Charlie Codmans Cruise 21

Charlie Codmans Cruise 21

"There was a little consultation on board the boat, and then the

officer in command brought it up alongside my hen-coop, and ordered me

aboard.

 

"This I did with as much alacrity as possible, and I tell you, my lad,

it did seem good once more to be in a boat, even though it belonged to

a pirate, after pitching about on a hen-coop for twenty-four hours.

 

"Now that I had a chance, I looked at the men that manned the boat.

They were villainous-looking cutthroats--mostly Spaniards, with dark,

lowering faces and forbidding __EXPRESSION__s. I couldn't help turning it

over in my mind, what they would be likely to do with me.

 

"It didn't take long to reach the pirate vessel. Those on board pressed

forward, as I came up and got on deck. They were all pretty much alike.

The captain was a large, stout, muscular man, though I believe," added

Bill, with some complacency, "that I could have got the better of him

in a regular rough-and-tumble fight. However, this isn't neither here

nor there. He came up to me, and made me answer over again the same

questions which had been asked me before. I answered them in the same

way. After he had got through with his questions, he fixed his sharp,

black eyes on me, and inquired, 'Do you know the name of the ship that

has picked you up?'

 

"'I do,' said I, coolly, though I didn't feel as cool as I appeared.

 

"'Ha!' he exclaimed, in surprise. 'What is it?'

 

"'It is the Red Rover,' said I, making believe to be unconcerned.

 

"'And are you acquainted with its character?" said the captain, with

another of his sharp looks.

 

"'I believe so,' said I.

 

"'Name it.'

 

"'I think it is a pirate,' said I, not moving a muscle.

 

"'Ha!' he exclaimed, looking at me rather curiously. 'Are you not

afraid to find yourself on board a pirate?'

 

"'Why should I be?' I answered. 'But for you, I should have died on the

hen-coop, and I suppose, if you had meant to take away my life, you

wouldn't have taken the trouble to save me, since death was certain.'

 

"'A bold fellow!' said the captain, aside, to the mate. He spoke in

the Spanish language, but I had managed to pick up some odd phrases in

that lingo, so I knew what he was driving at. The mate seemed to agree,

and they talked a little more. I didn't understand, but guessed it was

about me.

 

"The pirate captain, after a short confab with the mate, turned round,

and spoke to me. 'Well, my man,' said he, 'I don't mind telling you

that you've hit the mark in guessing that this is the Red Rover, and a

pirate. I believe she has made something of a reputation for herself,'

he added, proudly.

 

"I bowed.

 

"'Now I have a proposal to make to you. We're rather short-handed. We

need two or three brave fellows, and I am inclined to think, from your

bearing, that you will suit us. Now, if you would like it, you shall be

admitted to equal privileges with the rest of the crew, with an equal

share of whatever booty we manage to pick up, and that I may tell you,

is not small. Here, Roderigo, step forward, and tell this man how much

your share was last year.'

 

"Roderigo, a villainous-looking fellow, stepped forward, and answered,

'Nearly two thousand dollars in goods and money.'

 

"'You see, then, what are the inducements. Will you join us or not?'

 

"Now I very well knew what the consequences of my refusal would be, so

I replied, without a moment's hesitation, 'I will.'"

 

"What, did you become a pirate?" asked Charlie, horror-struck.

 

"Pretty much in the same way that you became a sailor, my lad; because

I couldn't help it."

 

"And did you join in robbing vessels, and killing all on board?"

 

"Hold on, my lad; you're a little too fast for me. You'll know in due

time. The pirate captain seemed pleased with my promptness, and made

me sign the book. I should have given a wrong name, only I had given

the right one when I was hailed, though, for that matter, Sturdy isn't

my right name. The captain told me, in a very polite sort of way, that

if I should undertake to play them false, or interfere with them in

any way, I should be pitched overboard. As this threat did not seem

to trouble me much, he seemed to be satisfied that it was all right

with me. In the course of a day or two, I got acquainted with the

crew. They were mostly Spaniards, but there was a sprinkling of other

nations,--French, Danes, Germans, and one Englishman."

 

"Were there any Yankees?"

 

"No, I'm proud to say there wasn't one except myself, and I wasn't

there of my own free will. Piracy doesn't chime in with our Yankee

notions, and it's my belief you'll find precious few full-blooded

Yankees that are engaged in the business."

 

"How did you get out of their clutches?" asked Charlie.

 

"That's what I'm coming to by and by. For a few days we didn't meet a

vessel, or, at least, one that was alone, and so would do to attack.

I was glad of that, for I was ready enough to do my duty on board the

ship, but I knew that, just as soon as we met a vessel, I should be

expected to do my share of the fighting, and it went against my grain

to engage in any such villainous business as that. However, I thought I

wouldn't borrow trouble, but wait till it came, and then I could decide

what to do.

 

"At last I heard the cry I so much dreaded, 'Sail ho!' from one of the

crew, who had been sent aloft to give notice of an approaching vessel.

 

"'Where away?' shouted the pirate captain.

 

"'To the eastward.'

 

"Orders were at once given to change the course of the vessel, and to

make for the stranger. As soon as she saw us she made every effort to

get away, but the Red Rover was too swift for her. When we got within

a short distance, I made out the vessel to be the Sally Ann, which had

left port about the time the Peregrine did. I knew some of those on

board very well, and the captain was an old school-mate of mine.

 

"'What would they think,' I couldn't help saying to myself, with a

groan, 'if they knew their old messmate was regularly enrolled among

the crew of the pirate that is overhauling them?'"

 

 

 

 

XXII.

 

HOW TO ESCAPE FROM A PIRATE.

 

 

Bill Sturdy paused to take a whiff at his pipe, and then resumed his

story, in which Charlie manifested no slight interest.

 

"I was taken all aback," he continued, "when I found it was the Sally

Ann I was expected to join hands with the pirates against. I couldn't

help thinking of the many pleasant hours I had spent on board that

vessel, chatting and spinning yarns with the crew. What to do I didn't

know.

 

"The pirates were already clearing for action, and all seemed as busy

as bees. You ought to have seen the eager look there was on their

villainous faces, as they watched the Sally Ann, just, for all the

world, like a crafty spider, lying in wait for a fat fly.

 

"Just then the captain came up to where I was standing, and fixed his

sharp glance on me. 'Now, my man,' said he, 'here's a chance for you

to distinguish yourself. That vessel will no doubt prove a rich prize.

Do your duty, like a man, in the coming engagement, and you shall have

a good share of the spoils. If you don't, or if you prove false to us,

you know your fate.'

 

"He pointed up to the yard-arm, as much as to say that I should be

strung up, if I refused obedience, and I've no doubt he would have kept

his word.

 

"I just answered, 'Aye, aye, sir,' without looking particularly

concerned.

 

"'What will you do to the crew when the ship has fallen into your

hands?' I asked.

 

"'Send them to Davy Jones's locker,' he said, with no more compunction

than if he were speaking of a litter of kittens.

 

"Well, I felt as if I was in a pretty tight place; some like a man I've

heard of somewhere, who was being chased by a buffalo across a large

field. At last he came to a precipice a hundred feet high. Of course,

it would be death for him to jump off, and it would be just as much

death for him to stay where he was. So he just waited till the old

buffalo was close to him, and then he dodged out of the way, and the

buffalo, who was going at full speed, leaped over the precipice, and

was dashed to pieces. Well, I thought whether I couldn't do something

of that kind. I knew that, if I shouldn't fight, the pirates would be

as good as their word, and kill me, and if I did, I should be guilty of

piracy, and be liable to be hung as a pirate, if ever I got caught."

 

"That was a pretty hard choice," said Charlie.

 

"So it seemed to me," said Bill. "The only thing I thought of that

would do me any good, was to turn upon the pirates some way. If I

could only have jumped into the water, unobserved, and swam to the

other ship, I would have fought to the last, in their defence."

 

"Why didn't you do it?"

 

"Well, my lad, there were two objections. In the first place, the

pirates would have seen what I was at, and fired at me in the water. In

the second place, the sailors on board the Sally Ann, thinking that I

was a pirate, would have suspected I was up to some mischief, and so,

most likely, they would have blazed away at me, too. So, between the

two fires, I shouldn't have stood a very good chance."

 

"I don't know but you are right."

 

"No, my lad, it didn't take me very long to decide that there was

nothing to be gained in this way. At that moment, I chanced to go down

below for something, when my eye rested on--what do you think?"