"We carry all de tings dere first," he said, "and den you, cappen, and mudder, and Tim, come along, and we shove off widout delay."
The last trip was made at about an hour before midnight, when Pompey and Dan returned, and Owen, with the old woman and Tim, accompanied them down to the beach. The night was very dark; no human being was stirring. As silently as possible the canoe was launched, when the stores were quickly put on board.
"Now, mudder, we put you "longside cappen," whispered Pompey. "Whateber happen, don"t cry out."
And taking the old woman up in his arms, he waded with her till he plumped her down in the stern of the canoe. She knew no more of the navigation than they did, so she could not be of further use to the adventurers, and they thus had to depend on their own judgment.
Owen took the after paddle. Pompey placing himself in the bows, Dan and Tim gave way, and the canoe noiselessly glided down towards the supposed entrance to the harbour. They hoped that any look-outs who might, under ordinary circ.u.mstances, have been stationed on the other side of the channel, would be withdrawn to man the _Ouzel Galley_. They therefore trusted that they could escape without being questioned. Still the expedition was one to try the best strung nerves. Owen feared that, should they be hailed, Mammy might forget her son"s injunction. He was not aware of the determined character of the old woman.
They soon got into the narrow channel, in the centre of which Owen steered the canoe. It was necessary to proceed slowly, as from the darkness the sh.o.r.e on either side was in some places scarcely visible.
The channel was long and intricate, but Owen, of course, knew that there must be considerable depth of water to allow large ships to get up it.
They had just got to the end of the cliff, when a light was seen.
Whether it proceeded from a hut or from a man with a lantern, it was impossible to say.
"Cease paddling," whispered Owen; and the canoe glided on with the impulse already given to it.
The light remained stationary.
"Give way," he again whispered. The men plied paddles as before. They had got some way further down, when they were startled by hearing a man shout, "Who goes there?"
They all remained perfectly silent and motionless. Just then the noise of the surf on the sh.o.r.e reached their ears, and they knew that they must be close to the entrance.
The man did not repeat his question for nearly a minute. As soon as he again began to speak, Owen told Dan and Tim to paddle away. He and Pompey did so likewise, and the canoe glided forward at a far more rapid rate than before. A shot was heard, but the bullet came nowhere near them. It was evident they could not be seen by the guard. The channel now widened out considerably, and they could distinguish the open sea beyond; they made towards it. There was but little or no surf on the bar, and they crossed without shipping a drop of water.
Owen had made up his mind to steer to the southward till they should sight Cuba. He felt sure that the pirate island was one of those which exist close to the Bahama Bank. Owen steered by the stars. His crew plied their paddles all night, the wind being too light to make it worth while to set the sail, and they hoped to be far out of sight of the island by daybreak. They were not without fear, however, that they might be pursued. The man who had fired at them would suppose that they were fugitives.
"Ill luck to the spalpeens who may be sent in chase after us!" observed Dan, showing what he was thinking about.
"Me no tink dat any boat come off after us," said Pompey, ""cos ebery man who can pull an oar is on board _Ouzel Galley_, so we safe as to dat."
The black"s remark was cheering to Owen, who had hitherto thought it very probable that they would be pursued. Mammy, who as yet had not uttered a word, corroborated her son"s statement.
When morning broke the island could scarcely be seen astern, nor was any land in sight ahead. The sea was perfectly calm; the sky overhead undimmed by a cloud. Owen looked round; no sail was visible in any direction. All they could do was to paddle on, in the hope that a favourable breeze would spring up to carry them on their course, when two at a time might get some sleep. The weather looked perfectly settled, and, though the canoe was somewhat deeply laden, Owen felt confident that she would be able to go through any sea which was likely to get up. His chief anxiety arose from the possibility there was of falling in with the _Ouzel Galley_. Should they do so, they could scarcely expect any mercy from the pirates. He, of course, intended to do his best to keep clear of her. This he trusted that he might easily do, as the canoe, being low in the water, was not likely to be attract the attention of those on board the ship, while she could be seen in time to be avoided.
A breeze came at last; the sail was hoisted, and the canoe ran merrily before it. Dan begged that he might take the steering paddle, and that the captain would lie down and get some rest, which Owen was glad to obtain, as he intended to steer during the night. The sun was setting when he awoke, and after some supper was served out he resumed the steering paddle, and told Dan and Pompey, who had hitherto been keeping watch, to turn in. Notwithstanding the sleep he had obtained, towards morning he began to feel very drowsy; still his eye was fixed on the star by which he was directing the course of the canoe.
Tim had been stationed forward to keep a look-out, and Owen had hailed him every now and then to ascertain that he was awake. He had not done so, however, for some time, and was on the point of crying out, when Tim exclaimed, "By the powers, captin, there"s a big ship ahead!"
"Lower the sail!" exclaimed Owen. "Dan and Pompey, out with your paddles."
They started up at hearing their names called, and obeyed the order.
"Paddle for your lives, lads!" cried Owen, keeping the canoe to the eastward.
Tim was not mistaken. The wide-spread canvas of a large ship was seen towering upwards not half a mile away; in a few minutes more she would have been close to the canoe. Owen and his companions watched her anxiously; there could be little doubt that she was the _Ouzel Galley_.
Although she was clearly seen, they might hope to escape observation.
They continued, however, paddling away at right angles to her course till they were well abreast of her, when Owen once more put the canoe"s head to the southward; but not, however, till she was out of sight did he venture again to hoist the sail. The danger he had chiefly feared was past. It would take her probably a day or two before she could reach the harbour and discover their flight, and they might hope thus to keep well ahead of any boat sent in pursuit of them.
Two days more they stood on. One pa.s.sed by very like the other. The wind remained steady, the sea smooth.
On the fourth day, some time after sunrise, a sail was seen ahead. Had not they all felt sure that the ship they had pa.s.sed was the _Ouzel Galley_, they would have avoided her. Although prepared, if necessary, to perform the whole voyage to Jamaica, Owen judged that it would be far safer to get on board the first ship they could fall in with. He resolved, therefore, to approach her, and should she prove to be English, to run alongside. He little doubted that, even should she be French or Spanish, on their giving an account of their escape from the pirates, they would be treated with humanity. He accordingly steered towards her.
"Hurrah!" cried Dan. "She"s a frind, she"s a frind--for, there, up goes the English flag."
His quick eye had seen the character of the bunting as it ascended in a ball to the peak, even before it blew out to the breeze.
As the canoe approached, the ship hove to, and in a few minutes the party of fugitives were alongside. Owen was quickly on deck, when the first person he encountered was Gerald Tracy. Exclamations of surprise burst from their lips, and Owen was soon shaking hands with Norman Foley and the rest of the _Champion"s_ officers. His companions had followed him, Pompey shoving up old Mammy with his shoulder, while Dan hauled away at her from above. Numerous questions were put to Owen as to where he had come from, and he had to answer them before he could ask others in return.
At first he had experienced a feeling of intense satisfaction upon finding himself on board a friendly ship, but his grief may be imagined when he now heard that Captain Tracy and his daughter had fallen into the power of O"Harrall and his savage crew. Instead of rejoicing at his escape, he regretted having left the island, lest they might retaliate on their hapless prisoners. He trembled at the thought of what might be Norah"s fate. Gerald, of course, shared his feelings; and, indeed, every one sympathised with them both.
As soon as the canoe was hoisted up the sails were filled, and the _Research_ again stood on her course towards the pirate"s island.
CHAPTER TWENTY ONE.
VOYAGE OF THE RESEARCH COMMENCED--NORAH"S ANXIETIES--A CALM--TROPICAL SEA--A GALE SPRINGS UP--THE SHIP RUNS BEFORE IT--AGAIN STANDS TO THE WESTWARD--A DANGEROUS POSITION--AMONG ISLANDS AND REEFS--A SUSPICIOUS SAIL--CHASED--THE OUZEL GALLEY--THE PIRATE"S FLAG--THE PIRATE BEGINS FIRING--NORAH PLACED IN THE HOLD--A FORT SEEN ON THE ISLAND--NO BOATS COME OFF--THE ISLAND Pa.s.sED--THE PIRATES FORE-TOPSAIL YARD SHOT AWAY-- THE SECOND MATE AND SEVERAL MEN OF THE RESEARCH KILLED OR WOUNDED--A CALM--DAMAGES REPAIRED--A BREEZE SPRINGS UP--THE PIRATE OVERTAKES THE RESEARCH--RUNS HER ON BOARD--FEARFUL SLAUGHTER OF HER CREW--CAPTURED-- THE TWO OLD CAPTAINS UNHURT--NORAH"S INTERVIEW WITH THE PIRATE--TAKEN ON BOARD THE OUZEL GALLEY--COURTEOUSLY TREATED--A SAIL IN SIGHT--CHASED BY A FRIGATE--THE OUZEL GALLEY ESCAPES AMONG THE REEFS--A CALM--THE FRIGATE"S BOATS APPROACH TO ATTACK HER--A BREEZE SPRINGS UP--SHE ESCAPES.
The two old captains were well aware of the numerous perils they might possibly have to encounter when they sailed on their voyage in the _Research_, but for the sake of Norah they took care to make light of them whenever their prospects of success were discussed in her presence.
Norah very naturally would ask questions, and to those questions they were compelled to try and find answers. In what part of the numberless groups of those western islands were they to search for Owen and Gerald?
One subject absorbed all their thoughts--on that alone could they converse. Even when Captain O"Brien, as he frequently did, tried to introduce any other, it before long was sure to merge into that one.
Norah day after day would unroll the chart of the West Indies, and pore over it for hours, till she knew the form and position and size of every island and key, and reef and sandbank, delineated thereon. The ship had already reached the tropics when a heavy gale sprang up from the westward, before which she was compelled to run for three days. She then had a long beat back, and the weather being unusually thick, no observations could be taken to determine her position. Day after day the two captains and the first mate came on deck at noon with their quadrants, but not a break in the clouds appeared through which they could get a glimpse of the sun.
They calculated at last that they could not be far off the most western of the Bahamas, and, as they hoped, near the entrance of the Windward Pa.s.sage. At sunset the clouds dispersed, the wind shifted to the northward, the stars shone brightly forth from the clear sky, and it was hoped that the next day they might be able to determine their position.
As no land had yet been seen, they stood on for the greater part of the night; but towards morning, Captain Tracy; afraid of running further, hove the ship to, to wait for daylight.
Even before the first streaks of dawn appeared above the eastern horizon, the two mates, followed by Captain O"Brien, went aloft, eager to catch the expected sight of land. What was their surprise to discover it not only to the westward, where they had looked for it, but away to the south-east and over the starboard quarter. The ship had run in during the night among a group of islands, but what islands they were it was difficult to determine. Norah had dressed and appeared from her cabin as her father and Captain O"Brien came below to consult the chart.
"Here is our position, if I mistake not," said Captain Tracy, placing his finger on the chart. "We are further to the south"ard than I had supposed. An ugly place to have got to, but it might have been worse; the ship would have chanced to run foul of a reef had we stood on. But, Heaven be praised, we"ve escaped that disaster, and we"ll now try to thread our way into the Windward Pa.s.sage."
While the course to be pursued was still under debate, a cry from aloft was heard of--"A sail to the nor"ard!"
The captains hurried on deck, followed by Norah. "What is she like?"
asked Captain Tracy.
"A large ship under all sail, standing this way, sir," answered the second mate.
In a short time it became evident that the _Research_ was seen by the stranger, for the latter set every st.i.tch of canvas she could carry, and steered directly after her.
A small island appeared ahead. At first it was proposed to pa.s.s to the westward of it, but the look-out from the mast-head discovering several dark rocks rising above the surface, and extending to a considerable distance in that direction, the ship"s course was altered so that she would run along the eastern side of the island, as close in as prudence would allow. It was hoped that, to the southward of the island, a channel might be found which would lead her clear of the rocks and shoals by which she was surrounded.
Norah, who had continued on deck, had seldom withdrawn her eyes from the stranger, which appeared to her to be much nearer than when first seen.
"What do you think, Captain O"Brien--is not that vessel fast gaining on us?" she asked.
"That may be, my dear Miss Norah, but it need not make us fear that she will come up with us," answered the old captain, who could not deny the fact. "She hitherto has had the advantage of a stronger breeze than has filled our sails, but we may shortly get more wind and slip away from her. If she does come up with us, we may find that she is perfectly honest, and that we had no cause to try and keep out of her way; so don"t be alarmed, my dear, but go below and have some breakfast--it is on the table by this time--and your father or I will join you presently.
One of us must remain on deck to look out for any reefs which may run off that island yonder."
Captain Tracy giving Norah the same advice, she unwillingly went below, and took her seat at the breakfast-table to await their appearance. She waited and waited, but neither of the captains nor the first mate came below. They were all, indeed, too busily engaged in watching the progress of the stranger and discussing her character to think of breakfast. She had been bringing up a much stronger breeze than had hitherto filled the sails of the _Research_, to which she had now got almost within gunshot. Captain Tracy had for some time been intently examining her through his telescope.