Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1897-01-20
CHAPTER <.

WE SPEAK A WHALER-THE PESTHENCE.
This, then, as reasoned it out to my
self. was York's idea. and no doubt it
was in his mind when he came aboard
at the Cape. His talk Of the islands and
the goldfields had excited and corrupted
the crew and probably the guards. The
conyicts were to be released, the ship
seized, and those in possession would
then 60 their own way. York would be
the nominal captain, but I could not
Loubt that Ben johnson would be the
actual ruler and leader. did not be-
lieve the crew as whole would go into
such thing if they believed that muir
der was to be done. They would stipu-
late that officers and passengers were to
be marooned on some island and given
a chance for life. They had been we::
used, well fed and had no grudges to
satisfy. They had been led from the
path Of duty by the smooth talk of the
villain York, but they could not WISH
as harm.
I could not be sure that all the crew
had entered into the plot There were
at least three middle aged, steady going
men who had probably not been ap-
preached, but this would not help us out
much. When the moment Of revolt
came, they would be looked out for, and
when they found the bark in possession
Of the mutineers they would be COM
pelled to strike hands with them. With
the convicts numbering more than three
to one, and with at least score Of sail
ors among them, and perhaps at least
one navigator, it was easy enough to
arrive at the result. They might not
maroon the crew or send them adrifl,
but the chances were even up that they
would, retaining only the services Of
York.
To fully realize the state of affairs
you must understand q sailors nature.
I doubt if abuse or starvation could
have driven our crew to mutiny. Th'
average sailor has lively imagination.
He is q good listener. A smooth tongueL
liar can convince him against his will.
He is always signing for lazy life,
and though he is wasteful Of his money
the idea of having plenty of it will lead
him into almost anything. The pictures
York had drawn Of the gcldfelds and
the green islands of the Indian ocean
had corrupted them and blinded them
to consequences.
You will ask why I did not at once
let them know was in possession of
their secret and take prompt measures
to check the contemplated revolt. an
swer that because such step OIL my
part would have brought things to a
head at once and insured our destruc-
tion. And, too, I was not sure they
were fully committed to the plot, and
should we chance to fall i'll with anoth-
er man of war or overhaul merchant
man and keep her company it would al
ter their plans materially. l went to
Captain Clark with my information, OF
course. He was just able to move about
and in q nervous state, and / dared no,
tell him as much as have told you. He
reflected for awhile after bearing my
story, and then said:
"Well, Ralph, do not see that we
can do more than is being done. If the
crew is with the convicts, they can take
the bark at any hour it pleases them,
and our only hope is that they may de-
lay until we sight man-of-war. LII
that case we could straighten out affairs
very quickly. As we have been far Oh
our course, and as York has had nc
means of ascertaining our position fol
many days past, there will be no move
for day or two yet. He won't want te
take charge Of ship without knowing
what course to sail her. y
This was good philosophy, and l tool
care to give no one the latitude ano
longitude as worked out from the nool
observations OH the next two days. York
as learned from Haskell, made repeat
ed efforts to secure the results of my cal
culations and was seemingly much pu
out over his failures. l changed the
course Of the ship twice in the two days
in order to further mystify him.
In the morning watch of the thlrc
day after my conversation with Hawle1