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The Perils and Adventures of Harry Skipwith by Land and Sea

by William Henry Giles Kingston · English · Gutenberg #34487 · 480,624 chars · public domain (US)

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Title: The Perils and Adventures of Harry Skipwith by Land and Sea

Author: William Henry Giles Kingston


        
Release date: November 29, 2010 [eBook #34487]

Language: English

Other information and formats: www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/34487

Credits: Produced by Nick Hodson of London, England


*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE PERILS AND ADVENTURES OF HARRY SKIPWITH BY LAND AND SEA ***




Produced by Nick Hodson of London, England




The Perils and Adventures of Harry Skipwith, by W.H.G. Kingston.

________________________________________________________________________

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THE PERILS AND ADVENTURES OF HARRY SKIPWITH, BY W.H.G. KINGSTON.



CHAPTER ONE.

MY FIRST ADVENTURE--PROGRAMME OF TRAVEL--OFF ACROSS THE ATLANTIC--THE
MISSISSIPPI--HOW WE GOT SNAGGED--I SAVE PETER ROBERTS--THE CAYMAN'S
COMPANY--THE ISLAND REFUGE.

The love of travel was a family instinct, and was born with me.  My
maternal grandfather went to Central Africa--at least, he left us
intending to do so, but never came back again.  I had a great uncle who
voyaged three times round the world, and one sailor uncle who, half a
century ago, spent a winter at the North Pole along with Parry and
Franklin.  Then I had a cousin who was very ambitious of reaching the
moon, and spent his life in studying its maps and making preparations
for the journey, which, however, he never accomplished.  When asked when
he was going to start, he always replied that he had deferred his
journey for six months--circumstances requiring his longer sojourn on
this planet Tellus; but he never expressed the slightest doubt about his
being able ultimately to accomplish his proposed journey.  I held him in
great respect (which was more than any of the rest of the family did);
but as my ambition never soared beyond an expedition round this
sublunary globe, I resolved as soon as possible to commence my travels
in the hopes of having the start of him.

My voluntary studies were of a character to feed my taste.  The travels
of the famed Baron Munchausen, "Gulliver's Travels," those of Sir John
Mandeville and Marco Polo, were read by me over and over again.  I
procured others of a more modern date, and calculated to give more
correct information regarding the present state of the world; but I
stuck to my old friends, and pictured the globe to myself much in the
condition in which they described it.  Not having the patience to wait
till I grew up, I resolved at the commencement of my summer holidays to
start by myself, hoping to come back before their termination, having a
full supply of adventures to narrate.  I was some days maturing my plans
and making preparations for my journey.  I had denied myself such
luxuries as had been brought to our school by the pieman, and had saved
up my pocket-money--an exercise of self-denial which proved the
earnestness of my resolve.  I had had too several presents made to me by
relations and friends who happened to be in the house.  I paid a visit
also to my cousin, Booby Skipwith, as he was called.  I did not confide
to him all my plans; but I hinted that I had one of great importance in
hand, and, to my great delight, he presented me with a five-pound note,
observing that he believed that such things were not current in the
moon, and that, therefore, he could dispense with them.  I hinted that
if such was the case he might hand me out a few more, for that where I
was going they would be greatly in demand; but it proved that this was
the only one of which he was possessed.

I had got a small portmanteau, into which I packed all my best clothes
and valuables, with a few glass beads and knives which I had purchased
to bestow on any savages I might encounter.  I had a lance-head brought
home by my great uncle.  With this I purposed manufacturing a lance for
my defence.  I knew that, as England is an island, I must cross the
water.  My idea, when on the other side, whether north, south, east, or
west I did not care, was to purchase two steeds--one for myself and
another for my luggage and a squire, whom I intended to find.  I was
certain that he would turn up somewhere, and be very faithful and brave.
The first, thing, however, was to get away from home.  I wrote an
affectionate letter to my father, telling him that I was going on my
travels as my ancestor had done, and that I should be back, I hoped, by
the end of the holidays; that if I was not, it could not much signify,
as I should be gaining more information from my intercourse with the
great world than I could possibly hope to reap from the instruction of
Dr Bumpus.

This done, one very fine morning I crept out of the house with my
portmanteau on my shoulders, and getting over the park palings, so as
not to be seen by the lodge-keeper, I stood ready for a coach that would
pass by, I had ascertained, about that time.  I waited anxiously,
thinking that it must have already passed.  At last I saw it coming
along the road in a cloud of dust.  I hailed it in a knowing way, handed
up my portmanteau to be placed by the coachman in the boot under his
feet, and climbing up behind in a twinkling before any questions were
asked, away we bowled at a famous rate.  "All right," I thought; "I am
now fairly off on my travels."  We had twenty miles to get to the
railway station.  Once in the train, I should be beyond pursuit.  I had
no fear of that, however.  I should not be missed for some hours, and
then no one would know in what direction I had gone.

We approached the station near Burton.  My heart throbbed with
eagerness.  In a few minutes the train would be starting.  The coach
stopped before the hotel.  At that a moment a gentleman on horseback was
passing.  He saw me before I had time to hide my face.

"Why, Harry, where are you going?" he exclaimed.  It was my uncle,
Roland Skipwith, the arctic voyager.  He looked into the coach,
expecting to see some one.  "What, are you all alone?  Where are you
going, boy?"

"On my travels, uncle," I answered, boldly, hoping that he might approve
of my purpose, seeing that he was himself a great traveller.  "You will
not stop me, I know."

"We'll see about that," he answered, in a tone I did not quite like.
"Get down, youngster.  I'll give you a little advice on the subject.
You can't go by this train, that's certain."

While I reluctantly obeyed, he inquired of Tomkins, the coachman, how he
came to bring me away from home.  Tomkins apologised--thought that I was
going on a visit to my aunt, Miss Rebecca Skipwith, who lived at Burton,
and finished by handing out my portmanteau, and receiving my fare to
Burton in exchange.

I was sold, that was clear enough.  The portmanteau was deposited in the
bar till the coach would return soon after noon.

"Come along," said my uncle, who had given his horse to the hostler.  "I
have ridden over to breakfast with your Aunt Rebecca, so we'll hear what
she has to say on the matter."

I felt rather foolish as he took my hand and led me away.

We soon reached Aunt Becky's neat trim mansion.  My uncle had time to
say a few words to her before she saw me.  She received me with her
usual cordiality, for I was somewhat of a pet of hers.  I was
desperately hungry, and was soon seated at a table well spread with all
sorts of appetising luxuries.  My uncle, after a little time, when I had
taken the edge off my hunger, began to question me as to my proposed
plans, to an account of which he and Aunt Becky listened with profound
gravity.  I began to hope that he was going to approve of them, till
suddenly he burst out laughing heartily.  Aunt Becky joined him.  I
found that they had been hoaxing me.  I was sold again.  This was the
last attempt I made during that period of my existence to commence my
travels.

On arriving at manhood, and having just quitted college and had an
independence left me, the desire once more came strongly on me to see
the world--not the fashionable world, as an infinitesimal portion of the
human race delight to call themselves, but the great big round globe,
covered with our fellow-creatures of varied colours, languages, customs,
and religions.

"Good-bye, Aunt Becky!  I really and truly am off this time," I
exclaimed, as I rushed into my dear, good old aunt's drawing-room at
Burton, she looking as neat and trim as ever, being the perfection of
nice old-maidenism, not a whit older than when, some thirteen years
before, I had been brought there a prisoner by my uncle.

"Where are you going to, my dear?" asked Aunt Becky, lifting up her
spectacles from her nose with a look of surprise.

"Oh, only just across the Atlantic, to take a run up and down North and
South America, as a kind of experiment before I attempt a tour, by land
and water, to China and Japan, and home again by way of Australia, New
Zealand, and Tahiti, by the Panama route, which I mean to do some of
these days."

"Well, well," said Aunt Becky, "you are a true Skipwith, and if that
Captain Grant hadn't got the start of you, I suppose you would have
discovered the source of the Nile and the snow mountains under the
equator, and, like Hercules, in that gem on my finger, which I wear for
the sake of an old friend, have come home with a lion's skin across your
shoulder, or dressed up like an ape, as Monsieur de Chaillu did sometime
ago.  However, I shall wish, Harry, if you ever want an additional
hundred pounds or so, draw on me; I have always some spare cash at the
banker's.  But you'll never came back if you attempt half you talk of
doing.  You'll be scalped by Indians, or roasted and eaten by other
savages; or be tossed by buffaloes, or lost in the snow; or be blown up
in one of those dreadful American steamers, which seem to do nothing
else; or you'll catch a fever, or be cast away on a desolate island, and
we shall never hear anything more of you; or something else dreadful
will happen to you, I am certain."

"Never mind, Aunt Becky; I shall be embalmed in your memory, at all
events," I answered; "and besides, I am going to have a companion to
look after me."

"Who can he be who would venture to accompany such a harum-scarum fellow
as you are, Harry?" said my aunt, looking more satisfied.

"One who has ever proved faithful, aunt: his name is Ready."

"Why, he's your dog, Harry!" she exclaimed, disappointed.

"Could I have a more trustworthy and, at the same time, active and
intelligent follower?"  I asked.  "I had thought of taking Bunbry," (he
was my father's old butler, and remarkable for his obesity and
laziness); "but you see, aunt, in the first place, my father could not
spare him; and, in the second, he could not exactly keep up with me on a
day's march of thirty or forty miles, and would certainly be nowhere
when chasing wild buffaloes, or hunting panthers or grizzly bears.  So I
gave up the idea of having a servant at all; and as for a friend, I
don't happen to be supplied with one ready to go, and I hope to find
plenty on the way."

Having at length consoled Aunt Becky, by assuring her that I would take
very good care of myself, and promising to bring her home trophies from
all the lands I should visit, I gave her a parting kiss, in return for
her blessing, and a few days afterwards I found myself, with Liverpool
astern, sailing down the Mersey on board the good ship _Liberty_, bound
for New Orleans, which the people on board pronounced New Orle-e-ens.

The striped and starry banner waved over our heads.  "There, now, that's
the flag of flags," said the skipper, pointing to it.  "You Britishers
talk of your flag which has `braved a thousand years the battle and the
breeze,' but I guess that flag of ours will be flying proudly in every
quarter of the globe when your old obsolete government will have come to
a consummate smash."  He looked so savage at me, that Ready would have
flown at his leg, had I not held him back.

I was determined not to be put out of temper, so I answered quietly--

"Now, captain, I should be very happy to suppose that your stars and
stripes will fly to the end of the world; but I do not see why the
banner of old England should not be allowed to wave as long.  There's
room for both of us, surely.  It's my principle to live and let live."

"Why, stranger, because you are not a nation of free men, you don't know
what true liberty is," he replied, gnashing his teeth in a way which
made Ready show his in return.

"Our old obsolete government showed that it appreciated liberty when, at
a vast cost, it knocked off the shackles from every slave owned by a
Briton," I observed, calmly.

"I guess you'd better not touch on that there subject, stranger, when
you get to New Orle-e-ens, or Judge Lynch may have a word to say to
you," croaked out the skipper, curling his nose, and giving a malicious
wink at me while he squirted a stream of tobacco juice into the eye of
poor Ready, who went howling round the deck with pain.

I took the hint, and held my tongue on the dark subject.  It's ill to
talk of the gallows to a man whose father has been hung, and none but a
Knight of La Mancha runs a tilt against windmills when travelling in
foreign lands.  Still, I say, do not do at Rome as Rome does, but
protest, if not loudly, silently--by your conduct--against vice and
immorality, and all the abominations you may meet with.

We had a large number of emigrants on board, who were fully persuaded
that they were going to enjoy not only the most perfect government under
the sun, but every blessing this world can supply.  Poor people! how
different did they find the reality.  We kept to the southward of that
mighty stream which, coming out of the Gulf of Mexico, sweeps away
north, across the Atlantic, and, with its well-heated waters, adds
considerably to the warmth of our shores at home.  We saw neither
floating icebergs, whales, nor sea serpents, but had several births and
deaths, and at last made the island of St. Thomas, which appeared
floating like a blue cloud on the ocean.  As we drew nearer, a vast
mountain rose before us, seemingly, directly out of the water, having a
sterile summit, sprinkled round with spots of refreshing verdure.  The
harbour is in the form of an amphitheatre, and the land round, with its
glittering white town on three hills, its old fort advancing into the
sea, its green valleys, groves of cocoa-nuts, and fields of sugar-cane,
is a highly picturesque spot.  We put in to get a supply of water,
fruit, vegetables, and fresh provisions; but, as the yellow fever was at
the time carrying off about twenty of the inhabitants a day, negroes and
mulattoes as well as white people, I was satisfied with admiring its
beauties at a distance.  Putting to sea again as fast as we could, we
weathered the north-western point of Cuba, and entered the Gulf of
Mexico, between that island and Florida.

About a week afterwards vast numbers of logs of wood, floating in yellow
water, indicated that we were at the mouths of the Mississippi, for, of
course, a mighty stream a thousand miles long, would not be content with
one mouth, like our poor little humble Thames.  The scenery, consisting
of mud-banks and swamps, as far as the eye can reach, is not very
attractive.  It is curious to look back after making numerous windings,
and to observe the sea over the mud-banks, considerably lower than the
water on which the ship is floating.  With a fair wind stemming the
stream for a hundred and thirty miles, we found ourselves amid a crowd
of vessels of all nations off New Orleans, the capital of Louisiana.  It
is a large handsome looking city, but, as the ground on which it stands
is lower than the surface of the river, I could not help feeling, while
I was there, that some night I might find myself washed out of my bed by
its muddy waters.

Intending to return to New Orleans, I left my traps at my hotel, and
embarked with Ready on board a huge steamer bound up the Mississippi.  A
cockney might describe her as like a Thames wherry with an omnibus on
the top of it, and vast paddles outside all.  I found that passengers
could only ascend to the upper saloon, which ran the whole length of the
vessel, the roof being of necessity sacred to the officers and crew.
There were numerous galleries, however, on each side of the
paddle-boxes, and forward and aft, whence I could observe the scenery.
It was not very attractive, consisting chiefly of low swamps--the
habitations of alligators and rattlesnakes.  Here and there were more
elevated spots, on which villages were perched, and patches where once
the forest grew, but which were now covered with fields of sugar-cane,
maize, and cotton bushes.

We were dashing on at a prodigious rate--I fancy the engineer must have
been sitting on the safety-valve--when, feeling a dreadful concussion,
and being thrown forward with my nose on the deck, I heard those around
me exclaim, "Snagged!"  "We are sinking!"  A snag is a log of timber
stuck sloping in the mud.  Against one of these snags we had run.  Down,
down sank the huge machine.  "Aunt Becky forgot to mention this, among
the other modes of losing my life which she enumerated," I thought to
myself.  "She forgot that Mississippi steamers could sink as well as
blow up."  However, I had no intention of going out of the world just
then, if I could help it.

The river was at that part very wide and shallow; but I observed an
island not far off, and I hoped to reach it.  If there were any boats
round the vessel, there was no time to lower them.  The awful plunge
came.  Some hundred human beings were hurled amid the turbid waters.
Many were carried down with the vessel; others were shrieking piteously,
and struggling for life.  The weather was intensely hot.  I had on but
little clothing.  I struck out towards the island.  As I did so, the
thought occurred to me, "For what purpose was my great strength given
me?  Surely to be of use to my fellow-creatures.  I can save one of
these poor people at all events."  I turned back.  The first person I
saw was a poor lad, who had been my fellow-passenger on board the
_Liberty_.  I had more than once spoken to him.  His name was Peter.
"Help, help!" he shrieked out.  "Oh, Mr Skipwith, save me."  I caught
him by the collar, and threw him on to my back.  "There, Peter," said I,
"cling on, but don't touch my arms, and, with Heaven's support, I'll
carry you on shore."  The lad made no answer, but did as I bade him, and
away Ready and I swam towards the island.  I cannot forget the shrieks
and cries for help of the unfortunate beings drowning round me.  Now an
arm was lifted up; now two hands in the attitude of supplication.  Now
the countenance of some strong man full of horror and despair came into
view.  Women and children were floating about, held up for a while by
their clothes, and others were clinging to chairs, and stools, and bits
of the wreck, which had risen to the surface.  I felt many clutch at me.
A sad necessity compelled me to shake them off.  I should have
endangered Peter's life, as well as my own, had I attempted to help
them.

It was no easy work.  The current was strong, and there were eddies
which whirled me round and round, while Mississippi's muddy waters were
less buoyant than those of the ocean.  The island for which I was making
was lower down than where the steamer had struck, or I doubt if I should
have been saved.  As I approached the bank, I saw that there were
numerous reeds flinging it, which I doubted if I could penetrate.  Still
the attempt must be made.  I looked about, till I saw a space which
appeared more clear, and I swam at it to force my way through.  The
reeds seemed to grow thicker and thicker.  It became very heavy work,
and I feared that I should get my legs entangled, and be held fast.  At
last I saw a thick log of wood floating a little way on.

"I will let Peter rest on it while I make my way to the shore, and,
after recovering my strength, I will go off and tow him in," I thought
to myself: and then I told him what I proposed doing.  I swam up to the
log, lifted Peter off with my left hand, and had placed him on it, while
I kept myself afloat with my right, when Ready began to bark furiously,
turning round his head at the log, and swimming off in an opposite
direction.  I thought this odd, when suddenly the log began to move.  A
vast pair of jaws, with long rows of formidable teeth, opened, but
instead of snapping at me, the alligator (for such it was, and of
prodigious size) swam away after my faithful Ready.  I eased poor Peter,
who, terror-stricken, was about to take a most uncomfortable ride on the
alligator's back, and dragging him off before the creature had towed us
many yards, I succeeded, by efforts which the greatest alarm alone could
have enabled me to make, in reaching the shore.  I climbed up the bank
myself, and was dragging up poor Peter, when the alligator, disappointed
in catching the sagacious Ready, who was safe on land, furiously barking
at him, made a dash towards us.  I had just time to draw the boy up by a
violent jerk, when the monster's long jaws closed with a loud clack
close to his heels.  Peter shrieked out, believing that he was caught,
but I soon reassured him, and, by setting him on his legs, proved that
he had retained them.  The alligator, or cayman, was, however, not to be
baulked of his prey, and, not being aware of the number of people
floating away helplessly down the stream, he began to climb up the bank
with the intention of catching one of us at least.  The island was of
about twenty acres in extent, with a clump of cypress trees and a palm
or two in the centre; but the ground of the greater portion was soft and
boggy, and covered with reeds, and long grass springing up among logs of
timber, in all stages of decay, which had been washed up during the
floods of spring.  This was not very convenient ground for active
operations; yet still the alligator took care that we should be actively
employed.  As we had no arms with which to assail him, we could only act
on the defensive.

The alligator soon got up the bank, and then stopped and eyed us all
three, meditating, apparently, which he should first devour.  I had made
Peter move a little way off on one side of me, while Ready ran about on
the other.  The brute was hungry, and, seeing that I was the largest
animal, he made up his mind to have me first; so on he waddled through
the grass, at so rapid a rate, that the consequences, had I tumbled,
would have been very serious.

Ready played his part admirably, and directly he saw that the cayman was
running at me, he began to bark more furiously than ever, so as to
distract the monster's attention.  He succeeded, for the alligator
stopped several times to look at him, but his mouth was watering with
the anticipation of the _bonne bouche_ my substantial carcass would
prove, and he again made chase after me.  I shouted to the lad to run
for the clump of trees.  He obeyed my directions as well as he could,
but twice he fell and disappeared between some logs, and I was afraid he
was lost, but he scrambled out and ran on.  I had to keep my eyes about
me, as I leaped from log to log, watching the alligator, and looking to
see where I was going.  I had got more than half way to the clump of
trees, when I heard a loud hissing, and looking down, I found that I was
about to leap into a nest of snakes.  Mrs Snake put up her head, of
flat, venomous form, and I thought would have flown at me, but I sprang
on one side with more agility than ever.  I had not much fear of the
cayman, but no courage, strength, or activity would avail against a
single serpent, and the island, I suspected, swarmed with them.  It
would not, however, have done to stop, as the alligator, having no dread
of the snakes, did not.  Peter had reached the clump, and had wisely
begun to climb a tree.  I dashed after him, kicking up several
rattlesnakes who had not time to bite me, Ready running by my side, and
our pursuer, as the ground was smoother, following faster than ever.  I
seized Ready in my arms, and threw him up to Peter, who caught him, and
placed him safely on a branch, while I sprang up after him, and the
alligator, who darted on, snapped his jaws within a foot of my legs as I
swung them up out of his way.  A pretty predicament we were in, perched
on the branch of a cypress tree with the monster cayman leering up at us
from below, and thinking it very hard, after all the trouble he had
taken, that we should have escaped his jaws.  Still I felt how much
better off we were than the several hundred human beings who had so
suddenly met a watery grave.  I looked out from our perch towards the
spot where the steamer had gone down.  Not a creature could I see: the
pieces of wreck, with people floating on them, had been carried out of
sight down the stream, but whether any were likely to reach the shore I
could not tell.  I thought that some might; but I pictured them roaming
about through those vast swamps, without food, far from human
habitations, till at length they fell a prey to alligators, or were
killed by serpents, or sank down and died from hunger and fatigue.  Our
position was not very pleasant either, for the river was so wide that I
was not at all certain that we should be seen by vessels passing up and
down; and I dreaded that we might be starved before we could get off.  I
grew very hungry, for I had been waiting to rush into dinner when the
vessel sank.  Peter had scarcely spoken; indeed, I was uncertain whether
or not he was grateful to me for saving him; but he was evidently not a
lad of words.  I remarked that I had had nothing to eat since breakfast.

"What, haven't you had your dinner, sir?" he exclaimed, in a tone of
surprise.  "Well, things always turn out lucky with me.  Here, sir."

Diving into his coat-pockets, he produced some meat and cheese, and two
large lumps of bread, which, however, were rather mashed by the soaking
they had got.

"There, take that; it will do you good; you want something after that
long swim," said he.

"Thank you, I will take a piece of bread and meat gladly," I answered.
"You, Peter, keep the rest for yourself."

"No, no, it's yours, sir.  I'll not touch it," he replied in a
determined, steady tone.  I ate a small portion, and begged him to keep
the rest.

"There's another friend wants something," he remarked, cutting off a
piece of the cheese rind and some gristle from the meat, and giving them
to Ready, who had looked up wistfully at him as he was handing me the
food.  "There, old fellow, you deserve it, I am sure you do," said he,
patting the dog's head.

I had little doubt after this that Peter's heart was in the right place.
Night, was coming on, and the danger of our position increased.  When
the sun went down, the mosquitoes attacked us furiously, and ran their
huge probosces into our skins, till there was scarcely a spot without a
wound.  The only satisfaction was that they kept us awake; for had we
gone to sleep, we might have fallen off the bough; and had we fallen off
the bough, we should have tumbled into the jaws of the alligator,
waiting anxiously below to devour us.  Such were the not over-pleasant
prospects for the approaching night.



CHAPTER TWO.

MOSQUITOES--A RUNAWAY SLAVE--I AM WOUNDED--THE STRUGGLE, AND READY AND
PETER COME TO THE RESCUE--PEACE NEGOTIATONS--TREATY OF ALLIANCE,
DEFENSIVE AND OFFENSIVE--THE CANOE VOYAGE--MARCUS'S STORY.

We sat up in the tree, wishing that the alligator would betake himself
to the waters of the Mississippi; but he seemed resolved to make his
supper off one of us, and in this neither of us was willing to indulge
him.  Peter made no remarks, but Ready, every now and then, gave a growl
of disapprobation; indeed, I believe, had I allowed him, he would have
jumped down and done battle with the monster.  I did not suppose that
the cayman would catch him; but I knew that he could not by any
possibility hurt the cayman, so I kept him safe up on the branch beside
me.  The mosquitoes continued as active as ever, and as Peter and I had
only each of us a hand at liberty, we could but partially defend
ourselves from their attacks.  Hour after hour passed by.

"I wonder whether it will ever be morning!" observed the poor lad,
giving himself, for the thousandth time, a slap on the cheek.

"We are not the first people who have wished for the return of day, my
boy," said I.  "But hark--"

There was a slight sound as of an oar dipped in the water.  It
approached the island.  It ceased, and I felt sure that the person or
persons in the boat had landed.  I listened.  I could hear the sound of
a canoe or boat being hauled up, and soon a light bursting forth showed
me that a fire had been kindled, for the purpose probably of cooking.
The alligator heard the sounds also, I suspect; for finding that we were
not likely to come down to satisfy his appetite, he wheeled round and
began to crawl back to the other spot whence the sounds proceeded.  I
suspected that he had not seen the fire, which, from our higher position
we had observed, and I knew that he was not likely to approach it.  I
should otherwise have shouted out to warn whoever might be there of the
approach of the monster.  As soon as the brute had moved off, Peter,
Ready, and I jumped down to the ground and advanced towards the spot
where we had seen the fire.  It had now burnt up brightly, and between
us and it I observed the huge form of the alligator crawling on.  He
must have suddenly become aware of the fire, for I saw him, much to my
satisfaction, scramble off as fast as he could on one side, and the
sound of a heavy plunge assured me that he had once more taken to the
water.  Peter and Ready followed at my heels.  I slowly advanced, and in
a short time I saw a man sitting down on his hams before the fire, at
which he was cooking a fish.  He was a negro, a big athletic-looking
fellow, with a bare woolly head, and naked to the waist, round which he
wore a belt, and in it were stuck a brace of pistols and a long
bowie-knife.  The noise of the river rushing by and the crackling of the
burning sticks had prevented him from hearing our approach.  He turned
his head--the glance of the fire fell on us.  In a moment he was on his
feet, and, drawing a pistol from his belt, he levelled it at my head.

"I am a friend," I shouted out as rapidly as I could, but the black had
not time to change the impulse given to his finger.  There was a flash,
a report, and a sharp stinging sensation in my neck told me that the
bullet had taken effect.  To save my life I sprang forward, and throwing
myself with all my might on the stranger, I grasped his arm as he was
drawing a second pistol, and bearing him down we both rolled over
together to the ground and very nearly into the water.  He was as strong
as I was, and being naked I had great difficulty in holding his arms and
preventing him from drawing his knife, which he made strenuous efforts
to do, while at the same time he was evidently endeavouring to roll off
the bank into the river, and to drag me with him.  I could not help
thinking of my friend, the cayman, who would probably have most largely
benefited by the success of his attempt.  When people go to fisty-cuffs,
there are seldom wanting alligators to profit by their quarrels.  Had I
been alone, strong and active as I was, I scarcely know what would have
been the result; but I had two trusty friends at hand.  We had not been
struggling many moments, when Ready, having laid his plans for the
campaign, flew at the negro's legs, one of which he gripped so firmly
that the poor fellow roared out with pain; while Peter, after hesitating
an instant, caught him by his woolly head and tugged away manfully in an
opposite direction.  In our struggles we all rolled into the fire--
black, boy, dog, and I; and had not our clothes been still somewhat
damp, we should have been quickly in flames, and, had the alligator come
back, all ready cooked for his supper.  As it was, we kicked about the
burning ashes, tossing them into the air, when they came down in showers
upon us, till, what with the singeing he was undergoing, the biting of
the dog, and the pulling of his hair, the negro cried out lustily for
mercy.

"Well, I have no wish to hurt you," said I, still holding down his arms.
"Don't attempt again to shoot me, and I will very gladly be your
friend.  Off, Ready! let go dog!  Don't pull the man's hair any more,
boy."

Peter and the dog obeyed me, and the man, getting up and shaking
himself, began to scrape the ashes together, and then, looking for his
fish, stuck it on a stick to roast as if nothing particular had
occurred.

"You are a cool hand, my friend," said I, sitting down opposite to him.
"You might have killed me just now."

"Of course; I took you for an enemy," he answered.

"What enemies have you to fear?"  I asked.

"Slave-hunters," he answered, grinding his teeth and uttering a fearful
oath.

"But how do you know that we are not searching for a runaway slave?"  I
asked.

"Because you are an Englishman," he replied.

"Why do you fancy that?" said I.

"From the way you spoke to your boy and dog," he observed with a fierce
laugh.  "There would have been a kick and a curse had you belonged to
this country; but, though you gripped me hard, and well-nigh squeezed
the breath out of me, I know you to be a man, and I trust you."

"I am obliged to you for your confidence, and I will not betray it;
though, as it may be better, I will ask no questions."

"That's wise; but I must ask you one," said the negro.  "How came you
here?"

I told him.  He was silent for some time, turning his fish on the spit,
while my companions, imitating my example, seated themselves beside me.
Peter sat gaping with mute astonishment, Ready's lips and eye showed
that he still looked on the big negro rather as an enemy than a friend.
The excitement had hitherto prevented me from feeling the wound in my
neck.  The pain and a sensation of blood flowing down my shoulder
reminded me of it, and I was about to call Peter to my aid, when the
negro looked up and said--

"Stranger, you believe that all men have sprung from the same parents?"

"Certainly, my friend," I replied.  "I have not the slightest doubt
about the matter."

"Then, do you think that one portion has the right to keep another in
bondage, to spit upon them, to beat and abuse them, and to treat them as
brute beasts without souls?"

He ground his teeth as he continued speaking.  I saw that he was working
himself up into a fury, so I interrupted him:

"Assuredly not, my friend," I said.  "No man has a right to keep another
in slavery; but slavery is a fact, and facts are stubborn things, not to
be got rid of."

"I don't quite understand you, stranger," he replied.  "But, from what
you say, I believe that you would help a slave to escape from his bonds,
if you had the opportunity?"

This was a most disagreeable question.  I had resolved, when I entered
the slave states, not to interfere in the slightest way with the subject
of slavery, and now I was asked to commit the most atrocious crime
against the white community of which I could possibly be guilty.

"Do you ask me to help you?" said I.

"I do," was the answer.

"What claim have you on me?"  I demanded.

"That of one man on another," said the negro, rising unconsciously, and
stretching out his hand over the fire.  "That of one immortal soul on
its fellow, who must both stand, some day, before the judgment-seat of
Heaven, to be judged of the deeds done in the flesh.  If you have the
feelings of a true man, the conscience of a living soul, you dare not
refuse my appeal."

"I will not," I exclaimed, rising also and taking the negro's hand.  "I
will aid you at every risk, to the best of my power."

"Stranger," said the black, wringing my hand, while his voice trembled
with emotion, "your words may prevent me from doing many a fierce deed,
which I otherwise should have committed; from turning my hand against
every man's; from believing that every man with a white skin is a demon
in human shape."

He came round to me, and sat himself down by my side.

"But you are hurt," he observed, in a tone of concern, "and I, in my
fear, did it.  You have a handkerchief.  It is only a flesh wound; I
will bind it up.  I wish I could do more."

Ready growled when he saw my late antagonist touching me, but proceeded
no further in his hostilities.  Peter brought some water in a pannikin,
which the negro had with him, and my wound, being bathed freely, was
bound up: and we sat down to discuss the fish, and another brought from
the canoe, of which the negro insisted that we should partake, Ready
coming in for the heads and bones.  No one would have supposed that we
and our entertainer had just before been engaged in a deadly struggle.
I observed that the black man yawned and appeared very weary.

"I should like to sleep for a short time," he said.  "You took something
away from my strength.  I have had also a long row, and have a longer
before me.  I know not when the chase after me may begin; but I do know
that the blood-hounds will not give it up till they run me to earth, or
till they are sure I have escaped them."

"I will gladly watch over you while you sleep," said I.  "How long do
you wish to rest?"

"Half-an-hour will be enough.  That tussle with you wearied me more than
all my previous exertions.  Just keep the fire alight, or we may have
more snakes and alligators visiting us than would be pleasant."

I promised to follow his wishes, and having reloaded the pistol he had
fired at me, stretching himself on the ground, in an instant he showed
me by his heavy breathing that he was fast asleep.  What surprised me
most about the man was the way in which he spoke.  The remarks he made
caused me to suspect that he possessed a higher amount of education than
I should have expected to find in a negro.  I felt gratified, too, at
the perfect confidence he placed in me.  He was, at all events,
evidently a man far above the common order, and I hoped to learn more
about him before we separated.  I employed Peter in collecting
drift-wood, of which there was a plentiful supply on the island.  The
fire kept the mosquitoes off, and from the quiet I thus obtained I had
the greatest difficulty in not going to sleep.  The moment Peter sat
down he fell off, and even Ready shut his eyes, though, if I moved in
the slightest degree, he was awake again in an instant.  I knew that I
could depend on him for giving me timely notice of the approach of an
enemy of any description; but still I did my utmost to keep my senses
alive.  By degrees, however, I began to see all sorts of curious shapes
in the fire, and to hear strange noises; and wild unearthly shrieks
struck on my ear, and snakes seemed to be crawling in and out among the
embers, and then I suddenly found myself at the dear old hall, my home,
with my feet on the parlour fender, while Bunbry's voice informed me
that tea was in the drawing-room.  I started up, and saw the negro
watching me across the expiring embers of the fire.

"Pardon me, friend," said I.  "Most unintentionally I went to sleep."

"I could not expect aught else," he answered, in a tone which made me
feel rather ashamed of myself.  "It is time for me to be moving.  What
do you wish to do?"

"To get away from this island.  We shall be starved if we remain here,"
was my answer.

"I will take you," said the negro.  "Step into the canoe--quick--all of
you.  Stay!  I will put out the fire.  It might betray me, should I be
pursued."

He threw some water on the ashes, and scattered them about.

The canoe was what is called a "dug-out"--a hollowed trunk of a tree
fashioned into a boat shape.  Though narrow and light, it was long, and
capable of carrying three or four people.  Peter and I stepped in,
followed by Ready.  The negro, taking his seat in the centre, turned to
me and asked if I could row.  I told him that I could.

"Then I will thank you to take one of the paddles and help me.  I have a
long voyage before me.  We will go up the stream."

We paddled rapidly along.  The negro steered, keeping out of the
strength of the current.  He seemed to know the river well.  I was
curious to ascertain something about the man.  That he was a common
plantation negro I did not think possible.

"You have travelled, friend?"  I observed.

"I have.  I have visited your country.  I have trod a free soil.  I have
read much.  I know the rights of man, and I resolved no longer to be a
slave," he answered, with a rapid utterance.  "I remembered, too, the
days of my childhood, when I roamed free in my native woods on the
shores of Africa, the son of a powerful chief.  Indistinctly at first,
but afterwards clearly as I dwelt upon them, those times came back upon
me, and I could bear my chains and degradation no longer.  You are
surprised at my telling you that I have read much.  In my youth I
accompanied my master to England.  He was a kind man.  He allowed me to
be instructed in reading.  I learned rapidly.  My master, on leaving
England, persuaded me to accompany him, promising legally to manumit me
on our arrival in the States.  In England I had become a free man.  I
had almost forgotten what slavery was.  My master died on the voyage.  I
apprehended no danger, though, for prudence sake, I contemplated
returning to England; but scarcely had I set foot on shore, than I was
seized by the captain of the ship which brought me, and claimed as a
slave.  I was carried off to my master's heir.  He has taken care to
make me feel what slavery is.  I will not tell you what I have borne--
how my purest and best feelings have been outraged--how one I loved was
torn from me--how--But to go on would unman me; and I have need of all
my coolness and self-possession.  About four miles from this there is a
village.  I will land you there, and we must part.  I shall not tell you
what course I intend to pursue: it may be better for you not to know."

I agreed with him in this, but at the same time I had become so
interested in the fate of the poor fellow, that I was willing to run any
risk to assist him.  I told him so.  He thanked me, but said that he
would not allow me.

"And by what name shall I remember you?"  I asked.

"I have been called Marcus--Marcus the slave.  I do not boast of any
other," he answered bitterly.  "Dogs and negroes have seldom more than
one name."

"Marcus, I shall never forget you.  I hope we may meet again," said I.
"Our first introduction was somewhat unpleasant, but we part as
friends."  He leaned forward, and grasped my hand.

"Hark!" he whispered, suddenly.  "There is the sound of paddles in the
water."  His quick ear had detected the sound before I had done so.  I
could hear nothing.  "I am certain of it," he exclaimed, with a groan.
He was right.

"Here, take my paddle, and let the boy use yours; it is my only chance
should my pursuers be at hand.  I will lay down at the bottom of the
canoe.  Now, round with her; and pull down the stream to meet them.  The
best way to escape danger is boldly to face it.  I may be supposed to be
a wounded or a dead man."  The change of places was quickly effected,
and turning round the canoe, Peter and I paddled down the stream, with
Ready standing in the bows, looking out ahead.  I could now hear the
sound of paddles in the water.  Already the first streaks of dawn had
appeared in the eastern sky.  Our only chance of escape was to pass the
strangers before the light should show them the canoe, or, should they
discover us, before they could see that there was any one in her besides
Peter, Ready, and me.  We paddled on steadily.  The men in the
approaching canoe were talking, and, from the words which reached my
ears, I could have little doubt that they were in search of the fugitive
slave.



CHAPTER THREE.

THE PURSUIT--THE FIGHT AND VICTORY--WE DISPOSE OF OUR PRISONERS--THE
BLACK DWARF--THE CITY OF THEMISTOCLES--WE PART COMPANY--I GO WITH PETER
AND READY ABOARD THE WONDROUS HIGHFLIER.

Happily, I was well accustomed to the use of a paddle; Peter was not.  I
therefore told him to lay his down, while I steered the canoe with as
little noise as possible, inclining towards the opposite bank near which
I fancied the slave-hunters were working their way up the stream.

The light was increasing,--the voices grew louder.  I guessed that the
other canoe must be about abreast of us.  "A few minutes more, and we
shall be free of her," I thought to myself, when I observed that Ready
was throwing up his nose and stretching out his neck.  I tried by a low
whisper to tranquillise him.  In vain.  He ran to the side nearest the
other canoe and gave a furious bark.  It was immediately responded to by
another dog, and a vehement exchange of fierce growls and barkings
ensued.

"Who goes there?" shouted some one in a surly voice.  "Answer, or I'll
fire."

"Don't do that same, friend," I replied in as calm a tone as I could
command.  "I've just escaped drowning, and I've no fancy to be shot.
You haven't heard, then, that the Mighty Go-ahead has gone down, and to
the best of my knowledge every soul has perished, except a boy I picked
up, and two or three people I saw floating down the stream, and who may
possibly have reached the shore in safety."

"Not very likely that," observed another man, with a savage laugh.  "The
Mississippi isn't famous for helping people to swim ashore."

The first speaker now inquired how the accident had happened, and how I
had escaped.  I told him.

"Then it was daylight when the Mighty Go-ahead went down," remarked
another man.  "What have you been doing with yourself ever since,
stranger?"

I replied that I had spent part of the night up a tree, till, coming
down, I had discovered the canoe in which I had embarked, and was on my
way back to New Orleans.  By this time I could see the other canoe and
the people in her.  There were three of them.  Their dog, a large
bloodhound, and mine continued to exchange fierce barks and growls, in
spite of our mutual endeavours to silence them.  This was an advantage
to me.  It gave me time to consider what I should say.  I was very
anxious, not on my own account, but for the sake of Marcus.  Still
should it come to a tussle, in which our antagonists might not have the
advantage of their firearms, I thought very probably Marcus, Peter, and
I might come off victorious, and I felt sure that Ready would give some
account of the other dog.  It was, however, more than possible, should
we begin to fight, that our canoes would be upset, and that we might all
be drowned together.  I did not wish to show the slightest unwillingness
to approach the other canoe, lest I might raise the suspicions of the
men in her, so we gradually dropped nearer together.  The closer we got,
the more furiously did our dogs bark.  The other dog seemed scarcely
able to keep himself in the canoe, as he ran backwards and forwards in
an ungovernable rage.  I was in hopes that the men had finished
questioning me, and would allow me to proceed.  I gave a flourish with
my paddle, and had made a stroke with it which sent the canoe ahead,
when one of the men cried out--

"You don't happen to have seen a darkie, as you came along, stranger,
have you?"

"Not very likely that I should have seen one in the dark.  His colour
would not be favourable for that," I replied, evasively.

"But Sharpfangs smells him, though," exclaimed one of the other men,
with a terrible oath.  "Seize him!"

What else was said I scarcely heard.  I thought that it was all over
with Marcus, and probably with myself.  To attempt escaping a conflict
seemed hopeless.  Marcus did not stir; but I heard the click of a
pistol.  The other canoe, the bloodhound standing ready for a spring,
dashed alongside ours.  I had no time for considering how I should act.
Still Marcus did not move.  As the sides of the two canoes touched, up
he rose with his gleaming dagger in his hand.  The furious dog flew at
him; but he was prepared, and, striking the brute full in the chest, he
hurled it from him overboard, and in another instant a bullet from his
pistol had gone through the head of one of the men, who fell backward
into the stream.  Another of the men was lifting his rifle to fire; but
the negro, quick as lightning, sprang on board the canoe, and wrenching
it from him, he cast it into the water.

On this the man drew a long bowie-knife from his belt; but before he
could strike with it, Marcus had seized him by the wrist, and the two
closed in a deadly struggle.  I had wished not to interfere; but when I
saw the other white man draw his knife, evidently with the intention of
striking Marcus, I could not resist springing into the canoe, when,
grasping his arm, I bore him down to the bottom of it.  It is surprising
that we did not upset the canoe, which was, however, a large and broad
one.  Peter, with much forethought, before attempting to come to my
assistance, lashed the two canoes together.  Ready, however, the instant
the man fell, springing into the canoe, seized his left arm, and held
him down so tightly that he could make no effectual resistance.  He
struggled, however, and endeavoured, as we rolled about in the bottom of
the canoe, to strike his knife into me.  As soon, therefore, as Peter
was at liberty, I told him to try and wrench the knife out of the man's
hand.  This he did, and then he gave me a piece of rope, which, with his
help, I passed rapidly round my antagonist's wrists, while I kept him
down by kneeling on his chest, and very nearly squeezing the breath out
of his body.

All this time the canoe was rocking so violently from side to side that
I expected every instant to find myself struggling in the water.  The
same idea probably occurred to my antagonist, and this, as very likely
he could not swim, paralysed his efforts more than it did mine.  At all
events, in a few minutes I found myself the victor, and, leaving Peter
and Ready in charge of my conquered foe, I was able to go to the
assistance of Marcus, at the other end of the canoe.

The man with whom he was struggling was little less inferior in strength
to himself, and, had I not been able to help him, the issue might have
been doubtful.  By stepping into our canoe I got at the man's arms, and
held them down, while Marcus, still kneeling on his body, lashed them
securely together, and prevented him from making any further resistance.

"You'll not let that damned darkie murder me, stranger?" said the man,
in a humbled tone.

"Do you think the scars of your merciless lash have yet disappeared from
my shoulders?" said the negro, grinding his teeth.  "Can you restore
those you tore from me and delivered over to worse than death?  Am I to
forget the curses, the insults, you have heaped on me?"

He seized the man and shook him, as a savage dog does an animal he has
conquered.  I dreaded that he was about to throw the overseer--for such
I supposed the man to be--into the water.

"Hold, Marcus!"  I exclaimed.  "I cannot stand by and allow murder to be
committed.  These men are now in our power, and we may dispose of them
as may be necessary for our safety; but we must not take their lives."

"To kill them will be the only safe way of disposing of them," he
answered, in a hoarse voice.  "What else but death can such vermin
expect at my hands?"

I was in hopes that he said this to frighten the men, rather than with
an intention of murdering them.  At the same time I well knew that, even
had he not killed their companion, he could expect no mercy at their
hands.  I remembered, also, that, having participated, as it would be
called, in the crime, though my conscience was free from guilt, I should
certainly share the consequences.  Probably, if caught, we should both
of us, and very likely Peter and Ready also, be hung up from the nearest
tree.  How to dispose of our prisoners was therefore the question.  Of
course the tempter, ever ready to instigate men to do evil, whispered,
"Kill them;" and the cowardice in our hearts added, "It will be the
safest course."  But I had been taught some maxims, when I was a boy,
which I did not forget.  They were, "Do right, whatever comes of it;"
"Never do wrong in the hopes of avoiding a possible evil."  Accordingly
I entreated Marcus to refrain from injuring the men, and to come into
our canoe, and talk the matter over.

Having thrown all the arms overboard, except a rifle which lay loaded at
the bottom of the boat, we stepped back into our canoe, followed by
Peter and Ready, and paddled away out of earshot of our prisoners.
Marcus suggested various plans for their disposal.  Although but a few
minutes had elapsed since I caught the first glimpse of the other canoe,
the dawn had increased so much that we could already see the shore on
either hand.  Marcus stood up and looked about him.

"I see where we are," he whispered as he sat down.

"I have a friend who lives not far off.  We will blindfold the eyes of
the men, and leave them under his charge.  He will take good care that
they do not escape till we have had time to get out of their reach."

The plan seemed good; so dropping alongside the canoe, we took the men's
handkerchiefs from their pockets and secured them over their eyes.  I
observed that Marcus went to the man whose eyes I had bound, and
tightened the handkerchief.  The man groaned.

"Ah! it is not pleasant, but you might be seeing things you should not,
if it slipped," said the black, between his teeth.  "Be silent; we are
not going to kill you, as you deserve."

We now took the smaller canoe in tow, and paddled rapidly on.  We had
need of haste, for the steamers and other craft might be moving up and
down the river, and we might be discovered.  We crossed to the opposite
or west side of the river, to a spot where a wide stream ran into it.
We pulled up a little way, with dark woods on either side of us, till we
came to a small island, on which Marcus ran the canoe on shore.  Putting
his finger to his lips to enjoin silence on Peter and me, he stepped on
shore, and disappeared amidst the tangled underwood.  I sat watching our
captives, and wondering what was to be done with them.  One of them was
working his head about, evidently with the hopes of loosening the
handkerchief.  I gave him a touch with the paddle, and Ready, who seemed
to consider that he was to keep watch and ward over the vanquished,
uttered a fierce growl, which made the man keep perfectly still, though
he groaned in his rage and fear.  In a short time Marcus returned with a
companion, another negro, but very unlike himself.  The new-comer was
short, and out of all proportion broad; indeed he was a dwarf Hercules,
for the appearance of his head and shoulders showed that he possessed
immense muscular power.  He soon gave proof of his strength, for,
looking into the canoe, he stooped down, and lifting one of the men up,
he carried him off on his back, with as much ease as if he had been an
infant.  The man shrieked out with pain, for the cords cut his wrists;
but the dwarf only uttered a hoarse peal of laughter and walked on, more
than once striking the unfortunate wretch against the trees as he
passed.  He soon returned for the other, whom he treated in the same
way.  I observed that Marcus removed everything from the larger canoe
into ours.  By the time this was done, the dwarf came back again, and,
nodding to his companion, lifted the canoe bodily up out of the water,
and carried it off on his shoulders among the bushes.

"Come, it is time that we were away," said Marcus.

Once more we all three resumed our seats in our canoe.  Ready took his
place in the bow, and away we paddled as before.  I could scarcely
persuade myself that the fierce tragedy in which I had just taken a part
had really occurred.  All seemed like some dreadful dream.  I said
nothing; I could not speak.  Marcus was silent.  We paddled on out of
the river, and into the Mississippi, nearly to the middle of it.  There
he looked around him, and then dropped the articles he had taken out of
the other canoe, one after the other, into the water.  The rifle and
other heavy things sank; the rest floated down the stream.

"If they are seen, so much the better," observed Marcus.  "It will be
supposed that the canoe was upset, and the men were drowned."

"But surely their lives are safe?"  I observed, with some doubt in my
tone, for I could not help thinking of the ferocious countenance of the
man in whose power we had left them.

"Safe enough, but not agreeable," he answered.  "Ah! if you knew all I
have suffered from those men, you would own that I have treated them
mildly.  I spared their lives for your sake, and partly that I did not
wish to have more blood on my hands than I have already; and yet, to
effect my purpose, how much deeper may I have to dye them!  Every man's
hand is against me, and mine must be against every man.  Alas, alas!
hard is my lot!  Oh! stranger, be thankful to Heaven that you have a
white skin and are a free man!"

He spoke in a tone of the bitterest anguish.  I tried to console him.
Too true, every man's hand in that country would be against him; not
because he had killed a fellow-creature, but because he was attempting
to escape from bondage and degradation.

We continued paddling on for some time without speaking, till we came in
sight of a collection of log-huts and a landing-place.  It was a city,
he told me--or at least a city that was to be--with a very fine name--
the City of Themistocles, if I recollect rightly.

"I'll put you on shore there, stranger," he observed.  "There is no one
on the quay.  They are not early-risers in that place.  You can expect
no better opportunity of being free of me.  There, leap on shore.  Say
that a negro, in a canoe, took you off an island to which you had swum
when the steamer went down, and that after he had landed you here he
went on his way.  Be wise; say nothing more.  The boy understands me?"

Peter nodded.

"Farewell!"

Marcus put out his hand.  I shook it warmly.  We exchanged no other
words.  I sprang on shore, followed by Peter and Ready, and the canoe
glided away down the stream, and was soon out of sight.  We sat down on
some logs piled up ready for the steamers, and Ready, conceiving that he
had for the present done his duty, coiled himself at my feet, and went
to sleep.  I was too anxious to do the same, though I leaned back
against the logs to rest my weary frame.  It must be remembered that,
since the steamer went down, the only rest I had enjoyed was while
sitting over the fire with Marcus.  I had had a fatiguing swim, a run
from an alligator, a climb up a tree, to the branches of which I had had
to hang on for some hours, a desperate struggle for life, a long paddle,
a second fierce conflict, and another paddle, not to speak of the
anxiety to which I had all the time been subject.  I had not rested
long, when Ready started up and uttered a warning bark, and I saw a
couple of men lazily sauntering down from the huts towards the quay, and
rubbing their eyes as if just awoke out of sleep.

"Well, and where do you come from, stranger?" was the very natural
question they put to me, and which I willingly answered by telling them
of the loss of the _Mighty Go-ahead_, and of most, if not all, of her
crew and passengers.

"Then that's the shouts we heard last night," observed one of the men to
the other.

The men, I found, were overseers of some gangs of negroes, a number of
whom soon appeared, some loaded with bales of merchandise, and others
with logs of wood.  They came stumbling along, laughing and chattering
in spite of their burdens.  Several, however, relaxing in their efforts,
when their taskmasters' whips descended on their shoulders, howled with
pain, but they were very speedily again shouting and talking as merrily
as before.  The overseers were evidently not satisfied with my account
of myself.  I looked anxiously up the river for the steamer coming down
on her passage to New Orleans, but I found that she was not expected for
another hour.  I would have tried to obtain some refreshment, but I knew
that if I went to the huts I should be subjected to more inquiries, so I
told my companion that we would wait till we got on board the steamer
for breakfast.  While waiting, I gathered from the conversation of the
overseers that Marcus's pursuers had actually touched there on their way
up, and had left a full description of him.  I felt thankful that no one
had been about when he put us on shore.  As it was, I could not help
fancying that the overseers associated us in some way with him.

It was a great relief to my mind when I caught sight of the huge steamer
afar off, gliding rapidly along over the bosom of the mighty stream, her
white paint glistening in the beams of the morning sun, and contrasting
with the dark foliage of the trees which lined the bank.  The negroes
stood marshalled ready with their loads to rush on board.  Her tinkling
bell gave notice to the engineers to stop.  She came alongside the quay.
Peter, Ready, and I sprang into her vast interior, among casks and
chests and bales, and soon found our way into the saloon above, and on
to the platform abaft, where I hoped Ready would be allowed to remain.
Once more the bell tinkled.  The huge wheels of the _Wondrous Highflier_
began to revolve, and away she glided down the Mississippi.



CHAPTER FOUR.

ARRIVE AT NEW ORLEANS, AND OFF TO GALVESTON IN TEXAS--A HURRICANE AND
WORSE--THE PIRATE--A FIGHT FOR IT--WE ARE LOST--AN UNEXPECTED FRIEND--
THE BLACK FINS--MARCUS HAS CHARGE OF THE PIRATES' PRIZE, AND LANDS US AT
GALVESTON.

The quay was still in sight, and I saw several men rushing along it,
waving their hands, and apparently shouting at the top of their voices;
but the paddles made too much noise to allow of their being heard,
while, as the master and crew of the steamer were looking ahead, they
were not seen.  I had an idea that they wanted to say something about
me, and I was very glad when the _Wondrous Highflier_ had run the City
of Themistocles out of sight.  We reached New Orleans without any
adventure, and I was not sorry to get a shave and to change my clothes,
which were not improved by the adventures I had gone through.  I took
Peter regularly into my service, for, poor fellow, he had no one else on
whom to depend, and I thus obtained an attendant on whose fidelity I
could perfectly rely.

I had now to consider in which direction I should next bend my steps.
It was a question with me whether I should make another attempt to
ascend the Mississippi or steer my course to the westward.  I was, I
found, more knocked up than I had at first supposed, and required some
days' rest.  A week or more passed before I again went out.  The second
or third day after this, I was sauntering along, when I encountered a
negro staggering under what seemed a very heavy load.  Presently he came
directly against me, and as his white eyes rolled round, I heard him
say--

"Massa, you Harry Skipwith?  Den cut away from here, or you no live
to-morrow.  You know Marcus.  Dat's 'nough!"

On went the negro, staggering as before under his load, and I soon lost
sight of him among the motley crowd of that capital of the South.  After
all I had heard it would have been madness to have neglected the
warning, so on my way to my hotel I inquired at a ship-broker's if any
vessel was ready to sail for Galveston, the chief port of Texas.

"The steamer goes in three days," was the answer.

"Yes, but I have a fancy to go by a sailing vessel."

"Oh, if that's it, there's a fine brig, the _Shaddock_, Captain
Buckwheat, sails this evening.  If you can be ready, I will ask the
captain if he can give you a berth."

I did not wish to appear too eager, so I said I would try to get ready,
and, if I succeeded, I would take a passage in the _Shaddock_.

I had never shrank from danger when I could meet it face to face, but
the uncertain character of that which now threatened me made me
unusually nervous.

I hurried back to my hotel, and, after packing up my luggage, I ordered
some negro porters to convey it down to the wharf where the schooner was
lying, telling Peter to accompany them, while Ready and I followed at a
distance.

I had a notion that the men whom Marcus and I had encountered on the
river had escaped, and in each white man I met I expected to recognise
one of them.  Of course I knew their features better than they could
know mine, for it was still dusk when our struggle took place; but then
I had told them that I had escaped from the _Mighty Go-ahead_.  That was
a sufficient clue for them to trace me; and that they would attempt to
do so, and not rest till they had wreaked a bitter vengeance on my head,
I felt very sure.

I was walking leisurely along, when I felt some one brush by.  A voice
said, "Quick, massa, quick!"  It was the same black who had in the
morning given me the friendly warning.  I hurried on, and reached the
_Shaddock_ without interruption.

"You're just in time; we should have sailed without you, if you hadn't
come," said Captain Buckwheat, as I stepped on board.  "We were all
ready ten minutes ago; the wind is fair, and we can't afford to lose
time in this country, whatever's your fashion in the Old World."

I heartily agreed with my friend in this instance, and was not sorry to
see that the last warp was being cast off, and that the topsails were
loosed.  I recognised the friendly negro watching the brig at a
distance, as she slowly glided out from among the other vessels.  Once
free of them, aided by the current, we made rapid progress down the
river.  I could not help frequently looking astern, to ascertain if we
were followed; and though I had done nothing of which my conscience
accused me, I had a pretty vivid notion of the feelings which must
animate a culprit endeavouring to escape from the hands of justice.
When clear of the yellow-mouthed Mississippi, the wind fell, and the
brig lay rolling on, the glassy yet undulating surface of the ocean.
The sun, casting a blood-red hue on the water, was just sinking behind a
dark mound of vapour to the west, while in the east vast masses of
ensanguined clouds floated slowly across the sky.  I had never felt the
air so hot and oppressive.  Even Ready lay gasping at my feet, looking
up inquiringly into my countenance, with his tongue out.

"There's something coming," observed the skipper, and he ordered every
stitch of canvas to be furled, and the topmasts to be struck.  There was
indeed something coming.  Scarcely was the vessel made snug, than down
came the hurricane on us with terrific violence.  Away we drove
helplessly before it, like a mere straw on the water.  Happily it was
from the westward, or we should have driven on shore.  Away we scudded,
out of our course, but that could not be helped.  When the hurricane
ceased, we found that we had been whisked off some two or three hundred
miles nearer Cuba than we were when it began.  The wind subsided towards
evening, and though the little vessel tumbled about a good deal, we were
once more able to make sail.  Two days after that, I was awoke soon
after daybreak, by a loud exclamation uttered by the captain, who had
entered the cabin.  I saw him busily employed in stowing away some
papers and bags, which he had taken out of a chest, in a hole under his
bed-place.

"What is the matter?"  I asked.

"Matter! why that a pirate is close aboard us, and that the chances are
we all have our throats cut before ten minutes are over.  That's
something the matter, I guess."

I agreed with him, and slipping into my clothes, hurried on deck.
There, about two hundred yards off, on our quarter, coming fast up with
us, was a long, low, black schooner, the very beau-ideal of a
pirate. Her decks were crowded with men, all black, and a very
villainous-looking crew they appeared to be.  At that moment, that we
might have no doubt as to her character, up went a black flag at her
peak, and a shot from a gun in her bows came whizzing between our masts.

While the black schooner approached, the crew of the _Shaddock_ were
employed in making sail, but I saw at a glance that we had not the
slightest chance of escaping; still I have always held that while there
is life we should never despair, so I lent a hand with all my might at
pulling and hauling.  Peter followed my example.  Ready took the end of
the ropes in his mouth and hauled too, but I cannot say that he did much
good.

"Will those black chaps aboard there really cut all our throats, as the
captain says?" asked Peter, looking up at me.  "We'll stand up and fight
them before we give in, I hope, sir!"

"I hope so too, Peter," I answered.  "But our two guns cannot do much
against the six or eight they carry, besides that long fellow
amidships."

"Hip, hurrah! there is the captain casting loose our little barkers--we
are not to yield without a blow."

By this time all sail was set--the guns were manned, and the captain now
served out arms to all on board.

The pirates, however, on seeing that notwithstanding all our efforts we
could not escape them, did not again fire.  Our two guns could do very
little harm to them till they got nearer.  They were run over on the
starboard side, on which the schooner was approaching.

"Aim high, lads," said the captain to his two mates who had charge of
them.  "Our best chance will be to knock away some of his spars."

"Ay, aye, sir," was the answer, given in a cheerful voice, which, at all
events, betrayed no fear.

It was satisfactory to feel that we were to have a stroke for life, and
yet, as the schooner drew near, and I observed through my glass the
villainous-looking, well-armed fellows who crowded her decks, and saw
the size of her guns, I felt that we had but little chance of escaping.

"Now, lads, see what you can do," cried the captain, who was narrowly
watching the schooner.

Our two pop-guns gave out their puffs of smoke, and a couple of holes in
the enemy's sails showed that the aim had not been bad, but no other
damage was done.

Still the schooner did not fire, but came silently and stealthily
gliding on in a way which was much more calculated to try our courage
than if her crew had been shouting and gesticulating.  It showed that
they had perfect confidence in their own power.  The mates loaded and
fired their guns again.  An after mainbrace aboard the schooner was shot
away, and it made her head incline a little more towards us.

We were now almost within pistol-shot of each other, when I saw some
thirty muskets levelled at us, and the next instant a rattling shower of
bullets came whistling round our heads.  Several of our poor fellows
fell: the rest fired in return, but before the smoke cleared away, with
a loud crash the pirate ran us aboard, and fifty fierce-looking
desperadoes sprang shouting on our deck.

I had armed myself with a cutlass, resolving to fight to the last,
though fully expecting to be cut to pieces.  Ready stood barking
furiously on one side of me; Peter kept on the other.  Captain Buckwheat
proved that he was a man, but he was cut down by a pirate's sword, as
was one of the mates close to me, and in less than a minute half our
crew lay bleeding on the deck.  Our opponents were mostly blacks--though
there were brown fellows also--and as they were shouting in English, I
concluded that they were either runaway American slaves or vagabond
negroes from the West India Islands.  Not that I thought much about what
they were at the time; indeed, the grinding of the two vessels together,
the cries and shrieks of the combatants, the smoke and rattle of
firearms, and the fall of spars and blocks from aloft completely
bewildered me, besides which all my energies were required for my own
defence.

Scarcely an instant after the pirates had reached our decks, I found
myself set on by a huge brown fellow, who had led the boarders, and was
apparently an officer among them.  He was a good swordsman, and had not
Ready flown at his legs, and Peter kept poking at him with a
boarding-pike, he would soon have put me _hors de combat_.  With their
aid I managed to defend myself till several other fellows set upon me,
and, overmatched, the big pirate had his sword uplifted to cut me down,
when a black man sprang forward and interposed his own weapon between it
and my head, shouting at the same time--

"Back, all of you.  That man's life is sacred, and the lad's too.
You'll own it when I tell you."

It was a thoroughly melodramatic position.  Though he was now dressed as
an officer, I instantly recognised in my deliverer, Marcus, the slave,
whose life I had assisted to save.

The pirates, who were about to hack me to pieces, now surrounded me with
friendly gestures, and I felt that I was safe.  When, however, I looked
about me, I saw with regret that not a single man of the crew had
escaped: a few were gasping out their heart's blood on deck; the rest
were dead.  I should by that time have been in the same condition had
not Marcus interposed to save me.  Ready recognised him immediately, but
he snapped and growled at the other blacks as they passed.  Poor Peter
kept close to my side; though so ready at first to fight, he was
unaccustomed to scenes of slaughter, and was terror-stricken with the
horrors he had witnessed.

Marcus kept near us, sword in hand, evidently uncertain how the pirates
might treat us, and prepared, if necessary, to do battle in our cause.
I wished to address him--I scarcely knew how.

"Marcus," I said at length, "I am grateful to you for saving my life,
but I little expected to find you in such company."

"`Misfortune introduces us to strange bedfellows' is an old saying," he
answered.  "And most decidedly my misfortunes have given me some
roughish companions; but you see I have already gained some influence
over them; and of one thing be assured, your life and that of the lad
are safe.  When I tell them what you have done for me, there is not a
man of all this lawless band who would not be ready to die for you.  One
hideous monster, slavery, has made them all what they are; and when they
know how you hate it, they will love you."

While Marcus was speaking, the pirates were unceremoniously pitching the
dead bodies of my shipmates overboard--all of them yet warm--some who
had scarcely ceased to breathe.  Two or three, though badly wounded,
were yet fully capable of comprehending their position.  They begged--
they entreated for life.

"What are you--Englishmen or Americans?"

Two owned that they were Americans from the Northern States.

"Then overboard with them," shouted the captain.  "We'll not deprive the
sharks of their share of the booty."

One man declared that he was an Englishman, but a tin case was found on
him, containing a certificate of his being a citizen of the United
States.  I was certain, from some remarks which he had let fall, that
the man had run from a British man-of-war.  In vain he protested that he
hated slavery and the people of the States, that he was a true-born
Briton--in vain he shrieked out and entreated for mercy.  In spite of
his desperate struggles, he was lifted up and thrown among the shoal of
black-finned monsters which surrounded the vessel.  I cannot dwell
longer on these horrors--I would gladly shut them out from my thoughts
as I would then have done from my sight.

The schooner's crew were sufficiently numerous to man the brig more
strongly than before; some more guns were sent on board her, that part
of her cargo which seemed useless thrown overboard, and the two vessels
then made sail together.  I was allowed to retain my cabin, and Peter
had one awarded him aft, that he might be near me.

Marcus came on board as one of the officers of the prize.  I asked him
how he came to know enough of nautical affairs to take a command among
the pirates.

"I picked up my knowledge on my voyage to England," he answered.
"Besides, a very small amount of knowledge makes me superior to most of
my companions.  Only two or three know anything of navigation, and that
very imperfectly.  The captain knows most, and he is jealous of any
equal.  If he were to be killed, the rest would scarcely find their way
into a port; but for that he does not care."

"But, Marcus," said I, "how can you, a man capable of better things,
endure such a life?"

"I hate it," he answered bitterly.  "Recollect, though, what drove me to
it.  To escape from the lash and chains, from indignities and insults,
what will not a man endure?"

"Will you leave it?"  I asked.

"Yes, certainly, if I have the means," he answered.

"I will afford them if I have the power," I answered.  "Trust to me;
think on the subject, but do not allow your comrades to suspect your
intentions, nor to observe that we have any secrets between us."

Marcus walked forward.  The two vessels made sail to the westward.  A
mulatto acted as captain of the brig.  He seemed to be a smart seaman,
but knew very little of navigation.  I now had practical experience of
the advantage of never losing an opportunity of gaining knowledge.
Whenever I had been at sea I had always endeavoured to pick up as much
nautical information as possible, and had learnt to take an observation
and to work a day's work with perfect ease.  I therefore offered my
services to navigate the brig to any port to which the pirates wished to
proceed, intimating that I should prefer being set on shore on the
mainland.

"You were bound for Galveston, and we will go there," said Marcus.  "We
will put you on shore on the island; and should the truth be suspected,
we can be far away before any vessel is sent in pursuit of us."

Marcus afterwards told me that he arranged with his shipmates to do as I
wished.  It was wonderful what influence he had in a short time gained
over those lawless characters.  It was the triumph of mind over brute
strength.  He had, I learned, however, known several of his present
comrades before, and they had spoken in his praise to the rest.  Cruel
wretches as the pirates had become, they treated me with every
consideration, and supplied me with all the luxuries at their command.
Light and contrary winds delayed our progress, so that ten days passed
before we made the low sandy shore of Galveston Island.

The sky was of intense blue, the ocean, smooth as glass, shone with
brilliant lustre, and the sun's rays darted down on our deck, making the
pitch in the seams bubble and hiss, while a line of white sand was the
only soil on which I could hope to land--terra-firma it certainly was
not.

The atmosphere sparkled with heat--the sand almost blinded me, and I
expected to be thoroughly cooked before I reached Galveston.  Still my
desire to be free of the pirates overcame every other consideration.
The two vessels stood in.  There was nothing suspicious about the brig,
and the schooner was made to look as innocent as possible.  How my
followers and I were to get on shore was now the question.  At length we
made out some canoes with Indians in them fishing.  We made a signal,
and one of them paddled towards us.  The people in her held up the fish
they had caught and offered them for sale, thinking that was what we
wanted.  They seemed rather astonished when they saw that Peter and I
were the only white people on board.  The captain took the fish, paid
them liberally, and then told them that they must take some passengers,
who wanted to land at Galveston, as he was bound elsewhere.  After some
bargaining, the Indians agreed to do as we desired.

I took the opportunity, while the captain was bargaining with the
Indians, to ask Marcus how he purposed to quit the pirate band.

"If you remain willingly among evil companions, you cannot avoid being
responsible for their crimes," I observed.

"I must bide my time," he answered.  "I have promised you that I will do
my best to quit them, and I never break my word."

I knew that I could trust him.  My parting with the pirates was brief.
Marcus was the only man on board with whom I could bring myself to shake
hands.  Scarcely had I and Peter and Ready taken our seats in the narrow
canoe, with my very moderate amount of luggage between my knees, than, a
breeze springing up, the two vessels stood away from the land.  The
canoe's head was put towards the north end of the island on which
Galveston stands.  Our crew were of a peculiarly unhealthy-looking
olive-colour, their faces being covered with wrinkled parchment-like
skin.  A straw hat and a shirt and belt formed their costume.  They
understood a little English, but I judged it better not to enter into
conversation with them, lest they should ask inconvenient questions; and
so almost in silence, except when they exchanged a few remarks with each
other in their native tongue, we glided over the sparkling water.  At
length, when we had rounded the north end of the island, they ran the
canoe on to the beach, and told me to get out, as they were going no
further.  I expostulated, but they said that they had performed their
contract, and had their reasons for not going to the town with such
suspicious people as we were.  Against this I had nothing to say.  I
thus had practical experience of the inconvenience of having been seen
in bad company.  Though a reason, it is the lowest for avoiding it.  How
to get my baggage into the town was a puzzle, till I bethought me of
slinging it on a long pole, one end of which Peter carried on his
shoulder, and the other I placed under my arm, and thus we began our
march towards the town.



CHAPTER FIVE.

OFF BY STEAMER TO HOUSTON--ANTS, AND HOW TO AVOID THEM--BY WAGGON
THROUGH FORESTS--SILAS SLAG, OUR KENTUCKIAN DRIVER--I BUY HORSES AND
ENGAGE AN INDIAN GUIDE--THE PRAIRIE--TWO HUMAN SKULLS--THE COMANCHES.

The founders of Galveston must have been very fond of sand.  It stands
on sand, is surrounded by sand, and in high winds almost covered with
sand.  We could scarcely get along: We sank over our ankles at every
step.  I heard Peter groan frequently, and poor Ready dragged his weary
legs after my heels with his tongue out, till I began to be afraid that
he would go mad with the heat.  As to fresh water, that seemed an
impossibility, and there was nothing cooling in the appearance of the
bright shining surface of the surrounding ocean.  Still to stop would
positively have been death, so on we trudged, I doing my best to keep up
the spirits of my two-legged as well as four-legged companion.  At last,
in no very dignified guise, we entered among the streets of wooden
houses, bordered by odoriferous and flowering trees, which compose
Galveston.  Two white people carrying a load was a sight rarely seen,
and when we reached the door of an hotel the clerk and waiters looked at
me with so supercilious an air, that I saw it would be necessary to
assume an authoritative manner.

"Here, some of you lend a hand," I exclaimed.  "A pretty country this of
yours, where a gentleman on landing can find neither porter nor carriage
to convey his baggage!  All I can hope is that your hotel will make some
amends for the inconvenience I have suffered."

The people, as I knew they would, began to defend their country, to
assert that there was not a finer in the world; and then, to prove that
their hotel was a good one, gave me one of the best rooms.

Galveston struck me as remarkable for the pungent sting of the
mosquitoes, the undrinkable nature of the water, and the number of
vociferating negroes, though there were some tolerable buildings and
broadish streets.  Perhaps I was prejudiced, for, not feeling very
comfortable as to my safety, I was anxious to get out of the place
again.

Having got a bill cashed at a somewhat high discount, and written home
an account of my adventures to Aunt Becky, with a request that my
epistle might be sent the round of the family, I put myself, with Peter
and Ready, on board a steamer bound for Houston, the capital of Texas.
We crossed the straits which separate Galveston from the mainland, and
entering the Buffalo River found ourselves between lofty banks, covered
in the richest profusion with magnolias and other flowering shrubs, and
groves of lofty trees, among which flitted birds of the gayest plumage,
while squirrels sported and leaped from branch to branch.  Houston is
picturesquely situated, and will, I have no doubt, become an important
place, as it already shows signs of the enterprise of its Anglo-Saxon
inhabitants.  I slept there only one night.  My room was on the ground
floor.  I found the four legs of my bed placed in as many basins of
water.  I inquired the reason, and was informed that it was to prevent
the ants, which are not nautically inclined, from getting into it and
devouring the inhabitant in his sleep.  Peter's bed, which was in the
corner of the room, was similarly guarded, and Ready very wisely jumped
up and slept on the foot of it.

The next morning Peter got up to procure water for me for washing, and
to perform other duties of a valet; but scarcely had he donned his
clothes than I saw him jumping and twisting about, and slapping himself
in the most eccentric manner.

"Oh dear! oh dear!  I shall be eaten, I shall be eaten!" he exclaimed,
slapping himself harder and harder.

Ready barked, not knowing what to make of it, and jumped back on the bed
again.  Peter set to work to tear off his clothes, which he had placed
on a chair, and of which a colony of ants had taken possession.  He
shook them out by hundreds, and then rushing out, he returned with a
broom, with which he cleared the boards.  The people of the house were
rather astonished at my insisting on having a tub of cold water, which
Peter at length brought me, and I managed to dress without being
devoured by the ants.

Two hours after this we were rattling away along the corduroy road in a
mail waggon, with a Kentuckian driver, through the forests of Texas.  It
was not altogether a pleasant style of locomotion, for we were bumped
about terribly, our vehicle being innocent of springs; but it had the
advantage of novelty.  We stopped at nights at settlers' huts, and slept
on the roughest of rough beds, and sometimes without any beds at all
except the bare boards and our cloaks; but I had made up my mind to
grumble at nothing short of being scalped or positively starved.  I had
brought a saddle with me from England, and had procured another at
Galveston for Peter, with the intention of purchasing at the first
opportunity horses for riding and for carrying the luggage and tent, and
starting away across country.  I mentioned my intention to my Kentuckian
driver, Silas Slag by name.

"Then I guess, stranger, that you don't care very much about your
scalp," he observed, with a wink of his eye, as he made a significant
gesture round his head.

"Why, who do you suppose would venture to take my scalp?"  I asked,
thinking that he was quizzing me, and wishing to turn the tables on him.
"Don't you know that if any one injures an Englishman, the British
government will hunt him out, in whatever part of the world he may be,
and make him pay dearly for his folly?"

"I guess, stranger, that the Comanches, or any other Redskin varmint,
care no more for your British government than I do, and that is about as
much as that panther there does for your dog."

As Silas spoke, he pointed to a huge creature, which, half concealed by
the tangled underwood of a tropical forest, lay crouching down about
twenty yards ahead of us, and apparently prepared to spring out as we
passed.

I had turned Ready out to stretch his legs, and he, unconscious of
danger, was running on in high glee, abreast of the horses.  In another
instant he would have been in the jaws of the wild beast.  I called to
him to come to me, and at the same time lifted my rifle from the bottom
of the waggon to be ready to fire.  Silas whipped on his horses in the
hopes of passing the creature before he could make his spring, but the
animals, aware of the approach of an enemy, began to plunge and kick,
and drove the waggon against some stumps of trees amid which the road
wound, with a force which sent Peter sprawling at the bottom of it, and
at the same instant the panther, with a tremendous bound, sprang on one
of the leaders.  The poor brute struggled so violently, that I was
afraid of wounding it instead of killing the panther if I fired.  At
last I got a fair aim at the wild beast's head, and to my infinite
satisfaction over he rolled dead.  The horses stood trembling in every
limb, but I was afraid that they would dash on, before we could put the
harness to rights, and leave us in the lurch.  Once more, however, we
were on the road, through a forest composed of oaks, maples, acacias,
sycamores, and other trees with which I was familiar, and many others to
be found in the tropics alone, interlaced with all sorts of creepers.
On either side were a vast variety of flowers of every bright hue, but
the most attractive were the red and white blossoms of the cotton trees,
which, waving to and fro in the breeze, were dazzling to look at, while
humming-birds, butterflies, and insects innumerable made the air appear
as if filled with the most gorgeous gems.  All this sort of scenery was
very interesting, but I was not sorry when we reached the town of
Billyville, I think it was called, bordering the prairies, where I was
told that I could purchase horses, and find a trustworthy guide for my
farther progress.

The name of Billyville was not significant of a very important place,
nor had the town any great pretension of any sort, as it consisted of a
few rough huts, while the surrounding fields were full of the stumps of
the trees which had been cut down.  I bought the horses required, and on
the evening of my arrival a thin wiry little fellow presented himself,
saying that his occupation was that of a hunter, and that he could guide
me safely through any part of the North American continent.  Whether he
considered himself a white man or a Redskin I could not tell, while he
spoke English, Spanish, and French with great volubility, though absurd
as to correctness, and asserted that there was not an Indian dialect
with which he was not acquainted.  His garments were of fine tanned
leather and ornamented with coloured threads and beads, while a straw
hat covered his head.  I inquired of Silas Slag if he knew anything of
him.  He said that he believed that he was honest, and that he had the
character of being a very brave fellow and a successful hunter.  He was
the sort of man I wanted, so I engaged Mr Jack Lion, as he called
himself in English, with an Indian to assist in taking care of the
horses.  An old man and a young one now joined our party, and took our
vacated places in the waggon.

We were to accompany the mail another day's journey before we turned off
to the north, where Mr Lion informed me I should find numbers of
buffaloes and other large game.

"Well, I shall be sorry to part from you, stranger," said Silas Slag, as
I rode alongside him on my trusty little steed.  "I hope you'll come to
no harm, but you'll just remember that while you're shooting buffaloes
there'll be people maybe looking out to shoot you.  Those Comanches are
terrible wild chaps, and you never know where they may turn up."

We had now entered a most desolate-looking prairie country.  We had lost
sight of the forest through which we had been travelling, and there
appeared before us only one uniform level of dry waving grass.  As we
rode on, I saw some white objects glittering in the sun ahead.  Getting
up to them, I found that they were two human skulls and other bones.
There they lay grinning at each other.  Near one was the barrel and look
of a gun.  Close to the other was a hatchet and a scalping-knife, and
several tips of arrows.  A tale was thus told me of how a white man and
an Indian had met, and fought, and died on that spot.  I had dismounted
to examine these miserable relics, speaking of human sin and folly, when
Silas cried out--

"Look there, stranger; look there Jack Lion!  What do you say to those
black spots out there?  Are they birds, buffaloes, or Redskins?"

The hunter stood up in his stirrups and took a long steady gaze in the
direction Silas pointed, just as a sailor does when he is looking out
for an enemy's cruiser at sea.  Suddenly dropping into his saddle, he
exclaimed, "Comanches!  And they are coming this way."

"Then they'll scalp every mother's son of us," cried Silas, lashing on
his horses.

"Keep together, my men, at all events," I exclaimed, as my companions
began to move on; and away we dashed at a rapid rate.

We had not gone far, however, when, on turning my head, I discovered
that we were pursued, and that the strangers were coming up with us.  I
desired Lion to take another look at them, and to tell me what he
thought they were.

"Comanches," he answered, "Comanches, there's no doubt about it."

"Is there any place we can hope to reach where we can defend ourselves
better than in the open plain?"  I asked.

"None, none that I know of," was the answer.

"Then let us halt at once, before we have exhausted our strength, and
fight it out like men," said I.

My companions listened to my appeal.  Silas stopped his horses, and
unharnessing them, placed them at one end of the waggon, while we
secured our steeds at the other end.  A few boxes and bales which the
waggon contained, with some stout poles ready in case of necessity to
repair it, were tumbled out, and with them we formed a very imperfect
barricade for our defence.  Scarcely were our fortifications finished
than the hoarse voices of the Indians uttering their war-whoops were
borne down to our ears on the breeze.  They approached.  There could be
no doubt about their intentions.  They were in their war-paint.
Brandishing their gaily ornamented spears with horrible shrieks, which I
own, in spite of my resolution, made me feel very uncomfortable, on they
came on their mustangs at full tilt towards us.  We cocked our rifles
and stood ready to receive them, resolving if they wanted our scalps to
make them pay dearly before they got them.



CHAPTER SIX.

ON THEY COME--ORDER OF BATTLE--NUMBERS PREVAIL--READY AND PETER SAVE MY
SCALP--UNLOOKED-FOR AID--OUR WOUNDS ARE DRESSED--SHELTER ON THE VERGE OF
CIVILISATION.

The two skulls were still in view, as the shrieks of the Comanches grew
louder and louder, and the sight of these mouldering relics determined
our party to conquer or to perish in the attempt.  On came the
Comanches, their mustangs at full gallop, and their gay trappings
fluttering in the breeze.  Their object was, apparently, to alarm and
unnerve us before they approached.  I looked round at the countenances
of my companions, to judge how far I could depend on them.  Ready was
the most pugnacious, as he stood up with his front paws on a chest,
growling and snarling.  There was a dogged resolution in Peter's face,
which satisfied me that he would fight to the death; while Silas Slag
and Senior Jack Lion were sufficiently cool and determined to make me
feel I could depend on them.  The other men looked as if they wished
that they were anywhere else, but at the same time would stand to their
colours if their comrades did.

"Now, lads, reserve your fire till I give the word," I exclaimed.  "Let
each of you select his man.  Fire one after the other, not all together
on any account, and it will be hard if each of us don't hit his man.
Load again as fast as you can, and be ready for the rest who may venture
to come on."

What I said encouraged my companions, and the plan which had at that
moment suggested itself to me gave me a confidence I had not before
felt.

"Now, all steady," I cried.  "You, Silas Slag, will fire first, Jack
Lion next, I will take the third and fourth shots with my double-barrel.
Peter, you follow me, Sam Noakes next, and, Paul, don't fire till your
father has shot his man."

The Indians had got within fifty yards of us, imagining that they would
make us on easy prey.  I gave the word.  Silas looked calmly along his
rifle.  He fired, and as the smoke cleared away, an Indian was seen to
fall from his horse.  Jack Lion's trigger was pulled an instant
afterwards, with the same success.  I felt terribly cool; not at all as
if I was about to take the life of one or more human beings.  I have
been far more flurried when a pheasant has got up close under my nose.
Two of our enemies had fallen.  I fired both my barrels, and two more
mustangs were galloping away without riders.  Still the Indians came on.
Peter showed that my instructions had not been thrown away on him.  He
fired with steadiness, and though the Indian at whom he aimed still sat
his horse, the lance he held fell from his hand.  One of our party
missed altogether, but the rest hit, if they did not kill, the Indians
they had picked out.  Silas, Lion, and I had our pieces reloaded before
our enemies were upon us.  With terrific shrieks they came close up to
us, when we each knocked over another of the yelping band.  This was
more than they expected, and having endeavoured in vain to leap their
steeds over the barricade which protected us, they wheeled round and
galloped off to a distance.

Our party shouted with satisfaction, but we soon perceived that our foes
had not retreated.  After hovering about for some time, and apparently
consulting together, they again formed a dense body and advanced at full
speed towards us.  Hoping that the same plan we had before adopted would
succeed, we were waiting to fire, when the horsemen, separating, swept
round to the right and left with the evident intention of taking us in
the rear.  Though there was no barricade on that side, we had the waggon
to protect us; but then our horses were exposed, and might either be
killed or carried off.

"We are in a fix, I guess," exclaimed Silas Slag; "but never say die,
lads; I have been in a worse one than this, and am still alive."  This
address infused new courage into the rest of the men.

The Indians, finding that our small band was far more formidable than
they expected, had become very wary, and kept hovering around on every
side, just beyond reach of our rifles.  Bound and round they swept,
making various feints, for the purpose of wearing out our courage, I
suppose.  This, however, gave us time to make further preparations for
their reception.

By cutting some holes in the awning of the waggon, and replacing a few
chests and bags on one side of it, we turned it into a little fortress,
likely to prove of service against enemies on horseback, armed only with
spears and bows and arrows.  Our chief cause for fear was, that some of
them might dismount, when they would be much more formidable at close
quarters.  They did not, however, seem inclined to attempt such a
proceeding.  Now with loud shrieks they advanced, and then wheeling
round, off they went as if in fall flight, but in another moment they
were again advancing towards us with threatening gestures.  I thought
they would turn, but no; on they came from each quarter of the compass,
shouting, shrieking, and flourishing their spears.  The next instant a
flight of arrows came flying among us, compelling us to sink down under
our barricade to avoid them.  This was no easy matter.  One grazed my
shoulder, and another went through Peter's hat, and for a moment I
thought he was wounded.

"Fire, lads!"  I shouted, "steady as before."  I, with two of the men,
sprang into the waggon to receive our enemies, and as they approached,
we fired in quick succession; but, very naturally, our aim was not so
steady as before, and still on they came, shrieking terrifically.

As the Indians got within thirty paces of us, without stopping the speed
of their mustangs, they for an instant dropped their lances, and
grasping their bows, let fly another shower of arrows.  Then on they
came more rapidly than before.  I did not look round to see who was
struck.  I felt a sharp pang in my side where an arrow was quivering.  I
trusted that it was not poisoned; it had come through the tilt of the
waggon.  I had no time to draw it out, for the point of a red warrior's
spear was close to me.  I had fired one barrel, but I had the second
loaded.  I pulled the trigger.  The Indian sprang forward, the spear
passed on one side, and he fell dead at my feet, while his horse,
turning aside, galloped off.

Our men had all fired, and three Indians lay dead in front of us.  But
though the front rank had wheeled round, the rest were coming on with
furious gestures of vengeance.  Our little band was also sadly
diminished.

For an instant, not hearing Silas Slag's voice, I turned my head.  He
lay writhing on the ground, with an arrow through his breast, which he
was in vain attempting to drag out, while another man, though he still
stood at his post, seemed badly wounded with a spear-thrust in his neck.
The pain in my side was increasing so much, that I every instant
expected to drop fainting to the ground.

I got out of the waggon, for in a hand-to-hand encounter I could fight
longest in an open space.  I knew that it would be destruction to yield,
so I instantly began reloading my rifle, while I shouted to my
companions to struggle to the last.  They were doing their best to keep
the Indians at bay while I reloaded.  Again I fired; my aim was
unsteady; and I killed the horse instead of the rider.  The animal fell
directly in front of me, and served as a barricade, but the Indian,
disengaging himself, drew his scalping-knife from his girdle and sprang
towards me.

Weak, and suffering intense pain, I could do little to help myself, and
thought that my last moments had come when, just as the Redskin was
about to plunge his weapon in my breast, Ready, who had been watching by
my side, with a fierce growl flew at his throat, and compelled him to
turn the intended blow on one side, and the next moment the butt of
Peter's musket came crashing down on his head and stunned him.  The rest
of the party, still able to stand up, were engaged in single combat with
the more daring of our adversaries, while other Indians were flocking
round, either thrusting at us with their spears, or with arrows in the
string, standing ready to shoot as opportunity might offer.

Now, indeed, I had lost all hope of escaping.  More Indians were
galloping up, when, through a gap in their ranks, as I stood with one
foot on the dead horse, I caught sight in the distance of another body
of horsemen moving at full speed across the prairie.

Had I till now entertained even the slightest hopes of resisting our
foes, this circumstance made me feel that such hopes were vain; still
"the never-say-die principle" made me resolve to fight to the last, and
my companions, I saw, were resolved to do the same.

We were, indeed, in a desperate plight.  One man was killed outright,
Silas appeared to be mortally wounded, and I expected every instant to
drop.  I heard the Indians shouting to each other--I thought probably to
make short work of us.  Suddenly they wheeled round and galloped off, as
I concluded, to wait till they were joined by the fresh band we saw
approaching, when they would again come on and crush us at once.  Again
I loaded and fired, but it was a last effort; overcome with pain and
loss of blood, I fell fainting behind the dead horse, which had served
as a barricade.

In vain I tried to rise.  I heard the men about me shouting and firing;
then there was a loud tramping of horses; the shouts grew louder.  In
another instant I expected to feel my scalp whipped off my head.  In
that moment I lived an age.  I should have been glad to have lost all
consciousness.  Had I been able to fight bravely, even against odds so
fearful, I should have been content; but to lie helpless at the mercy of
savages was terrible.  I had heard of the tortures they were wont to
inflict on their captives, and I expected to have to endure some such
ordeal to try my courage.

On came the horsemen.  Voices struck my ear, but they were familiar
sounds.  The words were mostly English.  I opened my eyes.  They fell
not on Redskin savages, but on a party of white men, well aimed with
rifles and pistols, and broadswords or cutlasses.

"On after the varmint!" shouted one, who seemed to be the leader.  "Some
of you lads stay by these people.  Doctor, there's work for you, I
guess."

While most of the horsemen, to the number of fifty at least, galloped
after the flying Indians, some few dismounted and came within our camp.

"Why, lads, you seem to be in a bad way," observed one of them.

"I guess if you hadn't come, we shouldn't have had a scalp on the top of
our heads," was the answer.  "There's the captain dead, and Silas Slag,
the next best man, no better off; for, if he isn't dead, he'll be before
many minutes are over."

"We'll see," said a stranger, whom I guessed to be a surgeon,
approaching the spot where poor Silas lay groaning with agony.  "Take
your hands off the arrow, boy.  You'll not get it out that way.  Many a
man has lived with a worse wound than that through him.  Here, some of
you, lend a hand."

I just lifted myself on my side, and saw the young surgeon engaged with
his instrument in cutting out the arrow from Silas's body.  The poor
fellow groaned, but did his utmost to refrain from giving fall
expression to the agony he was undergoing.

"It will be my turn next," I thought to myself.  "I must nerve myself
for the suffering I must endure."

I waited till the wounds of all the men had been attended to.

"There's the dead captain on the other side," said one.  I had been
dubbed captain by my companions.

The surgeon came up to me.

"I'm not quite dead yet," I murmured.  "Just pull this ugly stick out of
me, and I hope to do well."

"No fear of that, captain," said the stranger.  "Here, lads, some of you
hold him down.  It's an unpleasant operation, but it's necessary."

The surgeon was skilful, but I own that my nerves got such a twinge that
I would rather not dwell on the subject.

Our new friends now set to work to get us into marching order.  One of
our party had been killed, and another wounded, besides Silas Slag, who
was in a very precarious condition, and I was very considerably hurt.
The Indians had carried off four of our horses, but as six of their
number lay dead on the field, and others were badly wounded, they had
paid dearly for their success.  Fortunately none of the waggon horses
were missing.  They were harnessed, and we began to move.  Silas Slag
and another man who had been hurt were placed in the waggon with me.
Some spirits was poured down my throat, and after a time I recovered
sufficiently to ask questions.  I found that the horsemen who had
arrived so opportunely to our rescue were in search of the very band of
Comanches that had attacked us.  Those predatory Redskins had attacked a
party of Texians travelling across the prairie, and were said to have
killed all the men, and to have carried off a white girl as prisoner.
She was the daughter of one of the murdered men, an old officer of the
United States army, and, I was told, was possessed of great personal
attractions.

On hearing this, all the romance in my composition was instantly
aroused.  I regretted my wound more because it kept me a prisoner than
on any other account, and longed to be in the saddle and in pursuit of
the savages to aid in rescuing the poor girl.  We were on our way back
to the settlement to which she belonged, but of those who had come to
our rescue, the doctor and the greater number were pushing forward after
their companions.  They had vowed vengeance on the marauders, and were
likely to execute it in a terrible manner if they succeeded in
overtaking them.

It was dark before we reached the nearest shelter.  It was a farm-house
on the very verge of civilisation, surrounded with stockades to guard
against a sudden attack of Indians.  The inhabitants, who were of German
descent, though speaking English, received us with kind expressions, and
had Silas and me and the other wounded man carried into their largest
sleeping-room, where beds were placed for us, into which we were put at
once.  The mistress of the house then came with ointments, and with the
greatest tenderness dressed our wounds, and afterwards brought us some
light and nourishing food, of which we stood in great need.

"I can feel for you, stranger," she remarked to me, as she sat watching
like a mother by my bedside.  "I had a son wounded by the Redskins many
years ago.  He came home, poor boy, to die.  The young girl, too,
carried off by the savages, is a relation.  I tremble to think what her
fate may be.  All the men of our family, even my husband, old as he is,
and my sons and grandsons, are gone in pursuit of the enemy.  Altogether
there are twenty of them from this farm alone.  Ah me!  I shall rejoice
when they come book.  It is anxious work waiting for them.  I have lost
in my time so many kindred and acquaintance through the treachery of
these Redskins, that I always dread what may happen."

I did my best to comfort the kind old lady, and told her that as our
small party had been able to keep them so long at bay, there could be
little doubt that a well-armed band, such as her friends formed, would
have little difficulty in conquering them.

The night, however, passed away, and nothing was heard of the party.
Neither the following day were any tidings received.  The anxiety of the
poor women, of whom there were a considerable number in and about the
farm, became very great.  People from various other locations also came
crowding in, chiefly women, whose husbands and sons had gone on the
expedition, to make inquiries.  Some, indeed, began to express their
fears that the party had fallen into an ambush and been cut off.  Such
things had occurred before.  I was already better, and only wanted
strength.  I offered, if men could be found, to head a party to go out
in search of the missing band.

"They will be here by nightfall," said the old lady, trying to comfort
herself.

I felt, from the remarks I had heard made, considerable doubt about
this, and could not help fearing that some catastrophe had occurred.
Two whole days passed away, and still there was no tidings of the
missing ones.



CHAPTER SEVEN.

OUR DELIVERERS PURSUE THE COMANCHES, BUT FAIL TO RETURN--I AM
CONVALESCENT AND HEAD A PARTY IN SEARCH--THERE IS A LADY IN THE CASE--
STORES FOR CAMP--TONY FLACK'S TALE OF THE "INJUNS."

Day after day passed away, and no tidings of the expedition.  Under the
care of my kind hostess I quickly recovered from the effects of my
wound, from which I suffered wonderfully little, and I began to hope
that in another day or two I might be fit to mount a horse, and set off
to the assistance of the settlers.  While I lay on my bed I had plenty
of time for thinking.  Among other things, I began to regret that I had
been turned aside from my original purpose of ascending the Mississippi.
I never like to be thwarted in anything I undertake, and on this
occasion I felt that I had allowed fear to influence me.  I thought this
so unworthy of me that, "so soon as I have brought my present adventure
to a conclusion," I said to myself, "I will go back and steam up the
mighty river; and any slave-owner or slave-dealer who dares to stop me
shall pay dear for his temerity."  I told Peter and Ready of my
determination.  The latter wagged his tail and seemed highly pleased,
though I suspect he thought I was speaking of going home.  The former
said that he was willing to go wherever I wished, and, if needs be,
would fight by my side as long as he could stand up.

"I know you would, Peter," said I.  "Indeed we shall probably have
something to try your courage before then."

I was right in this conjecture.  The party which had gone in pursuit of
the Comanches did not return, and their friends becoming anxious about
them, began to assemble from all directions on horseback, and
well-armed.  By this time I was able to leave my room, and when they
heard that an Englishman was ready to take the command of the party,
they all expressed a wish to have me at their head, and to set out
immediately.  Weak as I was I determined to go.  My kind hostess
showered blessings on my head when I told her so.  I could only reply
that I should better merit them if I returned successful.

We were to set off the next morning.  Another night's rest would
increase my strength, or might perhaps see the return of the former
expedition.  I went to see.  Silas Slag before starting.

"Well, you Britishers can sometimes put the best leg foremost, I see,"
he observed as he took my hand, and pressed it with a warmth I did not
expect.  "You ain't far behind us free and independent Americans, I
guess.  I wish I could go with you; and so I would, if it wasn't for the
big hole which that Comanche made between my ribs.  I'd like to go for
your sake, and to help to find the young gal those varmint have carried
off."

I thanked Silas heartily for his friendly feelings, and assured him that
I shouldn't wish to have a better man by my side.  In truth, I have
seldom found Americans wanting in bravery or generosity.

Daybreak found me in the saddle, surrounded by fifty well-armed men;
young and old, white, brown, and black; with Peter mounted on a
raw-boned steed at my side, and Ready--looking as if he well knew what
was in the wind--at my heels.  My army was somewhat variously armed:
some had muskets, others rifles, others blunderbusses, and others only
spears and pistols; while the swords were of all shapes, from Spanish
Toledos, to English cutlasses and broadswords.  The costumes of my
followers were of the same diversified character, as were the
accoutrements of the horses and the steeds themselves, but as the men
mostly looked ready for work I was satisfied.  We had secured a
half-caste Indian for a guide, whose parents had been killed and scalped
by the Comanches; so he was anxious that we should fall in with them.  I
must own that I chiefly thought about the young woman who had been
carried off, and I hoped that no disaster might have happened to the
brave men who had preserved my life and that of my companions at the
moment we were almost overpowered.  Each of us carried his provisions
and cooking utensils at his saddle-bow, as well as a cloak or blanket in
which to sleep at night.  Every man had his axe in his belt, and a long
knife for cutting grass, so that we were provided for a campaign even
should it take a month or more.

We pushed on as fast as we could move, making, through the open prairie,
full thirty miles each day.  We thus travelled a hundred miles; but
still there was no sign of our friends or the Comanches.  Our guides
assured us that the former must be ahead, but, as to the Indians, it was
impossible to say where they were.  Any moment they might appear on our
flanks or rear, and, unless we were well prepared, overwhelm us by their
numbers.  We, of course, kept a careful watch at night, and sent out
scouts as we advanced.

We were soon completely in the desert, and might at any moment be
attacked by our enemies.  Had our animals been capable of pushing on
without stopping, I believe that we should have done so, from the
intense eagerness all felt to ascertain what had become of their
friends; but my companions were too practical to attempt this.  They
well knew that "the more haste the less speed."  We therefore camped
regularly, and only travelled at stated hours, as if we were in no way
in a hurry.  This somewhat slow progress was very trying to my temper,
although, had we attempted to go faster, we should have knocked up our
steeds, and been unable to progress at all.

The time, however, spent while camping, was not occupied unpleasantly.
Most of the party had led wild, roving lives, had followed various
vocations, and gone through strange adventures, which they were not
prevented by bashfulness from recounting.  They were not in a mood to
sing, but one after the other narrated the most wonderful events, in
which, as a rule, they were the chief actors,--grizzly bears, panthers,
buffaloes, and rattlesnakes being part of the _dramatis persona_.

We had several articles of food which were new to me, all as little
bulky as possible, and qualified to keep a long time.  We had some dried
meat, procured from the Mexicans.  They prepare it by cutting the meat
while fresh into long strips, when it is hung on a line to dry in the
sun and wind until it becomes thoroughly hardened.  Sometimes it is
smoked and dried, with a slow fire underneath, as are dry fish in
England.  It will, when prepared in either of these ways, keep for a
long time.  We had another article of food called _Penole_, which is
made by parching Indian corn, then grinding it, and mixing it with
cinnamon and sugar.  A third, called _Atole_, is also worthy of mention.
It is a kind of meat which, when prepared in a peculiar way, appears
and tastes very like what the Americans call Mush.  Mush, again, is
simply maize, or Indian corn, boiled in water.  Penole is especially
valuable for travellers, as it requires no fire to cook it, being
prepared in a minute by simply mixing it with cold water.  In proportion
to its weight it occupies very little space, but when prepared for use,
swells to twice its former bulk.  A very small quantity at a time is
therefore sufficient to satisfy hunger.  We had, besides, coffee and
brown sugar as our chief beverage.  I mention these things to show that
some forethought had been exercised before starting.

As I said, we were attired in a variety of costumes, but the most common
dress was a check or "hickory" shirt, buck-skin pants, a fringed
hunting-shirt of the same material, gaily lined with red flannel, and
ornamented with brass buttons.  A coarse broad-brimmed straw hat covered
the head, while the feet and legs were cased in strong cow-hide boots,
reaching to the knee.  Each man carried at his saddle-bow a porous
leathern water-bottle.  When hung up in the sun just enough of the
liquid exuded deliciously to cool the rest, and in that climate this was
a great luxury.

Our progress was in part directed by the places at which water could be
procured.  Before nightfall we prepared to camp.  We first turned our
horses out to feed, but as soon as it grew dark they were brought in and
picketed in the centre, while we, with our saddles as pillows, lay down
in the form of a square outside them, eight or ten men on each side,
while the rest watched as scouts in advance.  Thus several nights passed
away.  Our chief apprehension arose from the possibility that the
Comanches, discovering our camp, might make an attack during the night
on it with overwhelming numbers, and ride over us before we were
prepared to receive them.

An old hunter who accompanied us gave me a vivid description of such a
scene, when he was one of the few of his party who had escaped.  He went
by the name of Tony Flack.  He was a gaunt, parchment-skinned, wizened
individual, with a most lachrymose expression of countenance, which,
however, did not exhibit his real character, for he was rather a merry
fellow at bottom, but his jollity took some time in appearing.  As a
Yankee remarked, "I guess he takes a long time to pump it up."  He, in
fact, did not begin to laugh till the subject of the conversation had
been changed.

"I guess that was an awful time," he began.  "We'd just got into the big
sandy desert, not far off from here; there was fifty of us at least, and
we were all a-lying down, having no more fear of Injuns than of so many
heffers, when there was a whirl and a rush just as if the Falls of
Niagara and St. Anthony was running a race.

"`It's a stampede!' shouted one.  I looked up.  There I saw in the
moonlight a thousand warriors, their white shields and spears glistening
in the moonbeams, as they galloped right down upon us.  Some of our men
sprang to their feet, and attempted to defend themselves; but the
savages darted on and cut them down, and ran them through in a moment.
I was so much astonished that I rolled over with my saddle above my
head, and this, I guess, saved my scalp, for most of my companions lost
theirs.  I thought the mass of warriors would never have done passing.
Not one of their horses touched my body, but the loud trampling
continued, and the shrieks and cries of my companions rang in my ears as
the spears of our assailants went through them, or they were trampled on
by their mustangs.  At last the noise of the tramping ceased, though I
could hear the shouts of the Indians in the distance as they drove off
our horses.  I knew their ways, and that some of them would certainly
return before long to take our scalps.  I lifted my head up from under
my saddle, and seeing no one moving, I crept away towards some rocks
which I had observed before night closed in at a little distance from
the camp.  I was afraid of speaking, lest any Indians might have
remained near--indeed, I thought that all my companions were killed.  On
I crept, scarcely daring to lift my head above the ground, lest I should
be seen.  I endeavoured also not to move a stone, or a bush, for fear of
being heard.  More than once I stopped to listen, fancying that some one
was approaching.  I did, however, reach the rock, and scarcely had I got
behind it, than I again heard the trampling of horses, and then once
more arose the fearful shrieks of some of my companions who had remained
alive, and whom the savages had now returned to scalp.  I wasn't much
given to fainting, even in those days, but I nearly lost my senses as I
heard the dreadful cries of my friends, and thought how narrowly I had
escaped from the same fate, and that even now it might overtake me.  I
dared scarcely to breathe till I heard the Indians once more retreating.
At daylight I crept out cautiously from my shelter; no one was moving.
I advanced towards our camp.  I have seen many dreadful sights, but
never one more horrid than I then gazed upon.  There lay the bodies of
my companions; the heads of all of them had been robbed of their hair
scalps, while the ground was stained with blood from their wounds.  Most
of the arms and property had been carried off, but there was food enough
and to spare.  I loaded myself with as much as I could carry, and, to my
great satisfaction, I found a rifle with ammunition, which had been
dropped.  I must now, I concluded, find my way back to the States as
best I could.  I had begun my march eastward, when I heard a foot-fall.
I started, expecting to see a scalping-knife whirling over my head.  My
heart leaped with joy when I saw one of my friends.  He, like me, had
escaped and hid himself before the return of the Indians.  We trudged on
together across the desert, often thinking that we should never get back
to our friends; but we succeeded at last.  For some months I fancied
that I should never again set my face to go westward, but in time I got
tired of a quiet life, and have lived out in these parts pretty well
ever since."

Just as the speaker ceased a cloud of dust was seen in the distance, and
out of it emerged our scouts galloping at headlong speed.

The Perils and Adventures of Harry Skipwith--by W.H.G. Kingston



CHAPTER EIGHT.

OUR FRIENDS BESIEGED--WE SURPRISE THE COMANCHES--OUR VICTORY, AND OUR
FRIENDS RELIEVED--WHAT THEY HAD SUFFERED--THE YOUNG GIRL RESTORED TO HER
HOME.

"Forward!" was the word, and our whole troop galloped on, eager for the
information the scouts could give us.  We pulled up as they drew near.
At first all we could make out were the words, "The Comanches are there;
on, on! our friends are well-nigh done for."  I ordered a halt, that we
might hear more exactly the information they had obtained, and have time
to form a plan, of operation with calmness and judgment.  They had found
themselves, from indubitable signs, in the presence of a numerous band
of Indians.  Soon the sound of firing reached their ears.  Two of them,
leaving their horses with the rest, crept forward on foot, till they
caught sight of a rocky mound partly covered with trees.  The Indians
surrounded this mound, and on the top of it some sort of fortification
had been thrown up, which they had no doubt was held by our missing
friends.  From the slow way, however, in which they were firing, it was
very evident that their ammunition was almost exhausted, and that in a
short time longer their fate would be sealed.  The Indians seemed aware
of this, for, though completely besetting the hill, they kept close
under shelter at a distance, only showing themselves when they had to
advance to get a shot at the besieged.  One thing was certain--there was
not a moment to be lost; for, even while we were advancing, the savages
might make one of their fierce onslaughts, and destroy our friends.
Still, the very greatest caution was necessary.  The enemy far
outnumbered us, and were brave and wary.  It was advisable, if possible,
to take them by surprise, an undertaking of no ordinary difficulty, as
Tony Flack observed, in his peculiar way, when I proposed it: "Cap'n,
did you ever catch a weasel asleep?  No, I guess; then you'll not catch
these here red-skinned varmints, when they know an enemy's not far off."

However, there was nothing like trying.  I first ascertained from our
guides and the scouts the line of country which afforded most shelter,
and then directed them to lead us along it.  Though speed was important,
concealment, till we could make a rush at the Indians, was still more
so; and I therefore ordered, as we got nearer, all the men to dismount,
and to lead their horses, one following another, in single file, so that
there would be less risk of our being perceived.  I threw out scouts at
the same time, that we might not ourselves be surprised.  As we
advanced, we listened anxiously for the sound of firing, to assure us
that our friends were still holding out.  Not hearing any shots, I was
considering whether we ought not to mount and dash on all risks, when
one of my companions assured me that there was no hurry, that the
Indians were too wary to attack the fort till long after our friends had
ceased firing, and that very likely they would attempt to starve them
out.  Thus reassured, we cautiously continued our progress as before.
Our well-trained hones seemed to understand the necessity for silence,
and, it appeared to me, trod as cautiously as any of the party.  At
last, emerging from a valley, the report of a musket-shot reached our
ears; another and another followed; they sounded louder and louder; we
knew that at all events our friends were still holding out, and, what
was of infinite consequence, that the Indians would be so engaged in
front, that they would probably not discover our approach in their rear.
But a thin belt of wood intervened between us and the enemy.  I called
a halt.  Every man looked to the priming of his rifle and pistols, and
felt that his sword drew easily from the scabbard.  At a word they
sprang into their saddles.  Still I was unwilling to order a charge till
we had got so close that we could not fail to be discovered.  Ready,
indeed, very nearly betrayed us, by barking at an Indian dog which
strayed up to us, and I had to call him off, to prevent a combat, but
not without difficulty, as he seemed highly delighted at having found an
antagonist worthy of his prowess.  We now pushed steadily on; not a shot
was fired from the fort.  We guessed, and rightly, that our friends'
powder was expended.  The Indians redoubled their fire, and with
terrific yells were pushing on in dense masses towards the fort.

"They have calculated to a nicety the quantity of ammunition used, and
they know that it is all expended," observed the person who rode next
me.  The Indians were, apparently, not much better supplied with powder
and shot.  We could see our friends springing to the ramparts to receive
the savages, who were rushing up the hill-side in overwhelming numbers,
intent on taking the scalps of those who had so long resisted their
attacks.  In a few minutes more, there could be little doubt that none
of our friends would have been left alive.  We had reached the very edge
of the wood, and as we were full in view of the savages, we should have
been perceived by them, had they not been so intent on the attack as not
to turn their heads towards us.  Our friends might have seen us, but
they took us, we guessed, for a fresh body of their foes.  The time was
come agreeably to undeceive them.  Forming my party by signs in close
ranks, I led them slowly on, so as to get still nearer, if possible,
before we commenced our charge.  The frightful yells of the savages
prevented their usually quick ears from detecting the footfall of our
horses.  I looked round at my men.  Their knees were pressed tight to
their saddles; their teeth were firm set; their heads, with their eyes
wide open, were bent forward: their hands grasped their swords.
Already, in anticipation, the onslaught had commenced.  There was no
necessity for longer holding them in.  I shook my reins, and waved my
sword.  We should be among the foe while our horses were fresh and
vigorous.  On we dashed.  We could no longer restrain from giving way to
a loud shout.  The Redskins heard it and turned their heads.  Our
friends heard it too, and, recognising us, returned it with a will; but
their voices sounded weak and faint.  The Indians who were climbing the
hill sprang down to join their companions, who hurried together in a
mass to oppose us; but they seemed to be a mob without a leader, and,
unaccustomed to fight except on horseback, they were utterly unprepared
to withstand a charge of horsemen.  We galloped towards them on their
front; our friends rushing down from the hill, attacked them furiously
in flank.  In another instant we were upon them.  The front ranks stood
bravely, and seizing our horses' reins, endeavoured to grapple with us;
but we shook them off, and cut them down, and went on riding through and
through them, till the greater number fled on every side.  Some fought
to the last, trying to wound us and our horses; with most of these our
friends on foot settled; we disposed of the rest, and then galloped on
in pursuit of the flying multitude.  I shouted to my men to keep
together, for I caught sight of a group of horses, held by Indians, in
the distance; and I knew that if we could capture them, we should have
little difficulty in overtaking the men on foot.  Unfortunately several
of my party, unaccustomed to discipline, had scattered on either side in
pursuit of the flying foe.  Some of the Indians had turned to bay, and
were fighting furiously with them, and more than one man was wounded or
unhorsed by the savages.  In the meantime, the Indians who held the
horses seeing us coming, mounted and galloped off at full speed, the
whole stud following them at a rate which precluded all hopes of their
being overtaken.

Our victory was complete, but an important object would be lost unless
we could make prisoners of some chiefs or leading men, whom we might
hold as hostages for the delivery of the people who had been first
carried off.  We were by this time at some distance from the hill, at
the foot of which our friends were assembled.  I shouted to all my
followers, who were considerably scattered, to assemble round me, and
directed them, having fixed on three or four of the fugitives, who by
their costume we supposed might be chiefs, to ride after them and to
take them prisoners.  All were, however, by this time at a considerable
distance.  Three of the Indians we pursued managed to catch some of the
horses galloping round, and leaping on their backs were soon out of
sight.  One tall chief alone, who seemed to be wounded, did not attempt
to fly, but leaning on his spear calmly awaited our coming.  I was in
great hopes of taking him without resistance, but as we got close up to
him he sprang forward in a defensive attitude, thrusting his spear at
us, and evidently resolved to fight to the last.  He had already wounded
one of our men and two of our horses, when a Spaniard, whom he was
attacking, drew his pistol and fired at him.  With a ferocious grin on
his countenance he sprang into the air, and fell forward on his face,
dead.

We now rode back to join our friends, anxious to hear an account of
their adventures.  The field was strewed on every side with dead bodies
of Indians.  We had killed nearly thirty, while two of our own men had
fallen and four had been wounded.  On reaching the hill we were warmly
greeted by our friends, whose haggard looks told the sufferings they had
endured, even before they had time to describe them.  They had, it
appeared, day after day, perseveringly pursued the enemy, whose traces
they were on, but with whom they could not manage to come up.  At length
they got within four or five miles of them, and began to entertain hopes
of surprising their camp.  Preparations were made, and they were
actually advancing to the attack when the scouts brought in word that
the Indians had disappeared.  They were now well into the Indian
territory, and it was necessary to advance with the greatest caution.
They were in the neighbourhood of the hill where we found them, when the
scouts brought word that, at a short distance off, there was a large
camp of Indians containing a number of warriors, quite capable of
overwhelming them.  It might have been wiser to retreat, but instead of
doing that they at once rode up to the top of the hill, and began
throwing up fortifications from such materials as were at hand.  While
some were thus employed, others remained in the plain to cut forage for
their horses.  They themselves had but food sufficient, on reduced
rations, for a week or ten days.  Their scouts meantime were watching
the camp of the enemy, in case any opportunity might occur for rescuing
the prisoners.  They soon ascertained that their hopes on this score
were vain, for preparations were seen to be making for the usual mode by
which the Indians torture and then execute their prisoners.  Two
unfortunate men were thus destroyed the next day, and on the following
two more were killed.  It was proposed by some of the more daring of the
party to attack the camp at this period, and I think that the attempt
might have been successful, but the counsels of the timid prevailed.
The consequence was that two of their scouts were caught and scalped,
and they found themselves closely beset by the enemy.  In this condition
they had remained day after day, surrounded by such overwhelming numbers
that they had no hopes of cutting their way out.  The forage collected
for the horses was soon consumed, and, one after the other, most of the
animals died.  They soon, too, had to kill more for the sake of
supplying themselves with food.  They had now no means of escaping, and
they had made up their minds to fight to the last, and to sell their
lives dearly unless relieved.  Several of their number had fallen, but
fewer than might have been expected.

Attacked day and night, their provisions entirely expended, with the
exception of a little putrid horse-flesh, our friends were on the point
of rushing out against the enemy to perish in the fight, when we were
seen charging down on the enemy.  Never did succour more opportunely
reach a hard-pressed garrison.  What was next to be done was now the
question.  A number of the Indian horses were still scampering about,
and fortunately the greater portion were captured.  We were thus able to
mount all the heavier men of the party, while the stronger horses were
made to carry two men each.  As the day was drawing to a close before
all our arrangements were made, we resolved to camp on the hill, where
we could defend ourselves, rather than risk a march at night, when we
might be attacked to disadvantage.  Having lighted our fires, attended
to our wounded, cooked our provisions, and made ourselves as comfortable
as circumstances would allow, we sent our scouts as usual to give notice
of the approach of an enemy.  Though the Indians had been signally
defeated, they still mustered we knew in the neighbourhood in numbers so
overwhelming, that we could scarcely expect they would not make another
attack on us.  I felt the responsibilities of my office, and could not
rest, in spite of the fatigue I had gone through, more than a few
minutes at a time.  I rose several times during the night, and,
accompanied by Ready, climbed to the top of a rock on the brow of a
hill, whence I could look out on the wide extent of open country, which,
with the exception of small spaces covered by woods, stretched around.
Not a sound, however, was to be heard: there was not a sign, that I
could discover, of a foe near us.  I regretted that our expedition had
not proved more successful.  We had relieved our friends and gained a
victory, but another important object was not attained.  We had not
recovered any prisoners, and the poor young girl, in whose fate I had
become interested, was still a captive in the hands of the savages.
Again I awoke and went to the rock.  A few streaks of light were
appearing in the east, and grey dawn was stealing over the landscape.

It was time to arouse the camp, and to commence our journey, unless our
scouts brought in such information as might lead us to hope that we
might recover any survivors among the prisoners, either by force or
negotiation.  I was about to utter the usual shout to awaken the
sleepers, when my eye was attracted by an object moving in the distance
over the plain.  What it was I could not tell, till it resolved itself
into a horseman galloping at full speed towards us.  Presently, as the
light increased, I observed some other objects still further off, moving
at like speed, and which I took to be other horsemen, very probably
pursuing the first.  The first was seeking us--of that there could be
little doubt.  Not a moment was to be lost; I shouted loudly to my
companions, ordering them to mount their steeds, and follow me.  Peter
had run for my horse, which was picketed near.  I dashed down the hill;
about a dozen men followed me closely.  I galloped on.  The long locks
of the seeming horseman, streaming in the wind, told me that a woman was
approaching, while almost close behind her came eight or ten savages
with their lances in rest, intent on her destruction.  This made me the
more eager to place myself between the lady and her pursuers.  My men
came on in good order, while others were hastening down the hill to
their support.  The stranger was fair and young.  We opened our ranks to
let her pass, pointing to our friends behind, and then spurred on
against the Indians.  Seeing that their prey had escaped them, they
turned and galloped off.  We sent some shots after them, and two fell
dead from their saddles.  The rest we pursued for some distance; but,
unwilling to tire our horses, and aware of the danger of getting far
from our main body, we allowed them to escape, and returned towards the
hill.  We found a group at the foot of it.  They were surrounding the
fugitive, who was no other than the young girl of whom we were in
search.  She had fainted when she found herself in safety among her
friends.  After a little time, however, she recovered, and was able to
give an account of the fate of her companions.  Every one of them had
been tortured and murdered.  She had stolen out of the tent of the
chiefs in which she had been confined, and, mounting the fleetest
mustang of his stud, had made her escape.

There was now no reason for our remaining in the neighbourhood.  We
reached the settlement without any further adventure, when I had the
satisfaction of restoring the young girl to her friends, and receiving
their thanks.



CHAPTER NINE.

I DETERMINE TO RETURN TO NEW ORLEANS--A DRUNKEN CAPTAIN--SAM SNAG, THE
MULATTO MATE--A HURRICANE AND WRECK--A NIGHT OF HORRORS.

I had seen enough of life in the outskirts of Texas to satisfy me for
the present, and as I had gone there, not from choice, but because it
was the country I could most easily reach when it was necessary to run
away from New Orleans, I felt that I could beat a retreat without loss
of self-respect.  Therefore, accompanied by Peter and Ready, I returned
by the way I had come, without any adventure worthy of note, to
Galveston.

I found a vessel, the _Weathercock_, Captain Parsons, sailing
immediately for New Orleans, and, in an unfortunate moment, as it
proved, took my passage in her.  I supposed that after the lapse of so
many months I should no longer be recognised in New Orleans, and having
purposed to push up the Mississippi to its sources, I did not like to be
baulked, and so determined to chance it.  Ready was evidently pleased at
finding himself again on salt water, but poor Peter was very
uncomfortable.

"I hope we shan't fall in with them black fellows as cut all our throats
afore," he remarked, as he gazed on the fast-receding land.  "I do wish,
sir, you'd tramp it back overland to Old England."

Peter's knowledge of geography was very limited, and I thought it
scarcely worth while to explain to him that he proposed an
impossibility.

"It would be a long tramp, even if there were a bridge; but as there is
no bridge just now, nor likely to be for some time, we must e'en go back
as we came," said I.  "But as we've a good many more places to see
first, I cannot promise you a sight of the white cliffs of Old England
for some long time to come, Peter.  However, if you are afraid to go on,
I will either find you employment in America, or put you on board the
first homeward-bound ship we fall in with."

Peter looked up at me with a half-reproachful glance as he answered--

"No, no, sir.  You wouldn't wish me to go and take service with any
strangers in these foreign parts; and in the old country there's no home
for me now--all those who made it home are gone.  No, no, sir, you'd not
wish me to leave you."

"Certainly not, my lad; but I thought that you might be afraid of going
on," I remarked.

"Afraid when I am with you, sir!" he exclaimed, in a tone which showed
how much his feelings were hurt at the supposition.  "No, no, sir; I'll
stick by you through thick and thin, now and ever, till you turn me
away."

I was sure that Peter felt what he said, and setting as I do a high
value on a faithful friend, however humble he may be, I assured him that
he need be under no apprehension that I should part with him without his
consent.

This tranquillised him, and he seemed at once to become reconciled to
his life on the heaving wave.

I soon discovered that the _Weathercock_ was far from deserving the
character which her agents gave her of a fine clipper sea-boat, and that
Captain Parsons was a different sort of person to what he had been
described.  He was not drunk when he came on board, but he very soon got
so; and if he turned out sober in the morning, he took care very quickly
to reduce himself to a condition of utter indifference to all sublunary
affairs.  As may be supposed, therefore, he did not make a very direct
course for his destination.

While the weather remained fine, this did not so much signify, as a day
or two more at sea was of little consequence to me, and I knew that we
could not well miss the yellow water at the mouth of the Mississippi;
but should it come on to blow--no impossible contingency--we should, I
saw, be placed in a very unpleasant predicament.  Still there was no
help for it; the skipper would not have put back had I asked him, but
very likely, in a drunken fit, might have blown my brains out, or
pitched Peter overboard.

The mate was likely to prove a more formidable opponent.  He was a huge
Mulatto, with a villainous expression of countenance.  From my first
stepping on board, he seemed to have taken a dislike to me.  It might
have been because he saw that I was a man not likely to stand nonsense.
He dared not show it to me, however; but whenever he had an opportunity,
I saw that he gave Peter a cuff and Ready a kick, which, as may be
supposed, secured the latter as an enemy, though poor Peter was too
kind-hearted to indulge in ill-feeling towards any human being.  Sam
Snag, the fellow was called, and he tyrannised over the crew, who dared
not disobey his least command, and even the captain held him in awe, and
disliked him; but they were necessary to each other.  Sam Snag, though a
good seaman, knew nothing of navigation, and therefore could not get the
command of a vessel, and so he had to ship as mate, and preferred
serving with a man like Parsons, whom he could govern, rather than with
one who would govern him.

Why the mate had allowed the captain to get as drunk as he was puzzled
me.  I could not help suspecting that he had some sinister object in
view.

Three days had passed since we left Galveston, and the only notable fact
with regard to our navigation was, that, though we had lost sight of the
land, we had made very little progress.  There lay the vessel on the
glassy shining sea, her sails flapping idly, but with now and then loud
reports, against the masts.  The captain was perfectly contented, and
rather amiably-disposed towards me; for, as he sat in his little hot,
stifling cabin--the atmosphere of which could not have been much under a
hundred degrees--he sent his boy to ask me to come and liquor with him,
and began to be very abusive when I declined the honour.

"That sneaking, white-haired, milksop of a Britisher--what business has
he to refuse my civilities, I should like to know?  It's his natural
pride, I guess, but I'll pull it down a peg or two before I've done with
him, I guess," I heard him muttering as I sat reading on deck near the
skylight under the shade of the mainsail.

He continued to drink and growl on, and as he got more and more drunk,
he confused me with Snag, and abused both of us.  From the language he
occasionally used, and one or two expressions he let fall, I suspected
that the unhappy man had fallen from a higher position in society to
that which he now occupied.  Now he quoted a line of Latin or Greek, and
now he spoke in some Oriental language, Hindostanee or Arabic, I
fancied, and swore in it fiercely, and then gave way to fits of idiotic
laughter.  Yes, I was certain that man had ranked as a gentleman, and
now in appearance and manners he was the veriest brute under the sun.

"That's what drink has done for him," I said to myself: "or crime, and
then drink to drown conscience; or probably drink produced the crime,
and then, instead of repentance, came the more drink, that he might try
and forget the crime.  I am not in a pleasant position with the
companionship of a set of ruffians.  However, I have been in many a
scrape before, and have got out of them.  I hope that I may get out of
this as well as I have done out of others."

As the day grew on, however, I became more anxious.  The heat increased
until it became almost unnatural and utterly insupportable, and the sky
assumed a lurid, brazen hue, which struck me as indicative of an
approaching hurricane, or a gale of some sort.  I observed the seamen
casting anxious glances every now and then at the horizon, but no move
was made among them to do anything; the mate was below asleep, and the
master was too drunk by this time to know whether the sky was
copper-colour, black, or blue, or to care what might become of the ship
and all on board.

At last, having thought over all the descriptions I had read of
hurricanes, I myself began to grow uneasy, and resolved to summon the
mate, though I knew that I ran the risk of a quarrel in consequence.  I
put my head down the companion-hatch, and called out his name two or
three times.  The stifling air which came up from below made me
unwilling to descend.  The mate did not reply.  He must be sleeping very
soundly, I thought, or else he does not choose to answer.  Peter,
finding he did not appear, without my leave sprang down below, saying,
as he did so, "I'll rouse him up a bit, sir."

"I say, mate--Mister Snag--wake up, will you?  Wake up, Mister Snag," I
heard him sing out.

There was no reply for a minute, and then came a cry of pain and terror,
and poor Peter reappeared faster than he had gone down, with an
expression of alarm on his countenance, followed by the mate, who had a
thick colt in his hand, with which he was accustomed to belabour any of
the crew who offended him.

"For what you make all dat row?" he exclaimed fiercely, turning to me
with a threatening gesture.

"To wake you up, and remind you of your duty," I answered, in as calm a
tone as I could command.  "Look out there; what do you say to that sky?"

The mate gave a hurried glance round the horizon.  He did not answer me,
but he shouted--

"Aloft, all of ye!  Furl the topsails.  Let fly topgallants sheets.
Here, you--Britisher, go to the helm, and do as I bid you.  You, white
boy, stand by those ropes."

There was no time for further orders.  The men flew aloft.  They knew
what ought to be done; but before they could do it the hurricane burst
us.  With desperate energy they attempted to gather in the furiously
flapping canvas.  As Snag directed I turned round the spokes of the
wheel, and as the ship's head was providentially pointing in the
direction towards which the hurricane blew, away she flew before it,
like a bird just escaping from the nets of the fowler.  Had this not
been the case, she would probably have instantly been thrown on her
beam-ends.  I had to exert all my strength to turn the wheel.  I kept my
eye on Snag, for not a word could I hear, as he rushed from rope to
rope, hauling away with Peter on some, and letting go others.

The sails flapped and struggled with claps like thunder, as the blast
caught them, till the vexed canvas tore itself out of the bolt-ropes.
The masts bent and trembled, the yards strained and cracked.  I looked
up for a moment; I knew that the poor fellows aloft were in instant
peril of their lives.  They clung desperately to the yielding yards--
clung for their lives--for the rent sails lashed furiously round them,
and they scarcely dared to loose their hold for an instant to move in
towards the masts.  Most of them had lost their hats or caps, their hair
was streaming out, their eyeballs starting from their heads.

A wild shriek reached my ears, even through the terrific din of the
tempest.  I caught a glimpse of the outer man on the fore-topsail-yard
as the leech of the sail, torn to ribbons, coiled itself like some huge
serpent round him, and tore him from his hold.  In vain he tried to
regain his hold, in vain to extricate himself--no human power could
avail him.  Helplessly he stretched out his arms; the fierce wind
unloosened the coil of canvas, and, though grasping at a rope which
eluded his hand, he was flung into the seething waters through which the
brig was rushing onwards.  For one instant I caught a sight of his
countenance, as, still desperately struggling for life, he dropped
astern, while the vessel flew by him.  The mate saw what had happened,
but took not the slightest notice.  I thought Peter would have jumped
overboard in his eagerness to try and save the man.  He threw a rope,
but it was utterly useless.  Even had the poor wretch caught it, it
would have been torn out of his hands.  When Peter was certain that the
man was hopelessly lost, I saw him wring his hands in sorrow, and he was
evidently giving utterance to his feelings in words, though what he said
of course I could not hear.

Even the gale did not bring the wretched master to his senses, but I
fancied that I could hear him singing, or rather howling away in his
drunken madness, keeping up a wild concert with the creaking of the
bulkheads, the rattling of the blocks, the whistling of the wind through
the rigging, and the loud roar of the rising seas, as they dashed
against the sides of the vessel.  The mate, to do him justice, was the
only man of the whole crew who remained calm and collected.  How he
might have behaved aloft I do not know; still I think he would have been
the same.  He soon saw that it was impossible for the men to furl the
canvas--or, rather, that there was no canvas left for them to furl.  He
made a signal to them to come down off the yards.  It was not given too
soon.  Some obeyed, and slid down on deck, but before the last two on
the main topsail-yard were off it, the main-top mast, which had already
been bending ready to crack, gave way and went over the side, carrying
the rigging, and the yard, and the two men on it, overboard.  They were
not shaken off, but still they clung with all the energy of despair to
the spar.  It was but for a moment.  There were several loud cracks,
some ropes gave way, the bolts which secured the shrouds to the side
were drawn, and the whole mass of rigging, parting from the side,
floated astern.  In vain the men shrieked for help; in vain they held
out their hands to us imploringly; no help could be given them, their
fate might presently be ours.

The next minute the fore-topmasts went over the side, and the fore-yard
came down with a crash on deck, carrying away the bulwarks, and crushing
a man who had just descended from aloft, and thought he was in safety.
There he lay writhing under it, and unable to extricate himself.  I
would have hurried to his assistance, but I dared not leave the helm,
and Snag and the other men were so engaged in clearing the rest of the
wreck, that they could make no attempt to lift up the yard so as to
release him.  It was dreadful to watch the poor fellow, as, with the
movement of the ship, the heavy yard rolled on his broken limbs,
inflicting the most excruciating torture.  He shrieked out in his agony,
entreating his companions either to release him or to put an end to his
sufferings with a crowbar--so Peter told me, for his voice was borne far
away from me on the wings of the hurricane.  Peter, as soon as he saw
what had occurred, in spite of the gestures of the mate ordering him to
remain where he was, hurried forward.  Still his whole strength could
not, of course, move the spar; but getting hold of a handspike, he was
able to prevent it from rolling over the man as often as before.  Every
moment the sea was rising, and as the vessel pitched more and more, the
difficulty of keeping the yard off the man became greater.

At last the wreck, by means of axes and knives was cleared, and the mate
had no longer on excuse for neglecting the seaman who lay under the
yard.  With careless indifference he directed the other men how to lift
the spar so as to drag out the sufferer.

"He's of no further use," he exclaimed (so Peter told me) when he saw
the injury the man had received.  "May as well heave him overboard at
once.  We can't mend broken legs here."

"Oh, no; no, don't now!" shrieked the poor wretch, who was probably not
aware of the extent to which he was hurt.  "I shall soon be well.  I'll
work; I'll work.  Oh spare me!--spare!  I am not fit to die!  I'll get
well and work.  Will nobody save me?  I can't die; I mustn't die!"

"That's what many more say, but it's of no use," growled out the mate.

Peter told me that on hearing this he could not help saying:

"Well, if you throw that poor fellow overboard while he's got life in
him, you may as well throw me and my master; for as sure as ever we get
into port, we'll go and tell the magistrate of you."

The mate, with a look of surprise, gave a scornful laugh, but allowed
Peter to draw the wounded man on one side, while he and the crew secured
the spar, and passed life-lines forward where the bulwarks had been
carried away.

I witnessed all that was taking place from my post aft, and as the mate
saw that I could steer the vessel properly, he did not think fit to
relieve me.  I shouted to him over and over again to send a hand to the
helm, but he either did not, or would not, hear me.  As to where I was
steering I had little conception.  All I knew was that I was keeping the
ship's head away from the wind, for I had not thought of looking at the
compass at first, and a block had fallen from aloft and broken in the
binnacle.

The mate, I knew, was as ignorant as I was, and should the master not
recover his senses, I suspected that we should have some difficulty in
finding our way to New Orleans.  There was a vast deal still to be done
in getting the ship as much to rights as circumstances would allow, and,
to do the mate justice, he worked himself, and made all under him work
also.

On the ship flew under the bare stumps of the masts--they, I expected,
would go next, as there were no shrouds to support them.  The tortured,
foaming waters rose higher and higher as the hurricane increased in
strength and had longer time to affect them; and the higher the seas
rose, the more the ship laboured, and the more difficult it was to
steer, till my arms ached with the exertion, and I felt that if not
relieved I must leave my post.

I shouted--I beckoned--to Snag, but though I was certain he saw me, he
took no notice of my signs.  At last Peter found his way to me, not
without difficulty, and I sent him forward to summon one of the crew.
The mate guessed his errand, and received him with a kick, and an order
to tell me to remain where I was and make myself useful.  Life is sweet,
and we cling to it as long as we can; or otherwise, under the belief
that the ship was hurrying to destruction, I should have thrown myself
on deck, and let her broach to, which would probably at once have
brought about the catastrophe.  I was directing Peter to go back and
help the poor wounded man, to drag him aft, if possible, and to get him
down below, when there was a cry from forward.  A huge sea came rolling
up alongside, and (whether or not from my bad steering, I do not know)
it broke on board, and, sweeping across the fore part of the deck,
carried in its grasp all it reached.  Two of the crew could be seen for
an instant battling with the foaming seas, as if there was a possibility
of their regaining the ship.

When once more the deck was free of water, the poor wounded man had
disappeared.  "He was surely taken in mercy, for his sufferings would
otherwise have been fearful," I said to myself.  I was now glad to get
Peter's assistance, which he willingly gave; while honest Ready lay at
my feet, looking up every now and then into my face, and saying in his
own peculiar language, "Master, I wish that I could help you; but I
couldn't, I know--not if I was to try ever so much."  But Ready could be
of use, even on board ship.  Another huge sea came up, and this time,
striking the quarters, it deluged the whole after-part of the vessel.  I
clung to the wheel, but Peter, less prepared, lost his hold of the
wheel, and was carried away.  Ready, instantly comprehending his danger,
dashed after him, and seizing on the leg of his trousers as he lay
thrown on his back, with the certainty of either being washed overboard
or drowned in the lee-scuppers, dragged him up out of the water, and
held him tight, till at length the mate, if not for my sake, for that of
the ship, came aft to the wheel, and I was able to go to the rescue of
my faithful follower.

Snag, though unconcerned for the loss of our companions, could not
conceal from himself the danger we were in, and the probability that
before long their fate would overtake him.  He was as fierce and
sulky-looking as before; but he said nothing, and I made no mark
calculated to provoke his anger.  The crew had done all that was
possible for the safety of the ship, and the remnant now gathered under
the after-bulwarks, awaiting what was next to happen.

The hatches had been put on, or they might possibly have gone below and
turned into their berths--there to await their fate, as I have known
seamen do.  Night was coming on; but even that could scarcely add to the
horrors of our position, except that perhaps darkness might render
steering more difficult.  As the mate stood alone at the helm in the
gloom of evening, his hair, which was long, streaming in the wind, his
neck bare, his dark countenance expressive of fierce and bad passions,
his tall figure, the upper part of which was scarcely hid by the shirt--
the only garment he wore besides his loose trousers--I thought that I
had never seen a more perfect impersonification of some evil spirit.  I
scarcely, even now, like to recall the horrors of that night: the last
sight on which my eyes rested was that demon-looking man steering the
shattered vessel--amid the howling of the winds, the roaring of the
seas--as it appeared, to inevitable destruction.  Peter, Ready, and I
crouched together under the bulwarks, holding on by lines secured to
ring-bolts in the deck, and drenched by the seas which were constantly
breaking over us.  The darkness increased till it was impossible to see
across the deck; nor could I even distinguish those nearest to me.  The
roaring waters continued sounding in my ears: frequently I felt myself
under them as they broke over the ship; again I felt as if I could not
possibly hold on longer, but with desperation I clutched the rope as the
seas washed by, and had to be thankful that I had for the moment escaped
the death which threatened me.  Peter's shout, close to my ear, of "All
right, sir," assured me that he and Ready had also escaped; for both
were hanging on to the same rope, the latter holding it by his teeth
with might and main, evidently as sensible as we were of the perilous
position in which we were placed.

Hour after hour passed by, and no change occurred in the dreary monotony
of that night of horror.  I think that I must have dropped asleep for an
instant, strange as that may seem; for a feeling of indifference as to
what might happen had stolen over me, and unconsciousness of the
present, when I was startled by the cry of "She's sprung a leak!--she's
sinking!  We are lost--we are lost!"

The voice of the mate was heard, even above the hurricane.  "Lost!  Who
says we're lost?" he shouted.  "We shall not be lost if you'll work like
men.  All hands to the pumps!"

The dismasted vessel flew on as rapidly as before through the foaming,
tossing seas.  The crew laboured at the pumps, the mate swearing
furiously at them, when, as at times, they stopped to rest.  Then again
they pumped away till one of them cried out, in a tone of obstinate
despair:

"The leak is gaining on us; we can pump no more."  Again the mate swore,
and threatened them with death if they did not persist.

Suddenly, while the mate and the crew together were shouting and
swearing at each other, there came a fearful crash; the ship trembled in
every timber; another and another crash followed; the roaring sea washed
over the vessel; now she lifted, and then down she came with yet more
fearful force than before, and every plank and timber seemed rent
asunder.



CHAPTER TEN.

I CLING TO A PART OF THE WRECK, AND AM TOSSED IN THE SEA--PETER AND
READY ARE ALSO SAVED--I IMPROVISE A RAFT, AND GET PETER AND READY
ABOARD--WE REACH AN UNINHABITED ISLAND--SAM SNAG AND ANOTHER ALSO REACH
LAND--FRIENDS OR FOES?--WATER!  WATER!--WE LAND A CASK AND FIND IT
CLARET--READY DISCOVERS A SPRING--THE MATE WANTS MEAT, AND MEANS TO EAT
US.

My impulse--and I followed it--was to cling fast to the ring-bolt to
which I was holding on when the ship struck.  I heard a few piercing
shrieks, some faint cries followed, and then all was silent.  I felt
that the vessel was breaking up, and plank after plank was torn away,
till I judged that but a small portion of the wreck remained for me to
hold to.  I urged poor Peter to hold on tight to the last, and scarcely
had I uttered the words than the remainder of the vessel was rent
asunder, and I found myself floating alone on the plank through which
the ring-bolt was run.  I shouted to Peter--there was no answer; I
called Ready, but, for the first time since his puppyhood, he did not
reply.  I felt very forlorn as I was tossed up and down in the darkness
amid that raging sea, with a sensation of down-heartedness which I had
never before experienced.  The planks forming the part of the deck to
which I clung seemed to hold well together, so that I was under no
expectation of immediate destruction, and that fact gave me time to
think more of the loss of my two faithful companions.

I was convinced that daylight must soon come, and I hoped then to be
able to ascertain how near to land I was.  I supposed that the vessel
had struck on a coral reef, and that it formed a barrier or outside reef
to some island, or islet, such as is common in those seas.  I was
confirmed in this belief from finding the sea so much calmer than it had
been, judging by the comparatively easy movements of my raft.  I wished
and wished for day, and though the wishing did not bring it, it came at
last--a grey, cold dawn at first; but as the sun rose, the wind fell,
the black vapours cleared away, the blue sky appeared, and now--the raft
floating so calmly that I was able to stand up on it--I saw, rising at
no great distance above, a yellow sandy beach, a grove of cocoa-nut
palms, bananas, and other trees of the tropics.  On the opposite side, a
line of breakers, showing the position of the reef, outside which the
sea still tossed and tumbled from the effects of the hurricane.
Portions of the wreck, too, were floating about in the smooth water, and
as I looked I saw that something was moving on one of them.  I waved and
shouted to draw attention to myself.  A figure rose up and waved in
return, and a faint bark reached my ear.  Even at that distance my
faithful Ready recognised me.  I was indeed thankful that Peter and he
had been thus far saved, though, as we were still some distance from the
shore, we might both be starved before we could reach it.  I could have
swam to it with perfect ease, but I knew too much of the black fins of
those seas to risk myself in the water, especially as I suspected that
the monsters must have had their thirst for blood freshened by the meal
they must have had off some of my late shipmates.

I longed to be able to communicate with poor Peter, but it seemed
impossible that I could reach him.  As the sun rose the hurricane
completely ceased, and the water inside the reef became so perfectly
smooth, that I could not only stand upright but could walk about.  As I
was doing so I saw, not far off, a boat's oar, and a little beyond it
what I took to be a mast, with other spars, and a sail and cordage
hanging to it.  I was contemplating swimming towards the oar, at all
events, when, as I was about to plunge in, the fin of a shark slowly
gliding by, warned me of my danger.  I looked at the oar with a longing
eye, and tried if I could by running on the piece of wreck urge it
forward.  While thus employed without any effect, I felt the breeze,
which had completely fallen, fan my cheek, and as it increased I saw
that my body was acting as a sail, and the raft was approaching the oar,
though very slowly.  At length I was able to seize it, and giving it a
flourish above my head in my satisfaction, I began to paddle towards the
broken mast with the spars and sail.

As the breeze increased, my fear was that I should be driven past it on
one side, and I had to paddle with all my might to steer for it.  I
shouted with satisfaction when I got up to it, and had hauled it upon
the raft.  By forcing out a bull's-eye in the deck I found a stop for
the mast, and by carrying shrouds to the ring-bolts and to the
splintered ends of the planks, I was able to secure it.  I next hoisted
my sail, and, infinitely to my satisfaction, found that I could direct
my course for the part of the wreck to which Peter and Ready were
clinging.  They saw me coming.  Peter waved his hands, and shouted and
cried, and Ready jumped and barked, and nearly tumbled overboard in his
agitation.  I saw a shark waiting to catch him had he done so, and I
entreated Peter to hold him down in case of an accident.  They both, as
I got up, sprang on to my raft at the same moment.  Peter could scarcely
speak to express his joy at my preservation, and Ready tried to lick me
all over to show his love, though he could scarcely have understood how
great was the danger we had run.  The breeze which had carried me thus
far, began to fail, and I feared that, after all, we should be unable to
reach the shore.

We were very hungry, and as we had nothing to eat or drink, we were
anxious to reach land as soon as possible.  Peter suggested that we
should make another paddle with one of the smaller spars I had picked
up.  To show that it was possible to do so he forced out some nails from
the planks, and breaking off a piece of board, secured it to the spar.
By this means we were able to paddle much faster than before, and, after
considerable exertion, we reached the sandy beach with hearts thankful
for our preservation.

To show his satisfaction, Ready scampered about on the sands, and then
coming to lick my hands, lay down at my feet, with his tongue out,
panting for water.  My heart misgave me when I saw this.  Had there been
water his instinct would have conducted him to it, I fancied.  I was
already suffering severely from thirst, and so, I saw, was Peter, but he
made no complaints.  The cocoa-nuts, many of which strewed the ground,
were yet too small to contain any milk, and we broke one after the other
without finding one with any milk, although we allayed our thirst by
chewing a little of the scarcely-formed fruit.  A little refreshed, we
set off in search of the much-desired water, but we had not gone many
yards before the conviction forced itself on me that there was none to
be procured.

Except the narrow belt of palm which I had at first seen, not another
green thing was to be seen on the islet, the whole surface being little
more than sand and coral rock.

As we stood outside the belt observing the inhospitable aspect of the
country, I saw two objects moving along the beach in the distance.  They
were men, and there could be no doubt that they were part of the crew of
the unfortunate _Weathercock_.  I was thankful that some of the poor
fellows had escaped, and we at once hurried on toward them.  We had gone
some distance when Peter slackened his speed, and even Ready hung back.

"What is the matter?"  I asked of the former.

"Don't you see that it's that ill-doing mate fellow?" he answered.  "No
good'll come if he's to be with us."

"Possibly the peril he has escaped may have improved his character," I
remarked, as I advanced towards the individual named, for I saw that he
was no other than Sam Snag, and that the man with him was one of the
most ill-favoured of the crew--a fellow with a stolid, hang-dog, evil
countenance, who looked capable of committing any atrocity without the
slightest compunction.  Still, repulsive as were the two men, they were
fellow-creatures, and I instinctively held out my hand to congratulate
them on escaping from the terrific dangers we had gone through, when so
many of our companions had perished.

Without either of them appearing to observe the motion they scowled
fiercely at me, Snag greeting me with the remark, "Oh, so you've turned
up, have you?"

"Yes, our lives have been spared as yet," I answered quietly, determined
not to give any cause of offence.  "But, friends, we are suffering
greatly from want of water.  Can you tell us if any is to be found on
the island?"

"Friends! eh--well, that's as the case may be," growled Snag.  "As to
the water, there may or there may not be some; but as there isn't enough
for all, it will be for those who have it and can keep it."

The two ruffians held pieces of a spar in their hands, and assumed so
menacing an attitude that I felt that it would be hopeless to obtain the
water they had found by force, and equally hopeless to obtain it by
persuasion.

"Very well, Mr Snag, what is your own you have a right to keep," I
replied calmly.  "But I thought that a common danger escaped, would have
made us friends, and I certainly should not have treated you as you seem
disposed to treat me."  Saying this I turned aside towards the belt of
palm trees.  I was very glad that he had no firearms in his hand, for
from the look he gave me, I felt very sure that he would have shot me at
that moment, and would then probably have made Peter work for him as a
slave, or have killed him also.  I heard the ruffians giving way to
shouts of hoarse laughter as I and Peter and Ready retired.

Such were the men who were to be my fellow islanders (I will not call
them associates or companions), till we could make our escape from the
islet.  Their presence would greatly increase my difficulties.  It would
have been bad enough had I and Peter and Ready been alone.  All we could
do was to keep away from them, and to try and find something with which
to quench our thirst.

After hunting about we found some young cocoa-nuts, blown down by the
hurricane.  The softest part of these afforded us sufficient moisture
somewhat to allay our burning thirst.  Ready shared with us, and without
this would I think have gone mad.  We then felt very hungry, and hoping
to find some shell-fish on the rocks we returned to the beach.  We were
not disappointed, and were soon able to collect as many as we could
require.  While thus engaged I saw an object floating some way off in
the lagoon.  I pointed it out to Peter.  He thought with me that it
looked like a cask.  We were seized with the hope that it might be
filled with water, and therefore resolved forthwith to put off on our
raft to try and obtain it.  We had some difficulty in launching the
raft, but at length getting it afloat we paddled out into the lagoon.  I
cannot describe the eagerness we felt as we neared what we hoped would
prove a treasure incomparable.  Only those who have been suffering from
thirst as we then were, or in an open boat in the tropics, or when
traversing the sandy deserts, can fully comprehend our sensations.  We
reached the cask.  As I was paddling Peter ran to the fore part of the
raft and seized it.

"It's heavy, sir, it's heavy," he shouted.  "I hope it's water by the
weight."

Putting down my paddle I eagerly ran to help him.  It was indeed heavy,
but we at length got it safe up on the raft.  Though the cask had the
appearance of a water-cask, I dared not broach it till we could get it
back to the shore, as while engaged in doing it we might have drifted
away from the land.  Parched as were our mouths and throats, we
refrained, therefore, till we reached the beach.  We had then to find a
piece of wood to serve as a hammer, with which I knocked a nail out of
our raft, and having sharpened the point, with this instrument managed
to make a hole in the cask.  It was frill of liquid, but not the pure
fluid we wished for--it was wine.  I cannot describe my disappointment.
For an instant I refrained even from tasting it, till Peter observed--

"Well, sir, sure wine ain't so bad a thing after all, is it?"

My month in a moment was at the hole.  Instead of the strong wine I
expected, it was claret.  I quickly quenched my thirst, and bid Peter do
the same.  Though we valued it far less than water I hoped that after
all it might serve to prolong existence if used with moderation, and
keep us in health even better than water.

Our next thought was to conceal it from the other men, for of course
should they find it, they would take care that we should not benefit by
it.  I was very anxious, however, about Ready--for though claret might
keep us alive it would certainly not suit his taste.

We were not long in digging a hole in the sand and rolling our cask into
it, and we then set to work to collect shell-fish to satisfy our hunger.
Fortunately I had in my pocket a small article which I would advise
every one travelling as I was to carry--a burning-glass--and with it we
easily lighted a fire, so that we had not to eat our shell-fish raw.
While we were employed as I have described, Ready disappeared.  He had
been absent for some time, and I began to fear that he had fallen into
the power of Snag and the other man, who I felt sure would kill him if
they could catch him.  We were too hungry to wait, so we sat down to our
mollusc meal.

While engaged in picking a shell-fish out of the ashes I felt Ready's
nose poked under my arm.  "You want to share our meal, and you shall,
old fellow," I said, putting a full juicy mollusc into his mouth, which
was, I felt, cool and moist, so that I had no doubt he had discovered
some water, and taken care to avoid the villains who would not let us
enjoy it.  I suspected that they were either searching for food, or had
fallen asleep, and that he had sagaciously taken the opportunity of
approaching the spring.  Supposing the latter idea to be correct, I
allowed Peter to set off with Ready to try and find it, while I kept up
the fire, which when they awoke was likely to attract the two men
towards me and thus draw them away from the spring.  Ready at once
understood our wishes, and as soon as Peter got up he ran on before him
as if to show the way.

I had on a Panama straw hat, which having been secured by a lanyard had
been preserved.  From its thick texture, it held water completely, and
so I gave it to Peter to bring it back with as much as it could hold.  I
told him to cry out lustily should he be attacked that I might go to his
assistance.  I followed him a short distance till I could survey the
greater part of the island through the grove of trees, but I could see
nothing of the two men.  Having made up the fire I took my post behind a
tree, that I might watch for the two men.  As the rock which formed the
island was very unequal, Peter and Ready were soon lost to sight.  I
waited anxiously for their return.  However, as the men did not appear,
I hoped that they might, as we had supposed, be fast asleep in some
cave, or under the shade of some rock, and that they would not interfere
with us for the present.  From the spot where I stood I could command a
wide extent of the ocean's surface, and I eagerly scanned it in the
possibility that a sail might appear in the horizon, when I intended,
should she approach the island, to signalise her, and endeavour to
escape from it.

My mind was greatly relieved when Ready appeared with that jaunty,
active air which a dog assumes when he is well satisfied, and he was
followed closely by Peter carrying my hat brimful of water.  In an
instant I had my head into it almost, and had drunk up a large portion
before I asked any questions.  Peter had found a stream of pure water
bubbling up from a deft in a rock, not thirty yards from the sea, into
which it ran in a clear rivulet, in sufficient quantity to fill any
number of ship's casks.  The landing on the beach, as far as I could
judge from the lad's description, was very good.  As he had also
observed the staves and hoops of some casks lying about, I had no doubt
that it was a spot frequented by vessels in those seas to obtain a
supply of water, when kept out by baffling winds.  Had it not therefore
been for the presence of the mulatto mate and his associate, we should
have had no great cause for anxiety, as we might hope in a short time to
be rescued by some vessel visiting the spot.  I must confess, however,
that I dreaded what might occur before we could get away.  A savage
villain is the most difficult being in creation to deal with.  A lion or
a tiger may be seen approaching, and be destroyed, so may a bear, or
even a mad dog, a snake may be avoided; but however strongly we may
suspect that a fellow man is plotting against our life, we may not
defend ourselves until some overt act is committed, or take his life,
unless we would have the guilt of homicide or murder on our heads, till
he attempts openly to take ours.

Such was the position in which I felt that I was placed with regard to
Snag and his companion.  All we could do was to be on our guard, for I
felt sure that if they fancied it was to their interest to kill us they
would do so without the slightest scruple.  We had, however, an
advantage over them in having Ready on our side, as we might sleep
securely, depending on his awakening us on the approach of danger.  Then
again I felt certain they would try to kill him first if they wished to
destroy us.

We had discovered some cocoa-nut shells, the produce of the last year,
and though the fruit was dried up they were split in a way which enabled
them to hold water.  These we filled with the remainder of the contents
of my hat, which afforded us a sufficient supply for some hours.  We
spent the remainder of the day in erecting a hut in which we could
shelter ourselves during the night.  We passed it, contrary to my
expectations, undisturbed.  The next day we several times saw our
shipmates on the shore, but they did not come near us, and as before,
Peter, accompanied by Ready, accomplished the journey to the spring
without being seen by them.  He told me that he was sure that from the
marks he had before observed on the sand not being increased, that they
had not been to the spring since his last visit.  This, coupled with
their quietness, made me suspect that they also had got hold of a cask
of wine, and that as long as that lasted we might hope to escape any
annoyance from them.

Several days thus passed, and each day I was more confirmed in my
suspicious.  At length, one day after we had seen them in the morning on
the beach, Peter proposed that he should try and discover what they were
about.

"I can creep, creep along, Master Skipwith, for all the world like a
snail; do, Mr Skipwith, do let me go."

With my permission he stole off, and Ready seemed to understand that
this time he was not wanted.  The sun had nearly reached the horizon, so
the men would probably have taken up their quarters for the night.  As
before, I sat down in a sheltered spot, where, should the men by chance
be wandering about, they would not be likely to discover me.  I waited
for some time till I calculated that Peter ought to have returned.  Then
the stars came out in the dark sky, bright and clear like drops of
liquid fire, but still my young follower did not make his appearance.
However, Ready remained perfectly quiet, and I was sure that had he
fancied anything was wrong he would have shown signs of uneasiness.  At
length, despairing of seeing Peter, though I hoped he might have gone
round some other way, I returned to our hut.  It was empty, and I began
seriously to fear that the lad had fallen into the wretches' hands, and
I regretted having let him make the expedition.

I knew so little of the island that I could not venture to go in search
of him, and all I could do, therefore, was to sit down and await his
coming.  I had fallen into an uneasy slumber when I was awoke by the
sound of a voice in my ear, which I recognised as that of Peter.

"Oh sir, isn't it just lucky I went, or we'd all have been murdered and
eaten by this time to-morrow evening," he said, still trembling with
fear.  "I heard them from beginning to end, but I'd like to make a long
story short.  They said one to the other as how they'd had no food, and
that starve they wouldn't, and that they'd have the dog to eat, and
after him they'd have one of us; that would have been me, but that
wouldn't have so much mattered, may be, but they said they'd kill you
too--indeed they did--and eat you too--yes--eat you!  Oh, I felt my hair
stand on end when I heard it, and was near crying out, but I didn't, and
waiting till they were talking again to each other loudly, I crept away
as I came."

I should have been inclined to doubt the truth of Peter's tale, but it
was so circumstantial that I was compelled to believe that his fancy had
not deceived him.  I cross-questioned him, and found that he had heard
the voices of the two men, and had crawled on hands and feet towards
them, when he discovered them seated in a cave, which it was evident
they had made their present abode.  Unfortunately he had not heard them
speak of the hour they proposed to attack us.  We were thus compelled to
be constantly on the watch, and to be prepared for a struggle at any
moment.  I can answer for it from experience that it is excessively
trying to the nerves to be sitting all night long in the dark, with the
expectation of being attacked by a couple of villains with heavy clubs
who intend to knock out one's brains.  I fully believed that Ready would
prove faithful and watchful, but considering that my life and that of
Peter were at stake, I could not bring myself to trust altogether to his
sagacity.  Sleep, of course, I could not, at least so I thought.  The
hours passed slowly by, the soft sighing of the wind in the trees over
head, mingled with the low murmur of the ocean as it beat on the rocks,
sounded in my ears, and then there came strange noises, and shrieks, and
cries, and unearthly voices in the far distance, away out over the sea,
and in spite of all my anxiety and intention of keeping awake till
daylight, I was fast asleep.  I must have slept soundly, and during more
hours than I had supposed it wanted to daylight, when I was effectually
aroused by a sharp bark from Ready, and a loud cry from Peter, and
starting up I seized my staff and stood ready for action.



CHAPTER ELEVEN.

A SKRIMMAGE FOR LIFE--A TRUCE--A SAIL, A SAIL APPEARS--MARCUS TO THE
RESCUE--THE PIRATE TAKES US OFF--SAM SNAG'S FEARFUL END.

The grey dawn had just broken.  It was the hour when even vigilant
watchers are apt to doze, and deepen to sleep most soundly.  I sprang
out of our hut, in front of which I found Peter with his staff lifted
ready to guard his head, at which the mulatto mate, Sam Snag, who had at
that moment come up, was aiming a fierce blow, while his companion, who
was a little behind, had also his stick uplifted, prepared to follow up
the blow, or to inflict another on the dog, or on me.  It was very
evident that they had expected to find us both asleep, and to have
murdered us without difficulty.  So suddenly, indeed, did I appear, that
I was able to turn aside the blow Snag was aiming at the lad, and to
give him in return so severe a one on the right arm, that he dropped his
stick; and this left me at liberty to defend myself against the other
ruffian, who might have given me a great deal of trouble had not Ready,
watching the moment that he was about to strike, seized him by the leg,
which he tore away at with a fury which enabled me to gain an easy
victory.  Peter, also, while Snag, unwisely despising his young
antagonist, stopped to pick up his stick, dealt him so heavy a blow on
his head, that he sent him rolling over, and before he could recover
himself I gave him another blow, which very nearly finished him.  I had,
however, to turn my attention to his companion, who, in spite of Ready's
jaws, was about to hit me, and while I warded off the blow Snag picked
himself up and retreated, calling upon the other to follow his example.
This he could not have done had not Ready at that moment opened his
mouth to get a better grip, I fancy, when he sprang away with an agility
I had not expected.

Had we followed them they would have had the advantage, for there were
plenty of heavy pieces of coral about with which they could have settled
Ready.  Then, too, they were better prepared, for having only Peter to
back me, who, though he had plenty of pluck, was but a boy in strength,
I thought it prudent not to push matters to extremities.  There we
stood, the only four human beings on that desolate island, ready to take
each others' lives, and I may say, literally, that our opponents were
thirsting for our blood.  After all, we were only doing, on a small
scale, what nations are often doing on a large one.  Perhaps we had more
to fight about, namely, our opponents wanted to eat us, and we did not
wish to be eaten.  I moralised much in this strain as I waited to see
what Snag and his companion would next do.  They probably were
considering how they could execute their purpose with least risk to
themselves.  Their eyes glared fiercely as they looked at us.  They were
evidently very hungry.  I determined to try what pacific measures would
effect.  I shouted to them, and told them that we had found an abundance
of shell-fish on our side of the island, and that we would not molest
them if they wished to collect it.  I told them, also, that they might
take some fire from ours.  The mate looked at me for some minutes
without speaking, as if he did not exactly comprehend what I was saying.

"There isn't much to thank you for that," he at length answered.
"However, if you don't wish to do us harm we'll let you alone, and so
that's settled."

The reply was ungracious, but I only said, "Very well, it is so
understood between us."

I did not, however, intend to trust the villains, for I was sure that,
should they discover that we had the wine, they would make an attempt to
possess themselves of it, and might, besides, very likely attack us
again.

The excitement of the fight had not taken away our appetites, and so
Peter and I set to work to collect shell-fish till the sun was high
enough to allow of the use of the burning-glass.  The two men, seeing
how we were employed, followed our example; but even then, the way I saw
them talking together and glancing towards us when they thought that
they were not observed, convinced me that they would set upon us should
they find a favourable opportunity.  I had told Peter to keep near me,
but he did not hear me, for, looking up, I saw that he had gone in the
direction of the men, who at that moment were springing towards him with
their clubs uplifted.  I shouted out to him to avoid the danger, and
just then, as I glanced seaward, my eyes fell on a vessel standing in
under full sail towards the watering-place.  I pointed her out to the
men, and their attention being thus distracted, the lad escaped and got
behind me, while they set off towards the watering-place, to be the
first, I concluded, to welcome the strangers, and tell their own tale.

This mattered very little to me.  If the strangers were honest, I felt
sure that I could make my story good, and if not, I could scarcely be
worse off than at present, and might, at all events, get rid of my
unpleasant neighbours, waiting patiently till Peter and I could make our
escape.  Therefore, with some degree of tranquillity, I watched from a
rock what was taking place.  The schooner stood on like a vessel well
accustomed to the place, and when close in brought up and furled all
sails.  Her crew were of a motley description; and as they approached in
their boats, I was convinced of what I had before suspected--that the
schooner was the very piratical vessel which had captured the
_Shaddock_, and on board which I had found Marcus, the black.  Though I
could have wished him now, for his own sake, to have been in better
company, I was anxious to ascertain if he was still with the pirates, as
in that case I had no fear as to our safety.  Peter also understood the
state of the case.

"Yes, there he is; that's him standing up in the first boat," cried the
lad.  "He seems in an awful rage, though.  If I thought he was
a-threatening of me, I'd like to run away and hide myself."

Sure enough, there was Marcus; but what could have excited his anger?  I
soon learned, for, looking higher up the rock, I saw the huge mulatto
mate, Sam Snag, and his companion, on their knees with uplifted hands,
in the most abject state of terror, imploring mercy, while Marcus, as
the boat approached, stood ready with a pistol in his hand to shoot, it
appeared, one or the other of them.

As the boat's keel grated on the sand, he sprang on shore, gnashing his
teeth like a wild beast, and I thought would have shot Snag dead at that
moment, but seeing that he was really totally unarmed, he contented
himself with hitting him in the face, and then kicking him over.

"Wretched slave-driver--overseer of your fellow-men--have I found you
once again?" he exclaimed, literally foaming at the mouth, and striking
him each time that he spoke.  "Death is too good for a wretch like you.
No fear, I'll not kill you," and seizing, as he spoke, the huge powerful
man by the hair, he dragged him along over the sand.  I never saw a man
so completely prostrated by abject fear as was this would-be murderer
and bully, Snag.  Meantime some of the pirates had espied Peter and me,
and with no very friendly gestures, thinking that we were of Silas
Snag's gang, were hurrying towards us.  I thought it was now time to
claim the protection of Marcus.  The moment he heard my voice his whole
manner changed.  He almost took me in his arms in the excess of his
affectionate feelings, as he inquired by what wonderful circumstance I
had come there.  I told him of the shipwreck and the cause of it.

"Ah, and that villain unhung was at the bottom of the mischief!
However, we shall settle accounts ere long.  I would have killed him
to-day but that death would be too happy a fate for a wretch like him."

I entreated Marcus not to stain his hands with the blood of the man,
though I acknowledged that I had little reason for wishing to save him
from punishment, as he had just before attempted to take my life and
that of my companion.

"Well, I will promise to let him live on as long as he can on this
islet," said Marcus, casting a glance of hatred and contempt at the
mulatto mate, who stood literally trembling before him.  "He knows that
it's out of the track of most vessels, and that only those who are
engaged as we are come off here occasionally for water, when they cannot
venture elsewhere, so that his chance of escape is very small.  If he
wishes to prolong his life he must kill his companion, or his companion
will kill him.  Such things have been done on this island before now,
and that is one of the reasons why it is so generally avoided."

To this mode of treating Snag I had no objection to make.  I could
scarcely propose that he should be taken away in the pirate vessel, and
he certainly had brought his fate upon himself.  I was glad to get away
from him and from a spot of such ill-repute; at the same time I doubted
whether I should not be leaping out of the frying-pan into the fire.
How might I be treated should the pirate be captured by a man-of-war,
either English or American, and I be found on board?  I could not say
that I did not know her character before I went on board, and it was a
question whether the plea would hold good that I did so in preference to
remaining on a desert island.  Still I saw that I had no choice.  If I
remained with Snag and did not kill him, he would if he had the
opportunity kill me, and Peter and Ready into the bargain; whereas if I
embarked I might very possibly get safe on shore, and if we were
captured I felt very sure that Marcus would give evidence in my favour,
and I hoped that the other pirates would do so likewise.

I told Marcus, therefore, that I accepted his offer, hinting, however,
at the predicament in which I should be placed should the schooner be
captured.

"She will never be captured," he answered fiercely.  "Sooner than that I
would blow up the vessel, and all on board."

A pleasant prospect for me, I thought to myself; however, as I said, I
had no choice.  Accordingly, I and Peter and Ready embarked with Marcus
in the first boat returning with water to the schooner.  The crew
received us without any questions, and we were soon discussing in the
cabin such a meal as we had not eaten for many a day.  I said nothing
about the wine we had left on shore, as I thought that it would do the
pirates no good, and might do harm.  Great despatch was made in getting
water aboard, and in a short time all that was required was obtained.
Marcus did not return to the shore, but I heard him giving directions to
the officer of one of the boats which went back for water.  Meantime I
was watching what was taking place on the beach.  Snag, who had
concealed himself from Marcus, now made his appearance, and was
evidently exerting his powers of persuasion on the crew of the remaining
boat, probably forgetting that though his words could not reach the
schooner his gestures could be seen from her.  Judging from his and his
companion's manner, he appeared to have been successful; some flasks
were produced from the boat, and they and the crew were seen to sit
down, and to smoke and drink in a friendly manner.

The officer sent by Marcus, and several of his men, went heavily armed.
On their reaching the beach the crew of the other boat were ordered into
her, and then seizing the white man they carried him into their boat.
Snag rushed after him but was driven back by the officer, who held a
pistol towards his head as he approached the boat.  In vain he pleaded
with the very men with whom he had so lately been on friendly terms.
The horror of his position burst upon him.  He was to be left on the
desert islet to die alone, without even the companionship of his former
shipmate and associate in crime.  In vain he pleaded.  The pirates
laughed at his terror and rage.  He stamped--he gnashed with his teeth--
he shook his clenched fist.  He was unarmed and helpless.  The boats
pushed off and were already some distance from the beach.  He waved and
shouted to them.  For a minute he stood irresolute, apparently hoping
that those he had seemed to gain over would take him on board.  Again he
waved; some signal was made from the boat.  He plunged headlong into the
sea, and swam towards her.  Still she pulled slowly towards the
schooner, though, it seemed, he thought that he could overtake her.  Too
late he discovered that a barbarous trick had been played him, worthy of
the wretches who were guilty of it.  He might still have returned to the
shore, but just then a dark fin, which had been hovering about the
schooner, was seen to dash off in the direction of the boats.  An
instant after the mulatto mate threw up his arms--a fearful shriek was
heard, and he disappeared beneath the water, an ensanguined circle on
the surface marking the spot where he had gone down.  Directly after the
boats were hoisted in, the breeze sprang up, and the schooner made sail
to the northward.

"Now, my friend, at which port do you wish to be landed?" asked Marcus.

"I was bound to New Orleans, and still wish to return there," I
answered.

"It is not the place I would counsel you to go to," he observed.  "Some
of the people there have long memories, and they would treat you with
Lynch law, and a scant allowance of that, if they caught you."

I told him that I was aware that there was some danger, but that I had
resolved to push north up the Mississippi; besides which, as I had
letters of credit on a mercantile house at New Orleans, I must go there
for the sake of replenishing my purse and wardrobe.  He replied that he
must consult with the captain about it, as he had strong doubts as to
the policy of the proceeding.  Some hours afterwards Marcus told me that
it was impossible to land me at New Orleans, but that they would put me
on shore at Havanna, from whence I could easily get across to that city
if I still desired to go.

"But can you venture into the Havanna? will not your schooner run a
great risk of being recognised?"  I asked.

"Oh no, our papers are all correct.  We have powerful friends there who
would get 

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