At length the eventful day arrived on which the ceremony of laying the keel of the new schooner was to be performed. The pieces of timber of which it was to be composed—some of which had already formed part of the keel of the old ship—had all been shaped, the blocks laid in position, and every other preparation fully made; and nothing remained but to lay down the keel-pieces on the blocks placed ready for their reception, and to bolt them together.
In the fulness of his delight Johnson resolved that the day should be a regular fête day; and accordingly on the morning in question the shipyard was gaily dressed with flags—of more than one nationality—which were hoisted upon poles hastily set up for the purpose; and all hands, clean shaven, and dressed in their best, prepared to assist in the ceremony.
The proceedings were inaugurated by Johnson, who, attired in the full uniform of a captain of the American navy, took up a position on one of the keel-blocks, and from thence made an animated address to his followers, in which he rapidly sketched the history of the band from the day on which they had entered upon their present career by taking from their officers the Amazon tea clipper, in which they had sailed from China for England, down to the present time. He reminded them of the difficulties and misfortunes with which they had been obliged to contend; how they had unfortunately lost the Amazon upon an island some hundreds of miles to the westward of their present position; how they had been compelled to leave the island in open boats; of the sufferings which they subsequently endured; and how by a lucky accident they were finally enabled to obtain possession of the Albatross. He next dwelt upon the good fortune which had since attended them; the many valuable prizes they had taken; the rich store of booty they had accumulated; and the steady augmentation of the numbers of the brotherhood. Then, giving free rein to his fancy, he enlarged upon his plans for the future. What had already been done was, he said, nothing—a simple preliminary effort, a mere trial of strength—compared with what he would do. He would never be satisfied, he informed them, until he could finally lead them all out of that harbour on board a fleet of at least ten well armed, swift, and fully manned ships, in which it would be possible for them to ravage the entire coast of Spanish South America, despoiling the rich towns and laughing at all opposition. In this way, he promised them, he would place them in possession of such an unheard-of amount of treasure that every man among them should be worth his millions; after which, by following a plan which he would unfold to them at the proper time, they could quietly disband and settle down for the remainder of their lives, each man on that particular spot of earth which pleased him best, in the peaceful enjoyment of his well-earned gold. And they were assembled there that day, he added in conclusion, to lay the keel of the first of the ten clippers by which this glorious result was to be accomplished.
It was an eloquent and masterly speech. Johnson was most accurately acquainted with the characters of those who surrounded him; he was making a great bid for the recovery of that popularity which in some unexplained way—but largely through the machinations of Alec Ralli, he shrewdly suspected—had been steadily slipping away from him; and he believed that the making of such dazzling promises as he had just indulged in was the surest way of winning it back. And if vociferous and tumultuous cheering was to be taken as an indication of success the pirate chief had every cause to be gratified. The enthusiasm was intense. Cheer after cheer rent the air; the men shook hands all round and then pressed forward, hustling each other, eager to perform the same ceremony with Johnson, vowing as they did so the blindest and most unswerving fidelity to him, and calling down the most frightful imprecations upon all traitors.
Ralli stood at some little distance in the background, his arms folded across his chest, and a cynical smile wreathing his lips.
“Ah right,” he muttered; “go on and shout yourselves hoarse, you swine! Yell, cheer, and swear fidelity until you are out of breath if it pleases you so to do; I like to see and hear it, for what is it after all but froth; you are all in a ferment just now, and it is best that this noisy gas should have its vent; you will soon sober down again, and then—we shall see. As for you,” he continued, with a furtive scowl at Johnson, whose face beamed with gratification, “you have had your day, and, blind bat as you are, you were beginning to see it just for a moment, but this fine speech of yours has thrown you off your guard again. You doubtless think that with a few empty boastful words you have recovered your lost position, but you are mistaken, my good friend, as you will find out when you return from your next cruise—if indeed you ever return at all. Well, enjoy your own opinion while you can; rejoice in the ease with which you have re-established yourself; I shall not attempt to undeceive you—at least just now, so I will go and add my plaudits to those of the herd—pah!” and he spat contemptuously on the ground as he moved forward to shake Johnson cordially by the hand.
Order being at length restored, the ceremony of laying the keel was proceeded with. The several pieces were already on the ground, properly shaped, with bolt-holes bored, the bolts fitted, and in short every preparation made for fastening them together; and now, at a word from Johnson, a hundred eager hands seized the heavy timbers, and, under Lance’s superintendence, placed them upon the blocks. The joints were next brought closely together, the bolts inserted, the perfect straightness of the entire length of keel accurately tested, and finally the bolts were all simultaneously driven home and the keel “laid,” amidst the deafening cheers of the pirates and the roar of a battery of guns which had been placed temporarily in position to do due honour to the ceremony.
The men were then served with an extra allowance of grog, after which they were dismissed to amuse themselves in any way they pleased for the remainder of the day.
Johnson saw fit to leave the shipyard in the boat which conveyed Lance, Captain Staunton, and the rest of the Galatea party back to the settlement at the bottom of the bay, and it was evident during the passage that he was most anxious to make himself agreeable and to leave behind him a favourable impression. At last, when the boat was nearing the beach at which the party intended to land, he said to Lance—
“Look here, colonel, I’ve been thinking about them women-folk of yourn; they must find it mighty lonesome here, with nothing much to do; do you think it ’d please ’em if I was to send one of them planners to your diggin’s? ’Cause, if you do, they shall have one. The cussed things ain’t no use to us, and I don’t hardly know what I fetched ’em along for.”