CHAPTER II. UNCLE THOMAS CONTINUES HIS NARRATIVE OF CAPTAIN FALCONER'S ADVENTURES.
One morning, during Falconer's residence on the sandy island, of which I told you last evening, a violent storm arose, which continued till noon. In the meantime, Falconer discovered a ship laboring with the waves, and having watched it earnestly for several hours, he at last saw it tossed by the violence of the tempest completely out of the water upon the shore. He ran to see if there were anybody whom he could assist, when he found four men (being all there were in the vessel) busy saving what they could. When he hailed them in English, they seemed mightily surprised; and asked him how he came there, and how long he had been on the island. When he told them his story, and described the barrenness of the place, they were very much concerned for themselves, for they feared there was no possibility of getting their bark off the sands, the wind having forced her so far; and began to bemoan each other's misfortunes. To Falconer, however, their mishap afforded a source of secret satisfaction, for he soon found that they had on board plenty of everything.
They now set to work in order to secure such provisions as were in the ship, as well as such utensils as they would find useful, including a fowling-piece and some gunpowder. They then took off the sails from the yards, and, with some pieces of timber, raised a hut big enough to hold twenty men, under which they put the beds which they got from the bark. It is true they had no shelter from the wind, for the bushes were so low they were of no use; but for all this, Falconer now thought himself in a palace, and was as merry as if he had been once more at Jamaica, or even at home in his own country. In short, when they had been there some time, they began to be very easy, and having plenty of food, were content to wait patiently till God should send them assistance.
Though they had plenty of fishing tackle, they found it of little use, as they had no boat to go a little way from shore to catch fish; they therefore set their wits to work, in order to make a float, and at last they hit upon this odd project: they took six casks, and tarred them all over, then stopped up the bung-holes with corks, and nailed them close down with a piece of tarred canvass. These six casks they tied together with some of the cordage of the vessel, and upon them they placed the moveable hatches from the deck, and fixed them, and made the float so strong, that two men might sit upon it; but for fear a sudden storm should arise, while they happened to be at sea, they tied to one end of it a coil or two of small rope, of 500 fathoms long, which they fixed to a stake on the shore. Two of the party then went out, in order to see what success they should have; but returned with only one fish, about two feet long, something like a shark. Next day, however, they were more successful, returning with two of the same kind of fish, and a young shark about two feet long, which were dressed for dinner, and proved excellent eating.
They now began to consider what could be done to enable them to escape from their confinement. On examining their ship carefully, they found that it was all sound; and though the violence of the storm had carried it considerably beyond the reach of ordinary tides, and though nearly buried by the drifting of the sand, that there was nothing to prevent their being able to launch it into deep water once more. They therefore set determinedly to work, and after sixteen days' hard labor, they at last succeeded.
At length, on the 31st of December, they launched their vessel, and designing to set sail on the following day, they resolved to celebrate their deliverance by a carousal. They accordingly got very merry, and when their punch was all done, they went to bed. Instead of sleeping in the tent, however, Falconer remained on board the bark, while his companions, as usual, slept on shore. During the night, one of the sudden storms, so common in these latitudes, arose, and tore the bark from its moorings, and carried it out to sea, Falconer all the time sleeping soundly below, quite unconscious of the danger to which he was exposed.
By the time he awoke in the morning, the storm had so much abated, that he remained unconscious of what had happened, till going on deck to call his companions, he found that he was in the middle of the ocean, far out of sight of land.
For fourteen days, he continued tossed about at the mercy of the winds and waves. During the whole time, he saw but one ship, but it was at such a distance, and bore away so fast, that no succor could be expected. At length his vessel was driven so close in shore as to attract notice. He was then boarded by two canoes, containing one Spaniard and six Indians, to whom, by means of broken French, he explained his condition. They carried him on shore, and introduced him to the governor, by whom he was kindly received. The place happened to be a Spanish settlement on the coast of South America.
By the kindness of the governor, the ship was once more fitted out, and manned, to go in search of Falconer's companions, who had been left on the island. In fifteen days they reached the island, where they found them in a most pitiable condition. They had consumed all their provisions, and had no means of getting more; indeed, for some days they had subsisted on the most filthy and revolting food.
Having received them on board, they again set sail; and it now occurred to Falconer that, in order to complete his equipment, five of the men who composed his crew had been released from prison, where they had been confined on suspicion of piracy. A thought came into his head, which had escaped him before. He considered if these were really pirates, being five to four, they might be too powerful for him and the rest of his crew, and perhaps murder them. One day, as they all dined together upon deck, under an awning, it being very calm weather, he asked the five men, what was the reason that they were taken for pirates by the Spaniards. At first they seemed nonplussed; but one of them, named Warren, soon recovered himself, and answered for the others, saying that they embarked on board the ship Bonaventure, in the Thames, bound for Jamaica, whither they made a prosperous voyage; but after taking in their cargo, on their way home, they were overtaken by a storm, in which their ship was lost, and all the men perished, except himself and four companions, who were saved in the long-boat; and that as they were making to shore to save themselves, they saw a bark riding at anchor without the port of Campeachy, which they approached in order to inquire where they were, and to beg some provisions, their own being gone. On entering the vessel, however, they found but two people in it; the third, jumping into the water, swam on shore, and brought three boats, filled with Spanish soldiers, which came on board before they could make off. "Make off!" said Falconer. "What, did you design to run away with the vessel!" "No," answered Warren, with some confusion; "we only intended to weigh anchor, and go farther in shore, that we might land in the morning, it being late at night."
The fact of the fellow being nonplussed now and then, Falconer did not at all like, but, upon consideration, he thought it might be for want of words to express himself better; so he took no more notice of it. In the evening, however, Middleton, one of their crew, came to him with a face of concern, and told him that he did not like these fellows' tale. "Why so?" said Falconer. "Because they herd together," answered he, "and are always whispering and speaking low to one another. If a foreboding heart may speak, I am sure we shall suffer something from them, that will be of danger to us."
Upon this, Falconer began to stagger in his opinion of their honesty, and, therefore, he and his friends resolved to be upon their guard. They took no notice of their conversation to their two other companions, but resolved to wait till night, having a better opportunity then, as they slept together in the cabin. When suppertime arrived, the five sailors excused themselves from joining the rest of the crew, by saying they had dined so lately that they were not hungry, which gave the others an opportunity to converse together sooner than they expected. They, therefore, opened the matter to their two companions, and they agreed immediately that they were in danger; so they resolved in the middle watch of the night to seize them in their sleep. It had been previously arranged that Falconer and his friends were to have the first watch, which was at eight o'clock; the others were to watch till twelve; and then, in the third watch, between one and two, Falconer and his companions had determined to seize upon the pirates as they slept. It having previously been found convenient that one of the pirates should form part of the captain's watch, they agreed, before commencing operations, to seize and bind him fast, and to threaten him with death if he offered to make the least noise.
As soon as the first watch was set, one of the party proceeded to prepare their arms. In about half an hour, or thereabouts, Warren, who had acted as spokesman, called to Hood, the man who had joined the captain's watch, to get him a little water; whereupon he went down immediately with some water to him. As soon as he was gone below, Falconer drew as near the hatchway as he could, to hear the conversation. Hood having been employed that day looking over the provisions, that he might know how long they would last, the others had not an opportunity to disclose their design to him. As soon as he was gone down, he could hear Warren say to him, "Hark ye, Frank, we had like to have been smoked to-day; and though we had contrived the story that I told you, yet I was a little surprised at their asking me, because then I did not expect it; but we intend to be even with them in a very little time; for, hark ye—" said he, and spoke so low that he could not be overheard. Upon which, the other said, "There is no difficulty in the matter; but we need not be in such haste, for you know, as we ply it to windward, a day or two can break no squares, and we can soon bear down to leeward to our comrades, that we left on shore; for I fancy," added he, "that they have some small suspicion of you now, which in time will sleep, and may be on their guard: therefore, it is better to wait a day or two."
"No; we'll do it to-night when they are asleep," replied Warren; whereupon there were many arguments for and against both plans. A little while afterwards, Hood came up again; and after walking up and down for some time, fixing his eyes often upon Falconer, he said very softly, "If you please, Mr. Falconer, I have a word or two to say to you, that much concerns you all." "What is it?" asked he. "Why," answered the other, "let us retire as far from the scuttle as we can, that we may not be heard by any below deck." So they went into the cabin, and opened the hatchway above, that Musgrave, who steered, might hear what was said. Hood then began as follows,—"My four companions below have a wicked design upon you; that is, to seize you, and set you adrift in the boat, and to run away with the vessel; but as I think it is an inhuman action, not only to any one, but to you in particular, who have been the means of their freedom, I have thought it best to give you warning." Finding from this conversation that he was sincere, Falconer told him that he was provided against it already, and informed him of their design to seize his companions in the third watch. "But," said he, "they intend to put their project in practice next watch; therefore, I think it will be necessary to counterplot them, and seize them at once." "As they have no arms," said Falconer, "and we have, we need not fear them."
They had several debates about the proper time to carry their scheme into effect, which, unfortunately, took up so much time, that Warren, distrusting Hood, it seems, got up, and stealing softly, came so close that he overheard everything that was said. As soon as he understood what was going forward, he went and informed his companions, upon which they resolved to attack the crew at once. In the midst of this consultation, Falconer and his companions were, therefore, surprised by the pirates, who seized them, which they did with such quickness that they were all confounded and overpowered before they had time to make the least resistance. They then handcuffed them and tied their legs together so as completely to prevent their moving.
In this state the mutineers left them till it was broad day, when they came and unbound their legs, and gave them leave to walk upon deck; whereupon Falconer began to expostulate with them, particularly with Warren, as he seemed to have a sort of command over the others. "And what," asked he, "do you intend to do with us, now you have secured us?" "Do with you? why, by-and-bye, we intend to put you into the boat, and turn you adrift; but, for that Hood, we'll murder him without mercy! The scoundrel! to betray us! But as you have not so much injured us, we'll put you immediately into the boat, with a week's provisions, and a small sail, and you shall seek your fortune, as I suppose you would have done by us." "No," answered Falconer, "we only designed to confine you till we came to Jamaica, and there to have given you your liberty to go where you thought fit. Put us ashore on any land that belongs to the English, and we will think you have not done us an injury." "No," said he, "we must go to meet our captain and fifty men, upon the mainland of Yucatan, where our vessel was stranded. Our first design," continued he, "when we were taken in our boat, was to get us a vessel to go buccaneering, which we had done at Campeachy, if it had not been for the Indian who swam on shore, unknown to us, and brought help too soon."
Warren, therefore, ordered him to be tied to the mast of the vessel, and loaded a
pistol to shoot him through the head.—P. 47.
When the conspirators had got everything ready, that is to say, a barrel of biscuit, another of water, about half a dozen pieces of beef, and as much pork, a small kettle, and a tinder-box, and were about to commit their unfortunate companions to the mercy of the sea, a sudden accident changed the face of affairs.
Before they departed, the mutineers determined to let them witness the death of Hood. Warren, therefore, ordered him to be tied to the mast of the vessel, and loaded a pistol to shoot him through the head, not knowing that it was charged before. They all entreated for the poor fellow, and he himself fell upon his knees, and begged them to spare him; but Warren swore bitterly that nothing should save him: with these words he cocked his pistol and levelled it at Hood, but in firing, it split into several pieces, and one struck Warren into the skull so deep, that he fell upon deck. One of the bullets grazed the side of Falconer's temple, and did but just break the skin: Hood, however, escaped unhurt; but he was so alarmed at the noise of the pistol, that he broke the cords which tied him. Finding himself unhurt, he ran to Falconer and his companions and unbound their arms, unperceived by the other two, who were busy about their unfortunate companion. Before the man that steered could come to their assistance, Hood had unbound Falconer, and stopped the interference of the steersman by giving him a blow with his fist, that knocked him down. In the meantime, the rest of the crew were released, and they speedily secured the other two pirates.
After they had bound them in turn, they went to see what assistance could be given to Warren, when they found that a piece of the barrel of the pistol had sunk into his skull, and that he was just expiring. "You have overpowered us," said he, "and I see the hand of Heaven is in it. I was born of good, honest parents, whose steps if I had followed, would have made my conscience easy at this time; but I forsook all religion, and now, too late, I find that to dally with Heaven is fooling one's self: but yet, in this one moment of my life which is left, I heartily repent of all my past crimes." With that he crossed himself and expired.
Falconer and his companions now made sail for Jamaica, where, after a variety of adventures, and being again taken by pirates, they at length arrived. From thence they sailed for England, which they reached in safety.
