CHAPTER XII
THE BATTLE FOUGHT, THE VICTORY WON
Whatever doubts Louis had in the first instance about Captain Scott's management of the defence of the Maud, he now believed that he honestly and sincerely desired to escape from the difficult and trying situation without an encounter with the pirate. He had feared the temptation to make a hero of himself would lead him into a conflict with the enemy when it might be avoided.
Without "showing the white feather," he had conducted himself with quite as much prudence as resolution. He had done his best to escape from the bay without any fighting. Before his reformation he was generally "spoiling for a fight" when there was any dispute or difficulty; but on the present occasion he had done his best to avoid one.
He had tried to do just as he believed Louis, his model in morals and conduct, would have done if he had been in command of the Maud. The hearty approval which his mentor had expressed of all he had done so far afforded him intense satisfaction, and he was sure that Captain Ringgold could find no fault with his management up to this moment.
"Here we are, Louis; and, so far as my plan is concerned, we are euchred. It is a failure," said Captain Scott, as he took a survey of the surroundings, which remained precisely the same as they had been from the beginning.
"Through no fault of the plan or yourself, Captain. If there was no channel here to deep water, of course you could not pass through it," replied Louis. "You have done everything you could."
"I have been asking myself if I was to blame for getting into the trap; for we certainly are in a trap," continued Scott. "I followed the instructions of Captain Ringgold to the letter; and when I brought the Maud to her anchorage by the ledge, the pirate was not in sight, and I knew no more of what had become of him than I did in regard to the Guardian-Mother."
"You have no occasion to censure yourself for anything," replied Louis. "You have obeyed your orders, and our present difficult situation is the result of the non-appearance of the ship. Don't blame yourself, Captain Scott, for not a shadow of an imputation can rest upon your conduct."