Charlie Codman's Cruise: A Story for Boys

by Jr. Horatio Alger

"It was a keg of powder," said Bill, shaking the ashes from his pipe. "Perhaps, my lad, you can guess what thought that put me up to."

"Was it to blow them all up?" asked Charlie, in excitement.

"You've hit it, my lad."

"But that would be dangerous to you."

"I knew that well enough," said the sailor. "There was precious little chance of old Bill Sturdy living to tell the story; but, my lad, I'll tell you what made me overlook that. I must either turn pirate and always remain so, with a pretty considerable chance of swinging from the gallows some time, or else be butchered by the pirates for refusing to join them. So, as there didn't seem to be much but death in prospect, that consideration didn't weigh much. Then I thought that, if I did die by the explosion, I should have the satisfaction of knowing that the rascally pirates would share my fate, and the Red Rover, the scourge of the seas, would never do any more harm. Besides that, I should save the Sally Ann, and the lives of the captain and crew, and that was something glorious to think of."

The boy's cheek glowed with sympathetic ardor, and he clasped Bill Sturdy's rough hand, in token of understanding and appreciating his motive.

"That seemed the only way open to me," resumed Bill, "and I determined to adopt it. Of course, there were nine chances out of ten that I should be blown up with the rest of them, but still there was a possibility of escape. I couldn't help thinking of that, and the more I thought, the more I had a kind of feeling that I should escape. I thought I would go up on deck a minute, before carrying out my design, and see what was going on. Well, the pirates had about got ready for action. The decks had been cleared, the cutlasses and pistols and other murderous weapons had been distributed among the men, and, altogether, there seemed precious little chance for the poor fellows on board the Sally Ann, especially, as I knew well enough that they had no cannon, and only a few pistols, that were not likely to do them much good. There wasn't much time to lose, as the action was going to commence. So I slipped down below, and fixed a slow match, so that it would reach the powder in about a minute. I had just about got it fixed, when who should I see coming down, but the pirate captain. It seemed as if all my plans were going to be knocked in the head. No doubt he suspected that all was not as it should be, and was coming down to see what was to pay. I felt desperate, and fetched him as powerful a blow as I was able, on the side of his head, and he fell like an ox, pretty effectually stunned."

"What next?"

"The next thing I did was to hurry upon deck. 'Where's the captain?' asked the mate. 'He'll be up directly,' said I. And so he was, but not in the sense that he understood it.