The Boy Traders; Or, The Sportsman's Club Among the Boers

by Harry Castlemon

So saying, the lieutenant ordered the convicts into his boat, jumped in himself, and pushed off towards his own vessel, leaving a very unsociable company on board the schooner. During the half hour that followed not a word was exchanged between any of them, except by the two cousins. The midshipman planked the weather side of the quarter-deck in solitary state; his men were gathered in a group on the forecastle; and the crew of the Stranger stood in the waist, Frank and Archie leaning against the rail a little apart from the others, so that they could exchange opinions without being overheard. At the end of the half hour the steamer’s boat came in sight again, and when she had drawn up alongside, the coxswain handed a note to the midshipman. The contents, whatever they were, evidently surprised and enraged the officer, who, in a very gruff voice, ordered his men to tumble into the boat, then jumped in himself and shoved off without saying a word to Frank.

“Does that mean that you are in command once more?” asked Archie.

“I don’t know, but I’ll take the risk,” was the reply.

As soon as the midshipman’s boat was clear of the side, the Stranger filled away on her course and dashed across the bow of the steamer, her flag flaunting defiantly in the faces of the English blue jackets, who watched her as she flew by. Neither of the cousins said a word until they were safely out of hearing of the people on the steamer’s deck, and then Archie’s patriotism bubbled over, and he struck up “Unfurl the Glorious Banner,” and sang it through to the end.

“You’d better haul it down now,” said Frank, when the song was concluded, “or you’ll not have any flag to rave about very long. The breeze will whip it into ribbons in a few minutes more.”

It was the Stranger’s holiday flag, and they could not afford to lose it; so Archie pulled it down and packed it away in the signal-chest, handling it as tenderly as though the flag could appreciate the care he bestowed upon it.

As soon as the steamer’s boat was hoisted at the davits she turned her bow towards Hobart Town, and before night was out of sight in the distance. When the sun set, Frank called up his crew to shorten sail. He knew nothing whatever about the coast he was approaching, and was afraid to get too close to it in the dark. He and Archie kept a bright lookout all that night, and as soon as day began to dawn all sail was hoisted again, and the Stranger once more sped merrily on her way. The smoke of a steamer was seen in the distance, but Frank did not take a second look at it until an hour or two afterwards, when Brown announced that it was a tug, and that she was headed directly towards the schooner.

“She ain’t coming out to tow us in, sir,” said the sailor, “’cause she knows that we don’t want help with such a breeze as this. I shouldn’t wonder if your friends were aboard of her, sir.”

After hearing this, Frank began to take some interest in the movements of the tug. He kept his glass directed toward her, and presently discovered a group of persons standing on her hurricane-deck. A quarter of an hour later he could see that they were signalling to him with their handkerchiefs; and finally the two vessels approached so near to each other that he could see the faces of those composing the group. Then he recognized Uncle Dick, his friend Mr. Wilbur, the two trappers, and the Club. They had probably learned from the captain of the steamer that the Stranger was safe and approaching Hobart Town as swiftly as the breeze could drive her, but they were so impatient to see her and their missing companions once more that they could not wait until she arrived in port, and so had chartered a tug and started out to meet her. Frank and Archie were delighted at the prospect of the reunion which was soon to take place, but the three sailors looked rather gloomy over it. They could not bear to meet the captain they had wronged.

As soon as the tug arrived abreast of the vessel she began to round to, and Frank threw the Stranger up into the wind to wait for her to come alongside. When her bow touched the schooner, the delighted members of the Club scrambled over the rail like so many young pirates, and greeted the cousins in the most boisterous manner. The older members of the party followed more leisurely and were not quite so demonstrative, although it was plain that they were quite as glad to see Frank and Archie once more as the Club were.