"Welcome back to the _Daphne_, gentlemen!" exclaimed Captain Vernon as
he met us at the gangway and extended his hand, first to Smellie and
then to me. "This is indeed a pleasant surprise--for all hands, I will
venture to say, though Armitage loses his step, at least _pro tem_., in
consequence of your reappearance, Mr Smellie. But he is a good-hearted
fellow, and when he entered my cabin to report you alongside, though he
seemed a trifle incredulous as to your personality, he was as delighted
as a schoolboy at the prospect of a holiday."
Smellie took the skipper's extended hand, and after replying suitably to
his greeting, said:
"I must beg you will excuse Hawkesley, sir, if he gives you his left
instead of his right hand. His starboard shoulder has been disabled to-
night by a pistol-bullet whilst supporting me most intrepidly in the
task of bringing out the schooner."
The skipper seized my left hand with his right, and pressing it
earnestly yet gently, said:
"I am proud and pleased to hear so gratifying an account of you,
Hawkesley. Mr Armitage has already borne witness to your gallantry
during the night attack upon the slavers; and it was with deep and
sincere sorrow that I received the news of your being, with Mr Smellie,
missing. I fear, gentlemen, your friends at home will suffer a great
deal of, happily unnecessary, sorrow at the news which I felt it my duty
to send home; but that can all be repaired by your personally
despatching to them the agreeable intelligence of your both being still
in the land of the living. But what of your hurts? Are they too
serious to be attended to in my cabin? They are not? I am glad to hear
that. Then follow me, both of you, please; for I long to hear where you
have been, what doing all this time, and how you happened to turn up so
opportunely here to-night I will send for Burnett to bring his tools
into my cabin; and you can satisfy my curiosity whilst he is doing the
needful for you. Will you join us, Austin? I'll be bound your ears are
tingling to hear what has befallen these wandering knights."
Thereupon we filed down below in the skipper's wake--I for one being
most heartily thankful to find myself where I could once more sit down
and rest my aching limbs. The skipper's steward brought out some wine
and glasses, and then at Burnett's request--that individual having
promptly turned up--went away to get ready some warm water.
"I think," said our genial medico, turning to me, "_you_ look in most
urgent need of my services, so I will begin with you, young gentleman,
if you please. Now whereabouts are your hurts?"
I told him, and he straightway began to cut away the sleeve of my coat
and shirt, preparatory to more serious operations; whilst Smellie,
drawing his chair up to the table, helped himself to a glass of wine,
and then said:
"Before I begin my story, sir, will you permit me to ask what was the
ultimate result of that most disastrous expedition against the slavers?
I am naturally anxious to know, of course, seeing that upon my shoulders
rests the odium of our failure."
Captain Vernon stared hard at the second lieutenant for a minute, and
then said:
"My dear Smellie, what in the world are you talking about? Disaster!
Odium! Why, man, the expedition was a _success_, not a failure. I
admit that there was, most unfortunately, a very serious loss of life
among the unhappy slaves; but we took the brigantine and afterwards
raised the schooner, with a loss to ourselves of only four killed--now
that you two have turned up. It was a most dashing affair, and
admirably conducted, when we take into consideration the elaborate
preparations which had been evidently made for your reception; and the
_ultimate result_ about which you inquire so anxiously will, I hope, be
a nice little bit of prize-money to all hands, and richly deserved
promotion to yourself, Armitage, and young Williams."
It was now Smellie's turn to look surprised.
"You astonish me, sir," he said. "The last I remember of the affair is
that, after a most stubborn and protracted fight, in which the schooner
was sunk, we succeeded in gaining possession of the brig, only to be
blown out of her a few minutes later, however; and my own impression--
and Hawkesley's too, for that matter, as I afterwards discovered on
comparing notes with him--was that our losses must have amounted to at
least half of the men composing the expedition."
"Well," said Captain Vernon, "I am happy to tell you that you were
mistaken. Our total loss over that affair amounts to four men killed;
but the severity of the fight is amply testified to by the fact that not
one man out of the whole number escaped without a wound of some kind,
more or less serious. They have all recovered, however, I am happy to
say, and we have not at present a sick man in the ship. There can be no
doubt that the slavers somehow received timely notice of our presence in
the river, through the instrumentality of your fair-speaking friend, the
skipper of the _Pensacola_, I strongly suspect, and that they made the
best possible use of the time at their disposal. Had I been as wise
then as I am now my arrangements would have been very different.
However, it is easy to be wise after the event; and I am thankful that
matters turned out so well. And now, I think we are fairly entitled to
hear your story."
Thereupon Smellie launched out into a detailed recital of all that had
befallen us from the moment of the explosion on board the brig up to our
unexpected arrival that same night alongside the _Daphne_. He was
interrupted by countless exclamations of astonishment and sympathy; and
when he had finished there seemed to be no end to the questions which
one and another was anxious to put to him. In the midst of it all,
however, Burnett broke in with the announcement that, having finished
with me, he was ready to attend to the second lieutenant.
The worthy medico's attentions to me had been, as may be gathered from
the fact that they outlasted Smellie's story, of somewhat protracted
duration, and that they were of an exceedingly painful character I can
abundantly testify, the ball having broken my shoulder-blade and then
buried itself among the muscles of the shoulder, whence Burnett insisted
on extracting it, in spite of my protestations that I was quite willing
to postpone that operation to a more convenient season. After much
groping and probing about, however, utterly regardless of the
excruciating agony he thus inflicted upon me, the conscientious Burnett
had at last succeeded in extracting the ball, which he kindly presented
to me as a memento, and then the rest of the work was, comparatively
speaking, plain sailing. My wound was washed, dressed, and made
comfortable; and I was dismissed with a strict injunction to turn-in at
once.
To this the skipper moved, as an amendment, that I be permitted to drink
a single glass of wine before retiring; and whilst I was sipping this
they turned upon me with their questions, with the result that I soon
forgot all about my hammock. At length Captain Vernon said:
"By-the-by, Hawkesley, what sort of a young lady is this Dona Antonia
whom Mr Smellie has mentioned once or twice?"
"She is simply the most lovely creature I have ever seen, sir," I
replied enthusiastically.
"--And my promised wife," jerked in Smellie, in a tone which warned all
hands that there must be no jocularity in connection with the mention of
the dona's name.
"Ho, ho!" ejaculated the skipper with a whistle of surprise. "That is
how the wind blows, is it? Upon my word, Smellie, I heartily
congratulate you upon your conquest. Quite a romantic affair, really.
And pray, Mr Hawkesley, what success have _you_ met with in Cupid's
warfare?"
"None whatever, sir," I replied with a laugh. "The only other lady in
Don Manuel's household was old Dolores, Dona Antonia's attendant, and I
was positively afraid to try the effect of my fascinations upon her."
"Lest you should prove only _too_ successful," laughed the skipper. "By
the way, Smellie, do you think this Don Manuel was quite plain and
above-board with you? I suppose _he_ does nothing in the slave-trading
business, eh?"
"I think not, sir; though he undoubtedly possesses the acquaintance of a
certain Senor Madera, a most suspicious-looking character, whose name I
have already mentioned to you--by the way, Hawkesley, you were evidently
mistaken as to the _Josefa_ belonging to Madera; he was nowhere to be
found on board her."
"What is it, Mr Armitage?" said the skipper just then, as the third
lieutenant made his appearance at the door.
"A vessel, apparently a brig, sir, has just come into view under the
northern shore, evidently having just left the river. She is hugging
the land very closely, keeping well under its shadow, in fact, and has
all the appearance of being anxious to avoid attracting our attention."
The skipper glanced interrogatively at Smellie, who at once responded to
the look by saying:
"The _Black Venus_, without doubt. I expect that our running away with
the _Josefa_ has given them the alarm, and they have determined to slip
out whilst the option remains to them, and take their chance of being
able to give us the slip."
"They shall not do that if I can help it," remarked the skipper
energetically; and, rising to his feet, he gave orders for all hands to
be called forthwith. This broke up the party in the cabin, much to the
gratification of Burnett, who now insisted that both Smellie and I
should retire to our hammocks forthwith, and on no account presume to
leave them again until we had his permission.
I was not very long in undressing, having secured the services of a
marine to assist me in the operation; but before I had gained my hammock
I was rejoined by Keene, a brother mid, whose watch it was below, and
who brought me down the news that the sloop was under weigh and fairly
after the stranger, who, as soon as our canvas dropped from the yards,
had squared away on a westerly course with the wind on her quarter and a
whole cloud of studding-sails set to windward.
What with the excitement of finding myself once more among so many
friends and the pain of my wound it was some time before I succeeded in
getting to sleep that night; and before I did so the _Daphne_ was
rolling like an empty hogshead, showing how rapidly she had run off the
land and into the sea knocked up by the gale.
When I awoke next morning the wind had dropped to a considerable extent,
the sea had gone down, and the ship was a great deal steadier under her
canvas. I was most anxious to leave my hammock and go on deck, but this
Burnett would not for a moment consent to; my wound was very much
inflamed and exceedingly painful, the result, doubtless, of the probing
for the bullet on the night before; and instead of being allowed to turn
out I was removed in my hammock, just as I was, to the sick bay. I was
ordered to keep very quiet, but I managed to learn, nevertheless, that
the chase was still in sight directly ahead, about nine miles distant,
and that, though she certainly was not running away from us, there
seemed to be little hope of our overtaking her for some time to come.
Matters remained in this unsatisfactory state for the next five days,
the _Daphne_ keeping the chase in sight during the whole of that time,
but failing to come up with her. The distance between the two vessels
varied according to the weather, the chase appearing to have the best of
it in a strong breeze, whilst the _Daphne_ was slightly the faster of
the two in light airs. Unfortunately for us, the wind continued very
nearly dead fair, or about three points on our starboard quarter,
whereas the sloop seemed to do best with the wind abeam. We would not
have objected even to a moderate breeze dead in our teeth, our craft
being remarkably fast on a taut bowline; and as day after day went by
without any apparent prospect of an end of the chase the barometer was
anxiously watched, in the hope that before long we should be favoured
with a change of weather.
On the morning of the fifth day I was so much better that, acceding to
my urgent request, Burnett consented, with many doubtful shakes of the
head, to my leaving my hammock and taking the air on deck for an hour or
two. I accordingly dressed as rapidly as possible, and got on deck just
in time to catch sight of the chase, about six miles distant, before a
sea mist settled down on the scene, which soon effectually concealed her
from our view. This was particularly exasperating, since, the wind
having dropped to about a five-knot breeze, we had been slowly but
perceptibly gaining on her for the last three or four hours; and now,
when at length there appeared a prospect of overtaking her, a chance to
elude us in the fog had presented itself. Of course it was utterly
impossible to guess what ruse so wary a foe would resort to, but that he
would have recourse to one of some kind was a moral certainty. Captain
Vernon at once took counsel with his first and second lieutenants as to
what course it would be most advisable to adopt under the circumstances,
and it was at last decided to put the ship upon a wind, and make short
tacks to the eastward until the fog should clear, it being thought
highly probable that the chase would likewise double back upon her
former course in the hope of our running past her in the fog.
The studding-sails were accordingly taken in, and the ship brought to
the wind on the starboard tack. We made short reaches, tacking every
hour, and had gone about for the third time when, just as the men were
coiling up the ropes fore and aft, the look-out reported:
"Sail, ho! straight ahead. Hard up, sir, or you will be into her."
Mr Austin, who had charge of the deck, sprang upon a gun, and peered
out eagerly ahead.
"Hard over, my man, _hard_ over!" he exclaimed excitedly; then
continued, after a moment of breathless suspense:
"All clear, all clear! we have _just_ missed her, and that is all. By
Jove, Hawkesley, that was a narrow squeak, eh? Why, it is surely the
_Vestale_! _Vestale_ ahoy!"
"Hillo!" was the response from the other craft, indubitably the brig
which we had fallen in with shortly after our first look into the Congo,
and which we had been given to understand was the _Vestale_, French gun-
brig.
"Have you sighted a sail of any kind to-day?" hailed Austin.
"Non, mon Dieu! We have not nevaire seen a sail until now since we
leave Sierra Leone four weeks ago."
This ended the communication between the two ships, the _Vestale_--or
whatever she was--disappearing again into the fog before the last words
of the reply to our question had been uttered.
"Well," said Mr Austin, as he jumped down off the gun, "I am
disappointed. When I first caught sight of that craft close under our
bows I thought for a moment that we had made a clever guess; that the
chase had doubled on her track, and that, by a lucky accident, we had
stumbled fairly upon her in the fog. But as soon as I caught sight of
the white figure-head and the streak round her sides I saw that I was
mistaken. Well, we _may_ drop upon the fellow yet. I would give a ten-
pound note this instant if the fog would only lift."
"I cannot understand it for the life of me," I replied in a dazed sort
of way, as I stepped gingerly down off the gun upon which I, like the
first lieutenant, had jumped in the first of the excitement.
Mr Austin looked at me questioningly.
"What is it that you cannot understand, Hawkesley?" he asked.
"That brig--the _Vestale_, as she calls herself--and all connected with
her," I answered.
"Why, what _is_ there to understand about her? Or rather, what is there
that is incomprehensible about her?" he asked sharply.
"_Everything_," I replied eagerly. "In the first place, we have only
the statement of one man--and he a member of her own crew--that she
actually _is_ the veritable _Vestale_, French gun-brig, which we know to
be cruising in these waters. Secondly, her very extraordinary
resemblance to the _Black Venus_, which, as you are aware, I have seen,
absolutely _compels_ me, against my better judgment, to the belief that
the two brigs are, in some mysterious way, intimately associated
together, if, indeed, they are not absolutely _one and the same vessel_.
And thirdly, my suspicion that the latter is the case receives strong
confirmation from the fact that on _both_ occasions when we have been
after the one--the _Black Venus_--we have encountered the other--the
_Vestale_."
Mr Austin stared at me in a very peculiar way for a few minutes, and
then said:
"Well, Hawkesley, your last assertion is undoubtedly true; but what does
it prove? It can be nothing more than a curious coincidence."
"So I have assured myself over and over again, when my suspicions were
strengthened by the first occurrence of the coincidence; and so I shall
doubtless assure myself over and over again during the next few days," I
replied. "But if a coincidence only it is certainly curious that it
should have occurred on two occasions."
"I am not quite prepared to admit that," said the first lieutenant.
"And, then, as to the remarkable resemblance between the two vessels, do
you not think, now, honestly, Hawkesley, that your very extraordinary
suspicions may have magnified that resemblance?"
"No," said I; "I do not. I only wish Mr Smellie had been on deck just
now to have caught a glimpse of that inexplicable brig; he would have
borne convincing testimony to the marvellous likeness between them.
Why, sir, but for the white ribbon round the one, and the difference in
the figure-heads, the two craft would be positively indistinguishable;
so completely so, indeed, that poor Richards was actually unable to
believe the evidence of his own senses, and, I firmly believe, was
convinced of the identity of the two vessels."
"Indeed!" said Mr Austin in a tone of great surprise. "That is news to
me. So Richards shared your suspicions, did he?"
"He did, indeed, sir," I replied. "It was, in fact, his extraordinary
demeanour on the occasion of our second encounter with the _Vestale_--
you will remember the circumstance, sir?--which confirmed my suspicions;
suspicions which, up to then, I had attributed solely to some aberration
of fancy on my part. Then, again, when we questioned the skipper of the
_Pensacola_ relative to the _Black Venus_ and the _Vestale_, how evasive
were his replies!"
"Look here, Hawkesley; you have interested me in spite of myself," said
Mr Austin. "If you are not too tired I should like you to tell me the
whole history of these singular suspicions of yours from the very moment
of their birth."
"I will, sir, with pleasure. They arose with Monsieur Le Breton's visit
to us on the occasion of our first falling in with the _Vestale_," I
replied. And then having at last finally broached the subject which had
been for so long a secret source of mental disquiet to me, I fully
detailed to the first luff all those suspicious circumstances--trifling
in themselves but important when regarded collectively--which I have
already confided to the reader. When I had finished he remained silent
for a long time, nearly a quarter of an hour I should think, with his
hands clasped behind his back and his eyes bent on the deck, evidently
cogitating deeply. Finally he emerged from his abstraction with a
start, cast an eye aloft at the sails, and then turning to me said:
"You have given me something to think about now with a vengeance,
Hawkesley. If indeed your suspicions as to the honesty of the _Vestale_
should prove well-founded, your mention of them and the acute perception
which caused you in the first instance to entertain them will constitute
a very valuable service--for which I will take care that you get full
credit--and may very possibly lead to the final detection and
suppression of a series of hitherto utterly unaccountable transactions
of a most nefarious character. At all events we can do no harm by
keeping a wary eye upon this alleged _Vestale_ for the future, and I
will make it my business to invent some plausible pretext for boarding
her on the first opportunity which presents itself. And now I think you
have been on deck quite as long as is good for you, so away you go below
again and get back to your hammock. Such a wound as yours is not to be
trifled with in this abominable climate; and you know,"--with a smile
half good-humoured and half satirical--"we must take every possible care
of a young gentleman who seems destined to teach us, from the captain
downwards, our business. There, now, don't look hurt, my lad; you did
quite right in speaking to me, and I am very much obliged to you for so
doing; I only regret that you did not earlier make me your confidant.
Now away you go below at once."
I of course did dutifully as I was bidden, and, truth to tell, was by no
means sorry to regain my hammock, having soon found that my strength was
by no means as great as I had expected. That same night I suffered from
a considerable accession of fever, and in fine was confined to my
hammock for rather more than three weeks from that date, at the end of
which I became once more convalescent, and--this time observing proper
precautions and a strict adherence to the doctor's orders--finally
managed to get myself reported as once more fit for duty six weeks from
the day on which Smellie and I rejoined the _Daphne_. I may as well
here mention that the fog which so inopportunely enveloped us on the day
of my conversation with Mr Austin did not clear away until just before
sunset; and when it did the horizon was clear all round us, no trace of
a sail being visible in any direction from our main-royal yard.