Whereupon, as I turned on my heel to quit the house, the garrulous Frenchman’s three shipmates fell upon him, figuratively, tooth and nail, heaping reproaches upon the unhappy man’s head for having warned me against the chief mate’s astuteness. I did not wait to hear how the matter ended, but, leaving the house briskly, as though I were the bearer of an important message, I hurried across to the wharf and, dropping into the dinghy, cast off her painter and sculled her across to La Belle Estelle, alongside which I coolly went, and, making fast the painter, ascended the gangway ladder and stepped in on deck before anybody condescended to take any notice of me. There were some twenty men, or thereabout, busying themselves about the deck in a very leisurely manner, taking off hatches, hauling taut the running rigging, and so on, under the supervision of a very smart, keen-looking man, dressed, like the skipper of the ship, in white. This man I took to be Monsieur Favart, the chief mate; so stepping up to him where he stood, at the break of the monkey poop, I raised my hat politely and said:
“Have I the pleasure to address Monsieur Favart, the chief mate of this vessel?”
“Certainly, monsieur,” he answered, bringing his piercing black eyes to bear upon me. “And who may you be, my friend, that you find it necessary to ask such a question? I thought I had been here often enough to enable every dweller upon yonder island to at least know Jules Favart by sight. But I do not seem to remember ever having seen you before.”
“You have not, monsieur,” I answered. “I am quite a new recruit, and only joined just in time to witness the destruction of that pestilent British man-o’-war, the wreck of which you doubtless observed as you entered the river.”
“We did,” he answered; “and we guessed, of course, that it was the wreck of the Psyche. So that affair came off all right, eh? Well, I didn’t very well see how it could possibly fail, for we all had a hand in the devising and arranging of it, and we chopped and trimmed away at the plan until I flatter myself that it was as perfect as human ingenuity could make it. But I take it that you did not come aboard here to discuss that matter with me?”
“No, indeed,” I answered. “My business with you has reference to quite another affair. I bring a message to you from Captain Lenoir, who is at present discussing with Señor Morillo the matter of the expected arrival of the cauffle this afternoon. We find ourselves in something of a difficulty over that matter; and your arrival in the nick of time proves most opportune. For you must know that when the Psyche was cut adrift and came ashore, her crew were compelled to camp on the beach, yonder; and Señor Morillo considered that the opportunity to give the English a thorough drubbing was far too good to be let slip; he therefore attacked them in the dead of night, and punished them severely; but I regret to say that our side also suffered very heavily, with the result that a good many of our best men are at this moment on the sick list and unfit for duty. This puts us in a very awkward position; for the cauffle that is arriving is a big one, and rather difficult to handle—so we learn. Therefore, in order to avoid all possibility of trouble, Señor Morillo has arranged with Captain Lenoir that the latter shall land his crew to lend a hand in keeping the slaves in order when they arrive; and my instructions from the captain are to request that you will at once land, bringing all hands except the idlers with you.”
“I understand,” answered Favart. “Very well. When is the cauffle expected to arrive?”
“It may heave in sight at any moment,” I answered. “Therefore it is advisable that you should lose no time in obeying Captain Lenoir’s instructions.”
“Trust me, I am not a man to lose time,” answered Favart with a boisterous laugh. “Lenoir knows he may rely upon me. I suppose we ought to go fully armed?”
“Captain Lenoir said nothing about that,” I answered. “No, I don’t think there will be any need for you to arm yourselves. Anyhow, if weapons are needed we have plenty ashore.”