The Works of Edgar Allan Poe — Volume 3 Read online

  CHAPTER 7

  JULY 10. Spoke a brig from Rio, bound to Norfolk. Weather hazy, witha light baffling wind from the eastward. To-day Hartman Rogers died,having been attacked on the eighth with spasms after drinking a glass ofgrog. This man was of the cook’s party, and one upon whom Peters placedhis main reliance. He told Augustus that he believed the mate hadpoisoned him, and that he expected, if he did not be on the look-out,his own turn would come shortly. There were now only himself, Jones, andthe cook belonging to his own gang--on the other side there were five.He had spoken to Jones about taking the command from the mate; but theproject having been coolly received, he had been deterred from pressingthe matter any further, or from saying any thing to the cook. It waswell, as it happened, that he was so prudent, for in the afternoon thecook expressed his determination of siding with the mate, and went overformally to that party; while Jones took an opportunity of quarrellingwith Peters, and hinted that he would let the mate know of the planin agitation. There was now, evidently, no time to be lost, and Petersexpressed his determination of attempting to take the vessel at allhazards, provided Augustus would lend him his aid. My friend at onceassured him of his willingness to enter into any plan for that purpose,and, thinking the opportunity a favourable one, made known the factof my being on board. At this the hybrid was not more astonished thandelighted, as he had no reliance whatever upon Jones, whom he alreadyconsidered as belonging to the party of the mate. They went belowimmediately, when Augustus called to me by name, and Peters and myselfwere soon made acquainted. It was agreed that we should attempt toretake the vessel upon the first good opportunity, leaving Jonesaltogether out of our councils. In the event of success, we were torun the brig into the first port that offered, and deliver her up. Thedesertion of his party had frustrated Peters’ design of going into thePacific--an adventure which could not be accomplished without a crew,and he depended upon either getting acquitted upon trial, on the scoreof insanity (which he solemnly avowed had actuated him in lending hisaid to the mutiny), or upon obtaining a pardon, if found guilty, throughthe representations of Augustus and myself. Our deliberations wereinterrupted for the present by the cry of, “All hands take in sail,” andPeters and Augustus ran up on deck.

  As usual, the crew were nearly all drunk; and, before sail could beproperly taken in, a violent squall laid the brig on her beam-ends. Bykeeping her away, however, she righted, having shipped a good deal ofwater. Scarcely was everything secure, when another squall took thevessel, and immediately afterward another--no damage being done. Therewas every appearance of a gale of wind, which, indeed, shortly came on,with great fury, from the northward and westward. All was made as snugas possible, and we laid-to, as usual, under a close-reefed foresail. Asnight drew on, the wind increased in violence, with a remarkably heavysea. Peters now came into the forecastle with Augustus, and we resumedour deliberations.

  We agreed that no opportunity could be more favourable than the presentfor carrying our designs into effect, as an attempt at such a momentwould never be anticipated. As the brig was snugly laid-to, there wouldbe no necessity of manoeuvring her until good weather, when, if wesucceeded in our attempt, we might liberate one, or perhaps two of themen, to aid us in taking her into port. The main difficulty was thegreat disproportion in our forces. There were only three of us, and inthe cabin there were nine. All the arms on board, too, were in theirpossession, with the exception of a pair of small pistols which Petershad concealed about his person, and the large seaman’s knife whichhe always wore in the waistband of his pantaloons. From certainindications, too--such, for example, as there being no such thing asan axe or a handspike lying in their customary places--we began to fearthat the mate had his suspicions, at least in regard to Peters, and thathe would let slip no opportunity of getting rid of him. It was clear,indeed, that what we should determine to do could not be done too soon.Still the odds were too much against us to allow of our proceedingwithout the greatest caution.

  Peters proposed that he should go up on deck, and enter intoconversation with the watch (Allen), when he would be able to throw himinto the sea without trouble, and without making any disturbance, byseizing a good opportunity, that Augustus and myself should then comeup, and endeavour to provide ourselves with some kind of weapons fromthe deck, and that we should then make a rush together, and secure thecompanion-way before any opposition could be offered. I objected tothis, because I could not believe that the mate (who was a cunningfellow in all matters which did not affect his superstitious prejudices)would suffer himself to be so easily entrapped. The very fact of therebeing a watch on deck at all was sufficient proof that he was upon thealert,--it not being usual except in vessels where discipline is mostrigidly enforced, to station a watch on deck when a vessel is lying-toin a gale of wind. As I address myself principally, if not altogether,to persons who have never been to sea, it may be as well to state theexact condition of a vessel under such circumstances. Lying-to, or,in sea-parlance, “laying-to,” is a measure resorted to for variouspurposes, and effected in various manners. In moderate weather itis frequently done with a view of merely bringing the vessel to astand-still, to wait for another vessel or any similar object. Ifthe vessel which lies-to is under full sail, the manoeuvre is usuallyaccomplished by throwing round some portion of her sails, so as to letthe wind take them aback, when she becomes stationary. But we are nowspeaking of lying-to in a gale of wind. This is done when the windis ahead, and too violent to admit of carrying sail without danger ofcapsizing; and sometimes even when the wind is fair, but the sea tooheavy for the vessel to be put before it. If a vessel be suffered toscud before the wind in a very heavy sea, much damage is usually doneher by the shipping of water over her stern, and sometimes by theviolent plunges she makes forward. This manoeuvre, then, is seldomresorted to in such case, unless through necessity. When the vesselis in a leaky condition she is often put before the wind even in theheaviest seas; for, when lying-to, her seams are sure to be greatlyopened by her violent straining, and it is not so much the case whenscudding. Often, too, it becomes necessary to scud a vessel, either whenthe blast is so exceedingly furious as to tear in pieces the sail whichis employed with a view of bringing her head to the wind, or when,through the false modelling of the frame or other causes, this mainobject cannot be effected.

  Vessels in a gale of wind are laid-to in different manners, accordingto their peculiar construction. Some lie-to best under a foresail, andthis, I believe, is the sail most usually employed. Large square-riggedvessels have sails for the express purpose, called storm-staysails.But the jib is occasionally employed by itself,--sometimes the jiband foresail, or a double-reefed foresail, and not unfrequently theafter-sails, are made use of. Foretopsails are very often found toanswer the purpose better than any other species of sail. The Grampuswas generally laid-to under a close-reefed foresail.

  When a vessel is to be laid-to, her head is brought up to the wind justso nearly as to fill the sail under which she lies when hauled flat aft,that is, when brought diagonally across the vessel. This being done,the bows point within a few degrees of the direction from which the windissues, and the windward bow of course receives the shock of the waves.In this situation a good vessel will ride out a very heavy gale of windwithout shipping a drop of water, and without any further attentionbeing requisite on the part of the crew. The helm is usually lasheddown, but this is altogether unnecessary (except on account of the noiseit makes when loose), for the rudder has no effect upon the vessel whenlying-to. Indeed, the helm had far better be left loose than lashed veryfast, for the rudder is apt to be torn off by heavy seas if there be noroom for the helm to play. As long as the sail holds, a well modelledvessel will maintain her situation, and ride every sea, as if instinctwith life and reason. If the violence of the wind, however, should tearthe sail into pieces (a feat which it requires a perfect hurricane toaccomplish under ordinary circumstances), there is then imminent danger.The vessel falls off from the wind, and, coming broadside to the sea,is compl
etely at its mercy: the only resource in this case is to put herquietly before the wind, letting her scud until some other sail can beset. Some vessels will lie-to under no sail whatever, but such are notto be trusted at sea.

  But to return from this digression. It had never been customary with themate to have any watch on deck when lying-to in a gale of wind, and thefact that he had now one, coupled with the circumstance of the missingaxes and handspikes, fully convinced us that the crew were too well onthe watch to be taken by surprise in the manner Peters had suggested.Something, however, was to be done, and that with as little delay aspracticable, for there could be no doubt that a suspicion havingbeen once entertained against Peters, he would be sacrificed upon theearliest occasion, and one would certainly be either found or made uponthe breaking of the gale.

  Augustus now suggested that if Peters could contrive to remove, underany pretext, the piece of chain-cable which lay over the trap in thestateroom, we might possibly be able to come upon them unawares by meansof the hold; but a little reflection convinced us that the vessel rolledand pitched too violently for any attempt of that nature.

  By good fortune I at length hit upon the idea of working upon thesuperstitious terrors and guilty conscience of the mate. It will beremembered that one of the crew, Hartman Rogers, had died during themorning, having been attacked two days before with spasms after drinkingsome spirits and water. Peters had expressed to us his opinion that thisman had been poisoned by the mate, and for this belief he had reasons,so he said, which were incontrovertible, but which he could not beprevailed upon to explain to us--this wayward refusal being only inkeeping with other points of his singular character. But whether or nothe had any better grounds for suspecting the mate than we had ourselves,we were easily led to fall in with his suspicion, and determined to actaccordingly.

  Rogers had died about eleven in the forenoon, in violent convulsions;and the corpse presented in a few minutes after death one of the mosthorrid and loathsome spectacles I ever remember to have seen. Thestomach was swollen immensely, like that of a man who has been drownedand lain under water for many weeks. The hands were in the samecondition, while the face was shrunken, shrivelled, and of a chalkywhiteness, except where relieved by two or three glaring red blotcheslike those occasioned by the erysipelas: one of these blotches extendeddiagonally across the face, completely covering up an eye as if witha band of red velvet. In this disgusting condition the body had beenbrought up from the cabin at noon to be thrown overboard, when the mategetting a glimpse of it (for he now saw it for the first time), andbeing either touched with remorse for his crime or struck with terror atso horrible a sight, ordered the men to sew the body up in itshammock, and allow it the usual rites of sea-burial. Having given thesedirections, he went below, as if to avoid any further sight of hisvictim. While preparations were making to obey his orders, the gale cameon with great fury, and the design was abandoned for the present. Thecorpse, left to itself, was washed into the larboard scuppers, whereit still lay at the time of which I speak, floundering about with thefurious lurches of the brig.

  Having arranged our plan, we set about putting it in execution asspeedily as possible. Peters went upon deck, and, as he had anticipated,was immediately accosted by Allen, who appeared to be stationed more asa watch upon the forecastle than for any other purpose. The fate ofthis villain, however, was speedily and silently decided; for Peters,approaching him in a careless manner, as if about to address him, seizedhim by the throat, and, before he could utter a single cry, tossedhim over the bulwarks. He then called to us, and we came up. Our firstprecaution was to look about for something with which to arm ourselves,and in doing this we had to proceed with great care, for it wasimpossible to stand on deck an instant without holding fast, andviolent seas broke over the vessel at every plunge forward. It wasindispensable, too, that we should be quick in our operations, for everyminute we expected the mate to be up to set the pumps going, as it wasevident the brig must be taking in water very fast. After searchingabout for some time, we could find nothing more fit for our purposethan the two pump-handles, one of which Augustus took, and I the other.Having secured these, we stripped off the shirt of the corpse anddropped the body overboard. Peters and myself then went below, leavingAugustus to watch upon deck, where he took his station just where Allenhad been placed, and with his back to the cabin companionway, so that,if any of the mate's gang should come up, he might suppose it was thewatch.

  As soon as I got below I commenced disguising myself so as to representthe corpse of Rogers. The shirt which we had taken from the body aidedus very much, for it was of singular form and character, and easilyrecognizable--a kind of smock, which the deceased wore over his otherclothing. It was a blue stockinett, with large white stripes runningacross. Having put this on, I proceeded to equip myself with a falsestomach, in imitation of the horrible deformity of the swollen corpse.This was soon effected by means of stuffing with some bedclothes. Ithen gave the same appearance to my hands by drawing on a pair of whitewoollen mittens, and filling them in with any kind of rags that offeredthemselves. Peters then arranged my face, first rubbing it well overwith white chalk, and afterward blotching it with blood, which he tookfrom a cut in his finger. The streak across the eye was not forgottenand presented a most shocking appearance.