“Very well,” said I; “and is Master Gelid going to fight.”
“B’lieve he will; fust rate friend of massa Bangs––good at shootin’ ducks, too––guess he’ll fight.”
“Ah,” said I, “your friends are all heroes, Pegtop. Will Master Wagtail also fight?”
Pegtop came closer to me, and said in a low, mysterious voice:
“Aint so sartin about him, massa; nice little fat man, but tinks too much of his belly. Not ’zactly sartin if he’ll fight or not.”
With these words, Pegtop and the two other blacks, Chin-Chin and Zampa, Wagtail’s and Gelid’s servants, took a couple of guns apiece, and providing themselves with the necessary ammunition, went aft, and began carefully cleaning and oiling the weapons. I had expected that the wind would blow fresher at daybreak, but I was mistaken. Well, thought I, we might as well sit down to breakfast, which we accordingly did.
The wind soon died away entirely, and I ordered out the sweeps, but I soon found that we had no chance of overtaking the slaver in that way, and it was just as much out of the question to attack him with our boats. Besides, as we did not know at what moment we might ourselves be attacked, I was unwilling to fatigue my men by compelling them to row under a burning sun, whilst the enemy could man his oars with lusty slaves, and not use a single man of his crew. Accordingly, I ordered the men to desist, and remained all day on deck, watching the brig, 103 which was gradually leaving us. At noon I ordered the boatswain to pipe to dinner. When the men had finished their meal, they came on deck again, and as the calm still continued, and there was no prospect of a wind springing up, we sat down to dinner in the cabin. Very little was spoken by any of us. My friends were brave men, but still they could not help feeling glad that they had escaped an engagement, which would bring them danger without profit. As for myself, my feelings were of a mixed nature, for though I was determined to use every endeavor to bring the enemy to an engagement, yet I confess that my heart would not have been broken had he escaped us. But this was not to be, for we had hardly ordered our meal, when the rush of the water past the vessel caught my ear, and I knew in a moment that we were once more in motion. At this moment Tailtackle appeared at the cabin door, and announced that the wind had sprung up again, and that the strange vessel was bearing down upon us. I immediately rushed on deck, and sure enough, there was the slaver, some two miles from us, his deck crowded with men, and evidently prepared for action. As soon as I saw the state of affairs, I busied myself in putting every thing in order, on board our vessel, for a fight. Wagtail and Gelid had followed me on deck, and were now assisting their servants in putting the muskets in order. Bangs alone remained in the cabin, and when I went down, I found him swallowing the last morsel of his meal. He had on his fork some very respectable pieces of cheese. Before I left the deck, I saw clearly enough that a combat was inevitable, and as the disparity between the two 104 vessels was very great, I confess that I had serious misgivings as to its probable result. That I felt excited and uneasy at the prospect before me, I cannot deny; it was the first time I had commanded a vessel, and on the result of this action rested all my hopes of promotion. God bless me! I was but a boy, not more than one-and-twenty years of age. A strange and indescribable feeling came over me at this moment––an irresistible desire to open my heart to the excellent man I saw before me. I sat down.
“Halloa, captain,” cried Bangs, putting down his coffee cup, “what’s the matter with you? You look infernally pale, my dear fellow.”
“I was up all night,” replied I, somewhat embarrassed, “and have been running about all day. I am very tired.”
As I pronounced these words, a shudder ran through my frame, and a strong emotion, which I could not account for, kept my tongue tied.