Harper's Round Table, March 2, 1897

by Various

He jumped at the odd sound of my voice, but made no remarks, and scrambled to the hatch in a jiffy.

"Four of you up out of that!" he cried through the hole, at the same time battering away at the fastenings with a belaying-pin. The hatch was flung open, and instead of four, all ten of the Britishers came rushing to the deck. They probably had been dying of terror down below, and one glance at us working away for dear life told them the condition of affairs.

Without a word they set to work, under the direction of their own officers, to get the spare gear out of the way and start the forecastle pump going.

The carpenter soon reported from the hold that we had gained some four inches, and were now holding our own. This was at the end of an hour's work by all hands.

I perceived, however, that it would be foolishness to work all the men to death at the outset, and that the sensible way would be to divide them into relays, even if the water gained a little on us.

So I told off my own men into two divisions, and sent half of them into the galley to get rest and a bite to eat. But the prisoners I drove at it, as we had fully two hours' start of them. They needed no encouragement yet, and one of them even replied, "Ay, ay, sir," to my orders to hit up the stroke.

There is no use of prolonging this description. All night we worked away, and the gray dawn found us still at it.

Fisher, the wounded man, I had mounted guard over the prisoners, arming him with a cutlass and a brass blunderbuss that I had found in the mate's room. I hated to goad men the way I had to, but I think my own people worked almost as hard, and needed less urging; but the Englishmen had begun to fag.

By noon the sea had gone down, and, probably owing to the swelling of the timbers, the leak had apparently decreased. We had gained a foot and more on the water in the hold, and the carpenter found out that it was as he suspected, the water had been entering through a started seam, and he said that if we could get to anchor, he thought might be able to locate where it was. So I ordered all but four of the prisoners below. At first one of the mates demurred; but I would admit of no talking, and at the sight of the pistols he obeyed me.

Now the great question was to find out where we were. By two o'clock I made sail, and seeing that the old tub did better with the wind astern, I ordered the helmsman to steer the same course we had been holding, and I started to go below to rest.