"I guess not, stranger. I"ve three prizes lyin" in harbour not far off, which I kept, thinkin" they might come in useful some day; and we"ll break "em up to build this new craft. You shall superintend the work; and, as you"re an engineer, I reckon I"ll get you to fortify the harbour also, so"s to make things secure in case one of them frigates you was talking about should come along and take a fancy to look inside."
"Very well," said Lance; "I will do what I can, both in the matter of fortifying the harbour and building the new craft, upon the express condition, however, you must understand, that we are all treated well as long as we remain with you; and that you will make an early opportunity to free us as soon as the work is done."
"Don"t you be afraid, stranger," returned Johnson. "You do the best you can for me, and I guess I"ll do the right thing by you. That"s a bargain."
"There is just one point which occurs to me," remarked Lance. "It is this. To do what you propose we shall require a great deal of a.s.sistance. Now where are we to find it?"
"If it"s men you mean, I reckon you"ll find plenty of "em at Albatross Island. Men ain"t always to be picked up at sea just when they"re wanted," said Johnson, "so I"ve took to keepin" my prisoners alive and landing "em there, so"s I can draw upon "em when I want to; and I"ve found that if they won"t cut in and take a hand with us exactly to oncet they _gen"lly_ will a little later on, just to escape bein" worked to death ash.o.r.e."
"And what about materials?" persisted Lance. "To construct a battery, and to make it serviceable, you know, stone, lime, iron and wood in considerable quant.i.ties are required; to say nothing of guns, powder and shot with which to arm the battery when it is finished."
"We"ve got it _all_," exclaimed Johnson; "all, that is, exceptin" iron, and that we"re very short of. There"s stone in the island, and I guess you can make lime from the coral, can"t you? And as to the guns and ammunition, why it"s only three months ago that we helped ourselves to a whole battery-full belonging to the Spaniards away there on the mainland."
"Well," said Lance, "I cannot of course decide exactly how to use your resources to the best advantage until I have seen them and the place.
As far, however, as the design of the new ship is concerned, I can set about it at once. I must ask you, however, to release the carpenter and Bob, the apprentice, and to allow them to join us aft. The carpenter is a practical man, whose advice and a.s.sistance will be most valuable to me; and as for Bob, he has been brought up in a district famous for yacht-building, and will be sure to prove helpful to us."
"Very well, colonel, I reckon you can have "em," said Johnson. "Only don"t you be persuaded to try any tricks on account of having two extra hands, because if you do, I calculate you"ll find us always ready."
"All right," laughed Lance, "I"ll keep your warning and advice in mind.
By the by, before I go below, let me suggest that as a few of us are, like myself, smokers, a pound or so of tobacco now and then would be regarded as a delicate attention on your part."
"Right you are, colonel," answered Johnson cordially, "you shall have the terbacker and some cigars too if you like "em; I guess we"ve got plenty of both on board."
So saying Johnson turned upon his heel and dived below for his s.e.xtant.
CHAPTER ELEVEN.
JOHNSON HOODWINKS A FRIGATE.
Left to himself Lance sauntered aft, glanced first at the binnacle, then at the sails, and finally essayed a conversation with the helmsman. The man proved at first to be exceedingly surly, suspicious, and taciturn, but Lance Evelin was a man of consummate tact, and his manner was at once so refined and so genial that there were very few who could for any length of time withstand its fascinating influence. In less than half an hour he had so won upon the man, who was by no means all bad, that everything approaching to reserve had completely vanished, and when Johnson came on deck after working out his sights he found the strangely a.s.sorted pair conversing as freely together as though they had been old shipmates. Lance was very careful to confine his conversation to generalities, and religiously abstained from asking any questions whatever; he quite realised that the party to which he belonged were in a position of great difficulty and danger, their escape from which, if indeed they should ever escape at all, would certainly be a work of time, demanding the utmost caution and patience; and his first endeavour, therefore, was to create a favourable impression rather than to risk suspicion by a too early attempt to acquire information. When Johnson saw the two in conversation he at once edged his way aft with the evident intention of ascertaining what they were talking about; but although Lance at once noted the movement and made a mental memorandum to the effect that the pirate skipper was clearly a man of suspicious temperament, he gave no outward sign of having observed any such thing, but simply continued the conversation as unrestrainedly as though Johnson had not been there.
Lance remained on deck until dinner-time, which was 1 p.m. on board the _Albatross_, when he rejoined his friends below.
"Well," said he, as he seated himself at the rough deal table which had been knocked together for their accommodation, "I have spent a very pleasant, and, I hope, a very profitable morning on deck."
"Have you?" remarked Captain Staunton, "I am glad to hear that. We were beginning to wonder what had become of you. What have you been doing?"
"Merely ingratiating myself with the skipper and the man whose trick it happened to be at the wheel," answered Lance. "And I flatter myself that, for a first attempt, I have managed pretty well. I have been obliged to blow my own trumpet a little, it is true; but by a judicious performance upon that instrument I have succeeded in showing our friend Johnson very clearly that it is in our power to be of the greatest possible service to him, and I have secured an order to build a new ship for him, and to fortify the harbour in which she is to be built."
"To build a new ship for him!" exclaimed Captain Staunton.
"To fortify his harbour!" e.j.a.c.u.l.a.t.ed Rex and Brook together.
"Precisely that, gentlemen," continued Lance. "I happened accidentally to touch upon rather a sore point with him by disparaging the speed of the brig, which he evidently wished to persuade himself was almost matchless; then I gently insinuated to him that he would be very awkwardly situated if he happened to find himself in the presence of a frigate in heavy weather; and finally I mentioned to him in a casual way the fact that I had designed and built a yacht of my own which could sail round his brig in any weather, and also that I happened to be by profession a military engineer. The results of which are as I have already stated. There is one other result, by the bye, I have secured the release of our friend Robert, and also the carpenter. I daresay they will be allowed to join us some time to-day."
"Well," remarked Captain Staunton, "that is an advantage certainly; every man we can secure makes us so much the stronger, and perhaps, if we could get one or two more, something might be done in the second night-watch. We might possibly be able to--"
"Take the brig?" interrupted Lance with a laugh. "Not to be thought of for a single moment, my dear sir. Our friend Johnson is far too suspicious a man, and has too much at stake to give us any such opportunity, if watchfulness on his part can prevent it. Why, he has already antic.i.p.ated the possibility of such an attempt on our part, and was good enough to caution me that we should always find him ready."
"Um!" e.j.a.c.u.l.a.t.ed the skipper, meditatively, "that is bad news. We have evidently a difficult man to deal with. I have heard it said, more than once, that the man who can circ.u.mvent a Yankee can circ.u.mvent the Father of Mischief himself. But about this ship-building and fortification business, do I understand that you regard Johnson"s plans in that respect as favourable to us? Because, if so, I should be very glad if you would explain; I must admit that at present I can scarcely see how we are likely to derive any advantage from it."
"Well," remarked Lance, "you must understand that at present my plans are of the crudest description, they will require a great deal of maturing before they can be put into successful operation, and in this I antic.i.p.ate that you will all be able to afford me the greatest a.s.sistance. Roughly, however, my idea is this. We must choose, if possible, for the ship-building-yard a spot which is not only suitable for the purpose, but which will also admit of being effectually defended by the battery which is to be built. We must secure as a.s.sistants as many as possible of our own men, and when the ship is built and launched we must contrive somehow to seize and make our escape in her. This plan will, I admit, involve many months" detention here, but it is the only feasible way of escape which has, so far, presented itself to my mind; and my conversation with Johnson this morning has convinced me that we have nothing to hope for from him. He is glad to have us, and will possibly be civil to us because of our ability to be of service to him, but I can see that he is an unscrupulous rascal who will freely make promises in order to secure our aid and co-operation, and unhesitatingly break them the moment that his ends are served."
They were all busily engaged in the discussion of Lance"s projects when a hail was heard from aloft. They did not quite catch the words, but the gruff voice of the brig"s chief mate ordering the crew to make sail caused them to surmise that a ship had just been sighted. The first impulse of the males in the party was to rush on deck, but Captain Staunton immediately resumed his seat again and requested the others to do so likewise, pointing out that too eager a curiosity on their parts respecting the movements of the brig would possibly only provoke suspicion and resentment against them in the b.r.e.a.s.t.s of the pirates, and that there would be ample opportunity later on for them to see how matters stood. They accordingly resumed the discussion upon which they had been engaged, but were shortly afterwards interrupted by the appearance of Johnson"s steward, who descended the hatchway-ladder bearing a couple of boxes of cigars and a dozen sticks of excellent tobacco "with the cap"ns compliments."
This afforded them an excellent opportunity for going on deck in a thoroughly natural way; those who smoked accordingly cut up a quant.i.ty of the tobacco, and, filling their pipes, adjourned to the deck in a body for the purpose of enjoying their post-prandial smoke Johnson was standing aft near the man at the wheel, "with one eye aloft and the other in the binnacle." He looked fierce and excited; he took no notice whatever of the party who had just made their appearance on deck, and his features wore so forbidding an expression that it was at once patent to everybody that the best plan just then would be to leave him entirely alone.
The first thing which they noticed was that the brig had been kept away off her former course, and was now running to leeward, with the wind on her quarter. The canvas had been rapidly packed upon her, and she was now slipping very fast through the water, with topgallant, topmast, and lower studding-sails set to windward, and all the rest of her canvas, fore and aft as well as square, tugging at her like cart-horses. This, as it afterwards appeared, was her favourite point of sailing.
That a sail was in sight was perfectly evident, but nothing could be seen of her from the deck, though the horizon was perfectly clear all round; it was therefore rather difficult at first to ascertain her whereabouts. But it did not long remain so, for in about five minutes the mate came on deck with his s.e.xtant in his hand, and suspending the instrument very carefully from his neck by a piece of stout marline, he at once made his way up the main-rigging, and finally settled himself comfortably in the cross-trees, facing aft, and bringing the telescope of the s.e.xtant at once to bear upon an object which seemed to lie about a couple of points on the lee quarter. The craft in sight must therefore be _astern_ of the brig, and the mate"s movements clearly indicated that she was in chase, and that he was very anxious to ascertain which ship gained upon the other.
The instrument, apparently after being carefully adjusted, was removed from the mate"s eye and suspended from the cross-trees in such a manner that it should not strike against the mast or any of the rigging with the roll of the ship, and then the observer drew forth a pipe, which he filled and proceeded to smoke with the greatest apparent calmness and contentment.
The pipe was at length finished, and then the smoker, with the same deliberation which had characterised his former movements, once more applied the s.e.xtant to his eye.
"Well," shouted Johnson, "what news of the stranger aloft there?"
"Gaining on us, hand over fist," was the reply.
"That"ll do then; you may as well come down," snarled the pirate skipper. "Your staying perched up there, like an owl in an ivy bush, won"t help us any; come down and make yourself useful, d"ye hear?"
"Ay, ay," answered the mate, "I"m coming, boss." And he forthwith proceeded to descend the rigging in a careless nonchalant manner which evidently drove his superior almost to the verge of frenzy.
Half an hour pa.s.sed, and then there appeared far away on the horizon, on the brig"s lee quarter, a tiny white speck, which steadily though imperceptibly increased in size until the snowy royals of a large ship stood fully revealed.
This was about half-past three in the afternoon, at which time the wind showed signs of failing.
By half-past four o"clock the stranger had risen her topgallant-sails above the horizon, and it could clearly be seen, even with the unaided eye, that she had royal as well as topgallant studding-sails set, and there could not be a shadow of doubt that she was after the brig.
The spirits of our friends rose to such a high pitch of exultation at this agreeable sight that they found it difficult to conceal their delight when Johnson, abandoning his post near the helmsman, joined them.
"Well, strangers," he remarked with a grim smile, "there"s a chance for you yet, you see. That"s one of them cursed frigates you was talking about this morning, colonel, but she"s a tarnation sight smarter"n I gave any of "em credit for being. I tell you, cap"n, if this had been the forenoon-watch instead of the first dog-watch it would have been all up with this brig. But now I don"t feel quite so sorter anxious as I did. I reckon that unless the breeze freshens, which it ain"t going to do, it will take that craft till midnight to get alongside of us; and if she can do it then, why she"s welcome to the brig and all aboard of her, curse me if she ain"t. See them clouds gathering, away there to the nor"ard? That"s a thunder-storm working up, but it won"t break for some hours yet, I calculate, and them clouds is going to do me a good turn before that. I reckon you"ll have to make up your minds to go to Albatross Island yet, strangers."
And he dived below to his cabin, evidently in an easier state of mind than he had enjoyed an hour before.
By six o"clock the frigate"s topsails had risen more than half their height above the horizon, and when Lance, Captain Staunton, and Bowles returned to the deck after the evening meal, the waning light just enabled them to see the stranger"s lower yards fairly clear of the water. Before they lost sight of her altogether half her courses had risen into view.
The night closed down very dark, there being no moon, and the sky was entirely overspread with heavy black murky-looking thunder-clouds which completely hid the stars. The wind, too, had dropped to such an extent that an occasional ominous flap was heard from the canvas aloft, though the brig still slid through the water at the rate of about four knots in the hour.
Johnson was in high spirits again. He sat aft near the taffrail, attentively watching the frigate through his night-gla.s.s long after she had disappeared from the naked eye; and when it at last became difficult to make her out even with the aid of the gla.s.s, he would lay it down, rub his eyes, take half a dozen turns along the deck, then pick up the gla.s.s again and have another spell at it. Finally he turned to the mate, who was standing near him, and tendering the gla.s.s, said--
"There, take a look, Ben, and tell me if you can pick her out."
The mate peered long and attentively through the telescope, moving it very slowly about that part of the horizon where he knew the frigate to be, but without success.
"It"s no go, boss," he said, "my eyes are pretty good, but they"re not good enough to see through such darkness as this."