"I fervently wish it would; then we could nab that fellow beautifully with the boats."
"Might we not try, sir, as it is?" inquired I eagerly. "We have enough people--that is, counting the _Wyvern"s_ men, who, I have no doubt, would all volunteer," I hastened to add, as my eye fell upon three or four of those whom we had taken out of the launch, and who, what with starvation and their still unhealed wounds, looked more fit for a hospital than for boat duty.
"Thank you, Mr Courtenay," answered the skipper, with a smile, evidently reading my unspoken thoughts. "No, I am afraid it would not do. In the first place, I question whether we really _have_ sufficient men to justify such an attempt; and, in the next place, if we had, it would still be desirable, in my opinion, to defer the attempt until we are much nearer. At present n.o.body can tell what we are. The schooner is such a small affair that I am in hopes the brigantine will take no notice of us until we are within striking distance of her; while, if I were to send the boats away, she would probably make off at once. No; it is rather trying to the patience to remain idly aboard here, drifting along at this snail"s pace, but I am convinced that it is the correct thing to do. Perhaps, if we show only a few men about the decks, the brigantine may be tempted to tackle us."
"Ah! if only she would, sir!" I e.j.a.c.u.l.a.t.ed, with such intensity of feeling that the captain laughed.
"Why, I declare you are developing into a regular fire-eater!" he exclaimed.
"Think of the pa.s.sengers, sir, some of them women, most likely!" I said.
"I _am_ thinking of them, sir!" answered the captain through his clenched teeth, and with a sudden glitter in his eye that foreboded evil to the brigantine"s people, should we be fortunate enough to get within striking distance of them.
I turned away and walked forward to where I saw Black Peter, the whilom servant of the midshipmen"s mess aboard the _Althea_. He was one of those whom we had found still alive in the launch, and he had picked up wonderfully since then, having become almost his old self again. He was lounging on the forecastle near the port cat-head, with his bare, brawny arms crossed on the rail as he gazed ahead at the two craft, with which we were slowly closing.
"Peter," said I, "get the grindstone ready. And Green, get the cutla.s.ses up on deck and give them a thorough good sharpening. We may want them by and by."
"Ay, ay, sir," answered Green, with a grin, as he shambled away to get the weapon, while Peter bestirred himself with alacrity to prepare the grindstone for its work by drawing a bucket of water and pouring it into the trough. A few minutes later Peter, his eyes gleaming with excitement and every one of his ivories bared in a broad grin of delight, was whirling the handle round at a furious speed, as Green and another hand stood on either side of the stone, each pressing a bare blade to its fiercely buzzing disc.
We continued to drift along at an exasperatingly slow pace before the languid breeze until we had arrived within about four miles of the two craft, when the skipper gave orders to clear the decks and cast loose the guns; but he instructed me that the galley fire was not to be extinguished and the magazine opened until the last moment. Apparently he had his doubts as to the probability of the brigantine attacking us.
And, if so, his doubts were soon confirmed; for when we had reduced the distance by another mile the lookout aloft reported that the brigantine was filling away; and in another minute or two she turned her stern to us, rigged out her studding-sail booms, and went off before the wind, setting her studding-sails as she went.
"Ah!" e.j.a.c.u.l.a.t.ed the captain, "it is as I feared! She smells a rat, and does not mean to wait for us! Hoist out the gig at once, Mr Courtenay, and pull for your life to that ship; too probably it is a case of the _Wyvern_ over again, and if there are any people left aboard her they must be saved. Let the men go fully armed, but do not take more than the boat"s proper complement, as you are not likely to have any fighting to do, while you may want all the room in the boat that you can spare."
We were by this time moving so slowly that it was unnecessary to heave- to in order to hoist out the gig. No time, therefore, was lost in getting her into the water, and within five minutes of the issuing of the order by the captain we were afloat and away from the schooner, with the men--a picked crew, consisting of the strongest and smartest men in the ship--bending their backs as they drove the beautifully modelled boat at racing speed through the water.
We had barely got away, however, before I detected light wreaths of smoke curling up between the masts of the distant ship; and at the same moment I observed that although her mainyards were still braced aback she seemed to be no longer hove-to, for, as I watched, her bows fell off until she was nearly before the wind, and she went drifting slowly away to leeward, sometimes heading in one direction and sometimes in another, yawing about all over the place, with a difference of fully four points on either side of the general direction in which she was driving. This was most exasperating, as although she was drifting slowly she was still drifting, and that, too, in the same general direction that we were steering, thus prolonging the time that must necessarily elapse ere we could overtake her, while it would greatly increase the expenditure of energy on the part of the oarsmen to enable us to get alongside.
"Give way with a will, men," I cried. "The rascals have not only set fire to the ship, but they have also cast loose her wheel, so that she is now running away from us to leeward. The harder you pull the sooner shall we catch her, and the better chance will there be for us to put out the fire. And remember, for aught that we know, her crew may be lying there upon her deck, bound hand and foot, utterly helpless, to roast alive, unless we can get alongside in time to save them!"
This appeal was not without effect upon the men; hard as they had been pulling, they now put out every available ounce of strength they possessed, their brawny muscles standing out like ropes upon their bare arms, while the perspiration literally poured off them, and the stout ash blades bent like wands, as they all but lifted the gig clean out of the water at every stroke. We tore along over the low, oil-like ridges of the swell at the speed of the dolphin, leaving the schooner as though she were at anchor; yet to my eager impatience our headlong pace seemed to be little better than a crawl, for the light wreaths of smoke that I had seen winding lazily upward from the ship"s hull and twining about her spars increased in volume with startling rapidity, while it momentarily grew darker in colour, until, within ten minutes of its first appearance, it had become a dense cloud of dun-coloured smoke, completely enveloping the ship, in the heart of which long, forking tongues of flickering flame presently appeared. They had apparently set fire to the poor old barkie in at least half a dozen places, and she was burning like match-wood.
"Pull, men, pull!" I cried, "or we shall be too late; she is well alight even now, and in another quarter of an hour she will be a blazing furnace if she goes on at her present rate. Heaven above! if there are people aboard her what must their feelings be now?"
A groan of sympathy burst from the men in response to this e.j.a.c.u.l.a.t.i.o.n of mine, and they tugged at the oars with a strength and energy that filled me with amazement. We were coming up with the ship hand over hand; but, fast as the boat flew, the fire grew still faster, and presently I saw the flames climbing aloft by way of the well-tarred shrouds until they reached the sails, when there arose a sudden blaze of flame among the spars, and in two or three minutes every shred of canvas had been consumed, and the crawling tongues of fire were circling about the masts and yards, feebly at first, but steadily increasing until they were all ablaze. Meanwhile the ship, deprived of her canvas, gradually fell broadside-on to the wind, and from that position as gradually drifted round until she lay bows-on to us. By this time we were within three-quarters of a mile of her, and now that she was no longer driven to leeward by her sails, we neared her rapidly. But my heart sank within me as I watched her, for the destruction of her sails, which I had at first thought a fortunate circ.u.mstance,--inasmuch as she no longer blew away from us,--I now recognised as a dreadful happening; for, stationary as she now lay on the water, the light draught of wind had full power to fan the fire that raged aboard her, and by the time that we drew up under her bows and hooked on to her bobstay, she was a roaring ma.s.s of flames from stem to stern.
I shinned up the bobstay and so got on to her bowsprit, and from there made my way into her head; but I could go no farther, for the fore part of her deck was a sheet of fire, upon which no living thing could exist for more than a few seconds of unspeakable torment, and even where I stood the heat was all but unendurable. I could not see very far aft for the flames and smoke. Her fore-scuttle was open, and a pillar of flame roared out of it as from a chimney on fire; and some ten feet abaft it was her foremast, ablaze from the deck to the truck; and immediately abaft it again was the blazing framework of what had shortly before been a deck-house. Beyond that I could see nothing. One thing was quite certain, and that was that if there were living people still aboard her--which I could not believe possible--they must be aft, and it was there that we must seek them. So I scrambled down into the gig again, and ordered the men to back off and pull round under the ship"s stern.
They lost no time in obeying my order; and it was well for us all that they exhibited so much alacrity, for as we swept round and gave way an ominous cracking and rending sound was heard aboard the ship, and a moment later her blazing foremast toppled over and fell with a crash into the sea, missing the gig by a bare boathook"s length.
"Look out for the other masts; they"ll be comin" down too in a jiffy!"
sang out one of the men; and they all pulled for their lives. But the alarm was a false one, the main and mizzen masts standing for full ten minutes longer.
But when we got under the ship"s stern it became perfectly clear that no living thing could be aboard her, for she was even more fiercely ablaze aft than she was for"ard, the whole of her, from the mainmast to the taffrail, being a veritable furnace of roaring flame, with tongues and jets of fire leaping from her cabin windows and from every port and scuttle. It was impossible to board her in this direction; it would have simply been an act of suicide to have attempted it; even her outside planking, right down to the water"s edge, was so hot that it was unbearable to the touch; and it was beyond all doubt that if those fiends in the brigantine had left the crew, or any portion of them, on board, the unhappy creatures must have perished long ere we had reached the ill-fated craft. I therefore took a note of her name,--the _Kingston Trader_ of Bristol,--and reluctantly gave the word to haul off to a safe distance to wait until the schooner should run down and pick us up.
This occurred about a quarter of an hour later, and the moment that the gig was fairly clear of the water we crowded sail after the brigantine; but, fast as the schooner was, the pirate craft easily ran away from us, and by sunset had vanished below the horizon.
Nothing further of importance happened to us until our arrival at Port Royal, which occurred on the evening of the following day, when we just saved the last of the sea breeze into the harbour. The captain went ash.o.r.e and reported himself that same night, dining with the admiral afterwards; but I did not go ash.o.r.e until late the next day, as there was a great deal of business that I had to attend to. Captain Harrison was of course most anxious that our trial by court-martial for the loss of the frigate should take place as speedily as possible, because he could not hope for another command until that was over; and it happened by a quite exceptional piece of luck that there were enough ships in the harbour to allow of its being held at once. It was consequently arranged to take place on board the flag-ship, on the fourth day following our arrival. It was, of course, only a formal affair, the loss of the frigate being due to causes quite beyond our control,-- unless, indeed, we had chosen to run from the two French ships instead of fighting them,--so it was soon over, and before noon we were all honourably acquitted, and our side-arms returned to us with much congratulatory handshaking on the part of the officers present. Captain Harrison, the doctor, Lindsay, and I were invited to dine with the admiral at his Pen that evening, and we accordingly drove out with the last of the daylight, arriving at the house just as the sun was setting over Hunt Bay. The admiral was the very soul of hospitality, and we were therefore a large party, several officers from Up Park Camp and a sprinkling of civilians being present "to take off the salt flavour"
likely to prevail from a too exclusive gathering of the naval element, as our host laughingly put it.
Somewhat to my surprise, I found myself the lion of the evening, Captain Harrison having most generously made the utmost of my exploit in capturing the French schooner and my subsequent search for the frigate"s boats; and so many compliments were paid me that, being still young and comparatively modest, I had much difficulty in maintaining my self- possession and making suitable replies.
After dinner, and while the rest of us were chatting and smoking over our wine, the admiral, apologising for being obliged to temporarily absent himself, withdrew, taking Captain Harrison with him. They were absent for nearly an hour, and when they returned there was noticeable in the skipper"s manner a subdued but joyous exultation that told of good news. I did not, however, learn what it was until we had left the Pen and were driving back to our hotel in Kingston by the dazzling silver radiance of a tropical full moon. And, prior to that, the admiral had said to me, as I bade him good-night--
"Come and see me in my office to-morrow about noon, Mr Courtenay; I want to have a talk to you."
As soon as we were clear of the Pen grounds and fairly on our road to Kingston, the skipper said to me--
"Mr Courtenay, do you happen to have noticed that fine frigate, the _Minerva_, lying just insh.o.r.e of the flag-ship?"
"Yes, sir, I have," said I. "She is a beauty, and is said to be a wonderful sailer, especially on a taut bowline. I heard yesterday that her captain is ash.o.r.e, down with yellow fever."
"Very true," answered the skipper. "The poor fellow died this morning, and the admiral has been pleased to give the command of her to me."
"I congratulate you with all my heart, sir," said I. "I thought I could read good news in your face this evening when you returned to the dining-room. She is a magnificent vessel, and I sincerely hope that you will have abundant opportunity to distinguish yourself in her. And I hope, sir, that you will take me with you."
"Thank you, Courtenay, thank you!" exclaimed the skipper, evidently touched by the sincerity of my congratulations; "if we can only manage to fall in with the enemy frequently enough, never fear but I will distinguish myself--if I live. As to taking you with me, I would do so with the greatest pleasure, and as a matter of course, were I permitted to have my own way; but I believe, from what the admiral let drop to me to-night, that he has his own plans for you, and, if so, you may rest a.s.sured that they will be far more to your advantage than would be your accompanying me to the _Minerva_. Let me see--how much longer have you to serve before you are eligible for examination?"
"Only four days more, sir," I answered, with a laugh; "then I shall go up as early as possible."
"Only four days more?" exclaimed the skipper in surprise; "I thought it was more like two months!"
"Only four days, I a.s.sure you, sir," repeated I.
"Um! well, I suppose you know best," was the answer, given in a musing tone, to which was presently added, "So much the better! So much the better!"
"May I ask, sir, whether that remark has any reference to me?" I inquired.
"Certainly, Courtenay, certainly; there cannot be any possible objection to your asking, but I am not bound to answer, am I?" replied the skipper, with a laugh. "No," he continued, "I must not tell you anything, except that I have reason to believe that the admiral is very much pleased with your behaviour, and that he contemplates marking his approval in a manner which, I am sure, will be very pleasing to yourself."
And that was all I could get out of the gallant captain; but it was sufficient to cause me to pa.s.s a sleepless night of pleasurable speculation.
Prompt to the second I presented myself at the admiral"s office next morning, and was at once shown into the great man"s presence.
"Morning, Mr Courtenay!" exclaimed he, as I entered. "Bring yourself to an anchor for a minute or two, will ye, until I have signed these papers; then I shall be free to have a talk to you. Jenkins, clear away a chair for Mr Courtenay."
The orderly sergeant reverently removed a pile of books and papers from a chair, dusted it, and placed it near an open window, and I amused myself by looking out upon the busy scene in the harbour, while the admiral proceeded to scrawl his signature upon doc.u.ment after doc.u.ment.
"There!" he exclaimed, with a sigh of relief, as he signed the last one and pushed it away from him, "thank goodness that job is finished! Now, Mr Courtenay--by the way, Captain Harrison told me last night that he believed you would soon be eligible for your examination. Is that so?"
"Yes, sir," answered I; "I shall have served my full time in three days more."
"Three days!" exclaimed the admiral. "Is that all?"
I replied that it was.
"And I understand that you are a good seaman and navigator," resumed the admiral. "I suppose you have no fear of failing when you go up for your examination?" I modestly replied that I had not, provided that I was treated fairly, and had not a lot of catch-questions put to me.
"Just so," responded the admiral musingly. "Your navigation, I have no doubt, is all right," he continued, "and of course you can work a ship when she is all ataunto. But suppose you belonged, let us say, to a frigate, and at the end of an engagement you found yourself in command, and your ship unrigged, what is the first thing you would do?"