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dare say not one of the lot of you's as bad as he makes `
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out. I have my watch here in my hand; I give you `
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thirty seconds to join me in." `
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There was a pause. `
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"Come, my fine fellow," continued the captain; "don't `
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hang so long in stays. I'm risking my life and the `
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lives of these good gentlemen every second." `
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`
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There was a sudden scuffle, a sound of blows, and out burst `
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Abraham Gray with a knife cut on the side of the cheek, and `
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came running to the captain like a dog to the whistle. `
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"I'm with you, sir," said he. `
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And the next moment he and the captain had dropped `
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aboard of us, and we had shoved off and given way. `
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`
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We were clear out of the ship, but not yet ashore in `
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our stockade. `
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17 `
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Narrative Continued by the Doctor: The Jolly-boat's `
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Last Trip `
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THIS fifth trip was quite different from any of the `
`
others. In the first place, the little gallipot of a `
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boat that we were in was gravely overloaded. Five `
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grown men, and three of them--Trelawney, Redruth, and `
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the captain--over six feet high, was already more than `
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she was meant to carry. Add to that the powder, pork, `
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and bread-bags. The gunwale was lipping astern. `
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Several times we shipped a little water, and my `
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breeches and the tails of my coat were all soaking wet `
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before we had gone a hundred yards. `
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`
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The captain made us trim the boat, and we got her `
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to lie a little more evenly. All the same, we were `
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afraid to breathe. `
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In the second place, the ebb was now making--a strong `
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rippling current running westward through the basin, `
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and then south'ard and seaward down the straits by `
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which we had entered in the morning. Even the ripples `
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were a danger to our overloaded craft, but the worst of `
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it was that we were swept out of our true course and `
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away from our proper landing-place behind the point. `
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If we let the current have its way we should come `
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ashore beside the gigs, where the pirates might appear `
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at any moment. `
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"I cannot keep her head for the stockade, sir," said I `
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to the captain. I was steering, while he and Redruth, `
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two fresh men, were at the oars. "The tide keeps `
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washing her down. Could you pull a little stronger?" `
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`
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"Not without swamping the boat," said he. "You must `
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bear up, sir, if you please--bear up until you see `
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you're gaining." `
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I tried and found by experiment that the tide kept sweeping `
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us westward until I had laid her head due east, or just `
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about right angles to the way we ought to go. `
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"We'll never get ashore at this rate," said I. `
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"If it's the only course that we can lie, sir, we must `
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even lie it," returned the captain. "We must keep `
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upstream. You see, sir," he went on, "if once we dropped `
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to leeward of the landing-place, it's hard to say where we `
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should get ashore, besides the chance of being boarded by `
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the gigs; whereas, the way we go the current must slacken, `
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and then we can dodge back along the shore." `
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`
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"The current's less a'ready, sir," said the man Gray, `
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who was sitting in the fore-sheets; "you can ease her `
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off a bit." `
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"Thank you, my man," said I, quite as if nothing had `
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happened, for we had all quietly made up our minds to `
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treat him like one of ourselves. `
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Suddenly the captain spoke up again, and I thought his `
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voice was a little changed. `
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`
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"The gun!" said he. `
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`
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"I have thought of that," said I, for I made sure he `
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was thinking of a bombardment of the fort. "They could `
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never get the gun ashore, and if they did, they could `
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never haul it through the woods." `
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`
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"Look astern, doctor," replied the captain. `
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`
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We had entirely forgotten the long nine; and there, to `
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our horror, were the five rogues busy about her, `
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getting off her jacket, as they called the stout `
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tarpaulin cover under which she sailed. Not only that, `
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but it flashed into my mind at the same moment that the `
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round-shot and the powder for the gun had been left `
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behind, and a stroke with an axe would put it all into `
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the possession of the evil ones abroad. `
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`
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"Israel was Flint's gunner," said Gray hoarsely. `
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`
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At any risk, we put the boat's head direct for the `
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landing-place. By this time we had got so far out of `
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the run of the current that we kept steerage way even `
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at our necessarily gentle rate of rowing, and I could `
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keep her steady for the goal. But the worst of it was `
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that with the course I now held we turned our broadside `
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instead of our stern to the HISPANIOLA and offered `
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a target like a barn door. `
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`
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I could hear as well as see that brandy-faced rascal `
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Israel Hands plumping down a round-shot on the deck. `
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"Who's the best shot?" asked the captain. `
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`
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"Mr. Trelawney, out and away," said I. `
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`
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"Mr. Trelawney, will you please pick me off one of `
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these men, sir? Hands, if possible," said the captain. `
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`
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Trelawney was as cool as steel. He looked to the `
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priming of his gun. `
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`
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"Now," cried the captain, "easy with that gun, sir, or `
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you'll swamp the boat. All hands stand by to trim her `
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when he aims." `
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`
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The squire raised his gun, the rowing ceased, and we leaned `
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over to the other side to keep the balance, and all was so `
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nicely contrived that we did not ship a drop. `
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`
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They had the gun, by this time, slewed round upon the `
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swivel, and Hands, who was at the muzzle with the `
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rammer, was in consequence the most exposed. However, `
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we had no luck, for just as Trelawney fired, down he `
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stooped, the ball whistled over him, and it was one of `
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the other four who fell. `
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`
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The cry he gave was echoed not only by his companions `
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on board but by a great number of voices from the `
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shore, and looking in that direction I saw the other `
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pirates trooping out from among the trees and tumbling `
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into their places in the boats. `
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`
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"Here come the gigs, sir," said I. `
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`
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"Give way, then," cried the captain. "We mustn't mind `
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if we swamp her now. If we can't get ashore, all's up." `
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`
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"Only one of the gigs is being manned, sir," I added; `
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"the crew of the other most likely going round by shore `
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to cut us off." `
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`
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"They'll have a hot run, sir," returned the captain. `
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"Jack ashore, you know. It's not them I mind; it's the `
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round-shot. Carpet bowls! My lady's maid couldn't `
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miss. Tell us, squire, when you see the match, and `
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we'll hold water." `
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`
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In the meanwhile we had been making headway at a good `
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pace for a boat so overloaded, and we had shipped but `
`
little water in the process. We were now close in; `
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thirty or forty strokes and we should beach her, for `
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the ebb had already disclosed a narrow belt of sand `
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below the clustering trees. The gig was no longer to `
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be feared; the little point had already concealed it `
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from our eyes. The ebb-tide, which had so cruelly `
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delayed us, was now making reparation and delaying our `
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assailants. The one source of danger was the gun. `
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`
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"If I durst," said the captain, "I'd stop and pick `
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off another man." `
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`
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But it was plain that they meant nothing should delay `
`
their shot. They had never so much as looked at their `
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fallen comrade, though he was not dead, and I could see `
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him trying to crawl away. `
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`
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"Ready!" cried the squire. `
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`
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"Hold!" cried the captain, quick as an echo. `
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`
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And he and Redruth backed with a great heave that sent `
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her stern bodily under water. The report fell in at the `
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same instant of time. This was the first that Jim heard, `
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the sound of the squire's shot not having reached him. `
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Where the ball passed, not one of us precisely knew, but `
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I fancy it must have been over our heads and that the wind `
`
of it may have contributed to our disaster. `
`
`
`
At any rate, the boat sank by the stern, quite gently, in `
`
three feet of water, leaving the captain and myself, facing `
`
each other, on our feet. The other three took complete `
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