Seas of Fortune(64)
“I agree that we should capture the ship, if we can,” said Carsten. “But it is wrong to keep slaves. And anyway, slaves aren’t very productive. Give them farmland and tools, and we and they will both profit more in the long run.”
“I agree,” said Johann Mueller, the glassmaker. He had been doing well enough trading beads with the Indians.
“Give them farmland,” said Zager, “and they will steal the tools and disappear into jungle. Probably after cutting our throats.” Zager, their sawyer, had a tendency to see the worst in human nature. Probably thanks to the years he had spent, as an apprentice, as the low man on the saw. The one in the saw pit.
Maria held up her hand. “They will see us tie up the slavers and strike off their chains. Surely they will understand, ‘the enemy of my enemy is my friend.’ Freeing the slaves would double the size of the colony. And we have Maurício to interpret for us, to make sure there are no misunderstandings.”
Carsten nodded. “They can be settled on the other side of the river. Less friction that way.” And so it was agreed. Although not without some lingering dissent. Mostly with respect to freeing the slaves. The Tritón was no mere jacht like the Eikhoorn; it would come in very handy even if they didn’t sell it off.
* * *
There was still the practical issue of how to assault the ship. The Eikhoorn just had six swivel guns. Fort Lincoln and Gustavus both had cannon, brought over when the colony was established, but the Tritón was out of their range.
Consequently, the following morning, the Gustavans invited the Tritón to go up the Suriname River and dock at Gustavus pier. The pier was brand new, with pilings made of the greenheart brought back by the Eikhoorn.
“You can’t stay anchored out here, the bottom won’t hold the anchor if a storm comes in. As often happens this time of year. Just tie up at our dock.”
And once they docked . . . “Ordinarily we would sell you our water, but it is the dry season now. There is a very reliable spring, upriver. You go up the river until the river turns sharply through twenty-four points of the compass. It then enters a long straightaway, and then veers to port. Just there, you will see a hill in front of you, on the right bank. There is a tree which was split by lightning just below the spring, you can’t miss it. If you leave before the tide goes out, you can probably make it back tomorrow.” Carsten paused for effect.
“Only, the natives there give us trouble from time to time, so be sure to bring plenty of men, well-armed.”
“Can you give us a guide?”
“Certainly, if you can wait until the day after tomorrow. That’s when we expect the fellow back.”
The first mate of the Tritón looked at his captain, and said softly, “I don’t know if we can last that long.”
Carsten had thought that would be the reaction. And if it hadn’t been, Carsten could have stalled a bit more, without fearing that the Tritón would try to seize a guide. The Tritón was under the guns of Gustavus, after all.
“Go at once,” ordered the captain. The first officer of the Tritón crammed the longboat full of empty water casks, and sailors armed to the teeth, and headed upriver.
“So, Captain,” said Carsten, “perhaps you would care to join me for dinner. I am sure you will be surprised at the hospitality which our rude young colony can afford you.”
* * *
He was surprised all right. He had just recovered from bowing to Maria when he was quite conclusively coshed from behind. The burly Heinrich Bender, their blacksmith, smiled with satisfaction.
* * *
A plank connected the Tritón to the dock. It was guarded on the ship’s part by two sailors, armed with pistols and cutlasses. And the town in turn guarded itself from an unwanted incursion from the ship by posting watchmen at the shore end of the dock.
The townspeople thoughtfully hung a lantern on the dock, so the Tritón’s guards could see what was happening there. If, incidentally, it destroyed their night vision, so they couldn’t see anything moving in the water on the far side of the ship, well, so be it.
The town watchmen were far enough from the lantern so they couldn’t be seen too clearly by the deck guards. However, they were clearly enjoying their night out under the stars, laughing and drinking.
The Tritón’s deck guards could watch this in silence only so long. One looked at the other, received an affirmative nod, and stepped onto the plank. It creaked, and the town watchmen immediately stopped celebrating and looked up. Very slowly, the approaching Tritón sailor set his pistol and cutlass down on the dock, and then walked toward them.