“Aha! mes enfans—my good shildren,” said the captain, in his irritating way of giving bad interpretations of his French which annoyed the boys, “I vant you vairy bad. You go and vistle for ze vind, eh? We shall go soon upon ze rock.”
“Wind’s coming soon,” said Vince; “it’s on the other side of the island now. Look: you can see the ripple off the point. Looks dark. We don’t get it because the Crag shelters us.”
“Good boy! I see you sall make a grand sailor some day, and be my first lieutenant; I give you command of a schooner like ze Shark.”
He waved his hand towards the vessel, and then looked eagerly in the direction of the rippled water, which indicated the coming wind.
“Is that boat yours?” said Vince.
“Yais! vy you ask? Ah–h–h–ah—ze wind—vill he nevaire com?”
At that moment the schooner hoisted a small flag very rapidly, and, simple as the action was, it completely changed the aspect of affairs. Orders were given sharply; and, to the boys’ wonder, they were startled by seeing the men begin rapidly to cast loose the four small long guns, while others were busy fetching up powder and shot from below, passing down the little hatchway which had led to the boys’ first place of confinement.
The captain walked sharply here and there, giving his instructions, and in an incredibly short space of time every stitch of sail possible was crowded upon the lugger, while a similar course was pursued by the captain of the schooner.
A thrill of excitement ran through the boys as they saw an arm chest hoisted up from the cabin, placed amidships, and the lid thrown open; but nothing was taken out, and after watching their opportunity, so that the captain should not observe their action, the boys walked by where the chest had been placed, and saw that it was divided longitudinally, and on one side, neatly arranged, were brass-bound pistols, on the other, cutlasses.
They had hardly seen this, when a glance forward showed them the captain superintending the loading of the two bow guns, and as soon as this was done he began to walk aft, while the boys discreetly walked forward along the other side, so as to be out of the fierce-looking fellow’s way.