CHAPTER XIII
CAPTAIN BONNET GOES TO CHURCH
The pirate vessel Revenge was now bound to the coast of the Carolinasand Virginia, and perhaps even farther north, if her wicked fortuneshould favour her. The growing commerce of the colonies offered greatprizes in those days to the piratical cruisers which swarmed up and downthe Atlantic coast. To lie over for a time off the coast of Charles Townwas Captain Bonnet's immediate object, and to get there as soon aspossible was almost a necessity.
The crew of desperate scoundrels whom he had gathered together haddiscovered that their captain knew nothing of navigation or themanagement of a ship, and there were many of them who believed that ifBlack Paul had chosen to turn the vessel's bows to the coast of SouthAmerica, Bonnet would not have known that they were not sailingnorthward. Thus they had lost all respect for him, and their conduct waskept within bounds only by the cruel punishments which he inflicted fordisobedience or general bad conduct, and which were rendered possible bythe dissensions and bad feelings among the men themselves; one clique orfaction being always ready to help punish another. Consequently, thelandsman pirate would speedily have been tossed overboard and thecommand given to another, had it not been that the men were not at allunited in their opinions as to who that other should be.
There was also another very good reason for Bonnet's continuance inauthority; he was a good divider, and, so far, had been a good provider.If he should continue to take prizes, and to give each man under him hisfair share of the plunder, the men were likely to stand by him untilsome good reason came for their changing their minds. So with floggingsand irons, on deck and below, and with fair winds filling the sailsabove, the Revenge kept on her way; and, in spite of the curses andquarrels and threats which polluted the air through which the stout shipsailed, there was always good-natured companionship wherever thecaptain, Dickory, and Ben Greenway found themselves together. Thereseemed to be no end to the questions which Bonnet asked about hisdaughter, and when he had asked them all he began over again, andDickory made answer, as he had done before.
The young fellow was growing very anxious at this northern voyage, andwhen he asked questions they always related to the probability of hisgetting back to Jamaica with news from the father of Mistress KateBonnet. The captain encouraged the hopes of an early return, and vowedto Dickory that he would send him to Spanish Town with a letter to hisdaughter just as soon as an opportunity should show itself.
When the Revenge reached the mouth of Charles Town harbour she stationedherself there, and in four days captured three well-laden merchantmen;two bound outward, and one going in from England.
Thus all went well, and with willing hands to man her yards and aproudly strutting captain on her quarter-deck, the pirate ship renewedher northward course, and spread terror and made prizes even as far asthe New England coast; and if Dickory had had any doubts that the latereputable planter of Bridgetown had now become a veritable pirate he hadmany opportunities of setting himself right. Bonnet seemed to be growingproud of his newly acquired taste for rapacity and cruelty. Merchantmenwere recklessly robbed and burned, their crews and passengers, evenbabes and women, being set on shore in some desolate spot, to perish orsurvive, the pirate cared not which, and if resistance were offered,bloody massacres or heartless drownings were almost sure to follow, and,as his men coveted spoils and delighted in cruelty, he satisfied them totheir heart's content.
"I tell you, Dickory Charter," said he, one day, "when you see mydaughter I want you to make her understand that I am a real pirate, andnot playing at the business. She's a brave girl, my daughter Kate, andwhat I do, she would have me do well and not half-heartedly, to make herashamed of me. And then, there is my brother-in-law, Delaplaine. I don'tbelieve that he had a very high opinion of me when I was a plain farmerand planter, and I want him to think better of me now. A bold, fearlesspirate cannot be looked upon with disrespect."
Dickory groaned in his heart that this man was the father of Kate.
Turning southward, rounding the cape of Delaware, the Revenge ran up thebay, seeking some spot where she might take in water, casting anchorbefore a little town on the coast of New Jersey. Here, while some of themen were taking in water, others of the crew were allowed to go onshore, their captain swearing to them that if they were guilty of anydisorder they should suffer for it. "On my vessel," he swore, "I am apirate, but when I go on shore I am a gentleman, and every one in myservice shall behave himself as a gentleman. I beg of you to rememberthat."
Agreeable to this principle, Captain Bonnet arrayed himself in a finesuit of clothes, and without arms, excepting a genteel sword, andcarrying a cane, he landed with Ben Greenway and Dickory, and proceededto indulge himself in a promenade up the main street of the town.
The citizens of the place, terrified and amazed at this bold conduct ofa vessel fearlessly flying a black flag with the skull and bones, coulddo nothing but await their fate. The women and children, and many of themen, hid themselves in garrets and cellars, and those of the people whowere obliged to remain visible trembled and prayed, but Captain StedeBonnet walked boldly up the right-hand side of the main street wavinghis cane in the air as he spoke to the people, assuring them that he andhis men came on an errand of business, seeking nothing but some freshwater and an opportunity to stretch their legs on solid ground.
"If you have meat and drink," he cried, "bestow it freely upon my men,tired of the unsavoury food on shipboard, and if they transgress thelaws of hospitality then I, their captain, shall be your avenger; wewant none of your goods or money, having enough in our well-laden vesselto satisfy all your necessities, if ye have them, and to feel it not."
The men strolled along the street, swarmed into the two little taverns,soon making away with their small stores of ale and spirits, andaccepting everything eatable offered them by the shivering citizens; butas to violence there was none, for every man of the rascally crew boreenmity against most of the others, and held himself ready for a chanceto report a shipmate or to break his head.
Black Paul was a powerful aid in the preservation of order among thedisorderly. Conflicts between factions of the crew were greatly fearedby him, for the schemes which happy chance had caused to now revolvethemselves in his master mind would have been sadly interfered with bywant of concord among the men of the Revenge.
Captain Bonnet, followed at a short distance by Dickory and Ben, wasinterested in everything he saw. A man of intelligence and considerablereading, it pleased him to note the peculiarities of the people of acountry which he had never visited. The houses, the shops, and even theattire of the citizens, were novel and well worthy of his observation.He looked over garden walls, he gazed out upon the fields which werevisible from the upper end of the street, and when he saw a man who wasable to command his speech he asked him questions.
There was a little church, standing back from the thoroughfare, its doorwide open, and this was an instant attraction to the pirate captain, whoopened the gate of the yard and walked up to it.
"That I should ever again see Master Stede Bonnet goin' into a churchwas something I didna dream o', Dickory," said Ben Greenway, "it willbe a meeracle, an' I doubt if he dares to pass the door wi' his sins an'his plunders on his head."
But Captain Bonnet did pass the door, reverentially removing his hat, ifnot his crimes, as he entered. In but few ways it resembled the housesof worship to which he had been accustomed in his earlier days, and hegazed eagerly from side to side as he slowly walked up the centralaisle. Dickory was about to follow him, but he was suddenly jerked backby the Scotchman, who forcibly drew him away from the door.
"Look ye," whispered Ben, speaking quickly, under great excitement,"look ye, Dickory, Heaven has sent us our chance. He's in there safe an'sound, an' the good angels will keep his mind occupied. I'll quietlyclose the door an' turn the key, then I'll slip around to the back, an'if there be anither door there, I'll stop it some way, if it be notalready locked. Now, Dickory boy, make your heels fly! I notic
ed, beforewe got here, that some o' the men were makin' their way to the boats;dash ye amang them, Dickory, an' tell them that the day they've beenlongin' for, ever since they set foot on the vessel, has now come. Theircaptain is a prisoner, an' they are free to hurry on board their vesselan' carry awa wi' them a' their vile plunder."
"What!" exclaimed Dickory, speaking so earnestly that the Scotchmanpulled him farther away from the church, "do you mean that you wouldleave Captain Bonnet here by himself, in a foreign town?"
"No' a bit o' it," said Ben, "I'll stay wi' him an' so will you. Nowrun, Dickory!"
"Ben!" exclaimed the other, "you don't know what you are talking about!Captain Bonnet would be seized and tried as a pirate. His blood would beon your head, Ben!"
"I canna talk about that now," said Ben impatiently, "ye think too mucho' the man's body, Dickory, an' I am considerin' his soul."
"And I am considering his daughter," said Dickory fearlessly; "do yousuppose I am going to help to have her father hanged?" and with thesewords he made a movement towards the door.
The eager Scotchman seized him. "Dickory, bethink yoursel'," said he. "Idon't want to hang him, I want to save him, body an' soul. We will gethim awa' from here after the ship has gone, he will be helpless then, hecanna be a pirate a minute longer, an' he will give up an' do what Itell him. We can leave before there is ony talk o' trial or hangin'.Run, Dickory, run! Ye're sinfully losin' time. Think o' his soul,Dickory; it's his only chance!"
With a great jerk Dickory freed himself from the grasp of the Scotchman.
"It is Kate Bonnet I am thinking of!" he exclaimed, and with that hebolted into the church.
The captain was examining the little pulpit. "Haste ye! haste ye!"cried Dickory, "your men are all hurrying to the boats, they will leaveyou behind if they can; that's what they are after."
"Haste ye! haste ye," cried Dickory, "they will leave youbehind."]
Bonnet turned quickly. He took in the situation in a second. With a fewbounds he was out of the church, nearly overturning Ben Greenway as hepassed him. Without a word he ran down the street, his cane thrown away,and his drawn sword in his hand.
Dickory's warning had not come a minute too soon; one boat full of menwas pulling towards the ship, and others were hurrying in the directionof an empty boat which awaited them at the pier. Bonnet, with Dickoryclose at his heels, ran with a most amazing rapidity, while Greenwayfollowed at a little distance, scarcely able to maintain the speed.
"What means this?" cried Bonnet, now no longer a gentleman, but a savagepirate, and as he spoke he thrust aside two of the men who were about toget into the boat, and jumped in himself. "What means this?" hethundered.
Black Paul answered quietly: "I was getting the men on board," he said,"so as to save time, and I was coming back for you."
Bonnet glared at his sailing-master, but he did not swear at him, he wastoo useful a man, but in his heart he vowed that he would never trustPaul Bittern again, and that as soon as he could he would get rid ofhim.
But when he reached the ship, three men out of each boat's crew,selected at random to represent the rest, were tied up and flogged, theblows being well laid on by scoundrels very eager to be brutal, even totheir own shipmates.
"Ah! Dickory, Dickory," cried Ben Greenway, as they were sailing downthe bay, "ye have loaded your soul wi' sin this day; I fear ye'll neverrise from under it. Whatever vile deeds that Major Bonnet may henceforthbe guilty o' ye'll be responsible for them a', Dickory, for every ane o'them."
"He's bad enough, Ben," said the other, "and it's many a wicked deed hemay do yet, but I am going to carry news of him to his daughter if Ican; and what's more, I am not going to stay behind and be hanged, evenif it is in such good company as Major Bonnet and you, Ben Greenway."
Whatever should happen on the rest of that voyage; whether thewell-intentioned treachery of Ben Greenway, or the secret villainies ofthe crew, should prevail; whether disaster or success should come to theplanter pirate, Dickory Charter resolved in his soul that a message fromher father should go to Kate Bonnet, and that he should carry it.
* * * * *
The spirits of Dickory rose very much as the bow of the Revenge waspointed southward. Every mile that the pirate vessel sailed brought himnearer to the delivery of his message--a message which, while it told ofher father's wicked career, still told her of his safety and of hissteadfast affection for her. Indirectly, the bringing of such a message,and the story of how the bearer brought it, might have another effect,which, although he had no right to expect, was never absent fromDickory's soul. This ardent young lover did not believe in Master MartinNewcombe. He had no good reason for not believing in him, but his wantof faith did not depend upon reason. If lovers reasoned too much, itwould be a sad world for many of them.
When the Revenge stopped in her progress towards the heavenly Island ofJamaica, or at least that island which was the abode of an angel, andanchored off Charles Town harbour, South Carolina, Dickory fumed andtalked impatiently to his friend Ben Greenway. Why a man, even though hewere a pirate, and therefore of an avaricious nature, should want morebooty, when his vessel was already crowded with valuable goods, he couldnot imagine.
But Ben Greenway could very easily imagine. "When the spirit o' sin isupon ye," said the Scotchman, "the more an' more wicked ye're likely tobe; an' ye must no' forget, Dickory, that every new crime he commits,an' a' the property he steals, an' a' the unfortunate people he maroons,will hae to be answered for by ye, Dickory, when the time comes for yeto stand up an' say what ye hae got to say about your ain sins. If yehad stood by me an' helped to cut him short in his nefarious career, hemight now be beginnin' a new life in some small coastin' vessel boundfor Barbadoes."
Dickory gave an impatient kick at the mast near which he was standing."It would have been more likely," said he, "that before this he wouldhave begun a new life on the gallows with you and me alongside of him,and how do you suppose you would have got rid of the sin on your soulwhen you thought of his orphan daughter in Jamaica?"
"Your thoughts are too much on that daughter," snapped Greenway, "an'no' enough on her father's soul."
"I am tired of her father's soul," said Dickory. "I wonder what newpiece of mischief they are going to do here; there are no ships to berobbed?"
Dickory did not know very much, or care very much about the sea and itscommerce, and some ships to be robbed soon made their appearance. Onewas a large merchantman, with a full cargo, and the other was a bark,northward bound, in ballast. The acquisition of the latter vessel put anew idea into Captain Bonnet's head. The Revenge was already overloaded,and he determined to take the bark as a tender to relieve him of aportion of his cargo and to make herself useful in the business ofmarooning and such troublesome duties.
Being now commander of two vessels, which might in time increase to alittle fleet, Captain Bonnet's ideas of his own importance as a terrorof the sea increased rapidly. On the Revenge he was more despotic andsevere than ever before, while the villain who had been chosen tocommand the tender, because he had a fair knowledge of navigation, wasinformed that if he kept the bark more than a mile from the flag-ship,he would be sunk with the vessel and all on board. The loss of the barkand some men would be nothing compared to the maintenance of discipline,quoth the planter pirate.
Bonnet's ambition rose still higher and higher. He was not content withbeing a relentless pirate, bloody if need be, but he longed forrecognition, for a position among his fellow-terrors of the sea, whichshould be worthy of a truly wicked reputation. A pirate bold, he wouldconsort with pirates bold. So he set sail for the Gulf of Honduras, thena great rendezvous for piratical craft of many nations. If the father ofKate Bonnet had captured and burned a dozen ships, and had forced everysailor and passenger thereupon to walk a plank, he would not have sinnedmore deeply in the eyes, of Dickory Charter than he did by thusruthlessly, inhumanly, hard-heartedly, and altogether shamefullyignoring and pitilessly passing by that islan
d on which dwelt an angel,his own daughter.
But Bonnet declared to the young man that it would now be dangerous forhim and his ship to approach the harbour of Kingston, generally theresort of British men-of-war, but in the waters of Honduras he could notfail to find some quiet merchant ship by which he could send a messageto his daughter. Ay! and in which--and the pirate's eye glistened withparental joy as this thought came into his mind--he might, disguised asa plain gentleman, make a visit to Mistress Kate and to his goodbrother-in-law, Delaplaine.
So Dickory was now to be satisfied, and even to admit that there mightbe some good common sense in these remarks of that most uncommon pirate,Captain Bonnet.
So the Revenge, with her tender, sailed southward, through the fairWest-Indian waters and by the fair West-Indian isles, to join herself tothe piratical fleet generally to be found in the waters of Honduras.