"But here comes Vlacco--we will hear what is his opinion on the subject."
The consultation between the pirate and his lieutenant-governor--for so we may designate old Vlacco--was earnest and brief.
The result was that Zappa instantly descended the cliffs, down to the bay, where the loud blast of a horn speedily collected a large number of his followers, always ready to undertake any exploits in which he led them.
He selected as many as he required for his purpose, and ordered them to prepare for embarking in the mistico, called the _Zoe_, in the s.p.a.ce of a quarter of an hour. Meantime, he despatched a messenger to the tower to bring his arms and some dress, which might serve him as a disguise should it be necessary.
The island spoken of lay about thirty miles to the westward of the harbour; and, towards it, the mistico, as she emerged from between the cliffs, shaped her course under all sail, with the wind on the larboard beam. The little vessel flew across the water at a rapid rate; for, though the sea was smooth, there was a fresh breeze to fill the sails.
All the crew were in high spirits--they invariably were when Zappa led them, as they believed he would always show them where plunder was to be obtained; and they were not a little disappointed when he thought fit to inform them that he now required them to perform a service not only of no profit, but with considerable danger attending it; and yet one which was absolutely necessary, as the safety of the island demanded it.
"You must understand, my friends, that, if the brig we have heard of, is, as I have every reason to believe, a British man-of-war, her purpose is either to watch for our _Sea Hawk_, and to attack her the next time she goes out of harbour, or to destroy our strongholds on sh.o.r.e. How, though, in the latter point, I do not think she would have any chance of success, we should find her a remarkably disagreeable antagonist to the brig; in fact, to confess the truth, it would be wiser to run away than to fight her. Those English are determined fellows; they will tight as long as their own ship is afloat; and, on your decks afterwards, if they can manage to get there. Now, if I find that my suspicions are correct--and I shall venture on board even to ascertain their purpose-- my proposal is, that we treat the enemy as we treated the Turks; we will watch our opportunity; and, during some dark night, we will let a fire-ship float down across their bows when they are not dreaming of any such thing--and we will blow them all up together. We must be near to knock on the head any stragglers, who are not killed at once by the explosion; and then, as no one will survive to say how the accident happened, it will be supposed her magazine caught fire; and we shall escape all suspicion."
This speech which was made in choice Romaic--and which, doubtless, sounded much more heroic and elegant in that idiom than in simple English, was highly applauded by his followers--indeed, had they ever heard of Homer, they would have considered it equal in substance and talent to anything ever uttered by the most valiant of the heroes he speaks of. It was scarcely concluded, however--and they were still discussing the subject, when the man at the helm, who had kept his eye to windward, exclaimed that he saw a black cloud to the south-east, which he was certain betokened a sudden storm, and would advise the postponement of all discussions till they got safely into port. He was an old Levant mariner, who, unlike his race in general, was rather fonder of action than words; and, though he had no objection to cut a throat, or plunder a ship, he did not approve of talking about it.
Though he was a sulky old rascal, Zappa had great confidence in his sagacity, and accordingly turned his eye in the direction to which he pointed. He there saw, too certainly, a ma.s.s of black clouds which had, by this time collected, and which, every moment adding others to their number, came sweeping towards them.
"We must look out for ourselves, my men," he exclaimed. "Lower the sails while we have smooth water, and close reef them. We will try to get under the lee of the land, till the fury of the tempest has pa.s.sed."
The order was no sooner given than obeyed; and the sails were closely reefed and hoisted again before the first blast of the tempest struck the vessel. She had by this time performed rather more than two-thirds of her voyage, so that she had some eight miles more to go over before she could get under shelter of the land. If she could succeed in doing this before the height of the storm came on, she would be in comparative safety; and if not, she might be driven far up the gulf, before she could get under the lee of any other sh.o.r.e. The safest plan would be at once to run back for their own port, which there was every probability of their reaching, though not quite a certainty, as a shift of the wind might possibly drive them to the northward of it. As, however, Zappa was anxious to ascertain all about the English ship, he determined to persevere. I have already described one or two storms, and may probably have to introduce two or three more, so I will not weary my readers by telling them how the waves leaped and tumbled, and foamed; and the wind roared and the vessel struggled madly through them. It is enough to say that it blew a very hard gale, and that the oldest mariners on board never wished to be out in a harder. Even Zappa himself, who was accustomed to take things very philosophically, began to think, when it was too late, that it would have been wiser to have gone quietly home again.
They had, fortunately, kept well to windward of their course, and were thus able to keep well away to fetch the north of the island; thus bringing the wind and the sea abaft the beam. Two or three seas came rolling up after them, just before they got well in with the land, and very nearly swamped the _Zoe_, and drowned Zappa and all his crew; which event would, doubtless, have been a very great benefit to society in general, although, fortunately for the interest of my history, which it would have materially injured, it did not occur; but the pirate and his followers got safely into a little bay, where they dropped their anchor, and offered up their thanksgivings to their patron saints, for having preserved them from the great danger they had just encountered.
After having thus piously performed their religious duties, they set to work to prepare the materials for a fire-ship, with which they purposed to blow the English brig and all her crew to the devil. The storm had soon spent its fury, and in the evening they again got under weigh, and beat round to the south side of the island to the bay, where they had at first intended anchoring, it being, by far the safest, as the wind was very likely to shift round, and blow with almost equal violence down the gulf. Among the islands of the Archipelago, the gales generally come from the northward, and it is consequently considered always more prudent to anchor under a southern sh.o.r.e. The pirates now recollected, as they were congratulating themselves on their own escape, that the English brig had been seen anch.o.r.ed in a bay to the south-west of the island; and they began piously to hope that she might have been driven on sh.o.r.e, and lost with all her hands, which would have saved them the expense and trouble of fitting up their fire-ship, and the risk of attempting to use it. Before, however, they took any steps in that direction, Zappa determined to pull up into the bay, where she was reported to have been, and to ascertain what she was, and her purpose in coming there. By daylight next morning, for he was an early man when work was to be done, he was prepared to set out on his expedition.
The bay where the _Zoe_ had anch.o.r.ed, was about five miles from where he believed the British vessel was to be found, so he had a long pull before him. His boat pulled eight oars, and he selected as many of the strongest of his hands to man them. She was a clumsy-looking craft, and did not appear as if any amount of force could drive her through the water; indeed, she seemed to be a mere fishing-boat, such as are used in those waters. He had the precaution also to pile up a couple of nets in her bow and stern, and also to take on board a large supply of fish, which he got from some fisherman of the place, so that nothing was wanting to complete the deception; for he had taken care that all his men should be habited in the ordinary fisherman"s dress as he was himself.
As the boat left the side of the mistico, she had, in every respect, the appearance of one belonging to a harmless fisherman just returned from his day"s avocation. Although Zappa had with justice full confidence in his own masquerading talents, he wisely did not wish to run any unnecessary risk, and he, therefore, ordered the mistico to get under weigh, and to sweep close in sh.o.r.e after him, that he might, in case of necessity, have some support at hand; she was, however, not to come nearer than a mile from the harbour, where he expected to find the brig, for fear of causing his character to be suspected. Every arrangement being made, the boat shoved off--away she pulled, while he quietly sat on the top of the nets, smoking his pipe with perfect unconcern, as if he had nothing else to think of besides where he should find the best market for his fish.
For about four miles the men pulled on at a rapid pace, laughing and joking as they toiled at their oars. A headland, from which a reef of rock projected some way out into the sea, then presented itself, and, as they pulled round it, the mouth of a harbour gradually opened on them.
It was a secure and landlocked place, and some way up it Zappa discerned the tall masts of the brig he was looking for. His practised eye at once recognised her as a brig-of-war, and, as he drew nearer, he had little doubt from her build that she was British. He had, however, made up his mind to run every risk, so he pulled boldly up the harbour towards her.
"Now, my men," he said, addressing his crew, "remember, everything depends on your coolness and courage. We are going to put our heads into the lion"s mouth, and, by all the G.o.ds of our ancestors, if we give him cause he will bite them off without the slightest ceremony. Do not stir from your seats, and pretend not to understand a word which is said to you, which it is not very likely you will do; but should any on board speak Romaic, make any excuse which occurs to you for not leaving your boat while I am on board."
By the time he had finished this address, they were within a cable"s length of the brig.
"What boat is that?" hailed the sentry on the p.o.o.p.
On which Zappa, concluding that the hail was intended for him, held up a large fish in his hand.
"A fishing-boat coming up astern, sir," said the sentry to the officer of the watch.
"Let her come alongside, then--we want some fish," said the officer in return.
"Ah! I think I know that brig!" exclaimed Zappa--"I am certain of it-- she is no other than the one which lay in Valetta harbour when I was last there; and her captain, too, was, I learnt, the very officer I met at the ball, who was dancing so frequently with my fair prisoner. Now, by some wonderful chance or other, he has discovered that she was not lost in the _Zodiac_, and has come here to look for her--I see it all at once, and if I am right--good luck befriend me; for, should he discover me, I have not a chance of escape. It would be wiser not to venture on board, but to pull quietly back to the mistico, and to wait till night, when we may try the effect of our fire-ship; but, then again, it is not likely that any one but he should know me at all, and my dress is so different to what it was when he saw me, and my beard is so grown, that even, should I be brought into his presence, he will not probably recognise me. I may gain something of what they are about, and the venture is, at at events, worth making."
Zappa arrived at this conclusion as his boat ran alongside the _Ione_, when it was rather too late to think of turning back; indeed, he felt that his attempting to do so would at once bring suspicion on him. It now occurred to him, that to gain any information, it would be necessary to employ some means of exchanging ideas, and for that purpose, he must speak a little of the _lingua Franca_ so generally made use of. With a dauntless air, therefore, he sprang up the side, and, as he stood at the gangway, he ordered his men to hand him up some of the finest of the fish. While they were doing so, his eye ranged over the decks, fore and aft, and he was glad to see that Captain Fleetwood was not among the officers who were collected on the p.o.o.p, watching him and his boat. The gun-room steward was the first to become the purchaser of a fine dish of fish for his master, at a very low price, too, which much astonished him. He smelt at them, and examined their gills, and turned them over most critically; for he could not help fancying that there must be some defect.
The fact was, Zappa had entirely forgotten to learn what price to ask; for, as he had seldom before acted the part of a fishmonger, he had not the slightest conception of what was their value, and was very nearly betraying himself thereby. He saw, however, with his usual acuteness, that he had made a mistake, and took care to correct it with the next purchaser, who was the midshipmen"s steward, and who came accompanied by their caterer; but though they had to pay more, the price was still so low as to induce them to lay in a stock for future consumption. The warrant-officers and ship"s company next commenced purchasing, and all suffered as Zappa gained experience in his new calling.
"But does not the captain eat fish?" he asked of a Maltese seaman, who had been acting the part of interpreter. "Has his servant come to purchase?"
"The captain does not want any fish, he is not on board to eat it,"
answered the Maltese carelessly. "I wish he were; for he must have been out in that storm yesterday, in one of your little feluccas, and Heaven knows what may have become of him."
"Where has he gone, then?" asked the pirate. "It would have been wiser to have trusted himself in your fine brig here, than in one of our native boats, which our seamen only know how to handle."
"Oh! don"t ask me, my friend; we seamen have no business to talk of our captain"s doings," replied the Maltese, laughing. "But let me know where you have learned to speak the _lingua Franca_ so well. It is not often that I can understand ten words uttered by the fishermen of these parts."
"I will reply to your question, friend, though you do not answer mine,"
returned Zappa. "I sailed as a boy to all parts of the coast of the Mediterranean, till my father died, and I came home and married. I have now a mother and sisters, besides a wife and family to support; so I can go roving no longer. And so your captain has gone on an expedition, has he? Have many people accompanied him, for I suppose he did not go alone?"
"As many went as he chose to take with him," replied the Maltese. "If he had ordered them, the whole ship"s company would have gone."
"A clear answer, friend. Does anybody else wish to buy more of my fish.
Just ask them; for I must be off again to catch a fresh supply for the support of my young family," said the pirate carelessly. "And can you not tell me then where your captain has gone to?"
"I shall begin to think you have some reason for your curiosity, if you ask so many questions," observed the shrewd Maltese. "I was joking about our captain, and, if you want to see him, I can take you to him."
"Is it so?" answered Zappa, who easily divined the reason of the man"s answer, and was far too keen to be deceived by it, or to want a reply.
"I care nothing about your captain, further than that I thought I might sell him some fish if I met him. But you can do me a service, by telling me if I am likely to fall in with any other ships of war, or merchantmen, with whom I may drive my trade?"
"Ah, padrone, I cannot a.s.sist you there either; for we seamen know little of what happens outside the ship"s planks," returned the Maltese.
"It is not often, though, one goes long in these seas without meeting with a cruiser of our own country, and as for merchantmen they are thick enough; but neither one nor the other are likely to come to such out-of-the-way islands as these are."
"When will that man have finished selling his fish there?" sang out the officer of the watch. "Manuel, there--Tell him, as soon as he"s done, to shove off. We ought not to hold any communication with the natives,"
he muttered to himself, as he continued his quarter-deck walk. "These fellows are as sharp as knives, and, if we let them near us, they"ll be ferreting out something they ought not to know to a certainty."
"Ay, ay, sir," replied Manuel. "Come, Mister Fisherman, the officer says you must not be standing talking here all day, so I"ll wish you farewell, and a good haul the next time you let down your nets."
"Thanks, friend, I am generally tolerably successful in that way,"
answered the pretended fisherman. "Farewell, I shall come alongside again to-morrow, and I hope to find plenty of buyers. I live a little way down the coast, and shall sure to be back, so do not buy of any one else. Caralambro Boboti is my name. Don"t forget it. Farewell, again--"
Just as he was uttering these words, and making the usual salaam to the p.o.o.p, or rather to the officers walking on it, his eye lighted on the countenance of a man ascending the companion-ladder which made even him for an instant turn pale. At first the idea glanced across his mind that he saw an apparition, but the shoulders and the body and legs came next, and he was soon convinced that the person before him was real flesh and blood. No less a person, indeed, than Colonel Gauntlett ascended from below closely followed by his man Mitch.e.l.l, and stood on the deck of the _Ione_, glaring at him with a look which convinced him that he was recognised through his disguise. There was not a moment to be lost. If he remained where he stood, the probability was that he would be seized; if he exhibited any fear or hurry, it would be equivalent to condemning himself, and he and his companions would be shot without mercy, as they attempted to escape. He felt at once that his only chance depended on his own coolness so as to make the old officer fancy that he was mistaken in his ident.i.ty. With the most perfect self-possession, therefore, he repeated his farewell to the Maltese, and was about deliberately to lower himself into his boat, when the colonel threw the whole ship into commotion, by exclaiming in a voice of thunder--
"That"s him!--The scoundrel--the pirate--stop him--fire at him. I"m right, Mitch.e.l.l, am I not? That"s the villain who attacked the _Zodiac_, and carried off my poor niece?"
"Not a doubt of it your honour. It"s the thief of the world who murdered us all, and by the holy poker I"ll have him."
As he uttered these words he sprang towards the gangway, nearly capsizing his master, and almost grasped Zappa by the croup of the neck before anybody else understood what the commotion was all about. He missed him, however, and the pirate, with a spring, which the imminence of his danger would alone have enabled him to take, leaped into his boat, and as he did so, he exclaimed to his crew, who saw that something was wrong--
"Shove off, or we are dead men!"
The pirates waited no further words to excite them to exertion, and a few strokes sent the boat clear off the brig"s side.
So great, mean time, was the impetus Mitch.e.l.l had gained, that when he missed catching Zappa, he could not again bring himself up, and souse overboard in the water he went, his head fortunately escaping the gunnel of the pirate"s boat by a few inches. In revenge, an old pirate attempted to give him his _coup de grace_ with the blade of his oar, but missed him.
"Arrah, ye cowardly thief to hit a man like that in the water, but I"ll mark ye--remember--bad luck to ye," exclaimed Mitch.e.l.l, as after his first immersion he rose to the surface, where his spluttering and cries drew the attention of the sentry off from the pirates.