Hair Breadth Escapes. T. S. Arthur
when he supposed himself sure of his prey, fired off a cannon; the brig hoisted the English flag and lay to. This unexpected manœuvre seemed very suspicious to the captain; he began to believe that he had to deal with a man-of-war; changed his plan, and determined upon boarding the strange vessel; he gave orders to have two boats manned with the bravest of his crew, which should attack the ship upon both sides at once, and commanded me to head the expedition. Such an order terrified me not a little.
“What,” I cried, “must I fight thus shamefully with my countrymen. If I am taken prisoner what can I expect but the most shameful death. No, Senor, I can never obey your orders.”
“Who are you,” he answered fiercely, “who think yourself so much better than me and my men? Do we not expose ourselves to death every hour of the day? My vessel shall never be taken, for when I can no longer defend it I will blow it up. Obey me instantly or I will have you shot in the twinkling of an eye.”
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“Do it,” I coolly rejoined, “I do not fear death, but I will never obey your orders.”
“Well then,” he cried furiously, “to death with him. Bandage his eyes. Five minutes respite only, and let three men aim at his head and three at his heart.”
The pirates obeyed instantly, and I commended my soul to God. When the five minutes had gone, the captain asked:
“Are you ready, helmsman?”
“Yes, Senor.”
“You persist then in your obstinacy.”
“Yes, Senor.”
“Attention! Make ready! Fire!”
The men fired, but I remained unhurt; a burning cork flew in my face, but made no wound. The captain had intended to frighten me, and his men had only loaded with blank cartridges.
“Well, helmsman,” he cried, “are you mortally wounded? Have you had enough?”
“I am not wounded, Senor,” I replied, “but I am not a boy to be trifled with; if you are going to kill me, do it quickly, for I will never disgrace myself by obeying your orders.”
“So be it then,” cried the pirate, foaming with rage; “bind him to the mainmast; unbandage his eyes; let us have plenty of tinder; lay a train of powder, and to the devil with him!”
His orders were obeyed; I closed my eyes and awaited death for the second time. In about ten seconds I heard a terrible explosion, which stunned me for some minutes. 17 When I recovered my consciousness, I felt a terrible pain in my lower limbs; my hands were bound, and my clothes on fire.
“Shoot me upon the spot; why do you torture me so?”
But the captain and his men only laughed; and when my stockings were entirely burnt, he gave orders to pour water over me and unbind me, saying composedly, as if nothing had happened:
“You provoked me or I should not have done it; now go below and get cured.”
But the moment I was unbound, I fainted away, and when I came to myself I lay upon a matrass in the cabin, and felt the most intolerable pain in all my limbs, but particularly in my legs. On a chair beside me sat the cook; he told me that lemonade had been prepared for me; I took some of it, and asked him to support me, that I might look at my legs; they were frightfully burnt; in some places the bone was exposed. While I was examining them, the captain appeared, looked at my horrible wounds, and said, with a show of compassion:
“Helmsman, ask for whatsoever you want, and you, cook, see that he has it. Make haste and get better; by heaven, I hope you’ll get over it.”
With these words he left me. I called for a better bed, the medicine chest, lint, and bandages; every thing was instantly brought, and I did my best to soothe my sufferings. I inquired of my officious attendants where we were, and learnt, to my surprise, that we were again at anchor in the harbour. The captain had decided that 18 the brig was an English man-of-war, and had made a hasty retreat to a place of safety.
After dinner, the cook made his appearance again, and as he had nothing else to do, remained with me. He informed me that the captain, a naturally quick-tempered, tyrannical man, was a perfect tiger when he was in a passion, that he had already shot and stabbed twenty of his men with his own hands, and begged me to be upon my guard, for I had not a man, but a monster, to deal with.
“Whatever you want,” he added, compassionately, “let me know, and be assured that I mean you well.”
With this comforting assurance he departed, while I prepared a cooling salve and bandaged my wounds neatly. I drank quantities of lemonade and broth, and felt that as the afternoon wore on, the heat in my limbs was subsiding. Towards sunset, the kind cook again appeared, to see how I was, and to inform me that the captain was raging like a maniac on deck, for a coasting vessel had brought him news that my former captain had sailed straight for Havana, and had there made all sorts of complaints with regard to the robbery that he had sustained. While he was speaking the captain himself rushed into the cabin.
“See,” he cried, “what rogues your countrymen are. Spite of my commands, that traitor sailed directly for Havana and entered a complaint against me. But I know how to deal with him; I have sent four bold fellows after him; he is a dead man if he lingers two days longer, and to make all sure, I shall send a fifth this evening, who 19 understands his business well, and will despatch him without mercy.”
With these words he left the cabin. “What a monster, what cruelty!” I thought, but borne down by fatigue, I soon fell asleep.
I had been sleeping about two hours when I was roused by the captain.
“You must come on deck,” he said, rather anxiously, “we are in trouble.”
Four sailors seized me, and immediately carried me above, sick as I was. Here I learned that a boat was approaching in the darkness, and that preparations for defence were being made.
“Hail it in English,” said the captain.
I did so, but received no answer.
“Now let me try,” he continued; “we’ll see if they understand Spanish.”
They answered immediately as friends, and announced that they came with important news for the captain. The partisans of the officer, who had formed the before-mentioned conspiracy, maddened by the death of their comrades, had sworn to be revenged. They had tracked the fifth assassin, who had been sent off this evening to the house of one of the government officials, who was in friendly connection with the pirate captain, and our informants assured us that if timely aid were not rendered him, he would certainly be put to death. This information had a most distressing effect upon the crew, and no one offered to go upon such a dangerous errand. But the captain did not lose courage, gave the men quantities of 20 rum and brandy, and promised four pieces of gold to each volunteer. Ten of the boldest then came forward, got ready immediately, and were fully provided with weapons, as well as biscuit and wine. Before the end of a quarter of an hour, they rowed ashore in company with the other boat. The captain commanded the whole crew to remain on deck, and doubled the watch. Every thing was quiet, and prepared for any emergency. I was carried down into the cabin again, but could not close my eyes; the door was open, and I heard every thing that passed on deck. About midnight our boat returned, but only with five men, who gave the following account of their adventures to the captain.
After they had landed, and proceeded a few steps, they came upon a servant of that honest official to whose house the fifth assassin had been tracked, and who was to have furnished him with a pass. This man informed them that the assassin had actually fallen into the hands of the conspirators, and that he was lost if they did not instantly hasten to his rescue. They made a circuit to avoid their enemies, and succeeded in surprising a few stragglers, from whom they extorted the information that a considerable number of the conspirators were making merry in the house of the officer, where they had taken their comrade prisoner. They immediately proceeded to this house, where they commenced a most destructive fire through the doors and windows, not taking any aim or making any discrimination