g
themselves, and the jackies went about their work with a sullen air
that betokened trouble brewing.
The officers suspected the impending trouble, but had little idea of
its extent. They were living over a volcano which was liable to burst
forth at any moment. The Englishmen in the crew, who numbered some
seventy or eighty, had determined to mutiny, and had perfected all
their plans for the uprising. Their intention was not only to seize
the ship, and take her into an English port, but they proposed to
wreak their hatred in the bloodiest form upon the officers. Capt.
Landais, as the special object of their hate, was to be put into an
open boat without food, water, oars, or sails. Heavy irons were to
bind his wrists and ankles, and he was to be set adrift to starve on
the open ocean. The fate of the surgeon and marine officer was to be
equally hard. They were to be hanged and quartered, and their bodies
cast into the sea. The sailing-master was to be seized up to the
mizzen-mast, stripped to the waist, and his back cut to pieces with
the cat-of-nine-tails; after which he was to be slowly hacked to
pieces with cutlasses, and thrown into the sea. The gunner, carpenter,
and boatswain were to be mercifully treated. No torture was prepared
for them, but they were to be promptly put to death. As to the
lieutenants, they were to be given the choice between navigating the
ship to the nearest British port, or walking the plank.
This sanguinary programme the mutineers discussed day and night. The
ringleaders were in the same watch, and in the silent hours of the
night matured their plans, and picked out men whom they thought would
join them. One by one they cautiously chose their associates. The
sailor whom the mutineers thought was a safe man would be led quietly
apart from his fellows to some secluded nook on the gun-deck; and
there, with many pledges to secrecy, the plot would be revealed, and
his assistance asked. Or perhaps of two men out on the end of a
tossing yard-arm, far above the raging waters, one would be a
mutineer, and would take that opportunity to try to win his fellow
sailor to the cause. So the mutiny spread apace; and the volcano was
almost ready to burst forth, when all was discovered, and the plans of
the mutineers were happily defeated.
The conspirators had succeeded in gaining the support of all the
Englishmen in the crew, as well as many of the sailors of other
nationalities. So numerous were their
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