The Black Buccaneer

  CHAPTER XIX

  The fair weather held and for several days the little fleet cruised westby south, then southerly when they had picked up the Virginia Capes. Thepirate crew, in spite of their impatience to divide the cumbersome bootythey had helped to win, kept in a fairly good temper. Hopes were highand quarrels were quickly put aside with a "Take it easy, boys--waittill the sharin's over." Bob and Jeremy got off with a minimum of hardwords and might have considered their lot almost agreeable but for oneincident. The whippings which were a regular part of boys' lives aboardship in those days, had always been administered by George Dunkin. Asbo's'n, it was not only his right but his duty to lay in with a rope'send occasionally. He was one of the fairest men in Bonnet's company andJeremy had never felt any great injustice in the treatment Dunkin hadaccorded him. Since his lieutenancy aboard the prize-sloop, however, thebo's'n had necessarily ceased to be the executive of punishment, andwhen Monday, recognized on all the seas as whipping day, came around,there was a very secret hope in Jeremy's heart that the office would beforgotten. As for Bob, he had so far escaped the lash, it beingunderstood that he was not an ordinary ship's boy. As the day wore on,the Yankee lad remained as inconspicuous as possible, and began to thinkthat he was safe. About mid-afternoon, however, a gang of buccaneers,working at the rent in the bows which still gave trouble, shouted for abucket of drinking water. Bob had been snoozing in the shade of thesail, and when he was roused at last, took his own time in carrying outthe order. When he appeared finally, there was a good deal of swearingin the air. Daggs reached out and jerked the boy into the center of thegroup, his light eyes agleam under scowling brows. "See here, you littlerunt," he hissed, "don't think because the Cap'n's savin' you to killlater, that you're the bloomin' mate of this ship! Come here to thecapstan, now!" Before Bob was aware of what they meant to do, the angrysailors had slung him over a capstan bar and tied his hands and feet toa ring in the deck. After the clothes had been pulled off his back,there was an interval while the pirates quarrelled over who should dothe whipping. Daggs demanded the right and finally prevailed bythreatening the instant disemboweling of his rivals. Bob was tremblingand white, not from fear but because of the indignity of the punishment.The scarred executioner spat on his hands, took the heavy rope andsquared his feet. "Shiver away, you cowardly pup," said he, grinning atone side of his twisted mouth. Then with a vicious whirl of his arm hebrought the hard hemp down on the boy's naked shoulders--once, twice,three times--the lad lost count. At last he nearly lost consciousnessunder the torturing fire of the blows. When the buccaneer ceased forlack of breath his victim hung limp and twitching over the wooden bar.Long welts that were beginning to drip red crossed and recrossed hisback. "Now, where's that other whelp?" panted Daggs. Somebody went belowand dragged Jeremy to light. The boy was brought up to the crowd at thecapstan. He took one look at Bob's pitiful, set stare and the red dropson the deck, then turned blazing to face the man with the broken nose.

  "You great coward!" he cried. The man was staggered for an instant. Thenhis rage boiled up and the tanned skin of his neck turned the color ofold mahogany. "I'll kill the boy," he whispered hoarsely and drew backhis heavy rope for a swing at Jeremy's head.

  "Daggs"--a voice cut the air from close by his side. "Daggs, who madeyou bo's'n of this sloop?"

  The man whirled and nearly fell over, for Stede Bonnet was at his elbow."One more thing of this kind aboard, and I'll maroon you," said theCaptain sharply, and added, "Gray, put this man in irons and see thathe gets only bread and water for five days!" Then he turned on his heeland went back to the cabin. So once more Jeremy's life was saved by theCaptain's whim. He half carried, half supported his chum to their bunkand after rubbing his back with grease, begged from the galley, nursedhim the rest of the day. By the following afternoon the Delaware lad hadrecovered his spirits and although he was still too sore and stiff to goon deck, had no trouble in eating the food Jeremy brought him. Theabsence of Daggs made life assume a happier outlook and it was not longbefore the boy was as right as ever.

  August was nearly past. To the boys, who knew little of the geography ofthe coast and nothing of Bonnet's plans, it was something of a surprisewhen the man at the tiller of the _James_, which was in the lead, swungher head over to landward one morning. Low shores, with a white line ofsand beneath the vivid dark green of trees, ran along the westernhorizon. As the sloop ran in, the boys expected to see the broad openingof some bay but there was still no visible variation of the coast line.No town was to be seen, nor even a single hut, when they were close in.The trees were live-oaks, Bob said, though Jeremy had never seen one toknow it before.

  The _Royal James_ and her consorts held a slow course along the shorefor several hours. The strip of sand was gradually widening and inplaces stretched inland for a mile in dunes and hillocks, traversed bylittle tidewater creeks. At last there showed a narrow inlet between twodunes, and Bonnet, who had now taken the helm, headed the sloopcautiously for this opening. One of the men constantly heaved the leadand cried the soundings as the ship progressed. The pirate chief kept tothe left of the channel and finally passed through into a wide lagoon,with a scant fathom to spare at the shallowest place. The _Fortune_entered without difficulty, but the deeply-laden _Francis_ groundedmidway in and had to wait several hours for the tide to float her.

  Listening to the talk of the crew, Bob heard them say they had come intothe mouth of the Cape Fear River in Carolina. From what he knew of thenearby coast he believed that it was a very wild region, almostunsettled, and that there would be slight chance of getting to safety,even if they were able to effect an escape. This fear seemed justifiedlater in the day, when Bonnet said to one of his men that there was noneed of shackling the boys as had been done in the Chesapeake. Turningso that they could hear, he added, "Too many Indians in these woods forthe lads to try to leave the ship." Jeremy, who had seen enough of bothpirates and Indians to last him a lifetime, remarked to his friend thatpersonally he would risk his neck with one as soon as the other, but Bobhad heard terrible stories of the red men's cruelty and did not agreewith him. "We'd best stay aboard and wait for a better chance," heargued.

  All three of the sloops were leaky and needed a thorough overhauling invarious ways. As soon as the _Francis_ was off the bar, therefore, theyproceeded up the estuary for a distance of nearly two miles and securedtheir vessels in shallow water, where they could be careened at lowtide.

  Next morning and for many hot days thereafter the pirates and theirprisoners toiled hard at the refitting of the ships. Lumber was not easyto come by in that desolate region and when they had used up all theirspare planking, Bonnet took the _Royal James_ out over the bar to huntfor the wherewithal to do his patching. After a cruise of a day and anight to the southward they sighted a small fishing shallop which theyquickly overtook, and captured without a fight. The two men in theshallop jumped overboard and swam ashore when they saw the black flag,and Bonnet was too much occupied in getting the prize back to theriver-mouth to give chase. It was an unfortunate thing for him that hedid not do so, but of that presently. The shallop was run into theriver-mouth and broken up the next day. With the fresh supply of lumberthus secured, the work of repair went forward undelayed, and within afew weeks the sloops were almost ready for sea again.