The bold often succeed where the timid fail. The young midshipmen and
their companion, nothing daunted by the dangers which surrounded them,
kept on their course. The flames quickly ascending to the top of the
old tower, sent their ruddy glare far across the ocean; and as their
light fell on the adventurers and their little craft, it occurred to
Paul that their strange, unseamanlike costume would at once betray them.
"The chances are that the Frenchmen have left some jackets in the
after-cabin," he observed; and as he spoke, jumping below, he soon
returned with several garments and hats, with which they quickly dressed
themselves.
"Now we look pretty decent mounseers," observed Reuben, as he eased off
the main-sheet a little. "If we're hailed, you'll have to tell 'em,
Paul--I mean Mr Gerrard--beg pardon--that we're bound for Cherbourg,
and don't like to lose the breeze. It's coming pretty strongish, and if
I could but find a squaresail, for I sees there's a squaresail boom,
we'd make the little craft walk along."
Reuben was in high spirits, and indeed so were the midshipmen, at their
hazardous enterprise having thus far succeeded. Still they were not out
of danger. If it was believed that they had been burnt in the tower,
they would not be pursued, unless the owners of the sloop or the
remainder of her crew on shore should catch sight of her sailing away.
There were still several vessels to pass; but they intended to give them
as wide a berth as possible. O'Grady was at the helm. Paul and Reuben
were removing the main-hatch in hopes of finding the squaresail, when a
cry from O'Grady made them jump up, and they saw the head of the
Frenchman, with his mouth open, as if about to shout out, rising above
the covering of the forehatch. An Englishman generally carries a weapon
ready for immediate use, which at the end of a stout arm is of a
somewhat formidable character--his fist. Reuben with his dealt the
Frenchman a blow which stopped his shout, knocked three of his teeth
down his throat, and sent him toppling over into the fore-peak, from
which he had emerged; he, Reuben, and Paul following so rapidly, that
the boy, who had been capsized by his companion, had not time to pick
himself up. They this time took good care so to secure both their
prisoners, that there was very little fear of their escaping, as the man
had done before by expanding the muscles of his legs and arms while
Reuben was securing him.
"Please tell them, Mr Gerrard, that if they cry out or attempt to play
any more tricks, we must shoot them," said Reuben. "And now we'll go
and look for the squaresail."
The sail was found and bent on, and, Paul going to the helm, O'Grady and
Reuben managed to set it. The vessel felt the effects of the additional
canvas, as she drew out more from the land, and rapidly glided past the
different vessels in the roadstead. There were only two more. One of
these, however, they were compelled to pass uncomfortably near.
"When we are clear of her, we shall be all right," said O'Grady, looking
back, and seeing nothing following. "She looks like an armed vessel--a
man-of-war perhaps; but it won't do to go out of our course; we must
chance it."
They stood on. Although they were now some distance from the land, the
old tower continued blazing up so fiercely, that a strong light was
still thrown on their canvas. Being between the suspicious vessel and
the light, they were abreast of her before they were seen. Just then a
hail came from her, demanding who they were, and where they were bound.
"Answer, Gerrard, answer!" cried O'Grady.
But he did not tell him what to say; so Paul put up his hands and
shouted, "Oui, oui; toute vite!" with all his might.
"Heave-to," shouted the voice, "and we will send a boat aboard you."
"Very likely," said Paul; and so he only cried out as before, "Oui, oui,
to-morrow morning, or the day after, if you please!"
As a vessel running before the wind cannot heave-to at a moment's
notice, the sloop got on some little distance before any attempt was
made to impede her progress. Another hail was heard, and after the
delay of nearly another minute, there was a flash from one of the
stranger's ports, and a shot came whizzing by a few feet astern.
"If any of us are killed, let the others hold on to the last," cried
O'Grady. "We are suspected, at all events, and may have a near squeak
for it."
Reuben, the moment the first shot was fired, jumped down into the hold--
not to avoid another; no fear of that. Directly afterwards he shouted
out, "I have found the square-topsail. Lend a hand, Paul, and we'll get
it up."
The square-top-sail was got up, rapidly bent on to the yard, and in
another minute or two hoisted and set. The man-of-war meantime kept
firing away; her shots falling on either side of the little vessel; but
as she was riding head to wind, it was evident that only her stern
chasers could be brought to bear.
"I wonder that she does not follow us," observed Paul, as the shots
began to fall wider and wider of their mark.
"Perhaps most of her crew are on shore, or we are thought too small game
to make it worth while to get under weigh for," answered O'Grady.
"However, don't let us be too sure; perhaps she will come, after all.
We've got a good start of her though."
"The mounseers are generally a long time getting under weigh, and to my
mind they don't know what to make of us," observed Reuben, as he eyed
the Frenchman with no loving glance.
The breeze continued freshening, and the little craft, evidently a
remarkably fast one, flew bravely over the water, increasing her
distance from the French shore, and from the light of the burning tower.
As the night was very dark, there was yet a chance of her escaping in
the obscurity. The adventurers were already congratulating themselves
on having got free, when Reuben exclaimed, "The Frenchman thinks more of
us than we hoped. He's making sail."
A sailor's eyes alone, and these of the sharpest, could have discovered
this disagreeable fact; and even Paul could distinguish nothing but the
dark outline of the coast. Reuben kept his eye on the enemy.
"I doubt if she can see us," he observed. "And if she doesn't, we may
still give her the go-by. I'd haul up a little to the eastward, Mr
O'Grady, sir. The tide will be making down soon, and we shall just
check it across. She'll walk along all the faster, too, with the wind
on the starboard-quarter, and no risk of jibing. We'll take a pull at
the main-sheet, Mr Gerrard. Now we'll ease off the squaresail sheet.
That'll do, sir. Now the sail stands beautifully."
O'Grady wisely followed Reuben's advice, and took no notice of his doing
things which were so clearly right without orders.
The sloop was now steering about north-east by north, and should the
Frenchman stand a little to the westward of north, the two vessels would
soon be out of sight of each other. Reuben declared that he could still
see the enemy now making all sail in chase, but could not tell exactly
how she was standing. It was anxious work. O'Grady made her out, as
well as Reuben, and all hoped devoutly that she was a slow sailer. They
kept the little vessel on a steady course, and for an hour or more
scarcely a word was uttered. Sometimes Reuben lost sight of the enemy;
but before long she was again seen. It proved that she did not sail
very fast, and that the course they had taken was suspected. Thus hour
after hour they stood on, till dawn began to break.
"It's all up with us if she sees us now," cried O'Grady. "But I vote we
die game any how, and not give in while there's one of us alive to steer
the craft."
The increasing daylight soon revealed them to the Frenchman, who at once
began blazing away in a manner which showed that the long chase they had
given him had made him not a little angry. The shot, however, fell
short; but he on this made more sail, and soon gained on them. He
ceased firing for half an hour or more, and then again began, the shot
flying by on either side, or over the mast-head. They came, indeed,
much too near to be pleasant. Reuben took the helm, and the two
midshipmen stood facing their enemy, knowing that any moment might be
their last; still, however, as resolved as at first not to yield. In
another twenty minutes or half an hour they must be killed or prisoners;
escape seemed out of the question.
"I wish that I could let my father, and mother, and brothers, and
sisters at Ballyshannon know what has become of me," said Paddy, with a
sigh.
"And I wish that I could have again seen my dear mamma," said Paul, "and
my sweet sister Mary, and jolly old Fred, and Sarah, and John, and
pretty little Ann. They know that I am a midshipman, and I suppose that
that will be some consolation to them if they ever hear that I've been
killed."
"Don't talk like that, young gentlemen. Look there. What do you say to
that?" exclaimed Reuben, pointing to the north-west, where standing
towards them, close-hauled, and evidently attracted by the firing, was a
large, ship, the beams of the rising sun shining brightly on her
wide-spread canvas.
"The enemy must see her, but fancy that she is French," observed Reuben.
"But they are greatly mistaken, let me tell them."
"Hurrah! they've found out that they're wrong, then," cried O'Grady.
As he spoke, down came the Frenchman's studden sails, and with a few
parting shots, which narrowly missed their mark, he hauled his wind, and
stood close-hauled towards the coast of France. He sailed badly before
the wind; he sailed worse close-hauled. The stranger, which soon proved
to be an English frigate, her ensign blowing out at her peak, came
rapidly up. The adventurers cheered as she passed, and received a cheer
in return. Those on board evidently understood the true state of the
case.
"Why, I do believe that is Devereux himself!" cried Paul, in a tone of
delight.
"Well, it is difficult to be certain of a person at such a distance; but
it is very like him," said O'Grady. "But, again, how could he be there?
He could not have made his escape from prison."
The sloop hove to in order to watch the chase, which was soon
terminated, for the frigate came up hand over hand with the slow-sailing
brig, which found to her cost that instead of catching a prize she had
caught a Tartar. The midshipmen consulted together whether it would be
wiser to continue their course for the Isle of Wight, or to get on board
the frigate. But as the Channel swarmed with the cruisers of the enemy,
they decided to do the latter; and accordingly, when they saw the
frigate returning with her prize, they stood towards her. They were
soon up to her, and, a boat being sent to them, as they stepped up her
side the first person they encountered was Devereux.
"Why, old fellows, where have you come from in that curious guise?" he
exclaimed, as he warmly wrung their hands.
"Oh, we ran away, and have been running ever since, barring some few
weeks we spent shut up in an old castle and a tumble-down tower,"
answered O'Grady.
"And the captain, and I, and a few others, were exchanged two weeks ago
for a lot of French midshipmen without any trouble whatever."
"As to that, now we are free, I don't care a rope-yarn for all the
trouble we have had, nor if we had had ten times as much. But we ought
to report ourselves to the captain; and we think--that is, Gerrard
does--that we ought to let our prisoners take back the sloop which we
ran away with."
"I agree with Gerrard, and so I am sure will the captain," said
Devereux.
The frigate on board which the three adventurers so unexpectedly and
happily found themselves was the _Proserpine_, Captain Percy, of
forty-two guns. As she was on her trial cruise, having only just been
fitted out, she was short of midshipmen, and Captain Percy offered to
give both O'Grady and Paul a rating on board if Reuben would enter.
This he willingly did, and they thus found themselves belonging to the
ship. The occupants of the berth received them both very cordially, and
paid especial attention to Paul, of whom Devereux had spoken to them in
the warmest terms of praise. The surprise of the Frenchman and boy on
board the sloop was very great, when Paul and Reuben, accompanied by
some prisoners from the prize, appeared and released them; and when Paul
told them that they might return home, and that some countrymen had come
to help them navigate the ship, to express his joy and gratitude, he
would have kissed them both had they allowed him; and he seemed at a
loss how otherwise to show it, except by skipping and jumping about, on
his deck. When he shortly afterwards passed the _Proserpine_, he and
his companions waved their hats, and attempted to raise a cheer; but it
sounded very weak and empty, or, as Reuben observed to one of his new
shipmates, "It was no more like a British cheer than the squeak of a
young porker is to a boatswain's whistle."
The prize thus easily gained was sent into Portsmouth, and the
_Proserpine_ continued her cruise. O'Grady and Paul would have liked to
have gone in her; but they thought it better to wait till the frigate
herself returned to port, when they might get leave to go home and visit
their friends, and perhaps take a little prize-money with them to make
up for what they had lost. They easily got a temporary rig-out on
board, so that there was no absolute necessity for their going. Paul
had hitherto, young as he was, held up manfully in spite of all the
fatigue and anxiety he had gone through; but no sooner had the prize
disappeared, than his strength and spirits seemed to give way. He kept
in the berth for a day or two; but could scarcely crawl on deck, when
Devereux reporting his condition to the surgeon, he was placed in the
sick list. Both his old shipmates, Devereux and O'Grady, attended him
with the fondest care, and he would have discovered, had he possessed
sufficient consciousness, how completely he had wound himself round
their hearts. He had done so, not by being proud, or boastful, or
self-opinionated, or by paying them court, by any readiness to take
offence, or by flattery, or by any other mean device, but by his bravery
and honesty, by his gentleness and liveliness, by his readiness to
oblige, and general good-nature and uprightness, and by being true to
himself and true to others--doing to them as he would be done by. They
became at last very sad--that is to say, as sad as midshipmen in a
dashing frigate, with a good captain, can become during war time; for
they thought that Paul was going to die, and the surgeon gave them no
hopes. No one, however, was more sad than Reuben, who for many a watch
below, when he ought to have been in his own hammock, sat by the side of
his cot, administering the medicines left by the doctor, and tending him
with all a woman's care and tenderness. The thoughts of his friends
were for a time, however, called off from Paul by an event which brought
all hands on deck--the appearance of a strange sail, pronounced to be a
French frigate equal in size to the _Proserpine_. All sail was made in
chase. The ship was cleared for action, and Paul with other sick was
carried into the cockpit to be out of the way of shot. The gunner went
to the magazine to send up powder; the carpenter and his mates to the
wings, with plugs, to stop any shot-holes between wind and water; and
the various other officers, commissioned and warrant, repaired to their
respective posts. Paul had sufficiently recovered to know what was
about to take place, and to wish to be on deck.
"Couldn't you let me go, doctor--only just while the action is going
on?" he murmured out. "I'll come back, and go to bed, and do all you
tell me--indeed I will."
"I am sorry to say that you could be of no use, my brave boy, and would
certainly injure yourself very much; so you must stay where you are,"
answered the surgeon, who was busy in getting out the implements of his
calling. "You will have many opportunities of fighting and taking other
prizes besides the one which will, I hope, soon be ours."
The remarks of the surgeon were soon cut short by the loud roar of the
guns overhead, as the frigate opened her fire on the enemy. Then
speedily came the crashing sound of the return shot, as they tore
through the stout planks, and split asunder even the oaken timbers. It
was evident that the two ships were very close together by the loud
sound of the enemy's guns and the effects of his shot. Not many minutes
had passed since the firing commenced, when steps were heard descending
the ladder, and first one wounded man, and then another, and another,
was brought below and placed before the surgeon. He had scarcely begun
to examine their wounds, when more poor fellows were brought below badly
wounded.
"Ah! sir," said one of the seamen who bore them, as he was hurrying
again on deck, in answer to a question from the surgeon, "there are many
more than these down for whom you could do nothing."
"What, is the day going against us?" asked the surgeon.
"No, sir; I hope not. But the enemy is a big one, and will require a
mighty deal of hammering before she gives in."
Paul looked out; but he soon closed his eyes, and he would gladly have
closed his ears to the shrieks and groans of anguish which assailed
them, while the poor fellows were under the hands of the surgeons, or
waiting their turn to have their wounds dressed, or their limbs
amputated. Paul was more particularly anxious about his old friends;
and whenever anybody was brought near him, he inquired after them. The
report was, from those who had seen them, that they were at their posts
as yet unhurt. Again he waited. Now there was a cessation of firing.
Once more it was renewed, and the wounded were brought down in even
still greater numbers than at first. Paul's spirits fell very low. He
had never felt so miserable, and so full of dread. What, if after all
the _Proserpine_ should be overmatched, and he and his companions again
fall into the hands of the French, or should perhaps Devereux, or
O'Grady, or his firm friend Reuben Cole, be killed! Suddenly he
remembered what his mother often had told him, that in all troubles and
difficulties he should pray; and so he hid his face in the pillow, and
prayed that his countrymen might come off victorious, and that the lives
of his friends might be preserved. By the time he had ceased his fears
had vanished; his spirits rose. He had done all he could do, and the
result he knew was in the hands of Him who rules the world. Still the
battle raged. He heard remarks made by the wounded, by which he guessed
that the enemy was indeed vastly superior, and that many a man, if not
possessed of an indomitable spirit, would have yielded long ago; but
that their captain would fight on till the ship sunk beneath his feet,
or till not a man remained to work the guns. Several officers were
among the badly wounded, and many were reported to be killed. At length
there was a cry of grief, and their brave captain himself was brought
below. Still the first-lieutenant remained to fight the ship, and his
captain's last order to him was never to yield while the remotest hope
of victory remained.
"Am I likely to survive?" asked the captain of the surgeon, after his
wound had been examined.
"It is possible, sir; but I will not disguise from you that your wound
is dangerous," was the answer.
"I should be resigned," said the captain, "could I know that the victory
would be ours."
At that instant the sound of cheering came down into the cockpit. The
captain heard it, and lifted up his head with a look of intense
eagerness. Directly afterwards an officer appeared. His head was bound
up, and his coat at the shoulder was torn and bloody. It was Devereux.
"The enemy has sheered off, sir, and is making all sail to the
southward," he exclaimed, in a hurried tone. "We are unable to follow,
for our fore-top-mast and main-mast are gone, and the fore-mast and
mizen-mast, until they are fished, cannot carry sail."
"Thank heaven! thank heaven!" whispered the captain, falling back. The
surgeon, whom he had sent to attend to others worse wounded than
himself, as he thought, hurried back to him with a restorative cordial;
but he shook his head as he vainly put it to his mouth: it was too late.
In the moment of victory the gallant spirit of the captain had
departed. The enemy with which the _Proserpine_ had for so long thus
nobly sustained this fierce engagement, was a 74-gun ship, more than
half as large again as she was, and having on board nearly twice as many
men. The sea was fortunately calm, and the masts being fished, sail was
made, and in two days the frigate reached Portsmouth. As she had
suffered much in the action, she required extensive repairs; and the
sick and wounded were sent on shore to the hospital. In the list of the
former was Paul; in the latter, Devereux. Paul still continued very
weak and ill. Devereux was not dangerously hurt; but the surgeons would
not allow him to travel to go to his friends, and they showed no
disposition to come to him. Paul was too weak to write home himself,
but he had got Devereux to do so for him, making, however, as light as
he could of his illness.
Two days had scarcely elapsed, when they were told that a young lady was
below, waiting to see Mr Gerrard.
"It must be my dear sister Mary," whispered Paul. "Oh, do go and see
her before she comes here, Devereux, and tell her how ill I am, and
prepare her for the sort of place she is to come to."
Hospitals in those days, especially in the war time, were very
differently arranged to what they are now, when every attention is paid
to the comfort and convenience of the patients. At that time, even in
the best regulated, were sights, smells, and sounds, trying to the
sensibilities even of ordinary persons, but especially so to those of a
young lady brought up in the quiet and retirement of a rural village;
but Mary Gerrard, who now entered the Portsmouth hospital, escorted by
Devereux, had at that moment but one feeling, one thought--an earnest
desire to reach the bedside of her brave young brother, who she thought
was dying. After the first greetings were over, Paul, seeing her look
very sad, entreated her not to grieve, as he was sure that he should get
well and go home and see them all.
She prayed he might, and so did Devereux, though from what the doctor
said, there could be little doubt that he was very ill. Mary did not
tell him that his dear mother was very ill also, being sure that the
knowledge of this would agitate him, and retard, if it did not prevent,
his recovery. She entreated that she might remain night and day with
her brother; but this was not allowed, and so she was obliged to take
lodgings near at hand, where she remained at night when turned out of
the hospital. Devereux, however, comforted her by promising that he
would sit up as long as he was allowed with his friend, while O'Grady
and Reuben Cole came on shore and assisted in nursing him; so that Paul
was not so badly off after all. The consequence was, that in spite of
the doctor's prognostications, Paul rapidly improved. As soon as he was
in a fit condition to be moved, he was conveyed to some nice airy
lodgings Mary had engaged; and here Devereux, who was also recovering
from his wounds, and allowed to go out, was a constant visitor, that is
to say, he came early in the morning, and stayed all day. He came at
first for Paul's sake; but it might have been suspected that he now came
for the sake of somebody else. He was no longer a midshipman, for he
had received his commission as lieutenant soon after landing,
provisionally on his passing the usual examination, in consequence of
the action in which he had taken part, when he had acted as second in
command, all the other officers being killed or wounded. Mary could not
fail to like him, and although she knew the whole history of the
disastrous lawsuit between her father and the Devereux family, she had
never supposed that he belonged to them in any way.
It did not occur to Paul that his friend and his sister were becoming
sincerely and deeply attached to each other. He asked Devereux one day
why, now that he was strong enough, he did not go home to see his
friends.
"Do you wish me gone?" asked Devereux.
"No, indeed, I do not," answered Paul; "but it surprised me that you
should not be anxious to go and see them."
"Did they show any anxiety to come and see me, when they supposed I was
wounded and ill, and perhaps dying?" he asked, in an animated tone.
"No, Paul; but there is one who did come to see my best friend, who
saved my life, and watched over me with more than the tenderness of a
brother when I was sick, and for that person I have conceived an
affection which I believe will only end with my life."
"Who can you mean, Devereux?" asked Paul, in a tone of surprise.
"Why, who but your sister Mary!" exclaimed Devereux. "Do you think that
I could have spent so many days with her, and seen her tending on you
like an angel of light, as she is, and not love her with all my heart?"
"Oh, my dear Devereux, I cannot tell you how I feel about it," said
Paul, warmly taking his hand; "though I am sure Mary does not know that
you belong to that family we all fancy have treated us so ill; yet, when
she does come to know it, as she ought to know, still I do not think
that it will bias her in her sentiments towards you. When she knows
that you love her, I am sure that she must love you."
"Thank you, Paul; thank you, my dear fellow, for saying that. Then I
will tell her at once," said Devereux.
And so he did; and Mary confessed that Paul was not far wrong in his
conjectures.
It had, curiously enough, never occurred to her to what family Devereux
belonged, and when she heard, she naturally hesitated about allying
herself to people who, if they could not despise, would assuredly
dislike her. Devereux, however, overcame all her scruples, which is not
surprising, considering that he was scarcely twenty-one, and she was
only nineteen.
When Paddy O'Grady heard of the arrangement he was delighted.
"All right, my dear fellow," he exclaimed. "When you marry Mary
Gerrard, I'll run over to France and pop the question to little Rosalie
Montauban, and bring her back to live in some snug box of a cottage I'll
take near you. Won't it be charming?"
Midshipmen, when they think of marrying, always think of living in a
snug little box of a cottage, just big enough for themselves, forgetting
that they may wish for servants, and may some day expand somewhat in
various ways.
Devereux ventured to suggest that Miss Rosalie might not be as willing
to come away as O'Grady supposed, at which Paddy became very irate, the
more so, that some such idea might possibly have been lurking within his
own bosom. However, as the war was not over, and might not be for some
time, he could not go just: then.
Paul was now sufficiently recovered to be moved, and Devereux got leave
to help Mary in taking him home. They were also accompanied by Reuben
Cole. Mrs Gerrard had begun to recover from the day that she heard
Paul was out of all danger. She joyfully and proudly received them at
her neat and pretty, though small cottage; and from the day of his
arrival Devereux found himself treated as a son. Devereux had admired
Mary watching over her sick brother. He admired her still more when
affectionately tending on her mother, and surrounded by her younger
brothers and sisters. Paul was made so much of that he ran a great
chance of being spoilt. He had to put on his uniform, and exhibit
himself to all the neighbourhood as the lad who had gone away as a poor
ship-boy, and come back home as a full-blown midshipman. At last, one
day Devereux received a letter from his home, suggesting that as he was
in England he might possibly be disposed to pay them a visit. He went,
though very reluctantly. He was greatly missed, not only by Paul and
Mary, but by all the younger Gerrards. Not ten days had elapsed when he
again made his appearance.
"They have had enough of me," he said, as he entered laughing. "But,
Mary, dear," he added, after he had gone the round of handshaking, and,
it may be, with a kiss or two from the lady part of the family, "the
best news I have to tell you is that they will not oppose our marriage,
if we will wait till I am made a commander, and then my father promises
me three hundred a year, which, with my pay, will be a great deal more
than we shall want. To be sure, I had to undertake to give up some
thousands which might some day come to me; but it would not be for a
long time, at all events, and, in my opinion, perhaps never; and I was
determined not to risk the danger of losing you for money, or any other
cause."
"Oh, my dear Gilbert! and have you sacrificed your fortune and your
future prospects for my sake?" said Mary, her eye's filling with tears;
and yet not looking, after all, as if she was very sorry.
"No, no! not in the slightest degree. I have laid them out, as a
merchant would say, to the very best advantage, by securing what I know
will tend to my very great and continued happiness," answered Gilbert
Devereux, adding--
But never mind what he said or did after that. Certain it is, Mary made
no further objections, and Mary and he were regularly betrothed, which
is a very pleasant state of existence, provided people may hope to marry
before very long, and expect, when they do marry, to have something to
live on.
Soon after this Gilbert Devereux went to Portsmouth to pass his
examination, and came back a full-blown lieutenant, with an epaulette on
his left shoulder, which, when he put on his uniform, was very much
admired.
Paul awoke very early the morning after Devereux had returned, in the
same little room in which he slept before he went to sea, and which he
had so often pictured to his mind's eye as he lay in his hammock tossed
by the stormy sea. A stout sea-chest stood open in the room, and over
it was hung a new uniform with brass buttons; a bright quadrant, and
spy-glass, and dirk, and gold-laced hat, lay on the table, and the chest
seemed filled to overflowing with the articles of a wardrobe, and a
variety of little comforts which his fond mother and sisters, he was
sure, had prepared for him. He turned round in his bed and gazed at the
scene.
"I have dreamed this dream before," he said to himself. "It was vivid
then--it is vivid now; but I will not be deceived as I was then!--oh,
how bitterly--No, no, it is a dream. I fear that it is all a dream!"
But when the bright sunbeams came in and glittered on the quadrant and
buttons, and the brass of the telescope, and on the gold lace, and the
handle of the dirk, and the birds sang cheerily to greet the glorious
sun, and the lowing of cows and the bleating of sheep was heard, and the
crack of a carter's whip, and his "gee up" sounded not far away from
under the window, Paul rubbed his eyes again and again, and, with a
shout of joy and thankfulness, exclaimed--
"It is true! it is true! I really am a midshipman!"
And when he knelt down to say his prayers, as all true honest Christian
boys do, he thanked God fervently for having preserved him from so many
dangers and granted him fully the utmost desire of his young heart.
When Paul appeared at breakfast, did not his mother and brothers and
sisters admire him, even more than they did Gilbert Devereux, except,
perhaps, Mary; and she certainly did not say that she admired Paul less.
They were a very happy party, and only wished that to-morrow would not
come. But such happiness to the brave men who fight Old England's
battles, whether by sea or land, must, in war time at all events, be of
brief duration. A long official-looking letter arrived for Devereux,
and another of a less imposing character, from the first-lieutenant of
the _Proserpine_, ordering Paul, if recovered, to join forthwith, as the
ship was ready for sea. The letter for Devereux contained his
appointment to the same ship, which was a great satisfaction to all
concerned.
We will not describe what poor Mary felt or said. She well knew that
the event was inevitable, and, like a true sensible girl, she nerved
herself to endure it, though we dare say she did not fail to let Gilbert
understand, to his satisfaction, how sorry she was to lose him. It is,
indeed, cruel kindness to friends to let them suppose when parting from
them that you do not care about them.
Reuben Cole, who had spent his holiday in the village with his old
mother, and left her this time cash enough to make her comfortable,
according to her notions, for many a day, came to the cottage to say
that his time was up. The three old shipmates therefore set off
together for Portsmouth. On their arrival they found that Mr Order,
who had been made a commander in the West Indies, and had lately
received his post rank, was appointed to command the _Proserpine_. The
_Cerberus_ had arrived some time before, and several of her officers and
men had, in consequence of their regard for Captain Order, joined the
_Proserpine_. Among them were Peter Bruff, still a mate, Tilly Blake,
and old Croxton. The midshipmen's berth contained a merry party, some
youngsters who had come to sea for the first time, full of life and
hope, and some oldsters who were well-nigh sick of it and of everything
else in the world, and longed to have a leg or an arm shot away that
they might obtain a berth at Greenwich, and have done with it. At that
time, however, there were not many of the latter sort.
At first it was supposed that their destination was foreign; but whether
they were to be sent to the North American station, to the
Mediterranean, to the Pacific, or to India, they could not ascertain; so
that it rather puzzled them to know what sort of stores they should lay
in, or with what style of garments they should provide themselves.
However, on the morning they were to sail Captain Order received a
dispatch directing him to join the Channel fleet.
"Do you know what that means?" asked Peter Bruff of the assembled mess.
"Why, I will tell you, boys, that we shall be attached to the blockading
squadron off Brest, and that month after month, blow high or blow low,
we shall have to kick our heels there till we have kicked holes in
them."
Those present expressed great dissatisfaction at the prospect in view;
but Devereux, when the subject was discussed in the gun-room, was
secretly very glad, because he hoped thus to hear more frequently from
Mary, and to be able to write to her. His brother officers took up the
idea that he was an author, from the sheets upon sheets of paper which
he covered; but, as may be supposed, nothing could induce him to exhibit
the result of his labours. While others were weary; discontented, and
grumbling, he was always happy in the belief that Mary was always
thinking of him, as he was of her.
Blockading is always disagreeable work, as there must be an ever
watchful look-out, night and day, and ships are often kept till all
their provisions are expended, or the ships themselves can stand the
wear and tear no longer. The _Proserpine_ had, as was expected, plenty
to do. Paul, though not finding it pleasant more than the rest, was
satisfied that it was calculated to give him ample experience in
seamanship, and to make him the good officer he aspired to become.
However, as disagreeable as well as agreeable times must come to an end
some time, if we will but wait that time, the _Proserpine_ was relieved
at length, and returned to Portsmouth. She was not allowed to remain
there long, for as soon as she could be refitted, and had taken in a
fresh supply of provisions, wood, and water, she again put to sea to
join a squadron in the North Seas. Winter came on, and as she lay in
Yarmouth Roads, directions were sent to Captain Order to prepare for the
reception of an ambassador, or some other great man, who was to be
conveyed to the Elbe, and landed at Cuxhaven, or any other place where
he could be put on shore and make his way to his destination.
It was early in February, but the weather was unusually fine, and off
the compact little island of Heligoland a signal was made for a pilot,
who came on board and assured the captain that there was not the
slightest difficulty in getting up the Elbe to Cuxhaven, if he would but
proceed at between half-flood and half-ebb, when he could see the sand
on either hand. All the buoys in the river had, however, been carried
away, he observed, to prevent the enemy from getting up. With a
favourable breeze the frigate stood up the river, guided by the
experienced pilot. While the weather continued fine, the task was one
of no great difficulty, though with a wintry wind blowing and the
thermometer far down below the freezing-point, it was anything but a
pleasant one.
"Faith, I'd rather be back stewing away among the niggers in the West
Indies, would not you, Gerrard?" exclaimed Paddy O'Grady, beating his
hands against his sides to keep them warm.
"I should not mind it for a change, if it was not to last long; but I
confess I don't wish it to be colder," said Paul.
"Why, lads, this is nothing to what I have had to go through in the
North Seas," remarked Bruff. "I've known it so cold that every drop of
spray which came on board froze, and I've seen the whole deck, and every
spar and rope one mass of ice, so that there was no getting the ropes to
run through the sheaves of the blocks, and as to furling sails, which
were mere sheets of ice, that was next to an impossibility. I warn you,
if you don't like what we have got now, you'll like still less what is
coming. There are some heavy snow-clouds driving up, and we shall have
a shift of wind soon."
The frigate had now got up to within four miles of Cuxhaven, when, at
about four o'clock, as the winter's day was closing in, it, as Bruff had
anticipated, came on to snow so thickly that the pilot could no longer
see the marks, and it accordingly became necessary to anchor. Later in
the evening, when darkness had already set in, the wind shifted to the
southward of east, and the snow fell with a density scarcely ever
surpassed, as if the whole cloud mass of snow were descending bodily to
the earth. Added to this, the high wind drove the ice, which had
hitherto remained fixed to the shore, high up, directly down on the
ship, threatening every instant to cut her cables, when she must have
been driven on shore and lost.
"All hands on deck!" turned many a sleeper out of his hammock, where, if
not warm, he was not so cold as elsewhere. All night long the crew were
on deck, fending off the ice, which in huge masses came drifting down on
them.
"What do you think of this, Paddy?" asked Bruff.
"Why, by my faith, that when a thing is bad we have good reason to be
thankful that it's no worse," answered O'Grady. "Can anything be worse
than this?"
"Yes, indeed, a great deal worse," said Bruff.
The morning broke at length, and as it was evident that the ambassador
could not be landed at Cuxhaven, it was necessary to get out of the Elbe
without delay, that he might be put on shore on the coast of Holstein,
if possible.
The wind blew as strong as ever--a severe gale; but, the snow ceasing
partially, the pilot was enabled to see the land. The ship stood on
under one sail only--the utmost she could carry--a fore-topmast
stay-sail.
"Hurrah! we shall soon be out of this trap, and once more in the open
sea," exclaimed O'Grady. "So the pilot says."
"Are we well clear of the outer bank?" asked the captain.
The answer was in the affirmative; but it was scarcely given when the
ship struck heavily, and, her keel cutting the sand, she thus became, as
it seemed, firmly fixed. Then arose the cry from many mouths--
"We are lost! we are lost!"
"Silence!" exclaimed Captain Order; "until every effort has been made to
get her off, let no one under my command say that."