Part 21 (1/2)

”Have you ever seen a man killed before to-day?” inquired the lieutenant. ”I will not say it boastingly,” replied Hans, ”for no man should boast; but I tell you as the truth that in fair fight--fighting for my life, or for my goods, of which I had been robbed--I have shot perhaps as many black men as you have now on board this s.h.i.+p.”

”Have you, indeed?” said the lieutenant, his opinion of Hans being thereby much enhanced; ”then you have had to fight in Africa?”

”To fight!” said Hans. ”Have you not heard of our battles with Moselekatse and Dingaan, and how we defeated them? Have you never heard of Eus, Pretorius, Retief, or Landman?”

”Never heard of one of them,” was the calm reply of the lieutenant.

”Are they n.i.g.g.e.rs?”

What would have been Hans' indignant reply to this remark there is no saying, but a shout from the sailors caused the lieutenant and Hans to rush to the hatchway, before approaching which they saw some suspicious-looking smoke rising from the side of the s.h.i.+p.

”What is it?” shouted the lieutenant, as he approached his men.

”The slaves have set the s.h.i.+p on fire, yer honour,” replied an old sailor.

”Curse them!” said the lieutenant; ”they will destroy themselves and us too.”

”The boats will swim, I think, sir,” said the sailor, ”and we can reach Simon's Bay very soon. We needn't be burnt, unless yer honour thought it a point of duty to be so. Them slaves and slave crew might make the best of a burning s.h.i.+p, and perhaps the sooner we get out of the s.h.i.+p the better for them, as they could then put the fire out.”

”And let them re-take the slaver; eh, Roberts? What would the Admiral say to us then, if it were found that the slavers had driven us out by a little smoke?”

”It wouldn't do, yer honour; but the slavers, nor the slaves either, won't stop the flames on this s.h.i.+p, for she's built of pine-wood, and she'll be ablaze from stem to stern in half an hour.”

The sailor's remark seemed very likely to be verified, for the s.h.i.+p being, as he said, built of pine-wood, and having been long exposed to the heat of an almost tropical sun, was so dry and inflammable that the fire caught the timbers, and burnt as though it were fed with shavings.

In order to get at the situation of the fire, it would be necessary to go into the hold where the slaves were, and thus it would be necessary to raise the hatch. With above two hundred furious savages, who had just murdered two white men, in the hold, the lieutenant knew no chance existed of putting out a fire, which, whenever it occurs in a s.h.i.+p, requires a thoroughly well-disciplined body of men to be called together in order to put it out. ”Take three hands with you, and lower the quarter boats,” said the lieutenant to one of the men. ”Sterk, will you stay here, and help to guard the hatch? I will put a few things into the boat. We must lose no time, I see; the s.h.i.+p is like tinder.”

During the few minutes that the officer was absent, the fire had made great progress, and the yells and shouts from the slaves were almost deafening.

”We must free the slavers from their irons,” said the lieutenant. ”We must give them a chance. Come along and help me, you two.” And with the aid of Hans and a sailor the lieutenant freed the crew of the slaver, and signed to them to follow on deck.

”Now into the two boats, men!” said the officer. ”If we have any room, we'll save whoever we can. Stand by to let me in, for I'm going to free the hatch, and let the slaves up. They must have a chance for life, and G.o.d help them! for I see no possibility of human aid being of benefit.”

The sailors having hurried into the boats, the lieutenant seized a handspike, and knocking off the fastening of the hatchway, left it so that a very moderate amount of strength would force it up. He then lowered himself into the boat, and ordered the men to pull away a short distance from the slaver, where he purposed watching the struggle that he hoped might take place between the crew and the fire.

”I could do nothing else, I think,” said the officer to Hans. ”I have the lives of my men under my charge, and if I had waited on board, these slaves would have tried to murder us. Now they have a chance for their lives, but I run a risk now. If the slaver is burnt, and her crew and slaves go down with her, I may be called cruel for having left them to themselves, whilst I saved my own and my men's lives. If the fire is put out, I must again go on board, though we lose half our number in the attempt, or I should never dare show myself to the Admiral. Ah! there's a specimen of the negro's habits.”

The slaves, upon being able to raise the hatches, rushed on deck, shouting and yelling like demons. Seeing some of the slaver's crew, who had also come on deck, they rushed at them, and with such weapons as each possessed a fight took place on the deck of the doomed vessel.

Utterly reckless as regards the fire, which was now raging, and illuminating the deck, the two parties fought for revenge and life. The numbers of the negroes soon enabled them to overcome the slaver's crew, who were stiff from their late confinement, and the negroes were consequently masters of the s.h.i.+p. The use they made of this temporary possession was not to endeavour to quell the flames, or in any way to make preparations for their own safety; but, rus.h.i.+ng into the cabins, they searched for plunder, and more particularly for drink, which, however, did not consist of any thing more than a few bottles of inferior brandy. For the possession of this brandy terrific struggles took place, handspikes and planking being used for weapons. To view this scene from the boats was like obtaining a temporary view of the imaginary infernal regions on which so many civilised beings delight to enlarge and dwell. The raging fire, which now was catching the rigging, was below the ma.s.s of yelling, dancing, fighting blacks, who seemed only intent on a few minutes' maniac-like orgies.

Standing calm spectators of the scene, Hans observed the Zulus who had been his fellow-prisoners. Though nearly black in colour, these men were unlike the negro in features, and seemed altogether a superior race. Though he had so lately been engaged in combats against the Zulus, yet when Hans saw these men thus calmly awaiting their death, he was desirous of saving them.

”See those men standing near the mast,” said Hans: ”they are Zulus. I should like, to save their lives.”

”How can you do that?” inquired the lieutenant. ”Will you let them come in the boat?” inquired Hans.

”Yes, if they can get in; but I cannot allow the boat to go near the slaver: she would be swamped in a minute, and all our lives would be sacrificed.”

”I will try to make them understand,” said Hans, ”if you will help them into the boat if they swim to us.” Saying this, Hans called in a shrill voice, ”Mena-bo,” at which the Zulus started up, and looked eagerly in the direction of the boats, which they could just perceive by aid of the light given by the burning s.h.i.+p. Having thus called their attention to him, Hans called in the Zulu language, ”Jump into the water, and swim to me, or the fire will soon kill you.”

The Zulus for a few seconds seemed to hesitate, but looking round at the fire, which was rapidly closing round them, the three men stepped on the side of the vessel, and jumped feet first into the sea. In an instant afterwards their heads appeared above water, as they swam rapidly towards the boats, into which they were dragged by the sailors.