The Works of Edgar Allan Poe — Volume 3Poe, Edgar Allan
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The Works of Edgar Allan Poe — Volume 3
Poe, Edgar Allan
American fiction -- 19th century; Fantasy fiction; Horror tales, American
Of the remaining seven, there were but three who had at
first any degree of presence of mind. The four others sat for
some time rooted apparently to the floor, the most pitiable
objects of horror and utter despair my eyes ever encountered. The
only opposition we experienced at all was from the cook, John
Hunt, and Richard Parker; but they made but a feeble and
irresolute defence. The two former were shot instantly by Peters,
and I felled Parker with a blow on the head from the pump-handle
which I had brought with me. In the meantime, Augustus seized one
of the muskets lying on the floor and shot another mutineer
Wilson through the breast. There were now but three remaining;
but by this time they had become aroused from their lethargy, and
perhaps began to see that a deception had been practised upon
them, for they fought with great resolution and fury, and, but
for the immense muscular strength of Peters, might have
ultimately got the better of us. These three men were—Jones,
Greely, and Absolom Hicks. Jones had thrown Augustus to the
floor, stabbed him in several places along the right arm, and
would no doubt have soon dispatched him (as neither Peters nor
myself could immediately get rid of our own antagonists), had it
not been for the timely aid of a friend, upon whose assistance
we, surely, had never depended. This friend was no other than
Tiger. With a low growl, he bounded into the cabin, at a most
critical moment for Augustus, and throwing himself upon Jones,
pinned him to the floor in an instant. My friend, however, was
now too much injured to render us any aid whatever, and I was so
encumbered with my disguise that I could do but little. The dog
would not leave his hold upon the throat of Jones—Peters,
nevertheless, was far more than a match for the two men who
remained, and would, no doubt, have dispatched them sooner, had
it not been for the narrow space in which he had to act, and the
tremendous lurches of the vessel. Presently he was enabled to get
hold of a heavy stool, several of which lay about the floor. With
this he beat out the brains of Greely as he was in the act of
discharging a musket at me, and immediately afterward a roll of
the brig throwing him in contact with Hicks, he seized him by the
throat, and, by dint of sheer strength, strangled him
instantaneously. Thus, in far less time than I have taken to tell
it, we found ourselves masters of the brig.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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