"Captain 'Enery"
While the boat was away on its errand Captain Jeremy turned to me.
"You see, Master Clifford, that I am in a very awkward position. As master of this vessel I look upon mutiny and similar uprisings against authority as an offence of the blackest dye. 'Tis certain that Master Oddicombe and his following have dealt hardly with the captain of the Neptune and his crew, and for that they deserve to be delivered up to justice at the first English settlement we touch. On the other hand, they were fighting for their liberty 'gainst a tyrant, while, to go farther, they fought side by side with us under Monmouth's banner. But for the workings of Providence, I and a score of my men now on board this vessel would have been similarly dealt with. Had we been in their place, how should we have acted, had the means of regaining our freedom been opened to us?"
"Same as they, Cap'n," exclaimed 'Enery, who, with Touchstone and myself, formed a little council in the cabin.
"I did but sound your inclinations," continued Captain Jeremy. "Sink me! I cannot blame them. But now, by the laws of the sea, the Neptune is in our keeping till we bring her into a port, when the Admiralty courts shall decide our share of the salvage. But if we do that, what is to become of the yokels that are on board? Nay, that will not serve."
"We could do with another ship and a sprinkling of fighting men," observed the master gunner tentatively.
"You have spoken mine own mind," rejoined Captain Jeremy. "If we can but make yon peasants see that therein lies the best chance of safety, I'll tranship half of them, and send thirty of our men under you, bos'n, to work the leavening of the rest. I know these men. They are full of fight, and only need a stiffening of good seamen to turn them into a passable crew."
"Then you expect we shall have opposition, sir?" I asked. "From whom?"
"From the buccaneers, unless I be greatly mistaken. With the Golden Hope alone 'twould be necessary to avoid an engagement should these rogues think fit to molest us, for they swarm all over the Caribbean Sea; but with a consort like the Neptune we can hold our own. Is she a seaworthy craft?"
"As sweet a craft as I could wish for--saving our own," replied 'Enery.