"Upon my word, Mr Anderson," said the captain, as he had the men drawn
up before him as soon as they reached the _Seafowl_--"Upon my word, sir,
I am delighted. I entrust you with a couple of boats' crews to carry
out a necessary duty, and you bring me back a scorched-up detachment
only fit to go into hospital."
"I beg pardon, sir," said the chief officer shortly; "only one man
wounded, and his injury is very slight."
"Don't talk to me like that, sir!" cried the captain. "Look at them,
sir--look at them!"
"I have been looking at them, sir, for long enough--poor fellows--and I
am truly sorry to have brought them back in such a state."
"I should think you are, sir! Upon my word of honour I should think you
are! But what have you been about?"
"Burning out the hornets' nest, sir," said the lieutenant bluffly.
"Well, I suppose you have done that thoroughly, Mr Anderson: but at
what a cost! Is there to be no end to these misfortunes? First you
allow yourself to be deluded by a slave-trading American and bring the
_Seafowl_ up here to be run aground, with the chance of becoming a total
wreck--"
"I beg your pardon, sir!"
"Well, not total--perhaps not total, Mr Anderson; but she is in a
terribly bad position."
"One from which you will easily set her at liberty."
"Fortunately for you, Mr Anderson; and that is to my credit, I think,
not yours."
"Granted, sir," said the lieutenant; "but do you give me the credit of
being tricked by the slave skipper?"
"Well, I suppose I must take my share, Mr Anderson; but don't you think
it would be more creditable to dismiss these poor fellows at once and
have them overhauled by the surgeon?"
"I do, sir, certainly," said the chief officer.
"Have them below, then, at once, and let Mr Reston do his best with
them. Only one seriously wounded, you said?"
"No, sir; slightly."
"Good. But to think of the _Seafowl_ being turned at one stroke into a
hospital hulk.--You thoroughly destroyed the town and the slave
barracks?"
"We completely burned out the wretched collection of palm and bamboo
huts, sir, and the horrible barn and shambles where they keep their
wretched captives. It was a place of horror, sir," said the lieutenant
angrily. "If you had seen what we saw, sir, you would have felt that no
punishment could be too great for the wretches."
"Humph! I suppose not, Mr Anderson. And that iniquitous Yankee
scoundrel who has slipped through my fingers. But look here, Mr
Anderson, I am going to find that wretch; and when I do--yes, when I do!
He has had the laugh of me, and I was too easily deceived, Anderson;
but I'm going to follow that fellow across the Atlantic to where he
disposes of his unfortunate cargo. It's thousands of miles, perhaps,
and a long pursuit maybe, but we're going to do it, sir, no matter what
it costs, and I hope and believe that my officers and my poor brave
fellows who have suffered what they have to-day will back me up and
strain every nerve to bring the _Seafowl_ alongside his schooner, going
or coming. Hang him, Mr Anderson!--Ah, I did not mean to say that,
sir; but hang him by all means if you can catch him. We'll give him the
mercy he has dealt out to these poor unhappy creatures, and for the way
in which my brave fellows have been scorched and singed I'm going to
burn that schooner--or--well, no, I can't do that, for it must be a
smart vessel, and my sturdy lads must have something in the way of prize
money. Look at them, Mr Anderson; and look at those two! You don't
mean to tell me that those are officers?"
He pointed at the two midshipmen so suddenly that they both started and
turned to look at each other, then stared at the captain again, and once
more gazed at each other, puzzled, confused, angry and annoyed at their
aspect, looking so comical that the captain's manner completely altered.
He had been gazing at his young officers with an air of commiseration,
and his tones spoke of the anger and annoyance he felt to see the state
they were in; and then all was changed; he turned to the first
lieutenant, whose eyes met his, and, unable to maintain his seriousness,
he burst into a fit of laughter, in which he was joined by the chief
officer. Then, pulling himself together, he snatched out his
handkerchief and wiped his eyes.
"Bah!" he ejaculated. "Most unbecoming! I did not mean this,
gentlemen; the matter is too serious. But for goodness' sake get below
and make yourselves presentable. Mr Anderson, you ought not to have
laughed. See to all the poor fellows, sir. The men must have fresh
clothes served out, and all who are unfit for duty go into the sick
bay."
Then, frowning severely, he turned sharply upon his heels and marched to
the cabin door.
"Well," exclaimed the first lieutenant, "of all--`Mr Anderson, you
ought not to have laughed!' Well, gentlemen," he cried angrily, as he
turned upon the two young officers, "pray what do you find to laugh at?
Is my face black?"
"No, sir," cried Murray, in a half-choking voice. "I beg your pardon,
sir. It seemed so comic for the captain to turn upon you like that."
"Eh? Humph! Well, I suppose it was. I laughed too. Well, better
laugh than cry over spilt milk. It's the excitement, I suppose, and
what we have gone through. Now then, we had better go below and
interview the doctor; but he will be busy over the lads for a long time
before our turn comes."
"I believe the skipper's half-cracked," said Roberts, as the two lads
went below to their quarters.
"Then I'd keep my opinions to myself, old fellow," grumbled Murray; and
then as he seated himself upon a locker he uttered a low hissing sound
suggestive of pain.
"Pooh! This is a free country--no, I don't mean that," cried Roberts,
pulling himself up short. "I mean, every man has a right to his own
opinions."
"Yes, but not to give them aboard a man-o'-war."
"Bah! We're not slaves. Haven't we come to suppress slavery?"
"I dare say we have," said Murray, "but you'd better not let the skipper
know that you said he was a bit of a lunatic."
"Shall if I like. You won't be a sneak and tell. Why, it was ghastly
to see him turn as he did. One minute he was speaking feelingly and
letting us all see that he meant to spare no efforts about pursuing and
punishing that Yankee skipper, and the next he was laughing like a
hysterical school-girl."
"He couldn't help it, poor old boy," said Murray. "Old Anderson was
just as bad, and we caught the infection and laughed too, and so did the
men."
"Well, I can't see what there was to laugh at."
"That's the fun of it. But it is all through every one being so
overstrung, I suppose. There, do leave off riddling about your cheeks."
"Who's fiddling, as you call it, about one's cheeks?"
"You were, and it's of no use; the miserable little bits of down are
gone, and there's nothing for it but to wait till the hairs begin to
grow again."
"Er-r-r!" growled Roberts angrily; and he raised his fingers to the
singed spots involuntarily, and then snatched them down again, enraged
by the smile which was beginning to pucker up his companion's face.
"There you go again. You're worse than the skipper."
"Then don't make me laugh, for it hurts horribly."
"I'll make you laugh on the other side of your face directly."
"No don't--pray don't," sighed Murray; "for the skin there's stiffer,
and I'm sure it will crack."
"You're cracked already."
"I think we must all have been, to get ourselves in such a mess, old
fellow. But it was very brave, I suppose, and I don't believe any one
but English sailors would have done what we did."
"Pooh! Any fools could have started those fires."
"Perhaps so. But what's the matter now?" For Roberts had raised his
face from the water he was beginning to use, with an angry hiss.
"Try and bathe your face, and you'll soon know."
"Feel as if the skin was coming off? Well, we can't help it. Must get
rid of the black. The skin will grow again. But I'm thinking of one's
uniform. My jacket's like so much tinder."
A wash, a change, and a visit to the doctor ended with the sufferers
being in comparative comfort, and the two lads stood and looked at each
other.
"Hasn't improved our appearance, Dick," said Murray.
"No; but you must get the barber to touch you up. One side of your
curly wig is singed right off, and the other's fairly long."
"I don't care," cried Murray carelessly. "I'm not going to bother about
anything. Let's go on deck and see what they're about."
Roberts was quite willing, and the first man they encountered was the
able-seaman Titely.
"Why, hallo!" cried Murray. "I expected you'd be in hospital."
"Me, sir! What for?"
"Your wound."
"That warn't a wound, sir; only a snick. The doctor put a couple o'
stitches in it, and then he made a sorter star with strips o' stick-jack
plaister. My belt got the worst of it, and jest look at my hair, sir.
Sam Mason scissored off one side; the fire did the other. Looks nice
and cool, don't it?"
The man took off his new straw hat and held his head first on one side
and then the other for inspection.
"Why, you look like a Turk, Titely," said Murray.
"Yes, I do, sir, don't I? Old Sam Mason's clipping away still. The
other chaps liked mine so that they wanted theirs done the same. It's
prime, sir, for this here climate."
"But your wound?" said Roberts.
"Don't talk about it, sir, or I shall be put upon the sick list, and
it's quite hot enough without a fellow being shut up below. Noo canvas
trousis, sir. Look prime, don't they?"
"But, Titely," cried Murray, "surely you ought to be on the sick list?"
"I say, please don't say such a word," whispered the man, looking
sharply round. "You'll be having the skipper and Mr Anderson hearing
on you. I ain't no wuss than my messmates."
"No, I suppose not," said Roberts, "but--why, they seem to be all on
deck."
"Course they are, sir," said the man, grinning. "There's nowt the
matter with them but noo shirts and trousis, and they allers do chafe a
bit."
Murray laughed.
"But you ought to be on the sick list."
"Oh, I say, sir, please don't! How would you young gentlemen like to be
laid aside?"
"But what does the doctor say? Didn't he tell you that you ought to go
into the sick bay?"
"Yes, sir," said the man, grinning; "but I gammoned him a bit."
"You cheated the doctor, sir!" said Roberts sternly.
"Well, sir, I didn't mean no harm," said the man, puckering up his face
a little and wincing--"I only put it to him like this: said I should
only fret if I went on the sick list, and lie there chewing more than
was good for me."
"Well, and what did he say?"
"Told me I was a himpident scoundrel, sir, and that I was to go and see
him every morning, and keep my left arm easy and not try to haul."
In fact, singeing, some ugly blisters, a certain number of hands that
were bound up by the doctor, and a few orders as to their use--orders
which proved to be forgotten at once--and a certain awkwardness of gait
set down to the stiffness of the newly issued garments--those were all
that were noticeable at the first glance round by the midshipmen, and
apparently the whole crew were ready and fit to help in the efforts
being made to get the sloop out of her unpleasant position in the mud of
the giant river.
As for the men themselves, they were in the highest of spirits, and
worked away hauling at cables and hoisting sail to such an extent that
when the night wind came sweeping along the lower reaches of the river,
the sloop careened over till it seemed as if she would dip her canvas in
the swiftly flowing tide, but recovered almost to float upon an even
keel. Twice more she lay over again, and then a hearty cheer rang out,
for she rose after the last careen and then began to glide slowly out
into deeper water, just as the captain gave orders for one of the bow
guns to be fired.
"Why was that?" said Murray, who had been busy at his duties right aft.
"Didn't you see?"
"No. Not to cheer up the men because we were out of the mud?"
"Tchah! No. The niggers were beginning to collect again ashore there
by that patch of unburned forest."
"I didn't see."
"That doesn't matter," said Roberts sourly; "but the blacks did, and
felt too, I expect. Anyhow, they sloped off, and now I suppose we shall
do the same while our shoes are good, for the skipper won't be happy
till we're out to sea again."
"Here, what now?" said Murray excitedly. "What does this mean?"
"This" meant cheering and excitement and the issuing of orders which
made the deck a busy scene, for the men were beat to quarters ready to
meet what promised to be a serious attack. For in the evening light
quite a fleet of large canoes crowded with men could be seen coming
round a bend of the river, the blades dipping regularly and throwing up
the water that flashed in the last rays of the sinking sun, while from
end to end the long canoes bristled with spears, and the deep tones of a
war song rhythmically accompanied the dipping of the paddles.
"Why, they must be three or four hundred strong, Anderson," said the
captain. "Fully that, sir."
"Poor wretches!" muttered the captain. "I thought we had given them
lesson enough for one day."
"Only enough to set them astir for revenge," said the lieutenant.
"Well, the lesson must be repeated," said the captain, shrugging his
shoulders. "See what a shot will do with that leading canoe. We have
come upon a warlike tribe, brave enough, or they would not dare to
attack a vessel like this."