Chapter Thirteen.
They are rescued at last—Capture of the Pirate Ship Black Pearl and her Captain, José Leirya.
It was scarcely possible that Cavendish should not recognise the island—both by sight and from his reckoning—as the one on which Roger and his little crew had been left; yet all three of the vessels comprising his squadron were cracking on in chase of the Black Pearl, and evincing not the least interest in the sand-bank, which they were leaving on their starboard beam.
“Well,” ejaculated Roger, “having come thus far, one at least of those ships might have hauled in and hove-to long enough to send a boat ashore and take us off. Mr Cavendish will scarcely need all three of his vessels to capture that one craft. But I expect old Cary has recognised the schooner as Leirya’s ship, and the captain is determined to make sure of her, trusting that we shall be able to hold out here until he has captured her and found time to return for us. Still, the pirate may lead them a long chase, lasting perhaps for several days; and if they are going to catch him, I should like to be aboard to help in the fight with José.”
The seamen said nothing, but it was clear that they fully shared Roger’s disappointment as they stood staring at the fleet of ships that went sailing past at a
distance of some four or five miles—too far off for the castaways to be observed from their decks.
Suddenly Bevan uttered an ejaculation, and, turning, ran at full speed to the hut, and reappeared in a moment with an armful of wood from the stock which they kept for replenishing the fire. He cast this down on the beach, and, kneeling beside it, proceeded with feverish haste to strike a light from his tinder-box.
“Quick!” he exclaimed; “get some damp wood, wet sea-weed, anything you like that’ll make a smoke; only for goodness’ sake be quick! It’s our only chance!”
The other two, infected by his excitement, at once ran to do his bidding, but they were quite at a loss to understand the reason for such violent hurry.
Having secured several armfuls of varied material, just damp enough to make a good smoke, but not sufficiently so to extinguish a fire, they returned and tossed it on the flames, which Bevan had now succeeded in causing to burn brightly.
“More! get more!” said he; “and look sharp about it! Quick! quick!”
“Yes; all right, Bevan!” laughed Roger; “but what is all this tremendous hurry for? Even if the captain does not now take us off, he will come back for us as soon as he has captured the pirate.”
“Ay, ay; but don’t you see, man,” answered Bevan, forgetting in his excitement the deference due to Roger as his officer,—“don’t you see, man, that the captain’s notion is that the pirate have been here and captured us, and that we are now aboard that there Black Pearl of his’n? He’ll catch her if he can, and bring her to action; but when that’s done there’ll be a great slaughter o’ both sides, and, supposin’ that the schooner isn’t sunk with all hands, Mr Cavendish won’t find us when he boards her. And, not findin’ us, he’ll believe as we have been murdered and throw’d overboard, or else he’ll think that we’re among the dead as’ll be unrecognisable. Then, thinkin’ us dead—for he’ll not dream that it’s been possible for us to have hidden ourselves here and escaped these ruffians—he will continue his v’yage wi’out troublin’ to come back here; and here we shall remain, perhaps till we die. That’s the reason why I’m so anxious to attract their attention afore they runs out o’ sight of us; for, if we’re not seen now, you may depend upon it we may as well make up our minds to remain here for the rest of our lives. What would he be sending all his vessels in pursuit for, if he didn’t believe as we’re aboard that there Black Pearl. Ye see, sir, what I’m thinkin’ about is this. They few barrels of food as we’ve got won’t last us for so very long, even if we goes on short commons. And we can’t always reckon on catchin’ fish and turtle, or gettin’ eggs, and a few months ’d find us in the same plight as was pore William Evans when we first came ashore on this here island. Oh, I pray that they may be keepin’ a sharp lookout aboard they ships!”
The fire was now blazing up bravely, and the castaways industriously continued to toss on damp fuel, so that a dense column of smoke was now ascending high in the air, being sheltered from the wind by the palm-grove just behind them. The three men were careless as to the pirates seeing the smoke now, knowing that even José, with all his reputation for courage and daring, would not venture to return in the teeth of the British squadron, to attempt to secure them; yet they could not help speculating as to what the pirate must be thinking, or what his feelings must be, now that it was borne in upon him that people had been on the island, though he had not found them. He would, of course, be able to make a shrewd guess as to Gomez’s fate, and Roger could picture to himself the fellow’s disappointment and anger. For, having failed to find the papers, in search of which he had returned to the sand-bank, he would almost certainly arrive at the conviction that the unknown people on the island, who had evaded his keen eye in so mysterious a manner, had come into possession of them. To have been so near the recovery of his cherished papers, and yet to have missed them! Roger could picture the man standing on the quarterdeck of the Black Pearl gnashing his teeth in impotent fury, and shaking his fist at the island as he beheld the column of thick smoke rising from it. But for the swiftly-disappearing pirate none of them cared a jot, since were not their own dearly-loved ships near them? And, if God were good, would they not soon be once more treading those white decks that they knew and loved so well? Meanwhile, however, it seemed as though, even after all, there might be a slip ’twixt the cup and the lip; for, despite the smoke-signal that they were sending up, the ships were holding persistently on their course after the pirates.
More fuel was piled on, and the smoke went driving away to leeward in dense clouds. Still there was no response or sign from the ships of its having been seen, while they were now drawing rapidly away from the island.
“I reckon,” said Jake, “that they’re all lookin’ at the chase, aboard they there craft. Why can’t some of ’em take a squint aft at the island? Then they would see us, or the smoke at any rate.”
As if in answer to his complaint, and immediately following upon it, they saw a stream of flags float up from the first vessel—which, as they rightly guessed, was the ship that Mr Cavendish had taken command of as his flag-ship,—and a few moments later the answering signal was displayed from the rearmost vessel, which, evidently obeying the signal, now came round upon the opposite tack, with her bows pointing toward the island.
They were seen! At last they were seen! All their troubles and anxiety and waiting were now over; hurrah! hurrah!! hurrah!!! The three castaways seemed to lose their heads completely. They shouted, leaped into the air, shook hands, and embraced each other, cutting all kinds of capers, and, in short, behaving like very madmen in the reaction of their joy after waiting for so long in suspense. For now all recognised very clearly the truth of what Bevan had said, as to their being seen and rescued now or never. The ship approached rapidly, under the influence of the fresh breeze, seeming literally to grow out of the water, and looking, with her clouds of gaily-painted canvas, like some huge bright-plumaged tropic bird. Presently they saw her yards thrown aback, and she came up into the wind, remaining hove-to until a boat was lowered, and then slowly tacking to and fro opposite them. The watchers on the beach saw the boat lowered down the side, and the men scramble into her; then they saw the sunlight glitter on the oar-blades as they dipped into the water and the boat shot away from the parent vessel’s side. She came rushing toward the beach as fast as the arms of a dozen lusty men could drive her, her coxswain standing up in the stern-sheets and peering eagerly ahead at the island. The foam curled white and high about her stem, showing the great speed at which she was being forced through the water.
Said Bevan to Jake: “The skipper have evidently give his orders that they’re not to waste any time on the road, or in takin’ of us off. Just look you at the speed of that there cutter! I expect, if we could only but see him, that he’s stampin’ up and down his quarterdeck, bitin’ his nails with impatience to be away again a’ter that Black Pearl; and prob’ly swearin’ at this boat’s crew for bein’ a set of lazy lubbers in not puttin’ her through the water faster.” And he laughed.
A sudden thought struck Roger. “Jake and Bevan,” said he, “cut away up to the hut and get those fresh provisions down here to the beach; we have a lot of fresh meat still left, and I know how tired a ship’s company gets of salt provisions. That turtle meat will prove a very welcome change of food for them. So away you go, and look sharp, for those people will not want to be kept waiting.”
Off went the two men, and presently returned with the dried turtle flesh, which they laid down on the beach in readiness to be put aboard the cutter. The small brandy cask was also conspicuously present. Jake Irwin’s quick eye fell upon it. Said he to Roger:
“Before we go, sir, let’s have one more drink, ‘to the Isla de Corsarios’; for I’m sure ’t has proved a very good friend to us.”
Roger thought that there would be no harm in such a proceeding, so he raised no objection, and Bevan, pouring out a generous allowance into their wooden beaker—which he had brought down to the beach without being asked—handed it to his officer for the latter to take the first drink. He took it, drinking the toast, and the other two followed his example, helping themselves liberally, and smacking their lips after it with much satisfaction depicted on their bronzed countenances.
The cutter was by this time quite close, and Jake, standing on a rock, pointed out by signs to the coxswain where he could come alongside and float in deep water, thus allowing them to embark easily and also put the little stock of provisions aboard. The craft came dashing up until within a few fathoms of the place indicated by Jake, and then the crew, as one man, threw in their oars, and the boat glided rapidly alongside the rocks, coming to a stand-still just opposite the spot where Jake was standing.
“Now then, jump in quick!” yelled the coxswain, who happened to be also second officer on board the Elizabeth, the vessel which was waiting for them to come on board. “Look sharp, our captain is in all haste to overtake the squadron before it comes up with that pirate craft yonder. You need not imagine you are going to take that stuff aboard; I cannot wait; I have not the time.”
Irwin and Bevan looked somewhat taken aback at this brusque harangue, but Roger, stepping forward, said:
“I do not know you, sir, but my name is Roger Trevose, and I am an officer on board the flag-ship. This is fresh turtle meat, for the most part, and I am sure your captain would not grudge the few extra moments spent in taking that aboard.”
“I beg your pardon, Mr Trevose,” replied the officer; “I did not recognise you. My name is Reynolds—Ralph Reynolds, and, as you say, seeing that your cargo consists of fresh meat, I think we can spare time to take it aboard, pressed though we are for time.”
In a brace of shakes the meat was transferred to the boat. Roger, following the two seamen, stepped into the boat, and she instantly shoved off. Roger sat next to Ralph Reynolds in the stern-sheets, and, as they made their way at top speed towards the ship, Reynolds said to Roger:
“Young man, let me tell you that you and your two seamen have had a very narrow escape from imprisonment on that island for the remainder of your lives! We were running up before a fine breeze, this morning, for that wretched sand-bank of yours, intending to take you off, when we saw a craft steal out from under the lee of the island. One of the men aboard at once recognised her as the Black Pearl—the ship of that arch-scoundrel José Leirya. We signalled the commodore to that effect, and he replied, ordering all the ships to make sail and chase; for, you see, there is no doubt he very naturally supposed that the pirate had carried you off with him. Of course, sooner or later we should have brought the rogue to action; but that would not have helped you, as by all accounts he is the sort of man who goes down fighting his ship to the very last, rather than surrender, and that, I fully expect, is what will happen. Then the captain, I take it, thinking, of course, that you had gone down with the ship, would have dismissed you from his mind; and in yonder bit of an island you would have remained for the rest of your lives, or until taken off by some passing ship. The latter contingency, however, is a very unlikely one, so far as English ships are concerned, since the island is unknown to the English. And I have a notion that you would find it much more comfortable to die there, than be taken off by a Spanish vessel and delivered into the clutches of the Dons. The fact is, that all hands were too busily engaged in watching the chase to take much notice of your island. But here we are alongside. Now, men, up you come on deck smartly, and get that boat hoisted in. Hook on the falls there, and up with her!”
Reynolds sprang up the side ladder and, reaching the deck, closely followed by Roger, saluted the captain, who was waiting for him at the gangway, and reported himself.
“Very well,” said the captain, “get that boat lifted out the water. She must be hauled up and secured after we have swung the yards and are once more on the move. Up helm, Mr Widdicombe, and get way on her!”
Then he turned to Roger and welcomed him on board the ship; commiserating with him on his discomforts while on the sand-bank, and congratulating him upon his as yet unexplained and inexplicable escape from the pirates. He then recommended Roger to the care of one of his officers, and, directing Jake and Bevan to take up their quarters and duties with the other seamen until such time as they could be transferred to their own craft, turned away to give orders and attend to the sailing of his ship.
Even as the cutter had dashed alongside, the vessel, as though impatient to resume the chase, had paid off and had begun to move through the water, her bows having been turned in the direction of the other ships, and the craft herself merely thrown into the wind for a moment to lessen her way while the boat came up to her and the falls were hooked on. Then the helm was put up and the ship was away on her old course once more, cracking on and showing every stitch of canvas to the freshening breeze, in full and eager pursuit of her consorts and the pirate, the latter now being hull-down on the southern horizon with nothing below her topsail-yard showing. The flag-ship was the leading ship of the three pursuing vessels; and she was distant some nine miles from the Elizabeth. El Capitan—or the Tiger as she was now named—was two miles astern of the flag-ship, and some seven miles ahead of the Elizabeth; the latter vessel therefore had some considerable distance to cover before she could overtake her consorts. Night was now beginning to fall, and the masts of the Black Pearl gradually disappeared from the sight of those aboard the Elizabeth; but the flag-ship, being so far in advance, still had the pirate well in view; and now she lighted her three poop-lanterns as a guide to the Tiger, which in turn lighted hers to pilot the way for the Elizabeth. The darkness soon falls in those regions, and in a very few minutes, as it seemed, night enveloped them like a pall. There was no moon, and, the night being cloudy, no stars were visible; the blackness, consequently, was intense.
All that could be seen was the triangle of lights in the flag-ship, very dim in the distance, and those on the Tiger, shining somewhat more brightly because nearer at hand. The captain of the Elizabeth commanded that no lanterns should be lighted on board his ship, and indeed that no lights of any kind should be shown on board at all.
“For,” said he, “we sail somewhat faster than the Tiger and the Good Adventure, and can see their lights, so that we can tell where they are. But it is in my mind to have a little sport with good Mr Cavendish, by letting him find us alongside him at daybreak. We will, therefore, carry on as hard as our spars and gear will suffer us, all through the night; and, not to give the others an inkling of our purpose, will edge away to the westward sufficiently to enable us to pass the Tiger about a mile to starboard of her, and the same with the flag-ship.”
At this time it was about two bells in the first dog-watch, and they could therefore reckon on some ten hours of complete darkness—sufficient, as the captain believed and hoped, to allow them to overtake the other two ships of the squadron. They continued to crack on; and, as the skipper had enjoined the maintenance of strict silence, the ship seemed to those on board to resemble some dim phantom vessel, leaping ghost-like from wave to wave before the strengthening wind. No sound whatever was to be heard on board save the “swish” of the water alongside, the low roar of the bow-wave as she plunged through it and turned it aside from her bows, the weird crying of the wind through her maze of rigging aloft, and the occasional “cheep” of parral or block-sheave to the ’scend of the ship.
At about ten o’clock, much to the captain’s satisfaction, the lights at the stern of the Tiger could be much more distinctly seen; and he judged that she could at that time be only some four miles distant, showing that in the past three hours they had gained some three miles on her, which was good sailing. They were also, at this time, a good mile to the westward of the starboard quarter of the Tiger, and, if anything, edging a trifle more to starboard of her as they went along. The reason for this was that the captain did not wish to pass the Tiger at a less distance than a mile; because, although it certainly was a very dark night, on even the blackest of nights, if the weather be clear, there is always a certain “loom” or faint image of a ship thrown against the sky; and this loom would be visible to sharp eyes unless the Elizabeth kept some distance away from her consort.
Little by little they crept up, overtaking the Tiger; and bit by bit her triangle of lights at the stern was becoming merged into one; then the one light became gradually eclipsed, until at length they could not see it at all, and by one o’clock in the morning they knew that they must be running parallel with the Tiger and at a distance of about a mile and a half on her starboard beam.
It was possible now to make out the light of her battle-lanterns in her interior, shining through her open port-holes, through which the gun muzzles also showed, all in readiness for the attack as soon as the pirate was brought to bay. As they opened her up, and came abreast of her, they could see that she was lit up fore-and-aft, and it became perfectly clear that not only was she cleared for action, but that her captain had given orders to his men to sleep at their quarters, and thus be ready for the fight at a moment’s notice.
Having overtaken the Tiger, the Elizabeth began to draw ahead perceptibly, and the brilliantly lighted interior of her consort was soon eclipsed, while the bright triangle of lights at the stern of the Good Adventure now showed up clearly about two and a half miles distant, broad on the port bow.
Captain Pryce was in great glee, for, if all went well, his little jest would be a brilliant success, and by daybreak his would be the foremost vessel of the squadron, and therefore the first to come up with the Black Pearl.
But where was the pirate? It seemed certain that the flag-ship must have her in view, since she was standing steadily along on her course; but not a sign of the schooner could be made out by the people on board the Elizabeth.
“Surely,” said the captain, who, in his keenness, was spending the night on deck, “we ought by this time to be able to see something of that craft, a binnacle light, or a glimmer of some sort, to show us where she is! We are nearly abreast of the flag-ship, and I cannot see a trace of the Black Pearl; yet Mr Cavendish seems to be standing on with perfect confidence, which he would hardly do were she not within his view. Still, it may be that he has lost her, and is merely trusting that she will hold her course, and has the hope of sighting her at daybreak.”
He had barely finished speaking, when Roger, who had been gazing long and earnestly into the dusky blackness to the south-west, came up beside him and said in a low tone of voice:
“Sir, I have been looking for some time over in that direction, and within the last few minutes it has come to me that there is a black something over there—can you not see it, sir?—that is growing very rapidly bigger!”
“You are very right, Mr Trevose,” replied the captain; “you have done well to tell me. There is, indeed, something away there; I can make out the loom of a vessel’s sails quite plainly. Now, who or what may she be? Ah! I have it. The flag-ship is sailing at haphazard after all. The pirate has doubled and, putting out all lights, has trusted to his luck to run past the squadron in the darkness. What good fortune for us that he doubled to starboard, and that I took it into this noddle of mine to have a jest against the commodore to-night! Had he turned the other way he would certainly have escaped, as there is no ship over there to see him, while here are we, with all lights out, and he will run right into our arms in a few moments. Let her go off a couple of points, Mr Reynolds.”
Orders were now given by passing the word instead of by drum or whistle, and in a few minutes the men were all standing silently at quarters, with battle-lanterns lighted but carefully masked, and everything ready to pour in a deadly broadside as the pirate came abreast of their ship.
As she approached, the poop-lanterns on the stern of the Elizabeth were lighted to serve as a guide to the Tiger’s people, who, for their part, were vastly astonished at their sudden appearance, and a light was also displayed in the port mizzen rigging, to enable the flag-ship to distinguish friend from foe.
Of course all disguise and concealment was now at an end; the pirate had seen them, but—too late! She was now less than a cable’s length distant from the Elizabeth, and as she was bearing up, and before even her men could leap to their quarters, the Elizabeth had luffed and delivered her starboard broadside with murderous effect. Down came the mainmast, severed just above the deck, bringing the fore-topgallant-mast with it; down on her crowded decks crashed the wreckage, adding its own quota of killed and wounded to that effected by the guns of the English vessel.
The flag-ship had already borne up, and now came foaming down to the scene of the combat, with the Tiger lumbering along astern.
The pitchy blackness of the night was illuminated redly and vividly by the flashes of the guns. The Black Pearl, finding escape impossible, had determined to fight to the bitter end. Her guns were run out, and they at once opened a galling and well-directed fire upon the Elizabeth, which replied in kind, and the night air resounded with the report of cannon and small-arms, and was rent with cries, groans, and screams from the wounded, and shouts and oaths from all.
The flag-ship now arrived on the scene, and, taking a wide sweep and luffing up with main-topsail aback under the stern of the Black Pearl, poured in a raking broadside that traversed the whole length of the pirate’s decks, leaving them a very shambles of dead and wounded.
The artillery tight did not last very long. Anxious to capture José Leirya alive, Cavendish—perhaps not too well advisedly—laid his ship alongside the schooner, and poured his men on to the pirate’s decks.
Seeing this, the captain of the Elizabeth, not to be behindhand, did the same. Ordering his men away from the guns, and forming them up, he led them in person over the side on to the decks of the Pearl, which was by this time a scene of dreadful carnage. Blood was everywhere; her planking was so slimy with it that men slipped and fell in it. It ran in little rivulets from the scuppers.
Roger, who followed close upon the heels of the captain, thought involuntarily of William Evans’s description of how José Leirya had captured this very vessel, cutting her out from under San Juan fort in Puerto Rico; and his tale of how freely the blood flowed on these same decks then.
But he had no time for mere thought; his attention was wholly taken up with the fighting, and the problem of how to avoid being impaled or cut down by some furious pirate.
The villains knew that they were fighting with halters round their necks, and laid about them like very demons from the pit. Cut and thrust, cut and thrust, they came at the Englishmen, and, headed by José himself, for several moments swept the invaders before them.
Roger was, as ever, well in the front rank of the combatants, and was carrying himself right manfully, when he saw one of his countrymen slip and fall in a pool of blood, losing his sword as he fell. A burly black-bearded ruffian, whom he had been engaging, instantly set his foot on the prostrate body, and shortened his hanger to thrust him through; but Roger, who was engaged with another pirate, nimbly evaded the blow aimed at him, and, with one spring, like a young leopard, was on the would-be slayer, and, taking him before he could turn, passed his sword through the pirate’s body with such force that it penetrated to the hilt, while both rescuer and corpse went rolling to the deck together. Roger disencumbered himself from the dead body, and, setting his foot upon it, pulled violently at his sword to get it free again.
Then another hand was laid over his on the hilt of the weapon, and a well-known voice said in his ear: “Pull, Roger, lad, pull, and out she’ll come.” And out she did come; and Roger faced round right into the arms of his friend Harry.
“What, Harry,” said he joyfully, “you here! So you were the man whom I was lucky enough to rescue from that black-bearded rascal just now. How on earth did you get here?”
“Yes, lad,” replied Harry; “you have saved my life again, and I am once more in your debt. And as for how I got here, why, how otherwise than over the bulwarks from my ship? I might rather ask how you came here. But we must leave our experiences until a more convenient season, or we shall not live to see the end of this good fight.”
The pirates were fighting now with the fury of desperation, and, encouraged by the bull voice of José Leirya—who seemed to bear a charmed life,—they prepared to form up into line and attempt with one furious charge to sweep the English from the decks of their beloved schooner.
The Englishmen, however, who were more or less separated and scattered about the decks, each engaging his own antagonist, saw the move, and themselves retreated to their own main body in order to strengthen it for the threatened rally of the pirates.
At this moment Harry and Roger found themselves isolated from their own countrymen, and in great danger, as the whole surviving pirate crew was between them and their friends.
Luckily for them, however, only four of the enemy turned their attention to the two friends, the others being too busy preparing to attack the English main body to think about them. Yet, even as it was, the odds were quite unequal enough—four stalwart men in the very prime of life, and hardened by years of toil and activity on the seas, against two youngsters who were but little more than boys!
Harry and Roger knew, of course, that they were fighting for their lives, and as both had their long swords as against the shorter weapon of the pirates, they contrived to keep them at a safe distance for some time.
Meanwhile the pirates had massed together, and the whole body of them, even to such of the wounded as could stand, and excepting only the four men who were attacking the two chums, had charged the Englishmen with irresistible fury, driving them along the deck as chaff is swept before the wind. After the first rush, however, the Englishmen rallied again, and were now slowly but surely driving the pirates back along their own deck, and recovering their lost ground. The carnage was fearful; the dead and dying were everywhere; the decks were heaped with them; both sides had lost an enormous proportion of men, and it seemed as though the fight could only end in both parties being exterminated.
Roger and Harry were still fighting doggedly for their lives; but their countrymen were now very widely separated from them, and their strength was fast-failing them in face of the furious and persistent attack of their four assailants.
They were driven back, and still back, until they were forced against the port bulwarks, and could retreat no farther. Blow after blow was aimed at them by their foes, and the best that they could do was to ward off the blows, without daring to assume the offensive.
They were at their very last gasp, and had mentally resigned themselves to death, when there came a tremendous shock, throwing the two lads off their feet only just in time to avoid the final thrusts from the two pirates, to which fortuitous circumstance they owed their lives. As they lay on the deck, struggling to regain their footing, they were trampled on and knocked over again by a swarm of men who were rushing in over the port bulwarks. It was the Tiger’s crew, who had boarded in the very nick of time. With this reinforcement the English very quickly turned the tables; and, all massing in one body, swept the deck, compelling the few surviving pirates—among whom was the redoubtable José Leirya himself—to surrender at discretion.
The fierce conflict was at last over, and the pirate, long a terror in the Caribbean Sea, was a captive, while his dreaded but beautiful schooner, the Black Pearl, was a prize in the hands of the English.