“What de reason? Cap’n say you good boy, mate say you good boy, eberybody say so.”
The brigantine, as she lay under the guns of the fort, was recognized by the officers of the blockading fleet as the vessel they had chased, and so nearly taken, and they determined she should not escape them a second time, therefore kept incessant watch.
The roadstead of Marseilles is exposed to severe gales, during which, the blockading fleet were compelled to run to sea. The captain of the brigantine had made too much money to run any unnecessary risk in getting home; he, therefore, determined to wait for a gale of wind that should drive his antagonists to sea, before he attempted to run out. This gave time for Ned to recover sufficiently to go in the vessel. As the mate, Mr. Rogers, was not well enough to do duty, Walter was put in his place, which offended the second mate very much, who thought, and said to the captain, that the place belonged to him; to which the captain replied, that Griffin had run some risk in volunteering to go on the rock; that it was principally, if not entirely, due to his shrewdness in getting hold of the fisherman, and obtaining the information he did from the English sailor, that their adventure succeeded, and they were not sunk by the man-of-war. He therefore considered promotion no more than a suitable reward, especially as the second mate, though a good seaman, was not a navigator. Thus Walter experienced at the outset the benefit of knowledge, as well as of pluck and principle.
CHAPTER XIII.
THE BASKET-MAKER.
IT was a glad day to Ned, when he had so far recovered that the surgeon, yielding to his solicitations, told him he might go on board the vessel, spend most of the day, and come back at night.
The fisherman’s house was not far from the pier. Walter and Peterson made a chair, by taking hold of each other’s wrists, and Ned, seated on it, with an arm round each of their necks, was taken on board.
The weather was warm, and some blankets from Walter’s berth were spread on the hen-coop, and a pillow placed so that Ned could lie down or sit up, as he chose, see what was going on, and chat with his shipmates, who were all rejoiced to see him on board again. Peterson prepared his dinner, but Ned wanted to eat with the rest, it seemed so much more sociable, having been compelled for so long a time to eat alone.