“The Dolphin, the vessel is called,” he observed. “Ah, and here’s a name I think I remember,—Walter Stenning, master. Why, Poplar, is not that the name of the young man we picked up at sea a few voyages back to the West Indies?”
“Yes, sir; the very same,” answered Peter. “I’ve had notice of him since then, and I heard say that he had become master and owner of a fine craft, and gone with his wife and family to live out in one of the colonies; I don’t know which.”
“Halifax, Nova Scotia, the brig hails from, I see. She was bound from Bristol to Demerara,” continued Mr Gale, reading on from the papers. “I suppose, though, we shall have to send her to Halifax, where, as far as I can make out, her owners reside, as well as the merchants who have shipped most of her freight.”
While the mate was still looking over the papers, Captain Helfrich, who had come on board in another boat, entered the cabin. He was more affected than any of us by the horrid sight which met his eyes.
“Who can have done this?” he exclaimed, casting his eyes round in every direction. “Ah, what is that I see in the corner there?” He pointed to what proved to be a Moorish turban; while near it lay a piece of a sabre, which, from its curved form, evidently belonged to the same people.
“This work was done, I doubt not, by the very villains who attempted to surprise us,” he observed, as I handed him the articles to examine. “We may truly be thankful that they did not find us unprepared, as they did the unfortunate people of this vessel, or their lot might have been ours.”
“Indeed we have cause of gratitude to God, who, in His mercy, preserved us,” responded Mr Gale. “I wish that we could find the people who did this work, to stop their committing further mischief.”
“The miscreants cannot be far-off,” exclaimed the captain. “If we could fall in with them, we might punish them in a way they little expect.”
“I suspect, sir, when the Moors let the brig go free, they must have hauled their wind, and kept away to the eastward,” observed Mr Gale. “They are not fond, in general, of keeping so far away from their own shores.”
“You are right, Gale,” said the captain. “However, though I think we might find them, I should not be justified in going out of our course to look for them. We must, therefore, consider how we are to dispose of the brig. As far as I can judge, without thinking more of the matter, I am bound to send her to Halifax at once to her owners, from whom we shall obtain the proper salvage. Now, as I shall be glad to do what I think will be of service to you, I will give you the command of her, with a few hands whom I can spare; while with the seamen whom we have as passengers on board, the Rainbow will still be sufficiently manned to reach home in safety.”