Captain Canot; Or, Twenty Years of an African Slaver
of certain Dugald Dalgettys to help its fortune, Don Rafael and my
uncle had lent the revolutionists of Mexico their swords, for which
they were repaid in the coin that "patriots" commonly receive for
such amiable self-sacrifice. _Republics_ are proverbially ungrateful,
and Mexico, alas! was a republic.
After many a buffet of fortune, my poor uncle, it seems, perished in a
duel at which Don Rafael performed the professional part of "his
friend." My relation died, of course, like a "man of honor," and soon
after, Don Rafael, himself, fell a victim to the "circumstances"
which, in the end, enabled him to slaughter my shipmates and save my
life.
I must admit that I use this flippant tone with a twinge of sorrow,
for I think I perceived certain spasms of conscience during our
interview, which proved that, among the lees of that withered heart,
there were some rich drops of manhood ready to mantle his cheek with
shame at our surroundings. Indeed, as he disclosed his story, he
exhibited several outbursts of passionate agony which satisfied me
that if Don Rafael were in Paris, Don Rafael would have been a most
respectable _bourgeois_; while, doubtless, there were many estimable
citizens at that moment in Paris, who would have given up their shops
in order to become Don Rafaels in Cuba! Such is life--and
"circumstances!"
Our chat wasted a large portion of the afternoon. It was terminated by
a counsel from my friend to be wary in my deportment, and a direction
to console myself with the idea that he did not mean I should tarry
long upon the island.
"You see," said he, "that I do not lack force of eye, voice, and
personal influence over these ruffians; yet I do not know that I can
always serve or save a friend, so your fate hangs very much on your
circumspection. Men in our situation are Ishmaelites. Our hands are
not only against all, and all against us, but we do not know the
minute when we may be all against each other. The power of habitual
control may do much for a leader among such men; but such an one must
neither quail nor _deceive_. Therefore, _beware_! Let none of your
actions mar my projects. Let them never suspect the truth of our
consanguinity. Call me 'uncle;' and in my mouth you shall always be
'Theodore.' Ask no questions; be civil, cheerful, and serviceable
about the _rancho_; never establish an intimacy, confidence, or
friendship with any _one_ of the band; stifle your feelings and your
tears if you ever find them rising to your lips or eyes; talk as
little as you possibly can; avoid that smooth-tongued Frenchman; keep
away from our revels, and refrain entirely from wine.
"I charge you to be specially watchful of Gallego, the cook. He is our
man of dirty work,--a shameless coward, though revengeful as a cat. If
it shall ever happen that you come in collision with him, _strike
first and well_; no one cares for him; even his death will make no
stir. Take this _cuchillo_,--it is sharp and reliable; keep it near
you day and night; and, _in self-defence_, do not hesitate to make
good use of it. In a few days, I may say more to you; until
then,--_corragio figlio, e addio!_"
We returned to the _rancho_ by different paths.
CHAPTER V.
The life of men under the ban of society, on a desolate sand key,
whose only visitors are land-crabs and sea-gulls, is a dull and dreary
affair. The genuine pirate, properly equipped for a desperate lot, who
has his swift keel beneath him and is wafted wheresoever he lists on
canvas wings, encounters, it is true, an existence of peril; yet there
is something exhilarating and romantic in his dashing career of
incessant peril: he is ever on the wing, and ever amid novelty; there
is something about his life that smacks of genuine warfare, and his
existence becomes as much more respectable as the old-fashioned
highwayman on his mettlesome steed was superior to the sneaking
footpad, who leaped from behind a thicket and bade the unarmed
pedestrian stand and deliver. But the wrecker-pirate takes his victim
at a disadvantage, for he is not a genuine freebooter of the sea. He
shuns an able foe and strikes the crippled. Like the shark and the
eagle, he delights to prey on the carcass, rather than to strike the
living quarry.
The companionship into which misfortune had thrown me was precisely of
this character, and I gladly confess that I was never tempted for a
moment to bind up my fate with the sorry gang. I confided, it is true,
in Rafael's promise to liberate me; yet I never abandoned the hope of
escape by my own tact and energy.
Meanwhile, I became heartily tired of my scullion duties as the
subordinate of Gallego. Finding one day a chest of carpenters' tools
among the rubbish, I busied myself in making a rudder for one of the
boats, and so well did I succeed, that when my companions returned to
breakfast from their daily "fishing," my mechanical skill was lauded
to such a degree that Rafael converted the general enthusiasm to my
advantage by separating me from the cook. I was raised to the head of
our "naval bureau" as boatbuilder in chief. Indeed, it was admitted on
all hands that I was abler with the adze than the ladle and spoiled
fewer boards than broths.
A few days passed, during which I learned that our unfortunate galliot
was gradually emptied and destroyed. This was the usual morning
occupation of the whole gang until the enterprise ended. When the job
was over Don Rafael told me that he was about to depart hurriedly on
business with the whole company, to the mainland of Cuba, so that,
during his absence, the island and its property would be left in
custody of Gallego, myself, and the bloodhounds. He specially charged
the cook to keep sober, and to give a good account of himself at the
end of _five days_, which would terminate his absence.
But no sooner was the _patron_ away, than the lazy scamp neglected his
duties, skulked all day among the bushes, and refused even to furnish
my food or supply the dogs. Of course, I speedily attended to the
welfare of myself and the animals; but, at night, the surly Galician
came home, prepared his own supper, drank till he was completely
drunk, and retired without uttering a word.
I was glad that he yielded to the temptation of liquor, as I hoped he
would thereby become incapable of harming me during the watches of the
night, if weariness compelled me to sleep. He was a malignant wretch,
and his taciturnity and ill-will appeared so ominous now that I was
left utterly alone, that I resolved, if possible, to keep awake, and
not to trust to luck or liquor. The galliot's tragedy and anxiety
stood me in stead, so that I did not close my eyes in sleep the whole
of that dreary vigil. About midnight, Gallego stealthily approached my
cot, and pausing a moment to assure himself that I was in the profound
repose which I admirable feigned, he turned on tip-toe to the door of
our cabin, and disappeared with a large bundle in his hand. He did not
return until near day-dawn; and, next night, the same act was exactly
repeated.
The mysterious sullenness of this vagabond not only alarmed, but
increased my nervousness, for I can assure the reader that, on a
desolate island, without a companion but a single outcast, one would
rather hear the sound of that wretch's voice than be doomed to the
silence of such inhuman solitude. During the day he kept entirely
aloof,--generally at sea fishing,--affording me time for a long
_siesta_ in a nook near the shore, penetrated by a thorny path, which
Gallego could not have traced without hounds. On the fourth night,
when the pirate left our hut for his accustomed excursion, I resolved
to follow; and taking a pistol with renewed priming, I pursued his
steps at a safe distance, till I saw him enter a thick shrubbery, in
which he was lost. I marked the spot and returned to the cabin. Next
morning, after coffee, Gallego departed in his canoe to fish. I
watched him anxiously from the beach until he anchored about two miles
from the reef, and then calling the dogs, retraced my way to the
thicket. The hounds were of great service, for, having placed them on
the track, they instantly traced the path of the surly scoundrel.
After some trouble in passing the dense copse of underwood, I entered
a large patch of naked sand, broken by heaps of stones, which appeared
to cover graves. One heap bore the form of a cross, and was probably
the sepulchre of a wrecker. I stopped awhile and reflected as to
further explorations. On entering this arid graveyard, I observed a
number of land-crabs scamper away; but, after awhile, when I sat down
in a corner and became perfectly quiet, I noticed that the army
returned to the field and introduced themselves into all the heaps of
stones or graves _save one_. This struck me as singular; for, when
people are so hopelessly alone as I was, they become minute observers,
and derive infinite happiness from the consideration of the merest
trifles. Accordingly, I ventured close to the abandoned heap, and
found at once that the neighboring sand had been freshly smoothed. I
was on Gallego's track! In dread of detection, I stealthily climbed a
tree, and, screening myself behind the foliage, peered out towards the
sea till I beheld the cook at work beyond the reef. My musket and
pistols were again examined and found in order. With these
precautions, I began to remove the stones, taking care to mark their
relative positions so that I might replace them exactly; and, in about
ten minutes work at excavation, I came upon two barrels, one of which
was filled with bundles of silk, linens, and handkerchiefs, while the
other contained a chronometer, several pieces of valuable lace, and a
beautifully bound, gilt, and ornamented _Bible_. One bundle, tied in a
Madras handkerchief, particularly attracted my attention, for I
thought I recognized the covering. Within it I found a number of
trinkets belonging to the wife of my Dutch captain, and a large
hairpin, set with diamonds, which I remember she wore the last day of
her life. Had this wretch torn it from her head, as he imbrued his
hands in her blood on that terrible night? The painful revelation
brought all before me once more with appalling force. I shuddered and
became sick. Yet, I had no time for maudlin dalliance with my
feelings. Replacing every thing with precision, and smoothing the sand
once more with my flannel shirt, I returned to the _rancho_, where I
indulged in the boyish but honest outburst of nature which I could no
longer restrain. I was not then--and, thank God, I am not now--a
stranger to tears! To the world, the human heart and the human eye,
like the coral isle of the Atlantic, may be parched and withered; yet
beneath the seared and arid surface, the living water still flows and
gushes, when the rock and the heart alike are stricken!
* * * * *
Just before sunset of this day, the deep baying of our hounds gave
notice of approaching strangers; and, soon after, four boats appeared
in the cove. The two foremost belonged to Don Rafael and his crew,
while the others were filled with strangers whose appearance was that
of landsmen rather than mariners. As Rafael received them on the
beach, he introduced them to me as his especial pets, the "AMPHIBIOUS
JEWS."
Our delicious supper of that night was augmented by a fine store of
beef, pork and fowls, brought from shore. I lingered at table as long
as the company maintained a decent sobriety, and learned that these
salt water Hebrews were, in truth, speculators from Cardenas, who
accompanied Rafael in the guise of fishermen, to purchase the
plundered cargo of my galliot.
During his visit to Cuba, Don Rafael was apprised that the Cuban
authorities were about sending an Inspector among the islands off the