CHAPTER SEVENTEEN.
AN EXCITING DISCOVERY--THE COVE WINS A NAME.
The next morning, at breakfast, Walter proposed that he and HarryHigginson should, after school, go down to the neck and shoot ducks, forClump had reported that he had seen several flying over the cape. Oursalt tute was at the table, and Harry, in reply, turned to him andsaid--
"Captain, won't you take my gun this afternoon and go with Walter in myplace? Bob and I have a little secret service to attend to, which can'tbe postponed; so will you shoot the ducks for me?"
"No, Harry," the Captain replied, "I shall not think of shooting here,where we have the hunter of the Ottawa--the companion of Ollabearqui,the slayer of moose and panther-cats--ha! ha! Eh, Mr Clare?"
"Well, Captain Mugford, I will accept your kind offer, as I should likevery much to have a few hours' shooting with Walter. I shall try it;but a fowling-piece and birds on the wing are different things from arifle and running game as large as those I used to practise on, and Iimagine that Walter will not commend me as the Indian did," was MrClare's answer.
After the morning lessons and dinner were over, Harry and I stole offtogether to make an investigation of last night's mystery. We took ourway to the cove, which was soon to win a name. Although butthree-quarters of a mile from our house, that part of the cape about thecove was the roughest and most inaccessible quarter in our possessions.I do not know that any of us ever climbed down to the water therebefore. The attractions in every other direction of fishing, bathing,shooting, and boating were so numerous that we had not carried ourexplorations in that direction. You may possibly remember there areplaces, sometimes within little more than a stone's-throw of your house,with which you never think of making acquaintance. Just such a placewas the cove. It did not invite us particularly. It was not on theroute of any of our pleasure expeditions, and, as I have said, therewere points of interest in every other direction. But just above thecove was a high knob-shaped piece of grass and shrubs, dotted with manyslabs of sharp stones that stood up like tombstones, and made the knolllook so much like a grave yard that we used to call it "our cemetery."There the sheep liked to feed just before night. It was a favouritespot, where they often came for their evening bite.
We crossed that, and commenced a scramble down a jagged, rocky declivityalmost perpendicular. It reminded us of the cliffs in the islands ofOrkney and Shetland, pictures of which, with the men suspended by ropesgetting eggs from the nests that fill the crevices, have interestedevery boy in his geography book. With bruised hands and knees, andrather tattered trousers, we reached a ledge just above the high-tidemark. The cove was a perfect harbour. A boat there would be defendedfrom every gale but a south-wester, and partly from that, whilst itwould also be completely hidden unless from a boat right off theentrance of the cove, or unless some one peered over the dangerous cliffabove; and what would one think of looking for in there? But we foundenough to excite our astonishment. First there were a strand of ropeand an oar on the narrow ledge, which we followed a couple of yards, andthen saw an opening between two immense strata of stone. We looked in,and a ray of light that came through the fissure at the other extremityshowed us a number of kegs, several bales of goods, sails, numerouscoils of rope, and various other articles. We climbed in, and foundalso a rusty flintlock musket, standing between two barrels. If not asmuch frightened, we were as much astonished as Robinson Crusoe, when hediscovered in the sand the print of a human foot.
As hastily as the difficulties would allow, we climbed up the rocks, andhurried towards the house, talking eagerly with each other while we ranas to what those kegs and bales might contain. Had they been hiddenthere by smugglers, or by whom? Were they now our property? What wasto be the result?
Out of breath we reached the house, to find for our audience onlyCaptain Mugford. He was reading in the sitting-room, and put down hisbook to hear our exciting revelation. When we had told him all, heasked us not to go to the cove again, until Mr Clare and he had hadtime to act on the information we had given, and told us to caution theother boys in the same way if we met them before he did. "And now,"said he, "I will go out and meet Mr Clare and Walter--down on the neck,are they not? I have no doubt that the cave is the storehouse ofsmugglers."
"Smugglers!" we exclaimed.
"Yes," he answered, pulling on the pea-jacket that always came off inthe house, and stowing his pipe in the breast-pocket. "Yes, smugglers,good-for-nothing scoundrels! who enjoy the good laws of the country, andall the advantages which a settled Government and establishedinstitutions give them, and yet play all sorts of tricks to avoid payingthe required taxes to support that Government; while they do their bestto prevent honest, straightforward-dealing traders from gaining alivelihood. Then, see to what an expense they put the country to keepup an army of coastguard men and a fleet of revenue vessels. There'sthe _Hind_ sloop of war, with a crew of a hundred and twenty men, andsome fifty cutters, large and small, with crews of from fifteen to fortymen, on this south coast alone. If it wasn't for these idle rascals ofsmugglers, these men might be manning England's fleets, or navigatingher merchantmen to bring back to her shores the wealth which makes hergreat and powerful. People talk of the Government paying for all this.Silly dolts that they are! It is not the Government pays; it is theywho pay out of their own pockets; and when they encourage smugglers,which they too often do, they are just increasing the amount of theirown taxes; and if they don't feel the increase much themselves, they arecheating their neighbours, though they have the impudence to callthemselves honest men. I have no patience with those who encouragesmugglers, and would transport every smuggler who is caught to BotanyBay, and still think the fate too good for him."
Having thus delivered himself, our worthy nautical instructor strode outto meet our fresh tute.
We took the news to Clump and Juno, who received it in mingled terrorand amazement; and then we ran to find Drake and Alf, and pour it out tothem.
Well, we had frequently heard about the doings of smugglers, but to havethem burrowing on our cape, and be in a plot for their overthrow, werebetter than volumes of "Flying Dutchmen," "Pirates of the Gulf,""Gulliver's Travels," "Roderick Randoms," or even possibly of "RobinsonCrusoes," and all other such made-up stories. Here they were fresh; wehad watched their boat the night before; we had just come from theircave; and there was plenty ahead to imagine.
"Hurrah for our cape!" said Harry; "was there ever a jollier place forfun?"
Those days were palmy times for smugglers. High duties, in order toraise a revenue for carrying on the wars in which England had beenengaged, had been placed on nearly all foreign articles. Wines,spirits, tobacco, silks, laces, ribbons, and indeed a vast number ofother manufactures, were taxed more than cent per cent on their value,and some, if I recollect rightly, two or three hundred per cent. Infact, the high duties acted as an encouragement to smugglers, foreignersas well as Englishmen, and the whole coast swarmed with their luggersand other craft. Sometimes large armed cutters were employed, and theirbold crews did not hesitate to defend themselves if attacked by revenuevessels, and sometimes came off the victors. The most disgracefulcircumstance connected with these transactions was, that there werelarge mercantile houses in London who in some instances actuallyemployed the smugglers, and in others gave them direct encouragement byreceiving the silks and ribbons and laces, and other goods of thatdescription, and disposing of them openly as if they had paid duty.Here, were men of wealth, and intelligence, and education, for the lustof gain inducing their fellow-men to commit a serious crime. They hadrelays of fleet horses, with light carts and wagons, running regularlyto the coast, in which the smuggled goods were conveyed up to London.They bribed, when they could, the revenue men, and they had spies inevery direction to give notice of the approach of those whom they couldnot bribe. They had lookout men on the watch for the approach of anexpected smuggling vessel, and spots-men to select he best place onwhich she could run her cargo. They had als
o large parties on thebeach, frequently strongly armed, to assist in landing the goods and tocarry them up to the carts, or to the caves and other hiding-places,where they were stored when the carts were not in readiness. Everystratagem and other device was employed to draw the revenue men andmilitary away from the spot where it was proposed to run a cargo.Sometimes a few goods, or bales of rubbish to look like goods, werelanded in a particular spot, and allowed to fall into the hands of thecoast guard, while the real cargo was being landed some miles away andrapidly conveyed up to London. When hard-pressed by a revenue vessel,if of a force too great to render fighting hopeless, the smuggling craftwould throw the whole of her cargo overboard, so that when overtakennothing contraband might be found in her. When the smugglers' cargoconsisted of spirits, under such circumstances the casks, heavilyweighted, were frequently, when in sight of land, dropped overboard, thelandmarks on the shore being carefully taken. Thus the smuggler couldreturn, when not watched, and regain her cargo. Sometimes the keen-eyedrevenue officers had observed her proceedings when letting go the kegs,and on her return they could no longer be found. Sometimes thehard-pressed smuggler had not time to sink her cargo, and the kegs,still floating, were made prizes of by the cutter. At other times theywere captured when on the point of being landed, or when actuallylanded, and it was on these occasions that the fiercest battles tookplace between the smugglers, aided by their numerous coadjutors onshore, and the revenue officers. If the lives of any of the revenueofficers were lost during these encounters, the smugglers who were seento have fired, when captured, were hung, while the less criminal in theeye of the law were transported, or imprisoned, or sent to serve onboard men-of-war. It is scarcely too much to say that a large portionof the coast population of England was engaged in this illicit traffic.It bred also a great amount of ill-feeling between them and the coastguard, whom they endeavoured to mislead, annoy, and injure by everymeans in their power. Our worthy salt tutor had friends among therevenue officers, with whom he sided strongly; indeed, his natural goodsense and right feeling would have prevented him from supporting a classof men who were so clearly acting against the laws of the country andall rules of right and justice.
Our tutors that evening held a consultation on board the brig, anddecided that it was their duty to go over the next morning to inform thecommander of the coast guard of the discovery Harry and I had made, andto let him take the steps which he might consider necessary. We two, ofcourse, for the time became perfect heroes of romance, and could talk ofnothing else during the evening but of smugglers and smugglingadventures. Captain Mugford possessed a large amount of lore on thatsubject, some of which he produced, much to our edification. He gave usan account of the fight between the _Peggy_ smuggling lugger and the_Bramble_ King's cutter. Three men were killed and five wounded onboard the revenue cruiser, and a still greater number of smugglers losttheir lives, though the lugger escaped on that occasion. She was,however, afterwards fallen in with by the very same cutter, when thesmugglers showed fight at first; but so fiercely were they attacked bythe brave commander of the cutter, that, their consciences makingcowards of them, they yielded after a short struggle. It would havebeen difficult to convict the crew then on board of the murder of thecutter's people on the previous occasion, had not one of their numberturned king's evidence. The captain and mate and two other men wereaccordingly hung, and the rest transported; but this summary mode ofproceeding in no way put a stop to smuggling. The profits were toolarge, the temptations too great, to allow even the risk of being hungor transported to interfere with the traffic.
One story led to another, and at length our skipper came out with onewhich was voted, by general acclamation, to be superior to all theothers. I cannot pretend to give it in old Mugford's language, so Ipresent it in my own, keeping, however, closely to the facts henarrated. He called his tale:
"JAN JOHNSON, THE SMUGGLER."
Some forty years ago, ay, more than that, I belonged for a few months toa revenue cruiser, on board which I volunteered, soon after my returnfrom my second voyage, I think it was, or about that time. The cutterwas stationed off this coast, and a hard life we had of it, for in thosedays the smuggling craft were large armed vessels, full of desperatemen, who, when they could not outsail, more than once beat off thecruisers of the king. Among the most daring of his class was a fellowcalled Jan Johnson, though from having at different times many othernames, it was difficult from them to determine to what nation hebelonged; indeed, it was suspected that he was an Englishman born onthis very coast, with every inch of which he was intimately acquainted.
He seemed to take absolute delight in setting at defiance all laws ofGod and man, and, among many other acts of atrocity, he was stronglysuspected of the murder of a revenue officer. The officer had, itappears, been the means of taking a valuable cargo of goods belonging toJohnson, who some time after encountered him, when in discharge of hisduty, near this place. It is supposed that the smuggler had attackedthe unfortunate man, and, being by far the more powerful of the two, hadgrappled with him, and, plunging a long knife into his bosom, had thrownhim over the cliffs. The next morning the body was discovered abovehigh-water mark, with a knife known to belong to Johnson close to it,and on the top of the cliffs were seen the impressions of men's feet, asif engaged in a fierce struggle. A handkerchief, similar to one thesmuggler had been observed to wear, was found in the dead man's grasp,and at a late hour of the night he had been met without one round histhroat. A reward was therefore offered for his apprehension, butnotwithstanding the sharp lookout we kept for his craft at sea, and thevigilance of the revenue people on shore, he had hitherto escapedcapture.
He commanded at this time a large lugger, called the _Polly_, afast-sailing boat, which could almost eat into the wind's eye, and whengoing free nothing could hope to come up with her; so that our onlychance of capturing her was to jam her in with the shore, or to findourselves near her in a calm, when we might get alongside her in ourboats.
So daring was the smuggler that, though he well knew his life was atstake, he still continued to carry on his free trade with the coast,where he had many friends; yet, notwithstanding that his vessel wasconstantly seen, she was never approached except by those he trusted.
It was towards the end of October--I remember the time well--the dayswere growing shorter, and the night-watches darker and colder, when,after cruising up and down a week or so at sea, in hopes of falling inwith a prize, it came on to blow very hard from the south-west. Ourskipper was not a man to be frightened by a capful of wind, so, settingour storm sails, we stood off shore and faced the gale like men; for, doye see, it is just such weather as this was that the smugglers choose torun across the channel, when they think no one will be on the lookoutfor them. Towards evening, however, it came on to blow harder thanever, so that at last we were obliged to up with the helm, and run forshelter into harbour; but just as we were keeping away, a sea struck thecutter, carried away our stern boat, and stove in one of our quarterboats. In this squall the wind seemed to have worn itself out, forbefore we made the land it suddenly fell, and by daylight a dead calmcame on, followed by a dense fog. Our soundings told us that we werewithin a short distance of the coast, so that our eyes were busilyemployed in trying to get, through the mist, a sight of it, or of anystrange sail which might be in the neighbourhood. At last, for aninstant the fog lifted towards the north, like when the curtain of atheatre is drawn up, exposing close in with the land the white sails ofa lugger, on which, as she rose and fell on the heavy swell remainingafter the storm of the previous night, were now glancing the brightbeams of the morning sun, exposing her thus more clearly to our view.
Before we could bring our glasses to bear, the fog again closed in, butevery eye was turned in that direction to get another sight of her; we,doubtless, from our position, and the greater thickness of the mistround us, remaining hid from her view.
"What think you, Davis? which way shall we have the breeze when it doescom
e?" asked our skipper of the old quartermaster, who was the oracle onsuch occasions.
"Why, sir, I should say, off the land; it looks clearer there away thanit is out here."
As the old man delivered himself of this opinion, he turned his one openeye towards the point he indicated: for, though he had two orbs, andthey were piercers, he never used more than one at a time--we youngstersused to suppose, to give each alternately a rest.
As he spoke, the fog once more opened a little.
"And, what do you say to yonder craft?" continued the skipper.
The old man's right eye surveyed her intently before he answered--
"I thought I knowed her, sir. As sure as we're alive she's the _Polly_,with Jan Johnson on board."
How he arrived at the latter conclusion we did not stop to consider.The words had an electric effect on board.
"You are right, Davis--you are right!" exclaimed our commander; then, ina tone of vexation, "And we have only one boat to chase her. If therecomes a breeze, that fellow will sneak alongshore, and get out of ourway. He calculated on being able to do so when he remained there, andno doubt has information that the revenue boats belonging to the stationare sent off in other directions."
Every glass was now turned towards the direction where the smuggler wasseen; for you must remember the mist quickly again hid her from us. Ourskipper walked over to where the carpenter was employed in putting theboat to rights; but soon saw that there was a good day's work or morebefore she could be made to swim.
"It will never do to let that fellow--escape us!" he exclaimed briskly."Mr Robertson," addressing his senior officer, a passed midshipman--anoldster in every sense of the word I then thought him,--"pipe the gig'screw away, with two extra hands, and let them all be fully armed. Doyou take charge of the ship; and if a breeze gets up, press every stitchof canvas on her, and stand after the lugger. That fellow may give ussome work; and I intend to go myself."
Having given these orders, he dived into his cabin, and quicklyreappeared, with his cocked hat on and his sword by his side.
I belonged to the gig.
The boat was, as you may suppose, quickly ready. The order was given toshove off, and away we pulled, with hearty strokes, in the direction ofthe lugger. The fog for some time favoured our approach towards thespot where we guessed she was to be found, for we could no more see herthan the people on board could us. Never, when roasting in the tropicsunder a burning sun, have I wished more earnestly for a breeze than wenow did that the calm would continue till we could get alongside thelong-looked-for craft. Not a word was spoken above a whisper, though weknew that the splash of our oars in the water would soon betray ourapproach to the sharpened ears of the smugglers, even before they couldsee us. We redoubled, therefore, our efforts to get alongside, when alight air coming off the land much thinned the intervening mist, showingus the _Polly_, with her largest canvas spread to catch the breeze, andnow, as she loomed through the fog, appearing twice her real size, whileher people clearly made us out. In a moment her sails were trimmed, herlong sweeps were run out, and she was moving through the water, thoughnot near so fast as we were pulling.
"Give way, my boys, give way," shouted our skipper, all necessity forsilence being now removed. "Give way, and the lugger is ours."
With a hearty cheer the men bent to their oars and sent the boat flyingthrough the calm blue water, casting aside the light sparkling foamwhich bubbled and hissed round her bows, as the story books aboutseagoing affairs say, such as you youngsters are so fond of reading.Well, the breeze freshened, however, before long, and we found that,though still decreasing our distance from the lugger, we were notgaining on her as fast as when she first made us out. We had, however,got within about a quarter of a mile of her, when we saw a man jump onthe taffrail, and wave his hat at us as if in derision. Even at thatdistance, some of our people declared they recognised him as JanJohnson, whom all of us knew well enough by sight. The next instant askiff was launched from her decks, into which he jumped, and pulled ashard as he could towards the shore, to which he was already nearer thanwe were to him.
Here was a dilemma for our skipper. If we followed the outlaw, hislugger would very likely get away; and if we made chase after her, hewould certainly escape, and she, probably, even if we came up with her,would not be condemned. The thought of the murdered man decided ourcommander, and in a moment the boat's head was turned towards the shorein chase of the skiff. Away we went, as fast as six ash oars in stouthands could send us through the water, while Johnson, still undaunted,continued his course; yet, in spite of his audacity, he well knew thatit was with him a matter of life and death. It was indeed astonishing,when putting forth all his vast strength, how fast he sent along hislight skiff; indeed, we gained but slightly on him in our six-oaredgalley, and we soon saw that he would reach the shore before we couldovertake him.
"Give way, my lads, give way," shouted our skipper, though the men werestraining every nerve to the utmost. "Give way, and we shall soon be upwith him."
Talk of the excitement of a stag-hunt! it is tame in comparison with theinterest men take in the chase of a fellow-creature. There is somethingof the nature of the bloodhound, I suspect, in our composition whichdelights in the pursuit of such noble game. A few minutes more decidedthe point, a cry of vexation escaping us as his boat touched the shore,and, coolly drawing her up on the strand, he was seen to make towardsthe woods.
"Shall I bring him down, sir?" asked the seaman who sat in thesternsheets with a musket, marine fashion, between his knees.
"No, no," was the answer. "We must take the fellow alive; he cannotescape us, if we put our best feet foremost."
Just as our boat's keel grated on the sand, Johnson disappeared amongthe rocks and trees, and we could hear a shout of derisive laughterringing through the wood.
"After him, my boys, after him," shouted our skipper, as we all leapedon shore. "A five-pound note to the man who first gets hold of him."
And, except a youth who was left in charge of the boat, away we allwent, helter-skelter, in the direction the outlaw had taken. He made,it appeared, straight inland, for we could hear his shouts ahead of usas we rushed on, hallooing to each other from among the trees. Not oneof the party seemed inclined to get before the other--not so much thatone was unwilling to deprive the other of the promised reward, but Isuspect that no one was anxious to encounter Johnson singlehanded, wellarmed as of course he was, and desperate as we knew him to be. Ourcommander, being a stout man and short-winded, was soon left far behind,though, as he hurried on, puffing and blowing with the exertion he wasusing, his voice, as long as we could hear him, encouraged us in thepursuit. We had thus made good half a mile or more, when comingsuddenly to the confines of the wood, or copse it might rather becalled, a wide extent of open ground appeared before us, but not a traceof the fugitive could be perceived. Some of the foremost ran on to aspot of high ground near at hand, whence they could see in everydirection, but not a figure was moving in the landscape. In themeantime our skipper came up, and ordered us to turn back and beat aboutthe wood.
We had been thus fruitlessly engaged for some time, when we wererecalled to the shore by a shout from one of our people, and, hasteningdown to the beach, we beheld, to our dismay, our own boat floating someway out in the bay, while Johnson, in his skiff, was pulling towards hislugger, now creeping alongshore out of the reach of the cutter, whichstill lay becalmed in the offing. What was most extraordinary, the ladwho had been left in charge of the boat was nowhere to be seen, and, asfar as we could make out, he was neither in her nor in Johnson's skiff.You may just picture to yourself our rage and disappointment; indeed, Ithought, what from his exertions and excitement, our commander wouldhave been beside himself with vexation. After we had stood for amoment, looking with blank astonishment at each other, he ordered us, ina sharp voice, some to run one way, some another, along the shore, insearch of a boat by which we might get on board our galley, for she wastoo far of
f for anyone to attempt to swim to her. At last, some way on,we discovered, hauled up on the beach, a heavy fishing-boat, which withsome work we managed to launch, and, by means of the bottom boards and afew pieces of plank we found in her, to paddle towards our gig. In ourcourse, we picked up two of our oars which had been thrown overboard,and we were thus able to reach her sooner than we could otherwise havedone. What could have become of our young shipmate? we asked eachother; but not a conjecture could be offered. Johnson could not havecarried him off; he would not have ventured to have injured him, and thelad was not likely to have deserted his post. At last we got alongsidethe gig, and on looking into her we saw Jim Bolton, our young shipmate,stretched along the thwarts, to which he was lashed. At first wethought he was dead; but a second glance showed us that a gag, made outof a thole-pin and a lump of oakum, had been put into his mouth. Onbeing released it was some time before he could speak. He then told usthat he was sitting quietly in the boat, when suddenly a man sprang onhim with a force which knocked him over, and before he could collect hissenses he found himself lashed to the thwarts with a lump in his mouthwhich prevented him crying out, and the boat moving away from the shore,and that was all he knew about the matter.
As Jim Bolton was very much hurt, we placed him in the fishing-boat witha midshipman who volunteered to look after him, and anchored her toawait our return, while we with hearty goodwill pulled away in fullchase of the smuggler. By this time, however, a fresh breeze had comeoff the land, which filled the sails of the lugger just as Johnsonsprang from his boat upon her deck, and before a breath of air hadreached the cutter he had run her far out of sight, winding his wayamong those reefs yonder. Seeing there was no chance of overtaking himin the gig, we pulled on board, and as soon as the uncertain air put thevessel through the water, we made chase in the direction we calculatedthe _Polly_ would take. For some time we cruised up and down over theground where we thought we might fall in with her, but could see nothingof her, and we then returned to take out the midshipman and Jim, and torestore the boat to the fisherman.
We, with several other cruisers, were employed for some weeks in lookingout for Johnson, but neither he nor the _Polly_ was ever again heard ofon this coast.
Ten years passed away, and I belonged to a brig in the West Indies, thatclime of yellow fevers and sugar-canes. In those days the slave-tradeflourished, for, as we had not become philanthropists, we did notinterfere with those whose consciences did not prevent them frombartering for gold their own souls and the blood of theirfellow-creatures. There was, however, a particular craft we wereordered to look after which had made herself amenable to the laws,having gone somewhat out of the usual line of trade, by committingseveral very atrocious acts of piracy. She was commanded, it was said,by an Englishman, a villain of no ordinary cast, who never intentionallyleft alive any of those he plundered to tell the tale of their wrongs.He sailed his vessel, a schooner carrying twelve guns, under Spanishcolours, though of course he hoisted, on occasion, those of any othernation to suit his purpose. We all knew both him and his schooner, forbefore her real character was suspected, we had for some days laidalongside her at the Havanna, and were in consequence selected by theadmiral to look out for her. We had been so employed for several weeks,when, one day towards noon, we made out a sail to the southward, towardswhich we ran down with a light northerly wind. As we neared her, whichwe rapidly did, we saw that she was a lofty ship--a merchantmanevidently--and that she was not only not moving through the waters, butthat her braces were loose, and her yards swinging about in everydirection. Not a soul was looking over her bulwarks when we came withinhail, but the men in the tops sang out that they could see severalpeople lying about the decks either asleep or dead. We ran almostalongside, when I was ordered to board her with one of the gigs. Nevershall I forget the scene which met my sight as I stepped on her decks;they were a complete shambles: a dozen or more men lay about in theafter part of the ship, the blood yet oozing from deep gashes on theirheads and shoulders, not one of them alive; while on the steps of thecompanion-ladder were two women, young and fair they appeared to havebeen, clasped in each other's arms, and both dead.
On descending below, we discovered an old lady and a venerable, oldgentleman on the deck of the state cabin with the marks of pistolbullets in their foreheads, while at the door of an inner cabin lay ablack servant with his head completely twisted round.
I will not mention all the sights of horror we encountered; themurderers seemed to have exerted their ingenuity in disfiguring theirvictims. There were several other dead people below, and at last,searching round the ship, we found stowed away in the forehold a seaman,who, though desperately wounded, still breathed. When brought on deckand a few drops of spirits were poured down his throat, he after sometime came to himself, then told us that they had in the morning beenattacked by a pirate, who, after they had made a desperate resistance,had carried them by boarding, when every soul in the ship was cut downor thrown into the sea except himself; that he, having fallen down thehatchway just before the pirates rushed on board, had stowed himselfaway amongst the cargo, and there after some time had fainted from lossof blood. While he lay there, he could hear the shrieks of hisshipmates and the shouts and execrations of their butchers, heexpecting, every instant, to share the fate of the rest. At last allwas silent, the pirates made an ineffectual attempt to scuttle the ship,but were hurried off, probably, by seeing a sail which they mistook forus, or for some other cruiser.
Scarcely had the unfortunate fellow given this account, when the man atthe mast-head of the brig hailed that there was a sail on the lee bow,and we were ordered forthwith to return on board. We all hoped thatthis might prove the pirate, for we were anxious to punish themiscreants. Taking, therefore, the wounded man with us--for being,thanks to the yellow fever, already short of hands, we were compelled toabandon the ship--we made sail in chase. For some time we carried afresh breeze with us, while the stranger, which we soon made out to be alarge topsail schooner, lay almost becalmed; but before we got herwithin range of our guns the wind also filled her sails, and away shewent before it with every stitch of canvas they could pack on her. Wealso used every means of increasing our rate of sailing; but though ourbrig was reckoned a remarkably fast vessel, we found that, since we hadboth the same breeze, we had not in any way decreased our distance fromher.
It was, however, a satisfaction to find that she did not outsail usbefore the wind, though there was every probability that, should shehaul her wind, she would be able to do so; we therefore kept directly inher wake, to be ready to run down on her, on whichever tack she mighthaul up. At last, as the breeze freshened, we gained somewhat on her,when she hoisted Spanish colours: she had hitherto shown none, but thisdid not prevent us from trying the range of our bow-chasers on her, tobring her to. Several guns were fired without effect; at last a shotstruck her main boom and severely wounded it. I never saw a better aim.After this, finding we lost ground by firing, we did not for anotherhour throw a single shot, nor had the schooner as yet returned ourcompliment, though she showed no inclination to heave to.
Away we bowled along before the breeze, throwing aside the nowwhite-crested waves from our bows as we tore through the water. Everybrace was stretched to the utmost, our spars bent and cracked, but not asheet was slackened, though our captain kept his glance anxiously aloftto see how long he might let them bear the pressure. Again weoverhauled her, and got her within range of our long guns, when a shot,directed more by chance, as the sea was running high, or, it might besaid, a just Providence weary of the miscreants, than by skill, killedthe man at the wheel, and lodged in the mainmast. Before another mancould run to the helm the vessel yawed to port; the boom, alreadywounded, jibbed over and parted amidships, rendering the huge mainsailof no use, and creating much confusion on board. There was now no fearof her being able to haul her wind for some time, and coming up, handover hand, with her, we ranged alongside.
If we had before any doubts
of her real character, we had now none, forthe Spanish ensign being hauled down, a black flag was hoisted at eachmast-head, and the accursed pirate was confessed. The outlaws,doubtless knowing that victory or death alone awaited them, showed theirdark symbols in the hopes of intimidating our men, and made up theirminds to fight it out to the last. At the same moment they let flytheir whole broadside, which, though it did some damage, served to warmup the blood of our people, and made them return it with a hearty goodwill.
For half an hour or more, as we ran on, we thus continued exchangingbroadsides, considerably thinning their crowded decks; but as some ofour spars were wounded, our captain, fearing lest any being carriedaway, the enemy might escape, determined without delay to lay him onboard, and to try the mettle of true men against their ruffian crew ofdesperadoes.
After receiving her broadside and pouring in ours, we put our helm toport, for she was, you must know, on our starboard side, when, runningour bow anchor into her fore chains, our grappling irons were thrown,and we had her fast. With a loud cheer, our boarders sprang to theforecastle, and on to the rigging of the enemy.
Never shall I forget, if I was to live as long again as I have done,which is not very likely, the set of ferocious countenances which metour sight as we rushed on board. It was fearful work we were about, butour blood was up, and there was no quarter asked or given on eitherside. We did not stop to think. The pirates knew that there was nopardon for them, and seemed determined to sell their lives dearly. Ouronset was too furious to be withstood, and in a minute we had cleared asmall space on the schooner's decks abaft the foremast, but beyond thatevery foot was desperately disputed.
We had gained some ground forward, when, from the after part of thevessel, a determined band, led by the captain, pressed us hard. Twicewe were driven back almost to our own ship, many of our men losing thenumber of their mess, but, finally, determined courage got the better ofdesperation. Inch by inch we drove the pirates aft--the chief of them,to do him justice, keeping always in the front rank, and I believe hekilled, with his own hand, more of our people than did all his crewtogether, though he himself did not receive a scratch. During all thistime the marines kept up a hot fire, pikes and pistols were used throughthe ports, and such guns as could be brought to bear were fired fromeach of the ships. I have seen plenty of hard fighting, and let me tellyou, my boys, though it is very fine reading about, it is very dreadfulin reality; yet never in my life have I gone through hotter work, on asmall scale, than I did that day--the vessels, too, all the time rollingand pitching tremendously, and tearing away each other's rigging;indeed, it is surprising we did not both founder on the spot.
Well, we at last managed to clear the fore part of the schooner, bycutting down some and driving others of the pirates overboard, but fiftyfellows still held the after part of the deck, uttering fearful oathsand execrations--they continued fighting on--when the deck lifted;fearful shrieks arose, a loud, dull sound was heard, and many of thepirates were hurled into the air, their mangled remains falling amongus. For an instant every hand seemed paralysed, and we looked round tosee what would happen next; but the explosion had been only partial, andduring the confusion the remainder of the band making a rush forward, weagain set to at the bloody work, and drove them back. A second attemptto fire the magazine was made, and failed. We were, by this time,secure of victory, though the remnant of the pirates refused to yield.
Their captain, whom I have spoken of, I now saw leap into the mainrigging, when, waving his bloody sword above his head, he hurled it withthe fiercest imprecations among us, severely wounding one of our people,and then, with a look of despair not to be forgotten, he plunged intothe raging ocean, where a troop of sharks were ready to devour him. Atthat moment it struck me that I had seen his features in times longpassed, and I found afterwards I was right.
When their leader was lost, the rest of the pirates submitted, and wehad barely time to remove them, and to cut ourselves clear of theschooner, when, with the dying and dead on board, she went down; and onthe spot where she had been, the hungry sharks were seen tearing theirbodies in pieces, while the sea was tinged around with a ruddy hue. Weafterwards fell in with the ship the pirates had attacked, for which wegot a good round sum as salvage money, besides other substantial marksof the gratitude of the merchants in the West Indies, for havingdestroyed one of the greatest pests their trade had for a long timeknown.
The pirates were hung at Port Royal, in Jamaica, and the evening beforetheir execution, one of them, for reasons I will some day tell you,desired to see me. I visited him in his cell, and from him I learnedthat the chief of their band, whose dreadful death I had witnessed, theman who had led them into crime and ruin, was, as I suspected, JanJohnson, the smuggler.
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The next morning Mr Clare and Captain Mugford went over to ---, wherethey found Commander Treenail, to whom they gave all the informationthey possessed about the smugglers' cave. He heard this account withsurprise, for he did not suppose it possible that any spot of ground hadremained in that neighbourhood unvisited by his people. However, he wasa man of action; and immediately that he comprehended the facts of thecase, he signalled from his residence to a cutter which lay off in thebay to get under way, and to wait for him to come on board. "You willaccompany me, gentlemen," he said to our tutors; "and as soon as we canget the lads on board who discovered the cave to show us its entrance,we will lose no time in routing out these smuggling vagabonds."
The old lieutenant commanding the cutter was waiting with his gig forCaptain Treenail at the quay, and they, with our tutors, were quickly onboard the _Scout_.
How proud Harry and I felt when the _Scout's_ gig pulled up to thewreck, and we were summoned to show the way to the smugglers' cave. Wejumped with alacrity into the gig, feeling as if we had the whole weightand responsibility on our shoulders of leading some importantexpedition. Captain Treenail received us very kindly, andcross-questioned us minutely as to the whereabouts of the cave and thevarious articles we had found within it. The cutter, when rounding thecape, had kept some distance from the little bay near which the cavelay, so that, even had smugglers been on the watch near it, they wouldprobably not have been alarmed; the captain had hopes, therefore, thatnot only their goods but they themselves would be taken. To make thematter more sure, it was arranged that one party, led by Walter, whoknew the cape as if he had been born on it, should go by land,accompanied by Mr Clare; while our salt tutor, with the rest of us, wasto go in the cutter. Five seamen, with a petty officer, formed the landparty, all well armed. They were to proceed cautiously across thedowns, watching the movements of the cutter, and keeping themselves asmuch as possible under cover, so as not to be seen by any smugglers whomight be on the lookout. As soon as the boat which took them on shorereturned, the cutter's foresail was let draw, and with a fresh breezeshe stood out of our cove. Our hearts beat quick as we glided rapidlyon towards the scene of our proposed exploit. We might possibly soon beengaged in a scene of real fighting. There might be ten or perhaps evenfifty smugglers concealed in the cave, with large stores of silks, andtobacco, and spirits; and if so, it was not likely that they would givein without striking some hard blows for their liberty. The breezefreshened, and our speed increased, though, as the wind was off theland, the water was smooth. Every inch of canvas the cutter could carrywas clapped on her, that we might have the better chance of taking thesmugglers by surprise. She heeled over to the breeze till her leegunwale was under water, while we stood holding on to the weatherrigging, and looking out for the entrance to the little cove. We nearedit at last. Our hearts beat quicker than ever as we luffed up round apoint which formed one of the sides of the little cove. Sail wasrapidly shortened, the foresail hauled down, the jib-sheet let fly, andin half a minute we were at anchor. The next instant the crew, alreadyfully armed and prepared, flew to the falls, and two boats were lowered,into which they and we, with
Captain Treenail, the commander, and one ofthe mates of the cutter, and our own salt tutor, immediately jumped.Literally, before a minute had elapsed, two boats were pulling as fastas boats could pull for the shore. Harry and I now felt ourselves ofmore consequence than we had ever been in our lives before. We wereexpected to show the way to the cavern, and therefore, as soon as theboats touched the shore, we leaped out, and, pointing to the spot wherethe mouth of the cavern was to be found, ran towards it along the beachat full speed, followed by the officers and men, who might have hadbetter sea legs, but certainly had not such good shore legs as wepossessed. We were some little way ahead of the rest, and our objectmust have been very evident to any persons acquainted with the existenceof the cavern. Just then the report of a firearm was heard, and abullet whistled by us close to our ears. It did not stop us though, butmade us dart on still more rapidly; and as we did so we saw a manclimbing up the cliff above the cavern. Had any of the men with musketsbeen with us, they might have shot him. He turned round for an instant,and shook his fist at us; but before our companions came up he haddisappeared. It took some time before the seamen who volunteered to gomanaged to climb up the slippery rock to the mouth of the cavern. Whenonce two or three had gained a footing, they let down ropes, by whichthe rest easily got up. The forlorn hope, as the first party might becalled, then dashed into the cavern, expecting, perhaps, to meet with ahot fire of musketry. Not a sound, however, was heard; no one appeared;on they boldly went. The smugglers might have had still more deadlyintentions, and, it was possible, had prepared a mine to blow up anyoneventuring into their cave. They were capable, according to our salttutor's notion, of any atrocity. Still the forlorn hope went on withoutmeeting with any impediment. More seamen entered, led by CaptainTreenail, and others followed, till we were all inside; and torchesbeing lit, the cavern was thoroughly examined. Not a human being wasdiscovered, but the cave contained a far larger amount of bales ofsilks, and ribbons, and tobacco, and kegs of spirits, than we hadsupposed. It was, indeed, a far larger seizure than the coast guard onthat station had ever before made. They were proportionably delighted,though they would have liked still more to have caught a dozen or two ofsmugglers, though not quite so valuable a prize as they would have beenduring the height of the war, when they would have been sent off to manour ships, and to fight the naval battles of old England.
When we found that no one was inside we told Captain Treenail of the manwe had seen climbing up the cliff. He instantly ordered some of themost active young men of the cutter's crew to go in chase; but afterhunting about for some time, they could find no possible way of gettingup, and therefore had to abandon the attempt. The next thing was toconvey the captured goods to the cutter. This occupied some time, asthere were literally several boatloads of goods, to the value, I fancy,of a couple of thousand pounds. It must have been vexatious in theextreme, to any of the smugglers witnessing our proceedings, to seetheir property thus carried off before their eyes. It must have madethem vow vengeance against those who captured it, and against usespecially, who, they must have suspected, had given the informationrespecting the cave.
Among the articles found in the cavern was a rusty old musket. The oldlieutenant, Mr Mophead, commanding the cutter, was a curiosity. Ishould like to describe him. He was very fat and very short, and veryred-faced, which is not surprising, considering the hot suns which hadshone on that face of his, and the vast amount of strong liquor which hehad poured down his throat. Just as the last boatload had been got onboard, Walter and his party appeared, not having seen any smugglers.Mr Mophead politely invited him on board. As soon as the boats werehoisted up, and the cutter was once more under way, standing fromharbour, Mr Mophead took the musket in his hand, and, approachingWalter, said, with great form, "Mr Walter Tregellin, with CaptainTreenail's leave--and I am sure that he will give me leave--I beg topresent to you this weapon, that you may hand it to your respectedfather. He may like to possess it, to remind him how the cutter_Scout_, Lieutenant Mophead commander, was the means of relieving hisproperty of a nest of smugglers, who would very soon, in my opinion,have taken possession of it."
Walter took the musket respectfully, though he could not help smiling;and our salt tutor blew his nose steadily for ten minutes. The same oldmusket my father afterwards gave to Harry and me, the discoverers of thesmugglers' cave; and Harry relinquished all his rights in it to me.
It hangs now in my study, not far from the dog-collar--another mementoof those good old times. We got back to our own cove in a very shorttime, and we landing, the cutter returned, with her valuable cargo, toher usual port. Clump, who had remained to take care of the house,informed us that he had been watching the downs above the cave, and thathe had seen several men pass across the downs, and, running quickly, gotowards the boat harbour often mentioned. They then jumped into a boatand pulled across the harbour to the village, where they disappeared.Such was the termination of the adventure for that day; but the romance,unfortunately for us, had not come to an end.
Captain Mugford: Our Salt and Fresh Water Tutors Page 17