“The admiral has some important despatches to send away, which he is anxious should reach England as speedily as possible. The ‘Vigilant’ will take them hence to Gibraltar, and the admiral there will be requested to despatch a frigate with them for the rest of the journey, as Lord Hood thinks the ‘Vigilant’ scarcely fit to cross the Bay of Biscay. The only question has been who to send with them, as there is still a great deal to be done before the fleet can leave the island, and there are no officers to spare. Lord Hood mentioned the matter to me, and I immediately thought of you. You will have nothing to do but simply navigate the craft to Gibraltar, which, I learn, you are quite able to do; and it will be a pleasant change for you—beneficial, too, Malcolm says. There is only one thing I feel called upon to suggest to you, and that is—caution. Recollect that you are a despatch-boat, not a cruiser; and let nothing which you can possibly avoid tempt you to delay the delivery of the despatches or endanger their safety. You are very young for such a trust, I know; but you seem to have as much tact and discretion as a good many of your seniors, and I see no reason why you should not execute the service satisfactorily. At all events I have answered for you, and I trust you will do all you can to justify my good opinion of you. You had better shift your traps over to the ‘Vigilant’ at once, and then proceed on board the admiral’s ship for the despatches and your instructions, as he is anxious for you to sail at once.”
I thanked the skipper heartily both for the thoughtfulness and consideration which had procured for me the change of air which seemed needed for my complete recovery, and also for the confidence in me which such a commission argued; and I promised him most earnestly that the safe delivery of the despatches should be my paramount care.
“That’s right, Mr Chester,” said he, as I rose to leave the cabin. “Before I say good-bye, I may as well mention that I have been greatly pleased with your conduct ever since you first joined the ship. I consider you a most promising young officer; you have conducted yourself extremely well on more than one trying occasion, and I have procured this little commission for you in the hope that it will afford you still another opportunity of acquiring credit and advancing your interests. I wish you a quick and prosperous passage, and shall be glad to see your safe return. And as long as you continue to conduct yourself well, you may count upon me as a friend, willing to do all that is possible to aid you. Now—good-bye! and take care of yourself.”
So saying, he shook hands heartily with me, and then, flinging himself back once more in his chair, he turned to a number of papers which littered his table; while I made my way out upon deck, scarcely knowing whether I stood upon my head or my heels, so overjoyed was I at the prospect of the trip.
In less than an hour afterwards I was on board the “Vigilant,” with the despatch-box safely stowed away in the most secret hiding-place I could find, and my instructions in my breast-pocket.
The night was lovely, not the faintest breath of air ruffled the surface of the glassy waters, in whose dark mysterious depths glittered a perfect reflection of every star which beamed in the blue-black vault overhead. So perfect was the stillness of nature that we could hear, with the utmost distinctness, the songs of the men on board the different ships, and even the talking and laughing on board those in our more immediate vicinity; and when we rigged out our sweeps to sweep the craft into the offing, where I hoped we might the sooner catch a breeze, their roll and rattle seemed almost unbearably loud in contrast with the quiet which prevailed around us.
Having a good strong crew on board, I kept them at the sweeps for a couple of hours, by which time we had gained an offing of about eight miles, when I ordered the sweeps to be laid in and the canvas to be set. Shortly afterwards the moon rose, and, bringing up a nice little southerly breeze with her, we were soon slipping through the water, close-hauled on the port tack, and laying well up on our course for old Gib.
The skipper had been considerate enough to send with me another midshipman, a quiet, steady, and gentlemanly lad named Harold Smellie, a year younger than myself, and a boatswain’s mate named Tom Hardy, a very superior and well-educated man for his position, a prime seaman, and thoroughly reliable in every way. These two I put in charge of the watches, and then, having seen that everything was satisfactory on deck and in the look of the weather, I went below and tumbled into my hammock, leaving of course the stereotyped charge to be called in the event of anything “turning up” out of the usual way.
On awaking next morning, I found that the breeze had freshened very considerably during the night, so much so indeed that when I went on deck the “Vigilant” was tearing through it with her lee-rail under, although the lateens were reefed to their utmost capacity. There was a very awkward jump of a sea on already, and it was fast increasing; but the light beamy little craft, although she tossed the spray in blinding showers from her weather-bow right aft and out over her lee quarter, never shipped a drop of green water, and I was highly delighted at her excellent sea-going qualities. I thought, however, that she would take the seas much more easily if she were relieved of the strain and leverage aloft of her long heavy swaying yards; I therefore had the lateens taken in and the lugs substituted for them, and was rewarded for my trouble by finding my anticipations amply realised.
The wind continued to increase all through the morning, and by noon it was blowing quite a fresh gale, with a correspondingly heavy sea.