CHAPTER IV
ON THE QUARTER-DECK
As the time approached when Big Sam intended to take the Sarah Williamsout of port, it seemed really necessary that Mistress Kate Bonnet shoulddescend from the exposed quarterdeck and seek shelter from the night airin the captain's cabin or in her own room; and, as she had treated himso curtly at his last interview with her, he sent the elderly man withthe mild countenance to tell her that she really must go below, for thathe, Big Sam, felt answerable to her father for her health and comfort.But when the elderly man and his lantern reached the quarter-deck, therewas no Mistress Kate there, and, during the rapid search which ensued,there was no Mistress Kate to be found on the vessel.
Big Sam was very much disturbed; she must have jumped overboard. Butwhat a wild young woman to do that upon such little provocation, forhow should she know that he was about to run away with her father'svessel!
"This is a bad business," he said to the black-haired man, "and whowould have thought it?"
"I see not that," said Black Paul, "nor why you should trouble yourselfabout her. She is gone, and you are well rid of her. Had she stayedaboard with us, every ship in the colony might have been cruising afterus before to-morrow's sun had gone down."
But this did not quiet the cowardly soul of Big Sam.
"Now I shall tell you," said he, "exactly what happened. A little beforedark she went ashore in a boat which was then leaving the ship. Iallowed her to do this because she was very much in earnest about it,and talked sharply, and also because I thought the town was the bestplace for her, since it was growing late and her father did not seem tobe coming. Now, if the old man comes on board, that's what happened; butif he does not come on board, the devil and the fishes know whathappened, and they may talk about it if they like. But if any man saysanything to old Bonnet except as I have ordered, then the fishes shallhave another feast."
"And now, what I have to say to you," said Black Paul, "is, that youshould get away from here without waiting for the tide. If one of theserascals drops overboard and swims ashore, he may get a good reward fornews of the murder committed on this vessel, and there isn't any reasonto think, so far as I know, that the Sarah Williams can sail any fasterthan two or three other vessels now in the harbour."
"There's sense in all that," said Big Sam as he walked forward. But hesuddenly stopped, hearing, not very far away, the sound of oars.
Now began the body and soul of Big Sam to tremble. If the officers ofthe law, having disposed of Captain Bonnet, had now come to the ship, hehad no sufficient tale to tell them about the disappearance of MistressKate Bonnet; nor could he resist. For why should the crew obey hisorders? They had not yet agreed to receive him as their captain, and, sofar, they had done nothing to set themselves against the authorities. Itwas a bad case for Big Sam.
But now the ship was hailed, and the voice which hailed it was that ofCaptain Bonnet. And the soul of Big Sam upheaved itself.
In a few minutes Bonnet was on board, with a big box and the crew of thelong-boat. Speaking rapidly, he explained to Big Sam the situation ofaffairs. The authorities of the port had indeed sadly interfered withhim. They had heard reports about the unladen vessel and the big crew;and, although they felt loath to detain and to examine afellow-townsman, hitherto of good report, they did detain him and theydid examine him, and they would have gone immediately to the ship hadit not been so dark.
But under the circumstances they contented themselves with the assuranceof the respectable Mr. Bonnet that he would appear before them the nextmorning and give them every opportunity of examining his mostrespectable ship. Having done this, they retired to their beds, and therespectable Bonnet immediately boarded his vessel.
"Now," cried Captain Bonnet, "where is my daughter? I hope that BenGreenway has caused her to retire to shelter?"
"Your daughter!" exclaimed Big Sam, before any one else could speak,"she is not here. It was still early twilight when she told me she wouldwait no longer, and desired to be sent ashore in a boat. This request,of course, I immediately granted, feeling bound thereto, as she was yourdaughter, and that I was, in a measure, under her orders."
Captain Bonnet stood, knitting his brows.
"Well, well!" he presently cried, with an air of relief, "it is betterso. Her home is the best place for her, as matters have turned out. Andnow," said he, turning to Big Sam, "call the men together and set themto quick work. Pull up your anchors and do whatever else is necessary tofree the ship; then let us away. We must be far out of sight of thisisland before to-morrow's sunrise."
As Big Sam passed Black Paul he winked and whispered: "The old fool isdoing exactly what I would have done if he hadn't come aboard. Thissuits my plan as if he were trying his best to please me."
In a very short time the cable was slipped, for Big Sam had no notion ofbetraying the departure of the vessel by the creaking of a capstan; and,with the hoisting of a few sails and no light aboard except the shadedlamp at the binnacle, the Sarah Williams moved down the river and outupon the sea.
"And when are you going to take the command in your hands?" asked BlackPaul of Big Sam.
"To-morrow, some time," was the answer, "but I must first go aroundamong the men and let them know what's coming."
"And how about Ben Greenway? Has the old man asked for him yet?"
"No," said the other; "he thinks, of course, that the Scotchman has goneashore with the young woman. What else could he do, being a faithfulservant? To-morrow I shall set Greenway free and let him tell his owntale to his master. But I shall tell my tale first, and then he canspeak or not speak, as he chooses; it will make no difference one way oranother."
Soon after dawn the next morning Captain Bonnet was out of his hammockand upon deck. He looked about him and saw nothing but sea, sea, sea.
Big Sam approached him. "I forgot to tell you," said he, "that yesterdayI shut up that Scotchman of yours, for, from his conduct, I thought thathe had some particular reason for wanting to go on shore; and, fearingthat if he did so he would talk about this vessel, and so make worse thetrouble I was sure you were in, I shut him up as a matter of precautionand forgot to mention him to you last night."
"You stupid blockhead!" roared Mr. Bonnet, "how like an ass you haveacted! Not for a bag of gold would I have taken Ben Greenway on thiscruise; and not for a dozen bags would I have deprived my family of hiscare and service. You ought to be thrown into the sea! Ben Greenwayhere! Of all men in the world, Ben Greenway here!"
"I only thought to do you a service," said Big Sam.
"Service!" shouted the angry Bonnet. But as it was of no use to sayanything more upon this subject, he ordered the sailing-master to sendto him, first, Ben Greenway, and then to summon to him, no matter wherethey might be or what they might be doing, the whole crew.
The other, surprised at this order, objected that all of the men couldnot leave their posts, but Bonnet overruled him.
"Send me the whole of them, every man jack. The fellow at the wheelwill remain here and steer. As for the rest, the ship will take care ofitself for a space."
"What can that old fool of a farmer intend to do?" said Big Sam, as hewent away; "he is like a child with a toy, and wants to see his crew ina bunch."
Presently came Ben Greenway in a smothered rage.
"An' I suppose, sir," said he without salutation, "that ye have gi'enorders about the care o' the cows and the lot o' poultry that I engagedto send to the town to-day?"
"Don't mention cows or poultry to me!" cried Bonnet. "I am a more angryman than you are, Ben Greenway, and as soon as I have time to attend toit, I shall look into this matter of your shutting up, and shall comedown upon the wrongdoers like sheeted lightning."
"What a fearful rage ye're in, Master Bonnet," said Ben. "I never sawthe like o' it. If ye're really angrier than I am, I willna revile;leavin' it to ye to do the revilin' wha are so much better qualified.An' so it wasna accident that I was shut up in the ship's pantry,leavin' Mistress Kate to gang hame by
hersel', an' to come out thismornin' findin' the ship at sea an' ye in command?"
"Say no more, Ben," cried Bonnet. "I am more sorry to see you here thanif you were any other man I know in this world. But I cannot put youoff now, nor can I talk further about it, being very much pressed withother matters. Now here comes my crew."
Ben Greenway retired a little, leaning against the rail.
"An' this is his crew?" he muttered; "a lot o' unkempt wild beasts, itstrikes me. Mayhap he has gathered them togither to convert their souls,an' he is about to preach his first sermon to them."
Now all the mariners of the Sarah Williams were assembled aft andCaptain Bonnet was standing on his quarter-deck, looking out upon them.He was dressed in a naval uniform, to which was added a broad red sash.In his belt were two pairs of big pistols, and a stout sword hung by hisside. He folded his arms; he knitted his brows, and he gazed fiercelyabout to see if any one were absent, although if any one had been absenthe would not have known it. His eyes flashed, his cheeks were flushed,and it was plain enough to all that he had something important to say.
"My men," he cried, in a stalwart voice which no one there had everheard him use before, "my men, look upon me and you will not see whatyou expect to see! Here is no planter, no dealer in horses and fatcattle, no grower of sugar-cane! Instead of that," he yelled, drawinghis sword and flourishing it above his head, "instead of that I ampirate Bonnet, the new terror of the sea! You, my men, my brave men,you are not the crew of the good merchantman, the Sarah Williams, youare pirates all. You are the pirate crew of the pirate ship Revenge.That is now the name of this vessel on which you sail, and you are allpirates, who henceforth shall sail her.
"Now look aloft, every man of you, and you will see a skull and bones,under which you sail, under which you fight, under which you gain greatriches in coins, in golden bars, and in fine goods fit for kings andqueens!"
As he spoke, every rascal raised his eyes aloft, and there, sure enough,floated the black flag with the skull and bones--the terrible "JollyRoger" of the Spanish Main, and which Bonnet himself had hoisted beforehe called together his crew.
For the most part the men were astounded, and looked blankly the oneupon the other. They knew they had been shipped to sail upon someillegal cruise, and that they were to be paid high wages by the wealthyBonnet; but that this worthy farmer should be their pirate captain hadnever entered their minds, they naturally supposing that their futurecommander would not care to show himself at Barbadoes, and that he wouldbe taken on board at some other port.
As for Big Sam, he was more than astounded--he was stupefied. He hadwell known the character of the ship from the time that Bonnet hadtaken him into his service, and he it was who had mainly managed thefitting-up of the vessel and the shipping of her crew. He did not knowwhom Bonnet intended to command the ship, but from the very beginning hehad intended to command her himself. But he had been too late. He hadnot gone among the men as he had expected to do soon after setting sail,and here this country bumpkin had taken the wind out of his sails andhad boldly announced that he himself was the captain of the pirate shipRevenge.
The men now began to talk among themselves; and as Bonnet still stood,his sword clutched in his hand and his chest heaving with the excitementof his own speech, there arose from the crew a cheer. Some of them hadknown a little about Stede Bonnet and some of them scarcely anything atall, except that he was able to pay them good wages. Now he had toldthem that he was a pirate captain, and each of them knew that he himselfwas a pirate, or was waiting for the chance to become one.
And so they cheered, and their captain's chest heaved higher, and thesoul of the luckless Big Sam collapsed, for he knew that after thatcheer there was no chance for him; at least, not now.
"Now go, my boys," shouted Bonnet, "back to your places, every one ofyou, and fall to your duty; and in honour of that black flag whichfloats above you, each one of you shall drink a glass of grog."
With another shout the crew hurried forward, and Stede Bonnet stood uponthe quarter-deck, the pirate captain of the pirate ship Revenge.
And now stepped up to his master that good Presbyterian, Ben Greenway.
"An' ye call yoursel' a pirate, sir?" said he, "an' ye go forth upon thesea to murder an' to rob an' to prepare your soul for hell?"
Mr. Bonnet winked a little.
"You speak strongly, Ben," said he, "but that might have been expectedfrom a man of your fashion of thinking. But let me tell you again, mygood Ben Greenway, that I was no party to your being on this vessel.Even now, when my soul swells within me with the pride of knowing that Iam a sovereign of the seas and that I owe no allegiance to any man orany government and that my will is my law and is the law of every manupon this vessel--even now, Ben Greenway, it grieves me to know that youare here with me. But the first chance I get I shall set you ashore andhave you sent home. Thou art not cut out for a pirate, and as no othercanst thou sail with me."
Ben Greenway looked at him steadfastly.
"Master Stede Bonnet," said he, "ye are no more fit to be a bloodypirate than I am. Ye oversee your plantation weel, although I hae oftenbeen persuaded that ye knew no' as much as ye think ye do. Ye provideweel for your family, although ye tak' no' the pleasure therein ye mighthae ta'en had ye been content wi' ane wife, as the Holy Scriptures tellus is enough for ony mon, an' ye hae sufficient judgment to tak' theadvice o' a judgmatical mon about your lands an' your herds; but when itcomes to your ca'in' yoursel' a pirate captain, it is enough to make adeceased person chuckle by the absurdity o' it."
"Ben Greenway," exclaimed Major Bonnet, "I don't like your manner ofspeech."
"O' course ye don't," cried Ben; "an' I didna expect ye to like it; butit is the solemn truth for a' that."
"I don't want any of your solemn truths," said Bonnet, "and as soon as Iget a chance I am going to send you home to your barnyard and yourcows."
"No' so fast, Master Bonnet, no' so fast," answered Ben. "I hae ta'encare o' ye for mony years; I hae kept ye out o' mony a bad scrape bothin buyin' an' sellin', an' I am sure ye never wanted takin' care o' mairthan ye do now; an' I'm just here to tell ye that I am no' goin' back toBarbadoes till ye do, an' that I am goin' to stand by ye through yourbad luck and through your good luck, in your sin an' in yourrepentance."
"If you talk to me like that I will cut you down whereyou stand!"]
"Ben Greenway," cried Captain Bonnet, as he waved his sword in theair, "if you talk to me like that I will cut you down where you stand!You forget that you are not talking to a country gentleman, but to apirate, a pirate of the seas!"
Ben grinned, but seeing the temper his master was in, thought it wise toretire.
Kate Bonnet: The Romance of a Pirate's Daughter Page 4