Chapter XLVIII
"Ships are but boards, sailors but men; There be land rats, and water rats, water thieves, And land thieves; I mean pirates."
SHAKESPEARE.
Most prophetical was the remark made by Newton Forster to Isabel, previousto the action: to wit, that it would make or mar him. The death of CaptainOughton, and the spirited defence of the _Windsor Castle_, were the_making_ of Newton Forster. As a subordinate officer, he might have beenobliged to toil many years before he could have ascended to the summit ofthe ladder of promotion; and during the time which he remained in thatsituation, what chance had he of making an independence, and proposing forthe hand of Isabel Revel? But now that, by a chain of circumstancespeculiarly fortuitous, he was in command of an East Indiaman, returninghome after having beat off a vessel of equal if not superior force, andpreserved a cargo of immense value, he felt confident that he not onlywould be confirmed to the rank which he was now called upon to assume, butthat he had every prospect of being employed. As a captain of an Indiaman,he was aware that reception into society, wealth, and consideration awaitedhim; and what made his heart to swell with gratitude and exultation, wasthe feeling that soon he would be enabled to aspire to the hand of one towhom he had so long been ardently attached.
As the _Windsor Castle_ plunged through the roaring and complaining seas,with all the impetus of weight in motion, Newton's eyes were radiant withhope, although his demeanour towards Isabel was, from the peculiarcircumstances attending their situation, more delicately reserved thanbefore.
When the _Windsor Castle_ touched at St Helena, Newton had the good fortuneto obtain a supply of able seamen, more than sufficient for the re-manningof his ship. They had been sent there in an empty brig by a Frenchprivateer, who had captured many vessels, and had been embarrassed with thenumber of her prisoners. Having obtained the stores which were required,Newton lost no time in prosecuting his voyage to England.
It was about a fortnight after they had quitted St Helena that a strangesail was reported on the starboard bow; and as they neared her, it wasevident that her foremast was gone, and that she was otherwise in adisabled state. When the Indiaman was within a mile, the stranger threw outneutral colours, and hoisted a whiff, half-mast down, as a signal that shewas in distress. Newton ordered the ship to be kept away, and whenalongside of the vessel, lowered down a boat, and sent the third mate toascertain what assistance could be afforded. With sailors, thank God!distress is sufficient to obtain assistance, and the nation or country areat once merged in that feeling of sympathy for those misfortunes which mayperhaps but the next hour befall ourselves. The boat returned; and theofficer informed Newton that the vessel was from the Island of Bourbon,bound to Hamburg; that she had been dismasted and severely injured in agale off the Cape of Good Hope; and that when her mast went over the side,one-half of her crew, who were up at the time on the fore-yard, had beencast overboard and drowned; that from the want of men and material, theyhad been unable to rig an effective jury-mast, and had in consequence beenso long on their passage that their provisions and water were nearlyexpended. The officer concluded by stating that there were a French ladyand two gentlemen, with their attendants, who had taken their passage homein the vessel. Newton immediately went down the side, and pulled on boardof the vessel to ascertain what assistance could be afforded. When hearrived on board, he was met by the Flemish captain, who commenced astatement of his misfortunes and his difficulties, when the French lady,who, unobserved by Newton, had come up the companion-ladder, screamed outas she ran into his arms--
"Ah! mon Dieu!--c'est Monsieur Nu-tong!"
Newton looked at the lady, who had burst into tears, as her face lay uponhis shoulder, and immediately recognised his former kind and affectionatefriend, Madame de Fontanges: close to him, with his hand extended, was hergenerous husband. The meeting was joyful, and Newton was delighted thatcircumstances had enabled him to render assistance to those who had been sokind to him in his former distress.
"Oh! Monsieur Nu-tong, nous avons tant soufferts! Ah! mon Dieu!--point del'eau--rien a manger," cried Madame de Fontanges: then smiling through hertears, "mais ce rencontre est charmant;--n'est ce pas, mon ami?" continuedthe lady, appealing to her husband.
"You do not remember Monsieur le Marquis?" said M. de Fontanges to Newton.Newton turned his head, and recognised the governor of Guadaloupe, who hadexpressed such sympathy at his shipwreck, and had sent him away in thecartel instead of detaining him as a prisoner.
The vessel was indeed in a deplorable condition; and had she not receivedthe timely assistance now afforded, would in all probability have soon beena scene of horror and of suffering. They had not more than three days'water remaining on board, and provisions barely sufficing for ten days.Newton hastened to send back the boat with orders for an immediate andample supply of these necessaries, in case of bad weather coming on andpreventing further communication. Satisfied that their immediate wants wererelieved, Newton took leave of his friends for the present, and returned onboard his own ship, despatching his carpenters and part of his crew to theimmediate refit of the vessel; and then selecting a part of everything thatthe _Windsor Castle_ contained in her store-rooms or on her decks, which hethought would administer to the comfort or the luxury of the passengers onboard of the neutral.
In two hours they who were in a state bordering upon famine foundthemselves revelling in plenty. Before night the English seamen had ajury-mast up, and the sails set. The Hollanders on board would have giventheir assistance, but they were told to remain on deck and make up for losttime, which they acquiesced in very readily, eating and drinking as if theywere determined to lay in a stock for the remainder of the voyage. Newton,who had returned on board of the neutral to superintend the repairs andenjoy the society of his old friends, received from them a long account ofwhat had occurred since their separation. At nightfall he took his leave,promising to continue under easy sail and remain with them for a day ortwo, until they were satisfied that all was right, and that they no longerrequired his assistance.
The narrative obtained by Newton may be thus condensed for the informationof the reader. The Marquis de Fontanges had been appointed from thegovernment of Guadaloupe to that of the Island of Bourbon, which wasconsidered of more importance. Monsieur and Madame de Fontanges accompaniedhim to his new command; and they had remained there for two years, when theruling powers, without any ground, except that the marquis had received hisappointment from the former government, thought proper to supersede him.Frigates were not so plentiful as to spare one for the return of anex-governor; and the marquis, being permitted to find his way home how hecould, had taken advantage of the sailing of the Hamburger, to return toEurope or to France, or as he might find it advisable.
For two days, during which the weather was so fine that Madame de Fontangesand the gentlemen went on board of the Windsor Castle, and were introducedto the ladies, Newton continued under easy sail, each day despatching tothe neutral everything which his gratitude could suggest; but as Newton wasmost anxious to proceed on his voyage, it was agreed that the next morningthey should part company. At the close of the evening a strange sail wasobserved on the weather-beam; but, as she carried no foretop-gallant sail,and appeared to be steering the same course as the Windsor Castle, sheexcited but a momentary observation, supposing that she was somehomeward-bound neutral, or a merchant vessel which had separated from herconvoy. During the night, which was dark, the moon being in her firstquarter, the officer of the middle watch lost sight of their _protegee;_but this was to be expected, as she did not carry a light. Before morningthe wind fell, and when the sun rose it was a perfect calm. The officer ofthe watch, as the day dawned, went on the poop, surveying the horizon fortheir companion, and discovered her six or seven miles astern, lyingalongside of the strange vessel which they had seen the day before. Bothvessels, as well as the _Windsor Castle,_ were becalmed. He immediatelywent down to Newton, acquainting him with the circumstance, which bore avery su
spicious appearance. Newton hastened on deck; with his glass hecould plainly distinguish that the stranger was a vessel of a low, rakingdescription, evidently no merchantman, but built for sailing fast, and inall probability a privateer. The man at the mast-head reported that boatswere constantly passing between the two vessels. Newton, who felt veryanxious for the safety of his friends, accepted the offer of the secondmate to take the gig, and ascertain what was going on. In little more thanan hour the gig was seen from the mast-head to arrive within half a mile ofthe vessels, and shortly afterwards the smoke from a gun, followed by adistant report. The gig then winded and pulled back towards the _WindsorCastle._ It was in a state of great excitement that Newton waited for herreturn, when the second mate informed him that on his approach hediscovered that she was a flush vessel, pierced for fourteen guns, paintedblack, and apparently well manned; that she evidently, to use a nauticalterm, was "gutting" the neutral; and that, as they had witnessed, on theirboat coming within range, the vessel had fired a round of grape, whichfortunately fell short of them. She had shown no colours; and from herappearance and behaviour (as all privateers respect neutrals), he had nodoubt that she was the pirate vessel stated, when they were at St Helena,to be cruising in these latitudes. Newton was of the same opinion; and itwas with a heavy heart that he returned to the cabin, to communicate theunpleasant intelligence to Mrs Enderby and Isabel.
There is nothing more annoying in this world than the will without thepower. At any time, a vessel becalmed is considered a very sufficing reasonfor swearing by those who are on board of her. What then must have been thefeelings of Newton, lying on the water in a state of compelled inaction,while his friends were being plundered, and perhaps murdered by a gang ofmiscreants before his eyes! How eagerly and repeatedly did he scan thehorizon for the coming breeze! How did Hope raise her head at the slightestcat's-paw that ruffled the surface of the glassy waters! Three successivegales of wind are bad enough; but three gales blowing hard enough to blowthe devil's horns off are infinitely preferable to one idle, stagnant,motionless, confounded calm, oppressing you with the blue-devils andmaddening you with the fidgets at one and the same time.
At last, as the sun descended, the breeze sprung up, first playing alongthe waters in capricious and tantalising airs, as if uncertain andindifferent in its infancy to which quarter of the compass it should directits course. The ship again answered her helm; her head was put the rightway, and the sails were trimmed to every shift which it made, to woo itsutmost power. In a quarter of an hour it settled, blowing from a quarterwhich placed them to windward of, and they carried it down with them towithin two miles of the stranger and the neutral, who still remainedbecalmed. But, as the wind freshened, it passed a-head of them, sweepingalong the surface, and darkening the colours of the water, until it reachedthe vessels to leeward; one of which,--the one that Newton was so anxiousto get alongside of,--immediately took advantage of it, and, spreading allher canvas, soon increased her distance. When the _Windsor Castle_ arrivedabreast of the neutral, the stranger was more than two miles to leeward. Alittle delay was then necessary to ascertain what had occurred. Newton, whoperceived M. de Fontanges on the deck, shouting to them and wringing hishands, rounded to, lowered down a boat, and pulled on board of the neutral.The intelligence communicated was distressing. The strange vessel was apirate, who had plundered them of everything, had taken away Madame deFontanges, Mimi and Charlotte, her two female attendants. The captain ofthe pirates had wounded and severely beaten M. de Fontanges, who hadresisted the "_enlevement_" of his wife; and after having cut away all thestanding rigging, and nearly chopped through the masts with axes, they hadfinished their work by boring holes in the counter of the vessel; so that,had not Newton been able to come up with her, they must all have perishedduring the night.
There was no time to be lost; the Marquis de Fontanges, M. De Fontanges,and the crew, were hurried on board of the _Windsor Castle_ (the pirate hadtaken care that they should not be delayed in packing up their baggage),and Newton, as soon as he returned on board, and hoisted up his boat,crowded every stitch of canvas in pursuit of the pirate, who was now morethan four miles distant. But, although the wind gradually increased, andwas thus far in their favour, as they first benefited by it, yet, as thesun went down, so did their hopes descend. At nightfall the pirate hadincreased her distance to seven miles. Newton pursued, watching her with anight-glass, until she could no longer be distinguished. Still, theiranxiety was so great, that no one went to bed on board of the _WindsorCastle_. When the day broke, the pirate was not to be discovered in anyquarter of the horizon from the mast-head of the _Windsor Castle_.