The boat was now hauled alongside, and the sick and lame were called up from their berths.  Pricket crawled upon deck as well as he could, and Hudson, seeing him, called to him to come to the hatchway to speak with him.  Pricket entreated the men, on his knees, for the love of God to remember their duty, and do as they would be done by; but they only told him to go back to his berth, and would not allow him to have any communication with Hudson.  When Hudson was in the boat, he called again to Pricket, who was at the horn window, which lighted his cabin, and told him that Juet would “overthrow” them all.  “Nay,” said Pricket, “it is that villain, Henry Greene;” and this he said as loud as he could.

After Hudson was put into the boat, the carpenter was set at liberty, but he refused to remain in the ship unless they forced him; so they told him he might go in the boat, and allowed him to take his chest with him.  Before he got into the boat, he went down to take leave of Pricket, who entreated him to remain in the ship; but the carpenter said he believed that they would soon be taken on board again, as there was no one left who knew enough to bring the ship home; and that he was determined not to desert the master.  He thought the boat would be kept in tow; but, if they should be parted, he begged Pricket to leave some token for them if he should reach Digges’s Cape first.  They then took leave of each other with tears in their eyes, and the carpenter went into the boat, taking a musket and some powder and shot, an iron pot, a small quantity of meal, and other provisions.  Hudson’s son and six of the men were also put into the boat.  The sails were now hoisted, and they stood eastward with a fair wind, dragging the shallop from the stern; and in a few hours, being clear of the ice, they cut the rope by which the boat was dragged, and soon after lost sight of her forever.

[Illustration:  CUT ADRIFT IN HUDSON’S BAY]

The account here given of the mutiny, is nearly in the words of Pricket, an eyewitness of the event.  It is difficult at first to perceive the whole enormity of the crime.  The more we reflect upon it, the blacker it appears.  Scarcely a circumstance is wanting, that could add to the baseness of the villainy, or the horror of the suffering inflicted.  The principal conspirators were men who were bound to Hudson by long friendship, by lasting obligations, and by common interests, adventures and sufferings.  Juet had sailed with him on two of his former voyages, and had shared in the glory of his discoveries.  Greene had been received into his house, when abandoned even by his own mother; had been kindly and hospitably entertained, encouraged to reform, and taken, on Hudson’s private responsibility, into a service in which he might gain celebrity and wealth.  Wilson had been selected from among the crew, by the approving eye of the commander, and appointed to a place of trust and honor.  Yet these men conspired to murder their benefactor, and instigated the crew to join in their execrable scheme.