Part 6 (1/2)
”The man who invited me below stepped into the companion-way; I followed and descended the short flight of steps. The instant I had gained the bottom of the ladder I knew by the sudden shadow which came into the light that the companion hatch had been closed; this must have been done by the fellow who was standing at the wheel. It was wisely contrived. a.s.suredly had the way been open, I should have rushed upon deck and sprung overboard: because after descending the steps I beheld five or six men standing in a sort of waiting and listening posture under the skylight. Instantly my left arm was gripped by the man who had asked me to step below, while another fellow, equally powerful, and equally ruffianly in appearance, grasped me by the right arm.
”'Now,' said the first man, 'if you make the least bit of noise or give us any trouble, we'll cut your throat. We don't intend to do you any harm, but we want your services, and you'll have to do what we require without any fuss. If not, you're a dead man.'
”So saying, they threw open the door of a berth, ran me into it, shut the door, and shot the lock. I had been so completely taken by surprise that I was in a manner stunned. I stood in the middle of the cabin just where the fellows had let go of me, staring around, breathing short and fierce, my mind almost a blank. But I quickly rallied my wits. I understood I had been kidnapped; by what sort of people I could not imagine, but beyond question because I understood navigation, as I had told the man. I listened, but heard no noise of voices, nor movements of people in the cabin. Through the planks, overhead, however, came the sound of a rapid tread of feet, accompanied by the thud of coils of rope flung hastily down. The cabin porthole was a middling-sized, circular window. I saw the whaler in it as in a frame. I unscrewed the port, but with no intention to cry out, never doubting for a moment from the looks of the men that they would silence me in some b.l.o.o.d.y fas.h.i.+on as had been threatened.
”Just as I pulled the port open a voice overhead sang out: 'Get back to your s.h.i.+p, you three men; your mate has consented to stop with us as we're in want of a navigator.'
”'Let him tell us that himself,' said one of my men; 'let him show up.
What ha' ye done with him?'
”'Be off,' roared one of the people, in a savage, hurricane note.
”There was a little pause as of astonishment on the part of the boat's crew--I could not see them, the boat lay too far astern,--but after a bit I heard the splash of oars, the boat swept into the sphere of the porthole, and I beheld her making for the barque.
”I was now sensible, however, not only by observing the whaler to recede, but by hearing the streaming and rippling of broken waters along the bends, that the people of the brig had in some fas.h.i.+on trimmed sail and filled upon the vessel. We were under way. The barque slided out of the compa.s.s of the porthole, but now I heard her captain's voice coming across the s.p.a.ce of water, clear and strong:
”'Brig ahoy! What do you mean by keeping my mate?'
”To this no answer was returned. Again the captain hailed the brig; but owing to the s.h.i.+ft in the postures of the two vessels, and to my having nothing but a circular hole to hear through, I could only dimly and imperfectly catch what was shouted. The cries from the whaler grew more and more threadlike. Indeed, I knew the brig must be a very poor sailer if she did not speedily leave the _Swan_ far astern.
”And now, as I conjectured from the noise of the tread of feet and the hum of voices, the brig on a sudden seemed full of men; not the eight or ten whom I had beheld with my own eyes, but a big s.h.i.+p's company.
And the sight of the crowd, I reckoned, as I stood hearkening at the open porthole--amazed, confounded, in the utmost distress of mind--was probably the reason why the captain of the _Swan_ had not thought proper to send boats to rescue me. Be this as it will I was thunderstruck by the discovery--the discovery of my hearing, and of my capacity as a sailor of interpreting s.h.i.+pboard sounds--that this little brig, which I had supposed tenanted by two men only, had hidden a whole freight of human souls somewhere away in the execution of this diabolical stratagem. What was this vessel? Who were the people on board her? What use did they design to put me to? And when I had served them, what was to be my fate?
”Quite three hours pa.s.sed, during which I was left unvisited.
Sometimes I heard men talking in the cabin; over my head there went a regular swing of heavy feet, a pendulum tread, as of half-a-score of burly ruffians marching abreast, and keeping a look-out all together.
The door of my berth was opened at last, and the villain who had seduced me into the brig stepped in.
”'I was sorry,' said he, 'to be obliged to use threats. Threats aren't in our way. We mean no mischief. Quite the contrary; we count upon you handsomely serving us. Come into the cabin, sir, that I may make you known to my mates.'
”His manner was as civil as a fellow with his looks could possibly contrive, and an ugly smile sat upon his face whilst he addressed me, and I observed that he held his great straw hat in his hand, as though to show respect.
”About twenty men were a.s.sembled in the cabin. I came to a dead stand on the threshold of the door of the berth, so astounded was I by the sight of all those fellows. I ran my eye swiftly over them; they were variously dressed--some in the attire of seamen, some in such clothes as gentlemen of that period wore, a few in a puzzling sort of military undress. They all had cropped heads, and many were grim with a few days' growth of beard and moustache. They had the felon's look, and there was somehow a suggestion of escaped prisoners in their general bearing. A dark suspicion rushed upon me with the velocity of thought, as I stood on the threshold of the door of the berth for the s.p.a.ce of a few heart-beats, gazing at the mob.
”The cabin was a plain, old-fas.h.i.+oned interior. A stout, wide table secured to stanchions ran amids.h.i.+ps. Overhead was a skylight. There were a few chairs on either hand the table, and down the cabin on both sides went a length of lockers. Some of the men were smoking. A few sat upon the table with their arms folded; others lounged upon the lockers, and in chairs. They stared like one man at me, whilst I stood looking at them.
”'Is he a navigator, Swallow?' said one of them--a wiry, dark-faced man, who held his head hung, and looked at you by lifting his eyes.
”'Ay, mate of the whaler--James Grainger by name,' answered the fellow who had opened the door of my berth. 'Salute him, bullies. He's the charley-pitcher for to handle this b.u.t.ter-box.'
”The voices of the men swelled into a roar of welcomes of as many sorts as there were speakers. One of them came round the table and shook me by the hand.
”'My name's Alexander Stevenson,' said he; 'come and sit you down here.'
”All very civilly he conducted me to a chair at the head of the table.
And now, happening to glance upwards, I spied seven or eight faces peering down at me through the skylight.
”'Swallow, do the jawing, will 'ee?' said the man who called himself Stevenson.