UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA AT LOS ANGELES A ROVING COMMISSION I HAVE HEARD A GREAT DEAL OF YOU, MR. GLOVER, THE ADMIRAL SAID. A ROVING COMMISSION OR THROUGH THE BLACK INSURRECTION AT HAYTI BY G. A. HENTY Author of " With Frederick the Great," " The Dash for Khartoum" " Both Sides the Border," etc. WITH TWELVE ILLUSTRATIONS BY WILLIAM RAINEY, R.I. NEW YORK CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS 1904 Copyright, 1899, BY CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SON*. Stack Annex PREFACE TTORRIBLE as were the atrocities of which the monsters of -TjL the French Revolution were guilty, they paled before the fiendish outrages committed by their black imitators in Hayti. Indeed, for some six years the island presented a saturnalia of massacre, attended with indescribable tortures. It may be admitted that the retaliation inflicted by the maddened whites after the first massacre was as full of horrors as were the out- rages perpetrated by the blacks, and both were rivalled by the mulattoes when they joined in the general madness for blood. The result was ruin to all concerned. France lost one of her fairest possessions, and a wealthy race of cultivators, many be- longing to the best blood of France, were annihilated or driven into poverty among strangers. The mulattoes, many of whom were also wealthy, soon found that the passions they had done so much to foment were too powerful for them ; their position inder the blacks was far worse and more precarious, than it had been under the whites. The negroes gained a nominal liberty. Nowhere were the slaves so well treated as by the French colonists, and they soon discovered that, so far from "i « profiting by the massacre of their masters and families, they 1 were infinitely worse off than before. They were still obliged , to work to some extent to save themselves from starvation; ^ they had none to look to for aid in the time of sickness and 445003 PREFACE old age ; hardships and fevers had swept them away wholesale ; the trade of the island dwindled almost to nothing ; and at last the condition of the negroes iu Hayti has fallen to the level of that of the savage African tribes. Unless some strong white power should occupy the island and enforce law and order, sternly repress crime, and demand a certain amount of labour from all able-bodied men, there seems no hope that any amelio- ration can take place in the present situation. G. A. HENTY. CO NTE N TS CHAPTER PAGE I. A FIGHT WITH A BLOODHOUND i II. REJOINED 21 III. A SLAVE DEPOT 38 IV. A SHARP FIGHT 58 V. A PIRATE HOLD 76 VI. THE NEGRO RISING 93 VII. IN HIDING 112 VIII. A TIME OF WAITING 132 IX. AN ATTACK ON THE CAVE 152 X. AFLOAT AGAIN 172 XI. A FIRST COMMAND 191 XII. A RESCUE 211 XIII. Two CAPTURES 232 XIV. THE ATTACK ON PORT-AU-PRINCE 253 XV. THE ATTACK ON PORT-AU-PRINCE 273 XVI. TOUSSAINT L'OUVERTURE 293 XVII. A FRENCH FRIGATE 311 XVIII. ANOTHER ENGAGEMENT 331 XIX. HOME 352 ILLUSTRATIONS PACK "I HAVE HEARD A GREAT DEAL OF YOU, MR. GLOVER," THE ADMIRAL SAID Frontispiece " HEADED BY NAT, THE CREW OF THE GIG LEAPT DOWN ON TO THE DECK " 40 THE GUNS ON THE RAMPART SEND A SHOWER OF GRAPE INTO THE PIRATE 64 "IT WAS NOT LONG BEFORE HE CAME ACROSS THE FIGURE OF A PROSTRATE MAN " 122 "HE FELL LIKE A LOG OVER THE PRECIPICE" 164 THE JOURNEY TO THE COAST 178 THE RESCUE OF LOUISE PICKARD 212 " FOUR SHOTS WERE FIRED AND AS MANY NEGROES FELL" . . 226 "THE CAPTAIN OF THE PIRATES SHOOK HIS FIST IN DEFIANCE" 246 A MESSAGE FROM TOUSSAINT L'OUVERTURE 294 "DROP IT!" NAT REPEATED 308 " NAT SPRANG ON TO THE RAIL " 318 A ROVING COMMISSION CHAPTER I A FIGHT WITH A BLOODHOUND j|OW, look here, Nathaniel — " " Drop that, Curtis, you know very well that I won't have it. I can't help having such a beast of a name, and why it was given me I have never been able to make out, and if I had been consulted in the matter all the godfathers and godmothers in the world would n't have persuaded me to take such a name. Nat I don't mind. I don't say that it is a name that I should choose ; still, I can put up with that, but the other I won't have. You have only just joined the ship, but if you ask the others they will tell you that I have had at least half a dozen fights over the name, and it is an understood thing here that if anyone wants a row with me he has only got to call me Nathaniel, and there is no occasion for any more words after that." The speaker was a pleasant-faced lad, between fifteen and sixteen, and his words were half in jest half in earnest. He was a general favourite among his mess-mates on board H. M. frigate Orpheus. He was full of life and fun, excep- 2 A ROVING COMMISSION tionally good-tempered, and able to stand any amount of chaff and joking, and it was understood by his comrades that there was but one point that it was unsafe to touch on, and that sore point was his name. It had been the choice of his godmother, a maiden aunt, who had in her earlier days had a disappoint- ment. Nat had once closely questioned his father as to how he came by his name, and the latter had replied testily : " Well, my boy, your Aunt Eliza, who is, you know, a very good woman — no one can doubt that — had a weakness. I never myself got at the rights of the matter. Anyhow, his name was Nathaniel. I don't think there was ever any formal engagement between them. Her own idea is that he loved her, but that his parents forbade him to think of her ; for that was at a time before her Aunt Lydia left all her money to her. Anyhow, he went abroad, and I don't think she ever heard of him again. I am inclined to think it was an entire mistake on her part, and that the young fellow had. never had the slightest fancy for her. However, that was the one romance of her life, and she has clung to it like a limpet to a rock. At any rate when we asked her to be your godmother she said she would be so if we would give you the name of Nathaniel. I own it is not a name that I like myself; but when we raised an objection, she said that the name was very dear to her, and that if you took it she would certainly make you her heir, and more than hinted that if you had any other name she would leave her money to charitable purposes. Well, you see, as she is worth thirty thousand pounds if she is worth a penny, your mother and I both thought it would be folly to allow the money to go out of the family for the sake of a name, which after all is not such a bad name." " I think it beastly, father, in the first place because it is long." "Well, my boy, if you like we can shorten it to Nathan." " Oh, that would be a hundred times worse ! Nathan A FIGHT WITH A BLOODHOUND 3 indeed ! Nat is not so bad. If I had been christened Nat I should not have particularly minded it. Why did you not propose that to aunt?" His father shook his head. " That would never have done. To her he was always Nathaniel. Possibly if they had been married it might some day have become Nat, but, you see, it never got to that." " Well, of course, father," the boy said with a sigh, " as the thing is done it cannot be helped. And I don't say that aunt is n't a good sort — first-rate in some things, for she has always tipped me well whenever she came here, and she says she is going to allow me fifty pounds a year directly I get my ap- pointment as midshipman ; but it is certainly hard on me that she could not have fallen in love with some man with a decent name. Nathaniel is always getting me into rows. Why, the first two or three years I went to school I should say that I had a fight over it once a month. Of course I have not had one lately, for since I licked Smith major fellows are more careful. I expect it will be just as bad in the navy." So when he first joined Nat had found it, but now that he was nearly sixteen, and very strong and active, and with the experience of many past combats, the name Nathaniel had been dropped. It was six months since the obnoxious Christian name had been used, as it was now by a young fellow of seventeen who had been transferred to the Orpheus when the frigate to which he belonged was ordered home. He was tall and lanky, very particular about his dress, spoke in a drawling supercilious way, and had the knack of saying unpleasant things with an air of innocence. Supposing that Glover's name must be Nathaniel, he had thought it smart so to address him, but although he guessed that it might irri- tate him, he was unprepared for an explosion on the part of a lad who was proverbially good-tempered. 4 A ROVING COMMISSION "Dear me," he said, in assumed surprise, "I had no idea that you objected so much to be called by your proper name ! However, I will, of course, in future use the abbreviation." " You had better call me Glover," Nat replied sharply. " My friends can call me Nat, but to other people I am Glover, and if you call me out of that name there will be squalls ; so I warn you." Curtis thought it was well not to pursue the subject further. He was no coward, but he had the sense to see that as Nat was a favourite with the others, while he was a new-comer, a fight, even if he were the victor, would not conduce to his popularity among his mess-mates. The president of the mess, a master's mate, a good-tempered fellow, who hated quarrels, broke what would have been an awkward silence by saying : " We seem to be out of luck altogether this trip ; we have been out three weeks and not fired a shot. It is especially hard, for we caught sight of that brigantine we have been in search of, and should have had her if she had n't run into that channel where there was not water enough for us to follow her." " Yes, that was rough upon us, and one hates to go back to Port Royal without a prize, after having taken so many that we have come to be considered the luckiest ship on the station," another said. " Still, the cruise is not over yet. I suppose by the way we are laying our course, Marston, we are going into Cape Frangois?" The mate nodded. "Yes; we want fresh meat, fruit, and water, and it is about the pleasantest place among these islands. I have no doubt, too, that the captain hopes to get some news that may help him to find out where those piratical craft that are doing so much mischief have their rendezvous. They are all so fast that unless in a strong breeze a frigate has no chance whatever of overhauling them ; there is no doubt that they are all of Spanish build, and in a light breeze they sail A FIGHT WITH A BLOODHOUND 5 like witches. I believe our only chance of catching them is in finding them at their head-quarters, wherever that may be, or by coming upon them in a calm in a bay. In that case it would be a boat affair ; and a pretty sharp one I should think, for they all carry very strong crews and are heavily armed, and as the scoundrels know that they fight with ropes round their necks they would be awkward customers to tackle." "Yes, if we happened to find them all together, I don't think the captain would risk sending in the boats. One at a time we could manage, but with three of them mounting about fifty guns between them, and carrying, I should say, from two hundred to two hundred and fifty men, the odds would be very great, and the loss, even if we captured them, so heavy that I hardly think the captain would be justified in attempting it. I should say that he would be more likely to get out all the boats and tow the frigate into easy range. She would give a good account of the whole of them." "Yes, there is no doubt about that; but even then we should only succeed if the bay was a very narrow one, for otherwise their boats would certainly tow them faster than we could take the frigate along." It was Glover who spoke last. " I don't think myself that we shall ever catch them in the frigate. It seems to me that the only chance will be to get hold of an old merchantman, put a strong crew on board and a dozen of our guns, and cruise about until one of them gets a sight of us and comes skimming along to capture us." " Yes, that would be a good plan ; but it has been tried several times with success, and I fancy the pirates would not fall into the trap. Besides, there is very little doubt that they have friends at all these ports, and get early information of any movements of our ships, and would hear of what we were doing long before the disguised ship came near them. It O A ROVING COMMISSION can hardly be chance, that it matters not which way we cruise these fellows begin their work in another direction altogether. Now that we are here in this great bay, they are probably cruising off the west of Cuba or down by Porto Rico or the Windward Islands. That is the advantage that three or four craft working together have : they are able to keep spies in every port that our ships of war are likely to go into, while a single vessel cannot afford such expenses." "I don't think that the expenses, Low, would be heavy; the negroes would do it for next to nothing, and so would the mulattoes, simply because they hate the whites. I don't mean the best of the mulattoes, because many of them are gentlemen and good fellows; but the lower class are worse than the negroes, they are up to any devilment, and will do anything they can to injure a white man." " Poor beggars, one can hardly blame them ; they are neither one thing nor the other ! These old French planters are as aristocratic as their noblesse at home, and indeed many of them belong to noble families. Even the meanest white — and they are pretty mean some of them — looks down upon a mulatto, although the latter may have been educated in France and own great plantations. The negroes don't like them because of their strain of white blood. They are treated as if they were pariahs. Their children may not go to school with the whites, they themselves may not sit down in a theatre or kneel at church next to them, they may not use the same restaurants or hotels. No wonder they are discontented." "It is hard on them," Glover said, "but one can't be surprised that the whites do fight shy of them. Great num- bers of them are brutes and no mistake, ready for any crime and up to any wickedness. There is lots of good in the niggers ; they are merry fellows ; and I must say for these old French planters they use their slaves a great deal better A FIGHT WITH A BLOODHOUND 7 than they are as a rule treated by our planters in Jamaica. Of course there are bad masters everywhere, but if I were a slave I would certainly rather be under a French master than an English one, or, from what I have heard, than an American." "Very well, Glover, I will make a note of that, and if you ever misbehave yourself and we have to sell you, I will drop a line to the first lufif how your preference lies." Early the next morning the frigate dropped anchor at Cape Francois, the largest and most important town in the island, with the exception of the capital of the Spanish portion of San Domingo. The Orpheus carried six midshipmen. Four of these had been ashore when on the previous occasion the Orpheus had entered the port. Nat Glover and Curtis were the exceptions, Curtis having at that time belonged to the frigate for but a very few weeks, and Nat having been in the first lieutenant's bad books, owing to a scrape into which he had got at the last port they had touched at. After break- fast they went up together to the first lieutenant, whose name was Hill. " Please, sir, if we are not wanted, can we have leave for the day?" The lieutenant hesitated, and then said : "Yes, I think the other four will be enough for the boats. You did not go ashore last time you were here, I think, Mr. Glover," he added with a slight smile. " No, sir." " Very well, then, you can go, but don't get into any scrape." " I will try not to, sir," Nat said demurely. "Well, I hope your trial will be successful, Mr. Glover, for if not, I can tell you that it will be a long time before you have leave again. These people don't understand that sort of thing." " He is a nice lad," Mr. Hill said to the second lieutenant 8 A ROVING COMMISSION as the two midshipmen walked away, " and when he has worked off those animal spirits of his he will make a capital officer, but at present he is one of the most mischievous young monkeys I ever came across." " He does not let them interfere with his duty," the other said. " He is the smartest of our raids ; he is well up in navi- gation, and has any amount of pluck. You remember how he jumped overboard in Port Royal when a marine fell into the water, although the harbour was swarming with sharks. It was a near touch. Luckily we threw a bowline to him, and the two were hauled up together. A few seconds more and it would have been too late, for there was a shark within twenty feet of them." "Yes, there is no doubt about his pluck, Playford, and indeed I partly owe my life to him. When we captured that piratical brigantine near Santa Lucia I boarded by the stern, and she had such a strong crew that we were being beaten back, and things looked very bad until he with the gig's crew ' swarmed in over the bow. Even then it was a very tough struggle till they cut their way through the pirates and joined us, and we went at them together, and that youngster fought like a young fiend. He was in the thick of it everywhere, and yet he was as cool as a cucumber. Oh yes, he has the making of a very fine officer. Although I am obliged to be sharp with him, there is not a shadow of harm in the lad, but he certainly has a genius for getting into scrapes." The two midshipmen went ashore together. " I don't know what you are going to do, Curtis, but after I have walked through the place and had a look at it, I shall hire a horse and ride out into the country." " It is too hot for riding," the other said. " Of course I shall see what there is to be seen, and then I shall look for a seat in some place in the shade and eat fruit." A FIGHT WITH A BLOODHOUND 9 "Well, we may as well walk through the town together," Nat said cheerfully. "From the look of the place I should fancy there was not much in it, and I know the fellows who went on shore before said that the town contained nothing but native huts, a few churches, and two or three dozen old French houses." Half an hour indeed sufficed to explore the place. When they separated Nat had no difficulty in hiring a horse. He had been accustomed, when in England, to ride a pony, and was therefore at home in the saddle ; he proceeded at a leisurely pace along the road across the flat plain that sur- rounded Cape Francois. On either side were plantations, — sugar-cane and tobacco, — and he occasionally passed the abode of some wealthy planter, surrounded by shady trees and gardens gorgeous with tropical plants and flowers. He was going by one of these, half a mile from the town, when he heard a loud scream, raised evidently by a woman in extreme pain or terror. He was just opposite the entrance, and, springing from his horse, he ran in. On the ground, twenty yards from the gate, lay a girl. A huge hound had hold of her shoulder, and was shaking her violently. Nat drew his dirk and gave a loud shout as he rushed forward. The hound loosed his hold of the girl and turned to meet him, and, springing upon him with a savage growl, threw him to the ground. Nat drove his dirk into the animal as he fell, and threw his left arm across his throat to prevent the dog seizing him there. A moment later the hound had seized it with a grip that extracted a shout of pain from the midshipman. As he again buried his dirk in the hound's side, the dog shifted his hold from Nat's forearm to his shoulder and shook him as if he had been a child. Nat made no effort to free himself, for he knew that were he to uncover his throat for a moment the dog would 10 A ROVING COMMISSION seize him there. Though the pain was terrible he continued to deal stroke after stroke to the dog. One of these blows must have reached the heart, for suddenly its hold relaxed and it rolled over, just as half a dozen negroes armed with sticks came rushing out of the house. Nat tried to raise himself on his right arm, but the pain of the left was so great that he leant back again half-fainting. Presently he felt himself being lifted up and carried along; he heard a lady's voice giving directions, and then for a time he knew no more. When he came to himself he saw the ship's doctor leaning over him. "What is the matter, doctor?" he asked. "You are badly hurt, lad, and must lie perfectly quiet. Luckily the messenger who was sent to fetch a doctor, seeing Mr. Curtis and me walking up the street, ran up to us and said that a young officer of our ship was hurt, and that he was sent in to fetch a doctor. He had, in fact, already seen one, and was in the act of returning with him when he met us. Of course I introduced myself to the French doctor as we came along together, for we fortunately got hold of a trap directly, so that no time was lost. The black boy who brought the message told me that you and a young lady had been bitten by a great hound belonging to his master, and that you had killed it. Now, my lad, I am going to cut off your coat and look at your wounds. The Frenchman is attending to the young lady." " Mind how you touch my arm, doctor ! it is broken some- where between the elbow and the wrist ; I heard it snap when the brute seized me. It threw me down, and I put my arm across over my throat, so as to prevent it from getting at that. It would have been all up with me if it had gripped me there." " That it would, Glover. I saw the dog lying on the grass A FIGHT WITH A BLOODHOUND 11 as I came in. It is a big bloodhound ; and your presence of mind undoubtedly saved your life." By this time he had cut the jacket and shirt up to the neck. Nat saw his lips tighten as he caught sight of the wound on the shoulder. It is a bad bite, eh, doctor ? " " Yes, it has mangled the flesh badly. The dog seems to have shifted his hold several times." "Yes, doctor, each time I stabbed him he gave a sort of start, and then caught hold again and shook me furiously. After the first bite I did not seem to feel any pain. I suppose the limb was numbed." " Very likely, lad. Now I must first of all see what damage was done to the forearm. I am afraid I shall hurt you, but I will be as gentle as I can." Nat clenched his teeth and pressed his lips tightly together. Not a sound was heard as the examination was being made, although the sweat that started out on his forehead showed how intense was the pain. " Both bones are broken," the surgeon said to his French colleague, who had just entered the room and came up to the bedside. "The first thing to do is to extemporize some splints, and of course we shall want some stuff for bandages." "I will get them made at once," the doctor replied. "Madame Demaine said that she put the whole house at my disposal." He went out, and in a few minutes returned with some thin slips of wood eighteen inches long and a number of strips of sheeting sewn together. " It is very fortunate," the surgeon said, "that the ends of the bone have kept pretty fairly in their places instead of working through the flesh, which they might very well have done. 12 A ROVING COMMISSION Very carefully the two surgeons bandaged the arm from the elbow to the finger-tips. " Now for the shoulder," the doctor said. They first sponged the wounds and then began feeling the bones again, giving exquisite pain to Nat. Then they drew apart and consulted for two or three minutes. " This is a much worse business than the other," Dr. Bemish said when he returned to the bedside; "the arm is broken near the shoulder, the collar-bone is broken too, and the flesh is almost in a pulp." " Don't say I must lose the arm, doctor," Nat said. " Well, I hope not, Glover, but I can't say for certain. You see I am speaking frankly to you, for I know that you have pluck. The injury to the collar-bone is not in itself serious, but the other is a comminuted fracture." " What is comminuted, doctor ? " "It means that the bone is splintered, lad. Still, there is no reason why it should not heal again; you have a strong constitution, and Nature works wonders." For the next half-hour the two surgeons were at work pick- ing out the fragments of bone, getting the ends together, and bandaging the arm and shoulder. Nat fainted under the pain within the first few minutes, and did not recover until the surgeons had completed their work. Then his lips were wetted with brandy and a few drops of brandy and water were poured down his throat. In a minute or two he opened his eyes. "It is all over now, lad." He lay for sometime without speaking, and then whispered, "How is the girl?" " Her shoulder is broken," Dr. Bemish replied. " I have not seen her; but the doctor says that it is a comparatively simple case." " How was it the dog came to bite her?" A FIGHT WITH A BLOODHOUND 18 " She was a stranger to it. She is not the daughter of your hostess. It seems her father's plantation is some twelve miles away; he drove her in and left her here with Madame Demaine, who is his sister, while he went into town on busi- ness. Madame's own daughter was away, and the girl saun- tered down into the garden, when the hound, not knowing her, sprang upon her, and I have not the least doubt would have killed her had you not arrived." " Are you going to take me on board, doctor ? " " Not at present, Glover ; you need absolute quiet, and if the frigate got into a heavy sea it might undo all our work, and in that case there would be little hope of saving your arm. Madame Demaine told the French doctor that she would nurse you as if you were her own child, and that every- thing was to be done to make you comfortable. The house is cool, and your wound will have a much better chance of get- ting well here than in our sick-bay. She wanted to come in to thank you, but I said that, now we had dressed your arm, it was better that you should have nothing to disturb or excite you. When the girl's father returns — and I have no doubt he will do so soon, for as yet, though half-a-dozen boys have been sent down to the town, they have not been able to find him — he must on no account come in to see you at present. Here is a tumbler of fresh lime-juice and water. Doctor Lepel will remain here all night and see that you have everything that you require." The tumbler was held to Nat's lips, and he drained it to the bottom. The drink was iced, and seemed to him the most delicious that he had ever tasted. " I shall come ashore again to see you in the morning. Dr. Lepel will go back with me now, and make up a soothing draught for you both. Remember that above all things it is essential for you to lie quiet. He will put bandages round 14 A ROVING COMMISSION your body, and fasten the ends to the bedstead so as to pre- vent you from turning in your sleep." " All right, sir ; I can assure you that I have no intention of moving. My arm does not hurt me much now, and I would not set it off aching again for any money." " It is a rum thing," Nat thought to himself, " that I should always be getting into some scrape or other when I go ashore. This is the worst of all by a long way." A negro girl presently came in noiselessly and placed a small table on the right-hand side of the bed. She then brought in a large jug of the same drink that Nat had before taken, and some oranges and limes both peeled and cut up into small pieces. " It is lucky it was not the right arm," Nat said to himself. " I suppose one can do without the left pretty well when one gets accustomed to it, though it would be rather awkward going aloft." In an hour Dr. Lepel returned, and gave him the draught. " Now try and go to sleep," he said in broken English. " I shall lie down on that sofa, and if you wake up be sure and call me. I am a light sleeper." " Had you not better stay with the young lady ? " " She will have her mother and her aunt with her, so she will do very well. I hope that you will soon go to sleep." It was but a few minutes before Nat dozed off. Beyond a numbed feeling his arm was not hurting him very much. Once or twice during the night he woke and took a drink. A slight stir in the room aroused him, and to his surprise he found that the sun was already up. The doctor was feeling his pulse, a negro girl was fanning him, and a lady stood at the foot of the bed looking at him pitifully. " Do you speak French, monsieur? " she asked. " A little," he replied, for he had learned French while at A FIGHT WITH A BLOODHOUND 15 school, and since the frigate had been among the West Indian islands he had studied it for a couple of hours a day, as it was the language that was spoken in all the French islands and might be useful to him if put in charge of a prize. " Have you slept well?" she asked. "Very well." "Does your arm hurt you very much now?" " It hurts a bit, ma'am, but nothing to make any fuss about." " You must ask for anything that you want," she said. " I have told off two of my negro girls to wait upon you. Of course they both speak French." Half an hour later Dr. Bemish arrived. "You are going on very well, Glover," he said after feeling the lad's pulse and putting his hand on his forehead. " At present you have no fever. You cannot expect to get through without some, but I hardly expected to find you so comfortable this morning. The captain told me to say that he would come and see you to-day, and I can assure you that there is not one among your mess-mates who is not deeply sorry at what has happened, although they all feel proud of your pluck in fighting that great hound with nothing but a dirk." " They are useless sort of things, doctor, and I cannot think why they give them to us ; but it was a far better weapon yesterday than a sword would have been." " Yes, it was. The room is nice and cool, is n't it ? " " Wonderfully cool, sir. I was wondering about it before you came in, for it is a great deal cooler than it is on board." " There are four great pans full of ice in the room, and they have got up matting before each of the windows, and are keep- ing it soaked with water." " That is very good of them, doctor. Please thank Madame Demaine for me. She was in here this morning — at least I 16 A ROVING COMMISSION suppose it was she — and she did not bother me with thanks, which was a great comfort. You are not going to take these bandages off and put them on again, I hope ? " " Oh, no. We may loosen them a little when inflammation sets in, which it is sure to do sooner or later." Captain Crosbie came to see Nat that afternoon. " Well, my lad," he said cheerfully, " I see that you have fallen into good hands, and I am sure that everything that is possible will be done for you. I was talking to the girl's mother and aunt before I came in. Their gratitude to you is quite touching, and they are lamenting that Dr. Bemish has given the strictest orders that they are not to say anything more about it. And now I must not stay and talk ; the doctor gave me only two minutes to be in the room with you. I don't know whether the frigate is likely to put in here again soon, but I will take care to let you know from time to time what we are doing and where we are likely to be, so that you can rejoin when the doctor here gives you leave ; but mind, you are not to dream of attempting it until he does so, and you must be a discontented spirit indeed if you are not willing to stay for a time in such surroundings. Good-bye, lad ! I sincerely trust that it will not be very long before you rejoin us, and I can assure you of a hearty welcome from officers and men." Three days later, fever set in, but, thanks to the coolness of the room and to the bandages being constantly moistened with iced water, it passed away in the course of a week. For two or three days Nat was light-headed, but he woke one morning feeling strangely weak. It was some minutes before he could remember where he was or how he had got there, but a sharp twinge in his arm brought the facts home to him. " Thank God that you are better, my brave boy," a voice said in French, as a cool hand was placed on his forehead ; and turning his head Nat saw a lady standing by his bedside. She A FIGHT WITH A BLOODHOUND 17 was not the one whom he had seen before ; tears were stream- ing down her cheeks, and, evidently unable to speak, she hur- ried from the room, and a minute later Doctor Lepel entered. " Madame Duchesne has given me the good news that you are better," he said. "I had just driven up to the door when she ran down." " Have I been very bad, doctor?" " Well, you have been pretty bad, my lad, and have been light-headed for the past three or four days, and I did not for a moment expect that you would come round so soon. You must have a magnificent constitution, for most men, even if they recovered at all from such terrible wounds as you have had, would probably have been three or four times as long before the fever had run its course. " And how is the young lady ? " " She is going on well, and I intended to give permission for her to be carried home in a hammock to-day, but when I spoke of it yesterday to her mother, she said that nothing would induce her to go until you were out of danger. She or Madame Demaine have not left your bedside for the past week, and next to your own good constitution you owe your rapid recovery to their care. I have no doubt that she will go home now, and you are to be moved to Monsieur Duchesne's house as soon as you are strong enough. It lies up among the hills, and the change and cooler air will do you good." " I have not felt it hot here, doctor, thanks to the care that they have taken in keeping the roorii cool. I hope now that there is no fear of my losing my arm ? " " No ; I think that I can promise you that. In a day or two I shall re-bandage it, and I shall then be able to see how the wounds are getting on ; but there can be no doubt that they are doing well, or you would never have shaken off the fever so soon as you have done." 2 18 A ROVING COMMISSION " Of course the Orpheus has sailed, doctor ? " " Yes. She put to sea a week ago. I have a letter here that the captain gave me to hand to you when you were fit to read it. I should not open it now if I were you. You are very weak, and sleep is the best medicine for you. Now, drink a little of this fresh lime-juice. I have no doubt that you will doze off again." Almost before the door closed on the doctor Nat was asleep. A fortnight later he was able to get up and sit in an easy- chair. "How long shall I have to keep these bandages on, doctor?" " I should say in another fortnight or so you might take them off the forearm, for the bones seem to have knit there, but it would be better that you should wear them for another month or six weeks. There would indeed be no use in taking them off earlier, for the bandages on the shoulder and the fracture below it cannot be removed for some time, and you will have to carry your arm in a sling for another three months. I do not mean that you may not move your arm before that, indeed it is desirable that you should do so, but the action must be quiet and simple, and done methodically, and the sling will be necessary at other times to prevent sudden jerks." " But I shall be able to go away and join my ship before that, surely?" " Yes, if the arm goes on as well as at present you may be able to do so in a month's time ; only you will have to be very careful. You must remember that a fall, or even a lurch against the rail, or a slip in going down below, or anything of that kind, might very well undo our work, for it must be some time before the newly-formed bone is as strong as the old. As I told you the other day, your arm will be some two inches shorter than it was." A FIGHT WITH A BLOODHOUND 19 " That won't matter a rap," Nat said. That afternoon Nat had to submit to what he had dreaded. The doctor had pronounced that he was now quite convalescent, and that there was no fear whatever of a relapse, and Monsieur and Madame Duchesne therefore came over to see him. He had seen the latter but once, and then only for a minute, for she found herself unable to observe the condition on which alone the doctor had allowed her to enter, namely, to repress all emotion. Madame Demaine came in with them. Since her niece had been taken away, she had spent much of her time in Nat's room, talking quietly to him about his English home or his ship, and sometimes reading aloud to him, but studiously avoiding any allusion to the accident. Monsieur Duchesne was a man of some thirty-five years of age, his wife was about five years younger, and they were an exceptionally handsome couple of the best French type. Madame Duchesne pressed forward before the others, and to Nat's embarrassment bent over him and kissed him. " You cannot tell how we have longed for this time to come," she said. " It seemed so cold and ungrateful that for a whole month we should have said no word of thanks to you for saving our darling's life, but the doctor would not allow it. He said that the smallest excitement might bring on the fever again, so we have been obliged to abstain. Now he has given us leave to come, and now we have come, what can we say to you ? Ah, monsieur, it was our only child that you saved, the joy of our lives ! Think of the grief into which we should have been plunged by her loss, and you can then imagine the depth of our gratitude to you." While she was speaking her husband had taken Nat's right hand and pressed it silently. There were tears in his eyes, and his lips quivered with emotion. "Pray do not say anything more about it, madam," Nat 20 A ROVING COMMISSION said. " Of course I am very glad to have saved your daughter's life, but anyone else would have done the same. You don't suppose that anyone could stand by and see a girl mauled by a dog without rushing forward to save her, even if he had had no arm of any kind, while I had my dirk, which was about as good a weapon for that sort of thing as one could want. Why, Harpur, our youngest middy, who is only fourteen, would have done it. Of course I have had a good deal of pain, but I would have borne twice as much for the sake of the pleasure I feel in having saved your daughter's life, and I am sure that I have had a very nice time of it since I have begun to get better. Madame Demaine has been awfully good to me. If she had been my own mother she could not have been kinder. I felt quite ashamed of being so much trouble to her, and of being fanned and petted as if I had been a sick girl. And how is your daughter getting on ? The doctor gave me a very good account of her, but you know one can't always quite believe doctors ; they like to say pleasant things to you so as not to upset you." " She is getting on very well indeed. Of course she has her arm in a sling still, but she is going about the house, and is quite merry and bright again. She wanted to come over with us to-day, but Dr. Lepel would not have it. He said that a sudden jolt over a stone might do a good deal of mischief. However, it will not be long before she sees you, for we have got leave to have you carried over early next week." REJOINED 21 CHAPTER II REJOINED FOUR days later Monsieur Duchesne came down with six negroes and a cane lounging chair, on each side of which a long pole had been securely lashed. Nat's room was on the ground floor, and with wide windows opening to the ground. The chair was brought in. Nat was still shaky on his legs, but he was able to get from the bed into the chair without assistance. " I shall come over to see you to-morrow," Madame Demaine said, as he thanked her and her husband for their great kind- ness to him, " and I hope I shall find that the journey has done you no harm." Four of the negroes took the ends of the poles and raised them onto their shoulders, the other two walked behind to serve as a relay. Monsieur Duchesne mounted his horse and took his place by Nat's side, and the little procession started. The motion was very easy and gentle. It was late in the afternoon when they started, the sun was near the horizon, and a gentle breeze from the sea had sprung up. In half an hour it was dusk, and the two spare negroes lighted torches they had brought with them, and now walked ahead of the bearers. It was full moon, and after having been so long confined in a semi-darkened room, Nat enjoyed intensely the soft air, the dark sky spangled with stars, and the rich tropical foliage showing its outlines clearly in the moonlight. Presently Monsieur Duchesne said : " I have a flask of brandy and water with me, Mr. Glover, in case you should feel faint or exhausted." Nat laughed. 22 A ROVING COMMISSION " Thank you for thinking of it, monsieur, but there is no fatigue whatever in sitting here, and I have enjoyed my ride intensely. It is almost worth getting hurt in order to have such pleasure : we don't get such nights as this in England." " But you have fine weather sometimes, surely ? " Monsieur Duchesne said. " Oh yes, we often have fine weather, but there are not many nights in the year when one can sit out-of-doors after dark ! When it is a warm night there are sure to be heavy dews ; besides, the stars are not so bright with us as they are here, nor is the air so soft. I don't mean to say that I don't like our climate better; we never have it so desperately hot as you do, and besides, we like the cold, because it braces one up, and even the rain is welcome as a change, occasionally. Still, I allow that as far as nights go you beat us hollow." The road presently began to rise, and before they reached the end of the journey they were high above the plain. As they approached the house the negroes broke into a song, and on their stopping before th« wide verandah that surrounded the house, Madame Duchesne and her daughter were standing there to greet them as the bearers gently lowered the chair to the ground. The girl was first beside it. " Ah, monsieur," she exclaimed as she took his hand, " how grateful I am to you ! how I have longed to see you ! for I have never seen you yet ; and it has seemed hard to me that while aunt and the doctor should have seen you so often, and even mamma should have seen you once, I should never have seen you at all." "There is not much to sT»e in me at the best of times, mademoiselle," Nat said as he rose to his feet, "and I am almost a scarecrow now. I wanted, to see you, too, just to see what you were like, you know." REJOINED 23 He took the arm that Monsieur Duchesne offered him, for although he could have walked that short distance unaided, he did not know the ground, and might have stumbled over something. They went straight from the verandah into a pretty room lighted by a dozen wax candles. He sat down in a chair that was there in readiness for him. The girl placed herself in front of him and looked earnestly at him. "Well," he said with a laugh, "am I at all like what you pictured me?" " You are not a scarecrow at all ! " she said indignantly. " Why do you say such things of yourself ? Of course you are thin, very thin, but even now you look nice. I think you are just what I thought you would be. Now, am I like what you thought I should be ? " " I don't know that I ever attempted to think exactly what you would be," Nat said. " I did not notice your face ; I don't even know whether it was turned my way. I did take in that you were a girl somewhere about thirteen years old, but as soon as the dog turned, my attention was pretty fully occupied. Madame Demaine said your name was Myra. I thought that with such a pretty name you ought to be pretty too. I suppose it is rude to say so, but you certainly are, mademoiselle." The girl laughed. " It is not rude at all ; and please you are to call me Myra and not mademoiselle. Now, you must get strong as soon as you can. Mamma said I might act as your guide, and show you about the plantation, and the slave houses, and everywhere. I have never had a boy friend, and I should think it was very nice." " My dear," her mother said with a smile, " it is not alto- gether discreet for a young lady to talk in that way." " Ah ! but I am not a young lady yet, mamma, and I think 24 A ROVING COMMISSION it is much nicer [to be a girl and to be able to say what one likes. And you are an officer, Monsieur Glover ! " "Well, if I am to call you Myra, you must call me Nat. Monsieur Glover is ridiculous." " You are very young to be an officer," the girl said. " Oh, I have been an officer for more than two years," he said. " I was only fourteen when I joined, and I am nearly sixteen now." " And have you been in battles ? " " Not in a regular battle. You see England is not at war now with anyone, but I have been in two or three fights with pirates and that sort of thing." "And now, Myra, you must not talk any more," her father said. " You know the doctor gave strict orders that he was to go to bed as soon as he arrived here." At this moment the door opened and a slave girl brought in a basin of strong broth. " Well, you may stop to take that." Nat spent a delightful month at Monsieur Duchesne's plantation. For the first few days he lay in a hammock beneath a shady tree, then he began to walk, at first only for a few minutes, but every day his strength increased. At the end of a fortnight he could walk half a mile, and by the time the month was up he was able to wander about with Myra all over the plantation. Monsieur Duchesne, on his return one day from town, brought a letter for him. It was from the captain himself: Dear Mr. Glover, — I hope you are getting on well, and are by this time on your legs again. As far as I can see, we are not likely to be at Cape Francois again for some time, therefore, when you feel quite strong enough, you had better take passage in a craft bound for Jamaica^ which is likely to be our head-quarters for some REJOINED 25 time. Of course if we are away, you will wait till our return. I have spoken to a friend of mine, Mr. Cummings — his planta- tion lies high up among the hills — and he has kindly invited you to make his place your home till we return, and it will be very much better for you to be in the pure air up there than in this pestilential place. Nat would have started the next day, but his host insisted upon his staying for another week. "You are getting on so well," M. Duchesne said, "that it would be folly indeed to risk throwing yourself back. Every day is making an improvement in you, and a week will make a great difference." At the end of that week the planter, seeing that Nat was really anxious to rejoin his ship, brought back the news that a vessel in port would sail for Port Royal in two days. "I have engaged a cabin for you," he said, "for although we shall be sorry indeed to lose you, I know that you want to be off." " It is not that I want to be off, sir, for I was never happier in all my life, but I feel that I ought to go. It is likely enough that the ship may be short of middies, one or two may be away in prizes, and it will be strange if no one falls sick while they are lying in Port Royal. It would be ungrateful indeed if I wanted to leave you when you are all so wonderfully kind to me." M. Duchesne drove Nat down to the port the next morning. The midshipman as he left the house felt quite unmanned, for Myra had cried undisguisedly, and Madame Duchesne was also much moved. They passed M. Demaine's house without stopping, as he and his wife had spent the previous evening at the Duchesnes', and had there said good-bye to him. " It is quite time that I was out of this," Nat said to himself 26 A ROVING COMMISSION as he leaned on the rail and looked back at the port. " That sort of life is awfully nice for a time, but it would soon make a fellow so lazy and soft that he would be of no use on board ship. Of course it was all right for a bit, but since I began to use my arm a little, I have wanted to do something. Still, it would have been no good leaving before, for my arm is of no real use yet, and the doctor said that I ought to carry it in a sling for at least another month. But I am sure I ought to feel very grateful to our doctor and Lepel, for I expect I should have lost it altogether if they had n't taken such pains with it at first. Well, it will be very jolly getting back again. I only hope that the captain won't be wanting to treat me as an invalid." To Nat's delight he saw, as he entered Port Royal, the Orpheus lying there, and without landing he hailed a boat and went on board. As soon as he was made out there was quite a commotion on board the frigate among the sailors on deck and at the side, while those below looked out of the port-holes, and a burst of cheering rose from all as the boat came alongside. As he came up on to the deck the midship- men crowded round, shaking him by the hand ; and when he went to the quarter-deck to report his return, the lieutenants greeted him as heartily. The captain was on shore. Nat was confused and abashed at the warmth of their greeting. " It is perfectly ridiculous ! " he said almost angrily, as he rejoined the midshipmen ; " as if there was anything extraor- dinary in a fellow fighting a dog ! " " It depends upon the size of the dog and the size of the fellow," Needham, the senior midshipman, said, "and also how he got into the fight." "The fact is, Needham, if I had killed the dog with the first stroke of my dirk nobody would have thought anything about the matter, and it is just because I could not do so, and REJOINED 27 therefore got badly mauled before I managed it, that all this fuss is made ! It would have been much more to the point if you had all grumbled, when I came on board, at my being nursed and coddled, while you had to do my duty between you, just because I was such a duffer that I was a couple of minutes in killing the dog instead of managing it at once." " Well, we might have done so if we had thought of it, but, you see, we did not look at it in that light, Nat," Needham laughed; "there is certainly a good deal in what you say. However, I shall in future look upon my dirk as being of more use than I have hitherto thought ; I have always considered it the most absurd weapon that was ever put into anyone's hand to use in action. Not, of course, that one does use it, for one always gets hold of a cutlass when there is fighting to be done. How anyone can ever have had the idea of making a midshipman carry about a thing little better than a pocket- knife, and how they have kept on doing so for years and years, is most astonishing ! For the lords of the admiralty must all have been midshipmen themselves at one time, and must have hated the beastly things just as much as we do. If they think a full-sized sword too heavy for us — which it certainly isn't for the seniors — they might give us rapiers, which are no weight to speak of, and would be really useful weapons if we were taught to use them properly. "Well, we won't say anything more about your affair, Nat, if you don't like it ; but we sha'n't think any the less, because we are all proud of you, and whatever you may say, it was a very plucky action. I know that I would rather stand up against the biggest Frenchman than face one of those savage hounds. And how is the arm going on? I see you still have the arm of your jacket snipped open and tied up with ribbons, and you keep it in a sling." "Yes; the doctor made such a point of it that I was 28 A ROVING COMMISSION obliged to promise to wear it until Bemish gives me permission to lay it aside." He took it out of the sling and moved it about. " You see I have got the use of it, though I own I have very little strength as yet; still, I manage to use it at meals, which is a comfort. It was hateful being obliged to have my grub cut up for me. How long have you been in harbour here?" "Three days ; and you are in luck to find us here, for I hear that we are off again to-morrow morning. You have missed nothing while you have been away, for we have n't picked up a single prize beyond a little slaver with a hundred niggers on board." When the captain came off two hours later with Dr. Bemish he sent for Nat. " I am heartily glad to see you back again, Mr. Glover, and to see you looking so vastly better than when I saw you last ; in fact, you look nearly as well as you did before that encounter." " I have had nothing to do but to eat, sir." " Well, the question is, how is your arm ? " "It is not very strong yet, sir, but I could really do very well without this sling." "Well, you see I have to decide whether you had better go up to the hills until we return from our next cruise or take you with us." " Please, sir, I would much rather go with you." " Yes ; it is not a question of what you like best, but what the doctor thinks best for you. You had better go to him at once, he will examine your arm and report to me, and of course we must act on his decision." Nat went straight to the doctor. "Well, you are looking better than I expected," the latter said, holding the lad at arm's-length and looking him up and down ; " flesh a good deal more flabby than it used to be — REJOINED 29 want of exercise, of course, and the result of being looked after by women. Now, lad, take off your shirt and let me have a regular examination." He moved the arm in different directions, felt very carefully along each bone, pressing rather hard at the points where these had been broken, and asking Nat if it hurt him. He replied " No " without hesitation, as long as the doctor was feeling the forearm, but when he came to the upper-arm and shoulder he was obliged to acknowledge that the pressure gave him a bit of a twinge. " Yes, it could hardly be otherwise," the doctor said ; " how- ever, there is no doubt we made a pretty good job of it. Stretch both arms out in front of you and bring the fingers together. Yes, that is just what I expected, it is some two and a half inches shorter than the other; but no one will be likely to notice it." " Don't you think, doctor, that I can go to sea now ? The captain said that you would have to decide." " I think a month up in the hills would be a very desirable thing, Glover. The bones have knit very well, but it would not take much to break them again." " I have had quite enough of plantations for the present, doctor, and I do think that sea air would do me more good than anything. I am sure I feel better already for the run from Cape Francois here." The doctor smiled. " Well, you see, if you did remain on board you would be out of everything. You certainly would not be fit for boat service, you must see that yourself." " I can't say that I do, sir ; one fights with one's right arm and not with one's left." "That is so, lad, but you might get hit on the left arm as well as the right. Besides, even on board, you might get hurt while skylarking." O A ROVING COMMISSION " I would indeed be most careful, doctor." "Well, we will see about it, and talk it over with the captain." All that evening Nat was in a state of alarm whenever anyone came with a message to any of his mess-mates; but when it was almost the hour for lights out he turned into his hammock with great satisfaction, feeling sure that if it had been decided that he must go ashore next morning a message to that effect would have been sent to him. The sound of the boatswain's whistle, followed by the call " All hands to make sail ! " settled the question. He had already dressed himself with Needham's assistance, but had remained below lest, if the captain's eye fell on him, he might be sent ashore. As soon, however, as he heard the order he felt sure that all was right, and went up on deck. Here he took up his usual station, passing orders forward and watching the men at work, until the vessel was under sail. The want of success on the last cruise made all hands even keener than usual to pick up some- thing worth capturing. " I suppose there is no clue as to the whereabouts of those three pirates," he said to Needham as the latter, after the vessel was fairly under weigh, joined him. " No ; twice we had information from the captains of small craft that they had seen suspicious sail in the distance, but there is no doubt that the niggers had been either bribed or frightened into telling us the story, for in each case, though we remained a fortnight cruising about, we have never caught sight of a suspicious sail. When we returned here we found to our disgust that they must have been at work hundreds of miles away, as several ships were missing, and one that came in had been hotly chased by them, but being a fast sailer escaped by the skin of her teeth. That is the worst of these negroes, one can never believe them, and I think the best way REJOINED 31 would be when anyone came and told a yarn, to go and cruise exactly in the opposite direction to that in which he tells us he has seen the pirates." " It is a pity we cannot punish some of these fellows who give false news," Nat said. " Yes ; but the difficulty is proving that it is false. In the first place, one of these native craft is so much like another that one would not recognize it again; besides, you may be sure that the rascals would give Port Royal a wide berth for a time. On our last cruise we did take with us the negro who brought the news, but that made the case no better. He pre- tended, of course, to be as anxious as anyone that the pirates should be caught, and as he stuck to his story that he had seen a rakish schooner where he said he did, there was no proof that he was lying, and he pretended to be terribly cut up at not getting the reward promised him if he came across them. " I have no doubt that he was lying, but there was no way of proving it. You see, the idea of getting hold of a trader and fitting her up with a few guns and some men is all well enough when you have only got to deal with a single schooner or brigantine, but it would be catching a tartar if these three scoundrels were to come upon her at once. Of course they are all heavily armed and carry any number of men, nothing short of the frigate herself would be a match for them. And one thing is certain, we can't disguise her to look like a merchant- man. Do what we would, the veriest landlubber would make her out to be what she is, and you may be sure the pirates would know her to be a ship of war as soon as they got a sight of her topsails." " You have not heard, I suppose, where our cruising ground is going to be this time ? " Nat asked. " No, and I don't suppose we shall know for a few hours. 32 A ROVING COMMISSION You may be sure that whatever course we take now will not be our real course, for I bet odds that after dark some fast little craft will sneak out of harbour to take the pirates news as to- the course we are following, and to tell them that we have not taken a negro this time who would lead us a dance in the wrong direction. I should not be surprised if we are going to search the islands round Cuba for a change. We were among the bays and islets up north on our last cruise, and the captain may be determined to try fresh ground." Needham's guess turned out to be correct, for after darkness fell the ship's course was changed, and her head laid towards Cuba. After cruising for nearly three weeks without success, they were passing along the coast of the mainland, when Nat, who had now given up his sling, went aloft with his telescope. Every eye on deck was turned towards the island, but their continued failures had lessened the eagerness with which they scanned the shore, and, as there was no sign of any break in its outline, it was more from habit than from any hope of seeing anything that they looked at the rugged cliffs that rose forty or fifty feet perpendicularly above the water's edge, and at the forest stretching up the hillsides behind them. "You have seen nothing, I suppose, Tom?" he asked the sailor stationed in the main-top. " Not a thing, Mr. Glover." Nat continued his way up, and took his seat on the yard of the topsail. Leaning back against the mast, he brought his telescope to bear upon the land, and for half an hour scanned every rock and tree. At last something caught his eye. " Come up here, Tom," he called to the sailor below. " Look there, you see that black streak on the face of the cliff?" " I see it, yer honour." " Well, look above the first line of trees exactly over it : is n't that a pole with a truck on the top of it ? " REJOINED 33 " You are right, sir ! you are right ! " the sailor said, as he got the glass to bear upon the object Nat had indicated, " that is the upper spar of a vessel of some sort, sure enough." " On deck there ! " Nat shouted. "What is it, Mr. Glover?" the first lieutenant answered. " I can make out the upper spar of a craft in among the trees over there, sir." " You are sure that you are not mistaken ? " "Quite sure, sir. With the glass I can make out the truck quite distinctly. It is certainly either the upper spar of a craft of some kind or a flag-staff, of course I cannot say which." The first lieutenant himself ran up the ratlines and joined Nat. The breeze was very light, and the Orpheus was scarcely moving through the water. Nat handed his telescope to Mr. Hill. " There, sir, it is about a yard to the west of that black streak on the rock." " I see it," the lieutenant exclaimed after a long gaze at the shore. " You are right, it must be, as you say, either the spar of a ship or a flag-staff; though how a ship could get in there is more than I can say. There, it has gone now ! " " The trees were rather lower at the point where we saw it, and the higher trees have shut it in." He descended to the deck followed by Nat. " Well, what do you make of it, Mr. Hill ? " enquired the captain, who had come out of his cabin on hearing Nat's hail. " There is no doubt that Mr. Glover is right, sir, and that it is the upper spar of a craft of some kind, unless it is a flag-staff on shore, and it is hardly the sort of place in which you would expect to find a flag-staff. It is a marvel Mr. Glover made it out, for even with his glass I had a great difficulty in finding it, though he gave me the exact bearing." 3 34 A ROVING COMMISSION "Thank you, Mr. Glover," the captain said. " At last there seems a chance of our picking up a prize this cruise. The question is, how did she get there?" " I am pretty sure that we have passed no opening, sir. I have been aloft for the past half-hour, and have made out no break in the rocks." " That is quite possible," the captain said, " and yet it may be there. We are a good three-quarters of a mile off the shore, and some of these inlets are so narrow, and the rocks so much the same colour, that unless one knows the entrance is there, one would never suspect it. At any rate we will hold on as we are for a bit." The hail had set everyone on deck on the qui vive, and a dozen telescopes were turned upon the shore. "Unlikely as it seems, Mr. Hill," the captain said, after they had gone on half a mile without discovering any break in the line of rock, " I am afraid that it must have been a flag-staff that you saw. There may be some plantation there, and the owner may have had one put up in the front of his house. However, it will be worth while to lower a boat and row back along the foot of the cliff for a mile or so, and then a mile ahead of us ; if there is an opening we shall be sure to find it. Tell Mr. Playford to take the gig ; Mr. Glover can go with him as he is the discoverer." The boat was lowered at once, and as soon as the officers had taken their place the six men who composed the crew bent their backs to the oars, the coxswain making for a point on the shore about a mile astern of the frigate, which was lying almost becalmed. The men had taken muskets and cutlasses with them, for it was probable enough that a watch might have been set on the cliff, and that, should there be an inlet, a boat might be lying there ready to pounce out upon them as soon as they reached it. REJOINED 35 Every eye was fixed upon the boat as she turned and rowed along within fifty yards of the foot of the rocks. " I thought I could not have been so blind as to pass the entrance without seeing it," one of the sailors who had been on watch aloft said, in a tone of satisfaction. " Now, I don't mind how soon the boat finds a gap." But when the boat had paddled on for another mile without a pause, a look of doubt and dissatisfaction showed itself on every face. " You are quite sure, Mr. Hill," the captain asked, " that it was a staff of some kind that you saw, and not, perhaps, the top of a dead tree whose bark had peeled off? " " I am quite certain, sir. It was too straight and even for rough wood ; and I made out a truck distinctly : but it is certainly strange that no entrance should be discovered. I am afraid that 'tis but a flag-staff after all." " I can hardly imagine that," the captain said. " I have often seen flag-staffs in front of plantation houses, but never one so high as this must be to show over the trees. If it had been nearer to the edge of the cliff it might have been a signal- post, but they would hardly put it a mile back from the edge of the cliff and bury it among trees. At any rate, if we find no entrance I will send a landing-party ashore to see what it really is, that is to say if we can find any place where the cliff can be scaled." " What is it, Mr. Needham ? " as the midshipman came up and touched his hat. " The boat is rowing in to shore, sir." The two officers went to the side. "They have either found an entrance or some point at which the rock can be scaled — Ah, there they go ! " he went on, as the boat disappeared from sight, "though from here there is no appearance whatever of an opening." 36 A ROVING COMMISSION It was some minutes before the boat again appeared. It was at once headed for the frigate. " Mr. Playford has news for us of some sort," the captain said, " the men are rowing hard." In a few minutes the boat came alongside. The second officer ran up the accommodation ladder. " Well, Mr. Playford, what is your news ? " " There is an inlet, sir, though if we had not been close in to those rocks I should never have noticed it. It runs almost parallel with the coast for a quarter of a mile. I thought at first that it ended there, but it makes a sharp angle to the south-east, and continues for a mile or so, and at the other end there is a large schooner, I have no doubt a slaver. I fancy they are landing the slaves now. There is a barracoon on the shore and some storehouses." " Did they see you?" " No, sir ; at least I don't think so. Directly I saw that the passage was going to make a turn, I went close in to the rocks on the other side, and brought up at the corner where I could get a view without there being much fear of our being seen, and indeed I don't think that it would have been possible to make us out unless someone had been watching with a glass." " We shall soon know whether they saw you, Mr. Playford. If they did they will probably set all hands to work to tow the schooner out, for though there is not wind enough to give us steerage-way, these slavers will slip along under the slightest breath. They can hardly have made the frigate out. They probably thought the hiding-place so secure that they did not even put a watch on the cliffs. Of course if there was anyone up there they could have seen the boat leave our side, and would have watched her all along. " Did you see any place at which the cliff could be climbed?" REJOINED 37 " No, sir, and up to the turn the rocks are just as steep inside as they are here, but beyond that the inlet widens out a good deal and the banks slope gradually, and a landing could be effected anywhere there, I should say." " We will send the boats in as soon as it gets dark, Mr. Hill. If they saw us coming they would drive off the slaves into the woods before we could get there, so the best plan will be to land a strong party at the bend, so that they can get down to the barracoon at the same time that the others board the schooner. No doubt this is a regular nest of slave-traders. It has long been suspected that there was some depot on this side of the island. It has often been observed that slavers when first made out were heading in this direction, and more than once craft that were chased, and, as it seemed, certain to be caught in the morning, have mysteriously disappeared. This hiding-place accounts for it. " You did not ascertain what depth of water there was at the mouth of the creek, Mr. Playford ? " "Yes, sir, I sounded right across with the boat's grapnel; there is nowhere more than two and a half fathoms, but it is just about that depth right across." " Then it is evident that we cannot take the frigate in. What is the width at the mouth?" " About thirty yards." An hour later the Orpheus anchored opposite the mouth of the inlet, which, however, was still invisible. " I think that, as this may be an important capture, Mr. Hill, it would be as well for you to go in charge of the boats. Mr. Playford will take the command of the landing-party. I should say that twenty marines, under Lieutenant Boldero, and as many blue-jackets, would be ample for that. He had better take the long-boat and one of the gigs, while you take the launch, the pinnace, and the other gig. If they have made us 38 A ROVING COMMISSION out, we may expect a very tough resistance, and it may be that, although Mr. Playford saw nothing of them, they may have a couple of batteries higher up." " Likely enough, sir." " You had better let the landing-party have a start of you, so that if they should unmask a battery on the side on which they are, they can rush down at once and silence it. " Very good, sir." The sun was now approaching the horizon; as soon as it dipped behind it the boats were lowered, and the sailors, who had already made all preparations, at once took their places in them. Needham was in command of the gig that carried a portion of the landing-party, Nat was in charge of the other gig, and Low was in charge of the pinnace, Mr. Hill going in the launch. Nat had first been told off to the gig now commanded by Needham, but the captain said to the first lieutenant, " You had better take Glover with you, Mr. Hill, and let Needham go with Mr. Playford. Scrambling along on the shore in the dark, one might very well get a heavy fall, and it is as well that Glover should not risk breaking his arm again." CHAPTER III A SLAVE DEPOT NIGHT fell rapidly as soon as the sun had set, and by the time the boats reached the mouth of the inlet it was already dark. The two boats under the second officer entered first, rowed up the inlet to the bend, and landed the marines and sailors on the opposite side; the boarding-party lay on their oars for five minutes and then followed. The oars were muffled, and the men ordered to row as noiselessly as they A SLAVE DEPOT 39 could, following each other closely, and keeping under the left bank. They were about half-way up when the word " Fire ! " was shouted in Spanish, and six guns were simultaneously discharged. Had the Spaniards waited a few seconds longer, the three boats would all have been in line with the guns. As it was, a storm of grape sent the water splashing up ahead of the pinnace, which, however, received the contents of the gun nearest to them. It was aimed a little low, and fortu- nately for the crew the shot had not yet begun to scatter, and the whole charge struck the boat just at the water-level, knock- ing a great hole in her. " We are sinking, Mr. Hill," Low said. u Will you come alongside and pick us up ? " Although the launch was but a length behind, the gunwale of the pinnace was nearly level with the water as she came alongside. Its occupants were helped on board the launch, which at once held on her way. Half a minute later six guns were fired from the opposite bank. The boats were so close under the shore that their position could not be made out with any certainty. Three men were hit by the grapeshot, but beyond this there were no casualties. " Keep in as much as you dare," Mr. Hill said to the cox- swain ; " the battery opposite will be loaded again in a couple of minutes, but as long as we keep in the shadow of the shore their shooting will be wild." The battery, indeed, soon began to fire again, irregularly, as the guns were loaded. The shot tore up the water ahead and astern of the boats, but it was evident that those at the guns could not make out their precise position. Another five minutes and the boats were headed for the schooner. " You board at the bow, Mr. Glover, I will make for her quarter. Now, lay out, lads, as hard as you can, the sooner you are there the less chance you have of being hit." 40 A ROVING COMMISSION A moment later a great clamour arose behind them. First came a British cheer; then rapid discharges of pistols and muskets, mingled with the clash of cutlasses and swords; a minute or two later this ceased, and the loud cheer of the marines and seamen told those in the boats that they had carried the battery. The diversion was useful to the boats. Until now the slavers had been ignorant that a party of foes had landed, and the fact that a barracoon full of slaves, and the storehouses, were already threatened, caused some- thing like consternation among them. The consequence was that they fired hastily and without taking time to aim. Before they could load again the boats were alongside, unchecked for an instant by the musketry fire which broke out from the deck of the schooner as soon as cannon had been discharged. Boarding-nettings had been run up, but holes were soon chopped in these by the sailors. Headed by Nat, the crew of the gig leapt down on to the deck, for the greater part of the slaver's crew ran aft to oppose what they considered the more dangerous attack made by the occupants of the crowded launch. The defence was successfully maintained until the crew of the gig, keeping close together and brushing aside the resistance of the few men forward, flung themselves upon the main body of the slavers, and with pistol and cutlass hewed their way through them till abreast of the launch. The slavers attacked them furiously, and would speedily have annihilated them, but the crew of the launch, led by Mr. Hill, came swarming over the bulwarks, and, taking the offensive, drove the slavers forward, where, seeing that all was lost, they sprang overboard, striking out for the shore to the right. Severe fighting was now going on opposite the schooner, where the landing-party were evidently attacking the barra- coon and storehouses. " To the boats, men ! " Mr. Hill shouted, " our fellows are HEADED BY NAT, THE CREW OF THE GIG LEAPT DOWN ON TO THE DECK." A SLAVE DEPOT 41 being hard pressed on shore ; Mr. Glover, you with the gig's crew will remain in charge here." Indeed, it was evident that the resistance on shore was much more obstinate than had been expected. Nat stood watching the boat. Just as it reached the shore one of the sailors shouted, " Look out, sir ! " and he saw a big mulatto rushing at him with uplifted sword. His cutlass was still in his hand, and throwing himself on guard he caught the blow as it fell upon it, and in return brought his cutlass down on his opponent's cheek. With a howl of pain the man sprang at him, but Nat leaped aside, and his cutlass fell on the right wrist of the mulatto, whose sword dropped from his hand, and, rushing to the side, he threw himself overboard. In the mean- time a fierce struggle was going on between the sailors and seven or eight of the slavers who, being unable to swim, had thrown themselves down by the guns and shammed death, as had Nat's antagonist, who was first mate of the schooner. The fight was short but desperate, and one by one the slavers were run through or cut down, but not before three or four of the sailors had received severe wounds. " Get a lantern, mate," one of these growled, " and see that there are no more of these skulking hounds alive." The sailors, furious at what they considered treachery, fetched a light that was burning in the captain's cabin, and without mercy ran through two or three unwounded men whom they found hiding among the fallen. It was soon clear that the reinforcement that had landed had completely turned the tables. Gradually the din rolled away from the neighbour- hood of the storehouses, there was some sharp firing as the enemy fled towards the wood behind, and then all was quiet. Presently there was a shout in Mr. Hill's voice from the shore : "Schooner ahoy!" 42 A ROVING COMMISSION " Ay, ay, sir." " Load with grape, Mr. Glover, and send a round or two occasionally into that wood behind the houses; I am going to leave thirty men here under Mr. Playford, and to take the rest over to the opposite side and carry the battery there." "Ay, ay, sir." And as the guns pointing on that side had not been dis- charged, he at once opened fire on the wood. A minute later the launch and gig rowed past the schooner and soon reached the opposite side. Ten minutes passed without any sound of conflict being heard, and Nat had no doubt that the battery had been found deserted. It was not long before the boats were seen returning. They rowed this time to the schooner. "Mr. Glover," the first lieutenant said as he reached the deck, " do you lower the schooner's cutter, put all the wounded on board, take four of your men and row out to the frigate and report to the captain what has taken place. Tell him that Mr. Playford carried the battery on the right in spite of the guns, and that I have spiked those in the battery on the left, which I found deserted. Say that we have had a sharp fight on shore with a large number of negroes led by two or three white men and some mulattoes, and that I believe there must be some large plantations close at hand whose owners are in league with the slavers. You can say that we found a hundred and twenty slaves in the barracoon, evidently newly landed from the schooner, and that I intend to find the plan- tations and give them a lesson in the morning. How many wounded have you here?" "There are fourteen altogether, sir; ten of them were wounded in the first attack, and four have been wounded since by some of the slavers who shammed death." "There are eight more in the launch, happily we have only two men killed. You had better give all the wounded a drink A SLAVE DEPOT 43 of water ; I have a flask, and I dare say you have one : empty them both into the bucket." There was a barrel half full of water on deck ; a bucketful of this was drawn, and the two flasks of spirits emptied into it, and a mug of the mixture given to each of the wounded men. They were then assisted down into the schooner's boat ; four of the gig's crew took their places in it, and Nat, taking the tiller, told them to row on. Half an hour later they came alongside the frigate. A sailor ran down the ladder with a lantern. Nat stepped out and mounted to the deck. The captain was standing at the gang- way. " We have been uneasy about you, Mr. Glover. We heard a number of reports of heavier guns than they were likely to carry on board a slaver, and feared that they came from shore batteries." " Yes, sir, there were two of them mounting six guns each. Mr. Playford, with the landing-party, captured the one on the eastern side ; Mr. Hill, after the schooner was taken and the enemy on shore driven off, rowed across and took the other, which he found unoccupied. "What is the loss?" "Only two killed, sir, but there are twenty-two wounded, two or three of them by musket-shots, and the rest cutlass wounds. They are all in the boat below, sir." A party was at once sent down to carry up such of the wounded as were unable to walk. As soon as all were taken below, and the surgeon had begun his work, the captain asked Nat to give him a full account of the proceedings. " I cannot tell you much of what took place ashore, sir," he said, " as Mr. Hill left me in charge of the schooner. After we had carried her, he went ashore with the crews of the launch and pinnace to help Mr. Playford." 44 A ROVING COMMISSION " Tell me all you know first" Nat related the opening of the two batteries, and how one had been almost immediately captured by Mr. Playford. " So the pinnace was sunk ? " " Yes, sir, the enemy's charge struck her between wind and water, and she went down at once ; her crew were picked up by the launch. I hear that none of them were injured." Then he told how they had kept under the shelter of the shore, and thus escaped injury from the other battery, and how the schooner had been captured. "It was lucky that your men got a footing forward, Mr. Glover. You did well to lead them aft at once, and thus assist Mr. Hill's party to board." Nat then related the sudden attack by the slavers who had been feigning death. " It was lucky that it was no worse," the captain said. " No doubt they were fellows who could n't swim, and if there had been a few more it would have gone hard with you. And now about this fight on shore ; it can hardly have been the crew of the schooner, for, by the stout resistance they offered, they must have been all on board." " Yes, sir." Nat then gave the message that Mr. Hill had sent " No doubt, Mr. Glover ; I dare say this place has been used by slavers for years. Probably there are some large barracoons where the slaves are generally housed, and planters who want them either come or send from all parts of the island. I will go ashore myself early to-morrow morning. There is no question that this is an important capture, and it will be a great thing to break up this centre of the slave-trade altogether. Now that their hiding-place has once been discovered, they will know that our cruisers will keep a sharp look-out here, and a vessel once bottled up in this inlet has no chance A SLAVE DEPOT 45 whatever of escape. You can go with me, it is thanks to the sharpness of your eyes that we made the discovery." The sun had not yet shown above the eastern horizon when the captain's gig passed in through the mouth of the inlet, and ten minutes later rowed alongside the wharf in front of the barracoon. " There is another wharf farther along," the captain said ; " we may take that as proof that there are often two of these slavers in here at the same time. Ah, there is Mr. Hill ! I congratulate you on your success," he went on, as the first lieutenant joined him; "there is no doubt that this has been a regular rendezvous for the scoundrels. It is well that you attacked after dark, for the cross fire of those batteries, aided by that of the schooner, would have knocked the boats into matchwood." " That they would have done, sir. I was very glad when I saw the boat coming, as I thought it was probable that you were on board her, and we are rather in a difficulty." " What is that, Mr. Hill?" " Well, sir, as soon as we had settled matters here we followed the enemy, and found a road running up the valley; and as it was along this that most of the fellows who opposed us had no doubt retreated, I thought it as well to follow them up at once. We had evidently been watched, for a musketry fire was opened upon us from the trees on both sides. I sent Mr. Boldero with the marines to clear them out on the left, and Mr. Playford with twenty seamen to do the same on the right, and then I pressed forward with the rest. Presently a crowd of negroes came rushing down from the front, shouting, and firing muskets. We gave them a volley, and they bolted at once. We ran straight on, and a hundred yards farther up came upon a large clearing. " In the middle stood a house, evidently that of a planter. 46 A ROVING COMMISSION A short distance off were some houses, probably inhabited by the mulatto overseers, and a few huts for his white overseers \ and some distance behind these were four large barracoons. We made straight for these, for we could hear a shouting there, and had no doubt that the mulattoes were trying to get the slaves out and to drive them away into the wood. However, as soon as we came up the fellows bolted. There were about a hundred slaves in each barracoon. No doubt the fellows who attacked us were the regular plantation hands. I suppose the owner of the place made sure that we should be contented with what we had done, and should not go beyond the head of the inlet ; and when the firing began again he sent the plantation men down to stop us until he had removed the slaves. I left Mr. Playford in command there, and brought twenty men back here ; and I was just going to send off a message to you saying what had taken place, and asking for instructions. You see, with the slaves we found here, we have over five hundred blacks in our hands. That is extremely awkward." " Extremely," the captain said thoughtfully. " Well, I will go back with you and see the place. As to the houses — the plantation house and the barracoons — I shall have no hesi- tation in destroying them. This is evidently a huge slaving establishment, and, as the blacks and their overseers attacked us, we are perfectly justified in destroying this den altogether. If I could catch their owner I should assuredly hang him. The difficulty is what to do with all these unfortunate creatures ; the schooner would not hold more than two hundred if packed as close as herrings. However, the other thing is first to be thought of." Nat followed his commander and the lieutenant to the plantation, or, it should rather be said, to the depot ; for the clearing in the valley was but a quarter of a mile long and a few hundred yards wide. It was evident that if the owner A SLAVE DEPOT 47 had a plantation it was at some distance away, and that the men with whom they had fought were principally mulattoes and negroes employed about the place, and in minding the slaves as they were brought in. They passed straight on to the barracoons. The sailors had already brought the slaves out and knocked off their irons. The poor creatures sat on the ground, evidently bewildered at what had taken place, and uncertain whether they were in the hands of friends or enemies. " Some of the men have found the cauldrons in which food is cooked," Mr. Hill said, " and are now preparing a meal for them ; and as we found some hogsheads of molasses and stores of flour and rice they will get a better meal than they are accustomed to. I have set some of the strongest slaves to pump water into those big troughs there; the poor beggars will feel all the better after a wash." "They will indeed. I don't suppose they have had one since they were first captured in Africa." In half an hour a meal was served. As an effort of cooking it could hardly be termed a success, but was a sort of porridge, composed of flour and rice sweetened with molasses. There was some difficulty in serving it out, for only a few mugs and plates were found at the barracoons. These were supple- mented by all the plates, dishes, and other utensils in the houses of the owner and overseers. By this time the negroes had been taken in parties of twenties to the troughs, where they had a thorough wash. "This is all very well, Mr. Hill," the captain said, "but what are we to do with all these people? Of course we must move them down to the water, and burn these buildings, in the first place because the scoundrels who are at the bottom of all this villainy should be punished, and in the second place because in all probability they will collect a large number of 48 A ROVING COMMISSION negroes and mulattoes and make an attack. We cannot leave a force here that could defend itself; therefore, whatever we decide upon afterwards, it is clear that all the slaves must be taken down to the houses on the inlet. I should set the men to open all the stores, and load the negroes with every- thing that can be useful. I expect you will find a good deal of cotton cloth and so on, for no doubt the man here dealt in other articles besides slaves, and he would, moreover, keep cottons and that sort of thing for sending them up the country into market. However, take everything that is worth taking in the way of food or otherwise, and carry it down to the storehouses by the water, then set all the houses and sheds here on fire. When you see them well alight you can bring the men down to the shore ; then we must settle as to our course. It is a most awkward thing our coming upon all these slaves. If there were only those who had been landed from the schooner there would be no difficulty about it, as we should only have to put them on board again, but with four hundred others on our hands I really don't know how to manage. We might stow a hundred in the frigate, though I own I should not like it." "No, indeed," Mr. Hill murmured; "and four hundred would be out of the question." The captain returned to the inlet and made an examination of the storehouses there. They were for the most part empty. They were six in number, roughly constructed of timber, and some forty feet long by twenty wide, and consisted only of the one floor. They stood ten feet apart. The barracoon was some twenty yards away. In a short time the slaves began to pour in, all — men, women, and children — carrying burdens proportionate to their strength. They had now come to the conclusion that their new captors were really friends, and with the light-heartedness of their race laughed and chattered as if A SLAVE DEPOT 49 their past sufferings were already forgotten. Mr. Playford saw to the storing of their burdens. These filled one of the store- houses to the roof. There was, as the captain had anticipated, a large quantity of cotton cloth among the spoil. Some of these bales were placed outside the store, twenty of the negroes were told off to cut the stuff up into lengths for clothing, and by mid-day the whole of the slaves were, to their delight, attired in their new wraps. Among the goods that had been brought down were a number of implements and tools — axes, hoes, shovels, and long knives. Captain Crosbie had, by this time, quite made up his mind as to the plan to be pursued. " We must hold this place for a time, Mr. Hill," he said as the latter came down with the last body of sailors, after having seen that all the buildings in the valley were wrapped in flames. " I have been thinking over the question of the slaves, and the only plan that I can see is to go for a two or three day's cruise in the frigate, in hopes of falling in with some native craft with which I can make an arrangement for them to return here with me, and aid in carrying off all these poor creatures. These five storehouses and the barracoon will hold them all pretty comfortably. Two of the storehouses had better be given up to the women and children. We will make a stockade round the buildings, with the ends resting in the water, and get the guns from those batteries and put them in position here. With the help of those on board the schooner, a stout defence can be made to an attack, however formidable. I shall leave Mr. Playford in command with forty men on shore ; Mr. Glover will be in charge of the schooner with five-and- twenty more. The frigate will remain for a couple of days at her present anchorage, and I will send as many men as we can spare ashore to help in finishing the work before she sails. " In the first place there must be a barrack run up for the men on shore between the barracoon and the storehouses. It 4 50 A ROVING COMMISSION must be made of stout beams. I don't mean squared, but young trees placed side by side so as to be perfectly musket- proof. The palisades should be made of strong saplings, wattled together, say, ten feet high. A hundred and fifty sailors, aided by three hundred and fifty able-bodied negroes, should make quick work of it. The schooner's crew can see to the removal of the guns from the batteries and their establish- ment upon platforms behind the palisade. I should divide the twelve guns into four batteries, three in each. The armourer shall come off in the morning to get out the spikes, and the carpenters shall come with their tools." " There are a dozen cross-cut saws among the things that we have brought down, sir." " That is good. How many axes are there ? " " Four dozen, sir." " Good ! I will send all the hatchets we have on board. I think, Mr. Hill, that you had better take up your position on board the schooner until we sail. How about water? That is a most important point." "The slaves have brought down a large number of staves, sir. They are evidently intended for sugar hogsheads; they are done up in separate packets. I should say there were a hundred of them." " That is satisfactory indeed. I will send the cooper ashore, and with a gang of the black fellows he will soon get them all into shape. I see that they have relied upon the stream that comes down from the hills for their supply. One of the first moves of anyone attacking the place would be to divert its course somewhere up in the hills. However, with such a supply as these hogsheads would hold, we could do without the stream for weeks. The twenty marines who came ashore with Lieutenant Boldero will remain as part of the garrison." The work was at once begun. The sailors looked upon it as A SLAVE DEPOT 51 a pleasant change from the ordinary routine of life on board ship, and threw themselves into it vigorously, while the blacks, as soon as they understood what was wanted, proved themselves most useful assistants. Accustomed in their African homes to palisade their villages, they knew exactly what was required. Some, with their hoes, dug a trench four feet deep ; others dragged down the poles as the sailors cut them, erected them in their places, and trod the earth firmly round them. Others cut creepers, or split up suitable wood, and wove them in and out between the poles ; and, by the time darkness fell, a sur- prising amount of work had been accomplished. One of the storehouses was turned over to those who could not be berthed on board the schooner, most of the slaves preferring to sleep in the open air, which to them was a delightful change after being cooped up for weeks in the crowded hold of a ship, or in the no less crowded barracoons. Sentries were posted as soon as it became dark, but the night passed off without an alarm, and at daybreak all were at work again. The launch returned to the frigate when work was knocked off, and came back with a fresh body of men in the morning, and with the carpenters, coopers, and all the available tools on board. By the evening of the third day the work was completed. Four banks of earth had been thrown up by the negroes against the palisade, and on each of these three guns were mounted. The hut for the garrison had been completed. The hogsheads were put together and filled with water, and a couple of hundred boarding-pikes were put ashore for the use of the negroes. Nat had been fully employed, with the schooner's crew, in removing the guns from the batteries, and placing them on the platforms constructed by the carpenters on the top of the earth- works. " It is quite possible," the captain said to Mr. Playford, 52 A ROVING COMMISSION " that this creek is used by pirates as well as slavers. They may come in here to sell goods they have captured suitable for use in the islands, such as cotton cloths and tools, and which it would not pay them to carry to their regular rendezvous. It will be great luck if one or two of them should put in here while I am away. It would greatly diminish the difficulty we have of getting the slaves away." " That would be fortunate indeed, sir. Even if two came in together we could give a good account of them, for as the palisade is mostly on higher ground than the huts, we should only have to slue the guns round and give them such a warm welcome that they would probably haul down their flags at once." " Yes. You had better tell Mr. Glover to run up the Spanish flag if any doubtful-looking craft is seen to be making for the entrance, and I should always keep a couple of signallers up on the cliff, so as to let you know beforehand what you might have to expect, and to see that there is nothing showing that could excite their suspicions, until it is too late for them to turn back." Doubtless what was going on in the inlet had been closely watched from the woods, for in the evening of the day on which the frigate sailed away scattered shots were fired from the forest, and the sound of the beating of tom-toms and the blowing of horns could be heard in the direction of the plantation whose buildings they had destroyed. The lieutenant had gone off to dine with Nat, and they were sitting on deck smoking their cigars when the firing began. "I almost expected it," he said. "No doubt they have been waiting for the frigate to leave before they did anything, as they would know that at least half of those who have been ashore would re-embark when she left. I have no doubt the A SLAVE DEPOT 53 scoundrels whose place we burnt have sent to all the planters in this part of the islands to assemble in force to attack us. If they have seen us making the palisade and mounting the guns, as no doubt they have done, they certainly will not venture to assault the place unless they are in very strong force, but they can make it very unpleasant for us. It is not more than eighty yards to the other side of the creek, and from that hill they would completely command us. You will scarcely be able to keep a man on deck, and we shall have to stay in the shelter of the huts. Of course on this side they would scarcely be able to annoy us, for they would have to come down to the edge of the trees to fire, and as we could fire through the palisade upon them they would get the worst of it." " We might row across in the boats, sir, and clear the wood of them if they became too troublesome." " We should run the risk of losing a good many men in doing so, and a good many more as we made our way up through the trees and drove them out, and should gain nothing by it, for as soon as we retired they would reoccupy the position. No ; if they get very troublesome I will slue a couple of guns round and occasionally send a round or two of grape among the trees. That will be better than your doing so, because your men at the guns would make an easy mark for them, while we are farther off, and indeed almost out of range of their muskets." The firing soon died away, but in the morning it was re- opened, and it was evident that the number in the wood had largely increased. Bullet after bullet struck the deck of the schooner, and Nat was obliged to order the greater part of the crew to remain below, and to see that those who remained on deck kept under the shelter of the bulwark. Presently a sharp fire broke out from the trees facing the palisade, and this was almost immediately replied to by the blue-jackets and marines. 54 A ROVING COMMISSION The fire of the assailants soon slackened, and Nat thought that it had only been begun with the object of finding out how strong a force had been left behind. Presently two of the guns on shore spoke out, and sent a volley of grape into the wood in which his own assailants were lurking. It had the effect of temporarily silencing the fire from that quarter. This, how- ever, was but for a short time. When it began again it was taken up on the other side also, the party which had made the demonstration against the palisade evidently considering that the schooner, which lay midway between the two shores, was a safer object of attack than the stockade. As the bulwark now offered no shelter, all went below. Two of the men were about to pull up the boat which was lying at the stern, and Nat went to the ladder to take his place in it, when he was hailed from shore. "You had better stay where you are, Mr. Glover, until it gets dusk. You would only be a mark for every man with a musket, up in the trees above us, and, so far as I can see, there is nothing we can do until they begin work in earnest." " Very well, sir," Nat shouted back, " I will come off after it gets dusk." Firing continued all day, but died away at sunset, and soon afterwards Nat went ashore. " This is very awkward," the lieutenant said. " It is most unpleasant being potted at all day by fellows who won't show themselves, but I can't see that we can help it. By the noise and jabbering that breaks out at times, I should think that there must be some hundreds of them on this side alone, and we shall have to wait till they begin in earnest. Their leaders must know that they can be doing us no harm by their distant fire, and they must sooner or later make an attack on us. You see they have a strong temptation. They must have seen that none of the slaves have been taken away, A SLAVE DEPOT 55 and as there are five hundred of them, and I suppose they are worth from twenty to forty pounds a head, it is a big thing, to say nothing of the stores. Then I have no doubt they are thirsting for revenge, and although they must see that they will have to fight very hard to take the place, they must try without delay, for they will know that the frigate will be back again before very long, and will probably bring some craft with her to carry away the slaves. So I think we must put up with their fire till they harden their hearts and attack us in earnest. They will make the attack, I expect, about the centre of the palisade, for your guns would cover both our flanks. If we are hard pressed I will light a port fire, and you had better land with twenty of your men, leaving five to take care of the ship and work a gun or two should they try to take us in flank." " I should not be surprised if they tried to-night. Shall I bring ten of the men on shore at once, sir?" " Well, perhaps it would be as well. Forty men are not a very large force for this length of palisade and to work some of the guns at the point where they may attack us, and I ex- pect their first rush will be a serious one, and we shall have all our work cut out for us. There is one thing; we can rely, in case of their making a way in, on the slaves. By this time they quite understand that we are friends and that the people who had been firing on us are their enemies, and I believe they would fight like demons rather than fall into their hands again. I have torn up a bale of white calico and have given a strip of it to each man to tie round his head, so that we can tell friend from foe and they can recognize each other in the dark. The enemy won't reckon on that, and will think that they have only a small body of whites to deal with. Do you notice how silent the woods are now? I think we may take that as a sign that they are preparing for mischief," 56 A ROVING COMMISSION " The sooner it comes the better. Have you plenty of port fires, Mr. Playford?" " Yes, a large boxful came on shore with the last boat yesterday." Nat went off again, and picked out ten men to land with him. " Get the other boat down," he said to the petty officer. " You will understand that if any attack is made on the flanks of the work you are to open fire at once upon them with grape. If a blue light is burned at the edge of the water ten men are to land instantly. You will remain in charge of the other five. So far as we know they have no boats, but they may have made a raft, and may intend to try and take the schooner, thinking that the crew will probably be on shore. So you must keep a sharp look-out on the other side as well as this. Light a blue light if you see a strong party coming off, and we will rejoin you at once." He again landed with the ten men he had chosen. " I have six men on watch," the lieutenant said, " and have put one of the blacks with each. I fancy their ears are sharper than ours are, and they will hear them coming before our men do." Having nothing to do, Nat went into the barracoon and the other houses in which the slaves were placed. The con- trast between their condition now and when he had seen them four days before, when they had first been found, was striking indeed. Now they were clean, and looked picturesque in their bright calico clothes. The look of dull and hopeless misery had passed away, and it seemed to him that with the good and plentiful food they had received they were already per- ceptibly plumper. They would have risen as he entered, but he signed to them to keep their places. They now had room to lie down in comfort, and while some sat chatting in groups others moved about. They were evidently proud of their A SLAVE DEPOT 57 arms, and some of them, seizing their pikes or hatchets, made signs how they would fight their enemies. A ship's lantern was burning in each hut. In the women's huts the scene was still more interesting. The little children ran up to Nat with a new-born confidence in white men. Some of the women brought up babies to show him, and endeavoured to make him understand that these would soon .have died had it not been for the sailors. The windows and doors stood open, and the evening breeze cleared the huts of the effluvium always present where a number of negroes congregate together. The sight of the poor creatures enraged Nat still more against the slavers, and made him long for them to begin their attack. " It is quite pleasant to see them," he said as he joined Mr. Playford. " They are wonderfully changed in this short time. One would hardly have thought it possible. What will become of them?" "I expect we shall take them to Jamaica, and that there they will be let out as free labourers to the planters. You see there is no law against the slave-trade, though public opinion is so strong on the subject at home that I have no doubt such a law will be passed before long. So, of course, we have not captured the slaves because of their being slaves, but simply as we should capture or destroy other property belong- ing to an enemy. Then, too, many of the slavers act as pirates if they get the chance, and there can be little doubt that a considerable quantity of the goods we found are the proceeds of piracy. Besides, you must remember that they fired at us before we fired at them. So we have plenty of good reasons for releasing these poor beggars. You see these seas swarm with scoundrels of all kinds, and it is quite safe to assume that all ships that cannot show that they are peaceful traders are engaged in nefarious business of some kind or other." 58 A ROVING COMMISSION CHAPTER IV A SHARP FIGHT M1 R. PLAYFORD and Nat were still talking when a sailor came up to him with one of the negroes. " What is it, Tomkins? " the lieutenant asked. " Well, sir, this 'ere black seems to hear something ; he keeps pointing up into the wood and whispering something in his own lingo and looking very excited, so I thought I had better bring him here to you." " Quite right, Tomkins ; no doubt he does hear something, their ears are a good deal better than ours are. I will go up with you." Accompanied by Nat, Mr. Playford went up on to the bank of earth that had been thrown up against the palisade, and found that the negroes there were all in a state of excite- ment, pointing in various directions and shaking their pikes angrily. "They are coming, there is no doubt of that," he said. " I should say, by the motions of the blacks, that they are scattered through the wood. Well, we are ready for them. You had better get your slow matches alight, my lads ; don't take the covers off the vents until the last moment, the dew is heavy." They were joined now by Lieutenant Boldero. " I think I can hear them," he said. " Yes. I should not have noticed if it had not been for the blacks, but there is certainly a confused noise in the air." Listening attentively, they could hear a low rustling sound, with sometimes a faint crack as of a breaking stick. " As soon as we think that they have got to the edge of the A SHARP FIGHT 59 trees we will throw a fireball out in that direction, and then let them have it. We must keep them from getting closer if we can ; when they once get near the foot of the palisade we shall not be able to depress our guns enough to fire upon them." In a short time there was no question that a large number of men were making their way down through the wood. The blacks were now brought out from the houses and ranged along at the foot of the bank, where they were ordered to stay for the present, as were they to man the line they would be exposed to the assailants' bullets, while powerless to do any service until the latter began to attempt to scale the stockade. " They must be gathering at the edge of the trees now," the lieutenant said at last. "Now, Tomkins, light that fireball and heave it over." The ball, which was formed of old junk, was about the size of a man's head. The material had been smeared with tar mixed with sulphur, and Tomkins held in his hand the lanyard attached to it. He applied a slow match to it, and it broke into a blaze at once. Swinging it round his head, he hurled it far in front of him. By its light as it fell a crowd of figures could be seen gathered along the edge of the forest. A fierce yell broke from them, and loud shouts were raised by the leaders ordering them to charge, but before they could get into motion four guns poured a storm of grape among them, followed directly afterwards by the contents of four others. An appalling din of yells and shrieks was heard, but without an instant's hesitation a score of figures in European dress darted forward, followed by a mass of blacks, behind whom came another thirty or forty Europeans or mulattoes driving the negroes before them. " Pick off the whites ! " Lieutenant Boldero shouted to the marines, and a dropping fire of musketry was at once opened. The distance, however, from the edge of the trees to the 60 A ROVING COMMISSION palisades was but some fifty yards; the light was dim and uncertain, and in a minute from the first shot being fired the assailants were swarming along the foot of the palisade. There was no hesitation, and it was evident that the men who led the attack had made every preparation. A number of the assail- ants carried ladders ; these were placed against the wall, and the whites and mulattoes swarmed up, closely followed by the negroes. So sudden and unexpected was this assault that in several places they obtained a footing inside the palisades, but with a wild yell the slaves at once rushed up the bank and fell upon them. At the same moment the boom of the schooner's guns told that they had made out parties of the enemy advancing against the flanks of the works. The arrival of the slaves soon changed the position. The assailants were cut down, run through, or forced to leap down over the stockade that they had just crossed. In spite of the shouts of the lieutenant, the slaves, thirsting for vengeance, leapt down after them, and fell with such fury upon the assailants that these, seized with a panic, fled. At the edge of the trees, however, the efforts of the whites checked the flight. Guns and pistols were discharged for the first time, and a fierce fight presently raged. " We must go down and lend them a hand," the lieutenant said. "Keep your men here, Mr. Glover, to get the guns loaded again; I will take my blue-jackets and the marines. Light a port fire or two, else, in spite of their white head-gear, we shall be hurting our friends. The sailors and marines soon scrambled down the ladders, and, led by their officers, rushed forward with loud cheers. Their arrival at once decided the fortune of the fray. Rushing through their black allies, they fell with sword and cutlass, musket and bayonet, upon the Europeans, whose pistols had given them a decided advantage over the slaves, A SHARP FIGHT 61 but who could not stand the charge of the marines and seamen. These pursued them for some little distance, but when beyond the range of the lights of the stockade Lieutenant Playford halted them. The slaves, however, continued the pursuit for some time, and then they, too, returned, having overtaken and killed many of their flying enemies. "There is nothing more to be done till daylight," Mr. Play- ford said. "Indeed, I do not think that we shall hear any more of these fellows, who, to do them justice, fought well. Our guns must have done a good deal of execution, though they would have done much more had they not been so close ; the bullets had hardly begun to scatter. However, we shall see in the morning. It is lucky that we armed the slaves, or it would have gone very hard with us. You see, we had half our men at the guns, and the others were too thinly scattered along the line to be able to defend it against so determined an attack. I expect they never calculated on the slaves being armed, and thought that they had only forty or fifty men to deal with. After the lesson that they have had I don't think they will molest us again, unless there are any troops in the neighbourhood that they can bring up." The palisades were recrossed and sentries set; grog was served out to the seamen and marines ; the slaves were mad with delight, and danced and sang songs of triumph for some time. As soon, however, as the lieutenant motioned them to return to their huts they did so at once. Many of them were wounded more or less severely, but they seemed to think nothing of this, being too much pleased with the vengeance they had taken to care aught for the pain. Nat prepared to return to the schooner with his men, none of whom were, however, seriously hurt, as they had been held in reserve. Altogether, three sailors and a marine had been killed and six severely wounded. bJ A ROVING COMMISSION " Are you going on board, Mr. Playford ? " " No ; I shall stay ashore till morning. I do not think that there is the remotest chance of the attack being renewed ; however, it is clearly my duty to stay here." As soon as it was daylight Nat went on shore again, and with ten of his own men, ten marines, and a hundred of the slaves, went over the ground to collect the wounded, and learn the loss of the assailants. All the wounded sailors had been carried into the fort when the fight ceased. Six Spaniards and nine mulattoes lay dead either on the earthen rampart or at the foot of the palisade. All of them were pierced in several places by pikes, or mutilated with blows of axes. Round them lay some twenty plantation negroes, and thirty others had fallen at the edge of the wood, shattered by the discharges of the cannon or killed in the hand-to-hand con- flict; among them were twelve of the released slaves. Not a single white or mulatto was found alive. The party pursued their way for a quarter of a mile into the wood. Here and there were scattered the bodies of the assailants who had been overtaken by their pursuers. The latter had done their work thoroughly, for not a single man was found to be breathing. When they came to a point beyond which the slaves by signs apprised them that they had not gone, they returned, collecting and carrying down the bodies of the dead as they went. They found on their return that two trenches, four feet deep and thirty feet long, had already been dug, at the edge of the forest and as far from the camp as possible. In one of these the bodies of the Spaniards and mulattoes were laid, and in the other that of the negroes. The earth was then filled in. "It has been an unpleasant job, but a necessary one," Lieu- tenant Playford said, when he knew that the work was done, and the whole party re-entered the fort. " In a climate like A SHARP FIGHT 63 this the place would have been uninhabitable in a couple of days if we had not buried them all." In the afternoon two fresh graves were made, and the fallen sailors were reverently laid to rest in one, the dead slaves in the other. Water was brought up in buckets by the negroes from the edge of the creek, and all signs of the conflict on the rampart and at the foot of the palisade either washed away or covered with earth. Then matters resumed their former aspect. Early the next morning the look-out on the cliff ran down and reported that a large brigantine was just entering the inlet. Mr. Playford shouted the news to Nat. "I will send off the marines to you," he said. "I will remain here with the blue-jackets." The Spanish flag was at once run up to the peak. In two or three minutes the boat with the marines came alongside. They and the greater part of the sailors at once lay down on the deck, while the few who remained on foot took off their straw hats and white jumpers, tied handkerchiefs round their heads, and gave themselves as unseamanlike an appearance as possible. Ten minutes later the brigantine appeared round the point; there was scarce a breath of wind, and she had two boats towing her. A flag hung from her mast-head, and as Nat turned his glass upon it he exclaimed to Boldero, who, having removed his coat and cap, was standing by his side : " It is the black flag ; the fellow must be pretty sure of his welcome or he would never venture to haul it up." In the meantime the guns ashore had been slued round, and were now pointed on a spot somewhat ahead of the schooner. She came slowly along until within some four or five lengths of the latter, then there was a sudden shout on board, followed by a tremendous hubbub. It was clear that 64 A ROVING COMMISSION the line of palisades surrounding the huts had been noticed and the guns seen. The brigantine was crowded with men. She carried twelve guns in her ports, and a long swivel eighteen-pounder in her bow. There was now no longer any motive for conceal- ment, the marines and seamen leapt to their feet with a cheer, and a moment later the schooner's two foremost guns, which would alone bear on the boats, spoke out, while almost at the same moment two of those on the rampart sent a shower of grape into them. Both boats sank immediately, those of the crews who were uninjured swimming to the brigantine. Contradictory orders were shouted on board the pirate. One by one her guns on the port side answered those on the ramparts. " Get ready, my lads ! " Nat shouted, " she will be alongside directly." The impetus of the schooner's way was indeed sufficient to take her slowly but surely forward, and the pirate slightly changed his course so as to bring her outside the schooner. Playford saw what his object was, and the remaining guns poured their charges of grape across the deck of the brigan- tine, committing terrible havoc. Before they could be loaded again she was alongside the schooner, and so covered by her from the fire of the guns on shore. As the vessels came abreast of each other at a distance of two or three feet only, Nat and the young marine officer leapt on to the pirate's deck followed by their men. The resistance of the pirates was desperate. Although they had suffered much loss from the fire of the guns, they were still numerically stronger than their assailants, and, fighting as they did with the desperation of despair, they not only held their ground, but pushed their assailants back towards the bulwark. For three or four minutes the fight continued without any THE GUNS ON THE RAMPART SEND A SHOWER OF GRAPE INTO THE PIRATE. A SHARP FIGHT 65 marked advantage to either party ; the pistols of the seamen and pirates and the muskets of the marines were empty, and they were fighting hand to hand. Then slowly the advantage turned against the pirates, but the issue was still undecided when there was a loud cheer, and Mr. Playford with fifteen sailors leapt on the deck of the pirate from the other side, the approach of the boat having been unnoticed in the heat of the fray. The pirates now broke ; their captain had fallen, and, outnumbered and hopeless, some threw down their arms, while others jumped overboard. Those who surrendered were at once bound and battened down in the hold of the schooner, some eight or ten only gained the opposite shore and took to the woods. The victory had not been a bloodless one. Five of the frigate's crew had been killed, and there were few among Nat's command who were not more or less severely wounded. " It was a sharp fight, Mr. Glover," Mr. Playford said. " It was indeed, sir. At one time they fairly drove us back, but I think that we should have beaten them even if you had not brought help to us." " I am sure you would," the lieutenant said warmly. " I could see as I boarded that although the men in front were fighting hard, those in the rear were hanging back as if they had had enough of it. Still, you might have lost more men than you did before you finished with them if we had not turned up. You see, fighting with pirates is quite a different thing from fighting with any other opponents. These fellows know well enough that there is no mercy for them, and that they have nothing before them but to fight until they die, or to be tried and hanged. The veriest coward would fight till the last with such an alternative as that before him. I would rather fight a hundred and fifty French or Spanish seamen than a hundred pirates. She is a fine roomy craft that we have taken, and I think we shall now be able to carry off 5 66 A ROVING COMMISSION all these blacks. No doubt it will be a close pack for them, but for a short voyage that will not matter. Now let us see to our wounded. After that is done we can get off the hatches and have a look round below. Of course she may have come in here for water, but it is likely that she has at least some booty in her hold." This proved to be the case. She was half full of goods of a more or less valuable kind, and these, by the marks on the bales and boxes, had evidently formed part of the cargoes of three ships. Two days later the Orpheus was seen returning along the coast, and Nat was at once sent off by the lieutenant with his written report of what had taken place since she had sailed. The gig reached the side of the frigate just as the anchor was let go. " I see your right arm is in a sling, Mr. Glover," the captain said as he handed him the report, " so I suppose that you have had some fighting." " Yes, sir, we have had some pretty sharp fighting." " What is your wound ? " " Only a chop with a cutlass, sir." " Oh, you came to hand-to-hand work, did you ? " Nat gave no answer, for the captain had opened the report and was now running his eye down it. " Very satisfactory," he said, as he handed it to the first lieutenant. "An attacking force handsomely repulsed and a pirate captured. Very good work indeed, very good. I see Mr. Boldero was wounded, Mr. Glover." " Yes, sir, he was hit on the head with a pistol-shot. Fortu- nately the ball glanced off the skull. He was stunned for a time, but is now nearly himself again." " Here is some work for you, Dr. Bemish," the captain said. " Mr. Playford reports that ten of the cases are serious. I am going ashore in my gig at once, and will take you with me. A SHARP FIGHT 67 You had better send the cutter at once, Mr. Hill, to bring off the wounded. You may as well return in your own boat, Mr. Glover, Mr. Curtis can go in charge of the cutter. Mr. Needham can go with me." Nat at once returned to his boat. He was overtaken by the captain's gig when half-way up the inlet He rowed to the schooner, while the gig made straight for the landing-place where the lieutenant was standing. " I congratulate you, Mr. Playford," the captain said as he stepped ashore. " You seem to have had a pretty busy time of it since we have been away. I certainly did not think they would attempt to attack you when you had those guns in position, and I did not reckon on the pirate. She is a fine brigantine ; the schooner looks quite small beside her." "Yes, sir, she is over three hundred tons. Her broadside guns are all twelve-pounders, and she carries an eighteen- pounder as a swivel. She had a crew of seventy men, of whom only eight or ten got ashore, the rest were all accounted for except twelve, who are in irons below. The credit of capturing her, sir, really belongs to Mr. Glover, for although I went off to his assistance he would have taken her without my aid, though the pirates were still fighting strongly." "Well, it has been a very successful business altogether, Mr. Playford. The capture of the brigantine is specially for- tunate, as I have failed to come across any native craft as I had hoped to do, but with this extra accommodation we shall be able to manage to carry off all the slaves. I see by your account that Mr. Glover had the marines as well as his own twenty men." "Yes, sir, I sent Lieutenant Boldero and fourteen marines on board ; he had lost six either killed or seriously wounded in the attack here. I own that I had hardly calculated upon the brigantine getting alongside the schooner. I thought that 68 A ROVING COMMISSION when we had smashed up her boats, which I made certain we should do, she would be so completely at our mercy that, being becalmed, she would haul down her flag ; but she had sufficient way on her to take her alongside the schooner, and her captain put her there so cleverly that I could not fire at her except through the schooner. I saw at once that the whole position was changed, for if he had captured the schooner he might have put all his men into the boats and made a dash for shore ; and as I had so few men fit for work it would have been awkward, though with the aid of the blacks I have no doubt I should have driven them off." " Then I suppose your discharge of grape did not do him very much harm?" " Not so much as it ought to have done, sir. You see the first two guns we fired destroyed his boats. The other guns were all too weakly handled to be trained on the pirate as he forged ahead, and as far as I could see not one of them did any serious execution among his crew. Yesterday I told off four negroes to each gun, and kept them at work all day learning how to train them under the direction of the sailors. If I had thought of that before we should have swept his decks with such effect that when she got alongside the schooner Mr. Glover's party would have had easy work of it." "You could hardly think of everything, Mr. Playford, and you certainly did right in sending the marines off to the schooner directly you had news that this brigantine was enter- ing the inlet. No doubt if you had wished to sink her it would have been better to have kept them on shore to help work the guns, but as she is a valuable prize, and we wanted her badly to help carry away the slaves, you were quite right not to try to damage her. You say she is half full of plunder ? " "Yes, sir, and there were nearly eight hundred pounds in A SHARP FIGHT 69 money and thirty-four watches and some jewellery found in the captain's cabin." " She is a valuable capture, and I should think the admiral would buy her into the service. She is just the sort of craft that we want. The schooner would be too small to tackle one of these heavily-armed pirates with their crowds of men. So your slaves fought well?" "That they did, sir. If it had been daylight I doubt whether any of the whites who led the attack would have escaped. Of course they had no particular animosity against the negroes, but I believe that they would have followed the whites and mulattoes half across the island." "Well, do you think that the two craft will carry all the slaves ? " " Hardly, sir ; the schooner can stow a hundred and fifty. Of course it will be close work, but there will be room for that number to lie down, and with the hatches both open they will be all right. By rearranging the cargo a bit, two hundred could sleep in the hold of the brigantine. That would still leave rather over one hundred and fifty." "Well, we must give up part of the hold of the frigate to them," the captain said, " there is no help for it. There are about that number of women and children, are there not ? " "Yes, sir." " They had better go off in the frigate, then. Of course, the prisoners will be sent off too. I will pay a visit to the brigantine, and then go off myself, and will send the boats in as soon as I get there. You may as well be getting the men on board at once. As soon as they are all off, you will, of course, set fire to all the sheds here, but you may as well send off a boat-load of stores suitable for them to the frigate, and will, of course, victual these two craft. I shall send you another forty men to fill up the vacancies that have been 70 A ROVING COMMISSION caused, and to furnish a crew for the brigantine, of which, of course, you will take the command. You and the schooner will keep in close company. The marines will return to the ship. Mr. Needham will be your second on the brigantine." "How about the guns, sir? They are all old pieces, and scarcely worth carrying away." " Yes, but I won't leave them here to be used for defend- ing this place again. You had better take them off their carriages, spike them, get them into the boats, and heave them overboard, well out in deep water. Do you think that you will be able to get everything done before dark, Mr. Playford?" " Yes, sir, it is only nine o'clock now, and if you will send a strong working party, in addition to those who will be taking the slaves on board, to help with the stores and guns, I have no doubt that I shall be able to get the work done well before sunset." " Very well. Mr. Hill will come on shore as soon as I return to the frigate." The work went on without ceasing all day, and the pinnace, which had been recovered and repaired before the frigate sailed, and the launch, went backwards and forwards to the frigate with the women, children, and stores, while the boats of the brigantine and schooner carried the men to those craft, as soon as the stores for the voyage, and the bales of cotton and other goods that would be useful, had been taken off. When the two large boats had finished their work they were employed in carrying out the guns, which had, before the slaves embarked, been brought down by them to the edge of the water. By three o'clock all was finished, and the last boat-load of the sailors rowed out to the prizes, after having set fire to all the huts. These were soon in a blaze, to the delight of the negroes, who danced and shouted for joy. Half of these were sent A SHARP FIGHT 71 below at once, as they crowded the decks to such an extent as to render it impossible for the sailors to work. Those who remained were ranged in rows by the bulwarks from end to end of the craft ; then the anchors were got up, and the sails dropped and sheeted home. The wind was very light, but was sufficient to give steerage-way, and with the British ensign flying at the peak the two vessels sailed out of the inlet and joined the frigate, which began to make sail as soon as they were seen issuing from the narrow mouth. Glad indeed were all on board the three vessels when, after a voyage unmarked by any adventure, they entered Port Royal, for although the negroes, feeling confident that they were in good hands, had been docile and obedient, they were still terribly in the way. Though all had been made to take a bath every morning, the odour in the crowded prizes was almost overpoweringly strong. On arrival, the negroes were landed and lodged in some large government storehouses near the fort. Each was presented with ten yards of cloth on leaving for the shore, and they were, before being housed, permitted to sort themselves, so that families and friends might be together. Interpreters explained to them that it would be impossible to send them back to their friends in Africa, but that they would be appor- tioned out among the plantations of the island. The wages they were to receive were explained to them, and they were told that a government official would visit each plantation in turn, and would listen to any complaints that might be made as to their food and treatment, and at the end of three years all who wished it could either change masters or take up a piece of land, build a hut, and cultivate it on their own account. The poor creatures were well satisfied with this. They were overjoyed at being united to their relations and friends, 72 A ROVING COMMISSION and to know that they would still be together; and were assured that they would be well cared for, and in time be as much their own masters as if at their villages in Africa. The schooner was sold ; the brigantine was, as the captain had ex- pected, bought into the service ; Mr. Playford was offered and accepted the command of her. Mr. Normandy took his place as second lieutenant of the Orpheus, and Mr. Marston received his promotion and the post of third officer. As the Cerf — which was the name of the brigantine — was to be considered as a tender of the frigate, those on board her were still borne on her books. Curtis and Glover were appointed to her, with a petty officer and forty men. The pirates were tried and executed, with the exception of one, who was a mere lad. He had, he asserted, been forced to join the pirates — being spared by them when the rest of his comrades had been murdered, as they had lost their cook's mate, and required someone to fill his place. This, however, would not have saved his life had he not promised to lead his new captors to the chief rendezvous of the pirates, which had so long eluded the search that had been made for it. He acknowledged, however, that he was not acquainted with its exact position. He had sailed in and out four or five times, and had only a general idea of its position, but asserted that he should certainly know the island if he saw it. A fortnight after reaching Port Royal, the frigate and brigantine sailed in company. The indications given by the boy pointed to an island lying a short distance off the northern coast of Venezuela. There were originally, he said, four vessels working to- gether, three brigantines and a large schooner, one of which had arrived from France only a short time before the Cerf sailed on her last voyage. The entrance to the pirates' strong- hold was on the south side of the island, and was, he said, A SHARP FIGHT 73 so well concealed that vessels might sail past the place a thousand times without noticing it. There were two batteries at the water's edge, inside the entrance, each mounting twelve eighteen-pounder guns that had been taken from prizes. The channel here was not more than fifty yards across. A very heavy boom was at all times swung across it just above the batteries, and this was opened only when one of the craft entered or left. There was, however, he said, a spot on the outer side of the island where a landing could be effected, at a little ravine that ran down to the shore. This was thickly wooded, and some large trees growing at its mouth almost hid it from passing vessels. At other points the shore was steep, but there was so much vegetation on every ledge where trees or bushes could obtain a foothold, that from the sea it would seem that the cliffs were not too steep to scale. The prisoner had been placed on board the Cerf, which, as soon as she was fairly at sea, was altered as far as possible in appearance by a white band with ports painted along her sides ; a false stem of an entirely different shape from her own was fastened to her, her light upper spars sent down and replaced by stumpy ones, and other changes made that would help to alter her appearance. Were she recognized by the pirates as she sailed past their island it would at once be suspected that one of the men recently captured had revealed the rendezvous, and that she was cruising near it to obtain an exact idea of the best mode of attack before other craft came up to assist her. They had no doubt that the pirates had already received news of the surprise and capture of the brigantine. Some of the men who escaped would doubtless have made for the nearest port, and hired a negro craft to take them to their own island, which they would have reached before the Orpheus 74 A ROVING COMMISSION arrived at Port Royal with her prizes. The pirates would therefore be on their guard, and would either have deserted their head-quarters altogether or have added to their de- fences. The sight of their late consort would confirm their fears that their whereabouts had become known, and it was therefore of importance that her identity should not be suspected. Changed as she now was, she might be taken for a man-of- war brigantine. Her height out of water had been increased by four feet by painted canvas fastened to battens. She had ten ports painted on each side, and looked a very different craft from the smart brigantine that had sailed away from the island. It had at first been suggested by Mr. Playford that she should be disguised so as to look like a trader, but Captain Crosbie had decided against this. " There are," he said, " three of these pirates, and even two of them might together be more than a match for you. By all accounts they are each of them as strong as you are in point of armament, and would carry at least twice as many men as you have. Even if you beat them off it could only be at a very great cost of life, and I certainly should not like you to undertake such an enterprise unless you had at least double the strength of men, which I could not spare you. By going in the guise of a vessel of war they would not care to meddle with you. They would know that there would be no chance of booty and a certainty of hard fighting, and of getting their own craft badly knocked about, so that it will be in all respects best to avoid a fight. They may in that case not connect you with us at all, but take you to be some freshly-arrived craft. You had best hoist the Stars and Stripes as you pass along the coast." When the changes were all effected the ships parted com- pany. The brigantine was to sail east until within a short distance of Grenada, then to cruise westward along the coast A SHARP FIGHT 75 of the mainland; thus going, there would be less suspicion on the part of those who saw fcer that she was coming from Jamaica. A rendezvous was appointed at the island of Oruba, lying off the mouth of the Gulf of Venezuela. Their prisoner was French, and he was very closely questioned by Lieutenant Playford, who spoke that language well. He said that they always sailed north to begin with, then some- times they kept east, and certainly he heard the names of Guadeloupe and St. Lucia. At other times, after sailing north they steered north-west, and came to a great island, which he had no doubt was San Domingo. It was not in this craft that he sailed, he was only transferred to her with some of the others for that cruise only. After they had once made either the western islands or San Domingo, they cruised about in all directions. " The great point is," Mr. Playford said to the midshipmen after a long talk with the prisoner, " that at starting they generally hung about these islands, Guadeloupe, St. Lucia, and so on, for some time, and it was considered their best cruising ground, though also the most dangerous one, as we have always some cruisers in those waters. That would cer- tainly place the island somewhere off the north coast of Caracas. He declared that the first day out they generally passed the western point of an island of considerable size with some high hills. The only island that answers to that account is, as you see in the chart, Margarita. Therefore I feel convinced that the pirate hold is in one of these groups, off Caracas, either Chimana, Borrshcha, or these two islets called Piritu Islands. Altogether, you see, there are over a dozen of these islands scattered along near the mainland. " It is quite out of the general course of trade, as nothing would go into that bay except a craft bound for San Diego, or this place marked Barcelona, lying a short distance up the 76 A ROVING COMMISSION river. They would take care not to molest any of the little traders frequenting these ports, and might lie in an inlet in one of these islands for years without their being ever sus- pected, unless perhaps by some of the native fishermen, who probably supply them with fish and fruit from the mainland. Anyhow, I don't suppose a British cruiser is seen along that coast once a year." CHAPTER V A PIRATE HOLD A FORTNIGHT later the Cerf passed along under easy sail between the island of Margarita and the mainland. She was now getting very close to the spot where, if the pris- oner was right, the pirates' hold lay. The Stars and Stripes was hanging from the peak, and with her high bulwarks and ten ports on each side no one would have suspected that she was not, as she seemed, an American man-of-war, heavily armed. Passing close to another island, they headed more south into the bay as they neared Caracas. Every foot of the islands was closely scanned. Five miles farther, they came abreast of the Chimana isles, and pointing to one of these that lay nearer the shore than the others, the prisoner exclaimed that he was certain that that was the island. "I am sure of it," he exclaimed, "both from the look of the island itself, and from that high range of mountains on the mainland to the south-east." "You are quite sure?" " Certain, captain ; there are the large trees I spoke of grow- ing down close to the water. It is behind them that there is a little ravine by which one can climb up." A PIRATE HOLD 77 No alteration was made in the ship's course, but she con- tinued her way until sunset, when she dropped anchor off the mouth of the river La Pasqua, some twenty miles west of the islands. As soon as it was dark Curtis was sent off in a gig manned by six rowers. The oars were muffled; the orders were to row round the island within an oar's length of the shore, and to find the entrance to the channel, which, if the prisoner was right as to the place, should be on the side facing the main- land. Pierre, the French lad, was taken with them. It was a long row to the island, but the gig was a fast one, and, at three o'clock in the morning, she returned with the news that Pierre's information had been correct. They had found the opening but had not entered it, as Mr. Playford had given strict orders on this point, thinking it probable that there would be a sharp look-out kept in the batteries, especially as the supposed cruiser would certainly have been closely watched as she passed. An hour later the anchor was got up and the Cerf sailed for Oruba, off which she arrived three days later. There were no signs of the frigate, and indeed the Cerf had arrived at the rendezvous before the time fixed. At daybreak on the third morning the topsails of the Orpheus were made out from the mast-head, and four hours later she and the Cerf met, and Mr. Playford went on board the frigate to report. " This is good news indeed," the captain said when he heard that the haunt of the pirates had been discovered. " Of course you have taken the exact position of the island, for we must, if possible, take them by surprise ? " " Yes, sir ; it lies as nearly as possible in 64° 30' west longi- tude and 10° 22' north latitude." "We will lay our course east, Mr. Playford, for, of course, you will keep company with us. The water is deep all along 78 A ROVING COMMISSION the coast, and there seems to be from thirty to thirty-eight fathoms to within a mile or two of the coast. I shall lay my course outside the Windward Islands as far as Blanquilla, thence an almost due south course will take us clear of the western point of Margarita and down to this island. We will discuss our plan of attack later on." On the morning of the third day after leaving Oruba the island of Blanquilla was sighted. The frigate made the signal for Mr. Playford to go on board, and on entering the captain's cabin he found him and Mr. Hill examining the chart " You see, Mr. Playford, we are now as nearly as possible a hundred miles north of the island ; with this wind we should pass the point of Margarita at about four o'clock in the after- noon ; if it freshens we will take in sail, I want to be off the island say three or four hours before daybreak. You will send that French lad on board when you go back ; as soon as we anchor he will go in the gig with Mr. Hill to reconnoitre and make sure that there is no mistake about the place. When he finds that it is all right he will come back. The boats will be in the water, and the men on board in readiness, and will at once start, so that the landing may, if possible, be effected just at daybreak at this ravine on the north of the island. At the same hour you will sail in and take up your place opposite the mouth of the harbour, and fight anything that tries to come out. "It is quite possible that as soon as our party attack the place on the land side any craft there may be there will cut their cables and try to make off. On no account try to enter ; the batteries would blow you out of the water. You will start as soon as the boats leave the ship, and will therefore have light enough for you to go in and to avoid making any mistake, for you see there are half a dozen islands lying close together. There is no objection to their seeing you, and indeed I should A PIRATE HOLD 79 be rather glad if they do, for in that case they are the less likely to discover the landing-party, and though they must see the frigate they will think that she is only lying there to cut them off if they try to escape. They will be manning their batteries and getting everything ready to give you a warm reception, and I hope that we shall drop upon them as if out of the clouds. " Mr. Hill will command the landing-party, which will con- sist of a hundred and fifty seamen and the thirty marines, which, with the advantage of surprise, ought to be sufficient. As you report that the island is less than a mile long and not much more than half a mile across, the landing-party will soon be at work. After they have landed, Mr. Hill will divide them into two parties, and will endeavour to make his way round the inlet, keeping up among the trees, and then rush down upon the batteries. When he has captured these he will fire three guns as a signal to you. You will have your boats in readiness, and will at once tow the schooner in, and, on reaching the boom, bring her broadside to bear upon any craft there, and generally aid the landing-party with your guns. If, by good luck, the three craft we have been so long looking for are all there you will have a strong force to tackle ; you may certainly take it that their crews will together mount up to three hundred men, and it is likely that there may be a hundred others who form what we may call the garrison of the place when they are away." " Very well, sir." The two vessels headed south under easy canvas, passed the point of Margarita at the hour that had been arranged, and then taking in still more sail proceeded slowly on until, about one o'clock in the morning, the island could be made out with the night-glasses. Then both were laid to, Captain Crosbie having forbidden anchoring, in the first place owing to the great depth of water, and in the next because, although the 80 A ROVING COMMISSION island was three miles away, the chain-cable running out might be heard at night if the pirates had anyone on watch on the hill. Nat, whose watch it was, saw the gig shoot away from the side of the frigate. An hour later and there was a bustle and stir on board the Orpheus, and all her boats were lowered. At five bells the crew began to take their places in them, and soon afterwards the gig returned. The watch below were called up and sail was made, and at half-past three the boats started, and the Cer/was headed towards the land. Dawn was just breaking when they reached the island. All was still. It had been arranged that, unless discovered, the attack on the batteries was not to be made until five o'clock, and just at that hour the Cerf arrived off the narrow entrance to the port. Half an hour before, a musket had been discharged on the hill above them, and it was clear that their coming had been ob- served ; but as no sound of conflict could be heard inland there was every reason to suppose that the pirates had no suspicion of a landing having been effected on the other side. " That is what I call being punctual," Nat said to Curtis as two bells rang out just as they opened the passage. A light kedge anchor was dropped, and as this was done a patter of musketry broke out from the hill above them. Their action showed that the arrival of the brigantine was no matter of chance, but that she was there expressly with the in- tention of attacking the pirates' stronghold, and those who had been watching her, therefore, saw that any further attempt at concealment was useless. In the night the canvas band had been taken down, as there was no longer any reason for con- cealing the identity of the brigantine. The musketry fire only lasted for a minute, for suddenly a roar of battle broke out within a hundred yards of the mouth of the entrance. The sailors burst into a loud cheer. It was evident that the landing- party had met with complete success so far, and had approached A PIRATE HOLD 81 the batteries unobserved, and that a hand-to-hand fight was going on. Above the cracking of pistols the cheers of the seamen could be plainly heard, but in two or three minutes the uproar died away, and then three guns were fired at short intervals. The boats were already in the water, the kedge lifted, and the crews bending forward in readiness for the signal. " Take her in, lads ! " the lieutenant shouted, and the schooner's head at once began to turn towards the inlet. A moment later two broadsides were fired. " There are two of their craft in there ! " Curtis exclaimed. " Now our fellows have carried the batteries they have opened fire on them." As he spoke there was another broadside, which was answered by a hurrah from all on deck. It was clear that they had had the good luck to catch all the pirates at once. Three minutes' rowing and the boom was in sight. Mr. Playford called to one of the boats to take a rope from the stern to the battery on the right-hand side, and ordered the others to cease rowing. " We have way enough on her ! " he shouted. "As soon as you get near the boom take her head round to port, and carry the rope to shore. You can fasten it to the chain at the end of the boom." As he gave the order a gun spoke out from the battery on the right, followed almost immediately by one on the left. " They are slueing the guns round ! " Nat exclaimed. ' ' We shall be having our share of the fun in another minute or two." They could now obtain a view into the piece of water inside the passage. It was nearly circular, and some three hundred yards across. Two brigantines and a schooner were lying in line, within fifty yards of the opposite shore. A large range 6 82 A ROVING COMMISSION of storehouses stood by the water's edge, while the hillsides were dotted with huts, and dwelling-places of larger size. By the time that the brigantine was got into position by the side of the boom the pirates had loaded again, and several shots struck her. Her guns were already loaded, and those on board poured a broadside into the brigantine at the end of the line. The sailors in the battery were working with might and main to slue all the guns round to bear upon the pirates. On the hill- sides above them a scattered fire of musketry was being kept up, and Mr. Hill hailed the schooner. "Mr. Playford, will you land a party of fifteen men on each side to clear the hills of those rascals? I don't think there are many of them, but they are doing us a good deal of damage, for they can hardly miss us closely packed as we are here." " Ay, ay, sir. You hear the orders, gentlemen. Mr. Curtis, you land with fifteen men on the starboard side, and do you, Mr. Glover, take the party that lands to port. Clear the scoundrels out — give no quarter!" The boats had just returned. The two midshipmen leapt into them, and a few strokes took them ashore. " Up the hill, lads ! " Nat shouted. " Don't fire until you are at close quarters. Give them one volley if they are to- gether, then sling your guns, and go at them with the cutlass ! " There was but little fighting, however, for there were only ten or twelve pirates on either side, as their main force was distributed between the batteries and the ships. They were therefore very easily driven off, five or six of them being killed and the rest flying with all speed towards their village, where those who had escaped from the batteries were already going off in boats to the ships. The two midshipmen therefore re- turned to the schooner. A PIRATE HOLD 83 " Don*t come on board J " Mr. Playford shouted. " See if you can free one end of the boom. If so we will go in and engage one of those craft." It was found that the boom was fastened at Nat's side, and the chain was soon unwound from the stump of a large tree. Then the two boats together got hold of the end of the boom and swung it round so that the schooner could pass. The enemy kept up a heavy fire upon them while they were doing this, and just as the job was completed, Curtis's boat was smashed to pieces by a round shot. The breeze was very light, but it was in the right direction. " Shall we tow, sir ? " Nat called to his commander. " Certainly not. Get your men on board at once." The sails, which had been loosely furled, were dropped again, and the brigantine stole past the batteries, which saluted her with a rousing cheer, while the guns were worked with re- doubled energy to keep down the fire of the pirates. The Cerf was swept with round shot and grape by the guns of the three piratical craft, but the distance to be traversed was so small, and the fire from the battery to which the pirates working their guns were exposed was so heavy, that the men fired wildly, and the Cerf suffered less than might have been expected while crossing the intervening two hundred yards of water. She was steered straight for the schooner, and as her bowsprit ran in between the pirate's masts the crew, who had been crouching forward, leapt down on to her deck, headed by their commander and the two midshipmen. The pirates, although they had suffered heavily, were still in sufficient force to offer an efficient resistance, but their courage had been shaken by the suddenness of the attack. They had lain down to sleep with the assurance that the port was unknown and unsuspected, that the batteries that guarded it could sink any hostile ship that attempted to enter, and 84 A ROVING COMMISSION their dismay when these batteries were attacked and carried by an enemy who seemed to spring out of the earth, and their only retreat cut off, was overwhelming. Already the heavy guns of the battery had done terrible execution. Two of the guns on that side had been dismounted, and a third of the crew killed ; consequently, although a small portion of the number led by their captain fought desperately, and were killed to the last man, the majority leapt overboard at once and swam ashore. Leaving ten men in charge of the prize, the lieutenant called all the rest back on board the Cerf, which remained in the position in which she had run head on to the schooner, and she was now able to bring her broad- sides into play upon the brigantines, the pieces forward raking them from stem to stern, while the batteries continued their terrible fire. In a few minutes the pirates began to take to the boats, which were lying by their sides just as they had come off from the shore. Once begun, the movement spread rapidly. The boats were soon crowded, and those who could not find places in them leapt overboard. " Take the boat and a dozen men, Mr. Curtis, and haul down the black flag of the craft to starboard ; and you, Mr. Glover, take one of the prize's boats and do the same to the other brigantine." They turned to execute the order when all on board the Cerf were hurled to the deck — one of the brigantines had blown up with a tremendous explosion, that brought most of the huts on the hillside to the ground, carried away both masts of the Cerf, and drove fragments of wreckage high into the air, whence they fell partly in the pool, partly on shore. For- tunately for the Cerf, only a few fragments of any size struck her deck, the pieces for the most part falling in a wider circle. Numbers of the pirates who had just landed from their boats were killed, and many more were injured by being hurled down A PIRATE HOLD 85 on to the rocks, dazed and half-stunned. Those on board the Cerfwho had escaped severe injury rose to their feet. Not more than twenty-five did so. Lieutenant Playford lay dead, crushed under a mast ; Curtis had been hurled against one of the guns and his brains dashed out ; ten of the sailors had been killed either by the falling masts or by being dashed against the bulwarks ; twelve had fallen under the enemy's fire as the Cerf crossed the pool ; twelve others were hurt more or less either by the enemy's missiles or by the shock. It was three or four minutes before the silence that followed was broken. Then Mr. Hill hailed across the water: " Cerf ahoy I have you suffered much ? " " Terribly," Nat shouted back ; " Lieutenant Playford and Mr. Curtis are both killed. We have only twenty-five men in any way fit for service left." " If you have got a boat that will swim send it ashore." Nat looked over the side, the boat had been stove by a falling fragment ; then he crossed to the prize, and found that one of the boats was uninjured. Four men were just getting into it, when Mr. Hill hailed again : " Let them bring a rope with them, Mr. Glover ; we will tow you over here." The end of a hawser was put into the boat, and the men rowed with it to the battery. " Mr. Glover ! " the lieutenant again hailed. "Yes, sir." " I am sending the boat back again. I think that had they put a slow match in the magazine of the other brigantine it would have exploded before this. However, you had better remain where you are for a quarter of an hour, to be sure ; then, before you move, board the brigantine and flood the magazine. Otherwise, as soon as you have left, some of these desperadoes might swim off to her and put a match there." 86 A ROVING COMMISSION " Very well, sir, I will go at once if you like." "No, there is no use running any unnecessary risk. You had better flood the schooner's magazine first." "Ay, ay, sir." Taking half a dozen hands with buckets, Nat went on board the prize and soon flooded the magazine ; then he and those who were able to help did all they could for the wounded, several of whom, who had only been stunned, were presently on their legs again. When the quarter of an hour had passed he asked for volunteers. All the survivors stepped forward. " Four men will be enough," he said. " Bring buckets with you." It was not without a feeling of awe that Nat and the four sailors stepped on to the deck of the brigantine, for although he was convinced that had a match been lighted the explosion would have taken place long before, as it was now five-and- twenty minutes since the crew had deserted her, neither he nor the men had entirely recovered from the severe shock of the explosion. He led the way below; all was quiet; the door of the magazine was open, but there was no smell of burning powder, and they entered fearlessly. "All right, lads; now as quick as you like with your buckets." An abundance of water was thrown in ; then, to make quite certain, Nat locked the door of the magazine, and put the key in his pocket. A cheer broke from the men in the battery as he and his companions again took their places in the boat and rowed to the Cerf. He was hailed again by Mr. Hill. " I have changed my mind, Mr. Glover ; now that I know there is no risk of another explosion, I think perhaps you had best remain where you are. We will give you a pull to get you free of the schooner, then you had better range the Cerf alongside of her; keep your guns and those of the A PIRATE HOLD 87 brigantine both loaded with grape ; send your boat ashore to fetch off the wounded." " I have two boats now, sir ; one of the brigantine's was left behind, and is uninjured." " Then send them both ashore, the sooner we get the wounded off the better. I am going to move forward with all my men ; we have spiked the guns here, and if they should come down into the batteries again you can clear them out. You will, of course, help us, if we meet with strong resistance, with your guns on the shore-side." " Ay, ay, sir." The two boats were sent ashore, and the wounded came off with Dr. Bemish. As soon as they all came on board Nat said : " I will leave you with the wounded here, doctor, with four of my men to help you. We are so littered up that we could hardly work the guns, and as you see, three of them were dismounted by the explosion ; besides, the prize alongside would hamper us, therefore I will take the rest of the men on board the brigantine." " I think that will be a very good plan, my lad," the doctor replied. "I quite agree with you, that with the spars and wreckage on one side and the prize on the other, you are practically helpless." The men were at once set to work bringing up powder cartridges from the magazine ; grape and round-shot they would find on board the brigantine. In ten minutes the guns of that craft were reloaded. The two bodies of men from the batteries had by this time reached the storehouses. Not a shot had been fired, but a minute later there was a loud word of command, followed by a fierce yell, and in a moment both parties were engaged, a heavy fire being opened upon them from every spot of vantage on the hillside in front of them. 88 A ROVING COMMISSION " Now, my lads, give them a dose of grape ! " Nat shouted. " I expect they are two to one to our fellows still. Train them carefully." Gun after gun sent showers of grape among the hidden foe, who were for the most part lying behind the cactus hedges of the gardens that surrounded the huts. The three forward guns assisted Mr. Hill's party, while the others aided that commanded by Needham. Although but four men to a gun, the sailors worked so hard that the pieces were discharged as rapidly as if they had been manned by a full complement, and their effect was visible in the diminution of the enemy's fire, and by the line of smoke gradually mounting the hill, showing that the pirates were falling back, while the cheers of the sailors and marines as they pressed steadily upwards, rapidly plying their muskets, rose louder and louder. Near the upper edge of the cleared ground the pirates made a stand, but the fire of the guns proved too much for them, and they took to the forest. Presently a sailor ran down to the shore. " The first lieutenant says, sir, will you please continue your fire into the forest He is going to cut down all the hedges and fire the huts, so that they will have to pass over open ground if they attack again." "Tell Mr. Hill I will do so," Nat shouted back. It was not long after the fire had been turned in that direc- tion before the puffs of smoke that darted out from the edge of the forest ceased altogether. The sailors could now be seen slashing away with their cutlasses at the lines of cactus hedge, while the huts that still stood were speedily in flames. Num- bers of women and children now came down to the shore, where they were placed in charge of six of the marines and a non-commissioned officer. A quarter of an hour later, while Nat was watching what was going on on shore, one of the men touched him. A PIRATE HOLD 89 " Look, sir, they are going down to the batteries ! " The men were at once ordered across to the guns on the other side, and these opened with grape upon two bodies of pirates, each some seventy or eighty strong, who were rushing down to the batteries. The discharge of the six guns did terrible execution, but the survivors without pausing dashed down to the works. Cries of disappointment and rage broke out from them on finding the guns spiked, and before they could be reloaded they ran up the hill again, and were in shelter in the forest. " I fancy that is about the end of it," Nat said to the petty officer standing by his side. " I don't think that above fifty of either party got safely away." " Not more than that, sir. I expect it has taken the fight out of them." " It was a hopeless attempt, for although, if the guns had been loaded, they might have sunk us, our fellows on shore would soon have been upon them again, and it would have come to the same thing." " Yes, sir, the same thing to the pirates, but not the same thing to us." " No, you are right there ; those twenty-four guns loaded with ball would have sent us to the bottom in no time. You see, our men only used grape before, and aimed at the decks." Mr. Hill now hailed from the shore again : " Mr. Glover ! " " Ay, ay, sir ! " " Have the goodness to send your boat ashore, I want to send a note off to the captain. On their way the men must stop at the boats on the other side of the island, and tell the boat keepers to bring them round here at once." Four men were sent ashore in the boat, and one of the petty officers took his place in the stern, with a hasty note 90 A ROVING COMMISSION which the first lieutenant had written in pencil stating that the loss had been very heavy, that the work of rooting out the pirates had not yet been completed,' and that he should be glad of some more men to occupy the village while he searched the woods. The boat started at once, and twenty minutes later the captain's gig shot into the cove. As soon as the report of the first gun was heard on board the frigate, and there was no longer any motive for remaining at a dis- tance, her head had been turned to the island, and the boat had met her but half a mile away from the entrance. After reading the note, Captain Crosbie sent one of the gigs to order the boats round to the inlet, and proceeded in his own boat to investigate the state of affairs, ordering the Cerf's boat to row ahead of the frigate, which was to work in under very reduced sail, sounding as she went, and was, if the water was deep enough, to anchor off the mouth of the cove. "Then you found all the pirates here, Mr. Hill?" the captain said as he landed. " Yes, sir, but they blew up one of their craft when they left her." " Yes, of course we heard the report ; it shook the frigate as if she had struck on a rock. It must have been tremendous here." " Yes, sir, she must have had an immense deal of powder in her magazine; the shock was something terrible. Although we were over there in that battery, every one of us was thrown to the ground and several were killed. Two of the guns were dismounted." " It was a veritable battle for a time, Mr. Hill. It sounded like a naval engagement on a large scale." " Yes, we had twenty-four guns in the batteries all at work, and the guns of the Cerf, while the three pirates had the same number in their broadsides, besides two heavy swivel-guns." A PIRATE HOLD 91 " You say the loss is heavy. What does it amount to? " " I cannot tell you exactly, sir. There were twenty-five killed on board the Cerf, in addition to Mr. Playford and Mr. Curtis. The two officers and about half the men were, Mr. Glover reported, killed by the explosion, which, as you see, dismasted her." " Dear me ! That is heavy indeed, and I most deeply regret the death of the two officers." " So do I indeed, sir. Mr. Playford was an excellent officer, and as good a fellow as ever walked. Mr. Curtis would have made, I am sure, a good officer in time. I hardly thought he would when he first joined, but he was improving greatly, and he showed great courage in working to remove the boom under a very heavy fire from the pirates, which sunk his boat under him." " Your division, Mr. Hill — what are your casualties ? " " We took the batteries almost without loss, sir, but in the duel with the pirates we lost in the two batteries fourteen killed; nine more were killed by the explosion; we sent eighteen off to the Cerf all seriously wounded; as to con- tusions and minor hurts, I should say that there is not a man who escaped them." "Well, well, that is a heavy bill indeed; forty-eight men killed and two officers — why, we should probably have lost less in an action against a frigate of our own size ! However, we have destroyed this nest of pirates, and have captured three of their four ships, the other is blown up. Now, what is the state of things here?" " There are, I believe, some hundred and fifty or two hun- dred of the pirates still on the island. They are divided into two parties, and the last firing you heard was when they rushed down into the batteries, thinking, no doubt, to take revenge by sinking the brigantine and the two prizes. Mr. 92 A ROVING COMMISSION Glover opened fire upon them with grape with great effect. When they got into the battery they found that I had spiked the guns, which I did when I left them, thinking they might make just such a move. I sent off to you, sir, in order that the storehouses and buildings might be held while we cleared the wood on one side down to the mouth of the cove. When we have done that we can do the same on the other side." " Did you have any casualties in taking the village?" '•'Several wounded, sir, none killed. Mr. Glover drove them out with grape, and so rendered our work comparatively easy. I am sorry to say that almost the last shot fired by them hit Mr. Needham high up in the left arm. The doctor came ashore a few minutes ago, after attending to the wounded sent on board the Cerf. He examined the arm, and tells me that the bone is completely smashed, and that he must amputate it half-way between the elbow and shoulder." "That is bad indeed. However, it is better than if it had been his right arm. Mr. Harpur," said the captain to the midshipman who had come ashore with him, "take the gig off and meet the boats. Tell the launch and pinnace to go alongside the frigate, and request Mr. Normandy to send Mr. Marston ashore with fifty more men. What on earth are we to do with these poor creatures?" he went on to the first lieutenant as the gig rowed away. "Of course we must take them to Jamaica. Theirs is a terrible position. No doubt they have all been captured in the prizes the villains have taken, and most of them must have seen their husbands or fathers murdered before their eyes. Some of them may have been here long enough to become accustomed to their lot, many of them may have been captured lately. What is to become of them I don't know. "You have not opened any of the storehouses yet?" "No, sir, we have been pretty busy, you see. We cut THE NEGRO RISING 93 down all the cactus hedges round the huts high up on the hill, so as to keep the pirates from working down and making a fresh attack upon us. As to the other houses, I have given strict orders that no one is to enter them. The men have piled arms and are lying down by them ; many of them have not completely recovered from the shock of the explosion, and all are bruised more or less by being hurled on to the rocks or against the guns. I fancy the doctor will have his hands full for many a day." " Well, you must pick out twenty or so from those most fit for duty. They can join the men I sent for and finish the business. The rest can be on guard here, in case the party on the other side take it into their heads to make an attack." CHAPTER VI THE NEGRO RISING WHILE waiting for the arrival of the reinforcements, Captain Crosbie went on board the Cerf. The wounded had all been carried below, where cots had been slung for them. After their wounds were dressed, he went round saying a few words to each, enquiring into the nature of their injuries. No attempt had been made to remedy the confusion on deck, except that the bodies of those that could be moved had been laid side by side. That of Mr. Playford and the others who had been crushed by the falling masts still lay beneath them, as the four men left on board were unable to do anything to extricate them until help arrived. The captain then went on board the prize. " Mr. Hill has spoken in the highest terms of the service 94 A ROVING COMMISSION that you have rendered, Mr. Glover, though I have not yet heard the full details. As the only surviving officer of the Cerf, you had better, when you have time, draw out a full report for me of the work done by her. It will be another half-hour before we again commence operations against the pirates, and I shall be obliged if you will go on board the Cerf with your men and endeavour to get the body of Mr. Playford and the others from underneath the masts. Nothing more can be done at present, but it is painful that they should be lying there. I fancy that with hand-spikes you will have no very great difficulty in raising the butt of the mast high enough to draw the bodies from under it. As soon as you have done that, bring the men back here. When the advance begins you will shell the wood ahead of it." " We will put you ashore first, sir ; this is the only boat we have that will float." Captain Crosbie on landing went among the women, who were between seventy and eighty in number. Some burst into tears when he spoke to them, others seemed dazed and quite unconscious that they were being addressed. Feeling almost unmanned by the moving spectacle, Captain Crosbie was relieved when the two boats filled with men entered the mouth of the cove. As soon as they came alongside, the men leapt out in high spirits at the prospect of having a share in the fray. Mr. Hill had already picked out twenty of his own party. " I will myself take the command here, Mr. Hill. I don't wish to interfere with the credit that you will gain by this affair, therefore I leave the arrangement of your party in your hands." Mr. Hill marched the seventy men straight up the hill. "You will march straight on, Mr. Marston, until you reach the edge of the cliff, then you will return. See that the men THE NEGRO RISING 95 are placed at regular intervals. You will then face to the right and the line will advance. No quarter will be given, except to men who throw down their arms and beg for it. I do not suppose that many will do so, as they know what their fate will be if they are taken to Port Royal. We have reason to believe that there cannot be more than eighty or so on this side, but if they keep in a body and make a rush at the line they will no doubt be able to break through. However, that we must risk, and I hardly think that they will attempt it, for they know that they must sooner or later fall into our hands. They will only starve if they conceal themselves. Some may prefer death in that way, or may think that after we have left they may manage to get taken across to the mainland in native fishing-boats. However, search the ground closely. These men are steeped in blood ; they have been the scourge of these seas for the past five or six years, and have never yet shown mercy." Mr. Hill then placed himself in the centre of the line, while Mr. Marston again took his place on the right. It was not until they had worked round nearly to the entrance that opposition was met with ; then they came upon a spot where a mass of rock cropped up among the trees, and as they approached this a sharp fire of musketry broke out. Mr. Hill ordered the two ends of the line to advance so as to form a semicircle round the rock. When they were in position he gave the word to charge, and with a cheer the sailors dashed forward. Led by their officers, they scrambled up the rocks like cats, discharged their muskets into the pirates grouped on its summit, and then threw themselves upon them cutlass in hand. In three minutes all was over ; not a man asked for mercy, but all died fighting desperately to the end. Four of the sailors were killed, several severely wounded. These were carried or helped down to the shore, and the rest of the party then scattered 96 A ROVING COMMISSION through the woods ; but the closest search failed to discover a single man in hiding, although only some fifty of them had been accounted for. Returning to the point from which they had started, the party then proceeded to search the forest at the other side of the cove. Here, however, they met with no resistance. A few dead were found, but the forest was deserted. After searching in vain for some time it was concluded that the survivors had probably gone down the face of the cliff and hidden there in caves or in thickets in places that could only be reached by men well acquainted with the ground. After two hours' vain search, Mr. Hill led the party down to the shore again. While he had been away the captain had had the storehouses opened. These were filled with booty of all kinds, the plunder of at least fifty ships, as they judged by the chronometers, the marks on bales, and other articles. Here were thousands of cases of wine, ranges of barrels of rum, hogsheads of sugar, coffee, and other colonial produce, quan- tities of bales of cotton cloths used for the slaves, furniture of all kinds, enormous numbers of trunks and boxes containing wearing apparel, bales of silks and satins, and an immense amount of table-linen. In the centre of one of the storehouses was a chamber con- structed of stone four feet thick with an arched roof. The entrance was closed by two iron doors, one within the other, and these were so strong that it was necessary to drag up a six-pounder cannon to batter them in. When at last an en- trance was forced, the strong-room was found to contain upwards of seventy thousand pounds in coin, hundreds of watches, and a large amount of jewellery, much of which was of Spanish manufacture, and a great many church vessels and ornaments of silver. It was evident that, although no doubt a certain proportion of the spoil had been divided at the time THE NEGRO RISING 97 of capture, the main bulk had been stored there for division some day when the haunt should be finally abandoned. The sailors now set about examining the bodies of the pirates who had been killed on the shore by the explosion. It was found that in almost every case they wore belts under their clothes, and that these contained from ten to a hundred pieces of gold. A systematic search was then made, and, in all, the money found upon the dead pirates amounted to six thousand pounds, which was added to the store taken from the treasury. The work of emptying the storehouses, getting up jury-masts on board the Cerf, and doing the absolutely necessary repairs to her and the prizes occupied three days. The women had been placed in the brigantine after the craft had been thoroughly washed down and scoured, and she had been taken out and anchored near the frigate, to which the wounded had all been conveyed as soon as the fight was over. On the evening of the third day the storehouses and other buildings still standing were all burned, the cannon were taken on board the frigate, and the next morning the four vessels got up sail and started in company for Jamaica. Nat was left in command of the Cerf with fifteen men. Low was in command of the schooner with twelve men. Mr. Marston had charge of the captured brigantine with fifteen men, all that could be spared from the diminished crew of the frigate. Nat had had time, when the long day's work was over, to row off every evening to see Needham, whose arm had been amputated an hour after the fight was ended. He was, the doctor said, going on well, and was in very good spirits. "This is sure to give me my step," he said to Glover. "I shall have served my time in six months, and Marston's rank will of course be confirmed, now that poor Playford's death has made the vacancy permanent. You have another year to serve, have you not, Glover?" 7 98 A ROVING COMMISSION " Yes, rather more. However, of course this affair will help me too, as soon as I have passed." " It ought to, old fellow, considering you were the only officer left on board the Cerf, and that you unfastened the boom under that tremendous fire, to say nothing of carrying the schooner and running the risk of being blown up when you went on board the brigantine. You will get your swab as soon as you have passed. You see it has been a big thing ; fifty-eight men killed and a hundred and four put down as wounded ; and the breaking up of this pirate's nest makes it the most important affair there has been out here for years. The other ships on the station will all feel quite jealous of us. There will be a goodish bit of prize-money, too, which is not to be despised. Over eighty thousand pounds in gold and, I should say, over twenty thousand pounds in goods, makes even a midshipman's share something considerable. How is your arm, Glover ? " " Well, it has been hurting me a bit. I am not conscious of having used it particularly, but I suppose when I was thrown down by that explosion it must have got wrenched somehow." " Well, if I were you I would ask Dr. Bemish to have a look at it." Glover did so. It was black and blue from the shoulder down to the elbow, and very tender to the touch. " I don't think anything is broken," the doctor said, " but it has been a very close shave. At any rate, k is just as well that I should put on splints and bandage it, and you must take to your sling again and keep to it for some time. It is not tender above the shoulder, is it?" "No, doctor; I think it is all right there." " That is lucky. You ought to go on the sick-list." " I cannot do that, sir. It would be giving up the command THE NEGRO RISING 99 of the brigantine, and I would put up with anything rather than that." They had fine weather and a leading wind to Jamaica, and their arrival there with the two captured prizes and the news that the piratical haunt had been completely destroyed, created quite a sensation, which was heightened by the rescue of so many females from the hands of the pirates. Some fifteen of these found friends in the island, and the scene when they were handed over to them was painful in the extreme. A third of the number were French, and there were also some eighteen Spaniards. All were temporarily taken in and cared for by families at Port Royal, and were sent off as soon as opportunity offered either to the islands for which they had been bound when captured, or to their friends in Europe. Mr. Hill, in his report, had done full justice to the work done by the Cerf, and had mentioned Nat's going on board the brigantine to drown her magazine, and the great service that he had rendered in covering the advance of the sailors by the guns of that craft, and in inflicting such heavy punishment upon the two parties that had attempted to possess themselves of the batteries, and the admiral sent for him and personally congratulated him on his work. " I will see that as soon as you have passed, Mr. Glover, you shall have your commission as acting lieutenant. I have not forgotten what Captain Crosbie told me of your gallant action at Cape Francois." Mr. Hill was at once appointed to the command of a frigate whose captain had died of yellow fever, and received the rank of commander pending its confirmation from home ; and Mr. Philpot, second lieutenant of that frigate, was appointed first lieutenant of the Orpheus in his place. The schooner and the Cerf were sold, for the latter had suffered so much damage forward by the fire concentrated upon her by the pirates' 100 A ROVING COMMISSION ships that she was considered unfit for further service. The other brigantine was bought into the service. The plunder taken was sold by auction, and the proceeds, together with the sum fetched by the three prizes, brought the total up to one hundred and five thousand pounds, a larger sum than had ever been captured by any vessel on the station. The new brigantine was re-christened the Falcon, and Mr. Low was placed in command, with two midshipmen from other ships on the station under him. She was not, like the Cerf, a tender to the Orpheus, as the frigate could no longer spare a crew for her, having, in addition to the loss in action, been obliged to send thirty men to hospital on shore. The brigantine was therefore manned by drafts from other ships of war on the station. Needham was also left on shore, being promoted at once to the rank of lieutenant, which left Nat for the time senior midshipman of the Orpheus, which was now directed to cruise in the neighbourhood of Hayti, where complaints had been received of vessels being missing. Two months after leaving Jamaica the Orpheus again put in to Cape Francois. Nat was still wearing his arm in a sling. There had been a good deal of swelling and inflammation, but this had now abated, and in his opinion his arm was perfectly well again, but the doctor insisted that he should as a precautionary measure still use the sling. The frigate needed some repairs, having carried away some spars in a hurricane a week previously, and on the day of their arrival the captain sent for Nat, and said kindly : " We shall be here for a week, Mr. Glover, and the doctor thinks that another run among the hills will do you good, therefore you can go and stay with your friends there until we sail again. If you return this day week that will do. You have stuck to your work well, for Doctor Bemish said that for the first month at least you ought to have been on THE NEGRO RISING 101 the sick-list, and at any rate you deserve a holiday for your share in that fight." On landing Nat went first to Monsieur Duchesne's office. The planter had but just driven in, and his horte and trap were still standing at the door. The negro driver gave a friendly grin as he saw him. " Glad to see you, sah, bery glad ; eberyone will be glad. Hope you all well, sah?" " Thank you, Caesar. All well at the plantation, I hope ? " and he went into the office, where he was most warmly received by Monsieur Duchesne. " I had been told that your ship came into port at day- break, my dear Monsieur Glover, and I should have come off to ask after you as soon as I had answered my letters, and to carry you off if the captain would give you leave. But I see your arm is still in a sling. You have not hurt it, I hope ? " " I hurt it in that fight we had with the pirates. I dare say you heard of it." " Everyone has heard of it," the planter said. " It was splendid, and there is not one here who does not feel grateful indeed to your ship for having rid us of all those scoundrels, who have been doing us so much harm for years. You have not hurt it much, I hope ? " " It was bad for a bit, but it is all right again now. The doctor orders me to keep to the sling for some time longer, though I am sure there is not the least necessity for it." "And now about your leave, shall I go off to the ship, think you?" " The captain himself gave me leave this morning for a week without my even asking for it." " That is good news indeed. My carriage is at the door ; I fortunately told Caesar to wait, as there are some things to take back, My wife and Myra will be delighted to see you, 102 A ROVING COMMISSION they talk of you always, and will be glad indeed to have you with them again. My boy has gone out to buy the matters required by madame, he will be back in a few minutes." A quarter of an hour later Nat was on his way out to the plantation, where he was received with a welcome of the warmest kind by Madame Duchesne and her daughter. Both were greatly concerned at finding that his arm had again been injured. " It is hard indeed," Myra said, " that I should be so well and strong again, and that you should still be suffering for what you did for me." " I do not think," he said, " that that business has really any- thing to do with the last one. A pirate ship blew up close to us ; the shock was tremendous. The masts of the brigantine I was in snapped off as if they had been carrots, everyone on deck was thrown down, twelve were killed outright, and the rest of us were all a great deal bruised and hurt. The doctor said that he thought my arm might very well have been broken even had it not been for that accident, and as I came off better than most of the others, I certainly have no reason to complain. It is really quite well again now, and I can use it for almost all purposes. I consider it absurd that I should wear this sling, and would take it off at once, only the doctor made me promise that I would generally wear it ; indeed, on board I always took my arm out when I wanted to use it, and he said himself that a certain amount of exercise was good for me." Monsieur Duchesne came home as usual just at sunset. Nat noticed that at dinner he was evidently preoccupied, though he endeavoured to join in the conversation as cheerily as usual. After the ladies had left the table he said : " You may have noticed that I am distrait, Monsieur Glover, but it is an anxious time for all of us on the island, and has THE NEGRO RISING 103 been so, indeed, for some time. You see we are divided into three classes : there are the pure whites, the mulattoes, and the negroes, and even these are subdivided. There are the old settlers, men who, like myself, belong to noble French families, and who, I hope, keep up the best traditions of our country ; there are the poor whites, landless men who are discontented with their position, and hate those who are better off, while they stand aloof from the mulattoes. These, again, are equally divided. Many of them are rich men with plantations. They send their sons and daughters over to France to be educated, and take it much amiss that we, who are of pure blood, do not associate with them. Then, again, there are the negroes, who number no fewer than five hundred thousand, while we whites are but forty thousand. We went on well enough together until the States General met in France. It was a bad affair that, for us as well as for France. From' that time there has been a ferment. We sent over deputies, eighteen of them, but the Assembly only allowed six to take their seats, and while they snubbed us, the young mulattoes were treated with the greatest favour. " Then came the news that the Assembly had passed a dec- laration asserting all men to be free and equal. You may imagine what a shock this was to us. Some of the mulattoes, in their excitement, took up arms to show that they were free, but they were easily put down. However, when the National Assembly heard of the excitement and dissatisfaction caused among the French in all their colonies, they made another decree authorizing each colony to elect its own legislative assembly. Our assembly here lost their heads on finding power in their hands, and passed a constitution which practically re- nounced all allegiance to France. Some riots broke out, and things would have been very serious had not, on the eleventh of October last year (1790), a decree been passed by the 104 A ROVING COMMISSION National Assembly modifying the former one. However, on the fifteenth of May they passed another, declaring all people of colour in the French colonies, born of free parents, entitled to vote for members of the colonial assembly, and to be elected to seats themselves. " When the news came here six weeks ago, you can imagine the excitement. Meetings were held, and it was even proposed to throw off allegiance to France and to hoist the British flag instead of ours. Happily calmer thoughts came, and matters cooled down, but there can be no doubt that the state of affairs is critical. The mulattoes, who outnumber the whites, do not know how to contain themselves with joy, and disputes between them and the whites take place daily. Then there are the negroes. You see, the decree does nothing for them. It is hard to know what the negroes think, even whether they care that they are not to have a vote is not known to us. It is clear that it would be of little advantage to them, and, you see, no one who was not out of his mind could think of giving a vote to them, for their vote would be five times as large as that of the whites and mulattoes together. We should have an assembly composed entirely of slaves, and these slaves would at once vote that all the land and property in the island should be divided among themselves. What think you of that, Monsieur Glover?" " It would be madness indeed," Nat agreed. " Then, you see, even if they did not do that they would declare themselves free, and we should all be ruined. Sapristi ! it makes one's blood cold to think of such a thing. But, never- theless, the negroes are like children, they can be led by a little talk, and among them there are men of some intelligence who could work the rest up to a state of madness. I do not say that this will come — Heaven defend us from such a calamity ! — still, monsieur, you will comprehend that we all feel as if we THE NEGRO RISING 105 were sitting on the edge of a volcano. Such strange things happen. What may not occur next? You will understand that I do not talk of these things before my wife and child. They, of course, know about the past, but as for the future they do not trouble themselves at all. I have spoken to some of my friends, and they laugh at the idea of the slaves rising. They say, truly enough, that they are far better treated here than in your British colonies. But then there has been no revolution in England. People have not been stirred up to a state of excitement. The nation has not lost its head, as in France. I say that it is possible there may be trouble with the slaves." " Not here, surely, monsieur? Your negroes seem to me to be contented and happy, and I am sure they are well treated." " That is undoubtedly so ; but, as I told you, the negroes are like children, they will laugh one minute and scream with rage the next. There is never any saying what they may do. I can hardly bring myself to think that such a thing could happen, but I have taken to carrying pistols in my pockets, and I have stored some arms in that closet in the hall ; at least I should have them handy, and I doubt not that the house servants will remain true, and I hope many of my slaves. It is for this that I have gathered the arms together." " But surely you would have warning?" " At the first whisper I should, of course, drive my wife and child down to the town, where we should be safe, for there the whites are strong, and we have no fear of an attack. However, we must trust that such a thing may never happen, or that if it does, it may be in the far distance. But come when it will, everyone should receive warning in plenty of time to make all preparations. It seems to me impossible that a plot of any magnitude could be passed from end to end of this island, and be known to so vast a number of negroes, without some of 106 A ROVING COMMISSION them warning their masters of the danger, for there are tens of thousands who are almost like members of their masters' families." " I should say it is quite impossible that any extensive plot could be hatched without its being known in a very short time to everyone," Nat agreed ; " and in any case, although those who live far in the interior of the island might have reason to fear, should the negroes break out, I can hardly think that, within little more than an hour's drive from the city, you need feel any uneasiness whatever." " No, I feel that there ought to be no trouble here, at any rate unless there is a successful insurrection in other parts of the island ; no doubt that would be infectious elsewhere. But the negroes near the town would be the last to join in such a movement, for they might be sure that the whites there would take speedy vengeance on all within their reach. How- ever, let us think no more of it at present; my wife and Myra will be wondering what we can find to talk about so long." Nat lay awake for some time that night thinking of what Monsieur Duchesne had said. He had heard vaguely, while he was there before, of the manner in which the revolution in France had affected the island, but it was a subject that was little discussed at the planter's. Having all the feelings and prejudices of the old noblesst of France, he had from the first been opposed to the popular movement in Paris, and had held himself altogether aloof from the demonstration on the island. The subject was painful to him, and he had seldom alluded to it in his family circle. It seemed to Nat inconceivable that any general movement could be planned among the blacks without warning being received by the planters. When he went out next day he looked with more attention than before at the slaves working on the plantations. It seemed to him THE NEGRO RISING 107 that their demeanour was quieter than usual; the mulatto overseers seemed to pay less attention to them, and he was surprised to come upon three of them talking earnestly to- gether, whereas, hitherto, he had always seen them on different parts of the estate. On the following morning, the 23rd of August, Monsieur Duchesne started as usual soon after seven o* clock, for the heat was now intense, and it was dangerous to be out after the sun had obtained its full power. An hour later Nat was sitting in the verandah behind the house with Madame Duchesne and Myra, when an old negress ran out ; her eyes were wide open with terror and excitement, and her face was almost pale. " Madame and mam'selle must fly and hide themselves ! " she exclaimed. " Nigger come in half an hour ago wid news dat slabes rise last night in many places all ober de country and kill all de whites. Dinah hear dat all people expect dat, only not for anober two days. Oberseers de leaders now. Dey come here quick wid all de field hands. Not a moment to be lost. Fly for your libes ! " " Impossible ! " Madame Duchesne exclaimed, as she and Myra sprang to their feet alarmed, but incredulous. " It may be true, madame," Nat exclaimed. " For God's sake run with Myra in among the shrubbery there ; I will join you in a moment. If it is a false alarm all the better ; but it may be true, and there is not a moment to lose. Do you hear those shouts?" A burst of yells and shouts rose in the air a short distance away. " Run ! run ! " Nat exclaimed as he dashed into the house, rushed to the closet in the hall, seized two brace of pistols, a sword, and half a dozen packets of cartridges for the pistols, and then ran out into the verandah just in time to see the white dresses of the ladies disappear into the shrubbery close to the 108 A ROVING COMMISSION entrance of the verandah. Some wraps which they sometimes put on to keep off the evening dew when they were sitting out of doors were hung up close by him. Hastily snatching these off their hooks, he dashed off at full speed, for the tumult was now approaching the front of the house. The ladies had stopped just within the cover of the bushes. " Run ! " he cried ; " there is not a moment to lose. They will be searching for (us as soon as they find that we are not in the house." The belt of foliage extended all round the garden, and, keeping inside, they ran to the other end. Fortunately, adjoining the garden was a plantation of sugar-cane which had not yet been cut, for although the greater portion of the cane is cut in April, freshly made plantations planted at that time are not fit to cut until the autumn of the following year. The canes were ten feet high, and as the rows were three feet apart, there was plenty of room to run between them. Scarcely a word was spoken as they hurried along. The plantation was some four hundred yards across ; beyond it stretched another of equal size, extending to the edge of the forest. The canes here, which had been cut four months before, were three feet high ; at other times many negroes would have been at work hoeing the ground round the roots, but when Nat looked out cautiously from the edge of the higher canes not a soul was to be seen. " I think it is perfectly safe," he said ; "but you had better put on the dark wraps, your light dresses would be seen a long distance away. We had better move a short distance farther to the right before we attempt to go straight on. If you will walk one after the other, treading in each other's steps, I will take off my shoes and follow you ; that will destroy your traces, and the marks of my bare feet might be taken for those of a negro. Please do not lose a moment," he said, as he saw that Madame Duchesne was about to speak; "there THE NEGRO RISING 109 will be time to talk when we get into the forest and settle what we had best do." They had gone but a few yards when Nat's eye caught sight of a hoe lying on the ground a short distance along one of the rows of the young canes. He ran and fetched it, the others stopping while he did so. Then as he went along he carefully obliterated his footsteps, and continued to do so until when, after walking thirty or forty yards farther, he turned into the young plantation. The surface of the ground was almost dust-dry, and between the rows of the growing canes a track had been worn by the feet of the slaves, who every two or three days hoed round the roots; here, therefore, there was no occasion to use the hoe, as the ground was so hard that his feet left no marks upon it. In a few minutes they entered the wood and went in some little distance ; then they stopped. They could still hear the yells of the negroes, who, Nat doubted not, were engaged in plun- dering the house, after which he felt sure that there would be an eager search for the fugitives. The ground had been rising all the way. " I see you need a few minutes' rest," he said to Madame Duchesne, who was so much shaken that it was evident she could walk but little farther. "I will go back to the edge of the wood and see if there are any signs of their follow- ing us." Just as he reached the open ground there was a louder outburst than usual of exulting cries; he saw a column of smoke rising from the trees, and knew that the negroes had set the house on fire. He returned at once to the ladies. Madame Duchesne had sunk on the ground. Myra was kneeling beside her. " We must go on, madame," he said ; " the scoundrels have fired the house." HO A ROVING COMMISSION She rose to her feet. " I am better now," she said with a calmness that greatly pleased Nat. " It seemed a dream at first. What does it all mean, Nat?" for she as well as her daughter had come to address him by that name. " I fear it is a general rising of the blacks throughout the island," he replied. "Monsieur Duchesne told me last night that he thought such an event might possibly take place, but he made sure that if it occurred we should have ample warning. By what your old nurse said it must have been an arranged thing, to take place on the twenty-fifth, but something must have hurried it. I think, to 'begin with, we had better go half a mile farther into the forest. We can talk as we go." " Had we not better make straight for the town ? " "I think not, though of course I will do whatever you believe to be best; but there are a score of plantations be- tween us and the town, and I have no doubt that the slaves will have risen everywhere. Besides, if your own negroes fail to follow our track, they will make sure that we have gone in that direction, and will be on the look-out for us; therefore I think that for the present we had better remain in the forest." " But how can we live here ? " she asked. " There will be no difficulty about that," he replied ; " there are plenty of plantations of yams, and I can go down and dig them up at night. The young canes will quench your thirst if we fail to hit upon a spring, but we know that there are several of these among the hills, for we pass over five or six little streamlets on our way to the town." " I am sure Nat will look well after us," Myra said con- fidently; "besides, mamma, I am certain that you could not walk down there. You know you never do walk, and I cannot recollect your walking so far as you have done to-day." THE NEGRO RISING 111 This indeed had been the chief reason why Nat had decided that they had better stay in the forest at present, although he had not mentioned it. Like all Creoles — as whites born in the islands were called in the French West Indies — Madame Duchesne was altogether unaccustomed to exercise, and beyond a stroll in the garden when the heat of the day was over, had not walked since her childhood. The heat, indeed, rendered a journey of any kind next to impossible during the greater part of the day. They had slaves to do their bidding, to wait on them, fetch and carry, and conse- quently even in the house they had no occasion for the slightest personal exertion. Madame Duchesne, being of a naturally more energetic temperament than are Creoles in general, was less indolent than the majority of the ladies of the island, but was wholly incapable of taking a walk of which English ladies would have thought nothing. She was already greatly exhausted by the excitement and the fatigue of their hasty flight, and to Nat it seemed at once that it was hopeless for her to think of attempting the journey of fifteen miles across a rough country. The forest grew thicker as they advanced, and after walking for half an hour Madame Duchesne declared that it was im- possible for her to go farther. Nat was indeed surprised that she had held on for so long. She had been leaning on his arm, and he felt the weight becoming heavier and heavier every step. She was bathed in perspiration, her breath came in gasps, and he himself proposed a halt, feeling that she was at the end of her strength. 112 A ROVING COMMISSION CHAPTER VII IN HIDING " npHE first thing to do," Nat said, after he had seen that _L Madame Duchesne was as comfortably seated as possible, " is to find some sort of hiding-place. We may be sure that the negroes will search everywhere for you, and that, released from work and having nothing to do, they will wander about the woods, and one of them might come upon us at any moment. Therefore, unless we can find some sort of shelter, I dare not leave you for a minute." "But why should you leave us?" Myra asked. "We must eat and drink," he said. " I must endeavour to discover what is going on elsewhere ; I must, if possible, obtain a disguise, and endeavour to find out what are the intentions of the blacks, and ascertain whether it will be possible to obtain help from the town ; and I can begin to do nothing until I feel that you are at least comparatively safe. There is no doubt, Madame Duchesne, that our position is a very painful one, but we have a great deal to be thankful for. If the rising had taken place in the night, as no doubt it did at the plantations where the negroes began their work, we should all have been murdered without the chance of resist- ance. Now, we have escaped with our lives, and have the satisfaction of knowing that Monsieur Duchesne is safe in the town, and will assuredly do his best to rescue us ; but that can hardly be yet. Cape Francois is no doubt in a state of wild panic, and will in the first place be thinking of how it can best defend itself. " There are, of course, many other planters there in the same position as your husband. Each will be thinking of his own IN HIDING 113 people ; nothing like a general effort will be possible. At any rate, it seems to me that it must be some time before any operations can take place to put down the insurrection. If one could but get hold of some messenger one could trust, and could let Monsieur Duchesne know that you are for the present safe, it would be an immense relief to him ; but so far as we know at present that old nurse is the only one of your slaves who is faithful, and even if I could find her and get her to carry a note or a message, it is unlikely in the extreme that she would be permitted to pass on into the town. How- ever, as I say, the first thing is to discover a hiding-place where you would be comparatively safe, and before I go to find a messenger I will look round for some clump of under- growth where nothing but close search could find you. I think that those bushes we see across there would do for the moment. You cannot remain here, for you would be seen at once by anyone who came along within fifty yards of you. I will go and see at once whether it would do." Without waiting for an answer he hurried away. On exam- ination he found that the place was more suitable than he had expected. A great tree had once stood there, and had been sawn off close to the ground. Round this a clump of bushes had sprung up, growing so thickly that it was impossible to see into the centre save by pushing aside the bushes and entering the little circle. He hastened back. " It will do excellently for our hiding-place for the present," he said, " and the sooner we are inside the better." He assisted Madame Duchesne to her feet, led her to the bushes, and then bent some of them very carefully aside. The ladies made their way in, and he followed them, seeing that each of the saplings fell back in its natural position. "There, madame," he said, "unless anyone took it into his head to push in as we have done we are absolutely safe. But 114 A. ROVING COMMISSION it will be better that you should keep your dark cloaks on. I do not think that anyone could see through this thick screen of leaves, but it is as well to be on the safe side." " You won't leave us at present ? " " Certainly not," he said. " After it gets dark I shall make my way down to the house. I must get a disguise of some sort; it does not matter much what it is, for I expect the slaves will be dressing up in the clothes they have stolen, no matter what they are. With some charred wood I can blacken my face and hands. No doubt anyone would see at once on looking at me closely that I was not a negro, but at a distance I should pass." "You would make a better mulatto than you would a negro," Myra said. " So I should ; as they are all shades of colour, I should not have to be very particular." "If we had Dinah here with us," Myra said, "she could make you some dye. She knows all about berries and roots, and generally doctors any of the women who may be ill ; she would know for sure of some berries that would stain your skin." " Well, I must see if I can find her, Myra. If not, I must use the charcoal, but certainly the other would be much the safer ; and, you see, thanks to my long stay with you before, I have got to speak French very fairly now." The day passed slowly. Occasionally they heard shouts lower down in the forest, but these did not come near them, and after a time died away. " I thought they would hardly come up as far as this," Nat said ; " negroes are not given to work unless they are obliged to, and they will find it so pleasant doing nothing that they are hardly likely to give themselves the trouble to search very far for us. Besides, doubtless they have other things to think about IN HIDING 115 They will know that their work has only begun when they have burnt their masters' houses, and killed all the white people they can lay their hands upon, and that until they have taken possession of the towns they are not masters of the island. No doubt, too, they carried out the wine before they burnt the house." " Besides," Myra said, " there is the rum store ; there are at least a hundred barrels there." " Yes, I did not think of that. Well, I expect that before this the greater part of them are drunk, and I don't suppose there will be a sober man left to-night. That will make it an easy business for me to find out what they are doing, and to get hold of the things that will be useful to you. I am more afraid of the mulattoes than of the negroes." "Do you think that they would join the blacks?" " I have no doubt at all about it ; I feel sure they have done so. I saw three of them talking together yesterday ; they were paying no attention to the slaves, and I thought then that it was rather peculiar. Besides, we know that these lower class of mulattoes are as hostile to the whites as the negroes are, if not more so, and I have no doubt they have had a good deal to do with exciting the slaves to revolt. And now, Madame Duchesne, I will go down through the woods and get you some sugar-cane, and look for a stream." Madame Duchesne protested, but she was accustomed to have every want supplied as soon as expressed, and she was suffering much from thirst after the excitement and effort. "You really require something," Nat went on. "You see, if I go down after dark I may be away for two or three hours, and were you to wait till then you would be in a fever with thirst. It is evident that the negroes have all left the wood, therefore there can be no risk in my going down and cutting a dozen of the young canes." 116 A ROVING COMMISSION " If you go," she said firmly, sitting up as she spoke, " you must leave me two of your pistols — they are double-barrelled, are they not ? " " Yes, madame." " Well, leave two. If the negroes come and begin to search this place I shall shoot Myra first and then myself, for death would be a thousand times preferable to falling into the hands of these wretches." " I think you are right there," Nat said gravely, " and if I thought that there would be the slightest fear of their coming I would not leave you. I shall not be away a quarter of an hour. I will leave my jacket and cap here, and tie a handker- chief round my head, so that should I by any chance come across a searcher, he will not recognize me until I am close enough to silence him. I shall take the sword as well as the other brace of pistols ; it will be useful for cutting down the canes." Taking off his jacket and waistcoat, and tying his handker- chief round his head, he made his way through the bushes, and then started at a fast run down the hill, keeping, however, a sharp look-out as he went. As he expected, there were no signs of the blacks. As he reached the edge of the wood, and cut the canes, he could hear the sound of distant yells in the direction of the house. "The brutes have got at the rum," he said. "If I had but half a dozen blue-jackets, I believe I could clear the lot out. I do hope," he went on, as he started on his way back, " I shall be able to lay my hand on something to eat, and get hold of a bottle or two of wine. Madame will never be able to get on on yams and sugar-canes, accustomed as she has been to every luxury. Myra will be all right, she is a regular young brick." As he neared the clump of bushes he cried out cheerily : " All right, madame, I have got the canes, and have IN HIDING 117 not caught sight of a negro." An exclamation of relief fol- lowed. Madame Duchesne and Myra were both standing as he entered, each with a pistol in her hand. " I was not alarmed by your footstep," she said, " for any- one who was searching for us would come along slowly and stealthily; but I thought you might be pursued." " If I had been," Nat laughed, " you may be very sure I should not have brought them this way, but would have given them a dance all over the place, and then slipped away and come back here." " I know that," she said earnestly, " but I am nervous and shaken." " Very naturally, too, " Nat said : " you felt very much as I did when, after that explosion, I went on board the other pirate to drown the magazine. I believe that if anyone had given a shout close to me I should have tumbled headlong down on the deck. I think, now, we are perfectly safe till to-morrow. By the noises I heard down by the house I should say that most of the slaves are drunk already, and you may be sure that they will not think of starting to look for us till to-morrow. Now, if you will take my advice, you will try to sleep a bit." Accustomed to sleep for two or three hours during the heat of the day, Madame Duchesne was indeed feeling so drowsy that she could with difficulty keep her eyes open, and she now in the course of a few minutes was breathing quietly and regularly. " Now, Myra, do you watch by your mother while I go and look for water. That tiny stream that crosses the road a quarter of a mile above your house must come down not far from here, and it is essential that we should be near it." "But it is near water that they are most likely to look for us." " I did not think of that, Myra ; of course it is. Well, then, 118 A ROVING COMMISSION we must move over this hill and hide up in the next little valley we come to. There is a road that turns off half a mile above your house. I never went far along it, but it seems to go right up into the heart of the hills." " I never went up it either, Nat, but I have heard my father say there were a good many small clearings up among the hills, some with twenty slaves, some with only two or three." "Then, when I come back from seeing how things are going on at the house, we had better make for that road, keeping along down at the end of the plantation until we come to it. It will be much better to keep straight along there till we pass some little valley where there is a stream, than to wander about in the wood ; and we shall be farther away from those who may be looking after us. If your mother sleeps for two or three hours she will be able to go some little distance to-night." Myra shook her head doubtingly. " We must get her on," he added, " even if we have to carry her. It is all very well for us, because I am as hard as nails, and you do a lot of walking for a white girl here, but your mother is not strong. You saw how terribly exhausted she was when she got here, and it is quite likely that she may knock up altogether; therefore it is essential to get her into shelter. We are safe for to-day, but to-morrow we may have the negroes all over the hills, and it will have to be a wonder- fully good hiding-place to escape their search." " But do you feel sure that they have risen on all the other plantations?" " I have not the least doubt that they have risen on every plantation in this neighbourhood. Your slaves were wonder- fully well treated, and would not have joined unless they had known that it was a general rising. You know the old nurse said that it was to have been on the twenty-fifth, which means, IN HIDING 119 of course, that it was a great plot all over the island. Of course in some places they may not have got the news yet, and may not rise for a day or two, but you may be sure that all around here it has been general." " But why should they want to kill us? " " Because they are really nothing but savages. Though they have in many cases been slaves for generations, still there are always fresh slaves arriving; and the others know that their fathers, like these, were captured and sold to the whites, that they had terrible times in the slave-ships, and are on some plantations treated like dogs, and are bought and sold just like cattle. I don't wonder at it that, now they have got a chance, as they think, they should take vengeance for all the ills they have suffered. When they are at war with each other in Africa they kill or enslave all who fall into their hands — men, women, or children — and you may be sure that they will show no mercy here. When I was down at the edge of the wood to cut those canes I could see smoke rising from a dozen points lower down. It is possible that some besides ourselves got warning in time, but I am afraid very few can have escaped ; for you see, once beyond the line of wood, which does not go more than a mile or two further, there will be no hiding-places for them. There is only one comfort, and that is, the news must have got down to the town in a very short time, and there is no fear of your father driving out and being taken by surprise. My greatest hope lies in that old nurse of yours. She could do more in the way of helping us than we could do ourselves. She could go and get things, and hear what is going on. She is old, but she is a strong woman still, and could help to carry your mother, and attend to her if she is ill." " Do you think she is going to be ill ? " Myra asked anx- iously, looking at her mother. " I sincerely trust not, Myra, but I own that I am afraid of 120 A ROVING COMMISSION it. She is breathing faster than she did, and she has moved restlessly several times while we have been talking, and has a patch of colour on each cheek, which looks like fever. How- ever, we must hope for the best. Anyhow, I shall bring Dinah up here if possible." So they talked till the sun went down. Madame Duchesne still slept, but her breathing was perceptibly faster. She occasionally muttered to herself, and scarcely lay still for a moment. " I will be going now," Nat said at last ; " it will be pitch dark by the time I get down to the house ; it is dark already here. You have the pistols, Myra, but you may be quite sure that no one will be searching now. I may have some difficulty in finding these bushes when I come back, but I will whistle, and when I do, do you give a call. I hope I shall bring Dinah back with me." " Oh, I do hope you will. She would be a comfort to us." Nat heard a quaver in her voice, which showed that she was on the point of breaking down. " You must not give way, Myra, " he said. " You have been very plucky up to now, and for your mother's sake you must keep up a brave heart and hope always for the best. I rely upon you greatly. We may have many dangers to go through, but with God's help we may hope to rejoin your father. But we must be calm and patient. We have been marvellously fortunate so far, and shall, I hope, be so until the end. When I find out what the negroes intend to do we shall be able to decide upon our course. It may be that they will pour down from all the plantations within thirty or forty miles round and attack the town, or it may be that they will march away into the mountains in the interior of the island, in which case the road to the town will be open to us. Now, good-bye; I will be back as soon as I can." IN HIDING 121 " Do not hurry," she said. " I will try to "be brave, and I don't mind waiting, because I shall know that you are trying to get nurse, and of course it may be difficult for you to find her alone." "Good-bye, then," he said cheerfully, and passing through the bushes he went rapidly down the hill. On reaching the cane-field he again took off his shoes. He did not hurry now. It was a tremendous responsibility that he had upon his shoulders. He thought nothing of the danger to himself, but of how Madame Duchesne and her daughter were to be sheltered and cared for if, as he feared, the former was on the edge of an attack of fever, which might last for days, and so prostrate her that weeks might elapse before she would be fit to travel. " I must get Dinah at all costs," he said to himself. " She knows what will be wanted, and will be a companion to Myra when I have to be away." As he neared the place where the house had stood he heard sounds of shouting and singing coming from a spot near the storehouses, where a broad glow of light showed that a great bonfire was burning. He kept in the shrubbery until near the house, and then stepped out on to the grass. The house was gone, and a pile of still glowing embers alone marked where it had stood. Nat approached this, found a piece of charred timber that had fallen a short distance from it, and proceeded to blacken his face and hands. Then he turned towards the fire. As he had expected, it was not long before he came across the figure of a prostrate man, who was snoring iu a drunken sleep. The stars gave sufficient light for him to see as he bent over him that he was a negro. He had attired himself in what when he put them on were a clean nankeen jacket and trousers, a part of the spoil he had taken in the sack of the house. Without ceremony Nat turned him over, 122 A ROVING COMMISSION and with some trouble removed the garments and put them on over his own. Then he took the red handkerchief that the negro had bound round his head and tied it on, putting his own bandana in his pocket. " Now," he said to himself, " I shall do, provided I keep away from the light of that fire. The first point is to find where Dinah has gone. I know she has a daughter and some grandchildren down at the slaves' huts. I should think I have most chance of finding her there." Turning off, he went to the huts, which lay two or three hundred yards away from the house. As he did so he passed near the houses in which the mulatto overseers lived. There were lights here, and he could hear the sound of voices through the open windows. " I will come back to them later on," he said, " I may hear something of their plans ; but Dinah is the most important at present." He was soon among the slave huts. No one was about, the women being mostly up at the fire with the men. He looked in at the door of each hut he passed. As he was still without shoes his movements were noiseless. In a few of them women were cooking, or putting their children to bed. At the last hut of the first row which he visited an old negro woman was rocking herself in great grief, and two or three children were playing on the floor. Nat knew that he had come to the end of his search, by the blue cotton dress with large white spots that the woman wore. He went in and touched her. " Dinah," he whispered, " come outside ! " She gave a little start of surprise, and then said to the children : " Now, you stop here, like good childer, Aunt Dinah is agoing out If you keep quiet she tell you story when she comes in." "IT WAS NOT LONG BEFORE HE CAME ACROSS THE FIGURE OF A PROSTRATE MAN. " IN HIDING 1?3 Then she went out with Nat without any appearance of haste. By long connection with the family she spoke French fairly well, whereas the negro patois, although mostly composed of French words, was almost unintelligible to him. "Tank de Lord dat you hab come back, Marse Glober. Dinah fret terrible all day. Am de ladies well? Whar you hide dem?" " They are up in the wood, Dinah. I am greatly afraid that Madame Duchesne is going to have fever, and you are sorely wanted there. Myra said she was sure that you would come when you knew where they were." " For suah me come, massa," she said. " What madame and Mam'selle Myra do widout Dinah ? So you black your face ? " " Yes, but I want some juice to make my face yellow like a mulatto. Anyone could see that I was not a negro in the daylight." " Dat so. Me bring 'tuff wid me. What you want beside ? " " We shall want a bottle or two of wine if you can get them, and a jug of fresh water, and anything you can get in the way of eatables, and I should say a cooking pot. Those are the principal things." "Dere am plenty ob boxes of wine up near house. Dis black trash like rum better, leave wine for de mulattoes ; dey bery bad man dose. Where you go now, Marse Glober ? Me take some time to get de tings." It would be a good thing, too, if you could get hold of enough cotton cloth to make dresses for them." The old woman nodded. " Plenty ob dat, sah. Storehouses all broke open, eberyone take what him like. Dis dreadful day, almost break Dinah's heart." " It has been a terrible day, Dinah, and I am afraid that the same bad work is going on everywhere." 124 A ROVING COMMISSION " So dey say, marse, so dey say. Where you go now, sah ? " " I am going to the overseers' huts to hear what their plans are. Where shall I meet you, Dinah ? " " Me take tings to bush just where you and de ladies ran in. Me make two or tree journeys, but me be as quick as can." " Do ; it is anxious work for Myra there, and I want to get back as soon as I can. Her mother is asleep, and even if she wakes I do not think she will be able to talk much." " Me hurry, sah, but can't get 'tuff to stain you skin to-night. Find berries up in de wood to-morrow." " There is one other thing, Dinah. Can you tell me where to find a hand-barrow ? I expect we shall have to carry your mistress." "Me know de sort ob ting dat you want, sah, dey carry tobacco leabes on dem. Dere are a dozen ob dem lying out- side de end store." " All right, Dinah, I will take one as I go past. Now I will go." So saying, he turned and made his way to the overseers' house. He crept softly along to a lighted window. When in a line with it he stood up for a minute, knowing that those inside would not be able to see him, there being a screen of trees just behind him. The three mulattoes whom he had seen talking together in the field on the previous day were seated round a table. On it were placed two or three wine-glasses. All were smoking. "To-morrow we must get those drunken black hogs to work," one said, "and have a regular search through the woods. Everything has gone well except the escape of madame and her gal. Someone must have warned them. The house niggers all agree that they were in the verandah behind just before we came up, talking with that English lad. Of course they will be found sooner or later, there is nowhere IN HIDING 125 for them to run to. The thing is, we want to find them our- selves. If anyone else came upon them they would kill them at once." "Yes, and you will have some trouble if you find them, Monti," one of the other men said. " These blacks have been told that every white must be killed. It is easy enough to work these fellows up into a frenzy, but it is not so easy to calm them down afterwards." " No, I am quite aware of that, Christophe, and that is why I did not press the search to-day, and why I was not sorry to find that they had got away." "You see, we have arranged that when the whites are all killed I am to marry madame, that Paul is to take the young one, and that we are to divide the place equally between the three of us." " If the negroes will let us," the one called Monti said. " I expect they will want to have a say in the business." "Yes, of course, that is understood. No doubt there will be trouble with them, and there is no saying how things will turn out yet. At any rate we will make sure of the women. I have gone into this more for the sake of getting the girl than for anything else." " We have made a good beginning everywhere, as far as we have heard, but you must remember that it is only a beginning. Even suppose the whites of the town do nothing, and I fancy we shall hear of them presently, they will send over troops from France." "They can do nothing against us up in the mountains," Christophe said scornfully. "That may be," the other said quietly; "but at any rate there are the blacks to deal with. They have risen against the whites, but when they have done with them we need not suppose for a moment that they are going to work for us. 126 A ROVING COMMISSION Luckily, here it has been the order that no slave is to be flogged without Duchesne's approving of it, and the result is that we are for the present masters of this plantation, but we have heard that at some of the other places the overseers as well as the whites have been killed. The order has gone through the island that all the whites, including women and children, are to be killed, and if we were to come across the women when we have forty or fifty of the blacks with us I don't think there would be a chance of our saving them. These negroes are demons when their blood is up. They know, too, that they have gone too far to be forgiven, and will believe that their safety depends upon carrying out the orders faithfully. It seems to me that we are in a rather awkward fix. If we don't take the blacks out to-morrow we sha'n't find them, if we do take them out they will be killed." " We ourselves may find them," Paul said. " Yes ; and if you do, they will have that English lad with them." " We can soon settle him," Christophe growled. "Well, I don't say we couldn't; but you know how he fought that hound, and there was a report two days ago, from the town, that they have attacked the Red Pirate's stronghold, taken it, and destroyed his four ships. I grant that as we are three to one we shall kill him, but one or two of us may go down before we do so. Now, I tell you frankly that as I have no personal interest in finding those two women, I have no idea of running the risk of getting myself shot in what is your affair altogether. Any reasonable help I am willing to give you, but when it comes to risking my life in the matter I say, * No, thank you.' " The others broke into a torrent of savage oaths. " Well," he went on calmly, " I am by no means certain that the English boy would not be a match for the three of us. We IN HIDING 127 should not know where he was, but he would see us, and he might shoot a couple of us down before we had time to draw our pistols. Then it will be man against man ; and I know that girl has practised shooting, so that the odds would be the other way. Now, I ask you calmly, is it worth it?" "What do you propose, then?" Paul asked sulkily, after a long silence. " I say that we had better wait till we can get hold of some of these blacks ; a little money and a little flattery will go a long way with them. We can tell them that we have private orders that, although most of the whites have to be put to death, a few are to be kept, among them these two. We shall elect a president and generals, and it is right that they should have white women to wait on them, just as the whites have been having blacks. That is just the sort of thing that will take with these ignorant fools. Then with, say, ten men we might search the woods thoroughly, find the women, and hide them up somewhere under your charge ; but we must go quietly to work. A few days will make no difference. We know that they can't get away. The men of the plantations lower down have undertaken to see that no whites make their way into the town. But it will not do to hurry the negroes, they are sure to be either sullen or arrogant to-morrow. Some of them, when they get over their drink, will begin to fear the consequences, others will be so triumphant that for a time our influence will be gone." "That is the best plan," Christophe said. "You have the longest head of us three, Monti. For a time it will be neces- sary to let the blacks have their own way." Nat, while this conversation went on, had been fingering his pistol indecisively. His blood was so fired by the events of the day, and the certainty that hundreds of women and children must have been murdered, that he would have had no hesita- 128 A ROVING COMMISSION tion in shooting the three mulattoes down. Indeed he had quite intended to do so, in the case at any rate of Paul and Christophe, when he learned their plans ; the advice, however, of the other, who was evidently the leading spirit, decided him against this course. It was unlikely that he would be able to shoot the three, for at the first shot they would doubtless knock the candle over ; besides, it was better that they should live. Evidently they would in some way persuade the great mass of the negroes not to trouble themselves to search the wood, and some days must elapse before they could get a party together on whom they could rely to spare the women and take them as prisoners. If they did so, and, as they proposed, put them hi some hut in charge of Paul and Christophe, he would have a fair chance of rescuing them, if he succeeded in getting away at the time they were captured. At any *ate, if they carried out their plans they would have some days' respite, and he could either take Madame Duchesne and Myra a good deal further into the hills, or might even be able to get them into the town. The mulattoes now began to talk of other matters — how quickly the insurrection would spread, the towns that were to be attacked, and the steps to be taken — and he therefore quietly made off, and waited for Dinah at the place agreed on. It was not long before she arrived with her first load. " I am here," he said as she came up. " Now, what can I do ? I had better come and help you back with the other things. We can carry them in the hand-barrow." " Yes, sah. I 'se got dem all together, de tings we talked of, and tree or four blankets, and a few tings for de ladies, and I 'se taken two ob de best frocks I could find in de huts. I 'se got de wine and de food in a big basket." " All right, Dinah ; let us start at once, I am anxious to be back again as soon as possible." IN HIDING 129 In ten minutes they returned with all the things. The basket of wine and provisions was the heaviest item. The clothes and blankets had been made up into a bundle. '•'Me will carry dat on my head," Dinah said, "and de barrow." " No, I can take that, Dinah, that will balance the basket ; besides, you have that great jug of water to take. Now let us be off." After twenty minutes' walking they approached the spot where the ladies were in hiding, but it was so dark under the trees that Nat could not determine its exact position ; he there- fore whistled, at first softly and then more loudly. Then he heard a call some little distance away. He went on until he judged that he must be close, and then whistled again. The reply came at once some thirty yards away. " Here we are, Myra," he said ; " nurse is with me." An exclamation of delight was heard, and a minute later he made his way through the bushes. "Mamma is awake," the girl said, "but she does not al- ways understand what I say ; sometimes I cannot understand her, and her hands are as hot as fire. I am glad Dinah is here." "You can't be gladder 'n me, mam'selle. I hab brought some feber medicine wid me, and a lantern and some candles." " Would it be safe to light the lantern ? " Myra asked. " Quite safe," Nat said ; " there is no chance whatever of anyone coming along here ; besides, we can put something round the lantern so as to prevent it from being seen from outside. You have brought steel and tinder, I hope, Dinah?" " Of course, marse, lamp no good widout ; and I hab got sulphur matches, no fear me forget them." "Give them to me, Dinah, I will strike a light while you attend to your mistress." 9 130 A ROVING COMMISSION Dinah poured some water into a cup and then knelt down by Madame Duchesne. " Here, dearie," she said, " Dinah brought you water and wine and tings to eat. Here is a cup of water, I am sure you want it. Let me lift you up to drink it." She lifted her and placed the cup in her hands, and she drank it off eagerly. " Is that your voice, Dinah ? " she said after a pause. " Yes, madame ; I 'se come up to help to take care ob you. Marse Glober come and tell me whar you were, so you may be suah that me lose no time, just wait to get a few tings dat you might want and den start up." " I think I am not very well, Dinah." " Jess a little poorly you be. Bery funny if you not poorly abler sich wicked doings. Now de best ting dat you can do is to go to sleep and not worry." " Give me another drink, Dinah." " Here it is, dis time a little wine wid de water and a little 'tuff to make you sleep quiet. Den me double up a blanket for you to lie on and put anober over you, and a bundle under your head, and den you go to sleep firm. No trouble to-night ; to-morrow morning we go on." Madame Duchesne drank off the contents of the cup. She was made as comfortable as circumstances would permit, and it was not long before her regular breathing showed that the medicine that Dinah had administered had had the desired effect. "Now, Myra," Nat said, "we will investigate the contents of the basket. I am beginning to get as hungry as a hunter, and I am sure that you must be so too." " I am thirsty," the girl said, " but I do not feel hungry." " You will, directly you begin. Now, Dinah, what have you brought us ? " IN HIDING 181 " Dere am one roast chicken dar, Marse Glober. Dat was all I could get cooked. Dere are six dead ones. I caught dem and wrung their necks jest before I started. Dey no good now. Dere is bread baked fresh dis morning before de troubles began, and dere is two pine-apples and a big melon." " Bravo, Dinah ! You have got knives ? " " Yes, sah, four knibes and forks." " We could manage without the forks, Dinah, but it is more comfortable having them. Now we will cut the chicken up into three. It looks a fine bird." " I 'se had my dinner, sah ; no want more." "That is all nonsense, Dinah," he said. "I am quite sure that you did not eat much dinner to-day, and you will want your strength to-morrow." Dinah could not affirm that she had eaten much, and indeed she had scarcely been able to swallow a mouthful in the middle of the day. The meal was heartily enjoyed, and they made up with bread and fruit for the shortness of the meat ration. " Now you two lie down," Nat said after they had chatted for an hour. " I am accustomed to night watches and can sleep with one ear open, but I am convinced that there is not the slightest need for any of us keeping awake. When the lantern is out, which it will be as soon as you lie down, if all the negroes came up into the woods to search for us I should have no fear of their finding us." Dinah, however, insisted upon taking a share in watching, saying that she was constantly sitting up at night with sick people. Finding that she was quite determined, Nat said: "Very well, Dinah. It is ten o'clock now. I will watch till one o'clock, and then you can watch till four. We shall be able to start then." " It won't be like light till five. No good start troo wood loJ A ROVING COMMISSION before that. I 'se sure to wake at one o'clock. I 'se accus- tomed to wake any hour so as to give medicines." " Very well, Dinah ; I suppose you must have your way." Myra and the nurse therefore lay down, while Nat sat thinking over the events of the day and the prospects of the future. He had said nothing to the negress of the conver- sation that he had overheard, as on the way from the house they had walked one behind the other and there had been no opportunity for conversation, and he would not on any account have Myra or her mother know the fate that these villains had proposed for them. He wondered now whether he had done rightly in abstaining from shooting one of them, but after thinking it over in every way he came to the conclusion that it was best to have acted as he did, for they clearly intended to do all in their power to save mother and daughter from being massacred at once by the negroes. " Even if the worst comes to the worst," he said to himself, "they have pistols, and I know will, as a last resource, use them against themselves." CHAPTER VIII A TIME OF WAITING DINAH woke two minutes before one o'clock, and Nat at once lay down and, resolutely refusing to allow himself to think any more of the situation, was soon fast asleep. "It am jess beginning to get light, Marse Glober," the negress said when, as it seemed to him, he had not been five minutes asleep. However, he jumped up at once. (t It is very dark, still, Dinah." A TIME OF WAITING 133 " It am dark, sah, but not so dark as it was. Bes' be off at once. Must get well away before dem black fellows wake up." " How is Madame Duchesne ? " " She sleep, sah ; she no wake for another tree or four hours. Dinah give pretty strong dose. Bes' dat she should know noting about it till we get to a safe place." "But is there any safe place, Dinah?" " Yes, massa ; me take you where dey neber tink of search- ing, but good way off in hills." Myra by this time was on her feet also. " Have you slept well, Myra ? " "Yes, I have slept pretty well, but in spite of the two blankets under us it was awfully hard, and I feel stiff all over now." "How shall we divide the things, Dinah?" " Well, sah, do you tink you can take de head of de barrow ? Dat pretty heaby weight." " Oh, nonsense ! " Nat said. " Madame Duchesne is a light weight, and if I could get her comfortably on my back I could carry her any distance." "Dat bery well before starting, Marse Glober, you tell anoder story before we gone very far." " Well, at any rate, I can carry a good deal more than one end of the barrow." " Well, sah, we put all de blankets on de barrow before we put madame on it, and put de bundle of clothes under her head. Den by her feet we put de basket and oder tings. Dat divide de weight pretty fair." " But what am I to carry, nurse, may I ask ? " " You just carry yourself, dearie ; dat quite enough for you. It am a good long way we hab to go, and some part of it am bery rough. You do bery well if you walk dat distance." "That is right, Myra," Nat agreed. "We don't want to 134 A ROVING COMMISSION have to carry both you and your mother, and though you have walked a good deal more than most of the girls of your own class you have never done anything like this." In a few minutes the preparations were completed. Madame Duchesne was laid on the barrow, and the basket and other things packed near her feet. Dinah took up the two front handles, Nat those behind, and, with Myra walking by the side, they started. " Which way are we going, Dinah ? " " Me show you, sah. We go up for some way, den we come on path ; two miles farder we cross a road, and den strike into forest again by a little valley wiv a tiny stream running down him. After walk for an hour we cross ober anoder hill all cobered wiv trees and find soon anoder stream, quite little dere ; hab a mile we follow him, den we find a place where we 'top. We long way den from any plantation, dat quite wild country." "Then how do you know the place, Dinah?" "Me'se not been dere for thirty years, Marse Glober, me active wench den, twenty year old, me jest marry my husband, he dead and gone long ago. He hab a broder on anoder plantation; dere bery bad oberseer, he beat de slabes bery much. Jake he knock him down with hoe, and den take to de hills ; my husband know de place where he hide, and took me to it one night, so dat I could find it again and carry food to him, cause he not able to get away, hab to work on planta- tion. Me had a little pickanniny and could 'teal away widout being noticed, and me went dere seberal times ; den oberseer killed by anoder slabe, and de master, who was good man, he come out to enquire about it. When he heard how de slabe had been treated, he bery angry and say it sarbe oberseer right. When I heard dat I spoke to de ole marse, de grand- father ob dis chile yeu know, he bery good man, like his son, and he went to de plantation and got de raarster to promise A TIME OF WAITING 135 dal if Jake came back to work again he should not be punished. And he kept his word. Dat is how me came to know ob dis place. Since dat time me know dat many slabes hab hidden dere. Now dat de slabes are masters, for suah dey not want to go near dat place, and neber dream dat Madame and Mam'selle Myra know of dat place and go and hide dere." By the time that they reached the path daylight had fairly broken. " We are not likely to meet anyone here, I hope, Dinah ? " " No, sah, de blacks in de plantations dey go down by the road we shall cross — suah to do dat to get quick the news ob what am going on in oder places. If one come along here, dey see you black, and tink you nigger like demselves. Mam'selle must slip into de bush, now she got dat gown on, no one s'pect her being white a little way off. Den if dere is only one or two, you shoot dem as soon as dey come up, if dar many of them — but dere no chance ob dat — must make up some story." " I am afraid that no story would be any good, Dinah ; if they came close they would see at once that I am not a negro. However, we must hope that we sha'n't meet anyone." Nat felt his arms ache a good deal before they arrived at the road they had to cross, and he would have proposed a halt, but he was ashamed to do so while Dinah was going on so steadily and uncomplainingly, though he was sure that her share of the weight was at least as much as his. He was pleased when, as the path approached the road, she said : " Put de barrow down now, Marse Glober. You go down on de road and see dat no one is in sight, but me not tink dere am any danger. I know dat dey rose at all dese little plantations up here yesterday ; dere is suah to be rum at some ob dem, and dey will all drink like hogs, just as dey did at our place, and won't be stirring till de sun a long way up." 136 A ROVING COMMISSION In a minute he returned. " There is no one in sight, Dinah." " Dat is all right, sah, now we hurry across ; once into de wood on de ober side we safe, den we can sit down and rest for a bit." " I sha'n't be sorry, Dinah. You were quite right, my arms have begun to ache pretty badly." The negress laughed. " Me begin to feel him too ; dese arms not so young as dey were. De time was I could hab carried de weight twice as far widout feeling it." When a few hundred yards in the wood they stopped for a quarter of an hour, had a drink of wine and water, and ate a slice of melon and a piece of bread. " Now we manage better," Dinah said as they stood up to continue the journey. "We hab plenty of blankets," and taking one she tore off a strip some six inches wide and gave it to Nat, and then a similar strip for herself. " Now, sah, you lay dat flat across your shoulders, den take de ends and twist dem tree or four times round de handle, just de right length, so dat you can hold dem comfor'ble. I 'se going to do de same. Den you not feel de weight on your arm, it all on your shoulders ; you find it quite easy den." Nat found, indeed, that the weight so disposed was as nothing to what it had been when it came entirely upon his arms. They soon descended into the little valley Dinah had spoken of, and she at once emptied the rest of the water out of the jug. "No use cany dat," she said, " can get plenty now wheneber we want it." "How are you feeling, Myra?" Nat asked presently. " I am beginning to feel tired, but I can hold on for a bit. Don't mind about me, please, I shall do very well." A TIME OF WAITING 137 She was, however, limping badly. After going to the end of the little dip they crossed the dividing spur, and presently struck the other depression of which Dinah had spoken. " There is no water here, Dinah ; I hope it has not dried up." " No fear ob dat, sah. In de wet season water run here, but not now ; we find him farder down." The little valley deepened rapidly, the sides became rocky and broken, and to Nat's satisfaction they presently came to a spot where a little rill of water flowed out from a fissure in the rock. " How much farther, Dinah ? " " A lillie quarter ob a mile." The sides of the valley closed in rapidly, and in a few min- utes they entered a ravine where the rocks rose perpendicularly on each side, the passage between being but seven or eight feet wide. " We jest dere now, dearie," Dinah said to Myra, who was now so exhausted that she could scarce drag her feet along. Another three or four minutes and she stopped. " Here we are," she said. Nat looked round in surprise; there was no sign of any opening in the rock. " It up dere," Dinah went on, pointing to a clump of bushes growing on a ledge. "Up there, Dinah?" " Yes, sah ; easy for us to climb up. You see where dere are little steps made ? " A casual observer would not have noticed them. They were not cut but hammered out of the rock, and appeared like acci- dental indentations. " I see that we can climb up," he said, "but how we are to get the litter up I have no idea." " No, sah, dat difficult. I 'se been linking it ober. Only 138 A ROVING COMMISSION possible way is to take madame off de barrow and carry her up. You go up once or twice, and you see dat it am not so hard as it seems. Dese lower holes not deep, but dose higher up much deeper, can get foot well into dem." " I had better go up and have a look, Dinah," and Nat started to ascend. He found that, as she had said, it was much easier than it looked. The first four or five steps, in- deed, were so shallow that he could not get much foothold, but above there were holes for the feet some six or eight inches deep, and three or four feet apart, these being hidden from the sight of anyone passing below by a projecting ledge beneath. The holes were much wider than necessary, the corners had been filled with earth and tufts of coarse grass planted there, and these completely hid the openings from sight. He soon reached the clump of bushes. Behind them was a fissure some three feet wide and four feet high. He crawled into this, and found that it widened into a cave. He was here able to stand up, remaining motionless for a minute or two until his eyes became accustomed to the dim light. Then he saw that it was of considerable height, some twelve feet wide and about twenty feet deep. This was indeed an admirable place of refuge, and he felt sure that no one, unless previously acquainted with its existence, would be likely to discover it. He went to the entrance and looked out. Myra was sitting down by the side of a little pool. She had taken her shoes and stockings off, and was bathing her blistered feet. "This is a splendid place, Myra," he said ; " certainly nobody is ever likely to find us here. The only difficulty is to get your mother up." He at once rejoined them below. " The difficulty, Dinah, is that the face of the rock is so steep that one cannot stoop forward enough to keep one's balance with the weight on one's back. The only possible way that I can conceive is to fasten Madame Duchesne firmly to the barrow A TIME OF WAITING 13d by these strips of blanket that we have been using. We can tear several more from the same blanket. It will want at least half a dozen lashings to keep her firmly down, then we must knot the other blankets to make a strong rope. I will go up with the end and pull when I get to the top. You can take the lower handles, and by holding them on a level with your shoulders you can steady the thing as it comes up. You won't want to lift, I can pull her weight up easily enough, all that you have to do is to steady it." " Dat will do bery well, sah." Six strips of blanket were wound round Madame Duchesne as she lay on the hand-barrow ; one was across her forehead so as to prevent her head from dropping forward, one was under the arms, and two more round the body, the other two were over her legs. The baskets and other things had been taken from the barrow. It was now lifted on to one end to see if there was any sign of the body slipping. However, it remained firm in its upright position. The blankets had already been knotted by Nat, whose training enabled him to fasten them so securely that there was no risk of their slipping. Then he ascended to the top of the steps and took his place on the little platform on which the bushes were growing. " Now," he said, " I will raise it a few inches to see that it is properly balanced." He had already seen that the proposal that Dinah should steady it from below was not feasible. Although the first step was immediately below the bushes, the others varied considerably, some being almost in the same line as those next to them, so that two-thirds of the way up the holes were six feet to the right of the spot from which they had started, having evidently been so constructed that from below, had anyone noticed them, they appeared to go away from the bushes, to which, from the last hole that could be seen from below, there was no communication whatever. The 140 A ROVING COMMISSION ledge, however, although scarce noticeable from the bottom of the ravine, was really some eight inches wide, and from this but one step was necessary to gain a footing on the platform. Dinah, standing below, steadied the barrow as high as she could reach the ends of the handles, and Nat then, leaning over, managed to raise it to his level without doing more than scraping the face of the rock as it rose. Dinah was on the ledge to receive it and pass it up to him, and Nat had soon the satisafaction of seeing it laid safely down in the cave. Myra was then got up without any difficulty. She clapped her hands as she entered the cave. " This is splendid, Nat ! I never dreamt that there could be such a safe hiding-place." " It had to be, mam'selle," Dinah said, " for dey hunt run- away slabes with blood-hounds. Slabes dat escape here keep all de way in de water. De bit between de pools is all bare rock, not nice to walk on, but bery good for scent, dat pass off in very short time, den walk down here in dis water dat you see below us. Eben blood-hounds cannot smell track in water. If dey came down here might smell de steps, but neber come here." " Could they come up the other way, Dinah ? " "You go and look for yourself, sah, but mind you be careful." The wrappings had now been taken off Madame Duchesne, and the blankets replaced beneath her. She was still ap- parently sound asleep. Dinah took up the jug and went to the entrance, Nat followed her. "You have not given her too strong a dose I hope, Dinah?" " No, sah, no fear ob dat, she soon wake now. I shall sprinkle water in her face, and pour a lillie wine down her troat, you see she wake den." " Will she be sensible, Dinah?" A TIME OF WATTING 141 " Not at first, sah. She 'tupid for a bit, abler dat it depend on feber. If feber strong, she no sensible, talk to herself just as if dreaming ; if feber not very strong she know us, but more likely not know us for some time. Me got feber medicine, neber fear. Feber come on too quick to be bery strong. When feber come on slow, den it seem to poison all ober, take long time to get well ; when it come on sudden like this, not like to be bery bad." " Well, we must have patience, Dinah, and hope for the best. Now I will go down with you and fetch all the things up." As soon as these were all housed in the cave, Nat said to Myra, "I will explore down the stream and see what chance there is of anyone coming up that way. Dinah evidently thinks that there is no fear of it, but I should like to see for myself." Fifty yards farther on there was a sharp widening of the ravine, and here some trees and thick undergrowth had taken root, and so overhung the little stream that Nat had difficulty in making his way through them. He remembered Dinah's warning, and advanced cautiously. Suddenly he stopped. The stream fell away abruptly in front of him, and, advancing cautiously to that point, he stood at the edge of an abrupt fall. A wall of almost perpendicular rock rose on each side, and the streamlet leaped sheer down fifty feet into a pool ; as far as he could see the chasm remained unbroken. "Splendid," he said to himself; "no one coming up here would be likely to try farther. The bushes regularly interlace over the water, and there seems no possible way of climbing up, at any rate, within a quarter of a mile of this place, and for aught I know this ravine may go on for another mile. Any party coming up would certainly conclude that no slave could approach this way, and they would have to make a tremendous detour over the hills and get to the point where 142 A ROVING COMMISSION the valley comes down to the cave. It is certainly a grand hiding-place. I suppose when it was first discovered those bushes did not grow in front of it; likely enough they were planted on purpose to hide the entrance, and the place may have been used by escaped slaves ever since the Spaniards first landed on the island and began to persecute the unfor- tunate natives. Unless some of the negroes who know of it put the mulattoes up to the secret, they may search as much as they like but will never find us. I must ask Dinah whether there are many who know of it." On returning to the cave he found that Madame Duchesne had wakened from her long sleep. She was, however, quite unconscious; her eyes were opened, and she was muttering rapidly to herself. Myra was sitting beside her with the tears streaming down her cheeks. "You must not be alarmed," he said. "Dinah told me she would be so when she woke up, but she thinks that though the attack of fever will be a sharp one, it will not last very long. It is not, as is the case with new-comers on the island, the result of malaria, or anything of that sort, but of agitation and fatigue." "Hab you been down de stream, Marse Glober?" Dinah asked. "Yes, and you were quite right. There is no fear whatever of any one coming to look for us from that direction. Are there many negroes who know the secret of this place?" "Bery few," she said. "It am tole only to men who are going to take to de hills, and who can't go farder, 'cause per- haps dey been flogged till dey too weak to travel many miles. Each man who is tole has to take a great oath dat he suah tell no one except anober slabe running away, or someone who hab to go to take food to him ; dat is how I came to know. Jake had been tole when dey knew he going to run away. He tole A TIME OF WAITING 143 his broder, my husband, cause he had been flogged so bad he could not go to de mountains. Den my husband tole me, 'cause he could not get away wid de food. I neber tell anyone till now, cause dere no occasion for it ; slabes treated too well at our plantation to want to run away. But dere am no doubt dat dere am slabes in oder plantations dat know of him, but me no tink dey tell. In de first place dey take big oath, and dey suah to die ef dey break dat ; in de next place, because dey no tell dem mulattoes, because some day perhaps dese will be oberseers again, and den de secret of de cave be no longer ob use." " That is good, Dinah ; those scoundrels I overheard talking the other night will no doubt ask if any of the negroes know of any place where we should be likely to hide, and if no one knows it but yourself they would be able to get no information, and it is hardly likely that they would ask the negroes of another plantation. Now, what is the first thing to be done, Dinah?" " De first ting, sah, is to gader sticks to make fire." " All right. I will go up the ravine and bring down a bundle of dry sticks from the forest. I will get them as dry as possible, so as not to make a smoke." " No fear of anyone see smoke, massa. We no want great fire, and smoke all scatter before it get to top of de trees up above." " Well, I will get them at once," he said. " I will pluck two of the fowls while you are away," Myra said. " I want to be doing something." " When you come back, sah, I will go out and gader berries to make colour for your face. When you hab got dat done, not much fear of your being known." "You will have to get something to colour my hair, too," Nat said. " I never could pass as a mulatto with this yellowish- brown hair." 144 A ROVING COMMISSION "Dat for true," Dinah assented. "I'se brought 'tuff to make dat, but had no time to look for berries for skin. When you come back we make fire first ; me want boiling water for de med'cine me make for madame." "Yes, of course, that is the first thing," Nat said. "And when you go anywhere to get provisions, Dinah, it would be a good thing if you could get us a few yards of cord ; it would be very handy for tying up faggots, and would be useful in all sorts of ways." " Me will see about dat, sah. Me forgot 'im altogeder when me came away, else would have brought a length; but you will find plenty ob creepers dat will do bery well to tie up faggots." " So I shall, Dinah ; I forgot that," and Nat started at once. In an hour he was back again with a huge bundle of dry wood. " Where would you light it ? " he asked. "Jest inside entrance, sah. Dis good wood dat you hab brought, make bery lillie smoke." After a little water had been boiled and Dinah had stewed some herbs and chips of wood she had brought up with her, the two fowls were cut up and the joints spitted on the ramrod of a pistol and grilled over the fire, as in this way they would cook much more rapidly than if whole. As soon as they were ready the party made a hearty meal. The medicine was by this time cool, and Madame Duchesne was lifted up and the cup held to her lips. She drank the draught without difficulty. Her face was now flushed, and her hands burning hot. " What will that do, Dinah ? " " Dat most de bark of a tree dat will get de feber down, sah. I 'se going to gib her dat ebery two hours ; den when we see dat de feber abate, we give her oder stuff to trow her into great sweat ; abler dat she get better. Now, while I am A TIME OF WAITING 145 away, mam'selle, you boil water, cut up half ob one of dem pine-apples, and when de water boil take 'im off de fire and put de pine-apple in ; and let 'im cool, dat make bery nice drink for her. Now me go and find dem berries." Dinah was away two hours, and returned with an apronful of brown berries ; and with these, after Nat had washed all the black from his face and hands, he was again stained, as was Myra also. She had rather a darker tinge given to her than that which was considered sufficient for Nat. " It make you too dark, sah ; yo' light eyes show too much. Mam'selle hab brown eyes and dark hair, and me make her regular little mulatto girl. When get handkerchief round her head, and wid dat spot gown on, no one 'spect her ob being white." " You have brought in a great supply of berries, Dinah ? " " Yes, sah ; put on stain fresh ebery two or tree days." When it became dusk the candle was taken out of the lantern, lighted, and stuck against the side of the cave. Dinah opened a bag and took out a handful of coffee berries, which she roasted over the fire in a small frying-pan which she had brought in addition to the pot. When they were pounded up between two stones, some sugar was produced, and had it not been for Madame Duchesne's state Myra and Nat would have really enjoyed their meal. Then Dinah took from the basket a bundle of dried tobacco leaves, rolled a cigar for Nat and one for herself. " Dat is what me call comfort," she said, as she puffed the weed with intense enjoyment. " Bacca am de greatest pleasure dat de slabes hab after their work be done." " It is a nasty habit, Dinah. I have told you so a great many times." "Yes, mam'selle, you tink so. You got a great many oder nice tings a slabe not got, many nice tings ; but when dey got 146 A ROVING COMMISSION bacca dey got eberyting dey want. You no call it nasty, Marse Glober?" " No ; I like it. I never smoked till after I got that hurt from the dog, but not being able to do things like other fellows, I took to smoking. I like it, and the doctor told me that it was a capital preventive against fever." " Do they allow smoking on board ship, Nat? " " Well, of course it is not allowed on duty, and it is not allowed for midshipmen at all ; but of an evening, if we go forward, the officers on watch never take any notice. And now about to-morrow, Dinah. Of course I am most anxious to know what the news is, and whether this rising has ex- tended over the whole of the island, and if it is true that everywhere they have murdered the whites." " Yes, sah, me understand dat." "Then I want, if it is possible, to send a line down to Monsieur Duchesne to let him know that his wife and daughter have escaped and are in a place of safety. He must be in a terrible state. The question is, how would it be possible to send such a note?" " Me tink dat me could manage it, sah. My grandson Pete bery sharp boy. Me tink 'he might manage to get down to de town, but de letter must be a bery lillie one, so dat he can hide it in him woolly head. He might be searched, and dey kill 'im for suah if dey find he take letter to white man. He sharp as a needle, and often take messages from one of our slabes to anoder on plantation eber so far away. Me quite suah dat he bery glad to carry letter for mam'selle — make him as proud as peacock. When dey in der senses all de slabes lobe her because she allus speaks kindly to dem. He go suah enough, and bring message back." " It is lucky that I have a pencil with me," Nat said, and drawing out a pocket-book he tore out a leaf. " Now, if you A TIME OF WAITING 147 will tell me what to say, Myra, I will write in your name." He went over to the candle. "You must cut it very short, you know. I will write it as small as I can, but you must not send more than one leaf." Dearest Papa, Myra dictated, we have got away. Dinah warned us in time, and mamma, Nat, and I ran up through the shrubbery and the cane-fields to the forest. When it got dark — " After dark" Nat put in, " you must not use more words than is necessary " — Nat went down, found Dinah, and brought her up, and they brought lots of things for us, and next morning carried mamma to this place, which is in the mountains and very safe. Mamma has got fever from the fright we had, but Dinah says she will not be ill long. We are both dressed up in Dinah's clothes, and Nat and I have been stained brown, and we look like mulattoes. Do not be anxious about us ; the negroes may search everywhere without finding us. Nat has a brace of pistols, and mamma and I have one each, and he will take care of us and bring us down safe as soon as Dinah thinks it can be done. I hope to see you again soon. Your most loving MYRA. " That just fills it," Nat said as he rolled it up into a little ball. Dinah looked at it doubtfully. " I 'se feared dat too big to hide in him wool," she said ; " it bery kinky." " Never mind that He must manage to straighten it out and sew it somewhere in his clothes. What time will you start, Dinah?" " Me start so as to get down to de plantation before it get light. Me can find de way troo de wood easy 'nuff. It bery different ting to walk by oneself, instead ob having to 148 A ROVING COMMISSION carry madame and to take 'tickler care dat she goes along smoove and dat de barrow doesn't knock against anyting. Best for me to be back before anyone wake up. Me don't sup- pose anyone link of me yesterday. Me told my darter Chloe dat she say noting about me. If anyone ask her, den she say : ' Mover bery sad at house being burnt down and madame and mam'selle run away. I tink she hab gone away to be alone and hab a cry to herself, cause as she nurse both ob dem she bery fond of dem, and no like to tink dat perhaps dey be caught and killed.' But me no 'spect dat anyone tink about me ; dey hab oder tings to tink of. If I had run into wood when you run dere, dey know dat I give you warning and perhaps show you some place to hide, but abler you had gone I ran in again and met dem outside wid de oder house servants. I top dere and see dem burn de house, and den walk down to Chloe's house and talk to oder women ; so no one tink dat I know more 'bout you dan anyone else." " That was very wise, Dinah. Now mind, what we particu- larly want to know is not only what the negroes have done, but what they are going to do. Are they going to march away to the hills, or are they going to attack the town ? " Dinah nodded. " Me see all about dat, sah. Now, mam'selle, don't you for- get to gib your mamma de medicine ebery two hours ! " " I sha'n't forget, Dinah." Dinah took up the basket. " Me bring up bread and more chicken, and more wine if dey hab not drunk it all. Now keep up your heart, dearie ; ebery ting come right in de end," and with a cheerful nod she started on her errand. " Your nurse is a trump, Myra," Nat said. " We should feel very helpless without her, though of course I should do what I could. When she comes back to-morrow I will go out myself. A TIME OF WAITING 149 I hate to sit here doing nothing when all the island is in a blaze." " I wish I knew what has become of the family of Madame Bayou. Her daughter Julie is my greatest friend. You know them well, Nat, for we drove over there several times when you were with us, and Madame Bayou and Julie often spent the day with us. Of course they were not quite of our class, as Monsieur Bayou is only superintendent to the Count de Noe, who has been in France for some years ; but he is a gentleman by birth, and, I believe, a distant relation of the count's, and as they were our nearest neighbours and Julie is just my age we were very intimate." " Yes, of course I remember them well, and that coachman of theirs. I generally had a talk with him when they were over at your place. He was a wonderfully intelligent fellow for a negro. He told me that he had been taught by another black, who had been educated by some missionaries. He could read and write well, and even knew a little Latin." " Yes, I have heard papa say that he was the most intelli- gent negro he had ever met, and that he was very much respected by all the negroes round. I know M. Bayou had the greatest confidence in him, and I can't help thinking that even if all the others broke out he would have saved the lives of the family." " If you like I will go down and see to-morrow evening. I agree with you that it is likely he would be faithful, but he may not have been able to be so. However much he may be respected by the other blacks, one man can do very little when a crowd of others half mad with excitement are against him ; and I suppose after all that it would be only natural that his sympathies should be with men of his own colour, and being so exceptionally well educated and intelligent he would naturally be chosen as one of their leaders. However, he may have 150 A ROVING COMMISSION warned the family, and possibly they may be hiding somewhere in the woods just as we are. I should hope that a great many families have been saved that way." " Will it be neeessary to keep watch to-night, Nat ? " " No, I do not think there is any risk. Even the negroes who know of this cave will not think of looking for us here, as they would not imagine we could be acquainted with its existence. I think we can safely take a good night's rest, and we shall be all the better for it." It was not till nearly daylight on the second day after start- ing that Dinah returned. " Me not able to get away before," she said. " In de first place me hab to wait till boy come back wid answer. Here 'tis," and she pulled a small pellet of paper from her hair. Myra seized it and flattened it out. Thank God for the good news. I have been nearly mad. At present can do nothing. We expect to be attacked every hour. God protect you both. There was no signature. Monsieur Duchesne was evidently afraid that, were the note to fall into the hands of the revolting leaders, a fresh search would be instituted by them. " Dat boy bery nearly killed," Dinah said. " He creep and crawl troo de blacks widout being seen, and get close to de white men out guarding de place. Dey seize him and say he spy, and bery near hang him ; den he took out de paper just in time, and said it for Massa Duchesne ; den dey march him to town, woke up massa, and den, ob course, it was all right. It too late to come back dat night, but he crawl out and lie close to where dose black rascals were watching. Directly it get dark he get up, he crawl troo dem, and run bery hard back, and directly he gib me paper I start back here." A TIME OF WATTING 151 "That was very good of him," Myra said; "when these troubles are over, Dinah, you may be sure that my father will reward him handsomely." " Me suah of dat, mam'selle. He offer him ten louis, but Jake say no, if he be searched and dat gold found on 'im dey hang 'm up for suah. Marse say bery good, do much more dan dat for him when dese troubles ober. And now, dearie, how is madame going on ? " and she went to the side of Madame Duchesne, put her hand on her forehead, and listened to her breathing. She turned round with a satisfied nod. " Feber nearly gone," she said ; " two or tree days she open eyes and know us." " And how did you get on, Dinah ? " " Me hab no trouble, sah ; most ob de black fellows drunk all de day long. Nobody noticed dat Dinah was not dere. Some of de women dey say, ' What you do all day yesterday, Dinah?' and me say, 'Me ill, me no like dese doings.' Dey talk and say, ' Grand ting eberyone be free, eberyone hab plenty ob land, no work any more.' I say, ' Dat so, but what de use ob land if no work ? where dey get cloth for dress ? where dey get meal and rice ? Dey link all dese things grow widout work. What dey do when dey old, or when dey ill ? Who look after dem ? ' Some ob dem want to quarrel ; oders say, ' Dinah old woman, she hab plenty sense, what she say she say for true.' Me tell dem dat me no able to 'tand sight ob house burnt, no one at work in fields, madame and darter gone, no one know where — perhaps killed. Dinah go and live by herself in de wood, only come down sometimes when she want food. She say dat to 'splain why she go away and come back sometimes." "A very good idea, very good," Nat said warmly; "the women were not wrong when they said you had plenty of good sense. And now, Dinah, what is the news from other parts of the island?" 152 A ROVING COMMISSION The old nurse was at the moment standing partly behind Myra, and she shook her head over the girl's shoulder to show that she did not wish to say anything before her, then she replied : " Plenty ob talk, some say one ting some anoder ; not worf listen to such foolishness." CHAPTER IX AN ATTACK ON THE CAVE DINAH lay down for a short sleep. It was far too late for Nat to start for Count de Noe's plantation, and when it was broad daylight, he went down to the pool for a bathe. When he returned, Dinah was standing at the entrance. She held up her hand to signal to him to stay below. She came down the steps, and sat down with him on a stone twenty or thirty yards up the stream. "Mam'selle hab gone to sleep again," she said; "now we can talk quiet." " And what is your news, Dinah ? " he asked. " Marse Glober, it am jest awful. It seem to Dinah dat all de black folk in dis island am turned into debils — from ebery- whar de same story — eberywhar de white massas and de ladies and de childer all killed. Dat not de worst, sah, dey not content wid killing dem, dey put dem to horrible tortures. Me can't tell you all de terrible tings dat I 'se heard ; me jest tell you one, dat enough for you to guess what de oders are. Dey caught one white man, a carpenter, dey tied 'im between two planks and dey carry 'im to his saw-pit and dey saw 'im asunder. In one place de niggers march to attack town, and AN ATTACK ON THE CAVE 153 what you tink dey take for dere flag ? A lilly white baby wid a spear run troo him. As to de ladies, me can no speak of de awful tings me hab heard. You quite right to gib pistol to madame and mam'selle, dey do well shoot demselves before dese yellow and black debits get hold of dem. Me neber tink dat me hab shame for my colour, now I hab shame ; if me could lift my hands and ebery mulatto and black man in dis island all fall dead, me lift dem now, and me glad me fall dead wid de rest." " This is awful, indeed, Dinah ; as you say the negroes seem to have become fiends. I could understand it in plantations where they are badly treated, but it is certain that this was quite the exception, and that, on the whole, they were com- fortable and happy before this trouble began. I know they were on Monsieur Duchesne's estate, and on all those I visited when I was here before. I do not say they might not have preferred to be free." "What good dat do dem, sah? If free, not work; dey worse off dan when slabes. Where dey get close ? where dey get food? what dey do when dey get old? Look at Dinah, she allus comfor'ble and happy. She could work now tho' she old, but she hab no work to do 'cept when she like to dust room ; she get plenty ob good food, she know well dat howeber old she live, massa and madame make her comfor'ble. Suppose she like de oders, and stop down at de huts, what den ? who gib de ole woman food ? who gib her close ? who gib her wine and medicine? No, sah, dis am bad business all troo — terrible bad for white men, terrible bad for black men, terrible bad for eberyone. " Next you see come de turn of de white man. Dey come out from de towns, plenty guns and powder, dey attack de blacks, dey shoot dem down like dogs, dey hunt dem troo de hills ; dey show dem no mercy, and dey don't deserve none, 154 A ROVING COMMISSION massa. It would hab been better had big wave come swallow dis island up, better for eberyone ; white man go to white man's heaben, good black man go to heaben, either de same heaben, or de black man's heaben. Now, suah enough, dere no heaben for dese black men who hab done dese tings, dey all shut out ; dey no let dem in 'cause dey hab blood on dere hands, me heard priest say dat St. Peter he sit at de gate. Well, sah, you bery suah dat St. Peter him shake him head when black fellow from dis island come up and ask to go in. All dis dreadful, massa ; " and the tears ran plentifully down the old nurse's cheeks. " It won't be as bad as that, Dinah," Nat said soothingly. " There must be a great many who have taken no part in this horrible affair, and who have only risen because they were afraid to hang back." "Don't you whisper word to Mam'selle Myra 'bout dese tings, Marse Glober." " You may be sure that I shall not do so, Dinah ; but cer- tainly I shall, whenever I leave her, tell her not to hesitate to use her pistol against herself." "If de negroes find dis cave, you trust to me," the negress said firmly. " I 'se heard dat it bery wicked ting to kill oneself. Bery well, sah, me won't let madame and mam'selle do wicked ting. Dinah got long knife hidden, if dey come Dinah kill bofe ob dem, den dey no do wicked deed. As to Dinah, she poor ole negro woman. Better dat St. Peter say to her, ' You no come in, dere blood on hands,' dan dat he should say dat to de two white ladies she hab nursed." Nat's eyes were moist, and his voice shook at this proof of the old woman's devotion, and he said unsteadily : " St. Peter would not blame you, Dinah. He would know why there was blood on your hands, and he would say, ' Come AN ATTACK ON THE CAVE 156 in, you have rendered to your mistresses the last and greatest services possible.'" After breakfast Dinah washed his shirt, his white nankeen trousers, and jacket, and, as he had not a red sash to wind round his waist, he took the ornaments and slings from his sword-belt and put this on. "You pass bery well, sah, for mulatto man; de only ting am de hat. Dat red handkerchief bery well when you pretend to be negro, but not suit mulatto, and Dinah will go see what she find at dose plantation on de hills." " No, Dinah, you must not run risks." " No risk in dat, sah. Dinah known bery well at most of de plantations round. I'se got a name for hab good medi- cines for febers, and ointments for sores, and women dat hab childer ill bring dein down to me from all parts. Bery simple for me to go round and say dat now de house gone and de ladies and all, me not like to stay down dere and be trouble to my darters. Plenty for 'em to do to keep demselves and der childer. Me going to trabel round de country and nurse de sick and sell my medicines. Suah to meet some woman whose child me hab cured ; ask her if she know anyone who hab got straw-hat — dere suah to be straw-hats in planters' houses — me say dat a mulatto hab lost his, and not able to go down to town to buy one, and told me would gib me dollar if I could get him good one. Me try to get someting for sash too." "That would be almost as difficult as the hat, Dinah." Dinah shook her head. "Plenty ob women got red shawl, sah; most all got red handkerchief. Buy one shawl or six handkerchief, bring dem home, cut dem up, and sew dem together; dat make bery good sash. You no trouble, massa; you keep quiet here all day and look abler madame. I 'se sure to be back before it time for you to start." 156 A ROVING COMMISSION Dinah indeed returned just as the sun was sinking. She carried a small bundle in one hand, and a broad-brimmed straw-hat in the other. " Well done, Dinah ! " Nat exclaimed as he returned after sitting for a couple of hours on the rocks near the fall, and found her in the cave. "How did you get the hat?" " Jess as I said, sah ; me found one woman who allus bery grateful to me -for sabing her chile. I tell her I want straw- hat. She said she could get me one, two, or tree hats in de house ob mulatto oberseer. She 'teal one for me. Most of de men down in de plain, so she take basket and go up to de house garden — ebery one take what dey want now. She get some green 'tuff, as if for her dinner ; den she go round by mulatto man's house, she look in at window and see hats ; she take one, put 'im in basket and cober 'im ober, den bring um back to me. She had red shawl ; she gib it me, but I make her take dollar for it. Me hide de hat under my dress till me get away into de woods again, den me carry um. Now, sah, put um on. Dat suit you bery well, sah; you pass for young mulatto man when I got dis shawl cut up and sewn togeder. You please to know dat madame open her eyes lillie time ago, and know mam'selle and Dinah. Me gib her drink ob pine- apple juice wid water hi which me boil poppy seeds ; she drink and go off in quiet sleep ; when she wake to-morrow I 'spect she able to talk." " I don't like your going, Nat," Myra said when, the shawl having been converted into a sash, he put his pistols into it. " We have heard, you see, that the Bayous were not killed in the first attack, and I do not see that you can learn more." "I should not run the risk, such as it may be, merely to ask that question. But I think that their coachman, Toussaint, must have saved them. I want to see him; possibly he may have made some arrangements for getting them down to the AN ATTACK ON THE CAVE 157 coast, and he might be willing to allow you and your mother to go down with them. Of course she would have to be car- ried, but that might not add much to the difficulty." Receiving general instructions from Dinah as to the shortest route, he started, without giving time for Myra to remonstrate further. After two hours' walking he approached the planta- tion of Count Noe. The house was, of course, gone. Seeing a negro girl, he went up to her. " Which is the house of Toussaint ? " he asked. She pointed to a path. " It am de first house you come to," she said ; " he used to live at de stables, but now he hab de house ob one of de ober- seers who was killed because he did not join us." On reaching the house indicated he looked in at the window, and saw the person he was looking for sitting at a table reading. He was now a man of forty-eight years old, tall in stature, with a face unusually intelligent for one of his race. His manners were quiet and simple, and there was a certain dignity in his bearing that bespoke a feeling that he was superior to the race to which he belonged and the position he occupied. Nat went round to the door and knocked. Toussaint opened it. " Have you a letter for me ? " he asked quietly, supposing that his visitor had come with a message to him from one of the leaders of the rebellion. Nat entered and closed the door behind him. "Then you do not remember me, Toussaint?" The negro recognized the voice, and the doubtful accent with which his visitor spoke French. "You are the young English officer," he exclaimed, "though I should not have known you but for the voice. I heard that you were at Monsieur Duchesne's, and it was believed that you had fled to the woods with his wife and daughter. I ain glad that they escaped." 158 A ROVING COMMISSION " I have come from them, Toussaint — at least from the daughter, for the mother has had an attack of fever. She heard that the family here had also escaped, and she said at once that she felt sure you had aided them." " I did so," the negro said quietly ; " they were the family I served, and it was my duty to save them ; moreover, they had always been kind to me. They are safe — I saw them down to the coast last night. I risked my life, for although the slaves round here respect me and look upon me as their leader, even that would not have saved me had they suspected that I had saved white people from death." " But you are not with them, Toussaint, surely ? " The negro drew himself up. " I am with my countrymen," he said ; " I have always felt their position greatly. Why should we be treated as cattle because we differ in colour from others ? I did my duty to my employers, and now that that is done I am free, and to- morrow I shall join the bands under Francois and Biassou. I regret most deeply that my people should have disgraced their cause by murders. Of the two thousand whites who have fallen fully one half are women and children, therefore there could have been but one thousand men who, if they had been allowed to go free down to the town, could have fought against us ; and what are a thousand men, when we are half a million ? It has been a mistake that may well ruin our cause ; among the whites everywhere it will confirm their opinion of our race that we are but savages, brutal and bloodthirsty, when we have the opportunity. In France it will excite those against us who were before our friends, and French troops will pour into the islands, whereas, had the revolution been a peaceful one, it would have been approved by the friends of liberty there. It is terrible, nevertheless it makes it all the more necessary that those who have some influence should use it for good. AN ATTACK ON THE CAVE 159 Now that the first fury has passed, better thoughts may pre- vail, and we may conduct the war without such horrors ; but even of that I have no great hope. We may be sure that the whites will take a terrible vengeance, the blacks will retaliate ; it will be blood for blood on both sides. However, in a case like this the lives of individuals are as nothing, the cause is everything. I have myself no animosity against the whites, but many of my countrymen have just cause for hatred against them, and were any to try to interfere to prevent them from taking the vengeance they consider their right, it would cause dissension and so prejudice our chances of success. You can understand, then, that I shall hold myself aloof altogether from any interference. I am sorry for the ladies, but now that I have done my duty to my late employers, I have a paramount duty to discharge to my countrymen, and decline to interfere in any way." " Then all I can say is," Nat said sternly, " that I trust that some day, when you are in the power of your enemies, there •will be none to give you the aid you now deny to women in distress." So saying, he turned and went out through the door, and before morning broke arrived again at the cave. Not wishing to disturb the others, he lay down outside until the sun was up, then he went along the stream for some distance and bathed. As he returned, Myra was standing on the ledge outside the entrance. " Welcome back ! " she called out. " What news have you brought?" " Good news as far as your friends are concerned. Toussaint has got them down to the coast, and sent them to Cape Fran- cois in a boat." "That is good news indeed," she cried. "Oh, I am glad! Now, what is the bad news ? " 160 A ROVING COMMISSION " The only bad news is that the negro declined to help you in the same way. He is starting this morning to join some bands of slaves up in the hills." " That is hardly bad news," she said, " for I never supposed that he would help us. There was no reason why he should run any risks for our sake." " I hoped that he would have done so, Myra ; but at the same time, as he evidently regards the success of the blacks as certain, and expects to become one of their leaders, one can understand that he does not care to run any risk of compro- mising himself." " Mamma is better this morning," Myra said ; " she has asked after you, and remembers what happened before her fever began." " That is good indeed. As soon as she gets strong enough to travel we will begin to think how we can best make our way down to the town." Four days later, Dinah, on her return from a visit to the plantations, said that there had just been some fighting be- tween the whites coming out from Cape Francois and the slaves. They said that a ship had arrived with some French troops, and that all the white men in the town were coming out, and that they were killing every negro they found. The women and children from the plantations in the plains were all flying into the woods. " Then it strikes me, Dinah, that our position here is a very dangerous one. You may be sure that the slaves will not be able to stand against the whites and the soldiers, and that numbers of them will go into hiding, and it is very likely that some who know the secret of this place will come here. " " Yes, sah, I 'se not thought ob dat ; but, sure enough, it am bery likely dat some ob dem may do so. What you link had best be done ? If de slabes all running into de wood de AN ATTACK ON THE CAVE 161 danger of passing troo would be much greater dan it hab been. And eben if madame could walk, it would be bery great risk to go down — great risk to 'top here too. What you tink?" " I don't know what to think, Dinah ; there is one thing, it is not likely that many of them would come here." " No, sah ; dose who know about de cave would know dat not more dan eight or ten could hide here — no use to bring a lot ob people wid dem." " That is what I think, Dinah ; they will keep the secret to themselves. Now against eight or ten of them, I am sure that I could hold this place, but some of them, when they found they could not get in, would go back again and might lead a strong party here, or might keep watch higher up, and starve us out. And even if the whites beat them out of all the plantations, they would not know where to look for us, and would have too much on their hands to scatter all over the hills. If we are to join them it must be by going down." " Dinah might go and tell dem, sah." Nat shook his head. "I am afraid, Dinah, that their passions will be so much aroused at the wholesale murder of the whites that they will shoot every black they come across, man or woman, and you would be shot long before you could get close enough to ex- plain why you had come. No, I think the only thing to be done, as far as I can see, is that you should go down from time to time to let us know how things are going. I do not think that the whites are likely to get very far along the road. You may be sure that when the troops started from the town news was sent at once to the leaders, and it is likely that they will move a great number of men down to oppose them, and will likely enough drive them back. However, the great thing for us is to know where they are and what they are doing. It is likely that now the whites have advanced there will no longer 162 A ROVING COMMISSION be any watch kept to prevent people, in hiding like ourselves, from going down to the town ; if you find out that that is so, we will put madame on her barrow again, and carry her down. Of course we should have to chance being met when going through the forest, but we must risk that." " Yes, I tink dat de only plan, sah." Accordingly, Dinah started again the next morning. Nat felt very anxious, and took up his place near the entrance to the cave. Myra was busy seeing to the cooking and in attend- ing upon her mother. About four o'clock he thought he heard voices, and, crawling cautiously to the mouth of the cave, he looked out through the bushes. Eight men were coming along ; six of them were negroes, and the other two were the mulatto overseers whose conversation he had overheard. He called softly to Myra : " Don't be alarmed, Myra, we are going to have a fight, but I have no fear whatever of their taking us. Only one can attack at once, and he can only come slowly. There are eight of them ; you may as well bring me the two other pistols. I would not take them if I thought there was the smallest chance of these fellows getting up here. Go and tell your mother not to be frightened, and then do you come and sit down behind me. I will hand the pistols to you to load. There are only eight of these fellows, and if there were eighty, we could hold the cave ; even if they got up to the platform they could only enter, stooping, one at a time. Go at once to your mother, they will be here directly." "How much farther is this place?" the mulatto Christophe asked. " Right dar behind dat bush," the negro said ; " you go up by dem steps." "It is a splendid hiding-place, Paul." " Yes. No one who did not know of it would have a chance AN ATTACK ON THE CAVE 163 of finding it. There is someone there now ; don't you see a light smoke rising behind the bush ? " " So there is ! I should not be surprised if the woman Duchesne and her daughter are there. It is certain that some- one must have helped them off, or we should have found them long ago." " Well, it will be a rare piece of luck if they are there." The negroes had already noticed the smoke, and were talking excitedly together. It had not occurred to them that any fugitives could have discovered the place, and they were only concerned at the thought that the cave might be already fully occupied. " Hullo, dar ! " one of them shouted. " How many ob you up dar?" No answer was returned. He shouted again, but there was still silence. " I s'pect dar only one man," he said to his comrades. " Most likely him gone out to look for food. Bery foolish leab fire burning ; " and he at once proceeded to climb the steps, followed by two others. Nat grasped the handle of his pistol. He determined that in the first place he would make sure of the two mulattoes. They were by far the most dangerous of his foes, and if they escaped they would, he had no doubt, keep watch higher up, capture Dinah on her return, and cut off all retreat from the cave. It was time to act at once, and, taking a steady aim at Paul, he fired. With a shriek the mulatto fell backwards. Before the others could recover from their surprise "Nat fired again, and Christophe fell forward on his face in the water. He passed the pistol back to Myra, and grasped another. He had ex- pected that the negroes would at once fly, and two of them had turned to do so, when the highest climber shouted down : 164 A ROVING COMMISSION " Come on, all obyou ! what you want run away for? Perhaps only one man here, he want to keep de cabe all to himself; we soon settle with him. Dis cabe de only safe place." Nat could easily have shot the man, but he determined to direct his fire against those below. If he shot those climbing the others would escape, and it was of the greatest importance that no one should do so. The negroes had snatched the pistols from the belts of the fallen mulattoes, and several shots were fired at the bush. Nat drew back for a moment as the negroes raised their arms, and then discharged the two barrels of his pistol with as deadly an effect as before, and seized the third weapon. The remaining negro below dropped behind a fallen rock. At the same moment the man who was evidently the leader of them sprang on to the ledge. Nat's pistol was ready, and as the negro bounded forward he fired. The ball struck him in the chest, and he fell like a log over the precipice. In his fall he struck one of his comrades, and carried him down on to the rocks below. The other seemed paralysed with fear, and uttered a shriek for mercy as Nat, who from his posi- tion could not see him, sprang to his feet ; but the tales that he had heard from Dinah of the atrocities perpetrated had steeled his heart to all thoughts of mercy, and taking a deliberate aim Nat shot him through the head. He had still a pistol left charged. Myra had not yet loaded the first he had handed to her, for it was but some twenty seconds from the time that the first shot had been fired. Nat caught up the sword, and at once made his way down the steps. He ran towards the rock behind which the last of the negroes had thrown himself. As he did so the man leapt to his feet, and the two pistols cracked at the same moment. Nat felt a sharp pain in his side. His own shot had missed, and a moment later the negro was rush- ing at him with uplifted knife. Jfot the moment Nat forgot that he had another shot left, "HE FELL LIKE A LOG OVER THE PRECIPICE. AN ATTACK ON THE CAVE 165 and, dropping the pistol, shifted his sword to the right hand, and before the negro's knife could fall he ran him through the body. There was now but one foe left. He lay stunned below his fallen comrade, and Nat saw from the manner in which one of his legs was doubled under him that it was broken. He could do no harm, but he would assuredly die if left there alone. Nat pressed his lips together, and having picked up his pistol, he put it close to the man's head and fired. Looking up, he saw Myra run out with a pistol in her hand. " It is all right, Myra. Thank God none of them have got away." " Are you hurt ? " she asked, breathlessly. " I will come up," he said ; " I am hit in the side, but I don't think that it is at all serious." He found, however, as he ascended the steps, that it gave him acute pain every time he moved. The girl was white and trembling when he joined her. " Don't be frightened, Myra," he said, " I am sure that it is nothing serious. It struck a rib and glanced off, I think, and at the worst it has only broken the bone. You go in and attend to your mother." " I shall not do anything of the sort," she said. " You come in, and I will look at it; it must want bandaging, any- how." Nat felt that this was true, and, following her into the cave, he let her take off his jacket. The wound was a few inches below the arm. "It is lucky that it was not a little more to the right," he said j " it would have done for me. Don't look so white, Myra, a miss is as good as a mile. It is as I thought, is k not ? *— just a glancing wound." " Yes," the girl said. He felt along the rib. 166 A ROVING COMMISSION " Yes," he said, " there is no doubt that it is broken ; I can feel the ends grate, and it hurts me every time I breathe. This is where it is, just where the cut begins; the wound itself is nothing." " What shall I do?" she asked quietly. " Tear a strip or two off the bottom of your petticoat, then sew the ends together to make a long bandage, and roll a little piece, so as to make a wad about an inch wide. Is the wound bleeding ? " " Yes, very much." " Fold a piece four or five thick, and lay over that the other wad so as to go up and down across the rib. Now, if you will give me a little warm water and a piece of rag, I will bathe the wound while you are making the bandage." " I will bathe it," the girl said. " I am sure it would hurt you to get your hand round." In ten minutes the operation was completed. " I am so sorry that I cannot help," Madame Duchesne murmured, as Myra sat down to sew the strips together. " There is nothing that you could do, thank you," Nat said cheerfully. "Myra is getting on capitally. I shall soon be all right again." When everything was done, he said, "You are a trump, Myra, you have done it first-rate." Then the girl, who had gone on as quietly as if she had been accustomed to such work all her life, broke down, and, bursting into a fit of crying, threw herself down by the side of her mother. Nat would have attempted to soothe her, but her mother said, " Leave her to me, she will be all the better for a good cry." Nat went down again to the stream, picked up the four pistols the Creoles had carried and unwound their sashes, thinking that these would be better than the make-shift that he wore. As he did so two small bags dropped out. He opened them ; both AN ATTACK ON THE CAVE 167 contained jewels, some of which he had seen Madame Duchesne wearing. " That is a bit of luck," he said to himself. " No doubt directly they -entered the house these scoundrels made one of the women show them where madame's jewel-case was, and divided the contents between them. When Dinah comes we must get these bodies down the stream. I could do it my- self were it not for this rib, but it would not be safe to try experiments. What a plucky girl Myra is ! Most girls would have been ready to faint at the sight of blood. I will wait a few minutes before I go up so as to give her time to pull her- self together." In ten minutes he went up again. " Madame," he said, " I have something that I am sure you will be very glad to get back again. I took off the sashes of those rascally mulattoes, and these two bags fell out of them. What do you think they contain ? Some of your jewels." Madame Duchesne and Myra both uttered exclamations of pleasure. "They are family jewels," Myra said, "and my father and mother both prize them very much. How strange they should have been on these men ! " " The two mulattoes were two of your overseers, and no doubt ran straight up and seized them directly they entered the house." She saw that her mother wished to speak, and leaned down over her, for Madame Duchesne could not as yet raise her voice above a whisper. " Turn them out," she said, " and see how many are missing." Although Nat had seen Madame Duchesne in full evening dress two or three times when parties of friends had assembled at the house, and had noticed the beauty of her jewels, he was surprised at the number of bracelets, necklaces, brooches, and rings that poured out from the bags. Some of the larger 168 A ROVING COMMISSION articles, which he supposed were ornaments for the hair, were bent and crumpled up so as to take up as little space as pos- sible. Myra held them up one by one before her mother's eyes. "They are all there, every one of them," the latter whis- pered. "Your father will be pleased." "The greater part of these," Myra said to Nat, "were brought over when the Baron Duchesne, our ancestor, came over here first, but a great many have been bought since. I have heard mamma say that each successor of the name and estate has made it a point of honour to add to the collection, of which they were very proud, as it was certainly the finest in the island ; and besides, it was thought that if at any time Hayti should be captured, either by the Spanish or your people, or if there should be trouble with the blacks, it would be a great thing to have valuables that could be so easily hidden or carried away." "Then they have thought all along that there might be a rising here some day ? " " Yes. I have heard my father say that when he was a boy he has heard his grandfather talk the matter over with others, and they thought that the number of slaves in the island was so great that possibly there might some day be a revolt. They all agreed that it would be put down, but they believed that the negroes might do terrible damage before enough troops could be brought from France to suppress it." "They thought rightly," Nat said, "though it has been a long time coming ; and the worst of it is that even if it is put down it may break out again at any time. It is hardly reason- able that, when they are at least ten to one against the whites and mulattoes together, men should submit to be kept in slavery." " But they were very well off," Myra said. ° I am sure they were much better off than the poorer whites." AN ATTACK ON THE CAVE 169 " From what I have seen of them I think they were," Nat replied, " but you see people do not know when they are well off. I have no doubt that if the last white man left the island, and slavery were abolished for ever, the negroes would be very much worse off than they were before, and I should think they would most likely go back to the same idle, savage sort of life that they live in Africa. Still, of course, at present they have no idea of that. They think they will be no longer obliged to work, and suppose that somehow they will be fed and clothed and have everything they want without any trouble to them- selves. You see it is just the same thing that is going on in France." " Well, now, what are you going to do next, Nat ? " " I shall load the pistols. I have got four more now. Then I shall take my place at the mouth of the cave again. I hope that when Dinah comes she will bring us news that will enable us to move away. The fact that this party was coming here for refuge shows that the blacks are growing alarmed, and per- haps have already suffered a defeat, in which case the way will be clear for us. If not, I must get her to help me clear the place down below, it will not be difficult. What have you got on the fire?" " There is a fowl that I have been stewing down to make the broth for mother. I have another cut up ready for grilling." Two hours later Nat, to his surprise, saw Dinah hurrying down the ravine, for he had not expected her until evening. He stood up at once. She paused when she caught sight of the bodies lying below the cave. " It is all right, Dinah," he shouted. " We have had a bit of a fight, but it only lasted for a minute or two, and except that I got a graze from a pistol-ball, we are unhurt." " De Lord be blest, sah ! " she said as she came up. " Eight ob dem, and you kill dem all, sah ? " 170 A ROVING COMMISSION " Yes ; one could hardly miss them at that distance. I am glad to say that none of them got away. You are back earlier than I expected." " Yes, sah ; me found out all de news in good time, and den, as eberyone say hurricane come on, I hurry all de way to get here before he come." "Well, come up, Dinah. Madame is going on very well. You know those two mulattoes?" " Me know dem, sah ; dey bery bad men, dey lead de black fellows to de attack." " Well, it is well that they came up here, for they had, hid- den in their sashes, all madame's jewels." " Dat am good news, sah," the old woman said as she joined him, " dat powerful good news. Madame did n't say anyting about jewels, but Dinah tought of dem, and what a terrible ting it would be if she had lost dem ! Dat good affair." " So you think that we are going to have a storm, Dinah ? " " Sartin suah, sah ; bery hot las' night, bery hot dis morning, and jest as me got to top of hill me saw de clouds coming up bery fast." " I did n't notice the heat particularly. Of course it is very shady in this deep gorge, and one does not see much of the sky." "Dis bery good place, sah — better dan house, much better dan forest Me was despate frighted dat storm would come before me got here." "I was wanting you to help me put the bodies into the stream, Dinah." "No need for dat, sah; when storm come wash dem all down — no fear ob dat" She went into the cave, and Nat followed her. " Me hab good news for you, ma'am. De whites come out strong from de town wid regiment of troops and de sailors AN ATTACK ON THE CAVE 171 from English ship; de blacks hab a fight down in de plain, but dey beat dem easy. Den yesterday de bands of Francois come down from de mountains, get to our plantation in de evening ; dey bery strong, dey say dar am ten thousand ob dem. Dey s'pect de whites to come and attack to-morrow. To-day dey clearing out all de plantations on de plain. De black fel- lows say dey cut dem all to pieces." " There is no fear of that," Nat broke in. " So you think that they will fight in the morning?" " No, sah, me no tink dat ; me suah dat as soon as de whites see de hurricane coming dey march back fast to de town ; no can stand hurricane widout shelter. You had better light de lantern, it am getting as dark as night." Nat went to the entrance. Looking up, he saw a canopy of black cloud passing overhead with extraordinary rapidity. Almost instantaneously there came a flash of lightning, nearly blinding him, accompanied by a tremendous clap of thunder. He turned hastily back into the cave. " It is lucky that you arrived in time, Dinah ; if you had been ten minutes longer you would have been caught." He stopped speaking, for his voice was drowned in a tre- mendous roar. He was about to go to the mouth of the cave again, but Dinah caught hold of his jacket. "No, sah, you mustn't go; if you show your head out beyond de cabe, de wind catch you and whirl you away like leaf, nobody neber see you no more. We safe and comfor'ble in here. We just got to wait till it all over. Dat wind strong enough to trow down de strongest trees, blow down all de huts, take de roof off de strongest house. We not often hab hurricanes in dis island, but when dey come, dey come bery bad. Dose ten tousand black fellows down at de plantation dey hab a bery bad time ob it to-night, dey wish demselves dead afore morning." 1?2 A ROVING COMMISSION " It is very bad for the women and children too, Dinah." " Yes, sah, me hab not forgotten dat ; but most ob dem will hab gone, dey run away when dey hear dat de whites coming out of town. Dey know bery well dat de whites hab good cause to be bery angry, and dat dey shoot eberyone dey catch." " But they will be just as badly off in the woods as they would be in their huts, Dinah. Have your daughter and her children got away ? " " No, sah, dey wur going jest as I started, but I told dem dat hurricane coming, and dat dey better stay in de clearing ; and dey agreed to hide up in de little stone hut at end of garden where dey keep de tools and oder tings. De roof blow off, no doubt, but de walls am low and strong. Dey hab bad time dere, but dey safe." With Dinah's assistance, Nat fixed a blanket at the point where the narrow entrance widened out, to keep out the swirls of wind which from time to time rushed in, propping it in its place by the hand-barrow on which Madame Duchesne had been brought up. Myra had finished cooking the fowls just as her nurse arrived, and they sat down to their meal heedless of the terrific tempest that was raging outside. CHAPTER X AFLOAT AGAIN " r I AHERE will be no occasion to keep watch to-night, 1 Dinah." " Not in de least, sah ; de water six feet deep, no one could get in." As talking was out of the question, the party lay down to sleep soon after they had finished their meal. It was some AFLOAT AGAIN 173 time, however, before Nat closed his eyes. It seemed to him that as soon as the storm was over, and the water low enough for them to pass up the ravine, no time should be lost in attempt- ing to make their way down into the town. The troops would no doubt set out again as soon as possible, and a battle might be fought before nightfall. That the negroes would be beaten he had no doubt, and in that case other parties of fugitives might make for the cave. It was likely that, until the battle was fought, there would be but few negroes in the forest ; those who had remained there during the storm would go down into the full glare of the sun to dry and warm themselves. Doubtless, too, Fran£ois, the negro leader, would have sent messengers off as soon as he arrived, ordering all able-bodied men in the plantations for miles round to come in to take part in the battle, and their chances of meeting with any foes as they descended to the plain would be slight. It would undoubtedly be a serious matter to carry Madame Duchesne for so long a distance ; for they had ever since leaving the plantation been going farther away from the town, and he calculated that it must be at least twenty-five miles distant. He did not think that it would be possible to do the journey in a day ; but once down on the plains they might find some building intact, in which they could obtain shelter for the night. At last he fell off to sleep. When he awoke the din outside had ceased, and the silence seemed almost oppressive. He got up, pushed aside the blanket, and looked out. The stars were shining, and the wind had entirely lulled. The bottom of the ravine was still full of water, but he felt sure that this would speedily drop ; for the depression above the gorge was not an extensive one, and the water that fell there would speedily find its way down. He lit a fresh candle and placed it in the lantern, as the last, which had been renewed by Dinah early in the night, 174 A feOVlNG COMMISSION was burning low. He pulled down the blanket, for although the air was fresh and cool at the entrance, the cave was oppres- sively warm. It was two hours before day began to break ; by this time the torrent had subsided and the stream ran in its former course, and it was clear that in another hour it would be possible to make their way along by the side. As he was turning to go in, Dinah joined him. " I tink, Marse Glober, de sooner we go de better." " That is just what I have been thinking. There are not likely to be many of the slaves about in the wood to-day ; you see a number of trees have blown down from above, and just below, the ravine is almost choked with them." "No, sah, many will be killed in the forest, and de rest frighted 'most out of der lives. If de whites come out and fight to-day, and de black fellows are beaten, all dose who know of dis place suah to come to hide here." "That was just my idea." " How your side, sah ? " " It seems rather stiff and sore, Dinah. However, that can't be helped. That sash you made me will come in very handy for carrying madame, and we sha'n't have the weight of the other things we brought up. I am afraid it will be impossible to do the journey in one day, but I dare say we shall light upon a shelter down on the plains." " Yes, sah. Me put de pot on de fire at once, and as soon as we hab breakfast we make a start ; but before we go me must stain you all again — got glenty ob berries left." Madame Duchesne had already been consulted. She would much rather have remained until strong enough to walk, but on her old nurse's showing her that it would be at least a fort- night before she could walk even a mile, and pointing out the danger there was in delay, she agreed to start whenever they thought fit. The jewels were placed in Dinah's capacious AFLOAT AGAIN 175 pocket, as, if they fell in with any strong party of negroes, she would be less likely to be searched than the others. In an hour all the preparations were completed ; one pistol was given to Madame Duchesne and another to her daughter. Dinah took charge of a brace, and Nat wore the other two brace in his sash. He still wore his uniform under his nankeen suit, and his naval cap was in the bundle that formed Madame Duchesne's pillow. She lay down on the hand-barrow, all the blankets being placed under her, with the exception of one which was thrown over her, and she was let down the precipice in the same way as she had been brought up. Dinah this time followed Nat's example, and used one of the mulattoes' sashes as a yoke to take the weight off her arms. Madame Duchesne was placed as far forward on the barrow as possible, so as to divide the weight more equally between her bearers. On raising her, Nat found to his satisfaction that it hurt him but little. In the week that had elapsed since she was seized with the fever, Madame Duchesne had lost a good deal of weight, the store of provisions had, too, greatly dimin- ished, and the sash took so much of the weight off his arms, that as he walked in a perfectly erect position there was little strain thrown upon the broken bone. It was only when he came to a rough place and had to step very carefully that he really felt his wounds. Myra looked anxiously at him from time to time. " I am getting on capitally," he said. " Do not worry about me ; at present I scarcely feel that unfortunate rib." " Mind, if you do feel it, Nat, you must give up. Dinah will take your place, and I will take hers. I am sure that I can carry that end very well for a time." " I will let you know when I want a change," Nat said. :e Now, you go on ahead, and as soon as we get out of this hollow use your eyes sharply." 176 A ROVING COMMISSION They saw no one going up the valley or crossing the open ground. When, however, they entered the forest on the other slope, they saw for the first time how terrible had been the force of the hurricane. In some places over acres of ground every tree had fallen, in others the taller trees only had been levelled or snapped off, while others again had boughs wrenched off, and the ground was thickly strewn with fallen branches. All this added greatly to the fatigue of travelling. Detours had to be constantly made, and the journey down took them double the time that had been occupied in the ascent. When approaching the road they had to cross, they sat down and rested for half an hour. " You are looking very white, Nat," Myra said ; " I am afraid that your side is hurting you terribly." " It certainly hurts a bit, Myra, but it is of no consequence. It was going on very well until I stumbled over a fallen branch that gave it rather a twist." '" You let me bandage 'im again, Marse Glober. We will go off and set dis matter right." When a short distance away Nat stripped to the waist. Myra had done her best, but the old nurse possessed consider- able skill in such matters, and strength enough to draw the bandage much tighter than she had done. " Better make it a bit longer," she said, and taking a pair of scissors from her pocket cut off a strip some fifteen inches wide from her ample petticoat, and wound this tightly round the other bandage. " Dere, sah, dat make you 'tiff and comf able." " It does make me stiff," Nat said with a smile ; " I almost feel as if I had got a band of iron round me. Thank you ; I shall do very well now." The old nurse dressed him carefully again, and they rejoined the others. "That is ever so much better/' Nat said to Myra; "the AFLOAT AGAIN 177 bandage had shifted a little, and Dinah has put it on fresh again, and added a strip of her own petticoat." The journey was then resumed, and, with an occasional halt, continued until late in the afternoon, by which time they were well down on the plain. During the latter part of the day they had heard at first scattered shots and then a roar of mus- ketry about a couple of miles on their right. It continued for half an hour, and then the heavy firing ceased; but musket shots could be heard occasionally, and higher up on the hill than before. " The negroes have been beaten," Nat said, " and our men are pursuing them. Perhaps they will make another stand at the point where the road runs between two steep banks." This indeed seemed to be the case, for half an hour later a heavy fire broke out again. It was but for a short time — in ten minutes it died away, and no further sound was heard. Dark- ness was now falling, and they presently arrived at some buildings that had been left standing. They were storehouses, and had not been fired at the time when the planter's house was burned, but had probably been used by the negroes as a barrack, until the advance of the troops on the previous day had compelled them to take a hasty flight. The litter was now laid on the ground. Madame Duchesne had dozed off many times during the day, and was now wide awake. " Are you going to light a fire, Dinah?" " No, madame ; Marse Glober and me tink it too dangerous. Not likely any ob dese black fellows 'bout, but dere might be some hiding, best to be careful. We hab a cold chicken to eat, and dere is some chicken jelly in de lillie pot for you, and we hab bread, so no need for fire to cook, and sartin no need for him afterward, we all sleep first-rate. Madame not heaby, but road bery rough, and little weight tell up by end ob de day. Dinah getting ole woman, Marse Glober got rib 12 178 A ROVING COMMISSION broken — both bery glad when journey done. Mamzelle she tired too ; twelve mile ober rough ground a long journey for her." " My feet ache a little, " Myra said, " but otherwise I do not feel tired. I felt quite ashamed of myself walking along all day carrying nothing, instead of taking turns with you." There was but little talking as they ate their meal hi the darkness. Neither Nat nor the old nurse had said a word as to their feelings as they walked, but both felt completely ex- hausted, and it was not many minutes after they had finished their supper before they were sound asleep. At daybreak they were on their feet again, feeling better after the long night's rest, and happy at the thought that this day's walk would take them to home and safety. Nat now threw off his disguise, placed his cap upon his head, and appeared as a British officer, though certainly one of considerably darker complexion than was common ; but he thought there was less danger now from slaves than from parties of maddened whites, who had been out to their former homes and might shoot any negroes they came upon without waiting to ask questions. Myra also dis- carded the negro gown. " I think that I looked more respectable in that," she said with a laugh, " than in this draggled white frock." "It has not been improved, certainly, by its week's wear, Myra ; but just at the present moment no one will be thinking of dresses. Now let us be off. We shall be on the road soon, and in an hour or two will be in the town." It seemed easy work after the toil of the previous day. They bore to the right until they fell into the main road, both because it would be safer, and because Nat hoped that he might meet someone who could inform Monsieur Duchesne — • who he had no doubt would have gone out with the column — • that his wife and daughter were in safety, and that he would THE JOURNEY TO THE COAST. AFLOAT AGAIN 179 find them at his house in the town. They had, indeed, gone but a short distance along the road when four men on horse- back galloped up. They drew rein suddenly as they met the little party, astonished to see, as they thought, a mulatto girl in front, a negro woman carrying a litter on which was an- other mulatto woman, and which was carried behind by a young mulatto in the uniform of a British naval officer. Had they met them out in the country they would probably not have troubled to ask questions, but, travelling as they were along the road towards the town, and from the direction where the column had been fighting, it was evident that there must be some mystery about it. " Who are you ? " one of them asked Nat in a rough tone. " I am an officer of his Britannic Majesty's frigate Orpheus, at present, I believe, in the port ; this lady on the stretcher is Madame Duchesne ; this young lady is her daughter, Made- moiselle Myra Duchesne ; this negress, the faithful nurse of the two ladies, has saved their lives at the risk of her own." One of the horsemen leapt from his saddle. " Pardon me for not recognizing you, mademoiselle," he said to Myra, lifting his straw-hat ; " but the change that you have made in your complexion must be my excuse for my not having done so. I trust that madame, your mother, is not seriously ill." "She has been very ill, Monsieur Ponson," she replied. " She has just recovered from an attack of fever, but is very weak indeed." " I saw your father three days ago. He had then just re- ceived your message saying that you were in safe hiding. He was, of course, in a state of the greatest delight. He went out with the troops yesterday." " If you see him, sir, will you be kind enough to tell him that you have met us, and that he will find us at his house in town?" 180 A ROVING COMMISSION " I will certainly find him out as soon as I reach the troops. Is there anything else that I can do ? " " Nothing, thank you, sir. Is there, Nat ? " " No, unless one of the gentlemen would ride back with us, so as to prevent us from being stopped by every party we meet and having to explain who we are." " I will do so, sir," the youngest of the horsemen said. " I dare say I shall be able to join our friends at the front before there is any more fighting, for the messenger who came in yesterday evening brought the news that the blacks had been so completely defeated, that it was thought likely they would make straight off into the mountains in the interior." " Thank you very much, sir ; it will be a great comfort to us to go straight on. We are anxious to get Madame Duchesne into shelter before the sun gets to its full power. My name is Glover. May I ask yours ? " "It is Laurent." The other three horsemen, after raising their hats in salute, had now ridden on. "How did you get on through the hurricane, Monsieur Glover?" "We scarce felt it. We were in a cave with a very small entrance, and after the first outburst slept through it in comfort." " It is more than any of us did in the town," the other said with a laugh. "It was tremendous. I should say that half the houses were unroofed, and in the poor quarters many of the huts were blown down, and upwards of twenty negroes were killed." "Do you think, Monsieur Laurent," Myra said, moving across to him, " that we are likely to meet any people on foot whom we could hire?" " No, I hardly think so, mademoiselle. All the gentlemen AFLOAT AGAIN 181 in the town who could get away rode out with the troops, and the rest of the whites are patrolling the streets armed, lest the negroes employed in the work of the port should rise during the absence of the troops. Why do you ask, mademoiselle ? " " Because Monsieur Glover had a rib broken by a pistol-ball the day before yesterday, and I am sure it hurts him very much to carry my mother." The young man leapt from his horse. "Monsieur," he exclaimed, "pray take my horse. I will assist in carrying Madame Duchesne." " I do not like " — Nat began, but his remonstrance was unheeded. " But I insist, monsieur. Please take the reins. You can walk by the side of the horse or mount him, whichever you think will be the more easy for you." So saying, he gently possessed himself of the handles of the litter, placed the sash over his shoulders, and started. It was indeed an immense relief to Nat. The rough work of the pre- ceding day had caused the ends of the bone to grate, and had set up a great deal of inflammation. He had been suffering acutely since he started, in spite of the support of the bandage, and he had more than once thought that he would be obliged to ask Myra to take his place. He did not attempt to mount in the young Frenchman's saddle, for he thought that the motion of the horse would be worse for him than walking ; he therefore took the reins in his hand, and walked at the horse's head behind the litter. The pain was less now that he was relieved of the load, but he still suffered a great deal, and he kept in the rear behind the others, while Myra chatted with Monsieur Laurent, learning from him what had happened in the town, and giving him a sketch of their adventures. As they passed the house of Madame Duchesne's sister, the invalid said that she would be taken in there, as she had heard 182 A ROVING COMMISSION from Monsieur Laurent that their own house was partially unroofed. Myra ran in to see her aunt, who came out with her at once. " Ah, my dear sister," she cried, " how we have suffered ! We had no hope that you had escaped until your husband brought us the joyful news three days ago that you were still in safety. Come in, come in ! I am more glad than ever that our house escaped without much damage from the storm." Although the house was intact, the garden was a wreck. The drive up to the house was blocked by fallen trees, most of the plants seemed to have been torn up by the roots and blown away, the lawn was strewn with huge branches. Two of the house servants had now come out and relieved those carrying the litter. " Ah, Monsieur Glover," continued Madame Duchesne's sister, " once again you have saved my niece ; my sister also this time ! Of course you will come in too." " Thanks, madame, but if you will allow me I will go straight on board my ship. I am wounded, though in no way seriously. Still, I shall require some medical care, for I have a rib broken, and the journey down has not improved it." " In that case I will not press you, monsieur. Dr. Lepel has gone out with the column, and may not be back for some days." " Good-bye, Madame Duchesne ! " Nat said, shaking the thin hand she held out to him. " I will come and see you soon, and hope to find you up by that time. Now that your anxiety is at an end you ought to gain strength rapidly." " May Heaven bless you," she said, " for your goodness to us!" "That is all right," he said cheerfully. "You see, I was saving my own life as well as yours ; and it is to you, Dinah," he said, turning and shaking her hand, " it is to you AFLOAT AGAIN 183 that we really all owe our lives. First you warned us in time, then you took us to a place of safety, and have since got us food and news, and risked your own life in doing so. " Good-bye, Myra ; I hope that when I see you again you will have got that dye off your face, and that you will be none the worse for what you have gone through." The girl's lip quivered. " Good-bye, Nat. I do so hope your wound will soon heal." " You are fortunate, indeed, in having escaped," Monsieur Laurent said as they turned away. "From all we hear, I fear that very few of the whites, except in plantations quite near the towns, have escaped. It is strange that the house servants, who in most cases have been all their lives with their masters and mistresses, and who have almost always been treated as kindly as if they were members of the family, should not have warned them of what was coming." "I should think that very few of them knew," Nat replied. " They were known to be attached to their masters and mistresses, and would hardly have been trusted by the others. I cannot think so badly of human nature as to believe that a people who have been so long in close connection with their masters should, in almost every case, have kept silent when they knew that there was a plot to massacre them." "Well, I will say good-morning," Monsieur Laurent said. " I want to be back with the troops. I was detained yester- day, to my great disgust, to see to the getting-off of a freight, and I should not like to miss another chance of paying some of the scoundrels off." Nat made his way slowly and carefully — for the slightest movement gave him great pain — to the wharf. One of the frigate's boats was ashore. The coxswain looked at him with surprise as he went down the steps to it. "Well, I'm jiggered," the man muttered, "if it ain't Mr. 184 A ROVING COMMISSION Glover ! " Then he said aloud : " Glad to see you back, sir. The ship's crew were all glad when they heard the other day that the news had come as how you were safe, for we had all been afraid you had been murdered by them niggers. You are looking mighty queer, sir, if I may say so." " My face is stained to make me look like a mulatto. Whom are you waiting for?" " For Mr. Normandy." " Well, how long do you expect he will be ? " " I can't say, sir. It is about a quarter of an hour since he landed, and he said he would be back in half an hour ; but officers are generally longer than they expect." " Well it won't take you above ten minutes to row off to the ship and back. I will take the blame if he comes down before that. I have been wounded, not badly, but it is very painful. I want to get it properly dressed." " All right, sir, we will get you on board in no time." " Give me your arm. I must get in carefully." The men stretched to their oars, and in five minutes Nat was alongside the Orpheus. He had heard, as he expected, that Dr. Bemish had gone with the party that had been landed, but his assistant was on board. The first lieutenant was on deck. He saw by Nat's walk as he went up to report his return that something was the matter. " Are you ill or wounded, Mr Glover ? " " I am wounded, sir. I had a rib broken by a pistol-ball, and I have had a long journey, which has inflamed it a good deal." " Go down at once and have it seen to ; you can tell me your story afterwards. Have the ladies who were with you got safely down also?" " Yes, sir." The lieutenant nodded, and Nat then went below and placed himself in the hands of the assistant surgeon. AFLOAT AGAIN 185 " My word, Glover, you have got your wound into a state ! " the latter said after he had examined him. " What on earth have you been doing to it ? It seems to have been a pretty clean break at first, and it would n't have bothered you above three weeks or so, but the ends have evidently been sawing away into the flesh. Why, man alive, what have you been doing ? " " I have been helping to carry a sick woman down from the hills," Nat said quietly. "If it had been level ground it would not have hurt so much, but on rough ground strewn with branches one could not avoid stumbling occasionally, and although it had been bandaged before I started the wad slipped and the thing got loose, and after that it was like walking with a red-hot needle sticking into me." " So I should say. Well, I will put you into a berth in the sick-bay at once. Fortunately we have some ice on board and I will put some of it on the wound and try to get the inflammation down." In a short time he returned with a basin of ice and a jugful of iced lime-juice. Nat took a long drink, and then turned so that the ice could be applied to the wound. "You must keep yourself as still as you can. I sha'n't attempt to bandage you at present, there is really nothing to be done till we have got the inflammation down." " I will lie quiet as long as I am awake, but I cannot answer for myself if I go off to sleep, which will not be long, for I am as tired as a dog. To-day's walk would have been nothing if I had been all right, it was the pain that wore me out." " I don't suppose you will move. You may be sure that that rib will act like an alarm, and give you warning at once if you stir in the slightest." Having seen Nat comfortable, the young surgeon went up on deck. 186 A ROVING COMMISSION " How do you find Mr. Glover? " the first lieutenant asked. " He says that it is only a broken rib." " Well, sir, it was only a broken rib at first, now it is a broken rib with acute inflammation round it. There is a flesh wound about four inches long where the bullet struck, broke the rib, ran along it, and went out behind. That would not have been anything if he had kept quiet ; as it is, it is as angry as you could want to see a wound. But that is not the worst, the two ends of the bone have been rubbing against each other with enough movement to lacerate the flesh, with the natural result that a wonderful amount of inflammation has been set up round it." " But how did he manage it ? " " It seems, sir, that he has been carrying, or helping to carry, a sick woman down from the mountains, and he says the ground was very rough and strewn with boughs, so that one can understand that he got some terrible shakes and jolts, which would quite account for the state of his wounds." " I should think so. When Monsieur Duchesne came off with the news that his wife was safely hidden, and that Glover was with her, he said that his daughter, who had written the note, reported that her mother was ill. No wonder he has got his wound in such a state if he has, as you say, aided to carry her down all that distance. He must have had a brush with the negroes." " That must have been before he started, sir ; for he said that the bandage shifted, so his wound must have been bound up before he set out." " It was a gallant thing for a lad to undertake — a most gallant action ! Why, it must have been torture to him." " It must indeed, sir." " He is not in any danger, I hope ? " " Not unless fever intervenes, sir. No doubt with rest and AFLOAT AGAIN 187 quiet and the use of ice we shall succeed in reducing the in- flammation ; but it is likely enough that fever may set in, and if so there is no saying how it may go. I shall be glad to have Doctor Bemish back again to take the responsibility off my hands." Late that afternoon Monsieur Duchesne came on board to thank Nat. He was not allowed to see him, as the doctor said that absolute quiet was indispensable. He had had a full account from Myra of the adventures through which the little party had gone, and he retailed this to the lieutenant and doctor in the ward-room. " A most gallant business altogether," the first lieutenant said when he had finished, "and certainly the most gallant part of it was undertaking to carry Madame Duchesne when practically disabled. But I can understand, as you say, that directly the negroes were defeated by the force that went out against them, some of them would have made for that cave, and it was therefore absolutely necessary to get away before they came. However, I hope that we need not be anxious about him ; he has gone through three or four scrapes, any of which might have been fatal. There was that fight with the dog ; then he was in the thick of that business with the pirates, and was blown up by the explosion, and half his crew killed. He has had some marvellous escapes, and I think we may feel very hopeful that he will get over this without serious trouble. It was lucky indeed his finding your family jewels on two of those scoundrels that he shot." " It would have been a great loss, but it is such a little thing in comparison to the saving of my wife and daughter, that I have scarcely given it a thought. I shall do myself the pleasure of calling again to-morrow morning to know how he is." " Do so, monsieur ; you will probably find Captain Crosbie here. I had a note from him an hour ago, saying that he was 188 A ROVING COMMISSION returning, and would be here by eight o'clock. The negroes having been defeated, and the safety of the town being ensured for a while, he does not consider that he would be justified in joining in the pursuit of the blacks among the hills." Nat was not aware of the return of the landing-party until the next morning, when on opening his eyes he saw Dr. Bemish by his side. "You young scamp," the latter said, shaking his finger at him, "you seem determined to be a permanent patient. As soon as you recover from one injury you are laid up with another. So here you are again." " It is only a trifle this time, doctor." " Umph, I am not so sure about that. Macfarlane tells me that, not content with getting a rib broken, you go about carry- ing one end of a stretcher with a woman on it across ground where it was difficult, if not impossible, to move without ricking and hurting yourself. So that not only have you set up a tremendous amount of inflammation round the wound, but you have so worn the ends of the bone that they will take three times as long knitting together as they would have done had they been left alone." " I am afraid that is all true, doctor," Nat replied with a smile ; " but, you see, I thought it better to run the risk of inflammation, and even this terrible rubbing of the end of the bones you speak of, than of being caught by these fiendish negroes, and put to death by the hideous tortures with which they have in many cases slowly murdered those who fell into their hands." " It must have hurt you badly," Dr. Bemish said, as, after removing the dressing that had, late the evening before, been substituted for the ice, he examined the wound. " It did hurt a bit, doctor, but as four lives depended upon my being able to hold on, there was nothing for it but to AFLOAT AGAIN 189 set one's teeth hard and keep at it. How does it look this morning ? " "What do you think, Macfarlane? you can form a better opinion than I can, as I have not seen it before." " The inflammation seems to have abated a good deal." " In any case we will syringe the wound thoroughly with warm water. There are doubtless some particles of bone in it, and until these are got rid of we can't hope that it will heal properly. I will get that large magnifying-glass from my cabin." For half an hour the wound was fomented and washed. " As far as I can see it is perfectly clean now," Dr. Bemish said, after carefully examining it with the glass. "We will put a compress on, with a wet cloth over it, which must be damped with iced water every half- hour. When we quite get the inflammation down, Glover, which will, I hope, be in two or three days, we will bandage it tightly, and I will buy you a pair of stays on shore, and lace you up so that there shall be no chance of your performing any more pranks with it, and then I fancy you will be able to come up on deck, if you will promise to keep yourself quiet there." " Well, that is better than I expected, doctor." " Have you any message to send to your friends ? because I am going ashore now to see them. Monsieur Duchesne was off yesterday afternoon, but Macfarlane very properly refused to let him see you." " Tell him he can't see me for some days, doctor. I do so hate being made a fuss over." " I will keep him away for a day or two anyhow," the doctor laughed. " He gave the ward-room a full history of your affair, so you won't have the trouble of going over it again." " That is a comfort," Nat growled. " How long is the Orpheus likely to stop here, doctor?" 190 A ROVING COMMISSION " Ah, that is more than I can say ! At any rate the captain will not leave until he gets orders from Jamaica. The sEolus has just come into port, and the captain will send her off at once with despatches to the admiral, saying what has taken place, and how he landed a force to protect the town, and went out with a party to attack the insurgent blacks. He will ask for instructions, as they have no French vessel of war here, and the land force is insufficient to defend the place if attacked in earnest, especially as there is a considerable negro population who would probably rise and join the insurgents if these made an assault upon the town. The general hope on board is that we shall get orders to stay here, or at least to cruise on the coast. Now that we have broken up that nest of pirates, things are likely to be dull here for some time, though I have little doubt that ere very long we shall be at war with the French. According to the last news, which arrived since you left us, that National Assembly of theirs is going farther and farther, and its proceedings are causing serious alarm throughout Europe, for they are altogether subversive of the existing state of things. It is to its measures that this terrible insurrection here is due, and the first consequence of what is really a revolution in France will be the loss of her most valuable colony. I suppose you have heard that something like two thousand whites have been murdered. I have no doubt that now they have recovered from the first shock, the French here will take a terrible vengeance ; but though they may kill a great number of the negroes, I doubt if it will be possible to reduce half a million blacks to submission, espe- cially in an island like this, with mountain ranges running through it where cannon would be absolutely useless, and the negroes could shelter in the almost impenetrable forests that cover a large portion of it." A FIRST COMMAND 191 CHAPTER XI A FIRST COMMAND FOR another couple of days no one was permitted to see Nat, but at the end of that time the wound assumed a healthy aspect, and he was allowed to receive visits. Captain Crosbie himself was the first to come down. "I am very glad to hear so good an account of you, Mr. Glover," he said cordially; "you have done us credit again, lad, and have rendered an inestimable service to Monsieur Duchesne and his family. Although it can hardly be con- sidered as in your regular course of duty, I shall certainly for- ward a narrative of your adventures to the admiral. The next time we go to Port Royal you had better go in for your examination, and if you pass I have