Rensselaer Republican, Volume 25, Number 18, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 29 December 1892 — The Master of Ballantrae [ARTICLE]

The Master of Ballantrae

BY ROBERT LOVIS STEVENSON.

CHAPTER VII- Continued. Teach roared him the lie: but he ran at the same time to the bulwarks. and so did they all. I have never seen so many men struck sub denly sober. The cruiser had gone about, upon our impudent show of colors, she was just then filling on the new tack: her ensign blew out quite plain to see: and even as w stared there came a puff of smoke, and then a report, and a shot plunged in the waves a goou ways short of us. Some ran to the rojies .anfl got the " Sarah" round with in cred i bles wifthcsel One lei lo w’ felt on the rum barrel, which stood broached Upon the deck, and rolled it On myLpart. I made for the Jolly Roger,struck it, tossed it in the sea. and could have flung after, so vexed was I with our riiisir.nnugement. As for Teach he grew as pule as death, and incontinently went down to his cabin. On : y twice he came on deck that afternoon; went to the tai!rail, took along look at the I.Tugks ship, which was still on the horizon heading after ■us and then, without speech, back to his cabin. You may say he deserted ns, and if it had not been for one very capable sailor wc had on board, and lor the lightness of the c'irs wo had all day, we must have certainly gone to the-yard arm. Il Is to bo supposed Teach was! humiliated, and perhaps alarmed for] his position with the crew, and the; way in which he set about regaining j what he hid lost was highly < harac-' tc'ristic of the mau. Early next day ' we smciled him burning sulphurrin his.-cabin and crying out “Hell! hell!” which was (Veil understood among t.hecrew and filled their minds with * apprehension. Presently be comes on deek, a perfect figure .of fun, his face blacked, his hair and whiskers curled, his belt stuck full •of pistols, chewing bits of glass so that the blood ran down his chin, And brandishing a dirk, f do not know if he had taken these manners from the Indians of America, where Hie was a native but such was his way, and he would always thus announce that he was wound up to horrid deeds. The first that came near him was the fellow who had sojit the rum overboard the day before; him be stabbed to the heart, damning him for a mutineer; and then he capered about the body, raving and swearing and daring us to come on. It was the silliest exhibi-i tion, and yet dangerous, too, for the 1 cowardly fellow was plainly working himself up to another murder. Allot a sudden Ballantraestepped forth/ ‘ Have done with this play acting,” said he. “Do you think to frighten me with making faces? We saw nothing bl you yesterday whenyou were wanted; and we did well without you, let me tell you that-.” There was a murmur and a movement in the crew of pleasure and alarm, I thought, in nearly equal parts. As for Teach, he gave a barbarous howl and swung his dirk to fling it, tin art in which (litte many 1 seamen! he was very expert. “Knock that out of his hand!” says Ballantrae, so sudden and sharp that my arm obeyed him before my mind had understood. Teach stood like one stupid, never thinking of his pistols ‘ f Gb dbwn "t6‘’Ybu Ballantrae, “and come on deck again when you are sober. Do you think we are going to hang for you, vou black-faced, half-witted, drunken brute and butcher? Godown!" And he stamped his foot at him with such a sudden smartness t hat Teach fairly ran for it to the companion. “And now, mates.” says Ballantrae, ‘ a word with you. I don’t •know if your are gentfemcn of fortune for the fun of the thing; but I am not. I want to make money,and .get ashore again, and spend it like a man. And on one thing my mind is ■made up; I will not hang if I can help it. Come; give me a hint; I’m only a beginner! Is there no wav to get a little discipline and common sense about this business?” One of themen spoke up: he said by rightt they should have a quartet master: aud no sootier was the word out of his mouth, than they were all of that opinion The thing went by acclammation; Ballantrae was made quartermaster, the rum was put up in bis charge, laws were passed in imitation of those of a pirate by the name of Roberts; and the last proposa was to make an end of Teach. But Ballantrae was afriend of a more efficient captain, who might be a counterweight to himself, and he opposed this stoutly. Teach, he said, was good enough to board ships and frighten,fools with his bla ked face and sweariag .we would scarce-get a better man than Teach for that; and besides, and the man was now disconsidered and as good as deposed, we might reduce his proportion Of the plunder. This carried it; Teach s share was cut down to a mere deris•an. being actually less than mine; ana there remained only two points; whether ho would censent. and who was to announce to him this resolution. “Do not let that stick vou," says Ballantrae, "I will do that." And ho stepped to the companion and down alone to the cabin to face that drunken savage. “Tnis is tfio man for us." cries one of the hands. “Three cheers for the quartermaster!" which was given with a will, my vol o among the loudest, and I dare say these plaud its hud their effect on Master Teach in the cabin, as wc have seen of late

days how shouting in the streets may trouble even the minds at legislators. What passed precisely was never known, though some of the heads of it came to the surface later on; and we were all amazed as well as gratified when Ballantrae came on deck with Teach upon his arm, and announced that all had been consented. I pass swiftly over those twelve or fifteen months in which we continued to keep the sea in the North Atlantic, getting our food and water from the ships we overhauled and doing bli the whole a.pretty fortunate business. Sure no one could wish to read anything so ungenteel as the memoirs of a pirate, even an unwilling one like me!Thiugs_.went extremely better with our designs, and Ballantrae kept his lead to my admiration from that day forth. I would be tempted to suppose that a gentleman must every where be first, even aboard a rover; and I am not ashamed to confess that I stayed Crowding Pat until the end, and was not much better than the crew's buffoon. Indeed it was no scene to bring out my merits. My health suffered from the variety of reasons; I was more at home to the last on a horse’s back than a ship's deck, and to be ingenuous, the fear of the sea was constantly in my mind, battling with the fear of my companions. 1 need not cry myself up for courage; I have done well on many fields under the eyes of famous generals, and earned my late advancement by an act of the-most distinguished valor before many witnessss. But when we must proceed on one of our abordages, tiie heart of Francis Burke was in his boots; the little egg-shell skiff in which we must set forth, the horrible heaving of the vast billows, the height of the ship that we must scale, the thought of how many might be there in garrisou upon their- legitimata_defense r the scowling heavens which (in that climate) so often looked darkly down upon our exploits, and the mere crying of the wind in my ears, were all considerations most unpalatable to my valor. Besides which as I was ■ always a creature of the nicest sen- ! sibility. the scenes that must follow on our success tempted me as little as the chances of defeat. Twice we found women on board; and though I have seen towns sacked, and of late days in France some very horrid public tumults, there was something in the smallness of the numbers engaged and the bleak, dangerous sea surroundings that made these acts of piracy for the most“revolting. I confess ingenuously I could never proceed, unless I was three parts drunk; it was the same even with the crew; Teach himself was fit for no. enterprise till he was full of rum; and it was on? of the most difficult pirts of Bullautrae's performance to serve us with liquor in the proper quantities. Even this he did to admiration; being upon the whole the most capable man I ever met-wiWri and~~f.be one of natural” genius. He did not even scrape favor with the Crew, as I did, by continual buffoonery made upon a very anxious heart; but preserved on most occasions a great.deal of gravity and distance; so that he was like a parent among a family of young children or a schoolmaster with the boys; What made his part the harder to perform, the men were most inveterate grumblers; Ballantrae’s discipline, little as it was, wlas yet irksome to their love of license; and what was worse, being kept sober they had time to think. Some of them accordingly would fall to repenting their abominable crimes; one in particular, who was a good Catholic and with whom I would sometimes steal apart for prayer ; above all in bad weather, fogs, lashing rain and the like, when we would be less observed; and lam sure no two criminals in the cart have ever performed their devotions with more I anxious sincerity. But the rest. I having no such grounds of hope, fell to another pastime, that of computation. All day long they would be telling up their shares or glooming over the result. I have said we were pretty fortunate. But un observation fails tb be made: that in this world, in no business that I have tried, do the profits rise to a man's expccta- ! tions. We found many ships and ■ took many ; yet few of them con--1 tained much money,-theirgoods'were usuallv nothing to cur purpose—what did we want with a cargo of plows or even of tobacco? —and it is quite a painful reflection how many whole crews we have made to walk the plank for no more than a stock of biscuit ar an anker or two of spirit. CHAPTER VIII. In the mean while, our ship was growing very foul, and it was high time that wc should make for our “ port de carenage, ” which was in the estuary oi a river among swamps. It was openly understood that we should then break up and go and squander our proportion of the spoil; and this mojie every man gredy of a little more, so that our decision was delayed from day to day. What finally decided matters was’a trifling accident, such as an ignorant person might suppose incidental to our way of life. But here I must explain on . only ono of all the ships we boarded —the first on which we found women did we meet with any genuine resistance. On that occasion we bad two men killed, and several injured, and if it hud not been for the gallantry' of ' Ballantrae, we had surely been beat bocl? at last. Everywhere else the

defense (wtfere there was any at all) ‘was what worst troops in Europe would have laughed at; so that the most dangerous part of our employment was to ciamber up the side of the ship ; and I have even known ' the poor souls to cast us a line, so eager were they to.volunteer instead of walking the plank. This constantimmunity had made our fellows very soft, so that 1 understood how Teach had made so deep a mark upon their minds ; for indeed the company of that lunatic was the chief danger in our way of life. The accident to which 1 have referred was this: We had sighted a little full rigged ship very close under our board in a haze: shesailed nearas well as we did —I should be nearer the truth if I said near as ill ; and we cleared the bowchaser to see if we could bring a spar or two about their ears. The swell was exceeding - great; the motion of the ship beyond description ; it was little wonder if our gunners should fire thrice and be still quite broad of what they aimed at. But in the meanwhile the chase had cleared a stern gun, the thickness of the air concealing them ; being better marksmen their first shot struck us in the bows, knocked our two gunners into mincemeat, so that we were all sprinkled with the blood, and plunged through the deck into the forecastle where-we—slept? Ballantrae would have held on ; indeed there was nothing in this “contre»temps ” to affect the mind of any soldier ; but he had a quick percep tion of the men’s wishes, and it was plain this lucky shot had given them a sickener of their trade. In a moment they were all of one mind : the chase was drawing away from us, it was needless to hold on, the “Sarah” was too foul to overhaul a bottle, it was mere foolery to keep the sea with her; and on these pretended grounds her head was incontinently ■put about and the course laid for the river. It was strange to see what merriment fell on that ship’s company, and how they stamped about the deck jesting, and each computing what increase Irtid come to his share by the death of the two gunners. We were nine days making our port, so light -were —the airs we had to sail on, so foul the ship’s bottom ; but early on the tenth, before dawn, and in a light, lifting haze, wo passed the head. A little after, the haze lifted, and fell again, showing us a cruiser very clo e. This was a sore blow, happening so near our refuge. There was a great debate of whether she had seen us, and if so whether it was likely they had recognized the “Sarah. ” We were very careful, by destroying every member of those crews we overhauled, to leave no evidence as to our own persons : but the appearance of the “Sarah” herself we could not keep so private ; and above all of late, since she had been foul and we had pursued many ships without success, it was plain that her description had often been published. I supposed this alert would have made us separate upon, the instant. But here again that original genius of Ballantrae’s had a surprise.in store for me. He and Teach (and it was the most remarkable step of his success) had gone ! hand in hand since the first day of [his~uppointnient. I often questioned | him upon the fact and never got an i answer but once, when he told me he and Teaeh had an understanding I which would very much surprise i the crew if they should hear of it,and would surprise himself a good deal if it was carried out. ” Well, here again, he and Teach were of a mind ; and by their joint procurement, the ; anchor was no sooner down than : the whole crew went off on a scene of drunkenness indescribable. By afternoon we were a mere shipful of lunatical persons throwing of things ‘ over-board, howling of songs at the . same time, qvarreling and falling together and then forgetting our quarrels to embrace. Ballantrae had bidden me drink nothing and feign drunkenness as I valued my life; and I have never passed a day so wearisomely, lying the best part of the i time upon the forecastle and watch- ' ing the thickets by which our little basin was entirely surrounded for the eye. A little after dusk, Ballantrae stumbled up to my side, feigned to fall, with a drunken laugh,and before he got his feet again, whispered to me to “reel down into the cabin and seem to fall asleep upon the first locker, for t' e e would be need of me i soon.” I did as I was told, and com- ! ing into the cabin, where it wasquite i dark, let my self fall on the first i locker. There was a man there ali ready: by the way he stirred and : threw me off, I could not think he ! was much in liquor; and yet when I had found another place, he seemed to sleep on. My heart now boat very hard, for I saw some desperate matter was in act. . Presently down came Ballantrae, lighted the lamp, looked about the cabin nodded as if pteaseA and on deck again without a wora. I peered out from between my jingers and saw there were three of us slumbering or feiginng to slumber, on the lockers; myself, one Dutton and ono ’u-ady, both resolute men On deck the rest were got to a pitch of revel ry quite beyond the bounds of what is human; so that no reasonable name can describe the sounds they were now making. I have heard many a drunken bout in my time, many on board that very “Sarah,” but never any thing in t|ie least like this, which made me early suppose the liquor had been tampered with. It was a long whileTjefore those yells and howls died out into a sort of miserable moaning and then to silence; and it seemed a long while after that before Ballantrae came down again, this time with Teach upon his heels. The latter cursed at the sight of uS three upon the lo.kers. ”®a:d Ba’lantra?, “you

know what stuff they have been swallowing.” There was a batch in the cabin floor, and under that the richest part of the booty was stored against ; the day of division. It fastened ! with a ring and three padlocks, the keys (for greater security) being divided; one to Teach, one to Ballantrae, aud one to the mate, a man jtaSed Hammond. Yet I was amazed to see they were in the one hind; and vet more amazed istili looking through my fingers) to observe Ballantrae and Teach bring up several packets, four of them in all. very carefully made up and with a loop for carriage. “And now," said Teach. :i lct us be going.” “One word,” says Ballantrae, “I have discovered there is another man besides yourself who knows a private path across the swarn®. And itseemsit-isshorterthan -yours, ” Teach cried out that in that case they were undone. “Ido not know that,” says Ballantrae. “For there are several other circumstances with which I must acquaint you. First of all, there is no bullet in your pistols, which, if you remember. I was kind enough to load for both of us this morning. Secondly, as there is someone else who knows a passage; you must think it highly improbable that I should saddle myself with a lunatic like you. Thirdly, these gentlemen, who need no longer pretend to be asleep, are those of mv party, and will now proceed to gag and bind you to the mast; and when your men awake, if they ever do after the drugs we have mingled with their liquor, I am sure they will be so obliging as to deliver you and you will have no difficulty, I dare say. to explain the business of the keys.” Not a word said Teach, but looked at us like a frightened baby, as we gagged and bound him. Now, you see, you moon-calf,” says Ballantrae, “why we made four packets. Heretofore you have been called Captain Teach, but I think you are now rather Captain Learn ” That was our last word on board wnfour“~wtttr our fourpackets lowered ourselves softly into a skiff, and left that ship behind us as silent as the grave, only for the moaning of some of the drunkards. Tliere was a fog on the waters about breast-high; so that Dutton, who knew the passage, must stand up to direct our rowing; and this, as it forced us to row gently, was the means of our deliverence. We were yet a little way from the ship when it become to grow gray, and the birds to fly abroad upon the water. All of a sudded Dutton clapped down on his hams, and whispered us to bo silent for our lives, and hearken. Sure enough we heard a little faint creak of pars on one hand, and then again, and further off, a creak of oars upon the other. It was clear we had been sighted yesterday in the morning; here was the cruiser’s boats to cut us out; here were we defenseless in their midst. Sure, never were poor souls more perilously placed;- aud as we lay on our oars, praying God the mist might hold, the sweat poured from my brow. Present}' we heard one of the beats, where we might have thrown a biscuit in her. “Softly, men,” we hoard an officer whisper; and 1 marveled they could hot hear the drumming of my heart. “Never mind the path,” Says Ballatftrae, “we must get shelter anyhow; let us, pull straight ahead for the sides of the basin. ” This we did with the most anxious precaution, rowing,as best we could, upon our hands, and steering at a venture in the fog. which was (for all that) oun only safety. But Heaven guided us; we touched ground at a thicket: scrambled ashore with our treasure; and having no other way of concealment, and the mist beginning already to lighten, hove down the skiff and let her sink. We fvere still but now under cover when the sun rose; and at the same time, from the midst of the basin, a great shouting of seaman sprung up, and we knew the “Sarah’ was being boarded. I heard afterwards the officer that took lier had great honor; and it's true the approach was creditably managed, but I think he bad an easy captyre when he came to board. I was still blessing the sain s for my escape, when 1 became aware that, we were in trouble of another kind. Wo were here landed at random in a vast and dangerous swamp and how to come at the path was a concern of doubt, fatigue, and peril. Dutton, indeed, was of opinion we should wait until the ship was gone, and fish bp the skiff; for any delay would be more wise than to go blindly ahead in that morass. One went back accordingly to the basin side and (peering through the thicket) saw tho fog already quite drunk up and English colors flying on the “Sarah,” but no movement made to get her under wav Our situation was now very doubtful. The swamp was un unhealthful place to linger in; we had been so greedy to bring treasures that we had bought but little food; it was highly desirable, besides, that we should get clear of the neighborhood and into the settlements before the news of the capture went abroad; and against all these considerations thpro was only the peril of the pass- ' age on the other side. I tljink it not wonderful wc decided on the active part. It was already blistering hot when we set forth to puss the march, or rather to strike the path, by compass. Dutton took the compass, and one or other of us throe carried his pi;op rtion of the I promise yen ho kept a sharp eye to his rear, for it was like the man’s soul that he must trust us with. ’l *

- ■ T*. - ii ■ i—ii «■ The thicket was as close as a bush: the ground very treacherous, so that we often sank in the most terrifying manner, and must go round about; • the heat, besides, was stifling: the ! air singularly heavy, and the stinging insects abounded in such Myriads that each of uS walked under his own cloud. It has often been commented on how much better gentlemen of birth endure fatigue than persons of the rubble; so that walking officers, who rudst tramp in the dirt beside their men, shame them by their constancy. This was well to be observed in the present instance; for; here wet's Ballantrae and I, two gentlemen of the highest breeding, on the ono hand; and on the other. Grady a common mariner and a man nearly a giant in physical strength. The case of Dutton Is not in point,for I confess he did as well But as for. Gr.adyj._LcL began early to lament his case, tailed in the rear|, refused to carry Dutton's packet it came his turn, clamored continually for rum (of which we had too little) and at last even threatened us from behind with a cocked pistol, unless we should allow Jura rest ; Ballantrae would have fought it out, I believe; but I prevailed with him the other way: and we made a stop and ate a meal. Il seemed to benefit Grady little; he was in the rear again at once, growling and bemoaning his lot: and at last, by sojme carelessness, not having followed properly in our tracks, stumbled into a deep part of the slough where it was mostly water, crave soraej very dreadful scrteams.and before we could come to his aid, had sunk along with his booty. His fate and above all these screams of his appalled us to the soul; yet it was on the whole ii fortunate circumstance and the means of our deliverance For it moved Dutton to mount into a tree, whence he was able to perceive and to show me, who had climb ed after him, a high piece of the wood which was a landmark for the path. He went forward carelessly, I must suppose; for presently wsaw him siink a little down, draw up his feet and sink again, and so twice. Then he tiirned his face to us, pretty white. (To b?, continued.)