The Pirate, and The Three Cutters Part 7

It was undoubted that he had received an excellent education, and it was said that he was of an ancient border family on the banks of the Tweed: by what chances he had become a pirate--by what errors he had fallen from his station in society, until he became an outcast, had never been revealed; it was only known that he had been some years employed in the slave-trade previous to his seizing this vessel and commencing his reckless career. The name by which he was known to the crew of the pirate vessel was 'Cain,' and well had he chosen this appellation; for, had not his hand for more than three years been against every man's, and every man's hand against his? In person he was about six feet high, with a breadth of shoulders and of chest denoting the utmost of physical force which, perhaps, has ever been allotted to man. His features would have been handsome had they not been scarred with wounds; and, strange to say, his eye was mild and of a soft blue. His mouth was well formed, and his teeth of a pearly white; the hair of his head was crisp and wavy, and his beard, which he wore, as did every person composing the crew of the pirate, covered the lower part of his face in strong, waving, and continued curls. The proportions of his body were perfect; but from their vastness they became almost terrific. His costume was elegant, and well adapted to his form; linen trousers, and untanned yellow leather boots, such as are made at the Western Isles; a broad-striped cotton s.h.i.+rt; a red Cashmere shawl round his waist as a sash; a vest embroidered in gold tissue, with a jacket of dark velvet, and pendent gold b.u.t.tons, hanging over his left shoulder, after the fas.h.i.+on of the Mediterranean seamen; a round Turkish skull-cap, handsomely embroidered, a pair of pistols, and a long knife in his sash, completed his attire.

The crew consisted in all of 165 men, of almost every nation, but it was to be remarked that all those in authority were either Englishmen or from the northern countries; the others were chiefly Spaniards and Maltese. Still there were Portuguese, Brazilians, negroes, and others, who made up the complement, which at the time we now speak of was increased by twenty-five additional hands. These were Kroumen, a race of blacks well known at present, who inhabit the coast near Cape Palmas, and are often employed by our men-of-war stationed on the coast to relieve the English seamen from duties which would be too severe to those who were not inured to the climate. They are powerful, athletic men, good sailors, of a happy, merry disposition, and, unlike other Africans, will work hard. Fond of the English, they generally speak the language sufficiently to be understood, and are very glad to receive a baptism when they come on board. The name first given them they usually adhere to as long as they live; and you will now on the coast meet with a Blucher, a Wellington, a Nelson, etc., who will wring swabs, or do any other of the meanest description of work, without feeling that it is discreditable to sponsorials so grand.

It is not to be supposed that these men had voluntarily come on board of the pirate; they had been employed in some British vessels trading on the coast, and had been taken out of them when the vessels were burnt, and the Europeans of the crews murdered. They had received a promise of reward, if they did their duty; but, not expecting it, they waited for the earliest opportunity to make their escape.

The captain of the schooner is abaft with his gla.s.s in his hand, occasionally sweeping the offing in the expectation of a vessel heaving in sight; the officers and crew are lying down, or lounging listlessly about the decks, panting with the extreme heat, and impatiently waiting for the sea-breeze to fan their parched foreheads. With their rough beards and exposed chests, and their weather-beaten fierce countenances, they form a group which is terrible even in repose.

We must now descend into the cabin of the schooner. The fittings-up of this apartment are simple: on each side is a standing bed-place; against the after bulkhead is a large buffet, originally intended for gla.s.s and china, but now loaded with silver and gold vessels of every size and description, collected by the pirate from the different s.h.i.+ps which he had plundered; the lamps are also of silver, and evidently had been intended to ornament the shrine of some Catholic saint.

In this cabin there are two individuals, to whom we shall now direct the reader's attention. The one is a pleasant-countenanced, good-humoured Krouman, who had been christened 'Pompey the Great'; most probably on account of his large proportions. He wears a pair of duck trousers; the rest of his body is naked, and presents a sleek, glossy skin, covering muscles which an anatomist or a sculptor would have viewed with admiration. The other is a youth of eighteen, or thereabouts, with an intelligent, handsome countenance, evidently of European blood. There is, however, a habitually mournful cast upon his features; he is dressed much in the same way as we have described the captain, but the costume hangs more gracefully upon his slender, yet well-formed limbs. He is seated on a sofa, fixed in the fore part of the cabin, with a book in his hand, which occasionally he refers to, and then lifts his eyes from, to watch the motions of the Krouman, who is busy, in the office of steward, arranging and cleaning the costly articles in the buffet.

'Ma.s.sa Francisco, dis really fine ting,' said Pompey, holding up a splendidly embossed tankard, which he had been rubbing.

'Yes,' replied Francisco gravely; 'it is indeed, Pompey.'

'How Captain Cain come by dis?'

Francisco shook his head, and Pompey put his finger up to his mouth, his eyes, full of meaning, fixed upon Francisco.

At this moment the personage referred to was heard descending the companion-ladder. Pompey recommenced rubbing the silver, and Francisco dropped his eyes upon the book.

What was the tie which appeared to bind the captain to this lad was not known; but, as the latter had always accompanied, and lived together with him, it was generally supposed that he was the captain's son; and he was as often designated by the crew as young Cain as he was by his Christian name of Francisco. Still it was observed that latterly they had frequently been heard in altercation, and that the captain was very suspicious of Francisco's movements.

'I beg I may not interrupt your conversation,' said Cain, on entering the cabin; 'the information you may obtain from a Krouman must be very important.'

Francisco made no reply, but appeared to be reading his book. Cain's eyes pa.s.sed from one to the other, as if to read their thoughts.

'Pray what were you saying, Mr. Pompey?'

'Me say, Ma.s.sa Captain? me only tell young Ma.s.sa dis very fine ting; ask where you get him--Ma.s.sa Francisco no tell.'

'And what might it be to you, you black scoundrel?' cried the captain, seizing the goblet, and striking the man with it a blow on the head which flattened the vessel, and at the same time felled the Krouman, powerful as he was, to the deck. The blood streamed as the man slowly rose, stupefied and trembling from the violent concussion. Without saying a word, he staggered out of the cabin, and Cain threw himself on one of the lockers in front of the standing bed-place, saying, with a bitter smile, 'So much for your intimates, Francisco!'

'Rather, so much for your cruelty and injustice towards an unoffending man,' replied Francisco, laying his book on the table. 'His question was an innocent one--for he knew not the particulars connected with the obtaining of that flagon.'

'And you, I presume, do not forget them? Well, be it so, young man; but I warn you again--as I have warned you often--nothing but the remembrance of your mother has prevented me, long before this, from throwing your body to the sharks.'

'What influence my mother's memory may have over you, I know not; I only regret that, in any way, she had the misfortune to be connected with you.'

'She had the influence,' replied Cain, 'which a woman must have over a man when they have for years swung in the same cot; but that is wearing off fast. I tell you so candidly; I will not even allow her memory to check me, if I find you continue your late course. You have shown disaffection before the crew--you have disputed my orders--and I have every reason to believe that you are now plotting against me.'

'Can I do otherwise than show my abhorrence,' replied Francisco, 'when I witness such acts of horror, of cruelty--cold-blooded cruelty, as lately have been perpetrated? Why do you bring me here? and why do you now detain me? All I ask is, that you will allow me to leave the vessel. You are not my father; you have told me so.'

'No, I am not your father; but--you are your mother's son.'

'That gives you no right to have power over me, even if you had been married to my mother; which----'

'I was not.'

'I thank G.o.d; for marriage with you would have been even greater disgrace.'

'What!' cried Cain, starting up, seizing the young man by the neck, and lifting him off his seat as if he had been a puppet; 'but no--I cannot forget your mother.' Cain released Francisco, and resumed his seat on the locker.

'As you please,' said Francisco, as soon as he had recovered himself; 'it matters little whether I am brained by your own hand, or launched overboard as a meal for the sharks; it will be but one more murder.'

'Mad fool! why do you tempt me thus?' replied Cain, again starting up, and hastily quitting the cabin.

The altercation which we have just described was not unheard on deck, as the doors of the cabin were open, and the skylight removed to admit the air. The face of Cain was flushed as he ascended the ladder. He perceived his chief mate standing by the hatchway, and many of the men, who had been slumbering abaft, with their heads raised on their elbows, as if they had been listening to the conversation below.

'It will never do, sir,' said Hawkhurst, the mate, shaking his head.

'No,' replied the captain; 'not if he were my own son. But what is to be done?--he knows no fear.'

Hawkhurst pointed to the entering port.

'When I ask your advice, you may give it,' said the captain, turning gloomily away.

In the meantime, Francisco paced the cabin in deep thought. Young as he was, he was indifferent to death; for he had no tie to render life precious. He remembered his mother, but not her demise; that had been concealed from him. At the age of seven he had sailed with Cain in a slaver, and had ever since continued with him. Until lately, he had been led to suppose that the captain was his father. During the years that he had been in the slave-trade, Cain had devoted much time to his education; it so happened that the only book which could be found on board of the vessel, when Cain first commenced teaching, was a Bible belonging to Francisco's mother. Out of this book he learned to read; and, as his education advanced, other books were procured. It may appear strange that the very traffic in which his reputed father was engaged did not corrupt the boy's mind; but, accustomed to it from his infancy, he had considered these negroes as another species--an idea fully warranted by the cruelty of the Europeans towards them.

There are some dispositions so naturally kind and ingenuous that even example and evil contact cannot debase them: such was the disposition of Francisco. As he gained in years and knowledge, he thought more and more for himself, and had already become disgusted with the cruelties practised upon the unfortunate negroes, when the slave vessel was seized upon by Cain and converted into a pirate. At first, the enormities committed had not been so great; vessels had been seized and plundered, but life had been spared. In the course of crime, however, the descent is rapid: and as, from information given by those who had been released, the schooner was more than once in danger of being captured, latterly no lives had been spared; and but too often the murders had been attended with deeds even more atrocious.

Francisco had witnessed scenes of horror until his young blood curdled: he had expostulated to save, but in vain. Disgusted with the captain and the crew, and their deeds of cruelty, he had latterly expressed his opinions fearlessly, and defied the captain; for, in the heat of an altercation, Cain had acknowledged that Francisco was not his son.

Had any of the crew or officers expressed but a t.i.the of what had fallen from the bold lips of Francisco, they would have long before paid the forfeit of their temerity; but there was a feeling towards Francisco which could not be stifled in the breast of Cain--it was the feeling of a.s.sociation and habit. The boy had been his companion for years; and from a.s.suetude had become, as it were, a part of himself. There is a principle in our nature which, even when that nature is most debased, will never leave us--that of requiring something to love, something to protect and watch over: it is shown towards a dog, or any other animal, if it cannot be lavished upon one of our own species. Such was the feeling which so forcibly held Cain towards Francisco; such was the feeling which had hitherto saved his life.

After having paced up and down for some time, the youth took his seat on the locker which the captain had quitted: his eye soon caught the head of Pompey, who looked into the cabin and beckoned with his finger.

Francisco rose, and, taking up a flagon from the buffet, which contained some spirits, walked to the door, and, without saying a word, handed it to the Krouman.

'Ma.s.sa Francisco,' whispered Pompey, 'Pompey say--all Kroumen say--suppose they run away, you go too? Pompey say--all Kroumen say--suppose they try to kill you? Nebber kill you while one Krouman alive.'

The negro then gently pushed Francis...o...b..ck with his hand, as if not wis.h.i.+ng to hear his answer, and hastened forward on the berth deck.

CHAPTER VIII

THE ATTACK

In the meantime, the sea-breeze had risen in the offing, and was sweeping along the surface to where the schooner was at anchor. The captain ordered a man to the cross-trees, directing him to keep a good look-out, while he walked the deck in company with his first mate.

'She may not have sailed until a day or two later,' said the captain, continuing the conversation; 'I have made allowance for that, and depend upon it, as she makes the eastern pa.s.sage, we must soon fall in with her; if she does not heave in sight this evening by daylight, I shall stretch out in the offing; I know the Portuguese well. The sea-breeze has caught our craft; let them run up the inner jib, and see that she does not foul her anchor.'

It was now late in the afternoon, and dinner had been sent into the cabin; the captain descended, and took his seat at the table with Francisco, who ate in silence. Once or twice the captain, whose wrath had subsided, and whose kindly feelings towards Francisco, checked for a time, had returned with greater force, tried, but in vain, to rally him into conversation, when '_Sail ho!_' was shouted from the mast-head.

'There she is, by G--d!' cried the captain, jumping from, and then, as if checking himself, immediately resuming, his seat.