Charlotte Doyle Chapter Summaries
Chapter 1 Summary
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On June 16, 1832 Charlotte finds herself on the docks of Liverpool England
accompanied by one of her father's business associates, Mr. Grummage.
Mr. Grummage is a somber gentleman dressed in black with a stovepipe
hat.
Charlotte bids a tearful adieu to Miss Emerson, her female traveling
companion.
The sights and sound of the dock fascinate Charlotte, especially the exotic
commodities like silk, tea, tobacco, monkeys, and parrots. She calls the
scene "delicious chaos" (1.13). We'd agree.
Charlotte learns from Mr. Grummage that she's going to set sell on an
American merchant ship called the Seahawk run by a man named Captain
Jaggery.
The porter carrying Charlotte's trunk overhears Mr. Grummage mention
Captain Jaggery and appears to be repulsed by the name. The man refuses
to carry the trunk any farther and marches off.
When the second porter attempts to carry the trunk, he sees the Seahawk,
drops the trunk and hightails it out of there too. What's the deal?
Mr. Grummage goes on board while Charlotte surveys the ship from the
dock. The Seahawk is a two-masted ship known as a brig. There's a
figurehead of a seahawk carved beneath the bowsprit.
While gazing at the ship, Charlotte sees a man shimmying up the mooring
ropes from the dock to the Seahawk.
Mr. Grummage returns to inform Charlotte that the two families who were to
act as her guardians have pulled out.
Charlotte voices concern over continuing the journey alone, but Mr.
Grummage insists that she follow her parents' orders and board the ship.
Chapter 2 Summary
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Charlotte and Mr. Grummage board the Seahawk and meet the second
mate, a dark and shifty-eyed man named Mr. Keetch.
Since Captain Jaggery and the first mate are ashore, Mr. Keetch is the man
in charge, and he strongly advises Charlotte not to take the ship to America.
Mr. Grummage, however, believes Charlotte's only choice is to take the trip.
He leaves her, defeated and resigned to the voyage, on the ship.
Mr. Keetch leads Charlotte to her stuffy and confined quarters. Charlotte is
disgusted by the furnishings (and the lack thereof).
Barlow, one of the other sailors, knocks at Charlotte's door with her trunk.
He tells Charlotte that he has been elected by the other sailors to urge her
to leave the ship. Charlotte is insulted that a man of Barlow's lowly status
would talk to her in such a way. She refuses his help and immediately
regrets it.
Alone in her cabin, Charlotte has a nice big cry. She feels alone, angry,
afraid, humiliated – the whole nine yards. Meltdown ensues.
Yet another man knocks at her door, and this time it turns out to be
Zachariah: cook, surgeon, carpenter, preacher, and the ship's only black
sailor. Though his appearance is decrepit, his voice is sweet and, to
Charlotte's surprise, he offers her tea. Charlotte is stoked because teatime
reminds her of home and polite society.
Over tea, Zachariah offers to be Charlotte's friend since the two have much
in common, at least in his mind. He's the only black person, and She's the
only woman. Zachariah is also the oldest, and Charlotte is the youngest.
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Despite Zachariah's sincerity, Charlotte finds his suggestion improper and
tells Zachariah she doesn't need a friend.
Zachariah offers Charlotte a small knife called a dirk for her protection, but
she refuses to take the weapon. Zachariah insists and makes her take the
knife.
Charlotte returns to her cabin where she carefully stows the knife under her
mattress.
As Charlotte is drifting off to slumber land, she overhears a bit of an
interesting conversation between Mr. Keetch and an unidentified man.
Keetch says that "the Doyle girl" is the only one he could get to come onto
the boat (2.102). The other voice calls Charlotte "the trump" and claims that
with her on board, "they" will not dare to move (2.103).
Not understanding what she just heard, Charlotte falls fast asleep.
Chapter 3 Summary
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Charlotte wakes up the next morning determined to leave the ship;
however, when she reaches the deck she sees only sky and ocean. Mr.
Hollybrass, the first mate, tells her they're now in the Irish Sea.
Mr. Hollybrass rings the bell three times and all of the sailors appear on
deck, followed by Captain Jaggery. Charlotte is impressed by the captain's
dignified appearance and assumes he is a trustworthy gentleman, much like
her father.
Mr. Hollybrass tells the captain that he could not get the men to sign the
articles (whatever that means). He then takes roll call: Dillingham, Grimes,
Morgan, Barlow, Foley, Ewing, Fisk, Johnson, and Zachariah are all
present.
The captain inquires after a Mr. Cranick, but he's not present, nor does
Hollybrass recognize the name.
Captain Jaggery issues orders to the men to work hard and obey his
commands. This is not a democracy, he declares (a democracy being a
kind of representative government). Nope, he is the master of the ship, no
question. Captain Jaggery then gives them an extra issue of rum
(generous!), and dismisses the crew.
Captain Jaggery greets Charlotte with the greatest politeness. She requests
to be let off the boat, but he, in a very genteel fashion, denies her request.
He then promises her his protection and friendship, and invites her to tea in
his cabin.
Charlotte returns to her cabin where she falls into a swoon and takes ill. She
experiences feverish dreams. Zachariah tends to her and Captain Jaggery
visits from time to time.
In the midst of her delirium, she sees a rat eating at her journal. She takes
the dirk from underneath her mattress and throws the knife at the rat.
Chapter 4 Summary
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Charlotte wakes to find the dirk on the floor. She grabs the knife, hoping to
return it to Zachariah, and heads for the deck.
One of the sailors, Dillingham, sees the dirk in Charlotte's hand. The next
time Charlotte looks around, he has left the deck.
Charlotte heads for the galley where she finds Zachariah and offers him the
dirk. He won't take it, but instead offers her tea (again) and hard tack (a
hard cake that functioned as sailors' bread). Zachariah reveals that she has
been asleep in her cabin for four days.
As Charlotte eats, Zachariah tells her why he's so insistent upon her
keeping the knife: the crewmembers on the Seahawk have an ax to grind
with Captain Jaggery. On a previous voyage, the captain beat a man called
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Mr. Cranick so badly that he lost his arm. The crew thinks Jaggery is a
tyrant. Not being able to obtain justice with the admiralty courts on land,
they now want revenge on the sea.
Charlotte doesn't initially believe Zachariah's story, though she recognizes
the name of Mr. Cranick from the roll call the first day on deck.
Zachariah tells Charlotte that the same crew from the previous voyage is on
board the ship because Captain Jaggery couldn't get any other sailors to
work for him. Charlotte recalls her experience with the two porters on the
dock in Liverpool on the day she boarded the Seahawk.
Zachariah reminds Charlotte that the crew knows that Captain Jaggery is an
employee of her father.
Mr. Hollybrass, the first mate, appears suddenly and invites Charlotte to tea
in Captain Jaggery's quarters.
Chapter 5 Summary
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Charlotte doesn't believe Zachariah's story and is outraged that someone of
his station would dare to say such things to her.
The captain's quarters are stylishly decorated with handsome furnishings
and pictures of England. Captain Jaggery is also finely dressed with a copy
of the Bible on his knee. His manners are impeccable. Needless to say,
Charlotte thinks he's just the bee's knees.
The captain, apparently a family man, shows Charlotte a picture of his fiveyear-old daughter, Victoria. He advises her to read to the crew from her
moral books and preach the gospel.
Charlotte tells Captain Jaggery he reminds her of her father. The two agree
to be friends.
Captain Jaggery warns Charlotte that she may see him say or do things that
seem cruel, but that punishments are necessary to maintain order on the
ship. He shows her his gun cabinet, and tells her that these are the only
guns on the ship.
The captain asks Charlotte to be his eyes and ears among the men. He
then shows her a drawing of a round-robin, two circles that look kind of like
a life preserver inside of which are written the names of four men. To see
the image, he warns her, means "dangerous trouble" (5.73).
Charlotte shows Captain Jaggery the dirk and tells him that Mr. Grummage
gave it to her. (Zachariah gave her the knife, but Charlotte senses that she
should protect Zachariah.)
Charlotte tries to give the dirk to the captain, but he suggests that she keep
it for her safety and protection.
Chapter 6 Summary
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The captain hands Charlotte over to Mr. Hollybrass, though before he does
so, he bids her farewell by kissing her hand in front of the crew. What a
gentleman! (Yeah, right.) Charlotte, however, is stoked.
Mr. Hollybrass takes Charlotte to Mr. Barlow, who's supposed to lead
Charlotte to her trunk that's stored in the ship's top steerage.
Charlotte and Mr. Barlow enter the ship's top cargo, and he takes her to her
trunk.
Mr. Barlow leaves Charlotte in the darkness of the top cargo to go through
her things, and leaves his lit candle near the ladder for her.
Charlotte, though alone, begins to feel a presence. She thinks someone is
watching her.
Charlotte looks to the left and right and sees nothing. She finally turns
around toward the ladder, and there she sees a grinning head with eyes
staring at her.
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The candle goes out and all is dark.
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Charlotte reaches for the dirk which, thankfully, she has on her. She calls
out into the darkness around her, but no one answers.
Charlotte moves closer to the ladder, and she realizes that the grotesque
grinning head is actually a face carved into a large, brown nut.
A little rattled, Charlotte begins to climb the ladder to get out of there, but
realizes she has forgotten her books and clothes. She boldly returns,
fetches them, and finally climbs out of the hatch.
Charlotte suspects Barlow of planting the head but, then again, Barlow
seems too submissive to do something like that. That's when Charlotte
realizes that there must have been a second person hiding down there. She
thinks that she did, in fact, see two faces. The first one was a human's.
The mystery proves too confusing for Charlotte, so she decides the candle
must have been blown out by a draft and that the fake head was probably
sitting there all along. (Denial, Charlotte, denial!)
Charlotte decides not to tell Captain Jaggery about the nut head since she
doesn't want to seem like a silly schoolgirl.
Charlotte then begins comparing and contrasting the captain and Zachariah
in her mind. She decides the two are "courting" her – well, at least courting
her friendship (7.31). Weird, right? What's up with that, Charlotte? She
resolves to stay on the good side of both men, but to be nicer to the captain.
Charlotte wraps the knife (dirk) in her handkerchief and puts it under her
mattress.
Chapter 7 Summary
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Chapter 8 Summary
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Charlotte gains her sea legs and settles into life on the boat.
Each morning she wakes and prepares to present herself to Captain
Jaggery on deck. Her clothes are by this point pretty filthy, so she puts one
of her dresses away and saves it so at least it will be clean for the ship's
landing in Providence.
Charlotte also takes breakfast in the morning served by Zachariah. Weak
coffee, hard bread, and molasses. The breakfast of champions! Dinner (the
second meal) consists of the same, and supper (the last meal of the day) is
a bit of meat, rice, beans, and more gross coffee. Bon appétit.
On Sundays, Charlotte reads to the men from the Bible. All of the guys also
shave and wash their clothes on this day.
Charlotte's bright point of the day is her daily 30-minute tea with Captain
Jaggery where she reports to him about all the activities on the ship.
To pass the time, Charlotte listens to the men's tales of faraway places and
fantastic journeys. She fancies that her contact with them improves them.
The crew gradually accepts Charlotte and soon she takes on the role of the
"ship's boy" (8.15).
Charlotte begins climbing up into the rigging.
She also becomes friends with Zachariah who's often the butt of the jokes
by the crew, since he is the only black person on board. The sailors do,
however, admire his cooking.
Charlotte reveals some of Zachariah's history. First, turns out he's the oldest
on board at 50, though Charlotte thinks he looks older. He doesn't know
how to read or write. He knows nothing of Christianity.
Zachariah gives Charlotte a pair of trousers and a shirt, a set of clothes that
looks like the crew's clothing. Charlotte is offended at first, though she later
tries on the clothes in her cabin.
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Feeling kind of weird about putting on the sailor suit, Charlotte composes an
essay on the proper behavior for young women and reads it to Captain
Jaggery at tea.
Captain Jaggery never allows the crew to be idle. He sometimes hits them
with things or threatens to confine them to the brig, dock their salary, take
away their meals, lash them, or dunk them in the sea (this is called
keelhauling – no, thank you).
All of a sudden the wind stops and the ship stands still in the sea. The crew
tries to tow the boat, but with no luck.
As the boat drifts along, Jaggery pushes the crew harder and harder.
Charlotte warns him that the crew is growing tired of the treatment but he
pays her no mind.
The chapter ends with Charlotte hinting that there might be a storm coming
soon, though not one from the sea: one from the crew.
Chapter 9 Summary
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The ship continues to drift.
One afternoon, Charlotte is on the deck reading to Ewing, a young Scottish
sailor.
Ewing is patching an old canvas jacket when he accidentally snaps his
needle. Charlotte offers to get him a new one from his box in the forecastle
(the crew's quarters).
At the forecastle door, Charlotte hears men discussing putting down "their
marks" (9.20). She hears herself referred to as "always spying" (9.23).
Knocking and entering the cabin, Charlotte sees three men in hammocks.
Fisk, who opens the door, directs her to Ewing's chest. Going through it, she
sees a pistol.
Charlotte grabs a needle from the chest and starts to exit, but as she does,
she stumbles over a chest and knocks a sheet of paper to the floor. There's
a round-robin on it. Uh oh.
Charlotte acts like nothing is wrong and bolts out of there, though she
immediately runs into Mr. Keetch who, she thinks, pays her no mind.
Charlotte delivers the needle to Ewing and returns to her cabin.
Charlotte does some quick arithmetic and realizes she's seen one too many
people. There should only be four people off the watch: Ewing, Morgan,
Foley, and Fisk. Ewing was sewing on deck, and Fisk opened the door the
forecastle. But there were three other men asleep in the hammocks. Two of
them were Morgan and Foley. Who was the third man? The stowaway?
Charlotte decides to tell Captain Jaggery of what she has seen. She runs
into Morgan on the deck and the two have a stare off. She then sees Foley
spying on her.
Charlotte is unnerved but, after some hesitating, goes directly to the
captain's quarters.
Charlotte relates to Jaggery, and to the first mate Mr. Hollybrass, what she
has seen.
The captain tells Mr. Hollybrass to summon the crew to the deck. Why? So
he can crush the mutiny, of course.
Chapter 10 Summary
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Captain Jaggery retrieves the key to the gun safe from the back of his
daughter's portrait. He and Mr. Hollybrass arm themselves heavily.
Captain Jaggery forces Charlotte to follow him (and Mr. Hollybrass) to the
deck to confront the crew.
The crew appears on deck: they're whooping wildly and fully armed. Well,
all except for Zachariah.
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The crew sees Captain Jaggery and his muskets, and they freeze instantly.
Charlotte notices an extra member among the crew: a man with one arm.
The stowaway! Yes, true, but more precisely, it's Mr. Cranick, the man who
Jaggery abused on the last voyage.
Jaggery immediately recognizes Cranick, and the two face off. Cranick pulls
out a round-robin and declares Jaggery unfit to captain the ship.
In turn, Captain Jaggery pulls out his gun and shoots Cranick in the chest.
With the crew in shock, Captain Jaggery is able to get them all to drop their
weapons. Mr. Hollybrass collects the guns as well as the round-robin.
The captain orders Zachariah to throw the body overboard without any
Christian burial. Zachariah protests, so Jaggery orders Mr. Hollybrass to do
so. He protests as well, but eventually does so.
Captain Jaggery demands that the second in command to Mr. Cranick be
punished. When no one speaks, he asks Charlotte to pick someone. She
merely shakes her head. Captain Jaggery, then, calls for Zachariah to take
the punishment.
Chapter 11 Summary
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The captain asks Zachariah if he has anything to say or if the crew has
anything to say on Zachariah's behalf. None of the crew speak, but
Zachariah defends himself in a speech in which he calls Jaggery "the worst"
captain he has ever served under (11.16).
Jaggery takes Zachariah's speech as a confession and dares anyone from
the crew to second the slander. Though it's clear that the crew hates
Jaggery, they all remain silent. (Guns can sure be intimidating, can't they?)
Mr. Hollybrass strings up Zachariah and pulls out a whip.
Charlotte feels ill and attempts to leave, but Jaggery makes her witness the
beating.
The captain orders Mr. Hollybrass to give Zachariah fifty lashes.
Charlotte cannot take the cruelty she is witnessing. She lunges at Mr.
Hollybrass, grabs the whip, and gets to her feet. In defense of herself, she
flicks the whip. It cuts Jaggery's face.
Captain Jaggery grabs the whip from Charlotte and beats Zachariah
mercilessly. He appears to be dead.
The crewmembers cut down Zachariah's lifeless body and carry it to the
forecastle.
Charlotte throws up over the side of the ship. She is left alone.
Chapter 12 Summary
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Charlotte returns to her cabin and cries. She blames herself for everything.
Charlotte determines that, even though the captain's actions were cruel, she
must take responsibility and apologize to him for cutting his face.
Charlotte finds Captain Jaggery in his cabin and apologizes for her
interference.
The captain is not a happy camper: he says Charlotte insulted him before
the crew and deserves a horsewhipping. He also withdraws his protection of
her.
On the deck, Charlotte sees the crew gathered around a bulky canvas
hammock. She assumes that it holds the body of Zachariah. The men
conduct a kind of funeral and then heave the hammock into the ocean.
Charlotte apologizes to the crew. Fisk advises her to go back to the captain.
She declares her hatred for the captain, but they only stare at her.
Heartbroken, Charlotte returns to her cabin and cries some more.
A bell summons all hands on deck, and Charlotte sneaks up to observe
what's going on.
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The captain is giving orders to the men: Fisk is to take Zachariah's place,
Mr. Keetch is demoted from second mate, and Mr. Johnson (who didn't sign
the round-robin) will take Keetch's place.
Captain Jaggery says that even though the crew is short one mate, each
watch must be fully manned.
Morgan objects, saying that this means that someone will have to work an
extra shift and that no captain can ask this of a crew, except in an
emergency. The captain tells Morgan that this is an emergency.
Charlotte makes her way to the galley where she finds Fisk and asks him
about what happened on deck. Fisk tells her that the captain is trying to
work them until they drop by requiring extra shifts.
Charlotte offers to help with the workload, but Fisk scoffs and says that she
is the "lady passenger, Miss Doyle. The informer" (12.92).
Charlotte returns to her cabin. She puts on the seamen's clothes that
Zachariah had given her.
Dressed in her trousers and blouse, Charlotte returns to the galley where
she tells Fisk that she's come to lend a hand as one of the crew.
Chapter 13 Summary
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Fisk advises Charlotte to lay her request before the rest of the crew.
The crew decides that if Charlotte can climb to the top of the royal yard (the
highest sail on the main mast, 130 feet up), then she can sign on for duty.
Fisk suggests Charlotte either shimmy up the mast or use the ratlines (the
ropes connecting the sails) as a kind of ladder. Charlotte chooses the
ratlines.
Barlow wishes Charlotte luck and Ewing advises her to not look down – or
up for that matter.
Charlotte proceeds to climb from the main yard to the topsail to the
topgallant to the royal yard. With a little difficulty along the way, she finally
reaches the top, utterly exhausted.
Charlotte begins her descent. At one point her foot slips and she falls,
becoming tangled in the lines hanging downward. She's able to right herself
with the help of a rope.
As she nears the deck, Barlow urges her to jump into his arms, but she's
determined to do the whole climb all by herself.
Upon successfully reaching the bottom on her own, the crew cheers
Charlotte. She's filled with joy, when suddenly Captain Jaggery appears.
Chapter 14 Summary
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The captain confronts Charlotte about her clothing and about climbing in the
rigging. She admits to him that she has joined the crew. He orders her back
to her cabin, but she resists. The captain tells Charlotte that he will drive her
as hard as any other member of the crew.
The captain orders Charlotte to take up residence in the forecastle with the
rest of the crew. She is also entered into the books as "Mister Doyle" rather
than "Miss Doyle."
As soon as the captain leaves, the crew cheers. Hooray, Mister Doyle!
Charlotte takes up her duties on the ship and works daily alongside the
crew. The captain drives her just as hard as the men, if not harder.
Charlotte keeps up with the pace but is always physically exhausted. Her
skin changes colors, turning into a rough hide.
Charlotte sleeps in the quarters with the men, and they swear a solemn
oath to treat her as a brother. She's given a hammock in the corner around
which a sail is drawn for privacy.
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Charlotte loves her new life and even begins to curse like the men. She
feels she has been liberated.
One afternoon the flying jib becomes entangled by some twisted line and
Charlotte is forced by Captain Jaggery to climb out to the end of the
bowsprit (that's the pointy thing on the end of the ship) to cut the line.
During the task, Charlotte falls, but is able to grab onto the bowsprit, her
feet hanging above the sea. She hauls herself up and climbs back onto the
deck.
Captain Jaggery reprimands Charlotte since the men changed the course of
the ship during her climb out on the bowsprit so that she'd have calmer
waters.
Charlotte calls the captain a coward and threatens to take him to the courts
when they arrive in Providence. She spits by his boots. (Brave!) The captain
turns on his heel and leaves the deck.
Grimes gives Charlotte lessons in handling a knife. She clearly needs no
lessons in talking back, though.
One day, Charlotte and Barlow see a blue bird from the Caribbean on a
branch floating in the water. She thinks it means land, but Barlow tells her it
means that there's a hurricane coming.
Charlotte learns that the captain is driving the ship straight for the hurricane
in the hopes that they can use the wind as momentum for the last of the
journey. Gulp.
Chapter 15 Summary
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On the morning of Charlotte's forty-fifth day at sea, the hurricane strikes.
Captain Jaggery commands that the ship sail through the storm.
Captain Jaggery gives Charlotte the task of cutting down the foreyard sail
so that it won't pull the mast down. He gives her a knife.
Charlotte climbs into the rigging with the knife between her teeth. Her long
hair gets in her way, so she stops and hacks it off with a knife.
After much struggle, Charlotte reaches the top of the mast and begins
cutting the ropes holding the sail. At one point, Charlotte slips, drops the
knife, and is dangling from a great height.
Charlotte loses the grip of one hand but right before she can fall, a figure
appears and grabs her, yanking her back onto the spar. It's Zachariah!
Charlotte hears an explosion as the foreyard rips away. When she looks
back, Zachariah is gone.
As the crew clears the deck, they find Mr. Hollybrass with a knife in his
back. Charlotte recognizes the knife as the dirk Zachariah gave her.
The captain approaches Mr. Hollybrass's body and takes something from
the corpse's fingers. It is Charlotte's handkerchief.
The captain orders the crew to take the body below, clear the deck, and
man the pumps. Charlotte helps pump the water.
Finally, the storm is over and Charlotte sleeps.
Chapter 16 Summary
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Charlotte sleeps for fourteen hours and then wakes.
She reflects upon seeing Zachariah in the rigging. Was he a ghost? An
angel? It must have been a miracle.
When Charlotte hits the deck it's oh-so-quiet. Have the crew forgotten her?
She notices that both watches of the crew are on deck.
Charlotte asks Ewing and Keetch if they had forgotten to call her to the
watch. They admit to her that they were told not to call her.
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The men keep calling Charlotte "Miss," much to her dismay, and eventually
confess that the captain told everyone that Charlotte murdered Mr.
Hollybrass to avenge Zachariah's death.
Charlotte starts to say that she has seen Zachariah, but stops herself.
The captain is claiming that Charlotte is guilty because the dirk used to kill
Mr. Hollybrass was hers.
Captain Jaggery charges Charlotte with the murder of Mr. Hollybrass and
says that she'll stand trial that day before a jury of her peers.
Captain Jaggery commands Barlow to take Charlotte to the brig. He leads
her down the hatch, through top cargo (where the head adventure took
place), and into the hold.
Barlow locks Charlotte into a cage of iron bars, taking his light with him.
Before he goes, Charlotte asks Barlow if he thinks she killed Mr. Hollybrass.
He says he doesn't know.
All alone, Charlotte reflects on the trial that's to take place. She then hears
footsteps approaching. She calls out.
All of a sudden, a light appears, and Charlotte sees a vision: it's Zachariah
again.
Chapter 17 Summary
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Chapter 18 Summary
Charlotte realizes that the apparition is not at all a ghostly vision from the
grave, but in fact, Zachariah himself.
Zachariah reveals that the hammock the men threw into the sea was a
decoy to protect him from Captain Jaggery. He's been hiding out in the hold
ever since.
Charlotte wants to know why she wasn't told about this, and Zachariah tells
her point blank that it's because she was a snitch about the mutiny. (Burn!)
Zachariah admits to helping Charlotte on the rigging during the hurricane.
He also tells her that there's no way the captain knows he's in the hold –
otherwise, he wouldn't be alive still.
Zachariah tells Charlotte of his plan to expose Captain Jaggery to the
authorities once they land in Rhode Island.
Charlotte tells Zachariah that it is highly unlikely that, as a black man and a
common sailor, his word would be taken over Captain Jaggery's.
Zachariah tells Charlotte that he'll appeal to her father for help and that if
her father is anything like her, they have nothing to fear. Um, yeah.
Charlotte is not so sure about that.
Charlotte tells Zachariah about the murder of Mr. Hollybrass and that the
captain has accused her. Zachariah had been told nothing about it by the
crew. Charlotte tells him that she thinks the crew is on the captain's side this
time.
Zachariah goes to get food and water. In the meantime, Charlotte entertains
the possibility that perhaps it was Zachariah that killed Mr. Hollybrass,
perhaps to scare the captain. The crew would of course let her be accused
in order to protect Zachariah if they think he really did it.
Zachariah returns with water and hardtack. The two sit together and eat.
They try to determine who killed Mr. Hollybrass, Charlotte still suspecting
that maybe it was Zachariah. Almost everyone on the crew knew about the
dirk, but only Zachariah and the captain knew it was under the mattress.
The candles go out and Zachariah tells frightening tales about the whole
crew. Charlotte takes this as a sign of his possible guilt. She cannot,
though, bring herself to accuse him.
Suddenly, there is a noise and a light. Charlotte hurries back to the brig. It's
Captain Jaggery, and he's come to take Charlotte to her trial.
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Charlotte is taken to the deck where the captain has set up a makeshift
courtroom: the crew sits in place of the jury and the captain has a cabin
chair where he presides as judge.
The captain uses a Bible to swear in the whole crew.
The captain asks Charlotte how she pleads (innocent) and if she wishes to
withdraw her claim to being a member of the crew (she doesn't). The trial
proceeds.
The captain asks Charlotte if she wishes to accuse someone else of
murdering Mr. Hollybrass. She doesn't. He then asks if any man is willing to
defend Charlotte. (Nope.)
Captain Jaggery determines that the dirk belonged to Charlotte and that
when he originally asked who gave it to her she lied and said it was Mr.
Grummage, instead of Zachariah. So now the court establishes that
Charlotte is a liar. Great.
Captain Jaggery asks if anyone saw Charlotte with the knife. After much
cajoling involving the Bible, almost everyone says that they saw Charlotte
with the knife.
Captain Jaggery states it is "unnatural" for a girl to carry a knife (18.92).
Charlotte objects, arguing he was the one who gave her a knife to cut away
the rigging during the storm. Captain Jaggery says that's only because it
was an emergency.
Captain Jaggery starts asking misleading questions about why Charlotte
would have a knife, and she becomes confused.
Grimes comes forward and admits to having taught Charlotte how to use a
knife. The captain gets Grimes to agree that it's unnatural for a girl to use a
knife.
Captain Jaggery begins a line of argument in which he accuses Charlotte of
being unnatural for being a girl working aboard a boat. He states that he
and the crew have an obligation to protect "the natural order of the world"
(18.159).
The captain asks Charlotte what happened to Zachariah. She testifies that
he was flogged to death by the captain and Mr. Hollybrass.
The captain gets Charlotte to admit that she was angry that he flogged
Zachariah, establishing motive.
Through a few rhetorical tricks, the captain argues that Charlotte is
unnatural, not unusual. And so it comes as no surprise that she committed
an unnatural crime: murder.
No one on the crew will defend Charlotte. Confused and frightened, she's
unable to speak for herself.
The captain declares a verdict of guilty and that Charlotte is to be hanged.
Chapter 19 Summary
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The captain locks Charlotte back in the brig.
Zachariah appears and releases Charlotte from her cage. She tells him
what has just happened, and that she has 24 hours until she gets hanged.
Charlotte finally confesses that she thinks Zachariah killed Mr. Hollybrass.
She also says that the rest of the crew thinks it's him too, and that they're
protecting him with silence.
Zachariah says he did not kill Mr. Hollybrass.
Zachariah mentions that Jaggery saw him on deck during the storm. The
captain was in the middle of arguing with Mr. Hollybrass. Zachariah
assumed Jaggery thought he was a ghost – especially when the captain
didn't start looking for Zachariah after the storm.
The two realize that Captain Jaggery had kept his knowledge of Zachariah
secret so that he could convict Charlotte without any objection from the
crew.
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Zachariah and Charlotte then conclude that it must have been the captain
himself who killed Mr. Hollybrass.
Zachariah says that the only way to deal with the captain is to rise up
against him as the crew did before. He suggests breaking into the captain's
cabin and getting his muskets from the safe.
Charlotte says she knows just where to find the key.
Chapter 20 Summary
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Charlotte tells Zachariah about the key to the gun safe hidden behind the
portrait of Captain Jaggery's daughter.
Zachariah leaves to fetch one of the crew and Charlotte, for the first time in
a very long time, thinks of her family. She hopes they'll be proud of her.
Zachariah returns with Keetch, and the three hold a "council of war" (20.42).
Zachariah and Charlotte tell Keetch it was the captain who murdered
Hollybrass. Keetch tells them that the men had assumed it was Zachariah.
Keetch says that the ship will reach Providence in just a few days, hence
the captain's haste with the hanging.
They plan the following: Keetch will lure the captain out of the cabin, and
Charlotte will grab the key and hand it off to Zachariah. The men will then
lead an uprising against the captain.
At 1am, they put the plan into action. Keetch sends word that he has
detained the captain at the helm.
Charlotte heads for the captain's quarters, but as she goes, she stops by
the door of her old cabin. Hearing the door swinging on its hinges, she's
reminded of the conversation she overheard on her first night on the
Seahawk. What was the significance?
Charlotte opens the door to Captain Jaggery's cabin to find the captain
himself seated at his table.
Chapter 21 Summary
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Charlotte enters Captain Jaggery's cabin. He has been expecting her since,
as he reveals, Keetch has been his spy all along. (Keetch was the one she
overheard talking outside of her cabin that first night on board.)
The captain gives Charlotte a speech about how she disrupted the order of
the boat. He then admits that he was the one who killed Mr. Hollybrass,
because the man had threatened him.
Jaggery tells Charlotte that since she's the unnatural one, she shall be held
responsible.
The captain lights a candle and Charlotte sees that the fine furnishings have
cracks in them from the storm. The captain rants again about keeping things
in order.
Charlotte realizes the captain has gone mad.
The captain gives Charlotte three choices:
1. He will give her the keys to the gun cabinet and let her stage a mutiny, in
which case infamy will ensue and her family will be shamed.
2. She can put on her girl's clothes again, beg him for forgiveness, and then
everything will be back in its proper order.
3. She can be hanged.
Hm, can' there be a fourth option?
Charlotte rejects all of the choices and rushes out onto the deck where she
finds the crew gathered around Zachariah, who has been bound by Keetch.
The conspiracy has turned against them.
The captain tells the crew that Charlotte was trying to murder him. She yells
out that he's lying and that he killed Mr. Hollybrass.
The crew doesn't do anything.
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The captain fires at Charlotte and, as the boat takes a plunge, misses.
Charlotte retreats to the bowsprit where Jaggery follows.
The Seahawk takes another plunge and Jaggery is tossed overboard.
Charlotte asks the crew for a knife and Grimes gives her one. She cuts the
restraints from Zachariah.
Zachariah suggests that since Charlotte defeated Jaggery, she should be
made captain.
Chapter 22 Summary
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Ship's Time Summary
Charlotte is entered into the log as captain, though in name only. Zachariah
assumes most of the command. The captain is entered into the log as being
lost at sea during the hurricane.
As the ship approaches Rhode Island, Charlotte becomes melancholy.
What will become of her?
Zachariah tells Charlotte that he's originally from the east coast of Africa,
but was never a slave.
The Seahawk arrives in Rhode Island on August 17, 1832, two months after
departing from Liverpool, England.
Charlotte is met by her prim and proper family. She's happy to see them.
In the family carriage, Charlotte's brother Albert and sister Evelina comment
on her dirty clothes. Charlotte's dad reminds her that he will be reading her
journal (thank goodness the rat didn't eat it, eh?).
At the family home on Benevolent Street, Charlotte reveals her short hair to
her family. She tells them it was cut because of lice. Charlotte's mother is
horrified by her daughter's hard brown hands.
As the family eats at the table, Charlotte lets it slip that she associated with
the men during the voyage. Her family is again taken aback.
Charlotte's father dismisses her from the table, suggesting that she get
some rest.
In her room, the maid, Bridget, attempts to bathe and dress Charlotte and
calls her "Miss." Charlotte objects, but the maid tells her that she must
address her properly or the master will be upset. Charlotte is sad.
A second maid, Mary, comes to destroy Charlotte's old clothes and collect
the journal so her father can read it. Charlotte asks if Mary will call her
"Charlotte" but the second maid also declines out of fear of the master.
Charlotte takes her sailor's outfit from the trunk so that it will not be
destroyed.
Charlotte is called to the parlor where she finds her mother and father, and
her journal blazing in the fireplace.
Charlotte's father says her journal is filled with "unnatural" tales (22.158). He
criticizes her spelling, and says she's forbidden to talk about the voyage
with her brother and sister.
Charlotte is confined to her room where her only visitor is Bridget the maid.
Even Bridget, though, resists Charlotte's attempts at friendship.
Charlotte bribes Bridget to bring her newspapers without her father's
knowledge. Eventually she finds what she's looking for: a listing for the
Seahawk, which will be departing on September 9th with Fisk as captain.
Charlotte is on good behavior for the next few days so that she's finally let
out of her room. Her father suggests that she keep studying so as to have
an orderly life.
That night, Charlotte steals out of her window. Once at the docks, she's met
by Zachariah. She tells him she has decided to come home.
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This section explains how time works on a boat and how the crew's shifts
are divided.
The first watch was commanded by Mr. Hollybrass and the second by Mr.
Keetch (then later Mr. Johnson).
The watches are divided into two- or four-hour shifts.
On a typical day, a sailor would work alternating shifts. This is known as
"watch and watch."
The "watch and watch" schedule meant that no one on the ship would have
more than four hours of sleep at once.
Time was tracked by a bell that rang every 30 minutes.