CHAPTER TWENTY THREE.
JACK GOES ON ANOTHER CRUISE--LOVE AND DIPLOMACY--JACK PROVES HIMSELF TOOCLEVER FOR THREE, AND UPSETS ALL THE ARRANGEMENTS OF THE HIGHCONTRACTING POWERS.
A few days after the arrival of the _Harpy_ at Port Mahon, a Cutter camein with despatches from the admiral. Captain Wilson found that he wasposted into the _Aurora_ frigate, in which a vacancy had been made bythe result of our hero's transgressions.
Mr Sawbridge was raised to the rank of commander, and appointed to thecommand of the _Harpy_. The admiral informed Captain Wilson that hemust detain the _Aurora_ until the arrival of another frigate, hourlyexpected, and then she would be sent down to Mahon for him to take thecommand of her. Further, he intimated that a supply of live bullockswould be very agreeable, and begged that he would send to Tetuanimmediately.
Captain Wilson had lost so many officers that he knew not whom to send:indeed, now he was no longer in command of the _Harpy_, and there wasbut one lieutenant, and no master or master's mate. Gascoigne and Jackwere the only two serviceable midshipmen, and he was afraid to trustthem on any expedition in which expedition was required.
"What shall we do, Sawbridge? shall we send Easy or Gascoigne, or both,or neither?--for if the bullocks are not forthcoming, the admiral willnot let them off as we do."
"We must send somebody, Wilson," replied Captain Sawbridge, "and it isthe custom to send two officers, as one receives the bullocks on board,while the other attends to the embarkation."
"Well, then send both, Sawbridge, but lecture them well first."
"I don't think they can get into any mischief there," replied Sawbridge;"and it's such a hole that they will be glad to get away from it."
Easy and Gascoigne were summoned, listened very respectfully to allCaptain Sawbridge said, promised to conduct themselves with the utmostpropriety, received a letter to the vice-consul, and were sent withtheir hammocks and chests in the cabin on board the _Eliza Ann_, brig,of two hundred and sixteen tons, chartered by government--the master andcrew of which were all busy forward heaving up their anchors.
The master of the transport came aft to receive them: he was a shortred-haired young man, with hands as broad as the flappers of a turtle;he was broad-faced, broad-shouldered, well-freckled, pug-nosed; but ifnot very handsome he was remarkably good-humoured. As soon as thechests and hammocks were on the deck, he told them that when he couldget the anchor up and make sail, he would give them some bottled porter.Jack proposed that he should get the porter up, and they would drink itwhile he got the anchor up, as it would save time.
"It may save time mayhap, but it won't save porter," replied the master;"however, you shall have it."
He called the boy, ordered him to bring up the porter, and then wentforward. Jack made the boy bring up two chairs, put the porter on thecompanion hatch, and he and Gascoigne sat down. The anchor was weighed,and the transport ran out under her fore-topsail, as they werelight-handed, and had to secure the anchor. The transport passed withinten yards of the _Harpy_, and Captain Sawbridge, when he perceived thetwo midshipmen taking it so very easy, sitting in their chairs withtheir legs crossed, arms folded, and their porter before them, had avery great mind to order the transport to heave-to, but he could spareno other officer, so he walked away, saying to himself, "There'll beanother yarn for the Governor, or I'm mistaken."
As soon as sail was made on the transport, the master, whose name wasHogg, came up to our hero, and asked him how he found the porter. Jackdeclared that he never could venture an opinion upon the firstbottle--"So, Captain Hogg, we'll trouble you for a second"--after whichthey troubled him for a third--begged for a fourth--must drink hishealth in a fifth, and finally, pointed out the propriety of making upthe half-dozen. By this time they found themselves rather light-headed,so, desiring Captain Hogg to keep a sharp lookout, and not to call themon any account whatever, they retired to their hammocks.
The next morning they awoke late; the breeze was fresh and fair: theyrequested Captain Hogg not to consider the expense, as they would payfor all they ate and drank, and all he did, into the bargain, andpromised him a fit-out when they got to Tetuan.
What with this promise and calling him captain, our hero and Gascoignewon the master's heart, and being a very good-tempered fellow, they didwhat they pleased. Jack also tossed a doubloon to the men for them todrink on their arrival, and all the men of the transport were in atransport, at Jack's coming to "reign over them." It must beacknowledged that Jack's reign was, for the most part of it, "happy andglorious." At last they arrived at Tetuan, and our Pylades and Oresteswent on shore to call upon the vice-consul, accompanied by Captain Hogg.They produced their credentials and demanded bullocks. The vice-consulwas a very young man, short and thin, and light-haired; his father hadheld the situation before him, and he had been appointed his successorbecause nobody else had thought the situation worth applying for.Nevertheless Mr Hicks was impressed with the immense responsibility ofhis office. It was, however, a place of some little emolument at thismoment, and Mr Hicks had plenty on his hands besides his sister, who,being the only English lady there, set the fashion of the place, andusurped all the attention of the gentlemen mariners who occasionallycame for bullocks. But Miss Hicks knew her own importance, and hadsuccessively refused three midshipmen, one master's mate, and an actingpurser. African bullocks were plentiful at Tetuan, but English ladieswere scarce; moreover, she had a pretty little fortune of her own, towit, three hundred dollars in a canvas bag, left her by her father, andentirely at her own disposal. Miss Hicks was very like her brother,except that she was more dumpling in her figure, with flaxen hair; herfeatures were rather pretty, and her skin very fair. As soon as thepreliminaries had been entered into, and arrangements made in a smallroom with bare walls, which Mr Hicks denominated his office, they wereasked to walk into the parlour to be introduced to the vice-consul'ssister. Miss Hicks tossed her head at the two midshipmen, but smiledmost graciously at Captain Hogg. She knew the relative ranks ofmidshipman and captain. After a short time she requested the honour ofCaptain Hogg's company to dinner, and begged that he would bring hismidshipmen with him, at which Jack and Gascoigne looked at each otherand burst out in a laugh, and Miss Hicks was very near rescinding thelatter part of her invitation. As soon as they were out of the house,they told the captain to go on board and get all ready whilst theywalked round the town. Having peeped into every part of it, and staredat Arabs, Moors, and Jews, till they were tired, they proceeded to thelanding-place, where they met the captain, who informed them that he haddone nothing, because the men were all drunk with Jack's doubloon. Jackreplied that a doubloon would not last for ever, and that the soonerthey drank it out the better. They then returned to the vice-consul's,whom they requested to procure for them fifty dozen of fowls, twentysheep, and a great many other articles, which might be obtained at theplace; for, as Jack said, they would live well going up to Toulon, andif there were any of the stock left, they would give them to theadmiral, for Jack had taken the precaution to put his _father'sphilosophy_ once more to the proof, before he quitted Mahon. As Jackgave such a liberal order, and the vice-consul cheated him out of atleast one-third of what he paid, Mr Hicks thought he could do no lessthan offer beds to our midshipmen as well as to Captain Hogg; so, assoon as dinner was over, they ordered Captain Hogg to go on board andbring their things on shore, which he did. As the time usual fortransports remaining at Tetuan before they could be completed withbullocks was three weeks, our midshipmen decided upon staying at leastso long if they could find anything to do, or if they could not, doingnothing was infinitely preferable to doing duty. So they took up theirquarters at the vice-consul's, sending for porter and other things whichwere not to be had but from the transport; and Jack, to prove that hewas not a swindler, as Captain Tartar had called him, gave Captain Hogga hundred dollars on account, for Captain Hogg had a large stock ofporter and English luxuries, which he had brought out as a venture, andof which he had still a considerab
le portion left. As, therefore, ourmidshipmen not only were cheated by the vice-consul, but they alsosupplied his table, Mr Hicks was very hospitable, and everything was attheir service except Miss Julia, who turned up her nose at a midshipman,even upon full pay; but she made great advances to the captain, who, onhis part, was desperately in love: so the mate and the men made allready for the bullocks, Jack and Gascoigne made themselves comfortable,and Captain Hogg made love, and thus passed the first week.
The chamber of Easy and Gascoigne was at the top of the house, andfinding it excessively warm, Gascoigne had forced his way up to the flatroof above (for the houses are all built in that way in most Mahomedancountries, to enable the occupants to enjoy the cool of the evening, andsometimes to sleep there). Those roofs, where houses are built next toeach other, are divided by a wall of several feet, to insure thatprivacy which the Mahomedan customs demand.
Gascoigne had not been long up there before he heard the voice of afemale, singing a plaintive air in a low tone, on the other side of thewall. Gascoigne sang well himself, and having a very fine ear, he waspleased with the correctness of the notes, although he had never heardthe air before. He leaned against the wall, smoked his cigar, andlistened. It was repeated again and again at intervals; Gascoigne sooncaught the notes, which sounded so clear and pure in the silence of thenight.
At last they ceased, and having waited another half-hour in vain, ourmidshipman returned to his bed, humming the air which had so pleased hisear. It haunted him during his sleep, and rang in his ears when heawoke, as it is well known any new air that pleases us will do. Beforebreakfast was ready, Gascoigne had put English words to it, and sangthem over and over again. He inquired of the vice-consul who lived inthe next house, and was answered, that it was an old Moor, who wasreported to be wealthy, and to have a daughter, whom many of the peoplehad asked in marriage, but whether for her wealth or for her beauty hecould not tell; he had, however, heard that she was very handsome.Gascoigne made no further inquiries, but went out with Jack and CaptainHogg, and on board to see the water got in for the bullocks.
"Where did you pick up that air, Gascoigne? it is very pretty, but Inever heard you sing it before."
Gascoigne told him, and also what he had heard from Mr Hicks.
"I'm determined, Jack, to see that girl if I can. Hicks can talk Arabicfast enough; just ask him the Arabic for these words--`Don't be afraid--I love you--I cannot speak your tongue,'--and put them down on paper asthey are pronounced."
Jack rallied Gascoigne upon his fancy, which could end in nothing.
"Perhaps not," replied Gascoigne; "and I should have cared nothing aboutit, if she had not sung so well. I really believe the way to my heartis through my ear;--however, I shall try to-night, and soon find if shehas the feeling which I think she has. Now let us go back: I'm tired oflooking at women in garments up to their eyes, and men in dirt up totheir foreheads."
As they entered the house they heard an altercation between Mr and MissHicks.
"I shall never give my consent, Julia; one of those midshipmen you turnyour nose up at is worth a dozen Hoggs."
"Now, if we only knew the price of a hog in this country," observedEasy, "we should be able to calculate our exact value, Ned."
"A hog, being an unclean animal, is not--"
"Hush," said Jack.
"Mr Hicks," replied Miss Julia, "I am mistress of myself and myfortune, and I shall do as I please."
"Depend upon it, you shall not, Julia. I consider it my duty to preventyou from making an improper match; and, as his Majesty's representativehere, I cannot allow you to marry this young man."
"Mercy on us!" said Gascoigne, "his Majesty's representative!"
"I shall not ask your consent," replied the lady.
"Yes, but you shall not marry without my consent. I have, as you know,Julia, from my situation here, as one of his Majesty's _corpsdiplomatick_, great power, and I shall forbid the banns; in fact, it isonly I who can marry you."
"Then I'll marry elsewhere."
"And what will you do on board of the transport until you are able to bemarried?"
"I shall do as I think proper," replied the lady; "and I'll thank youfor none of your indelicate insinuations." So saying, the lady bouncedout of the room into her own, and our midshipmen then made a noise inthe passage, to intimate that they had come in. They found Mr Hickslooking very red and vice-consular indeed, but he recovered himself; andCaptain Hogg making _his_ appearance, they went to dinner; but MissJulia would not make _her_ appearance, and Mr Hicks was barely civil tothe captain, but he was soon afterwards called out, and our midshipmenwent into the office to enable the two lovers to meet. They were heardthen talking together, and after a time they said less, and theirlanguage was more tender.
"Let us see what's going on, Jack," said Gascoigne; and they walkedsoftly, so as to perceive the two lovers, who were too busy to be on thelookout.
Captain Hogg was requesting a lock of his mistress's hair. The plumpJulia could deny him nothing; she let fall her flaxen tresses, andtaking out the scissors cut off a thick bunch from her hair behind,which she presented to the captain: it was at least a foot and a halflong and an inch in circumference. The Captain took it in his immensehand, and thrust it into his coat pocket behind, but one thrust down tothe bottom would not get it in, so he thrust again and again, until itwas all coiled away like a cable in a tier.
"That's a liberal girl," whispered Jack; "she gives by _wholesale_ whatit will take some time to _retail_. But here comes Mr Hicks, let'sgive them warning; I like Hogg and as she fancies pork, she shall haveit, if I can contrive to help them."
That night Gascoigne went again on the roof, and after waiting sometime, heard the same air repeated: he waited until it was concluded, andthen, in a very low tone, sang it himself to the words he had arrangedfor it. For some time all was silent, and then the singing recommenced,but it was not to the same air. Gascoigne waited until the new air hadbeen repeated several times, and then giving full scope to his finetenor voice, sang the first air again. It echoed through the silence ofthe night air, and then he waited, but in vain; the soft voice of thefemale was heard no more, and Gascoigne retired to rest.
This continued for three or four nights, Gascoigne singing the same airsthe ensuing night that he had heard the preceding, until at last itappeared that the female had no longer any fear, but changed the airs soas to be amused with the repetition of them next evening. On the fifthnight she sang the first air, and our midshipman responding, she thensang another, until she had sung them all, waiting each time for theresponse. The wall was not more than eight feet high, and Gascoigne nowdetermined, with the assistance of Jack, to have a sight of his unknownsongstress. He asked Captain Hogg to bring on shore some inch line, andhe contrived to make a ladder with three or four poles which wereupstairs, used for drying linen. He fixed them against the wall withoutnoise, all ready for the evening. It was a beautiful clear moonlightnight, when he went up, accompanied by Jack. The air was again sung,and repeated by. Gascoigne, who then softly mounted the ladder, held byJack, and raised his head above the wall; he perceived a young Moorishgirl, splendidly dressed, half lying on an ottoman, with her eyes fixedupon the moon, whose rays enabled him to observe that she was indeedbeautiful. She appeared lost in contemplation; and Gascoigne would havegiven the world to have divined her thoughts. Satisfied with what hehad seen, he descended, and singing one of the airs, he then repeatedthe words, "Do not be afraid--I love you--I cannot speak your language."He then sang another of the airs, and after he had finished he againrepeated the words in Arabic; but there was no reply. He sang the thirdair, and again repeated the words, when, to his delight, he heard ananswer in Lingua Franca.
"Can you speak in this tongue?"
"Yes," replied Gascoigne, "I can, Allah be praised. Be not afraid--Ilove you."
"I know you not; who are you? you are not of my people."
"No, but I will be anything that you wish. I
am a Frank, and an Englishofficer."
At this reply of Gascoigne there was a pause.
"Am I then despised?" said Gascoigne.
"No, not despised, but you are not of my people or of my land; speak nomore, or you will be heard."
"I obey," replied Gascoigne, "since you wish it, but I shall pine tillto-morrow's moon. I go to dream of you. Allah protect you!"
"How amazingly poetical you were in your language, Ned," said Easy, whenthey went into their room.
"To be sure, Jack, I've read the _Arabian Nights_. You never saw sucheyes in your life: what a houri she is!"
"Is she as handsome as Agnes, Ned?"
"Twice as handsome by moonlight."
"That's all moonshine, and so will be your courting, for it will come tonothing."
"Not if I can help it."
"Why, Gascoigne, what would you do with a wife?"
"Just exactly what you would do, Jack."
"I mean, my dear Ned, can you afford to marry?"
"Not while the old governor lives, but I know he has some money in thefunds. He told me one day that I could not expect more than threethousand pounds. You know I have sisters."
"And before you come into that you'll have three thousand children."
"That's a large family, Jack," replied Gascoigne, bursting out intolaughter, in which our hero joined.
"Well, you know I only wanted to argue the point with you."
"I know that, Jack; but I think we're counting our chickens before theyare hatched, which is foolish."
"In every other case except when we venture upon matrimony."
"Why, Jack, you're becoming quite sensible."
"My wisdom is for my friends, my folly for myself. Good-night."
But Jack did not go to sleep. "I must not allow Gascoigne to do such afoolish thing," thought he--"marry a dark girl on midshipman's pay, ifhe succeeds--get his throat cut if he does not." As Jack said, hiswisdom was for his friends, and he was so generous that he reserved nonefor his own occasions.
Miss Julia Hicks, as we before observed, set the fashions at Tetuan, andher style of dress was not unbecoming. The Moorish women wore largeveils, or they may be called what you will, for their head-dressesdescend to their heels at times, and cover the whole body, leaving aneye to peep with, and hiding everything else. Now Miss Julia found thismuch more convenient than the bonnet, as she might walk out in the heatof the sun without burning her fair skin, and stare at everybody andeverything without being stared at in return. She therefore never wentout without one of these overalls, composed of several yards of finemuslin. Her dress in the house was usually of coloured sarcenet, for asmall vessel came into the port one day during her father's lifetime,unloaded a great quantity of bales of goods with English marks; and asthe vessel had gone out in ballast, there was a surmise on his part bywhat means they came into the captain's possession. He therefore citedthe captain up to the Governor, but the affair was amicably arranged bythe vice-consul receiving about one quarter of the cargo in bales ofsilks and muslins. Miss Hicks had therefore all her dresses of blue,green, and yellow sarcenet, which, with the white muslin overall, madeher as conspicuous as the only Frankish lady in the town had a right tobe, and there was not a dog which barked in Tetuan which did not knowthe sister of the vice-consul, although few had seen her face.
Now it occurred to Jack, as Gascoigne was determined to carry on hisamour, that in case of surprise it would be as well if he dressedhimself as Miss Hicks. He proposed it to Gascoigne the next morning,who approved of the idea, and in the course of the day, when Miss Hickswas busy with Captain Hogg, he contrived to abstract one of her dressesand muslin overalls--which he could do in safety, as there were plentyof them, for Miss Hicks was not troubled with mantua-maker's bills.
When Gascoigne went up on the roof the ensuing night, he put on theapparel of Miss Hicks, and looked very like her as far as figure went,although a little taller. He waited for the Moorish girl to sing, butshe did not--so he crept up the ladder and looked over the wall--when heobserved that she was reclining, as before, in deep thought. His headcovered with the muslin caught her eye, and she gave a faint scream.
"Fear not, lady," said Gascoigne, "it is not the first time that I havebeheld that sweet face. I sigh for a companion. What would I not giveto be sitting by your side? I am not of your creed, 'tis true--but doesit therefore follow that we should not love each other?"
The Moorish girl was about to reply, when Gascoigne received an answerfrom a quarter whence he little expected it. It was from the Moorhimself, who, hearing his daughter scream, had come swiftly up to theroof.
"Does the Frankish lily wish to mingle her perfumes with the darkviolet?" said he, for he had often seen the sister of the vice-consul,and he imagined it was she who had come on the roof and ascended thewall to speak with his daughter.
Gascoigne had presence of mind to avail himself of this fortunatemistake.
"I am alone, worthy Moor," replied he, pulling the muslin more over hisface, "and I pine for a companion. I have been charmed by thenightingale on the roof of your dwelling; but I thought not to meet theface of a man, when I took courage to climb this ladder."
"If the Frankish lily will have courage to descend, she can sit by theside of the dark violet."
Gascoigne thought it advisable to make no reply.
"Fear not," said the old Moor; "what is an old man but a woman?" and theMoor brought a ladder, which he placed against the wall.
After a pause, Gascoigne said, "It is my fate;" and he then descended,and was led by the Moor to the mattress upon which his daughterreclined. The Moor then took his seat near them, and they entered intoconversation. Gascoigne knew quite enough of the vice-consul and hissister to play his part--and he thought proper to tell the Moor that herbrother wished to give her as wife to the captain of the ship, whom sheabhorred, and would take her to a cold and foggy climate; that she hadbeen born here, and wished to live and die here, and would preferpassing her life in his women's apartments, to leaving this country. Atwhich Abdel Faza, for such was his name, felt very amorous; he put hishand to his forehead, salaamed, and told Gascoigne that his zenana, andall that were in it, were hers, as well as his house and himself. Afteran hour's conversation, in which Azar, his daughter, did not join, theold Moor asked Gascoigne to descend into the women's apartment; andobserving his daughter's silence, said to her:
"Azar, you are angry that this Frankish houri should come to theapartments of which you have hitherto been sole mistress. Fear not, youwill soon be another's, for Osman Ali has asked thee for his wife, and Ihave listened to his request."
Now Osman Ali was as old as her father, and Azar hated him. She offeredher hand tremblingly, and led Gascoigne into the zenana. The Moorattended them to the threshold, bowed, and left them.
That Gascoigne had time to press his suit, and that he did not lose sucha golden opportunity, may easily be imagined, and her father'scommunication relative to Osman Ali very much assisted our midshipman'scause.
He left the zenana, like most midshipmen, in love, that is, a littleabove quicksilver boiling heat. Jack, who had remained in a state ofsome suspense all this time, was not sorry to hear voices in an amicabletone, and in a few minutes afterwards he perceived that Gascoigne wasascending the ladder. It occurred to our hero that it was perhapsadvisable that he should not be seen, as the Moor, in his gallantry,might come up the ladder with the supposed lady. He was right, forAbdel Faza not only followed her up the ladder on his side, but assistedher to descend on the other, and with great ceremony took his leave.
Gascoigne hastened to Jack, who had been peeping, and gave him a detailof what had passed, describing Azar as the most beautiful, fascinating,and fond creature that ever was created. After half an hour's relationhe stopped short, because he discovered that Jack was fast asleep.
The visits of Gascoigne were repeated every night; old Abdel Faza becameevery time more gallant, and our midshipman was under t
he necessity ofassuming a virtue if he had it not. He pretended to be very modest.
In the meantime Captain Hogg continued his attentions to the real MissHicks; the mate proceeded to get the bullocks on board, and as more thanthree weeks had already passed away, it was time to think of departingfor Toulon; but Captain Hogg was too much in love, and as for Gascoigne,he intended, like all midshipmen in love, to give up the service. Jackreasoned with the Captain, who appeared to listen to reason, becauseMiss Hicks had agreed to follow his fortunes, and crown his transportsin the transport _Mary Ann_. He therefore proposed that they should getaway as fast as they could, and as soon as they had weighed the anchor,he would come on shore, take off Miss Hicks, and make all sail forToulon.
Jack might have suffered this; the difficulty was with Gascoigne, whowould not hear of going away without his lovely Azar. At last Jackplanned a scheme, which he thought would succeed, and which would be agood joke to tell the Governor. He therefore appeared to consent toGascoigne's carrying off his little Moor, and they canvassed how it wasto be managed. Jack then told Gascoigne that he had hit upon a planwhich would succeed. "I find," said he, "from Captain Hogg, that he hasan intention of carrying off Miss Hicks, and when I sounded him as tohis having a lady with him, he objected to it immediately, saying, thathe must have all the cabin to himself and his intended. Now, in thefirst place, I have no notion of giving up the cabin to Miss Hicks orMrs Hogg. It will be very uncomfortable to be shut out because hewishes to make love; I therefore am determined that he shall not takeoff Miss Hicks. He has proposed to me that he shall go on board, andget the brig under way, leaving me with a boat on shore to sign thevouchers, and that Miss Hicks shall slip into the boat when I go off atdusk. Now I will not bring off Miss Hicks; if he wants to marry her,let him do it when I am not on board. I have paid for everything, and Iconsider the cabin as mine."
"Look you, Ned, if you wish to carry off your little Moor, there is butone way, and that is a very simple one; leave her a dress of MissHicks's when you go there to-morrow night, and tell her to slip down atdusk, and come out of the house: all the danger will be in her ownhouse, for as soon as she is out she will be supposed to be thevice-consul's sister, and will not be observed or questioned. I willlook out for and bring her on board instead of Miss Hicks. Hogg willhave the brig under way, and will be too happy to make all sail, and sheshall lock the cabin inside, so that the mistake shall not be discoveredtill the next morning, and we shall have a good laugh at Captain Hogg."
Gascoigne pronounced that Jack's scheme was capital, and agreed to it,thanking him and declaring that he was the best friend that he ever had."So I will be," thought Jack, "but you will not acknowledge it atfirst." Jack then went to Captain Hogg, and appeared to enter warmlyinto his views, but told him that Hicks suspected what was going on, andhad told him so, at the same time declaring that he would not lose sightof his sister until after Hogg was on board.
"Now," says Jack, "you know you cannot do the thing by main force; sothe best plan will be for you to go on board and get under way, leavingme to bring off Miss Hicks, when her brother will imagine all danger tobe over."
"Many thanks, Mr Easy," replied Captain Hogg; "it will be capital, andI'll arrange it all with my Julia. How very kind of you!"
"But, Hogg, will you promise me secrecy?"
"Yes," replied the captain.
"That Gascoigne is a very silly fellow, and wants to run away with agirl he has made acquaintance with here; and what do you think he hasproposed? that after the ship was under way, I should carry her off inthe boat; and he has borrowed one of the dresses of Miss Hicks, that itmay appear to be her. I have agreed to it, but as I am determined thathe shall not commit such a folly, I shall bring off Miss Hicks instead;and observe, Hogg, he is that sort of wild fellow, that if he was tofind that I had cheated him, he would immediately go on shore and beleft behind; therefore we must hand Miss Hicks down in the cabin, andshe will lock the door all night, so that he may not observe the tricktill the next morning, and then we shall have a fine laugh at him."
Captain Hogg replied it would be an excellent joke, as Gascoigne didbefore him.
Now it must be observed, that the water and the bullocks, and the sheepand fowls, were all on board; and Mr Hicks, having received his moneyfrom Jack, had very much altered his manner; he was barely civil, for ashe had got all he could out of our hero, he was anxious to get rid ofhim as well as of Captain Hogg. Our hero was very indignant at this,but as it would not suit his present views, pretended not to notice it--on the contrary, he professed the warmest friendship for thevice-consul, and took an opportunity of saying that he could not returnhis kindness in a better way than by informing him of the plot which hadbeen arranged. He then told him of the intended escape of his sister,and that he was the person intended to bring her off.
"Infamous, by heavens!" cried the vice-consul; "I shall write to theForeign Office on the subject."
"I think," said Jack, "it will be much better to do what I shallpropose, which will end in a hearty laugh, and to the confusion ofCaptain Hogg. Do you dress yourself in your sister's clothes, and Iwill bring you off instead of her. Let him imagine that he has yoursister secure; I will hand you down to the cabin, and do you lockyourself in. He cannot sail without my orders, and I will not sign thevouchers. The next morning we will open the cabin door and have a goodlaugh at him. Desire your boat to be off at daylight to take you onshore, and I will then make him proceed to Toulon forthwith. It will bea capital joke."
So thought the vice-consul, as well as Gascoigne and Captain Hogg. Heshook hands with Jack, and was as civil to him as before.
That night Gascoigne left one of Miss Hicks's many dresses with Azar,who agreed to follow his fortunes, and who packed up all the jewels andmoney she could lay her hands upon. Poor little Child, she trembledwith fear and delight. Miss Hicks smuggled, as she thought, a box ofclothes on board, and in the box was her fortune of three hundreddollars. Mr Hicks laughed in his sleeve, so did Jack; and every onewent to bed, with expectations that their wishes would be realised.After an early dinner, Captain Hogg and Gascoigne went on board, bothsqueezing Jack's hand as if they were never to see him again, and looksof intelligence passed between all the parties.
As soon as they were out of the door the vice-consul chuckled, and MissHicks, who thought he chuckled at the idea of having rid himself ofCaptain Hogg, chuckled still more as she looked at our hero, who was herconfidant, and our hero, for reasons known to the reader, chuckled morethan either of them.
A little before dark, the boat was sent on shore from the brig, whichwas now under way, and Mr Hicks, as had been agreed, said that heshould go into the office and prepare the vouchers--that is, put on hissister's clothes. Miss Hicks immediately rose, and wishing our hero apleasant voyage, as had been agreed, said that she should retire for thenight, as she had a bad headache--she wished her brother good-night, andwent into her room to wait another hour, when our hero, having shovedoff the boat to deceive the vice-consul, was to return, meet her in thegarden, and take her off to the brig. Our hero then went into theoffice and assisted the vice-consul, who took off all his own clothesand tied them up in a handkerchief, intending to resume them after hehad gone into the cabin.
As soon as he was ready, Jack carried his bundle and led the supposedMiss Hicks down to the boat. They shoved off in a great hurry, and Jacktook an opportunity of dropping Mr Hicks's bundle overboard. As soonas they arrived alongside, Mr Hicks ascended, and was handed by Jackdown into the Cabin: he squeezed Jack's hand as he entered, saying in awhisper, "To-morrow morning what a laugh we shall have!" and then helocked the door. In the meantime the boat was hooked on and hoisted up,and Jack took the precaution to have the dead-lights lowered that MrHicks might not be able to ascertain what was going on. Gascoigne cameup to our hero and squeezed his hand.
"I'm so much obliged to you, Jack. I say, tomorrow morning what a laughwe shall have!"
As soon as the boa
t was up, and the mainyard filled, Captain Hogg alsocame up to our hero, shaking him by the hand and thanking him; and he,too, concluded by saying, "I say, Mr Easy, to-morrow morning what alaugh we shall have!"
"Let those laugh who win," thought Jack.
The wind was fair, the watch was set, the course was steered, and allwent down to their hammocks, and went to sleep, waiting for to-morrowmorning. Mr Hicks, also, having nothing better to do, went to sleep,and by the morning dawn, the transport _Mary Ann_ was more than ahundred miles from the African shore.