CHAPTER I.

THE CRUISE OF THE MIDGE.

BY THE

AUTHOR OF "TOM CRINGLE'S LOG."

[Transcriber's note: Author is Michael Scott]

"ON LIFE'S VAST OCEAN DIVERSELY WE SAIL,

REASON THE CARD, BUT PASSION IS THE GALE."

ESSAY ON MAN

IN TWO VOLUMES.

VOL. I.

WILLIAM BLACKWOOD AND SONS, EDINBURGH;

AND T. CADELL, STRAND, LONDON.

MDCCCXXXVI.

EDINBURGH: PRINTED BY BALLANTYNE AND CO., PAUL'S WORK.

CONTENTS OF VOLUME SECOND.

CHAP.

I. A HAIRBREADTH ESCAPE

II. A VISION--THE DYING BUCANIER

III. SCENES IN HAVANNA

IV. A CRUISE IN THE MOUNTAINS--EL CAFETAL

V. THE MOSQUITO

VI. SPIRITING AWAY--WHERE IS THE BALLAHOO?

VII. THE DEVIL'S GULLY

VIII. MY UNCLE

IX. OCCIDENTAL VAGARIES

X. THE MOONBEAM

XI. THE BREAKING WAVE

XII. THE END OF THE YARN

THE CRUISE OF THE MIDGE.

CHAPTER I.

A HAIRBREADTH ESCAPE.

I must either have been weaker, or the opiate stronger than the doctor

expected, for it was near midnight before I awoke. Although still very

low and faint, I felt much refreshed and invigorated. For some time I

lay enjoying the coolness of the night air, and listening to the

chirping of the crickets, in the crevices of the lofty roof. There was

not the smallest noise besides to be heard in the house, and every

thing without was equally still. At my bedside, on the right hand,

there stood a small old-fashioned ebony table, inlaid with

mother-of-pearl, with several phials, a bottle of wine, and glasses on

it, an open book, the leaves kept down on one side by a most enticing

uncut pine-apple, and a large brown wax candle, burning dimly in its

tall massive silver candlestick. A chair of the same substance and

antique character, and richly carved, was set beside this table, over

the high perpendicular back of which hung a seaman's jacket, and a

black silk neckerchief, as if the wearer had recently been reading

beside me, and very possibly watching me. I listened--all continued

silent; and I turned, but still with great pain, towards the open

window or balcony that projected into and overhung the neighbouring

thoroughfare. The moonlight streamed through the casement, and, with a

sensation of ineffable pleasure, I gloated on the bright stars beyond,

deep set into the dark blue sky, while the cool night breeze, charged

with the odour of the pine-apple, breathed gently, and oh! how passing

sweetly, on my feverish temples!

From the pain experienced in moving, I only turned half-round, and

therefore lay in a position that prevented my seeing more than the

upper part of the large window; but I gradually slewed myself, so as to

lie more on my side. "Heaven and earth, there he is again!" My heart

fluttered and beat audibly. My breathing became impeded and irregular,

and large drops of ice-cold perspiration burst from my forehead and

face; for _there_, with his head leaning on his hand, his arm resting

on the window sill, and motionless as the timber on which he reclined,

his beautiful features upturned towards the pale cold moon, and full in

the stream of her mild effulgence, sat the apparition of young Henry De

Walden! I tried to speak, but my breath failed, and a sudden giddiness

came over me. "I am gone at last," thought I. "I know what his coming

twice betokens--Henry, I will soon be with you!"

* * * * *

I had fainted away. When I again opened my eyes, I was so dizzy and

confused, that I did not know where I was. My wound was giving me

great pain, and I turned with difficulty on my other side, towards

where the table stood. Believing that I was fast dying, and that I

should soon be "a thing immortal as itself," I did not even start when

I saw the same figure, whose appearance had so agitated me before, now

seated at the table, apparently reading. "The third time," thought

I--"it should be so--it should be so--Heaven receive my repentant soul!"

At this moment the door opened, and some one, dressed like a seaman,

slid into the room. As he approached the table, the apparition of the

young midshipman slowly lifted its head, and peered into the darkness.

From the dimness of the taper it appeared unable to make out what

approached, for the ghost now took up the snuffers, and snuffed the

candle as scientifically as if it had once inhabited the tallow-tainted

carcass of a scene-shifter.

"Confound these old-fashioned snuffers, the spring is broken!"

My eyes opened at this, wider, I believe, than they had ever done

before, and my ears tingled. "What a speech from an inhabitant of the

other world!" thought I.

"Oh! is it you, Joe Peak?" quoth the handsome spectre; "why do you

steal in and startle one so, you little villain? Hush--off with these

heavy shoes of yours, and come and sit down, will ye?"

Master Joey, who, I knew, was in the body as yet at any rate, now came

forward into the light, and drawing a chair, sat down fronting the

apparition.

"Well, Henry, my lad, how is master Benjamin--better?"

"A good deal--if that old French medico has not poisoned him outright

with laudanum. He has slept since twelve at noon--and what's the hour

now, Joey?"

"Gone eight bells--so go and turn in, De Walden, and I will take my

spell here."

"Thank you, and so I will. But here, take a glass of vin-de-grave;"

and, to my great wonderment, the spectre and man of flesh hobbed and

nobbed together with all the comfort in life. "Have you seen Lennox

this afternoon?"

"Yes, I saw him about eight o'clock," said Peak; "the alcalde has given

up all the money that was taken from"--here he nodded towards me--"when

he was stabbed by the raggamuffin he had fleeced."

"If ever I set foot within a gambling-house again," thought I,--but

finding myself their topic, I lay still, and listened attentively.

"How very extraordinary," continued Joey, "that Lennox, on his way from

Mr. M----'s to the wharf, should have stumbled on the little man, with

the ruffian in the very act of rifling him."

"Why, he did not rifle me," said I, faintly. They both started, and

looked towards me. "He did not rob me, for I distinctly recollect his

starting off when he stabbed me."

"Ay, sir, that was to see if he had been sure in his blow--for Lennox

came on him after he returned, just as he struck his stiletto into you

the second time, as you lay on the ground, and after having, with the

speed of thought, seized the _bolsa_ with the doubloons."

"Wounded me twice! Upon my honour," said I, fumbling in my bosom, "and

so he has--the villain."

Mr Peak continued--"From the marine's account, he himself had a tough

job of it, for if he had not got hold of the knife, that had dropped

during the scuffle, _he_ would have been done for, in place of having

_finished_ the bravo."

"_Finished_ the bravo! Is the man who wounded me dead, then?"

"Not yet, sir," continued Mr Peak. "But he cannot live, I hear--Lennox

made sure work of it. He told me himself, that in his desperation he

passed the knife into him, until his thumb was stopped by his

ribs--none of your back blows, but a straight thrust--a regular

pig-butcher's _slide_, sir."

"_Pig-butcher's slide!_ how classical! If he had not deserved it,"

said I, "I would have been sorry that a fellow-creature's blood had

been shed even in my defence."

"No, no," quoth De Walden, "it was, more properly speaking, in Lennox's

own defence; for the villain, not content with killing you, as he

thought he had done, and robbing you besides, would most assuredly have

served the poor Scotchman the same way, if he had not been beforehand

with him."

"But where is Lennox?"

"The town-guard, who had heard the row, came up just as he had mastered

his opponent, sir; and the poor fellow, with great discretion, made no

attempt to escape, so he is now a prisoner, along with the wounded man;

but he is quite cool and collected, and the moment you can give your

evidence, there is not the smallest doubt but he will be instantly

released."

"And yourself, De Walden--by what miracle do I see you here?"

"By next to a miracle, indeed, my dear sir," said he, smiling; then,

with an altered countenance, he continued--"The worst among us, sir, is

not yet a fiend--no human heart is altogether evil--and I owe my life

to the very man who tried to take _yours_--to the fellow who stabbed

you, sir. But I am forgetting myself altogether--you must take your

draught again, sir, and to-morrow forenoon you shall know all. In the

mean time I must entreat you to take some rest, if you can, and I will

go and turn in."

"I say, De Walden, what is that dropping there?"

"You are always making slops, Joe," said the other, as he rose to go

away; "why, what _have_ you spilt next?"

"Spilt?" rejoined Peak, "hand me the light, for, by the powers, I

believe that Mr Brail himself is _spilling_,--if not quite entirely

_spilt_--see here."

True enough; the wound in my breast, which, although not deep, the

knife having been stopped by the bone, was lacerated, had burst out

afresh, either from my motion or _emotion_, and a black stream now

trickled over the sheet that covered the red-leather mattrass of the

quatre on which I rested, and fell tap-tap on the floor.

"Run, run, De Walden--call the doctor's assistant--he sleeps in the

next room," cried little Peak.

In a moment the Spaniard was with us, without his clothes, but _with_

his bandages and lint, and as the operation was a very simple one, I

was soon put to rights again; but I took the hint, and asked for no

more information that night. De Walden now rose and wished me

good-night, saying, as little Peak took charge of the deck, "You are to

call Mrs Gerard at daylight, Joey--so clap a stopper on your jaw, you

little villain, and don't speak one word, _even if he desires you_."

"Pah, you be hanged, De Walden," quoth Joey.

So, satisfied and thankful for what I now did know, and in the hope of

learning _all_ to-morrow, I took the draught, turned on my sound side,

and slept in Elysium.

* * * * *

Next morning, when I awoke, the sun had already risen, and shone

cheerily through the open casement. Several black female domestics

were busy setting the room in which I lay in order, and a middle-aged

respectable-looking white woman employed in sewing, now occupied the

chair in which the ghost of De Walden sat the previous night, while

busied in the etherial occupation of eating pine-apple and drinking

vin-de-grave.

Seeing I was awake, she spoke--"I hope you feel yourself better this

morning; you have had a very quiet night, sir, Mr Peak says."

"Thank you, I do feel wonderfully refreshed. Pray, are you one of the

family?"

"No, sir, I am the wife of the captain of the American brig, whose crew

you, and your friend Mr Lanyard, saved from perishing of thirst."

"What! are you the poor woman whom I found in the cabin with her child?"

"I am, sir; and I hope heaven will reward you for it. My husband has

been here often, sir, to enquire after you. His vessel is consigned to

Mr Duquesné, sir; how happy he will be to find you so much better, when

he calls at dinner time to-day!"

"How came it that I was carried into this house? Mr Duquesné's, I

believe--a Frenchman, from the name?"

"You were wounded close to it, sir, and the marine who found you,

thinking you were dying, requested the guard, after they had taken the

man who stabbed you, to allow you to be carried in here; and I thank

Heaven that you have fallen into such good hands, and that I have had

it in my power to be of some use to you, as a sick-nurse."

To let the reader behind the curtain without more palaver, I shall

bring my log up to the present speaking, in three words or so:--Mr

Duquesné, in whose hospitable mansion I now lay badly wounded, was a

French merchant of high repute in Havanna. He was a widower, and had

an only daughter, Sophie, the beautiful brunette that I had seen

hanging over De Walden at the easel. The manager of his New York

establishment, an American gentleman of the name of Hudson, whose son

was a lieutenant in the Yankee frigate anchored in the port, was at

this time, with his wife and daughter, on a visit to him, having come

down in the man-of-war. Mr Hudson had a twofold object in this visit;

first, to arrange some mercantile transactions with his partner; and

secondly, to take possession of a large coffee property, that he had

lately inherited in right of his wife.

Sophie Duquesné and Helen Hudson were bosom friends, according to the

rule observed in all similar cases; and as for the gentlemen of the

family, Mr Duquesné, the papa, was a stout but very handsome man,

apparently about fifty. He did not, in the most remote degree, fall in

with one's notions of a Frenchman; verily I would have sworn he never

had eaten a frog in his life. He was punctiliously well-bred, spoke

English tolerably, and Spanish perfectly well; and, under Providence, I

have to thank him that I am now inditing this authentic record. Had I

been his own son, he could not have had me more tenderly cared for. Mr

Hudson was a tall, sallow person, with a good dash of the Yankee in his

outward man, and a little flavour of the same in his accent and

phraseology; but an upright merchant, well read in the literature of

the day, a tolerable linguist, and more liberal in his opinions than

most of his countrymen. He had travelled a good deal on the Continent,

and had spent three years in England, partly for his wife's health, and

partly for the education of his only daughter, Helen. But his wife

was, without exception, one of the most ladylike persons I ever beheld.

She was an heiress of one of the best families in Philadelphia, and in

her youth had been a beauty; even now she was an exceedingly fine

woman, very tall, with fine dark hair and eyes, and a most delicate

complexion. Her smile was absolutely irresistible.

"But, Master Benjie, let us have a small view of Miss Helen Hudson,

whom you have taken so much pains _not_ to describe."

"All in good time, _mon ami_--all in good time; but here comes De

Walden."

"Good morning, Mr Brail; you seem much better. Mrs Hudson has Dr

Delaville's permission to offer you some coffee and toast this morning."

"Well, do you know, I think I could eat it."

Breakfast was accordingly brought, and I made a deuced good one.

Excellent coffee, bread most beautiful, all the concomitants delicate

in the extreme; even the cool water in the small porous earthen jar,

that flanked a magnificent red snapper, was an unspeakable luxury. The

very privilege of grasping the dewy neck of the little vessel, in the

act of helping yourself, was worth a Jew's eye.

"So, Master De Walden, shake hands, will ye, that I may be certain you

are really flesh and blood; and tell me how came it that you were not

drowned, my lad, when you fell overboard on the bar?"

"The only way that I can account for it, my dear sir," said the

handsome young fellow, laughing, "is, that I suppose I am fated to a

drier death."

"I would not hear thine enemy say so," quoth I.

"However, my tale is easily told:--You remember, sir, that I was

standing close beside you, when you were jamming the Spanish schooner

on the reef?"--I nodded--"I got a regular souse, and must have sank

some way, but I never lost my recollection. When I rose amidst the

breakers on the bar, I found myself in the very thick of the wreck of

the schooner, and, close to me, five poor devils clinging to her

mainboom, with the sea breaking over them every moment. One of them

presently parted company and disappeared; and finding that the spar was

anchored by the topping-lifts and boomsheet to the hull of the vessel

that had swamped, part of which as yet held together, I left it, and

struck put for a large piece of wreck, apparently several deck planks,

kept together by part of two beams, when the deck had blown up. I

reached it, and found two men already on it,--one of them a Spaniard,

the other an Englishman, as he instantly addressed me in English, in

answer to some sudden exclamation of mine, on first clambering on to

the planks. My surprise at this was great, and so was his, I make no

doubt; but the unruly surge was more surprising than all, for another

sea rolled over us, and the Spaniard alone remained. The next moment I

saw my countryman struggling in the water close to me, but so weak that

it was clear he must instantly sink if not succoured. As I looked, a

piece of a sweep, belonging to the schooner, surged against me, and

nearly drove me off my perch; I caught it, and shoving the blade to the

drowning man, with some danger of being unroosted myself in the

attempt, it reached him: he held on, and I got him once more on the

planks. He was a gruff savage, however, and scarcely seemed to relish

my saving him at all at first. He had been stunned, forsooth, by a

blow on the head from a piece of floating wreck when he sank, or he

could _easily_ have resumed his place on the spar again without my

assistance; and I daresay he said true, only I did not much admire his

manners in the declaration, all things considered: indeed, I soon

perceived that his physical endurance and bodily strength were greatly

superior to mine. Both of us saw--as for the third of the trio, he

appeared almost dead from fatigue or fear, and we could get no

assistance from him either by advice or labour--that unless we could

get the piece of the wreck we clung to out of the broken water, we must

inevitably be washed off and perish. With one accord, we therefore

contrived to hold up the blade of the sweep, so as to expose the flat

of it to the land-wind, and in a few minutes we had the inexpressible

delight to find that we had slid into smooth water. Cold comfort, you

will say, to find ourselves drifting out to sea, on so frail a

conveyance; but the escape from immediate and impending death made one

of us at least most thankful to Heaven for the chance of escape,

however slender, thus presented to us; although my judgment told me at

the same time, that it would prove, in all human likelihood, nothing

more than a reprieve, and that none of the longest. When the day

broke, the breeze, as you may remember, shifted and blew on shore

again, where, by the aid of the sweep blade once more, we landed about

noon, faint from hunger and thirst, I don't know which was most

violent, and fatigue. The seaman I had saved was a large and

exceedingly powerful man, with immense whiskers, and his strong but

very handsome features bronzed almost black by the sun. His limbs were

beautifully moulded, and he had the chest and neck of a Hercules: both

he and the other poor creature, who came ashore more dead than alive,

were dressed in white trowsers, and shirts made of some blue cotton

stuff, and wore the long Spanish knife, stuck through red silk sashes.

'What is to be done now?' said I to my new friend; but he by this time

had got his wits about him, and pretended that he did not understand

me, confining himself to Spanish in his reply. 'Now, that won't do, my

good sir,' I said; 'you spoke as good English on these planks there as

I do, and you understood me well enough when I called to you to lay

hold of the blade of the sweep, when'----

"'I was drowning, you would say, young gentleman,' interjected he of

the sash and stiletto. 'It is very true I am an Englishman, and you

will find me not ungrateful, although, Heaven knows, the life you have

preserved is no boon to'----He checked himself, and proceeded--'But it

is lucky for you that you have made a friend of me, for otherwise,

although you have escaped the perils of the sea, you could not have

eschewed the certain death that would now await you, from those you

must mingle with, were it not that I am here to ward it off.'

"And time it was, indeed, for him to make some demonstration in my

behalf; for the half-drowned devil, that we had been the means of

saving between us, by getting the piece of wreck to shore, now began,

like a wasp that you have picked out of a honeypot, to revive and whet

his sting, and to fumble with his long knife, looking at me all the

while very ominously. My protector, noticing that I shrunk behind him,

for I was altogether unarmed, immediately said something sternly to his

companion in Spanish; and the other continuing to grumble, he made a

sudden snatch at his knife, and cast it from him as far as he could

into the sea.

"'Now, young gentleman,' said my preserver, 'I don't care who you are,

although I conceive I am not wrong in surmising you to be a midshipman

of that infernal felucca that has been the cause of ruining me and my

hopes; but, notwithstanding, if I can help it, you shall come to no

harm; so lend a hand, let us have a search for water--there must be

some hereabout in the crevices of the rocks above high-water mark,

brackish though it may be--and I will try to pick up some sea-birds'

egg's. Antonio!' shouted he, in a voice of authority, to the other man

who had hung astern, 'venga el fuego.'

"By this time he had several pieces of driftwood in his hand, and

having secured the flint and steel which the Spaniard had in a small

bag, that he carried at his waist for lighting his cigar, by jerking

them forcibly away, he put them in his pocket; and the comely personage

who had taken a fancy to scour his steel in my brisket, and I,

separated to look for water. It was not long before I succeeded, and

setting up a shout, my two allies were soon beside me. The Englishman,

having first soaked it in fresh water, now spread the tinder on the

rock, where the hot sun instantly dried it. He then struck a light,

and taking half-a-dozen wild sea-fowls' eggs out of the net-bag that he

usually wore his hair in, we roasted them, and found them deucedly

fishy, but palatable enough, under the circumstances; and having drank

of the water in the crevice, we immediately proceeded, much refreshed,

towards the bank of the river, where I had so unceremoniously parted

company the previous night.

"I cannot tell with what bitterness of heart I turned as we left the

beach, and, shading my eyes with my hand from the intolerable glare of

the glass-like sea, beheld the felucca and frigate communicating in the

offing. I felt like a criminal under sentence of death, and the time

of execution close at hand. But I had no alternative. Escape was

utterly impracticable; and, therefore, making a merit of necessity, I

endeavoured to assume an air of confidence in my fierce-looking guide,

although, Heaven knows, I was inwardly shrinking from him with

instinctive abhorrence.

"When we arrived at the shore of the river, we found a group of five

negroes, who were apparently watching the motions of the vessels out at

sea. They and my conductors communed together in bad Spanish for a

minute. I could not well make out what they said, hut it evidently

related to some more of the schooner's crew having been saved, and

presently we did see three miserable half-drowned-looking creatures

shove out from beyond a small headland of the river above us, in a

canoe, and paddle into the stream, with an intention, apparently, of

crossing to the other side; but the tide was by this time too strong

for them, weak as they were, and was setting them fast down on the bar.

"My English companion, seeing them in doubt whether to put about or

push across, hailed. This made them lie on their paddles to

reconnoitre us. They seemed instantly to make him out, and, with a

shout of recognition, they pulled as rapidly as their exhausted state

would let them towards us, until they floated in the dead water under

the bank, within pistol-shot. But the sight of me seemed to stagger

them a bit.

"'Quien es, quien es el muchacho?'--(Who is he--who is the

youngster?)--said one of them.

"'One of the crew of the felucca, that fell overboard when the schooner

went to pieces on the bar.'

"'But are you sure there are no more of the English villains on shore,

captain?'

"'Quite certain--not one;--so approach, will ye, and take us off?'--But

they still hung in the wind, until my protector, losing temper, sung

out, with a ferocity in his tone and manner that made me start, 'You

cowardly hounds--you beasts--what do you fear? You see the coast is

clear--that there is no one near us. One _cuchilado_ [blow with a

knife], and the boy is dead at my feet.' Still they seemed irresolute,

and, finding it bad policy to threaten men he could not reach, he tried

the other tack, and turned to the man beside us. 'Speak, Pedro, and

tell them I say true.'

"The man, who had as much reason to dread being left alone on the shore

as we had, instantly did so, and with better success, for presently

they took us on board, when with our aid the canoe was safely paddled

across, and subsequently up the river; so that, by the time the night

fell, we were again at the ruins of the house that had been burned in

the attack, and abreast of the polacre brig, lying sunk where we had

left her.

"I shall remember until my dying day the fierce looks of the survivors

of the polacre's crew, whom we found employed in getting up a temporary

roof of palm branches over a corner of the ruined building, when they

saw me, and learned who I was. I began to think that it was by no

means certain that the person who had promised me protection would be

able to keep his word.

"As the night fell, a large fire was lit in the centre of the open

space where the fetish temple stood, soon after which several negroes

and three white Spaniards joined us. I soon gathered from their

conversation that they belonged to a large slaver that lay farther up,

and having heard the firing on the previous day, they had descended as

scouts to ascertain the cause; but seeing the polacre sunk in the

stream, and the conflagration on the opposite bank to where they were,

they had waited until now before venturing across, and until they had

been assured by a native canoe that the British force was entirely out

of the river.

"Information as to their intentions was every thing to me, so I

determined to conceal my knowledge of Spanish, slight though it might

be; and as I looked round the circle of white desperadoes and black

savages, on whom the large fire cast a bright but flickering glare,

that made their bodily proportions and wild features flit and glimmer,

as if they had been a dream of gibbering demons, I endeavoured to

appear calm and collected, and to avoid fixing my eyes on the speaker,

whoever he might be, although, God he knows, with what breathless and

palpitating eagerness I drank in every word I could make out, while my

alarm fearfully construed many that I did not understand.

"By this time it was quite dark, and my new associates having made a

full meal on goat's flesh and yams, a large jar of Spanish brandy was

produced, and each man had a portion served to him by one of the black

fellows, who walked round the circle with a small drinking cup,

hollowed out of a gourd, or calabash, followed by another dingy, more

than half-naked devil, carrying a larger vessel of the same kind, full

of abominably bad water.

"The Englishman now stood up in the centre.

"'Jose Ribas,' said he, in a steady determined tone, gracefully yet

firmly poising himself on his right leg, and stretching out his right

arm, while his left hand rested easily on his hip, as he addressed a

very handsome young Spaniard, who sat on the ground nearly opposite to

me, 'you know, and all here know, that to give you a chance of weighing

the polacre, as well as to revenge your injuries, and the loss of your

comrades, I attacked the felucca, and in consequence was lost on the

bar.'--He paused.--'Yes, you see the whole surviving crew of the Santa

Anna before you in these four men and myself; and you need not be told,

that in consequence of the wreck of my schooner, I am a ruined

man--don't force me to become a _desperate_ one. You are now, Jose

Ribas, commanding-officer of the Maria, in consequence of poor Isidoro

Ladron's death, and you also know that you have not hands left of your

own to run her out to Havanna. Now, I will join you with my people

here, on one condition.'

"'You must join us on any condition,' grumbled several of the white

Spaniards. 'We shall not go to sea with Jose Ribas as our captain,

unless you are with us. He is _uno muchacho_ [a mere boy]; so name

your condition, captain; he _must_ and shall subscribe to it at once.'

"'Then it is simply this--this young Englishman, saved my life when I

was sinking--ay, after he had fallen overboard from his own vessel, and

had nothing between himself and death but the plank he clung to. He

saved _my life!_--You know, since the coast now swarms with enemies,

that you will need _my help_--you know it.'

"'Si, si--es cierto, cierto.'

"'Then this young Englishman must neither be injured nor left amongst

the savages here. He _must_ go with us.'--(Here some of the ruffians

made very unequivocal demonstrations).--'Ay, you may threaten, but _it

is_ the price of my services.'

"Suddenly they all appeared to acquiesce.

"'So here, give me another knife.'--He crossed them--(Hamlet, thought

I)--'Swear by the blessed Mary, the patroness of your polacre, that it

shall not be your fault if he be not safely landed at Havanna.'

"'But he will inform on us to the comissionados [commissioners] at

Havanna, when we get there.'

"'He will not,' rejoined he fiercely,--'_He shall not_.' Then turning

to me--'Young gentleman, bear me out; your life depends on it. Promise

you will in no way bring them into trouble if you can help it.'

"I did so.

"'_There_, he promises, and I will be answerable for him that he keeps

his word--so swear.'

"They took the oath, and each one of the white Spaniards, the survivors

of the two crews, now reduced to twenty-three, shook hands with me, and

kissed the crossed blades, and from that moment we were as cordial as

pickpockets.

"Shortly after we all lay down to sleep, with the exception of one of

our party, who stood sentry until relieved by another.

"About twelve at night, when I awoke, the fire had sunk to a mass of

glowing embers in the centre of a circle of white ashes, rayed with

charred branches; and the moon was shining clear and bright overhead,

and sparkling in the clustered dewdrops that hung thickly on the

laurel-like bushes around us, as they were shaken from the overhanging

trees in showers of diamonds, at every swell of the passing night-wind.

"The buzz and murmur, indescribable to one who has never heard it, of

the myriads of living things, crickets, and lizards, and insects, and

night-flies, of innumerable varieties, blended with the moaning of the

river, as it rushed in the distance; while the loud croak of the

tree-toad, and the whistle of a large lizard, would for a moment gush

out from the lulling monotony, clear and distinct, like a louder

night-cry above the declining hum of a distant city.

"There was something touchingly melancholy in the aspect of nature,

thus lying in a trance; and as I gazed on the ferocious brigands that

lay around me, the mild light floating over their brawny and half-naked

figures, and glancing on their knives and arms, and perceived that they

all slept gently, as so many inoffensive and innocent children, could I

forget they were men like myself?

"But there was one there who _did not_ sleep--it was the Englishman who

had taken me under his protection. He was sitting about three fathoms

apart from the men, under the shadow of a wild tamarind-tree, whose

small elegant leaves, shaped like those of the sensitive plant, were

not sufficient to prevent the moonlight struggling through them, and

falling in flickering beams on his face, which I could notice he turned

upwards towards heaven. His lips moved, and he withdrew one of his

hands on which he had leant, as he sat on the ground, and clasped both

on his bosom; and several bright drops chased each other across his

face, but whether they were dew-spangles, that the breeze had shaken

from the tree above, or tears of repentance for a misspent life, can

only now be known to that Almighty Being who searcheth the heart.

Hush! he has knelt. Is he praying? For a minute his attitude was one

of deep devotion: his hands were clasped under his chin, and his head

was bent towards the ground. Presently he clasped both hands on the

crown of his head, and bent forward as if there had been a weight

crushing his temples to the earth. I could see his chest heave, and

heard him sob audibly; and two of my senses must have deceived me, or I

now heard several large tears drop with a small patter, amongst the

withered leaves, and sparkle as they fell in the pure moonlight. Anon

a wreath of white mist floated up from the river, and obscured the

moon. The noxious exhalation was like to suffocate us, as it gradually

settled down so thick, that every thing seemed magnified and dim as

when seen through a winter's fog in England. 'Ay,' said he bitterly,

as he raised his head, and dropped his hands by his side, 'we have had

none of the fen-damp the whole night, until this moment; but what other

answer to my prayers could _I_ look for?'

"One of the men here awoke. He started like a guilty thing, and

drawing his large cloak over his shoulders, cast a rapid and suspicious

glance around him, and lay down once more--whether to sleep or not, I

cannot tell.

"The day at length broke, the sea-breeze set in, the sun shone

cheerily, even on that dreary river's brink, and rolled off the heavy

fog that had overlaid us like a damp cold shroud in the night, and all

was bustle again.

"Another slaver came down the river this forenoon. Her water-casks

were instantly had on deck, and bunged tightly, and at low water stowed

away in the stranded polacre's hold, and secured just under the beams,

along with the whole of her own, similarly prepared; so that when the

next tide made, and flowed into her, she floated, and was towed by the

boats of both vessels into one of the numberless muddy creeks, that

opened like so many dirty lanes from the river on each side; at the

ebb, she was hove down by the stems of two large trees, and careened.

It was found that the shot fired into the hold, which had sunk her, had

only damaged two planks of the garboard streak. These were soon

removed, and substantially replaced; and within a week she was again at

anchor in the river, with wood, water, and provisions on board, and

once more all as ready, as if nothing had happened, to receive her

cargo of slaves.

"The Englishman, during the whole of this period, was the prime mover.

His energy and skill astonished me; and I was often surprised how the

Spaniards submitted to his reckless, nay, savage way of knocking them

about; but a look was always sufficient to check their grumblings. At

length, every thing being ready for a start, the slaves were taken on

board, and secured--and both vessels, the brig that had assisted us,

and the polacre, dropped down to within two miles of the bar, ready for

sea.

"I confess I did not perceive so much suffering among the poor

kidnapped savages as I expected. Few of them seemed to regret leaving

Africa; in fact, the bitterness of parting from home and friends had

long been over with most of them, as none were natives of the coast;

and as they had been badly lodged, and worse fed, on shore, with the

agreeable variety of being decimated every now and then as a sacrifice

to the fetish, the comparative improvement of their condition on

board--so far as the supply of their animal wants, and a sound sleep,

went, even although the last was taken in a crowded hold, savouring of

any thing but otto of roses--seemed to render them much more joyous

than I had ever seen them while cooped up in the depots on the river's

banks. It is true, that in consequence of our attack, the cargo was by

no means so large as it would otherwise have been, so the poor

creatures had more room.

"We sailed, and kept well away to the southward, for two reasons;

first, to steer clear of you, and, secondly, to fall in with the

breeze, which is stronger at this season of the year in that direction

than more northerly. In both objects we succeeded, for we arrived here

a week before you, and must therefore have escaped the calms and light

winds that baffled you.

"We fell in with several vessels on the voyage, all of which we

outsailed but one. It was an English eighteen-gun brig, that beat us

fairly going free, and kept way so well with us on a wind, that the

captain beat to quarters, piped the hammocks up, triced up the boarding

nettings, and saw all clear for action. He had continued very kind to

me throughout the voyage, giving me a cot in his own cabin; but he was,

notwithstanding, morose and melancholy, seldom mixing much even with

his own officers; on the occasion of our being chased, however, his eye

lightened, his brow smoothed and expanded, and his whole features

expressed a joy, mixed with the sternest determination, that I had

never seen them wear before. And this increased as our chance of

escape diminished; for when he finally saw that the sloop was

forereaching on us, and most probably would weather us next tack, he

became absolutely frantic with delight, and walked rapidly about the

deck, laughing and rubbing his hands, to the unutterable surprise of

the trembling crew, who were grouped at quarters, staring one moment in

fear and dread at the enemy, who was jamming them up in the wind, and

the next at their extraordinary captain.

"'What can he mean?' said they--'_he_ will be hanged if we are

taken--_he_ runs more risk than we do--what cause of joy can _he_

have?' No one could answer the question.

"The Englishman had trained, as carefully and fully as time would admit

during the voyage, about fifty Corromantee negroes, the bravest race of

all Central Africa, to the guns, and he now suddenly desired them to be

piped on deck, and sent to quarters. Jose Ribas, the superseded mate

of the polacre, demurred to this, and the grumbling amongst the crew

increased. 'Why bring the negroes on deck, captain?' said he--'our

game is to confine our endeavours to trying to escape, and not to

fight; you must be aware, if it comes to blows, that we have no chance

with that English sloop of war down to leeward there.'

"The man he spoke to, at this turned round on him with the most

withering and hellish expression of countenance that I ever beheld. 'I

did not _ask_ to command this polacre--you know I did not--but now

since I have taken that unsought-for task upon me, it is not in a

moment like the present that I will resign it.'

"There was a pause, during which the captain had turned from the

Spaniard, and resumed his walk on the quarterdeck. As he turned,

seeing him still there, he walked close up to him, and made a dead stop.

"'Forward to your station, Jose Ribas,' he sung out loud and savagely,

after having glared at him like an enraged tiger, for nearly a minute

without speaking, and drawing a pistol from his belt, he cocked it,

'or, by the God that made me, I will send this bullet through your

cowardly heart.'

"The man slunk away forward, holding up the palm of his hand to the

side of his face, as if, expecting to be fired at, he had thought he

might thereby ward off the bullet. I saw that the fiend within him was

only now roused, although the demoniacal mirth, formerly exhibited, had

given way to a stern composure, that seemed to awe the rough and

boisterous crew over which he held control, into the most abject

submission. They immediately got the trained slaves on deck, and there

were the piebald groups, half-clad whites, and entirely naked blacks,

clustered round the guns, more frightened apparently for their captain

than the enemy down to leeward. The polacre carried two long twelves

and ten eighteen-pound medium guns, a description of cannon between a

carronade and long gun, much in use amongst the contraband slavers; but

she was pierced for twenty. Both vessels were on the starboard tack,

so it was the larboard guns that in the present instance were cast

loose. After the captain had carefully taken the bearings of the brig,

by a compass that he had placed on the capstan, he made one or two

quick turns fore and aft on the weather side of the quarterdeck, with

his hand behind his back, and his eyes fixed on the planks, as if he

were finally making up his mind what course to pursue.

"'The brig has hoisted an English ensign and pennant, sir,' said one of

the crew. He took no notice of the man, who immediately slunk away to

his gun again.

"'Are the guns double-shotted?' at length said he, without

discontinuing his walk, or raising his head.

"'No,' said Jose Ribas.

"'Then double-shot them instantly.' It was done. 'Now, get the two

long twelves aft, and train them through the stern chase ports,--stand

by to lower away the boat; and get two of the larboard guns over to

windward, do you hear?' This order was promptly carried into effect,

although the battery next the enemy was thus disarmed of three cannon,

to the surprise and great dismay of the Spaniards, who did not seem to

know what to make of his tactics, and, privateer fashion, began again

to grumble in their gizzards. 'Silence, men;--secure the guns to

leeward there, and man the starboard broadside, do you hear--quick.'

In an instant the grumbling ceased, and the command was obeyed.

'Boatswain, call away the sail trimmers, and see all clear to let go

every thing by the run, when I give the word to shorten sail.'

"By this time a squall was roughening the sea to windward, and

presently white crests began to break amidst the dark water. He jumped

on a gun carriage, and took a long steady look in the quarter from

whence he seemed to expect the wind to come, shading his eyes from the

sun with his hand. The sloop at this moment fired at us, and every

hand on deck but himself looked out anxiously to see where the shot

dropped. He never moved. Another puff of white smoke from the brig,

and this time the bullet struck the water close under our martingale,

and ricochetted along the sea across our bows. Seeing we were within

range, the sloop of war now let fly her whole broadside; and presently

several ropes that had been taught enough before, were streaming out

like pennants, but no serious damage was sustained.

"We were, if any thing, lying closer to the wind than our antagonist,

but she was going faster through the water, and had forereached on us

so far as to be well before our beam by this time. The squall was now

very near us, and neither vessel had as yet taken in a rag, but it was

evident that we must soon shorten sail, as we were lying over so as to

bury our lee guns in the water, and both vessels were thrashing and

tearing through it like smoke, the water flashing up as high as the

foretop of the brig, and roaring at our bows like hoarse thunder.

"The captain was still standing on the gun, one moment looking at the

weather, the next casting his eyes upwards, to see how the spars stood

the strain, and now, at the very moment when the strength of the squall

struck us, he jumped down, seized the helm, and jammed it hard to

windward. 'Ease off the lee braces--round in the weather ones,' pealed

through his trumpet. 'That will do--let go nothing--keep all fast!'

The masts were bending forward like willow wands--the back-stays like

iron rods. I expected to see the lighter sails fly out of the

bolt-ropes every moment, if indeed the masts did not go over the side.

"The squall was now so thick, that we could not see our antagonist; but

I noticed that the captain had carefully kept his eyes on her, so long

as he could distinguish her, and glanced earnestly at the compass when

she disappeared amidst the thick weather. We had now bore up dead

before the wind, and were running, so far as I could judge, directly

for the brig.

"In another minute, we dimly discovered, first the stern and aftersails

of our antagonist, and then the whole hull, in the very thickest of the

squall, but scarcely visible amongst the white spray and drift. She

was now under her reefed topsails and courses, but still on the same

tack. We flew down towards her like lightning, hands by the topgallant

and topsail halyards, with an intention apparently of shaving her

stern. 'Surely these brigands won't have the audacity to rake her,'

said I to myself, 'seeing she can beat them going free.' As we

approached, the brig, foreseeing our intention, kept off the wind also;

but we were too quick for her, and were now, as she was in the very act

of wearing, within the chuck of a biscuit of her tafferel. By this

manoeuvre, it will be seen that our strongest broadside, viz. the

starboard one, was now opposed to the enemy. 'Fire!' sung out the

captain, in a voice that made me start again. Heaven have mercy on me!

I could hear the shot smash, and rattle, and tear along the sloop's

deck, and through her hull, but nothing came down as she wore round.

The squall now came thundering upon us at its height. 'Let go all the

halyards by the run,' was the next word, and down came every sail in

the polacre on deck, leaving nothing for the gale to impinge on but the

naked masts and hull, as from her rig she had neither tops nor

top-hamper of any kind. By this time the brig was also before the

wind, and busy clewing up and furling every thing but her foresail; but

the fury of the squall struck her before the foretopsail could be got

in, and, crash, the topmast went close by the cap. 'Bring the polacre

to the wind now, my lads. Helm a-starboard, Jose Ribas--that's it.

Set the trysail there--hoist--so, belay every inch;' and by this

manoeuvre the polacre was in a minute hove to on the larboard tack, in

which position the word was given to lower away the boat over the

stern, in order to unmask the sternchasers; but something

jammed--'Unhook her and let her go,'--neither could this be done--'then

cut the tackles, and let her drop from the davits at once, you

lubbers.' The boat fell into the water with a splash, and the polacre

instantly began to blaze away, from her two long guns, at the brig, by

this time half-a-mile to leeward, repairing damages. The weather now

cleared as suddenly as it had thickened when the squall came on, and we

kept close by the wind until the evening, when we lost sight of the

brig, and at nightfall again bore up on our course.

"I was seized with fever two days after this, but nothing farther

occurred to the polacre worth recording, until we arrived at Havanna on

that day fortnight. When we anchored, I was still very weak, and

unable to leave my hammock, which, as before mentioned, was slung in

the captain's cabin. On the day after we arrived, the slaves were all

cleaned and had on deck, and people set to purify the hold, and get

every thing in order, preparatory to a sale of the poor devils, which

was to take place that afternoon.

"I could hear a number of voices wrangling on deck in Spanish, French,

and English; and after a while the captain came down to the cabin,

followed by several of his customers, whom he had invited to take

refreshments, precisely as a horsedealer treats _his_ after a good

day's sale. There was a Frenchman, two or three Spanish planters, and

an American gentleman, in the party. The first and last, happily for

me, proved to be Mr Duquesné, the master of the house we are in, and

his partner, Mr Hudson, who good-naturedly enquired of the captain

which of his officers it was who lay sick in the hammock. He at once

told them what he knew of me; the tale was romantic enough to engage

their curiosity; and Mr Hudson, with a friendliness that I never can

forget, kindled possibly more warmly in consequence of his son being of

the same profession in the American navy, asked my leave to have me

conveyed on shore to lodgings. I thanked him, with tears in my eyes;

and by the time he returned for me at nightfall, I had contrived to get

myself dressed as decently as I could--my whole apparel, by the way,

consisting of my trousers and shirt, and a piece of a red silk sash

bound round my waist--and to crawl on deck to await his coming.

"At length he came alongside, and enquired if I was ready. I said I

was, and turned to thank the captain of the polacre; but although he

had been on deck the moment before, he was now nowhere to be seen. One

of the people said he had gone down to the cabin, and I accordingly

asked him to give my compliments, and say that I would be happy to

thank him for all his kindness before bidding him good-by; but the man

came to the gangway, and told me that the companion hatch had been

locked from within, and that he dared not open it. 'Very odd sort of

person,' thought I; but as I had no inducement to press my attentions

upon one who had given me so broad a hint to be off, I stepped into the

boat, in which I encountered Mr Duquesné himself, who, on perceiving

that I was so much better than he expected, and that there were no bad

symptoms about me, would not hear of my going to a lodging-house, but

insisted on accommodating me with an apartment in his own.

"I was a good deal perplexed when I was presented to Mrs Hudson and her

daughter, and apologized for my piratical appearance, as I made my

obeisance with my broad-brimmed _chapeau de paille_ in my hand, and my

red silk sash round my waist. 'Why, Mr De Walden,' said she, with a

smile, and a most engaging motherly kindness, 'I must get my boy

William (the young American officer you saw, sir, at the monte-table),

'to _rig_ you, as he calls it; for you are certainly, there is no

denying it, rather a suspicious-looking character at present;' but this

was too near the truth to be comfortable, and I blushed deeply. 'Never

mind, Mr De Walden,' continued she, with the most delicate feminine

perception, seasoned with a spice of archness, however, 'it was no

speech of mine--it was Mademoiselle Sophie who has already christened

you the young brigand.'"

At this part of De Walden's story I looked up--"And pray, _who_ is

Mademoiselle Sophie, who is so ready with her _soubriquets_?"

He reddened like a rose--"Why, sir,--_that is--she is_ Mr Duquesné's

only daughter, sir; you may have seen her."

"I think I have, and I see something else, too," said I, significantly.

"That same evening," he continued, resuming the thread of his discourse

with great celerity, as if desirous of getting me away from observing

his confusion, "one of the servants, as we were drinking coffee,

brought me a sealed packet, that, from its weight, seemed to contain

money. I opened it--it covered ten doubloons, with these words written

in a bold hand, 'From an outcast, whose heart, although seared to the

world, is warm towards Henry De Walden.--From one who has been

liberally rewarded by the owners of the polacre, and can spare it.'

"'Very absurd and romantic,' said I.

"'Nothing so absurd in ten doubloons, my good boy, I calculate,' quoth

Mr Hudson, scanning my outward man scrutinizingly.

"'Pray, Mr Duquesné, will you be kind enough to ask who brought this?'

"'The man who brought it was dressed like a Batabano smuggler, sir,'

said the servant at whom his master had made the enquiry.

"'Is he below?'

"'No, señor; he said it required no answer, and did not wait.'

"I did not much like receiving this alms at the hands of my fierce

ally; but, under all the circumstances, I thought it prudent to pocket

the affront, without giving farther offence by endeavouring to search

out a man who evidently had no desire to be found; and, publish it not,

I was deucedly in want of a new suit of sails, as you may guess, which

I had no means of compassing otherwise, short of borrowing; from those

who had been but too kind to me already. I never met the man who had

befriended me afterwards, until the night you were wounded, when I saw

him in the custody of the town guard, faint and bleeding. I have since

been several times to see him, in prison, but he is more morose and

severe even in his weak state than ever he was at the strongest; and

although he cannot prevent my contributing some little comforts that

his state of body, and the rules of the prison, permit him to enjoy,

still he has never once thanked me; and from his total disregard of all

that the surgeon enjoins, he seems to have made up his mind to die.

"I have now told you all, sir, and here comes your riotous friend, Mr

Listado, to see you. I hear his laugh on the stairs;" and so saying he

slid out of the room.