h1 { text-align: center } +h2 { text-align: center } +h3 { text-align: center } +h4 { text-align: center } +h5 { text-align: center } + +p.poem {text-indent: 0%; + margin-left: 10%; } + +p.letter {text-indent: 0%; + margin-left: 10% ; + margin-right: 10% } + +p.footnote {text-indent: 0% ; + font-size: 80%; + margin-left: 10% ; + margin-right: 10% } + +p.finis { font-size: larger ; + text-align: center ; + text-indent: 0% ; + margin-left: 0% ; + margin-right: 0% } + +p.capcenter { margin-left: 0; + margin-right: 0 ; + margin-bottom: .5% ; + margin-top: 0; + font-weight: bold; + float: none ; + clear: both ; + text-indent: 0%; + text-align: center } + +img.imgcenter { margin-left: auto; + margin-bottom: 0; + margin-top: 1%; + margin-right: auto; } + +</style> + +</head> + +<body> + + +<pre> + +Project Gutenberg's With Drake on the Spanish Main, by Herbert Strang + +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: With Drake on the Spanish Main + +Author: Herbert Strang + +Illustrator: Archibald Webb + +Release Date: February 18, 2012 [EBook #38795] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK WITH DRAKE ON THE SPANISH MAIN *** + + + + +Produced by Al Haines + + + + + +</pre> + + +<p class="capcenter"> +<br /><br /><br /> +<a id="img-cover.jpg"></a> +<img class="imgcenter" src="images/img-cover.jpg" alt="Cover art" /> +<br /><br /><br /> +</p> + +<p class="capcenter"> +<a id="img-front.jpg"></a> +<img class="imgcenter" src="images/img-front.jpg" alt=""The Spaniard swung round."" /> +<br /> +"The Spaniard swung round." +</p> + +<h1> +<br /><br /><br /> +WITH DRAKE ON THE +<br /> +SPANISH MAIN +</h1> + +<p class="t3"> +<br /> +BY +</p> + +<p class="t2"> +<br /> +HERBERT STRANG +</p> + +<p class="t3"> +<br /><br /> +ILLUSTRATED IN COLOUR BY ARCHIBALD WEBB +</p> + +<p class="t3"> +<br /><br /><br /> +LONDON +<br /> +HENRY FROWDE +<br /> +HODDER & STOUGHTON +<br /> +1908 +</p> + +<p class="t4"> +<br /><br /><br /> +OXFORD: HORACE HART +<br /> +PRINTER TO THE UNIVERSITY +</p> + +<p class="t4"> +<br /><br /> +Copyright, 1907, by the BOBBS MERRILL COMPANY in the +<br /> +United States of America +</p> + +<h3> +<br /><br /><br /> +PREFACE +</h3> + +<p> +The romancer, in choosing as the setting for a tale the period of a man +who looms large in history, finds himself on the horns of a dilemma. +He cannot place his fictional near his historical hero without either +dwarfing the former until the young reader ceases to find him +interesting, or robbing the latter of some of the glamour with which +history invests him. +</p> + +<p> +In the following pages I have tried to meet the difficulty by making +Francis Drake the presiding genius of the story. The deeds of Dennis +Hazelrig are akin to those of Drake; the same spirit of adventure +dominates them: and when, in the course of the story, the real and the +fictitious personages meet, it is, I trust, without loss of dignity to +either. +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +HERBERT STRANG. +</p> + +<p class="t3b"> +<br /><br /><br /> +CONTENTS +<br /> +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +CHAPTER I +<br /> +<a href="#chap01">JETSAM</a> +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +CHAPTER II +<br /> +<a href="#chap02">SEA-GIRT</a> +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +CHAPTER III +<br /> +<a href="#chap03">A WRECK—AND MIRANDOLA</a> +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +CHAPTER IV +<br /> +<a href="#chap04">SALVAGE</a> +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +CHAPTER V +<br /> +<a href="#chap05">THE EDGE OF THE MARSH</a> +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +CHAPTER VI +<br /> +<a href="#chap06">THE SPANISH WHIP</a> +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +CHAPTER VII +<br /> +<a href="#chap07">AMOS TURNPENNY</a> +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +CHAPTER VIII +<br /> +<a href="#chap08">HALF-PIKES AND MACHETES</a> +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +CHAPTER IX +<br /> +<a href="#chap09">AMOS TELLS HIS STORY</a> +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +CHAPTER X +<br /> +<a href="#chap10">THE MAROONS BUILD A CANOE</a> +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +CHAPTER XI +<br /> +<a href="#chap11">THE MAIN</a> +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +CHAPTER XII +<br /> +<a href="#chap12">BENEATH THE WALLS</a> +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +CHAPTER XIII +<br /> +<a href="#chap13">THE TAKING OF FORT AGUILA</a> +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +CHAPTER XIV +<br /> +<a href="#chap14">VAE VICTIS</a> +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +CHAPTER XV +<br /> +<a href="#chap15">A LONG CHASE</a> +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +CHAPTER XVI +<br /> +<a href="#chap16">JAN BIDDLE, MASTER</a> +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +CHAPTER XVII +<br /> +<a href="#chap17">THE DEMI-CULVERIN</a> +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +CHAPTER XVIII +<br /> +<a href="#chap18">JUAN THE MAROON</a> +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +CHAPTER XIX +<br /> +<a href="#chap19">DRAKE'S CAMP</a> +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +CHAPTER XX +<br /> +<a href="#chap20">A RAID THROUGH THE FOREST</a> +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +CHAPTER XXI +<br /> +<a href="#chap21">MAIDEN ISLE AGAIN</a> +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +CHAPTER XXII +<br /> +<a href="#chap22">A FIGHT ON THE CLIFFS</a> +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +CHAPTER XXIII +<br /> +<a href="#chap23">BOMBARDED</a> +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +CHAPTER XXIV +<br /> +<a href="#chap24">THE LEAGUER OF SKELETON CAVE</a> +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +CHAPTER XXV +<br /> +<a href="#chap25">THE MULE TRAINS</a> +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +<a href="#chap26">CONCLUSION</a> +</p> + +<p class="t3b"> +<br /><br /><br /> +LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +<a href="#img-front.jpg"> +"The Spaniard swung round"</a> <i>Frontispiece</i>. <a href="#p78"><i>See p.</i> 78</a> +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +<a href="#img-040.jpg"> +Map of Maiden Isle +</a> +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +<a href="#img-065.jpg"> +Dennis saves Mirandola +</a> +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +<a href="#img-099.jpg"> +"Captain singled out Captain" +</a> +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +<a href="#img-188.jpg"> +"The sailor threw up his left hand to ward off the attack" +</a> +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +<a href="#img-256.jpg"> +"A shot fell immediately in their wake" +</a> +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +<a href="#img-280.jpg"> +Map to illustrate Drake's adventures +</a> +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +<a href="#img-306.jpg"> +"The seaman flung him bodily at the fourth Spaniard." +</a> +</p> + +<p><br /><br /><br /></p> + +<p><a id="chap01"></a></p> + +<h3> +CHAPTER I +</h3> + +<h4> +Jetsam +</h4> + +<p> +Daybreak! But, eastward, no glory of dawn. Black thundrous clouds +roll sullenly across a livid sky, riven at moments by pale zigzags of +flame. Rain tumbles in cascades. League upon league of white-crested +waves chase one another in fury, hissing, roaring as they hurl +themselves upon a stubborn shore, only to be broken and thrown back +into the seething turmoil. The wind outstrips them, shrieking as it +cleaves a way through the massed foliage, in mad haste to reach the +mainland and smite the yielding tops of Darien's palms and pines. +</p> + +<p> +The shelving sandy beach is strewed with the jetsam of the storm. +Here, a tangled heap of seaweed, left by a breaker when, spent with its +own rage, it falls back baffled. There, a log of wood, hard by +nameless creatures of the sea, destroyed by the fury of their own +element. And here, high up the strand, beneath a bank overgrown with +large-leaved plants, lies a human form, huddled, motionless. +</p> + +<p> +The waves do not touch it now; the storm has exhausted itself; the tide +is ebbing. Minute by minute the sea becomes less boisterous; the strip +of sand widens; the rain ceases. By and by the sun breaks through the +eastern sky, and, gathering strength, disperses the lingering clouds +and flings his radiance over the scene. His beams, falling aslant +through a gap in the cliffs, strike upon the draggled form on the sand; +it stirs slightly, stretching itself as a leaf uncurls. At last, when +the air quivers with heat, and all things lie under a shimmering haze, +Dennis Hazelrig heaves a sigh, opens his eyes, and looks amazedly about +him. +</p> + +<p> +His eyes close; for some minutes he remains still; then he lifts +himself slightly, falls back with a gasp, and lies again as one dead. +But Nature is recovering under the beneficent rays. Pigeons are cooing +in the branches above; parrots are screaming; insects drone their +burden; and when a mosquito, adventuring forth, alights on a human +cheek, and tastes, Dennis is stung once more into consciousness. He +starts up, brushes the marauder away, staggers to his feet, and, to +prevent himself from falling, clutches at a tuft of grass in the +overhanging bank. Its thin blade-like edge draws blood from his hand, +and he looks at the red stain as at some strange phenomenon. Then he +laughs huskily, checks the sound as though it too is unfamiliar, and +laughs again—a short sobbing laugh. +</p> + +<p> +"Certes, I am alive!" he mutters. +</p> + +<p><br /></p> + +<p> +An hour or two passed before Dennis ventured once more to try his +tottering legs. The sun's heat had dried his clothes, which, as he +ruefully observed, had been so rent by the buffeting waves that they +hung upon him precariously. But in the same genial warmth his strength +was returning, and though all his body ached, he could now move without +a stagger. Catching sight of some clams near him, he was conscious of +a vast emptiness within, and felt for the clasp-knife which he was wont +to wear slung about his waist. It still hung upon its chain. He had +opened and eaten, ravenously, a dozen of the shellfish before he +realized that after all his thirst exceeded his hunger, and he looked +round for a spring of fresh water. He walked some paces along the +shore, groaning with every movement, until his ear caught the musical +ripple of a stream, and he saw a rivulet flowing across the sand from a +narrow water-course in the cliff. In an instant he was down on his +knees, drinking his fill. +</p> + +<p> +Refreshed with the draught, he rose and began to consider. He was +alive: that was the first thing. It seemed marvellous to him. The +tornado had ceased. Looking round, he could hardly believe that the +sea now so calm was the same sea which, but a few hours before, had +been a raging monster. As far as the eye could scan it stretched away, +shimmering in the sunlight, only a white crest here and there giving +sign of its late disturbance. Not a sail broke the line of the +horizon. What had become of the <i>Maid Marian</i> and her crew and his +companion adventurers on board? Had they, had any of them, been cast +ashore like himself, on some other part of this strange coast? If he +had escaped, why not others? There was something cheering in the +thought, and instinctively he braced himself for a search when, +remembering that awful night—the amazing suddenness of the blast that +struck the bark, rending the sails like ribands, snapping the mainmast +like a reed, the tumultuous waves, the crashing thunder, the bursts of +lightning, the deluge that poured down from the heavens—as he +remembered these battling elements he shuddered involuntarily; could it +be otherwise than by a miracle that he had survived? +</p> + +<p> +He lived over again his last conscious moments. The mainmast had gone +by the board. He heard the hoarse shout of Miles Barton the master, +calling upon the men to cut away the wreckage. He was with them at the +task, struggling to keep his feet, when the gallant vessel staggered +under the onslaught of a tremendous sea, and he was swept off her deck. +He heard cries all around him, but could see nothing for the darkness +and the blinding rain. Striving to keep his head above water, he felt +his strength failing, so puny was it against the might of the +passionate waves, when he encountered a floating spar, and clung to it +with the tenacity of despair. After that he knew nothing. His grip +must have relaxed, for the spar was not near him when he awoke to +consciousness on the beach. Yet it seemed that this had been his +salvation. He must have held to it until near the shore; then some +mountainous breaker had torn him away and hurled him to the spot where +he had lately opened his eyes again upon the world. +</p> + +<p> +Hapless bark! It was scarcely possible that she had survived the +hurricane. And what of the souls on board with him? What of Miles +Barton, the bluff sea-dog her master, and his cheery crew, and the +score of gallant gentlemen who had sailed out of Plymouth Sound but two +months before, gay, high-hearted adventurers for the Spanish Main? +Where was Sir Martin Blunt, the blithe captain of the band, and Philip +Masterton, and Harry Greville, and Francis Tring, all young men of +mettle, whom Dennis was proud to call his friends, and who, though but +little his elders in years, had seen and done things in the great world +that made him burn with envious admiration? Alas! he could not but +fear that the sea had swallowed them. +</p> + +<p> +But then again came the thought: might not Fortune have befriended them +too? Why imagine the worst? And Dennis thrust sad thought from his +mind; hope was not dead. His meal had given him strength to search, +and search he would. +</p> + +<p> +He looked about him. The sandy beach was narrow. It was overhung by +cliffs of varying height, in parts merely a low bank, in parts reaching +an altitude of perhaps forty or fifty feet. They were covered with the +dense vegetation of the tropics. Some distance to the north of where +he stood the receding tide had left bare a long ledge of massive rock, +running up into the highest part of the cliff. To the south the shore +was less rocky, and within half a mile curved round to the east. It +was in this direction that he decided to go. +</p> + +<p> +But he had not walked far along the glistening sand when he suddenly +bethought himself. Signs of life there had yet been none, save the +cries of birds from the trees above him. But what if he came upon a +fishing village, and found himself among enemies—the wild red men of +whom he had heard, the Spaniards of whose terrible deeds returning +navigators made such grim tales for the winter nights at home? Where +was he? On some shore of the Caribbean Sea, he made no doubt, for only +the day before, when the <i>Maid Marian</i> was sailing merrily westward, +Sir Martin had declared, and old Miles had borne him out, that but a +few more days would bring them to the point where they expected to meet +other adventurers who had preceded them on the same quest for +excitement and gain. +</p> + +<p> +And Dennis halted as one dazed when the full sense of his calamity was +borne in upon him. He was alone!—alone! There might be, for all he +knew, thousands of people almost within hail of him; but he was none +the less alone, for they would be of another race, speaking another +tongue, unfriendly, hostile. He sat down on a smooth rock and, resting +his elbows on his knees and his chin on his hands, stared moodily out +to sea. Between him and all that he held dear stretched this wide +ocean for thousands of miles. In utter hopelessness he wondered why it +had not swallowed him up with all his comrades, instead of casting him +here, a battered miserable body. +</p> + +<p> +The mood passed. He had escaped the perils of the sea, not by his own +strength, but by the hand of Providence. If perchance he had more to +fear from man than from nature—why, it behoved him, an English boy, +and a Devon boy to boot, to face his destiny with a stout heart. After +all, he was of the same stuff as Master Walter Raleigh and Master +Francis Drake and many another bold man of Devon. He could not think +that any one of them, in his situation, would give way to black +despair; and, lifting his aching body from the shore, he walked on: he +would at least learn somewhat of his surroundings. +</p> + +<p> +The beach, he found, bore gradually to the left, so that he could see +but a short distance ahead. Still he encountered no signs of life, +save here and there a scuttling crab, and the rank plant growths above +him, whence now and again a bird fluttered out and wheeled screaming +about his head, and then soared clattering into the foliage. Soon he +tired of this monotonous tramping over sand, which appeared to lead no +whither; and observing at length a cleft in the rocks, whence a shallow +stream swiftly poured itself upon the beach, he bethought himself he +might more quickly make a discovery if he pushed his way up the +water-course, which must by and by lead to higher ground. He turned in +obedience to this impulse, waded through the stream, that wound this +way and that between banks thickly covered with vegetation, and after +what seemed an eternity to his aching limbs, found himself upon a cliff +overlooking the sea. His wandering had brought him by a circuit to a +point north of the spot where he had awoke to consciousness. +</p> + +<p> +The cliff on which he stood was much higher than the surrounding +country. To right and left the ground shelved downwards, and he now +perceived that the coast on both sides had an inward trend; that, in +fact, the cliff was also a promontory. Turning round, he found that +his view was blocked by the trees except in one direction, where a +sudden dip in the ground gave him an outlook over several miles. And +there, surely, at the far end of the vista, was the sea again. For the +first time the suspicion occurred to him that he had been cast upon an +island. +</p> + +<p> +He went to the farthest point of the cliff to scan more carefully the +horizon. Looking across the sea, which from the beach had seemed an +unbroken plain, he now saw in the far distance several dark vague +shapes rising a little above the surface. These must be islands. To +the north, somewhat nearer to him, and somewhat more definite, were +similar forms, which seemed to grow in size during the hour or more he +watched them, no doubt owing to the fall of the tide. Far to the south +he descried a long dark bar upon the horizon; this must be land, many +miles away, probably the mainland. His view to the east being almost +entirely shut out by the foliage, he could feel no certainty that his +suspicion was justified; but he felt a stirring of interest and +excitement now: supposing it were indeed an island, how did the +discovery bear upon his lot? +</p> + +<p> +Once more he turned and gazed along the valley at whose end he saw the +sea. It could not be many miles away; perhaps in an hour or so he +could reach it. The island, apparently, was not a large one, so that +he could not go far without meeting its inhabitants. He looked around +for any signs of habitation—a roof-top, a column of smoke; but there +was none. Next moment he reflected that, if the island were small, it +would not take him long to make its circuit and search every yard of +the beach for tracks of his late comrades—of the <i>Maid Marian</i> too. +Still cherishing a hope that some might have survived like himself, he +set off to descend the cliff towards the beach, every downward step +racking his bruised limbs and strained joints. When he gained the +beach, he once more tramped southward, his eagerness lending him speed. +He passed the water-course up which he had struck inland, and soon +after came upon scattered articles of wreckage, among them the broken +topmast of the <i>Maid Marian</i>. With a sigh for his lost comrades he +passed on. +</p> + +<p> +The sun had risen high in the heavens, and Dennis was fain to rest. +</p> + +<p> +"I'm a poor battered hulk," he said aloud, finding some little solace +in the sound of his voice, "and hungry—how hungry I am!" +</p> + +<p> +He looked around for food, spied some shell-fish and ate them raw, +quenching the ensuing thirst at another stream that rippled down from +the interior. The feeling of nervousness lest he should encounter +strangers again took hold upon him, and he felt a desire to hide. He +found himself casting uneasy, almost terrified glances around him from +the nook in which he was now resting, somewhat sheltered from the sun's +fierce rays. Then, conquering the feeling, he rose again to continue +his search of the beach. He must by and by, he thought, come upon some +quay or harbour. When he should see it, he would halt and consider his +course of action: whether to advance and risk the meeting with +strangers, or to retreat until with recovered strength and a clearer +mind he could prepare himself for what might be in store. +</p> + +<p> +As he proceeded, he noticed that the jungle frequently approached to +within a few feet of the mass of weed that marked high-water. At one +spot he discovered, almost buried in the sand, the worm-eaten +stern-post of a vessel. He could distinguish one or two letters of her +name. Many a ship, he doubted not, had been wrecked on this coast, +many a hapless wight had been cast up by the tide, alive or dead. By +and by he came, on the southern side of the island, to high cliffs, and +he set about scaling that which offered the easiest ascent, to obtain a +view of sea and land from this point of vantage also. It was densely +wooded, and as he mounted he heard, besides the cries of startled +birds, other sounds that struck uncannily upon his ear. In his +weakened state any new note in these sounds set his nerves tingling, +and more than once he stopped, and could scarcely prevent himself from +turning and speeding back to the beach, where at least there was +nothing to cause him fresh tremors. +</p> + +<p> +Near the top of the cliff the wood thinned away somewhat, and when he +reached its highest point he found himself on a stretch of greensward. +Northward the ground sloped gently down to a clump of trees, of a +species unknown to him, tall, with slender trunks, which it seemed to +him he could climb as easily as the masts on the <i>Maid Marian</i>. He +made his way to them, half minded to swarm up the tallest of the group, +so that from its summit he might gain a view, possibly, over the whole +island, and solve the question that troubled him—whether somewhere +upon it there was a settlement of men. Only when he reached the foot +of the trunk did he remember his weakness. He stood leaning against +it, and gazing up its length felt that at present his muscles were +incapable of the feat. +</p> + +<p> +All at once his eyes became fixed in his head. Travelling to the top, +where a mass of foliage crowned the towering stem, they had lighted +upon a face, that seemed to be peering at him from between the leaves. +The feeling of fright that had before almost paralysed him seized him +again. But next moment he laughed aloud. +</p> + +<p> +"Ninny that I am!" he murmured. "Afraid of a monkey!" +</p> + +<p> +He looked again. The monkey, a large long-tailed specimen of its kind, +was gazing at him gravely, with a look so human that it reminded him of +his old schoolmaster at Winchester. With the sportive instinct of a +boy—Dennis was not yet seventeen—he stooped, picked up a stout piece +of fallen branch, and flung it upward. +</p> + +<p> +"Stir, Sir Monkey!" he cried. "I hail thee as the lord of this island!" +</p> + +<p> +The wood struck the branch on which the monkey was perched. Chattering +angrily, it flung its long arms around the branch above, and swung +itself up, resting there, blinking and showing its teeth at this +unmannerly intruder. +</p> + +<p> +"A big fellow indeed!" said Dennis to himself. "I will not climb. If +the beast is angered, as he seems, he would be no mean foe in his high +perch. I'll not try a bout with you, Sir Monkey. For this time, +farewell!" +</p> + +<p> +And he went on, smiling a little as he became conscious that the +meeting with the monkey had cheered him. +</p> + +<p><br /><br /><br /></p> + +<p><a id="chap02"></a></p> + +<h3> +CHAPTER II +</h3> + +<h4> +Sea-Girt +</h4> + +<p> +Besides the birds, and the ground animals which he heard at times +scurrying through the undergrowth, the sole inhabitant of the island +that Dennis had yet discovered was a monkey. Though he was beginning +to suspect that his fears of encountering hostile human folk had been +needless, he still felt a timid reluctance to leave the coast-line for +the interior; and having given up for the present his idea of climbing +a tree to obtain a wider view, he contented himself with walking to the +top of the cliff, to continue his observations from that point. His +native courage was returning; yet, as he mounted the cliff, he moved +for the most part under cover of the trees; the dread of possible +enemies still made him wary, though every now and then he forgot his +precautions, only remembering them again when the sense of his +loneliness forced itself upon him, or when he was momentarily startled +by a sudden sound. +</p> + +<p> +Panting a little from his exertions when he gained the summit, +conscious of his bodily weakness, of bruised limbs and strained sinews, +he looked eagerly around. Eastward stretched an illimitable expanse of +sea; he scanned it longingly, yet doubtfully, for while it was from +that quarter, or from the channel between the island and the mainland, +that he might hope for rescue from a friendly ship, it was thence also +that he might be descried perchance by an enemy. He sat down on the +grass, once more yielding to the heavy sense of forlornness, and +thinking sadly of his lost companions. How long he remained there he +knew not; his mind wandered a little: he thought afterwards that he had +probably slept, for he suddenly awoke to the consciousness of a gnawing +hunger. He had walked far, and the few shell-fish he had picked up on +the shore gave but meagre sustenance. Stiff and cramped, he rose to +search again for food. +</p> + +<p> +There was nothing edible in his immediate neighbourhood. The trees +sprang to a lofty height, and bore no fruit. Plucking up his courage, +he made his way slowly down the slope towards the middle of the island. +The vegetation grew thicker as he proceeded; there was no path or road; +all was a wild tangle. At first he saw nothing wherewith to ease his +pangs; never in his life had he taken a thought for his next meal; it +was a new experience. Often enough at home he had plucked fruits as +they grew; he remembered with a strange homesick feeling many a boyish +depredation upon neighbouring orchards, out of sheer mischief, not from +a longing for food. But there were no apple-trees or plum-trees here. +And when at last he came upon a broad-leaved tree upon which grew huge +clusters of a yellowish fruit, in shape like monstrous pea-pods, he +hesitated, wondering whether this might not be one of those evil trees +of which he had heard, one taste of which would turn his skin black, +and fire him with a raging thirst, and afflict him with a madness whose +end was death. But his natural appetite would not be gainsaid. With +hope and misgiving mingled he at last stretched up his hand and plucked +one of the tempting pods, and stripped off the skin, and nibbled a +morsel of the soft fruit within. It was delicious; but so was the +devil's fruit of mariners' tales—the more delicious the more +poisonous. Somewhat anxiously he waited; there was no change in the +colour of his skin; he watched it through the rents of his tattered +garments; and indeed it seemed to him that any change would be for the +better, for he perceived for the first time that he was already black +and blue with bruises. He bit off another and a larger piece; then, +with the ravenous haste of one long fasting, he let prudence fly, and +ate the whole fruit, and another, and another, until he saw with +surprise and qualms that his feet were encircled by a ring of empty +skins. But he felt astonishingly refreshed and invigorated; he must +eat one more; and thus, timorously and recklessly, he made acquaintance +with the banana. +</p> + +<p> +Of water for drink there was abundance. He drank gladly at a stream, +and wandered on. It was strange that he no longer felt alone. He saw +no man, nor any trace of one; he had become accustomed now to the +rustle of birds and the swish of four-footed creatures moving amid the +greenwood; what then caused him to look apprehensively around? What +was this odd feeling of expectation that possessed him? There was +nothing to account for it, and by and by the nervousness which had left +him during his search for food returned in greater force. It was not +lessened when he suddenly became aware that the sun was setting. +Darkness, he knew, would soon envelop him, and there came with a rush +upon his mind the memory of his early childhood, when night, with its +silence, its blackness, had filled him with terror. He felt that a +night in the solitude of these unfamiliar trees would be unbearable, +and, guiding himself by the sunset glow, he hurriedly plunged through +the jungle towards the shore. There, under the open sky, he could feel +more at ease. +</p> + +<p> +His course brought him to the beach on the southern side, where, in the +morning, he remembered having seen, though in his despondency he had +not heeded, a number of half-rotten staves of casks. These might, he +thought, serve him for making a rude shelter. He soon found the spot, +and then noticed, what had escaped his dazed observation before, that +close by the staves there lay a medley of stripped branches. Had some +one, at some time, built himself of these materials a shelter in that +very place? He gathered the stuff together and rigged up a crazy hut, +such as he had seen erected by shepherds on the moors of Devon. The +day had been hot, but he knew from his experience on shipboard that the +nights were cold; already he felt a sharpness in the air, and shivered +in his tatters. The hut would defend him somewhat from the chill of +night. +</p> + +<p> +Another fear seized upon him with the approach of dark. His mind had +been so occupied with thoughts of human enemies that the possibility of +the island harbouring wild beasts had not, in the daylight, occurred to +him. The darkness, he knew, brought forth small and great beasts; and +he remembered with a shudder the tales told him by one of the hardy +adventurers on board the <i>Maid Marian</i>—of packs of wild dogs that +scoured these tropic woods, devouring sleeping men; of the hideous +cayman, that lurked upon the shore, and, having swallowed +hundredweights of stones to increase its heaviness, seized upon some +unwary creature, and dragged it down into the watery depths, to feast +upon it at leisure. All wild beasts, he had heard, were afraid of +fire; he had his flint and steel, secure in a leather pouch upon his +girdle; but he had no dry timber; the sodden wood of the staves and +branches of which he had built his hut would be useless, and he shrank +from issuing forth into the now darkening woods to find material that +would serve. He comforted himself with the recollection that not once +during his tramp around the island had he seen any animal larger than a +hare, save the monkey; and he resigned himself to make the best of what +he feared would be a cheerless night. +</p> + +<p> +The dark fell rapidly, again he had that strange feeling that he was +not alone. He went to the entrance of the hut, where he had drawn some +of the worm-eaten branches, strung together with a few creepers, across +as a door. Peering out, he saw nothing but the darkened cliffs and the +sea, heard nothing but the wash of the surf, the rustle of the breeze, +and the soft tones of wood-pigeons. He returned to the rear of the +cabin, where he had strewed leaves for his couch. As he lay back upon +it and looked up to the roof he started, and instinctively seized a +branch for protection: above him shone two greenish eyes peeping +through one of the many gaps. His hasty movement disturbed the +watcher, and Dennis heaved a sigh of relief as he heard a shrill +chattering above, and knew it for the gibber of a monkey. Springing up +he dashed out of the cabin to drive the intruder away. He was just in +time to see the monkey springing up the nearest tree. +</p> + +<p> +It was long before he fell asleep. Then his rest was fitful and +disturbed, not only through his over-wrought nerves, but by the +nocturnal cries of creatures in the forest, and the attentions of +insects, which nipped and stung with importunate malice. In spite even +of them, however, he slept; and when with the rising of the sun they +betook their satiated bodies elsewhere, he lay till the morning was +drawing towards noon in the sound sleep of exhausted nature. +</p> + +<p> +Opening his eyes upon bright day, he was tempted by the smoothness of +the sea to bathe. When he flung off his clothes he laughed to see the +parti-coloured patches on his skin. Blue, and yellow, and black, the +bruises reminded him of his battering in the storm, and his laughter +turned to sighing as he thought once more of his comrades and their +hapless fate. But in the physical joy of swimming he again plucked up +heart, and he left the stinging water with a most healthy hunger. The +recollection of his feast of fruit drew him into the woodland. He +wandered long before he lighted upon the banana grove, and though, in +the course of roaming, he saw other fruit-bearing trees, he resisted +for the present the temptation to climb and taste; when once his hunger +was appeased by the fruit he knew, he could more safely make an +experiment on the unknown. +</p> + +<p> +He saw, too, many animals which had escaped his notice previously. +There were hedgehogs, and tortoises, and giant spiders, and scorpions +to which he gave a wide berth; but he caught no glimpse of any +four-footed beast to cause him dread, and having by this time made up +his mind that there were no human beings on the island, he went more +fearlessly, with a readier eye to note the features of his new abode. +</p> + +<p> +Happening once to halt and glance back he saw, perched in the branches +of a tree not many yards away, a monkey. Was it the same, he wondered, +as that which had peered at him out of the tree he had thought of +climbing, and pried upon him in his humble cabin? It seemed to be of +the same size; it had spindly limbs and a long slender tail; but +probably there was a colony of the strange creatures on the island. +</p> + +<p> +"Good morrow, Sir Monkey," he said, again finding a pleasure in the +sound of his voice. "Are you lonely too? You were not, surely, cast +like me upon this island, far away from kith and kin. You have a wise +and solemn look: what secrets do you harbour in that shallow skull of +yours? And what do you think of me, I wonder, when you look at me with +those cunning little eyes? I wish you could speak, for here am I +prating to myself like an old gossip of eighty." +</p> + +<p> +As he moved on it was very soon clear that the monkey was dogging him. +He amused himself by putting the matter to the test. When he sat down, +the monkey stopped, and remained almost perfectly still, partially +concealing itself among the leaves. When Dennis rose and went on his +way the monkey followed, springing from branch to branch with amazing +dexterity, always keeping at a distance. Dennis became interested, +fascinated, as he watched the movements of the agile creature. +</p> + +<p> +"Truly, Sir Monkey," he said, "I begin to wish I had a tail." +</p> + +<p> +And as the day wore on, and the monkey kept pace with him wherever he +went, he began to find in its presence something of the comfort of +human companionship. Once, as he sat resting under a tree, the broken +skin of a fruit he had eyed longingly fell within a couple of yards of +him, and looking up he saw the monkey sucking with relish at another of +the same kind. +</p> + +<p> +"Aha! my fine fellow," said Dennis, "you have something of a man about +you, and mayhap what is good for you is good for me too." +</p> + +<p> +And he climbed a tree on which the pale yellow fruit was hanging, and +plucked one, and made a wry mouth at his first taste of the tartish +lime. +</p> + +<p> +Thus the day passed in aimless yet not unprofitable wandering. Warned +by his experience of the previous night, he resolved to prepare his +shelter somewhat earlier. Where should it be? He was determined not +to go back to the cabin, for the insects had plagued him there +unmercifully, and he could only ward them off by means of a fire. But +flame by night and smoke by day rising from the shore would assuredly +provoke curiosity among the crew of any passing ship; and since, of the +vessels likely to pass in these latitudes, the most would undoubtedly +be Spaniards, he was loath to attract visitors who might prove so +eminently undesirable. Yet, as he knew from his experience in woods at +home, the insects would be even more numerous inland than at the shore. +A fire he must have, and it struck him that if he could find, somewhere +in the middle of the island, a sheltered hollow, he might safely kindle +there a few sticks, trusting that the over-arching foliage would +prevent a glow in the sky, and that the smoke, in the night-time, would +pass unobserved. +</p> + +<p> +About a mile from the edge of the eastern cliff was a spring whence a +little stream flowed westward. At its source but an inch or two wide, +it gathered volume on its winding course, and Dennis, tracking it, +wondering by what circuit it would finally reach the sea, discovered +that it ran at length into a somewhat extensive marsh. He knew nothing +about rainfall and land drainage, but being a lad of some powers of +observation and reasoning, he was not long in coming to the conclusion +that the marsh collected as in a cup the water that fell on the +surrounding high ground during such torrential rains as had fallen on +the night of the storm. It was clear that there must be an outlet, or +the marsh would be a lake, and this outlet he found amid thick +undergrowth towards the western cliff near which he had been thrown by +the sea. +</p> + +<p> +Penetrating the dense jungle, he discovered that the outflow poured +through a channel some three feet deep. Only a small stream now +trickled down its centre; the banks were sandy and dry, and the +interlaced foliage so arched it over, that Dennis decided he might rest +in it secure from observation, and even run the risk of kindling a fire +at night. It seemed scarcely necessary to bring the staves of his +cabin over several miles of difficult country to this spot; the trees +themselves formed a sufficient shelter; but with his clasp-knife he +cleared away some of the undergrowth, and lopped off a few low-growing +branches to make a little enclosure; and by the time the natural shade +deepened at the approach of night, he had fenced in a few square yards +and scooped out a hollow in the middle for his fire. +</p> + +<p> +All the time he was working the monkey watched every movement from a +branch overhead. Dennis was not at first aware of the animal's +presence, so closely hidden was it by the foliage. Only when he struck +a spark from his flint, and after some ineffectual attempts succeeded +in blowing up a flame, did the monkey reveal its hiding-place by a +little gibber of amazement. +</p> + +<p> +"So ho! my friend," cried Dennis, looking up vainly. "You haunt me +like a familiar. Have you never seen a fire? Do not let your +curiosity tempt you too far, for, much as I value your company, I had +rather you remained at your present comfortable distance until I know +you a little better. Play the sentinel, Sir Monkey, if you will." +</p> + +<p> +Dennis felt very well satisfied with his contrivance as he sat by the +fire, eating a supper of bananas before laying himself down on a bed of +leaves. The smoke defended him somewhat from the insect pests; the +warmth was comforting; and the cheerful glow gave him a sense of +homeness and well-being. He fed the fire more than once during the +night, waking, it seemed, when the diminished heat warned him that the +fuel needed replenishing, And when he awoke from his longest spell of +sleep the dawn was stealing through the trees, birds were cooing, +whistling, chattering overhead, and the monkey, on a low branch, was +watching him with unalterable gravity. +</p> + +<p><br /><br /><br /></p> + +<p><a id="chap03"></a></p> + +<h3> +CHAPTER III +</h3> + +<h4> +A Wreck—and Mirandola +</h4> + +<p> +Dennis, as he made his breakfast, pondered deeply on the situation, +taking the monkey in to his confidence. "Could we change parts, Sir +Monkey—if I were you, and you were Dennis Hazelrig, what would you do? +This is your island: we will call it yours; I am your guest. You seem +to be a solitary creature like myself: are you miserable, I wonder? +Does your loneliness trouble you? There is food for us both: it is so +warm that for the present, at least, I need no more clothes than you; +neither of us will starve. How old are you? You look wise enough to +be very old. Am I to remain on this island until I have a beard as +long and white as Sir Parson's at home? Oh, you cannot understand what +I say, for all your wise look: you cannot know what a wretched mortal I +am. What can I do?" +</p> + +<p> +The monkey only blinked at him, and plucked a dark plum-like fruit from +the bough and munched it. +</p> + +<p> +For a time Dennis sat listless, feeling too wretched even to move from +the spot. Then he got up and made his way back to the cliff. He stood +on the summit, scanning the whole circumference of the shining sea. +Not a sail was in sight. He scarcely knew whether he was disappointed +or not. Supposing a vessel hove into view, he durst not try to attract +the attention of some one on board. If it were English it would be +welcome as a spar to a drowning man. If it were Spanish, he might as +well jump into the maw of some sea monster. Yet how could he discover +its nationality without at the same time betraying his presence? +Several times during that third day he climbed to the same spot, and +looked out with the same eagerness; not one glimpse did he catch of a +white wing upon the water; and he always turned away with the same +uncertainty. +</p> + +<p> +He spent hours in roaming, as aimlessly as before, along the beach and +through the woodland. Coming in the course of the day to the cliff +near which he had been cast ashore, he remembered that hitherto he had +not made a complete circuit of the island; the beach northward appeared +to be barred by huge masses of rock. In his present mood he had no +curiosity to see what lay beyond; he supposed indeed that, if he did +care to clamber toilsomely over the barrier, he would simply arrive at +a point of the beach which he had already reached from the other side. +</p> + +<p> +But later in the day, when the tedium of inaction had become +unbearable, he started to explore the lower course of the streamlet on +whose bank he had slept. He found that the channel gradually widened, +the banks growing higher as he neared the sea. By and by he came upon +a wide pool on whose rim a mass of seaweed lay rotting in the sun, and +stooping out of sheer curiosity he dipped his finger and, tasting, +discovered that the water was salt, as he had supposed. Clearly at +high tide the sea came thus far up the gully. The entrance was as yet +hidden from him by the jutting shoulder of the cliff, but he could hear +now the light rumble of surf upon the beach, and he went on, feeling +some curiosity to learn whereabouts on the shore he would arrive. +</p> + +<p> +He had taken but a few more steps when, rounding the projecting cliff, +he came upon a scene which petrified him with astonishment. Docked in +the sand, lying over on her side, was the battered hulk of a two-masted +vessel. Her stern was somewhat towards him, and he read, painted +there, the word <i>Maid</i>; but so familiar was he with her lines that he +needed not the rest of the name; this was in very truth the wreck of +the <i>Maid Marian</i>. Of her two masts only the stumps remained: her +deck, inclined towards him, was littered with a medley of rigging; her +rudder was gone, part of her bulwarks torn away. +</p> + +<p> +There was an uncanny look about the hapless vessel as she lay there on +the sandy beach, at the head of a small bay bounded by the cliffs on +either side. Dennis felt just such a thrill as he might have felt had +he come suddenly upon the body of a friend. The solitude, the silence, +intensified by the rustling wash of the surf, the background of +boundless sky and ocean, combined to affect him with a sense of +desolation. He felt a shrinking reluctance to approach, and when he +had conquered this and stood beneath the vessel's quarter, it was some +time before he summoned up the resolution to climb on board. Then he +mounted slowly, hesitatingly, by the aid of a loose shroud, holding his +breath as if fearful of disturbing a sleeper. +</p> + +<p> +All was intensely still. Multitudinous insects were crawling this way +and that among the litter of rigging: save for these there was no sign +of life—where for two months as merry a company as ever trod deck had +talked and laughed and jested. Dennis felt a lump in his throat as he +recalled the little incidents of the voyage: quarter-staff bouts with +old Miles Barton, wrestling matches with Harry Greville, sword-play +sometimes with the captain himself. +</p> + +<p> +The hatchways were battened down. He shrank from going below. Evening +was drawing on; he would leave the wreck now, and return in the +morning. And as he set his foot once more on the beach, and began to +retrace his steps up the gully, he saw the monkey grinning at him from +a tree on the cliff, and was surprised to find how pleasant and +consoling was the creature's company. +</p> + +<p> +Hard on his discovery of the wreck came another discovery. Retracing +his way up the chine, he noticed a green ledge on the cliff, some few +feet above his head, on the right-hand side. The thought occurred to +him to rest there for a little; he could reach it by an easy climb. +When he gained the ledge, he found that it ran back for a longer +distance than he had supposed below. At its further end grew a wild +mass of bushes and trees, some of which bore a plum-like fruit that he +had seen the monkey eating with enjoyment. +</p> + +<p> +He went to pluck some of the fruit, and penetrating a little way into +the thicket, he suddenly perceived that the bushes appeared to grow +across an opening in the rock. He pulled the strands aside, and looked +into the dark entrance of a cave. The discovery interested him. Might +he not find here a better lodging than the rude shelter he had made on +the bank of the stream? It was far above high-water mark, and +conveniently placed for refuge, being accessible landwards only by the +rocky channel, and wholly hidden from observation at sea. Yet he +paused before stepping into the cave. Might it not be a wild beast's +lair? True, he had seen no animals which he could have any cause to +fear, but at this moment of overstrung nerves he felt a child's dread +of the dark. +</p> + +<p> +"A proper adventurer, in good sooth!" he said to himself. "The skirts +of a nurse would befit me better than an island in the Spanish Main." +</p> + +<p> +And without more ado he took a step forward and entered. +</p> + +<p> +The daylight was quenched within a few feet of the opening. Striking a +spark from his flint, he kindled a mass of dried grass he had stowed in +his pouch for this purpose, and started as the brief flame lit the +interior, for there, almost at his feet, lay a human skeleton. +Incontinently he dropped his torch and fled,—scoffing, when once more +in the free air, at his lack of courage. But the wish to make this his +abode was vanished. He had no fancy to consort with skeletons, and +besides, the damp and musty atmosphere of the cave was unpleasant. +Without delay he set off to regain his former resting-place. +</p> + +<p> +These new discoveries had introduced a disturbing element into his life +on the island. Uninhabited as it apparently was now, clearly it had +not always been so. What was the history of that skeleton? Were there +others further within the cave? It was not the remains of a castaway, +for not even in the fiercest hurricane could the sea penetrate so far. +Had some poor wretched fugitive fled there for refuge from a human +enemy, and been slain or starved? These questions kept him wakeful +long that night, and haunted him even while he slept. +</p> + +<p> +With morning light he thought less of the cave and more of the wreck. +The <i>Maid Marian</i> had left Plymouth well equipped with stores; the +hatchways had been battened down in the storm, and unless the sea had +poured in through holes stove in her sides, there must be below decks a +considerable quantity of materials that would prove serviceable if his +stay on the island was to be lengthened. As soon as he had finished +his breakfast he set off to return to the chine. It was no surprise to +him now to observe the monkey following, like an attendant lackey. +</p> + +<p> +"Come, Sir Monkey," he said, with an attempt at gaiety, "let us go +together and inspect our treasure trove." +</p> + +<p> +He felt again a strange sense of awe as he climbed into the vessel's +waist, and trod her planks delicately. But remarking that her position +had been shifted slightly by the incoming tide during the night, and +that little streams of water were escaping from holes on to the sand, +he reflected that it behoved him to lose no time if he wished to secure +her contents, for any day a tempest might spring up and shatter the +hulk irretrievably. Gulping down the timidity that still troubled him, +he climbed to the quarter-deck, and went forward through the broken +doorway into the main cabin. +</p> + +<p> +The floor was littered with the possessions of his dear lost comrades. +Here was Harry Greville's sword; near it a pistol-case that had +belonged to Philip Masterton. He stepped over these and other relics +and entered the captain's cabin beyond. Here, too, all was ruin and +disorder. Garments, instruments of navigation, an ink-horn, trumpets, +a drum, Sir Martin's arms and breastplate, the big leather-bound book +in which he wrote his diary of the voyage, lay pell-mell on the floor. +Dennis could hardly bear to look upon these mementoes of the lost, and +he soon turned his back on them and returned to the open part of the +vessel, where he sat for a time, given up to melancholy brooding. +</p> + +<p> +At last he rose, threw off the oppression, and ventured to force up the +main hatch forward of the mainmast and descend. +</p> + +<p class="capcenter"> +<a id="img-040.jpg"></a> +<img class="imgcenter" src="images/img-040.jpg" alt="Insulae Virginis Charta" /> +<br /> +Insulae Virginis Charta +</p> + +<p> +Even now he could not bear to remain long below. He explored the whole +length of the vessel in sections, returning at short intervals to +breathe the fresh air and enjoy the cheerful sunlight. On one of these +occasions he was amused to see that his faithful attendant had now +ventured to quit the security of its tree, and was sitting on a rock +within a few yards of the vessel, an interested spectator. +</p> + +<p> +His inspection of the contents of the vessel fully rewarded him. In +the steward's store abaft the mainmast he found a large number of +utensils—an iron pease-pot, a copper fish-kettle, a skimmer, several +wooden ladles, a gridiron, a frying-pan, a couple of pipkins, a +chafing-dish, a fire-shovel, a pair of bellows, trays, platters, +porringers, trenchers, drinking-cans, two well-furnished tinder-boxes, +candles, and candlesticks. There were casks of beer and wine, great +boxes of biscuits, bags of oatmeal, pease, and salt, whole sides of +home-cured bacon, several cheeses, a tierce of vinegar, jars of honey +and sugar, flasks of oil, pots of balsam and other salves, a pledget +for spreading plasters, a pair of scissors, and several rolls of linen, +these last evidently provided for the exigencies of fighting. In the +carpenter's store forward there were hammers, awls, chisels, files, a +saw, hundreds of nails, both sixpenny and fourpenny. In the armoury +were half-pikes, cutlasses, muskets, with bandoliers, rests, and +moulds, calivers, barrels of gunpowder and tar, and leaden bullets, +such as were to be bought at Plymouth six pounds for threepence. And +as to the other appurtenances of a well-found ship, Dennis was almost +bewildered by the quantity of them—bolts, and chains, and pulleys, +buckets, mops, sand-glasses, horn lanterns, faggots for fuel, +fishing-nets, articles of apparel, things for trade and barter: the +list would fill a page or two. And he rejoiced exceedingly to find +that all were in good condition, even the cheeses: there could not be +even a rat on board to commit depredations. +</p> + +<p> +Surveying this great and substantial store, Dennis rubbed his head in +puzzlement. +</p> + +<p> +"'Tis a month's work," he said ruefully, "and for one pair of hands. +The grave and reverend signor yonder will scarce assist, I trow, +indeed, 'tis to be feared he may be thievishly inclined, and needs must +I bestow the goods skilfully. Well, to it; time and tide, they say, +waits for no man." +</p> + +<p> +He began by carrying the biscuits and other perishables from the hold +to the bulwarks, where he rigged up a running tackle, and lowered the +bags and boxes to the sand beneath. So intent was he upon his task +that it was with a start of surprise and alarm he noticed that the tide +was flowing in, and had almost reached the vessel. Threatened with the +loss of the precious stores, he was hard put to it to drag and carry +and roll them up the beach beyond the reach of the waves, and the sun +was far down towards the western horizon before he had them high and +dry. By this time the sea was several feet deep around the vessel, and +the thought struck him: what if the wreck were to float away on the +tide and all the remaining salvage be snatched from him? So grave a +misfortune must be prevented. At once he swam out to the ship, and +securely fastening to the stump of the broken mast one of the stout +cables he found below, he again plunged into the sea, and in a little +had wound the other end about two sturdy trees growing out from the +cliff. +</p> + +<p> +While the wreck remained in its present position it was desirable that +he should have his lodging close by. There was no shelter on the shore +itself, nor did the cliff promise a comfortable abiding place; and his +thoughts returned to the cave, which was a good deal nearer than the +spot where he had rested the previous night. +</p> + +<p> +Among the things he had brought ashore were a lantern, a tinder-box, +and a candle. Fortified with a light, he entered the cave with less +tremor than on the previous evening, and looked about him. The cave +was deep: his light did not reach the further extremity. The roof was +damp and green with moss. There was the skeleton, stretched on the +rocky floor. By its side, as he now saw, lay a hatchet of curious +shape: a little beyond were some coloured beads. But within the circle +of light he discovered no other remnants of humanity; these were not +very terrible after all, and he might have taken up his abode there but +for the fusty, humid atmosphere. He gave up the idea of sleeping in +the cave, but made for himself, just outside and across the entrance, a +couch of cloaks taken from the wreck. +</p> + +<p> +Before settling himself for the night, he returned to the base of the +cliff, opened with the hatchet one of his precious boxes of biscuits, +and taking a handful, sat on a flat rock to make an unaccustomed +supper. He had barely eaten a mouthful when he saw a brown figure leap +from somewhere above his head, swoop on the still open box, clutch one +of the biscuits, and spring away with a long chatter of delight. +</p> + +<p> +"Ah, knave!" he exclaimed, "my prophetic soul avouched that your +gravity cloaked an evil bent. You are a thief, Sir Monkey. But I do +not grudge you the biscuit; your constancy in attendance merits some +reward. A toothsome morsel, is it not? It pleases me to see your +pleasure, and—yes, I have it! You are my sole companion on this +island; why should we not be friends? You must learn a rightful +humility, to be sure. Regarding me as the dispenser of luxuries, will +you not love me, with the respectful love of a dependent? Come, let us +see." +</p> + +<p> +Rising from his seat in time to forestall a second application to the +biscuit box, he went to it, took half a dozen, shut down the lid, and +returned to the rock. +</p> + +<p> +"Now, Mirandola," he said—"I name you Mirandola for your wisdom, not +your larceny—here in my hand I hold one of the twice-cooked, the +fellow of the one you found so delectable. Come and take it, and give +thanks." +</p> + +<p> +But the animal sat motionless on its branch, grinning and gibbering. +</p> + +<p> +"You do me wrong to suspect me," Dennis went on. "Well, this is to +prove my good faith." +</p> + +<p> +He flung the biscuit on to the sand a few yards away, and laughed +quietly to see what ensued. The monkey chattered volubly with +excitement, swung itself to a lower branch, then back to its former +perch, where it sat for a moment blinking and grinning. Then it +descended with extraordinary rapidity to the foot of the tree, crouched +behind the trunk while a man might count ten, and with frantic haste, +as though fearful its courage would not endure, it darted on all fours +across to the biscuit, looking in its movements like a gigantic spider. +Seizing the delicacy, it sped back to the tree, squatted on the lowest +branch, and set its jaws right merrily to work. +</p> + +<p> +"That is your first lesson, Mirandola," said Dennis, placing the +remaining biscuits in his pouch, in full sight of the animal. "The +second begins at once; it enjoineth patience." +</p> + +<p> +And heedless of the loud outcry made by the monkey when it saw these +choice comestibles disappear, Dennis returned to his couch, and laid +himself down for the night. +</p> + +<p><br /><br /><br /></p> + +<p><a id="chap04"></a></p> + +<h3> +CHAPTER IV +</h3> + +<h4> +Salvage +</h4> + +<p> +Rising with the sun, Dennis set about making a more careful examination +of the hull of the <i>Maid Marian</i>. The leaks in her timbers were rather +more serious than he had supposed. Clearly they would prevent her from +drifting out to sea on the tide, but they would also render her final +break-up inevitable in the event of a violent storm from the +north-west. There were signs on the face of the cliff that at times +the waves dashed over the narrow beach of sand against the wall of rock +beyond. In these latitudes, as the fate of the <i>Maid Marian</i> proved, +storms arose without warning, and with incredible swiftness; and it +behoved Dennis to make all speed in saving the ship's stores. +</p> + +<p> +At low tide on this day, and on many that followed, he worked hard at +his task. He rigged up a block and pulley in the waist, by means of +which he was able to hoist casks and other heavy objects up the +hatchways and lower them over the side of the vessel. It was more +difficult to convey them from the vessel to a place of safety beyond +the reach of the tide. At first he tried to haul them by a rope, but +finding soon that he succeeded only in working up a ridge of sand which +rendered haulage exhausting and in some cases impossible, he bethought +himself of the device of employing rollers, such as he had seen used by +fishermen on the beach at home. It was an easy matter, with the tools +now at hand, to lop off and strip some straight boughs suited to his +purpose, and upon these he brought, slowly and not without pains, the +bulkier goods to safe harbourage. The tide always rose about the +vessel too soon for his impatience; but the work was arduous, the +intervals were really needed for rest, and they gave opportunities of +furthering his acquaintance with the monkey. +</p> + +<p> +His relations with Mirandola, indeed, were placed on a sound and +satisfactory footing long before he had emptied the hull. The biscuits +were invaluable. At intervals, now long, now short, he would throw one +towards the monkey, which watched all his doings at the wreck day by +day with unfailing regularity. Little by little he diminished the +length of his throw, until, on the third day after his first lesson, +Mirandola had gained sufficient confidence to approach him to within a +few inches. On the fourth day, after keeping the monkey waiting longer +than usual, Dennis took a biscuit from his pouch, held it for a moment +between his fingers, then put it back again. +</p> + +<p> +"It is time, Mirandola," he said, "that your education was completed. +You are, I verily believe, as wise as a serpent; will you not believe +that I am harmless as a dove? This is the same biscuit I stowed but +now in my pouch; it is for you; it is yours if you will take it +mannerly. No, I will not cast it on the sand; it is more seemly to +take it from my hand, and, I do assure you, it will be no less +relishable. Come, then, dear wiseacre; have I ever deceived you? Show +a little confidence in your true friend and well-wisher." +</p> + +<p> +He held forth the biscuit, with an alluring smile. Mirandola cocked +his head on one side, gazed at this dispenser of delectable things with +a searching solemnity, and then crawled forward with watchful eye, +dubiously halting more than once. At length he came to Dennis's feet, +and sat up, with so gravely sad an expression that Dennis found it hard +not to laugh. Then, thrusting up his long arm, he made a grab at the +biscuit. +</p> + +<p> +"Not so, Mirandola," said Dennis, holding it beyond the monkey's reach. +"Manners maketh man; assuredly they will not mar monkeys. Ape the +gentle philosopher your namesake; be courteous and discreet. Now, once +more." +</p> + +<p> +He lowered the biscuit slowly, keeping his eyes on the creature's face. +But with a suddenness that took him aback, Mirandola raised himself on +his hind legs, flung out an arm, and, before Dennis could withdraw it, +held the biscuit in his skinny paw. +</p> + +<p> +"Wellaway!" laughed Dennis. "I may keep my breath to cool my porridge, +for all the effect my words have upon your savage nature." +</p> + +<p> +Then, to his surprise, the monkey came to him again, and held out his +hand. +</p> + +<p> +"You shall not be disappointed," he said. "Not for the world would I +reject your advances. Here is a biscuit, and with this, shall we say, +our friendship is sealed." +</p> + +<p> +And it was not long before Mirandola would sit upon his knee, and take +food from his hand with all mannerliness; and, its distrust gone, +showed itself to be as affectionate and devoted as a dog. +</p> + +<p> +Dennis availed himself in other ways of the hours when the tide +interrupted his labour with the stores. There was no lack of planking +and tarpaulin in the vessel; these he utilized in building on the +ledge, and near a fresh spring that ran out of the cliff, a little hut +about two trees that grew near enough together to form uprights for his +roof. Then he erected two small sheds close by, wherein to shelter his +goods from the weather. At first he fumbled with the unfamiliar tools, +not omitting to pinch his fingers as he hammered in the nails. But he +soon acquired a certain dexterity, and was indeed mightily pleased with +his handiwork. +</p> + +<p> +Every now and again he made a trip across the island, to discover +whether any vessels were in sight. Once or twice he descried a sail on +the horizon; once, indeed, he felt some excitement and anxiety as he +saw a bark under full sail bearing straight, as he thought, for the +shore. But in this he was mistaken; the vessel altered her course, and +Dennis, watching her diminishing form, hardly knew whether to be glad +or sorry. He was in truth too busy for self-commiseration: work filled +his days, unbroken sleep his nights. His feeling of loneliness had +almost entirely passed away, for Mirandola was his inseparable +companion, and it pleased his fancy to talk to the monkey as to a human +being. +</p> + +<p> +So engrossing had his labour been that he had taken no account of the +passage of time. It came upon him with a shock, once, that the +unnumbered days were flitting away. The idea that he was doomed to +grow old upon this island, and linger out his years in endless +solitude, struck his imagination with a chill, and set him climbing the +cliff in a kind of frenzy, to scan once more the wide horizon for a +sail. If at that moment a vessel had hove in sight, he would have +flown a flag, fired a musket, to attract attention, reckless what crew +it bore, so deep was his yearning to see a fellow man. When the fit +passed, it left him with a new desire. Never yet had the possibility +occurred to him of leaving the island. Could he construct a raft, or +build a boat—nay, was there a chance of making the <i>Maid Marian</i> +herself, battered as she was, seaworthy? The absurdity of attempting +to navigate single-handed a bark of near a hundred tons set him +laughing; but the idea suggested a new outlet for his energy, just at +the time when the conclusion of his salvage work had bereft him of +occupation. +</p> + +<p> +He became fired with the purpose of saving the vessel. The weather +hitherto had been perfect; but sooner or later a storm must come, and +then the ship would be ground to splinters against the cliff. Was it +possible to float her? He had unloaded what he imagined to be a good +many tons of stores; thus lightened, could she be moved? If he could +succeed in floating her, whither could she be taken? His tour of the +island had failed to discover any harbour; there was little to gain and +much to lose by allowing himself to drift about aimlessly in such a +hulk. Suddenly an idea struck him. Would it not be possible to devise +some means of floating her up the gully, round the shoulder of the +cliff? Her draught was not great: at high tide the water was deep +enough to carry her many yards beyond her present position, to a point +where she would be at once invisible from the open sea and protected +from the weather. +</p> + +<p> +At the next fall of the tide he made a thorough inspection of the +wreck. It was easy to find the leaks, for at every ebb the water that +had entered the vessel at the flood gushed out in tiny cascades. Many +a time he had seen ships careened and caulked in the dockyard at +Plymouth. He had plenty of rope of which to make oakum, and of tar +more than enough to meet his needs; in his search through the vessel he +had lighted on no caulking iron, but a long nail would serve, and it +should go hard with him, he thought, but he would make the old hulk +sound and seaworthy ere many days were gone. +</p> + +<p> +He found an unexpected assistant in Mirandola. He had teased out but +an inch or two of rope when the monkey squatted down by his side and +began with his strong nimble fingers to copy him, looking up in his +face with an air of such busy importance that Dennis was fain to lie +back and laugh. +</p> + +<p> +"By my troth, Sir Mirandola," he said, "this is friendship indeed. And +you outdo me, on my soul; you pick two inches to my one. 'Tis not the +daintiest of work for fingers untrained to it, and if it pleases you, +why, I will e'en leave it to you, and admire this unwonted usefulness +in a philosopher." +</p> + +<p> +But he found that when he ceased, the monkey ceased also. +</p> + +<p> +"Poor knave!" he said. "You see not the end. 'Tis but an apish trick +after all. Well, God forbid that I should judge your motive; I am +thankful for your help, and we will work together." +</p> + +<p> +Between them the two collaborators soon had a fine heap of oakum ready +for use, and a couple of days' hard work at low tide sufficed to caulk +all the seams. Mirandola's share in this second part of the job gave +Dennis more amusement. The busy creature solemnly dabbed tar on sound +parts of the timbers, and chattered with disgust when he discovered +that the stuff clung to his hairy skin, defying all his efforts to get +rid of it. +</p> + +<p> +"I' faith, I named you more fittingly than I wot," quoth Dennis. +"Pico, your illustrious namesake, was a gentleman of rare and delicate +taste. Touch pitch and thou art defiled. But a little turpentine, +mayhap, will cleanse the outward spots; and as for your inward +hurt—what think you of a spread of honey on your biscuit?" +</p> + +<p> +Mirandola thought nobly of the new delicacy, and came in time to look +for honey whenever he had imitated Dennis with more than usual energy. +</p> + +<p> +The leaks having been well caulked, Dennis proceeded to pump the water +from the lower parts of the hold. He awaited the next high tide with +great eagerness. To his joy the vessel floated, and rode fairly +upright on her keel. The tide carried her several yards up the beach, +leaving her again high and dry at the ebb. +</p> + +<p> +But Dennis now found himself faced by a difficulty. He wished to get +the vessel round the shoulder of the cliff, so that the tide might +carry her up the chine to the pool below his hut and sheds. The +distance was barely eighty yards, but he had noticed, from the movement +of a log floating some little way out, that the set of the current was +from north to west; so that if once she were allowed to float free, and +felt the force of the current, she would probably drift away in the +opposite direction from what he desired. On the other hand, if she +were driven too high on the beach, she might stick so firmly in the +sand that it would be impossible to move her, and then she would lie at +the mercy of the first north-west gale. +</p> + +<p> +His little nautical knowledge was at first at a loss. +</p> + +<p> +"Mirandola, your speechless wisdom is of no avail," he said ruefully, +as he sat at his fire one evening, feeding the monkey with pease +porridge. "You and I are both landsmen; unlike you, I adventured +forth, to gain gold, and fight the don Spaniards, if so the fates +should ordain. Here is never a Spaniard to fight, and as for gold, the +wealth of Croesus would not at this moment benefit me a jot. If I had +been bred to the sea, now, I should not be at this pass." +</p> + +<p> +But long cogitation, and another visit to the ship, determined a course +of action. The windlass, he discovered, was uninjured, and though it +was very stiff, he could still manage to turn it. A big jagged rock +jutted out from the cliff near the shoulder round which the vessel must +be warped. To this rock he carried a rope from the stump of the +mainmast and securely fastened it. This would prevent the vessel from +drifting out to sea. Then, with a hatchet from the ship's stores he +cut a number of thick branches from the trees along the gully, and +pitching them into the pool floated them one by one on to the beach +alongside the wreck. There was plenty of rope on board to fashion +these into a stout raft, on to which, with the aid of the windlass, he +lowered a kedge anchor just sufficiently heavy to hold the vessel in a +calm. It was a matter of some difficulty to get the anchor so evenly +adjusted on the raft that the latter would not turn turtle; but after +some patient manoeuvring Dennis arranged it squarely in the centre, and +when the tide came in the whole floated with a fair appearance of +stability. Then with a long pole Dennis cautiously punted the raft out +beyond the gully, paying out as he went a stout cable, connecting the +anchor with the windlass. Some thirty yards beyond the gully, at a +point near enough in shore to be beyond the reach of the current, he +prepared to drop the anchor. It was too heavy for him even to move; +the only plan that suggested itself was to bring about what he had up +to that moment been most anxious to prevent—the raft must now be +intentionally upset. One by one he cut away the lashings of the +outermost logs on the seaward side. At last he felt by the movement of +the raft that only his own weight prevented the crazy structure from +turning over. He slid from the raft into the sea; the far side sank +and the anchor slipped over and went with a thud to the bottom. Then +the raft righted itself, and Dennis scrambled aboard. +</p> + +<p> +The rest was easy. When the tide ebbed it carried the wreck inch by +inch towards the anchor, for with the aid of the windlass Dennis was +able to keep the cable constantly taut, while at the same time he paid +out the rope connecting the vessel with the shore. A couple of tides +brought him in this way up to the anchor; then, transferring the shore +cable to a stout tree some distance up the gully, he slacked off the +kedge line when the tide was running up, and allowed the wreck to be +carried shorewards. In this way the <i>Maid Marian</i> floated slowly up +the gully on the flood, and another couple of tides brought her within +a few yards of the pool, which he designed for her permanent harbourage. +</p> + +<p> +Below this there was a narrow bar that threatened to baulk him. At low +tide, indeed, he had to shovel away a large amount of sand in the +middle of the channel, and once came near losing his temper with +Mirandola, who, with well-meant industry, and a quite innocent +pleasure, set about scooping back the sand as it was dug out. But the +animal tired of this fatiguing amusement; the difficulty was overcome; +and when at last the vessel rode gently into the little natural harbour +below the hut, Dennis hailed the success of his long toil with a +cheerful "Huzza!" and broached a cask of sack. Of this indulgence he +partly repented, for the monkey seized upon the empty can when he laid +it down, and drained it greedily. +</p> + +<p> +"No, no, my friend," said Dennis, gravely. "Wine maketh glad the heart +of man; I do not read that it is anywise a drink for brutes. And all +your philosophy would not reconcile me to a drunken Mirandola. 'Be not +among wine-bibbers,' says the wisest of kings and men; I bethink me he +says also, 'My son, eat thou honey, for it is good!' You shall have +honey, my venerable son." +</p> + +<p><br /><br /><br /></p> + +<p><a id="chap05"></a></p> + +<h3> +CHAPTER V +</h3> + +<h4> +The Edge of the Marsh +</h4> + +<p> +During his operations about the wreck, Dennis had noticed that the +monkey showed a strange aversion for the sea. At low tide, when the +vessel was high and dry, he quite cheerfully accompanied his benefactor +on board; but as a rule, when he saw the tide rolling in, he chattered +angrily, swarmed down the side of the vessel, and posted himself at the +nearest point above high-water mark. Only on the one occasion, when he +mounted the windlass, did he remain on deck when the tide was at flood; +there he seemed to regard himself as out of reach of the waves. Dennis +wondered whether the dread of the sea was a characteristic of the +monkey tribe, or whether Mirandola had at some time suffered a +sea-change which it was determined not to repeat. +</p> + +<p> +He took endless pleasure in studying the amiable creature; and when, +his work with the ship being finished, he began once more to take +lengthy strolls across the island, he drew a new delight from the +companionship of the monkey. The friendship being so firmly +established, Mirandola showed off his accomplishments with a freedom he +had not displayed when he regarded this newcomer with distrust and +suspicion. Dennis laughed to see his antics in the trees. He would +curl his long tail about a branch, and swing to and fro with manifest +enjoyment. Sometimes, clutching a banana with one hand, he would pick +another with one foot, and hold a third to his mouth with the second +hand. Sometimes when he saw Dennis holding his forehead in a brown +study, he would rub his long gaunt arms over his own brow with a +wistful look that brought a smile to the lad's face. He was amiability +itself, and showed genuine distress when Dennis took occasion to scold +him for some piece of inconvenient prankishness. +</p> + +<p> +Now that his thoughts were no longer engrossed with his salvage work, +Dennis more often speculated on his future. The prospect was not very +encouraging. Supposing he could carry out his half-formed purpose of +building a boat, what chance was there of surviving a voyage across the +ocean in a vessel that, untrained as he was in handicraft, must +necessarily be a clumsy thing? And unless he could risk an ocean +voyage he felt that he had better remain where he was. No European +nation but the Spaniards and the Portuguese had settlements on the +American coast. What might be expected at the hands of the Spaniards +he knew full well. Had he not heard from the lips of one Master John +Merridew fearsome tales of their treachery and cruelty? John Merridew +had sailed with Captain John Hawkins to the West Indies, with Master +Francis Drake as one of the company. Forced by foul weather into the +port of St. John de Ulua, the Captain made great account of a certain +Spanish gentleman named Augustine de Villa Nueva, and used him like a +nobleman. Yet this same Augustine, sitting at dinner one day with the +Captain, would certainly have killed him with a poniard which he had +secretly in his sleeve, had not one John Chamberlain espied the weapon +and prevented the foul deed. And recalling Merridew's narrative, +Dennis wondered what had become of those hundred poor wretches who, +when victuals ran short, and the ship's company were driven to eat +parrots and monkeys and the very rats that swarmed in the hold, +preferred to shift for themselves on shore, rather than starve on +ship-board. In imagination he saw that touching scene, when the +General, as Merridew called Captain Hawkins, gave to each man five +yards of cloth, embraced them in turn, counselled them to serve God and +love one another; and thus courteously bade them a sorrowful farewell, +promising, if God sent him safe to England, to do what he could to +bring home such as remained alive. That Captain Hawkins would fulfil +his promise Dennis believed; but how many of those Englishmen were +still living? He reflected that he at least had food and present +safety; compared with theirs his lot was a king's. +</p> + +<p> +But he was not to escape misfortune altogether. One day the storm he +had so long been expecting broke over the island, hurling great seas +into the mouth of the chine, threatening to dash the <i>Maid Marian</i> +against the rocks or sweep her out into the ocean. In the midst of +pelting, blinding rain Dennis strove to ensure her safety. She +wrenched at her anchor; every moment he feared lest her mooring ropes +should be snapped; he could do little but keep a watch on the +fastenings. And while he was thus watching, a roaring flood passed +through the gully from the plateau above, swamping his hut, washing +away some of his hardly-won stores; and the fierce blast tore off the +roof of one of his sheds, exposing its contents to all the fury of the +weather. +</p> + +<p> +Next day he did what he could to repair the damage. Fortunately much +of his perishable goods was contained in stout boxes which he always +kept securely fastened, and the things he lost were those he could best +spare. +</p> + +<p> +In the afternoon of that day, he went across to the opposite side of +the island, as he was wont to do at intervals, to take a look-out from +the high cliff there. He wondered whether the storm had cast any other +ill-fated vessel upon the shore. But, scanning the whole horizon, he +saw nothing but league upon league of restless sea. +</p> + +<p> +"Our solitude is not to be disturbed, Mirandola," he said to the +monkey, "for which let us be thankful. Or ought we to deplore it? I +wish you could speak, my friend, and tell me something of your history. +Are you the last of your race, I wonder? Well, so am I. I have no +kith nor kin; nor, as it appears, have you. I have a humble estate in +an island—to be sure, somewhat larger than this. Now I come to think +of it, this island is yours; it is a mark of nobility of soul—or is it +poverty of spirit? I cannot say—that you do not regard me as a +supplanter. Good Holles, my steward, would not brook the intrusion of +any adventurer on my lands. Heigh ho! How fares the old fellow, I +wonder? How he shook his old head when I acquainted him with my +purpose to join Sir Martin Blunt in his voyage to the Spanish Main! +'God save you, sir!' said he, and asked whether he should sell my +whippets! One thing I know, Mirandola: that if it please God to bring +me safe home in season, Holles will give me a faithful account of his +stewardship. Let me think I am your steward, good my friend. And now +let us return to our honey-pot." +</p> + +<p> +On the way back, Dennis struck somewhat to the left of his usual path, +to skirt the marsh on its south-western instead of its north-eastern +side. It was far larger in area than when he had first seen it; its +outlet was too narrow to carry off the surplusage due to the tremendous +rains. Dennis was picking his way around the oozy edge, letting his +thoughts travel back to the pleasant land of Devon, when suddenly he +was brought up short by the sight of a mark in the soft earth, the +strangeness of which mightily surprised and perplexed him. Parallel +with his own tracks there ran for a few yards a faint ribbon-like +track—such a track as might be made by a large cart wheel that had +rested very lightly on the surface. It was a single track: following +its course, he found that it disappeared into the water, just as he had +seen the mark of a cart wheel disappear into a roadside horse-pond at +home. +</p> + +<p> +He looked around. There was nothing to account for the mark. He +scouted the idea that it had been actually made by a wheel; a vehicle +must have been drawn by animals, and there were no hoof-marks to match. +With all his puzzling he could find no explanation, and though he +looked warily about him as he went on his way, with some return of his +old feeling of nervousness, he saw no sign to suggest that the island +had been visited. +</p> + +<p> +It was a day or two before he again found himself near the marsh. He +had been fishing from the base of the high cliff that formed his usual +look-out. A kind of natural pier of broken rock jutted out from the +cliff seawards, and the deep water on each side was the favourite +resort at high tide of shoals of small fish, which chose it, he +supposed, because the depth was not great enough for the ground sharks +that sometimes made their appearance off the shore, and the little fish +could disport themselves there in security. +</p> + +<p> +Carrying his catch on a string—enough for his own dinner, for +Mirandola would not touch it—he passed again by the brink of the +marsh, and once more was puzzled by the wheel-like track which he had +seen before and been unable to explain. The marsh had somewhat shrunk +in the interval; the receding water had left more of the track visible: +and the outer soil having been baked hard by the sun, the strange +imprint was clearer and more definite. +</p> + +<p> +It occurred to Dennis now to attempt to trace the mark in the opposite +direction, away from the point where it disappeared in the water. It +speedily grew fainter as he came to harder soil, and he lost it +altogether where it entered undergrowth which had no doubt been +partially submerged when the marsh was at its highest. But after some +search he found it again where it emerged from the rank vegetation, and +from that point he traced it with little difficulty, for it kept fairly +close to the margin of the lake. Its resemblance to the track of a +wheel had now ceased; not even the most rickety of carts, driven by a +drunken tranter on a Devonshire lane, could have made such erratic +movements as must have caused this shallow winding mark on the soil. +Dennis followed its curves with persistent curiosity, not unmixed with +a vague uneasiness. Mirandola accompanied him, springing lightly from +bough to bough of the trees nearest the edge of the marsh, descending +with extraordinary quickness and loping along the ground where gaps +intervened, or the fringe of the woodland belt took a trend inwards. +</p> + +<p> +At length the tracking came perforce to an end. Again the trail +disappeared into the water, and Dennis halted, feeling a little vexed +that his patience was, after all, to bear no fruit. He looked round +for Mirandola. The monkey had disappeared, exploring, no doubt, +thought Dennis, a close-packed thicket that came within a few yards of +the morass, having apparently crowded out all nobler trees save one +slender cedar which, dominating the undergrowth, seemed taller than it +really was. +</p> + +<p> +Dennis was about to give up the problem as hopeless and go on his way, +when suddenly he heard Mirandola chattering in a manner that was new to +him. The moment after, the monkey sprang from the thicket into the +tree, and climbed with frantic speed to the very top, where he sat +gibbering and shaking with terror. Dennis, wondering what had +perturbed him, took a step forward, then started back in a cold shiver. +A huge serpent was rearing itself from the midst of the undergrowth and +winding its coils about the trunk of the tree. +</p> + +<p> +Mirandola on the topmost branch had now ceased his chattering, and +clung, watching the monster with dilated eyes. The poor creature was +helpless. To descend from his perch would have been fatal; there was +no other tree at hand to which it might escape. Indeed, under the +fascination of the serpent's baleful eyes, as it slowly drew its +immense coils up the trunk, the monkey lost all power of motion; and +Dennis himself, even with the thicket between him and the monster, felt +a sort of chill paralysis as he watched its sinister movements. For +half a minute he stood rooted to the spot; then, making an effort to +throw off this dire oppression, he tried to think of some means of +helping the monkey. At that moment of danger, he was conscious for the +first time of the strength of his affection for the animal whose +companionship had done so much to relieve the awful solitude of the +island. Unless he intervened, Mirandola was doomed, and the thought of +losing Mirandola filled him with a fierce longing to slay this monster +that was crawling inch by inch towards its prey. +</p> + +<p> +His first impulse was to run back to his hut for the gun he kept there +ready loaded; but slow as the serpent's progress was, before he could +return to the spot the tragedy would have ended. Then he remembered +how the reptiles in the woods at home were killed. A blow on the +vertebrae crippled them; could he cripple this huge creature, which +even yet had not heaved all its length into the tree? His only weapon +was the sailor's clasp-knife which he always carried at his girdle. He +opened it impulsively, then hesitated. If he failed to hit the +vertebrae, and dealt only a flesh wound, he might perchance save the +monkey, but could he then save himself? He knew nothing of a boa +constrictor's power of movement; yet his instinct told him that, if +once enfolded in those monstrous coils, he must inevitably be crushed +to death. But he could not stand and see his pet mangled and devoured: +the serpent, moving deliberately, as though aware of its victim's +paralysis, was not yet beyond his reach. Springing through the +undergrowth, he marked a spot some distance from the reptile's tail. +The serpent heard his approach, and turned its head slowly in his +direction; but a second later Dennis drove his knife with all his force +at the centre of the sleek round mass. +</p> + +<p> +Next moment he was thrown sprawling on the ground, by a flick of the +tail as the upper part of the serpent's body writhed convulsively under +the blow. He jerked himself to his feet and leapt away through the +undergrowth in panic fear. A few steps brought him to open ground, and +then, crushing down his nervous terror, he looked back. The coils were +slipping down the tree, and in a moment it was clear that the serpent's +power was gone; its huge bulk moved uncontrollably: its motor force was +destroyed. Dennis ventured to enter the thicket again. When the +serpent reached the ground, it writhed as he had seen injured eels and +earthworms writhe, but its movements were all involuntary; Mirandola +was saved. +</p> + +<p class="capcenter"> +<a id="img-065.jpg"></a> +<img class="imgcenter" src="images/img-065.jpg" alt=""Dennis saves Mirandola."" /> +<br /> +"Dennis saves Mirandola." +</p> + +<p> +The monkey was now chattering volubly, but still clung to his perch. +Clearly he would not venture to descend while his enemy moved. For +some time Dennis watched it; then, feeling that he must put an end to +its maimed life, he hurried away to fetch his gun. A bullet in the +head: and the reptile lay motionless. +</p> + +<p> +Even then some little time elapsed before Mirandola yielded to Dennis's +persuasive calls and slid, still somewhat nervously, to the ground. He +avoided the reptile's body, and scampered away with shrill cries to the +open. When Dennis overtook him, the monkey sprang upon his shoulder, +and so they returned to the hut. +</p> + +<p> +After this thrilling experience Dennis felt somewhat less at ease in +his peregrinations of the island. He had come to think that he had +nothing to fear there so long as it was unvisited by men. But the +thickets that gave hiding to one huge reptile might harbour many more. +Henceforth he walked more warily, and never ventured far from his hut +without a gun. +</p> + +<p><br /><br /><br /></p> + +<p><a id="chap06"></a></p> + +<h3> +CHAPTER VI +</h3> + +<h4> +The Spanish Whip +</h4> + +<p> +Dennis had given up the idea of building a boat as a means of escape +from the island; but now that time again hung heavy on his hands, he +reverted to it as a refuge from the tedium of idleness. It promised to +give him much labour, for, unless he stripped the planking from the +<i>Maid Marian</i>, he must needs fell trees for himself, and prepare his +timbers as well as his unskill could devise. The trees of the island +were for the most part unknown to him; and he was not aware of the +Indian practice of hollowing out a cedar trunk with fire or hatchet. +In his wanderings he now began to take note of the different species, +with a view to selecting one that would best suit his tools. +</p> + +<p> +One day, when he was strolling through the woodland on this errand, he +was amazed, and not a little alarmed, to hear, from some spot far to +his right, what seemed to him to be the ring of axes. He halted, +incredulous. The island, he was assured, had no other inhabitant; yet +he could not be mistaken; the sound of tree-felling reminded him of +home, and he felt a sudden deep yearning for the combes and holts of +far-off Devon. But this feeling was immediately quelled by a sense of +danger. Who were these woodcutters? No friends, he was sure; he had +given up hope of finding friends upon these remote coasts. And if not +friends, discovery by these spelt death to him, or slavery to which +death would be preferable. +</p> + +<p> +He was minded to turn about and seek safety in his hut. Built upon the +edge of the chine, it could only be discovered by careful exploration +of the woodland, and the chine was all but invisible from the sea. +There he might remain in hiding, with a fair chance that he would not +be found. But this first impulse passed. He felt an overmastering +curiosity to see who these visitors were. Whence had they come, he +wondered? Why, if they came from the distant mainland, had they +crossed the sea? He could not suppose that wood was lacking upon the +shores of the great continent. +</p> + +<p> +Slowly, with infinite caution, he began to thread his way towards the +sound. There were open spaces amid the woodland; these he durst not +cross, but kept always in the shelter of the trees. He dreaded lest +Mirandola should betray him by a cry; but the monkey leapt from bough +to bough almost noiselessly, as if he too had taken alarm from the +unwonted sound. A few weeks before, Dennis himself would have found it +difficult to make his way through the woods and the undergrowth without +giving signs of his presence by the snapping of twigs or the rustle of +parting foliage; but the abiding sense of danger which had oppressed +him during his earlier passages across the island had bred in him a +wariness of movement that was now almost as instinctive as in the wild +creatures whose lives depended on their caution. +</p> + +<p> +Guiding himself by the sounds, he was drawn towards a grove of trees +that lay about two hundred yards from the southern beach. Only a day +or two before he had struck his hatchet into one of them, and concluded +from its soft white sappy rind that it would not provide fit timber for +his boat. Yet it was clearly these trees upon which the unseen woodmen +were at work. He stole forward, and coming to a dense fringe of +undergrowth beyond which the grove lay, he edged his way into the +thicket, and very stealthily pressed the foliage aside until he got a +view of what was doing. +</p> + +<p> +The trees grew somewhat far apart, and across a fairly open space he +saw the strangers whose unexpected presence was causing him such +concern. Five men, stripped to the waist, were hard at work with axes. +Four of them had dusky skins of reddish hue; the fifth, a short, +thickset, brawny man, the muscles of whose arms showed like great +globes, was clearly a white man, though his hands and arms were stained +a bright scarlet quite different from the red duskiness of southern +natives, or the red-brown caused by exposure to sun and wind. As they +moved, the five men clanked the chains that fettered their ankles to +stout logs of wood. A little apart stood three men looking on, +laughing and talking together in a tongue strange to Dennis. They were +big swarthy fellows, with soft wide-brimmed hats, each decked with a +feather, brown leather doublets and hose, and long boots. Each bore a +caliver and a whip. +</p> + +<p> +The sun was high in the heavens, its beams beating down through the +trees upon the unprotected backs of the toilers. Sweat was pouring +from them. The trees were thick, some at least two yards in +circumference; to cut them through needed no slight exertion. The +white labourer paused to draw his arm across his reeking brow. Then +one of the watchers strolled across from the tree against which he had +been lolling, and raising his whip, brought the thong with a stinging +cut across the back of the slave who had dared to intermit his labours. +A red streak showed livid on the white skin. For a moment it seemed to +Dennis, watching the scene, that the victim was about to turn upon his +assailant with the axe, his sole weapon. An expression of deadly rage +writhed the features of his red, bearded face. His grip tightened upon +the axe. But he controlled his impulse with an effort. The warder +laughed brutally, flung a taunt, and cracked his whip in the air in +challenge and menace. Sullenly the woodman resumed his task, and his +persecutor, with another laugh, turned and rejoined his companions, +applauded by their grins. +</p> + +<p> +Dennis felt himself stung to anger. This swarthy ruffian, he doubted +not, was a Spaniard, a subject of King Philip, once the consort of an +English queen. It was not a pleasant introduction to the race +dominating the Americas. Apparently Mirandola liked them no better +than he, for at the first sight of the strangers the monkey had fled +away. Dennis found him a good quarter-mile distant when, taking +advantage of an interval during which the Spaniards ate and drank, and +the flagging toilers rested, he strode away to a banana grove to +refresh himself. +</p> + +<p> +He watched the group till near sundown. Several trees having been +felled, the men proceeded to hack off the branches and to chip away the +white rind. Then the strange scarlet colour of their arms and hands +was explained. The heart of the trees was a brilliant red. As the +rind was stripped off, the Spaniards drew near and examined the core, +and under their direction the labourers cut and trimmed certain +selected logs. The work was still unfinished when the sun went down, +and the leader of the Spaniards gave the word for returning to the +shore. The logs were struck off the slaves' ankles and replaced by +manacles; then they set off. Dennis followed them at a safe distance, +and when he came within view of the sea, there was a small vessel +riding at anchor some little distance off shore, and the slaves were in +the act of dragging a row boat through the white surf. In this they +all put off, and darkness covered them up as they regained the ship. +</p> + +<p> +Dennis returned to his hut, joined by the monkey on the way. +</p> + +<p> +"Here is food for thought, Mirandola, my friend," he said. "No fire +for us to-night! Are you acquainted with don Spaniards and their ways? +You kept a wide berth: have you too suffered at their hands? Who is +the poor wretch the ruffian lashed? By his looks he would pass for an +Englishman: I hope he is not of English breed. Yet I hope he is: what +do you make of that, Mirandola? I protest I love your wise and +friendly countenance; but there is something warming to the heart in +the sight of one of my own kind, if such he be. We must be up betimes, +my friend; maybe the morrow will give us assurance." +</p> + +<p> +Thinking over the incident before he slept, Dennis wondered why the +party had returned to the ship. If the purpose of their visit was to +obtain any quantity of this strange red wood, doubtless they had +several days' work before them; why had they not camped on shore? +Perhaps they felt that the slaves were safer on board; perhaps, too, +they did not care to weaken the ship's company during the hours of +night. It was a small vessel; probably there was not a large number of +Spaniards aboard; but doubtless they were all armed like the three who +had come ashore, and their slaves, being fettered, would need but a few +to control them. Dennis hoped that when they returned next day they +would not make too thorough a search for similar groves elsewhere in +the island, for if they should discover his hut, he had little doubt +they would seek to impress him into the hapless gang. +</p> + +<p> +His sleep was restless. Many times he woke with a start and sprang up +trembling, feeling that the Spaniards were on his track. At daybreak +he was on his way towards the western shore, and took up his position +in the same thicket, the leafy screen being almost impenetrable. The +monkey was with him now; but when his ears caught first the measured +thud of oars, then the clank of chains drawing nearer, Mirandola +chattered angrily, sprang into a tree, and disappeared. +</p> + +<p> +The party came into view: five slaves, three Spaniards. The former +were, to all appearance, the same as those Dennis had seen on the +previous day; but it seemed to him that their armed guards were +different; probably the men of the ship took it in turns to come +ashore. But if the individuals were different, their methods were much +the same. Indeed, before Dennis had been watching the work many +minutes, he had reason to know that the warders of to-day were even +more ingeniously brutal than those of yesterday. The first thing he +noticed was a change in their manner of rendering their slaves +harmless. One of them carried a large wooden mallet; the others had +between them iron staples with sharp-pointed ends. These staples they +drove one by one with the mallet into the boles of the five trees +selected for the day's operations. Secured to each staple was one end +of a long chain, the other end of which was fastened to the captive's +ankle band. Thus the hapless woodmen were fettered not merely by the +logs of wood, as on the previous day, but by chains that bound them to +the very trees they were to cut down. The staples were driven into the +trunks below the line of the cleft to be made; but the chains, though +long, seemed to Dennis scarcely long enough to enable the men to escape +crushing should the trees happen to fall the wrong way. That was a +chance which evidently did not trouble the guards. +</p> + +<p> +Dennis wondered why this additional precaution had been taken to ensure +the safe custody of the wretched men. Had they shown signs of mutiny? +It would not be surprising after the treatment of the previous day. +Certainly the ingenious device lightened the task of surveillance, for +the wood-cutters, however exasperated, could not turn upon their guards +until they had forced out the staples with their axes. +</p> + +<p> +The three Spaniards threw themselves down at some distance from the +slaves and lolled negligently against the trees. The wood-cutters +plied their axes, sturdily, monotonously, never speaking, their faces +expressing nothing but a sullen despair. Dennis fixed his eyes on the +white man, and felt an eager longing to hear him speak. One word would +be enough to show whether he was indeed an Englishman. But the man was +as silent as the rest, and nothing was heard save the ring of the axes +and the voices of the Spaniards conversing. +</p> + +<p> +Five trees lay upon the ground; the warders rose to drive the staples +into others. It appeared that time hung heavy on their hands. Some +demon of mischief suggested to one of them a means of obtaining a +little diversion. His proposal was received with shouts of laughter by +his companions. Dennis did not understand what was said, but the +meaning was soon made plain. The three men drew lots with three twigs +of unequal length, and placed themselves by the side of three +slaves—the white man and two Indians—as fate determined. Again they +drew lots, and proceeded to fasten their men to three new trees. The +other two Indians were set to strip the trunks already felled. It was +soon evident that the Spaniards' amusement was to be had at the expense +of the wood-cutters. They pooled a number of pieces of eight; the +Spaniard whose man first felled his tree was to take the stakes. +</p> + +<p> +The three men set to work, the warders standing over them with their +whips. The faces of the Indians wore their wonted look of dull apathy; +but Dennis saw the lips of the white man tighten, and a grim scowl +darken his brow. The sport commenced. Excited by their gamble, the +Spaniards urged on their men with loud cries. For some minutes the two +Indians smote the trees with feverish energy; the white man plied his +axe with measured strokes, neither slower nor faster than before. The +warders became more and more excited, and from cries proceeded to +blows. One of the Indians flagged, and to stimulate him the Spaniard +behind dealt him a savage blow with his whip, and the poor cowed wretch +laid on with greater vigour. Hidden in the bush Dennis nervously +clutched his sword and felt the blood surge into his cheeks. Fine +sport, indeed! The other Spaniards, not to be outdone, began to +belabour the backs of their men also, and Dennis, seeing great weals +rise on the bare flesh, could scarcely control the impulse to dash at +all costs from his hiding-place to the aid of the suffering men. He +saw the face of the white man pale beneath the sun-tan and the red +stains; perchance the Spaniard would have had a qualm if he had seen +the fury his features expressed. But he did not see it; with callous +levity he shouted, and brought his whip down with a sickening crack +upon the broad red-streaked back. +</p> + +<p> +Then, with a suddenness that took Dennis's breath away, the white man's +pent-up rage burst its bounds. At the end of his endurance, he swung +round with a nimbleness surprising in a man of his bulk, and flung his +axe with unerring aim at his tormentor. The man fell among the logs. +In a second, before the other Spaniards had time to recover from the +shock of this unheard-of audacity, one of the Indians at work on the +fallen tree hurled his weapon at the warder nearest him, and struck him +headlong to the ground. The third man had sufficient command of his +wits to take to his heels and scamper away. +</p> + +<p> +The wood-cutters were between him and the shore, and the direction of +his flight was towards the thicket in which Dennis stood, all tingling +with the excitement of this amazing change of scene. He gripped his +sword; but the Spaniard stopped short within a few yards of the bushes, +uttered a furious oath, and turning about, kindled his match, preparing +to shoot at the slaves, who were hacking with frenzied haste at the +staples that held them to the trees. The two Indians who were free +were hobbling towards the woodland on the other side, appalled by their +own temerity. Dennis heard the Spaniard chuckle as he raised his +caliver. The man knew full well that, even if the woodmen succeeded in +breaking loose, he would have time to shoot them down one by one, +hobbled as they were. +</p> + +<p> +<a id="p78"></a> +Dennis could no longer remain inactive. An enemy of the Spaniards, +whatever his colour, was a friend of his. He could not see the poor +wretches slaughtered. For an instant he thought of kindling his own +match and firing at the Spaniard, who was within easy range. Then, +changing his mind, he pushed aside the bushes, sprang into the open, +and leapt over the ground with the lightness of a panther. The +Spaniard heard his movements and swung round; Dennis saw the startled +look of terror in his eyes. Taken aback, he had no time to ward off +the musket stock of this assailant who had sprung as it were out of the +earth. His cry of alarm was stifled in his throat, and under the blow +dealt him with all the force of honest rage he dropped senseless to the +ground. +</p> + +<p><br /><br /><br /></p> + +<p><a id="chap07"></a></p> + +<h3> +CHAPTER VII +</h3> + +<h4> +Amos Turnpenny +</h4> + +<p> +Dennis felt his limbs tremble as he stepped round the fallen body and +went forward. The white man and the biggest of the Indians had already +released themselves, and stood as though rooted to the ground with +amazement. +</p> + +<p> +"I am a friend," cried Dennis, while still separated by some yards from +them. +</p> + +<p> +"My heart, that's a true word!" gasped the white man, and Dennis +thrilled with joy as he heard the broad accent of a south-countryman. +"A friend, true; and a blessed word to Haymoss Turnpenny's ears." +</p> + +<p> +They gripped hands, and looked each other squarely in the face. There +was a lump in Dennis's throat, and a mist of tears in the elder man's +eyes. Then Turnpenny glanced over his shoulder with a sudden access of +fear. +</p> + +<p> +"We bean't safe," he muttered, and there was a world of terror in his +gesture and tone. "They'll find us, and then 'twill be hell-fire. Can +'ee hide us?" +</p> + +<p> +"Let us first release that black man." +</p> + +<p> +"Ay, sure, fellow creature, although black. I'll do it, in a trice." +</p> + +<p> +He walked towards the trees where the last man was still struggling to +force out the staple. At this moment Dennis saw one of the others, who +had released his feet from the hobbling logs, springing past him with +uplifted axe, the fire of fury in his eyes. Turning, he noticed that +the Spaniard he had felled was moving. He had but just time to dash +after the man and prevent him from butchering his prostrate enemy. The +Indian drew back in surprise, and Dennis stood on guard until the +Englishman joined him. +</p> + +<p> +"Bean't he killed dead? Why didn't 'ee kill him, lad? T'others be +dead as door nails, and won't trouble you nor me no more." +</p> + +<p> +"We'll let this fellow live; he may be useful to us." +</p> + +<p> +"Why didn't 'ee kill him with your sword or caliver? He's vermin, as +they be all." +</p> + +<p> +"Well, his back was towards me," said Dennis. "Besides, a shot would +have alarmed his comrades on the ship." +</p> + +<p> +"The ship!" repeated the man, looking round again with fear in his +eyes. "The ship! They'll find us! We are rats in a trap! Lord save +us all!" +</p> + +<p> +"Come, we must think of something. Can you speak to these men?" +</p> + +<p> +"Ay, in some sort. Not in their own tongue, 'tis monkey-talk to me. +Ah! look at 'em, poor knaves." +</p> + +<p> +The Indians had fallen upon the provisions brought by the Spaniards for +their own consumption, and were devouring them ravenously. Turnpenny +called to them in a husky whisper, as though fearful of his own voice +reaching the ears of an enemy. Then, taking the dazed Spaniard with +them, the woodcutters, hobbled by the logs, made off across the island, +led by Dennis to the watercourse at the further end of which his hut +stood. Within half a mile of that spot he halted, and got the +Englishman to tell the others to remain there until rejoined. With +Turnpenny he hastened on. +</p> + +<p> +"God be praised I was able to help you," he said. +</p> + +<p> +"Ay, but I fear me 'tis to your own undoing. They will come ashore, +and catch 'ee, and flay 'ee alive." +</p> + +<p> +"Tell me, how many men are left on the bark?" +</p> + +<p> +"Ten, lad, all armed to the teeth. Sure they will land when we don't +go aboard at night. They will hunt us down. This time to-morrow we'll +be dead men, or worse than dead." +</p> + +<p> +"Pluck up heart," said Dennis. "There are six of us; I have arms for +all; we can post ourselves at a place of our own choice, and make a +good defence, I warrant you." +</p> + +<p> +"My heart! But what will be the use? Say we beat them off, 'twill be +like as if we tried to stem the waves. With a fair breeze the mainland +is but a day's sail, and there the Spaniards swarm like cockroaches in +a hold. I tell 'ee, lad, whoever ye be, we be dead men!" +</p> + +<p> +"I've been nearer death," said Dennis quietly. "Look! There is my +hut. I was cast up on this shore from a wreck: I have been here +several weeks, months—I know not: it has pleased God to keep me alive +here, alone on this island, and I believe there is hope for us all." +</p> + +<p> +"Amen! ... My heart! There's a sheer hulk in the pool yonder." +</p> + +<p> +"Ay, all that's left of the <i>Maid Marian</i>. But I will tell you my +story anon. Come away into the hut, and let us talk of what we can do +to save ourselves from the Spaniards." +</p> + +<p> +As they entered the hut, the Englishman drew back with a startled cry. +Perched on a cask sat Mirandola. He chattered angrily at the sight of +a stranger. +</p> + +<p> +"My one friend on the island, and a faithful comrade," said Dennis. "A +gentle soul; he will do you no harm." +</p> + +<p> +"A friend, say you? 'Tis against nature to be friends with a +spider-monkey. And I be fair mazed; it do seem all a dream, only in +the offing yonder there be a real ship, and, say what 'ee will, I be +afeard." +</p> + +<p> +"We'll first file off these clogging hobbles. And what say you to a +mug of beer? It has come far; I have not broached the cask, and maybe +'tis still drinkable." +</p> + +<p> +"My heart! I never thought to taste beer or cider again. 'Twill +comfort my nattlens, sure, and I was once a good man at a tankard." +</p> + +<p> +The fetters were soon struck off; a mug of beer was drawn, and drained +at a gulp; but Turnpenny was still ill at ease. He went to the +entrance of the hut and looked nervously up and down the gully, +listening with head cocked aside. Dennis could not guess at the +terrible past which had made this stout English mariner as timid as a +child. +</p> + +<p> +"Let us get back to the black men," he said, knowing from his own +experience the value of action in banishing sad thoughts. "Are they +Indians of America?" +</p> + +<p> +"Maroons, sir, half Injun, half negro; lusty fighters, and faithful +souls when they do love 'ee." +</p> + +<p> +"We'll knock off their chains and give them arms. What can they use?" +</p> + +<p> +"Not muskets, nor harquebuses, but anything that will dint a blow." +</p> + +<p> +"Half-pikes and swords, then. For yourself, take your pick." +</p> + +<p> +"Ay, it do give me heart to handle a cutlass again. Here's a fine +blade, now, and a musket—give me a harquebus; I could shoot once, but +my arm is all of a wamble now. Lookeedesee!" +</p> + +<p> +He raised the heavy weapon to his shoulder and tried to steady it. +</p> + +<p> +"See! Shaking like a man with the palsy," he said, his nervousness +returning. "I be no more good than a bulrush." +</p> + +<p> +"Pish, man!" said Dennis cheerily. "You are overwrought; your arm is +tired with wielding the axe. An hour's rest will set you up. Come, +bring the file and the weapons; we must see that the others are not +scared in our absence." +</p> + +<p> +The four maroons had remained on the spot where they had been left, +keeping guard over the Spaniard, who had now quite recovered from his +blow. They eyed Dennis with a wide stare, and fell silent when he +approached, seeming scarcely to comprehend the wonderful good fortune +that had befallen them. The removal of their fetters and the gift of +arms struck them as a crowning mercy; they grovelled upon the ground as +in the act of worship. +</p> + +<p> +"They take 'ee for a magician, sir," said Turnpenny. "'Tis marvellous +to their simple poor minds. All the world be full of spirits to them; +a storm at sea be the stirring of witches, and the Spaniards be devils. +My heart!" he exclaimed suddenly, "the fear has took me again! When +they do miss the sound of the axes they will jealous summat wrong, and +then they'll come and we'll be all dead men." +</p> + +<p> +"Cheer up!" said Dennis. "'Tis easy to cure that. Two of the men can +set-to upon the trees again, and one can steal to the shore and keep an +eye on the ship, and acquaint us if he sees any stirring there." +</p> + +<p> +"But what of the Spaniard, lad? 'Tis then only one maroon to watch +him, and 'tis not enough. If so be the knave be left to himself, he'll +run to the beach and give the alarm." +</p> + +<p> +"We'll stop that, too. When he has had a portion of food, we will gag +and bind him, and all will be well." +</p> + +<p> +When the Spaniard was secured, the whole party returned to the scene of +the tree-felling, and while one of the men went stealthily forward to +spy upon the ship, two others plied their axes upon the fallen trunks. +</p> + +<p> +Dennis, more alert of mind than the sailor, foresaw that the trick +could have only a temporary success. When the time came for the +wood-cutting party to return to the vessel, their non-appearance would +awaken suspicion among the Spaniards on board. Believing the island to +be uninhabited, they would not guess what had happened; it would not +even occur to them as possible that cowed and unarmed slaves would have +courage enough to turn on their masters, much less overcome them. But +if the party did not return at nightfall, the captain would certainly +send some of his men to discover the cause. Of all men the Spaniards +were the most superstitious; when they landed, their very superstitions +would put them on their guard. Their approach would be cautious; they +would probably discover the escaped slaves before these could strike at +them effectively; and then, when the inevitable fight came, the party +of six, of whom only two could use firearms, and one had partially lost +his nerve, would stand a poor chance against men armed cap-à-pie and +doubtless inured to the practice of warfare. Besides, even if the +landing party could be taken by surprise and routed, the sound of the +combat would alarm the Spaniards still remaining on the ship. They +would sail away, and in a few days return in overwhelming strength. +</p> + +<p> +Dennis was at first staggered by the difficulties and perils of the +situation, and he dared not consult with Turnpenny until the sailor had +regained his courage. For the present the important thing was to keep +him employed, so as to turn his thoughts from anything that would feed +his fears. +</p> + +<p> +"We must bury these two knaves," said Dennis, glancing at the bodies of +the Spaniards. "You and I can do that. Your name, I bethink me, +is——" +</p> + +<p> +"Turnpenny, by nature, Haymoss by the water o' baptism, sir." +</p> + +<p> +"Haymoss?" +</p> + +<p> +"Ay, sure, a religious good name, sir; a' comes betwixt Joel and +Obydiah somewheres after the holy psa'ms. Born at Chard, sir, in +Zummerzet, but voyaged to Plimworth when that I was a little tiny boy, +and served 'prentice aboard the <i>Seamew</i>—master, John Penworthy." +</p> + +<p> +Dennis had heard only the first sentence of this string of facts. He +was in the very act of stooping to dig a grave with one of the maroons' +big axes, when there flashed into his mind an idea which set him aglow +with hope. +</p> + +<p> +"Well, friend Amos," he said, so quietly that none could have suspected +his inward eagerness, "think you not we may strip the outer garments +from these knaves before we bury them? Your back would be the better +for a covering, and this leathern doublet would well beseem you." +</p> + +<p> +"True, sir, but I never donned a stranger's coat yet. I be English +true blue, and though the Spaniard's doublet might span my back, +'twould irk my feeling mind, sir!" +</p> + +<p> +"To please me, Amos. I would fain you covered your arms—the red is +too like blood, and we may see enough of that ere we be many hours +older." +</p> + +<p> +To Dennis's gratification the sailor did not again blench at the +suggestion of a fight with the Spaniards. He laughed. +</p> + +<p> +"My heart! 'Tis easy to see you be a new man in this new world, sir. +The stains of logwood don't worrit me; 'tis a noble dye, you must own, +and many's the noble garment that has been dyed for a Spaniard's madam +out o' the logwood I've cut. But since it offends your innocent eye, +I'll e'en don the knave's coat afore I put him out o' sight in earth +too good for him." +</p> + +<p> +Overjoyed at the man's recovered spirits, Dennis hastened, as they went +on with their task, to press his advantage. +</p> + +<p> +"You are two enemies the less, Amos—nay, three, counting the knave we +have in pound among the trees yonder. What say you to our making a +shift to put a few more in the same case?" +</p> + +<p> +"What mean you, sir?" +</p> + +<p> +"Tell me, what people hath the ship yonder, besides the ten Spanish +knaves of whom you spoke?" +</p> + +<p> +"Why, sir, as a true man I answer, a black cook—no maroon, but a swart +fat knave from the Guinea coast; and three maroons, who fell sick, or +rather were well-nigh beat to death, in an island over against the +continent yonder we visited on the same errand." +</p> + +<p> +"And they are gyved, as you were?" +</p> + +<p> +"All but the cook. He goes free, but, my heart! 'tis little he gains +by it. He is every man's football and whipping-boy." +</p> + +<p> +"Why then do the Spaniards remain aboard the ship when there are so few +slaves to guard?" +</p> + +<p> +"'Tis first because they be idle knaves, who would never do a hand's +turn save by necessity. Item, because they be but poor seamen, and +need a dozen to handle a craft, only forty ton burden, that three +true-born Englishmen could sail into the devil's jaws. Item, because +the spot where she lies at anchor is ill-protected; 'tis rather an open +roadstead than a bay, and if a squall should come up sudden, as 'tis +nature in this meridian, they'd need all the lubbers' work to get a +fair offing." +</p> + +<p> +"So three true-born Englishmen are a match for a dozen base cullies of +Spain? Is that your thought, Amos?" +</p> + +<p> +"Ay, at musket, pike, or quarter-staff; there's never a doubt on it." +</p> + +<p> +"Think you two, then, are a match for ten? The balance turns a little +in favour of the Spaniards; by right proportion it should be two to +eight; but mayhap four maroons on t'other scale would even the odds." +</p> + +<p> +Turnpenny desisted from his work, and a shadow of his former fear came +upon his face. Dennis did not allow time for the fit to lay hold of +him. +</p> + +<p> +"There is advantage to him who strikes first," he went on, quietly. +"If we wait, assuredly we shall have to fight against heavy odds. But +if we assume a bold part, and jump the risks, we may gain all the +vantage of surprise, and enforce it with that English blood you hold so +high in estimation, to say naught of English thews and sinews. Why, +man, that stout arm of yours would fell an ox." +</p> + +<p> +"True, sir," said the simple mariner, bending his arm to raise the +muscle, and looking at the knotty protuberance with great complacency; +"I ha' done desperate deeds of strength in my time. But, heart alive! +do 'ee think to capture the ship?" +</p> + +<p> +"I think of venturing for it; and, unless I be mightily mistaken, Amos +Turnpenny is not the man to turn his back on a venture of that kind." +</p> + +<p> +"Not by nature, sir," said the man, uneasiness struggling with simple +vanity in his mind. "By nature I be as bold as a lion. But the lion +in the story was meshed in with ropes, and could do no harm to a silly +mouse; and for four year past, sir, the ropes of mischance have held my +spirit in thrall, wherefore it is that——" +</p> + +<p> +"That you are afraid? Nonsense! You are the lion; I am the mouse. +Let us say that I, by good luck, have gnawed those confining ropes +asunder, and now, on this island, you are free of mind as of limb, and +a man of heart and vigour." +</p> + +<p> +Turnpenny flung down his axe and fairly jumped. +</p> + +<p> +"My heart!" he cried, gleefully; "'tis the very marrow of the tale! I +be free, free! For four year I have forgot the word. Sound of limb, +straight of eye, with all my five wits, praise God above! Speak your +thought, sir; Haymoss Turnpenny is your man." +</p> + +<p><br /><br /><br /></p> + +<p><a id="chap08"></a></p> + +<h3> +CHAPTER VIII +</h3> + +<h4> +Half-Pikes and Machetes +</h4> + +<p> +The Spaniards had by this time been buried. The two maroons were still +hacking at the trees. Nothing had been reported by the man on the +look-out. Glancing at the sun, Dennis guessed that it was still two or +three hours from setting. But for interruptions there would be ample +time to develop his plan. +</p> + +<p> +"Come beneath the shade," he said to Turnpenny. "There is much to be +said and done. If perchance a man lands from the ship, we must take +him prisoner. If several come, we must fight them at the gully. If +they lie secure, and we are undisturbed, we shall capture their vessel +this night." +</p> + +<p> +"I believe it, sir, partly; I'd believe it more firm if I understood." +</p> + +<p> +"Give me your judgement on my plan. At sunset we will haul some logs +down to the shore and push off in the boat, as if we were the Spaniards +with their slaves. You and I will rig ourselves in the doublets and +hose of the two yonder; it will go hard with us if, in the dark, we do +not mislead the Spaniards into security. We will mount into the +vessel, and if luck favour us we shall be masters of the craft before +the Spaniards have awakened to the danger." +</p> + +<p> +"A noble plan, but fearsome," said Turnpenny, shaking his head. "We +shall be two short, sir. We rig up as Spaniards, you and me; granted; +but the knaves on deck will see two Spaniards instead of three, and +they will want to know what has become of Haymoss Turnpenny." +</p> + +<p> +"We will take our prisoner. Then they will see three Spaniards, and if +they then miss Amos Turnpenny, let them suppose that the sailor man has +turned troublesome, and been left on the island, to bring him to a +reasonable humility." +</p> + +<p> +"Ay, sure, that unties the knot. But I would not give a groat for my +chance of seeing Plimworth Sound again if the knaves spy the head of +Haymoss sticking out o' the Spanish doublet. The captain, he be a man +of desperate fight; no miserable dumbledore is he; 'tis a word and a +blow with him; I've seed him kill a man of his own breed for no more +than a wry word." +</p> + +<p> +"We must trust to our disguise, and the dark." +</p> + +<p> +"But the maroons, sir; they'll be of no use 'ithout weapons, and if +they climb aboard with naked steel in their hands, 'tis all over with +us." +</p> + +<p> +"You and I will mount first." +</p> + +<p> +"That would put the knaves on guard at once. 'Tis always us poor +slaves that come over side last into the boat and go first out of it, +so as never to give us no chance of making off. They need not be +afeard; whither could poor miserable wretches escape away? But there +it is." +</p> + +<p> +"Well, Amos, we must accept the wonted course, though I would fain go +first, with you at my elbow." +</p> + +<p> +"It is my very own thought, sir. No white man can trust a black un in +the deadly breach. But be jowned if I see any ways o' they maroons +getting aboard with arms in their hands." +</p> + +<p> +"Nor I. Mayhap an idea will enter our conceits anon." +</p> + +<p> +"My heart! There be another thing I had clean forgot. We have ta'en +their irons off." +</p> + +<p> +"We must put them on again. We will not fail for the sake of a clank." +</p> + +<p> +"Ay, but there's the rub, sir. The maroons will show fight if we +attempt that same. Poor souls! Having no language and no intellecks +to speak of, they'll not understand the main of our intent. They will +suppose 'tis but a change of masters, and I fear me my few words o' +Spanish will not suffice to set their minds at ease." +</p> + +<p> +"You made them understand you a while ago; you must try again. But a +word more. I judge the sun is grown far on the west; 'twill soon be +time to put our fortunes to the hazard. And, lest our dallying here +waken the suspicions of the Spaniards, let us don these articles of +apparel e'en now, and fix on the irons, and then go down to the shore, +the maroons hauling the stripped logs thitherwards. The ropes are +handy here." +</p> + +<p> +"What, sir, haul logs in the very sight of the knaves?" +</p> + +<p> +"Ay, do we not wish to deceive them? If they see two Spaniards +marshalling the black men, cracking their whips, moreover, will they +not believe 'tis their comrades, bent on finishing the work this night? +'Tis growing towards dusk; the vessel lies out too far for them to mark +our lineaments; 'twill lull them into a fool's security." +</p> + +<p> +"And so it will. I will presently go speak to the maroons with my +tongue, and, seeing that the poor mortals lack understanding, with my +fingers and my eyes and my ten toes if the case do require it." +</p> + +<p> +Dennis watched the sailor somewhat anxiously. It would be a stroke of +rank ill-fortune if they refused to have their manacles replaced. +Everything depended on their docility. To his joy, after some minutes +of gesticulation, Turnpenny came back, his broad face beaming with +conscious self-esteem. +</p> + +<p> +"Be jowned if I haven't done it easy!" he said. "I spoke 'em plain, +and to make all clear, I put my two hands together, with one finger +pointing aloft: that stood for yonder vessel. Then I pointed to this +doublet, and to yours, and set my face to a most wondrous frown, by the +which they understood that you and me pass for Spaniards. A firk with +my cutlass did signify our warlike intent, a thrust of my arms forth +and back pictured the sweep of oars; and, to make an end o't, they +understand our fixed purpose and are keen set to lend us their aid." +</p> + +<p> +"Admirably contrived!" said Dennis. "Now, while I bring the Spaniard +to bear us company, do you replace the irons and fasten ropes about the +logs. Darkness will steal upon us unawares and prevent the first part +of our contriving." +</p> + +<p> +As Dennis returned to the gully to fetch the Spaniard, he saw that +Mirandola was keeping pace with him through the trees. Since the event +of the morning the monkey had held himself aloof, as if scared by the +presence of so many strange men. Dennis halted and called to him, but +the animal blinked and made no movement to descend. +</p> + +<p> +"Ah, Mirandola," said Dennis, as he walked on, "even the wisest of us +have our failings. Jealousy, my friend, is a canker. I love thee none +the less because I have a new friend. Will you not believe it? Is +there not room for both—Turnpenny and Mirandola? If we succeed in +this enterprise, you and Amos must be made at one." +</p> + +<p> +Some little while later, in the growing dusk, the four maroons were +hauling a heavy log out from the undergrowth that fringed the sea. +Dennis and Turnpenny urged them with rough cries and persistent +cracking of their whips. As soon as they came within view of the +vessel the ropes were cast off, and they all made their way back. When +they returned with a second log, there came a faint hail from the +vessel. +</p> + +<p> +"Ay, ay, 'od rot you!" shouted Turnpenny indistinctly in response, +knowing that at the distance his voice could not be recognized. +"Belike 'tis a call to us to embark, sir," he said to Dennis. "Mark +you, they called us; no man dare say they did not call us; and if they +do not like us when we appear, 'tis not because we are not proper men." +</p> + +<p> +The logs were laid alongside of those brought down the previous day; +then the men released the boat's moorings, and hauled her off the shoal +where she lay into water deep enough to float her. By this time it was +almost dark, and the number of men who clambered into the boat could +not easily be counted on board the vessel, nor would it be noticed that +the maroons hoisted each a large bundle. At the last moment Dennis had +decided not to encumber the boat with the captive Spaniard. He had +thought of using the man to reply in Spanish to any hail from the +vessel during the passage from the shore; but this might be attended +with danger if the Spaniard should have courage enough to risk the +inevitable penalty should he raise his voice to warn his comrades. +Accordingly he was left on shore, gagged and bound, in a spot where he +might easily be discovered by the Spaniards next day if the enterprise +failed. There were no wild beasts to molest him, and the place chosen +was remote from the haunts of the boa constrictor. +</p> + +<p> +The maroons pulled steadily towards the silent vessel, lying low in the +water some two hundred yards off shore. Already a lamp had been lit +aboard. Every member of the little party in the boat was tense with +anticipation. Not a word was spoken. The silence would cause no +wonderment among the Spaniards on the vessel; a party of free negroes +might have filled the air with their babblement; but the maroons +partook of the reserve of the Indian race, and, living, as they did, in +a state of deadly feud with the Spaniards, they nourished a deep silent +longing for vengeance in their hearts. Besides, these men were cowed +slaves, and, after the hard day's toil they were supposed to have +undergone, no one would have expected them to be talkative or merry. +</p> + +<p> +Stroke by stroke the boat drew nearer to the ship. At length a voice +hailed it, and a flare was kindled in the waist of the vessel for its +guidance. +</p> + +<p> +"Why do you return so late?" came the question in Spanish. +</p> + +<p> +Turnpenny answered in passable Spanish, but in a muffled tone— +</p> + +<p> +"Wait till we come aboard." +</p> + +<p> +A few seconds later the boat came beneath the vessel's side and was +made fast. The biggest of the maroons—he who had flung his axe at the +Spaniard—got up and clambered aboard. On his back he bore a huge load +of bananas. Close to his clanking heels swarmed a second man; before +the first was well over the bulwarks a third was beginning the ascent, +each carrying a similar bundle. The fourth man had but just set his +foot on the rope ladder that hung over the side when there came to the +ears of Dennis and the sailor, nervously awaiting their turn, the sound +of altercation above. One of the Spaniards had bestowed a kick upon +the foremost of the slaves, and, laughing loud, grabbed at the load of +fruit upon his back. The maroon, instead of dropping his burden and +cowering away, as was the wont of slaves, held firmly to it, and +stepped back to avoid the Spaniard's clutch. +</p> + +<p> +"You hound!" cried the man, with an oath, and snatched a knife from his +belt. +</p> + +<p> +Then, to his utter amazement, the maroon let his load fall indeed, +contriving as he did so to rip out of it a shortened half-pike which +was cunningly concealed there. The light of the torch fell on the +naked steel. With a loud cry of rage the Spaniards who had been +lolling on the vessel's side sprang towards the slave, cursing his +audacity, shouting to their supposed comrades in the boat below to ask +the meaning of this unheard-of act of mutiny. But he stood his ground, +glaring upon them, holding his weapon to ward them off. And now at his +side his three fellow-slaves were ranged, their bundles lying at their +feet, glistening half-pikes in their hands. Yelling with fury the +Spaniards, armed at the moment only with their knives, pressed forward +to teach these mutineers a lesson. What access of madness had seized +them? Where was the abject look of terror with which they usually +shrank from their masters? What could the men in charge have been +about? The Spaniards rushed to the fray with the violence of wrath and +outraged bewilderment. +</p> + +<p> +At this first moment the fight was not unequal. The six Spaniards who +had been on deck found that with their knives they could not come to +close quarters with the four stalwart maroons wielding half-pikes. The +latter, moreover, had kicked off the fetters loosely set about their +ankles, and moved with freedom. And while the Spaniards were shouting +for their comrades in the cabin and, as they supposed, in the boat +below to come to their aid, the numbers of the mutineers were suddenly +augmented. At the first sound of the scuffle, Dennis and Turnpenny, +each armed with a cutlass, had sprung on to the ship, the former by the +ladder behind the last maroon, the latter, with a sailor's agility, +leaping up to the gunwale and hauling himself over. When they reached +the deck they found the Spaniards dancing round the little group of +slaves, who were keeping them at bay with valorous lunges of their +weapons. +</p> + +<p> +No sooner had the two Englishmen joined the combatants than they found +that they had now the whole ship's company to reckon with. A huge +Spaniard rushed from the main cabin behind the maroon, a machete in one +hand, a pistol in the other. There was a flash, a sharp barking sound; +one of the slaves staggered and fell. Other Spaniards came headlong +out, in their haste not pausing to bring fire-arms. From the +forecastle ran one of the sick maroons. The instant his eyes took in +the scene, he snatched up a belaying pin from the deck and, weak as he +was, threw himself into the mêlée. Now had come the chance for which +he had so long hungered, and his black blood seethed as he rushed to +pay off old scores. +</p> + +<p> +There was hot work then amidships that narrow vessel. Cutlass and pike +were matched, not for the first time, against the long Spanish knife. +Under the disadvantage of surprise the Spaniards, though they +outnumbered their assailants, were not so effectively armed for the +fray. The maroons laid about them doughtily; they knew how terrible a +weapon was the knife at close quarters, and their whole purpose was to +hold their masters off and cripple them if they could. +</p> + +<p> +The big Spaniard who had rushed first from the cabin and fired at the +maroon found himself immediately afterwards engaged with a lithe young +man who, though clad in a Spanish doublet, was certainly not a +fellow-countryman of his. Instinctively, as it seemed, captain singled +out captain. Dennis made a vigorous cut at him, but the blade was +fouled by the shrouds above his head, and the blow, losing half its +force, was easily warded off by the Spaniard's machete. He sprang +back; if his opponent had been a little nimbler Dennis would have been +at his mercy; but the Spaniard was gross with idleness and good living; +heavy of movement he failed to seize his advantage, though in the lunge +his knife cut the lad's doublet, and gashed his sword arm in the +recovery. +</p> + +<p class="capcenter"> +<a id="img-099.jpg"></a> +<img class="imgcenter" src="images/img-099.jpg" alt=""Captain singled out Captain."" /> +<br /> +"Captain singled out Captain." +</p> + +<p> +Dennis was scarcely conscious of his wound. At this fierce moment his +practice on the deck of the <i>Maid Marian</i> served him well. To attempt +a second cut would have been to give another opening. He shortened his +arm and gave point. The Spaniard was no tyro. With a turn of the +wrist he parried the thrust, which was aimed low, but could not prevent +the blade from entering his shoulder. He staggered and reeled back +towards the doorway of the cabin, and the two men immediately behind +him rushed into the fight. Turnpenny meanwhile had been engaged in a +similar duel, and by the sheer force of his bulk had borne his opponent +to the deck. Side by side Dennis and he faced their new assailants. +One of these, a long sinewy fellow, had an amazing dexterity with his +knife, and a most perplexing nimbleness of movement. Dennis kept him +at bay only by the length of his cutlass. For a few moments there was +brisk work around the mast. Making a sweeping cut, Dennis somewhat +overreached himself, and it would have gone ill with him had not +Turnpenny, who had run a second man through, perceived his danger in +the nick of time. Springing forward, he pierced the fellow to the +heart. +</p> + +<p> +Three of the Spaniards had now fallen. The rest, who had barely held +their own against the maroons, were stricken with fear when they saw +their comrades' fate. Two of them sprang overboard; the remaining +four, finding the three maroons now reinforced by the Englishmen, +rushed back after their captain into the cabin, and, before they could +be overtaken, slammed-to the door and shot the bolt. Dennis snatched +up a belaying pin and brought it with all his force against the door, +but made no impression on its stout timbers. There was a roar and a +flash close to his ear; he felt his cheek singed; one of the Spaniards +had fired through a loophole in the cabin wall. The moment after, +there was another flash from a loophole on the other side, and one of +the maroons uttered a cry of pain. In the open waist of the vessel the +little party had no protection from musket fire; the loopholes had +doubtless been pierced against the contingency of such an assault as +this, and nothing but the darkness could prevent the Spaniards in the +cabin from bringing down a man at every discharge. They had the whole +armoury of the ship to draw upon; there was no means of checking their +fire; and realizing the situation Dennis called on Turnpenny and the +rest to seek cover. Some found shelter just forward of the mainmast; +two swarmed on to the poop, and, climbing to the edge of its break, +held themselves ready with their half-pikes to attack any one +attempting a sortie from the cabin. Dennis and the sailor, picking up +the calivers they had laid down when they boarded the vessel, dropped +down behind a coil of rope towards the forecastle. +</p> + +<p> +"My heart!" exclaimed Turnpenny, as he primed his weapon. "'Twas brisk +work, and not the end neither." +</p> + +<p> +"They are run to earth, Amos, 'tis true, got away like foxes. Our case +is not too good. We are baulked, my friend." +</p> + +<p> +"Ay, sir. With all the victuals and munitions abaft, the knaves have +the better of us. We cannot get at them; say we made endeavour to +scuttle the ship, they could shoot us afore we got away." +</p> + +<p> +"And there are sick maroons in the forecastle, I bethink me you said. +I would fain save them alive. We must do something to bring the knaves +to an engagement. There are five of them now. With time to recover +themselves somewhat, and fortify themselves with food, they can if it +so please them lie low till morning light, then sally out upon us with +arms loaded, several pistols apiece, and we, fasting, would be of a +surety overmatched." +</p> + +<p> +"Ay, and we cannot feed ourselves even on that noble store of bananas, +for they lie athwart the very course of bullets from the cabin." +</p> + +<p> +"Could we smoke them out? Could we blow the door in?" +</p> + +<p> +"With a sufficiency of powder, but the magazine is beneath the cabin." +</p> + +<p> +"Is there none elsewhere?" +</p> + +<p> +"Why, now I do mind me, the boatswain hath a vast relish for wild fowl, +and is never loath to go a-shooting on shore. 'Tis like he hath a +little secret store." +</p> + +<p> +"Then I will go rummage the forecastle. Do you bide here, Amos, and +keep ward over my caliver until I return." +</p> + +<p> +When the party boarded the vessel, there had been a dim light in the +forecastle. It was now extinguished. Dennis went in through the open +entrance; then, feeling safe from the enemy's bullets, he took a candle +from his pouch and having lit it, held it above his head. He shrank +back, startled for the moment. The pale flame had fallen full on the +face of a big negro, crouching in the corner of an upper bunk. A +second glance assured him that he had nothing to fear; the black face +was sickly with terror. In a flash Dennis remembered the negro cook of +whom Amos had spoken. As cook, being allowed a certain freedom of +movement about the vessel, the man would probably know where the +boatswain kept his powder, and search might be unnecessary. Dennis +called to him; the negro only showed more of the whites of his eyes. +Dennis beckoned him with his finger; he only cowered and groaned. +</p> + +<p> +"'Tis to be main force then, you white-livered rascal!" cried Dennis, +and, setting down his candle, caught the man by his waist-band and +began to haul his oily mass out of the bunk. "You gibber more +brutishly than Mirandola; come, or I'll shake your fat bulk to a jelly." +</p> + +<p> +Not without labour he lugged the negro forth, and dragged him aft to +the place where Amos was crouching. +</p> + +<p> +"Here's a fat knave that's like to dissolve with fright," he said. "I +do not understand his monkey-talk; speak to him, Amos. Ask of him what +we need to know, and tell him we intend him no harm, and will certainly +not expect such a craven to fight." +</p> + +<p> +"Ay, sir, 'tis Baltizar the cook, and a very whey-blooded knave. I'll +ferret it out of him, trust me." +</p> + +<p> +He took some minutes in his scraps of Spanish to make the man +understand what was required of him. When he understood, the negro +became very voluble. He said that the boatswain did indeed keep a +small jar of powder in his sea-chest, but there was a much larger +quantity concealed among the ship's stores under hatches. It had been +placed there by the mate—"the long knave I spitted," Amos +explained—who was accustomed to do a little private trading with the +natives of the mainland, and had destined the powder as a bribe for +certain pearl-fishers of the coast. +</p> + +<p> +"Is it in the fore-peak?" asked Dennis, remembering where he had found +powder on the <i>Maid Marian</i>. +</p> + +<p> +"No, worse luck!" replied Turnpenny, after questioning the man. "'Tis +in the lazaretto, and the hatchway being but a few feet from the break +of the poop, we cannot come at it 'ithout running the hazard of a shot +from the cabin." +</p> + +<p> +"'Tis darker now; could I not risk the deed?" +</p> + +<p> +"The knaves med not see you, 'tis true; but you could not knock out the +battens 'ithout raising a din, and they would know your whereabouts, +and not all on 'em would miss your carcase. Be jowned if I'd like to +see 'ee make the venture." +</p> + +<p> +Releasing the negro, Dennis crouched again behind the coil of rope. +</p> + +<p> +"We must find a way to get that powder," he said. "A mariner like you, +Amos, ought to be fertile in devices. Come, set your brains on the +rack." +</p> + +<p> +"I be afeard they be soft wi' four years' misery, but I'll rouse 'em. +If I had but the second sight, now, like the old witch as lived within +a cable-length o' my grandad's hut on the moors!" +</p> + +<p> +But Amos had done his brains an injustice. He had not pondered many +minutes before he exclaimed— +</p> + +<p> +"My heart! We have them on the hip! We'll e'en shin up the shrouds +and lower the mainsail. She's furled on the yards, but we can unreeve +her 'ithout noise, and when she's down, she'll be a barricade betwixt +the mainmast and the break o' the poop, and not a knave of them can see +what is toward in the waist." +</p> + +<p> +Dennis applauded the notion, and the two instantly set about their +task. Crawling to the starboard side, they crept along by the rope +netting that replaced in the waist the wooden bulwarks which bounded +the decks, and reached the shrouds of the mainmast unperceived by the +enemy in the cabin. To swarm up was the work of a few moments to +Turnpenny, and Dennis was little less expert, having practised himself +on the <i>Maid Marian</i> in many details of the mariners' duties. Gaining +the yards, they cast off the robands, made the buntlines fast, then, +easing the earings, lowered away by the buntlines and the clew-garnets. +Scarcely five minutes after they had left the shelter of the rope-coil, +a wall of canvas shut the waist from the view of the Spaniards. +</p> + +<p> +They had barely finished their task when two musket-shots rang out, and +two holes were cut in the sail. Clearly the enemy was on the alert. +There was no time to be lost. Turnpenny knocked out the battens as +quickly as possible, and lifting the hatch, disclosed a small ladder +leading down into the lazaretto. +</p> + +<p> +"I will go down," said Dennis, "being of less bulk than you, Amos." +</p> + +<p> +He climbed nimbly down, struck a light, and after a little search +discovered a jar of powder among a miscellaneous collection of ship's +stores. Hoisting the jar up, he gave it into the hands of Turnpenny, +climbed up again, and returned with the sailor to the coil of rope, to +be out of harm's way while they went on with their preparations. +</p> + +<p> +"If we fire the whole jar we shall of a surety sink the ship," said +Dennis; "and that I am loath to do. We must needs make a petard; but +how?" +</p> + +<p> +"That cook knave shall find us a tin vessel, or I'll firk him," said +Turnpenny. +</p> + +<p> +He went into the forecastle. Dennis heard a brisk exchange of bad +Spanish; then the sailor returned, with a small canister out of which +he poured a heap of peppercorns. +</p> + +<p> +"Most admirable!" said Dennis, who had meanwhile forced off the top of +the jar. Making a hole in the rim of the canister near the lid, he +filled the vessel with powder and firmly closed it. +</p> + +<p> +"There's our petard, Amos. Now to place it." +</p> + +<p> +"That be my job, sir." +</p> + +<p> +"No, no, we go shares in this work. 'Twas your idea to lower the sail. +I carry less flesh than you, and therefore can go more lightly." +</p> + +<p> +"But mayhap I be surer footed on the plank, being a mariner of forty +year." +</p> + +<p> +"I doubt it not, yet the deed shall be mine." +</p> + +<p> +Carrying the canister, and in the pouch slung at his neck a handful of +powder for the train, he crept to the side of the vessel, ran lightly +along the gangway by the rope netting, and lifting a corner of the +sail, stood between it and the wall of the cabin. Then he dropped on +hands and knees, and wormed his way forward until he touched the wall, +following it along until he reached the door. Being beneath the line +of loopholes, he was in no danger so long as he moved quietly; but at +the slightest sound the enemy would fling open the door and give him +his quietus before help could reach him from beyond the barricade. He +might have felt still more confident had he known that Turnpenny had +crept along after him, and was waiting at the corner of the sail, ready +to spring to his aid in case of need. +</p> + +<p> +Feeling with his hand for the middle panel of the door, Dennis laid the +canister down close against it. To ensure that the hole he had made in +it, to connect with the train of powder, should rest upon the planks +and not turn over, he pressed a slight dent in the rim. Then he crept +backwards the way he had come, laying close to the cabin wall a train +of powder from his pouch, not stinting the quantity, so that there +might be no gaps in the line. He drew a breath of relief when he came +once more to the further side of the canvas and stood erect. There was +not a gust of air stirring; the confined space between the sail and the +cabin was hot and stuffy; and what with holding his breath during the +minutes his task had occupied, and the strain upon his nerves, he had +felt almost suffocated. +</p> + +<p> +He said not a word when he found Turnpenny awaiting him, but placed his +finger on his lips and motioned the man to return. The charge having +been laid in safety, it remained to arrange a course of action when the +door should be blown in. While the sail was still lowered it would be +impossible to dash forward into the cabin. The screen was no longer +required now that there was no further need for the open hatchway; to +remove it might indeed put the enemy on their guard, but they could not +know what to expect, and there would be no time after the explosion to +hoist the sail, even if it were possible to spare men for the task. So +Turnpenny volunteered to replace the hatch and hoist and bend the sail, +work which he would do more quickly and expertly than Dennis. It was +then necessary to communicate with the maroons, for to attack the cabin +in less than full strength, against superior weapons, would be to court +disaster. A loud whisper reached the men who had taken shelter behind +some tackle forward of the mainmast, and brought them crawling to their +leaders. It was not so easy to attract the attention of the two men +who had shinned up the poop, and to whom, though they had probably seen +Dennis as he crawled beneath the sail, he had not dared to make a sign. +The difficulty was removed by a word from Turnpenny to one of the +maroons. The man made a strange clicking in his throat, and within a +couple of minutes his comrades had crept noiselessly along the port +side of the vessel, and the party was complete. +</p> + +<p> +With great solemnity and many repetitions the sailor exhausted his +small stock of Spanish in explaining what was required of them. They +were all to charge together the instant after the petard had done its +work. If the force of the explosion proved sufficient to blow in the +door, they would dash through into the cabin and engage the enemy hand +to hand. If, on the other hand, the door should be only partially +shattered—as Turnpenny pointed out, there was no calculating on the +precise effect of a charge of gunpowder—two men were to break it in +with a short spar unrigged for a battering ram. Dennis counted on +gaining a few moments while the Spaniards recovered from the surprise +and shock of the explosion. In that brief interval it might be +possible for him and Turnpenny to find the loopholes in the cabin wall +and thrust the muzzles of their calivers through. By the time they had +fired the door would be burst in, and then it would be a fight to the +death. +</p> + +<p> +If the occupants of the cabin had felt any wonder or misgiving at the +manipulation of the sail, there was nothing during the pause to give +them either explanation or reassurance. They might have suspected that +the intention of lowering the sail was to screen an approach to the +hatchway; but as, according to Baltizar the cook, the jar of powder had +been appropriated by the mate secretly, and he was now dead, it would +never have occurred to them that their enemy would seek there anything +but food. Otherwise they would assuredly have made some effort, beyond +the firing of two random shots, to avert their fate. +</p> + +<p> +There was absolute silence when Turnpenny had concluded his whispered +instructions to the maroons. The vessel rocked gently, almost +imperceptibly; the tide was on the turn. Dennis crept once more to the +gangway by the rope netting, stole along on bare feet, and stooped with +a beating heart to apply the match which Turnpenny had made for him. +It had an inch or two to burn before it reached the train of powder; +and he stood back against the side, out of danger from the explosion, +ready to rush across to the nearest loophole when the moment came. +</p> + +<p> +Suddenly a line of flame shot like a lightning flash across the planks. +In an instant there was a deafening crash, and though each man of the +attacking party knew what was coming, and was beyond reach of actual +harm, they were all somewhat dazed by the explosion. But it was only +for the fraction of a second. Then Dennis and Turnpenny sprang +forward, one on each side of the cabin entrance, towards the loopholes +whose position they had marked in the previous fight. For a few +moments they were baffled by the blinding smoke, but finding the holes +almost simultaneously, they thrust in the muzzles of their weapons, and +fired at random into the cabin. A muffled cry from within announced +that one or other of the shots had taken effect, but the next instant +there was a roar as the Spaniards discharged their muskets together at +the gaps rent in the door by the explosion. At the time the Englishmen +knew not whether any man was hit, for, dropping their calivers, they +seized their cutlasses, and, just as the spar carried by two lusty +maroons levelled the shattered door, they dashed at the opening. +</p> + +<p> +The light from a horn lantern hanging in its gimbals struggled with the +smoke that filled the room. Dennis stumbled over a body that lay +across the entrance. He had barely recovered his footing when he was +amazed to hear a frenzied shriek from the further end of the cabin, and +two men rushed forward with uplifted hands, shouting again and again a +single word which, being Spanish, he did not understand. +</p> + +<p> +"My heart! they cry for quarter!" cried Turnpenny, as much amazed as +Dennis. +</p> + +<p> +One of the maroons who had carried the spar, either not understanding +or not heeding the wild despairing cry, thrust at the foremost Spaniard +with a half-pike, and the wretch fell forward, hurling Dennis to the +floor and doubly blocking the entrance. Dennis threw the man off and +scrambled to his feet; but before he could take a step forward there +was a second explosion, louder and more shattering than the first, and +when he recovered his dazed senses he found himself lying at the fore +end of the waist, twenty feet away from the cabin. +</p> + +<p><br /><br /><br /></p> + +<p><a id="chap09"></a></p> + +<h3> +CHAPTER IX +</h3> + +<h4> +Amos Tells his Story +</h4> + +<p> +"Body o' me! Will 'ee squall like babbies? Make for the boat, you +howling knaves!" +</p> + +<p> +And then Turnpenny launched into a tirade of Spanish abuse, which came +somewhat more trippingly from his lips than sentences of sound +instruction. Dennis rose, and staggered towards the sailor. +</p> + +<p> +"God be praised! I feared you were dead, sir. The knave has blowed up +the powder magazine, and in five minutes by the clock the ship will +tottle down by the stern. These black rascals were howling like souls +in bale, in the stead of swinging overboard into the boat while there +is time. Come away, sir; the craft will sink to the bottom or ever we +gain the island." +</p> + +<p> +Bruised and sore, dropping blood from his untended wound, Dennis +hastened with Amos to the side, and was in the act of following the +maroons into the boat when he suddenly remembered the two sick men in +the forecastle. +</p> + +<p> +"I'll be with you anon," he cried, hurrying across the waist. +</p> + +<p> +"What a murrain!" muttered Amos, scrambling back and running after him. +"Shall we drown for a brace of savages! Wilful! Wilful!" +</p> + +<p> +He reached the forecastle in time to see Dennis hauling from his bunk +the fat negro, who lay there huddled and shivering with terror. +</p> + +<p> +"Make the fat fool understand!" cried Dennis, shoving the cook into +Amos's arms. Then he hurried to the further end, where the maroons lay +in a stupor of fright. Having no words to acquaint them with their +peril, he sought to move them by signs; but the men gazed at him in +fear, regarding him doubtless as a new oppressor. +</p> + +<p> +"Amos, leave that lump of jelly and come hither," he shouted. The +sailor bawled a word or two in Spanish, and sped the negro towards the +side with a kick. Then he made haste to join Dennis. +</p> + +<p> +"The wretches are helpless," said the boy. "We must carry them—fair +and softly, Amos." +</p> + +<p> +"Ay, sir, an you will; but our case is parlous; I fear me our leisure +will not serve." +</p> + +<p> +"No delay, then. Hoist this fellow upon my back; do you bring the +other. We cannot suffer the knaves to drown." +</p> + +<p> +They staggered forth with their burdens, Dennis foremost. As he +stumbled towards the side he caught sight of a man crawling slowly from +the direction of the cabin. The man called to him feebly, but Dennis +did not pause until he had reached the gangway by the netting, where he +laid the maroon down. +</p> + +<p> +"Call to his fellows below there to assist him into the boat," he cried +to Amos. "There is a man yet alive; we must save him." +</p> + +<p> +"Beseech you let the knave drown," returned the sailor. "'Tis a +pestilent Spaniard—a meal for sharks. Be jowned if the lad be not a +mere dunderpate," he grumbled, as he lowered his burden into the hands +of the men below. +</p> + +<p> +Meanwhile Dennis had hastened to meet the wounded man, who groaned +miserably as he dragged his limbs along. Half supporting, half +carrying him, Dennis brought him to the side just as the second maroon +had been bestowed safely in the boat. Turnpenny, still growling under +his breath, helped to lift the Spaniard down. Then the boat was cast +off, and the men rowed for the shore. +</p> + +<p> +"Canst see any sign of the knaves that leapt overboard?" said Dennis, +looking around. +</p> + +<p> +"Never a hair," replied Turnpenny, "Sure they be swallowed quick by the +sharks, and there's an end." +</p> + +<p> +Dennis shuddered. It was his first acquaintance with the tragedy of +adventure on the Spanish Main, and his unschooled heart turned sick at +the thought of the terrible fruit his scheme had borne. He gazed at +the dark form of the vessel that was gradually fading into the night. +The poop was already under water. He had not foreseen this end to his +enterprise; the rapid sequence of events had bewildered him. What had +caused the second explosion? Had the magazine been fired by accident? +What a mercy it was that he and all his party had not been blown to +atoms! He could not but feel a poignant pity for the poor wretches who +had thus suddenly met their doom. +</p> + +<p> +The boat grounded on the shoals. He sprang into the water and assisted +Turnpenny and the maroons to carry the helpless men to the fringe of +grass, and to haul the boat up the beach. Then he turned once more to +look at the vessel. No longer was her dark form outlined against the +starlit sky; she had gone down, leaving no trace. +</p> + +<p> +Joining the men on the stretch of greensward where they were assembled, +he suddenly heard the shrill voice of Mirandola close at hand, and next +moment felt the touch of the animal's paw upon his arm. The monkey had +followed the party at a distance when they came down to the shore in +the dusk, and sat forlorn on the grass, watching the boat that carried +his master away. Could the poor beast think human thoughts, Dennis +wondered, as he felt its body trembling against his? Had it believed +that it was deserted by the being who had treated it with kindness? +Certainly it showed clear signs of gladness now, and its joy at +recovering its one friend had vanquished its dislike and suspicion of +the rest. +</p> + +<p> +"Here we be, sir, ten martal souls," said Turnpenny, "reckoning +Baltizar, who in sooth is more like a jellyfish than a man. What be us +to do?" +</p> + +<p> +"We cannot tramp across the island in the dark, Amos. What say you to +camping in the logwood grove? 'Tis nigh at hand, and we can lie there +with fair comfort until the dawn." +</p> + +<p> +"With all my heart. 'Twill be a drier bed than those villanous knaves +yonder can boast." +</p> + +<p> +"Poor wretches! How came it that the magazine blew up, think you?" +</p> + +<p> +"I know not, sir. I will ask the knave you brought last from the +vessel—a deed of merciful madness." +</p> + +<p> +He spoke a few words to the wounded prisoner, while the maroons who had +formed the wood-cutting party conveyed their sick comrades to the +grove. The man replied in feeble accents. +</p> + +<p> +"This was the manner of it, sir," said Amos, after a minute or two. +"The captain being sore wounded, and two killed outright, the other +knaves, seeing how that they stood in danger of being sliced by our +bilbos, did incontinently call upon him to render up the vessel, hoping +thereby to come off with their lives. But the captain, a tall man and +of a good spirit, did resolutely refuse to yield to their entreaties, +swearing that he would with his own hand blow up the vessel rather than +deliver it to heretics and dogs of English. Straightway he passed into +his own cabin, and made fast the door; which seeing, and knowing that +what he had said, that would he perform, the knaves began to whoop and +hallo for quarter. Then did the captain, as 'tis to be supposed, make +into the after cabin and fire his pistol into the magazine, and so +dealt the ship that mighty blow." +</p> + +<p> +"And this man—who is he?" +</p> + +<p> +"A man of Portingale, sir, not of Spain, and so somewhat nearer grace. +He thanks you and all the saints that he remains alive, though his +limbs be maimed withal." +</p> + +<p> +"Let us convey him softly to the grove; on the morrow we will look to +his wounds and bind them up with balsam and other salves from the +wreck." +</p> + +<p> +"Marry, you use him too gently. 'Tis like warming a snake in your +bosom; and, since charity begins at home, we will look to our own hurts +first." +</p> + +<p> +When the party was settled as comfortably as possible in the grove, +Dennis and the sailor disposed themselves side by side to sleep. But +both were wakeful, for all their fatigue. They lay for a time in +silence, each fearful of disturbing the other; but Dennis, hearing at +last a long pent-up groan from his companion, asked what ailed him. +</p> + +<p> +"Thinking, sir—old thoughts of home." +</p> + +<p> +"I have been minded to ask you of your history, Amos, but we have had +other matters to speak of. How came you to be a prisoner of the +Spaniards?" +</p> + +<p> +"'Tis a tale long in the telling, sir, but I will give 'ee the drift of +it. I were a young cockerel of twelve when I ran away to sea. It kept +a-calling me; night and day I heard the sound; and when I could no +longer endure it, I went and joined myself ship-boy to a worthy mariner +o' Plimworth. Afterwards he made me his prentice, and so a mariner I +have been from that day to this. Ay, 'twas a brave life for a man, in +the days of King Hal, lad. I mind me I were but rising seventeen when +the French king took a conceit to invade England. My heart! he had +reason enough, for King Hal had before sent a power to capture +Boolonny, on the French coast, which they did, and burnt it with fire. +The French king would have his tit for tat, and he gathered a great +power and a mighty fleet to strike at Portsmouth and the Isle of Wight. +</p> + +<p> +"I was rising seventeen, as I said, and gunner's mate aboard the <i>Anne +Gallant</i>, a noble galleass. The fleet made a brave show, lying off +Spithead, and I was hot to show my mettle; 'twas my first fight, by the +token, and sure 'twas a famous fight. The <i>Anne Gallant</i> and others of +her sort, with the shallops and rowing-pieces, did so handle the French +galleys that our great ships in a manner had little to do. The only +hurt we suffered was the breaking of a few oars. We anchored for the +night, as did the French fleet, we hoping to come at them in the +morning; but when daylight broke, hang me if the French were anywhere +to be seen, and though we gave chase they got away and ran into their +ports. But a little after, the <i>Anne Gallant</i>, with three other +galleasses and four pinnaces, was set upon off Ambletoosy by eight +great galleys. There was great shooting betwixt us; we drew alongside +of the <i>Blancherd</i> galley in the smoke, and leaping aboard her, we took +her captive, with two hundred and thirty pikemen and musketeers, and a +hundred and forty rowers. Master King Francis got the wrong pig by the +ear when he tackled King Harry. +</p> + +<p> +"Ah me and well-away! That was over twenty-five year ago. I served +many years on merchantmen, under many a master, good and bad. I made +one voyage to the Guinea coast with Master Hawkins, and five year ago, +being about to set sail to the Indies for to trade slaves with the +Spaniards, he sent for me and made me boatswain aboard his own great +ship, the <i>Jesus of Lubeck</i>, of 700 tons. Marry, 'twas a goodly +squadron that sailed out of Plimworth Sound. Besides the <i>Jesus</i>, +there was the <i>Minion</i> of Captain Hampton, the <i>William</i> and <i>John</i>, +all great ships, and three smaller vessels, of the which Master Francis +Drake commanded the <i>Judith</i>. Hast ever set eyes on Master Francis?" +</p> + +<p> +"Ay, indeed, once only—this very year, in Plymouth, some months before +I sailed." +</p> + +<p> +"And I warrant he was stout and brave, and as 'twere a raging fire +against the Spaniards, making ready to chastise the villanous traitors +and promise-breakers: was it not so, good-now?" +</p> + +<p> +"Well, to say sooth, when I saw him he seemed to have no thought of +Spaniards: his whole mind was set on a game at the bowls, and he was +some little put out when he failed of winning." +</p> + +<p> +"Master Francis put out over such a trifle? Why, believe me, with +these very eyes I saw him warp his bark clear when beset by Spanish +fire-ships and battered by Spanish guns, with as serene a countenance +as he were sailing a shallop for pleasure on the Plym. Master Francis +put out for losing at the bowls! Tush, lad!" +</p> + +<p> +"Nevertheless 'tis true, for I was there present, and saw and heard it." +</p> + +<p> +"God-a-mercy!" ejaculated Turnpenny. "And what was the manner of it?" +</p> + +<p> +"Why, Master Drake came to two gentlemen bowling on the Hoe, and one of +them, being summoned away, left the other to play out the game with the +Captain. He was beat, as I said, and being well conceited of his +skill, he was for a moment vexed. Then he laughed, and clapped his +hand on the shoulder of the other—a stripling he was—and said: 'A rub +for me, my lad; 'twas a rare game, and I thank thee.'" +</p> + +<p> +"Ay, that was true Master Francis: he is ever gall and honey mingled. +Art then of Plimworth, sir? As you love me, your name?" +</p> + +<p> +"Dennis Hazelrig, of Shaston." +</p> + +<p> +"Of Shaston? I was never there. I will mind of your name. You be +gentle, I know by your speech, and Dennis Hazelrig do sound richer to +the ear than plain Haymoss Turnpenny, but——" +</p> + +<p> +"Come, man, to your story," interrupted Dennis. +</p> + +<p> +"Ay, sir, then I must make a tack. I was at Plimworth, a' b'lieve, +when the name of Master Drake set me out o' my true course. Well, the +ships I named, great and small, sailed right merrily out o' the Sound +o' Plimworth; 'twas a day of October, I mind me, the very season o' +gales. We had a deal of buffeting afore we made the coast of Guinea, +and a deal of hard knocks afore we took on board our store o' negroes +for to sell to the Spaniards of the Main." +</p> + +<p> +"To sell?" +</p> + +<p> +"Why yes, sir; that is Captain Hawkins his trade; and knowing now +myself what it is to be a slave, I have a fellow feeling for the poor +knaves, black as they be, and bought and sold like cattle. Well, 'twas +near six month afore we came to the Indies and did some traffic among +the islands. Then by ill hap, as we sailed for Cartagena, we were +caught in a most violent and terrible storm, the which battered us +mightily for the space of four days; in sooth, we feared we should go +to the bottom. The <i>Jesus</i> was dealt with most sorely, her rudder +shaken, and all her seams agape. Then, coasting along Florida, we ran +into the jaws of another tempest, the which drave us into the bay of +Mexico. There we sought a haven, and moored our ships in the port +called St. John d'Ulua, where we landed, and our General made proposals +of traffic. +</p> + +<p> +"The next day did we discover a fleet of thirteen ships open of the +haven, and soon we spied a pinnace making towards us. There was in her +a man bearing a flag of truce, and he came aboard the <i>Jesus</i>, +demanding of what country we were. I mind we laughed at the knave; he +swelled himself out like a turkey-cock. Our General made answer that +we were the Queen of England her ships, come for victuals for our +money, and that if the Spanish General would enter, he should give us +victuals and other necessaries and we would go out on the one side of +the port, the while the Spaniards should come in on the other. But it +had so fell out that with their fleet there came a new viceroy of the +Spanish king, and he was mightily put out by our General's reply, +thinking it something saucy from an Englishman with so small a fleet. +The proud knave returned for answer that he was a viceroy with a +thousand men, and would ask no man's leave to enter. Our General +laughed, and set us laughing too when he said: 'A viceroy he may be, +but so am I. I represent my Queen, and am as good a viceroy as he; and +as for his thousand men, I have good powder and shot, and they will +take the better place, I warrant him.'" +</p> + +<p> +"A right proper answer," said Dennis. "And what then?" +</p> + +<p> +"Why, Master Viceroy gave in, and swore by king and crown he would +faithfully perform what our General demanded, and thereupon hostages +were given on both sides. The villanous knave! Our General chose out +five proper gentlemen and sent them aboard the Spanish admiral; but the +viceroy, stuffed with fraud and deceit, rigged up five base swabbers in +costly apparel and sent them to our General, as if they were the finest +gentlemen of Spain. Yet did we use them right royally, deeming it to +be an act of courtesy and good troth. +</p> + +<p> +"Then their ships came with great bravery into the port, and there was +great waste of powder in firing salutes, as the manner is at sea. But +'twas not long afore our General became doubtful of their dealings. So +did we all, for with my own eyes I saw them, when they moored their +ships nigh ours, cut out new ports in the sides, and plant their +ordnance towards us. 'So ho!' says I, 'there be trickery and +hugger-mugger in brew.' Our master, one Bob Barrett, chanced to be +well skilled in the Spanish tongue, and him our General sent aboard +their admiral to know the meaning of these same doings. The base +villains set poor Bob under guard in the bilbows, and we had scarce +seen that mark of their knavery when they sounded a trumpet, and +therewith three hundred of them sprang aboard the <i>Minion</i> from the +hulk alongside. My heart! Many a time afore had I seen the blazing of +our General's wrath, but never so fierce as it blazed then. His eyne +were like two coals of fire as he called to us in a loud voice. I mind +his very words. 'God and St. George!' cried he. 'Upon those +traitorous villains, my hearts, and rescue the <i>Minion</i>; and I trust in +God the day shall be ours.' And with that, with a great shout we leapt +out of the <i>Jesus</i> into the <i>Minion</i>, and laid on those deceitful +knaves, and beat them out; and a shot out of the <i>Jesus</i> fell plump +into the poop of the Spanish vice-admiral, and the most part of three +hundred of the villanous knaves were blown overboard with powder. +</p> + +<p> +"It was a good sight to see Captain Hampton of the <i>Minion</i> cut his +cables and haul clear by his stern-fasts, the while his gunners poured +round shot into the vice-admiral that rode ablaze. But there was but +four of us to their thirteen. The Spaniards came about us on every +side, and began to fire on us with brass ordnance from the land. My +heart! 'Twas hot work for us when we scrambled back on to the <i>Jesus</i> +as the <i>Minion</i> sheered away. Being so tall a ship we could not haul +her clear. She had five shot through her mainmast; her foremast was +struck in sunder with a chain-shot, and her hull moreover was +wonderfully pierced. Our General gave orders that we should lay her +alongside of the <i>Minion</i> till dark, and then take out her victuals and +treasure and leave that noble vessel. A right true man is Captain +Hawkins. In the midst of that noise and smoke he called to Samuel his +page for a cup of beer, and it was brought to him in a silver cup; and +he drank to us all and called to the gunners to stand by their ordnance +lustily like men. He had no sooner set the cup out of his hand but a +demi-culverin shot struck away the cup, and a cooper's plane that stood +by the mainmast, and ran out on the other side of the ship; the which +nothing dismayed our General, for he ceased not to encourage and cheer +us. I hear his voice in my ears now. 'Fear nothing!' he cries, 'for +God, who hath preserved me from this shot, will also deliver us from +these traitors and villains.' +</p> + +<p> +"But on a sudden we perceived that the Spaniards had loosed two +fireships against us. The men of the <i>Minion</i> were in such a taking +with fear of those monsters that they bided not the outcome, nor did +they heed their captain's commands, but in a mighty haste made sail. +The <i>Jesus</i> being then alone,—for the <i>Angel</i> was sunk and the +<i>Swallow</i> taken, and Master Drake had warped the little <i>Judith</i> +clear—our General cried to us to spring upon the <i>Minion</i> ere her +sails could draw, which he himself did. As I made to do his bidding, +my heart! there came toppling on my head a portion of the main topsail +cross-tree, and struck me senseless withal. When something of my wits +returned to me, there was I, amid a score of wounded and captive +fellows, on the deck of the noble <i>Jesus</i>, and a mob of Spaniards +around; sure she must have been built under an evil star." +</p> + +<p> +"And what befell you then?" asked Dennis, eagerly, for Turnpenny had +fallen silent. +</p> + +<p> +"God-a-mercy, sir, the fear takes me when I think on't! They hauled me +ashore, with certain others of our men, and hanged us up by the arms +upon high posts, until the blood gushed out at our finger-ends. 'Tis +by the merciful providence of God alone I am yet alive, carrying about +with me (and shall to my grave) the marks and tokens of their barbarous +cruel dealings. 'Tis by the same wondrous grace I 'scaped handling by +the Inquisition, that hath devoured many of my poor comrades. My heart +and my reins cry and groan for the terror and pain of their sufferings. +God have mercy on us all!" +</p> + +<p> +Overcome by the recollection of what ensued upon his capture by the +Spaniards, Turnpenny went by turns hot and cold and was unable to +continue his story. Many times during the night Dennis was woke from +his own troubled slumbers by a cry from his companion, upon whom, now +that the time of action had ceased, his former sickly terror seemed to +have returned with double force. Both were heartily glad when morning +came, and with the new day the necessity of facing their new situation. +</p> + +<p><br /><br /><br /></p> + +<p><a id="chap10"></a></p> + +<h3> +CHAPTER X +</h3> + +<h4> +The Maroons Build a Canoe +</h4> + +<p> +The events of twenty-four hours had wrought a surprising change in +Dennis's circumstances. The solitude of the island had suddenly become +peopled. No longer would Mirandola be his sole comrade and confidant. +He was inexpressibly glad of the company of a fellow-countryman; the +presence of a group of men of strange races was somewhat embarrassing. +Besides Turnpenny, there were now on the island the Spaniard who had +been left pinioned on the shore, and the wounded Portuguese rescued +from the sinking ship, three survivors of the wood-cutting party, three +sick comrades, and the fat negro cook; in all a community of eleven. +Small as it was, after his loneliness Dennis felt it to be a crowd. +</p> + +<p> +His first care on waking in the morning was to liberate the bound +Spaniard, and to bring salves from his store for dressing the wounds of +the Portuguese, and of his party; his own wounds proved to be slight. +While absent on this errand he left Turnpenny in charge of the rest, +and found when he returned that the sailor had already spread a +delectable breakfast, having set the maroons to gather from the trees +not merely bananas, but several other fruits which Dennis himself, in +his dread of eating something poisonous, had not yet ventured to taste. +When the wounded man and the sick maroons, who were still bewildered by +their good fortune, had been attended to, he held a consultation with +Turnpenny. As a result of this he decided to keep the whereabouts of +his hut and the existence of the stores a secret from the white men. +</p> + +<p> +"They be all villains and traitors," said Turnpenny; "we must e'en keep +them prisoners, and give them into the ward of the maroons. Wherefore +I say, let the maroons build them a hut a mile or more away from your +dwelling. They are idle knaves, and having been so long time slaves, +they will be well content to do nothing but keep watch and ward over +those that once were their masters. And as for their food, there is +enough on the island for a whole city." +</p> + +<p> +"And what of us, my friend?" +</p> + +<p> +"Why, sir, here we be, two Englishmen, a thousand leagues or more away +from home, but a few leagues from the mainland, where Spaniards rule +the roast, and like to be discovered any day if another logwood party +come ashore. 'Tis not in reason we could do with them what, by the +mercy of God and your own ready wit, sir, we did with the knaves +yesternight; and if we be found, there's naught afore us but death or +chains; and for myself, I'd liever die than endure such things as I +have suffered since the fight at St. John d'Ulua." +</p> + +<p> +"Why then, good Amos," said Dennis with a smile, "it does seem we must +cast lots who shall be king of this island, and the other shall be +chancellor, and we will put in practice in our governance the ideas of +the incomparable Sir Thomas More, who, though a Papist, did set forth +in his <i>Utopia</i> most worthy and admirable schemes of ruling a society +of men." +</p> + +<p> +"I know naught of Sir Thomas More or what you call Utopia; and as for +king and chancellor, I am but poor Haymoss Turnpenny, that cannot read +nor write and have never had the ruling of more than a crew of +mariners. Call yourself king an 'ee please, sir; but methinks 'twould +be more fit and commendable if we seized upon this island in the name +of our sovereign lady Queen Bess." +</p> + +<p> +"A right loyal notion, and one that we will put in act. But then we +must give it a name." +</p> + +<p> +"Ay, sure, and what better name than Maiden Isle, after that same +gracious lady?" +</p> + +<p> +"So it shall be, and I here proclaim Elizabeth, by the grace of God +queen of England, France, and Ireland, queen of Maiden Isle on the +Spanish Main. But this is idle mockery, Amos. We are not builders of +empires, but poor castaways, doomed to linger out our lives in what is +after all a desert, or else in painful servitude. There is nothing for +laughter here." +</p> + +<p> +And then they fell to talking of their chances of one day escaping from +the island and seeing the fair shores of England again. It could only +be by being taken off by an English ship, or by setting off themselves +and risking the perilous voyage across the Atlantic. The latter +alternative seemed beyond the bounds of possibility. The <i>Maid +Marian</i>, even if they could make her hull seaworthy and repair her +shattered spars and rigging, would need a crew to navigate her, and the +maroons were not sailor men. To build a smaller craft capable of the +long voyage was an enterprise beyond their powers. Turnpenny could +make a shift to navigate a vessel, but he had no practical skill in +ship-building. +</p> + +<p> +The other alternative seemed equally unlikely, Dennis learnt from the +sailor that the island on which they had so strangely met was situated +deep in the Sound of Darien. It was less than a hundred and fifty +miles from Cartagena, the capital of the Spanish Main, to the east, and +about the same distance from Nombre de Dios to the west; but the trend +of the coast caused vessels to stand out some distance to sea in +passing, and thus the island was little likely to be touched at by +chance visitors. +</p> + +<p> +One other course occurred to Dennis, only to be dismissed when he +mentioned it to Turnpenny. It was to build a boat capable of conveying +them to the mainland, and to take refuge among the Indians or the mixed +race of Cimaroons or maroons who had settlements at various parts of +the coast. But Turnpenny pointed out that this would expose them to +the risk of being caught by the Spaniards, who were constantly at war +with the natives, and would at the same time quite ruin the chances of +getting into touch with an English vessel. While they remained on the +island there was always the bare possibility of some English or +Huguenot adventurer coming within reach. +</p> + +<p> +Faced by the prospect of an indefinite sojourn on the island, they had +only to make the best of it. Turnpenny explained to the maroons the +plan arranged for them, and they accepted it without demur. The +prisoners were sullen and resentful, perforce submissive, not a little +distrustful of their guards, from whom they had deserved no kindness. +Baltizar the fat negro was given the task of supplying the party with +food, partly from the natural resources of the island, partly from the +stores of the <i>Maid Marian</i>, which Dennis resolved to share, +economically, with the rest. +</p> + +<p> +A spot about a mile from the chine was chosen as the site of the +shelters for the maroons and their prisoners. Having set the men at +work, Dennis returned with Turnpenny to his own hut. Mirandola no +longer showed any jealousy of the presence of a third party; apparently +he had been cured of it by fright at the prospect of being deserted. +Turnpenny, on his part, before the day was out was so much amused at +the animal's antics that he lost his first disgust. +</p> + +<p> +"My heart!" he exclaimed, when, work for the day being over, the monkey +sat on a tub, happily feasting on biscuits and honey: "if 'tis wise +looks do make a chancellor, sure the beast be the properest chancellor +to your king, sir." +</p> + +<p> +"You look pretty wise yourself, Amos," said Dennis, laughing. "We had +resolved that the sovereignty of this island belongs to our lady Queen +Bess; say then that I am her viceroy, and you my chamberlain; and for +Mirandola, why, let us make him our jester." +</p> + +<p> +Day followed day uneventfully. Dennis made a still more thorough +exploration of the island in Turnpenny's company, and had his eyes +opened to many things which had formerly escaped him. Passing the spot +where he had saved Mirandola from the boa constrictor, he mentioned the +incident, and remarked that he had seen no other reptiles in the course +of his wanderings. +</p> + +<p> +"'Tis because you knew not where to look," said Turnpenny. "The snakes +in this new world be cunning; 'wise as serpents,' says the Scripture, +and a true word. They dress their skins so as to look like the trees +they live in; 'twould puzzle Solomon himself in all his wisdom and +glory to say which is tree and which is the coil of a snake." +</p> + +<p> +And as they passed through the thickest woods, which Dennis had +prudently refrained from entering, the sailor drew his attention more +than once to snakes of various kinds whose coils were almost +indistinguishable from the trunks of trees. +</p> + +<p> +Once he plucked some fruit from a kind of palm, and, pressing it, +squeezed out a juice as black as ink. +</p> + +<p> +"That is a good sight," cried Dennis gladly. "I found in the cabin of +the <i>Maid Marian</i> a store of paper and quills, but the ink was all +spilled, and I had nothing wherewithal to write. So I have lost count +of the days, and know not whether I have been on this isle weeks or +months. Now I can make a journal." +</p> + +<p> +"Not so neither! This juice is good to write withal, but the marks +disappear within the ninth day, and the paper is as white as if it had +never been written on. 'Tis no matter, indeed; we should be none the +happier for seeing the tale of our days." +</p> + +<p> +One day Dennis showed Turnpenny the cave in the cliff, which hitherto +he had refrained from revealing. The sailor attentively examined the +trinkets which Dennis had found on the floor beside the skeleton and +carefully collected. He pronounced them to be such ornaments as were +worn by the natives of the mainland, and made no doubt that the +skeleton was that of some Indian or maroon done to death by brutal +persecutors. +</p> + +<p> +Dennis got him to continue the story of his life, never yet resumed +since his first night on the island. He had been sent, he said, among +a gang of prisoners from St. John d'Ulua to Cartagena and thence to a +place on the coast somewhat south of Cartagena, where the governor had +a pearl fishery. It was defended by a fort, garrisoned by some fifty +Spaniards. Expecting reprisals from Hawkins for the treacherous +treatment he had received, the governor had ordered the fort to be +strengthened, and dispatched several of his able-bodied prisoners to +assist in the work. +</p> + +<p> +"And I think of my dear comrades rotting in the dungeons of Porto +Aguila—for so 'tis named. There was Ned Whiddon, and Hugh Curder, and +Tom Copstone, and a dozen more, and for all I know they are there even +now, toiling all day, with many stripes from the villanous whips, and +groaning all night in most foul and noisome dungeons. Ah! the tales I +could tell would make your skin creep and your hair to stand on end. +Why, what think 'ee they do if the tale of work seem to them not +sufficient? They tie the poor wretch to a tree, and take thorns of the +prickle palm, and put them into little pellets of cotton dipped in oil, +and stick them in the side of the miserable captive, as thick as the +bristles of a hedgehog. This alone causes a most fierce torment, but +they are not content therewith. They set the oiled cotton afire, and +call on the poor wretch, with loud despitous laughs, to sing in the +midst of his torment, and if he cries out in the agony of pain they out +upon him for a base miserable coward and villain. With my own eyes I +have seen the foul deed, and many more which it is shame to tell of." +</p> + +<p> +"How came it that you got aloose?" asked Dennis. +</p> + +<p> +"Why, it happened in this wise. The treasure of pearls fished up from +the sea-bottom at that place was wont to be conveyed to Cartagena every +month by ship. One day the vessel sent with this intent came into the +port wonderfully battered by a storm, the which had nigh stripped her +of all rigging and had moreover washed half her crew overboard. The +garrison at the fort being soldiers, and there being no other mariners +at hand, the Spanish captain moreover being fearful of the governor's +wrath if the treasure should be delayed, he sent half a dozen or more +of his slaves, French and English, aboard that vessel to work her back +to the capital city. My heart! I well nigh wept for joy when I heard +what was in store, for I bethought myself that of a surety we mariners, +French and English, might seize upon that vessel on the voyage and sail +her at our pleasure. But it was as if the knave had seen to the very +heart of my intent, for when we mounted on ship-board, there were +Spanish soldiers set over us, two for one, and with the Spanish crew +they were as three to one, and they armed. My device was come to +naught. We did each man his best to lengthen out that voyage, if +perchance we might fall in with an English vessel and acquaint them +with our case; but never a sail did we see till we made the harbour of +Cartagena, and all our hopes were dashed. +</p> + +<p> +"Then it came to pass that, being a handy man and a stout, I was sold +for money to the master and owner of a ship employed in the traffic of +timber—that same vessel that lies a fathom deep yonder. At sea I was +a mariner; ashore, being stout of the arms, I was made to ply an axe on +the trees, as you yourself saw. 'Tis three year or more since I fell +prisoner at St. John d'Ulua, and six months since I last set eyes on my +comrades at Porto Aguila, and I fear me I shall never see them more." +</p> + +<p> +"Why think you they be even now there?" +</p> + +<p> +"Why, sir, because the Spaniards be all knaves, and there is no truth +nor faithfulness in them, not one. The Captain of that place was the +Governor of Cartagena his own son. A son, one med think, would be +loving and obedient unto his father, but 'tis not so among these dogs +of Spain. Why, body o' me! in the stead of doing diligently the thing +his father commanded, this young roisterer must needs build him a +house, and thereto he used the labourers sent him with intent to +strengthen the fort, and when I came from that place the house was got +but a little above the ground, and was not like to be finished for a +full year." +</p> + +<p> +"Might not other labourers be hired from Cartagena?" +</p> + +<p> +"I trow not. The Spaniards are so scared and daunted by the descents +of venturers' ships upon their coasts that they are looking to their +fortresses throughout the Spanish Main. By long and large 'tis more +like the prisoners will be conveyed back to Cartagena for to build new +forts there. But this will not be yet, for the Governor of Cartagena +holds the pearl-fishery in dear affection, and he will not bring the +men thence until he has assurance that all is done as he commanded. +No, truly, I believe they be still at Porto Aguila, my dear +mate-fellows, and though I praise God for His infinite goodness and +mercy in bringing me safe into this haven and out of the hands of those +wicked men, I mourn in my heart for Hugh Curder, and Tom Copstone, and +Ned Whiddon, and other my comrades; God save them!" +</p> + +<p> +Many a time in the succeeding days did Amos relate incidents in the +life of the prisoners at Porto Aguila that made Dennis's blood run +cold. He now began to understand the deep and fierce hatred of the +Spaniards that filled the hearts of adventurers who had returned from +expeditions to the American coast. The same consuming desire for +humbling and punishing the proud Spaniards burnt in his veins, and he +chafed at the idleness to which he was enforced on this remote island. +</p> + +<p> +Meanwhile the other inhabitants of Maiden Isle were living what +appeared to be a contented life. With abundance of food, and nothing +to do, the maroons enjoyed, as Dennis thought, conditions that answered +to their idea of bliss. He was therefore a little surprised one day to +hear the unwonted sound of wood-felling, and to find, when he came to +the spot, four of the men plying their axes lustily upon a huge cedar. +They desisted when he approached, with something of a guilty air that +puzzled him. They had shown themselves very amiable companions, +grateful for their rescue from their taskmasters. He could only +suppose that even they had begun to weary of idleness, and had resorted +to their former occupation of log-cutting from no other motive than the +desire to kill time. +</p> + +<p> +But Turnpenny shook his head when Dennis suggested this explanation. +</p> + +<p> +"It do seem to me there be another meaning in it, sir. 'Tis their +intent, a' b'lieve, to make unto themselves a canow." +</p> + +<p> +"But they have no skill to do it, nor fit implements, Amos." +</p> + +<p> +"Bless your eyes, sir, you do not know them. Wait a while, and if that +be not their purpose, never trust Haymoss Turnpenny." +</p> + +<p> +Letting a few days pass, Dennis went again one morning with the sailor +to the scene of the tree-felling. The huge trunk had already begun to +take shape as a canoe at least twenty-five feet long. The men were +diligently working at it, some with axes, others with fire. Its +interior had been partly hollowed out, the wood and pith burnt away, +and the charred sides scraped with the hatchets. It was clear that +within a few days the tree would become a vessel which, whether +navigable or not, would certainly float. +</p> + +<p> +"'Tis a pretty piece of work," said Dennis to Turnpenny. "Ask them +whereto they design it." +</p> + +<p> +Turnpenny spoke a few words in Spanish. The answer was surprising. +One of the maroons, a man whom the others seemed to have elected as +their leader, threw down his hatchet and fell on his knees. Then, in a +strange jargon which the sailor had much ado to understand, he gave +voice to the sentiments and aspirations of himself and his comrades. +They were sick of solitude. They had homes upon the mainland; and +yearned to see again their relatives and comrades, to return to their +settlement, to share in its life, to seek opportunities of revenging +themselves on their oppressors. And so they were making this canoe, in +which they would sail over the sea. They were not ungrateful for the +kindnesses showered upon them by the white men; indeed, to show their +gratitude, they would take them with them, having first killed the two +prisoners. Their spokesman on his knees besought the white men to +yield to their desire, and come with them. They would supply all their +needs, and follow them with all obedience, if they would lead them +against the Spaniards. +</p> + +<p> +"Tell him to get up," said Dennis. "This is a matter we must think +upon." +</p> + +<p> +Dennis and Turnpenny held by and by a serious consultation. They felt +that they were in a somewhat awkward predicament. The maroons' desire +to regain their friends was natural and reasonable, but their departure +would deprive the white men of valuable allies. And what of the two +prisoners? Turnpenny would not have hesitated to kill them, but Dennis +shrank from that course. They might allow the maroons to carry them +off; but then the Spaniards would either be butchered as soon as the +canoe was out of reach, or they would probably be held as hostages and +exchanged for natives held captive by the Spaniards on the mainland. +In that case they would certainly report the presence of two white men +on the island and the assault upon the lumber boat; a search party +would be the result, and Dennis and his companion would be slaughtered +or carried away into slavery. On the other hand, if the maroons were +allowed to depart, leaving the prisoners on the island, the burden of +keeping watch over them would prove a constant source of anxiety. +</p> + +<p> +"The canoe is all but finished," said Dennis. "We must let them finish +it. To forbid them, poor knaves, would be cruel." +</p> + +<p> +"And vain, to boot," said Turnpenny, "for if we took their axes from +them, they would use bits of sharp rock. The Indians have hollowed out +such canows with instruments of flint from the beginning of the world." +</p> + +<p> +"We must let them go, then. For ourselves, I see not at present our +course; but we can provide against the worst hap by conveying our +stores, secretly and by night, to Skeleton Cave; 'tis a good +hiding-place, not like to be easily discovered, and we know not what +necessity may drive us to make it our habitation." +</p> + +<p> +The transfer of the stores occupied two nights. Mirandola accompanied +the two men as they went to and fro between the sheds and the cave, +clinging so closely to them that it seemed as if he had some intuition +of changes to come. +</p> + +<p> +"By my soul," said Turnpenny with a laugh, "he be as faithful as a dog." +</p> + +<p> +"And whatever may chance, we will not leave you, Mirandola," said +Dennis. "Shall I forget the days when you were the only friend of my +solitude? Would you could speak, for assuredly I would ask your +counsel on this pass to which we are come." +</p> + +<p> +They went daily to the clearing to watch the progress of the canoe. As +yet they had given no answer to the maroons; but these were working +very diligently at the task, having apparently inferred from the +silence of the white men that at least nothing would be done to prevent +their making use of the vessel. Dennis and Turnpenny talked over the +situation again and again; but their thoughts followed the same weary +round. At one moment they were almost resolved to throw in their lot +with the maroons and voyage with them to the mainland; the next they +shrank from this course as throwing away what seemed their only chance +of ultimate rescue—the chance of being found some day by an English +vessel. +</p> + +<p> +The problem weighed more heavily on Dennis than on Turnpenny. Compared +with his former sufferings, it was to the sailor a slight matter. +Dennis, lying sleepless at night, envied his friend the soundness of +his slumbers. The mariner snored as peacefully on his canvas couch in +the corner of the hut as though he were on a feather bed at home. To +Dennis the hours of darkness passed wearisomely. He thought of all +that had happened since he sailed with light heart from Plymouth Sound, +and wondered sometimes whether his comrades had not perchance been +happier in meeting swift death in the storm. Then he upbraided himself +for his ingratitude to the Providence which had preserved his life and +health, and given him the companionship of a fellow countryman. He +contrasted, too, his lot with that of Turnpenny's mates on the +mainland, dragging out a miserable existence of slavish toil. He +recalled the sailor's stories of the tortures they endured—and then +suddenly, one night, there flashed upon his mind a possibility which, +in his preoccupation with his own plight, had never yet occurred to +him. The maroons would shortly leave the island; had Providence +arranged this as an opportunity for helping the hapless Englishmen in +the Spaniards' power? If Turnpenny and he should accompany the black +men, might they not find, at some time or other, a means of rescuing +the prisoners—Ned Whiddon, Hugh Curder, Tom Copstone, and the rest? +</p> + +<p> +The idea set Dennis throbbing with a new hope, a new aim. Slaves +sometimes escaped; the maroons themselves were the offspring of negroes +who had made off from the Spanish settlements and formed alliances with +the native Indians of the woods. Their communities were constantly +being recruited: what if the sailor and he should cast in their lot +temporarily with the men about to embark, and watch for opportunities +of communicating with the distressed Englishmen! Even if they never +found a means of reaching home, it would still be something to the good +if their comrades were got out of the hands of their oppressors. At +the worst they might form a settlement of their own, and live free, +though in exile. +</p> + +<p> +The idea took complete possession of Dennis. He felt no desire to +sleep. For a moment he was tempted to wake Turnpenny and put the +question to him; instead, he got up, and stole quietly from the hut, to +think it over more fully under the open sky. He walked down to the +shore, and, sitting on a rock, looked over the sea and pondered the +matter to the soft accompaniment of the washing tide. +</p> + +<p> +It was clear that the Spaniards of the mainland had no suspicion that +the island was inhabited, or they would long since have visited it. +They might be off their guard. From what Turnpenny had told him he +knew the indolence of their temperament—the unlikelihood of their +taking precautions against problematical dangers. Unless directly +threatened by the vessels of adventurers like Hawkins and Drake, they +might be expected to ply their trade—manage their pearl fisheries, +work their mines—without great vigilance. True, they had recently set +about strengthening their defences; but probably the season of panic +had passed; it was years since Hawkins had troubled them. It had +already been proved what a determined few could do; if he, with +Turnpenny and the six maroons, could safely reach the mainland, might +they not bide their time until, Fortune assisting them, they found some +means of bringing off the prisoners, or at least of striking a blow in +their cause? Surely it was better to make the attempt than to rust in +idleness on the island, waiting on a chance that might perhaps never +come, and always exposed to the risk of discovery by the Spaniards. +The more Dennis thought, the more his imagination was captivated by the +idea, and when he at last returned to the hut he was resolved to broach +the subject to Turnpenny as soon as he should wake. +</p> + +<p> +As he came to the entrance the sailor's voice hailed him. +</p> + +<p> +"Be that you, sir?" +</p> + +<p> +"Yes. I could not sleep, and went for a walk on the shore." +</p> + +<p> +"I had but just waked, all of a sweat, and shaking like a leaf." +</p> + +<p> +"Why, what ailed you?" +</p> + +<p> +"A dream, sir. Do 'ee believe as dreams come true? My old grandam was +wont to say they go by contraries; dream of a weddin', she would say, +sure there would be a funeral. And she was a wise woman; ay, sure." +</p> + +<p> +"I know not, Amos. We read in Scripture of dreams that most wondrously +came true. 'Twas in a dream that Solomon asked of God an understanding +heart, the which was promised to him with riches, and honour, and +length of days; and Solomon lived long in the land, and became the +richest and wisest of kings. Scripture was written for our +instruction, Amos, and I would liever believe in Holy Writ than in the +old wives' tales of a score of grandams. But what then was your dream?" +</p> + +<p> +"Why, sir, if it be not sin to speak it, I was standing alone in a +waste place, and on a sudden the voice of Tom Copstone spoke out of the +air, and said, 'You and me, Haymoss; you and me, my heart!' And while +I was wondering in my simple mind what those words might mean, there +was a thick smoke, and a roar as of thunder, and I stood dazed, and the +fear came upon me. And then the smoke lifted, and I saw old Tom with +'s head all bloody, and Hugh Curder behind him, and behind him again I +saw you, sir, and Ned Whiddon, and, God a-mercy! my very own self, as I +ha' seen myself time and again in the glass, but sore battered and +misused. And I thought sure 'twas my ghost, and the fear of it woke me +up, and I rose all panting and trembling, and cried to 'ee, and when +there was no answer I broke into a sweat, remembering my grandam's +words." +</p> + +<p> +"Well, 'tis all safe. I also have had a dream, Amos, and yet I did not +sleep. And 'tis to tell you my dream I am here now. Mayhap it will +fit yours; God in His mercy send that both yours and mine come true!" +</p> + +<p><br /><br /><br /></p> + +<p><a id="chap11"></a></p> + +<h3> +CHAPTER XI +</h3> + +<h4> +The Main +</h4> + +<p> +The dawn of day found Dennis and Turnpenny discussing the scheme which +was born of the night's meditation. Remembering his bitter experience +of bondage among the Spaniards, and oppressed by his superstitious fear +that his dream portended some calamity, the sailor at first refused +point-blank to consider Dennis's suggestion. But by and by, when +Dennis had shown him how light had been his sufferings, after all, by +comparison with those of his comrades, and had declared his belief that +the strange coincidence of the dream with his own imaginings was an +augury of good, Turnpenny's better feelings got the upper hand of his +timorousness, and he threw himself with ardour into a consideration of +the project. +</p> + +<p> +As soon as it was light, he asked Dennis to lead him to the very spot +where the idea had occurred to him. And there, in the little bay +beneath the chine, he became the bold-hearted English sailor again. +</p> + +<p> +"My heart! we're a-going to do it," he said. "See here, sir." He +began with the end of a half-pike to mark out a rough plan on the dry +sand. "Here be the fort. Here be the don Captain's new house; the +foundations were no more than laid when I was hauled away on ship +board. Here, at this angle, be the rooms of the guard; in the cellars +beneath my poor comrades lie and groan o' nights. In this quarter be +the pearl-fishers, penned up like cattle when their work is done. And +here, under the guns of the fort, be the little harbour, with a quay of +planking. Nor'ard, a mile or more, is the fishery, where the black +knaves have to dive for the baubles, and woe betide 'em if they do not +bring up enough to please their masters." +</p> + +<p> +"And think you you could pilot us to the place, Amos?" +</p> + +<p> +"I've never a doubt of it. Twice have I sailed to it in direct course +from Cartagena, and many's the time I have passed it in the lumber +ship. 'Tis true I am not so skilled in the landmarks from this side as +from the side of Cartagena; nathless I be a ninny, not worth the name +of mariner, an I be not able to lay a course thitherwards without +losing my bearings." +</p> + +<p> +"What is the country thereabout?" +</p> + +<p> +"Why, sir, for the most flat and forest clad. Behind the fort there is +a hill, fairish high. Once on a time 'twas covered with trees, but a +great stretch of the forest was of late burned black by a fire; I mind +it well, for the shape of the black patch is like to a monstrous +cayman, upwards of a mile long. 'Tis a famous landmark, and clear to +the eyes a great way off at sea. Let me but spy that, and I warrant I +will steer any bark to it on a straight furrow." +</p> + +<p> +"Well, then, Amos, it does seem that with good luck we can make a +landing somewhere on the coast, and then it shall go hard with us but +we can, by taking thought, devise some plan whereby we may release your +comrades from their chains. But we cannot do it without help from the +maroons; think you they would be willing to lend us aid?" +</p> + +<p> +"My heart! Do but promise them a share of the Spaniards' treasure, and +they will be hot to have at them." +</p> + +<p> +"But the fishery belongs to the Governor of Cartagena, you said. +Imprimis, we are not pirates; nor indeed is there like to be a great +hoard of pearls at Porto Aguila, for they will be sent, no doubt, for +safety to Cartagena." +</p> + +<p> +"Bless your bones, sir, I warrant there be more kept at Porto Aguila +than be sent to Cartagena. The Captain, truly, is the Governor's son; +but every Spaniard is a shark, and would rob his grandam's grave were +he not afeard of ghosts. And as for being pirates, when 'tis Spaniards +in question I would be a pirate without the tenth part of a scruple, +for 'tis certain the fishery was filched from the Indians; they be the +Spaniards' jackals." +</p> + +<p> +"Well, let us go to the maroons and put the case to them." +</p> + +<p> +Dennis need have had no doubt as to the men's reception of his +proposal. To begin with, they were frankly delighted that the white +men would accompany them. They had often talked among themselves about +the young lord, as they called him, who had led the attack on the +Spaniards' vessel, and they were agreed that his presence in the canoe +would serve them as a talisman. Then, even without the prospect of +plunder from the Spaniards' treasure-house, they nourished a bitter +resentment against their old oppressors, and were ready to embrace any +opportunity of striking a blow at them. +</p> + +<p> +"We are the servants of the young lord," said their spokesman to +Turnpenny, "we will do whatever he bids." +</p> + +<p> +"Ask them if they know the region." +</p> + +<p> +The reply was in the negative. None of them had ever been engaged in +the pearl fishery; most of them hailed from the neighbourhood of Nombre +de Dios. +</p> + +<p> +"Then our whole dependence is on you, Amos," said Dennis. +</p> + +<p> +"Ay, sir, and it do daunt me somewhat. In a bark, or a shallop, or +e'en a longboat, I could have great comfort; but a canow, sir—a mere +tree-trunk hollowed out, wi' no ribs nor planks, no spars nor other +gear; 'tis a fearsome and wonderful craft, with a crazy look." +</p> + +<p> +"But the maroons are wont to handle such craft, you told me. They will +navigate her; you will but have to cry the course." +</p> + +<p> +"True, sir, but no master mariner that hath any manhood in him will be +content to govern a craft being ignorant of its true nature. Yonder +monkey would be as fit." +</p> + +<p> +"Ah! We must take Mirandola. The poor beast would, I verily believe, +break his poor heart did we leave him here in loneliness again." +</p> + +<p> +"Leave the knave prisoners to bear him company, sir." +</p> + +<p> +"No, no. Besides that it would be a poor compliment to Mirandola +himself, it would have some spice of danger for us. Left to themselves +in freedom, the men would of a surety signal to any passing ship, the +which being in all likelihood Spanish, the report of our doings would +soon be spread abroad through all the coast, and a hue and cry would be +raised after us. We must bring them along with us. Trust me, they +shall have no chance then of giving the alarm to the enemy, and 'tis +not unlike, indeed, they may serve us as hostages." +</p> + +<p> +"I fear me they'll be the Jonahs in our marvellous craft." +</p> + +<p> +"An ill comparison, Amos. Jonah fled from his duty, and by reason of +his wrongdoing peril came upon the mariners. The similitude does not +hold." +</p> + +<p> +"That be a great comfort, sir, in especial for that there be no whales +as I know on in these waters, but only sharks." +</p> + +<p> +In answer to a question from Turnpenny, the head man of the maroons +said that the canoe would be ready to take the water within a week. +But he added that since the young lord had agreed to make the voyage +with them, they were willing to remain a little longer on the island, +in order to give careful finishing touches to the craft and ensure its +thorough seaworthiness. Dennis thanked them, through the sailor, for +this mark of consideration, and resolved to use the interval in +teaching them the use of the caliver. He could not foresee what might +ensue upon their landing; they would be at a disadvantage if they had +no other arms with which to meet the Spaniards than axes and pikes. +</p> + +<p> +Accordingly, he presented each of them with a caliver from the stores +he had placed in Skeleton Cave, and for a certain portion of each day +Turnpenny and he instructed them in marksmanship, choosing for their +practice ground the deepest part of the chine, whence the noise of +firing was least likely to be heard out at sea. The first experiments +were disheartening, and at the same time amusing. At the kick of the +cumbrous weapons the men flung them down in alarm, crying out that they +were possessed with evil spirits. But their timidity was by degrees +overcome; and when Dennis, in addition to practising them at fixed +targets, rigged up a canvas figure which he suspended on two parallel +ropes across the chine and ran from side to side by means of pulleys, +they entered with some zest into the sport. At first the figure made +many journeys to and fro without receiving a single hit; but within a +week the marksmanship had improved astonishingly, and there was not a +man of them but might be trusted to hit a moving object at fairly short +range. +</p> + +<p> +Meanwhile Amos, not content to trust the navigation of the canoe +entirely to the maroons and their paddles, had busied himself in +rigging up a mast with small sails taken out of the <i>Maid Marian</i>. +When he at last pronounced the vessel ready, several kegs of water and +boxes of biscuits were rolled down to the beach near at hand, and the +party awaited only a favourable wind to launch their craft. +</p> + +<p> +For some days there had been a dead calm, and when at length a light +breeze sprang up it blew in shore. The natives grew impatient, and +begged to be allowed to proceed with their paddles alone. But this +Turnpenny stoutly refused. With a voyage of thirty or forty miles +before them it was needful to spare the men as much as possible, lest +when they reached the mainland they should be worn out, and unfit to +cope with the labours and perhaps the struggles that awaited them. +Turnpenny scanned the sky with a seaman's eye, in some fear lest the +wind when it came should prove too boisterous for this strange craft, +which he still looked on with distrust. One morning, however, he +announced that a fresh breeze had sprung up from the north-west, +promising to increase in force as the day wore on. No time was lost. +The canoe was carried down to the beach and moored in shallow water; +the stores were lifted aboard; then the two prisoners, pale with +apprehension, and Baltizar the cook, were conveyed to the vessel on the +backs of three stalwart maroons, and last of all Dennis and Turnpenny +prepared to wade out. +</p> + +<p> +During the proceedings at the beach the monkey had remained perched in +a tree, watching everything with many signs of excitement. At the last +moment Dennis turned and called to the animal; but it merely gibbered +and blinked. +</p> + +<p> +"Come, Mirandola," said Dennis, coaxingly, "we cannot go without you. +I fear me you feel a declension from your high estate, when you were +the sole partner of my solitude; but believe me, I still hold you in +dear affection. Come then, and let your grave and reverend presence +dignify this our enterprise." +</p> + +<p> +But the monkey refused to budge, and Dennis remembered the aversion he +had always shown to the sea. He walked towards the tree in which the +animal sat, holding forth his hand, using every blandishment; then, +when all was of no avail, and Turnpenny called to him from the canoe to +leave the unnatural creature, he turned and stepped into the water. He +had just laid his hand on the side of the canoe, preparing to leap in, +when he heard a shrill cry, and saw the monkey spring down with amazing +celerity and run on all fours towards him across the sand, uttering +sounds of entreaty. It was as if Mirandola had to the last refused to +believe that his master was leaving him, and now that he could doubt no +longer, had overcome his horror of the sea and resolved to brave the +discomforts of the voyage. He reached the brink of the water and +scampered up and down, as though seeking a dry path to the boat. It +was impossible to resist his pleading cries. Dennis returned; the +monkey with a squeal of delight sprang upon his shoulder; and so +entered the canoe, a trembling passenger. +</p> + +<p> +The maroons shoved off; Turnpenny ran up his sail; and the craft moved +into deep water. For some minutes the natives kept their paddles +busily employed, until, drawing out of the lee of the island, the +vessel felt the full force of the breeze and began to scud merrily over +the rippling sea. +</p> + +<p> +"My heart!" cried Turnpenny, "'tis a wondrous neat little craft. I was +wrong; I own it free; and if the wind holds she will make good sailing +and bring us ere many hours are gone to the coast where we desire to +be." +</p> + +<p> +"Too soon, if I mistake not," said Dennis. "It will not be well for us +to make the shore before dark; we may be spied from the land. In +truth, we run a great risk, Amos. Our sail will not escape the eyes of +the look-out of any vessel whose track we may chance to cross." +</p> + +<p> +"True, sir, there be risks great and manifold. But we must e'en hope +for the best. The maroons have rare good eyes; and if perchance they +catch sight of a vessel, I will run down the sail afore they can spy +us, and we will lie snug until the coast be clear." +</p> + +<p> +After two hours' sailing the coast hove into sight as a long blue bar +upon the horizon. At midday Turnpenny lowered the sail, for it was +clear that at the rate the vessel was going she would run into view +from the shore long before it would be safe to attempt a landing. +While the crew were eating their dinner of fruit and biscuits one of +the men cried out that he saw a sail. Turnpenny took a long look in +the direction the man pointed out, Dennis watching his face in keen +anxiety. +</p> + +<p> +"All's well, sir," said the sailor at length. "She be coasting along +towards Cartagena; in an hour she will be clean out of sight, and we're +so low in the water that no natural eye will see us, the sail being +down." +</p> + +<p> +They lay gently rocked by the waves until, after a good look round, he +judged it safe once more to hoist the sail. An hour afterwards he +declared that he recognized a headland which was no more than three +leagues from Porto Aguila. The vessel's head was pointed direct for +the land, but the wind dropping somewhat, they were still a long way +from shore when the sun went down and the swift darkness of the tropics +descended upon them. +</p> + +<p> +"We dursn't try to land in the dark," growled Turnpenny. "This craft +of ours is only fit for fair weather and easy harbourage, and not +knowing the little crinkles o' the coast, t'ud be nowt but a miracle if +we 'scaped being stove in." +</p> + +<p> +"But there will be a moon to-night, I think?" replied Dennis. +</p> + +<p> +"True, a little tiny one, like the horn of a cow. Maybe she will give +light enough to guide us to a creek. We must e'en wait for her rising." +</p> + +<p> +They had no means of telling the time, and the maroons grew so restless +that, while it was still dark, Turnpenny ordered them to paddle +cautiously along the shore. +</p> + +<p> +"'Tis a creek I be looking for," he said to Dennis, "where we can run +the canow with a fair chance of hiding it when day breaks." +</p> + +<p> +"How far are we from the fort?" +</p> + +<p> +"I cannot tell. I fear me I have overshot the mark with being over +cautious." +</p> + +<p> +"That is impossible, Amos. At least it is an error on safety's +side.—Hist! what was that?" +</p> + +<p> +His ears had caught a slight splash at no great distance shorewards. +</p> + +<p> +"Nowt to make 'ee uneasy, sir," replied Turnpenny. "'Twas without +doubt a cayman slipping off into deep water; and by the token, 'tis a +guide for us, for the reptile haunts the banks of rivers, and sure the +very creek we be looking for will be somewheres anigh here." +</p> + +<p> +The men drove the canoe a little nearer in shore, and in a few minutes +Turnpenny, who was in the bows peering intently ahead, whispered that +he did indeed see the opening of a creek. Soon the canoe entered a +fairly wide water-way, much obstructed with reeds, and darkened by the +dense and high vegetation on either bank. Now and again, through a gap +in the foliage, the late rising moon shed a wan mysterious light upon +their course. As the canoe moved slowly and stealthily up the creek, +Dennis was conscious of a strange home-sickness. How many times had he +rowed by night on little tree-shaded creeks and river-mouths in far-off +Devon! The deep shadows, the narrow paths of ghostly light, the +silence, rendered only the more intense by the incessant croaking of +frogs, lent a charm to the adventure that almost eclipsed its peril. +</p> + +<p> +The creek made several curves within a short distance, and Turnpenny, +speaking in a whisper, said that they had now come far enough to escape +notice from the sea. +</p> + +<p> +"'Tis well, my friend; and now, say: shall we land, or shall we rather +remain in the canoe for the rest of the night? I give my voice for +landing. We are packed here as close as biscuits, and I would fain +stretch my limbs, and moreover get a little to windward of some of +these our companions." +</p> + +<p> +"I warrant the maroons would liever stay in the canow, sir; and I own I +myself am somewhat chary of landing in the dark. I know summat o' +these forest lands, and there be fearsome wild creatures in 'em, the +like of which you never saw in Maiden Isle yonder. There be wild hogs, +of a surety, and monstrous wild cats that climb like monkeys, and see +in the dark, and will pounce on a man and carry him off afore he can +twink an eyelid. And as for these our bedfellows, my heart! there be +worse ashore—muskeeties, and sandflies, and ants in armies, that crawl +aneath your clothes, and nip your arms and neck, and make themselves +most pestilent ill neighbours. And we cannot light a fire to scare +them away, for savage as they be, whether four foot or six foot, they +be gentle and mild by comparison with the two-footed enemies the fire +would bring on our tracks." +</p> + +<p> +"We will lie by till morning, then, and pray the night be not +disturbed." +</p> + +<p> +The maroons were unmistakably glad when this decision was communicated +to them. To their minds the mere darkness was awful, and when to this +were added the manifold dangers of the forest, they would rather have +faced an army of Spaniards than camp unprotected among the trees. +</p> + +<p> +The party spent a restless, uncomfortable night in their cramped +quarters. Yet in his wakeful moments Dennis found some pleasure in +watching the fire-flies darting hither and thither on the shore, and in +listening to the continuous drone of insects, that seemed to his ears a +pleasant lullaby. Once a goat-sucker clattered heavily past, uttering +its weird cry; now and again he was amused by the question, "Who are +you?" shouted from the trees, and recognized it as the cry of some +nameless bird. As morning drew on, these sounds were replaced by +others. Macaws screeched from the tree-tops, toucans barked like +puppies, tree-frogs whistled and boomed, and at intervals the whole +neighbourhood reverberated with long howls which Turnpenny said were +the morning song of red howler monkeys. As morning began to dawn, and +these signs of forest life multiplied, Dennis noticed that Mirandola +was becoming much excited; and when the canoe was run ashore under a +towering mora tree, the monkey sprang nimbly to land, chattering with +delight, and in an instant was springing up into the foliage. +</p> + +<p> +"Poor knave!" said Dennis. "It seems we have brought him home, Amos. +Would that we too were restored, whole and happy, to our friends!" +</p> + +<p> +"God-a-mercy, do 'ee forget Hugh Curder, and Tom Copstone, and Ned +Whiddon, poor souls? Do 'ee have more respect for the feelings of a +heathen monkey?" +</p> + +<p> +"Nay, nay, you mistake me," said Dennis, smiling at the sailor's honest +indignation. "I do not forget them. By God's mercy we are here in +safety, and ere long I hope to have all your friends to join our little +company. Now, master mariner, what is to be our course?" +</p> + +<p> +"Why, sir, we must first go and spy out the land." +</p> + +<p> +"Through the forest? How shall we find our way?" +</p> + +<p> +"Imprimis, this creek runs eastward of the bluff I steered by. +Wherefore 'tis our first business to lay our course westward and cut +off that headland, as you might say." +</p> + +<p> +"But can you be sure of setting your course aright?" +</p> + +<p> +"There's the sun above us, and we may catch a glimpse of him here and +there among the trees. And 'tis certain we shall encounter brooks +wandering like lost children in the forest; only though they do seem +lost, we know, being men, and in our right minds, that they be running +all the while to the sea. By this and by that we'll come at the place +we steer for." +</p> + +<p> +"And who shall go on this inland voyage of discovery?" +</p> + +<p> +"Why, you and me, sir. God-a-mercy, the very words of my dream! 'You +and me, Haymoss, you and me!' 'Tis a good sign, for sure. The maroons +shall lie hid in the creek, and keep ward over the prisoners." +</p> + +<p> +"But can we trust them? Will they not, having arrived on the mainland, +act after their own devices and depart?" +</p> + +<p> +"'Tis a risk, in truth; but I will speak to them with all gravity, and +bring to their mind the Spaniards' treasure, and the stripes they +suffered in bondage. We will see if there be faith in their black +blood." +</p> + +<p> +After a conversation with the maroons, Turnpenny announced that they +had agreed to remain in the creek until nightfall. If the white men +had not returned then, they would hold themselves free to act as they +pleased. Then Dennis and the sailor set off on their scouting +expedition. +</p> + +<p> +At the edge of the forest the trees grew fairly wide apart, and the +canopy above admitted a few rays which lay as bright spots on the floor +of dead leaves. But as the two adventurers proceeded the forest became +thicker and thicker, until they walked in a dim twilight. Well covered +with vegetation as Maiden Isle had been, Dennis had never imagined +anything like the dense woodland through which he was now slowly making +his way. It steamed with moisture; the din of early morning had given +place to a mysterious stillness; birds and animals were quiet or +asleep; and if the silence was broken at rare moments by the long howl +of a monkey, the melancholy sound did but enhance the impression of +utter solitude. Turnpenny led the way with great wariness; his former +experiences of forest life warned him of dangers that might lie in +wait—a slumbering jaguar which their footfall might disturb, a snake +so cunningly marked that it was indistinguishable from the tree about +which it was coiled. Several times he halted, in doubt of his +bearings. Once, when he confessed himself beaten, he climbed with a +mariner's agility a towering trunk, and declared when he descended that +from its top he had caught a glimpse of the open sea and so learnt the +general direction in which to go. +</p> + +<p> +They came at length to a narrow open space, where apparently trees had +been felled at no very distant date. Turnpenny was pointing out a +hairy sloth hanging under a branch like a nest of termites, when Dennis +touched him on the arm and bade him look across the glade. +</p> + +<p> +"What is it?" he whispered. +</p> + +<p> +"Methinks the figure of a man, moving among the trees." +</p> + +<p> +Though he had spoken under his breath, it almost seemed that his words +had been overheard, for the figure halted, then instantly turned +sideways and vanished from their sight. +</p> + +<p> +"We must after him," said Turnpenny. +</p> + +<p> +"Ay, and catch him, or there is an end to our venture and us. He is +alone, for he made no sound, and if he had companions near by he would +surely have summoned them." +</p> + +<p> +Without further pause Dennis ran across the glade, and plunged into the +forest on the other side, taking the southerly direction in which he +had seen the figure disappear. He had not gone far before he heard the +rustle and crash of some one forcing his way through the undergrowth; +clearly the fugitive was not a good runner, or he would have been out +of earshot before this. Dennis quickened his step, guided always by +the sound, ever increasing in loudness. At length he again caught a +glimpse of the man, labouring ahead; he gained on him, and was within a +few yards when the runaway suddenly turned, and Dennis halted and +swerved aside just in time to evade a spear hurled straight at him. It +whizzed through the air, flew harmlessly by, and struck with a twang a +tree trunk, where it hung quivering. +</p> + +<p> +Next moment Dennis sprang forward and closed with the man. He had no +time to take note of him, save that he was more than common tall. But +it struck him with surprise that he met with no real resistance. The +man staggered under the impact; the two rolled on the leaf-strewn +ground; and in an instant Dennis was uppermost. He scarcely needed the +Devonian trick of wrestling to maintain his advantage; his opponent was +already spent. Holding him down, Dennis raised himself at arm's length +to recover breath and take stock of the fugitive. He was struck by the +glare of inextinguishable hate in the man's haggard eyes. Helpless as +he was, there was no yielding in his mien; it was weakness, not fear or +cowardice, that had made him such an easy captive. +</p> + +<p> +In a few moments Turnpenny came up breathless. Seeing that Dennis held +the man firmly down, he did not offer to assist, but halted and threw a +keen glance at the prisoner. +</p> + +<p> +"God-a-mercy!" he exclaimed, suddenly. "'You and me, Haymoss!' 'Tis +the dream come true. 'Tis Tom Copstone, 'tis very Tom! Sir, let him +up; 'tis my dear comrade, my messmate in the <i>Jesus</i>. Oh, Tom, what a +piece of work is this!" +</p> + +<p> +Dennis was amazed at the alteration in the man's expression. The +fierce blaze of his blood-shot eyes was quenched in a mist of tears. +</p> + +<p> +"Haymoss! dear Haymoss!" he murmured, and seemed like to swoon away. +</p> + +<p> +Turnpenny was by this on his knees beside his old comrade. +</p> + +<p> +"Oh, Tom, to see thee in this sorry plight!" he exclaimed, pitifully. +</p> + +<p> +He raised the prostrate figure. Copstone did indeed present a sorry +spectacle. His clothes were completely in tatters, he was emaciated +almost to a skeleton; his hair and beard hung long, straggling and +matted. +</p> + +<p> +"Tell me, Tom, me and this true friend, what has brought 'ee to this +fearsome pass." +</p> + +<p> +"I ran away; 'tis three months since. Three, I say, but I cannot tell; +maybe 'tis four or five. I ran away from those devils; 'twas more than +flesh and blood could endure." +</p> + +<p> +"But whither, whither, Tom?" +</p> + +<p> +"I had hope to fall in with a friendly folk—maroons or Indians; for +such hate the Spaniards, and whoso hates the Spaniards must be a friend +to me. But I found none, and I had perforce to take to the forest, and +here I made shift to keep body and soul together with the fruits of the +earth. Then I was stricken with the forest fever, and lay for nights +and days shivering and burning by turns." +</p> + +<p> +"Take time, dear Tom," said Turnpenny, noticing the other's gasps. "We +be true friends." +</p> + +<p> +"And here is wine from my store," said Dennis, producing a flask. "It +will refresh you." +</p> + +<p> +The man drank gratefully. +</p> + +<p> +"And I marvel," added Turnpenny, "that 'ee be still alive in this +fearsome place of wild beasts. Verily the Almighty has kept a guard +over you, even as He defended Daniel in the den of lions." +</p> + +<p> +"'Tis true; yet I did what I could for myself. Come and see." +</p> + +<p> +He led them through the forest, winding in and out among the trees in a +manner that seemed to the others nothing short of marvellous, until he +came to a great trunk in which there were notches cut, from a point +near the base to the lowest branch. By these notches he climbed up, +Dennis and Turnpenny following in turn. The steps ceased when the +bough was reached; then he ascended some twenty feet through foliage +until he arrived at a little hut, formed of branches cunningly +intertwined, with a roofing of thatch. +</p> + +<p> +"My heart, 'tis a pleasant and delectable mansion!" said Turnpenny, +looking admiringly at the leafy structure. "And did 'ee fashion it +with your own hands, Tom?" +</p> + +<p> +"No," replied the man, with a smile. "Here I found it, as it is. It +was made, I doubt not, by Indians, in the time before the Spaniards set +foot on these shores. 'Twas here I lay when the fever was heavy upon +me, and I thought to die. Oh! how good it is to see your face, +Haymoss; but what brings 'ee, old friend, to this dreadful place, and +how got you free from the hands of the oppressor?" +</p> + +<p> +"'Twas the deed of this gentleman, a man of Devon, Tom, that was cast +on an island yonder in the Main, and by wit and courage loosed me from +bondage." +</p> + +<p> +He told the whole story, to the great wonderment of his friend. +</p> + +<p> +"And now we be here to help Ned Whiddon and Hugh Curder and others of +our messmates in the fort," he said, in conclusion. "By God's mercy we +will snatch them, too, from the house of bondage, and make them free +men once more." +</p> + +<p> +"Ay, and I will help. The sight of 'ee has done me a world of good; +the Lord has put a new song in my mouth. I will lead you. I know this +forest in and out, Haymoss, for though I be by rights but a simple +mariner, I am made now into a woodsman. For why? 'Cos otherwise I +should have been a dead man. The spear I threw but now,—God be +praised it failed of its mark, sir! and I bethink me 'tis still +sticking in the tree—has served me in good stead many a time and oft. +'Twas the only thing I brought away with me, and without it long ere +this the birds would ha' picked my bones." +</p> + +<p> +"Think 'ee thou'rt strong enough to lead us to the fort, Tom?" asked +Turnpenny. +</p> + +<p> +"Ay, sure, and 'tis a good time, i' the heat o' the day, when the +Spaniards be mostly asleep. We'll e'en go at once. What be the name +of this true friend?" +</p> + +<p> +"'Tis Master Dennis Hazelrig, Tom, and a' come from Shaston, and has +changed a word with Master Drake." +</p> + +<p> +"Ah, Master Drake be a rare fine man and mariner. I warrant he hath +not forgot the base dealings o' the knaves at St. John d'Ulua, and in +my bondage I looked for the day when he should come with a mighty power +and do unto them what they had done to us, and more also. But I could +not wait, Haymoss, I could not wait; and now we be met, and Master +Hazelrig, and you and me, Haymoss——" +</p> + +<p> +"My heart, the very words of my dream! Ay, Tom, you and me and Master +Hazelrig, we three, will do what men may do to succour Hugh Curder and +Ned Whiddon, and other our dear comrades in distress." +</p> + +<p><br /><br /><br /></p> + +<p><a id="chap12"></a></p> + +<h3> +CHAPTER XII +</h3> + +<h4> +Beneath the Walls +</h4> + +<p> +Tom Copstone leading, the party of three swiftly made their way through +the woodland. Their mark was the south-western angle of the fort; that +was the quarter, said Copstone, whence it might be most safely +reconnoitred. The ground rose gradually as they proceeded, and after +walking for what must have been several miles they came upon a large +open space which had evidently been cleared by fire. +</p> + +<p> +"'Tis the black cayman on the hill above the fort," whispered Turnpenny +to Dennis. "You mind, sir?" +</p> + +<p> +"Ay, the landmark of which you made mention." +</p> + +<p> +Skirting the upper side of the clearing for a few hundred yards, being +careful to remain slightly within the edge of the forest, they arrived +at a spot where, while themselves concealed, they had an uninterrupted +view of the country before them. There was a thin belt of woodland +beyond the clearing, but the hill then dipped somewhat steeply, and +through this dip they saw the fort which held so many bitter memories +for the sailors, and the sea stretching out beneath it, a vast +shimmering plain. +</p> + +<p> +"'Tis bigger than I deemed likely," said Dennis, "the garrison being +but fifty, if I remember right." +</p> + +<p> +"True, sir," said Copstone, "there be but fifty Spaniards, but there be +Indians and maroons within the walls as well, the slaves and +pearl-fishers to wit. Aforetime, as I have heard tell, the fishers +lived in huts around; but about six year ago a French vessel bore +suddenly down upon the place. The Spaniards, some twenty or thirty +then, had no warning, and the Frenchmen had an easy job to carry off +all the treasure that the captain had stored up, and in the tumult a +great part of the fishers made off and were never seen more. +Thereafter the Governor of Cartagena gave command that the fort should +be strengthened and the workers lodged within: you can see the huts +ranged along inside by the wall." +</p> + +<p> +"'Twas shutting the door after the steed was stolen," said Dennis, with +a smile. "Now let me print the lines of the settlement upon my memory." +</p> + +<p> +The fort was a rough square in shape, with a round tower at each +corner. In the centre of the enclosure was a long low house, with a +veranda, which Copstone explained was the Commandant's new house, but +lately finished. Close by was a smaller house, occupied by the captain +of the garrison, and beyond this a row of still smaller buildings, +devoted to the Spanish troops. From their elevated position they could +see that on the eastern side the fort was bounded by a stream which +appeared to wash the wall; but Copstone said that between the wall and +the stream was a level walk, about twelve feet wide, where the officers +were accustomed to promenade in the cool of the evening. The one gate +of the fort was cut in the eastern wall, and it led immediately to a +narrow pier running into the river, where the vessels were loaded and +unloaded. Between the pier and the mouth of the stream a small +two-masted bark now lay at anchor; there was safe harbourage, and this +vessel probably awaited its cargo of pearls to be conveyed to +Cartagena, having brought provisions thence. +</p> + +<p> +The northern wall, Copstone said, was built on a rocky cliff about +thirty feet high, washed at high tide by the sea, which swept round the +north-eastern angle, and formed, with a series of broken rocks and +boulders, an effective defence to a great part of the western wall. +The southern face of the fort was hidden from the spectators by the +intervening trees, but between it and this belt of woodland was an open +space some two hundred and fifty yards wide, cleared with the object of +depriving possible assailants of cover. About a mile to the right was +the scene of the pearl-fishing, and the fishers were at that moment to +be seen at work, diving from canoes, in each of which, said Copstone, +were two Spaniards fully armed. +</p> + +<p> +"And where be our dear comrades, Torn?" asked Turnpenny. "In my time +they were lodged in underground dungeons hewn out of the rock beneath +the south-east tower yonder." +</p> + +<p> +"And there they be still, poor souls," said Copstone. "Ah! many's the +hour I've spent in the selfsame dungeons, groaning with the pain of the +stripes made by their whips on my bare back." +</p> + +<p> +"And 'twas thence 'ee fled, Tom? I marvel how 'ee broke out o' that +strong-fast place." +</p> + +<p> +"Nay, never a soul has broken out of they dungeons. It was in this +wise with me. One day a fearsome storm blew up without a minute's +warning. The harbour yonder, that is wont to be safe, was a seething +whirlpool then, and a bark that lay beside the pier, laden with a +treasure of pearls in readiness for the voyage, was dashed hither and +thither by the fury of the waves until she was like to be battered into +splinters. There was a cry for all hands to save her, and we were +driven out of the gate to do what we could. The sky was black as +pitch, though 'twas an hour or two from sunset; and in the midst of +that coil, covered by the darkness, I dropped down over the embankment +wall, clinging on with my hands, and so worked myself along till I came +to the extremity of the walk, fearing every moment lest a wave should +come and sweep me away. But by the mercy of God I came safe to the end +of the walk, where the round tower juts out—you mind, Haymoss?—its +foundations being struck into jagged rocks, with many a cleft in +between. There I refuged myself till the night came, beat upon by the +waves till the breath was well-nigh battered out of my body. But +there, a drenched mortal, I clung until the tempest fell to a calm, and +in the darkness I got me away to the woods." +</p> + +<p> +"My heart! 'twas a deed of daring and peril," said Turnpenny. "But +list! What be adoing down yonder?" +</p> + +<p> +The silence below was suddenly broken by the ringing sound of picks. +Men were apparently at work on the face of the fort nearest the +observers. The labourers were out of sight, and Copstone confessed +himself unable to guess what their task might be. The fort seemed +complete; for a month before Copstone's escape the work had indeed been +hurried on in response to urgent orders from Cartagena, where the +Governor desired more men to assist in his own defences. His commands +resulted in the prisoners being treated with increased brutality, and +Copstone said that it was a stock joke with the Spanish garrison that +by the time they had done with the captives at Porto Aguila there would +be little work left in them. +</p> + +<p> +For an hour or more the three men stood scanning the fort and its +surroundings, until Dennis felt that every detail was firmly graven +upon his mind. Then, as they had a long journey back to the boat, and +it was desirable that they should reach their companions before the +fall of night, they set off to return to the creek. Copstone knew it +well; under his guidance the others took a short cut through the +forest, that saved them, he said, more than a mile, and the short +tropical twilight had only just begun when they arrived at the canoe. +The maroons had not been disturbed during their absence. One of the +Spaniards, who recognized the creek, had tried to persuade the natives +to set them at liberty, promising them a rich reward. But they had no +faith in him or any of his race, and their answer was to make his bonds +more secure. +</p> + +<p> +Knowing that they were several leagues from the fort, with a long +wooded hill between them, the sailors agreed that it would be safe to +kindle a fire on shore, beside which they might camp for the night +without molestation by insects. But they had little sleep. The three +sat long over the fire, Copstone relating incidents in his prison life +that made the blood of his hearers boil with rage and indignation. +With the good food given him from the stock they had brought, and the +companionship of his countrymen, he had already become a very different +being from the famished solitary creature they had met in the forest; +and when, fired with passionate hatred of the Spanish oppressors and +with pity for their hapless prisoners, Dennis and Turnpenny vowed that +they would go through with their enterprise, no matter at what cost, +Copstone declared himself heart and soul with them, and only longed for +the moment of action to come. +</p> + +<p> +But it was not enough to be full of zeal. The greatest courage and +determination would not suffice alone to achieve their object. +</p> + +<p> +"We are but ten against fifty," said Dennis, "and one of the ten a fat +negro whom the sight of a bare blade would cause to shake like a jelly." +</p> + +<p> +"Leave him out, sir," said Turnpenny. "He would squeal like a stuck +pig if his finger were pinched." +</p> + +<p> +"There are but nine of us, then, and what can nine do against fifty?" +</p> + +<p> +"If all the nine were men of Devon like Tom Copstone and me," said +Turnpenny, "we would face fifty don Spaniards and beat 'em too. But +you can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear, as the saying is, and +you can't turn a negro or maroon into a true fighting man that will +never say die. Men of their sort cannot play a losing game, though +they be full of courage if things go well with them." +</p> + +<p> +"I fear me even nine men of Devon could not fight a pitched battle +against five times their number, whether Spaniards or other. But 'tis +not my purpose to approach the walls with a trumpet and deliver a +defiance. Our only chance is by surprising the fort in the darkness, +and so taking them at a disadvantage. How stands it then, Amos?" +</p> + +<p> +"Why, sir, it stands clean topsy-versy, which is to say it is by no +means possible. The walls, as you did yourself see, be too high to +leap over, and the gate be shut and bolted and barricadoed by night." +</p> + +<p> +"But is it watched?" +</p> + +<p> +"That I know not. Do 'ee know, Tom?" +</p> + +<p> +"Nay; afore dark all the prisoners be thrust into the dungeons, and +kept fast in ward until morning light." +</p> + +<p> +"And do they set a guard over the dungeons?" +</p> + +<p> +"Not as I know, sir. What would be the good? The doors be strong and +clamped with iron; the guard house be just above; and we was all so +worn with toil and so sick at heart that nary one of us ever had the +spirit to attempt a sally. When they had us fast in the dungeons, +there they might leave us, with never a fear but we would be safe +bound." +</p> + +<p> +"Methinks that same security would forbid them to keep a watch +seawards. The sea washes the north side of the fort, you said?" +</p> + +<p> +"Ay, sir, and even at high tide there is no draught for a vessel of +more than twenty tons burden, so they need fear no attack thence. +True, they might keep a watch on the harbour when a vessel lies there; +but 'tis years since any enemy has appeared, and with the dons 'tis out +of sight, out of mind, I trow." +</p> + +<p> +"Well, does not that favour us? Grant we cannot scale the walls, nor +force the gate, we may still approach the fort from the sea by night, +without risk of being discovered, and that is the very thing that we +must do. This night is too far spent for us to make any attempt in +that quarter. We must possess our souls in patience for yet another +day, and truly that is not amiss, for it will give us leisure to spy +once more upon the fort. Think you 'tis possible to come where we may +view the north side?" +</p> + +<p> +"There is but one way; to make a circuit as we lately did, and go +further through the woods, and creep down at dusk to the rocks, when +the work for the day is over and we are not like to be seen by the +Spaniards who keep ward over the fishers." +</p> + +<p> +"That is what we will do, then. And now, since we know not what the +day may bring forth to try our strength, let us get what sleep we can, +and so fortify ourselves." +</p> + +<p> +But for many hours Dennis lay awake, thinking over the next day's +doings. Up with the dawn, he set the maroons to cut from the trees a +number of light tough poles, and these Copstone and Turnpenny, with +seamen's skill, quickly fashioned into a rough but serviceable ladder. +It was made to taper from bottom to top in three sections, the first +seven feet long, the second five feet, and the last, four. The first +and second were lashed together with some spare rope brought in the +canoe, but the supply gave out when this was done, and Dennis was at a +loss for material to fasten the second and third sections together. +The headman of the maroons speedily made good the deficiency. Going +into the forest, he soon returned with long pliable tendrils of a +creeper called bejuca that grew plentifully among the undergrowth, and +these, when cut into short lengths, formed lashings as strong as could +be desired. +</p> + +<p> +The greater part of the morning was spent in constructing and testing +the ladder. After the midday meal Dennis and the sailors again made +their way through the forest to their former place of espial, waited +until they saw the canoes return with the pearl fishers, and then, in +the late afternoon, crept down the hillside westward of the fort until +they came to the rocks on the shore. From their new position they were +able to glance along the northern wall of the fort. The tide was on +the turn, and it was clear from the masses of seaweed and the waterworn +appearance of the rocks on which the wall was built that at high water +the base of the escarpment would be washed by the waves, as Copstone +had said. Having formed a careful mental picture of the place, Dennis +gave the word for return, and they reached their camping ground just +before dark, as on the previous evening. +</p> + +<p> +Arrangements were at once made for their expedition. Turnpenny +estimated that the distance by water from the mouth of the creek to the +fort was about ten miles. It was desirable to start early if the +paddlers were not to be overtired when the serious work of the night +began. Dennis was in some doubt what to do with the prisoners, but +after consultation with the sailors he decided to leave them behind in +the charge of the cook and one of the maroons. He deplored the +necessity of thus diminishing his little party, but it was clearly +impossible to trust the guardianship of the prisoners to Baltizar +alone. That flabby and chicken-hearted negro was desperately afraid of +being left. He feared the prisoners, although they were securely +pinioned; still more he feared the wild beasts of the forest. +Turnpenny "gave him a piece of his mind," as he said, and his language +was none the less forcible because he eked out his scanty vocabulary of +Spanish with racy expressions in his own vernacular. He called +Baltizar a slack-twisted nollypate, a wambling dumbledore, an +ell-and-a-half of moidered dough, mingling with his expletives an +instruction to keep up the fire if he wished to scare the beasts away, +and a warning that the Spaniards, if they were allowed to escape, would +certainly kill him first. And to guard against the danger that the +prisoners might work upon his fears and persuade him to loose their +bonds, the maroon chosen to remain with him was told, in his hearing, +that if he had any conversation with the two men he was instantly to be +knocked on the head. Watching the negro's expression, Dennis felt +pretty sure that he would prove a most zealous jailor. +</p> + +<p> +The night was still young, the moon had not yet risen, when the canoe +floated silently seawards down the creek. The little party of three +white men and five maroons was not hilarious; every man knew that he +had taken his life in his hands. But neither were they down-hearted, +for seven of them had the recollection of a night adventure which had +wonderfully succeeded against great odds; and though the odds this time +were immeasurably in favour of the enemy, and the task was infinitely +more difficult, the very magnitude of what they had set themselves to +do fired them with eagerness and hope. +</p> + +<p> +The sections of the ladder had been unlashed, and were safely bestowed, +with the rope and the tendrils, in the sides of the canoe. In his +ignorance of the coast, Dennis ordered the paddlers to put some +distance out to sea before heading the canoe westward, so as to avoid +any rocks or shoals that might lie in wait for the frail craft. The +wind was north-east, and as there was only the faint illumination of +the stars, the sail was run up during the first part of the voyage. +But when they rounded the headland that lay between the creek and the +fort, Turnpenny took in the sail, lest by some unlucky chance it should +be observed from the shore, and bade the maroons paddle slowly, for +they wished to arrive at the fort when the tide was high, a little +before dawn. +</p> + +<p> +Slowly as they paddled, however, the fort loomed up on the shore a good +hour before they had intended to draw in. None of the party had any +means of telling the time; but Turnpenny, experienced in reading the +heavens on many a silent night on the deep, guessed it pretty +accurately by the horn of the moon just peering above the horizon. To +delay their arrival a little, Dennis ordered the men to rest on their +oars, and for an hour the canoe rocked gently on the swelling tide. +The pause would have been even longer had not Dennis perceived that the +inaction bred a certain nervous restlessness in the maroons—an ill +mood in which to face the coming ordeal. +</p> + +<p> +At last, shortly after four in the morning, the nose of the canoe was +turned towards the fort, and the vessel crept in dead silence towards +the line of white foam that showed where the tide was lapping the wall. +It was still half a musket-shot distant when its progress was arrested +with a suddenness that threw the paddlers heavily forward. Recovering +themselves, they backed water lustily, but without avail; the canoe was +fast on a rock. Instantly three of the men slipped gently overboard to +lighten the vessel, kicking their legs busily to ward off any ground +sharks that might be adventuring in the neighbourhood. In a few +moments the canoe slid off the rock, the men clambered back to their +places, and the paddling was resumed. But it was soon discovered that +the shock had torn a hole in the vessel's side; she was filling fast; +and by the time she came beneath the wall of the fort she was wellnigh +waterlogged. Not a man of the party ventured to speak a word; but from +the glances they gave one another it was clear that they realized what +the accident meant for them. Nothing but complete success could now +save them, for if the attempt on the fort failed, it would certainly be +impossible to escape on this leaking vessel, and they must fall an easy +prey to their enemies. +</p> + +<p> +One after another they quietly left the canoe, carrying the climbing +apparatus, and their calivers and ammunition, which had fortunately +lain on the raised stern of the vessel and had escaped a wetting. They +found themselves on the rocks, in two or three feet of water. +Turnpenny and Copstone gave their weapons into the charge of two of the +maroons while they carefully lashed the two longer sections of the +ladder together. Meanwhile Dennis was scanning the wall above him with +the object of finding a suitable spot against which to plant the +ladder. In spite of Copstone's belief that the fort was not +sentinelled, Dennis had taken the precaution to land a little to the +west of the tower at the angle, thinking that the sentry, if one were +posted there, would probably be taking shelter under the eastern +parapet. But so far as he could see in the dim light the line of the +wall was unbroken. +</p> + +<p> +At the top, however, a battlement slightly overhung it. To Dennis, +gazing up, this battlement seemed terribly far off, and his heart sank +as he felt that the ladder would certainly not be long enough. But it +was possible that the apparent height was deceptive; at any rate the +attempt must be made. Accordingly, Turnpenny and Copstone, as he had +previously arranged with them, planted the ladder beneath the wall +while he mounted. The first steps were easy, but when he came near the +top he was seized with a momentary dizziness and had to pause before he +ventured to take another upward step. He climbed very slowly: he was +now close against the wall, with nothing to cling to, and he maintained +his balance only by pressing forward until he was almost flat against +the smooth surface. He reached the last rung; it was impossible to +ascend another inch; and the top of the wall was still, it appeared, at +least twelve feet above him. Even if the third section of the ladder +was added, the coping would be still utterly beyond his reach. +</p> + +<p> +It was a position in which many a bold fellow might have despaired, +and, for a little, Dennis did feel dismay and a touch of compunction +for having brought the men below into what appeared to be a hopeless +case. But it is such moments as these that prove the grit of a man's +character. Dennis was no weakling; and as he stood and leant against +that wall, shrouded by the night, he set his teeth and vowed that by +hook or crook he would ere long be upon the other side. +</p> + +<p> +He looked up and around, to see if there were any notches or seams by +means of which he could scale the wall. The moon was creeping round +the sky, and now threw a little more light on the scene. Letting his +eye travel slowly over every foot of the surface from left to right, he +suddenly caught sight of what seemed to be a hole in the wall, some +distance to his right, several feet above him, and a yard or so below +the parapet. It flashed upon him that this must be a gun embrasure; +was it possible, he wondered, to make his way in by that? Carefully +descending the ladder, he told the sailors in a whisper what he +proposed; they quickly lashed on the last section, and shifted the +ladder until it stood immediately below the dark patch which at this +distance the embrasure appeared to be. Then Dennis mounted again. +</p> + +<p> +Once more he was disappointed. At the imminent risk of falling +backwards he crept up to the highest point, but even then he found he +could but just touch the lower edge of the hole. He had not sufficient +grip on the smooth sill of it to pull himself up: he could not raise +himself high enough to peep through. He wondered whether Copstone, who +stood nearly a head taller, would have better success; but remembering +the man's privations he thought it scarcely possible that he would have +nerve enough to mount on this frail ladder, which bent dangerously +beneath his weight now that the last section was added, without +becoming dizzy and toppling down. Was there any conceivable manner in +which the ladder could be still further lengthened? +</p> + +<p> +Down he crept again and held another whispered consultation with the +two men. At first neither was able to make a suggestion. They stood +looking at one another in perplexity. Then suddenly Turnpenny, +forgetting himself in his excitement, uttered an exclamation in a tone +which sent a shiver down Dennis's back. +</p> + +<p> +"Hush, man!" said Dennis in a warning whisper. "What is it?" +</p> + +<p> +"Ah, I must talk gentle," said Turnpenny. "Of a sudden I thought of +muscles and sinews, and the power of a strong back. Me and the headman +of the maroons—not so strong as me, to be sure, but yet with mighty +shoulders of his own—me and him betwixt us can raise the ladder aloft, +and hold it firm while you mount, and then without doubt you'll be high +enough to peep through the port-hole and see all that may be seen." +</p> + +<p> +"Art sure you can do it, Amos?" asked Dennis, eagerly. +</p> + +<p> +"Why, sir, look at this!" he returned, bending his arm until the muscle +showed like a globe of iron. +</p> + +<p> +Without more ado, Turnpenny and the maroon hoisted the ladder, and, one +on either side of it, supported it with their shoulders. Then Dennis +climbed on to Copstone's back, thence to the ladder, and began the +ascent. The ladder was more tremulous than ever, and Dennis felt a +flutter at the heart as he came nearer and nearer to the top. But the +stalwarts below did not yield an inch, and Dennis crawled up and up +until at length his head came to the level of the embrasure, and with +one more step he found himself able to rest his arms in it. To his joy +the embrasure was empty: the gun had evidently been withdrawn; and +taking this as a good omen—surely it indicated great security on the +part of the garrison!—he hoisted himself up and wriggled into the +aperture. Then, breathless, with a hurrying pulse, he crouched to +consider his next move. +</p> + +<p><br /><br /><br /></p> + +<p><a id="chap13"></a></p> + +<h3> +CHAPTER XIII +</h3> + +<h4> +The Taking of Fort Aguila +</h4> + +<p> +During the morning, while the ladder was being made, Dennis had talked +over with the sailors the plan of action he proposed to adopt should +they succeed in entering the fort undetected. The first thing was to +silence the sentry, if sentry there was. It was quite clear, from the +fact of having been undisturbed hitherto, that no careful look-out was +kept; but Dennis did not forget Copstone's suggestion that a sentry +might be napping behind the parapet, and it must be his first business +to assure himself on this point before giving the signal for his +companions to make the ascent. +</p> + +<p> +He crouched motionless in the embrasure, listening. It had been +pierced for only a short gun—a minion or falconet perhaps; and +doubtless within three feet of him was a stone walk extending for the +whole length of the wall. All was still; there was not a sound to show +that, within the enclosure, a hundred human beings were crowded, +masters and slaves. But looking through the embrasure Dennis saw a few +lights twinkling in the centre of the fort, and he guessed that some at +least of the enemy were awake. However great their security, it had +seemed incredible to him that the place should be left wholly +unguarded, even if only to provide against turbulence on the part of +the slaves. +</p> + +<p> +After a few moments Dennis ventured to crawl towards the inner end of +the embrasure, where he might get a view of the whole enclosure. The +thin light of the moon fell on the brightly painted walls of the +commandant's house in the centre; there was no light in the windows; no +doubt the señor capitan was fast asleep. But a beam of light came from +a building somewhat to the right; this was presumably the officers' +quarters. The huts along the western wall, in which the slaves slept, +were all in darkness. On the farther side of the enclosure, in the +round tower beneath which the prisoners were confined, another light +shone forth; somebody was awake there. But not a sound stirred the +heavy moist air of the tropical night. If there were sentries upon the +walls, they were certainly not pacing up and down. +</p> + +<p> +Waiting another minute or two, Dennis ventured to peep round the corner +of the embrasure. He could scan the whole length of the walk from +tower to tower; no sentry was in sight, but he saw the gun below him a +little to his right. Taking courage from the silence, he slipped out +of the hole, and groped his way on bare feet toward the tower at the +north-east angle. Every now and again he paused to listen, and at +last, when he came within a few yards of the tower, he heard a sound of +deep regular breathing hard by. Evidently some one was asleep. He +stole along by the parapet in the deep shadow cast by the moon, until +he saw, huddled in the corner between the tower and the wall, the form +of a man. He halted to consider. Should he go forward and pounce on +the sentry, risking the sound of a struggle if he attempted to gag him, +or a cry if he struck at him with his sword and failed to kill him +outright? It went against the grain to slay a sleeping man, and the +sentry was apparently so fast asleep that it seemed possible for the +rest of the party to climb up without disturbing him. +</p> + +<p> +But there might be a sentry at the other end. Leaving the man in +peace, Dennis stole back again, went on hands and knees where the gun +necessitated his coming for a moment into the moonlight, then rose and +groped his way along beneath the parapet as before. There was no +sentinel, asleep or awake, in this direction. With more confidence now +in the chances of a safe ascent he returned once more to the embrasure, +and, taking from his pocket a thin piece of creeper, he paid this out +through the aperture. He soon felt a slight tug from below. He waited +until he felt a second tug, then gently pulled the creeper towards him. +To the end of it a stout line was attached—a part of his salvage from +the wreck of the <i>Maid Marian</i>. This he quickly secured to the heavy +gun, and having strained on the rope to convince himself that the +fastening would hold, he gave the signal by another tug to his comrades +below. +</p> + +<p> +Then he crawled into the embrasure, and, leaning out, saw Amos swarming +with a seaman's nimbleness up the rope. Giving him a hand when he came +within reach, Dennis helped to haul him into the embrasure. +</p> + +<p> +"What about the calivers?" he whispered, for the sailor had come up +unarmed, lest a clank of steel against the wall should attract +attention. +</p> + +<p> +"We've tied 'em up in our shirts, sir. Haul on the rope and we'll have +'em up in a trice." +</p> + +<p> +The bundle was quickly raised and brought into the embrasure without a +sound. +</p> + +<p> +"There's a sentry asleep by the tower yonder," whispered Dennis. +</p> + +<p> +"Did 'ee not kill him?" +</p> + +<p> +"No, you could not kill a sleeping man, Amos?" +</p> + +<p> +"I warrant I could, though I'd liever not. But we must do summat with +the knave." +</p> + +<p> +"He sleeps sound." +</p> + +<p> +"Maybe, but any moment he might waken, and then t'ud be all over with +us. A sailor's knot and a mouthful of shirt will make all snug." +</p> + +<p> +"Very well. We must go quietly." +</p> + +<p> +Soft-footed as cats they stole to the careless sentinel, still drawing +the long regular breath of placid slumber. Suddenly the sound changed +to a low choking gurgle: Turnpenny had nimbly slipped a strip of his +shirt into the man's open mouth. In two minutes he lay straight on his +back, his arms and legs firmly bound with lengths of the flexible +tendril. Then the two intruders moved swiftly back to the embrasure, +and signalled to the waiting men that it was safe for them to ascend. +</p> + +<p> +Tom Copstone and two of the maroons came up in turn. Then there was a +hitch. The remaining three men stood helpless on the rocks, afraid to +attempt a feat which had never come within their experience. There was +a moment's delay: then Turnpenny slipped down the rope, hitched a loop +around one of the men, abusing him under his breath as a +good-for-nothing land-lubber, and signalled to the others to haul him +up. The two others were brought up in the same way, not without some +bumps against the wall; then Turnpenny again came up hand over hand, +and the little party of eight stood complete beside the gun. +</p> + +<p> +"My heart! 'tis a famous doing!" said Turnpenny mopping his sweating +brow. "'You and me, Haymoss,' as I heard in my dream." +</p> + +<p> +The next step also had been pre-arranged. Copstone, as the man most +familiar with the fort enclosure, was to lead four of the maroons to +the quarters of the garrison, dash into the outer room where the +fire-arms would probably be kept, and hold the Spaniards in play while +Dennis and his companions made a rush for the round tower beneath which +were the dungeons. The Spaniards would no doubt be asleep in the inner +room, and, suddenly disturbed from their slumbers, they might be +expected to hesitate before attacking five well-armed men who stood +guard over their muskets. It was scarcely likely that more than one or +two would at this dead hour of night be in the outer room where the +light was, and Copstone and his men might be safely trusted to account +for them. +</p> + +<p> +"You must give us a minute, Tom," said Amos, "seeing that we have the +greater way to go." +</p> + +<p> +"Ay, indeed," said Dennis, "our entrances should fall together. You +know the way, Amos?" +</p> + +<p> +"Ay, sure, and have good reason to." +</p> + +<p> +"Well, then, Copstone will wait until we have had time to reach the +tower, then he will perform his part." +</p> + +<p> +This conversation had passed in whispers. All having been arranged, +they crept down the steps from the battlement to the courtyard, and +while Copstone and his four dusky companions stood in the shadow of the +stairway, the other three, with rapid, noiseless steps, ran towards the +light in the farther corner. The courtyard was covered with grass, +except for a small stone-paved space around the buildings in the +centre; and Turnpenny, who was leading, kept to the grass, even though +their bare feet might make no sound on the stones. +</p> + +<p> +But they had covered little more than a third of the distance, and had, +indeed, not yet come level with the buildings, when all three were +suddenly startled by a low deep growl on the right, from the +neighbourhood of the commandant's house. +</p> + +<p> +"Crymaces! I had forgot the Captain's dog!" whispered Turnpenny. +</p> + +<p> +They had instinctively halted and turned in the direction of the sound. +A dark form, still growling, was rushing over the stone court towards +them. It made direct for Turnpenny. The sailor threw up his left hand +to ward off the attack, but the beast was so large, and came against +him with such momentum, that he reeled under the impact, and the sword +he held raised in his right hand was almost wrenched from his grasp. +Dennis was swinging forward to his comrade's assistance when he saw +that no help was needed. The hound had impaled itself on Turnpenny's +sword. Amos gasped with relief as he shook himself free; then, +whispering "They'll have heard the beast's growls," he set off at full +speed for the round house, the two others following close at his heels. +</p> + +<p class="capcenter"> +<a id="img-188.jpg"></a> +<img class="imgcenter" src="images/img-188.jpg" alt=""The sailor threw up his left hand to ward off the attack."" /> +<br /> +"The sailor threw up his left hand to ward off the attack." +</p> + +<p> +They dashed straight for the doorway, which was faintly lit by a light +in the guard-room to the right of the passage. In a quarter-minute +they were inside; five seconds more brought them to the door of the +room, which they reached just as three Spaniards were leaving the table +at which they had been dicing, curious, no doubt, to discover the cause +of the dog's uneasiness. They were unarmed; their weapons indeed lay +on a bench at the further end of the room; clearly the dog's growls had +caused them no real alarm, and no other sounds could have reached them. +Consequently they stood stock-still, petrified with amazement, when +they saw two white men and a maroon with naked swords rush almost +noiselessly into the room. +</p> + +<p> +"Surrender, villains!" cried Amos, pointing his sword full at the first +man's throat. +</p> + +<p> +His tone, backed by the sight of the three blades, helped to clear +their scattered wits. With fine presence of mind, the man farthest +from the door snatched a goblet from the table and hurled it straight +at Turnpenny, stooping then to seize his sword that lay on the bench +behind. But he had taken only a single step when the maroon, with a +cry of fury, flung himself clean across the table, and drove his weapon +through the man's body. The other two, less quick-witted and less +courageous than their hapless comrade, shrank back and held up their +hands, crying aloud for mercy. +</p> + +<p> +"Down on your knees, dogs!" shouted Turnpenny. "To the passage, Juan!" +he said to the maroon. "Stand by the door opposite." +</p> + +<p> +While Amos unstrung his caliver and lit his match, Dennis swept the +Spaniards' weapons from the bench out of their reach. Scarcely had +this been done when the door on the opposite side of the passage +opened, showing a room dimly lighted by a candle-lamp, and eight or ten +Spaniards who had been roused from sleep by the noise. +</p> + +<p> +"What is this?" cried one of them, fumbling with his sword as he came +to the door. +</p> + +<p> +Juan, the maroon, stood on no ceremony, but promptly transfixed him, +and he fell like a log across the doorway. His comrades immediately +behind recoiled in panic; but were pushed forward by the men in the +rear, who had not seen what had happened. +</p> + +<p> +"Stand, you villains!" called Turnpenny, from the opposite doorway. "I +will shoot any man of you that lifts a finger." +</p> + +<p> +"Shut the door!" cried one of the men behind. +</p> + +<p> +But this was impossible; the door opened outwards, and none could reach +it without stepping over the body of the man whom the maroon had +killed. They well knew that the first who ventured across the +threshold would meet with the same fate, and every man of them shrank +from the risk. Dim as the light was, Turnpenny recognized the features +of men under whose whips he had many times writhed. +</p> + +<p> +"Fling down your sword, Hernando," he cried to the foremost of them. +The man hesitated. "Down with it, or you are a dead man," roared the +seaman, and there was an accent in his voice that boded ill for the +Spaniard if he should delay. His sword fell with a clatter on the +stone floor. +</p> + +<p> +"Now yours, Fernan, and yours, Manuel," and as these obeyed the curt +command the rest waited no bidding, but cast their weapons from them +and cried for quarter. +</p> + +<p> +"Out with you, into the guard-room," shouted Turnpenny. "Have a care, +Juan; let none escape." +</p> + +<p> +The big maroon stood in the passage with his back towards the outer +gate, and the sight of his ferocious look and his formidable sword was +enough. The Spaniards tumbled over each other like a flock of sheep as +they surged into the room, where Dennis stood ready to cut down any who +attempted resistance. +</p> + +<p> +"Ah, 'tis you, José," cried Turnpenny, following the last into the +room. "Where are your keys?" +</p> + +<p> +The warder edged away, seeking to hide behind his comrades. At a sign +from Turnpenny the maroon sprang after him and hauled him back. +</p> + +<p> +"Your keys, rascal!" cried Turnpenny, and the cold barrel of the +caliver within an inch of his ear jogged his memory. +</p> + +<p> +"Mercy! I will fetch them," he said, hastily. The maroon followed him +as he ran back into the room opposite, and in a few seconds he returned +with his heavy bunch. +</p> + +<p> +"Lock 'em in, sir," said Turnpenny, handing his weapon to Juan. "I be +going with this villain to loose the prisoners." +</p> + +<p> +He caught the terrified warder by the shoulder and pushed him into the +passage, where he turned to the right towards the stairway leading to +the dungeons. Down he bundled him, neck and crop, and forced him to +find the key among his bunch and throw open the door. +</p> + +<p> +"'Tis me, comrades," he cried jubilantly into the dark space, "'tis me, +your old comrade, Haymoss Turnpenny, come to free 'ee from this cursed +hole. Be you there, Ned Whiddon?" +</p> + +<p> +"Ay, ay," came the amazed answer. +</p> + +<p> +"And you, Hugh Curder?" +</p> + +<p> +"Ay, Haymoss, here I be." +</p> + +<p> +"Come out, my hearts. Ah, I hear the chains clanking on your poor +legs. 'Tis not for long, dear comrades. Come out; this villain warder +will ungyve ye; then do the same with the rest of the comrades and +follow up aloft. We have arms for 'ee there, dear hearts. God be +praised you be alive! José, you villain, loose their fetters. Ned, I +will leave him with 'ee; keep an eye on him." +</p> + +<p> +Leaving the cowed Spaniard in the safe hands of Whiddon and Curder, +Turnpenny hastened back to rejoin Dennis, who had locked the door upon +the others, and piled their arms against the wall of the passage. Then +the three rushed out into the open, and raced at breakneck pace across +the courtyard to the main buildings, whence came the sounds of +desperate conflict—shots, cries, and the clash of steel. +</p> + +<p><br /></p> + +<p> +Copstone, waiting impatiently with the four maroons at the foot of the +wall until the others should have reached the far corner of the +enclosure, heard the growl of the commandant's dog, and guessed, from +the sudden silence that followed, what had happened. Instantly he led +his men with a rush towards the main building, where the light +indicated that some at least of the garrison were awake. They reached +the spot just as the door was thrown open and a man stepped across the +threshold, whistling for the dog. Copstone sprang upon him, and +toppled him over, and was then dashing past him into the house when he +perceived that a group of at least half a dozen Spaniards were coming +towards the door, alarmed by the sound of the scuffle. Copstone darted +back; the maroons fired their calivers into the doorway; groans +proclaimed that some of the shots had told. But there were resolute +spirits among the garrison; in a few seconds they came pouring out, +and, catching sight of the maroons, evidently believed that they had +nothing worse than an outbreak of the native labourers to contend with. +Shouting with fury, they pressed forward, slashing with their swords, +and forced the assailants into the narrow space between the wall of +heir quarters and the commandant's house. +</p> + +<p> +When Dennis and his comrades came breathless upon the scene, Copstone +and his party were hemmed in by a crowd of infuriated Spaniards +outnumbering them by seven to one. The Spaniards had had no time to +light the matches for their muskets; the maroons had had no time to +reload; and both attacked and attackers were laying about them +doughtily with their swords. Whatever the timidity of the maroons in +captivity, there was no doubt about their courage when fighting for +their lives against odds. Aided somewhat by the darkness, which made +it difficult to distinguish foe from friend, they were cutting and +thrusting vigorously with their backs against the wall, encouraged by +the voice of Copstone, who mingled with English words of cheer a few +Spanish exclamations he had picked up during his imprisonment. +</p> + +<p> +But steadily as they fought, it would have gone ill with them had not +the arrival of Dennis and the others caused a momentary relaxation of +the pressure upon them. The three dashed with a resounding cheer upon +the rear of the Spaniards. +</p> + +<p> +"Stand to it, my hearts!" bellowed Turnpenny. "You and me, Tom +Copstone, you and me!" +</p> + +<p> +Three Spaniards fell at the first onset. Before the rest had recovered +from their surprise, before they had any idea of how small the +reinforcement was, three more suffered the same fate. In the +confusion, Dennis and his men dashed right through the cordon and +ranged themselves alongside the doughty five. Then the Spaniards, +finding that their rear was no longer attacked, realized that their +enemy had received but a slight accession of strength, and returned to +the fight with redoubled energy. For some time it was cut and thrust +almost at random, and many shrewd blows were dealt on both sides. So +sudden and surprising had the attack been that the Spaniards had had no +time to collect their wits and resort to strategy. It had not occurred +to them to get at the rear of their enemy over the wall. Again and +again they rushed headlong upon the little party; but the maroons and +Copstone had taken new courage from the presence of Dennis and the +others. Turnpenny was in the centre of the line, Dennis at the extreme +right, Juan the maroon at the left next to Copstone. Again and again +they flung back the furious assault, and ever and anon above the din of +the combat rose the inspiriting battle-cry of Turnpenny, "You and me, +Tom Copstone, you and me!" and the answering shout, "You and me, +Haymoss; good cheer, my heart!" +</p> + +<p> +But eight men, however bold and stout-hearted, could not long contend +with an enemy at least four times their number. Scarce a man of them +but was bleeding from several wounds. The exertions and excitements of +the night had made inroads upon their strength even before the fight +began, while the Spaniards were at no such disadvantage; some of them, +indeed, had risen fresh from sleep. Gradually the blows of the lesser +force weakened. The Spaniards could not all attack them at the same +time, so confined was the area of conflict; but when any of their +number fell out, from wounds or fatigue, there were new men to take +their places. For the others there was no such relief. Each one of +them had to meet a succession of Spaniards. Dennis felt his strength +giving way. He was not conscious of having been wounded, but he could +now scarcely hold his sword from sheer weariness. And he felt that +things were going badly with his comrades. Two of the maroons at his +left had fallen, whether killed or merely wounded he could not tell. +He still heard the ringing voice of Turnpenny, but his heart sank as he +realized that in a few more minutes he, at any rate, would no longer +have the force to respond. +</p> + +<p> +At last, when he felt with a kind of frenzied despair that it was +impossible he should strike another blow, there fell upon his ears a +new sound from the front—from some point beyond the crowd of +Spaniards. Surely there was an English ring in those cheers; it was no +mere Spanish yell. It was coming nearer, swelling into a roar. A few +seconds later, the ring of steel by which the little party was +encircled seemed to be burst asunder; then the Spaniards broke and +scattered in all directions, fleeing helter-skelter before knives and +swords wielded with the terrible might of vengeance by the hands of a +score of men who had but lately lain cowed and crushed in their +dungeons. Little mercy they deserved; little they found. Ned Whiddon, +Hugh Curder, and many another hunted them into the four corners of the +courtyard; the tables were turned, and the freed prisoners smote and +spared not. +</p> + +<p><br /><br /><br /></p> + +<p><a id="chap14"></a></p> + +<h3> +CHAPTER XIV +</h3> + +<h4> +Vae Victis +</h4> + +<p> +The intention of Dennis had been to release the prisoners and then make +for the bark that lay alongside the quay. She was only of some fifty +tons burden; her crew would not be a large one; and it ought to be a +comparatively easy matter to overpower the men on board and warp the +vessel clear before the discomfited Spaniards could recover from their +confusion and make an organized attack. +</p> + +<p> +But he had not reckoned on the rapidity with which events had moved, +and the impossibility of communicating his design to the men who had +been released. They had scattered in all directions in pursuit of the +Spaniards; Copstone and the maroons were carried away by the lust of +vengeance, and, wounded as they were, had rushed away with the rest; +and Dennis found that only Turnpenny was left at his side. +</p> + +<p> +There were elements of peril in the situation. Some of the Spaniards +had swarmed over the wall of the officers' quarters. If they found +efficient leadership they might yet rally and prove a very formidable +enemy. Dennis and the seaman held a hurried consultation. They were +unarmed save for their swords; they had left their calivers in the +passage of the round tower, and the weapons were no doubt now in the +hands of two of the released prisoners. Adventurous as they both were, +it seemed the height of folly and rashness to attempt, they two alone, +to cope with unknown numbers beyond the wall. While they were still +perplexed as to the best course to follow, they heard a roar and a +crash from the direction of the commandant's house, followed by a babel +of cries. Running round, they found that the maroons, headed by +Copstone, had blown open the door of the house, and were hunting +through it in the darkness for the man under whose authority they had +suffered so many grievous wrongs. There were only four rooms; it was +the work of a few minutes to ransack them thoroughly; not a trace of +the commandant or his household could be discovered. +</p> + +<p> +"Be jowned if they bean't stolen a march on us," cried Turnpenny, "and +made for the harbour first!" +</p> + +<p> +"Let us after them at once, then. If they get away ours will be a bad +case indeed." +</p> + +<p> +Calling to the half-dozen men who were at hand, Turnpenny led the way +at a great pace to the gate in the eastern wall of the fort. It was +locked. Almost beside himself with baffled rage, the seaman threw his +great bulk against the timbers; but they were stout, and even his +weight failed to force the lock. +</p> + +<p> +"Is there no other way out?" asked Dennis. +</p> + +<p> +"Not as I knows on. Where be Tom Copstone? Hey, my heart, be there +any other way out o' this yard?" +</p> + +<p> +"Ay, there be a postern in the nor'-east tower." +</p> + +<p> +The words were scarcely out of his mouth before Dennis dashed towards +the tower, the others following him with a rush. The door at the foot +of the tower was open; he sprang up the spiral stairway three steps at +a time, and almost broke his head against the postern door, that opened +inwards and blocked the way. The dawn was bursting in the eastern sky, +and Dennis looked eagerly out. The postern faced the sea, and the +harbour and quay were hidden from him by the circumference of the +tower; but he spied a rope ladder dangling from the opening to the +narrow footway below. It was clear that the commandant and his party, +while the combat was at its height, had slipped out of the house and +made their escape by this exit. +</p> + +<p> +By this time Turnpenny and half a dozen others were crowding the narrow +staircase. +</p> + +<p> +"They have made for the bark," cried the seaman, "and if there be true +mariners aboard she'll be warped clear and out to sea." +</p> + +<p> +"She is not there yet. We have one chance. Copstone, run back to the +gate; blow up the lock and lead as many of your comrades as you can +find hot foot along the quay, in case it be still possible to seize the +vessel. Amos, can we train the fort guns on the mouth of the harbour?" +</p> + +<p> +"Ay, sure, and I'll do it, being once gunner's mate aboard the <i>Anne +Gallant</i>." +</p> + +<p> +"And I can aid you; God be praised that Sir Martin practised us +venturers in the usage of ordnance in the <i>Maid Marian</i>." +</p> + +<p> +He slammed-to the postern door, freeing the stairway, and rushed up to +the narrow open archway leading on to the battlements, stumbling in the +dim light over the prostrate body of the gagged sentry as he leapt +through. Vaulting on to the parapet, he looked down at the quay to see +how the men were faring. A cry of bitter mortification burst from his +lips as he saw the bark slowly moving towards the sea. Her sails were +hoisted on the mainmast, and filling with the light westerly breeze; a +group of officers, among whom the commandant was easily distinguished, +crowded her deck, in addition to the crew; and there was not one of +Dennis's party or the prisoners in sight. +</p> + +<p> +But at that moment there was a loud explosion; the gate fell with a +crash; and a crowd of men, white and black, headed by Copstone, rushed +out on to the quay. They roared with fury when they saw that they were +too late. Those of them who had loaded calivers ran along the quay, +firing ineffectually at the moving vessel. They were answered with a +volley from her decks, and two maroons fell, shouts from the Spaniards +acclaiming the lucky shots. +</p> + +<p> +But Turnpenny had now taken his post at the nearest gun. +</p> + +<p> +"Body o' me, sure 'tis a saker taken from the Jesus herself!" he cried +joyfully. "And here be powder and round shot and stone shot, and a +half circle for the sighting. Haymoss Turnpenny be no true man an he +do not send a good un plump into the midst of the knaves." +</p> + +<p> +But none knew better than Turnpenny that, at any considerable distance, +it was easier to miss than to hit. Seeing that it was impossible to +depress the gun so as to get a shot at the vessel until she had drawn +clear of the harbour, he ran to the ordnance on the northern wall, and +loaded them in readiness in case his first shot missed. Meanwhile +Dennis had spied the muzzle of a demi-culverin projecting from the roof +of the round tower, and summoning to his assistance a white man who was +among his party, he ran up and began with all haste to load the gun. +</p> + +<p> +Before he had finished, there was a flash and a roar from Turnpenny's +saker just below. The Spaniards on deck, who the moment before had +been laughing at the futile shots from the men on the quay, skipped +down the companion way with exceeding nimbleness. Dennis looked +eagerly for the result of the shot. That something had been carried +away was clear from the clattering noise on board and the rush of the +crew towards the stern-works; but neither the fore nor the mainmast had +been hit, and the vessel still glided seawards. Turnpenny growled with +rage, and ran to the next gun, from which, however, it would be useless +to fire until the bark had come quite out from the harbour mouth. +</p> + +<p> +Dennis's heart leapt within him as he saw that the course of the vessel +would bring her in a few seconds within range of his gun. Now was his +chance of showing how he had profited by Sir Martin's lessons in +gunnery. How ardently he hoped that the bore was true and the windage +not too great to spoil his aim! He waited with lighted match until, +sighting with the gunner's half-circle—the quadrant with which every +piece of ordnance was equipped—he knew that the Spaniard was well +within range. He applied the match and sprang forward to the very edge +of the parapet to watch the effect of his shot. There was a sound of +rending and splitting from the deck; and through the smoke he saw the +mainmast collapse with all its rigging. A great shout from the +battlements and from the crowd below acclaimed the famous shot. There +had been no time to run up a sail on the foremast; the vessel lost way; +and the crew, having been deserted by the officers, huddled into the +forecastle, leaving several of their number prone upon the deck. +</p> + +<p> +When the motion of the vessel ceased, two of the Spaniards rushed up +the companion-way and called on the crew frantically to hoist the +foresail. But in vain. The men were helpless with terror. And while +the Spaniards were storming and gesticulating, Turnpenny, exerting his +immense strength, hauled round the eight-foot minion which had been +removed from the embrasure by which the intruders had entered the fort, +and next moment a carcass crammed with case-shot plumped amidships of +the hapless bark, and the Spaniards, cowering from the flying +splinters, scuttled down the companion-way—all but one fellow, bolder +than the rest. The vessel had swung round a little, so that her +stern-chaser, a culverin twelve feet long, pointed full at the fort. +It was already loaded. The Spaniard, with a shout of defiance, altered +the elevation of the gun, lit a match, and applied it to the +touch-hole. A round shot crashed through the embrasure from which +Turnpenny had fired, scattering a shower of stone-chips around, and +dealing wounds among the group who were watching and assisting the +seaman to reload. The crashing sound brought the Spaniards again from +below, and they began feverishly to clean out and reload the piece. +But another shot from Dennis's gun fell plump into the round-house on +the half-deck; and now the Spanish commandant, perceiving that the men +on the quay had sprung into the fishers' canoes that lay alongside, and +were making direct to board his vessel, saw that the game was up, and, +raising his arms aloft, shouted that he surrendered. +</p> + +<p> +"Go and board her," cried Dennis to Turnpenny. "I'll stay by the guns +in case he meditates treachery." +</p> + +<p> +The seaman hurried away with a mixed crowd of maroons and white men. +In a few minutes he was pulling lustily for the vessel. Dennis, with +gun loaded, watched him climb the side and receive the Spaniard's +sword. Then a hawser was fixed to the headboards, and the vessel was +towed back to the quay side. +</p> + +<p> +Dennis hastened down. The crestfallen commandant with all his men was +brought ashore and escorted to his house, where they were left under +guard. Hugh Curder, with three other seamen, was placed in charge of +the vessel, and then Dennis re-entered the fort-enclosure with +Turnpenny and the rest, eager to see, now that day had fully dawned, +what had happened during his absence. +</p> + +<p> +He could not repress a shudder as he saw the ground strewn with dead +and wounded men; and he was horrified to observe that some of the +slave-fishers had broken out of their huts, and were moving about the +court-yard, giving the finishing stroke to the wounded of their late +masters who were yet alive. Dennis sent Ned Whiddon among them to put +a stop to this ruthless butchery; then his intervention was called for +at the round tower from which the prisoners had been released. A group +of them, headed by a big ruffianly seaman, had burst open the door of +the room in which the unarmed Spanish guards had been locked, and were +beginning a work of butchery there when Dennis, with Turnpenny and a +few others, rushed to the scene. Dashing into the room, Dennis sprang +at the ringleader just as he was thrusting at a Spaniard who had thrown +himself down on his knees and was pleading for mercy. +</p> + +<p> +"Hold, knave!" he cried, hauling the man away. +</p> + +<p> +"Zounds! and who be you?" shouted the fellow, recovering himself and +lunging furiously at Dennis. +</p> + +<p> +"I'll teach 'ee, Jan Biddle!" roared Turnpenny. Seizing the man, he +lifted him as though he were a child and hurled him over his head in +true Devonian style. Biddle's head struck the floor with a loud thud, +and he lay as one killed. +</p> + +<p> +"Souse him, my hearts!" cried Turnpenny. "The saucy knave!" +</p> + +<p> +And in a few minutes a plentiful drenching from a water-butt at the +door brought some glimmering of sense into the man's bruised noddle. +</p> + +<p> +Meanwhile the Spaniards who had survived the fight and escaped from +their pursuers, had barricaded themselves in the officers' quarters, +where they were unmolested while the majority of their late prisoners +were on the quay. The victory could not be considered complete while +they remained shut up, for they no doubt had arms and ammunition at +their disposal. Some of the victors were for blowing up the house and +all in it; but Dennis and Turnpenny dissuaded them from this, and +declared for insisting on unconditional surrender. To obtain this they +made use of the captive commandant. At Dennis's suggestion, Turnpenny +put the case to him, pointing out how hopeless was the position of his +men, and promising to spare their lives if they surrendered at once. +The commandant was then led to the officers' house between two men with +drawn swords, and after a few minutes' colloquy the men agreed to hand +over their weapons. +</p> + +<p> +Dennis meanwhile collected his whole party. They were a very ragged +regiment. None was quite so tattered as Tom Copstone, but all were +dirty, unkempt, unshorn, bearing many marks of toil and suffering, as +well as the more recent marks of fight. Of the five maroons who had +scaled the fort wall two were dead; the rest were all wounded. Not one +of the little band had escaped unhurt. Dennis had several gashes in +his arms. Turnpenny's big face was disfigured with cuts and bruises, +while Copstone, who had fought with utter recklessness, seemed to have +borne a charmed life, so many were his wounds. The released prisoners +had come off best. With the exception of the two men shot down from +the vessel, one being killed and the other badly wounded, they had +escaped with a few scratches. They were a wild, rough lot, and Dennis +wondered, as he looked them over, whether they would show themselves +amenable to discipline. +</p> + +<p> +The Spaniards having been disarmed and locked in the house, Turnpenny +constituted himself master of the ceremonies. After a brief talk with +Ned Whiddon and Hugh Curder, his special friends, he said to Dennis— +</p> + +<p> +"Here we be, sir, masters of the fort, twenty-two all told, five being +French. We must needs have a captain, and that be you, for 'tis all +owed to your wit, and we pay you our humble duty." +</p> + +<p> +"Thank 'ee, Amos, but I will not be captain save by the wish of all. +Methinks 'tis an office for one older in years." +</p> + +<p> +"Be jowned if it be, sir. Comrades, list while I tell the tale of +these rare doings." +</p> + +<p> +He related to the crowd the story of his rescue from the Spaniards on +the island, the capture of the lumber-ship, the voyage in the maroons' +canoe, and all that had happened since. +</p> + +<p> +"And now, comrades," he concluded, "I ax 'ee, who so fit to be our +captain as Master Dennis Hazelrig, of Shaston in Devon? We owe our +lives to him, and there be many a thing to face afore we get across the +thousand leagues to home. Who but him shall be our captain?" +</p> + +<p> +The election was ratified with a great shout. +</p> + +<p> +"Thank 'ee, comrades," said Dennis. "'Tis not a post I covet; +willingly would I serve under an older man, my good friend Amos, to +wit. But I accept your choice. One thing I say. There may be more +fighting before us; if we fight, let us fight like Englishmen, not like +savages, and treat our enemies according to the manner of civilized +nations. Do you agree to that?" +</p> + +<p> +"Ay, ay!" shouted the men,—all but Jan Biddle, whose growling protests +were howled down by the rest. +</p> + +<p> +"Then it is mine to choose my lieutenant. You are all good men and +true, but 'tis my misfortune I am not so well acquainted with you as I +hope to be. But I know Amos Turnpenny, and you know him also; and——" +</p> + +<p> +"I crave your pardon, sir," said Amos, interrupting; "I was gunner's +mate twenty-five year ago on the noble <i>Anne Gallant</i>, and four year +ago boatswain on Captain Hawkins his <i>Jesus</i>, and methinks the rank of +boatswain befits my stature and my fancy both; and if I may be so bold, +I say let these our comrades, good men and true, as you yourself did +say, choose among themselves two to serve as mates aboard the vessel." +</p> + +<p> +"A wise speech," said Jan Biddle. "There be good mariners among us; +ay, and some of us are skilled in the manage of greater vessels than +the poor bark yonder. Let us then do as Amos says, and choose who +shall come next to our noble captain." +</p> + +<p> +"So be it," said Dennis, with a glance at Amos. "Choose then, and we +will abide the choice." +</p> + +<p> +It was clear that Jan Biddle expected the election to one of the posts +to fall upon himself. He could not hide his chagrin when by general +consent Ned Whiddon and a man of quiet appearance named Gabriel Batten +were selected. Dennis on his part was glad that Biddle was to remain a +simple member of the crew; he disliked the man's overbearing manner and +the shifty look in his eyes. +</p> + +<p> +These matters having been settled, he explained that his purpose was to +sail away as soon as the vessel could be got ready, and steer a course +for England. It was needful to make haste, for the sound of the firing +might have been heard on Spanish ships at sea, and even now an enemy +might be making for the spot. The first thing was to inspect the +vessel at the quay and see what damage had been done. He asked the two +mates and Turnpenny to accompany him to the ship for this purpose. +Meanwhile he suggested that the others, with the assistance of the +natives, should give those who had been killed burial in the sea, and +he dispatched two of the maroons to the creek where they had left +Baltizar and one of their comrades in charge of the two prisoners, to +acquaint them with what had happened and bring them to the fort. +</p> + +<p> +Boarding the Spanish vessel, he found that the mainmast was a complete +ruin; it would be necessary to replace it. This Ned Whiddon said would +be no difficult matter. A couple of men could soon fell a tall and +slender cedar in the woods, and though it was not advisable to spend +much time in trimming it, a few hours' work would suffice to fit it for +its use. Luckily the step was uninjured, and there was plenty of sound +rope on board from which to form new stays. +</p> + +<p> +The deck had been a good deal knocked about by the shots from the fort, +but the damage done was not such as to render the vessel unnavigable as +soon as the mast should be stepped and the rigging repaired. Ned +Whiddon undertook to carry out the necessary work with the assistance +of men of his choice, and went back to the fort with Batten to make a +beginning. +</p> + +<p> +Dennis and Turnpenny examined the vessel from stem to stern above and +below decks. In the captain's cabin they found a number of small bags +which on being opened they discovered to be full of pearls. The +commandant had evidently not come empty-handed from the fort. There +were also several chests containing pieces of eight, and in the hold +were twenty odd jars filled with gunpowder, and more than a hundred +jars of wine. +</p> + +<p> +"'Tis my counsel to fling 'em overboard as soon as it be dark," said +Amos. "'Tis a goodish time since my comrades have tasted strong +liquor, and I fear me with such plenty they might drink until they were +drunken and fit for nought. And Jan Biddle with wine in him would be +no less than a madman." +</p> + +<p> +"Ay. Tell me, Amos, what know you of that same loud-tongued mariner?" +</p> + +<p> +"Why, sir, I know little. He do say he be an Englishman, and one time +second mate on a Dutch privateer; but what be the truth of it none can +say. He speaks the French and Dutch tongues as readily as English, and +has suffered at the hands of the Spaniards even more than most, by +reason of his unruly tongue. He is loved by none, but hath a certain +power over men; and I rejoice that he is not chosen for mate aboard +this vessel." +</p> + +<p> +"I like not his looks. Your comrades have done wisely, I trow, in +rejecting him. And now, what think you of the chances of our purposed +voyage, Amos?" +</p> + +<p> +"My heart! I warrant we can sail her merrily across the great ocean, +and with favouring winds may hope to see the blessed shores of England +in a matter of two months. And my soul hungers for the sight of the +old cliffs. By the mercy of God, who hath marvellously prospered our +doings, we will yet again come to haven in our dear native land." +</p> + +<p> +"We will new christen her for luck, Amos. Her present name—I cannot +say the words—" +</p> + +<p> +"<i>Nuestra Señora del Baria</i>—a papist name, sir, 'Our Lady of'—I know +not what. What name shall we give her?" +</p> + +<p> +"What say you to <i>Mirandola</i>? Our comrade the monkey has without doubt +gotten him away to the woods, and there, mayhap, found old friends of +his kind. I hold the beast in affection, Amos, and would fain keep him +in remembrance." +</p> + +<p> +"The <i>Mirandola</i> it shall be, sir; 'tis a fair sounding name, and, if I +may speak my mind, befits a tight little craft somewhat better than a +heathen monkey. Though i' fecks, I'd liever call her by a plainer +name; yet it shall be as you say." +</p> + +<p> +"And now, a matter that troubles me, Amos: what shall we do with the +Spaniards our captives?" +</p> + +<p> +"Be jowned if I would let the knaves trouble me. Let 'em loose afore +we sail. There is much food, I doubt not, in the fort, and abundance +in the woods around. The knaves will not starve; t'ud be no great loss +if they did; and belike a vessel will come to this place ere many days +be past, and then they can tell the tale, with raging and cursing that +will harm us not a jot." +</p> + +<p> +"It shall be done. And it will be well, I trow, to raze the fort to +the ground. It has been built with the blood and sweat of our +comrades; to destroy it will be a just reprisal." +</p> + +<p> +"Ay, and make the knaves to dismantle it with their own hands. I would +fain scourge their naked backs as they have scourged mine, many's the +time." +</p> + +<p> +"And the ordnance?" +</p> + +<p> +"Burst it asunder. Why should we leave it sound to belch its shot, +mayhap, on English craft some day? God-a-mercy, 'twas a famous shot of +yours, sir, that sent the mainmast by the board, and I don't grudge it +'ee that your aim was truer than mine. 'Tis twenty-five year since I +served the ordnance on the <i>Anne Gallant</i>." +</p> + +<p> +"And I had good practice on the <i>Maid Marian</i>. But you have not forgot +your cunning, Amos, and I warrant if we have occasion to use the piece +here in the stern you will make good firing. Now 'tis time to return +to the fort; I would not that Jan Biddle should stir up the rage of our +people against those unhappy Spaniards, and 'tis not unlike, we being +absent, he may do so." +</p> + +<p> +"Ay, 'tis meet we trust not Jan Biddle overmuch. Let us go, sir." +</p> + +<p> +They found on returning that Ned Whiddon had already gone into the +forest with two or three men to fell a tree for the mast. While he was +absent on this errand Dennis set part of his company to collect all the +Spaniards' small arms and pile them in readiness for conveyance to the +vessel, others to ram excessive charges of powder into the guns, and a +third gang to superintend the Spaniards in their enforced task of +dismantling the fort. Great charges of powder, of which there was an +ample store, were placed in barrels in each of the round towers, to be +fired at the last moment, for Dennis did not wish to risk an explosion, +which must be heard many miles away, until he was on the point of +sailing out on the <i>Mirandola</i>. +</p> + +<p> +The work of preparation was continued throughout the day, with brief +pauses for meals. Ned Whiddon and his party toiled with such right +good will that he was able to announce, at nightfall, that after a +little more work in the morning the new mast would be ready for +stepping. This was especially good news, for in view of the possible +arrival of a Spanish vessel Dennis could not feel secure until the +<i>Mirandola</i> was fairly out at sea. As soon as it was dark, Turnpenny +and Copstone went down to the vessel, and flung overboard the whole +store of wine save a few jars which they kept for emergencies. The +Spaniards, of whom about thirty had survived the fight, were again shut +up in the houses of the commandant and the officers, and Dennis +arranged that a careful watch should be kept through the night. Then, +tired out with his long labours, he gladly threw himself upon a couch +in one of the towers, and slept soundly until the dawn. +</p> + +<p> +In the morning, as he went round the battlements with Turnpenny to see +that the guns had all been crammed with bursting charges, he was seized +with a whim to preserve two of them and carry them home to England. +</p> + +<p> +"Me thinks they would make rare trophies for our folks to marvel at," +he said to Amos with a smile. "What say you, Amos? Would not one look +exceeding well on the Hoe at Plymouth? And I think not Holles, my +steward, who is keeping my little place at Shaston warm for me till I +attain to man's estate,—I think not even he, puritan as he is, would +find cause why one should not stand at my gates." +</p> + +<p> +"A rare conceit, sir. Pray you one be the saker stolen by the knaves +from the <i>Jesus</i>; t'other might be the demi-culverin you fired so +famously. They'd be good ballast aboard, moreover; pearls are of +greater price than weight; and there be room enough and to spare in the +hold." +</p> + +<p> +With some trouble the two pieces were lowered over the battlements to +the quay and hoisted aboard the vessel, where Ned Whiddon and his crew +were already at work stepping the mast and overhauling the rigging. By +midday Whiddon declared with pride that the <i>Mirandola</i> was ready for +sea. A great cheer greeted the announcement. No time was lost in +carrying stores, water, arms, and ammunition on board. When all was +safely stowed, Dennis, with Turnpenny as interpreter, had a final +interview with the commandant, to whom he made known his intention of +blowing up the towers of the fort, but leaving the buildings in the +centre of the enclosure intact. He said also that the native +pearl-fishers, with the maroons, had elected to coast along the shore +in their canoes until they reached a settlement of their own people. +Being well provided with arms, they could defend themselves against +pursuit even if there should be any disposition on the part of the +Spaniards to attempt to capture them. +</p> + +<p> +Then, one after another, the guns were fired and burst to atoms by +means of long trains of powder. Last of all the charges in the towers +were exploded, and as the masonry toppled and fell after each +thunderous roar, the little company greeted the destruction with a +storm of cheers. When Dennis and his comrades turned their backs on +the place and went aboard the <i>Mirandola</i>, they left the once +stronghold a heap of ruins, amid which the Spaniards were already +moving about in desolation and despair. +</p> + +<p><br /><br /><br /></p> + +<p><a id="chap15"></a></p> + +<h3> +CHAPTER XV +</h3> + +<h4> +A Long Chase +</h4> + +<p> +The <i>Mirandola</i> was towed out of the little harbour by maroons and +Indians in their canoes, and beat out to sea against a +nor'-nor'-easterly wind. Thanks to Ned Whiddon and his comrades the +bark was in capital trim, and the crew, now after many days free men +afloat, were at the top of cheerfulness and jollity. The long voyage +home had no terrors for them. They were all sturdy mariners, +accustomed to adventure their lives on the deep. They had hardly +weathered the headland to the east and stood away for the mouth of the +gulf before Hugh Curder began to troll a ditty: +</p> + +<p class="poem"> +"Lustily, lustily, let us sail forth;<br /> +The wind trim doth serve us, it blows from the north,<br /> +All things we have ready, and nothing we want,<br /> + To furnish our ship that rideth hereby;<br /> +Victuals and weapons they be nothing scant,<br /> + Like worthy mariners ourselves we will try.<br /> + Lustily, oh lustily!"<br /> +</p> + +<p><br /></p> + +<p> +"Oh, 'tis good to hear to 'ee, Hugh!" cried Turnpenny. "And I do wish +we had a crowdy-kit aboard, for I mind me Tom Copstone can ply the bow, +and a merry tune would set our feet a-jog. To it again, Hugh; open +your thropple, man, and we'll bear our burden, every man of us." +</p> + +<p> +And Hugh Curder, after "hawking and spitting," as he said, because his +"wynd-pipe" was "summat scrannied for want o' use," struck up again: +</p> + +<p class="poem"> +"Her flags be new trimmed, set flaunting aloft——"<br /> +</p> + +<p><br /></p> + +<p> +"Not so," interrupted Ned Whiddon. "We bean't got no flags." +</p> + +<p> +"Pegs! 'tis in the ditty, Ned," cried Turnpenny. "None but a +ninny-hammer would look for sober truth in a ditty. Heed him not, +Hugh; to it again." +</p> + +<p class="poem"> +"Her flags be new trimmed, set flaunting aloft,<br /> + Our ship for swift swimming, oh she doth excel;<br /> +We fear no enemies, we've escaped them oft;<br /> + Of all ships that swimmeth she beareth the bell.<br /> + Lustily, oh lustily.<br /> +</p> + +<p class="poem"> +"And here is a master excelleth in skill,<br /> + And our master's mate he is not to seek;<br /> +And here is a boatswain will do his good will,<br /> +And here is a ship-boy, we never had leak."<br /> + Lustily, oh lustily."<br /> +</p> + +<p><br /></p> + +<p> +"You be the ship-boy, Hugh, seeing you be the youngest of us," said +Whiddon. "And you've a proper breast for a singing-boy." +</p> + +<p> +"Now the last stanzo, Hugh," cried Turnpenny. "'If fortune then fail +not,'—but my scrimpy voice murders it. Sing up, man." +</p> + +<p class="poem"> +"If fortune then fail not, and our next voyage prove,<br /> + We will return merrily and make good cheer,<br /> +And hold all together as friends linked in love,<br /> + The cans shall be filled with wine, ale, and beer,<br /> + Lustily, oh lustily."<br /> +</p> + +<p><br /></p> + +<p> +"'Tis not worth a crim," growled Jan Biddle, when the song was ended. +"'Wine, ale, and beer'—where is it? I'd give a week o' life for a +gallon o' home-brewed." +</p> + +<p> +"Ay, and what then!" said Gabriel Batten. "Sing the song of ale, Hugh." +</p> + +<p class="poem"> +"Back and side go bare, go bare,<br /> +Both foot and hand go cold——"<br /> +</p> + +<p><br /></p> + +<p> +"Nay, not that one; 'tis over long, and 'll make us too drouthy. +Seeing we have no ale, 't'ud be cruel to sing the praises of it so +feelingly. Nay, sing the ditty that serves for warning; 'twill better +fit our case." +</p> + +<p> +Hugh Curder began: +</p> + +<p class="poem"> +"Ale makes many a man to make his head have knocks;<br /> +And ale makes many a man to sit in the stocks;<br /> +And ale makes many a man to hang upon the gallows—"<br /> +</p> + +<p><br /></p> + +<p> +"Oh, shut his mouth!" cried Biddle testily. "We'll all be glumping if +we list to such trash. Hallo for the wind to change, for with this +nor'-easter blowing we'll never get clear of the coast." +</p> + +<p> +The vessel was indeed making slow progress, beating out against the +strong wind. Dennis, though elected Captain, had little to do with the +actual handling of the ship: in those days the captain was not always a +navigator. But the <i>Mirandola</i> was in good hands. Both Whiddon and +Batten were practised seamen, and in seamanship, as distinguished from +navigation, Turnpenny was incomparable. They had found in the cabin a +chart of the coast and the neighbouring sea, by means of which they +avoided the shoals and made without mishap towards the mouth of the +gulf. Dennis and Turnpenny examined the chart carefully to see if they +could distinguish the island they had named Maiden Isle. Several small +islands were marked on it as mere dots without names, and they could +not for a long time decide which of them was Maiden Isle; but Turnpenny +at last fixed on one of them, and his conjecture was proved to be +correct in the evening. Whiddon had set the course by Turnpenny's +suggestion, and just before dark the vessel skirted the south-eastern +corner of the island where he and Dennis had met so strangely. +</p> + +<p> +Looking at the chart, Dennis wondered how the <i>Maid Marian</i> had escaped +wrecking a dozen times during the hurricane that finally cast her up on +the western shore. There was marked a good open channel for vessels of +any draught south and south-east of the island, but, as he had guessed, +the sea to the north and west was practically unnavigable except by +small craft. The <i>Mirandola</i> gave the island a wide berth in passing; +the wind was freshening, and there were signs of heavy weather. Dennis +felt a little regret at leaving the island unvisited, and abandoning +the relics of his friends which he had saved from the wreck; but, like +every member of his party, he was eager to lose sight of this hostile +coast, and to gain the wide ocean where, given good luck, they would be +secure from Spanish molestation and have nothing to fear but the +ordinary chances of a long voyage. +</p> + +<p> +They made little headway that night. Anxious as they were to run out +of the main track of Spanish commerce, they felt the necessity of +choosing a safe rather than a short course, and especially of avoiding +the network of reefs and islands to leeward. In the blackest hours of +the night, indeed, they lay to, Turnpenny remarking that it was better +to lose a little time than to run the risk of losing the vessel by a +too bold navigation of unfamiliar seas. +</p> + +<p> +This caution proved to be justified, for the wind shifted in the night; +and when at break of day the <i>Mirandola</i> again got under way they found +that she had drifted dangerously near an island which, being very +small, was not marked on the chart. A light haze lay over the sea, but +it lifted soon, and then vast excitement was aroused on board when the +look-out shouted that he descried, under the lee of the island, a +vessel under full sail. Turnpenny took a long look at her, and +declared that she was a bark somewhat larger than the Mirandola, though +at the distance—near four miles, he thought—it was impossible to be +sure. +</p> + +<p> +"Of what nation is she?" asked Dennis. +</p> + +<p> +"No mortal man could say," returned Amos; "but 'tis a hundred to one +she be a Spaniard, and we must either fight or run." +</p> + +<p> +"Think you she will see us, being so small a vessel?" +</p> + +<p> +"None can tell that either. We must look to the worst. True, we have +the weather-gage of her; but soon or late she will overhaul us if she +gives chase. She has a look of speed, or I be no mariner. 'Tis +certain we cannot fight her; our armament will not suffice; +furthermore, from her size I reckon her crew be three or four times +ours, and our men have no mind to be captured and cast again into a +Spanish dungeon." +</p> + +<p> +"We must e'en run then," said Dennis with a sigh. "That means we must +put about?" +</p> + +<p> +"True, and 'tis somewhat in our favour, for you perceive the wind has +shifted in the night to west-sou'-west, and belike we can sail +close-hauled better than she can." +</p> + +<p> +Whiddon accordingly put the vessel about, and set the course so that +she could keep the island between herself and the stranger. But in the +course of the next hour it was clear that the <i>Mirandola</i> had not +escaped notice. The stranger had weathered the island and was +manifestly standing in pursuit. The crew of the <i>Mirandola</i> watched +her anxiously. They were but twenty-two all told, five of them being +French: and although they were all stout mariners with no lack of +native courage, the remembrance of their past sufferings did not +incline them to run risks. For some time it was doubtful whether the +pursuing vessel was or was not gaining; but as the day wore on it +became clear that the <i>Mirandola</i> was being outsailed. +</p> + +<p> +"'Tis a piece of rare good luck we had the wind against us last night," +said Turnpenny, "for in a straight chase in the open we should have no +chance against the critter, whereas if we get back among these islands +we may give her the slip." +</p> + +<p> +"If we do not strike a reef and founder," replied Dennis. +</p> + +<p> +Here Turnpenny tried a device that he had often seen practised on the +<i>Anne Gallant</i>. He ordered two men to go up to the cross-trees with a +pulley-block; they rove a line through, and, hoisting up buckets of +water, saturated all the canvas. Then he put all the men on to the lee +braces, and so got the vessel to lie a point nearer the wind. +</p> + +<p> +The two manoeuvres considerably increased her speed, but in spite of +all that seamanship could do or devise the gap between the vessels +sensibly diminished; the pursuer loomed ever larger down to leeward. +Then Jan Biddle began to show himself in his true colours. Dennis had +noticed that the man had attached to himself a group of the wilder +spirits among the crew, who with an ill grace went about the duties +assigned to them by Whiddon, and upon whom, indeed, the mate called as +seldom as possible. When it became clear that the <i>Mirandola</i> was +being surely overhauled, these men were observed in close talk beneath +the break of the poop. By and by Biddle swaggered forward, followed by +seven or eight of his comrades, to where Whiddon and Turnpenny stood, +forward of the mainmast. Batten was at the helm. +</p> + +<p> +"Art mad, Ned Whiddon?" cried Biddle in a hectoring tone. "Dost think +thou'rt a mariner? Crymaces! if we trust to thee we'll be laid by the +heels in the hold of yonder craft ere night." +</p> + +<p> +"Couldst do better, think 'ee?" asked Whiddon quietly. +</p> + +<p> +"Better? Who but a slin-pole would have done as 'ee have done? +There's but one way to scape out of the clutches of the Spaniards, and +that is to put the helm down, come about, and run for it. This craft +is better running free than close-hauled." +</p> + +<p> +"Know a fool by his folly," said Turnpenny. "Rule your saucy tongue, +Jan Biddle, and offer not to teach your betters." +</p> + +<p> +"Who be you to talk of betters, Amos Turnpenny—a sluddering rampallian +like you? An you will take no counsel we'll e'en see to the manage of +the vessel ourselves. Here, comrades, this be enough of these joulter +heads; let go the sheets; I will put the helm down and we'll go round +on the other tack: we'll have no fools over us, to bring us to harm." +</p> + +<p> +But before one of the malcontents could step forward to do his bidding, +Turnpenny threw his arms around Biddle, lifted him clean off his feet, +and flung him against the bulwarks, where he lay stunned. +</p> + +<p> +"And I'll serve any man likewise that dares to raise his voice in +mutiny. Get about, you villains, and 'ware lest you be clapped in +irons and set awash in the bilge." +</p> + +<p> +Dennis had hastened to Turnpenny's side at the first sign of +altercation. +</p> + +<p> +"When the chase is over we will deal with these fellows," he said +quietly. "Meanwhile, Amos, is not that our Maiden Isle on the lewside +ahead?" +</p> + +<p> +"Surely it is, sir." +</p> + +<p> +"Think you not 'twould serve us best to run in among the reefs +thereabouts? The bark could not follow us." +</p> + +<p> +"True, but we might strike and run aground any moment, and lose our +vessel and our lives withal." +</p> + +<p> +"Ay, but we are being surely overhauled, and meseems 'twere better to +take the risk of running aground than to fall into the hands of the +Spaniards. There is a chance of our threading a way through, whereas +the stranger, being of greater draught, would not venture her bottom +among these uncharted shoals." +</p> + +<p> +"Verily 'tis a wise thought—if there be time. What think 'ee, Ned? +Yonder, mark 'ee, is the isle whereon Master Hazelrig and I lived +secure for a matter of weeks, with food in plenty. Think 'ee there be +time to make the shallows afore the Spaniard comes within shot of us?" +</p> + +<p> +"Ay, there be time enough, but I fear me we should wreck our craft." +</p> + +<p> +"There be no other way, Ned. And I warrant me I could make a shift to +steer a safe course inshore, because 'twas on the south side of the +isle we landed from the timber ship, and there, i' fecks, be her +masts—see, Ned, standing out a little above the sea." +</p> + +<p> +"Then do 'ee take the helm, Haymoss, and God save us all." +</p> + +<p> +Clearly the course of the <i>Mirandola</i> was being closely watched on the +pursuing vessel, for when, tacking in obedience to the helm, she made +direct for the south of the island, there came a puff of smoke from the +side of the bark, and a shot plumped into the sea about two +cable-lengths astern. +</p> + +<p> +"'Twas over hurrisome, master don," said Turnpenny with a chuckle; "and +call me a Dutchman if 'ee ever get to closer range." +</p> + +<p> +He ran the little vessel cleverly inshore and steered past the wreck of +the timber ship. Then it occurred to Dennis that there must be a +practicable channel not far to the west, or the <i>Maid Marian</i> would +have gone aground in the hurricane long before she did. At his +suggestion the <i>Mirandola</i> was kept on her course for half a mile +beyond the southernmost point of the island. Then, as there was no +time to take soundings, she was put before the wind, with the object of +gaining the north of the island, where Dennis knew that if the pursuer +drew as much water as from her size seemed likely, there was little +chance of her being able to follow. +</p> + +<p> +The confident bearing of Dennis and Turnpenny had a cheering influence +on the crew. Even Jan Biddle, who had now recovered from his blow, and +his cronies seemed no longer inclined to quarrel with the handling of +the vessel. The pursuer was now out of sight, hidden by the bend of +the shore. The <i>Mirandola</i> was making excellent sailing before the +wind, and Dennis hoped that if she could elude the Spaniard until dark, +there might be a good chance of her escaping any further attentions. +</p> + +<p> +The pursuer came in sight again just as the <i>Mirandola</i> was approaching +the rocky ridge which had been a barrier to Dennis's exploration of the +shore on his first day on the island. He was rejoiced to see that in +wearing she had lost a little. Then a sudden idea struck him. Beyond +the ridge was the entrance to the gully, and up the gully the broad +pool in which the <i>Maid Marian</i> lay. Would not the best course after +all be to play a trick on the pursuer? Why not try to run into the +pool? When the <i>Mirandola</i> had once rounded the shoulder of the cliff +she would again be almost out of sight; if she could run into the gully +the pursuers would almost certainly suppose that she had fled round the +northern side of the island; and safe in the pool, she might lie there +until the chase had been given up. He mentioned his idea to Amos. +</p> + +<p> +"Be jowned if it bean't a right merry notion," cried the mariner. +</p> + +<p> +But none knew better the difficulty of steering the vessel safely into +the gully. There was no time for consideration. If once she passed +the entrance the vessel could not beat back again before the pursuer +came within range. The slightest failure in Turnpenny's seamanship +would run the bark on the rocks. But the old mariner knew the gully. +With set lips and a deep indentation between his brows he stood at the +helm and gave his orders to the men. +</p> + +<p> +"Stand by the halliards," he cried, "and let go the moment I say the +word." +</p> + +<p> +It was important to have plenty of way on the vessel, for the instant +she came to the headland the wind would be taken out of her canvas. +Easing the helm gently over, Turnpenny called to the men to let go as +the ship rounded the point; in a few moments the canvas was all taken +in, and with the way on her she glided up the gully. +</p> + +<p> +Within ten minutes from the time when the notion first occurred to +Dennis the <i>Mirandola</i> lay side by side with the wreck of the <i>Maid +Marian</i> in the pool, invisible from the open sea. +</p> + +<p> +"Mum's the word," said Turnpenny when the anchor had been dropped. +"Muzzle your jaws for a while. Master Hazelrig and me we knows this +island, and we'll mount the cliff yonder and see what the don Spaniard +makes of us now." +</p> + +<p> +Leaving the men to swim ashore if they chose, Dennis and Turnpenny +sprang overboard, soon found their footing, and scrambled up the rocks +and the cliff, keeping well under cover. When they reached the top +they saw the pursuer about three miles distant. She had shortened +sail, and was evidently inclined to give the coast a wider berth than +the <i>Mirandola</i> had done. It was growing dusk when she came level with +the gully, standing about a mile from the shore. Her movements for a +time were erratic; clearly the people on board distrusted the waters +round the island, and were somewhat perplexed as to the course taken by +the fugitive. At length they decided apparently to abandon the +pursuit, for she stood to windward, and the two watchers breathed again. +</p> + +<p><br /><br /><br /></p> + +<p><a id="chap16"></a></p> + +<h3> +CHAPTER XVI +</h3> + +<h4> +Jan Biddle, Master +</h4> + +<p> +"God be praised!" said Turnpenny, fervently; "we have escaped out of +the hands of the enemy." +</p> + +<p> +"And we find ourselves once more on Maiden Isle, the which I never +thought to set foot on more. I am glad of it, Amos, for now that we +have a bark fit to carry us over the sea, I would fain take with us +certain things that belonged to my dear comrades. They will be +cherished by their sorrowing folks at home." +</p> + +<p> +"True, the sight of such belongings of the dead and gone do have a +morsel of comfort in it. And moreover we can take some of your stores, +for though our own monkey ship be not ill provided, yet the victuals be +Spanish, and 'twill make new men of our comrades to give 'em a rasher +of bacon now and again." +</p> + +<p> +"Ay, but why monkey ship, Amos?" +</p> + +<p> +"Why, sir, I cannot put my tongue to the name your fancy gave the +vessel, and to my thinking it is not to compare with <i>Anne Gallant</i>, +and <i>Jesus</i>, and <i>Minion</i>, and other craft I have served aboard, to say +nothing of the <i>Susans</i> and <i>Bettys</i> that are well beknown in Plimworth +Sound." +</p> + +<p> +"Well, have your way. To my ears <i>Mirandola</i> hath a pleasant sound, +and it will always keep me in mind of my good friend. But 'tis time we +returned to our comrades." +</p> + +<p> +When they reached the entrance of the chine they found that the crew +had all come ashore, save one or two who were curiously examining the +wreck of the <i>Maid Marian</i>. They could not refrain from shouting a +glad "Huzza!" when they learnt that the pursuing vessel was standing +away. Jan Biddle and one of his cronies had been rummaging in Dennis's +hut and sheds, finding little to reward them, however, almost +everything having been transferred to Skeleton Cave. Night was drawing +on apace, and though some of the crew were for setting sail in the +darkness, the majority agreed with Dennis that it would be better to +defer their departure until the following night. This plan would give +them a whole day's rest; it would render it less likely that the +pursuer would be still in the neighbourhood; and it would enable them +to carry more water on board, which was desirable in view of the +possibility of a protracted voyage. Dennis and Amos decided to occupy +their old hut; the men were given their choice of the sheds, now all +but empty, and the huts erected by the maroons near the logwood grove. +They all declared for sleeping ashore rather than on board ship, Hugh +Curder and Gabriel Batten, however, volunteering to remain on deck as a +night watch. +</p> + +<p> +Next day, after the stores and things which Dennis wished to take home +had been transferred from the cave to the vessel, and several barrels +of fresh water from the spring in the cliff had been placed in her +hold, the men broke up into little groups and wandered about the +island, revelling in their liberty and in the abundance of fruit which +they could have for the picking. Several times Dennis went to the +cliff top on one side and Amos on the other side of the island to scan +the horizon for a sail, but neither saw any sign of one. In the +afternoon Dennis ventured to sound Sir Martin's trumpet as a signal of +recall, and the men came dropping back in ones and twos and threes in +anticipation of departure. +</p> + +<p> +The tide was at flood, and Dennis had just given the order to go +aboard, when Tom Copstone suddenly exclaimed— +</p> + +<p> +"Zuggers! Where be Gabriel Batten?" +</p> + +<p> +"Is he not here?" asked Dennis. +</p> + +<p> +"Not the ghost of him," said Amos, looking round on the company. +</p> + +<p> +"He were always a ninny-hammer," cried Jan Biddle angrily. "Never did +I know such a man for simples and other trash. Sure he be roaming +somewheres with his nose to the ground, trying to smell out some herb +that will heal a scratch or cure a distemper." +</p> + +<p> +"Blow up the trumpet for en," suggested Copstone; "Gabr'el be a vitty +lad—none the worse for not being made so rampageous as 'ee, Jan +Biddle, for all he do go wool-gathering at whiles." +</p> + +<p> +Biddle glared at the speaker, but said no more. Hugh Curder, being the +man with the brazen lungs, blew a loud blast on the trumpet which set +the cliffs and the chine reverberating. They waited; the wanderer must +have gone far indeed if he was out of earshot of that strident blare. +But as time went on, and he did not appear, Dennis began to be somewhat +vexed. +</p> + +<p> +"'Twas thoughtless of the man," he said; "already is the tide beginning +to ebb, in two hours it will be impossible to embark this night, and +that entails upon us the loss of another day." +</p> + +<p> +"Embark without him," growled Biddle. "What is he that he should keep +a score of good men waiting his pleasure?" +</p> + +<p> +"Nay, nay," said Dennis. "We cannot leave him here. You have had your +sufferings and sorrows, from the like of which God save us all; but is +there a man of you that hath dwelt alone upon an island, spending +nights and days without the sight of a face, or the sound of a voice? +That have I done, and not willingly shall I subject a man to a like +solitude. There is still a little space during which the tide will +serve. Let us scatter in parties, some going this way, some that, and +halloo; perchance some of us may light on our comrade." +</p> + +<p> +The suggestion was adopted; only Jan Biddle and his few particular +friends went about the search grudgingly. But though the men scoured +the island from shore to shore, and kept up the quest to the very verge +of nightfall, long after the tide had run so low that the idea of +setting sail till next day had to be abandoned, they discovered no +trace of the straggler, and returned weary and irritable when the +trumpet recalled them. +</p> + +<p> +"He may come in by and by," said Dennis cheerfully. "If not we must +e'en take up the search in the morning. We shall have a whole day +wherein to pursue it. Let us now get our supper and commend ourselves +and our comrades to God." +</p> + +<p> +"Odspitikins!" cried Jan Biddle. "What did I say! What a captain is +this! Here be we, twenty-one souls, raped up here for one slummaking +micher not worth a varden." +</p> + +<p> +"My heart!" shouted Amos, "you were best keep a still tongue in your +noddle, Jan Biddle, or with the captain's leave I'll clap 'ee in irons +the instant we go aboard, and keep 'ee under hatches for a sluddering +mutineer—ay, and larrap 'ee first, I warrant 'ee." +</p> + +<p> +Biddle's experience of the strength of Turnpenny's arm did not +encourage him to repeat his protest; but when the supper was spread on +the rocks above the pool, he carried off his portion to a place apart, +and nursed his wrath among a small group of his comrades who followed +him. The malcontents numbered eight in all, and four of these were +Frenchmen, with whom Biddle could converse freely in their own tongue. +</p> + +<p> +Again they slept ashore, except the two who had been selected to keep +watch on the vessel. The precaution seemed hardly necessary, for it +was unlikely that a hostile ship would appear in the night; but +Turnpenny had suggested that it was well to keep up the customs +observed at sea. The men chosen for this night's watch were two steady +fellows named William Hawk and Luke Fenton. +</p> + +<p> +Dennis lay awake for some time, talking with Amos about the missing +man. Though he had maintained a cheerful composure before the crew, he +was in reality not a little vexed at the delay caused by the +thoughtlessness of Gabriel Batten. +</p> + +<p> +"Is it true, what Biddle said," he asked, "about Batten's madness for +gathering simples?" +</p> + +<p> +"Ay, 'tis true. He be a vitty lad, as Tom Copstone said, and a good +seaman, quiet withal; but he has a maggot, and 'tis that, without a +doubt, that has led him aroaming. There be a time for everything, and +though I do not deny that Gabriel's skill in simples has ofttimes +served us well, 'tis not to be wondered at that the men make a pucker +about it." +</p> + +<p> +"Well, we must find him to-morrow. We cannot sail away without him; +why, there is not even a Mirandola here now to bear him company." +</p> + +<p> +"Be jowned if I don't ballirag en to-morrow for his hanticks, +od-rat-en!" +</p> + +<p> +Dennis passed a restless night, waking often, to wonder what had become +of the wanderer. He resolved to set out himself as soon as dawn broke, +and take advantage of his knowledge of the island to search thoroughly. +Finding himself unable to sleep again, he got up while the chine was +still in darkness, and walked to the edge of the cliff overlooking the +pool. In the gloom he could just see the dark form of the <i>Maid +Marian</i>; but then he started, rubbed his eyes, looked again, and felt a +shock of amazement when he realized that the other vessel was no longer +there. Next moment it flashed upon him that she must have dragged her +moorings and floated away on the very last of the ebb-tide, and the +fact that no alarm had been given seemed to show that the watchers had +fallen asleep, overcome by the sweltering heat of the tropical night. +</p> + +<p> +Calling to Amos, he set off at full speed down the cliff towards the +opening of the gully, narrowly escaping a serious fall in the darkness. +He was much relieved to see, on rounding the shoulder of the cliff, the +dark hull of the vessel in front of him. The tide was so low that it +was marvellous she had floated so far without grounding, and the +thought that she might strike a reef and cause further delay while +repairs were made prompted a vigorous shout, to waken the neglectful +watch ere it was too late. But there came no answering hail from the +vessel; and fearing that, even if she did not run aground, the men on +board might not have sufficient seamanship to bring her back in safety, +he dived into the water and struck out in her wake. +</p> + +<p> +As he did so, he heard footsteps behind him, two or three voices, and +the sound of another splash. Evidently some one had followed him. The +<i>Mirandola</i> was moving very slowly; the motion of the tide was indeed +almost imperceptible, and Dennis, being a good swimmer, soon came under +her counter. Catching hold, by a happy chance as he thought, of a rope +that had formed her mooring cable, he swarmed hand over hand up the +side and on to the deck. But no sooner had his feet touched the planks +than two figures sprang towards him, a blanket was thrown over his +head, and before he could utter a sound he was flung down, gagged, and +pinioned. +</p> + +<p> +Even through the thick folds of the blanket Dennis was able to hear a +great scuffling on board within a few seconds of his own discomfiture. +Then all was still, except for the muffled tones of his captors' +voices. He could not hear what they said, but it was not long before +he knew from the greater motion of the vessel that they must have +hoisted sail. Not for a moment did he doubt the meaning of it all. +Who but Jan Biddle and his fellow malcontents would have had the daring +to run off with the vessel? The man was a ruffian in looks, and Dennis +had already had several evidences of his turbulent spirit. And, lying +helpless and half smothered on the deck, he did not have to seek far +for the motive of the act. It was not merely chagrin at being denied a +rank; the man knew that there were pearls in the hold, a valuable +treasure, and his treachery was prompted by cupidity. He had supposed, +Dennis suspected, that as a simple mariner among the crew he would get +but a small portion of the treasure when it should be divided, and +persuaded some of the men to make this attempt to secure the whole. +Angry as he was, Dennis could not withhold a certain admiration for the +man's daring; and then he fell a-wondering why he had not been struck +on the head and killed outright; a ruffian like Biddle would hardly +have spared him from any feeling of compunction. +</p> + +<p> +How long Dennis lay half stifled under the blanket he could not tell. +Hours seemed to have passed when it was at last removed, and he could +breathe freely. And there, beside him, lay Amos Turnpenny, gagged like +himself. Jan Biddle and several of his comrades stood over them, +grinning with malicious triumph. +</p> + +<p> +"Pegs, Captain," said the man, "you do seem betoatled. Thought the +vessel had broke a-loose, I reckon. And so she had—eh, comrades?" +</p> + +<p> +"Ho! ho!" laughed the men, vastly appreciating their leader's joke. +</p> + +<p> +"Now, we be eight, young master captain,—stout fellows, but a small +crew for this vessel. You be in our power, you and Haymoss too, for +all he be a rare fustilugs; and down a-hold lie Bill Hawk and Luke +Fenton, that kept but a ninny-watch, to be sure. Wherefore we be +twelve all told, enough for the manage of this craft. Haymoss will not +be boatswain, to be sure, nor you captain; I be captain; boatswain is +French Michel yonder; but 'ee can take your choice,—help to work this +vessel, or walk the plank. Now I will loose your gags, and you and +Haymoss can talk the matter out, and when ye've made up your minds +we'll unbind 'ee, or tumble 'ee overboard, according." +</p> + +<p> +Left to themselves, Dennis and Turnpenny were not long in deciding on +their course of action. They were at present outnumbered; they had to +accept the inevitable. Their assistance would be very valuable in the +working of the vessel, and Biddle, in spite of his assured bearing, was +by no means so confident in his seamanship and skill as he tried to +make himself appear. After his treacherous conduct he had no reason to +suppose that Turnpenny would lift a finger to make good his +deficiencies; on the other hand it was not to the interest of the +prisoners that the ship should come to grief through mishandling, and +Biddle knew that in extremity Turnpenny's instinct of seamanship would +forbid him to hold aloof. +</p> + +<p> +But while Dennis and the mariner agreed that they had no choice but to +accept the position with what grace they might, they resolved to bide +their time for getting the vessel again under their control and +returning to the island. +</p> + +<p> +"My poor comrades and me be parted again," said Amos, with a sigh. +"'Tis true it will not be so bad for them upon the island as 'twas for +us. But there they be, and there they must bide until we can fetch 'em +off." +</p> + +<p> +"And mayhap the Spaniards will land before we can get back to them, and +then God help the poor fellows. There is little chance we two can +overpower these eight villains; we can but hope on." +</p> + +<p> +Having acquainted Biddle with their decision, they were cast loose, and +sat beneath the break of the poop watching their captors' attempts at +navigation. The vessel had rounded the easternmost point of the island +and was running before a south-south-westerly wind. But it made little +progress; as the day wore on the breeze died away, and the island was +still in sight as the sun gradually sank in the western sky. The +mutineers cast somewhat anxious glances around, as if fearing that the +comrades they had betrayed might even now find some means of following +them. But as the island gradually faded into the dusk their spirits +rose, and having broached one of the few jars of wine which had been +left in the cabin, they began to boast of the success of their trick. +Biddle even acquainted the prisoners with the manner in which it had +been carried out. In the darkness they had surprised the watch on +board, and cut the cable mooring the vessel to a tree at the side of +the gully; then seven of them had lowered the jolly-boat and in it +towed the ship past the shoulder of the cliff until the sails caught +the wind and it was carried free of the shore. He told Dennis +exultantly that if he had swum out three or four minutes earlier the +plot would have been defeated, for only he was then on board, at the +helm. But just before Dennis scrambled on board the others had +clambered up by the fore chains, and his cry and plunge having been +heard, there had been time to arrange for his reception. +</p> + +<p> +The crescent moon, which had somewhat favoured the attack on the fort, +had now increased in size, and threw a thin silvery light upon the sea. +Biddle, among a little group of his comrades, was still recounting his +achievement for the benefit of Dennis and Turnpenny when the look-out +shouted that he spied a vessel to windward. +</p> + +<p> +"What care I for a vessel to windward!" cried the man. "We'll give her +the slip in the dark. I, Jan Biddle, be captain now; ay, what did Hugh +Curder sing t'other day? +</p> + +<p class="poem"> +Here is a master excelleth in skill,<br /> +And our master's mate he is not to seek.<br /> +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +That be Dick Rackstraw, Haymoss, a merry soul, not a glumping galliment +like 'ee. +</p> + +<p class="poem"> +And here is a boatswain will do his good will——<br /> +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +not you, Haymoss; you be boatswain no longer; 'tis French Michel, a +deal better man. +</p> + +<p class="poem"> +And here is a ship-boy——<br /> +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +why, hang me if we won't make a ship-boy of our noble captain, +comrades. 'Tis a stripling, to be sure, and I warrant will be none the +worse for a smitch o' tar on his fingers. Ees, we'll make him +ship-boy, we will so. Ho! ho! +</p> + +<p class="poem"> +And here is a ship-boy——"<br /> +</p> + +<p><br /></p> + +<p> +But his mirth and the gleeful shouts of the others were suddenly +checked when the look-out cried that he saw a second, and then a third +vessel. Biddle sprang up with an oath and ran to the taffrail. What +he saw did not lessen his alarm. The three strangers were coming up on +a broad front, half a mile between them. They were evidently bringing +a freshening breeze with them, for they had not been visible when +darkness first fell. It was clear to a mariner's eye that the bark +would have to show her best sailing powers if she was to escape. She +had been sailing under foresail and mainsail only, but now in frantic +haste the crew, in obedience to Biddle's orders, set the topsails and +the topgallants. But before the effect of this was apparent the +approaching ships had crept up within gun range. It was not long in +doubt whether they had seen the <i>Mirandola</i>, and were making straight +for her. A flash was seen from the bows of one of the vessels; a few +seconds afterwards a muffled roar was heard. +</p> + +<p> +"Blank charge!" said Turnpenny to Dennis. "'Tis a word of warning." +</p> + +<p> +Biddle only shouted a defiant curse. The bark was now feeling the full +force of the wind, and was making good headway. It appeared likely +that, running before the wind, she could hold her own with the +strangers. A minute later another gun was fired, and this time with no +harmless intent, for there was a great splash in the water a little +ahead of the <i>Mirandola</i> on the starboard side. After a short +interval, a third discharge shook the air, and the mutineers raised an +exultant shout when they saw the splash some distance astern. It was +clear that, if the guns had been fired with the same elevation, the +chase was drawing away. The dropping of a fourth and fifth shot still +farther astern left no room for doubt. +</p> + +<p> +"What say you now, master boatswain as was!" cried Biddle, +triumphantly. "Bean't Jan Biddle as good a mariner as Haymoss +Turnpenny? +</p> + +<p> +Here be a master excelleth in skill."<br /> +</p> + +<p> +</p> + +<p> +"My heart! it be a true saying, don't halloo till 'ee be out o' the +wood," said Amos, grimly. +</p> + +<p> +"Zuggers! but you be a molkit, Haymoss, a molly-caudle to be sure. Go +aft, Haymoss, and cuddle the ship-boy and say your prayers." +</p> + +<p> +Turnpenny raised his arm to strike the insolent fellow, but Dennis +whispered him to let it pass; there was nothing to be gained by a fight +at the present moment, even supposing they prevailed against the odds. +</p> + +<p> +Hour after hour the chase continued. The moon went down, but still the +three vessels could be seen in the dim starlight. Clearly the +<i>Mirandola</i>, good sailor as she was, could not shake them off. Biddle +ceased to boast; his blustering confidence was changing to dismay, for +he now perceived that though he had drawn further and further away from +the vessel that had fired, her consort to windward was becoming more +clearly visible. He had not reckoned on so obstinate a chase; +moreover, being unable to read a chart, he had no idea whither the +vessel was heading. There was no chance of doubling. To alter the +course would be to lose time, and allow the persistent pursuer to make +up on her. She seemed indeed to be gradually decreasing the distance +between them, though the other two were out of sight. +</p> + +<p> +So the chase went on through the hours of darkness, and daybreak showed +two vessels far astern, but the third without doubt creeping up slowly +but surely. Biddle, weary with the long night's work, was in a sullen +rage; the other men watched the pursuer with undisguised terror; Dennis +and Turnpenny, holding themselves aloof, looked on with curiosity and +something of amusement. +</p> + +<p> +"Jan Biddle be no fool," said Turnpenny once. "I could not have +handled the craft better myself. But 'tis not an end." +</p> + +<p> +Then, when the spirits of the crew were depressed to the lowest, an +early morning mist settled down upon the sea, blotting the pursuer from +sight. +</p> + +<p> +"Jaykle! 'tis a mercy!" cried Biddle, rousing himself. +</p> + +<p> +He instantly changed the course of the vessel. +</p> + +<p> +"We'll fool them this mizzly morn," he said. "Mum's the word now, +comrades." +</p> + +<p> +Dead silence was maintained on board, and for some hours the bark made +steady headway through the mist. Dennis could not but admire the +mutineer's fine recklessness. Without any sure knowledge of his +bearings he held the vessel steadily to the wind, though she might at +any moment strike a coral reef or even run aground on one of the +innumerable islets that studded the gulf. He was bent only on escaping +the dreaded grip of the Spaniards. +</p> + +<p> +At length the fog began to clear, dissipated by the increasing heat of +the mounting sun. The crew strained their eyes through the eddying +mist, to assure themselves that the pursuer, as they hoped, had been +deluded by the change of course. But they were appalled, and looked +from one to another with a gasp of dismay, when they saw, less than +half a league distant, a large Spanish galleon holding exactly the same +course as themselves. Far down on the southern horizon another sail +could be seen. +</p> + +<p> +"What I'd have done myself," said Turnpenny to Dennis. "The Spanish +skipper be no fool neither. When the mist came down he guessed the +manoeuvres of Master Jan, and afore he was closed in by it he had time +to signal the others to make off, one east, t'other sou'east, while he +held on the same course, thereby making sure that we'd still be in +sight of one or other of 'em when the mist lifted. Ah! lookeedesee, +sir; there's a flag a-running up the galleon's forepeak. 'Tis a signal +to the others to come and join the chase. Be jowned if Jan Biddle +han't got to run the race all over again!" +</p> + +<p><br /><br /><br /></p> + +<p><a id="chap17"></a></p> + +<h3> +CHAPTER XVII +</h3> + +<h4> +The Demi-Culverin +</h4> + +<p> +Jan Biddle's face was the image of despairing rage when he saw how he +had been outwitted. But he stuck gamely to the helm. The <i>Mirandola</i> +was now carrying every stitch of canvas possible; her only chance, and +that but a slight one, was to fly on before the wind. Dennis was +tingling with excitement. Here was the bark, cutting through the water +at a spanking rate; there the larger galleon, speeding after her under +press of sail, and two other vessels equally large coming up from the +south. He had forgotten that he was a prisoner—forgotten everything +but the fact that the implacable enemy was at his heels. +</p> + +<p> +Suddenly he saw the galleon luff up in the wind, and noticed a lift of +the foresail. +</p> + +<p> +"Now she's at us!" cried Amos at his elbow, scarcely less excited. +</p> + +<p> +From the bows of the galleon came a spout of white smoke, blown back +amid the sails and rigging, and disappearing in a long wispy trail to +leeward. The report of the gun followed close, and the shot plumped +into the sea less than twenty yards astern. +</p> + +<p> +"Be jowned if it do not put me in mind of brave doings on the <i>Anne +Gallant</i>" said Turnpenny. "'Twas well aimed; an they get our range, +'tis heigh for our pearls and pieces of eight!" +</p> + +<p> +A second shot came, falling about the same distance short of the mark. +A third and fourth followed at intervals, neither hitting the vessel, +each failure greeted with a yell from the crew, who seemed now to have +lost their terror in the sheer excitement of the chase. On swept the +gallant <i>Mirandola</i>, showers of spray flashing over her bows, her +slender masts swaying and creaking under the stress of her bellying +canvas. Then a shot whistled over the masthead. +</p> + +<p> +"Too high, too high!" shouted Amos. "She's got our range now, to a +surety; would they but depress the gun and our cockle-shell would be +shivered to splinters. Jan Biddle be a better man than I took him for; +see the sinews of his arms as he grips the helm. My heart! but he be a +mazy Jack to think he can 'scape that tantarabobs. Ah!" +</p> + +<p> +His final exclamation was occasioned by the effect of another shot from +the enemy's bow-chaser. It struck the taffrail, and cast up a huge +splinter which flew straight across the poop. Next moment Jan Biddle +was stretched senseless beside the helm, and the helm taking charge, +the ship ran off before the wind. The crew were aghast. Biddle was +their captain, but he was more; he was the soul of their enterprise. +Without him they were as a flock of sheep. Not a man of them was fit +to direct. Some cried out for surrendering; the bolder spirits howled +them down, swearing it were better to sink with the ship than to return +to the servitude from which they had but lately escaped. When Biddle +fell, Amos, with the instinct of the mariner, had rushed towards the +unmanned helm. +</p> + +<p> +"Sir, 'tis our turn," he called to Dennis. "Let us do what we can to +save this vessel, and od-rabbit the mutineers!" +</p> + +<p> +He leapt to the helm, seized it in his iron grip, and brought the ship +once more to the wind. +</p> + +<p> +"See!" said Dennis at his side. "Yonder streak on the horizon is +surely the mainland. Is not our only chance to win the coast? We +cannot escape by mere sailing, but there will be shallows amid which +perchance we may slip away as at Maiden Isle. Shall we not attempt it, +Amos?" +</p> + +<p> +"Ay, ay, sir. We'll run inshore, and methinks I know a trick will help +us." +</p> + +<p> +At this moment another shot fell and ploughed up the deck, striking up +a shower of splinters in all directions. Again arose cries for +surrender; but Dennis shouted to the frantic men: +</p> + +<p> +"Amos is at the helm. Trust to him. Remember what he did at the fort. +Never surrender to the dogs of Spain. We will 'scape them even yet." +</p> + +<p> +At his words they plucked up heart; all they wanted was a leader; and +when Turnpenny declared that land was in sight, and that he'd be jowned +if he didn't cheat the don Spaniards, they answered with a cheer. +</p> + +<p> +Outclassed as the <i>Mirandola</i> was in sailing before the wind, it +occurred to Amos that she might show to better advantage in working to +windward. Accordingly he altered her course a few points. The +immediate effect was that the enemy gained a little, and with a broader +target succeeded twice in hulling the vessel. Apparently the shots did +little damage, for she still rode the waters buoyantly, and after some +time, to the joy of the crew, it was seen that the gap between the two +ships was sensibly widening. But now a more serious danger threatened +the gallant bark. The second of the enemy's vessels, which was some +distance to windward when the mist lifted, was rapidly making towards a +point where she might intercept the <i>Mirandola</i> and drive her back +towards the galleon which she had just escaped. Turnpenny's seamanship +was capable of no more. To tack would have been to run into the lion's +jaws; to bear up would have been equally hopeless; all he could do was +to stand on, and possibly weather the vessel ahead. +</p> + +<p> +He explained the difficulty to Dennis, who was still at his side. +Dennis knew no trick of navigation that would meet the case; but +racking his wits to find some means of helping the hardy mariner, he +suddenly asked himself whether it were not possible to use one of the +guns he had brought as trophies from the fort. They were big guns, +quite disproportionate to so small a vessel as the <i>Mirandola</i>. To +fire them might do more damage to her than to the enemy. But it was a +moment when something might well be risked, and he mentioned his idea +to Turnpenny. +</p> + +<p> +"Good-now, 'tis a brave notion!" cried the mariner. "Do 'ee grab the +helm, sir; head her straight for the coast; Ise warrant 'ee I'll soon +give the villain a mouthful of iron." +</p> + +<p> +Amos rushed amidships, called all the crew about him, set some of them +to rig up the tackle blocks by which the weapons had been lowered into +the hold, and himself knocked off the hatch and descended. His first +proceeding was to unloose William Hawk and Luke Fenton, the two men who +had been surprised by the mutineers, and had since lain side by side in +no enviable state of mind or body. +</p> + +<p> +"Od rabbit 'ee for a brace of numskulls!" he exclaimed. "Get 'ee up +and come show a leg, now." +</p> + +<p> +With their assistance he slung the demi-culverin by its pomelion, and +the men above hoisted it to the deck; the carriage followed, then its +ammunition, and Amos set about mounting it. There was no time to lug +it to the quarter-deck. Amos ordered the men to place the carriage, +consisting of two "cheeks" or side-pieces held together by thick +cross-pieces of wood, on the waist; then the cannon was slung on to it, +the clamps were fixed over the trunnions, and a quoin was driven under +the gun to prevent it from sagging towards the breech. When mounted on +the fort it had not been secured by breechings, but Amos quickly made +ready a length of stout rope, fastened one end to the gun, and clinched +the other to ring-bolts in the vessel's side. This would check the +recoil when the gun was fired. +</p> + +<p> +Amos was now in his element. He had not been for nothing gunner's mate +aboard the <i>Anne Gallant</i> twenty-five years before. He lost no time in +loading the piece with round shot; then, all being ready, he ran back +to instruct Dennis how to bring the vessel round when he gave the word. +He found that Biddle, who had merely been stunned by the flying +splinter, was now sitting with his back against the taffrail, watching +these proceedings in a sullen envy. +</p> + +<p> +"The Spaniard will draw closer when we yaw, sir," said Amos, "but that +we cannot help; and 'tis a mercy we are out of range of her bow-chaser." +</p> + +<p> +"Is she not beyond range of our gun, Amos?" +</p> + +<p> +"Nare a bit, sir. Our demi-culverin is bigger, I'se warrant, than any +gun she has aboard. Point-blank her range be a hundred fathoms; but I +reckon I can hit the knave at six hundred at the least. Put the helm +down when I call, and then I'll send an apple aboard will be ill to +digest." +</p> + +<p> +He returned to the gun, and sang out to Dennis; he put the helm down, +the vessel yawed, and when she lay broadside to the pursuer, Amos +carefully laid the piece, aiming directly at the fore-mast. He waited +till the vessel rose on the next wave, then gave the word to William +Hawk, who stood by the breech with lighted match. The match was +applied; there was a deafening roar, followed by a sound of rending; +the <i>Mirandola</i> quivered from stem to stern; and through the smoke it +was seen that the gun had jumped clean out of the carriage and was +lying against the step of the mainmast. Amos ran to it in haste, +fearing that it might have burst in the discharge. But it was +uninjured. Several planks amidships had been started; the mainmast was +heavily scored; and a number of round shot were rolling about the +waist. Amos shouted to the men to remount the gun and sponge it out, +while he ran to the side to see what the effect of the shot had been, +calling to Dennis to put the helm up again and head the vessel on her +former course. +</p> + +<p> +The smoke had cleared away, and Amos saw that the pursuer had gained +considerably, and was still coming on apparently undamaged. But a few +minutes later he uttered a shout of glee. There was a bustle in the +forepart of the Spanish ship; men were crowding to the gunwale; and +Amos perceived that they were letting a sail down over the side. +</p> + +<p> +"I hit her betwixt wind and water," he cried to Dennis. "They are +letting down a sail to stop the leak. True, I aimed at the foremast, +but she rose somewhat quicker than I did guess and so 'scaped with a +hulling." +</p> + +<p> +"But she has gained on us, Amos. The hurt she has suffered does not +abate her speed." +</p> + +<p> +"Truly, so it is, but I will give her another so soon as the gun is +righted, and call me a joulter-head an I do not deal her such a blow +that she'll tottle like a man fair buddled." +</p> + +<p> +Dennis called to Luke Fenton to take the helm, while he went forward to +scan the horizon for the hazy streak which he had taken, half an hour +before, for the shore-line. He had barely reached the cut-water when +he heard the roar of a gun and the sound of a crashing blow. For an +instant the vessel's head fell off, and turning hastily he saw Jan +Biddle rushing to the helm. A round shot from the enemy's bow-chaser +had fallen smack upon the poop, smashing the binnacle, and killing poor +Fenton instantly. Only Biddle's prompt action had saved the ship from +yawing and presenting her broadside to the pursuer. +</p> + +<p> +Seeing that the helm was in safe hands, Dennis turned once more and +glanced anxiously towards the shore, which was now beginning to loom +large to windward. Was it possible, he wondered, to reach it before he +could be cut off by the second Spanish vessel? He measured the +distance with his eye, and his heart sank as he perceived that, if she +held her present course, the Spaniard could not fail to run across the +bows of the <i>Mirandola</i> long before she could gain the coast. It +seemed that he must choose between surrendering and fighting against +heavy odds. But certainly one ship would be easier to deal with than +two; might not another fortunate shot from the demi-culverin cripple +the vessel in chase, and so enable the <i>Mirandola</i> to get away from one +of her pursuers? Dennis did not forget that there was still a third +vessel somewhere to leeward, but she was at present out of sight. +</p> + +<p> +By this time the gun had been righted and reloaded. Dennis hastened to +rejoin Amos. +</p> + +<p> +"Shall I take the helm again, or leave it to Biddle?" he asked. +</p> + +<p> +"Fegs, I say leave it to him, and do 'ee take the match, sir. I'se +warrant 'ee'd be quicker than Billy Hawk. Biddle will port the helm +when I give the word; he hates you and me, but he hates the Spaniards +worse." +</p> + +<p> +This time the gun had been loaded with chain shot. At a hail from +Amos, Biddle put the helm down, the vessel swung round, and as soon as +she was broadside to the enemy Amos carefully laid the gun, loosening +the quoin, and thereby elevating the muzzle, which he pointed straight +for the pursuer's foremast. But the enemy was now more alert. At the +first sign of the <i>Mirandola</i> yawing the galleon began to swing round +by the stern, so that the two vessels came broadside on within a few +moments of each other. Those few moments gave time for Amos to resight +his gun. Dennis stood ready, match in hand. +</p> + +<p> +"Now!" said the mariner, as the <i>Mirandola</i> sank on the roll while the +galleon rose. +</p> + +<p> +The gun spoke. Only a second or two later it seemed to the crew of the +<i>Mirandola</i> that the end of all things must have come. With a +thunderous roar the whole broadside of the enemy burst upon them. Some +of the enemy's shots passed clean over the smaller vessel; her masts +almost miraculously escaped harm, but her hull was struck in half a +dozen places, and her long-boat splintered to atoms. And the big gun, +breaking loose from its extemporized breechings, recoiled obliquely +across the waist, smashed through the forecastle, and plunged with a +resounding splash into the sea. Some of the men were groaning in pain; +the Frenchmen were flat on their faces beseeching their saints; Dennis +found himself in a heap by the break of the poop; for the moment Amos +was not to be seen. +</p> + +<p> +Dennis picked himself up and peered through the smoke to see whether +the enemy had suffered any hurt. To his joy he saw that both the +foremast and the mainmast of the galleon had been shattered. +Turnpenny's shot had cut away the shrouds of the foremast, causing this +to snap off, and struck the mainmast fair and square. The enemy's +decks were smothered under a medley of spars and rigging; it was clear +that the galleon was out of action, and already the <i>Mirandola</i> was +rapidly drawing away. This her crew perceived, and the air was rent +with a tremendous shout of triumph. +</p> + +<p> +But their exultation was short-lived. Half a minute later Amos came up +the hatchway and hurried aft. +</p> + +<p> +"Sir, there be three terrible rents in the hull below water. I feared +as much when I felt the shots strike the vessel. The galleon's masts +must have fallen just as the knaves were a-firing, and so the most of +her shots struck us low." +</p> + +<p> +"Can we stop the leaks?" +</p> + +<p> +"I fear, I fear! But we'll try." +</p> + +<p> +In a few minutes a sail was lowered over the side, and at the same time +two of the men ran below and tried to stop the leaks from within. But +in spite of all efforts the water gained, and in the course of half an +hour it was plain to all on board that the vessel must founder unless +she could be run ashore in time. +</p> + +<p> +While the men were still doing their best to check the inrush of the +water, Dennis and Turnpenny went forward to calculate their chances. +</p> + +<p> +"'Tis a good ten mile away," said Turnpenny, "and we be going slower +every minute." +</p> + +<p> +"True. But see, the other vessel yonder, that might have cut us off, +has altered her course. She is standing to her consort's aid." +</p> + +<p> +"God be praised for that, but I fear we shall be water-logged in no +long time, and then she can overhaul us at her ease. In an hour we +must take to the jollyboat. 'Tis a God's mercy that was not smashed up +like the long-boat." +</p> + +<p> +"Then we'll put our stores aboard her at once, so that we lose no time +when the moment comes. And I do not give up hope, even now, of running +the bark ashore." +</p> + +<p> +But in half an hour it was clear that the case was hopeless. The men +came running from below with the news that the water was gaining more +and more rapidly; the vessel was settling down; her motion had almost +ceased. And the situation was rendered the more alarming by the fact +that during this half-hour the uninjured galleon, having found +apparently that her consort was in no immediate danger of sinking, had +again altered her course and was now in hot pursuit. It was to be a +race to the shore. +</p> + +<p> +The jolly-boat had already been stored with provisions, water, and a +number of calivers with their ammunition. At the last moment Dennis +and Turnpenny brought from below the bags of pearls from the cabin in +which they had been locked. Then Dennis ordered the boat to be +lowered, the crew quickly went down the side and entered her. Two of +the men had been so badly hurt by the enemy's shot that they had to be +lowered into the boat. Fenton was dead, so that the whole effective +company now numbered only nine men. The wounded men were laid in the +bows, Dennis took the tiller, and the remaining eight gave way with a +will, knowing that hanging would be their mildest fate if they fell +again into the enemy's hands. +</p> + +<p><br /><br /><br /></p> + +<p><a id="chap18"></a></p> + +<h3> +CHAPTER XVIII +</h3> + +<h4> +Juan the Maroon +</h4> + +<p> +It was now past midday, and the sun's rays beat down upon them with +cruel power. Yet none of them was glad when the wind freshened, +bringing a touch of coolth; for it filled the sails of the vessel in +chase, which loomed ever larger and larger in their wake. The land +appeared to be very close, but to Dennis's anxious eyes it scarcely +seemed to grow closer. For mile after mile the rowers toiled on in the +sweltering heat. Dennis ventured to leave the tiller for a few moments +to give them water when they flagged. One of the men collapsed, and +Dennis crawled to his thwart and took his oar, bidding him go to the +tiller. So the chase went on, until, when the boat was still more than +a mile from land, the enemy began to fire. The mere sight of the shots +splashing in the sea astern stirred the wearied rowers to renewed +efforts. When, after a few minutes, a shot fell immediately in their +wake, sending up a terrific burst of spray, their energy seemed to be +doubled again. +</p> + +<p class="capcenter"> +<a id="img-256.jpg"></a> +<img class="imgcenter" src="images/img-256.jpg" alt=""A shot fell immediately in their wake."" /> +<br /> +"A shot fell immediately in their wake." +</p> + +<p> +Dennis now had his back to the shore. It could not, he thought, be +more than half a mile away: how far would the enemy venture to follow +them? Surely she would not come much farther, at the imminent risk of +running aground on a shoal. He saw a man at the chains taking +soundings. Then suddenly the vessel was thrown into the wind, and she +fired the whole of her broadside, in the hope, no doubt, that at least +one shot would strike the target. The men were so played out that they +were not able even to raise a feeble cheer when they found that they +had escaped scot-free. Any gladness they may have felt was +extinguished as soon as the smoke cleared away and the enemy perceived +that they had failed to hit the boat. The galleon had hove to: the +Spaniard was lowering her boats; and in a few minutes all three, +long-boat, cock-boat, and jolly-boat, crowded with men, came sweeping +across the water. +</p> + +<p> +But they were as yet half a mile away; looking over his shoulder Dennis +judged that his boat was now within less than a quarter-mile of the +shore. Calling cheerfully to the men for a final spurt, he bade the +steersman run them aground on the first shoal or spit of land that +presented itself. A minute later the boat was brought up with a jerk. +The men flung down their oars and began with desperate haste to gather +up some of the stores and the weapons. +</p> + +<p> +"Billy Hawk, take the treasure," said Turnpenny. +</p> + +<p> +But Biddle was too quick for him. Hawk managed to secure one of the +goatskin bags; Biddle seized the two others. There was no time to make +any alteration. Trembling with their exertions, the men were +staggering up the beach, some loaded with articles from the boat, some +carrying the two wounded men. Amos, remaining till the last, drove a +boat anchor through the bottom and hastened after the others. But the +Spaniards' boats, fully manned with crews fresh and vigorous, had sped +over the water at a tremendous rate, and it seemed to Dennis, looking +back and marking how near they were to land, that after all he and his +party stood but a poor chance of getting away. In the three boats +there were at least sixty well-armed men. It was clearly their +intention to run ashore and continue the pursuit on land. Within half +an hour they must be upon them. +</p> + +<p> +There was only a few yards of beach. The thick vegetation came down +almost to the water's edge. It was a wild part of the shore; not a +path was to be seen through the undergrowth, and beyond rose the +forest. But the foremost of the fugitives had struck out a way for +themselves through the plants, and Dennis and Turnpenny hurried along, +bringing up the rear. +</p> + +<p> +The fugitives were greatly impeded by the necessity of carrying the +wounded men and the stores. Even when they reached the forest, where +there was less undergrowth, their pace must be slower than that of the +Spaniards, who had only their arms to carry. And to avoid them was +quite impossible, for the Spaniards were not unused to tracking runaway +slaves, and would not fail to follow up the broad trail left by the +party. +</p> + +<p> +"'Tis vain to go farther," said Dennis to Amos, as they hastened on. +"We must be caught. And we shall need all the poor remnant of our +strength. Yonder is a thick clump of bush where with our calivers we +may perchance give pause to the enemy. I will run on and tell our +comrades ahead to betake themselves thither." +</p> + +<p> +"Ay, do so, though meseems 'tis but to stay for our death. You be +lighter of foot than me. I will go into the thicket and there hide." +</p> + +<p> +Dennis ran forward, but had not gone far when he found the two wounded +men lying on the ground, deserted by their bearers. The rest of the +party had disappeared. Part of the stores also had been abandoned. +Clearly the men had bolted, perhaps in panic fright at some noise in +the forest, perhaps—Dennis saw in a flash the explanation. Among the +things abandoned there was no sign of the bags of treasure. Even at +this critical moment Jan Biddle's cupidity had got the better of all +other feelings, and he had made off with the booty and his fellow +mutineers. +</p> + +<p> +Dennis bent over the wounded men. One was past help; the shock of +being left to his fate had hastened the end that was probably in any +case inevitable. The other man Dennis helped to bring back to where +Amos had taken up his position. +</p> + +<p> +"Where be Billy Hawk, then?" said Turnpenny, when Dennis had acquainted +him with what had happened. "He had one of the bags of pearls. +Od-rat-en for a traitorous faggett!" +</p> + +<p> +But his attention was immediately diverted from Billy Hawk's +shortcomings by the sight of the enemy making their way through the +trees. Dennis and the mariner had no hope of saving themselves. They +two could not contend long with numbers so overwhelming. But they were +resolved not to surrender. They knew well—Amos by experience, Dennis +by the tales he had heard—what their fate would be as captives. Their +whole aim was to sell their lives as dearly as might be. Amos had +already kindled matches for their calivers. These as they burnt gave +out an acrid smoke, which was bound to attract the attention of the +Spaniards if they came near. Confident of their immense superiority in +point of numbers, even if the whole band of fugitives stood up against +them, the enemy were pressing forward without caution. Dennis for a +moment debated with himself whether to fire on them or let them pass. +He owed nothing to Jan Biddle and the mutineers. Twice had they +behaved treacherously towards him; they would receive no more than +their deserts if he allowed the Spaniards to go by unmolested. But +then he reflected that after all some of the fugitives were his +fellow-countrymen; all had been miserable slaves; and what he had +learned of the Spaniards' dealings with those in their power made him +regard them as enemies of mankind. +</p> + +<p> +Turnpenny for his part had no scruples. To him, as to the majority of +the Englishmen of his time, the Spaniard was a hateful oppressor, who +appropriated the riches of the New World in order to set the nations of +the Old by the ears. Even if he had not suffered personally at their +hands, the whole race of Spaniards was in his eyes no better than +vermin. So when Dennis gave the word, he levelled his caliver with +right good will at the body of men that presented so easy a target, as +they came hurrying through the forest. The two fired together; one man +fell; the rest halted, looking about them with an air of fright that +set Dennis mightily wondering. While they hesitated, Amos and he +reloaded with what haste they might, and had not completed that +troublesome process when the enemy, plucking up courage, advanced again +in somewhat more extended order, firing as they marched. Bullets +pattered on the tree trunks all around. Dennis had come scatheless +through the action at sea, but now he felt a burning pang in his +forearm, and saw that the sleeve of his doublet was singed. But at the +same moment he heard a deep sigh from the wounded man who lay at his +feet. The poor wretch had again been hit. There was no time to attend +either to him or to his own wound, for the Spaniards, taking heart at +the cessation of the fire from the copse, were preparing to make a rush. +</p> + +<p> +By this time both Dennis and Turnpenny had reloaded, and stood waiting +to make a last stand against what they felt must be an irresistible +attack. To their amazement, however, just when they were expecting to +hear the order to charge, they saw that a number of the enemy had swung +round, and were facing towards the coast, the direction in which they +had come. Next moment there was a yell from among the trees: "Yo peho! +yo peho!" The strange cry was taken up at point after point, until the +whole surrounding forest seemed to ring with fierce whoops and +battle-cries. Then they caught sight of dark figures flitting among +the trees beyond the Spaniards, who had now clearly given up the idea +of advancing, and were crowded in a serried mass to meet another foe. +There was the sharp crackle of fire-arms, followed by the twang of +bow-strings. A long arrow whizzed past Dennis's ear, perilously close. +The newcomers had formed, as it appeared, an immense semicircle about +the Spaniards; several of these had fallen, and the semicircle seemed +to be drawing ever closer. +</p> + +<p> +"The maroons! O Jaykle!" whispered Turnpenny. +</p> + +<p> +Driven together now into a compact body, the Spaniards fired a volley. +Before the smoke had cleared away, from all around the maroons, dusky +forms clad in smocks that reached their knees, were among them. Then +began a desperate hand-to-hand fight. The Spaniards, in their turn +outnumbered by three to one, were wielding their swords with the +courage of despair against the javelins of their furious yelling enemy, +striving to break through the ring. +</p> + +<p> +"Yo peho! yo peho!" The maroon war-cry rose ever fiercer and fiercer. +It was an affair of a few minutes. Half of the Spaniards were on the +ground; the survivors broke and scattered, some speeding towards the +copse, forgetful that their first check had come from thence. +Turnpenny levelled his caliver and fired at the foremost of them. +</p> + +<p> +"Shoot 'em, sir!" he cried to Dennis, who had hesitated, feeling some +compunction. "Shoot 'em, or we shall have the maroons in upon us, and +they will not stop to ask our names." +</p> + +<p> +Dennis fired. The Spaniards broke away to the left, and dashed into +the forest, pursued hotly by the exultant maroons. Seeing that the +tide had passed them by, Turnpenny stepped out into the open and, +raising his arms, shouted "Amigos!" at the top of his voice to the +maroons within hail. One or two let fly their arrows at him; some were +about to fire; but a big fellow among them called loudly to them in a +tongue that the Englishman did not understand. +</p> + +<p> +"My heart, 'tis Juan!" cried Turnpenny, and as the man advanced towards +them Dennis recognised the leader of the maroons he had rescued on the +island—the man who had with Amos supported the ladder for his climb +into Fort Aguila. +</p> + +<p> +Juan shook hands with them with every sign of delight. While the +others continued the pursuit, he explained to Amos that his attention +had been attracted by the sound of firing at sea, and from a point some +distance along the coast he had watched, from among the trees, the race +in the boats. Never loath to seize a chance of striking a blow at the +hated Spaniards, he had hurried with his comrades along the fringe of +forest. He was overjoyed to think that the men whom his sudden +onslaught had saved were his old friends and the leaders of the attack +on Fort Aguila. He invited them to accompany him to his village deep +in the forest, and wound a horn to recall his comrades. Within a few +minutes they were all assembled. The Englishmen recognized among them +some who had been with them at the attack on the fort. Soon they were +on the march. They took no prisoners; it was not the maroons' way to +spare any Spaniard who fell into their hands. Four of them carried the +twice-wounded sailor, but ere they had gone far he succumbed to his +hurts, and they buried him under leaves in the forest. +</p> + +<p> +An hour's march brought them to the maroons' village, built on a +hillside circled by a narrow river. It was surrounded by a broad dyke, +and a mud wall ten feet high. It had one long street and two cross +streets, very clean and tidy; and the huts of mud and wattle, thatched +with palm-leaves, and with doors of bamboo, were kept with a neatness +that surprised the Englishmen, who mentally contrasted them with the +dirty cottages of labourers at home. Juan made them very welcome, +supplying them with a feast of wild hog, turkeys, oranges and other +pleasant fruits. +</p> + +<p> +"I'feck, it be a dinner fit for a lord," said Turnpenny, appreciatively. +</p> + +<p> +He related the events that had brought them to the straits in which +Juan had found them. When the maroon learnt that some of their party +had deserted with the treasure, he despatched a band of his men to +follow them up. And then he told his visitors a piece of news that +mightily cheered them. El Draque, he said, the Dragon, the great +English sea-captain, had lately raided Nombre de Dios, the port whence +the great treasure fleets were wont to sail for Spain. Then he had +disappeared. The Spaniards were in a state of nervous dread. So bold, +so sudden were his movements, that not a settlement on the coast but +lived in constant terror of his appearance. The very mystery that +surrounded him, their ignorance of his whereabouts, added to the fear +his name inspired. +</p> + +<p> +"They do not know where he is," said Juan, with a chuckle; "but I know. +He is a long day's march from this place, in a little harbour that no +passing ship can spy. And there he waits till he can swoop like a +jaguar on the dogs of Spain." +</p> + +<p> +"My heart, it be joyful tidings!" said Turnpenny. "I knew Master +Francis would come again to these shores, to have a proper tit-for-tat +for the base dealings of the Spaniards at St. John d'Ulua. Good-now, +sir, shall we take a journey and see the worthy captain, and +peradventure join with him in spoiling the knaves?" +</p> + +<p> +"With all my heart, Amos," replied Dennis. "Without doubt Juan will +furnish us with a guide." +</p> + +<p> +Turnpenny spoke to the maroon. +</p> + +<p> +"Better than that!" he said, after a brief colloquy. "He says he will +e'en come himself with a party. Master Francis, he says, does hurt to +no woman nor unarmed man; he is kind to the maroons; and not a man of +them but loves him and would serve him to the death. Ay sure, a noble +man is Master Francis, that loves God and hates the Spaniards; and Ise +warrant we could do naught better than join ourselves to him. +Crymaces! he will list with a ready ear to the tale of our adventures." +</p> + +<p> +"'Twill be overlong for the captain," said Dennis, with a smile. "But +I would fain see him and speak with him, for he may perchance spare a +vessel to go and seek for our poor comrades penned up in Maiden Isle." +</p> + +<p> +"God-a-mercy, I had a'most forgotten, sir. True, there be Tom +Copstone, and Hugh Curder, and Ned Whiddon all lone and lorn. Master +Francis will help us to save them, or he be no true man." +</p> + +<p><br /><br /><br /></p> + +<p><a id="chap19"></a></p> + +<h3> +CHAPTER XIX +</h3> + +<h4> +Drake's Camp +</h4> + +<p> +Early in the afternoon of the second day thereafter, Dennis and +Turnpenny, with Juan and a company of maroons, came to the outskirts of +a large clearing at a little recess of the shore. A bark and three +trim little pinnaces lay rocking in a secluded roadstead. Neatly +thatched huts of the maroons' pattern bordered the clearing. At one +end of it stood two archery butts at which men were shooting; a smith +was lustily plying his sledge at an anvil; and in the middle, on a +stretch of sward, two stalwart bearded figures were disporting +themselves at a game of bowls. +</p> + +<p> +"I'fegs, 'tis very like home," said Turnpenny. "'Tis Master Francis +himself, as I live, and Master John Oxnam, a gallant soul; and there be +Master Ellis Hixom, the captain his man, and a very worthy gentleman. +And Bob Pike, busy with the rum bowl—a good man, when not betoatled +with the drink. And O cryal! lookeedesee, sir; Bob hath a monkey at +his elbow, and hang me if he be not teaching the poor beast the taste +of rum. Oh Bobby, Bobby, the drink will be your undoing, an ye have +not a care. They spy us, sir; 'tis a right merry sight, good-now, and +warming to the heart." +</p> + +<p> +A maroon came from among the company to meet them. He greeted Juan +warmly, looking with surprise and curiosity at his white companions. +Then they advanced into the clearing. Bob Pike, a red-faced mariner, +sitting on a tub, looked up as they approached, and raised his bowl +unsteadily, singing— +</p> + +<p class="poem"> +"Let us laugh, and let us quaff,<br /> +Good drinkers think none ill a.<br /> +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +Welcome, Haymoss; I know not where be coom from but here be a sup for +'ee, comrade. +</p> + +<p class="poem"> +Let us trip, and let us skip,<br /> +And let us drink our fill a.<br /> +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +Why, what ha' taken the wink-a-puss?" +</p> + +<p> +His exclamation was occasioned by a surprising action on the part of +the monkey that had been crouching at his feet. With a chatter of +delight the animal had sprung up and was bounding on all fours towards +Dennis. Next moment it was on his shoulder, stroking his cap with its +paw. +</p> + +<p> +"Fi, Mirandola," said Dennis, with a laugh, "hast forgot my admonitions +to soberness? Has all thy philosophy and my instruction not steeled +thee against temptation?" +</p> + +<p><br /></p> + +<p class="poem"> +"My thirst to staunch, I fill my paunch<br /> +With jolly good ale and old,"<br /> +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +sang Bob Pike; "though in truth it be new rum, for ale, under this sky, +would turn as sour as whey. Good-now, Haymoss, come and take a sup +with me, soul. +</p> + +<p class="poem"> +I drink to you with all my heart<br /> +If you will pledge me the same."<br /> +</p> + +<p><br /></p> + +<p> +"Stint it, stint it, Robert Pike," said the elder of the two players, +looking up. "You'll be but a buddled oaf an you go this gait. But +odds-an-end, who be this?" +</p> + +<p> +"An Englishman of Devon, so please you, captain," said Dennis, doffing +his cap. +</p> + +<p> +"Out of sky, or earth, or sea, for I swear you are not of my company?" +</p> + +<p> +"Out of earth and sea, sir, newly come to bid you my duty." +</p> + +<p> +"And that is Amos Turnpenny, an I be not in a maze. We will finish our +game anon, Jack," he added, turning to Oxnam, "for there is a tale +hangs by this. Come, young sir, methinks I know your face, though +rabbit me if I can mind the when or the where of seeing it." +</p> + +<p> +"It was on an occasion like to this, sir," said Dennis. "You were at +play with Sir Martin Blunt on Plymouth Hoe when——" +</p> + +<p> +"Stay, I mind it well, and you were the youth that beat me! I was in +somewhat of a dander, to be sure. Are you of Sir Martin's party? Sure +I looked for him months agone to join me, and wanting him has not been +to my comfort. Is he at hand?" +</p> + +<p> +"Alas, sir, Sir Martin has been at the bottom of the sea the washing of +many a tide. I alone am left of all his company." +</p> + +<p> +"God rest his soul! He was a right good man. But tell me, then, how +it chanced that you alone escaped. And what brings you here in company +with this ancient mariner? Furthermore, what strange affinity hast +thou with this monkey, who is friends with that besotted knave alone, +and that only for the love of liquor?" +</p> + +<p> +"Mirandola and I are old friends, sir. How he comes to this place it +passes my wit to guess; but he was my sole companion and friend on the +island whereon by God's mercy I was cast alive, in the same storm that +wrecked the <i>Maid Marian</i> and swallowed all my dear comrades. There I +spent many a day and night without sight of human face or sound of +human voice, until Spaniards came purposing to cut logwood, with slaves +of whom Amos was one, the only white man. He had the good hap to +escape their hands——" +</p> + +<p> +"Nay, captain," Amos broke in; "it was not good hap, but the wit and +spunk of Master Hazelrig. He saved us from the knaves, and led us to +the taking of their vessel, in the which we purposed to sail away; but +the knave captain blew it up with powder; wherefore it was we came to +the main in a canow of the maroons' devising, and did take that strong +fort and fastness of Aguila, where——" +</p> + +<p> +"Stay, stay!" cried Drake. "Ods my life, this your tale makes my +noddle buzz with amaze. What is this about Fort Aguila?" +</p> + +<p> +"Why, sir, 'tis as I say," replied Turnpenny. "We did sail to it in +the canow, which ran aground and was stove in. But we mounted those +walls by a ladder, and crept upon the fort by night, and drew out of +their dungeon all my comrades—Ned Whiddon and Hugh Curder and Tom +Copstone, and nigh a score more. And we dealt the knave Spaniards many +a dint, and took the fort, and blew up the towers, and sailed right +merrily away in their own vessel with great store of pearls and pieces +of eight. And the vessel was named in the Spanish tongue <i>Our Lady of +Baria</i>, but Master Hazelrig he could not abide the Papist name, and +called her by the very name he had afore bestowed on this heathen +beast, Mirandola to wit, whereas I would liever have called her Susan +or Betty——" +</p> + +<p> +"Jack, is 't not a midsummer night's dream? A very mingle-mangle of +madness! Tell on; I have a soft ear for mariners' tales." +</p> + +<p> +"I' fegs, 'tis no mariner's tale, sir, but very truth. We sailed away, +but the morn after, when it was mizzly, we spied a vessel that straight +gave chase, and but for the little small harbour of Maiden Isle, +whereinto we ran and lay hid and so diddled that knavish vessel, we had +e'en fallen again into those cruel hands." +</p> + +<p> +"When shall we laugh, Jack?" cried Drake, smiting his thigh and loosing +a mighty roar that caused the archers to pause, and drew the smith from +his anvil, and at last brought the whole company crowding round. "Why, +friend Amos, that knavish vessel was my own tight bark the <i>Pascha</i> +yonder, and 'twas I myself that chased thee, ay, and would have caught +thee, too, but for the huffling of the wind. If 'twas thou handling +the vessel 'twas a mighty good piece of seamanship. And mine was a +knavish vessel, good-now! Ho! ho! 'tis a merry world." +</p> + +<p> +"Be jowned if Ned Whiddon thinks so, or Hugh Curder, or Tom Copstone! +There they be, poor souls, marooned on that same island, which indeed +we took and named Maiden Isle for behoof of her gracious Majesty. We +fled from that craft which in our thought was a knavish vessel of +Spain, and remained a night and a day to refresh ourselves, intending +to sail thence on the morrow. But one of our company, Gabriel Batten, +a quiet good soul, but somewhat of a drumble-drone, did go astraying +after simples, and when the time came for us to embark, ods-fish, he +was not with us. In that night, Jan Biddle, a man of Belial, made off +with our vessel; but Master Hazelrig spied her ere she ran clear, and +we swam to her and clomb aboard, and were vumped topsy-versy by those +knavish mutineers. But they loosed us when she had made an offing, and +right well it was for them, for we were chased by three galleons of +Spain, and hardly escaped ashore in our jolly-boat. And then be jowned +if Jan Biddle and his villainous crew did not skip off hippety-hoppety +with the treasure we got with our pains at Fort Aguila——" +</p> + +<p> +"Aha! I owe you a grudge for that, Master Hazelrig," cried Drake. "I +had heard of the pearl-fishery, and was e'en chasing you, supposing +your craft was a merchant vessel out of Venta Cruz or Cartagena, to +inquire somewhat of the defences of that same fort. I came by chance +to the place, and lo! it was a ruin. You beat me at bowls, young sir; +art minded, meseems, to beat me at other games." +</p> + +<p> +"Truly, sir, had I but known you were in these seas, I would surely +have joined myself to your company, with your good leave, and served +you with all diligence." +</p> + +<p> +"Wilt serve me now, lad?" Drake shot a keen glance at him. "I am +preparing a sore dint for the Spaniards, and have but few men for the +job. Wilt join me?" +</p> + +<p> +"I could desire nothing better," said Dennis, with a flush of pleasure; +"but——" +</p> + +<p> +"Say on; let me hear your but." +</p> + +<p> +"Some half a score of Englishmen, the comrades of Amos, lie marooned on +yonder island, sir; and we came hither, when we heard of your presence, +to beg a vessel to go and fetch them off. Methinks one of the pinnaces +yonder——" +</p> + +<p> +"Knavish vessels, good-now!" +</p> + +<p> +"Crymaces, sir, will 'ee remember that against me?" Amos broke in. "A +man must say what a' thinks, but thinkin' don't alter what is. 'Twas +your vessel; then 'twas no knave." +</p> + +<p> +"Save as the Spaniards think it so. Well, I would fain help Englishmen +in so hard a case, but at this present I cannot spare a pinnace; nay, I +cannot even spare a man. Yet when the matter I spoke of is brought to +an end, and falls out to our liking, I will go myself to that island +and bring off your comrades; for in truth I have a mind to see the +haven into which you fled and so 'scaped my knavish tricks. Methinks +it should prove a secret and comfortable place for myself. In brief, I +give you my word. Now, what say you to my proposal." +</p> + +<p> +"Sir, I am yours," said Dennis, "and I thank you for your good will." +</p> + +<p> +"Ay, and me likewise," said Turnpenny, "and Ise warrant a man of my +muscle can do summat against those villain dons—lookeedesee!" +</p> + +<p> +He exhibited the knotty muscles of his arms with a simple vanity that +set Drake and Oxnam a-laughing. +</p> + +<p> +"But not the monkey," added Drake, as the animal chattered in concert. +"He is prone to utter his voice out of season, and an indiscreet cry +might be the undoing of my purpose, and me." +</p> + +<p> +"How comes the monkey here, sir?" asked Dennis. "We brought him with +us from the island; indeed, he would not be left; but he deserted us +some ten miles beyond Fort Aguila, and I supposed he had gone among his +kind and thought never to see him again." +</p> + +<p> +"Why, we found him among the ruins of that fort, and meseems he saw +some likeness between Bob Pike and Turnpenny——" +</p> + +<p> +"God forbid!" cried Amos earnestly. +</p> + +<p> +"In muscle, not in manners," said Drake laughing. "Howbeit, he hitched +himself on to Pike, and hath accompanied us ever since, and I trow not +what Pike will say if the beast transfers his allegiance. But +good-now, the sun goes down; 'tis time to make our evening devotions +and then to supper. Methinks you, Master Hazelrig, have good cause to +render thanks to the Almighty Father for the wondrous things He hath +wrought in your behoof; and we have great plenty of fish, fowls, +rabbits and the like, which, I doubt not, will be comfortable fare to +you after your late privations. Come with me to my hut: I would hear +of your adventures more at leisure." +</p> + +<p> +And thus Dennis became one of the company of Francis Drake. +</p> + +<p><br /><br /><br /></p> + +<p><a id="chap20"></a></p> + +<h3> +CHAPTER XX +</h3> + +<h4> +A Raid through the Forest +</h4> + +<p> +Though Dennis had accepted Drake's offer on the spur of the moment, he +saw no reason to repent when he talked the matter over with Amos next +day. The rescue of their comrades on the island was indeed deferred; +but it was impossible to attempt that rescue without a suitable vessel +and a due equipment of men and stores; and since the men had plenty of +food on Maiden Isle, the delay of a few weeks would make no serious +difference to them, unless—and this possibility gave Dennis some +concern—they were molested by Spaniards. He hoped, however, that if +an enemy did appear on the island the men would have sufficient warning +to give them time to take refuge in the cave, where with good luck they +might remain concealed until the danger had passed. +</p> + +<p> +Before the day was out Dennis had made acquaintance with the members of +the little company at Port Diego, as it had been called. From Ellis +Hixom, Drake's right-hand man, he learnt something of their adventures +since they left Plymouth in May, only a month after the <i>Maid Marian</i> +set sail. Early in July they had arrived at Port Pheasant, a secret +anchorage discovered by Drake on a former voyage, and so named by him +"by reason of the great store of those goodly fowls which he and his +company did daily kill and feed on in that place." On the 20th they +sailed for Nombre de Dios, and a week later made a night attack on that +unhealthy town, which once or twice in the year emerged into importance +when the galleons came there from Cartagena to take in their cargoes of +gold and silver sent for shipment by the governor of Panama. +</p> + +<p> +The moon was rising as they stood in for the shore; but Drake, finding +that his men were full of superstitious terror of the night, persuaded +them that it was the dawn of day. They landed on the sands, beneath a +battery, and only a few yards from the houses which were built on the +shore, with the forest behind. The single sentry was slumbering, but +he was roused by the sound of their climbing up the redoubt, and fled +to give the alarm in the town. They spiked the six big guns in the +fort, but ere they had finished they heard the great bell of the town +church booming out; drums beat in the narrow street; it seemed that +there was warm work before the little band of fifty. +</p> + +<p> +Drake divided his men into three parties; one of twelve to guard the +boats, the second of sixteen, with his brother John and John Oxnam, to +enter by the east gate of the market-place; while himself, with about a +score, would march in at the other end to the sound of drum and +trumpet, with torches glaring at the end of their pikes. He gave the +men orders to make all possible noise, so as to delude the garrison +into the belief that his force was stronger than it really was. +</p> + +<p> +The market-place was crowded with a mob of mingled soldiers and +citizens when Drake and his men entered with great clatter from the +side nearest the sea. The intrepid band was met by a hot volley, to +which they replied with their calivers and a flight of arrows; then, +not waiting to reload, they charged with a fierce shout, to do the rest +of the business with pike and sword. As the same moment Oxnam and his +company dashed in at the other side with a great blast of trumpets. +The Spaniards, scared by the noise and the torches, still more by the +knowledge that El Draque was among them, did not stay to fight the +matter out, but flung down their weapons and rushed away in disorderly +flight along the road leading through the forest to Venta Cruz. +</p> + +<p> +Drake re-formed his men, and, under the guidance of Spaniards he had +captured, made for the governor's house, where the mule trains from +Panama were unloaded. The door was wide open, and by the light of a +torch the Englishmen saw a vast pile of silver bars standing in the +passage. But Drake had learnt that in the King's treasure-house on the +eastern side lay a goodly store of gold and jewels, far more than they +could carry. Accordingly he would not allow the men to break their +ranks and despoil the governor, but led them back to the market-place +to prepare for the more serious work. +</p> + +<p> +Meanwhile the men on guard at the beach, hearing the din, and seeing by +the light of the torches men running this way and that in the streets, +began to be alarmed, especially when they learnt from the negroes who +had joined them that the garrison had been newly strengthened. In +their panic they sent word to Drake that the pinnaces were in danger of +being taken. Drake had no sooner sent his brother and John Oxnam to +allay their fears and assure them that all was well when a terrific +thunder-storm burst upon them, wetting their bowstrings and the charges +of their guns. They ran for shelter to a shed at the western end of +the King's treasure-house, and there, while they repaired the damage, +the men began to mutter among themselves of the peril they were in, and +some talked of flight. As soon as the storm had ceased, Drake, seeing +that the adventure was in jeopardy unless he led the men to action, +ordered Oxnam to take a party to break open the treasure-house while he +held his ground in the market-place. +</p> + +<p> +But, unknown to the men, he had been severely wounded in the leg at the +first onset, and fell faint from loss of blood. He perceived that some +of his men had already laden themselves with plunder from the houses +and booths in the market-place, and knew that they would be glad of any +excuse to get away to the boats. It was no longer possible to hide his +wound, and the men, seeing it, begged him to return to the boats, and +paid no heed to his entreaty that they would leave him to fend for +himself and possess themselves of the treasure so nearly within their +grasp. The possibility of losing their captain took all the heart out +of them. They carried him hastily down to the beach, got aboard the +boats, and shoved off just as dawn was breaking. It was a +disappointing end to the expedition; but only one man of them, a +trumpeter, had been killed, and they were all glad enough to get off so +lightly. +</p> + +<p> +Since then they had cruised up and down the coast, capturing Spanish +vessels here and there, and making themselves a terror to the whole +Main. They had suffered many losses, by sickness and in fight; John +Drake had been killed in leading a mad attack on a frigate; but small +as the company was, every man was now cheerful in the expectation of +gaining great plunder in the approaching expedition to Panama. Dennis +and Turnpenny were welcome recruits, and none were more eager than they +to set off with the great captain, and go whithersoever he might lead. +</p> + +<p class="capcenter"> +<a id="img-280.jpg"></a> +<img class="imgcenter" src="images/img-280.jpg" alt="Map to illustrate the adventures of Drake in 1572-73" /> +<br /> +Map to illustrate the adventures of Drake in 1572-73 +</p> + +<p> +One day, about a week after their arrival at the camp, Drake called his +men together in council, and unfolded to them his daring plan. The +Spanish treasure fleet, he had learnt, had arrived at Nombre de Dios, +and was awaiting there the consignments of gold and jewels which were +brought by long mule trains across the isthmus from Panama. He +purposed to ambush one of these trains in a lonely spot on the north +road. Solemnly he placed before the men the dangers of the expedition. +They had a march of sixty miles before them, through poisonous jungles +and fever-haunted swamps. It was an enterprise for none but hardy and +courageous men, ready to endure labour and fatigue without murmuring. +</p> + +<p> +Of his original company he had only forty-two left. Some of these were +sick, others were required to guard the ships; and when Drake had +weeded out the least fit of the rest, he had only eighteen Englishmen +for the adventure. To those he added thirty maroons, making a little +company of forty-eight all told. Dennis observed with admiration how +carefully all things were prepared. The men were provided with spare +boots, so that they might not go footsore and be troubled by the +jiggers of the jungles and the leeches of the swamps. The bows were +all re-fitted, the arrows and fire-arms cleaned and scoured; large +stores of dried meat and biscuit were packed in bundles; and bottles +were filled with wine and rum, for it was unsafe to drink the water of +the rivers. +</p> + +<p> +It was a bright February day, Shrove Tuesday, when the adventurous band +set out, the ships in the harbour dipping their colours and the +trumpeters sounding "a loath to depart." The Englishmen carried +nothing but their weapons, the baggage being strapped to the shoulders +of the stalwart maroons. They marched in the coolest part of the +morning, from sun-rise to ten, when they paused for dinner. Soon after +noon they were afoot again, and at four halted for the night, the +maroons building for them with extraordinary rapidity little huts of +grass and palm-leaves, where they ate their supper over cheerful +wood-fires, beguiling the evening hours with song and talk. It was a +new life for Dennis, and full of strange charm. He spent many an hour +in the company of Drake and Oxnam, listening with a boyish admiration +to their talk, revelling in their tales of fight and adventure. +</p> + +<p> +The great captain exercised a wonderful fascination upon him. Drake +was at this time little more than thirty years old, below the medium +height, but with brawny limbs and a broad chest. Brown hair clustered +close on a bullet-shaped head; his beard grew thick and strong; his +face was ruddy and pleasant to look upon; and the honesty of his soul +spoke out of his large, round blue eyes. His voice was clear and +musical, and he had a natural eloquence, set off by the burr of his +native speech. Nothing impressed Dennis more than to hear the Captain, +every night at sunset, recite the evening prayers and collects +bare-headed among his men assembled. "By Thy great mercy defend us +from all perils and dangers of this night"—there was something very +real and earnest in the petition, uttered in the shade of the forest +where wild animals dwelt, and in a country where every man was a foe. +There was no doubt about the reality of Drake's religion; and it was +part of his simple belief that he was chosen of God to scourge a +pestilent enemy of mankind. +</p> + +<p> +The order of the march was the same every day. Four maroons led the +way, marking a trail by flinging broken branches or bundles of leaves +upon the ground. Then came twelve more maroons, followed at an +interval by Drake and his eighteen Englishmen, and two maroon chiefs. +The rear was brought up by the rest of the maroons. +</p> + +<p> +After four days' tramping through swampy woods, much entangled with +undergrowth, steaming with heat and infected with noisome odours, they +entered a pleasanter country, where the trees grew larger, and with +branches so thickly interlaced that they were defended from the sun's +rays and found their path less obstructed by creeping plants. The +ground rose gradually, and Pedro, the maroon chief, told Drake that on +the summit of the ridge they were ascending, half way across the +isthmus, there grew an immense tree from which he could descry the +North Sea whence he had come and the South Sea whither he was going. +At ten o'clock on the eighth day of their march they came to the place, +and while the dinner was being got ready, Drake went with Pedro to the +tree of which he had spoken. Ascending big steps cut on the bole, they +reached, near the top, a pleasant thatched arbour, large enough to seat +a dozen men. The sky was clear; no haze blanketed the view; and +looking forth, Drake caught, thirty miles away, the sparkle of the +southern ocean on which no English boat had sailed. The soul of the +great mariner was strangely moved: he fell on his knees, and "besought +Almighty God of His goodness to give him life and leave to sail once in +an English ship on that sea." Then he called up Oxnam and others of +his company, and told them of his desire and prayer. Dennis never +forgot the scene in that shady bower at the tree-top: the kindling face +of the sturdy captain, his shining eyes, the fervency of his speech. +</p> + +<p> +They went on again, and in two days more reached the wide savannah, +with grass as high as corn, and great herds of black cattle. Now and +then they got a glimpse of Panama, the city of their dream, and by and +by, when they were near enough to see the ships riding at anchor in the +roadstead, Drake called a halt: they had come within touch of danger +and must walk warily. Resting in a grove some three miles from the +city, Drake sent one of the maroons, dressed like a negro of Panama, +into it as a spy an hour before dark. He was to find out on what +night, and at what hour, the mule train set out with its precious +burden for Nombre de Dios. He had learnt from Pedro that the first +stage of the journey, from Panama to Venta Cruz, was always performed +by night, because by day the open plain was scorched by the sun. But +the second stage, from Venta Cruz to Nombre de Dios, was accomplished +by day, the road lying among cool shaded woods. It was clear that the +first stage offered the best chances of a successful ambush, and Drake +had resolved to intercept the treasure-train between Panama and Venta +Cruz. +</p> + +<p> +The spy returned sooner than he was expected. From old acquaintances +in the city he had learnt that a train was to start that very night, +its departure being expedited because a Spanish hidalgo, the treasurer +of Lima, was in haste to reach a ship waiting at Nombre de Dios to +convey him to Spain. His train consisted of fourteen mules, of which +eight were laden with gold and one with jewels. Two other trains, of +fifty mules each, would follow, with provisions for the fleet and a +quantity of silver. +</p> + +<p> +Within an hour of the receipt of this news, Drake and his men were +afoot on the road for Venta Cruz, some twelve miles away. Before +starting, the English men all put their shirts on outside their other +garments, so that they might have some means of telling friend from foe +in the darkness. When they had marched about half the distance, two of +the maroons, going ahead as scouts on the narrow track between long +grass, detected the smell of a burning match, and creeping stealthily +on, guided by the scent, and the now audible sound of snoring, came +upon a Spanish sentry fast asleep by the roadside. In a trice they +pounced on him; they stuffed a gag into his gaping mouth, put out his +match, tied his arms to his sides, and haled him back to the main body. +This danger removed, Drake divided his band into two companies. One of +these, under John Oxnam and Pedro the maroon, he stationed in long +grass fifty paces from the road; with the other he went to the same +distance on the other side, posting them so that, if it came to a +fight, their fire would not harm their comrades. He gave strict orders +that no man should stir from his post, but that all should maintain +perfect quiet, and, if any travellers should come from the direction of +Venta Cruz, that these were to be allowed to pass without molestation. +</p> + +<p> +Dennis and Turnpenny were placed among Oxnam's party, and lay side by +side in the grass. The night was so dark, and the stalks so long, that +they could scarcely see each other, much less any other of their +company. For a time all was quiet; nothing was heard but the faint +critch of insects among the herbage. But by and by Dennis caught a +slight murmur from some point near at hand. He lifted his head to +listen. Yes, it was certainly a man mumbling. Then he heard a +glug-glug, as of liquid poured from a narrow-necked vessel, and +immediately afterwards a deep sigh of contentment. Again there was +silence; but after a while another glugging and another sigh. +</p> + +<p> +"Begorz!" whispered Turnpenny, "'tis some bosky lubber a-puddling of +aqua vitae. St! Here be bells a-coming, on the neck of moyles, Ise +warrant. St!" +</p> + +<p> +The sound came from the direction of Venta Cruz: evidently a train was +returning to Panama. Almost immediately afterwards there came a +fainter tinkle on the other side; the treasurer of Lima was on the +road, but he would not reach the ambush until the train from Venta Cruz +had passed. +</p> + +<p> +Nearer came the sound, growing now into a loud clanging. Dennis held +his breath. The Venta Cruz party was to be allowed to pass; it would +meet the other travellers, and give them the word that all was well. +But what was this? Some one was rustling in the grass near him; some +one was moving forward; and, peeping up, Dennis saw an Englishman, as +he knew by his shirt, creeping towards the road through the long +stalks, and a maroon following. +</p> + +<p> +At this moment his ears caught the sound of a horse trotting. He could +not see the road; the men who had gone through the grass were also out +of sight; but suddenly the trot changed into a gallop, and he heard the +horse clattering at a furious rate down the road. His heart gave a +jump; he felt a hot flush surge through him: the rider, whoever he was, +had been startled, and was now doubtless dashing on to warn the coming +train. Who could the fool be who had so flagrantly disobeyed the +captain's orders? Had he been so mad as to expose himself, in his +shirt over-all, to the view of the horseman? Turnpenny was as wrathful +as Dennis. +</p> + +<p> +"Be jowned if I don't deal en a whap in the niddick," he whispered, +"as'll make en twine like an angle-twitch." +</p> + +<p> +The sound of the hoofs died away, and Dennis expected that the clanging +of the bells would cease also, and all be brought to nought. To his +surprise there was no change: the bells drew nearer and nearer; now he +heard men's voices; and then, with a suddenness that made him jump, a +shrill whistle-blast rose high above all other sounds. It was the +signal for the attack. Dennis and the sailor rushed through the grass; +on all sides white-clad forms rose from their lurking-places and made +towards the road with a cheer. They sprang at the muleteers, toppled +them over, and without a shot fired the long line of mules was in the +raiders' hands. +</p> + +<p> +With many a laugh and jest the sailors hauled the packs from the backs +of the mules and slit them with their hangers. But soon the mirth was +turned to melancholy. +</p> + +<p> +"Od-rat-en, what have we here?" cried Turnpenny, lifting a soft mass on +the end of his weapon. "Bless my bones if it bean't a bunch of yokey +sheep's wool!" +</p> + +<p> +"And here 'tis nought but dried meat as tough as leather." +</p> + +<p> +"Ay, where be the goold, where be the goold?" cried Robert Pike, +breaking from the grasp of a maroon. "Cap'n said there was nugs o' +goold as big as goose-eggs, and be jowned if I can see a farden's +worth!" +</p> + +<p> +"And the gewgaws for the rory-tory madams o' Spain—where be the +gewgaws?" cried another of the seamen. "Here, you codger"—seizing one +of the muleteers—"where be the gewgaws adiddled to?" +</p> + +<p> +He shook the man till he gasped for breath, then hauled him before +Drake, who had come into the midst of the enraged sailors. He bade the +muleteer speak. The man told how the horseman, trotting by with a page +at his stirrup, had been startled to see a ghost-like figure rise out +of the grass at the side of the track, and galloped on to warn the +treasurer. Superstitious as the Spaniards were, they knew so much of +the daring of El Draque that the treasurer did not for a moment doubt +he had to deal, not with a ghost, but with a very real and substantial +enemy. The warning had reached him just in time. He drew his mules, +bearing the treasure, to the side of the road to allow the train of +merchandise to pass; the loss of food and wool could be endured +patiently if the gold and jewels were saved. Then, when the din ahead +confirmed his suspicions of an ambush, he turned the mules' heads back +towards Panama and slipped away. +</p> + +<p> +Here was a pretty end to the adventure from which all had hoped so +much! Loud was the outcry against the wretched man whose rashness had +had so untoward an effect. While Drake took hurried counsel with Oxnam +and Pedro the maroon, the men went about growling, accusing each other, +threatening terrible punishment for the offender. Of them all none was +louder or more vehement than Robert Pike. +</p> + +<p> +"An I catch the knave," he shouted, "Ise fulsh en, Ise thump en, Ise +larn en a thing or two as the wink-a-puss won't forget." +</p> + +<p> +But as he spoke he lurched towards Amos, who caught him by the collar +as a sudden suspicion dawned. +</p> + +<p> +"Be jowned if I don't b'lieve 'twas 'ee, Bob Pike! You hawk-a-mouth +knave, I smell 'ee, I do. You been puddling aqua vitae, dang my +buttons an you bean't. You bandy-legged piggish lubby, you, 'ee'll +fulsh en, will 'ee? and thump en, will 'ee? and larn the wink-a-puss a +thing or two, will 'ee? The Old Smoker take 'ee for a lubberly knave +and a jackass." +</p> + +<p> +"And 'ee for a gabbing rant-a-come-scour!" retorted Pike, when he got +his breath. "What be 'ee jowering at me for? I only supped a little +small drop to keep me awake, and when I heard the moyles a-coming, +od-rabbit-en, thinks I, Ise nab the first; and when I got to the road, +'twas no moyle, but a fine horse and rider, and I rose up to see what +he was, and a knave maroon pulled me down and sat upon me like to +squeeze out my vitals, and so the villain Spaniard got away." +</p> + +<p> +"You bosky knave, I'll——" +</p> + +<p> +But what Turnpenny would have done remained untold, for at this moment +Drake called all the men together. +</p> + +<p> +"'Tis no good crying over spilt milk, my lads," he said. "An we do not +shift for ourselves betimes, we shall have all the Spaniards of Panama +upon us pell mell. To go back the way we came is a four leagues march; +we all be wearied and for-done, and meseems 'twere better to go forward +two leagues into the forest. True, the town of Venta Cruz stands in +the way, but 'tis better, methinks, to encounter our enemies while we +have strength remaining than to be encountered and chased when we be +worn out with weariness. We will e'en eat our suppers while we may; +there be great store of meat and drink in the mule-packs; then will we +mount upon these beasts, so that we do not weary ourselves with +overmuch marching. And then, if God will, we will ding a blow at the +enemy for our honour; and mark 'ee, my lads, we are disappointed of a +most rich booty; but surely God would not that it should be taken, for +that, by all likelihood, it was well gotten by that treasurer, and not +by evil courses." +</p> + +<p> +And, taking what comfort they could from their captain's explanation, +they set off on mule back as soon as supper was over, and came in an +hour to the woods a mile out of Venta Cruz. There they dismounted. +Drake bade the muleteers remain out of harm's way, and led the men over +a cobbled road ten feet broad, running between great walls of +vegetation. +</p> + +<p> +Following his custom, Drake sent forward two of the faithful maroons to +reconnoitre. They came back with news that, half a mile farther on, +the enemy were hidden in the thickets; they had heard the rustle of +their movements and smelled the pungent smoke of their matches. +</p> + +<p> +"Let no man fire till after the enemy hath dealt us a volley," said +Drake; "methinks they will first parley with us." +</p> + +<p> +He led them quietly forward. A few minutes later a dark form appeared +on the darker road. +</p> + +<p> +"Hoo!" came a voice. +</p> + +<p> +"Halloo!" replied Drake. +</p> + +<p> +"What nation are you?" called the man in Spanish. +</p> + +<p> +"Englishmen." +</p> + +<p> +"In the name of the King of Spain my master," cried the captain, "I +charge you to yield, avouching on the word of a gentleman soldier that +I will deal with you most courteously." +</p> + +<p> +"Come on, my lads," quietly said Drake, taking a few quick steps +forward. Aloud he cried: "For the honour of the Queen of England, my +mistress, I must have passage this way." +</p> + +<p> +At the same moment he fired his pistol. The Spaniards in ambush, +mistaking the shot for a signal from their own officer, poured in a +volley. Drake blew his whistle, and instantly his men sent a +spattering shower of bullets and arrows into the brushwood, following +it up with a charge. The Spaniards bolted like hares, and at Drake's +command the maroons of his party swarmed forward to cut the enemy off +from a stronger position in the rear, shouting their terrifying +war-cry, "Yo peho! Yo peho!" Back went the Spaniards, scurrying along +to the shelter of the town, the maroons leaping and dancing after them +as their manner was in war, the seamen not far behind, adding to the +uproar with English yells. Within a few yards of the town wall the +enemy attempted to rally, posting themselves across the road and in the +woods on both sides. But the maroons swept upon their flanks, Drake +and his men charged full at the centre. For a few moments the place +rang with the clash of sword and pike and the cries of the combatants. +Then as one man the Spaniards wheeled about and scampered through the +open gates of the town, with Drake's whole party at their heels. On +they went into the streets, seamen and maroons, thrusting and slashing +without pause or respite, yet strictly observing their captain's +injunction to spare women and unarmed men. In five minutes they were +masters of the town. +</p> + +<p> +For little over an hour the men ran hither and thither, gathering what +spoils they could in the shape of articles easily carried. Then, just +as dawn was breaking, and they were snatching a hasty breakfast before +departing, a dozen horsemen dashed in at the Panama gate. Not until +they were within point-blank range of the musketeers whom Drake had +posted there did they perceive that the town was in the enemy's hands. +The sentries fired; half of the horsemen fell; the rest fled back +hastily into the forest. But Drake feared they were the advance guard +of a larger force. It was dangerous to delay. He whistled his men +together; and in a few minutes they marched out of the town with their +spoils, some little compensation for the lost treasure of the mule +train. +</p> + +<p> +The toils and sufferings of that homeward march lived long in the +memories of Dennis and Turnpenny. Drake forced the pace unmercifully, +anxious to get back to his ship. Food ran short; he would not stay to +hunt wild hog or deer. Several of the men had been wounded; there was +no time to tend their wounds. Their clothes were torn to tatters; +their boots, even the extra pairs, had given way, and they were driven +to bind their feet with rags. The faithful maroons served them nobly, +carrying all the burdens, building huts for their rest at night, +bearing upon their shoulders some of the seamen who were too exhausted +and footsore to tramp any longer. A maroon went forward to warn the +waiting company of their approach. On the afternoon of the 23rd of +February, three weeks after they had started on the expedition, they +tottered out of the forest towards the beach, just as the pinnace, sent +by Ellis Hixom to take them off, scudded inshore. There on the +glistening sand the little company of men, haggard, worn-out, +half-famished, raised their husky voices in a psalm of thanksgiving, +praising God because they saw their pinnace and their fellows again. +</p> + +<p><br /><br /><br /></p> + +<p><a id="chap21"></a></p> + +<h3> +CHAPTER XXI +</h3> + +<h4> +Maiden Isle Again +</h4> + +<p> +As they sailed back in the pinnace to the secret haven, the weary +adventurers were surrounded by their comrades, and feasted their ears +with wondrous tales of what had befallen them. Ellis Hixom also had a +story to tell. A few days after the departure of the company, there +had staggered into the clearing three men in the last stage of +exhaustion. Two were English, one French. They were pitiable objects, +their eyes bright with fever, their cheeks haggard with famine, their +feet blistered and bleeding from long wandering in the woods. Each man +carried a bag of pearls. +</p> + +<p> +And they told a pitiful story. They had escaped, they said, from +captivity in Nombre de Dios, and set out with three comrades, bearing +plunder from the houses of their captors. It was well known along the +coast that Drake was somewhere in hiding, and they marched eastward, +hoping by good hap to light upon his encampment. But as they rested +one night, the leader had overheard a plot on the part of three of the +men to slay the rest and make off with the booty. Fearing that if it +came to a fight he and his two comrades would stand but little chance +against the others, who were men of exceeding great strength and +ferocity, the three had slipped away in the darkness and had since been +tramping for days through the forest, unable to find sufficient food, +and subsisting on berries and mushrooms. Once they had almost stumbled +into a village of maroons, and fled for their lives, dreading lest they +should be taken for Spaniards and slain before the error was discovered. +</p> + +<p> +"And where are they now?" asked Drake. +</p> + +<p> +"On the <i>Pascha</i>, sir," replied Hixom, "where they are slowly +recovering of their calentures." +</p> + +<p> +"And the name of the leader?" +</p> + +<p> +"Jan Biddle, by his own account a skilful mariner and——" +</p> + +<p> +"Ay, I have heard tell of him," interrupted Drake with a grim smile. +"Master Hazelrig," he added, calling Dennis up, "I learn that the +captain of your mutineers waits your judgement on my vessel." +</p> + +<p> +He repeated what Hixom had told him. +</p> + +<p> +"What is the name of the other Englishman, Master Hixom?" asked Dennis. +</p> + +<p> +"Dick Rackstraw, methinks. The Frenchman's name is Michel Barren." +</p> + +<p> +"Then what has become of our comrade Billy Hawk, I wonder? Biddle and +his crew deserted from us with the treasure, when we came ashore in our +boat. Billy Hawk went after them; I fear me there has been foul play." +</p> + +<p> +"We will enquire into that matter when we gain our haven," said Drake, +"and see what Master Biddle has to say for himself." +</p> + +<p> +As soon as he reached the haven, Drake boarded the <i>Pascha</i> and called +Biddle and his companions before him. He listened patiently to the +man's wild tale, then sent a boat ashore to bring off Dennis and +Turnpenny. Biddle's jaw dropped when he saw them come over the side. +He attempted to bluster it out, but Drake cut him short. +</p> + +<p> +"You are a foul liar and a mutineer," he said sternly. "Art a murderer +also? What didst thou to Billy Hawk thy comrade? Answer to the point, +villain." +</p> + +<p> +"Afore God, sir, I know nought of him. With me came but four men, and +two of those lie dead in the forest, of a strange sickness that got +hold of them after that they had drunken of the water of a certain +river. Of Billy Hawk I saw nor heard nought." +</p> + +<p> +"My poor comrade!" said Turnpenny. "I fear me he be gone or alost." +</p> + +<p> +"These are your men," said Drake, turning to Dennis. "The punishment +of mutiny is death. Do with them as you list." +</p> + +<p> +"I would fain leave them in your hands, sir," replied Dennis. "For me, +I would not that any man should die." +</p> + +<p> +"I will consider of it. Have them put in irons and carried below." +</p> + +<p> +Next day he decided, on Dennis's intercession, to content himself with +holding the men closely confined in the vessel. The bags of pearls +were taken from them and handed to Dennis and Turnpenny. And ere the +day was out Robert Pike was sent to join them. Drake had learnt of the +mischievous part the man had played, which had resulted in the failure +of his attack on the mule trains. +</p> + +<p> +"A little darkness and solitude may teach him to refrain from the +bottle," he said. +</p> + +<p> +The enterprise had so nearly succeeded that when Drake declared he +would make the attempt again, as soon as the time came for another +convoy of treasure to cross the isthmus, every man of his company +eagerly besought him for a place in the expedition. But Dennis +reminded him of his promise to lend him a pinnace in which to sail to +Maiden Isle and bring off his comrades. +</p> + +<p> +"I will hold to my word," said Drake. "You and your brawny henchman +have suffered less than the most of my men, by reason, I wot, of your +being inured to hardships on your island. Some days must needs pass +before we are ready to attempt other enterprises. The island is but a +day's sail, you said?" +</p> + +<p> +"Ay, sir, and with good hap we should return on the second day, or the +third at most." +</p> + +<p> +"Then take the <i>Minion</i> pinnace, and good hap go with you. You will +need men. Choose out eight according to your mind, and a few maroons +also. Juan was with you, I bethink me; he will doubtless serve you +right faithfully. In sooth, I shall be mighty rejoiced to have with me +the dozen men you go to find, for if they be in spirit and body like to +you and your henchman, they will be most serviceable when I make my +next journey to Panama. I would go fetch them myself, as I had +purposed, but that our preparations demand my presence here." +</p> + +<p> +Next day, then, the <i>Minion</i> pinnace sailed out of the little haven +with a crew of eight Englishmen and five maroons, three of whom were +the men who had accompanied Dennis from the island. Mirandola also was +on board. He had disappeared when Dennis set off with Drake to cross +the isthmus, but had evidently kept a watch on the settlement, for the +day after they returned he came out of the forest and attached himself +to his old master with demonstrations of delight. A brisk breeze was +blowing off shore; the pinnace was a first-rate sailer; by midday they +were in sight of the island, and in the afternoon they rounded the +shoulder of the cliff, Turnpenny steering the vessel into the gully. +</p> + +<p> +Dennis, standing in the bows, caught sight of a group of men beyond the +pool, near his sheds. They were partly hidden by the foliage, and when +they saw the strange vessel making straight towards them, with the +evident intention of coming to an anchorage, they took to their heels +and disappeared. +</p> + +<p> +"Poor souls! they take us for Spaniards," said Turnpenny. "I warrant +they be most desperately in the dumps. 'Tis nigh a month since we +departed hence." +</p> + +<p> +The pinnace dropped anchor beside the <i>Maid Marian</i>, and the men went +ashore. +</p> + +<p> +"Blow a blast," said Dennis to one of the men, who carried a trumpet, +"with notes that will be familiar to their ears." +</p> + +<p> +As the shrill notes rang out, he stepped ahead of the men, with +Mirandola on his shoulder. Before long a man appeared among the trees +far up the chine. +</p> + +<p> +"Hallo hoy!" shouted Turnpenny. "Be that you, Tom Copstone? Come, +comrade, never be afeard. We've come to take 'ee off, poor soul, and +bring 'ee to Master Drake, who will make us all rich with much gold and +treasure. Come, my hearts, Ned Whiddon, and Hugh Curder, and all." +</p> + +<p> +Turnpenny's well-known voice was more successful than the trumpet's +notes in banishing the men's mistrust. Soon they came hasting down the +gully, Copstone leading. +</p> + +<p> +"I said it! I knew it," he cried, as he approached. "'You and me, +Haymoss'—the blessed words stayed in my noddle, and I knew 'ee would +come back somewhen, dear soul. But we be in piteous case. 'Tis a long +ninny-watch we ha' kept, and hope was wellnigh drownded, sir. We could +not make it out; we was mazed, every man of us; but you be come back, +praise be to God." +</p> + +<p> +He told how the disappearance of the <i>Mirandola</i> had filled them first +with consternation, then with bitter rage. Some of the men declared +that they had been decoyed to the island; that they had been betrayed +and deserted for the sake of the treasure. From the first Copstone and +Whiddon had absolutely refused to believe that Dennis and Turnpenny had +wilfully left them; Hugh Curder, indeed, had made a shrewd guess at +what had actually happened; but the rest clung to their first notion, +gave way to bursts of rage and reviling, and as the days passed, +settled down into a state of moody despair. +</p> + +<p> +Copstone had tried to induce them to fit out the <i>Maid Marian</i> for sea, +but he had found it impossible to whip up enough energy among them. +They had some reason for their reluctance, inasmuch as, the stores of +the <i>Maid Marian</i> having been put aboard the <i>Mirandola</i>, there was no +provision for a long voyage. The fruits of the island would spoil in a +week or so, whereas if they clung to the island they were at least sure +of finding a sufficient subsistence. But they had been troubled even +on this point, for some of the men fell ill through recklessly eating +fruits and berries without first ascertaining whether they were fit for +food, and with broken health their spirits had been still further +depressed. +</p> + +<p> +"Poor souls!" said Turnpenny. "'Ee do look a wangery and witherly +crew. But 'ee be all here, all twelve, not a man lacking? My heart! +where be Gabriel Batten?" +</p> + +<p> +"He never come back!" +</p> + +<p> +"Never come back! What do 'ee mean?" +</p> + +<p> +"We looked for en, up along and down along, but nary a crim of him did +we see." +</p> + +<p> +"Ay, and another be gone, too," said Hugh Curder. "But a sennight +agone, poor Joe Toogood vanished out of our sight, and we never seed +him again." +</p> + +<p> +"Be there devils upon the island, Haymoss?" asked Ned Whiddon, +anxiously. "Be there pixies that lead poor souls into some ditch or +quagmire, where they be swallowed quick in the pluffy ground? Once we +was bold mariners all, but now we be poor timorsome creatures, afeard +when the wind soughs in the trees." +</p> + +<p> +Dennis remembered the boa-constrictor from whose clammy coils he had +saved the monkey that now sat upon his shoulder. +</p> + +<p> +"'Twas no sprites nor pixies, comrades," he said. "Without doubt they +came unawares upon a big serpent that charmed them first with his fiery +eyes, and then swathed them in his fearsome coils till he had crushed +the life out of them. Poor souls! poor souls!" +</p> + +<p> +"But now 'tis time to be merry, lads," said Amos quickly, "for here we +be, and our pinnace yonder is named the <i>Minion</i>, the same as the bark +that Captain Hampton handled so cunningly at St. John d'Ulua; and we be +goin' to take 'ee all back to Master Drake, who lies by a secret haven, +in little small huts built by the maroons; and there be archery butts, +and a smith's anvil, and other such homely things. And we have seen +wondrous things, my lads—the blue south sea beyond, and the treasure +town, and Master Drake be set on leading us forth to adventure for gold +and jewels beyond price. 'Tis time to be merry, souls!" +</p> + +<p> +And catching the infection of his cheery good-will, Hugh Curder flung +his hat in the air and began— +</p> + +<p> +Ill is the weather that bringeth no gain,<br /> + Nor helps good hearts in need.<br /> +</p> + +<p> +</p> + +<p> +Dennis had transferred to the <i>Mirandola</i>—now, alas! at the bottom of +the sea—the greater part of the <i>Maid Marian's</i> stores that he kept in +his sheds; but there was a goodly remnant still in the cave, and this +he determined to put on board the <i>Minion</i> and carry to Port Diego. +The afternoon was too far advanced for the work to be completed that +night; so he determined to sleep on the island and make an early start +next morning. As soon as it was light he sent a number of Turnpenny's +old comrades in different directions across the island to get a supply +of fresh fruit, while the men he had brought from the mainland set +about carrying the stores from the cave to the pinnace. +</p> + +<p> +They had not been long at the work, however, when Ned Whiddon came +hurrying back. +</p> + +<p> +"God-a-mercy, sir," he cried, "we have spied a crew of strangers on the +south shore, and in the offing two vessels at anchor. They be all clad +and armed in the Spanish fashion, and when they set eyes on us they +gave chase, and but that we know the island now as well as we know the +lanes to home, none of us would have 'scaped." +</p> + +<p> +Other men came in while he was speaking. Dennis trembled for the fate +of those who had gone towards the northern shore and had not yet +returned. +</p> + +<p> +"'Tis ill news indeed," he said. "Run, Curder, after the men that have +gone northward, and warn them that Spaniards are here to trouble us, +lest they have not already discovered it. Comrades," he added, +addressing the men about him, whose countenances bespoke their +alarm—"comrades, we must take counsel together. What think you, Amos, +we should do?" +</p> + +<p> +"Why, sir, we should steal out in the pinnace as soon as our men be +back along, leaving these stores, and thread a way betwixt the reefs to +nor'ward; for the knaves could not follow us save in their boats." +</p> + +<p> +"Ay, sir," said Copstone, "that be the true way of it. God send the +tide be high enough to serve." +</p> + +<p> +"Then get aboard and make all ready to depart. Amos, look to all +things, and make the rest of our comrades to embark as they arrive. I +will run to the top of the cliff to spy if the coast be clear." +</p> + +<p> +But on reaching the spot whence he had often before looked so longingly +and vainly for a sail, he made a most unwelcome discovery. About a +mile to the south-west of the island lay a large vessel, which, since +she was busily engaged in signalling, was clearly a consort of the two +ships that Whiddon had seen. Keeping well under cover, Dennis raced +along to a point half a mile south, whence the whole southern offing +was visible. There were the two vessels; and, even as he looked, a +boat was lowered from the nearest of them, rapidly filled with men, and +was rowed towards the beach. +</p> + +<p> +The sight was enough to cause the boldest heart to quake. If the +pinnace ran out of the gully, she would have to pass within half a mile +of the ship, for the tide was low, and even the little <i>Minion</i> drew +too much water to make her way northward until she had run at least +half a mile out to sea. This would bring her under the guns of the +third vessel, and the Spaniards must be poor marksmen indeed if they +failed to hit her at this range. +</p> + +<p> +He was beginning to retrace his steps when Turnpenny came up hurriedly. +</p> + +<p> +"We be all aboard, sir, save yourself and Nick Joland. Have 'ee seen +him?" +</p> + +<p> +"No." +</p> + +<p> +"He be but late better of a fever, as Tom telled me; pray he be not +swooned." +</p> + +<p> +At this moment they heard loud shouts to their right. Running down +through the trees, careful not to expose themselves, they saw four +Spaniards chasing this very Nick Joland, a thin cadaverous-looking man +whose stumbling gait betrayed his weakness. He was making almost in a +straight line for a large bignonia bush that stood alone at the end of +the narrow clearing just below where the two men were watching. +</p> + +<p> +With one accord Dennis and Turnpenny stole to the bush and dropped down +behind it. +</p> + +<p> +"Let Joland pass," whispered Dennis; "then we can tackle the knaves as +they come up." +</p> + +<p> +"Without arms?" replied Turnpenny. +</p> + +<p> +Dennis nodded. In a few moments the fugitive, panting hard, ran past +the bush. The four Spaniards, running in a body, were close at his +heels. +</p> + +<p> +"Now!" Dennis whispered. +</p> + +<p> +They sprang out with a yell, and though they were unarmed, the odds +were not utterly against them, for the Spaniards were startled by this +unexpected onset. A single blow from Turnpenny's sledge-hammer fist +stretched one of them senseless on the ground. Dennis felled his man, +but his arm was less powerful, and the Spaniard began dizzily to regain +his feet while Dennis grappled with another. As he rose he reeled just +within reach of Turnpenny's arm. Catching him round the middle, the +seaman flung him bodily at the fourth Spaniard, who was making +furiously at him with drawn sword, Their heads collided with a terrific +thud, and down they fell on the grass together. +</p> + +<p class="capcenter"> +<a id="img-306.jpg"></a> +<img class="imgcenter" src="images/img-306.jpg" alt=""The seaman flung him bodily at the fourth Spaniard."" /> +<br /> +"The seaman flung him bodily at the fourth Spaniard." +</p> + +<p> +Meanwhile Dennis had come to grips with the third man, a heavy and +muscular fellow, who had only been prevented by the suddenness of the +onslaught from using his sword, which he was unable in the surprise of +the moment to shorten before Dennis was within his guard. Dropping the +weapon, he strove to crush his antagonist by sheer strength. But +Dennis was a wrestler. He neatly tripped the Spaniard, who fell, +dragging his opponent with him. With a tremendous effort, he heaved +himself uppermost and pinned Dennis to the ground. His hand was +already on Dennis's throat when suddenly a bright object hurtled +through the air, striking him with terrific force on the side of the +head. His grip relaxed, he fell with a groan upon Dennis, the object +that had struck him clattering to the ground. +</p> + +<p> +Dennis was up in a moment. The strange missile was the headpiece of +one of the Spaniards. It had fallen from his head in the tussle, and +been picked up by Nick Joland, who, seeing the diversion in his favour, +had hurried up at the critical moment in time to save Dennis from +strangulation. +</p> + +<p> +"Dead as door-nails!" said Turnpenny succinctly, seeing Dennis glance +at the Spaniards on the ground. "'Tis a terrible heave-up, sir; we +were best to run back along to our comrades in the pinnace, for there +be gashly work afore us. And we will take these knaves' swords and +calivers. Crymaces! there be more running towards us, and a round +dozen; we durst not bide their coming. We have but bare time to get +back to the chine. Stir your stumps, Nick Joland; we can't save 'ee +twice, man." +</p> + +<p><br /><br /><br /></p> + +<p><a id="chap22"></a></p> + +<h3> +CHAPTER XXII +</h3> + +<h4> +A Fight on the Cliffs +</h4> + +<p> +The three doubled back towards the chine, which was little more than +half a mile away. The Spaniards saw them ere they disappeared among +the trees, and followed with loud shouts, quickening their pace when +they reached the spot where their comrades lay. But the Englishmen, +knowing the ground, came in good time to the edge of the gully, where a +steep and winding path led down to the ledge on which the huts were +built. From the summit the ledge was not visible. +</p> + +<p> +"Shall we run down at once, or give them a taste of their own lead +first?" asked Dennis, halting for a moment. +</p> + +<p> +"Give the knaves a taste, to be sure," replied Amos. "They know not +how many we be, nor can they see through the trees; and we must needs +check them, to give us time to acquaint our comrades with what is +toward, and set our defences in order." +</p> + +<p> +While speaking he had kindled the matches taken from the Spaniards. +The calivers were already loaded. Crouching behind the thick bushes +that lined the edge of the gully, they fired when they caught sight of +the Spaniards advancing among the trees. Two of the enemy fell; the +rest halted; and while they stood considering whether to advance, the +three Englishmen hurried down the path, guessing that the Spaniards +would hardly venture to follow while they were ignorant of the size of +the force with which they had to deal. +</p> + +<p> +Arriving at the ledge, Turnpenny gave a hail to the men on the deck of +the pinnace, bidding them leave the vessel and bring their arms and +ammunition with them. They had been much alarmed by the continued +absence of their leaders, and by the sound of the shots, and asked +anxiously, when they reached the ledge, what was to be done. Dennis +rapidly told them what he had seen from the summit of the cliff, and +how for the present the Spaniards had been checked, and then, taking +Turnpenny and two or three of the others aside, began to concert a plan +of defence. +</p> + +<p> +The position was naturally a strong one. The ledge was accessible only +by the narrow path from the cliff-top, and by a few yards of steep +ascent from the base of the gully. It was protected from attack from +above by the overhanging cliff; it could only be assaulted from below +if the enemy got into the bed of the gully, either by coming in boats +round the shoulder of the cliff, or by clambering down the sides +inland. The gully was forty yards across; the opposite bank was steep +and much overgrown with vegetation, trees and bushes growing thick to +the very edge. Down the middle ran the stream from the marsh, very +shallow after a season of dry weather. On their own side the defenders +could pick off the enemy if they came to attack them along the narrow +path; they were only in danger if the Spaniards took post on the summit +of the cliff opposite, and they could not reach that spot except by +making a long circuit about the marsh in which the stream took its +rise, or by clambering down the southern bank some distance up-stream, +wading through the water and climbing the other side. This would be a +matter of an hour or two at least—an invaluable respite which Dennis +resolved to make the most of. +</p> + +<p> +He sent one of the maroons up the path to keep watch on the enemy, and +another to cross the gully, clamber up the opposite face, and hide +among the trees there to give notice of an approach from the +north-east. The other maroons, with several of the Englishmen, he set +to fortify the extremity of the ledge with a wall of branches, so that +the party might be screened from gunshot on the far side. Turnpenny, +with the strongest of the mariners, went down to the pinnace, and at +the cost of great exertion brought up the falcon and rabinets which +formed, with the addition of a saker, her armament. The saker was a +muzzle-loader weighing more than half a ton, and too cumbrous to be +hauled up the steep cliff; but the falcon was less than half that +weight, and the two rabinets weighed only three hundred pounds apiece. +The falcon was seven feet long, had a bore of two and a half inches, +and threw a shot of three pounds weight, with a similar weight of +powder. The rabinet was only two and a half feet in length, its bore +was one inch, and its shot weighed only half a pound. Both guns had a +point-blank range of from a hundred and twenty to a hundred and fifty +yards, and, mounted on the ledge, in embrasures of the extemporized +wall, they would prove very effective weapons of defence. +</p> + +<p> +While the guns were being hauled into position, others of the men +brought buckets of water, filled at the cliff stream, and emptied them +into the casks which during the months spent on the island by Dennis +and the sailors had been depleted of the stores they had held when +brought from the hold of the <i>Maid Marian</i>. Two casks still remained +full of cider, but this having gone sour in the heat, it was poured +away, the casks were swilled out, and re-filled with water. It was +fortunate that a pure spring welled in the cliff, for the water of the +rivulet draining the marsh was unfit for drinking. +</p> + +<p> +All the men worked with a will. They knew not as yet how many the +enemy numbered, but since there were three vessels, of which each, if +fully manned, might contain from forty to seventy men, they had to +reckon with a force that might be from a hundred and twenty to more +than two hundred strong. The odds were tremendously against them. All +told, they numbered only twenty-six, of whom six were maroons. But +they had only two courses open to them: to fight, and at least sell +their lives dearly, or to yield, and be shot or hanged or haled away to +a slavery worse than death. Not one of them hesitated in his choice. +</p> + +<p> +As a last resort, Dennis had the cave to fall back upon; but he was +loath to retire to it until he had made a good fight at the gully, for +while, from the ledge on which his hut stood, he could command the +entrance of the gully, and to some extent protect the pinnace, the cave +was deeper in the cliff and out of sight, and however strenuously the +party might defend itself there, the pinnace would then be at the mercy +of the enemy. It was true that, even if the pinnace were carried away +or destroyed, a canoe could be dug out by the maroons, so that they +would still have a means of leaving the island; but Dennis was +determined to sail the <i>Minion</i> back to Port Diego and to Francis Drake. +</p> + +<p> +Midday came, and passed. The maroons had finished their wall; the guns +were mounted and charged; the water-casks were filled: and still there +was no sign of the enemy. But the scouts had not returned, and Dennis +began to feel somewhat uneasy. What were the Spaniards doing? +</p> + +<p> +"Have we left aught undone, think you?" he said to Turnpenny, as they +sat on upturned tubs eating their dinner. +</p> + +<p> +"Nowt, sir, as I can see. But methinks 't'ud be well to withdraw the +muzzles of our guns somewhat. If the knaves come on t'other side and +spy them, they may sheer off and seek some other way of troubling us; +and I would that they came to close quarters here, where we can strike +them down." +</p> + +<p> +"'Tis good counsel. Not perceiving the guns they will be the more +emboldened to attack us, and 'twere well we have occasion to teach them +a sound lesson." +</p> + +<p> +Accordingly the guns were withdrawn so that their muzzles did not +project from the other side of the wall. Hardly had this been done +when the nose of a boat was seen shooting round the shoulder of the +cliff. +</p> + +<p> +"Lookeedesee!" cried Turnpenny. "The knaves that followed us did +assuredly go back to their comrades and tell them of the gully and the +path downwards, and they have sent their cock-boat to spy the place +from the sea." +</p> + +<p> +"Let us keep out of sight and watch what they do," said Dennis. +</p> + +<p> +The boat, filled with armed men, came under full sweep of oars up the +entrance to the gully. When it was still some distance from the +pinnace the men rested on their oars, and one rose in the bows to look +about him. For some time he saw nothing to indicate that the place was +defended, and his fellows in the boat began to talk over the situation, +the sound of their voices coming clearly to the men behind the wall. +Then, as the boat again moved towards the pool, some one in it suddenly +caught sight of the barricaded ledge, and the voices broke out once +more in eager discussion. The upshot of this was that they came to the +conclusion that the pinnace had been abandoned to her fate, and with a +shout of triumph they bent lustily to their oars and came on with the +evident intention of securing the vessel. +</p> + +<p> +But they were now within range of the calivers of the defenders. At a +sign from Dennis eight of the men stepped forward to the wall, lit +their matches, and, resting the weapons on the top, fired when he gave +the word. Several of the oarsmen were seen to fall back; the boat came +to a stop; and while the Spaniards were hesitating whether to advance +or retreat, eight more men sent a hot volley among them, working havoc +in the crowded boat. Cries of pain were now mingled with their shouts; +the defenders heard a loud word of command; and the rowers began to +back water so as not to present the side of the boat to the hidden +marksmen. When the boat was out of danger it swung round on the +current, and in a few minutes disappeared past the shoulder of the +cliff. +</p> + +<p> +Scarcely was it out of sight when the maroon who had been sent up the +cliff to the south came running down the path. He reported that he had +stealthily spied upon the Spaniards who had been baffled when Dennis +and Turnpenny vanished over the edge; they had returned to the southern +shore, where they rejoined a larger party which had assembled there. A +council had been held on the beach; horns were sounded, no doubt to +recall scattered bands who had been ranging the island in other +directions; more men had been sent off from the ships; and the whole +force, numbering, as near as he could guess, nearly two hundred men, +had set off with matches already lighted, marching northward. +Moreover, the third vessel, which had been lying off the south-western +shore, was working slowly up the coast. +</p> + +<p> +"'Twas from her, without doubt, the boat put off that we have lately +routed," said Dennis. "The men aboard will tell what they have seen. +What will be the upshot, think you, Amos?" +</p> + +<p> +"Be jowned if I can tell, sir. My counsel is, let the maroon go back +and spy upon them. An the knaves march directly northward they will +come upon the gully just above us, and methinks, however stout they be, +they will not dare to come down the path, where we can shoot them man +by man." +</p> + +<p> +It was done as he suggested. Within half an hour the maroon came back +with the news that the boat had been run ashore on low ground to the +west: many wounded men had been lifted out of it; and the majority of +the Spaniards had hastened across country to rejoin the marching force. +It halted while a consultation was held; then the march was resumed, +but this time in a more easterly direction, which would bring them to +the gully at a point about midway between the ledge and the morass, +where the banks were sufficiently low and the stream sufficiently +shallow to permit them to cross without difficulty. +</p> + +<p> +"They be coming about to fire down at us from t'other side," said +Turnpenny. +</p> + +<p> +"Over the wall," added Copstone. +</p> + +<p> +"We can fire back," said Whiddon. +</p> + +<p> +"Zuggers! but twenty of us cannot keep two hundred in check," said Hugh +Curder, anxiously. +</p> + +<p> +"Say you so?" said Dennis. "Master Drake with but few more did assault +and take a whole town. The Spaniards have learnt the worth of an +English mariner; they will not approach us rashly. And they know not +the ground as we know it. 'Twill be a matter of time to cross the +gully and climb the bank and creep along through the trees on the +further side until they face us here. There is—you know it well—a +space on the opposite cliff where the trees grow somewhat thin: a space +which the knaves must cross an they wish to gain the edge. Might we +not ensconce ourselves on the hither border of that space, and fire +upon them as they come? We are not able, 'tis true, a poor twenty, to +withstand the fervent assault of two hundred; but we can assuredly +delay them, and teach them somewhat to respect us, and give time withal +for our wall to be increased in height; meseems it is lower than is +proper. What say you, lads; shall we do this?" +</p> + +<p> +"But how get back to this our fort, sir?" asked one of Drake's men. +"We must fall back before them if they push on, and then methinks they +might drive us over the brink, so that we fall headlong to the bottom, +and break in pieces." +</p> + +<p> +"Nay, Wetherall," replied Dennis. "We would take two, or even three, +calivers apiece, whereby we twenty become sixty, and I warrant me we +could do so much damage among them that they would pause ere they +resolved to bring it to a push. And while they paused, we should have +time to scramble down through the trees and shrubs, and up this side +again, and come to our wall, mayhap, before they won to the edge. +Assuredly we can do them more hurt yonder than if we wait until they +stand in serried mass face to face with us above. Shall we do it, +lads, for the honour of England?" +</p> + +<p> +"Ay, ay, sir," shouted the men, fired by his enthusiasm and confidence; +and Hugh Curder began to troll— +</p> + +<p class="poem"> +"And hey for the honour of old England,<br /> + Old England, Old England!"<br /> +</p> + +<p><br /></p> + +<p> +The move was instantly begun. Dennis bade four of the maroons weave +more branches into the wall. The rest of the men, with two loaded +calivers apiece—three were found to be too cumbrous a load—followed +Dennis down the cliff, forded the stream on rocks just above the pool +where the pinnace and the <i>Maid Marian</i> lay, and clambered up the +opposite cliff by a zigzag path, assisting themselves by the branches +and projecting roots of trees. Arriving at the summit, they waited +only to light their matches, then hurried forward through the +undergrowth to the edge of the somewhat open space which the enemy must +cross. Each man posted himself behind a convenient tree. For two +hundred yards in their front there were only a few scattered trees and +bushes. Dennis wished there were time to fell these and so deprive the +enemy wholly of cover; but even if they could have been cut down, there +was no means at hand of dragging them away, and they would give less +protection if left erect than if they lay lengthwise across the space. +</p> + +<p> +About half an hour after they had thus taken up their positions, the +maroon who had previously been sent across the gully as a scout came +running back to announce that the enemy were approaching. They were +marching with great caution, the soldiers blowing on their smouldering +matches to keep them alight. Dennis ordered the maroon to post himself +behind a tree, and the little party waited in breathless silence for +the enemy to appear. +</p> + +<p> +At last one or two men could be seen among the trees on the other side +of the clearing. They halted, evidently waiting for the main body to +appear before they moved across. Dennis took advantage of the interval +to whisper his orders to the men. If the enemy did not come on in a +mass, and at the charge, only alternate men were to fire the first +volley, then, if they had time, to reload their pieces, still having +the second loaded caliver in reserve. +</p> + +<p> +In a few minutes the gleam of the Spaniards' headpieces and +shoulder-plates was seen as they joined the advance scouts among the +trees. Then, as it were out of the leafy wall, some twenty men marched +resolutely forward in closed ranks, clearly without any suspicion that +the woods beyond were occupied. Dennis waited until they were half-way +across the open space, then he sounded the "Hoo! hoo!" which was the +maroons' signal in wood fighting. The calivers flashed from the belt +of trees; several of the enemy fell; the rest, startled and confused by +this sudden and unexpected attack, rushed back instantly upon the main +body, while the men who had fired began in all haste to reload. +</p> + +<p> +But they had no time to complete the priming of their weapons. A shout +was heard from beyond the clearing. Immediately afterwards a tall +Spaniard, whom his dress marked out as an officer, dashed forward at +the top of his speed, carrying a short heavy pistol of the kind known +to Englishmen as "daggs." With a yell the whole body followed at his +heels. For a moment it seemed to Dennis that nothing could stay the +rush; he and his little party must be overwhelmed. But he called aloud +to his men to hold their fire until the Spaniards should come within +point-blank range. One man, Nick Joland, in sheer nervousness, fired +wildly before the proper time; but the rest, being old mariners who had +borne a part in many a scrimmage before, had sufficient self-command to +obey his orders. +</p> + +<p> +On came the Spaniards, and some of the waiting Englishmen knew them to +be trained soldiers, infantrymen reputed the finest in the world. But +none of the seamen quailed. They knew what was at stake. When the +enemy were within forty paces Dennis gave the word. Twenty calivers +sped forth their deadly missiles, and every shot took effect. Even the +splendid courage and discipline of the Spanish soldiery was unequal to +the strain put upon it. Twenty of them lay writhing or motionless upon +the ground; the mass behind recoiled, and fled to cover, some to the +few trees and shrubs that dotted the open space, others to the thick +wood beyond. +</p> + +<p> +Among those who had been struck down was the gallant captain. He had +just risen on one knee when one of his men sprang from the shattered +ranks to his assistance. Reckless of consequences, the brave fellow +rushed to the middle of the clearing, fully exposed to the marksmen, +and, lifting the wounded officer, carried him bodily among the trees. +His courage drew a great cheer from the Englishmen, not one of whom +raised his weapon to shoot. +</p> + +<p> +"My heart, 'tis a brave lad," roared Turnpenny; "and withal a mighty." +</p> + +<p> +The advance had been checked; the enemy had disappeared; but the voice +of another officer was heard haranguing the men. Soon bullets began to +spatter among the trees behind which the Englishmen lurked, and there +were signs that the Spaniards were spreading out with the object of +taking them in flank. It was time to retreat if they were not to be +cut off. The enemy's movement would take some time,—after their check +they would hesitate to make another direct attack across the clearing; +and Dennis hoped to be able to clamber down the cliff and regain the +ledge before the Spaniards discovered that their opponents had +disappeared. The word was passed quietly along the line; the men +snatched up their weapons; and running fleetly to the edge, leapt, +rolled, swung themselves down with all possible haste. +</p> + +<p> +They had crossed the stream and were half-way up the opposite side when +the movement was seen by one of a flanking party of the Spaniards. A +loud cry proclaimed his discovery of their flight; he fired his +caliver, and Hugh Curder gave a yell; the bullet had struck his foot. +But by the time other Spaniards had come to the brink of the cliff, +and, kneeling down, fired across the gully, the whole party had reached +the ledge, and dropped down panting behind the wall, where for the +moment they were safe. +</p> + +<p><br /><br /><br /></p> + +<p><a id="chap23"></a></p> + +<h3> +CHAPTER XXIII +</h3> + +<h4> +Bombarded +</h4> + +<p> +Bullets pattered upon the wall and the cliff behind; but Dennis and his +men, lying low, took no hurt, and made no reply to the Spaniards' fire. +This presently ceased, and Dennis, peering with caution through one of +the embrasures in the wall, saw the summit of the opposite cliff lined +with the enemy, who were clearly examining the position with careful +interest, and discussing it with animation. At length, firing one or +two shots as by way of farewell, they withdrew from the edge and +disappeared among the trees. +</p> + +<p> +"God be praised for all his mercies," said Amos, rising to his feet. +"But I know not what is to be the end of this." +</p> + +<p> +"Nor I," said Dennis. "'Tis not to be believed they have left us +altogether, but rather that they have retired to consider of the next +move. They can do us no hurt from the cliff yonder except they bring +great guns from their ships to bombard us. Nor can they assault us +from below, for the ascent is steep, and however bold they may be, they +will not come up merely to be shot at. We must e'en wait and be ready." +</p> + +<p> +"Ay, and think on Jan Biddle and what his villainous knavery has +brought us to. But for him we should by this be snug in Plimworth, +a-kissing of our wives and little ones—those that have them. Ah! +sweet Margery Tutt! What a power of mischief one base villain can do!" +</p> + +<p> +The day passed in quietude, the men cleaning their weapons and still +further strengthening the wall. The tide rose in the gully, gently +dandling the pinnace as she lay at anchor in the pool. Many a longing +glance was cast at the little craft, many a sigh broke from the breasts +of the mariners as they saw in imagination the dear cliffs of England, +which even the most confident among them scarcely hoped ever to behold +again. +</p> + +<p> +Darkness fell. Nothing was heard save the rumble of the surf beyond +the entrance of the gully, and the lapping of the waves against the +base of the cliffs. Looking seawards, in the starlight Dennis saw the +mouth of the little harbour like a deep blue cleft in the blackness. +He had just divided the company into watches, to keep guard over the +ledge while the others slept, when Juan the maroon caught his arm and +pointed to a small dark patch at the bottom of the cleft. It seemed to +be moving towards them. At the same time there was a series of flashes +from the cliff opposite; bullets flew among them, one hitting Ned +Whiddon in the arm. Instantly all the men sank below the level of the +wall, and Dennis, crouching close against it, looked through one of the +embrasures at that dark object slowly approaching up the gully, looming +larger every moment. +</p> + +<p> +The meaning of it had already flashed upon him. A boat, perhaps the +same as had appeared earlier in the day, was coming in to cut out the +pinnace. The outbreak of firing from the cliff was intended to mask +the movement and deter the defenders from interfering. +</p> + +<p> +"You see their cunning," said Dennis to Turnpenny, who had crept to his +side. "By day they would not dare come within the range of our +calivers; they know that by night we can but fire at random, and +endamage them little." +</p> + +<p> +"My heart, but we must save the pinnace!" said Turnpenny. "She is all +our hope and salvation." +</p> + +<p> +"Not all, Amos," replied Dennis. "You forget the canoe which the +maroons built for us; they will build another. But I am not content to +lose the <i>Minion</i>; how could we face Master Drake and confess we had +lost her? I would fain save her, but how?" +</p> + +<p> +"Ah, if we had but torches to light the scene!" said Tom +Copstone—"like to those we had at Fort Aguila yonder." +</p> + +<p> +"Thanks for that word!" cried Dennis. "Quick, Amos, into the shed! I +bethink me there are barrels of oil that we did not place aboard the +<i>Mirandola</i>. Broach one, man; tear some of your garments into rags and +plentifully soak them in the oil. These we will light and fling down +into the pool." +</p> + +<p> +Skipping back from the wall, Turnpenny and Copstone went into the shed +and crept back in less than two minutes with armfuls of drenched rags. +These they kindled and threw hastily over into the pool below. The +enemy opposite poured in a hotter fire, but the little company kept +close and none was hit. The device was not a moment too soon. By the +light of the blazing rags it could be seen that the Spaniards had +swarmed on board the pinnace, hauled up her anchor, and fastened her +head rope to their boat. She was indeed already moving slowly towards +the sea. +</p> + +<p> +"Fire, my lads!" cried Dennis. "Let them not all escape." +</p> + +<p> +Half a dozen of the men leapt forward, and, heedless of the enemy's +bullets, discharged their calivers at the men on the deck of the +pinnace. Cries proclaimed that some at any rate had hit the mark; but +in an instant afterwards the <i>Minion's</i> deck was clear, the Spaniards +having sprung overboard or gone below. Still the vessel slowly +receded. As she was between the towing-boat and the ledge, the rowers +were protected from the Englishmen's bullets, and they uttered a +derisive yell as foot by foot they drew the vessel nearer the sea. +</p> + +<p> +"The falconet, Amos!" cried Dennis. "'Tis time to use our ordnance." +</p> + +<p> +"But we be too high, sir. I cannot lower the muzzle so as to bear on +the pinnace." +</p> + +<p> +"You will be able to do that as she draws nearer the shoulder of the +cliff. Lay the gun in readiness." +</p> + +<p> +"Zuggers, sir, but if I hit the poor little craft 'twill smash her." +</p> + +<p> +"I care not. If we cannot keep her whole, neither shall the Spaniards +have her whole. Lay the gun, man." +</p> + +<p> +"My heart, and so I will, and the knaves shall have a plumper, +od-rat-en!" +</p> + +<p> +The entrance to the gully was dimly lit by the burning rags floating in +the wake of the pinnace. Amos had shoved the gun through the +embrasure, and, with his eye along its upper surface, watched the +little vessel as she floated on towards the open sea. The firing +opposite had now ceased; it was as though the Spaniards, sure of +success, disdained to waste more powder and shot. Apparently they were +watching the departing pinnace with so much interest that they had not +observed the muzzle of the falconet projecting from the wall. +</p> + +<p> +The vessel was now at the very entrance of the gully. In another half +minute she would round the shoulder of the cliff and disappear. But +before that half minute was past there was a flash from the ledge; a +round shot flew seawards; and next moment there were shrieks from the +Spaniards who, now that they were out of range of the defenders' small +arms, had again come on deck. The shot had struck the vessel square +astern. Her rudder was shattered; she swung round on the tide, and in +another instant ran aground on a shoal and stuck fast. +</p> + +<p> +A mighty cheer rose from the ledge when the men saw the effect of +Turnpenny's shot. +</p> + +<p> +"'Twas famous, Haymoss," cried Copstone. "Man, 'twas a thumping twack!" +</p> + +<p> +And Hugh Curder in his glee lifted up his voice: +</p> + +<p> +"Then next the blacksmith he came in,<br /> +And said 'Twas mighty hot!'"<br /> +</p> + +<p> +</p> + +<p> +"Smother you!" cried Turnpenny. "Think of the little poor craft +yonder; 'tis like striking a 'ooman, and goes to my heart." +</p> + +<p> +"But 'ee'd do that in kindness, Haymoss," said Copstone. "See, the +knaves cannot pull her off; she be firm on the rocks, and with the tide +falling they'll never move her. They'll think twice before they try +that same device again." +</p> + +<p> +An angry volley from the cliff opposite set them all scurrying again to +cover behind the wall. It proved as Copstone had said. After vainly +endeavouring for some time to haul the pinnace from the shoal, the +occupants of the boat cast off the rope and disappeared. The flames of +the burning rags went out one by one; black darkness settled over the +gully; quietness reigned all around; and leaving three men to keep the +first watch, the rest drew their garments around them and sought sleep, +wondering what the coming day might have in store. +</p> + +<p> +Dennis passed a miserable night. He could not share the childlike +elation which Turnpenny's successful shot had produced in the minds of +the mariners. He felt that this enemy was not to be baulked; every +little set-back would only strengthen the Spaniards' resolve to crush +their opponents; and by this time they could be in no doubt how small +was the company resisting them. His head ached with thinking before he +fell asleep, and when he woke, before dawn, it was with throbbing +temples and anxious heart. +</p> + +<p> +And when he got up and looked towards the sea, he felt his spirit die +within him; for there, just past the shoulder of the cliff and some +distance out to sea, lay one of the enemy's vessels, moored at a point +which he had fondly believed to be unapproachable by any craft of her +size. She had been descried by the men of the last watch, but the +meaning of the move was not clear to them as it was instantly to him. +The ledge was just within range of her guns, for although the shoulder +of the cleft hid the pool from any vessel in the main channel, it was +just within sight from the spot to which the enemy's vessel had worked. +</p> + +<p> +"Jaykle! the skipper must be rare and bold," cried Turnpenny. +</p> + +<p> +"And a mariner of right good skill," said Dennis. +</p> + +<p> +But their admiration was turned to grave alarm when, with a roar, the +whole of the vessel's broadside was suddenly fired, and the round shot +came hurtling up the gully. To reply was impossible. The small guns +on the ledge were too light to carry the distance. And there was +nothing to be hoped for from bad marksmanship on the enemy's part. The +first discharge had no effect except to displace masses of rock and +earth from the cliff below the ledge. +</p> + +<p> +"They cannot raise their muzzles high enough to hit the ledge," cried +Turnpenny in delight. +</p> + +<p> +But this fond hope was shattered at the next broadside. One shot +struck the hut; another tore a great gap in the wall; a third chipped +off large pieces of rock; several men were wounded. +</p> + +<p> +"Our wall is vain now," said Dennis. "Another shot will tear it away, +and we shall have no defence against the calivers of the enemy when +they again appear on the cliff. Ah! and there they come. We must run +for the cave, Amos; 'tis our last refuge. Lead the men thither; let +them carry our arms and munitions, and what water and stores they can. +I and Copstone and one or two more will strive to make reply to the +enemy while aught of our wall remains." +</p> + +<p> +Bullets were already falling on the ledge. Led by Turnpenny, most of +the men, loaded with things, scuttled along the face of the cliff into +the thicket that half concealed the mouth of the cave. Dennis with +three companions fired back at the opposite cliff; but in a few minutes +another volley of round shot came crashing up the gully, and scarcely a +man on the ledge but was wounded by splinters of rock, though none was +directly hit by the shot. It was hopeless to cling to the position +longer. +</p> + +<p> +"Follow me, lads," cried Dennis; and, rushing down the ledge to where +it widened and was overgrown with bushes, he and his comrades joined +the others safely in the cave. +</p> + +<p><br /><br /><br /></p> + +<p><a id="chap24"></a></p> + +<h3> +CHAPTER XXIV +</h3> + +<h4> +The Leaguer of Skeleton Cave +</h4> + +<p> +"Save us all!" cried Turnpenny, "we be like rats in a trap." +</p> + +<p> +"The knaves cannot get at us, for this present at least," said Copstone. +</p> + +<p> +"True, not without being well whopped; but they can block up the +entrance, and keep us mewed up until we must either yield or starve, or +perish of thirst." +</p> + +<p> +"Keep a good heart," said Dennis, cheerfully. "We will not yield or +starve yet. Since I set sail from England in the <i>Maid Marian</i> yonder +many a marvellous thing has befallen me. I met a countryman when I had +given up hope! Why may not things we do not foresee happen again?" +</p> + +<p> +"Ay, true," said one of Drake's men; "and perchance Master Francis +himself may come to our aid." +</p> + +<p> +"That is but a poor chance," said Dennis. "It were better we trust in +God and our own wit. We are safe at present; let us see what shelter +our cave affords; I confess I have not hitherto fully explored it." +</p> + +<p> +Lighting a torch, he walked inwards, with two or three of the men, and +found after a few yards that the floor sloped slightly downwards, and +that the cave widened out on both sides, so that, if the enemy +discovered it, and fired into the opening, the inmates could find +shelter out of the line of fire. The air was close, but as it did not +become oppressive so soon as Dennis expected, he was tempted to believe +that there was a hole somewhere in the roof which served to ventilate +the cave. But though he looked carefully along the whole vault, which +extended for some thirty yards into the cliff, he found no such +opening, and concluded that the comparative freshness of the air was +due merely to the spaciousness of the cave and the width of its mouth. +</p> + +<p> +The day wore away in quiet. Careful watch was kept at the opening, and +occasionally Spaniards were seen moving up and down the gully and on +the opposite cliff; but no assault was made, and it seemed as though +the enemy was content to wait until hunger and thirst had done their +work. An inspection of the stores showed that there was only two days' +food; all the water they had was contained in three buckets; and this, +in that climate, and the state of excitement to which the men were +wound up, was but a pitiful supply if the investment was to be +protracted. Especially was it unfortunate seeing that several men were +wounded, some seriously. Their injuries were dressed as carefully as +possible with the limited appliances at hand; but in the course of the +day one poor fellow died, and was solemnly buried in a grave dug with +their weapons in the floor. +</p> + +<p> +Among the occupants of the cave was Mirandola. The monkey had taken +refuge in a tree while the fighting was in progress, and Dennis thought +that the poor animal would certainly flee to the woody interior of the +island, far away from the din and turmoil. But at nightfall the monkey +stole into the cave, and attached himself to Dennis, whom he followed +about like a shadow. +</p> + +<p> +The hours of darkness dragged slowly along. Almost as soon as it was +light, a round shot came crashing into the opening, scattering stones +and earth in all directions. The Spaniards' inaction during the +previous day was explained: they had evidently brought from the vessel +in the offing a gun, perhaps more than one, and mounted it on the +opposite cliff. The effect of the shot, which luckily harmed no one, +was to send the men in all haste to the sides of the cave. But the +crash and the smoke made Mirandola shriek with fright. He ran deeper +into the cave, and when Dennis, with a torch, followed to soothe his +terror, he discovered that the poor beast had taken refuge on the top +of an irregular pillar of rock that stood out from the wall about three +quarters of the way from the entrance. He tried to coax the monkey to +descend, but without avail. The top of the pillar being beyond his +reach, he called Turnpenny, and, climbing on to the mariner's broad +shoulders, reached up to seize the monkey. But Mirandola retreated and +disappeared. +</p> + +<p> +"The beast is deaved, to be sure," said Turnpenny, "and lacks his +little wit. Let him bide, sir." +</p> + +<p> +"Nay, he has been our partner so long that I am not willing to lose +him, and he will surely be stifled if we do not bring him nearer the +opening. Hoist me, Amos." +</p> + +<p> +He swarmed to the top of the rock, the sailor handing up the torch +after him. It took a few moments to become accustomed to the +blackness, and in the red flickering light he failed to see any sign of +the monkey. But he perceived with surprise that the pillar did not +abut immediately on the wall, as he had supposed. Behind it he saw +what appeared to be a deep black hole, which seemed deeper when he +inserted his torch. Into this Mirandola, his nerves completely +unstrung by the shattering explosion, must have run for refuge. +</p> + +<p> +Dennis crawled in, and holding the torch over his head, was still more +amazed to find that he had come to the entrance of a second cave, +apparently larger than the first. The floor of it was many feet below +him: he hesitated to risk a dislocation of his ankle if he sprang down; +so he retreated, and called to Turnpenny, informing him of his +discovery. +</p> + +<p> +"Sling up a rope," he said; "you and Copstone keep a firm hold upon it +on your side, while I let myself down on the other side and see what is +beyond." +</p> + +<p> +Lowering himself through the aperture, he found the monkey sitting on +the floor. +</p> + +<p> +"Come, Mirandola," he said, "you taught me the merits of some of the +fruits of this island; hast more to teach me, old friend? Let us go on +together." +</p> + +<p> +He found that the floor of this cave also inclined downwards, and he +went very cautiously, lest he should come unawares upon a chasm and +fall headlong to his doom. The atmosphere was damp and close, but not +foul, and as he proceeded he saw by the flickering of the torch that +there was a slight current of air. No wall blocked his way, but by and +by the cave narrowed and the roof came lower, and he had to stoop, and +at last to crawl, to avoid knocking his head. He had still not reached +the end of what was now a tunnel, when the torch went out. For a +moment he hesitated whether to go on in the darkness; then, deciding +that it was not worth while to run any risks when he could procure +another light within a few minutes, he hurried back, got another and a +larger torch, and asked Turnpenny to accompany him. +</p> + +<p> +The two together came to the spot where the first torch had been left, +and went on. The rough irregular fissure grew no narrower, but its +slope became steeper at every yard. +</p> + +<p> +"God-a-mercy, it likes me not!" murmured Turnpenny, who was filled with +superstitious fears in face of the unknown. "Meseems we be going down +into the very bowels of the earth, or mayhap lower. Dost fear no +goblins? Dost not think we may come upon the Old Smoker?" +</p> + +<p> +"Never a whit, Amos. Why, man, the floor here is wet. Touch it with +your hand. And as I live, here are seaweeds and shells! And look; +surely that is a glint of light yonder that comes not from our torch. +Here is a very pool; duck your head, man; I gave mine a rare crack just +then, the roof comes so low. Crawl after me. I smell the sea, Amos; +and ah! look! here we are on the shore. Have a care; we must not be +spied." +</p> + +<p> +Crawling actually through the water, they found themselves on the shore +at a point not far north of the spot where Dennis had first opened his +eyes on the island. The hole in the cliff was almost hidden by the +overhanging plants. Mirandola had halted; to go through water was not +to his taste. Cautiously raising themselves, Dennis and Turnpenny +parted the screening leaves and looked out to sea. There, a little +distance out, was the vessel that had fired on them. The tide was low; +she had had to shift her position further into the main channel. In +the little bay which here indented the shore a boat lay on the sand, +two Spaniards leaning against its side, keeping guard over it, no +doubt, while their comrades were engaged in investing the cave. +</p> + +<p> +"One thing is plain," whispered Dennis; "here at least is a way of +retreat should we no longer be able to remain in our cave. And when +water fails, we can creep out by the hole in the night time, and fill +our buckets at one of the rills that trickle from the cliff." +</p> + +<p> +"Ah! that is something, sir," said Turnpenny, "but I would fain knock +those knaves yonder on the head and take their boat. We might then +make a shift to row away from this isle." +</p> + +<p> +"A good wish, Amos, but hard to come by. We could not do it in +daylight, and methinks the Spaniards would not do us the grace to leave +their boat here on the shore for us to make free with at night. But +assuredly we can keep a better watch on them here than from the cave +above, where we cannot show a head but with great peril; let us +therefore return and send one of the maroons hither as a sentinel." +</p> + +<p> +There was great excitement among the men when they were told of this +discovery. Though it seemed impossible that the passage to the sea +could avail them much, the knowledge that it was open to them gave just +that dash of comfort which is all the world to men in extremity. And +when, as the day wore on, the enemy's guns began to play regularly on +the mouth of the cave, and brought down in front of it great masses of +the cliff above, they did not get into a state of panic, but almost +gaily made air-holes through the loosely piled earth with their +weapons, chuckling at the thought that the besiegers were no doubt +flattering themselves with the supposition that the hapless garrison +was being gradually entombed. +</p> + +<p> +But it seemed to Dennis that an attempt should be made to turn this +strange discovery to account. Clearly it was possible to leave the +cave, but supposing they all made their way to the shore, what then? +They might take to the woods in the centre of the island, and for a +time, perhaps, elude the enemy; but it would only be a matter of days +before they must be hunted down. They could not, a mere handful, risk +a stand-up fight against a force six or seven times their number. And +it was in the highest degree unlikely that the enemy would leave any of +their boats on shore during the night. Still, there was just a chance +that a boat might be so left, and Dennis arranged that Juan the maroon +should go before dark to the exit on the shore, to see what he could +discover of the Spaniards' arrangements, and then to steal up the cliff +and learn how they encamped during the night. +</p> + +<p> +The night was still young when the maroon returned. He had seen the +boat put off, conveying officers to the vessel. Then, waiting until it +was dark, he had climbed the cliff, and found that the enemy had formed +a camp on the summit immediately above the ledge, at some little +distance from the brink. No pickets were posted; the Spaniards had +evidently recognized the hopelessness of any attempt to escape either +up or down the gully. +</p> + +<p> +Juan had then crept round to the northern cliff, and discovered that +the two guns which had played on the cave during the day were left in +charge of two men. Dennis was somewhat surprised that the main camp of +the enemy had not been made there instead of on the southern cliff, +until he remembered that only on the latter were there springs of fresh +water. +</p> + +<p> +"'Tis as I feared, you see," he said to Turnpenny. "The boat returns +to the ship at night—just as the boat was wont to return to your +lumber-ship. It was but a poor hope, and that is dashed." +</p> + +<p> +"And so 'tis. The only thing that we poor souls could do would be to +crawl out by the hole, and fetch a long compass to the cliff yonder +where the guns be, and blow them up for the knaves. If there be but +two men guarding them, 't'ud be no hard feat." +</p> + +<p> +Dennis did not reply. He seemed to have fallen into a brown study. +</p> + +<p> +"I'se warrant I could do it, with Tom Copstone and Juan, and maybe +another of the maroons. 'T'ud not save us, to be sure, but 't'ud at +least give the knaves a turn, od rabbit en!" +</p> + +<p> +"Amos," said Dennis with apparent inconsequence, "if you were a Spanish +officer——" +</p> + +<p> +"God forbid, sir!" interrupted the seaman, fervently. +</p> + +<p> +"It is impossible, I own. Still, if you were a Spanish officer aboard +that vessel yonder, and in the blackest hour of night you heard a great +uproar on this island, and saw the flashing of guns, what would you do?" +</p> + +<p> +"I'fecks, I would think there was a rare randy afoot, and straightway +lower a boat and come with all speed ashore to lend a hand." +</p> + +<p> +"And you, Copstone,—what would you do?" +</p> + +<p> +"Come with Haymoss, to be sure, sir. You and me, Haymoss——" +</p> + +<p> +"The words of my dream again, sir!" cried Amos in excitement. "There +be summat in your mind, sir; tell it out, and, souls all, lend an ear." +</p> + +<p> +And then Dennis unfolded a scheme which Juan's report and Turnpenny's +suggestion had set working in his mind. For some minutes the little +group around him hung breathlessly upon his quiet words; then Turnpenny +exclaimed— +</p> + +<p> +"We'll do it, we will so, and be jowned if the knaves will not wish +themselves anywhere but on Maiden Isle. Come, my hearts, the sky is +black and lowering: 'tis the very time o' night for our intent, and +with God's help we will prosper in our doings." +</p> + +<p> +And then the rough seaman fell on his knees, and with clasped hands +recited the prayer for help in time of need, and every man of the +little company responded with a low fervent "Amen!" +</p> + +<p> +Half an hour later, Turnpenny, with Copstone, Juan, and a second +maroon, bade farewell to his comrades and clambered down into the +second cave. When they were on the farther side of the dividing rock, +their weapons, with four belts packed full of grape shot from the +stores of the <i>Maid Marian</i>, were handed down to them, and after a +final "God speed!" from Dennis they started on the way to the sea. +</p> + +<p> +An hour passed—an hour during which the rest of the company sat in +hushed expectancy, scarcely speaking a word. One of the maroons had +pushed his way through the heap of loose earth piled at the mouth of +the cave, and crawled stealthily to the ledge, where he crouched amid +the ruins of the sheds. Presently, from the opposite cliff, came a +slight booming sound like the cry of a night beetle. The maroon, +invisible in the black shade of the cliff, crept back to the cave. +Immediately afterwards the whole company, man by man, crossed into the +inner cave, the two men most seriously wounded being lifted up one side +of the pillar, and lowered gently down the other. Dennis leading, with +Mirandola close behind, they made their way by torch-light down the +sloping floor, then, extinguishing the torch, crawled out at the narrow +aperture, and, after Dennis had taken a careful look round, stood up, a +silent band of twenty-one, on the sea-shore. The two men whose wounds +forbade exertion were left in a sheltered spot below the bank; then the +rest followed Dennis up through the vegetation, in single file. It was +so dark that no man could see the man before him, but each one grasped +the caliver of the man ahead, thus guiding themselves through the +jungle. +</p> + +<p> +Up they went, quietly, almost as surely as if it were broad daylight, +for Dennis knew every foot of the way, which he had trodden many times +since that day long before when he had begun his exploration of the +island. Winding in and out, he came at length by a long circuit to the +high ground approaching the southern bank of the gully. And there he +halted. Through the trees before him he saw the watch-fires, dying +low, of the enemy encamped on the clearing beyond. All was silent. If +any sentinels were awake, they were not conversing. The camp was as +quiet as though it were an abode of the dead. +</p> + +<p> +Suddenly the deep silence was broken by the boom of a beetle. It died +away. So natural a sound was it that the Spanish sentinels, if any +were on guard, would never have suspected that it came from the throat +of a maroon. Even Dennis's company might have been deceived had they +not known that the sound had been made by one of themselves, the maroon +at their leader's side. +</p> + +<p> +Scarcely had it died away when two sharp cracks rent the air from some +point beyond the camp. Then came an instant change over the scene—a +change which Amos and Tom Copstone had fired to bring about. A loud +cry rang out in the camp, followed by a din of many voices and the +clash of arms. Some one cast fuel on one of the fires, and the flame, +leaping up, shone on a camp in commotion; men were hurrying this way +and that, calling to their fellows excitedly. What was this that had +disturbed their slumbers? Was some one signalling to them from the +vessel out at sea? Could it be that El Draque had sailed up out of the +night? +</p> + +<p> +Into the midst of this noise and confusion broke a shattering sound, +the roar of a piece of ordnance. Then the din was redoubled, and with +the astonished cries of some were mingled the shrieks and groans of +wounded men. Still Dennis and his little band stood motionless amid +the trees, but every man now held a lighted match. Another deep +reverberating roar thundered forth, with more cries and yells in the +camp. Amos and his comrades had disposed of the men guarding the guns, +and had turned these upon the enemy. +</p> + +<p> +"Now!" cried Dennis. +</p> + +<p> +Then a mighty shout broke from the throats of the little company, and +with the roar of lusty British seamen mingled the weird "Yo peho! yo +peho!" of the maroons. A volley flashed from the muzzles of nineteen +calivers, and nineteen men dashed forward towards the camp, shouting +like a hundred. On they rushed through the trees into the clearing. +"Yo peho! yo peho!" And with yells of panic fear the Spaniards, like a +flock of sheep, ran and ran and ran, helter-skelter, flinging their +arms away, tumbling over one another, falling, rising again, pelting +headlong through the woodland towards the marsh. +</p> + +<p> +Again the guns on the opposite cliff thundered, but the shots did not +now come plunging into the camp. How were the Spaniards, scared out of +their wits, to know that Turnpenny and Copstone were now firing into +the gully, lest they should hit their comrades? But in a few moments +there was no risk of this, for Dennis wheeled about and led his men at +a mad scamper down by the way they had come, never stopping until, +bathed in sweat, panting for breath, they stood on the sea-shore, at +the place from which they had started. +</p> + +<p> +And now Dennis looked again towards the sea, and strained his ears to +catch a sound he expected. Would his expectation be fulfilled? Would +Fortune favour him? Would the Spanish officers aboard the ship do as +Copstone and Turnpenny in their place would have done—lower boats in +all haste and come to the aid of their comrades in peril? None knew +the anxiety that troubled Dennis in those minutes of waiting. If the +Spaniards were poltroons, if they were scared by the sudden outbreak +and feared to venture shorewards in the dark, his bold scheme would +fail, and then what the end would be he hardly dared to think. It was +with real agony of soul he listened, listened for the sweep of oars. +</p> + +<p> +Hark! On the silence of the sea comes a thud, a measured beat, growing +in loudness, drawing near. As yet he can see nothing, but his comrades +hear the sound; their hearts leap at it; they can scarcely check a +shout of joy. On comes the boat; they hear the splash of oars, and +voices, and by and by the grating of a keel. They wait in panting +silence. Men are wading through the water; arms clash; a loud voice +gives an order; and now a score of dark forms can be seen running up +the beach, making for the very path lately traversed by the nineteen. +The men, lurking beneath the bank, hold their breath; Dennis feels as +though his very heart-beats must be heard; but the Spaniards pass, and +disappear, and are now hasting up towards the camp. The sound of their +footsteps dies away; Dennis can scarcely bear to wait, so eager is he +to pursue his scheme to the end. At last he gives the word, and +eighteen men rush after him, noiselessly on the sand, towards the boat, +a hundred yards away. +</p> + +<p> +The two Spaniards left on guard catch sight of the running men when +they are half way across the beach. Why should they suspect that these +are not their comrades who lately parted from them? What has happened? +They are nervous, unstrung. "What is it?" they cry; but the words are +choked in their throats, for two men have sprung upon them, and next +moment they lie stunned on the sand. Four men return and bring their +wounded comrades with what haste they may. Then lusty arms shove the +boat from the shoal; nineteen men leap in after the two; the oars are +out, and the boat's head points towards the vessel lying at anchor. +</p> + +<p> +But it pauses as it comes level with the shoulder of the cliff. The +four bold fellows who have so manfully played their part beyond the +gully are not forgotten. And but a few moments after the boat has +stopped, four figures come swimming out with mighty strokes, and are +hauled aboard, dripping wet, but exultant. Again the oars strike the +water and the boat moves out to sea. A dark hull looms up in front. +Dennis whispers an order; all the oars are shipped but two; and the +boat goes slowly, with no sign of haste. A voice hails it from the +deck. "All's well!" calls Juan. The boat is now under the vessel's +quarter: a lamp is slung over the bulwark to guide the returning crew; +a rope is thrown out to steady her; and Turnpenny begins to clamber up +by the battens. Before Dennis reaches the deck he hears a cry, then a +heavy thud, and as he springs aboard he sees Amos with a prostrate +Spaniard between his legs. Up they go, all twenty-five; only a dozen +of the vessel's crew are left on board; and the long pent-up excitement +of maroons and British mariners bursts forth in a shout of triumph; the +ship is theirs. +</p> + +<p> +"Heave up the anchor, my hearts!" cried Turnpenny. "Loose the +mainsail, Tom; the wind serves." +</p> + +<p> +"Stay, Amos," said Dennis, "we must not forget the pinnace. We cannot +return to Master Drake without her." +</p> + +<p> +"Nor shall not," replied the seaman; "but we'll first give the knavish +vessels yonder a taste of our lead, an ye will but give us leave." +</p> + +<p> +"A right good notion, Amos, if we can win to them at this low tide." +</p> + +<p> +"That we can, sir; trust me." +</p> + +<p> +With her courses set, and Turnpenny at the helm, the vessel stood out +half a mile until all danger of striking a shoal was past; then she was +headed southward. Meantime Dennis superintended the loading of all her +ordnance, five guns on each side. Soon they saw the dark hulls of the +two Spanish vessels anchored off the south-west corner of the island. +</p> + +<p> +"There's room enough betwixt 'em, sir, for us to pass and rake 'em with +a broadside. Not a man aboard 'em will suppose this craft is manned by +any but their own comrades, nor will they know better till they hear +our popguns." +</p> + +<p> +As they approached, a voice hailed them from the vessel on the port +side, asking the meaning of the uproar lately heard. +</p> + +<p> +"A fight ashore, but it is now over," sang out Juan the maroon. +</p> + +<p> +The <i>Minion</i> came between the two vessels. So confident was Turnpenny +in the unpreparedness of the Spaniards that he hove to, not a dozen +yards separating the ships on either side. The guns were manned; the +matches, already lighted, were screened from observation; then, at the +word, the five guns on the starboard side belched forth their heavy +charges of round shot. Almost before the roar had died away the +gunners rushed to the larboard. Again there was a mighty thunder and +crash as the shots raked the hapless vessel. Through the cloud of +smoke the adventurous bark was got under way. In a few minutes she ran +clear; Turnpenny put the helm down, and she beat up against the wind +until she reached her former anchorage westward of the gully. +</p> + +<p> +Then Dennis, with Turnpenny and a dozen men, got into the boat which +had followed astern at the end of a rope, and rowed for the entrance +between the cliffs. There was no guard over the pinnace. The +Spaniards who had been surprised in their camp had fled to the other +side of the island. Even those who had lately landed, hearing the +thunder of the guns to the south, had rushed inland, believing that El +Draque, the terror of their coasts, had suddenly come upon them. +Unmolested, Dennis and some of his party landed on the rocks. +Turnpenny made a rapid inspection of the pinnace. +</p> + +<p> +"Her stern works be sore battered and her rudder shivered to +splinters," he said, "but she will take no water, a' b'lieve. With a +strong pull we will have her off, sir." +</p> + +<p> +The rope by which the Spaniards had attempted to tow her was still +fixed. Under the haulage of twelve sturdy mariners she was slowly +shifted; she floated; and in twenty minutes lay alongside the Spanish +vessel. +</p> + +<p> +Then, the men giving a parting cheer that echoed and re-echoed from the +shore, the ship stood away under full sail with the pinnace riding +merrily astern. And when morning broke the long coast-line of the +mainland was already in sight. +</p> + +<p><br /><br /><br /></p> + +<p><a id="chap25"></a></p> + +<h3> +CHAPTER XXV +</h3> + +<h4> +The Mule Trains +</h4> + +<p> +"No Bobby Pike this time," whispered Turnpenny to Dennis, as they lay +eating their supper amid the scrub a mile or more south of Nombre de +Dios. "And with all my soul I hope the Frenchmen be sober men, for to +fail of our purpose now through any frowardness would break Master +Drake his noble heart and send me into a decline." +</p> + +<p> +"Hush!" returned Dennis, in a voice equally low. "List to the church +bells, Amos, and the clatter of the hammers. Does it not mind you of +home—the church on the cliff, and the busy carpenters in the docks +below? My soul yearns for home, Amos." +</p> + +<p> +"Ay, and so do I. But I would fain return home with full hands—money +enough to buy a little fishing craft, and a cottage by the sea. 'Tis +five year and more since I sailed in the <i>Jesus</i> out of Plimworth +Sound, and there was Margery Tutt a-waving her little handkercher to +me, thinking, poor soul, to see me again within a twelvemonth. And I +warrant the pretty maid counted the days and went to every wedden in +church, to larn the fearsome promises word by word, so that she might +not fail when we should come to stand afore holy pa'son. 'With all my +worldly goods I thee endow': so it runs for the man to say, and here I +be, five year after, with not so much worldly goods as I had then, +saving some few pearls; and I warrant some knavish land-lubber has come +along and snatched up my little Margery, and I'll find her a bowerly +'ooman that has clean forgot poor Haymoss Turnpenny. Ah me! I be sick +of adventures, be jowned if I bean't." +</p> + +<p> +"Be of good cheer, Amos. If Fortune stand our friend, we shall have +more gold and silver than we can bear away before this night be ended; +and then Master Drake will sail away home, and who knows?—Margery may +be looking for you even yet. 'Twas seven years that Jacob served for +Rachel." +</p> + +<p> +"Ay, but always within arm's length. I warrant he kept an eye on the +wench. There was never a thousand leagues of sea betwixt him and the +maid. Od-rat-en, if I find Margery have changed her name with any +lubberly chaw-bacon, dang me if I don't deal en a clout he'll remember, +good-now, I will." +</p> + +<p> +Turnpenny relapsed into silence, brooding on his melancholy forebodings. +</p> + +<p> +It was the night of March 31. Some forty men lay in the scrub +overlooking Nombre de Dios, awaiting the clang of mule-bells that would +announce the approach of a treasure train from Venta Cruz. Half of +them were French, for a week or two before, as Drake and his men were +sportively pitching stones at the land crabs on the beach, a ship came +down from the west, whose captain proved to be a French Huguenot named +Le Testu, with a company of some seventy men and boys. They were +perishing for want of water. Having obtained from Drake, ever generous +to adventurers like himself, the supplies they needed, they prepared to +join themselves to him, in the hope of obtaining some share of Spanish +gold. +</p> + +<p> +Drake hesitated to admit the Frenchmen to a partnership, for he had but +thirty-one men left, and feared that the seventy would claim too large +a portion of the booty if his projected attack on the mule-train should +succeed. But the matter was compromised by Captain Le Testu joining +Drake with twenty men. These, with fifteen Englishmen and a few +maroons, sailed in two of Drake's pinnaces for the mouth of the +Francisco river, fifteen miles from Nombre de Dios. The rest of the +company were left at a secret spot in charge of one Richard Doble. +When the river mouth was made, Drake sent a few maroons back with the +pinnaces, ordering them to remain in hiding with Doble and to return in +four days' time to take off the adventurers. +</p> + +<p> +Dennis and Turnpenny were among those who accompanied Drake in the +<i>Minion</i>. They had won great praise from him for their exploits in +Maiden Isle and their capture of the Spanish ship, whose stores of food +and ammunition were very welcome. The damage to the pinnace was +speedily repaired, Drake saying with a laugh that had she been rendered +unseaworthy he would have pinioned Dennis between decks and kept him +there until they dropped anchor in Plymouth Sound. +</p> + +<p> +The adventurers were encamped on rising ground above the town. Taking +a lesson from the previous failure, the men spoke in the lowest of +whispers, even though they were a mile away from the track. All +through the night they heard the clatter of hammers from the bay, where +the Spanish shipwrights, avoiding the heat of the day, were preparing +the ships of the treasure fleet for sea. The ambuscaders were grimly +resolved that the cargoes should be less by the weight of a good many +tons of silver and gold. +</p> + +<p> +The hours passed too slowly for the impatient adventurers. But at +length, a little before dawn, they heard a faint tinkle of bells afar +in the woods, and soon the maroon scouts came in with the news that +three trains, numbering nearly two hundred mules in all, were +approaching from Venta Cruz. Such good fortune was unlooked for; and +though the scouts reported that the trains were escorted by soldiers, +not a man gave a thought to the odds against them. Instantly they all +seized their calivers and bows and arrows, and hastened to the +trackway, where, as before, they posted themselves in the long grass on +either side. +</p> + +<p> +On came the mules, their bells jangling and clanging in musical +discord. In the grass lurked the raiders, silent—though Turnpenny +gave Dennis a nudge and whispered, "'Tis All Fools' Day!" Suddenly +there sounded a blast from Drake's whistle; the men started up, and, +sending a volley of bullets and arrows at the Spanish infantrymen that +guarded the convoy, made straight for the heads of the leading mules. +Nothing loath to rest a while, the mules behind lay down contentedly on +the ground. But the soldiers, who had blown on their matches as they +marched, to keep them alight, rallied in a group and fired back at the +assailants. A maroon was killed outright: Captain Le Testu fell +seriously wounded; but the rest, kneeling down and supporting their +weapons on the prostrate mules, briskly returned the fire; then, +springing up before the enemy could reload, charged upon them with +fierce cries and drove them helter-skelter towards the town. +Immediately afterwards two men came rushing up to Turnpenny. +</p> + +<p> +"Be jowned if it bean't Billy Hawk and fat Baltizar!" he cried in +astonishment. "Oh Billy, poor soul, what a scarecrow 'ee do look! Get +out, you jelly!" he cried to Baltizar, speeding him with a kick. "You +be fat as butter; all is well with 'ee; get 'ee to the town after your +masters, and thank God your oily carcass be not left to fatten the +land.—Billy, dear heart, what hath happed to thee?" +</p> + +<p> +Hawk told his story while Turnpenny and the other seamen, selecting the +mules that bore the heaviest loads, with nimble fingers cast off their +packs, unstrapped them, and helped themselves to the precious +contents—bars and quoits of solid gold, and silver uncountable. He +had followed Biddle and the other mutineers in the hope of persuading +them to return to their duty; but they had soon fallen upon him, robbed +him of his bag of pearls, and left him bound in the forest. There he +had been found by some fugitives from the routed Spaniards, who carried +him to their vessel, and conveyed him to Nombre de Dios. Believing him +to be one of Drake's men, they tortured him to make him confess where +his captain's secret haven was, which he stedfastly refused to do; and +since then he had been kept in slavery, drudging as a muleteer between +Nombre de Dios and Panama. +</p> + +<p> +"God be praised we have found 'ee!" cried Turnpenny. "You shall come +back with us, and I'll give 'ee a share of all my treasure." +</p> + +<p> +The raiders did up in bundles and bestowed about their persons as much +as they could stagger under, and set to work to bury what they could +not carry in the burrows of landcrabs and under the great trunks of +fallen trees. For two hours they toiled on; then, hearing the clatter +of hoofs from the direction of the town, they seized their booty and +made off to the woods. Up came a troop of horse; but when they reached +the mules they halted, for they heard in the woods the "Yo peho!" of +the maroons, and shrank from engaging those terrible forest fighters. +Staggering under the weight of their treasure, the raiders tramped with +what haste they might through the jungle. They had not gone far when +Captain Le Testu lay down groaning; weak from loss of blood, he could +go no farther. Two of his men volunteered to stay with him, and help +him on after he had rested. The others hurried on, and after +struggling through the forest for two days and nights, drenched by +terrible rainstorms, burnt black by the torrid heat, reached their +landing-place on the bank of the Francisco River. +</p> + +<p> +It was four days since they had left it; the pinnaces should have been +there awaiting them; but not a sign of them met their hungry eyes. +Instead, seven Spanish pinnaces were observed rowing from the island, +where the maroons had been ordered to shelter with Richard Doble. The +drenched and footsore raiders were aghast. Had their enemies captured +the pinnaces, and slain their comrades? Were they to be imprisoned in +this swampy jungle, with no means of sailing or rowing away to Fort +Diego? Loud murmurs, cries of despair, curses at being deserted, broke +from the seamen. They cried out that they were betrayed; that the +Spaniards would fall on them and overwhelm them; that they would never +see home again. Drake expostulated with them; the maroons offered to +lead them the sixteen days' journey overland, and promised, if the +ships proved indeed to be taken, to give them shelter in their +villages. But the men cried out the more; some threw down the treasure +they had dared so much to win; some began to cry out against their +leader himself. +</p> + +<p> +Then Drake showed the stuff of which he was made. +</p> + +<p> +"Silence, you knaves!" he cried. "Am I any whit better off than you? +Is this a time to yield to craven fear? Nay, but rather to pluck up +heart and play the man. If the Spaniards have in truth taken our +pinnaces, which God forbid, yet they must have time to search them, +time to examine the mariners, and, if they compel them by torture to +confess where our ships are, time to execute their resolution after it +is determined. Before all these times be taken, we may get to our +ships if ye will. We may not hope to go by land, for that the journey +is too long and the ways too foul. But we may surely go by water. +Look at the trees here rolling down upon the flood, thrown down by the +storms that beset us so sorely. May we not build ourselves a raft, and +put ourselves to sea? I will be one; who will be the others?" +</p> + +<p> +"That will I," said Dennis, stepping forward. +</p> + +<p> +"And I too, good-now," cried Turnpenny. +</p> + +<p> +"Nay, Master Hazelrig, you I will leave to command these timid rascals +if ill befall me; but Amos I will take, and go fetch those laggard +pinnaces." +</p> + +<p> +Then the maroons, taking hands and forming into a line, stepped into +the river and intercepted the trees as they came down on the torrent. +With their hatchets they lopped off the branches; they bound the trunks +together with leathern thongs taken from the mules, and with tendrils +of creepers from the jungle. A stout sapling was reared as a mast, and +with his own hands Turnpenny rigged up a biscuit sack for a sail, and +fashioned a crutch in which another sapling might serve as a rudder. +The raft being now ready, Drake selected two of the Frenchmen who could +swim well to accompany him and Turnpenny. The four men stepped on to +the frail craft, and as she was hauled off over the bar at the river +mouth, Drake cried out: +</p> + +<p> +"Be of good cheer, my hearts. If it please God I put my foot in safety +aboard my frigate, I shall, God willing, by one means or other get ye +all aboard, in despite of all the Spaniards in the Indies." +</p> + +<p> +And the seamen, with new hope born within their breasts, sped their +gallant captain with a cheer. +</p> + +<p> +"My heart, 'twas a fearsome voyage!" said Turnpenny, relating the +adventure to Dennis afterwards. "We sat inches deep in water, holding +on for very life, and the sea came tumbling aboard, swingeing us to the +armpits at every surge of the waves. We scudded along before the wind, +but though 'twas strong, it scarce tempered the great heat; and what +with the parching of the sun, and what with the beating of the salt +water, we had all of us our skins much fretted away. We had sailed for +six hours, and were making our third league, when God gave us the sight +of two pinnaces bearing towards us. 'God be praised!' cried our +captain; 'there is now no cause to fear.' But the sky was become dark, +and the men on the pinnaces as they laboured towards us, the wind +driving the spray into their eyes, did not perceive us; and the gale +being exceedingly fierce, they bore up to the lee of a point of land, +and vanished from our sight. Whereupon our captain ran ashore to +windward of the headland, and being mightily enraged for that the +knaves had not obeyed his command to wait us at the river, he was +minded to play a trick on them and turn their hearts sick with very +fear. So when we did land, we ran in great haste towards where the +pinnaces were at anchor, making such speed as if we had been chased by +the enemy. My heart! their eyes were astare with fear when they espied +us. They hauled us aboard their boats, crying out, this one and that, +'Where be our comrades?' 'How fares it with them?' and other such +questions, to all which our Captain in a cold voice did answer only +'Well!' Whereupon they began to lament with tears, crying out that +verily their dear comrades were dead or in captivity. +</p> + +<p> +"Our captain for a space looked sternly upon them in their misery. But +then, being willing to rid all doubts and fill them with joy, he took +from out his shirt a quoit of gold, and bade them praise God, for their +comrades were safe and had of that treasure enough and for all. Then +he commanded them to get their anchors up, for that he was resolved +that very night to come back to the river. And we rowed hard through +the darkness and in the teeth of the gale, and here we be, with +blistered skins indeed, but sound men and hearty." +</p> + +<p> +Dennis had collected the men on the shore, and built a fire to keep +their spirits up. With great joy they heard their comrades hailing +them as the vessels came up out of the dark, and they begged Drake's +forgiveness for their mutinous murmurs. As soon as day dawned they +embarked; the pinnaces ran before the wind, picked up Richard Doble in +his frigate, and before noon arrived safely at Port Diego. The +treasure was carried on shore, and in the middle of the smooth open +space, amidst cries of wonderment from those who had not had a part in +the adventure, Drake weighed the gold and silver on the steward's +meat-scales, delivering to the Frenchmen the half agreed upon. These +then sailed away westward, to get news of their ill-fated captain. +</p> + +<p> +Drake was not easy in mind about Le Testu. It was pitiful to think of +him wounded and left with only two of his men deep in the woods. So +while his vessel, the <i>Pascha</i>, too foul to be easily fitted for the +voyage home, was being stripped to equip the Spanish frigate Dennis had +captured, he prepared to lead an expedition in search of the French +Captain. But his men raised such an outcry at his leaving them that he +gave the command to Oxnam, contenting himself with accompanying them to +the Francisco River. +</p> + +<p> +Oxnam had not gone far up stream when a haggard figure emerged +tottering from the reeds, and falling on his knees, burst into tears +and thanked God that help had come. Not many minutes after Drake had +left him and his comrade with Captain Le Testu, some Spanish +arquebusiers came upon them. The Captain bade the two men flee, and +they ran off in haste, carrying their treasure. But the Spaniards gave +chase, and this man, fearing that, burdened as he was, he must be +overtaken, flung away his possessions one after another. Among them +was a box of jewels, and this his comrade, cupidity getting the better +of his fear, stopped to pick up. The delay was fatal. He was caught +and carried away with the captain. The other fugitive was not farther +pursued; he reached the river after wandering for several days, during +which he had seen a great host of near two thousand Spaniards and +negroes searching for the treasure that had been buried. +</p> + +<p> +Hearing this, Oxnam was not willing to return until he had seen whether +anything was left. The Spaniards had dug up the ground over nearly a +square mile; but Oxnam found in the crab-holes a small quantity of +gold, with silver weighing about five hundred pounds. Loaded with +this, his men returned to their pinnace, and came merrily back to Port +Diego. +</p> + +<p> +Now all thoughts turned longingly homewards. The value of the treasure +taken from the Spaniards was near £50,000, and it was not to be +supposed that so great a loss would be accepted by them with +equanimity. Before long ships of war would doubtless be fitted out to +punish this audacious sea-rover who had made himself a terror +throughout the Main, and Drake thought it but prudent to get away with +his booty before his little band was overwhelmed. He still needed a +vessel to serve as victualler to the frigate in which he purposed to +sail for England. With his usual daring he set off for the mouth of +the Grande river, running right under the guns of Cartagena. In the +middle of the night he chased and boarded a frigate that endeavoured to +slip past him to the west, and, returning to his secret haven with his +prize, he unloaded her cargo of maize, hens, hogs, and wild honey, and +prepared for the voyage home. +</p> + +<p> +All hands were set to break up the pinnaces, which had been brought in +sections from England and were now, after a year's sailing, past +further service. Their timbers were burned on the beach; their +ironwork was given to the maroons. The two Spanish frigates were +overhauled, their keels cleared of barnacles, their spars and rigging +put in good repair, their holds filled with a plentiful store of food. +Then, when all was ready, Drake invited Pedro, the maroon chief, and +three of his best men to choose some reward for their good and loyal +services. Pedro took a great fancy to a splendid scimitar which had +been given to Drake by Captain Le Testu and had once belonged to the +King of France. Drake would rather he had chosen something else, but +he handed over the weapon with a good grace, and accompanied it with a +present of silk and fine cloth for the maroons' wives. Pedro was so +much delighted that he begged Drake to accept four wedges of gold in +return, which the Captain threw into the common stock, saying it was +only just that those who had shared with him the dangers and hardships +of the adventures should share also in the full profits. +</p> + +<p> +Dennis did not part from Juan without giving him a token of his thanks +and a memento of their common adventures. He had lost almost all that +he had saved from the <i>Maid Marian</i>; with the <i>Mirandola</i> it had fallen +into the hands of the Spaniards; and the division of the spoils of the +mule-train would not be made until they reached Plymouth. But he had +always kept the sword of Sir Martin Blunt, and this he gave to Juan, +who received it with great satisfaction. +</p> + +<p> +On the 17th of July the company went aboard the two frigates; the +anchors were heaved, all sail was set, and the little craft stood out +to sea. The flag of St. George flew at their maintops; silk streamers +and ensigns dipped down to the water; a parting salute was fired; the +trumpeters blew a blast; and the English mariners shouted a farewell +cheer to the maroons gathered on the beach. Down in the hold lay Jan +Biddle, repenting in darkness, it is to be hoped, his treacherous +conduct. He alone of the company had no treasure to rejoice in; Drake +had sternly decreed that he should go home empty-handed, a prisoner +throughout the long voyage. +</p> + +<p> +High up in the rigging sat a monkey, blinking and chattering, wondering +perhaps into what further perils his adventurous master would lead him. +</p> + +<p> +"There is our Maiden Isle," said Dennis to Turnpenny, as they sailed +merrily northward. "My vice-royalty was but brief; and methinks 'tis +but a poor jewel in the crown of Queen Bess. Yet will it be a precious +jewel in my memory, for there I found a true friend in thee, Amos, and +we two have been enabled by God's providence to do somewhat for our +countrymen in distress." +</p> + +<p> +"Good-now, Master Hazelrig," said Drake, coming up to them; "art +wishing to return and set up a monarchy on yonder small isle?" +</p> + +<p> +"Nay, sir, it is already bespoke for our gracious queen, though meseems +the sovereignty belongs rightly to Mirandola, who now sits aloft, with +a most forlorn and wistful look." +</p> + +<p> +"Well, my lad, maybe you and I shall live to see Her Majesty's sway +extend over all these islands, and far beyond. Meantime, what think +'ee is my dearest wish at this moment?" +</p> + +<p> +"I know not, sir." +</p> + +<p> +"Why," said Drake, with a smile, "'tis to bowl at the jack once more on +Plymouth Hoe." +</p> + +<p><br /><br /><br /></p> + +<p><a id="chap26"></a></p> + +<h3> +Conclusion +</h3> + +<p> +Little more than three weeks later, on Sunday, August 9, 1573, about +noon, the congregation in St. Andrew's church at Plymouth was startled +into wakefulness by the booming of guns. The vicar was in the midst of +his sermon, and the good people were torn between their desire not to +offend the worthy parson and their longing to see what was happening at +the harbour. A few minutes passed; then a whisper began to run through +the church: "Master Drake is home again!" One looked at another; +anxious eyes were cast at the high pews where the gentry sat; then, +careless what squire or parson might think, by ones and twos and threes +the people stole from the church, and, when once outside, set off +running with all their might to the harbour. And before they got there +a merry peal of bells rang out behind them. The ringers in the belfry, +knowing, we must suppose, that their vicar was an easy man, a patriot, +and a Devonian to boot, were handling the ropes most lustily. +</p> + +<p> +The two little frigates had just dropped anchor, and the men were +putting off in boats. On shore men shouted, women wept and waved +handkerchiefs, boys yelled and dodged among their elders; but nobody +minded hustling and knocks, for was not Master Drake home again? +Deafening cheers rent the air as he landed; hundreds thronged around +him to clasp his hand. +</p> + +<p> +"Good-now, dear friends," he said with a laugh as he passed through: +"ye'll do me more hurt than the Spaniards ever did." +</p> + +<p> +"Huzzay! huzzay! Spaniards be jowned! What have 'ee got in thikky +ships, Master Drake?" +</p> + +<p> +"Where be Bobby Pike?" cried a buxom dame with half a dozen children +clinging to her skirts. +</p> + +<p> +"Here I be, Mally," cried the seaman, catching her in his arms, "and +i'fecks, I'll be sober for ever more, my lass." +</p> + +<p> +"On my soul and body there be Ned Whiddon, and Tom Copstone, and Hugh +Curder, and Billy Hawk!" cried several voices in the crowd. "Huzzay! +huzzay! we never thought to see 'ee more." +</p> + +<p> +"And Haymoss Turnpenny! Od's my life, what a day for Margery Tutt!" +</p> + +<p> +And when Dennis, with Mirandola on his shoulder, returning glance for +glance with interest, got clear of the press, he saw Amos marching +along with a girl on each arm, his ruddy face beaming like the rising +sun. +</p> + +<p> +"Why, Amos," said Dennis, "are there two Margerys?" +</p> + +<p> +"My heart, I know a score!" cried Amos. "But this be Margery Tutt, +sir, thikky wench on my left. Loose my arm, lass, and drop a curtsey +to Master Hazelrig, for 'ithout him I'd never have been here this day. +She've waited for me, sir, bided single for my sake, and there's no +landlubber to whop after all. T'other wench be Tom Copstone's Joan; +his mother's most terrible jealous, and she've got a hold of Tom now; +so 'You and me, Haymoss!' he sings out, and I've got his Joan under +convoy till the old 'ooman 's done a-kissing of him. Margery, lass, if +'ee be willing, I'll go up along and see pa'son this very day and ax en +to call us next Sunday, for I've gold and silver and pearls, lass, and +won't they become your little plum neck! Master Hazelrig, I do pity +'ee, I do so. Bean't there a lass to welcome 'ee? Good-now, bear up, +for 'ee be but a stripling yet." +</p> + +<p> +And then he was borne away by the crowd, and Dennis saw him no more +that day. +</p> + +<p><br /></p> + +<p> +Dennis found himself, when the treasure was divided, the possessor of +£2,000 in money in addition to the pearls he had got at Fort Aguila. +He devoted a goodly sum to the erection of a monument in his parish +church to the memory of Sir Martin Blunt and the other adventurers who +had sailed in the <i>Maid Marian</i> eighteen months before. A smaller +amount sufficed for a stone over the grave of Mirandola, who died in +the following winter. The greater part of the money Dennis gave into +the hands of John Holles, his steward, who received it with all due +gravity, expressing the hope that his young master had had his fill of +adventuring and would now remain at home. +</p> + +<p> +For a time Dennis was content to live in his rambling old house at +Shaston. But four years later, learning that Drake was fitting out +five ships for a voyage round the world, he asked to be allowed to join +the expedition at his own charge. His offer was accepted, and he +shared in the joys and sorrows, the failures and successes, of that +three years' voyage. With closer intercourse he admired the great +Captain more and more; and Drake on his part came to regard him with +peculiar affection. During the five years spent on shore after his +return, Sir Francis, as he now was, paid many visits to the house at +Shaston, and often played bowls with Dennis on the lawn behind. +</p> + +<p> +In 1585, when Drake went out to the West Indies with a direct +commission from the Queen, Dennis was of his company. He was one of +the first to enter the town of St. Domingo when it was assaulted; and +in the subsequent attack on Cartagena he was seriously wounded. To his +great disappointment, he had not fully recovered in time to take part +in the famous expedition to Cadiz, when Drake "singed the King of +Spain's beard." But next year, when all England was stirred at the +news that the long-expected Armada was at last approaching, Dennis +joined Drake on the <i>Revenge</i>, and had his part in the work of fighting +in the Channel and the North Sea. +</p> + +<p> +At the conclusion of this year Dennis, now in his thirty-fourth year, +married the daughter of a neighbouring squire. Her name happened to be +Margery. Soon after the marriage Dennis took her to Plymouth on a +visit to his old comrade Amos Turnpenny, who was now blest with a +family of five boys and five girls. +</p> + +<p> +"Do 'ee mind, sir," said Amos with a twinkling eye—"do 'ee mind the +day when we landed, and you axed me whether there were two Margerys? +Seems as if there be, sir; ay, and more; your madam be one, and my +'ooman be two, and my darter yonder be three, and Tom Copstone's darter +be four, and I shouldn't be mazed if there was five some day. 'A good +name,' says the Book, 'is rayther to be chosen than great riches.' +Margery be a good name, to be sure—a better name than Mirandola, poor +fond beast! Next to Margery comes <i>Anne Gallant</i>, and that be my +second darter yonder." +</p> + +<p> +Dennis Hazelrig became a man of weight in his county. His wife and +little daughter—the fifth Margery—dissuaded him from joining Drake +and Hawkins in their fatal expedition to the Main in 1594, and he found +an outlet for his energies in organizing the yeomanry of Devon. +</p> + +<p> +When James the First came to the throne Dennis received the honour of +knighthood. None of his old friends was more delighted than Amos +Turnpenny, who was by this time nearly eighty, and a hale old +grandfather. +</p> + +<p> +"Ay, I says to Tom Copstone when I heard the news, 'Tom,' says I, +'we've a king again now, my lad, though by all I hear tell he bean't so +proper a man as King Hal. But he do have his good points too. What be +fust thing 'ee done, think 'ee?' 'Be jowned if I know,' says Tom. (He +do have common ways o' speech, poor soul!) 'Why, 'fecks,' says I, 'he +bin and made Master Hazelrig a noble knight, and we must call en Sir +Dennis to's face for ever more.' 'Well,' says Tom, 'we won't mind +that,—night or day,' says he—'you and me, Haymoss?' And be jowned if +they were not the very words of my dream!" +</p> + +<p><br /><br /><br /><br /></p> + + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's With Drake on the Spanish Main, by Herbert Strang + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK WITH DRAKE ON THE SPANISH MAIN *** + +***** This file should be named 38795-h.htm or 38795-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/3/8/7/9/38795/ + +Produced by Al Haines + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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