"Well! well! I cannot give you leave, youngster--you know that; but I
have heard of boys stowing themselves away under a sail in the bows of a
boat, and coming out to play their part right manfully when the time for
action had arrived. I am to have the pinnace, you know."
"Thank you--thank you," I exclaimed, overwhelmed with gratitude at the
enormous favour done me by the boatswain, of allowing me to run a
considerable chance of getting knocked on the head.
"Don't say any more about it, Mr Merry," said Mr Johnson; "I always
liked you; and I couldn't do for my own son, if I had one, more than I
would do for you." The boatswain forgot to ask for his letter back, so
I locked it up in my desk, after I had written a few lines to inform my
family that, if they received them, it would be to convey the
information that I had fallen, nobly fighting for my country, on the
field of fame--or something to that effect. I know I thought my epistle
so very fine and pathetic that I could not resist the temptation of
sending it home, and very nearly frightened my mother and sisters into
hysterics, under the belief that I really was numbered among the killed
and wounded. It was only when they got to the postscript that they
discovered I was all right and well. Having written this despatch,
announcing my own demise--which, by the bye, I should certainly not have
done had not the boatswain put it into my head--I set to work to make my
other preparations. Having secured a pistol, with some powder and
bullets, and a cutlass, which I fancied I could handle, I stowed them
away in the bows of the pinnace.
I never before played the hypocrite, but I was so afraid that my
messmates would discover my purpose, that I pretended to take no
interest in the proposed expedition, and spoke as if it was an affair in
which I should be very sorry to be engaged. I got, in consequence,
considerably sneered at: Miss Susan, especially, amused himself at my
expense, and told me that I had better go back to my sisters, and help
them to sew and nurse babies, if I was afraid of fighting. I bore all
that was said with wonderful equanimity, hoping that the next morning
would show I was a greater hero than any of them.
At length the boats' crews were piped away: it was the signal for which
I had long been listening. I rushed on deck, and, unperceived, as I
hoped, I jumped into the pinnace, and stowed myself away under the
thwarts. The boats were lowered, the order was given to shove off; and,
with a hearty cheer from all on board the ships, to which those on the
boats responded, away we pulled for the mouth of Camaret Bay. My
position was anything but pleasant, especially as I got several kicks
from the feet of the men which nearly stove in my ribs; and I was
therefore very glad when I thought it would be safe to crawl out, and
present myself to the boatswain. The men, very naturally, were highly
pleased, and I rose considerably in their estimation by what I had done;
but Mr Johnson, of course, pretended to be very angry when he saw me,
and told me the captain would never forgive me, or speak to me again, if
I got killed. At first, the men were allowed to laugh and talk as much
as they liked; but as we approached the entrance to the bay, silence was
enjoined, and even the oars were muffled, so that we should give no
notice to the enemy of our approach.
The night was very dark. Our boat had kept near that of our leader, Mr
Bryan; but after some time it was discovered that the other division of
boats had not come up. We had pulled very fast, and probably
outstripped them. We pulled on till we got within the very mouth of the
harbour, and then the order was passed from boat to boat that we were to
lay on our oars till the rest of the boats came up. I found this rather
a trying time. While we were rapidly pulling on I could not think, and
I felt a powerful longing to be slashing away at the enemy. Now I began
to reflect that they would equally be slashing away at me; and I
remembered my own pathetic letter, and what I fancied Jonathan Johnson's
anticipations of evil. Probably the men were indulging in much the same
sort of thoughts; I know that they did not appear to be in nearly such
good spirits as at first. This showed me what I have ever since
remembered, that when dashing work is to be done, it should be done
off-hand, and that all pains should be taken to avoid a halt or
interruption.
Hour after hour passed by; no boats appeared. At length the day broke,
and so rapidly did it come on that, before we had time to get to a
distance, the light revealed us to the eyes of the enemy. The other
boats were nowhere to be seen; they, for some reason, had returned to
the ships; we had now no resource but to do the same, in a very
crestfallen condition.
I hid myself away, as before, and managed to get on board without any
one discovering where I had been. I knew that Mr Johnson would keep
his counsel, and I did my best to keep mine. Captain Collyer and the
other captains were very much annoyed at the failure of the expedition,
and it soon became known that they had resolved to make another attempt
to cut out the Chevrette.
There was no time to be lost. Another expedition was arranged for that
night. Every one knew that it would be far more dangerous than it would
have been on the previous night, because the enemy would now be prepared
for our reception. The corvette, indeed, was seen to go further up the
harbour, so as to be more completely under the protection of the
batteries; and as boats were continually passing between her and the
shore, there could be little doubt that she was augmenting the number of
her crew. Notwithstanding the formidable resistance they might thus
expect to meet with, all were as eager as before to join in the
expedition.
I resolved not to be baulked of my expected amusement, but how to
accomplish my purpose was the difficulty. I heard both the officers and
men regretting the failure of the previous night, and observing that
they should have much tougher work the next time, by which I knew that
the danger would be very greatly increased; but that only made me the
more eager to go on the expedition. The resistance to be expected was,
indeed, formidable. We could see with our glasses the people busily
employed in throwing up new batteries on shore; and then a large gun
vessel came out and anchored at the mouth of the bay, to give notice of
the approach of boats. What, however, excited the rage of all on board,
and made us still more eager to capture the French corvette, was to see
her hoist a large French ensign above the British flag.
"That insult seals her fate," observed Mr Bryan, loud enough for the
men near to hear him. "Our fellows will take very good care to reverse
those two flags before many hours are over."
I was in a very fidgety state all day. I was not accustomed to
concealment, and I dared trust no one with my plans. Even Toby Bluff I
suspected, would try to prevent me going, unless he was allowed to go
also; and that I did not wish, as it would, in the first place, have
increased the chances of my being discovered, and also, though I was
ready enough to run the risk of being knocked on the head myself, I did
not wish to let him get hurt if I could help it. I likewise very
carefully kept out of the boatswain's way. I knew that, as the danger
was increased, he would be still less willing to let me go, and I was in
a great fright lest he should have an opportunity of speaking to me
alone, and altogether prohibit me from going in his boat. At last a
bright idea occurred to me--I would sham ill, and then no one would
suspect me. I immediately went to our long-headed Scotch
assistant-surgeon, Macquoid, and described my symptoms.
"You're vary ill, lad--vary ill," he answered, looking at me with a
quizzical expression in his humorous countenance. "I'll give you
something which will do for ye, and not make ye wish for any more physic
for a long time to come."
Macquoid was as good as his word. Terribly nauseous was the draught he
insisted on my swallowing; nor would he leave me till every drop had
gone down, and then I rushed off to the berth and threw myself on a
locker to luxuriate in the flavour, which nothing I could take would
remove from my mouth.
It was the first and last time I ever made an attempt at malingering.