A Lad of Grit: A Story of Adventure on Land and Sea in Restoration Times

ook in fresh powder, and weighed, steering a westerly course till Negrille Point was well abeam. Thereupon we stood nor'-westward, passing close to Grand C

ongst us, and forty men lay sick to death on the ball

not a favourable breeze sprung up, and on the eighteenth day aft

to west, terminating in low cliffs. Viewed from the north'ard, where we lay, the shore appeared to be flat and lined with bre

he Portuguese had said, yet it is passing strange

ed not to land till the morrow. Nevertheless, we made preparati

d, through a gap in the reef, so that her new berth was within half a league of the landingplace--though ther

ville Drake and I were included, and twenty-five men. Between us we had but five musketoons and three pistols, the men carrying, on account of the heat, nothing but their ma

kers preventing us from going nearer, we espied the mouth of the little cove or creek, and ten minutes labour at the oars suff

all stretch of sand, the only c

urry. 'Tis now nine o' the clock; by five we will return. If peradventure we fail to do so, signal to the ship for more m

e followed in straggling order, for the way was rough, merely allowing two men to walk abreast. Dense foliage enclosed us on either side, and, save fo

At the base of this cliff we halted for breath, observing that all around lay masses of broken rock that had at some time fallen from th

agged with projections of rock, which, with strong tendrils of tropical veg

the captain angrily. "Why did they take

shoulders. "Qual sabe, Senho

began the ascent, the Portuguese being told to r

uft of reeds and grass to gain the next step; but the reeds were as sharp as a razor, and before I realized

cliff, and for a time everything became blank and my head swam. Someone for

n Poynings in a tone that meant no refusal. "Can you m

ll enough to go, and re

id he sympathetically. "'Tis better to return with a gashe

y make the ascent, which they did speedily and without further mishap. Then I heard t

atkeeper, received me without signs of surprise, and on telling him of my misadventure, he merely ejaculated a loud "Well done", which was a

mightily, and, tying it with a strip of wet linen, he told me to keep quiet,

though he kept his eyes shifting, looking frequently for signals from

when we both heard a faint noise like a musket being fired

perchance," remarked the sailor as he refilled his

the distant crashing of brushwood. The sound came nearer, so we both stood up, the

ding, and spent with running. It was one of the Gannet's men--the b

ed Dommett, shaking the man in his a

!" he panted. "It's all

and waited at about a boat's length from the mouth of

s, I threw myself on the bottom of the boat; but the firing had the opposite effect on the bos'n's mate, for, cursing horribly, he raised himself and seized an oar. Dommett had already d

s well as my hand would allow, I rowed with them. By a special providence we made the gap between

ent a boat to meet us, and on going on board we we

, and, looking up, saw that Pedro had slipped away and was jeering at them from the top of the rocks, and, what was more, he spoke like an Englishman, without any of his former accent. Captain Poynings, maddened by the man's treachery, fired a pistol at him, but without effect. The seamen looked around for their arms to give pursuit, but these had been stealthily removed, and instead th

comrades had been treacherously trapped. Some proposed that all hands should form an avenging landing p

e of our comrades. He was of New England, having joined us at the Bermudas on our voyage hither, and was skilled in savage warfare and wood

noon to-morrow. If so be I do not return by that time, let the purser mark me off the books, 'D.D.' (

that his wishes should be carried out if he failed t

nglander had stripped, and had anointed himself from head to foot with a dark, offensive-smelling grease, wh

ved off, and were lost in the darkness; but in a quarter of an hour the boat returned, having gone as c

was heard to cause us alarm, only the dull roar of the surf both ahead and astern of us. It was a miserable, anxious nig

comrades, particularly my friend Greville Drake; so by choice I paced the deck the entir

at midday the lookout perceived a man leaping across the roc

a, and we could make out his head and shoulders as from time to time he appeared between the white masses of foam. He was an a

towards the centre and highest part of the island. Over and over again he had to attempt a fresh passage, the thickets proving too dense even for his accustomed

d chased, and from which Pedro had thrown himself. Another hour's careful tracking brought him close to the creek, where he saw our comrades being escorted on board by the buccaneers in gangs, twenty-seven all told, so that they were apparently all ali

d. Having made sure that they had all embarked, the man returned by the beaten path, striking the north side of

h, undermanned as we were, was hazardous and reckless, or to return with all haste to Port Roya

The master would not attempt to beat out through the gap in the reef, as his knowledge of the passage was none too good, neither could we kedge nor tow the Gannet against the wind.

annet to sail close-hauled through the surf-encompassed pas

to report the loss of the captain and his men. To their unbounded astonishment and delight they heard that Captain P

he story that Drake told to me on the eveni

the buccaneer's ship, hove to in sight of Port Royal, and with the greatest audacity Pedro, or Red Peter, to give him the name he is generally known by, went ashore under a flag of truce, taking me with him as hostage. Would you believe it, he went straight to the castle and demanded to see the governor! Oddsfish! And his impudence took even the governor aback. 'I have on board,' quoth Red Peter, 'twenty-five officers and men of his Britannic Majest

ant a free pardon to us all; then, for our part, we do agree to cease from plundering and fighting, and become honest men once more. Right glad would I be to see

ordered, though the manner of the fulfilment thereof was hardly as he had wished. So he sent for his secretary, ordered him to write o

ions were released, and, after a general carouse on shore, the ship sailed to communicate th

His Majesty, who, with the same generosity as he showed towards Captain Morgan, Colonel Blood, and other cutthroats of like nature, resto

delay, and after a year or so of comparatively uneventful sojourning in th