IT was about half past one—three
bells in the sea phrase—that the two
boats went ashore from the
HISPANIOLA. The captain, the squire,
and I were talking matters over in
the cabin. Had there been a breath
of wind, we should have fallen on
the six mutineers who were left
aboard with us, slipped our cable,
and away to sea. But the wind was
wanting; and to complete our
helplessness, down came Hunter with
the news that Jim Hawkins had
slipped into a boat and was gone
ashore with the rest. It never occurred to us to doubt Jim
Hawkins, but we were alarmed for his
safety. With the men in the temper
they were in, it seemed an even
chance if we should see the lad
again. We ran on deck. The pitch was
bubbling in the seams; the nasty
stench of the place turned me sick;
if ever a man smelt fever and
dysentery, it was in that abominable
anchorage. The six scoundrels were
sitting grumbling under a sail in
the forecastle; ashore we could see
the gigs made fast and a man sitting
in each, hard by where the river
runs in. One of them was whistling "Lillibullero."
Waiting was a strain, and it was
decided that Hunter and I should go
ashore with the jolly-boat in quest
of information. The gigs had leaned to their right,
but Hunter and I pulled straight in,
in the direction of the stockade
upon the chart. The two who were
left guarding their boats seemed in
a bustle at our appearance; "Lillibullero"
stopped off, and I could see the
pair discussing what they ought to
do. Had they gone and told Silver,
all might have turned out
differently; but they had their
orders, I suppose, and decided to
sit quietly where they were and hark
back again to "Lillibullero." There was a slight bend in the
coast, and I steered so as to put it
between us; even before we landed we
had thus lost sight of the gigs. I
jumped out and came as near running
as I durst, with a big silk
handkerchief under my hat for
coolness' sake and a brace of
pistols ready primed for safety. I had not gone a hundred yards when
I reached the stockade. This was how it was: a spring of
clear water rose almost at the top
of a knoll. Well, on the knoll, and
enclosing the spring, they had
clapped a stout loghouse fit to hold
two score of people on a pinch and
loopholed for musketry on either
side. All round this they had
cleared a wide space, and then the
thing was completed by a paling six
feet high, without door or opening,
too strong to pull down without time
and labour and too open to shelter
the besiegers. The people in the
log-house had them in every way;
they stood quiet in shelter and shot
the others like partridges. All they
wanted was a good watch and food;
for, short of a complete surprise,
they might have held the place
against a regiment. What particularly took my fancy was
the spring. For though we had a good
enough place of it in the cabin of
the HISPANIOLA, with plenty of arms
and ammunition, and things to eat,
and excellent wines, there had been
one thing overlooked—we had no
water. I was thinking this over when
there came ringing over the island
the cry of a man at the point of
death. I was not new to violent
death—I have served his Royal
Highness the Duke of Cumberland, and
got a wound myself at Fontenoy—but I
know my pulse went dot and carry
one. "Jim Hawkins is gone," was my
first thought. It is something to have been an old
soldier, but more still to have been
a doctor. There is no time to
dilly-dally in our work. And so now
I made up my mind instantly, and
with no time lost returned to the
shore and jumped on board the
jolly-boat. By good fortune Hunter pulled a good
oar. We made the water fly, and the
boat was soon alongside and I aboard
the schooner. I found them all shaken, as was
natural. The squire was sitting
down, as white as a sheet, thinking
of the harm he had led us to, the
good soul! And one of the six
forecastle hands was little better.
"There's a man," says Captain
Smollett, nodding towards him, "new
to this work. He came nigh-hand
fainting, doctor, when he heard the
cry. Another touch of the rudder and
that man would join us." I told my plan to the captain, and
between us we settled on the details
of its accomplishment. We put old Redruth in the gallery
between the cabin and the
forecastle, with three or four
loaded muskets and a mattress for
protection. Hunter brought the boat
round under the stern-port, and
Joyce and I set to work loading her
with powder tins, muskets, bags of
biscuits, kegs of pork, a cask of
cognac, and my invaluable medicine
chest. In the meantime, the squire and the
captain stayed on deck, and the
latter hailed the coxswain, who was
the principal man aboard. "Mr. Hands," he said, "here are two
of us with a brace of pistols each.
If any one of you six make a signal
of any description, that man's
dead." They were a good deal taken aback,
and after a little consultation one
and all tumbled down the fore
companion, thinking no doubt to take
us on the rear. But when they saw
Redruth waiting for them in the
sparred galley, they went about ship
at once, and a head popped out again
on deck. "Down, dog!" cries the captain. And the head popped back again; and
we heard no more, for the time, of
these six very faint-hearted seamen.
By this time, tumbling things in as
they came, we had the jolly-boat
loaded as much as we dared. Joyce
and I got out through the
stern-port, and we made for shore
again as fast as oars could take us.
This second trip fairly aroused the
watchers along shore. "Lillibullero"
was dropped again; and just before
we lost sight of them behind the
little point, one of them whipped
ashore and disappeared. I had half a
mind to change my plan and destroy
their boats, but I feared that
Silver and the others might be close
at hand, and all might very well be
lost by trying for too much. We had soon touched land in the same
place as before and set to provision
the block house. All three made the
first journey, heavily laden, and
tossed our stores over the palisade.
Then, leaving Joyce to guard
them—one man, to be sure, but with
half a dozen muskets—Hunter and I
returned to the jolly-boat and
loaded ourselves once more. So we
proceeded without pausing to take
breath, till the whole cargo was
bestowed, when the two servants took
up their position in the block
house, and I, with all my power,
sculled back to the HISPANIOLA. That we should have risked a second
boat load seems more daring than it
really was. They had the advantage
of numbers, of course, but we had
the advantage of arms. Not one of
the men ashore had a musket, and
before they could get within range
for pistol shooting, we flattered
ourselves we should be able to give
a good account of a half-dozen at
least. The squire was waiting for me at the
stern window, all his faintness gone
from him. He caught the painter and
made it fast, and we fell to loading
the boat for our very lives. Pork,
powder, and biscuit was the cargo,
with only a musket and a cutlass
apiece for the squire and me and
Redruth and the captain. The rest of
the arms and powder we dropped
overboard in two fathoms and a half
of water, so that we could see the
bright steel shining far below us in
the sun, on the clean, sandy bottom.
By this time the tide was beginning
to ebb, and the ship was swinging
round to her anchor. Voices were
heard faintly halloaing in the
direction of the two gigs; and
though this reassured us for Joyce
and Hunter, who were well to the
eastward, it warned our party to be
off. Redruth retreated from his place in
the gallery and dropped into the
boat, which we then brought round to
the ship's counter, to be handier
for Captain Smollett. "Now, men," said he, "do you hear
me?" There was no answer from the
forecastle. "It's to you, Abraham Gray—it's to
you I am speaking." Still no reply. "Gray," resumed Mr. Smollett, a
little louder, "I am leaving this
ship, and I order you to follow your
captain. I know you are a good man
at bottom, and I dare say not one of
the lot of you's as bad as he makes
out. I have my watch here in my
hand; I give you thirty seconds to
join me in." There was a pause. "Come, my fine fellow," continued
the captain; "don't hang so long in
stays. I'm risking my life and the
lives of these good gentlemen every
second." There was a sudden scuffle, a sound
of blows, and out burst Abraham Gray
with a knife cut on the side of the
cheek, and came running to the
captain like a dog to the whistle.
"I'm with you, sir," said he. And the next moment he and the
captain had dropped aboard of us,
and we had shoved off and given way.
We were clear out of the ship, but
not yet ashore in our stockade. |
