Elizabeth Morey, terrified out of her senses at the dreadful scenes she
had witnessed, attempted to spring overboard, but the beachcomber caught
her as she came on deck, urged her not to be frightened, and promised
her "in the name of the Virgin" that no harm should come to her. As
soon as the decks had been ridden of all traces of the bloody work just
completed, the half-unconscious girl was lifted over the side, placed in
a canoe, taken on shore, and handed over to the care of a chiefs wife.
When she came to her senses she learnt from Doyle that all who were left
alive of the ship's company were herself and servant, a Malay seaman,
five boys, and an old sailor, who was a dwarf; the latter had evidently
been spared, either on account of the natives ranking him as a boy,
or from their aversion to inflict injuries upon any one physically or
mentally afflicted.
The following three days were spent by the natives in unloading the
ship, the work being carried on in the most systematic manner under the
command of Doyle, the survivors of the crew being compelled to assist in
the task. The cargo, which consisted mainly of bales of cotton, was
got on shore in something less than a week; then the islanders began to
dismantle the ill-fated ship. By the eighth day all the sails except the
fore and main topsails were unbent and taken ashore.
On the afternoon of this day but half a dozen natives were on board;
they, with the five "boys" (probably lads under eighteen years of age),
and the dwarf sailor before mentioned, were "spelling" for an hour or
so before beginning to unbend the topsails, when, noticing that their
captors were off their guard, the brave little man determined to retake
the ship. In a few minutes he gained over his youthful shipmates to
the attempt; they promised to stand by him to the last. Quietly arming
themselves with axes, with iron belaying pins, with handspikes, with
anything heavy and deadly they could lay their hands upon, they waited
for the signal to begin the attack. Doyle, the bloodstained murderer,
lay upon the skylight under the awning, half asleep and unsuspecting
of danger; his native associates either slept or lounged about the main
deck.
A few hurried, whispered words passed between the six whites; then the
dwarf, carrying an axe negligently in his hand, ascended to the poop
and laid it down on the deck. Then he turned, and his quick seaman's eye
took in the surroundings. The trade wind was blowing freshly, the
ship (she was a full-rigged ship, though under five hundred tons), was
straining at her hempen cable, and the low, palm-clad shore was nearly
two miles away. He picked up the axe and running towards Doyle, buried
the weapon to the head in his bosom!
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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