Le Duc having communicated his good fortune to Jack and his other friends, and invited them to pay him a visit whenever they could get on shore, took his leave.
Chapter Thirty Six.
Fresh successes and perils.
Our hero had now got the first step up the ratlines as an officer. As the Lily’s repairs were likely to occupy some time, Captain Saltwell had, by the admiral’s permission, fitted out one of the prizes, a fine and fast little schooner, to which the name of the Active had been given. He intended to man her from his own and the Ariel’s crews, and to send her cruising in search of the piratical craft which, under the guise of privateers, in vast numbers infested those seas.
The admiral had intended to send a protégé of his own in charge of the vessel, but that officer was taken ill, and both Lieutenant Horrocks and the first lieutenant of the Ariel were engaged in attending to their respective ships.
Rayner was sent for, and the command was offered to him. He accepted it with delight, and begged that Crofton might be allowed to accompany him. He took also Jack and Brown, and though he did not ask for Tom Fletcher, Tom was sent among the men drafted for the purpose.
The schooner was furnished with four carronades and two long six-pounders. Her crew mustered twenty men.
“We can dare and do anything in such a craft as this,” he exclaimed, enthusiastically, as he and Oliver were walking the deck together, while the schooner, under all sail, was steering a course for San Domingo.