Old Jack Part 19

In such terror were the pirates, when they found themselves so hard pressed, that they seemed to forget him, or his life would probably have been sacrificed; but as he was left himself, he was allowed to consider the best means of preserving it. When, therefore, he saw that the brig must inevitably strike the rocks, he seized a loose spar on the deck and sprang overboard, trusting that the current would carry him through the breakers into smooth water. He had seen us coming out, and guessing that the brig was an English trader, hoped to be picked up by her. His surprise and pleasure at meeting with Lyal was very great.

"It would have been a great to damper my own satisfaction, if I thought that you had still been left in slavery," he remarked, as he wrung the seaman's hand.

"Well, sir, I can only say that I would go back and be chained up like a dog, as I was before, for the sake of seeing you free, and sent safe home to your wife and family," returned the honest fellow, pa.s.sing the cuff of his jacket across his eyes, to brush away a tear which his feelings had brought them.

Yes; the rough sailor has got just the same sort of feelings inside his bosom which dwells within the silken vest of any young lady or gentleman who can weep over a novel, or better, sometimes, a deed of heroism; and right honest, genuine feelings, they are too--which is more than can be said for those hackneyed sentiments possessed by people who have lived all their lives in what they choose to call the great world.

Altogether, never was an enterprise more successful than ours had hitherto been. We had not only succeeded in recovering both the survivors of the _Dolphin's_ crew at small cost, but, from the high prices we had obtained for our merchandise, we had paid all the probable expenses of the voyage, and left a handsome profit for our owners.

The next morning we were close up with the corvette, when a lieutenant from her boarded us to learn all the particulars we had to describe.

The two masters, with Lyal and I, were then requested by the lieutenant to accompany him aboard the s.h.i.+p-of-war, to give a further account to the captain himself of what had occurred. Captain Hudson received us very kindly; and while our two captains sat down, we stood with our hats in our hands behind their chairs. I remember that he laughed very heartily at my idea of rigging up Lyal as a madman, and at the way he put my advice in practice, by pulling the old Moor's nose.

"Well, gentlemen," said Captain Hudson, "from the account you have given me, I think we have ample grounds to enable the British Government to make a demand on that of Morocco for compensation; so that if you will accompany me to England, I hope to obtain ample satisfaction for you."

Neither Lyal nor I exactly understood what all this meant; but Captain Gale had an inkling that very little satisfaction would result either to him or Captain Stenning.

"Thank you, sir," he answered; "but I can't accept your offer, for my brother-master wants to return to his wife and family, and my owners directed me to make the best of my way back to Halifax."

"Of course these are strong arguments against the execution of my wishes," returned Captain Hudson. "You will, I conclude, therefore proceed on your voyage, and give your evidence when you return to England. But I find, Captain Gale, that you are more strongly manned than is necessary for a merchantman. These two young men will remain on board the _Syren_, and one of my lieutenants will accompany you to your brig, and select a few more. However, we will not leave you short-handed; but His Majesty's s.h.i.+ps must be manned, do you see?"

"It is very hard, sir. All my people are volunteers on what appeared a somewhat hazardous expedition, and are anxious to return to their families," replied Captain Gale. "You will allow me, without offence, to observe, that one of these young men has only just been released from slavery, and that the other is an apprentice."

"The first does not belong to your crew, so it is my duty to take care of him; and if the other is still an apprentice, I cannot keep him, but I shall like to see his papers. Mistakes in these matters sometimes occur. We do everything according to law, do you see, Mr Gale."

Captain Hudson spoke very mildly and blandly, but there was something in his eye which showed that he was not to be trifled with.

"You will understand, sir," he continued, turning to Captain Stenning, "I have the power to press you. Under the circ.u.mstances of the case, I will not, unless I am forced to do it; but your friend will throw no impediment in the way of my getting any of the hands I may require. I will not detain you, gentlemen, and I wish you a prosperous voyage and a happy termination to your enterprise."

This, then, was the object for which the naval captain wished to communicate with the _Dolphin_. It was not with the best possible grace that the two masters got up to take their leave; and yet Captain Stenning well knew that he was completely in the power of the commander of the sloop-of-war, and that there was no law to prevent him from being sent to do duty before the mast on board of her.

They both shook hands warmly and kindly with Lyal, and promised to send him a spare chest, with such things as could be collected; for of course he had but a scanty outfit. As they were going, I put out my hand also.

"You'll let me shake hands, sir, won't you?" said I. "There's many a kind act you've done me, Captain Gale, from the time I was a little helpless lad till now; and I thank you from the bottom of my heart, and may Heaven bless you, sir."

"Why, what's all this about?" exclaimed my kind captain, "You have your papers, Jack, and you cannot, as an apprentice, be touched."

"But the papers won't protect me, sir; I am no longer an apprentice," I answered. "Not long ago, I got a mate to look over them for me, and I was, I find, out of my apprentices.h.i.+p a month ago."

"There is no use giving in without an attempt to escape; I'll see what can be done," he answered. "May I not take this man with me, sir?" he asked, turning to Captain Hudson, who stood on the quarter-deck, and of course had not heard this part of our conversation.

"Send his papers and his chest likewise," was the only answer the captain of the _Syren_ deigned to give.

Before the brig's boat shoved off, I went over the side, and sent many a message to Peter Poplar and the rest of my s.h.i.+pmates. I regretted leaving the brig, but I was more sorry at the thought of parting from Peter than for any other reason.

As I looked at the _Dolphin_ with the eye of that affection which a seaman soon gains for a vessel in which he is tolerably happy, I observed that the man-of-war's boat was already alongside. In a short time she shoved off, and pulled back to the corvette. There were several chests, and five people besides her crew in her. I rubbed my eyes. Could I believe them? Among the people sat Peter Poplar! He sprung up the side, and was soon engaged in shaking hands with several of the _Syren's_ crew.

"What! are you pressed, Peter?" said I to him; and in my heart I could not be very sorry to have him with me.

"Not exactly that either," he answered. "You see, Jack, I found that you were pressed, or would be to a certainty, and I did not like to have one whom I had nursed up almost from a baby on the salt waters, so to speak, altogether out of my sight, though you are big enough now to take care of yourself; so, says I to myself, Well, if they take me, I'll go with a free will--I don't mind. However, when the lieutenant picked out the men he would like to have, and who have no protection, he pa.s.sed me over, thinking that, on account of my age, he could not touch me. But among the men he chose was poor Bill Jackson, who has a wife and small family at Halifax, and who only came the voyage from his love for Captain Stenning, and was going to give up the sea and live on sh.o.r.e with his wife's relations up the country. I never saw a poor fellow so cut up and broken-hearted when he saw all his hopes blown to the winds, and knew that, for many a long year, he might not see his wife or little ones. He knows well the ups and downs of a sailor's life, and that very likely he might never see them again. I know that I could not stand his grief. Captain Gale did all he could to get the lieutenant to let him off, but nothing would do. The only answer was, 'His Majesty wants seamen, and seamen he must have.'

"'So he shall!' said I, walking up to the officer. 'Now, sir, if you will let that man go, you may have me in his stead; and I'll make bold to say, that there isn't a man aboard this brig but will acknowledge that, blow high or blow low, I'm his equal, either aloft or at the helm, or in handling the lead. What say you, mates? Who'll speak for me? It isn't because I want to boast, you know; but I do want to save poor Bill Jackson from being pressed aboard a man-of-war!'

"'He speaks the truth, that he does!' exclaimed all the crew, who were mustered on deck. 'There are few of us can come up to him.'

"'I tell you, sir,' said Captain Gale, 'I should be very sorry to lose either Jackson or Poplar; but if you ask me which is the best seaman of the two, I am bound to say that Poplar is; and besides, in him you get a willing hand, who loves the sea, which I am sure poor Jackson does not.'

"'Then Poplar let us have, by all means,' answered the lieutenant, telling Jackson that he was free, and ordering us all to be smart in getting our traps ready to take with us.

"The captain, meantime, told me to bring him your papers, which I did, though I well knew that they were no protection to you, and so he discovered, and so I got your chest ready with the rest: and so you see, Jack, you and I are man-of-war's men, and so, lad, let's do our duty like men, and stand up boldly for our king and country."

Peter's hearty way of talking gave me spirits which I should not otherwise have felt. I never had before stood on the deck of a man-of-war, but I had heard a good deal about the cruelty and injustice practised on board them, from some of my s.h.i.+pmates; and I had, with the great ma.s.s of merchant-seamen in those days, and for many years afterwards, formed a strong prejudice against them. From the system which was practised in some s.h.i.+ps, I naturally, with others, formed an opinion of the whole navy; and when I first found myself a pressed-man on board the _Syren_, I looked forward to a life of ill-treatment and wretchedness till I could again obtain my freedom. I truly believe, indeed, that had I not had Peter again as my counsellor, I should have yielded to the force of my impression, and have been guilty of the very conduct which would have brought me into trouble. I found a number of pressed-men and discontented men, and not a few bad characters in the s.h.i.+p, who were always ready to grumble at what was done, and whose great aim seemed to be how they could oftenest s.h.i.+rk duty, most speedily get drunk, and most readily break the rules and regulations of the service.

At first I was inclined to think them somewhat fine fellows, lads of spirit, whose example was worthy of imitation; but Peter observing my tendency, very soon put their conduct in its true light.

"You see, Jack," said he, "those fellows are, in the first place, acting a sneaking, unfair part, to their s.h.i.+pmates. The duty has to be got through, and so the willing, good men, have to do the work which those knaves neglect. Then they benefit by the laws of the country; and the country would go to ruin if it was without a navy, and the navy could not be kept up without the rules and regulations which they are always trying to break through. As to their drunkenness, it unfits them for duty. No man knows what he may do when he is drunk; and besides making him ill at the time, he who drinks to excess is guilty of suicide, as so doing will most certainly shorten his life. Just think what excuse will a man have to offer when he has thus hurried himself into the presence of his Maker! How awful will be the doom he cannot fail to receive!

Then, again, those idle fellows who try to avoid work, are always getting into trouble, for no officer will find any excuse for them, or attempt to s.h.i.+eld them; and they thus spend a much longer time than they idle away in the black list, or with the tingling of the cat on their backs. But, Jack, I don't want any of these to be your motives for acting rightly. One motive should be sufficient for us all--and that is, the wish to do our duty to our G.o.d."

I repeat here my kind friend's advice, but it was long, very long, before it seemed to sink into the sandy soil of my heart, and to bring forth fruit. I am very glad that the press-gang system no longer exists. No man can any longer be forced to serve on board a man-of-war.

The case, such as I have described, may appear hard when the master of a merchantman was deprived of a considerable portion of his crew--hard to him, and hard to the pressed-men, and harder in a pecuniary point of view to the underwriters, the property they had insured being thereby made much more liable to s.h.i.+pwreck; but still it was not one-tenth part as hard as numberless cases which I have known during my career afloat.

Little did I think when, from the mast-head of the _Dolphin_, I first saw the _Syren_ heave in sight, that before that time on the following day I should form one of her crew. Such is the ever-changing scene of a sailor's life!

CHAPTER THIRTEEN.

JACK A MAN-OF-WAR'S-MAN.

There is a time of life when a person feels that he has left for ever his boyish days and stepped into manhood. I felt that I had pa.s.sed that boundary when I found myself rated as an able seaman on board the _Syren_ sloop of war. I was now under a far stricter system of discipline than I had been accustomed to. At first I felt it somewhat galling; but I soon saw that without the greatest regularity it would be impossible to keep order among the crew of a s.h.i.+p even of the size of the _Syren_.

My early days I had spent on board a merchantman, and had met with many adventures somewhat strange and exciting. I did not expect to meet with fewer in my new career, though they would probably be of a different character. The result of my last, in which I had aided in rescuing two of my countrymen from captivity, had proved most satisfactory. Jacob Lyal, one of them, was now with me, and I knew he would speak well of me among my new s.h.i.+pmates. The other, Captain Stenning, late master of the _Dolphin_, was on board that vessel, and, I hoped, would soon be enabled to rejoin his wife and family in Halifax. Captain Gale, her present master, would also, I knew, speak favourably of me to my first commander in the _Rainbow_, Captain Helfrich, whenever he should fall in with him.

I pity the man who does not desire to be thought well of by those who know him, and who does not feel that he deserves their good wishes. I certainly had not made many friends, but those I had found were true and fast ones; and a great source of satisfaction to me was the having with me Peter Poplar, my first and best friend--that true-hearted seaman who had saved me from starvation--who had tended me as a father in my boyhood and youth--who had given me a profession which would enable me to support myself while health and strength remained--and who had ever endeavoured to instil into me those true principles which would enable me to steer clear of the rocks and quicksands to be found in my course through life.

The wind had fallen and become fair; the helm of the corvette was put down, the sails were trimmed, and, under a crowd of canvas such as few merchantmen can attempt to set, we quickly ran the coast of Africa out of sight--the last we saw of its sandy sh.o.r.es being over our starboard quarter. The commander of the _Syren_, Captain Hudson, was, I found, very much liked by the crew, as, although he was a strict officer, he was a just one, and known to be a thorough seaman. He was a gentleman also in all respects, a brave man, and kind-hearted; and these are the qualities which sailors with good reason respect. Without possessing them, no man is fit to be placed in command over his fellow-men. My old s.h.i.+p, the _Dolphin_, continued in our company for several days, during which we made the best of our way to the northward, the wind, though scant, enabling us, close-hauled, to keep a course in that direction.

When somewhere about the lat.i.tude of Lisbon, a s.h.i.+p hove in eight, standing towards us under all sail. As her courses rose above the water, she was p.r.o.nounced to be a frigate; and as her hull appeared, such was found to be the case. Then commenced such a hauling up and down of flags as I had never before seen. What it all meant I could not tell, but it seemed to produce a great commotion among the officers; and soon the news ran along the deck that war was declared--war with France.

It was the beginning of a long and b.l.o.o.d.y struggle.

Meantime, we hove-to, as the frigate had done, and Captain Hudson went on board her. When he returned, we found that we were ordered into the British Channel. The frigate, a new s.h.i.+p, just fitted out, with her officers in glittering uniforms, and her white wide-spread of canvas, and her fresh paint, and her brightly burnished sides looked, I thought, the very picture of a gay and gallant craft, as, pa.s.sing close to us, she glided by through the sparkling sea. I could not help comparing her with the weather-beaten, wall-sided, ill-formed, slow-sailing merchantmen I had been accustomed to see, and I began to feel a pride in belonging to a man-of-war which I had not hitherto experienced.

Before proceeding on our course, Captain Hudson signalled the _Dolphin_, which had been hove-to, and informed Captain Gale that war had broken out, advising him to make the best of his way to Halifax. It was not till some years afterwards that I heard she reached that place in safety, and that Captain Stenning had had the happiness of being re-united to his wife and family.

No sooner was the news of war received on board the _Syren_, than everybody seemed to wake up into activity. No one had time for a moment to be idle fore or aft. The armourer's crew were employed in polis.h.i.+ng up muskets, and pistols, and sharpening cutla.s.ses. For hours together we were practised at the small-arms and great-guns, which had never before been thought of. The gunners were busy making cartridges; the carpenters, plugs for shot-holes; indeed, we all felt that people should always feel that there was work to do. We had good reason to rejoice before the cruise was up that we had not been idle.

We reached Plymouth without meeting with an enemy or taking a prize.

What a state of bustle and excitement the place was in!

Carriages-and-four das.h.i.+ng through the streets at all hours of the day; troops marching here and there, with drums and fifes playing--some coming in, others embarking for foreign lands; artisans of all sorts hurrying in, certain to get work at high wages; men-of-war, and merchantmen, and store-s.h.i.+ps, and troop-s.h.i.+ps sailing in and out every day; boats laden with men and chests pulling across the harbour; seamen crowding every quay; pressgangs at work catching men to fight England's battles; and then such hurrying to and fro, and shrieking of women, and shouting of men, and crying of children, and revelling, and laughter, and scenes of extravagance, and debauchery, and vice I had never before beheld, and did not think could exist in a civilised part of the globe.

Having refitted with as little delay as possible, and again put to sea, we found ourselves off the north coast of Spain, far into the Bay of Biscay. For some time we were employed in looking along the coast of France, and picking up all the small coasters we could lay eyes on. We did a great deal of damage to a number of poor people, and taught them that war was a very disagreeable thing, so that they must heartily have wished it over, or rather, that it never had begun; but I doubt if we did ourselves any good in the way of collecting prize-money; at all events, I know that I never got any. At length, one morning, when we could just make out the French coast like a thin wavy blue line on the horizon, beyond which a rich yellow glow was bursting forth, the forerunner of the glorious sun, a sail was seen, hull down, to the northward, and apparently standing in on a bowline for the land. The s.h.i.+p, as was usual when cruising, had been quietly jogging on under her topsails during the night. "All hands, make sail in chase!" was the cheerful sound which made us spring on deck to our stations; and in a few minutes the corvette, with royals and studding-sails alow and aloft, was kept away after the stranger. The latter, which was p.r.o.nounced to be a large topsail schooner, was soon seen to bear up, and to set all the canvas she could carry, in an endeavour to escape. The chase was a large and fast vessel of her cla.s.s, for it was not till some time after breakfast that we could see half-way down her mainsail from the deck.

Still, we were gaining on her. She, meantime, was edging away in for the land, so that there was little doubt that she was an enemy's vessel--probably, from the way she made sail, a privateer with a number of hands on board, if not a man-of-war. Hour after hour we continued the chase, till the French coast rose clear and distinct on our starboard-bow.

Jacob Lyal and I were at this time stationed in the foretop, of which Peter Poplar was captain, though he was shortly afterwards made a quarter-master. We thus saw every movement of the chase. She, by degrees, edged away again more to the northward, as if wis.h.i.+ng to avoid the coast thereabout. We had begun the chase soon after daylight, and the evening was now drawing on, when, close in with the land, we made out a large s.h.i.+p standing along-sh.o.r.e, the rays of the sinking sun s.h.i.+ning brilliantly on her snowy canvas. The schooner hauled up towards her, and then kept away again, as if she did not like her appearance.