Skull and Bones Read Online Free PDF Page A
Author: John Drake
longer entertained by a piece of theatre that had been played out flat. They thought Silver should put the rod across her plump little arse till she saw reason. But that was his business and they'd chosen him as their leader, so there weren't no more to be said in the matter. Selena was his wife and that was that.
But later, the ship's surgeon, Mr Cowdray, was forced to join the quarrel. The only gentleman in the ship, he'd practised in London till learned rivals drove him out for his ludicrous insistence on boiling his instruments before surgery, which he said prevented sepsis, and which they couldn't abide because it did. Selena liked Cowdray and valued his opinion, and thus she'd asked him to meet her on the forecastle after dark.
"What do you want, girl? Bringing me here?" he looked back down the dark length of the ship, past masts and bulging sails, and hung on to the rail against the ship's motion, flinching as spray came over the plunging bow.
"It's wide open here," she said, "so nobody can say you're meeting me in secret."
"And why should I do that?" he said.
She shrugged. She'd seen how he looked at her. He might be a surgeon, but he was a man, even if he was middle-aged.
"You can always say you were going to use the heads," she said.
"Huh!" said Cowdray, looking at the "seats of ease" on either side of the bowsprit: a pair of squat boxes with holes cut in them for seamen to relieve themselves. "So what is it?" he said.
"Why won't he give up being a pirate?"
"He's not a pirate, he's a gentleman of fortune."
"It's the same thing."
"No! We sign the Book of Articles and every man votes. It is the democracy of the Greeks."
"Articles! He talks about them all the time, and he -"
"Selena, listen to me."
"But he does."
"Please, please, listen. I can't be him. I can't speak for him."
"So who do you speak for?"
"For the crew! It's a good life for them. Equal shares and light work. Merchant owners save money with small crews that must rupture themselves to work the ship, while we have many hands to ease the load. And we sail in soft waters: the Caribbean, the Gold Coast, the Indian Ocean… You should try the whale fisheries, my girl, up beyond Newfoundland! The ice hangs from the rigging and the lookouts are found frozen dead when the watch changes. And with us, there's no flogging the last man up the mast nor the last to trice his hammock as the navy does, and there's music and drink when you want it, and the chance to get rich -"
"By thieving and killing!"
"In which regard we're no worse than the king's ships, that kill men and take prizes!"
"But that's war."
"Dulce bellum inexpertis : war is sweet to those who don't know it!"
"Bah!" she said, striding off and leaving him in the dark. Him and his annoying habit of spouting Latin.
So the matter was not resolved, and Silver and Selena lived apart in the ship and couldn't meet without a quarrel. And Silver became bad tempered, and not the man he had been. And that was bad… but worse was to come.
----
Chapter 4
Half an hour before sunset
12th March 1753
Aboard Oraclaesus's longboat
The southern anchorage
Flint's Island
Boom! A signal gun blew white powder smoke from Oraclaesus's quarterdeck, and echoed across the still waters. It was the signal for boats to give up for the day and return to their ships.
"Thank God!" said Mr Midshipman Povey to himself, and "Hold water!" he bellowed at the boat's crew. At least he tried to bellow, but his throat was sore and his head ached, and he hadn't the strength.
Twenty sweat-soaked men collapsed over their oars, shafts stabbing raggedly in all directions, crossing and clattering in a disgraceful fashion that should have earned a blistering rebuke from the coxswain. But he was preoccupied with
But later, the ship's surgeon, Mr Cowdray, was forced to join the quarrel. The only gentleman in the ship, he'd practised in London till learned rivals drove him out for his ludicrous insistence on boiling his instruments before surgery, which he said prevented sepsis, and which they couldn't abide because it did. Selena liked Cowdray and valued his opinion, and thus she'd asked him to meet her on the forecastle after dark.
"What do you want, girl? Bringing me here?" he looked back down the dark length of the ship, past masts and bulging sails, and hung on to the rail against the ship's motion, flinching as spray came over the plunging bow.
"It's wide open here," she said, "so nobody can say you're meeting me in secret."
"And why should I do that?" he said.
She shrugged. She'd seen how he looked at her. He might be a surgeon, but he was a man, even if he was middle-aged.
"You can always say you were going to use the heads," she said.
"Huh!" said Cowdray, looking at the "seats of ease" on either side of the bowsprit: a pair of squat boxes with holes cut in them for seamen to relieve themselves. "So what is it?" he said.
"Why won't he give up being a pirate?"
"He's not a pirate, he's a gentleman of fortune."
"It's the same thing."
"No! We sign the Book of Articles and every man votes. It is the democracy of the Greeks."
"Articles! He talks about them all the time, and he -"
"Selena, listen to me."
"But he does."
"Please, please, listen. I can't be him. I can't speak for him."
"So who do you speak for?"
"For the crew! It's a good life for them. Equal shares and light work. Merchant owners save money with small crews that must rupture themselves to work the ship, while we have many hands to ease the load. And we sail in soft waters: the Caribbean, the Gold Coast, the Indian Ocean… You should try the whale fisheries, my girl, up beyond Newfoundland! The ice hangs from the rigging and the lookouts are found frozen dead when the watch changes. And with us, there's no flogging the last man up the mast nor the last to trice his hammock as the navy does, and there's music and drink when you want it, and the chance to get rich -"
"By thieving and killing!"
"In which regard we're no worse than the king's ships, that kill men and take prizes!"
"But that's war."
"Dulce bellum inexpertis : war is sweet to those who don't know it!"
"Bah!" she said, striding off and leaving him in the dark. Him and his annoying habit of spouting Latin.
So the matter was not resolved, and Silver and Selena lived apart in the ship and couldn't meet without a quarrel. And Silver became bad tempered, and not the man he had been. And that was bad… but worse was to come.
----
Chapter 4
Half an hour before sunset
12th March 1753
Aboard Oraclaesus's longboat
The southern anchorage
Flint's Island
Boom! A signal gun blew white powder smoke from Oraclaesus's quarterdeck, and echoed across the still waters. It was the signal for boats to give up for the day and return to their ships.
"Thank God!" said Mr Midshipman Povey to himself, and "Hold water!" he bellowed at the boat's crew. At least he tried to bellow, but his throat was sore and his head ached, and he hadn't the strength.
Twenty sweat-soaked men collapsed over their oars, shafts stabbing raggedly in all directions, crossing and clattering in a disgraceful fashion that should have earned a blistering rebuke from the coxswain. But he was preoccupied with