A VISIT HOME.
The new purchase, which was named the _Suzanne_, was towed alongside the
_Tigress_, and the crew began at once to get up the cargo and transfer
it to her hold. More method was observed in restowing the cargo than had
before been possible. The dried fruit, as the heaviest of the goods, was
placed in the middle of the brig; the European goods, whose brands and
packing enabled them to be easily distinguished from the rest, were
placed forward; and the Eastern bales packed aft. This was done under
the direction of the petty officers.
During the four days that it took to complete the work, Edgar boarded
several of the Italian craft, and succeeded in inducing ten active young
sailors to join him, by the offer of a rate of pay several times higher
than that they earned in their native craft, and of a free passage back
on the first opportunity. Condor was appointed to the command of the
_Tigress_, as two supernumerary lieutenants and four midshipmen had been
sent out from home to the _Tigre_, and two midshipmen received acting
orders as his lieutenants. There was much satisfaction among the junior
officers of the _Tigre_ when they heard from Wilkinson the nature of the
spoil he had gathered, and all sorts of guesses were hazarded as to its
value.
"I cannot help you there in the least," he said. "I know that Turkish
and Eastern carpets fetch a big price at home; and of course silk, and
gold and silver embroideries, are valuable; but, as I only know the
contents of about a hundred bales, I have no more idea of what the total
is likely to come to than you have."
"You did not get any money, Wilkinson, or jewels?"
"Neither one nor the other. I suppose that the money was divided when
captured, and the jewels either given to the women or sold. They were
things that might be disposed of anywhere. At any rate we found none of
them, and the only cash is, as I told you, the twelve thousand five
hundred pounds that the prizes fetched, out of which our share is not
likely to be more than twenty or thirty pounds each. Still, that is not
to be despised."
"It will come to more than that," one of the party said. "I have
calculated it up, and though I have not the exact rules--"
"Well, if you haven't got the exact rules, Macleod, your calculations
are not worth more than our guesses. It won't be much more than forty
pounds anyhow, and I suppose a bit more than that for our share of the
prizes captured here. Of course they were worth a good deal more, but
then there are all the ships-of-war to share. If our prize turns out as
well as I hope, it will come to a good bit more, as it is only to be
divided among the _Tigre's_ crew."
"You and Blagrove are going home in the prize, are you not?"
"Yes, I carry Sir Sidney's despatches; Blagrove gets three months'
leave."
"Who is going to command the craft that you have bought for your father,
Blagrove?"
"I have persuaded the captain of that store-ship that came in yesterday
to let me have his second officer for two or three months. She is likely
to be here some time; and if we have luck, and his mate gets a return
passage soon after he arrives in England, he may be back again in six
weeks. From another ship of the same sort I got a young fellow for mate.
The ships are chartered by government, and will likely enough be here
for months, as they will furnish stores not only to the ships on the
coast, but to any that may come down here from the fleet blockading
Toulon. In fact they will act as general shore-ships, until they have
cleared out their cargo."
"Then he will be your captain?"
"He will be entered on the ship's books as captain," Edgar replied with
a laugh; "but I fancy that Wilkinson and myself will not care to be idle
on the voyage."
Three days after the cargo was transferred, twenty invalids were placed
on board. Two or three had lost limbs, but the rest were men who had
been pulled down by fever and could not shake it off so long as they
were on the coast. On the following morning the anchor was got up and
the _Suzanne_ sailed for England. The nominal captain was a smart young
sailor, who was glad indeed of the opportunity, for three or four months
of enforced idleness on the Egyptian coast was not at all to his taste.
The extra pay that he would receive was a consideration, but the fact
that he was to be nominally--for Edgar had explained the situation to
him--in command was the great inducement.
He had fortunately passed his examination and obtained his certificate
as captain before sailing on the present voyage. Had it not been for
this he could not have accepted Edgar's offer. The voyage was a rapid
one. They stopped for two days at Gibraltar to take in water. They had
some little trouble with the prize-agent there, for of course the ship's
papers showed that she had been a prize, and she should have been sent
there to be condemned and sold. Sir Sidney Smith, however, had written,
saying that as the ships on the station were already short-handed, he
could not spare a prize crew, and that he had therefore only the choice
of burning the prize or of selling her there, and that a court of
officers from the various ships-of-war had fixed her value at £850, and
a purchaser having been found at that price, he had deemed it expedient
to sell her, and now forwarded his bill for the amount, to be divided in
the usual course by the prize officials at Gibraltar, as if they had
sold her themselves. He stated that as she had been loaded with
munitions of war for the French army, no question could arise as to the
lawfulness of her capture.
The officials shook their heads over the irregularity, but as the
defence of Acre had made a great sensation in England, and a vote of
thanks had been passed by both Houses of Parliament, and by many of the
corporate bodies in England, to Sir Sidney and those serving under him,
they agreed to set the matter right; and thereupon, on the evidence
given by Wilkinson and Edgar as to the circumstances of the capture,
they formally condemned the ship and authorized the sale that had been
effected. That point satisfactorily settled, they sailed at once, shaped
their course, after issuing from the Straits, a hundred miles west of
the usual ship track, and met with no suspicious sail until they entered
the Chops of the Channel. Then one or two craft that looked like French
privateers were observed; but the _Suzanne_ was a fast vessel and kept
her distance from them, holding her course up Channel, and one morning,
soon after daybreak, dropped anchor among a number of other merchantmen
on the Mother bank off Ryde.
Directly the anchor was down the gig was lowered, and Wilkinson, Edgar,
and the captain were rowed into Portsmouth, the brig being left in
charge of the mate. The former went to the dockyard and reported to the
admiral that he had brought home despatches from Sir Sidney Smith for
the Admiralty.
"In what ship have you brought them?"
"As there was no ship of war likely to be sailing, a passage was taken
for me in a trader, a prize that had been sold, and was being brought
home."
"Very well, sir. You will, of course, post with it at once for London.
Have any particular events happened there?"
"No, sir. Beyond the fact that a few prizes have been picked up there is
nothing doing. But I understood from Sir Sidney that there had been no
opportunity of sending home reports for a month, and that therefore he
thought it best to take the opportunity of forwarding his despatches by
a private ship. She is also bringing home some goods captured from
pirates in the Levant by the _Tigre's_ tender, the _Tigress_, which I
had the honour to command. There are also twenty men on board invalided
home."
"Very well, Mr. Wilkinson. I have nothing further to say to you, and you
will doubtless wish to start without delay. I will send off for the sick
men at once."
The captain returned on board to take the brig round to London. The two
friends reached town late that night, and Wilkinson went straight to the
Admiralty with the despatches. He was at once taken to the room where
one of the junior officials was on duty.
"Despatches from Sir Sidney Smith, sir," Wilkinson said.
"Anything important?"
"I believe not. There was an opportunity for sending them, and Sir
Sidney availed himself of it."
"Then it will not be worth while to wake up the admiral at this time of
night?"
"I should say certainly not. But I thought it my duty to bring them here
at once."
The other nodded.
"Where do you put up, Mr. Wilkinson?"
"At the Golden Cross."
"Very well. If you are wanted you can be sent for in the morning. You
had best call here about eleven, so that you can answer any questions
that the admirals may ask."
In the morning the midshipman went across. Half an hour later his name
was called out, and he was at once shown into a room in which two of the
naval lords were sitting.
"You are the bearer of the despatches from Sir Sidney Smith, Mr.
Wilkinson?"
"Yes, sir."
"He has sent us the report you gave him of your cruise in the brig
_Tigress_ among the Greek and Turkish islands. There can be no doubt
that you did your work exceedingly well, as is shown by the long list of
prizes captured or destroyed. He mentions that he has received also
reports from the Pasha of Smyrna and the Governor of Rhodes, speaking in
high terms of the services that you have rendered, and saying that for
the time piracy appears to have entirely ceased and the seas to be open
to peaceful traders. What time have you to serve?"
"I have another six months, sir."
"Well, I think, if you feel prepared, it would be as well for you to
take advantage of your being at home to pass, and we will take care that
you shall get your promotion as soon as you have served your full time.
You would like a couple of months' leave, no doubt, before you return.
Would you rather wait before going in to be examined, or would you
prefer going in at once?"
"I would rather go in at once, sir. I should enjoy my holiday much
better if it was over."
"I do not think it will take very long," the admiral said with a smile.
"After having been in command of a ten-gun brig for six months you
should be able to satisfy the requirements of the examiners without
difficulty. You will be good enough to wait in the ante-room."
The delay was not long. In ten minutes the official messenger requested
him to follow him, and took him to a room where three naval captains
were sitting. The one in the centre looked up from the papers that he
was examining.
"Good-morning, Mr. Wilkinson! I see by these papers that you have for
six months been in command of the ten-gun brig _Tigress_, cruising for
pirates among the Turkish and Greek islands."
"Yes, sir."
"I suppose during that time you met once or twice with bad weather?"
"We had one tremendous squall, sir."
"It came suddenly upon you?"
"Yes, sir. Our first intimation of it was that we saw two native craft
suddenly lower their sails."
"Let us know exactly the measures that you took and the orders you
gave."
Wilkinson described what had passed from the time that the first order
was given until the violence of the squall abated.
"That will do as far as seamanship is concerned," the officer said.
Another now asked him a few questions as to navigation, and these being
answered correctly, the president, after a word with the others, said:
"That will do, Mr. Wilkinson. You have answered creditably, and, indeed,
the mere fact that Sir Sidney Smith should have considered you fit to
command the _Tigress_ in so difficult and dangerous a work as cruising
among those islands is in itself a better guarantee of your fitness for
promotion than the most rigid examination could be."
A few further questions were asked, and then Wilkinson was congratulated
upon having passed successfully. He then went to the prize court, saw
the President, and presented Sir Sidney Smith's note to him. He read it
through, and then glanced at a copy of the bill of lading which had been
taken when the cargo was transferred.
"You do not know the contents of all those bales and casks, Mr.
Wilkinson?"
"No, sir. The greater portion of them have never been opened. Some, of
course, one could recognize from the nature of the packing, and I put
them down as nearly as I could guess--Manchester goods, woollen,
hardware, and so on; but, as we wanted to be off, and it was better that
the things should remain in their original packing, we did not trouble
to open them, and they were received as cargo consigned to you."
"The Eastern goods you know nothing about, I suppose?"
"Nothing whatever."
"Well, when the brig arrives in the river the captain will, of course,
call here, and I will give him instructions where to land them."
"I understand," he went on, looking again at the letter, "that Mr.
Blagrove, to whom Sir Sidney asks me to intrust the sale of these goods,
is an expert in this special line?"
"Yes, sir; he has been for many years established as a merchant in
Alexandria, and Sir Sidney thought that he would not only be able to
estimate accurately the value of the goods, but would know exactly where
to place them, and would, by bringing them gradually forward, get far
larger sums for them than if they were thrown all at once upon the
market."
"I see the vessel is his property, Mr. Wilkinson?"
"It is so, sir, his son purchased it in his name. He is a
fellow-midshipman of mine in the _Tigre_, and was with me in the craft
with which we captured all these goods and the vessels that have been
sold for twelve thousand five hundred. This I have brought up with me in
gold, and will pay into the hands of anybody you may appoint, to be
added to the proceeds of the sales, for division by the court."
"Have you any idea of the value of these Eastern goods?"
"Not in the slightest, sir; only a few of the bales were opened in the
presence of Sir Sidney Smith. He himself said that it would be better
not to open more, as there were no facilities for repacking."
"I think that it was a very good idea of Sir Sidney's to suggest that it
would be for the advantage of all concerned to vary the usual course,
and to place these goods in the hands of an expert instead of selling
them by auction. I should like to see Mr. Blagrove. I suppose you know
his address. Is he in town?"
"He is living in Dulwich, sir."
"Well, will you let him know that if he calls upon me to-morrow morning
I will give him full authority to act in the matter, and then we can
settle whether to stow that portion of the cargo in our warehouses or
whether to make other arrangements. I will myself write to Sir Sidney
Smith to thank him for his suggestion with respect to the sale of these
goods, and to say that I have so arranged it. The question of freight
is, of course, a matter altogether separate, and I shall give Mr.
Blagrove a cheque for the amount arranged between his representative and
Sir Sidney Smith at the rate of three pounds per ton when he brings me
the receipt of the officer in charge of the warehouse of his having
received the stores in good order from the ship."
Edgar had, on reaching London, stopped at the Golden Cross for the
night, and the first thing in the morning taken a hackney-coach and
driven at once to Dulwich, where his father had taken a house close to
that of his brother. It was now the first week in December. Edgar drove
up to the entrance to the garden in which the house stood, paid the
coachman, and then rang the bell. The servant opened it, and looked
somewhat surprised at seeing a young naval officer standing there.
"Are Mr. and Mrs. Blagrove in?" he asked.
"Yes, sir, they are both in."
"All right!" he said; "show me to the room where they are. You need not
announce me; I am their son."
The girl at once led the way into the house, and Edgar walked into the
room, where the party were seated at breakfast. Mr. Blagrove was sitting
with his back to the door, and did not see him come in. His mother and
sisters looked up in surprise as he entered unannounced. It was two
years since they had seen him, and they scarcely recognized in the tall
young officer the lad whom they had last seen at Alexandria on their
departure for England. Mr. Blagrove, on seeing their eyes fixed on the
door, turned round, and leapt to his feet.
"My dear Edgar," he exclaimed as he warmly embraced him, "where have you
sprung from? Your last letter was from Smyrna three months ago. Mother,"
he went on, turning round, "let me introduce your boy to you."
For some minutes there was little coherent conversation.
"Now, sit down, Edgar," Mr. Blagrove said at last, "and let us hear
what unexpected chance has brought you home. I suppose, as you are in
uniform, that you have not left the service."
"Not at all, sir; I am home on three months' leave, having come home in
the _Suzanne_, a brig belonging to yourself."
"Belonging to me!" Mr. Blagrove said in astonishment. "What on earth do
you mean?"
"I bought her in your name, father, and you will have a bill presented
in the course of a couple of months or so for eight hundred and fifty
pounds. At any rate you will not be a loser by her. There will be from
six to seven hundred pounds, I cannot say how much exactly, for the
cargo was not weighed, but it is somewhat over two hundred tons at three
pounds a ton, and there is, besides, a hundred pounds for the
passage-money of twenty invalid sailors, so you see you get the ship for
practically about a hundred pounds, to which there will have to be added
the payment of a captain, mate, and ten Italian sailors. She was valued
by a court of naval officers at eight hundred and fifty pounds, that
being the price they considered that she might fetch if sold there. I
should say that she is worth quite double that. She is about three
hundred tons, and carried six guns, so at any rate you are likely to
make a thousand by the transaction.
"Then I have to inform you that, at Sir Sidney Smith's request, which I
have no doubt will be complied with, you will be appointed, by the
president of the prize court, agent for the sale of what Eastern goods
there are on board her. The cargo is made up of European goods, dried
fruits, and Eastern goods. They are what we captured from the pirates,
and Sir Sidney Smith suggested that it would be as well to intrust to
one who knew the value of the Eastern goods the work of selling them
privately, instead of putting them up to auction, and he requested that
the agency should be given to you. Wilkinson, who has come home with me,
is going to see the president of the prize court this morning, and he is
to come up here afterwards. Of course Sir Sidney did it chiefly to
oblige me, but he thought that the goods would really fetch more if sold
in that way. He said, of course, that you would get a commission on the
sale, and as you said in the last letter that I received that you were
getting very sick of having nothing to do, I thought you might like the
job."
"Certainly I should like it, Edgar, and that purchase of the ship seems
a very satisfactory one, though, of course, the profit will be yours and
not mine, as I had nothing to do with it."
"Oh, yes, it is your business, father; she is bought with your money,
and I am glad that I have been able to do something for the firm. I
shall soon be getting my prize money, which will keep me in cash for a
very long time."
"We won't argue about that now, Edgar. At any rate I shall be glad to
see to the sale of these Eastern goods, though, of course, it will be
but a small thing."
"I don't know, father. I think that it will be rather a large thing. At
any rate there is something between eighty and a hundred tons of them."
"Between eighty and a hundred tons!" his father replied. "You mean with
the dried fruits, of course."
"Not at all, father! The fruits will be sold in the ordinary way in the
prize court."
"Then, what can these things be?"
"I should say the great proportion of them are carpets--Turkish,
Persian, and Syrian."
"A hundred tons of such carpets as those, Edgar, would be worth a very
large sum, indeed; surely you must be mistaken?"
"It's the accumulation of years of piracy, father; perhaps from hundreds
of ships captured by those scoundrels. But, of course, they are not all
carpets. There are silks, muslins, embroidered robes, Egyptian scarves
and manufactures, and other sorts of things. We have not opened above a
dozen bales out of some twelve hundred, and have, therefore, no idea of
the relative value of the others. We were a tender of the _Tigre's_, our
craft being a prize taken by her, and all of us, officers and men, being
borne on her books, the whole ship divides. Still, if the things are
worth as much as we think, it will bring us in a handsome sum. And there
is, besides, twelve thousand five hundred in cash, the proceeds of the
sale of the vessels we captured; and we also share with the other ships
under Sir Sidney Smith's command in the value of the vessels and cargoes
they have captured as they tried to reach an Egyptian port. They say
they were worth something like forty thousand, of which the _Tigre's_
share will be about half."
"Well, Edgar, if there are a hundred tons of such goods as you describe,
your cargo must be a valuable one indeed. Of course I can tell nothing
about it until I see them opened. At any rate it will give me
occupation, and I should say a good paying occupation, for some time."
"I suppose you got that letter, father, that I sent from Constantinople,
from Mr. Muller?"
"Yes, and a very satisfactory one it was. It reconciled me to some
extent to staying here. It was not pleasant to think that one was living
upon one's capital, but I found from his statement that my share of the
business he was doing would fully cover my expenses here. And now, let
us hear something more about your doings. Your letter from
Constantinople told us about your adventures in Egypt; then we had one
written the day after the French had retreated from before Acre, and the
one that we received from Smyrna two months since; but that was a short
one, and beyond saying that you had been very lucky in capturing and
destroying a number of pirates, and that you were enjoying your cruise
very much, you did not give us any detail. You may as well tell us that
part first."
Early in the afternoon Wilkinson arrived. As Edgar had spoken warmly of
his kindness to him when he had first joined the _Tigre_, and of the
friendship that had sprung up between them, he was very cordially
received by Mr. and Mrs. Blagrove. The former was well pleased when he
heard the details of the interview with the president of the prize
court, and said that he would go up and see him in the morning.
"I will hire a warehouse for a month or two," he said. "It will be much
more satisfactory than working in a place where a lot of other business
is being transacted. The bales will all have to be opened and examined,
the goods classed and assorted, and I shall have to bring people down
there to examine them. The expense will be nothing in comparison to the
advantage of having a quiet place to one's self."
On the following morning Mr. Blagrove went up and had a very
satisfactory talk with the president of the prize court. The _Suzanne_
arrived four days later, having made a fast run from Portsmouth. By that
time Mr. Blagrove had engaged a warehouse, where, in a short time, the
whole of the goods of which he was to dispose were safely stored.
Wilkinson went down on the day after his arrival to his people in
Devonshire, and Edgar established himself as assistant to his father. As
bale after bale was opened, the latter was astonished at the beauty and
value of some of the contents. A few only of the bales contained common
country cloths, and it was evident that such goods of this sort as had
fallen into the hands of the pirates had been sold at once, as there was
a ready market for them at the towns and villages of the islands and the
mainland. Many of the carpets were of great size. Some of the very large
ones Mr. Blagrove valued at fully £500, and there were scores worth from
£50 to £100. Some of the silks and embroideries he pronounced to be
almost priceless.
"They must," he said, "have been specially woven and worked for the
ladies of the Sultan's harem."
When, after a month's stay, Edgar prepared to rejoin with his friend
Wilkinson, not more than one-third of the contents of the warehouse had
been sold, but these had fetched over £40,000, and his father had no
doubt that he should obtain a proportionate sum for the remainder. The
Italian sailors who had aided to bring the _Suzanne_ home had been sent
off a week after her arrival by a vessel bound for Naples, and the brig
herself had, as soon as the cargo was all cleared out, fetched £1800 by
auction, being almost a new vessel.
"I have no doubt," Mr. Blagrove said, "that ere long a British army will
be sent out, and the French compelled to leave Egypt. If I thought that
the war was likely to go on for some time as at present, I should say
that you had better leave the service. As it is, you would not be doing
much good if you stayed here, and so may as well hold on."
It was the first day of March, 1800, when the vessel with supplies for
the troops, in which Wilkinson and Edgar had taken their passage, joined
the fleet off Alexandria, and until the beginning of December they took
part in the somewhat tedious work of blockading the Egyptian coast. In
spite of their efforts the fleet were not always successful, for from
time to time one or other of the ships was forced to sail to Cyprus to
obtain fresh supplies, although quite a fleet of small vessels was
employed in bringing water, fresh meat, and vegetables for the use of
the fleet, as the health of the seamen would have suffered much from
living for so long a period upon salt meat.
In November news was received that the army under Sir Ralph Abercrombie,
which had for so long been engaged in watching Cadiz, was to sail upon
an expedition for the reconquest of Egypt. It was stated that the
expedition would, in the first place, sail for Syria, there to join the
army that the Sultan assured the English government was in readiness to
advance. Sir Sidney Smith was ordered to sail at once for that coast, to
ascertain the real state of things, and to decide upon the spot where
the fleet had best assemble, for, from its long absence from England,
there were many repairs needed, and it was desirable that the situation
should be such that the ships could be careened, and a portion at least
of the weeds that had accumulated be scraped off.
His absence was in one respect unfortunate, for some of the other
blockading ships were, after a very heavy gale, obliged to go to Cyprus
to repair damages; and two French men-of-war heavily laden with troops
and ammunition managed to run safely in to Alexandria, thereby
increasing the strength of the French army by four thousand seasoned
soldiers, and by an ample supply of ammunition. It was a great
disappointment to the crews when, on their return to their stations off
the coast, they found that the French had taken advantage of their
absence, and that the result of their eighteen months of incessant vigil
had been wasted.
Wilkinson had by this time served his full time, and Condor having been
appointed to the _Theseus_, Sir Sidney Smith again gave the command of
the _Tigress_ to him, with the rank of acting lieutenant, which would,
he was sure, be confirmed.
"I suppose you would like to have Mr. Blagrove with you?"
"Certainly, sir. There is no one I would rather have."
"It is a pity that he has not served his time yet," Sir Sidney said. "He
is a most active young officer, and his knowledge of so many languages
is of immense advantage. I would gladly give him an independent command,
but as there are so many midshipmen senior to him, I could not do so.
You know the coast of Anatolia probably better than anyone else here.
Which harbour would you recommend as the most suitable for the entry of
a large fleet? It must be well sheltered, and the shore should offer
facilities for heeling the vessels over as far as possible in order to
clean them. I know that at Rhodes there is not enough water for
first-class men-of-war."
"By far the best place I know, sir, is the Bay of Marmorice. It is on
the mainland almost opposite Rhodes, and within a day's easy sail. We
went into it quite by accident, for the entrance might be passed without
notice, but we had been chasing a suspicious craft, and saw her
disappear, and, following her, found ourselves in a great landlocked
harbour, big enough to hold a hundred ships-of-war, and absolutely
sheltered. It is by far the finest harbour that I have ever seen."
"I am sailing for Rhodes in the first place. Lord Keith, who commands
the fleet, has written to request me to meet him there; and if your
report is correct, it will save me the trouble of examining the whole
line of coast between Rhodes and Acre."
Edgar was glad to be again on board the _Tigress_. The account of the
sale of the goods she had captured had now been received; the total
amounted to £133,000, of which £110,000 had been paid in to the prize
court by Mr. Blagrove, the other £23,000 had been the proceeds of the
fruits and other goods. There were in addition the sums received for
vessels sold. The astonishment of the officers of the _Tigre_ was great
indeed when they heard the result, for very little had been said about
the value of the cargo, and the sum realized was at least three times as
great as the most sanguine had hoped.
"It was an excellent plan getting your father to undertake the
business," Sir Sidney Smith said to Edgar, when the latter informed him
that he had received a communication from his father saying how much the
goods he had sold had realized. "I don't suppose they would have fetched
a third of that amount had they been sold in the ordinary way by auction
by the prize court. I am sure that we must all feel greatly obliged to
him."
"And he must feel greatly obliged to you, Sir Sidney; for, as he told
me, his commission had been fixed at three per cent, so he has, after
paying his expenses, done a fine stroke of business for himself."
"He has managed extremely well, Mr. Blagrove, and it has been a
fortunate affair for us all."