"New gang of rigging fore and aft--new bulwarks, six feet high, fitted
with hammock rail, etcetera, complete--deck strengthened by doubling the
deck-beams--new coamings to hatchways,"--and so on, and so on, until my
imagination had conjured up a picture of the trim little _Susanne_
transmogrified out of recognition, and so stiffened and hampered by her
extra deck-beams and new rigging, that we should have reason to deem
ourselves fortunate should we ever succeed in screwing six knots out of
her on a bowline.
The admiral must have beheld my face growing ever longer as I worked my
way through this precious list to the end of it, for when I had finished
it, and looked up at him blankly, he laughed aloud, as he exclaimed--
"Why, boy, what is the matter with you? Your face is as long as a
fiddle!"
"Oh, sir," I exclaimed, in accents of despair, "you surely will not
allow those--those--dockyard people to completely ruin the poor little
hooker by making all these alterations and additions to her? She is a
new vessel, sir--I understood from the mate of her that this was her
first voyage. She is as sound and strong as wood and iron can make her,
and any attempt to further strengthen her can only result in the
destruction of her sailing powers. Then, as to those high bulwarks,
sir, what will be the use of them? They will not afford us an atom of
protection, while they will make her sag away to leeward like a barge!
And this new gang of rigging--"
The admiral again burst out laughing. "There, there," he said
soothingly, as he held up his hand to stop me, "don't distress yourself
any further, Mr Courtenay; I'll go aboard her myself this afternoon,
and see how much of this she really requires before signing the order.
Meanwhile, go aboard yourself and draw up a list of such alterations and
additions as you may think needful, and hand it to me when I come down
to have a look round."
I did so, and the upshot of it all was that I eventually wheedled the
admiral into consenting that the schooner should remain absolutely
untouched above the deck, the only alterations made in her consisting in
an extension of the cabin and forecastle accommodation, the enlargement
of the magazine, and the substitution of iron ballast for the stones
which the Frenchmen had considered good enough to keep the little hooker
on her feet. I had some difficulty in gaining my patron's consent to
the retention of the low, light bulwarks with which the craft was
fitted, the admiral being strongly of opinion that they ought to be high
enough and stout enough to shelter us from musketry fire. Moreover, I
think he considered that we looked altogether too rakish and piratical
as we then were; but I represented to him that under certain conditions
this might be advantageous rather than otherwise, and in the end the
kind-hearted old fellow indulgently let me have my way. The result of
this was that within a fortnight of our arrival we were at sea again,
with the little ship--rechristened by the name of the _Tern_--smelling
outrageously of fresh paint, to the unmitigated disgust of the thirty-
six stout fellows who were quartered in her forecastle. Young Lindsay,
with many apologies to Captain Harrison, elected to unite his fortunes
with mine, rather than turn over to the _Minerva_; and I was also given
another lad--a very quiet, lady-like young fellow named Christie--to
bear us both company and do duty as master. Black Peter, also came to
the conclusion that there would be more scope for his talents aboard the
schooner than in the frigate, and without asking anybody's leave,
installed himself, unceremoniously and as a matter of course, in the
position of cabin servant.
We weighed about five o'clock in the evening, with the last of the sea
breeze,--a very smart, handsome privateer schooner named the _Coquette_
being in company,--and just managed to sneak through the narrow channel
between Gun and Rackum Cays, when the wind dropped dead, and left us in
the East Channel in the midst of a glassy calm, rolling our rails under
to the furious swell that came sweeping along past Plum Point. The
_Coquette_ was within biscuit-toss of us, and she too was rolling and
tumbling about to such an extent that I every minute expected to see her
roll her sticks away. This lasted for close upon two hours, during
which the sun went down in a blaze of splendour and lavish magnificence
of colour such as I have never beheld outside the limits of the West
Indian waters. Then, just as the burning glories of the west were
fading into sober grey, while Hesperus beamed softly out with
momentarily increasing effulgence in the darkening blue of the eastern
sky, a gentle breeze came stealing to us off the land, to which both
schooners, with a mutual challenge to each other, gladly trimmed their
canvas, and away we both went, hugging the Palisades closely, for the
sake of the smoother water, until Plum Point was passed, when we
gradually drew away from each other, the _Coquette_ shaping a course for
Morant Point, while I edged away for the island of Martinique, having
formed the opinion that some of the more knowing of the enemy's
homeward-bound merchant skippers might endeavour to slip out of the
Caribbean between the islands of Martinique and Dominica, in the hope of
thereby eluding our cruisers and privateers, most of which chose the
neighbourhood of the Windward Passages for their cruising-ground. By
the end of the second dog-watch the breeze had freshened so much that it
became necessary to hand our royal and topgallant sail; and soon
afterwards the wind hauled gradually round until it became the true
trade wind, piping up to the strength of half a gale, and compelling us
to haul down a single reef in our big mainsail and two reefs in our
topsail, under which the little beauty lay down and thrashed through it
with all the life and go of a thorough-bred racer. The _Coquette_ was
still in sight, some eight miles away to windward, and, famous as she
was for her speed, I had the supreme delight of observing that we had
head-reached upon her to the extent of quite two miles. And now we
began to discover the great advantage of having exchanged our stone
ballast for iron, the schooner being not only much stiffer under her
canvas, but also more lively than before. It was grand sailing weather,
the breeze, although strong, being perfectly steady, while the sea was
long and regular, allowing the little hooker plenty of time to rise to
each as it came rushing down upon her with hissing crest all agleam with
sparkling sea-fire. And it was exhilarating to stand right away aft,
close by the weather taffrail, and watch the little beauty as she tore
along with breathless speed through the dusky night. The sky was clear
as a bell, save for a few detached fleeces of trade-cloud that came
swooping along at frequent intervals athwart the stars, so that there
was plenty of light to see by; and it was as intoxicating as wine to
merely stand abaft there, as I did, feeling the strong rush of the wind
past me, and drinking in its invigorating freshness and coolness, as the
deck heaved and plunged beneath my feet, and the bending masts swayed
and reeled to and fro, the trucks sweeping long arcs among the dancing
stars, and the wind piping high and shrill through the rigging, as the
schooner leaped and plunged irresistibly forward, with a storm of spray
flashing in over her weather cat-head and blowing aft as far as the
mainmast at every buoyant upward leap of her to meet the sea, while a
whole Niagara of hissing foam--with an under-stratum of whirling clouds
of lambent green sea-fire--went swirling past the lee rail at a speed
that made one giddy to look at. Five bells in the first watch saw us
fairly abreast at Morant Point, and then, as the night was clear and the
breeze steady, I went below and turned in.
Nothing of any importance occurred during the next few days, and,
carrying on upon the schooner to the last stitch that she could stagger
under, we arrived off the northern extremity of the island of Martinique
exactly at midnight on the fifth night after leaving Port Royal. I
considered that we had now reached our cruising-ground, and that there
was consequently no need for any further hurry. We therefore shortened
sail to double-reefed mainsail, fore staysail, and jib,--furling all our
square canvas,--and leisurely passed through the channel between
Martinique and Dominica until we were some sixty miles to windward of
both islands, when we headed the little hooker to the northward and
_ratched_ as far as the latitude of Antigua, then heaving about and
returning over the same ground again.
The first two days of our cruising proved utterly barren of results, but
the time was by no means wasted, for, having sedulously exercised the
crew in the working of the guns and in cutlass drill every day during
our passage across from Port Royal, I now rigged up a floating target
and gave them a little firing practice, taking care to have a man on the
royal yard to give us timely notice of the appearance of any sail that
perchance might be frightened away by the sound of firing; and I was
soon gratified at the discovery that I numbered among my crew several
very fairly clever marksmen.
It was within a few minutes of sunset, on the evening of the third day
of our cruise, that, being again off the northern extremity of
Martinique, and heading to the southward, the lookout aloft reported the
upper canvas of what looked like a large ship standing out close-hauled
between that island and Dominica. I immediately got the ship's
telescope and went aloft with it, being just in good time to catch a
glimpse of the royals and heads of the topgallant sails of a ship
steering a course that would carry her some six miles to the northward
of us. Having made as sure as I could of her bearing, distance, and
course, I descended to the deck, and gave orders to wear ship, after
executing which manoeuvre we hauled down all our canvas and lay in wait
for the approaching craft, the schooner, although under bare poles,
head-reaching at the rate of about two miles per hour. I estimated that
the distance of the stranger from us was then some twenty-five miles,
and if she was making a speed of eight knots--which was a fairly liberal
allowance--it would afford us ample time to drift fairly athwart her
hawse; and this I hoped to do undiscovered, as I believed that, from the
cut of her canvas, she was a merchantman belonging to one or another of
our enemies, and I was most anxious that she should not take fright and
bear up for either of the islands, involving us in a long stern-chase,
with possibly a cutting-out job at the end of it if she should succeed
in reaching the refuge of a harbour.
The evening was fine, with a moderate breeze from about east-north-east,
and not very much sea running. The swell, however, was high enough to
hide us for at least half the time, and although the stars soon beamed
forth brilliantly, while a thin silver sickle of moon hung high aloft,
the conditions generally seemed fairly promising for success. Of course
I gave the most stringent orders that no lights whatever should be
permitted to show aboard the schooner, and I was careful to remain on
deck myself to see that these orders were rigorously observed. The
canvas of the stranger seemed to grow upon the horizon very slowly, and
the time of waiting for her approach appeared long; but at length, by
four bells in the first watch, she had drawn up to within about three
miles of us, and I gave the word to see all clear for sheeting home and
hoisting away at a moment's notice; for the time had now arrived when,
if anything like a proper lookout was being kept on board her, we might
be discovered at any instant. But minute after minute passed, and she
still came steadily on, heeling slightly to the steady trade wind, and
bowing solemnly over the undulating swell, with a curl of white foam
under her bluff bows that made her appear to be travelling at about
three times her actual speed. We had by this time fore-reached athwart
her fore-foot, and were edging along at a pace that promised to place us
about half a mile to windward of her by the time that she would be
crossing our stern, and now I kept the night-glass immovably bearing
upon her, watching for the sudden yaw that should indicate the discovery
of a possible enemy in her path. I had by this time made up my mind
that she was a Spaniard, and the mere fact of her adventuring, herself
thus alone, instead of availing herself of a convoy, was to me
sufficient assurance that she went heavily armed and manned. It also
suggested the possibility that she might be carrying an exceptionally-
rich freight, it sometimes happening that the skipper of such a ship,
especially if he chanced to be a man of daring and courage, preferred to
take his chance of making the voyage alone rather than risk being cut
off from the convoy by the swarm of privateers and picaroons that
hovered upon its skirts almost from the moment of its sailing to that of
its arrival.
Our people were by this time all at their stations, with sheets and
halliards in their hands, ready to sway away at the first word of an
order from me; and it was not so dark but that I was able to see, out of
the corner of my eye, the nudges and gestures of delight which they
interchanged as the great, stately Indiaman swept at length athwart our
stern, dark and silent as a phantom.
"Up helm and wear her round," I shouted, all necessity for further
concealment being now at an end; "sheet home and hoist away for'ard--
hold on aft with your peak and throat halliards until we are fairly
round! Starboard braces round in! trim aft the starboard headsheets!
_Now_ hoist away your mainsail! Ah, they see us at last! There she
bears away. Steady there with your lee helm, my man; do not let her
come to just yet. Keep the chase upon your weather bow; she must not be
allowed to get to leeward of us. Mr Lindsay, just pitch a shot athwart
her hawse as a hint that we wish her to heave-to."
The shot was fired, and another, and yet a third, but the stranger took
no notice whatever, the object of her captain being apparently to bear
away across our bows and so get before the wind, when, of course, the
cloud of studding-sails that her rig allowed would afford her a very
important advantage over the schooner. But I was not going to permit
that if I could help it, and it soon became perfectly clear that we
could, the schooner having the heels of the ship, although we were soon
under the lee of the latter, with her sails partially becalming ours.
At length, finding that we could outsail the Indiaman, I luffed close in
under her lee and hailed, in the best Spanish that I could muster--
"Ho, the ship ahoy! Heave-to, and strike, sir, to His Britannic
Majesty's schooner _Tern_!"
The only reply to this was a rattling volley of musketry, evidently
aimed at me as I stood on the weather rail, just abaft the main rigging,
for I heard the bullets whistling all round my head.
"If you don't heave-to, sir," I exclaimed angrily, "by heaven, I will
fire into and sink you!"
"Schooner ahoy! who are you?" now came a hail, in very indifferent
English, from the ship; and in the dim starlight I could just make out
the shape of a shadowy figure standing by the mizzen rigging.
"This schooner, sir, is His Britannic Majesty's schooner _Tern_, as I
have already had the honour to inform you. Do you intend to heave-to,
sir, or will you compel me to fire into you?" I retorted, in English
this time.
The figure vanished from the lee rail of the ship without making any
reply to my question; and, annoyed at being treated in this curious
fashion, I turned my face inward and shouted--
"Let her go off a little, Mr Lindsay,--just far enough to enable us to
fire at his rigging,--and then see whether a broadside will bring the
fellow to his senses."
I leapt down off the rail, and turned to walk aft, when the figure
suddenly popped into view again aboard the Indiaman, and shouted--
"No, no, senor; do not fire, for the love of God! We have several
ladies aboard here, and I will surrender, rather than that they should
be hurt! I surrender, sir, I surrender!"
And the next instant I heard the same voice shouting, in Spanish, an
order for the crew to lay aft and back the mainyard.
As the broad mainsail of the ship collapsed and shrivelled into massive
festoons to the hauling of the crew upon the clew-garnets, buntlines,
and leech-lines, preparatory to backing the maintopsail, we too
shortened sail in readiness to heave-to at the same moment as the prize;
and five minutes later I found myself, with my sword drawn and a dozen
stout fellows, armed to the teeth, at my heels, standing upon the
quarter-deck of the stranger, with a little crowd of well-dressed men--
evidently Spaniards--curiously regarding me and my following by the
light of a couple of lanterns that someone had placed on the capstan-
head.
"Bueno!" exclaimed a fine, sailorly-looking, elderly man, "all is well;
they are undoubtedly English, and we have therefore nothing to fear!"
And so saying, he stepped forward and handed me his sheathed sword.
As I doffed my hat and held out my hand to receive the weapon, I could
not help saying--
"Pardon, senor, but may I be permitted to ask an explanation of that
remark?"
"Assuredly, noble sir," answered the Spaniard, returning my bow, with a
dignified grace that excited my keenest envy; "the explanation is
perfectly simple. The fact is, that when your schooner suddenly
appeared just now, as though she had risen from the bottom of the sea,
my first impression was that we had been unfortunate enough to stumble
across the path of my detested countryman, Pedro Morillo; and I was
determined to sink with my ship and all on board her rather than
surrender to him."
"And pray, senor, who is this man Pedro Morillo, of whom you speak? and
why should he require a countryman of his own to surrender to him? and
why should you be so very strongly averse to falling into his power?"
demanded I.
"Ah, senor, it is easy to see that you are a stranger to these waters,
or you would not need to ask for information respecting that fiend
Morillo," answered the Spaniard. "He is a cruel, avaricious, and
bloodthirsty pirate, sparing neither man nor woman, friend nor foe. But
little is really known about him, senor, for those who meet him rarely
survive to tell the tale; but there have been one or two who, by a
miracle, have escaped him, and it is from them that we have gained the
knowledge that it is better to perish by his shot than to fall alive
into his hands."
"Is the vessel by means of which he perpetrates his piracies a
brigantine, very handsome, and wonderfully fast?" I inquired, suddenly
bethinking me of poor Captain Tucker and his story.
"Certainly, senor, that answers perfectly to the description of the
accursed _Guerrilla_. Have you seen her of late? But no, of course you
have not, or you would not now be here; for Morillo is said to be
especially vindictive against the English, inflicting the most atrocious
tortures upon all who fall into his hands. In the dim light we at first
mistook your schooner for the _Guerrilla_, and that is why we fired upon
you as we did. Permit me, senor, to express my profound regret at my so
unfortunate mistake, and my extreme gratification that it was not
followed by a disastrous result."
At this compliment we of course exchanged bows once more; after which I
took the liberty of addressing to this very polite and polished skipper
a few questions with regard to his ship, coupled with a hint that I was
anxious to complete without delay my arrangements for placing a prize
crew on board and bearing up for Jamaica.
Our prize, I then learned, was the _Dona Dolores_ of Cadiz, a Spanish
West Indiaman of eleven hundred and eighty-four tons register, homeward-
bound from Cartagena, Maracaibo, and La Guayra, with a very valuable
general cargo and twenty-eight passengers, ten of whom were ladies.
Captain Manuel Fernandez--the skipper--was most polite, and anxious to
meet my views in every way; at least, so he informed me. He conducted
me into the ship's handsome saloon and introduced me to his
passengers,--the female portion of which seemed to be frightened nearly
out of their wits,--and was kind enough to promise me that, if it would
be agreeable to me, the whole of his people should assist my prize crew
to work the ship. This suggestion, however, did _not_ happen to be
agreeable to me, so I was compelled to explain, as politely as I could
phrase it, that my duty compelled me not only to decline his magnanimous
offer, but to secure the whole of his crew, officers and men, below, and
also to remove all arms of every description from the ship; after which,
if he would give me his parole, it would afford me much pleasure to
receive him as a guest on board the schooner. I could see that this was
a bitter pill for the haughty don to swallow, but I was politely
insistent, and so of course he had to yield, which he eventually did
with the best grace he could muster; and an hour later the _Dolores_,
with Christie, the master's mate, in command, and ten of our lads as a
prize crew, was bowling along before the wind with studding-sails set
aloft and alow, while the _Tern_ followed almost within hail; it being
my intention to escort so valuable a prize into port, and thus take
every possible precaution against her recapture.