“It was the same chap, Charley; I saw him distinctly. I wouldn’t be at all surprised that Mohammed was right, and that he is a ‘piratt,’ as he called him. But if he is after us, I wonder why he didn’t board us then. That felucca was crammed full of men.”
“Ah, piracy would be rather risky work in these seas, with lots of men-of-war about; at all events, in broad daylight, as it is now. From the distance the ship has run, we can’t be very far off Cyprus, and the pirate, if pirate he be, knows well enough that an English frigate has been stationed there ever since we occupied the island. I’ve no doubt, however, Tom, that he is after us, for I heard, as well as I could make out, from what I know of the language, two phrases, ‘In a couple of nights’ time,’ and ‘Look out for the signal,’ while the Greek sailors here said, ‘It’s all right on board,’ as if they had arranged everything. I don’t like it at all, Tom. What a murderous lot of fellows they are, and what a fool that Tompkins is to insist on having them all in one watch!”
“We’ll tell the captain what we’ve heard and seen,” replied Tom.
But at that moment the first mate, who had gone down into the waist of the ship to confer with the Greeks, returned, rubbing his hands and with a scornful smile on his face.
“A nice thing it would have been if I had gone below and wakened up the captain to tell him that a fruit-boat from Rosetta was going to run us down!” said he ironically, speaking at Tom, although he did not directly address him.
“Rosetta does not lie astern of us,” said the latter aside, as if to Charley. “And they didn’t answer your hail, at all events!”
“Pray, sir, did you understand what they said?” said the mate angrily, speaking this time straight to Tom. “No,” he replied.
“Well, then, I do, and I will thank you to hold your tongue. The men have told me all about it. Those fellows in the schooner had lost their reckoning and didn’t quite know where they were, and our men, speaking Greek of course, told them.”
“And I wonder how they knew?” said Tom. The first mate was posed for a moment, but he quickly recovered himself.
“I suppose any one without being a sailor could tell them that as we’ve run more than a hundred miles since we left Beyrout yesterday afternoon, and gone in a nor’-westerly course, we must be a little to the southward of Cyprus. But, I’ll thank you to mind your own business, as I told you before, Mr Aldridge.”