"No manner o" doubt about it," said Bill gravely; "but you know, Jem, they say the Dutchman"s cruising ground is off the Cape, in a full-rigged ship, and I never heard on his coming into these parts."
"True as gospel, old shipmate, but how should we know that he hasn"t got tired of the Cape, and taken a trip up here?" argued Jem. "And as to the matter of the rig, he may shift his craft according to the sea he"s in. Besides, you know as how if there"s one _Flying Dutchman_, there may be two, and this fellow may have come to trouble us here, up the straits. Depend on"t, Bill, the less company one keeps with them sort of gentry the better."
"Very true, Jem, but suppose a chap out of that boat then does come on board, what"s to happen think ye?" asked Bill, in a tone which showed that he in no way doubted his messmate"s account.
"Why I can"t say exactly, because as how I never seed what he does; but from what I"ve heard, I believe he tries to slip a letter like into the skipper"s or some "un"s hand who"s green enough to take it; and then the chap, who"s no better nor Davy Jones himself, gives a loud laugh, and down goes the ship to the bottom, or else a hurricane is sure to get up and drive her ash.o.r.e. But here comes that cursed felucca"s boat. I wish we might just let fly at her; it would save mischief, I"ll be sworn."
"Bear a hand there with a rope for the boat coming alongside," sung out the captain in a loud voice, which sounded as ominous of evil to the ears of the superst.i.tious crew. "Bring a lantern here to the gangway,"
he added. Bowse, with his first mate and Colonel Gauntlett, stood near the gangway, which was lighted up with a lantern to receive the strangers, as a small boat containing in all only four persons, came round under the brig"s stern. They pulled only two oars, and two people were seated in the stern sheet. "Keep an eye to windward there, Larkins, on that felucca," said the first mate to the second, as he went to his captain"s summons. "I don"t altogether think her cut honest."
"A mighty fuss about a very small affair, I suspect," muttered the colonel, as a figure was seen to ascend from the boat up the side of the brig.
The stranger was dressed in the Phrygian cap, and simple garb of a Sicilian mariner. His appearance, as far as it could be judged of by the dim light of the lantern, was anything but prepossessing. A profusion of long, straggling, grizzly locks, once probably of raven hue, which evidently had not felt the barber"s scissors for many a year, concealed the greater part of his face which was still further hidden by a patch over one eye, and a handkerchief bound round his head, while his mouth was surrounded by an enormous pair of moustachios, and a beard of similar character, so that little more than the tip of a red nose, and a rolling fierce eye was visible. As he reached the deck, this handsome personage bowed to the group before him, without speaking, while he glanced his eye round at the crew, who still wore their cutla.s.ses, and at the other weapons which were placed ready for use.
Behind the group I have described, stood several of the crew, among whom were Jem Marline, and his chum Bill Bullock, and if the stranger had been able to read the expression of their countenances, he would certainly have been a bold man, had he not felt some apprehension; for they spoke almost as plainly as words could do, that had they the power, they would, without ceremony, heave him into the sea. There were fear, suspicion, and dislike, strangely blended with the usual bold recklessness which had given a character to their features a sudden emotion could not obliterate. Fortunately, however, the light of the lantern fell in such a way as to throw them, where they stood, into shade.
"What is it you want with us, signor?" said Bowse, in his usual blunt tone, seeing that the other did not speak.
"To carry us all to Davy Jones, if we don"t look sharp," muttered Jem Marline to his messmate. "The beggar will be handing a letter directly, and then stand by for squall."
The stranger shook his head, as if not comprehending what was said.
"That"s it," whispered Jem, in a tone of terror. "He don"t speak. He never does."
Bowse repeated the question, in the _lingua Franca_ of those seas.
The stranger shook his head.
"He does not understand our lingo," observed Bowse. "Here, Timmins, you speak a little Italian--just ask this gentleman what he wants aboard here."
"Ay, ay, sir," said the mate coming forward, and asking the question in execrable Italian.
Again the stranger shook his head, as if not comprehending the question, and finding that not much progress was likely to be made at this rate, he turned round, and leaning through the gangway, beckoned his companion to come on deck. As he drew back, another person appeared, dressed precisely in the same manner; but evidently very much younger. A long moustache shaded his mouth, and wild elf-locks concealed the greater portion of his face, and from a patch down one side of his cheek, he looked as if, like his elder companion, he had been engaged in some severe fighting. The light of the lantern, as he reached the deck, seemed particularly to annoy him, and he stood with his eyes cast on the deck, shading them with one of his hands, nor could he meet the glance of any of those surrounding him.
"What do you wish to explain?" said the second stranger in Italian, bowing with a not ungraceful bend, and a touch of his hand to his cap.
"Oh! you can speak, can you? Well, that"s all right," said Timmins.
"And now, if you please, tell us why it is the felucca there was so anxious to speak to us?"
"_Si, signor_," answered the younger stranger, very slowly; and in an Italian which was mostly understood, he then explained that the speronara, of which his father was master, had, that afternoon, fallen in with an Austrian man-of-war brig, which had brought her to, and sent a boat on board her. The officers, he said, informed them that the noted Greek pirate Zappa, in his famous brig the _Sea Hawk_, had lately been heard of not far from the mouth of the Adriatic, and that he had plundered and destroyed several vessels. The Austrian, he said, had given him despatches for the governor of Malta, relative to the subject, as also to the Neapolitan Government, with a reward for carrying them, and had charged them to inform all vessels they should fall in with of what had occurred.
"Then he did not tell you to speak us in particular," said Timmins.
"_Si, signor_, he expressly--oh! no--not you in particular--oh, no,"
replied the young man.
"Have you nothing further to tell us?" said Timmins. "Because you see, though we are much obliged to you for your information, we are in a hurry to be on our course again, and if you should happen to fall in with the Signor Zappa and his brig the _Sea Hawk_, just tell him that the _Zodiac_ will give him a warm reception if he attempts to play off any of his tricks upon her."
"You don"t know the pirate," exclaimed the young man vehemently, "he--"
"Do you know him?" said Timmins, fixing his eye upon him. The man"s glance quailed before that of the stout sailor.
"Oh no, signor, I don"t know him--I have heard of him though."
"Oh! is that it?" said the mate, interpreting what he heard to the captain.
"Well, just ask him and his father if they will come down below, and take a gla.s.s of something before they shove off," said Bowse.
A few words were exchanged between the two strangers in a low tone, and there appeared to be some hesitation on the part of the elder; but, at last, they consented, and followed the master into an outer cabin, which he had retained as his own, and where he and his mate messed. A door from it opened into the cabins engaged by the colonel, who, when he saw the strangers, retired also with his niece into their cabin.
As the door between the two stood open, all that took place in one could be heard in the other.
"Let the Italians come in here, Mr Bowse," said the colonel, from the inner cabin. "I will give them a gla.s.s of sherry which they will like better than rum and water, and it will do them more good than their own thin wash."
When the strangers, who, directed by the signs made by the master, found themselves in the presence of a lady, they stood somewhat abashed, it seemed, and bowed respectfully as they quaffed off the wine offered to them. The bright light which was shed from a lamp hanging from the deck seemed also much to annoy their eyes, long accustomed to darkness, and they kept their faces shaded by their hands during the short time they were in the cabin, so that little or nothing of their feature? could be seen.
For an instant, however, the eyes of the youngest fell on Ada, and, at that moment, there gleamed in them a peculiar expression, which she could not help remarking; but what it meant to say, she was at a loss to comprehend. It was certainly a look of intelligence, as if he expected to be understood; but there was also blended with it an expression of admiration, pity, and regret, which further puzzled her. At all events, she was convinced that, by that look, he intended to convey some meaning, which he dared not otherwise explain.
The strangers remained scarcely a minute below, and respectfully wishing the occupants of the cabin a good evening, they took their leave. The elder went first, and as the second followed, he appeared to stumble at the door. As he did so, he let a folded paper fall from his hand, and, at the same instant, he gave a hurried glance at Ada over his shoulder.
Before she had time to tell him of his loss, he had sprung up the companion-ladder. The strangers were quickly in their boat, which, with rapid strokes, pulled back towards the speronara.
"Up with the helm, my lad," exclaimed the captain, in a hurried tone, to the man at the wheel, as soon as the boat left the side, "haul aft the head sheets--ease off the main sheet; Mr Timmins, we"ll keep her on her right course."
"Ay, ay, sir," answered the mate--shouting as the brig"s head fell off, "square away the head yards, my men; come, be sharp about it."
"And what do you think, Timmins, of those fellows" account of the Austrian brig and the pirate? It seems somewhat strange, doesn"t it?"
said Bowse, as he walked the deck with his first officer as soon as they had put the ship on her former course. The speronara still lay hove to right astern, her outline every instant becoming more indistinct as the brig ran from her.
"Why, sir," replied the mate, in return to his commander"s question. "I don"t think any good of it, and that"s a fact; but if you ask if I believe it, I don"t do that neither. These Italians are much given to lying at best, as far as my experience goes; and I believe we have just heard a pretty round lie, though I don"t say there was no truth altogether in it. To my mind, if there is such a chap as that Zap--what do they call him, the pirate--it is much more likely that he is on board that felucca, or perhaps he was one of the fellows who came on board us, than that an Austrian man-of-war brig should have sent her cruising about to give notice of him to English merchantmen."
"Well, Timmins, that"s my view of the case," replied Bowse; "I think the Austrian brig would have stood on to Malta herself, seeing she must have been almost in sight of it, instead of sending a craft of that sort with a message. Besides, what business had the speronara there at all?"
"There"s something very suspicious about it, at all events," returned the mate. "Now, though I don"t often listen to what the men say, Captain Bowse, and they generally get hold of the wrong end of a thing, yet they have often an inkling of what"s right and wrong. Well, sir, they"ve already got all sorts of stories aboard here, about the _Flying Dutchman_ and such-like stuff, and they don"t at all like the look of things. When you were below with the strangers, they talked of throwing them crop and heels overboard and letting them swim to their boats, and I believe if you hadn"t come up with them on deck yourself, they would not have let me prevent them."
"I believe the people are right, Timmins, in thinking that the two fellows who stood on our deck lately are knaves, but it wouldn"t have done to heave them overboard," said the master. "However, they are not likely to do us any harm if we keep a bright look-out, and should any rascally pirate attack us, I"m sure all on board here will stand to their guns like men."
CHAPTER NINE.
One of the most valuable qualities which a person can possess, is presence of mind. Our safety and our life, and the safety and the lives of others, frequently depend on it. Some people are endued with it naturally--they never act without thought, and they in a moment perceive what is best to be said or done. Others act from impulse, without consideration, and though they may now and then do what is right by chance, they are more likely to do what is wrong; like the Irish seaman, who, when ordered to cut a rope to which he was hanging, cut above his head instead of below his feet, and came down by the run. I believe that it is very possible to attain a presence of mind which one does not naturally possess, by constant practice and attention, though I suspect the task would be found very difficult.
When Ada saw the paper drop from the hand of the young Italian mariner, her first impulse was to call out to him in order to restore it, but the look he gave as he left the cabin, convinced her that he had done so purposely, and feeling that if so, it was certainly of importance, as she did possess the quality of which I was speaking, she sprang forward to secure it. The paper she saw, as she returned to her seat, was the blank leaf of a book, torn hastily out, and folded up in the form of a note; but on opening it there appeared to be nothing written on it.
"Why, what is that you have got there, Ada?" said Colonel Gauntlett.
"Oh, I fancied that I had discovered an important doc.u.ment, and, lo and behold, it turns out to be merely a blank paper," returned the young lady laughing. "One cannot help conjuring up some romantic incident in these lovely seas, and forgetting that in these matter-of-fact days nothing of the sort is likely to occur; but I believe after all there are some pencil marks on the paper." She held it up closer to the light, and as she did so, her countenance grew graver. There were a few lines written in pencil, but so faint that it was not surprising she should, at first, not have remarked them. They were in Italian, and in the peculiar handwriting of the people of that nation.