One morning, towards the termination of breakfast, Jack Rogers was
leaning back in his chair, with a bit of buttered toast in one hand and
the _Times_ in the other, on the contents of which he was making a
running commentary, when he stopped short, put down his toast, took a
hurried sip of his tea, and exclaimed, "So my old skipper has got a ship
again, and they say is going out as commodore to the coast of Africa."
"Dear me!" observed Mrs Rogers, "I am afraid that Captain Lascelles
will not like that; I should always have such a horror of that dreadful
station."
"Oh, mother, don't pray entertain such a notion as that," said Jack,
with no little emphasis. "There is in the first place plenty of work to
be done there, which in these piping times of peace is a great
consideration. Only think of the fun of capturing a slaver, and what is
more, of getting an independent command; or at least that is of a prize,
you know, and being away from one's ship for weeks together. And then
there is cruising in open boats, and exploring rivers, and fights with
pirates or slavers; perhaps a skirmish with the dependents of some
nigger potentate, and fifty other sorts of adventures, not to speak of
prize-money and all that sort of thing, you know. Oh, to my mind, the
coast of Africa is one of the best stations in the world, in spite of
what is said against it."
When Jack made this assertion, he had never been there. He talked on
till he had worked himself up to a fit of enthusiasm, and almost made
his family believe that the African station was not so bad a one after
all. The truth was that when Captain Lascelles paid off the _Racer_ he
promised Jack that should he get another ship soon he would apply for
him, and Jack therefore felt pretty certain that he should himself be
very soon on station, and he of course was anxious to prevent his
parents or sisters from feeling any undue anxiety on his account. He
could not sit down or turn his mind to anything all day till he
discovered a copy of the _Cruise of the Midge_, over the graphic pages
of which he was observed to be intently poring; and then he went and
routed out of the library one or two books descriptive of the west coast
of Africa. At dinner he could talk of nothing else but the Gold Coast,
and the Ivory Coast, and Congo, and other places in those regions.
"Why, Jack, we might suppose that you were contemplating going out there
from the way you talk about those places," observed one of his brothers,
who wanted to bring some other subject on the tapis.
"And so of course I am," exclaimed Jack. "I should like to stay at home
among you all; but as I have chosen a profession, and there is not
another like it, I hope to stick to it, and I intend always to look out
where there is most work to be done, and to go there."
"My dear child," said his mother, "but not to the coast of Africa."
Then Jack went into all the arguments in its favour, which he flattered
himself had made so favourable an impression at breakfast, but which he
found had all been forgotten, while the original very natural prejudice
against it had once more asserted a pre-eminence in the minds of his
family.
The next morning Jack was unusually fidgety till the post came in, and
there was a blank look on his countenance when the post-bag was opened
and it produced no letter for him. Soon after breakfast, however,
Admiral Triton's carriage drove up to the door, and out of it stepped
the admiral himself. He quickly stumped into the drawing-room, and
having made his salaams to the ladies, produced an official-looking
document from his pocket. Jack had followed him eagerly into the room.
"Here, my boy," said he, "is a letter from my friend Lascelles, your old
captain. He says--let me see what he says. Oh! here it is. `I cannot
find the address of Jack Rogers, so pray tell him to come down to
Portsmouth at once and join the _Ranger_. I have just been appointed to
her, to go out as commodore on the African station. Let his outfit be
got ready accordingly. I have no doubt that he will find some
opportunity of distinguishing himself; and as he has already served four
years, there is a fair chance of his getting his promotion when he
returns home.' The rest is private," observed the admiral, when he had
concluded this somewhat laconic epistle. "And now, Jack, I congratulate
you, my lad," he continued. "You have been quite long enough on shore
to rub up your shore manners, and that is as long as a midshipman ought
to remain at home. How soon shall you be ready?"
"In ten days or a fortnight I think that I could get his shirts and
flannel waistcoats made, and his socks marked, and his--"
"I beg your pardon, my dear madam, but by that time the _Ranger_ may be
halfway across the Bay of Biscay. Ten or fourteen hours you should say.
He must go and see his ship fitted out. He'll never be at home in her
unless he does. Well, well, then the day after to-morrow I intend to go
down with him. I enjoyed my last trip so much that I would not miss the
opportunity of seeing him on board his new ship. I know what you would
say, my dear madam, but a longer delay would be objectionable. Rogers
will agree with me. There, it is settled, so let us say no more about
the matter."
Thus Jack found himself, more speedily than he expected, about to go
once more afloat. That afternoon, in company with two of his brothers
and his sister Mary, he galloped round and paid his farewells to his
friends in the neighbourhood; and then his chest was packed, the
contents of which all the womankind in and out of the house, for a long
way round, had been employed without cessation, night and day, in
getting ready. So when the admiral, as he had done four years before,
drove up to the door, he was perfectly ready to accompany him. Jack did
his best to keep up the spirits of his mother and sister to the last,
though just as he was going they gave way, and he himself was nearly
upset. All the fighting he had seen had not hardened his heart. Away
he and the admiral went down to Portsmouth. The next morning they were,
soon after breakfast, on board the _Ranger_, then fitting out alongside
a hulk. She was a six and thirty gun frigate, no great improvement on
the _Racer_, but still a ship which an actively disposed officer might
well be glad to get. Several of the officers had already joined, and
the admiral made a few favourable remarks about Jack, which placed him
at once in a favourable light in their eyes. Captain Lascelles, who was
living on shore, welcomed him very kindly, and Jack was very well
pleased with what he saw of his future companions. The third lieutenant
of the frigate had not been appointed. However, three or four days
after Jack had joined, who should make his appearance but old Hemming,
who had, on the paying off of the _Racer_, got his somewhat tardy
promotion. Jack did not know that he was promoted, and was not a little
pleased to find that he was their third lieutenant. Jack had written to
Adair and Murray directly he found that he was appointed to the
_Ranger_, urging them to exert all their interest to get appointed to
her likewise, but he had not yet heard from either of them. One was in
Ireland, the other in Scotland. Hemming laughed when he told him what
he had done.
"Their friends may take some trouble to get them on board a ship going
to the Mediterranean, or to keep them on the Home station; but depend on
it they will not bestir themselves to have them sent out to the Coast,"
he remarked.
Captain Lascelles' character was well-known, so he soon got his ship
manned and ready for sea. Admiral Triton had gone over to the Isle of
Wight, and now came off to Spithead to see the last of them. There was
still room for another midshipman. They were expecting every day to
sail, and Jack was in despair at not hearing from either of his friends,
wondering what would have become of them, when a shore-boat was seen
coming off to the ship, and Paddy Adair and his chest came up the side.
"Hurrah!" exclaimed Jack, as soon as he saw him; "that is jolly. But I
say, old fellow, where is Murray? I wish that he was here too."
Adair could not tell, and they puzzled their brains in vain to account
for his silence. The topsails were loosed, the capstan was manned, and
to a merry tune the men were running round and heaving up the anchor,
and as the fine old admiral was shaking hands with all he knew on board
just before stepping into his boat, Jack could scarcely persuade himself
that four years had passed over his head since, with the exception that
Murray was not present as one of the _dramatis persona_, precisely the
same scene had been enacted. The _Ranger_ had a quick run to Sierra
Leone, where her arrival was welcomed with very great delight by all on
board the ship she came to relieve. The frigate at last cast anchor
opposite Freetown, and Jack and Adair were allowed with several of the
officers to go on shore.
They were surprised at finding so large and flourishing a town, with a
population, although the greater number are black or coloured, so
generally intelligent and well off. They saw churches, and colleges,
and schools, and places of education of all sorts. They were told that
many of the negroes liberated from slavers have become wealthy, and that
the sons of men who landed on those shores twenty years ago ignorant
savages, are now receiving a first-rate education, and studying Latin,
Greek, and Hebrew, many of them diligently preparing for becoming
ministers of the gospel. Freetown, built on rising ground, close to the
sea, has a very picturesque appearance. Jack and Adair were also struck
with the number of people who came into the town to trade, and with the
signs of industry everywhere visible. However, they were not sorry to
find themselves once more at sea, with a sharp lookout kept night and
day for slavers. The officers were in general very different in
appearance from those in the _Racer_, though they were all very good
sort of fellows. The oddest looking was Dr McCan, the surgeon. He was
a jovial-faced short man, and from having lived a life of ease on shore
he had grown enormously fat. As he had also got into a very comfortable
practice, he did not at all like coming to sea, but at the same time, as
he was a true philosopher, instead of moaning and groaning, he tried to
make himself as happy as under the circumstances he was able. The first
lieutenant was a veteran of the old school, tall and thin, but as lithe
and agile as he had been when he was twenty years younger. He was
constantly employed, because every captain who knew him wanted him as
his first lieutenant, and so, because he was so very good in that
capacity, John Holt remained still a lieutenant. He did not complain
beyond an occasional grumble; indeed those who knew him suspected that
he rather preferred being looked on as one of the best first lieutenants
instead of holding a higher rank, when he would have had to remain on
shore and be forgotten. The second lieutenant and master were both
rough and ready seamen, short, strongly-built men, with light hair, and
large bushy whiskers and beard; they were wonderfully like each other.
The purser was one of the most gentlemanly and best educated men in the
ship. The marine officer was also a very excellent fellow, but he
squinted awfully, which made him carry his head somewhat on one side;
and his face was broad and strongly seamed with lines, which twisted in
a way that made him look as if he was always laughing. He however did
laugh very frequently, more especially at his own jokes, which, if not
always original, were very amusing. In the midshipmen's berth there
were several mates of long standing, who had come out on the station in
the hopes of getting their promotion, while besides Rogers and Adair
there were three other midshipmen, with their usual complement of other
grades. The frigate lay long enough off Freetown to make every one
rejoice to find themselves once more at sea. Lookouts were constantly
aloft on the watch for slavers. They had not been at sea many days,
when the exciting cry of "Sail ho!" was heard from the mast-head.
Several of the officers were soon seen going up the rigging with their
spy-glasses slung over their shoulders to look out for the stranger.
She was made out to be a ship dead to leeward. All sail was instantly
made in chase--she might be a merchantman, or possibly a man-of-war; but
that was not likely, and Captain Lascelles had received information that
a large slave-ship was expected off the coast. It was not till nearly
an hour had elapsed that the stranger bore up and made sail to escape.
This left no doubt as to her character, and every one looked forward to
the capture of an important prize. The frigate sailed remarkably well,
but a stern chase is a long chase, and several hours more passed before
the topsails of the stranger were seen above the horizon. Jack and
Terence could scarcely tear themselves from the deck even to go below to
dinner.
"I say, Paddy," observed the former, "I wonder whether you or I shall be
sent away in her when we take her. Will Hemming go in command, or will
one of the mates?--Lee or Weedon, perhaps."
"Let us catch our hare before we eat her," said Adair. "I tell you what
I do wish; that we were in a smaller craft, and then you and I would
have a chance of getting sent away together. Wouldn't that be fun?"
Jack agreed that it would, but both of them began to look very blank
when darkness closed in on them, and the chase was still several miles
ahead. When the frigate first made out the chase she was standing to
the eastward, and was about a hundred miles off Cape Palmas. She was
then running towards the Bight of Biafra. Captain Lascelles kept the
frigate on nearly the same course, edging slightly in towards the land,
for he suspected that the ship was bound in for one of the harbours on
the Gold or Slave-Coast, and would probably stand in towards the land
during the night. Neither of the midshipmen turned in that night. The
thought that they were about to take their first prize kept, indeed,
many others out of their hammocks, and sharp eyes were on the watch for
her in every direction during the night. In spite of their sharpness,
however, not a sign of the chase could be discovered. Yet as she was
not seen on either hand, the probabilities were that she was still
ahead.
"Do you know, Terence, this reminds me of the time when we chased the
Turkish frigate which had you on board off the Egyptian coast," said
Jack. "I only hope that we may be more fortunate, and catch her before
she gets on shore and blows up."
"I shall be glad if we can catch her on the water, or earth, or sky,"
answered Terence. "These slavers are slippery fellows, and it is no
easy matter to get hold of them."
The night wore on. When the morning at length broke the mast-heads were
crowded with visitors. They rubbed their eyes and their telescopes, and
then looked through the latter, and rubbed and rubbed again; and then
they pulled very long faces at each other, for the ship could nowhere be
seen. Many of them remained aloft, still looking for her, but at last
they came down and looked at each other, and voted themselves sold.
However, they went to breakfast, and as they walked the deck after it
they hoped that they might have better luck next time.
The men's dinner was just over, when once more everybody was put on the
alert by hearing "Sail ho!" sung out from the mast-head.
"Where away?" asked Captain Lascelles, who was walking the deck at the
time.
"Right ahead, sir," was the answer.
The captain himself went aloft. When he came down again he told Mr
Holt that he believed she was the identical ship they had chased the
previous day. The frigate rapidly got up with her.
"How jolly to think that we shall catch her after all," exclaimed Jack,
as they got near enough to the chase to see halfway down her courses.
"But what is the matter with her? She seems to have altered her
course."
"She is becalmed, to be sure," answered Lieutenant Hemming, who heard
the question. "Daddy Neptune has brought her up all standing, to place
her as a punishment in our power. I only hope he will not make a
mistake and becalm us till we get up to her."
In another hour or less the stranger was seen floating in the middle of
a shining sheet of water of silvery hue. Still the frigate carried on
the breeze. It was a question whether the stranger would get it, and
perhaps make a fresh start, leaving her pursuer in the lurch. The
excitement on board the frigate became greater than ever when the
stranger was seen, for there was no longer any doubt about her
character. Her taut masts, her square yards, the great hoist of her
topsails, and her light cotton canvas, all showed her to be a slaver,
probably combined with the occupation of a pirate. Gradually the wind
decreased as the frigate neared her; when within about a couple of miles
it fell a dead calm. Captain Lascelles gave a rapid glance round the
horizon, and then ordered away the first and second cutters with a large
whale-boat, and directed the second and third lieutenants and one of the
mates to join them. Jack and Terence got leave to accompany Mr
Hemming. It was very evident, from the appearance of the stranger, that
she would give them some tough work before they took her. With loud
cheers the expedition shoved off from the frigate's side and pulled away
for the ship. The three boats contained altogether from five and thirty
to forty hands. It was broad daylight. There would have been no use in
disguising their intentions. If the slaver attempted to defend herself
at all, they might well expect some desperate fighting, and from her
appearance it could scarcely be expected that she would do otherwise.
Hemming's boat, which pulled the fastest, got the lead. The men every
now and then gave a cheer to animate each other. They rapidly neared
the slaver, as the smooth shining water bubbled and hissed under the
boats' bows. Oh, how hot it was, as the sun's rays came directly down
on their heads; but no one thought of the heat, and they laughed and
joked as if they were employed in some amusing occupation.
"I say, Paddy, I think we could do a beefsteak brown on these
stern-sheets," observed Jack, putting his hand down by his side.
"That to be sure we might," answered Terence. "And here comes the
pepper for them," he added, as the pirate sent a shower of round shot,
grape, and canister flying around, and stirring up the water on every
side, though fortunately no one was hit.
"Give it them in return, my lads," cried the second lieutenant;
"marines, fire."
The marines were not slow in obeying the order, and as the seamen bent
to their oars, they continued firing away as fast as they could load.
The slaver's crew had evidently hopes of crippling their adversaries,
for they kept up a brisk and well-directed fire; but, hot as it was, the
gallant British tars were undaunted.
"That dark ship has, perhaps, four or five hundred poor wretches under
hatches whom it is our business to set free," cried Lieutenant Hemming.
"And then, my boys, if we do take her, what a lot of prize-money we
shall get? Hurrah! hurrah!"
Hemming had been too long at sea not to know how to excite the spirit of
seamen.
"We shall have some tough work, hurrah! hurrah! You'll knock over some
of those pirates, depend on it."
Each officer excited his men by similar cries. Their only fear was that
a breeze might spring up, and that the enemy might escape them.
However, though they pulled hard, nearly half an hour passed from the
time the first shot was fired till they got up to the ship.
"What an ugly set of cut-throats the fellows are," said Adair, pointing
to the people who crowded the pirate's deck. "Let's be at them, Jack."
Jack was quite ready to respond to the proposal. The two other boats
boarded on the starboard side, amid a hot fire of langrage of all sorts
poured down upon them. Hemming pulled up on the port bow, sprang up the
side, and soon fought his way upon deck. Jack and Adair were climbing
in at one of the ports when the pirates fired the gun through it
directly over their heads.
"Come on, Paddy, come on," Jack sang out; but Adair had been knocked
over into the bottom of the boat.
Happily, however, he was only kilt, as the Irish say; so he clambered up
again, and quickly followed his friend, accompanied by Dick Needham, who
had joined the _Ranger_, and another seaman.
Fortunate it was for the midshipmen that they had so stout and true a
seaman as Dick Needham as their companion; for they encountered a
desperate resistance from the pirates, and were instantly engaged in
furious hand-to-hand combats. Meantime, so surrounded were they by
their enemies, that they could not tell what had become of the rest of
their shipmates. More than once they were nearly driven back through
the port by which they had entered. Jack saved Adair from an ugly cut
on the head, and Adair in return saved Jack from being run through the
body, by cutting down the pirate who was making the attempt to do it.
Both of them, as well as Dick Needham, were nearly exhausted, and poor
Tom Bowles, their companion, had received a wound which brought him to
the deck, when Hemming's voice was heard above their heads, and he
leaped down from the forecastle, off which he had driven the enemy.
With loud cheers he led on his men; the pirates gave way before them.
Then Lieutenant Collard and Randall were seen fighting their way from
aft. The pirates looked about them, and seeing enemies on every side,
gave way, some leaping below, and some throwing themselves overboard.
Fully a dozen pirates were killed, and a still greater number were
wounded. Many did not even ask for quarter. Others threw themselves on
their knees, as their captors followed them below, and entreated that
their lives might be spared. The victory was not gained without loss.
A marine and two seamen were killed and five were wounded, a large
proportion out of the number composing the expedition. No sooner were
the decks cleared than a terrific howl was heard from below. Mr
Hemming rushed to the hold; just at that moment a whole host of negroes
were seen emerging from it. He was barely in time to drive them back
again.
"I know the rascally slavers' trick," he exclaimed; "they have been
telling the poor wretches that we are going to murder them; and if they
once had gained the deck, we should have had no little difficulty in
preventing them from murdering us."
Then looking down the hold on the heaving mass of black humanity, he
cried out, "Hear me, you piratical rascals; if you don't make those poor
negro fellows understand that we are their friends, and have come to set
them free, we'll hang every one of you at your own yard-arms before ten
minutes." He knew that many of the crew understood English perfectly,
indeed that some of them were English and Americans.
The pirates, finding that their plot was defeated, wisely came on deck,
having explained to the slaves that no harm was going to happen to them.
As they came up they were secured by the manacles which they had
prepared for their unhappy captives. Some time was thus employed, and
at length a breeze sprang up, and the frigate was seen bearing down upon
them. The prisoners looked very blank when they found that they were to
be transferred to her. The gallantry of every one engaged was warmly
commended by Captain Lascelles. Hemming got the command of the prize,
and to their great delight Jack and Terence were allowed to remain in
her. The frigate and her prize then made sail together for Sierra
Leone. They kept close in with the land in the hopes of picking up
another prize. Before, however, they got round Cape Palmas they met
with a strong westerly gale, which compelled them to bring up in a
sheltered bay, which is to be found some way to the eastward of it. The
scenery was not very interesting. Near them was a narrow neck of sand,
with a few palm-trees on it, and a muddy lagoon on the other side.
Still, men who have been long aboard are glad to find anything like firm
ground on which to stretch their legs. Now the surgeon and the
lieutenant of marines were constantly joking each other as to which of
them possessed the greatest physical powers. If one boasted he had
ridden fifty miles without stopping, the other had always gone ten miles
farther. If one had leaped over a wide ditch, the other had leaped over
one five feet wider, or if one said he had kept up a Scotch reel for an
hour, the other had danced one for a quarter of an hour longer.
"I'll tell you what, doctor," explained Lieutenant Stokes; "I'll
undertake to race you for a mile, each of us carrying another person on
our backs."
"Done," cried Doctor McCan; "it shall come off at once. I'll take Adair
as my jockey; you can take whom you like." Adair was the lightest
midshipman on board, and the doctor thought that by getting him he had
stolen a march on his military competitor.
"Agreed," answered Lieutenant Stokes, cocking his squinting eye in the
most ludicrous way. "I'll take Rogers. He's a bit heavier than Adair,
but I don't mind that. As you had the first choice of a rider, I must
choose the ground. From the extreme end of that spit of land to the
palm-trees near the neck is, I guess, about a mile." This was said
while the frigate and her prize were brought up on their voyage to
Sierra Leone. Doctor McCan looked at the white spit of sand, and
thought what heavy work it would be running over it; but he felt that he
was in honour bound to keep to the proposed terms. A party was soon
made up to go on shore, and all hands looked forward to the fun they
expected to enjoy from the exhibition. They had first to pull alongside
the prize to call for Rogers and Adair. Hemming gave them leave to go,
and they of course were nothing loath to accept the invitation. What
Captain Lascelles would have thought of the matter I don't know. He
might have considered that the exhibition of an officer of marines
racing with a midshipman on his back was somewhat subversive of
discipline. There was no surf on the shore, and the boats landed
without difficulty. The ground was measured by the umpires. It was
from the end of the point round the palm-trees and back again about a
quarter of the distance to make up the mile. The doctor felt the sand
with his feet. It was very fine and soft, and he began to repent of his
proposal.
"Now, gentlemen, take up your burdens and be ready at the
starting-post," said the master, who was chief umpire. They went to the
ground, tossing up the midshipmen to make them sit comfortably on their
backs.
"Now--one, two, three, and away you go!" cried the master.
Off they went, the marine officer prancing away with Jack in the pride
of his strength, while the doctor ploughed his way steadily on through
the sand, finding, even with Adair, that he had rather more flesh and
blood to carry than was pleasant. Still Mr Stokes did not gain upon
him. He too found that Rogers was no slight weight, though he was only
a midshipman--as Jack said of himself, "All that is of me is good." For
some time they were neck and neck. Hot enough they found it, for the
sun was bright, the sand was soft, there was but little air, and what
there was was in their backs. They were lightly clad, to be sure; but
had they worn as little clothing as the most unsophisticated of negroes,
they would have found it hot enough. They puffed, and they blew, and
they strained, but still they persevered. At first neither Rogers nor
Adair cared much about the matter, but they soon got as excited as the
men who carried them, and eager for their respective steeds to win.
"I say, doctor," observed Adair, after they had gone about half the
distance, "the sand inside of us there, along the lagoon, looks hard.
It would not take us much out of our way if we were to go there, and you
would then get along famously." Terence intended to give good counsel,
and the doctor followed it. To his great delight he found the ground
hard, and was getting on at a great rate. Jack urged Mr Stokes to take
the same route.
"Stay a bit; all is not gold that glitters," was the answer. "That's
treacherous sort of ground."
"But see, see how magnificently they get along," cried Jack, again
wishing that he had a bridle to guide his refractory steed.
All this time the umpires and other spectators were keeping up merry
shouts of laughter.
"There they go," shouted Jack; "they will be round the trees in no
time."
Just as he spoke there was a loud hullabaloo from Terence, echoed by the
doctor. Over they both went head first, but the doctor's heels did not
follow, for they had stuck fast in the mud, into which poor Terence's
head plunged with a loud thud. The doctor heroically endeavoured to
pull him out, but his own legs only stuck deeper and deeper. As the
marine officer came up and passed by them, he began capering about and
neighing in triumph, while Jack barbarously inquired whether they would
like to have a tow. At last Terence, covered with mud, black and most
ill-odorous, scrambled out, and, by throwing to him the end of his
handkerchief, contrived to haul out the doctor, who once more took him
on his shoulders, and in sorry plight continued his course. Jack looked
round and saw them coming just as Mr Stokes was about to round the
palm-trees. He crowed loudly and waved his hand. It would have been
wiser, however, if he had not begun to triumph so soon, for his steed's
foot catching in a falling and half-hidden branch, over they both went,
and were half buried and almost stifled in the soft hot sand. However,
they picked themselves up; and, Jack, mounting, away they went towards
the goal where their friends were ready to receive them. Just as they
got up to it, down came the gallant marine once more, but Jack stuck to
his back, and on all fours he crawled up to the winning-post. The poor
doctor, with Terence, as Jack said, like a huge baboon clinging behind
him, came in soon after; and the doctor declared that it was the last
time, with or without a jockey, he would ever run a race on the shores
of Africa or anywhere else. In the afternoon the blacks in parties were
taken on shore under an armed escort to bathe and exercise themselves;
and the next day, the wind shifting, the frigate and captured slaver
again made sail for their destination.
"The frigate is signalising to us," said Jack one morning to Lieutenant
Hemming, who had just come on deck. "She is going in chase of a sail to
the southward. We are to continue our course for Sierra Leone."
In a couple of hours the frigate was out of sight. There appeared to be
every promise of fine weather.
Hemming's chief concern was for the blacks, who were sickly. Several
had already died, and not a day passed without four or five being added
to the number. It was important, therefore, to make the passage as
quickly as possible. For this object the commanding officer kept
probably more sail on the ship than she would otherwise have carried.
Jack one afternoon had charge of the watch; all seemed satisfactory. As
he was taking a turn on deck, he saw Dick Needham hurrying towards him
and pointing to the sea to leeward. It was a mass of white foam. He
shouted out, "All hands shorten sail!"
Hemming and Adair rushed out of the cabin. Hemming without speaking
seized an axe, and began cutting away at the halyards; Adair and Jack
followed his example. The crew flew into the rigging with their knives,
but it was too late. The tornado was upon them; over went the ship;
down, down she heeled. The seething water rushed in at her ports.
Shrieks and cries arose from the unhappy negroes confined below. Jack
and Needham's first impulse was to knock off the hatches, and a few
blacks sprang on deck before the sea closed over their heads.
"The ship is sinking, the ship is sinking," was the cry fore and aft.
"Then a raft must be formed, my lads," sang out Lieutenant Hemming.
"Never say die, while life remains."