Chapter 10: Escape

The two ships anchored off of the eastern end of Long Island for an evening while they gathered wood and water for the trip south. On the sheltered side of the island, just inside the tip of Montauk, there was a shallow salt pond which led up to a small creek. Local Indians praised the creek for the healing nature of its waters, and so the pirates chose this place to fill their water casks and stock up on wood.

In the several days which had passed since the crew’s decision to set a course for the Caribbean, Will and Spriggs decided to attempt to get at least one of them on board their old ship, the Resolution, with as many mutinous crew as possible. If they could take over the Resolution, they might be able to outrun the Adventure and find their way to freedom.

The two men found a group of a half-dozen men who were of a mutinous mind, and began to convince them of the possibility of an escape. This was a dangerous task, and had to be done carefully. But they seemed to have a fair group by the time they anchored off of Montauk, and they decided to make use of the work that had to be done.

The pirate crew could work hard when necessary, but they were not likely to seek out more duties. When it came time to send a party ashore to gather wood and water, Spriggs and a few of his new comrades were able to volunteer for the job. It was afternoon, and they stretched the work out so that they returned just after dusk.

The empty casks which they went ashore with were now full of water, and the longboat was loaded with firewood. It took several trips to both ships to load them up. By this time of the evening the rest of the crew had already taken to drinking. Because of this, nobody aboard the Adventure noticed the struggle which took place on the Resolution as the longboat made its last delivery of wood and water. And nobody noticed that the longboat was short one crewmember when it arrived back in the dark.

Later that night, Will had arranged to take the midnight watch. As he silently scanned the decks of the Adventure, shadows began to appear and board the longboat, which was still tied up alongside. Will joined them, and the seven conspirators began to quietly row away towards the Resolution. Will had them stop at the bow of the Adventure for one last task. Taking his knife, he reached up and cut the cable which held the ship at anchor, and then they rowed over to the Resolution, where Spriggs was waiting for them.

Spriggs had prepared the ship to be ready to move, so within minutes they were able to cut their own cable and make sail towards Narragansett Bay. Meanwhile, the Adventure began to drift slowly but surely towards the shallow waters and oyster beds of the Montauk shoreline. When it ran aground and Captain Jackman was thrown out of bed, the Resolution was long out of sight in the dark of the evening.

The Adventure lay stranded on the shore waiting for high tide to set them free. It was still there in the morning when the British frigate Suffolk rounded Montauk Point and captured the ship, with all hands. This marked the end of the short lived career of Captain Jackman and his band of pirates.

Meanwhile, Captain Will, Spriggs, the two nephews and the handful of mutineers found their way back to Narragansett Bay, where the other men scattered. Will helped Spriggs take his nephews home safely. But, although Captain Will was unaware of it, the adventure was not quite over.