There was an awful suddenness about the destruction of this second boat
and her crew which almost appalled us, and it was with considerably
sobered feelings that, after a dead silence of a few minutes, we
proceeded to discuss the character of our next movements.
Our proper course was about north-west, that being the bearing of the
point, the latitude and longitude of which had been given us as that of
the treasure-island.
Our charts showed no island exactly at that spot, but there were many at
very short distances from it; indeed it was situated almost in the very
heart of that extensive group of islets known as the Low Archipelago;
and when talking the matter over before, we had decided that it was
quite possible we should be obliged to take a somewhat extended cruise
among these islands, and to examine several of them before coming upon
the one of which we were in search.
Under these circumstances we came to the conclusion that it would be
unadvisable to give the pirates any indication of our true destination
by steering on our proper course as long as they were in sight, for the
destruction of their two boats, with the loss of their crews, would
undoubtedly kindle such a desire for vengeance in the breasts of the
survivors as, in all likelihood, to prompt them to go a good bit out of
their way, if necessary, to get it.
So, after a long debate and a careful examination of the chart, which I
brought on deck for the purpose, we decided to bear away on a course as
though bound to New Zealand.
This took us about a point farther off the wind than we had been
steering for the last few hours; but we did not trouble much about that,
as we hoped to give the brig the slip some time during the ensuing
night.
Accordingly we bore away upon the course decided on; the sails were
trimmed with the utmost nicety, and then, it being about the time for
our evening meal, I took the tiller, while Bob went below to look after
the kettle.
The brig was by this time about six or seven miles astern of us, and was
steering directly after us, with apparently every stitch of canvas set
that would draw. I lashed the tiller for a moment, and jumped down
below for my sextant, with which I returned to the deck, and carefully
set him by it, with the view of ascertaining just before dark whether he
had gained anything on us, or we on him, in the interim.
Tea being ready, Bob served it on deck; and whilst we leisurely
discussed the meal, we talked over our chances of dodging our pursuer
during the night.
Unfortunately, these now appeared to be rather slender; for there was
not a cloud to be seen, and the moon, well advanced in her second
quarter, was already visible in the deep sapphire of the eastern sky ere
the west had well begun to glow with the rich warm hues of sunset. And
to add to our difficulty in this respect, the wind again fell lighter,
and ere long died completely away.
The sun went down in calm and cloudless splendour; the golden glories of
the west deepened into rich crimson, then faded into purple, and from
purple into warm grey; the brief twilight quickly deepened into night,
and the moon, "sweet regent of the sky," shed her soft silvery beams
abroad over the tranquil ocean; while the larger stars added their
mellow radiance to beautify the scene.
There was not the faintest breath of wind to ruffle the mirror-like
surface of the long glassy swells as they undulated sluggishly beneath
us; and the flap of our canvas, the pattering of the reef-points, the
creaking of the main-boom, and the occasional "_cheep, cheep_" of the
rudder upon its pintles, served but to mark and emphasise the deep calm
of sleeping Nature.
It was a glorious night--a night of such exquisite loveliness as is
perhaps never witnessed except when far away from land; but, situated as
we were, greatly as we admired its beauty, we would rather have
witnessed a sky traversed by fast-flying clouds, and would gladly have
exchanged the tender silence which brooded around us for the singing of
the wind through our rigging and the hissing sound of the rapidly
following surges.
We walked fore and aft on our short deck, one on each side, smoking our
pipes and whistling for a breeze, and pausing occasionally to listen for
the roll of oars in their rowlocks, or their plash in the water; for we
did not know what new trick our neighbour astern might feel disposed to
play us, though we both thought it improbable he would send another boat
away--at all events, whilst we maintained our present distance from him.
He was distinctly visible in the bright moonlight, and of course we kept
a watchful eye upon him; but we could detect no signs aboard of him to
give us any uneasiness.
At length, just about eight bells, as Bob was preparing to go below, I
noticed that the shimmer of the moonbeams, which had hitherto played in
but a few wavering streaks over the surface of the water close to us,
was now revealing itself on the horizon, spreading gradually abroad on
each side of the point at which it had first appeared, and slowly
advancing over the surface of the ocean towards us.
"Here comes the breeze, Bob!" I exclaimed. "Stay on deck a few minutes
longer until we can see what is to be the order of the night. See,
there it comes, away out from the eastward; and the brig is already
squaring away his yards, as though he felt the first faint puffs. Ay,"
continued I, as I took a look at him through the glass, "there go his
stunsail-booms, and there go his stunsails to boot. Now the rascal will
run down to us with the first of the breeze, and perhaps have us under
his guns before we can catch a breath of it. Cast loose this
spinnaker-boom, old man, and let's get it rigged out and the sail set in
readiness for the breeze when it comes. If we can only get it before he
comes within range of us, I believe we can walk away from him even in a
run to leeward, provided we don't have the breeze _too_ strong."
We worked with a will, the reader may be sure, and soon had the huge
sail set on the starboard side, whilst the main-boom was guyed out to
port.
We then went all round the deck, taking a pull at the halliards where
necessary; and then, though a heavy dew was falling, we got up a small
hand-pump and some hose we had provided ourselves with, and gave the
sails a thorough wetting.
The brig ran down to within about a couple of miles of us before the
first faint cat's-paws came stealing over the water towards us; then the
balloon-topsail filled, collapsed, and filled again, the spinnaker
ceased its rustle, and there was a gentle surge as the light strain
first came upon the spars and rigging; the tiller began to vibrate
beneath my hand, a long ripple spread itself out from each bow, and the
_Water Lily_ began once more to slip gaily away.
I got Bob to give a look to our preventers, in case it should become a
matter of sheer _carrying on_, and then sent him below, as it had been a
day of excitement for him, and, consequently, of fatigue.
The breeze gradually freshened, the water hissed and sparkled away from
our sharp bows, and the swirling eddies in our wake told a cheering tale
as to the speed with which we were flying over the surface of the now
crisply-ruffled ocean; and before my watch was out, I had the
satisfaction of seeing that we were certainly drawing away from our
persevering enemy, the broad, flat model of the _Lily_ being as
favourable to her sailing powers before the wind as her deep keel was
when close-hauled.
I called Bob at midnight, and strictly cautioned him to give me timely
notice if the breeze freshened sufficiently to necessitate a reduction
of canvas, or if anything occurred rendering my presence on deck
desirable; and then I dived below, flung off my clothes, and tumbled
into my hammock, and "in the twinkling of a purser's lantern" was fast
asleep.
When I went on deck again at four o'clock I found that the breeze had
freshened very considerably during my watch below, and under other
circumstances I should most certainly have taken in the spinnaker and
shifted topsails; but though we had dropped the brig considerably, he
still hung most pertinaciously in our wake, so there was nothing for it
but still to carry on.
The craft must have been a splendid sailer, for, though by this time we
were going close upon sixteen knots, we had not increased our distance
from her much more than four miles during the time I had been below.
Nothing worthy of note occurred during my watch. The wind appeared to
have reached the limits of its strength, and now blew steadily, with
sufficient force to try our spars and gear to their utmost, but not
quite strong enough to carry anything away, and we continued to increase
our distance from the brig.
At seven bells I called Bob, who set about the preparations for
breakfast, and great were our mutual congratulations over that meal at
the now thoroughly-established fact that, fast as the _Albatross_
undoubtedly was, she was no match for the little _Water Lily_ in
ordinary weather.
As soon as breakfast was over and the things cleared away, I got an
observation for the longitude, and then went below to have a nap,
desiring Bob to call me at seven bells, that I might take a meridian
altitude.
He did so, and as soon as I came on deck with my sextant, he said, "Look
there, Harry, what d'ye think of that? I wouldn't call ye when I first
made 'em out, as it only wanted half an hour to seven bells, and I
knowed you'd feel a bit tired after yesterday. But _ain't_ it a
wonderful sight?"
As he spoke he pointed away to a little on our starboard bow, and
stooping down in order to see under the foot of the spinnaker, I there
beheld what was indeed to me a wonderful sight. Away nearly as far as
we could see, upon the verge of the horizon, appeared a vast herd or
"school" of whales, spouting in all directions and indulging in the most
extraordinary gambols, each apparently striving to outvie the others in
the feat of leaping entirely out of the water.
I am afraid to make anything like a positive statement as to the heights
achieved by some of the monsters, but it really appeared to me that a
few of them rose nearly, if not quite, five and twenty feet into the
air, descending again with a splash which reminded me of some of the
torpedo experiments I had witnessed when staying for a few days at
Portsmouth.
I was careful to get my observation, which I rapidly worked out, and
entered in the log; after which I relieved Bob at the tiller, whilst he
went below to see to the dinner.
As he descended the short companion-ladder he turned round and observed
with a comical look, "I say, Harry, I hope there ain't no stray sarpents
knocking about in this here neighbourhood; 'twould be uncommon awk'ard
for us to have one of they chaps waiting for us ahead and that infarnal
brig still in sight astarn."
Just as dinner made its appearance I descried a sail about two points on
our starboard bow. It was a vessel under single-reefed topsails,
heading to the southward, and consequently standing across our bows.
She was too far off for us to make out anything but the heads of her
sails from the deck, but as soon as I saw her I resigned the tiller to
Bob and went up as far as the cross-trees to have a better look at her.
From thence I made her out to be a barque apparently close-hauled on the
port tack; but of what nationality she might be we were yet too far
distant from her to decide, though I thought from the cut of her sails
that she was English.
I was still standing upon the cross-trees, shouting my observations to
Bob, when I noticed a commotion amongst the herd of whales, which we
were by this time fast nearing, and bringing my glass to bear, I at
length made out three boats pulling towards them.
The whales were evidently rather doubtful as to the intentions of these
boats, though we were not. We saw at once that the stranger was a
whaler, and that these were her boats despatched in chase.
The whales came swimming leisurely to windward with the boats in hot
pursuit. What to do was now the question with us. We ought most
certainly to advise the whalers of the character of the brig, but it
would never do to shorten sail and deviate anything considerable from
our course with this object.
We should very probably be taken before we could accomplish our purpose,
and in that event we should sacrifice ourselves without doing the others
any good. However, as a preliminary, we displayed our ensign, and as
the boats were coming almost directly towards us, I sheered sufficiently
out of our course to pass within hail of the leader.
We were now running through the very thickest of the herd, and it was
rather nervous work, for with a single lash of its mighty tail any one
of the monsters might have destroyed us; and with such a cloud of canvas
as we were carrying the deviations from our course which we dared to
make were very trifling.
Had we luffed, for example, high enough for our spinnaker to jibe, the
craft would probably have "turned the turtle" with us; or, if we had
proved fortunate enough to escape this, we should most certainly have
made a clean sweep of the spars.
We were almost within hail of the leading boat when she fastened to an
enormous whale. The creature dived instantly, taking out line at a
tremendous rate, but still continuing on its original course.
This brought the boat close past us on our starboard side, the crew
sitting with their oars apeak, and the water foaming a good foot above
the level of the boat's bows as she was towed furiously along.
I took the trumpet in my hand, and as she dashed past, I hailed, "The
brig astern is a pirate; cut adrift and rejoin your ship as soon as
possible."
The boat-steerer waved his hand, but they made no attempt to free
themselves from the whale, and I feared they had not clearly understood
me; though I saw the men turning to each other as though comparing notes
on the communication I had made, and the boat-steerer shaded his eyes
with his hand as he took a hasty look at the rapidly approaching brig.
The two other boats, meanwhile, were pulling away to the southward in
pursuit of a couple of gigantic whales which had separated from the rest
of the herd, and which, from the pace at which they were travelling,
seemed likely to lead their pursuers a pretty dance. It was quite out
of our power to convey any warning to those, and I was most reluctantly
compelled to stand on upon our original course, or dead to leeward.
Presently the whale which was struck turned sharp round, and came
tearing back over the ground he had just traversed. I felt more than
half inclined to take as broad a sheer as I dared out of his way; I did
not at all like the look of him as he came foaming down towards us.
But the desire to repeat my warning was stronger even than my fear of
the whale; and, watching him narrowly as he came up, I directed Bob how
to steer, and the instant he was past us, Bob eased down the helm, and
we sheered towards the boat he had in tow.
I stood by with the trumpet as before, but it was unnecessary, for as
they came alongside, the boat-steerer sheered our way, whilst the crew
rapidly paid out line, by which means the whale-boat's speed was so
reduced that we had time to communicate before she passed ahead.
"Cutter ahoy!" hailed the boat-steerer as we rushed along within twenty
feet of each other; "what was that you said just now?"
"The brig astern of us is a pirate," I replied; "she fired upon us
yesterday at mid-day, and has been in chase ever since. I would advise
you to rejoin your ship before she comes up if possible. Your skipper
will need all his hands on board if she ranges alongside."
"The devil!" ejaculated he in reply. "You don't seem hit anywhere,"
glancing aloft at our taper spars and snowy canvas, which showed no
wounds or shot-holes to vouch for the truth of my statement.
"No," answered I; "he only had time to fire five shots at us before we
slipped past him to windward, and we escaped untouched."
"Hang it!" he exclaimed, in a tone of vexation; "I don't like to lose
this fine fish that we're fast to; but we shall have to let him go, no
doubt of that; but how the devil am I to recall the other boats?"
"I will fire our gun to attract their attention," I replied, "and you
can make any signal you think most likely to effect your object."
"Thank 'ee," returned he; "I shall be obliged if you will."
And then he signalled to the men who had charge of the line, and they
gradually reduced the speed at which it ran out, and finally held all
fast with an extra turn round the bollard, and away the boat dashed once
more.
I charged the gun (which still remained mounted on deck) with a blank
cartridge, and duly greasing the muzzle to increase the report, fired.
The crew of the whale-boat tossed their oars on end, and kept them so
for a few minutes, or until it was seen that the other boats had
abandoned the chase, and were pulling back toward them.
The crew of the boat which was fast to the whale were knowing enough not
to cut themselves adrift so long as their prize towed them in the
direction they wished to go; and, as he seemed to have started for a
regular long run to leeward, they appeared to stand a very fair chance
of being towed almost alongside their ship.
She had been making short stretches to windward ever since we first
sighted her, and we were by this time within a couple of miles of her.
From her motions we judged that the people left on board to work her had
heard the report of our gun, and had witnessed the recall of the other
two boats, and perhaps suspected that something was wrong somewhere, for
she was now plainly manoeuvring to close with all three of the boats as
quickly as possible.
The whale, meanwhile, had been running in such a direction as to cross
the barque's bows about a quarter of a mile distant, and he actually ran
far enough to enable the crew of the boat which had fastened to him to
cut themselves adrift when fairly in their ship's course; so that, in a
very few minutes after the stroke of the keen tomahawk had severed their
tow-line, they were alongside, and the boat was run up to the davits.
So smart were the crew of the whaler in picking up their boat, that they
must have swung their main-yard the moment the frail craft was hooked
on, without waiting until she was actually hoisted up.
The barque had scarcely begun to gather way before the hands were in her
rigging, and next moment they were laying out on both topsail-yards and
turning out the reefs; although the breeze was so strong that,
half-loaded as she was, she was careening almost gunwale to.
We passed close under her stern; and her skipper, as we drew near,
walked aft to the taffrail and hailed us.
"Thank you, sir, for your information; please report us and this
circumstance; God knows whether we shall escape the rascals or no."
I waved my hand, to signify that I understood and would comply with his
request; noting, as I did so, the name and the port of registry of the
vessel, which were painted on her stern in white letters: "The
_Kingfisher_, of Hull."
Scarcely were we past her, when we saw a small red flag go fluttering up
to her main-topgallant-mast-head; a signal, as we supposed, to hurry the
other boats back. The poor fellows were awkwardly situated.
Had they been hull-down to the northward or the southward, the pirates
might possibly, in the eagerness of their desire for vengeance upon us,
have allowed her to pass on unmolested; but now that the barque lay
almost directly within their path, we dared not hope for any such
display of forbearance.
There were many stores on board a well-found whaler which would be most
useful to men situated like the desperadoes on board the brig; and they
would scarcely forego the opportunity of making the acquisition for the
sake of continuing to chase a craft which was indubitably walking away
from them fast, and which must run them out of sight altogether in a few
hours more, unless some accident occurred to place her within their
power.
We watched the proceedings of the two vessels with the most absorbing
interest, as may well be supposed. The _Lily_ was very quickly far
enough to leeward of the barque to enable us to see the two boats clear
of his bow; and we noticed that their crews were pulling with might and
main.
But in about ten minutes' time they were once more shut in by the
intervention of their vessel's hull between us and them; and before they
could open out astern of her, the barque went in stays, having
apparently stood on far enough to fetch her boats on the next tack.
The brig had in the interim run down to within about four miles of the
whaler, and was still flying along, dead before the wind, with
everything set, up to topgallant stunsails on both sides; and no sign
had so far revealed itself on board her by which we could judge of the
intention of her crew.
By the time that she had run another mile, we saw the whaler's main-yard
once more thrown aback; an indication that she was about to pick up her
other two boats; and there now appeared to be a strong probability that
she would have time to hoist them in and be off again, before the pirate
could approach her within gun-shot.
The situation became eminently exciting; and so anxious was I that the
whaler should have every chance of making her escape, that I directed
Bob to let go our spinnaker out-haul, and allow the traveller to run in
along the boom, in the hope that, by leading the pirates to believe it
had become necessary for us to shorten sail, they might be tempted,
after all, to keep on in chase of us, instead of interfering with the
barque.
It would have afforded us almost unmitigated satisfaction to have seen
them continue the chase, for we now felt perfectly satisfied that in
moderate weather we had the heels of the _Albatross_, both close-hauled
and running free, and could we succeed in decoying them far enough to
leeward to permit of the whaler making good his escape, I was willing to
trust to the future for the means of ultimately shaking our vindictive
pursuer off.
In further prosecution of this project, as soon as Bob had got the
spinnaker in, I lashed the tiller for a moment and jumped forward to
assist him in getting in our enormous balloon-topsail, which I foresaw
would have to be taken off the craft shortly if we wished to save the
topmast, the wind being rather on the increase and our rigging already
strained to the tension of harp-strings. This done, we found time to
take another look at the whaler.
His main-yard was just swinging as we turned our glances in his
direction, and then his bows fell off until he headed about north-west;
his men springing into the rigging and scurrying away aloft to loose
topgallant-sails; one hand meantime laying out on the jibboom to loose
the flying-jib.
Away went the jolly old craft in magnificent style, heading about
north-west, and evidently upon her best point of sailing. She crossed
our stern, shutting out the pirate brig for a moment, and we fully
expected that when that craft next appeared we should see her hauled up
in chase; but nothing of the kind; on she came, still heading direct for
us, and I began to hope that our plan of luring her on to follow us was
about to prove successful.
Two or three minutes, which seemed like ages to us, elapsed; and then,
all in a moment, his stunsails (or _studding_-sails, as I ought more
correctly to spell the word) collapsed, and fluttered wildly for a few
seconds in the breeze, and disappeared; his royal-halliards were let go,
and the sails rolled up and furled; and as he hauled up to follow the
barque, his foresail lifted and there was a flash, a puff of white
smoke, and before the report had time to drive down to us we saw the
shot skipping along from wave to wave, as a polite intimation to the
barque to heave to.
But the whaling skipper was not the man to give up without a struggle.
He had no studding-sails, but he was heading in such a direction that
the brig could not use hers while following him, and it seemed that he
trusted to his light trim to enable him to get clear.
Gun after gun was now rapidly fired by the pirates, but they were not
yet within range, though it was only too evident that they would be
before very long, and I greatly feared that the barque's chances of
escape were remarkably small.
In about an hour they both disappeared in the north-western board; but,
when last seen, the barque was still carrying on, with the pirate
banging away at her most perseveringly with his long gun.
"Thank goodness, we're shut of the blackguards at last!" exclaimed Bob,
as the sails of the two craft sank below the horizon; "though I'm
duberous it's a poor look out for them whalin' chaps. If the poor
beggars gets caught, it's small marcy as they'll have showed 'em, unless
there's any on 'em white-livered enough to jine the brig to save their
lives. Skipper Johnson won't be partic'lar amiable, I reckon, a'ter the
loss of his two boats' crews yesterday--two-and-twenty hands, all told;
and I don't suppose as he's the man to mind much _who_ he has his
revenge upon, so long's he _gets_ it. But what's to be our next move,
lad, now we're once more all alone by ourselves?"
"I've been thinking about that," I replied. "I do not expect the
pirates will trouble their heads about us any more, now that they have
lost sight of us; but they _may_, and it will be just as well to provide
against any such contingency. If they resume the chase, they will most
probably look for us somewhere on the course we were steering when last
seen, or else to the northward. There is nothing to take us to the
southward, so that is the most improbable direction, in my opinion, in
which they are likely to look for us; and that, therefore, is the
direction in which I propose to steer. Let us make the craft snug, and
stand away to the southward and eastward, full and by, and at eight
o'clock to-morrow morning we will go about and make a leg to the
northward and eastward for perhaps twenty-four hours. This will place
us well to windward, and in about the last spot in the world where he
would think of looking for us. What do you think of the plan, Bob?"
"Fust rate," responded that worthy; "a regular traverse, and about the
most in-and-out bit of carcumvention as the ingenuity o' man could
invent. Let's set about it at once, my lad; and by the time as we've
cleared up a bit, and made things comfortable, it'll be time to see
about gettin' tea."
We accordingly set about "making things comfortable" forthwith. The
balloon-topsail was carefully rolled up and put away, the spinnaker
(which we had only allowed to run in close to the mast, and had hastily
secured with a stop or two) ditto, and our topmast housed; the
spinnaker-boom was run in, unrigged, and secured, and we then gibed the
mainsail over, and stood away, close-hauled, about south-east, the
little _Lily_ staggering along in regular racing style under whole lower
canvas, when by rights, with the amount of wind we had, we ought to have
had at least _one_ reef down, and the Number 1 jib shifted for Number 2.
However, we were used to carrying on by this time, and had become so
thoroughly intimate with the cutter's sail-carrying powers that we knew
we might safely give her all the canvas her spars would bear.
By the time that all was done, and our gun (which we did not think it
worth while to dismount and stow away again for the present) carefully
covered over with its painted canvas coat, the sun was on the verge of
the horizon, the weather having a settled appearance, with a promise of
the breeze holding good through the night.