Part 24 (1/2)
”Food and water?” answered Joe. ”Oh, we landed when the thirst plagued us too bad. And there was rain to fill a bight of the sail and a pannikin to save it in.”
”And we lived on oysters mostly,” said Jack, ”and Joe killed a fat opossum with a club, and we caught some fish in a net which I knotted from a ball of marline that was in the boat. And we foraged for pawpaws and persimmons.”
”And whenever the breeze was fair we put to sea again,” said Joe, ”and it was a long and weary voyage, though not so many leagues on the chart.”
The captain's boat was ready and they tumbled in, two wayfarers of the sea who were as lean and sun-dried as the buccaneers of old Trimble Rogers' fond memories. Hards.h.i.+ps had seasoned and weathered them like good ash staves. On the wharf was Uncle Peter Forbes and Governor Johnson and a concourse of townspeople drawn by the joyous signals flown from the brigantine. Jack looked in vain for Dorothy Stuart and was thankful that her welcome was deferred. Shears and a razor and Christian raiment would make him look less like a savage from the coast of Barbary.
Uncle Peter wasted a vast deal of pity, thinking the castaways too weak and wasted to walk. Jack strode along with him, the crowd at their heels, and soon had the plump Councilor puffing for breath. They insisted on taking Joe Hawkridge with them although he was for seeking lodgings at the tavern. He was one of the household, declared Mr.
Forbes, while Jack warned him to beware of impertinence lest he be sentenced to chop wood for the kitchen fire.
The neighbors and friends, as curious as they were joyful, were barred from the house while the lads talked and Uncle Peter carefully made notes of it all. It was too much for him to realize that Jack was sitting there l.u.s.ty and laughing and with the dutifully respectful manner as of yore, in spite of the man's part he had played to the hilt.
Of all the exploits, that which most fascinated Mr. Peter Forbes was the chase after Blackbeard's sea-chest weighty with treasure and the discovery of the knoll in the Cherokee swamp where he might have buried other booty. Here was a picaresque romance which allured the methodical barrister and Councilor and he was as boyishly excited as his nephew. He examined the chart which Jack had copied from his rude sketch made on a piece of bark and this raised a question which he was quick to ask:
”What of Bill Saxby and this old bloodhound of a Trimble Rogers? As soon as Stede Bonnet could get the _Revenge_ to sea, I have no doubt he sailed to Cape Fear River to get these pirate comrades of yours and the seamen he left to find them. Once aboard, they would urge Bonnet to return to Cherokee Inlet and let them go hunt the treasure.”
”That may be, but we can trust them to deal fair by us,” replied Jack.
”Possibly,” was the skeptical comment. Mr. Forbes was not too ready to believe in honest pirates.
”I'm not sure Cap'n Bonnet had a mind to bother with this treasure hunting,” suggested Joe Hawkridge. ”Leastwise, he may ha' put it off to an easier day. He has friends that keep him well informed, such as the Governor of North Carolina at Bath Town. And all this flurry against piratin', here and in Virginia, 'ud be apt to make Cap'n Bonnet wary of bein' trapped on the coast.”
”Joe is full of wisdom, as usual,” said Master c.o.c.krell. ”And if Blackbeard has cruised to the Spanish Main, as we suspect, the treasure may lie undisturbed for a while.”
”Concerning Blackbeard, the evidence then in hand warranted your conclusions,” was Uncle Peter's judicial comment, ”but I have received later information. The rumor is, and well-founded, that he turned his s.h.i.+p and made for the Pamlico River with the intention of obtaining pardon from the false and greedy Governor Eden. This would baffle our plans against him, or so he would a.s.sume. And it would enable him to remain within convenient distance of his treasure.”
”Would this Province and Virginia respect such a pardon as that?”
queried Jack.
”Not in the case of Blackbeard,” snapped the Councilor, ”because we know it would be violated as soon as this treacherous villain could safely return to his piracies.”
”Then Joe and I will enlist in the _King George_ brigantine,” cried Jack. ”Captain Wellsby tells me she will sail for Virginia inside the week.”
Uncle Peter was about to make violent protest but he checked himself and his emotions were torn betwixt pride and yearning affection. He could not bear to let his nephew go so soon to new perils, but what right had he to try to s.h.i.+eld him when the public duty called? It was idle to pretend that Jack was too young and tender to embark on such service as this. He was fitter for it than some of the other volunteers. And so the unhappy Uncle Peter walked the floor with his cheeks puffed out and his hands clasped behind him and said, with a tremulous sigh:
”I swore to treat you no more as a child, Jack. 'Tis right and natural for you to desire to go in the _King George_ as a fighting man tried and true. As for Joe Hawkridge, I have acquainted the Governor with his merits and his pardon is a.s.sured.”
”Thankee, sir,” returned the reformed young pirate. ”A respectable life is what I crave, and the parson for company.”
”It sounds almost pleasant to me, including the parson,” admitted Jack, ”as soon as we shall have settled this matter with Blackbeard.”
CHAPTER XVI
NED RACKHAM'S PLANS GO MUCH AMISS
THE armed brigantine had been out several days on the voyage to Virginia when a vessel was sighted hull-down. Captain Wellsby and Colonel Stuart decided to edge over and take a look at the stranger although they were not anxious to engage an enemy of heavier metal. If, however, this should happen to be Blackbeard in the _Revenge_ they were in no mood to avoid him, despite the odds. After an hour of sailing in a strong breeze, it was seen that this other vessel was a small merchantman which s.h.i.+fted her course as though to shake off pursuit.
”They take us for a pirate,” chuckled Captain Wellsby. ”I have no wish to scare 'em, poor souls. They will feel easy as soon as we bring the wind abeam.”