Now during all these weary adventurous weeks in which he had been wandering about the Caribbean, more like a humble knight-errant of old than a modern prince of birth, Rupert had never forgotten that he had pawned the King\'s fleet to that detestable person, Monsieur D\'Ogeron, the Governor of Tortuga. On what employ it had been used, no rumour had reached him. But the period for which it had been pawned was near to run out, and Rupert was anxious to resume command on the first day it was due to be surrendered to him.
The voyage back from Coro in the newly captured carrack could not be direct for many reasons. In the first place there was plunder from his other ventures to be collected, and this, after the buccaneer fashion, Rupert had buried in spots known to himself alone, and in the second place, in the hurry of cutting out the carrack from La Vela harbour, no one had troubled to notice that she was not victualled. They had been keen enough to note the treasure and the rich merchandise which trimmed her so desirably low in the water, but it was not found that she lacked the necessary vulgar details of grain and dried meat, of wood and water, till she was well at sea, and these were not to be had for the mere asking. Consequently the crew were well-nigh starving before it was found possible to put into a river which supplied fish for an immediate meal, and offered savannahs on which the hunters shot deer meat to take them further.
THERE IS NO MISTAKING THE MANNER OF BUCCANEERS RETURNING WELL-LADEN
THERE IS NO MISTAKING THE MANNER OF
BUCCANEERS RETURNING WELL-LADEN
But even this supply did not provision them for long, and they were forced to run across to Hispaniola, come into touch with the French and English hunters there, and buy from them bucaned cows\' flesh in the usual way. There is a routine about these matters, and when it is departed from one soon finds that the routine has its reason for being.
It will be seen that here were all the makings of a voyage which would be prosperous, if somewhat slow; but it must be owned that all was not peace and easiness. The Spaniards on board were the root of the unpleasantness. They held that they had worked equally with the others in gathering the plunder. The French and English held that they were duly-admitted members of the Brotherhood of the Coast, and therefore of superior clay to any Spaniard; and, moreover, when it came to the distribution of the plunder, they attended armed to the teeth and certainly took the lion\'s share. They said at the time that the Spaniards might feel grateful that they were given so much as a flavour; and on that day, being overawed by weapons, these Spaniards accepted what was left for them with at least an outward show of civility. But it seems they still carried rage and discontent in their hearts, which indeed is the custom of their disgusting nation, and from then onwards were forever making a great plot or cabal.
In number these Spaniards might well be vainglorious, seeing that there were one hundred and forty of them, to some twenty-seven all told of the buccaneers, and in fierceness they were above the ordinary. They were criminals all of them, condemned to the galleys by their own countrymen, who found them intolerable at home, and had it not been that their liberation was useful at the time to Prince Rupert, one is free to confess that the galleys was their proper place, as they were unfitted for any other rank in society. However, there they were on the carrack, possessors of some considerable store of plunder, and very wishful to seize more and to have a say in their final destination.
Once indeed a deputation came aft to put forward their views.
What was to be the carrack\'s destination?
"Tortuga," said Rupert, civilly.
They appeared to hear the name with consternation.
"But, Se?or," said their spokesman, "that is the metropolis of the buccaneers."
"To me," said Rupert, "Tortuga is my rendezvous with my own fleet."
"We bow to your esteemed convenience, Se?or. But what chance shall we have there? We shall be lambs in a wolf-fold. They will rob us certainly; if we escape out of the place with our lives, we shall be fortunate. Surely, Se?or, as we have borne much of the burden of the fighting, we are entitled to some say in future schemes."
"As duly elected Captain, all decision in these matters appears to rest with me. But I do not wish to make my command unpalatable, and if what is arranged, and what indeed suits the French and English of this crew very pleasantly, goes against your sentiments, I am willing to come to a composition with you. Once in Tortuga, I personally and Master Laughan here rejoin my fleet; Master Simpson and the buccaneers go ashore, according to their convivial custom, for a merry time amongst the wine-shops and the ladies of Tortuga, and possibly for a turn at the dice box with Monsieur D\'Ogeron up at the castle; and the carrack will remain for sale. I believe prices for ships rule easy in Tortuga, as there is somewhat of a glut of them on the market, and the titles to them are obscure. Here, then, is your chance: you are men of capital; hand back into the store the plunder that has been shared out to you, and the carrack is yours after she had carried us for our voyage."
At this proposition, the Spaniards appeared to get very angry, and indeed were for making some foolish demonstration if they had not been incontinently driven away forward. But the buccaneers, who have a more nice appreciation for wit, laughed heartily, and swore that Rupert was a prince of good fellows. But at the same time they did not take the Spaniards too much on trust, and in fact wore their weapons and their wakefulness with great diligence.
Had there been liquor on board it is a sure thing that the buccaneers would have drunk themselves silly, and the Spaniards, who are too feeble-stomached for an orgie, would not have failed to use their soberness to bring about a massacre. But, as has been said, the carrack was a dry ship; she was carried off with neither wine nor rum in her store; and to this alone may her safety be credited. Indeed so especially keen were these thirsty buccaneers to arrive at Tortuga and commence their debauch, that they employed extra watchfulness to make sure no impediment came in their way, and by this means alone discovered the hateful plot which the Spaniards were hatching against them.
There was amongst the Spaniards it seems an apothecary, who had earned a certain ill-omened fame. The city which he polluted by his residence contained husbands who wished to be rid of their wives, and wives who had tired of their husbands. The apothecary supplied the means; indeed it was the wretch\'s boast that he had plied this horrid trade of poisoner for ten whole years with immunity, and then got found out only by jealousy of a business rival. Indeed so large was his circle of patrons, and so strong his power, that even at his trial he was used leniently and spared the torture, lest he might tell too much, and in the end was condemned only to the galleys, when he should most justly have been slowly burned.
So when a plot was formed against the buccaneers, here on the carrack was a task in his old trade ready to the apothecary\'s hand, and that was no less than to kill outright by poison all who were not Spaniards. It seems there was a parcel of herbs and roots and snake\'s teeth amongst the cargo suited for his purpose, and he got hold of these, and set about making his tinctures and decoctions. Even then he might have succeeded, if he had done his work quick and sudden after the plot was made; but it seems that there can be artists amongst poisoners as there are in other trades, and here was one that took a most dainty pride in his horrid craft. A crude, rasping poison would not suit him. He must needs purify and distil a dozen times over till he had made a death drug of the most exquisite fineness; and his hundred and forty compatriots who were all in the secret, sat round and watched and gloated over their coming triumph and vengeance.
What made the deed one of such plain simplicity was the manner in which the two parties had separated themselves. From the very first day on board, the English and French buccaneers had taken the cabins that are set apart for officers and passengers under the half-deck and poop; and the Spaniards did not presume to harbour anywhere except in the forward castle, or the upper holds. There is a sea sumptuary law or etiquette about these dispositions that is very strict. Moreover, gradually as the feeling between the two bodies became more strained, there was less and less intercourse between them. Indeed, by Rupert\'s direction, the buccaneers posted constantly a couple of armed sentries on the break of the poop with a loaded culverin by each, trained so as to sweep the waist and the lower deck, and with lighted matches in tubs standing by their side. The sentries were changed with every watch, and the Spaniards knew quite well that they would fire on small occasion. And moreover, after nightfall, battle-lanterns were hung in the rigging, so that there should be no rushing the after deck under cover of darkness.
The matter that gave the apothecary his opening was a sea custom of the buccaneers. Ashore these men are the most dextrous of cooks, often killing a cow especially so that her udder may provide them with a delicate joint, and serving it with pimento and other sauces to lend it piquant flavour. In a word, on dry land they are gourmands and glory in the fact. But at sea they are quite different; they can live there on victual of the roughest; and it is their conceit moreover to rate the office of cook as the lowest on shipboard. Either they make their prisoners do the work, or they carry a slave to dress their victual, or they are even content to swallow it raw sooner than grease their tarry fingers with either roasting-spit or boiler. On this captured carrack, then, as may be supposed, they pressed a couple of Spaniards into the caboose (as the cookhouse is named at sea), and although these showed a stiff lip at first, and required some beating before they would serve, presently (after their devilish plot was concocted) they made the boils and the stews and the other sea dishes with docility, and, it must be confessed also, with appetising skill.
To the Yorkshireman Simpson must be credited the first hint that all was not as it should be. He and the Prince and the secretary were sitting on the taffrail one night between two of the great poop lanterns, and Rupert found occasion to comment that the voyage was drawing towards its conclusion very peacefully.
"\'Appen," said Simpson, "and again, Captain, \'appen not. Them Spaniards makes out to be a sight too contented for my liking. They were as mad as hay about the way we shared up that treasure, an\' they\'re far from liking t\' idea of a happy week near owd Skin-the-Pike i\' Tortuga. Now tha\'llt not tell me they\'ve forgotten; Spaniards is vengeful devils an\' they niver forgets. And I tell tha\' what, young feller, I\'d be a deal more comfortable if they was up an\' fighting with us."
"Pooh!" said Rupert lightly. "Spaniard-hating has grown to be a disease with you, Master Simpson. And, besides, we have taken our precautions. Look at the sentries. You can see the matches burning in their tubs from here."
"A Spaniard is as artful as a bagful of monkeys."
"And we fancy we are not without some strategy ourselves."
Simpson put a thumb on his chin. "Look here, now, young feller. I\'d like t\' \'ave tha\' a bet on about it. I\'ll lay tha\' an even pint potful o\' silver pieces they try to have their knives into us before we\'ve an anchor down in Tortuga Harbour."
"I\'ll take your wager with pleasure."
"Well," said Simpson, with a wink, "it\'s my brass," and there the talk ended.
But that night, when Master Laughan was officer of the watch and was patrolling the poop with due form and ceremony, the Yorkshireman came up and made an announcement of his plans in a cautious whisper. "I\'m bahn to win yon bet, if cleverness will do it, and just to give Captain Rupert a suck in."—He winked, and patted the secretary\'s arm confidentially.—"I know these Spanish beggars more than a bit, an\' it\'s my belief they wouldn\'t cower so quiet unless they were hatching mischief. Now say note to Rupert, lad, an\' if tha\' hears them cutting my throat forrard, call all the hands aft here and clear the decks for bloody war. By gum, I\'ll win yon potful of pieces, choose \'ow."—With which he took himself off up the mizzen rigging, and was lost in the blackness of the night overhead.
It was clear that the man thought more of winning his paltry wager than of insuring the safety of his fellow-buccaneers, and the secretary smiled (but with tears in her eyes) as she thought of his crazy daring. But it seemed, when he came back afterwards to tell his tale, that Master Simpson had a shrewd notion of taking care of his own skin even when he so dangerously risked it. As has been said, the waist and the lower maindeck of the carrack was lit with battle lanthorns, but these only accentuated the darkness which wrapped the rest of her. The Yorkshireman, despite his size and weight, could climb with an ape\'s handiness. He made his way up to the mizzen topmast head, keeping always in the shadow of the spars and canvas; then like some uncouth crawling insect laid out along the stays, reaching first the main, and then the fore top mast head and finally slipping down the outer bolt-sprit stay, and crouched in the top of the mast there for a moment to recover breath. Below him, past the gammoning of the bolt-sprit, was the open-work of the ship\'s beak, upheld by her figure-head, and in the high wall of the forward castle beyond, the lamplight gleamed out warmly through the two open gun-ports.
Quietly Master Simpson made his way down by the foot ropes, keeping most jealously to the shadows, and finally took up his post beneath one of these openings, settling himself comfortably so as to avoid unnecessary cramp. He would certainly have been killed a hundred times over if he had been caught there, but he stayed coolly on, listening to the chatter inside, hour after hour, and still hearing nothing of especial moment. It was terribly risky work. But as he explained afterwards he learned nothing of moment and wasn\'t inclined to give up hope of winning the bet till daylight came in and clearly routed him. He said he came from a country where they meant winning when they laid a wager, whatever it might cost to bring success.
But at last he heard what suited him, and what indeed saved every life in the after part of the ship, and returning laboriously by the way he had come, high over the rigging, he dropped down to the poop deck at the exact spot he had left it.
Master Laughan met him there, heavy-eyed for want of sleep, and soaked with the dew of night, and somewhat crabbedly inquired his news. The fellow had given her a good racking of anxiety, and she did not wish to show it. But he laughed at her whimsically enough, and said his news would keep till breakfast time, and that for the present he was all yawns, and with that went below to his bed place. Which example the secretary in some annoyance followed forthwith.
Sentries challenged and bells clanged, watches were relieved and the routine of the night went on in its rigid way, and at last the timekeeper in charge of the glass cried seven o\'clock and bade all hands rouse and bit. The toilettes of shipboard are hasty, as all when on the unstable sea sleep in their clothes to be ready for the sudden alarms which are so frequent. Indeed it has been neatly expressed, that seamen like dogs give one good shake, and are awake and dressed. And so when the timekeeper gave his cry and turned his glass, almost before the sand had begun to run the other way, all of the carrack\'s afterguard were turned out, and ready for their breakfasts.
There is no delicate napery at sea, and on this carrack, then, there was not so much as a salt vat to decorate the table. To each man was a wooden platter and a leathern cup, fitting into cavities cut in the board to keep them in place against the vessel\'s rolling, and the benches which served as seats were built into the solid fabric of the deck. A savoury smell advertised the cook\'s coming, and the ship\'s company seated themselves on the benches before the table, and each drew his knife and laid it before him in readiness. Then the cook came into the great cabin bearing the mess kid in his arms, a lean, dark-faced man with a notable squint. The rude men at the table sniffed appreciatively, and the cook, setting the mess-kid on the deck, took out his great ladle and began filling the platters one by one as they were handed to him, and then when all were loaded, the fellow that had been appointed chaplain, rose to his feet, shut his eyes, and prepared to say the grace.
But at this point Simpson slipped round to the door of the cabin and cried a loud "Halt!" Many faces were turned upon him frowningly. They brooked ill, these buccaneers, any interference with their religious exercises. But Simpson was not the man to be quieted by a scowl.
"Captain," said he, "I\'ll have to ask tha\' for yon half-pint o\' silver pieces."
"It is yours, Master Simpson," said the Prince politely, "but I\'d take it as courteous if you\'d tell how you\'ve earned it."
"Simple enough," said the Yorkshireman. "I just ask you to force the cook to sample his own wares."
"Why, we have a new cook to-day," said Rupert, staring at the Spaniard who held the mess-kid.
"True enough," said Simpson, "and afore turning cook, he was galley-slave, and afore that he practised as apothecary. It sticks in my mind that to-day he\'s mixed t\' two businesses together and given us some apothecary\'s drugs in his cook\'s stew. If he hasn\'t, well, Captain, I may yet owe you the bet, but, if he has, I think you might pay up t\' brass."
"Most certainly," said Rupert, "and I think the thing is easy proved, by watching the man eat a platter full of his own mess. Se?or el Cocinero," he said, dropping into the Spanish tongue, "by its savoury smell to-day your cooking has surpassed even its previous excellence."
The cook gave a doubtful little bow.
"But there exists some doubt as to the wholesomeness of the condiments wherewith you have flavoured it. The nearest vacant place at the table appears to be my own. May I beg of you to honour me by sitting in it and to show by your own appreciation how excellent is the mess you have brought for us."
The cook gripped tight on to his ladle and glared about him like a trapped wild animal. "I am not hungry," he said, "and besides I am a Catholic and could not eat after the meat has been blessed by your chaplain. But the food is quite wholesome."
"I might point out to you that our honoured chaplain has not yet said the grace, nor will he till we know more about what is set before us."
"I will not eat," said the cook, and shivered violently. "I tell you I have no appetite. I am not hungry."
"My good man," said Rupert, "I stand in the position of king over this vessel, and my courteous invitation may be construed as a royal command. If you have no appetite, we must find you one." He signed to those of the buccaneers who sat nearest at the table, and these, who began to realise how matters lay, were nothing loath to give the cook some rough handling. He was forced into the chair at the head of the board, and those who held him began sawing at his ears with their knives. For long enough he withstood the torture, and sat there sullenly with the blood dripping on to his shoulders, and the buccaneers down the table, with the untouched platters still smoking before them, rested on their elbows and watched him. Prince Rupert, a man who was usually averse to these rude proceedings, looked on with a face that was hard and frowning, and except for the secretary, who felt herself pale as she watched, there was not a trace of pity shown by anyone.
Stoically this monster of a cook held out, proving by his very stubbornness how complete was his guilt, but at length he began to recognise that the grim men who held him were not the sort that show undue leanings towards mercy. He had to choose between eating or being carved alive; and as a poisoner of long and loathly experience, the full horrors of his dish were well known to him. But the sharp, cold pain of the knives daunted him at last, and with a cry he stretched out his hand and began to scoop up the food in the platter before him, and to cram it into his mouth. He fed like a beast, the sooner to get it over, but those who watched him expressed neither disgust nor interest; remained, in fact, ............