"What schooner is that?"
"The _Josefa_, slave schooner. Is that Mr Armitage?"
"Ay, ay, it is. Who may you be, pray?"
I had by this time gone aft and was standing by Smellie's side. The
schooner was just jibing over and darting along on the _Daphne's_
starboard side.
"Armitage evidently has not recognised my voice as yet," remarked
Smellie, "or else," he added, "they have given us up on board as dead,
and he is unable so suddenly to realise the fact of our being still
alive."
Then, as we finally rounded-to under the _Daphne's_ quarter, Armitage
reappeared aft, and the confab was renewed, Smellie this time taking the
lead.
"_Daphne_ ahoy!" he hailed, "has Captain Vernon yet retired for the
night?"
"I think not," was the reply. "What do you want?"
"Kindly pass the word to him that Mr Smellie and Mr Hawkesley are
alongside in a captured slaver: and say we shall feel greatly obliged if
he will send a prize crew on board us to take possession."
"Ay, ay! I will."
Armitage thereupon disappeared, and, we being at the time to leeward of
the sloop, a slight but distinct commotion became perceptible on board
her. Presently a figure appeared in the fore-rigging, and a deep,
gruff, hoarse voice hailed:
"Schooner ahoy! Did you say as Mr Smellie and Mr Hawkesley was on
board you?"
"Yes I did. Do you not recognise my voice, Collins?"
"Ay, ay, sir! in course I does _now_," was the boatswain's hearty
response. Then there followed, in lower tones, certain remarks of which
we could only catch such fragments as:
"--lieutenant hisself, by--reefer, too;--man--rigging, you sea-dogs--
give--sailors' welcome."
Then in an instant the lower rigging became black with the figures of
the men, and, with Collins as fugleman, they greeted our unexpected
return with three as hearty cheers as ever pealed from the throats of
British seamen.
For the life of me I could not just then have spoken a word had it been
ever so necessary. That hearty ringing British cheer gave me the first
convincing assurance that I was once more _safe_ and among friends, and,
at the same time, enabled me to _fully_ realise, as I never had before,
the extreme peril to which I had been exposed since I last saw the craft
that lay there rolling gracefully upon the ground-swell, within a
biscuit toss of us.
The men were just clearing the rigging when a small slight figure
appeared on the sloop's quarter, and Captain Vernon's voice hailed us
through the speaking-trumpet:
"Schooner ahoy! How many hands shall I send you?"
"A dozen men will be sufficient, sir," replied Smellie. "And I shall
feel obliged if you will send with them the necessary officers to
relieve us. We are both hurt, and in need of the doctor's services."
"You shall have the men at once," was the reply. "Shall I send Burnett
to you, or can you come on board the sloop?"
"We will rejoin the sloop, sir, thank you. Our injuries are not very
serious," replied Smellie.
"Very well, be it so," returned the skipper; and there the conversation
ended.
The next moment the clear _tee-tee-tweetle-tweetle-weetle-wee-e-e_ of
the boatswain's whistle came floating down to us, followed by his gruff
"Cutters away!" and presently we saw the boat glide down the ship's
side, and, after a very brief delay, shove off and come sweeping down
toward us.
Five minutes later the prize crew, under Williams, the master's mate,
with young Peters, a fellow mid of mine, as his second in command, stood
upon the schooner's deck, and Mr Austin, who had accompanied them, was
wringing our hands as though he would wring them off.
Smellie saw the exquisite agony which our warm-hearted "first luff" was
unconsciously inflicting upon _me_ by his effusive greeting, and
thoughtfully interposed with a--
"Gently, Edgar, old fellow. I am afraid you are handling poor Hawkesley
a little roughly. He has received rather a bad hurt in the right
shoulder to-night in our fight with the schooner's people."
"Fight!--schooner's people! I beg your pardon, Hawkesley; I hope I
haven't hurt you. Why, you never mean to say you have had to _fight_
for the schooner?" Austin interrupted, aghast. "Well, we _took_ her by
surprise; but her people proved very troublesome, and very pertinacious
in their efforts to get her back again," Smellie replied. "But, come,
let us get on board the old _Daphne_ once more. I long to set foot on
her planks again; and, like Hawkesley here, I shall not be sorry to
renew my acquaintance with Burnett."
So said, so done. We made our way into the boat, leaving the prize crew
to secure the prisoners, and a few minutes later stood once more safe,
if not altogether sound, on the deck of the dear old _Daphne_.