"Do you mean to say, sir, that you have made the passage across in a
fortnight?" he demanded.
"Yes, sir," I said. "But we happened to be exceptionally favoured in
the matter of weather, and I have carried on day and night; in fact the
studding-sails have never been off her from the moment when I squared
away until I took them in for good about an hour ago."
"What is your name, young man?" was the next question, for as yet he had
only read the dispatch, leaving the covering letter and other documents
for perusal at his leisure.
"Very well, Mr Grenvile--good name that, by the by--excellent name--
name to be lived up to," he remarked when I had answered him. "Come and
dine with me at the Pen to-night. I should like to have a little
further talk with you. Seven o'clock sharp."
Returning on board, I found that during my absence the health officers
had been off, and had at first manifested a very decided disposition to
make things exceedingly unpleasant for me because I had gone ashore
before receiving pratique. However, the explanation afforded by Jack,
that I was the bearer of important dispatches for the admiral, coupled
with the fact that we had a clean bill of health, had mollified them,
and as a matter of fact I heard no more about it.
Having effected a change of clothing, I hailed a shore boat to come
alongside, and in her proceeded to Kingston. The Admiral's Pen is
situated some distance up the hill at the back of the town, and as I had
no fancy for walking so far I decided that, if possible, I would hire
some sort of conveyance to take me there. The question was: Where was I
to obtain one? for although there were plenty of vehicles in the streets
I could see no sign of the existence of such an establishment as a
livery stable anywhere. At length, after I had been searching for
nearly half an hour, I decided to enquire, and, looking about me for the
most likely and suitable place at which to do so, I saw a large two-
story building, the lower portion of which seemed to consist of offices,
while, from the mat curtains which sheltered the balcony above, and the
tables and chairs which stood therein, I guessed that the upper floor
was the private part of the establishment. A glazed door giving access
to the ground-floor part of the building bore upon it in gilt letters
the words:
"Todd & McGregor, General Merchants."
I decided to enter. I found myself in a large warehouse-like place
reeking of many odours, those of sugar and coffee predominating, while
whole tiers of bags containing these commodities were stacked against
the side walls, a huge conglomeration of miscellaneous goods and
articles lumbering the remainder of the floor. Picking my way through
these, I reached the back part of the building, which I found
partitioned off to form an office, wherein a number of men, some in
gingham coats and some in their shirt sleeves, were busily at work
writing letters or inscribing entries in ledgers and day books. At my
entrance one of them glanced up and then came forward, asking what he
could do for me. I stated my difficulty, upon which he said:
"There certainly are livery stables in Kingston at which you could hire
a vehicle to convey you to the Pen; but I think it will be quite
unnecessary for you to do so upon the present occasion, for I happen to
know that our Mr Todd is engaged to dine with the admiral to-night--
indeed I believe he is at this moment dressing, upstairs. And I am sure
he will be delighted to give you a seat in his _ketureen_. If you will
be good enough to give me your card I will take it up to him at once."
"Oh but," said I, "it is quite impossible that I can thus trespass upon
the kindness of a total stranger!"
"Not at all," answered my interlocutor. "Mr Todd will be only too
pleased, I assure you. And as to `trespassing upon his kindness', this
must surely be your first visit to this part of the world, or you would
not talk like that. Have you been long in?"
"I arrived this afternoon only, with dispatches from the West Coast,"
said I.
"And you have never been in the West Indies before? Ah, that accounts
for it! Now, if you will kindly take a seat and let me have your card,
we can arrange this little matter in very short order."
What could I do, under such circumstances, but hand over my card, still
protesting? Two minutes later my new acquaintance reappeared with an
invitation for me to walk upstairs. I was ushered into a large room,
with the light so greatly dimmed by the closed jalousies, and the bare
floor polished to such a glass-like slipperiness by the daily
application of beeswax that I first ran foul of a chair, and then very
nearly foundered in the endeavour to preserve my balance. I thought I
caught a sound somewhat like that of a suppressed titter, but could not
be certain. I, however, heard a very gentle and musical voice say:
"How do you do, Mr Grenvile? I am very pleased to make your
acquaintance. Lucy, dear, please throw open the jalousies. We are so
dark here that Mr Grenvile cannot see where he is."
Then, as the jalousies were flung back and the evening light streamed
into the apartment, I became aware of a rather stout lady--very pale,
but still good-looking, although she had probably passed over to the
shady side of forty--standing before me with outstretched hand, waiting
patiently for me to take it, while a young woman of about twenty years
of age was advancing upon me from the window. With easy grace the elder
lady introduced herself as Mrs Todd, and the young lady as her daughter
Lucy. Then she invited me to be seated, explaining that her husband was
dressing and would join us in the course of a few minutes. As a matter
of fact it was about twenty minutes before Mr Todd--a typical Scotsman
from head to heel, and speaking as broadly as though he had just arrived
from `Glesca' instead of having been a resident in Kingston for a
quarter of a century--made his appearance. But I certainly did not
regret the delay, for those twenty minutes were among the most pleasant
that I had ever spent in my life. Mrs Todd soon proved herself to be
one of those gentle, kindly-mannered, sweet-dispositioned women with
whom one instantly finds oneself on the most friendly and cordial terms,
while Miss Lucy with equal celerity revealed herself as a sprightly,
high-spirited maiden without a particle of artificiality about her,
bright and vivacious of manner, with plenty to say for herself, but at
the same time thoroughly sensible. As for Mr Todd, he was, as I have
said, a typical Scotsman, but I ought to have added "of the very best
sort", for from beneath his superficial businesslike keenness and
shrewdness the natural kindliness and geniality of his disposition was
constantly peeping through. As an instance of this I may mention that
within five minutes of my meeting him he was insisting upon my making
his house my home for as long a time as I might be on the island, which
invitation his wife and his daughter were seconding with an earnestness
that left me no room to doubt its absolute sincerity. And I may as well
say, here and now, that when I subsequently put the hospitality of this
delightful and warm-hearted family to the proof, so far from the
performance falling short of the promise, I could not have been treated
with greater kindness and consideration--ay, and I may even add,
affection--had they been my own nearest relatives.
We--that is to say, Mr Todd and myself--arrived at the Pen a few
minutes before seven o'clock, and were forthwith ushered into the
drawing-room, where we were received in most hospitable fashion by Sir
Timothy and Lady Tompion, and where we found already assembled several
captains and other officers from the men-o'-war then in harbour, with a
sprinkling of merchants from Kingston and planters from the neighbouring
estates, all very genial, jovial characters in their several ways.
Having first introduced me to Lady Tompion, and allowed me a minute or
two to pay my respects to her, Sir Timothy very kindly made me known to
the officers and other guests present. Dinner having been announced, we
all filed into the dining-room and took our places. The dinner was a
distinctly sumptuous affair, and included many very delicious dishes and
viands with which I then made my first acquaintance. But I need not
dwell upon this part of the entertainment. Let it suffice to say that I
enjoyed myself amazingly, the more so, perhaps, from the fact that
everybody, from Lady Tompion downward, seemed to be vying with each
other to put me at my ease and make me feel comfortable. Later,
however, I found that I was mistaken as to this. People were not making
any special effort in my behalf, but were simply exhibiting that
remarkable geniality and friendliness of feeling that appears to be
engendered by breathing the air of this lovely island.
At length the moment arrived for us to make our adieux and go; but when
I stepped up to Lady Tompion to say good-night she exclaimed:
"Oh, but you are not going back to your ship, or to Kingston either, for
that matter, to-night. Sir Timothy intends you to sleep here, and I
have already made all the necessary arrangements. The fact is," she
explained in a lower tone of voice, "that he wants to have a long chat
with you, so Mr Todd will have to excuse you for this once. I see that
he has already made up his mind to carry you off prisoner to his own
house, but he must defer that until next time." This with a most
charming smile to Mr Todd, who was standing close by waiting to say
good-night.
The guests having departed, Sir Timothy led the way into his study, and,
having invited me to make myself comfortable in a cane lounging chair,
while he settled himself in another, said:
"Since parting from you at Port Royal this afternoon I have found an
opportunity to read the private letter from the commodore which
accompanied his dispatch, and what he said therein respecting yourself
has greatly interested me; I have therefore arranged for you to sleep up
here to-night in order that I may have the opportunity for a quiet chat
with you. I may tell you, young gentleman, that the commodore's report
of your conduct upon certain occasions has very favourably impressed me,
so much so, indeed, that I am more than half-inclined to keep you here,
instead of sending you back--but we shall see, we shall see. Now, just
give me a detailed account of your entire services from the time when
you first entered the navy, and tell it me as you would to any ordinary
friend, for this conversation is not official; it is not a report from a
midshipman to an admiral, but just a friendly chat between an elderly
gentleman and a young one."
Thus encouraged I got under way and spun my yarn as best I could, Sir
Timothy interrupting me from time to time to ask a question or to elicit
from me an explanation of some point which I had not made quite clear.
We sat there talking until close upon three o'clock in the morning, and
when at length we rose to retire to our respective rooms, Sir Timothy
remarked:
"Well, Mr Grenvile, I have listened to your story with a great deal of
pleasure and satisfaction, and what you have told me has fully confirmed
me in my half-formed determination to keep you here on the station for
the present. Come to me at my office down at Port Royal, at--let me
see--yes, say three o'clock to-morrow, or, rather, this afternoon, and I
shall then have something more to say to you. Oh, and there is another
matter upon which I intended to speak to you! I understand, both from
the commodore and yourself, that you are anxious to pass, so that your
acting order as lieutenant may be confirmed. Now it happens, very
luckily for you, that an examination of midshipmen has been arranged for
next week; it will take place aboard the _Achilles_, and I would
strongly recommend you to send in your papers at once, for, from what
you have told me to-night, I have no doubt that you will be able to pass
without the slightest difficulty. And now, good-night! Breakfast will
be on the table at eight o'clock sharp."
On the following afternoon I landed on the wharf at Port Royal, and
entered the admiral's office at the moment when "six bells" were being
struck aboard the flagship. The old gentleman was busy at the moment
signing a number of papers, but he paused for a moment to wave me to a
seat, and then resumed his labours.
Presently, having completed the signing of the papers, Sir Timothy
delivered them to the secretary, who was waiting for them, and then,
unlocking and opening a drawer in his desk, he withdrew a somewhat
voluminous bundle of documents, which he placed on the table before him.
"These," he said, "are letters and dispatches from merchants here in
Kingston, as well as Bristol, Liverpool, and London; underwriters; and
the Admiralty at home, all drawing my attention to the fact that of
late--that is to say, during the last three or four months--certain
ships, both outward and homeward bound, have failed to arrive at their
destinations. It is suggested that, since during that period there has
been no weather bad enough to explain and account for the loss of these
well-found ships, their failure to arrive may possibly be due to the
presence of a pirate, or pirates, operating somewhere among the islands,
or perhaps in the waters of the western Atlantic. A very considerable
amount of exceedingly valuable property has thus mysteriously
disappeared, and strong representations have been made to Whitehall that
vigorous measures should be taken to solve the mystery, with the result
that I have been ordered to investigate. These orders arrived about a
week ago, but up to the present I have been quite unable to obey them,
for the very good and sufficient reason that every ship at my disposal
is needed for work even more important than the hunting down of hitherto
merely supposititious pirates. Your adventure, however, with the
Indiaman and her mysterious pursuer, goes to prove that there actually
is a pirate at work, and I must take immediate steps to put a stop to
his activity.
"And this brings me to my most serious difficulty. I have no vessel
available for the service excepting your schooner, and no officer,
except yourself, whom I can place in command of her. You must not feel
hurt, young gentleman, if I say that, under ordinary circumstances, I
should as soon think of attempting to fly as of confiding so difficult
and dangerous a service to a mere midshipman. But what the commodore
has written concerning you, supplemented by what I heard last night from
your own lips, encourages me to hope and to believe that, young as you
are, you may yet prove worthy of the confidence that I have decided to
repose in you. You appear to be one of those rare young men who carry
an old head upon young shoulders; you have proved yourself capable of
thinking for yourself, and of possessing the courage to act upon your
own responsibility; you exhibited very sound judgment and resource in
that affair of the _Indian Queen_, and also in the affair of the
Indiaman, which you certainly saved from capture. I am therefore going
to take upon myself the responsibility of giving you a roving commission
to hunt down and destroy that pirate.
"Your greatest difficulty will of course be to find her. Fortunately
for everybody concerned, you clipped her wings so effectually that she
will be unable to do any more mischief until she has refitted; and, to
do this, she will have to go into port somewhere. Your first task,
therefore, will be to endeavour to discover the whereabouts of that
port, and I therefore advise you to spend a few days, while your
schooner is renewing her stores, overhauling spars and rigging, and so
on, in making diligent enquiry among the craft arriving in port, with
the object of ascertaining whether any of them happen to have sighted a
disabled brig, and, if so, where, and in what direction she was
steering. In the event of your securing a clue by this means, you will
at once proceed to the port toward which she would appear to be
steering, and continue your investigations there. If you should in this
way be fortunate enough to get upon her track, you will of course follow
up the clue, and act as circumstances seem to direct; but if not, you
will have to prosecute your search and enquiries until you are
successful. The service is an exceedingly difficult one to confide to
so young a man as yourself; but, young as you are, you seem to possess
the qualities necessary to ensure success; and, should you succeed, the
achievement will tell heavily in your favour.
"Now, that is all that I have to say to you at present, except that you
had better get to work forthwith. Report progress to me here from time
to time, and let me know when your schooner is again ready for sea. You
had better allow yourself a full week for enquiries here, and if at the
end of that time you have failed to learn anything, we must consider
what is the next best thing to be done. And do not forget your
examination."