On the 3rd of July, a hundred and eighty volunteers from the
infantry joined the artillery, who were not numerous enough to work
all the guns of the batteries; and two days later a Spanish
squadron of two men-of-war, five frigates, and eleven smaller
vessels hove in sight from the west, and lay to off the entrance to
the bay. Three privateers came in, and one of the Spanish schooners
stood across to reconnoitre them; and a shot was fired at her from
the batteries on Europa Point.
The Enterprise, frigate, had gone across to Tetuan to bring Mr.
Logie over again. On her return, she was chased by the enemy's
squadron; but succeeded in giving them the slip, in the dark. As
she neared the Rock the captain, fearing to be discovered by the
enemy, did not show the usual lights; and several shots were fired
at the ship, but fortunately without effect.
On the following day letters were received from England, with the
official news that hostilities had commenced between Great Britain
and Spain; and the same evening a proclamation was published
authorizing the capture of Spanish vessels, and letters of marque
were given to the privateers in the bay, permitting them to capture
Spanish as well as French vessels.
Among the privateers was the Antelope, which was one of those that
had come in on the previous afternoon. Bob had not heard of her
arrival, when he ran against Captain Lockett in the town, next
morning. They had not met since Bob had landed, six months before.
"Well, Master Repton," the captain said, after they had shaken
hands, "I was coming up to see you, after I had managed my
business. I have letters, from Mr. Bale, for you and Mrs.
O'Halloran."
"You are all well on board, I hope, captain?"
"Joe is well. He is first mate, now. Poor Probert is on his back in
hospital, at Portsmouth. We had a sharp brush with a French
privateer, but we beat her off. We had five men killed, and Probert
had his leg taken off by an eighteen pound shot. We clapped on a
tourniquet, but he had a very narrow escape of bleeding to death.
Fortunately it was off Ushant and, the wind being favourable, we
got into Portsmouth on the following morning; and the doctors think
that they will pull him round.
"You have grown a good bit, since I saw you last."
"Not much, I am afraid," Bob replied dolefully, for his height was
rather a sore point with him. "I get wider, but I don't think I
have grown half an inch, since I came here."
"And how goes on the Spanish?"
"First rate. I can get on in it almost as well as in English."
"So you are in for some more fighting!"
"So they say," Bob replied, "but I don't think I am likely to have
as close a shave, of a Spanish prison, as I had of a French one
coming out here."
"No; we had a narrow squeak of it, that time."
"Was war declared when you came away?"
"No; the negotiations were broken off, and everyone knew that war
was certain, and that the proclamation might be issued at any hour.
I have not had a very fast run, and expected to have learned the
news when I got here; but you are sure to hear it, in a day or two.
That was why I came here. Freights were short for, with the ports
of France and Spain both closed, there was little enough doing; so
the owners agreed to let me drop trading and make straight for
Gibraltar, so as to be ready to put out as soon as we get the
declaration of war.
"There ought to be some first-rate pickings, along the coast. It
isn't, here, as it is with France; where they have learned to be
precious cautious, and where one daren't risk running in close to
their coast on the chance of picking up a prize, for the waters
swarm with their privateers. The Spaniards are a very slow set, and
there is not much fear of their fitting out many privateers, for
months to come; and the coasters will be a long time before they
wake up to the fact that Spain is at war with us, and will go
lumbering along from port to port, without the least fear of being
captured. So it is a rare chance of making prize money.
"If you like a cruise, I shall be very happy to take you with me. I
have seen you under fire, you know, and know that you are to be
depended upon."
"I should like to go, above all things," Bob said; "but I don't
know what my sister would say. I must get at her husband, first. If
I can get him on my side, I think I shall be able to manage it with
her.
"Well, will you come up to dinner?"
"No, I shall be busy all day. Here are the letters I was speaking
of."
"Well, we have supper at seven. Will you come then?"
"With pleasure."
"Will Joe be able to come, too?"
"No; it wouldn't do for us both to leave the brig. The Spanish
fleet may be sending in their boats, to try and cut some of our
vessels out, and I should not feel comfortable if we were both
ashore; but he will be very glad to see you, on board. We are
anchored a cable length from the Water Port. You are pretty sure to
see one of our boats alongside.
"The steward came off with me, to buy some soft tack and fresh
meat. I saw him just before I met you. He told me he had got some
bread, but that meat was at a ruinous price. I told him that he
must get it, whatever price it was, and I expect by this time he
has done so; so if you look sharp, you will get to the boat before
it puts off with him."
The steward was in the act of getting into the boat, as Bob ran
down.
"Glad to see you, Mister Repton," the man said, touching his hat.
"Have you seen the captain, sir?"
"Yes, I have just left him. He told me I should catch you here."
"Thinking of having another cruise with us, sir?"
"I am thinking about it, Parker, but I don't know whether I shall
be able to manage it."
They were soon alongside the Antelope.
"I thought it was you, Mister Repton, when I saw you run down to
the boat," Joe Lockett said, as he shook hands with Bob.
"I am glad to see you again, Joe, and I am glad to hear you are
first mate now; though of course, I am sorry for Mr. Probert."
"Yes, a bad job for him, a very bad job; but it won't be so bad, in
his case, as in some. He has been talking, for the last two or
three voyages, of retiring. An old uncle of his died, and left him
a few acres of land down in Essex; and he has saved a bit of money
out of his pay, and his share of the prizes we have made; and he
talked about giving up the sea, and settling down on shore. So now,
he will do it. He said as much as that, the night he was wounded.
"'Well,' he said, 'there won't be any more trouble about making up
my mind, Joe. If I do get over this job, I have got to lay up as a
dismantled hulk, for the rest of my life. I have been talking of it
to you, but I doubt whether I should ever have brought myself to
it, if it had not been for them Frenchmen's shot.'
"Well, will you come into the cabin, and take something?"
"No, thank you, Joe."
"Have they got the news about the declaration of war yet, Mister
Repton?"
"No, it hasn't arrived yet."
"I expect we shall get some good pickings along the coast, directly
it comes. We have been trading regularly, this last year; and we
all of us want the chance of earning a bit of prize money. So I can
tell you, we were very glad when we heard that we were going to
take to that again, for a bit."
"Yes, the captain was telling me about it, and he has asked me to
go for a trip with you."
"Well, I hope that you will be able to come, Mister Repton."
"I hope so, Joe. But there is one thing--if I do come, you must
call me Bob. I hate being called Mister Repton."
"Well, it would be different if you come with us like that," the
young mate said. "You see, you were a passenger, before; but if you
came like this, you will be here as a friend, like. So it will come
natural to call you Bob.
"And how do you like the place?"
"Oh, I like it well enough! I have been working very hard--at
least, pretty hard--so I haven't had time to feel it dull; and of
course I know all the officers in my brother-in-law's regiment. But
I shall be very glad, indeed, of a cruise; especially as we are
likely presently, by all they say, to be cut off here--some say for
months, some say for years."
"But still, I expect there will be some lively work," the mate
said, "if the Spaniards really mean to try and take this place."
"They will never take it," Bob said, "unless they are able to
starve us out; and they ought not to be able to do that. Ships
ought to be able to run in from the east, at any time; for the
Spaniards dare not come across within range of the guns and, if the
wind was strong, they could not get out from their side of the
bay."
"That is true enough, and I expect you will find fast-sailing
craft--privateers, and such like--will dodge in and out; but a
merchantman won't like to venture over this side of the Straits,
but will keep along the Moorish coasts. You see, they can't keep
along the Spanish side without the risk of being picked up, by the
gunboats and galleys with the blockading fleet. There are a dozen
small craft lying over there, now, with the men-of-war.
"Still, I don't say none of them will make their way in here,
because I daresay they will. They well know they will get big
prices for their goods, if they can manage to run the blockade. We
are safe to pick up some of the native craft, and bring them in;
and so will the other privateers. I expect there will be a good
many down here, before long. The worst of it is, there won't be any
sale for the craft we capture."
"Except for firewood, Joe. That is one of the things I have heard
we are sure to run very short of, if there is a long siege."
"Well, that will be something and, of course, any prizes we take
laden with things likely to be useful, and sell here, we shall
bring in; but the rest we shall have to send over to the other
side, so as to be out of sight of their fleet, and then take them
straight back to England.
"You see, we have shipped twice as many hands as we had on the
voyage when you were with us. We had only a trader's crew, then;
now we have a privateer's.
"Look there! There is a craft making in from the south. It is like
enough she has got the despatches on board. There are two or three
of those small Spanish craft getting under sail, to cut her off;
but they won't do it. They could not head her, without getting
under the fire of the guns of those batteries, on the point."
"Well, I will go ashore now, Joe, if you will let me have the boat.
The captain is going to have supper with us, tonight. I wanted you
to come too, but he said you could not both come on shore,
together. I hope we shall see you tomorrow."
On landing, Bob made his way to the barrack, so as to intercept
Gerald when he came off duty.
"Look here, Gerald," he said, when Captain O'Halloran came out of
the orderly room, "I want you to back me up."
"Oh, you do? Then I am quite sure that you are up to some mischief
or other, Bob, or you wouldn't want me to help you with Carrie."
"It is not mischief at all, Gerald. The Antelope came in last
night, and I saw Captain Lockett this morning, and I have asked him
to come to supper."
"Well, that is all right, Bob. We have plenty of food, at present."
"Yes, but that is not it, Gerald. He has invited me to go for a
cruise with him. He is going to pick up some prizes, along the
Spanish coast."
"Oh, that is it, is it? Well, you know very well Carrie won't let
you go."
"Well, why shouldn't I, Gerald? You know that I have been working
very well, here; and I am sure I have learnt as much Spanish, in
six months, as uncle expected me to learn in two years--besides
lots of Latin, and other things, from the doctor. Now, I do think
that I have earned a holiday. A fellow at school always has a
holiday. I am sure I have worked as hard as I did at school. I
think it only fair that I should have a holiday. Besides, you see,
I am past sixteen now and, being out here, I think I ought to have
the chance of any fun there is; especially as we may be shut up
here for ever so long."
"Well, there may be something in that, Bob. You certainly have
stuck at it well; and you have not got into a single scrape since
you came out, which is a deal more than I expected of you."
"Besides, you see, Gerald, if I had not made up my mind to stick to
uncle's business, I might have been on board the Brilliant now,
with Jim Sankey; and I think, after my giving up that chance, it
would be only fair that I should be allowed to have a cruise, now
that there is such a splendid opportunity."
"Well, Bob, I will do my best to persuade Carrie to let you go; but
as far as you are concerned, you know, she is commanding officer."
Bob laughed, for he knew well enough that, not only in that but in
all other matters, his sister generally had her own way.
"Well, I am very much obliged to you, Gerald. I am sure I should
enjoy it, awfully."
"Don't thank me too soon, Bob. You have your sister to manage yet."
"Oh, we ought to be able to manage her, between us!" Bob said,
confidently. "Look how you managed to have Dr. Burke for me, and
you know how well that turned out."
"Yes, that was a triumph, Bob. Well, we will do our best."
"Why, Bob, where have you been all the morning?" his sister said.
"The professor came at ten o'clock. He said he had arranged with
you that he should be an hour later than usual, as he had another
engagement, early."
"I forgot all about him, Carrie. He never came into my mind once,
since breakfast. I met Captain Lockett down in the town, as soon as
I went out, and I wanted him to come here to dinner. I knew you
would be glad to see him, for you said you liked him very much; but
he said he should be too busy, but he is coming up to supper, at
seven. Then I went on board the Antelope and had a chat with his
cousin Joe, who is first mate now."
When dinner was finished, Bob said:
"Don't you think, Carrie, I am looking pale? What with the heat,
and what with my sticking in and working so many hours a day, I
begin to feel that it is too much for me."
His sister looked anxiously at him.
"Well, Bob, you are looking a little pale, but so is everybody
else; and no wonder, with this heat. But I have not been noticing
you, particularly. What do you feel, Bob?"
"I think Bob feels as if he wants a holiday," Captain O'Halloran
put in.
"Well, then, we must tell the professor that we don't want him to
come, for a bit. Of course, Teddy Burke has given up coming,
already.
"But if you have a holiday, Bob, what will you do with yourself?"
"I don't think I shall get any better here, Carrie. I think I want
change of air."
"Nonsense, Bob! You can't be as bad as all that; and you never said
anything about it, before.
"If he is not well, you must ask Teddy Burke to come up to see him,
Gerald. Besides, how can he have change of air? The only place he
could go to would be Tetuan, and it would be hotter there than it
is here."
"I think, Carrie," Captain O'Halloran said, "I can prescribe for
him without calling Teddy Burke in. I fancy the very thing that
would get Bob set up would be a sea voyage."
"A sea voyage!" his wife repeated. "Do you mean that he should go
back to England? I don't see anything serious the matter with him.
Surely there cannot be anything serious enough for that."
"No, not so serious as that, Carrie. Just a cruise for a bit--on
board the Antelope, for example."
Mrs. O'Halloran looked from one to the other; and then, catching a
twinkle in Bob's eye, the truth flashed across her.
"You ought to be ashamed of yourself, Gerald," she said, laughing
in spite of herself. "You have quite frightened me. I see now.
Captain Locket has invited Bob to go for a cruise with him, and all
this about his being ill is nonsense, from beginning to end. You
don't mean to say that you have been encouraging Bob in this
ridiculous idea!"
"I don't know about encouraging, Carrie; but when he put it to me
that he had been working very steadily, for the last six months;
and that he had got into no scrapes; and that he had really earned
a holiday, and that this would be a very jolly one; I did not see
any particular reason why he shouldn't have it."
"No particular reason! Why, the Antelope is a privateer; and if she
is going to cruise about, that means that she is going to fight,
and he may get shot."
"So he may here, Carrie, if a ball happens to come the right way.
"I think Bob certainly deserves a reward for the way he has stuck
to his lessons. You know you never expected he would do as he has
done; and I am sure his uncle would be delighted, if he heard how
well he speaks Spanish.
"As to his health, the boy is well enough; but there is no denying
that this hot weather we are having takes it out of us all, and
that it would be a mighty good thing if every soul on the Rock had
the chance of a month's cruise at sea, to set him up.
"But seriously, Carrie, I don't see any reason, whatever, why he
should not go. We didn't bring the boy out here to make a
mollycoddle of him. He has got to settle down, some day, in a musty
old office; and it seems to me that he ought to have his share in
any fun and diversion that he has a chance of getting at, now. As
to danger, sure you are a soldier's wife; and why shouldn't he have
a share of it, just the same as if he had gone into the navy? You
wouldn't have made any hullabaloo about it, if he had done that.
"This is Bob's good time, let him enjoy it. You are not going to
keep a lad of his age tied to your apron strings. He has just got
the chance of having two or three years of fighting, and adventure.
It will be something for him to talk about, all his life; and my
opinion is, that you had best let him go his own way. There are
hundreds and hundreds of lads his age knocking about the world, and
running all sorts of risks, without having elder sisters worrying
over them."
"Very well, Gerald, if you and Bob have made up your minds about
it, it is no use my saying no. I am sure I don't want to make a
mollycoddle, as you call it, of him. Of course, uncle will blame
me, if any harm comes of it."
"No, he won't, Carrie. Your uncle wants the boy to be a gentleman,
and a man of the world. If you had said that a year ago, I would
have agreed with you; but we know him better, now, and I will be
bound he will like him to see as much life as he can, during this
time. He has sent him out into the world.
"I will write to your uncle, myself, and tell him it is my doing
entirely; and that I think it is a good thing Bob should take every
chance he gets, and that I will answer for it that he won't be any
the less ready, when the time comes, for buckling to at business."
"Well, if you really think that, Gerald, I have nothing more to
say. You know I should like Bob to enjoy himself, as much as he
can; only I seem to have the responsibility of him."
"I don't see why you worry about that, Carrie. If he had gone out
to Cadiz or Oporto, as your uncle intended, you don't suppose the
people there would have troubled themselves about him. He would
just have gone his own way. You went your own way, didn't you? And
it is mighty little you troubled yourself about what your uncle was
likely to say, when you took up with an Irishman in a marching
regiment; and I don't see why you should trouble now.
"The old gentleman means well with the boy but, after all, he is
not either his father or his mother. You are his nearest relation
and, though you are a married woman, you are not old enough, yet,
to expect that a boy of Bob's age is going to treat you as if you
were his mother, instead of his sister. There is not one boy in
fifty would have minded us as he has done."
"Well, Bob, there is nothing more for me to say, after that,"
Carrie said, half laughing--though there were tears in her eyes.
"No, no, Carrie; I won't go, if you don't like," Bob said,
impetuously.
"Yes, you shall go, Bob. Gerald is quite right. It is better you
should begin to think for yourself; and I am sure I should like you
to see things, and to enjoy yourself as much as you can. I don't
know why I should fidget about you, for you showed you had much
more good sense than I credited you with, when you gave up your
chance of going to sea and went into uncle's office.
"I am sure I am the last person who ought to lecture you, after
choosing to run about all over the world, and to take the risk of
being starved here," and she smiled at her husband.
"You do as you like, Bob," she went on. "I won't worry about you,
in future--only if you have to go back to England without a leg, or
an arm, don't blame me; and be sure you tell uncle that I made as
good a fight against it as I could."
And so it was settled.
"By the way," Bob exclaimed, presently, "I have got a letter from
uncle to you, in my pocket; and one for myself, also. Captain
Lockett gave them to me this morning, but I forgot all about them."
"Well, you are a boy!" his sister exclaimed.
"This is a nice sample, Gerald, of Bob's thoughtfulness.
"Well, give me the letter. Perhaps he writes saying you had better
be sent home, by the first chance that offers itself."
Bob's face fell. He had, indeed, himself had some misgiving, ever
since the troubles began, that his uncle might be writing to that
effect.
"Well, look here, Carrie," he said, "here is the letter; but I
think you had better not open it, till I have started on this
cruise. Of course, if he says I must go back, I must; but I may as
well have this trip, first."
Carrie laughed.
"What do you think, Gerald, shall I leave it till Bob has gone?"
"No, open it at once, Carrie. If he does say, 'send Bob on by the
first vessel,' there is not likely to be one before he goes in the
Antelope. Besides, that is all the more reason why he should go for
a cruise, before he starts back for that grimy old place in Philpot
Lane. We may as well see what the old gentleman says."
"I won't open mine till you have read yours, Carrie," Bob said. "I
mean to go the cruise, anyhow; but if he says I must go after that,
I will go. If he had been the old bear I used to think him, I would
not mind it a snap; but he has been so kind that I shall certainly
do what he wants."
Bob sat, with his hands deep in his pockets, watching his sister's
face with the deepest anxiety as she glanced through the letter;
Gerald standing by, and looking over her shoulder.
Illustration: 'The old gentleman is a brick,' exclaimed Gerald.
"The old gentleman is a brick!" Gerald, who was the first to arrive
at the end, exclaimed. "I wish I had had such a sensible old
relative, myself, but--barring an aunt who kept three parrots and a
cat, and who put more store on the smallest of them than she did on
me--never a relative did I have, in the world."
"Oh, tell me that afterwards!" Bob broke in.
"Do tell me what uncle says, Carrie."
His sister turned to the beginning again and read aloud:
"My dear niece--"
"Where does he write from?" Bob interrupted. "Is it from Philpot
Lane, or from somewhere else?"
"He writes from Matlock, Derbyshire."
"That is all right," Bob said. "I thought, by what Gerald said, he
could not have written from Philpot Lane."
"My dear niece," Carrie began again, "I duly received your letter,
saying that Bob had arrived out safely; and also his more lengthy
epistle, giving an account of the incidents of the voyage. I should
be glad if you would impress upon him the necessity of being more
particular in his punctuation, as also in the crossing of his t's
and the dotting of his i's. I have also received your letter
bearing date June 1st; and note, with great satisfaction, your
statement that he has been most assiduous in his studies, and that
he is already able to converse with some fluency in Spanish.
"Since that time the state of affairs between the two countries has
much occupied my attention--both from its commercial aspect, which
is serious, and in connection with Bob. As the issue of a
declaration of war is hourly expected, as I write, the period of
uncertainty may be considered as over, and the two countries may be
looked upon as at war. I have reason to congratulate myself upon
having followed the advice of my correspondent, and of having laid
in a very large supply of Spanish wine; from which I shall, under
the circumstances, reap considerable profits. I have naturally been
debating, with myself, whether to send for Bob to return to
England; or to proceed to Lisbon, and thence to Oporto, to the care
of my correspondent there. I have consulted in this matter my
junior partner, Mr. Medlin, who is staying with me here for a few
days; and I am glad to say that his opinion coincides with that at
which I had finally arrived--namely, to allow him to remain with
you.
"His conduct when with me, and the perseverance with which--as you
report--he is pursuing his studies, has shown me that he will not
be found wanting in business qualities, when he enters the firm. I
am, therefore, all the more willing that he should use the
intervening time in qualifying himself, generally, for a good
position in the city of London; especially for that of the head of
a firm in the wine trade, in which an acquaintance with the world,
and the manners of a gentleman, if not of a man of fashion--a
matter in which my firm has been very deficient, heretofore--are
specially valuable. It is probable, from what I hear, that
Gibraltar will be besieged; and the event is likely to be a
memorable one. It will be of advantage to him, and give him a
certain standing, to have been present on such an occasion.
"And if he evinces any desire to place any services he is able to
render, either as a volunteer or otherwise, at the disposal of the
military authorities--and I learn, from Mr. Medlin, that it is by
no means unusual for the civil inhabitants of a besieged town to be
called upon, to aid in its defence--I should recommend that you
should place no obstacle in his way. As a lad of spirit, he would
naturally be glad of any opportunity to distinguish himself. I
gathered, from him, that one of his schoolfellows was serving as a
midshipman in a ship of war that would, not improbably, be
stationed at Gibraltar; and Bob would naturally dislike remaining
inactive, when his schoolfellow, and many other lads of the same
age, were playing men's parts in an historical event of such
importance. Therefore you will fully understand that you have my
sanction, beforehand, to agree with any desire he should express in
this direction, if it seems reasonable and proper to you and
Captain O'Halloran.
"As it is probable that the prices of food, and other articles,
will be extremely high during the siege, I have written, by this
mail, to Messieurs James and William Johnston, merchants of
Gibraltar--with whom I have had several transactions--authorizing
them to honour drafts duly drawn by Captain O'Halloran, upon me, to
the extent of 500 pounds; such sum being, of course, additional to
the allowance agreed upon between us for the maintenance and
education of your brother.
"I remain, my dear niece, your affectionate uncle, John Bale."
"Now I call that being a jewel of an uncle," Captain O'Halloran
said, while Bob was loud in his exclamations of pleasure.
"Now you see what you brought on yourself, Bob, by your
forgetfulness. Here we have had all the trouble in life to get
Carrie to agree to your going while, had she read this letter
first, she would not have had a leg to stand upon--at least,
metaphorically speaking; practically, no one would doubt it, for a
minute."
"Practically, you are a goose, Gerald; metaphorically, uncle is an
angel. But I am very, very glad. That has relieved me from the
responsibility, altogether; and you know, at heart, I am just as
willing that Bob should enjoy himself as you are.
"Now, what does your uncle say to you, Bob?"
Bob opened and read his uncle's letter, and then handed it to his
sister.
"It is just the same sort of thing, Carrie. I can see Mr. Medlin's
hand in it, everywhere. He says that, for the time, I must regard
my connection with the firm as of secondary importance; and take
any opportunity that offers to show the spirit of an English
gentleman, by doing all in my power to uphold the dignity of the
British flag; and taking any becoming part that may offer, in the
defence of the town. Of course he says he has heard, with pleasure,
of my progress in Spanish; and that he and his junior partner look
forward, with satisfaction, to the time when I shall enter the
firm.'
"My dear Carrie," Captain O'Halloran said, "I will get a bottle of
champagne from the mess; and this evening, at supper, we will drink
your excellent uncle's health, with all the honours. I will ask
Teddy Burke to come up and join us."
"Then I think, Gerald," his wife said, smiling, "that as Captain
Lockett will be here, too, one bottle of champagne will not go very
far."
"I put it tentatively, my dear; We will say two bottles, and we
will make the first inroad on our poultry yard. We had twenty eggs,
this morning; and the woman downstairs reports that two of the hens
want to sit, though how they explained the matter to her is more
than I know; anyhow, we can afford a couple of chickens."
It was a very jovial supper, especially as it was known that the
news of the proclamation of war had been brought in, by the ship
that had arrived that morning.
"By the way, Mrs. O'Halloran," Captain Lockett said, "I have a
consignment for you. I will land it, the first thing in the
morning, for I shall sail in the evening. We are to get our letters
of marque, authorizing the capture of Spanish vessels, at ten
o'clock in the morning."
"What is the consignment, captain?"
"It is from Mr. Bale, madam. I saw him in town, a week before I
sailed, and told him I was likely to come on here, direct; and he
sent off at once three cases of champagne, and six dozen of port,
directed to you; and an eighteen gallon cask of Irish whisky, for
Captain O'Halloran."
"My dear," Captain O'Halloran said solemnly, "I believe that you
expressed, today, the opinion that your uncle was, metaphorically,
an angel. I beg that the word metaphorically be omitted. If there
was ever an angel in a pigtail, and a stiff cravat, that angel is
Mr. John Bale, of Philpot Lane."
"It is very good of him," Carrie agreed. "We could have done very
well without the whisky, but the port wine and the champagne may be
very useful, if this siege is going to be the terrible thing you
all seem to fancy."
"A drop of the craytur is not to be despised, Mrs. O'Halloran," Dr.
Burke said; "taken with plenty of water it is a fine digestive and,
when we run short of wine and beer, you will not be despising it,
yourself."
"I did not know, Teddy Burke, that you had any experience,
whatever, of whisky mixed with plenty of water."
"You are too hard on me, altogether," the doctor laughed. "There is
no soberer man in the regiment than your humble servant."
"Well, it will do you all good, if you get on short allowance of
wine, for a time. I can't think why men want to sit, after dinner,
and drink bottle after bottle of port wine. It is all very well to
say that everyone does it, but that is a very poor excuse. Why
should they do it? Women don't do it, and I don't see why men
should. I hope the time will come when it is considered just as
disgraceful, for a man to drink, as it is for a woman.
"And now, Captain Lockett, about Bob. What time must he be on
board?"
"He must be on board before gunfire, Mrs. O'Halloran, unless you
get a special order from the town major. I was obliged to get one,
myself, for this evening. The orders are strict, now; all the gates
are closed at gunfire."
"Yes, and mighty strict they are," Captain O'Halloran said. "There
was Major Corcoran, of the 72nd, and the doctor of the regiment
were out fishing yesterday; and the wind fell, and the gun went
just as they were landing, and divil a bit could they get in. The
major is a peppery little man, and I would have given anything to
have seen him. One of the Hanoverian regiments furnished the guard,
at the water batteries; and the sentry told him, if he came a foot
nearer in the boat they would fire and, in the end, he and the
doctor had to cover themselves up with a sail, and lie there all
night. I hear the major went to lodge a complaint, when he landed;
but of course the men were only doing their duty, and I hear Eliott
gave him a wigging, for endeavouring to make them disobey orders."
"I will be on board before gunfire, Captain Lockett. There is no
fear of my missing it."
"How long do you expect to be away, Captain Lockett?" Mrs.
O'Halloran asked.
"That depends on how we get on. If we are lucky, and pick up a
number of prizes, we may bring them in in a week; if not we may be
three weeks, especially if this calm weather lasts."
"I am sure I hope you won't be too lucky, at first, captain," Bob
put in. "I don't want the cruise to finish in a week."
"Oh, I sha'n't consider the cruise is finished, merely because we
come in, Bob!" the captain said. "We shall be going out again, and
only put in here to bring in our prizes. The cruise will last as
long as Captain O'Halloran and your sister will allow you to remain
on board.
"I expect that I shall be able to make you very useful. I shall put
you down in the ship's books as third mate. You won't be able to
draw prize money, as an officer, because the number of officers
entitled to prize money was entered when the crew signed articles;
but if I put you down as supercargo you will share, with the men,
in any prizes we take while you are away with us."
"That will be jolly, captain; not because of the money, you know,
but because it will give one more interest in the cruise. Besides,
I shall like something to do."
"Oh, I will give you something to do! I shall put you in Joe's
watch, and then you will learn something. It is always as well to
pick up knowledge, when you get a chance; and if we do take any
prizes it will be your duty, as supercargo, to take an inventory of
what they have on board."
The next morning Bob packed his trunks, the first thing; then he
went round to the professor's, and told him that he was going away,
for a fortnight or so, for a cruise; then he went down to the port,
and met Joe Lockett when he landed, and brought him up to
breakfast, as had been arranged with the captain the night before.
After that, he went with him up the Rock to look at the
Spaniards--whose tents were a good deal more numerous than they had
been, and who were still at work, arming the forts.
"If I were the general," Joe said, "I would go out at night, with
two or three regiments, and spike all those guns, and blow up the
forts. The Dons wouldn't be expecting it; and it would be a good
beginning, and would put the men in high spirits.
"Do you see, the Spanish fleet has drifted away almost out of
sight, to the east. I thought what it would be, at sunset
yesterday, when I saw that they did not enter the bay; for the
current would be sure to drive them away, if the wind didn't spring
up.
"Well, I hope we shall get a little, this evening. And now I must
be going down, for there is a good deal to do, before we sail."