I 1
may credit the seductive influence of an old vintage upon the narrator 2
for the beginning of it , and my 1
own skeptical incredulity during the days that followed for the balance of the strange tale .
When discovered that he 2
had told me 1
so much , and that I 1
was prone to doubtfulness , his 2
foolish pride assumed the task the old vintage had commenced , and so he 2
unearthed written evidence in the form of musty manuscript , and dry official records of the British Colonial Office 4
to support many of the salient features of his 2
remarkable narrative .
I 1
do not say the story is true , for I 1
did not witness the happenings which it portrays , but the fact that in the telling of it to you 5
I 1
have taken fictitious names for the principal characters 6
quite sufficiently evidences the sincerity of my 1
own belief that it MAY be true .
The yellow , mildewed pages of the diary of a man long dead 7
, and the records of the Colonial Office 4
dovetail perfectly with the narrative of , and so I 1
give you 8
the story as I 1
painstakingly pieced it out from these several various agencies .
If you 9
do not find it credible you 10
will at least be as one with me 1
in acknowledging that it is unique , remarkable , and interesting .
From the records of the Colonial Office 4
and from the dead man 7
's diary we 11
learn that a certain young English nobleman 12
, whom we 13
shall call John Clayton 12
, Lord Greystoke 82
, was commissioned to make a peculiarly delicate investigation of conditions in a British West Coast African Colony 14
from whose simple native inhabitants 15
another European power 16
was known to be recruiting soldiers 17
for , which it 16
used solely for the forcible collection of rubber and ivory from the savage tribes along
the Congo 20
and
the Aruwimi 21
19 .
The natives of
the British Colony 14
22 complained that many of were enticed away through the medium of fair and glowing promises , but that few if any ever returned to .
The Englishmen in
Africa 26
25 went even further , saying that these poor blacks 22
were held in virtual slavery , since after their 22
terms of enlistment expired their 22
ignorance was imposed upon by their 22
white officers
27 , and they 22
were told that they 22
had yet several years to serve .
And so the Colonial Office 4
appointed John Clayton 12
to a new post in
British West Africa 29
28 , but his 12
confidential instructions centered on a thorough investigation of the unfair treatment of black British subjects 30
by the officers of
a friendly European power 16
27 .
Why he 12
was sent , is , however , of little moment to this story , for he 12
never made an investigation , nor , in fact , did he 12
ever reach .
Clayton 12
was the type of
Englishman 31
that one likes best to associate with
the noblest monuments of historic achievement upon
a thousand victorious battlefields 33
32 86 -- a strong , virile man 85
-- mentally , morally , and physically .
In stature he 12
was above the average height ; his 12
eyes were gray , his 12
features regular and strong ; his 12
carriage that of perfect , robust health influenced by his 12
years of army training .
Political ambition had caused him 12
to seek transference from the army 34
to the Colonial Office 4
and so we 35
find him 12
, still young , entrusted with a delicate and important commission in the service of the Queen 36
.
When he 12
received this appointment he 12
was both elated and appalled .
The preferment seemed to him 12
in the nature of a well-merited reward for painstaking and intelligent service , and as a stepping stone to posts of greater importance and responsibility ; but , on the other hand , he 12
had been married to the Hon. Alice Rutherford 37
for scarce a three months , and it was the thought of taking this fair young girl 37
into the dangers and isolation of tropical Africa 26
that appalled him 12
.
For her 37
sake he 12
would have refused the appointment , but she 37
would not have it so .
Instead she 37
insisted that he 12
accept , and , indeed , take her 37
with him 12
.
There were mothers 38
and brothers 39
and sisters 40
, and aunts 41
and cousins 42
to express various opinions on the subject , but as to what they 43
severally advised history is silent .
We 44
know only that on a bright May morning in 1888 , John 12
, Lord Greystoke 12
, and Lady Alice 37
sailed from Dover 45
on their 46
way to Africa 26
.
A month later they 46
arrived at Freetown 47
where they 46
chartered a small sailing vessel 87
, the Fuwalda 53
, which was to bear them 46
to their 46
final destination
48 .
And here John 12
, Lord Greystoke 12
, and Lady Alice 37
, , vanished from the eyes and from the knowledge of men 49
.
Two months after they 46
weighed anchor and cleared from the port of
Freetown 47
50 a half dozen British war vessels 51
were scouring the south Atlantic 52
for trace of them 46
or their 46
little vessel
53 , and it was almost immediately that the wreckage was found upon the shores of
St. Helena 55
54 which convinced the world 56
that the Fuwalda 53
had gone down with all on board 57
, and hence the search was stopped ere it had scarce begun ; though hope lingered in longing hearts for many years .
The Fuwalda 53
, a barkentine of about one hundred tons 84
, was a vessel of the type often seen in coastwise trade in
the far southern Atlantic 52
88 , their crews 58
composed of the offscourings of
the sea 0
59 -- unhanged murderers and cutthroats of every race and
every nation 60
89 .
The Fuwalda 53
was no exception to the rule .
were swarthy bullies , hating and hated by
their 61
crew
90 .
The captain 62
, while a competent seaman 91
, was a brute in
his 62
treatment of
92 .
He 62
knew , or at least he 62
used , but two arguments in his 62
dealings with them 63
-- a belaying pin and a revolver -- nor is it likely that the motley aggregation 63
he 62
signed would have understood aught else .
So it was that from the second day out from Freetown 47
John Clayton 12
and witnessed scenes upon the deck of
the Fuwalda 53
64 such as they 46
had believed were never enacted outside the covers of printed stories of the sea 0
.
It was on the morning of the second day that the first link was forged in what was destined to form a chain of circumstances ending in a life for one then unborn such as has never been paralleled in the history of man 65
.
Two sailors 66
were washing down the decks of
the Fuwalda 53
64 , the first mate 67
was on duty , and the captain 62
had stopped to speak with John Clayton 12
and Lady Alice 37
.
The men 66
were working backwards toward the little party who were facing away from
the sailors 63
68 .
Closer and closer they 66
came , until one of them 69
was directly behind the captain 62
.
In another moment he 62
would have passed by and this strange narrative would never have been recorded .
But just that instant the officer 62
turned to leave Lord 12
and Lady Greystoke 37
, and , as he 62
did so , tripped against the sailor 69
and sprawled headlong upon the deck 64
, overturning the water-pail so that he 62
was drenched in its dirty contents .
For an instant the scene was ludicrous ; but only for an instant .
With a volley of awful oaths , his 62
face suffused with the scarlet of mortification and rage , the captain 62
regained his 62
feet , and with a terrific blow felled the sailor 69
to the deck 64
.
The man 69
was small and rather old , so that the brutality of the act was thus accentuated .
The other seaman 70
, however , was neither old nor small -- a huge bear of
a man 71
, with fierce black mustachios , and a great bull neck set between massive shoulders
93 .
As he 70
saw go down he 70
crouched , and , with a low snarl , sprang upon the captain 62
crushing him 69
to his 69
knees with a single mighty blow .
From scarlet the officer 62
's face went white , for this was mutiny ; and mutiny he 62
had met and subdued before in his 62
brutal career .
Without waiting to rise he 62
whipped a revolver from his 62
pocket , firing point blank at the great mountain of muscle towering before
him 62
70 ; but , quick as he 62
was , John Clayton 12
was almost as quick , so that the bullet which was intended for the sailor 70
's heart lodged in the sailor 70
's leg instead , for Lord Greystoke 12
had struck down the captain 62
's arm as he 12
had seen the weapon flash in the sun .
Words passed between Clayton 12
and the captain 62
, the former 12
making it plain that he 12
was disgusted with the brutality displayed toward the crew 63
, nor would he 12
countenance anything further of the kind while he 12
and Lady Greystoke 37
remained passengers 72
.
The captain 62
was on the point of making an angry reply , but , thinking better of it , turned on his 62
heel and black and scowling , strode aft .
He 62
did not care to antagonize an English official 73
, for the Queen 36
's mighty arm wielded a punitive instrument which he 62
could appreciate , and which he 62
feared -- England 75
's far-reaching navy
74 .
The two sailors 66
picked themselves 66
up , the older man assisting
his 69
wounded comrade
70 to rise
69 .
The big fellow , who was known among
as
Black Michael 70
70 , tried his 70
leg gingerly , and , finding that it bore his 70
weight , turned to Clayton 12
with a word of gruff thanks .
Though the fellow 70
's tone was surly , his 70
words were evidently well meant .
Ere he 70
had scarce finished his 70
little speech he 70
had turned and was limping off toward the forecastle with the very apparent intention of forestalling any further conversation .
They 46
did not see him 70
again for several days , nor did the captain 62
accord them 46
more than the surliest of grunts when he 62
was forced to speak to them 46
.
They 46
took their 46
meals in , as they 46
had before the unfortunate occurrence ; but the captain 62
was careful to see that his 62
duties never permitted him 62
to eat at the same time .
The other officers 77
were coarse , illiterate fellows 94
, but little above the villainous crew
they 77
bullied
63 , and were only too glad to avoid social intercourse with the polished English noble 12
and , so that the Claytons 46
were left very much to themselves 46
.
This in itself accorded perfectly with their 46
desires , but it also rather isolated them 46
from the life of the little ship 53
so that they 46
were unable to keep in touch with the daily happenings which were to culminate so soon in bloody tragedy .
There was in the whole atmosphere of the craft 53
that undefinable something which presages disaster .
Outwardly , to the knowledge of the Claytons 46
, all went on as before upon the little vessel 53
; but that there was an undertow leading them 46
toward some unknown danger both felt , though they 46
did not speak of it to each other .
On the second day after the wounding of Black Michael 70
, Clayton 12
came on deck 64
just in time to see being carried below by while the first mate 67
, a heavy belaying pin in
his 67
hand
80 , stood glowering at the little party of
sullen sailors 63
81 .