“By St. Patrick! I must have that brig,” said the commander of the corvette. “Four days ago I chased her some ten leagues to the eastward of Lyon Point, and lost her just here in a fog of not an hour’s duration, and a stark calm; and, be the powers of war! when the fog cleared off, the deuce a bit of the brig was to be seen. She evidently was towed into that inlet. What kind of a place is it?”
“A fine sheet of water inside; but there are several rocks to the right of the entrance, covered at high water, and the entrance itself is a blind one.”
“Yes, faith, I know it is; but we’ll find it with the boats. How’s your appetite? We’ll have some supper, and then prepare for action.”
“My appetite is good enough; but I am intensely anxious about Mabel, her mother, and Julian; I fear they will be suspected, seized, and sent to Paris. I am sure that detestable Monsieur Gramont is at the bottom of this affair. They must have thought to seize Julian and myself; and yet, why let us go to Lyon Head for that purpose, when we could as readily have been arrested at the château? It is puzzling.”
“It’s marvellously unfortunate,” said Captain O’Loughlin, with a vexed air; “and for the life of me, I cannot see how this untoward event can be remedied. You may depend on it the military will be on the alert from Havre, to prevent any communication with the château; and you yourself know the rules of the service would prevent me attempting an attack upon the mansion; though if I thought we had any chance of rescuing Madame Coulancourt and Mabel, and that the lives of my men would not be uselessly sacrificed, I would cheerfully run the risk of being broken and dismissed the service.”
“No, my kind friend, that must not be; your men must not incur such a risk as that, without a chance of benefiting the service. We will cut out this Vengeance, because she has been a pest to our commerce, and will be again if she is not taken or destroyed; but I wish, though I certainly do not owe him any good will myself, I wish the captain of the privateer’s life to be spared, because he is the son-in-law of a very good and kind old dame that did me great service.”
“Unless he kills himself in his desperation; for, by your account, he is a ferocious fellow. I will give orders to avoid killing him if possible. You will take the command of the launch, with a long twelve-pound carronade in her, young Burdett, and sixteen men; I will take the pinnace; and Pole, with an eight-pounder and fourteen men, will take the other boat. I think this force will be sufficient, even if they have taken alarm and increased their crew; but they may fancy, from the secrecy and security of this inlet, that no attempt may be thought of against them.”
“It’s very possible; but I think they may be alarmed, seeing the corvette so close in with the land, and station men on the rocks on each side the creek,” said our hero. “Do you know if there is any vessel of war in Havre?”
“Not of any consequence,” said O’Loughlin; “except armed luggers, a cutter, two chasse-mares, and, I believe, a large privateer, just ready for sea. Our fleet is off Brest, and has swept the Channel.”
Lieutenant Thornton, before the hour arrived for setting out on the expedition, felt not the slightest uneasiness from the contusion on his head, but was anxious and disturbed lest his absence might materially affect the future happiness of those most dear to him. He was also greatly puzzled respecting the motives and means adopted for seizing him and Julian; for those awaiting him at Lyon Head, no doubt thought that Julian would, as usual, accompany him. He had observed a man, not in uniform, stand forward prominently amongst the armed men, and, with violent gesticulations, urge them to reload and pursue; who he was he could have no idea; but it satisfied him that they had been stationed there to intercept him. On ascending upon deck, he found the Onyx was lying-to, with her fore-top sails aback, and her courses brailed. There was a steady breeze from the land, the water quite smooth, and the sky cloudy. It was now nearly nine o’clock, and the crew were busy preparing for the expedition.