CHAPTER VII. LAND RATS AND WATER RATS
I will say no more about our passage except that we were three
days at sea. Then, when I woke one morning, I found that we were
fast moored to a gay little wharf, paved with clean white
cobbles, on the north side of the canal. Strange, outlandish
figures, in immense blue baggy trousers, clattered past in wooden
shoes. A few Dutch galliots lay moored ahead of us, with long
scarlet pennons on their mastheads. On the other side of the
canal was a huge East Indiaman, with her lower yards cockbilled,
loading all three hatches at once. It was a beautiful morning.
The sun was so bright that all the scene had thrice its natural
beauty. The clean neat trimness of the town, the water slapping
past in the canal, the ships with their flags, the Sunday trim of
the schooner, all filled me with delight, lit up, as they were,
by the April sun. I looked about me at my ease, for the deck was
deserted. Even the never-sleeping mate was resting, now that we
were in port. While I looked, a man sidled along the wharf from a
warehouse towards me. He looked at the schooner in a way which
convinced me that he was not a sailor. Then, sheltering behind a
bollard, he lighted his pipe.
He was a short, active, wiry man, with a sharp, thin face,
disfigured by a green patch over his right eye. He looked to me
to have a horsey look, as though were a groom or coachman. After
lighting his pipe, he advanced to a point abreast of the
schooner's gang-way, from which he could look down upon her, as
she lay with her deck a foot or two below the level of the wharf.
"Chips aboard?" he asked, meaning, "Is the carpenter on board?"
"Yes," I said. "Will you come aboard?"
He did not answer, but looked about the ship, as though making
notes of everything. Presently he turned to me.
"You're new," he said. "Are you Mr. Jermyn's boy?" I told him
that I was.
"How is Mr. Jermyn keeping?" he asked. "Is that cough of his
better?" This made me feel that probably the man knew Mr. Jermyn.
"Yes," I said. "He's got no cough, now." "He'd a bad one last
time he was here," the man answered. For a while he kept silent.
He seemed to me to be puzzling out the relative heights of our
masts. Suddenly he turned to me, with a very natural air. "How's
Mr. Scott's business going?" he asked. "You know, eh? You know
what I mean?" I was taken off my guard. I'm afraid I hesitated,
though I knew that the man's sharp eyes noted every little change
on my face. Then, in the most natural way, the man reassured me.
"You know," he said. "What demand for oranges in London?" I was
thankful that he had not meant the other business. I said with a
good deal too much of eagerness that there was, I believed, a big
demand for oranges. "Yes," he said, "I suppose so many young boys
makes a brisk demand." I was uneasy at the man's manner. He
seemed to be pumping me, but he had such a natural easy way,
under the pale mask of his face, that I could not be sure if he
were in the secret or not. I was on my guard now, ready for any
question, as I thought, but eager for an excuse to get away from
this man before I betrayed any trust. "Nice ship," he said
easily. "Did you join her in Spain?" "No," I answered. "In
London." In London?" he said. "I thought you'd something of a
Spanish look." "No," I said."I'm English. Did you want the
carpenter, sir?"
"Yes," he answered. "I do. But no hurry. No hurry, lad." Here he
pulled out a watch, which he wound up, staring vacantly about the
decks as he did so. "Tell me, boy," he said gently. "Is Lane come
over with you?" To tell the truth, it flashed across my mind,
when he pulled out his watch, that he was making me unready for a
difficult question. I was not a very bright boy; but I had this
sudden prompting or instinct, which set me on my guard. No one is
more difficult to pump than a boy who is ready for his
questioner, so I stared at him. "Lane?" I said, "Lane? Do you
mean the bo'sun?"
"No," he said. "The Colonel. You know? Eh?"
"No." I said. "I don't know."
"Oh well," he answered. "It's all one. I suppose he's not come
over." At this moment the mate came on deck with the carpenter,
carrying a model ship which they had been making together in
their spare time. They nodded to the stranger, who gave them a
curt "How do?" as though they had parted from him only the night
before. The mate growled at me for wasting time on deck when I
should be at work. He sent me down to my usual job of getting the
cabin ready for the breakfast of the gentlemen. As I passed down
the hatchway, I heard the carpenter say to the stranger, "Well.
So what's the news with Jack?" It flashed into my mind that this
man might be his friend, the "Longshore Jack" who was to keep an
eye upon me as well as upon Mr. Jermyn. It gave me a most horrid
qualm to think this. The man was so sly, so calm, so guarded,
that the thought of him being on the look-out for me, to sell me
to the Dutch captains, almost scared me out of my wits. The mate
brought him to the cabin as I was laying the table. "This is the
cabin," he was saying, "where the gentlemen messes. That's our
stern-chaser, the gun there."
"Oh," said the stranger, looking about him like one who has never
seen a ship before. "But where do they sleep? Do they sleep on
the sofa (he meant the lockers), there?"
"Why, no," said the mate. "They sleep in the little cabins
yonder. But we musn't stay down here now. I'm not supposed to use
this cabin. I mustn't let the captain see me." So they went on
deck again, leaving me alone. When the gentlemen came in to
breakfast, I had to go on deck for the dishes. As I passed to the
galley, I noticed the stranger talking to the carpenter by the
main-rigging. They gave me a meaning look, which I did not at all
relish. Then, as I stood in the galley, while the cook dished up,
I noticed that the stranger raised his hand to a tall, lanky,
ill-favoured man who was loafing about on the wharf, carrying a
large black package. This man came right up to the edge of the
wharf, directly he saw the stranger's signal. It made me uneasy
somehow. I was in a thoroughly anxious mood, longing to confide
in some one, even in the crusty cook, yet fearing to open my
mouth to any one, even to Mr. Jermyn, to whom I dared not speak
with the captain present in the room. Well, I had my work to do,
so I kept my thoughts to myself. I took the dishes down below to
the cabin, where, after removing the covers, I waited on the
gentlemen.
"Martin," said Mr. Jermyn. "This skylight over our heads makes
rather a draught. We can't have it open in the morning for
breakfast.
"Did you open it?" the captain asked. "What made you open it?"
"Please, sir, I didn't open it."
"Then shut it," said the captain. "Go on deck. The catch is fast
outside.
I ran very nimbly on deck to shut the skylight, but the catch was
very stiff; it took me some few moments to undo. I noticed, as I
worked at it, that the deck was empty, except for the lanky man
with the package, who was now forward, apparently undoing his
package on the forehatch. I thought that he was a sort of pedlar
or bumboatman, come to sell onions, soft bread, or cheap
jewellery to the sailors. The carpenter's head showed for an
instant at the galley-door, He was looking forward at the pedlar.
The hands were all down below in the forecastle, eating their
breakfast. The other stranger seemed to have gone. I could not
see him about the deck. At last the skylight came down with a
clatter, leaving me free to go below again. As I went down the
hatchway, into the 'tweendecks gloom, I saw a figure apparently
at work among the ship's stores lashed to the deck there. I could
not see who it was; it was too dark for that but the thing seemed
strange to me. I guessed that it might be my enemy the boatswain,
so I passed aft to the cabin on the other side.
Soon after that, it might be ten minutes after, while the
gentlemen were talking lazily about going ashore, we heard loud
shouts on deck.
"What's that?" said the captain, starting up from his chair.
"Sounds like fire," said Mr. Jermyn.
"Fire forward," said the captain, turning very white. "There's
five tons of powder forward."
"What?" cried the Duke.
At that instant we heard the boatswain roaring to the men to come
on deck. "Aft for the hose there, Bill," we heard. Feet rushed
aft along the deck, helter-skelter. Some one shoved the skylight
open with a violent heave. Looking up, we saw the carpenter's
head. He looked as scared as a man can be.
"On deck," he cried. "We're all in a blaze forward. The lamp in
the bo'sun's locker. Quick."
"Just over the powder," the captain said, rushing out.
"Quick, sir," said Jermyn to the Duke. "We may blow up at any
moment."
"No," said the Duke, rising leisurely. "Not with these stars.
Impossible."
All the same, the two men followed the captain in pretty quick
time. Mr. Jermyn rushed the Duke out by the arm. I was rushing
out, too, when I saw the Duke's hat lying on the lockers. I
darted at it, for I knew that he would want it, with the result
that my heel slipped on a copper nail-head, which had been worn
down even with the deck till it was smooth as glass. Down I came,
bang, with a jolt which shook me almost sick. I rose up, stupid
with the shock, so wretched with the present pain that the fire
seemed a little matter to me. Indeed, I did not understand the
risk. I did not know how a fire so far forward could affect the
cabin.
A couple of minutes must have passed before I picked up the hat
from where it lay. As I hurried through the 'tweendecks some
slight noise or movement made me turn my head. Looking to my
right. I saw the horsey man, the stranger, rummaging quickly in
the lockers of the Duke's cabin, As I looked, I saw him snatch up
something like a pocketbook or pocket case, with a hasty "Ah" of
approval. At the same moment, he saw me watching him.
"Where's Mr. Scott?" he cried, darting out on me. "We may all
blow up in another moment."
"He's on deck," I said. "Hasn't he gone on deck?"
"On deck?" said the man. "Then on deck with you, too." He pushed
me up the hatch before him. "Quick," he cried. "Quick. There's
Mr. Scott forward. Get him on to the wharf.
He gave me a hasty shove forward, to where the whole company was
working in a cloud of smoke, passing buckets from hand to hand. A
crowd of Dutchmen had gathered on the wharf. Everybody was
shouting. The scene was confused like a bad dream. I caught sight
of the pedlar man at the gangway as the stranger thrust me
forward. In the twinkling of an eye the stranger passed something
to him with the quick thrust known as the thieves' pass. I saw
it, for all my confusion. I knew in an instant that he had stolen
something. The pedlar person was an accomplice. As likely as not
the fire was a diversion. I rushed at the gangway. The pedlar was
moving quickly away with his hands in his pockets. It all
happened in a moment. As I rushed at the gangway, with some wild
notion of stopping the pedlar, the horsey man caught me by the
collar.
"What," he said, in a loud voice. "Trying to desert, are you? You
come forward where the danger is." He ran me forward. He was as
strong as a bull.
"Mr. Jermyn," I cried. "Mr. Jermyn. This man's a thief."
The man twisted my collar on to my throat till I choked. "Quiet,
you," he hissed.
Then Mr. Jermyn dropped his bucket to attend to me.
"A thief," I gasped. "A thief." Mr. Jermyn sprang aft, with his
eyes on the man's eyes. The stranger flung me into Mr. Jermyn's
way, with all the sweep of his arm. As I went staggering into the
fore-bitts (for Mr. Jermyn dodged me) the man took a quick side
step up the rail to the wharf. I steadied myself. Mr. Jermyn,
failing to catch the man before he was off the ship, rushed below
to see what was lost. The crowd of workers seemed to dissolve
suddenly. The men surged all about me, swearing. The fire was
out. Remember, all this happened in thirty seconds, from the
passing of the stolen goods to the stranger's letting go my
throat. The very instant that I found my feet against the bitts,
I jumped off the ship on to the wharf. There was the stranger
running down the wharf to the right, full tilt. There was the
lanky pedlar slouching quickly away as though he were going on an
errand, with his black box full of groceries.
"That's the man, Mr. Scott," I cried. "He's got it."
The captain (who, I believe, was a naval officer in the Duke's
secret) was up on the wharf in an instant. I followed him, though
the carpenter clutched at me as I scrambled up. I kicked out
behind like a donkey. I didn't kick him, but some one thrust the
carpenter aside in the hurry so that I was free. In another
seconds I was past the captain, running after the pedlar, who
started to run at a good speed, dropping his box with a clatter.
Half a dozen joined in the pursuit. The captain had his sword
out. They raised such a noise behind me that I thought the whole
crew was at my heels. The pedlar kept glancing behind; he knew
very little about running. He doubled from street to street, like
a man at his wits' ends. I could see that he was blown. When he
entered into that conspiracy, he had counted on the horsey man
diverting suspicion from him. Suddenly, after twisting round a
corner, he darted through a swing door into a stone-paved court,
surrounded by brick walls. I was at his heels at the moment or I
should have lost him there. I darted through the swing door after
him. I went full sprawl over his body on the other side. He had,
quite used up, collapsed there.
