Chapter Twenty.

Our crowning exploit.

“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.