Part 22 (1/2)
Meanwhile Manners and Nicholls, pus.h.i.+ng off into the strength of the current, sped rapidly toward the two headlands which guarded the harbour's mouth; arriving at which they landed, hauled the punt up on the beach, and made their way through the bushes to a point from which, themselves unseen, they could get a clear view of the open sea outside.
And then what an exhilarating sight met their delighted eyes. A large full-rigged s.h.i.+p lay in the offing, about a mile distant, hove-to under her three topsails, spanker, and jib. At first they took her for a corvette, her gear being all fitted in regular man-o'-war fas.h.i.+on; but this mistake was instantly corrected upon their noticing that she flew the _red_ ensign from her gaff, in addition to which she showed a burgee with a long name on it at her main-royal mast-head, and the _pilot-jack_ at the fore. By the greatest good luck Manners happened to have in his pocket a small telescope which he had a trick of always carrying about with him, and this he quickly brought to bear upon the stranger.
Watching him eagerly, Nicholls observed him change colour; a perplexed expression pa.s.sed over his face, his hand trembled. For two long minutes he remained steadfastly peering through the telescope; then he suddenly closed it with a snap, and exclaimed excitedly:
”Away to the punt and pull out to sea for your life, Nicholls. It is the dear old _Cloud_, as I am a living sinner! and Miss Stanhope is on the p.o.o.p watching the island through the s.h.i.+p's gla.s.s. There goes another gun!”
CHAPTER TWENTY.
A DARING PLAN SUCCESSFULLY EXECUTED.
In accordance with Williams' plans the _Flying Cloud's_ cargo was in due time discharged and warehoused on sh.o.r.e in the newly-built stores; the s.h.i.+p herself stripped, hove down, scrubbed, and re-painted from her keel up; her interior re-arranged--particularly the forecastle, which was extended sufficiently to accommodate a hundred men; the upper spars replaced by new ones, somewhat higher in the hoist, cut on the island; her canvas altered to fit the new spars, skysails being abolished as causing more trouble than they were worth; the running-gear re-arranged; the deck-houses, with the exception of the p.o.o.p, swept away; the bulwarks strengthened and pierced; the breech-loading guns, twelve in number, mounted on carriages and placed in position; and, generally, the s.h.i.+p made to look as much like a man-of-war as possible, though she as much resembled the old-fas.h.i.+oned sailing sloop which then still performed duty on our more distant stations as a swan does a goose, her sailing powers far exceeding those of the fastest of them, whilst Williams' metamorphosis of her only had the effect of imparting to her an extremely rakish and wicked appearance.
In due time--and not a very long time either, taking into consideration the amount of work done--the s.h.i.+p was once more ready for sea; and ballasted carefully down to her very best sailing trim, she left Refuge Harbour for an extended piratical cruise. It is not necessary to describe in detail where she went, or the various adventures met with by her crew; suffice it to say that the cruise proved wonderfully successful, several very valuable prizes being taken--no less than three being vessels with large amounts of specie on board. When Williams first mooted to the crew his proposal to seize the s.h.i.+p and convert her into a pirate, he met the strongest objection raised by the more scrupulous of the men by a.s.serting that he had a plan whereby all bloodshed could be avoided; this plan being no less than to practically enslave such portions of the crews of the prospective prizes as refused to become pirates, and to confine them at Refuge Harbour, there to perform the large amount of work necessary to the complete furtherance of Williams' ambitious schemes. But, as may be supposed, this plan, when put to a practical test, failed. Capture was not in all cases tamely submitted to--resistance was offered, blood was shed in the conflict. And when this had once happened all scruples vanished, and the further step of murdering such prisoners as proved contumacious or were inconvenient to keep was an easy one; the worst pa.s.sions of the men a.s.serted themselves, and breaking loose from all restraint speedily converted their possessors into very demons.
Miss Stanhope was daily and hourly in peril during the latter part of that dreadful cruise. Still, thanks to the compact with Ned and the hold which he still had upon the crew, the unhappy girl had so far escaped direct threats and open insult. But toward the end of the cruise matters had reached such a stage that she foresaw the absolute necessity for effecting her escape immediately upon the arrival of the s.h.i.+p again at Refuge Harbour. The state of horror and terror into which she was continually thrown was such that death itself seemed preferable to a further continuance of such a life as she was then living.
At length the s.h.i.+p once more glided into the secure haven of Refuge Harbour, and about five o'clock in the evening let go her anchor. The sails were furled anyhow--discipline having by this time grown very lax on board the _Flying Cloud_ notwithstanding all Williams' efforts to maintain it--and then the men, without going through the formality of asking leave, lowered the boats and went ash.o.r.e in a body; Sibylla, Ned, and Williams being left to follow, if they chose, in the dinghy, which they did, the steward being ordered to remain on board for the night as anchor watch.
When the dinghy reached the sh.o.r.e its occupants discovered that the s.h.i.+p's crew--among whom were several new hands who had joined from the prizes--had already seized a cask of spirits, and were evidently bent upon a carouse in celebration of the successful completion of their first cruise. They were then only rough and noisy, the liquor not having had time to operate; but an hour later the entire band, with a very few exceptions, had become converted into a howling mob of drunken desperadoes, ripe and eager for any species of ruffianism which might suggest itself. Sibylla was at this time busy putting matters to rights in the hut which Ned had caused to be erected on their previous visit to the island, and Ned was busy in the same way in his tent when Williams, happening to pa.s.s by, looked in at the latter.
”Hark ye, youngster,” he gruffly remarked, ”you and the young woman had better keep well out of sight to-night, for if either of you are seen, mischief may come of it; and whilst those beasts up there are in their present condition neither I nor anybody else could help you. The rascals are mad drunk, and hungry for mischief. They positively _laughed_ at me just now when I tried to bring them to something like order! But if I don't make them smart for it to-morrow when we start to overhaul the rigging, call me a Dutchman.”
Coupled with what he had already seen and heard, this warning of Williams' so seriously impressed Ned that he went to Sibylla's door and called to her to put on her hat and join him outside. As soon as she appeared Ned said:
”Look here, Miss Stanhope, Williams has just been here to tell me that the men up there are mad with drink and--as he phrased it--_hungry_ for mischief. Judging from the frightful noise and commotion among them I should say he is right, and I have called you out to tell you that I think it will be best for you and me to return on board the s.h.i.+p; the steward is there, you know, and he and I can keep the anchor watch between us, whilst you take your rest as usual in your own cabin.”
Sibylla had long ago come to the conclusion that she could do no better than follow poor Captain Blyth's advice and unreservedly follow Ned's instructions, so she at once announced her readiness to do whatever he thought best. Upon this Ned, believing that no time was to be lost, at once extinguished the lights and, locking the door, placed the key in his pocket; after which, taking a somewhat circuitous route in order to avoid attracting attention, he and Miss Stanhope made their way down to the spot where they had left the dinghy.
The boat was still there, with her oars and rowlocks in her just as she had been left, so handing his companion in and instructing her to sit steady, Ned placed his shoulder against the stem of the boat, and with a powerful shove sent her stern-foremost off the beach, springing in over the bows as he did so. There was a bright moon, nearly full, riding high in the sky, and Ned was rather apprehensive that his movements might attract attention and provoke pursuit. But the men had, for some reason or other, kindled a large fire, round which they were holding their carouse, and Damerell could only hope that the brilliant blaze would dazzle their eyes, and blind them to everything beyond the circle of its influence. Perhaps it did so, for when they reached the s.h.i.+p there was no sign of pursuit.
Ned had never allowed the idea of escape to be absent from his thoughts for a single day since the memorable one upon which the s.h.i.+p had first been seized; but, fertile as he usually was in resource, he had never been able to think of anything practicable except that of seeking a refuge in the treasure-cave; and this scheme was open to so many serious objections that he and Sibylla had agreed together that it must not be adopted except as a very last resource. Now, however, as the dinghy approached the s.h.i.+p and Ned gazed admiringly aloft at the tall graceful spars and complicated network of rigging, and reflected that at that moment the beautiful fabric was in charge of only one man--and that man friendly to him, as he had long ago ascertained--a daring idea suddenly took possession of him; and, without giving himself time to reflect, he there and then resolved upon its execution.
The wind was blowing moderately fresh from the north-west; but so secure was the anchorage and so good the holding-ground that, on arriving on board, Ned was not at all surprised to find that the steward, instead of keeping watch, had gone below and turned in, trusting to luck that, once on sh.o.r.e, n.o.body would dream of going off again to the s.h.i.+p that night.
This arrangement, however, though it might be perfectly satisfactory to the steward, by no means suited Ned, who at once went below and unceremoniously routed the poor man out of his berth.
”Price,” said he, ”I have something of the utmost importance to say to you. I have noticed that in the course of conversation, when n.o.body else has been present, you have frequently gone out of your way to remind me that I am an unwilling member of the piratical crew in the midst of which we find ourselves, and you have also dropped sundry hints that if ever I happen to hit upon a way of escape you will be more than pleased to accompany me. Now, I want to know exactly what you have meant by this.”
”Just exactly what I have said, Mr Damerell--or rather what _you_ have just said,” answered Price. ”I joined the party because I had no fancy for being left to die on a desert island, like those unfortunate pa.s.sengers or the poor skipper and Mr Manners; but I didn't then know what was before me, sir. I am a peaceable man, I am, and though I've had no hand in any of the bloodshed that has occurred since we sailed from here, I know that murder has been committed, and I want to separate myself from the murderers. If I could I would have prevented the mutiny in the first place; but I never knew that anything serious was intended--”
”Well, never mind about that just now,” interrupted Ned; ”the present question is this. If I happened to have formed a plan of escape--a plan, we will say, involving a considerable amount of risk and a great deal of hard work, would you be willing to join me in it?”
”Would I? Only try me, Mr Damerell--try me, sir! Why, there is _no_ risk, _no_ labour I would not willingly face for a good chance to escape from that pack of yelling savages over yonder. Why, what are they doing now, sir? Blest if it doesn't look as though they had been and set fire to the hut, sir!”
Ned ran into the saloon and brought the gla.s.s on deck.
”_They have_!” he exclaimed, looking through the instrument at a bright blaze which was leaping up among the trees on sh.o.r.e. ”Well, never mind,” he continued; ”it does not matter, for I intend attempting an escape from them to-night--now, at once--and glad enough shall I be to have your a.s.sistance. I intend nothing less than to run off with the s.h.i.+p; so--”
”To run off with the s.h.i.+p?” echoed Price. ”Oh, Mr Damerell, we can never do that, sir--”