Then, after the Cherub passed us and joined the Phœbe at a berth nearer the town, leaving our men at liberty to do as they pleased, what a noisy confab went on among the deck lawyers! All were agreed that we should have sunk the Britisher; that the boarders should have been sent away because by coming across us there was every indication that the enemy intended mischief; and again, that there can be but one meaning when a man-of-war approaches with her crew at quarters.
I do not think the men were actually enraged with Captain Porter for not having taken advantage of the opportunity; but they blamed him severely for accepting the apology instead of beginning an action which could have had but one ending, owing to the fact that the Phœbe would surely have been sunk before her consort could creep up.
"Mark my words!" one of the old barnacles shouted. "Captain Porter won't find the Britisher so willin' to let him sneak out of a small hole; an' if the time ever comes when he can get at us unfairly, we may count on his doin' it."
"That's the solemn truth!" half a dozen voices shouted, and I asked Master Hackett to tell me exactly what he thought of the whole affair.
"Well," the old man said slowly and thoughtfully, "I don't feel called upon to rough into our commander simply because he acted the part of a gentleman. That man Hillyar is a bully, or he'd never come into the harbor with his men at quarters, an' I'll lay all my prize money against a herrin', that if he'd found us unprepared, his boarders would have been called away in short order."
"Then you think he really meant to attack us?" Phil, who had just come up, asked.
"What else could he have counted on doin'? He was takin' the chances of gettin' the advantage in some way; but his consort didn't keep quite as near as he'd have liked, an' then when the ship was taken aback, he found himself at our mercy. If he wasn't up to mischief, why should he have come so close alongside before luffin'? Captain Porter wouldn't be fooled by the fine words thrown aboard the Essex when the Britisher was quakin' in his boots; but he acted the gentleman, as sailors always should, an' I ain't the man to blame him, though I do wish he could have seen it in his way to rake the Phœbe when she'd come into such a beautiful position for the work!"
The people aboard the Essex Junior were in quite as high a state of excitement as were we. When word was passed for the boarders, Lieutenant Downes began warping his ship alongside the frigate in order that he might have a hand in the scrimmage, and now the Junior was so near that we could talk in whispers to her crew, who still overhung the rail.
I suppose Captain Porter knew full well how disappointed our people were because of having lost such a fine opportunity. He went below, calling some of the lieutenants after him, and it is in my mind that he did so simply in order that our old shellbacks might have a chance to ease their hearts by hard words.