Part 6 (2/2)
”That will be a boat, sir,” he said quickly, ”striking against the side of the s.h.i.+p. There's another, and another!”
His voice indicated surprise and some apprehension. What could it be?
”Let us go on deck at once,” said Kempthorne, stepping forward. As he did so the silence was broken by a wild, terrified cry. A moment after, the sentry on the quarter-deck outside the entrance to the p.o.o.p cabin fired his piece. The shot was followed by the sound of a fierce blow, and then a heavy fall. A sharp, imperious voice cried quickly:
”The s.h.i.+p is ours! Waste no time! Overboard with him! Clap to the hatch covers!”
The necessity for concealment outside was apparently at an end. The heavy covers were flung down upon the hatches and secured. The s.h.i.+p was filled with a confused babel of many voices and trampling feet. At the sound of the shot, the admiral and the master sprang to the door, but before they could pa.s.s the entrance it was flung violently open, and a man richly dressed after the fas.h.i.+on of Jamaica, followed by a tall, savage-looking half-breed, a compound of negro and Indian, clad in a gorgeous livery, each with pistol and sword, sprang into the room and forced the two men back. As soon as he could recover himself Kempthorne whipped out his sword. He found himself covered, however, as did the master, with a pistol.
”Throw down your sword!” cried Morgan fiercely, ”and yield yourselves without quarter.”
”Who are you that ask?”
”Sir Henry Morgan.”
”You b.l.o.o.d.y villain!” cried Kempthorne. ”Dare you attempt to take the King's s.h.i.+p?”
”That for the King!” answered Morgan, waving his sword. ”Who are you?”
”Sir John Kempthorne, Admiral and Vice-Governor of Jamaica.”
”You would fain fill my station, would you, sir?”
”I would not descend to the station of a pirate, a robber, a murderer, a----”
”S'death, silence!” roared Morgan furiously. ”The s.h.i.+p is ours! I've a message for the King. Wilt carry it?”
”I would not insult my royal master by carrying a message from such as you.”
”You will have it!” shouted Morgan, white with rage, lunging forward at him.
Their blades crossed in an instant, and at the same moment the old master, reckless of what happened, flung himself between the two. There was a roar from Carib's pistol, and the old man fell. As Kempthorne relaxed his guard slightly in the confusion Morgan ran him through. The admiral fell so suddenly that he jerked the blade, buried in his breast, out of the buccaneer's hand.
”G.o.d--” he gasped, as he lay upon the body of the old sailor, ”G.o.d--save the--King.”
”Would'st sit in my place, eh?” cried Morgan, laughing truculently as he turned on his heel and left the cabin.
Beneath the hatches, the platoon of soldiers and the men there imprisoned were yelling and making a tremendous racket. They were helpless, however, and could do nothing. The men of the boarding parties were cl.u.s.tered in groups forward and aft and around the closed pa.s.sageways into the interior of the s.h.i.+p, waiting for the next order.
The noise and confusion which had followed the sentry's bold shot had awakened the attention of the people of the town. Lights twinkled on the ramparts of the fort, and the long roll of a drum could be heard coming faintly up the harbor against the wind. Lord Carlingford had just entered his boat to board the s.h.i.+p. There was not a moment to lose.
”Hornigold, go forward with your men to the forecastle. Velsers, come you hither with yours for the after guard. Teach, to the fore; Raveneau, to the main; and Rock, to the mizzenmast. Loose sail. Lively now. We must get out of this before the fort's awake,” cried Morgan.
[Ill.u.s.tration: Their blades crossed in an instant.... There was a roar from Carib's pistol, and the old man fell.]
Instantly the shrouds were covered with nimble forms making their way aloft where the wide yard-arms stretched far over the sea. The men were in good spirits. The capture of the s.h.i.+p had been so easy; there had been only the anchor watch and the sentry on deck to deal with, and they had been murdered unsuspecting, although the cabin sentry had killed one of the attacking party and wounded another before he went down. They jumped with alacrity, therefore, to obey their captain's commands. As the ponderous sheets of canvas fell from the yards, the men lay down from aloft, and sheets and halyards were manned, the cable that moored the vessel to the anchor was cut, the s.h.i.+p swung to starboard, the yards were braced in, and she began to slip through the water toward the narrow mouth of the harbor. There were other war vessels in the harbor, but they were all dismantled and laid up in ordinary, so the buccaneers had no pursuit to fear.
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