Under Drake's Flag: A Tale of the Spanish Main Read online

  The negroes were delighted at the success of the conflict; as werethe Indians, who soon joined them. But ten of the Spaniards hadescaped, the rest having fallen; either in the gorge, killed by therocks, or in the subsequent fight.

  Ned and Gerald, who were now looked upon as the leaders of theparty, told the negroes to collect the arms of the fallen men, andto give a hasty burial to their bodies. The boys knew, too well,the savage nature of the war which raged, between the black and thewhite, to ask whether any of the Spaniards were only wounded. Theyknew that an instant death had awaited all who fell into the handsof their late slaves.

  "Now," Ned said, "my friends, you must not suppose that yourfighting is over. The Spaniards will take the news back to thetown, and it is likely enough that we shall have a large force uponus, in the course of a few days. I do not suspect that they willcome before that time. Indeed, it may be far longer, for they knowthat it will require a very large force to search these woods; andthat, now our blood is up, it will be no trifle to overcome us inour stronghold. If we are to succeed at last, labor, discipline,and courage will all be required."

  The negroes now besought the boys formally to take the command, andpromised to obey their orders, implicitly.

  "Well," Ned said, "if you promise this, we will lead you. My friendis older than I; and he shall be captain, and I will be firstlieutenant."

  "No, no," Gerald said. "This must not be, Ned. I am the oldest, itis true, by a few months; but you are far more active and quickthan I, and you have been the leader, ever since we left the ship.I certainly will not take the command from you."

  "Well, we will be joint generals," Ned said, laughing; "and I donot think that our orders will clash."

  He then explained, to the negroes and natives, the course which hethought that they ought to pursue. First, every point at which theenemy could be harassed should be provided with missiles. In thesecond place, all signs of footsteps and paths leading to theiraccustomed dwelling places should be obliterated. Thirdly, theyshould fight as little as possible; it being their object to fightwhen pursued and interfered with by small parties of Spaniards, butto avoid conflict with large bodies.

  "Our object," he said, "is to live free and unmolested here; and ifthe Spanish find that, when they come in large numbers, they cannotovertake us; and that, when they come in small ones, they aredefeated with loss; they will take to leaving us alone."

  All agreed to this policy; and it was arranged that the women,children, and most feeble of the natives should retire to almostinaccessible hiding places, far in the mountains; and that the moreactive spirits, with the negroes, and divided into five or sixbands, acting to some extent independently of each other, but yetin accordance with a general plan, should remain to oppose thepassage of the enemy.

  This, their first success over the Spaniards, caused a wildexultation among the negroes and natives; and Ned and Gerald wereviewed as heroes. The lads took advantage of their popularity toimpress upon the negroes the necessity of organizing themselves,and undergoing certain drill and discipline; without it, as theytold them, although occasionally they might succeed in driving backthe Spaniards, yet in the long run they must be defeated. It wasonly by fighting with regularity, like trained soldiers, that theywould make themselves respected by the Spaniards; and the latter,instead of viewing them as wild beasts to be hunted, would regardthem with respect.

  The negroes, fresh from a success gained by irregular means, wereat first loath to undertake the trouble and pains which the boysdesired; but the latter pointed out that it was not always that theenemy were to be caught napping, and that after such a check as hadbeen put upon them, the Spaniards would be sure to come in greaternumbers, and to be far more cautious how they trusted themselvesinto places where they might be caught in a trap.

  The weapons thrown away or left upon the ground, by the Spaniards,were divided among the negroes; and these and the natives were nowformed into companies, natives and negroes being mixed in eachcompany, so that the latter might animate the former by theirexample. Four companies, of forty men, each were formed; and forthe next fortnight incessant drill went on, by which time theforest fugitives began to have a fair notion of the rudimentaryelements of drill. When the boys were not engaged upon this, incompany with one of the native chiefs they examined the mountains,and at last fixed upon a place which should serve as the laststronghold, should they be driven to bay by the enemy.

  It was three weeks before there were any signs of the Spaniards. Atthe end of that time a great smoke, rising from the signal hill,proclaimed that a large body of the enemy were approaching theforest. This was expected; for, two days before, three negrorunaways had taken shelter with them.

  The negroes had been armed with long pikes of tough wood, sharpenedin the fire, and capable of inflicting fully as deadly a wound asthose carried by the Spaniards. Each carried a club, the leadersbeing armed with the swords taken from the Spaniards; while therewere also eight arquebuses, which had been gained from the samesource. All the natives bore bows and arrows, with which they wereable to shoot with great accuracy. The negroes were not skilledwith these weapons; but were more useful, from their greaterstrength, for hurling down rocks and missiles upon the Spaniards,when below.

  A consultation had been previously held, as to the course to betaken in case of the approach of the enemy. It was determined asfar as possible to avoid fighting, to allow the Spaniards to trampfrom place to place, and then to harass them by falling upon themin the night, disturbing their sleep, cutting down sentries; andharassing them until they were forced, by pure exhaustion, to leavethe forest.

  These tactics were admirably adapted to the nature of the contest.The only thing which threatened to render them nugatory was thepresence of the fierce dogs of the Spaniards. Preparations hadalready been made for checking the bloodhounds in pursuit offugitive slaves. In a narrow place, in one of the valleys at theentrance of the forest, a somewhat heavy gallery had been erected.This was made of wood heaped with great stones, and was so arrangedthat any animal running through it would push aside a stick, whichacted as a trigger. This would release a lever, and the heavy logsabove would fall, crushing to death anything beneath it. A lookoutwas always placed to intercept any fugitive slaves who might enterthe forest, and to guide them through this trap; which was, ofcourse, not set until after they had passed. This had been done inthe case of the two negroes who had arrived the previous day, andthe boys felt that any pursuit of them by bloodhounds would at oncebe cut short, and the Spaniards left to their own devices.

  This anticipation proved correct. The scouts reported that theycould hear, in the distance, the baying of dogs; and that,undoubtedly, the enemy were proceeding on the track of the slaves.

  The four companies were each told off, to positions considerablyapart from each other; while Ned and Gerald, with the cacique, orchief, of the Indians, one negro, and four or five fleet-footedyoung men, remained to watch the success of the trap.

  This was all that they had hoped. The Spaniards were seen coming upthe glade, a troop two hundred strong. The leaders were onhorseback, some fifteen in number; and after them marched thepikemen, in steady array, having men moving at a distance on eachflank, to prevent surprise.

  "This," said Ned, "is a regular military enterprise. The last was amere pursuing party, gathered at random. It will not be so easy todeal with cautious men, like these."

  Three hounds ran ahead of the leaders, with their noses on theground, giving now and then the deep bay peculiar to their kind.They reached the trap, and rushed into the gallery, which was sometwelve feet in length, and of sufficient height to enable a man onfoot to march through.

  The leaders, on seeing the trap, drew in their horses, in doubtwhat this structure could mean, and shouted to the hounds to stop.But the latter, having the scent strong in their nostrils, ran onwithout pausing. As the last hound disappeared in the gallery, acrash was heard, and the whole erection collapsed, crushing thehounds beneath it.

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nbsp; A cry of consternation and surprise burst from the Spaniards. Theartifice was a new one, and showed that the fugitives were assistedby men with intellect far in advance of their own. The pursuit wassummarily checked, for the guides of the Spaniards were now gone.

  The enemy paused, and a consultation took place among the leaders.It was apparently determined to pursue their way alone, takingevery precaution, in hopes that the natives would attack them asthey had done the previous expedition; when they hoped to inflict adecisive blow upon them. That they would, themselves, be able tofind the run-away negroes in the forest they had but small hope;but they thought it possible that these would again take theinitiative.

  First, under the guidance of one who had evidently been in the lastexpedition, they took their way to the valley where the fight hadtaken place. Here all was still. There were no signs of their foes.They found, in the gorge, a great cairn of stones; with a woodencross placed over it, and the words in Spanish cut upon it:

  "Here lie the bodies of ten Spaniards, who sought to attackharmless men in these woods. Let their fate be a lesson to thosewho may follow their example."

  This inscription caused great surprise among the Spaniards, whogathered round the mound and conversed earnestly upon it; lookinground at the deep and silent woods, which might, for ought theyknew, contain foes who had proved themselves formidable. It wasevident that the soldiers, brave as they were, yet felt misgivingsas to the task upon which they had entered. They knew that twoEnglishmen, a portion of the body which, under Drake, had renderedthemselves so feared, were leaders of these men; and so great wasthe respect in which the English were at that time held, that this,alone, vastly added to the difficulties and dangers which theSpaniards saw awaiting them.

  However, after a few minutes' consultation the party moved forward.It was now formed in two bodies, about equally strong; one going aquarter of a mile ahead, the other following it.

  "What have these men divided their forces for?" the negro askedNed.

  "It seems to me," he answered, "that they hope we shall fall uponthe first body, thinking that there are no more behind; and thatthe others, coming up in the midst of the fight, will take us bysurprise. However, we will let them march.

  "Send word, to the company which lies somewhat in the line whichthey have taken, of their approach; and let them at once retire.Tell them to make circuits in the hills, but to leave behind themsufficient traces for the Spaniards to follow. This will encouragethem to keep on, and by nightfall they will be thoroughly tiredout.

  "Whenever they get in valleys, or other places where advantage maybe taken of them, two of the companies shall accompany them, at agood distance on their flanks; and pour in volleys of arrows, orroll stones down upon them. I will take command of one of thesecompanies, Gerald of the other.

  "Do you," he said to the negro, "follow with the last. Keep out oftheir reach; but occasionally, after they have passed, fire arrowsamong the rear guard.

  "Do you, cacique, make your way to the leading column. See thatthey choose the most difficult gorges; and give, as far aspossible, the appearance of hurry to their flight, so as toencourage the Spaniards to follow."

  These tactics were faithfully carried out. All day the Spaniardsfollowed, as they believed, close upon the footsteps of the flyingfoe; but from time to time, from strong advantage spots, arrowswere rained upon them, great rocks thundered down, and wild yellsrang through the forest. Before, however, they could ascend theslopes and get hand to hand with their enemy, these had retreated,and all was silent as the grave in the woods.

  Perplexed, harassed, and somewhat awe-struck by these new andinexplicable tactics; and having lost many men, by the arrows andstones of the enemy, the two troops gathered at nightfall in anopen glade. Here a bivouac was formed, branches of the trees cutdown, and the provisions which each had brought with him produced.A rivulet ran through the glade, and the weary troops were soonlying on the grass, a strong line of sentries having been placedround.

  Already the appearance of the troop was greatly changed from thatof the body which had entered the wood. Then all were eager for thefray; confident in the extreme of their power to crush, with ease,these unarmed negroes and natives, who had hitherto, except on thelast occasion, fled like hunted deer at their approach. Now,however, this feeling was checked. They had learned that the enemywere well commanded, and prepared; and that so far, while theythemselves had lost several men, not a native had been so much asseen by them.

  At nightfall the air became alive with mysterious noises; cries asof animals, occasionally Indian whoops, shouts from one voice toanother were heard all around. The Spaniards stood to their arms,and gazed anxiously into the darkness.

  Soon the shouts of the sentries told that flights of arrows werebeing discharged at them, by invisible foes. Volley after volleywere fired, from the musketoons and arquebuses, into the wood.These were answered by bursts of taunting laughter, and mockingyells, while the rain of arrows continued.

  The Spanish troops, whose position and figures could be seen by theblaze of the lighted fires, while a dense darkness reigned withinthe forest, began to suffer severely from the arrows of theseunseen foes. Bodies, fifty strong, advanced into the dark forest tosearch out their enemies; but they searched in vain. The Indians,better accustomed to the darkness, and knowing the forest well,easily retreated as they advanced; and the Spaniards dared notventure far from their fires, for they feared being lost in theforest.

  The officer commanding, an old and experienced soldier, soon ceasedthese useless sorties. Calling his men into the center of theglade; he ordered them to stand in readiness to repel an assault,extinguished every fire, and allowed half the troop at once to liedown, to endeavor to snatch some sleep. This, however, wasimpossible; for although the Indians did not venture upon anattack, the chorus of shouts and yells was so terrible andcontinuous, and the flights of arrows at times fell so fast, thatnot one of the troop ventured to close an eye.

  From time to time volleys were fired into the darkness; and once ortwice a loud cry told that some, at least, of the balls had takeneffect; but the opponents, sheltered each behind the trunk of atree, suffered comparatively slightly, while many of the Spaniardswere struck by their missiles.

  Morning dawned upon a worn-out and dispirited band, but withdaylight their hopes revived. Vigorous sorties were made into thewood; and though these discovered, in a few places, marks of bloodwhere some of their enemies had fallen, and signs of a party beingcarried away, the woods were now as deserted as they had appearedto be on the previous evening, when they first halted.

  There was a consultation among the leaders, and it was determinedto abandon the pursuit of these invisible foes, as it was agreedthat nothing, short of a great effort by the whole available forceof the island, would be sufficient to cope with a foe whose tacticswere so bewildering and formidable.

  Upon their march out from the wood, the troop was pursued with thesame persistence with which it had been dogged on the precedingday; and when at length it emerged, and the captain counted thenumbers of his men, it was found that there were no less thanthirty wounded, and that twenty had been left behind, dead.

  The dwellers of the wood were overjoyed with their success, andfelt that a new existence had opened before them. Hitherto they hadbeen fugitives only, and no thought of resistance to the Spaniardshad ever entered their minds. They felt now that, so long as theyremained in the woods, and maintained their drill and discipline,and persisted in the tactics which they had adopted, they coulddefy the Spaniards; unless, indeed, the latter came in overwhelmingstrength.

  Some time elapsed before any fresh effort was made by theSpaniards. The affair caused intense excitement in the city, and itis difficult to say whether alarm, or rage, most predominated. Itwas felt that a great effort must be made, to crush the men of theforest; for unless this were done, a vast number of the negroslaves would escape and join them, and the movement would becomemore formidable, every day.

  Upon th
e part of those in the forest, great consultations tookplace. Some of the negroes were for sending messages to the slavesto rise and join them, but Ned and Gerald strongly opposed thiscourse. There were, as they pointed out, no means whatever in theforest for supporting a larger body of men than those gatheredthere. The tree-clad hills which constituted their stronghold weresome thirty miles in diameter; and the supply of fruits, of roots,and of birds were sufficient for their wants; but it would be verydifferent, were their numbers largely increased. Then they would beforced to make raids upon the cultivated ground beyond; and here,however strong, they would be no match for the Spaniards, whosesuperior arms and discipline would be certain to give them victory.

  The Indians strongly supported the reasoning of the boys, and thenegroes, when they fully understood the difficulties which wouldarise, finally acquiesced in their arguments.

  Schemes were broached for making sallies from the forest, at night,and falling upon the plantations of the Spaniards. This offeredgreater chances of success, but the boys foresaw that all sorts ofatrocities would be sure to take place, and that no quarter wouldbe given to Spaniards of either age or sex. They therefore combatedvigorously this proposal, also. They pointed out that, so long asthey remained quiet in the forest, and were not joined by largenumbers of fugitive negroes, the Spaniards might be content to letthem remain unmolested; but upon the contrary, were they to adoptoffensive tactics, not only would every Spaniard in the island takeup arms against them, but if necessary they would send for help tothe neighboring islands, and would assemble a force sufficientthoroughly to search the woods, and to annihilate them.

  The only case in which the boys considered that an attack upon theSpaniards would be lawful, would be in the event of freshexpeditions being organized. In that case, they were of opinionthat it would be useful to destroy one or two large mansions andplantations, as near as possible to the town; sending at the sametime a message to the Spaniards that, if they persisted indisturbing them in the forest, a similar fate would befall everySpanish plantation situated beyond the town.

  It was not long before these tactics were called into play. One ofthe negroes had, as was their custom, gone down to the town, topurchase such articles as were indispensable. Upon these occasions,as usual, he went down to the hut of the old woman who acted astheir intermediary; and remained concealed there, during the day,while she went into the town, to buy cotton for dresses, and otherthings. This she could only do in small quantities at a time, usingvarious shops for the purpose; returning each time, with herparcel, to the hut.

  The suspicion of the Spaniards had, however, been aroused; andorders had been given to watch her closely. The consequence wasthat, after purchasing a few articles, she was followed; and a bandof soldiers surrounded the hut, after she had entered. The fugitivewas there found concealed, and he and the old woman were at oncefastened in the hut. This was then set alight, and they were burnedto death, upon the spot.

  When the news reached the mountains, Ned at once determined upon areprisal. The negroes and natives were alike ready to follow him,and the next night the whole party, a hundred and fifty strong,marched down from the forest. The object of their attack was ahandsome palace, belonging to the military governor of the island,situated at a short distance from the town.

  Passing through the cultivated country, noiselessly and withoutdetection, they reached the mansion and surrounded it. There were,here, a guard of some thirty soldiers, and sentries were placed atthe entrance.

  At the signal, given by the blowing of a conch shell, the attackcommenced on all sides. The sentries were at once shot down, andthe negroes and their allies speedily penetrated into the building.The Spanish guard fought with great bravery, but they wereoverpowered by the infuriated negroes. Yells, shrieks, and shoutsof all kinds resounded through the palace.

  Before starting on their adventure, Ned and Gerald had exacted asolemn oath, from each of the men who were to take part in it, thaton no account would he lift his hand against a defenseless person;and also that he spare everybody who surrendered. The negroes weregreatly loath to take this promise, and had Ned urged them to do sopurely for the sake of humanity, the oath would unquestionably havebeen refused; for in those days of savage warfare, there was littleor no mercy shown on either side. It was only on the ground ofexpediency, and the extreme necessity of not irritating theSpaniards beyond a certain point, that he succeeded in obtainingtheir promise.

  In the principal room of the palace they found the governor,himself. His sword was in his hand, and he was prepared to defendhis life to the last. The boys, however, rushed forward; and criedto him to throw his sword down, as the only plan by which his lifecould be saved. The brave officer refused, answering by a vigorousthrust.

  In a moment the two lads had sprung upon him, one from each side,and wrested his sword from his hand. The negroes, with yells oftriumph, were rushing upon him with drawn swords; but the boyssternly motioned them back, keeping well in front of theirprisoner.

  "You have sworn," they said, "and the first man who breaks his oathwe will shoot through the head."

  Then, turning to the governor they said:

  "Sir, you see what these men, whom you have so long hunted as wildbeasts, can do. Take warning from this, and let all in the townknow the determination to which we have arrived. If we are letalone, we will let others alone. We promise that no seriousdepredations, of any kind, shall be performed by any of our partyin the forest; but if we are molested, or if any of our band whomay fall into your hands are ill treated, we swear that, for eachdrop of blood slain, we will ravage a plantation and destroy ahouse.

  "On this occasion, as you see, the negroes have abstained fromshedding blood; but our influence over them may not avail, infuture. Now that you see that we too can attack, you may think fitto leave us alone. In case of serious interference with us, we willlay waste the land, up to the houses of the city; and destroy everyplantation, and hacienda."

  Then they hurried the governor to a back entrance, gave him hissword again and, having seen him in safety, fairly beyond the reachof any of their party who might be wandering about, dismissed him.

  Returning to the palace, they had to exert themselves to the utmostto prevail on the negroes to spare all who were there. Indeed, oneman, who refused to obey Ned's orders and to lower his club, heshot down at once.

  This vigorous act excited, for a moment, yells of indignation amongthe rest; but the firm bearing of the two young Englishmen, and theknowledge that they were acting as they themselves had given themleave to act, should any of the party break their oaths, subduedthem into silence.

  The palace was now stripped of all portable and useful articles.Ned would not permit anything to be carried away of a merelyornamental or valuable character; but only such as kitchenutensils, crockery, stoves, arms, hangings, and articles of adescription that would be useful to them, in their wild life in theforest. The quantity of arms taken was considerable as, in additionto those belonging to the guard, there were a considerable numberpiled in the armory, in readiness for any occasion when they mightbe required.

  When all that could be useful to them was removed, lights wereapplied to the hangings and wooden lattice work; and, before theyretired, they saw the flames take sufficient possession of thebuilding to ensure its destruction.

  Many of the negroes had at first laden themselves with wine, butthis Ned peremptorily refused to allow them to carry away. He knewthat it was of the most supreme necessity that good fellowship, andamity, should run between the members of the bands; and that, werewine to be introduced, quarrels might arise which would, in theend, prove fatal to all. He allowed, however, sufficient to betaken away to furnish a reasonable share for each man, at the feastwhich it was only natural they would wish to hold, in commemorationof their victory.

  Chapter 8: The Forest Fastness.