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The wind, serving us to a desire, now hauled into the west. We could runso much easier from the northeast corner of the island to the mouth ofthe North Inlet. Only, as we had no power to anchor, and dared not beachher until the tide had flowed a good deal farther, time hung on ourhands. The coxswain told me how to lay the ship to; after a good manytrials I succeeded, and we both sat in silence over another meal.

"Cap'n," said he, at length, with that same uncomfortable smile, "here'smy old shipmate, O'Brien; s'pose you was to heave him overboard. I ain'tpartic'lar, as a rule, and I don't take no blame for settling his hash;but I don't reckon him ornamental, now, do you?"

"I'm not strong enough, and I don't like the job; and there he lies, forme," said I.

"This here's an unlucky ship--the _Hispaniola_, Jim," he went on,blinking. "There's a power of men been killed in this _Hispaniola_--asight o' poor seamen dead and gone since you and me took ship toBristol. I never seen such dirty luck, not I. There was this hereO'Brien, now--he's dead, ain't he? Well, now, I'm no scholar, and you'rea lad as can read and figure; and, to put it straight, do you take it asa dead man is dead for good, or do he come alive again?"

"You can kill the body, Mr. Hands, but not the spirit; you must knowthat already," I replied. "O'Brien, there, is in another world, and maybe watching us."

"Ah!" says he. "Well, that's unfort'nate--appears as if killing partieswas a waste of time. Howsomever, sperrits don't reckon for much, by whatI've seen. I'll chance it with the sperrits, Jim. And now you've spokeup free, and I'll take it kind if you'd step down into that there cabinand get me a--well, a--shiver my timbers! I can't hit the name on't.Well, you get me a bottle of wine, Jim--this here brandy's too strongfor my head."

Now the coxswain's hesitation seemed to be unnatural; and as for thenotion of his preferring wine to brandy, I entirely disbelieved it. Thewhole story was a pretext. He wanted me to leave the deck--so much wasplain, but with what purpose I could in no way imagine. His eyes nevermet mine; they kept wandering to and fro, up and down, now with a lookto the sky, now with a flitting glance upon the dead O'Brien. All thetime he kept smiling and putting his tongue out in the most guilty,embarrassed manner, so that a child could have told that he was bent onsome deception. I was prompt with my answer, however, for I saw where myadvantage lay, and that with a fellow so densely stupid I could easilyconceal my suspicions to the end.

"Some wine?" I said. "Far better. Will you have white or red?"

"Well, I reckon it's about the blessed same to me, shipmate," hereplied; "so it's strong, and plenty of it, what's the odds?"

"All right," I answered. "I'll bring you port, Mr. Hands. But I'll haveto dig for it."

With that I scuttled down the companion with all the noise I could,slipped off my shoes, ran quietly along the sparred gallery, mounted theforecastle ladder and popped my head out of the fore companion. I knewhe would not expect to see me there, yet I took every precautionpossible, and certainly the worst of my suspicions proved too true.

He had risen from his position to his hands and knees, and though hisleg obviously hurt him pretty sharply when he moved--for I could hearhim stifle a groan--yet it was at a good, rattling rate that he trailedhimself across the deck. In half a minute he had reached the portscuppers, and picked out of a coil of rope a long knife, or rather ashort dirk, discolored to the hilt with blood. He looked upon it for amoment, thrusting forth his under jaw, tried the point upon his hand,and then hastily concealing it in the bosom of his jacket, trundled backagain into his old place against the bulwark.

This was all that I required to know. Israel could move about; he wasnow armed, and if he had been at so much trouble to get rid of me, itwas plain that I was meant to be the victim. What he would doafterward--whether he would try to crawl right across the island fromNorth Inlet to the camp among the swamps, or whether he would fire LongTom, trusting that his own comrades might come first to help him, was,of course, more than I could say.

Yet I felt sure that I could trust him in one point, since in that ourinterests jumped together, and that was in the disposition of theschooner. We both desired to have her stranded safe enough, in asheltered place, and so that when the time came, she could be got offagain with as little labor and danger as might be; and until that wasdone I considered that my life would certainly be spared.

While I was thus turning the business over in my mind I had not beenidle with my body. I had stolen back to the cabin, slipped once moreinto my shoes and laid my hand at random on a bottle of wine, and nowwith this for an excuse, I made my reappearance on the deck.

Hands lay as I had left him, all fallen together in a bundle, and withhis eyelids lowered as though he were too weak to bear the light. Helooked up, however, at my coming, knocked the neck off the bottle like aman who had done the same thing often, and took a good swig, with hisfavorite toast of "Here's luck!" Then he lay quiet for a little, andthen, pulling out a stick of tobacco, begged me to cut him a quid.

"Cut me a junk o' that," says he, "for I haven't no knife, and hardlystrength enough, so be as I had. Ah, Jim, Jim, I reckon I've missedstays! Cut me a quid as'll likely be the last, lad; for I'm for my longhome, and no mistake."

"Well," said I, "I'll cut you some tobacco, but if I was you and thoughtmyself so badly, I would go to my prayers, like a Christian man."

"Why?" said he. "Now you tell me why."

"Why?" I cried. "You were asking me just now about the dead. You'vebroken your trust; you've lived in sin and lies and blood; there's a manyou killed lying at your feet this moment; and you ask me why! For God'smercy, Mr. Hands, that's why."

I spoke with a little heat, thinking of the bloody dirk he had hidden inhis pocket, and designed, in his ill thoughts, to end me with. He, forhis part, took a great draught of the wine and spoke with the mostunusual solemnity.

"For thirty year," he said, "I've sailed the seas and seen good and bad,better and worse, fair weather and foul, provisions running out, knivesgoing, and what not. Well, now I tell you, I never seen good come o'goodness yet. Him as strikes first is my fancy; dead men don't bite;them's my views--amen, so be it. And now, you look here," he added,suddenly changing his tone, "we've had about enough of this foolery. Thetide's made good enough by now. You just take my orders, Cap'n Hawkins,and we'll sail slap in and be done with it."

All told, we had scarce two miles to run, but the navigation wasdelicate, the entrance to this northern anchorage was not only narrowand shoal, but lay east and west, so that the schooner must be nicelyhandled to be got in. I think I was a good, prompt subaltern, and I amvery sure that Hands was an excellent pilot; for we went about andabout, and dodged in, shaving the banks, with a certainty and a neatnessthat were a pleasure to behold.

Scarcely had we passed the head before the land closed around us. Theshores of North Inlet were as thickly wooded as those of the southernanchorage, but the space was longer and narrower, and more like, what intruth it was, the estuary of a river. Right before us, at the southernend, we saw the wreck of a ship in the last stages of dilapidation. Ithad been a great vessel of three masts, but had lain so long exposed tothe injuries of the weather that it was hung about with great webs ofdripping seaweed, and on the deck of it shore bushes had taken root,and now flourished thick with flowers. It was a sad sight, but it showedus that the anchorage was calm.

"Now," said Hands, "look there; there's a pet bit for to beach a shipin. Fine flat sand, never a catspaw, trees all around of it, and flowersa-blowing like a garding on that old ship."

"And, once beached," I inquired, "how shall we get her off again?"

"Why, so," he replied; "you take a line ashore there on the other sideat low water; take a turn about one o' them big pines; bring it back,take a turn around the capstan and lie-to for the tide. Come high water,all hands take a pull upon the line, and off she comes as sweet asnatur'. And now, boy, you stand by. We're near the bit now, and she'stoo much way on her. Starboard a little--so--steady--starboard--larboarda little--steady--steady!"

So he issued his commands, which I breathlessly obeyed; till, all of asudden, he cried: "Now, my hearty, luff!" And I put the helm hard up,and the _Hispaniola_ swung round rapidly and ran stem on for the lowwooded shore.

The excitement of these last maneuvers had somewhat interfered with thewatch I had kept hitherto, sharply enough, upon the coxswain. Even thenI was still so much interested, waiting for the ship to touch, that Ihad quite forgot the peril that hung over my head, and stood craningover the starboard bulwarks and watching the ripples spreading widebefore the bows. I might have fallen without a struggle for my life, hadnot a sudden disquietude seized upon me and made me turn my head.Perhaps I had heard a creak or seen his shadow moving with the tail ofmy eye; perhaps it was an instinct like a cat's; but, sure enough, whenI looked round, there was Hands, already halfway toward me, with thedirk in his right hand.

We must both have cried out aloud when our eyes met, but while mine wasthe shrill cry of terror, his was a roar of fury like a charging bull's.At the same instant he threw himself forward and I leaped sidewaystoward the bows. As I did so I let go of the tiller, which sprung sharpto leeward; and I think this saved my life, for it struck Hands acrossthe chest, and stopped him, for the moment, dead.

Before he could recover I was safe out of the corner where he had metrapped, with all the deck to dodge about. Just forward of the mainmastI stopped, drew a pistol from my pocket, took a cool aim, though he hadalready turned and was once more coming directly after me, and drew thetrigger. The hammer fell, but there followed neither flash nor sound;the priming was useless with sea water. I cursed myself for my neglect.Why had not I, long before, reprimed and reloaded my only weapons? ThenI should not have been as now, a mere fleeing sheep before this butcher.

Wounded as he was, it was wonderful how fast he could move, his grizzledhair tumbling over his face and his face itself as red as a red ensignwith his haste and fury. I had no time to try my other pistol, nor,indeed, much inclination, for I was sure it would be useless. One thingI saw plainly: I must not simply retreat before him, or he wouldspeedily hold me boxed into the bows, as a moment since he had so nearlyboxed me in the stern. Once so caught, and nine or ten inches of theblood-stained dirk would be my last experience on this side of eternity.I placed my palms against the mainmast, which was of a goodish bigness,and waited, every nerve upon the stretch.

Seeing that I meant to dodge he also paused, and a moment or two passedin feints on his part and corresponding movements upon mine. It was sucha game as I had often played at home about the rocks of Black Hill Cove;but never before, you may be sure, with such a wildly beating heart asnow. Still, as I say it, it was a boy's game, and I thought I could holdmy own at it against an elderly seaman with a wounded thigh. Indeed, mycourage had begun to rise so high that I allowed myself a few dartingthoughts on what would be the end of the affair; and while I sawcertainly that I could spin it out for long, I saw no hope of anyultimate escape.

Well, while things stood thus, suddenly the _Hispaniola_ struck,staggered, ground for an instant in the sand, and then, swift as a blow,canted over to the port side, till the deck stood at an angle offorty-five degrees, and about a puncheon of water splashed into thescupper holes, and lay in a pool between the deck and bulwark.

We were both of us capsized in a second, and both of us rolled, almosttogether, into the scuppers, the dead Red-cap, with his arms stillspread out, tumbling stiffly after us. So near were we, indeed, that myhead came against the coxswain's foot with a crack that made my teethrattle. Blow and all, I was the first afoot again, for Hands had gotinvolved with the dead body. The sudden canting of the ship had made thedeck no place for running on; I had to find some new way of escape, andthat upon the instant, for my foe was almost touching me. Quick asthought, I sprang into the mizzen shrouds, rattled up hand over hand,and did not draw a breath till I was seated on the crosstrees.

[Illustration: _Quick as thought, I sprang into the mizzen shrouds_(Page 193)]

I had been saved by being prompt; the dirk had struck not half a footbelow me as I pursued my upward flight; and there stood Israel Handswith his mouth open and his face upturned to mine, a perfect statue ofsurprise and disappointment.

Now that I had a moment to myself, I lost no time in changing thepriming of my pistol, and then, having one ready for service, and tomake assurance doubly sure, I proceeded to draw the load of the other,and recharge it afresh from the beginning.

My new employment struck Hands all of a heap; he began to see the dicegoing against him, and after an obvious hesitation, he also hauledhimself heavily into the shrouds, and, with the dirk in his teeth, beganslowly and painfully to mount. It cost him no end of time and groans tohaul his wounded leg behind him; and I had quietly finished myarrangements before he was much more than a third of the way up. Then,with a pistol in either hand, I addressed him:

"One more step, Mr. Hands," said I, "and I'll blow your brains out! Deadmen don't bite, you know," I added, with a chuckle.

He stopped instantly. I could see by the workings of his face that hewas trying to think, and the process was so slow and laborious that, inmy new-found security, I laughed aloud. At last, with a swallow or two,he spoke, his face still wearing the same expression of extremeperplexity. In order to speak he had to take the dagger from his mouth,but, in all else, he remained unmoved.

"Jim," says he, "I reckon we're fouled, you and me, and we'll have tosign articles. I'd have had you but for that there lurch; but I don'thave no luck, not I; and I reckon I'll have to strike, which comes hard,you see, for a master mariner to a ship's younker like you, Jim."

I was drinking in his words and smiling away, as conceited as a cockupon a walk, when, all in a breath, back went his right hand over hisshoulder. Something sang like an arrow through the air; I felt a blowand then a sharp pang, and there I was pinned by the shoulder to themast. In the horrid pain and surprise of the moment--I scarce can say itwas by my own volition, and I am sure it was without a consciousaim--both my pistols went off, and both escaped out of my hands. Theydid not fall alone; with a choked cry the coxswain loosed his grasp uponthe shrouds, and plunged head first into the water.