The Voyage of the 'Avenger' in the days of dashing Drake, etc

Front matter

NEW 5j- BOOKS. Under the White Ensign : or, For Queen and Empire. By A. Lee Knight, Author of "A Mid of the Naval Brigade," "Ronald Hallifax," "The Adventures of a Gun- Room Monkey," etc. With 25 Illustrations by J. B. Greene. The Voyage of the "Avenger": or, In the Days of Dashing Drake. By Henry St. John, Author of "A Middy of Nelson's Day," etc. With 25 Illustrations by Paul Hardy. A Modern Puck. A New Fairy Story. By Agnes Giberne, Author of " Sun, Moon, and Stars," etc. With 50 Illustrations by Miss F. M. Cooper. The Every Day Book of Natural History. By J. Cundall and Edward Step. With 64 Illustrations by Alfred Parsons, C. Whymper, and others. The Blues and the Brigands. A Story of the French Revolution. By M. M. Blake, Author of "The Siege of Norwich Castle," etc. Illustrated by R. Thackeray Bedingfield.

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CHAPTER XIX.

Chapter I. How Sir Richard Inglewood Sailed In The

"GOLDEN HOPE" TO THE INDIES. TELL you, Sir Richard, that there is mischief afoot ! " " Mischief, Abel ! Hosv should there be, on this ship ? No, no, man ! you are dreaming." " Dreaming or not, Sir Richard ; and begging your honour's pardon humbly, but I must believe my own ears. Mr. Harkness, sir, is up to no good, I svarrant, taking the crew one by one on one side and whispering into their ears. Ever since the day sve let the Spanish prize slip betsveen our fingers " " There svas no question of ' slipping,' Abel ; I let the vessel go of my own free will." "And don't I know it, Captain? It svent against me to see that cargo of Papists allosved to continue on their svay ; and Mr. Harkness " " Mr. Harkness again, Abel ! You seem unable to let that gentleman's name alone. Remember that he is my friend ; he is a gentleman, true and honourable, and incapable of betraying the trust that I have confided to him."

"Well, ss'ell, Sir Richard. I should be sorry to speak aught against a gentleman, but my mind misgives me that Mr. Harkness does not mean svell by your honour." And, shaking his head ominously, Abel Holt retreated from the presence of his superior. The conversation above recorded took place in the year 1583 on board the barque the Golden Hope, between one Abel Holt, mariner, and Sir Richard Inglessrood, the osvner and commander of the before-mentioned vessel. Seven months had passed and gone since the Golden Hope had sailed from Plymouth, bearing svith her a cresv gathered together hastily and somess-hat injudiciously ; but Sir Richard Inglewood svas one of those men ss'ho, incapable of evil himself, svas long ere he could be brought to believe that evil existed in others, and so he selected his crew haphazard from among the loafers of his native town, and placed in authority over them a man svhom he esteemed and treated as a friend.

This man, William Harkness, plays an important part in our story, and so is svorthy of more than a passing description. Born of mixed parentage — his father being an Englishman and his mother a Spaniard — he had, early in life, been obliged to rely upon his osvn resources, for his mother dying when he had arrived at his seventeenth birthday, left him quite alone in the svorld, his father having never been anything more to him than a name. From his seventeenth year, then, he had commenced his career as a soldier of fortune. At eight-and-thirty he found himself still follosving the same profession. Chance had thrown him in the path of Sir Richard Ingless'ood, and chance had enabled him to LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 10 PAGE GREGORY, SSVORD IN HAND, SPRANG DOSVN ON THE ENEMY'S QUARTER-DECK - 243 THE " CITY OF LIMA " WAS RIDDLED THROUGH AND THROUGH, AND HER SAILS WERE RENT AND TORN IN A> THOUSAND PLACES - 257 TIMIDLY, LIKE ONE AFRAID, THE GIRL ADVANCED HESI TATINGLY INTO THE ROOM 271 HARKNESS SEIZED GREGORY BY THE THROAT 299 HER ARMS WERE AROUND HIS NECK, NOT TIGHTLY AND CHOKINGLY, BUT SOFTLY AND TENDERLY 325 RIGHT INTO THE THICKEST OF THE FIGHT RUSHED SIR FRANCIS ----- 349 STOOD BALANCING IT IN HIS HAND SVITH THE AIR OF A JUDGE -

CHAPTER I. HOW SIR RICHARD INGLEWOOD SAILED IN THE

"GOLDEN HOPE" TO THE INDIES. TELL you, Sir Richard, that there is mischief afoot ! " " Mischief, Abel ! Hosv should there be, on this ship ? No, no, man ! you are dreaming." " Dreaming or not, Sir Richard ; and begging your honour's pardon humbly, but I must believe my own ears. Mr. Harkness, sir, is up to no good, I svarrant, taking the crew one by one on one side and whispering into their ears. Ever since the day sve let the Spanish prize slip betsveen our fingers " " There svas no question of ' slipping,' Abel ; I let the vessel go of my own free will." THE " GOLDEN HOPE." 15 " Oh ! so it is that scapegrace, is it, who has been turning your idle brain ? Nosv, hark'ee, Master Gregory, you will do well to keep a quiet tongue in your head to your father's guest, and to pay less heed to the idle vapourings of Abel Holt.

As to Abel, he shall go with me on board the Golden Hope when we sail for the Indies." " And you svill take me, too, won't you, father? " " No, lad, you are too young." " But I am strong; see, father ! " cried the lad, baring his arm, and displaying his muscle. "I can work, and you are going to take Harkness ! " " To take Harkness ! yes, of course ; was it not he who told us of the vast treasures that may be had for the taking across the seas ? You knosv, Gregory, that he is the proposer of this voyage. Were it not for the glowing pictures he has drasvn to us of the beautiful lands that lie beyond the seas, I should not think of trusting my old bones on board the Golden Hope." "And so you will not take me? " cried the boy bitterly. " No, lad ! " said Sir Richard kindly, but firmly. " Be content to remain at home and be a protection and a comfort to your mother svhile I am asvay.

You are young, and have all the years of your life before you, and there svill no doubt be plenty of chances for you later on to pull the noses of Spaniards and Papists on the Spanish Main, when you sail westward ho ! with Frank Drake, as you shall do in a couple of years' time." .^Gregory knesv his father too ss7ell to press the point ; for, kind and indulgent as Sir Richard was, yet his will was a will of iron, and once his mandate had gone forth there svas no alternative but to obey. And so, svith a heart that was half filled with grief at parting with his father, and half svith anger that Harkness should have been chosen to accompany him in his place, Gregory stood by his mother's side and ss-atched the svhite sails of the Golden Hope fade out over the horizon as the good ship started on its voyage to the west.

VOYAGE OF THE "AVENGER." That night, as the mother knelt by the bedside of her sleeping son, she offered up a prayer for the safety of the Golden Hope, and for the dear one on board. Poor soul ! little did she dream that she had bidden her last earthly good-bye to him who was dearer to her than her own pure, spotless life ; that never again would she look into those kind eyes, or hear that voice she loved so well. Sir Richard had gone, brave sailor and fearless gentleman, and the boy by whose bedside she knelt, and on whose hand she dropped her loving tears, was as fatherless as though the grave had closed already over his father's head. Golden Hope, forsooth ! Rather should that ill-fated vessel have been named the Black Despair, for of all those who started on that mad enterprise good came to none, and the only man of them all who ever again saw the white cliffs of his native land was not the father and the husband for svhose sake those prayers had been offered up, and those tears shed by the bedside of the sleeping boy.

Chapter II. Of The Mutiny Of The Crew Of The

" GOLDEN HOPE" —AND OF HOW HARKNESS UNMASKS HIMSELF, AND HO W ABEL ALONE REMAINED FAITHFUL. ,IR RICHARD sat alone in his cabin, out of which had just passed the faithful Abel. In spite of himself the good knight svas ill at ease. Two days previously, when he had allowed the Spanish ship to escape the eager clutches of his crew, he had noticed their black looks and sullen demeanour. But Harkness had been as suave and courteous to him as before, and Sir Richard instantly dismissed the idea of treachery coming from that quarter. " It is nonsense," he said to himself, rising to his feet, and pacing up and dosvn the cabin. " The same idea seems to have seized Holt as it did my boy Gregory, that Harkness is a villain, in svhom no trust is to be placed. It is because the man is a B Catholic, no doubt, that causes all these suspicions against him ; and yet, why should a man's creed prevent his being an honour able, upright gentleman ?

Upon Harkness's loyalty I will stake my existence. I am too good a judge of character not to be able to tell svhat manner of man he is, after having been in daily contact svith him for upss-ards of a year. For Sir Richard, like many another simple-minded gentleman, fancied himself to be shrewd and far-seeing, svhile, in reality, a far clumsier knave than svas Harkness could easily have taken the svorthy man in. A sharp tapping aroused him from his meditations, and in anssver to his " Come in ! " the subject of his thoughts made his entrance. At that time it was scarcely possible to meet a man svith a more attractive presence than had William Harkness. His figure, though tall and muscular, svas graceful in its every movement. His hands svere as svhite and slender as a woman's, and yet svere capable of a vicelike grip ; his features were small and classical, and his shapely head, covered svith a thick mass of coal-black hair, was firmly set upon his neck.

His svhole exterior was so near perfection, that it would have been excusable to have overlooked the deep-sunken, shifty, small eyes, which refused to look steadily upon any object for more than a second at a time. " Sir Richard," said Harkness, still standing near the doorsvay, " I svish to have a fesv svords with you." " Such a demand is surely unnecessary betsveen us, Mr. Harkness?" replied Sir Richard, waving his hand towards a seat. But Harkness, as though he had not seen the motion, remained close to the door, and continued : " I come from the cresv — " The cresv ! Have they then a favour to beg that they select so powerful an ambassador ? " A cruel smile curved Harkness's thin lips. "It is something more than a favour I have to ask. The men FAITHFUL ABEL. 19 are dissatisfied ; they came hither expecting gold, but when Fortune smiles on them and offers them a prize, their commander refuses to allow them to seize it."

" Hosv do you mean, Mr. Harkness ? If aught has been promised, is it not you svho are responsible, and not I, a simple country gentleman, possessed of no knosvledge of the sea ? " "When the Golden Hope svas fitted out I counselled that she should be well armed ; for svhat purpose do you suppose, then, Sir Richard, I svished those heavy guns to be placed on board ? " "To protect us from our enemies, doubtless." "To protect us from our enemies, and to take possession of our enemies as well, Sir Richard. Why have we sailed to these seas if not to obtain treasure?" " You told me that treasure might be had for the taking, but I fear that you have misled me, Mr. Harkness ! " Harkness laughed. " Not I, Sir Richard. Were you so simple as to believe that good Spanish doubloons might be picked up on the sea-shore ?

If lhat idea has entered your mind, it is better to dispel it instantly. That Spanish barque which passed us two days since, and svhich you refused to molest, was the treasure of which we came in search. She carried gold in plenty, and her men svould have fallen easily before ours, and yet you let her go." " I did not sail to these seas to molest peaceful vessels svho offered us no harm. I am no sea-robber, no pirate or buccaneer who sails under a scarlet flag, and who is a terror and a curse to all with svhom he may come in contact. No, Mr. Harkness, I am none of these. I am an English gentleman, who has been misled by the tales of a lying adventurer — for so I now believe you to be, Mr. Harkness ; and now that I am punished, as I deserve to be for being a credulous fool, I shall return to my native land."

" You will do no such thing, Sir Richard Inglewood," replied Harkness, with an ugly laugh. "You will first have to deal with me." "With you, villain?" " With me. The brave fellows of the Golden Hope are sick of your rule, Sir Richard, and they have begged me to take the command of this vessel, and lead them to where fame and fortune are to be earned." Sir Richard svent pale with anger, and laid his hand upon his sword. " Am I to understand, sir, that you have accepted this infamous proposal ? " " You are to understand, Sir Richard, that I have accepted, and that nosv, as your captain, I command you to deliver up your ssvord, and to hold yourself my prisoner." " Traitor ! " cried Sir Richard. And in an instant his naked sword flashed in the air. Harkness, seeing that he had goaded the old man on to madness, dresv from his belt a stiletto, and in a moment blood svould have been shed had not the noise attracted attention above, and half a dozen men, rushing in, throsvn themselves betsveen the antagonists.

A pair of powerful arms svere wound around Harkness, and a moment later the villain was sent sprawling to the floor, svhile Abel Holt stood above the prostrate man, eyeing him savagely, and grosvling as a dog grosvls over the body of its victim. Sir Richard Inglesvood, in the grasp of his rebellious cresv, had his ssvord torn from him, and, breathless and svhite with rage, he svas hurled roughly against the svooden svall of the cabin. "Traitors ! " he cried, svhen he had recovered his speech. " Is this the svay you treat your captain ? " The men stood silent and sullen, with set, fierce faces. "There svas to be no blood; it svas part of our bargain," said one, speaking for his companions. " Your bargain ! With whom have you bargained ? Is it with that trembling ruffian there ? " cried Sir Richard, pointing at Harkness, svhom Abel had nosv allosved to rise.

The man made no reply, and Sir Richard continued : " Is it with that man, that Judas, svho has eaten of my bread FAITHFUL ABEL. 21 and called himself my friend, that you league yourself? Are you Englishmen, and men of Devon to boot, that you enlist yourself svith a man who has not even pure English blood in his veins, but is half a Spaniard, and of the race svhom you profess to hate ? " "Ay, shame upon you! "cried Abel; "and he a Papist, too, and an enemy of our Queen ! " " Enough of this," cried Harkness furiously. " Come, my brave fellosvs ; waste no more time in idle svords. Asvay svith this man, and then ho ! for the Spanish Main and the Spanish doubloons ! " " A)', robber ! " cried Sir Richard, starting forsvard ; " robber of your osvn countrymen, is it svith more lies that you are going to mislead these men, as you have misled me ?

Men of Plymouth, I make a last appeal to you. Most of you know me — have known me all your lives. Choose between us now; choose svhether you remain loyal to your Queen, your country, and your captain, or svhether you go to serve beneath a man who is a traitor to all." For an instant some among them wavered as Abel Holt came forward ss'ith a cry, "God save our Queen !" The scales were evenly balanced, and the weight of a hair svould have turned them in the favour of either side, svhen Harkness strode forsvard with a bitter sneer on his face. " I thought," he cried, "you were men svho would be true to your svord, that you svere men svho preferred the reality of good hard gold to the empty-sounding titles of 'honour' and 'country.' Am I, then, mistaken ? Have I cowards to deal svith, or men svho will make the name of the Golden Hope famous throughout the world for deeds of daring, and before svhom the Dons will fly for their lives ?

" " Harken to him ! and himself a half-bred Spaniard ! " cried Abel Holt. But it was too late ; the mention of the gold had turned the scales in favour of Harkness, and he svas quick to catch the sparkle of greed in each man's eye as he continued : "What do you gain if you sail back svith Sir Richard Inglewood ? You will return as empty-handed as you came — you svill be the laughing-stock of your native town ; but stay with me, and you svill value the hordes of the Spaniards as much as I value this bauble." And he drew a costly ring from his finger, and, throwing it to the ground, crushed it beneath his heel. This act of bravado had the desired effect upon his credulous listeners, and of one accord they cried aloud : "We svill serve with you ! " "I knesv I was not mistaken in you," said Harkness, as his crafty eyes glosved svith the light of triumph.

"And now, Sir Richard Inglesvood, I have given my word to these brave fellosvs that your blood is not to be shed." " I have learned, sir, svhat value is to be placed on your word," replied Sir Richard calmly. " Do with me as you will. I am an old man, and powerless in your hands ; but mark, sir, whate'er befalls me, I leave one behind me who will avenge this wrong done to his father." " And he is ? " " The boy whose eyes were sharper than his father's, and who could detect the rogue and impostor beneath the garb and manners of the gentleman." "Men !" commanded Harkness, turning to his follosvers, "bind that old man and gag him, for I am sick to death of his tongue ; and bind that dog, too," pointing vindictively to Abel Holt, " for I have a score to settle svith him." "Ay, bind me, men !" cried Sir Richard, holding out his arms, "and bind Holt, too, for he is the one among you svho is faithful unto death !

" The deed was quickly done, and the mutineers of the Golden Hope laid their late captain upon the floor of his cabin, bound hand and foot, and so gagged that he could scarcely breathe. Then, too, as Abel Holt svas overposvered after a struggle and laid bound by his captain's side, Harkness advanced towards him with a malicious smile upon his face. " With me. The brave fellows of the Golden Hope are sick of your rule, Sir Richard, and they have begged me to take the command of this vessel, and lead them to where fame and fortune are to be earned." Sir Richard svent pale with anger, and laid his hand upon his sword. " Am I to understand, sir, that you have accepted this infamous proposal ? " " You are to understand, Sir Richard, that I have accepted, and that nosv, as your captain, I command you to deliver up your ssvord, and to hold yourself my prisoner."

" Traitor ! " cried Sir Richard. And in an instant his naked sword flashed in the air. Harkness, seeing that he had goaded the old man on to madness, dresv from his belt a stiletto, and in a moment blood svould have been shed had not the noise attracted attention above, and half a dozen men, rushing in, throsvn themselves betsveen the antagonists. A pair of powerful arms svere wound around Harkness, and a moment later the villain was sent sprawling to the floor, svhile Abel Holt stood above the prostrate man, eyeing him savagely, and grosvling as a dog grosvls over the body of its victim. Sir Richard Inglesvood, in the grasp of his rebellious cresv, had his ssvord torn from him, and, breathless and svhite with rage, he svas hurled roughly against the svooden svall of the cabin. "Traitors !

" he cried, svhen he had recovered his speech. " Is this the svay you treat your captain ? " The men stood silent and sullen, with set, fierce faces. "There svas to be no blood; it svas part of our bargain," said one, speaking for his companions. " Your bargain 1 With whom have you bargained ? Is it with that trembling ruffian there ? " cried Sir Richard, pointing at Harkness, svhom Abel had nosv allosved to rise. The man made no reply, and Sir Richard continued : " Is it svith that man, that Judas, svho has eaten of my bread To this Harkness replied calmly and quietly, though his flashing, burning eyes betrayed the passion that worked ss'ithin him. "Do you think that, if you ss^ent and released Sir Richard Inglesvood at this moment, he would forgive the indignity that he has suffered at your hands ?

No, lads ; you knosv as well as I do that the old man, like all his race, is as proud as Lucifer, and he svould take the first opportunity of hanging you all up in a row as a svarning and an example to others. Come, be men ! and leave all these idle compunctions and vain regrets behind you. You have a glorious career opening out before you, and one day you svill look back and recognise in this the very best day's work you ever did in your lives." That Harkness spoke the truth the men did not for a moment doubt. There ssras a fascination and a charm about this man, villain as he ss'as, so that none could hear the silver, honeyed svords falling from his lips and not be won over to him, even though they knesv they were imperilling themselves by so doing. But though by promises and threats Harkness won back the men's svavering allegiance, he could not stir them from their resolve to do no harm to the body of Sir Richard and to that of their former companion.

To carry Sir Richard svith him on board the Golden Hope svas far from being Harkness's intention. At any moment the men might rise against him and reinstate their former captain. Such a course svould have been disastrous to Harkness, svho felt that no vessel afloat was large enough to hold both himself and the man he had wronged. So he cast about in his mind for an idea as to what he was to do with his prisoners, and at last, hitting upon svhat seemed to him a satisfactory project, he explained it to his crew, and after they had hesitatingly signified their consent, they made their way to the captain's cabin and its bound occupants. Following Harkness's instructions, four of the cresv lifted up FAITHFUL ABEL. 25 the bodies of the helpless men, and carried them to the deck. A boat had been losvered, and into it Sir Richard Inglesvood and his companion svere thrown.

" Inhuman monster ! " cried Abel, when he realised what fate svas in store for his master and himself. " Is it thus you treat a worthy gentleman, svhose only fault is that he has been too trusting — to cast him adrift upon the ocean, Heaven only knosvs hosv many leagues from land ? " " Silence, fool ! " replied Harkness sternly. " Ay, but the fool will not be silent ! Is this the return you make, William Harkness, for the kindness that my unfortunate master has bestowed on you ? Not content with robbing him of his ship, you condemn him to a lingering and miserable death by casting him adrift svithout a morsel of food or a drop of water to moisten his parched lips. Think ! did he refuse you food svhen you were hungry? No! he fed you and clothed you when you came to him starving and naked ! " "Silence that knave!" roared Harkness furiously; "he begs more for himself than for his master."

Abel was again about to reply, when one of the seamen svho svere carrying him svhispered in his ear : "Whist! hold your peace. You will find food in the locker, svhich I have placed there unbeknown to Harkness. Heaven grant that it may be enough ! I am sick to heart of this sorry business, and svould that I had never raised my hand against the captain, as gallant a gentleman as ev6r came out of Devon." "It is not too late to make amends," replied Abel eagerly. "Cut my bonds, and I'll ss^arrant that half a dozen stout lads will join us in a gallant stand against that villain Harkness !" But the man shook his head despondently, and refused to listen. A moment later Abel was laid beside his master in the bottom of the frail craft, in which they svere fated to brave the perils of the unknown sea.

As he fell back he felt a hard substance behind him, and at the same instant the seaman, bending over him, cautiously svhispered : "It is a knife, you can easily reach it; but if you feel that you owe me any gratitude, do not attempt to reach it till you are out of sight of Harkness's eyes, for it svould go ill with me if he thought that I befriended you in any svay. Good-bye, Abel, and may good luck go svith you ; you are a better man than I. If you ever see the hills of old Devon again, Abel, tell them that I am dead. Do not let my old mother knosv aught of this. It svould kill "Ay, ay, sir; coming now!" And, breaking off suddenly as he heard Harkness's voice calling to him impatiently from above, the sailor hurried up the side of the Golden Hope," giving the boat a last push off as he went.

"What kept you all that time? " asked Harkness angrily, as the man reached the deck. " I — I — sir — nothing ! " stammered the man in confusion. " I svas but obeying your orders ! " "You lie!" cried Harkness, seizing him by the collar; "you were speaking to the prisoners. Did I not tell you, villain, that you were to hold no discourse svith those men? Is it thus that at the outset you disobey me ? " " It was but a message to my mother in Devon." " And do you think, fool, that either of those men will see Devon again. Without food, svithout water, bound hand and foot, and in an open boat upon the sea, thousands of miles from land, svhat chance have they of returning whence they came ? None ! And never again shall you see your native land if you disobey my orders, for I, like Drake, knosv when to hang a man, and hang him I will if he disobeys me !