Lieutenant Saltwell, on whom, in his captain's absence, had devolved the
command of the _Ione_, walked her quarterdeck on the night on which the
events we have been describing took place, with a mind very ill at ease.
He had been during the whole afternoon endeavouring, by every possible
means in his power, to get the brig up to the spot agreed on, off the
island of Lissa, so that he might dispatch the boats at dark to wait
still closer in for the coming of Fleetwood and his companions. The
breeze with which they had started had failed them soon afterwards, so
the sweeps had been got out, and the boats had towed ahead, till he was
fearful of knocking up their crews and unfitting them for the work they
had still to perform; and yet, do all they could, he was obliged to
dispatch them, under the orders of the several lieutenants, with a pull
of some eighteen or twenty miles before them.
"For heaven's sake, make the best speed you can," said Saltwell, as he
bade his brother officers good bye. "Our captain will make the attempt
to-night, depend on it, and it will be sad work if he cannot find the
boats."
"Never fear, we shall not miss him, I hope," exclaimed Linton, as he
leaped into his boat. "Shove off and give way, my merry men."
The boat's crew did their best; but the event was another convincing
proof of the misfortunes which may arise from being a little too late.
Had they been ten minutes sooner, they would, perhaps, have been in time
to prevent their captain and his companions from falling again into the
hands of the pirates. Linton felt this when he found that they were
recaptured, and, stung with regret, although he was in no manner to
blame, he agreed on the pursuit with a zeal which very nearly led to the
destruction of himself and his followers.
We left him severely, if not mortally, wounded, off the mouth of the
pirate's harbour. The command, therefore, devolved on Tompion, who
immediately ordered the boats to separate as much as possible, keeping
within sight of each other, to cause the shots of the enemy to become
less effective, by being scattered over a wider range.
"Pull away, my lads," exclaimed the mate; "we shall soon be out of this,
and we shall have an opportunity before long of paying them off."
The men needed no inducement to pull hard, for it was excessively hot
work, and they had no fancy to be exposed to the showers of bullets
which came whizzing round them, especially when they were compelled to
run away from the enemy.
The frowning and lofty cliffs, fringed with tiny glances of vivid light,
and the bright flashes of the _Sea Hawk's_ guns, which were reflected on
the calm water, formed, doubtlessly, an exceedingly picturesque
spectacle, which those who were pulling at the oars had full opportunity
to contemplate, but not the less disagreeable to them on that account,
especially as it would have been a very useless amusement to fire
against the cliffs in return. Fortunately, no further casualties
occurred, and every instant, as their distance from the shore increased,
there was less chance of a shot hitting them. At length, Tompion,
seeing that they were free from danger, hailed the other boats, to order
the crews to rest on their oars to recover breath, before they shaped
their course to return to their ship. The hail was answered by another
from the westernmost boat, commanded by Jemmy Duff; he sung out--
"Did you see the mistico get into the harbour, with the rest of the
rascals?"
"No," said Tompion. "Did any one on board see her?" he asked of the
crew.
"No, sir," was the general answer.
"No one saw her go in," he answered.
"Then, by Jove, there she is, on our starboard beam," sung out Duff in
return. "She is pretty nearly becalmed, it seems. She has got out
there, I suspect, to watch us, and to try to cut us off. What shall we
do?"
"I and the gig will close you, and we'll see what is to be done," said
Tompion, ordering the other boat to follow him, and all the boats were
soon alongside each other.
There, sure enough, Tompion perceived the mistico, about a quarter of a
mile off, with her head to the southward, evidently watching their
movements. It might seem surprising that she had not attacked them when
under the cliffs; but, in the first place, she could not then get up to
them, and had she been able to do so, it would have prevented the
pirates on shore from firing on them.
The wind had at this juncture almost failed her, but she had her sweeps
to depend on, and with a strong crew they could send her along at a
great rate. She was commanded on the present occasion by the second
lieutenant of the _Sea Hawk_--at least by the officer who performed the
duties of one--who had hurried on board with as many men as he could
find, and swept out to sea the moment the alarm of the prisoners' escape
was given; and now, somewhat mistaking the character of British seamen,
he had begun to edge up towards the boats, purposely to take them by
surprise, and hoping to make them an easy prey.
Of most of this Tompion was soon aware, and it now became a question as
to the advisability of attacking her instead.
"What does Mr Linton say?" asked Duff. "We should not take long about
it, I think, and she would be something to show for our night's work."
"Tell Mr Linton how things stand, Jennings, and ask him what he wishes
us to do," said Tompion to the coxswain of the gig.
"Poor Mr Linton can say nothing, sir," returned Jennings, in a
sorrowful tone. "I'm afraid he'll never speak again."
An exclamation of grief escaped from all who heard the words.
"What! is he dead?" inquired Tompion, in a voice which showed that he
participated in the feeling of the crews, although he might very
probably benefit by the vacancy thus created; yet, I will venture to
say, the thought of this did not enter his head.
"No, sir, not dead, I hope," said the coxswain. "I have bound up his
wound as well as I can, and stopped the bleeding; but he's in a dead
faint, and I don't know if he'll come to again."
"Well, Duff, I should like to act as Mr Linton would have done, and I'm
sure he would have attacked the mistico without giving two thoughts
about it," observed Tompion; "but then, again, for his sake, we ought to
get back to the ship as fast as we can, to obtain surgical assistance
for him."
"I know how you feel, Tompion," exclaimed Jemmy Duff--"but I have it:
our two boats can easily tackle the rascally mistico, and let the gig
pull back to the brig as fast as she can, with Mr Linton and Timmins
here, who is badly hurt, and let them tell Saltwell of our whereabouts,
and we shall fall in with her before the morning with a prize in tow, I
hope."
"Capital!" exclaimed Tompion, who was, for a wonder, not above taking
advice from a junior, when it happened to be good, and coincided with
his own opinion. "What say you, my lads--do you think you've got
strength enough in your arms to punish some of those rascals for Mr
Linton's too like death, and the trick they played us?"
"All right, sir, never fear. We can give it them yet," exclaimed both
crews, with one voice; and seldom will British seamen be found to make
any other answer.
"Well, then, Jennings, do you steer due west,--right for that tar, that
is your course. When you get about five miles from this, fire a musket,
and continue firing every ten minutes. They will show a blue light as
soon as they hear you, and you can scarcely miss the ship. Take poor
Timmins on board with you--there's no one else hurt, I hope."
"No, sir, no," was the answer.
"I need not tell you to make the best of your way, and I'm sorry, for
your sakes, we can't have you, my men, with us, in the affair on hand."
Having given these orders, most reluctantly they were obeyed by the crew
of the gig, which immediately pulled away in the direction pointed out,
and was soon lost to sight in the gloom. Tompion made the necessary
preparations for the attack on the mistico.
He was not above despising an enemy whom he intended to attack, and as
the fight, in which he was about to engage, would be the first in which
he had held the command, he was doubly anxious that it should be
successful. He ordered his men to see that their pistols, and the
muskets in the boat, were properly loaded and primed, and a small brass
swivel, mounted in the bows, he had loaded with musket balls, almost up
to the muzzle, to fire as they ran past the enemy's quarter.
"Duff," he exclaimed, "you board on the starboard side, I will grapple
her on the larboard, as I want to be a few seconds before you, to give
her a taste of my gun, and if she stands in as she now does, I shall get
there quickest. Now, my men, give way, and let the scoundrels have a
taste of your cutlasses when you get at them. Huzza for old England!"
As he uttered these words, the men repeated the cheer till the night air
rung again, and bending to their oars, made the water fly from under the
bows of the boats, while their heads turned in the direction of the
piratical mistico.
The loud cheer and the suddenness of the movement completely took the
pirates by surprise, it appeared; and instead of tacking and standing
boldly towards the English to meet them, as they expected, her helm was
put up, the sheets eased off, her long sweeps run out, and away she went
dead before the wind, at a rate which Tompion saw would give his men a
tough pull to come up with her. Another reason for her so doing was
soon apparent, by her opening a fire of two swivel guns over her
counter, which her crew probably calculated would check the advance of
the boats. It is extraordinary at what speed the Greek misticos can be
urged through the water; and on this occasion the _Zoe_ did full justice
to her character, for her crew were strong, fresh, and in high spirits,
while, on the other hand, the British seamen had been rowing all night,
and the greater part of the day, and were dispirited by the loss of
their officer and the ill success of the expedition; not, however, that
this prevented them from exerting themselves to the very utmost of their
strength. The wind also, which had been very uncertain and changeable,
now almost a calm, now a fresh breeze, now blowing from the eastward,
now some points to the north of it, then a like number to the south,
seemed suddenly to fix itself in the latter point with a considerable
increase of strength, which sent the mistico flying through the water at
a greater speed than ever.
"Give way, my men, oh, give way!" shouted Tompion, scarcely able to
articulate in his eagerness to overtake the enemy, for with the increase
of the breeze he saw their chance of doing so gradually fading away, and
the proud hopes he had begun to form, of revenging the loss they had
sustained, and of being able to carry with him his first prize as a
proof of what they had done, with a vista of honour and promotion in the
distance, cruelly dissipated. Again the British seamen cheered, and
stretched their arms till their oars bent and cracked, but the sound was
answered by shouts of derisive laughter from the Greeks, and a discharge
from their swivel guns with several rounds from their musketry, though
happily without doing much damage. Both boats were struck over and over
again, and one man was wounded, but not sufficiently to disable him.
The cutter returned it with a bow-chaser, and to some purpose, it
seemed, by the cries and shrieks which followed.
"Give it them again!" shouted Tompion. "If they do get away, they shall
have cause to remember us. Fire, my men, fire!"
Again the shot told with fearful effect among the crowded crew of the
_Zoe_; and from the cries and confusion on board they had reason to hope
that some of those working her sweeps were disabled; and as the firing
ceased, that those who had worked the guns had taken their places.
Tompion had been narrowly watching her movements; he had from the first
suspected some ruse to be played off on him.
"Ah! she has put her helm to port, and is running in for the land
again!" he exclaimed. "Keep a little more to the eastward, Duff, and
try to out her off; we may have her yet, before she gets into port."
The mistico had had quite enough to say, it seemed, to the British
boats; and was now endeavouring to get safe into the harbour, and very
probably to try and tempt them to follow her, if they had not already
had sufficient warning of what they might expect if they did so.
On they all three went in the same direction, the mistico by her change
of course being thrown somewhat nearer to her pursuers than she before
was, but they otherwise gained little, if anything, on her. The cutter
perseveringly kept up her fire as fast as the gun could be cleaned and
loaded, and the mistico more slowly returned it, the small sheets of
flame which ever and anon issued from the mouths of the pieces showing
their position to those on shore, as they drew near.
Still Tompion did not like to abandon the pursuit--they had already
expended so much exertion and time, that he felt as if it would be
throwing it all uselessly away if they were, after all, to fail; and yet
he began to see that they had already gone far enough, and that, if he
persisted in the chase, he might incur a greater disaster than had yet
happened to them. He looked up at the cliffs, and tried to persuade
himself that they were still at some distance off. They certainly
looked very dark and lofty; but as there was no firing from them, he
thought that they must be still too far off for any shot to reach them.
The crew of the mistico, now that they felt pretty certain of not being
captured, cheered and laughed, and called out to them, using every
device to enrage them, and induce them to follow.
"We must soon be about ship, Duff!" Tompion sang out from his boat;
"and I am afraid, after all, we have done little good."
"If you will go on a little longer, perhaps the wind may shift, and we
shall have her becalmed under the cliffs," replied the midshipman. "It
would be a great thing to carry her off in sight of the enemy."
Tompion was too ready to follow his messmate's advice, so they
persevered in the chase with great gallantry, but certainly with a want
of discretion, though it must be borne in mind that they had now less
danger to apprehend either from the brig or the cliffs, as the pirates
could not possibly fire without risking the killing of friends as well
as foes. Now, although Tompion fancied that all their exertions would
be thrown away, he was not aware, as the reader possibly is, that they
were of the very greatest service to their friends on shore. It was
their gallant pursuit of the mistico which had so completely engaged the
attention of the pirates that they entirely forgot their prisoners, and
allowed them to make the arrangements I have described. Had it not been
for them, their captain would very soon have been discovered by Zappa,
and his life would probably have been sacrificed, Raby would not have
had time to reach Nina's tower, nor would Nina have found Paolo, and
sent him to assist the sufferers. Thus it is, by persevering in doing
what is right, and brave, and honest, in all the affairs in life, good
will ultimately arise from our acts, even though we ourselves may not
immediately discover it, and though; perhaps, we may to the end of our
lives remain in ignorance of the effect we have produced. There is a
time when all things must be known, and then we shall reap our reward.
Let this be a consolation to us in all our troubles and disappointments
when we have been strenuously endeavouring to do some important good,
and find all our plans and projects defeated by the selfishness, the
ignorance, the obstinacy of others, perhaps of the persons we would
benefit, till at last we are inclined to exclaim: "What is the use of
attempting to do good in this world? Do all I can, I cannot succeed."
We do succeed--we can succeed; often, very often, when the result is not
seen. We may, it is true, strive very much, and yet do very little
good; but is not that little good something? is it not pure gold--
treasure which will endure? So also (I am moralising while the British
boats are still in pursuit of the mistico) man cannot see the ultimate
result of the evil he may commit--there the order is reversed. A little
evil in appearance may cause a vast amount of crime, wretchedness, and
suffering. Even a word idly spoken may give rise to thoughts which may
grow up and flourish, till they become like a upas tree to destroy all
within their influence. To commit a small evil may be like the
withdrawing the keystone from the arch, to cause the ruin of the whole
edifice; or it may be like an ear of corn, which may soon serve to sow
the whole field, and in the end millions and millions of acres. If men
could but remember this, they would hesitate ere, by a seemingly trivial
act, they incurred the awful responsibility of the immeasurable amount
of crime and suffering they may cause.
How much further Tompion and Duff would have ventured I do not know,
when their progress was arrested by a sight which silenced even the
jeering laughter of the pirates. A loud, crashing noise was heard,
which seemed to rend and tear in sunder the very cliffs, from the summit
of which bright flames burst forth suddenly, and exposing the pinnacled
rocks, the shattered ruins, and the groups of figures standing on them,
in front of the fire, to the view of those below. The glare for the
first moment almost blinded the eyes of the English, so long accustomed
to darkness; but they soon saw that the fire proceeded from a tall tower
near the edge of the cliff, and that the flames were bursting forth from
the door, the windows, and the very roof itself, quickly towering up
towards the sky. That some dreadful catastrophe had occurred, there
appeared to be no doubt by the commotion created among the people. They
began to run in all directions; some, it seemed, to procure water to
throw on the flames, others to find ladders to scale the walls, and some
were seen to attempt to gain the interior, but were again speedily
driven forth by the fury of the flames. Their efforts, it was very soon
seen, were of little avail, the flames seemed to gain fresh strength by
some new stimulant, they darted up higher than before in a pyramid of
fire, the tower was seen to rock to and fro, and down it came with a
tremendous crash, burying, it seemed too probable, beneath its burning
ruins many who could not have had time to escape to a distance. The
mistico, while this event was taking place, had, favoured by the wind,
got considerably ahead of the boats, and was by this time close in with
the harbour's mouth.
"Duff, ahoy," cried Tompion. "That looks like a warning to us, and I
think we ought to take it, and be off before the villains recover from
their confusion. Pull up your starboard oars. We must give it up."
"I am afraid so," said Duff, imitating his senior's example, and
defeated in their object, the two boats once more steered in the
direction where it was expected the _Ione_ would be found. They were
allowed to escape without further molestation, for the greater number of
the pirates were engaged in watching the progress of the flames, or in
endeavouring to quench them; for not only was the tower destroyed, but
the fire had communicated to the building attached to it, and that also
was rapidly being consumed.
Saltwell had too much anxiety on his mind to allow him to turn in to
take any rest, and for the greater part of the night he had walked the
deck while he beat the brig up towards the island. He became still more
anxious, as the morning approached, at the non-appearance of the boats,
and was continually hailing the look-outs to keep their eyes and ears
open to catch any sign of their coming. Colonel Gauntlett, who, of
course, was not less anxious on his niece's account, was also constantly
by his side; but the hours of night wore on, and no boats appeared. The
brig stood on towards the island, for Saltwell considered that if the
expedition was successful, there was no further reason for concealment,
and that the nearer he got the better, and that, at all events, with the
breeze which had sprung up, he could stand out of sight of land again,
before daylight. The faint outline of the island, invisible to any but
a seaman's eye, at last appeared through the darkness. Several of the
officers were collected together on the poop, looking towards it, as the
brig now lay up on the starboard tack.
"Ah, what is that?" exclaimed Saltwell, as a bright light was seen
reflected on the sky.
"Why, they have either set fire to one of their vessels, or have blown
up some fort or other. That may account for the boats' not returning."
"I don't think that is likely," observed Colonel Gauntlett. "Captain
Fleetwood would scarcely delay to attack the pirates with a lady in one
of the boats. Would you, Mr Saltwell?"
"No, sir, I would not," returned Saltwell. "You are right, and I do not
think the captain would; but still I cannot account for the fire, and it
is a large one, or we should not see it at this distance."
"I see no reason to conclude that Captain Fleetwood has anything to do
with the conflagration," observed the colonel. "I wish we could see
something of him and my little girl though. It is hazardous work he has
been on, and I do not half like it. Couldn't you fire a few guns, to
give them notice of our whereabouts? I don't see how they are to find
the ship otherwise."
"A sailor's eye is sharper than you may suppose, colonel," said
Saltwell; "and depend on it, they will keep a sharp lookout for us.
However, I will do as you propose, for the wind is off the shore, and
the pirates are not likely to hear the guns. Mr Brown, fire the
foremost gun on the starboard side, and the next to it in four minutes'
time."
Directly after the order was issued, the gun sent forth its sheet of
flame, and its dull sound was heard booming along the waters. Several
others followed without any answering signal. The _Ione_ had now, in
Mr Saltwell's opinion, stood long enough to the northward, or rather to
the north-east, so he tacked ship, and they headed up rather more
towards the island, though she soon again fell off nearly south. The
larboard guns were now fired, and at last a tiny spirt of fire was seen
to the eastward, and the sharp report of a musket struck on the ears.
"About ship then," cried Saltwell, and when she was round, after
standing on a little way he hove her to, and ordered Mr Black to burn a
blue light to show their position. On this a faint cheer came down on
the wind to prove that the signal was perceived. The next few minutes
were passed, by those more immediately interested in the success of the
expedition, in considerable anxiety. The splash of oars was heard, and
but a single boat glided out of the darkness.
"In Heaven's name, where are the rest?" was the question asked by many
voices at once.
"Mr Tompion sent me back, sir, with Mr Linton, who is badly hurt,
while he and Mr Duff stopped to chase a pirate craft which had been
dodging us," replied Jennings, to Saltwell's questions, giving
afterwards a brief account of the failure of their expedition.
"Poor Linton wounded, and by such villains," muttered Saltwell, as his
brother-officer was lifted carefully on deck. "How does he seem,
Viall?" he inquired of the surgeon, who hurried forward when he heard
what had occurred.
"We shall see better when we get him below," returned the surgeon. "He
is alive, and that is all I can say."
The wounded officer was carried to his berth, where the surgeon and his
assistants assembled to examine his hurts.
"This is a bad business, indeed, for the captain," said Saltwell to
Colonel Gauntlett, as they resumed their walk on the poop, while the
ship remained hove to, waiting for the arrival of the other boats; "I
fear the pirate will murder him, and those with him, when he finds out
who he is."
"What, think you he will venture to murder a British officer, when he
knows that his strong-hold is discovered, and that his death would
certainly be avenged?" exclaimed the colonel. "Poor fellow! and my
little niece--if the poor girl ever escapes from that infernal den--I'm
afraid she will never recover it."
"I own, I fear for the worst," said Saltwell, who was weary, and out of
spirits. "Zappa knows well enough that he has deserved a rope, and,
from what I hear, he is the sort of character to win it thoroughly; but
we must do our best to punish him. As soon as the boats come back, I
intend to give Tompion a fresh crew, and to leave him in the cutter,
well armed and provisioned, to watch the island, while we go in search
of the _Ypsilante_; and, as Captain Vassilato left her under my orders,
I shall send her off with a requisition to any of our cruisers she can
fall in with, to assemble at an island to the southward of this; and I
have not the slightest doubt, that any captain, who happens to be senior
officer, when he hears of what has occurred, will take the
responsibility of ordering a grand attack on the island. If not, we
will, by Heaven, try what our own brave fellows and the crew of the
_Ypsilante_ can do to rescue their captain, or avenge their deaths."
"Bravo, Mr Saltwell, I am rejoiced to hear you say this," exclaimed the
colonel, warmly grasping the lieutenant's hand. "And I and Mitchell
will act as volunteers with the marines. I wish we had done this at
first. A strong hand and a firm heart, are the best things to trust to.
I never liked the plan poor Fleetwood has pursued, from the first.
Your plots and your disguises seldom succeed; and they are not fit for
Englishmen to engage in--they are contrary to the genius of our country,
thank Heaven; but that Greek friend of his over-persuaded him, and, I am
afraid, has led him to his destruction."
"I wish that I could say, sir, that I thought all had gone well,"
returned Saltwell. "However, we must now do our best to mend matters.
Well, doctor, what report can you make of poor Linton?" he asked of the
surgeon, who just then appeared on deck.
"I have extracted the ball, and he has recovered his senses," answered
the surgeon. "He is in very great danger; but I can give no decided
opinion as yet. He has expressed a wish to see you, and has begged me
to call you."
"Poor, poor fellow, I'll go below instantly," cried Saltwell, hurrying
down, and auguring the worst from the doctor's tone.
He found Linton stretched out in his narrow berth, lighted by the sickly
glare of a small lamp fastened against the bulkhead.
The clothes had been thrown over the lower part of his body; but his
shoulder was bare, the pallid hue of his skin contrasting with the dark,
red stains on the linen of the shirt, which had been cut off, and still
lay beneath it. The arm, on the side where the ball had entered the
neck, lay immovable by his side, looking shrunk and withered, except a
slight twitching of the fingers, which showed the agony he was enduring.
O'Farrell, the assistant surgeon, sat at the head of the bed, applying a
cooling lotion round the part which had been bound up, to prevent
inflammation, if possible, from setting in, administering now and then
some restorative to revive him from the exhaustion consequent to his
great loss of blood.
As soon as Saltwell entered, his eyes turned towards him, and his lips
moved; but his brother-officer heard no sound, till he put his ear close
to his mouth.
"Saltwell," he whispered, "don't let them blame me wrongfully for being
beaten off by those rascally pirates; I did my best, as you know I
would. Our poor captain--I grieve for him more. Don't let a stain
remain on our names. And, Saltwell, if I die, as I think I shall, when
you get home, see my poor Julia--bear her my deepest love, and tell her
I thought of her to the last."
"I'll do all you wish, my dear fellow," answered Saltwell, deeply
affected. "But we must not let you slip through the doctor's fingers;
cheer up, for the sake of all your friends. And now try and get some
rest--it will do you more good than any thing I can say, or the doctor
can give you."
"I fear not, Saltwell, I fear not," said Linton. "But I won't keep you,
for you'll be wanted on deck, as the boats will soon be coming back, and
I trust to you to remember to fulfil my wishes."
Saltwell saw that his presence did more harm than good to his wounded
friend, as it induced him to talk; so, bidding him try to sleep, he left
the cabin. As he reached the deck, he saw that the first faint
indications of the coming dawn had appeared in the eastern horizon--not
streaks of light exactly, but a less dense gloom, which could best be
distinguished by contrasting it with the darkness of the opposite
horizon, and, at that instant, the flash of a gun was seen in the same
quarter, and the sound came booming over the water towards them.
"Ah! there comes the cutter," he exclaimed; "Tompion is firing his brass
gun to draw our attention. Don't fire again, Mr Black, it is not
necessary, and will disturb Mr Linton, but burn a blue light--it will
prevent their going out of their course, for it will be some time before
they will otherwise be able to distinguish us."
The gunner had the blue light already, expecting to be called on to use
it, and the next instant a lurid glare illumined the whole ship; the
sails, the spars, and the countenances of the people, all assumed a
sepulchral hue, which gave her the appearance of some phantom bark, such
as has appeared to the excited imagination of many a seaman in his
wandering through those distant and torrid climes, whose pestilential
vapours, rising from the overteeming earth, fever his blood and cut
short his span of life.
It had scarcely done burning before another gun was fired; but whether
as a signal, or for any other reason, it was, at first, impossible to
say, till several others followed in rapid succession.
"It must be a summons to us," observed the first lieutenant to the
master. "Fill the fore-topsail, and let fall the fore-sail--we will, at
all events, stand on as close as we can to them."
The breeze, which sent the _Ione_ along, was very light, so that some
time elapsed before she neared the spot whence the firing had been
supposed to proceed. Saltwell was on the point of ordering another blue
light to be burned, when a loud hail was heard, and, directly
afterwards, the boats were seen approaching as fast as the weary crews
could send them through the water.
"Has Mr Linton got back alive?" were the first words heard spoken by
Tompion.
"Yes--yes, all right," was the answer.
"Thank Heaven for that!" he exclaimed; and, as soon as the cutter ran
alongside, he jumped on deck and went aft to report himself as come on
board.
"I hope you do not think that I have done wrong, sir," he said, when he
had finished his account of what had occurred. "I fully thought we
should capture the mistico, and I could not tell but what some of our
friends had been taken on board her."
"No, Mr Tompion, I have no reason to find fault with your behaviour.
As far as I can judge, you showed judgment and gallantry, which, in an
officer, it is all important should always be combined. And, at all
events, you have got clear out of the scrape, though you certainly ran a
great risk of being captured."
"Well, sir, I am very glad you approve of what I have done," answered
Tompion. "And now, sir, if you will allow me to make a suggestion, I
would keep off the island till daylight; for, not long ago, as we were
pulling here, both Duff and I fancied we heard some firing off the mouth
of the harbour, but we could not tell for certain, we've had such a din
of popping in our ears all night; however, I cannot help thinking some
of the party have made another attempt to escape."
"I am afraid that there is very little chance of that," said Saltwell.
"If that villain, Zappa, does not murder them, it is more than I expect.
However, we'll stand on towards the island till daybreak, as you
suggest; and now, Mr Tompion, I should think you require both rest and
food, so go down below and take them. Tell Mason to give you and Mr
Duff whatever he has got in the gun-room--you'll get it quicker there
than in your own berth."
Midshipmen are proverbially hungry, and I need not say that our two
young friends did ample justice to a cold round of beef, which the
gun-room steward placed before them.
Saltwell had scarcely turned in when he was again roused up by Togle,
the midshipman of the watch, who came to tell him that a suspicious sail
was seen to the eastward. He immediately came on deck; and just in the
centre of the red glow on the sky, which precedes the rising of the
bright luminary of day, there appeared the tapering sails of a
lateen-rigged craft, looking like the dark fin of a huge shark, just
floating on the lead-coloured waters.
"She's standing this way too, by Jove!" he exclaimed. "And give me a
glass. I thought so; she's in chase of a small boat under sail, just
a-head of her Mr Togle, go aloft with a glass, and see what you can
make out. I can distinguish little more than the upper leech of the
sail; and were it not so calm, even that could not be seen."
Togle hailed from aloft, to say that there was certainly a boat a-head
of the stranger.
"I think that I can even make out that she has people in her, as she is
much nearer us than the mistico, which keeps firing at her every now and
then."
"You are right," said the lieutenant, as the midshipman came on deck.
"She is little more than half way between us. All hands make sail! We
must do our best to overhaul her first; for, though I have slight hopes
on the subject, she may have some of our friends in her, trying to
escape."
Every stitch of canvas the brig could carry on a wind was now set; but
the mistico stood boldly on, and it became a matter of great doubt
whether or not she would have time to get hold of her prey, and escape
back to port before the _Ione_ could come up with her.