“There may be a current,” he said, “but if there is one it is not of much strength. You see we are moving but slowly through the water. We’ll heave the log presently, and you’ll find that we are not going more than two knots, if as much as that.”
Tom was right; with his practised eye he could always tell in smooth water how fast the vessel was moving. We now went slower and slower, till at length the canvas hung down from the yards emptied of wind, and we had no longer steerage way on the vessel. Evening was drawing on, and we might expect to remain becalmed all night. We had, however, we supposed, plenty of sea room, and had no apprehension of being drifted on any unseen coral reef; I thought, however, that it was time to tell Harry of my apprehensions.
“The same thing occurred to me,” he answered. “However, I do not really suppose that the fellow Myers, ruffian as he is, will make the attempt after having found us before so wide-awake. Had we been unarmed the case would have been different, as he would have been glad enough to possess himself of our cargo, if he could have done so without the certainty of getting some hard blows. However, we will be on the watch as before, and ready to give his boats a warm reception if they attempt to molest us.” We enjoyed our usual pleasant evening meal, and afterwards had music, reading, and lively conversation till bed-time. The mate, meanwhile, kept watch, while I occasionally slipped up on deck to see if there was any prospect of a breeze springing up.
“Not an air in all the heavens,” answered old Tom. “It is better than having a westerly gale to drive us back towards the islands. Maybe we shall get a breeze before the morning, and slip along merrily on our course.”
“I hope so,” I said. “The captain wishes you to keep a bright look-out to the eastward, in case our buccaneering friends may be coming to pay us a visit.”
“Trust me for that,” said Tom. “I have not forgotten them, and the last words the captain spoke to that fellow Myers will make him more than ever eager to prevent our getting to Sydney. I don’t mean to say that he will take us, or that he has a chance of taking us, but he is very likely to try it.”
After the ladies had retired to their cabins, Harry came on deck.
“I have told them not to be alarmed if they hear us firing, for I am determined should the pirates make their appearance to stand on no terms with them, but, if I can, to send their boats to the bottom before they get up alongside.”
“A very right way, too, of treating them, sir,” observed Tom. “If we can sink their boats it might be the saving of the lives of many of the poor islanders, for, depend on it, when they have got all the pearl shells they can, they will be carrying off as many of the people as the brigantine can hold. I have seen something of the way those sort of fellows behave, and Sam Pest has been telling me more about it.”
The watch on deck were all awake, and the men below had been warned that they must be ready to spring up at a moment’s notice; the guns were loaded, and our other weapons were placed handy, ready for use.