Under Drakes Flag | Page 9

to me that, if we do but hold together, we need not be afraid
of this big bully. If we all declare to each other and swear that, the first
time he strikes one of us, we will all set upon him; my faith on it, we
shall be able to master him, big as he is. We are all of good size, and in

two years will think ourselves men; therefore it would be shame,
indeed, if the four of us could not master one, however big and sturdy
he may be."
After much consultation, it was agreed that this course should be
adopted; and the next day, as Reuben Gale was passing by Giles, he
turned round and struck him on the head with a broom. The boy gave a
long whistle, and in a moment, to the astonishment of the armorer, the
other three lads rushed up, and at once assailed him with fury.
Astonished at such an attack, he struck out at them with many strange
oaths. Gerald he knocked down, but Ned leaped on his back from
behind, and the other two, closing with him, rolled him on to the deck;
then, despite of his efforts, they pummeled him until his face was
swollen and bruised, and his eyes nearly closed.
Some of the men of his own sort, standing by, would fain have
interfered; but the better disposed of the crew, who had seen, with
disgust, the conduct of the armorer and his mates to the boys, held them
back, and said that none should come between.
Just as the boys drew off, and allowed the furious armorer to rise to his
feet, Captain John Drake, attracted by the unusual noise, came from his
cabin.
"What is this?" he asked.
"These young wild cats have leapt upon me," said Giles Taunton
furiously, "and have beaten me nigh to death. But I will have my turn.
They will see, and bitterly shall they have cause to regret what they
have done."
"We have been driven almost weary of our lives, sir, with the foul and
rough conduct of this man, and of some of his mates," Gerald said. "We
did not like to come to tell you of it, and to gain the name of carry tales;
but we had resolved among ourselves at last that, whoever struck one of
us, the whole should set upon him. Today we have carried it out, and
we have shown Giles Taunton that we are more than a match for one
man, at any rate."

"Four good-sized dogs, if they are well managed," said Captain John
Drake, "will pull down a lion; and the best thing that the lion can do is
to leave them alone.
"I am sorry to hear, Master Taunton, that you have chosen to mistreat
these lads; who are, indeed, the sons of worthy men, and are not the
common kind of ship boys. I am sure that my brother would not brook
such conduct, and I warn you that, if any complaint again on this head
reaches me, I shall lay it before him."
With angry mutterings, the armorer went below.
"We have earned a bitter foe," Ned said to his friends, "and we had best
keep our eyes well open. There is very little of the lion about Master
Taunton. He is strong, indeed; but if it be true that the lion has a noble
heart, and fights his foes openly, methinks he resembles rather the tiger,
who is prone to leap suddenly upon his enemies."
"Yes, indeed, he looked dark enough," Gerald said, "as he went below;
and if looks could have killed us, we should not be standing here alive,
at present."
"It is not force that we need fear now, but that he will do us some foul
turn; at all events, we are now forewarned, and if he plays us a scurvy
trick it will be our own faults."
For several days the voyage went on quietly, and without adventure.
They passed at a distance the Portuguese Isle of Madeira, lying like a
cloud on the sea. The weather now had become warm and very fair, a
steady wind blew, and the two barks kept along at a good pace.
All sorts of creatures, strange to the boys, were to be seen in the sea.
Sometimes there was a spout of a distant whale. Thousands of flying
fish darted from the water, driven thence by the pursuit of their enemies
beneath; while huge flocks of gulls and other birds hovered over the sea,
chasing the flying fish, or pouncing down upon the shoals of small fry;
whose splashings whitened the surface of the water, as if a sandbank
had laid below it.

Gradually, as the time went on, the heat increased.