The Log of a Privateersman

by Harry Collingwood

  CHAPTER TWENTY TWO.

  HOARD COMMUNICATES TO ME SOME VERY IMPORTANT INFORMATION.

  This, too, was a very substantial and handsomely made piece offurniture, the material being Spanish mahogany. But, unlike thewriting-table, all its drawers were unlocked; and, opening them oneafter the other, I found them to be full of apparel: shirts of finestlinen, silk stockings, a brand-new suit of uniform, coats, breeches--inshort everything necessary to complete the toilet of a man in the verypink of fashion. And, hanging by its belt from one of several brasshooks screwed to the bulkhead, I saw a very handsome sword with a goldhilt. This I took down and examined, drawing the weapon from its sheathto do so. The blade proved to be of Toledo make, a magnificent piece ofsteel, so elastic that by exerting a considerable amount of strength Isucceeded in bringing the point and hilt together, and when I releasedit, the blade at once straightened itself out again as perfectly asbefore my experiment. The steel was elaborately damascened with a mostbeautiful and intricate pattern in gold, and altogether the weapon soirresistibly took my fancy that I unhesitatingly appropriated itforthwith. The shirts and stockings, too, and a few other articles ofclothing that looked as if they would fit me, promised to make a verywelcome addition to my rather meagre wardrobe; so I made them up into agood-sized bundle for transference to the schooner.

  By the time that this was done the boat was alongside again, with thecarpenter; and presently that individual came clawing his way below withhis tools. I showed him what I wanted done, and he immediately set towork; but so substantially put together was the table, and so strong andintricate the locks appertaining to it, that the man was compelled tovirtually take the whole affair to pieces before we could get at itscontents. But the trouble was amply worth the taking; for I found thedespatches, locked in an iron box and sealed with the great seal of theGovernor of Cartagena, together with several other important-lookingdocuments which subsequently proved to be of the utmost value. In fact,as my knowledge of Spanish was altogether too imperfect to admit of mydetermining what papers were valuable and what were valueless, I tookevery one that I could find.

  This was not all, however. There were five Orders--what they were Iknew not, but they were handsome enough, being elaborately set withsuperb jewels, to show that the late captain of the _Magdalena_ was aman of _very_ considerable distinction. Also a magnificent pair oflong-barrelled pistols, the barrels of which were damascened like thesword. And last, but not least, an oaken casket, strongly bound withheavy, handsomely-worked iron clamps and hinges, also sealed with theseal of the Governor of Cartagena, and which, upon being broken open,was found to contain a quantity of uncut gems, among which I recognisedsome rubies of extraordinary size and fire. All these valuables,needless to say, I unhesitatingly appropriated, for the twofold reasonthat if I did not they would certainly go to the bottom of the sea whenthe ship broke up, as she probably would in a few days; and in the nextplace, they were spoils of the enemy, to which we of the _Sword Fish_had as valid a title as anybody.

  Having at length thoroughly ransacked the captain's cabin, I proceededto overhaul the rest of the ship, devoting, indeed, practically thewhole day to the work; but nothing else was found worthy of mention,except a chest containing a thousand gold Spanish dollars, in what Itook to be the purser's room. And as for the rest of the ship,everywhere forward of the stump of the mainmast, she was so strained andbattered as to be nothing better than a basket, the water washing in andout of her as she lay. We removed from the wreck the dollars, thecasket of gems, and the few other matters that seemed to be worthtaking, and still had daylight enough left to find our way out throughthe northern channel. Sunset, that night, therefore, found us once moreat sea, and heading for Jamaica, I having determined to place thedespatches and other documents, found on board the wreck, in theAdmiral's hands without loss of time. The trade-wind was again blowing,and blowing strong, too, so that, by carrying on, night and day, we madethe passage in exactly three days, almost to a minute, from the Roccas;and I had the satisfaction of handing the despatches to the Admiral thatsame night. The jolly old fellow was at dinner when I presented myself,and was entertaining a number of officers, naval and military; but uponmy name being announced he at once ordered me to be admitted anddirected a knife and fork to be placed on the table for me. He receivedme with much cordiality, and also introduced me to his guests; but Icould see that my presence was deemed an intrusion by most of them, thenaval men especially, who were not only jealous of privateersmen, butwere also very much inclined to look down upon us as inferior beings tothemselves. There were one or two exceptions, however, notably theHonourable Augustus Montague and his first lieutenant, both of thefrigate _Calypso_, then in port; the former a most amiable and genialyoung officer, with no nonsense at all about him, while his lieutenant,Mr Birdwood, was as fine a fellow in every way as I had ever met. TheAdmiral thanked me most warmly for the despatches, which he handed overat once to his secretary for translation; and I had the intensesatisfaction of learning, before I left the Pen that night, that thedocuments were deemed of sufficient importance to justify theirimmediate despatch to England by a frigate. The Admiral was kind enoughto invite me to sleep at the Pen; but I excused myself, the fact beingthat the schooner's rigging needed overhauling, and her supply of storesand water required replenishing. I therefore slept in Kingston thatnight; and having arranged, the first thing next morning, for the supplyof the stores and water, I went aboard to give orders to send downtopmasts and have the rigging lifted. But an interview with Hoard, theman that we had taken off the wreck of the Spanish frigate, suddenlyaltered all my plans.

  The way that it came about was this. I reached the schooner about teno'clock in the morning, and at once gave my orders to Mr Saunders, whoforthwith set all hands to work. I then went below to my cabin to writesome letters home, to be forwarded by the frigate that was to take theSpanish despatches; and whilst I was thus engaged a timid, hesitatingknock came to the door.

  "Come in!" shouted I; and forthwith entered the man Hoard, carefullyclosing the door behind him.

  "Beg pardon, Cap'n Bowen, for interrupting you," he began; "but there'sa matter that I should like to speak to you about, if I ain't making toobold."

  "Not at all, Hoard," I answered. "But is the matter important? Won'tit wait? You see I am very busy just now, but I can give you as long asyou like this afternoon."

  "Well, sir," answered the man, fidgeting uneasily with his cap, "it'sfor you to say whether it's important or not. It's about a galleonthat's loading at Cartagena for Spain; and, understandin' that thisschooner is a privateer, I thought that maybe you'd like to have a tryfor her, and if so, sir, I'd advise you--beggin' pardon for bein' sobold--not to start so much as a rope-yarn of this vessel's rigging, ormayhap you'll be too late for the galleon."

  "By George, man," exclaimed I, "this is important news indeed! Why inthe world did you not speak to me about it before?"

  "Well, sir," he answered, "you see, the way of it is this. Five yearsago I belonged to the brig, _Mary Rose_, of Plymouth. She was a slaver;and in one of our runs across to the Coast she caught fire, and burnt usout of her. We took to the boats, and two days afterwards the boat thatI was in, bein' separated from the others in a strong breeze, was pickedup by a Spanish ship called the _San Sebastian_, and we were taken on toCartagena. We were a wild set, I can tell you, and perhaps I was thewildest and wickedest of the lot; and we offended the Spaniards becausewe scoffed and laughed at 'em for plumpin' down on their marrow-bonesand prayin', in a stiffish gale that we fell in with, instead of goin'to work to shorten sail, and take care of the ship. Me and my mates didthat for 'em while they prayed; but we'd offended 'em mortally, and theynever forgave us. So the first thing that they does, when we arrived atCartagena, was to denounce us as heretics, and we was all clapped intoprison. What happened to my mates I never knowed, but I never saw anyof 'em again. But as for me, if you'll believe me, sir, the five yearsthat I've been in the hands of
the Spaniards I've been in hell! Theywanted to convert me, so they said; and the way that they went about it,was to make my life a burden to me. They put me to work in chains onthe roads; they sent me into the country, away from the coast, to workin their mines; they even tortured me! If you'll believe me, Cap'nBowen," and I saw the poor fellow's eyes grow wild, and begin to blazeas he spoke of his sufferings, "for four years I never had the chainsoff my hands and legs, except when I was bein' tortured!

  "But there," he continued, pulling himself together, "I didn't come downinto this cabin to tell you about my sufferin's; but I will tell you,sir, that by God's mercy those same sufferin's did convert me, not thesort of conversion that the Spaniards wanted to bring about, but theconversion that, I humbly trust, has caused me to see and repent of myformer wicked life. Not but what the old Adam is strong in me yet attimes, sir, I won't deny it, and he's never stronger than when I thinkof the wrongs and the sufferin's that I've endured at the Spaniards'hands. And it was just that, and nothin' else, that's kept my lipsclosed all this while about the galleon. We are told, sir, that we mustforgive our enemies, and return good for evil; and that's exactly whatI've been trying to do, ever since I set foot aboard of this schooner.As soon as ever I came to myself, and was able to understand that I'descaped from my enemies, and was once more safe under the flag of dearold England, the devil comes to me, and says:--

  "`Now's your time, Isaac, to be revenged upon your enemies, and to pay'em off for a little of the misery that they've been makin' you sufferall them five years that they had you in their power. You know thatthey're goin' to send away this galleon, hopin' that by keepin' well tothe south'ard she'll escape capture. You know, too, that her cargo's tobe a rich one, and that, over and above her cargo she's to ship anastonishin' quantity of gold and precious stones, brought down to thecoast from Peru; and of course you know that Cap'n Bowen and his lads'ud lay wait for her, and maybe get her, if you was to tell 'em abouther. And if they was to get her, only think what a blow the loss of her'd be to the Spaniards! Why, it 'ud be so tremendous heavy that it 'udgo a good ways towards payin' 'em off for all that they've made yousuffer. It 'ud be a fine bit of revenge, now, wouldn't it?'

  "Now, I know well enough that this cravin' for revenge is wrong, andI've been fightin' against it with all my strength. But, somehow oranother, it won't do, Cap'n! it won't do! The temptation is too greatfor me, miserable sinner that I am!" He smote his forehead despairinglywith his hand. "I feel that I _can't_ keep quiet and let that galleonslip by! That gold and them jewels that she's goin' to ship has beendragged out of God's earth by God's creatures with sufferin', and tears,and blood more than any man can measure; and I say that it ain't rightthat the Spaniards should have it. If all this heap of treasure was toget safely across the Atlantic, and into the Spaniards' treasure-chests,it would just encourage 'em to strive for more; and then there would bemore tears, more blood, more despair, more lives rendered a burden and acurse to their owners. But if all this treasure that they keeps sendin'across to Old Spain was to be taken from 'em, then, perhaps, they'dcease to collect it; and the poor, unhappy wretches who're made to digfor it would have some peace. And above and beyond all that, I want thecowardly curs to suffer, in return for all the sufferin' that they'veinflicted upon me and thousands that are a good deal better than me.They love wealth. Then make 'em suffer, by takin' it from 'em. Andthey love their lives. Make 'em suffer all the horrors of death, bygoin' against 'em with fire and steel! Let 'em know the pain, andhorror, and despair of feelin' that they're not only goin' to lose theirtreasure, but that they stand a good chance to lose their lives as well.And, above all, Cap'n, let me be there to witness their anguish. Theytaunted me, and gloated over me when they'd made my misery such that Ibegged 'em to finish me off at once, and have done with it; and now Iwant to pay off some of my debt to 'em, I do."

  It was really terrible to witness the frenzy of passion and fury intowhich this unhappy man goaded himself, as he recalled his pastsufferings, and spoke of those who had made him endure them. His eyesgleamed and flashed like those of a savage beast; his face went deadlypale; his lips contracted into a snarl that showed his clenched teeth;he actually foamed from the mouth at last, and his hands clawed the air,as though he saw the Spaniards before him, and was reaching for theirthroats! I thought it my duty to check so maniacal an intensity ofhatred, and I said to him:

  "Come, come, Hoard, this will never do! I understood you to say, justnow, that you had been converted from the error of your ways, and hadbecome a Christian. Do you call it Christian-like to hate with suchintensity as you exhibit? The Bible says that we should love ourenemies, bless those who curse us, and do good to those who despitefullyuse us. How do you reconcile your present feelings with such aninjunction as that?"

  "Ah!" he groaned, sinking back upon the locker from which he had risenin his excitement; "you have me there, sir; I can't reconcile it; that'sjust where it is. I can't forgive my enemies, nor I can't love 'em; andI can't bring myself to do good to 'em. No; I've tried, I've kept mylips closed, I've prayed, I've done all that a man can do, and it's nogood; I shall never be able to rest until I've seen them cruel, haughty,overbearin' wretches brought low. They're the enemies of God and man,because they drive poor, weak souls to curse their Maker for permittin'such cruelty. I've done it myself, over and over again! the good Lordforgive me! No, sir, it ain't in man's power to forgive a Spaniardwho's got you into his power, and I can't believe that such animpossibility is expected of us. I don't believe that the passage youquoted just now was ever meant to apply to Spaniards at all!"

  "Well," said I, "I am afraid that such a question is altogether toodifficult a one for me to argue with you; you had better see aclergyman, and discuss the whole matter with him. But we have wanderedsomewhat from our original subject, which was the galleon. What morecan you tell me about her? When is she to sail?"

  "It was said," answered Hoard, "that she was to sail exactly a fortnightafter the _Magdalena_. That's why I've made so bold as to come down andtell you about it now. If you start to overhaul your rigging, I'mafraid that you'll not be ready in time to catch her. She is a bigship, sir; close upon sixteen hundred tons, I should call her, and Iought to know; for the _Magdalena_ laid within a cable's length of herfor more than a week. She is heavily armed, too; mounts twenty-eighteighteen-pound carronades; and carries on her books a complement ofclose upon two hundred men. Her name is _Nostra Senora del Carmen_."

  "Ah!" answered I musingly; "then she is likely to prove a pretty toughcustomer!"

  "Not too tough for this schooner and her crew, sir," exclaimed Hoardeagerly. "Why, sir, one Englishman is equal to six Spaniards, any day;and as to her guns, a little management will keep the schooner out ofthe way of their shot. Besides, sir, I don't suppose you'd engage herin a regular `hammer and tongs' fight? The proper way 'll be to let herpass ahead, and then run alongside, and carry her by boardin'! She'llbe but a slow ship, from the looks of her. For the Lord's sake," hecontinued anxiously, "don't go to say or to think that she's too big foryou! Or, if you think that she is, get a man-o'-war to help you!You've only to repeat in the proper quarter what I've told you, andyou'll be certain to get all the help you want--"

  "No doubt," interrupted I drily; "but if I undertake the matter at all,I will undertake it single-handed. Meanwhile, it is so well worthconsideration that I will countermand my orders for overhauling therigging; so, if you have nothing more to tell me at present, Hoard, justask the mate to step below, will you?"

  "Ay, that will I, most gladly, sir," answered Hoard. "And I'm quitesure, Cap'n Bowen," he continued, pausing with his hand upon the handleof the door, "that when you've had time to think about the matter,you'll make up your mind to have a try for the _Senora_."

  With which he turned and left the cabin, and presently, in obedience tomy message, Saunders came down. I gave him my instructions, and thenproceeded with my letters, which I had to considerably abbreviate inconseque
nce of the rather heavy demand that Hoard had made upon my time.However, I got them finished in time for the _Calypso_--which was thevessel selected by the Admiral for the conveyance of the Spanishdespatches to England--and had the satisfaction of placing them in thehands of the Honourable Augustus Montague himself, and of receiving hisassurance that he would undertake to forward them to their destinationupon his arrival home.

  During the afternoon a boat came alongside the schooner with a note fromthe Admiral, inviting me to dine with him that evening, the invitationbeing accentuated by the statement that he had some news of importancefor me. I despatched an acceptance by the boat that had brought theinformation, and in due time once more found myself within thehospitable portals of the Pen. As usual, the room was full of guests,but after dinner my host found an opportunity to invite me into hisoffice for a short time, when I learned that the important news referredto in his note of invitation consisted simply of some intelligence,gleaned from the Spanish documents taken by me out of the wreck of the_Magdalena_, confirming Hoard's story of the galleon.

  "I have told you this for a twofold reason," said the Admiral, when hehad read out from his translation the extracts relating to the galleon."In the first place, I am, as usual, without a ship upon which I can laymy hands; the departure of the _Calypso_ to-day depriving me of the onlyvessel I had in a fit state to go to sea. And, in the next place, asyou brought me this news I think it only right that you should be theone to profit by it. So there you are, and, if you will take my advice,you will not remain in port a single hour longer than is absolutelynecessary, or you may miss her; and, if what these papers state betrue--as I have no doubt it is--she is a ship worth taking a good dealof trouble to find."

  I thanked the Admiral for his information, but deemed it best to let himunderstand that I was indebted to him only for details, and shortlyafterwards took my leave, having suddenly made up my mind to sail thatsame night, if I found that the stores and water had been sent aboardthat afternoon, as promised.

  I reached the schooner about half-past ten o'clock, and found all handsexcepting the mate turned in. Saunders was considerably surprised tosee me, as he did not expect me aboard that night; but, upon myquestioning him with regard to the stores and water, he informed me thatboth had come alongside almost immediately after my departure forKingston. There was consequently no reason why we should delay anothermoment; and within half an hour we had got up our anchor and werebowling away to the southward and westward before the land breeze.Before daylight the high land of Jamaica had sunk beneath the horizon,and we had caught the trade-wind.

  It now became necessary for me to form some sort of a plan ofoperations; and for this purpose I determined to consult with Hoard. Assoon, therefore, as I had secured my sights for the longitude, afterbreakfast, I sent for him, and he came down into the cabin.

  "I have sent for you, Hoard," said I, "because, as no doubt you alreadyguess, I have made up my mind to have a try for the galleon; and as Iunderstood you to say that you had spent some time ashore, at or nearCartagena, it occurs to me that you may be able to furnish me with somevaluable information. And I want to ask you, first, whether, while youwere in Cartagena harbour, you heard anything said that might lead youto suppose the Spaniards deem it so far possible that the news of thegalleon may have spread far enough to lead to her captain taking extraprecautions against capture by steering a course right out to sea,instead of making the best of his way to the eastward along the land, asfar as, say, Point Gallinas?"

  "I think, Cap'n, I understand what's in your thoughts," answered theman. "No, sir; I never heard anything that 'ud seemed to point to theirimaginin' that any news of the ship 'ud be likely to get to an enemy'sears. At the same time, I don't doubt, from what was rumoured about theamount of the treasure that she's to ship, that her skipper'll doeverything his wit 'll teach him to keep out of the road of our cruisersand privateers. That, however, ain't very valuable information to giveyou, because you'll have guessed as much as that yourself. And I'mafraid that I ain't able to tell you any more--except this: that it'llnever do for this schooner to be seen dodgin' about anywheres nearCartagena. If she was seen once I don't suppose any harm would come ofit, especially if she happened to be under a fairish amount of canvas,because it 'ud probably be supposed that she was bound south to the Gulfof Darien. But if she should happen to be seen twice, it 'ud be all upwith us, for a time, at least; they'd be pretty sure to delay hersailin' and send something out to watch us. And as to cuttin' her out,Cap'n, I'm afraid it couldn't be done. Besides, it 'ud be no use to tryit unless all the treasure was aboard; and I don't suppose they'll shipthat until her hatches are on, and she's all ready for sea, so that shecan up anchor and make a start directly the last ingot's hoisted in."

  "Quite so," I assented; "that will no doubt be their mode of procedure.But, on the other hand, she may be all ready for sea, even to having allthe treasure on board, and yet not sail for a day or two. Because it isquite clear to me that, for some reason or other, they believe thisgalleon to have a very fair prospect of safely reaching her destination,or they would keep her back until they could send her home under convoy.Now, if they entertain such a belief as that, it seems to me highlyprobable that some of their big officials will embrace so apparentlysafe an opportunity to take a passage home in her, and they might not beready quite so soon as the ship. Now, if that should happen, what is toprevent our cutting her out?"

  "Do you happen to know what Cartagena harbour is like, sir?" inquiredHoard, beginning his answer to my question by asking another.

  "No," said I. "I have never been near it; nor have I ever seen a chartof it."

  "Of course you haven't, sir," answered my companion; "for the simplereason that the Spaniards won't let a chart of it be made, for fear thatit should get into an enemy's hands. But I can tell you what it's like,sir. It is about eight miles long, with a width varyin' from four milesdown to about one and a half. It is completely landlocked by the islandof Tierra Bomba, that forms the seaward face of it, and there's only onechannel, called the Boca Chica, about half a cable's length wide, bywhich a ship can get in or out. And just abreast the narrowest part ofthis here channel there's a battery, called the San Fernando Battery,mounting twelve sixty-eight pounders. So, you see, sir, that cuttin' aship out of Cartagena harbour ain't to be thought of."

  "Are there any other forts or batteries anywhere along the shores of theharbour?" asked I, my thoughts flitting back to our exploit atAbervrach.

  "No, sir," answered Hoard, in surprise at my question. "But you'd findthe San Fernando more than enough, if you was to try to get in. They'realways on the watch, whenever there's a craft headin' for the harbour;and they won't let her pass until the port cap'n have been off to her,and is satisfied that she's all right."

  "Well," said I, "I must have some clearer information than you have beenable to give me. I must ascertain the precise date fixed for thesailing of the galleon; and I must have a look at Cartagena harbour, sothat I may be able to judge for myself what will be the best mode ofaction. Now, how is this to be done?"

  "Oh, sir," answered Hoard, "so far as getting news is concerned, I'llundertake to do that for you. I speak Spanish like a native, andcontrived to make a friend or two here and there among the fishermen andporters and people of that class, in spite of the priests and thesoldiers. There's one man in particular, named Panza--I took the blameof something that he did one day, when he was a fellow-prisoner, and wasflogged instead of him, he being at the time a'most dead with fever,he's a fisherman, and lives in the little village of Albornos, some fourmiles out of Cartagena; he'll do anything for me. He don't know--nobodyexceptin' the prison authorities knows--that I was shipped off aboardthe _Magdalena_; so all I've got to do is to get ashore and make my wayto his hut, tellin' him that I've escaped from prison--which God knowsis the truth,--and he'll hide me as long as I like to stay with him, andtell me all the news into the bargain."

  "Well, perhaps that might b
e managed--if you are not afraid to ventureback among your enemies," said I.

  "Lord bless you, sir, I ain't afraid! not a bit of it," answered Hoard."The priests and soldiers believes me to be aboard the _Magdalena_; so,as long as I keeps out of their sight--which I'll take precious goodcare to do--I shall be all right."

  "Very well, then," said I; "we can settle the details of your schemelater on. The next question is: How am I to get a view of Cartagenaharbour?"

  "Ah, sir! that'll be a very difficult and dangerous matter," was thereply. "And yet," he continued correcting himself, "I don't know butwhat it may be done without so very much risk a'ter all, if the weatheris but favourable. But the only way that you could do it would be toland durin' the night on Tierra Bomba, and remain on the island all day,viewin' the harbour from the top of a hill that stands pretty nearly inthe centre of the island. You'd have to conceal yourself among thebushes; and as there are very few people movin' about on the islandyou'd not be so very likely to be seen. Then the boat 'ud have to comeashore for you next night; and the schooner 'ud have to be kept well inthe offing during the daytime."

  "Should I be able to obtain a good, uninterrupted view of the harbourfrom the point you name?" I demanded.

  "First-rate, sir; couldn't be better," answered Hoard. "The harbour 'udbe spread out like a map below ye, and you'd see from one end to t'otherof it; ay, and you'd see the galleon herself, lying in the small innerharbour."

  "Then I'll risk it," exclaimed I decisively. "There is a new mooncoming on in about a week's time, so that the nights will be dark, andtherefore favourable to our adventure. Thank you, Hoard; that is all Iwant with you now. I will have another chat with you when we reach thecoast."