“What if on board that schooner there were others than her crew—prisoners taken from any vessel they might have pillaged? All had shared the common fate, and I had been instrumental in their destruction. What if the pirates had, as I dreaded, attacked the ‘Lady Alice’, and carried off Mrs Bland and Mary?” The idea was too terrible; I tried to put it away from me. Perhaps the same thought was causing anguish to the heart of my friend. I was thankful when we got alongside the corvette; our fears would be relieved, or we might know the worst. The accommodation ladder was lowered and manned to do us honour, and the captain, an Englishman by his appearance, stood ready to receive us. He put out his hand as Captain Bland stepped on deck, and warmly greeted him.
“I am deeply obliged, captain, for the service you have rendered me in knocking away that rascally schooner’s spars,” he said in a frank tone.
“She might have got off otherwise, and given me another long cruise in search of her. I have been on the look-out for the villains for months past; for they have plundered numerous vessels, and sunk or destroyed others I suspect, besides pillaging the villages along the coast. I should have been glad to have taken them alive to have had them tried, but our shot made more sure work than I expected.”
“Can you tell me, sir, the names of the English vessels the pirates are supposed to have plundered?” asked Captain Bland in an agitated tone.
“If we are to believe the stories current at the Peruvian ports, I should say half-a-dozen at least,” answered the captain. “Let me see, there is the ‘Ruby,’ the ‘Jane and John’ the ‘Lady Alice,’ the—”
“Good heavens, sir!” cried Captain Bland, interrupting him. “Were the people on board ill-treated? Did the ruffians take any of them away, or did they merely carry off such valuables and stores and provisions as they could lay hands on?”
“The ‘Lady Alice’ are you speaking of?” asked the captain in a tone which showed that he did not suppose we were interested in her fate. “By the bye, though they attacked her they did not succeed in getting on board, for they were driven off in the most gallant fashion by her crew, notwithstanding that her captain and several hands were away in a boat, and it is much feared have been lost.”
“Thank heaven,” ejaculated Captain Bland. “Blessings on my brave fellows. I am her captain, sir. Can you tell me where she is? Are my wife and daughter well?”
“She is safe enough in the port of Payta, I hope, by this time, as we convoyed her within a few leagues of the harbour, and then stood away in search of the schooner which has just met her just doom. Your wife and daughter, to whom I paid a visit on board, were well, and though anxious about you, persisted in believing that you would be restored to them.”
“I knew that they would never give me up for lost. They have been spared much misery, anxious as they may have been. Thank heaven for that!” cried my kind friend, grasping the captain’s hand. “I am grateful to you, sir, for the good news you have given me, indeed I am; and now, with your leave, I’ll return on board the ‘Eagle,’ that we may get to Payta as soon as possible.”