I soon observed that my father’s attention had been attracted by two horsemen riding across the Heath at full gallop, and notwithstanding the postilion was evidently exerting himself to outstrip our pursuers, they appeared to gain fast upon us. And in fifteen minutes they called loudly to him to stop, one of them at the same time discharging a pistol to bring us to. My father, after urging the postilion to drive faster (and we seemed then almost to fly across the Heath) told me to be prepared to receive the man on the left, “for,” said he, “we will give them a warm reception, at any rate.”
I was just about to follow his advice when I fancied that the men allowed us to gain ground and were out of pistol-shot, as I could see them curbing their horses while they discussed the prudence of keeping up the pursuit. It was fortunate for them that they did so, for one of them would have received the contents of my Joe Manton, as I was resolved not to fire till he came so close to the carriage that I could make sure of my man.
At the next tavern they described the adventure, and when young Greig mentioned that one of the rascals wore a red waistcoat with white stripes, the landlord exclaimed:
“Jem Turner, by the Lord Harry! Aye, as sure as fate! There is two hundred pounds reward for him, dead or alive. The boldest rascal that rides the Heath!”
Captain Greig concluded, no doubt, that he was safer at sea again. The Blenden Hall was ready to sail, and several of her passengers came on board at Gravesend, while the others were taken on from Deal while the ship tarried in the Downs. Sixteen in all were of a social station which permitted them to meet at the cuddy table for dinner while the ship’s band played “The Roast Beef of Old England” and Captain Greig pledged their health in good Madeira. With a most precocious taste for gossip, young Greig managed to portray his fellow-voyagers in an intimate manner that would be hard to match in the true tales of the sea.
It is just as well to let you gain some slight acquaintance with them before the curtain rises on the tragedy of the shipwreck. The most conspicuous figure was Mrs. Lock, wife of a commodore somewhere on foreign service. She was very fat, with a hurricane of a temper, and of mixed blood in which the tar brush was undeniable. Her English was badly broken, and her manners were startling. She had been the commodore’s cook in his Indian bungalow, so the rumor ran, until for reasons inscrutable he decided to marry her. Such a person was enough to set the ship’s society by the ears. Social caste and station were matters of immense importance. The emotions of Dr. Law, a fussy old bachelor of a half-pay naval surgeon, were quite beyond words, although he was heard to mutter:
“A vulgar black woman, by Jove! And, damme, she flung her arms around me when she was taken seasick at table.”
There was also consternation among such exclusive persons as Captain Miles, and six assistant surgeons in the Honorable Company’s military service, Major Reid of the Poonah Auxiliary Forces, and Quartermaster Hormby and his lady, of his Majesty’s foot. The dignified commander of the Blenden Hall felt it necessary to explain that passage for the chocolate-hued spouse of the erring commodore had been obtained under false pretenses. As if this were not enough, another social shock was in store.
Lieutenant Painter, a bluff, good-humored naval man, had come on board at Gravesend. While the ship was anchored in the Downs, he was one of the passengers who asked the captain to set them ashore in the cutter for a stroll in Deal. When they returned to the boat, Lieutenant Painter was missing. Nothing whatever was heard of him for two days, and Captain Greig felt seriously alarmed. Then a boatman brought off a letter in which the gallant lieutenant explained that he had been
most actively engaged not only in beginning but in finishing a courtship and that it was his intention to join the ship before dinner when he would do himself the honor to introduce Mrs. Painter to the captain and passengers. He requested that a larger cabin could be prepared, in which he could “stow away his better half.”