I found all hands at home in the best of health, and received of course
a hearty welcome from them. My father appeared to be exactly as I had
left him, not a day older; but my mother had gathered an extra wrinkle
or two about the comers of her eyes, I thought, and the grey hairs were
mustering pretty strongly. Poor soul! all the stress and strain fell
upon her; it was she who had all the planning, the cutting, and
contriving to make both ends meet; and it was no wonder if she showed
here and there a scar received in the tough battle. The girls showed
the greatest alteration, and, I may add, improvement of appearance, for
they had developed from pretty girls into most lovely women--at least
_I_ thought so.
I had been home a fortnight when my uncle, Sir Peregrine Portfire, to
whom I had written shortly after my arrival, came down, and took up his
quarters with us. Life under the old roof-tree was very quiet and
uneventful, and nothing worthy of note occurred for the first six weeks
of my stay. I was taking matters quietly for a while, as I thought I
was justified in doing, when, about the end of the time I have named, a
chaise drove up to the door one evening, about half an hour before the
appearance of dinner upon the table, and out jumped Mr Annesley. I was
delighted to see him, and forthwith introduced him to my father and Sir
Peregrine, both of whom gave him a most cordial welcome. My mother and
the girls were dressing for dinner at the time.
On dinner being announced, our newly-arrived and self-invited guest took
my sister Florrie in tow, and, having convoyed her safely to a chair,
brought himself to an anchor alongside her, playing the agreeable so
effectively that he quite absorbed Miss Florrie's attention during the
meal. On the departure of the ladies, the object of his visit came out.
He had, in just recognition of his services, been appointed to the
command of a new frigate, named the "Astarte," which was then fitting-
out at Portsmouth for the West India station; and he had hunted me up to
see if I would go with him. I at once frankly told him there was
nothing I should like better; and, as my uncle also approved of the
proposal, the question was settled then and there.
I learned, with a great deal of pleasure, that he had secured as his
first lieutenant, Mr Flinn, our quondam "second" on board the "Juno."
Bob Summers and little Smellie were also going to be with us once more,
so that we promised to be quite a family party. Mr Flinn, it appeared,
had already joined, as well as the second lieutenant, Summers, Smellie,
and another midshipman; the former, assisted by Smellie and the new mid,
being engaged in superintending the fitting-out of the ship, while the
second lieutenant and Master Bob were getting together a crew. The two
latter were taking their time about this business--Captain Annesley
being very anxious to have a thorough picked crew--but they had
succeeded in securing some five and twenty of the primest seamen lately
paid off from the "Juno," as well as about forty other good men. My new
skipper was kind enough to say that I need be in no hurry to join, as he
would write and let me know when my services were required.
These matters settled, we joined the ladies, and, as it seemed to me,
the skipper was again very attentive to Florrie, turning over the pages
of her music, joining her in a duet or two, and reeling off small-talk
by the fathom between whiles.
Next morning, after an early breakfast, we--that is, Captain Annesley,
my uncle, and I--started for Portsmouth; the former to remain there and
watch the progress of work on board the "Astarte," my uncle and I to
just take a look at the new craft and get back home again in time for
dinner.
A smart drive of an hour and a half landed us at the "George" in
Portsmouth, and we forthwith proceeded to the dockyard and on board.
The craft was still alongside the sheers, but her lower-masts were in
and rigged, the tops over the mast-heads, and the three topmasts all
ready for going aloft. She proved to be an 18-pounder 38-gun frigate,
with a flush upper-deck fore and aft, which presented a beautifully
spacious appearance to us who had been accustomed to the cramped look of
the "Juno's" upper-deck, cut into by the poop and topgallant-forecastle.
Her hull was very long, and rather lower in proportion than that of the
"Juno;" and her lines were as fine as it had been possible to make them.
The joiners were still busily at work upon the captain's cabin and the
gun-room, and everything was in a state of indescribable litter and
confusion, but I saw enough to satisfy me that my new ship was as fine a
craft of her class as ever slid off the stocks, and I looked forward to
a happy and stirring life on board her. Having taken a good look round
her in every part, shaken hands with little Smellie, and made the
acquaintance of the new mid, a little shrimp of a fellow named Fisher,
my uncle and I started for home again.
On the day but one following, Sir Peregrine and I trundled up to town to
see about my outfit, as there were several things I should require on
the West India station that had not been necessary in the Mediterranean.
On our return we found the skipper comfortably domiciled in his former
quarters. Things, he said, were going on so satisfactorily at
Portsmouth that he had felt no hesitation about leaving everything to
Mr Flinn and accepting an invitation--which my father had pressed upon
him on the occasion of his first visit--to spend Christmas at the
rectory, and to indulge in the unwonted luxury of a thorough rest.
My father was always busy with his parish-work, and Sir Peregrine's gout
precluded the possibility of his taking much outdoor exercise, so the
duty of entertaining our guest devolved almost wholly upon the girls and
myself. And I must say that our efforts in that direction appeared to
be crowned with signal success. We had a spin after the hounds once or
twice, and did a little shooting, but my superior officer appeared to
enjoy the skating-parties most, when the frost would allow us to indulge
in this pastime, and I could not help noticing how regularly we seemed
to separate into two parties; the skipper invariably pairing off with
Florrie, and leaving Amy to my care and pilotage.
At length a letter came from Mr Flinn to say that the ship was all
ataunto, and would in another eight-and-forty hours be quite ready for
sea. It arrived while we were at breakfast; and as he announced its
contents and intimated that we must both be off forthwith, I saw my
sister Florence go pale to the lips for a moment and then flush up as
though the blood would burst through her delicate skin. The news threw
a complete damper upon the previously merry party, and the meal was
finished in almost perfect silence. At length my father returned thanks
and rose to retire to his study. As he did so Captain Annesley also
rose and said something to him in a low tone, which seemed to me to be a
request for a few moments' private conversation. My father bowed, and
led the way to the library, with the skipper following close in his
wake.
They were closeted together nearly an hour, and when the man-o'-war
rejoined us, the first thing he did was to carry Florrie off to the
conservatory. My mother was, as usual, at that hour, busy in her own
snuggery with the cook, so that Amy and I found ourselves left alone in
the drawing-room, Sir Peregrine having retired to the terrace for his
morning smoke. I began by this time to see pretty clearly what was in
the wind; so when Amy proposed that I should accompany her as far as old
Mrs Jones' cottage, I assented with effusion. We returned just in time
to sit down to luncheon; and when we took our places at table, Florrie's
look of mingled joy and sadness, the sparkling diamond upon her engaged
finger, and the elated look upon my skipper's handsome face told me all
that I had before only shrewdly suspected.
Immediately after luncheon, the carriage was brought round, our traps
tumbled on board, and the skipper and I started for Portsmouth, after a
most affecting leave-taking all round. Poor Florrie bore up bravely
until the very last moment, when, as Annesley took her hand and bent
over her to say good-bye, her fortitude completely deserted her, and,
flinging herself into his arms, she sobbed as if her heart would break.
I felt a lump rise in my own throat as I sat an unwilling witness to her
distress; while as for Annesley--but avast! we are bound on a quest for
honour and glory, so stow away the tear-bottles, coil down all tender
feeling out of sight, and Westward Ho! for the land of Yellow Jack.
On the day but one following, we sailed from Spithead in half a gale of
wind from E.N.E., with frequent snow-squalls; pretty much the same
weather in fact as we had on the eventful occasion of my sailing in the
"Scourge." We looked into Plymouth Sound on out way, assumed the convoy
of a fleet of some seventeen sail, and proceeded.
Oh! the misery of convoy-duty. To feel that you have a smart ship
underfoot and a crew who will shrink from nothing their skipper may put
them alongside, and to be doomed to drag along, day after day, under
close-reefed topsails, in order to avoid running away from the sluggish,
deep-laden merchantmen; with signalling and gun-firing going on day and
night, restraining the swift and urging on the slow; with an occasional
cruise round the entire fleet to keep them well together, and an
everlasting anxious lookout to see that no fast-sailing privateer or
pirate sneaks in and picks up one of your charges--it is almost as bad
as blockading.
However, all things come to an end sooner or later; and we were looking
forward to a speedy release from our annoyances--having arrived within a
couple of days' sail of the Mona Passage--when just after sun-rise the
lookout aloft reported a small object apparently a boat, about five
miles distant on our port bow. As the weather was beautifully fine,
with our convoy bowling along under every rag of canvas they could
spread, and no sign of any lurking picaroons in our neighbourhood, the
skipper had our course altered, so as to give the strange object an
overhaul. As we ran rapidly down upon it, we perceived that it was
indeed a boat, but she showed neither mast nor oar, and we were unable
to distinguish any one on board her. When within a mile of her,
however, the lookout hailed to say he thought he saw some people lying
down in her bottom. A few minutes more, and our doubts were removed by
the sight of some person rising for a moment into a sitting position and
then sinking down into the bottom of the boat again.
"A shipwrecked crew, apparently," observed the skipper; "but why don't
they out oars and stand by to pull alongside?"
"Perhaps they are lying asleep, tired out with a long spell of pulling
already?" suggested Mr Woods, the second lieutenant.
Five minutes afterwards we swept close past her.
"Boat ahoy!" hailed the skipper; and once more a figure appeared for a
moment above the boat's gunwale, waved its hand feebly, and sank down
again. But--merciful Heaven! what a sight it was, which was thus
momentarily presented to our view. The figure was that of a full-grown
man clad in the ordinary garb of a Spanish seaman, but the clothes hung
about it in rags, and the features were so shrunken that the skin
appeared as though strained over a naked skull.
"Good God!" ejaculated Captain Annesley. "Why, they are in the last
stage of starvation. Round-to and back the main-yard, if you please,
Mr Flinn. Mr Chester, take the gig, and tow them alongside. Where's
the doctor?"
I jumped into the gig, with six hands; she was lowered down, the tackles
unhooked, and away we went. A few strokes took us alongside the boat;
and I then saw a sight which I shall never forget. The boat seemed full
of bodies, all huddled together in the bottom in such a way that it was
impossible to count them as they lay there, and the stench which arose
was so sickening that we had to hold our nostrils while the painter was
being cleared away and made fast.
We were soon alongside the frigate once more, and the doctor with his
assistant at once jumped down into the Spanish boat and proceeded to
examine its occupants. Three of them proved to be still alive; the
remainder were dead and rotted almost out of the semblance of humanity.
The survivors were hoisted as carefully as possible on board the
frigate; and then, as the best means we could think of for disposing of
the boat and her dreadful freight, half a dozen eighteen-pound shot were
passed down into her, a plank knocked out of her bottom, and she was
left to sink, which she did before the frigate had sailed many yards
from the spot.
The survivors were tended all that day with the utmost care by our
worthy medico, and toward evening he was enabled to announce the
gratifying intelligence that he hoped to save them all. The next day
they were very much better; and on the day following one of them--the
man whom we had seen rise up in the boat--was strong enough to tell us
his story. I will not repeat it in all its dreadful details of
suffering; suffice it to say that their ship, homeward-bound from Saint
Iago, had been attacked by a piratical schooner, the crew of which,
after rifling and scuttling the ship, had turned the crew adrift in one
of their own boats, without provisions or water, masts or sails; and
there they had been, drifting helplessly about the ocean for the to them
endless period of nineteen days, without seeing a single sail until we
hove in sight.
On the fifth day after rescuing these poor creatures we arrived at Port
Royal, where we anchored, while such of our convoy as were bound for
Kingston went on up the harbour.
I had heard much respecting the beauty of the Island of Jamaica; and its
appearance from the sea, as we had drawn in toward our anchorage, was
such as to satisfy me that its attractions had not been overrated. I
was anxious to have a run ashore; and was therefore very glad when the
skipper, who had business at Kingston, invited me to go with him. I
ought to have mentioned, by-the-bye, that he had long ago taken me into
his confidence with regard to his engagement to Florrie--had done so, in
fact, within a quarter of an hour of the time when he bade her good-bye,
so that, though of course he was still the skipper in public, when we
happened to be by ourselves he sank the superior officer, and merged
into the friendly intimacy of the prospective brother-in-law.
We jumped into the gig and rowed ashore to the wharf at Port Royal, it
being the skipper's intention to take a wherry for the trip to Kingston.
The moment that our wants were made known, the black boatmen crowded
round us in a perfect mob, each extolling the merits of his own boat and
depreciating those of the others. From words they soon came to blows,
the combatants lowering their heads and butting at each other like
goats, until one Hercules of a fellow, having won by force of arms--or
rather, by the superior thickness and strength of his woolly skull--the
right to convey us to our destination, we were led in triumph by him to
his boat, and comfortably stowed away in the stern-sheets. The sea-
breeze had by this time set in; and in a few minutes more we were
tearing along the five-foot channel at a slashing pace. As we spun
along toward our destination, I could not help remarking upon the
perfect safety from attack by an enemy which Kingston enjoys. In the
first place, the approach from the outside is of so difficult a
character, in consequence of the narrowness and intricacy of the
channels between the outlying shoals and reefs, that it would be almost
impossible for a stranger to find his way in. If, however, he should by
any chance get safely as far as Port Royal, its defences would assuredly
stop his further progress; and then, as though these were not deemed
sufficient, a little way up the harbour we come to the Apostle's
Battery; beyond which again is Fort Augusta. Altogether I think I never
saw a more strongly-defended place, excepting, of course, Gibraltar.
In due time we reached the wherry-wharf at Kingston, and landed. A
quarter of an hour's walk under the piazzas which line the streets in
the lower part of the town brought us to Mr Martin's store, whither we
were bound, and on inquiring for him, we were at once shown into his
office. The skipper introduced himself and me, explained his business,
which was soon done, and then we rose to leave.