Pierre again and again thanked Bill for having brought him to so delightful a place.
"Ah!" he said, "that lady," looking at Mrs Crofton, "reminds me of my mother, and the little girl is just like Jeannette, when she was younger. And they are so kind and gentle! I shall get well very soon, though I think I should have died if I had remained at the hospital, where I was nearly stifled, while day and night I heard the oaths and groans of my wounded compatriots, who abuse the English as the cause of their suffering, regardless of the care that is being taken of them."
"I was very sure you would recover sooner in a quiet house by yourself, and therefore I begged my officer to have you removed," said Bill.
It was not for some time that Pierre remarked the new midshipman"s uniform.
"Why, you told me you were a ship"s boy, now I see you dressed as an officer!" he exclaimed, in a tone of astonishment. "The gendarmes were right after all."
"No, they were wrong," answered Bill. "I was then what I told you, but I am now a midshipman."
He then gave an account to Pierre of how he had been promoted. Their conversation was interrupted by the return of Mrs Crofton and Mary with some food for their patient, as the doctor had told Mr Saltwell that he should be fed often, though with but little at a time. As Mrs Crofton could speak French, she did not require Bill to interpret for her.
He was glad to find that Pierre would be able to converse with his kind hostess Mr Saltwell, who had gone into the drawing-room, now told Bill that he might stay with Pierre until the evening, and that he should have leave to visit him every day while the frigate remained in harbour.
The first lieutenant now took his leave, and Mrs Crofton observing that "Pierre would be the better for some sleep, after the excitement of being moved," invited Bill into her sitting-room, she naturally wishing to hear more about his adventures in France than Mr Saltwell had been able to tell her. Bill himself was perfectly willing to talk away on the subject as long as she wished, especially when he found so ready a listener in Mary. He began with an account of the blowing up of the _Foxhound_; and when he had finished, Mrs Crofton wished to know how it was that he first came to go to sea, and so he had to go back to tell her all about himself, and the death of his mother, and how he had been left penniless in the world.
"And now I find you a midshipman with warm friends; in a few years you will be a lieutenant, then a commander, and next a post-captain, I hope, and at length a British admiral, and you will have gained your promotion without the interest of relatives or born friends, simply by your own good conduct and bravery."
"I don"t know what I may become, ma"am," said Bill, inclined to smile at Mrs Crofton"s enthusiasm. "At present I am but a midshipman, but I will try, as I always have, to do my duty."
This conversation made Bill feel perfectly at home with Mrs Crofton.
Indeed, it seemed to him as if he had known her all his life, so that he was willing to confide in her as if she were his mother.
He was equally willing to confide in Mary. Indeed, all the reserve he at first felt quickly wore off, and he talked to her as if she had been his sister. If he did not say to himself that she was a perfect angel, he thought her what most people would consider very much better--a kind, good, honest, open-hearted girl, with clear hazel, truthful eyes, and a sweet smile on her mouth when she smiled, which was very frequently, with a hearty ring in her laughter. She reminded him, as she did Pierre, of Jeannette, and Bill felt very sure that, should she ever have the opportunity of helping any one in distress, she would be ready to take as much trouble and run as many risks as the French girl had in a.s.sisting Jack and him.
"Do you know, Mr Rayner, I like midshipmen very much?" she said, in her artless way. "My brother Oliver is a midshipman, and as I am very fond of him, I like all midshipmen for his sake. At first I was inclined to like you because you were a midshipman, but now I like you for yourself."
"I am much obliged to you," said Bill; "and I like you for yourself, I can tell you. I didn"t know before that you had a brother Oliver.
Where is he serving?"
"On board the _Ariel_ corvette in the West Indies," answered Mary.
"Perhaps some day we may fall in with each other," said Bill; "and I am very sure, from what you say about him, we shall become good friends, for I shall be inclined to like him for your sake."
"Then I"m sure he will like you; he could not help doing so. He is only three years older than I am; just about your age I suppose. He went to sea when he was a very little fellow with poor dear papa, who was killed in action. Oliver was by his side at the time, and wrote us home an account of the sad, sad event, saying how brokenhearted he was. The people were very kind to him. Papa was lieutenant of the ship, and was loved by all the men, as I am sure he would have been, remembering how good and kind and gentle he was with us."
The tears came into Mary"s bright eyes as she spoke of her father.
"Whenever we hear of a battle out there, poor mamma is very anxious until the particulars come home, and she knows that Oliver is safe,"
said Mary. "We are nearly sure to get a letter from him, for he always writes when he can, and I hope that you"ll write also when you are away, and tell us all that you are doing; then we shall receive two letters instead of one, and we shall always be so very, very glad to hear from you."
Bill promised that he would write constantly, saying that he should be pleased to do so, especially as he had not many correspondents; indeed, he might have said that he had none, as he was, in truth, not acquainted with anybody on sh.o.r.e. Mary and her mother were the first friends he had ever possessed, so that he very naturally valued them the more.
They were of very great service to him in many respects, for Mrs Crofton was a ladylike and refined person, though her means were small, and she was able to give him instruction in the ways and manners of people of education; though Bill was so observant, and anxious to imitate what was right, that he only required the opportunity to fit himself thoroughly for his new station in life.
Mr Saltwell lent him books, and he read during every spare moment, to make amends for his want of early education.
When he came on sh.o.r.e, Mrs Crofton a.s.sisted him, and as she knew French very well, helped him to study it with a grammar and dictionary, which he found very easy, as he already understood so much of the language, and he was able to practise speaking with Pierre.
The young Frenchman slowly recovered, but the doctor, who came to visit him from the hospital every day, said that it would be a long time before he would regain strength and be able to return to France.
Bill had written, at Pierre"s dictation, to Madame Turgot, to tell her where he was, what had happened to him, and how well he was treated. It was rather a funny composition, as Pierre was no great scholar, and could not say how the words should be spelt, but Bill showed it to Mrs Crofton, who a.s.sured him that it would be understood perfectly well, which was the great object required, and that Madame Turgot would be satisfied, from the tone and expression, that it came from her son.
There was no regular post in those days between the two countries.
Pierre, however, at length got an answer from his mother, directed to the care of Mrs Crofton, expressing her heartfelt thanks to Lieutenant Saltwell and Bill, and the kind lady who had befriended him. She sent also many messages from Captain Turgot and Jeannette.
The letter arrived just as the _Thisbe_ was ready for sea. Mary could not help bursting into tears when Bill took his leave for the last time.
"It"s just like Oliver going away," she said. Indeed, it was evident that she looked upon Bill as another Oliver, and even Mrs Crofton showed how sincerely sorry she was to part with her young visitor, who had so greatly won on her affections.
She promised to write again to Madame Turgot to let her know how Pierre was getting on; but there appeared no probability of his being able to move until the frigate came back, when Mr Saltwell would be able to make arrangements for his return to France.
Though sorry to leave his kind friends, Bill was very glad to be at sea again, and engaged in the active duties of his profession. His messmates treated him with much kindness, and remarked among themselves the improvement in his manners, while two or three fresh members of the mess, when they heard how he had gained his promotion, looked upon him with evident respect. He did not, however, forget his old friends, and Jack was always pleased when he came forward to talk to him, and did not appear at all jealous, which could not be said of Tom, who, though he did not venture to show his feelings, was inclined to keep out of his way, and sometimes answered in rather a surly tone when spoken to, always taking care to bring in the "sir" after every sentence, and touching his hat with mock respect, of which Bill, though he could not fail to observe, took no notice.
The _Thisbe_ had been several weeks at sea, and had during that time captured, without firing a shot, three of the enemy"s merchantmen, which she had sent into Plymouth, the more pugnacious of the crew grumbling at not having encountered an enemy worthy of their prowess, and which would have afforded them a larger amount of prize-money.
Captain Martin was about to return to port to take on board his officers and men when he was joined by the _Venus_ frigate. Her captain told him that he had just before made out two French frigates to the south-east, and the _Thisbe_ bore up with the _Venus_ in chase, with every st.i.tch of canvas they could carry set.
A stern chase is proverbially a long chase, and the French frigates, which had been seen to the eastward, had a considerable start of their pursuers. Still, as they had been under moderate canvas, it was hoped that they would set no more sail, and might thus be overtaken.
A sharp look-out was kept, and the officers were continually going aloft with their gla.s.ses, and sweeping the horizon from north to south, in the hopes of espying the enemy.
"I say, Jack, do you think if we come up with those two Frenchmen we are chasing they"ll turn round and fight us?" asked Tom, who thought it much pleasanter to capture unarmed merchant vessels than to have to fight an enemy which sent round shots and bullets on board in return.
"No doubt about that, youngster," answered Ben Twinch, the boatswain"s mate, who overheard Tom"s remark. "What do you think we come to sea for? If we can take a man-of-war of our own size she"s worth half a dozen merchant craft, though, to be sure, some of us may lose the number of our mess; but we all know that, and make no count of it. Maybe you"ll have your head taken off one of these days, and if you do, you"ll only share the fate of many another fine fellow."
"I hope not!" cried Tom, mechanically putting up his hand to his head as if to hold it on, and turning from Ben.
"Never fear!" said Jack, wishing to console him; "the chances are that you will escape and live to fight another day."
If Tom had any fear, it was not the time to show it. He heard all around him speak of fighting as if it were fun, and of death with seeming levity. It is the way of the young and the thoughtless. Old sailors and old soldiers seldom talk thus, and think more of duty than of glory. For young or for old the loss of life is not a matter for light talk, as if death were only the end of it. Those that cause war will have much to reckon for hereafter. But there is no time for such thoughts in sight of the enemy. So we must go on with our story.
The midshipmen aft were universally anxious to come up with the vessels of which they were in chase. It was supposed that they were frigates of the same size as their own and the _Venus_; but should they prove much larger, they were equally ready to engage them.
Still, hour after hour went by, and no enemy appearing, they began to fear that the Frenchmen would get into port before they could be overtaken. At length, just before the sun reached the horizon, his rays fell on the royals and topgallantsails of two ships right ahead. As the sun sank lower they were again lost to view, but their appearance revived the hopes of all on board. It was not likely that they would alter their course during the night, and it was hoped, therefore, that before morning they would be overtaken. It was not likely that the _Thisbe_ and _Venus_, being in the shadow, would have been perceived.
"The chances are that we shall be upon them in the dark," said Jack to Tom; "and we"ll surprise them, I"ve a notion. The captain thinks so, or he wouldn"t have given the order to prepare for action."
"I would rather fight in daylight," said Tom, "and I hope they"ll manage to keep ahead till then."
Jack laughed, for he suspected that Tom would rather not fight at all.
The watch below were ordered to turn in as usual, but most of the officers kept on deck, too eager for the work to be able to sleep.
CHAPTER TWENTY FOUR.
ACTION BETWEEN THE "THISBE" AND A FRENCH FRIGATE.