Foxholme Hall, and Other Tales
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”‘You would have betrayed us, would you? You shall suffer for it.’
“I was unarmed, and before I could seize anything to defend myself, a blow from his cutlass stretched me on the deck, but not senseless; I wish that I had been so, I should have been spared the horrors I was witness to.
“Apparently satisfied with his vengeance, the miscreant turned to other acts of blood. Some of the men had overpowered the first mate, who had remained faithful to the master, and who, even now, while death was staring him in the face, refused to accept his life on the dreadful terms the mutineers proposed. Lashing his hands behind him, they placed him at the outer end of a plank, which they shoved over the stern of the vessel, some of them holding it down in-board.
”‘Will you join us?’ said Hallton.
“The mate was a brave fellow.
”‘No!’ he exclaimed with a firm voice; ‘never!’
”‘Let go,’ cried Hallton, with an oath, ‘he would have hung us if he could.’
“The man jumped off the plank. Not a cry escaped the mate, as, with a sullen splash, he fell into the sea, and sank immediately.
“The deeds of horror which followed I will not describe.
“The ship was now entirely in the power of a gang of the most murderous ruffians who ever dared the vengeance of Heaven.
“During all this time the eldest of the three young ladies lay senseless on the deck; but what had become of Julie and her sister I knew not. A minute afterwards I heard a shriek; I opened my eyes; Julie herself rushed on deck. She cast one terrified glance around – not a friendly eye met her sight.
“She saw me bleeding, and apparently dead; she would have thrown herself down near me”; but she encountered Hallton on the way. Darting from his grasp, before any one could stop her, she fled aft, and threw herself over the taffrail into the sea. Hallton immediately ordered a boat to be lowered, but the falls were unrove, and it was some time before it was in the water, and the brig hove up into the wind. Oh! what an agony I was in! I did not wish her to be saved.
“I could only hear Brand shouting to the men in the boat, and pointing out to them the direction they were to pull; I watched every movement anxiously; I conjectured that she was still struggling in the waves – love of life triumphing over her fears – and probably kept up by her garments.
”‘Pull away, and you’ll have her yet,’ shouted the chief mutineer. There was another horrid pause. ‘No, she has sunk,’ he cried. ‘A few strokes more, and watch for her if she rises. I see her hair below the water. Oh, you fools, you have missed her!’
“He still stood watching – an age it seemed to me. My feelings almost overpowered me. He stepped down on the deck. I heard the boat alongside: the men came on deck: they brought not Julie. She had escaped them; and, had I dared to pray, I would have thanked Heaven for it.
“After this, I know not what occurred for several days. I was in a raging fever; and, had I not lost so much blood, I should have died. Hallton had spared my life, both because I was the only man, besides himself, on board, who understood how to navigate the ship, and because he knew my temper, and that I was completely in his power: he had only to threaten to deliver me up as the murderer of Arnold, and I was again his slave.
“Well, sir, when I was able to crawl on deck, we were running up the Gulf of Mexico; and, after changing our destination several times, we stood for Vera Cruz. Hallton never once referred to what had occurred: he spoke to me soothingly, telling me that, as he had been elected captain, I was to be his first mate, and that a Spaniard, called Domingos, was to be second. I told him that I was ready for anything; for, in truth, I had no longer any power of thought. All I wanted was excitement; and when he talked of the wealth we should gain by pirating, I only longed for the chase and the fierce fight. When we were within two days’ sail of our port, the captain told me that he was convinced it would never do to take the brig into the harbour, where she might be recognised by the people on board some of the other vessels; that we must look out for some other craft; and then taking the two to one of the quays at the south of Cuba, where the old pirates used to resort, we must refit, and alter one of them, so that she could not possibly again be known. I had nothing to say against his plan, which, being agreed to by all the crew, we once more changed our course.
“We cruised for some days on the Spanish main, when we sighted a large schooner, which was at once pronounced to be an American merchantman. They are very fast vessels in general; so that, if we alarmed her, we could not hope to come up with her in the chase. Sending down our topgallant-masts, we clewed up the topsails, and, slacking the braces, we let the yards swing every way, while, at the some time, we hoisted signals of distress. The schooner made us out before long, and stood towards us to see what was the matter. When she was about a mile from us, it fell a dead calm, and we were consulting whether we would get alongside her in boats or wait for a breeze to board her, when the captain ordered all the men to lie down; and, standing upon the taffrail, he made signs that we were in want of water. On this, a boat was lowered from the schooner, with six hands in her, and we saw a couple of kegs handed down the side.
“Oh! sir, it was a devilish trick we played those who were ready to relieve our distress – one that a seaman naturally looks on with peculiar abomination; but we seemed to delight in outraging all the laws both of God and man. With rapid strokes the boat pulled towards us; and as her crew eagerly jumped on the deck of the brig, they were knocked on the head and tumbled below. The last two who remained in the boat were stabbed, so as not to make any noise. We then stripped off their shirts and hats, and six of our best hands, including Hallton, dressing up in them, with three others concealed at the bottom of the boat, pulled towards the schooner. Another boat was got ready on the opposite side, to where the schooner lay, to support the first, if necessary.
“Our people were not suspected till they got almost alongside the schooner, when the Americans, seeing strange faces instead of their own friends, could not doubt what sort of customers they had to deal with. They seized what arms they could lay their hands on to defend themselves; but it was too late for resistance. Hallton and his crew were on board before they had time to load a musket.
“The greater number were cut down on the instant: a few defended themselves on the fore port of the vessel, but the second boat following, boarded on the bow, when these too were quickly overpowered. Not one of our party was hurt. The master of the schooner and his two mates were killed. Some of the crew, to whom we offered their lives on condition of joining us, accepted our terms; but several refused to do so. After taking possession of our prize, which was a remarkably fine schooner, just suited to our purpose, we set to work to dispose of our prisoners. Hallton, with his usual diabolical cunning, hit upon a plan to secure the obedience of those of the schooner’s crew who had joined us, by making them murder the remainder of their shipmates.
“It was cold-blooded, dreadful work. The victims were compelled to stand at the gangway, while, one by one, their former friends advanced with a pistol, and, blowing out their brains, hove them into the sea. Two men had thus been murdered, when it came to the turn of a youth of respectable appearance, the son of the owner, I think he was, to perform the part of executioner. He had at first consented to live, but I have my doubts whether he did not even then contemplate what he afterwards attempted.
“Seizing the pistol which was offered him, with a stern look he advanced towards the wretch he was ordered to kill; but, instead of drawing the trigger, he turned suddenly round, and taking a deliberate aim at our captain, fired. The ball grazed the captain’s cheek. With a look of fury he rushed with his drawn cutlass at the daring youth, who, standing firmly prepared for his fate, was cut down on the deck. Life ebbing fast away from several tremendous gashes, the young man lifted himself from the deck on one arm —
”‘Wretch,’ he said, ‘my pistol missed its aim, or I should have saved the lives of my companions, and your crew from further crime; but be assured that your career of wickedness will quickly be brought to a close, and that the fate to which you have consigned so many others will soon be your own. May Heaven pardon me for what I would have done!’
”‘Heave the young villain overboard, some of you! and stop his prating,’ exclaimed the captain, stamping with fury.
“But none of us stirred – hardened as we were, we could not do it: even we were struck by his heroism; and at that moment, had he chosen to be our captain, we would gladly have deposed Hallton and followed the dying youth in his stead.
”‘Am I to be disobeyed?’ cried the captain as he gave another cut across the face of the unhappy man; and dragging the yet living body to a port, with his own hands hurled him overboard.
“That murder cost him his influence over us; and I think even the worst of us would have been sick of him had he been destined much longer to command us; but the words of the murdered youth were soon to prove true.
“You will scarcely believe it, sir, but not only were all the prisoners made to walk the plank, but Hallton – fearing that some of the others might attempt his life – murdered the rest of the schooner’s crew who had entered with us, not excluding the two who had commenced their career by shooting their own shipmates. Well, sir, I shall soon have done with my history. After taking everything out of the brig, we scuttled her, nor did we leave her till we saw the waves close over her topgallant masts. We then did all we could to alter the appearance of the schooner, and shaped our course for Cuba.
“We there passed some weeks, spending our ill-gotten wealth in every kind of debauchery and folly. We then refitted our craft and again went to sea. After taking and sinking several merchantmen, with all their crews on board, we returned to our former rendezvous; and this work continued for some time, till we fell in with the ship of war which captured us.
“There, sir, I have given you a sketch of the greater part of my career, the rest you know; and I assure you, sir, that I have been far happier since I was taken than during any former time of my manhood. That one dreadful thought oppresses me, that I must meet Arnold and be carried in his cold embrace, down, down, down —
“Oh, save me from him – save me!” cried the pirate, hiding his face in his hands, and cowering down towards me, to escape from the vision which haunted his imagination.
I remained with him for the greater part of that night; and, at length, quitted him more composed in mind and resigned to his fate than I could have expected. The next morning was to be his last; and at his particular request, I accompanied him to the fatal scaffold. A large crowd had assembled – blacks and whites, soldiers and sailors, to witness the execution of the noted pirates. With a firm step he walked from his prison to the foot of the gibbet, and mounted the steps. Resting a moment, he addressed the spectators, exhorting them to take example from his dreadful fate, and to avoid the evil courses which had, step by step, conducted him to it. At length the executioner warned him that his time was up.
“I am ready,” he answered, and was about to submit his neck to the fatal noose, when, starting back, he exclaimed in a voice of agony, “He is come! he is come! Oh, save me from him! – save me!”
Before he could utter more, the drop was let fall, and all was soon over. The rest of the crew died making no sign.
Such was the closing scene in the life of a pirate – the dreadful phantom conjured up by his conscience haunting him to the last.
Story 6-Chapter I
STORY SIX – The Spirit of the Storm
There once existed in the Pacific Ocean a beautiful island, called the Island of Gracia. In the early ages of the world, before the human race had begun to explore the more distant regions of the globe, it was probably a wild and barren rock, with abrupt sharp-edged hills and dark pools of stagnant water, without a patch of green herbage, or animal or vegetable life of any description to enliven its solitude; while the only sound heard around it was that of the wild waves dashing ceaselessly on its rugged shores. Ages passed away, and those indefatigable insects, the coral worms, built up their wonderful habitations, like lofty walls, around it; toiling, seemingly, for no other purpose than to show how for their structures can surpass in size the most mighty efforts of men. The reefs thus created broke the force of the fierce waves; a soft yellow sand was formed, and shells of many shapes and delicate tints were washed up uninjured on the beach. The sun and rain, with alternate influence, softened also the hard rock, and a soil was formed, and birds of the air rested there in their passage across the ocean, and brought seeds of various descriptions from far-distant lands, which took root and sprung up; and the hills became clothed with fragrant shrubs and gorgeous flowers, and tall trees with luscious fruits grew in the valleys, and a soft green herbage covered the banks of the silent lakes and murmuring streams. Thus the island became a fit habitation for man. Now, it happened that a canoe or a galley with many oars, or a vessel of some description, such as was used in ancient times, with a chief and his followers, and their wives and children, set sail from a remote country. Either they fled from their victorious enemies, or they were driven by a storm so far from their native shores that they could not return. Thus they floated over the ocean, till they reached the Island of Gracia. So shattered was their vessel by the tempest, and so delighted were the chief and his people with the appearance of that beautiful land, that they were well contented to remain. Their chief now became their King.
In the course of a few generations the descendants of the first adventurers had thickly peopled the whole island, and had lost all record of the land from whence they came, nor did they know whether it lay to the north or south, or to the east or west.
Monarch succeeded monarch, till King Zaphor came to the throne of Gracia. Everybody loved King Zaphor, for he was a benignant and paternal sovereign, who attended to the wants of his subjects. The King had a daughter, the Princess Serena; he loved his people, but he absolutely doted on his daughter. She was the child of his affections, the sole relic of a departed wife, the soother of his regal cares, the companion of his hours of retirement. The people loved their King, but they almost adored the Princess, and there was not a man in the island who would not have gladly died to protect her from harm.
Her heart was tender and good, and if she heard of any persons who were ill or in trouble, she was not contented till she had done her utmost to relieve them. Her blooming countenance was radiant with smiles and animation, and she was beautiful, too, as she was amiable. The poets of Gracia used to liken her to a graceful sea-bird floating on the calm bosom of the deep, as, followed by her attendant maidens, as was her daily custom, she tripped across the flowery mead, or through the shady woods, or along the yellow sands, herself the fairest and most agile of them all!
The Princess and her youthful maids loved to pluck the sweet-scented flowers to make chaplets for their hair, or wreaths to twine round their sylph-like forms. At other times they would amuse themselves by dancing on the smooth sands, or they would plunge fearlessly into the water, and would sport like sea-nymphs in the clear bright waves within the coral reefs, while the rocks and adjacent woods rang with their joyous laughter.
The Princess also had a beautiful bower, where none but her own attendants dared intrude. It was formed of branches of red and white coral, beautifully polished and interlaced. The roof was covered with the long, thick leaves of the palmetto, and the outside walls were built of the long-enduring bamboo, so closely placed together that neither wind nor rain could penetrate; while the whole was shaded by a wide-spreading palm-tree, and surrounded by a grove of cocoa-nut and plantain-trees. In front, through an opening in the wood, the sands of the sea-shore and its fantastic-shaped rocks, and the blue ocean, glittering in the sunshine, could be seen.
Here the Princess Serena and her attendants used to retire during the heat of the day, to partake of their simple but delicious repasts of bread made from the quick-growing cariaca or the cassada root, the nutritive and luscious plantain, the heads of the cockarito-palm, and boiled pappaws, with sea-side grapes, and other fruits and vegetables too numerous to mention; or they would ply the distaff, or would make dresses of feathers and baskets of reeds, while they amused themselves with pleasant talk; and thus their days passed innocently and happily away.
Story 6-Chapter II
In the very deepest part of the Atlantic Ocean, directly under the Equator, Neptune, the Sovereign of the Seas, once held his regal court. His palace was of vast dimensions, capable of holding all the Ocean Spirits, the rulers and guardians of the realms of water below, and of all the islands which adorn its surface. Its outside was composed of huge black rocks piled up like mountains, one upon another, and covered with dark masses of seaweed, which, floating upward, appeared like a forest of trees, of a growth far more gigantic than the earth can produce, and yet it seemed but like lichens growing on the roof of a house in comparison with the size of the edifice. The inside was more magnificent than mortal eye has ever seen. There was one vast hall, pervaded by a green yet clear light, which came from above, and increased the grandeur and solemnity which reigned around. To say that the walls were of red coral and immense shells, each of which was as large as many a vessel which floats on the ocean, while pearls of surpassing brilliancy and whiteness were interspersed among them, and that the roof was of crystal of gorgeous tinge, can in no way picture the surpassing magnificence of the structure. At one end was a lofty throne, proportioned to the size of the building, of jet-black rock, glittering with that gold which the toil of man had won from the bowels of the earth, but which his carelessness had lost in the stormy sea. It was surrounded by many thousand other thrones, the seats of Neptune’s vassal Spirits – his Governors, Tritons, and other attendants. It must be understood that, once upon a time, whatever may now be the case, every fish which swims, every insect which crawls in the sea, had its governor and king. The largest was the King of the Whales. He was a vast monster of dark form, whose dwelling was in the regions of icebergs and glaciers at the North Pole. The fiercest was the King of the Sharks; he had sharp teeth, and eyes full of malignancy and hatred to the human race. He was the most wicked of all the Spirits. The fastest and most beautiful was the King of the Dolphins; the most unwieldy the King of the Porpoises; the ugliest the King of the Cat-fish; and the tallest the King of the Big Sea Serpents – for they all partook somewhat of the forms of the fish over whom they were placed to govern. Their thrones, too, were of appropriate forms; some sat on huge sea-eggs, others on shells. The King of the Whales sat on an iceberg, but the King of the Big Sea Serpents was obliged to twist himself in and out about the pillars of the hall to find room for his long body. It is impossible to describe their vast mysterious forms, shrouded as they were in their dark-green mantles of vapours and obscurity.
That portion of the Pacific Ocean in which the Island of Gracia is situated was ruled over by a sea spirit of the name of Borasco. As he was not the king of any particular fish (indeed, he was superior in power to most of them), his appearance was a mixture of many. His body was covered with scales, and from his back mighty wings projected, to aid him in his flight across the ocean, while his feet were like those of a seal; his eyes were large, fierce, and glowing; his mouth had large tusks, and on either side were black bunches, like the feelers of a walrus. On his head grew masses of long hair, like seaweed, streaming in the wind; while his arms and hands had more the appearance of the claws of a shell-fish than of anything else; at the same time that his vast size, and the indistinctness which surrounded him, gave to his appearance a grandeur which partook more of the terrific than the hideous. Borasco had a palace which might vie in magnificence and beauty, though not in size, with that of Neptune. One day he sallied forth, and mounting his prancing steed, which was a huge wave with a foaming crest, he rode furiously off, as he was accustomed to do, over the ocean. The water roared and hissed, the mid wind howled, as, shouting loudly with a voice like thunder, onward he went in his fierce career; and these were the words he uttered: —
“I’m a wandering spirit where rolls the broad sea,For no bonds, for no bonds, can e’er fetter me:My steed is a wave, with a white crest of foam,Which gallantly bears me wherever I roam;Lashed to fury, he dashes the waters on high,As bounding he lifts his proud head to the sky.Oh! no charger of earth can so rapidly flee,While no bonds, while no bonds, can e’er fetter me.“I fly on the tempest while loud shrieks are heard,And more shrilly I cry than the roaming sea-bird:When rocks are resounding with ocean’s loud roar,And forms are rebounding, pale waifs on the shore —When barks are deserted to roam o’er the waves,And mortals are hurled unprepared to their graves —Then, then is the time I shriek loudest with glee,And no bonds are so strong they can e’er fetter me.“My hair, the thick mist or the wild-driving snow,All wildly floats round when the northern blasts blow;My breath’s in the whirlwind, my voice in the clouds,And night, as a mantle, my stern visage shrouds.The vivid fork’d lightnings which dart from mine eyesFlash fearfully over the dark low’ring skies:Oh! then my wild voice is heard shouting with glee,As I ride o’er the boundless and fathomless sea.”On, on he flew, terror before him, devastation in his rear; the footsteps of his steed, the dark furrows of the foaming waves; his track marked by the shattered wrecks of the hapless barks over which he passed, till at length he reached the Island of Gracia, his strength exhausted and his fury assuaged. He gazed, delighted, on its smooth yellow sands, sparkling in the beams of the sun, its cool and waving groves giving forth their rich perfumes, and resounding with the harmonious notes of their feathered denizens; its smiling hills, its green meadows, and the thousand beauties of the landscape before him. The light spray, tinted with the varied hues of the rainbow, played round his mysterious form, as his steed, with a loud roar with echoed from rock to rock, receding towards the ocean, left him standing on the shore.
Wildly throwing his arms around, he shook the water from his robe, which, as it fell, appeared like the spray from some mighty cataract, and then, reclining beneath the shade of an overhanging rock, he stretched forth his huge limbs, and, calmed by the fragrant air and the tranquillity of the scene, he slept.
Tempted by the beauty of the evening, after the fierce storm which had raged all day, the Princess Serena and a troop of youthful maidens took their way to the sea-shore. For a time they sang and sported in exuberance of spirits; then they formed a circle and danced around their mistress; then they bound her hair with bright flowers, and decked her neck with softly-tinted shells, and then, hand-in-hand, they ran towards the water; now they retired, and now advanced, uttering peals of laughter, as the bright waves rippled over their feet. At last one, more daring, rushed into the sea; others followed, and as they threw about the sparkling spray in mimic fight, the rocks and woods echoed with their merriment.
The sounds reached the ears of the sleeping Borasco. He awoke, and rising, listened, when, advancing from among the rocks which had hitherto concealed him, he suddenly appeared before the eyes of the astonished maidens. No sooner did they see the monster, than with shrieks of terror they fled into the woods, forgetting even the Princess – or, rather, they thought she was flying with them.