The brigantine was ours, and, my first thought being for the safety of
all three of the craft, I at once gave orders for the grappling irons to
be cast loose, and for the brig and schooner to haul off to a safe
distance. Then, looking round the deck of the brigantine, I noticed
Freeman, the acting master of the _Dona Inez_, away aft, with his coat
off, and one of his own men binding up the wounded arm of the officer.
I hastened aft.
"Not seriously hurt, Freeman, I hope?" said I.
"Hullo, Grenvile, that you?" he returned. "No, thanks; rather painful,
but not very serious, I hope. By Jove, but those Frenchmen fought
stubbornly; if you had not come up in the very nick of time it would
have gone pretty badly with us, I can tell you. You seem to have come
off scot free, by the look of you."
"Yes, I am all right, thanks--not a scratch," said I. "But where is Mr
Fawcett? I don't see him aboard here."
"No," answered Freeman, "poor chap! he is below, aboard the brig, and I
am afraid it is a bad job with him. The last broadside that this craft
fired into us was at pretty close quarters, as you perhaps noticed, and
the skipper was very severely wounded by a large splinter--abdomen torn
open. Hamilton, the assistant surgeon, is greatly afraid that it will
go badly with him."
"By Jove," said I, "I am awfully sorry to hear that! Could he see me,
do you think?"
"I really don't know," answered Freeman; "Hamilton is the man of whom
you must ask that question. Your best plan, I think, will be to go
aboard as soon as possible. Meanwhile, I suppose you will take charge
and make all necessary arrangements."
"Certainly," I said. "You, of course, will take command of the brig,
and Keene must take command here, with just enough men to enable him to
handle the ship, which, by the by, has a full cargo of slaves aboard, I
perceive." There could be no possible doubt as to this last, for there
was a thin, bluish-white vapour of steam curling up through the gratings
which closed the hatchways, the effluvium emanating from which was
almost unendurable.
"You," I continued, "had better get back aboard the brig and set your
crew to work to repair your damages aloft as quickly as possible--all
other damage must remain until we arrive at Sierra Leone. I will do the
same as soon as I have seen the prisoners properly secured. Our own
damages are but slight, and as soon as I have put matters in train
aboard the schooner I will send Simpson and a party aboard here to see
to things, while I go aboard you to hear what Hamilton has to say. But
we shall have to use the brigantine's boats, I expect, to get back to
our own craft. I have not left enough hands with Keene to enable him to
send a boat."
This arrangement we duly carried out; but, owing to one delay and
another, it was nearly three o'clock that afternoon when I was able to
pay my promised visit to the brig, by which time Hamilton had coopered
up all his most serious cases and was able to spare me a moment.
"Ah, Grenvile," he exclaimed, as I descended into the brig's cabin,
which, by the way, was almost as sumptuously arranged as that of the
_Francesca_, and which the medico was then using as a surgery. "I am
glad to see you and to learn that you don't need any of my delicate
attentions! The skipper is very anxious to see you, poor chap, but he
would not signal for you to come aboard, as Freeman told him that you
intended coming as soon as possible, but that, in the meantime, you had
your hands pretty full looking after things in general. This affair has
been as sharp a thing of its kind as I have ever known, I think."
"And how is he now, Hamilton? Do you think he can see me without
detriment to himself?" I asked.
"Certainly, if he is not asleep, as to which I will investigate," was
the reply. "It will not harm him to see you," continued Hamilton; "on
the contrary, it may do him good. For I fancy that he wishes to arrange
certain matters with you, and when he has done that he will perhaps be
able to compose himself and give himself a chance. Not that I think
there is much hope for him; I tell you that candidly. But for pity's
sake don't let your manner to him betray the fact that we are taking a
very serious view of his case. If we can get him ashore, and into the
hospital alive, he may perhaps pull round; so pray shove ahead with your
repairs as fast as possible, and carry on like fury when you fill away
again."
"Trust me," said I. "If `carrying on' will _get_ him ashore alive, I'll
do it. And now perhaps you had better ascertain whether I can see him
or not, for the sooner I am free again to look after matters the sooner
shall we be able to make a start."
Without further loss of time Hamilton tiptoed to the door of the
skipper's state-room, and, having very gently turned the handle and
looked in, beckoned me to enter.
"Mr Grenvile to see you, sir," said the surgeon, ushering me in.
"Ah, Mr Grenvile, come in; I am glad to see you," said the poor fellow,
extending his hand to me. "Make room for yourself on that sofa locker
there; never mind my clothes, pitch them down anywhere, I shall never
want them again."
"Oh, I don't know, sir!" said I, affecting to misunderstand him, as I
took the garments one by one and hung them upon hooks screwed to the
bulkhead. "This coat, for instance," said I, holding it up, "will clean
very well, I should think, but the waistcoat and trousers--well, I'm
afraid you will need new ones, for these seem to be past repairing."
"You misunderstand me, Grenvile," he said. "But never mind, we'll not
talk about that just now; I have other and more important matters that I
wish to speak about. And first of all, as to our losses, I fear they
have been very heavy, have they not?"
"No, sir," said I. "On the contrary, they are very light indeed,
compared with those of the enemy. We have lost only five killed and
eleven wounded, your case being the most serious of the latter, and
Hamilton tells me that he hopes to have all hands of you up and as
hearty as ever within the month."
"Does he--does he really say that? God be thanked for that good news!"
exclaimed the poor fellow with more energy than I could have expected
from a man presenting such a ghastly appearance as he did. For his
cheeks were sunken, and white as chalk, and his lips were quite blue.
"The fact is, Grenvile," he continued, "that I don't want to die yet, if
I can help it; not that I am not prepared to die, if it be God's will to
take me, for, thanks be to Him, I am ready to go at any moment, if the
call should come, as all men should be, especially soldiers and sailors,
who are peculiarly liable to receive their summons at a moment's notice.
No, it is not that, but I should like to live a little longer, if it
might be so, for--for many reasons, the chief of which is that I have a
wife at home--whose--whose heart--"
The dear fellow was getting a little excited, I saw, and that, of
course, would be bad for him, so I cut in:
"Never fear, sir," I exclaimed cheerily. "You will ride this squall out
all right, I've not a doubt of it. You must not judge by your present
feelings, you know. Just now you are exhausted with loss of blood and
the pain of your wound, but I intend to carry on and get you ashore and
in hospital within the next three days, please God, and once you are out
of this close cabin, and in a nice airy ward, with proper nurses to look
after you, you will begin to pull round in a way that will astonish you.
You are in no danger, sir; Hamilton told me so, and I should think he
ought to know." It was useless to lie unless it were done boldly, and I
inwardly prayed that my pious fraud might be forgiven.
"Well, well, I hope so," the poor fellow gasped. "At all events I will
try to hold on until we arrive, and then perhaps I may get my step. If
I got that--"
"Get your step, sir?" I cut in again. "Of course you will get it! I
only wish I were half as certain of getting the ten thousand a year that
my uncle has promised to leave me when he dies. Get your step? Why,
sir, it is as good as in your pocket already."
"You think so?" asked he doubtfully. "I wish I could feel as sure of it
as you do, my boy--ay, I wish I could feel as sure of it as I am that
you will get your commission--for get it you shall, if anything I can
say will help you to it. And that reminds me, Grenvile, that I wish to
say how perfectly satisfied and highly pleased I have been with your
conduct and gallantry in this affair. You handled your schooner with
the very best of judgment, and indeed, but for you the fellow might have
slipped away from us altogether. I will take care to make that quite
clear to the commodore in my report to him."
I thanked him very heartily for his exceedingly kind intentions toward
me, and then we passed on to the discussion of certain other matters,
with the details of which I need not weary the reader; and when I left
him, an hour later, Hamilton assured me that his patient, although
exhausted with his long talk, was none the worse, but rather the better,
for my visit. "You have taken him out of himself, diverted his thoughts
into a more cheerful channel, and it has done him good. We must play up
that `step' business to the very last ounce," he concluded.
When I went on deck, upon leaving poor Fawcett, I was gratified to find
that the making good of damages aboard the brig was progressing apace,
and that Freeman would be ready to make sail about sunset, while aboard
the prize they were all ataunto again, with the damaged sails unbent and
sent down, and fresh ones bent in their place. The schooner also had
sent up and rigged a new topmast, set up the rigging, got the yards
across, and the topsail set, with topgallant-sail and royal all ready
for sheeting home. I therefore at once proceeded on board my own little
hooker and packed Master Jack off, bag and baggage, to take charge of
the prize, to that young gentleman's ineffable pride and delight. Then,
as soon as all was ready we made sail in company, and, carrying on day
and night, arrived at our destination without further adventure early in
the afternoon of the third day after our engagement with the slaver.
I had, of course, during the passage, made frequent enquiries each day
as to the progress of poor Fawcett, but the best news that they could
give me was that, while he seemed to be no worse, he was certainly no
better. As soon, therefore, as the anchors were down I went alongside
the brig, and having dispatched a messenger ashore in the schooner's gig
with a message to the hospital authorities, proceeded with the difficult
and delicate job of conveying the invalid ashore. To facilitate this
the carpenter of the brig had, under Hamilton's supervision, prepared a
light but strong framework, somewhat of the nature of a cot, with stout
rope slings attached thereto, and when all was ready for the patient's
removal this was placed on the cabin table, and six stout fellows then
entered the state-room, and, carefully lifting the wounded man, bed and
all, out of his bunk, gently carried him into the main cabin and laid
him, just as he was, on the cot or stretcher. This we fortunately
accomplished without seriously discomposing our patient, and the surgeon
then administered a soothing draught, the effect of which was to put the
sufferer to sleep in a few minutes. Hamilton having foreseen that it
would be practically impossible to convey the stretcher and its burden
up on deck by way of the companion ladder without injury to the patient,
had caused some planks to be removed from the fore bulkhead, thus making
a passage into the main hold, through which we now carried the
stretcher, laying it gently down on the slave-deck immediately beneath
the main hatch. Then the slings of the concern were hooked on to a
tackle which had been lowered down the hatchway, and our patient was
next not only hoisted up through the hatchway, but also slung over the
side and lowered down into the stern-sheets of a boat waiting alongside
to receive him. The rest was easy; we pulled ashore, lifted our
burden--still on the stretcher--out of the boat, and carried him up to
the hospital, where he was at once placed in a bed that had been made
ready to receive him. And all this without awaking him, so that when at
length he opened his eyes it was to find himself comfortably settled in
a fine, light, airy ward, with one of the hospital surgeons re-dressing
his wound. The change did him immediate good, and before I left the
building I had the satisfaction of learning that there was a possibility
of his recovery, although very little likelihood that he would ever be
fit for active service again. Meanwhile the rest of the wounded, or
rather such of them as it was deemed advisable to place in the hospital,
had also been taken ashore, and I was free to attend to other matters.
It is not necessary to describe in detail the conduct of all the
business that I found it would be necessary for me to transact. Suffice
it to say that I had a most satisfactory interview with the commodore of
the station, at the end of which he complimented me very highly upon
what he was pleased to designate as "the sound judgment and great
gallantry" with which I had played my part, not only in the capture of
the brigantine, but also in the affair of the _Indian Queen_. And, as a
crowning mark of his approval, he presented me with an acting order as
lieutenant, with an assurance that I might trust to him to see it
confirmed. Emboldened by this favourable reception on the part of the
great man, I ventured to hint that I believed poor Fawcett's recovery
would be greatly hastened if he could be reasonably assured of getting
his promotion, to which the old fellow very kindly replied:
"Leave that to me, my lad, leave that to me; I am not so very old yet
that I am not able to remember how you youngsters feel in the matter of
promotion, or to sympathise with you. I shall probably be seeing Mr
Fawcett to-day, and I venture to hope that my visit will do him more
good than all the doctors in the hospital. Come and dine with me to-
night; I want to hear the story of that _Indian Queen_ affair in a
little more detail, and there are other matters upon which I may have
something to say to you. And bring your shipmate--what did you say his
name is? Keene--ah, yes, bring Mr Keene with you!"
Full of elation at the good news that I felt I had to communicate to
Fawcett, I hurried to the hospital, and found, to my regret, that he was
not quite so well, having exhibited some symptoms of a relapse, and the
doctor therefore seemed at first somewhat disinclined to let me see him.
But upon explaining to him that I had a little bit of very good news to
communicate, he said:
"That, of course, makes a great difference. Yes, you may see him, for
five minutes, which I suppose will be long enough to communicate your
good news, and then come away again. You know your way up. Look in
here on your return, and let me know the result of your interview."
I went up, and found the poor fellow looking very haggard and ill, but
he brightened up somewhat upon my entrance; perhaps he read good news in
my jubilant expression.
"Well, what is it, Grenvile?" he said. "You look as though you have
something good to tell me."
"I have," said I, pretending not to notice his altered looks. "I have,
although perhaps I am not acting quite fairly by the commodore in
forestalling him. He is coming to see you, sir, and, although he did
not absolutely state as much in so many words, I have not the slightest
doubt that he intends to give you your step. He has given me an acting
order, and he therefore cannot, in common fairness, withhold your
promotion from you. But naturally he would not take me into his
confidence and categorically state his intentions toward you before
mentioning the matter to you. But I feel as certain that you will get
your step as I do that I am at this moment sitting by your bedside."
"Well, that is good news indeed, and I thank you for so promptly
bringing it to me," exclaimed the invalid. "And I must not forget to
congratulate you, Grenvile, upon your good luck, which, I tell you
plainly, I think you fully deserve. But, although an acting order is an
excellent thing in its way, you will have to pass before you can get it
confirmed, you know. Have you served your full time at sea yet?"
"Yes," said I; "completed it last month. But it is rather awkward about
having to pass, though. I fear there is very little likelihood of my
being able to go for my examination here."
"That is as may be," returned the lieutenant. "Anyhow, you cannot get
away from here just yet; and it may be--I don't say it will, but it may
be--that an opportunity may occur before you leave. How did the
commodore treat you; did he seem fairly favourably disposed to you?"
"Yes, indeed," said I. "`Fairly favourably' hardly describes his manner
to me. I should have spoken of it as `very favourably'."
"Well, I am right glad to hear it, and I congratulate you most heartily.
You say that the old boy is coming to see me. Now, understand, boy, if
I can put in a good word for you without shoving it in, bows first, and
knocking the old gentleman's eye out with the flying-jib-boom, I will."
The worthy fellow was now quite a different man from what he had been
when I entered the room a few minutes earlier; I therefore thought this
a favourable opportunity to top my boom and haul off; so, thanking him
very sincerely for his kind intentions in my favour, I shook hands and
bade him good day, promising to look in again upon him on the morrow.
Keene and I duly dined with the commodore that evening; and when the
cloth had been removed, and the servants had retired, the old gentleman
said:
"Well, Mr Grenvile, I called upon your friend Fawcett this afternoon,
and had a fairly long chat with him, in spite of the doctors. The poor
fellow will never be of any further use afloat, I am afraid; but he may
yet do good service ashore if those fellows can patch him up
sufficiently to enable him to go home. And I think they will; yes, I
think they will. He was very much better when I left than when I
arrived;" and the old boy's eyes twinkled good-humouredly. "It is
wonderful," he continued, "what a little promotion will do for a man in
his condition. Talking of promotion, I mentioned to him that I had
given you an acting order, at which he seemed greatly pleased; and he
said several things about you, young gentleman, which I shall not
repeat, but which I was very pleased to hear, since they all go to
confirm the good opinion of you that I have already formed. But he
reminded me that before your acting order can be confirmed you must pass
your examination. Now, do you feel yourself to be in trim to face the
examiners at any moment?"
"Yes, sir," said I, "provided, of course, that they don't try to bother
me with `catch questions' of a kind that have no real bearing upon one's
practical capabilities. I have worked fairly hard from the moment when
I first entered the service; my character will bear investigation; I am
a pretty good seaman, I believe; and Mr Teasdale, our master aboard the
_Shark_, was good enough to report to the sk-- to Captain Bentinck, only
the other day, that I am a trustworthy navigator."
"Good enough to take a ship across the Atlantic, for instance, without
assistance?" asked the old gentleman.
"Yes, sir," said I. "I would not hesitate to take a ship anywhere, if
required."
"Good!" exclaimed the commodore; "I like your confident way of speaking.
I like to see a young fellow who believes in himself. Well, well, we
shall see, we shall see."
Then he asked me to relate to him the whole story of the loss of the
_Dolores_ and of the _Indian Queen_ incident, "from clew to earing", as
he put it; and I told him the complete yarn, as he sat cross-legged in
his low lounging chair, with a cheroot stuck in the corner of his mouth,
listening, nodding his head from time to time, and frequently breaking
in with a question upon some point which he wished to have more fully
explained. He also put Master Jack pretty completely through his
facings, so that, when at length we rose to go, he had acquired a very
fair amount of information relating to us both.
The Mixed Commission sat a few days later to adjudicate upon our prizes,
with the result that all three were duly condemned; and we thus became
entitled to a very nice little sum of prize money, for there was not
only the value of the three craft, but also the head money upon the
brigantine's cargo of slaves. Upon the declaration of judgment by the
court the three vessels were promptly advertised for sale by auction,
and brought to the hammer some three weeks later. As it was well known
that all three were exceptionally fast craft the competition for their
possession was expected to be particularly brisk, and the event
justified the expectation, for upon the day appointed for the sale the
attendance was a record one and the bidding remarkably spirited. To
such an extent, indeed, was this the case that many of the knowing ones
present hazarded the confident conviction that some of the bidders
present would probably be found--if the truth about them could but be
ascertained--to be secret agents of slavers, and that the vessels would,
at no very distant date, be found to be employed again in their former
trade. The brig was the first craft offered for sale, and after a very
spirited competition she was ultimately knocked down to a Jew marine-
store dealer at a very handsome figure. Then followed the brigantine,
which also realised an exceedingly satisfactory price. With the
disposal of this craft the competition slackened very considerably,
which was not to be wondered at, for the schooner, although a smart
little craft, was not nearly so valuable--especially from a slave
trader's point of view--as either of the others; yet when she was at
length knocked down she went for her full value, and, on the whole, the
parties most intimately concerned had every reason to be very well
satisfied with the total result of the sale. It was not until the next
morning that the fact was allowed to leak out that the _Francesca_, had
been purchased into the service. Meanwhile I had practically nothing to
do, and I therefore spent most of my time in study, preparing myself for
my examination, so that I might be ready to avail myself of the first
opportunity to pass that should present itself. I filled in the gaps by
visiting Fawcett at the hospital, and I was pleased to find that since
the cheering visit of the commodore he had been making very satisfactory
progress.
It was on the afternoon of the day succeeding the sale of the prizes
that the commodore sent for me.
"Well," said he when I presented myself, "I suppose you are beginning to
feel rather tired of kicking your heels about ashore here, are you not?"
"Yes, sir," I said, "I must confess that I am, especially now that Mr
Fawcett seems to be progressing so satisfactorily toward convalescence.
I had hoped that the _Shark_ would have been in ere this; for although I
have not been altogether wasting my time, I feel that I am not earning
my pay; moreover, I prefer a more active life than I am leading here."
"Quite right, young man, quite right," approved the commodore. "Nothing
like active service for an ambitious young fellow like yourself. I
understand that you have been working up for your examination lately.
Well, to be quite candid with you, I don't think your chances of passing
here are very bright--not because I consider you unfit to pass, mind
you, but because it may be some time before an opportunity offers. But
that is a misfortune which, perhaps, may be remedied. You have heard, I
suppose, that your schooner has been purchased into the service?"
"Yes, sir, I have," said I, all alert in a moment, for I hoped that this
abrupt reference to the transaction boded good for me. "And I was
exceedingly glad to hear it," I went on, "for she is a very smart, handy
little vessel, and may be made exceedingly useful in many ways."
"So I thought, and therefore I bought her," remarked the old gentleman.
"It was my original intention to have made her a tender to the _Shark_--
in which capacity she would no doubt have proved, as you say,
exceedingly useful; and I may further tell you that, subject to Captain
Bentinck's approval, I intended to have put you in command of her. But
certain news which has reached me this morning has altered all my plans
concerning her, at all events for the present, and instead of making her
a tender to the _Shark_ I now propose to send her across to the West
Indies with dispatches of the utmost importance. You will therefore be
so good as to proceed on board forthwith and take the command, give all
her stores a thorough overhaul, and report to me what deficiencies, if
any, require to be made good in order to fit her for the voyage across
the Atlantic. I have issued instructions for your former crew to be
turned over to her from the depot ship, and it will be as well, perhaps,
for you to take over half a dozen extra hands from the late prize crew
of the brig. I should like to be able to give you Mr Freeman as
master, but I can't spare him; so you will have to be your own
navigator. By the way, what sort of a navigator is Keene?"
"Oh," I said, laughingly, "he can fudge a day's work as well as most
people, sir!"
"Ah," said the old gentleman, "I wonder whether you boys will ever be
brought to understand that `fudging' is no good, except to bamboozle the
master! How would any of you manage if by chance it fell to you to take
a ship into port, and you could only `fudge' a day's work? Well, you
shall take him with you; but hark ye, my lad, for his own sake you must
make him stick to his work and do it properly, so that he may be ready
for any emergency that may happen to come along. Come and dine with me
to-night, and bring the young monkey with you. I'll talk to him like a
Dutch uncle, and see if I can't stir him up to a sense of his
responsibilities. One word more, my lad. An opportunity to pass may
occur while you are over yonder; and if it does, I very strongly advise
you to seize it."
"Be assured that I will, sir," exclaimed I. "And--oh, sir, I really
don't know how to express my gratitude to you for giving me such a
splendid--"
"There, there, never mind about that, boy," interrupted the old fellow
hurriedly. "I know all that you would say, so there is no need for you
to repeat it. As to gratitude, you can best show that by proving
yourself worthy of the trust that I am putting in you, as I have no
doubt you will. Now, run along and get aboard your ship, and the sooner
you can report yourself ready for sea, the better I shall be pleased
with you. Don't forget to-night--seven sharp!"
I was probably the most elated young man on the West Coast that
afternoon as I hurried from the commodore's presence and made my way
aboard the sweet little _Francesca_, where I found the whole of my
former crew, Keene included, already installed.
"Hullo, Grenvile, what is the meaning of this?" was his enquiry as I
went up the vessel's low side and passed through the gangway. "What's
in the wind? Here have we all been turned over at a moment's notice,
and there are already rumours floating about that we sail to-night."
"No," said I, "it is not quite so bad as that, but it means that we are
bound to the West Indies at the earliest possible moment, and it also
means, Jack, you villain, that I have received strict orders from the
commodore to work you down until you are as fine and as sharp as a
needle. You will hear more about it to-night, my lad, when you and I go
to dine with him, so stand by and look out for squalls!"
"The West Indies? Hooray!" cried Jack. "The land of beauty and
romance, of solitary cays with snug little harbours, each of them
sheltering a slashing pirate schooner patiently waiting for us to go and
cut her out; the land of fair women and hospitable men, the land of
sugar plantations, lovely flowers, and delicious fruits, the land of--
of--"
"Disastrous hurricanes, furious thunderstorms, yellow fever, poisonous
reptiles, the horrible mysteries of voodoo worship, and so on, and so
on," I cut in.
"Oh, you be hanged!" retorted Jack recklessly. "It's a precious sight
better than this pestilential West Coast at all events, say what you
will. And as to work, that's all right; I don't care how hard you work
me in reason, Dick. I know that I've been an atrociously lazy beggar,
always more ready to skylark than to do anything useful, but I'm going
to turn over a new leaf now; I am, indeed--you needn't look incredulous;
I've wasted time enough, and I intend now to buckle to and make myself
useful. And the commodore may `jacket' me as much as he pleases to-
night--I know I deserve it--and I'll say nothing, but just promise to be
a good boy in future. He's a jolly, kind-hearted old chap, and I don't
care who hears me say so!"
"Well done, Jack!" said I; "I've not heard you talk so much in earnest
for a long time. But, joking aside, I am very glad indeed, old fellow,
to hear that you are going to turn over a new leaf. As you very truly
say, you have wasted time enough; the moment has arrived when, if you
wish to make headway in your profession, as I suppose you do, you must
begin to take life seriously, and realise that you were not sent into
the world merely to skylark, although skylarking, within reasonable
limits and at the proper time, is possibly a harmless enough amusement."