CHAPTER SEVENTEEN.
A NARROW ESCAPE--THE FUGITIVES PICKED UP BY A FRIGATE.
The rest Jack and Bill had obtained while their raft was under sailenabled them to row with as much vigour as at first; and row they didwith might and main, knowing that their liberty might depend upon theirexertions.
The calm was very trying, for they had expected to be wafted quicklyacross the Channel, and row as hard as they could, their progress mustbe slow. After rowing for a couple of hours or more, they foundthemselves apparently no nearer the ship ahead than they had been atfirst.
At length hunger compelled them to lay in their oars and take somebreakfast. They ate a hearty one, for they had plenty of provisions;but on examining their stock of water they found that they must be veryeconomical, or they might run short of that necessary of life.
After a short rest, Bill sprang to his feet.
"It won't do to be stopping," he observed. "If we only make a couple ofmiles an hour it will be something, and we shall be so much nearer home,and so much farther away from the French shore."
"I'm afraid that when the mounseers find out that we have escaped, theywill be sending after us," said Jack. "They will be ashamed of beingoutwitted by a couple of English boys, and will do all they can to bringus back."
"I believe you are right, Jack," replied Bill; "only, as they certainlywill not be able to see us from the shore, they won't know in whatdirection to pull, and may fancy that we are hid away somewhere alongthe coast."
"They'll guess well enough that we should have pulled to the nor'ard,and will be able to calculate by the set of the tide whereabouts to findus," said Jack. "We mustn't trust too much to being safe as yet. Iwonder what that vessel to the eastward is. She's a ship, for I can seeher royals above the horizon, and she's certainly nearer than when wefirst made her out."
"She must be standing to the westward, then, and will, I hope, passinside of us, should the breeze spring up again from the same quarter,"observed Bill. "She's probably French, or she would not be so close inwith the coast."
"As to that, our cruisers stand in close enough at times, and she may beEnglish notwithstanding," answered Jack.
"Unless we are certain that she's English we shall be wiser to avoidher," remarked Bill, "so we'll pull away to the nor'ard."
"But what do you think of the ship out there?" asked Jack, pointingahead.
"I cannot help believing that she's English," said Bill. "We must runthe chance of being seen by her. We shall have to pull on a good manyhours, however, first, and when the breeze springs up, she'll prettyquickly run either to the eastward or westward."
The boys, however, after all their remarks, could arrive at noconclusion. They rowed and rowed, but still appeared not to have movedtheir position with regard either to the shore or the two vessels insight.
The sun rose high above their heads and struck down with considerableforce; but they cared little for the heat, though it made them applymore frequently than they otherwise would have done to their water-cask.Bill had more than once to warn Jack not to drink too much.
The day was drawing on, and at last Jack proposed that they should haveanother rest and take some dinner. "There's no use starving ourselves,and the more we eat the better we shall be able to pull," he said.
Bill was not quite of this opinion. At the same time he agreed toJack's proposal, as his arms were becoming very weary.
They had just finished their dinner when Jack, getting up on the chestin which the mast was stepped, so that he might have a better look-out,exclaimed, "I see a sail between us and the land. The sun just nowglanced on it. There's a breeze in shore, depend on it, and it willreach us before long."
Bill jumped up to have a look-out also. He could not distinguish thesail, but he thought by the darker colour of the water to the southwardthat a breeze was playing over it, though it had not as yet got as faras they were. They again took to their oars and pulled on. Jack,however, occasionally turned round to look to the southward, for heentertained the uncomfortable idea that they were pursued.
They were now, they agreed, nearer the ship to the northward. Her loftysails must have caught a light westerly air, which did not reach closedown to the water, and had sent her along two or three knots an hour.They could see half-way down her courses, and Jack declared his beliefthat she was a frigate, but whether English or French he could notdetermine.
Unless, however, they were to hoist their sail, they might pass veryclose to her without being discovered, and the course she was steeringwould take her somewhat to the eastward of them.
They would have to settle the point as to whether she was a friend orfoe, and in the former case whether it would be advisable to hoist theirsail, and made every signal in their power to attract her attention, orto keep the sail lowered until she was at a distance from them. Billhad not been convinced that Jack had seen a sail to the southward.
"Whether or not I saw one before, there's one now," cried Jack, "andpretty near, too, and what's worse, it's a boat, so that they have oars,and will be coming up with us in spite of the calm."
"They must have had a breeze to get thus far," remarked Bill.
"Yes, but it has failed them now; see, they are lowering down the sail."As Jack spoke, a light patch of white like the wing of a wild-fowl wasseen for a moment glancing above the water landward.
"Yes, there's no doubt that was a sail, which must have come from theshore; but it is a question whether the Frenchmen will have the pluck topull on in the hopes of finding us, or will turn back. One thing iscertain, that we had better try to keep ahead, when they will havefarther to come if they still pursue us."
Once more the boys got their oars out, and laboured away asenergetically as before. They every now and then, however, looked backto ascertain if the boat were coming after them. Meantime a lightbreeze played occasionally over the water, but it was so light that itwould not have helped them much, and they thought it wiser not to hoisttheir sail, as it would betray their position should a French boatreally be in pursuit of them.
The ship, which they supposed to be a frigate, was in in the meantimedrawing nearer to them from the north-east.
"I cannot help thinking that the boat is still coming after us," criedJack. "I fancy I caught sight of the gleam of the sun on the men'shats; if I were to swarm up the mast I should be more certain."
"You will run the chance of capsizing the raft if you do," observedBill.
"I'll just go a little way up," retorted Jack; and he jumped on thechest, and hoisted himself three or four feet only up the mast, whileBill sat down on the deck to counterbalance his weight.
"Yes, I was right," said Jack, coming down. "I made out a boat, as sureas we are here, and a large one, too, or I should not have seen her soclearly. She's a good way off still, so that it will be some timebefore she can get up with us. The French fellows in her must takeyonder ship to be a countryman, or they would not pull on so boldly."
"They may think that they have time to pick us up and be off againbefore the ship can get near them," said Bill; "but whatever they think,we must try to disappoint them, so we'll pull away as long as we canstand, and then we'll row on our knees."
The sun was by this time sinking towards the west; and should darknesscome on, their chances of escape would be increased. The wind hadshifted slightly to the south-west, and should it freshen sufficientlyto make it worth while hoisting the sail, they might stand away to thenorth-east. It still, however, wanted two or three hours before itwould be perfectly dark, while the boat would be up to them before thattime. After rowing for the greater part of an hour, Jack again took alook-out, and reported that he could distinctly see the boat.
"So I suspect by this time can the people on board the ship," observedBill, "and probably they can see us also; but the crew of the boat wellknow that with this light wind they can easily row away from the shipshould she prove to be English."
In a short time they could both s
ee the boat when only standing up onthe raft. They had now too much reason to fear that, in spite of alltheir efforts, they should be overtaken. Still, like brave boys, theypulled on, though their arms and backs were aching with their exertions.
The Frenchmen, who must by this time have seen the raft, appeareddetermined to re-take them.
Presently a report was heard, and a bullet flew skimming over the water,but dropped beneath the surface somewhere astern.
Another and another followed.
"Their shot won't hurt us as yet," observed Bill. "They fancy that theycan frighten us, but we'll show them that they are mistaken;" and hepulled on as steadily as he had before been doing.
Jack, however, could not resist jumping up once more on the chest, andlooking towards the ship.
"Hurrah! there's a boat coming off from the ship!" he cried out. "Ifshe's English, she'll soon make the Frenchmen put about."
Jack was right as to a boat coming from the ship, but the Frenchmenstill pulled on. Perhaps they did not see the boat, or if they did,thought that she also was French.
Again and again the pursuers fired, the bullets now falling close to theraft.
"A miss is as good as a mile," cried Bill, rowing on.
But the French boat was evidently getting terribly near.
If any tolerable marksman were on board, he could easily pick off thetwo occupants of the raft. They knew that well enough, but they kept totheir resolution of pulling on till the last.
They were encouraged, too, by seeing the boat from the stranger makingtowards them. Presently three or four bullets together flew close totheir ears, and fell into the water ahead.
"Pull on! pull on!" cried Bill; "the fellows fired to vent their spite.They are going to give up the chase."
He looked round as he spoke, and, sure enough, the stern of the boat wasseen.
The Frenchmen were rowing back to the shore.
The boat of the stranger, instead of steering, as she had been, towardsthe raft, was now seen directing her course after the French boat, thecrew of which were evidently straining every nerve to escape.
"Hurrah!" cried Jack, standing up and waving his cap, "that's an Englishfrigate."
"No doubt about it," exclaimed Bill; "I can see her ensign blowing out;"and he could scarcely refrain from throwing up his cap, but rememberedthat it might chance to fall overboard if he did.
Directly afterwards a gun was heard, fired by the frigate.
It was a signal to recall the boat.
She would have had a long pull before she could over take the Frenchmen.
The signal was not to be disobeyed, and she was seen to pull round andsteer for the raft.
The boys eagerly watched her approach.
She was soon up to them.
"Hallo, my lads! where do you come from?" asked the officer, who wasstanding up in the stern-sheets.
"We are running away from the Frenchmen, sir," answered Bill.
"A curious craft you have chosen for the purpose," observed the officer.
"It was the best we could get, sir," said Bill. "We twice have managedto make our escape, and the first time were caught and carried back."
"Well, we'll hear all about it by-and-by. Come, jump on board. Ishould like to tow your raft to the frigate, but we must not delay forthat purpose," exclaimed the officer.
Jack and Bill quickly tumbled into the boat, though, as soon as theywere on board, they cast wistful glances at their raft.
The officer ordered the men to give way, and steered the boat towardsthe frigate. He now asked the lads how they came to be in France.
Bill briefly described how the _Foxhound_ had blown up, and the way inwhich they had been taken on board a French fishing-vessel, and theirvarious adventures on shore.
"That's curious enough," observed the lieutenant, "for we have on boardthe frigate most of those who escaped."
The officer, who was the third lieutenant of the frigate, had learnedthe greater part of their history by the time the boat got up to her.
He and most of the crew quickly climbed on board, followed by the boys.
The falls were hooked on, and the boat hoisted up.
Whom should Jack and Bill see standing on the deck, and issuing hisorders to the crew to "brace round the yards," but Mr Saltwell, thefirst lieutenant of their former ship.
They stood for some minutes by themselves, for everybody was too muchengaged to attend to them. The frigate's head was now turned in thedirection of the stranger they had seen to the eastward, towards whichthey observed that the glasses of several of the officers were directed.
"Though she has not shown her colours, I feel positive that she'sFrench," observed the captain to Mr Saltwell.
"I hope that you are right, sir," was the answer; "but we shall scarcelyget up to her before dark."
"We shall get near enough to make the private signal," said the captain,"and if she does not answer it we shall know how to treat her when we doget up to her."
All the sail the frigate could carry was set, and as the breeze hadincreased, she ran rapidly through the water.