His father was a pig, me lads,
An' his mother was a sow,
They sent him off a sailin'
We're lumbered with him now ..."
Joby's voice trailed away, and the fiddle gave a discordant screech as the bow trailed over its
strings.
Captain Teal stood in the open doorway. His buckled shoes clacked against the deck as he
strode up to the table. Teal's voice shook with barely controlled rage as he faced the
unfortunate Joby. "Greatly amusin', I'm sure. Well, carry on playin', man!"
Placing the instrument on the table, Joby swallowed hard. " 'Twas only by way of a little joke,
sir."
Teal picked up the fiddle, weighing it in one hand. The crewmen watched him in dumb
silence as he suddenly flung it at the bulkhead. When it hit the floor, he jumped on it with
both feet, stamping and kicking savagely at the dead carpenter's favourite instrument. It
shattered and smashed, chips of wood, pegs and bow strings scattering over the mess-deck
floor.
Redjack Teal stood amid the wreckage, his eyes narrowed to mean slits. "A little joke, eh?
Demn your insolence, fellow!"
Teal's accusing gaze fixed both the bosun and the master gunner. Spittle sprayed the air as he
yelled at them. "Anythin' to say about the victuals, eh eh? Meat's like a dead horse! Crew
eatin' slops! What's the matter, gentlemen, cat got your tongues? Nothin' t'say about how I
dine like a lord? Speak up, demn your eyes!"
Both the bosun and the gunner held their horrified silence.
Redjack suddenly went calm. He smiled slyly at them. "Next thing ye'll be talkin' mutiny
behind me back."
Shaking his head, the master gunner called out hoarsely. "Beg your pardon, Cap'n, but we've
never said a mutinous word agin ye—"
Teal interrupted by drawing his silver-mounted pistol and cocking the hammer. "Have ye not
indeed? Well, me brave boys, I'm goin' t'make sure ye don't get the chance. Mr. Mate, attend
me here!"
The mate sprang upright and saluted. "Aye, sir!"
The captain pointed to Joby, the bosun and the master gunner with his pistol barrel. "Take
these men in charge. They are to be put aboard the Devon Belle, one at each masthead. Half
ration of ship's biscuit'n'water for a week. That'll cure 'em of any mutinous mutterin's against
me!"
The men picked up the pieces of sailcloth that they used as cloaks in rough weather, but Teal
shook his head. "Go as y'are, barefoot, too. Hard lessons must be learned the hard way. Mr.
Mate, see them to their posts, if y'please!"
Obediently the mate touched his forelock. "Aye aye, Cap'n."
"No, wait!" Teal tapped his chin thoughtfully with the pistol sight. "Bring our froggy prisoner
here, will ye?"
Two crewmen escorted the puzzled-looking Ludon into the cabin. Redjack smiled
benevolently at him. "Ah, there y'are, monsieur. I've decided you shall go along an' spend a
week aboard the Devon Belle with these three rascals, on half rations of hardtack
biscuit'n'water."
Ludon took one glance at the grim-faced trio, then fell on his knees, grabbing Teal's red jacket
hem. "But Cap'n, sir, what wrong have I done ye?"
Teal dragged himself free, sending Ludon sprawling with a kick. "Tellin' tales an' causin'
disaffection among me crew, sirrah, that's what you're guilty of. Take 'em away!"
The three crewmen were marched out by the mate, followed by two other sailors dragging
Ludon, who was sobbing pitifully. "No, no, Cap'n, sir, you cannot do this to me!"
Teal uncocked his pistol, chuckling at his cruel scheme. "Ye mealymouthed toad, I'll show ye
what I can't an' can do aboard me own ship!"
Aboard La Petite Marie, Ben was putting the finishing touches to the repairs he had made to
the window in the captain's cabin. Canvas sheet was not as good for letting in light as the
original glass windows, but it kept spray and wind out. Using the hilt of a heavy dagger, he
knocked the final nail into the pleated canvas edge. Ned entered the cabin and looked around,
sending a thought to his friend. "Bit dark in here, isn't it?"
Ben put aside the dagger. "Aye, but 'twill do well enough. At least we won't see the Flying
Dutchman through it."
Ned remembered what he had come for. "Oh, I think the cap'n wants to see you, Ben. He's up
in the bows."
As they made their way along the deck, Ben looked back over his shoulder. He passed a
mental message to Ned. "See that fellow Gascon? He crossed himself and spat over the side
after we'd passed. I wonder what's wrong with him?"
The black Labrador waved his tail airily. "Oh, him, he's my least favourite man aboard this
ship. He glares at me a lot, I don't know why. I've never done him any harm."
Thuron was shouting from his position in the bows. "Ben, come here, there's something I
want you to see!" The boy mounted the bowsprit and locked his legs around it.
The Frenchman gave him the telescope, pointing. "Dead ahead, you can just make it out—
land, lad. That's the islands of the Azores. Now point your glass downward and take a look
into the ocean. What d'you see, Ben?"
Scanning the surface on either side of the bow wave, Ben tried his best to see something
distinctive. "Nothing really, sir, just a sort of white blotch now and then, but it's pretty far
below us. Is that what you mean?"
Ned was frantically passing messages to Ben. "White blot, what kind of white blot, tell me?"
Thuron provided the answer. "Remember, I told you there was a whole world beneath the
ocean. What you see are the tips of mountains, huge tall peaks. We're sailing over the great
ridge, a sunken range of mountains that runs from Greenland almost to the earth's southern
tip. Wait until you see the Azores—I think they're part of those mountains. Just higher peaks
than the rest, sticking up out of the seas to form islands."
Ben lifted the telescope until he sighted on the rocky peaks of the Azores in the distance.
"This world is a marvellous thing, Cap'n. It's so vast!"
La Petite Marie dropped anchor that afternoon in a deep lagoon of the main island. Ben and
Ned marvelled at the lush tropical greenery that clung to the mountainous rocks around them.
Pierre lowered the jolly boat and invited them aboard with the party that was going ashore.
"Come on, you two, we'll get some fruit and fresh water."
Ben and Ned sat either side of Pierre in the stern. The boy noticed Gascon crouching in the
bows and flashed a quick thought to his dog. "I wonder what he's up to? He's looking pretty
furtive."
Ned wrinkled his forehead. "Huh, hope he falls overboard and drowns!"
Ben frowned at the black Labrador. "Ned! That's not a very charitable thought."
Ned sniffed. "I don't care, I don't like that fellow and he doesn't like me, or you. I can sense
it."
Pierre was unaware of the conversation and chatted away happily. "Lots of good fruit and
vegetables growin' on these islands, Ben. They're long-dead volcanoes, and the soil is rich."
They spent the remainder of the afternoon foraging on the slopes, gathering quantities of the
island's produce, some familiar, some new to them, but all wonderful. Some of the crewmen
found a little waterfall that cascaded down into a pond on the mossy ledges. Ben and Ned
joined them in the crystal-clear water, bathing and splashing each other, laughing like a band