Chapter 2: A Brush With Privateers.
Dick was surprised when, on descending to the deck, he found that whatseemed to him a by no means very difficult feat had attracted generalattention. Not only did half a dozen of the sailors pat him on theback, with exclamations expressive of their surprise and admiration,but the other midshipmen spoke quite as warmly, the eldest saying:
"I could have got up the rope, Holland, but I could not have gone upstraight, as you did, without stopping for a bit to take breath. Youdon't look so very strong, either."
"I think that it is knack more than strength," Dick replied. "I havedone a lot of practice at climbing, for I have always wanted to getstrong, and I heard that there was no better exercise."
When, presently, Dick went aft to the quarterdeck, Captain Barstowsaid to him:
"You have astonished us all, lad. I could hardly believe my eyes, whenI saw you going up that rope. I first caught sight of you when you hadclimbed but twenty feet, and wondered how far you would get, at thatpace. I would have wagered a hundred guineas to one that you would nothave kept it up to the top.
"Well, lad, whatever profession you take to, it is certain that youwill be a good sailor spoilt."
They had now been three weeks out, but had made slow progress, for thewinds had been light, and mostly from the southwest.
"This is very dull work," the doctor said to Dick one day, at dinner."Here we are, three weeks out, and still hardly beyond the Channel.There is one consolation. It is not the fault of the ship. She hasbeen doing well, under the circumstances, but the fates have beenagainst her, thus far. I have no doubt there are a score of shipsstill lying in the Downs, that were there when we passed; and, tediousas it has been beating down the Channel, with scarce wind enough mostof the time to keep our sails full, it would have been worse lyingthere, all the time."
"Still, we have gained a good bit on them, sir."
"If the wind were to change round, say to the northeast, and theybrought it along with them, they would soon make up for lost time, forit would not take them three days to run here. However, we shall beginto do better, soon. I heard the captain say that he should change hiscourse tomorrow. We are somewhere off Cork, and when he makes a fewmiles more westing, he will bear away south. If we had had afavourable wind, we should have taken our departure from the Start,but with it in this quarter we are obliged to make more westing,before we lay her head on her course, or we should risk getting in tooclose to the French coast; and their privateers are as thick as peas,there."
"But we should not be afraid of a French privateer, doctor?"
"Well, not altogether afraid of one, but they very often go incouples; and sometimes three of them will work together. I don't thinkone privateer alone would venture to attack us, though she mightharass us a bit, and keep up a distant fire, in hopes that anothermight hear it and bear down to her aid. But it is always as well tokeep free of them, if one can. You see, an unlucky shot might knockone of our sticks out of us, which would mean delay and trouble, if noworse.
"We had a sharp brush with two of them, on the last voyage, but webeat them off. We were stronger then than we are now, for we had twohundred troops on board, and should have astonished them if they hadcome close enough to try boarding--in fact, we were slackening ourfire, to tempt them to do so, when they made out that a large craftcoming up astern was an English frigate, and sheered off.
"I don't know what the end of it was, but I rather fancy they weretaken. The frigate followed them, gaining fast; and, later on, wecould hear guns in the distance."
"You did not join in the chase then, doctor?"
"Oh, no. Our business is not fighting. If we are attacked, of coursewe defend ourselves; but we don't go a foot out of our way, if we canhelp it."
Three weeks at sea had done wonders for Mrs. Holland. Now that she wasfairly embarked upon her quest, the expression of anxiety graduallydied out. The sea air braced up her nerves, and, what was of stillgreater benefit to her, she was able to sleep soundly and dreamlessly,a thing she had not done for years. Dick was delighted at the changein her.
"You look quite a different woman, Mother," he said. "I don't thinkyour friends at Shadwell would know you, if they were to see you now."
"I feel a different woman, Dick. I have not felt so well and so brightsince your father sailed on his last voyage. I am more convinced thanever that we shall succeed. I have been trying very hard, for years,to be hopeful, but now I feel so without trying. Of course, it ispartly this lovely weather and the sea air, and sleeping so well; andpartly because everyone is so kind and pleasant."
As soon as the Madras had been headed for the south, she began to makebetter way. The wind freshened somewhat, but continued in the samequarter. Grumbling ceased over the bad luck they were having, andhopeful anticipations that, after all, they would make a quick passagewere freely indulged in.
On the fourth day after changing her course, she was off the coast ofSpain, which was but a hundred and fifty miles distant. At noon thatday the wind dropped suddenly, and, an hour later, it was a dead calm.
"We are going to have a change, Dick," the doctor said, as he stoppedby the lad, who was leaning against the bulwark watching a flock ofseabirds that were following a shoal of fish, dashing down among themwith loud cries, and too intent upon their work to notice the ship,lying motionless a hundred yards away.
"What sort of a change, doctor?"
"Most likely a strong blow, though from what quarter it is too soon tosay. However, we have no reason to grumble. After nearly a month oflight winds, we must expect a turn of bad weather. I hope it will comefrom the north. That will take us down to the latitude of Madeira, andbeyond that we may calculate upon another spell of fine weather, untilwe cross the Line."
As the afternoon wore on, the weather became more dull. There were noclouds in the sky, but the deep blue was dimmed by a sort of haze.Presently, after a talk between the captain and the first officer, thelatter gave the order, "All hands take in sail."
The order had been expected, and the men at once swarmed up therigging. In a quarter of an hour all the upper sails were furled. Thelight spars were then sent down to the deck.
"You may as well get the top-gallant sails off her, too, Mr. Green,"the captain said to the first officer. "It is as well to be preparedfor the worst. It is sure to blow pretty hard, when the change comes."
The top-gallant sails were got in, and when the courses had beenbrailed up and secured, the hands were called down. Presently thecaptain, after going to his cabin, rejoined Mr. Green.
"The glass has gone up again," Dick heard him say.
"That looks as if it were coming from the north, sir."
"Yes, with some east in it. It could not come from a better quarter."
He turned and gazed steadily in that direction.
"Yes, there is dark water over there."
"So there is, sir. That is all right. I don't mind how hard it blows,so that it does but come on gradually."
"I agree with you. These hurricane bursts, when one is becalmed, arealways dangerous, even when one is under bare poles."
Gradually the dark line on the horizon crept up towards the ship. Asit reached her the sails bellied out, and she began to move throughthe water. The wind increased in strength rapidly, and in half an hourshe was running south at ten or eleven knots an hour. The thermometerhad fallen many degrees, and as the sun set, the passengers were gladto go below for shelter.
Before going to bed, Dick went up on deck for a few minutes. Thetopsails had been reefed down, but the Madras was rushing through thewater at a high rate of speed. The sea was getting up, and the waveswere crested with foam. Above, the stars were shining brilliantly.
"Well, lad, this is a change, is it not?" the captain said, as he camealong in a pea jacket.
"We seem to be going splendidly, Captain."
"Yes, we are walking along grandly, and making up for lost time."
"It is blowing hard, sir."
> "It will blow a good deal harder before morning, lad, but I do notthink it will be anything very severe. Things won't be so comfortabledownstairs, for the next day or two, but that is likely to be theworst of it."
The motion of the ship kept Dick awake for some time, but, wedginghimself tightly in his berth, he presently fell off to sleep, and didnot wake again until morning. His two cabin mates were sufferingterribly from seasickness, but he felt perfectly well, although ittook him a long time to dress, so great was the motion of the ship.
On making his way on deck, he found that overhead the sky was blue andbright, and the sun shining brilliantly. The wind was blowing muchharder than on the previous evening, and a heavy sea was running; butas the sun sparkled on the white crests of the waves, the scene wasfar less awe inspiring than it had been when he looked out beforeretiring to his berth. The ship, under closely-reefed main andfore-top sails, was tearing through the water at a high rate of speed,throwing clouds of spray from her bows, and occasionally taking a waveover them that sent a deluge of water along the deck.
"What do you think of this, lad?" Mr. Rawlinson, who was in charge ofthe watch, asked him; as, after watching his opportunity, he made arush to the side and caught a firm hold of a shroud.
"It is splendid, sir," he said. "Has she been going like this allnight?"
The officer nodded.
"How long do you think it will last, sir?"
"Two or three days."
"Will it be any worse, sir?"
"Not likely to be. It is taking us along rarely, and it is doing usgood in more ways than one.
"Look there;" and as they rose on a wave, he pointed across the water,behind Dick.
The lad turned, and saw a brig running parallel to their course, halfa mile distant.
"What of her, sir?"
"That is a French privateer, unless I am greatly mistaken."
"But she has the British ensign flying, sir."
"Ay, but that goes for nothing. She may possibly be a trader, on herway down to the Guinea coast, but by the cut of her sails and the lookof her hull, I have no doubt that she is a Frenchman."
"We are passing her, sir."
"Oh, yes. In a gale and a heavy sea, weight tells, and we shall soonleave her astern; but in fine weather, I expect she could sail roundand round us. If the French could fight their ships as well as theycan build them, we should not be in it with them."
"Why don't we fire at her, Mr. Rawlinson?"
The officer laughed.
"How are you going to work your guns, with the ship rolling like this?No, lad, we are like two muzzled dogs at present--we can do nothingbut watch each other. I am sorry to say that I don't think the fellowis alone. Two or three times I have fancied that I caught a glimpse ofa sail on our starboard quarter. I could not swear to it, but I don'tthink I was mistaken, and I called the captain's attention that way,just before he went down ten minutes ago, and he thought he saw it,too. However, as there was nothing to be done, he went down for acaulk. He had not left the deck since noon, yesterday."
"But if she is no bigger than the other, I suppose we shall leave herbehind, too, Mr. Rawlinson?"
"Ay, lad, we shall leave them both behind presently; but if they arewhat I think, we are likely to hear more of them, later on. They wouldnot be so far offshore as this, unless they were on the lookout forIndiamen, which of course keep much farther out than ships bound upthe Mediterranean; and, having once spotted us, they will follow uslike hounds on a deer's trail. However, I think they are likely tofind that they have caught a tartar, when they come up to us.
"Ah! Here is the doctor.
"Well, doctor, what is the report below?"
"Only the usual number of casualties--a sprained wrist, a fewcontusions, and three or four cases of hysterics."
"Is Mother all right, doctor?" Dick asked.
"As I have heard nothing of her, I have no doubt she is. I am quitesure that she will not trouble me with hysterics. Women who have hadreal trouble to bear, Dick, can be trusted to keep their nerves steadyin a gale."
"I suppose you call this a gale, doctor?"
"Certainly. It is a stiff north-easterly gale, and if we were facingit, instead of running before it, you would not want to ask thequestion.
"That is a suspicious-looking craft, Rawlinson," he broke off,catching sight of the brig, now on their port quarter.
"Yes, she is a privateer I have no doubt, and, unless I am mistaken,she has a consort somewhere out there to starboard. However, we neednot trouble about them. Travelling as we are, we are going two knotsan hour faster than the brig."
"So much the better," the doctor said, shortly. "We can laugh at oneof these fellows, but when it comes to two of them, I own that I don'tcare for their company. So the longer this gale holds on, the better."
The mate nodded.
"Well, Dick," the doctor went on, "do you feel as if you will be ableto eat your breakfast?"
"I shall be ready enough for it, doctor, but I don't see how it willbe possible to eat it, with the vessel rolling like this."
"You certainly will not be able to sit down to it--nothing would stayon the table a minute. There will be no regular breakfast today. Youmust get the steward to cut you a chunk of cold meat, put it betweentwo slices of bread, and make a sandwich of it. As to tea, ask him togive you a bottle and to pour your tea into that; then, if you wedgeyourself into a corner, you will find that you are able to manage yourbreakfast comfortably, and can amuse yourself watching people tryingto balance a cup of tea in their hand."
Not more than half a dozen passengers ventured on deck, for the nexttwo days, but at the end of that time the force of the wind graduallyabated, and on the following morning the Madras had all her sails set,to a light but still favourable breeze. Madeira had been passed, toDick's disappointment; but, except for a fresh supply of vegetables,there was no occasion to put in there, and the captain grudged theloss of a day, while so favourable a wind was taking them along.
"Do you think we shall see anything of that brig again, doctor?" Dickasked, as, for the first time since the wind sprang up, the passengerssat down to a comfortable breakfast.
"There is no saying, Dick. If we gained two knots an hour during theblow (and I don't suppose we gained more than one and a half), theymust be a hundred and twenty miles or so astern of us; after all, thatis only half a day's run. I think they are pretty sure to follow usfor a bit, for they will know that, in light winds, they travel fasterthan we do; and if we get becalmed, while they still hold the breeze,they will come up hand over hand. It is likely enough that, in anotherthree days or so, we may get a sight of them behind us."
This was evidently the captain's opinion also, for during the day theguns were overhauled, and their carriages examined, and the musketsbrought up on deck and cleaned. On the following day the men werepractised at the guns, and then had pike and cutlass exercise.
None of the passengers particularly noticed these proceedings, forDick had been warned by the captain to say nothing about the brig; andas he was the only passenger on deck at the time, no whisper of theprivateers had come to the ears of the others.
The party were just going down to lunch, on the third day, when alookout in the maintop hailed the deck:
"A sail astern."
"How does she bear?"
"She is dead astern of us, sir, and I can only make out her uppersails. I should say that they are her royals."
Mr. Green ran up, with his telescope slung over his shoulder.
"I cannot make much out of her, sir," he shouted to the captain. "Shemay be anything. She must be nearly thirty miles astern. I think, withPearson, that it is her royals we see."
"Take a look round, Mr. Green."
The mate did so, and presently called down:
"I can make out something else away on the starboard quarter, but sofar astern that I can scarce swear to her. Still, it can be nothingbut a sail."
"Thank you, Mr. Green. I daresay that we shall know m
ore about her,later on."
When the captain joined the passengers at table, one of the ladiessaid:
"You seem interested in that ship astern of us, captain."
"Yes, Mrs. Seaforth. One is always interested in a ship, when one getsdown as far as this. She may be another Indiaman, and although theMadras has no claim to any great speed in a light breeze like this,one never likes being passed."
The explanation was considered as sufficient, and nothing more wassaid on the subject. By sunset, the upper sails of the stranger couldbe made out from the deck of the Madras. Mr. Green again went up, andhad a look at her.
"She is coming up fast," he said, when he rejoined the captain. "Shekeeps so dead in our wake that I can't make out whether she is a brigor a three master; but I fancy that she is a brig, by the size and cutof her sails. I can see the other craft plainly enough now; she iseight or ten miles west of the other, and has closed in towards hersince I made her out before. I have no doubt that she is a largeschooner."
"Well, it is a comfort that they are not a few miles nearer, Mr.Green. There is no chance of their overtaking us before morning, so weshall be able to keep our watches as usual, and shall have time to getready for a fight, if there is to be one."
"The sooner the better sir, so that it is daylight. It is quitecertain that they have the legs of us."
In the morning, when Dick came up, he found that the wind had quitedied away, and the sails hung loosely from the yards. Looking astern,he saw two vessels. They were some six miles away, and perhaps twomiles apart. As they lay without steerage way, they had swung partlyround, and he saw that they were a brig and a schooner. The former hehad no doubt, from her lofty masts and general appearance, was thesame the Madras had passed six days before. As the passengers came up,they were full of curiosity as to the vessels.
"Of course, we know no more actually than you do yourselves," thecaptain said, as some of them gathered round and questioned him, "butI may as well tell you, frankly, that we have very little doubt abouttheir being two French privateers. We passed them during the gale, andhad some hopes that we should not see them again; but, in the lightbreeze we have been having during the last few days, they have made uplost ground, and I am afraid we shall have to fight them."
Exclamations of alarm broke from some of the ladies who heard hiswords.
"You need not be alarmed, ladies," he went on. "We carry twelve guns,you know, and I expect that all of them are of heavier metal thantheirs. The Madras is a strongly-built ship, and will stand a gooddeal more hammering than those light craft will, so that I have nodoubt we shall give a good account of ourselves."
After breakfast, the hatches were opened and the gun cases belongingto the passengers brought on deck. Scarce one of them but had a rifle,and many had, in addition, a shotgun. The day passed without anychange in the positions of the vessels, for they still lay becalmed.
"Why don't they get out their boats, and tow their vessels up?" Dickasked the doctor.
"Because they would be throwing away their chances, if they did so.They know that we cannot get away from them, and we might smash uptheir boats as soon as they came within range. Besides, their speedand superior handiness give them a pull over us, when fighting undersail. They may try to tow up during the night, if they think they arestrong enough to take us by boarding, but I hardly think they will doso."
The night, however, passed off quietly. But in the morning a lightbreeze sprang up from the east, the sails were trimmed, and the Madrasagain began to move through the water. By breakfast time, the craftbehind had visibly decreased their distance.
The meal was a silent one. When it was over, the captain said:
"As soon as those fellows open fire, ladies, I must ask you all to godown into the hold. The sailors have already cleared a space, belowthe waterline, large enough for you; and they will take down somecushions, and so on, to make you as comfortable as possible, under thecircumstances. Pray do not be alarmed at any noises you may hear. Youwill be below the waterline, and perfectly safe from their shot; andyou may be sure that we shall do our best to keep the scoundrels fromboarding us; and I will let you know, from time to time, how mattersare going."
The unmarried men at once went up on deck. The others lingered for ashort time behind, talking to their wives and daughters, and thenfollowed.
"The wind has strengthened a bit, Mr. Green," the captain said, "and Ifancy we shall get more."
"I think so, too, Captain."
"Then you may as well get off the upper sails, and make her snug. Getoff everything above the top gallant. Then, if the wind increases, weshall not want to call the men away from the guns."
The crew had, without orders, already mustered at quarters. Thelashings had been cast off the guns, the boatswain had opened themagazines, and a pile of shot stood by each gun, together with casesof canister and grapeshot for close work. Boarding pikes and cutlasseswere ranged along by the bulwarks. The men had thrown aside theirjackets, and many of those at the guns were stripped to the waist.Some of them were laughing and talking, and Dick saw, by their air ofconfidence, that they had no doubt of their ability to beat off theassault of the privateers.
The latter were the first to open the ball. A puff of smoke burst outfrom the brig's bows, followed almost instantly by one from theschooner. Both shots fell short, and, for a quarter of an hour, thethree vessels kept on their way.
"We have heavier metal than that," the captain said, cheerfully, "andI have no doubt we could reach them. But it is not our game to play atlong bowls, for it is probable that both of them carry a long pivotgun, and if they were to draw off a bit, they could annoy usamazingly, while we could not reach them."
Presently the privateers opened fire again. They were now about a mileaway, and the same distance from each other. Their shot fell close tothe Indiaman, and two or three passed through her sails.
Still no reply was made. The men at the guns fidgeted, and keptcasting glances towards the poop, in expectation of an order. It cameat last, but was not what they had expected.
"Double shot your guns, men," the captain said.
Scarcely was the order obeyed when the brig, which was now on the portquarter, luffed up a little into the wind, and fired a broadside ofeight guns. There was a crashing of wood. The Madras was hulled inthree places; two more holes appeared in her sails; while the othershot passed harmlessly just astern of her.
There was an angry growl among the sailors, as the schooner bore awaya little, and also fired her broadside. Except that a man was struckdown by a splinter from the bulwarks, no damage was done.
"Bear up a little," the captain said to the second officer, who wasstanding by the helmsman. "I want to edge in a little towards thebrig, but not enough for them to notice it.
"Now, gentlemen," he went on, to the passengers, "I have no doubt thatmost of you are good shots, and I want you, after we have fired ourbroadside, to direct your attention to the brig's helmsmen. If you canrender it impossible for the men to stand at the wheel, we will makemincemeat of this fellow in no time. Directly I have fired our portbroadside, I am going to bring her up into the wind on the oppositetack, and give him the starboard broadside at close quarters. Don'tfire until we have gone about, and then pick off the helmsmen, if youcan.
"Get ready, men."
The brig was now but a little more than a quarter of a mile distant.
"Aim at the foot of his mainmast," he went on. "Let each man fire ashe gets the mast on his sight."
A moment later the first gun fired, and the whole broadside followedin quick succession.
"Down with the helm! Hard down, sheets and tacks!"
The men whose duty it was to trim the sails ran to the sheets andbraces. The Madras swept up into the wind, and, as her sails drew onthe other tack, she came along on a course that would take her withina hundred yards of the brig.
As she approached, three rifles cracked out on her poop. One of themen at the helm of the brig fell, and as he did
so, half a dozen moreshots were fired; and as his companion dropped beside him, the brig,deprived of her helm, flew up into the wind.
Three men ran aft to the wheel, but the deadly rifles spoke out again.Two of them fell. The third dived under the bulwark, for shelter.
"Steady, men!" the captain shouted. "Fetch her mainmast out of her!"
As they swept along under the stern of the brig, each gun of theirother broadside poured in its fire in succession, raking the crowdeddeck from end to end. A moment later, the mainmast was seen to sway,and a tremendous cheer broke from the Madras as it went over the side,dragging with it the foretopmast, with all its gear.
"Down with the helm again!" the captain shouted. "Bring her head towind, and keep her there!"
The first officer sprang forward, to see that the order was carriedinto effect, and a minute later the Indiaman lay, with her sailsaback, at a distance of a hundred yards, on the quarter of the brig.
"Grape and canister!" the captain shouted, and broadside afterbroadside swept the decks of the brig, which, hampered by herwreckage, was lying almost motionless in the water. So terrible wasthe fire, that the privateer's men threw down the axes with which theywere striving to cut away the floating spars, and ran below.
"Double shot your guns, and give her one broadside between wind andwater!" the captain ordered.
"Haul on the sheets and braces, Mr. Green, and get her on her courseagain--the schooner won't trouble us, now."
That craft had indeed, at first, luffed up, to come to the assistanceof her consort; but on seeing the fall of the latter's mast, and thatshe was incapable of rendering any assistance, had again altered hercourse, feeling her incapacity to engage so redoubtable an opponent,single handed. Three hearty cheers broke from all on board the Madrasas, after pouring in a broadside at a distance of fifty yards, sheleft the brig behind her, and proceeded on her way.
"Then you don't care about taking prizes, captain?" one of thepassengers said, as they crowded round to congratulate him upon hiseasy, and almost bloodless, victory.
"No, taking prizes is not my business; and were I to weaken my crew,by sending some of them off in a prize, I might find myselfshort-handed if we met another of these gentlemen, or fell in with badweather. Besides, she would not be worth sending home."
"The brig is signalling to her consort, sir," Mr. Green said, comingup.
"Ay, ay. I expect she wants help badly enough. I saw the chips flyclose to her waterline, as we gave her that last broadside."
"They are lowering a boat," one of the passengers said.
"So they are. I expect they haven't got more than one that can swim.
"I think she is settling down," the captain said, as he lookedearnestly at the wreck astern. "See how they are crowding into thatboat, and how some of the others are cutting and slashing, to get thewreckage clear of her."
"She is certainly a good bit lower in the water than she was," thefirst officer agreed. "The schooner has come round, and won't be longbefore she is alongside of her."
There was no doubt that the brig was settling down fast. Men stood onthe bulwarks, and waved their caps frantically to the schooner. Otherscould be seen, by the aid of a glass, casting spars, hen coops, andother articles overboard, and jumping into the water after them; andsoon the sea around the wreck was dotted with heads and floatingfragments, while the wreckage of the mainmast was clustered with men.
When the Madras was a mile away, the schooner was lying, thrown uphead to wind, fifty yards from the brig; and her boats were alreadyengaged in picking up the swimmers. Suddenly the brig gave a heavylurch.
"There she goes!" the captain exclaimed.
A moment later the hull had disappeared, and the schooner remainedalone.
By this time, the whole of the ladies had ascended from their place ofsafety to the poop, and a general exclamation broke from thepassengers, as the brig disappeared.
"The schooner will pick them all up," the captain said. "They musthave suffered heavily from our fire, but I don't think any will havegone down with her. The boat, which has already reached the schooner,must have taken a good many, and the mainmast and foretopmast andspars would support the rest, to say nothing of the things they havethrown overboard. There is one wasp the less afloat."
No further adventure was met with, throughout the voyage. They had aspell of bad weather off the Cape, but the captain said it was nothingto the gales they often encountered there, and that the voyage, as awhole, was an exceptionally good one; for, even after the delays theyhad encountered at the start, the passage had lasted but four monthsand a half.
They touched at Point de Galle for news, and to ascertain whether anyFrench warships had been seen, of late, along the coast. A supply offresh vegetables and fruit was taken on board, as the vessel, aftertouching at Madras, was to go on to Calcutta. A few of the passengerslanded at Point de Galle, but neither Dick nor his mother went ashore.
"You will have plenty of opportunities of seeing Indians, later on,Dick," Mrs. Holland had said; "and, as the gigs will not take allashore, we may as well stop quietly here. I heard the captain say thathe would weigh anchor again, in four hours."
Dick was rather disappointed, but, as they would be at Madras beforelong, he did not much mind.
Ten days later, they anchored off that town. Little was to be seenexcept the fort, a number of warehouses, and the native town, whilethe scenery contrasted strongly with that of Ceylon, with its massesof green foliage, with hills rising behind.
For the last fortnight, Mrs. Holland had been somewhat depressed. Nowthat the voyage was nearly over, the difficulties of the task beforeher seemed greater than they had done when viewed from a distance, andshe asked herself whether, after all, it would not have been wiser tohave waited another two or three years, until Dick had attainedgreater strength and manhood. The boy, however, when she confided herdoubts to him, laughed at the idea.
"Why, you know, Mother," he said, "we agreed that I had a much greaterchance, as a boy, of going about unsuspected, than I should have as aman. Besides, we could never have let Father remain any longer,without trying to get him out.
"No, no, Mother, you know we have gone through it over and over again,and talked about every chance. We have had a first-rate voyage, andeverything is going on just as we could have wished, and it wouldnever do to begin to have doubts now. We have both felt confident, allalong. It seems to me that, of all things, we must keep on beingconfident, at any rate until there is something to give us cause todoubt."
On the following morning, they landed in a surf boat, and werefortunate in getting ashore without being drenched. There was a rushof wild looking and half-naked natives to seize their baggage; butupon Mrs. Holland, with quiet decision, accosting the men in their ownlanguage, and picking out four of them to carry the baggage up, to oneof the vehicles standing on the road that ran along the top of thehigh beach, the rest fell back, and the matter was arranged withoutdifficulty.
After a drive of twenty minutes, they stopped at a hotel.
"It is not like a hotel, Mother," Dick remarked, as they drew up. "Itis more like a gentleman's house, standing in its own park."
"Almost all the European houses are built so, here, Dick, and it ismuch more pleasant than when they are packed together."
"Much nicer," Dick agreed. "If each house has a lot of ground likethis, the place must cover a tremendous extent of country."
"It does, Dick; but, as every one keeps horses and carriages, thatdoes not matter much. Blacktown, as they call the native town, standsquite apart from the European quarter."
As soon as they were settled in their rooms, which seemed to Dicksingularly bare and unfurnished, mother and son went out for a drive,in one of the carriages belonging to the hotel. Dick had learned somuch about India from her that, although extremely interested, he wasscarcely surprised at the various scenes that met his eye, or at thebright and varied costumes of the natives.
Many changes had taken place, during the sev
enteen years that hadelapsed since Mrs. Holland had left India. The town had increasedgreatly in size. All signs of the effects of the siege by the French,thirty years before, had been long since obliterated. Large andhandsome government buildings had been erected, and evidences ofwealth and prosperity were everywhere present.