CHAPTER THIRTY TWO.
Lieutenant Saltwell, on whom, in his captain's absence, had devolved thecommand of the _Ione_, walked her quarterdeck on the night on which theevents we have been describing took place, with a mind very ill at ease.
He had been during the whole afternoon endeavouring, by every possiblemeans in his power, to get the brig up to the spot agreed on, off theisland of Lissa, so that he might dispatch the boats at dark to waitstill closer in for the coming of Fleetwood and his companions. Thebreeze with which they had started had failed them soon afterwards, sothe sweeps had been got out, and the boats had towed ahead, till he wasfearful of knocking up their crews and unfitting them for the work theyhad still to perform; and yet, do all they could, he was obliged todispatch them, under the orders of the several lieutenants, with a pullof some eighteen or twenty miles before them.
"For heaven's sake, make the best speed you can," said Saltwell, as hebade his brother officers good bye. "Our captain will make the attemptto-night, depend on it, and it will be sad work if he cannot find theboats."
"Never fear, we shall not miss him, I hope," exclaimed Linton, as heleaped into his boat. "Shove off and give way, my merry men."
The boat's crew did their best; but the event was another convincingproof of the misfortunes which may arise from being a little too late.Had they been ten minutes sooner, they would, perhaps, have been in timeto prevent their captain and his companions from falling again into thehands of the pirates. Linton felt this when he found that they wererecaptured, and, stung with regret, although he was in no manner toblame, he agreed on the pursuit with a zeal which very nearly led to thedestruction of himself and his followers.
We left him severely, if not mortally, wounded, off the mouth of thepirate's harbour. The command, therefore, devolved on Tompion, whoimmediately ordered the boats to separate as much as possible, keepingwithin sight of each other, to cause the shots of the enemy to becomeless effective, by being scattered over a wider range.
"Pull away, my lads," exclaimed the mate; "we shall soon be out of this,and we shall have an opportunity before long of paying them off."
The men needed no inducement to pull hard, for it was excessively hotwork, and they had no fancy to be exposed to the showers of bulletswhich came whizzing round them, especially when they were compelled torun away from the enemy.
The frowning and lofty cliffs, fringed with tiny glances of vivid light,and the bright flashes of the _Sea Hawk's_ guns, which were reflected onthe calm water, formed, doubtlessly, an exceedingly picturesquespectacle, which those who were pulling at the oars had full opportunityto contemplate, but not the less disagreeable to them on that account,especially as it would have been a very useless amusement to fireagainst the cliffs in return. Fortunately, no further casualtiesoccurred, and every instant, as their distance from the shore increased,there was less chance of a shot hitting them. At length, Tompion,seeing that they were free from danger, hailed the other boats, to orderthe crews to rest on their oars to recover breath, before they shapedtheir course to return to their ship. The hail was answered by anotherfrom the westernmost boat, commanded by Jemmy Duff; he sung out--
"Did you see the mistico get into the harbour, with the rest of therascals?"
"No," said Tompion. "Did any one on board see her?" he asked of thecrew.
"No, sir," was the general answer.
"No one saw her go in," he answered.
"Then, by Jove, there she is, on our starboard beam," sung out Duff inreturn. "She is pretty nearly becalmed, it seems. She has got outthere, I suspect, to watch us, and to try to cut us off. What shall wedo?"
"I and the gig will close you, and we'll see what is to be done," saidTompion, ordering the other boat to follow him, and all the boats weresoon alongside each other.
There, sure enough, Tompion perceived the mistico, about a quarter of amile off, with her head to the southward, evidently watching theirmovements. It might seem surprising that she had not attacked them whenunder the cliffs; but, in the first place, she could not then get up tothem, and had she been able to do so, it would have prevented thepirates on shore from firing on them.
The wind had at this juncture almost failed her, but she had her sweepsto depend on, and with a strong crew they could send her along at agreat rate. She was commanded on the present occasion by the secondlieutenant of the _Sea Hawk_--at least by the officer who performed theduties of one--who had hurried on board with as many men as he couldfind, and swept out to sea the moment the alarm of the prisoners' escapewas given; and now, somewhat mistaking the character of British seamen,he had begun to edge up towards the boats, purposely to take them bysurprise, and hoping to make them an easy prey.
Of most of this Tompion was soon aware, and it now became a question asto the advisability of attacking her instead.
"What does Mr Linton say?" asked Duff. "We should not take long aboutit, I think, and she would be something to show for our night's work."
"Tell Mr Linton how things stand, Jennings, and ask him what he wishesus to do," said Tompion to the coxswain of the gig.
"Poor Mr Linton can say nothing, sir," returned Jennings, in asorrowful tone. "I'm afraid he'll never speak again."
An exclamation of grief escaped from all who heard the words.
"What! is he dead?" inquired Tompion, in a voice which showed that heparticipated in the feeling of the crews, although he might veryprobably benefit by the vacancy thus created; yet, I will venture tosay, the thought of this did not enter his head.
"No, sir, not dead, I hope," said the coxswain. "I have bound up hiswound as well as I can, and stopped the bleeding; but he's in a deadfaint, and I don't know if he'll come to again."
"Well, Duff, I should like to act as Mr Linton would have done, and I'msure he would have attacked the mistico without giving two thoughtsabout it," observed Tompion; "but then, again, for his sake, we ought toget back to the ship as fast as we can, to obtain surgical assistancefor him."
"I know how you feel, Tompion," exclaimed Jemmy Duff--"but I have it:our two boats can easily tackle the rascally mistico, and let the gigpull back to the brig as fast as she can, with Mr Linton and Timminshere, who is badly hurt, and let them tell Saltwell of our whereabouts,and we shall fall in with her before the morning with a prize in tow, Ihope."
"Capital!" exclaimed Tompion, who was, for a wonder, not above takingadvice from a junior, when it happened to be good, and coincided withhis own opinion. "What say you, my lads--do you think you've gotstrength enough in your arms to punish some of those rascals for MrLinton's too like death, and the trick they played us?"
"All right, sir, never fear. We can give it them yet," exclaimed bothcrews, with one voice; and seldom will British seamen be found to makeany other answer.
"Well, then, Jennings, do you steer due west,--right for that tar, thatis your course. When you get about five miles from this, fire a musket,and continue firing every ten minutes. They will show a blue light assoon as they hear you, and you can scarcely miss the ship. Take poorTimmins on board with you--there's no one else hurt, I hope."
"No, sir, no," was the answer.
"I need not tell you to make the best of your way, and I'm sorry, foryour sakes, we can't have you, my men, with us, in the affair on hand."
Having given these orders, most reluctantly they were obeyed by the crewof the gig, which immediately pulled away in the direction pointed out,and was soon lost to sight in the gloom. Tompion made the necessarypreparations for the attack on the mistico.
He was not above despising an enemy whom he intended to attack, and asthe fight, in which he was about to engage, would be the first in whichhe had held the command, he was doubly anxious that it should besuccessful. He ordered his men to see that their pistols, and themuskets in the boat, were properly loaded and primed, and a small brassswivel, mounted in the bows, he had loaded with musket balls, almost upto the muzzle, to fire as they ran past the enemy's quarter.
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p; "Duff," he exclaimed, "you board on the starboard side, I will grappleher on the larboard, as I want to be a few seconds before you, to giveher a taste of my gun, and if she stands in as she now does, I shall getthere quickest. Now, my men, give way, and let the scoundrels have ataste of your cutlasses when you get at them. Huzza for old England!"
As he uttered these words, the men repeated the cheer till the night airrung again, and bending to their oars, made the water fly from under thebows of the boats, while their heads turned in the direction of thepiratical mistico.
The loud cheer and the suddenness of the movement completely took thepirates by surprise, it appeared; and instead of tacking and standingboldly towards the English to meet them, as they expected, her helm wasput up, the sheets eased off, her long sweeps run out, and away she wentdead before the wind, at a rate which Tompion saw would give his men atough pull to come up with her. Another reason for her so doing wassoon apparent, by her opening a fire of two swivel guns over hercounter, which her crew probably calculated would check the advance ofthe boats. It is extraordinary at what speed the Greek misticos can beurged through the water; and on this occasion the _Zoe_ did full justiceto her character, for her crew were strong, fresh, and in high spirits,while, on the other hand, the British seamen had been rowing all night,and the greater part of the day, and were dispirited by the loss oftheir officer and the ill success of the expedition; not, however, thatthis prevented them from exerting themselves to the very utmost of theirstrength. The wind also, which had been very uncertain and changeable,now almost a calm, now a fresh breeze, now blowing from the eastward,now some points to the north of it, then a like number to the south,seemed suddenly to fix itself in the latter point with a considerableincrease of strength, which sent the mistico flying through the water ata greater speed than ever.
"Give way, my men, oh, give way!" shouted Tompion, scarcely able toarticulate in his eagerness to overtake the enemy, for with the increaseof the breeze he saw their chance of doing so gradually fading away, andthe proud hopes he had begun to form, of revenging the loss they hadsustained, and of being able to carry with him his first prize as aproof of what they had done, with a vista of honour and promotion in thedistance, cruelly dissipated. Again the British seamen cheered, andstretched their arms till their oars bent and cracked, but the sound wasanswered by shouts of derisive laughter from the Greeks, and a dischargefrom their swivel guns with several rounds from their musketry, thoughhappily without doing much damage. Both boats were struck over and overagain, and one man was wounded, but not sufficiently to disable him.
The cutter returned it with a bow-chaser, and to some purpose, itseemed, by the cries and shrieks which followed.
"Give it them again!" shouted Tompion. "If they do get away, they shallhave cause to remember us. Fire, my men, fire!"
Again the shot told with fearful effect among the crowded crew of the_Zoe_; and from the cries and confusion on board they had reason to hopethat some of those working her sweeps were disabled; and as the firingceased, that those who had worked the guns had taken their places.Tompion had been narrowly watching her movements; he had from the firstsuspected some ruse to be played off on him.
"Ah! she has put her helm to port, and is running in for the landagain!" he exclaimed. "Keep a little more to the eastward, Duff, andtry to out her off; we may have her yet, before she gets into port."
The mistico had had quite enough to say, it seemed, to the Britishboats; and was now endeavouring to get safe into the harbour, and veryprobably to try and tempt them to follow her, if they had not alreadyhad sufficient warning of what they might expect if they did so.
On they all three went in the same direction, the mistico by her changeof course being thrown somewhat nearer to her pursuers than she beforewas, but they otherwise gained little, if anything, on her. The cutterperseveringly kept up her fire as fast as the gun could be cleaned andloaded, and the mistico more slowly returned it, the small sheets offlame which ever and anon issued from the mouths of the pieces showingtheir position to those on shore, as they drew near.
Still Tompion did not like to abandon the pursuit--they had alreadyexpended so much exertion and time, that he felt as if it would bethrowing it all uselessly away if they were, after all, to fail; and yethe began to see that they had already gone far enough, and that, if hepersisted in the chase, he might incur a greater disaster than had yethappened to them. He looked up at the cliffs, and tried to persuadehimself that they were still at some distance off. They certainlylooked very dark and lofty; but as there was no firing from them, hethought that they must be still too far off for any shot to reach them.The crew of the mistico, now that they felt pretty certain of not beingcaptured, cheered and laughed, and called out to them, using everydevice to enrage them, and induce them to follow.
"We must soon be about ship, Duff!" Tompion sang out from his boat;"and I am afraid, after all, we have done little good."
"If you will go on a little longer, perhaps the wind may shift, and weshall have her becalmed under the cliffs," replied the midshipman. "Itwould be a great thing to carry her off in sight of the enemy."
Tompion was too ready to follow his messmate's advice, so theypersevered in the chase with great gallantry, but certainly with a wantof discretion, though it must be borne in mind that they had now lessdanger to apprehend either from the brig or the cliffs, as the piratescould not possibly fire without risking the killing of friends as wellas foes. Now, although Tompion fancied that all their exertions wouldbe thrown away, he was not aware, as the reader possibly is, that theywere of the very greatest service to their friends on shore. It wastheir gallant pursuit of the mistico which had so completely engaged theattention of the pirates that they entirely forgot their prisoners, andallowed them to make the arrangements I have described. Had it not beenfor them, their captain would very soon have been discovered by Zappa,and his life would probably have been sacrificed, Raby would not havehad time to reach Nina's tower, nor would Nina have found Paolo, andsent him to assist the sufferers. Thus it is, by persevering in doingwhat is right, and brave, and honest, in all the affairs in life, goodwill ultimately arise from our acts, even though we ourselves may notimmediately discover it, and though; perhaps, we may to the end of ourlives remain in ignorance of the effect we have produced. There is atime when all things must be known, and then we shall reap our reward.Let this be a consolation to us in all our troubles and disappointmentswhen we have been strenuously endeavouring to do some important good,and find all our plans and projects defeated by the selfishness, theignorance, the obstinacy of others, perhaps of the persons we wouldbenefit, till at last we are inclined to exclaim: "What is the use ofattempting to do good in this world? Do all I can, I cannot succeed."We do succeed--we can succeed; often, very often, when the result is notseen. We may, it is true, strive very much, and yet do very littlegood; but is not that little good something? is it not pure gold--treasure which will endure? So also (I am moralising while the Britishboats are still in pursuit of the mistico) man cannot see the ultimateresult of the evil he may commit--there the order is reversed. A littleevil in appearance may cause a vast amount of crime, wretchedness, andsuffering. Even a word idly spoken may give rise to thoughts which maygrow up and flourish, till they become like a upas tree to destroy allwithin their influence. To commit a small evil may be like thewithdrawing the keystone from the arch, to cause the ruin of the wholeedifice; or it may be like an ear of corn, which may soon serve to sowthe whole field, and in the end millions and millions of acres. If mencould but remember this, they would hesitate ere, by a seemingly trivialact, they incurred the awful responsibility of the immeasurable amountof crime and suffering they may cause.
How much further Tompion and Duff would have ventured I do not know,when their progress was arrested by a sight which silenced even thejeering laughter of the pirates. A loud, crashing noise was heard,which seemed to rend and tear in sunder the very cliffs, from the summitof which brigh
t flames burst forth suddenly, and exposing the pinnacledrocks, the shattered ruins, and the groups of figures standing on them,in front of the fire, to the view of those below. The glare for thefirst moment almost blinded the eyes of the English, so long accustomedto darkness; but they soon saw that the fire proceeded from a tall towernear the edge of the cliff, and that the flames were bursting forth fromthe door, the windows, and the very roof itself, quickly towering uptowards the sky. That some dreadful catastrophe had occurred, thereappeared to be no doubt by the commotion created among the people. Theybegan to run in all directions; some, it seemed, to procure water tothrow on the flames, others to find ladders to scale the walls, and somewere seen to attempt to gain the interior, but were again speedilydriven forth by the fury of the flames. Their efforts, it was very soonseen, were of little avail, the flames seemed to gain fresh strength bysome new stimulant, they darted up higher than before in a pyramid offire, the tower was seen to rock to and fro, and down it came with atremendous crash, burying, it seemed too probable, beneath its burningruins many who could not have had time to escape to a distance. Themistico, while this event was taking place, had, favoured by the wind,got considerably ahead of the boats, and was by this time close in withthe harbour's mouth.
"Duff, ahoy," cried Tompion. "That looks like a warning to us, and Ithink we ought to take it, and be off before the villains recover fromtheir confusion. Pull up your starboard oars. We must give it up."
"I am afraid so," said Duff, imitating his senior's example, anddefeated in their object, the two boats once more steered in thedirection where it was expected the _Ione_ would be found. They wereallowed to escape without further molestation, for the greater number ofthe pirates were engaged in watching the progress of the flames, or inendeavouring to quench them; for not only was the tower destroyed, butthe fire had communicated to the building attached to it, and that alsowas rapidly being consumed.
Saltwell had too much anxiety on his mind to allow him to turn in totake any rest, and for the greater part of the night he had walked thedeck while he beat the brig up towards the island. He became still moreanxious, as the morning approached, at the non-appearance of the boats,and was continually hailing the look-outs to keep their eyes and earsopen to catch any sign of their coming. Colonel Gauntlett, who, ofcourse, was not less anxious on his niece's account, was also constantlyby his side; but the hours of night wore on, and no boats appeared. Thebrig stood on towards the island, for Saltwell considered that if theexpedition was successful, there was no further reason for concealment,and that the nearer he got the better, and that, at all events, with thebreeze which had sprung up, he could stand out of sight of land again,before daylight. The faint outline of the island, invisible to any buta seaman's eye, at last appeared through the darkness. Several of theofficers were collected together on the poop, looking towards it, as thebrig now lay up on the starboard tack.
"Ah, what is that?" exclaimed Saltwell, as a bright light was seenreflected on the sky.
"Why, they have either set fire to one of their vessels, or have blownup some fort or other. That may account for the boats' not returning."
"I don't think that is likely," observed Colonel Gauntlett. "CaptainFleetwood would scarcely delay to attack the pirates with a lady in oneof the boats. Would you, Mr Saltwell?"
"No, sir, I would not," returned Saltwell. "You are right, and I do notthink the captain would; but still I cannot account for the fire, and itis a large one, or we should not see it at this distance."
"I see no reason to conclude that Captain Fleetwood has anything to dowith the conflagration," observed the colonel. "I wish we could seesomething of him and my little girl though. It is hazardous work he hasbeen on, and I do not half like it. Couldn't you fire a few guns, togive them notice of our whereabouts? I don't see how they are to findthe ship otherwise."
"A sailor's eye is sharper than you may suppose, colonel," saidSaltwell; "and depend on it, they will keep a sharp lookout for us.However, I will do as you propose, for the wind is off the shore, andthe pirates are not likely to hear the guns. Mr Brown, fire theforemost gun on the starboard side, and the next to it in four minutes'time."
Directly after the order was issued, the gun sent forth its sheet offlame, and its dull sound was heard booming along the waters. Severalothers followed without any answering signal. The _Ione_ had now, inMr Saltwell's opinion, stood long enough to the northward, or rather tothe north-east, so he tacked ship, and they headed up rather moretowards the island, though she soon again fell off nearly south. Thelarboard guns were now fired, and at last a tiny spirt of fire was seento the eastward, and the sharp report of a musket struck on the ears.
"About ship then," cried Saltwell, and when she was round, afterstanding on a little way he hove her to, and ordered Mr Black to burn ablue light to show their position. On this a faint cheer came down onthe wind to prove that the signal was perceived. The next few minuteswere passed, by those more immediately interested in the success of theexpedition, in considerable anxiety. The splash of oars was heard, andbut a single boat glided out of the darkness.
"In Heaven's name, where are the rest?" was the question asked by manyvoices at once.
"Mr Tompion sent me back, sir, with Mr Linton, who is badly hurt,while he and Mr Duff stopped to chase a pirate craft which had beendodging us," replied Jennings, to Saltwell's questions, givingafterwards a brief account of the failure of their expedition.
"Poor Linton wounded, and by such villains," muttered Saltwell, as hisbrother-officer was lifted carefully on deck. "How does he seem,Viall?" he inquired of the surgeon, who hurried forward when he heardwhat had occurred.
"We shall see better when we get him below," returned the surgeon. "Heis alive, and that is all I can say."
The wounded officer was carried to his berth, where the surgeon and hisassistants assembled to examine his hurts.
"This is a bad business, indeed, for the captain," said Saltwell toColonel Gauntlett, as they resumed their walk on the poop, while theship remained hove to, waiting for the arrival of the other boats; "Ifear the pirate will murder him, and those with him, when he finds outwho he is."
"What, think you he will venture to murder a British officer, when heknows that his strong-hold is discovered, and that his death wouldcertainly be avenged?" exclaimed the colonel. "Poor fellow! and mylittle niece--if the poor girl ever escapes from that infernal den--I'mafraid she will never recover it."
"I own, I fear for the worst," said Saltwell, who was weary, and out ofspirits. "Zappa knows well enough that he has deserved a rope, and,from what I hear, he is the sort of character to win it thoroughly; butwe must do our best to punish him. As soon as the boats come back, Iintend to give Tompion a fresh crew, and to leave him in the cutter,well armed and provisioned, to watch the island, while we go in searchof the _Ypsilante_; and, as Captain Vassilato left her under my orders,I shall send her off with a requisition to any of our cruisers she canfall in with, to assemble at an island to the southward of this; and Ihave not the slightest doubt, that any captain, who happens to be seniorofficer, when he hears of what has occurred, will take theresponsibility of ordering a grand attack on the island. If not, wewill, by Heaven, try what our own brave fellows and the crew of the_Ypsilante_ can do to rescue their captain, or avenge their deaths."
"Bravo, Mr Saltwell, I am rejoiced to hear you say this," exclaimed thecolonel, warmly grasping the lieutenant's hand. "And I and Mitchellwill act as volunteers with the marines. I wish we had done this atfirst. A strong hand and a firm heart, are the best things to trust to.I never liked the plan poor Fleetwood has pursued, from the first.Your plots and your disguises seldom succeed; and they are not fit forEnglishmen to engage in--they are contrary to the genius of our country,thank Heaven; but that Greek friend of his over-persuaded him, and, I amafraid, has led him to his destruction."
"I wish that I could say, sir, that I thought all had gone well,"returned Saltwell. "However, we mu
st now do our best to mend matters.Well, doctor, what report can you make of poor Linton?" he asked of thesurgeon, who just then appeared on deck.
"I have extracted the ball, and he has recovered his senses," answeredthe surgeon. "He is in very great danger; but I can give no decidedopinion as yet. He has expressed a wish to see you, and has begged meto call you."
"Poor, poor fellow, I'll go below instantly," cried Saltwell, hurryingdown, and auguring the worst from the doctor's tone.
He found Linton stretched out in his narrow berth, lighted by the sicklyglare of a small lamp fastened against the bulkhead.
The clothes had been thrown over the lower part of his body; but hisshoulder was bare, the pallid hue of his skin contrasting with the dark,red stains on the linen of the shirt, which had been cut off, and stilllay beneath it. The arm, on the side where the ball had entered theneck, lay immovable by his side, looking shrunk and withered, except aslight twitching of the fingers, which showed the agony he was enduring.
O'Farrell, the assistant surgeon, sat at the head of the bed, applying acooling lotion round the part which had been bound up, to preventinflammation, if possible, from setting in, administering now and thensome restorative to revive him from the exhaustion consequent to hisgreat loss of blood.
As soon as Saltwell entered, his eyes turned towards him, and his lipsmoved; but his brother-officer heard no sound, till he put his ear closeto his mouth.
"Saltwell," he whispered, "don't let them blame me wrongfully for beingbeaten off by those rascally pirates; I did my best, as you know Iwould. Our poor captain--I grieve for him more. Don't let a stainremain on our names. And, Saltwell, if I die, as I think I shall, whenyou get home, see my poor Julia--bear her my deepest love, and tell herI thought of her to the last."
"I'll do all you wish, my dear fellow," answered Saltwell, deeplyaffected. "But we must not let you slip through the doctor's fingers;cheer up, for the sake of all your friends. And now try and get somerest--it will do you more good than any thing I can say, or the doctorcan give you."
"I fear not, Saltwell, I fear not," said Linton. "But I won't keep you,for you'll be wanted on deck, as the boats will soon be coming back, andI trust to you to remember to fulfil my wishes."
Saltwell saw that his presence did more harm than good to his woundedfriend, as it induced him to talk; so, bidding him try to sleep, he leftthe cabin. As he reached the deck, he saw that the first faintindications of the coming dawn had appeared in the eastern horizon--notstreaks of light exactly, but a less dense gloom, which could best bedistinguished by contrasting it with the darkness of the oppositehorizon, and, at that instant, the flash of a gun was seen in the samequarter, and the sound came booming over the water towards them.
"Ah! there comes the cutter," he exclaimed; "Tompion is firing his brassgun to draw our attention. Don't fire again, Mr Black, it is notnecessary, and will disturb Mr Linton, but burn a blue light--it willprevent their going out of their course, for it will be some time beforethey will otherwise be able to distinguish us."
The gunner had the blue light already, expecting to be called on to useit, and the next instant a lurid glare illumined the whole ship; thesails, the spars, and the countenances of the people, all assumed asepulchral hue, which gave her the appearance of some phantom bark, suchas has appeared to the excited imagination of many a seaman in hiswandering through those distant and torrid climes, whose pestilentialvapours, rising from the overteeming earth, fever his blood and cutshort his span of life.
It had scarcely done burning before another gun was fired; but whetheras a signal, or for any other reason, it was, at first, impossible tosay, till several others followed in rapid succession.
"It must be a summons to us," observed the first lieutenant to themaster. "Fill the fore-topsail, and let fall the fore-sail--we will, atall events, stand on as close as we can to them."
The breeze, which sent the _Ione_ along, was very light, so that sometime elapsed before she neared the spot whence the firing had beensupposed to proceed. Saltwell was on the point of ordering another bluelight to be burned, when a loud hail was heard, and, directlyafterwards, the boats were seen approaching as fast as the weary crewscould send them through the water.
"Has Mr Linton got back alive?" were the first words heard spoken byTompion.
"Yes--yes, all right," was the answer.
"Thank Heaven for that!" he exclaimed; and, as soon as the cutter ranalongside, he jumped on deck and went aft to report himself as come onboard.
"I hope you do not think that I have done wrong, sir," he said, when hehad finished his account of what had occurred. "I fully thought weshould capture the mistico, and I could not tell but what some of ourfriends had been taken on board her."
"No, Mr Tompion, I have no reason to find fault with your behaviour.As far as I can judge, you showed judgment and gallantry, which, in anofficer, it is all important should always be combined. And, at allevents, you have got clear out of the scrape, though you certainly ran agreat risk of being captured."
"Well, sir, I am very glad you approve of what I have done," answeredTompion. "And now, sir, if you will allow me to make a suggestion, Iwould keep off the island till daylight; for, not long ago, as we werepulling here, both Duff and I fancied we heard some firing off the mouthof the harbour, but we could not tell for certain, we've had such a dinof popping in our ears all night; however, I cannot help thinking someof the party have made another attempt to escape."
"I am afraid that there is very little chance of that," said Saltwell."If that villain, Zappa, does not murder them, it is more than I expect.However, we'll stand on towards the island till daybreak, as yousuggest; and now, Mr Tompion, I should think you require both rest andfood, so go down below and take them. Tell Mason to give you and MrDuff whatever he has got in the gun-room--you'll get it quicker therethan in your own berth."
Midshipmen are proverbially hungry, and I need not say that our twoyoung friends did ample justice to a cold round of beef, which thegun-room steward placed before them.
Saltwell had scarcely turned in when he was again roused up by Togle,the midshipman of the watch, who came to tell him that a suspicious sailwas seen to the eastward. He immediately came on deck; and just in thecentre of the red glow on the sky, which precedes the rising of thebright luminary of day, there appeared the tapering sails of alateen-rigged craft, looking like the dark fin of a huge shark, justfloating on the lead-coloured waters.
"She's standing this way too, by Jove!" he exclaimed. "And give me aglass. I thought so; she's in chase of a small boat under sail, justa-head of her Mr Togle, go aloft with a glass, and see what you canmake out. I can distinguish little more than the upper leech of thesail; and were it not so calm, even that could not be seen."
Togle hailed from aloft, to say that there was certainly a boat a-headof the stranger.
"I think that I can even make out that she has people in her, as she ismuch nearer us than the mistico, which keeps firing at her every now andthen."
"You are right," said the lieutenant, as the midshipman came on deck."She is little more than half way between us. All hands make sail! Wemust do our best to overhaul her first; for, though I have slight hopeson the subject, she may have some of our friends in her, trying toescape."
Every stitch of canvas the brig could carry on a wind was now set; butthe mistico stood boldly on, and it became a matter of great doubtwhether or not she would have time to get hold of her prey, and escapeback to port before the _Ione_ could come up with her.