"O'er the glad waters of the dark-blue sea.
Our thoughts as boundless, and our souls as free.
Far as the breeze can bear, the billows foam,
Survey our empire and behold our home."
THE CORSAIR.
One is never fully aware of the extent of the movement that agitates the
bosom of the ocean until fairly subject to its action himself, when
indeed we all feel its power and reason closely on its dangers. The
first pitch of his boat told Bluewater that the night threatened to be
serious. As the lusty oarsmen bent to their stroke, the barge rose on a
swell, dividing the foam that glanced past it like a marine Aurora
Borealis, and then plunged into the trough as if descending to the
bottom. It required several united and vigorous efforts to force the
little craft from its dangerous vicinity to the rocks, and to get it in
perfect command. This once done, however, the well-practised crew urged
the barge slowly but steadily ahead.
"A dirty night!--a dirty night!" muttered Bluewater, unconsciously to
himself; "we should have had a wild berth, had we rode out this blow, at
anchor. Oakes will have a heavy time of it out yonder in the very chops
of the channel, with a westerly swell heaving in against this ebb."
"Yes, sir," answered Wycherly; "the vice-admiral will be looking out for
us all, anxiously enough, in the morning."
Not another syllable did Bluewater utter until his boat had touched the
side of the Cæsar. He reflected deeply on his situation, and those who
know his feelings will easily understand that his reflections were not
altogether free from pain. Such as they were, he kept them to himself,
however, and in a man-of-war's boat, when a flag-officer chooses to be
silent, it is a matter of course for his inferiors to imitate his
example.
The barge was about a quarter of a mile from the landing, when the heavy
flap of the Cæsar's main-top-sail was heard, as, close-reefed, it
struggled for freedom, while her crew drew its sheets down to the blocks
on the lower yard-arms. A minute later, the Gnat, under the head of her
fore-and-aft-main-sail, was seen standing slowly off from the land,
looking in the darkness like some half-equipped shadow of herself. The
sloop of war, too, was seen bending low to the force of the wind, with
her mere apology of a top-sail thrown aback, in waiting for the flag-ship
to cast.
The surface of the waters was a sheet of glancing foam, while the air
was filled with the blended sounds of the wash of the element, and the
roar of the winds. Still there was nothing chilling or repulsive in the
temperature of the air, which was charged with the freshness of the sea,
and was bracing and animating, bringing with it the flavour that a
seaman loves. After fully fifteen minutes' severe tugging at the oars,
the barge drew near enough to permit the black mass of the Cæsar to be
seen. For some time, Lord Geoffrey, who had seated himself at the
tiller,--yoke-lines were not used a century since,--steered by the
top-light of the rear-admiral; but now the maze of hamper was seen
waving slowly to and fro in the lurid heavens, and the huge hull became
visible, heaving and setting, as if the ocean groaned with the labour of
lifting such a pile of wood and iron. A light gleamed from the
cabin-windows, and ever and anon, one glanced athwart an open gun-room
port. In all other respects, the ship presented but one hue of
blackness. Nor was it an easy undertaking, even after the barge was
under the lee of the ship, for those in it, to quit its uneasy support
and get a firm footing on the cleets that lined the vessel's side like a
ladder. This was done, however, and all ascended to the deck but two of
the crew, who remained to hook-on the yard and stay-tackles. This
effected, the shrill whistle gave the word, and that large boat, built
to carry at need some twenty souls, was raised from the raging water, as
it were by some gigantic effort of the ship herself, and safely
deposited in her bosom.
"We are none too soon, sir," said Stowel, the moment he had received the
rear-admiral with the customary etiquette of the hour. "It's a cap-full
of wind already, and it promises to blow harder before morning. We are
catted and fished, sir, and the forecastle-men are passing the
shank-painter at this moment."
"Fill, sir, and stretch off, on an easy bowline," was the answer; "when
a league in the offing, let me know it. Mr. Cornet, I have need of you,
in my cabin."
As this was said, Bluewater went below, followed by his signal-officer.
At the same instant the first lieutenant called out to man the
main-braces, and to fill the top-sail. As soon as this command was
obeyed, the Cæsar started ahead. Her movement was slow, but it had a
majesty in it, that set at naught the turbulence of the elements.
Bluewater had paced to and fro in his cabin no less than six times, with
his head drooping, in a thoughtful attitude, ere his attention was
called to any external object.
"Do you wish my presence, Admiral Bluewater?" the signal-officer at
length inquired.
"I ask your pardon, Mr. Cornet; I was really unconscious that you were
in the cabin. Let me see--ay--our last signal was, 'division come within
hail of rear-admiral.' They must get close to us, to be able to do
_that_ to-night, Cornet! The winds and waves have begun their song in
earnest."
"And yet, sir, I'll venture a month's pay that Captain Drinkwater brings
the Dover so near us, as to put the officer of the watch and the
quarter-master at the wheel in a fever. We once made that signal, in a
gale of wind, and he passed his jib-boom-end over our taffrail."
"He is certainly a most literal gentleman, that Captain Drinkwater, but
he knows how to take care of his ship. Look for the number of 'follow
the rear-admiral's motions.' 'Tis 211, I think."
"No, sir; but 212. Blue, red, and white, with the flags. With the
lanterns, 'tis one of the simplest signals we have."
"We will make it, at once. When that is done, show 'the rear-admiral;
keep in his wake, in the general order of sailing.' That I am sure is
204."
"Yes, sir; you are quite right. Shall I show the second signal as soon
as all the vessels have answered the first, sir?"
"That is my intention, Cornet. When all have answered, let me know it."
Mr. Cornet now left the cabin, and Bluewater took a seat in an
arm-chair, in deep meditation. For quite half an hour the former was
busy on the poop, with his two quarter-masters, going through the slow
and far from easy duty of making night-signals, as they were then
practised at sea. It was some time before the most distant vessel, the
Dover, gave any evidence of comprehending the first order, and then the
same tardy operation had to be gone through with for the second. At
length the sentinel threw open the cabin-door, and Cornet re-appeared.
During the whole of his absence on deck, Bluewater had not stirred;
scarce seemed to breathe. His thoughts were away from his ships, and for
the first time, in the ten years he had worn a flag, he had forgotten
the order he had given.
"The signals are made and answered, sir," said Cornet, as soon as he had
advanced to the edge of the table, on which the rear-admiral's elbow was
leaning. "The Dublin is already in our wake, and the Elizabeth is
bearing down fast on our weather-quarter; she will bring herself into
her station in ten minutes."
"What news of the York and Dover, Cornet?" asked Bluewater, rousing
himself from a fit of deep abstraction.
"The York's light nears us, quite evidently; though that of the Dover is
still a fixed star, sir," answered the lieutenant, chuckling a little at
his own humour; "it seems no larger than it did when we first made it."
"It is something to have made it at all. I was not aware it could be
seen from deck?"
"Nor can it, sir; but, by going up half-a-dozen ratlins we get a look at
it. Captain Drinkwater bowses up his lights to the gaff-end, and I can
see him always ten minutes sooner than any other ship in the fleet,
under the same circumstances."
"Drinkwater is a careful officer; do the bearings of his light alter
enough to tell the course he is steering?"
"I think they do, sir, though our standing out athwart his line of
sailing would make the change slow, of course. Every foot we get to the
southward, you know, sir, would throw his bearings farther west; while
every foot he comes east, would counteract that change and throw his
bearings further south."
"That's very clear; but, as he must go three fathoms to our one, running
off with square yards before such a breeze, I think we should be
constantly altering his bearings to the southward."
"No doubt of it, in the world, sir; and that is just what we _are_
doing. I think I can see a difference of half a point, already; but,
when we get his light fairly in view from the poop, we shall be able to
tell with perfect accuracy."
"All very well, Cornet. Do me the favour to desire Captain Stowel to
step into the cabin and keep a bright look-out for the ships of the
division. Stay, for a single instant; what particularly sharp-eyed
youngster happens to belong to the watch on deck?"
"I know none keener in that way than Lord Geoffrey Cleveland, sir; he
can see all the roguery that is going on in the whole fleet, at any
rate, and ought to see other things."
"He will do perfectly well; send the young gentleman to me, sir; but,
first inform the officer of the watch that I have need of him."
Bluewater was unusually fastidious in exercising his authority over
those who had temporary superiors on the assigned duty of the ship; and
he never sent an order to any of the watch, without causing it to pass
through the officer of that watch. He waited but a minute before the boy
appeared.
"Have you a good gripe to-night, boy?" asked the rear-admiral, smiling;
"or will it be both hands for yourself and none for the king? I want you
on the fore-top-gallant-yard, for eight or ten minutes."
"Well, sir, it's a plain road there, and one I've often travelled,"
returned the lad, cheerfully.
"That I well know; you are certainly no skulk when duty is to be done.
Go aloft then, and ascertain if the lights of any of Sir Gervaise's
squadron are to be seen. You will remember that the Dover bears
somewhere about south-west from us, and that she is still a long way to
seaward. I should think all of Sir Gervaise's ships must be quite as far
to windward as that point would bring them, but much further off. By
looking sharp a point or half a point to windward of the Dover, you may
possibly see the light of the Warspite, and then we shall get a correct
idea of the bearings of all the rest of the division--"
"Ay-ay-sir," interrupted the boy; "I think I understand exactly what you
wish to know, Admiral Bluewater."
"That is a natural gift at sixteen, my lord," returned the admiral,
smiling; "but it may be improved a little, perhaps, by the experience of
fifty. Now, it is possible Sir Gervaise may have gone about, as soon as
the flood made; in which case he ought to bear nearly west of us, and
you will also look in that direction. On the other hand, Sir Gervaise
may have stretched so far over towards the French coast before night
shut in, as to feel satisfied Monsieur de Vervillin is still to the
eastward of him; in which case he would keep off a little, and may, at
this moment, be nearly ahead of us. So that, under all the
circumstances, you will sweep the horizon, from the weather-beam to the
lee-bow, ranging forward. Am I understood, now, my lord?"
"Yes, sir, I think you are," answered the boy, blushing at his own
impetuosity. "You will excuse my indiscretion, Admiral Bluewater; but I
_thought_ I understood all you desired, when I spoke so hastily."
"No doubt you did, Geoffrey, but you perceive you did not. Nature has
made you quick of apprehension, but not quick enough to _foresee_ all an
old man's gossip. Come nearer, now, and let us shake hands. So go aloft,
and hold on well, for it is a windy night, and I do not desire to lose
you overboard."
The boy did as told, squeezed Bluewater's hand, and dashed out of the
cabin to conceal his tears. As for the rear-admiral, he immediately
relapsed into his fit of forgetfulness, waiting for the arrival of
Stowel.
A summons to a captain does not as immediately produce a visit, on board
a vessel of war, as a summons to a midshipman. Captain Stowel was busy
in looking at the manner in which his boats were stowed, when Cornet
told him of the rear-admiral's request; and then he had to give some
orders to the first lieutenant concerning the fresh meat that had been
got off, and one or two other similar little things, before he was at
leisure to comply.
"See me, do you say, Mr. Cornet; in his own cabin, as soon as it is
convenient?" he at length remarked, when all these several offices had
been duly performed.
The signal-officer repeated the request, word for word as he had heard
it, when he turned to take another look at the light of the Dover. As
for Stowel, he cared no more for the Dover, windy and dark as the night
promised to be, than the burgher is apt to care for his neighbour's
house when the whole street is threatened with destruction. To him the
Cæsar was the great centre of attraction, and Cornet paid him off in
kind; for, of all the vessels in the fleet, the Cæsar was precisely the
one to which he gave the least attention; and this for the simple reason
that she was the only ship to which he never gave, or from which he
never received, a signal.
"Well, Mr. Bluff," said Stowel to the first lieutenant; "one of us will
have to be on deck most of the night, and I'll take a slant below, for
half an hour first, and see what the admiral wishes."
Thus saying, the captain left the deck, in order to ascertain his
superior's pleasure. Captain Stowel was several years the senior of
Bluewater, having actually been a lieutenant in one of the frigates in
which the rear-admiral had served as a midshipman; a circumstance to
which he occasionally alluded in their present intercourse. The change
in the relative positions was the result of the family influence of the
junior, who had passed his senior in the grade of master and commander;
a rank that then brought many an honest man up for life, in the English
marine. At the age of five-and-forty, that at which Bluewater first
hoisted his flag, Stowell was posted; and soon after he was invited by
his old shipmate, who had once had him under him as his first lieutenant
in a sloop of war, to take the command of his flag-ship. From that day
down to the present moment, the two officers had sailed together,
whenever they sailed at all, perfectly good friends; though the captain
never appeared entirely to forget the time when they were in the
aforesaid frigate; one a gun-room officer, and the other only a
"youngster."
Stowel must now have been about sixty-five; a square, hard-featured,
red-faced seaman, who knew all about his ship, from her truck to her
limber-rope, but who troubled himself very little about any thing else.
He had married a widow when he was posted, but was childless, and had
long since permitted his affections to wander back into their former
channels; from the domestic hearth to his ship. He seldom spoke of
matrimony, but the little he saw fit to say on the subject was
comprehensive and to the point. A perfectly sober man, he consumed large
quantities of both wine and brandy, as well as of tobacco, and never
seemed to be the worse for either. Loyal he was by political faith, and
he looked upon a revolution, let its object be what it might, as he
would have regarded a mutiny in the Cæsar. He was exceedingly
pertinacious of his rights as "captain of his own ship," both ashore and
afloat; a disposition that produced less trouble with the mild and
gentlemanly rear-admiral, than with Mrs. Stowel. If we add that this
plain sailor never looked into a book, his proper scientific works
excepted, we shall have said all of him that his connection with our
tale demands.
"Good-evening, Admiral Bluewater," said this true tar, saluting the
rear-admiral, as one neighbour would greet another, on dropping in of an
evening, for they occupied different cabins. "Mr. Cornet told me you
would like to say a word to me, before I turned in; if, indeed, turn in
at all, I do this blessed night."
"Take a seat, Stowel, and a glass of this sherry, in the bargain,"
Bluewater answered, kindly, showing how well he understood his man, by
the manner in which he shoved both bottle and glass within reach of his
hand. "How goes the night?--and is this wind likely to stand?"
"I'm of opinion, sir--we'll drink His Majesty, if you've no objection,
Admiral Bluewater,--I'm of opinion, we shall stretch the threads of that
new main-top-sail, before we've done with the breeze, sir. I believe
I've not told you, yet, that I've had the new sail bent, since we last
spoke together on the subject. It's a good fit, sir; and, close-reefed,
the sails stands like the side of a house."
"I'm glad to hear it, Stowel; though I think all your canvass usually
appears to be in its place."
"Why you know, Admiral Bluewater, that I've been long enough at it, to
understand something about the matter. It is now more than forty years
since we were in the Calypso together, and ever since that time I've
borne the commission of an officer. You were then a youngster, and
thought more of your joke, than of bending sails, or of seeing how they
would stand."
"There wasn't much of me, certainly, forty years ago, Stowel; but I well
remember the knack you had of making every robin, sheet, bowline, and
thread do its duty, then, as you do to-day. By the way, can you tell me
any thing of the Dover, this evening?"
"Not I, sir; she came out with the rest of us I suppose, and must be
somewhere in the fleet; though I dare say the log will have it all, if
she has been anywhere near us, lately. I am sorry we did not go into one
of the watering-ports, instead of this open roadstead, for we must be at
least twenty-seven hundred gallons short of what we ought to have, by my
calculation; and then we want a new set of light spars, pretty much all
round; and the lower hold hasn't as many barrels of provisions in it, by
thirty-odd, as I could wish to see there."
"I leave these things to you, entirely, Stowel; you will report in time
to keep the ship efficient."
"No fear of the Cæsar, sir; for, between Mr. Bluff, the master, and
myself, we know pretty much all about _her_, though I dare say there are
men in the fleet who can tell you more about the Dublin, or the Dover,
or the York. We will drink the queen, and all the royal family, if you
please, sir."
As usual, Bluewater merely bowed, for his companion required no further
acquiescence in his toasts. Just at that moment, too, it would have
needed a general order, at least, to induce him to drink any of the
family of the reigning house.
"Oakes must be well off, mid-channel, by this time, Captain Stowel?"
"I should think he might be, sir; though I can't say I took particular
notice of the time he sailed. I dare say it's all in the log. The
Plantagenet is a fast ship, sir, and Captain Greenly understands her
trim, and what she can do on all tacks; and, yet, I do think His Majesty
has one ship in this fleet that can find a Frenchman quite as soon, and
deal with him, when found, quite as much to the purpose."
"Of course you mean the Cæsar;--well, I'm quite of your way of thinking,
though Sir Gervaise manages never to be in a slow ship. I suppose you
know, Stowel, that Monsieur de Vervillin is out, and that we may expect
to see or hear something of him, to-morrow."
"Yes, sir, there is some such conversation in the ship, I know; but the
quantity of galley-news is so great in this squadron, that I never
attend much to what is said. One of the officers brought off a rumour, I
believe, that there was a sort of a row in Scotland. By the way, sir,
there is a supernumerary lieutenant on board, and as he has joined
entirely without orders, I'm at a loss how to berth or to provision him.
We can treat the gentleman hospitably to-night; but in the morning I
shall be obliged to get him regularly on paper."
"You mean Sir Wycherly Wychecombe; he shall come into my mess, rather
than give you any trouble."
"I shall not presume to meddle with any gentleman you may please to
invite into your cabin, sir," answered Stowel, with a stiff bow, in the
way of apology. "That's what I always tell Mrs. Stowel, sir;--that my
_cabin_ is my _own_, and even a wife has no right to shake a broom in
it."
"Which is a great advantage to us seamen; for it gives us a citadel to
retreat to, when the outworks are pressed. You appear to take but little
interest in this civil war, Stowel!"
"Then it's true, is it, sir? I didn't know but it might turn out to be
galley-news. Pray what is the rumpus all about, Admiral Bluewater? for,
I never could get that story fidded properly, so as to set up the
rigging, and have the spar well stayed in its place."
"It is merely a war to decide who shall be king of England; nothing
else, I do assure you, sir."
"They're an uneasy set ashore, sir, if the truth must be said of them!
We've got one king, already; and on what principle does any man wish for
more? Now, there was Captain Blakely, from the Elizabeth, on board of me
this afternoon; and we talked the matter over a little, and both of us
concluded that they got these things up much as a matter of profit among
the army contractors, and the dealers in warlike stores."
Bluewater listened with intense interest, for here was proof how
completely two of his captains, at least, would be at his own command,
and how little they would be likely, for a time, at least, to dispute
any of his orders. He thought of Sir Reginald, and of the rapture with
which _he_ would have received this trait of nautical character.
"There are people who set their hearts on the result, notwithstanding,"
carelessly observed the rear-admiral; "and some who see their fortunes
marred or promoted, by the success or downfall of the parties. They
think de Vervillin is out on some errand connected with this rising in
the north."
"Well, I don't see what _he_ has got to do with the matter at all; for,
I don't suppose that King Louis is such a fool as to expect to be king
of England as well as king of France!"
"The dignity would be too much for one pair of shoulders to bear. As
well might one admiral wish to command all the divisions of his own
fleet, though they were fifty leagues asunder."
"Or one captain two ships; or what is more to the purpose, sir, one ship
to keep two captains. We'll drink to discipline, if you've no objection,
sir. 'Tis the soul of order and quiet, ashore or afloat. For my part, I
want no _co-equal_--I believe that's the cant word they use on such
occasions--but I want no co-equal, in the Cæsar, and I am unwilling to
have one in the house at Greenwich; though Mrs. Stowel thinks
differently. Here's my ship; she's in her place in the line; it's my
business to see she is fit for any service that a first-class two-decker
can undertake, and that duty I endeavour to perform; and I make no doubt
it is all the better performed because there's no wife or co-equal
aboard here. _Where_ the ship is to _go_, and _what_ she is to _do_, are
other matters, which I take from general orders, special orders, or
signals. Let them act up to this principle in London, and we should hear
no more of disturbances, north or south."
"Certainly, Stowel, your doctrine would make a quiet nation, as well as
a quiet ship. I hope you do me the justice to think there is no co-equal
in my commands!"
"That there is not, sir--and I have the honour to drink your
health--that there is not. When we were in the Calypso together, I had
the advantage; and I must say that I never had a youngster under me who
ever did his duty more cheerfully. Since that day we've shifted places;
end for end, as one might say; and I endeavour to pay you, in your own
coin. There is no man whose orders I obey more willingly or more to my
own advantage; always excepting those of Admiral Oakes, who, being
commander-in-chief, overlays us all with his anchor. We must dowse our
peaks to his signals, though we _can_ maintain, without mutinying, that
the Cæsar is as good a boat on or off a wind, as the Plantagenet, the
best day Sir Jarvy ever saw."
"There is no manner of doubt of that. You have all the notions of a true
sailor, I find, Stowel; obey orders before all other things. I am
curious to know how our captains, generally, stand affected to this
claim which the Pretender has set up to the throne."
"Can't tell you, on my soul, sir; though I fancy few of them give
themselves any great anxiety in the matter. When the wind is fair we can
run off large, and when it is foul we must haul upon a bowline, let who
will reign. I was a youngster under Queen Anne, and she was a Stuart, I
believe; and I have served under the German family ever since; and to be
frank with you, Admiral Bluewater, I see but little difference in the
duty, the pay, or the rations. My maxim is to obey orders, and then I
know the blame will fall on them that give them, if any thing goes
wrong."
"We have many Scotchmen in the fleet, Stowel," observed the
rear-admiral, in a musing manner, like one who rather thought aloud than
spoke. "Several of the captains are from the north of Tweed."
"Ay, sir, one is pretty certain of meeting gentlemen from that part of
the island, in almost all situations in life. I never have understood
that Scotland had much of a navy in ancient times, and yet the moment
old England has to pay for it, the lairds are willing enough to send
their children to sea."
"Nevertheless it must be owned that they make gallant and useful
officers, Stowel."
"No doubt they do, sir; but gallant and useful men are not scarce
anywhere. You and I are too old and too experienced, Admiral Bluewater,
to put any faith in the notion that courage belongs to any particular
part of the world, or usefulness either. I never fought a Frenchman yet
that I thought a coward; and, in my judgment, there are brave men enough
in England, to command all her ships, and to fight them too."
"Let this be so, Stowel, still we must take things as they come. What do
you think of the night?"
"Dirty enough before morning, I should think, sir, though it is a little
out of rule, that it does not rain with this wind, already. The next
time we come-to, Admiral Bluewater, I intend to anchor with a shorter
scope of cable than we have been doing lately; for, I begin to think
there is no use in wetting so many yarns in the summer months. They tell
me the York brings up always on forty fathoms."
"That's a short range, I should think, for a heavy ship. But here is a
visiter."
The sentinel opened the cabin-door, and Lord Geoffrey, with his cap
fastened to his head by a pocket-handkerchief, and his face red with
exposure to the wind, entered the cabin.
"Well," said Bluewater, quietly; "what is the report from aloft?"
"The Dover is running down athwart our forefoot, and nearing us fast,
sir," returned the midshipman. "The York is close on our weather-beam,
edging in to her station; but I can make out nothing ahead of us, though
I was on the yard twenty minutes."
"Did you look well on the weather-beam, and thence forward to the
lee-bow?"
"I did, sir; if any light is in view, better eyes than mine must find
it."
Stowel looked from one to the other, as this short conversation was
held; but, as soon as there was a pause, he put in a word in behalf of
the ship.
"You've been up forward, my lord?" he said.
"Yes, I have, Captain Stowel."
"And did you think of seeing how the heel of the top-gallant-mast stood
it, in this sea? Bluff tells me 'tis too loose to be fit for very heavy
weather."
"I did not, sir. I was sent aloft to look out for the ships of the
commander-in-chief's division, and didn't think of the heel of the
top-gallant-mast's being too loose, at all."
"Ay, that's the way with all the youngsters, now-a-days. In my time, or
even in _yours_, Admiral Bluewater, we never put our feet on a ratlin,
but hands and eyes were at work, until we reached the halting place,
even though it should be the truck. That is the manner to know what a
ship is made of!"
"I kept my hands and eyes at work, too, Captain Stowel; but it was to
hold on well, and to look out well."
"That will never do--that will never do, if you wish to make yourself a
sailor. Begin with your own ship first; learn all about _her_, then,
when you get to be an admiral, as your father's son, my lord, will be
certain to become, it will be time enough to be inquiring about the rest
of the fleet."
"You forget, Captain Stowel--"
"That will do, Lord Geoffrey," Bluewater soothingly interposed, for he
knew that the Captain preached no more than he literally practised; "if
_I_ am satisfied with your report, no one else has a right to complain.
Desire Sir Wycherly Wychecombe to meet me on deck, where we will now go,
Stowel, and take a look at the weather for ourselves."
"With all my heart, Admiral Bluewater, though I'll just drink the First
Lord's health before we quit this excellent liquor. That youngster has
stuff in him, in spite of his nobility, and by fetching him up, with
round turns, occasionally, I hope to make a man of him, yet."
"If he do not grow into that character, physically and morally, within
the next few years, sir, he will be the first person of his family who
has ever failed of it."
As Bluewater said this, he and the captain left his cabin, and ascended
to the quarter-deck. Here Stowel stopped to hold a consultation with his
first lieutenant, while the admiral went up the poop-ladder, and joined
Cornet. The last had nothing new to communicate, and as he was permitted
to go below, he was desired to send Wycherly up to the poop, where the
young man would be expected by the rear-admiral.
Some little time elapsed before the Virginian could be found; no sooner
was this effected, however, than he joined Bluewater. They had a private
conversation of fully half an hour, pacing the poop the whole time, and
then Cornet was summoned back, again, to his usual station. The latter
immediately received an order to acquaint Captain Stowel the
rear-admiral desired that the Cæsar might be hove-to, and to make a
signal for the Druid 36, to come under the flag-ship's lee, and back her
main-top-sail. No sooner did this order reach the quarter-deck than the
watch was sent to the braces, and the main-yard was rounded in, until
the portion of sail that was still set lay against the mast. This
deadened the way of the huge body, which rose and fell heavily in the
seas, as they washed under her, scarcely large enough to lift the
burthen it imposed upon them. Just at this instant, the signal was made.
The sudden check to the movement of the Cæsar brought the Dublin booming
up in the darkness, when putting her helm up, that ship surged slowly
past to leeward, resembling a black mountain moving by in the gloom. She
was hailed and directed to heave-to, also, as soon as far enough ahead.
The Elizabeth followed, clearing the flag-ship by merely twenty fathoms,
and receiving a similar order. The Druid had been on the admiral's
weather-quarter, but she now came gliding down, with the wind abeam,
taking room to back her top-sail under the Cæsar's lee-bow. By this time
a cutter was in the water, rising six or eight feet up the black side of
the ship, and sinking as low apparently beneath her bottom. Next,
Wycherly reported himself ready to proceed.
"You will not forget, sir," said Bluewater, "any part of my commission;
but inform the commander-in-chief of the _whole_. It may be important
that we understand each other fully. You will also hand him this letter
which I have hastily written while the boat was getting ready."
"I think I understand your wishes, sir;--at least, I _hope_ so;--and I
will endeavour to execute them."
"God bless you, Sir Wycherly Wychecombe," added Bluewater, with emotion.
"We may never meet again; we sailors carry uncertain lives; and we may
be said to carry them in our hands."
Wycherly took his leave of the admiral, and he ran down the poop-ladder
to descend into the boat. Twice he paused on the quarter-deck, however,
in the manner of one who felt disposed to return and ask some
explanation; but each time he moved on, decided to proceed.
It needed all the agility of our young sailor to get safely into the
boat. This done, the oars fell and the cutter was driven swiftly away to
leeward. In a few minutes, it shot beneath the lee of the frigate, and
discharged its freight. Wycherly could not have been three minutes on
the deck of the Druid, ere her yards were braced up, and her top-sail
filled with a heavy flap. This caused her to draw slowly ahead. Five
minutes later, however, a white cloud was seen dimly fluttering over her
hull, and the reefed main-sail was distended to the wind. The effect was
so instantaneous that the frigate seemed to glide away from the
flag-ship, and in a quarter of an hour, under her three top-sails
double-reefed, and her courses, she was a mile distant on her
weather-bow. Those who watched her movements without understanding them,
observed that she lowered her light, and appeared to detach herself from
the rest of the division.
It was some time before the Cæsar's boat was enabled to pull up against
the tide, wind, and sea. When this hard task was successfully
accomplished, the ship filled, passed the Dublin and Elizabeth, and
resumed her place in the line.
Bluewater paced the poop an hour longer, having dismissed his
signal-officer and the quarter-masters to their hammocks. Even Stowel
had turned in, nor did Mr. Bluff deem it necessary to remain on deck any
longer. At the end of the hour, the rear-admiral bethought him of
retiring too. Before he quitted the poop, however, he stood at the
weather-ladder, holding on to the mizzen-rigging, and gazing at the
scene.
The wind had increased, as had the sea, but it was not yet a gale. The
York had long before hauled up in her station, a cable's length ahead of
the Cæsar, and was standing on, under the same canvass as the flag-ship,
looking stately and black. The Dover was just shooting into her berth,
under the standing sailing-orders, at the same distance ahead of the
York; visible, but much less distinct and imposing. The sloop and the
cutter were running along, under the lee of the heavy snips, a quarter
of a mile distant, each vessel keeping her relative position, by close
attention to her canvass. Further than this, nothing was in sight. The
sea had that wild mixture of brightness and gloom, which belongs to the
element when much agitated in a dark night, while the heavens were murky
and threatening.
Within the ship, all was still. Here and there a lantern threw its
wavering light around, but the shadows of the masts and guns, and other
objects, rendered this relief to the night trifling. The lieutenant of
the watch paced the weather side of the quarter-deck, silent but
attentive. Occasionally he hailed the look-outs, and admonished them to
be vigilant, also, and at each turn he glanced upward to see how the
top-sail stood. Four or five old and thoughtful seamen walked the waist
and forecastle, but most of the watch were stowed between the guns, or
in the best places they could find, under the lee of the bulwarks,
catching cat's naps. This was an indulgence denied the young gentlemen,
of whom one was on the forecastle, leaning against the mast, dreaming of
home, one in the waist, supporting the nettings, and one walking the
lee-side of the quarter-deck, his eyes shut, his thoughts confused, and
his footing uncertain. As Bluewater stepped on the quarter-deck-ladder,
to descend to his own cabin, the youngster hit his foot against an
eye-bolt, and fetched way plump up against his superior. Bluewater
caught the lad in his arms, and saved him from a fall, setting him
fairly on his feet before he let him go.
"'Tis seven bells, Geoffrey," said the admiral, in an under tone. "Hold
on for half an hour longer, and then go dream of your dear mother."
Before the boy could recover himself to thank his superior, the latter
had disappeared.