Skeleton crew

“ In rage and disappointment he growled, “This brat must have a charmed life; on to him, men, on to him, cut him limb from limb!”
With a shout of defiance Wildfire Ned met the onslaught of more of the Skeleton Crew.
But he handled his sword with such quickness and precision that he gallantly beat them back.
The tide of battle ebbed and flowed.
Success for a moment attended the Skeleton Crew, and they drove the sailors to the wall.
In an instant, however, and as if by magic, Wildfire Ned dashed again to the front.
“They are beaten!” he cried; “they give ground! Down with the demons! ”

“ While the barbarous chief and his demon band were rejoicing at this human slaughter they drank deep of wine, and were roused up to a fiery pitch with the bloody work around them.
“Hurrah for the Skeleton Crew! the Scourge of the Seas!” said the chief, tossing off more wine. “In another hour old Sir Richard, and his braggart lad, Wildfire Ned, as he is called, will be no more. The old hag at the gibbet says the boy has a charmed life, but we shall quickly see. Ha! ha! there is no charm against cold steel, my lads!” ”

“ When the spies of the Skeleton Crew had told their tales, Death-wing much commended them for the prudence and caution with which they had proceeded in all they had done.
“We will not stir out to-night,” said Death-wing, “there are too many on foot for us to do any business comfortably and quietly; besides, you know, comrades, Col. Blood will never be able to discover the hiding-place of the Dozen. When, therefore, this little affair has blown over and got cold by to-morrow night, we will give Captain Jack and his friends a call at their snug hiding-place, and secure everything.” ”

“ Captain Jack now felt cold perspiration oozing from every part of his body, and he trembled in every limb.
“You have boasted in your time of having done great things against the Skeleton Crew,” said Death-wing, with a grim smile, “but your tales are all lies, for a greater coward than you are never carried a sword, Captain Jack.”
“He is not fit to live!”
“I know he is not,” said Death-wing, “and he shall die, unless he promises to fulfil all we ask of him.” ”

“ All the river side was in dire affright and commotion.
“’Tis young Ned Warbeck and the Skeleton Crew,” shouted old men and women, in alarm.
“Let us fly—let us fly! we shall all be murdered!”
“Call the night-watch!”
“Go and call out the king’s guard!”
“Murder! thieves! Help, help!” ”

“ Those who did not kill each other were ruthlessly murdered by the Skeleton Crew, so that the servants’ hall presented a sickly and revolting sight, with the dead and dying lying around in all directions. ”

“ In less than five minutes the male portion of the villagers rushed forth from their houses, half dressed.
Dogs barked, men shouted, women screamed, and children cried.
All was now a scene of great excitement and confusion.
Some armed with pokers, tongs, old rusty swords, pitchforks, and oaken clubs, rushed along the village green.
“To the mill! To the mill!” roared some.
“’Tis the Skeleton Crew!” shrieked others.
“They have murdered the miller, and run off with Ellen!” ”

“ Sea-hawk, Dolphin, and the rest of the bold smugglers, fought like demons.
“To the boats! to the boats!” shouted Sea-hawk above the din of battle.
All his men endeavoured to fight their way back again to the boats as directed by the chief.
But their retreat was cut off.
The Skeleton Crew, infuriated against their old enemies, the smugglers, fought with desperation.
Pistol-shots scattered about the decks like hail-stones, and Tim, unfortunate as ever, had the misery to find that more than one stray bullet struck the cask in which he was hiding, and grazed his body and legs ”

“ It had just struck eleven by the parish clock when the inmates of an inn in a small town in the south of England were disturbed by a sudden clattering of hoofs on the pavement, and presently after by a loud knocking at the door.
“Who in the world can that be?” cried the sexton, aroused from a comfortable nap, “the devil a bit would I open the door at this time of night; for it must be the Old One himself, or Death-wing, chief of the Skeleton Crew, to weather such a storm. Why, the rain falls fast enough to drown a horse, and the wind would blow a millstone to London. ”

“ Roger and Tim had another sound thwack on the jaws from their skeleton guardians, which shook every tooth in their heads.
“Sling your ropes,” said the grim Skeleton Chief, quaffing more wine.
In a moment each threw one end of his rope up in the air over the numerous beams and rafters of the servants’ hall.
“Make each his noose; mind they fit their necks nicely.”
“Oh, the cold-blooded rascals!”
“The merciless villains!”
“Mercy!”
“Have pity on us,” gasped the servants, as the Skeletons were making the noose in each rope.
“If they speak again despatch them with your daggers,” said the chief. ”

“ Never mind, bring out the wine, and let us enjoy ourselves.”
In a few moments the Skeleton Crew brought out a great number of bottles and glasses, and, sitting round the immense dining table, began to enjoy themselves in great glee.
“Now,” said Death-wing, “as our new companion here, Phillip Redgill, hasn’t any clear notion of what he will have to do among us, let each of you advance and detail all you have done of late, either by my orders, or according to your own whims, that will give our novice a better idea than all the instructions in the world. ”

“ There is something up down by the river; who knows, it may be Captain Jack and his vagabond followers, after all? Come on, don’t let us give up our search for nothing. Follow me!”
“Stop! stop! good masters,” said several affrighted citizens. “Stay where you are; several of the king’s men have been murdered! The Skeleton Crew are out to-night; the demons, led on by Death-wing, are making sad havoc down by the river, and nothing can stop them!”
“The Skeleton Crew!” said Ned. “Hurrah, boys, hurrah! we have met them before, haven’t we, Garnet?”
“Yes, my brave lad ”

“ He threw chairs and crockery out upon the heads of those below, who, now very numerous, were clamouring at and endeavouring to burst in the door.
“Set fire to the house,” said Death-wing, who had now arrived. “Set fire to the house at once; they will soon cry for quarter, but give them none; as they rush out, kill them on the spot. We’ll soon make them surrender.”
“Never,” said Wildfire Ned, at an open window. “Never!”
In a few moments, however, the house and stables were set fire to, and the Skeleton Crew, sure of consuming their foes, danced round and round in wild, unearthly joy. ”

“ With sword upraised, and amid great applause of the Crew, Phillip Redgill swore an awful oath to slay Ned Warbeck the first moment they met, whether publicly, privately, in night or day.
CHAPTER LIII.
THE ATTACK AND COUNTER ATTACK ON THE BLOCK HOUSE—NED WARBECK TO THE RESCUE.
“To action,” said Death-wing; “to action then; let [Pg 162] us attack Captain Jack’s store-house, and for ever silence the babbling of ‘the Dozen;’ they are all braggarts.”
With an unanimous voice the Skeleton Crew proposed to sally forth, and armed themselves to the teeth. ”

“ But while this was going on several other “brave” individuals were engaged, with swords, proving their valour, one against the other.
The doors were all locked, the windows were closed, and the servants’ hall being so far away from the knight’s apartments the noise was not heard.
Curses, not loud but deep, were heard on every side, and the Skeleton Crew looked on with delight, as they saw the blood flowing an all sides, while their chief sat on a high seat, quaffing wine, [Pg 15] and delighted with the bloodthirsty, fiendish work going on around him. ”

“ After an interval our first mate and a member of the crew boarded her. The sight that met their gaze was thrilling. Below the wheel lay the skeleton of a man. Treading warily on the rotten deck, which cracked and broke in places as they walked, they encountered three skeletons in the hatchway. In the mess-room were the remains of ten bodies, and six were found, one alone, possibly the captain, on the bridge. An uncanny stillness pervaded everything, and a dank smell of mold which made the flesh creep. A few remnants of books were found in the captain's cabin, and a rusty cutlass. ”

“ Old Nettles, the landlord—for such was his right name—was too much overjoyed at vanquishing the Skeleton Crew to think much of his loss, particularly as Lieutenant Garnet had informed him that he would be recompensed by the king himself for all he had lost, and much more given to him besides, for so bravely fighting in the cause of law and order against Death-wing’s friends. ”

“ But, although Wildfire Ned, as narrated in a previous chapter, made a vow never to rest until he had captured or destroyed all who belonged to Captain Jack’s band and the Skeleton Crew, he did not succeed so well with Death-wing’s followers as he could have wished.
During the night of the terrible commotion and desperate encounter at the Block-House, that part of the town was thrown into a fearful state of commotion.
Excited citizens rushed to and fro in all directions. ”

“ Ha! ha! the Skeleton Crew still lives, and rules the seas, and will long defy the power of man. Fly from this spot, or become one of the dead!’”
“This is a most horrible revelation,” said the old knight.
“I did not stop to hear more, for I shouted with fright, and galloped madly away, feeling as if frozen to the very marrow, for I had spoken with the dead!”
Tiny Tim looked exhausted, and shivered in every limb.
He could not proceed with his story very quickly, for his teeth chattered again.
“Give the lad a stiff glass of brandy, Ned,” said the kind-hearted knight.
Ned did so ”

“ Warbeck,” said the host. “I have a hundred pounds of powder in a cellar which is situated a few yards before the front door.”
“One hundred pounds of powder?” said Bob.
“Yes.”
“How came it here?”
“Lieutenant Garnet and a party of sailors found it on the beach not many weeks ago. It was destined for the Skeleton Crew, but Lieutenant Garnet placed it here, saying he would call and remove it soon.”
“That’s just the thing we want,” said Ned, in high glee. ”

“ THE RED MAN OF THE GIBBET GIVES WARNING TO THE SKELETON CREW—DEATH-WING LEADS ON THE LAST ATTACK OF HIS CREW—NED WARBECK, BOB BERTRAM, LIEUTENANT GARNET, AND TIM HAVE AMPLE REVENGE—STIRRING SCENES.
But although the “Dozen,” with Captain Jack, and old Bates, were disposed of by the grim hands of the law, there were other enemies who roamed still at large.
Phillip Redgill lay dying upon his bed in a lunatic asylum, and made night hideous with his awful shouts and oaths. ”

“ Smoking and drinking continued, and soon Master Tim found himself the centre of attraction, and as he was, of course, expected to be a very brave fellow, he favoured the company with a long string of lies, in which he narrated his several encounters with the Skeleton Crew, and against whom he had displayed prodigies of valour. ”

“ The Butchers’ Apprentices cut all who opposed them limb from limb without mercy.
But still Death-wing and his men fought like demons.
Three times had Ned Warbeck fought with and slain those he supposed to be the Skeleton chief.
But Death-wing was still alive and busy.
More than twenty times he took deliberate aim with guns and pistols at young Ned, and each time had he missed him.
“He is charmed! his life is charmed!” swore the grim chief, as he looked around him, and each instant saw that his men were falling thick and fast. ”

“ For some moments Sir Richard did not know what to do.
All around him knelt his frightened domestics, groaning and shaking.
“Why, but just now, knave, you said it was all a lark, perhaps, got up by some of the silly villagers to frighten us. Ghosts and living skeletons indeed! There, go down and get your suppers at once, and let’s have no more of such silly nonsense.”
“Nay, good master, we dare not.”
“Stuff and nonsense,” said Ned, laughing; “how can you be geese enough to believe in such old women’s tales. Get up off your knees at once, I say, and don’t stick there shivering like leaves. ”

“ Garnet had fought his way to the magazine, and drowned it with water.
“No, no,” thought the gallant sailor, “I know their tricks before to-day; but they are not going to blow up all my brave lads in that way. They must fight; every man-jack of them shall perish with the sword, and their skulls and limbs shall decorate Temple Bar and London Bridge.”
Foiled in all his efforts, surrounded on every side, and with the building burning in half a dozen places, the Skeleton chief held a hasty council of war.
Unexpected, they sallied forth, fifty grim Skeletons, led on by Death-wing. ”

“ But while the valiant Nettles was discoursing about and jeering the many stories about Death-wing’s gang——
A skeleton appeared, razor in hand, and seized Nettles by the hair of his head!
Beside him, and grinning most horribly, stood the black spectre of the Red Man of the Gibbet, sharpening a razor on a strop attached to the wall (see Engraving in No. 7) , and preparing to shave his enemy, old Nettles, the terrified tavern keeper.
More dead than alive, Nettles shook in every limb. ”

“ Why, it means that we are so glad to see you, that’s all. We wanted some amusement.”
“What can these monsters mean or intend to do?” sighed the clerk, who much wished to get away if he could.
“Mean? intend?” repeated the horrible voice again. “Why, it means that we intend to celebrate Lady Julia’s marriage with our great chief, Death-wing, and will do honour to the event by hanging every mother’s son of you!”
Dismal groans were now heard on all sides.
Some began to gasp from fear.
Others fell to praying.
But the Skeleton Bell-ringers were as good as their word, as we shall see. ”