CHAPTER VII
AN INDEPENDENT COMMAND
Will was hit by a musket-ball in the last engagement that took place, andwas sent back with a batch of wounded to Port Royal. Three of the fingersof his left hand had been carried away, but he bore the loss withequanimity, as it would not compel him to leave the service. Tom, who wentwith him as his servant, fretted a good deal more over it than he himself,and was often loud in his lamentations.
"It would not have made any difference if it had been me," he said, "butit is awfully hard on you."
"What ridiculous nonsense, Tom!" Will said quite angrily, after one ofthese outbursts. "If it had been you it would have been really serious,for though an officer can get on very well without some of his fingers asailor would be useless and would be turned adrift with some triflingpension. I shall do very well. I have been mentioned in despatches and Iam certain to get my step as soon as I have served long enough to pass, soafter a time I shall not miss them at all."
Tom was silenced, though not convinced. The wound healed rapidly, thanksto Will's abstemious habits, and in six weeks after entering the hospitalhe was discharged as fit for duty. The _Hawke_ was not in harbour, so hewent to an hotel. On the following day he received an order to call uponthe admiral. When he did so that officer received him very kindly. "I amsorry," he said, "to learn that you have lost some fingers, Mr. Gilmore."
"I hope it will not interfere much with my efficiency, sir?"
"I think not," the admiral said; "I have received the surgeon's reportthis morning. In it he stated that your wound had from the first gone onmost favourably, and that they had really kept you in hospital a fortnightlonger than was absolutely necessary, lest in your anxiety to rejoin youmight do yourself harm. Three days since a cutter of about a hundred tonswas sent in by the _Sylph_. She was a pirate, and, like all vessels ofthat class, very fast, and would most likely have outsailed the _Sylph_had she not caught her up a creek. I have purchased her for the governmentservice, and I propose to place you in command."
Will gave a start of surprise. At his age he could not have expected for amoment to be given an independent command.
"I have noted your behaviour here, and have looked through the records ofyour service since you joined, and I am convinced that you will do creditto the post. I shall give you a midshipman junior to yourself from the_Thetis_, and you will have forty hands before the mast. The _Hawke_ isexpected in in a few days, so you can pick five men from her. The rest Iwill make up from the other ships. The cutter will be furnished with fourtwelve-pounders, and the long sixteen as a bow gun, which she had when shewas captured. Your duty will be to police the coasts and to overhaul asmany craft as you may find committing depredations, of course avoiding acombat with adversaries too strong for you."
"I thank you most heartily, sir, for selecting me for this service, andwill do my best to merit your kindness."
"That is all right, Mr. Gilmore. I have acted, as I believe, for the goodof the service, and to some extent as an incentive to other young officersto use their wits."
Will went out with his head in a whirl. He could hardly have hoped, withina year of his term of service as a midshipman, to obtain a separatecommand, and he could have shouted with joy at this altogether unexpectedpromotion. The first thing he did was to take a boat and row off in it tohis new command. She was a handsome boat, evidently designed to be fastand weatherly.
"These beggars know how to build boats much better than how to fightthem," he said, when he had examined her. "Assuredly in anything like alight wind she would run away from the _Sylph_. The admiral was right whenhe said that it was only by chance that she was caught. I hope the fellowwho is going with me is a good sort. It would be awkward if we did notpull well together. At any rate, as the admiral seems to have picked himout for the service, he must be worth his salt. Of course I shall haveDimchurch as my boatswain; he will take one watch and the youngster theother. It will be hard if we don't catch something."
Having rowed round the cutter two or three times he returned to the shore.As the little vessel had been taken by surprise, and had not been able tooffer any resistance to a craft so much more powerful than herself, shewas uninjured, and was in a fit state to be immediately recommissioned.She was called _L'Agile_, a name which Will thought very suitable for her.
"Forty men will be none too strong for her," he said, "for we shall haveto work two guns on each side and that long one in the bow." He went tobed that night and dreamt of fierce fights and many captures, and laughedat himself when he awoke. "Still," he said, "I shall always be able totackle any craft of our own size and carrying anything like our number ofmen."
Three days later the _Hawke_ came in. Will at once rowed off to her andhad a chat with his friends. When he mentioned his new command his newswas at first received with absolute incredulity, but when at last hismessmates came to understand that he was not joking, he was heartilycongratulated on his good fortune. Afterwards he was not a little chaffedon the tremendous deeds he and his craft were going to perform. When atlast they became serious, Latham, the master's mate, remarked: "But whatis your new command like?"
"She is a cutter of about a hundred tons, carrying four twelve-pounders,and a sixteen-pounder long pivot gun at the bow. I am to have forty menand a young midshipman from the _Thetis_."
"A very tidy little craft, I should say, Gilmore, and you will probablyget a good deal more fun out of her than from a frigate or line-of-battleship. You will want a good boatswain to take charge of one of thewatches."
"I shall have one, for I am to take five men out of the _Hawke_, and youmay be sure I shall take Dimchurch as boatswain."
"You could not have a better man," Latham said; "he is certainly one ofthe smartest fellows on board the ship. He is very popular with all themen, and is full of life and go, and always the first to set an examplewhen there is any work to be done. I suppose we shall also lose theservices of that boy Tom?"
"I think so," Will laughed; "I should be quite lost without so faithful ahand, and indeed, though he still ranks as a boy, he is a big powerfulfellow, and a match for many an A.B. at hauling a rope or pulling an oar."
"You are right. He is as big round the chest as many of the men, andthough perhaps not so active, quite as powerful. When will you hoist yourpendant?"
"I have to get the crew together yet. I am to have small drafts fromseveral of the ships, and it may be a few days before they can becollected."
The next morning the _Thetis_ arrived, and the young midshipman came onshore an hour later to report himself to Will. He looked surprised for amoment at the age of his new commander, but gravely reported himself forservice. Will was pleased with his appearance. He was a merry-faced boy,but with a look on his face which indicated pluck and determination.
"You are surprised at my age, no doubt, Harman," Will said, "and I cannotbe more than a year older than yourself, but I have been fortunate enoughto be twice mentioned in despatches, indeed have had wonderful luck. Ifeel sure that we shall get on well together, and I hope both do well. Weare to act as police on the coast of Cuba; it swarms with pirates, and itwill be hard if we don't fall in with some of them. You will, of course,keep one watch, and the boatswain, who is a thoroughly good man, will takethe other. I need hardly say that we shall have no nonsense aboutcommanding officer. Except when on duty, I hope we shall be good chums,which means, of course, that when an enemy is in sight or the weather isdirty I must be in absolute command."
"Thank you, sir!" Harman said. "These are good terms, and I promise toobey your commands as readily as if you were old enough to be my father."
"That is good. Now I have dinner ordered and I hope you will share it withme. We can then talk over matters comfortably."
Before dinner was over, the lad was more than satisfied with his newchief, and felt sure that at any rate the cruise would be a pleasant one.Just as they had finished, Dimchurch and Tom came in to see Wil
l. Onfinding that he was engaged they would have withdrawn, but Will calledthem in. "Sit down and join Mr. Harman and myself in a chat. This, Harman,is Bob Dimchurch, who is going to be our boatswain, and Tom Stevens, whomI have known since we were five years old, and although I have gone overhis head we are as good friends as ever. Dimchurch took me under his wingwhen I first joined, and since then has fought by my side on severaloccasions."
"We came to wish you success in your new command, sir," Dimchurch said,"and should not have intruded had we known that you were not alone."
"It is no intrusion at all, Dimchurch. There is no man whosecongratulations can be more pleasing to me. Have you seen the cutter?"
"Yes, sir. Tom and I noticed what a smart, likely craft she was when wecame in and dropped anchor. I little thought that it was you who hadcommand of her, but I have no fear but that you will do her full justice.I could hardly believe my ears when I was told this afternoon, and Tom wasready to jump out of his clothes with joy."
"It is wonderfully good fortune, Dimchurch; I can hardly believe it myselfyet."
"I am sure you deserve it, sir. It was you who recaptured that prize inthe Mediterranean; it was you who saved the first lieutenant's life; andit was you who suggested a plan by which we accounted for those threepirates. If that didn't deserve promotion, it is hard to say what would."
"I owe no small portion of it, Dimchurch, to the fact that I was able totake an observation so soon after I had joined, and that was due to thekindness of my good friend Miss Warden."
"Yes, sir, that goes for something, no doubt, but there is a good dealmore than that in it." After some further talk both of the past and thefuture, Dimchurch sprang to his feet, saying: "Well, sir, I wish yousuccess. But it is time we were off. I am told we are to remove our dudson board the new craft to-morrow."
"Yes, we are going to start manning her at once; I shall be on board withMr. Harman directly after breakfast. I have not put foot upon her yet, andam most anxious to do so."
The craft fully answered Will's expectations. Her after-accommodation wasexceedingly good; the cabin was handsomely fitted, and there were twostate-rooms.
"We shall be in clover here, Harman," he said; "no one could wish for abetter command. I must set to work to get stores shipped at once. How manyof the crew are on board?"
"Twenty-three, sir, and I believe we shall have our full complement beforenight."
As they spoke a boat laden with provisions came alongside, and all handswere at once engaged transferring her load to the cutter. In the course ofthe forenoon the remainder of the men came on board in twos and threes.After dinner Will called the crew together and read out his commission.Then he made his maiden speech.
"My lads," he said, "I wish this to be a comfortable ship, and I will domy best to make it so. I shall expect the ready obedience of all; and youmay be assured that if possible I will put you in the way of gainingprize-money. There are plenty of prizes to be taken, and I hopeconfidently that many of them will fall to our share." The men gave threecheers, and Will added: "I will order an extra supply of grog to be servedout this evening."
On the following day _L'Agile_ dipped her ensign to the admiral and setoff on her voyage. Will was well pleased with the smartness the crewdisplayed in getting under weigh, and more than satisfied with the pace atwhich she moved through the water. For a month they cruised off the coastof Cuba, during which time they picked up eight small prizes. These werefor the most part rowing-galleys carrying one large lateen sail. None ofthem were sufficiently strong to show fight; they were not intended toattack merchantmen, but preyed upon native craft, and were manned by fromten to twenty desperadoes. Most of them, when overhauled, pretended to bepeaceful fishermen or traders, but a search always brought to lightconcealed arms, and in some cases captured goods. The boats were burned,and their crews, mostly mulattoes, with a sprinkling of negroes--rascalswhose countenances were sufficiently villainous to justify their beinghanged without trial,--were put ashore; for the admiral had giveninstructions to Will not to burden himself with prisoners, who would haveto be closely guarded, and would therefore weaken his crew, and, ifbrought to Port Royal, would take up prison accommodation.
At last one day a schooner rather bigger than themselves was sighted. Herappearance was rakish, and there was little doubt as to her character. Allsail was at once crowded on _L'Agile_. The schooner was nearly as fast asshe was, and at the end of a six hours' chase she was still two milesahead. Suddenly she headed for the shore and disappeared among the trees._L'Agile_ proceeded on her course until opposite the mouth of the inletwhich the pirate had entered. It was getting dark, and Will decided towait until morning, and then to send a boat in to reconnoitre.
"I have not forgotten," he said to Harman, "the way in which those twoFrench frigates I have told you of ran into a trap, and I don't mean to becaught so if I can help it."
_L'Agile_ remained hove to during the night, and in the morning lowered aboat, with four hands, commanded by Dimchurch, who was ordered to row inuntil he obtained a fair view of the enemy, and observe as far as possiblewhat preparation had been made for defence. He was absent for half anhour, and then returned, saying that the schooner was lying anchored withher sails stowed at the far end of the inlet, which was about half a milelong and nearly as wide, with her broadside bearing on the entrance.
"If it is as large as that," Will said, "there will be plenty of room forus to manoeuvre. Did you make out what number of guns she carried?"
"Yes, sir, she mounted four guns on each side; I should say they were forthe most part ten-pounders."
"I think we can reckon upon taking her. Our guns are of heavier metal thanhers, and the long-tom will make up for our deficiency in numbers."
_L'Agile_ was put under as easy sail as would suffice to give hermanoeuvring powers, and then headed for the mouth of the inlet. She washalf-way through when suddenly two hidden batteries, each mounting threeguns, opened upon her.
"Drop the anchor at once," Will shouted; "we will finish with thesegentlemen before we go farther." The schooner at the same time openedfire, but at half a mile range her guns did not inflict much damage uponthe cutter. Lying between the two batteries she engaged them both, herbroadside guns firing with grape, while the long-tom sent a shot into eachalternately. In a quarter of an hour their fire was silenced, three of theguns were dismounted, and the men who had been working them fledprecipitately.
"Take a boat and spike the remaining guns, Dimchurch," Will said; "I don'twant any more bother with them."
In a few minutes Dimchurch returned to the cutter, having accomplished hismission. The anchor was then got up again, and she proceeded to attack theschooner. _L'Agile's_ casualties had been trifling; only one had beenkilled and three wounded, all of them slightly. As she sailed up the inletshe replied with her pivot-gun to the fire of the enemy. At every shot thesplinters were seen to fly from the schooner's side, much to thediscomfiture of the pirate gunners, whose aim became so wild that scarcelya shot struck _L'Agile_. When within a hundred yards of the schooner thehelm was put down, and the cutter swept round and opened fire with her twobroadside guns.
The shots had scarcely rung out when Harman touched Will on the shoulder."Look there, sir," he said. Will turned and saw a vessel emerging from aside channel, which was so closed in with trees that it had beenunperceived by anybody aboard the cutter. Her aim was evidently to getbetween them and the sea. She was a cutter of about the same size as_L'Agile_, but carried six ten-pounders.
"The schooner has enticed us in here," Will said, "there is no doubt aboutthat, and now there is nothing to do but to fight it out. Take her headround," he said, "we will settle it with the cutter first. The schoonercannot come to her assistance for some minutes as she has all her sailsfurled."
Accordingly he ranged up to the new-comer, and a furious contest ensued.He engaged her with two broadside guns and the long-tom, and at the sametime kept his other two guns playing upon the schooner, the crew of whichw
ere busy getting up sail. The long-tom was served by Dimchurch himself,and every shot went crashing through the side of the pirate cutter, thefire of the two broadside guns being almost equally effective.
"Keep it up, lads," Will shouted; "we shall finish with her before theother can come up." As he spoke a shot from the long-tom struck thecutter's mainmast, which tottered for a moment and then fell over her sidetowards _L'Agile_, and the sails and hamper entirely prevented the crewfrom working her guns. For another five minutes the fire was kept up; thenthe crew were seen to be leaping overboard, and presently a man stood upand shouted that she surrendered. The schooner was now coming up fast.
"Don't let her escape," Will shouted; "she has had enough of it, and istrying to get away. Run her aboard!" In a minute the two vessels crashedtogether, and headed by Will, Harman, and Dimchurch, _L'Agile's_ crewsprang on board the schooner.
The pirate crew were evidently discouraged by the fate of their consortand by the complete failure of their plan to capture _L'Agile_. Thecaptain, a gigantic mulatto, fought desperately, as did two or three ofhis principal men. One of them charged at Will while he was engaged withanother, and would have killed him had not Tom Stevens sprung forward andcaught the blow on his own cutlass. The sword flew from the man's hand,and Tom at once cut him down. Dimchurch engaged in a single-handed contestwith the great mulatto captain. Strong as the sailor was he could withdifficulty parry the ruffian's blows, but skill made up for inequality ofstrength, and after a few exchanges he laid the man low with a cleverthrust. The fall of their leader completed the discomfiture of thepirates, most of whom at once sprang overboard and made for the shore,those who remained being cut down by the sailors.
When at last they were masters of the ship the crew gave three lustycheers. But Will did not permit them to waste precious time in rejoicing.He knew that, though they had accomplished so much, there was still agreat deal to be done, for the prizes might even yet be recaptured beforethey got them out to sea. Without a moment's delay, therefore, he sent aboat to take possession of the cutter. The sail and wreckage were clearedaway, and the boat proceeded to tow her out of the inlet. In the meantimea warp was taken from _L'Agile_ to the schooner, the sails of the latterwere lowered, and Will sailed proudly out with his second prize in tow.Once fairly at sea the crew began to repair damages. Five men in all hadbeen killed and eleven were wounded. Several of the latter, however, wereable to lend a hand. The shot-holes in _L'Agile_ were first patched withpieces of plank, then covered with canvas, and afterwards given a coat ofpaint. Then the schooner was taken in hand, and when she was got intosomething like ship-shape order her sails were hoisted again, and ten menunder Harman placed on board to work her. The cutter was taken in tow,only three men being left on board to steer.
It was late in the afternoon before all the repairs were completed. Beforesailing, a rough examination was made of the holds of the two vessels, andto the great satisfaction of _L'Agile's_ crew both were found to contain aconsiderable amount of booty.
"It is probable that there is a storehouse somewhere," Will said; "but aswe have under thirty available men it would be madness to try to land, forcertainly two-thirds of the scoundrels escaped by swimming, and as eachcraft must have carried nearly a hundred men we should have beenaltogether overmatched. Well, they had certainly a right to count uponsuccess; their arrangements were exceedingly good. No doubt they expectedus to leave the batteries alone, and from the position in which they wereplaced they could have peppered us hotly while we were engaged with theschooner; in which case they would probably have had an easy victory. Itwas a cleverly-laid trap and ought to have succeeded."
"And it would, sir," Dimchurch said, "if you had not turned from theschooner and settled with the cutter before the other could come to herassistance."
"The credit is largely due to you," Will said; "that shot of yours thattook the mast out was the turning-point of the fight. It completelycrippled her, and as it luckily fell towards us it altogether preventedthem from returning our fire."
Very proud were Will and his crew when they sailed into Port Royal withtheir two prizes. Will at once rowed to the flagship, where he received avery hearty greeting. "You have not come empty-handed, I see, Mr.Gilmore," the admiral said; "you were lucky indeed to take two ships ofyour own size one after the other."
"We took them at the same time, sir," Will said, "as you will see by myreport."
The admiral gave a look of surprise and opened the document. First he ranhis eye over it, then he read it more attentively. When he had finished hesaid: "You have fought a most gallant action, Mr. Gilmore, a most gallantaction. It was indeed long odds you had against you, two vessels eachconsiderably over your own size and manned by far heavier crews, besidesthe two batteries. It was an excellent idea to leave the vessel with whichyou were first engaged and turn upon the second one. If you had tried tofight them both at once you would almost certainly have been overcome, andyou succeeded because you were cool enough to grasp the fact that theschooner at anchor and with her sails down would not be able to come toher friend's assistance for some minutes, and acted so promptly on yourconclusions. The oldest officer in the service could not have done better.I congratulate you very heartily on your conduct. What are the contents ofthe cargoes of the prizes?"
"I cannot say, sir. With three vessels on my hands I had no time toexamine them, but they certainly contain a number of bales of varioussorts. I opened one which contained British goods."
"Then no doubt they are the pick of the cargoes they captured," theadmiral said; "I will go off with you myself and ascertain. I have nothingelse to do this afternoon, and it will be a matter of interest to me aswell as to you. You may as well let your own gig row back and I will takemine."
Accordingly the gig was sent back to _L'Agile_ with orders for two boatsto be lowered and twenty of the men to be ready to go to the two prizes.As soon as the admiral came on board the hatchways were opened, and themen brought up a number of the bales. These were found to contain finecloths, material for women's dresses, china, ironmongery, carpets, andother goods of British manufacture. The other vessel contained sugar,coffee, ginger, spices, and other products of the islands. "That isenough," said the admiral; "I don't think we shall be far wrong if we putdown the value of those two cargoes at L10,000. The two vessels will sellfor about L1000 apiece, so that the prize-money will be altogether aboutL12,000, and even after putting aside my portion you will all share to ahandsome amount in the proceeds. That is the advantage of not belonging toa squadron. In that case your share would not be worth anything like whatit will now be. By the way, since you have been absent I have received theaccount of the prize-money earned by the _Furious_ in the Mediterraneanand by the capture of the French frigates. It amounts in all to L35,000.Of course as a midshipman your share will not be very large; probably,indeed, it will not exceed L250, so, you see, pirate-hunting in the WestIndies, in command even of a small craft, pays enormously better thanbeing a midshipman on board a frigate."
"It does indeed, sir, though L250 would be a fortune to a midshipman."
"Well, if our calculations as to the value of the cargoes and ships arecorrect, you will get more than ten times that amount now. And as thereare only the flag and one other officer to share with you, the men'sportion will be something like L100 apiece. A few more captures likethis," and he laughed, "and you will become a rich man."
He then rowed away to his own ship, and Will returned to _L'Agile_ andgladdened the hearts of Harman and the crew with the news of the value oftheir captures. _L'Agile_ remained another week in harbour, during whichtime all signs of the recent conflict were removed, and he received adraft of men sufficient to bring his crew up to its former level. Then sheagain set sail.
They had cruised for about a fortnight when one morning, just as Will wasgetting up, Dimchurch ran down and reported that they had sighted twosails suspiciously near each other. "One," he said, "looks to me afull-rigged ship, and the other a large schooner."
"I will have a look at them," Will said, and, putting on his clothes, heran on deck.
"Yes, it certainly looks suspicious," he said, when he had examined themthrough his telescope; "we will head towards them."
"She looks to me a very large schooner, sir," said Dimchurch.
"Yes, she is larger than these pirates generally are, but there is verylittle doubt as to her character. How far are they off, do you think?"
"Ten miles, sir, I should say; but we have got the land-breeze while theyare becalmed. By the look of the water I should say we should carry thewind with us until we are pretty close to them."
Every sail the cutter could carry was hoisted, and she approached the twovessels rapidly. They were some four miles from them when the sails of theschooner filled and she began to move through the water.
"It will be a long chase now," Will said; "but the cutter has light wings,so we have a good chance of overhauling her."
"The sails of the ship are all anyhow, sir," Harman said.
"So they are, Mr. Harman; foul play has been going on there, I have notthe least doubt. The fact that the crew are not making any effort to haulin her sheets and come to meet us is in itself a proof of it. I think itis our duty to board her and see what has taken place. Even if we allowthe schooner to escape we shall light upon her again some day, I have nodoubt."
"She is very low in the water," he said, after examining the merchantmancarefully through his telescope, "and either her cargo is of no value tothe pirates, and they have allowed it to remain in her, or they havescuttled her."
"I am afraid it is that, sir," Dimchurch said, "for she is certainly lowerin the water than when I first saw her."
"You are right, Dimchurch, the scoundrels have scuttled her. Please God weshall get to her before she founders! Oh for a stronger wind! Do you thinkwe could row there quicker than we sail?"
"No, sir. The gig might go as fast as the cutter, but the other boat wouldnot be able to keep pace with her."
"Well, make all preparations for lowering. Heaven only knows what tragedymay have taken place there."
After all had been got ready, every eye on board the cutter was fixed onthe vessel. There was no doubt now that she was getting deeper in thewater every minute. When they got within a quarter of a mile of the shipshe was so low that it was evident she could not float many minuteslonger.
"To the boats, men," Will cried, "row for your lives."
A moment later three boats started at full speed. The gig, in whichDimchurch and Tom were both rowing, was first to search the sinking ship.Will leapt on board at once, and as he did so he gave an exclamation ofhorror, for the deck was strewn with dead bodies. Without stopping to lookabout him he ran aft to the companion and went down to the cabin, whichwas already a foot deep in water. There he found some fifteen men andwomen sitting securely bound on the sofas. Will drew his dirk, and runningalong cut their thongs.
"Up on deck for your lives," he cried, "and get into the boats alongside;she will not float three minutes."
At the farther end of the cabin a young girl was kneeling by the side of astout old lady, who had evidently fainted.
"Come," Will said, going up to her, "it is a matter of life and death; weshall have the water coming down the companion in a minute or two."
"I can't leave her," the girl cried.
Will attempted to lift the old lady, but she was far too heavy for him.
"I cannot save her," he said, and raised a shout for Dimchurch. It wasunanswered. "There," he said, "the water is coming down; she will sink ina minute. I cannot save her--indeed she is as good as dead already--but Ican save you," and snatching the girl up he ran to the foot of thecompanion. The water was already pouring down, but he struggled up againstit, and managed to reach the deck; but before he could cross to the sidethe vessel gave a sudden lurch and went down. He was carried under withthe suck, but by desperate efforts he gained the surface just as hisbreath was spent. For a moment or two he was unable to speak, but he wasnone the less ready to act. Looking round he saw a hen-coop floating near,and, swimming to it, he clung to it with one arm while he held the girl'shead above water with the other. Then, when he had recovered his breath,he shouted "Dimchurch!" Fortunately the gig was not far away, and his hailwas at once answered, and a moment later the boat was alongside thehen-coop.
THE RESCUE]
"Take this young lady, Dimchurch, and lay her in the stern-sheets. Shecan't be dead, for she was sensible when the ship went down, and we werenot under water a minute."
After the girl had been laid down, Will was helped in.
"Did we save them all?" he asked.
"Yes, sir; at least I think so. They all came running on deck and jumpedstraight into the boats. I was busy helping them, and did not notice thatyou were missing. As the last seemed to have come up, I called to theother boats to make off, for I saw that she could only float a minutelonger, and as it was we had only just got clear when she went down.Indeed we had a narrow escape of it, and the men had to row. I wasstanding up to look for you, and had just discovered that you were not inany of the boats, when I heard you call. It gave me a bad turn, as you mayguess, sir, and glad I was when I saw you were holding on to thathen-coop."
"Now, let us try and bring this young lady round," Will said.
They turned her over first upon her face and let the water run out of hermouth. Then they laid her flat on her back with a jersey under her head,and rubbed her hands and feet and pressed gently at times on her chest.After five minutes of this treatment the girl heaved a sigh, and shortlyafterwards opened her eyes and looked round in bewilderment at the facesof the men. Then suddenly she realized where she was and remembered whathad happened.
"Oh, it was dreadful!" she murmured. "Poor Miss Morrison was lost, was shenot?"
"If that was the name of the lady you were kneeling by I regret to saythat she was. It was impossible to save her; for though I tried my best Icould not lift her. As you call her Miss Morrison I presume she is not aclose relation."
"No, she had been my governess since I was a child, and has been a motherto me. Oh, to think that she is dead while I am saved!"
"You must remember that it might have been worse," Will said; "youcertainly cannot require a governess many more years, and will find otherson whom to bestow your affection. How old are you?"
"I am fourteen," the girl said.
"Well, here is my ship, and we will all do our best to make youcomfortable."
"Your ship!" the girl said in surprise; "do you mean to say that you arein command of her? You do not look more than a boy."
"I am not much more than a boy," he said with a smile, "but for all that Iam the commander of this vessel, and this young gentleman is my second incommand."