CHAPTER EIGHTEEN.
THE STRANGER COMES ON BOARD--THE GREEK CHIEF--A WHITE SQUALL--WHAT HASBECOME OF THE BRIG?--THE SUSPICIOUS STRANGER AGAIN--PREPARATIONS FOR AFIGHT.
The advice Porpoise gave seemed so rational that although it might havegone somewhat against the grain with so thorough a John Bull as Heartyto put himself in a posture of defence before he was attacked, Snow wassummoned aft to superintend the distribution of the contents of thearm-chest. The men buckled on their cutlasses with looks of no smallglee, snapping the locks of their pistols to try them before loading, asthey eyed the advancing boat.
"There's no fear, gentlemen, but what they'd give an account of twicethe number of chaps as are aboard that craft, if they ever come to closequarters," said Snow, approvingly casting his eye over the crew.
I could not help thinking the same, for a finer set of broad-shouldered,wide-chested fellows I never saw, as they stood around us with theirnecks bare, and the sleeves of their blue shirts tucked up above theelbows, handling their weapons with the fond look which a child bestowson a newly-given toy.
"Go forward again, my men, and keep on the opposite side to which theboat comes," said Porpoise.
"Just stand about as if you did not suspect there was any thing wrong;very likely there may not be, you know, and perhaps the Greek has losthis reckoning, and is sending aboard us only to ask his whereabouts."
"A craft like that wouldn't send away a boat with twelve men in her, ormore, to ask such a question," observed Snow to old Sleet; "I knowbetter nor that."
"You may well say so," answered the old man. "I've heard of such rumtricks being played, that I always like to be prepared for squalls."
I must say that after the strange misgivings I had experienced in theearly part of the day, when the polacca-brig first hove in sight, I waswell satisfied to see the yacht put in a perfect state of defence. Itwas more than possible that the stranger might after all be an honesttrader, and that her crew might be not a little surprised to find anEnglish yacht with so formidable an appearance. Still again, I havealways seen the wisdom of not despising an antagonist, and of being asprepared as circumstances will allow for any emergency.
The boat, a heavy launch, was meantime advancing towards us. I examinedher narrowly with my glass; she had what looked very like a gun mountedin the bows, though a capote, or piece of dark canvas, was thrown overit. She pulled twelve oars, beside which three or four other people satin the stern-sheets. I observed Porpoise, who had been, as may besupposed, attentively watching the boat, go up to the foremost gun, anddraw the shot.
"Carpenter," said he, to Chips, "bring me up a shovel of old nails andbits of iron."
The articles in question were soon brought to him, and he proceededforthwith to load the gun with them up to the muzzle.
"Sleet," said he, "you have charge of this gun; if our friends thereshow fight, and I give the word, slap this mouthful right in among them;it will soon bring them to reason, I guess."
"Ay, ay, sir," answered the old man, slapping the breech of his gun witha quiet smile, "I'll make her speak, depend on't."
Thus prepared, we awaited the arrival of the suspicious-lookingstrangers. Had there been any wind, we might easily have preventedtheir coming on board by running out of their way, but as it was wecould not help ourselves without fighting. In a few minutes more theypulled alongside, rather awkwardly; however, we did not order them tokeep off, as it was agreed it would not be wise to show any suspicion ofthem. They were all dressed in the Greek costume; one of the men whosat in the stern-sheets, a full-bearded fellow, with a capote thrownover his shoulders and a fez on his head, stood up in the boat, and inbroken English asked to come on board.
"Oh! let him," said Hearty, who began to fancy we had beenover-cautious. "There can't possibly be any harm."
The side was accordingly manned, and our friend with the capote,followed by two less ill-looking fellows, stepped unceremoniously onboard.
"I speak to de captain," said the stranger, in a blunt tone.
"I am the captain, at your service," answered Porpoise, standing beforehim, and preventing his farther advance on deck.
"Oh! I come to know where you come from," said the Greek stranger,casting his eyes furtively round the deck, as if to discover the stateof defence in which we might be.
The look of our sturdy fellows, with their cutlasses by their sides,might possibly have surprised him, and at all events he must have seenthat there was little chance of surprising us.
"We come from England," answered Porpoise, bluntly. "A civil questionrequires a civil answer, but I don't know by what right you ask it."
"Where you bound for?" continued the Greek, not noticing the last remarkit seemed.
"Malta, Alexandria, Smyrna, and a few other places up the Levant," saidPorpoise.
"Ah! will you take letter for me? You do me great favour," said theGreek, putting his hand in his bosom.
While the Greek was speaking, I had been eyeing him narrowly from theafter-part of the vessel, where I had placed myself. Most of my readershave heard of the famed Vanderdecken, the terrible Flying Dutchman, whoin his phantom ship goes cruising about to the southward of the Cape ofGood Hope, sailing right into the eye of the heaviest gale. When hefalls in with a vessel, he comes aboard, and requests a packet hepresents may be taken on shore. Just such another as Vanderdecken didour present visitor appear, except that the Dutchman is habited in asomewhat different costume to the Greek, in broad-brimmed hat,big-buttoned waistcoat, and wide breeches. By the way Porpoise lookedat him, I had a notion some such idea was passing through his mind.Perhaps he suspected that the gentleman had a pistol instead of a letterinside the folds of his vest. The boat's crew meantime sat scowling atus, and surveying the vessel with a no friendly look; I guessed, indeed,that nothing would have given them greater pleasure than to have beenable to jump on board, and to cut all our throats.
"We shall be happy to take your letter or any commands on shore,"answered Porpoise, putting his hand in his pocket in imitation of theGreek.
The stranger furtively eyed the movement of his hand, as much as to say,"Why, have you got a pistol there likewise?"
However, withdrawing his own hand from his bosom, he exclaimed, "Ah! Ihave by some omission left my letter on board."
The man spoke with as downright an English pronunciation as I ever heardin my life. Pretty well for a Greek, thought I, stepping forward toexamine his features more narrowly. I had had my suspicions from thetime he stepped on board; so, it appeared, had Tom Newton. There couldbe very little doubt about the matter; the man who stood before us inthe guise of a Greek, was no other than the _ci-devant_ pirate--slaver--smuggler, the outlaw Miles Sandgate. I thought his keen eye glanced atmy countenance for a moment, as if he recognised me; but so completelydid he maintain his self-possession, that he did not exhibit theslightest sign of fear or hesitation. He bit his lips though, as if hefound that he had betrayed himself by speaking English too fluently, andhe instantly fell back into his former mode of expression. Porpoise hadeither not remarked his slip of the tongue, or thought it best not tocomment on it.
"I go send letter aboard," he continued, stepping back a pace as if tobe ready to spring into his boat. His crew in the mean time had begunto vociferate something I could not understand. He replied to them inthe same language, and I have no doubt it was to tell them that theirenterprise was fruitless, and that it was not quite so easy to catch thecrew of an English yacht napping as they might have supposed. He stillhesitated to take his departure. Some plan or other was passing throughhis fertile, ever-active brain. Perhaps he did not suspect that I hadrecognised him. However, whatever might have been his intentions, hewas summoned hurriedly into the boat by his crew. He turned hastilyround and cast his eye to the northward, so did I and Porpoise. There,rising out of the water as it were, was a small white cloud, which, aswe looked, every instant increased in size.
"You'd better shorten sail, or you
'll repent it," exclaimed the seemingGreek, as he leaped into his boat.
The crew pulled lustily away in the direction of their own vessel.Nothing comes on so rapidly and gives so little time for preparation asdoes a white squall in the Mediterranean. Porpoise, taking the adviceoffered, gave the necessary orders. All hands rushed to the halliardsand downhauls, but before a rope could be let go the squall was upon us.A drill of white foam came rushing towards the cutter, driven on bysome irresistible power, which at the same time curled up the wholehitherto calm and shining sea into rolling, breaking waves. Our eyeswere almost blinded with the salt mist which dashed over us. Terrificwas the blow we received. The cutter having no steerage-way offered adead resistance to it. Over she went as does a stately tree, its stemcut through by the woodman's deadly axe and saw.
"Hold on! hold on for your lives!" sung out Porpoise.
There was good reason. I thought she would never rise again. The waterrose up her decks. We began to look at boats and spars as the only hopeof safety. Then shrouds and stays and bolts gave way, and the stoutmast cracked off at the deck with a loud crash; and the little craftrising on an even keel floated in safety, but presented a forlorn wreckcompared to the gay and gallant trim in which she had lately appeared.Not a moment was to be lost in ascertaining whether the cutter hadreceived any vital damage, and in endeavouring to put her to rights.Everybody was busily engaged in the work. Hearty and our landsmenfriends took the matter very coolly.
"Just sing out where you want us to lend a hand, and we are four men,"cried Hearty, pulling and hauling away with a will, while we weregetting in the wreck of our mast and spars.
The drag of the rigging astern brought the vessel up into the wind'seye, and then she lay pitching and bobbing away into the short seas,sending the spray flying over us like a regular shower-bath, andsurrounding us with a mist impervious to the sight. It was heavy work,and as part of the bulwarks had been knocked away there was no littledanger of being washed overboard. Where, however, all labour with awill, the hardest task is soon performed; and no fellows could haveworked harder than did our crew of yachtsmen. Before, however, thecraft was in any way put to rights, the squall and its effects on thesea had completely passed away, but night coming down had shrouded us intotal darkness. No one had thought of the Greek brig or her boat, andnow not a glimpse of either was to be perceived.
What had become of her? Had the boat with the rascal Sandgate beenswamped? Had the brig been caught by the squall and gone down? Suchhad been the fate of many a craft in the Mediterranean. When we had gotthe yacht somewhat to rights we made inquiries among the men, but no onehad observed her. Old Sleet, it was said, had watched the boat pullingaway for her even during the hurly-burly of the squall. I thereforecalled him up to examine him more particularly.
"When we was on our beam-ends, and I thought we was over for good, stillI couldn't help keeping my eye on the boat," said the old man; "I can'tsay as how I liked the look of that ere curious chap the Greek captainwho came aboard us, and as for his crew, a bigger set of cut-throats Inever saw. Well, thinks I to myself, if the boat goes to the bottom,and all her people goes in her, there's no great harm done: but if shefloats and gains the brig, they may just come back when we are notprepared for them, and try to knock us all on the head; but, says I tomyself, there's no use talking about it, for the gentlemen won't believesuch a thing possible, and I shall only get laughed at for my pains."
I was very much inclined to agree with the old man, that if our Greekfriend had escaped drowning, and could discover our whereabout, he wouldbe apt to try his hand at playing us some scurvy trick; but I saidnothing to this effect. I, however, resolved to speak to Porpoise, sothat we might be prepared to resist any attack he might attempt to makeon us. Porpoise was rather inclined to laugh at my fears.
"My belief is that the fellow went to the bottom," he replied. "Servehim right, too, if he is the rascal you suppose him; or if he got aboardhis ship he saw enough of us to know that we should prove rather a toughmorsel, should he attempt to swallow us."
A council of war having been called, it was resolved that we should tryto get back to Gibraltar as fast as we could. To effect this, however,it would be necessary to rig jury-masts, and this could not very well bedone till daylight. We proposed turning the cutter into a schooner orlugger, and happily, as we had saved most of our spars and canvas, weexpected to have no great difficulty in getting sufficient sail on herto navigate with ease the poor little closely-shorn craft.
I have often had in my naval career to pass through nights of toil andanxiety, and this gave every promise of being one of that character. Ina few hours we had gathered in all our ruffled feathers, or, in otherwords, our masts and spars and sails and rigging; and having stowed themalong the decks as best we could, there we lay floating helplessly likea log on the water. Not having discarded my suspicions of thepolacca-brig, notwithstanding my fatigue I felt no inclination to go tosleep. I now was left in charge of the deck while Porpoise and the restof my messmates turned in, all standing. I walked the deck for sometime, ever and anon turning my gaze upward to the dark blue vault ofheaven glittering with a thousand stars, each but a centre of somemighty system, each more complex and marvellous, probably, than our own.I thought of the all-potent Being who made them as well as all thewondrous specimens of animal life which dwell on this globe we call ourown, and my heart swelled with gratitude to Him who had preserved me andmy shipmates from the danger to which we had been exposed. My spirit,as I thought, seemed to take its flight through the calm atmosphere, andto wander far far away among those distant spheres. How long it wasaway I know not. I was not conscious of the existence of my body on thesurface of the globe. A splash aroused me from my reveries. It wascaused by a fish leaping out of its liquid home to avoid some monster ofthe deep wishing to make a supper off it. It called me back to earthand things earthly. My first impulse was to cast my eye round thehorizon. It was rather a circumscribed one at that hour of darkness.Once I made the full circuit and could see nothing. I took a few moreturns on deck, and again I swept my eye round the watery circle moreslowly than before. As I reached the south-eastern point of the heavensI was certain I saw a dark object. I rubbed my eyes. The sails of avessel appeared before me, rising up like a thin dark pencil-lineagainst the sky. I wetted my fingers and held up my hand. The coldstruck it on that side. Whatever she might be she was well to windwardof us. I took the night-glass, which hung on brackets just inside thecompanion-hatch. She was still too far off to enable me to make outwhat she was. I had not, however, forgotten my suspicions of thepolacca. The stranger was evidently approaching us. If she was theGreek, her crew would scarcely resist the temptation of attempting toplunder us. Still I felt that my suspicions were almost absurd, and Idid not like to arouse my friends without some better grounds for myfears. I, however, felt it would be wise not to run the risk of beingtaken altogether unprepared. I therefore went up alongside old Snow--sowe called him, though he was young enough to be old Sleet's son. I wasnot long in waking him up to the proper pitch of caution by narrating avariety of stories about pirates and slavers and savages, and such likegentry, with a due admixture of instances where people from carelessnesswere caught napping and lost their lives.
"Now," said I, "let us get these spars cleared away enough to work theguns. The watch on deck will do it without rousing the rest. We'llhave a supply up of round-shot and ammunition. The people have notrestored their pistols and cutlasses to the arm-chest. Send a couple ofhands to collect them all ready, and then if yonder stranger proves tobe the polacca, and wishes to taste our quality, we'll let her have herwill, and show her what we are made of."
I spoke thus confidently that there might be no risk of taking any ofthe pluck out of the people. I cannot say, however, that I at all likedthe notion of a brush with the well-manned and probably well-armedpolacca-brig in our present dismantled condition, however little I mighthave feared her at close quar
ters had we been all to rights. I watchedthe approach of the stranger, therefore, with no little anxiety. Shewas evidently bearing right down upon us, though, as there was butlittle wind, her progress was slow. The hours of the night wore on. Iwas leaning against the wreck of the mast which lay fore and aft alongthe deck, and at length I fell asleep. I do not know how long I hadslept when I heard Porpoise's voice close to me.
"Hillo, Brine! what in the name of wonder is that away there towindward?" he exclaimed.
"The polacca-brig, there's no doubt about it," I answered, as I beheld avessel like a dark phantom stealing up towards us. I then explained tohim the preparations I had made in case the brig should really be of thepiratical character we suspected, and at the same time inclined toattack us. This relieved his mind not a little. My belief, however,was that the Greek might not have seen us. She might, of course, havecalculated our whereabouts. Perhaps even now she might not see us.Perhaps, also, as Porpoise suggested, if the boat was swamped in thesquall, the rest of the crew would probably cruise about to look fortheir companions. He agreed with me, therefore, that we need not yetrouse up Hearty and our other two friends. By the by, in consequence ofall the delays we must endure, I was doubly glad that we had not toldHearty of Miss Mizen's expedition to Malta. It would have made himundergo them with much less than his usual philosophy, I suspect.
"I doubt if even now the brig sees us," said I as I watched her throughthe night-glass. So low down in the water as we were, she was verylikely to miss us.
"See, she is passing us," exclaimed Porpoise, after we had watched herfor some time. "It is just as well she should miss us, for in ourpresent state we could not exactly do ourselves justice."
"Perhaps after all our friends may be very well disposed, and in no wayinclined to do us any harm," said I, not that I could in reality divestmyself of the idea that the polacca was commanded by Sandgate, and thathe would have delighted to do us all the mischief in his power. Withdaylight, however, I don't think I should fear him, even now, I thoughtto myself.
It still wanted nearly an hour to sunrise, and daylight in that climedoes not come very long before the glorious luminary of day rushes upfrom his ocean bed. We hoped by that time that the brig would havepretty well run us out of sight. Still neither Porpoise nor I feltinclined to go below again. We intended, indeed, to rouse out all handsto get up the jury-masts the moment we had light to work by. We,however, were not so clear of danger as we fancied. The brig had gotabout a mile to leeward of us, when we saw her brace up her yards, and,close-hauled, she stood back so as soon to fetch us. There was nolonger any time to spare.
"Rouse up all hands fore and aft," sung out Porpoise, with a stentorianvoice.
In a minute every one was on deck busily employed in casting loose theguns, in priming pistols, and buckling on cutlasses.
"If the fellow will but come to close quarters, we have no reason tofear him," exclaimed our gallant skipper, surveying his crew with nolittle pride.
"I only wish we may have a brush with him," added Hearty; "it would tellwell in the Club; only I wish we had our mast standing." I cannot saythat I participated altogether in the satisfaction of my friends. Thebrig, if she did attack us, I knew, we must find an ugly customer, andthe pirates could only venture to do so with the full intention ofsending every one of us, with the yacht into the bargain, to the bottom,on the principle that dead men tell no tales.
The Greek was not long in showing us his intentions. No sooner had hegot us within range of his guns, than brailing up his courses andlowering his topsails, he opened his fire upon our almost helplesscraft. Happily for us his gunnery was very bad, and he evidently had afancy for long bowls, and a wholesome dread of coming to close quarterswith us. Our people went cheerily to their guns, not a bit afraid ofour big enemy.
"Only just do ye come on, ye confounded scoundrels, and we'll just giveye a taste of what we are made of," sung out Tom Hall, abroad-shouldered fellow, standing six feet high or more in hisstockings, as he shook his cutlass in an attitude of defiance at theenemy; and no one was better able to give an account of them than hewould have been when the day's work was over.
Will Bubble threw off his coat, fastened a silk handkerchief round hiswaist and another round his head, and worked away at his little gun infine style. Carstairs did the same in a more deliberate manner,whistling the fag end of a hunting song. If we had possessed guns fourtimes the size of ours, I verily believe, crippled as were, we shouldvery soon have sent our antagonists to the bottom, instead of runningthe risk of going there ourselves. Finding his shot fall short or wideof us, he ran on a little way, and then tacking, stood closer up to us.