"Come on board, sir," remarked I, touching my cap as I passed in through
the gangway of the _Eros_ and found myself face to face with Captain
Perry and the master, who were walking the quarter-deck side by side and
conversing earnestly, while the first lieutenant, from the break of the
poop, was carrying on the work of the ship.
"Good heavens!" exclaimed the skipper, stopping short and staring at me
as though he had seen a ghost--"is it possible? It can't be--and yet,
by Jove, it _is_--Mr Fortescue! Welcome back to the _Eros_, Mr
Fortescue; I am delighted to see you again. But where on earth have you
sprung from? From that fine brigantine that has just come in, I
imagine, since I see that the boat which brought you is returning to
her; but I mean before that. You look as though you have been having a
pretty rough time of it lately. And what of the _Dolphin_ and her crew?
We gave you all up for lost, long ago."
"And with good reason, sir," I answered. "She foundered in a hurricane
in mid-Atlantic; and I have only too much reason to fear that I alone
have survived to tell the tale."
"Ah," said the skipper, "that is bad news indeed; but the fact that you
never turned up at our rendez-vous, and that no intelligence could be
gained of you, has prepared us for it. Well, Mr Fortescue, I am afraid
I am too busy to listen to your story just now; you must therefore dine
with me and the officers of the ship to-day, and then spin us your yarn.
Meanwhile, since you seem to have returned to us flying light, without
any `dunnage,' I would recommend you to get hold of the ship's tailor
and see what he can do for you in the matter of knocking you up a
uniform. For the rest, you may take a boat and go ashore to replenish
your wardrobe, which you had better do at once, for we go to sea again
to-morrow. I have no doubt the purser will be able to let you have such
funds as you need. Now, run along and renew your acquaintance with your
shipmates; I see Mr Copplestone and one or two more glancing rather
impatiently this way, as though they were anxious to have a word or two
with you."
Touching my cap, I slipped up on to the poop, as in duty bound, to
report myself to the first lieutenant, who gave me as hearty a welcome
as the skipper had done, and then joined Copplestone, the surgeon, and
one or two others who were obviously waiting to have a word with me, and
retired with them to the gunroom, where my return was celebrated in due
form. Of course they were all exceedingly anxious to hear the story of
what had befallen me since the _Dolphin_ and the _Eros_ had parted
company; but I steadfastly refused to tell them anything beyond the bare
fact that the _Dolphin_ had gone down with all hands, explaining that
the skipper had invited me to dine with him that day, and that they
would learn all particulars then, as I gathered that it was his
intention to invite them all to meet me. Then, having had a
satisfactory interview with the tailor and the purser, I went ashore and
laid in a stock of linen, etcetera, together with a chest, all of which
I brought off with me.
As I had quite anticipated, the captain invited everybody to meet me at
dinner that day, even to Copplestone and Parkinson, who were now the
sole occupants of the midshipmen's berth. And very attentively
everybody listened to the story, as I told it in detail, of how, after
parting from the _Eros_, we had carried on in the hope of overtaking the
_Virginia_; of how we had been caught in and overwhelmed by the
hurricane; of how I came to go adrift, alone, in the longboat; of how I
had been run down by _La Mouette_, and of my treatment on board her; of
my adventures in King Banda's town, and my escape therefrom with the aid
of poor Ama; of the death of the latter--at which all hands expressed
their sincere regret; and, finally, of how I had reached _L'Esperance_,
and the extraordinary story I had heard while aboard her. It is not to
be supposed that I was allowed to spin my yarn without interruption; on
the contrary, I was bombarded with a continuous fire of questions for
the elucidation of points that I had failed to make quite clear; and
when I had finished the captain was pleased to express himself as
perfectly satisfied with all that I had done, and that the loss of the
_Dolphin_ was due to causes entirely beyond my control. Regret was
expressed for the loss of Tasker and Keene, both of whom were highly
esteemed by all their shipmates; and then the conversation diverged to
the topic of the audacious _Virginia-Preciosa_, which, protected by the
very ingenious fraud of the double sets of papers and the double crews,
was still merrily pursuing her way and bidding defiance to everybody.
"Ah!" ejaculated the skipper, with a deep sigh of satisfaction; "thanks
to your friend Red Hand's garrulity in his cups, Mr Fortescue, we shall
now know how to deal with that precious craft. We go to sea to-morrow,
and it shall be our business, gentlemen, to bring her to book; and a
fine feather in our caps it will be if we should be successful."
The first thing after breakfast, on the following morning, Captain Perry
went ashore, remaining there until close upon eight bells in the
afternoon watch; and when at length he came off, he looked uncommonly
pleased with himself. I saw him talking animatedly with the first
lieutenant for some time, and then he beckoned to me.
"I suppose, Mr Fortescue," he said, when I joined him, "you will not
have very much difficulty in identifying the _Virginia_ should we be
lucky enough to fall in with her?"
"None at all, sir," answered I. "I believe I should be able to identify
her as far as I could see her. I boarded her, you will remember, and I
took full advantage of the opportunity to use my eyes. Oh, yes, I shall
know her if ever I clap eyes on her again."
"Which will be before very long, I hope," answered the skipper. "For by
a most lucky chance I have to-day obtained what I believe to be
trustworthy information to the effect that she was sighted four days
ago, bound for the Gaboon river--or perhaps it would be more correct to
say that she was sighted steering east, and identified by the master of
a brig who knows her perfectly well, and who has since arrived here, and
that there is authentic information to the effect that she is this time
bound for the Gaboon."
"In that case, sir," said I, "there ought not to be very much difficulty
in falling in with her when she comes out."
"That is what I think," returned the skipper. "Are we quite ready to go
to sea, Mr Hoskins?"
"Absolutely, sir, at a moment's notice," answered Hoskins.
"Very well, then, we will weigh as soon as the land-breeze springs up,"
said the skipper.
And weigh we did, a little after seven o'clock that evening, securing a
good offing, and clearing the shoals of Saint Ann by daybreak the next
morning. We knew that it was customary for the slavers coming out of
the Gulf of Guinea to endeavour to sight Cape Palmas, in order that they
might obtain a good "departure" for the run across the Atlantic, also
because they might usually reckon upon picking up the Trades somewhere
in that neighbourhood. The skipper therefore carefully laid down upon
his chart the supposititious course of the _Virginia_ from the Gaboon to
Cape Palmas, and thence onward to the Caribbean Sea; and then shaped a
course to enable us to fall in with her on the latter, at a spot about
one hundred miles to the westward of Palmas. Having reached this spot,
we shortened sail to our three topsails, spanker, and jib, and slowly
worked to windward along that course, tacking every two hours until we
had worked up to within sight of the cape, and then bearing up and
running off to leeward for a distance of one hundred miles again,
keeping a hand aloft on the main-royal yard as look-out from dawn to
dark. It was weary, anxious work; for of course our movements were
being regulated by a theory that, for aught we knew to the contrary,
might be all wrong; and as day succeeded day without bringing the
expected sail within our ken there were not wanting among us those who
denounced the skipper's plan as foolish, and argued that the proper
thing would have been to go direct to the Gaboon, and look there for the
_Virginia_. But Captain Perry, having carefully thought the whole thing
out, stuck to his guns, refusing to budge an inch from his original
arrangement, in response to the hints and insinuations of those who
disagreed with him. And the result proved the soundness of his theory,
for on the sixteenth day of our quest, about seven bells in the
afternoon watch, the look-out hailed the deck with:
"Large sail two points abaft the weather beam, steerin' to the west'ard
under stunsails!"
"How far away is she?" hailed the skipper.
"Her r'yals is just showin' above the horizon, sir," answered the man.
"Ah! that means that she is about twenty miles distant," remarked the
skipper to me--I being officer of the watch. "Too far off for
identification purposes, eh, Mr Fortescue?"
"Well, sir," answered I, "it is a longish stretch, I admit. Yet, with
your permission, I will get my glass, go aloft, and have a look at her."
"Thank you, Mr Fortescue. Pray do so, by all means," returned the
skipper.
Hurrying below for my own private telescope, which was an exceptionally
fine instrument, I slung it over my shoulder and wended my way aloft to
the main-royal yard.
"Whereabout is she, Dixon?" I asked, as I swung myself up on the yard
beside him. "Ah, there she is; I see her. Mind yourself a bit and let
me have a peep at her."
The man swung off the yard and slid down as far as the cross-trees,
while I unslung my glass and brought it to bear upon the stranger. The
rarefaction of the air bothered me a good deal, producing something of
the effect of a mirage, and causing the royals of the distant vessel to
stand up clear of the horizon as though there were nothing beneath them;
yet, as she rose and fell with the 'scend of the sea, shapeless snow-
white blotches appeared and vanished again beneath them occasionally.
She was coming along very fast, however; and presently, when she took a
rather broad sheer, I caught a momentary glimpse of _two_ royals and
just the head of a third--the mizzen--proving conclusively that she was
full-rigged--as was the _Virginia_. But, as the skipper had surmised,
she was still much too far off for identification. I thought rapidly,
and an idea occurred to me which caused me to close my glass, re-sling
it, and slide down to the cross-trees.
"Up you go again, Dixon, and keep your eye on that vessel, reporting any
noticeable thing about her that may happen to catch your eye," said I.
And swinging myself on to the topgallant backstay, I slid rapidly down
to the deck.
"Well, Mr Fortescue, what do you make of her?" demanded the skipper, as
I rejoined him.
"She is a full-rigged ship, sir," said I; "but, as you anticipated, she
is still too far off for identification. But she is steering the course
that we have decided the _Virginia_ ought to be steering; and it has
just occurred to me that, should she indeed be that craft, she may give
us a great deal of trouble if she discovers us prematurely, seeing that
she is to windward. I would therefore suggest, sir, that we bear up and
make sail, so as to keep ahead of her until dark, and then--"
"Yes, I see what you mean, Mr Fortescue," interrupted the skipper; "and
doubtless there are many cases where the plan would be very commendable;
but in this case I think it would be better to close with her while it
is still daylight and we can see exactly what we--and they--are doing.
Therefore be good enough to make sail at once, if you please."
"Ay, ay, sir," answered I. "Hands make sail. Away aloft and loose the
royals and topgallantsails. Lay out and loose the flying-jib. Board
your fore and main tacks!"
In a moment all was bustle; the watch below tumbled up to lend a hand
without waiting to be called; and in five minutes the noble ship was
clothed with canvas from her trucks down, and shearing through the deep
blue water with her lee channels buried.
"Now, Mr Fortescue," said the skipper, "we will 'bout ship, if you
please."
We tacked, accordingly; and as soon as we were fairly round and full
again the skipper hailed the royal yard to know how the chase bore. The
answer was, "A point and a half on the weather bow!"
"Just so!" commented the skipper. "We will keep on as we are going
until she bears dead ahead, and then we will edge away after her."
Presently eight bells struck, and Hoskins came up to relieve me,
whereupon I made another journey aloft, to the fore-topmast cross-trees
this time. We were raising her very fast now that both ships were
steering upon converging lines; I could already see nearly to the foot
of her topsails; and I settled myself comfortably, determined to remain
where I was until I could absolutely identify her, although even at this
time I had scarcely a shadow of a doubt that it was the long-sought
_Virginia_, or rather the _Preciosa_, that I held in the field of my
telescope. Another twenty minutes and she was hull-up from my point of
observation, by which time there was no further room for doubt, and I
descended to the deck to acquaint the captain with the success of his
strategy. She was by this time dead ahead of us; and the skipper
thereupon gave orders to bear away four points and set the larboard
studdingsails; at the same time instructing the look-out to give us
instant warning of any change in the stranger's course or amount of sail
set.
Both ships were now travelling very fast; and by the time that we had
got our studdingsails set, the stranger was visible from our poop for
about half-way down her topsails, and rising higher even as we watched.
In a few minutes more we had lifted the heads of her courses above the
horizon, still edging away and keeping her about four points on our port
bow; and presently, as we watched her, we saw the Stars and Stripes go
soaring up to her gaff-end. Not to be outdone in politeness, we hoisted
our colours also; and for the next quarter of an hour the two craft
continued to close, the chase stolidly maintaining her course, while we,
under the skipper's skilful conning, continued to edge very gradually
away, as the other vessel sped to leeward, checking our weather braces
by a few inches at a time until our yards were all but square. At
length, when we had brought the chase fairly hull-up it became apparent
that, thanks to the pains taken by the skipper to improve our rate of
sailing, the _Eros_ was now a trifle the faster vessel of the two; and
that, consequently, nothing short of an accident could prevent us from
getting alongside the chase. Still, at sea there is always the
possibility of an accident, therefore as soon as we were near enough the
captain gave orders to clear away the bow gun and pitch a shot across
the fellow's forefoot, as a hint that we wanted to have a talk to him.
This was done; but no notice was taken aboard the chase; the next shot
therefore was let drive slap at her, care being taken to fire high, with
the result that the shot passed through the head of her fore-topsail and
only very narrowly missed the topmast-head. This seemed to rather shake
the nerve of her skipper, for the next moment her studdingsails
collapsed and came down altogether, regular man-o'-war fashion--showing
her to be strongly manned; but instead of rounding-to and backing her
main-yard, as we thought she intended, she braced sharp up on the port
tack and endeavoured to escape to windward. But we were every whit as
smart with our studdingsails as she was, and instantly hauled our wind
after her, she being now about one point on our lee bow. For the next
hour we held grimly on, firing no more meanwhile, but by the end of that
time we had neared her sufficiently to risk another shot, which, aimed
with the utmost care by the gunner himself, struck the main-topmast of
the chase, sending everything above the main-yard over the side to
leeward. This settled the matter, and the next moment the beautiful
craft hove-to.
"Mr Fortescue," said the skipper, "you know more about yonder vessel
than any of the rest of us, therefore you shall take the second cutter,
with her crew fully armed, and proceed on board to take possession."
"Ay, ay, sir," answered I; and running down the poop ladder I gave the
order for the boatswain to pipe the second cutter away while I went
below to buckle on my sword and thrust a pair of pistols into my belt.
By the time that the boat's crew were mustered, and the boat made ready
for lowering, we were hove-to within biscuit-toss of the other vessel's
weather quarter, and were able to read with the naked eye the words
"Virginia, New Orleans," legibly painted across the turn of her counter.
"D'ye see that, Mr Fortescue?" questioned the skipper, pointing to the
inscription. "I hope there is no mistake as to the accuracy of your
information; because, if there is, you know, we shall have got ourselves
into a rather awkward mess by firing upon and winging that craft!"
"Never fear, sir," answered I confidently; "I know the secret of that
trick, as you shall see very shortly."
"Very well," said he, "off you go. And as soon as you have secured
possession let me know, and I will send the carpenter and a strong gang
aboard to help you to clear away the wreck and get another topmast on
end before it falls dark."
Five minutes later I was alongside the prize, which, as on the occasion
of my previous visit, I was compelled to board by way of the lee main
chains, no side ladder having been put over for my accommodation. My
Yankee friend and his mate were on the poop watching us, and I thought
the former turned a trifle pale as he noted the strength of the crew
that I had brought with me.
"All hands out of the boat, and veer her away astern!" ordered I as we
swept alongside; and the next moment I and my party were over the rail
and on deck. I had already made my plans during the short passage of
the boat between the two vessels; consequently the moment that we were
all aboard young Copplestone, who had come with me, led a party of men
forward to drive the slaver's crew below, while I, with a couple of
sturdy seamen to back me up, ascended to the poop.
"Look 'e hyar, young feller," began the Yankee skipper, as I set foot on
the poop, "I wanter know what's the meanin' of this outrage. D'ye see
that there flag up there? That's the galorious--"
"Stars and Stripes," I cut in. "Yes; I recognise it. But I may as well
tell you at once that I know this ship has no right to hoist those
colours. She is the _Preciosa_, a slaver hailing from Havana, and
sailing under Spanish colours; consequently she is the lawful prize of
his Britannic Majesty's ship _Eros_; and I am here to take possession of
her."
I saw the man turn pale under his tan, and for a moment he was
speechless, while his mate Silas whispered something in his ear. But he
would not listen. Instead, he pushed the man roughly away, angrily
exclaiming, "Hold yer silly tongue, ye blame fool!" Then, turning to
me, he demanded:
"Who's been makin' a fool of ye this time, stranger?"
"Nobody," answered I curtly. "I acknowledge that you did the trick very
handsomely when I boarded you on a former occasion; but there is going
to be no fooling this time I assure you."
"Well, I'll be goldarned!" exclaimed the man, suddenly recognising me.
"If it ain't the young Britisher that--jigger my buttons if I didn't
think I'd seen yer before, stranger. Well, you know, you've got to
prove what you say afore you can do anything, haven't ye?"
"Yes," I answered; "and if you will be good enough to hand me over your
keys I will soon do so, to my own satisfaction if not to yours."
"Very well," he said, producing the keys; "the game's up, I can see, so
I s'pose it's no use kickin'. There's the keys, stranger. But I'd give
a good deal to know who let ye into the secret."
"No doubt," returned I, with a laugh. "Adams and Markham, just mount
guard over these two men, and do not let them stir off the poop until I
return."
So saying, I descended the poop ladder and, entering the cabin, made my
way to the skipper's state-room, and, opening a desk which I found
there, soon discovered the genuine set of papers declaring the ship's
name to be the _Preciosa_, her port of registry Havana, and her
ownership Spanish. Her Spanish crew we soon found snugly hidden away in
spacious quarters beneath the lazaret; and, as to the name on her stern,
we found that the piece of wood on which it was carved and painted was
reversible, having Virginia, New Orleans, carved on one side of it and
Preciosa, Havana, on the other, and that it could be unbolted and
reversed in a few minutes by lifting a couple of movable planks in the
after cabin. I called a couple of hands into the cabin and had this
done forthwith, much to the relief of Captain Perry, as I afterward
learned. She had a full cargo, consisting of seven hundred and thirty
negroes, all young males, on board; and as she was a remarkably fast and
well-built ship she was a prize worth having, to say nothing of the
credit that we should win by putting a stop to her vagaries. We
transferred her double crew to the _Eros_, where they were carefully
secured in the hold on top of the ballast, and, a strong prize crew
being put on board by Captain Perry, we were not long in clearing away
the wreck and putting everything back into place again, being ready to
make sail by one bell in the first watch.
Being a prize of such exceptional value, Captain Perry decided to
accompany her in the _Eros_ to Sierra Leone, where we arrived without
adventure five days later. In due course she was adjudicated upon and
condemned by the Mixed Commission; but I did not remain at Sierra Leone
for that to take place; for upon our arrival we found that a packet had
come in from England a few days previously bringing letters for me,
acquainting me with the sad news of my father's death and urging me to
proceed home immediately to supervise the winding up of his affairs, and
to assume the management of the very important property that he had left
behind him. I therefore at once applied for leave, and, having obtained
it, secured a passage in a merchant vessel that was on the point of
sailing for Liverpool, where I duly arrived after an uneventful passage
of twenty-seven days. I discovered, upon reaching home, that it would
be quite impossible for me to manage my property and at the same time
follow the sea; at my mother's earnest entreaty, therefore, I gave up
the latter; and am now a portly grey-headed county squire, a J.P.,
M.F.H., and I know not what beside, to whom my experiences as a Middy of
the Slave Squadron seem little more than a fevered dream.