While Jack Rogers, with Lieutenant Evans and his unfortunate boat's
crew, took the southern branch of the river, Mr Hemming, with Murray
and Adair, pulled away in the boat up the northern channel, each party
believing that they were following the track of the schooner of which
they were in search. On dashed Lieutenant Hemming's boat, the crew, as
British seamen always will when work is to be done, bending bravely to
their oars. They also, as had the other boat, met a strong current.
"Hurrah, my lads, hurrah!" shouted the lieutenant, bending forward
almost mechanically to give time to their strokes. "If the chase has
gone up the channel, we must take care that she does not creep away from
us, that is all."
"Ay, ay, sir," answered Dick Needham. "No fear but we'll hunt her up if
she is above water."
In a chase on shore some signs discernible either by the eyes or the
olfactory nerves are perceptible by which the pursuers may be guided,
but the gallant seamen had only hope on this occasion to lead them on.
That, however, was enough. The scenery of this branch was as monotonous
as that of the other. Mangrove bushes, with a few tall palms appearing
over them, lined the banks, and here and there an opening left blank by
nature, or perhaps made by the dark-skinned natives.
"I wonder if, after all, the schooner did come up this way," observed
Paddy Adair sagaciously. "If she went up the other, I don't think she
could."
His remark of course produced a laugh. No great amount of wit was
required to do that. They looked about in every direction, to discover
some one from whom they might obtain information, but no one was seen.
"It is not very likely the black fellows would trouble themselves with
telling us the truth, so it doesn't much matter," said Paddy. "They are
all in league with the slavers, from the king who dresses up on great
occasions in a cocked-hat, top-boots, and an old blanket, to poor
Quasho, who has never had his nakedness covered since he was born."
Notwithstanding their want of success, still they perseveringly pulled
on.
Suddenly Murray put his hand on Adair's shoulder, pointing at the same
time with the other ahead. "I say, Terence, what do you see away there
at the end of the reach?" he asked. "Does it not look to you like the
stern of a vessel?"
"So like it that it must be one," said Hemming. "Hurrah! the slaver
must be ours after all."
Just at that moment the sound of firearms coming from a distance was
heard, borne faintly on the wind through an opening in the mangrove
bushes. Shot after shot followed. "The other boat must have fallen in
with some of the rascals; the two channels cannot be far apart,"
exclaimed Mr Hemming. "Give way, my lads, give way."
He could not help in his eagerness saying this, although the men were
already pulling as hard as they could. He was eagerly looking about all
the time for some passage through which they might get to the assistance
of their comrades. The boat dashed on up the river, and very soon they
came in sight of a schooner moored close to the bank of a small creek.
They were quickly up to her and mounting her sides. No one opposed
them, and not a human being was to be seen. There were, however,
evident signs that people had only just left her. A stage of planks led
from her deck to the shore. Her sails were bent, her anchor stowed, she
was in perfect readiness for sea. A hurried glance below showed that
she was undoubtedly a slaver, and about probably that very day to
receive her human cargo on board. In her hold were leaguers or huge
water-casks filled with water; a large supply of wood and provisions,
especially of farina, on which slaves are chiefly fed. Then there was
the slave-deck, scarcely thirty-six inches in height, and large coppers
for boiling the slaves' food, and some hundred pairs of slave irons or
manacles for confining their legs or arms; indeed, nothing was wanting
to condemn her. Although Hemming guessed that the crew would soon be
back, he was so eager to go to the assistance of Mr Evans, that leaving
Murray and a couple of men on board the schooner, he leaped again into
his boat and pulled up the creek, thinking that he might get through it
into the other channel. It narrowed, however, very rapidly. The trees
grew closer and closer together till the branches touched, and finally
arched so much overhead as to shut out the view of the sky. It was
almost evident that there could not be a navigable passage into the
other stream, and Hemming felt that he was not doing a prudent thing in
thus pushing on into what might prove not only a hornets' nest, but a
hornets' trap, where he and those whose lives were entrusted to him
might be stung to death without the power of defending themselves.
Still he did not like to abandon his purpose. To push over land would
be still more dangerous. The question about proceeding was settled for
him. The boat, although in mid-channel, ran her stem into the mud.
With a falling tide it would have been madness to proceed farther.
"Back all!" cried the lieutenant.
There was barely room for the oars between the two banks. It seemed
doubtful, at first, whether the boat could be shoved off. Delay in this
case, as it is in many others, was dangerous. Paddy Adair and several
of the men on this instantly leaped out, but sank very nearly up to
their middles in slime and water. With their weight, however, out of
her the boat floated, and the rest standing up and shoving at the same
time, they got her a little way down the stream. Paddy, who was always
ready to do anything, however unpleasant, for the sake of setting an
example, continued in the water shoving the boat along; the black banks
on either side showing the importance of getting out of the trap into
which they had gone as quickly as possible.
"Jump in Adair--jump in--she'll freely swim now," said Hemming.
"We'll just get her past this log of wood and give her a shove off from
it," said Paddy, making a spring on a dark brown object close to them.
He jumped off again, however, very much faster, and sprang towards the
boat, for the seeming log opened a huge pair of jaws, exhibiting a
terrific row of teeth, with which it made a furious snap at the
midshipman's legs. Happily Mr Hemming, leaning over, caught him by the
arm and dragged him in, while one of the men gave the monster a rap with
the end of his oar, which somewhat distracted his attention, and allowed
the rest of the men to scramble on board, which they did in a very great
hurry, and no little consternation exhibited in their looks. The
alligator first vented his rage by gnawing the blade of the oar, and
then made a terrific rush at the boat.
"Shove away, my lads--shove away," cried Hemming, not wishing to waste
time in a contest with the beast.
The men, standing up, urged on the boat with their oars as fast as they
could; but the savage brute still followed, biting at the blades and
trying to get in between them. Terence, however, who very speedily
recovered from his alarm, seized a musket, and, watching for the moment
when the alligator next opened his huge mouth, fired right down it.
"A hard pill that to digest, if it does not kill him," cried Paddy, when
he had done the deed.
At first the brute seemed scarcely aware that anything unusual had gone
down his throat; but, as he was making another dart at the boat, he
suddenly began to move about in an eccentric way--as Paddy said, "as if
something troubled him in his inside," and then, turning away, buried
his huge body in the mud, while his tail lashed the water into foam.
Round the spot above where his head was probably hidden, a red circle
was formed, which, whirling round in the eddies of the current, came
sweeping past the boat, proving that Adair's shot had not failed to take
effect. Well content to get thus easily rid of their unpleasant
antagonist, the men shaved the boat on rapidly down the creek. They had
not quite come in sight of the slave schooner when a shout reached their
ears. It was repeated. It sounded like a cry for help.
"It is Murray's voice, sir," exclaimed Adair; "he is shouting to us; he
is attacked, depend on it."
So Mr Hemming thought. The boat was got round, the men sprang into
their seats, and, getting out their oars, dashed away down the stream.
The sound of several pistol-shots reached their ears and increased their
eagerness to get on. They soon came in sight of the schooner. Murray
and his two companions were on her deck, and keeping at bay a dozen
Spaniards and blacks, who were attempting to force their way across the
platform. Several other people were coming up, and in another instant
Murray and the two seamen would have been overpowered. Even when united
the Englishmen were far outnumbered by the Spaniards and blacks. Murray
heard the shout of his friends as they drew near, and it encouraged him
to persevere in his hitherto almost hopeless defence of the prize. In
another instant the boat dashed alongside. The crew quickly scrambled
on board, and, whirling their cutlasses round their heads, with loud
shouts they charged the enemy, and drove them off the platform.
They next set to work to cut it away. They were not long about it. Not
a moment was to be lost. More people were coming up, blacks and whites,
armed with muskets. The warps which moored the vessel to the shore were
speedily cut. Three hands jumped into the boat, and the end of a hawser
being heaved to them, they towed round the schooner's head--the current
caught it and helped them. Meantime the topsails were loosed and the
jib run up; a puff of wind also came down the creek. Away glided the
schooner--the boat dropped alongside. The slave-dealers, now mustering
strong, began firing at them. They fired in return, so as to drive the
villains to seek shelter behind the trees. It might well have enraged
the Spaniards to see their vessel carried away from before their very
eyes. They did their best to revenge themselves by trying to pick off
the Englishmen; but though two of the latter were slightly wounded, no
one was disabled, and the schooner held her course unimpeded down the
stream. Our friends found, however, before long, in one of the reaches,
the wind heading them; and, looking astern, they saw that several large
canoes and other boats had put out from the shore, and were in pursuit
of them. The slavers probably calculated on their getting on shore, to
enable them to come up with them. The current, however, was strong, the
wind was tolerably steady, the schooner went about like a top, and a few
tacks carried them through each of the reaches, when the wind headed
them. Thus they made good way; but still there were many dangers to be
encountered. They might, for the present, easily keep ahead of their
pursuers; but, unless they could get a free wind, to cross the bar, they
must bring up, as it would otherwise be madness to make the attempt.
They had gone a long way up the river, and it was difficult to say how
the wind might be at the mouth. At last, in a long reach, they ran the
pirates out of sight. They, however, suspected that the latter were
stopping to collect more of their forces before coming on to the attack.
At length the schooner reached the main channel of the river. Hemming
and Murray and Adair looked anxiously up the other stream in the hopes
of seeing Mr Evans' boat.
"Perhaps she has come down, and will be waiting for us at the bar,"
observed Hemming. "If she has got hold of the schooner we were looking
for, we shall very likely find her ahead of us; at all events we must
keep on till we find her."
The little vessel was accordingly kept on down the river. Great was
their disappointment, on coming in sight of the bar, to find a heavy
surf breaking over it, while the breeze which came in set very nearly up
the stream. It was absolutely necessary to bring up. The anchor was
dropped, and as the vessel swung to the tide the dark waters came
whirling and eddying by with a force which made Hemming thankful that he
had not attempted to cross the bar. As soon as he had brought up, he
made every preparation for defending the vessel from the attack to be
expected. Having got all their arms ready, he had ropes passed round
and round the vessel above the bulwarks, so as to serve in the place of
boarding-nettings, and then, not without great difficulty, they hoisted
their own boat on board, and stowed her amidships. These important
preparations being made, they lighted the fire in the caboose and cooked
a dinner, for which an abundance of provisions was found on board. A
couple of hours passed away. They were anxious ones to Hemming--so they
were to Murray, and perhaps to Adair, though the men did not probably
trouble themselves much about the matter. A constant lookout, however,
was kept--up the river, lest the pirates should come on them unawares,
and down the river, in the hopes of seeing the surf diminishing on the
bar and the wind set more out of it. What could have become of Mr
Evans, Rogers, and their party, was also the constant subject of
conversation.
"Hurrah!" at last cried Murray, who had been looking out astern, "the
bar is getting quite smooth. See, there is scarcely any current passing
us, and the wind is setting almost out of the river."
"And here come the canoes in battle-array," cried Adair from forward.
"They will be down upon us before many minutes are over."
"Heave up the anchor, my lads," shouted Hemming; "let fall the topsails.
Run up the jib and fore-staysail. Set the foresail and mainsail."
These orders followed in rapid succession. The men did not require to
be told to be smart about the work. Round came the schooner's head.
Her sails filled, and, under complete command, she stood towards the
bar. A clear piece of water showed the only passage she could take with
safety. The slave-trader's fleet of canoes came on, but they were just
in time to be too late. The schooner stood on, and, well piloted,
dashed through the dangerous passage; the surf boiling up still on
either side, but not breaking on board her. In another minute she was
over it, and floating free in the open ocean.
The brig was at a considerable distance, in chase of a vessel in the
offing; but there was no sign of the other boat, or of the schooner,
which it was hoped she might have captured. Not knowing the sad fate of
Mr Evans and his party, Murray and Adair were eagerly on the lookout
for them. Occasionally they turned a glance astern to see what had
become of their pursuers; but the pirates seemed to have considered it
useless or too hazardous to attempt to cross the bar, and had given up
the chase.
"I say, Alick, what do you make out that dark object to be there?"
exclaimed Adair, pointing to the southward. One after the other
examined it through the glass.
"It's a whale or a ship's bottom," answered Murray, after a long
scrutiny. They reported what they had seen to Hemming.
"No whale is likely to have floated into these latitudes," he remarked;
"some vessel must have been capsized. Keep her away towards it." The
schooner, with a fair breeze, rapidly approached the object they had
seen. It was soon ascertained that Hemming was right in his
conjectures. They got close up to the wreck. There was no one on her!
"By the set of the current here, I judge that she may have come over the
very bar we have just crossed--not very long ago either," observed
Hemming, thoughtfully. Twice he sailed round the wreck, examining her
narrowly. "I am afraid something has happened," he observed at last; "I
am not happy on the subject. It cannot be helped though. It may be the
lot of any of us. Keep her up once more for the brig."
Alick and Terence became very sad when they heard these remarks. They
scarcely liked to ask Hemming what he meant. As they talked over the
matter, they felt very much alarmed on Jack's account. Still they could
not believe that he, their old friend and companion, could possibly be
lost.
"No, no, he'll turn up somewhere, I'm sure," cried Paddy.
"I trust he will," answered Alick, gravely; but he felt very sad and
depressed in spirits.
Hemming seemed doubtful what to do; whether he would across the bar,
make a dash at the pirates, and run up the river and look for his
friends, or stand on at once and get greater force from the brig. The
latter was the wisest course, and he determined to follow it. The
_Archer_ had stood away in chase of another vessel of a suspicious
appearance, and when night fell she was nowhere to be seen. Hemming,
therefore, hove the schooner to, to wait till her return. Had he gone
after her they might very probably, in the darkness of night, have
missed each other.
Never, perhaps, had my two old schoolfellows passed a more anxious
night, even when they were wrecked on the coast of Greece; then the
three friends were together; now their minds were racked with doubts of
the most painful description as to what had become of Jack and his
companions. Had they known of the destruction of the boat and her crew,
they would, if possible, have been still more anxious.
Hemming also kept pacing the deck all night long, looking out on every
side, like a good officer, as he was, who felt that the lives of the
people with him were entrusted to his care. He did not dread any attack
from boats, but he knew that armed slavers might be attempting to run in
or out of the river while the brig was away, and that if they attempted
to molest him, he should find them very difficult customers to dispose
of. Still he was not the man to allow a slaver to pass him without
attempting to capture her, inferior as he might be to her in force. The
night was very dark, now and then a few flashes of phosphorescent light
played over the ocean, or were stirred up by the bows of the schooner,
as she slowly worked her way through the water; but even the sharpest
eyes on board could scarcely distinguish anything two or three hundred
yards off. Terence and Alick could not bring themselves to lie down nor
take any rest, even though Hemming urged them to do so. They were
leaning together over the bulwarks. They neither of them could have
said whether they were asleep or awake. The wind had dropped
considerably, and at intervals the sails shook themselves and gave a
loud flap against the masts. Terence felt a hand suddenly resting on
his shoulder.
"What is that? Do you hear a sound? Did you see anything?" said a
voice in his ear.
The voice appeared so deep and hollow and strange, that he did not at
first discover that it was Murray speaking to him. Alick repeated the
question twice before he replied. He had, in truth, been fast asleep,
but he did not know it.
"No--what? see, hear what? I don't see anything," was his somewhat
incoherent answer.
"There it is again; music--some one singing," continued Alick. "Can you
see nothing?"
The two midshipmen peered eagerly out into the darkness, but nothing
could they discern. They, however, drew Hemming's attention to the
circumstance. He had been walking the deck, so the noise of his own
footsteps prevented him from hearing the sound. He now listened with
them, but after some time, hearing nothing, was inclined to think that
they had been deceived by their fancy. Murray thought not, and, keeping
his eyes on the point from which he believed the sounds had come, was
almost certain that he could distinguish the sails of a square-rigged
vessel passing at no great distance off, standing in towards the coast.
He called Hemming's attention to it, but whether or not the night mists
had at the moment he was looking lifted up, and again sunk down, and
allowed him to see a vessel really there, or that his fancy still misled
him, it was impossible to say. Certainly no sail was to be seen, nor
was a sound again heard. Slowly the hours of that night seemed to pass
away. Day came at last, a gloomy coast of Africa morning, with a thick
damp ague-and-fever giving fog. In vain they looked out for the
_Archer_. They began to fear that she might have followed the vessel
after which she had gone in chase to a considerable distance, thus
delaying the expedition they were so anxious to undertake in search of
the other boat. As the sun rose, however, his rays began a struggle
with the mist, and, aided by a light breeze which sprung up from the
northward, finally triumphed, and rolling off their adversary, they
beamed forth on the dancing blue waters, and on the white canvas of the
brig, which came gliding on majestically towards them, followed by
another vessel, which she had overtaken and captured. The prize had
half a cargo of slaves on board, and was on her way up to another place
where her owners had agents to complete it. The first question which
Alick and Terence asked on getting on board the _Archer_, was for Rogers
and the other boat's crew. Their hearts sank within them, when they
found that nothing had been seen of the boat. Captain Grant listened to
all the information they could give, and promptly formed a plan, the
execution of which he entrusted to Hemming and the two midshipmen,
complimenting them at the same time for the gallant way in which they
had captured the slaver and brought her out of the river.