There was a dead silence among the men as the soft white ball of smoke
rose slowly and steadily, expanding the while and changing its shape
till it became utterly diffused. The occupants of the schooner's deck
were statuesque in their rigidity, the crew to a man gazing hard at the
captain as they strained their hearing to catch his next command; the
captain fixed his eyes from one side upon Uncle Paul, while Rodd stood
upon the other with his lips apart, gazing questioningly in his uncle's
half-closed lids, as the doctor leaned back in his deck-chair with a
thoughtful frown upon his brow.
Then he started slightly, for the captain spoke.
"Well, sir," he said, "what's it to be?"
"What's it to be, Captain Chubb? I do not quite understand you."
"It's plain enough, sir. If I throw the schooner up in the wind we
shall have a man-of-war's boat aboard us and some young officer in
command in less than half-an-hour. First thing will be he'll ask for
our papers, and then fall in the lads, run his eye along them, take his
pick, and order the poor fellows down into the boat; and that means
sending us back to port to fill up the best way we can, and perhaps not
do it. On the other hand, I can make believe a bit and still keep
forging on a little till the darkness comes, and then--"
The captain stopped.
"Yes," said the doctor; "and then--"
"Well, sir, it would go very hard if that sloop of war wasn't out of
sight at daybreak to-morrow morning, and even if she wasn't I don't
think she'd overtake us again."
"I feel sure you are wrong, Captain Chubb," said the doctor. "I repeat;
my papers and the grant I have had from his Majesty's Government will, I
feel sure, be sufficient to protect my schooner and crew from any action
in the way of pressing from one of his Majesty's ships. You will have
the goodness to obey the signal, and wait and see what follows."
"You mean to risk it, then, sir?"
"I mean to do my duty as a subject of his Majesty the King," said Uncle
Paul gravely.
"Very well, sir. I am captain of this schooner, but I am your servant,
and it is my duty to obey your orders," said the captain, in his
gruffest tones; and he walked heavily to the man at the wheel.
The time had been short, but too long for the patience of the
man-of-war, for before the skipper had opened his mouth to give his
order to the steersman, another puff of white smoke darted from the
sloop's bows, there was a heavy thud, and a cannon ball came skipping
over the heaving sea like a flat stone thrown by a clever boy across the
waters of a pond--dick, duck and drake fashion--while a thrill ran
through all on board as they watched the shot pass right in front of the
schooner's bows and give its final splash as it disappeared far away.
Then the captain spoke, the stem of the schooner gradually bore round,
with the sails beginning to shiver as she faced more and more to the
wind, and finally flapping to and fro; but almost at once as the spokes
turned rapidly through Isaac Gregg's hands, a deep low murmur ran
through the crew, while a pang-like spasm seemed to shoot upward to
cause a choky sensation in Rodd Harding's throat.
"Silence there, my lads," said the skipper sternly, and Rodd noticed the
gloomy look upon his countenance as he turned his back to the doctor and
walked to the side to stand gazing at the distant ship.
Many minutes had not elapsed before Rodd, who had turned his back to the
men so as not to see their faces, and to hide his own, saw through the
telescope he was busily using, something moving at the side of the
sloop--a something which glided down her side and which was soon
afterwards succeeded by a faint glitter as of the movement of rays.
Then there was a splash, followed by the regular dipping of oars which
seemed to throw up so much golden spray on either side, and the boy
could plainly make out the sloop's boat being rowed out clear of the
man-of-war, and gradually increasing its distance.
Rodd watched them for some time, and what was but a speck to his naked
eye plainly showed in the field of the glass the regular movements of
the men, and now and then a flash suggestive of the rowers wearing
something brightly polished.
There were more flashes too caused by the sun's nearly horizontal rays,
and these came from right astern, where the golden orange sunshine
seemed to be intensified, looking wonderfully red; but ere long the
watcher had grasped the fact that he was looking at the bright scarlet
coats of so many marines, and then he was able to note the figures of
two of the boat's occupants seated together.
"The officers in command," he said to himself.
It was a long row from vessel to vessel, and the sun had begun to dip,
and sank quite out of sight as the sloop's cutter came alongside, the
men tossed up their oars, and a smart-looking officer of about thirty
sprang up the side, followed by a lad of Rodd's own age, who took his
attention from the first.
The officer was received at the side by the doctor and captain, Rodd
standing slightly behind looking hard at the midshipman, who stared
harder, frowning and putting on an air of the most consequential kind,
while, presumably involuntarily, his left hand played with the ivory and
gilt hilt of a curved dirk, suggestive of a strong desire to draw it out
of its sheath and flourish it before the schooner's crew.
The officer nodded importantly at the doctor, and then turned frowningly
upon the skipper with the angry question--
"What's the reason you didn't heave to?"
"Didn't give me time," growled the captain surlily.
"No insolence, sir! You ought to have obeyed the first gun. You are an
Englishman, and by the look of you have been long enough at sea to know
the rules when you encounter a man-of-war. Now then, what ship's this?"
"_Maid of Salcombe_, Plymouth."
"Owner?"
"I am," said the doctor quietly.
"Oh! What are you trading in?"
"I am not trading," said the doctor quietly. "This schooner is upon a
scientific expedition, under the auspices of the English Government."
"Oh," said the officer suspiciously; and he looked from the doctor to
the skipper, and from thence ran his eye over the crew gathered forward,
while the midshipman altered the pitch of his hat, turned towards Rodd,
whom for the last few moments he had been ignoring, and looked him up
and down in a supercilious manner which made the blood mount to the
boy's forehead, and set him staring down at the middy's bright shoes,
from whence he slowly raised his eyes as far as the belt which supported
the dirk, and from there higher up to his hat, where he fixed his eyes
upon the officer's cockade and kept them obstinately there, till the
lad's nostrils began to expand, he grew as red in the face as Rodd, and
his menacing eyes seemed to say, You insolent young civilian, how dare
you!
"Rather a strong crew, skipper," said the lieutenant sharply.
"Yes, sir; picked men," replied Captain Chubb.
"And there's a look about them of the able seaman, R.N."
"Perhaps so, sir," replied the skipper, who gazed bluntly back at the
intruder.
"Well-found schooner, skipper, and carries a press of sail."
"Yes, sir. Very smart craft," replied the skipper.
"Long gun amidships and a couple of small brass guns forward," continued
the lieutenant, who seemed to miss nothing. "Very roomy hold below, I
should say."
"Yes, sir. Built for a Mediterranean orange boat."
"And no cargo, I think you said."
"No, sir; only scientific traps, as Dr Robson here calls them."
"Yes," said the doctor, interposing.
"I am not talking to you, sir," said the lieutenant haughtily. "Your
turn will come."
Rodd's uncle bowed, and turned away, frowning.
"Stop, sir!" cried the officer sharply.
"What insolence, uncle!" said Rodd aloud; and he turned away from the
midshipman, to cross to his uncle's side.
"What's that?" shouted the lieutenant, and the middy clapped his hand to
the hilt of his dirk.
"I said what insolence, sir. My uncle is a gentleman."
"And it seems that his nephew is not. Be silent, boy, and recollect in
whose presence you stand. I am a King's officer.--Now, Mr--what is
your name? Robson? Have the goodness to tell me how it is that, with a
light, fast-sailing schooner, well-armed, and with a crew evidently
fighting men, you are found here in the neighbourhood of one of the
notorious slave-supplying rivers? You may just as well speak the truth,
for in all probability your schooner will be a prize to his Majesty's
sloop of war _Diadem_."
"I beg your pardon," said the doctor quietly. "Suspicious appearances
can always be found by those who seek for them. If you will have the
goodness to step below with the captain you can examine the papers and
the scientific fittings of portions of the hold which were prepared
under my instructions when I started upon the voyage. I don't think,
sir, you will find any accommodation has been made for the reception of
a black living cargo of those poor unfortunate objects of humanity in
whom a certain vile nefarious traffic is carried on. Captain Chubb,
pray take this gentleman below and show him everything he desires."
"Oh," said the lieutenant sharply, "if this is so, Mr Rodson--"
"Dr Robson, at your service," said the owner of the name, glancing
sharply at his nephew, with a faint smile upon his lips, for at the
utterance by the lieutenant of the syllable _Rod_ the boy had started
violently.
As the doctor spoke he took out his pocket-book, drew forth a card, and
held it between two fingers in doctor's fashion towards the officer.
"Humph! MD, Plymouth. Oh, well, Dr Robson, I hope to find that I have
been labouring under a mistake;" and he raised his hand to his cocked
hat. "But I have my duty to do."
"Don't apologise, sir," said the doctor, who had changed as in a moment
from the sturdy naturalist into the urbane medical man. "I quite see
your necessity for guarding against imposture. Pray proceed."
The lieutenant nodded sharply, and leaving his guard of a couple of
marines at the gangway, and the boat's crew ready to spring up the side
at the slightest alarm, he followed the skipper to the cabin hatch, the
doctor hesitating as if in doubt for a moment or two, and then following
deliberately down the cabin stairs.