[ERT.
 

 
 WHY. OF CALIF. LIBRARY, LOS ANGELES
 
 ON THE SPANISH MAIN
 
 BY HERBERT STRANG 
 
 IN CLIVE'S COMMAND 
 
 Illustrated by William Rainey 
 
 Large I2mo, Cloth $i-5o 
 
 FIGHTING ON THE CONGO 
 
 Illustrated by William Rainey 
 
 Large i2mo, Cloth $1.50 
 
 JACK HARDY 
 
 Illustrated by William Rainey 
 
 Large 12010, Cloth $1.50 
 
 ON THE TRAIL OF THE ARABS 
 Illustrated by Charles M. Sheldon 
 Large 121110, Cloth 1.50 
 
 ROB THE RANGER 
 
 Illustrated in Color by W.H.Margetson 
 Large I2mo, Cloth $1.50 
 
 THE BOBBS-MERRILL COMPANY 
 INDIANAPOLIS
 
 ON THE SPANISH MAIN 
 
 By 
 
 HERBERT STRANG 
 
 WITH ILLUSTRATIONS BY 
 
 ARCH WEBB 
 
 INDIANAPOLIS 
 
 THE BOBBS-MERRILL COMPANY 
 
 PUBLISHERS
 
 COPYRIGHT 1907 
 THE BOBBS-MERRILL COMPANY 
 
 OCTOBER
 
 CONTENTS 
 
 CHAPTER PAGE 
 
 I JETSAM .....'....i 
 
 II SEA-GIRT . . . ... . . .14 
 
 III A WRECK AND MIRANDOLA . . . . . 25 
 
 IV SALVAGE . . .38 
 
 V THE EDGE OF THE MARSH . . . . . .49 
 
 VI THE SPANISH WHIP . . . . . ; . 60 
 
 VII AMOS TURNPENNY 71 
 
 VIII HALF-PIKES AND MACHETES 83 
 
 IX AMOS TELLS His STORY 106 
 
 X THE MAROONS BUILD A CANOE . . . .121 
 
 XI THE MAIN 140 
 
 XII BENEATH THE WALLS 162 
 
 XIII THE TAKING OF FORT AGUILA 179 
 
 XIV VAE VICTIS 194 
 
 XV A STERN CHASE 213 
 
 XVI JAN BIDDLE, MASTER .226 
 
 XVII THE DEMI-CULVERIN ...... 243 
 
 XVIII JUAN THE MAROON 255 
 
 XIX DRAKE'S CAMP 266 
 
 XX A RAID THROUGH THE FOREST .... 275 
 
 XXI MAIDEN ISLE AGAIN 295 
 
 XXII A FIGHT ON THE CLIFFS ...... 308 
 
 XXIII BOMBARDED 322 
 
 XXIV THE LEAGUER OF SKELETON CAVE . . . .331 
 XXV THE MULE-TRAINS 349 
 
 CONCLUSION 364 
 
 2132826
 
 ON THE SPANISH MAIN
 
 ON THE SPANISH MAIN 
 
 CHAPTER I 
 
 V. ** 
 
 JETSAM 
 
 Daybreak! But, eastward, no glory of dawn. Black, 
 thunderous clouds roll sullenly across a livid sky, riven 
 at moments by pale zigzags of flame. Rain tumbles in 
 cascades. League upon league of white-crested waves 
 chase one another in fury, hissing, roaring as they hurl 
 themselves upon a stubborn shore, only to be broken and 
 thrown back into the seething turmoil. The wind out- 
 strips them, shrieking as it cleaves a way through the 
 massed foliage, in mad haste to reach the mainland and 
 smite the yielding tops of Darien's palms and pines. 
 
 The shelving, sandy beach is strewed with the jetsam 
 of the storm : here, a tangled heap of seaweed, left by 
 a breaker when, spent with its own rage, it falls back 
 baffled ; there, a log 'of wood ; hard by nameless creatures
 
 ON THE SPANISH MAIN 
 
 of the sea, destroyed by the fury of their own element; 
 and here, high up the strand, beneath a bank overgrown 
 with large-leaved plants, lies a human form, huddled, 
 motionless. 
 
 The waves do not touch it now; the storm has ex- 
 hausted itself, the tide is ebbing. Minute by minute the 
 sea becomes less boisterous; the strip of sand widens; 
 the rain ceases. By and by the sun breaks through the 
 eastern sky, and, gathering strength, disperses the linger- 
 ing clouds and flings his radiance over the scene. His 
 beams, falling aslant through a gap in the cliffs, strike 
 upon the draggled form on the sand; it stirs slightly, 
 stretching itself as a leaf uncurls. At last, when the air 
 quivers with heat, and all things lie under a shimmering 
 haze, Dennis Hazelrig heaves a sigh, opens his eyes, and 
 looks amazedly about him. 
 
 His eyes close; for some minutes he remains still; 
 then he lifts himself slightly, falls back with a gasp, and 
 lies again as one dead. But nature is recovering under 
 the beneficent rays. Pigeons are cooing in the branches 
 above ; parrots are screaming ; insects drone their burden ; 
 and when a mosquito, adventuring forth, alights on the 
 human cheek, and tastes, Dennis is stung once more into 
 consciousness. He starts up, brushes the marauder away, 
 staggers to his feet, and, to prevent himself from falling, 
 clutches at a tuft of grass in the overhanging bank. Its 
 thin, blade-like edge draws blood from his hand, and 
 he looks at the red stain as at some strange phenomenon. 
 
 2
 
 JETSAM 
 
 Then he laughs huskily, checks the sound as though it, 
 too, is unfamiliar, and laughs again a short, sobbing 
 laugh. 
 
 "Certes, I am alive !" he mutters. 
 \ 
 
 An hour or two passed before Dennis ventured once 
 more to try his tottering legs. The sun's heat had dried 
 his clothes, which, as he ruefully observed, had been so 
 rent by the buffeting waves that they hung upon him 
 precariously. But in the same genial warmth his strength 
 was returning, and though all his body ached, he could 
 now move without a stagger. Catching sight of some 
 clams near him, he was conscious of a vast emptiness 
 within, and felt for the clasp-knife which he was wont 
 to wear slung about his waist. It still hung upon its 
 chain. He had opened and eaten, ravenously, a dozen 
 of the shell-fish before he realized that, after all, his 
 thirst exceeded his hunger, and he looked round for a 
 spring of fresh water. He walked some paces along the 
 shore, groaning with every movement, until his ear 
 caught the musical ripple of a stream, and he saw a rivu- 
 let flowing across the sand from a narrow watercourse 
 in the cliff. In an instant he was down on his knees, 
 drinking his fill. 
 
 Refreshed with the draught, he rose and began to con- 
 sider. He was alive that was the first thing. It seemed 
 marvelous to him. The tornado had ceased. Looking 
 round, he could hardly believe that the sea now so calm 
 
 3
 
 ON THE SPANISH MAIN 
 
 was the same sea which, but a few hours before, had 
 been a raging monster. As far as the eye could scan, 
 it stretched away, shimmering in the sunlight, only a 
 white crest here and there giving sign of its late dis- 
 turbance. Not a sail broke the line of the horizon. What 
 had become of the Maid Marian and her crew and his 
 companion adventurers on board? Had they, had any 
 of them, been cast ashore, like himself, on some other 
 part of this strange coast? If he had escaped, why not 
 others? There was something cheering in the thought, 
 and instinctively he braced himself for a search, when a 
 recollection of that awful night the amazing sudden- 
 ness of the blast that struck the bark, rending the sails 
 like ribbons, snapping the mainmast like a reed, the 
 tumultuous waves, the crashing thunder, the bursts of 
 lightning, the deluge that poured down from the heavens 
 as he remembered these battling elements he shuddered 
 involuntarily; could it be otherwise than by a miracle 
 that he had survived? 
 
 He lived over again his last conscious moments. The 
 mainmast -had gone by the board. He heard the hoarse 
 shout of Miles Barton, the master, calling upon the men to 
 cut away the wreckage. He was with them at the task, 
 struggling to keep his feet, when the gallant vessel stag- 
 gered under the onslaught of a tremendous sea, and he 
 was swept off her deck. He heard cries all around him, 
 but could see nothing for the darkness and the blinding 
 rain. Striving to keep his head above water, he felt 
 
 4
 
 JETSAM 
 
 his strength failing, so puny was it against the might 
 of the passionate waves, when he encountered a floating 
 spar, and clung to it with the tenacity of despair. After 
 that he knew nothing. His grip must have relaxed, for 
 the spar was not near him when he awoke to conscious- 
 ness on the beach. Yet it seemed that this had been his 
 salvation. He must have held to it until near the shore ; 
 then some mountainous breaker had torn him away and 
 hurled him to the spot where he had lately opened his 
 eyes again upon the world. 
 
 Hapless bark! It was scarcely possible that she had 
 survived the hurricane. And what of the souls on board 
 with him ? What of Miles Barton, the bluff sea-dog, her 
 master, his cheery crew, and the score of gallant gentle- 
 men who had sailed out of Plymouth Sound but two 
 months before, gay, high-hearted adventurers ' for the 
 Spanish Main? Where was Sir Martin Blunt, the blithe 
 captain of the band, and Philip Masterton, and Harry 
 Greville, and Francis Tring, all young men of mettle, 
 whom Dennis was proud to call his friends, and who, 
 though but little his elders in years, had seen and done 
 things in the great world that made him burn with 
 envious admiration? Alas! he could not but fear that 
 the adverse fate from which he had so marvelously 
 escaped had surely overtaken them, and that they had 
 been swallowed by the sea. 
 
 But then again came the thought: might not fortune 
 have befriended them, too? Why imagine the worst? 
 
 5
 
 ON THE SPANISH MAIN 
 
 And Dennis thrust sad thoughts from his mind; hope 
 was not dead. His meal had given him strength to 
 search, and search he would. 
 
 He looked about him. The sandy beach was narrow. 
 It was overhung by cliffs of varying height, in parts 
 merely a low bank, in parts reaching an altitude of per- 
 haps forty or fifty feet. They were covered with the 
 dense vegetation of the tropics. Some distance to the 
 north of where he stood the receding tide had left bare 
 a long ledge of massive rock, running up into the highest 
 part of the cliff. To the south the shore was less rocky, 
 and within half a mile curved round to the east. It 
 was in this direction that he decided to go. 
 
 But he had not walked far along the glistening sand 
 when he suddenly bethought himself. Signs of life there 
 had yet been none, save the cries of birds from the trees 
 above him. But what if he came upon a fishing village, 
 and found himself among enemies the wild men of 
 whom he had heard; the Spaniards, of whose terrible 
 deeds returning navigators made such grim tales for the 
 winter nights at home ? Where was he ? On some shore 
 of the Caribbean Sea, he made no doubt, for only the 
 day before, when the Maid Marian was sailing merrily 
 westward, Sir Martin had declared, and old Miles had 
 borne him out, that but a few more days would bring 
 them to the point where they expected to meet other 
 adventurers, who had preceded them on the same quest 
 for excitement and gain. 
 
 6
 
 JETSAM 
 
 And Dennis halted as one dazed when the full sense 
 of his calamity was borne in upon him. He was alone! 
 alone! There might be, for all he knew, thousands 
 of people almost within hail of him; but he was none 
 the less alone, for they would be of another race, speak- 
 ing another tongue, unfriendly, hostile. He sat down 
 on a smooth rock and, resting his elbows on his knees 
 and his chin on his hands, stared moodily out to sea. 
 Between him and all that he held dear stretched this wide 
 ocean for thousands of miles. In utter hopelessness he 
 wondered why it had not swallowed him up with all 
 his comrades, instead of casting him here, a battered, 
 miserable body. 
 
 The mood passed. He had escaped the perils of the 
 sea, not by his own strength, but by the hand of Provi- 
 dence. If perchance he had more to fear from man than 
 from nature why, it behooved him, an English boy, 
 and a Devon boy to boot, to face his destiny with a stout 
 heart. After all, he was of the same stuff as Master 
 Walter Raleigh and Master Francis Drake and many 
 another bold man of Devon. He could not think that 
 any one of them, in his situation, would give way to 
 black despair; and, lifting his aching body from the 
 shore, he walked on: he would at least learn somewhat 
 of his surroundings. 
 
 The beach, he found, bore gradually to the left, so 
 
 that he could see but a short distance ahead. Still he 
 
 ncountered no signs of life, save here and there a scut- 
 
 7
 
 ON THE SPANISH MAIN 
 
 tling crab, and the rank plant growths above him, whence 
 now and again a bird fluttered out and wheeled scream- 
 ing about his head, and then soared clattering into the 
 foliage.' Soon he tired of his monotonous tramping 
 over sand, which appeared to lead no whither; and ob- 
 serving at length a cleft in the rocks, whence a shallow 
 stream swiftly poured itself upon the beach, he bethought 
 himself he might more quickly make a discovery if he 
 pushed his way up the watercourse which must by and 
 by lead to higher ground. He turned in obedience to 
 this impulse, waded through the stream, that wound this 
 way and that' between banks thickly covered with vege- 
 tation, and after what seemed an eternity to his aching 
 limbs, found himself upon a cliff overlooking the sea. 
 His wandering had brought him by a circuit to a point 
 north of the spot where he had awakened to conscious- 
 ness. 
 
 The cliff on which he stood was much higher than 
 the surrounding country. To right and left the ground 
 shelved downward, and he now perceived that the coast 
 on both sides had an inward trend; that, in fact, the 
 cliff was also a promontory. Turning round, he found 
 that his view was blocked by the trees except in one 
 direction, where a sudden dip in the ground gave him 
 an outlook over several miles. And there, surely at the 
 far end of the vista, was the sea again. For the first 
 time the suspicion occurred to him that he had been cast 
 upon an island, 
 
 8
 
 JETSAM 
 
 He went to the farthest point of the cliff to scan more 
 carefully the horizon. Looking across the sea, which 
 from the beach had seemed an unbroken plain, he now 
 saw in the far distance several dark, vague shapes rising 
 a little above the surface. These must be islands. To 
 the north, somewhat nearer to him, and somewhat more 
 definite, were similar forms, which seemed to grow in 
 size during the hour or more he watched them, no doubt 
 owing to the fall of the tide. Far to the south he 
 descried a long, dark bar upon the horizon; this must 
 be land, many miles away probably the mainland. His 
 view to the east being almost entirely shut out by the 
 foliage, he could feel no certainty that his suspicion was 
 justified ; but he felt a stirring of interest and excitement 
 now ; supposing it were indeed an island, how did the 
 discovery bear upon his lot? 
 
 Once more he turned and gazed along the valley at 
 whose end he saw the sea. It could not be many miles 
 away; perhaps in an hour or so he could reach it. The 
 island, apparently, was not a large one, so that he could 
 not go far without meeting its inhabitants. He looked 
 around for any signs of habitation a roof-top, a column 
 of smoke ; but there was none. Next moment he reflected 
 that, if the island were small, it would not take him long 
 to make its circuit and search every yard of the beach 
 for tracks of his late comrades of the Maid Marian, 
 too. Still cherishing a hope that some might have sur- 
 vived, like himself, he set off to descend the cliff toward 
 
 9
 
 ON THE SPANISH MAIN 
 
 the beach, every downward step racking his bruised 
 limbs and strained joints. When he gained the beach, 
 he once more tramped southward, his eagerness lending 
 him speed. He passed the watercourse, up which he 
 had struck inland, and soon after came upon scattered 
 articles of wreckage, among them the broken topmast of 
 the Maid Marian. With a sigh for his lost comrades, 
 he passed on. 
 
 The sun had risen high in the heavens, and Dennis 
 was fain to rest. 
 
 "I'm a poor battered hulk," he said aloud, finding some 
 little solace in the sound of his voice, "and hungry 
 how hungry I am!" 
 
 He looked around for food, spied some shell-fish, and 
 ate them raw, quenching the ensuing thirst at another 
 stream that rippled down from the interior. The feeling 
 of nervousness lest he should encounter strangers again 
 took hold upon him, and he felt a desire to hide. He 
 found himself casting uneasy, almost terrified glances 
 around him from the nook in which he was now resting, 
 somewhat sheltered from the sun's fierce rays. Then, 
 conquering the feeling, he rose again to continue his 
 search of the beach. He must by and by, he thought, 
 come upon some quay or harbor. When he should see 
 it, he would halt and consider his course of action: 
 whether to advance and risk the meeting with strangers, 
 or to retreat until with recovered strength and a clearer 
 mind he could prepare himself for what might be in store. 
 
 10
 
 JETSAM 
 
 As he proceeded, he noticed that the jungle frequently 
 approached to within a few feet of the mass of weed 
 that marked high water. At one spot he discovered, 
 almost buried in the sand, the worm-eaten stern-post of 
 a vessel. He could distinguish one or two letters of her 
 name. Many a ship, he doubted not, had been wrecked 
 on this coast ; many a hapless wight had been cast up by 
 the tide, alive or dead. By and by he came, on the 
 southern side of the island, to high cliffs, and he set about 
 scaling that which offered the easiest ascent, to obtain 
 a view of the sea and land from this point of vantage 
 also. It was densely wooded, and as he mounted he 
 heard, besides the cries of startled birds, other sounds 
 that struck uncannily upon his ear. In his weakened 
 state any new note in these sounds set his nerves tingling, 
 and more than once he stopped, and could scarcely pre- 
 vent himself from turning and speeding back to the 
 beach, where at least there was nothing to cause him 
 fresh tremors. 
 
 Near the top of the cliff the wood thinned away some- 
 what, and when he reached its highest point he found 
 himself on a stretch of greensward. Northward the 
 ground sloped gently down to a clump of trees, of a 
 species unknown to him, tall, with slender trunks, which 
 it seemed to him he could climb as easily as the masts 
 on the Maid Marian. He made his way to them, half 
 minded to swarm up the tallest of the group, so that 
 from its summit he might gain a view, possibly, over the 
 
 ii
 
 ON THE SPANISH MAIN 
 
 whole island, and solve the question that troubled him 
 whether somewhere upon it there was a settlement of 
 men. Only when he reached the foot of the trunk did 
 he remember his weakness. He stood leaning against it, 
 and gazing up its length felt that at present his muscles 
 were incapable of the feat. 
 
 All at once his eyes became fixed in his head. Travel- 
 ing to the top, where a mass of foliage crowned the 
 towering stem, they had lighted upon a face, that seemed 
 to be peering at him from between the leaves. The feel- 
 ing of fright that had before almost paralyzed him seized 
 him again. But next moment he laughed aloud. 
 
 "Ninny that I am!" he murmured. "Afraid of a 
 monkey !" 
 
 He looked again. The monkey, a large, long-tailed 
 specimen of its kind, was gazing at him gravely, with 
 a look so human that it reminded him of his old school- 
 master at Winchester. With the sportive instinct of a 
 boy Dennis was not yet seventeen he stopped, picked 
 up a stout piece of fallen branch, and flung it upward. 
 
 "Stir, Sir Monkey!" he cried. "I hail thee as lord of 
 this island!" 
 
 The wood struck the branch on which the monkey was 
 perched. Chattering angrily, it flung its long arms around 
 the branch above, and swung itself up, resting there, 
 blinking and showing its teeth at this unmannerly in- 
 truder. 
 
 "A big fellow, indeed !" said Dennis to himself. "I will 
 
 12
 
 JETSAM 
 
 not climb. If the beast is angered, as he seems, he would 
 be no mean foe in his high perch. I'll not try a bout with 
 you, Sir Monkey. You shall be undisturbed in your 
 lofty house. For this time, farewell!" 
 
 He went on, smiling a little as he became conscious 
 that the meeting with the monkey had cheered him.
 
 CHAPTER II 
 
 SEA-GIRT 
 
 Besides the birds, and the ground animals which he 
 heard at times scurrying through the undergrowth, the 
 sole inhabitant of the island that Dennis had yet discov- 
 ered was a monkey. Though he was beginning to suspect 
 that his fears of encountering hostile human folk had 
 been needless, he still felt a timid reluctance to leave the 
 coast-line for the interior; and having given up for the 
 present his idea of climbing a tree to obtain a wider 
 view, he contented himself with walking to the top of 
 the cliff, to continue his observations from that point. 
 His native courage was returning ; yet, as he mounted the 
 cliff, he moved for the most part under cover of the 
 trees ; the dread of possible enemies still made him wary, 
 though every now and again he forgot his precautions, 
 only remembering them again when the sense of his lone- 
 liness forced itself upon him, or when he was momentarily 
 startled by a sudden sound. 
 
 Panting a little from his exertions when he gained the 
 summit, conscious of his bodily weakness, of bruised 
 limbs and strained sinews, he looked eagerly around. 
 Eastward stretched an illimitable expanse of sea; he 
 
 14
 
 SEA-GIRT 
 
 scanned it longingly, yet doubtfully, for while it was 
 from that quarter, or from the channel between the 
 island and the mainland, that he might hope for rescue 
 from a friendly ship, it was thence also that he might be 
 descried perchance by an enemy. He sat down on the 
 grass, once more yielding to the heavy sense of forlorn- 
 ness, and thinking sadly of his lost companions. How 
 long he remained there he knew not ; his mind wandered 
 a little ; he thought afterwards that he had probably slept, 
 for he suddenly awoke to the consciousness of a gnawing 
 hunger. He had walked far, and the few shell-fish he 
 had picked up on the shore gave but meager sustenance. 
 Still and cramped, he rose to search again for food. 
 
 There was nothing edible in his immediate neighbor- 
 hood. The trees sprang to a lofty height, and bore no 
 fruit. Plucking up his courage, he made his way slowly 
 down the slope toward the middle of the island. The 
 vegetation grew thicker as he proceeded; there was no 
 path or road; all was a wild tangle. At first he saw 
 nothing wherewith to ease his pangs; never in his life 
 had he taken a thought for his next meal ; it was a new 
 experience. Often enough at home he had plucked fruits 
 as they grew; he remembered with a strange, homesick 
 feeling many a boyish depredation upon neighboring 
 orchards, out of sheer mischief, not from a longing for 
 food. But there were no apple-trees or plum-trees here. 
 And when at last he came upon a broad-leaved tree upon 
 which grew huge clusters of a yellowish fruit, in shape 
 
 15
 
 ON THE SPANISH MAIN 
 
 like monstrous peapods, he hesitated, wondering whether 
 this might not be one of those evil trees of which he had 
 heard, one taste of which would turn his skin black, and 
 fire him with a raging thirst, and afflict him with a mad- 
 ness whose end was death. But his natural appetite 
 would not be gainsaid. With hope and misgiving min- 
 gled he at last stretched up his hand and plucked one of 
 the tempting pods, stripped off the skin, and nibbled a 
 morsel of the soft fruit within. It was delicious ; but so 
 was the devil's fruit of mariners' tales the more delicious 
 the more poisonous. Somewhat anxiously he waited; 
 there was no change in the color of his skin. He watched 
 it through the rents of his tattered garments ; and indeed 
 it seemed to him that any change would be for the better, 
 for he perceived for the first time that he was already 
 black and blue with bruises. He bit off another and a 
 larger piece; then, with the ravenous haste of one long 
 fasting, he let prudence fly, and ate the whole fruit, and 
 another, and another, until he saw with surprise and 
 qualms that his feet were encircled by a ring of empty 
 skins. But he felt astonishingly refreshed and invigo- 
 rated; he must eat one more; and thus, timorously and 
 recklessly, he made acquaintance with the banana. 
 
 Of water for drink there was abundance. He drank 
 gladly at a stream, and wandered on. It was strange 
 that he no longer felt alone. He saw no man, nor any 
 trace of one ; he had become accustomed now to the rustle 
 of birds and the swish of four-footed creatures moving 
 
 16
 
 SEA-GIRT 
 
 amid the greenwood; what, then, caused him to look 
 apprehensively around? What was this odd feeling of 
 expectation that possessed him? There was nothing to 
 account for it, and by and by the nervousness which had 
 left him during his search for food returned in greater 
 force. It was not lessened when he suddenly became 
 aware that the sun was setting. Darkness, he knew, 
 would soon envelop him, and there came with a rush 
 upon his mind the memory of his early childhood, when 
 night, with its silence, its blackness, had filled him with 
 terror. He felt that a night in the solitude of these 
 unfamiliar trees would be unbearable, and, guiding him- 
 self by the sunset glow, he hurriedly plunged through the 
 jungle toward the shore. There, under the open sky, 
 he could feel more at ease. 
 
 . His course brought him to the beach on the southern 
 side, where, in the morning, he remembered having seen, 
 though in his despondency he had not heeded, a number 
 of half-rotten staves of casks. These might, he thought, 
 serve him for making a rude shelter. He soon found the 
 spot, and then noticed what had escaped his dazed obser- 
 vation before that close by the staves there lay a medley 
 of stripped branches. Had some one, at some time, 
 built himself of these materials a shelter in that very 
 place? He gathered the stuff together and rigged up a 
 crazy hut, such as he had seen erected by shepherds on 
 the moors of Devon. The day had been hot, but he 
 ..knew from his experience on shipboard that the nights
 
 ON THE SPANISH MAIN 
 
 were cold; already he felt a sharpness in the air, and 
 shivered in his tatters. The hut would defend him some- 
 what from the chill of night. 
 
 Another fear seized upon him with the approach of 
 dark. His mind had been so occupied with thoughts of 
 human enemies that the possibility of the island's har- 
 boring wild beasts had not, in the daylight, occurred to 
 him. The darkness he knew brought forth small and 
 great beasts; and he remembered with a shudder the 
 tales told him by one of the hardy adventurers on board 
 the Maid Marian of packs of wild dogs that scoured 
 these tropic woods, devouring sleeping men; of the hid- 
 eous cayman, that lurked upon the shore, and, having 
 swallowed hundred-weights of stones to increase his 
 heaviness, seized upon some unwary creature, and 
 dragged it down into the watery depths to feast upon it 
 at leisure. All wild beasts, he had heard, were afraid 
 of fire; he had his flint and steel, secure in a leather 
 pouch upon his girdle, but he had no dry tinder; the 
 sodden wood of the staves and branches of which he had 
 built his hut would be useless, and he shrank from issu- 
 ing forth into the now darkening woods to find material 
 that would serve. He comforted himself with the rec- 
 ollection that not once during his tramp around the 
 island had he seen any animal larger than a hare, save 
 the monkey; and he resigned himself to make the best 
 of what he feared would be a cheerless night. 
 
 The dark fell rapidly; again he had a strange feeling 
 
 18
 
 SEA-GIRT 
 
 that he was not alone. He went to the entrance of 
 the hut, where he had drawn some of the worm-eaten 
 branches, strung together with a few creepers, across as 
 a door. Peering out, he saw nothing but the darkened 
 cliffs and the sea, heard nothing but the wash of the 
 surf, the rustle of the breeze, and the soft tones of wood- 
 pigeons. He returned to the rear of the cabin, where 
 he had strewed leaves for his couch. As he lay back 
 upon it and looked up to the roof he started, and instinct- 
 ively seized a branch for protection; above him shone 
 two greenish eyes peeping through one of the many gaps. 
 His hasty movement disturbed the watcher, and Dennis 
 heaved a sigh of relief as he heard a shrill chattering 
 above, and knew it for the gibber of a monkey. Spring- 
 ing up, he dashed out of the cabin to drive the intruder 
 away. He was just in time to see the monkey springing 
 up the nearest tree. 
 
 It was long before he fell asleep. Then his rest was 
 fitful and disturbed, not only through his overwrought 
 nerves, but by the nocturnal cries of creatures in the 
 forest, and the attentions of insects, which nipped and 
 stung with importunate malice. In spite even of them, 
 however, he slept; and when with the rising of the sun 
 they betook their satiated bodies elsewhere, he lay till 
 the morning was drawing toward noon in the sound 
 sleep of exhausted nature. 
 
 Opening his eyes upon bright day, he was tempted by 
 the smoothness of the sea to bathe. When he flung off
 
 ON THE SPANISH MAIN 
 
 his clothes he laughed to see the party-colored patches 
 on his skin. Blue and yellow and black, the bruises 
 reminded him of his battering in the storm, and his 
 laughter turned to sighing as he thought once more of 
 his comrades and their hapless fate. But in the physical 
 joy of swimming he again plucked up heart, and he left 
 the stinging water with a most healthy hunger. The 
 recollection of his feast of fruit drew him into the wood- 
 land. He wandered long before he lighted upon the 
 banana grove, and though, in the course of roaming, he 
 saw other fruit-bearing trees, he resisted for the present 
 the temptation to climb and taste ; when once his hunger 
 was appeased by the fruit he knew, he could more safely 
 make an experiment on the unknown. 
 
 He saw, too, many animals which had escaped his 
 notice previously. There were hedgehogs, and tortoises, 
 and giant spiders, and scorpions, to which he gave a 
 wide berth ; but he caught no glimpse of any four-footed 
 beast to cause him dread, and having by this time made 
 up his mind that there were no human beings on the 
 island, he went more fearlessly, with a readier eye to 
 note the features of his new abode. 
 
 Happening once to halt and glance back, he saw, 
 perched in the branches of a tree not many yards away, a 
 monkey. Was it the same, he wondered, as that which 
 had peered at him out of the tree he had thought of 
 climbing, and pried upon him in his humble cabin? It 
 seemed to be of the same size ; it had spindly limbs and a 
 
 20
 
 SEA-GIRT 
 
 long, slender tail ; but probably there was a colony of the 
 strange creatures on the island. 
 
 "Good morrow, Sir Monkey," he said, again finding 
 a pleasure in the sound of his voice. "Are you lonely, 
 too ? You were not surely cast, like me, upon this island 
 far away from kith and kin. You have a wise and sol- 
 emn look; what secrets do you harbor in that narrow 
 skull of yours ? And what do you think of me, I wonder, 
 when you look at me with those cunning little eyes? 
 I wish you could speak, for here am I prating to myself, 
 like an old gossip of eighty." 
 
 As he moved on it was very soon clear that the monkey 
 was dogging him. He amused himself by putting the 
 matter to the test. When he sat down, the monkey 
 stopped, and remained perfectly still, partly concealing 
 itself among the leaves. When Dennis rose and went 
 on his way the monkey followed, springing from branch 
 to branch with amazing dexterity, always keeping at a 
 distance, but always watching for the youth. Dennis 
 became interested, fascinated, as he watched the move- 
 ments of the agile creature. 
 
 "Truly, Sir Monkey," he said, "I begin to wish I had 
 a tail." 
 
 And as the day wore on, and the monkey kept pace 
 with him wherever he went, he began to find in its pres- 
 ence something of the comfort of human companionship. 
 Once, as he sat resting under a tree, the broken skin of 
 a fruit he had eyed longingly fell within a couple of 
 
 21
 
 ON THE SPANISH MAIN 
 
 yards of him, and, looking up, he saw the monkey suck- 
 ing with relish at another of the same kind. 
 
 "Aha, my fine fellow," said Dennis, "you have some- 
 thing of a man about you, and mayhap what is good for 
 you is good for me, too." 
 
 And he climbed a tree on which the pale yellow fruit 
 was hanging and plucked one, and made a wry mouth 
 at his first taste of the tartish lime. 
 
 Thus the day passed in aimless yet not unprofitable 
 wandering. Warned by his experience of the previous 
 night, he resolved to prepare his shelter somewhat earlier. 
 Where should it be ? He was determined not to go back 
 to the cabin, for the insects had plagued him there un- 
 mercifully, and he could only ward them off by means 
 of a fire. But flame by night and smoke by day rising 
 from the shore would assuredly provoke curiosity among 
 the crew of any passing ship; and since, of the vessels 
 likely to pass in these latitudes, the most would undoubt- 
 edly be Spanish, he was loath to attract visitors who 
 might prove so eminently undesirable. Yet, as he knew 
 from his experience in woods at home, the insects would 
 be even more numerous inland than at the shore. A fire 
 he must have, and it struck him that if he could find, 
 somewhere in the middle of the island, a sheltered hol- 
 low, he might safely kindle there a few sticks, trusting 
 that the overarching foliage would prevent a glow in the 
 sky, and that the smoke, in the night-time, would pass 
 unobserved.
 
 SEA-GIRT 
 
 About a mile from the edge of the eastern cliff was a 
 spring whence a little stream flowed westward. At its 
 source but an inch or two wide, it gathered volume on 
 its winding course, and Dennis, tracking it, wondering 
 by what circuit it would finally reach the sea, discovered 
 that it ran at length into a somewhat extensive marsh. 
 He knew nothing about rainfall and land drainage, but 
 being a lad of some powers of observation and reasoning, 
 he was not long in coming to the conclusion that the 
 marsh collected as in a cup the water that fell on the 
 surrounding high ground during such torrential rains as 
 had fallen on the night of the storm. It was clear that 
 there must be tin outlet, or the marsh would be a lake, 
 and this outlet he found amid thick undergrowth toward 
 the western cliff near which he had been thrown by 
 the sea. 
 
 Penetrating the d^nse jungle, he discovered that the 
 outflow poured through a channel some three feet deep. 
 Only a small stream now trickled down its center; the 
 banks were sandy and dry, and the interlaced foliage so 
 arched it over that Dennis decided he might rest in it 
 secure from observation, and even run the risk of kin- 
 dling a fire at night. It seemed scarcely necessary to bring 
 the staves of his cabin over several miles of difficult 
 country to this spot; the trees themselves formed a suf- 
 ficient shelter; but with his clasp-knife he cleared away 
 some of the undergrowth, and lopped off a few low- 
 growing branches to make a little inclosure ; and by the 
 
 23
 
 ON THE SPANISH MAIN 
 
 time the natural shade deepened at the approach of night 
 he had fenced in a few square yards and scooped out a 
 hollow in the middle for his fire. 
 
 All the time he was working, the monkey watched 
 every movement from a branch overhead. Dennis was 
 not at first aware of the animal's presence, so closely 
 hidden was it by the .foliage. Only when he struck a 
 spark from the flint, and after some ineffectual attempts 
 succeeded in blowing up a flame, did the monkey reveal 
 its hiding-place by a little gibber of amazement. 
 
 "So ho! my friend," cried Dennis. "You haunt me 
 like a familiar. Have you never seen a fire? Do not 
 let your curiosity tempt you too far, for I had rather 
 you remained at your present comfortable distance, until 
 I know you a little better." 
 
 Dennis felt very well satisfied with his contrivance as 
 he sat by the fire, eating a supper of bananas before 
 laying himself down on a bed of leaves. The smoke 
 defended him somewhat from the insect pests; the 
 warmth was comforting; and the cheerful glow gave 
 him a sense of homeness and well-being. He fed the 
 fire more than once during the night, waking, it seemed, 
 when the diminished heat warned him that the fuel 
 needed replenishing. And when he awoke from his long- 
 est spell of sleep the dawn was stealing through the 
 trees, birds were cooing, whistling, chattering overhead, 
 and the monkey, on a low branch, was watching him 
 with unalterable gravity. 
 
 24
 
 CHAPTER III 
 
 A WRECK AND MIRANDOLA 
 
 Dennis, as he made his breakfast, pondered deeply on 
 the situation, taking the monkey into his confidence. 
 
 "Could we change parts, Sir Monkey if I were you, 
 and you were Dennis Hazelrig, what would you do? 
 This is your island; we will call it yours; I am your 
 guest. You seem to be a solitary creature like myself; 
 are you miserable, I wonder? Does your loneliness 
 trouble you? There is food for us both; it is so warm 
 that for the present, at least, I need no more clothes than 
 you ; neither of us will starve. How old are you ? You 
 look wise enough to be very old. Am I to remain on 
 this island until I have a beard as long and white as Sir 
 Parson's at home? Oh, you can not understand what I 
 say, for all your wise look; you can not know what a 
 wretched mortal I am. What can I do?" 
 
 The monkey only blinked at him, and plucked a dark, 
 plum-like fruit from the bough and munched it. 
 
 For a time Dennis sat listless, feeling too wretched 
 even to move from the spot. Then he got up and made 
 his way back to the cliff. He stood on the summit, scan- 
 ning the whole circumference of the shining sea. Not a 
 
 25
 
 ON THE SPANISH MAIN 
 
 sail was in sight. He scarcely knew whether he was dis- 
 appointed or not. Supposing a vessel should heave into 
 view, he dare not attempt to attract the attention of some 
 one on board. If it were English, it would be welcome 
 as a spar to a drowning man. If it were Spanish, he 
 might as well jump into the maw of some sea monster. 
 Yet how could he discover its nationality without at the 
 same time betraying his presence ? Several times during 
 that third day he climbed to the same spot, and looked 
 out with the same eagerness; not one glimpse did he 
 catch of a white wing upon the water; and he always 
 turned away with the same uncertainty. 
 
 He spent hours in roaming, as aimlessly as before, 
 along the beach and through the woodland. Coming in 
 the course of the day to the cliff near which he had 
 been cast ashore, he remembered that hitherto he had 
 not made a complete circuit of the island; the beach 
 northward appeared to be barred by huge masses of rock. 
 In his present mood he had no curiosity to see what lay 
 beyond ; he supposed indeed that, if he did care to clamber 
 toilsomely over the barrier, he would simply arrive at a 
 point of the beach which he had already reached from 
 the other side. 
 
 But later in the day, when the tedium of inaction had 
 become unbearable, he started to explore the lower course 
 of the streamlet on whose bank he had slept. He found 
 that the channel gradually widened, the banks growing 
 higher as he neared the sea. By and by he came upon 
 
 26
 
 A WRECK AND MIRANDOLA 
 
 a wide pool on whose rim a mass of seaweed lay rotting 
 in the sun. Stooping, out of sheer curiosity he dipped 
 his finger, and, tasting, discovered that the water was 
 salt, as he had supposed. Clearly at high tide the sea 
 came thus far up the gully. The entrance was as yet 
 hidden from him by the jutting shoulder of the cliff, 
 but he could hear now the light rumble of surf upon the 
 beach, and he went on, feeling some curiosity to learn 
 whereabouts on the shore he would arrive. 
 
 He had taken but a few more steps when, rounding 
 the projecting cliff, he came upon a scene which petrified 
 him with astonishment. Docked in the sand, lying over 
 on her side, was the battered hulk of a two-masted vessel. 
 Her stern was somewhat toward him, and he read, 
 painted there, the word Maid; but so familiar was he 
 with her lines that he needed not the rest of the name; 
 this was in very truth the wreck of the Maid Marian. 
 Of her two masts only the stumps remained; her deck, 
 inclined toward him, was littered with a medley of rig- 
 ging; her rudder was gone, part of her bulwarks torn 
 away. 
 
 There was an uncanny look about the hapless vessel 
 as she lay there on the sandy beach, at the head of a 
 small bay bounded by the cliffs on either side. Dennis 
 felt just such a thrill as he might have felt had he come 
 suddenly upon the body of a friend. The solitude, the 
 silence, intensified by the rustling wash of the surf, the 
 background of boundless sky and ocean, combined to 
 
 27
 
 ON THE SPANISH MAIN 
 
 affect him with a sense of desolation. He felt a shrink- 
 ing reluctance to approach, and when he had conquered 
 this and stood beneath the vessel's quarter, it was some 
 time before he summoned up the resolution to climb on 
 board. Then he mounted slowly, hesitatingly, by the 
 battens, holding his breath, as if fearful of disturbing 
 a sleeper. 
 
 All was intensely still. Multitudinous insects were 
 crawling this way and that among the litter of rigging; 
 save for these there was no sign of life where for two 
 months as merry a company as ever trod deck had talked 
 and laughed and jested. Dennis felt a lump in his throat 
 as he recalled the little incidents of the voyage ; quarter- 
 staff bouts with old Miles Barton, wrestling-matches 
 with Harry Greville, sword-play sometimes with the 
 captain himself. 
 
 The hatchways were battened down. He shrank from 
 going below. Evening was drawing on ; he would leave 
 the wreck now, and return in the morning. As he set 
 his foot once more on the beach, and began to retrace 
 his steps up the gully, he saw the monkey grinning at 
 him from a tree on the cliff, and was surprised to find 
 how pleasant and consoling was the creature's company. 
 
 Hard on this discovery of the wreck came another 
 discovery. Retracing his steps up the chine, he noticed 
 a green ledge on the cliff, some few feet above his head, 
 on the right-hand side. The thought occurred to him to 
 rest there for a little ; he could reach it by an easy climb. 
 
 28
 
 A WRECK AND MIRANDOLA 
 
 When he gained the ledge, he found that it ran back for 
 a longer distance than he had supposed. At its farther 
 end grew a wild mass of bushes and trees, some of which 
 bore the plum-like fruit that he had seen the monkey 
 eating with enjoyment. 
 
 He went to pluck some of the fruit, and, penetrating 
 a little way into the thicket, he suddenly perceived that 
 the bushes appeared to grow across an opening in the 
 rock. He pulled the strands aside, and looked into the 
 dark entrance of a cave. The discovery interested him. 
 Might he not find here a better lodging than the rude 
 shelter he had made on the bank of the stream ? It was 
 far above high-water mark, and conveniently placed for 
 refuge, being accessible landward only by the rocky 
 channel, and wholly hidden from observation at sea. Yet 
 he paused before stepping into the cave. Might it not 
 be a wild beast's lair? True, he had seen no animals 
 which he could have any cause to fear, but at this moment 
 of overstrung nerves he felt a child's dread of the dark. 
 
 "A proper adventurer, in good sooth!" he said to 
 himself. "The skirts of a nurse would befit me better 
 than an island in the Spanish Main." 
 
 And without more ado he took a step forward and 
 entered. 
 
 The daylight was quenched within a few feet of the 
 opening. Striking a spark from his flint, he kindled a 
 mass of dried grass he had stowed in his pouch for 
 this purpose, and started as the brief flame lit up the 
 
 29
 
 ON THE SPANISH MAIN 
 
 interior; for there, at his feet, lay a human skeleton. 
 Incontinently he dropped his torch and fled scoffing, 
 when once more in the free air, at his lack of courage. 
 But the wish to make this his abode had vanished. He 
 had no fancy to consort with skeletons, and besides, 
 the damp and musty atmosphere of the cave was oppres- 
 sive. Without delay he set off to regain his former 
 resting-place. 
 
 These new discoveries had introduced a disturbing 
 element into his life on the island. Uninhabited as it 
 apparently was now, clearly it had not always been so. 
 What was the history of that skeleton? Were there 
 others farther within the cave? It was not the remains 
 of a castaway, for not even in the fiercest hurricane 
 could the sea penetrate so far. Had some poor wretched 
 fugitive fled there for refuge from a human enemy, and 
 been slain or starved? What tragedy of lonely death 
 had overtaken him there? These questions kept him 
 wakeful that night, and haunted him even while he slept. 
 
 With morning light he thought less of the cave and 
 more of the wreck. The Maid Marian had left Ply- 
 mouth well equipped with stores; the hatchways had 
 been battened down in the storm, and unless the sea 
 had poured in through holes stove in her sides, there 
 must be below decks a considerable quantity of materials 
 that would prove serviceable if his stay on the island 
 was to be lengthened. As soon as he had finished his 
 breakfast he set off to return to the chine. It was no 
 
 30
 
 A WRECK AND MIRANDOLA 
 
 surprise to him now to observe the monkey following, 
 like an attendant lackey. 
 
 "Come, Sir Monkey," he said with an attempt at 
 gaiety, "let us go together and inspect our treasure 
 trove." 
 
 He felt again a strange sense of awe as he climbed 
 into the vessel's waist, and trod her planks delicately. 
 But remarking that her position had been shifted slightly 
 by the incoming tide during the night, and that little 
 streams of water were escaping from holes on to the 
 sand, he reflected that it behooved him to lose no time 
 if he wished to secure her contents, for any day a tempest 
 might spring up and shatter the hulk irretrievably. 
 Gulping down the timidity that still troubled him, he 
 climbed to the quarter-deck, scrambled through the litter 
 of ropes and shattered spars, and went forward through 
 the broken doorway into the main cabin. 
 
 The floor was littered with the possessions of his dear 
 lost comrades. Here was Harry Greville's sword; near 
 it a pistol-case that had belonged to Philip Masterton. 
 He stepped over these and other relics and entered the 
 captain's cabin beyond. Here too all was ruin and dis- 
 order. Garments, instruments of navigation, an ink- 
 horn, trumpets, a drum, Sir Martin's arms and breast- 
 plate, the big leather-bound book in which he wrote 
 his diary of the voyage, lay helter-skelter on the floor. 
 Dennis could hardly bear to look upon these mementoes 
 of the lost, and he soon turned his back on them and 
 
 31
 
 ON THE SPANISH MAIN 
 
 returned to the open part of the vessel, where he sat for 
 a time, given up to melancholy brooding. 
 
 At last he rose, threw off the oppression, and ventured 
 to force up the main hatch forward of the mainmast and 
 descend. Even now he could not bear to remain long 
 below. He explored the whole length of the vessel in 
 sections, returning at short intervals, to breathe the fresh 
 air and enjoy the cheerful sunlight. On one of these 
 occasions he was amused to see that his faithful attend- 
 ant had now ventured to quit the security of its tree, 
 and was sitting on a rock within a few yards of the 
 vessel, an interested spectator. 
 
 His inspection of the contents of the vessel fully 
 rewarded him. In the steward's store, abaft the main- 
 mast, he found a large number of utensils an iron pease- 
 pot, a copper fish-kettle, a skimmer, several wooden 
 ladles, a gridiron, a frying-pan, a couple of pipkins, a 
 chafing-dish, a fire-shovel, a pair of bellows, trays, plat- 
 ters, porringers, trenchers, drinking-cans, two well- 
 furnished tinder-boxes, candles, and candlesticks. There 
 were casks of beer and wine, great boxes of biscuits, 
 bags of oatmeal, pease, and salt, whole sides of home- 
 cured bacon, several cheeses, a tierce of vinegar, jars 
 of honey and sugar, flasks of oil, pots of balsam and 
 other salves, a pledget for spreading plasters, a pair 
 of scissors, and several rolls of linen, these last evidently 
 provided for the exigencies of fighting. In the carpen- 
 ter's store forward there were hammers, awls, chisels,
 
 A WRECK AND MIRANDOLA 
 
 files, a saw, hundreds of nails, both sixpenny and four- 
 penny. In the armory were half-pikes, cutlasses, mus- 
 kets, with bandoliers, rests, and molds, barrels of 
 gunpowder and tar, and leaden bullets, such as were to be 
 bought at Plymouth six pounds for threepence. And 
 as to the other appurtenances of a well-found ship, he 
 was almost bewildered by the quantity of them bolts, 
 and chains, and pulleys, buckets, mops, sand-glasses, 
 horn lanterns, fagots for fuel, fishing-nets, articles of 
 apparel; things for trade and barter; the list would fill 
 a page or two. And he rejoiced exceedingly to find that 
 all were in good condition, even the cheeses ; there could 
 not be even a rat on board to commit depredations. 
 
 Surveying this great and substantial store, Dennis 
 rubbed his head in puzzlement. 
 
 " Tis a month's work," he said ruefully, "and for 
 one pair of hands. The grave and reverend signor 
 yonder will scarce assist, I trow ; indeed, 'tis to be feared 
 he may be thievishly inclined, and needs must I bestow 
 the goods skilfully. Well, to it; time and tide, they 
 say, wait for no man." 
 
 He began by carrying the biscuits and other perish- 
 ables from the hold to the bulwarks, where he rigged 
 up a running tackle, and lowered the bags and boxes 
 to the sand beneath. So intent was he upon his task 
 that it was with a start of surprise and alarm he noticed 
 that the tide was flowing in, and had almost reached the 
 vessel. Threatened with the loss of the precious stores, 
 
 33
 
 ON THE SPANISH MAIN 
 
 he was hard put to it to drag and carry and roll them up 
 the beach beyond the reach of the waves, and the sun 
 was far down toward the western horizon before he had 
 them high and dry. By this time the sea was several 
 feet deep around the vessel, and the thought struck him : 
 what if the wreck were to float away on the tide and 
 all the remaining salvage be snatched from him? So 
 grave a misfortune must be prevented. At once he swam 
 out to the ship, and securely fastening to the stump of 
 the broken mast one of the stout cables he found below, 
 he again plunged into the sea and in a little had wound 
 the other end about two sturdy trees growing out from 
 the cliff. 
 
 While the wreck remained in its present position it 
 was desirable that he should have his lodging close by. 
 There was no shelter on the shore itself, nor did the 
 cliff promise a comfortable abiding-place, and his 
 thoughts returned to the cave, which was a good deal 
 nearer than the spot where he had rested the previous 
 night. 
 
 Among the things he had brought ashore were a 
 lantern, a tinder-box, and a candle. Fortified with a 
 light, he entered the cave with less tremor than on the 
 previous evening and looked about him. The cave was 
 deep ; his light did not reach the farther extremity. The 
 roof was damp, and green with moss. There was the 
 skeleton, stretched on the rocky floor. By its side, as 
 he now saw, lay a hatchet of curious shape; a little 
 
 34
 
 A WRECK AND MIRANDOLA 
 
 beyond were some colored beads. But within the circle 
 of light he discovered no other remnants of humanity; 
 these were not very terrible after all, and he might have 
 taken up his abode there but for the oppressive atmos- 
 phere, in which the candle in his lantern burned low. 
 He gave up the idea of sleeping in the cave, but made 
 himself just outside and across the entrance a couch of 
 cloaks taken from the wreck. 
 
 Before settling himself for the night, he returned to 
 the base of the cliff, opened with the hatchet one of his 
 precious boxes of biscuits, and, taking a handful, sat 
 on a flat rock to make an unaccustomed supper. He 
 had barely eaten a mouthful when he saw a brown figure 
 leap from somewhere above his head, swoop on the still 
 open box, clutch one of the biscuits and spring away, 
 with a long chatter of delight. 
 
 "Ah, knave!" he exclaimed. "My prophetic soul 
 avouched that your gravity cloaked an evil bent. You 
 are a thief, Sir Monkey. But I do not grudge it you; 
 your constancy in attendance merits some reward. A 
 toothsome morsel, is it not? It pleases me to see your 
 pleasure, and yes, I have it! You are my sole com- 
 panion on this island; why should we not be friends? 
 You must learn a rightful humility, to be sure. Regard- 
 ing me as the dispenser of luxuries, will you not love 
 me, with the respectful love of a dependent? It is worth 
 the trial." 
 
 Rising from his seat in time to forestall a second 
 
 35
 
 ON THE SPANISH MAIN 
 
 application to the biscuit box, he went to it, took Half a 
 dozen, shut down the lid, and returned to the rock. 
 
 "Now, Mirandola," he said " I name you Mirandola 
 for your wisdom, not your larceny here in my hand 
 I hold one of the twice-cooked, the fellow of the one 
 you found so delectable. Come and take it, and give 
 thanks." 
 
 But the animal sat motionless on its hands, grinning 
 and gibbering. 
 
 "You do me wrong to suspect me," Dennis went on. 
 "Well, this is to prove my good faith." 
 
 He flung the biscuit on to the sand, a few yards 
 away, and laughed quietly to see what ensued. The 
 monkey chattered volubly with excitement, swung itself 
 to a lower branch, then back to its former perch, where 
 it sat for a moment blinking and grinning. Then it 
 descended with extraordinary rapidity to the foot of 
 the tree, crouched behind the trunk while a man might 
 count ten, and, with frantic haste, as though fearful 
 its courage would not endure, it darted on all fours 
 across to the biscuit, looking in its movement like a 
 gigantic spider. Seizing the delicacy, it sped back to 
 the tree, squatted on the lowest branch, and set its jaws 
 right merrily to work. 
 
 "That is your first lesson, Mirandola," said Dennis, 
 placing the remaining biscuits in his pouch, in full sight 
 of the animal. "The second begins at once ; it enjoineth 
 patience." 
 
 36
 
 A WRECK AND MIRANDOLA 
 
 And heedless of the loud outcry made by the monkey 
 when it saw these choice comestibles disappear, Dennis 
 returned to his couch, and laid himself down for the 
 night. He no longer spent the night in restless tossing, 
 but had accustomed himself to the strange noises and 
 the loneliness; he slept soundly until dawn. 
 
 37
 
 CHAPTER IV 
 
 SALVAGE 
 
 Rising with the sun, Dennis set about making a more 
 careful examination of the hull of the Maid Marian. 
 The leaks in her timbers were rather more serious than 
 he had supposed. Clearly they would prevent her from 
 drifting out to sea on the tide, but they would also render 
 her final break-up inevitable in the event of a violent 
 storm from the northwest. There were signs on the 
 face of the cliff that at times the waves dashed over the 
 narrow beach of sand against the wall of rock beyond. 
 In these latitudes, as the fate of the Maid Marian proved, 
 storms arose without warning, and with incredible swift- 
 ness ; and it behooved Dennis to make all speed in saving 
 the ship's stores. 
 
 At low tide on this day, and on many that followed, 
 he worked hard at his task. He rigged up a block and 
 pulley on the waist by means of which he was able to 
 hoist casks and other heavy objects up the hatchways 
 and lower them over the side of the vessel. It was more 
 difficult to convey them from the vessel to a place of 
 safety beyond the reach of the tide. At first he tried 
 to haul them by a rope, but finding soon that he
 
 SALVAGE 
 
 succeeded only in working up a ridge of sand which 
 rendered haulage exhausting and in some cases impos- 
 sible, he bethought himself of the device of employing 
 rollers, such as he had seen used by fishermen on the 
 beach at home. It was an easy matter, with the tools 
 now at hand, to lop off and strip some straight boughs 
 suited to his purpose, and upon these he brought, slowly 
 and not without pains, the bulkier goods to safe harbor- 
 age. The tide always rose about the vessel too soon 
 for his impatience, but the work was arduous, the inter- 
 vals were really needed for rest, and they gave oppor- 
 tunities of furthering his acquaintance with the monkey. 
 
 His relations with Mirandola, indeed, were placed on 
 a sound and satisfactory footing long before he had 
 emptied the hull. The biscuits were invaluable. At in- 
 tervals, now long, now short, he would throw one toward 
 the monkey, which watched all his doings at the wreck 
 day by day with unfailing regularity. Little by little 
 he diminished the length of his throw, until, on the third 
 day after his first lesson, Mirandola had gained sufficient 
 confidence to approach him to within a few inches. On 
 the fourth day, after keeping the monkey waiting longer 
 than usual, Dennis took a biscuit from his pouch, held 
 it for a moment between his fingers, then put it back 
 again. 
 
 "It is time, Mirandola," he said, "that your education 
 was completed. You are, I verily believe, as wise as a 
 serpent; will you not believe that I am harmless as a 
 
 39
 
 ON THE SPANISH MAIN 
 
 dove? This is the same biscuit I stowed but now in my 
 pouch ; it is for you ; it is yours if you will take it man- 
 nerly. No, I will not cast it on the sand; it is more 
 seemly to take it from my hand, and, I do assure you, 
 it will be no less relishable. Come, then, dear wiseacre ; 
 have I ever deceived you? Show a little confidence in 
 your true friend and well-wisher." 
 
 He held forth the biscuit, with an alluring smile. 
 Mirandola cocked his head on one side, gazed at this 
 dispenser of delectable things with a searching solemnity, 
 and then crawled forward with watchful eye, dubiously 
 halting more than once. At length it came to Dennis' 
 feet, and sat up, with so gravely sad an expression that 
 Dennis found it hard not to laugh. Then, thrusting up 
 its long arm, it made a grab at the biscuit. 
 
 "Not so, Mirandola," said Dennis, holding it beyond the 
 monkey's reach. "Manners maketh man ; assuredly they 
 will not mar monkeys. Ape the gentle philosopher, your 
 namesake; be courteous and discreet. Now, come and 
 try it once more." 
 
 He lowered the biscuit slowly, keeping his eyes on 
 the creature's face. But with a suddenness that took him 
 aback, Mirandola raised himself on his hind legs, flung 
 out an arm, and, before Dennis could withdraw it, held 
 the biscuit in his skinny paw. 
 
 "Well away !" laughed Dennis. "I may keep my breath 
 to cool my porridge, for all the effect my words have 
 upon your savage nature." 
 
 40
 
 SALVAGE 
 
 Then, to his surprise, the monkey came to him again, 
 and held out its hand. 
 
 "You shall not be disappointed," he said. "Not for 
 the world would I reject your advances. Here is a 
 biscuit, and with this, shall we say, our friendship is 
 sealed?" 
 
 And it was not long before Mirandola would sit upon 
 his knee, and take food from his hand with all manner- 
 liness ; and, its distrust gone, showed itself to be as affec- 
 tionate and devoted as a dog. 
 
 Dennis availed himself in other ways of the hours 
 when the tide interrupted his labor with the stores. 
 There was no lack of planking and tarpaulin in the 
 vessel; these he utilized in building himself a little hut 
 about two trees that grew near enough together to form 
 uprights for his roof. Then he erected two small sheds 
 close by wherein to shelter his goods from the weather. 
 At first lie fumbled with the unfamiliar tools, not omit- 
 ting to pinch his fingers as he hammered in the nails. 
 But he soon acquired a certain dexterity, and was in- 
 deed mightily pleased with his handiwork. 
 
 Every now and again he made a trip across the island, 
 to discover whether any vessels were in sight. Once or 
 twice he descried a sail on the horizon; once, indeed, he 
 felt some excitement and anxiety as he thought he saw 
 a bark under full sail bearing straight for the shore. 
 But in this he was mistaken; the vessel altered her 
 course. Dennis, watching her diminishing form, hardly
 
 ON THE SPANISH MAIN 
 
 knew whether to be glad or sorry. He was in truth 
 too busy for self-commiseration; work filled his days, 
 unbroken sleep his nights. His feeling of loneliness had 
 almost entirely passed away, for Mirandola was his 
 inseparable companion, and it pleased his fancy to talk 
 to the monkey as to a human being. 
 
 So engrossing had his labor been that he had taken 
 no account of the passage of time. It came upon him 
 with a shock, once, that the unnumbered days were flit- 
 ting away. The idea that he was doomed to grow old 
 upon this island, and linger out his years in endless 
 solitude, struck his imagination with a chill, and set him 
 climbing the cliff in a kind of frenzy, to scan once more 
 the wide horizon for a sail. If at that moment a vessel 
 had hove in sight, he would have flown a flag, fired a 
 musket to attract attention, reckless what crew it bore, 
 so deep was his yearning to see a fellow-man. When 
 the fit passed, it left him with a new desire. Never yet 
 had the possibility occurred to him of leaving the island. 
 Could he construct a raft, or build a boat nay, was 
 there a chance of making the Maid Marian herself, bat- 
 tered as she was, seaworthy? The absurdity of attempt- 
 ing to navigate single-handed a bark of near two hun- 
 dred tons set him laughing; but the idea suggested a 
 new outlet for his energy, just at the time when the 
 conclusion of his salvage work had bereft him of occupa- 
 tion. 
 
 He became fired with the purpose of saving the vessel. 
 
 42
 
 SALVAGE 
 
 The weather hitherto had been perfect; but sooner or 
 later a storm must come and then the ship would be 
 ground to splinters against the cliff. Was it possible to 
 float her? He had unloaded what he imagined to be 
 a good many tons of stores ; thus lightened, could she be 
 moved? If he could succeed in floating her, whither 
 could she be taken? His tours of the island had failed 
 to discover any harbor ; there was little to gain and much 
 to lose by allowing himself to drift about aimlessly in 
 such a hulk. Suddenly an idea struck him. Would it 
 not be possible to devise some means of floating her up 
 the gully, round the shoulder of the cliff? Her draught 
 was not great; at high tide the water was deep enough 
 to carry her many yards beyond her present position, 
 to a point where she would be at once invisible from the 
 open sea and protected from the weather. 
 
 At the next fall of the tide he made a thorough 
 inspection of the wreck. It was easy to locate the leaks, 
 for at every ebb the water that had entered the vessel 
 at the flood gushed out in tiny cascades. Many a time 
 he had seen ships careened and caulked in the dockyard 
 at Plymouth. He had plenty of rope of which to make 
 oakum, and of tar more than enough to meet his needs ; 
 in his search through the vessel he had lighted on no 
 caulking-iron, but a long nail would serve ; and it would 
 go hard with him, he thought, but he would make the 
 old hulk sound and seaworthy ere many days were gone. 
 
 He found an unexpected assistant in Mirandola. He 
 
 43
 
 ON THE SPANISH MAIN 
 
 had teased out but an inch or two of rope when the 
 monkey squatted down by his side and began with his 
 strong nimble fingers to copy him, looking up in his face 
 with an air of such busy importance that Dennis was 
 fain to lie back and laugh. 
 
 "By my troth, Sir Mirandola," he said, "this is friend- 
 ship indeed. And you outdo me, on my soul; you pick 
 two inches to my one. Tis not the daintiest of work 
 for fingers untrained to it, and if it pleases you, why, 
 I will e'en leave it to you, and admire this unwonted 
 usefulness in a philosopher." 
 
 But he found that when he ceased, the monkey ceased 
 also. 
 
 "Poor knave !" he said. "You see not the end. 'Tis 
 but an apish trick, after all. Well, God forbid that I 
 should judge your motive. I am thankful for your help, 
 and we will work together." 
 
 Between them the two collaborators soon had a fine 
 heap of oakum ready for use, and a couple of days' hard 
 work at low tide sufficed to caulk all the seams. Miran- 
 dola's share in this second part of the job gave Dennis 
 more amusement. The busy creature solemnly dabbed 
 tar on sound parts of the timbers, and chattered with 
 disgust when he discovered that the stuff clung to his 
 hairy skin, defying all his efforts to get rid of it. 
 
 "F faith, I named you more fittingly than I wot," 
 quoth Dennis. "Pico, your illustrious namesake, was a 
 gentleman of rare and delicate taste. Touch pitch and 
 
 44
 
 SALVAGE 
 
 thou art defiled. But a little turpentine, mayhap, will 
 cleanse the outward spots ; and as for your inward hurt 
 what think you of a spread of honey on your biscuit ?" 
 
 Mirandola thought nobly of the new delicacy, and 
 came in time to look for honey whenever he had imitated 
 Dennis with more than usual energy. 
 
 The leaks having been well caulked, Dennis proceeded 
 to pump the water from the lower parts of the hold. 
 He awaited the next high tide with great eagerness. 
 To his joy the vessel floated, and rode fairly upright 
 on her keel. The tide carried her several yards up the 
 beach, leaving her again high and dry at the ebb. 
 
 But Dennis now found himself faced by a difficulty. 
 He wished to get the vessel round the shoulder of the 
 cliff, so that the tide might carry her up the chine to 
 the pool below his hut and sheds. The distance was 
 barely eighty yards, but he had noticed, from the move- 
 ment of a log floating some little way out, that the set 
 of the current was from north to west; so that if once 
 she was allowed to float free, and felt the force of the 
 current, she would probably drift away in the opposite 
 direction from what he desired. On the other hand, if 
 she were driven too high on the beach, she might stick 
 so firmly in the sand that it would be impossible to move 
 her, and then she would lie at the mercy of the first 
 northwest gale. 
 
 His little nautical knowledge was at first at a loss. 
 
 "Mirandola, your speechless wisdom is of no avail," 
 
 45
 
 ON THE SPANISH MAIN 
 
 he said ruefully, as he sat at his fire one evening, feeding 
 the monkey with pease porridge. "You and I are both 
 landsmen; unlike you, I adventured forth, to gain gold, 
 and fight the don Spaniards, if the fates should so or- 
 dain. Here is never a Spaniard to fight; and as for 
 gold, the wealth of Croesus would not at this moment 
 benefit me a jot. If I had been bred to the sea now, 
 I should not be at this pass." 
 
 But long cogitation, and another visit to the ship, de- 
 termined a course of action. The windlass, he discovered, 
 was uninjured, and though it was very stiff, he could 
 still manage to turn it. A big jagged rock jutted out 
 from the cliff near the shoulder round which the vessel 
 must be warped. To this rock he carried a rope from 
 the stump of the mainmast and securely fastened it. 
 This would prevent the vessel from drifting out to sea. 
 Then, with a hatchet from the ship's stores he cut a 
 number of thick branches from the trees along the gully, 
 and pitching them into the pool floated them one by 
 one on to the beach alongside the wreck. There was 
 plenty of rope on board to fashion these into a stout 
 raft, on to which, with the aid of the windlass, he low- 
 ered a kedge anchor just sufficiently heavy to hold the 
 vessel in a calm. It was a matter of some difficulty to 
 get the anchor so evenly adjusted on the raft that the 
 latter would not turn turtle, but after some patient ma- 
 neuvering Dennis arranged it squarely in the center, 
 and when the tide came in the whole floated with a fair 
 
 46
 
 SALVAGE 
 
 appearance of stability. Then with a long pole Dennis 
 cautiously punted the raft out beyond the gully, paying 
 out as he went a stout cable, connecting the anchor with 
 the windlass. Some thirty yards beyond the gully, at a 
 point near enough inshore to be beyond the reach of 
 the current, he prepared to drop the anchor. It was too 
 heavy for him even to move ; the only plan that suggested 
 itself was to bring about what he had up to that moment 
 been most anxious to prevent the raft must now be 
 intentionally upset. One by one he cut away the lash- 
 ings of the outermost logs on the seaward side. At 
 last he felt by the movement of the raft that only his 
 own weight prevented the crazy structure from turn- 
 ing over. He slid from the raft into the sea; the far 
 side sank and the anchor slipped over and went with 
 a thud to the bottom. Then the raft righted itself and 
 Dennis scrambled aboard. 
 
 The rest was easy. When the tide ebbed it carried 
 the wreck inch by inch toward the anchor, for with the 
 aid of the windlass Dennis was able to keep the cable 
 constantly taut, while at the same time he paid out 
 the rope connecting the vessel with the shore. A couple 
 of tides brought him in this way up to the anchor, then, 
 transferring the shore cable to a stout tree some distance 
 up the gully, he slacked off from the kedge when the 
 tide was running up and allowed the wreck to be carried 
 shoreward. In this way the Maid Marian floated slowly 
 up the gully on the flood, and another couple of tides 
 
 47
 
 ON THE SPANISH MAIN 
 
 brought her within a few yards of the pool, which he 
 designed for her permanent harborage. 
 
 Below this there was a narrow bar that threatened 
 to balk him. At low tide, indeed, he had to shovel 
 away a large amount of sand in the middle of the 
 channel, and once came near losing his temper with 
 Mirandola, who, with well-meant industry, and a quite 
 innocent pleasure, set about scooping back the sand as 
 it was dug out. But the animal tired of this fatiguing 
 avocation; the difficulty was overcome; and when at 
 last the vessel rode gently into the little natural harbor 
 below the hut, Dennis hailed the success of his long 
 toil with a cheerful "Huzza!" and broached a cask of 
 sack. Of this indulgence he partly repented, for the 
 monkey seized upon the mug when he laid it down, 
 and drained it greedily. 
 
 "No, no, my friend," said Dennis gravely. "Wine 
 maketh glad the heart of man; I do not read that it 
 is in any wise a drink for brutes. And all your phi- 
 losophy would not reconcile me to a drunken Miran- 
 dola. Be not among wine-bibbers, says the wisest of 
 kings and men; I bethink me he says also, My son, 
 eat thou honey, for it is good! You shall have honey, 
 my venerable son."
 
 CHAPTER V 
 
 THE EDGE OF THE MARSH 
 
 During his operations about the wreck, Dennis had 
 noticed that the monkey showed a strange aversion for 
 the sea. At low tide, when the vessel was high and dry, 
 he quite cheerfully accompanied his benefactor on board ; 
 but as a rule, when he saw the tide rolling in, he chat- 
 tered angrily, swarmed down the side of the vessel, and 
 posted himself at the nearest point above high-water 
 mark. Only on the one occasion when he mounted the 
 windlass, did he remain on deck when the tide was at 
 flood ; there he seemed to regard himself as out of reach 
 of the waves. Dennis wondered whether the dread of 
 the sea was a characteristic of the monkey tribe or wheth- 
 er Mirandola had at some time suffered a sea-change 
 which he was determined not to repeat. 
 
 He took endless pleasure in studying the amiable 
 creature, and when, his work with the ship being finished, 
 he began once more to take lengthy strolls across the 
 island, he drew a new delight from the companionship 
 of the monkey. The friendship being so firmly estab- 
 lished, Mirandola showed off his accomplishments with 
 a freedom he had not displayed when he regarded this
 
 ON THE SPANISH MAIN 
 
 new-comer with distrust and suspicion. Dennis laughed 
 to see his antics in the trees. He would curl his long 
 tail about a branch, and swing to and fro with manifest, 
 enjoyment. Sometimes, clutching a banana with one 
 hand, he would pick another with one foot, and hold a 
 third to his mouth with the second hand. Sometimes 
 when he saw Dennis holding his forehead in a brown 
 study, he would rub his long gaunt arms over his own 
 brow with a wistful look that brought a smile to the 
 lad's face. He was amiability itself, and showed genuine 
 distress when Dennis took occasion to scold him for some 
 piece of inconvenient prankishness. 
 
 Now that his thoughts were no longer engrossed with 
 his salvage work, Dennis more often speculated on his 
 future. The prospect was not very encouraging. Sup- 
 posing he could carry out his half-formed purpose of 
 building a boat, what chance was there of surviving a 
 voyage across the Atlantic in a vessel that, untrained 
 as he was in handicraft, must necessarily be a clumsy 
 thing? And unless he could risk an ocean voyage he 
 felt that he had better remain where he was. No Euro- 
 pean nation but the Spaniards and the Portuguese had 
 settlements on the American coast. What might be ex- 
 pected at the hands of the Spaniards he knew full well. 
 Had he not heard from the lips of one Master John 
 Merridew fearsome tales of their treachery and cruelty? 
 John Merridew had sailed with Captain John Hawkins 
 to the West Indies, with Master Francis Drake as one 
 
 50
 
 THE EDGE OF THE MARSH 
 
 of the company. Forced by foul weather into the port 
 of St. John d'Ulua, the captain made great account of 
 a certain Spanish gentleman named Augustine de Villa 
 Nueva, and used him like a nobleman. Yet this same 
 Augustine, sitting at dinner one day with the captain, 
 would certainly have killed him with a poniard which he 
 had secretly in his sleeve, had not one John Chamber- 
 lain espied the weapon and prevented the foul deed. And 
 recalling Merridew's narrative, Dennis wondered what 
 had become of those hundred poor wretches who, when 
 victuals ran short, and the ship's company were driven 
 to eat parrots and monkeys, and the very rats that 
 swarmed in the hold, preferred to shift for themselves 
 on shore, rather than starve on shipboard. In imagina- 
 tion he saw that touching scene, when the general, as 
 Merridew called Captain Hawkins, gave to each man 
 five yards of cloth, embraced them in turn, counseled 
 them to serve God and love one another ; and thus courte- 
 ously gave them a sorrowful farewell, promising, if God 
 sent him safe home to England, to do what he could to 
 bring home such as remained alive. That Captain 
 Hawkins would fulfil his promise Dennis believed; but 
 how many of those Englishmen were still living? He 
 reflected that he at least had food and present safety; 
 compared with theirs his lot was a king's. 
 
 But he was not to escape misfortune altogether. One 
 day the storm he had so long been expecting 'broke over 
 the island, hurling great seas into the mouth of the 
 
 Si
 
 ON THE SPANISH MAIN 
 
 chine, threatening to dash the Maid Marian against the 
 rocks or sweep her out into the ocean. In the midst 
 of pelting blinding rain Dennis strove to insure her 
 safety. She wrenched at her anchor; every moment he 
 feared lest her mooring ropes should be snapped; he 
 could do little but keep a watch on the fastenings. And 
 while he was thus watching, a roaring flood passed 
 through the gully from the plateau above, swamping 
 his hut, washing away some of his hardly won stores; 
 and the fierce blast tore off the roof of one of his sheds, 
 exposing its contents to all the fury of the weather. 
 
 Next day he did what he could to repair the damage. 
 Fortunately, much of his perishable goods was contained 
 in stout boxes which he always kept securely fastened, 
 and the things he lost were those he could best spare. 
 
 In the afternoon of that day, he went across to the 
 opposite side of the island as he was wont to do at 
 intervals, to take a lookout from the high cliff there. 
 He wondered whether the storm had cast any other 
 ill-fated vessel upon the shore. But, scanning the whole 
 horizon, he saw nothing but league upon league of rest- 
 less sea. 
 
 "Our solitude is not to be disturbed, Mirandola," he 
 said to the monkey, "for which let us be thankful. Or 
 ought we to deplore it? I wish you could speak, my 
 'friend, and tell me something of your history. Are you 
 the last of your race, I wonder? Well, so am I. I have 
 no kith nor kin; nor, as it appears, have you. I have 
 
 52
 
 THE EDGE OF THE MARSH 
 
 a humble estate in an island, to be sure, somewhat larger 
 than this. Now I come to think of it, this island is 
 yours; it is a mark of nobility of soul or poverty of 
 spirit? I can not say that you do not regard me as a 
 supplanter. Good Holies, my steward, would not brook 
 the intrusion of any adventurer on my lands. Heigh-ho ! 
 How fares the old fellow, I wonder? How he shook 
 his old head when I acquainted him with my purpose 
 to join Sir Martin Blunt in his voyage to the Spanish 
 Main! 'God save you, sir!' he said, and asked whether 
 he should sell my whippets ! One thing I know, Miran- 
 dola! that if it please God to bring me safe home in 
 season, Holies will give me a faithful account of his 
 stewardship. Let me think I am your steward, good 
 my friend. And now let us return to our honey-pot." 
 
 On the way back, Dennis struck somewhat to the left 
 of his usual path, to skirt the marsh on its southwestern 
 instead of its northeastern side. It was far larger in 
 area than when he had first seen it; its outlet was too 
 narrow to carry off the surplusage due to the tremendous 
 rains. Dennis was picking his way around the oozy 
 edge, letting his thoughts travel back to the pleasant land 
 of Devon, when suddenly he was brought up short by 
 the sight of a mark in the soft earth, the strangeness 
 of which mightily surprised and perplexed him. Paral- 
 lel with his own tracks there ran for a few yards a faint 
 ribbon-like track such a track as might be made by a 
 large cartwheel that had rested very lightly on the sur- 
 
 53
 
 ON THE SPANISH MAIN 
 
 face. It was a single track; following its course, he 
 found that it disappeared into the water, just as he had 
 seen the mark of a cart-wheel disappear into a roadside 
 horse-pond at home. 
 
 He looked around. There was nothing to account for 
 the mark. He scouted the idea that it had been actually 
 made by a wheel; a vehicle must have been drawn by 
 animals, and there were no hoof-marks to match. With 
 all his puzzling he could find no explanation, and though 
 he looked warily about him as he went on his way, with 
 some return of his old feeling of nervousness, he saw no 
 sign to suggest that the island had been visited. 
 
 It was a day or two before he again found himself 
 near the marsh. He had been fishing from the base of 
 the high cliff that formed his usual lookout. A kind of 
 natural pier of broken rock jutted out from the cliff 
 seaward, and the deep water on each side was the favorite 
 resort at high tide of shoals of small fish, which chose 
 it, he supposed, because the depth was not great enough 
 for the ground sharks that sometimes made their appear- 
 ance off the shore, and the little fish could disport them- 
 selves there in security. 
 
 Carrying his catch on a string enough for his own 
 dinner; for Mirandola would not touch it he passed 
 again by the brink of the marsh, and once more was 
 puzzled by the wheel-like track which he had seen before 
 and been unable to explain. The marsh had somewhat 
 shrunk in the interval ; the receding water had left more 
 
 54
 
 THE EDGE OF THE MARSH 
 
 of the track visible ; and the outer soil having been baked 
 hard by the sun, the strange imprint was clearer and 
 more definite. 
 
 It occurred to Dennis now to attempt to trace the 
 mark in the opposite direction, away from the point 
 where it disappeared in the water. It speedily grew 
 fainter as he came to harder soil, and he lost it altogether 
 where it entered undergrowth which had no doubt been 
 partly submerged when the marsh was at its highest. 
 But after some search he found it again where it emerged 
 from the rank vegetation, and from that point he traced 
 it with little difficulty, for it kept fairly close to the 
 margin of the lake. Its resemblance to the track of a 
 wheel had now ceased; not even the most rickety of 
 carts driven by a drunken tranter on a Devonshire lane, 
 could have made such erratic movements as must have 
 caused this shallow, winding mark on the soil. Dennis 
 followed its curves with persistent curiosity not unmixed 
 with a vague uneasiness. Mirandola accompanied him, 
 springing lightly from bough to bough of the trees near- 
 est the edge of the marsh, descending with extraordinary 
 quickness and loping along the ground where gaps in- 
 tervened, or the fringe of the woodland belt took a trend 
 inward. 
 
 At length the tracking came perforce to an end. Again 
 the trail disappeared into the water, and Dennis halted, 
 feeling a little vexed that his patience was, after all, to 
 bear no fruit. He looked round for Mirandola. The 
 
 55
 
 ON THE SPANISH MAIN 
 
 monkey had disappeared, exploring, no doubt, thought 
 Dennis, a close-packed thicket that came within a few 
 yards of the morass, having apparently crowded out all 
 nobler trees save one slender cedar which, dominating 
 the undergrowth, seemed taller than it. really was. 
 
 Dennis was about to give up the problem as hopeless 
 and go on his way, when suddenly he heard Mirandola 
 chattering in a manner that was new to him. A moment 
 after, the monkey sprang from the thicket into the tree, 
 and climbed with frantic speed to the very top, where 
 he sat gibbering and shaking with terror. Dennis, won- 
 dering what had perturbed him, took a step forward, 
 then started back in a cold shiver. A huge serpent was 
 rearing itself from the midst of the undergrowth and 
 winding its coils about the trunk of the tree. 
 
 Mirandola on the topmost branch had now ceased his 
 chattering, and clung watching the monster with dilated 
 eyes. The poor creature was helpless. To descend from 
 his perch would have been fatal; there was no other 
 tree at hand to which he might escape. Indeed, under 
 the fascination of the serpent's baleful eyes, as it slowly 
 drew its immense coils up the trunk, the monkey lost all 
 power of movement; and Dennis himself, even with the 
 thicket between him and the monster, felt a sort of chill 
 paralysis as he watched its sinister movements. For 
 half a minute he stood rooted to the spot; then, making 
 an effort to throw off this dire oppression, he tried to 
 think of some means of helping the monkey. At that 
 
 56
 
 THE EDGE OF THE MARSH 
 
 moment of danger he was conscious for the time of the 
 strength of his affection for the animal whose compan- 
 ionship had done so much to relieve the awful solitude 
 of the island. Unless he intervened, Mirandola was 
 doomed; and the thought of losing Mirandola filled him 
 with a startled sense of grief at his possible loss, and 
 inspired him with a fierce longing to slay this monster 
 that was crawling inch by inch toward its prey. 
 
 His first impulse was to run back to his hut for the 
 gun he kept there ready loaded; but slow as the ser- 
 pent's progress was, before he could return to the spot 
 the tragedy would have ended. Then he remembered 
 how the reptiles in the woods at home were killed. A 
 blow on the vertebrae crippled them ; could he cripple 
 this huge creature, which even yet had not heaved all 
 its length into the tree? His only weapon was the 
 sailor's clasp-knife which he always carried at his girdle. 
 He opened it impulsively, then hesitated. If he failed 
 to hit the vertebras, and dealt only a flesh wound, he 
 might perchance save the monkey, but could he then 
 save himself? He knew nothing of a boa constrictor's 
 power of movement ; but his instinct told him that, if once 
 enfolded in those monstrous coils, he must inevitably be 
 crushed to death. But he could not stand and see his 
 pet mangled and devoured: the serpent, moving delib- 
 erately, as though aware of its victim's paralysis, was 
 not yet beyond his reach. Springing through the under- 
 growth, he marked a spot some distance from the reptile's 
 
 57
 
 ON THE SPANISH MAIN 
 
 tail, and stabbed with all his force at the center of the 
 sleek, round mass. 
 
 Next moment he was thrown sprawling on the ground 
 by a flick of the tail, as the upper part of the serpent's 
 body writhed convulsively under the blow. He jerked 
 himself to his feet and leaped away through the under- 
 growth in a panic of fear. A few steps brought him to 
 open ground, and then, crushing down his nervous terror, 
 he looked back. The coils were slipping down the tree, 
 and in a moment it was clear that the serpent's power 
 was gone ; its huge bulk moved uncontrollably ; its motor 
 force was destroyed. Dennis ventured to enter the 
 thicket again. When the serpent reached the ground, 
 it writhed as he had seen injured eels and earthworms 
 writhe, but its movements were all involuntary; Miran- 
 dola was saved. 
 
 The monkey was now chattering volubly, but still 
 clung to his perch. Clearly he would not venture to 
 descend while his enemy moved. For some time Dennis 
 watched it; then, feeling that he must put an end to its 
 maimed life, he hurried away to fetch his gun. A bullet 
 in the head and the reptile lay motionless. 
 
 Even then some little time elapsed before Mirandola 
 yielded to Dennis' persuasive calls and slid, still some- 
 what nervously, to the ground. He avoided the reptile's 
 body and scampered away with shrill cries to the open. 
 When Dennis overtook him, the monkey sprang upon his 
 shoulder, and so they returned to the hut. 
 
 58
 
 THE EDGE OF THE MARSH 
 
 After this thrilling experience Dennis felt somewhat 
 less at ease in his peregrinations of the island. He had 
 come to think that he had nothing to fear there, so long 
 as it was unvisited by men. But the thickets that gave 
 hiding to one huge reptile might harbor many more. 
 Henceforth he walked more warily, and never ventured 
 far from his hut without a gun. 
 
 59
 
 CHAPTER VI 
 
 THE SPANISH WHIP 
 
 Dennis had given up the idea of building a boat as a 
 means of escape from the island, but now that time again 
 hung heavy on his hands, he reverted to it as a refuge 
 from the tedium of idleness. It promised to give him 
 much labor, for, unless he stripped the planking from 
 the Maid Marian, he must needs fell trees for himself, 
 and prepare his timbers as well as his unskill could 
 devise. The trees of the island were for the most part 
 unknown to him; and he was not aware of the Indian 
 practice of hollowing out a cedar trunk with fire or 
 hatchet. In his wanderings he now began to take note 
 of the different species, with a view to selecting one 
 that would best suit his tools. 
 
 One day, when he was strolling through the woodland 
 on this errand, he was amazed, and not a little alarmed, 
 to hear, from some spot far to his right, what seemed 
 to him to be the ring of axes. He halted, incredulous. 
 The island, he was assured, had no other inhabitant, yet 
 he could not be mistaken; the sound of tree-felling 
 reminded him of home, and he felt a sudden deep yearn- 
 ing for the combes and holts of far-off Devon. But this 
 
 60
 
 THE SPANISH WHIP 
 
 feeling was immediately quelled by a sense of danger. 
 Who were these wood-cutters ? No friends, he was sure ; 
 he had given up hope of finding friends upon these re- 
 mote coasts. And if not friends, discovery by these 
 spelled death to him, or slavery to which death would 
 be preferable. 
 
 He was minded to turn about and seek safety in his 
 hut. Built upon the edge of the chine, it could only be 
 discovered by careful exploration of the woodland, and 
 the chine was all but invisible from the sea. There he 
 might remain in hiding, with a fair chance that he would 
 not be found. But this first impulse passed. He felt 
 an overmastering curiosity to see who these visitors were. 
 Whence had they come, he wondered. Why, if they 
 came from the distant mainland, had they crossed the 
 sea? He could not suppose that wood was lacking upon 
 the shores of the great continent. 
 
 Slowly, with infinite caution, he began to thread his 
 way toward the sound. There were open spaces amid 
 the woodland, though he dared not cross these, but kept 
 always in the shelter of the trees. He dreaded lest 
 Mirandola should betray him by a cry; but the monkey 
 leaped from bough to bough almost noiselessly, as if 
 he, too, had taken alarm from the unwonted sound. A 
 few weeks before Dennis himself would have found it 
 difficult to make his way through the woods and the 
 undergrowth without giving signs of his presence by 
 the snapping of twigs or the rustle of parting foliage; 
 
 61
 
 ON THE SPANISH MAIN 
 
 but the abiding sense of danger which had oppressed 
 him during his earlier passages across the island had bred 
 in him a wariness of movement that was now almost as 
 instinctive as in the wild creatures whose lives depended 
 on their caution. 
 
 Guiding himself by the sounds, he was drawn toward 
 a grove of trees that lay about two hundred yards from 
 the western beach. Only a day or two before, he had 
 struck his hatchet into one of them, and concluded from 
 its soft, white, sappy rind that it would not provide fit 
 timber for his boat. Yet it was clearly these trees upon 
 which the unseen woodmen were at work. He stole for- 
 ward, and, coming to a dense fringe of undergrowth 
 beyond which the grove lay, he edged his way into the 
 thicket, and very stealthily pressed the foliage aside until 
 he got a view of what was doing. 
 
 The trees grew somewhat far apart, and across a fairly 
 open space he saw the strangers whose unexpected pres- 
 ence was causing him such concern. Five men, stripped 
 to the waist, were hard at work with axes. Four of 
 them had dusky skins of reddish hue; the fifth, a short, 
 thick-set, brawny man, the muscles of whose arms showed 
 like great globes, was clearly a white man, though his 
 hands and arms were stained a bright scarlet, quite dif- 
 ferent from the red duskiness of southern natives, or the 
 red-brown caused by exposure to sun and wind. As they 
 moved, the five men clanked the chains that fettered 
 their ankles to stout logs of wood. A little apart stood 
 
 62
 
 THE SPANISH WHIP 
 
 three men looking on, talking and laughing together in 
 a tongue strange to Dennis. They were big, swarthy 
 fellows, with soft, wide-brimmed hats, each decked with 
 a feather, brown leather doublets and hose and long 
 boots. Each bore an harquebus and a whip. 
 
 The sun was high in the heavens, its beams beating 
 down through the trees upon the unprotected backs of 
 the toilers. Sweat was pouring from them. The trees 
 were thick, some at least two yards in circumference; 
 to cut through them needed no slight exertion. The 
 white laborer paused to draw his arm across his reeking 
 brow. Then one of the watchers strolled across from 
 the tree against which he had been lolling, and, raising 
 his whip, brought the thong with a stinging cut across 
 the back of the slave who had dared to intermit his 
 labors. A red streak showed livid on the white skin. 
 For a moment it seemed to Dennis, watching the scene, 
 that the victim was about to turn upon his assailant with 
 the ax, his sole weapon. An expression of deadly rage 
 writhed the features of his red-bearded face. His grip 
 tightened upon the ax. But he controlled his impulse 
 with an effort. The warder laughed brutally, flung a 
 taunt, and cracked his whip in the air in challenge and 
 menace. Sullenly the woodman resumed his task, and 
 his persecutor, with another laugh, turned and rejoined 
 his companions, applauded by their grins. 
 
 Dennis felt himself stung to anger. This swarthy ruf- 
 fian, he doubted not, was a Spaniard, a subject of King 
 
 63
 
 ON THE SPANISH MAIN 
 
 Philip, once the consort of an English queen. It was 
 not a pleasant introduction to the race dominating the 
 Americas. Apparently Mirandola liked them no better 
 than he, for at the first sight of the strangers the monkey 
 had fled. Dennis found him a good quarter-mile distant 
 when, taking advantage of an interval during which the 
 Spaniards ate and drank, and the flagging toilers rested, 
 he strode away to a banana grove to refresh himself. 
 
 He watched the group till near sundown. Several 
 trees having been felled, the men proceeded to hack off 
 the branches and to chip away the white rind. Then the 
 strange scarlet color of their arms and hands was ex- 
 plained. The heart of the trees was a brilliant red. As 
 the rind was stripped off, the Spaniards drew near and 
 examined the core, and under their direction the laborers 
 cut and trimmed certain selected logs. The work was 
 still unfinished when the sun went down, and the leader 
 of the Spaniards gave the word for returning to the 
 shore. The logs were struck off the slaves' ankles and 
 replaced by manacles ; then they set off. Dennis followed 
 them at a safe distance, and when he came within view 
 of the sea, there was a small vessel riding at anchor 
 some little distance offshore, and the slaves were in the 
 act of dragging a rowboat through the white surf. In 
 this they all put off, and darkness covered them up as 
 they regained the ship. 
 
 Dennis returned to his hut, joined by the monkey on 
 the way, 
 
 64
 
 THE SPANISH WHIP 
 
 "Here is food for thought, Mirandola, my friend," he 
 said. "No fire for us to-night. Are you acquainted with 
 don Spaniards and their ways ? You kept a wide berth ; 
 have you, too, suffered at their hands ? Who is the poor 
 wretch the ruffian lashed? By his looks he would pass 
 for an Englishman: I hope he is not of English breed. 
 Yet I hope he is: what do you make of that, Mirandola? 
 I protest I love your wise and friendly countenance ; but 
 there is something warming to the heart in the sight of 
 one of my own kind, if such he be. We must be up 
 betimes, my friend; maybe the morrow will give us 
 assurance." 
 
 Thinking over the incident before he slept, Dennis 
 wondered why the party had returned to the ship. If 
 the purpose of their visit was to obtain any quantity of 
 this strange red wood, doubtless they had several" days' 
 work before them ; why had they not camped on shore ? 
 Perhaps they felt that the slaves were safer on board; 
 perhaps, too, they did not care to weaken the ship's com- 
 pany during the hours of night. It was a small vessel; 
 probably there was not a large number of Spaniards 
 aboard; but doubtless they were all armed like the three 
 who had come ashore, and their slaves, being fettered, 
 would need few to control them. Dennis hoped that when 
 they returned next day they would not make too thorough 
 a search for similar groves elsewhere in the island; for 
 if they should discover his hut, he had little doubt they 
 would seek to impress him into the hapless gang. 
 
 65
 
 ON THE SPANISH MAIN 
 
 His sleep was restless. Many times he woke with a 
 start and sprang up trembling, feeling that the Spaniards 
 were on his track. At daybreak he was on his way 
 toward the west shore, and took up his position in the 
 same thicket, the leafy screen being almost impenetrable. 
 The monkey was with him now ; but when his ears caught 
 first the measured thud of oars, then the clank of chains 
 drawing nearer, Mirandola chattered angrily, sprang into 
 a tree, and disappeared. 
 
 The party came into view five slaves, three Spaniards. 
 The former were, to all appearance, the same as those 
 Dennis had seen on the previous day; but it seemed to 
 him that their armed guards were different; probably 
 the men of the ship took it in turns to come ashore. But 
 if the individuals were different, their methods were 
 much the same. Indeed, before Dennis had been watch- 
 ing the work many minutes, he had reason to know that 
 the warders of to-day were even more ingeniously brutal 
 than those of yesterday. The first thing he noticed was 
 a change in their manner of rendering their slaves harm- 
 less. One of them carried a large wooden mallet; the 
 others had between them iron staples with sharp-pointed 
 ends. These staples they drove one by one with the 
 mallet into the boles of the five trees selected for the 
 day's operations. Secured to each staple was one end 
 of a long chain, the other end of which was fastened to 
 the captive's ankle-band. Thus the hapless woodmen 
 were fettered not merely by the logs of wood, as on the 
 
 66
 
 THE SPANISH WHIP 
 
 previous day, but by chains that bound them to the very 
 trees they were to cut down. The staples were driven 
 into the trunks below the line of the cleft to be made; 
 but the chains, though long, seemed to Dennis scarcely 
 long enough to enable the men to escape crushing, should 
 the trees happen to fall the wrong way. That was a 
 chance which evidently did not trouble the guards. 
 
 Dennis wondered why this additional precaution had 
 been taken to insure the safe custody of the wretched 
 men. Had they shown signs of mutiny? It would not 
 be surprising after the treatment of the previous day. 
 Certainly the ingenious device lightened the task of sur- 
 veillance, for the wood-cutters, however exasperated, 
 could not turn upon their guards until they had forced 
 out the staples with their axes. 
 
 The three Spaniards threw themselves down at some 
 distance from the slaves and lolled negligently against 
 the trees. The wood-cutters plied their axes sturdily, 
 monotonously, never speaking, their faces expressing 
 nothing but a sullen despair. Dennis fixed his eyes on 
 the white man, and felt an eager longing to hear him 
 speak. One word would be enough to show whether he 
 was indeed an Englishman. But the man was as silent 
 as the rest, and nothing was heard save the ring of the 
 axes and the voices of the Spaniards conversing. 
 
 Five trees lay upon the ground; the warders rose to 
 drive the staples into others. It appeared that time was 
 hanging heavy on their hands. Some demon of mischief
 
 ON THE SPANISH MAIN 
 
 suggested to one of them a means of obtaining a little 
 diversion. His proposal was received with shouts of 
 laughter by his companions. Dennis did not understand 
 what was said, but the meaning was soon made plain. 
 The three men drew lots with three twigs of unequal 
 length, and placed themselves by the side of the three 
 slaves the white man and two Indians as fate deter- 
 mined. Again they drew lots, and proceeded to fasten 
 their men to three new trees. The other two Indians 
 were set to strip the trunks already felled. It was soon 
 evident that the Spaniards' amusement was to be had at 
 the expense of the wood-cutters. They pooled a number 
 of pieces-of-eight ; the Spaniard whose man first felled 
 his tree was to take the stakes. 
 
 The three men set to work, the warders standing over 
 them with their whips. The faces of the Indians wore 
 their wonted look of dull apathy; but Dennis saw the 
 lips of the white man tighten, and a grim scowl darken 
 his brow. The sport commenced. Excited by their 
 gamble, the Spaniards urged on their men with loud 
 cries. For some minutes the two Indians smote the 
 trees with feverish energy; the white man plied his ax 
 with measured strokes, neither slower nor faster than 
 before. The warders became more and more excited, 
 and from cries proceeded to blows. One of the Indians 
 flagged, and to stimulate him the Spaniard behind dealt 
 him a savage blow with his whip, and the poor, cowed 
 wretch laid on with greater vigor. Hidden in the bush, 
 
 68
 
 THE SPANISH WHIP 
 
 Dennis nervously clutched his sword and felt the blood 
 surge into his cheeks. Fine sport, indeed! The other 
 Spaniards, not to be outdone, began to belabor the backs 
 of their men also, and Dennis, seeing great weals rise 
 on the bare flesh, could scarcely control the impulse to 
 dash at all costs from his hiding-place to the aid of the 
 suffering men. He saw the face of the white man pale 
 beneath the sun-tan and the red stains; perchance the 
 Spaniard would have had a qualm if he had seen the fury 
 his features expressed. But he did not see it; with cal- 
 lous levity he shouted and brought his whip down with 
 a sickening crack upon the broad, red-streaked back. 
 
 Then, with a suddenness that took Dennis' breath 
 away, the white man's pent-up rage burst its bounds. 
 At the end of his endurance, he swung round with a 
 nimbleness surprising in a man of his bulk, and flung 
 his ax with unerring aim at his tormentor. The man 
 fell among the logs. In a second, before the other Span- 
 iards had time to recover from the shock of this un- 
 heard-of audacity, one of the Indians at work on the 
 fallen tree hurled his weapon at the warder nearest him, 
 and struck him headlong to the ground. The third man 
 had sufficient command of his wits to take to his heels 
 and scamper away. 
 
 The wood-cutters were between him and the shore, 
 and the direction of his flight was toward the thicket in 
 which Dennis stood, all tingling with the excitement of 
 this amazing change of scene. He gripped his sword;
 
 ON THE SPANISH MAIN 
 
 but the Spaniard stopped short within a few yards of 
 the bushes, uttered a furious oath, and, turning about, 
 kindled his match, preparing to shoot at the slaves, who 
 were hacking with frenzied haste at the staples that held 
 them to the trees. The two Indians who were free were 
 hobbling toward the woodland on the other side, appalled 
 by their own temerity. Dennis heard the Spaniard 
 chuckle as he raised his harquebus. The man knew full 
 well that, even if the woodmen succeeded in breaking 
 loose, he would have time to shoot them down one by 
 one, hobbled as they were. 
 
 Dennis could no longer remain inactive. An enemy 
 of the Spaniards, whatever his color, was a friend of his. 
 He could not see the poor wretches slaughtered. For 
 an instant he thought of kindling his own match and 
 firing at the Spaniard, who was within easy range. Then, 
 changing his mind, he pushed aside the bushes, sprang 
 into the open, and leaped over the ground with the light- 
 ness of a panther. The Spaniard heard his movements 
 and swung round ; Dennis saw the startled look of terror 
 in his eyes. Taken aback, he had no time to ward off 
 the musket stock of this assailant who had sprung, as 
 it were, out of the earth. His cry of alarm was stifled 
 in his throat, and under the blow dealt him with all the 
 force of honest rage he dropped senseless to the ground.
 
 CHAPTER VII 
 
 AMOS TURNPENNY 
 
 Dennis felt his limbs tremble as he stepped round the 
 fallen body and went forward. The white man and the 
 biggest of the Indians had already released themselves, 
 and stood as though rooted to the ground with amaze- 
 ment. 
 
 "I am a friend," cried Dennis, while still separated by 
 some yards from them. 
 
 "My heart, that's a true word," gasped the white man, 
 and Dennis thrilled with joy as he heard the broad accent 
 of a south-countryman. "A friend, true; and a blessed 
 word to Haymoss Turnpenny's ears." 
 
 They gripped hands, and looked each other squarely 
 in the face. There was a lump in Dennis' throat, and a 
 mist of tears in the elder man's eyes. Then Turnpenny 
 looked over his shoulder with a sudden access of fear. 
 
 "We bean't safe," he muttered, and there was a world 
 of terror in his gesture and tone. "They'll find us, and 
 then 'twill be hell-fire. Can 'ee hide us?" 
 
 "Let us first release that black man." 
 
 "Ay, sure; fellow-creature, although black. I'll do it, 
 in a trice."
 
 ON THE SPANISH MAIN 
 
 He walked toward the trees where the last man was 
 still struggling to force out the staple. At this moment 
 Dennis saw one of the others springing past him with 
 uplifted ax, the fire of fury in his eyes. Turning, he 
 noticed that the Spaniard he had felled was moving. He 
 had but just time to dash after the man and prevent him 
 from butchering his prostrate enemy. The Indian drew 
 back in surprise, and Dennis stood on guard until the 
 Englishman joined him. 
 
 "Bean't he killed dead? Why didn't 'ee kill him, lad? 
 T'others be dead as door-nails, and won't trouble you 
 nor me no more." 
 
 "We'll let this fellow live; he may be useful to us." 
 
 "Why didn't 'ee kill him with your sword or musket? 
 He's vermin, as they be all." 
 
 "Well, his back was toward me," said Dennis. "Be- 
 sides, a shot would have alarmed his comrades on the 
 ship." 
 
 "The ship !" repeated the man, looking round again 
 with fear in his eyes. "The ship ? They'll find us ! We 
 are rats in a trap! Lord save us all!" 
 
 "Come, we must think of something. Can you speak 
 to these men?" 
 
 "Ay, in some sort. Not in their own tongue 'tis 
 monkey talk to me. Ah! look at 'em, poor knaves." 
 
 The Indians had fallen upon the provisions brought 
 by the Spaniards for their own consumption, and were 
 devouring them ravenously. Turnpenny called to them, 
 
 72
 
 AMOS TURNPENNY 
 
 in a husky whisper, as though fearful of his own voice 
 reaching the ears of an enemy. Then, taking the dazed 
 Spaniard with them, the wood-cutters, hobbled by the 
 logs, made off across the island, led by Dennis to the 
 watercourse, at the farther end of which his hut stood. 
 Within half a mile of that spot he halted, and got the 
 Englishman to tell the others to remain there until re- 
 joined. With Turnpenny he hastened on. 
 
 "God be praised, I was able to help you!" he said. 
 
 "Ay, but I fear me 'tis your own undoing. They will 
 come ashore, and catch 'ee, and flay 'ee alive." 
 
 "Tell me how many men are left on the bark," said 
 Dennis earnestly. 
 
 "Ten, lad, all armed to the teeth. Sure, they will land 
 when we don't go aboard at night. They will hunt us 
 down. This time to-morrow we'll be dead men, or worse 
 than dead." 
 
 "Pluck up heart," said Dennis. "There are six of us ; 
 I have arms for all; we can post ourselves at a place of 
 our own choice and make a good defense, I warrant you." 
 
 "My heart! But what will be the use? Say we beat 
 'em off, 'twill be like as if we tried to stem the waves. 
 With a fair breeze the mainland is but a day's sail, and 
 there the Spaniards swarm like cockroaches in a hold. 
 I tell 'ee, lad, whoever ye be, we be dead men!" 
 
 "I've been nearer death," said Dennis quietly. "Look ! 
 There is my hut. I was cast up on this shore from a 
 wreck ; I have been here several weeks, months I know 
 
 73
 
 ON THE SPANISH MAIN 
 
 not; it has pleased God to keep me alive here, alone on 
 this island, and I believe there is hope for us all." 
 
 "Amen ! My heart ! There's a sheer hulk in the pool 
 yonder." 
 
 "Ay, all that's left of the Maid Marian. But I will 
 tell you my story anon. Come away into the hut, and 
 let us talk of what we can do to save ourselves from the 
 Spaniards." 
 
 As they entered the hut, the Englishman drew back 
 with a startled cry. Perched on a cask sat Mirandola. 
 He chattered angrily at the sight of a stranger. 
 
 "My one friend on the island, and a faithful comrade," 
 said Dennis. "A gentle soul; he will do you no harm." 
 
 "A friend, say you? 'Tis against nature to be friends 
 with a spider-monkey. And I be fair 'mazed ; it do seem 
 all a dream only in the offing yonder there be a real 
 ship, and, say what 'ee will, I be afeard." 
 
 "We'll first file off these clogging hobbles. And what 
 say you to a mug of beer? It has come far; I have not 
 broached the cask, and maybe 'tis still drinkable." 
 
 "My heart! I never thought to taste beer or cider 
 again. 'Twill comfort my nattlens, sure, and I was once 
 a good man at a tankard." 
 
 The fetters were soon struck off; a mug of beer was 
 drawn, and drained at a gulp; but Turnpenny was still 
 ill at ease. He went to the entrance of the hut and looked 
 nervously up and down the gully, listening with head 
 cocked aside. Dennis could not guess at the terrible 
 
 74
 
 AMOS TURNPENNY 
 
 past which had made this stout English mariner as timid 
 as a child. 
 
 "Let us get to the black men," he said, knowing 
 from his own experience the value of action in banishing 
 sad thoughts. "Are they Indians of America?" 
 
 "Maroons, sir, half-Injun, half-negro; lusty fighters, 
 and faithful souls when they do love 'ee." 
 
 "We'll knock off their chains and give them arms. 
 What can they use?" 
 
 "Not muskets, nor harquebuses, but anything that will 
 dint a blow." 
 
 "Half-pikes and swords, then. For yourself, take 
 your pick." 
 
 "Ay, it do give me heart to handle a cutlass again. 
 Here's a fine blade, now, and a musket give me a har- 
 quebus ; I could shoot once, but my arm is all of a wamble 
 now. Look and see!" 
 
 He raised the heavy weapon to his shoulder and tried 
 to steady it. 
 
 "See! Shaking like a man with the palsy," he said, 
 his nervousness returning. "I be no more good than a 
 bulrush." 
 
 "Pish, man!" said Dennis cheerily. "You are over- 
 wrought; your arm is tired with wielding the ax. An 
 hour's rest will set you up. Come, bring the file and the 
 weapons ; we must see that the others are not scared in 
 our absence." 
 
 The four maroons had remained on the spot where 
 
 75
 
 ON THE SPANISH MAIN 
 
 they had been left, keeping guard over the Spaniard, 
 who had now quite recovered from his blow. They eyed 
 Dennis with a wide stare, and fell silent when he ap- 
 proached, seeming scarcely to comprehend the wonderful 
 fortune that had befallen them. The removal of their 
 fetters and the gift of arms struck them as a crowning 
 mercy; they groveled upon the ground as in the act of 
 worship. 
 
 "They take 'ee for a magician, sir," said Turnpenny. 
 ' 'Tis marvelous to their simple, poor minds. All the 
 world be full of spirits to them; a storm at sea be the 
 stirring of witches, and the Spaniards be devils. My 
 heart!" he exclaimed suddenly, "the fear has took me 
 again! When they do miss the sound of the axes they 
 will jealous summat's wrong, and then they'll come and 
 we'll be all dead men." 
 
 "Cheer up !" said Dennis. " 'Tis easy to cure that. 
 Two of the men can set to upon the trees again, and one 
 can steal to the shore and keep an eye on the ship, and 
 acquaint us if he sees any stirring there." 
 
 "But what of the Spaniard, lad? 'Tis then only one 
 maroon to watch him, and 'tis not enough. If so be the 
 knave be left to himself, he'll run to the beach and give 
 the alarm." 
 
 "We'll stop that, too. When he has had a portion of 
 food, we will gag and bind him, and all will be well." 
 
 When the Spaniard was secured, the whole party re- 
 turned to the scene of the tree-felling, and while one of 
 
 76
 
 AMOS TURNPENNY 
 
 the men went stealthily forward to spy upon the ship, 
 two others plied their axes upon the fallen trunks. 
 
 Dennis, more alert of mind than the sailor, foresaw 
 that the trick could have only a temporary success. When 
 the time came for the wood-cutting party to return to the 
 vessel, their non-appearance would awaken suspicion 
 among the Spaniards on board. Believing the island to 
 be uninhabited, they would not guess what had hap- 
 pened; it would not even occur to them as possible that 
 cowed and unarmed slaves would have courage enough 
 to turn on their masters, much less overcome them. But 
 if the party did not return at nightfall, the captain would 
 certainly send some of his men to discover the cause. 
 Of all men the Spaniards were the most superstitious; 
 when they landed, their very superstitions would put 
 them on their guard. Their approach would be cautious ; 
 they would probably discover the escaped slaves before 
 these could strike at them effectively; and then, when 
 the inevitable fight came, the party of six, of whom only 
 two could use firearms, and one had practically lost his 
 nerve, would stand a poor chance against men armed 
 cap-a-pie and doubtless inured to the practice of war- 
 fare. Besides, even if the landing party could be taken 
 by surprise and routed, the sound of the combat would 
 alarm the Spaniards still remaining on the ship. They 
 would sail away, and in few days return in overwhelm- 
 ing strength. 
 
 Dennis was at first staggered by the difficulties and 
 
 77
 
 ON THE SPANISH MAIN 
 
 perils of the situation, and he dared not consult with 
 Turnpenny until the sailor had regained his courage. 
 For the present the important thing was to keep him 
 employed, so as-to turn his thoughts from anything that 
 would feed his fears. 
 
 "We must bury these two knaves," Dennis said, glanc- 
 ing at the bodies of the Spaniards. "You and I can do 
 that. Your name, I bethink me, is " 
 
 "Turnpenny, by nature, Haymoss by the water o' bap- 
 tism, sir." 
 
 "Haymoss ?" 
 
 "Ay, sure, a religious good name, sir; a' comes be- 
 twixt Joel and Obydiah somewheres after the holy 
 Psa'ms. Born at Chard, sir, in Zummerzet, but voyaged 
 to Plimworth when that I was a little, tiny boy, and 
 served 'prentice aboard the Seamew master John Pen- 
 worthy." 
 
 Dennis had heard only the first sentence of this string 
 of facts. He was in the very act of stooping to dig a 
 grave with one of the maroons' big axes, when there 
 flashed into his mind an idea which set him aglow with 
 hope. 
 
 "Well, friend Amos," he said, so quietly that none 
 could have suspected his inward eagerness, "think you 
 not we may strip the outer garments from these knaves 
 before we bury them? Your back would be the better for 
 a covering, and this leather doublet would well beseem 
 you." 
 
 78
 
 AMOS TURNPENNY 
 
 "True, sir, but I never donned a stranger's coat yet. 
 I be English true blue, and though the Spaniard's doublet 
 might span my back, 'twould rile my feeling mind, sir." 
 
 "To please me, Amos. I would fain you covered your 
 arms the red is too like blood, and we may see enough 
 of that ere we be many hours older." 
 
 To Dennis' gratification, the sailor did not again blanch 
 at the suggestion of a fight with the Spaniards. He 
 laughed. 
 
 "My heart ! 'Tis easy to see you be a new man in this 
 New World, sir. The stains of logwood don't worrit 
 me ; 'tis a noble dye, you must own, and many's the noble 
 garment that has been dyed for a Spaniard's madam out 
 o' the logwood I've cut. But since it offends your innocent 
 eye, I'll e'en don the knave's coat afore I put him out o' 
 sight in earth too good for him." 
 
 Overjoyed at the man's recovered spirits, Dennis has- 
 tened, as they went on with their task, to press his 
 advantage. 
 
 "You are two enemies the less, Amos nay, three, 
 counting the knave we have in pound among the trees 
 yonder. What say you to our making a shift to put a 
 few more in the same case?" 
 
 "What mean you, sir?" 
 
 "Tell me, what people hath the ship yonder, besides 
 the ten Spanish knaves of whom you spoke?" 
 
 "Why, sir, as a true man I answer, a black cook no 
 maroon, but a swart, fat knave from the Guinea coast ; 
 
 79
 
 ON THE SPANISH MAIN 
 
 and three maroons, who fell sick, or rather were well- 
 nigh beat to death on an island over against the continent 
 yonder we visited on the same errand." 
 
 "And they are gyved, as you were?" 
 
 "All but the cook. He goes free, but my heart! 'tis 
 little he gains by it. He is every man's football and 
 whipping-post." 
 
 "Why, then, do the Spaniards remain aboard the ship, 
 when there are so few slaves to guard?" 
 
 " 'Tis first because they be idle knaves, who would 
 never do a hand's turn save by necessity. Item, because 
 they be but poor seamen, and need a dozen to handle a 
 craft, only forty ton burden, that three true-born Eng- 
 lishmen could sail into the devil's jaws. Item, because 
 the spot where she lies at anchor is ill-protected; 'tis 
 rather an open roadstead than a bay, and if a squall 
 should come up sudden, as 'tis nature in this meridian, 
 they'd need all the lubbers' work to get a fair offing." 
 
 "So three true-born Englishmen are a match for a 
 dozen base cullies of Spain? Is that your thought, 
 Amos?" 
 
 "Ay, at musket, pike, or quarter-staff; there's never 
 a doubt on it." 
 
 "Think you two, then, are a match for ten? The 
 balance turns a little in favor of the Spaniards; by right 
 proportion it should be two to eight; but mayhap four 
 maroons on t'other scale would even the odds." 
 
 Turnpenny desisted from his work and a shadow of 
 
 So
 
 his former fear came upon his face. Dennis profited by 
 experience and did not allow time for the fit to lay 
 hold on him. 
 
 "There is an advantage to him who strikes first," he 
 went on quietly. "If we wait, assuredly we shall have 
 to fight against heavy odds. But if we assume a bold 
 part, and jump the risks, we may gain all the vantage of 
 surprise, and enforce it with that English blood you 
 hold so high in estimation, to say naught of English 
 thews and sinews. Why, man, that stout arm of yours 
 would fell an ox." 
 
 "True, sir," said the simple mariner, bending his arm 
 to raise the muscle, and looking at the knotty protuber- 
 ance with great complacency ; "I ha' done desperate deeds 
 of strength in my time. But, heart alive! do 'ee think 
 to capture the ship?" 
 
 "I think of venturing for it ; and, unless I be mightily 
 mistaken, Amos Turnpenny is not the man to turn his 
 back on a venture of that kind." 
 
 "Not by nature, sir," said the man, uneasiness strug- 
 gling with simple vanity in his mind. "By nature I be 
 as bold as a lion. But the lion in the story was meshed 
 in with ropes, and could do no harm to a silly mouse; 
 and for years past, sir, the ropes of mischance have 
 held my spirit in thrall, wherefore it is that " 
 
 "That you are afraid? Nonsense! You are the lion; 
 I am the mouse. Let us say that I by good luck have 
 gnawed those confining ropes asunder, and now, on this 
 
 81
 
 ON THE SPANISH MAIN 
 
 island, you are free of mind as of limb, and a man of 
 heart and vigor." 
 
 Turnpenny flung down his ax and fairly jumped. 
 
 "My heart !" he cried gleefully, " 'tis the very marrow 
 of the tale ! I be free, free ! For ten years I have forgot 
 the word. Sound of limb, straight of eye, with all my 
 five wits, praise God above ! Speak your thoughts, sir ; 
 Amos Turnpenny is your man."
 
 CHAPTER VIII 
 
 HALF-PIKES AND MACHETES 
 
 The Spaniards had by this time been buried. The two 
 maroons were still hacking at the trees. Nothing had 
 been reported by the man on the lookout. Glancing at 
 the sun, Dennis guessed that it was still two or three 
 hours from setting. But for interruptions there would 
 be ample time to develop his plan. 
 
 "Come beneath the shade," he said to Turnpenny. 
 "There is much to be said and done. If perchance a man 
 lands from the ship, we must take him prisoner. If 
 several come, we must fight them at the gully. If they 
 lie secure, and we are undisturbed, we shall capture 
 their vessel this night." 
 
 "I believe it, sir, partly; I'd believe it more firmly if 
 I understood." 
 
 "Give me your judgment on my plan. At sunset we 
 will haul some logs down to the shore and push off in 
 the boat, as if we were the Spaniards with their slaves. 
 You and I will rig ourselves in the doublets and hose of 
 the two yonder; it will go hard with us if, in the dark, 
 we do not mislead the Spaniards into security. We will 
 mount into the vessel and, if luck favor us, we shall be 
 
 83
 
 masters of the craft before the Spaniards have awakened 
 to the danger." 
 
 "A noble plan, but fearsome," said Turnpenny, shak- 
 ing his head. "We shall be two short, sir. We rig up 
 as Spaniards, you and me; granted; but the knaves on 
 deck will see two Spaniards instead of three, and they 
 will want to know what has become of Haymoss Turn- 
 penny." 
 
 "We will take our prisoner. Then they will see three 
 Spaniards, and if they then miss Amos Turnpenny, let 
 them suppose that the sailor man has turned troublesome, 
 and been left on the island, to bring him to a reasonable 
 humility." 
 
 "Ay, sure, that unties the knot. But I would not give 
 a groat for my chance of seeing Plimworth Sound again 
 if the knaves spy the head of Haymoss sticking out o' 
 the Spanish doublet. The captain, he be a man of des- 
 perate fight; no miserable dumbledore is he; 'tis a word 
 and a blow with him; I've seed him kill a man of his 
 own breed for no more than a wry word." 
 
 "We must trust to our disguise and the dark." 
 
 "But the maroons, sir; they'll be of no use 'thout 
 weapons, and if they climb aboard with naked steel in 
 their hands, 'tis all over with us." 
 
 "You and I will mount first." 
 
 "That would put the knaves on guard at once. 'Tis 
 always us poor slaves that come over side last into the 
 boat and go first out of it, so as never to give us no 
 
 84
 
 HALF-PIKES AND MACHETES 
 
 chance of making off. They need not be afeard ; whither 
 could poor, miserable wretches escape away? But there 
 it is." 
 
 "Well, Amos, we must accept the wonted course, 
 though I would fain go first, with you at my elbow." 
 
 "It is my very own thought, sir. No white man can 
 trust a black un in the deadly breach. But be j owned 
 if I see any ways o' they maroons getting aboard with 
 arms in their hands." 
 
 "Nor I. Mayhap an idea will enter our conceits, 
 anon." 
 
 "My heart! There be another thing I had clean for- 
 got. We have ta'en their irons off." 
 
 "We must put them on again. We will not fail for 
 the sake of a clank." 
 
 "Ay, but there's the rub, sir. The maroons will show 
 fight if we attempt that same. Poor souls! Having 
 no language and no intellecks to speak of, they'll not 
 understand the main of our intent. They will suppose 
 'tis but a change of masters, and I fear me my few words 
 o' Spanish will not suffice to set their minds at ease." 
 
 "You made them understand you a while ago; you 
 must try again. But a word more. I judge the sun has 
 grown far on the west; 'twill soon be time to put our 
 fortunes to the hazard. And, lest our dallying here 
 waken the suspicions of the Spaniards, let us don these 
 articles of apparel e'en now, and fix on the irons, and 
 then go down to the shore, the maroons hauling the 
 
 85
 
 ON THE SPANISH MAIN 
 
 stripped logs thitherwards. The ropes and tackle are 
 handy here." 
 
 "What, sir haul logs in the very sight of the knaves ?" 
 
 "Ay, do we not wish to deceive them ? If they see two 
 Spaniards marshaling the black men, cracking their 
 whips, moreover, will they not believe 'tis their comrades, 
 bent on finishing the work this night? 'Tis growing 
 toward dusk ; the vessel lies out too far for them to mark 
 our lineaments ; 'twill lull .them into a fool's security." 
 
 "And so it will. I will presently go speak to the 
 maroons with my tongue, and seeing that the poor mor- 
 tals lack understanding, with my fingers and my eyes 
 and my ten toes if the case do require it." 
 
 Dennis watched the sailor somewhat anxiously. It 
 would be a stroke of rank ill-fortune if they refused to 
 have their manacles replaced. Everything depended on 
 their docility. To his joy, after some minutes of gesticu- 
 lation, Turnpenny came back, his broad face beaming 
 with conscious self-esteem. 
 
 "Be jowned if I haven't done it easy!" he said. "I 
 spoke 'em plain, and to make all clear, I put my two 
 hands together, with one finger pointing aloft ; that stood 
 for yonder vessel. Then I pointed to this doublet, and to 
 yours, and set my face to a most wondrous frown, by 
 the which they understood that you and me pass for 
 Spaniards. A firk with my cutlass did signify our war- 
 like intent, a thrust of my arms forth and back pictured 
 fine the sweep of oars; and, to make an end o't, they 
 
 86
 
 HALF-PIKES AND MACHETES 
 
 understood our fixed purpose and are keen set to lend 
 us their aid." 
 
 "Admirably contrived!" said Dennis. "Now, while I 
 bring the Spaniard to bear us company, do you replace 
 the irons and fasten ropes about the logs. Darkness will 
 steal upon us unawares and prevent the first part of our 
 contriving." 
 
 As Dennis returned to the gully to fetch the Spaniard, 
 he saw that Mirandola was keeping pace with him 
 through the trees. Since the event of the morning the 
 monkey had held himself aloof, as if scared by the pres- 
 ence of so many strange men. Dennis halted and called 
 to him, but the animal blinked and made no movement 
 to descend. 
 
 "Ah, Mirandola," said Dennis as he walked on, "even 
 the wisest of us have our failings. Jealousy, my friend, 
 is a canker. I love thee none the less because I have a 
 new friend. Will you not believe it? Is there not room 
 for both Turnpenny and Mirandola? If we succeed in 
 this enterprise, you and Amos must be made at one." 
 
 Some little while later in the growing dusk the four 
 maroons were hauling a heavy log out from the under- 
 growth that fringed the sea. Dennis and Turnpenny 
 urged them with rough cries and persistent cracking of 
 their whips. As soon as they came within view of the 
 vessel the ropes were cast off, and they all made their 
 way back. When they returned with a second log, there 
 came a faint hail from the vessel. 
 
 8?
 
 ON THE SPANISH MAIN 
 
 "Ay, ay, 'od rot you !" shouted Turnpenny indistinctly 
 in response, knowing that at the distance his voice could 
 not be recognized. "Belike 'tis a call to us to embark, 
 sir," he said to Dennis. "Mark you, they called us; no 
 man dare say they did not call us ; and if they do not like 
 us when we appear, 'tis not because we are not proper 
 men." 
 
 The logs were laid alongside those brought down the 
 previous day; then the men released the boat's moorings, 
 and hauled her off the shoal where she lay in water deep 
 enough to float her. By this time it was almost dark, 
 and the number of men who clambered into the boat 
 could not easily be counted on board the pinnace, nor 
 would it be noticed that the maroons hoisted each a large 
 bundle. At the last moment Dennis had decided not to 
 encumber the boat with the captive Spaniard. He had 
 thought of using the man to reply in Spanish to any hail 
 from the vessel during the passage from the shore; but 
 this might be attended with danger if the Spaniard should 
 have courage enough to risk the inevitable penalty should 
 he raise his voice to warn his comrades. Accordingly, 
 he was left on shore, gagged and bound, in a spot where 
 he might easily be discovered by the Spaniards next day 
 if the enterprise failed. There were no wild beasts to 
 molest him, and the place chosen was remote from the 
 haunts of the boa constrictor. 
 
 The maroons pulled steadily toward the pinnace, lying 
 low in the water some two hundred yards offshore.
 
 HALF-PIKES AND MACHETES 
 
 Already she showed a light at her masthead. Every 
 member of the little party in the boat was tense with an- 
 ticipation. Not a word was spoken. The silence would 
 cause no wonderment among the Spaniards on the ves- 
 sel ; a party of free negroes might have filled the air with 
 their babblement ; but the maroons partook of the reserve 
 of the Indian race, and, living, as they did, in a state of 
 deadly feud with the Spaniards, they nourished a deep, 
 silent longing for vengeance in their hearts. Besides, 
 these men were cowed slaves, and after the hard day's 
 toil they were supposed to have undergone, no one would 
 have expected them to be talkative or merry. 
 
 Stroke by stroke the boat drew nearer to the ship. At 
 length a voice hailed it, and a flare was kindled in the 
 waist of the vessel for its guidance. 
 
 "Why do you return so late?" came the question in 
 Spanish. 
 
 Turnpenny answered in passable Spanish, but in a 
 muffled tone: 
 
 "Wait till we come aboard." 
 
 A few seconds later the boat came alongside the vessel 
 and was made fast. The biggest of the maroons he 
 who had flung his ax at the Spaniard got up and clam- 
 bered aboard. On his back he bore a huge load of 
 bananas. Close to his clanking heels swarmed a second 
 man ; before the first was well over the bulwarks a third 
 was beginning the ascent, each carrying a similar bundle. 
 The fourth man had just set his foot on the rope ladder 
 
 89
 
 ON THE SPANISH MAIN 
 
 that hung over the side when there came to the ears of 
 Dennis and the sailor, nervously awaiting their turn, the 
 sound of altercation above. One of the Spaniards had 
 bestowed a kick upon the foremost of the slaves and, 
 laughing loud, grabbed at the load of fruit upon his back. 
 The maroon, instead of dropping his burden and cower- 
 ing away, overcome by fear, as was the wont of slaves, 
 held firmly to it, and stepped back to avoid the Span- 
 iard's clutch. 
 
 "You hound !" cried the man with an oath, and snatched 
 a knife from his belt. 
 
 Then, to his utter amazement, the maroon let his load 
 fall indeed, contriving as he did so to rip out of it a 
 half-pike which was cunningly concealed there. The light 
 of the torch fell on the naked steel. With a loud cry 
 of rage the Spaniards who had been lolling on the vessel's 
 side sprang towards the slave, cursing his audacity, shout- 
 ing to their supposed comrades in the boat below to ask 
 the meaning of this unheard-of act of mutiny. But lie 
 stood his ground, glaring upon them, holding his weapon 
 to ward them off. And now at his side his three fellow- 
 slaves were ranged, their bundles lying at their feet, 
 glistening half-pikes in their hands. Yelling with fury, 
 the Spaniards, armed at the moment only with their 
 knives, pressed forward to teach these mutineers a lesson. 
 What access of madness had seized them? Where was 
 the abject look of terror with which they usually shrank 
 from their masters ? What could the men in charge have 
 
 90
 
 HALF-PIKES AND MACHETES 
 
 been about? The Spaniards rushed to the fray with the 
 violence of wrath and outraged bewilderment. 
 
 At this first moment the fight was not unequal. The 
 six Spaniards who had been on deck found that with 
 their knives they could not come to close quarters with 
 the four stalwart maroons wielding half-pikes. The lat- 
 ter, moreover, had kicked off the fetters loosely set about 
 their ankles and moved with freedom. And while the 
 Spaniards were shouting for their comrades in the cabin 
 and, as they supposed, in the boat to come to their aid, 
 the numbers of the mutineers were suddenly augmented. 
 At the first sound of the scuffle, Dennis and Turnpenny, 
 each armed with a cutlass, had sprung on to the ship, 
 the former on the ladder behind the last maroon, the 
 latter, with a sailor's agility, leaping up to the gunwale 
 and hauling himself over. When they reached the deck 
 they found the Spaniards dancing around the little group 
 of slaves, who were keeping them at bay with valorous 
 lunges of their weapons. 
 
 No sooner had the two Englishmen joined the combat- 
 ants than they found that they had now the whole ship's 
 company to reckon with. A huge Spaniard rushed from 
 the main cabin behind the maroons, a machete in one 
 hand, a pistol in the other. There was a flash, a sharp 
 barking sound; one of the slaves staggered and fell. 
 Other Spaniards came headlong out, not pausing in their 
 haste to bring firearms. From the forecastle ran one of 
 the six maroons. The instant his eyes took in the scene, 
 
 91
 
 ON THE SPANISH MAIN 
 
 he snatched up a belaying-pin from the deck, and, weak 
 as he was, threw himself into the melee. Now had come 
 the chance for which he had so long hungered, and his 
 black blood seethed as he rushed to pay off old scores. 
 
 There was hot work then amidships that narrow vessel. 
 Cutlass and pikes were matched, not for the first time, 
 against the long Spanish knife. Under the disadvantage 
 of surprise the Spaniards, though they outnumbered their 
 assailants, were not so effectively armed for the fray. 
 The maroons laid about them doughtily ; they knew how 
 terrible a weapon was the knife at close quarters, and 
 their whole purpose was to hold their masters off and 
 cripple them if they could. 
 
 The big Spaniard who had rushed first from the cabin 
 and fired at the maroon found himself immediately after- 
 ward engaged with a lithe young man who, though clad 
 in a Spanish doublet, was not a fellow-countryman 
 of his. Instinctively, as it seemed, captain singled 
 out captain. Dennis made a vigorous cut at him, but 
 the blade was fouled by the shrouds above his head, and 
 the blow, losing half its force, was easily warded off by 
 the Spaniard's machete. He sprang back; if his op- 
 ponent had been a little nimbler, Dennis would have been 
 at his mercy; but the Spaniard was gross with idleness 
 and good living; heavy of movement, he failed to seize 
 his advantage, though in the lunge his knife cut the 
 lad's doublet, and gashed his sword arm in the recovery. 
 
 Dennis was scarcely conscious of his wound. At this 
 
 02
 
 HALF-PIKES AND MACHETES 
 
 fierce moment his practice on the deck of the Maid 
 Marian served him well. To attempt a second cut would 
 have been to give another opening. He shortened his 
 arm and gave point. The Spaniard was no tyro. With 
 a turn of the wrist he parried the thrust, which was aimed 
 low, but could not prevent the blade from entering his 
 shoulder. He staggered and reeled back toward the 
 doorway of the cabin, and the two men immediately 
 behind him rushed into the fight. 
 
 Turnpenny meanwhile had been engaged in a similar 
 duel, and by the sheer force of his bulk had borne his 
 opponent to the deck. Side by side Dennis and he faced 
 their new assailants. One of these, a long, sinewy fellow, 
 had an amazing dexterity with his knife, and a most 
 perplexing nimbleness of movement. Dennis kept him 
 at bay only by the length of his cutlass. For a few 
 moments there was brisk work around the mast. Mak- 
 ing a sweeping cut, Dennis somewhat overreached him- 
 self, and it would have gone ill with him had not Turn- 
 penny, who had run a second man through, perceived 
 his danger in the nick of time. Springing forward, he 
 pierced the fellow to the heart. 
 
 Three of the Spaniards had now fallen. The rest, who 
 had barely held their own against the maroons, were 
 stricken with fear when they saw their comrades' fate. 
 Two of them sprang overboard; the remaining four, 
 finding the three maroons now reinforced by the English- 
 men, rushed back after their captain into the cabin, and, 
 93
 
 . ON THE SPANISH MAIN 
 
 before they could be overtaken, slammed to the door 
 and shot the bolt. Dennis snatched up a belaying-pin 
 and brought it with all his force against the door, but 
 made no impression on its stout timbers. There was 
 a roar and a flash close to his ear, he felt his cheek 
 singed; one of the Spaniards had fired through a loop- 
 hole in the cabin wall. The moment after, there was 
 another flash from a loophole on the other side, and one 
 of the maroons uttered a cry of pain. In the open waist 
 of the vessel the little party had no protection from 
 musket fire; the loopholes had doubtless been pierced 
 against the contingency of such an assault as this, and 
 nothing but the darkness could prevent the Spaniards 
 in the cabin from bringing down a man at every dis- 
 charge. They had the whole armory of the ship to draw 
 upon; there was no means of checking their fire; and 
 realizing the situation, Dennis called on Turnpenny and 
 the rest to seek cover. Some found shelter just forward 
 of the mainmast; two swarmed on to the poop, and, 
 climbing to the edge of its break, held themselves ready 
 with their half-pikes to attack any one attempting a sortie 
 from the cabin. Dennis and the sailor, picking up the 
 muskets they had laid down when they boarded the ves- 
 sel, dropped down behind a coil of rope toward the 
 forecastle. 
 
 "My heart!" exclaimed Turnpenny as he primed his 
 musket. " Twas brisk work, and not the end neither." 
 
 "They are run to earth, Amos, 'tis true, got away like 
 
 94
 
 HALF-PIKES AND MACHETES 
 
 foxes. Our case is not too good. We are baulked, my 
 friend." 
 
 "Ay, sir. With all the victuals and munitions abaft, 
 the knaves have the better of us. We can not get at 
 them; say we made endeavor to scuttle the ship, they 
 would shoot us afore we got away." 
 
 "And there are sick maroons in the forecastle, I be- 
 think me you said. I would fain save them alive. We 
 must do something to bring the knaves to an engage- 
 ment. There are five of them now. With time to re- 
 cover themselves somewhat, and fortify themselves with 
 food, they can, if it so pleases them, lie low till morning 
 light, then sally out upon us with arms loaded, several 
 pistols apiece, and we, fasting, would be of a surety 
 overmatched." 
 
 "Ay, and we can not feed ourselves even on that 
 noble store of bananas, for they lie athwart the very 
 course of bullets from the cabin." 
 
 "Could we smoke them out? Could we blow the door 
 in?" 
 
 "With a sufficiency of powder, but the magazine is 
 beneath the cabin." 
 
 "Is there none elsewhere?" 
 
 "Why, now I do mind me, the boatswain hath a vast 
 relish for wild fowl, and is never loath to go a-shooting 
 on shore. 'Tis like he hath a little secret store hidden 
 somewhere in the fore part o' the ship." 
 
 "Then I will go rummage the forecastle. Do you hide 
 
 95
 
 ON THE SPANISH MAIN 
 
 here, Amos, and keep ward over my musket until I 
 return." 
 
 When the party boarded the vessel, there had been 
 a dim light in the forecastle. It was now extinguished. 
 Dennis went in through the open entrance ; then, feeling 
 safe from the enemy's bullets, he took a candle from his 
 pouch, and, having lit it, held it above his head. He 
 shrank back, startled for the moment. The pale flame had 
 fallen full on the face of a big negro, crouching in the 
 corner of an upper bunk. A second glance assured him 
 that he had nothing to fear; the black face was sickly 
 with terror. In a flash Dennis remembered the negro 
 cook of whom Amos had spoken. As cook, being allowed 
 a certain freedom of movement about the vessel, the 
 man would probably know where the boatswain kept his 
 powder, and search might be unnecessary. Dennis called 
 to him; the negro only showed more of the whites of 
 his eyes. Dennis beckoned him with his finger; he only 
 cowered and groaned. 
 
 " Tis to be main force, then, you white-livered ras- 
 cal!" cried Dennis, and, setting down his candle, caught 
 the man by his waistband and began to haul his oily 
 mass out of the bunk. "You gibber more brutishly than 
 Mirandola ; come, or I'll shake your fat bulk to a jelly." 
 
 Not without labor he lugged the negro forth and 
 dragged him aft to the place where Amos was crouch- 
 ing. 
 
 "Here's a fat knave that's like to dissolve with fright," 
 
 96
 
 HALF-PIKES AND MACHETES 
 
 he said. "I do not understand his monkey-talk; speak 
 to him, Amos. Ask of him what we need to know, and 
 tell him we intend him no harm, and will certainly not 
 expect such a craven to fight." 
 
 "Ah, sir, 'tis Baltizar, the cook, and a very whey- 
 blooded knave. I'll ferret it out of him, trust me." 
 
 He took some minutes in his scraps of Spanish to make 
 the man understand what was required of him. When 
 he understood, the negro became very voluble. He said 
 that the boatswain did indeed keep a small jar of powder 
 in his sea-chest, but there was a much larger quantity 
 concealed among the ship's stores. "It had been placed 
 there by the mate the long knave I spitted under 
 hatches," Amos explained "who was accustomed to do 
 a little private trading with the natives of the mainland, 
 and had destined the powder as a bribe for certain pearl- 
 fishers of the coast." 
 
 "Is it in the fore-peak?" asked Dennis, remembering 
 where he had found powder on the Maid Marian. 
 
 "No, worse luck!" replied Turnpenny, after question- 
 ing the man. " 'Tis in the lazaretto, and the hatchway 
 being but a few feet from the break of the poop, we 
 can not come at it 'ithout running the hazard of a shot 
 from the cabin." 
 
 " Tis darker now ; could I not risk the deed ?" 
 
 "The knaves would not see you, 'tis true ; but you could 
 not knock out the battens 'ithout raising a din, and they 
 would know your whereabouts, and not all on 'em would 
 
 97
 
 ON THE SPANISH MAIN 
 
 miss your carcass. Be jowned if I'd like to see 'ee make 
 the venture." 
 
 Releasing the negro, Dennis crouched again behind 
 the coil of rope. 
 
 "We must find a way to get that powder," he said. 
 "A mariner like you, Amos, ought to be fertile in devices. 
 Come, set your brains on the rack." 
 
 "I be afeard they be soft wi' four years' misery, but 
 I'll rouse 'em. If I had but the second sight, now, like 
 the old witch as lived within a cable-length o' my gran- 
 dad's hut on the moors !" 
 
 But Amos had done his brains an injustice. He had 
 not pondered many minutes before he exclaimed: 
 
 "My heart! We have them on the hip! We'll e'en 
 shin up the shrouds and lower the mainsail. She's close 
 reefed on the yards, but we can unreave her 'ithout noise, 
 and when she's down, she'll be a barricade betwixt the 
 mainmast and the break o' the poop, and not a knave of 
 them can see what is toward in the waist." 
 
 Dennis applauded the notion, and the two instantly 
 set about their task. Crawling to the starboard side, 
 they crept along by the rope netting that replaced in the 
 waist the wooden bulwarks which bounded the decks, 
 and reached the shrouds of the mainmast unperceived 
 by the enemy in the cabin. To swarm up was the work 
 of a few moments to Turnpenny, and Dennis was little 
 less expert, having practised himself on the Maid Marian 
 in many details of the mariners' duties. Gaining the 
 
 98
 
 HALF-PIKES AND MACHETES 
 
 yards, they cast off the robbins, made the buntlines fast, 
 then, easing the gearings, lowered away by the buntlines 
 and the clue garnets. , Scarcely five minutes after they 
 had left the shelter of the rope-coil, a wall of canvas 
 shut the waist from the view of the Spaniards. 
 
 They had barely finished their task when two musket- 
 shots rang out, and two holes were cut in the sail. Clear- 
 ly the enemy was on the alert. There was no time to 
 be lost. Turnpenny knocked out. the battens as quickly 
 as possible, and, lifting the hatch, disclosed a small ladder 
 leading down into the lazaretto. 
 
 "I will go down," said Dennis, "being of less . bulk 
 than you, Amos." 
 
 He. climbed nimbly down, struck a light, and after a 
 little search discovered a jar of powder among a mis- 
 cellaneous collection of ship's stores. Hoisting the jar 
 up, he gave it into the hands of Turnpenny, climbed 
 up again, and returned with the sailor to the coil of rope, 
 to be out of harm's way while they went on with their 
 preparations. 
 
 ,. ! "If we fire the whole jar we shall of a surety sink 
 tfie ship," said Dennis ; "and that I am loath to do. It 
 
 will be necessary to find some other way. We must needs 
 
 > ..,... * 
 
 make a petard; but how?" 
 
 "That cook knave shall find us a tin, vessel, or I'll 
 firk him," said Turnpenny. 
 
 ,. He went into, the forecastle. Dennis heard a brisk 
 exchange of bad Spanish; then the sailor returned, with 
 
 99
 
 ON THE SPANISH MAIN 
 
 a small canister out of which he poured a heap of pepper- 
 corns. 
 
 "Most admirable!" said Dennis, who had meanwhile 
 forced off the top of the jar. Making a hole in the 
 rim of the canister near the lid, he filled the vessel with 
 powder and firmly closed it. 
 
 "There's our petard, Amos. Now to place it." 
 
 "That be my job, sir." 
 
 "No, no, we go shares in this work. 'Twas your 
 idea to lower the sail. I carry less flesh than you, and 
 therefore can go more lightly." 
 
 "But mayhap I be surer-footed on the plank, being 
 a mariner of forty year." 
 
 "I doubt it not, yet the deed shall be mine," cried Den- 
 nis firmly. 
 
 Carrying the canister, and in the pouch slung at his 
 neck a handful of powder for the train, he crept to the 
 side of the vessel, ran lightly along the gangway by 
 the rope netting, and, lifting a corner of the sail, stood 
 between it and the wall of the cabin. Then he dropped 
 on hands and knees, and wormed his way forward until 
 he touched the wall, following it along until he reached 
 the door. Being beneath the line of loopholes, he was 
 in no danger so long as he moved quietly; but at the 
 slightest sound the enemy might fling open the door 
 and give him his quietus before help could reach him 
 from beyond the barricade. He might have felt still 
 more confident had he known that Turnpenny had crept 
 
 100
 
 HALF-PIKES AND MACHETES 
 
 along after him, and was waiting at the corner of the 
 sail, ready to spring to his aid in case of need. 
 
 Feeling with his hand for the middle panel of the 
 door, Dennis laid the canister down close against it 
 To insure that the hole he had made in it, to connect 
 with the train of powder, should rest upon the plank 
 and not turn over, he pressed a slight dent in the rim. 
 Then he crept backward the way he had come, laying 
 close to the cabin wall a train of powder from his pouch, 
 not stinting the quantity, so that there might be no 
 gaps in the line. He drew a breath of relief when he 
 came once more to the farther side of the canvas and 
 stood erect. There was not a gust of air stirring; the 
 confined space between the sail and the cabin was hot 
 and stuffy; and what with holding his breath during 
 the minutes his task had occupied, and the strain upon 
 his nerves, he had felt almost suffocated. 
 
 He said not a word when he found Turnpenny await- 
 ing him, but placed his finger on his lips and motioned 
 the man to retuni. The charge having been laid in 
 safety, it remained to arrange a course of action when 
 the door should be blown in. While the sail remained 
 lowered it would be impossible to dash forward into 
 the cabin. The screen was no longer required now that 
 there was no further need for the open hatchway; to 
 remove it might indeed put the enemy on their guard, 
 but they could not know what to expect, and there would 
 be no time after the explosion to hoist the sail, even if 
 
 101
 
 ON THE SPANISH MAIN 
 
 it were possible to spare men for the task. So Turn- 
 penny volunteered to replace the hatch and hoist and 
 bend the sail-work, which he could do more quickly 
 and expertly than Dennis. It was then necessary to 
 communicate with the maroons; for to attack the cabin 
 in less than full strength, against superior weapons, would 
 be to court disaster. A loud whisper reached the men 
 who had taken shelter behind some tackle forward of 
 the mainmast, and brought them crawling to their lead- 
 ers. It was not so easy to attract the attention of the 
 two men who had shinned up the poop, and to whom, 
 though they had probably seen Dennis as he crawled 
 beneath the sail, he had not dared to make a sign. The 
 difficulty was removed by a word from Turnpenny to 
 one of the maroons. The man made a strange clicking 
 in his throat, and within a couple of minutes his comrades 
 had crept noiselessly along the port side of the vessel, 
 and the party was complete. 
 
 With great solemnity and many repetitions, the sailor 
 exhausted his small stock of Spanish in explaining what 
 was required of them. They were all to charge together 
 the instant after the petard had done its work. If the 
 force of the explosion proved sufficient to blow in the 
 door, they would dash through into the cabin and en- 
 gage the enemy hand to hand. If, on the other hand, 
 the door should be only partly shattered as Turnpenny 
 pointed out, there was no calculating on the precise effect 
 of a charge of gunpowder two men were to break it 
 
 102
 
 HALF-PIKES AND MACHETES 
 
 in with a short spar unrigged for a battering-ram. 
 Dennis counted on gaining a few moments while the 
 Spaniards recovered from the surprise and shock of the 
 explosion. In that brief interval it might be possible for 
 him and Turnpenny to find the loopholes in the cabin 
 wall and thrust the muzzles of their muskets through. 
 By the time they had fired, the door would be burst in, 
 and then it would be a fight to the death. 
 
 If the occupants of the cabin had felt any wonder or 
 misgiving at the manipulation of the sail, there was 
 nothing during the pause to give them either explana- 
 tion or assurance. They might have suspected that the 
 intention of lowering the sail was to screen an approach 
 to the hatchway; but as, according to Baltizar, the cook, 
 the jar of powder had been appropriated by the mate 
 secretly and he was now dead, it would never have oc- 
 curred to them that their enemy would seek there any- 
 thing but food. Otherwise they would assuredly have 
 made some effort, beyond the firing of two random 
 shots, to avert their fate. 
 
 There was absolute silence when Turnpenny had con- 
 cluded his whispered instructions to the maroons. The 
 vessel rocked gently, almost imperceptibly; the tide was 
 on the turn. Dennis crept once more to the gangway 
 by the rope netting, stole along in bare feet, and stooped 
 with a beating heart to apply the match which Turnpenny 
 had made for him. It had an inch or two to burn 
 before it reached the train of powder ; and he stood back 
 
 103
 
 ON THE SPANISH MAIN 
 
 against the side, out of danger from the explosion, ready 
 to rush across to the nearest loophole when the moment 
 came. 
 
 Suddenly a line of flame shot like a lightning flash 
 across the planks. In an instant there was a deafening 
 crash, and though each man of the attacking party knew 
 what was coming, and was beyond reach of actual harm, 
 they were all somewhat dazed by the explosion. But 
 it was only for the fraction of a second. Then Dennis 
 and Turnpenny sprang forward, one on each side of 
 the cabin entrance, toward the loopholes whose position 
 they had marked in the previous fight. For a few 
 moments they were baffled by the blinding smoke, but, 
 finding the holes almost simultaneously, they thrust in 
 the muzzles of their muskets, and fired at random into 
 the cabin. A muffled cry from within announced that 
 one or other of the shots had taken effect ; but the next 
 instant there was a roar as the Spaniards discharged 
 their muskets together at the gaps rent in the door by 
 the explosion. At the time the Englishmen knew not 
 whether any man was hit, for, dropping their muskets, 
 they seized their cutlasses and, just as the spar carried 
 by two lusty maroons leveled the shattered door, they 
 dashed at the opening. 
 
 The light from a horn lantern hanging in its gimbals 
 struggled with the smoke that filled the room. Dennis 
 stumbled over a body that lay across the entrance. He 
 had barely recovered his footing when he was amazed 
 
 104
 
 HALF-PIKES AND MACHETES 
 
 to hear a frenzied shriek from the farther end of the 
 cabin, and two men rushed forward with uplifted hands, 
 shouting again and again a single word which he did 
 not understand. 
 
 "My heart! they cry for quarter!" cried Turnpenny, 
 as much amazed as Dennis. 
 
 One of the maroons who had carried the spar, either 
 not understanding or not heeding the wild, despairing 
 cry, thrust at the foremost Spaniard with a half-pike, 
 and the wretch fell forward, hurling Dennis to the floor 
 and doubly blocking the entrance. Dennis threw the man 
 off and scrambled to his feet; but before he could take 
 a step forward there was a second explosion, louder and 
 more shattering than the first; and when he recovered 
 his dazed senses he found himself lying at the fore end 
 of the waist, twenty feet away from the cabin. 
 
 105
 
 CHAPTER IX 
 
 AMOS TELLS HIS STORY 
 
 "Body o' me! Will 'ee squall like babbies? Make 
 for the boat, you bowling knaves!" 
 
 And then Turnpenny launched into a tirade of Spanish 
 abuse, which came somewhat more trippingly from his 
 lips than sentences of sound instruction. Dennis rose, and 
 staggered toward the sailor. 
 
 "God be praised! I feared you were dead, sir. The 
 knave has blowed up the powder magazine, and in five 
 minutes by the clock the ship will tottle down by the 
 stem. Those black rascals were howling like souls in 
 bale, in the stead of swinging overboard into the boat 
 while there is time. Come away, sir; the craft will sink 
 to the bottom or ever we gain the island." 
 
 Bruised and sore, dropping blood from his untended 
 wound, Dennis hastened with Amos to the side, and was 
 in the act of following the maroons into the boat when 
 he suddenly remembered the two sick men in the fore- 
 castle. 
 
 "I'll be with you anon," he cried, hurrying across the 
 waist. 
 
 "What a murrain !" muttered Amos, scrambling back 
 
 106
 
 and running after him. "Shall we drown for a b'race 
 of savages! Wilful! Wilful!" 
 
 He reached the forecastle in time to see Dennis haul- 
 ing from his bunk the fat negro, who lay there huddled 
 and shivering with terror. 
 
 "Make the fat fool understand !" he cried, shoving the 
 cook into Amos' arms. Then he hurried to the farther 
 end, where the maroons lay in a stupor of fright. Hav- 
 ing no words to acquaint them with their peril, he sought 
 to move them by signs ; but the men gazed at him in 
 fear, regarding him doubtless as a new oppressor. 
 
 "Amos, leave that lump of jelly and come hither," he 
 shouted. The sailor bawled a word or two in Spanish, 
 and sped the negro toward the side with a kick. Then 
 he made haste to join Dennis. 
 
 "The wretches are helpless," said the boy. "We must 
 carry them fair and softly, Amos." 
 
 "Ay, sir, an you will; but our case is parlous; I fear 
 me our leisure will not serve." ' 
 
 '"No delay, then. Hoist this fellow upon my back; do 
 you bring the other. We can not suffer the knaves to 
 drown." 
 
 They staggered forth with their burdens, Dennis fore- 
 most. As he stumbled toward the side he caught sight 
 of a man crawling slowly from the direction of the cabin. 
 The man called to him feebly, but Dennis did not pause 
 until he had reached the gangway by the belting, where 
 he laid the maroon down. 
 
 107
 
 ON THE SPANISH MAIN 
 
 "Call to his fellows below there to assist him into the 
 boat," he cried to Amos. "There is a man yet alive ; 
 we must save him." 
 
 "Beseech you let the knave drown," returned the sailor. 
 " 'Tis a pestilent Spaniard a meal for sharks. Be 
 jowned if the lad be not a mere dunderpate," he grumbled, 
 as he lowered his burden into the hands of the men 
 below. 
 
 Meanwhile Dennis had hastened to meet the wounded 
 man, who groaned miserably as he dragged his 
 limbs along. Half supporting, half carrying him, Dennis 
 brought him to the side just as the second maroon had 
 been bestowed safely in the boat. Turnpenny, still growl- 
 ing under his breath, helped to lift the Spaniard. Then 
 the boat was cast off, and the men rowed for the shore. 
 
 "Canst see any sign of the knaves that leaped over- 
 board?" said Dennis, looking around. 
 
 "Never a hair," replied Turnpenny. "Sure they be 
 swallowed quick by the sharks, and there's an end." 
 
 Dennis shuddered. It was his first acquaintance with 
 the tragedy of adventure on the Spanish Main, and his 
 unschooled heart turned sick at the thought of the 
 terrible fruit his scheme had borne. He gazed at the 
 form of the vessel that was gradually fading into 
 the dark. The poop was already under water. He had 
 not foreseen this end to his enterprise; the rapid se- 
 quence of events had bewildered him. What had caused 
 the second explosion? Had the magazine been fired 
 
 108
 
 AMOS TELLS HIS STORY 
 
 by accident? What a mercy it was that he and all 
 his party had not been blown to atoms! He could not 
 but feel a poignant pity for the poor wretches who 
 thus suddenly met their doom. 
 
 The boat grounded on the shoals. He sprang into 
 the water and assisted Turnpenny and the maroons to 
 carry the helpless men to the fringe of the grass and 
 to haul the boat up the beach. Then he turned once 
 more to look at the vessel. No longer was her dark 
 form outlined against the starlit sky; she had gone 
 down, leaving no trace. 
 
 Joining the men on the stretch of greensward when 
 they were assembled, he suddenly heard the shrill voice 
 of Mirandola close at hand, and next moment felt the 
 touch of the animal's paw upon his arm. The monkey 
 had followed the party at a distance when they came 
 down to the shore in the dusk, and sat forlorn on the 
 grass, watching the boat that carried his master away. 
 Could the poor beast think human thoughts, Dennis 
 wondered, as he felt its body trembling against his? 
 Had it believed that it was deserted by the being who 
 had treated it with kindness? Certainly it showed clear 
 signs of gladness now, and its joy at recovering its 
 one friend had vanquished its dislike and suspicion of 
 the rest. 
 
 "Here we be, sir, ten mortal souls," said Turnpenny, 
 "reckoning Baltizar, who in sooth is more like a jelly- 
 fish than a man. What be us to do?" 
 
 109
 
 ON THE SPANISH MAIN 
 
 "We can not tramp across the island in the dark, 
 Amos. What say you to camping in the logwood grove ? 
 Tis nigh at hand, and we can lie there with fair com- 
 fort until the dawn." 
 
 "With all my heart. 'Twill be a drier bed than those 
 villainous knaves yonder can boast." 
 
 "Poor wretches! How came it that the magazine 
 blew up, think you?" 
 
 "I know not, sir. I will ask the knave you brought 
 last from the vessel a deed of merciful madness." 
 
 He spoke a few words to the wounded prisoner, while 
 the maroons who had formed the wood-cutting party 
 conveyed their sick comrades to the grove. The man 
 replied in feeble accents. 
 
 "This was the manner of it, sir," said Amos after 
 a minute or two. "The captain being sore wounded 
 and two killed outright, the other knaves, seeing how 
 that they stood in danger of being sliced by our bilbos, 
 did incontinently call upon him to render up the vessel, 
 hoping thereby to come off with their lives. But the 
 captain, a tall man and of a good spirit, did resolutely 
 refuse to yield to their entreaties, swearing that he would 
 with his own hand blow up the vessel rather than de- 
 liver it to heretics and dogs of English. Straightway 
 he passed into his own cabin, and made fast the door, 
 which seeing, and knowing that what he had said, that 
 would he perform, the knave began to whoop and hallo 
 for quarter. Then did the captain, as 'tis to be sup- 
 no
 
 AMOS TELLS HIS STORY 
 
 posed, make into the after cabin and fire his pistol into 
 the magazine, and so dealt the ship that mighty blow." 
 
 "And this man who is he?" 
 
 "A man of Portingale, sir, not of Spain, and. so some- 
 what nearer grace. He thanks you and all the saints 
 that he remains alive, though his limbs be maimed 
 withal." 
 
 "Let us convey him softly to the grove; on the mor- 
 row we will look to his wounds and bind them up with 
 balsam and other salves from the wreck." 
 
 "Marry, you use him too gently. Tis like warming 
 a snake in your bosom; and since charity begins at 
 home, we will look to our own wounds first" 
 
 When the party was settled as comfortably as pos- 
 sible in the grove, Dennis and the sailor disposed them- 
 selves side by side to sleep. But both were wakeful, 
 for all their fatigue. They lay for a time in silence, 
 each fearful of disturbing the other ; but Dennis, hearing 
 at last a long pent-up groan from his companion, asked 
 what ailed him. 
 
 "Thinking, sir old thoughts of home." 
 
 "I have been minded to ask you of your history, Amos, 
 but we have had other matters to speak of. How came 
 you to be a prisoner of the Spaniards?" 
 
 " 'Tis a tale long in the telling, sir, but I will give 
 'ee the drift of it. I were a young cockerel of twelve 
 when I ran away to sea. It kept a-calling me; night 
 and day I heard the sound ; and when I could no longer 
 
 in
 
 ON THE SPANISH MAIN 
 
 endure it, I went and joined myself ship-boy to a worthy 
 mariner o' Plimworth. Afterward he made me his 
 'prentice, and so a mariner I have been, from that day 
 to this. Ay, 'twas a brave life for a man, in the days 
 of King Hal, lad. I mind me I were but rising seven- 
 teen when the French king took a conceit to invade 
 England. My heart! he had reason enough, for King 
 Hal had before sent a power to capture Boolonny, on 
 the French coast, which they did, and burned it with 
 fire. The French king would have his tit for tat, and 
 he gathered a great power and a mighty fleet to strike 
 at Portsmouth and the Isle of Wight. 
 
 "I was rising seventeen, as I said, and gunner's 
 mate aboard the Anne Gallant, a noble galleass. The 
 fleet made a brave show, lying off Spithead, and I was 
 hot to show my mettle ; 'twas my first fight, by the token. 
 And sure 'twas a famous fight. The Anne Gallant and 
 others of her sort, with the shallops and rowing pieces, 
 did so handle the French galleys that our great-ships 
 in a manner had little to do. The only hurt we suffered 
 was the breaking of a few oars. We anchored for the 
 night, as did the French fleet, we hoping to come at 
 them in the morning; but when daylight broke, hang 
 me if the French were anywhere to be seen! And 
 though we gave chase, they got away and ran into 
 their ports. But a little later the Anne Gallant, with three 
 other galleasses and four pinnaces, was set upon off 
 Ambletoosy by eight galleys. There was great shooting 
 
 112
 
 AMOS TELLS HIS STORY 
 
 betwixt us; we drew alongside of the Blanchard galley 
 in the smoke, and leaping aboard her, we took her cap- 
 tive, with two hundred and thirty pikemen and mus- 
 ketmen, and a hundred and forty rowers. Master King 
 Francis got the wrong pig by the ear when he tackled 
 King Harry. 
 
 "Ah me and well-away! That was over twenty- 
 five year ago. I served many years on merchantmen, 
 under many a master, good and bad. I made one voy- 
 age to the Guinea coast with Master Hawkins, and 
 four year ago, being about to set sail to the Indies 
 for to trade slaves with the Spaniards, he sent for me 
 and made me boatswain aboard his own great-ship, the 
 Jesus, of Lubeck, of seven hundred tons. Marry, 'twas 
 a goodly squadron that sailed out of Plimworth Sound. 
 Besides the Jesus, there was the Minion of Captain 
 Hampton, the William and John, all great-ships, and 
 three smaller vessels, of the which Master Francis Drake 
 commanded the Judith. Hast ever set eyes on Master 
 Francis ?" 
 
 "Ay, indeed, once only this very year, in Plymouth, 
 some months before I sailed." 
 
 "And I warrant he was stout and brave, and as 'twere 
 a raging fire against the Spaniards, making ready to 
 chastise the villainous traitors and promise-breakers ; 
 was it not so, good-now?" 
 
 "Well, to say sooth, when I saw him he seemed to 
 have no thought of Spaniards; his whole mind was set 
 
 113
 
 on a game at the bowls, and he was some little put 
 out when he failed of winning." 
 
 "Master Francis put out over such a trifle? Why, 
 believe me, with these very eyes I saw him warp his 
 bark clear when beset by Spanish fireships and bat- 
 tered by Spanish guns, with as serene a countenance 
 as he were sailing a shallop for pleasure on the Plym. 
 Master Francis put out for losing at the bowlsl Tush, 
 lad!" 
 
 "Nevertheless, 'tis true, for I was there present, and 
 saw and heard it." 
 
 "God-a-mercy !" ejaculated Turnpenny. "And what 
 was the manner of it ?" 
 
 . "Why, .Master Drake came to two gentlemen bowling 
 on. the Hoe, and one of them being summoned away, 
 left the other to play out the game with the captain. 
 He was beat, as I said, and being well conceited of his 
 skill, he was for a moment vexed. Then he laughed, 
 and clapped his hand on the shoulder of the other 
 a stripling he was and said : 'A rub for me, my lad ! 
 'Twas a rare game, and I thank thee.' " 
 
 "Ay, that was true Master Francis; he is ever gall 
 and .honey mingled. Art then of Plim worth, sir? As 
 you .love me, your name." Amos Turnpenny grew more 
 and more genial as he realized the truth. 
 
 "Dennis Hazelrig, of Shaston." 
 
 . "Qf Shaston ? I was never there. I will mind of 
 your name. You be gentle, I know by your speech, 
 
 114
 
 AMOS TELLS HIS STORY 
 
 and Dennis Hazelrig do sound richer to the ear than 
 plain Haymoss Turnpenny, but " 
 
 "Come, man, to your story," interrupted Dennis, im- 
 patient to hear the man's history. 
 
 "Ay, sir, then I must make a tack. I was at Plim- 
 worth, a* b'lieve, when the name of Master Drake set 
 me out o' my true course. Well, the ships I named, 
 great and small, sailed right merrily out o' the Sound 
 o' Plimworth; 'twas a day of October, I mind me, the 
 very season of gales. We had a deal of buffeting afore 
 we made the coast of Guinea, and a deal of hard knocks 
 afore we took on board our store o' negroes for to sell 
 to the Spaniards of the Main." 
 
 "To sell?" 
 
 "Why, yes, sir; that is Captain Hawkins his trade; 
 and knowing now myself what it is to be a slave, I have 
 a fellow-feeling for the poor knaves, black as they be, 
 and bought and sold like cattle. Well, 'twas near six 
 month afore we came to the Indies and did some traffic 
 among the islands. Then by ill hap, as we sailed for 
 Cartagena, we were caught in a most violent and terrible 
 storm, the which battered us mightily for the space of 
 four days; in sooth, we feared we should go to the 
 bottom. The Jesus was dealt with most sorely, her 
 rudder shaken, and all her seams agape. Then coast- 
 ing along Florida, we ran into the jaws of another 
 tempest, the which drave us into the Bay of Mexico. 
 Then we sought a haven and moored our ships in the
 
 ON THE SPANISH MAIN 
 
 port called St. John d'Ulua, where we landed, and our 
 general made proposals of traffic. 
 
 "The next day did we discover a fleet of thirteen 
 ships open of the haven, and soon we spied a pinnace 
 making toward us. There was in her a man bearing a 
 flag of truce, and he came aboard the Jesus, demanding 
 of what country we were. I mind we laughed at the 
 knave; he swelled himself out like a turkey-cock. Our 
 general made answer that we were the Queen of Eng- 
 land her ships, come for victuals for our money, and 
 that if the Spanish general would enter, he should give 
 us victuals and other necessaries and we would go out 
 on the one side of the port, the while the Spaniards 
 should come in on the other. But it had so fell out that 
 with their fleet there came a new viceroy of the Spanish 
 king, and he was mightily put out by our general's 
 reply, thinking it something saucy from an Englishman 
 with so small a fleet. The proud knave returned for 
 answer that he was a viceroy with a thousand men, and 
 would ask no man's leave to enter. Our general laughed, 
 and set us laughing, too, when he said: 'A viceroy he 
 may be, but so am I. I represent my queen and am as 
 good a viceroy as he; and as for his thousand men, I 
 have good powder and shot, and they will take the better 
 place, I warrant him.' " 
 
 "A right proper answer," said Dennis. "And what 
 then?" 
 
 "Why, Master Viceroy gave in, and swore by king 
 
 116
 
 AMOS TELLS HIS STORY 
 
 and crown he would faithfully perform what our general 
 demanded, and thereupon hostages were given on both 
 sides. The villainous knave! Our general chose out 
 five proper gentlemen and sent them aboard the Spanish 
 admiral; but the viceroy, stuffed with fraud and deceit, 
 rigged up five base swabbers in costly apparel and sent 
 them to our general, as if they were the finest gentlemen 
 of Spain. Yet did we use them right royally, deeming 
 it to be an act of courtesy and good troth. 
 
 "Then their ships came with great bravery into the 
 port, and there was great waste of powder in firing 
 salutes as the manner is at sea. But 'twas not long afore 
 our general became doubtful of their dealings. So did 
 we all, for with my own eyes I saw them, when they 
 moored their ships nigh ours, cut out new ports in the 
 sides, and plant their ordnance toward us. 'So ho !' says 
 I, 'there's trickery in brew.' Our master, one Bob Bar- 
 rett, chanced to be well skilled in the Spanish tongue, 
 and him our general sent aboard their admiral to know 
 the meaning of these same doings. The base villains 
 set poor Bob under guard in the bilbows, and we had 
 scarce seen that mark of their knavery when they sounded 
 a trumpet, and therewith three hundred of them sprang 
 aboard the Minion from the hulk alongside. My heart! 
 Many a time afore had I seen the blazing of our general's 
 wrath, but never so fierce as it blazed then. His eyes 
 were like two coals of fire as he called to us in a loud 
 voice, I mind his very words. 'Gpd and St. George!' 
 
 "7
 
 ON THE SPANISH MAIN 
 
 cried he. 'Upon those traitorous villains, my hearts, and 
 rescue the Minion; and I trust in God the day shall be 
 ours.' And with that, with a great shout we leaped out 
 of the Jesus into the Minion, and laid on those deceitful 
 knaves, and beat them out; and a shot out of the Jesus 
 fell plump into the poop of the Spanish vice-admiral, 
 and the most part of three hundred of the villainous 
 knaves were blown overboard with powder. 
 
 "It was a good sight to see Captain Hampton of the 
 Minion cut his cables and haul clear by his stern-posts, 
 the while his gunners poured round shot into the vice- 
 admiral that rode ablaze. But there was but four of us 
 to their thirteen. The Spaniards came about us on every 
 side, and began to fire on us with brass ordnance from 
 the land. My heart! 'Twas hot work for us when we 
 scrambled back on to the Jesus as the Minion sheered 
 away. Being so tall a ship, we could not haul her clear. 
 She had five shots through her mainmast; her foremast 
 was struck in sunder with a chain-shot, and her hull, 
 moreover, was wonderfully pierced. Our general gave 
 orders that we should lay her alongside the Minion till 
 dark, and then take out her victuals and treasure and 
 leave that noble vessel. A right true man is Captain 
 Hawkins. In the midst of that noise and smoke he called 
 to Samuel, his page, for a cup of beer, and it was brought 
 to him in a silver cup ; and he drank to us all and called 
 to the gunners to stand by their ordnance lustily like 
 men. He had no sooner set the cup out of his hand but 
 
 118
 
 AMOS TELLS HIS STORY 
 
 a demi-culverin shot struck away the cup, and a cooper's 
 plane that stood by the mainmast, and ran out on the 
 other side of the ship; the which nothing dismayed our 
 general, for he ceased not to encourage and cheer us. I 
 hear his voice in my ears now. 'Fear nothing !' he cries, 
 'for God, who hath preserved me from this shot, will 
 also deliver us from these traitors and villains.' 
 
 "But on a sudden we perceived that the Spaniards had 
 loosed two fireships against us. The men of the Minion 
 were in such a taking with fear of those monsters that 
 they bided not the outcome, nor did they heed their cap- 
 tain's commands, but in a mighty haste made sail. The 
 Jesus being then alone for the Angel was sunk and the 
 Swallow taken, and Master Drake had warped the little 
 Judith clear our general cried to us to spring upon the 
 Minion ere her sails could draw, which he himself did. 
 As I made to do his bidding, my heart ! there came top- 
 pling on my head a portion of the main topsail cross- 
 tree, and struck me senseless withal. When something 
 of my wits returned to me, there was I, amid a score of 
 wounded and captive fellows on the deck of the noble 
 Jesus and a mob of Spaniards around; sure she must 
 have been built under an evil star." 
 
 "And what befell you then?" asked Dennis eagerly, 
 for Turnpenny had fallen silent. 
 
 "God-a-mercy, sir, the fear takes me when I think 
 on't ! They hauled me ashore, with certain others of our 
 men, and hanged us up by the arms upon high posts, 
 
 119
 
 ON THE SPANISH MAIN 
 
 until the blood gushed out at our finger-ends. Tis by 
 the merciful providence of God alone I am yet alive, 
 carrying about with me and shall to my grave the 
 marks and tokens of their barbarous, cruel dealings. 
 'Tis by the same wondrous grace I 'scaped handling by 
 the Inquisition, that hath devoured many of my poor 
 comrades. My heart and my reins cry and groan for the 
 terror and pain of their sufferings. God have mercy on 
 us all!" 
 
 Overcome by the recollection of what ensued upon his 
 capture by the Spaniards, Turnpenny went by turns hot 
 and cold and was unable to continue his story. Many 
 times during the night Dennis was wakened from his own 
 troubled slumbers by a cry from his companion, upon 
 whom, now that the time of action had ceased, his former 
 sickly terror seemed to have returned with double force. 
 Both were heartily glad when morning came, and with 
 the new day the necessity of facing their new situation. 
 
 120
 
 CHAPTER X 
 
 THE MAROONS BUILD A CANOE 
 
 The events of twenty-four hours had wrought a sur- 
 prising change in Dennis' circumstances. The solitude 
 of the island had suddenly become peopled. No longer 
 would Mirandola be his sole comrade and confidant. He 
 was inexpressibly glad of the company of a fellow-coun- 
 tryman ; the presence of a group of men of strange races 
 was somewhat embarrassing. Besides Turnpenny, there 
 were now on the island the Spaniard who had been left 
 pinioned on the shore, and the wounded Portuguese res- 
 cued from the sinking ship; three survivors of the wood- 
 cutting party; three sick comrades; and the fat negro 
 cook; in all a community of eleven. Small as it was, 
 after his loneliness Dennis felt it to be a crowd. 
 
 His first care on waking in the morning was to liberate 
 the bound Spaniard, and to bring salves from his store 
 for dressing the wounds of the Portuguese, and of his 
 party ; his own wounds proved to be slight. While absent 
 on this errand he left Turnpenny in charge of the rest, 
 and found when he returned that the sailor had already 
 spread a delectable breakfast, having set the maroons to 
 gather from the trees not merely bananas, but several 
 
 121
 
 ON THE SPANISH MAIN 
 
 other fruits which Dennis himself, in his dread of eating 
 something poisonous, had not yet ventured to taste. 
 When the wounded man and the sick maroons, who were 
 still bewildered by their good fortune, had been attended 
 to, he held a consultation with Turnpenny. As a result 
 of this he decided to keep the whereabouts of his hut 
 and the existence of the stores a secret from the white 
 men. 
 
 "They be all villains and traitors," said Turnpenny; 
 "we must e'en keep them prisoners, and give them into 
 the ward of the maroons. Wherefore I say, let the 
 maroons build them a hut a mile or more away from your 
 dwelling. They are idle knaves, and having been so long 
 time slaves, they will be well content to do nothing but 
 keep watch and ward over those that once were their 
 masters. And as for their food, there is enough on the 
 island for a whole city." 
 
 "And what of us, my friend ?" 
 
 "Ay, sir, here we be, two Englishmen, a thousand 
 leagues or more away from home, but a few leagues from 
 the mainland, where Spaniards rule the roost, and like 
 to be discovered any day if another logwood party comes 
 ashore. Tis not in reason we could do with them what, 
 by the mercy of God and your own ready wit, sir, we did 
 with the knaves yesternight; and if we be found, there's 
 naught afore us but death or chains ; and for myself I'd 
 liever die than endure such things as I have suffered 
 since the fight at St. John d'Ulua." 
 
 122
 
 THE MAROONS BUILD A CANOE 
 
 "Why, then, good Amos," said Dennis with a smile, 
 "it does seem we must cast lots who shall be king of this 
 island, and the other shall be chancellor, and we will put 
 in practice in our governance the ideas of the incom- 
 parable Sir Thomas More, who, though a Papist, did 
 set forth in his Utopia most worthy and admirable 
 schemes of ruling a society of men." 
 
 "I know naught of Sir Thomas More or what you call 
 Utopia; and as for king and chancellor, I am but poor 
 Haymoss Turnpenny, that can not read nor write and 
 have never had the ruling of more than a crew of mari- 
 ners, sir; but methinks 'twould be more fit and com- 
 mendable if we seized upon this island in the name of 
 our sovereign lady, Queen Bess." 
 
 "A right loyal notion, and one that we will put in act. 
 But then we must give it a name." 
 
 "Ay, sure, and what better name than Maiden Isle, 
 after that same gracious lady?" 
 
 "So it shall be, and I here proclaim Elizabeth, by the 
 grace of God, Queen of England, France and Ireland, 
 queen of Maiden Isle on the Spanish Main. But this is 
 idle mockery, Amos. We are not builders of empires, 
 but poor castaways, doomed to linger out our lives in 
 what is, after all, a desert, or else in painful servitude. 
 There is nothing for laughter here." 
 
 And then they fell to talking of their chances of one 
 day escaping from the island and seeing the fair shores 
 of England again. It could only be by being taken off 
 
 123
 
 ON THE SPANISH MAIN 
 
 by an English ship or by setting off themselves and risk- 
 ing the perilous voyage across the Atlantic. The latter 
 alternative seemed beyond the bounds of possibility. The 
 Maid Marian, even if they could make her hull seaworthy 
 and repair her shattered spars and rigging, would need 
 a crew to navigate her, and the maroons were not sailors. 
 To build a smaller craft capable of the long voyage was 
 an enterprise beyond their powers. Turnpenny could 
 make shift to navigate a vessel, but he had no practical 
 skill in ship-building. 
 
 The other alternative seemed equally unlikely. Dennis 
 learned from the sailor that the island on which they had 
 so strangely met was situated deep in the Gulf of Darien. 
 It was less than a hundred and fifty miles from Carta- 
 gena, the capital of the Spanish Main, to the east, and 
 about the same distance from Nombre de Dios to the 
 west; but the trend of the coast caused vessels to stand 
 out some distance to sea in passing, and thus the island 
 was little likely to be touched at by chance visitors. 
 
 One other course occurred to Dennis, only to be dis- 
 missed when he mentioned it to Turnpenny. It was to 
 build a boat capable of conveying them to the mainland, 
 and to take refuge among the Indians or the mixed race 
 of Cimaroons or maroons who had settlements at various 
 parts of the coast. But Turnpenny pointed out that this 
 would expose them to the risk of being caught by the 
 Spaniards, who were constantly at war with the natives, 
 and would at the same time quite ruin the chances of 
 
 124
 
 THE MAROONS BUILD A CANOE 
 
 getting into touch with an English vessel. While they 
 remained on the island there was always the bare pos- 
 sibility of some English or Huguenot adventurer coming 
 within reach. 
 
 Faced by the prospect of an indefinite sojourn on the 
 island, they had only to make the best of it. Turnpenny 
 explained to the maroons the plan arranged for them, 
 and they accepted it without demur. The prisoners were 
 sullen and resentful, perforce submissive, not a little dis- 
 trustful of their guards, from whom they deserved no 
 kindness. Baltizar, the fat negro, was given the task of 
 supplying the party with food, partly from the natural 
 resources of the island, partly from the stores of the 
 Maid Marian, which Dennis resolved to share, economi- 
 cally, with the rest. 
 
 A spot about a mile from the chine was chosen as the 
 site of the shelters for the maroons and their prisoners. 
 Having set the men at work, Dennis returned with Turn- 
 penny to his own hut. Mirandola no longer showed any 
 jealousy of the presence of a third party; apparently he 
 had been cured of it by fright at the prospect of being 
 deserted. Turnpenny, on his part, before the day was 
 out was so much amused at the animal's antics that he 
 lost his first disgust. 
 
 "My heart!" he exclaimed, when, work for the day 
 being over, the monkey sat on a tub, happily feasting on 
 biscuits and honey. "If 'tis wise looks do make a chan- 
 cellor, sure the beast be the properest chancellor to your 
 
 125
 
 ON THE SPANISH MAIN 
 
 king, sir. Ye might go far to find another such wise- 
 looking prime minister." 
 
 "You look pretty wise yourself, Amos," said Dennis, 
 laughing. "We had resolved that the sovereignty of this 
 island belongs to our lady Queen Bess; say then that I 
 am her viceroy, and you my chamberlain, and for Miran- 
 dola, why, let us make him our jester." 
 
 Day followed day uneventfully. Dennis made a still 
 more thorough exploration of the island in Turnpenny's 
 company, and had his eyes opened to many things which 
 had formerly escaped him. Passing the spot where he 
 had saved Mirandola from the boa constrictor, he men- 
 tioned the incident, and remarked that he had seen no 
 other reptiles in the course of his wanderings. 
 
 ' 'Tis because you knew not where to look," said Turn- 
 penny. "The snakes in this New World be cunning; 
 'wise as serpents' says the Scripture, and a true word. 
 They dress their skins so as to look like the trees they 
 live in ; 'twould puzzle Solomon himself in all his wisdom 
 and glory to say which is tree and which is the coil of a 
 snake." 
 
 And as they passed through the thickest woods, which 
 Dennis had prudently refrained from entering, the sailor 
 drew his attention more than once to snakes of various 
 kinds whose coils were almost indistinguishable from 
 the trunks of trees. 
 
 Once he plucked some fruit from a kind of palm, and, 
 pressing it, squeezed out a juice as black as ink. 
 
 126
 
 THE MAROONS BUILD A CANOE 
 
 "That is a good sight," cried Dennis gladly. "I found 
 in the cabin of the Maid Marian a store of paper and 
 quills, but the ink was all spilled, and I had nothing 
 wherewithal to write. So I have lost count of the days, 
 and know not whether I have been on this isle weeks or 
 months. Now I can make a journal." 
 
 "Not so, neither! This juice is good to write withal, 
 but the marks disappear within the ninth day and the 
 paper is as white as if it had never been written on. 
 'Tis no matter, indeed; we should be none the happier 
 for seeing the tale of our days." 
 
 One day Dennis showed Turnpenny the cave in the 
 cliff, which hitherto he had refrained from revealing. 
 The sailor attentively examined the trinkets which Dennis 
 had found on the floor beside the skeleton and carefully 
 collected. He pronounced them to be such ornaments 
 as were worn by the natives of the mainland, and made 
 no doubt that the skeleton was that of some Indian or 
 maroon done to death by brutal persecutors. 
 
 Dennis got him to continue the story of his life, never 
 yet resumed since his first night on the island. He had 
 been sent, he said, among a gang of prisoners from St. 
 John d'Ulua to Cartagena and thence to a place on the 
 coast somewhat south of Cartagena, where the governor 
 had a pearl-fishery. It was defended by a fort, garri- 
 soned by some fifty Spaniards. Expecting reprisals from 
 Hawkins for the treacherous treatment he had received, 
 the governor had ordered the fort to be strengthened, 
 
 127
 
 ON THE SPANISH MAIN 
 
 and despatched several of his able-bodied prisoners to 
 assist in the work. 
 
 "And I think of my dear comrades rotting in the dun- 
 geons of Porto Aguila for so 'tis named. There was 
 Ned Whiddon, and Hugh Curder, and Tom Copstone, and 
 a dozen more, and for all I know they are there even 
 now, toiling all day, with many stripes from the villain- 
 ous whips, and groaning all night in most foul and 
 noisome dungeons. Ah ! the tales I could tell would make 
 your skin creep and your hair to stand on end. Why, 
 what think 'ee they do if the tale of work seem to them 
 not sufficient? They tie the poor wretch to a tree, and 
 take thorns of the prickle palm, and put them into little 
 pellets of cotton dipped in oil, and stick them in the side 
 of the miserable captive, as thick as the bristles of a 
 hedgehog. This alone causes a most fierce torment, but 
 they are not content therewith. They set the oiled cotton 
 afire, and call on the poor wretch, with loud, despitous 
 laughs, to sing in the midst of his torment, and if he 
 cries out in the agony of pain, they out upon him 
 for a base, miserable coward and villain. With my own 
 eyes I have seen the foul deed, and many more which it 
 is a shame to tell of." 
 
 "How came it that you got aloose?" asked Dennis. 
 
 "Why, it happened in this wise. The treasure of pearls 
 fished up from the sea bottom at that place was wont to 
 be conveyed to Cartagena every month by ship. One 
 day the vessel sent with this intent came into the port 
 
 128
 
 THE MAROONS BUILD A CANOE 
 
 wonderfully battered by a storm, the which had nigh 
 stripped her of all rigging and had, moreover, washed 
 half her crew overboard. The garrison at the fort being 
 soldiers, and there being no other mariners at hand, the 
 Spanish captain, moreover, being fearful of the gov- 
 ernor's wrath if the treasure should be delayed, he sent 
 half a dozen or more of his slaves, French and English, 
 aboard that vessel to work her back to the capital city. 
 My heart! I well-nigh wept for joy when I heard what 
 was in store, for I bethought myself that of a surety we 
 mariners, French and English, might seize upon that 
 vessel on the voyage and sail her at our pleasure. But 
 it was as if the knave had seen to the very heart of my 
 intent, for when we mounted on shipboard, there were 
 Spanish soldiers set over us, two for one, and with the 
 Spanish crew they were as three to one, and they were 
 armed. My device was come to naught. We did each 
 man his best to lengthen out that voyage, if perchance 
 we might fall in with an English vessel and acquaint 
 them with our case; but never a sail did we see till we 
 made the harbor of Cartagena, and all our hopes were 
 dashed. 
 
 "Then it came to pass that, being a handy man and a 
 stout, I was sold for money to the master and owner of 
 a ship employed in the traffic of timber that same vessel 
 that lies a fathom deep yonder. At sea I was a mariner : 
 ashore, being stout of the arms, I was made to ply an 
 ax on the trees, as you yourself saw. 'Tis three year 
 
 129
 
 ON THE SPANISH MAIN 
 
 or more since I fell prisoner at St. John d'Ulua, and six 
 months since I last set eyes on my comrades at Porto 
 Aguila, and I fear me I shall never see them more." 
 "Why think you they be even now there?" 
 "Why, sir, because the Spaniards be all knaves, and 
 there is no truth nor faithfulness in them, not one. The 
 captain of that place was the governor of Cartagena his 
 own son. A son, one would think, would be loving and 
 obedient unto his father, but 'tis not so among these 
 dogs of Spain. Why, body o' me ! in the stead of doing 
 diligently the thing his father commanded, this young 
 roisterer must needs build him a house, and thereto he 
 used the laborers sent him with intent to strengthen the 
 fort; and when I came from that place the house was 
 got but a little above the ground, and was not like to be 
 finished for a full year." 
 
 "Might not other laborers be hired from Cartagena?" 
 "I trow not. The Spaniards are so scared and daunted 
 by the descents of venturers' ships upon their coasts that 
 they are looking to their fortresses throughout the Span- 
 ish Main. By long and large 'tis more like the prisoners 
 will be conveyed back to Cartagena for to build new forts 
 there. But this will not be yet, for the governor of 
 Cartagena holds the pearl-fishery in dear affection, and 
 he will not bring the men thence until he has assurance 
 that all is done as he commanded. No, truly, I believe 
 they be still at Porto Aguila, my dear mate-fellows, and 
 though I praise God for His infinite goodness and mercy 
 
 130
 
 THE MAROONS BUILD A CANOE 
 
 in bringing me safe into this haven and out of the hands 
 of those wicked men, I mourn in my heart for Hugh 
 Curder, and Tom Copstone, and Ned Whiddon, and other 
 my comrades; God save them!" 
 
 Many a time in the succeeding days did Amos relate 
 incidents in the life of the prisoners at Porto Aguila 
 that made Dennis' blood run cold. He now began to 
 understand the deep and fierce hatred of the Spaniards 
 that filled the hearts of adventurers who had returned 
 from expeditions to the American coast. The same con- 
 suming desire for humbling and punishing the proud 
 Spaniards burned in his veins, and he chafed at the idle- 
 ness to which he was enforced on this remote island. 
 
 Meanwhile, the other inhabitants of Maiden Isle were 
 living what appeared to be a contented life. With abun- 
 dance of food, and nothing to do, the maroons enjoyed, 
 as Dennis thought, conditions that answered to their idea 
 of bliss. He was therefore a little surprised one day to 
 hear the unwonted sound of wood-felling, and to find, 
 when he came to the spot, four of the men plying their 
 axes lustily upon a huge cedar. They desisted when he 
 approached, with something of a guilty air that puzzled 
 him. They had shown themselves very amiable com- 
 panions, grateful for their rescue from their taskmasters. 
 He could only suppose that even they had begun to weary 
 of idleness, and had resorted to their former occupation 
 of log-cutting from no other motive than the desire to 
 kill time.
 
 ON THE SPANISH MAIN 
 
 But Turnpenny shook his head when Dennis suggested 
 this explanation. 
 
 "It do seem to me there be another meaning in it, sir. 
 'Tis their intent, a' b'lieve, to make unto themselves a 
 canow." 
 
 "But they have no skill to do it, nor fit implements, 
 Amos." 
 
 "Bless your eyes, sir, you do not know them. Wait 
 a while, and if that be not their purpose, never trust 
 Haymoss Turnpenny." 
 
 Letting a few days pass, Dennis went again one morn- 
 ing with the sailor to the scene of the tree-felling. The 
 huge trunk had already begun to take shape as a canoe, 
 at least twenty-five feet long. The men were diligently 
 working at it, some with axes, others with fire. Its 
 interior had been partly hollowed out, the wood and pith 
 burned away, and the charred sides scraped with the 
 hatchets. It was clear that within a few days the tree 
 would become a vessel which, whether navigable or not, 
 would certainly float. 
 
 " 'Tis a pretty piece of work," said Dennis to Turn- 
 penny. "Ask them whereto they design it." 
 
 Turnpenny spoke a few words in Spanish. The answer 
 was surprising. One of the maroons, a man whom the 
 others seemed to have elected as their leader, threw down 
 his hatchet and fell on his knees. Then, in a strange 
 jargon which the sailor had much ado to understand, he 
 gave voice to the sentiments and aspirations of himself 
 
 132
 
 THE MAROONS BUILD A CANOE 
 
 and his comrades. They were sick of solitude. They 
 had homes upon the mainland, and yearned to see again 
 their relatives and comrades, to return to their settle- 
 ment, to share in its life, to seek opportunities of reveng- 
 ing themselves on their oppressors. And so they were 
 making this canoe, in which they would sail over the sea. 
 They were not ungrateful for the kindnesses showered 
 upon them by the white men; indeed, to show their 
 gratitude, they would take them with them, having first 
 killed the two prisoners. Their spokesman on his knees 
 besought the white men to yield to their desire, and come 
 with them. They would supply all their needs, and follow 
 them with all obedience, if they would lead them against 
 the Spaniards. 
 
 "Tell him to get up," said Dennis. "This is a matter 
 we must think upon." 
 
 Dennis and Turnpenny held by and by a serious con- 
 sultation. They felt that they were in a somewhat 
 awkward predicament. The maroons' desire to regain 
 their friends was natural and reasonable, but their depart- 
 ure would deprive the white men of valuable allies. And 
 what of the two prisoners? Turnpenny would not have 
 hesitated to kill them, but Dennis shrank from that 
 course. They might allow the maroons to carry them 
 off; but then the Spaniards would either be butchered 
 as soon as the canoe was out of reach, or they would 
 probably be held as hostages and exchanged for natives 
 held captive by the Spaniards on the mainland. In that
 
 ON THE SPANISH MAIN 
 
 case they would certainly report the presence of two 
 white men on the island, and the assault upon the lumber 
 boat ; a search party would be the result, and Dennis and 
 his companion would be slaughtered or carried away 
 into slavery. On the other hand, if the maroons were 
 allowed to depart, leaving the prisoners on the island, 
 the burden of keeping watch over them would prove a 
 constant source of anxiety. 
 
 "The canoe is all but finished," said Dennis. "We must 
 let them finish it. To forbid them, poor knaves, would 
 be cruel." 
 
 "And vain, to boot," said Turnpenny ; "for if we took 
 their axes from them, they would use bits of sharp rock. 
 The Indians have hollowed out such canows with instru- 
 ments of flint from the beginning of the world." 
 
 "We must let them go, then. For ourselves, I see not 
 at present our course; but we can provide against the 
 worst hap by conveying our stores, secretly and by night, 
 to Skeleton Cave; 'tis a good hiding-place, not like to 
 be easily discovered, and we know not what necessity 
 may drive us to make it our habitation." 
 
 The transfer of the stores occupied two nights. Miran- 
 dola accompanied the two men as they went to and fro 
 between the sheds and the cave, clinging so closely to 
 them that it seemed as if he had some intuition of changes 
 to come. 
 
 "By my soul," said Turnpenny with a laugh, "he be 
 as faithful as a dog." 
 
 134
 
 THE MAROONS BUILD A CANOE 
 
 "And whatever may chance, we will not leave you, 
 Miranclola," said Dennis. "Shall I forget the days when 
 you were the only friend of my solitude? Would you 
 could speak, for assuredly I would ask your counsel on 
 this pass to which we are come." 
 
 They went daily to the clearing to watch the progress 
 of the canoe. As yet they had given no answer to the 
 maroons; but these were working very diligently at the 
 task, having apparently inferred from the silence of the 
 white men that at least nothing would be done to prevent 
 their making use of the vessel. Dennis and Turnpenny 
 talked over the situation again and again; but their 
 thoughts followed the same weary round. At one mo- 
 merit they were almost resolved to throw in their lot 
 with the maroons and voyage with them to the main- 
 land ; the next they shrank from this course, as throwing 
 away what seemed their only chance of ultimate rescue 
 the chance of being found some day by an English 
 vessel. 
 
 The problem weighed more heavily on Dennis than 
 on Turnpenny. Compared with his former sufferings, 
 it was to the sailor a slight matter. Dennis, lying sleep- 
 less at night, envied his friend the soundness of his 
 slumbers. The mariner snored as peacefully on his can- 
 vas couch in the corner of the hut as though he were on 
 a feather bed at home. To Dennis the hours of dark- 
 ness passed wearisomely. He thought of all that had 
 happened since he sailed with light heart from Plymouth 
 
 135
 
 ON THE SPANISH MAIN 
 
 Sound, and wondered sometimes whether his comrades 
 had not perchance been happier in meeting swift death 
 in the storm. Then he upbraided himself for his ingrati- 
 tude to the Providence which had preserved his life and 
 health, and given him the companionship of a fellow- 
 countryman. He contrasted, too, his lot with that of 
 Turnpenny's mates on the mainland, dragging out a 
 miserable existence of slavish toil. He recalled the sail- 
 or's stories of the tortures they endured and then 
 suddenly, one night, there flashed upon his mind a pos- 
 sibility which, in his preoccupation with his own plight, 
 had never yet occurred to him. The maroons would 
 shortly leave the island; had Providence arranged thic 
 as an opportunity for helping the helpless Englishmen 
 in the Spaniards' power? If Turnpenny and he should 
 accompany the black men, might they not find, at some 
 time or other, a means of rescuing the prisoners Ned 
 Whiddon, Hugh Curder, Tom Copstone and the rest? 
 
 The idea set Dennis throbbing with new hope, a new 
 aim. Slaves sometimes escaped ; the maroons themselves 
 were the offspring of negroes who had made off from 
 the Spanish settlements and formed alliances with the 
 native Indians of the woods. Their communities were 
 constantly being recruited : what if the sailor and he 
 should cast in their lot temporarily with the men about 
 to embark, and watch for opportunities of communication 
 with the distressed Englishmen! Even if they never 
 found a means of reaching home, it would still be some- 
 
 U6
 
 THE MAROONS BUILD A CANOE 
 
 thing to the good if their comrades were got out of the 
 hands of their oppressors. At the worst they might form 
 a settlement of their own, and live free, though in exile. 
 
 The idea took complete possession of Dennis. He felt 
 no desire to sleep. For a moment he was tempted to 
 wake Turnpenny and put the question to him; instead, 
 he got up, and strode quietly from the hut, to think it 
 over more fully .under the open sky. He walked down 
 to the shore, and, sitting on a rock, looked over the sea 
 and pondered the matter to the soft accompaniment of 
 the washing tide. 
 
 It was clear that the Spaniards of the mainland had 
 no suspicion that the island was inhabited, or they would 
 long since have visited it. They might be off their guard. 
 From what Turnpenny had told him he knew the indo- 
 lence of their temperament the unlikelihood of their 
 taking precautions against problematical dangers. Unless 
 directly threatened by the vessels of adventurers like 
 Hawkins and Drake, they might be expected to ply their 
 trade manage their pearl-fisheries, work their mines 
 without great vigilance. True, they had recently set 
 about strengthening their defenses; but probably the 
 season of panic had passed; it was years since Hawkins 
 had troubled them. It had already been proved what a 
 determined few could do ; if he, with Turnpenny and the 
 six maroons, could safely reach the mainland, might they 
 not bide their time until, fortune assisting them, they 
 found some means of bringing off the prisoners, or at
 
 ON THE SPANISH MAIN 
 
 least of striking a blow in their cause? Surely it was 
 better to make the attempt than to rust in idleness on 
 the island, waiting for a chance that might perhaps never 
 come, and always exposed to the risk of discovery by the 
 Spaniards. The more Dennis thought, the more his 
 imagination was captivated by the idea, and when he at 
 last returned to the hut he was resolved to broach the 
 subject to Turnpenny as soon as he should awake. 
 
 As he came to the entrance, the sailor's voice hailed him. 
 
 "Be that you, sir?" 
 
 "Yes. I could not sleep, and went for a walk on the 
 shore." 
 
 "I had but just waked, all of a sweat, and shaking like 
 a leaf." 
 
 "Why, what ailed you?" 
 
 "A dream, sir. Do 'ee believe as dreams come true? 
 My old grandam was wont to say they go by contraries ; 
 dream of a weddin', she would say, sure there would be 
 a funeral, and she was a wise woman ; ay, sure." 
 
 "I know not, Amos. We read in Scripture of dreams 
 that most wondrously came true. 'Twas in a dream that 
 Solomon asked of God an understanding heart, the which 
 was promised to him, with riches, and honor, and length 
 of days; and Solomon lived long in the land, and be- 
 came the richest and wisest of kings. Scripture was 
 written for our instruction, Amos, and I would liever 
 believe in Holy Writ than in the old-wives' tales of a 
 score of grandams. But what, then, was your dream?" 
 
 J38
 
 THE MAROONS BUILD A CANOE 
 
 "Why, sir, if it be not sin to speak of it, I was stand- 
 ing alone in a waste place, and on a sudden the voice 
 of Tom Copstone spoke out of the air, and said, 'You 
 and me, Haymoss; you and me, my heart!' And while 
 I was wondering in my simple mind what those words 
 might mean, there was a thick smoke, and a roar as of 
 thunder, and I stood dazed, and the fear came upon me. 
 And then the smoke lifted, and I saw old Tom with 's 
 head all bloody, and Hugh Curder behind him, and 
 behind him again I saw you, sir, and Ned Whiddon, 
 and, God-a-mercy! my very own self, as I ha' seen 
 myself time and again in the glass, but sore battered and 
 misused. And I thought sure 'twas my ghost, and the 
 fear of it woke me up ; and I rose all panting and trem- 
 bling and cried to 'ee, and when there was no answer 
 I broke into a sweat, remembering my grandam's words." 
 
 "Well, 'tis all safe. I also have had a dream, Amos, 
 and yet I did not sleep. And 'tis to tell you my dream 
 I am here now. Mayhap it will fit yours; God in His 
 mercy send that both yours and mine come true!" 
 
 139
 
 CHAPTER XI 
 
 THE MAIN 
 
 The dawn of day found Dennis and Turnpenny dis- 
 cussing the scheme which was born of the night's 
 meditation. Remembering his bitter experience of bond- 
 age among the Spaniards, and oppressed by his super- 
 stitious fear that his dream portended some calamity, the 
 sailor at first refused point-blank to consider Dennis' 
 suggestion. But by and by when Dennis had shown him 
 how light had been his sufferings, after all, by compari- 
 son with those of his comrades, and had declared his 
 belief that the strange coincidence of the dream with his 
 own imaginings was an augury of good, Turnpenny's 
 better feelings got the upper hand of his timorousness, 
 and he threw himself with ardor into a consideration of 
 the project. 
 
 As soon as it was light, he asked Dennis to lead him to 
 the very spot where the idea had occurred to him. And 
 there, in the little bay beneath the chine, he became the 
 bold-hearted English sailor again. 
 
 "My heart! we're a-goin' to do it," he said. "See 
 here, sir" he began with the end of a half-pike to 
 mark out a rough plan on the dry sand "here be the 
 
 140
 
 don captain's new house ; the foundations were no more 
 than laid when I was hauled away on shipboard. Here 
 be the fort. Here, at this angle, be the rooms of the 
 guard; in the cellars beneath my poor comrades lie and 
 groan o' nights. In this quarter be the pearl-fishers, 
 penned up like cattle when their work is done. And here, 
 under the guns of the fort, be the little harbor, with a 
 quay of planking. Nor'ward, a mile or more, is the 
 fishery, where the black knaves have to dive for the 
 baubles, and woe betide 'em if they do not bring up 
 enough to please their masters." 
 
 "And think you you could pilot us to the place, Amos ?" 
 asked Dennis. 
 
 "I've never a doubt of it. Twice have I sailed to it in 
 direct course from Cartagena, and many's the time I 
 have passed it in the lumber ship. Tis true I am not so 
 skilled in the landmarks from this side as from the side 
 of Cartagena ; natheless I be a ninny not worth the name 
 of mariner, an' I be not able to set a course thitherward 
 without losing my bearings." 
 
 "What is the country thereabouts?" 
 
 "Why, sir, for the most flat and forest clad. Behind 
 the forest there is a hill, fairish high. Once on a time 
 'twas covered with trees, but a great stretch of the 
 forest was of late burned black by a fire ; I mind it well, 
 for the shape of the black patch is like to a monstrous 
 cayman, upwards of a mile long. 'Tis a famous land- 
 mark, and clear to the eyes a great way off at sea. Let 
 
 141
 
 ON THE SPANISH MAIN 
 
 me but spy that, and I warrant I will steer any bark to 
 it on a straight furrow." 
 
 "Well, then, Amos, it does seem that with good luck we 
 can make a landing somewhere on the coast, and then it 
 shall go hard with us but we can, by taking thought, 
 devise some plan whereby we may release your comrades 
 from their chains. But we can not do it without help 
 from the maroons; think you they would be willing to 
 lend us aid?" 
 
 "My heart ! Do but promise them a share of the Span- 
 iards' treasure, and they will be hot to have at them." 
 
 "But the fishery belongs to the governor of Cartagena, 
 you said? Imprimis, we are not pirates; nor indeed is 
 there like to be found a great horde of pearls at Porto 
 Aguila, for they will be sent, no doubt, for safety to 
 Cartagena." 
 
 "Bless your bones, sir, I warrant there be more kept 
 at Porto Aguila than be sent to Cartagena. The captain, 
 truly, is the governor's son; but every Spaniard is a 
 shark, and would rob his grandam's grave were he not 
 afeard of ghosts; and as for being pirates, when 'tis 
 Spaniards in question I would be a pirate without the 
 tenth part of a scruple, for 'tis certain the fishery was 
 filched from the Indians ; they be the Spaniards' jackals." 
 
 "Well, let us go to the maroons and put the case to 
 them." 
 
 Dennis need have had no doubt as to the men's recep- 
 tion of his proposal. To begin with, they were frankly 
 
 142
 
 THE MAIN 
 
 uelighted that the white men should have consented to 
 accompany them. They had often talked among them- 
 selves about the young lord, as they called him, who had 
 led the attack on the Spaniards' vessel, and they were 
 agreed that his presence in the canoe would serve them 
 as a talisman. Then, even without the prospect of plun- 
 der from the Spaniards' treasure-house, they nourished 
 a bitter resentment against their old oppressors, and were 
 ready to embrace any opportunity of striking a blow at 
 them. 
 
 "We are the servants of the young lord," said their 
 spokesman to Turnpenny ; "we will do whatever he bids." 
 
 "Ask them if they know the region." 
 
 The reply was in the negative. None of them had ever 
 been engaged in the pearl-fishery; most of them hailed 
 from the neighborhood of Nombre de Dios. 
 
 "Then our whole dependence is on you, Amos," said 
 Dennis. 
 
 "Ay, sir, and it do daunt me somewhat. In a bark, or 
 a shallop, or e'en a long-boat, I could have great comfort ; 
 but a canow, sir a mere tree-trunk hollowed out, wi' 
 no ribs nor planks, no spars nor other gear; 'tis a fear- 
 some and wonderful craft, with a crazy look." 
 
 "But the maroons are wont to handle such craft, you 
 told me. They will navigate her; you will but have to 
 cry the course." 
 
 "True, sir ; but no master mariner that hath any man- 
 hood in him will be content to govern a craft being 
 
 J43
 
 ON THE SPANISH MAIN 
 
 ignorant of its true nature. Yonder monkey would be 
 as fit." 
 
 "Ah! We must take Mirandola. The poor beast 
 would, I verily believe, break his poor heart did we leave 
 him here in loneliness again." 
 
 "Leave the knave prisoners to bear him company, sir." 
 
 "No, no. Besides being a poor compliment to Miran- 
 dola himself, it would have some spice of danger for us. 
 Left to themselves in freedom, the men would of a surety 
 signal to any passing ship, the which being in all likeli- 
 hood Spanish, the report of our doings would soon be 
 spread abroad through all the coast, and a hue and cry 
 would be raised after us. We must bring them along 
 with us. Trust me, they shall have no chance then of 
 giving the alarm to the enemy, and 'tis not unlike indeed 
 they may serve us as hostages." 
 
 "I fear me they'll be the Jonahs in our marvelous 
 craft." 
 
 "An ill comparison, Amos. Jonah fled from his duty, 
 and by reason of his wrongdoing peril came upon the 
 mariners. The similitude does not hold." 
 
 "That be a great comfort, sir, in especial for that there 
 be no whales as I know of in these waters, but only 
 sharks." 
 
 In answer to a question from Turnpenny, the headman 
 of the maroons said that the canoe would be ready to 
 take the water within a week. But he added that since 
 the young lord had agreed to make the voyage with 
 
 144
 
 THE MAIN 
 
 them, they were willing to remain a little longer on the 
 island, in order to give careful finishing touches to the 
 craft and insure its thorough seaworthiness. Dennis 
 thanked them, through the sailor, for this mark of con- 
 sideration, and resolved to use the interval in teaching 
 them the use of the harquebus. He could not foresee 
 what might ensue upon their landing; they would be at 
 a disadvantage if they had no other arms with which to 
 meet the Spaniards than axes and pikes. He determined 
 to take the fewest possible chances. 
 
 Accordingly, he presented each of them with a har- 
 quebus from the stores he had placed in Skeleton Cave, 
 and for a certain portion of each day Turnpenny and he 
 instructed them in marksmanship, choosing for their 
 practice-ground the deepest part of the chine, whence the 
 noise of firing was least likely to be heard out at sea. 
 The first experiments were disheartening, and at the 
 same time amusing. At the kick of the cumbrous weap- 
 ons the men flung them down in alarm, crying out that 
 they were possessed with evil spirits. But their timidity 
 was by degrees overcome ; and when Dennis, in addition 
 to practising them at fixed targets, rigged up a canvas 
 figure which he suspended on two parallel ropes across 
 the chine and ran from side to side by means of pulleys, 
 they entered with some zest into the sport. At first the 
 figure made many journeys to and fro without receiving 
 a single hit; but within a week the marksmanship had 
 improved astonishingly, and there was not a man of them 
 
 145
 
 ON THE SPANISH MAIN 
 
 but might be trusted to hit a moving object at fairly 
 short range. 
 
 Meanwhile Amos, not content to trust the navigation 
 of the canoe entirely to the maroons and their paddles, 
 had busied himself in rigging up a mast with small sails 
 taken out of the Maid Marian. When he at last pro- 
 nounced the vessel ready, several kegs of water and 
 boxes of biscuits were rolled down to the beach near at 
 hand, and the party awaited only a favorable wind to 
 launch their craft. 
 
 For some days there had been a dead calm, and when 
 at length a light breeze sprang up it blew inshore. The 
 natives grew impatient, and begged to be allowed to 
 proceed with their paddles alone. But this Turnpenny 
 stoutly refused. With a voyage of thirty or forty miles 
 before them, it was needful to spare the men as much as 
 possible, lest when they reached the mainland they should 
 be worn out, and unfit to cope with the labors and perhaps 
 the struggles that awaited them. Turnpenny scanned the 
 sky with a seaman's eye, in some fear lest the wind when 
 it came should prove too boisterous for this strange craft, 
 which he still looked on with distrust. One morning, 
 however, he announced that a fresh breeze had sprung 
 up from the northwest, promising to increase in force as 
 the day wore on. No time was lost. The canoe was 
 carried down to the beach and moored in shallow water; 
 the stores were lifted aboard; then the two prisoners, 
 pale with apprehension, and Baltizar, the cook, were 
 
 146
 
 THE MAIN 
 
 conveyed to the vessel on the backs of three stalwart 
 maroons, and last of all Dennis and Turnpenny prepared 
 to wade out. 
 
 During the proceedings at the beach the monkey had 
 remained perched in a tree, watching everything with 
 many signs of excitement. At the last moment Dennis 
 turned and called to the animal, but it merely gibbered 
 and blinked. 
 
 "Come, Mirandola," said Dennis coaxingly, "we can 
 not go without you. I fear me you feel a declension 
 from your high estate, when you were the sole partner 
 of my solitude; but, believe me, I still hold you in dear 
 affection. Come, then, and let your grave and reverend 
 presence dignify this our enterprise." 
 
 But the monkey refused to budge, and Dennis remem- 
 bered the aversion he had always shown to the sea. He 
 walked toward the tree in which the animal sat, holding 
 forth his hand, using every blandishment; then, when 
 all was of no avail, and Turnpenny called to him from the 
 canoe to leave the unnatural creature, he turned and 
 stepped into the water. He had just laid his hand on 
 the side of the canoe, preparing to leap in, when he heard 
 a shrill cry, and saw the monkey spring down with amaz- 
 ing celerity and run on all fours toward him across the 
 sand, uttering sounds of entreaty. It was as if Miran- 
 dola had to the last refused to believe that his master 
 was leaving him, and, now that he could doubt no longer, 
 had overcome his horror of the sea and resolved to brave
 
 ON THE SPANISH MAIN 
 
 the discomforts of the voyage. He reached the brink of 
 the water and scampered up and down, as though seek- 
 ing a dry path to the boat. It was impossible to resist 
 his pleading cries. Dennis returned; the monkey with 
 a squeal of delight sprang upon his shoulder; and so he 
 entered the canoe, a trembling passenger. 
 
 The maroons shoved off ; Turnpenny ran up his sail ; 
 and the craft moved into deep water. For some minutes 
 the natives kept their paddles busily employed, till, draw- 
 ing out of the lee of the island, the vessel felt the full 
 force of the breeze and began to scud merrily over the 
 rippling sea. 
 
 "My heart !" cried Turnpenny. " 'Tis a wondrous neat 
 little craft. I was wrong ; I own it free ; and if the wind 
 holds she will make good sailing and bring us ere many 
 hours are gone to the coast where we desire to be." 
 
 "Too soon, if I mistake not," said Dennis. "It will 
 not be well for us to make the shore before dark; we 
 may be spied from the land. In truth, we run a great 
 risk, Amos. Our sail will not escape the eyes of the 
 lookout of any vessel whose" track we may chance to 
 cross." 
 
 "True, sir, there be risks great and manifold. But we 
 must e'en hope for the best. The maroons have rare 
 good eyes ; and if perchance they catch sight of a vessel, 
 I will run down the sail afore they can spy us, and we 
 will lie snug until the coast be clear." 
 
 After two hours' sailing the coast hove into sight as 
 
 148
 
 THE MAIN 
 
 a long blue bar upon the horizon. At midday Turn- 
 penny lowered the sail, for it was clear that at the rate 
 the vessel was going she would run into view from the 
 shore long before it would be safe to attempt a landing. 
 While the crew were eating their dinner of fruit and 
 biscuits one of the men cried out that he saw a sail. 
 Turnpenny took a long look in the direction the man 
 pointed out, Dennis watching his face in keen anxiety. 
 
 "All's well, sir," said the sailor at length. "She be 
 coasting along toward Cartagena; in an hour she will 
 be clean out of sight, and we're so low in the water that 
 no natural eye will see us, the sail being down." 
 
 They lay gently rocked by the waves until, after a good 
 look round, he judged it safe once more to hoist the sail. 
 An hour afterward he declared that he recognized a 
 headland which was no more than three leagues from 
 Porto Aguila. The vessel's head was pointed direct for 
 the land, but, the wind dropping somewhat, they were 
 still a long way from shore when the sun went down and 
 the swift darkness of the tropics descended upon them. 
 
 "We dursn't try to land in the dark," growled Turn- 
 penny. "This craft of ours is only fit for fair weather 
 and easy harborage, and not knowing the little crinkles 
 o' the coast, t'ud be nowt but a miracle if we 'scaped 
 being stove in." 
 
 "But there will be a moon to-night, I think," replied 
 Dennis. 
 
 "True, a little tiny one, like the horn of a cow. Maybe
 
 ON THE SPANISH MAIN 
 
 she will give light enough to guide us to a creek. We 
 must e'en wait for her rising." 
 
 They had no means of telling the time, and the ma- 
 roons grew so restless that, while it was still dark, 
 Turnpenny ordered them to paddle cautiously along the 
 shore. 
 
 " Tis a creek I be looking for," he said to Dennis, 
 "where we can run the canow with a fair chance of hid- 
 ing it when day breaks." 
 
 "How far are we from the fort?" 
 
 "I can not tell. I fear me I have overshot the mark 
 with being overcautious." 
 
 "That is impossible, Amos. At least, it is an error on 
 safety's side hist! what was that?" 
 
 His ears had caught a slight splash at no great distance 
 shoreward. 
 
 "Nowt to make 'ee uneasy, sir," replied Turnpenny. 
 " Twas without doubt a cayman slipping off into deep 
 water, and by the token, 'tis a guide for us, for the 
 reptile haunts the banks of rivers, and sure the very 
 creek we be looking for will be somewheres anigh here." 
 
 The men drove the canoe a little nearer inshore, and in 
 a few minutes Turnpenny, who was in the bows peering 
 intently ahead, whispered that he did indeed see the 
 opening of a creek. Soon the canoe entered a fairly wide 
 water-way, much obstructed with reeds, and darkened 
 by the dense and high vegetation on either bank. Now 
 and again, through a gap in the foliage, the late-rising 
 
 150
 
 moon shed a wan, mysterious light upon their course. 
 As the canoe moved slowly and stealthily up the creek, 
 Dennis was conscious of a strange homesickness. How 
 many times had he roamed by night on little tree-shaded 
 creeks and river-mouths in far-off Devon! The deep 
 shadows, the narrow paths of ghostly light, the silence, 
 rendered only the more intense by the incessant croaking 
 of frogs, lent a charm to the adventure that almost 
 eclipsed its peril. 
 
 The creek made several curves within a short distance, 
 and Turnpenny, speaking in a whisper, said that they 
 had now come far enough to escape notice from the sea. 
 
 " 'Tis well, my friend. And now, say ; shall we land, 
 or shall we rather remain in the canoe for the rest of the 
 night? I give my voice for landing. We are packed 
 here as close as biscuits, and I would fain stretch my 
 limbs, and moreover get a little to windward of some of 
 these our companions." 
 
 "I warrant the maroons would liever stay in the canow, 
 sir; and I own I myself am somewhat chary of landing 
 in the dark. I know summat o' these forest lands, and 
 there be fearsome wild creatures in 'em, the like of which 
 you never saw in Maiden Isle yonder. There be wild 
 hogs, of a surety, and monstrous wildcats that climb like 
 monkeys, and see in the dark, and will pounce on a man 
 and carry him off afore he can twink an eyelid. And as 
 for these our bedfellows, my heart ! there be worse ashore 
 muskeeties, and sandflies, and ants in armies, that
 
 ON THE SPANISH MAIN 
 
 crawl aneath your clothes, and nip your arms and neck, 
 and make themselves most pestilent ill neighbors. And 
 we can not light a fire to scare them away, for savage 
 as they be, whether four foot or six foot, they be gentle 
 and mild by comparison with the two-footed enemies the 
 fire would bring on our tracks." 
 
 "We will lie by till morning, then, and pray the night 
 be not disturbed." 
 
 The maroons were unmistakably glad when this de- 
 cision was communicated to them. To their minds the 
 mere darkness was awful, and when to this were added 
 the manifold dangers of the forest, they would rather 
 have faced an army of Spaniards than camp unprotected 
 among the trees. 
 
 The party spent a restless, uncomfortable night in their 
 cramped quarters. Yet in his wakeful moments Dennis 
 found some pleasure in watching the fireflies darting 
 hither and thither on the shore, listening to the con- 
 tinuous drone of insects, that seemed to his ears a pleas- 
 ant lullaby. Once a goat-sucker clattered heavily past, 
 uttering its weird cry; now and again he was startled 
 by the question, "Who are you ?" shouted from the trees, 
 and recognized it as the cry of some nameless bird. As 
 morning drew on, these sounds were replaced by others. 
 Macaws screeched from the tree-tops, toucans barked 
 like puppies, tree-frogs whistled and boomed, and at 
 intervals the whole neighborhood reverberated with long 
 howls which Turnpenny said were the morning song of 
 
 152
 
 THE MAIN 
 
 red-howler monkeys. As morning began to dawn, and 
 these signs of forest life multiplied, Dennis noticed that 
 Mirandola was becoming much excited; and when the 
 canoe was run ashore under a towering mora-tree, the 
 monkey sprang nimbly to land, chattering with delight, 
 and in an instant was springing up into the foliage. 
 
 "Poor knave!" said Dennis. "It seems we have 
 brought him home, Amos. Would that we too were 
 restored, whole and happy, to our friends!" 
 
 "God-a-mercy, do 'ee forget Hugh Curder, and Tom 
 Copstone, and Ned Whiddon, poor souls? Do 'ee have 
 more respect for the feelings of a heathen monkey?" 
 
 "Nay, nay, you mistake me," said Dennis, smiling at 
 the sailor's honest indignation. "I do not forget them. 
 By God's mercy we are here in safety, and ere long hope 
 to have all your friends to join our little company. Now, 
 master mariner, what is to be our course ?" 
 
 "Why, sir, we must first go and spy out the land." 
 "Through the forest? How shall we find our way?" 
 "Imprimis, this creek runs eastward of the bluff I 
 steered by. Wherefore 'tis our first business to set our 
 course westward and cut off that headland, as you might 
 say." 
 
 "How can you be sure of setting your course aright?" 
 
 "There's the sun above us, and we may catch a glimpse 
 
 of him here and there among the trees. And 'tis certain 
 
 we shall encounter brooks wandering like lost children 
 
 in the forest; only though they do seem lost, we know, 
 
 153
 
 ON THE SPANISH MAIN 
 
 being men, and in our right minds, that they be running 
 all the while to the sea. By this and by that we'll soon 
 come at the place we steer for." 
 
 "And who shall go on this inland voyage of discovery?" 
 
 "Ay, you and me, sir. God-a-mercy, the very words 
 of my dream! 'You and me, Haymoss, you and me!' 
 'Tis a good sign for sure. The maroons shall lie hid in 
 the creek, and keep ward over the prisoners." 
 
 "But can we trust them? Will they not, having ar- 
 rived on the mainland, act after their own devices and 
 depart?" 
 
 ' 'Tis a risk, in truth ; but I will speak to them with all 
 gravity, and bring to their minds the Spaniards' treasure, 
 and the stripes they suffered in bondage. We will see 
 if there be faith in their black blood." 
 
 After a conversation with the maroons, Turnpenny 
 announced that they had agreed to remain in the creek 
 until nightfall. If the white men had not returned then, 
 they would hold themselves free to act as they pleased. 
 Then Dennis and the sailor set off on their scouting 
 expedition. 
 
 At the edge of the forest the trees grew fairly wide 
 apart, and the canopy above admitted a few rays which 
 lay as bright spots on the floor of dead leaves. But as 
 the two adventurers proceeded the forest became thicker 
 and thicker, until they walked in a dim twilight. Well 
 covered with vegetation as Maiden Isle had been, Dennis 
 had never imagined anything like the dense woodland 
 
 154
 
 THE MAIN 
 
 through which he was now slowly making his way. It 
 steamed with moisture ; the din of early morning had 
 given place to a mysterious stillness; birds and animals 
 were quiet or asleep, and if the silence was broken at 
 rare moments by the long howl of a monkey, the melan- 
 choly sound did but enhance the impression of utter 
 solitude. Turnpenny led the way with great wariness ; 
 his former experience of forest life warned him of dan- 
 gers that might lie in wait a slumbering jaguar which 
 their footfall might disturb, a snake so cunningly marked 
 that it was indistinguishable from the tree about which 
 it was coiled. Several times he halted, in doubt of his 
 bearings. Once, when he confessed himself beaten, he 
 climbed with a mariner's agility a towering trunk, and 
 declared when he descended that from its top he had 
 caught a glimpse of the open sea and so learned the 
 general direction in which to go. 
 
 They came at length to a narrow open space, where 
 apparently trees had been felled at no very distant date. 
 Turnpenny was pointing out a hairy sloth hanging under 
 a branch like a nest of termites when suddenly Dennis 
 touched him on the arm and bade him look across the 
 glade. 
 
 "What is it?" he whispered. 
 
 "Methinks the figure of a man, moving among the 
 trees." 
 
 Though he had spoken under his breath, it almost 
 seemed that his words had been overheard, for the figure 
 
 iSS
 
 ON THE SPANISH MAIN 
 
 halted, then instantly turned sidewise and vanished from 
 their sight. 
 
 "We must after him," said Turnpenny. 
 
 "Ay, and catch him, or there is an end to our venture 
 and us. He is alone, for he made no sound, and if he 
 had companions near by he would surely have summoned 
 them." 
 
 Without further pause Dennis ran across the glade, 
 and plunged into the forest on the other side, taking the 
 southerly direction in which he had seen the figure dis- 
 appear. He had not gone far before he heard the rustle 
 and crash of some one forcing his way through the under- 
 growth; clearly the fugitive was not a good runner or 
 he would have been out of earshot before this. Dennis 
 quickened his step, guided always by the sound, ever 
 increasing in loudness. At length he again caught a 
 glimpse of the man, laboring ahead; he gained on him, 
 and was within a few yards when the runaway suddenly 
 turned, and Dennis halted and swerved aside just in 
 time to evade a spear hurled straight at him. It whizzed 
 through the air, flew harmlessly by, and struck with a 
 twang a tree-trunk, where it hung quivering. 
 
 Next moment Dennis sprang forward and closed with 
 the man. He had no time to take note of him, save that 
 he was more than commonly tall. But it struck him with 
 surprise that he met with no real resistance. The man 
 staggered under the impact, the two rolled on the turf- 
 strewn ground, and in an instant Dennis was uppermost 
 
 156
 
 THE MAIN 
 
 He scarcely needed the Devonian trick of wrestling to 
 maintain his advantage ; his opponent was already spent. 
 Holding him down, Dennis raised himself at arm's 
 length to recover breath and take stock of the fugitive. 
 He was struck by the glare of inextinguishable hate in 
 the man's haggard eyes. Helpless as he was, there was 
 no yielding in his mien; it was weakness, not fear or 
 cowardice, that had made him such an easy captive. 
 
 In a few moments Turnpenny came up breathless. 
 Seeing that Dennis held the man firmly down, he did not 
 offer to assist, but halted and threw a keen glance at the 
 prisoner. 
 
 "God-a-mercy !" he exclaimed suddenly. " 'You and 
 me, Haymoss' 'tis the dream come true. Tis Tom 
 Copstone, 'tis very Tom ! Sir, let him up ; 'tis my dear 
 comrade, my messmate in the Jesus. Oh, Tom, what a 
 piece of work is this?" 
 
 Dennis was amazed at the alteration in the man's ex- 
 pression. The fierce blaze of his bloodshot eyes was 
 quenched in a mist of tears. 
 
 "Haymoss ! dear Haymoss !" he murmured, and seemed 
 like to swoon away. 
 
 Turnpenny was by this time on his knees beside his 
 old comrade. 
 
 "Oh, Tom, to see you in this sorry plight!" he ex- 
 claimed pitifully. 
 
 He raised the prostrate figure. Copstone did indeed 
 present a sorry spectacle. His clothes were completely
 
 ON THE SPANISH MAIN 
 
 in tatters; he was emaciated almost to a skeleton; his 
 hair and beard hung long, straggling and matted. 
 
 "Tell me, Tom, me and this true friend, what has 
 brought 'ee to this fearsome pass." 
 
 "I ran away; 'tis three months since. Three, I say, 
 but I can not tell; maybe 'tis four or five. I ran away 
 from those devils ; 'twas more than flesh and blood could 
 endure." 
 
 "But whither, whither, Tom?" 
 
 "I had hoped to fall in with a friendly folk maroons 
 or Indians, for such hate the Spaniards, and whoso hate 
 the Spaniards must be friends to me. But I found none, 
 and I had perforce to take to the forest, and here I made 
 shift to keep body and soul together with the fruits of 
 the earth. Then I was stricken with the forest fever, and 
 lay for nights and days shivering and burning by turns." 
 
 "Take time, dear Tom," said Turnpenny, noticing the 
 other's gasps. "We be true friends." 
 
 "And here is wine from my store," said Dennis, pro- 
 ducing a flask. "It will refresh you." 
 
 The man drank gratefully. 
 
 "And I marvel," added Turnpenny, "that 'ee be still 
 alive in this fearsome place of wild beasts. Verily the 
 Almighty has kept a guard over you, even as He de- 
 fended Daniel in the den of lions." 
 
 " Tis true ; yet I did what I could for myself. Come 
 and see." 
 
 He led them through the forest, winding in and out 
 
 158
 
 THE MAIN 
 
 among the trees in a manner that seemed to the others 
 nothing short of marvelous. He came to a great trunk 
 in which there were notches cut from a point near the 
 base to the lowest branch. By these notches he climbed 
 up, Dennis and Turnpenny following in turn. The steps 
 ceased when the bough was reached; then he ascended 
 some twenty feet through the foliage until he came to 
 a little hut, formed of branches cunningly intertwined 
 with a roofing of thatch. 
 
 "My heart, 'tis a pleasant and delectable mansion!" 
 said Turnpenny, looking admiringly at the leafy struc- 
 ture. "And did 'ee fashion it with your own hands, 
 Tom?" 
 
 "No," replied the man with a smile. "Here I found 
 it, as it is. It was made, I doubt not, by Indians in the 
 time before the Spaniards set foot on these shores. 'Twas 
 here I lay when the fever was heavy upon me, and I 
 thought to die. Oh! how good it is to see your face, 
 Haymoss ; but what brings 'ee, old friend, to this dread- 
 ful place, and how got you free from the hands of the 
 oppressor?" 
 
 " 'Twas the deed of this gentleman, a man of Devon, 
 Tom, that was cast on an island yonder in the Main, and 
 by wit and courage loosed me from bondage." 
 
 He told the whole story, to the great wonderment of 
 his friend. 
 
 "And now we be here to help Ned Whiddon and Hugh 
 Curder and others of our messmates in the fort," he
 
 ON THE SPANISH MAIN 
 
 said in conclusion. "By God's mercy we will snatch 
 them, too, from the house of bondage, and make them 
 free men once more." 
 
 "Ay, and I will help. The sight of 'ee has done me 
 a world of good; the Lord has put a new song in my 
 mouth. I will lead you. I know this forest in and out, 
 Haymoss, for though I be by rights but a single mariner, 
 I am made now into a woodman. For why? 'Cos other- 
 wise I should have been a dead man. The spear I threw 
 but now God be praised it failed of its mark, sir! 
 and I bethink me 'tis still sticking in the tree it hath 
 served me in good stead many a time and oft. 'Twas 
 the only thing I brought away with me, and without it 
 long ere this the birds would ha' picked my bones." 
 
 "Think 'ee thou'rt strong enough to lead us to the 
 fort, Tom?" asked Turnpenny. 
 
 "Ay, sure, and 'tis a good time, i' the heat o' the 
 day, when the Spaniards be mostly asleep. We will 
 e'en go at once. What be the name of this true friend ?" 
 he suddenly inquired. 
 
 " 'Tis Dennis Hazelrig, Tom, and a' come from Shas- 
 ton, and has 'changed a word with Master Drake." 
 
 "Ah, Master Drake be a rare fine man and mariner. 
 I warrant he hath not forgot the base dealings o' the 
 knaves at St. John d'Ulua, and in my bondage I looked 
 for the day when he should come with a mighty power 
 and do unto them what they had done to us, and more 
 also. But I could not wait, Haymoss, I could not wait; 
 
 160
 
 THE MAIN 
 
 and now we be met, Master Hazelrig, and you and me, 
 Haymoss " 
 
 "My heart, the very words of my dream ! Ay, Tom, 
 you and me and Master Hazelrig, we three, will do what 
 men may do to succor Hugh Curder and Ned Whiddon, 
 and other of our dear comrades in distress." 
 
 161
 
 CHAPTER XII 
 
 BENEATH THE WALLS 
 
 Tom Copstone leading, the party of three swiftly 
 made their way through the woodland. The mark was 
 the southwestern angle of the fort ; that was the quarter, 
 said Copstone, whence it might be most safely recon- 
 noitered. The ground rose gradually as they proceeded, 
 and, after walking for what must have been several miles, 
 they came upon a large open space which had evidently 
 been cleared by fire. 
 
 " Tis the black cayman on the hill above the fort," 
 whispered Turnpenny to Dennis. "You mind, sir?" 
 
 "Ay, the landmark of which you made mention." 
 
 Skirting the upper side of the clearing for a few hun- 
 dred yards, being careful to remain slightly within the 
 edge of the forest, they arrived at a spot where, while 
 themselves concealed, they had an uninterrupted view 
 of the country before them. There was a thin belt of 
 woodland beyond the clearing, but the hill then dipped 
 somewhat steeply, and through this dip they saw the 
 fort which held so many bitter memories for the sailors, 
 and the sea stretching out beneath it, a vast shimmering 
 plain. 
 
 163
 
 BENEATH THE WALLS 
 
 " 'Tis bigger than I deemed likely," said Dennis, "the 
 garrison being but fifty, if I remember right." 
 
 "True, sir," said Copstone, "there be but fifty Span- 
 iards, but there be Indians and maroons within the walls 
 as well, the slaves and pearl-fishers, to wit. Aforetime, 
 as I have heard tell, the fishers lived in huts around; 
 but about six year ago a French vessel bore suddenly 
 down upon the place. The Spaniards, some twenty or 
 thirty then, had no warning, and the Frenchmen had 
 an easy job to carry off all the treasure that the captain 
 had stored up, and in the tumult a great part of the 
 fishers made off and were never seen more. Thereafter 
 the governor of Cartagena gave command that the fort 
 should be strengthened and the workers lodged within; 
 you can see the huts ranged along inside by the wall." 
 
 " 'Twas shutting the door after the steed was stolen," 
 said Dennis with a smile. "Now let me print the lines 
 of the settlement upon my memory." 
 
 The fort was a rough square in shape, with a round 
 tower at each corner. In the center of the inclosure 
 was a long, low house, with a veranda, which Copstone 
 explained was the commandant's new house, but lately 
 finished. Close by was a smaller house, occupied by the 
 captain of the garrison, and beyond this a row of still 
 smaller buildings, devoted to the Spanish troops. From 
 this elevated position they could see that on the eastern 
 side the fort was bounded by a stream which appeared 
 to wash the wall; but Copstone said that between the 
 
 163
 
 ON THE SPANISH MAIN 
 
 wall and the stream was a level walk about twelve feet 
 wide, where the officers were accustomed to promenade 
 in the cool of the evening. The one gate of the fort 
 was cut in the eastern wall, and it led immediately to 
 a narrow pier running into the river, where the vessels 
 were loaded and unloaded. Between the pier and the 
 mouth of the stream a small two-masted bark now lay 
 at anchor; there was safe harborage, and this vessel 
 probably awaited its cargo of pearls to be conveyed to 
 Cartagena, having brought provisions thence. 
 
 The northern wall, Copstone said, was built on a rocky 
 cliff about thirty feet high, washed at high tide by the 
 sea, which swept round the northeastern angle, and 
 formed, with a series of broken rocks and boulders, an 
 effective defense to a great part of the western wall. 
 The southern face of the fort was hidden from the spec- 
 tators by the intervening trees, but between it and this 
 belt of woodland was an open space some two hundred 
 and fifty yards wide, cleared with the object of depriv- 
 ing possible assailants of cover. About a mile to the 
 right was the scene of the pearl-fishing, and the fishers 
 were at that moment to be seen at work, diving from 
 canoes in each of which, said Copstone, were two Span- 
 iards fully armed. 
 
 "And where be our dear comrades, Tom?" asked 
 Turnpenny. "In my time they were lodged in under- 
 ground dungeons hewn out of the rock beneath the 
 tower yonder."
 
 BENEATH THE WALLS 
 
 "And there they be still, poor souls," said Copstone. 
 "Ah! many's the hour I've spent in the selfsame dun- 
 geon, groaning with the pain of the stripes made by 
 their whips on my bare back." 
 
 "And 'twas thence 'ee fled, Tom? I marvel how 'ee 
 broke out o' that strong-fast place." 
 
 "Nay, never a soul has broken out of they dungeons. 
 It was in this wise with me. One day a fearsome storm 
 blew up without a minute's warning. The harbor yon- 
 der, that is wont to be safe, was a seething whirlpool 
 then, and a bark that lay beside the pier, laden with a 
 treasure of pearls in readiness for the voyage, was dashed 
 hither and thither by the fury of the waves until she was 
 like to be battered into splinters. There was a cry 
 for all hands to save her, and we were driven out of the 
 gate to do what we could. The sky was black as pitch, 
 though 'twas an hour or two from sunset, and in the 
 midst of that coil, covered by the darkness, I dropped 
 down over the embankment wall, clinging on with my 
 hands, and so worked myself along till I came to the 
 extremity of the walk, fearing every moment lest a wave 
 should come and sweep me away. But by the mercy 
 of God I came safe to the end of the walk, where the 
 round tower juts out you mind, Haymoss? its founda- 
 tions being struck into jagged rocks with many a cleft 
 in between. There I refuged myself till the night came, 
 beat upon by the waves until the breath was well-nigh 
 battered out of my body. But there, a drenched mortal, 
 
 165
 
 ON THE SPANISH MAIN 
 
 I clung until the tempest fell to a calm, and in the dark- 
 ness I got me away to the woods." 
 
 "My heart! 'twas a deed of daring and peril," said 
 Turnpenny. "But list! What be a-doing down yon- 
 der?" 
 
 The silence below was suddenly broken by the ringing 
 sound of picks. Men were apparently at work on the 
 face of the fort nearest the observers. The laborers 
 were out of sight, and Copstone confessed himself unable 
 to guess what their task might be. The fort seemed 
 complete; for a month before Copstone's escape the 
 work had indeed been hurried on in response to urgent 
 orders from Cartagena, where the governor desired more 
 men to assist in his own defenses. His commands re- 
 sulted in the prisoners being treated with increased 
 brutality, and Copstone said that it was a stock joke 
 with the Spanish garrison that by the time they had 
 done with the captives at Porto Aguila there would be 
 little work left in them. 
 
 For an hour or more the three men stood scanning 
 the fort and its surroundings, until Dennis felt that 
 every detail was firmly graven upon his mind. Then, 
 as they had a long journey back to the boat, and it was 
 desirable that they should reach their companions before 
 the fall of night, they set off to return to the creek. Cop- 
 stone knew it well; under his guidance the others took 
 a short cut through the forest, that saved them, he said, 
 more than a mile, and the short tropical twilight had 
 
 166
 
 BENEATH THE WALLS 
 
 only just begun when they arrived at the canoe. The 
 maroons had not been disturbed during their absence. 
 One of the Spaniards, who recognized the creek, had 
 tried to persuade the natives to set them at liberty, 
 promising them a rich reward. But they had no faith 
 in him or any of his race, and their answer was to make 
 his bonds more secure. 
 
 Knowing that they were several leagues from the 
 fort, with a long wooded hill between them, the sailors 
 agreed that it would be safe to kindle a fire on shore, 
 beside which they might camp for the night without 
 molestation by insects. But they had little sleep. The 
 three sat long over the fire, Copstone relating incidents 
 in his prison life . that made the blood of his hearers 
 boil with rage and indignation. With the good food 
 given him from the stock they had brought, and the 
 companionship of his countrymen, he had already be- 
 come a very different being from the famished solitary 
 creature they had met in the forest; and when, fired 
 with passionate hatred of the Spanish oppressors and 
 with pity for their hapless prisoners, Dennis and Turn- 
 penny vowed that they would go through with their 
 enterprise, no matter at what cost, Copstone declared 
 himself heart and soul with them, and only longed for 
 the moment of action to come. 
 
 But it was not enough to be full of zeal. The great- 
 est courage and determination would not suffice alone 
 to achieve their object. 
 
 167
 
 ON THE SPANISH MAIN 
 
 "We are but ten against fifty," said Dennis, "and 
 one of the ten a fat negro whom the sight of a bare 
 blade would cause to shake like a jelly." 
 
 "Leave him out, sir," said Turnpenny. "He would 
 squeal like a stuck pig if his finger were pinched." 
 
 "There are but nine of us, then, and what can nine do 
 against fifty?" 
 
 "If all the nine were men of Devon like Tom Cop- 
 stone and me," said Turnpenny, "we would face fifty 
 don Spaniards and beat 'em too. But you can't make a 
 silk purse out of a sow's ear, as the saying is, and you 
 can't turn a negro or maroon into a true fighting man 
 that will never say die. Men of their sort can not play 
 a losing game, though they be full of courage if things 
 go well with them." 
 
 "I fear me even nine men of Devon couldn't fight a 
 pitched battle against five times their number, whether 
 Spaniards or other. But 'tis not my purpose to approach 
 the walls with a trumpet and deliver a defiance. Our 
 only chance is by surprising the fort in the darkness, 
 and so take them at a disadvantage. How stands it 
 then, Amos?" 
 
 "Why, sir, it stands clean topsy-versy, which is to 
 say it is by no means possible. The walls, as you did 
 yourself see, be too high to leap over, and the gate be 
 shut and bolted and barricaded by night." 
 
 "But is it watched ?" 
 
 "That I know not. Do 'ee know, Tom?"
 
 BENEATH THE WALLS 
 
 "Nay; afore dark all the prisoners be thrust into the 
 dungeons, and kept fast in ward until morning light." 
 
 "And do they set a guard over the dungeons ?" inquired 
 Dennis. 
 
 "Not as I know, sir. What would be the good? The 
 doors be strong and clamped with iron ; the guard-house 
 be just above ; and we was all so worn with toil and so 
 sick at heart that nary one of us ever had the spirit to 
 attempt a sally. When they had us fast in the dungeons, 
 there they might leave us, with never a fear but we 
 would be safe bound." 
 
 "Methinks that same security would forbid them to 
 keep a watch seawards. The sea washes the north side 
 of the fort, you said ?" 
 
 "Ay, sir, and even at high tide there is no draft for 
 a vessel of more than twenty tons burden, so they need 
 fear no attack thence. True, they might keep a watch 
 on the harbor when a vessel lies there; but 'tis years 
 since any enemy has appeared, and with the dons 'tis 
 out of sight out of mind, I trow." 
 
 "Well, does not that favor us ? Grant we can not scale 
 the walls, nor force the gate, we may still approach the 
 fort from the sea by night, without risk of being dis- 
 covered, and that is the very thing we must do. This 
 night is too far spent for us to make any attempt in 
 that quarter. We must possess our souls in patience 
 for yet another day, and truly that is not amiss, for it 
 will give us leisure to spy once more on the fort. 
 
 160
 
 ON THE SPANISH MAIN 
 
 Think you 'tis possible to come where we may view the 
 north side?" 
 
 "There is but one way : to make a circuit as we lately 
 did, and go farther through the woods, and creep down 
 at dusk to the rocks, when the work for the day is over 
 and we are not like to be seen by the Spaniards who 
 keep ward over the fishers." 
 
 "That is what we will do, then. And now, since we 
 know not what the day may bring forth to try our 
 strength, let us get what sleep we can, and so fortify 
 ourselves." 
 
 But for many hours Dennis lay awake, thinking over 
 the next day's doings. Up with the dawn, he set the 
 maroons to cut from the trees a number of light, tough 
 poles, and these Copstone and Turnpenny, with seamen's 
 skill, quickly fashioned into a rough but serviceable 
 ladder. It was made to taper from bottom to top in 
 three sections, the first seven feet long, the second five 
 feet, and the last, four. The first and second were lashed 
 together with some spare rope brought in the canoe, 
 but the supply gave out when this was done, and Dennis 
 was at a loss for material to fasten the second and 
 third sections together. The head man of the maroons 
 speedily made good the deficiency. Going into the 
 forest, he soon returned with long, pliable tendrils of a 
 creeper called bejuca that grew plentifully among the 
 undergrowth, and these when cut into short lengths 
 formed lashings as strong as could be desired. 
 
 170
 
 BENEATH THE WALLS 
 
 The greater part of the morning was spent in con- 
 structing and testing the ladder. After the midday meal 
 Dennis and the sailors again made their way through 
 the forest to their former place of espial, waited until 
 they saw the canoes return with the pearl-fishers, and 
 then, in the late afternoon, crept down the hillside west- 
 ward of the fort until they came to the rocks on the 
 shore. From their new position they were able to glance 
 along the northern wall of the fort. The tide was on 
 the turn, and it was clear from the masses of seaweed 
 and the water-worn appearance of the rocks on which 
 the wall was built that at high water the base of the 
 escarpment would be washed by the waves, as Copstone 
 had said. Having formed a careful mental picture of 
 the place, Dennis gave the word for return, and they 
 reached their camping-ground just before dark, as on 
 the previous evening. 
 
 Arrangements were at once made for their expedi- 
 tion. Turnpenny estimated that the distance by water 
 from the mouth of the creek to the fort was about ten 
 miles. It was desirable to start early if the paddlers 
 were not to be overtired when the serious work of the 
 night began. Dennis was in some doubt what to do with 
 the prisoners, but after consultation with the sailors he 
 decided to leave them behind in the charge of the cook 
 and one of the maroons. He deplored the necessity of 
 thus diminishing his little party, but it was clearly im- 
 possible to trust the guardianship of the prisoners to 
 
 171
 
 ON THE SPANISH MAIN 
 
 Baltizar alone. That flabby and chicken-hearted negro 
 was desperately afraid of being left. He feared the 
 prisoners, although they were securely pinioned; still 
 more he feared the wild beasts of the forest Turn- 
 penny "gave him a piece of his mind," as he said, and his 
 language was none the less forcible because he eked out 
 his scanty vocabulary of Spanish with racy expressions in 
 his own vernacular. He called Baltizar a slack-twisted 
 wollypate, a wambling dumbledore, an ell-and-a-half 
 of moldered dough, mingling with his expletives an 
 instruction to keep up the fire if he wished to scare 
 the beasts away, and a warning that the Spaniards, if they 
 were allowed to escape, would certainly kill him first. 
 And to guard against the danger that the prisoners 
 might work upon his fears and persuade him to loose 
 their bonds, the maroon chosen to remain with him was 
 told, in his hearing, that if he had any conversation with 
 the two men he was- instantly to be knocked on the head. 
 Watching the negro's expression, Dennis felt pretty sure 
 that he would prove a most zealous jailer. 
 
 The night was still young, the moon had not yet risen, 
 when the canoe floated silently seaward down the creek. 
 The little party of three white men and five maroons 
 was not hilarious; every man knew that he had taken 
 his life in his hands. But neither were they down- 
 hearted, for seven of them had the recollection of a 
 night adventure which had wonderfully succeeded 
 against great odds; and though the odds this time were 
 
 172
 
 BENEATH THE WALLS 
 
 immeasurably in favor of the enemy, and the task was 
 infinitely more difficult, the very magnitude of the task 
 they had set themselves fired them with eagerness and 
 hope. 
 
 The sections of the ladder had been unlashed, and 
 were safely bestowed, with the rope and the tendrils, 
 in the sides of the canoe. In his ignorance of the coast 
 Dennis ordered the paddlers to put some distance out 
 to sea before heading the canoe westward, so as tCT avoid 
 any rocks or shoals that might lie in wait for the frail 
 craft. The wind was northeast, and as there was only 
 the faint illumination of the stars the sail was run up 
 during the first part of the voyage. But when they 
 rounded the headland that lay between the creek and 
 the fort, Turnpenny took in the sail, lest by some unlucky 
 chance they should be observed from the shore, and 
 bade the maroons paddle slowly, for they wished to arrive 
 at the fort when the tide was high, a little before dawn. 
 
 Slowly as they paddled, however, the fort loomed up 
 on the shore a good hour before they had intended to 
 draw in. None of the party had any means of telling 
 the time, but Turnpenny, experienced in reading the 
 heavens on many a silent night on the deep, guessed 
 it pretty accurately by the horn of the moon just peering 
 above the horizon. To delay their arrival a little, Dennis 
 ordered the men to rest on their oars, and for an hour 
 the canoe rocked gently on the swelling tide. The pause 
 would have been even longer had not Dennis perceived 
 
 J73
 
 that the inaction bred a certain nervous restlessness in 
 the maroons an ill mood in which to face the coming 
 ordeal. 
 
 At last, shortly after four in the morning, the nose 
 of the canoe was turned toward the fort, and the vessel 
 crept in dead silence toward the line of white foam that 
 showed where the tide was lapping the wall. It was still 
 half a musket-shot distant when its progress was ar- 
 rested with a suddenness that threw the paddlers heavily 
 forward. Recovering themselves, they backed water 
 lustily, but without avail; the canoe was fast on a rock. 
 Instantly three of the men slipped gently overboard to 
 lighten the vessel, kicking their legs busily to ward off 
 any ground sharks that might be adventuring in the 
 neighborhood. In a few moments the canoe slid off 
 the rock, the men clambered back to their places, and 
 the paddling was resumed. But it was soon discovered 
 that the shock had torn a hole in the vessel's side; she 
 was filling fast; and by the time she came beneath the 
 wall of the fort she was well-nigh waterlogged. Not 
 a man of the party ventured to speak a word ; but from 
 the glances they gave one another it was clear that they 
 realized what the accident meant for them. Nothing 
 but complete success could now save them, for if the 
 attempt on the fort failed, it would certainly be impossible 
 to escape on this leaking vessel, and they must fall an 
 easy prey to their enemies. 
 
 One after another they quietly left the canoe, carrying 
 
 174
 
 BENEATH THE WALLS 
 
 the climbing apparatus, and their calivers and ammuni- 
 tion, which had fortunately lain on the raised stern of 
 the vessel and had escaped a wetting. They found them- 
 selves on the rocks, in two or three feet of water. Turn- 
 penny and Copstone gave their weapons into the charge 
 of two of the maroons while they carefully lashed the 
 two longer sections of the ladder together. Meanwhile 
 Dennis was scanning the wall above him with the object 
 of finding a suitable spot against which to plant the lad- 
 der. In spite of Copstone's belief that the fort was not 
 sentineled, Dennis had taken the precaution to land a 
 little to the west of the tower at the angle, thinking that 
 the sentry, if one were posted there, would probably be 
 taking shelter under the eastern parapet. But so far as 
 he could see in the dim light, the line of the wall was 
 unbroken. 
 
 At the top, however, a battlement slightly overhung 
 it. To Dennis, gazing up, this battlement seemed terribly 
 far off, and his heart sank as he felt that the ladder 
 would certainly not be long enough. But it was possible 
 that the apparent height was deceptive; at any rate, the 
 attempt must be made. Accordingly Turnpenny and 
 Copstone, as he had previously arranged with them, 
 planted the ladder beneath the wall while Dennis 
 mounted. The first steps were easy, but when he came 
 near the top he was seized with a momentary dizziness 
 and had to stop before he ventured to take another up- 
 ward step. He climbed very slowly; he was now close 
 
 175
 
 ON THE SPANISH MAIN 
 
 against the wall, with nothing to cling to, and he main- 
 tained his balance only by pressing forward until he was 
 almost flat against the smooth surface. He reached the 
 last rung ; it was impossible to ascend another inch ; and 
 the top of the wall was still, it appeared, at least twelve 
 feet above him. Even if the third section of the ladder 
 was added, the coping would be still utterly beyond his 
 reach. 
 
 It was a position in which many a bold fellow might 
 have despaired, and, for a little, Dennis did feel dismay 
 and a touch of compunction for having brought the men 
 below into what appeared to be a hopeless case. But 
 it is such moments as these that prove the grit of a 
 man's character. Dennis was no weakling, and as he 
 stood and leaned against that wall, shrouded by the 
 night, he set his teeth and vowed that by hook or crook 
 he would ere long be upon the other side. 
 
 He looked up and around, to see if there were any 
 notches or seams by means of which he could scale the 
 wall. The moon was creeping round the sky, and now 
 threw a little more light on the scene. Letting his eye 
 travel slowly over every foot of the surface from left 
 to right, he suddenly caught sight of what seemed to be 
 a hole in the wall, some distance to his right, several 
 feet above him, and a yard or so below the battlement. 
 It flashed upon him that this must be a gun embrasure ; 
 was it possible, he wondered, to make his way in by 
 that ? Carefully descending the ladder, he told the sailors 
 
 176
 
 BENEATH THE WALLS 
 
 in a whisper what he proposed; they quickly lashed on 
 the last section, and shifted the ladder until it stood 
 immediately below the dark patch which at this distance 
 the embrasure appeared to be. Then Dennis mounted 
 again. 
 
 Once more he was disappointed. At the imminent 
 risk of falling backward he crept up to the highest point, 
 but even then he found he could but just touch the lower 
 edge of the hole. He had not sufficient grip on the smooth 
 sill of it to pull himself up; he could not raise himself 
 high enough to peep through. He wondered whether 
 Copstone, who stood nearly a head taller, would have 
 better success ; but remembering the man's privations he 
 thought it scarcely possible that he would have nerve 
 enough to mount on this frail ladder, which bent dan- 
 gerously beneath his weight now that the last section 
 was added, without becoming dizzy and toppling down. 
 Was there any conceivable manner in which the ladder 
 could be still farther lengthened? 
 
 Down he crept again and held another whispered 
 consultation with the two men. At first neither was able 
 to make a suggestion. They stood looking at one another 
 in perplexity. Then suddenly Turnpenny, forgetting 
 himself in his excitement, uttered an exclamation in a 
 tone which sent a shiver down Dennis' back. 
 
 "Hush, man!" said Dennis in a warning whisper. 
 "What is it?" 
 
 "Ah, I must talk gentle," said Turnpenny. "Of a 
 
 177
 
 ON THE SPANISH MAIN 
 
 sudden I thought of muscles and sinews, and the power 
 of a strong back. Me and the head man of the maroons 
 not so strong as me, to be sure, but yet with mighty 
 shoulders of his own me and him betwixt us can raise 
 the ladder aloft, and hold it firm while you mount, and 
 then without doubt you'll be high enough to peep through 
 the port-hole and see all that may be seen." 
 
 "Art sure you can do it, Amos ?" asked Dennis eagerly. 
 
 "Why, sir, look at this !" he returned, bending his arm 
 until the muscle showed like a globe of iron. 
 
 Without more ado Turnpenny and the maroon hoisted 
 the ladder, and, one on either side of it, supported it 
 with their shoulders. Then Dennis climbed on to Cop- 
 stone's back, thence to the ladder, and began the ascent. 
 The ladder was more tremulous than ever, and Dennis 
 felt a flutter at the heart as he came nearer and nearer 
 to the top. But the stalwarts below did not yield an 
 inch, and Dennis crawled up and up until at length 
 his head came to the level of the embrasure, and with 
 one more step he found himself able to rest his arms in 
 it. To his joy the embrasure was empty; the gun had 
 evidently been withdrawn; and taking this as a good 
 omen surely it indicated great security on the part of 
 the garrison! he hoisted himself up and wriggled into 
 the aperture. Then, breathless, with a hurrying pulse, 
 he crouched to consider his next move. 
 
 178
 
 CHAPTER XIII 
 
 THE TAKING OF FORT AGUILA 
 
 During the morning, while the ladder was being made, 
 Dennis had talked over with the sailors the plan of action 
 he proposed to adopt should they succeed in entering 
 the fort undetected. The first thing was to silence the 
 sentry, if sentry there was. It was quite clear, from 
 the fact of having been undisturbed hitherto, that no 
 careful lookout was kept ; but Dennis did not forget Cop- 
 stone's suggestion that a sentry might be napping behind 
 the parapet, and it must be his first business to assure 
 himself on this point before giving the signal for his 
 companions to make the ascent. 
 
 He crouched motionless in the embrasure, listening. 
 It had been pierced for only a short gun a minion or 
 falconet, perhaps ; and doubtless within three feet of him 
 was a stone walk extending for the whole length of the 
 wall. All was still; there was not a sound to show 
 that, within the inclosure, near a hundred beings were 
 crowded, masters and slaves. But looking through the 
 embrasure Dennis saw a few lights twinkling in the 
 center of the fort, and he guessed that some at least 
 of the enemy were awake. However great their security, 
 
 179
 
 ON THE SPANISH MAIN 
 
 it had seemed incredible to him that the place should 
 be left wholly unguarded, even if only to provide against 
 turbulence on the part of the slaves. 
 
 After a few moments Dennis ventured to crawl toward 
 the inner end of the embrasure, where he might get a 
 view of the whole inclosure. The thin light of the 
 moon fell on the brightly painted walls of the command- 
 ant's house in the center; there was no light in the 
 windows; no doubt the senor capitan was fast asleep. 
 But a beam of light came from a building somewhat 
 to the right; this was presumably the officers' quarters. 
 The huts along the western wall, in which the slaves 
 slept, were all in darkness. On the farther side of the 
 inclosure, in the round tower beneath which the prisoners 
 were confined, another light shone forth; somebody was 
 awake there. But not a sound stirred the heavy, moist 
 air of the tropical night. If there were sentries upon 
 the walls, they were certainly not pacing up and down. 
 
 Waiting another minute or two, Dennis ventured to 
 peep round the corner of the embrasure. He could 
 scan the whole length of the walk from tower to tower; 
 no sentry was in sight, but he saw the gun below him, 
 a little to his right. Taking courage from the silence, 
 he slipped out of the hole, and groped his way on bare 
 feet toward the tower at the northeast angle. Every 
 now and again he paused to listen, and at last, when 
 he came within a few yards of the tower, he heard a 
 sound of deep, regular breathing hard by. Evidently 
 
 180
 
 some one was asleep. He stole along by the parapet 
 in the deep shadow cast by the moon, until he saw, 
 huddled in the corner between the tower and the wall, 
 the form of a man. He halted to consider. Should he 
 go forward and pounce on the sentry, risking the sound 
 of a struggle if he attempted to gag him, or a cry if 
 he struck at him with his sword and failed to kill him. 
 outright? It went against the grain to slay a sleeping 
 man, and the sentry was apparently so fast asleep that 
 it seemed possible for the rest of the party to climb 
 up without disturbing him. 
 
 But there might be a sentry at the other end. Leaving 
 the man in peace, Dennis stole back again, went on 
 hands and knees where the gun necessitated his coming 
 for a moment into the moonlight, then rose and groped 
 his way along beneath the parapet as before. There was 
 no sentinel, asleep or awake, in this direction. With 
 more confidence now in the chances of a safe ascent, 
 he returned once more to the embrasure, and, taking 
 from his pocket a thin piece of creeper, he paid this 
 out through the aperture. He soon felt a slight tug 
 from below. He waited until he felt a second tug, then 
 gently pulled the creeper toward him. To the end of 
 it a stout line was attached a part of his salvage from 
 the wreck of the Maid Marian. This he quickly secured 
 to the heavy gun, and having strained on the rope to 
 convince himself that the fastening would hold, he gave 
 the signal by another tug to his comrades below. 
 
 181
 
 ON THE SPANISH MAIN 
 
 Then he crawled into the embrasure, and, leaning out, 
 saw Amos swarming with a seaman's nimbleness up 
 the rope. Giving him a hand when he came within reach, 
 Dennis helped to haul him into the embrasure. 
 
 "What about the calivers?" he whispered, for the 
 sailor had come up unarmed, lest a clank of steel against 
 the wall should attract attention. 
 
 "We've tied 'em up in our shirts, sir. Haul on the 
 rope and we'll have 'em up in a trice." 
 
 The bundle was quickly raised and brought into the 
 embrasure without a sound. 
 
 "There's a sentry asleep by the tower yonder," whis- 
 pered Dennis. 
 
 "Did 'ee not kill him?" 
 
 "No; you could not kill a sleeping man, Amos?" 
 
 "I warrant I could, though I'd liever not. But we 
 must do summat with the knave." 
 
 "He sleeps now." 
 
 "Maybe, but any moment he might waken, and then 
 t'ud be all over with us. A sailor's knot and a mouth- 
 ful of shirt will make all snug." 
 
 "Very well. We must go quietly." 
 
 Soft-footed as cats they stole to the careless sentinel, 
 still drawing the long, regular breath of placid slumber. 
 Suddenly the sound changed to a low, choking gurgle; 
 Turnpenny had nimbly slipped a strip of his shirt into 
 the man's open mouth. In two minutes he lay straight 
 on his back, his arms and legs firmly bound with lengths 
 
 182
 
 THE TAKING OF FORT AGUILA 
 
 of the flexible tendril. Then the two intruders moved 
 swiftly back to the embrasure, and signaled to the wait- 
 ing men that it was safe for them to ascend. 
 
 Tom Copstone and two of the maroons came up in 
 turn. Then there was a hitch. The remaining three 
 men stood helpless on the rocks, afraid to attempt a feat 
 which had never come within their experience. There 
 was a moment's delay; then Turnpenny slipped down 
 the rope, hitched a loop around one of the men, abusing 
 him under his breath as a good-for-nothing landlubber, 
 and signaled to the others to haul him up. The two 
 others were brought up in the same way, not without 
 some bumps against the wall; then Turnpenny again 
 came up hand over hand, and the little party of eight 
 stood complete beside the gun. 
 
 "My heart! 'tis a famous doing!" said Turnpenny, 
 mopping his sweating brow. " 'You and me, Haymoss,' 
 as I heard in my dream." 
 
 The next step also had been prearranged. Copstone, 
 as the man most familiar with the fort inclosure, was to 
 lead four of the maroons to the quarters of the garrison, 
 dash into the outer room where the firearms would prob- 
 ably be kept, and hold the Spaniards in play while Dennis 
 and his companions made a rush for the round tower 
 beneath which were the dungeons. The Spaniards would 
 no doubt be asleep in the inner room, and, suddenly dis- 
 turbed from their slumbers, they might be expected to 
 hesitate before attacking five well-armed men who stood 
 
 183
 
 ON THE SPANISH MAIN 
 
 guard over their muskets. It was scarcely likely that 
 more than one or two would at this dead hour of night 
 be in the outer room where the light was, and Copstone 
 and his men might be safely trusted to account for them. 
 
 "You must give us a minute, Tom," said Amos, "see- 
 ing that we have the greater way to go." 
 
 "Ay, indeed," said Dennis, "our entrances should fall 
 together. You know the way, Amos?" 
 
 "Ay, sure, and have good reason to." 
 
 "Well, then, Copstone will wait until we have had 
 time to reach the tower, then he will perform his part." 
 
 This conversation had passed in whispers. All having 
 been arranged, they crept down the steps from the 
 battlement to the courtyard, and while Copstone and 
 his four dusky companions stood in the shadow of the 
 stairway, the other three with rapid, noiseless steps ran 
 toward the light in the farther corner. The courtyard 
 was covered with grass, except for a small, stone-paved 
 space around the buildings in the center; and Turn- 
 penny, who was leading, kept to the grass, even though 
 their bare feet might make no sound on the stones. 
 
 But they had covered little more than a third of the 
 distance, and had indeed not yet come level with the 
 buildings, when all three were suddenly startled by a 
 low, deep growl on the right, from the neighborhood 
 of the commandant's house. 
 
 "God-a-mercy, I had forgot the captain's dog!" whis- 
 pered Turnpenny. 
 
 184
 
 THE TAKING OF FORT AGUILA 
 
 They had instinctively halted and turned in the direc- 
 tion of the sound. A dark form, still growling, was 
 rushing over the stone court toward them. It made 
 direct for Turnpenny. The sailor threw up his left hand 
 to ward off the attack, but the beast was so large, and 
 came against him with such momentum, that he reeled 
 under the impact, and the sword he held raised in his 
 right hand was almost wrenched from his grasp. The 
 expedition seemed to be endangered by this unexpected 
 attack, and Dennis was swinging forward to his com- 
 rade's assistance when he saw that no help was needed. 
 The hound had impaled itself on Turnpenny's sword. 
 Amos gasped with relief as he shook himself free; then 
 whispering, "They'll have heard the beast's growls," he 
 set off at full speed for the roundhouse, the two others 
 following close at his heels. 
 
 They dashed straight for the doorway, which was 
 faintly lit by a light in the guard-room to the right of 
 the passage. In a quarter-minute they were inside; five 
 seconds more brought them to the door of the room, 
 which they reached just as three Spaniards were leaving 
 the table at which they had been dicing, curious, no doubt, 
 to discover the cause of the dog's uneasiness. They 
 were unarmed; their weapons indeed lay on a bench 
 at the farther end of the room ; clearly the dog's growls 
 had caused them no real alarm, and no other sounds 
 could have reached them. Consequently they stood stock- 
 still, petrified with amazement when they saw two white 
 
 185
 
 ON THE SPANISH MAIN 
 
 men and a maroon with naked swords rush almost noise- 
 lessly into the room. 
 
 "Surrender, villains !" cried Amos, pointing his sword 
 full at the first man's throat. 
 
 His tone, backed by the sight of the three blades, 
 helped to clear their scattered wits. With fine presence 
 of mind the man farthest from the door snatched a goblet 
 from the table and hurled it straight at Turnpenny, 
 stooping then to seize his sword that lay on the bench 
 behind. But he had taken only a single step when the 
 maroon, with a cry of fury, flung himself clean across 
 the table, and drove his weapon through the man's body. 
 The other two, less quick-witted and less courageous 
 than their hapless comrade, shrank back and held up 
 their hands, crying aloud for mercy. 
 
 "Down on your knees, dogs!" shouted Turnpenny. 
 "To the passage, Juan !" he said to the maroon. "Stand 
 by the door opposite." 
 
 While Amos unstrung his calivers and lit his match, 
 Dennis swept the Spaniards' weapons from the bench 
 out of their reach. Scarcely had this been done when 
 the door on the opposite side of the passage opened, 
 showing a room dimly lighted by a candle-lamp, and 
 eight or ten Spaniards who had been roused from sleep 
 by the noise. 
 
 "What is this?" cried one of them, fumbling with his 
 sword as he came to the door. 
 
 Juan, the maroon, stood on no ceremony, but promptly 
 
 186
 
 THE TAKING OF FORT AGUILA 
 
 transfixed him, and he fell like a log across the doorway. 
 His comrades immediately recoiled in panic; but were 
 pushed forward by the men in the rear who had not 
 seen what had happened. 
 
 "Stand, you villains!" called Turnpenny, from the 
 opposite doorway. "I will shoot any man of you that 
 lifts a finger." 
 
 "Shut the door!" cried one of the men behind. 
 
 But this was impossible; the door opened outwards, 
 and none could reach it without stepping over the body 
 of the man whom -the maroon had killed. They well 
 knew that the first who ventured across the threshold 
 would meet with the same fate, and every man of them 
 shrank from the risk. Dim as the light was, Turnpenny 
 recognized the features of men under whose whips he 
 had many times writhed. 
 
 "Fling down your sword, Hernando !" he cried to the 
 foremost of them. The man hesitated. "Down with it, 
 or you are a dead man !" roared the seaman, and there 
 v/as an accent in his voice that boded ill for the Spaniard 
 if he should delay. His sword fell with a clatter on 
 the stone floor. 
 
 "Now yours, Fernan, and yours, Manuel," and as 
 these obeyed the curt command the rest waited no bid- 
 ding, but cast their weapons from them and cried for 
 quarter. 
 
 "Out with you, into the guard-room!" shouted Turn- 
 penny. "Have a care, Juan ; let none escape." 
 
 187
 
 ON THE SPANISH MAIN 
 
 The big maroon stood in the passage with his back 
 toward the outer gate, and the sight of his ferocious 
 look and his formidable sword was enough. The Span- 
 iards tumbled over one another like a flock of sheep as 
 they surged into the room, where Dennis stood ready to 
 cut down any who attempted resistance. 
 
 "Ah, 'tis you, Jose," cried Turnpenny, following the 
 last into the room. "Where are your keys ?" 
 
 The warder edged away, seeking to hide behind his 
 comrades. At a sign from Turnpenny the maroon 
 sprang after him and hauled him back. 
 
 "Your keys, rascal!" cried Turnpenny, and the cold 
 barrel of the musket within an inch of Jose's ear jogged 
 his memory. 
 
 "Mercy! I will fetch them," he said hastily. The 
 maroon followed him as he ran back into the room 
 opposite, and in a few seconds he returned with his heavy 
 bunch. 
 
 "Lock 'em in, sir," said Turnpenny, handing his mus- 
 ket to Juan. "I be going with this villain to loose the 
 prisoners." 
 
 He caught the terrified warder by the shoulder and 
 pushed him into the passage, where he turned to the 
 right toward the stairway leading to the dungeons. Down 
 he bundled him, neck and crop, and forced him to find 
 the key among his bunch and throw open the door. 
 
 " 'Tis me, comrades," he cried jubilantly, into the dark 
 space ; " 'tis me, your old comrade Haymoss Turnpenny, 
 
 188
 
 THE TAKING OF FORT AGUILA 
 
 come to free 'ee from this cursed hole. Be you there, 
 Ned Whiddon?" 
 
 "Ay, ay," came the amazed answer. 
 
 "And you, Hugh Curder?" 
 
 "Ay, Haymoss, here I be." 
 
 "Come out, my hearts. Ah, I hear the chains clanking 
 on your poor legs. 'Tis not for long, dear comrades. 
 Come out; this villain warder will ungyve ye; then do 
 the same with the rest of the comrades and follow up 
 aloft. We have arms for 'ee there, dear hearts. God 
 be praised you be alive! Jose, you villain, loose their 
 fetters. Ned, I will leave him with 'ee; keep an eye on 
 him." 
 
 Leaving the cowed Spaniard in the safe hands of 
 Whiddon and Curder, Turnpenny hastened back to re- 
 join Dennis, who had locked the door upon the others, 
 and had piled their arms against the wall of the passage. 
 Then the three rushed out into the open, and raced at 
 breakneck pace across the courtyard to the main build- 
 ings, whence came the sounds of desperate conflict 
 shots, cries and the clash of steel. 
 
 Copstone, waiting impatiently with the four maroons 
 at the foot of the wall until the others should have 
 reached the far corner of the inclosure, heard the growl 
 of the commandant's dog, and guessed, from the sudden 
 silence that followed, what had happened. Instantly he 
 led his men with a rush toward the main building, where 
 the light indicated that some at least of the garrison 
 
 189
 
 ON THE SPANISH MAIN 
 
 were awake. They reached the spot just as the door 
 was thrown open and a man stepped across the thresh- 
 old, whistling for the dog. Copstone sprang upon him, 
 and toppled him over, and was then dashing past him 
 into the house when he perceived that a group of at 
 least half a dozen Spaniards were coming toward the 
 door, alarmed by the sound of the scuffle. Copstone 
 sprang back, the maroons fired their calivers into the 
 doorway; groans proclaimed that some of the shots had 
 told ; but there were resolute spirits among the garrison ; 
 in a few seconds they came pouring out, and, catching 
 sight of the maroons, evidently believed that they had 
 nothing worse than an outbreak of the native laborers 
 to contend with. Shouting with fury, they pressed 
 forward, slashing with their swords, and forced the 
 assailants into the narrow space between the wall of 
 their quarters and the commandant's house. 
 
 When Dennis and his comrades came breathless upon 
 the scene, Copstone and his party were hemmed in by 
 a crowd of infuriated Spaniards outnumbering them by 
 seven to one. The Spaniards had had no time to light 
 the matches for their muskets ; the maroons had had no 
 time to reload; and both attacked and attackers were 
 laying about them doughtily with their swords. What- 
 ever the timidity of the maroons in captivity, there was 
 no doubt about their courage when fighting for their 
 lives against odds. Aided somewhat by darkness, which 
 made it difficult to distinguish foe from friend, they 
 
 190
 
 THE TAKING OF FORT AGUILA 
 
 were cutting and thrusting vigorously with their backs 
 against the wall, encouraged by the voice of Copstone, 
 who mingled with English words of cheer a few Spanish 
 exclamations he had picked up during his imprisonment. 
 
 But, steadily as they fought, it would have gone ill 
 with them had not the arrival of Dennis and the others 
 caused a momentary relaxation of the pressure upon 
 them. The three dashed with a resounding cheer upon 
 the rear of the Spaniards. 
 
 "Stand to it, my hearts !" bellowed Turnpenny. "You 
 and me, Tom Copstone, you and me!" 
 
 Three Spaniards fell at the first onset. Before the 
 rest had recovered from their surprise, before they had 
 any idea of how small the reinforcement was, three more 
 suffered the same fate. In the confusion, Dennis and 
 his men dashed right through the cordon and ranged 
 themselves alongside the doughty five. Then the Span- 
 iards, finding that their rear was no longer attacked, 
 realized that their enemy had received but a slight ac- 
 cession of strength, and returned to the fight with 
 redoubled energy. For some time it was cut and thrust 
 almost at random, and many shrewd blows were dealt 
 on both sides. So sudden and surprising had the attack 
 been that the Spaniards had had no time to collect their 
 wits and resort to strategy. It had not occurred to them 
 to get at the rear of their enemy over the wall. Again 
 and again they rushed headlong at the little party; but 
 the maroons and Copstone had taken new courage from 
 
 191
 
 ON THE SPANISH MAIN 
 
 the presence of Dennis and the others. Turnpenny was 
 in the center of the line, Dennis at the extreme right, 
 Juan, the maroon, at the left next to Copstone. Again 
 and again they flung back the furious assault, and ever 
 and anon above the din of the combat rose the inspiriting 
 battle-cry of Turnpenny, "You and me, Tom Copstone, 
 you and me!" and the answering shout, "You and me, 
 Haymoss; good cheer, my heart!" 
 
 But eight men, however bold and stout-hearted, could 
 not long contend with an enemy at least four times their 
 number. Scarce a man of them but was bleeding from 
 several wounds. The exertions and excitements of the 
 night had made inroads upon their strength even before 
 the fight began, while the Spaniards were at no such 
 disadvantage; some of them, indeed, had risen fresh 
 from sleep. Gradually the blows of the lesser force 
 weakened. The Spaniards could not all attack them at 
 the same time, so confined was the area of conflict; but 
 when any of their number fell out, from wounds or 
 fatigue, there were new men to take their places. For 
 the others there was no such relief. Each one of them 
 had to meet a succession of Spaniards. Dennis felt his 
 strength giving way. He was not conscious of having 
 been wounded, but he could now scarcely hold his sword 
 from sheer weariness. And he felt that things were 
 going badly with his comrades. Two of the maroons 
 at his left had fallen, whether killed or merely wounded 
 he could not tell, He still heard the ringing voice of 
 
 192
 
 THE TAKING OF FORT AGUILA 
 
 Turnpenny, but his heart sank as he realized that in a 
 few more minutes he, at any rate, would no longer have 
 the force to respond. 
 
 At last, when he felt with a kind of frenzied despair 
 that it was impossible he should strike another blow, 
 there fell upon his ears a new sound from the front 
 from some point beyond the crowd of Spaniards. Surely 
 there was an English ring in those cheers; it was no 
 mere Spanish yell. It was coming nearer, swelling into 
 a roar. A few seconds later, the ring of steel by which 
 the little party was encircled seemed to be burst asunder ; 
 then the Spaniards broke and scattered in all directions, 
 fleeing helter-skelter before knives and swords wielded 
 with the terrible might of vengeance by the hands of 
 a score of men who had but lately lain cowed and 
 crushed in their dungeons. Little mercy they deserved, 
 little they found. Ned Whiddon, Hugh Curder, and 
 many another, hunted them into the four corners of the 
 courtyard ; the tables were turned, and the freed prison- 
 ers smote and spared not. 
 
 193
 
 CHAPTER XIV 
 
 VAE VICTIS 
 
 The intention of Dennis had been to release the prison- 
 ers and then make for the bark that lay alongside the 
 quay. She was of only some fifty tons burden ; her crew 
 would not be a large one ; and it ought to be a compara- 
 tively easy matter to overpower the men on board and 
 warp the vessel clear before the discomfited Spaniards 
 could recover from their confusion and make an or- 
 ganized attack. 
 
 But he had not reckoned on the rapidity with which 
 events had moved, and the impossibility of communi- 
 cating his design to the men who had been released. 
 They had scattered in all directions in pursuit of the 
 Spaniards ; Copstone and the maroons were carried away 
 by the lust of vengeance, and, wounded as they were, had 
 rushed away with the rest; and Dennis found that only 
 Turnpenny was left at his side. 
 
 There were elements of peril in the situation. Some 
 of the Spaniards had swarmed over the wall of the 
 officers' quarters. If they found efficient leadership they 
 might yet rally and prove a very formidable enemy. 
 Dennis and the seaman held a hurried consultation. They 
 
 194
 
 VAE VICTIS 
 
 were unarmed save for their swords ; they had left their 
 calivers in the passage of the round tower, and the weap- 
 ons were no doubt now in the hands of two of the 
 released prisoners. Adventurous as they both were, 
 it seemed the height of folly and rashness to attempt, 
 they two alone, to cope with unknown numbers beyond 
 the wall. While they were still perplexed as to the best 
 course to follow, they heard a roar and a crash from the 
 direction of the commandant's house, followed by a babel 
 of cries. Running round, they found that the maroons, 
 headed by Copstone, had blown open the door of the 
 house, and were hunting through it in the darkness for 
 the man under whose authority they had suffered so 
 many grievous wrongs. There were only four rooms; 
 it was the work of a few minutes to ransack them, 
 thoroughly ; not a trace of the commandant or his house- 
 hold could be discovere3. 
 
 "Be jowned if they haven't stolen a march on us," 
 cried Turnpenny, "and made for the harbor first!" 
 
 "Let us after them at once, then. If they get away 
 ours will be a bad case indeed." 
 
 Calling to the half-dozen men who were at hand, 
 Turnpenny led the way at a great pace to the gate in 
 the eastern wall of the fort. It was locked. Almost 
 beside himself with baffled rage, the seaman threw his 
 great bulk against the timbers ; but they were stout, and 
 even his weight failed to force the lock. 
 
 "Is there no other way out?" asked Dennis.
 
 ON THE SPANISH MAIN 
 
 "Not as I knows on. Where be Tom Copstone ? Hey, 
 my heart, be there any other way out o' this yard?" 
 
 "Ay, there be a postern in the nor'east tower." 
 
 The words were scarcely out of his mouth before 
 Dennis dashed toward the tower, the others following 
 him with a rush. The door at the foot of the tower 
 was open; he sprang up the spiral stairway three steps 
 at a time, and almost broke his head against the postern 
 door, that opened inward and blocked the way. The 
 dawn was bursting in the eastern sky, and Dennis looked 
 eagerly out. The postern faced the sea, and the harbor 
 and quay were hidden from him by the circumference 
 of the tower, but he spied a rope ladder dangling from 
 the opening to the narrow footway below. It was clear 
 that the commandant and his party, while the combat 
 was at its height, had slipped out of the house and made 
 their escape by this exit. 
 
 By this time Turnpenny and half a dozen others were 
 crowding the narrow staircase. 
 
 "They have made for the bark/' cried the seaman, 
 "and if there be true mariners aboard she'll be warped 
 clear and out to sea." 
 
 "She is not there yet. We have one chance. Cop- 
 stone, run back to the gate; blow up the lock and lead 
 as many of your comrades as you can find hot-foot 
 along the quay, in case it be stifl possible to seize the 
 vessel. Amos, can we train the fort guns on the mouth 
 of the harbor?" 
 
 196
 
 VAE VICTIS 
 
 "Ay, sure, and I'll do it, being once gunner's mate 
 aboard the Anne Gallant!' Amos Turnpenny's profes- 
 sional pride was at once aroused. 
 
 "And I can aid you; God be praised that Sir Martin 
 practised us venturers in the usage of ordnance on the 
 Maid Marian" 
 
 He slammed to the postern door, freeing the stairway, 
 and rushed up to the narrow, open archway leading on 
 to the battlements, stumbling in the dim light over the 
 prostrate body of the gagged sentry as he leaped through. 
 Vaulting on to the parapet, he looked down at the quay 
 to see how the men were faring. A cry of bitter morti- 
 fication burst from his lips as he saw the bark slowly 
 moving toward the sea. Her sails were hoisted on the 
 mainmast, and filling with the light westerly breeze; a 
 group of officers, among whom the commandant was 
 easily distinguished, crowded her deck, in addition to the 
 native crew ; and there was not one of Dennis' party or 
 the prisoners in sight. 
 
 But at that moment there was a loud explosion ; the 
 gate fell with a crash; and a crowd of men, white and 
 black, headed by Copstone, rushed out on to the quay. 
 They roared with fury when they saw that they were 
 too late. Those of them who had loaded calivers ran 
 along the quay, firing ineffectually at the moving vessel. 
 They were answered with a volley from her deck, and 
 two maroons fell, shouts from the Spaniards acclaiming 
 the lucky shots. 
 
 1,97
 
 ON THE SPANISH MAIN 
 
 But Turnpenny had now taken his post at the nearest 
 gun. 
 
 "Body o' me, sure 'tis a saker taken from the Jesus 
 herself!" he cried joyfully. "And here be powder and 
 round shot and stone shot, and a half-circle for the 
 sighting. Haymoss Turnpenny be no true man an he 
 do not send a good un plump into the midst o* the 
 knaves." 
 
 But none knew better than Turnpenny that, at any 
 considerable distance, it was easier to miss than to hit. 
 Seeing that it was impossible to depress the gun so as 
 to get a shot at the vessel until she had drawn clear of 
 the harbor, he ran to the ordnance on the northern wall, 
 and loaded them in readiness in case his first shot missed. 
 Meanwhile Dennis had spied the muzzle of a demi- 
 culverin projecting from the roof of the round tower, 
 and, summoning to his assistance a white man who was 
 among his party, he ran up and began with all haste 
 to load the gun. 
 
 Before he had finished, there was a flash and a roar 
 from Turnpenny's saker just below. The Spaniards on 
 deck, who the moment before had been laughing at the 
 futile shots from the men on the quay, skipped down 
 the companionway with exceeding nimbleness. Dennis 
 looked eagerly for the result of the shot. That some- 
 thing had been carried away was clear from the clatter- 
 ing noise on board and the rush of the crew toward the 
 stern-works; but neither the foremast nor the mainmast 
 
 198
 
 VAE VICTIS 
 
 had been hit, and the vessel still glided seaward. Turn- 
 penny growled with rage, and ran to the next gun, from 
 which, however, it would be useless to fire until the bark 
 had come quite out from the harbor mouth. 
 
 Dennis' heart leaped within him as he saw that the 
 course of the vessel would bring her in a few seconds 
 within range of his gun. Now was his chance of show- 
 ing how he had profited by Sir Martin's lessons in 
 gunnery. How ardently he hoped that the bore was true 
 and the windage not too great to spoil his aim! He 
 waited with lighted match until, sighting with the gun- 
 ner's half-circle the quadrant with which every piece 
 of ordnance was equipped he knew that the Spaniards' 
 vessel was well within range. He applied the match 
 and sprang forward to the very edge of the parapet to 
 watch the effect of his shot. There was a sound of 
 rending and splitting from the deck; and through the 
 smoke he saw the mainmast collapse with all its rigging. 
 A great shout from the battlements and from the crowd 
 below acclaimed the famous shot. There had been no 
 time to run up a sail on the foremast; the vessel lost 
 way ; and the crew, having been deserted by the officers, 
 huddled into the forecastle, leaving several of their 
 number prone upon the deck. 
 
 When the motion of the vessel ceased, two of the 
 Spaniards rushed up the companionway and called on 
 the negroes frantically to hoist the foresail. But in 
 vain. The men were helpless with terror. And while 
 
 199
 
 ON THE SPANISH MAIN 
 
 the Spaniards were storming and gesticulating, Turn- 
 penny, exerting his immense strength, hauled round the 
 eight-foot minion which had been removed from the 
 embrasure by which the intruders had entered the fort, 
 and next moment a carcass crammed with case-shot 
 plumped amidships of the hapless bark, and the Span- 
 iards, cowering from the flying splinters, scuttled down 
 the companionway all but one fellow, bolder than the 
 rest. The vessel had swung round a little, so that her 
 stern-chaser, a culverin twelve feet long, pointed full at 
 the fort. It was already loaded. The Spaniard, with a 
 shout of defiance, altered the elevation of the gun, lit a 
 match, and applied it to the touch-hole. A round shot 
 crashed through the embrasure from which Turnpenny 
 had fired, scattering a shower of stone-chips around, and 
 dealing wounds among the group who were watching 
 and assisting the seaman to reload. The crashing sound 
 brought the Spaniards again from below, and they began 
 feverishly to clean out and reload the piece. But another 
 shot from Dennis' gun fell plump into the roundhouse 
 on the half-deck; and now the Spanish commandant, 
 perceiving that the men on the quay had sprung into the 
 fishers' canoes that lay alongside, and were making 
 direct to board his vessel, saw that the game was up, 
 and, raising his arms aloft, shouted that he surrendered. 
 
 "Go and board her," cried Dennis to Turnpenny ; "I'll 
 stay by the guns in case he meditates treachery." 
 
 The seaman hurried away with a mixed crowd of 
 
 200
 
 VAE VICTIS 
 
 maroons and white men. In a few minutes he was 
 pulling lustily for the vessel. Dennis, with gun loaded, 
 watched him climb the side and receive the Spaniard's 
 sword. Then a hawser was fixed to the headboards, 
 and the vessel was towed back to the quay side. 
 
 Dennis hastened down. The crestfallen commandant 
 with all his men were brought ashore and escorted to 
 his house, where they were left under guard. Hugh 
 Curder, with three other seamen, was placed in charge 
 of the vessel, and then Dennis reentered the fort-inclosure 
 with Turnpenny and the rest, eager to see, now that day 
 had fully dawned, what had happened during his ab- 
 sence. 
 
 He could not repress a shudder as he saw the ground 
 strewn with dead and wounded men; and he was horri- 
 fied to observe that some of the slave-fishers had broken 
 out of their huts, and were moving about the courtyard 
 giving the finishing stroke to the wounded of their late 
 masters who were yet alive. Dennis sent Ned Whiddon 
 among them to put a stop to this ruthless butchery; 
 then his intervention was called for at the round tower 
 from which the prisoners had been released. A group 
 of them, headed by a big, ruffianly seaman, had burst open 
 the door of the room in which the unarmed Spanish 
 guards had been locked, and were beginning a work of 
 butchery there when Dennis, with Turnpenny and a few 
 others, rushed to the scene. Dashing into the room, 
 Dennis sprang at the ringleader just as he was thrusting 
 
 201
 
 ON THE SPANISH MAIN 
 
 at a Spaniard who had thrown himself down on his knees 
 and was pleading for mercy. 
 
 "Hold, knave!" he cried, hauling the man away. 
 
 "Zounds, and who be you?" shouted the fellow, re- 
 covering himself and lunging furiously at Dennis. 
 
 "I'll teach 'ee, Jan Biddle!" roared Turnpenny, and, 
 seizing the man, he lifted him as though he were a child 
 and hurled him over his head in true Devonian style. 
 Biddle's head struck the floor with a loud thud, and he 
 lay as one killed. 
 
 "Souse him, my hearts!" cried Turnpenny. "The 
 saucy knave!" 
 
 And in a few minutes a plentiful drenching from a 
 water-butt at the door brought some glimmering of sense 
 into the man's bruised noddle. 
 
 Meanwhile the Spaniards who had survived the fight 
 and escaped from their pursuers had barricaded them- 
 selves in the officers' quarters, where they were unmo- 
 lested while the majority of their late prisoners were on 
 the quay. The victory could not be considered complete 
 while they remained shut up, for they no doubt had arms 
 and ammunition at their disposal. Some of the victors 
 were for blowing up the house and all in it ; but Dennis 
 and Turnpenny dissuaded them from this, and declared 
 for insisting on unconditional surrender. To obtain this 
 they made use of the captive commandant. At Dennis' 
 suggestion Turnpenny put the case to him, pointing out 
 how hopeless was the position of his men, and promising 
 
 202
 
 VAE VICTIS 
 
 to spare their lives if they surrendered at once. The 
 commandant was then led to the officers' house between 
 two men with drawn swords, and after a few minutes' 
 colloquy the men agreed to hand over their weapons. 
 
 Dennis meanwhile collected his whole party. They 
 were a very ragged regiment. None was quite so tat- 
 tered as Tom Copstone, but all were dirty and unkempt, 
 unshorn, bearing many marks of toil and suffering, as 
 well as the more recent marks of fight. Of the eight 
 maroons who had scaled the fort wall two were dead; 
 the rest were all wounded. Not one of the little band 
 had escaped hurt. Dennis had several gashes in his 
 arms. Turnpenny's big face was disfigured with cuts 
 and bruises, while Copstone, who had fought with utter 
 recklessness, seemed to have borne a charmed life, so 
 many were his wounds. The released prisoners had 
 come off best. With the exception of the two men shot 
 down from the vessel, one being killed and the other 
 badly wounded, they had escaped with a few scratches. 
 They were a wild, rough lot, and Dennis wondered, as 
 he looked them over, whether they would show them- 
 selves amenable to discipline. 
 
 The Spaniards having been disarmed and locked in 
 the house, Turnpenny constituted himself the master of 
 ceremonies. After a brief talk with Ned Whiddon and 
 Hugh Curder, his special friends, he said to Dennis : 
 
 "Here we be, sir, masters of the fort, twenty-two all 
 told, five being French. We must needs have a captain, 
 
 203
 
 ON THE SPANISH MAIN 
 
 and that be you, for 'tis all owed to your wit, and we 
 pay you our humble duty." 
 
 "Thank you, Amos, but I will not be captain save by 
 the wish of all. Methinks 'tis an office for one older 
 in years." 
 
 "Be jowned if it be, sir. Comrades, list while I tell the 
 tale of these rare doings." 
 
 He related to the crowd the story of his rescue from 
 the Spaniards on the island, the capture of the lumber- 
 ship, the voyage in the maroons' canoe and all that had 
 happened since. ; 
 
 "And now, comrades," he concluded, "I ax 'ee, who so 
 fit to be our captain as Master Dennis Hazelrig, of 
 Shaston, in Devon ? We owe our lives to him, and there 
 be many a thing to face afore we get across the thousand 
 leagues to home. Who but him shall be our captain?" 
 
 The election was ratified with a great shout. 
 
 "Thank you, comrades," said Dennis ; " 'tis not a post 
 I covet; willingly would I serve under an older man, 
 my good friend Amos, to wit. But I accept your choice. 
 One thing I say. There may be more fighting before us ; 
 if we fight, let us fight like Englishmen, not like savages, 
 and treat our enemies according to the manner of civil- 
 ized nations. Do you agree to that?" 
 
 "Ay, ay !" shouted the men all but Jan Biddle, whose 
 growling protests were howled down by the rest. 
 
 "Then it is mine to choose my lieutenant. You are all 
 good men and true, but 'tis my misfortune I am not so 
 
 204
 
 VAE VICTIS 
 
 well acquainted with you as I hope to be. But I know 
 Amos Turnpenny, and you know him also; and " 
 
 "I crave your pardon, sir," said Amos, interrupting; 
 "I was gunner's mate twenty-five year ago on the noble 
 f Anne Gallant, and three year ago boatswain on Captain 
 Hawkins his Jesus, and methinks the rank of boatswain 
 befits my stature and my fancy both ; and if I may be so 
 bold, I say let these our comrades, good men and true, 
 as you yourself did say, choose among themselves two 
 to serve as mates aboard the vessel." 
 
 "A wise speech," said Jan Biddle. "There be good 
 mariners among us; ay, and some of us are skilled in 
 the manage of greater vessels than the poor bark yonder. 
 Let us then do as Amos says and choose who shall come 
 next to our noble captain." 
 
 "So be it," said Dennis, with a glance at Amos. 
 "Choose, then, and we will all promise to abide the 
 choice." 
 
 It was clear that Jan Biddle expected the election to 
 one of the posts to fall upon himself. He could not hide 
 his chagrin when by general consent Ned Whiddon and 
 a man of quiet appearance named Gabriel Batten were 
 selected. Dennis, on his part, was glad that Biddle was 
 to remain a simple member of the crew; he instinctively 
 disliked the man's overbearing manner and the shifty 
 look in his eyes. 
 
 These matters having been settled, he explained that 
 his purpose was to sail away as soon as the vessel could 
 
 205
 
 ON THE SPANISH MAIN 
 
 be got ready, and steer a course for England. It was 
 needful to make haste, for the sound of the firing might 
 have been heard on Spanish ships at sea, and even now 
 an enemy might be making for the spot. The first thing 
 was to inspect the vessel at the quay and see what dam- 
 age had been done. He asked the two mates and Turn- 
 penny to accompany him to the ship for this purpose. 
 Meanwhile he suggested that the others, with the assist- 
 ance of the natives, should give those who had been 
 killed burial in the sea, and he despatched two of the 
 maroons to the creek where they had left Baltizar and 
 one of their comrades in charge of the two prisoners, to 
 acquaint them with what had happened and bring them 
 to the fort. 
 
 Boarding the Spanish vessel, he found that the main- 
 mast was a complete ruin; it would be necessary to 
 replace it. This Ned Whiddon said would be no difficult 
 matter. A couple of men could soon fell a tall and slen- 
 der cedar in the woods, and though it was not advisable 
 to spend much time in trimming it, a few hours' work 
 would suffice to fit it for its use. Luckily the step was 
 uninjured, and there was plenty of sound rope on board 
 from which to form new stays. 
 
 The deck had been a good deal knocked about by the 
 shots from the fort, but the damage done was not such 
 as to render the vessel unnavigable as soon as the mast 
 should be stepped and the rigging repaired. Ned Whid- 
 don undertook to carry out the necessary work with the 
 
 206
 
 VAE VICTIS 
 
 assistance of men of his choice, and went back to the 
 fort with Batten to make a beginning. 
 
 Dennis and Turnpenny examined the vessel from 
 stem to stern above and below decks. In the captain's 
 cabin they found a number of small bags, which on 
 being opened they discovered to be full of pearls. The 
 commandant had evidently not come empty-handed from 
 the fort. There were also several chests containing 
 pieces-of-eight, and in the hold were twenty-odd jars 
 filled with gunpowder, and more than a hundred jars 
 of wine. 
 
 " Tis my counsel to fling 'em overboard as soon as it 
 be dark," said Amos. " 'Tis a goodish time since my 
 comrades have tasted strong liquor, and I fear me with 
 such plenty they might drink until they were drunken 
 and fit for nought. And Jan Biddle with wine in him 
 would be no less than a madman." 
 
 "Ay ; tell me, Amos, what know you of that same loud- 
 tongued mariner?" 
 
 "Why, sir, I know little. He do say he be an English- 
 man, and one time second mate on a Dutch privateer; 
 but what be the truth of it none can say. He speaks the 
 French and Dutch tongues as readily as English, and 
 has suffered at the hands of the Spaniards even more 
 than most, by reason of his unruly tongue. He is loved 
 by none, but hath a certain power over men; and I 
 rejoice that he is not chosen for mate aboard this vessel." 
 
 "I like not his looks. Your comrades have done wisely, 
 
 207
 
 ON THE SPANISH MAIN 
 
 I trow, in rejecting him. And now, what think you of 
 the chances of our purposed voyage, Amos?" 
 
 "My heart, I warrant we can sail her merrily across 
 the great ocean, and with favoring winds may hope to 
 see the blessed shores of England in a matter of two 
 months. And my soul hungers for the sight of the old 
 cliffs. By the mercy of God, who hath marvelously pros- 
 pered our doings, we will yet again come to haven in 
 our dear native land." 
 
 "We will new christen her for luck, Amos. Her pres- 
 ent name I can not say the words." 
 
 "Nuestra Senora del Baria a papist name, sir, 'Our 
 Lady of I know not what. What name shall we give 
 her?" 
 
 "What say you to Mirandolaf Our comrade the mon- 
 key has without doubt gotten him away to the woods, 
 and there, mayhap, found old friends of his kind. I hold 
 the beast in affection, Amos, and would fain keep him 
 in remembrance." 
 
 "The Mirandola it shall be, sir; 'tis a fair sounding 
 name, and, if I may speak my mind, befits a tight little 
 craft somewhat better than a heathen monkey. Though 
 i' fecks, I'd liever call her by a plainer name ; yet it shall 
 be as you say." 
 
 "And now, a matter that troubles me, Amos: what 
 shall we do with the Spaniards, our captives?" 
 
 "Be jowned if I would let the knaves trouble me. Let 
 'em loose afore we sail. There is much food, I doubt not, 
 
 208
 
 VAE VICTIS 
 
 in the fort, and abundance in the woods around. The 
 knaves will not starve ; t'ud be no great loss if they did ; 
 and belike a vessel will come to this place ere many days 
 be past, and then they can tell the tale, with raging and 
 cursing that will harm us not a jot." 
 
 "It shall be done. And it will be well, I trow, to raze 
 this fort to the ground. It has been built with the blood 
 and sweat of our comrades ; to destroy it will be a just 
 reprisal." 
 
 "Ay, and make the knaves to dismantle it with their 
 own hands. I would fain scourge their naked backs as 
 they have scourged mine, many's the time." 
 
 "And the ordnance?" 
 
 "Burst it asunder. Why should we leave it sound, to 
 belch its shot, mayhap, on English craft some day? 
 God-a-mercy, 'twas a famous shot of yours, sir, that sent 
 the mainmast by the board, and I don't grudge it 'ee 
 that your aim was truer than mine. 'Tis twenty-five 
 year since I served the ordnance on the Anne Gallant." 
 
 "And I had good practice on the Maid Marian. But 
 you have not forgot your cunning, Amos, and I warrant 
 if we have occasion to use the piece here in the stern 
 you will make good firing. Now 'tis time to return to 
 the fort; I would not that Jan Biddle should stir up the 
 rage of our people against those unhappy Spaniards, and 
 'tis not unlike, we being absent, he may do so." 
 
 "Ay, 'tis meet we trust not Jan Biddle overmuch. Let 
 us go, sir." 
 
 209
 
 ON THE SPANISH MAIN 
 
 They found on returning that Ned Whiddon had al- 
 ready gone into the forest with two or three men to 
 fell a tree for the mast. While he was absent on this 
 errand, Dennis set part of his company to collect all the 
 Spaniards' small arms and pile them in readiness for con- 
 veyance to the vessel, others to ram excessive charges 
 of powder into the guns, and a third gang to superintend 
 the Spaniards in their enforced task of dismantling the 
 fort. Great charges of powder, of which there was an 
 ample store, were placed in barrels in each of the round 
 towers, to be fired at the last moment, for Dennis did 
 not wish to risk an explosion, which must be heard many 
 miles away, until he was on the point of sailing out on 
 the Mirandola. 
 
 The work of preparation was continued throughout 
 the day, with brief pauses for meals. Ned Whiddon 
 and his party toiled with such good will that he was 
 able to announce, at nightfall, that after a little more 
 work in the morning the new mast would be ready for 
 stepping. This was especially good news, for in view 
 of the possible arrival of a Spanish vessel Dennis could 
 not feel secure until the Mirandola was fairly out to sea. 
 As soon as it was dark, Turnpenny and Copstone went 
 down to the vessel, and flung overboard the whole store 
 of wine save a few jars which they kept for emergencies. 
 The Spaniards, of whom about thirty had survived the 
 fight, were again shut up in the houses of the command- 
 ant and the officers, and Dennis arranged that a careful 
 
 2IO
 
 VAE VICTIS 
 
 watch should be kept through the night. Then, tired 
 out with his long labors, he gladly threw himself upon 
 a couch in one of the towers, and slept soundly until the 
 dawn. 
 
 In the morning, as he went round the battlements with 
 Turnpenny to see that the guns had all been manned 
 with bursting charges, he was seized with a whim to 
 preserve two of them and carry them home to England. 
 
 "Methinks they would make rare trophies for our 
 folks to marvel at," he said to Amos with a smile. 
 "What say you, Amos? Would not one look exceeding 
 well on the Hoe at Plymouth? And I think not Holies, 
 my steward, who is keeping my little place at Shaston 
 warm for me till I attain to man's estate I think not 
 even he, Puritan as he is, would find cause why one 
 should not stand at my gates." 
 
 "A rare conceit, sir. Pray you one be the saker stolen 
 by the knaves from the Jesus; t'other might be the demi- 
 culverin you fired so famously. They'd be good ballast 
 aboard, moreover; pearls are of greater price than 
 weight; and there be room enough and to spare in the 
 hold." 
 
 With some trouble the two pieces were lowered over 
 the battlements to the quay and hoisted aboard the vessel, 
 where Ned Whiddon and his crew were already at work 
 stepping the mast and overhauling the rigging. By mid- 
 day Whiddon declared with pride that the Mirandola was 
 ready for sea. A great cheer greeted the announcement. 
 
 211
 
 ON THE SPANISH MAIN 
 
 No time was lost in carrying stores, water, arms and 
 ammunition on board. When all was safely stowed, 
 Dennis, with Turnpenny as interpreter, had a final inter- 
 view with the commandant, to whom he made known 
 his intention of blowing up the towers of the fort, but 
 leaving the buildings in the center of the inclosure intact. 
 He said also that the native pearl-fishers, with the 
 maroons, had elected to coast along the shore in their 
 canoes until they reached a settlement of their own 
 people. Being well provided with arms, they could 
 defend themselves against pursuit, even if there should 
 be any disposition on the part of the Spaniards to 
 attempt to capture them. 
 
 Then, one after another, the guns were fired and burst 
 to atoms by means of long trains of powder. Last of 
 all the charges in the towers were exploded, and as the 
 masonry toppled and fell after each thunderous roar, 
 the little company greeted the destruction with a storm 
 of cheers. When Dennis and his comrades turned their 
 backs on the place and went aboard the Mirandola, they 
 left the once stronghold a heap of ruins, amid which 
 the Spaniards were already moving about in desolation 
 and despair. 
 
 212
 
 CHAPTER XV 
 
 A STERN CHASE 
 
 The Mir and ola was towed out of the little harbor 
 by maroons and Indians in their canoes, and beat out 
 to sea against a nor'-nor'easterly wind. Thanks to Ned 
 Whiddon and his comrades, the bark was in capital trim, 
 and the crew, now after many days free men afloat, 
 were at the top of cheerfulness and jollity. The long 
 voyage home had no terrors for them. They were all 
 sturdy mariners, accustomed to venture their lives on the 
 deep. They had hardly weathered the headland to the 
 east and stood away for the mouth of the gulf before 
 Hugh Curder began to troll a ditty. 
 
 "Lustily, lustily, let us sail forth; 
 
 The wind trim doth serve us, it blows from the north; 
 
 All things we have ready, and nothing we want 
 
 To furnish our ship that rideth hereby; 
 Victuals and weapons they be nothing scant, 
 
 Like worthy mariners ourselves we will try, 
 Lustily, oh, lustily!" 
 
 "Oh, 'tis good to hear 'ee, Hugh!" cried Turn- 
 penny. "And I do wish we had a crowdy-kit aboard, for 
 I mind me Tom Copstone can ply the bow, and a merry 
 tune would set our feet a-jog. To it again, Hugh ; open 
 
 213
 
 ON THE SPANISH MAIN 
 
 your thropple, man, and we'll bear our burden, every 
 man of us." 
 
 And Hugh Curder, after "hawking and spitting," as 
 he said, because his "wynd-pipe" was "summat scrannied 
 for want o' use," struck up again: 
 
 "Her flags be new-trimmed, set flaunting aloft " 
 
 "Not so," interrupted Ned Whiddon. "We bean't 
 got no flags." 
 
 "Pegs ! 'tis in the ditty, Ned," cried Turnpenny. "None 
 but a ninny-hammer would look for sober truth in a 
 ditty. Heed him not, Hugh; to it again." 
 
 "Her flags be new-trimmed, set flaunting aloft, 
 
 Our ship for swift swimming, oh, she doth excel! 
 
 We fear no enemies, we've escaped them oft; 
 
 Of all ships that swimmeth she beareth the bell, 
 Lustily, oh, lustily! 
 
 "And here is a master excelleth in skill, 
 
 And our master's mate he is not to seek; 
 
 And here is a boatswain will do his good will, 
 And here is a ship-boy we never had leak. 
 Lustily, oh, lustily!" 
 
 "You be the ship-boy, Hugh, seeing you be the young- 
 est of us," said Whiddon. "And you've a proper breast 
 for a singing-boy." 
 
 "Now the last stanza, Hugh," cried Turnpenny. " 'If 
 fortune then fail not!' but my scrimpy voice murders 
 it Sing up, man!" 
 
 214
 
 "If fortune then fail not, and our next voyage prove, 
 We will return merely and make good cheer, 
 And hold all together as friends linked in love, 
 
 The cans shall be filled with wine, ale and beer, 
 Lustily, oh, lustily!" 
 
 " Tis not worth a crim," growled Jan Biddle, when 
 the song was ended. " 'Wine, ale, and beer' where is 
 it? I'd give a week o' life for a gallon o' homebrewed." 
 
 "Ay, and what then!" said Gabriel Batten. "Sing 
 the song of ale, Hugh." 
 
 "Back and side go bare, go bare, 
 Both foot and hand go cold " 
 
 "Nay, not that one; 'tis over long, and'll make us 
 too drouthy. Seeing we have no ale, t'ud be cruel 
 to sing the praises of it so feelingly. Nay, sing the 
 ditty that serves for warning; 'twill better fit our case." 
 
 Hugh Curder began : 
 
 "Ale makes many a man to make his head have knocks, 
 
 And she makes many a man to sit in the stocks ; 
 
 And ale makes many a man to hang upon the gallows " 
 
 "Oh, shut his mouth!" cried Biddle testily. "We'll 
 all be glumping if we list to such trash. Hallo for the 
 wind to change, for with this nor'easter blowing we'll 
 never get clear of the coast." 
 
 The vessel was indeed making slow progress, beating 
 out against the strong wind. Dennis, though elected 
 captain, had little to do with the actual handling of 
 
 215
 
 ON THE SPANISH MAIN 
 
 the ship: in those days the captain was not always a 
 navigator. But the Mirandola was in good hands. Both 
 Whiddon and Batten were practised seamen, and in sea- 
 manship as distinguished from navigation Turnpenny 
 was incomparable. They had found in the cabin a chart 
 of the coast and^the neighboring sea, by means of which 
 they avoided the shoals and made without mishap toward 
 the mouth of the gulf. Dennis and Turnpenny examined 
 the chart carefully to see if they could distinguish the 
 island they had named Maiden Isle. Several small islands 
 were marked on it as mere dots without names, and they 
 could not for a long time decide which of them was 
 Maiden Isle ; but Turnpenny at last fixed on one of them, 
 and his conjecture was proved to be correct in the even- 
 ing. Whiddon had set the course by Turnpenny's sug- 
 gestion, and just before dark the vessel skirted the south- 
 eastern corner of the island where he and Dennis had 
 met so strangely. 
 
 Looking at the chart, Dennis wondered how the Maid 
 Marian had escaped wrecking a dozen times during the 
 hurricane that finally cast her up on the western shore. 
 There was marked a good open channel for vessels of any 
 draft south and southeast of the island, but, as he had 
 guessed, the sea to the north and west was practically 
 unnavigable except by small craft. The Mirandola gave 
 the island a wide berth in passing ; the wind was freshen- 
 ing, and there were signs of heavy weather. Dennis felt 
 a little regret at leaving the island unvisited, and aban- 
 
 216
 
 A STERN CHASE 
 
 doning the relics of his friends which he had saved from 
 the wreck; but, like every member of his party, he was 
 eager to lose sight of this hostile coast, and to gain the 
 wide ocean, where, given good luck, they would be secure 
 from Spanish molestation and have nothing to fear but 
 the ordinary chances of a long voyage. 
 
 They made little headway that night. Anxious as they 
 were to run out of the main track of Spanish commerce, 
 they felt the necessity of choosing a safe rather than a 
 short course, and especially of avoiding the network of 
 reefs and islands to leeward. In the blackest hours of 
 the night, indeed, they lay to, Turnpenny remarking that 
 it was better to lose a little time than to run the risk of 
 losing the vessel by a too bold navigation of unfamiliar 
 seas. 
 
 This caution proved to be justified, for the wind 
 shifted in the night ; and when at break of day she again 
 got under way they found that she had drifted danger- 
 ously near an island which, being very small, was not 
 marked on the chart. A light haze lay over the sea, but 
 it lifted soon, and then vast excitement was aroused on 
 board when the lookout shouted that he descried, under 
 the lee of the island, a vessel under full sail. Turnpenny 
 took a long look at her, and declared that she was a bark 
 somewhat larger than the Mirandola, though at the dis- 
 tance near four miles, he thought it was impossible to 
 be sure. 
 
 "Of what nation is she ?" asked Dennis. 
 
 217
 
 ON THE SPANISH MAIN 
 
 "No mortal man could say," returned Amos ; "but 'tis 
 a hundred to one she be a Spaniard, and we must either 
 fight or run." 
 
 "Think you she will see us, being so small a vessel?" 
 
 "None can tell that either. We must look to the worst. 
 She has the weather gage of us, and will of a surety over- 
 haul us if she does spy us, and then 'twill be too late to 
 run. Tis certain we can not fight her; our armament 
 will not suffice ; furthermore, from her size I reckon her 
 crew to be three or four times ours, and our men have no 
 mind to be captured and cast again into a Spanish dun- 
 geon." 
 
 "We must e'en run then/' said Dennis, with a sigh. 
 "That means we must put about?" 
 
 "True, and 'tis somewhat in our favor, for you per- 
 ceive the wind has shifted in the night to west-sou'west, 
 and we can run with the wind on our beam as well as 
 she." 
 
 Whiddon accordingly put the vessel about, and set the 
 course so that she could keep the island between herself 
 and the stranger. But in the course of the next hour 
 it was clear that the Mirandola had not escaped notice. 
 The stranger had weathered the island and was mani- 
 festly standing in pursuit. The crew of the Mirandola 
 watched her anxiously. They were but twenty-two all 
 told, five of them being French ; and although they were 
 all stout mariners with no lack of native courage, the 
 remembrance of their past sufferings did not incline them 
 
 218
 
 A STERN CHASE 
 
 to run risks. For some time it was doubtful whether the 
 pursuing vessel was or was not gaining; but as the day 
 wore on it became clearer that the Mirandola was being 
 outsailed. 
 
 " 'Tis a piece of rare good luck we had the wind against 
 us last night," said Turnpenny, "for in a straight chase 
 in the open we should have no chance against the critter, 
 whereas if we get back. among these islands we may give 
 her the slip." 
 
 "If we do not strike a reef and founder," replied 
 Dennis. 
 
 Here Turnpenny tried a device that he had often 
 seen practised on the Anne Gallant. He ordered two 
 men to go up to the cross-trees with a pulley-block ; they 
 rove a line through, and, hoisting up buckets of water, 
 saturated all the canvas. Then he put all the men on 
 to the lee braces, and so got the vessel to lie a point 
 nearer the wind. 
 
 The two maneuvers considerably increased her speed, 
 but, in spite of all that seamanship could do or devise, 
 the gap between the vessels sensibly diminished; the 
 pursuer loomed ever larger down to leeward. Then Jan 
 Biddle began to show himself in his true colors. Den- 
 nis had noticed that the man had attached to himself a 
 group of the wilder spirits among the crew, who with 
 an ill grace went about the duties assigned to them by 
 Whiddon, and upon whom, indeed, the mate called as 
 seldom as possible. When it became clear that the 
 
 219
 
 ON THE SPANISH MAIN 
 
 Mirandola was being surely overhauled, these men were 
 observed in close talk beneath the break of the poop. 
 By and by Biddle swaggered forward, followed by seven 
 or eight of his comrades, to where Whiddon and Turn- 
 penny stood, forward of the mainmast. Batten was at 
 the helm. 
 
 "Art mad, Ned Whiddon ?" cried Biddle in a hectoring 
 tone. "Dost think thou'rt a mariner? Crymaces! if we 
 trust to thee we'll be laid by the heels in the hold of 
 yonder craft ere night." 
 
 "Couldst do better, think 'ee?" asked Whiddon quietly. 
 
 "Better? Who but a slin-pole would have done as 
 'ee have done? There's but one way to 'scape out of the 
 clutches of the Spaniards, and that is to put the tiller 
 down. Come about and run for it. This craft's better 
 in reef than close-hauled." 
 
 "Know a fool by his folly," said Turnpenny. "Rule 
 your saucy tongue, Jan Biddle, and offer not to teach 
 your betters." 
 
 "Who be you to talk of betters, Amos Turnpenny 
 a sluddering rampallian like you? An' you will take no 
 counsel we'll e'en see to the manage of the vessel our- 
 selves. Here, comrades, this be enough of these joulter- 
 heads; let go the sheets; I will put the helm down and 
 we'll go round on the other tackle; we'll have no fools 
 over us, to bring us to harm." 
 
 But before one of the malcontents could step forward 
 to do his bidding, Turnpenny threw his arms around 
 
 220
 
 Biddle, lifted him clean off his feet, and flung him against 
 the bulwark, where he lay stunned. 
 
 "And I'll serve any man likewise that dares to raise 
 his voice in mutiny. Get about, you villains, and 'ware 
 lest you be clapped in irons and set a-wash in the bilge." 
 
 Dennis had hastened to Turnpenny's side at the first 
 sign of altercation. 
 
 "When the chase is over we will deal with these fel- 
 lows," he said quietly. "Meanwhile, Amos, is not that 
 our Maiden Isle on the lee-side ahead?" 
 
 "Surely it is, sir." 
 
 "Think you not 'twould serve us best, perhaps, to run 
 in among the reefs thereabouts? The bark could not 
 follow us." 
 
 "True, but we might strike and run aground any 
 moment, and lose our vessel and our lives withal." 
 
 "Ay, but we are being surely overhauled, and me- 
 seems 'twere better to take the risk of running aground 
 than to fall into the hands of the Spaniards. There is 
 a chance of our threading a way through, whereas the 
 stranger, being of greater draft, would not venture her 
 bottom among these uncharted shoals." 
 
 "Verily 'tis a wise thought if there be time. What 
 think 'ee, Ned? Yonder, mark 'ee, is the isle whereon 
 Master Hazelrig and I lived secure for a matter of 
 weeks, with food in plenty. Think 'ee there be time 
 to make the shallows afore the Spaniard comes within 
 shot of us?" 
 
 221
 
 ON THE SPANISH MAIN 
 
 "Ay, there be time enough, but I fear me we should 
 wreck our craft." 
 
 "There be no other way, Ned. And I warrant me I 
 could make a shift to steer a safe course inshore, because 
 'twas on the south side of the isle we landed from the 
 timber ship, and there, i' feks, be her masts see, Ned, 
 standing out a little above the sea." 
 
 "Then do 'ee take the tiller, Haymoss, and God save 
 us all." 
 
 Clearly the course of the Mirandola was being closely 
 watched on the pursuing vessel, for when, tacking in 
 obedience to the helm, she made direct for the south 
 of the island, there came a puff of smoke from the side 
 of the bark, and a shot plumped into the sea about two 
 cable-lengths astern. 
 
 " 'Twas over hurrisone, master don," said Turnpenny 
 with a chuckle; "and call me a Dutchman if 'ee ever 
 get to closer range." 
 
 He ran the little vessel cleverly inshore and steered 
 past the wreck of the timber ship. Then it occurred 
 to Dennis that there must be a practicable channel not 
 far to the west, or the Maid Marian would have gone 
 aground in the hurricane long before she did. At his 
 suggestion the Mirandola was kept on her course for 
 half a mile beyond the southernmost point of the island. 
 Then, as there was no time to take soundings, she was 
 put before the wind, with the object of gaining the north 
 of the island, where Dennis knew that if the pursuer 
 
 222
 
 A STERN CHASE 
 
 drew as much water as from her size seemed likely, 
 there was little chance of her being able to follow. 
 
 The confident bearing of Dennis and Turnpenny had 
 a cheering influence on the crew. Even Jan Biddle, 
 who had now recovered from his blow, and his cronies 
 seemed no longer inclined to quarrel with the handling 
 of the vessel. The pursuer was out of sight, hidden by 
 the bend of the shore. The Mirandola was making ex- 
 cellent sailing before the wind, and Dennis hoped that 
 if the good vessel could elude the Spaniard until dark, 
 there might be a good chance of her escaping any further 
 attentions. 
 
 The pursuer came in sight again just as the Mirandola 
 was approaching the rocky ridge which had been a bar- 
 rier to Dennis' exploration of the shore on his first day 
 on the island. He was rejoiced to see that in wearing 
 she had lost a little. Then a sudden idea struck him. 
 Beyond the ridge was the entrance to the gully, and up 
 the gully the broad pool in which the Maid Marian lay. 
 Would not the best course, after all, be to play a trick 
 on the pursuer? Why not try to run into the pool? 
 When the Mirandola had once rounded the shoulder of 
 the cliff she would again be almost out of sight; if she 
 would run into the gully the pursuers would almost 
 certainly suppose that she had fled round the northern 
 side of the island; and safe in the pool, she might lie 
 until the chase had been given up. He mentioned his 
 idea to Amos. 
 
 223
 
 ON THE SPANISH MAIN 
 
 "Be jowned if it bean't a right merry notion," cried 
 the mariner. 
 
 But none knew better the difficulty of steering the 
 vessel safely into the gully. There was no time for 
 consideration. If once she passed the entrance the vessel 
 could not beat back again before the pursuer came with- 
 in range. The slightest failure in Turnpenny's seaman- 
 ship would run the bark on the rocks. But the old 
 mariner knew the gully, and had calculated to a nicety 
 just what the Mirandola could do. With set lips and a 
 deep indentation between his brows he stood at the helm 
 and gave his orders to the men. 
 
 "Stand by the halliards," he cried, "and let go the 
 moment I say the word." 
 
 It was important to have plenty of way on the vessel, 
 for the instant she came to the headland the wind would 
 be taken out of her canvas. Easing the helm gently 
 over, Turnpenny called tp the men to let go as the 
 ship rounded the point; in a few moments the canvas 
 was all taken in, and with the way on her she glided 
 up the gully. 
 
 Within ten minutes from the time when the notion 
 first occurred to Dennis, the Mirandola lay side by side 
 with the wreck of the Maid Marian in the pool, invisible 
 from the open sea. 
 
 "Mum's the word," said Turnpenny when the anchor 
 had been dropped. "Muzzle your jaws for a while. 
 Master Hazelrig and me we knows this island, and we'll 
 
 224
 
 A STERN CHASE 
 
 mount the cliff yonder and see what the don Spaniard 
 makes of us now." 
 
 Leaving the men to swim ashore if they chose, Den- 
 nis and TuYnpenny sprang overboard, soon found their 
 footing, and scrambled up the rocks and the cliff, keep- 
 ing well under cover. When they reached the top they 
 saw the pursuer about three miles distant. She had 
 shortened sail, and was evidently inclined to give the 
 coast a wider berth than the Mirandola had done. It 
 was growing dusk when she came level with the gully, 
 standing about a mile from the shore. Her movements 
 for a time were erratic; clearly the people on board 
 distrusted the waters round the island and were some- 
 what perplexed as to the course taken by the fugitive. 
 At length they decided apparently to abandon the pur- 
 suit, for she stood away to windward, and the two 
 watchers breathed again. 
 
 225
 
 CHAPTER XVI 
 
 JAN BIDDLE, MASTER 
 
 "God be praised!" said Turnpenny fervently; "we 
 have escaped out of the hands of the enemy." 
 
 "And we find ourselves once more on Maiden Isle, 
 the which I never thought to set foot on more. I am 
 glad of it, Amos, for now that we have a bark fit to 
 carry us over the sea, I would fain take with us certain 
 things that belonged to my dear comrades. They will 
 be cherished by their sorrowing folks at home." 
 
 "True, the sight of such belongings of the dead and 
 gone do have a morsel of comfort in it. And, moreover, 
 we can take some of our stores, for though our own 
 monkey ship be not ill provided, yet the victuals be Span- 
 ish, and 'twill make new men of our comrades to give 
 'em a rasher of bacon now and again." 
 
 "Ay, but why monkey ship, Amos?" 
 
 "Why, sir, I can not put my tongue to the name your 
 fancy gave the vessel, and to my thinking it is not to 
 compare with Anne Gallant, and Jesus, and Minion, and 
 other craft I have served aboard, to say nothing of the 
 Susans and Bettys that are well beknown in Plimworth 
 Sound."
 
 JAN BIDDLE, MASTER 
 
 "Well, have your way. To my ears Mirandola hath 
 a pleasant sound, and it will always keep me in mind 
 of my good friend. But 'tis time we returned to our 
 comrades." 
 
 When they reached the entrance of the chine they 
 found that the crew had all come ashore, save one or two 
 who were curiously examining the wreck of the Maid 
 Marian. They could not refrain from shouting a glad 
 "Huzza!" when they learned that the pursuing vessel 
 was standing away. Jan Biddle and one of his cronies 
 had been rummaging in Dennis' hut and sheds, finding 
 little to reward them, however, almost everything hav- 
 ing been transferred to Skeleton Cave. 
 
 Night was drawing on apace, and though some of 
 the crew were for setting sail in the darkness, the major- 
 ity agreed with Dennis that it would be better to defer 
 their departure until the following night. This plan 
 would give them a whole day's rest; it would render it 
 less likely that the pursuer would be still in the neighbor- 
 hood ; and it would enable them to carry more water on 
 board, which was desirable in view of the possibility of 
 a protracted voyage. Dennis and Amos decided to oc- 
 cupy their old hut ; the men were given their choice 
 of the sheds, now all but empty, and the huts erected 
 by the maroons near the logwood grove. They all de- 
 clared for sleeping ashore rather than on board ship, 
 Hugh Curder and Gabriel Batten, however, volunteering 
 to remain on deck as a night watch. 
 
 227
 
 ON THE SPANISH MAIN 
 
 Next day, after the stores and things which Dennis 
 wished to take home had been transferred from the 
 cave to the vessel, and several barrels of fresh water from 
 the spring in the cliff had been placed in her hold, the 
 men broke up into little groups and wandered about the 
 island, reveling in their liberty and in the abundance 
 of fruit which they could have for the picking. Several 
 times Dennis went to the cliff-top on one side of the 
 island, and Amos on the other side, to scan the horizon 
 for a sail, but neither saw any sign of one. In the 
 afternoon Dennis ventured to sound Sir Martin's trum- 
 pet as a signal of recall, and the men came dropping 
 back in ones and twos and threes in anticipation of de- 
 parture. 
 
 The tide was at flood, and Dennis had just given the 
 order to go aboard, when Tom Copstone suddenly ex- 
 claimed : 
 
 "Zuggers! Where be Gabriel Batten?" 
 
 "Is he not here?" asked Dennis. 
 
 "Not a ghost of him!" said Amos, looking round 
 on the company. 
 
 "He were always a ninny-hammer," said Jan Biddle 
 angrily. "Never did I know such a man for simples and 
 other trash. Sure he be roaming somewheres with his 
 nose to the ground, trying to smell out some herb that 
 will heal a scratch or cure a distemper." 
 
 "Blow up the trumpet for en," suggested Copstone. 
 "Gabr'el be a vitty lad none the worse for not being 
 
 228
 
 JAN BIDDLE, MASTER 
 
 made so rampageous as 'ee, Jan Biddle, for all he do 
 go wool-gathering at whiles." 
 
 Biddle glared at the speaker, but said no more. Hugh 
 Curder, being the man with the brazen lungs, blew a 
 loud blast on the trumpet which set the cliffs and the 
 chine reverberating. They waited; the wanderer must 
 have gone far indeed, if he was out of earshot of that 
 strident blare. But as time went on and he did not 
 appear, Dennis began to be somewhat vexed. 
 
 " 'Twas thoughtless of the man," he said ; "already 
 is the tide beginning to ebb; in two hours it will be 
 impossible to embark this night, and that entails upon 
 us the loss of another day." 
 
 "Embark without him," growled Biddle. "What is 
 he that he should keep a score of good men waiting 
 his pleasure?" 
 
 "Nay, nay," said Dennis. "We can not leave him here. 
 You have had your sufferings and sorrows, from the 
 like of which God save us all; but is there a man of 
 you that hath dwelt alone upon an island, spending nights 
 and days without the sight of a face, or the sound of 
 a voice? That have I done, and not willingly shall I 
 subject a man to a like solitude. There is still a little 
 space during which the tide will serve. Let us scatter 
 in parties, some going this way, some that, and halloo; 
 perchance some of us may light on our comrade." 
 
 The suggestion was adopted; only Jan Biddle and 
 his few particular friends went about the search grudg-
 
 ON THE SPANISH MAIN 
 
 ingly. But though the men scoured the island from shore 
 to shore, and kept up the quest to the very verge of 
 nightfall, long after the tide had run so low that the 
 idea of setting sail had to be abandoned for that day, 
 they discovered no trace of the straggler, and returned 
 weary and irritable when the trumpet recalled them. 
 
 "He may come in by and by," said Dennis cheerfully. 
 "If not, we must e'en take up the search in the morning. 
 We shall have a whole day wherein to pursue it. Let 
 us now get our supper and commend ourselves and our 
 comrades to God." 
 
 "Odspitikins !" cried Jan Biddle. "What did I say! 
 What a captain is this! Here we be, twenty-one souls, 
 raped up here for one slummaking micher not worth a 
 varden." 
 
 "My heart!" shouted Amos. "You were best keep 
 a still tongue in your noddle, Jan Biddle, or with the 
 captain's leave I'll clap 'ee in irons the instant we go 
 aboard, and keep 'ee under hatches for a sluddering 
 mutineer ay, and larrup 'ee first, I warrant 'ee." 
 
 Biddle's experience of the strength of Turnpenny's 
 arm did not encourage him to repeat his protest; but 
 when the supper was spread on the rocks above the 
 pool, he carried all his portion to a place apart, and 
 nursed his wrath among a small group of his comrades 
 who followed him. The malcontents numbered eight 
 in all, and four of these were Frenchmen, with whom 
 Biddle could converse freely in their own tongue. 
 
 230
 
 JAN BIDDLE, MASTER 
 
 Again they slept ashore, except the two who had 
 been selected to keep watch on the vessel. The precau- 
 tion seemed hardly necessary, for it was unlikely that 
 a hostile ship would appear in the night; but Turn- 
 penny had suggested that it was well to keep up the 
 customs observed at sea. The men chosen for this night's 
 watch were two steady fellows named William Hawk 
 and Luke Fenton. 
 
 Dennis lay awake, for some time, talking with Amos 
 about the missing man. Though he had maintained a 
 cheerful composure before the crew, he was in reality 
 not a little vexed at the delay caused by the thoughtless- 
 ness of Gabriel Batten. 
 
 "Is it true, what Biddle said," he asked, "about Bat- 
 ten's madness for gathering simples?" 
 
 "Ay, 'tis true. He be a vitty lad, as Torn Copstone 
 said, and a good seaman, quiet withal; but he has a 
 maggot, and 'tis that, without a doubt, that has led him 
 a-roaming. There be a time for everything, and though 
 I do not deny that Gabriel's skill in simples has ofttimes 
 served us well, 'tis not to be wondered at that the men 
 make a pucker about it." 
 
 "Well, we must find him to-morrow. We can not sail 
 away without him; why, there is not even a Mirandola 
 here now to bear him company." Dennis' voice rang with 
 determination. 
 
 "Be jowned if I don't ballirag en to-morrow for his 
 hanticks, od-rat-em!" 
 
 231
 
 ON THE SPANISH MAIN 
 
 Dennis passed a restless night, waking often, to wonder 
 what had become of the wanderer. He resolved to set 
 out himself as soon as dawn broke, and take advant- 
 age of his knowledge of the island to search thoroughly. 
 Finding himself unable to sleep again, he got up while 
 the chine was still in darkness, and walked to the edge 
 of the cliff overlooking the pool. In the gloom he could 
 just see the dark form of the Maid Marian; but then he 
 started, rubbed his eyes, looked again, and felt a shock 
 of amazement when he realized that the other vessel 
 was no longer there. Next moment it flashed upon him 
 that she must have dragged her moorings and floated 
 away on the very last of the ebb-tide, and the fact that 
 no alarm had been given seemed to show that the 
 watchers had fallen asleep, overcome by the sweltering 
 heat of the tropical night. 
 
 Calling to Amos, he set off at full speed down the 
 cliffs toward the opening of the gully, narrowly escap- 
 ing a serious fall in the darkness. He was much relieved 
 to see, on rounding the shoulder of the cliff, the dark 
 hull of the vessel in front of him. The tide was so 
 low that it was marvelous she had floated so far with- 
 out grounding, and the thought that she might strike 
 a reef and cause further delay while repairs were made 
 prompted a vigorous shout, to waken the neglectful 
 watch ere it was too late. But there came no answering 
 hail from the vessel, and fearing that, even if she did 
 not run aground, the men on board might not have 
 
 232
 
 JAN BIDDLE, MASTER 
 
 sufficient seamanship to bring her back in safety, he 
 dived into the water and struck out in her wake. 
 
 As he did so, he heard footsteps behind him, two or 
 three voices, and the sound of another splash. Evidently 
 some one had followed him. The Mirandola was moving 
 very slowly; the motion of the tide was indeed almost 
 imperceptible, and Dennis, being a good swimmer, soon 
 came under her counter. Catching hold, by a happy 
 chance as he thought, of a rope that had formed her 
 mooring cable, he swarmed hand over hand up the side 
 and on to the deck. But no sooner had his feet touched 
 the planks than two figures sprang toward him, a blanket 
 was thrown over his head, and before he could utter 
 a sound he was flung down, gagged and pinioned. 
 
 Even through the thick folds of the blanket Dennis 
 was able to hear a great scuffling on board within a 
 few seconds of his own discomfiture. Then all was 
 still, except for the muffled tones of his captors' voices. 
 He could not hear what they said, but it was not long 
 before he knew from the greater motion of the vessel 
 that they must have hoisted sail. Not for a moment 
 did he doubt the meaning of it all. Who but Jan Biddle 
 and his fellow malcontents would have had the daring 
 to run off with the vessel? The man was a ruffian in 
 looks, and Dennis had already had several evidences 
 of his turbulent spirit. And, lying helpless and half 
 smothered on the deck, he did not have to seek far for 
 the motive of the act. It was not merely chagrin at 
 
 233
 
 ON THE SPANISH MAIN 
 
 being denied a rank; the man knew that there were 
 pearls in the hold, a valuable treasure, and his treachery 
 was prompted by cupidity. He had supposed, Dennis 
 suspected, that as a simple mariner among the crew 
 he would get but a small portion of the treasure when 
 it should be divided, and had persuaded some of them to 
 make this attempt to secure the whole. Angry as he was, 
 Dennis could not withhold a certain admiration for the 
 man's daring; and then he fell a-wondering why he 
 had not been struck on the head and killed outright; a 
 ruffian like Biddle would hardly have spared him from 
 any feeling of compunction. 
 
 How long Dennis lay half stifled under the blanket 
 he could not tell. Hours seemed to have passed when 
 it was at last removed, and he could breathe freely. 
 And there, beside him, lay Amos Turnpenny, gagged like 
 himself. Jan Biddle and several of his comrades stood 
 over them, grinning with malicious triumph. 
 
 "Pegs, Captain," said the man, "you do seem betoatled. 
 Thought the vessel had broke a-loose, I reckon. And 
 so she had eh, comrades?" 
 
 "Ho, ho!" laughed the men, vastly appreciating their 
 leader's joke. 
 
 "Now, we be eight, young master Captain, stout fel- 
 lows, but a small crew for this vessel. You be in our 
 power, you and Haymoss, too, for all he be a rare 
 fustilugs; and down a-hold lie Bill Hawk and Luke 
 Fenton, that kept but a ninny-watch to be sure. Where- 
 
 234
 
 JAN BIDDLE, MASTER 
 
 fore we be twelve all told, enough for the manage of 
 this craft. Haymoss will not be boatswain, to be sure, 
 nor you captain ; I be captain ; boatswain is French Mich- 
 el yonder; but 'ee can take your choice help to work 
 this vessel, or walk the plank. Now I will loose your 
 gags, and you and Haymoss can talk the matter over, 
 and when you've made up your minds we'll unbind 'ee, 
 or tumble 'ee overboard, according." 
 
 Left to themselves, Dennis and Turnpenny were not 
 long in deciding on their course of action. They were 
 at present outnumbered; they had to accept the inevi- 
 table. Their assistance would be very valuable in the 
 working of the vessel, and Biddle, in spite of his assured 
 bearing, was by no means so confident in his seamanship 
 and skill as he appeared to be. After his treacherous 
 conduct he had no reason to suppose that Turnpenny 
 would lift a finger to make good his deficiences; on the 
 other hand, it was not to the interest of the prisoners 
 that the ship should come to grief through mishandling, 
 and Biddle knew that in extremity Turnpenny's instinct 
 of seamanship would forbid him to hold aloof. 
 
 But while Dennis and the mariner agreed that they 
 had no choice but to accept the position with what grace 
 they might, they resolved to bide their time for getting 
 the vessel again under their control and returning to 
 the island. 
 
 "My poor comrades and me be parted again," said 
 Amos with a sigh. " 'Tis true it will not be so bad 
 
 235
 
 ON THE SPANISH MAIN 
 
 for them upon the island as 'twas for us. But there 
 they be and there they must bide until we can fetch 'em 
 off." 
 
 "And mayhap the Spaniards will land before we can 
 get back to them, and then God help the poor fellows! 
 There is little chance we two can overpower these eight 
 villains ; we can but hope on." 
 
 Having acquainted Biddle with their decision, they 
 were cast loose, and sat beneath the break of the poop 
 watching their captors' attempts at navigation. The 
 vessel had rounded the easternmost point of the island 
 and was running before a south-southwesterly wind. 
 But it made little progress; as the day wore on, the 
 breeze died away, and the island was still in sight as 
 the sun gradually sank in the western sky. The muti- 
 neers cast somewhat anxious glances around, as if fear- 
 ing that the comrades they had betrayed might even 
 now find some means of following them. But as the 
 island gradually faded into the dusk their spirits rose, 
 and having broached one of the few jars of wine which 
 had been left in the cabin, they began to boast of the 
 success of their trick. Biddle even acquainted the prison- 
 ers with the manner in which it had been carried out. 
 In the darkness they had surprised the watch on board, 
 and had cut the cable mooring the vessel to a tree at the 
 side of the gully; then seven of them had lowered the 
 jolly-boat and in it towed the ship past the shoulder of 
 the cliff until the sails caught the wind and it was car- 
 
 236
 
 JAN BIDDLE, MASTER 
 
 ried free of the shore. He told Dennis exultantly that 
 if he had swum out three or four minutes earlier the 
 plot would have been defeated, for only he was then 
 on board, at the helm. But just before Dennis scrambled 
 on board the others had clambered up by the fore chains, 
 and his cry and plunge having been heard, there had 
 been time to arrange for his reception. 
 
 The crescent moon which had somewhat favored 
 the attack on the fort had now increased in size and 
 threw a thin silvery light upon the sea. Biddle, among 
 a little group of his comrades, was still recounting his 
 achievement for the benefit of Dennis and Turnpenny 
 when the lookout shouted that he spied a vessel to wind- 
 ward. 
 
 "What care I for a vessel to windward!" cried the 
 man. "We'll give her the slip in the dark. I, Jan Biddle, 
 be captain now; ay, what did Hugh Curder sing t'other 
 day? 
 
 " 'Here is a master excelleth in skill, 
 
 And our master's mate he is not to seek/ 
 
 That be Dick Rackstraw, Haymoss, a merry soul, not 
 a glumping galliment like 'ee. 
 
 " 'And here is a boatswain will do his good will ' 
 
 Not you, Haymoss; you be boatswain no longer; 'tis 
 French Michel, a deal better man. 
 "'And here is a ship-boy ' 
 
 Why, hang me if we won't make a ship-boy of our noble 
 
 237
 
 ON THE SPANISH MAIN 
 
 captain, comrades. Tis a stripling, to be sure, and I 
 warrant will be none the worse for a smitch o' tar on 
 his fingers. Yes, we'll make him ship-boy, we will so. 
 Ho! ho! 
 
 "'And here is a ship-boy '" 
 
 But his mirth and the gleeful shouts of the others were 
 suddenly checked when the lookout cried that he saw a 
 second, and then a third vessel. Biddle sprang up with 
 an oath and ran to the bows. What he saw did not less- 
 en his alarm. The three strangers were coming upon 
 a broad front; half a mile between them. They were 
 evidently bringing a freshening breeze with them, for they 
 had not been visible when darkness first fell. It was clear 
 to a mariner's eye that the bark would have to show her 
 best sailing powers if she was to escape. She had been 
 sailing under foresail and mainsail only, but now in 
 frantic haste the crew, in obedience to Biddle's orders, 
 set the topsails and the topgallants. But before the 
 effect of this was apparent the approaching ships had 
 crept up within gun range. It was not long in doubt 
 whether they had seen the Mirandola and were making 
 straight for her. A flash was seen from the bows of 
 one of the vessels; a few seconds afterward a muffled 
 roar was heard. 
 
 "Blank charge !" said Turnpenny to Dennis. " 'Tis a 
 word of warning." 
 
 Biddle only shouted a defiant curse. The bark was 
 
 238
 
 JAN BIDDLE, MASTER 
 
 now feeling the full force of the wind, and was making 
 good headway. It appeared likely that, running before 
 the wind, she could hold her own with the strangers. 
 A little later another gun was fired, and this time with 
 no harmless intent, for there was a great splash in the 
 water a little ahead of the Mirandola on the starboard 
 side. After a short interval, a third discharge shook the 
 air, and the mutineers raised an excellent shout when they 
 saw the splash some distance astern. It was clear that, 
 if the guns had been fired with the same elevation, the 
 chase was drawing away. The dropping of a fourth and 
 fifth shot still farther astern left no room for doubt. 
 
 "What say you now, master boatswain as was !" cried 
 Biddle triumphantly. "Bean't Jan Biddle as good a 
 mariner as Haymoss Turnpenny? 
 
 " 'Here be a master excelleth in skill.' " 
 
 "My heart! it be a true saying, don't halloo till 'ee be 
 out o' the wood," said Amos grimly. 
 
 "Zuggers! But you be a molkit, Haymoss, a molly- 
 caudle, to be sure. Go aft, Haymoss, and cuddle the 
 ship-boy and say your prayers." 
 
 Turnpenny raised his arm to strike the insolent fellow, 
 but Dennis whispered him to let it pass ; there was noth- 
 ing to be gained by a fight at the present moment, even 
 supposing they prevailed against the odds. 
 
 Hour after hour the chase continued. The moon went 
 down, but still the three vessels could be seen in the dim 
 
 239
 
 ON THE SPANISH MAIN 
 
 starlight. Clearly the Mirandola, good sailer as she was, 
 could not shake them off. Biddle ceased to boast; his 
 blustering confidence was changing to dismay, for he 
 now perceived that, though he had drawn farther and 
 farther away from the vessel that had fired, her consort 
 to windward was becoming more clearly visible. He had 
 not reckoned on so obstinate a chase; moreover, being 
 unable to read a chart, he had no idea whither the vessel 
 was heading. There was no chance of doubling. To 
 alter the course would be to lose time, and allow the 
 persistent pursuer to make upon her. She seemed indeed 
 to be gradually decreasing the distance between them, 
 though the other two were out of sight. 
 
 So the chase went on through the hours of darkness, 
 and daybreak showed two vessels far astern, but the 
 third without doubt creeping up slowly but surely. 
 Biddle, weary with the long night's work, was in a sullen 
 rage; the other men watched the pursuer with undis- 
 guised terror ; Dennis and Turnpenny, holding themselves 
 aloof, looked on with curiosity and something of amuse- 
 ment. 
 
 "Jan Biddle be no fool," said Turnpenny once. "I 
 could not have handled the craft better myself. But 'tis 
 not an end." 
 
 Then, when the spirits of the crew were depressed to 
 the lowest, an early morning mist settled down upon the 
 sea, blotting the pursuer from sight. 
 
 "Jaykle! 'tis a mercy!" cried Biddle, rousing himself, 
 
 240
 
 JAN BIDDLE, MASTER 
 
 He instantly changed the course of the vessel. 
 
 "We'll fool them this mizzly morn," he said. "Mum's 
 the word now, comrades." 
 
 Dead silence was maintained on board, and for some 
 hours the bark made steady headway due north through 
 the mist. Dennis could not -but admire the mutineer's 
 fine recklessness. Without any sure knowledge of his 
 bearings he held the vessel steadily to the wind, though 
 she might at any moment strike a coral reef or even run, 
 aground on one of the innumerable islets that studded the 
 gulf. He was bent only on escaping the dreaded grip 
 of the Spaniards. 
 
 At length the fog, dissipated by the increasing heat 
 of the mounting sun, began to clear. The crew strained 
 their eyes through the eddying mist, to assure themselves 
 that the pursuer, as they hoped, had been deluded by the 
 change of course. But they were appalled, and looked 
 from one to another with a gasp of dismay when they 
 saw, less than half a league distant, a large Spanish gal- 
 leon holding exactly the same course as themselves. Far 
 down on the southern horizon another sail could be seen. 
 
 "What I'd have done myself," said Turnpenny to Den- 
 nis. "The Spanish skipper be no fool, either. When 
 the mist came down he guessed the maneuvers of Master 
 Jan, and afore he was closed in by it he had time to 
 signal the others to make off, one east, t'other sou'east, 
 while he held on the same course, thereby making sure 
 that we'd still be in sight of one or other of 'em when 
 
 241
 
 ON THE SPANISH MAIN 
 
 the mist lifted. Ah! lookeedesee, sir; there's a flag 
 a-running up the galleon's forepeak. Tis a signal to 
 the others to come and join the chase. Be jowned if 
 Jan Biddle hasn't got to run the race all over again !"
 
 CHAPTER XVII 
 
 THE DEMI-CULVERIN 
 
 Jan Biddle's face was the image of despairing rage 
 when he saw how he had been outwitted. But he stuck 
 gamely to the helm. The Mirandola was now carrying 
 every stitch of canvas possible ; her only chance, and that 
 but a slight one, was to fly on before the wind. Dennis 
 was tingling with excitement. Here was the bark, cut- 
 ting through the water at a spanking rate; there the 
 larger galleon, speeding after her under press of sail, 
 and two other vessels equally large coming up from the 
 south. He had forgotten that he was a prisoner for- 
 gotten everything but the fact that the implacable enemy 
 was at his heels. 
 
 Suddenly he saw the galleon luff up in the wind, and 
 noticed a lift of the foresail. 
 
 "Now she's at us!" cried Amos at his elbow, scarcely 
 less excited. 
 
 From the bows of the galleon came a spout of white 
 smoke, blown back amid the sails and rigging, and dis- 
 appearing in a long, wispy trail to leeward. The report 
 of a gun followed close, and the shot plumped into the 
 sea less than twenty yards astern. 
 
 243
 
 ON THE SPANISH MAIN 
 
 "Be jowned if it do not put me in mind of brave doings 
 on the Anne Gallant," said Turnpenny. " 'Twas well 
 aimed; an' they get our range, 'tis heigh for our pearls 
 and pieces-of-eight." 
 
 A second shot came, falling about the same distance 
 short of the mark. A third and fourth followed at inter- 
 vals, neither hitting the vessel, each failure greeted with 
 a yell from the crew, who seemed now to have lost their 
 terror in the sheer excitement of the chase. On swept 
 the gallant Mirandola, showers of spray flashing over 
 her bows, her slender masts swaying and creaking under 
 the stress of her bellying canvas. Then a shot whistled 
 over the masthead. 
 
 1 "Too high, too high !" shouted Amos. "She's got our 
 range npw to a surety ; would they but depress the gun 
 and our cockle-shell would be shivered to splinters. Jan 
 Biddle be a better man than I took him for; see the 
 sinews of his arms as he grips the helm. My heart ! but 
 he be a mazy Jack to think he can 'scape that tantara- 
 bobs. Ah!" 
 
 His final exclamation was occasioned by the effect of 
 another shot from the enemy's bow-chaser. It struck 
 the taffrail, and cast up a huge splinter which flew straight 
 across the poop. Next moment Jan Biddle was stretched 
 senseless beside the helm. The crew were aghast. Bid- 
 die was their captain, but he was more ; he was the soul 
 of their enterprise. Without him they were as a flock 
 of sheep. Not a man of them was fit to direct. Some 
 
 244
 
 THE DEMI-CULVERIN 
 
 cried out for surrendering; the bolder spirits howled 
 them down, swearing it were better to sink with the 
 ship than to return to the servitude from which they had 
 but lately escaped. When Biddle fell, Amos, with the 
 instinct of the mariner, had rushed down the vessel 
 toward the unmanned helm. 
 
 "Sir, 'tis our turn," he called to Dennis. "Let us do 
 what we can to save this vessel, and od-rabbit the muti- 
 neers !" He leaped to the helm, seized it in his iron grip, 
 and hauled the ship once more into the wind. 
 
 "See !" said Dennis at his side. "Yonder streak on the 
 horizon is surely the mainland. Is not our only chance 
 to win the coast? We can not escape by mere sailing, 
 but there will be shallows amid which perchance we may 
 slip away as at Maiden Isle. Shall we not attempt it, 
 Amos?" 
 
 "Ay, ay, sir. We'll run inshore, and methinks I know 
 a trick will help us." 
 
 At this moment another shot fell and ploughed up the 
 deck, striking up a shower of splinters in all directions. 
 Again rose cries for surrender; but Dennis shouted to 
 the frantic men. 
 
 "Amos is at the helm. Amos will steer us to land. 
 Trust to him. Remember what he did at the fort. 
 Never surrender to the dogs of Spain. We will 'scape 
 them even yet." 
 
 At his words they plucked up heart; all they wanted 
 was a leader; and when Turnpenny declared that land 
 
 245
 
 ON THE SPANISH MAIN 
 
 was in sight, and that he'd be j owned if he didn't cheat 
 the don Spaniards, they answered with a cheer. 
 
 Outclassed as the Mirandola was in sailing before the 
 wind, it occurred to Amos that she might show to better 
 advantage in working to windward. Accordingly he 
 altered her course a few points. The immediate effect 
 was that the enemy gained a little, and with a broader 
 target succeeded twice in hulling the vessel. Apparently 
 the shots did little damage, for she still rode the waters 
 buoyantly, and after some time, to the joy of the crew, 
 it was seen that the gap between the two ships was sen- 
 sibly widening. But now a more serious danger threat- 
 ened the gallant bark. The second of the enemy's vessels, 
 which was some distance to windward when the mist 
 lifted, was rapidly making toward a point where she 
 might intercept the Mirandola and drive her back toward 
 the galleon which she had just escaped. Turnpenny's 
 seamanship was capable of no more. To tack would have 
 been to run into the lion's jaws ; to bear up would have 
 been equally helpless; all he could do was to stand on, 
 and possibly weather the vessel ahead on the lee bow. 
 
 He explained the difficulty to Dennis, who was still 
 at his side. Dennis knew no trick of navigation that 
 would meet the case ; but, racking his wits to find some 
 means of helping the hardy mariner, he suddenly asked 
 himself whether it were not possible to use one of the 
 guns he had brought as trophies from the fort. They 
 were big guns, quite disproportionate to so small a vessel 
 
 246
 
 THE DEMI-CULVERIN 
 
 as the Mirandola. To fire them might do more damage 
 to her than to the enemy. But it was a moment when 
 something might well be risked, and he mentioned his 
 idea to Turnpenny. 
 
 "Good now, 'tis a brave notion!" cried the mariner. 
 "Do 'ee grab the helm, sir; head her straight for the 
 coast; Ise warrant 'ee I'll soon give the villain a mouth- 
 ful of iron." 
 
 Amos rushed amidships, called all the crew about him, 
 set some of them to rig up the tackle blocks by which 
 the weapons had been lowered into the hold, and him- 
 self knocked up the hatch and descended. His first 
 proceeding was to unloose William Hawk and Luke 
 Fenton, the two men who had been surprised by the 
 mutineers and had since lain side by side in no enviable 
 state of mind or body. 
 
 "Od-rabbit 'ee for a brace of numbskulls!" he ex- 
 claimed. "Get 'ee up and come show a leg, now." 
 
 With their assistance he swung the demi-culverin by 
 its pomelion and the men above hoisted it to the deck, 
 the carriage followed, then its ammunition, and Amos 
 set about mounting it. There was no time to lug it to 
 the quarter-deck. Amos ordered the men to place the 
 carriage, consisting of two "cheeks" or side pieces held 
 together by thick cross-pieces of wood, on the waist; 
 then the cannon was slung on to it, the clamps were 
 fixed over the trunnions, and a quoin was driven under 
 the gun to prevent it from sagging toward the breech. 
 
 247
 
 ON THE SPANISH MAIN 
 
 When mounted on the fort it had not been secured by 
 breechings, but Amos quickly made ready a length of 
 stout rope, fastened one end to the gun, and clenched the 
 other to ring-bolts in the vessel's side. This would check 
 the recoil when the gun was fired. 
 
 Amos was now in his element. He had not been for 
 nothing gunner's mate aboard the Anne Gallant twenty- 
 five years before. He lost no time in loading the piece 
 with round shot; then, all being ready, he ran back to 
 instruct Dennis how to bring the vessel round when he 
 gave the word. He found that Biddle, who had merely 
 been stunned by the flying splinter, was now sitting with 
 his back against the taffrail, watching these proceedings 
 in a sullen envy. 
 
 "The Spaniard will draw closer when we yaw, sir," 
 said Amos, "but that we can not help; and 'tis a mercy 
 we are out of range of her bow-chaser." 
 
 "Is she not beyond the range of our guns, Amos?" 
 
 "Nare a bit, sir. Our demi-culverin is bigger, Ise 
 warrant, than any gun she has aboard. Point-blank her 
 range be a hundred fathoms; but I reckon I can hit the 
 knave at six hundred at the least. Put the helm hard 
 up when I call, and then I'll send an apple aboard will 
 be ill to digest." 
 
 He returned to the gun, and sang out to Dennis; he 
 put up the helm, the vessel yawed, and when she lay 
 broadside to the pursuer, Amos carefully laid the piece, 
 aiming directly at the foremast. He waited till the vessel 
 
 248
 
 THE DEMI-CULVERIN 
 
 rose on the next wave, then gave the word to William 
 Hawk, who stood by the breach with lighted match. The 
 match was applied ; there was a deafening roar, followed 
 by a sound of rending; the Mirandola quivered from 
 stem to stern ; and through the smoke it was seen that the 
 gun had jumped clean out of the carriage and was lying 
 against the step of the mainmast. Amos ran to it in 
 haste, fearing that it might have burst in the discharge. 
 But it was uninjured. Several planks amidships had 
 been started; the mainmast was cracked; and a number 
 of round shot were rolling about the waist. Amos 
 shouted to the men to remount the gun and sponge it 
 out, while he ran to the side to see what the effect of 
 the shot had been, calling to Dennis to put the helm 
 down again and head the vessel on her former course. 
 
 The smoke had cleared away, and Amos saw that the 
 pursuer had gained considerably, and was still coming 
 on, apparently undamaged. But a few minutes later he 
 tittered a shout of glee. There was a bustle in the fore- 
 part of the Spanish ship; men were crowding to the 
 gunwale; and Amos perceived that they were letting a 
 sail down over the side. 
 
 "I hit her betwixt wind and water," he cried to Dennis. 
 "They are letting down a sail to stop the leak. True, 
 I aimed it at the foremast, but she rose somewhat quicker 
 than I did guess, and so 'scaped with a hulling." 
 
 "But she has gained on us, Amos. The hurt she has 
 suffered does not abate her speed." 
 
 249
 
 ON THE SPANISH MAIN 
 
 "Truly, so it is, but I will give her another so soon as 
 the gun is righted, and call me a joulter-head an' I do 
 not deal her such a blow that she'll tottle like a man 
 fair buddled." 
 
 Dennis called to Luke Fenton to take the helm while 
 he went forward to scan the horizon for the hazy streak 
 which he had taken, half an hour before, for the shore- 
 line. He had barely reached the cut-water when he 
 heard the roar of a gun and the sound of a crashing 
 blow. For an instant the vessel's head fell off, and, 
 turning hastily, he saw Jan Biddle rushing to the helm. 
 A round shot from the enemy's bow-chaser had fallen 
 smack upon the poop, smashing the binnacle, and killing 
 poor Fenton instantly. Only Biddle's prompt action had 
 saved the ship from yawing and presenting her broad- 
 side to the pursuer. 
 
 Seeing that the helm was in safe hands, Dennis turned 
 once more and glanced anxiously toward the shore, which 
 was now beginning to loom large to windward. Was it 
 possible, he wondered, to reach it before he could be 
 cut off by the second Spanish vessel? He measured the 
 distance with his eye, and his heart sank as he perceived 
 that, if she held her present course, the Spaniard could 
 not fail to run across the bows of the Mirandola long 
 before she could gain the coast. It seemed that he must 
 choose between surrendering and fighting against heavy 
 odds. But certainly one ship would be easier to deal 
 with than two; might not another fortunate shot from 
 
 250
 
 THE DEMI-CULVERIN 
 
 the demi-culverin cripple the vessel in chase, and so 
 enable the Mirandola to get away from one of her pur- 
 suers ? Dennis did not forget that there was still a third 
 vessel somewhere to leeward, but she was at present out 
 of sight. 
 
 By this time the gun had been righted and reloaded. 
 Dennis hastened to rejoin Amos. 
 
 "Shall I take the helm again, or leave it to Biddle?" 
 he asked. 
 
 "Pegs, I say leave it to him, and do 'ee take the match, 
 sir. Ise warrant 'ee'd be quicker than Billy Hawk. 
 Biddle will port the helm when I give the word ; he hates 
 you and me, but he hates the Spaniards worse." 
 
 This time the gun had been loaded with chain shot. 
 At a hail from Amos, Biddle put the helm down, the 
 vessel swung round, and as soon as she was broadside to 
 the enemy Amos carefully laid the gun, loosening the 
 quoin, and thereby elevating the muzzle, which he pointed 
 straight for the pursuers' foremast. But the enemy was 
 now more alert. At the first sign of the Mirandola 
 yawing, the galleon began to swing round by the stern, 
 so that the two vessels came broadside on within a few 
 moments of each other. Those few moments gave time 
 for Amos to resight his gun. Dennis stood ready, match 
 in hand. 
 
 "Now!" said the mariner, as the Mirandola sank on 
 the roll while the galleon rose. 
 
 The gun spoke. Only a second or two later it seemed 
 
 251
 
 ON THE SPANISH MAIN 
 
 to the crew of the Mirandola that the end of all things 
 must have come. With a thunderous roar the whole 
 broadside of the enemy burst upon them. Some of the 
 enemy's shots passed clean over the smaller vessel; her 
 masts almost miraculously escaped harm, but her hull 
 was struck in half a dozen places, and her long boat 
 splintered to atoms. And the big gun, breaking loose 
 from its extemporized breechings, recoiled obliquely 
 across the waist, smashed through the forecastle, and 
 plunged with a resounding splash into the sea. Some of 
 the men were groaning in pain; the Frenchmen were 
 flat on their faces beseeching the saints; Dennis found 
 himself in a heap by the break of the poop; for the 
 moment Amos was not to be seen. 
 
 Dennis picked himself up and peered through the 
 smoke to see whether the enemy had suffered any hurt. 
 To his joy he saw that both the foremast and the main- 
 mast of the galleon had been shattered. Turnpenny's 
 shot had cut away the shrouds of the foremast, causing 
 this to snap off, and struck the mainmast fair and square. 
 The enemy's decks were smothered under a medley of 
 spars and rigging; it was clear that the galleon was out 
 of action, and already the Mirandola was rapidly draw- 
 ing away. This her crew perceived, and the air was rent 
 with a tremendous shout of triumph. 
 
 But their exultation was short-lived. Half a minute 
 later Amos came up the hatchway and hurried aft. 
 
 "Sir, there be three terrible rents in the hull below 
 
 252
 
 THE DEMI-CULVERIN 
 
 water. I feared as much when I felt the shots strike the 
 vessel. The galleon's masts must have fallen just as the 
 knaves were a-firing, and so the most of her shots struck 
 us low." 
 
 "Can we stop the leaks?" 
 
 "I fear, I fear ! But we'll try." 
 
 In a few minutes a sail was lowered over the side, and 
 at the same time two of the men ran below and tried to 
 stop the leaks from the inside. But in spite of all efforts 
 the water gained, and in the course of half an hour it 
 was plain to all on board that the vessel must founder 
 unless she could be run ashore in time. 
 
 While the men were still doing their best to check the 
 inrush of the water, Dennis and Turnpenny went forward 
 to calculate their chances. 
 
 ' 'Tis a good ten mile away," said Turnpenny, "and 
 we be going slower every minute." 
 
 "True. But see, the other vessel yonder, that might 
 have cut us oft", has altered her course. She is standing 
 to her consort's aid." 
 
 "God be praised for that, but I fear we shall be water- 
 logged in no little time, and then she can overhaul us 
 at her ease. In an hour we must take to the jolly-boat. 
 'Tis a God's mercy that was not smashed up like the 
 long-boat." 
 
 "Then we'll put our stores aboard her at once, so that 
 we lose no time when the moment comes. And I do not 
 give up hope, even now, of running the bark ashore." 
 
 253
 
 ON THE SPANISH MAIN 
 
 But in half an hour it was clear that the case was 
 hopeless. The men came running from below with the 
 news that the water was gaining more and more rapidly ; 
 the vessel was settling down; her motion had almost 
 ceased. And the situation was rendered the more alarm- 
 ing by the fact that during this half -hour the uninjured 
 galleon, having found apparently that her consort was in 
 no immediate danger of sinking, had again altered her 
 course and was now in hot pursuit. It was to be a race 
 to the shore. 
 
 The jolly-boat had already been stored with provis- 
 ions, water, and a number of calivers with their ammu- 
 nition. At the last moment Dennis and Turnpenny 
 brought from below the bags of pearls from the cabin. 
 in which they had been locked. Then Dennis ordered 
 the boat to be lowered, the crew quickly went down the 
 side and entered her. Two of the men had been so 
 badly hurt by the enemy's shots that they had to be 
 lowered into the boat. Fenton was dead, so that the 
 whole effective company now numbered only nine men. 
 The wounded men were laid in the bows, Dennis took 
 the tiller, and the remaining eight gave way with a will, 
 knowing that hanging would be their mildest fate if they 
 fell again into the enemy's hands. 
 
 254
 
 CHAPTER XVIII 
 
 JUAN THE MAROON 
 
 It was now past midday, and the sun's rays beat down 
 upon them with cruel power. Yet none of them was 
 glad when the wind freshened, bringing a touch of cool- 
 ness; for it filled the sails of the vessel in chase, which 
 loomed ever larger and larger in their wake. The land 
 appeared to be very close, but to Dennis' anxious eyes 
 it scarcely seemed to grow closer. For mile after mile 
 the rowers toiled on in the sweltering heat. Dennis ven- 
 tured to leave the tiller for a few moments to give them 
 water when they flagged. One of the men collapsed, 
 and Dennis crawled to his thwart and took his oar, 
 bidding him go to the tiller. So the chase went on, until, 
 when the boat was still more than a mile from land, the 
 enemy began to fire. The mere sight of the shots 
 splashing in the sea astern stirred the wearied rowers 
 to renewed efforts. When, after a few minutes, a shot 
 fell immediately in their wake, sending up a terrific 
 burst of spray, their energy seemed to be doubled again. 
 
 Dennis now had his back to the shore. It could not, 
 he thought, be more than half a mile away; how far 
 would the enemy venture to follow them? Surely she 
 
 255
 
 ON THE SPANISH MAIN 
 
 would not come much farther at the imminent risk of 
 running aground on a shoal. He saw a man at the chains 
 taking soundings. Then suddenly the vessel was thrown 
 into the wind, and she fired the whole of her broadside, 
 in the hope, no doubt, that at least one shot would strike 
 the target. The men were so played out that they were 
 not able even to raise a feeble cheer when they found 
 that they had escaped scot-free. Any gladness they may 
 have felt was extinguished as soon as the smoke cleared 
 away and the enemy perceived that they had failed to 
 hit the boat. The galleon had broached to ; the Spaniard 
 was lowering his boats; and in a few minutes all three, 
 long-boat, cock-boat, and jolly-boat, crowded with men, 
 came sweeping across the water. 
 
 But they were as yet half a mile away; looking over 
 his shoulder, Dennis judged that his boat was now within 
 less than a quarter mile of the shore. Calling cheerfully 
 to the men for a final spurt, he bade the steersman run 
 them aground on the first shoal or spit of land that pre- 
 sented itself. A minute later the boat was brought up 
 with a jerk. The men flung down their oars and began 
 with desperate haste to gather up some of the stores and 
 the weapons. 
 
 "Billy Hawk, take the treasure," said Turnpenny. 
 
 But Biddle was too quick for him. Hawk managed to 
 secure one of the goatskin bags; Biddle seized the two 
 others. There was no time to make any alteration. 
 Trembling with their exertions, the men were staggering 
 
 256
 
 JUAN THE MAROON 
 
 up the beach, some loaded with articles from the boat, 
 some carrying the two wounded men. Amos, remaining 
 till the last, drove a boat anchor through the bottom and 
 hastened after the others. But the Spaniards' boats, fully 
 manned with crews fresh and vigorous, had sped over 
 the water at a tremendous rate, and it seemed to Dennis, 
 looking back and marking how near they were to land, 
 that, after all, he and his party stood but a poor chance 
 of getting away. In the three boats there were at least 
 sixty well-armed men. It was clearly their intention to 
 run ashore and continue the pursuit on land. Within 
 half an hour they must be upon them. 
 
 There was only a narrow strip of beach. The thick 
 vegetation came down almost to the water's edge. It 
 was a wild part of the shore ; not a path was to be seen 
 through the undergrowth, and beyond rose the forest. 
 But the foremost of the fugitives had struck out a way 
 for themselves through the plants, and Dennis and Turn- 
 penny hurried along, bringing up the rear. 
 
 The fugitives were greatly impeded by the necessity 
 of carrying the wounded men and the stores. Even when 
 they reached the forest, where there was less under- 
 growth, their pace must be slower than that of the 
 Spaniards, who had only their arms to carry. And to 
 avoid them was quite impossible, for the Spaniards were 
 not unused to tracking runaway slaves, and would not 
 fail to follow up the broad trail left by the party. 
 
 " Tis vain to go farther," said Dennis to A^os. as 
 
 257
 
 ON THE SPANISH MAIN 
 
 they hastened on. "We must be caught. And we shall 
 need all the poor remnant of our strength. Yonder is a 
 thick clump of bush where with our calivers we may 
 perchance give pause to our enemy. I will run on and 
 tell our comrades to betake themselves thither." 
 
 "Ay, do so; though meseems 'tis but to stay for our 
 death. You be lighter of foot than me. I will go into 
 the thicket and there hide." 
 
 Dennis ran forward, but had not gone far when he 
 found the two wounded men lying on the ground, deserted 
 by their bearers; the rest of the party had disappeared. 
 Part of the stores also had been abandoned. Clearly 
 the men had bolted, perhaps in panic fright at some 
 noise in the forest, perhaps Dennis saw in a flash 
 the explanation. Among the things abandoned there 
 was no sign of the bags of treasure. Even at this criti- 
 cal moment Jan Biddle's cupidity had got the better of 
 all other feelings, and he had made off with the booty 
 and his fellow-mutineers. 
 
 Dennis bent over the wounded men. One was past 
 help; the shock of being left to his fate had hastened 
 the end that was probably in any case inevitable. The 
 other man Dennis helped to bring back to where Amos 
 had taken up his position. 
 
 "Where be Billy Hawk, then ?" said Turnpenny, when 
 Dennis had acquainted him with what had happened. 
 "He had one of the bags of pearls. Od-rat-'en for a 
 faggett!" 
 
 258
 
 JUAN THE MAROON 
 
 But his attention was immediately diverted from Billy 
 Hawk's shortcomings by the sight of the enemy making 
 their way through the trees. Dennis and the mariner 
 had no hope of saving themselves. They two could not 
 contend long with numbers so overwhelming. But they 
 were resolved not to surrender. They knew well 
 Amos by experience, Dennis by the tales he had heard 
 what their fate would be as captives. Their whole 
 aim was to sell their lives as dearly as might be. 
 
 Amos had already kindled matches for their calivers. 
 These as they burned gave out an acrid smoke which was 
 bound to attract the attention of the Spaniards if they 
 came near. Confident of their immense superiority in 
 point of numbers, even if the whole band of fugitives 
 stood up against them, the enemy were pressing forward 
 without caution. Dennis for a moment debated with 
 himself whether to fire on them or to let them pass. 
 He owed nothing to Jan Biddle and the mutineers. 
 Twice had they behaved treacherously toward him ; they 
 would receive no more than their deserts if he allowed 
 the Spaniards to go by unmolested. But then he re- 
 flected that, after all, some of the fugitives were his 
 fellow-countrymen; all had been miserable slaves; and 
 what he had learned of the Spaniards' dealings with 
 those in their power made him regard them as enemies 
 of mankind. 
 
 Turnpenny for his part had no scruples. To him, as 
 to the majority of the Englishmen of his time, the Span- 
 
 259
 
 ON THE SPANISH MAIN 
 
 iard was a hateful oppressor, who appropriated the 
 riches of the New World in order to set the nations of the 
 Old by the ears. Even if he had not suffered personally 
 at their hands, the whole race of Spaniards was in his 
 eyes no better than vermin. So when Dennis gave 
 the word, he leveled his caliver with good will at the 
 body of men that presented so easy a target as they 
 came hurrying through the forest. The two fired to- 
 gether; one man fell; the rest halted, looking about 
 them with an air of fright that set Dennis mightily won- 
 dering. While they hesitated, Amos and he reloaded 
 with what haste they might, and had not completed that 
 troublesome process when the enemy, plucking up cour- 
 age, advanced again in somewhat more extended order, 
 firing as they marched. Bullets pattered on the tree- 
 trunks all around. Dennis had come scatheless through 
 the action at sea, but now he felt a burning pang in his 
 forearm, and saw that the sleeve of his doublet was 
 singed. But at the same moment he heard a deep sigh 
 from the wounded man who lay at his feet. The poor 
 wretch had again been hit. There was no time to attend 
 either to him or to his own wound, for the Spaniards, 
 taking heart from the cessation of the fire from the 
 copse, were preparing to make a rush. 
 
 By this time both Dennis and Turnpenny had reloaded, 
 and stood waiting to make a last stand against what 
 they felt must be an irresistible attack. To their amaze- 
 ment, however, just when they were expecting to hear 
 
 260
 
 the order to charge, they saw that a number of the 
 enemy had swung round, and were facing towards the 
 coast, the direction in which they had come. Next mo- 
 ment there was a yell from among the trees: "Yo peho! 
 Yo peho!" The strange cry was taken up at point after 
 point, until the whole surrounding forest seemed to ring 
 with fierce whoops and battle-cries. Then they caught 
 sight of dark figures flitting among the trees beyond the 
 Spaniards, who had now clearly given up the idea of 
 advancing and were crowded in a serried mass to meet 
 another foe. There was the sharp crackle of firearms, 
 followed by the twang of bow-strings. A long arrow 
 whizzed past Dennis' ear, perilously close. The new- 
 comers had formed, as it seemed, an immense semi- 
 circle about the Spaniards; several of these had fallen, 
 and the semicircle seemed to be drawing ever closer. 
 
 "The maroons! O Jaykle!" whispered Turnpenny. 
 
 Driven together now into a compact body, the Span- 
 iards fired a volley. Before the smoke had cleared away, 
 from all around the maroons, dusky forms clad in smocks 
 that reached their knees, were among them. Then began 
 a desperate hand-to-hand fight. The Spaniards, in their 
 turn outnumbered by three to one, were wielding their 
 swords with the courage of despair against the javelins 
 of their furious, yelling enemy, striving to break through 
 the ring. 
 
 "Yo peho! Yo peho!" The maroon war-cry rose now 
 fiercer and fiercer. It was an affair of a few minutes. 
 
 261
 
 ON THE SPANISH MAIN 
 
 Half of the Spaniards were on the ground ; the survivors 
 broke and scattered, some speeding towards the copse, 
 forgetful that their first check had come from thence. 
 Turnpenny leveled his caliver and fired at the foremost 
 of them. 
 
 "Shoot 'em, sir!" he cried to Dennis, who had hesi- 
 tated, feeling some compunction. "Shoot 'em, or we 
 shall have the maroons in upon us, and they will not 
 stop to ask our names." 
 
 Dennis fired. The Spaniards broke away to the left, 
 and dashed into the forest, pursued hotly by the exultant 
 maroons. Seeing that the tide had passed them by, 
 Turnpenny stepped out into the open and, raising his 
 arms, shouted "Amigos!" at the top of his voice to the 
 maroons within hail. One or two let fly their arrows 
 at him ; some were about to fire ; but a big fellow among 
 them called loudly to them in a tongue that the English- 
 man did not understand. 
 
 "My heart, 'tis Juan !" cried Turnpenny, and as the 
 man advanced toward them Dennis recognized the leader 
 of the maroons he had rescued on the island the man 
 who had with Amos supported the ladder for his climb 
 into Fort Aguila. 
 
 Juan shook hands with them with every sign of de- 
 light. While the others continued the pursuit, he ex- 
 plained to Amos that his attention had been attracted 
 by the sound of firing at sea, and from a point some dis- 
 tance along the coast he had watched, from among the 
 
 263
 
 JUAN THE MAROON 
 
 trees, the race in the boats. Never loath to seize a 
 chance of striking a blow at the hated Spaniards, he had 
 hurried with his comrades along the fringe of forest. 
 He was overjoyed to think that the men whom his sud- 
 den onslaught had saved were his old friends and the 
 leaders of the attack on Fort Aguila. He invited them to 
 accompany him to his village, deep in the forest, and 
 wound a horn to recall his comrades. Within a few 
 minutes they were all assembled. The Englishmen rec- 
 ognized among them some who had been with them at 
 the attack on the fort. Soon they were on the march. 
 They took no prisoners ; it was not the maroons' way to 
 spare any Spaniards who fell into their hands. Four 
 of them carried the twice wounded sailor, but ere they 
 had gone far he succumbed to his hurts, and they buried 
 him under leaves in the forest. There was little formality 
 about death during these active days. 
 
 An hour's march brought them to the maroons' vil- 
 lage, built on a hillside circled by a narrow river. It was 
 surrounded by a broad dike, and a mud wall ten feet 
 high. It had one long street and two cross streets, very 
 clean and tidy ; and the huts of mud and wattle, thatched 
 with palm-leaves, and with doors of bamboo, were kept 
 with a neatness that surprised the Englishmen, who 
 mentally contrasted them with the dirty cottages of 
 laborers at home. Juan made them very welcome, sup- 
 plying them with feast of wild hog, turkeys, oranges 
 and other pleasant fruits. 
 
 263
 
 ON THE SPANISH MAIN 
 
 *T feck, it be a dinner fit for a lord," said Turnpenny 
 appreciatively. 
 
 He related the events that had brought them to the 
 straits in which Juan had found them. When the ma- 
 roon learned that some of their party had deserted with 
 the treasure, he despatched a band .of his men to follow 
 them up, and then he told his visitors a piece of news that 
 mightily cheered them. El Draque, he said, the Dragon, 
 the great English sea captain, had lately raided Nombre 
 de Dios, the port whence the great treasure fleets were 
 wont to sail for Spain. Then he had disappeared. The 
 Spaniards were in a state of nervous dread. So bold, 
 so sudden were his movements, that not a settlement on 
 the coast but what lived in constant terror of his appear- 
 ance. The very mystery that surrounded him, their 
 ignorance of his whereabouts, added to the fear his name 
 inspired. 
 
 "They do not know where he is," said Juan with a 
 chuckle; "but I know. He is a long day's march from 
 this place, in a little harbor that no passing ship can spy. 
 And there he waits till he can swoop like a jaguar on 
 the dogs of Spain." 
 
 "My heart, it be joyful tidings !" said Turnpenny. "I 
 knew Master Francis would come again to these shores, 
 to have a proper tit-for-tat for the base dealings of 
 the Spaniards at St. John d'Ulua. Good-now, sir, shall 
 we take a journey and see the worthy captain, and per- 
 adventure join with him in spoiling the knaves?" 
 
 264
 
 JUAN THE MAROON 
 
 "With all my heart, Amos," replied Dennis. "With- 
 out doubt Juan will furnish us with a guide." 
 
 Turnpenny spoke to the maroon. 
 
 "Better than that!" he said, after a brief colloquy. 
 "He says he will e'en come himself with a party. Master 
 Francis, he says, does hurt to no woman nor unarmed 
 man ; he is kind to the maroons ; and not a man of them 
 but loves him and would serve him to the death. Ay, 
 sure, a noble man is Master Francis, that loves God and 
 hates the Spaniards; and Ise warrant we could do 
 naught better than join ourselves to him. Crymaces! 
 he will list with a ready ear to the tale of our adven- 
 tures." 
 
 " 'Twill be overlong for the captain," said Dennis, with 
 a smile. "But I would fain see him and speak with 
 him, for he may perchance spare a vessel to go seek for 
 our poor comrades penned up in Maiden Isle." 
 
 "God-a-mercy, I had a'most forgotten, sir. True, there 
 be Tom Copstone and Hugh Curder and Ned Whiddon, 
 all lone and lorn. Master Francis will help us to save 
 them, or he be no true man." 
 
 265
 
 CHAPTER XIX 
 DRAKE'S CAMP 
 
 Early in the afternoon of the second day thereafter, 
 Dennis and Turnpenny, with Juan and a company of 
 maroons, came to the outskirts of a large clearing at a 
 little recess of the shore. A bark and three trim little 
 pinnaces lay rocking in a secluded roadstead. Neatly 
 thatched huts of the maroons' pattern bordered the clear- 
 ing. At one end of it stood two archery butts at which 
 men were shooting; a smith was lustily plying his sledge 
 at an anvil; and in the middle, on a stretch of sward, 
 two stalwart bearded figures were disporting themselves 
 at a game of bowls. 
 
 'T fegs, 'tis very like home," said Turnpenny. "'Tis 
 Master Francis himself, as I live, and Master John Ox- 
 nam, a gallant soul; and there be Master John Drake, 
 the captain his brother, and a very worthy gentleman. 
 And Bob Pike, busy with the rum-bowl a good man 
 when not betoatled with the drink. And O cryal ! look- 
 eedesee, sir; Bob hath a monkey at his elbow, and hang 
 me if he be not teaching the poor beast the taste of rum. 
 O Bobby, Bobby, the drink will be your undoing, an ye 
 have not a care. They spy us, sir; 'tis a right merry 
 sight, good-now, and warming to the heart." 
 
 266
 
 DRAKE'S CAMP 
 
 A maroon came from among the company to meet 
 them. He greeted Juan warmly, looking with surprise 
 and curiosity at his white companions. Then they ad- 
 vanced into the clearing. Bob Pike, a red-faced mariner, 
 sitting on a tub, looked up as they approached, and 
 raised his bowl unsteadily, singing: 
 
 "Let us laugh, and let us quaff, 
 Good drinkers think none ill-a. 
 
 "Welcome, Haymoss ; I know not where 'ee come from, 
 but here be a sup for 'ee, comrade. 
 
 "Let us trip, and let us skip, 
 And let us drink our fill-a, 
 
 "Why, what ha' taken the wink-a-puss?" 
 His exclamation was occasioned by a surprising ac- 
 tion on the part of the monkey that had been crouching 
 at his feet. With a chatter of delight the animal had 
 sprung up and was bounding on all fours towards Den- 
 nis. Next moment it was on his shoulder, stroking his 
 cap with its paw. 
 
 "Fi, Mirandola," said Dennis, with a laugh, "hast 
 forgot my admonitions to soberness? Has all thy phi- 
 losophy and my instruction not steeled thee against 
 temptation?" 
 
 "My thirst to staunch, I'll fill my paunch 
 With jolly good ale and old" 
 
 267
 
 ON THE SPANISH MAIN 
 
 sang Bob Pike; "though in truth it be new rum, for ale, 
 under this sky, would turn as sour as whey. Come now, 
 Haymoss, come and take a sup with me, soul. 
 
 "I drink to you with all my heart, 
 If you will pledge me the same." 
 
 "Stint it, stint it, Robert Pike," said the elder of the 
 two players, looking up. "You'll be but a budled oaf 
 an you go this gait. But oods-an-end, who be this?" 
 
 "An Englishman of Devon, so please you, Captain," 
 said Dennis, doffing his cap. 
 
 "Out of sky, or earth, or sea, for I swear you are not 
 of my company?" 
 
 "Out of earth and sea, sir, newly come to bid you my 
 duty." 
 
 "And be that Amos Turnpenny, an I be not in a maze. 
 We will finish our game anon, Jack," he added, turning 
 to Oxnam, "for there is a tale hangs by this. Come, 
 young sir, methinks I know your face, though rabbit 
 me if I can mind the when or the where of seeing it." 
 
 "It was on an occasion like to this, sir," said Dennis. 
 "You were at play with Sir Martin Blunt on Plymouth 
 Hoe when " 
 
 "Stay, I mind it well, and you were the youth that 
 beat me! I was in somewhat of a dander, to be sure. 
 Are you of Sir Martin's party? Sure I looked for him 
 months ago to join me, and wanting him has not been to 
 my comfort. Is he at hand?" 
 
 268
 
 DRAKE'S CAMP 
 
 "Alas, sir, Sir Martin has been at the bottom of the 
 sea the washing of many a tide. I am alone left of all 
 his company." 
 
 "God rest his soul! He was a right good man. But 
 tell me, then, how it chanced that you alone escaped. 
 And what brings you here in company with this ancient 
 mariner? Furthermore, what strange affinity hast thou 
 with this monkey, who is friends with that besotted 
 knave alone, and that only for the love of liquor?" 
 
 "Mirandola and I are old friends, sir. How he comes 
 to this place it passes my wit to guess; but he was my 
 sole companion and friend on the island whereon by 
 God's mercy I was cast alive by the same storm that 
 wrecked the Maid Marian and swallowed all my dear 
 comrades. There I spent many a day and night without 
 sight of human face or sound of human voice until 
 Spaniards came purposing to cut logwood, with slaves 
 of whom Amos was one, the only white man. He had 
 the good hap to escape their hands " 
 
 "Nay, Captain," Amos broke in; "it was not good 
 hap, but the wit and spunk of Master Hazelrig. He 
 saved us from the knaves, and led us to the taking of 
 their vessel, in the which we purposed to sail away; 
 but the knave captain blew it up with powder; where- 
 fore it was that we came to the main in a canow of the 
 maroons' devising, and did take that strong fort and 
 fastness of Aguila, where " 
 
 "Stay, stay!" cried Drake. "Ods my life, this your 
 
 269
 
 ON THE SPANISH MAIN 
 
 tale makes my noddle buzz with amaze. What is this 
 about Fort Aguila?" 
 
 "Why, sir, 'tis as I say," replied Turnpenny. "We 
 did sail to it in the canow, which ran aground and was 
 stove in. But we mounted those walls by a ladder, and 
 crept upon the fort by night, and drew out of their dun- 
 geon all my comrades Ned Whiddon and Hugh Curder 
 and Tom Copstone, and nigh a score more. And we 
 dealt the knave Spaniards many a dint, and took the 
 fort, and blew up the towers, and sailed right merrily 
 away in their own vessel with great store of pearls 
 and pieces-of-eight. And the vessel was named in the 
 Spanish tongue Our Lady of Baria, but Master Hazel- 
 rig he could not abide the papist name, and called her 
 by the very name he had afore bestowed on this heathen 
 beast, Mirandola, to wit, whereas I would liever have 
 called her Susan or Betty " 
 
 "Jack, is it not a midsummer night's dream? A very 
 mingle-mangle of madness! Tell on; I have a soft ear 
 for mariners' tales." 
 
 'T fegs, 'tis no mariner's tale, sir, but very truth. 
 We sailed away, but the morn after, when it was mizzly, 
 we spied a vessel that straight gave chase, and but for 
 the little, small harbor of Maiden Isle, whereinto we ran 
 and lay hid, and so diddled that knavish vessel, we had 
 e'en fallen again into those cruel hands," concluded Amos 
 earnestly. 
 
 "When shall we laugh, Jack?" cried Drake, smiting 
 
 270
 
 DRAKE'S CAMP 
 
 his thigh and loosing a mighty roar that caused the 
 archers to pause and drew the smith from his anvil. 
 "Why, friend Amos, that knavish vessel was my own 
 tight bark the Pascha yonder, and 'twas I myself that 
 chased thee, ay, and would have caught thee, too, but for 
 the huffling of the wind. If 'twas thou handling the ves- 
 sel, 'twas a mighty good piece of seamanship. And 
 mine was a knavish vessel, good-now ! Ho, ho ! 'tis a 
 merry world." 
 
 "Be jowned if Ned Whiddon thinks so, or Hugh Cur- 
 der, or Tom Copstone! There they be, poor souls, 
 marooned on that same island, which indeed we took and 
 named Maiden Isle for behoof of her Gracious Majesty. 
 We fled from that craft which in our thought was a 
 knavish vessel of Spain, and remained a night and a day 
 to refresh ourselves, intending to sail thence on the mor- 
 row. But one of our company, Gabriel Batten, a quiet, 
 good soul, but somewhat of a drumble-drone, did go 
 a-straying after simples, and when the time came for 
 us to embark, ods-fish, he was not with us. In that night 
 Jan Biddle, a man of Belial, made off with our vessel; 
 but Master Hazelrig spied her ere she ran clear, and 
 we swam to her and clomb aboard, and were vumped 
 topsy-versy by those knavish mutineers. But they 
 loosed us when she had made an offing, and right well 
 it was for them, for we were chased by three galleons 
 of Spain, and hardly escaped ashore in our jolly-boat. 
 And then be jowned if Jan Biddle and his villainous 
 
 271
 
 ON THE SPANISH MAIN 
 
 crew did not skip off hippety-hoppety with the treasure 
 we got with our pains at Fort Aguila " 
 
 "Aha! I owe you a grudge for that, Master Hazel- 
 rig," cried Drake. "I had heard of the pearl-fishery, 
 and was e'en chasing you, supposing your craft was a 
 merchant vessel out of Venta Cruz or Cartagena, to in- 
 quire somewhat of the defenses of that same fort. I 
 came by chance to the place, and lo ! it was a ruin. You 
 beat me at bowls, young sir; art minded, meseems, to 
 beat me at other games." 
 
 "Truly, sir, had I but known you were in these seas, 
 I would surely have joined myself to your company, 
 with your good leave, and served you with all diligence." 
 
 "Wilt serve me now, lad?" Drake shot a keen glance 
 at him. "I am preparing a sore dint for the Spaniards, 
 and have but few men for the job. Hast thou a mind 
 to join me?" 
 
 "I could desire nothing better," said Dennis, with a 
 flush of pleasure; "but " 
 
 "Say on; let me hear your but." 
 
 "Some half a score of Englishmen, the comrades of 
 Amos, lie marooned on yonder island, sir; and we came 
 hither, when we heard of your presence, to beg a vessel 
 to go and fetch them off. Methinks one of the pin- 
 naces yonder " 
 
 "Knavish vessels, good-now!" 
 
 "Crymaces, sir, will 'ee remember that against me?" 
 Amos broke in. "A man must say what 'e thinks, but 
 
 272
 
 DRAKE'S CAMP 
 
 thinkin' don't alter what is. 'Twas your vessel; then 
 'twas no knave." 
 
 "Save as the Spaniards think it so. Well, I would 
 fain help Englishmen in so hard a case, but at this pres- 
 ent I can not spare a pinnace; nay, I can not even 
 spare a man. Yet when the matter I spoke of is brought 
 to an end, and falls out to our liking, I will go myself 
 to that island and bring off your comrades; for in truth 
 I have a mind to see the haven into which you fled and 
 so 'scaped my knavish tricks. Methinks it should prove 
 a secret and comfortable place for myself. In brief, I 
 give you my word. Now, what say you to my pro- 
 posal?" i 
 
 "Sir, I am yours," said Dennis, "and I thank you 
 for your good will." 
 
 "Ay, and me likewise," said Turnpenny; "and Ise 
 warrant a man of my muscle can do summat against 
 those villain dons. Lookeedesee !" 
 
 He exhibited the knotty muscles and sinews of his 
 arms with a simple vanity that set Drake and Oxnam 
 a-laughing. 
 
 "But not the monkey," added Drake, as the animal 
 chattered in concert. "He is prone to utter his voice 
 out of season, and an indiscreet cry might be the undoing 
 of my purpose, and me." 
 
 "How comes the monkey here, sir?" asked Dennis. 
 "We brought him with us from the island; indeed, he 
 would not be left; but he deserted us so^ " ten 
 
 273
 
 ON THE SPANISH MAIN 
 
 beyond Fort Aguila, and I supposed he had gone 
 among his kind and thought never to see him again." 
 
 "Why, we found him among the ruins of that fort, 
 and meseems he saw some likeness between Bob Pike 
 and Turnpenny " 
 
 "God forbid!" cried Amos earnestly. 
 
 "In muscle, not in manners," said Drake, laughing. 
 "Howbeit, he hitched himself on to Pike, and hath 
 accompanied us ever since, and I trow not what Pike 
 will say if the beast transfers his allegiance. But good- 
 now, the sun goes down; 'tis time to make our evening 
 devotions and then to supper. Methinks you, Master 
 Hazelrig, have good cause to render thanks to the 
 Almighty Father for the wondrous things He hath 
 wrought in your behoof; and we have great plenty of 
 fish, fowls, rabbits and the like, which, I doubt not, will 
 be comfortable fare to you after your late privations. 
 Come with me to my hut; I would hear of your adven- 
 tures more at leisure." 
 
 And thus Dennis became one of the company of Fran- 
 cis Drake. 
 
 274
 
 CHAPTER XX 
 
 A RAID THROUGH THE FOREST 
 
 Though Dennis had accepted Drake's offer on the 
 spur of the moment, he saw no reason to repent when 
 he talked the matter over with Amos next day. The 
 rescue of their comrades on the island was indeed 
 deferred; but it was impossible to attempt that rescue 
 without a suitable vessel and a due equipment of men 
 and stores; and since the men had plenty of food on 
 Maiden Isle, the delay of a few weeks would make no 
 serious difference to them unless and this possibility 
 gave Dennis some concern they were molested by 
 Spaniards. He hoped, however, that if an enemy did 
 appear on the island, the men would have sufficient 
 warning to give them time to take refuge in the cave, 
 where with good luck they might remain concealed 
 until the danger had passed. 
 
 Before the day was out Dennis had made acquaint- 
 ance with the members of the little company at Port 
 Diego, as it had been called. From Ellis Hixom, Drake's 
 right-hand man, he learned something of their adven- 
 tures since they left Plymouth in May, only a month 
 after the Maid Marian set sail. Early in July they had 
 
 275
 
 ON THE SPANISH MAIN 
 
 arrived at Port Pheasant, a secret anchorage discovered 
 by Drake on a former voyage, and so named by him 
 by reason of the great store of those goodly fowls 
 which he and his company did daily kill and feed on in 
 that place. On the twentieth they sailed for Nombre 
 de Dios, and a week later made a night attack on that 
 unhealthy place, which once or twice in the year emerged 
 into importance when the galleons came there from. 
 Cartagena to take in their cargoes of gold and silver 
 sent for shipment by the governor of Panama. 
 
 The moon was rising as they stood in for the shore, 
 but Drake, finding that his men were full of supersti- 
 tious terror of the night, persuaded them that it was the 
 dawn of day. They landed on the sands, beneath a bat- 
 tery, and only a few yards from the houses which were 
 built on the shore, with the forest behind. Their single 
 sentry was slumbering, but he was roused by the sound 
 of their climbing up the redoubt, and fled to give the 
 alarm in the town. They spiked the six big guns in 
 the fort, but ere they had finished they heard the great 
 bell of the town church booming out; drums beat in the 
 narrow street ; it seemed that there was warm work 
 before the little band of fifty. 
 
 Drake divided his men into three parties: one of 
 twelve to guard the boats ; the second of sixteen, with his 
 brother John and Oxnam, to enter by the east gate of 
 the market-place; while himself with about a score 
 would march in at the other end to the sound <"** 
 
 276
 
 THROUGH THE FOREST 
 
 drum and trumpet, with torches glaring at the end of 
 their pikes. He gave the men orders to make all possi- 
 ble noise, so as to delude the garrison into the belief 
 that his force was stronger than it really was. 
 
 The market-place was crowded with a mob of min- 
 gled soldiers and citizens when Drake and his men 
 entered with great clatter from the side nearest the sea. 
 The intrepid band was met by a hot volley, to which 
 they replied with their calivers and a flight of arrows; 
 then, not waiting to reload, they charged with a fierce 
 shout, to do the rest of the business with pike and sword. 
 At the same moment Oxnam and his company dashed in 
 at the other side with a great blast of trumpets. The 
 Spaniards, scared by the noise and the torches, still more 
 by the knowledge that El Draque was among them, 
 did not stay to fight the matter out, but flung their 
 weapons down and rushed away in disorderly flight 
 along the road leading through the forest to Venta 
 Cruz. 
 
 Drake re-formed his men, and, under the guidance 
 of Spaniards he had captured, made for the governor's 
 house, where the mule-trains from Panama were 
 unloaded. The door was wide open, and by the light of 
 a torch the Englishmen saw a vast pile of silver bars 
 standing in the passage. But Drake had learned that 
 in the king's treasure-house on the eastern side lay a 
 goodly store of gold and jewels, far more than they 
 could carry. Accordingly he would not allow the men 
 
 277
 
 ON THE SPANISH MAIN 
 
 to break their ranks and despoil the governor, but led 
 them back to the market-place to prepare for the more 
 serious work. 
 
 Meanwhile the men on guard at the beach, hearing 
 the din, and seeing by the light of the torches men 
 running this way and that in the streets, began to be 
 alarmed, especially when they learned from the negro 
 who had joined them that the garrison had been newly 
 strengthened. In their panic they sent word to Drake 
 that the pinnaces were in danger of being taken. 
 Drake had no sooner sent his brother and John Oxnam 
 to allay their fears and assure them that all was well 
 when a terrific thunderstorm burst upon them, wetting 
 their bowstrings and the charges of their guns. They 
 ran for shelter to a shed at the western end of the king's 
 treasure-house, and there, while they repaired the dam- 
 age, the men began to mutter among themselves of the 
 peril they were in, and some talked of flight. As soon 
 as the storm had ceased, Drake, seeing that the adven- 
 ture was in jeopardy unless he led the men to action, 
 ordered Oxnam to break open the treasure-house while he 
 held his ground in the market-place. 
 
 But unknown to the men he had been severely wound- 
 ed in the leg at the first onset, and fell faint from loss 
 of blood. He perceived that some of his men had 
 already laden themselves with plunder from the houses 
 and booths in the market-place, and knew that they 
 would be glad of any excuse to get away to the boats. 
 
 278
 
 THROUGH THE FOREST 
 
 It was no longer possible to hide his wound, and the 
 men, seeing it, begged him to return to the boats, and 
 paid no heed to his entreaty that they leave him to 
 fend for himself and possess themselves of the treas- 
 ure so nearly within their grasp. The possibility of 
 losing their captain took all the heart out of them. 
 They carried him hastily down to the beach, got aboard 
 the boats, and shoved off just as dawn was breaking. 
 It was a disappointing end to the expedition; but only 
 one man of them, a trumpeter, had been killed, and 
 they were all glad enough to get off so lightly. 
 
 Since then they had cruised up and down the coast, 
 capturing Spanish vessels here and there, and making 
 themselves a terror to the whole main. They had suf- 
 fered many losses, by sickness and in fight; John Drake 
 had been killed in leading a mad attack on a frigate; 
 but small as the company was, every man was now cheer- 
 ful in the expectation of gaining great plunder in the 
 approaching expedition to Panama. Dennis and Turn- 
 penny were welcome recruits, and none were more 
 eager than they to set off with the great captain, and go 
 whithersoever he might lead. 
 
 One day, about a week after their arrival at the camp, 
 Drake called his men together in council and unfolded 
 to them his daring plan. The Spanish treasure fleet, 
 he had learned, had arrived at Nombre de Dios, and 
 was awaiting there the consignments of gold and jewels 
 which were brought by long mule-trains across the 
 
 279
 
 ON THE SPANISH MAIN 
 
 isthmus from Panama. He purposed to ambush one 
 of those trains in a lonely spot on the north road. Sol- 
 emnly he placed before the men the dangers of the 
 expedition. They had a march of sixty miles before 
 them, through poisonous jungles and fever-haunted 
 swamps. It was an enterprise for none but hardy and 
 courageous men ready to endure labor and fatigue 
 without murmuring. 
 
 Of his original company he had only forty-two left 
 Some of these were sick, others were required to guard 
 the ships; and when Drake had weeded out the least 
 fit of the rest, he had only eighteen Englishmen for the 
 adventure. To those he added thirty maroons, making 
 a little company of forty-eight all told. Dennis ob- 
 served with admiration how carefully all things were 
 prepared. The men were provided with spare boots, 
 so that they might not go footsore and be troubled 
 by the jiggers of the jungles and the leeches of the 
 swamps. The bows were all refitted, the arrows and 
 firearms cleaned and scoured; large stores of dried meat 
 and biscuit were packed in bundles; and bottles were 
 filled with wine and rum, for it was unsafe to drink 
 the water of the rivers. 
 
 It was a bright February day, Shrove Tuesday, when 
 the adventurous band set out, the ships in the harbor 
 dipping their colors and the trumpeters sounding a 
 "loath to depart." The Englishmen carried nothing but 
 their weapons, the baggage being strapped to the shoul- 
 
 280
 
 THROUGH THE FOREST 
 
 ders of the stalwart maroons. They marched in the cool- 
 est part of the morning, from sunrise to ten, when they 
 paused for dinner. Soon after noon they were afoot 
 again, and at four halted for the night, the maroons 
 building for them with extraordinary rapidity little 
 huts of grass and palm-leaves, where they ate their 
 supper over cheerful wood-fires, beguiling the evening 
 hours with song and talk. It was a new life for Dennis, 
 and full of a strange charm. He spent many an hour 
 in the company of Drake and Oxnam, listening with 
 a boyish admiration to their talk, reveling in their tales 
 of fight and adventure. 
 
 The great captain exercised a wonderful fascination 
 upon him. Drake was at this time little more than 
 thirty years old, below the medium height, but with 
 brawny limbs and a broad chest. Brown hair clustered 
 close on a bullet-shaped head ; his beard grew thick and 
 strong ; his face was ruddy and pleasant to look upon ; 
 and the honesty of his soul spoke out of his large, round, 
 blue eyes. His voice was clear and musical, and he had 
 a natural eloquence, set off by the bur of his native 
 speech. Nothing impressed Dennis more than to hear 
 the captain, every night at sunset, recite the evening 
 prayers and collects bareheaded among his men assem- 
 bled. "By Thy great mercy defend us from all perils and 
 dangers of this night" there was something very real 
 and earnest in the petition, uttered in the shade of the 
 forest where wild animals dwelt, and in a country where 
 
 281
 
 ON THE SPANISH MAIN 
 
 every man was a foe. There was no doubt about the 
 reality of Drake's religion; and it was a part of his 
 simple belief that he was chosen of God to scourge a 
 pestilent enemy of mankind. 
 
 The order of the march was the same every day. 
 Four maroons led the way, marking a trail by flinging 
 broken branches or bundles of leaves upon the ground. 
 Then came twelve more maroons, followed at an interval 
 by Drake and his eighteen Englishmen and two maroon 
 chiefs. The rear was brought up by the rest of the 
 maroons. 
 
 After four days' tramping through swampy woods, 
 much entangled with undergrowth, steaming with heat 
 and infected with noisome odors, they entered a pleas- 
 anter country, where the trees grew larger and with 
 branches so thickly interlaced that they were defended 
 from the sun's rays and found their path less obstructed 
 by creeping plants. The ground rose gradually, and 
 Pedro, the maroon chief, told Drake that on the summit 
 of the ridge they were ascending, half-way across the 
 isthmus, there grew an immense tree from which he 
 could descry the north sea, whence he had come, and 
 the south sea, whither he was going. At ten o'clock on 
 the eighth day of their march they came to the place, 
 and while the dinner was being got ready Drake went 
 with Pedro to the tree of which he had spoken. Ascend- 
 ing big steps cut on the bole, they reached, near the top, 
 a pleasant thatched arbor, large enough to seat a dozen 
 
 282
 
 THROUGH THE FOREST 
 
 men. The sky was clear; no haze blanketed the view; 
 and looking forth, Drake caught, thirty miles away, the 
 sparkle of the southern ocean on which no English 
 boat had sailed. The soul of the great mariner was 
 strangely moved: he fell on his knees, and "besought 
 Almighty God of His goodness to give him life and leave 
 to sail once in an English ship on that sea." Then he 
 called up Oxnam and others of his company, and told 
 them of his desire and prayer. Dennis never forgot the 
 scene in that shady bower at the tree-top: the kindling 
 face of the sturdy captain, his shining eyes, the fervency 
 of his speech. 
 
 They went on again, and in two days more reached 
 the wide savanna, with grass as high as corn, and great 
 herds of black cattle. Now and then they got a glimpse 
 of Panama, the city of their dream, and by and by, 
 when they were near enough to see the ships riding at 
 anchor in the roadstead, Drake called a halt: they had 
 come within touch of danger and must walk warily. 
 Resting in a grove some three miles from the city, 
 Drake sent one of the maroons, dressed like a negro of 
 Panama, into it as a spy an hour before dark. He was 
 to find out on what night, and at what hour, the mule- 
 train set out with its precious burden for Nombre de 
 Dios. He had learned from Pedro that the first stage 
 of the journey, from Panama to Venta Cruz, was always 
 performed by night, because by day the open plain 
 was scorched by the sun. But the second stage, from 
 
 283
 
 ON THE SPANISH MAIN 
 
 Venta Cruz to Nombre de Dios, was accomplished by 
 day, the road lying among cool, shaded woods. It was 
 clear that the first stage offered the best chances of a 
 successful ambush, and Drake had resolved to inter- 
 cept the treasure-train between Panama and Venta 
 Cruz. 
 
 The spy returned sooner than he was expected. From 
 old acquaintances in the city he had learned that a 
 train was to start that very night, its departure being 
 expedited because a Spanish hidalgo, the treasurer of 
 Lima, was in haste to reach a ship waiting at Nombre 
 de Dios to convey him to Spain. His train consisted 
 of fourteen mules, of which eight were laden with gold 
 and one with jewels. Two other trains, of fifty mules 
 each, would follow, with provisions for the fleet and 
 a quantity of silver. They were to travel by a road lying 
 some distance from Drake's present position. 
 
 Within an hour of the receipt of this news, Drake 
 and his men were afoot on the road for Venta Cruz, 
 some twelve miles away. Before starting, the English- 
 men all put their shirts on outside their other garments, 
 so that they might have some means of telling friend 
 from foe in the darkness. When they had marched 
 about half of the distance, two of the maroons, going 
 ahead as scouts on the narrow track between long 
 grass, detected the smell of a burning match, and, creep- 
 ing stealthily on, guided by the scent, and the now aud- 
 ible sound of snoring, came upon a Spanish sentry fast 
 
 284
 
 THROUGH THE FOREST 
 
 asleep by the roadside. Immediately they pounced on 
 him; they stuffed a gag into his gaping mouth, put out 
 his match, tied his arms to his sides, and haled him back 
 to the main body. This danger removed, Drake divided 
 his band into two companies. One of these, under John 
 Oxnam and Pedro, the maroon, he stationed in long 
 grass fifty paces from the road; with the other he went 
 to the same distance on the other side, posting them so 
 that, if it came to a fight, their fire would not harm 
 their comrades. He gave strict orders that no man 
 should stir from his post, but that all should maintain 
 perfect quiet; and if any travelers should come from 
 the direction of Venta Cruz, these were to be allowed 
 to pass without molestation. 
 
 Dennis and Turnpenny were placed among Oxnam's 
 party, and lay side by side in the grass. The night was 
 so dark and the stalks so long that they could scarcely 
 see each other, much less any other of their company. 
 For a time all was quiet; nothing was heard but the 
 faint critch of insects among the herbage. But by and 
 by Dennis caught a slight murmur from some point 
 near at hand. He lifted his head to listen. Yes, it was 
 certainly a man mumbling. Then he heard a glug-glug, 
 as of liquid poured from a narrow-necked vessel, and 
 immediately afterward a deep sigh of contentment. 
 Again there was silence ; but after a while another glug- 
 ing and another sigh. 
 
 "Begorz!" whispered Turnpenny in great excitement, 
 
 285
 
 ON THE SPANISH MAIN 
 
 " 'tis some bosky lubber a-puddling of aqua vitae. St ! 
 Here be bells a-coming on the neck of moyles, Ise war- 
 rant St!" 
 
 The sound came from the direction of Venta Cruz ; 
 evidently a train was returning to Panama. Almost 
 immediately afterward, there came a fainter tinkle on 
 the other side; the treasurer of Lima was on the road, 
 but he would not reach the ambush until the train from 
 Venta Cruz had passed. 
 
 Nearer came the sound, growing now into a loud 
 clanging. Dennis held his breath. The Venta Cruz 
 party was to be allowed to pass ; it would meet the other 
 travelers and give them the word that all was well. 
 But what was this? Some one was rustling in the grass 
 near him; some one was moving forward; and, peeping 
 up, Dennis saw an Englishman, as he knew by his shirt, 
 creeping toward the road through the long stalks, and a 
 maroon following him. 
 
 At this moment his ears caught the sound of a horse 
 trotting. He could not see the road; the men who had 
 gone through the grass were also out of sight; but 
 suddenly the trot changed into a gallop, and he heard 
 the horse clattering at a furious rate down the road. 
 His heart gave a jump ; he felt a hot flush surge through 
 him; the rider, whoever he was, had been startled, and 
 was doubtless now dashing on to warn the coming train, 
 Who could the fool be who had so flagrantly disobeyed 
 the captain's orders? Had he been so mad as to expose 
 
 286
 
 THROUGH THE FOREST 
 
 himself, in his shirt over-all, to the view of the horse- 
 man? Turnpenny was as wrathful as Dennis. 
 
 "Be jowned if I don't deal en a whap in the middick," 
 he whispered, "as'll make en twine like an angletwitch." 
 
 The sounds of the hoofs died away, and Dennis ex- 
 pected that the clanging of the bells would cease also, 
 and all be brought to nought. To his surprise there 
 was no change: the bells drew nearer and nearer; now 
 he heard men's voices ; and then, with a suddenness that 
 made him jump, a shrill whistle-blast rose high above 
 all other sounds. It was the signal for the attack. 
 Dennis and the sailor rushed through the grass; on all 
 sides white-clad forms rose from their lurking-places 
 and made toward the road with a cheer. They sprang 
 at the muleteers, toppled them over, and without a shot 
 fired the long line of mules was in the raiders' hands. 
 
 With many a laugh and jest the sailors hauled the 
 packs from the backs of the mules and slit them with 
 their hangers. But soon the mirth was turned to mel- 
 ancholy. 
 
 "Od-rat-en, what have we here?" cried Turnpenny 
 suddenly, lifting a soft mass on the end of his weapon. 
 "Bless my bones, if it bean't a bunch of yokey sheep's 
 wool !" 
 
 "And here 'tis nought but dried meat as tough as 
 leather." 
 
 "Ay, where be the goold, where be the goold?" cried 
 Robert Pike, breaking from the grasp of a maroon. 
 
 287
 
 ON THE SPANISH MAIN 
 
 Cap'n said there was nugs of goold as big as goose- 
 eggs, and be jowned if I can see a farden's worth !" 
 
 "And the gewgaws for the rory-tory madams of 
 Spain where be the gewgaws?" cried another of the 
 seamen. "Here, you codger" seizing one of the mule- 
 teers "where be the gewgaws adiddled to?" 
 
 He shook the man till he gasped for breath, then 
 hauled him before Drake, who had come into the midst 
 of the enraged sailors. He bade the muleteer speak. 
 The man told how the horseman, trotting by with a 
 page at his stirrup, had been startled to see a ghost-like 
 figure rise out of the grass at the side of the track, and 
 galloped on to warn the treasurer. Superstitious as the 
 Spaniards were, they knew so much of the daring of 
 El Draque that the treasurer did not for a moment 
 doubt he had to deal, not with a ghost, but with a very 
 real and substantial enemy. The warning had reached 
 him just in time. He drew his mules, bearing the treas- 
 ure, to the side of the road to allow the train of mer- 
 chandise to pass; the loss of food and wool could be 
 endured patiently if the gold and jewels were saved. 
 Then, when the din ahead confirmed his suspicions of 
 an ambush, he turned the mules' heads back toward 
 Panama and slipped away. 
 
 Here was a pretty end to the adventure from which 
 all had hoped so much! Loud was the outcry against 
 the wretched man whose rashness had had so untoward 
 an effect. While Drake took hurried counsel with Ox- 
 
 288
 
 THROUGH THE FOREST 
 
 nam and Pedro, the maroon, the men went about growl- 
 ing, accusing each other, threatening terrible punish- 
 ment for the offender. Of them all none was louder 
 or more vehement than Robert Pike. 
 
 "An I catch the knave," he shouted, "Ise fulsh en, 
 Ise thump en, Ise 1'arn en a thing or two as the wink- 
 a-puss won't forget." 
 
 But as he spoke he lurched toward Amos, who caught 
 him up smartly by the collar as a sudden suspicion 
 dawned. 
 
 "Be jowned if I don't believe 'twas 'ee, Bob Pike! 
 You hawk-amouth knave, I smell 'ee, I do. You been 
 puddling aqua vitae, dang my buttons an you bean't! 
 You bandy-legged piggish lubby, you, 'ee'll fulsh en, 
 will 'ee? and thump en, will 'ee? and 1'arn the wink- 
 a-puss a thing or two, will 'ee? The Old Smoker take 
 'ee for a lubberly knave and a jackass." 
 
 "And 'ee for a gabbing rant-a-come scour!" retorted 
 Pike, when he got his breath. "What be 'ee jowering 
 at me for ? I only supped a little small drop to keep me 
 awake, and when I heard the moyles a-coming, od-rab- 
 bit-en, thinks I, Ise nab the first; and when I got to the 
 road, 'twas no moyle, but a fine horse and rider, and I 
 rose up to see what he was, and a knave maroon pulled 
 me down and set upon me like to squeeze out my vitals, 
 and so the villain Spaniard got away." 
 
 "You bosky knave, I'll" 
 
 But what Turnpenny would have done remained 
 
 289
 
 ON THE SPANISH MAIN 
 
 untold, for at this moment Drake called all the men 
 together. 
 
 "Tis no good crying over spilt milk, my lads," he 
 said. "An we do not shift for ourselves betimes we 
 shall have all the Spaniards of Panama upon us pell- 
 mell. To go back the way we came is a four-league 
 march; we all be wearied and fordone; and meseems 
 'twere better to go forward two leagues into the forest. 
 True, the town of Venta Cruz stands in the way, but 
 'tis better, methinks, to encounter our enemies while we 
 have strength remaining than to be encountered and 
 chased when we be worn out with weariness. We will 
 e'en eat our suppers while we may ; there be great store 
 of meat and drink in the mule-packs ; then we will mount 
 upon those beasts so that we do not weary ourselves 
 with overmuch marching. And then, if God will, we 
 will ding a blow at the enemy for our honor; and mark 
 'ee, my lads, we are disappointed of a most rich booty; 
 but surely God would not that it should be taken, for 
 that, by all likelihood, they were well come by that treas- 
 ure, and not by evil courses." 
 
 And, taking what comfort they could from their cap- 
 tain's explanation, they set off on mule-back as soon as 
 supper was over, and came in an hour to the woods 
 a mile out of Venta Cruz. There they dismounted. 
 Drake bade the muleteers remain out of harm's way, 
 and led the men over a cobbled road ten feet broad, 
 running between great walls of vegetation. 
 
 290
 
 THROUGH THE FOREST 
 
 Following his custom, Drake sent forward two of 
 the faithful maroons to reconnoiter. They came back 
 with the news that, half a mile farther on, the enemy 
 were hidden in the thickets; they had heard the rustle 
 of their movements and smelled the pungent smoke 
 of their matches. 
 
 "Let no man fire until after the enemy hath dealt us 
 a volley," said Drake; "methinks they will first parley 
 with us." 
 
 He led them quietly forward. A few minutes later 
 a dark form appeared on the darker road. 
 
 "Hoo !" came a voice. 
 
 "Halloo!" replied Drake. 
 
 "What nation are you?" called the man in Spanish. 
 
 "Englishmen." 
 
 "In the name of the King of Spain, my master," 
 cried the captain, "I charge you to yield, avouching on 
 the word of a gentleman soldier that I will deal with 
 you most courteously." 
 
 "Come on, my lads," quietly said Drake, taking a few 
 quick steps forward. Aloud he cried: "For the honor 
 of the Queen of England, my mistress, I must have 
 passage this way." 
 
 At the same time he fired his pistol. The Spaniards 
 in ambush, mistaking the shot for a signal from their 
 own officer, poured in a volley. Drake blew his whistle, 
 and instantly his men sent a spattering shower of bullets 
 and arrows into the brushwood, following it up with 
 
 291
 
 ON THE SPANISH MAIN 
 
 a charge. The Spaniards bolted like hares, and, at 
 Drake's command, the maroons of his party swarmed 
 forward to cut the enemy off from a stronger position 
 in the rear, shouting their terrifying war-cry, "Yo peho! 
 Yo peho!" Back went the Spaniards, scurrying along 
 to the shelter of the town, the maroons leaping and 
 dancing after them as their manner was in war, the sea- 
 men not far behind, adding to the uproar with English 
 yells. Within a few yards of the town wall the enemy 
 attempted to rally, posting themselves across the road 
 and in the woods on both sides. But the maroons 
 swept upon their flanks, while Drake and his men charged 
 full at the center. For a few moments the place rang 
 with the clash of sword and pike and the cries of the 
 combatants. Then as one man the Spaniards wheeled 
 about and scampered through the open gates of the 
 town with Drake's whole party at their heels. On they 
 went into the streets, seamen and maroons, thrusting 
 and slashing without pause or respite, yet strictly ob- 
 serving their captain's injunction to spare women and 
 unarmed men. In five minutes they were masters of 
 the town. 
 
 For a little over an hour the men ran hither and 
 thither, gathering what spoils they could in the shape 
 of articles easily carried. Then, just as dawn was break- 
 ing, and they were snatching a hasty breakfast before 
 departing, a dozen horsemen dashed in at the Panama 
 gate. Not until they were within point-blank range of 
 
 292
 
 THROUGH THE FOREST 
 
 the musketeers whom Drake had posted there did they 
 perceive that the town was in the enemy's hands. The 
 sentries fired; half of the horsemen fell; the rest fled 
 back hastily into the forest. But Drake feared that they 
 were the advance guard of a larger force. It was dan- 
 gerous to delay. He whistled his men together; and 
 in a few minutes they marched out of the town with 
 their spoils, some little compensation for the lost treas- 
 ure of the mule-train. 
 
 The toils and sufferings of that homeward march 
 lived long in the memories of Dennis and Turnpenny. 
 Drake forced the pace unmercifully, anxious to get back 
 to his ship. Food ran short; he would not stay to 
 hunt wild hog or deer. Several of the men had been 
 wounded; there was no time to tend their wounds. 
 Their clothes were torn to tatters ; their boots, even the 
 extra pairs, had given way, and they were driven to 
 bind their feet with rags. The faithful maroons served 
 them nobly, carrying all the burdens, building huts for 
 their rest at night, bearing upon their shoulders some 
 of the seamen who were too exhausted and footsore to 
 tramp any longer. A maroon went forward to warn the 
 waiting company of their approach. On the afternoon 
 of the twenty-third of February, three weeks after they 
 had started on the expedition, they tottered out of the 
 forest toward the beach, just as the pinnace, sent by 
 Ellis Hixom to take them off, scudded inshore. There 
 on the glistening sand the little company of men, hag- 
 
 293
 
 ON THE SPANISH MAIN 
 
 gard, worn-out, half-famished, raised their husky voices 
 in a psalm of thanksgiving, praising God because they 
 saw their pinnace and their fellows again. In their grati- 
 tude they forgot the hardships of the journey, and thought 
 only of the success to which Drake had led them.
 
 CHAPTER XXI 
 
 MAIDEN ISLE AGAIN 
 
 As they sailed back in the pinnace to the secret haven, 
 the weary adventurers were surrounded by their com- 
 rades, and feasted their ears with wondrous tales of what 
 had befallen them. Ellis Hixom also had a story to tell. 
 A few days after the departure of the company, there 
 had staggered into the clearing three men in the last 
 stage of exhaustion. Two were English; one, French. 
 They were pitiable objects, their eyes bright with fever, 
 their cheeks haggard with famine, their feet blistered and 
 bleeding from long wandering in the woods. Each man 
 carried a bag of pearls. 
 
 And they told a pitiable story. They had escaped, they 
 said, from captivity in Nombre de Dios, and set out with 
 three comrades, bearing plunder from the houses of their 
 captors. It was well known along the coast that Drake 
 was somewhere in hiding, and they had marched east- 
 ward, hoping by good hap to light upon his encampment. 
 But as they rested one night, the leader had overheard a 
 plot on the part of three of the men to slay the rest and 
 make off with the booty. Fearing that if it came to a 
 fight he and his two comrades would stand but little 
 
 295
 
 ON THE SPANISH MAIN 
 
 chance against the others, who were men of exceeding 
 great strength and ferocity, the three had slipped away 
 in the darkness, and had since been tramping for days 
 through the forest, unable to find sufficient food, and 
 subsisting on berries and mushrooms. Once they had 
 almost stumbled into a village of maroons, and had fled 
 for their lives, dreading lest they should be taken for 
 Spaniards and slain before the error was discovered. 
 
 "And where are they now ?" asked Drake. 
 
 "On the Pascha, sir," replied Hixom, "where they are 
 slowly recovering of their calentures." 
 
 "And the name of the leader?" 
 
 "Jan Biddle, by his own account a skilful mariner 
 and" 
 
 "Ay, I have heard tell of him," interrupted Drake with 
 a grim smile. "Master Hazelrig," he added, calling Den- 
 nis up, "I learn that the captain of your mutineers awaits 
 your judgment on my vessel." 
 
 He repeated what Hixom had told him. 
 
 "What is the name of the other Englishman, Master 
 Hixom?" asked Dennis. 
 
 "Dick Rackstraw, methinks. The Frenchman's name 
 is Michel Barron." 
 
 "Then, what has become of our comrade, Billy Hawk, 1 
 wonder? Biddle and his crew deserted from us with the 
 treasure, when we came ashore in our boat. Billy Hawk 
 went after them ; I fear me there has been foul play." 
 
 "We will inquire into that matter when we gain our 
 
 296
 
 MAIDEN ISLE AGAIN 
 
 haven," said Drake, "and see what Master Biddle has to 
 say for himself." 
 
 As soon as he reached the haven, Drake boarded the 
 Pascha and called Biddle and his companions before him. 
 He listened patiently to the man's wild tale, then sent a 
 boat ashore to bring off Dennis and Turnpenny. Riddle's 
 jaw dropped when he saw them come over the side. He 
 attempted to bluster it out, but Drake cut him short. 
 
 "You are a foul liar and a mutineer," he said sternly. 
 "Art a murderer, also ? What didst thou to Billy Hawk, 
 thy comrade? Answer to the point, villain," 
 
 "Afore God, sir, I know naught of him. With me 
 came but four men, and two of those lie dead in the for- 
 est, of a strange sickness that gat hold of them after they 
 had drunken of the water of a certain river. Of Billy 
 Hawk I saw nor heard naught." 
 
 "My poor comrade !" said Turnpenny. "I fear me he 
 be gone or lost." 
 
 "These are your men," said Drake, turning to Dennis. 
 "The punishment of mutiny is death. Do with them as 
 you list." 
 
 "I would fain leave them in your hands, sir," replied 
 Dennis. "For me, I would not that any man should die." 
 
 "I will consider of it. Have them put in irons and 
 carried below." 
 
 Next day he decided, on Dennis' intercession, to con- 
 tent himself with holding the men closely confined in the 
 vessel. The bags of pearls were taken from them and 
 
 297
 
 ON THE SPANISH MAIN 
 
 handed to Dennis and Turnpenny. And ere the day was 
 out Robert Pike was sent to join them. Drake had 
 learned of the mischievous part the man had played, 
 which had resulted in the failure of his attack on the 
 mule-trains. 
 
 "A little darkness and solitude may teach him to re- 
 frain from the bottle," he said. 
 
 The enterprise had so nearly succeeded that when 
 Drake declared he would make the attempt again, as soon 
 as the time came for another convoy of treasure to cross 
 the isthmus, every man of his company eagerly besought 
 him for a place in the expedition. But Dennis reminded 
 him of his promise to lend him a pinnace in which to 
 sail to Maiden Isle and bring off his comrades. 
 
 "I will hold to my words," said Drake. "You and 
 your brawny henchmen have suffered less than the most 
 of my men, by reason, I wot, of your being inured to 
 hardships on your island. Some days must needs pass 
 before we are ready to attempt other enterprises. The 
 island is but a day's sail, you said?" 
 
 "Ay, sir, and with good hap we should return on the 
 second day, or the third, at most." 
 
 "Then take the Minion pinnace, and good hap go with 
 you! You will need men. Choose out eight according 
 to your minds, and a few maroons also. Juan was with 
 you, I bethink me; he will doubtless serve you right 
 faithfully. In sooth, I shall be mightily rejoiced to have 
 with me the dozen men you go to find, for if they be in 
 
 298
 
 MAIDEN ISLE AGAIN 
 
 spirit and body like to you and your henchman, they will 
 be most serviceable when I make my next journey to 
 Panama. I would go fetch them myself, as I had pur- 
 posed, but that our preparations demand my presence 
 here." 
 
 Next day, then, the Minion pinnace sailed out of the 
 little haven with a crew of eight Englishmen and five 
 maroons, three of whom were the men who had accom- 
 panied Dennis from the island. Mirandola also was on 
 board. He had disappeared when Dennis set off with 
 Drake to cross the isthmus, but had evidently kept a 
 watch on the settlement, for the day after they returned 
 he came out of the forest and attached himself to his 
 old master with demonstrations of delight. A brisk 
 breeze was blowing offshore ; the pinnace was a first-rate 
 sailer and they continued to make good speed; by mid- 
 day they were in sight of the island, and in the afternoon 
 they rounded the shoulder of the cliff, Turnpenny steer- 
 ing the vessel into the gully. 
 
 Dennis, standing in the bows, caught sight of a group 
 of men beyond the pool, near his sheds. They were 
 partly hidden by the foliage, and when they saw the 
 strange vessel making straight toward them, with the 
 evident intention of coming to an anchorage, they took 
 to their heels and disappeared. 
 
 "Poor souls ! They take us for Spaniards," said Turn- 
 penny. "Ise warrant they be most desperately in the 
 dumps. Tis nigh a month since we departed hence." 
 
 299
 
 ON THE SPANISH MAIN 
 
 The pinnace dropped anchor beside the Maid Marian, 
 and the men went ashore. 
 
 "Blow a blast," said Dennis to one of the men who 
 carried a trumpet, "with notes that will be familiar to 
 their ears." 
 
 As the shrill notes rang out, he stepped ahead of the 
 men, with Mirandola on his shoulder. Before long a 
 man appeared among the trees far up the chine. 
 
 "Hallo, hoy !" shouted Turnpenny. "Be that you, Tom 
 Copstone? Come, comrade, never be afeard. We've 
 come to take 'ee off, poor soul, and bring 'ee to Master 
 Drake, who will make us all rich with much gold and 
 treasure. Come, my hearts, Ned Whiddon, and Hugh 
 Curder, and all." 
 
 Turnpenny's well-known voice was more successful 
 than the trumpet notes in banishing the men's mistrust. 
 Soon they came hasting down the gully, Copstone 
 leading. 
 
 "I said it, I knew it!" he cried as he approached. 
 " 'You and me, Haymoss' the blessed words stayed in 
 my noddle, and I knew 'ee would come back somewhen, 
 dear soul. But we be in piteous case. 'Tis a long ninny- 
 watch we ha' kept, and hope was well-nigh drownded, 
 sir. We could not make it out; we was mazed, every 
 man of us ; but you be come back, praise be to God !" 
 
 He told how the disappearance of the Mirandola had 
 filled them first with consternation, then with bitter rage. 
 Some of the men declared that they had been decoyed to 
 
 300
 
 MAIDEN ISLE AGAIN 
 
 the island ; that they had been betrayed and deserted for 
 the sake of the treasure. From the first Copstone and 
 Whiddon had absolutely refused to believe that Dennis 
 and Turnpenny had wilfully left them; Hugh Curder, 
 indeed, had made a shrewd guess at what had actually 
 happened; but the rest clung to their first notion, gave 
 way to bursts of rage and reviling, and as the days passed 
 settled down into a state of moody despair. 
 
 Copstone had tried to induce them to fit out the Maid 
 Marian for sea, but he had found it impossible to whip 
 up enough energy among them. They had some reason 
 for their reluctance, inasmuch as, the stores of the Maid 
 Marian having been put aboard the Mirandola, there 
 was no provision for a long voyage. The fruits of the 
 island would spoil in a week or so, whereas if they clung 
 to the island they were at least sure of finding a sufficient 
 subsistence. But they had -been troubled even on this 
 point, for some of the men fell ill through recklessly eat- 
 ing fruits and berries without first ascertaining whether 
 they were fit for food, and with broken health their spirits 
 had been still further depressed. 
 
 "Poor souls !" said Turnpenny. " 'Ee do look a wan- 
 gery and witherly crew. But 'ee be all here, all twelve, 
 not a man lacking. My heart, where be Gabriel Batten ?" 
 
 "He never come back !" 
 
 "Never come back! What do 'ee mean?" 
 
 "We looked for en, up along and down along, but nary 
 a crim of him did we see." 
 
 301
 
 ON THE SPANISH MAIN 
 
 "Ay, and another be gone, too," said Hugh Curder. 
 "But a se'nnight agone, poor Joe Toogood vanished out 
 of our sight, and we never seed him again. Where can 
 'ee be gone?" 
 
 "Be there devils upon the island, Haymoss?" asked 
 Ned Whiddon anxiously. "Be there pixies that lead poor 
 souls into some ditch or quagmire, where they be swal- 
 lowed quick in the pluffy ground? Once we was bold 
 mariners all, but now we be poor, timorsome creatures, 
 afeard when the wind soughs in the trees." 
 
 Dennis remembered the boa-constrictor from whose 
 clammy coils he had saved the monkey that now sat upon 
 his shoulder. 
 
 " 'Twas no sprites nor pixies, comrades," he said. 
 "Without doubt they came unawares upon a big serpent 
 that charmed them first with his fiery eyes, and then 
 swathed them in his fearsome coils till he had crushed 
 the life out of them. Poor souls ! poor souls !" 
 
 "But now 'tis time to be merry, lads," said Amos 
 quickly, "for here we be, and our pinnace yonder is 
 named the Minion, the same as the bark that Captain 
 Hampton handled so cunningly at St. John d'Ulua; and 
 we be goin' to take 'ee all back to Master Drake, who 
 lies by a secret haven, in little, small huts built by the 
 maroons, and there be archery butts, and a smith's anvil 
 and other such homely things. And we have seen won- 
 drous things, my lads the blue South Sea beyond, and 
 the treasure town, and Master Drake be set on leading us 
 
 302
 
 MAIDEN ISLE AGAIN 
 
 forth to adventure for gold and jewels beyond price. 
 Tis time to be merry, souls!" 
 
 And, catching the infection of his cheery good will, 
 Hugh Curder flung his hat in the air and began : 
 
 "111 is the weather that bringeth no gain, 
 Nor helps good hearts in need." 
 
 Dennis had transferred to the Mirandola now, alas! 
 at the bottom of the sea the greater part of the Maid 
 Marian's stores that he kept in his sheds ; but there was 
 a goodly remnant still in the cave, and this he determined 
 to put on board the Minion and carry to Port Diego. 
 The afternoon was too far advanced for this work to be 
 completed that night; so he determined to sleep on the 
 island and make an early start next morning. As soon 
 as it was light he sent a number of Turnpenny's old 
 comrades in different directions across the island to get 
 a supply of fresh fruit, while the men he had brought 
 from the mainland set .about carrying the stores from 
 the cave to the pinnace. 
 
 They had not been long at the work, however, when 
 Ned Whiddon came hurrying back. 
 
 "God-a-mercy, sir!" he cried. "We have spied a crew 
 of strangers on the south shore, and in the offing two 
 vessels at anchor. They be all clad and armed in the 
 Spanish fashion, and when they set eyes on us they gave 
 chase, and but that we know the island now as well as we 
 know the lanes to home, none of us would have 'scaped." 
 
 303
 
 ON THE SPANISH MAIN 
 
 Other men came in while he was speaking. Dennis 
 trembled for the fate of those who had gone toward the 
 northern shore and had not yet returned. 
 
 " Tis ill news indeed," he said. "Run, Curder, after 
 the men that have gone northward, and warn them that 
 Spaniards are here to trouble us, lest they have not 
 already discovered it. Comrades," he added, addressing 
 the men about him, whose countenances bespoke their 
 alarm, "comrades, we must take counsel together. What 
 think you, Amos, we should do?" 
 
 "Why, sir, we should steal out in the pinnace as soon 
 as our men be back along, leaving these stores, and thread 
 a way betwixt the reefs to nor'ward; for the knaves 
 could not follow us save in their boats." 
 
 "Ay, sir," said Copstone, "that be the true way of it. 
 God send the tide be high enough to serve." 
 
 "Then get aboard and make all ready to depart. Amos, 
 look to all things, and make the rest of our comrades to 
 embark as they arrive. I will run to the top of the cliff 
 to spy if the coast be clear." , 
 
 But on reaching the spot whence he had so often be- 
 fore looked longingly and vainly for a sail, he made a 
 most unwelcome discovery. About a mile to the south- 
 west of the island lay a large vessel, which, since she was 
 busily engaged in signaling, was clearly a consort of the 
 two ships that Whiddon had seen. Keeping well under 
 cover, Dennis raced along, to a point half a mile south, 
 whence the whole southern offing was visible. There^
 
 MAIDEN ISLE AGAIN 
 
 were the two vessels ; and, even as he looked, a boat was 
 lowered from the nearer of them, rapidly filled with 
 men, and was rowed toward the sandy beach on which 
 Dennis had been cast up. 
 
 The sight was enough to cause the boldest heart to 
 quake. If the pinnace ran out of the gully, she would 
 have to pass within half a mile of the ship, for the tide 
 was low, and even the little Minion drew too much water 
 to make her way northward until she had run at least 
 half a mile out to sea. This would bring her presently 
 under the guns of the third vessel, and the Spaniards 
 must be poor marksmen indeed if they failed to hit her 
 at this range. 
 
 He was beginning to retrace his steps when Turnpenny 
 came up hurriedly. 
 
 "We be all aboard, sir, save yourself and Nick Joland. 
 Have 'ee seen him?" 
 
 "No." 
 
 "He be but late better of a fever, as Tom telled me ; 
 pray he be not swooned." 
 
 At this moment they heard loud shouts to their right. 
 Running down through the trees, careful not to expose 
 themselves, they saw four Spaniards chasing this very 
 man Joland, a thin, cadaverous-looking man, whose stum- 
 bling gait betrayed his weakness. He was making almost 
 in a straight line for a large begonia bush that stood 
 alone at the end of the narrow clearing just below where 
 the two men were watching. 
 
 305
 
 ON THE SPANISH MAIN 
 
 With one accord Dennis and Turnpenny stole to the 
 bush and dropped down behind it. 
 
 "Let Joland pass," whispered Dennis; "then we can 
 tackle the knaves as they come up." 
 
 "Without arms?" replied Turnpenny. 
 
 Dennis nodded. In a few moments the fugitive, pant- 
 ing hard, ran past the bush. The four Spaniards, run- 
 ning in a body, were close at his heels. 
 
 "Now!" Dennis whispered. 
 
 They sprang out with a yell, and, though they were 
 unarmed, the odds were not utterly against them, for 
 the Spaniards were startled by this unexpected onset. 
 A single blow from Turnpenny's sledge-hammer fist 
 stretched one of them senseless on the ground. Dennis 
 felled his man, but his arm was less powerful, and the 
 Spaniard began dizzily to regain his feet while Dennis 
 grappled with another. As he rose he reeled just within 
 reach of Turnpenny's arm. Catching him round the 
 middle, the seaman flung him bodily at the fourth Span- 
 iard, who was making furiously at him with drawn sword. 
 Their heads collided with a terrific thud, and down they 
 fell on the grass together. 
 
 Meanwhile Dennis had come to grips with the third 
 man, a heavy and muscular fellow, who had only been 
 prevented by the suddenness of the onslaught from using 
 his sword, which he was unable in the surprise of the 
 moment to shorten before Dennis was within his guard. 
 Dropping the weapon, he strove to crush his antagonist 
 
 306
 
 MAIDEN ISLE AGAIN 
 
 by sheer strength. But Dennis was a wrestler. He 
 neatly tripped the Spaniard, who fell, dragging his oppo- 
 nent with him. With a tremendous effort, he heaved 
 himself uppermost and pinned Dennis to the ground. 
 His hand was already on Dennis' throat, when suddenly 
 a dark object hurtled through the air, striking him with 
 terrific force on the side of the head. His grip relaxed, 
 and he fell with a groan upon Dennis, the object that had 
 struck him clattering to the ground. 
 
 Dennis was up in a moment. The strange missile was 
 the head-piece of one of the Spaniards. It had fallen 
 from his head in the tussle, and been picked up by Nick 
 Joland, who, seeing the diversion in his favor, had hur- 
 ried up at the critical moment in time to save Dennis from 
 strangulation. 
 
 "Dead as door-nails!" said Turnpenny succinctly, see- 
 ing Dennis glance at the Spaniards on the ground. " 'Tis 
 a terrible heave-up, sir ; we were best to run back to our 
 comrades in the pinnace, for there be gashly work afore 
 us. And we will take these knaves' swords and calivers. 
 Crymaces ! there be more running toward us, and a round 
 dozen; we durst not bide their coming. We have but 
 bare time to get back to the chine. Stir your stumps, 
 Nick Joland ; we can't save 'ee twice, man."
 
 .CHAPTER XXII 
 
 A FIGHT ON THE CLIFFS 
 
 The three doubled toward the chine, which was little 
 more than half a mile away. The Spaniards saw them 
 ere they disappeared among the trees, and followed with 
 loud shouts, quickening their pace when they reached the 
 spot where their comrades lay. But the Englishmen, 
 knowing the ground, came in good time to the edge of 
 the gully, where a steep and winding path led down to 
 the ledge on which the huts were built From the sum- 
 mit the ledge was not visible. 
 
 "Shall we run down at once, or give them a taste of 
 their own lead first ?" asked Dennis, halting for a moment. 
 
 "Give the knaves a taste, to be sure," replied Amos. 
 "They know not how many we be, nor can they see 
 through the trees; and we must needs check them, to 
 give us time to acquaint our comrades with what is to- 
 ward, and set our defenses in order." 
 
 While speaking he had kindled the matches taken 
 from the Spaniards. The calivers were already loaded. 
 Crouching behind the thick bushes that lined the edge of 
 the gully, they fired when they caught sight of the Span- 
 iards advancing among the trees. Two of the enemy 
 
 308
 
 A FIGHT ON THE CLIFFS 
 
 fell; the rest halted; and, while they stood considering 
 whether to advance, the three Englishmen hurried down 
 the path, guessing that the Spaniards would hardly ven- 
 ture to follow while they were ignorant of the size of 
 the force with which they had to deal. 
 
 Arriving at the ledge, Turnpenny gave a hail to the men 
 on the deck of the pinnace, bidding them leave the vessel 
 and bring their arms and ammunition with them. They 
 had been much alarmed by the continued absence of their 
 leaders, and by the sound of the shots, and asked anx- 
 iously, when they reached the ledge, what was to be done. 
 Dennis rapidly told them what he had seen from the 
 summit of the cliff, and how for the present the Span- 
 iards had been checked; and then, taking Turnpenny 
 and two or three of the others aside, began to concert a 
 plan of defense. 
 
 The position was naturally a strong one. The ledge 
 was accessible only by the narrow path from the cliff- 
 top, and by a few yards of steep ascent from the base of 
 the gully. It was protected from attack from above by 
 the overhanging cliff; it could only be assaulted from 
 below if the enemy got into the bed of the gully, either 
 by coming in boats round the shoulder of the cliff, or by 
 clambering down the sides inland. The gully was forty 
 yards across ; the opposite bank was steep and much over- 
 grown with vegetation, trees and bushes growing thick 
 to the very edge. Down the middle ran the stream from 
 the marsh, very shallow after a season of dry weather.
 
 ON THE SPANISH MAIN 
 
 On their own side the defenders could pick off the enemy 
 if they came to attack them along the narrow path ; they 
 were in danger only if the Spaniards took post on the 
 summit of the bank opposite; and they could not reach 
 that spot except by making a long circuit about the 
 marsh in which the stream took its rise, or by clambering 
 down the southern bank some distance up-stream, wading 
 through the water and climbing the other side. This 
 would be a matter of an hour or two at least an invalu- 
 able respite which Dennis resolved to make the most of. 
 He sent one of the maroons up the path to keep watch 
 on the enemy, and another to cross the gully, clamber up 
 the opposite face, and hide among the trees, there to give 
 notice of an approach from the northeast. The other 
 maroons, with several of the Englishmen, he set to fortify 
 the extremity of the ledge with a wall of branches, so 
 that the party might be screened from gunshot on the 
 other side. Turnpenny, with the strongest of the mari- 
 ners, went down to the pinnace, and, at the cost of great 
 exertion, brought up the falcon and rabinets which 
 formed, with the exception of a saker, her armament. 
 The saker was a muzzle-loader weighing more than half 
 a ton, and too cumbrous to be hauled up the steep cliff ; 
 but the falcon was less than half that weight, and the two 
 rabinets weighed only three hundred pounds apiece. The 
 falcon was seven feet long, had a bore of two and a half 
 inches, and threw a shot of three pounds' weight, with a 
 similar weight of powder. The rabinet was only two 
 
 310
 
 A FIGHT ON THE CLIFFS 
 
 and a half feet in length, its bore was one inch, and its 
 shot weighed only half a pound. Both guns had a point- 
 blank range of from a hundred and twenty to a hundred 
 and fifty yards, and, mounted on the ledge, in embrasures 
 of the extemporized wall, they would prove very effective 
 weapons of defense. 
 
 While the guns were being hauled into position, others 
 of the men brought buckets of water, filled at the cliff 
 stream, and emptied them into the casks which, during 
 the months spent on the island by Dennis and the sailors, 
 had been depleted of the stores they had held when 
 brought from the hold of the Maid Marian. Two casks 
 still remained full of cider, but this having gone sour in 
 the heat, it was poured away, the casks were swilled out, 
 and refilled with water. It was fortunate that a pure 
 spring welled in the cliff, for the water of the rivulet 
 draining the marsh, being brackish and slimy, was unfit 
 for drinking. 
 
 All the men worked with a will. They knew not as 
 yet how many the enemy numbered, but since there were 
 three vessels, of which each, if fully manned, might 
 contain from forty to seventy men, they had to reckon 
 with a force that might be from a hundred and twenty 
 to more than two hundred strong. The odds were tre- 
 mendously against them. All told, they numbered only 
 twenty-six, of whom six were maroons. But they had 
 only two courses open to them to fight and at least sell 
 their lives dearly, or to yield, and be shot or hanged or
 
 ON THE SPANISH MAIN 
 
 haled away to a slavery worse than death. Not one of 
 them hesitated in his choice. 
 
 As a last resort, Dennis had the cave to fall back upon ; 
 but he was loath to retire to it until he had made a good 
 fight at the gully; for while, from the ledge on which 
 his hut stood, he could command the entrance of the 
 gully and to some extent protect the pinnace, the cave 
 was deeper in the cliff and out of sight; and, however 
 strenuously the party might defend itself there, the pin- 
 nace would then be at the mercy of the enemy. It was 
 true that, even if the pinnace were carried away or de- 
 stroyed, a canoe could be dug out by the maroons, so 
 that they would still have means of leaving the island; 
 but Dennis was determined to sail the Minion back to 
 Port Diego and to Francis Drake. 
 
 Midday came, and passed. The maroons had finished 
 their wall; the guns were mounted and charged; the 
 water-casks were filled: and still there was no sign of 
 the enemy. But the scouts had not returned, and Dennis 
 began to feel somewhat uneasy. What were the Span- 
 iards doing? 
 
 "Have we left aught undone, think you?" he said to 
 Turnpenny, as they sat on upturned tubs, eating their 
 dinner. 
 
 "Nowt, sir, as I can see. But methinks 'tud be well to 
 withdraw the muzzles of our guns somewhat. If the 
 knaves come on t'other side and spy them, they may sheer 
 off and seek some other way of troubling us; and I 
 
 312
 
 A FIGHT ON THE CLIFFS 
 
 would that they came to close quarters here, where we 
 can strike them down." 
 
 " 'Tis good counsel. Not perceiving the guns, they 
 will be the more emboldened to attack us, and 'twere well 
 we have occasion to teach them a sound lesson." 
 
 Accordingly the guns were withdrawn so that their 
 muzzles did not project from the other side of the wall. 
 Hardly had this been done when the nose of a boat was 
 seen shooting round the shoulder of the cliff. 
 
 "Lookeedesee !" cried Turnpenny. "The knaves that 
 followed us did assuredly go back to their comrades and 
 told them of the gully and the path downward, and they 
 have sent their cock-boat to spy the place from the sea." 
 
 "Let us keep out of sight and watch what they do," 
 said Dennis. 
 
 The boat, filled with armed men, came under full sweep 
 of oars up the entrance to the gully. When it was still 
 some distance from the pinnace the men rested on their 
 oars, and one rose in the bows to look about him. For 
 some time he saw nothing to indicate that the place was 
 defended, and his fellows in the boat began to talk over 
 the situation, the sound of their voices coming clearly to 
 the men behind the wall. Then, as the boat again moved 
 toward the pool, some one in it suddenly caught sight of 
 the barricaded ledge, and the voices broke out once more 
 in eager discussion. The upshot of this was that they 
 came to the conclusion that the pinnace had been aban- 
 doned to her fate, and with a shout of triumph they bent
 
 ON THE SPANISH MAIN 
 
 lustily to their oars and came on with the evident inten- 
 tion of securing the vessel. 
 
 But they were now within range of the calivers of the 
 defenders. At a sign from Dennis eight of the men 
 stepped forward to the wall, lit their matches, and, resting 
 the weapons on the top, fired when he gave the word. 
 Several of the oarsmen were seen to fall back; the boat 
 came to a stop ; and, while the Spaniards were hesitating 
 whether to advance or retreat, eight more men sent a hot 
 volley among them, working havoc in the crowded boat. 
 Cries of pain were now mingled with their shouts; the 
 defenders heard a loud word of command ; and the row- 
 ers began to back water so as not to present the side of 
 the boat to the hidden marksmen. When the boat was 
 out of danger it swung round on the current, and in a 
 few minutes disappeared round the shoulder of the cliff. 
 
 Scarcely was it out of sight when the maroon who had 
 been sent up the cliff to the south came running down 
 the path. He reported that he had stealthily spied upon 
 the Spaniards, who had been baffled when Dennis and 
 Turnpenny vanished over the edge; they had returned 
 to the southern shore, where they rejoined a larger party 
 which had assembled there. A council had been held on 
 the beach; horns were sounded, no doubt to recall scat- 
 tered bands who had been ranging the island in other 
 directions; more men had been sent off from the ships; 
 and the whole force, numbering, as near as he could 
 guess, nearly two hundred men, had set off with matches
 
 A FIGHT ON THE CLIFFS 
 
 already lighted, marching northward. Moreover, the 
 third vessel, which had been lying off the southwestern 
 shore, was working slowly up the coast. 
 
 " 'Twas from her, without doubt, the boat put off that 
 we have lately routed," said Dennis. "The men aboard 
 will tell what they have seen. What will be the upshot, 
 think you, Amos?" 
 
 "Be jowned if I can tell, sir. My counsel is, let the 
 maroon go back and spy upon them. An the knaves 
 march directly northward they will come upon the gully 
 just above us, and methinks, however stout they be, they 
 will not dare to come down the path, where we can shoot 
 them man by man." 
 
 It was done as he suggested. Within half an hour the 
 maroon came back with the news that the boat had been 
 run ashore on low ground to the west; many wounded 
 men had been lifted out of it; and the majority of the 
 Spaniards had hastened across country to rejoin the 
 marching force. It halted while a consultation was held ; 
 then the march was resumed, but this time in a more 
 easterly direction, which would bring them to the gully 
 at a point about midway between the ledge and the 
 morass, where the banks were sufficiently low and the 
 stream sufficiently shallow to permit them to cross with- 
 out difficulty. 
 
 "They be coming about to fire down at us from t'other 
 side," said Turnpenny. 
 
 "Over the wall," added Copstone.
 
 ON THE SPANISH MAIN 
 
 "We can fire back/' said Whiddon. 
 
 "Zuggers ! but twenty of us can not keep two hundred 
 in check," said Hugh Curder anxiously. 
 
 "Say you so?" said Dennis: "Master Drake with but 
 few more did assault and take a whole town. The Span- 
 iards have learned the worth of an English mariner ; they 
 will not approach us rashly. And they know not the 
 ground as we know it. 'Twill be a matter of time to 
 cross the gully and climb the bank and creep along 
 through the trees on the farther side until they face us 
 here. There is you know it well a space on the oppo- 
 site cliff where the trees grow somewhat thin; a space 
 which the knaves must cross an they wish to gain the 
 edge. Might we not ensconce ourselves on the hither 
 border of that space, and fire upon them as they come ! 
 We are not able, it is true, a poor twenty, to withstand 
 the fervent assault of two hundred ; but we can assuredly 
 delay them, and teach them somewhat to respect us, and 
 give time withal for our wall to be increased in height ; 
 meseems it is lower than is proper. What say you, lads ; 
 shall we do this?" 
 
 "But how get back to this our fort, sir?" asked one of 
 Drake's men. "We must fall back before them if they 
 push on, and then methinks they might drive us over the 
 brink, so that we fall headlong to the bottom, and break 
 in pieces." 
 
 "Nay, Wetherall," replied Dennis. "We would take 
 two, or even three, calivers apiece, whereby we twenty 
 
 316
 
 A FIGHT ON THE CLIFFS 
 
 become sixty, and I warrant me we could do so much 
 damage among them that they would pause ere they 
 resolved to bring it to a push. And while they paused, 
 we should have time to scramble down through the trees 
 and shrubs, and up this side again, and come to our 
 wall, mayhap, before they won to the edge. Assuredly 
 we can do them more hurt yonder than if we wait until 
 they stand in serried mass face to face with us above. 
 Shall we do it, lads, for the honor of England?" 
 
 "Ay, ay, sir," shouted the men, fired by his enthusiasm 
 and confidence ; and Hugh Curder began to troll : 
 
 "And hey for the honor of Old England, 
 Old England, Old England!" 
 
 The move was instantly begun. Dennis bade four of 
 the maroons weave more branches into the wall. The rest 
 of the men, with two loaded calivers apiece three were 
 found to be too cumbrous a load followed Dennis down 
 the cliff, forded the stream on rocks that lay just above 
 the pool where the pinnace and the Maid Marian lay, 
 and clambered up the opposite cliff by a zigzag path, 
 assisting themselves by the branches and projecting roots 
 of trees. Arriving at the summit, they waited only to 
 light their matches, then hurried forward through the 
 undergrowth to the edge of the somewhat open space 
 which the enemy must cross. Each man posted himself 
 behind a convenient tree. For two hundred yards in 
 their front there were only a few scattered trees and 
 
 317
 
 ON THE SPANISH MAIN 
 
 bushes. Dennis wished there were time to fell these and 
 so deprive the enemy wholly of cover; but even if they 
 could have been cut down, there was no means at hand 
 of dragging them away, and they would give less pro- 
 tection if left erect than if they lay lengthwise across 
 the space. 
 
 About half an hour after they had thus taken up their 
 positions, the maroon who had previously been sent 
 across the gully as a scout came running back to announce 
 that the enemy were approaching. They were marching 
 with great caution, the soldiers blowing on their smol- 
 dering matches to keep them alight. Dennis ordered 
 the maroon to post himself behind a tree, and the little 
 party waited in breathless silence for the enemy to 
 appear. 
 
 At last one or two men could be seen among the trees 
 on the other side of the clearing. They halted, evidently 
 waiting for the main body to appear before they moved 
 across. Dennis took advantage of the interval to whis- 
 per his orders to the men. If the enemy did not come 
 on in a mass, and at the charge, only alternate men were 
 to fire the first volley, then, if they had time, to reload 
 their pieces, still having the second loaded caliver in 
 reserve. 
 
 In a few minutes the gleam of the Spaniards' head- 
 pieces and shoulder-plates was seen as they joined the 
 advance scouts among the trees. Then, as it were out 
 of the leafy wall, some twenty men marched resolutely 
 
 318
 
 A FIGHT ON THE CLIFFS 
 
 forward in closed ranks, clearly without any suspicion 
 that the woods beyond were occupied. Dennis waited 
 until they were half-way across the open space, then he 
 sounded the "Hoo ! hoo !" which was the maroons' signal 
 in wood fighting. The calivers flashed from the belt 
 of trees ; several of the enemy fell ; the rest, startled and 
 confused by this sudden and unexpected attack, rushed 
 back instantly upon the main body, while the men who 
 had fired began in all haste to reload. 
 
 But they had no time to complete the priming of their 
 weapons. A shout was heard from beyond the clearing. 
 Immediately afterward a tall Spaniard, whom his dress 
 marked out as an officer, dashed forward at the top of 
 his speed, carrying a short, heavy pistol of the kind 
 known to Englishmen as "daggs." With a yell the whole 
 body followed at his heels. For a moment it seemed 
 to Dennis that nothing could stay the rush; he and his 
 little party must be overwhelmed. But he called aloud 
 to his men to hold their fire until the Spaniards should 
 come within point-blank range. One man, Nick Joland, 
 in sheer nervousness, fired wildly before the proper time ; 
 but the rest, being old mariners who had borne a part 
 in many a scrimmage before, had sufficient self-command 
 to obey his orders. 
 
 On came the Spaniards, and some of the waiting 
 Englishmen knew them to be trained soldiers, infantry- 
 men reputed the finest in the world. But none of the 
 seamen quailed. They knew what was at stake. When 
 
 319
 
 ON THE SPANISH MAIN 
 
 the enemy were within forty paces Dennis gave the word. 
 Twenty calivers sped forth their deadly missiles, and 
 every shot took effect. Even the splendid courage and 
 discipline of the Spanish soldiery was unequal to the 
 strain put upon it. Twenty of them lay writhing or mo- 
 tionless upon the ground; the mass behind recoiled, 
 and fled to cover, some to the few trees and shrubs that 
 dotted the open space, others to the thick wood beyond. 
 
 Among those who had been struck down was the 
 gallant captain. He had just risen on one knee when 
 one of his men sprang from the sheltered ranks to his 
 assistance. Reckless of consequences, the brave fellow 
 rushed to the middle of the clearing, fully exposed to 
 the marksmen, and, lifting the wounded officer, carried 
 him bodily among the trees. His courage drew a great 
 cheer from the Englishmen, not one of whom raised 
 his weapon to shoot. 
 
 "My heart, 'tis a brave lad," roared Turnpenny; "and 
 withal a mighty!" 
 
 The advance had been checked; the enemy had dis- 
 appeared ; but the voice of another officer was heard ha- 
 ranguing the men. Soon bullets began to spatter among 
 the trees behind which the Englishmen lurked, and there 
 were signs that the Spaniards were spreading out with 
 the object of taking them in flank. It was time to re- 
 treat if they were not to be cut off. The enemy's move- 
 ment would take some time after their check they would 
 hesitate to make another direct attack across the clear-
 
 A FIGHT ON THE CLIFFS 
 
 ing; and Dennis hoped to be able to clamber down the 
 cliff and regain the ledge before they discovered that 
 their opponents had disappeared. The word was passed 
 quietly along the line; the men snatched up their weap- 
 ons ; and running fleetly to the edge, leaped, rolled, swung 
 themselves down with all possible haste. 
 
 They had crossed the stream and were half-way up 
 the opposite side when the movement was seen by one 
 of a flanking party of the Spaniards. A loud cry pro- 
 claimed his discovery of their flight ; he fired his caliver, 
 and Hugh Curder gave a yell; the bullet had struck 
 his foot. But by the time other Spaniards had come 
 to the brink of the cliff, and, kneeling down, fired across 
 the gully, the whole party had reached the ledge and 
 dropped down panting behind the wall, where for the 
 moment they were safe. 
 
 321
 
 CHAPTER XXIII 
 
 BOMBARDED 
 
 Bullets pattered upon the wall and the cliff behind, 
 but Dennis and his men, lying low, escaped unhurt, and 
 made no reply to the Spaniards' fire. This presently 
 ceased, and Dennis, peering with caution through one 
 of the embrasures in the wall, saw the summit of the 
 opposite cliff lined with the enemy, who were clearly 
 examining the position with careful interest, and discuss- 
 ing it with animation. At length, firing one or two shots 
 as by way of farewell, they withdrew from the edge 
 and disappeared among the trees. 
 
 "God be praised for all His mercies!" said Amos, 
 rising to his feet. "I know not what is to be the end 
 of this." 
 
 "Nor I," said Dennis. " Tis not to be believed they 
 have left us altogether, but rather that they have retired 
 to consider of the next move. They can do us no 
 hurt from the cliff yonder except they bring great guns 
 from their ships to bombard us. Nor can they assault 
 us from below, for the ascent is steep, and however 
 bold they may be, they will not come up merely to be 
 shot at. We must e'en wait and be ready." 
 
 322
 
 BOMBARDED 
 
 "Ay, and think on Jan Biddle and what his villainous 
 knavery has brought us to. But for him we should 
 by this be snug in Plimworth, a-kissing of our wives 
 and little ones them as has 'em. What a power of 
 mischief one base villain can do!" 
 
 The day passed in quietude, the men cleaning their 
 weapons and still further strengthening the wall. The 
 tide rose in the gully, gently dandling the pinnace as 
 she lay at anchor in the pool. Many a longing glance 
 was cast at the little craft, many a sigh broke from the 
 breasts of the mariners as they saw in imagination the 
 dear cliffs of England; they realized now that even the 
 most confident among them had scarcely hoped ever to 
 see them again. 
 
 Darkness fell. Nothing was heard save the rumble 
 of the surf beyond the entrance of the gully, and the 
 lapping of the waves against the base of the cliffs. Look- 
 ing seaward, in the starlight, Dennis saw the mouth of 
 the little harbor like a deep blue cleft in the blackness. 
 He had just divided the company into watches, to keep 
 guard over the ledge while the others slept, when Juan, 
 the maroon, caught his arm and pointed to a small, dark 
 patch at the bottom of the cleft. It seemed to be moving 
 toward them. At the same time there was a series of 
 flashes from the cliff opposite ; bullets flew among them, 
 one hitting Ned Whiddon in the arm. Instantly all the 
 men sank below the level of the wall, and Dennis, crouch- 
 ing close against it, looked through one of the em- 
 
 323
 
 UN THE SPANISH MAIN 
 
 brasures at that dark object slowly approaching up the 
 gully, looming larger every moment. 
 
 The meaning of it had already flashed upon him. A 
 boat, perhaps the same as had appeared earlier in the 
 day, was coming in to cut out the pinnace. The outbreak 
 of firing from the cliff was intended to mask the move- 
 ment and deter the defenders from interfering. 
 
 "You see their cunning," said Dennis to Turnpenny, 
 who had crept to his side. "By day they would not 
 dare come within the range of our calivers; they know 
 that by night we can but fire at random, and endamage 
 them little." 
 
 "My heart, but we must save the pinnace!" said 
 Turnpenny. "She is all our hope and salvation." 
 
 "Not all, Amos," replied Dennis. "You forget the 
 canoe which the maroons built for us; they will build 
 another. But I am not content to lose the Minion; how 
 could we face Master Drake and confess we had lost 
 her? I would fain save her, but how?" 
 
 "Ah, if we had but torches to light the scene," said 
 Tom Copstone; " like to those we had at Fort Aguila 
 yonder." 
 
 "Thanks for that word !" cried Dennis. "Quick, Amos, 
 into the shed! I bethink me there are barrels of oil 
 that we did not place aboard the Mirandola. Broach 
 one, man; tear some of your garments into rags and 
 plentifully soak them in the oil. These we will light and 
 fling down into the pool." 
 
 324
 
 BOMBARDED 
 
 Slipping back from the wall, Turnpenny and Cop- 
 stone crept back in less than two minutes with armfuls 
 of drenched rags. These they kindled and threw hastily 
 over into the pool below. The enemy opposite poured 
 in a hotter fire, but the little company kept close and 
 none was hit. The device was not a moment too soon. 
 By the light of the blazing rags it could be seen that 
 the Spaniards had swarmed on board the pinnace, 
 hauled up her anchor, and fastened her head-rope to 
 their boat. She was indeed already moving slowly 
 toward the sea. 
 
 "Fire, my lads!" cried Dennis. "Let them not all 
 escape." 
 
 Half a dozen of the men leaped forward, and, heed- 
 less of the enemy's bullets, discharged their calivers at 
 the men on the deck of the pinnace. Cries proclaimed 
 that some, at any rate, had hit the mark; but in an 
 instant afterward the Minion's deck was clear, the Span- 
 iards having sprung overboard or gone below. Still the 
 vessel slowly receded, moving little by little out to sea. 
 Being between the towing boat and the ledge, the rowers 
 were protected from the Englishmen's bullets, and they 
 uttered a derisive yell as foot by foot they drew the 
 vessel nearer the sea. 
 
 "The falconet, Amos !" cried Dennis. " 'Tis time to 
 use our ordnance." 
 
 "But we be too high, sir. I can not lower the muzzle 
 so as to bear on the pinnace." 
 
 323
 
 ON THE SPANISH MAIN 
 
 "You will be able to do that as she draws nearer the 
 shoulder of the cliff. Lay the gun in readiness." 
 
 "Zuggers, sir, but if I hit the poor little craft 'twill 
 smash her." 
 
 "I care not. If we can not keep her whole, neither 
 shall the Spaniards have her whole. Lay the gun, man !" 
 
 "My heart, and so I will, and the knaves shall have 
 a plumper, od-rat-en!" 
 
 The entrance to the gully was dimly lit by the burn- 
 ing rags floating in the wake of the pinnace. Amos 
 had shoved the gun through the embrasure, and, with 
 his eye along its upper surface, watched the little vessel 
 as she floated on toward the open sea. The firing op- 
 posite had now ceased; it was as though the Spaniards, 
 sure of success, disdained to waste more powder and 
 shot. Apparently the enemy, assured of success, were 
 watching the departing pinnace with so much interest 
 that they had not observed the muzzle of the falconet 
 projecting from the wall. 
 
 The vessel was now at the very entrance of the gully. 
 In another half-minute she would round the shoulder 
 of the cliff and disappear. But before that half-minute 
 was past there was a flash from the ledge ; a round shot 
 flew seaward; and next moment there were shrieks 
 from the Spaniards who, now that they were out of 
 range of the defenders' small arms, had again come on 
 deck. The shot had struck the vessel square astern. 
 Her rudder was shattered; she swung round on the 
 
 326
 
 BOMBARDED 
 
 tide, and in another instant ran aground on a shoal and 
 stuck fast. 
 
 A mighty cheer rose from the ledge when the men 
 saw the effect of Turnpenny's shot. 
 
 " 'Twas famous, Haymoss !" cried Copstone. "Man, 
 'twas a thumping thwack!" 
 
 And Hugh Curder in his glee lifted up his voice: 
 
 "Then next the blacksmith he came in, 
 And said, ' 'Twas mighty hot !' " 
 
 "Smother you!" cried Turnpenny. "Think of the 
 little poor craft yonder; 'tis like striking a 'ooman, and 
 goes to my heart." 
 
 "But 'ee'd do that in kindness, Haymoss," said Cop- 
 stone. "See, the knaves can not pull her off; she be 
 firm on the rocks, and with the tide falling they'll never 
 move her. They'll think twice before they try that same 
 device again." 
 
 An angry volley from the cliff opposite sent them all 
 scurrying again to cover behind the wall. It proved 
 as Copstone had said. After vainly endeavoring for 
 some time to haul the pinnace from the shoal, the 
 occupants of the boat cast off the rope and disappeared. 
 The burning rags went out one by one; black darkness 
 settled over the gully ; quietness reigned all around ; and 
 leaving three men to keep the first watch, the rest drew 
 their garments around them and sought sleep, wonder- 
 ing what the coming day might have in store. 
 
 327
 
 Dennis passed a miserable night. He could not share 
 the childlike elation which Turnpenny's successful shot 
 had produced in the minds of the mariners. He felt 
 that this enemy was not to be baulked; every little set- 
 back would only strengthen the Spaniards' resolve to 
 crush their opponents; and by this time they could be 
 in no doubt how small was the company resisting them. 
 His head ached with thinking before he fell asleep, and 
 when he awoke, before dawn, it was with throbbing 
 temples and an anxious heart. 
 
 And when he got up and looked toward the sea, he 
 felt his spirit die within him; for there, just past the 
 shoulder of the cliff and some distance out to sea, lay 
 one of the enemy's vessels, moored at a point which he 
 had fondly believed to be unapproachable by any craft 
 of her size. She had been descried by the men of the 
 last watch, but the meaning of the move was not clear 
 to them as it was instantly to him. The ledge was just 
 within range of her guns, for although the shoulder of 
 the cleft hid the pool from any vessel in the main chan- 
 nel, the ledge above was within sight from the spot to 
 which the enemy's vessel had worked. 
 
 "Jaykle! the skipper must be rare and bold!" cried 
 Turnpenny. 
 
 "And a mariner of right good skill," said Dennis. 
 
 But their admiration was turned to grave alarm when, 
 with a roar, the whole of the vessel's broadside was sud- 
 denly fired, and the round shot came hurtling up the 
 
 328
 
 BOMBARDED 
 
 gully. To reply was impossible. The small guns on 
 the ledge were too light to carry the distance. And there 
 was nothing to be hoped for from bad marksmanship 
 on the enemy's part. The first discharge had no effect 
 except to displace masses of rock and earth from the 
 cliff below the ledge. 
 
 "They can not raise their muzzles high enough to hit 
 the ledge," cried Turnpenny in delight. 
 
 But this fond hope was shattered at the next broad- 
 side. One shot struck the hut ; another tore a great gap 
 in the wall; a third chipped off large pieces of rock; 
 several men were wounded. 
 
 "Our wall is vain now," said Dennis. "Another shot 
 will tear it away, and we shall have no defense against 
 the calivers of the enemy when they again appear on 
 the cliff. Ah! and there they come. We must run for 
 the cave, Amos; 'tis our last refuge. Lead the men 
 thither; let them carry our arms and ammunition, and 
 what water and stores they can. I and Copstone and 
 one or two more will strive to make reply to the enemy 
 while aught of our wall remains." 
 
 Bullets were already falling on the ledge. Led by 
 Turnpenny, most of the men, loaded with things, scuttled 
 along the face of the cliff into the thicket that half con- 
 cealed the mouth of the cave. Dennis with three com- 
 panions fired back at the opposite cliff; but in a few 
 minutes another volley of round shot came crashing up 
 the gully, and scarcely a man on the ledge but was 
 
 329
 
 ON THE SPANISH MAIN 
 
 wounded by splinters of rock, though luckily none was 
 directly hit by the shot. It was hopeless to cling to the 
 position longer. 
 
 "Follow me, lads!" cried Dennis; and, rushing down 
 the ledge to where it widened and was overgrown with 
 bushes, he and his comrades joined the others safely 
 in the cave. 
 
 330
 
 CHAPTER XXIV 
 
 THE LEAGUER OF SKELETON CAVE 
 
 "God-a-mercy !" cried Turnpenny. "We be like rats 
 in a trap !" 
 
 "The knaves can not get at us, for this present at 
 least," said Copstone. 
 
 "True, not without being well whopped; but they can 
 block up the entrance, and keep us mewed up until we 
 must either yield or starve, or perish of thirst." 
 
 "Keep a good heart," said Dennis cheerfully. "We 
 shall not yield or starve yet. Since I set sail from Eng- 
 land in the Maid Marian yonder many a marvelous thing 
 has befallen me. I met a countryman when I had given 
 up hope ! Why may not things we do not foresee happen 
 again?" 
 
 "Ay, true," said one of Drake's men; "and perchance 
 Master Francis himself may come to our aid." 
 
 "That is but a poor chance," said Dennis. "It were 
 better we trust in God and our own wit. We are safe 
 at present; let us see what shelter our cave affords; I 
 confess I have not hitherto explored it." 
 
 Lighting a torch, he walked inward, with two or three 
 of the men, and found after a few yards that the floor
 
 ON THE SPANISH MAIN 
 
 sloped slightly downward, and that the cave widened 
 out on both sides, so that if the enemy discovered it, 
 and fired into the opening, the inmates could find enough 
 shelter out of the line of fire. The air was close, but 
 did not become oppressive as soon as Dennis expected, 
 so that he was tempted to believe that there was a hole 
 somewhere in the roof which served to ventilate the cave. 
 But though he looked carefully along the whole of the 
 vault, which extended for some thirty yards into the 
 cliff, he found no such opening, and concluded that the 
 comparative freshness of the air was due merely to 
 the spaciousness of the cave and the width of its mouth. 
 The day wore away in quiet. Careful watch was kept 
 at the opening, and occasionally Spaniards were seen 
 moving up and down the gully and on the opposite cliff ; 
 but no assault was made, and it seemed as though the 
 enemy were content to wait until hunger and thirst had 
 done their work. An inspection of the stores showed 
 that there was only two days' food; all the water they 
 had was contained in three buckets; and this, in that 
 climate, and the state of excitement to which the men 
 were wound up, was but a pitiful supply if the 
 investment was to be protracted. Especially was it 
 unfortunate, seeing that several men were wounded, some 
 seriously. Their injuries were dressed as carefully as 
 possible with the limited appliances at hand, but in the 
 course of the day one poor fellow died, and was solemnly 
 buried in a grave dug with their weapons in the floor. 
 
 332
 
 SKELETON CAVE AGAIN 
 
 Among the occupants of the cave was Mirandola. The 
 monkey had taken refuge in a tree while the fighting 
 was in progress, and Dennis thought that the poor animal 
 would certainly flee to the woody interior of the island, 
 far away from the din and turmoil. But at nightfall the 
 monkey stole into the cave, and attached himself to Den- 
 nis, whom he followed about like a shadow. 
 
 The hours of darkness dragged slowly along. Almost 
 as soon as it was light, a round shot came crashing into 
 the opening, scattering stones and earth in all directions. 
 The Spaniards' inaction during the previous day was 
 explained ; they had evidently brought from the vessel in 
 the offing a gun, perhaps more than one, and mounted 
 it on the opposite cliff. The effect of the shot, which 
 luckily harmed no one, was to send the men in all haste 
 to the sides of the cave. But the crash and the smoke 
 made Mirandola shriek with fright. He ran back into 
 the cave, and when Dennis followed to soothe his terror, 
 he discovered that the poor beast had taken refuge on 
 the top of an irregular pillar of rock that stood out from 
 the wall about three-quarters of the way down the cave. 
 He tried to coax the monkey to descend, but without 
 avail. The top of the pillar was beyond his reach, so he 
 called Turnpenny, and, climbing on to his shoulders, 
 reached up to seize the monkey. But Mirandola retreated 
 and disappeared. 
 
 "The beast is deaved, to be sure," said Turnpenny, "and 
 lacks his little wit. Let him bide, sir." 
 
 333
 
 ON THE SPANISH MAIN 
 
 "Nay, he has been our partner so long that I am not 
 willing to lose him, and he will surely be stifled if we 
 do not bring him nearer the opening. Hoist me, Amos." 
 
 He swarmed to the top of the rock, the sailor handing 
 up the torch after him. It took a few moments to become 
 accustomed to the blackness, and in the red flickering 
 light he failed to see any sign of the monkey. But he 
 perceived with surprise that the pillar did not abut im- 
 mediately on the wall, as he had supposed. Behind it 
 he saw what appeared to be a deep, black hole, which 
 seemed deeper when he inserted his torch. Into this 
 Mirandola, his nerves completely unstrung by the shat- 
 tering explosion, must have run for refuge. 
 
 Dennis crawled in, and, holding the torch over his head, 
 was still more amazed to find that he had come to the 
 entrance of a second cave, apparently larger than the first. 
 The floor of it was many feet below him; he hesitated 
 to risk a dislocation of his ankle if he sprang down; so 
 he retreated, and called down to Turnpenny, informing 
 him of his discovery. 
 
 "Sling up a rope," he said ; "you and Copstone keep a 
 firm hold upon it on your side, while I let myself down 
 on the other side and see what is beyond." 
 
 Lowering himself through the aperture, he found the 
 monkey sitting on the floor. 
 
 "Come, Mirandola," he said, "you taught me the merits 
 of some of the fruits of this island; hast more to teach 
 me, old friend? Let us go on together." 
 
 334
 
 SKELETON CAVE AGAIN 
 
 He found that the floor of this cave also inclined 
 downward, and he went very cautiously, lest he should 
 come unawares upon a chasm and fall headlong to his 
 doom. The atmosphere was damp and close, but not foul, 
 and as he proceeded he saw by the flickering of the torch 
 that there was a slight current of air. No wall blocked 
 his way, but by and by the cave narrowed, the roof came 
 lower and he had to stoop, and at last to crawl, to avoid 
 knocking his head. He had still not reached the end of 
 what was now a tunnel, when the torch went out. For a 
 moment he hesitated whether to go on in the darkness; 
 then, deciding that it was not worth while to run any 
 risks when he could procure another light within a few 
 minutes, he hurried back, got another and a larger torch, 
 and asked Turnpenny to accompany him. 
 
 The two together came to the spot where the first torch 
 had been left, and went on. The rough, irregular fissure 
 grew no narrower, but its slope became steeper at every 
 yard. 
 
 "God-a-mercy, it likes me not !" murmured Turnpenny, 
 who was filled with superstitious fears in face of the 
 unknown. "Meseems we be going down into the very 
 bowels of the earth, or mayhap lower. Dost fear no 
 goblins? Dost not think we may come upon the Old 
 Smoker?" 
 
 "Never a whit, Amos. Why, man, the floor here is wet. 
 Touch it with your hand. And as I live, here are sea- 
 weeds and shells! And look; surely that is a glint of 
 
 335
 
 ON THE SPANISH MAIN 
 
 'light yonder that comes not from our torch. Here is a 
 very pool; duck your head, man; I gave mine a rare 
 crack just then, the roof comes so low. Crawl after me. 
 I smell the sea, Amos; and ah! look! here we are on 
 the shore. Have a care ; we must not be spied." 
 
 Crawling actually through the water, they found them- 
 selves on the shore at a point not far north of the spot 
 where Dennis had first opened his eyes on the island. 
 The hole was almost hidden by the overhanging plants. 
 Mirandola had halted; to go through water was not to 
 his taste. Cautiously raising themselves, Dennis and 
 Turnpenny parted the screening leaves and looked out to 
 sea. There, a little distance out, was the vessel that had 
 fired on them. The tide was low ; she had had to shift 
 her position farther into the main channel. In the little 
 bay which here indented the shore a boat lay on the sand ; 
 two Spaniards leaned against its side, keeping guard, 
 over it, no doubt, while their comrades were engaged in 
 investing the cave. 
 
 "One thing is plain," whispered Dennis ; "here, at least, 
 is a way of retreat should we no longer be able to remain 
 in our cave. And when water fails, we can creep out by 
 the hole in the night-time and fill our buckets at one of 
 the rills that trickle from the cliff." 
 
 "Ah! that is something, sir," said Turnpenny, "but I 
 would fain knock those knaves yonder on the head and 
 take their boat. We might then make a shift to row 
 away from this isle." 
 
 336
 
 SKELETON CAVE AGAIN 
 
 . "A good wish, Amos, but hard to come by. We could 
 not do it in daylight, and methinks the Spaniards would 
 not do us the grace to leave their boat here on the shore 
 for us to make free with at night. But assuredly we 
 can keep a better watch on them here than from the cave 
 above, where we can not show a head but with great 
 peril ; let us therefore return and send one of the maroons 
 hither as a sentinel." 
 
 There was great excitement among the men when they 
 were told of this discovery. Though it seemed impossible 
 that the passage to the sea could avail them much, the 
 knowledge that it was open to them gave just that dash 
 of comfort which is all the world to men in extremity. 
 And when, as the day wore on, the enemy's guns began 
 to play regularly on the mouth of the cave, and brought 
 down in front of it great masses of the cliff above, they 
 did not get into a state of panic, but almost gaily made 
 air-holes through the loosely piled earth with their weap- 
 ons, chuckling at the thought that the besiegers were no 
 doubt flattering themselves with the supposition that the 
 hapless garrison was being gradually entombed. 
 
 But it seemed to Dennis that an attempt should be 
 made to turn this strange discovery to account. Clearly 
 it was possible to leave the cave, but supposing they came 
 out upon the shore, what then? They might take to the 
 woods in the center of the island, and for a time, perhaps, 
 elude the enemy ; but it would only be a matter of days 
 ' before they would be hunted down. They could not, a 
 
 337
 
 ON THE SPANISH MAIN 
 
 mere handful, risk a stand-up fight against a force six 
 or seven times their number. And it was in the highest 
 degree unlikely that the enemy would leave any of their 
 boats on shore during the night. Still there was just a 
 chance that a boat might be so left, and Dennis arranged 
 that Juan, the maroon, should go before dark to the exit 
 on the shore, to see what he could discover of the Span- 
 iards' arrangements, and then to steal up the cliff and 
 learn how they encamped during the night. 
 
 The night was still young when the maroon returned. 
 He had seen the boat put off, conveying officers to the 
 vessel. Then, waiting until it was dark, he had climbed 
 the cliff, and found that the enemy had formed a camp 
 on the summit immediately above the ledge, at some little 
 distance from the brink. No pickets were posted; the 
 Spaniards had evidently recognized the hopelessness of 
 any attempt to escape either up or down the gully. 
 
 Juan had then crept round to the northern cliff, and 
 discovered that the two guns which had played on the 
 cave during the day were left in charge of two men. 
 Dennis was somewhat surprised that the main camp of 
 the enemy had not been made there instead of on the 
 southern cliff, until he remembered that only on the latter 
 were there springs of fresh water. 
 
 " 'Tis as I feared, you see," said Dennis to Turnpenny. 
 "The boat returns to the ship at night just as the boat 
 was wont to return to your lumber-ship. It was but a 
 poor hope, and that is dashed." 
 
 338
 
 SKELETON CAVE AGAIN 
 
 "And so 'tis. The only thing that we poor souls could 
 do would be to crawl out by the hole, and fetch a long 
 compass to the cliff yonder where the guns be, and blow 
 them up for the knaves. If there be but two men guard- 
 ing them, 'tud be no hard feat." 
 
 Dennis did not reply. He seemed to have fallen into 
 a brown study. 
 
 "Ise warrant I could do it, with Tom Copstone and 
 Juan, and maybe another of the maroons. 'Tud not save 
 us, to be sure, but 'tud at least give the knaves a turn, 
 od-rabbit-en !" 
 
 "Amos," said Dennis with apparent inconsequence, "if 
 you were a Spanish officer " 
 
 "God forbid, sir!" interrupted the seaman fervently. 
 
 "It is impossible, I own. Still, if you were a Spanish 
 officer aboard that vessel yonder, and in the blackest hour 
 of night you heard a great uproar on this island, and saw 
 the flashing of guns, what would you do ?" 
 
 "I' fecks, I would think there was a rare randy afoot, 
 and straightway lower a boat and come with all speed 
 ashore to lend a hand." 
 
 "And you, Copstone what would you do?" 
 
 "Come with Haymoss, to be sure, sir. 'You and me, 
 Haymoss ' " 
 
 "The words of my dream again, sir!" cried Amos in 
 excitement. "There be summat in your mind, sir; tell 
 it out, and, souls all, lend an ear." 
 
 And then Dennis unfolded a scheme which Juan's re- 
 
 339
 
 ON THE SPANISH MAIN 
 
 port and Turnpenny's suggestion had set working in his 
 mind. For some minutes the little group around him 
 hung breathlessly upon his quiet words ; then Turnpenny 
 exclaimed : 
 
 "We'll do it, we will so, and be jowned if the knaves 
 will not wish themselves anywhere but on Maiden Isle! 
 Come, my hearts, the sky is black and lowering : 'tis the 
 very time o' night for our intent, and with God's help 
 we will prosper." 
 
 And then the rough seaman fell on his knees, and with 
 clasped hands recited the prayer for help in time of need, 
 and every man of the little company responded with a 
 low, fervent "Amen!" 
 
 Half an hour later, Turnpenny, with Copstone, Juan, 
 and a second maroon, bade farewell to his comrades and 
 clambered down into the second cave. When they were 
 on the farther side of the dividing rock, their weapons, 
 with four belts packed full of grape shot from the stores 
 of the Maid Marian, were handed down to them, and after 
 a final "God speed!" from Dennis they started on the 
 way to the sea. 
 
 An hour passed an hour during which the rest of the 
 company sat in hushed expectancy, scarcely speaking a 
 word. One of the maroons had pushed his way through 
 the heap of loose earth piled at the mouth of the cave, 
 and crawled stealthily to the ledge, where he crouched 
 amid the ruins of the sheds. Presently, from the opposite 
 cliff, came a slight booming sound like the cry of a 
 
 340
 
 SKELETON CAVE AGAIN 
 
 night beetle. The maroon, invisible in the black shade 
 of the cliff, crept back to the cave. Immediately after- 
 ward the whole company, man by man, crossed into the 
 farther cave, the two men most seriously wounded being 
 lifted up one side of the pillar, and lowered gently down 
 the other. Dennis leading, with Mirandola close behind, 
 they made their way by torchlight down the sloping 
 floor, crawled out by the narrow aperture, and after Den- 
 nis had taken a careful look round, stood up, a silent band 
 of twenty-one, on the seashore. The two men whose 
 wounds forbade exertion were left in a sheltered spot 
 below the bank ; then the rest followed Dennis up through 
 the vegetation, in single file. It was so dark that no 
 man could see the man before him, but each one grasped 
 the caliver of the man ahead, thus guiding themselves 
 through the jungle. 
 
 Up they went, quietly, almost as surely as if it were 
 broad daylight, for Dennis knew every foot of the way, 
 which he had trodden many times since that day, long 
 before, when he had begun his exploration of the island. 
 Winding in and out, he came at length by a long cir- 
 cuit to the high ground approaching the southern bank 
 of the gully. And there he halted. Through the trees 
 before him he saw the watch-fires, dying low, of the 
 enemy encamped on the clearing beyond. All was silent. 
 If any sentinels were awake, they were not conversing. 
 The camp was as quiet as though it were an abode of the 
 dead. 
 
 341
 
 ON THE SPANISH MAIN 
 
 Suddenly the deep silence was broken by the boom of 
 a beetle. It died away. So natural a sound was it that 
 the Spanish sentinels, if any were on guard, would never 
 have suspected that it came from the throat of a maroon. 
 Even Dennis' company might have been deceived had 
 they not known that the sound had been made by one of 
 themselves the maroon at their leader's side. 
 
 Scarcely had it died away when two sharp cracks rent 
 the air from some point beyond the camp. Then came an 
 instantaneous change over the scene. A loud cry rang 
 out in the camp, followed by a din of many voices and the 
 clash of arms. Some one cast fuel on one of the fires, 
 and the flame, leaping up, shone on a camp in commotion, 
 men hurrying this way and that, calling to their fellows 
 excitedly. What was this that had disturbed their slum- 
 bers? Was some one signaling to them from the vessel 
 out at sea? Could it be that El Draque had sailed up 
 out of the night? 
 
 Into the midst of this noise and confusion broke a 
 shattering sound, the roar of a piece of ordnance. Then 
 the din was redoubled, and with the astonished cries of 
 some were mingled the shrieks and groans of wounded 
 men. Still Dennis and his little band stood motionless 
 amid the trees, but every man now held a lighted match. 
 Another deep, reverberating roar thundered forth, with 
 more cries and yells in the camp. 
 
 "Now !" cried Dennis. 
 
 Then a mighty shout broke from the throats of the 
 
 342
 
 SKELETON CAVE AGAIN 
 
 little company, and with the roar of lusty British seamen 
 mingled the weird "Yo peho! Yo peho!" of the maroons. 
 A volley flashed from the muzzles of nineteen calivers, 
 and nineteen men were dashed forward toward the camp, 
 shouting like a hundred. On they rushed through the 
 trees, into the clearing. "Yo peho! Yo peho!" And with 
 yells of panic fear the Spaniards, like a flock of sheep, 
 ran and ran and ran, helter-skelter, flinging their arms 
 away, tumbling over one another, falling, rising again, 
 pelting headlong through the woodland toward the marsh. 
 
 Again the guns on the opposite cliff thundered, but the 
 shots did not now come plunging into the camp. How 
 were the Spaniards, scared out of their wits, to know 
 that Turnpenny and Copstone were now firing into the 
 gully, lest they should hit their comrades ? But in a few 
 moments there was no risk of this, for Dennis wheeled 
 about and led his men at a mad scamper down by the way 
 they had come, never stopping until, bathed in sweat, 
 panting for breath, they stood on the seashore at the 
 place from which they had started. 
 
 And now Dennis looked again toward the sea, and 
 strained his ears to catch a sound he expected. Would 
 his expectation be fulfilled? Would fortune favor him? 
 Would the Spanish officers aboard the ship do as Cop- 
 stone and Turnpenny in their place would have done 
 and lower boats in all haste to come to the aid of their 
 comrades in peril ? None knew the anxiety that troubled 
 Dennis in those minutes of waiting. If the Spaniards 
 
 343
 
 were poltroons, if they were scared by the sudden out- 
 break and feared to venture shoreward in the dark, his 
 bold scheme would fail, and then what the end would 
 be he hardly dared to think. It was with real agony of 
 soul he listened for the sweep of oars. 
 
 Hark! On the silence of the sea comes a thud, a 
 measured beat, growing in loudness, drawing near. As 
 yet he can see nothing, but his comrades hear the sound, 
 and their hearts leap at it, and they can scarcely check 
 a shout of joy. On comes the boat; they hear the splash 
 of oars, and voices, and by and by the grating of a keel. 
 They wait in panting silence. Men are wading through 
 the water; arms clash; a loud voice gives an order; and 
 now a score of dark forms can be seen running up the 
 beach, making for the very path lately traversed by the 
 nineteen. The men, lurking beneath the bank, hold their 
 breath ; Dennis feels as though his very heart-beats must 
 be heard; the Spanish pass, and disappear, and are now 
 hasting up toward the camp. The sound of their foot- 
 steps dies away; Dennis can scarcely bear to wait, so 
 eager is he to pursue his scheme to the end. At last 
 he gives the word, and eighteen men rush after him, 
 noiselessly on the sand, toward the boat, a hundred yards 
 away. 
 
 The two Spaniards left on guard catch sight of the 
 running men when they are half-way across the beach. 
 Why should they suspect that these are not their comrades 
 who lately parted from them? What has happened? 
 
 344
 
 SKELETON CAVE AGAIN 
 
 They are nervous, unstrung. "What is it?" they cry, 
 but the words are choked in their throats, for two men 
 have sprung into the boat, and next moment they lie 
 stunned on the bottom. Four men return and bring their 
 wounded comrades with what haste they may. Then 
 lusty arms shove the boat from the shoal; nineteen men 
 leap in after the two; the oars are out, the men bend to 
 their work, and the boat's head points toward the vessel 
 lying at anchor. 
 
 But it pauses as it comes level with the shoulder of the 
 cliff. The four bold fellows who have so manfully played 
 their part beyond the gully are not forgotten. And but 
 a few moments after the boat has come to rest four 
 figures come swimming out with mighty strokes, and 
 are hauled, dripping wet but exultant, aboard. Once 
 more the oars strike the water, and the boat speeds on 
 its way. The dark hull looms up in front. Dennis 
 whispers an order; all the oars are shipped but two; 
 and the boat goes slowly with no sign of haste. A voice 
 hails it from the deck. "All's well !" calls Juan. The boat 
 is now under the vessel's quarter; a lamp is slung over 
 the bulwark to guide the returning crew; a rope is 
 thrown out to steady her ; and Turnpenny begins to clam- 
 ber up by the battens. Before Dennis reaches the deck 
 he hears a cry, then a heavy thud, and as he springs 
 aboard he sees Amos with a prostrate Spaniard between 
 his legs. Up they go, all twenty-four; only a dozen 
 of the vessel's crew are left on board ; and the long pent- 
 
 345
 
 ON THE SPANISH MAIN 
 
 up excitement of maroons and British mariners bursts 
 forth in a shout of triumph ; the ship is theirs. 
 
 "Heave up the anchor, my hearts!" cried Turnpenny. 
 "Loose the mainsail, Tom, the wind serves." 
 
 "Stay, Amos," said Dennis, "we must not forget the 
 pinnace. We can not return to Master Drake without 
 her." 
 
 "Nor shall not," replied the seaman; "but we'll first 
 give the knavish vessels yonder a taste of our lead an 
 ye will but give us leave." 
 
 "A right good notion, Amos, if we can win to them 
 at this low tide." 
 
 "That we can, sir ; trust me." 
 
 With her courses set, and Turnpenny at the helm, the 
 vessel stood out half a mile until all danger of striking 
 a shoal was past ; then she was headed southward. Mean- 
 time Dennis superintended the loading of all her ordnance, 
 five guns on each side. Soon they saw the dark hulls 
 of the two Spanish vessels anchored off the southwest 
 corner of the island. 
 
 "There's room enough betwixt 'em, sir, for us to pass 
 and rake 'em with a broadside. Not a man aboard 'em 
 will suppose this craft is manned by any but their own 
 comrades, nor will they know better till they hear our 
 popguns." 
 
 As they approached, a voice hailed them from the 
 vessel on the port side, asking the meaning of the uproar 
 lately heard. 
 
 346
 
 SKELETON CAVE AGAIN 
 
 "A fight ashore, but it is over now," sang out Juan, 
 the maroon. 
 
 The vessel came between the other two, and so con- 
 fident was Turnpenny in the unpreparedness of the Span- 
 iards that he hove to, not a dozen yards separating the 
 ships on either side. The guns were manned; the 
 matches, already lighted, were screened from observa- 
 tion; then, at the word, the five guns on the starboard 
 side belched forth their heavy charges of round shot. Al- 
 most before the roar had died away the gunners rushed 
 to the larboard. Again there was a mighty thunder and 
 a rush as the shots raked the hapless vessel. Through 
 the cloud of smoke the adventurous bark was got under 
 way. In a few minutes she ran clear; Turnpenny put 
 the helm down, and she beat up against the wind until 
 she reached her former anchorage westward of the gully. 
 
 Then Dennis, with Turnpenny and a dozen men, got 
 into the boat which had followed astern at the end of a 
 rope, and rowed for the entrance between the cliffs. 
 There was no guard over the pinnace. The Spaniards 
 who had been surprised in their camp had fled to the other 
 side of the island. Even those who had lately landed, 
 hearing the thunder of the guns to the south, had rushed 
 inland, believing that El Draque, the terror of their coasts, 
 had suddenly come upon them. Unmolested, Dennis and 
 some of his party landed on the rocks. Turnpenny made 
 a rapid inspection of the pinnace. 
 
 "Her sternwork be sore battered and her rudder shiv- 
 
 347
 
 ON THE SPANISH MAIN 
 
 ered to splinters," he said, "but she will take no water, 
 I b'lieve. With a strong pull we will have her off, sir." 
 
 The rope by which the Spaniards had attempted to tow 
 her was still fixed. Under the haulage of the twelve 
 sturdy mariners she was slowly shifted ; she floated ; and 
 in twenty minutes she lay alongside the Spanish vessel. 
 
 Then, the men giving a parting cheer that echoed and 
 reechoed from the shore, the ship stood away under full 
 sail with the pinnace riding merrily astern. And when 
 morning broke, the long coast-line of the mainland was 
 already in sight. 
 
 3*3
 
 CHAPTER XXV 
 
 THE MULE-TRAINS 
 
 "No Bobby Pike this time," whispered Turnpenny to 
 Dennis, as they lay eating their supper amid the scrub 
 a mile or more south of Nombre de Dios. "And with all 
 my soul I hope the Frenchmen be sober men, for to fail 
 of our purpose now through any frowardness would 
 break Master Drake his noble heart and send me into a 
 decline." 
 
 "Hush !" returned Dennis in a voice equally low. "List 
 to the church-bells, Amos, and the clatter of the ham- 
 mers. Does it not mind you of home the church on 
 the cliff, and the busy carpenters in the docks below? 
 My soul yearns for home, Amos." 
 
 "Ay, and so do I. But I would fain return home with 
 full hands money enough to buy a little fishing craft, 
 and a cottage by the sea. 'Tis five year and more since 
 I sailed in the Jesus out of Plimworth Sound, and there 
 was Margery Tutt a-waving her little handkercher to me, 
 thinking, poor soul, to see me again within a twelvemonth, 
 and I warrant the pretty maid counted the days and went 
 to every weddin' in church, to larn the fearsome promises 
 word by word, so that she would not fail when we should 
 
 349
 
 ON THE SPANISH MAIN 
 
 come to stand afore pa'son. 'With all my worldly goods 
 I thee endow;' so it runs for the man to say, and here 
 I be, five years after, with not so much worldly goods as 
 I had then, and I warrant some knavish landlubber has 
 come along and snatched up my little Margery, and I'll 
 find her a bowerly 'ooman that has clean forgot poor 
 Haymoss Turnpenny. Ah me! I be sick of adventures, 
 be j owned if I bean't" 
 
 "Be of good cheer, Amos. If Fortune stand our friend, 
 we shall have more gold and silver than we can bear away 
 before this night be ended; and then Master Drake will 
 sail away home, and who knows ? Margery may be look- 
 ing for you yet. 'Twas seven years that Jacob served 
 for Rachel." 
 
 "Ay, but always within arm's length. I warrant he 
 kept an eye on the wench. There was never a thousand 
 leagues of sea betwixt him and the maid. Od-rat-en, 
 if I find Margery have changed her name with any lub- 
 berly chaw-bacon, dang me if I don't deal him a clout 
 he'll remember, good-now, I will." 
 
 Turnpenny relapsed into silence, brooding on his melan- 
 choly forebodings. 
 
 It was the night of March thirty-first. Some forty 
 men lay in the scrub overlooking Nombre de Dios, await- 
 ing the clang of mule-bells that would announce the ap- 
 proach of a treasure train from Venta Cruz. Half of 
 them were French, for a week or two before, as Drake 
 and his men were sportively pitching stones at the land
 
 THE MULE-TRAINS 
 
 crabs on the shore, a ship came down from the west, 
 whose captain proved to be a French Huguenot named 
 Le Testu, with a company of seventy men and boys. 
 They were perishing for want of water. Having obtained 
 from Drake the supplies they needed, they proposed to 
 join themselves to him, in the hope of obtaining some 
 share of Spanish gold. 
 
 Drake hesitated to admit the Frenchmen to a partner- 
 ship, for he had but thirty-one men left, and feared that 
 the seventy would claim too large a portion of the booty 
 if his projected attack on the mule-train should succeed. 
 But the matter was compromised by Captain le Testu 
 joining Drake with twenty men. These, with fifteen 
 Englishmen and a few maroons, sailed in two of Drake's 
 pinnaces for the mouth of the Francisco River, fifteen 
 miles from Nombre de Dios. The pinnaces were left in 
 charge of a few maroons, who were ordered to remain 
 in hiding in the Cabezas, and to return in four days' 
 time to take off the adventurers. 
 
 Dennis and Turnpenny were among those who accom- 
 panied Drake in the Minion. They had won great praise 
 from him for their exploits in Maiden Isle and their 
 capture of the Spanish ship, whose stores of food and 
 ammunition were very welcome. The damage to the 
 pinnace was speedily repaired, and Drake said with a 
 laugh that had she been rendered unseaworthy he would 
 not have allowed Dennis to have any part in his second 
 attempt on the mule-train.
 
 ON THE SPANISH MAIN 
 
 The company of adventurers were encamped on rising 
 ground above the town. Taking a lesson from the previ- 
 ous failure, the men spoke in the lowest of whispers, 
 although they were a mile away from the track. All 
 through the night they heard the clatter of hammers from 
 the bay, where the Spanish shipwrights were preparing 
 the ships of the treasure fleet for sea. The ambuscaders 
 were grimly resolved that the cargoes should be less by 
 the weight of a good many tons of silver and gold. 
 
 The hours passed too slowly for the impatient adven- 
 turers. But at length, a little before dawn, they heard a 
 faint tinkle of bells afar in the woods, and soon the ma- 
 roon scouts came in with the news that three trains, num- 
 bering nearly two hundred mules in all, were approaching 
 from Venta Cruz. Instantly the men seized their calivers 
 and bows and arrows, and hastened to the trackway, 
 where as before they posted themselves in the long grass 
 on either side. 
 
 On came the mules, their bells jangling and clanging in 
 musical discord. In the grass lurked the raiders, silent 
 though Turnpenny gave Dennis a nudge and whispered, 
 " Tis All Fools' Day !" Suddenly there sounded a blast 
 from Drake's whistle; the men started up, and, sending 
 a volley of bullets and arrows at the Spanish infantrymen 
 that guarded the convoy, made straight for the heads of 
 the leading mules. The march being stopped, the mules 
 behind lay down contentedly on the ground. But the sol- 
 diers, who had blown on their matches as they marched, 
 
 35*
 
 THE MULE-TRAINS 
 
 to keep them alight, rallied in a group and fired back at 
 the assailants. A maroon was killed outright; Captain 
 le Testu fell seriously wounded; but the rest, kneeling 
 down and supporting their weapons on the prostrate 
 mules, briskly returned the fire ; then, springing up before 
 the enemy could reload, charged upon them with fierce 
 cries and drove them helter-skelter toward the town. 
 
 Immediately afterward two men came rushing up to 
 Turnpenny. 
 
 "Be jowned if it bean't Billy Hawk and fat Baltizar !" 
 he cried in astonishment. "Oh, Billy, poor soul, what a 
 scarecrow 'ee do look! Get out, you jelly!" he cried to 
 Baltizar, speeding him with a kick. "You be fat as 
 butter ; all is well with 'ee ; get 'ee to the town after your 
 masters, and thank God your oily carcass be not left to 
 fatten the land Billy, dear heart, what hath happened 
 to thee?" 
 
 Hawk told his story while Turnpenny and the other 
 seamen, selecting the mules that bore the heaviest loads, 
 with nimble fingers cast off their packs, unstrapped them, 
 and helped themselves to the precious contents bars 
 and quoits of solid gold, and silver uncountable. He 
 had followed Biddle and the other mutineers in the hope 
 of persuading them to return to their duty ; but they had 
 soon fallen upon him, robbed him of his bag of pearls, 
 and left him bound in the forest. There he had been 
 found by some fugitives from the routed Spaniards, who 
 carried him to their vessel, and conveyed him to Nombre 
 
 353
 
 ON THE SPANISH MAIN 
 
 de Dios. He was believed to be one of Drake's men, 
 and tortured to make him confess where his captain's 
 secret haven was ; and since then had been left in slavery, 
 drudging as a muleteer between Nombre de Dios and 
 Panama. 
 
 "God be praised we have found 'ee !" cried Turnpenny. 
 "You shall come back with us, and I'll give 'ee a share 
 of all my treasure." 
 
 The raiders did up in bundles and bestowed about 
 their persons as much gold and silver as they could stag- 
 ger under, and set to work to bury what they could not 
 carry in the burrows of land-crabs and under the great 
 trunks of fallen trees. For two hours they toiled on; 
 then, hearing the clatter of hoofs from the direction of 
 the town, they seized their booty and made off to the 
 woods. Up came a troop of horse ; but when they reached 
 the mules they halted, for they heard in the woods the 
 "Yo peho!" of the maroons, and shrank from engaging 
 those terrible forest fighters. Staggering under the 
 weight of their treasure, the raiders tramped with what 
 haste they might through the jungle. They had not gone 
 far when Captain le Testu lay down groaning; weak 
 from loss of blood, he could go no farther. Two of his 
 men volunteered to stay with him, and help him on after 
 he had rested. The others hurried on, and after two 
 days and nights of struggling through the forest, 
 drenched by a terrible rainstorm, reached their landing- 
 place on the bank of the Francisco River. 
 
 354
 
 THE MULE-TRAINS 
 
 It was four days since they had left it; the pinnaces 
 should have been there awaiting them ; but not a sign of 
 them met their hungry eyes. Instead, seven Spanish 
 pinnaces were observed rowing from the Cabezas, where 
 the maroons had been ordered to shelter. The drenched 
 and footsore raiders were aghast. Had their enemies 
 captured the pinnaces, and slain their comrades? Were 
 they to be imprisoned in this swampy jungle, with no 
 means of sailing or rowing away to Port Diego? Loud 
 murmurs, cries of despair, curses at being deserted, broke 
 from the seamen. They cried out that they were be- 
 trayed ; that the Spaniards would fall on them and over- 
 whelm them; that they would never see home again. 
 Drake expostulated with them; the maroons offered to 
 lead them the sixteen days' journey overland, and prom- 
 ised, if the ships proved indeed to be taken, to give them 
 shelter in their villages. But the men cried out the more ; 
 some threw down the treasure they had dared so much 
 to win, and began to cry out against their leader himself. 
 
 Then Drake showed the stuff of which he was made. 
 
 "Silence, you knaves!" he cried. "Am I any whit 
 better off than you? Is this a time to yield to craven 
 fear? Nay, but rather to pluck up heart and play the 
 man. If the Spaniards have in truth taken our pinnaces, 
 which God forbid, yet they must have time to search 
 them, time to examine the mariners, and if they compel 
 them by torture to confess where our ships are, time to 
 execute their resolution after it is determined. Before 
 
 355
 
 ON THE SPANISH MAIN 
 
 all these times be taken, we may get to our ships, if ye 
 will. We may not hope to go by land, for that journey 
 is too long and the ways too foul. But we may surely 
 go by water. Look at the trees here rolling down upon 
 the flood, thrown down by the storm that beset us so 
 sorely. May we not build ourselves a raft, and put our- 
 selves to sea? I will be one; who will be the others?" 
 
 "That will I," said Dennis, stepping forward. 
 
 "And I, too, good-now," cried Turnpenny. 
 
 "Nay, Master Hazelrig, you I will leave to command 
 these timid rascals if ill befall me ; but Amos I will take 
 and go fetch those laggard pinnaces." 
 
 Then the maroons, taking hands and forming into a 
 line, stepped into the river and intercepted the trees as 
 they came down on the torrent. With their hatchets 
 they lopped off the branches; they bound the trunks to- 
 gether with leathern thongs taken from the mules and 
 with tendrils of creepers from the jungle. A stout sapling 
 was reared as a mast, and with his own hands Turnpenny 
 rigged up a biscuit sack for a sail, and fashioned a crutch 
 in which another sapling might serve as a rudder. The 
 raft being now ready, Drake selected two of the French- 
 men who could swim well to accompany him and Turn- 
 penny, the four men stepped on to the frail craft, and 
 as she was hauled off over the bar at the river mouth 
 Drake cried out: 
 
 "Be of good cheer, my hearts; if it please God I put 
 my foot in safety aboard my frigate, I shall, God willing, 
 
 356
 
 THE MULE-TRAINS 
 
 by one means or other, get ye all aboard, in despite of 
 all the Spaniards in the Indies." 
 
 And the seamen, with new hope born within their 
 breasts, sped their gallant captain with a cheer. 
 
 "My heart, 'twas a fearsome voyage !" said Turnpenny, 
 relating the adventure to Dennis afterward. "We sat 
 inches deep in water, holding on for very life, and the 
 sea came tumbling aboard, swingeing us to the armpits 
 at every surge of the waves. We scudded along before 
 the wind, but though 'twas strong, it scarce tempered 
 the great heat, and what with the parching of the sun 
 and what with the beating of the salt water, we had all 
 of us our skins much fretted away. We had sailed for 
 six hours, and were making our third league, when God 
 gave us the sight of two pinnaces bearing toward us. 
 'God be praised!' cried our captain; 'there is now no 
 cause to fear!' But the sky was become dark, and the 
 men on the pinnaces, as they labored toward us, the wind 
 driving the spray into their eyes, did not perceive us; 
 and the gale being exceeding fierce, they bore up to the 
 lee of a point of land, and vanished from our sight. 
 Whereupon our captain ran ashore to windward of the 
 headland, and being mightily enraged for that the knaves 
 had not obeyed his command to wait us at the river, he 
 was minded to play a trick on them and turn their hearts 
 sick with very fear. So when we did land, we ran in 
 great haste toward where the pinnaces were at anchor, 
 making such speed as if we had been chased by the 
 
 357
 
 ON THE SPANISH MAIN 
 
 enemy. My heart, their eyes were astare with fear when 
 they espied us. They hauled us aboard their boats, crying 
 out, this one and that, 'Where be our comrades?' 'How 
 fares it with them?' and other such questions, to all of 
 which our captain in a cold voice did answer only 'Well !' 
 Whereupon they began to lament with tears, crying out 
 that verily their dear-comrades were dead or in captivity. 
 
 "Our captain for a space looked sternly upon them in 
 their misery. But then, being willing to rid all doubts 
 and fill them with joy, he took from out his shirt a quoit 
 of gold, and bade them praise God, for their comrades 
 were safe and had of that treasure enough and for all. 
 Then he commanded them to get their anchors up, for 
 that he was resolved that very night to come back to the 
 river. And we rowed hard through the darkness and in 
 the teeth of the gale, and here we be, with blistered skins 
 indeed, but sound men and hearty." 
 
 Dennis had collected the men on the shore, and built 
 a fire to keep their spirits up. With great joy they heard 
 their comrades hailing them as the vessels came up out 
 of the dark, and they begged Drake's forgiveness for 
 their mutinous murmurs. As soon as day dawned they 
 embarked ; the pinnaces ran before the wind, picked up the 
 men left at the Cabezas, and before noon arrived safely 
 at Port Diego. The treasure was carried on shore, and 
 in the middle of the smooth, open space, amidst cries of 
 wonderment from those who had not had a part in the 
 adventure, Drake weighed the gold and silver on the 
 
 358
 
 THE MULE-TRAINS 
 
 steward's meat-scales, delivering to the Frenchmen the 
 half agreed upon. Then they sailed away westward, to 
 get news of their ill-fated captain. 
 
 Drake was not easy in mind about Le Testu. It was 
 pitiful to think of him wounded and left with only two of 
 his men deep in the woods. So while the vessel, the 
 Pascha, too foul to be easily fitted for the voyage home, 
 was being stripped to equip the Spanish frigate Dennis 
 had captured, he prepared to lead an expedition in search 
 of the French captain. But his men raised such an outcry 
 at his leaving them that he gave the command to Oxnam, 
 contenting himself with accompanying them to the Fran- 
 cisco River. 
 
 Oxnam had not gone far up-stream when a haggard 
 figure emerged tottering from the reeds, and, falling on 
 his knees, burst into tears and thanked God that help had 
 come. Not many minutes after Drake had left him and 
 his comrade with Captain le Testu, some Spanish har- 
 quebusiers came upon them. The captain bade the two 
 men flee, and they ran off in haste, carrying their treasure. 
 But the Spaniards gave chase, and this man, fearing that, 
 burdened as he was, he must be overtaken, flung away 
 his possessions one after another. Among them was a 
 box of jewels which his comrade stopped to pick up. 
 The delay was fatal. He was caught and carried away 
 with the captain. The other fugitive was not farther 
 pursued; he reached the river after wandering for sev- 
 eral days, during which he had seen a great host of near 
 
 359
 
 ON THE SPANISH MAIN 
 
 two thousand Spaniards and negroes searching for the 
 treasure that had been buried. 
 
 Hearing this, Oxnam was not willing to return until he 
 had seen whether anything was left. The Spaniards 
 had dug up the ground for nearly a square mile; but 
 Oxnam found in the crab-holes a small quantity of gold, 
 with silver weighing about five hundred pounds. Loaded 
 with this, and overjoyed at their success, his men quickly 
 returned to their pinnace, and came merrily back to 
 Port Diego. 
 
 Now all thoughts turned longingly homeward. The 
 value of the treasure taken from the Spaniards was near 
 fifty thousand pounds, and it was not to be supposed 
 that so great a loss would be accepted with equanimity. 
 Before long ships-of-war would doubtless be fitted out 
 to punish this audacious sea-rover who had made himself 
 a terror throughout the Main, and Drake thought it but 
 prudent to get away with his booty before his little band 
 was overwhelmed. He still needed a vessel to serve as 
 victualer to the frigate in which he purposed to sail for 
 England. With his usual daring he set off for the mouth 
 of the Grande River, running right under the guns of 
 Cartagena. In the middle of the night he chased and 
 boarded a frigate that endeavored to slip past him to 
 the west, and, returning to the Cabezas with his prize, 
 he unloaded her cargo of maize, hops and wild honey, 
 and prepared for the voyage home. 
 
 All hands were set to break up the pinnaces, which 
 
 360
 
 THE MULE-TRAINS 
 
 had been brought in sections from England, and were 
 now, after a year's sailing, past further service. Their 
 timbers were burned on the beach; their ironwork was 
 given to the maroons. The two frigates were over- 
 hauled, their keels cleared of barnacles, their spars and 
 rigging put in good repair, their holds filled with a plen- 
 tiful store of food. Then, when all was ready, Drake 
 invited Pedro, the maroon chief, and three of his best 
 men to choose some reward for their good and loyal 
 service. Pedro took a great fancy to a splendid simitar 
 which had been given to Drake by Captain le Testu and 
 had once belonged to the King of France. Drake would 
 rather he had chosen something else, but he handed over 
 the weapon with a good grace, and accompanied it with 
 a present of silk and fine cloth for the maroons' wives. 
 Pedro was so much delighted that he begged Drake to 
 accept four wedges of gold in return, which the captain 
 threw into the common stock, saying it was only just that 
 those who had shared with him the dangers and hard- 
 ships of the adventures should share also in the full 
 profits. 
 
 Dennis did not part from Juan without giving him a 
 token of his thanks and a memento of their common ad- 
 ventures. He had lost almost all that he had saved from 
 the Maid Marian; with the Mirandola it had fallen into 
 the hands of the Spaniards ; and the division of the spoils 
 of the mule-train would not be made until they reached 
 Plymouth. But he had always kept the sword of Sir 
 
 361
 
 ON THE SPANISH MAIN 
 
 Martin Blunt, and this he gave to Juan, who received it 
 with great satisfaction. 
 
 On the seventeenth of July the company went aboard 
 the two frigates; the anchors were heaved, all sail was 
 set, and the little craft stood out to sea. The flag of 
 St. George flew at their maintops; silk streamers and 
 ensigns dipped down to the water; a parting salute was 
 fired ; the trumpeters blew a blast ; and the English mari- 
 ners shouted a farewell cheer to the maroons gathered 
 on the beach. High up in the rigging sat a monkey, 
 blinking and chattering, wondering, perhaps, into what 
 new countries and further perils his adventurous master 
 would lead him. 
 
 "There is our Maiden Isle," said Dennis to Turnpenny, 
 as they sailed merrily northward. "My vice-royalty was 
 but brief; and methinks 'tis but a poor jewel in the crown 
 of Queen Bess. Yet it will be a precious jewel in my 
 memory, for there I found a true friend in thee, Amos, 
 and we two have been enabled by God's providence to do 
 somewhat for our countrymen in distress." 
 
 "Good-now, Master Hazelrig," said Drake, coming up 
 to them; "art wishing to return and set up a monarchy 
 on yonder small isle?" 
 
 "Nay, sir, it is already bespoke for our gracious queen, 
 though meseems the sovereignty belongs to Mirandola, 
 who now sits aloft, with a most wistful look." 
 
 "Well, my lad, maybe you and I shall live to see her 
 Majesty's sway extend over all these islands, and far 
 
 362
 
 THE MULE-TRAINS 
 
 beyond. Meantime, what think 'ee is my dearest wish 
 at this moment?" 
 
 "I know not, sir.*' 
 
 "Why," said Drake with a smile, " 'tis to bowl at the 
 jack once more on Plymouth Hoe." 
 
 363
 
 CONCLUSION 
 
 Little more than three weeks later, on Sunday, August 
 ninth, 1573, about noon, the congregation in St An- 
 drew's church at Plymouth were startled into wakefulness 
 by the booming of guns. The vicar was in the midst of 
 his sermon, and the good people were torn between their 
 desire not to offend the worthy parson and their longing 
 to see what was happening at the harbor. A few minutes 
 passed ; then a whisper began to run through the pews. 
 "Master Drake is home again !" One looked at another ; 
 anxious eyes were cast at the high pews where the gentry 
 sat; then, by ones and twos and threes, the people stole 
 from the church, and, when once outside, set off running 
 with all their might to the harbor. And before they got 
 there a merry peal of bells rang out behind them. The 
 ringers in the belfry, knowing, we must suppose, that 
 their vicar was an easy man, a patriot, and a Devonian 
 to boot, were handling the ropes most lustily. 
 
 The two little frigates had just dropped anchor, and 
 the men were putting off in boats. On shore men shouted, 
 women wept and waved handkerchiefs, boys yelled and 
 got in the way of their elders; but nobody minded, for 
 was not Master Drake home again? Deafening cheers 
 
 364
 
 CONCLUSION 
 
 rent the air as he landed ; hundreds thronged around him 
 to clasp his hand. 
 
 "Good-now, dear friends," he said with a laugh as he 
 passed through, "ye'll do me more hurt than the Span- 
 iards ever did." 
 
 "Huzzay ! huzzay ! Spaniards be jowned ! What have 
 'ee got in thikky ships, Master Drake?" 
 
 "Where be Bobby Pike?" cried a buxom dame with 
 half a dozen children clinging to her skirts. 
 
 "Here I be, Mally," cried the seaman, catching her in 
 his arms, "and i' fecks, I'll be sober for ever more, my 
 lass." 
 
 "On my soul and body, there be Ned Whiddon, and 
 Tom Copstone, and Hugh Curder, and Billy Hawk!" 
 cried several voices in the crowd. "Huzzay ! huzzay ! we 
 never thought to see 'ee more." 
 
 "And Haymoss Turnpenny ! Od's my life, what a day 
 for Margery Tutt!" 
 
 And when Dennis got clear of the press, among whom 
 there was none he knew, he saw Amos marching along 
 with a girl on each arm, his ruddy face beaming like the 
 rising sun. 
 
 "Why, Amos," said Dennis, "are there two Margerys ?" 
 
 "My heart, I know a score!" cried Amos. "But this 
 be Margery Tutt, sir, thikky wench on my left. Loose 
 my arm, lass, and drop a curtsey to Master Hazelrig, for 
 'ithout him I'd never have been here this day. She've 
 waited for me, sir, bided single for my sake, and there's 
 
 365
 
 no landlubber to whop after all. T'other wench be Tom 
 Copstone's Joan ; his mother's most terrible jealous, and 
 she've got ahold of Tom now; so 'You and me, Hay- 
 moss!' he sings out, and I've got his Joan under convoy 
 till the old 'ooman's done a-kissing of him. Margery, lass, 
 if 'ee be willing, I'll go and see pa'son this very day and ax 
 him to call us next Sunday, for I've gold and silver and 
 pearls, lass, and won't they become your little plum neck ! 
 Master Hazelrig, I do pity 'ee, I do so. Bean't there a 
 lass to welcome 'ee? Good-now, bear up, for 'ee be but 
 a stripling yet." 
 
 And then he was borne away by the crowd, and Dennis 
 saw him no more that day. 
 
 Dennis found himself, when the treasure was divided, 
 the possessor of two thousand pounds in money in ad- 
 "dition to the pearls he had got at Fort Aguila. He 
 devoted a goodly sum to the erection of a monument in 
 his parish church to the memory of Sir Martin Blunt 
 and the other adventurers who had sailed in the Maid 
 Marian eighteen months before. A smaller amount suf- 
 ficed for a stone over the grave of Mirandola, who died 
 in the following winter. The greater part of the money 
 Dennis gave into the hands of John Holies, his steward, 
 who received it with all due gravity, expressing the hope 
 that his young master had had his fill of adventuring and 
 would now remain at home. 
 
 For a time Dennis was content to live in Shaston. But 
 four years later, learning that Drake was fitting out five 
 
 366
 
 CONCLUSION 
 
 ships for a voyage round the world, he asked to be allowed 
 to join the expedition at his own charge. His offer was 
 accepted, and he shared in the joys and sorrows, the 
 failures and successes, of that three years' voyage. With 
 closer intercourse he admired the great captain more and 
 more; and Drake on his part came to regard him with 
 peculiar affection. During the five years spent on shore, 
 Sir Francis, as he now was, paid many visits to the house 
 at Shaston, and often played bowls with Dennis on the 
 lawn behind. 
 
 In 1585, when Drake went out to the West Indies with 
 a direct commission from the queen, Dennis was of his 
 company. He was one of the first to enter the town of 
 St. Domingo when it was assaulted; and in the subse- 
 quent attack on Cartagena he was somewhat seriously 
 wounded, and did not recover in time to take part in the 
 famous expedition to Cadiz, when Drake "singed the 
 King of Spain's beard." But next year, when all Eng- 
 land was stirred at the news that the long-expected 
 Armada was at last approaching, Dennis joined Drake 
 on the Revenge and had his part in the work of fighting 
 in the Channel and the North Sea. 
 
 At the conclusion of this year, Dennis, in his thirty- 
 fourth year, married the daughter of a neighboring 
 squire. Her name happened to be Margery. Soon after 
 the marriage Dennis took her to Plymouth on a visit to 
 his old comrade Amos Turnpenny, who was now blest 
 with a family of five boys and three girls. 
 
 367
 
 ON THE SPANISH MAIN 
 
 "Do 'ee mind, sir," said Amos with a twinkling eye, 
 "do 'ee mind the day when we landed, and you axed me 
 whether there were two Margerys? Seems as if there 
 be, sir, and more; your madam for one, and my 'ooman 
 be two, and my darter yonder be three, and Tom Cop- 
 stone's darter be four, and I shouldn't be mazed if there 
 was five some day. 'A good name,' says the Book, 'is 
 rayther to be chosen than great riches!' Margery be a 
 good name, to be sure." *?. 
 
 Dennis Hazelrig became a man of weight in his county. 
 His wife and little daughter the fifth Margery dis- 
 suaded him from joining Drake and Hawkins in their 
 fatal expedition to the Main in 1594, and he found an 
 outlet for his energies in organizing the yeomanry of 
 Devon. When James the First came to the throne he 
 received the honor of knighthood, and none of his old 
 friends was more delighted than Amos Turnpenny, who 
 was by this time a hale old grandfather, and nearly eighty. 
 
 "Ay, I says to Tom Copstone when I heard the news, 
 'Tom,' says I, 'we've a king again now, my lad, and what 
 be fust thing 'ee done, think 'ee ?' 'Be jowned if I know,' 
 says Tom. (He do have common ways o' speech, poor 
 soul!) 'Why, 'fecks,' says I, 'he bin and made Master 
 Hazelrig a noble knight, and we must call him Sir Dennis 
 to's face for ever more.' 'Well,' says Tom, 'we won't 
 mind that you and me, Haymoss?' And be jowned if 
 they were not the very words of my dream I" 1 
 
 THE END
 
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