Once more I went on deck; the old sailor seemed greatly pleased at the confidence which the officers appeared to have in him, by thus stipulating he should be the only visitor allowed near the brig, and promised to keep us posted on all that was happening aboard ship.
And he kept his promise to the letter. No less than twice each day, and sometimes much oftener, he sat with us repeating the talk of his shipmates, until we who were forced to remain alone in the darkness had a very good idea of what was going on above us.
The gun-deck barnacles were positive, according to Master Hackett, that at least two of the marines had been detected in favoring the prisoner more than was allowable, and some of them went so far as to say with assurance that a plot to liberate him when the first port was made had been discovered.
Not until the new year had begun did we learn anything of the outside world, and then Master Hackett reported that we were lying at San Maria, on the coast of South America, taking in water. No sail had been sighted during all this time; but information was given us at this port that the British frigate Phœbe, 36, Captain Hillyar, had weathered the Horn searching for the Essex.
One week after this, Master Hackett reported that we were entering the port of Conception; and before the day had come to an end we learned that no vessels had been found, but that the news regarding the Phœbe was confirmed.
"We're now under way for Valparaiso," the old man said, "an' unless I'm way off in my reckonin', we'll find there that the Chilian authorities have had a change of heart so far as we Yankees are concerned."
"Are you of the mind that they'll make trouble for us?" Phil asked.
"I ain't reckonin' they'll go quite so far as that, but it'll stand us in hand to be prepared for anything while we're lyin' there."
"Why doesn't the captain give that port the go-by?" I asked. "Why should we put in there if the Chilians are like to be disagreeable to us?"
"Captain Porter isn't the kind of a man to run away from an enemy, lad, an' that's what it would look like if we tried to slip around the Horn just now. His plan, accordin' to my way of reckonin', an' I've said it before, is to take the Britishers one by one as they come along, until we've given the whole boilin' of 'em a floggin'. If we didn't look in at Valparaiso, the enemy would say we were afraid to tackle anything but a whaler."