“As to that, I doubt whether such craft are to be found in these seas at the present day,” answered Tom; “and I rather think, if we can manage to get up to her, that she will strike without firing a shot.”
The question was, however, whether the boats would come up with her; the breeze was freshening, and she was walking away from them. Still Green kept on, hoping that the wind might head her, or that it might fall calm, when they would soon be alongside. She was steering towards a lofty conical island, which rose sheer out of the sea, with a thick cloud of smoke rising above its summit, which showed it to be an active volcano. The day was drawing on, but the schooner did not gain sufficiently on the boats to make Green abandon all hopes of overtaking her. Her persevering efforts to escape convinced him that something was wrong, and made him the more eager to overhaul her. At length, her sails were seen to flap against her masts, and, though the boats still had the breeze, it was very evident that she was becalmed. The sky had for some time been wearing a threatening aspect, and had not Green been so eager to overhaul the stranger, he would have endeavoured to make the best of his way back to Santa Cruz. At length the wind dropped altogether, and, the sails being lowered, the crews of the boats gave way, with a certainty that they should at length get up with the chase. Each boat had four muskets; the officers had stuck their pistols in their belts, and the men had their cutlasses—weapons on which British seamen always place more reliance than on firearms. They were now within gunshot of the schooner, but she did not fire, nor were any signs visible that she intended to offer resistance. Green steered for the starboard quarter, and directed Tom to board on the port side. They were soon up with her; Tom and Billy, with six men, scrambled up on deck, which Green and his party gained at the same time; but, except the man at the helm, and one other forward, none of the crew were visible. The man at the helm looked very much astonished, and asked with cool effrontery what they wanted. Green replied that he must know where the schooner was from, whither she was bound, and what cargo she had on board.
“The master will tell you all about it, sir,” answered the man, “but he is at present below, sick with a bad leg.”
“Then I must pay him a visit, and get him to show his papers,” said Green; who, telling Tom and Billy to keep a watch on deck, went into the master’s cabin with Archie, and a couple of armed men. The master was sitting up in his cot, with a black boy attending on him.
“Well, gentlemen, what do you want?” he asked, as Green and Archie entered.
“Why did you run away from us,” asked Green, “when you must have seen that our boats were those of one of Her Majesty’s ships-of-war?”
“How could I tell what you were?” said the master; “you might be pirates. At all events, I have no wish to be stopped in my voyage.”
“Well, at any rate, show me your papers, and inform me how many people you have on board; for as yet I have only seen a couple of hands,” said Green.
“We have upwards of eighty, including passengers,” answered the master. “I suppose the crew got out of the way lest you should fire at us, and for the same reason the passengers thought it prudent to keep below. Boy, take that tin case out of the the locker there, and give it to the officer.”
Green examined the document brought him. It set forth that the schooner Expert, Captain Toby, belonging to Brisbane, Queensland, had a licence to trade for sandal-wood, and to carry a hundred passengers.