Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1897-02-16
CHAPTER x


This. then, rs reasoned it out TO my
self, was Yorks idea, and no doubt 1t
was in his mind when he came aboard
at the Cape. His talk of the islands and
the goldfelds had excited and corrupted
the crew and probably the guards. The
convicts were to be released, the ship
seized, and those in possession would
then go their own way. York would be
the nominal captain. but l could not
doubt that Ben johnson would be the
actual ruler and leader. | did not be-
lieve the crew as whole would go into
such q thing IL they believed that muir
der was 20 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 well
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
Us harm.
could not b. sure that all the crew
had entered into the plot There were
az least three middle aged, ste ady going
men who had probably not been APP
preached, but this would not help US out
much. When the moment OF revolt
came. they would be- locked out for. and
when they found the bark III possession
of the mutineers they would be COM
pelled 10 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 ut the result. They might not
maroon the crew or send them adrift,
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 sailors nature.
/ doubt il abuse or starvation could
have driven our crew TO mutiny. The
average sailor has lively Imagination.
He is good listener. A smooth tongued
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 goldtields 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 q step on my
part would have brought things to q
head at once and insured our destruc-
tion. And, too, | was not sure they
were fully committed to the plot. and
should we chance TO fall in with anoth-
or man-Of war or overhaul merchant
man and keep her company 1t 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 a nervous state, and dared not
tell him as much AS have told you. He
reflected for awhile after hearing my
story, and then said:
"Well, Ralph, l do not see that we
can do more than is being done. II 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. In
that case we could straighten out affairs
very quickly. AS we have been far off
our course, and as York has had no
means of ascertaining our position for
many days past, there will be no move
for a day or two yet He won't want to
take charge Of u ship without knowing
what course to sail her.
This was good philosophy, and took
care to give no one the latitude and
longitude as worked out from the -
observations OIL the next two days. York,
as l learned from Haskell, made repeat
ed efforts to secure the results OF my CAL
culations and was seemingly much put
out over his failures. changed the
course Of the ship twice in the two days
in order to further mystify him.
In the morning watch OF the third
day after my conversation with Hawley
in the lazarette we sighted ship bear
ing mp to us from the south, and pres
emily made out that she was an Amer.
can whaler. As she drew near she flew
q signal that she wished to speak us,
and an hour later her captain was pull.
ed to the Hindu's side in his own boat.
I met him at the rail and conducted
him to the cabin for an interview with
Captain Clark. He introduced himself
as Captain Lewis Holt of the New Bed
ford whaler Good Luck, which had
then been cruising for q year and half.
His errand aboard Of us was to replen-
ish his medicine tlest, and as this was