CHAPTER II.
“—Observe degree, priority, and place,Insisture, course, proportion, season, form,Office, and custom in all line of order—”Troilus and Cressida.
“—Observe degree, priority, and place,Insisture, course, proportion, season, form,Office, and custom in all line of order—”Troilus and Cressida.
“—Observe degree, priority, and place,Insisture, course, proportion, season, form,Office, and custom in all line of order—”Troilus and Cressida.
“—Observe degree, priority, and place,
Insisture, course, proportion, season, form,
Office, and custom in all line of order—”
Troilus and Cressida.
The canoe held a direct course out to sea the remaining part of the day. This was drawing fast to a close, when there might be perceived, straight over the bows of the canoe, and far, far away, a small dark object that seemed to rest lightly on the horizon, which was, at that moment, illumined by the red rays of the large round sun that was fast sinking behind it.
The head of the canoe was kept direct upon that speck, and the man at the stern seemed to make no more use of his compass.
Such was the rapidity with which the canoe went, borne away, as it was, by the breeze, as well as propelled by the paddles of twelve strong men, that within three hours after sunset, they were close to that which, a short time before, had appeared so small, so shadowy, and so distant.
The object proved to be a low, black, balahoo schooner, whose model, as far as it could be observed by the starlight, was most beautiful. She was built as sharply as a sword, with her bows terminating in the shape of a Gar’s lance, while her stern slanted off in the most graceful proportions.
But the most remarkable part in her build, was her immense and almost disproportioned length, which, combined with her perfectly straight lines, low hull, and the slenderness of her make, gave her the appearance of a large serpent.
Her rigging was of the lightest fashion as two simple shrouds, which supported each mast, and the bowsprit and jibboom stays formed her principal cordage.
There was not a yard, a gaff, or piece of canvass aloft, so that the tall masts remained bare and graceful, shining under their polish. On these accounts, they could not be perceived at any distance, and a boat, discovering the vessel for the first time, would be at a loss to make out what floating object it was.
Her position also, and the manner in which she seemed moored—mastless, as it would appear—was strange and peculiar. She was not swinging to the wind or current, but she rode under a bow and stern anchor, which kept her head directly towards theDragon’s Mouth, while the rippling waves, that still curled before the gentle night breeze, broke playfully on her side.
“What word?” sounded the hoarse and echoing voice of some one on the deck, as the canoe approached the schooner.
“Scorpion,” the man replied in as sounding a voice, and the canoe boarded the vessel.
The ladders were thrown out over the sides, and the man at the stern jumped nimbly on deck.
A sentinel stationed at the gangway lowered his weapon, and the man at the stern, for so we must still call him, passed.
The sentinel was a tall muscular man of a dark complexion; his face was almost entirely covered with hair, on his head he wore a red cap, he had on a red woollen shirt, his trowsers were black, and were secured round his waste by a thick red sash, in which were stuck a brace of pistols and a long poniard.
These and a cutlass, which he held in his hand, were his only weapons.
As soon as the man at the stern was on deck he was accosted by a tall, thin person with flowing mustachios, and with marks of distinction from the sentinel, both in dress and in his appearance. He was richly and tastefullyaccoutred. He wore a jet black frock coat, which was richly but simply embroidered with gold; his trowsers were of unspotted white, and displayed neat and highly polished boots; round his waist he wore a richly fringed crimson sash, in which pistols and a poniard were also stuck; and a slender belt supported a handsome sword by his side. His head was covered by a red cap, and rich gold epaulets rested on his shoulders.
“Lorenzo,” said this individual, addressing the new comer in a low and pleasant tone, “I am happy to see you back. Success, I hope.”
“Success,” answered Lorenzo briefly but courteously, “I have three strangers there in the boat, of whom, pray, order your watch to take care; the captain, I suppose is in his cabin, so I shall see him by the dawn of day. Good night, Sebastian, good watch.”
“Farewell,” answered the party addressed, and Lorenzo, our former man at the stern, disappeared.
This short dialogue carried on, as it was, in an under tone, scarcely broke the extraordinary silence which reigned on board the mysterious schooner.
After Lorenzo had disappeared, Sebastian ordered his men to take charge of the three prisoners in the canoe, who were accordingly brought on deck. Jack Jimmy, who after his fear had been lulled by the apparentharmless treatment of the Indians, had fallen fast asleep, was the most struck when awakening, with the extraordinary position in which he found himself suddenly placed. When he got on deck, he stood as if his limbs would not support him; he first looked aloft at the tapering masts of the schooner, then on the deck, and when his eyes fell on the men by whom he was surrounded, he opened his mouth for an instant in mute amazement, and succeeded at length to give expression to his terror in the words—“Garamighty! way me be? Wha dish ya?”
“Softly, my little man,” said the sentinel, in a voice that contrasted strangely with the weak shriek of the terror-stricken Jack Jimmy, “we don’t speak so loud here.”
“Massa, me hush,” was the immediate answer of Jack Jimmy, and he closed his lips as firmly as he could, as an earnest of his determination to keep silence; but in the dark the white of his eyes may have been seen revolving from object to object with the rapidity of lightning.
“Follow this way,” said a man, who had received instructions from the officer, to the prisoners; and he led them down a narrow stair-case to a small cabin in the foremost part of the vessel. “This is where you are to sleep to-night,” said he to them, after they had been ushered in: “do you require anything?”
The captives answered in the negative.
“Well,” continued the man, “make yourselves comfortable for the night, and be awake betimes to-morrow to see our captain—he gets up early.”
He then posted himself at the door of the cabin, with his cutlass in his hand, like one who was to pass the whole night there. Not a sound more was heard on board the schooner that night.
When morning had arrived, the prisoners were brought on deck, and requested to be prepared to appear before the captain immediately.
The strange vessel on board of which they found themselves, could be better examined by daylight than by the dim star-gleam of the preceding night. The long level deck was scoured as white as snow; not a speck, not a nail-head, not the minutest particle of anything could be discovered upon it. The very seams were filled up in such a manner, that the material which made them impervious to water, imparted an appearance of general cleanliness. The halliards were all beautifully adjusted at the foot of each mast, and made up for the moment in the shape of mats, or other fanciful forms. The belaying pins, that were lined with brass, were beautifully polished, while the tapering masts were as clean and as smooth as ivory. The arrangement of the deck, also, was exceedinglyneat: nothing but a few beautiful and simple machines for hoisting were to be seen, and in properly-disposed recesses in the bulwarks, glimpses might be caught of the rude instruments of destruction—of pikes that looked horrible even in their places of rest,—axes whose shining edges made the blood run chill, and grappling-irons, whose tortuous and crooked prongs made the nerves recoil with the thoughts of agony which they brought up. An awning, as white as the deck which it sheltered, was spread from the stem to the stern of the schooner.
Men dressed and armed, as the sentinel of the preceding evening, were leaning here and there, conversing together in a low tone of voice.
Of all these things, the one which particularly attracted the attention of the strangers was the extraordinary device that everything on board the schooner bore; namely, a death’s head placed on the crossing of two dead men’s bones. This was imprinted on the rigging of the schooner, on its tackle, on the weapons which were arranged in the bulwarks, and the men wore it in front of their blood-red caps, and on their arms. This strange circumstance had a powerful effect on the prisoners: Jack Jimmy opened his mouth and eyes, and seemed, on contemplating that sign, to devote himself todeath already; and the master fisherman became still more anxious than he had been from the first. He recollected that in the various stories with which he and his fellows in the same pursuit had beguiled many a tedious hour, pirates were represented as always displaying a black flag, on which the same sad mementoes of mortality, as those which he saw everywhere on board the schooner, were imprinted.
The thought immediately broke in upon him that he might at that moment be among those lawless men, about whose horrible cruelties he had heard so much, and he shuddered at the reflection.
It is true he had not, up to that moment, experienced any personal outrage or even incivility; but might he not be reserved for those shocking tortures to which he had heard pirates were accustomed to resort, for the purpose of forcing their victims to the confession of what was alike improbable and impossible? His reflections now became gloomy and distressing; and thoughts that rush upon a man only at his last moments, or in situations of imminent danger, began now to force themselves upon him.
This train of thoughts was broken by Lorenzo, who suddenly emerged from the companion of the chief cabin and approached him.
Lorenzo presented quite a different appearance from what he did under his Indian disguise of the day before.
He was cleanly washed of the red ochre with which he had painted his skin; it now appeared fresh and clear, as it was by nature, although a little embronzed by a tropical sun. His features, which could now be properly read, expressed a character of manly firmness, softened by much humanity and tenderness. He wore the same dress as the officer whom he met on duty the previous night, with the slight exception that his red cap was more richly decorated. This seemed to be a badge of distinction, and it could be at once perceived from the manner in which he acted, that Lorenzo was in high command on board the strange schooner.
“The prisoners will not be wanted for half an hour,” he said to the man on duty; “you may retire with them.”
He then went back, and descended the stairs by which he had ascended.
These stairs led to a wide passage in the main-deck of the vessel, which extended from the stem to the door of the main cabin: he turned to the right, and proceeded to the part where that cabin was situated.
He passed by a number of doors and passages, but proceeded straight down the one in which he was, until he arrived at a certain door that stood immediately opposite to him. He then touched a large skull of bronze that grinned hideously on it; it instantly flew open, and he stood before a tall, and full armed sentinel, who, immovable as a statue, looked him fiercely in the eyes.
The officer, without uttering a word, presented the index finger of his left hand, on which there was a large ring, the sentinel quietly stepped aside, and he passed.
He made a few steps, and from another niche in the passage another sentinel presented himself, he showed the ring again and passed; he went further forward, and was again met by another sentinel, he performed the same ceremony, and he was also permitted to pass. He went on and met several others, on whom the ring had the same effect; at last, he arrived at a sort of antichamber, where two black boys, in gorgeous attire, were waiting.
They immediately bent their bodies to Lorenzo as he advanced, and then stood ready to answer him any question he should ask.
“Is your master at leisure, Bembo?” asked Lorenzo.
“He is, senor,” answered one of the boys.
“Say I am here, and desire audience.”
The boy bent his body again and retired.
He immediately returned, and informed the officer that his master desired him to enter, and conducted him to a door.
The officer pressed a skull similar to that with which the reader has already been made acquainted; the door flew open, and he stood in a magnificent apartment, with a young man before him.
The apartment into which Lorenzo had entered, was vast and magnificent in its proportions; it was formed of the whole of the after part of the schooner, and of its entire width. It was richly though peculiarly decorated: the sides, unlike the plain wainscoating of ships in general, were made of the richest and most exquisitely polished mahogany, upon which were elaborately carved landscapes, in which nature was represented principally in her most terrible aspect,—with volcanoes belching forth their liquid fires; cataracts eating away in their angry mood the rugged granite, over whose uneven brows they were foamingly precipitated; inhospitable mountains frowning on the solitary waves below, that unheedingly lashed their base; chasms that yawned as terrific as the cataclasm that might be supposed to have formed them, and other subjects which blended the magnificent with the terribly sublime.
The precious metals were freely used to mark the shades and other points in these highly wrought carvings, so that the fire which the volcanoes sent forth was cleverly represented by gold, the water by silver, and so forth.
Large beads of gold surrounded each tableau, and separated it from the next. On the skirting-boards at the lower parts were carved palezotic creatures, that held between their extended jaws large richly bound volumes, which were secured by springs against the rolling of the vessel.
The ceiling was decorated in the same peculiar manner: the two sides of the celestial sphere were distinctly represented, with the signs of the zodiac and the constellations finished in a perfect style, and scrupulously placed at the correct distances from each other.
The furniture was in exact keeping with this rich, though strange style of decoration. Soft and velvetty carpets covered the floor, or rather the deck; fanciful ottomans, made in the shape of gigantic sea shells, covered with crimson velvet, and decorated with pure and solid gold, were placed here and there. Immense globes of the earth and the heavens, mathematical instruments of the largest size were carefully arranged, and so effectually secured in their position, thatthey could not be affected by the tossing of the schooner. But what was particularly calculated to attract attention among these various things was a gigantic telescope, whose principal parts stood on a magnificent frame. More than ordinary care seemed to be devoted to this instrument, both to its construction and to its preservation, for everything about it was exquisitely made and polished.
The young man who stood before Lorenzo, may have been about twenty-five years of age: he was tall and slender, but infinitely well formed; his limbs were beautifully proportioned and straight, and his hands were almost femininely delicate, notwithstanding the close construction of the bones, and the hard, wiry sinews, which could be barely seen, now and then slightly swelling the skin.
His complexion was of a very light olive, it showed a mixture of blood, and proclaimed that the man was connected with some dark race, and in the infinity of grades in the population of Spanish America, he may have been said to be of that which is commonly designated Quadroon.
But the features of this femininely formed man were in deep contrast with his make; they were handsome to the extreme; but there was something in his largetropical eyes that seemed to possess the power of the basilisk, and made it difficult to be supposed that any man could meet their glance without feeling it.
This expression was increased by his lowering brows that overshadowed his eyes, and indicated, at once, an individual of much resolution; while his high aquiline nose, compressed lips, and set jaws, pointed clearly to a disposition that would undertake the most arduous and hazardous things, and execute them with firmness in spite of perils.
In brief, the most superficial observer might have read, in the face of that young man, the existence of something within, which was endowed with the power of controlling the most headstrong and refractory,—of quelling the most rebellious spirits.
It required not the discoveries of science to convince men, at a glance of his features, that there was a power in that mind which was reflected on his face, that wherever he was he would be by the necessity of his own mind—pre-eminent and uppermost; that men must, unknowingly to themselves, obey him, and act as he acted.
In addition to those animal attributes, the shape of his head was what the most fastidious could but admire; his forehead rose in the fullness of beautiful proportions,while, at the same time, those skilled in reading others’ sculls would have declared that, with his high intellectual development, he did not lack those necessary moral accompaniments which the Creator, in his wisdom, has providently bestowed for the proper use and regulation of the former.
Withal, however, there might be discerned in the lofty bearing and haughty mein of the young man a stern and invincible pride.
The dress of our young hero was simple; he wore trowsers of the finest and whitest materials, and a Moorish jacket of crimson silk, with large and ample sleeves; round his waist was folded a red silk sash, in which a gilded poniard and pistols mounted with gold, were stuck; his head was uncovered, and his black raven locks flowed over his shoulders in wild and unrestrained profusion.
When Lorenzo entered the cabin the young man was standing by a table, on which lay open a richly ornamented volume of “Bacon’s Novum Organum,” with the books of “Aristotle’s Philosophy” by its side.
It was evident that he was making his morning meditation on those learned tomes.
When Lorenzo entered the cabin he bowed profoundly.
“Good morning, Lorenzo,” said the young man, stillmaintaining his high posture, and pointed an ottoman to the visitor.
“Well, how have you fared?” he inquired.
“Well, your excellency,” answered the officer, “I have captured a fisherman with his two men, whom I have brought on board for your especial examination. I made my observations during the time that my men were resting, and have to report, that there are several deeply laden ships in the harbour, which, from all appearances, are ready for sea, and will sail within a few days. There seem to be prospects of a rich booty, with very little work for our men. There are no ships of war in the harbour. I have taken the marks and sizes of the vessels, which you will find on this paper, so that the fisherman may be accurately questioned. The ship, about which your excellency especially instructed me, is also in the harbour.” Then, with a low bow, Lorenzo handed a paper to the young man.
“You have done well, Lorenzo,” the latter said, and glanced over the paper for a short time, and, apparently, possessing himself of the information it contained, laid it by.
“Let your fisherman be brought, Lorenzo.”
The officer left the apartment for a time and returned, shortly afterwards, with the fisherman.
The fisherman appeared bewildered by the grandeur of the place, and could scarcely restrain his eyes from wandering distractedly about.
The captain, after affording him some time to regain himself, requested him to dismiss his fears, and assured him that no harm should be done him if he spoke the truth, and began to interrogate him.
“You know the Harbour of Port of Spain, do you not?”
“I do, senor,” replied the fisherman, “I fish in it every day.”
“Do you know the ships that are there now?”
“Senor, I do not know their names, but I know they are nearly all English.”
“Do you know the large ship that is anchored opposite the banks of the Caroni?”
“Senor, as I have said before, not its name; but I know that it belongs to a rich English merchant, and is laden with sugar for Bristol.”
“Do you know when she is to sail?”
“Senor,” answered the fisherman, “not positively, but, from her appearance, I should say she will sail in a day or two.”
The young man proceeded in this manner and examined the fisherman about all the vessels which were reported in Lorenzo’s paper to be in the harbour,but without, at the same time, receiving any more definite information.
After the questioning was ended, he requested the fisherman to be re-assured, and to fear nothing; he then pressed a spring at his feet, and one of the black boys appeared.
“Show this man on deck,” said the captain. The fishermen was shown on deck, where the sentinel duly received him.
“Lorenzo,” said the young man, “by the chart of this island, and, from my own experience, I know that there are only two outlets from this gulf—the Serpent’s and the Dragon’s Mouth. Ships but seldom go through the Serpent’s Mouth, both, on account of its narrowness, and its distance out of the course of those that may be bound for England. It is, therefore, my opinion that the ships, which are now about to sail, will pass by the Dragon’s Mouth; that passage is fifty miles to the north of this. It is my will that five men be sent with this fisherman of yours, to watch the sailing of the ships: go you, therefore, bear the token, and request the officer of the watch to attend to this order. When this is done, come you hither and let me know. It is my will to let the men have pleasure to-day as they may have work shortly.”
Lorenzo bowed and retired: he shortly returned and informed the captain—as the reader must have already discovered him to be—that his order was executed. The captain asked no further questions, but, perhaps from the habit of being always strictly and implicitly obeyed, he never doubted but that things were done as he wished. Such, too, was the discipline that seemed to reign on board of the schooner, that scarcely five minutes elapsed before preparations were made, and a boat, with the fisherman, among others, was duly dispatched to do as the captain commanded.
When the captain was informed that his orders were executed, he pressed again the spring and the boy appeared.
“Sound the gong,” he said: the boy bowed and retired.