THE MOSQUITO.
The short interval between the period when I resolved upon this step,
and of putting it into execution, was passed in a state of mind little
enviable--in a strange mixture of pleasure and pain, of joy and grief.
At one moment both Helen and myself were buoyed up with the most joyous
anticipations; at another a weight hung on our hearts, that we could
not ourselves account for. With us, however, the chances of happiness
seemed to preponderate; but it was far otherwise with poor De Walden
and Sophie Duquesné, who, children as they both were, had also tumbled
head over heels in love, before they were aware of it.
For several days the young midshipman had been kept on board attending
to his duty; it was the last evening but one that I was to spend at
Havanna, when, against Mrs Hudson's wish, and, I need not say, most
diametrically opposed to Helen's and mine, old Mr Duquesné had invited
some friends in the evening; and, having dined at the usual hour, the
girls were having their hair dressed in the boudoir already described,
while we, the male part of the family, were enjoying our wine in the
room that had been my bedroom.
"Now, Mr Duquesné," said I, "I really am quite ashamed at the trouble I
must have put you all to lately; why" (looking round me) "I seem to
have actually dispossessed you of your dining saloon for some time. I
was not aware of this before."
"Poo, it does not signify none at all, my dear sare--de happiness and
obligation were all mine. I cannot wish you were wound again--oh
_certainement_, I could not do dat sing; _mais_ I happy would be, you
should sprain your foot, elbow, or head, or any leetle fingare--so as
you were to stay here some time less--more I mean--_assurément_ you
cannot maintain your resolution to leave us yesterday?--put off your
depart until last week."
"Impossible, my very kind friend; I have too long trespassed on your
kindness--kindness which I am sure I shall never be able to
repay."--Here we were interrupted by De Walden entering the room.--"Ah,
Henry, how are you?"
Our excellent host and Mrs Hudson both rose to receive him. He looked
very pale, and had a nervous unsettledness about him, that contrasted
unpleasantly with the recollection of his usual quiet and naturally
graceful manner.
After returning their civility, he drew his chair to the table, and I
noticed he helped himself very hastily to a large bumper of Madeira,
part of which was spilt from the trembling of his hand, as he carried
the glass to his lips. "Gentlemen," at this juncture said Helen, from
the other room, "had you not better come closer to the balcony here,
and give us the benefit of your conversation, now since Master De
Walden graces your board?" Here Sophie, who was under the hands of our
old friend Pepe Biada, slapped Helen, as if there had been some
bantering going on between them, having reference to the young fellow.
"Certainly," said William Hudson; "but come, Brail, would it not be an
improvement on Helen's plan, were we to adjourn to the other room
altogether--this one"--continued he, looking towards Mr Duquesné--"will
be wanted soon--indeed, Nariz de Niéve and Manuel have once or twice
popped in their beautiful countenances at the door as hints for us to
move."
We all with one accord rose at this--the two elderly gentlemen
adjourned to the counting-house, while young Hudson, De Walden, and
your humble servant, repaired to the sanctum of the young ladies. When
we entered we found Mrs Hudson sitting, already dressed for company, at
one side of the piano, where Helen was practising some new air, with
(oh, shocking to an English eye) her hair _en papillote_, while the
beautiful long jet black tresses of her charming companion were still
under the hands of the little monkified barber, my old ally, Pepe Biada.
"Mr Brail," said Mrs Hudson, "I thought you did not patronise this
foreign free-and-easy fashion that has crept in amongst us--Helen,
there, said she was sure you would not come."
I laughed--"Why, Helen is wrong for once, you see, my dear madam; but
if I had any objection, any slight scruple, you must allow I have very
easily surmounted it at any rate; and as for De Walden there, he seems
to have none at all."
He turned as I spoke, and both he and Sophie, who had been communing
together in an under tone, started and blushed, as if somewhat
_caught_, to use a vulgar but expressive phrase, and I saw a tear stand
in the dark beauty's eye. But De Walden seemed by this time to have
got his feelings under control, although, from the altered manner of
poor Sophie, it was not to be concealed from me, that some
communication had just been made to her by him, that lay heavy on her
young heart.
It now became necessary that we should retire to dress; and by the time
I returned, the company had begun to assemble; but De Walden was
nowhere to be seen--he had returned to his ship, it appeared; and
although poor Sophie did the honours during the early part of the
evening with her usual elegance, yet her customary sprightliness was
altogether gone, and it was evident how much it cost her to control her
feelings. About midnight, however--worn out, heart-crushed, and
dejected, she could no longer sustain this assumed unconcern, and
retired on the plea of a headach. But the rest of us, hard-hearted
animals as we were, having got into the spirit of the thing, at the
expense of some mental exertion, and not a little champagne, contrived
to forget poor Sophie and De Walden for a time, and so carried on until
daydawn.
"What is that?" said I to William Hudson.
"A gun from Gazelle, on weighing, I guess," said he.
"Ah," I rejoined--"I did not know she was to sail before Sunday."
"It stood for Sunday, I believe--at least so De Walden told me, until
yesterday afternoon, when all the merchantmen having reported ready for
sea, the commodore determined to be off."
"The sound of that cannon," said Helen Hudson to me, with an agitated
voice, as we sat together, "will be like a knell to one we know of,
Benjamin."
A short time after this the party broke up, and we retired to rest.
With me it was short and troubled, and I awoke little refreshed about
noon--the hour we had previously arranged for breakfast.
I was to sail the following morning, and Mrs Hudson, with matronly
kindness and consideration, left her daughter and me very much alone
and together that forenoon and evening. After I had made my little
preparations for embarking, laid in my sea-stock, and arranged for my
passage in the British brig the Ballahoo, I returned in the evening
just as the night was closing in. I found Helen sitting alone in the
boudoir, and I could not but perceive that she had been weeping.
"How now, dearest," said I, as gaily as the weight at my own heart
would let me--"How now, Helen--why so sad--you know we have all along
been aware that we must part, but I trust only temporarily. Come, now,
you have had your wish gratified, by Sir Oliver leaving Dicky Phantom
with you, until his friends in England have been consulted--and take
care, Helen--I shall grow jealous of the small rogue, if you don't
mind. So, come now, Helen, don't be foolish--We shall soon have a
happy meeting, if it pleases heaven, and"----
"I hope so--I trust so, Benjamin--but in such a climate who can promise
themselves a happy or a certain meeting? Have we not ourselves met
friends in the morning, who never saw the sun rise again? Oh,
Benjamin, my heart is fond and foolish."
"Well, well, Helen, but cheer up, my sweet girl--our prospects are fair
compared to poor De Walden's."
"True, and so they are--poor Sophie, too--but there has been no
declaration on his part"--as if willing to lead the conversation from
our own sorrows.--"He is the most open-hearted lad, Benjamin, I ever
met. Early in the forenoon, yesterday, he told Sophie, that except Sir
Oliver Oakplank, he had not one friend in the wide world who cared a
straw about him; what claim he had on him he did not say--that he had
nothing to look to, but getting on in the service through his own
exertions; and more than once he has already told my mother, that if
there had been the smallest chance of joining his frigate in Jamaica,
he would instantly have left Havanna, had he even worked his passage.
He said he feared it was neither prudent nor honourable his remaining
here. Poor, poor Henry."
"Did he say any thing of his early life?" said I, my curiosity getting
the better of my propriety of feeling.
"Not much. He had been, from his own account, the Child of Misfortune.
The current of his life, from the earliest period he could recollect,
had been dark and troubled. Few gleams of sunshine had ever brightened
the stream; and when they did dance for a moment on a passing joyous
ripple that crisped its surface, it was but to give place to heavy
clouds, under whose lowering shadow it again assumed its usual leaden
hue--And, oh, Benjamin, how is it to be with ourselves? You have also,
from your own account, suffered much, from loss of fortune, and of near
and dear friends. May not our own acquaintance prove one of those
evanescent gleams in _our_ lives? If--if"--and she clasped her arms
round my neck--"if our meeting should prove but a sparkle on the wave,
Benjamin, after all, that twinkles for a moment before it floats down
the dark stream of our existence to be no more seen--Oh, my love, if we
are never to meet again"----And she wept until her heart was like to
burst.
"Hope for the best, my dearest Helen; hope for the best. I will soon
return, Helen--I will, believe me--so be composed--we must not give way
to our feelings--we have a duty to perform to ourselves, our friends,
and each other; nay, more, to that all-gracious Being who has blessed
us by bringing us together, and who has smiled on our prospects thus
far--and here comes your mother, let us ask her blessing for--for"----
I broke off, for I durst not say out my say; but in furtherance of my
determination, after parting with my friends for the night, and
stealing a kiss from little Dicky as he slept like a rose bud steeped
in dew; with the assistance of William Hudson, I got my small kit away
without suspicion, and repaired on board the Ballahoo.
When I got on the deck of the brig it was quite dark, and every thing
was in great confusion, preparatory to getting under weigh in the
morning. The crew--blacks, browns, and whites, Englishmen and
Spaniards--were gabbling aloft and shouting below, as some were bending
sails, and others hoisting them up to the yards; while others were
tumbling about bales of tobacco on deck, and lowering them down the
hatchway, where a number of hired negroes were stowing the same away in
the hold. Her cargo consisted of logwood, hides, and tobacco, the
blending of the effluvia from the two latter being any thing but
ambrosial.
When I went below I found at least a dozen Spanish passengers busily
employed in stowing away their luggage in the cabin. I could not help
being greatly struck with the careless way in which they chucked their
bags of doubloons about, as if they had been small sacks of barley; and
the recklessness they displayed in exposing such heaps of glittering
pieces of apparently _untold gold_, to the eyes of the crew and myself,
for I was an utter stranger to all of them. "Were I to exhibit a
handful of bank-notes in England in this way!" thought I. The
confidence these traders appeared to place in their negro servants,
absolutely astonished me, so much greater was it than I ever could have
dreamed of; but the strangest part of the affair was yet to come. The
English captain of the brig, after having ordered the boats to be
hoisted in, had just come down; and seeing me seated on the locker,
leaning with my back against the rudder-case, and silently observing,
with folded arms, the tumultuous conduct of the Dons, addressed me--
"A new scene to you, Mr Brail, I presume?"
"It is so, certainly. Are our friends there not afraid that those
black fellows who are bustling about may take a fancy to some of these
rouleaux of doubloons, that they are packing away into their
portmanteaus, and trunks there?"
"No, no," rejoined he, smiling; "most of these poor fellows are
household slaves, who have been, very probably, born and bred up in
their families; not a few may even be their foster brothers, and all of
that class are perfectly trustworthy; in truth, sir, as an Englishman,
I am sorry to say it, but they treat their domestic negroes infinitely
better than we do. As to the field slaves, I cannot judge, but I can
speak as to the fact of the others from long experience. A Spanish
family look on negroes of this class as part and portion of the
household; in fact, they are not bondsmen at all, except in name; for
they are better cared for than servants, be they white or black, in any
other countries I know. Indeed, now that I reflect, you must have
noticed, they don't even suffer the humiliation of being called
'slave,'--'criado,' the common name given them by their masters,
signifying literally servant. The harsher, 'esclavo,' being seldom,
indeed never, applied to them, unless when they have been guilty of
some default."
"Heavens!" I here exclaimed, "what, are they all going to bed, with
your supper untouched on the table?--see if they be not undressing!"
He laughed. "You shall soon know the reason of their stripping, sir,"
said he. "It is contraband to carry off either gold or silver coin
here; and you shall presently see an instance of Spanish ingenuity in
defrauding their revenue laws on the one hand, and of the trust they
place in their coloured servants on the other; of their _own_
dishonesty, and the implicit confidence they place in the integrity of
_others_, and those others negro slaves."
The operation of _peeling_ was all this while going on amongst the
gingham-coated gentry, who, when naked to their trowsers, presented a
most absurd appearance, each of them having sewed round his waist and
loins, next his skin, from four to six double bands of coarse linen or
canvass, like so many eel-skins, each filled with broad gold pieces,
packed on their edges, and overlapping each other, until they were
fairly pistol proof, in scale armour of gold.
After loud shouts of laughter at the manner in which they had _done_
the _piés de gallo_, or custom-house officers, they stowed away the
specie and donned their clothes again, when lo! the black "criados," to
my great astonishment, began to strip in turn. Presently Blackie was
exhibited in the same state of nudity as his master had recently been;
and the gold pieces were in like manner peeled off _him_.
These transactions taking place in a confined well-cabin, lit by a
small skylight, with the thermometer standing at ninety-five, had no
very great purifying effect on the atmosphere--the blended steam of
human carcasses and tallow candles being any thing but savoury.
The captain having very civilly given up his own berth to me; after
having satisfied my curiosity, I retired to steal such rest as I might
expect to snatch, in so uncomfortable a fellowship; and was about
toppling over into a sound snooze, when my Spanish allies, inspired by
libations of bad brandy, with which they had washed down their mess of
garlic and jerked beef, chose to chant in chorus, most vociferously,
the popular peninsular song of the day, "A la guerra, a la guerra
Españoles." This was absurd enough from a set of shopkeepers and
smugglers; but being deucedly tired, I soon grew accustomed to their
noise, which seemed to have no end, and fell fast asleep.
In the morning, the bustle overhead awoke me; and having got up and
dressed, I went on deck, where I was glad to find that the confusion of
the previous night had very much subsided.
The vessel in which I had embarked was a long low French-built brig,
with very high solid bulwarks, pierced for sixteen guns, but having
only six twelve-pound carronades mounted.
I was informed by the captain that she was a very fast sailer, which I
found to be true; indeed her share of the trade between Kingston and
Havanna very much depended on this qualification.
Her hull was beautifully moulded; a superfine run, beautiful bows, and
sides as round as an apple. By the time I got on deck, the topsails
and topgallant sails were sheeted home and hoisted; the cable being
right up and down. After several quick clattering revolutions of the
windlass, "We are a-weigh," sung out the skipper, and presently all was
bustle on board, securing the anchor, during which the vessel began to
glide slowly along towards the harbour's mouth, and under the enormous
batteries that line it on either side.
When we got to sea, the breeze failed us; and, as the sun rose, we lay
roasting on the smooth swell, floating bodily away on the gulf-stream
to the northward.
We were baffled in this way for three tedious days, until I began to
think we should never lose sight of the Florida shore. At length a
breeze from the eastward sprang up, that enabled us to stem the
gulf-stream.
In the night of the fourth day, after leaving Havanna, I had come on
deck. It was again nearly calm, and the sails were beginning to flap
against the masts. There was no moon, but the stars shone brightly.
Several large fish were playing about, and I was watching one of them,
whose long sparkling wake pointed out his position, when the master of
the brig, who had followed me, and now stood beside me at the gangway,
remarked, that there was an uncommon appearance in the northwest
quarter.
I looked, and fancied I saw a glare, as from a fire on shore, but so
faint that I could not be certain. I therefore resumed my walk on
deck, along with the captain. The dew now began to fall in showers at
every shake of the wet sails.
"Why, we shall get soaked here, skipper, if the breeze don't freshen?"
"Indeed, sir, I wish it would, with all my heart. I have no fancy for
knocking about in this neighbourhood one minute longer than I can help,
I assure you. There are some hookers cruising in the channel here,
that might prove unpleasant acquaintances if they overhauled us. I
say, steward, hand me up my night-glass--the glare on our starboard
bow, down to leeward there, increases, sir."
I looked, and saw he was right. Some clouds had risen in that
direction over the land, which reflected the light of a large fire
beneath in bright red masses.
"Are you sure that fire is on the land?" said I, after having taken a
look at it through the nightglass.
"No. I am not," said he; "on the contrary, I have my suspicions it is
at sea; however, we shall soon ascertain, for here comes the breeze at
last."
We bowled along for an hour, when it again fell nearly calm; but we had
approached so close as to be able distinctly to make out that the light
we had seen did in very truth proceed from a vessel on fire. It was
now near three o'clock in the morning, and I proposed to the skipper to
keep away towards the fire, in order to lend any assistance in our
power to the crew of the burning vessel, if need were.
"No, no, sir--no fear of the crew, if the vessel has taken fire
accidentally, because they are well in with the land, and they could
even, with this light air, run her ashore on the Florida reefs, or take
to their boats; but I fear the unfortunate craft has been set fire to
by one of those marauding villains I alluded to. However, be that as
it may, I will stand on our course until daylight at any rate, when we
shall be able to see about us. In the mean time, keep a bright
look-out forward there--do you hear?"
"Ay, ay, sir."
I was too much interested by this incident to think of going below; so
I remained on deck, as did the master, until the day dawned.
As the approach of sunrise drew near, the bright yellow flame faded
into a glowing red. Gradually the crimson colour of the clouds
overhead faded, and vanished. The morning lightened, the fire
disappeared altogether, and we could only make out a dense column of
smoke rising up slowly into the calm grey morning sky. The object on
fire was now about four miles on the starboard beam, as near as we
could judge.
"Now," said I, "there is the breeze steady at last," as it came down
strong, with a hoarse rushing noise, heard long before it reached us,
and roughening the blue water to windward, just as the sun rose. It
was preceded by the pride of the morning, a smart shower, which pelted
on our decks, and the next moment our light sails aloft filled--the
topsail sheets then felt the strain of the canvass under the freshening
blast. The brig lay over--the green wave curled outwards, roaring from
the cutwater--the strength of the breeze struck her--and away she flew
like a seabird before it.
"There it is--strong and steady to be sure," cried the captain, rubbing
his hands joyously; "and with such a capful of wind I don't fear any
thing here smaller than a frigate; so haul out the boom mainsail, and
set the square one--run up the flying jib--come, Mr Brail, we shall
keep her away, and see what is going on yonder, _now_ since we have the
old barky under command."
We rapidly approached the burning vessel, which was still becalmed, and
lying motionless on the silver swell, veiled from our sight by the
pillar of cloud that brooded over it, which continued to ascend
straight up into the clear heaven, the top of it spreading and
feathering out like the drooping leaves of some noble palm; but the
moment that the breeze which we brought along with us struck the
column, it blew off like the tree I have likened it to, levelled before
the blast, and streamed away down to leeward in a long whirling trail,
disclosing to our view the black hull and lower masts of a large
vessel, with the bright red flames gushing out from her hatchways, and
flickering up the masts and spars.
As the veil of smoke thinned, we suddenly got a glimpse of a felucca,
hitherto concealed by it, and to leeward of the vessel. When we first
saw her she was edging away from the wreck, with a boat towing astern,
rather an unusual thing at sea. Presently, she hoisted it up, and kept
by the wind after us, as if she had taken time to reconnoitre, and had
at length made up her mind to overhaul us. As the wreck was by this
time burned to the water's edge, it was clear we could render no
assistance; we therefore made all the sail we could, and stood once
more on our course. Just as we had hauled by the wind, the after-part
of the quarterdeck of the burning vessel lifted, as it were, but by no
means suddenly; although the stump of the mizen-mast flew up into the
sky like a javelin launched from the hands of a giant; and clouds of
white smoke burst from the hull, in the midst of which a sudden spout
of red flame shot up; but there was scarcely any report, at least what
sound we heard was more a deadened _thud_ than a sharp explosion. The
unfortunate hooker immediately fell over on her side, and vanished
suddenly below the green waves, in a cloud of white steam.
"There's a gallant craft come to an untimely end," said the captain.
"You may say that," I rejoined; "and that roguish-looking little fellow
to leeward has had some hand in her destruction, or I am mistaken--see
if the villain has not hauled his wind, and made all the sail he can
pack on her after us. Had you not better keep by the wind, Mr Hause,
and try if you can't shake him off on a bowline."
The hint was taken. We made all sail on the larboard tack, steadying
the leeches well out, and although the felucca did the same, it was
clear we were dropping her fast.
"Give me the glass," said I. "I had strong suspicions that I knew that
chap before--let me see--ay, it is her, true enough. I know the new
cloth in the afterleech of the mainsail there--there, about half-way
up--but heyday--that sail was as good as new, notwithstanding, when I
last saw it, but it seems strangely patched now--this must be meant as
a mask."
"Pray, sir," said the skipper, "do you know that vessel?"
"To be sure I do--it is the Midge--my old friend the Midge, as I am a
sinner, and no other--She that was tender to the Gazelle the other
day--the little felucca sold out of the service at Havanna before we
sailed. I cannot be deceived; but she must be strangely out of trim."
All the Spanish passengers were by this time on deck, peering out
through their telescopes at the little vessel.
"What can keep her astern in that manner?" continued I; "she seems
under all sail, yet you are leaving her hand-over-hand, and that is
more than you should do, fast as you say you are, were she properly
handled."
"Why," said the master joyously, "you don't know the qualifications of
this craft, sir"----
"Probably not," said I.
"We are creeping away beautifully," continued he. "I always knew the
Ballahoo had a clever pair of heels, if there was any wind at all--poo,
the Midge at her best could not have touched us, take my word for it,
Mr Brail--keep her full and by, my lad"--to the man at the helm--"let
her walk through it--do you hear?--we shall show that felucca that she
has no chance with us."
I handed the glass to the skipper again.
"Don't you see something towing astern yonder, as she falls off, and
comes up to the wind again?"
"Faith I do," said he, in a hurried and somewhat disconcerted tone; a
sudden light seeming to flash on him; "I see a long dark object in her
wake, as she rises on the swell--what can it be?"
"What say you to its being the spanker-boom, or a spare topmast of the
vessel we saw on fire, for instance?" said I; "at all events, you see
it is a spar of some sort or another, and it can only be there for one
purpose, to keep her astern, while she desires to appear to be carrying
all sail, and going a-head as fast as she can; it is a common trick
amongst these piratical craft, I know."
The man, with a melancholy shake of his head, coincided with me.
"Now," said I, "listen to me. I know that felucca well," and here I
told him how, and what time I had been on board of her--"if she casts
off that drag, she will be alongside of you in a crack. In light winds
and a smooth sea, she is the fastest thing I ever saw; you have no
chance if you trust to your heels; so, take my advice, and shorten sail
boldly at once; get all your passengers on deck with their trabucos;
clear away your guns and double-shot them, and see all ready for
action. If you appear prepared she will not bother you--it is not her
cue to fight, unless she cannot help it--at any rate, if you don't
frighten her off, I see she will stick by you all day, and be alongside
whether _you will or no_ when the night falls; so the sooner you give
him a glimpse of your charms the better, take my word for it."
My advice was so palpably prudent, that it was instantly followed.
"Valga me Dios!" exclaimed one of our Spanish passengers--"que gente
hay abordo--gracias a Dios, que este felucha no puede andar; porque
hombre honesto no lo es."--(Heaven help me, what a number of people
there are on board--we should be thankful that that felucca can't sail,
as she is not honest, that's clear.)
Another shouted out--"Tanto gente--tanto gente!" (Lord what a number
of people--what a number of people!)
"People!" exclaimed the skipper, laughing, as he slammed the joints of
the glass into each other; "why, it is a deck-load of cattle, or I am a
Dutchman. Oh dear--oh dear--why, gentlemen, your courage has all been
thrown away--she is some Montego bay trader with a cargo of dyewood,
and 'ganado,' as you call them--ha--ha--ha!"
"And so it is," said I, much amused, and not a little rejoiced. "Come,
gentlemen, your warlike demonstrations have indeed been thrown away,
and I suppose our friend the skipper there may secure his guns when he
likes, and keep away on his course again."
This was done, and every thing subsided into its usual quietness,
except the jaw of the Dons as to the astonishing feats _they never
would have performed_; for they were all silent enough, and Bob Acreish
enough, so long as we had suspicions of the felucca; but every man
among them was braver than another the moment they saw that their fears
had been groundless. They now all began singing, and shouting, and
swaggering about the decks, bristling with pistols and knives, like so
many porcupines, while I was taking a careless, and, what I considered,
a parting squint at the vessel. When I put my head over the high
bulwark, I naturally looked out astern, as we had by this time kept
away, and were going along free, in expectation of seeing him still
close by the wind; but, to my great surprise, no such thing--the youth
although no nearer than before, in place of being by this time in our
wake, had kept away also, and was now on our lee-quarter, sailing two
knots for one he had been going before, and as if desirous of cutting
us off. "I say, skipper, I don't like this manoeuvring on the part of
the felucca--she is off the wind again."
"And so she is," said the man.
The Spaniards gathered from our countenances, I suppose, that doubts
had again sprung up in our minds as to the character of the vessel,
notwithstanding the improbability of a pirate carrying a deck-load of
cattle;--so they stopped their exclamations in mid-volley, breaking off
their patriotic songs with laughable quickness, and began to bustle
with their glasses again.
My original suggestion was once more the order of the day, and after
seeing all clear for the second time, the skipper manfully handed his
top-gallant sails, hauled up his courses, and took a reef in his
topsails. The felucca had now no alternative but to come alongside; so
she gradually drew up on our lee-quarter, so that, as the breeze laid
her over, we might see as little of her deck as possible. We could now
perceive that she had cast off the spar she had been towing astern.
Ticklish as our situation had become, my nautical enthusiasm fairly got
the better of me, as the little beauty ranged alongside.
"Look, captain--look, man--how blandly she bends before the breeze, as
if she would melt into the water like a snowflake, yet she never
careens over an inch beyond that mark on her goldbright copper; and how
gracefully she always rights again. See what an entry she has--not the
smallest surge, or curl of a wave at her bows. Her sharp stem cuts
into it as clean as a knife, while there is not one single drop of dead
water under the counter. Mortal man never saw a cleaner run--how
mildly she skims along, and yet how fast--the very gushes from the
rudder _swirl_ and meander away astern mellifluously.--Oh, murder, if
the sweet little thing does not slide along as smoothly as if the sea
were oil!"
When she came within hail, she hauled the foresheet to windward, and
sent a small punt of a boat, pulled by two men, on board, with a
curious sallow-complexioned little monkey of a Spaniard in the stern.
He came on deck, grimacing like an ape; and although I could perceive
that he was carefully noting our strength and preparations with the
corner of his eye, he seemed all blandness and civility.
"What vessel is that?" said the captain.
"The Mosquito," was the answer.
Here the little fellow looked very hard at me.
"Ah!" said the skipper, "she is the English tender that was sold the
other day in Havanna."
"The same," said the baboon, evidently put out by the recognition, but
not venturing to deny the fact; "she was called de Midge den, dat is
Anglis for Mosquito."
"Come, there is honesty in that confession at all events," thought I;
but I presently was convinced that the fellow knew me, and, what was
more, saw that I had recognised his vessel--so his game, if he wished
to throw snuff in our eyes, was clearly to take credit for candour.
However, I was as yet by no means satisfied of his quality. For
instance, he gave a blundering account of the reason why they had
clapped patches of old canvass on a new sail; and he positively denied
having had a spar towing astern to deaden her way--thus telling a
deliberate lie. As to the vessel we had seen on fire, he said they
knew nothing of her; that they had fallen in with her accidentally as
we had done; and that, so far as they knew, her crew had previously
taken to their boats, for there was no one on board of her, when they
passed her, that they could perceive. He finished the parley by saying
that he was bound to Falmouth, to dispose of his cargo of Nicaragua
wood and cattle, and that he had come on board for some water, as they
had run short, and had little left, except some pond water for the
bestias.
He got a small cask filled, and then, with a repetition of his
grimaces, walked over the side. Immediately on his getting on board,
the felucca hauled by the wind until she got dead in our wake, where
she hung for some time; but I could see they had the greatest
difficulty in keeping her astern, by luffing up in the wind one
moment--then letting her fall broad off, and sheering her about every
way but the right one. At length he took his departure.
"Had you not cut such a formidable appearance, Mr Hause, you would have
been treated very unceremoniously by that gentleman, take my word for
it," said I.
"You may say that, sir," said the skipper; "but I hope we are now
finally quit of him."
That same evening, about ten o'clock, I was sitting in the cabin with
the master of the vessel. The cabin had two state-rooms, as they are
called in merchantmen, opening off it, one on each side of the door,
and four open berths aft, shut in with green baize curtains, that ran
on brass rods. Each of the beds was tenanted by a Spanish passenger,
while the master and I slept in cots slung in the main cabin. The
Dons, tired with the exploits of the day, had by this time all bestowed
themselves in their nests, and, so far as we could judge by the nasal
chorus going on, were sound asleep. On a sudden we heard the mate, who
appeared to be standing aft beside the man at the wheel, hail some one
forward.
"Who is that standing on the rail at the gang-way there?"
Some one answered, but we could not make out what was said.
The mate again spoke--"whereabouts do you see it?"
"There, sir--right to windward there."
We then heard a bustle in the companion, as if some one was groping for
the glass; and in a minute the mate came down to the cabin with it in
his hand.
"There is a strange sail to windward of us, sir."
"What does she look like?" said the skipper; "not that infernal felucca
again?"
"No, sir," said the man. "I think she is a large schooner; but it is
so thick and dark, that I cannot be certain."
"I'll bet a thousand," said I, "that old Dogvane was right after all;
and that this infernal little Midge, that has been buzzing round us all
day, will have enacted the jackal to the lion, and brought this big
fellow upon us."
We rose and went on deck, and saw the object to windward clearly
enough. She appeared to be dodging us; and when we kept away, or
luffed up in the wind, she instantly manoeuvred in the same fashion, so
soon as she perceived we were altering our position from her.
"Come, _that_ fellow is watching us, at any rate," said the captain,
"whatever the felucca may have done. I wish we were fairly round Cape
Antonio. I fear there is some concert between the two. Mr Crosjack,"
to his mate, "keep a bright look-out--keep your eye on him, until I
take a look at the chart below: he seems determined to jam us on the
Florida shore. Surely the current is stronger than I have allowed for,
or we should have made more of it by this time than we have done."
Curiosity led me to accompany the skipper below, and we were both
poring over the chart, when the mate called down--
"The schooner has bore up for us, sir, and is coming down like an arrow
on our weather-quarter."
"The devil she is!" said the skipper, dashing down his compasses and
parallel ruler with such vehemence, that the former were driven through
the chart, and stuck quivering in the table on one-leg, like an
opera-dancer; then slamming on his hat, he jumped up the ladder.
This startled the Dons. The curtains in front of the side-berths were
drawn aside with a jarring rasp of the brass rings along the rods, and
four half-naked Spaniards, with their-nightcaps on, and their gold or
silver crucifixes, like glow-worms in moss (Lord! what a fantastical
image), glancing on their hairy chests in the candle-light, sat up;
while the inmates of the two state-rooms stretched their necks to look
into the cabin.
"Que--que--buque a barlovento?"--(What is it?--what--a vessel to
windward?)
"Yes," said I; "there is a strange sail after us, and dodging us rather
suspiciously."
"Sospechoso! sospechoso!--buque sospechoso!--Ave Maria!"--and forthwith
the whole lot of warriors jumped out of bed; and great was the
confusion that arose while busy decorating themselves. One poor
fellow, half asleep, turned his trowsers the wrong way, as if he were
going to sail stern foremost, like a Dutch schuyet. Another stuck a
leg into his own galligaskins right enough; while his neighbour, half
asleep, had appropriated the other branch of the subject, whereby they
both lost their balance, and fell down in this Irish manacle on their
noses on the cabin floor; "carrajoing," and spurring each other in
great wrath.
The alarm in the brig had now become general, and half-a-dozen more of
our passengers came tumbling down the companion-ladder, having left
their quarters in the steerage, as if their chance of safety had been
greater in the cabin; and such a jumble of shouting, and cursing, and
praying, I never heard before; some of them calling to the steward to
open the hatch in the cabin floor, in order to stow away their treasure
in the run, others bustling with their trabucos; some fixing flints,
others ramming down the bullets before the cartridges, when--crack--one
of their pieces went off in the confusion, and filled the cabin with
smoke, through which I could see several of my allies prostrate on the
floor; having fallen down in a panic of fear.
Finding that the danger from one's friends below was, if not greater
than what threatened on deck, yet sufficiently startling, I left them
to shoot each other at their leisure. By this time there was neither
moon nor stars to be seen, and the haze that hung on the water,
although there was a fine breeze, and we were going along about seven
knots, made every thing so indistinct, that it was some time before I
could catch the object again. At length I saw her; but as she was stem
on, edging down on us, I could not make out more than that she was a
large fore-and-aft rigged vessel, decidedly not the Midge. When she
had crept up within hail, she brailed up her foresail, and, under her
mainsail and jib, appeared to have no difficulty in maintaining her
position on our weather-quarter, although we had set every inch of
canvas that would draw. There was no light on board, and it was too
dark to distinguish any one on her decks. Our master was evidently
puzzled what to do; at length, seizing the trumpet, he hailed the
strange sail.
"What schooner is that?"
"The Julia of Baltimore," was the prompt answer.
"Where are you bound for?"
"Vera Cruz."
A long pause, during which she was gradually edging nearer and nearer.
"Don't come any closer, or I will fire into you," sung out our skipper;
and then, to me, "He'll be on board of us, sir, if we do not mind."
"No, no," was the laconic reply, as our persecutor luffed up in the
wind; but he soon kept away again until he was right astern, and there
he stuck, to our great discomfort, the whole blessed night, yawing
about in our wake as if just to keep out of hail. We passed, as may
well be imagined, a very anxious night of it; at length day dawned, and
we could see about us, but as if to baulk us, as the light increased,
the schooner shortened sail still more, and steered more steadily, so
that we were prevented from seeing what was going on upon deck; at
length, at eight o'clock A.M., he set his foresail, and in ten minutes
was again in his old position to windward of us. We were all at
quarters once more; even the Dons, finding that there was no
alternative, had determined to fight, and as he gradually edged down, I
asked the skipper what he thought of it. "I really don't know; I see
no one on deck but the man steering, and that fellow sitting on the lee
bulwark there, with his arm round the backstay, apparently watching us."
"She does not seem to have any guns," said I. By this time the
schooner, a long low vessel, painted black, with a white streak, had
crept up so close on our weather quarter, that by keeping away a couple
of points, he could in half a minute have run his jib-boom over our
tafferel.
"If you don't haul off," sung out the captain, "I will fire into you."
At this, there was a rush of men from below up the schooner's
hatchways, and her decks were in a trice covered with them. The next
moment she kept by the wind, as if determined to bring us dead to
leeward. There was now no doubt of her real character, so the captain
seized the helm, and luffed up across his bows so suddenly, that I
thought he had carried away his jib-boom, but he was as quick as we
were, and by keeping away, cleared us, just shaving our stern; but not
before he got our broadside of cannon and musketry plump into his bows.
So great was his confusion, that he lost his opportunity of raking us
in passing to leeward. As the brig came to the wind, the schooner shot
a-head, when, by a dexterous management of the yards, the former was
backed astern. "Give him the other broadside, and blaze away, you
Spanish villains," shouted the Skipper; he thus got t'other dose right
into his stern, and we could see his reception had been far more
surprising than pleasant, for our fire was only returned by an
ill-directed volley of musketry, that injured no one. The few English
sailors we had on board continued to ply the carronades, as he again
drew a-head, and the Dons their trabucos, the latter always cowering
below the brig's bulwarks while loading, then popping up their heads
and letting drive, sometimes at the enemy, at other times into the air,
as if they had been shooting sea-gulls. At length, one of them was hit
by a chance shot from the schooner, which was the signal for the whole
lot to run below. Our friend having shot a-head out of gun-shot by
this time, now hauled by the wind, and once more shortened sail;
presently, as if he had gathered fresh courage, he came down
again,--this time, from his preparations, with an evident intention of
boarding us: and since the evaporation of our Spanish allies, there is
not the least doubt but he would have carried us, when, "a sail right
a-head," sung out by one of the crew at this most critical juncture,
revived our spirits again. As if the schooner had seen her at the same
moment, she instantly sheered off, hauled her wind, and made all sail
on a bowline.
We continued on our course, under every stitch we could crowd, and in
half an hour had the pleasure to see the vessel which was standing
towards us hoist a British ensign and pennant--presently she hailed us,
when we found she was the Spider schooner, belonging to the Jamaica
station, who, on being made acquainted with the nature of the attack,
and the character of the vessel on our weather beam, immediately made
all sail in chase, but, unfortunately, she had no chance; and in the
afternoon we had the discomfort of seeing her bear up and come down to
us, the other vessel being out of sight dead to windward.