Chapter IV
In which there is a desperate combat.
Even at this period of the English history, it was the custom to put afew soldiers on board of the vessels of war, and the _Yungfrau_ cutterhad been supplied with a corporal and six men, all of whom werebelonging to the Dutch marine. To a person who was so unpopular as MrVanslyperken, this little force was a great protection, and bothCorporal Van Spitter and his corps were well treated by him. Thecorporal was his purser and purveyor, and had a very good berth of it,for he could cheat as well as his commandant. He was, moreover, hisprime minister, and an obedient executor of all his tyranny, forCorporal Van Spitter was without a shadow of feeling--on the contrary,he had pleasure in administering punishment; and if Vanslyperken hadtold him to blow any man's brains out belonging to the vessel, VanSpitter would have immediately obeyed the order without the change of amuscle in his fat, florid countenance. The corporal was an enormous man,tall, and so corpulent, that he weighed nearly twenty stone. Jansen wasthe only one who could rival him; he was quite as tall as the corporal,and as powerful, but he had not the extra weight of his carcass.
About five minutes after the summons, the huge form of Corporal VanSpitter was seen to emerge slowly from the hatchway, which appearedbarely wide enough to admit the egress of his broad shoulders. He had aflat foraging cap on his head, which was as large as a buffalo's, andhis person was clothed in blue pantaloons, tight at the ankle, rapidlyincreasing in width as they ascended, until they diverged at the hips toan expanse which was something between the sublime and the ridiculous.The upper part of his body was cased in a blue jacket, with leadenbuttons, stamped with the rampant lion, with a little tail behind, whichwas shoved up in the air by the protuberance of the parts. Having gainedthe deck, he walked to Vanslyperken, and raised the back of his righthand to his forehead.
"Corporal Van Spitter, get your cats up for punishment, and when you areready fetch up Smallbones."
Whereupon, without reply, Corporal Van Spitter put his left foot behindthe heel of his right, and by this manoeuvre turned his body round likea capstern, so as to bring his face forward, and then walked off inthat direction. He soon re-appeared with all the necessary implementsof torture, laid them down on one of the lee guns, and again departed toseek out his victim.
After a short time, a scuffle was heard below, but it was soon over, andonce more appeared the corporal with the spare, tall body of Smallbonesunder his arm. He held him, grasped by the middle part, about whereSmallbones' stomach ought to have been, and the head and heels of thepoor wretch both hung down perpendicularly, and knocked together as thecorporal proceeded aft.
As soon as Van Spitter had arrived at the gun he laid down his charge,who neither moved nor spoke. He appeared to have resigned himself to thefate which awaited him, and made no resistance when he was stripped byone of the marines, and stretched over the gun. The men, who were ondeck, said nothing; they looked at each other expressively as thepreparations were made. Flogging a lad like Smallbones was too usual anoccurrence to excite surprise, and to show their disgust would have beendangerous. Smallbones' back was now bared, and miserable was thespectacle; the shoulder-blades protruded, so that you might put yourhand sideways under the scapula, and every bone of the vertebrae, andevery process was clearly defined through the skin of the poor skeleton.The punishment commenced, and the lad received his three dozen without amurmur, the measured sound of the lash only being broken in upon by thebaying of Snarleyyow, who occasionally would have flown at the victim,had he not been kept off by one of the marines. During the punishment,Mr Vanslyperken walked the deck, and turned and turned again as before.
Smallbones was then cast loose by the corporal, who was twirling up hiscat, when Snarleyyow, whom the marine had not watched, ran up to thelad, and inflicted a severe bite. Smallbones, who appeared, at themoment, to be faint and lifeless--not having risen from his knees afterthe marine had thrown his shirt over him, roused by this new attack,appeared to spring into life and energy; he jumped up, uttered a savageyell, and to the astonishment of everybody, threw himself upon the dogas he retreated, and holding him fast with his naked arms, met theanimal with his own weapons, attacking him with a frenzied resolutionwith his teeth. Everybody started back at this unusual conflict, and noone interfered.
Long was the struggle, and such was the savage energy of the lad, thathe bit and held on with the tenacity of a bull-dog, tearing the lips ofthe animal, his ears, and burying his face in the dog's throat, as histeeth were firmly fixed on his windpipe. The dog could not escape, forSmallbones held him like a vice. At last, the dog appeared to have theadvantage, for as they rolled over and over, he caught the lad by theside of the neck; but Smallbones recovered himself, and getting the footof Snarleyyow between his teeth, the dog threw up his head and howledfor succour. Mr Vanslyperken rushed to his assistance, and struckSmallbones a heavy blow on the head with his speaking-trumpet, whichstunned him, and he let go his hold.
Short, who had come on deck, perceiving this, and that the dog was aboutto resume the attack, saluted Snarleyyow with a kick on his side, whichthrew him down the hatchway, which was about three yards off from wherethe dog was at the time.
"How dare you strike my dog, Mr Short?" cried Vanslyperken.
Short did not condescend to answer, but went to Smallbones and raisedhis head. The lad revived. He was terribly bitten about the face andneck, and what with the wounds in front, and the lashing from the cat,presented a melancholy spectacle.
Short called some of the men to take Smallbones below, in which act theyreadily assisted; they washed him all over with salt water, and thesmarting from his various wounds brought him to his senses. He was thenput in his hammock.
Vanslyperken and the corporal looked at each other during the time thatShort was giving his directions--neither interfered. The lieutenant wasafraid, and the corporal waited for orders. So soon as the men hadcarried the lad below, Corporal Van Spitter put his hand up to hisforaging cap, and with his cat and seizings under his arm, went downbelow. As for Vanslyperken, his wrath was even greater than before, andwith hands thrust even further down in his pockets than ever, and thespeaking-trumpet now battered flat with the blow which he hadadministered to Smallbones, he walked up and down, muttering every twominutes, "I'll keel-haul the scoundrel, by heavens! I'll teach him tobite my dog."
Snarleyyow did not re-appear on deck; he had received such punishment ashe did not expect. He licked the wounds where he could get at them, andthen remained in the cabin in a sort of perturbed slumber, growlingevery minute as if he were fighting the battle over again in his sleep.