L. Cope Cornford

“ You know my rule—a clean ship, alow and aloft, fit for the Great Commander’s inspection by day or night. So I count upon a little leisure in the evening of my days—a clear conscience, no regrets, a good house out of sound of the sea, a cellar of good wine, a library of the classics. For it may surprise you, Mr Winter, to hear that I’ve never read the literature of the ancients. The time to gain that learning which is given to fortunate young men like yourself, sir, must be bought with many a painful year by those who do their business in the great waters. ”

“ It is no easy matter to track a voice in the dark. And they must have heard us on the ship, for answering hails came, far and long-drawn, so that we confused their cries with Brandon’s, and the fear of pursuit was added to our confusion. But Morgan Leroux was brave as a man in the stress of that passage, and we kept on, boring our way like rats in a faggot-stack, until Brandon’s voice rang nearer and nearer, and we stumbled upon him where he lay at the foot of a rock, bound hand and foot. ”

“ He demanded, as a free British subject, to be liberated [85] instantly, and so forth, with a fine indignation; to all of which Mr Murch hearkened with more patience than I should have expected him to manifest, on the whole. As he reclined in his chair, his great size and mass half in light and half in shadow, his narrow eyes, the upper lids drawn close, like the lids of a hawk’s eye, fixed upon the speaker’s simple countenance, the old buccaneer disengaged a strong expression of latent force; of sleeping fires that a touch might kindle into a highly disagreeable conflagration. ”

“ Liquor was his chief weapon—the worst he could have chosen. And, lest he should want encouragement, Mr Dawkins was ever at his elbow to suggest a tot of rum, a drop of French brandy, a glass of Schiedam. Dawkins had a head like the bitts; he was seldom the worse for liquor; but the captain grew as limp as a swab. You could see that his burden grew heavier upon him; but he stuck to it with a kind of hopeless patience.
“You young men should be happy,” he once said, addressing Pomfrett and myself. Pomfrett looked at him with his serious blue eyes. ”

“ Some came shaking with drink, from the crimps’ houses; some, lean and lusty from their last ship; some, fat with soft living ashore; and some, dreadful tallow-faced creatures, with unkempt hair falling over snakes’ eyes, and hands like claws, from I know not what dark places of iniquity. And they all knew Mr Jevon Murch. I was certain of this. Not a day passed, while they were signing-on in the little office on the quay at Bridgetown, but Murch’s name would recur in their mongrel dialect as they stood talking and waiting their turn. ”

“ The ship rolled at her moorings, blocks banging and clattering, cordage creaking; the brazen sunlight lapped ship and sea and shore in a blinding glare; the everlasting rumour of the breaking surf, unheeded in the ordinary course of occupation, began to wear upon the mind. All day long the shadows crept or receded upon the white beach, the rocks, piled or scattered, the lofty barrier of forest; all day long the far sea-line, joining the horns of the wide bay, lay vacant of the smallest blur; all day long the sea-birds screamed and dived about the ship, and rode on the heaving water. ”

“ Up and up we climbed in the fainting heat of the forest until we came out upon a spur of the mountains, and beheld the coast-line, jutting forth into many a rocky headland away to the northward, and beneath our feet the huddled brown roofs and white fortifications of Porto-Bello town, and its harbour thick with masts. Far as eye could reach the great glistening plane of the sea was bare of shipping. Where, then, was Mr Dawkins? and where Mr Murch? Down we went, two hapless wights, [146] knowing no more than our boot-soles what should befall us. ”

“ There is no other worth mentioning that influences any one; therefore, why deny it? I want to see my ward settled in marriage; the single estate is dangerous for females. I want to settle myself, in a manner which shall enable me to move in the society of my equals—a society,” says Murch, with dignity, “from which I have been too long estranged. I see in you, Mr Pomfrett, a respectable gentleman who shall serve me to both these ends. I need not, I think, say more.”
Still the owners’ agent sat silent, frowning at the floor. ”

“ Why, now, what a thing it is, as a man what wants so little, like me, should have so hard a job to get it—like I have. All my life it’s been the blessed same, ever since I shipped as cabin-boy out o’ Bristol city, me starving at the time. All the dirty work to do, a kick here, a clout with a marlinspike there, the cat going, knives out, provisions running short, and every man-jack with his little bit o’ luck except Dawkins, poor old Dawkins, what only wanted to sit quiet on his beam-ends and consume his victuals in due season. ”

“ All he valued in life drew him to close with Murch. On the one hand, he could see his owners satisfied and himself married and wealthy, all his troubles done. And on the other, only poor old Dawkins and a famine-stricken crew struggling down the river-banks, through the forest, with nothing in the world to hope for save the agent’s word of honour—the good faith of the supercargo with whom Mr Dawkins had dealt so crookedly. And why should a man keep faith with that treacherous old person, Dawkins? ”

“ But it never does to drive a clipper bark too hard—why, you taught me that, so you did, Mr Pomfrett, now I come to think of it—and if you and Mr Winter would care to take a run ashore, [72] these parts being new to you gentlemen, we would try to make out for a few hours without you.”
None who has not been to sea can comprehend the delight of getting ashore, though the voyage has been never so pleasant. The smell of the land, the firm earth underfoot, the sight of women-folk, and, above all, the taste of fresh food—these common sensations become extraordinary pleasures. ”

“ I said.
“But I’ve got to think of my owners,” was Pomfrett’s eternal cry. He, the agent, was continually inspired to a sense of duty by the thought of Mrs A., the crabbed old woman with the black slave, his pompous uncle, and the whole hotch-potch of paunchy burgesses who snuffled and canted and sent poor seamen to starve at sea—a remembrance which was merely disgusting to the agent’s clerk. They had taken their chance, and lost it, in my view. And yet I, too, was uncomfortably haunted by a sense of responsibility. Once a trustee, always a trustee. ”

“ Here an old gentleman with a fat white face was understood to enquire, what happened if the enemy’s ship would not yield without fighting?
“In that case,” replied Mr Pomfrett, “force must be used. Any bloodshed that may occur is not to be taken as the fault of the assailant. But I believe the case is rare.”
“Sir,” said the old gentleman, “I rejoice to hear it.” He leaned back in his chair and stared fixedly at me, as if challenging me to find another meaning in his words. I glanced at Dawkins. That astute mariner sat with his hands folded on the table and his eyes cast down. ”

“ Cross-currents, squalls, baffling winds, dead calms, water rotten—why, time and again, I would as lief as not a-run the blessed ship nose under, just to fetch up at the Golden Gates with my two hands on that there preachers’ neck-band. ‘Lord God,’ I’d say, humble on the quarterdeck, ‘I am but a sinful man, but grant me to take this Thy servant and toss him overboard off of a good lofty star, and I’ll go out of heaven quiet and orderly—ay, and glad to go.’”
[51] “Well, why didn’t you, Mr Dawkins?” ”

“ Heat, dust, smell, cockroaches, a fever of hurry, a nightmare jumble of black people and white; the long road to Murch’s house, hastily traversed at all times of the day and night; Murch sitting at his table, with his unchangeable iron face, steadily transacting business and directing affairs, the week through; mounted men riding up at all hours, sitting awhile with the unchangeable iron face, and riding away; Brandon Pomfrett snatching five bitter-sweet minutes of Mistress Morgan’s company, coming away and pretending he hadn’t; the ship in a dreadful confusion of packages and bales ”

“ The sacrifice was the easier, because Murch had left the bag of diamonds he took in Cartagena in Morgan’s keeping, and the supercargo saw no reason for including that little piece of booty in the Book of Plunder. And, as soon as might be, the two were married, of course. Pomfrett goes no more to sea; he is become a country gentleman and a Justice of the Peace; and I know no life better worth living, if you own a taste for it. As for me, I am sufficiently occupied with that leisurely study of the ancients, to which Mr Murch had looked forward with such admirable enthusiasm. ”

“ Morgan visited the Incomparable Lady every day, suing with great gifts of pearl and plate and jewels—suing in vain. Then came the time when Panama was squeezed dry, and the pirates marched away [128] across the Isthmus with a huge booty, driving the prisoners, men, women, and children, like a herd of cattle. The Incomparable Lady was carried in a litter by herself, guarded by Mr Murch and his men. Captain Morgan would walk for miles with his hand on the side of the litter, hoping she would speak kindly to him, if but a single word. ”

“ Ensconced in the adjoining cabin, we had our eyes glued to the spy-holes, you may be sure. Morgan Leroux fetched out bottle and glasses from the locker.
“A tot of rum, Mr Dawkins, now, to set you fair for dinner?”
“Spoken like your namesake,” said Dawkins, approvingly. “And you’ll surely join me this time, so I shan’t be ashamed. No? Well, strike me blind if ever I see a thing like this here. A gentleman of fortune, and not drink—why, it ain’t in nature. Well, here’s plate and plunder, full cargoes for every gentleman of fortune!” ”

“ How much deeper Brandon would have plunged I know not, for at this moment Murch was called on deck.
“Now look you here, Brandon Pomfrett,” said Morgan Leroux, angrily, “if you will persist in running your head into the noose, you’ll be hanged at last, and I can’t save you. Can’t you see—oh, but men are stupid!—can’t you see Mr Murch has you in his hand? Signing all the documents in the world won’t leave you a ha’porth the worse; and if you anger Murch, he’ll toss you overboard. ”

“ Rations is what you want.”
The room was filling with a little crowd of wild figures, some in shirt and drawers, some in a kilt with a rug about their shoulders, one or two with a filthy blanket held about their naked body. They came crowding about us, a glare of eyes, a gallery of drawn, hungry faces, a hubbub of oaths and clamourings for the blood of Hooky Gamaliel. I suppose, if we had not fenced him in the chimney-corner, the Jew would have been put on the fire straightway. ”

“ The notion of some plot a-foot began to stick in my own head, presently. Moreover, there was a certain unwholesome facility about the beginnings of our enterprise which I did not like. It was too easy to be altogether natural. A roystering mariner in a tavern, a glass bottle, a scrap of paper, a Jew fatally fluent of speech—and [49] there were a tall ship fitting for sea, Mrs A.’s money shot into her, and Brandon and myself cut loose from our tedious, but safe, employments, and despatched to the ends of the earth. “Really, I am a lucky fellow,” says Brandon. ”

“ Pomfrett ended by a fervent adjuration, imploring Mr Murch, if he could not give or sell his liberty, at least to let him go down to the ship, on his parole, and challenge Captain Dawkins to mortal combat.
Mr Murch, who had listened without a word, good or bad, treated the proposition very airily.
“My lad,” said he, “don’t you know Dawkins better than that? He does not fight except for gain. Moreover, he sails to-night—has already cut sail, in all likelihood.”
I thought Brandon would have sprung at his throat, and then I thought he would break into weeping. ”

“ But all across the marshes the road slants towards the coast, and the sea rose again into view upon the right hand. The dim, blue plain was studded here and there with sails, but whether the schooner were in sight or not I could not determine. Then the road turned due south to Bridgwater. The dusk was thickening fast, and horse and man were pretty well jaded when we clattered into the little town. The red firelight beaconed from the windows, and I had more urgent desire for a bed than ever in my life. But there was no rest for this miserable adventurer. ”

“ Lord!” says Dawkins, staring hard at Pomfrett the elder, and turning his little, lighted eyes upon Mrs A., who paled visibly, “as I look at you, lady and gentleman born, I could swear I see the blood a-spotting your white hands. But what cheer! The longest liver takes all, and the chaplain can square the dividend, I reckon. What’s he draw pay and rations for, else?”
There was an uncomfortable silence. If those good ship-owners, Mrs A. and Mr Pomfrett, never heard the truth before, they heard it, then, from Mr Dawkins’s vinous lips. ”

“ Our friend went grumbling to the waist; and thereafter we had much ado to stay the men from breaking into open mutiny. A gay voyage we had of it; but, what with fair words and hard blows, we made Caratasca Cays at last, and [240] dropped anchor in the great lagoon once more. Never were two mariners gladder to see the beach; yet there at the water’s edge, huddled about the camp-fire, was the fount and origin of all our troubles. Not sixty men, by what we could make out from the deck; perhaps twenty, or less; but there was Dawkins, whom no disaster seemed to quell. ”

“ She was firing at the moored ships about her, a dozen or more merchant bottoms, and three or four were firing in return, while puffs of smoke kept breaking from the walls of the stone forts at the harbour mouth. A sea-fight is a confused business—masts and sails appearing and disappearing in thickening volumes of smoke, tongued with red flashes, to an intermittent roar of cannon and crash of splintering wood—and the spectator can make but little of it. But, it would appear that Mr Murch, in his [160] bargain with the Governor, had omitted to include the shipping in the harbour. ”