“Hark you, master mate,” I said sharply. “I am your prisoner; why not be frank with me?—You have been paid to carry us to France, is it not so?”
“What, then?” he replied slowly. “A poor sailorman must live. There’s a market for such stout knaves as you any day—in Algiers!”
And without further word he closed and bolted the door behind him, and I heard his heavy footsteps ascend the ladder, and left me in the darkness. But if I had been anxious to escape before, his last words made me doubly so. All too clearly I understood his meaning. The villains had not scrupled to accept the money paid by my lady or her Jacobite friends for our removal, but were now meditating selling us into a slavery a hundred times worse than death itself, thus making for themselves a double profit. For how long I sat there in the darkness, revolving this and all that had led up to it I do not know. At length, worn out by the excitement and events of the day through which I had passed, I stretched myself upon the hard boards, and with my coat for a pillow fell into a heavy slumber.
For many hours I must have slept the sleep of exhaustion, for the light was glimmering faintly upon the beams overhead when I awoke to a full consciousness of my surroundings. Also I discovered at once that we were at sea, for the vessel was rolling heavily. Overhead I could hear the trampling of feet and the captain’s voice roaring out hoarse commands. But no one came near me, and for hours I waited in solitude revolving a scheme in my brain which every moment took shape more clearly. True it was a chance only, and a forlorn one, yet I could see no other way, and desperate men do not stick at trifles.
The idea then came to me fully at noon, when again the door was unbolted to admit the boy and the tall mate with a repetition of the coarse fare of the preceding night. But it was necessary for the execution of my plan that I should wait for the friendly covering of darkness, so I huddled myself upon the locker and feigned to be overcome by the rolling of the ship. The mate looked at me carelessly.
“Ho, ho, ho!” he cried with a grin. “Hast lost thy sea legs, man? Why, my bully, ’tis a capful of wind this—scarce fit to call a breeze.”
To this I replied with a groan by way of answer, sinking my head more forward that he might not see my face; and with a few ribald jests at my expense he presently left me in solitude.
When the door had again closed I fell to upon the food that they had brought me. Coarse though it was, I had need of all my strength for the task before me. For as it was, in the first place, essential for me to escape from the cabin, I had resolved to attempt a sudden rush when next they should bring me my supper, trusting to luck to find some means of leaving the vessel in the darkness and confusion. ’Twas a madman’s scheme at best, but I dared delay no longer, for every hour carried me farther from the shores of England. Weapon I had none, but I had caught a glimpse of a long knife in the mate’s belt, and could I but get possession of this, I vowed I would not be retaken without a struggle. Also I was handicapped heavily by the wound in my breast, that had stiffened the muscles of my shoulder, leaving me with but the partial use of my left arm. And, again, there was the boy to be reckoned with. But anything was better than to tamely submit to be sold into slavery, and hope of liberty is a great factor in renewing strength and courage.
Moreover, I reflected, if what my lady had said was true, the safety of England might lie in my hands.
How long the hours seemed to me until the light began to fade in the cabin can well be imagined; but gradually it grew less and less, and was I deceived, or was it really a thin mist that came floating down the hatchway and penetrated to my prison cell? My heart gave a great leap—’twas sure a heaven sent boon to cloak my escape. And ere the light had quite faded a new inspiration came to me. I was still wearing my heavy military boots that reached above my knee, although my spurs had been removed, belike by one of the servants at the manor. I now drew these off that I might be the lighter upon my feet and also the more silent, and the thought came to me that one of them would form no bad missile with which to preface my attack. Nay, I trusted that the first surprise would be so great that I should secure the knife with but little difficulty and then—well, liberty is dear to the heart of every man. So I waited alone in the darkness with every nerve strung for the coming encounter, listening to the creaking of the ship’s timbers and the faint shouts of command from the deck overhead. And at last there came a gleam of light above the doorway, and I heard the mate’s step upon the ladder. Once he slipped ere he reached the bottom and I heard him curse loudly.