Silently they glided1 on, until the shades of evening fell, and the brilliant stars came out. Silently, for the gun-boat went at half-speed; silently, for her engines were good and new, and worked softly without the jarring of age or mal-construction; silently, because those on board were in a tranquil3 mood, and did not raise their voices above a low murmur4.
“How romantic,” said Aileen, in a low tone, as she sat by the stern-rail and watched the gleaming track left by the screw; “how enjoyable, if we could only forget what has just passed, and the object we have in view. The world is a mystery!”
“Is this the first time you have thought so?” asked Edgar, who leaned on the rail near her.
“Well, I think it is,” she replied, with a sad smile; “at least it is the first time I have been deeply impressed with the thought.”
“It is a very old thought,” returned the youth, musingly5. “Philosophers from the earliest times have recorded it. Thoughtful men and women of all ages have expressed it. Young people of all generations fancy they have discovered it. The Bible is a key which opens up much of it, and makes it plain; but much still remains6 in mystery, and I suppose will continue so to remain, till Time merges7 in Eternity8.”
“Do you think such mystery undesirable9?” asked Aileen.
“No. It is desirable, else God would not have left it there. ‘Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?’ There is a need be, I doubt not, for mystery, and there is no need for our being distressed10 by it, for what we know not now we shall know hereafter. But there is much cause for anxiety lest we, either through wilful11 ignorance, or carelessness, or stupidity, should allow that to remain involved in mystery which is made plain by revelation. The way of salvation12 was an insurmountable mystery to me once, but since you gave me that poor man’s Testament13, Aileen, it has become very plain and very dear to me, through Jesus Christ.”
Aileen thanked God in her heart, and a thrill of gladness filled her, but before she could utter a word in reply, the captain came forward and said in a low tone:—
“Stop the engine, Mr Berrington. We’ll lie by in this creek14 till day-break.”
Edgar went below. The vibrating of the boat ceased, and an awful stillness seemed to sink down upon her as she glided into a little creek or bay, which was deeply shaded by mangrove15 trees.
But the silence did not last long. It was still three hours from daylight, and the captain employed the time in preparations for the action which he anticipated on the following day. The yards were sent down; the decks were cleared of all useless incumbrances; the guns were got ready; and an attempt was made, to some extent, to disguise the vessel16, so that, in the event of the pirates being found, the gun-boat might get as near as possible without her true character being discovered. The men, meanwhile, who were not engaged in such work, busied themselves in sharpening cutlasses and cleaning small arms, while they conversed17 in an undertone. All was activity and order, without fuss or needless noise—the result of a man of the right stamp being in command.
“It’s a brush we’ll be havin’ soon,” said Rooney Machowl, with a flash of the eye which told that he inherited a little of his nation’s love of fighting.
“Looks like it,” replied Maxwell, who sat beside his friend in the midst of a group of the Malay crew, rubbing up his cutlass with much interest.
“Does anybody know how many of a crew we have altogether?” asked Rooney.
“I heard the captain say to Mr Berrington,” answered Joe Baldwin, who was busy cleaning a rifle, “that we’ve got ninety men all told, which is quite enough for a 180-ton vessel. With these and seven guns we should be more than a match for all the pirates of the eastern seas.”
“Ho!” exclaimed Ram-stam, looking up from the weapon he was engaged on with an amused expression, “you know noting of pirits of dem seas. Hi! Hi! Wait.”
Ram-stam said this with the air of one who held the decided19 opinion that when he had waited Joe would have his views enlarged.
“What, are they such bold fellows?”
“Ho yis, vely muchee bold. Ca’es for noting. ’Flaid of noting. Doos a’most anyting—’cept what’s good.”
“Swate cratures,” murmured Rooney; “I hope we’ll be introdooced to aich other soon.”
As it is desirable that the reader should have a little more extended knowledge of the miscreants20 referred to, we will retrace21 our steps in time a little, and change the scene.
On one of those sweltering mornings in which the eastern seas appear to have a tendency to boil under the influence of the sun, three piratical junks might have been seen approaching a small island which lay on the sea as if on a mirror. They were propelled by oars22. The largest of these junks was under command of our red-jacketed acquaintance, Pungarin. It was what is termed double-banked, and the oars were pulled by “slaves,” that is to say, the crews of trading vessels23 recently captured.
Pungarin had more slaves than he knew what to do with on that occasion. He had been unusually successful in his captures. All the white men taken had at once been slaughtered24, also all who attempted to give the pirates trouble in any way, including those who chanced to be too weak, ill, or old to work. In regard to the rest, each man was secured to his place at the oar2 by means of a strip of cane25, called rattan26, fastened round his neck, and a man was appointed to lash18 them when they showed symptoms of flagging. This the unhappy wretches27 frequently did, for, as on a former occasion to which we have referred, they were made to pull continuously without food or water, and occasionally, after dropping their oars through exhaustion28, it took severe application of the lash, and the discovery of some unusually sensitive spot of the body, to rouse some of them again to the point of labour.
The junks were strange, uncouth29 vessels, of considerable size, capable, each, of containing a very large crew. They might almost have been styled “life-boats,” as they had hollow bamboos wrought30 into their structure in a manner which gave them great buoyancy, besides projecting beyond the hulls31 and forming a sort of outside platform. On these platforms the slaves who rowed were fastened. In each vessel there were at least forty or fifty rowers.
Pungarin walked up and down his poop-deck as if in meditation32, paying no regard to what was going on around him until a feeble cry was heard from one of the rowers,—a middle-aged33 and sickly man. The pirate captain looked carelessly on, while the overseer flogged this man; but the lash failed to arouse him, and the captain ordered the man to desist—but not in mercy.
“Over with him,” he said, curtly34, and then resumed his walk.
The slave-driver drew his knife, and cut the rattan that bound the man, who turned his dying eyes on him with an imploring35 look.
At that moment one of the pirates, who from his dress and bearing seemed to occupy a position of authority, stepped upon the platform and looked at him. He gave a brief order to one of his comrades, who brought a large piece of cork36 and fastened it to the slave’s neck. He also brought a short spear, with a little flag at its handle. This he thrust a few inches into the fleshy part of his shoulder, and then pushed him off the platform into the sea. Thus the wretched creature was made to float, and, as he went astern, some of the pirates amused themselves by shooting at him with their muskets37.
Now, gentle reader, don’t shut your eyes and exclaim, “Oh! Too horrible.” It is very much because of that expression of yours, and the shutting of your “gentle,” (we would rather say selfish) eyes that these accursed facts exist! Yes, we charge it home on you so-called “soft ones” of the earth, that your action,—namely, shutting your eyes,—does probably as much, if not more, to perpetuate38 horrible evil as does the action of open godlessness,—that condition which is most aptly expressed by the world’s maxim39, “every man for himself and the devil for us all.”
Do not imagine that we presume to invent such things or to exaggerate for the sake of “sensation.” We relate well-authenticated facts. We entertain strong doubts as to whether devils are, in any degree, worse than some among the unsaved human race. There is great occasion for you, reader, whoever you are, to know and ponder such facts as we now relate. We are too apt to regard as being applicable only to the past these words, “the dark places of the earth are full of the habitations of cruelty.” If we were to fill our book with horrors from beginning to end, we should only have scratched the surface of the great and terrible truth. Assuredly now, not less than in days of old, there is urgent need of red-hot philanthropy.
But we gladly pass from the cruel to the cunning phase of piratical life. These villains40 had at that time been about six months on their cruise. They had made the entire circuit of Borneo, murdering, and plundering41, and striking terror and desolation wherever they went. The scenes enacted42 by Norse pirates in the tenth century were repeated in the middle of the nineteenth by a people who, unlike the Norsemen, had no regard whatever for law; and now they were returning home laden43 with booty.
The pirate-chiefs usual mode of procedure on such occasions was to go to an unfrequented island in the neighbourhood of Singapore, land all his warlike stores and prisoners, and, leaving them under a strong guard, proceed with two of his prows44 loaded to the gunwale with merchandise, to the port. The merchant-boats which he had previously45 sunk, and whose crews he had murdered, provided him with “port-clearances,” which enabled him to personate the trader and regularly enter and clear the customs at Singapore, so as to cause no suspicion; then, returning to his place of rendezvous46 with a fresh supply of guns, ammunition47, etcetera, he divided his ill-gotten gains and recommenced his piratical expeditions.
On the present occasion, however, Pungarin had received intelligence which induced him to modify his plans. Hearing that a gun-boat was in pursuit of him, he determined48 to change his rendezvous for the time.
The weary slaves were therefore again set to work at the oars; but “kind Nature” took pity on them. A breeze sprang up and increased into a gale49, under the influence of which the prows sped out to sea and soon left the islands far behind them.
It was while thus attempting to evade50 their enemy that the pirates had the misfortune to run at last into the very jaws51 of the lion.
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1
glided
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| v.滑动( glide的过去式和过去分词 )；掠过；（鸟或飞机 ） 滑翔 | |
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2
oar
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| n.桨，橹，划手；v.划行 | |
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tranquil
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| adj. 安静的, 宁静的, 稳定的, 不变的 | |
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4
murmur
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| n.低语，低声的怨言；v.低语，低声而言 | |
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musingly
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| adv.沉思地，冥想地 | |
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6
remains
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| n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹 | |
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7
merges
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| （使）混合( merge的第三人称单数 )； 相融； 融入； 渐渐消失在某物中 | |
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8
eternity
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| n.不朽，来世；永恒，无穷 | |
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9
undesirable
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| adj.不受欢迎的，不良的，不合意的，讨厌的；n.不受欢迎的人，不良分子 | |
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10
distressed
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| 痛苦的 | |
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11
wilful
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| adj.任性的，故意的 | |
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salvation
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| n.（尤指基督）救世，超度，拯救，解困 | |
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testament
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| n.遗嘱；证明 | |
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14
creek
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| n.小溪，小河，小湾 | |
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mangrove
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| n.(植物)红树，红树林 | |
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16
vessel
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| n.船舶；容器，器皿；管，导管，血管 | |
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conversed
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| v.交谈，谈话( converse的过去式 ) | |
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18
lash
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| v.系牢；鞭打；猛烈抨击；n.鞭打；眼睫毛 | |
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19
decided
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| adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的 | |
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miscreants
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| n.恶棍，歹徒( miscreant的名词复数 ) | |
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21
retrace
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| v.折回；追溯，探源 | |
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oars
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| n.桨，橹( oar的名词复数 )；划手v.划（行）( oar的第三人称单数 ) | |
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23
vessels
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| n.血管( vessel的名词复数 )；船；容器；（具有特殊品质或接受特殊品质的）人 | |
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24
slaughtered
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| v.屠杀，杀戮，屠宰( slaughter的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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cane
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| n.手杖，细长的茎，藤条；v.以杖击，以藤编制的 | |
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rattan
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| n.藤条，藤杖 | |
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wretches
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| n.不幸的人( wretch的名词复数 )；可怜的人；恶棍；坏蛋 | |
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28
exhaustion
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| n.耗尽枯竭，疲惫，筋疲力尽，竭尽，详尽无遗的论述 | |
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uncouth
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| adj.无教养的，粗鲁的 | |
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30
wrought
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| v.引起；以…原料制作；运转；adj.制造的 | |
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31
hulls
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| 船体( hull的名词复数 )； 船身； 外壳； 豆荚 | |
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32
meditation
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| n.熟虑，（尤指宗教的）默想，沉思，（pl.）冥想录 | |
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33
middle-aged
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| adj.中年的 | |
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curtly
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| adv.简短地 | |
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35
imploring
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| 恳求的，哀求的 | |
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cork
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| n.软木，软木塞 | |
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37
muskets
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| n.火枪，（尤指）滑膛枪( musket的名词复数 ) | |
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38
perpetuate
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| v.使永存，使永记不忘 | |
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maxim
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| n.格言，箴言 | |
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40
villains
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| n.恶棍( villain的名词复数 )；罪犯；（小说、戏剧等中的）反面人物；淘气鬼 | |
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41
plundering
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| 掠夺，抢劫( plunder的现在分词 ) | |
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42
enacted
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| 制定（法律），通过（法案）( enact的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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43
laden
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| adj.装满了的；充满了的；负了重担的；苦恼的 | |
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44
prows
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| n.船首( prow的名词复数 ) | |
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45
previously
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| adv.以前，先前（地） | |
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46
rendezvous
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| n.约会，约会地点，汇合点；vi.汇合，集合；vt.使汇合，使在汇合地点相遇 | |
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47
ammunition
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| n.军火，弹药 | |
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48
determined
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| adj.坚定的；有决心的 | |
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49
gale
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| n.大风，强风，一阵闹声（尤指笑声等） | |
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50
evade
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| vt.逃避，回避；避开，躲避 | |
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51
jaws
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| n.口部；嘴 | |
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