CHAPTER FOUR.
IN GREAT JEOPARDY.
Meanwhile everything possible was being tried to get another half knotof speed out of the _Nautilus_, which glided along under her cloud ofsail, sending the water foaming in an ever-widening double line ofsparkling water on either side. The hose was got to work, and the sailswetted, sheets were hauled more tightly home, and the captain andofficers walked the decks burning with impatience as they scanned thedistant schooner.
"If I was the skipper I'd be ready for him this time," said Mark to hiscompanion.
"How? What would you do?"
"Have the boat's crew ready to drop down the moment the slaver captainpitched another poor fellow overboard. No, no," he added, quickly;"he'll never be such a wretch as to do that again."
"Oh, won't he just?" cried Bob, nodding his head, a great many times;"he'll go on chucking the whole cargo out one by one, just like the mandid his gloves and things to the bear, for it to stop and smell themwhile he escaped. Here, I mean to go and save the next black chap, andthen perhaps I shall look as cocky as you do. Oh, what a wonderful chapyou are, Van!"
Mark made a quick gesture, as if to hit out at his messmate, and thenlooked on in wonder as the captain ordered the cutter's crew back intothe boat, and the men to the falls, ready in case the slaver captainshould repeat his manoeuvre, while the guns were double-shotted and laidfor the moment when the schooner would be once more within range.
"I say," whispered Bob, "don't the skipper look savage? I believe he'dsend a broadside into the schooner if it wasn't for the slaves onboard."
"Of course he would; he said so," replied Mark, and he went forward andthen down below to where, by the dim light of a swinging lantern, hecould see the wild eyes of the black as he lay in a bunk, ready to startup in dread as the lad approached.
"All right; be still," said the midshipman, laying his hand upon theman's shoulder, and pressing him back; "how are you?"
The man glared at him in silence, but made no sound.
"It's of no use to talk to you, I s'pose," continued Mark. "There, goto sleep. Perhaps we shall have some companions for you in the morning.Hullo! begun again!"
For at that moment there was a dull roar and the jarring sensation of agun being fired overhead, making the black start and look wonderinglyabout him.
"I say, that startled him," said Bob Howlett, who had stolen down behindhis messmate, and had stood in the semi-darkness laughing at the black'sastonishment. "What do you think of that, old chap? That's some of ourprivate thunder. Large supply kept on the premises. There goesanother! Here, Van, we mustn't stop below."
For a second report shook the deck, and the black tried to rise, butsank back from sheer weakness.
"Tell him it's all right, Van, and that he'd better go to sleep."
"How?" replied Mark.
"Ah, 'tis how! I say, what a shame for us to be sent on the west coastin such a state of ignorance. Here, all right, Massa Sambo. Go tosleep. I say, do come on, Van, or there'll be a row."
The next minute the two lads were on deck, to find that they wererapidly overhauling the schooner, and they were just in time to hear theorders given as the boat was ready to be lowered.
"Come, Mr Howlett, where have you been?"
This from the first lieutenant.
Bob murmured some excuse, and sprang into the boat, which dropped out ofsight directly, and then darted in again as the men bent to their stoutashen oars, and sent her rapidly in the schooner's wake, where Mark madeout by the troubled water seen through his glass that another poorfellow had been tossed overboard by the slaver captain, for he rightlyjudged that no English officer would leave the black to drown.
He was quite correct in his judgment, for though Captain Maitland hadfumed and declared that he would not give up the chance of capture forthe sake of a black, when he felt that he might seize the schooner andput an end to the mischief she was doing probably year after year, hehad his vessel's course stayed, and waited patiently for the return ofthe boat he had lowered.
The mission of this cutter was almost an exact repetition of the one inwhich Mark took part, Bob Howlett having the luck to seize the seconddrowning man, over whose body the boathook had slipped.
"And no wonder," growled the coxswain afterwards. "He'd got on no duds,and I didn't want to stick the hook into his flesh."
While this was going on, the captain stamped above on one side of thequarter-deck, the first lieutenant on the other. For they kept as farapart as they could, and it was an understood thing amongst the juniorofficers that it would be to come in for the full force of an explosionto speak to either of them now.
"Pull, men, pull!" roared the first lieutenant through his speakingtrumpet. "Mr Russell, do you want to keep us here all night?"
"Ay, ay, sir," came back from the boat.
"What?"
"No, no, sir; I beg your pardon. We've got the man."
"Got the man!" cried the captain, angrily; "do you think we have noglasses on board? Make haste, sir."
"Oh!"
"What's that?" cried the captain, sharply, for there had been the soundof a sharp crack, and Mark had uttered the cry.
"What's that, sir?" cried the lieutenant in a rage; "why it's MrVandean, sir, getting under my feet like a spaniel dog, and the moment Imove he yelps out, sir."
"It wasn't your foot, sir," cried Mark sharply, for his head wasstinging with pain. "You swung round your speaking trumpet, sir, andhit me."
"Silence, sir! how dare you, sir? You should get out of the way, sir,"roared the first lieutenant.
"That will do, Staples," said the captain, calming down now. "Now, men,up with that boat."
The cutter was already swinging from the davits, while at a turn of thewheel the _Nautilus_ began to forge through the water again, and the menstood ready for another shot at the flying schooner.
Just then the cutter's crew lifted out the black they had rescued, andhe too sank down helpless on the deck, half dead from exhaustion.
"That's one to me, Van," whispered Bob. "I saved that chap."
"Then you only half did it, Mr Howlett," said the doctor, who overheardhim. "Let me finish."
"I say," whispered Bob, "what a nuisance it's getting, you can't say aword on board without somebody hearing. Hullo! what's the matter withyour head?"
"Old Staples was in a passion because you were so long, and hit me overthe head with his speaking trumpet."
"Get out--and we weren't so long as you were first time. Russell saidso. What was it? He wouldn't dare to hit you."
"But he did; swung round just when I was behind him."
"Serve you right for being behind him."
"What?" cried Mark, furiously.
"No, no, I mean serve him right for being before you."
"Less talking, young gentlemen," cried the officer of whom they werespeaking, and he looked round at them so sternly that they separated,each hurrying to his post, and, glass in hand, watching the distantschooner.
"Look here, Mr Russell," said the captain, walking up to that officer,as, once more, they began to near the white-sailed vessel gliding alongin the brilliant moonlight. "If that scoundrel tries his cowardlyscheme again, I shall drop you to pick up the poor wretch, and keep onas hard as we can, or we shall lose her. Save the poor fellow, and thenpull steadily after us. I think I can overhaul her in less thanhalf-an-hour, and then I shall heave to, and wait for you to comeaboard."
The second lieutenant saluted, and the captain went forward to watch theschooner.
"Are you coming with me this time, Vandean?" said the lieutenant.
"Yes, I hope so, sir," said the lad.
"Hope, eh? Humph. You don't know what you are talking about, my lad."
"Please don't speak," said Mark, excitedly. "I've got it just rightnow. Look sir, look, there's a regular fight going on aboard. They'regetting ready to pitch another man overboard."
The lieutenant raised the glass to
his eyes, and immediately gave ordersto the crew to stand ready. Then, following the midshipman's example,he fixed his glass upon the schooner, and watched her moonlit deck withits busy dark figures, in the full expectation of seeing another heavysplash.
But nothing more disturbed the surface of the water but the rush of theswift schooner, in whose wake lay what looked like an arrow-head offoam, as the lines diverged from each side of her sharp prow; and asthey neared her the captain grew excited.
"She's going to heave to," he cried.
Just then a shot went skipping along the water, making the sea flashinto silver at every dip, and sped right on in front of the schooner'sbows, a messenger sufficiently faithful to warn the Yankee skipper ofwhat would be the fate of his vessel if he did not strike his colours,for the man who aimed that shot could as easily have hulled the swiftcraft.
At the captain's words every eye was directed to the American flag whichthe skipper was disgracing, but it remained in its place as both vesselssped on, and a couple more shots were fired and sent through the mainand foresails, which showed, with the aid of the glasses, a couple ofblack spots.
That was all.
"He's laughing at us," growled Mr Staples. "Oh, if we could send a fewshots through his wretched craft!"
"And I dare not," cried the captain.
Just then Mark again caught sight of something which was taking place onthe schooner's deck, not five hundred yards from where they pressed onin pursuit. It was hard to see at that distance, but he made out that asturdy black was evidently renewing the struggle which had taken placebefore; but in spite of his efforts, he was being dragged to the side;then, to Mark's horror, a hand was raised and a blow struck, followed bya splash in the water, which was scattered far and wide, as the youngmidshipman closed his glass with his wet hands, feeling as if it hadrevealed horrors which he could not bear.
"First cutters!" rang out, and the lad ran to the boat; the captainrepeated his orders to the second lieutenant as the _Nautilus_ was runon, so as to get as near as possible to the drowning slave before herspeed was checked and her boat lowered. There, all ready in theirseats, the boat's crew waited. The expected moment came as the sailsshivered, the boat kissed the water, the falls were unhooked, and in anextremely short space of time the _Nautilus_ was gliding on in fullchase, and the cutter's oars were dipping in a quick, regular strokewhich took them wide of the vessel's course, as she literally dartedaway.
And now, as he stood up once more on the thwart, to try and make out thehead of the black cast overboard, it struck Mark for the first time thatthey were alone upon the wide sea, and that the _Nautilus_ was veryrapidly increasing her distance, while the schooner, to his excitedfancy, already began to look small.
But he had very little time for thinking.
"Be ready with that boathook," shouted the second lieutenant.
"Ay, ay, sir. Mustn't miss this one," muttered the speaker to himself.
"See him, Mr Vandean?"
"No, not yet, sir."
"You ought to, by now. Watch for the rippled water where he isswimming."
"That's what I am doing, sir," replied Mark, "but I can't see anything."
"He's floating, perhaps. Pull away, my lads. Steady; we don't want topass him."
There was a few minutes' silence.
"See him now, Mr Vandean?" said the lieutenant again, and Mark wassilent for a few moments, as he scanned the surface round from beneathhis hand.
"No, sir, no sign of him."
"Oh, don't say that, my lad. Look, look. We mustn't miss the poorfellow. Strikes me that we're going to pick up the whole cargo thisway. Now then, wasn't that a splash yonder?"
"No, sir, I can't see anything," said Mark sadly; and as he stilleagerly scanned the surface amidst a breathless silence, only broken bythe flapping of the water against the bows of the boat, it again struckMark with a chill of awe that they were being left alone there; and heasked himself what would happen if the _Nautilus_ could not find themagain.
This was momentary, for his attention was taken up by his search, andthe officer said again, in angry impatience now,--"Come, Mr Vandean,where's this poor fellow? Here, lie to, my lads."
The men ceased rowing, and sat with their oars balanced, looking out oneither side for some sign of the man overboard but there was none, andMark heaved a deep sigh.
"Yes," said the lieutenant, as if that sigh were in words; "it's a badcase, my lad. I am afraid he's gone, poor fellow."
"Someone struck him before he went overboard," said Mark.
"You saw that?"
"Yes, sir."
"Then he has gone. We never saw him swimming. I'm afraid we must beginto row for the ship if we do not see him in a few minutes. She'sleaving us a long way behind."
"I see him, sir," cried the coxswain. "Here he is!"
He made a dash with his boathook, but the object he sought to reach wasso far out, that he overbalanced himself and went in with a heavyplunge.
"You clumsy dog!" roared the lieutenant. "Back water port, pullstarboard. That's it. Now then, in oars there, and lay hold of him."
The men on the port side obeyed, and in their excitement, three startedup and reached out to seize their struggling comrade, who had hold of ablack arm with one hand, and swam with the other.
"Now then, lay hold quick," roared the lieutenant.
"Mind! Take care!" shouted Mark.
The words were necessary, but useless, for as the men reached over andraised the coxswain and his burden, the gunwale of the boat sank toolow, there was a rush of water, and in what seemed like one beat of timethe crew were all thrown out, and as they rose to the surface after anunexpected dive, it was to find the oars floating about, with straw hatshere and there, and a couple of yards away the cutter lying bottomupwards.
Mark's first instinct as he caught sight of the glistening keel was tostrike out and seize it, his next to look wildly round for help; and nowhe fully realised the fact that they were alone and in deadly peril,with the help that should have been at hand gliding rapidly away.
"Hi! help! your hand!" cried a choking voice close by; and instinctivelyMark stretched out the asked-for help, to feel one hand seized and theother glide from the slippery keel. The next moment the water wasthundering over his head.