Chapter Five.
The Europa has a narrow Escape.
“Splendidly done, Mr Howard; a very fine bit of seamanship!” exclaimed Captain Vavassour, when at length the frigate was fairly round, and was once more going through the water; “you must allow me to compliment you; to tack ship successfully in such a wind and sea as this is no mean feat, in my opinion, and the slightest error of judgment, a single second of hesitation, must have resulted in failure.”
“Thank you, Captain Vavassour,” answered the first luff, flushing with pleasure at the skipper’s praise. “I feel intensely gratified at your appreciation. But you really make too much of it, sir; it is not I to whom the merit actually belongs, but to the ship herself—she works as handily as a little boat; and I had such perfect confidence in her that I really longed to try the experiment; although I grant you that I do not know another ship with which I should care to make the same attempt under similar conditions.”
“No, indeed,” agreed the Captain. “Still, it is only by making these experiments with a new ship that we can learn just how far she may be depended upon to do a certain thing at a critical moment, and the lesson is a most useful one to learn. It seems inclined to clear a bit, I think, for surely that is the French ship I see yonder—there, just clear of the fore-rigging.”
“Yes, sir, that is she, beyond a doubt,” answered the first lieutenant. “And I fancy we shall see her a good deal more distinctly a few minutes hence, when we bring her more abeam. The driving of a big chap like that ashore, without so much as a single casualty on our part, ought to be a feather in our cap, I think, for she is as good as a lost ship; she will never again leave that berth.”
“No,” agreed the skipper, “I do not believe she will; indeed it appears to me that— The glass if you please, Mr Delamere.”
I handed him the instrument and he applied it to his eye for a full minute or more.
“Yes,” he continued, handing over the telescope to Mr Howard, “I think I am not mistaken; take a squint at her yourself, Howard, and tell me whether she does not look as though her back had already broken.”
In his turn the first luff peered long and earnestly through the tube. At length, lowering it from his eye, he said: