I rose at that, and with the boot in my hand awaited the opening of the door. But Fortune, that had of late played me so many scurvy tricks, was surely anxious to make amends to me that night, for upon the bolts being withdrawn, the door swung slowly open and disclosed the figure of the mate only. He had set the lantern upon the floor at his feet and in his left hand carried my coarse night fare. Without troubling to raise the light so as to satisfy himself as to my condition, he took two steps into the cabin and stooped to place the food upon the floor. But that was his undoing; for hastily changing my original intention, as the rogue bent down I swung the boot aloft, and with all the strength of arm and body brought down the heavy heel upon his head. Without cry or groan he flung his arms wide and fell an inert heap at my feet. In a moment I had thrown myself upon him—my hands upon his throat. But there was little need for me to exert any pressure there, the fellow lay as motionless as a log. And when, a moment later, I released my grip and slightly raised his head, it fell again with a dull thud upon the boards. Not till then did I rise to my feet, my first care being to secure the lantern, and with this in my hand I re-entered the cabin and carefully closed the door behind me. Then I again bent over my prisoner. A very brief examination sufficed to assure me that the fellow was but stunned; and securing his knife, I bound his arms firmly behind his back with his own belt; and with a strip torn from the sleeve of his shirt and his red cap I made an effectual gag. This done, I propped him against the locker. Then blowing out the lantern, I crept from the cabin. Once outside in the passage, I shot the heavy bolts behind me and stood still for a moment listening.
Not a sound came to show that the mate’s fall had been heard from the deck, though I could hear voices raised as though in altercation, and I knew that it would not be long before his absence was discovered. ’Twas almost dark where I stood, at the foot of the ladder, clutching the knife in my hand, every nerve in my body braced to meet whatever should befall. Overhead, a lighter patch in the gloom indicated the hatchway. As my eyes grew more accustomed to my surroundings, I made out that the only other exit was by way of the narrow passage on my left, that led, I felt assured, to the cabin astern. Yet I was reluctant to abandon my men without making some effort to liberate them, even though, from what the mate had said, I knew them to be in irons somewhere in the forepart of the ship. I should, indeed, have ventured upon some desperate scheme for their release—which would assuredly have led to my own undoing—nay, I had already ascended the ladder, and my head was all but on a level with the deck—enough so, indeed, to show me that a thin damp mist wrapped the ship in its embrace, so that of the masts and spars above little was discernible—when on a sudden from the deck above came the hoarse voice of Captain Barclay.
“Forward there!” he roared. “Where is the mate? Send him aft, one o’ ye!”
’Twas a question of minutes only ere his plight was discovered. I turned on the instant, and darting down the ladder, sped swiftly along the narrow passage opposite, to where a faint light shone from beneath a door at the farther end. I did not stop to consider what might lie behind it, but taking a firmer grip of the knife, I flung open the door. A single glance showed me the cabin was empty. Swiftly I closed the door and shot the heavy bolt that fastened it, then glanced quickly around me.
“A very brief examination sufficed to assure me that the fellow was but stunned”
A single oil lamp swung from a beam in the centre, faintly illuminating the interior. It shone upon the small square table immediately below it, littered with the remains of a meal, and upon a few articles of clothing, tossed carelessly upon the sleeping bunk, as well as upon a few old-fashioned pistols and hangers. But ’twas to the window that I turned my attention, flinging it open and gazing out into the night. One quick glance I gave, then an exclamation of thankfulness rose to my lips. It was, indeed, the stern cabin of the ship, and the light shone out upon a white wall of vapour; for the sea fog was thickening fast. But it was not that only that had fired me with hope; ’twas the sight of a rope cleaving the mist; and peering down, I made out the dim outline of a boat towing astern.
On a sudden, as I leaned far out of the window and grasped the rope with both hands, the deep voice of the man at the helm above me broke out into the song I knew so well:
“With the still lagoons and the bright doubloons—
And the black-eyed maids of Spain, my lads!