A Middy of the King Part 6

"Very well," he said. "Then as soon as the carpenter has finished here he must go aboard the prize, taking with him as many men as Mr Howard can spare. You shall go with him, remaining aboard the _Gelderland_ until the able-bodied portion of her crew can be transferred to this s.h.i.+p, when you will undertake that piece of work, using, if need be, to facilitate the operation, such of the prize's boats as will float. You had better find Mr Howard and acquaint him with this arrangement, and then tell the carpenter what I want him to do. It appears to me that Mr Lucas is now almost, if not quite, ready to turn over to the prize.

If so, you had better take him across."

Away I trotted, and presently found the first lieutenant on the forecastle, supervising the labours of the boatswain and the carpenter, the latter of whom was just putting the finis.h.i.+ng touches to his part of the work. I delivered both my messages, picked out fifteen more men to go aboard the prize,--that being all that Mr Howard could spare,-- hustled them, with the carpenter and his crew, down the side, and presently found myself again aboard the prize.

Here, short as had been the duration of my absence, I found a great improvement in the appearance of things. Mr Percival and his gang had been working like demons, and had made great advances toward a general clearance of the wreckage--so much so, indeed, that he was quite ready for the Carpenter to start work at once; while, as for the Dutch crew, they had completed their task of carrying below their killed and wounded, and were busily engaged in was.h.i.+ng down the main-deck and otherwise obliterating, as far as might be, the evidences of the recent battle. I allowed them to finish this job--although I knew the skipper to be very anxious to be off in chase of the two Indiamen--for I had noticed, while crossing over to the prize on the last occasion, that the wind had fined away to a mere zephyr, and that the Indiamen were still hull-up; while there was every appearance of the weather falling stark calm within the next hour or two. I, therefore, told myself that, taking everything into consideration, there was really no great need for hurry. But I had not to wait very long, for within half-an-hour the Dutchmen had done all that was possible for them to do; and by noon I had completed my somewhat disagreeable task of transferring all the prisoners to the _Europa_, taking with me, on my last trip, the Dutch surgeon's report upon the losses incurred by the _Gelderland_ during the action. These, as antic.i.p.ated by Van Halst, were exceedingly heavy, the killed numbering thirty-two, while the wounded totalled no less than one hundred and thirty-one, of whom at least ten were so desperately hurt that there was little hope of their outlasting the night.

By the time that all this was done, Mr Howard had got our new fore-topmast on end and rigged, the topsail-yard aloft and secured, and the topsail, fore-topmast staysail, and jib set, when we at once filled on the s.h.i.+p and hauled our wind in pursuit of the Indiamen, Mr Percival having received orders to follow us as soon as he could make sail. Then we piped to dinner, all hands having spent a most strenuously busy morning.

At four bells in the afternoon watch the wind had fined down to such an extent that the frigate was making no more than a bare four knots through the water, although we had by this time got up the fore-topgallant and royal-masts again and were once more under all plain sail; while, as for the two Indiamen, built as cargo-carriers rather than for speed, they appeared to scarcely have steerage-way, and seemed to maintain their luff only with the utmost difficulty--indeed, there were times when they fell so broad off as to present their full broadsides to us. But although their capture might now be regarded as practically certain, they were evidently not disposed to yield without making some sort of a struggle for liberty, for they were on opposite tacks, one of them having gone about; the idea, of course, being to separate and widen their distance as much as possible in the hope that by so doing one of them at least might escape, even if the other were captured. Captain Vava.s.sour, however, did not allow these tactics to disconcert him in the least; he fixed upon one of them as the object of his pursuit--altogether disregarding the movements of the other, meanwhile--and devoted all his efforts to close with her, with the result that by two bells in the first dog-watch we were within gunshot of our quarry, when a shot was pitched across his forefoot as a gentle hint to him to heave-to. But he declined to take the hint, and it was not until we sent a shot whistling between his masts that the st.u.r.dy old Mynheer could be convinced of the impossibility of escape, when he hoisted his colours to the peak only to instantly haul them down again and back his mainyard in token of surrender.

"Mr Delamere," said the Captain, "I shall be obliged to send you to take possession of that s.h.i.+p. Take the cutter, therefore, with a dozen men--armed, of course--and proceed on board at once. You may take Mr Millet (another mids.h.i.+pman) with you, who, with a couple of hands, can bring back the boat and any message which you may find it necessary to send. You will have to depend upon the Dutch crew, princ.i.p.ally, to work the s.h.i.+p for you until I can make further arrangements. As soon as you have shoved off I shall proceed in pursuit of the other s.h.i.+p, and you had better follow me, so long as there is wind enough for you to do so; and you must use your own judgment as to the most opportune moment for sending away Mr Millet and the boat."

A quarter of an hour later, followed by Jack Millet and my crew of twelve, I clambered in over the bulwarks of the motherly old craft that we had brought-to, and formally took possession of the _Haarlem_, Dutch East Indiaman, of 965 tons, homeward-bound from Batavia, full to the hatches with a rich cargo of Eastern produce, and a cuddy-full of pa.s.sengers who seemed to take their capture very philosophically, especially when I explained to them that they might rely upon being left in undisturbed possession of all their strictly personal effects. With the skipper, however,--a most dignified old fellow, white-haired, and bronzed by nearly half a century of the sea life,--it was different. It appeared that he was part-owner of the s.h.i.+p, having sunk the entire savings of a lifetime in the purchase of fifty shares and a quant.i.ty of the cargo in her hold; and although he did his utmost to face his misfortune as a brave man should, the tears started to his eyes as he explained to me that the capture of the s.h.i.+p would leave him and his _frau_ absolutely penniless in their old age. I endeavoured to soften the blow to him as much as possible by sympathetically murmuring some idiotic plat.i.tude about "the fortune of war," but of course it was no good; the poor old fellow simply shook his head and e.j.a.c.u.l.a.t.ed--"Ay--the fortune of war! It is all very well for you, young sir, who depend upon war to provide you with a career, to talk like that; but think of the thousands who are ruined and whose hearts are left desolate by war; think of the parents who have to mourn the loss of sons cut down by war in the very flower of their manhood, and all because our rulers cannot agree! I tell you, sir, that if all men were what they should be-- honourable, honest, upright, and faithful followers of Christ--there need be no war."

To which I replied that doubtless this was true; but that if we should be compelled to wait for the abolition of war until mankind became perfect, I had a conviction that neither he nor I would live to see it.

CHAPTER SEVEN.

WESTWARD HO!

When, through the captain of the _Haarlem_, as interpreter, I explained to the Dutch crew that it was my intention to call upon them to continue to work the s.h.i.+p, they seemed disposed at the outset to refuse; but I soon brought them to a more reasonable frame of mind by giving them the choice of remaining in their own forecastle and enjoying the liberty of the _Haarlem's_ deck, on the one hand, and being transferred to the frigate and confined below, on the other, when it took them but a few minutes to make up their minds that the first alternative was by far the more desirable of the two.

Having arrived at this understanding I filled away, and, with the cutter in tow, stood after the _Europa_, which was now in full pursuit of the second Indiaman--the _Schelde_, of 950 tons, also from Batavia, and with an even more valuable cargo than that carried by the _Haarlem_, as I now learned from the chief mate of the latter. But oh, it was weary work to attempt to turn to windward in a light breeze in the deep, bluff-bowed, squat-sterned, Dutch-built _Haarlem_, after my experience of the smart, lively, swift-sailing British frigate; it was, therefore, with a feeling of the utmost satisfaction that shortly before the end of the second dog-watch I heard the _Europa_ once more booming out her summons to surrender, and saw the mainyard of the _Schelde_ swing slowly aback in response. For now, the business of taking possession of this third prize once over, we could at least bear up and crowd sail for home, with a free wind to help us over the ground; for by this time Mr Percival had so far made good the damage sustained by the _Gelderland_ that he once more had the vessel under command, and was working out toward us on the port tack. And from what I could see of the behaviour of the s.h.i.+p it appeared to me that, even in the guise of a brig, she would be quite able to hold her own with the slow-moving Indiamen.

The _Schelde_ and the frigate having hove-to, we were able to close with them in the course of about an hour, when I sent away Jack Millet and two men in the cutter with my report to Captain Vava.s.sour, giving him the name, tonnage, and nature of the cargo of the _Haarlem_, together with such other particulars as I thought he would like to know, and also acquainting him with the fact that the Dutch crew had consented to work the s.h.i.+p. Meanwhile the _Europa_ had taken in all her light sails and clewed up her courses, with the evident intention of keeping close company with her prizes.

As soon as the _Schelde_ had been taken possession of, and a prize-crew put on board her, Captain Vava.s.sour sent away his gig to me, in charge of young Millet, with written instructions that I was to remain in charge of the _Haarlem_, retaining Jack to help me, and to crowd all sail for Plymouth, taking care to keep in close touch with the rest of the squadron. Jack--good boy--upon receiving his instructions to join me, had had the sense and forethought not only to bring along his own dunnage but mine also; and as soon as we had hoisted in the two chests I sent back the gig, and we proceeded to make ourselves comfortable by taking possession of two staterooms in the cuddy that by good fortune happened to be vacant.

It was close upon four bells in the first watch when at length, all arrangements being completed, the _Europa_ hoisted the night signal for us to make sail, upon which, the wind having meanwhile freshened up again a trifle, we wore round and, crowding all sail upon the two Indiamen, shaped a course for Ushant. I remained on deck until I had seen the topgallant, topmast, and lower studdingsails set aboard my command, and then, having had a busy and very tiring day, turned over the charge of the deck to Bateman, a steady old quartermaster who had been spared to me by Mr Howard, laying strict injunctions upon him to keep a very sharp eye upon the Dutch crew, and then turned-in. Five days later, at daylight, we made the land, and came safely to anchor in Plymouth Sound, just as the breakfast-bell was being rung on board the two Indiamen.

The appearance of the _Europa_ in the Sound, accompanied by three prizes, one of which was a more powerful vessel than herself, created great excitement ash.o.r.e, and we were speedily surrounded by a whole flotilla of boats, the occupants of which clamorously besought permission to come on board and dispose of, either by sale or barter, the varied a.s.sortment of goods and commodities that they had brought off; but the strictest orders had been given that no strangers were on any account to be allowed on board, and that no boats or other craft were to be permitted to come alongside, or even approach the prizes; we were, therefore, obliged to possess our souls in patience, and see fresh meat, soft tack, and many other dainties that we would gladly have purchased, taken back to the sh.o.r.e again. Two days later, however, the prizes were taken into the Hamoase and their crews landed, after which the prize-crews returned to the _Europa_, where the joyous news was communicated to us that we were to proceed at once to Portsmouth to refit. We weighed forthwith and stood up channel with a slas.h.i.+ng westerly breeze, arriving at Portsmouth on the following day, when all hands were turned over to the guards.h.i.+p, and the frigate was taken into dock.

I obtained leave, without the slightest difficulty, and spent a very happy month with my father, at the expiration of which I was notified that the _Europa_ was once more ready for sea, and was requested to join forthwith.

On this occasion I left home and journeyed down to Portsmouth alone, my father happening at the time to be suffering from an attack of gout which, while not sufficiently serious to be alarming, was nevertheless painful enough to preclude travelling. Upon arriving at my destination I called at the George Hotel, where Captain Vava.s.sour usually put up, with the intention of reporting myself to him, but, learning that he was on board the frigate, I at once proceeded to the harbour and, engaging a wherry, transported myself and my belongings to Spithead, where the _Europa_ lay at anchor. I was just in time to catch the Captain and report myself before he left the s.h.i.+p for the night, and then I descended to the mids.h.i.+pmen's berth, where I was joyously welcomed by my former s.h.i.+pmates.

Upon inquiring for the latest news, it appeared that certain changes had occurred in the personnel of the s.h.i.+p since we had last all met together. For instance, Mr Howard had most deservedly obtained his promotion and been given a command, while Mr Galway now reigned in his stead aboard the _Europa_. As second and third lieutenants we had two new men, namely, Mr William Gadsby and Mr Edward Sutcliffe, both of whom seemed to have made a fairly favourable impression, on the whole, although--as was, perhaps, only natural--the occupants of the mids.h.i.+pmen's berth seemed just a little inclined to regard them askance as newcomers of whom but little was thus far known. But when, an hour or so later, I again went up on deck and, through Mr Galway, made the acquaintance of the new men, I speedily came to the conclusion that though our new second luff might possibly turn out to be rather a "taut hand," and perhaps a little inclined to be intolerant of the practical joking to which mids.h.i.+pmen are so p.r.o.ne, yet, on the whole, we should not have much cause to regret the arrival of either himself or Mr Sutcliffe among us, for both of them impressed me as being exceedingly well-bred men. Whether or not they would turn out to be capable seamen, however, was a matter which only time and more intimate a.s.sociation would prove.

As I have already intimated, the frigate had been reported as ready for sea when I received orders to join her; and so she was, save in one most important particular, namely, that she was short-handed. For although, upon our arrival home, all hands had been turned over to the guards.h.i.+p and placed upon her books while our own s.h.i.+p was in the hands of the dockyard people, the admiral had drawn upon them pretty freely, in order to enable other s.h.i.+ps to complete their complement and go to sea; so that when the time came for the _Europa_ to receive back her crew, it was found that she was nearly fifty men short of her full number. This was all the more unfortunate, in that we had very little time left us in which to make up the deficiency; for we were to sail in three days' time for Plymouth, there to form part of the escort of a large fleet of merchantmen and transports bound to the West Indies under convoy. But now it was that our new second and third lieutenants showed their mettle, for on the very night of my arrival on board they organised two formidable pressgangs, which they led ash.o.r.e, one party landing at Portsmouth and the other at Gosport; and between them they managed to make a clean sweep of pretty nearly all the crimps' houses within a radius of four miles of the harbour, returning to the s.h.i.+p shortly before daylight the next morning considerably battered and the worse for wear--for they had been engaged in a series of desperate hand-to-hand fights--but bringing with them sixty-three fine, able-bodied merchant seamen, who had been in close hiding while awaiting a berth. A few of these men had already served on board a man-o'-war, and they did not need very much persuasion to induce them to enter again; when the ball having once been set rolling, as it were, the rest followed suit in little batches of twos and threes until by midday the whole of them had "volunteered," and we had completed our complement.

At daylight, on the third morning after my arrival on board, Blue Peter was hoisted, the fore-topsail was loosed, and a gun was fired as a signal that we were about to proceed to sea; and from that moment until the anchor was lifted all was bustle and confusion--hoisting in and securing the boats, stowing away stock of all descriptions, and clearing the s.h.i.+p of women--wives and sweethearts of the crew--and traders who were anxious to obtain a settlement of accounts. The Captain's gig had been sent ash.o.r.e immediately after breakfast; and about ten o'clock she returned, bringing off Captain Vava.s.sour; the boatswains piped "All hands up anchor!" and half-an-hour later we were bowling away down the Solent before a fine easterly breeze.

We arrived in Plymouth Sound the next morning, and found a.s.sembled there about one hundred and twenty sail of merchantmen bound to various ports on the other side of the Atlantic, in the safe convoy of which to their destination we were to take part. We also found my old s.h.i.+p _Colossus_, the frigate _Astarte_, of thirty-six guns, and two 14-gun-brigs--the _Hebe_ and the _Naiad_--at anchor outside the merchant fleet, being the remaining s.h.i.+ps of the squadron detailed for convoy duty.

On the day following our arrival at Plymouth the wind s.h.i.+fted and blew hard from the south-west, with almost continuous rain. As these weather conditions prevailed for eight consecutive days, we remained at anchor, awaiting a change of wind, since it was useless to take to sea a fleet of merchantmen, the greater number of which were so deeply laden and such poor sailers that it would have been impossible for them to make any progress against a wind that was blowing dead in their teeth.

During this period of inaction some thirty additional sail arrived at the rendezvous, anxious to avail themselves of the protection of convoy; when, therefore, on the ninth day the weather cleared and the wind hauled round from the south-east, the merchant fleet of which we were to take care during their pa.s.sage across the Atlantic numbered in all exactly one hundred and fifty-four sail.

The change of weather occurred shortly after midnight, with a steadily rising barometer; at daylight, therefore, the commodore fired a gun and hoisted the signal to weigh, and by eight o'clock the leading s.h.i.+ps in the fleet were under way and beating out to sea, led by the _Colossus_, their departure being hastened by much firing of guns and continuous displays of signal flags. The two gun-brigs went out with the first of the fleet, their duty being to marshal the merchantmen into something like order when they got outside; but the _Astarte_ and ourselves remained at anchor to quicken up the movements of the laggards and expedite matters generally; and a hard time we had of it, for so short-handed were some of the vessels that we were obliged to send working-parties on board them to a.s.sist in making sail and breaking their anchors out of the ground. But by noon the last of them were fairly under way, and as soon as they had pa.s.sed outside of us we too weighed and stood out after them, flitting hither and thither, hailing first this s.h.i.+p and then that, with imperative orders for them to crowd sail. But oh, what weary, heart-breaking work was this business of whipping-in; for so sluggish were some of the craft that it seemed as though they would never be able to make their way out to the main fleet, which was by this time hove-to in the offing. However, by eight bells in the afternoon watch we had contrived to hustle the last one out to windward of the Eddystone, when the commodore made the signal to fill away; and off we all went, with the wind a couple of points free, the weather braces checked, and the slower coaches among the merchantmen with all their larboard studdingsails set. Then came a signal from the commodore to regulate rate of sailing by that of the slowest craft in the fleet and to keep as close together as prudence would permit; and, finally, a signal to the men-of-war to take the stations a.s.signed to them and to keep a sharp lookout for marauders. This last signal was made purely as a matter of form and duty, and not because it was actually necessary; for although none of us had sighted any suspicious-looking craft on our way round to Plymouth, we felt pretty certain that news of the a.s.sembling of the convoy, and of its probable sailing date, would find its way across the Channel, and that, sooner or later, we should discover that a few enterprising privateers were hovering upon its skirts, watching for a favourable opportunity to cut in and secure a prize or two.

The south-easterly wind held long enough to enable us and our charges to get well clear of the Channel and to the southward of Ushant before it changed, and then it gradually veered round until it came out strong from the north-west, when away we all went for Madeira, the slowest s.h.i.+ps carrying every rag of canvas that they could stagger under, while the faster craft were unwillingly compelled to shorten down in order that all might keep together, while as for ourselves and the _Astarte_, the utmost that we could show, without running ahead of our station, was double-reefed topsails.

We sighted and pa.s.sed Madeira on the eighth day out from Plymouth, and two days later, to our great joy, picked up the "Trades," blowing fresh; and thus far we had not sighted a single suspicious sail. Most of us were of opinion that, having been permitted to come thus far without interference, we were now safe, and that with a strong trade-wind wafting along even the slowest coaches among us, at a pace of from six to seven knots an hour, our troubles were all over. But the more knowing ones shook their heads, smiled compa.s.sionately at our ignorance, and said, "Wait a bit!"

And they were right. For at daylight on a certain lovely morning, when we were, by our reckoning, some three hundred and twenty miles from the island of Barbadoes, upon going up to the main-topmast crosstrees to take a look round generally, and count the number of sail in sight, I discovered that at last the wolves had entered our fold and were already playing havoc with it. For, to start with, one of our finest and fastest merchantmen had hauled out from the main body, and under a heavy press of canvas was already hull-down in the south-eastern board, being evidently in possession of a prize-crew, while, in the thickest of the ruck, was a very large brigantine, under exceedingly short canvas, yet keeping pace with the slow-sailing merchantmen, first sheering alongside one and hugging her affectionately for a few minutes, and then turning her attention to another and doing likewise. But this was not all, for on the northern flank of the convoy there was a small full-rigged s.h.i.+p, which I felt certain was a stranger, apparently pursuing the same tactics as the brigantine; while far away to the north were both our man-o'-war brigs cracking on in chase of five craft--whether a portion of our convoy or not, I could not at the moment say--which seemed to be manoeuvring with the deliberate purpose of drawing the brigs away from the convoy and so affording the brigantine and the s.h.i.+p an opportunity to put in a good morning's work unmolested.

"On deck, there!" I hailed. "There are two strange sail astern which seem to be running alongside and taking possession of a number of our craft; one large s.h.i.+p is heading south-east and already hull-down from the crosstrees here; and the two brigs--the _Hebe_ and the _Naiad_--are about fifteen miles off, in the northern board, chasing five other craft."

"Thank you, Mr Delamere," answered the first lieutenant. "Can you count the number of merchantmen in sight?"

"I'll try to do so, sir," I replied; "but I'm afraid it will be a little difficult, for they are all bunching together, astern, as though for mutual protection, in a manner that is very confusing."

"Still, I shall be glad if you will do your best to get the information," hailed the first luff; to which I replied, as in duty bound--"Ay, ay, sir; I'll have a try."

Therewith I set to work upon my somewhat awkward task, in the middle of which some of the merchantmen began firing their signal guns to attract our attention. The example seemed contagious, for in about five minutes the popping of their 4-pounders was almost continuous, and the smoke became as thick as though a small battle were raging, while s.h.i.+p after s.h.i.+p hoisted the signal for "Enemy in sight!" At length, after being compelled to begin my work all over again two or three times, I managed to complete my count, making of them one hundred and forty-eight. This number I reported to the first lieutenant, down on deck.

"Does that include the six craft which appear to have parted company, Mr Delamere?" hailed Mr Galway.

"No, sir," I replied; "it is the number which are still sailing in convoy."

The first lieutenant conferred for a few minutes with the Captain, who had meanwhile been sent for, and had come on deck, and then hailed again, directing me to come down.

Meanwhile a good deal of signalling had been proceeding between the _Colossus_, ourselves, and the _Astarte_; and just as I reached the deck the order was given to make sail, the two frigates having been instructed to chase the strangers, and for us, in addition, to pursue and recapture the large s.h.i.+p which had by this time vanished altogether in the south-eastern board.

We at once hauled our wind and, acknowledging the signal from the commodore, crowded sail, standing to the southward upon the port tack.

We set everything to our royals, although the moment that the s.h.i.+p was brought upon a wind, and the yards braced sharp up, we became conscious of the fact that the Trades were blowing quite strong enough to justify us, under ordinary circ.u.mstances, in keeping our topgallantsails stowed.

But this was no time for prudence; valuable property was being stolen under our very noses--ay, and murder being committed, too, for aught that we could tell to the contrary--and the marauders must be caught and punished; we therefore cracked on, pressing the beautiful frigate to the utmost limit of her endurance.

And, oh, what a joyous, exhilarating sensation it was to feel the s.h.i.+p alive once more, as it were, heeling steeply over to the shrill piping of the strong salt breeze, bounding from wave to wave, plunging her sharp stem deep into the heart of each oncoming surge, and cleaving its indigo crest asunder in a perfect storm of sparkling foam above which played a miniature rainbow, after being compelled for weeks to moderate our paces to those of the sluggish merchantmen!

Our s.h.i.+ft of helm brought that portion of the convoy, in the midst of which the big brigantine was pursuing her nefarious trade, square upon our weather-beam, but as we were now going off practically at right angles to the course steered by the convoy, and as both they and we were sailing at a good rate, our relative positions very quickly altered; and as the brigantine had not yet seen fit to haul out from among the merchantmen, we were beginning to hope that she was too busily employed to notice our movements, and that, before she did so and took the alarm, we should gain the weather-gage of her. But no, they were not going to be quite so easily caught as all that! It happened, however, that at the precise moment when we hauled out from the main body she had run alongside a large transport, carrying troops out to the West Indies; and the officers on board her, having got timely notice of what was happening, had prepared for her visit by turning up the soldiers, some five hundred in number, serving out ball cartridge to them, and causing them to crouch low behind the bulwarks. Then, just as the brigantine ranged up alongside to board, the soldiers at a blast from the bugle had poured in a fire of musketry that had literally swept her crowded decks and filled them with killed and wounded, causing her to haul off in a tremendous hurry, the soldiers continuing to gall her until she contrived to escape by hauling her wind and interposing some of the other s.h.i.+ps between herself and the transport. But, even as it was, when at length she hauled out clear of the convoy, and proceeded to make sail, she was a good three miles to windward of us, though about three points abaft the beam.

Of course we heard faintly the rattling crash of the musketry volleys, and were thus able to make a pretty shrewd guess as to what was happening, but it was not until the brigantine had cleared the convoy, and began to make sail, that we could form any idea of the extent to which she had been punished by the soldiers. For these picarooning craft usually go as heavily manned, in proportion to their tonnage, as a man-of-war, and are generally able to make sail quite as smartly. But now sail was made as slowly aboard her as though she had been a short-handed merchantman, seven hands only--for I counted them through my gla.s.s--going aloft to shake out the reefs from her topsail, and to loose her topgallantsail and royal, while two more appeared to be as many as could be spared to lay out and loose her standing and flying-jibs. But when at length she was under all plain sail, like ourselves, we saw that we should have our work cut out to catch her, for she developed a most extraordinary turn of speed, although the strong breeze and heavy sea were all in our favour.

By the time that she had got the reefs out of her immense mainsail, and had set an enormous gaff-topsail above it, we had drawn so far ahead of her as to bring her a couple of points upon our weather quarter, whereupon we tacked, the advantage gained being solely due, I imagined, to the slowness of her crew in making sail. When we were round, and full upon the other tack, she was still quite three miles distant, and bore about a point on our lee-bow; but of course she very soon drew out athwart our hawse, and now everything seemed to depend upon which was the more weatherly craft of the two. Seen from the fore-topmast crosstrees--to which I ascended for the purpose of getting a good look at her--she appeared to be one of those immensely beamy, shallow craft, copied from the slavers; and those vessels, I knew, although they generally sailed like witches, were often anything but weatherly. Yet I had heard of vessels thus modelled for the sake of securing speed, and fitted with a very deep keel to ensure weatherliness, where light draught of water was not a consideration; and it remained to be seen whether the brigantine was a craft of this cla.s.s.

Now that all her canvas was at length set, the heavy loss of men that she had sustained was no very serious disadvantage to her; for with one good man to steer her, she would sail as well with a dozen hands as with a hundred on deck, and there could be no doubt that she was going very fast through the water. The point now was whether, as we converged toward each other--as we were now doing, the two craft being on opposite tacks--we could persuade her, by means of our bow guns, to give in, and so save us the time that would be consumed in a long stern-chase.

Mr Purvis, the gunner, believed that we could, and, having obtained permission from the Captain to try his hand, soon proved himself right by shooting away the chase's fore-topgallant-mast, when the loss of topgallantsail, royal, and flying-jib so far reduced her speed that it quickly became evident she must either strike or run the gauntlet of our entire broadside. She wisely chose the former alternative; and twenty minutes later she was hove-to, with her topsail aback, on the _Europa's_ lee quarter.

CHAPTER EIGHT.

THE AUDACIEUSE PRIVATEER.

"Mr Delamere," said Captain Vava.s.sour, "take a dozen men, and Mr Gascoigne, and secure possession of that brigantine, if you please.