The Pirate Slaver: A Story of the West African Coast

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN.

  I ESCAPE FROM THE BRIGANTINE.

  At this moment Simpson rejoined me, bringing with him three more of the_Bangalore's_ crew; and while I was talking to them the other two men--those whom Simpson had previously discovered--came forward from thehatchway, where they had been lending a hand to strike the booty downinto the hold, and informed me that they had found and spoken to eightof their shipmates, at work at the gangway and hatchway, all of whomwere quite ready and more than willing to join me at any moment when thesignal should be given. A little further inquiry elicited theinformation that our party now comprised all the survivors of the_Bangalore's_ crew who had, so to speak, made a virtue of necessity andshipped under Mendouca in order to save their lives; there being fourothers who had shipped _willingly_, and whom it had, therefore, beendeemed inexpedient to approach with a proposal to join us, lest, intheir zeal for their new chief, they should refuse and betray us all.Our party, therefore, was now complete, and all that remained to be donewas to carry out our plans with as little delay as possible, and withtwelve men at my back I felt tolerably confident of success; indeed,when I first learned our full strength, the wild idea flashed through mymind of attempting not only to save the _Bangalore_, but also to capturethe _Francesca_. A moment's reflection, however, convinced me of theimpracticability of this scheme, for although, with the assistance ofthe ten male passengers who, I learned, were at that moment prisoners intheir own cabins on board the Indiaman, it might be possible to capturethe _Francesca_, in the then disorganised condition of her crew, itwould certainly involve some loss of life on our side, which we couldnot spare, and we should be able to do nothing with her when we had her,our whole available strength being hardly sufficient to handle and takecare of the ship, should it come on to blow, much less to look after aprize as well. I therefore abandoned the idea, the more readily that Iknew my story need only be told to the proper authorities to cause thebrigantine to be hunted off the ocean, and her atrocities put an end toat once and for all.

  Our arrangements, therefore, were soon made; and this done, we saunteredaway to the hatchway, singly and by twos at a time, and began to lend ahand in getting the plunder out of the boats and sending it below.Presently the _Bangalore's_ long-boat came alongside, loaded down to thegunwale with booty, and manned by half-a-dozen Spaniards who were sodrunk that they could scarcely stand. One of them, indeed, would havelost his life but for Simpson and Maxwell; for the boat was steeredalongside stem-on, and the shock of her collision with the brigantinecompletely upset the balance of the man who was standing in the bows tofend her off, so that he fell overboard between the boat and thebrigantine's side. The fellow was partially sobered by his suddenimmersion, and finding himself overboard, began at once to sing outlustily for help, fully aware that there were probably several sharksstill hanging about the two vessels, and momentarily expecting to feeltheir teeth; whereupon Simpson and Maxwell, both of whom happened to beat the gangway at the moment of the accident, sprang down into the boatand succeeded in dragging the fellow safely out of the water, though nota moment too soon, the water being all a-swirl with the rush of thesea-monsters as the man was dragged inboard. The fright that he hadreceived completely sobered him, but at the same time so thoroughlyshook his nerves that he at once scrambled on board the brigantine,declaring with many oaths that he had had enough of boating for onenight. His mates were but little better, and were glad enough to leavethe boat at my suggestion and allow me and my party to take theirplaces.

  We quickly roused the boat's cargo out of her, and then shoved off forthe ship again, making a great fuss and splash with the oars as we didso. When a few fathoms away from the brigantine, however, where in thedarkness our movements were not likely to attract a too curiousattention, first one oar and then another was laid in until all had beenlaid in but one; and this one we shifted aft, sculling the boat with itnot to the _Bangalore's_ larboard gangway, at which the other boats wereworking, but under the ship's stern and to her starboard mizen channels,where we made her fast, and cautiously scrambled up on to the poop, oneby one.

  Here we separated, the carpenter boldly making his way forward past thenoisy, jabbering, drunken crowd who were grouped about themain-hatchway, engaged in hoisting on deck the goods that the boatswain,down in the hold, was selecting from the ship's heterogeneous cargo,while the rest--excepting Simpson and myself--quietly stole up the mizenrigging, three of them concealing themselves in the top, while the rest,continuing on up the topmast rigging, made for the main and foretops byway of the stays; the lanterns which were being used to light thepirates at their work about the main-hatchway so effectually dazzlingthe drunken ruffians' eyes, that there was not the slightest fear of anyof the silent, sober figures stealthily moving about aloft being seen bythem; indeed so deep was the gloom created between the masts by thetowering expanses of the Indiaman's canvas that even I, far away as Iwas from the dazzling light of the lanterns, was unable to follow withmy eye the dusky, indistinctly-seen figures any further than the rim ofthe mizen-top. As for Simpson, it was quite possible for him to movefreely about the ship and go wherever he pleased without exciting anysuspicion, he being one of the _Francesca's_ regular crew; I thereforeinstructed him to go down into the saloon and ascertain whether any ofhis quondam shipmates were there, and to return to me with hisinformation as speedily as possible.

  While he was gone I had time to look about me a little, and note such ofthe most prominent characteristics of the ship as were to be seen by thedim light of the stars. She was a noble craft, as big as the generalityof our first-class frigates, though not quite so beamy, perhaps, inproportion to her length, not quite so high out of the water, and ofcourse not so heavily rigged. She carried a magnificent full poop thatreached as far forward as to within about twenty-five feet of themain-mast, with companion, skylight, deck-fittings generally, and poopladders of polished teak, handsomely and elaborately carved. Thefore-part of the poop extended some six feet beyond the cabin front, andunderneath it her steering-wheel was placed, with a door on each side ofit giving access to the grand saloon. A long row of hencoops ran alongeach side of the poop; and the deck was further littered with a largenumber of deck-chairs that had been hurriedly bundled out of the waybehind the companion, probably when it was seen that the brigantineundoubtedly meant to attack. The main-deck exhibited all the confusionincidental to a sea-fight, the guns--sixteen twelve-pound carronades--still unsecured, with their rammers and sponges flung down on the deckbeside them, shot lying in the scuppers, overturned wadding-tubs,cutlasses, pistols, boarding-pikes, strewed all over the deck, and--horrible sight--several dark, silent figures lying stark and still inpools of blood, just as they had fallen in the fight. The ship's davitswere empty, both her gigs having been lowered to facilitate the transferof the plunder to the brigantine; her long-boat also was in the water,as already stated, but there were two fine cutters lying bottom up overthe quarter-deck, their sterns resting on the break of the poop andtheir bows-on the gallows. It was a strange sight to look abroad intothe dusky star-lit night and observe the boundless Atlantic stretchingsilent and still on every hand, and then to turn one's eyes inboard andnote the noisy, drunken, ruffianly rabble grouped about the hatchway,naked to the waist, and toiling in the dim lantern light at the tacklesby which they were hoisting the bales of costly merchandise out of thehold.

  But I had not much time to devote to moralising upon the incongruoussight, for after an absence of some three minutes Simpson re-appearedfrom the saloon with the information that the place was clear, and that,judging from the sounds he had heard, the passengers had all lockedthemselves, or been locked, into their cabins.

  This being the case, I determined to go below and make a briefinvestigation of the condition of the unfortunate passengers, as well asto afford them such comfort as was to be derived from a communication tothem of my intentions. I accordingly descended the companion-wayleading down from the poop, and found myself in a small vestibule
, thearrangement of which I could not very well see, as it was unlighted,save for the lamplight that issued from the open door of the saloon; Icaught a glimpse, however, of polished panels of rare, ornamental woods,with gleams of gilded mouldings and polished metal handrails, and foundmy feet sinking into the pile of a soft, thick carpet, which gave me ahint as to the luxurious appointments of the ship. From this vestibuleI passed into the saloon itself by a partially open door on the portside, and at once found myself in an exceedingly handsome andluxuriously furnished apartment. It was long and rather narrow in itsproportions, having state-rooms on each side, as I could tell at aglance by the doors with Venetian slatted upper panels that occurred atregular intervals in the longitudinal bulkheads on each side of thecabin. These bulkheads were divided into panels by fluted pilasterswith richly-carved and gilded capitals, supporting a heavily-carvedcornice picked out with gold.

  The panels and pilasters were enamelled in a delicate tint of cream,with mouldings picked out in French grey, the former being decoratedwith very handsome paintings illustrative of Oriental views and scenery.Richly-upholstered divans occupied the spaces along the bulkheadsbetween the several state-room doors; a long table of polished mahogany,having sofa seats with reversible backs on each side of it, stretcheddown the centre of the saloon, with another and shorter table flankingit athwartships at the after-end; a buffet loaded with richly-cutdecanters and glass, backed up by a large gilt-framed mirror, occupiedthe whole space against the fore-bulkhead between the two entrancedoors; and a very handsome piano, open, and with some music on it,occupied a similar position at the after-end of the saloon, two doors inthe after-bulkhead proclaiming the existence of at least two morestate-rooms. The apartment was lighted during the day by a largeskylight filled in with painted glass--in which were fixed opposite eachother a barometer and a tell-tale compass--and at night by two very finesilver-plated chandeliers each carrying six lamps, only four of which,however, were now lighted; and the deck was covered with a rich, thickcarpet, apparently of Oriental manufacture, into which one's feet sankwith noiseless tread. The state-rooms were all in total darknessapparently, for I could catch no gleam of light issuing from the piercedupper panels of any of them; but the sound of an occasional sob or moantold me that some at least of them were occupied.

  I located one of the cabins from which these sounds came, and tappedgently at the door; there was no response, but the sounds instantlyceased. I tapped again, and said--

  "Will you open the door, please? I am a friend, and have someintelligence to communicate that may be interesting to you."

  Still no response; but from the next cabin there now issued a man'svoice, inquiring--

  "Do I hear some one out there proclaiming himself _a friend_?"

  "Yes," answered I. "I _am_ a friend; and my present object is tocommunicate to you some intelligence that I hope may prove agreeable andcomforting. I am quite alone and unarmed, and you may therefore openyour cabin-door without fear."

  "Sir," replied the voice, "I know not who you are, or how you come to beon board this most ill-starred ship. Your voice, however, has areassuring tone in it, and I would risk opening my door to you if Icould; but I cannot, for--like all the rest of the passengers, Ibelieve--I am bound and absolutely helpless, and I think that, if youwill take the trouble to try, you will find that we are all locked in.Pray, who are you, sir? and how did you find your way on board the_Bangalore_? Are the pirates gone yet?"

  "No," said I, as I tried the door and found that it was indeed locked."I regret to say that they are not, and therefore I am for the presentobliged to leave you in your uncomfortable situation. But take comfort,and believe me that it shall not be for one moment longer than I canhelp; the pirates are unlikely to very much prolong their stay now, andas soon as they are at a safe distance I will come again and release youall--provided, of course, that my plans do not go amiss. My name isDugdale, and I am a naval officer--a midshipman--who has beenunfortunate enough to fall into the hands of the pirates in anunsuccessful attack upon them more than a month ago, and this is thefirst opportunity that I have had to attempt my escape. I must go againnow, as my discovery on board here by the pirates would mean utter ruinto us all; but I will return as soon as I can with prudence.Meanwhile," slightly raising my voice so that all might hear, "takecomfort, and hope for the best."

  "Good-bye! Heaven bless and prosper you!" fervently ejaculated theunknown, as I moved away from the door; and I thought I heard faintmurmurs of a similar import from some of the other cabins, but could notbe certain, as one of the outer doors giving direct access to themain-deck suddenly opened, and I had to make a dash of it for the darkvestibule in order to reach the concealment of the still darkercompanion-way to avoid detection. My alarm was groundless, however; forthe newcomer proved to be Joe Maxwell, the carpenter, whom I saw enterthe saloon, after a careful reconnaissance of its interior, with severalplugs under one arm, and a maul in his hand. Seeing who it was, Ifollowed him, and unexpectedly ran against him as he was again comingout.

  "Who the--oh, it's you, sir! beg your pardon, I'm sure, but I thought itwas one of them sneakin' pirate chaps a-prowlin' round," he exclaimed."I thought I heard a sound o' some sort as I comed in from the deck, andthinks I, `That's one o' them cowardly villains that has sneaked aft forsome purpose of his own that ain't no good, I dare swear. I'll just seewhat the scoundrel's up to, and if he's after anything _very_ houtragis,I'll maybe take the liberty of smashin' his skull with this here maul,and droppin' him over the starn to the sharks, where many a better manthan he went this a'ternoon.' Lucky for him that it's you, sir, as theIrishman says. I'm just a-goin' to make my way down into the run, so asto be all handy for pluggin' up the holes again that these heremurderin' thieves intends to bore through the dear old gal's skin. I_think_ they'll be pretty sure to come aft to do it; it'll either bethere or down in the fore-peak, where they'd have to shovel away a lotof coal to get at her below the water-line, so I expect they'll make forthe run. Now, sir, it's a very good job as I met you just here, becauseI can show you the lazarette hatch--here it is, under our feet." And heturned back a large mat upon which we were standing, disclosing a small,square hatch flush with the deck.

  "Now, sir," he continued, "I'll be off below at once; because, from whatI saw as I comed aft, I fancy them Spanish thieves is thinkin' abouttoppin' their booms, and if so, we've no time to spare. There," as heraised the hatch and dropped through the opening, "I'm all right now,sir; I can make my way well enough without a light, though I've got acandle and matches in my pocket that'll give light enough to work by assoon as them villains have cleared out. Now, sir, please put on thehatch again, will ye, and don't forget to spread the mat over it. Andwhen them blackguards have gone you can send somebody to let me out."

  "All right, Maxwell, never fear; I'll see to that," I answered, as theman disappeared in the gloom. "Good luck to you. And whatever thosefellows may do, be sure that you keep silent and do not attempt tointerfere with them; let them do their work and go away, and as soon asyou hear the hatch close after them, go ahead and plug the holes asquickly as you like, and be sure that you make a thorough job of it."

  "Ay, ay, sir," came his reply, already muffled by distance and theintervening casks and cases among which he was making his way, "you maytrust me for that."

  I carefully replaced the hatch, adjusted the mat over it, and made myway cautiously up on the poop. It was evident, from what I now saw,that Maxwell was only just in time; for the pirates had knocked off workand were coming up out of the hold, refreshing themselves as theyemerged by copious draughts from a tub of strong grog that stood on thedeck conveniently near the hatchway. They were all pretty far gone in astate of intoxication, and were singing a jumble of at least a dozenforecastle ditties in tones of maudlin sentiment, or laughing andjeering at nothing in particular as they reeled and staggered about thedeck. Disgusting as was the sight, I was glad to see it, for I feltthat men in their condition would never notice
the absence of Simpson ormyself from the brigantine, still less that of the unaccustomed faces ofthose of the _Bangalore's_ crew who had joined me and were now snuglyconcealed aloft. Nor were they capable of doing very much moremischief, unless perchance they should accidentally set the ship onfire, which was what I most greatly dreaded; if, happily, we escapedthis danger all might yet be well, for I felt convinced that, once onboard the brigantine again, and the unhappy negroes once more set to thesweeps, nearly every man in the accursed craft's forecastle would betakehimself to his hammock and stay there until morning. There was ofcourse the risk that Mendouca might send for me and ask me to look afterhis vessel for him through the night, knowing or guessing as he wouldthe condition of his crew; but I did not believe that he would, at leastnot so soon after the perpetration of such fearful atrocities as he hadopenly committed that afternoon.

  The men having helped themselves freely from the grog-tub, until itseemed that they could take no more, tumbled rather than scrambled downinto the boat alongside, and I was just beginning to cherish the hopethat after all they would go away forgetting to scuttle the ship, when Isaw Jose, the boatswain--who appeared to have assumed the command of theparty--seize and detain the only man except himself who still remainedon the ship's deck. He said something to this man, and then they bothstaggered away forward and I lost sight of them in the deep shadows thatenshrouded the fore-part of the ship. They were gone about ten minutes;and then they re-appeared, the boatswain armed with a large auger. Asthey passed the main-hatchway, on their way aft, Jose seized one of thestill lighted lanterns that were standing on the deck, and seemed todirect his companion to take another. This the man did, and continuingtheir way aft, the pair entered the saloon from the main-deck; andpresently, peering cautiously down through the open skylight, I saw thatthe two ruffians were groping about under the cabin table, no doubtsearching for the lazarette hatch. Their search was of course in vain;and at length I overheard the boatswain assert with an oath that it wasuseless to search for it any longer, they must get the steward out ofhis pantry, and make him show them where it was. They then left thesaloon, and there was silence for a few minutes; then, going to the headof the companion-ladder, I heard Jose demanding in broken English, witha profusion of expletives, where was the opening of the lazarette. Astrange voice replied in trembling tones; and then I heard the mat flungback and the hatch wrenched off with a clatter. A few more oathsfollowed, there was a scrambling sound, and I concluded that the twomiscreants had descended to the performance of their dastardly task.

  Then ensued what seemed like a very long--although it was actually acomparatively short--period of anxious suspense, for completelysuccessful as we had been thus far, our absence from the brigantinemight easily be discovered at any moment; and in that case there was noalternative for us between fighting to the death and ignominioussurrender. I was more anxious on my own behalf than on that of theothers, for their absence was scarcely likely to be noted by theirdrunken comrades until the next morning, while, as for me, shouldMendouca take it into his head to require my presence, it would nosooner be reported to him that I was not to be found than he would havea very shrewd suspicion of what had happened; and I felt convinced that,with my knowledge of the enormities that he had perpetrated on thatdreadful day, he would never willingly suffer me to escape from himalive. Then there was Pedro, too. The lad had, for some inscrutablereason, taken a violent fancy for me, and, although I have not veryfrequently referred to him in the telling of this story, had attachedhimself to me with almost the fidelity of a dog, sharing in my watch,and seizing every opportunity to be in my company. Should he findhimself at liberty to seek me I should be lost, for he would not becontent until he had found me. There were just two chances in my favouragainst many adverse possibilities: the first being that Mendouca'scondition would confine the lad to his side all through the night; thesecond lying in the fact that I had taken the precaution to lock mycabin-door and remove the key before leaving the brigantine, so thatshould it chance that I was sought for, it might be thought that I hadlocked myself into my cabin in anger at the piratical deed that had beenperpetrated. But I grew increasingly uneasy as the minutes draggedtheir slow length along, expecting every moment to hear a hail from thebrigantine inquiring as to my whereabouts. It was therefore with afeeling of keen delight that, at the expiration of about twenty-fiveminutes, when my state of suspense had become almost unendurable, as Istood listening at the head of the companion-way I heard Jose's voiceagain, and the sounds of his own and his companion's emergence from thelazarette.

  "There," I heard him exclaim in Spanish, in a drunken voice and with ajeering laugh, "that job is done, and pretty effectually, too; I don'tsuppose she will float longer than three hours more, or four at themost, and then who is to know what has become of her? It will besupposed that she foundered in a gale; and that will be the end of thematter. It is a pity, Miguel, that we should be obliged to destroy sofine a ship, but she could never be of any use to us, and necessity hasno law, you know. Now--let me consider--there is one thing more to bedone before we leave; what is it? It was in my mind a moment ago! Ah,yes, of course, that is it; we have to put this miserable poltroon of asteward back into his pantry, lock the door upon him, and--yes, that isall, I think. Come along, _amigo_!"

  I heard the steward begging piteously not to be locked up again; foralthough the fellow had probably not understood a single word of whatJose had said, he had sense enough to know that the two ruffians beforehim had scuttled the ship, and that if locked up in his pantry again hewould probably drown there, like a rat in a trap. His entreaties, however,were of course unavailing with two men who knew not the meaning ofmercy; there was a Spanish oath or two, the sound of a scuffle, mingledwith further cries of distress from the steward, the slamming of a door,the sharp click of a lock; and a moment later Jose and his companionemerged upon the deck, staggered to the gangway, scrambled down theside, and the boat was shoved off.

  I waited until the boat was fairly away from the ship's side, and then,slipping down the dark companion-way, groped about until I had found thepantry, which I unlocked, to find the unhappy steward, bound hand andfoot, prostrate on the deck, weeping bitterly. In reply to my questionhe told me where I could lay my hand upon a knife, finding which I cuthim adrift, and directed him to go forward to the forecastle toascertain whether any of the crew were imprisoned down there. Then,making my way to the still open lazarette, I swung myself down into it,and called Maxwell's name as loudly as I dared. He heard and answeredme at once.

  "The rascals have left the ship," I cried, "so you may ram those plugshome as tightly as you can, and perhaps even venture to give them agentle tap or two, but we must leave the final driving until thebrigantine has moved off; everything has gone right thus far, and itwill never do to spoil it all now by being impatient. Has she taken inmuch water?"

  "Not more than we can pump out of her in ten minutes," was the reply, asI sighted him creeping toward me along the narrow space underneath thebeams. "They only bored five holes through her, and I've alreadyplugged 'em tight enough to stop the water from comin' in--though ofcourse they'll want a few good taps on the head to make 'em all secure.But that job can wait until the brigantine is a mile or two furtheraway."

  "Had you any difficulty in plugging the holes?" I asked, as honest Joeemerged into the more open spaces about the hatchway.

  "Not a bit, sir," he answered. "You see the way of it was this: As soonas I got to understand that they was likely to scuttle the ship, thefirst thing I says to myself was: `I wonder,' I says, `what size augerthem murderin' scoundrels is likely to use? Because if I only knowedthat, I could make my plugs to fit the holes.' Then the next thing Ithought was that prob'ly they wouldn't remember to bring a tool aboardwith 'em, and that they'd hunt for some'at of the sort aboard here. SoI goes to my cabin, gets out a inch and a half auger, a chisel, a hammerand some nails, and places 'em on the tarpaulin of the fore-hatch, whereanybody going for'a
rd couldn't help seein' of 'em; and `There,' I saysto myself, `if those fellers haven't brought no auger aboard with 'em,that's the tool they'll use.' So I chanced it, and made my plugs to fita inch and a half hole; and, as it turned out, I was right; they used myauger what I had left for 'em, and as soon as their backs was turned Islipped down and screwed the plugs into the holes."

  "Excellent!" said I. "And now, Maxwell, the next job is to break openthe state-rooms and release the poor ladies and gentlemen who areconfined there. Do you think you can do it without making much noise?"

  "Lord bless you, yes, sir," was the cheerful reply. "I'll just gofor'ard and get a bit of wire, and I'll pick the locks of themcabin-doors in next to no time, and make no noise about it either."

  "Then come along and let us get it done at once. That must be our firstjob," said I.