Ships are but boards, sailors but men;
There be land rats, and water rats, water thieves,
And land thieves; I mean pirates.
SHAKESPEARE.
Most prophetical was the remark made by Newton Forster to Isabel
previous to the action; to wit, that it would make or mar him. The
death of Captain Oughton, and the spirited defence of the Windsor
Castle, were the _making_ of Newton Forster. As a subordinate officer
he might have been obliged to toil many years before he could have
ascended to the summit of the ladder of promotion; and during the time
which he remained in that situation, what chance had he of making an
independence, and proposing for the hand of Isabel Revel? But now, that
by a chain of circumstances peculiarly fortuitous, he was in command of
an East Indiaman, returning home after having beat off a vessel of equal
if not superior force, and preserved a cargo of immense value, he felt
confident that he not only would be confirmed to his rank which he was
now called upon to assume, but that he had every prospect of being
employed. As a captain of an Indiaman, he was aware that reception into
society, wealth, and consideration awaited him; and, what made his heart
to swell with gratitude and exultation, was the feeling that soon he
would be enabled to aspire to the hand of one to whom he had so long
been ardently attached.
As the Windsor Castle plunged through the roaring and complaining seas,
with all the impetus of weight in motion, Newton's eyes were radiant
with hope, although his demeanour towards Isabel was, from the peculiar
circumstances attending their situation, more delicately reserved than
before.
When the Windsor Castle touched at St. Helena, Newton had the good
fortune to obtain a supply of able seamen, more than sufficient for the
remanning of his ship. They had been sent there in an empty brig by a
French privateer, who had captured many vessels, and had been
embarrassed with the number of her prisoners. Having obtained the
stores which were required, Newton lost no time in prosecuting his
voyage to England.
It was about a fortnight after they had quitted St. Helena that a
strange sail was reported on the starboard bow; and, as they neared her,
it was evident that her foremast was gone, and that she was otherwise in
a disabled state.--When the Indiaman was within a mile, the stranger
threw out neutral colours, and hoisted a whiff, half-mast down, as a
signal that she was in distress. Newton ordered the ship to be kept
away, and when alongside of the vessel, lowered down a boat, and sent
the third mate to ascertain what assistance could be afforded. With
sailors, thank God! distress, is sufficient to obtain assistance, and
the nation or country are at once merged in that feeling of sympathy for
those misfortunes, which may perhaps but the next hour befall ourselves.
The boat returned, and the officer informed Newton that the vessel was
from the Island of Bourbon, bound to Hamburgh;--that she had been
dismasted and severely injured in a gale off the Cape of Good Hope; and
that when her mast went over the side, one half of her crew, who were up
at the time on the fore-yard had been cast overboard and drowned: that
from the want of men and material, they had been unable to rig an
effective jury-mast, and had in consequence been so long on their
passage, that their provisions and water were nearly expended. The
officer concluded by stating, that there were a French lady and two
gentlemen, with their attendants, who had taken their passage home in
the vessel. Newton immediately went down the side, and pulled on board
of the vessel to ascertain what assistance could be afforded. When he
arrived on board, he was met by the Flemish captain, who commenced a
statement of his misfortunes and his difficulties, when the French lady,
who, unobserved by Newton, had come up the companion-ladder, screamed
out as she ran into his arms--
"Ah! mon Dieu!--c'est Monsieur Nu-tong!"
Newton looked at the lady, who had burst into tears, as her face laid
upon his shoulder, and immediately recognised his former kind and
affectionate friend, Madame de Fontanges: close to him, with his hand
extended, was her generous husband. The meeting was joyful, and Newton
was delighted that circumstances had enabled him to render assistance to
those who had been so kind to him in his former distress.
"Oh! Monsieur Nu-tong, nous avons tant soufferts! Ah! mon Dieu!--point
de l'eau--rien a manger," cried Madame de Fontanges; then smiling
through her tears, "mais ce rencontre est charmant;--n'est ce pas mon
ami?" continued the lady, appealing to her husband.
"You do not remember Monsieur le Marquis?" said Monsieur de Fontanges to
Newton, Newton turned his head, and recognised the governor of
Guadaloupe, who had expressed such sympathy at his shipwreck, and had
sent him away in the cartel instead of detaining him as a prisoner.
The vessel was indeed in a deplorable condition, and had she not
received the timely assistance now afforded, would in all probability
have soon been a scene of horror and of suffering. They had not more
than three days' water remaining on board, and provisions barely
sufficing for three days. Newton hastened to send back the boat with
orders for an immediate and ample supply of these necessaries, in case
of bad weather coming on, and preventing further communication.
Satisfied that their immediate wants were relieved, Newton took leave of
his friends for the present, and returned on board of his own ship,
despatching his carpenters and part of his crew to the immediate refit
of the vessel, and then selecting a part of every thing that the Windsor
Castle contained in her store-rooms or on her decks, which he thought
would administer to the comfort or the luxury of the passengers on board
of the neutral.
In two hours, they, who were in a state bordering upon famine, found
themselves revelling in plenty. Before night, the English seamen had a
jury-mast up, and the sails set. The Hollanders on board would have
given their assistance, but they were told to remain on deck and make up
for lost time, which they acquiesced in very readily, eating and
drinking as if they were determined to lay in a stock for the remainder
of the voyage. Newton, who had returned on-board of the neutral to
superintend the repairs and enjoy the society of his old friends,
received from them a long account of what had occurred since their
separation. At nightfall he took his leave, promising to continue under
easy sail and remain with them for a day or two, until they were
satisfied that all was right, and that they no longer required his
assistance.
The narrative obtained by Newton may be thus condensed for the
information of the reader. The Marquis de Fontanges had been appointed
from the government of Guadaloupe, to that of the Island of Bourbon,
which was considered of more importance. Monsieur and Madame de
Fontanges accompanied him to his new command; and they had remained
there for two years, when the ruling powers, without any ground, except
that the marquis had received his appointment from the former
government, thought proper to supersede him. Frigates were not so
plentiful as to spare one for the return of an ex-governor; and the
marquis being permitted to find his way home how he could, had taken
advantage of the sailing of the Hamburgher, to return to Europe or to
France, or as he might find it advisable.
For two days, during which the weather was so fine that Madame de
Fontanges and the gentlemen went on board of the Windsor Castle, and
were introduced to the ladies, Newton continued under easy sail, each
day despatching to the neutral every thing which his gratitude could
suggest; but, as Newton was most anxious to proceed on his voyage, it
was agreed that the next morning they should part company. At the close
of the evening a strange sail was observed on the weather-beam; but, as
she carried no foretop-gallant sail, and appeared to be steering the
same course as the Windsor Castle, she excited but a momentary
observation, supposing that she was some homeward-bound neutral, or a
merchant vessel which had separated from her convoy. During the night,
which was dark, the moon being in her first quarter, the officer of the
middle-watch lost sight of their _protegee_; but this was to be
expected, as she did not carry a light. Before morning the wind fell,
and when the sun arose it was a perfect calm. The officer of the watch,
as the day dawned, went on the poop, surveying the horizon for their
companion, and discovered her six or seven miles astern, lying alongside
of the strange vessel which they had seen the day before. Both vessels,
as well as the Windsor Castle, were becalmed. He immediately went down
to Newton, acquainting him with the circumstance, which bore a very
suspicious appearance. Newton hastened on deck; with his glass he could
plainly distinguish that the stranger was a vessel of a low, raking
description, evidently no merchant-man, but built for sailing fast, and
in all probability a privateer. The man at the mast-head reported that
boats were constantly passing between the two vessels, Newton, who felt
very anxious for the safety of his friends, accepted the offer of the
second-mate to take the gig, and ascertain what was going on. In little
more than an hour the gig was seen from the mast-head to arrive within
half a mile of the vessels, and shortly afterwards the smoke from a gun,
followed by a distant report. The gig then winded, and pulled back
towards the Windsor Castle. It was in a state of great excitement that
Newton waited for her return, when the second-mate informed him that on
his approach he discovered that she was a flush vessel, pierced for
fourteen guns, painted black, and apparently well manned; that she
evidently, to use a nautical term, was "gutting the neutral;" and that,
as they had witnessed, on their boat coming within range, the vessel had
fired a round of grape, which fortunately fell short of them. She had
shown no colours; and, from her appearance and behaviour (as all
privateers respect neutrals), he had no doubt that she was the pirate
vessel, stated, when they were at St. Helena, to be cruising in these
latitudes. Newton was of the same opinion; and it was with a heavy
heart that he returned to the cabin, to communicate the unpleasant
intelligence to Mrs Enderby and Isabel.
There is nothing more annoying in this world than the will without the
power. At any time, a vessel becalmed is considered a very sufficing
reason for swearing by those who are on board of her. What then must
have been the feelings of Newton, lying on the water in a state of
compelled inaction, while his friends were being plundered, and perhaps
murdered by a gang of miscreants before his eyes! How eagerly and
repeatedly did he scan the horizon for the coming breeze! How did Hope
raise her head at the slightest cat's paw that ruffled the surface of
the glassy waters! Three successive gales of wind are bad enough; but
three gales blowing hard enough to blow the devil's horns off are
infinitely preferable to one idle, stagnant, motionless, confounded
calm, oppressing you with the blue devils, and maddening you with the
fidgets at one and the same time.
At last, as the sun descended, the breeze sprung up, first playing along
the waters in capricious and tantalising airs, as if uncertain and
indifferent in its infancy to which quarter of the compass it should
direct its course. The ship again answered her helm; her head was put
the right way, and the sails were trimmed to every shift which it made,
to woo its utmost power. In a quarter of an hour it settled, blowing
from a quarter which placed them to-windward of, and they carried it
down with them to within two miles of the stranger and the neutral, who
still remained becalmed. But, as the wind freshened, it passed a-head
of them, sweeping along the surface, and darkening the colours of the
water, until it reached the vessels to leeward; one of which, the one
that Newton was so anxious to get along-side of, immediately took
advantage of it, and, spreading all her canvas, soon increased her
distance. When the Windsor Castle arrived abreast of the neutral, the
stranger was more than two miles to leeward. A little delay was then
necessary to ascertain what had occurred. Newton, who perceived
Monsieur de Fontanges on the deck, shouting to them and wringing his
hands, rounded to, lowered down a boat, and pulled on board of the
neutral. The intelligence communicated was distressing. The strange
vessel was a pirate, who had plundered them of every thing, had taken
away Madame de Fontanges, Mimi and Charlotte, her two female attendants.
The captain of the pirates had wounded, and severely beaten Monsieur de
Fontanges, who had resisted the "_enlevement_" of his wife; and, after
having cut away all the standing rigging, and nearly chopped through the
masts with axes, they had finished their work by boring holes in the
counter of the vessel; so that, had not Newton been able to come up with
her, they must all have perished during the night.
There was no time to be lost; the Marquis de Fontanges, Monsieur de
Fontanges, and the crew, were hurried on board of the Windsor Castle
(the pirate had taken care that they should not be delayed in packing up
their baggage,) and Newton, as soon as he returned on board, and hoisted
up his boat, crowded every stitch of canvas in pursuit of the pirate,
who was now more than four miles distant. But, although the wind
gradually increased, and was thus far in their favour, as they first
benefited by it, yet, as the sun went down, so did their hopes descend.
At night-fall the pirate had, increased her distance to seven miles.
Newton pursued, watching her with a night-glass until she could no
longer be distinguished. Still, their anxiety was so great, that no one
went to bed on board of the Windsor Castle. When the day broke, the
pirate was not to be discovered in any quarter of the horizon from the
mast-head of the Windsor Castle.