“ ‘One evening, about the third week after our start, the doctorhad come down to see one of the prisoners who was ill, and,putting his hand down on the bottom of his bunk, he felt theoutline of the pistols. If he had been silent he might have blownthe whole thing, but he was a nervous little chap, so he gave a cryof surprise and turned so pale that the man knew what was up inan instant and seized him. He was gagged before he could give thealarm, and tied down upon the bed. He had unlocked the doorthat led to the deck, and we were through it in a rush. The twosentries were shot down, and so was a corporal who came runningto see what was the matter. There were two more soldiers at thedoor of the stateroom, and their muskets seemed not to be loaded,for they never fired upon us, and they were shot while trying to fixtheir bayonets. Then we rushed on into the captain’s cabin, but aswe pushed open the door there was an explosion from within, andthere he lay with his brains smeared over the chart of the Atlanticwhich was pinned upon the table, while the chaplain stood with asmoking pistol in his hand at his elbow. The two mates had bothbeen seized by the crew, and the whole business seemed to besettled.
“ ‘The stateroom was next the cabin, and we flocked in thereand flopped down on the settees, all speaking together, for wewere just mad with the feeling that we were free once more.
Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes 727
There were lockers all round, and Wilson, the sham chaplain,knocked one of them in, and pulled out a dozen of brown sherry.
We cracked off the necks of the bottles, poured the stuff outinto tumblers, and were just tossing them off when in an instantwithout warning there came the roar of muskets in our ears, andthe saloon was so full of smoke that we could not see across thetable. When it cleared again the place was a shambles. Wilsonand eight others were wriggling on the top of each other on thefloor, and the blood and the brown sherry on that table turn mesick now when I think of it. We were so cowed by the sight thatI think we should have given the job up if it had not been forPrendergast. He bellowed like a bull and rushed for the door withall that were left alive at his heels. Out we ran, and there on thepoop were the lieutenant and ten of his men. The swing skylightsabove the saloon table had been a bit open, and they had fired onus through the slit. We got on them before they could load, andthey stood to it like men; but we had the upper hand of them, andin five minutes it was all over. My God! Was there ever a slaughterhouselike that ship! Prendergast was like a raging devil, and hepicked the soldiers up as if they had been children and threw themoverboard alive or dead. There was one sergeant that was horriblywounded and yet kept on swimming for a surprising time, untilsome one in mercy blew out his brains. When the fighting wasover there was no one left of our enemies except just the wardersthe mates, and the doctor.
“ ‘It was over them that the great quarrel arose. There weremany of us who were glad enough to win back our freedom, andyet who had no wish to have murder on our souls. It was one thingto knock the soldiers over with their muskets in their hands, andit was another to stand by while men were being killed in coldblood. Eight of us, five convicts and three sailors, said that wewould not see it done. But there was no moving Prendergast andthose who were with him. Our only chance of safety lay in makinga clean job of it, said he, and he would not leave a tongue withpower to wag in a witness-box. It nearly came to our sharing thefate of the prisoners, but at last he said that if we wished we mighttake a boat and go. We jumped at the offer, for we were alreadysick of these bloodthirsty doings, and we saw that there would beworse before it was done. We were given a suit of sailor togs each,a barrel of water, two casks, one of junk and one of biscuits, and acompass. Prendergast threw us over a chart, told us that we wereshipwrecked mariners whose ship had foundered in Lat. 15o andLong 25o west, and then cut the painter and let us go.
“ ‘And now I come to the most surprising part of my story, mydear son. The seamen had hauled the fore-yard aback during the728 The Complete Sherlock Holmes
rising, but now as we left them they brought it square again, andas there was a light wind from the north and east the bark beganto draw slowly away from us. Our boat lay, rising and falling, uponthe long, smooth rollers, and Evans and I, who were the mosteducated of the party, were sitting in the sheets working out ourposition and planning what coast we should make for. It was a nicequestion, for the Cape de Verdes were about five hundred miles tothe north of us, and the African coast about seven hundred to theeast. On the whole, as the wind was coming round to the north,we thought that Sierra Leone might be best, and turned our headin that direction, the bark being at that time nearly hull downon our starboard quarter. Suddenly as we looked at her we saw adense black cloud of smoke shoot up from her, which hung like amonstrous tree upon the sky-line. A few seconds later a roar likethunder burst upon our ears, and as the smoke thinned away therewas no sign left of the Gloria Scott. In an instant we swept theboat’s head round again and pulled with all our strength for theplace where the haze still trailing over the water marked the sceneof this catastrophe.
“ ‘It was a long hour before we reached it, and at first we fearedthat we had come too late to save any one. A splintered boat and anumber of crates and fragments of spars rising and falling on thewaves showed us where the vessel had foundered; but there wasno sign of life, and we had turned away in despair when we heardcry for help, and saw at some distance a piece of wreckage withman lying stretched across it. When we pulled him aboard theboat he proved to be a young seaman of the name of Hudson, whowas so burned and exhausted that he could give us no account ofwhat had happened until the following morning.