5 
 
 
 / 
 
 AN OCEAN FREE-LANCE 
 
AN OCEAN FREE-LANCE 
 
 FROM A PRIVATEERSMAJSTS LOG, 1812. 
 
 BY 
 
 W. CLARK |RXJSSELL, 
 
 AUTHOR OK 'THE WRECK OF THE GROSVENOR,' ETC. 
 
 Oh, who can tell, save he whose heart hath tried,. 
 And danced in triumph o'er the waters wide, 
 The exulting sense— the pulse's maddening play 
 That thrills the wanderer of that trackless way t 
 That, for itself can woo the approaching fight, 
 And turn what some deem danger to delight !' 
 
 LONDON : 
 RICHARD BENTLEY AND SON, 
 
 Jittbiteker* in ©rbinarg to ^tx #tajest]) the QZmzn. 
 1882. 
 \All Rights Reserved, ,] 
 
oce. 
 
 ADVERTISEMENT. 
 
 Few accounts of brilliant actions at sea exceed in interest 
 those in which British privately-armed vessels were concerned. 
 The schooner Tigress was a well-known privateer, and the 
 name of Shelvocke, who commanded her down to December, 
 1814, stood high for courage, humanity, and an exact con- 
 formity to the terms of his Government commission. 
 
 Only a portion of her cruise is related in these pages, for 
 her chief officer's connection with her ceased when he took 
 charge of the Namur, and his narrative of the beautiful vessel's 
 exploits is interesting only so far as he was an eye-witness 
 of them. 
 
 967 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER 
 
 I. CAPTAIN SHELVOCKE 
 
 II. THE TIGRESS 
 
 III. THE CHASE OF THE ARMED LUGGER 
 
 IV. THE ACTION WITH THE CORVETTE 
 V. CAPE ANTIPER . 
 
 VI. AN OLD FRIEND 
 VII. THE DROIT MARITIME 
 VIII. LADY TEMPEST'S BALL 
 IX. TO THE WEST . 
 X. THE STORM-FIEND 
 XI. A STRANGE VISION 
 
 XII. THE SLAVER 
 
 XIII. A SMART ENGAGEMENT 
 
 XIV. THE NAMUR 
 XV. MY PASSENGERS 
 
 XVI. JONATHAN AGAIN 
 XVII. FIRE ! . 
 XVIII. H.M.S. ' SPEEDWELL' 
 
 VAOB 
 1 
 
 8 
 18 
 53 
 98 
 140 
 160 
 214 
 235 
 247 
 271 
 301 
 326 
 340 
 360 
 383 
 414 
 442 
 
AN OCEAN FREE-LANCE. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 CAPTAIN SHELVOCKE. 
 
 It was on a day in the summer of the year 1812, that being 
 completely, and I may say mercifully, recovered from a long 
 and trying illness, the seeds of which had been planted in me 
 by a fever taken in Bombay twelve months before, I left my 
 lodgings near Charing Cross to call upon a firm of ship-owners 
 whose offices were in the City. When I was near Temple Bar, 
 I observed a man look me very full and eagerly in the face ; 
 our eyes met, and I seemed to know him : but my mind being 
 full of business, I was walking on without giving him further 
 attention, when he came after me, and stopped me by laying 
 his hand on my shoulder. 
 
 * Madison !' cried he ; ' why, this is a real stroke of luck ! 
 Only a minute ago I'd have given any man ten pounds to tell 
 me how I might find you. Where have you been lying hidden 
 all these months ? and where are you bound to now V 
 
 ' I am heartily glad to see you again, Captain Shelvocke,' 
 said I, shaking his hand cordially. ' You'll forgive me, I hope, 
 for not immediately making out the old lines under that big 
 beard. You have not forsaken the old Bombay Castle, I hope, 
 sir?' 
 
2 AN OCEAN FREE-LANCE. 
 
 1 You want to know as much as I do, 7 he answered, laughing, 
 
 1 and I see there's a yarn to be spun on both sides. But this 
 
 pavement isn't the quarter-deck of a ship, Madison, and the 
 
 cockneys know how to use their elbows. Are you in a hurry V 
 
 1 No, sir.' 
 
 ' Then come along with me,' said he, passing his arm through 
 mine ; and he led me across the road into a chop-house, full of 
 bulk-headed boxes like the pews of a church, and a table in 
 each box. It was hot in this place, for the ceiling was so low 
 a short man might have touched it with his fingers ; and the 
 smell of cooked meat and the fumes of candles at the aftermost 
 end, where the daylight was small, made the room like a cock- 
 pit in the tropics. Most of the boxes were occupied, but the 
 place was quiet, the people talking low, and the attendants 
 moving about leisurely. We seated ourselves in an empty box, 
 and Shelvocke called for a couple of chops and a pint of 
 Madeira. He then, with a peculiar smile, asked me if I had a 
 ship. 
 
 * No, sir ; but I am out on that very business.' 
 1 Have you been ill V he inquired. 
 
 4 Very ill indeed, but, thank God ! I am sound enough now.' 
 1 I guessed by your hands that you had been on the sick- 
 list,' said he. 'They are as thin as a poet's, and, flattery 
 apart, your face is as tallowy as a Portugee's. So you are 
 going to look for a ship. As captain ¥ 
 
 I answered that if I was offered a captain's berth I certainly 
 should not refuse it ; but that I did not hope to get more than 
 a mate's post this time. He looked me steadfastly in the face, 
 and leaning across the table and dropping his voice, said : 
 
 4 It seems intended by this meeting that we should sail 
 together. How would you relish the notion of being mate of 
 a privateer under my command ¥ 
 
 ' 1 should like nothing better,' I answered quickly. 
 ' By this proposal, Madison, I really intend a compliment. 
 You and I are old shipmates, and know each other's calibre. 
 
CAPTAIN SHELVOCKE. 3 
 
 Shall you ever forget our brush in the Bombay Castle with the 
 French picaroon 1 The recollection of your behaviour on that 
 occasion brought you into my mind when this new command 
 was given me, and I tell you frankly I should not have con- 
 sidered my complement complete had I been obliged to sail 
 without you.' 
 
 I thanked him for his good words. 
 
 ' The mate I had intended to take is a smartish fellow,' said 
 he, ' but no fighter — not a cur, but just a plain, sturdy merchant- 
 man. In a venture of this kind I must be well supported, and 
 I mean to get a retiring pension out of it ; I intend that the 
 French and our old friend Jonathan shall endow me, Madison, 
 and your share should set you up as a squire — a regular, landed, 
 stiff-rumped Tory, my lad — with a seat in the House and strong 
 views on the illegality of privateering.' 
 
 He filled my glass, and we drank to each other. He was in 
 high spirits, towards which his meeting with me had not a little 
 contributed. When I had sailed with him in the Bombay 
 Castle in 1809, he had worn shoulder-of-mutton whiskers ; but 
 he had since let his beard and moustache grow, and his face 
 looked as much like a lion's as could very well be imagined of 
 a human countenance. He was not handsome, though many 
 persons admired the rugged strength and breadth of his massive 
 features. His hair and beard were a dark red, his complexion 
 brown with sun-burn, his eyes small, grey, and extraordinarily 
 keen, brilliant, and steadfast in their gaze ; he stood a fraction 
 over six feet high, and his limbs and shoulders were in perfect 
 proportion with his stature. I knew him to be a fine seaman, 
 a person of great resolution, and as brave as any man of that 
 age ; and the manner in which he had engaged the French 
 picaroon of which he had spoken, his own ship having only 
 sixty men and mounting four eighteen-pound carronades, 
 whilst the enemy had a crew of one hundred and thirty 
 desperate fellows and carried three times our weight of metal, 
 was an instance of daring and seamanship which will not 
 
 1—2 
 
4 AN OCEAN FREE-LANCE. 
 
 readily be matched by examples drawn from actions in which 
 merchantmen were engaged. 
 
 * Will you ask some questions first f said he, ' or shall we 
 call it settled without palaver V 
 
 ' Settled without palaver !' I exclaimed. ' I want no better 
 chief than you, Captain Shelvocke.' 
 
 1 So P said he, whipping out a pocket-book : ' Mr. Julian 
 Madison, first mate of the Tigress; pay, (so many) pounds a 
 month while at sea and the usual share in prizes/ 
 
 He scratched th^s matter down, replaced the book, and we 
 then turned to and ate our chops without further parley. 
 
 ' Phew !' cried he ; * this is too hot. There ought to be a 
 room at the back yonder where a man can breathe the London 
 air through a skylight, and take a whiff of tobacco.' 
 
 He got up, and we went down the room and through a door 
 into a small apartment. Some more wine was brought us, and 
 Shelvocke drew a handful of cigars from his pocket, real Cuban 
 leaf and exquisitely aromatic. After he had asked me several 
 questions about the voyages I had taken since I left the 
 Bombay Castle, and the nature of my illness, and if I stood in 
 need of money, he said that, in consequence of having lost three 
 very valuable cargoes, which had been seized by French 
 privateers, Mr. Wilson Hannay, the head of the firm of Hannay, 
 Meadows & Son, of East India Avenue, had purchased a brand- 
 new, extremely beautiful and powerful vessel of three hundred 
 and twenty-three tons burden, and rigged her as a schooner, 
 and armed her with some very heavy metal for a craft of her 
 size. She was called the Tigress, and her lines had been laid 
 for blockade-running, though it was believed that she had been 
 built for the Dey of Algiers, and her scantling resembled a 
 frigate's. It was expected that she would not only prove the 
 fastest thing afloat, but one of the most weatherly. 
 
 1 However/ said Shelvocke, l you will be seeing her soon, 
 and then you may judge for yourself. If I can only get out of 
 her two-thirds of the speed her lines promise, Hannay shall 
 
CAPTAIN SHEL VOCKE. 5 
 
 admit that he never invested money more wisely than when he 
 bought her.' 
 
 1 How many men do you carry f 
 
 1 Ninety ; and there's room for a hundred and fifty. I have 
 four mates — yourself, first ; Silas Chestree, second ; Buck 
 Tapping, third ; and Philip Peacock, fourth. Do you know 
 any of these men f 
 
 < No.' 
 
 ' They are all smart seamen, and have seen rough service. 
 In work of this kind you want good navigators and pluck)' 
 fellows for the prizes.' 
 
 ' When do you sail, sir f 
 
 1 On Monday next, from the West India Docks, stopping at 
 Erith to take in our powder. There has been some delay over 
 the letter of marque, for the Admiralty people are growing 
 scrupulous, and the description of the vessel had to be altered, 
 for Hannay meant at first to equip her with ten eighteens ; but 
 I prevailed upon him to substitute four forty-two pound carro- 
 nades for close action, and a couple of heavy chasers. The whole 
 adventure is the result of Hannay 's rage over the loss of his 
 ships. " See here, Shelvocke," said he, when he offered me the 
 command of the Tigress, " a letter of marque, you know, means 
 reprisals, and my motive in equipping this vessel is that she 
 may sink or blow up or capture as many French and Yankee 
 merchantmen as she can overhaul. I don't want any man-of- 
 war work done. Give your heels to the cruisers, and leave the 
 forts to the admirals. I wish you to make the enemy's pocket 
 smart ; and I shall be as well pleased to hear of the vessels 
 you have sunk or burnt as of the vessels you have brought in 
 as prizes." ' 
 
 ' Eather vindictive !' said I, laughing. 
 
 ' Ay,' he answered, with a twinkle in his eye ; ' but if the 
 enemy's pocket is to smart, it must be done by filling ours ; 
 and if we can see our way to enlarge the King's fleet by the 
 addition of a sloop or two, we'll make the venture, Madison.' 
 
6 AN OCEAN FREE-LANCE. 
 
 1 Have you any particular cruising-ground in your mind, sir f 
 
 ' 1 shall hang about the Channel for a spell, and see what's 
 to be got there. Some pickings ought to be found between 
 Grisnez and Ushant. But the Bahama latitudes will be our 
 later haunt, for the cotton ships bring a good bit of money.' 
 He then said that the tide would serve early on Monday morn- 
 ing, and that I need not be aboard before Sunday night. 
 
 The prospect of a cruise of this description pleased me 
 ^reatly. My life had been passed in the merchant-service ; 
 and over and over again, when news of our brilliant successes 
 at sea had reached me, I had groaned in spirit over the hum- 
 drum monotony of my seafaring experiences, the feeble chances 
 they offered me of enriching myself or improving my position, 
 and regretted that my father had not stuck to his original 
 intention of entering me as a midshipman in the Navy instead 
 of apprenticing me to a merchant captain. 
 
 Indeed, this was a period in the history of the Navy when 
 merit and courage had chances such as had never before 
 offered. In every direction officers were being promoted and 
 decorated; prize-money was enriching hundreds, and laying 
 the foundation of future fortunes ; the Gazettes were choked 
 with the records of brilliant deeds, and the nation was filled 
 with heroes. But these distinctions, as regards the sea, were 
 limited to the Navy. Now and again, it is true, the master of 
 a merchantman who had gallantly fought his ship against heavy 
 odds, would receive a purse of money or a piece of plate ; but 
 a great number of heroic exploits which, had they been per- 
 formed by naval officers, would have earned them the thanks 
 of the country and have loaded them with civic gifts and 
 courtly honours, were unnoticed, and the only satisfaction these 
 brave men received was the applause of their own conscience. 
 
 On the other hand, if but little glory attached to the actions 
 of privateers there was a great deal of money to be made by 
 that kind of work, and the life included all the dash and 
 romance of the naval service without its biting restraints. A 
 
CAPTAIN SHELVOCKE. 7 
 
 privateersman owned only his captain as master. He fought 
 for himself, but in fighting for himself he also fought for the 
 British colours ; and I am bold enough to say that not a little 
 of the influence exercised by the c meteor flag' on the minds 
 and nerves of the enemies of Great Britain was owing to the 
 spirit and bravery of the English privateers of that age. 
 
 Shelvocke and I sat for an hour talking of our chances in 
 the Tigress, and of the declaration of war against this country 
 by the United States of America, the news of which had not 
 long reached England. It was generally believed that there was 
 more swagger than boldness in this declaration, and that Con- 
 gress was only courting a terrible punishment. But Shelvocke 
 did not take this view. 
 
 ' It's not fashionable/ said he, ' and it certainly wouldn't be 
 thought patriotic in an Englishman to speak a good word for 
 the Yankees ; but I am not going to be led away by prejudice. 
 Mark what I say — the Americans will not be swallowed up 
 quite so easily as we true Britons imagine. The way in which 
 they turned us out of their country and beat our ships in the 
 last war shows the sort of marrow they've got in their bones. 
 To see a little cock, fresh and yellow from his shell, sparring 
 up to, aye, and cornering a tough old rogue like John Bull is 
 something to make one reflective. We shall be hearing 
 "Yankee Doodle" piped well to the east'ard of the Start before 
 many weeks are over ; and now that war is declared, I don't 
 mind owning that I am thankful my estate is not in English 
 bottoms.' 
 
 He got up after thus expressing himself, and appointing an 
 hour for me to meet him next morning at the offices in East 
 India Avenue, he shook me heartily by the hand, and we 
 parted. 
 
8 AN OCEAN FREE-LANCE. 
 
 CHAPTEK II. 
 
 THE TIGRESS. 
 
 I WAS much gratified by the eagerness with which Shelvocke 
 had offered me a berth under him, and the pleasure my accept- 
 ance of it gave him. And so far as I was concerned, my meet- 
 ing with him was extremely opportune, for, though I could 
 still lay my hand on a little ready money, my illness had 
 brought the locker low, and it was high time for me to be 
 afloat. I had no wife, no parents, no relatives of any kind to 
 give or make me a home in England, to link me to the land, 
 nor to give significance to any sort of adventures I might have 
 a mind to enter upon. 
 
 Being alone, I had leisure to think over my agreement with 
 Shelvocke ; and the longer I reflected upon it, the gayer grew 
 the picture of the future. It would be a new life to me, full 
 of dash, light, and activity. It was taking the whole ocean as 
 a theatre for one's exploits. In imagination I felt and enjoyed 
 the freedom of it. I pictured the chase, the rushing of white 
 waters, the cloud of canvas soaring upon the horizon ahead, 
 the flames and the thunder of guns, the rich capture, the dark 
 nights, the crowd of determined men to command, the endless 
 excitements of a roving commission, and an ocean swarming 
 with enemies' ships. 
 
 With fancies of this kind I amused myself for the rest of 
 the day ; and next morning, punctually to the hour of appoint- 
 ment, I presented myself at the offices of Hannay, Meadows 
 & Son. Captain Shelvocke was waiting for me. He and 
 Hannay were together in a private office, and I heard the 
 sound of Hannay's voice before the door was opened. 
 
 This gentleman, who at that time was reckoned one of the 
 wealthiest men in the city of London, and who filled several 
 posts of honour and trust in connection with the city com- 
 panies and the corporation, was a fat red-faced man, with a 
 
THE TIGRESS. 9 
 
 great crop of perfectly white hair standing erect on his head, 
 like the long grass in a field. He said he was glad to find me 
 again in his employ — no doubt Shelvocke had been praising 
 me, and I had not sailed in any ship owned by the firm since 
 I quitted the Bombay Castle — but that he was afraid his con- 
 science would trouble him for letting loose so bloodthirsty a 
 man upon the French, much as he hated that people and eager 
 as he was to have a hand in the destruction of their ships. 
 
 I answered that I hoped I should not be thought more 
 bloodthirsty than I looked, and that I should not look more 
 bloodthirsty than I was. 
 
 ' But you like fighting,' said he, ' don't you f 
 
 ' 1 shall always be willing to fight when occasion requires, 
 sir,' I answered. 
 
 ' No man can say more than that,' exclaimed Shelvocke. 
 
 ' When the occasion to fight does arise,' said Hannay, twisting 
 the great seals under his waistcoat irritably, ' you will please 
 to remember, Mr. Madison, that the owner of the Tigress has 
 lost upwards of forty-eight thousand pounds through the 
 French. That's a grievance, I submit, Shelvocke, big enough 
 to sharpen a cutlass upon. The French owe me forty-eight 
 thousand pounds, and, by heaven, gentlemen, the Tigress's 
 cannon-shot shall make them liquidate !' 
 
 ' We'll do our best for you, Mr. Hannay,' said Shelvocke. 
 ' And now that I have Madison, I'll say, and I am glad he 
 hears me, that never since privateering became a business, did 
 any vessel go out of dock with a better company of men than 
 the Tigress starts with.' 
 
 1 I'll do my share too, Shelvocke,' exclaimed Hannay, 
 walking up and down the room impetuously. t You have my 
 orders to stint nothing. Whatever may make your ship 
 formidable, buy ! The small arms I left to you.' 
 
 'I'll warrant them, sir.' 
 
 ' I am still of opinion you err in not taking in a load of dis- 
 mantling-shot. Wicked ideas are not always bad ideas, sir. 
 
io AN OCEAN FREE-LANCE. 
 
 Star-shot are a Yankee notion I should like to see aboard the 
 Tigress. Your business is to cripple, whether you run or board, 
 and star-shot will wreck a three-decker in twenty minutes if 
 plied well.' 
 
 1 Mr. Hannay, I would as soon load my guns with broken 
 bottles and tenpenny nails. If round-shot, and grape, and 
 canister can't do our business, we must give up/ exclaimed Shel- 
 vocke, with a little show of warmth. 
 
 Hannay looked at me as if he wished me to champion his 
 views. But though I did not then know what star-shot were, 
 I suspected a meanness in them, and held my peace. 
 
 '"Well, Shelvocke,' said the old gentleman, with a bland 
 smile that I thought clever, seeing how quick he was with it, 
 ' you must e'en have your own way. But mark what I say — 
 whatever may be thought of the illegitimacy of the Yankees' 
 dismantling-shot, the British Navy will have to adopt sooner 
 or later something that will wreck the spars of a ship more 
 quickly than the missiles now in use. Can it be pretended 
 that round and grape do half their work when we hear of ships 
 coming out of engagements which have lasted for five and six 
 hours with all their spars aloft ? I think the invention of the 
 dismantling-shot a monstrous clever thing. One of them will 
 split a sail in halves, or sever one side of the standing rigging 
 of a mast as though a knife were drawn across the shrouds. 
 Will you tell me that round-shot do this V 
 
 1 Eound-shot will do a deal of mischief, take my word for it, 
 Mr. Hannay,' replied Shelvocke ; and evidently wishing to cut 
 short a distasteful discussion, he pulled out his watch, and 
 exclaimed : ' Come, Madison, it is time to be off.' 
 
 We shook hands with Mr. Hannay, and turned into Leaden- 
 hall Street. 
 
 ' You would hardly suppose,' said Shelvocke drily, * that 
 this advocate of a murderous invention is the founder and 
 chairman of a Bible Society, that he has two sons in the 
 Church, and that his friends quote him as a real example of 
 
THE TIGRESS. u 
 
 benevolence, piety, and humanity. With all respect, I would 
 see him hanged before I'd use the shot he recommends. Do 
 you know what they are like V 
 
 < No.' 
 
 ' Imagine a dozen crowbars, each one about three feet long, 
 slung on a big iron ring, the spikes being kept together like a 
 fagot of wood by bits of spun yarn, which are burnt by the 
 discharge. That's one kind of dismantling-shot. Such things, 
 no doubt, cut up the rigging of vessels, but I question if they 
 do more injury to spars than round-shot. Their worst 
 mischief lies among the men; they wound in the ghastliest 
 way in the world. To use such shot is as bad, in my opinion, 
 as poisoning an enemy's scuttle-butts. I am sorry that the 
 Yankees, as an English-speaking people, should stoop to shin- 
 kicking of this kind. With all Johnny Frenchman's faults, 
 he is above-board ; and when he does fight, he fights fair.' 
 
 But though all this might be true enough, Shelvocke forgot, 
 whilst abusing the Yankees for employing what he considered, 
 and what no doubt was, an unfair weapon, that the English had 
 been willing to adopt a clock-work submarine engine that was 
 designed to blow up the enemy's vessels with all hands aboard 
 as they lay at anchor ; though I admit that St. Vincent con- 
 demned the invention as inhuman, and predicted its failure. 
 Nor in our wars have we scrupled to use fire-ships full of ex- 
 plosive material, and other infernal machines, the object of 
 which was to destroy, without imperilling our own limbs, as 
 much human life and property as such dastardly contrivances 
 could come at. The truth is we hated the Americans so 
 bitterly in those days, that we never could find words suffici- 
 ently expressive of our detestation of even the tricks they had 
 borrowed from our own methods of warfare. I do not defend 
 any of the stratagems practised, and the unfair weapons em- 
 ployed by the Yankees during their wars with this country ; 
 but I say that our condemnation of them comes very foolishly 
 from us, who are accountable for more human lives destroyed 
 
12 AN OCEAN FREE-LANCE. 
 
 by desperate and bloody inventions than any other nation on 
 the face of the earth. As an instance, I knew a person who 
 had sailed under Lord Cochrane, who assured me that he had 
 often heard his lordship say he had a scheme by which he could 
 decoy and kill a hundred thousand men, without risking a 
 single life on our side. There never was, nor is there in this 
 day, a braver officer than Cochrane ; but will it be doubted 
 that his scheme would have been submitted and adopted but 
 for his unhappy quarrel with the Admiralty, by which the 
 nation was deprived of the services of this brilliant, determined 
 and skilful seaman % 
 
 The West India Docks were full of ships, many of them 
 Indiamen and South Traders who, I was told, were loading as 
 part of a great convoy that was to rendezvous at Torbay in 
 the middle of August. The scene of the docks was very 
 brilliant, for among the ships there was a great variety of build, 
 and it was a sight to contrast the old Indiamen with their tall 
 poops and overhanging quarter-galleries, their tops big enough 
 to build a house in, their apple-shaped bows, and huge uncouth 
 heads, and freeboards like the sides of a hill, with the modern 
 long, low, piratical-looking vessels, many of which had been 
 taken from the French, and the models of which the English 
 shipbuilders were at last beginning to understand and imitate ; 
 while the whole surface of the sky over the docks was a mass 
 of quivering colour with the snake-like pulling of the long 
 streamers from the mast-heads, and the flags and ensigns 
 rippling at the peaks and the flagstaff's on the bowsprits and 
 over the stern. 
 
 A man used to these peaceful times, or rather, I should say, 
 to the change that has come over the spirit of the mercantile 
 marine, would have been rather astonished by the formidable 
 exhibition of guns aboard some of these homely traders, the 
 shot piled round the hatches, the small-arms racks abaft the 
 main-mast, and the resolute fighting cut of the crews at work 
 upon the various vessels. After we had come to a certain place 
 
THE TIGRESS. 
 
 13 
 
 in the docks where we commanded a view of a large number 
 of ships, Shelvocke grasped my arm and stopped me. 
 
 1 Madison/ said he, ' you have a sharp eye. Look about you 
 and tell me which vessel is the Tigress.' 
 
 There were several schooners in the docks, some of them 
 large vessels, very smart and taut aloft, and most of them 
 fairly answering to the description Shelvocke had given me of 
 his ship. But I did not require to look about me long before 
 hitting on my craft. We were five minutes' walk from her, 
 but even at that distance she was instantly distinguishable by 
 a sailor as the loveliest vessel in the docks. She was lying 
 alongside a high squab Indiaman, whose yards were braced up 
 to allow the schooner to sit close ; but the contrast was of 
 little use to the Tigress ; you needed to see her clear of all 
 surroundings, alone upon the water, to do justice to her beauti- 
 ful fabric. 
 
 1 That should be your schooner, captain,' said I, pointing to 
 her. 
 
 ' Yes, that's the Tigress. Is she not something to set a man's 
 heart dancing V he exclaimed, in a voice as impassioned as a 
 lover's in speaking of his mistress, and forcing me to smile by 
 the energy and intensity of it. ' See,' he said, drawing me a 
 few paces forward and then stopping me afresh, ' you catch her 
 run here. Do you mark the swell of her side, the beauty of 
 that faint inward curve from the water's edge to the rail of the 
 bulwark ? Observe how she tapers aft, until you might think 
 it impossible that a gun could be trained through the stern- 
 port. She has no channels to drag through the water, do you 
 notice ? Those chain-plates, with the dead-eyes coming in- 
 board, strengthen the bulwarks, and are greasy things for a 
 boarder's hands, whilst her beam gives a noble spread to the 
 shrouds. But come along !' he cried, breaking into a laugh, 
 and staring around him, 'or they'll be taking me for some 
 itinerant parson hired by Buonaparte to denounce the wicked- 
 ness of fighting for one's country. ' 
 
14 AN OCEAN FREE-LANCE. 
 
 We walked to the schooner, and boarded her by scrambling 
 over the Indiaman, whose decks were lumbered by a crowd of 
 men swinging bales of goods into her capacious hold. 
 
 The Tigress was flush fore and aft, her main-hatchway small, 
 and I never remember seeing such a roomy deck as hers. Her 
 beam was twenty-one feet, and her length a hundred and 
 nine feet. She mounted a twenty-four-pounder on the fore- 
 castle, where there was plenty of room to work it. All her 
 fining, indeed, was under water. Both the height and thick- 
 ness of her bulwarks were unusual, for Shelvocke, six foot as 
 he was, could only just see over the rail, and the gun-ports 
 looked like embrasures in the walls of a castle. She carried 
 six eighteen-pounders, three of a side, and four forty-two- 
 pound carronades, as well as the two twenty-four chasers, 
 making in all twelve guns. Her mainmast was eighty-four 
 feet high, and the height from the deck to the topmast-head 
 was very nearly a hundred and fifty feet ; and as I glanced 
 aloft at her magnificent spars, with the square-rig forward 
 tapering into a little sky-sail- yard, and studding-sail boom-irons 
 as high as her top-gallant-yard, I had no trouble to guess the 
 spacious folds of canvas she would be able to throw open to 
 the wind when occasion required them. Her hull was painted 
 black, with a very narrow white streak running along the sides 
 just under the gun-ports. She sat low on the water, and 
 would be lower yet when completely victualled and her crew 
 aboard. But for her beam, her low freeboard would have 
 threatened a wet ship in a sea-way ; but deep as she lay, her 
 copper sheathing came a foot above the point of immersion, 
 and the metal sparkled like new gold. 
 
 ' What do you think of her f asked Shelvocke, whose eyes 
 had been fixed on my face whilst I noted these points. 
 
 ' I think that for beauty and strength she's a wonder, sir/ I 
 answered, ' and worthy to become a famous name.' 
 
 1 That we'll make her — at least among the mounseers f he 
 exclaimed, laughing. ' You can overhaul her below if you like, 
 
THE TIGRESS. 15 
 
 Mr. Madison/ giving me the stiff mister on his own quarter- 
 deck. ' I have to see a man on the Palatine lying yonder, but 
 shall be aboard again presently.' And so saying, he went over 
 the side. 
 
 The only man I had yet noticed on the schooner was an old 
 sailor, who stumped up and down the starboard side of the 
 forecastle with the regularity of a pendulum, occasionally 
 pausing to squirt a quantity of tobacco-juice from his mouth 
 over the bulwarks. I walked to the companion, and went 
 clown the steps, noticing how the strength of the vessel's build 
 was exhibited in the smallest detail, the brass handrail being 
 as thick as a man's arm, and the scantling of the companion 
 almost as stout as the bulwarks of a hundred-ton sloop. On 
 arriving at the bottom of the ladder, I found myself in a small 
 cabin, lighted by a flat skylight overhead. The cabin was 
 bulkheaded all around into berths, and against the partition 
 dividing the after-cabin from the room used by the surgeon 
 and the third and fourth mates, was a stand of muskets, cut- 
 lasses, and pikes, which gave a very grim and warlike look to 
 the plain, dark-brown, and powerfully constructed interior. 
 
 A young man, who was reading at the table in the centre of 
 the cabin, got up as I came down, and stared at me with an 
 expression of surprise. He was as tall as Captain Shelvocke, 
 but for angularity and gauntness and general uncouthness I 
 never saw his like \ in short, he might have stood for the figure 
 of the French musketeer in Hogarth's print of ' Calais Gates.' 
 His immensely long legs when he was erect exactly resembled 
 a pair of compasses clothed in ill-fitting trousers, and his 
 monkey-jacket being unusually short, the length of his legs 
 was proportionately exaggerated. His ebony- coloured hair was 
 brushed down like a horse's tail, some inches below the collar 
 of his coat ; his dark, gleaming eyes were sunk deep in his 
 head, and his capacious mouth appeared to extend the whole 
 breadth of his jaws. 
 
 ' Hallo, shipmate !' he exclaimed in a hard, gruff voice, 
 
16 AN OCEAN FREE-LANCE. 
 
 ' where are you bound to ? Your road home doesn't lie this 
 way, does it V 
 
 1 Who the devil are you f said I. 
 
 1 You ask the question so civilly that I don't mind telling 
 you,' he answered, with a grin that exposed a tremendous 
 broadside of grinders. ' I'm the second mate of this vessel ; 
 and if you've got any business to transact, please to let us hear 
 of it/ 
 
 ' Then your name is Mr. Silas Chestree f said I. 
 
 ' At your service,' he replied, making as if he would sit. 
 
 1 My name is Mr. Julian Madison,' said I ; ' and when I tell 
 you I am chief mate of the Tigress, perhaps you'll be good 
 enough to use me with a little civility.' 
 
 1 Chief mate ! I'm very sorry, sir,' he exclaimed, pulling off 
 his hat and throwing it on the table. ' It was impossible for 
 me to guess who you were, sir. I understood from Captain 
 Shelvocke that Mr. Hollings was to be chief mate.' 
 
 1 Captain Shelvocke has done me the honour to appoint me 
 in the room of Mr. Hollings,' said I. ' However, you are not 
 to blame, Mr. Chestree, as I should have introduced myself to 
 you at once. As it is to be shoulder to shoulder with us all, 
 we'll shake hands.' 
 
 He squeezed my fingers with a grip that made them almost 
 bloodless, and seemed to think himself very fortunate that I 
 should overlook his rudeness so quickly and easily. 
 
 Accompanied by this officer, I took advantage of Shelvocke's 
 absence to thoroughly inspect the vessel, noting every point for 
 my own satisfaction, and with the intention of indicating any 
 weakness I might come across. Mr. Chestree told me that all 
 the work had been done by the dockyard people, and that the 
 crew were coining aboard on Saturday. He said Captain 
 Shelvocke had found no difficulty in obtaining a crew ; indeed, 
 upwards of two hundred men had offered, on hearing that the 
 vessel that wanted seamen was the Tigress, and that the pick of 
 them, every man being a native of Great Britain, had been 
 
THE TIGRESS. 17 
 
 selected, and that there were not above five boys among the 
 whole lot of them. The more critically I inspected the schooner, 
 the more she pleased me. Every improvement that had been 
 suggested by the long maritime wars in which England had 
 been engaged was adopted. The only doubt I had, was 
 whether she was not too heavily armed for speed, although I 
 could not question the value of the long guns in the event of 
 being chased by the large frigates and line-of-battle ships which 
 the French had launched broadcast upon the seas. 
 
 In about an hour's time, Captain Shelvocke came aboard 
 again, and took me into his cabin, where we had a long talk 
 over the schooner and her equipment, and the plans he had in 
 his mind. He was very sanguine, and believed that he should 
 be able to achieve any end he designed with such a vessel as 
 the Tigress under him. He said that he meant to have a very 
 strict discipline maintained, and that he should look to me to 
 help him to get as good a character for the schooner as any that 
 was owned by the best-managed ships of war in the English 
 service. 
 
 1 There is no denying,' said he, ' that privateering has got to 
 be thought a kind of legalized piracy, and the notion is not 
 unjust. But I don't intend to let the Tigress get a reputation 
 of that kind. We'll capture what we can, but we'll capture 
 honestly, and earn our money as gentlemen. Our rules must 
 be tenderness to women, kind treatment of prisoners, and no 
 act that shall subject my letter of marque to revocation.' 
 
 He produced his commission as he said this and ran his eye 
 over it, making comments as he went along. 
 
 'It's a carte blanche, Madison,' said he. 'In consequence of 
 the insults and provocations his Britannic Majesty has ex- 
 perienced from the Government of France, he has ordered that 
 general reprisals be granted against the goods, ships and 
 subjects of that nation.' 
 
 ' And small blame to him for that, sir,' said I. ' The French 
 
 2 
 
 0A< 
 
1 8 AN OCEAN FREE-LANCE. 
 
 luggers would provoke the Archbishop of Canterbury into 
 turning privateersman.' 
 
 ' Especially if his grace happened to be a ship-owner. So/ 
 continued he, looking at his commission, ' in consequence of 
 these insults and provocations, his Majesty has thought proper 
 to permit Eobert Shelvocke to equip, furnish, and victual a 
 schooner called the Tigress, and to authorize him by force of 
 arms to play the devil among the merchantmen owned by the 
 enemies of his Majesty the King of Great Britain and Ireland, 
 which the said Eobert Shelvocke, being a loyal Briton, under- 
 takes to do to the utmost of his ability, as much for the honour 
 and glory of his country as for the filling of his own and the 
 pockets of the people who are associated with him. So there 
 you have the substance of a letter of marque,' said he, return- 
 ing the document to his pocket-book, ' which, deprived of parli- 
 mentary language, means, Seize what you can, and what you 
 can't pocket, destroy.' 
 
 Laughing as he said this, he got up, and calling to Chestree, 
 gave him some instructions ; and after keeping me waiting on 
 deck whilst he wrote a letter in his cabin, we left the schooner 
 and made our way out of the Docks. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 THE CHASE OF THE ARMED LUGGER. 
 
 The crew joined on Saturday, and when I came aboard on the 
 following evening, I learned that not a single man was missing. 
 The decks forward were filled with seamen when I arrived, and 
 their sweethearts and wives having been allowed to spend the 
 evening with them, the crowd was a dense one. Here was a 
 bushy-whiskered sailor nursing his little child, coddling and 
 tossing it, while his wife hung over his back, silently crying : 
 yonder a pretty girl was exhorting her sweetheart with all 
 
THE CHASE OF THE ARMED LUGGER. 
 
 19 
 
 manner of passionate gestures : husbands and wives sat 
 together talking earnestly. The whole scene was a remarkable 
 picture, with the varied costumes of the men and women and 
 children contrasting with the sand-white decks, the rows of 
 sullen guns, the wand-like masts shooting into the blue sky, 
 the gleam of the red evening sunlight in the metal work, the 
 ships moored ahead and astern of us, their shadows hanging in 
 the water as though they reposed upon a bed of looking-glass, 
 and their interlaced rigging soaring like cobwebs into the 
 heavens. 
 
 Shelvocke had told me he would not join the schooner until 
 early on Monday morning, as he was to spend Sunday evening 
 with Mr. Hannay. I went below to put my berth to rights, 
 and found the square box allotted to me as convenient and 
 comfortable as I had a right to expect in a vessel of the tonnage 
 of the Tigress. There was no room to swing a hammock, but 
 my legs were not too long for the bunk, or sleeping-shelf, and 
 a sailor has no right to ask for more. 
 
 When I went on deck again I found the three mates aft, and 
 joined them. Mr. Buck Tapping, the third officer, was a square, 
 very powerfully built young man, with a face like a prize- 
 fighter's, long muscular arms, and short legs. He had a scar 
 across his left cheek, which he told me he had received in a 
 struggle with a fleet of Malay pirates. There was a remarkable 
 expression of audacity in his eyes. The fourth mate, Mr. 
 Peacock, on the other hand, looked almost effeminate with his 
 slender build, small white fingers, and smooth, thin, handsome 
 face. His teeth were beautifully white and even, his eyes large, 
 dark and melancholy, his hair a rich auburn. He looked more 
 like a poet than a sailor, and the last man I should have thought 
 fit for privateering. He interested me immediately. I asked 
 him how long he had been to sea % 
 
 ' Since I was ten years old, sir,' he answered, with his sweet 
 smile. 
 
 1 And pray how old are you now, Mr. Peacock ¥ 
 
 2—2 
 
20 AN OCEAN FREE-LANCE. 
 
 ' Nineteen, sir.' 
 
 ' Why, you have been to sea almost as long as I have t I ex- 
 claimed. * The sun seems to have used you kindly,' referring 
 to his delicate complexion. 
 
 Yet Chestree afterwards informed me that this same youth, 
 girlish as he looked, had performed as gallant an action as any 
 on record : he had been apprentice on board an Indiaman 
 that was attacked by a heavily-armed French sloop off the 
 south coast of Ceylon. The yard-arms of the two vessels 
 got locked. Three times the crew of the Indiaman en- 
 deavoured to board the enemy, and were repulsed. At last 
 little Peacock, shouting out for followers, sprang aloft, ran 
 along the main-topsail-yard of his own ship, and, with half a 
 dozen men behind him, gained the fore-topsail-yard of the 
 sloop, drove a crowd of small-arms men out of the fore-top, 
 and reached the enemy's deck unperceived amid the smoke, 
 Their presence terrified the Frenchmen, a number of whom 
 ran below ; the crew of the Indiaman boarded in the confusion, 
 and while the seamen of the two ships fought like devils on 
 the deck of the sloop, Peacock went aloft and cut away the 
 colours, on seeing which the crew of the sloop supposed their 
 captain had struck and threw down their arms. 
 
 Glancing from the officers to the men, it seemed to me quite 
 reasonable that Shelvocke should boast of his complement. 
 Of course an eye used to the uniformity of the dress of men- 
 of-war's men could have wished for less diversity of costume 
 among the men of the Tigress. But no private owner could 
 afford to give clothes as well as wages. Still, as I said to 
 Chestree, the Tigress would have been the better for the 
 finishing touch of a uniform dress among the crew; for, 
 though the motley costumes did not in the least damage the 
 fine appearance of the men, yet to see some in red shirts, others 
 in blue shirts, others again in jackets and waistcoats, some 
 wearing fishermen's caps, some high hats, and some sou'-westers, 
 took away that sense of orderliness, discipline and regularity 
 
THE CHASE OF THE ARMED LUGGER. 21 
 
 which, of themselves, the white decks, the heavy guns, the 
 exquisite trim of the gear aloft suggested, and even gave the 
 schooner a piratical air. 
 
 1 But they'll look all one, sir,' said Chestree to me, * when 
 they come to strip for an engagement. ' 
 
 Captain Shelvocke came aboard early next morning, and 
 the tide serving, we hauled out of the Docks, and dropped 
 down to Erith, where we brought up and took in our 
 powder. 
 
 It was a very bright, hot day, with a small breeze from the 
 north-west. A whole crowd of people stood looking at us from 
 the shore, and I noticed the crews of the vessels which passed 
 up or down as we lay at anchor point to us, and by many 
 gestures express the admiration that the beautiful fabric of the 
 schooner excited in them. The powder was all aboard and 
 stowed before noon, when the capstan was manned, the anchor 
 lifted, and, with flowing sheets and all her fore and aft canvas 
 set, the Tigress went smoothly over the surface of the Thames, 
 the water of which hereabouts was like molten silver, dazzling 
 with the play of sunlight upon it, and scarcely blurred by the 
 breeze. 
 
 Every man of us knew that this was the schooners first run, 
 and that her pace remained to be proved ; and the men s eyes 
 were constantly aloft, or over the side, or upon the land, to see 
 how fast it slipped by. 
 
 The tide was beginning to ebb, but it was scarcely worth 
 noticing, though what little trickle there was favoured us. Had 
 the schooner been a mere trader, no one would have troubled 
 himself to think of her pace with such a languid air as was now 
 stirring overhead; but for privateering, the best vessels are 
 those which sail fastest with the least wind, as any man knows 
 who has chased a cloud of flying kites, or who has been within 
 range of the guns of a big enemy with not enough air to chill 
 the skin of a moistened finger ; and we were as anxious to dis- 
 cover the Tigress's slipping powers in little better than a calm 
 
22 AN OCEAN FREE-LANCE. 
 
 as we should have been to judge her capacity of forereaching 
 and weathering in a gale of wind. 
 
 1 There is no air down here/ said Shelvocke, joining me at 
 the gangway, * and the tide is certainly not yet running three 
 quarters of a knot. Yet look at the shore ! It is going past 
 quicker than a man can run. We shall be opening Gravesend 
 in twenty minutes.' 
 
 ' Shall I heave the log, sir f 
 
 6 Why, yes, Mr. Madison. It will give us some idea of the 
 speed.' 
 
 The log was hove by the third officer, who reported five 
 knots. 
 
 ' There must be more wind than we think,' said Shelvocke, 
 looking both astonished and delighted, 'or else the tide 
 strengthens. Get the square canvas on her, and try her with that. ' 
 
 A number of men sprang into the fore-shrouds. 
 
 1 Stand by to sheet home ! Overhaul your clew-lines !' 
 
 In less than a couple of minutes all three sails were loosed, 
 the sheets and halliards manned, and the canvas set. The 
 men worked without noise, and to the piping of a boatswain's 
 mate. Nothing was ever more smartly rushed aboard of a 
 man-of-war. 
 
 ' Get the square-sail on her, Mr. Madison, and let her have 
 all three studding-sails !' sung out Shelvocke. 
 
 Though we should not be able to carry these last sails long, 
 for a bend of the river would bring them to leeward presently, 
 yet the experiment of setting them was worth the trouble, and 
 in a few moments the polished surface of the water reflected 
 the brilliance of the shining cotton-white cloths, cut to perfec- 
 tion, and depending in graceful forms many feet beyond the 
 vessel's side. The square-sail was an enormous stretch of 
 canvas, big enough to hold a gale of wind. These extra cloths 
 increased the speed to six knots. 
 
 ' 1 think I told you,' said Shelvocke to me, 'that the Tigress 
 would prove to be the fastest thing afloat. I call this a real 
 
THE CHASE OF THE ARMED LUGGER. 23 
 
 miracle. Look at that big cutter yonder. We are approaching 
 her as though she were a buoy.' 
 
 He pointed to a large vessel a little on our starboard bow 
 that we were overhauling as though she were stationary. She 
 was a Margate hoy, a lumping sloop, with a deck-load of pas- 
 sengers between her rails. We had our gun-ports raised, and 
 no doubt made a formidable as well as a noble show with the 
 tompions choking the iron throats of the grinning guns, and 
 the snow-white mountain of canvas topping the low, long, 
 black, beautifully-moulded hull. The people on the hoy 
 crowded her side to have a look at us, and her skipper clam- 
 bered on to the after-rail and stared at us with his mouth open, 
 amazed, as he well might be, at the way in which we were 
 passing him, and looked up at our canvas, and then around 
 him, as though endeavouring to find out where the wind that 
 propelled us came from. 
 
 I have seen a good many vessels of all sorts and sizes in my 
 time, from the Frenchman's four-decker to the Algerine felucca, 
 and it is not therefore easy to guess why the picture of that 
 Margate hoy should have printed itself strongly enough on my 
 mind to last all these years. Yet I see her now in fancy as 
 clearly as I saw her then in reality. Perhaps the contrast 
 between the mission of these peaceful holiday-seekers and our 
 own bloody and destructive errand may have emphasized the 
 little hooker to my imagination. There was such fat and 
 placid contentment in the line of faces that crowded her side 
 as was extremely pleasant to behold. There was the sound of 
 a flute aboard, and there were children dancing in the bows, 
 and most of the people were eating their dinners out of paper 
 bags, munching like ruminant animals as they looked at us. It 
 was a picture of old-fashioned life that has quite vanished. 
 The hoy was a chubby boat, rather slatternly rigged, with a 
 big jack on a flag-post over her stern. Her image was beauti- 
 fully reflected in the water under her, with the row of gleaming 
 faces over her rail. Her skipper called out to know where we 
 
24 AN OCEAN FREE-LANCE. 
 
 were going, and Shelvocke answered, 'To blow up a few 
 Frenchmen/ whereat the men cheered and waved their hats, 
 and the women kissed their hands to us and fluttered their 
 pocket-handkerchiefs. 
 
 We slipped by her as swiftly and silently as a shark glides 
 along the side of a ship becalmed on the equator, and presently 
 opened the merry little town of Gravesend, with its windows 
 sparkling in the sunshine, and the outline of the green lands 
 beyond waving like a serpent in the hot and steamy air. 
 
 I had some fear that the wind would fail us, in which case 
 we should have been forced to bring up ; but quite unex- 
 pectedly it breezed up across the flat Essex lands, and the 
 water was all awobble with it. There was a very handsome 
 thirty-eight gun frigate, of French extraction, as any man might 
 have known by the curl of the bows and the. florid decorations 
 of her quarter-galleries, and the lavish carving upon her stern, 
 lying abreast of Gravesend; and near her were a couple of 
 East Indiamen, newly arrived, with the rust of their long voyage 
 upon their sides, and their canvas very clumsily stowed. The 
 effect our vessel produced was exhibited in the rush of the 
 crews of these ships to look at us as we went by. We were to 
 windward of them, so that, from their point of view, the 
 Tigress showed to the utmost advantage. The bend of the 
 river had brought the wind right abeam, and with enough in- 
 clination of her masts to prove that she was in earnest, the 
 schooner was ripping up the lustrous water with her stem as a 
 sharp knife divides a length of satin. Every sail was full and 
 round, the studding-sails tearing at the booms as though they 
 were clouds seeking to blow away into the liquid blue heavens. 
 She raised no foam, but amid the humming of the summer wind 
 sweeping under the foot of the huge mainsail, one could hear 
 the soft singing of swiftly passing waters, like the beating on 
 musical-glasses heard at a distance, or the clanging of a bell 
 mingling with the rustling of leaves. The vessels at anchor 
 went whirling past us, coming stem on, and then presenting 
 
THE CHASE OF THE ARMED LUGGER. 25 
 
 their starboard broadsides as we swept forwards. We seemed 
 to keep pace with the very shadows of the clouds upon the 
 land. It is true that the Tigress had now every possible advan- 
 tage : perfectly smooth water, a steady breeze, and every sail 
 set with the exception of her sky- sail : still her qualities both 
 in a light air and in a pleasant breeze had been tested ; and 
 that she had marvellously fine keen heels was proved to the 
 satisfaction of every man aboard of her. 
 
 Indeed there was not one of the crew but understood the 
 significance of these tests, seeing the perilous fun her captain 
 was likely to poke her into ; and that not only our fortune, but 
 our lives also, must often depend on her running powers. And 
 the beautiful schooner had already won the hearts of her men. 
 I could see some of them hanging over her bows, and slapping 
 their thighs as they watched the gleaming swirl of water 
 spreading out from her stem, until it was three fathoms distant 
 by the time it was on the quarter, whilst others pointed out 
 the trim and cut of the canvas and the stay of her long masts, 
 and others looked at the land that was drawing away on either 
 bow, and commented in audible tones upon the rapidity with 
 which one familiar place after another opened and slid abeam, 
 and went away out of sight upon the broadening waters astern. 
 
 A little after six we were abreast of Sheerness, and another 
 hour of this sailing would put the waters of the English Channel 
 under our fore-foot. The wind had veered due north, and was 
 blowing a gay breeze. The square canvas had been furled, and 
 the Tigress was beginning to feel the faint swell running into 
 the mouth of the river from the wider ocean beyond, and to 
 tumble a small surface of foam from her bows, as she ran over 
 the light undulations. It was a glorious evening, the land a 
 dim, delicate green away on the starboard hand, and the sun 
 going down over our stern, filling the water all that way with 
 a strong yellow light, whilst to the left the sea stretched in a 
 tremulous dark blue surface, flaked with little spurts of foam. 
 There was a small cutter a couple of miles to leeward, like a 
 
26 AN OCEAN FREE-LANCE. 
 
 snow-flake on the sea, with English colours hoisted, but she 
 was the only vessel in sight. 
 
 I went below to get a cup of tea, leaving the captain and 
 Mr. Tapping on deck. I found Chestree talking to young 
 Peacock, whom he had called into the cabin, and the second 
 mate asked me if I had heard where we were going to cruise. 
 I answered that I believed we should hang about the Channel 
 for some days, but that Captain Shelvocke had not fully opened 
 his mind to me on the subject. 
 
 ' 1 hope he will give us some cutting-out jobs, sir,' said Pea- 
 cock, his soft girlish smile and the white hand he raised to push 
 back the soft auburn hair from his forehead making his wish 
 somehow sound extremely odd. 'And one would like the 
 Tigress, before she turns trader — which I suppose, when peace 
 is declared, will be her vulgar destiny — to capture a French 
 seventy-four ' 
 
 ' A French what V shouted Chestree, opening his great mouth. 
 
 'A French seventy-four, I said,' repeated the handsome 
 young fellow, in a melodious voice, and looking at me with his 
 dark, melancholy eyes. ' There ought to be no difficulty in 
 capturing the largest national ship afloat.' 
 
 Here Chestree was interrupting. 
 
 ' Pray let Peacock have his say, Chestree,' said I. 
 
 1 Frenchmen fight well with their guns, sir, and usually give 
 a fair account of an English crew at point-blank distance, all 
 things considered. But there are no people in the world 
 among whom a panic is more easily excited. They come into 
 action with an English vessel prepared to be beaten. The secret 
 of thrashing a big crew of Frenchmen by a small crew of 
 Englishmen is to give the mounseers a fright, sir.' 
 
 He saw me laughing, and stopped, blushing to the roots of 
 his hair. 
 
 1 Pray continue, Mr. Peacock,' said I, recovering my gravity. 
 
 1 It was the idea of the captain of the last ship I was in,' said 
 he, glancing at Chestree to make sure that he was listening 
 
THE CHASE OF THE ARMED LUGGER. 27 
 
 seriously, ' that among every small crew there should be three 
 or four men selected on account of their disagreeable voices. ' 
 
 1 Hang me if ever I heard of such a thing !' exclaimed Ches- 
 tree, looking with a kind of admiration at the boy. 
 
 1 His notion was to dress these fellows like Frenchmen, and 
 after the action had commenced and the English had got their 
 ship into a position to board, the Frenchified Britons were to 
 drop into the water and swim round to the unprotected side of 
 the enemy, scramble into her, and get among the crew, who, in 
 the confusion, would suppose them some of their own people 
 who had fallen overboard. Once on the enemy's decks, it would 
 be the business of these fellows to raise false alarms, and create 
 a panic with their horrible cries.' 
 
 'Ay, ay,' said Chestree, 'all that sounds very well in talk, 
 but to make any use of your transmogrified Britons would 
 require what the Germans call a neat conjunction of circum- 
 stances. And pray how are your fellows going to scramble up 
 the sides of a three-decker 1 Answer me that, my fine fellow.' 
 
 1 How ? with their hands. They must get up, sir !' exclaimed 
 Peacock, with a flushed face. 
 
 ' But suppose they can't f persisted Chestree. 
 
 * Why, then,' said I, ' the ruse must fail, of course. But 
 even should it succeed once in ten times, I should consider it 
 by no means a bad idea.' 
 
 1 It was twice tried by the same captain,' said Peacock, ' and 
 was each time successful.' 
 
 1 Were you there to see f quoth Chestree. 
 
 ' No, sir, but I'll answer for its efficacy. The first time two 
 fellows got aboard the Frenchman dripping wet, and one of 
 them shouted out, " The captain's surrendered ! the ship's on 
 fire ! lay down your arms !' 
 
 ' What, in French f said I. 
 
 ' Yes, sir. And they did lay down their arms. The second 
 time was not immediately successful, for the man was shot in 
 the act of grasping the flag-halliards. But half the crew be- 
 
28 AN OCEAN FREE-LANCE. 
 
 lieved the alarm given was true, and a good many of them 
 jumped overboard, and the English got possession easily.' 
 
 ' There goes the bos'un's pipe for all hands f exclaimed 
 Chestree, jumping up and unfolding his long body as he 
 soared out of his chair, like a boa-constrictor lifting its 
 head. 
 
 The clear whistle came shrilly down through the open sky- 
 light, and we all ran on deck. The sun was near his setting, 
 and the water astern of us lay like a sheet of sparkling gold 
 under the ardent light. The land to leeward, shelving away 
 down to Shelness Point, was just a mere greenish film, and 
 stretching out upon our larboard-bow was the horizon of the 
 North Sea. The breeze had moderated again, and the schooner, 
 with a slight inclination of her masts, was running as noise- 
 lessly as the shadow of a cloud over the long-drawn tender un- 
 dulations of the water, that in places was shifting its blue 
 into dark green, whilst the sea in the east, towards which 
 we headed, was a dark violet, and hazy where it met the 
 sky. 
 
 The whole of the ship's company had assembled on the 
 main-deck, and I had now an opportunity of judging the full 
 strength and appearance of the crew. There were ninety men 
 in all, not counting officers, and a determined, hearty set of 
 fellows they looked. They filled the deck from abaft the fore- 
 mast, and presented a perfect bulwark of broad chests and 
 whiskered faces. The suggestion of their physical qualities 
 was prodigiously helped by the rows of long guns which flanked 
 them on either hand ; and as they stood in the setting sunshine, 
 the shadows of the delicate rigging lacing their figures and lying 
 in slender bars upon the white decks, while the mould of the 
 vessel was beautifully defined by the black line of the bulwarks 
 against the darkening surface of the waters, and the tapering 
 bows, terminating in the long bow-sprit and jib-boom that 
 arched out like a wand over the deep — as though a magician 
 stood in the head of the schooner and pointed the way — from 
 
THE CHASE OF THE ARMED LUGGER. 29 
 
 which the jibs soared in rounded curves — methought I had 
 never witnessed a more picturesque scene, nor one fitter to 
 brighten a man's eye and set his heart dancing. 
 
 Shelvocke threw the end of his cigar overboard, and, coming 
 forward, got upon the flag-locker that stood lashed in front of 
 the skylight, in order that he might see over the heads of the 
 men in the van of the crowd. Everybody was as quiet as 
 death, and there was not a sound aloft, for the wind held the 
 sails as steady as though they had been carved in marble, and 
 the only audible noise was the cool tinkling of water under 
 the bows. 
 
 ' My lads,' said Shelvocke, looking a fine imposing man, as 
 he stood erect, and extending his right hand, and speaking in a 
 voice the subdued power of which made me guess what its full 
 force would be, ' I have called you aft, not to listen to a speech 
 — for I'm a plain sailor man without the gift of the gab — nor 
 do I mean to tell you what your duty is, for that, I take it, you 
 know, but that you may hear what my plans are. My purpose is 
 to do as much mischief as I can to the enemy's merchant-ships, 
 and to fill our pockets with the fruits of their industry, as they 
 have filled theirs at the expense of ours. We have the 
 Yankees as well as the French to work upon, and we must 
 hope for some decent pickings, men. At the same time it is 
 not my intention to lead you into needless perils. Our busi- 
 ness is not to engage Government vessels, but to capture 
 cargoes. But should I ever think it necessary for the honour 
 of the glorious flag under which we sail, to show the enemy 
 that we are as little afraid of his ships of war as we are of his 
 merchantmen, I shall hope to be nobly supported by you. It 
 may be our luck, some time or other, to restore to privateering 
 a little of the credit that belonged to it before certain English 
 seamen took their notions from costagardas and picaroons. 
 Anyway, we shall always endeavour to act like men, and though 
 we are not allowed to carry a pennant at the mast-head, the 
 smartness and the discipline aboard our little Tigress shall make 
 
30 AN OCEAN FREE-LANCE. 
 
 her an example for ships whose quarter-decks sparkle with 
 epaulets.' 
 
 This simple but, as I thought, judicious harangue raised a 
 cheer ; the crew were then divided into watches, and the star- 
 board watch went below. I now saw that the routine to be 
 observed was precisely the same as that of the merchant service. 
 This, on the whole, was a wise plan, since every man aboard, 
 from the captain to the youngest boy, had been bred in trading 
 vessels, and would work more easily in the customs he was 
 used to, than in a system borrowed from the Navy. I there- 
 fore found myself at the head of the larboard watch, with 
 Tapping as my sub; whilst Chestree and Peacock took the 
 starboard, or captain's watch. 
 
 It was a little after eight o'clock, the night as clear as silver 
 with the moon, in whose white light the shadows of the rigging 
 on the deck looked like drawings in India ink on marble. We 
 were abreast of the North Foreland, heading so as to fetch the 
 Goodwin Sands to the eastward. The breeze was blowing very 
 languidly, and what there was of it was over the stern. On 
 the starboard hand the Kentish cliffs hung pallid and beetling 
 on the sea-line. 
 
 The watch on deck were grouped about the forward guns, 
 and the men on the look-out paced the forecastle with the 
 regularity of machines. One would have thought that the 
 Tigress had been six months at sea, so settled was the look of 
 everything, so completely had the men adjusted themselves to 
 the new craft. Yet it seemed strange to me, who was used to 
 big Indiamen, to feel that here we were sailing along without 
 a destination. The moonlight flooding the sea in the south 
 gave us a wide range of horizon, but nothing was in sight, nor 
 was it very likely that we should meet with anything good for 
 our account hereabouts. 
 
 We held on in this way for about an hour until we had 
 brought the north end of the Goodwins abeam of us, and there 
 lay these deadly sands running in a dark line athwart the 
 
THE CHASE OF THE ARMED LUGGER. 31 
 
 reflection of the moonlight, and the water so quiet that not the 
 merest purr of breaking ripples reached the ear. Shelvocke, 
 an inveterate smoker, was puffing at a cigar near the tiller, and 
 presently he called me to him. 
 
 ' After what we have seen of the schooner's behaviour in the 
 river to-day/ said he, ' and the way in which she slides now, 
 with no more wind aloft than a lady's fan would raise, I think 
 that we may have confidence enough in her heels to stand in to 
 the French shore. Even the capture of a coaster would hearten 
 the men, and at all events anything French (unless it be the 
 privateers) that swims without consort is pretty sure to keep 
 the forts close aboard.' 
 
 ' As we go we head dead for the coast below Dunkirk, 
 sir.' 
 
 c Ay, it is a pity the moon isn't astern of us. She smothers 
 everything in the south, and shows us up against the water in 
 the north. But this is beautiful weather, Mr. Madison. I 
 never tasted softer air, and the discharge of meteors might 
 make a man think he is in the Malacca Straits. Those guns 
 give the decks a solemn look, don't they 1 But yonder's the 
 boy I pin my faith to,' said he, pointing to the twenty-four- 
 pounder. 
 
 ' No vessel sighting us would believe that a vessel of our 
 tonnage carried such metal.' 
 
 1 No, I don't say we are not overweighted, but a gale of wind 
 will have to prove that. If I discover that we have too much 
 iron top-hamper I shall drop a couple of the eighteens, and two 
 of the carronades may follow if the necessity arises. But I 
 will stick to my long Toms. I'd rather mount a couple of 
 heavy guns than a whole broadside of the pea-shooters which 
 the Admiralty are furnishing to their small craft. I haven't a 
 word to say against carronades for close action, but what use 
 can a man make of pieces which will not carry much farther 
 than a boy can sling a stone ¥ 
 
 I was about to make some answer, when I thought I saw a 
 
32 AN OCEA N FREE-LA NCE. 
 
 flash of light down in the west of south, that dyed that part 
 of the horizon with a pale blue glare. 
 
 ' Was that lightning or a gun f I exclaimed. 
 
 ' Where away ¥ he asked quickly. 
 
 I pointed over the line of sand that barred the silver water. 
 He peered, and we both listened. No report followed, but in 
 a few moments there was another sharp glare. 
 
 ' There's a flash of guns in the south'ard, sir !' sung out one 
 of the men on the look-out. 
 
 Presently we saw another faint flash ; and I thought, but I 
 could not be sure, that I heard the rumble of an explosion. 
 
 'Put your helm up, and let her go off a bit,' said Shelvocke 
 to the fellow who was steering. ' Keep her at south half west. 
 So. Mr. Madison, get the fore and after sheets eased off, and 
 loose the square canvas.' 
 
 This, with the topsail, jib and topmast studding-sail, increased 
 our progress ; but the night was so still, and the movements of 
 the schooner so quiet, that, as she rose and sank upon the 
 gentle swell that tenderly swung along the bosom of the water 
 out of the north-east, I would never have imagined that she 
 was making headway, until, by looking over the side, I saw the 
 bubbles in the moonlight slipping past, and heard the delicate 
 churning of the water under the counter. 
 
 We kept a bright look-out, but no more flashes were seen. 
 This cessation convinced me that the glare had been produced 
 by guns, for had it been lightning, there would have been more 
 of it. By this time the north-end of the Goodwins was well 
 on the starboard quarter, and the line of sands running away 
 at an angle from our jib-boom. By order of the captain I 
 went forward with a glass, and climbed as high as the fore top- 
 gallant-yard, from which point I searched the sea ahead ; but 
 the moonlight flung a haze that confused its own brilliance ; 
 and though a great space of water was lighted up, it was like 
 looking at a sheet of dull illuminated silver. 
 
 I remained aloft for about ten minutes, gazing intently at 
 
THE CHASE OF THE ARMED LUGGER. 33 
 
 the point where we had seen the flashes, and then descended, 
 noticing, as I did so, the green phosphorescent line that was 
 vivid at intervals round the sides of the vessel as she lifted and 
 sank, and the showers of dew occasionally falling from the 
 sails, which were dark with the damp, and doing their work 
 the better for the moisture. I returned aft, and reported that 
 nothing was to be seen. 
 
 1 Send a hand on to the topsail-yard/ exclaimed Shelvocke. 
 'Something has occurred in the southward, and we must 
 mind what we are about.' 
 
 I passed the word along, and a man jumped into the fore- 
 shrouds. Three-quarters of an hour passed, and for the third 
 time I hailed the look-out man to know if he saw anything. 
 
 ' No, sir ; there's nothing in sight,' was the answer. 
 
 'It was perhaps only sheet-lightning, after all,' said Shel- 
 vocke ; but I thought otherwise. 
 
 We paced the deck together for some time, and he then 
 dived below for a glass of grog. The moon, by veering to the 
 westward, had brought her light on the starboard bow ; the 
 sky was so clear, that down upon the very water-line the stars 
 were burning like fire-flies. Mr. Tapping was walking up and 
 down the lee-side of the deck, when he suddenly stopped, and 
 in the haze of light that came from the cabin through the sky- 
 light I saw him put his hands to both ears, and stand in an 
 eager listening posture. I watched him. Presently he turned 
 and said : 
 
 1 Did you hear anything just now V 
 
 1 Nothing,' I answered. 
 
 ' I fancied I heard a sound like a man's voice hallooing/ 
 said he. 
 
 I crossed over to his side of the deck, and we both listened. 
 
 The men forward were as mute as statues ; the footfalls of 
 the hands on the look-out were as soft as though they trod in 
 their socks ; only now and again the stillness was broken by 
 the creak of a block or the moan of water alongside. The 
 
 3 
 
34 AN OCEAN FREE-LANCE. 
 
 deck, save in the bows of the vessel where the look-out men 
 were moving, was like a painted picture in the moonshine ; 
 the motionless shadows of the men like carvings in jet, 
 branched from their feet ; aloft, the canvas was sleeping, save 
 when now and again the swell shook a fold of sail against the 
 rigging, and the large yellow stars looked steadily down 
 through the tracery of ropes. 
 
 ' I hear nothing,' said I. 
 
 1 It wasn't my fancy either !' exclaimed Tapping, looking like 
 a huge bull-frog, with his rounded legs, long arms, and im- 
 mensely square body in the white, deceptive light. ' It sounded 
 like a human cry. I'm not often deceived. I've got ears that 
 will hear through a brick wall, sir.' 
 
 Shelvocke came on deck again ; and seeing Tapping and me 
 standing in an attitude of listening, he stepped up to us and 
 asked what the matter was. I told him that Tapping believed 
 he had heard a cry. 
 
 ' What sort of a cry, Mr. Tapping V inquired Shelvocke. 
 
 ' A human cry coming out of the sea, sir,' responded Tap- 
 ping, poetically. 
 
 'The plot thickens,' said Shelvocke. ' Damme, the night 
 seems full of mysteries. Heard you anything, Mr. Madison V 
 
 'No, sir; though here have I been listening for some 
 minutes.' 
 
 I had scarcely shut my mouth, when Tapping cried out 
 triumphantly, 'There, captain. Mr. Madison, I wasn't mis- 
 taken, sir !' 
 
 Indeed he was not, for both Shelvocke and I had distinctly 
 heard a thin, reedy cry, more like the imitation by a ventrilo- 
 quist of a remote voice than a real sound — a faint, unearthly 
 ! Hillo,' coming it was impossible to say from where. 
 
 ' There's some one hailing us, sir,' shouted a voice forward. 
 
 ' Topsail-yard, there T called Shelvocke ; ' do you see any 
 sign of a boat about V 
 
 'No, sir.' 
 
1 THE CHASE OF THE ARMED LUGGER. 35 
 
 * Search the sea to leeward. Look brightly around you.' 
 And after a pause, ' Well f 
 
 ' I don't see anything, sir, either to windward or to leeward,' 
 answered the man. 
 
 ' That is extraordinary too !' exclaimed Shelvocke. ' Here, 
 Mr. Tapping, take the glass and jump aloft and give me your 
 report.' 
 
 As Tapping went up the main-shrouds the hail was repeated. 
 It was a most distressful cry, a little more distinct this time. 
 
 ' A sail on the weather-bow !' shouted the man from the top- 
 sail-yard. 
 
 1 Ay, ay, there she is, sure enough,' said Shelvocke in a low 
 voice, extending his hand. 
 
 * I think there are two of them, sir !' sung out the man. 
 
 I looked, and could just distinguish a smudge upon the 
 horizon. That we had not seen it before was owing to the 
 haze of the moonlight catching the vessel laterally, so as to 
 fling upon her just enough radiance to render her invisible 
 upon the silvered sky in that quarter. But the haze had left 
 her, and veered to the westward, and there was the vessel, a 
 mere smirch indeed, but distinct enough. 
 
 I ran below for a second telescope, and handed it to Shel- 
 vocke. He took a long look, and exclaimed : 
 
 ' The man is right — there are two of them !' and gave me the 
 glass, the magnifying power of which was considerable ; but 
 so vague and deceptive was the light down in the south-east, 
 where the vessels lay, that the lenses merely resolved the one 
 smirch that was visible to the naked eye into two dark blotches 
 upon the sea, both close together \ but no idea could be formed 
 of the rig or size of the distant craft. While I was working 
 away with the glass, the plaintive shout we had before heard 
 arose clear in the air, and it was no longer possible to mistake 
 either the character or the direction of it. 
 
 1 There is a man overboard somewhere near us !' sung out 
 one of the men forward. 
 
 3—2 
 
36 AN OCEAN FREE-LANCE. 
 
 ' Ay, ay ; keep a sharp look-out for him/ answered Shel- 
 vocke. ' Mr. Madison, call some hands aft to stand by the 
 peak halliards and braces. Get your gaff-foresail brailed up, 
 and swing the fore-yards. Some hands aft here, ready to man 
 and lower away the cutter.' 
 
 These orders were repeated by me, and executed quietly and 
 quickly. The helm was put down, and the schooner lay with 
 her head close to the light air, her way arrested by her yards 
 being aback, and a whole crowd of seamen were on her star- 
 board bulwarks looking around upon the surface of the dark 
 water for the man that had hailed us, for we had now brought 
 the moon right astern, and the sea was as black as ebony for 
 half a mile away from the schooner's side to the north and 
 east, though it changed to a pallid hue from that point, growing 
 a more defined grey, until it became an ash-coloured line 
 against the liquid, dark sky, just as a fog with a light burning 
 in it gradually brightens towards the illuminated centre. 
 
 We all stood listening. Over and over again I thought I 
 saw a dark object in the water, but it was only a deception of 
 the shadows swayed by the undulation of the swell. From 
 time to time exclamations broke from the men : ' There he is !' 
 1 Look yonder, mate ! close against that star there !' and so 
 forth, but these cries were always followed by a gruff ' No, no !' 
 
 Not having heard his hail for some minutes, most of us be- 
 lieved that the man had sunk, for the last time he had sung 
 out it was certain that he was close enough to enable us to see 
 a boat or a spar, or, in short, anything bigger than a human 
 head, and I had no doubt that he had fallen overboard from 
 one of the vessels away in the gloom, and that his strength 
 had at last failed him, when, to the astonishment of everybody, 
 his lusty shout was heard close aboard. 
 
 ' Lower away a boat, for God's sake, good people, and pick 
 me up ! You'll be ahead of me in a minute !' 
 
 This appeal, in good English, made some of the men laugh. 
 Tapping sprang into the cutter, and the boat was lowered. 
 
THE CHASE OF THE ARMED LUGGER. 3 y 
 
 'Pull gently, and mind how you go,' shouted Shelvocke, c or 
 you'll run over him. He's not far off !' 
 
 The water flashed up under the oars, and a few strokes 
 carried the boat a dozen fathoms away. I saw Tapping in the 
 stern-sheets, and a hand in the bows, standing up and peering 
 around them. The men pulled another stroke. We then 
 heard voices and a splash, and presently the grind of thole- 
 pins as the boat came towards us. 
 
 ' Have you got him V cried Shelvocke. 
 
 4 Yes, sir,' answered Tapping. 
 
 ' Let him lie where he is. We'll hoist him in with the boat,' 
 said Shelvocke, on which the boat came alongside, the crew 
 jumped aboard, and the falls being manned, the cutter soared 
 out of the water as though a giant forked her up through the 
 sea on the end of a pike. 
 
 \ Get all plain sail made again, Mr. Tapping,' said I. ' Haul 
 round those yards forward.' 
 
 I went up to the captain, who waited whilst the stranger in 
 the cutter uncoiled himself, and asked him how we should head. 
 
 'As we go, for the present,' he answered. ' Keep your eyes 
 on those vessels yonder. We shall be able to see more of them 
 as the moon draws to the westward.' 
 
 I ogled the craft again through the glass, but they were 
 nothing more than a couple of blotches, and I rather fancied 
 by the look of them that they were drawing away from us. I 
 put down the glass, and walked aft, where Shelvocke was 
 speaking to the man we had picked up. He was a hulking 
 fellow, with a great cork- jacket under his armpits, which made 
 him look like a turtle mounted on a pair of human shanks. 
 The moonlight sparkled in a pool of water under his feet, and 
 in the drops hanging from his hawk's-bill nose and well-thatched 
 eyebrows. His face in this light was as white as the planks 
 under him, and with the bloated appearance of his body, that 
 reduced his legs in comparison to the thickness of a couple of 
 capstan-bars, and the odd manner in which his arms overhung 
 
38 AN OCEAN FREE-LANCE. 
 
 the top of the cork-jacket, he looked a very alarming object, 
 and a proper sight for a painter in search of a study for a 
 nautical ghost. However, he was perfectly fresh, and gazed 
 around him coolly, and when the steward handed him a rummer 
 of grog that had been brought by order of the captain, he drank 
 to us with a pleasant nod, and said that he would take another 
 drop when he had dried his clothes. 
 
 1 You shall go and dry your clothes at once,' said Shelvocke, 
 laughing at the fellow's sang-froid ; ' but perhaps you will tell 
 me first what those vessels are yonder t 
 
 1 One's a French armed lugger, and t'other's an English 
 cutter of sixty ton,' answered the man. 
 
 1 Do you know how many guns the Frenchman carries f 
 
 ' I don't, sir ; I took no notice of that ; but she's full of men/ 
 
 On this Shelvocke told the steward to take the man below, 
 and give him a shift of clothes, then, jumping on a gun- 
 carriage, he took another long squint at the vessels, which we 
 had now brought a couple of points on the lee-bow. 
 
 ' We'll have the story presently, Madison,' said he ; ' but if 
 the flashes we saw came from the guns of those craft, the cutter 
 must have proved an easy capture. I shall attack the lugger 
 — she will serve as practice for the men.' 
 
 1 She appears to have the cutter in tow, sir,' said I, with my 
 eye at the glass ; ' and to judge by the manner in which they 
 are creeping away, they are using their sweeps. However, we 
 are not stationary,' I added, looking down into the water, and 
 observing the long threads breaking away from the schooner's 
 bows, and rippling out of the darkness into lines of silver as 
 they went astern athwart the moon. Yet the breeze was very 
 faint, and our fore and aft canvas hung up and down without 
 further movement than such as was from time to time commu- 
 nicated by the soft swaying of the schooner over the delicate 
 swell. 
 
 Presently Tapping came up to the captain. 
 
 * The steward reports the man ready to see you, sir.' 
 
THE CHASE OF THE ARMED LUGGER. 39 
 
 1 Let him come aft.' 
 
 The man, who in his dry attire proved to be a more comely 
 object than I had imagined, approached Shelvocke, who stood 
 with me near the skylight, the haze from which enabled us to 
 have a good sight of the stranger. There was something of 
 the fisherman's trot in his gait as he came along the deck, and 
 he had stowed away a large junk of tobacco in his cheek that 
 threw the skin into a knob, behind which fell a short slant of 
 lank black whisker. His eyes were dark, quick, and gleaming, 
 and there was a set, resolute expression in the whole face of 
 the man that persuaded me his bread was not earned in peaceful 
 pursuits. 
 
 ' Well, my man, how are you after your bath f 
 1 Eight enough, sir, thank'ee. A cork-jacket ben't like swim- 
 ming, though. I reckon I lay in the water more than an 
 hour.' 
 
 ' What do you know about those vessels yonder V 
 1 Why, you see, I happen to be one of the crew of the cutter. 
 We were heading to fetch the Nor'-sands-head, when the lugger 
 hove in sight, coming right down upon us. I don't know how 
 it was that none of us took no notice of her until she was a 
 couple of miles off. Any way we thought we'd stop to see 
 what she meant to do ; but as she drew near, rattling down 
 upon us under her sweeps as though she carried a stiff breeze 
 astern, we saw that she was a sight too big for us, and crowded 
 with men. So we up helm, and tried to edge away, but there 
 was no wind, and as we only carried twenty men, our captain 
 sung out that it would be useless to fight him. He hailed us 
 as he came along, and we answered that we were English, on 
 which he let drive three guns, though, after he had fired the 
 first shot, our skipper called out to say he had surrendered. I 
 never waited to see what happened after this, but laying hold 
 of a cork- jacket I strapped myself up in it and dropped over- 
 board, preferring to take my chance of drowning to starving in 
 a French prison. That's just the story, gentlemen,' said the 
 
4o AN OCEAN FREE-LANCE. 
 
 fellow, shifting the quid of tobacco from one cheek to the other 
 with his tongue. 
 
 ' What's the name of the cutter f asked Shelvocke. 
 
 1 The Happy-go-Lucky, sir/ 
 
 * What is she — a trader V 
 
 The man hung in the wind so long that I thought he did not 
 mean to answer the question. At last he exclaimed with great 
 vehemence : ' Capt'n, I'll not tell 'ee a lie. False speaking 11 
 sarve no end, and this ben't a King's ship neither. The Happy- 
 go-Luchy's in the contraband line, a smuggler they calls her ; 
 and so you have it, gentlemen.' 
 
 1 Pooh ! pooh !' said Shelvocke, ' we must recapture the 
 Happy-go-huchj and put you aboard again. That will do. If 
 you want some supper the steward will provide you.' 
 
 The man went forward, and Shelvocke gave a low whistle, 
 looking around the silent sea that lay without a tremor under 
 the wide space of moonlight. There was, indeed, scarcely any 
 air to be felt now ; the stars hung their reflection in the water 
 without a blurr, and the moonshine made the horizon so misty 
 that one would have thought a fog was wreathed around the 
 circle. It was only by straining the sight that I could obtain 
 a glimpse of the vessels ahead. 
 
 ' If this lasts, Master Frenchman will get away from us/ said 
 Shelvocke. ' But it cannot be helped.' 
 
 * Is it worth while to out boats after him, sir f 
 
 6 No ; the recapture is no great matter, and the job is cer- 
 tainly not worth tiring the men over. Capturing these luggers 
 is about as profitable as catching flies. They are the proper 
 prey of the cruisers, but the Tigress wants larger and better- 
 stocked holds than those boats carry. I suppose,' he continued, 
 laughing, ' the Happy-go-Luchy was running for one of the gaps 
 to the westward of the North Foreland. I am told that the 
 cliffs thereabouts are honey-combed by the smugglers. It's 
 reckoned a naughty trade, but upon my soul I can't find it in 
 me to denounce it. The revenue is so completely no man's 
 
THE CHASE OF THE ARMED LUGGER. 41 
 
 property that you can't realize the notion of anyone robbing 
 it.' 
 
 'Either the horizon gets thicker or Johnny Frog is drawing 
 away fast, sir,' said I ; ' I don't see him now.' 
 
 I You're looking in the wrong place ; there's one of them, at 
 all events, yonder, like a bit of mother-o'-pearl in the moon- 
 light. Aye, and there's the other close to her. I knew their 
 sails would be hove up when the moon got more to the westward.' 
 
 He pointed into the south, where, sure enough, I saw the 
 sails of the lugger glimmering like a waning star. The schooner 
 had no steerage-way, and I had been deceived in the situation 
 of the Frenchman by the Tigress's head having fallen off. 
 
 Shelvocke went below and I paced the deck alone, whilst 
 Tapping flitted about the gangway like a spectre, snuffling for 
 the wind, and in various demonstrative ways exhibiting his 
 disgust at the calm. This time last night we were lying snug 
 in dock, with the hum of the distant metropolis in the air ; and 
 now here we were with the sea all around us, an enemy in 
 sight, and a certainty of burning powder should a breeze spring 
 up. But these quick transitions are the very spirit of a sailor's 
 life ; and of privateering the peculiar fascination lies in the 
 rapidity of the changes of scene it opens up, the suddenness of 
 the dangers and escapes, and the permanent and delightful 
 sense of expectation it raises in a man. 
 
 Keeping my eyes pretty constantly fixed on the pale shadow 
 in the south-east, I did at last clearly perceive that it was re- 
 ceding from us fast, and soon after six bells neither I nor 
 Tapping, nor the look-out men, could discern the least sign of 
 the vessels. Not more, however, than a quarter of an hour 
 elapsed after we lost sight of them, when the water in the 
 direction in which they had vanished grew sharp and black 
 under the stars. 
 
 I I think there is some wind coming from yonder,' I ex- 
 claimed to the third mate. ' If so, we shall be able to hook 
 our Frenchman cleverly, for it is dead on end for him.' 
 
42 AN OCEAN FREE-LANCE. 
 
 Tapping sprang on to one of the guns. 
 
 1 Ay, there's the wind, sir !' he shouted. ' It's ruling a dark 
 line as it comes ; I see it breaking up the starlight, sir !' 
 
 It was a strong puff, and it breezed down upon us rapidly. I 
 ordered the square canvas to be furled, and by the time the 
 men were aloft the wind was all about us, and the schooner 
 lying down to it, every sail as flat as a pancake ; the water 
 squirting up under the bows and flashing white with threads 
 of green fire alongside and far away astern. At the first 
 coming of the breeze the captain arrived on deck. 
 
 1 "We have our friend now, I think,' said he quietly ; £ and he 
 is welcome to the weather-gage with the wind dead off the 
 French coast. See all clear, Mr, Madison, and have the lanterns 
 lighted ; but let them be hidden, for Johnny may not have yet 
 smelt us, and we'll have the benefit of his doubts.' 
 
 The boatswain's pipe rang clear and shrill upon the wind 
 that was now humming a pretty tune aloft, and skurrying 
 away with a booming note from under the foot of the huge 
 mainsail. The men responded to this first call to quarters 
 with a smartness that delighted Shelvocke. In a few minutes 
 they were all at stations, tompions out, boxes of canister and 
 grape at the carronades, and a grummet of round-shot at every 
 gun. There was, as might have been expected, some little 
 confusion at first, but a few orders set everything to rights ; 
 and there they stood, ninety of them, ready for whatever might 
 come, whilst the Tigress snored along, apparently defying the 
 influence of the light swell, and the water crackling away to 
 leeward like underbrush on fire and blowing up in white smoke, 
 as though the stem of the schooner was a torch and her pas- 
 sage through gunpowder. 
 
 A few large clouds came sailing up with this wind, looking 
 like big sheets of wadding as they neared the moon ; but as 
 she ducked to them and hid her light, the horizon, strangely 
 enough, grew clear : and in one of these intervals, when the 
 cloud-shadows covered the sea and the water-line lay sharp 
 
THE CHASE OF THE ARMED LUGGER. 43 
 
 against the stars like a ruling in India-ink, we spied the 
 glimmering vessels, like bits of wool, to windward, about three 
 points on the larboard bow. 
 
 This was about a quarter of an hour after the breeze had 
 started us. The excitement now began to grow lively. Here 
 was the Tigress, jammed close up to the wind, not only over- 
 hauling, but weathering upon the two vessels, both of which, 
 we might be sure, were fast boats ; indeed, we had the evidence 
 of the man we had picked up that the smuggler was ' built for 
 walking away, and that there was nothing on the coast that 
 could touch her/ which I thought probable enough, seeing that 
 one of the conditions of success in contraband traffic is speed in 
 sailing ; whilst, on the other hand, the French privateer luggers 
 were famous the world over for the beauty of their bottoms, 
 the strength of their fabrics, and the nimbleness of their heels. 
 So if nothing more came of this chase, yet as a specimen of 
 what the Tigress could do with her main-boom almost amid- 
 ships and the weather-leech of the flying-jib trembling like the 
 fly of a flag, the adventure was worth the attempt. 
 
 Shelvocke and I kept our glasses pointed at the vessels. I 
 expected every moment to see them go about, as the French- 
 man stood a poor chance on this board. He was fast opening 
 the cape to the westward of Calais, and once clear of that, we 
 should have the Channel as far as Barfleur clear to run him 
 down in. 
 
 1 Can you make out the cutter, Mr. Madison f said Shelvocke. 
 
 1 Yes, sir ; the sternmost one is she,' I replied, for she looked 
 the smaller of the two. 
 
 ' Ay, you are right : but surely the lugger hasn't got the 
 cutter's tow-rope aboard still !' 
 
 I watched them for some minutes, and then called out : 
 
 'There's some manoeuvring going on between them, sir. 
 They have closed.' 
 
 1 Steady !' shouted Shelvocke to the helmsman. l How does 
 she go V 
 
44 AN OCEAN FREE-LANCE. 
 
 'She breaks off, sir. 5 
 
 1 Good ! 'Bout ship, Mr. Madison. Smartly, now ! a short 
 board will clap us between Johnny and his home ¥ 
 
 The helm was put down, the canvas thundered as the 
 schooner shot into the wind, and in a minute she was on the 
 starboard tack biting fiercely into the short black running seas 
 with lines of foam trailing down her stem, like the salival froth 
 dropping from the jaws of a bloodhound on the scent, and 
 ratching swiftly to the eastward. 
 
 1 Ha !' I exclaimed, ' I thought they were up to some game, 
 sir. See, they have set fire to the cutter, and yonder goes the 
 lugger on the same tack as ourselves.' 
 
 All that could be distinguished for some minutes was a little 
 spark on the water in the direction where we had last seen the 
 cutter. It grew brighter and larger, and a line of black smoke 
 went blowing low over the tossing and tremulous tract of 
 moonlit sea. In a quarter of an hour the little vessel was 
 blazing freely, casting a small circumference of red light upon 
 the air, and staining the water a blood-red under her hull. 
 
 Hearing a commotion among a group of men stationed at 
 one of the guns forward, I called to know what was the matter. 
 
 ' Please your honour,' replied a voice, t it's the smuggling cove 
 cursing the Frenchman for burning his wessel. He says all his 
 clothes and wallybles is aboard, and two-an'-forty pound in 
 money.' 
 
 I caught a glimpse of the poor fellow shaking his long arm 
 over the bulwark and quivering about on his legs, but took no 
 further notice. Meanwhile the lugger was stretching to wind- 
 ward, apparently sailing very fast, though with every foot of 
 the road we measured we drew nearer to her. Indeed, now 
 that we had a fast chase on the weather-bow, we could estimate 
 the Tigress's powers of weathering accurately. With spars 
 erect, she walked to windward as though she were being 
 warped that way. I had expected much of her, but not so 
 much as she was giving us. Only a sailor can sympathize with 
 
THE CHASE OF THE ARMED LUGGER. 45 
 
 the strong feeling of delight and pride that fired me when, 
 looking forward, I felt the wind blowing through my teeth as 
 though it rattled clean over the bowsprit, and then glancing 
 astern, I marked the schooner's wake running away into the 
 pale haze of moonlight as straight as a mill-race speeds from 
 the foaming wheel. By the lugger's having set fire to the 
 cntter, it was plain that she had taken us for an enemy, and 
 that, true to the Frenchman's marine policy, her business was 
 to escape. So far as the wind was concerned, she was in as 
 bad a plight as she could well suffer from, if she was afraid of 
 us and wanted the shelter of her own coast, for the wind was 
 blowing dead along the course she would have liked to make. 
 
 The clouds were now tumbling up out of the sea, and slanting 
 athwart the stars pretty thickly, and the water was full of 
 shadows, amid which the moonshine fell down in lines like 
 slender cascades of molten silver, touching the black troubled 
 surface here and there with points of brilliance as sparkling as 
 the flash of diamonds, while the breaking waves glittered like 
 the star-dust in the sky, as their foam crossed the path of these 
 beams ; but clown in the west the smuggler-cutter was making 
 a great blaze, and resembled a solid ball of fire on the tumbling 
 surges. Fore and aft there was a grim silence in the schooner, 
 nothing to be heard but the swarming of the passing water and 
 the confused harping of the wind among the iron-stiff weather- 
 standing rigging. 
 
 A long twenty minutes went by, at the end of which time 
 the lugger loomed large, not above a point on the weather-bow. 
 
 * Eound she goes again, sir !' I shouted out, seeing the 
 shadow of the sails of the Frenchman fine as he slued upon 
 his heels. 
 
 i Keady about ship !' sung out Shelvocke, in a voice that 
 seemed to ring across the sea. * Stand by to fire the bow- 
 chaser as she goes round.' 
 
 There was a short pause as the helm was jammed over to 
 leeward, and then, whilst the canvas rattled overhead as though, 
 
46 AN OCEAN FREE-LANCE. 
 
 like an angry dog, the wind had seized the sails in its teeth and 
 was furiously shaking them, and whilst the schooner chopped 
 up and down upon the rising seas, which poured in foam against 
 her bows ; and whilst every block rattled like a gigantic dice-box 
 to the jerking of the swinging booms and sheets, a broad glare 
 of light flashed upon the darkness, throwing up the figures of 
 the men as they stood around the guns, and every spar and 
 rope and the seams of the deck, like a coloured picture flung 
 for an instant by a powerful red light upon a black cloth, 
 followed by a heavy explosion, while the smoke of the gun 
 whirled away to leeward and gleamed like a torn silk veil as it 
 sped across the sea. 
 
 This was the first gun ever fired aboard the Tigress, and the 
 report of it was followed by a loud cheer from the men. In a 
 few moments the sails were trimmed, and the schooner was on 
 the larboard tack, having doubled upon the chase like a hound 
 upon a fox. 
 
 4 They'll guess our metal by that ball, if it dropped anywhere 
 near them/ said Shelvocke to me ; ' and if so, I hope they'll 
 give up trying to dodge us.' 
 
 1 There she speaks, sir !' I exclaimed, as a spark winked at 
 the stern of the lugger ; but wherever the shot fell, it did not 
 drop within our ken. In a few minutes we yawed, and gave 
 her another dose from the bow-gun, and then a third, as fast as 
 the men could load. It was too dark and she was too far off 
 for us to see if our shot struck her ; but though there could be 
 no doubt that she was within range of the long twenty-four, 
 Shelvocke stopped firing at her after the third discharge. In 
 truth, we were coming up with her fast, and with a little 
 patience we should be able to give her a broadside, for, in petty 
 work of this kind, it is best to save powder until you can make 
 it do what }^ou want. 
 
 The lugger had only fired once j she held on in silence and 
 darkness — the foam in a heap to leeward of her, and the stars 
 whirling over her mast-heads as she reeled under the beam 
 
THE CHASE OF THE ARMED LUGGER. 47 
 
 swell. By this time we had weathered on her so effectually as 
 to have her dead on a line with our bowsprit. 
 
 Suddenly Shelvocke sang out for the starboard guns to give 
 her a broadside. 
 
 ' Aim low ! I had rather the balls should go under than over 
 her,' he exclaimed, and, with a motion of the hand, directed 
 the helm to be put down. As the schooner came up in the wind, 
 the whole five guns one after another were let fly at the lugger ; 
 the blaze of light striking the eye used to the darkness was 
 blinding, and the explosion was like half-a-dozen thunderbolts 
 falling upon the deck. Still the lugger held on without swerv- 
 ing a hair's breadth out of her course, and apparently no more 
 injured than had we blown through a pea-shooter at her. 
 
 ' That is what the lawyers call contumacy,' said Shelvocke, 
 peering at the Frenchman through a glass. ' It's quite certain 
 that we haven't winged her. Can she be within range, Madison % 
 This light is so confoundedly deceptive, that she might be two 
 or five miles off.' 
 
 1 Nearer two than five, sir. I don't quite see through her 
 moves. It doesn't look as if she meant to fight us. Perhaps 
 she hopes to run us within sight of one of her cruisers/ 
 
 1 Try her with another shot from the forecastle.' 
 
 The order was given, the schooner luffed, and the gun fired. 
 We looked to see the effect of this shot ; but if any mischief 
 had been done, it was not indicated by the vessel's movements. 
 All this while the wind had been gradually freshening, and was 
 now blowing a strong breeze with a windy-looking sky, and a 
 waning moon in the west that stooped among the clouds like 
 an ill-balanced paper kite. The Tigress had now as much 
 canvas on her as she could bear. She lay over until the water 
 was almost level with her lee gun-ports : the sea was a whole 
 smother of foam around her ; the spray flashed in smoke over 
 her forecastle, and, when the moonlight streamed upon the 
 canvas, you could have seen the standing-jib dark, half-way up 
 it, with the saturation of the flying water. On the other hand, 
 
48 AN OCEAN FREE-LANCE. 
 
 the Frenchman was as stiff as a church, albeit she carried an 
 enormous press of canvas proportionally out and away greater 
 than we were pelting under. 
 
 I was mentally reckoning how long it would take us to get 
 alongside of her, when, to the great astonishment of everybody 
 who was watching, she put her helm up and went swirling 
 away to leeward, with her lugs boomed out. Our puzzlement 
 was supreme. It seemed as mad a thing as the Frenchman 
 could be guilty of. He was not only running away from his 
 own coast, but he was bringing the southern limb of the Good- 
 win Sands dead under his stem ; and unless he presently hauled 
 his wind so as to make a more westerly course, he must in- 
 evitably run ashore. However, one must fain go where the 
 devil drives. The helm of the schooner was put up, the sheets 
 eased off, and hands sent aloft to loose the square canvas. 
 
 Blowing now as it was over our stern, the wind appeared to 
 have calmed amazingly; but it soon grew apparent that in 
 scudding the lugger was more than our match. Half our sails 
 were becalmed, the gaff-foresail useless, and even the mainsail 
 gave but little help; whereas the Frenchman, by booming out 
 his lugs, made every cloth serviceable, and we saw him skim- 
 ming away in the gloom like a huge sea-bird swept over the 
 surges by its expanded wings. Still, he had hooked himself 
 dead under our lee, with our broadside to windward, and the 
 Goodwin Sands to leeward of him. In this posture it was im^ 
 possible for him to escape us, and so none of us took it much 
 to heart that he improved his distance, or that the Tigress 
 lagged a little, seeing the schooner never yet was built that 
 proved herself a fast ship with the wind astern of her. 
 
 We bowled along in this way, keeping a bright look-out all 
 around us, for this was a wind to give activity to the enemy's 
 cruisers, and any moment might show us the canvas of a big 
 ship. Eight bells, midnight, were struck, and as the last bell 
 was echoing, I dropped the glass I was holding to my eye as I 
 hung over the starboard bulwarks to get a clear view of the 
 
THE CHASE OF THE ARMED LUGGER. 49 
 
 lugger that was glimmering upon the darkness a long way- 
 ahead, with the reddish moon shining close down upon the sea 
 to the right of her, and said to Shelvocke that the chase seemed 
 to be growing smaller and smaller ; that not long ago I could 
 distinctly make out her black hull, but that it was now indis- 
 tinguishable. 
 
 1 Surely,' said I, ' she can't be forging ahead so fast as all 
 that, sir.' 
 
 He took the glass from me, and had a long squint at her. 
 
 ' Why, as you say, Mr. Madison, she does appear to have 
 grown remarkably small on a sudden. I don't see anything of 
 her hull at all now. And has she any notion where she's bound 
 to, I wonder V He paused and counted upon his fingers. 
 * Send a hand on to the top-gallant-yard,' he exclaimed. * The 
 sands can't be more than a couple of miles distant by the appear- 
 ance of that light down there. Bid him keep a sharp look- 
 out for breakers. We must mind that that fellow does not 
 lead us into a mess.' 
 
 A man went aloft, and I waited to hear if he had anything 
 to report, but no hail came from him. I walked aft to look at 
 the compass, and was standing there with my eyes fixed on the 
 card, and feeling rather fretful over this prolonged chase, and 
 thinking of the small amount of glory and still smaller amount 
 of profit we, as privateersmen, should get out of the capture of 
 this lugger, and doubting whether we had not done better to 
 jog quietly down Channel, reserving our powder and our heels 
 for a wholesome cargo and daylight, instead of dodging about 
 after a nimble and subtle chase under the perplexing moonlight, 
 when Peacock sung out in his soft flute-like voice from the 
 waist : ' They're burning a blue-light aboard the Frenchman, sir ! 
 
 I sprang to the side to look, and there sure enough was the 
 lugger illuminated by the blue fire, and looking as though she 
 had been revealed by a flash of lightning, the outline of her 
 sails clearly marked, and the whole square form of her pulsat- 
 ing in the fluctuating light, like the glow of phosphorus rubbed 
 
 4 
 
50 AN OCEAN FREE-LANCE. 
 
 on the wall of a dark chamber ; while at quick intervals she 
 fired guns, sometimes two at a time, the white flames, as they 
 spurted from her sides, contrasting with really grand effect 
 with the ghastly radiance of the blue fire and the black surface 
 of the water and the masses of clouds pouring over the now 
 moonless sky. 
 
 ' Those are clearly distress-signals !' exclaimed Shelvocke, 
 who stood close beside me. ' Surely she cannot have taken the 
 ground. Hail the top-gallant-yard, and see if the look-out man 
 makes broken water in the neighbourhood of the lugger.' 
 
 But the answer was that the sea looked clear enough all 
 that way. 
 
 * The lugger has hauled the wind, sir !' shouted Chestree, 
 with his eye to the glass. ' She is standing to the norrard — 
 no ! she is slueing right up into the wind f 
 
 She was now firing to right and left, as though she was pour- 
 ing broadsides into an enemy on either side of her. 
 
 ' Get the square canvas clewed up, Mr. Madison — brail up 
 the foresail — shorten sail fore and aft, and let her drive down 
 easily. I mus.t see where we are ;' and whilst Shelvocke dived 
 below to have a look at the chart, I half stripped the schooner 
 of her canvas and set the lead going. The soundings gave us 
 eighteen and twenty fathoms of water ; besides, the tumble of 
 the sands was not yet in sight, and all hereabouts was a fair- 
 way channel, so we might be sure the lugger was not ashore. 
 Was there anything wrong aboard of her 1 or were her distress- 
 signals merely meant as a ruse to bring us alongside, unsus- 
 picious of the reception she would give us ? 
 
 Suddenly her blue-lights went out and she ceased firing. 
 At this moment Shelvocke came on deck. 
 
 ' The chart gives six and seven fathoms almost alongside the 
 sands,' said he. ' Where is the lugger V 
 
 1 Yonder,' I answered, indicating the spot where I had seen 
 her a minute before. 
 
 He looked, and then asked me for the glass. He looked again. 
 
THE CHASE OF THE ARMED LUGGER. 51 
 
 'I don't see her,' said he. 'Try you.' 
 
 I levelled the glass, but there were no signs of the lugger 
 where I expected to find her. 
 
 ' How's her head f I called out, thinking that the wind had 
 veered, and brought the chase into other bearings. 
 
 ' West by north, sir,' came the answer from the helm, and 
 this was the course we had been steering since the lugger ran 
 off before the wind. 
 
 ' Very odd,' said I, sweeping the sea to right and left of the 
 schooner's bows. ' I can see nothing of her. Forward there ! 
 can you make out the chase T 
 
 ' No, sir ; she's gone down, I think,' was the reply after a 
 lengthy pause. 
 
 1 Then some of our shot must have told,' exclaimed Shel- 
 vocke. * They did not burn their blue-light and fire their guns 
 for nothing. No doubt they took the crew of the cutter 
 aboard before setting fire to her. For God's sake, go forward, 
 Mr. Madison !' he added, apparently greatly agitated, ' and look 
 about you for any of her people in the water.' 
 
 I made my way along the main deck that was thronged with 
 the men still at quarters, and reached the forecastle. The sea, 
 away on the larboard bow, was a coal-black line against the 
 sky that was yet pallid with the reflection of the moon, though 
 she had been sunk below the horizon some time, and all to the 
 north the stars were burning brilliantly enough to define any 
 shadow leaning against them. Had the lugger been afloat 1 
 must certainly have seen her. 
 
 ' My lads,' I exclaimed to the men on the look-out, ' there 
 can be no doubt the Frenchman has foundered. She had some 
 of our countrymen aboard. Keep your eyes upon the sea and 
 your ears open, for we are close to the spot where she dis- 
 appeared.' 
 
 We hung over the bowg, gazing earnestly at the water, that 
 was streaked with the foam of breaking surges, and straining 
 our ears for a human cry. The seas, however, were so short 
 
 4—2 
 
52 AN OCEAN FREE-LANCE. 
 
 and confused, and the showering of the spray so heavy as it 
 was blown off the heads of the waves, that the strongest 
 swimmer battling amongst them would have been speedily over- 
 come. We had drifted, according to my calculations, about a 
 quarter of a mile beyond the spot where the Frenchman had 
 foundered, when the man on the top-gallant-yard reported 
 breakers ahead on the starboard bow. As these would be the 
 Goodwin Sands, the helm was put over and the schooner hove 
 to, and lanterns slung over her sides, and in this manner we 
 lay for half-an-hour, every soul aboard of us eagerly searching 
 the surrounding water. 
 
 But it was all to no purpose. Our shot had evidently 
 knocked a hole in the lugger that let in water more quickly 
 than her crew could pump it out. She had sunk, and not a 
 vestige of her nor her people was to be seen, though ninety 
 pairs of eyes hung over the bulwarks of the Tigress, and the 
 lanterns flung a lustre that made the surface of the water clear 
 for a dozen fathoms away. 
 
 I went aft and reported to the captain that none of the crew 
 of the lugger was to be seen. 
 
 1 It's a bad job,' he exclaimed. ' Those luggers are usually 
 as full of men as a hive is of bees, and I should be sorry to 
 guess how many human souls have gone to their account this 
 night. Worst of all, they had the crew of the cutter 
 aboard, and we have destroyed our own countrymen. Yet it 
 could not be helped ! so let the hands trim sail now, Mr. 
 Madison, and send the larboard watch below. The first exploit 
 of the Tigress has not been a brilliant one, but it has proved 
 abominably murderous.' 
 
 And more affected than I should have believed possible in a 
 man of his resolution and experience, he quitted the deck. 
 
THE ACTION WITH THE CORVETTE. 53 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 THE ACTION WITH THE CORVETTE. 
 
 The watch having been called, I went below tired out, and 
 throwing myself into my bunk, fell into a sound sleep in a few 
 minutes. I was aroused at four o'clock, and went on deck, and 
 found the dawn bright in the east, and the schooner, under 
 easy canvas, hugging the wind and heading west-south-west. 
 Indeed, the wind had chopped around, and was blowing off the 
 English coast, the nearest point of which was Dungeness, 
 though not only was there no land in view, but the weather 
 was so thick that the horizon lay at a distance of not more 
 than two miles around us. 
 
 I had hoped that when the morning broke the haze would 
 lift ; but when the sun rose and hung over the sea-line like the 
 bottom of a newly-scoured copper kettle, the fog came down 
 as thick as a feather-bed, and blew in steam across the deck. 
 It was all a blank to within three ships' lengths ahead of us. 
 The green seas came curling and foaming out of the fog to 
 windward, but you could not see one inch beyond the point at 
 which their forms grew defined, and they went combing in 
 curves as polished as oil to leeward, vanishing instantly when 
 they came in contact with the fog-curtain. 
 
 The breeze was warm, but the damp made it uncomfortable. 
 The decks were so slippery that it was not easy to keep one's 
 footing. The moisture fell in showers from the rigging, and 
 drops of water formed at the brim of my hat as fast as I could 
 shake them off. 
 
 At four bells the watch turned out to wash down. There 
 were so many men to perform this job that it was soon over, 
 and the decks being cleared up and the rigging coiled down, 
 the schooner took a more comfortable air ; but the fog remained 
 unpleasantly dense, and sometimes settled down so thick, that 
 the inner jib was not to be seen from the binnacle. Fortu- 
 
54 AN OCEAN FREE-LANCE. 
 
 nately we had plenty of sea-room, for the French coast that 
 edged away to the southward gave us a broad stretch of water 
 to leeward, we were clear of the Eidge, and had good sound- 
 ings for leagues. 
 
 But fogs of this nature were tolerably fruitful of disagreeable 
 surprises ; at any moment an enemy's hooker might ooze out 
 of the thickness and be aboard of us. I therefore took care to 
 see everything clear, and stationed some experienced hands as 
 look-out men, keeping my own ' weather-eye lifting,' as we say 
 at sea, and enjoining Tapping to follow my example. Indeed, 
 the man we had picked up on the previous night had told 
 Shelvocke that his cutter had been chased during the afternoon 
 by a large French corvette, who, finding that she could not 
 overhaul the little smuggling craft in the light wind then pre- 
 vailing, put her helm up, and apparently returned to her 
 cruising-ground, which the man believed to be between Calais 
 and Lornel Point. We had no particular wish to come across 
 this Frenchman, who was described as mounting very heavy 
 batteries, and a great deal too big for us to handle ; but if our 
 smuggler was right, she was undoubtedly somewhere in the 
 neighbourhood, and it would be no great joke for the fog sud- 
 denly to clear and expose the beauty lying close enough to 
 deliver a broadside before we could give the schooner canvas 
 enough to get away. 
 
 Shortly before eight bells Shelvocke came on deck, and 
 seeing how matters stood, and that the breeze was dropping, 
 the order was passed along for the men to keep silence, also 
 for no bells to be struck, and for the leadsman to speak his 
 report in a low tone to a hand stationed by his side for the 
 purpose of bringing his messages aft to the officer in charge. 
 In addition to this, the foresail was securely brailed up and the 
 staysail and inner-jib hauled down to silence their flapping ; 
 and the schooner, under her mainsail and standing-jib, glided 
 slowly up and down over the breathing swell, as silent as a 
 dead -house, and amid a fog as impenetrable as a blanket. 
 
THE ACTION WITH THE CORVETTE. 55 
 
 At eight o'clock I went below to breakfast, the Tigress being 
 in charge of Tapping. 
 
 I have a lively recollection of our mess-table aboard this 
 privateer. Shelvocke was a Ion vivant ; he had a liberal owner 
 in Hannay ; moreover his experience in victualling vessels for 
 rich East India passengers was large, so that few men knew 
 better how to furnish a table than he. We sat down to a 
 breakfast fit to place before a prince. 
 
 ' And if there is anything wanting,' said Shelvocke, with his 
 fine smile, ' Monsieur Crapeau shall supply it. He is a dis- 
 tinguished cook, and understands the secrets of digestion. And 
 why should we not be well served, Madison ? As well feed the 
 inmate of a palace on hard salt junk and give majesty to drink 
 of rancid water, as ill-provision the commander and officers of 
 such a glorious little hooker as the Tigress.' 
 i These be noble sentiments, captain,' said I. 
 ' Yet historians say that the reason why the ancient Eomans 
 were licked by the northern savages was because they were too 
 fond of roast peacock and the juice of the vine,' observed 
 Chestree. 
 
 ' True, Mr. Chestree ; but we are not ancient Eomans, sir,' 
 replied Shelvocke, apparently surprised that a man like Chestree 
 should know anything about the ancient Eomans, ' nor have we 
 savages to fight with. Mr. Madison, there is no blunder more 
 deplorably stupid than the notion that well-fed — mind, I don't 
 say over- fed — men won't do their work properly. Yet men of 
 the type of the late Lord Howe— buckramed Britons with a 
 yard of marline-spike down their backs — will tell you that 
 good officers are only to be got by rearing young fellows on 
 coarse food. I remember the first lieutenant of the Latona — 
 that was one of the Channel fleet under Howe in the action of 
 the first of June — telling me that the old admiral was always 
 worrying the people about him with his opinions on eating, 
 and he would say that were he to found a state and organize a 
 fleet, one of his articles should provide that no officer of what 
 
56 AN OCEAN FREE-LANCE. 
 
 rank soever should consume better food than the cube of salt 
 horse and the occasional dram of rum which are supposed to 
 form fo'ksle provender at sea. Yet old Howe was never tired 
 of stuffing himself with roast pig, and I have heard that he 
 would swill port wine until the Dutch spirit he got from his 
 mother was all on fire, and then he would talk of Anson, whom 
 I believe he sailed with when a youth, as a person whose 
 memory deserved his patronage/ 
 
 ' But surely Howe was a great admiral, sir V said I. 
 
 1 A great what V shouted Shelvocke. ' Why, it was the King 
 who made him a man. What had Howe, down to '94, to do 
 with his own advancement 1 If he only took a trip as far as 
 the Soundings his Majesty sent him a letter, told him he was a 
 fine fellow, and the glory of his country, and begged his respects 
 to madam and the little Howes. If it hadn't been for Jervis, 
 Howe, in my opinion, never would have beat the French in 
 '94. The honour done that man — merely because his mother 
 was the daughter of some old Hanoverian baron who had been 
 master of the horse to George I. — will be thought one of the 
 most sickening things in history when the magnifying glass of 
 prejudice is crushed under the heel of time, when the dwarf is 
 dismounted from the shoulders of that short-lived giant called 
 Faction.' 
 
 I could not help smiling at Shelvocke's warmth, for Howe 
 had been dead thirteen years, and St. Vincent and Nelson had 
 so eclipsed his achievements that his name was seldom upon 
 the public tongue. But I afterwards learnt that Howe was one 
 of Shelvocke's cherished aversions, and that nothing fired him 
 more quickly than to praise the earl as a good seaman. 
 
 ' This fog is very bothersome,' said I, willing to change a 
 stupid subject, and glancing up at the skylight that lay like 
 squares of smoked glass over the cabin. ■ I don't remember 
 anything like this in summer, sir.' 
 
 ' It is rather a nuisance for us privateersmen that our ships 
 of war should be blockading the French ports all round,' ex- 
 
THE ACTION WITH THE CORVETTE. 57 
 
 claimed Shelvocke, lying back in his chair with a thoughtful 
 frown. 'Our cruisers whiten the offing from Boulogne to 
 La Eochelle, and round to the Mediterranean as high as the 
 Gulf of Lyons. I doubt if we can hope for much beyond 
 recaptures. I am in favour of the high seas, clear of ports and 
 forts and lee shores ; though I am unwilling to leave the 
 Channel without laying the foundations of a banking account. 
 We are missing booty in my opinion, Madison, by not stretch- 
 ing across the Atlantic and endeavouring to intercept some of 
 the homeward-bound American traders. But Hannay believes 
 in the English Channel, and I suppose I must give his preju- 
 dices a chance. Mr. Chestree, step on deck and see how the 
 weather looks.' 
 
 The second mate left the cabin, and returned after an 
 absence of a few minutes. 'It's as thick as mud, sir, and 
 there's very little wind, and there's no appearance of it clear- 
 ing.' He went on deck again, and after Shelvocke and I had 
 hung over the chart a few minutes we followed him. 
 
 It was my watch below, but I had no mind to turn in. The 
 fog was irritating and burdensome ; I considered it my duty to 
 be on the alert, albeit the schooner was in good trustworthy 
 hands with Chestree on deck ; and moreover the smuggler's 
 tale of the big French ship cruising in this neighbourhood gave 
 every man a reason why his eyes and ears should remain open. 
 
 Although there was very little wind, the fog blew athwart 
 the deck in horizontal lines, it was as white as steam, but not 
 the more penetrable for that ; sometimes it would open a little 
 in folds and disclose the water for about a cable's length from 
 the side of the vessel lying as white as though it were full of 
 chalk sediment, and not a blurr upon it, though there was a 
 small ground-swell upon which the schooner rose and sank 
 sluggishly, but quite noiselessly, as everything had been hauled 
 taut aloft and the sheets flattened in to prevent the canvas from 
 shaking. For the most part, however, the fog hung around 
 and over us in a curtain, sometimes so dense that the men 
 
58 AN OCEAN FREE-LANCE. 
 
 forward could not be seen, whilst the masts shot up and dis- 
 appeared in it as if they had been sawn short off at the point 
 where they vanished. 
 
 Seeing the surgeon smoking a pipe just abaft the galley, I 
 went over and joined him. He had served in a man-of-war, 
 and was a rather coarse-looking person ; but he was reputed a 
 very skilful hand, and possessed of more humanity than was 
 commonly to be found among the ship-surgeons of that day. I 
 always thought of ' Eoderick Eandom' when I looked at him, 
 for he came very near to the marine medicos of that novel, 
 with his red hair, broken nose, and dirty linen. I spoke to 
 him about the illness I had lately recovered from, and we then 
 drifted into other subjects, and I was rather surprised to find 
 how well he talked. He told me that he was master of four 
 languages, and that it was more on account of his fluency in 
 this respect than because of his professional knowledge that 
 Shelvocke had chosen him out of three or four dozen of appli- 
 cants for the berth, as it was thought that his capacity of pro- 
 nouncing these languages skilfully enough to deceive the ear of 
 foreigners might prove of use in strategic measures. 
 
 1 1 think so too/ said I, ' and heartily wish I had your gift of 
 tongues, Mr. Corney,' for that was his name. 
 
 ' How it may be with privateering I don't know,' said he ; 
 1 but for the British Navy I contend that no captain ought to 
 be allowed to take charge of a ship of war without being able 
 to converse with tolerable fluency in at least two languages — 
 say, French and Spanish. Last year an English ten-gun brig 
 was surprised and fired into at night by a large French vessel, 
 whose first broadside made a perfect shambles of her deck. 
 The Englishman wore, and under cover of the darkness gave his 
 big enemy the slip ; but a few hours later another large French- 
 man came down upon him, and ranging alongside, hailed to 
 know who he was. The captain was about to answer, when 
 the second lieutenant sung out in pure Sicilian that they were 
 the brig Manfredonia, of and from Palermo, bound to Rio Para, 
 
THE ACTION WITH THE CORVETTE. 59 
 
 on which the Frenchman braced his yards round, and left 
 them. The captain reprimanded the lieutenant for answering 
 the Frenchman's hail without leave, and in consequence the 
 lieutenant demanded a court-martial on his own conduct : and 
 the captain was obliged to admit in court that had it not been 
 for the prompt answer of the officer that had completely de- 
 ceived the Frenchman, the brig must have been taken, as half 
 his men were killed or wounded.' 
 
 1 A very good illustration in favour of your argument, Mr. 
 Corney,' said I ; ' and I have no doubt that many a small, dis- 
 abled English vessel might have given the enemy the slip, had 
 she been commanded by a linguist like your second lieutenant. 
 But I say> when is this fog going to clear ? it is enough to 
 choke a man.' 
 
 And truly it was more ponderous at that moment than at 
 any previous time : the helmsman was a mere looming shadow; 
 although there was a brilliant sun shining overhead, it produced 
 no other effect upon the extraordinarily thick mist than to 
 whiten it ; the swell was fast subsiding, and the lines of fog, 
 like trailing smoke, were barely driven by the languid draught 
 of air that was moving from the north. 
 
 1 Hark ! what was that ¥ I exclaimed, holding the cigar I was 
 raising to my mouth poised midway, as though I had been 
 changed into stone. 
 
 ' What did you hear ¥ whispered Corney, looking first into 
 the fog on the right, and then into the fog on the left of the 
 schooner. 
 
 ' Hush !' I muttered : ' there is a vessel near us.' 
 
 I went away to Shelvocke, who was sitting on a gun-carriage. 
 
 ' Did you hear a noise like the creak of a block just this 
 minute, sir V 
 
 ' Like the creak of a block 1 Where-away ¥ he exclaimed, 
 jumping up. 
 
 ' I cannot say where the sound came from, sir, but we may 
 hear something more by listening. 
 
60 AN OCEAN FREE-LANCE. 
 
 I got on to a gun to give my ear a good hoist above the bul- 
 warks, and hearkened with rapt attention, whilst Shelvocke, 
 with his head inclined, stood like a war-horse with cocked ears, 
 waiting. The men, observing our posture, watched us to know 
 what the matter was. There was a perfect silence throughout 
 the whole length of the vessel that was not a little impressive 
 when one thought of the crowd of living beings that filled her. 
 Now and again the water gurgled alongside, or the rudder 
 faintly jarred, or a timber groaned ; but these last sounds were 
 barely audible, whilst aloft the canvas was as quiet as a church- 
 yard. 
 
 On a sudden a cock crowed out in the fog. 
 
 The noise, as I fancied, came from the starboard quarter, but 
 Shelvocke bent his ears toward the starboard bow. Every man 
 on deck had heard the crow, and a half-suppressed titter ran 
 along. It was funny enough to hear the bird's voice sounding 
 from the sea and amid the dense fog, but the humour was made 
 somewhat grim by the possibility that an enemy was close 
 to us. 
 
 The moment Shelvocke heard the cock, he whispered to me 
 to see all clear and to have the men stationed ; but they were 
 strictly ordered not to speak above their breath, and they went 
 to quarters in their bare feet. This was one of the strangest, 
 and certainly one of the most exciting, experiences I had en- 
 countered since I had been to sea. Here we were at quarters, 
 and lying all breathless, so to speak, in an impervious fog that 
 hung in dense vaporous masses all around us, in close company 
 with a ship that was not only utterly invisible, but whose very 
 neighbourhood could not be guessed, nor her nationality and 
 character imagined. 
 
 Shelvocke stood groping along the fog with his eyes. I went 
 softly from one side of the deck to the other, frequently 
 imagining I saw a dark outline looming amid the vaporous 
 folds. Presently we heard a sound like that of a coil of rope 
 flung upon deck, and the rattle of shot or a chain. 
 
THE ACTION WITH THE CORVETTE. 61 
 
 ' Where does it come from, Mr. Madison, think you V whis- 
 pered Shelvocke. * I never knew anything more deceptive. ' 
 
 1 She should be yonder if she's anywhere at all/ I answered, 
 pointing over the starboard quarter. 
 
 ' I would to heaven it would clear, that we might obtain but 
 one glimpse of her f said he. ' Were she as big again as we, 
 and an enemy, I'd try my hand on her, and make capital 
 out of this blanket. Why do you stare ? Do you see any- 
 thing V 
 
 As he spoke, another cock-crow rose shrill and clear, and 
 again a soft little titter ran along the decks of the schooner. 
 
 ' I think I see a sort of darkness out yonder, sir,' said I, 
 pointing to the quarter in which all along I believed the vessel 
 lying. 'Look a little away to the left of the stern of the 
 cutter.' 
 
 But as I said this the fog closed all round again as thick as 
 the smoke from the batteries of a ninety, and Shelvocke shook 
 his head. 
 
 1 I see nothing,' he answered, and went to the side and 
 looked over ; then returned to me. ' She has not an inch of 
 way on her !' he exclaimed, and motioned with his hand to the 
 leadsman, who was astride of the bulwarks just abaft the fore- 
 rigging. 
 
 The fellow dropped the lead softly. I went to receive his 
 report, and came back to tell Shelvocke the soundings made 
 twenty-two fathoms. 
 
 Four bells were struck in the fog. The tone was marvel- 
 lously clear, and so close as to make me start, and a moment 
 after we heard a man's voice hailing some one aloft or forward 
 on the vessel. 
 
 ' What lingo was that ¥ exclaimed Shelvocke eagerly. 
 
 ' 1 only caught two words, " laissez / laissez /" which I take 
 to be French for " drop it !" ' I answered. 
 
 1 Hush !' cried Shelvocke ; and at that instant another voice 
 called out loudly. This evidently came from aloft ; it seemed 
 
62 AN OCEAN FREE-LANCE. 
 
 to be up in the air, over our heads. Corney came creeping 
 along the quarter-deck. 
 
 1 They're French aboard that vessel,' said he. ' The man 
 who first spoke said : " Those English are too mean to grease their 
 masts, and here's a fine spar rotting !" ' 
 
 Shelvocke smothered a laugh, but looked grave enough a 
 moment after. He made no remark, but walked aft and stood 
 looking over the taffrail. For some minutes we kept staring 
 and listening, and I was beginning to think that it would end 
 in the vessels drifting apart, and in our getting no sight of our 
 neighbour if the fog did not lift before the night came, when 
 all at once the fog thinned right abeam, as though a lane were 
 opened in it by a passage of wind, and disclosed about a 
 quarter of a mile of white water, with just a faint spangle of 
 sunlight touching the further extremity of it. The folds of 
 the fog rolling to the southward, this lane went with them, 
 and when it reached the quarter, there, standing in the clear 
 space of it, and about a pistol-shot away from the Tigress, was 
 a large black ship of not less than six hundred tons, lying 
 broadside on to us, with great channels which gave her rigging 
 a tremendously wide spread, and immensely square lower-yards. 
 The fog came down as low as her tops, so that all her upper 
 spars were hidden. She showed five guns for her broadside. 
 
 I sprang aft to take her bearings by the compass, and when 
 I looked again she was gone. 
 
 But gone only to the eye, for now that they had seen us the 
 ear could determine their whereabouts with laughable pre- 
 cision. It was evident that our sudden apparition had greatly 
 alarmed her people ; we heard a whole volley of orders thun- 
 dered out in French ; ropes were let go, blocks squealed, yards 
 were sharply braced around. Indeed, the confusion was as 
 sure a sign as the lingo that she was in French hands. 
 
 ' A merchantman, and a fine one !' exclaimed Shelvocke. 
 ' Pass the word for Mr. Corney.' 
 
 The surgeon was called, and came up from below. 
 
THE ACTION WITH THE CORVETTE. 63 
 
 1 Mr. Corney, you speak French I believe in a way to deceive 
 Frenchmen,' said Shelvocke. ' Will you please hail that vessel, 
 and get them to tell you what they know of her V 
 
 ' What vessel, captain V said Corney, staring into the fog. 
 
 ' Why, the vessel you can hear, sir !' 
 
 ' Ho, the ship ahoy !' shouted Corney, funnelling his hands 
 and aiming his voice in the direction of the hullabaloo. 
 
 At this hail a silence fell upon the Frenchman, and a voice 
 answered in French. 
 
 ' What ship is that ¥ cried Corney. 
 
 ' Who are you that inquire f came back the reply. 
 
 1 The French schooner St. JBrieux, from the north, bound to 
 St. Nazaire/ responded Corney promptly. ' And you V 
 
 There was no answer to this ; instead, I heard a sound un- 
 commonly like the traversing of carronade-slides, accompanied 
 by more hauling and pulling and boxing about of the yards. 
 
 ( Mind !' I sung out. ' They are making ready to give us a 
 broadside, sir. They evidently suspect us.' 
 
 And sure enough, as I said this, the white mist flashed up all 
 crimson, as though a mine had exploded close aboard, a heavy 
 roar of artillery followed, and the sea was torn up by a shower 
 of grape about twenty feet away from us. 
 
 ' Let them have it, men !' shouted Shelvocke in a voice that 
 must immediately have let the Frenchmen into the secret of 
 the ' St. Brieux ' — ' aim as I point, and high, to cripple her for 
 us when the fog lifts. How does she bear, Mr. Madison ?' 
 
 ' North-east three quarters east, sir.' 
 
 He glanced at the compass and indicated the position of the 
 vessel by extending his hand. The guns were canted and fired. 
 In all five pieces were discharged, and to judge by the crashing 
 and splintering of timber and several sharp yells, the grape and 
 round-shot had plumped faithfully home. Another broadside 
 followed from the Frenchman, and again the iron sleet tore up 
 the water wide of the mark. From the heavy, broad scattering 
 of the missiles it was plain that they were fighting us with 
 
64 AN OCEAN FREE-LANCE. 1 
 
 carronades, and it seemed by the explosions that the metal was 
 of heavy calibre. 
 
 Our men, following the direction indicated by Shelvocke, 
 fired again, and once more we heard the grape rattling and 
 tearing along the invisible deck and the splintering and crash- 
 ing of yards and masts aloft. If the fog was thick before, 
 there remains no word to express the opacity of it now that 
 the smoke of the cannon hung around us. Although, as I have 
 said, the enemy lay within pistol-shot, the very flame-spouts of 
 his last broadside had not glanced the least reflection on the 
 solid body of smoke and vapour ; the men stationed at our 
 guns could scarcely see one another, and when we fired our 
 third broadside they had nothing but the recollection of the 
 spot indicated by the captain to go by, for they could not see him. 
 
 Five times the Frenchman fired at us, and the last time his 
 grape sung close along the larboard side of the schooner, 
 showing they were aware that their shot had taken no effect 
 and that they had shifted their aim. A little more and this 
 broadside would have raked us, for they fired with depressed 
 muzzles, and their vessel was twice as high out of water as ours. 
 As it was, not a single shot touched us ; we had taken their 
 bearings, but they had evidently not taken ours, and it was by 
 omissions of this kind, apparently so inconsiderable, but in 
 reality of the very first importance, that French naval officers 
 lost most of the vessels entrusted to them by a country whose 
 reverses at sea were only to be equalled by its disasters on land. 
 
 We were in the act of giving them a fourth broadside, when 
 they hailed to say they had surrendered. Shelvocke immedi- 
 ately ordered the pinnace to be lowered and manned with 
 twelve seamen, in charge of Mr. Tapping, with orders to take 
 possession. The boat's crew were armed to the teeth, Shel- 
 vocke being apprehensive of treachery ; and a small compass 
 being sent down, and the vessel's bearings given, the pinnace 
 shoved off, and was immediately swallowed up. 
 
 We waited anxiously for Tapping's hail to announce his 
 
THE ACTION WITH THE CORVETTE. 65 
 
 arrival, the men being still at quarters and the guns double- 
 shotted, ready to bestow their terrible dose should the boat's 
 crew meet with any resistance. But we had no fear that the 
 third mate would overshoot his mark, as he had the bearings 
 of the prize ; and it was certain, from the result of our broad- 
 sides, that the vessel had not drifted half her own length from 
 the spot in which we had sighted her. 
 
 We remained waiting some time, I, for one, expecting every 
 moment to hear pistol-shots and the clash of cutlasses, as I 
 thought it extremely probable that the Frenchman had called 
 for quarter as an excuse to get his boats out and tow away from 
 the place in which we had nailed him, when, to our great relief, 
 we heard a shout from Tapping. 
 
 1 Hallo !' answered Shelvocke. 
 
 ' It's all right, sir. She's a splendid ship. We've got the 
 Frenchmen under hatches, and liberated the prisoners.' 
 
 1 What's the name of the vessel V 
 
 4 The Hanover, bound from London to Jamaica. She was 
 captured this morning at three o'clock by a French privateer, 
 and has a prize-crew of fifteen men, who were taking her to 
 Havre. There are forty of her crew and the master aboard.' 
 
 1 Is she much damaged V 
 
 1 Her foretop-mast is in halves, sir, and the royal mast-head 
 rests on the forecastle. Her lower standing rigging is a good 
 deal cut up, but I can't see anything above her tops. She has 
 three men killed and one slightly wounded.' 
 
 1 Very well, Mr. Tapping ; whilst this fog holds, I shall fire a 
 musket from time to time, which you will please answer. Let 
 the liberated men turn to, and refit as well as they can.' 
 
 This was the only instance that I can remember of a ship 
 having been fought and taken in a fog. A fog is not like the 
 blackness of night. A night must be supernaturally black 
 indeed to prevent a man from obtaining some idea of an 
 enemy's size and even his postures. The very guns he dis- 
 charges reveal him j or there is a phosphorescent sparkle in the 
 
 5 
 
66 AN OCEAN FREE-LANCE. 
 
 water to tell you where he lurks ; or he makes a deeper shadow 
 against the sky than the sky elsewhere holds. But a fog is 
 like blinding a man. You hear a noise, but you cannot tell 
 where it comes from. The flashes of the guns are invisible ; 
 and when you think you have the enemy under your muzzles, 
 he has drifted athwart your bows or is lying dead on end astern 
 of you. 
 
 It was extraordinary to think of our having a big recapture 
 within hail of us, and yet out of sight ; of our having fought 
 a ship of which only a few of us had caught the merest 
 glimpse. The fog remained as thick as a Cape Horn snow- 
 storm until noon, during which time we kept on discharging 
 muskets at intervals, which were regularly answered ; so that 
 each vessel was very exactly apprised of the other's distance, if 
 not position. Shelvocke was in high spirits, and ordered the 
 steward to serve out an extra dram of rum to the men, who 
 had exhibited a remarkable discipline in the silent and resolute 
 manner in which they had gone to quarters, their stillness as 
 they stood in groups, and in their determined bearing as they 
 waited for the fog to discover their near neighbour, who, for all 
 they then knew, might prove to be a French line-of-battle 
 ship. 
 
 Scarcely had the sun reached the meridian, when the fog 
 began to thin down in the west. One could see it breaking up 
 into masses like the clouds round the brow of a mountain, with 
 glimpses of the sky shining amid the intervals, and the spark- 
 ling of the open waters, whilst, astern of us, it was as thick as 
 cream, and the ship invisible. We were all of us anxious to 
 have a sight of the recapture, and every eye was turned aft as 
 the vapour thinned down upon the ship, revealing first her hull 
 and next her courses, until presently her main-royal-yard oozed 
 out, and then the whole of her lay exposed ; and a fine great 
 ship she looked as she floated on the perfectly calm surface of 
 the blue water about eighty fathoms away on our starboard 
 quarter, with her tall, black sides, and the short muzzles of her 
 
THE ACTION WITH THE CORVETTE. 67 
 
 guns projecting beyond the ports, and her immensely square 
 yards mirrored with extraordinary precision in the transparent 
 sheet of azure on which she reposed, while her large black 
 shape was thrown into strong relief by the solid snow-white 
 bodies of vapour which were slowly rolling and settling aAvay 
 down in the east. 
 
 Tapping had turned up her people to refit during the time 
 they lay in the fog ) they had jury-rigged her forward, though 
 there was enough hoist left in the stump of her foretop-mast to 
 enable a double-reefed sail to be set ; and on the whole, they 
 had made a very respectable figure of her aloft, where most of 
 our shot had flown, and left her in a condition very well fit to 
 sail across the short space of water that lay between us and 
 the English coast. 
 
 No sooner had the fog left the two vessels visible to each 
 other, than the ship's gig was lowered, and three men and a 
 stout old fellow got into her, and shoved off for the Tigress. 
 Whilst the boat approached our vessel, I jumped on to the 
 bulwark, and had a long look around the horizon. In the 
 east, and stretching a considerable distance north and south, 
 the vapour still hung in heavy masses upon the water, obscur- 
 ing all that part of the deep down to within a couple or three 
 miles of us • but the sea was beautifully blue and bright with 
 the flash of sunlight on it, and for leagues in the west it was 
 clear, and not a sail in sight. The atmosphere was breathless ; 
 the swell had entirely subsided, and the two vessels lay motion- 
 less, without so much as a stir of their sails to waft a draught 
 of air along the deck, upon which the sun was beating fiercely, 
 and already softening the pitch between the planks, and dis- 
 tilling the smell of paint from the schooner's side. 
 
 The Hanover's boat hooked on under the gangway, and the 
 old fellow, who proved to be the skipper, stepped on board. 
 He immediately inquired for Captain Shelvocke, and then ran 
 to him with outstretched hands and fairly embraced him, 
 thanking him in broken tones for having saved his ship and 
 
 5—2 
 
68 AN OCEAN FREE-LANCE. 
 
 rescued him and his men from the horrors of a French prison. 
 He was a fine, portly-looking old fellow, and had figged him- 
 self out for this visit, being dressed in a blue swallow-tail, 
 with a couple of brass buttons nearly as big as saucepan-lids 
 under his shoulder-blades, a fine frill, new silk stockings, big 
 square-toed shoes, heavily buckled, and a hat like Cobbett's. 
 
 He said he had left Gravesend at two o'clock on the pre- 
 ceding afternoon, and had reached the Downs at ten o'clock at 
 night, where, not liking the look of the weather, he had 
 brought up within musket-shot of an English brig-of-war. At 
 three o'clock in the morning he was in his cabin asleep, when 
 he was aroused by a disturbance on deck, and on running up 
 the companion, he found that his ship had been boarded by 
 three boats full of men belonging to a French privateer that 
 was lying hidden close under the South Foreland. Before the 
 alarm could be raised, the hatches were closed, the cable cut, 
 and the Hanover standing away to the southward under a press 
 of canvas. It appeared, however, that though the English 
 brig had no suspicion of anything being wrong aboard the 
 Hanover she sighted the privateer soon after the Frenchman's 
 boats had returned to her, leaving a prize crew in the Hanover, 
 and made all sail in pursuit. The captain added that he had 
 •left London bound to Stokes Bay, to make part of a small 
 convoy that was to sail on the following Monday ; he had a 
 crew of forty men, and mounted twelve guns, and certainly 
 hoped, by hugging the English coast, to have dished the 
 French cruisers. 
 
 ' But/ said he, in a passion, ' the audacity of those privateers 
 is something shocking, sir. Their impudence is only to be 
 equalled by their cowardice. They run like hares at the first 
 alarm, and they rarely try their hand on any game that is 
 likely to cost them so much as a black eye.' 
 
 Shelvocke invited him below, but they had hardly reached 
 the bottom of the companion steps when the quarter-deck was 
 hailed by a fellow on the topsail-yard. 
 
THE ACTION WITH THE CORVETTE. 69 
 
 1 There's a sail on the larboard quarter, sir, about a couple of 
 points abaft the beam.' 
 
 I looked, and sure enough there, about four and a half miles 
 away from us, lay a large corvette, which the fog, as it fined 
 away down, had unfolded, just as one lifts a curtain to dis- 
 close a scene, with the lustrous water on which she lay be- 
 calmed gleaming in her glossy sides, and her courses and top- 
 gallant-sails hanging in the bight of the bunt-lines. 
 
 I went to the open skylight and gave the news to Shelvocke, 
 who had just seated himself ; but the instant he heard me, he 
 jumped out of his chair as though a shell had exploded under 
 him, and ran on deck, followed by the portly skipper of the 
 Hanover, who arrived through the companion wheezing like an 
 old hound after a run. 
 
 ' One, two, three — eight gunports of a side, by jingo P I 
 exclaimed, working at her with a glass. ' As stout an eight 
 hundred ship as was ever launched, sir !' 
 
 ' Yes, eight gun-ports, and all furnished too/ said Shel- 
 vocke : ' and if the height of her lower masts and the narrow- 
 ness of her topsail-yards, and the hollow cut of the foot of 
 her sails don't speak her a Frenchman, let me be called a 
 Dutchman. What say you, captain V and he handed the glass 
 to the Hanover's skipper. 
 
 The old fellow took a long steady stare, and then letting 
 the glass drop from his eye, said : 
 
 'A Frenchman, sir — and a very ugly one, too.' 
 
 Shelvocke glanced round the horizon. 
 
 I I see no signs of a breeze, Mr. Madison, so let the crew go 
 to dinner. Mr. Peacock, jump aft and hoist French colours. 
 I'll bother that chap. Carry the halliards forward that the 
 bunting may show.' 
 
 No sooner was the French flag drooping at our peak than a 
 similar flag was run up to the mizzen-mast-head of the corvette. 
 In a few moments this was hauled down, and a private signal 
 hoisted. 
 
70 AN OCEAN FREE-LANCE. 
 
 c Dip the flag, Mr. Peacock,' sung out Shelvocke. ' That 
 will perplex them, Mr. Madison. They may take us for one of 
 their own privateers becalmed with a prize.' 
 
 Our flag was lowered half-way down, and then run up again. 
 After a little they hauled down the private signal and hoisted 
 the blood-red St. George's cross. 
 
 4 No, no, my fine fellow, that won't do,' exclaimed Shel- 
 vocke, laughing. ' Mr. Peacock, belay the flag-halliards, and 
 let them puzzle for awhile over that guarantee of our honesty. 
 Captain Jenkinson,' addressing the skipper, ' if yonder craft 
 prove to be, as I am cocksure she is, a Frenchman, shall you 
 and I fight her V 
 
 ' With pleasure,' answered the hearty old chap, with a sharp 
 gleam in his eye ; ' if she'll let us.' 
 
 6 You say you can muster forty men — you have thirteen of 
 my crew besides, whom I shall leave with you. What are 
 your guns f 
 
 ' Eighteen-pound carronades.' 
 
 ' You have five of a side — any swivels f 
 
 < Two.' 
 
 1 Why, you have men to fight them and to spare. What is 
 the risk compared to the chance of success f He took a few 
 short turns, and slapping his leg vehemently, exclaimed: 
 ' We'll have her ! we'll have her ! Mr. Peacock, jump below 
 and tell the steward to hurry forward the dinner. Captain 
 Jenkinson, we'll settle our tactics over a piece of English 
 beef.' 
 
 Presently the steward came up to say that dinner was on 
 the table, and I remained alone on deck to watch the move- 
 ments of the corvette. All this time she had kept English 
 colours hoisted, but shortly after Shelvocke had gone below 
 she replaced the English with the French flag, and at the same 
 time sheeted home her top-gallant-sails and set all three royals. 
 I construed this into a make-ready manoeuvre, but whether 
 done with the intention of drawing closer or hauling off when 
 
THE ACTION WITH THE CORVETTE. 71 
 
 the wind came I could not guess. It was quite probable that 
 she was deceived by the hull of our schooner which had the 
 true French lines, and the dogged way in which we kept her 
 country's flag hoisted would also help to give her people con- 
 fidence in us. 
 
 Our men having eaten their dinner, came up in twos and 
 threes at a time, and hung over the bulwarks watching her. 
 So motionless was the air and so marvellously restful the sur- 
 face of the water, that the Hanover and the Tigress remained 
 almost precisely in the same posture in which the lifting of 
 the fog had disclosed them. 
 
 Twenty minutes passed, and I was looking at the corvette 
 through the glass, when I saw them lower a boat, and dis- 
 tinctly perceived the glitter of the uniform of the officer who 
 entered her. I watched to see what this meant, and on 
 observing that the boat was making for us I reported the cir- 
 cumstance to Shelvocke, who immediately came on deck. It 
 was evident from the leisurely manner in which the boat came 
 along that the officer had not been despatched to make a 
 Ute-a-tete inquiry. Several times the men rested on their oars 
 while the officer stood up and scrutinized us with a glass. 
 Each time he sat down the boat's crew gave way again, as 
 though another few strokes of the oars would give them a 
 better chance of observing us. 
 
 I heard our men forward chuckling over this amusingly 
 reluctant approach when the boat was near enough for them 
 to see her. Indeed, it reminded me of some cowardly though 
 savage animal creeping towards one, ready to turn and fly at 
 the first sound. Yet that boat upon the lustrous blue water 
 and the shape of the heavy corvette beyond made a picture of 
 uncommon beauty. The sea was just broken and blurred 
 under the rise and fall of the oars as though they were dipped 
 into a sheet of quicksilver, and the boat looked like one of 
 those long-legged insects one sees on the surface of stagnant 
 pools on summer evenings as she cautiously advanced with the 
 
72 AN OCEAN FREE-LANCE. 
 
 oars rising and dropping ; while the pale blue sea rose like 
 glass to the black hull of the corvette, and terminated a short 
 distance beyond the ship in a gleaming line that was barely 
 distinguishable from the sky ; for the fog had now melted out 
 of the air, and the horizon was an unbroken circle. 
 
 The boat had got to within a mile and a quarter of us, and 
 Shelvocke had sung out to the boatswain to pipe away the 
 cutter's crew ready to chase her ; when, for the tenth time, her 
 men rested on their oars whilst the officer stood up and 
 examined us. But on this occasion he appeared to have dis- 
 covered as much as he wanted to find out ; for in a moment he 
 flung himself down, the boat's head was pulled round, and off 
 they went back to their ship as hard as ever they could pelt. 
 
 * Give him a shot from the stern-chaser !' shouted Shelvocke. 
 ' Haul down that flag and hoist English colours !' 
 
 The gun was pointed and fired, at the instant the English 
 ensign was run up. The roar of the heavy piece of ordnance, 
 amid the dead calm that then prevailed, seemed to shake the 
 schooner down to her kelson. I watched the shot strike the 
 water a long distance astern of the boat and go hopping after 
 her like a pea along a polished table, tarnishing the sea where 
 it struck it as a mirror is blurred by the passage of a damp 
 finger, and flashing up white jets as it ricochetted. The eye 
 lost sight of it after a certain distance, but though it did not 
 hit the boat, it was a well-thrown shot. 
 
 ' They have the truth now,' said Shelvocke, with a glance at 
 our ensign, the nationality of which was clearly displayed by 
 the halliards being taken forwards, so as to let the flag hang 
 down like a table-cloth in a laundress's drying-ground. ' Captain 
 Jenkinson, I think you had best get aboard your ship and see 
 all clear. We shall take advantage of the first slant of air, and 
 I shall not be surprised if the fog be not presently followed by 
 a breeze from the westward.' 
 
 The old fellow immediately shook hands with Shelvocke, 
 saying, as he went over the side, that we might count upon his 
 
THE ACTION WITH THE CORVETTE. 
 
 73 
 
 supporting the schooner if the corvette only allowed him to 
 bring his guns within range ; and getting into his boat, shoved 
 off, and was presently scrambling up the tall side of the 
 Hanover. 
 
 1 A regular Briton, all of the olden time/ exclaimed Shel- 
 voeke, watching him as he gained the side of his ship, ' as full 
 of spunk as a terrier. But Mr. Madison, you had better step 
 below, and get something to eat while there is time.' 
 
 I was not sorry for the chance, but did not stay at table 
 above ten minutes. When I came on deck again, I found 
 Shelvocke pacing up and down the quarter-deck with a cigar in 
 his mouth, casting light glances around the sea from time to 
 time, and constantly humming a soft tune. 
 
 The men hung about in the shadows of the sails and the 
 bulwarks, with their breasts bare and their faces crimson. It 
 was, indeed, as hot as ever I remember experiencing in any 
 part of the world. If I stood still a moment I could feel the 
 heat on the surface of the deck through the soles of my boots. 
 A faint haze had gathered over the horizon, and hung in some 
 places in greyish streaks like smoke, whilst here and there it 
 resembled the outline of a coast. For all that, the air was 
 amazingly transparent, and such was the refractive power of 
 the light that the sea beyond the normal line of it was lifted 
 up so as to form a mirage, which caused the corvette to appear 
 close to us, though, as I have said, she was between four and 
 five miles distant. 
 
 ' What is the time, Mr. Madison f asked Shelvocke. 
 
 'Hard upon two bells, sir.' 
 
 1 The wind is a long while coming, but after such an extra- 
 ordinary fog as the one that has just left us, we must be pre- 
 pared for wonders. I doubt if that fellow will show fight. I 
 have arranged with Jenkinson to let him go if the wind comes 
 northerly — that is, if he means to go — as I don't want to find 
 France a lee-shore with a half-masted ship like the Hanover in 
 company. On the other hand, if the wind comes south, or 
 
74 AN OCEAN FREE-LANCE. 
 
 east, or west, we'll fight him. My tactics will be to dismast 
 him, for really I believe the Tigress will be able to post herself 
 where she pleases, providing the right kind of wind blows. 
 Anyway we must cripple him aloft if possible, so as to give the 
 Hanover a chance of pounding him on one side, while we 
 hammer him on the other.* 
 
 ' He won't come up to the scratch, sir. He will have guessed 
 that the Hanover is a recapture, and depend upon it he knows 
 that M. le Ministre will forgive his anxiety to preserve the 
 corvette to the grand nation, when he reports that he was 
 opposed to two British vessels, one of them of trois mats, both 
 heavily armed, and, of course, chokeful of men.' 
 
 1 Ay, especially the one of three masts/ said Shelvocke with 
 a laugh. ' Well, Mr. Madison, it may prove as you say. Our 
 business, I will not call it our duty, is to capture her if we 
 can ; and, as I have said, if the wind blows from any quarter 
 but the north, I will chase her if she runs, and if she offers 
 fight will engage her, let the wind blow how it will.' 
 
 He then repeated his conversation with Jenkinson, and ex- 
 plained the tactics agreed upon, should the vessels come into 
 action. I was in the middle of an anecdote of an American 
 privateer that had very cleverly fought an English sloop-ship 
 by means of certain manoeuvres which the reader would hardly 
 thank me for particularizing, when, my eye being on the cor- 
 vette, I noticed that she had set her foresail. I immediately 
 called Shelvocke's attention to this, and suspecting the reason, 
 I took the glass and sprang into the main rigging to make sure 
 of it. One look satisfied me ; the water was dark all away astern 
 of the Frenchman, and a fresh breeze was coming down dead 
 over her taffrail as she lay with her head to the northward and 
 westward. On my reporting this, Shelvocke immediately 
 passed the word along for the hands to be stationed and every- 
 thing seen clear. Boarding-nettings were triced up, the guns 
 double-shotted, the primings carefully looked to, and all the 
 usual warlike preparations made. 
 
THE ACTION WITH THE CORVETTE. 75 
 
 Owing to the sea being cast up by the refractive light behind 
 the corvette, we could see the dark blue line of the wind 
 ruffling the water astern of her when she herself lay motion- 
 less upon the placid, lustrous-grey surface. We watched her 
 anxiously. Would she keep her yards square and come down 
 with the breeze upon us, or brace up and haul away on a bow- 
 line % In a few minutes the flag she carried at the mizzen- 
 mast-head and the long pennant at the main blew out, her sails 
 rounded, throwing off the shadows which filled them whilst 
 they hung slack from the yards, like the moon dipping clear 
 of a cloud, and resembling ivory hemispheres as they soared 
 brilliant in the sunshine, one on top of the other. Indeed it 
 was a beautiful sight to see her canvas fill, and the water all 
 around a rich quivering blue, and the passage of the wind 
 along the sea marked by a line as clear as the horizon against 
 the sky. 
 
 ' She steers as straight as a hair for us,' said Shelvocke 
 coolly ; ' and has more pluck than you think, Madison. She 
 is a big pill for our small throats, but we'll try to swallow her 
 all the same.' 
 
 ' Look, sir !' 1 exclaimed, almost bursting into a laugh, so 
 strong upon me was the excitement of the moment. 
 
 As I spoke the corvette's jib-boom made a slow, majestical 
 sweep, her yards were braced round, her main- tack was 
 boarded, and, giving us a whole-length view of herself, there 
 was our heavy friend ratching dead to windward, and going 
 away to the southward under every stitch of canvas she 
 could carry. A regular groan broke from our crew, and a 
 loud, derisive shout came ringing across the water from the 
 Hanover. 
 
 * No matter, my lads t exclaimed Shelvocke. l She'll have 
 to go pretty nearly as far as Cherbourg to fetch her native 
 shores if this wind holds, and I have no doubt, men, she'll reach 
 the nearest port she can come at safe enough — if we let her.' 
 
 ' We never will let her, sir !' — ' Give the Tigress the scent, 
 
76 AN OCEAN FREE-LANCE. 
 
 and she'll know the road !' — ' More prize-money for the gals V — 
 ' Hurrah, boys, here comes the breeze !' And plump it fell upon 
 us whilst these cries broke from the crew. The schooner's 
 helm was put hard down, her after-sails rattled her round, and, 
 like the wild and desperate beast whose name she bore, she 
 seemed to give a long plunge, settle herself for a bounding run, 
 and in a minute was tearing after the Frenchman. 
 
 It was a fine fresh breeze that blew now, with a promise of 
 more weight in it presently. The sea was all of a dance at 
 once, and blobs of foam like chips of white pine blew about 
 the merry, streaming waters. The Hanover took the wind, and 
 rounded to it handsomely, and there she was astern of us, with 
 a double-reefed fore-topsail, and staysail, and jib set flying 
 forward, and a tower of canvas behind. I laughed when I 
 looked at her, but I caught Shelvocke watching her with an 
 expression of great anxiety. A very few minutes proved that 
 the Tigress would leave the Hanover hull down long before the 
 corvette fell within range of our guns. Her round bows made 
 a great hullabaloo in the water, and she splashed and wobbled 
 like a negro bathing ; but her rate of progress was very slow. 
 Although her bowlines had been triced out to a regular sailors' 
 song, she appeared to be going free in comparison with the 
 close-sailing of the schooner ; and although she had started 
 somewhat to windward of us, already in this short distance of 
 time, she was well on our lee quarter. A dull sailor she un- 
 doubtedly was at the best, but with her fore-topmast in 
 halves, she was simply nowhere at all ; and it was immediately 
 apparent, now that the corvette had hauled her wind, that the 
 Hanover could not possibly take part in the tactics which had 
 been concerted between her captain and Shelvocke. 
 
 For the first and only time that I can remember, Shelvocke 
 appeared irresolute. 
 
 * Jenkinson ought to have told me she was a tub,' he ex- 
 claimed angrily. 'I knew by her bows that she wasn't a 
 clipper ; but, confound the man ! who would have guessed his 
 
THE ACTION WITH THE CORVETTE. 77 
 
 hooker couldn't sail at all ? Shall I order Tapping to carry 
 the old sugar-box home or let him take his chance by follow- 
 ing us V 
 
 i You'll find the Frenchman will shorten sail and bear down 
 upon us when he sees the Hanover going. Don't fancy I want 
 to back out of the job, captain, if I ask whether you don't 
 think that ship a trifle too big for us ¥ 
 
 1 No !' he answered passionately ; ' and were she twice as 
 big, I would chase and fight her after my speech to the men. 
 That's not the question. What am I to do with that old 
 tea- waggon on our quarter yonder V 
 
 ' Send her adrift, sir. She'll be safer out of the road, and 
 she is certainly of no use to us.' 
 
 He immediately ordered Chestree to signal to the Hanover 
 to make the best of her way at once to England. Old Jenkinson 
 seemed annoyed by this order, to judge at least by his tardiness 
 in executing it. I suggested to Shelvocke that, as he had 
 practically reinstated Jenkinson in his old command, Tapping 
 might have been prohibited from carrying out the injunction 
 made by signal. 
 
 ' More than likely,' exclaimed Shelvocke, still in a passion. 
 ' But I'll soon show Jenkinson who's master. Molloy, throw a 
 shot across the Hanover's forefoot.' 
 
 The man who was stationed at the aftermost gun sighted the 
 piece, and fired. The hint sufficed ; for when the smoke 
 cleared away, we saw the Hanover in the act of going off before 
 the wind, and in a few minutes there were hands aloft, rigging 
 out the studding-sail booms. 
 
 Shelvocke paced the quarter-deck quickly, sometimes glancing 
 at the Frenchman whom we were slowly weathering, though 
 he was spanking along at a sharp pace, sometimes looking after 
 the Hanover, whose stern was now at us, and who with her 
 studding-sails appeared a whole hill of canvas on the smooth 
 water. Chestree came up and asked me if Captain Shelvocke 
 meant to engage the corvette. 
 
78 AN OCEAN FREE-LANCE. 
 
 1 It looks uncommonly like it,' I answered, ' considering that 
 we are not sailing her for a wager. ' 
 
 1 She's a big ship, Mr. Madison,' said he, looking at her with 
 his head askew, as though he were wall-eyed. 
 
 'Yes ; a trifle bigger than we are, Mr. Chestree,' 
 
 1 Pray the Lord her batteries prove carronades, Mr. Madison. 
 How many men might she carry now, think you, sir ¥ 
 
 1 Why, vessels of her class are usually crowded ; and I think 
 we may safely calculate on being opposed by three hundred 
 men.' 
 
 1 And Tapping away with twelve of our crew !' said he, in a 
 voice so like a groan, that Shelvocke, who was pacing the other 
 side of the deck, stared hard at him. 
 
 1 No doubt the task before us would be easier if she were 
 smaller or we were bigger,' I observed ; l but then half the fun 
 of fighting her would be lost.' 
 
 And so saying, though not in heart one jot more comfortable 
 than my friend Chestree, I went over to the weather-side to 
 watch the enemy. She bore about two points before the 
 beam : and in consequence of the superiority of a fore-and-aft 
 over a square-rigged vessel in hugging the wind, we were lying 
 up well for her, and every minute decreasing the space between 
 us. She was not more than three and a half miles away ; and 
 even at that distance was as beautiful a sight as any man could 
 wish to look on. Viewed through the glass, her people could 
 be clearly distinguished upon her snow-white decks, which the 
 pressure of the wind on her canvas inclined towards us suffi- 
 ciently to enable me to see the breeches of her larboard-tier of 
 main-deck guns. It is likely that she took us to be a larger 
 vessel than we were ; for our far-reaching mast-heads and pro- 
 digious spread of cloths — the end of our main-boom when 
 amidships seemed to go a whole ship's length over the taffrail — 
 made us an imposing object ; but whether the sight of the re- 
 treating Hanover gave her courage, or whether she found we 
 were fore-reaching and weathering on her too fast to give her 
 
THE ACTION WITH THE CORVETTE. 79 
 
 a chance, or whether she grew ashamed of running away from 
 a vessel that might have made a long-boat for her, she presently- 
 clewed up her royals and fore and mizzen top-gallant-sails, and 
 hauled up her courses, and, putting her helm over, ran down to 
 meet us. 
 
 I had been expecting this every minute ; but the moment 
 she altered her course, Shelvocke gave the order to put the 
 schooner about. The Tigress having brave way on her, ran 
 into the wind to the tune of the boatswain's pipe, and before 
 a man could have counted fifty, she was standing to the east- 
 ward, with sails as flat as boards, and the men, as quiet as 
 figure-heads, massed along the decks. 
 
 This manoeuvre seemed to capsize Johnny's theories. I sup- 
 pose he could not guess what we would be at. He stood on 
 for a few minutes, during which time Shelvocke watched him 
 with gleaming eyes and as mocking a smile as ever I saw on a 
 man's face ; then he put his helm down. 
 
 Probably few landsmen, how ignorant soever of the sea, but 
 know that a square-rigged vessel does not go round on her 
 heels in stays like a schooner. It seemed an age, in comparison 
 with the nimbleness of the Tigress, before the corvette swung 
 her fore-yards ; and when at last she was braced up on the 
 starboard tack, we had made half a mile of weathering, and 
 were well on her lee-quarter. She had hardly got her yards 
 trimmed when she let fly two guns at us, probably to test the 
 range ; but, whatever might have been the calibre of the 
 pieces, nothing, so far as we were concerned, came of the ex- 
 periment but the veil of cobweb-coloured smoke that puffed up 
 over her stern and blew down towards us along the sea. 
 
 We watched her setting the flying-kites she had clewed up, 
 and when she had boarded her tacks and made herself com- 
 fortable, once more Shelvocke shouted out : ' Hands about 
 ship !' and amid the half-suppressed grins of the men, who 
 heartily enjoyed the manner in which the captain was bother- 
 ing the Frenchman, and who believed that behind this dodging 
 
So AN OCEAN FREE-LANCE. 
 
 lay a bold and clever scheme, the helm was again put down, 
 and the Tigress headed on her former course. 
 
 It was the right kind of breeze for the schooner, fresh with- 
 out much weight, and the sea smooth, and she went along like 
 a sledge over a level plain of ice. This time Johnny was more 
 alert. While our own ropes were coiling down, his sails were 
 shaking, and as he gave us his stern, he favoured us with 
 another gun. The ball dropped a long way short, though I 
 saw the flash of the foam where it fell. 
 
 ' Look ! look !' shouted Shelvocke suddenly. ' She's missed 
 stays ! By heaven, they've got her in irons ! Put your helm 
 down — flow your headsheets — quick, men — so ! Make ready 
 with your bow-gun there, and aim at her spars. Don't fire 
 before the order's given t 
 
 The corvette was indeed in one of those unfortunate predica- 
 ments which, in ninety-nine cases in a hundred, are the result 
 of bad seamanship. It happens sometimes, it is true, that, in 
 a cross-sea, and under small canvas, a ship will come up into 
 the wind a short way, and fall off again with her helm hard 
 down ; but in smooth water, with a fine breeze blowing, and 
 all plain sail set, missing stays can only be the consequence of 
 culpable ignorance on the part of the captain or officer in 
 charge, or an inattention on the part of the man at the 
 helm serious enough to deserve the penalty of the yard- 
 arm. 
 
 There lay the corvette all aback, the utmost confusion pre- 
 vailing aboard ; and we could only hope that the ignorance or 
 neglect that had got her into trouble would keep her in it until 
 we had found our account. The Tigress was again on the 
 starboard tack, heading up nobly for the enemy. Shelvocke 
 watched her like a cat. Presently she squared her after-yards, 
 and began to pay off slowly. As her broadside veered round 
 to us, she let fly the whole of her main-deck guns. The iron 
 shower tore up the sea at an equal distance between her and 
 us, and buried itself. 
 
THE ACTION WITH THE CORVETTE. 81 
 
 'Keady there with the forecastle gun !' shouted Shelvocke. 
 ' Take good aim — fire !' 
 
 The explosion filled the forepart of the schooner with smoke, 
 and for a few moments the corvette was hidden. Shelvocke 
 sprang on to the weather-bulwarks, and craned himself over 
 the side. 
 
 1 Load again quickly, and let her have another dose !' he 
 sung out, whilst I ran aft, ready for the manoeuvre I knew he 
 would execute in a moment or two. 
 
 On the second shot being fired from our forecastle, the order 
 was given to put the helm down, and as the schooner shot up 
 into the wind, presenting her broadside to the enemy, who was 
 wearing to come up on the larboard tack, we gave her five 
 guns. They were discharged with splendid precision. As the 
 white, sulphureous folds were swept off to leeward, I saw the 
 corvette dead abeam of us about a mile to windward, with her 
 mizzen-royal-mast gone, and her main-topsail-yard on the cap , 
 the halliards having been shot away. There were several large 
 shot-holes in her fore-topsail and mainsail, showing the accuracy 
 with which our guns had been aimed. 
 
 We were now, however, in a position to receive her broadside, 
 and in a moment it came. The whole side of the black hull 
 flashed into a blinding blaze of light, and I held my breath, 
 expecting to hear the crash of spars tumbling about our ears. 
 One or two shrieks from our crew followed the discharge, and 
 I saw a man stationed at one of the amidship guns spring a 
 couple of feet in the air, and fall like an overturned statue. 
 But aloft the only injury received was a large gape in the fore- 
 sail and the cutting in halves of some of the running rigging, 
 the ends of whieh streamed away like serpents. 
 
 For some time the two vessels held on in grim silence. The 
 corvette hugged the wind to preserve the weather-gage as we 
 did to gain it ; but she was no match for us either in weather- 
 ing or forereaching. Although they had bent the topsail 
 halliards afresh with great promptitude, yet even the short 
 
 6 
 
82 AN OCEAN FREE-LANCE. 
 
 period during which this sail had been useless had given us a 
 decided advantage. We were approaching each other fast, and 
 why she did not ease her helm and give us another broadside 
 at once I can only account for by believing that she reserved 
 her powder in the hope of being able presently to transmogrify 
 us by a single discharge. Any way, she could judge of our 
 strength accurately enough now, and, despite our sauciness, 
 would reckon upon an easy capture. 
 
 'Luff!' suddenly shouted Shelvocke. 'Fire, men, when 
 your broadside bears/ 
 
 We spun on our heels, giving the corvette a heavy dose as 
 we rounded, and receiving from her in return a whole storm of 
 canister and round-shot that wounded three of our men, one 
 badly, nipped the fore-topmast just under the-royal yard as 
 clean as a handsaw would have done it, filled the foresail as 
 full of holes as a piece of embroidery-work, and knocked the 
 gig into staves, which tumbled astern and went away as though 
 an old cask had gone to pieces. 
 
 I noticed the moment we had got the schooner round that 
 the wind had veered to the westward of south, which must 
 have happened whilst we were in stays, so that when the vessel 
 lay close her bowsprit pointed slightly to windward of the 
 corvette's weather-quarter. This shift of wind necessitated a 
 return to our former posture, and the helm was put up to let 
 the Tigress wear, as by tacking we should have run aboard the 
 Frenchman. His guns had raised such a smoke that it was 
 impossible to know for some minutes what mischief we had 
 done him ; it was then seen that his mizzen-topmast had been 
 shot away, his starboard main standing lower rigging was trail- 
 ing alongside, his jib-boom was gone at the cap, and his jibs, 
 ballooning in the water, held him as though he had been 
 warped to a buoy. 
 
 Meanwhile we were edging away from him fast, and crawling 
 to windward, some of the hands busy in doctoring the running 
 gear and bending a new foresail, whilst we kept plying the 
 
THE ACTION WITH THE CORVETTE. 83 
 
 enemy with round-shot from our long eighteens, which he 
 made ineffectual efforts to return owing to his dismantled 
 condition forward that prevented him from bringing his broad- 
 side to bear. 
 
 I will not deny that our luck so far had been extraordinarily 
 great. His missing stays had, indeed, permitted us to do 
 almost what we pleased. But, luck or no luck, the manner in 
 which Shelvocke had handled the schooner was beyond praise, 
 and such was the precision with which our men fired that 
 every shot they launched at the clumsily-worked corvette 
 carried death and destruction with it. 
 
 The wind had now freshened into a strong working breeze, 
 and the Tigress was tearing through the water as though she 
 had had enough of this business and wanted to get home. 
 With our guns trained well aft we kept pegging away at the 
 enemy, whose return fire was of the most capricious and waver- 
 ing kind, whilst her bowsprit was black with men clearing the 
 raffle forward. 
 
 At the distance of about a mile away from her we tacked, 
 shortened sail, and there we lay snugly to windward, our 
 people peppering her with the coolness of men practising on a 
 target. The order had been given to aim low so as to hull 
 her and shatter her rudder, and the spray flashed up under the 
 balls that raced along as though shells were exploding under 
 the surface of the water. 
 
 She had fallen off with her head to the northward, and they 
 were answering our fire with great persistence with their stern- 
 chasers, the shot of one of which crashed through the bulwark 
 olose to where I was standing, and filled the air with a whole 
 shower of splinters, by which one of the best men in our crew 
 lost his right eye. It was difficult to see what they were 
 about ; but a quarter of an hour after we had got the weather- 
 gage of her they rounded their yards, braced up sharp on the 
 starboard tack, and headed to the eastward. She kept her 
 colours flying, and so soon as she presented her broadside she 
 
 6—2 
 
84 AN OCEAN FREE-LANCE. 
 
 aimed a shower of grape at us which, however, fell short, as in 
 squaring away she had widened the distance between us to over 
 a mile. 
 
 Suddenly some one sung out, ' A sail on the lee quarter !' 
 and looking that way I saw the canvas of what was apparently 
 a large ship, gleaming like satin in the ardent blaze of the 
 afternoon sun. The Frenchman had seen her as well as we, 
 and, being a mile farther that way, could judge better than we 
 what she was like ; and his sudden eagerness to crowd away to 
 the eastward looked very much as though he suspected the 
 stranger was an Englishman. 
 
 1 If we are not sharp,' cried Shelvocke, rapping out an oath, 
 his face dark with perspiration, and standing bare-headed, with 
 his rough hair blowing over his lion-like forehead, ' we shall 
 have burnt our powder merely to make that corvette an easy 
 prize for a King's ship.' 
 
 'Unless yonder sail prove a national vessel,' I said. 
 
 'We'll risk it!' he shouted. 'Men, double-shot the long 
 gun forward. Aim at her colours when I put the helm up — if 
 you can bring that flag down she may not want to hoist it 
 again.' 
 
 The tiller was put to starboard, and the twenty-four-pounder 
 fired. 
 
 ' Now let fly your broadside as she comes to,' and crash 
 went the three after-guns. I saw the white splinters glance 
 from her side like bits of silver under the discharge an instant 
 bef ore she delivered another whole broadside at us. This time 
 she had got some of her long guns to bear, and down came 
 our mainsail along with the colours, and a whole shower of 
 blocks and fragments of rope. 
 
 A dozen hands sprang aft. The throat and peak halliards 
 were spliced, and with admirable smartness the great sail was 
 hoisted again, along with the red flag streaming at the peak, a 
 sight that raised a hurricane of cheers, in which I found my- 
 self joining until I was hoarse. 
 
THE ACTION WITH THE CORVETTE. 85 
 
 1 Another broadside, my lads, to avenge that affront !' shouted 
 Shelvocke ; and again our guns belched forth their lightning 
 and thunder, and the thick pall of smoke swept in an ugly- 
 cloud over the radiant blue waters. 
 
 1 The ship to leeward has hoisted English colours — she is 
 coming up fast — I can see her courses down to the tacks of 
 them !' I cried, working away with the glass. 
 
 1 We have shot away the Frenchman's colours t sung out 
 Chestree from the waist, where he stood with his face as grimy 
 as a chimney-sweep's from the sweat and powder that covered it- 
 
 1 She has hauled them down, sir !' cried a dozen voices. 
 
 'Not a bit of it!' shouted Shelvocke. 'Let her have 
 another broadside ! She's not to be meat for our masters !' 
 pointing with a passionate gesture to the ship to leeward, 
 whose presence seemed to make him mad. 
 
 Amid a volley of cheers, the guns were again fired. We 
 looked to see the effect. For some minutes the corvette had 
 ceased firing, and heeling over to the breeze, was stretch- 
 ing athwart the water with a line of foam along her, against 
 which sparkled her bright copper, though the stately fabric 
 aloft was in sad ruins, her sails full of holes, her mizzen-top- 
 mast gone, her high-pitched bowsprit looking like the stump of 
 an amputated arm, and her colours vanished. 
 
 Hardly had the smoke of our last broadside cleared away, 
 when two flags were run up to her main. They got foul when 
 they had mounted a short distance, and were hauled down. 
 In a few moments they were hoisted again, and when they 
 were level with the main-top, they blew out and disclosed the 
 English flag flying over the French colours. We stood look- 
 ing on in perfect silence until the flags were mast-headed, and 
 then such a roar broke from the men as I believe only British 
 throats know how to deliver. I saw rough fellows stripped 
 naked to the waist blubber like children afe they shook hands 
 with one another. On the news being taken below, where the 
 surgeon was working like a horse, a man whose knee had been 
 
86 AN OCEAN FREE-LANCE. 
 
 shattered by a grape-shot, compelled the bearers of the news 
 to carry him on deck, where, snatching a cutlass from the 
 hand of one of his mates, he brandished it over his head, and 
 with a half-suffocated cheer for Captain Shelvocke and the 
 Tigress^ fainted dead away. 
 
 1 It was worth the risk, was it not, Madison V said Shelvocke, 
 looking with a proud smile at the corvette, and combing the 
 sweat from his forehead with his hand. 
 
 ' It was, sir/ I answered promptly ; ' and I cordially con- 
 gratulate you on a remarkable victory. 7 
 
 'Which would have been won by us/ said he, 'not so 
 speedily perhaps, but in the end quite as surely, without the 
 presence of that big cruiser.' 
 
 Meanwhile we were running down to the Frenchman, who 
 lay with his main-yards aback, a pitiful spectacle indeed, the 
 significance of which was enormously increased by the flags at 
 the mast-head. As we drew near, we saw that her hull was 
 badly knocked about, especially in the after-part, and her bul- 
 warks abaft the mizzen-rigging were full of holes, some of 
 them as cleanly cut as if a chisel had gouged them out. We 
 rounded to about a quarter of a mile to windward of her, and 
 lowered a boat, into which I got with ten men, and a few 
 strokes of the oars took us alongside. 
 
 On gaining the deck of the prize, I was received by a man 
 who proved to be the first lieutenant, whose resemblance to 
 Buonaparte was so extraordinary, that I came to a dead halt 
 when I saw him. His very pose, as he stood to receive me, 
 was that of the First Consul : the head inclined forward, one 
 arm reposing on the breast, and the other hanging by his side. 
 
 'Monsieur/ said he in French, with much grief not un- 
 mingled with dignity in his manner, ' my captain being dead, 
 it is my melancholy duty to take his place, and to yield pos- 
 session of the Diane to her conquerors. It is the fortune of 
 war, monsieur ;' and with a low bow, he gave me his sword. 
 
 I understood very well what he said, but my stock of 
 
THE ACTION WITH THE CORVETTE. 87 
 
 French was small, and what I knew I was reluctant to pro- 
 nounce for fear of being laughed at. I asked him if he spoke 
 English. 
 
 'A leetel,' said he, with much such a grimace as a man 
 would make who had an unpleasant taste in his mouth. 
 
 1 Then, monsieur,' said I, ' I should be glad to learn from 
 your lips that your yielding to the privateer schooner Tigress 
 was not occasioned by the presence of that ship yonder ;' and 
 I pointed to the British vessel to leeward, that had tacked > 
 and was now heading to fetch us by a couple of boards, and 
 that turned out to be a large two-decker. 
 
 'Sare,' he replied, with a slow smile, 'ze Diane yields to 
 you. But/ with a flourish of his hands, 'had it not been 
 for zat sheep zaire, ve should have continue ze fight/ 
 
 And this was all I could get him to admit. 
 
 That the fight would have been protracted had the liner 
 kept her sails out of sight I do not deny, and have always ad- 
 mitted in talking over the engagement ; but that the corvette 
 would ultimately have yielded to us I am quite confident ; for 
 having the weather-gage, being almost uninjured aloft, having 
 marvellous sailing qualities, and being armed with guns which 
 could have battered the enemy within a radius of two miles, 
 the Tigress might have been backed to have knocked the Diane 
 into a sheer hulk in less than another hour. 
 
 The survivors of her crew had been got below, and my men 
 stood guard over the hatches ; and, having a clear view of the 
 deck, I beheld as ghastly a sight as the horrors of warfare ever 
 furnished forth. The main-deck was strown with carcases : 
 the scene reminded me of the description of the deck of the 
 Salvador, after the action off Cape St. Vincent. In addition 
 to the slaughter caused by our own guns, one of the main- 
 deck carronades had burst, and killed twelve men who were 
 stationed at or near it. It was enough to freeze the marrow 
 in a man's bones to see the shattered human remains, the 
 broad, dark scarlet pools in which the sunshine flashed, and 
 
88 AN OCEAN FREE-LANCE. 
 
 the blood straining through the scupper-holes, and marking 
 long dull-red lines down the ship's side, and crimsoning the 
 green water where they touched it. 
 
 The corvette was more wrecked aloft than appeared at first 
 sight : her main-topmast was badly wounded, the after part 
 of her main-top shot away, and to starboard her mainmast was 
 supported by two shrouds only. I saw that if the wind 
 freshened these spars must go, unless the canvas was handed 
 and preventer backstays set up. I accordingly jumped on to 
 the rail, and waved my hat to the Tigress, signifying that I 
 wanted to speak her, on which her helm was put up and she 
 stood towards us. 
 
 Surrounded as I was by the ghastly memorials of the con- 
 flict, it seemed scarcely a moment in which room could be 
 found for admiring the beauty of the schooner : yet, so ennobled 
 was she by her triumph, she did so plead to my admiration, 
 that I could not remove my eyes from her as she swept down 
 before the bright breeze, floating like a swan on the deep green 
 waves, which ran along her ebony sides without lifting her, 
 and revealing, as they curled past, the vivid sheen of her metal 
 sheathing, while the British cannon bristled under her high 
 bulwarks, and her white sails, delicately shaded at the after- 
 leeches, soared upon a sky whose ripe afternoon beauty made 
 a superb background for one of the gracefullest fabrics which 
 ever breasted the waters of the deep. 
 
 As I knew Shelvocke would sing out some inquiries, I put a 
 few questions to my Napoleonic friend, who remained at my 
 side, and whose utter dejection deprived me both of the will 
 and the wish to send him below, though I believe it was my 
 duty to have done so. In a few minutes the Tigress was within 
 speaking range, whereupon she hauled up the clew of her 
 main-sail, and ranged abreast of us with her sails shaking. 
 
 * Tigress, ahoy t I shouted. 
 
 1 Hallo !' answered Shelvocke, standing on the rail of the 
 bulwark. 
 
THE ACTION WITH THE CORVETTE, 89 
 
 ' You had better send some men aboard to fish and doctor 
 the corvette's spars, sir, a few of which are badly wounded. 
 We are terribly crippled aloft, and a gang of thirty men won't 
 be too many to do what is wanted.' 
 
 Shelvocke raised his hand to betoken that he heard me : and 
 after a short interval, during which a boatswain's pipe sang 
 like a bird on the schooner's forecastle, a couple of boats full of 
 men shoved off. 
 
 Whilst they approached, Shelvocke called to me to give him 
 the particulars of the prize. 
 
 * She's the French corvette Diane, Captain Eugene Tour- 
 nelle,' I answered, delivering my words through the hollows 
 of my hands, and shouting at the top of my voice ; for not 
 only was the wind dead in my teeth, but overhead the sails 
 were shaking like a thousand cocks flapping their wings for 
 a crow, and the ( water washed noisily along the side of the 
 motionless hull. ' She mounts a few long eighteens and 
 sixty-four pound carronades. It is believed that she has 
 twenty-eight men killed, twelve of them by the bursting of a 
 gun, among them her commander, and between thirty and 
 forty wounded, including her second and third lieutenants. 
 Her complement is three hundred and eight, and she has seven 
 English prisoners aboard, being a portion of the crew of 
 H.B.M.'s cutter Severn, which she captured three days ago, 
 with despatches, ten miles to the norrard of Cuxhaven.' 
 
 Shelvocke again waved his hand, and got off the rail and 
 went aft, where he stood looking over the taffrail at the two- 
 decker, that had gone about and was lying up to fetch us under 
 every stitch of sail that would draw. 
 
 I had now half the Tigress's crew aboard ; and, with the help 
 of the boatswain and carpenter, I started them on the various 
 refitting jobs which the corvette immediately required. There 
 were some shot-holes in her hull that wanted plugging, but 
 none between wind and water, and the pumps gave us an 
 almost dry hold. What needed most attention was the main- 
 
9 o AN OCEAN FREE-LANCE. 
 
 mast, that, on examination, was found to have received one of 
 our twenty-four pound shot about half-a-dozen feet below the top. 
 Our men were appalled by the sight of the dead upon the 
 decks, and seemed glad enough to jump aloft to get away from 
 the bodies. I inquired of the first lieutenant for the body of 
 the captain, and was told that he had been carried below on 
 receiving his wound, and that the corpse lay in the state-cabin. 
 Shocking as the ship looked with the dead scattered about her 
 decks, I could not glance my eye over her without pride and 
 wonder. She was only a year old ; and in spite of her having 
 been ploughed into a shambles and so cut up in her rigging 
 that, fore and aft, she was littered with ropes'-ends, fragments 
 of canvas, splinters, blocks, and such-like raffle, together with 
 capsized tubs, muskets, pikes, and a whole ocean of different 
 kinds of shot — enough hints yet survived to suggest the beauti- 
 ful completeness she had exhibited before she came into action. 
 Where her decks were not stained with blood or blackened with 
 the grime of powder, they were as white as the paper on which 
 this is printed. Her brass-work was so radiant that the eye 
 was blinded by the sparkle of the sunshine in it ; her guns 
 were excellent pieces of ordnance \ her masts and yards, magnifi- 
 cent spars : the French love of embellishment had gone so far 
 in her, that even the coamings of her hatches were ornamented 
 with graceful carvings ; every rope lying in the chafe of 
 another was carefully served ; and the ends of most of her 
 running rigging, instead of being ' pointed ' or ' whipped ' as 
 with us, were fitted with small brass caps. There was a * cap 
 of liberty ' on the skylight, an object about seven inches long, 
 made of wood and painted red, with a round tapering spear of 
 brass three and a half inches long, the lower half blackened, 
 with a screw at the end, to fix it to the mast-head — a genuine 
 republican signal, which many French vessels in those days 
 sent aloft when they went into action, but which, in the case 
 of the Diane, had probably been overlooked amidst the con- 
 fusion when she missed stays. 
 
THE ACTION WITH THE CORVETTE. 91 
 
 The French lieutenant, who appeared crushed with his mis- 
 fortunes, watched me as I ran my eyes over the corvette, and 
 when our glance met, he said : 
 
 1 A fine sheep, sare.' 
 
 ' Ay/ I rejoined, ' a vessel that does honour to the skill of 
 your dockyards.' 
 
 'But she will fight ze battles of Great Bretagne, now, 
 monsieur/ he exclaimed mournfully. 
 
 6 It is the fortune of war, sir/ I answered, repeating his own 
 remark. 
 
 4 What a prize for zat footy leetel sheep !' cried he, extending 
 his hands with a passionate gesture of annoyance and astonish- 
 ment as he looked at the Tigress. ' Your papaires vil make 
 moch of this, sare, no doubt.' 
 
 ' Still we would rather have risked another hour's fight with 
 you than have seen those colours up there flying with that 
 English ship in sight.' 
 
 1 Yes, I understan'/ said he, with a shrug of the shoulders, 
 and raising his hat he went below. 
 
 His wonder that the Diane should have fallen a prize to the 
 schooner was quite reasonable. The result of the engagement 
 I considered little short of a miracle when I contrasted the 
 sizes of the two vessels, and considered the difference between 
 the strength of the crews and the weight of the metal. If it 
 had not been that the Tigress's fore-topmast was shot away 
 under the royal-yard, she would have exhibited no visible 
 injury whatever aloft, beyond the shot-holes in her canvas. 
 Also we had suffered a very trifling loss in men, and our hull 
 was but little damaged, in consequence of the habit of the 
 French gunners of elevating their pieces so as to cripple their 
 enemies* spars. Comparing the Tigress's condition with that of 
 the Diane % and bearing in mind the schooner's qualities, and 
 Shelvocke's clever handling of her, I began to sympathize with 
 my captain's chagrin when I looked over the corvette's lea 
 quarter, and watched the British two-decker edging up for us. 
 
92 AN OCEAN FREE-LANCE, 
 
 Argue as we might, her presence would rob us of half the 
 glory of our conquest. No one would credit that this thirty- 
 eight gun corvette would have struck to a privateer of twelve 
 guns, had the British line-of-battle ship not hove in sight. But 
 it could not be helped, and I now waited impatiently for the 
 two-decker to come up to us, as it was evident that Shelvocke 
 meant to take instructions from her before he left the ground. 
 
 Strong as was the sense of pique in me, however, I could not 
 behold the majestic fabric drawing along the water without 
 kindling emotions. Her stately heights of canvas slanted her 
 about a couple of streaks, and she presented her weather broad- 
 side as she swam forward, her long jib-booms pointing, like the 
 spear of a Colossus, a few points to leeward of our bow, and her 
 prodigious stretch of cloths filling a broad space of sky with 
 canvas that glistened like snow on a mountain-top. Her double 
 lines of guns grinned along the white streaks, and the green and 
 foamy surges toppling against her huge side looked, by contrast 
 with her bulk, no more than the ripples of an inland lake. Her 
 long pennant flashed like a line of fire against the deep azure, 
 and, starting from that great altitude, the eye ran down a suc- 
 cession of widening sails and spans of black rope, and the ex- 
 quisite lacework of the thin running gear. Her forecastle rail 
 was dotted with seamen dressed in white, and figures could be 
 seen in her tops, while here and there a window glanced back 
 the play of the luminous water, and a small bed of foam hung 
 like a heap of snow at her stem, and twinkled frostily along 
 the gold-bronze metal armour that sheathed her bottom. 
 
 She proved to be His Britannic Majesty's ship Endymion, and 
 as she floated into a position abeam of us she clewed up her 
 light sails and courses and backed her foreyards all simul- 
 taneously, as though the whole operation had been performed 
 by pulling a lever, as the motion of a crank sets a hundred 
 dolls dancing in a breath. No sooner was she at rest than a 
 boat was lowered from the Tigress, into which jumped Shel- 
 vocke, and pulled away to the seventy-four. 
 
THE ACTION WITH THE CORVETTE. 
 
 93 
 
 All this time the weather remained magnificent, with a soft 
 fresh wind blowing out of the south, and here and there a 
 wool-white cloud speeding across the liquid blue like a puff of 
 steam. I have often thought that the three vessels, as they 
 lay abreast, made as striking an after-battle picture as any 
 which the records of single actions could supply. The pre- 
 sence of the line-of-battle ship with her sky-searching masts 
 and enormous breadth of yards, on which a man looked no 
 bigger than a fly, and the superb completeness of her trim 
 aloft, and the sparkle of epaulets at the gangway and the 
 colour of the uniforms of the marines and of a number of 
 soldiers which she had on board, lent such an emphasis to the 
 maimed, blood-stained, and crippled corvette, whose spars were 
 dotted with our men at work on the difficult and perilous job 
 of refitting, as she would hardly have taken from the neighbour- 
 hood of the Tigress only. 
 
 In truth, I was glad to look anywhere but on the deck of the 
 prize where the dead lay. It was evidently the broadside we 
 had given her when she missed stays and whilst we were tacking 
 under her quarter that had done most execution ; and consider- 
 ing the small quantity of powder that had been burnt in this 
 action, the condition of the Diane's spars and rigging and the 
 sieve-like appearance of her after-bulwarks illustrated in a 
 manner that struck me forcibly the extraordinary precision 
 with which our guns had been pointed. 
 
 Just as the boat containing Shelvocke passed under the stern 
 of the Endymion, the lieutenant of the corvette came up out of 
 the cabin and stood for some moments with his hand resting on 
 the companion, looking at the big ship. He glanced round at 
 me and broke from his reverie with an apologetic smile. 
 
 1 We have built some fine ships for your service, monsieur/ 
 said he in French. ' That vessel was our fienomme'e, and once 
 carried the flag of Admiral .' 
 
 I replied in English that our Government was quite willing 
 to leave France in possession of her fleets, providing she would 
 
94 AN OCEAN FREE-LANCE, 
 
 use them for the preservation of her own trade instead of the 
 destruction of the trade of other nations. ' We have in our 
 country/ said I, ' a place called Hartwell, where there lives a 
 country gentleman known by the name of Monsieur. You have 
 doubtless heard of him, sir. He may not be able to gain you 
 ships, but if you will call him to Paris he'll show you how to 
 keep what you have.' 
 
 6 Sot ! animal ! fainiant P said he, grinding out the words 
 between his teeth and turning away with an expression of 
 bitter indignation after having bestowed upon me a frown so 
 Buonapartesque (if I may use such a word) that the resem- 
 blance was enough to make a man laugh outright. Whether 
 these nattering epithets were meant for me or ' Monsieur ' I 
 did not know, and to be plain, I did not care. I never thought 
 much of a Frenchman's rage. Perhaps I should have spared 
 the observation that annoyed him ; but it was almost impos- 
 sible to look at him without irritation, he was so deucedly like 
 the Corsican bully. However, I was sorry for the poor fellow's 
 situation, and recognised the claim he had upon my utmost 
 civility ; so mustering up the blandest smile at my command, I 
 begged his pardon if I had said anything to offend him, and 
 changed the subject by asking him how his ship had managed 
 to miss stays I 
 
 He gave me the technical reasons, but as he did not know 
 the English equivalents, and as I could not understand the 
 French professional terms, he left me as wise as I was at the 
 beginning. Had he said they had jammed her up in the wind, 
 and stopped her way before they put the helm down, he would 
 have given the right explanation. But he talked of le vent and 
 le gouvernail and the demoralisation of the timmonier, so far as I 
 could follow him, and made a long scientific yarn out of an 
 incident which was to be explained by two words, ' Bad sea- 
 manship.' 
 
 The English prisoners had been liberated on our coming 
 aboard, and had been sent aloft along with the Tigress's men to 
 
THE ACTION WITH THE CORVETTE. 95 
 
 help doctor the spars and rigging. Some of them, as well as a 
 portion of my own men, having finished the jobs allotted to 
 them, came down, and I ordered them to range the dead bodies 
 decorously and cover them with a spare sail until orders for 
 their disposal should have been received. I imagined the 
 fellows would not like the task ; the Tigresses certainly went 
 about it reluctantly, and from some of the ghastlier things they 
 hung back with such disordered countenances that I had 
 scarcely the heart to urge them on. But the men out of the 
 captured cutter had no compunction. Their treatment of the 
 dead was grossly indecent and revolting. Every insult that it 
 was possible for them to offer, they heaped upon the remains 
 of their dead enemies, and from time to time one or the other 
 of them would make some remark which invariably produced a 
 shout of laughter from his inhuman companions. 
 
 I What are you about V I shouted, horrified by the rascals' 
 behaviour, and enraged that the French lieutenant should 
 witness such conduct in British seaman. * Why, the South Sea 
 cannibals would set you an example in decency, you brutes ! 
 Treat those bodies respectfully, do you hear 1 or I'll send such 
 a report to the captain of that ship yonder as will earn you the 
 best lashing that ever you got in your lives.' 
 
 ' Please your honour,' answered one of them, pointing to a 
 body, * this here cove kicked me on the shins yesterday for 
 axing him for a chew of tobacco.' 
 
 * And they thought nothen of calling our King a cochong, 
 sir !' bawled another. 
 
 I I don't care about that,' said I. ' Handle those bodies re- 
 spectfully, or I'll have you stretched until you're thin enough 
 to crawl aboard through a scupper-hole.' 
 
 I watched them sharply, thinking that, as men in receipt of 
 King's pay, they might dispute the authority of a privateers- 
 man, in which case I should have set my own men upon them ; 
 but they took fright at my threatening to report them, and 
 one of them looking over the bulwarks and seeing a boat pulling 
 
96 AN OCEAN FREE-LANCE. 
 
 towards us from the Endymion, they went to work as soberly 
 as monks, and in a few minutes the dead were hidden, though 
 in the waist and forward there was blood upon almost every- 
 thing the eye rested on. 
 
 The French lieutenant went below when he saw the Endy- 
 mion's boat ; and observing Shelvocke and an officer in her, I 
 sung out for the side to be manned. The foam flashed up in 
 smoke under the boat's bows as she advanced, swept along by 
 twelve oars which dropped and rose with beautiful precision, 
 whilst beyond her floated the huge two-decker, as motionless 
 as a tower upon the water, and the reflection of the lustrous 
 waves trembling in her sides as you may see the sunlight gleam 
 in the well-curried hide of a horse. 
 
 The moment Shelvocke gained the deck he shook me by the 
 hand and thanked me for my assistance in the engagement that 
 had made this noble ship prize to the Tigress. His manner was 
 more gratifying than his words. The officer who accompanied 
 him, making me a bow, said that he considered the achievement 
 of the schooner truly remarkable, ' and I only regret,' said he, 
 4 she is not a King's ship, that her commander and officers 
 might obtain the reward which their courage merits.' 
 
 All this was very nice, and I think that we had some right 
 to feel proud when we saw the officer looking around at the 
 vessel, and at her heavy batteries, and her powerful scantling, 
 and the wreckage aloft ; and then at the Tigress, the audacious 
 little instrument of this new disaster to poor Johnny French- 
 man, lying to windward, slightly lifting to the green waters 
 which played round her stationary hull, with nothing missing 
 aloft but her royal and skysail yards, and her white canvas 
 filling and shivering as she fell off and came to under the action 
 of the helm. 
 
 It had been arranged aboard the liner that the prisoners 
 were to remain in the prize, that I was to take charge of her 
 to Portsmouth with such of the crew of the Tigress as were on 
 board, and that, as in consequence of the division of the 
 
THE ACTION WITH THE CORVETTE. 97 
 
 schooner's crew, neither she nor the corvette would be in a 
 position to engage any enemy's ship that might come upon the. 
 scene, the Endymion would convoy us to Portsmouth. Having 
 therefore given me the instructions I required, Shelvocke re- 
 turned to the schooner and the officer to the Endymion; and 
 on the latter firing a gun, we sheeted home the fore and main 
 topsails, and, under as much canvas as we dared carry, stood 
 after the two-decker, with the Tigress on our weather quarter. 
 
 So terminated the action with the corvette, which, I need 
 hardly say, we brought safely into Portsmouth, along with the 
 Hanover, whom we overhauled at daybreak next morning. The 
 Diane was purchased by the English Government, and taken 
 into the Navy under the name of the Diana. She was wrecked 
 off the Isle d'Oleron only seven months after she had refitted, 
 and one hundred and twelve persons perished with her. 
 
 Several accounts of the engagement appeared in the news- 
 papers of the time ; but though the pluck of the Tigress was 
 warmly praised, it was also said that the corvette had been 
 hurried into striking by the Endymiorts heaving in sight, and 
 this robbed the bullion of its lustre, though it left the metal 
 good gold all the same. We remained at Portsmouth twelve 
 ■days, during which time the Tigress was visited by several 
 hundreds of persons, so lively was the interest her exploit had 
 raised. Among these visitors was Sir James, afterwards Lord 
 de Saumarez, the hero of Algesiras, one of the bravest and 
 certainly one of the most neglected men of that age, whose 
 -share in Aboukir was only second to that of Nelson, and who 
 was rewarded by Evan Nepean's private applause, when men 
 for smaller deeds were being raised to the peerage, and getting 
 -the thanks of Parliament. Shelvocke was in London at the 
 time, and I had the honour of receiving this brave and Chris- 
 tian gentleman, and relating to him the story of the action 
 with the Frenchman. He said to me as he went over the side : 
 ' 1 have always had a dislike to privateering as a business in 
 which more evil is done than any government ought to 
 
 7 
 
98 AN OCEAN FREE-LANCE. 
 
 sanction. Merchantmen have no right to fight unless in their 
 own defence. But after hearing your story, and observing the 
 discipline and beauty of this vessel, I shall hereafter think of 
 privateering with indulgence.' 
 
 When I repeated this to Shelvocke, he said it was the best 
 bit of praise he had yet received. 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 CAPE ANTIFER. 
 
 The triumphs of the Tigress, won within twenty-four hours 
 after her departure from the West India Docks, and Shelvocke's 
 clever and audacious handling of her, had given wonderful 
 confidence and enthusiasm to the men, who not only knew the 
 qualities of the vessel, but their power to fight an enemy three 
 times the Tigress's size ; and when the schooner, thoroughly 
 refitted, and with her full complement of men aboard, set sail 
 from Portsmouth, there was not a crew afloat upon the seas at 
 that time more resolute, hearty, and united than the ninety 
 brave fellows who swung their hammocks 'tween-decks of 
 Hannay's beautiful privateer. 
 
 I never felt the gladness and independence of our life of 
 licensed freebooting more keenly than on this day as I stood 
 on the Tigress's quarter-deck looking at the distant green- 
 crowned heights of the Isle of Wight, with Nettleston Point 
 drawing out to Bainbridge, and receding into Sandown Bay, 
 where the coast- line melted into a film of blue cloud, with a 
 line of lustrous white between it and the throbbing waters of 
 the horizon, while the broad English Channel opened into an 
 interminable reach of gleaming sea over our bows. 
 
 The wind was off the shore, and we went along leisurely, 
 with the main-boom well over the quarter, and the huge 
 square-sail softly lifting, and the water creaming past us ; 
 
CAPE ANTIFER. 
 
 99 
 
 when, Dunnose being a pale blue blob no bigger than a pea 
 astern of us, a sail hove in sight that, on nearing, proved to 
 be a small armed English cutter, having in tow a large French 
 schooner, cut to pieces aloft. It was as odd a sight as ever I 
 saw, and the men stood laughing at it until the tears hopped 
 down their iron visages ; for the cutter was certainly not more 
 than five-and-thirty tons, and looked deplorably ragged and 
 dirty ; whereas the hulk, for she was a schooner no longer, 
 having only her lower masts sticking out of her deck like two 
 immense pumps, was considerably over a hundred tons, with 
 four guns of a side, and a big brass swivel on the forecastle ; 
 so that, as they crept along the sea, they resembled an ant 
 hauling a caterpillar into its nest, or a puppy with the carcase 
 of a sheep made fast to its tail. 
 
 We ran down for a near view, and on hailing the cutter, a 
 midshipman, about the size of a common monkey, got upon 
 the rail, and asked what we wanted. 
 
 *Are you in charge V inquired Shelvocke. 
 
 * Certainly I am,' answered the middy, in a haughty drawl, 
 thrusting his hands into his pockets. 
 
 ' You appear to have a lumping prize astern of you,' said 
 Shelvocke, preserving his gravity with an effort. 
 
 1 Yes ; but, you see, we've dismasted her, though not before 
 they killed all the cutter's officers but me.' 
 
 ' Where are your prisoners V 
 
 ' Most of 'em overboard, but there are thirty of them in the 
 hulk ; and if you were going my way, I'd ask you to lend me 
 a couple of those fat, grinning hands of yours to sit upon the 
 prize's fore-hatch, as I can only muster seven men, five of 
 whom are wanted to work the cutter, so that there are only 
 two to guard the hulk's hatches ; and they're so reduced in 
 flesh by feeding on Admiralty stores, that if the Frenchmen 
 were only to combine their lungs and fetch a heavy breath, 
 I'll be hanged if they wouldn't blow my men overboard like 
 chaff !' and the little fellow laughed so uproariously that he 
 
 7—2 
 
ioo AN OCEAN FREE-LANCE, 
 
 lost his balance and toppled backwards on the deck, though 
 he was up again in a moment. 
 
 ' We'll convoy you in if you like/ sung out Shelvocke. 
 
 * No, thanks ; we've managed without you so far, and we'll 
 risk what remains. I say,' he shrieked through his hands, for 
 we were fast widening our distance, ' how far are we off the 
 Isle of Wight f 
 
 1 St. Catherine's Point bears about fourteen miles N. W. by W.' 
 
 The plucky little creature flourished his hat and dropped on 
 to the deck, where, the bulwarks being taller than he, we lost 
 sight of him. Aboard the hulk we could only see two men, 
 armed with cutlasses and muskets, standing at the fore-hatch, 
 and a boy steering. Whether there were really thirty prisoners 
 below, it was impossible to say ; but that the prize was a 
 genuine capture, and won by a desperate fight, was proved not 
 only by the smallness of the number of the cutter's people, 
 but by the manner in which she was cut up aloft and by the 
 shots in her hull and the splintered condition of her bulwarks 
 and stern. 
 
 1 Smite my timbers, Bill, if ever I see the like of that !' I 
 heard one of our boatswain's mates exclaim as he looked after 
 the cutter; 'no wonder old Wooden Shoes funks us when 
 newly weaned British babbies go forth and capture his vessels.' 
 
 Although Shelvocke did not want to insult the little chap by 
 keeping near him, he shortened sail and hauled to the west- 
 ward, and so held the cutter and her prize in sight until 
 shortly after one o'clock, when, the cutter having tacked, we 
 sighted a sloop-of-war, apparently fresh from Spithead, coming 
 down towards the two vessels, on which, as we knew she would 
 give the midshipman all the help he required, we made sail, 
 and stood for the French coast. 
 
 We dined this day at two o'clock, and Peacock was invited 
 to join. So four of us sat down, whilst Tapping stumped the 
 hot deck overhead. It was cool enough, however, in the little 
 cabin j for the mild wind blew in a pleasant draught down the 
 
CAPE ANTIFER. 101 
 
 open skylight, through which you could see the immense main- 
 sail stretching in a whole ocean of white canvas against the 
 sky, whilst the long withe-like topmast, that terminated at a 
 height of a hundred and forty feet from the cabin-floor, seemed, 
 like a pencil in the hand of a giant, to be making a scroll of 
 the face of the heavens, as the gentle motion of the vessel 
 swept the point of the tall spar here and there. 
 
 I ate my dinner thankfully, for I was as hungry as a wolf, 
 whilst Chestree let his plate grow cold over some long yarn of 
 a cutting-out expedition he had picked up from a third lieute- 
 nant whom he had met at Portsmouth. On my ear it was a 
 story that fell flat enough; but Peacock attended, with his 
 handsome eyes gleaming like the optics of a Spanish woman 
 when listening to the man she loves, and his delicate cheeks 
 glowed with as pretty a damask as ever the eloquent blood 
 wrought in the human face. 
 
 I caught Shelvocke — when he thought himself unperceived — 
 watching the lad with great admiration, and another expres- 
 sion which I cannot define beyond calling it a mixture of 
 melancholy and pleasure, half-wistful, half-reluctant, as though 
 memory were working against the will; but in all which I 
 should have found nothing to marvel at, seeing that the youth 
 had one of the most beautiful faces I ever beheld out of the 
 canvas of some of the Italian masters, not to mention his 
 melodious voice and an indescribably delightful gentleness of 
 manner mingled with a sound element of manliness, had not 
 the skipper suddenly caught me with my eyes fixed on him, 
 whereupon the pensive expression went out of his face with 
 an abruptness that, had it been acted, would have been thought 
 as fine a thing as Kemble's transitions from softness to scorn in 
 Hamlet ; and for some moments he was as cold and as stern as 
 ever I remember seeing him when preparing his vessel to engage. 
 
 However, he presently thawed, and asked me to take wine 
 with him. 
 
 1 You remember the French lugger we chased, Madison V 
 
102 AN OCEAN FREE-LANCE. 
 
 said he — { she that burned the little Happy-go-LucJcy ? I have 
 often been bothered to think what she could have meant by 
 booming out her lugs and running dead for the Goodwins. 
 My idea was that they meant to run her aground and set fire 
 to her, and drag their boats over the sand into the waters 
 beyond and escape in that way. But a pilot whom I met in 
 London, and to whom I told the story, said that this was an 
 old trick of Johnny's — that what they were really trying for 
 was a swatchway about a mile to the east of the South Sand 
 Head. They could have floated over by dropping their guns 
 and stores overboard, and had they managed it they would 
 have escaped. Their dodges are a proper study, and I live and 
 learn.' 
 
 1 Strange that the French, who are so fond of dancing that 
 a lump of sugar in a glass of water will set them capering, 
 don't like our English balls,' said Chestree, grinning with his 
 capacious mouth over his vile pun. 
 
 1 By the way, Chestree, talking of balls, you were rather 
 against our engaging the Diane, weren't you, eh V exclaimed 
 Shelvocke. 
 
 ' Yes, sir, I was — I considered she was too big for us, sir/ 
 answered Chestree candidly. 
 
 1 Nothing is too big for us,' said Shelvocke shortly. 
 
 ' No, not to look at, sir — but to fight ! One Englishman is 
 equal to ten Frenchman, I'll allow — but when you come to 
 double that number ' 
 
 \ Pooh, pooh !' interrupted Shelvocke, * never talk of counting 
 your enemies, man. Had you begun to compute when you were 
 third of the Syria, and headed the boarders who cleared the 
 decks of Le Phoenix, where would you be now 1 Why, the 
 French worms would be polishing your bones, man, wouldn't 
 they ? Never trouble yourself to think when once fighting 
 becomes necessary. That's the principle of that magnificent 
 fellow Cochrane, who is the noblest Eoman of us all since 
 Nelson's death. Lord Gambier, poor old thing, thought, you 
 
CAPE ANTIFER. 103 
 
 may remember, and you know what came of it. Madison, this 
 is no oblique denunciation of you, though I believe you were 
 of Chestree's mind.' 
 
 * I was/ I answered, and was beginning to state my reasons 
 when he interrupted me. 
 
 ' Come, gentlemen, pass the wine along. Whatever people 
 may be pleased to say concerning the audacity of the Tigress's 
 commander, my resolution would have made but a ridiculous 
 figure of me had I not officers not only equal to that occasion, 
 but superior to any occasion my temerity is likely to bring 
 -about. Gentlemen, I give you the health of Buonaparte. 
 May he long continue to build vessels for us to take !' 
 
 ' I couple with the health of Buonaparte that of my name- 
 sake, the President of the United States of America,' said I, 
 emptying my glass. 
 
 1 Hush !' said Shelvocke ; * before we toast him let us be sure 
 that we can thrash him.' 
 
 1 Do you think there is any doubt of that, sirf inquired 
 Peacock, in that sweet voice of his, which I never could hear 
 pronouncing warlike language without smiling. 
 
 ' I do, Mr. Peacock, indeed. I would not own as much just 
 now at a Mansion-House dinner, for instance, nor whisper it 
 within a league of St. James's. But so surely as I sit at the 
 head of this table — which, by the way, and as I have all along 
 thought, would be the better for another six inches of beam, 
 seeing that it has to accommodate Chestree's shanks for a cruise 
 which I hope may last for months — so surely, gentlemen, will 
 the Yankee captains give their fellow-republicans an account 
 of King George's cruisers that shall make some of us hang our 
 heads. Mark well what I say, as among my other ambitions 
 I wish to shine as a prophet. There will be a heap of horrible 
 lies told; but from the ashes of Yankee fiction the future 
 American historian of this unfortunate war of ours with beings 
 who speak our tongue, and who, at heart, are pretty nearly as 
 
104 AN OCEAN FREE-LANCE. 
 
 proud of us as we are of ourselves, will rake up some gems of 
 truth to decorate the page that remains to be filled.' 
 
 'They would make a great man of you were you to go 
 among them/ said I. 
 
 1 Come, Madison, don't let prejudice 'blind you,' he exclaimed 
 good-naturedly. ' I like the Yankees as little as you. I will 
 admit that their bad qualities are more numerous than our 
 united fingers and thumbs. But give them time, man. When 
 you were a little fellow, I'll warrant you stole mammy's sugar,, 
 and robbed old Ox's orchard, and went a bird-nesting. But 
 such matters are not going to earn the conviction of your man- 
 hood. Give the Yankees time, I say ; and whilst you denounce 
 what is bad in them, admire the genius of a people who are 
 quickly rearing a magnificent empire t'other side of the water, 
 and who have in a superlative degree the admirable virtues of 
 perseverance, courage, patience, and — yes, and — patriotism, 
 whether you call them rebels or not.' 
 
 'Do you know, sir, I think we are going to have dirty 
 weather,' said the prosaic-minded Chestree, shoving in his oar 
 without the least intention of being rude, the poor fellow 
 having been staring up the skylight whilst the skipper was- 
 sporting his periods, until he was so engrossed with the look of 
 the sky as to sing out without reflection. 
 
 1 Thanks, Chestree, for saving me the trouble of perorating* 
 replied Shelvocke, laughing ; and rising, he led the way out of 
 the cabin. 
 
 There was some shrewdness in Chestree's perception, for 
 though the sky was blue enough to have made a landsman in 
 love with it, with a bank of rich white clouds down in the east, 
 and a few lines of vapour overhead, in the pearly margins of 
 which the sun had painted a dozen languid tints like the 
 colours of a fading rainbow, there was a haziness about the 
 azure, a blearedness resembling the film on a sick man's eyes, 
 that betokened a change of weather. The breeze was steady, 
 
CAPE ANTIFER. 105 
 
 well on the starboard quarter as we headed west-by-south, with 
 nothing but the gleaming heaving sea around us. 
 
 I asked Shelvocke if he had any special cruising-ground in 
 his mind. 
 
 'None whatever/ said he. 'As we go we shall raise Cape 
 Levi by holding on, and we may find something to serve us 
 creeping out of Cherbourg. We can only grope and hope — 
 — that's the privateer's article of faith. I asked everybody I 
 met both in Portsmouth and London for news of a convoy, but 
 could get no information.' 
 
 I I think you were right when you said that the West Indies 
 are our true latitudes. There are too many brooms sweeping 
 this Channel to leave any good findings, unless, indeed, we 
 confine our hopes to the enemy's Government ships.' 
 
 1 That's just it,' he exclaimed : ' whereas in the western 
 Atlantic we are not only pretty sure of Frenchmen, but of 
 Yankees also. However, we may get an oyster or two off the 
 coast of France, by jogging along it, and should Ushant come 
 abeam without anything turning up, we'll head into the big 
 waters, Mr. Madison.' 
 
 1 What think you of the weather, captain V 
 
 1 Why, I think we shall have a black night : but there's no 
 appearance of wind.' 
 
 1 We have tested the Tigress in calms and fresh breezes/ said 
 I ; ' and I want to see her in a gale of wind.' 
 
 6 Time enough ! time enough !' said he, pulling out a cigar 
 and walking aft, where he stood near the binnacle watching 
 the vessel, and throwing keen looks around the sea. 
 
 As the afternoon wore away the blue of the sky grew thicker, 
 and though every cloud had vanished, yet an indefinable 
 smoky sort of veil, through which the blue was apparent, but 
 pale and sickly, appeared to be drawing up all around the 
 horizon, while the sun in the west shone with intense heat, 
 though with a dull, reddish, subdued light ; and the orb itself, 
 that was not so brilliant but that the eye could rest upon it for 
 
106 AN OCEAN FREE-LANCE. 
 
 some moments, had a remarkably clean and well-defined edge, 
 like that of the rising moon on a hot August night. 
 
 It was melancholy to look around upon the sea, and mark 
 the desolation of waters which in time of peace swarmed with 
 vessels trading to all parts of the world. In spite of Howe 
 (begging Shelvocke's pardon) and St. Vincent and Nelson, and 
 a multitude of magnificent feats of valour performed by single 
 ships, the Danes in the North Sea, and the French in the 
 Channel and away south past the Mediterranean, were dis- 
 puting every foot of the sea with us, and our naval supremacy 
 was being recovered not only at a prodigious cost of human 
 lives, but by the loss of millions to British merchants. Few 
 trading vessels durst venture on a voyage alone, and for days 
 and days the only sort of craft to be met in the Channel were 
 the Government ships of England and France, and privately 
 armed vessels like our schooner, with here and there a few 
 fishing-boats, or a coasting sloop creeping cautiously along, 
 close inshore. It was perhaps the dull and loaded look of the 
 sky, and the oppressive redness of the sunlight, and the muddy 
 green of the sea, that lent, to my imagination, a peculiarly 
 mournful impressiveness to the blank waters around me. 
 They gave me a notion of the horrors of war, more startling 
 and affecting than is got from the butcheries of a battle-field or 
 the carnage on a ship's decks. It was like viewing the once 
 populous and brightly-coloured thoroughfare of a town that has 
 been laid waste by a siege, with the roofless and ruined houses 
 yawning in grim silence, and no sign of life but now and again 
 the clank of a musket grounded on an echoing pavement. 
 
 I went below at four bells in the first dog-watch to lie down ; 
 and on coming on deck again at eight o'clock, I found the sun 
 setting and the wind gone round to the east. I never beheld 
 a scene of gloomier grandeur in British latitudes. The whole 
 of the western sea-line was buttressed by masses upon 
 masses of ponderous clouds, resembling gigantic fortifica- 
 tions, with the forms of castles, and moles, and towers, and 
 
CAPE ANTIFER. 107 
 
 walls, sufficiently well-defined to make the illusion extra- 
 ordinary. They rested upon a sea of cochineal that emitted no 
 radiance, but stood like a surface of blood under the sun, 
 whose flashing was dulled by the indefinable pall of mirky 
 haze that overhung the whole of the heavens ; but the upper 
 extremities of the clouds, being near the sun, glowed like red- 
 liot iron, while streaks of purple and orange shot the surface of 
 the vaporous masses whose centres were round, and of a 
 darkish cream-colour, like the distended sails of a ship in moon- 
 light. 
 
 Meanwhile out of the east, wherein lay the delicate pink 
 reflection of the sunset, a fresh wind was whistling and striking 
 our lips with a salt and tart flavour, from the whipping of the 
 foaming surface of the water. The schooner was tearing 
 through it at a great rate, though under her mainsail and two 
 jibs only, with the muzzles of her starboard tier of guns almost 
 level with the flashing froth that whirled away alongside, and 
 with the spray smoking over her forecastle and cooling her 
 decks as far aft as the gangway. Had this wind been blowing 
 out of the bank of clouds in the west I should have calculated 
 on its freshening into a gale ; as it was, the most inexpert 
 reader of weather-signs might have guessed it would drop soon, 
 or rattle round to the west. 
 
 Hardly had the sun vanished, and whilst its rays were 
 forking, like a glory round the head of a saint, out of the 
 clouds, gilding our topmasts with fiery lines and turning our 
 upper rigging into gold wire, whilst all below was in evening 
 gloom, when a look-out man who was stationed aft reported a 
 sail on the weather-bow. We sprang for our glasses, but 
 nothing was to be seen from the deck. I ran forward and 
 trotted aloft to have a view of the stranger before the shadows 
 deepened, and from the fore-topsail-yard could just catch a 
 glimpse of the spars and canvas of a brig, hove to with her 
 head to the eastward and her fore-topsail to the mast. Be- 
 lieving that she would not be alone, I shinned on to the royal- 
 
108 AN OCEAN FREE-LANCE. 
 
 yard, and from this immense elevation searched the sea, but the 
 brig was all that I could discover. Before I reached the deck 
 the sea lay darkling, and of the gorgeous sunset nothing sur- 
 vived but a dull reddish flush lingering over the brow of the 
 clouds. 
 
 Shelvocke asked me how far I reckoned the brig to be off, 
 and I answered about sixteen miles. He walked hurriedly to 
 the compass and then looked over the side, and presently 
 ordered the foresail and main-topmast-staysail to be set. These 
 were large sails, and under them one could feel the Tigress 
 tearing up the water, and the parted seas as they raced along 
 her sides hummed like a continuous roll on a drum. 
 
 Darkness in these parallels, however, never closely follows 
 sunset, even with a cloudy sky ; for some time after the hectic 
 tinge had faded out of the west there remained a sort of sallow 
 grey light in the air, that enabled the eye to determine the 
 boundary-line of the deep ; and before complete darkness 
 settled down we had risen the brig so as to render her visible 
 from the deck, though even with the glass we could form no 
 just notion of her size and character, the only certain thing 
 about her being that she still lay hove to, as though she waited 
 for a boat, or expected some craft to heave in sight. 
 
 When the night at last really closed round, it was as dark as 
 a pocket, to use Jack's phrase. And, as most of us had 
 expected, the wind failed us, not suddenly, but with a sober 
 fining down, graduating into softness as though through the 
 operation of some mechanical contrivance, until from a fresh 
 strong breeze nothing but a languid current of air was per- 
 ceptible ; and even this presently ceased, and then we lay in a 
 breathless calm, the schooner rolling quietly to the little swell 
 which the wind had left behind, and her sails rattling against 
 the rigging in sounds so like musket-reports as to frequently 
 cause me to start and look around, with the darkness so dense 
 that from the skylight the figure of the man at the tiller was 
 invisible, and a ponderously black sky overhead that seemed 
 
CAPE ANT1FER. 109 
 
 to touch our mast-heads. Here and there a gleam of light 
 raised a luminous mist along the obscured decks, from the 
 main-hatch, from the galley, and from the skylight over the 
 cabin ; and as the figure of the men passed through these 
 illumined spaces it was strange to witness the apparition of 
 their rugged forms with their eyes glittering and their breasts 
 exposed, and their muscular arms hanging bare ; and then to 
 completely lose sight of them as they stepped away from the 
 sphere of light into the darkness. 
 
 Shelvocke called my name, and I went up to him, guided by 
 the glowing tip of his cigar. 
 
 ' 1 don't ask if you can see any sign of the brig,' said he, 
 speaking in a low tone, for the influence of this oppressive 
 darkness insensibly subdued one's voice into a whisper ; ' but 
 how far do you reckon she was distant when the wind 
 dropped f 
 
 1 1 have been calculating, sir, and I should say the schooner 
 is within a mile of her.' 
 
 1 That should be about it — our reckoning tallies. Pass the 
 word forward to hide all lights, and get a tarpaulin stretched 
 over this skylight.' 
 
 These orders were obeyed, and in a few minutes the vessel 
 was wrapped in blackness. I returned to Shelvocke. 
 
 1 It's enough to stifle a man,' said he. * I never remember a 
 darker night. I'm waiting for a flash of lightning to give us 
 some rain and relieve this over-stuffed sky.' 
 
 * I have stationed a couple of men forward and two at the 
 gangways, with sharp instructions to keep their ears open. 
 The brig may prove a friend, sir, but I am always suspicious of 
 short yards and great hoist of topsail,' said I. 
 
 He seemed to pay no attention to this, but after puffing 
 strongly at his cigar he sung out to Tapping. 
 
 ' Yes, sir,' responded the third mate, who stood somewhere 
 forward of the main-mast. 
 
 ' Call some hands aft to "get this mainsail in. Let go the 
 
1 10 AN OCEAN FREE-LANCE. 
 
 staysail halliards, and get both jibs stowed. Let the men 
 keep silence. 7 
 4 Ay, ay, sir/ 
 
 * This is the business of the fog over again/ said I. 
 
 ■ Why, yes, in one sense ; only there is no sulphur in fogs, 
 Mr. Madison ; and when I think of lightning, I think of my 
 powder magazine,' he replied. 
 
 The men came along the deck as softly as cats, although 
 they had to grope their way. Presently the canvas was taken 
 in, and this quieted the schooner, though the foresail gave a 
 short slap sometimes when the vessel rolled, and the shrouds 
 complained. Shelvocke stood sucking at his cigar in silence, 
 and I was leaving him to go forward, when he said : 
 
 ' Get the nettings triced up, and pass the word along for the 
 watch below to keep wide awake ready for a call to quarters ; 
 also, clap a round of grape over the round-shot in the chasers, 
 and send the carpenter aft.' 
 
 These orders were promptly executed, and when I joined 
 Shelvocke again he was talking to the carpenter. 
 
 1 It can easily be managed,' he was saying, evidently com- 
 bating some difficulty Mr. Chips had interposed, ' by lashing, 
 or nailing — but they had better be lashed, as I want no 
 hammering — some half-inch stuff at each side of the cask, that 
 will keep the bunghole uppermost. See that your light is 
 securely fitted, and get a jewel-block made fast to the extreme 
 end of the main-boom, and another to the end of the flying jib- 
 boom, with lines ready rove, so that when the cask is over- 
 board, it can be hauled away to the length of those booms from 
 the vessel's bow or stern. Do you understand me V 
 
 'Yes, sir.' 
 
 1 Then get about it at once. There is no harm in making 
 ready,' he continued, addressing me. ' Hark ! what is that V 
 
 * Rain,' I replied, as a drop, heavy and warm as a gout of 
 blood, splashed on my nose. 
 
 Only a few drops fell, and all was. silent again. It was op- 
 
CAPE ANTIFER. in 
 
 pressively hot, and going below to get a sou'-west cap to protect 
 me against the rain that I expected every moment to open upon 
 us, I found the cabin suffocatingly close, and came on deck 
 again bathed in perspiration. 
 
 I went aft to look at the compass, the candle in which gave 
 the only spot of light to the black air throughout the ship, and 
 found that the schooner had drifted with her head to the north- 
 ward, so as to bring that part of the sea where the brig was 
 lying when we last saw her, almost directly astern of us. I 
 put my head over the taffrail and listened and strained my eyes 
 against the gloom ; but nothing disturbed the breathless silence 
 save the gurgle of the eddying water about the rudder, and the 
 faint flapping of canvas forward. 
 
 I held my watch to the binnacle and noticed that it was past 
 ten. Shelvocke's position was beaconed by his cigar, otherwise 
 I had not known whether he was on deck or below. 
 
 1 Is that you, Madison f said he, as I approached him. 
 
 I Yes, sir.' 
 
 * Anybody wanting to know what highly-wrought suspense 
 or expectation is,' said he, ' should be with us here. It is not 
 over-cheerful to be becalmed on a pitch-black night within hail 
 of a vessel whose character you do not know, and whose boats 
 may be under your channels whilst you are wondering whether 
 she has seen you. To complete a situation of that kind, you 
 only want a sooty sky choke-full of electricity, resting its pon- 
 derous burden of thunder-bolts upon your mast-heads, and 
 likely at any moment to burst asunder and let fall an ocean of 
 flame upon you.' 
 
 I I expect we shall have it when it does come/ I answered, 
 wiping from my face the perspiration that gathered again the 
 moment I removed my handkerchief. * It's a leetle too warm, 
 I take it, sir, for people whose lungs are not diseased. Look 
 yonder ! there's the first composant I have seen this cruise.' 
 
 A ball of very delicate blue fire, that sometimes looked 
 green, was poised in the air as high as the topsail yard-arm, 
 
H2 AN OCEAN FREE-LANCE. 
 
 upon the point of which it no doubt hovered ; though, as the 
 spars were invisible, the luminous thing seemed to be afloat in 
 the void, and hanging like a star. It produced a curious effect, 
 for with a very small effort of imagination the eye was easily 
 cheated into believing it a prodigious distance off, and that the 
 heavens, having extinguished the familiar luminaries, had given 
 birth to a new species of orb. It emitted a greenish mist for 
 the space of a yard around it, and its reflection in the water 
 was like an illuminated jelly-fish shining a long way down. It 
 shifted its position presently, and went as high as the skysail 
 yard-arm, then vanished ; but in a few minutes it reappeared 
 on the fore-stay, where it shone like a gigantic glow-worm, and 
 faintly lighted up the figures of some men who stood in a 
 group near the starboard cathead looking at it. It then floated 
 out to the end of the flying jib-boom, and after swinging to and 
 fro like a bubble on a pipe-stem, it disappeared. 
 
 Scarcely had it vanished, when a whole galaxy of similar 
 lights was kindled all over the schooner's spars and rigging, 
 and the water around swarmed with their reflection. One of 
 them hovered over the breech of the gun near which Shelvocke 
 and I were standing, and we could see each other's face, looking 
 as green as a Spring leaf, distinctly. They went out one by 
 one, apparently being extinguished the- moment they were dis- 
 connected from the iron and woodwork of the vessel, and all 
 was black as pitch again. 
 
 Suddenly a voice forward called out a question sharply and 
 hurriedly. Some one midway between us and the speaker 
 cried, ' Hush ! listen, can't you f Immediately after, Tapping 
 pronounced my name. 
 
 1 Hillo !' I answered, looking in the direction whence his 
 voice proceeded. 
 
 1 Will you please step aft, sir 1 I fancied I heard the dip of 
 oars just now.' 
 
 Shelvocke and I went to the taffrail, where we found 
 Tapping. We all three listened, and in a few seconds heard 
 
CAPE ANTIFER. 
 
 ii3 
 
 the dripping sound made by muffled oars when lifted out of 
 the water. 
 
 ' I expected this ; though, if they be Frenchmen, it's unlike 
 them !' exclaimed Shelvocke, softly. * Mr. Tapping, go and 
 send Mr. Corney and the carpenter aft. Bear a hand. Men,' 
 addressing the fellows who stood grouped around the stern- 
 chaser, ' be careful not to fire until the order is given, and then 
 take sure aim. Point your gun deliberately. You will have 
 no excuse to miss the mark, for you shall have a light to 
 guide you.' 
 
 Corney and the carpenter came aft together. During Tap- 
 ping's absence the sound of approaching oars were quite audible, 
 though they were evidently worked with extreme caution, and 
 the boats moved slowly. 
 
 ' Carpenter,' said Shelvocke, speaking hurriedly, ' the barrel 
 must be dropped astern, for the boats are yonder. Make ready 
 to sling it overboard, and be cautious not to dowse the light in 
 hauling on the line. Is that you, Corney V 
 
 1 Yes, sir.' 
 
 ' There are one or more boats astern. Be good enough to 
 hail them in French, and represent us as Frenchmen.' 
 
 ' Ho, the boat ahoy t shouted Corney, with a real Gallican 
 shriek. 
 
 No answer, and the sound of the dipping oars ceased. 
 
 * If you don't answer, we will fire into you t rapped out 
 Corney, rattling his r's with a throaty richness that would have 
 baffled old Villeneuve himself. 
 
 * What vessel is that f sung out a gruff voice in French, ap- 
 parently not more than a cable's length astern. 
 
 * The Jean d'Acre, Yolberg, capitaine du vaisseau, bound to 
 Cherbourg, from the East,' answered Corney promptly. 
 
 On this there was a hail as from one boat to another, and 
 the buzz of a dozen voices all speaking together. 
 
 ' That shindy convicts them !' whispered Shelvocke to me. 
 
 8 
 
ii4 AN OCEAN FREE-LANCE. 
 
 1 Only Frenchmen talk all at once like that. Mr. Corney, ask 
 them what they want.' 
 
 But owing to their jabbering like a lot of Boulogne fish- 
 wives disputing, they probably did not hear the question, for 
 no answer was returned. Their nationality, however, was un- 
 mistakable. 
 
 1 Carpenter, get your blaze afloat smartly !' exclaimed Shel- 
 vocke. 'Men, take aim at the largest of the boats you can 
 cover, or the nearest that you can see.' 
 
 Whilst he spoke, the carpenter had fired a blue-light, fixed 
 in the bung of a small cask, to the sides of which a couple of 
 short pieces of plank had Keen affixed to serve as outriggers. 
 The apparatus was cautiously but quickly lowered over the 
 side, and towed, by means of a line rove through a block at 
 the end of the main-boom, astern, where it glanced out a broad 
 circumference of ghastly illumination, within the further 
 sphere of which we saw three large boats, which lay in solid 
 black shapes upon the blue sheet of water, each boat full of 
 men armed to the teeth, their weapons in the unearthly light 
 appearing as if scored with lines of burning brimstone, while 
 beyond the ghastly luminous circle the sea stretched away 
 into ebony blackness. The motionless boats, looking like 
 centipedes, with their oars forking out on either side ; the pale- 
 blue outlines of their crowded crews, resembling sketches done 
 in phosphorus; the quivering reflection of the boats in the 
 fearful, death-like hue of the water ; and the pitchy, oppressive, 
 imponderable blackness drooping its electric and breathless 
 folds all around, formed an impressive and wonderful scene. 
 
 ' Quick, men t shouted Shelvocke. ' Fire while the light 
 holds ! Take the nearest boat — she is the biggest t 
 
 The Frenchman saw the trick, and with a yell all three 
 crews buckled to their starboard oars, which they were in the 
 act of raising to pull their boats' heads round, when Shelvocke 
 gave the order to fire. The flash of the gun paled the blue- 
 light as a sunbeam a candle, and the roar of the explosion 
 
CAPE ANTIFER. 115 
 
 was immediately followed by a crash and loud and dismal 
 shrieking, proving fearfully how our shot had told. At the 
 same moment, and as if in rebuke of our presumption in 
 mimicking the tremendous artillery of the skies, the blackness 
 overhead was rent asunder by an astounding flash of sun- 
 bright lightning that revealed the whole surface of the sea, 
 down to the nethermost circle of it, in the midst of which, 
 and about three-quarters of a mile distant, lay a large brig, 
 while two boats only were making for her, under furiously 
 brandished oars. 
 
 The lightning was followed by a crash of thunder directly 
 overhead. The concussion shook the schooner as though she 
 had thumped upon a rock. The ear-splitting bellow was so 
 confounding that, by the next glare of lightning, which followed 
 the thunder after an interval of only a few seconds, I beheld 
 the men standing motionless, like petrified figures. And then 
 down came the rain, in a whole sheet, mingled with hail that 
 boomed upon the hollow deck like a gale of wind through a 
 line-of-battle ship's rigging. In an instant we were awash, 
 and the water pouring in cascades out of the scupper-holes, 
 and the sea around us flashing up in froth under the heavy 
 discharge, whilst the lightning played in tongues and lances 
 from the clouds, whose huge masses, lying in layer upon layer, 
 were revealed by every flash, and the thunder roared con- 
 tinuously. 
 
 The storm had indeed burst with a vengeance. It was right 
 overhead, and fiercer lightning and louder thunder I never saw 
 nor heard out of tropical latitudes. It was evident that the 
 Frenchman had not stopped to succour their shipmates whose 
 boat had been knocked to pieces by our shot, nor would it 
 have been reasonable for us to send help, as, the play of the 
 lightning being incessant, our boat would have been exposed 
 to the guns of the brig, whose people, we might be sure, would 
 not recognise in our humanity any claim upon their forbear- 
 
 8—2 
 
u6 AN OCEAN FREE-LANCE. 
 
 ance. All that could be done, therefore, was to direct a look- 
 out to be kept around the schooner for swimmers. 
 
 The rain and hail fell perpendicularly with such weight that 
 it was difficult to stand upright under the discharge ; it poured 
 down my back so as to completely fill out my shirt with water 
 down to the waistband, and I felt as though buttoned up in 
 one of those skins which the Arabs carry water in, in their 
 journeys along the African coast. Moreover, not only was 
 the continuous cannonading of the thunder in the last degree 
 bewildering, but the sight was rendered temporarily useless 
 by the quick alternations between the dazzling blue flashes 
 and the stone-blind darkness. However, I made shift to watch 
 the brig, and presently noticed the boats reach her. On a 
 sudden, the hoarse and rushing sound of the rain ceased, and 
 though the lightning continued to flash with extraordinary 
 fierceness, it was evident, from the increasing intervals between 
 the flash and the thunder-shock, that the worst of the storm 
 was settling away to the north. 
 
 All at once a voice hailed the schooner alongside : a lantern 
 was slung over, and a man in the last stage of exhaustion was 
 seen clinging to one of the main chain-plates. A bowline was 
 lowered, into which he dropped his arms and was hoisted over 
 the bulwarks, He proved to be a French soldier, probably of 
 the infanterie Ug&e, dressed in a single-breasted coat, the collar 
 of which was a bright scarlet, and coarse worsted epaulets and 
 blue trousers. How he had managed to swim the distance 
 from where the boat had sunk to the schooner, seeing that he 
 had a musket slung over his shoulder and a great pistol stuck 
 in the belt round his waist, was an utter mystery to me. On 
 gaining the deck he fell down in a heap, and was immediately 
 carried below, where, in about ten minutes, he was sufficiently 
 recovered to answer Corney's questions, who ascertained that 
 the brig was the national vessel La Patrie, pierced for fourteen 
 guns and mounting six long nine-pounders and one twenty- 
 four-pound brass pivot. She had left Brest four days before 
 
CAPE ANT1FER. 117 
 
 as consort to a frigate that had signalled to her to heave to 
 while she chased a suspicious-looking sail that was seen early 
 in the morning standing to the westward. The brig's people, 
 on sighting us before dusk, had taken us for an English trader 
 which a lugger they had fallen in with on the previous night 
 had reported was to pass down Channel, bound for Lisbon, 
 with a valuable freight ; and her boats had therefore been 
 ordered out to attack us. The La Patrie had a draft of eighty 
 troops of the line aboard, besides a crew of one hundred and 
 thirty seamen, making in all two hundred and ten souls, and 
 there were also some priests. Of her people sixty were in the 
 boats, half of whom were soldiers. 
 
 This information was hurriedly communicated to Shelvocke. 
 
 1 Sixty in the boats,' said he musingly, looking at the vessel 
 which the lightning continued to exhibit with perfect clear- 
 ness : ' divide sixty by three, leaves twenty who have been 
 knocked out of time, and gives the brig one hundred and 
 ninety men. If I flew a pennant I would risk it for the sake 
 of promotion ; but I must not needlessly expose my men, for 
 if the brig should serve one of our boats as we served ' 
 
 He was silenced by a bright glare aboard the Frenchman, 
 and a ball flashed up the water just astern of us. The light- 
 ning was playing in the north, but the thunder rolled with a 
 subdued note, and the rain had entirely ceased. There was 
 promise of improving weather in the west, but the gloom was 
 still intense. The schooner had swung so as to present her 
 starboard quarter to the brig, but the lightning revealed the 
 enemy lying with her stern directly at us ; and it was evident 
 from the character of the shot and the sound of the explosion, 
 that she had trained a long nine-pounder through her after- 
 port. 
 
 Hardly had the report of the brig's gun faded upon the ear 
 when a sharply-uttered order from Shelvocke filled the deck of 
 the schooner with the glare of battle lanterns. The crew stood 
 at quarters waiting for the word of command, but I saw by 
 
1 1 8 AN OCEAN FREE-LANCE. 
 
 Shelvocke taking up his position at the binnacle that he waited 
 for the Tigress to swing her broadside to the Frenchman, who 
 meantime kept blazing away at us with his one gun as fast as 
 he could load ; he had elevated the piece, and the balls whistled 
 through our rigging and struck the water a long distance ahead 
 of us. It was impossible to see what mischief they did ; some- 
 times a rope's-end would fall on the deck, sometimes a block, 
 once there was a small crash of splintered wood aloft, but 
 nothing heavy fell. 
 
 ' Have you her bearings, men f rang out Shelvocke's voice. 
 
 4 Ay, ay, sir!' 
 
 * Wait for the next flash to point — aim low, as I always tell 
 you .... Now you have her — fire !' 
 
 Heaven preserve us ! if ever a vessel was raked that brig 
 was. She was within point-blank range of the carronades, and 
 the aim of the men was exact. But by this time she too had 
 canted sufficiently to enable her to bring her broadside guns to 
 bear, and I believe she had traversed the guns from the idle 
 side to the empty ports opposed to us, with a view to frighten- 
 ing us by an exhibition of metal, for she flashed into a whole 
 sheet of flame, and we could hear portions of the iron hail 
 tearing up the sea fathoms away from us, though some of the 
 shots hulled us, as any man could have told by the quivering 
 of the schooner. 
 
 She exchanged four broadsides with us, but our fifth was not 
 answered. The lightning had ceased, and there was a pallid 
 grey dawning upon the western sky. We could not see the 
 brig, but the compass-bearings told us that the Tigress had 
 swung bow on to her ; on ascertaining which I sprang into the 
 waist and ordered the forecastle gun to be double-shotted and 
 fired. 
 
 The Frenchman remained silent. 
 
 I mounted the bulwark to see if I could distinguish her, 
 and when I lifted my head above the bulwark I felt a draught 
 of wind. 
 
CAPE ANTIFER. 1 19 
 
 1 1 expect she is leaving us, sir. She will have had the first 
 of the breeze !' I shouted. 
 
 * After her, then,' echoed Shelvocke. ' All hands make 
 sail ! smartly, boys ! we'll give the newspaper men another 
 job !' 
 
 A dozen of the crew bounded over to the main throat and 
 peak halliards. ■ With a will, bullies !' bawled one of them, 
 when — crack ! the whole group lay sprawling on their backs, 
 with the halliards writhing among them. The gear had been 
 severed with a shot, and the troublesome business of reeving 
 fresh halliards had to be performed. This was not the only 
 wound our rigging had received. The jib-halliards were cut in 
 halves, the gaff-topsail-sheet was on deck, and a couple of back- 
 stays were trailing overboard. 
 
 However, all available canvas was set, the helm put down, 
 and under a freshening breeze the Tigress stretched along the 
 course which Shelvocke with instinctive accuracy guessed the 
 brig to be heading. Trifling repairs such as we needed are 
 soon executed, even on the blackest night, when you have 
 ninety men to do the work; our lanterns illuminated the 
 decks, and in less than ten minutes we were under a press of 
 sail heading due south, and in chase of a bright light that was 
 leading about a mile and a half ahead. This light had sprung 
 up suddenly, and its appearance was reported to us by a hail 
 from one of the look-out men. 
 
 * Those Frenchmen call us barbarous,' exclaimed Shelvocke, 
 laughing, after answering the hail, ' and found their notions of 
 us on the belief that we don't read any nation's history but our 
 own. That may be right ; but they forget that there is enough 
 of the history of the world in the history of England to make 
 any student of our story learned enough for all practical 
 purposes. There's a preface for a simple observation, Madi- 
 son ! Do you see that light 1 Now what imbeciles they must 
 be to hope to trick us by such an old stratagem !' 
 
 ' Why, yes, sir ; anybody may see through that trick.' 
 
120 AN OCEAN FREE-LANCE. 
 
 i Forward, there !' he shouted. * Fire the bow-gun at that 
 light. Elevate your piece, or you'll bury the shot.' 
 
 The report followed within a few seconds of the command. 
 The chase kept silence. 
 
 1 I have a noble crew, a splendid set of men, Madison !' ex- 
 claimed Shelvocke, in a voice rich with enthusiasm. ' I would 
 to heaven you and I wore epaulets, and that my men took 
 King's pay ! We'd make a name with such a body of seamen 
 under our command.' 
 
 But recollecting the disaffection that was at that time 
 notorious among the crews of many of His Majesty's ships, 
 and the difficulty that attended the procural of men to fill out 
 the complements of vessels of war, I was inclined to doubt 
 whether King's pay would have inspired the Tigresses with the 
 zealous unanimity that was one of their best characteristics. 
 
 * w Give them another dose !' he sung out. ' Ply them whilst 
 that light shines.' 
 
 The gun was fired again : a moment after the light disap- 
 peared. 
 
 1 The idiots !' muttered Shelvocke. ' Now, Madison, mark 
 them f 
 
 The wind had freshened into a strong breeze. All away 
 down in the west the sky had cleared, and here and there a 
 watery star was tremulously glowing among rifts in the heavy 
 clouds which solemnly journeyed across the dark heavens. 
 The sea under the increasing wind was breaking into spaces of 
 foam, and the roaring noise at the bows of the schooner, and 
 the gleam of the belt of froth scurrying within the reach of a 
 man's arm along the lee side, and the hooting up aloft, and the 
 fierce patter of spray, like the discharge of small firearms upon 
 the forecastle, indicated the speed of the Tigress and the 
 pressure of canvas that was rushing her. 
 
 A minute after the light ahead had vanished it reappeared. 
 Shelvocke sprang to the compass ; he took a sharp look at the 
 card, and shouted : 
 
CAPE ANTIFER. 121 
 
 * Put your helm up ! Ease away your sheets fore and aft. 
 Fore-topsail-yard there !' 
 
 The man stationed on that yard answered. 
 
 1 Look brightly about you, and report the brig the moment 
 you see her.' 
 
 < Ay, ay, sir !' 
 
 The men appeared astonished to find the schooner leaving 
 the light, which they did not doubt was aboard the enemy. It 
 was right ahead just now, and now it was almost astern. I 
 saw them looking over the bulwarks at it, and heard them 
 talking ; but Shelvocke appeared not only blind, but deaf too. 
 
 Presently he sung out : 
 
 * Mr. Madison, let the watch be called. A stern chase is a 
 long chase, and even a Frenchman knows a schooner's weak- 
 ness.' 
 
 As he spoke, eight bells were struck, by which I had the 
 pleasure to find that it was my turn to stay on deck for the 
 next four hours. However, I had had no supper, and was 
 wet through, and so, desiring Chestree to keep my look-out 
 for a short spell, I went below, where, after shifting my 
 clothes, I demolished nearly the whole of a remarkably tender 
 and well -flavoured piece of hung beef, which, with a caulker 
 of cold brandy grog, restored my good-humour. 
 
 I left Shelvocke, who had come below as wet and hungry as 
 myself, at the table, and went on deck and found the weather 
 clearing fast, but the wind increasing, and the schooner be- 
 ginning to curtsy to the surges which ran under her. She was 
 heading so as to hit the French coast between Havre and 
 Fecamp, but on an errand that had become intelligible enough, 
 now that we could see about us ; for almost the first object I 
 beheld after leaving the cabin was the shadow of the brig 
 right ahead of us, a large square blot which the telescope 
 resolved into a whole cloud of canvas. 
 
 I put my head into the skylight and gave the news to Shel- 
 vocke, who presently arrived. He examined the chase in 
 
122 AN OCEAN FREE-LANCE. 
 
 silence for some moments — I should say a whole minute — and 
 then exclaimed : 
 
 ' She is undoubtedly within range of the bow-gun, Mr. 
 Madison, should not you think V 
 
 4 A ball would have all its work to reach her, sir.' 
 
 I Well, as I look again, you may be right. But even were 
 she within range, it is not our policy to signalize any friends 
 of hers hovering in the neighbourhood, by blazing away with 
 one gun, when, with a little patience, we shall be able to bring 
 our broadside to bear.' 
 
 ' I agree with you, captain ; here is the Calvados Gulf under 
 our bows, and there are batteries enough along the coast from 
 Barfleur to Antifer to inspire the French cruisers in these waters 
 with unusual pluck.' 
 
 * I say,' he remarked, laughing, ' the brig's people will think 
 us the very devil when they look astern and find us sticking to 
 their skirts. But did they really suppose they could amuse 
 and throw us off the scent by dropping a lantern in a tub over- 
 board, and squaring away to the east'ard ? I should like to 
 know how many times that trick has been tried within the last 
 fifty years, and how often it has succeeded. I knew she must 
 try for Dieppe or some more southerly port, and I was right, 
 you see. Do you think we gain on her f 
 
 I I do not, sir. If anything she is leaving us. By the lump- 
 ing shadow she makes she appears to have stun-sails alow and 
 aloft.' 
 
 The enemy had manoeuvred so as to bring the breeze into 
 the quarter that gave the Tigress her poorest chance of sailing. 
 
 Every cloth on the schooner that would hold wind was ex- 
 posed, but it was all of no use ; we could not shorten our dis- 
 tance from the chase, and though she remained well in sight 
 over our bows, she had edged a long distance out of gun-shot. 
 
 Shelvocke's obstinate spirit was aroused. When he perceived 
 that he did not gain on the enemy, he turned the men up to 
 get the studding-sails upon the schooner, but in the midst of 
 
CAPE ANT1FER. 123 
 
 the work the top-gallant studding-sail boom snapped short off 
 at the iron, and the sail blew away like a puff of smoke. In 
 truth, the wind was fast freshening into a moderate gale that 
 had put every vestige of the ponderous thunder-clouds to flight, 
 and replaced them with lines of light scud that blew like sheets 
 of muslin across the stars. Had we been beating, there was 
 wind enough to have reefed our sails ; but being astern, its 
 force was sensibly diminished by the speed with which the 
 Tigress drove before it. Under this increased pressure the 
 schooner ran fiercely, heaping the water up in froth above the 
 hawse-holes, and raising a tall sea on each quarter ; and that 
 the brig maintained and even improved her distance from us 
 proved her the possessor of qualities that would not only test 
 the capacity of the Tigress but harass the obstinacy of Shel- 
 vocke, as well as challenge his seamanship. 
 
 Suddenly the Frenchman hauled his wind about four points, 
 keeping all his studding-sails aloft. The inclination of the 
 shadowy outline of the vessel was at least forty degrees under 
 the lateral pressure of the heavy wind, and her swinging 
 boom soared up from her side like a bowsprit. Finding that 
 she could beat us in scudding, she was going to try us with 
 her tacks aboard, her people evidently having confidence in her 
 heels, and eager to reach their own coast by the shortest cut. 
 
 The instant she shifted her helm we altered ours; but 
 scarcely had we got the wind abeam when crack ! the jib-sheet 
 parted, and before the down-haul could be manned, the sail had 
 flogged itself into rags. I watched our spars anxiously. It 
 was impossible to know how the shot of the brig had told ; 
 one crash of splintering wood had certainly followed the dis- 
 charge of a gun, and I waited to know what spar had been 
 wounded by seeing it go overboard. But nothing gave, though 
 our press of sail was enormous ; indeed I never before in all 
 my life saw any vessel so driven as the Tigress was now : the 
 lee rail of the high bulwarks was almost flush with the seething 
 foam ; standing on the deck was like being on a steep hill-side; 
 
124 AN OCEAN FREE-LANCE. 
 
 she did not rise to the seas, but cut clean through them, ship- 
 ping whole oceans of water, which came rushing aft as high as 
 a man's knees along the lee-scuppers. She took four men to 
 steer her, and I saw the binnacle-light shine in their sweating 
 faces, and watched them tearing off their coats and loosening 
 the collars of their shirts, and baring their arms to the shoulder. 
 The booming and bellowing overhead was deafening, and 
 powerful as was Shelvocke's voice he had to send Tapping for 
 his speaking-trumpet before he ventured to deliver an order. 
 
 At this moment the scene was one of wild beauty : the 
 schooner almost on her beam-ends hurling through a whole acre 
 of snow-white foam, the dark and frothing waters tossing 
 wildly to windward ; above us a sky full of bright stars and 
 flying scud, and ahead the leaning shape of the brig as steady 
 as the schooner under the sweeping gale, and leaving astern of 
 her a wide white creaming wake whose seething extremity 
 seemed to meet the very stem of the Tigress. 
 
 But the square-rigged vessel never yet was built that could 
 dispute the lead with Hannay's privateer under these conditions. 
 The brig was every moment looming larger and larger as we 
 gained upon her. 
 
 1 Make ready the bow-gun !' shouted Shelvocke through his 
 trumpet. ' Let her go off a point ' — and when this was done 
 — £ fire P 
 
 The flame flashed out of the head of the schooner, and a 
 smother of smoke fled down upon the water; but simul- 
 taneously with the exposion, the brig put her helm up, squared 
 away her yards, and in about ten minutes' time had forged out 
 of gun-shot distance again. 
 
 This was very irritating, but as Shelvocke had said on a 
 previous occasion, it could not be helped. We held on steadily; 
 and shortly after the dawn had broken in the east, I went below 
 to look at the chart, and found that if this strong wind held, 
 we should in all probability make the French coast a little to 
 the north of Cape Antifer by seven o'clock. I had been up all 
 
CAPE ANTIFER. 125 
 
 night, and was tired out, and the sound of ship's bells was 
 never more grateful to my ears than the eight strokes which 
 indicated four o'clock, and changed the watch. Before I left 
 the deck the sun had risen, and the sky all away on the lar- 
 board-bow was a vast sheet of frosted, rosy-tipped silver, and 
 in the west and south a bright light blue, and the sea a 
 streaming, running, throbbing, and foaming tract of waters, 
 with a strong wind sweeping noisily across it, and vacant as a 
 desert save in the point towards which the jib-boom of the 
 Tigress arched, where there shone a white form no bigger than 
 a man's hand, but which the telescope proved to be the French 
 brig, that had widened her distance to between four and five 
 miles, and whose hull under the broad and tall space of canvas 
 she exhibited was like a car under a Lussac balloon ; and one 
 could almost have imagined that the whole thing would soar 
 into the air and be blown away into the silver sky, so delicate 
 and lily-like and aerial did the fabric look upon the leagues of 
 sea which poured their boiling surges towards the rising sun. 
 
 I went to my cabin and turned in and fell asleep, and had 
 slept two hours, and was dreaming of being grasped by the 
 throat by a huge French grenadier, whose immense pistol (the 
 cold muzzle of which, by the way, I distinctly felt like the snout 
 of a dog against my right temple) threatened a most murderous 
 coup de grdce, when I was aroused by young Peacock putting 
 his hand on my shoulder. I opened my eyes. 
 
 ' The crew have been called to quarters, sir. We have hove 
 up the French coast, and I think Captain Shelvocke means to 
 give us some fun, sir,' shouted the youth, and immediately ran 
 on deck. 
 
 I was there almost as soon as he, and found the crew tumb- 
 ling up out of the hatchways, and some of the watch hauling 
 down the studding-sails, and others handing the square-canvas, 
 whilst the schooner, with the wind a point before the beam, 
 into which quarter it had veered within the last five minutes, 
 was racing along at a speed that made every bone of her 
 
126 AN OCEAN FREE-LANCE. 
 
 tremble as though she must go to pieces like a pack of cards. 
 Eight ahead loomed the pale chalk cliffs and green summits of 
 Cape Antifer, with the land on either side shelving away south 
 and east until only little blobs of hazy film trembled upon the 
 white refractive line about the dark waters of the horizon. 
 
 The brig lay broad in view upon our lee bow, having braced 
 up to meet the shift of wind, and her hull almost buried in 
 the veil of foam she tore up. She had evidently been trying 
 for Fecamp and the Criqueboeuf batteries, but probably fearing 
 that the wind would haul further to the eastward, was hoping 
 to get the land aboard, so as to bring up and fight us under the 
 shelter of a fort to windward of Cape Antifer. 
 
 1 Ay, but fighting, I am afraid, is the last infirmity of those 
 noble minds,' said Shelvocke, to whom I had put the above 
 probability, speaking with bitter contempt, and looking harassed 
 and weary, though he had managed to snatch an hour's sleep 
 whilst I was below. 
 
 We soon began to close the chase, now that we had the wind 
 abeam, and I had a good look at her through the glass. 
 
 She was a handsome vessel, probably fifty tons bigger than 
 the Tigress, with a gaily decorated stern, and a broad white 
 streak along her sides, out of which forked the muzzles of her 
 guns. She had large square tops painted black, wide channels, 
 and sat low on the water, and was apparently a very powerful 
 boat. Whatever mischief we had done her aloft was repaired, 
 nor could we suppose, having regard to the tremendous press 
 of canvas she carried, that we had wounded her spars. If she 
 had suffered at all, it was in the hull, but to what extent, as 
 the sequel will show, we were not able to ascertain. 
 
 Suddenly she hoisted French colours, and fired a gun at us, 
 
 probably to alarm the look-outs on the heights, for her people 
 
 must have been perfectly well aware that we were out of range. 
 
 ' Answer that challenge, Mr. Peacock !' called out Captain 
 
 Shelvocke. < Hoist the ensign !' 
 
 Having said which, he jumped on to one of the guns, and 
 
CAPE ANTIFER. 127 
 
 stood with his arm round a back-stay, watching the chase with 
 an expression of extraordinary eagerness. 
 
 Most chases are mere lotteries, for the issue of a pursuit at 
 sea can seldom be calculated on. Shelvocke's hope in following 
 the brig had evidently lain in a shift of wind, or in being able 
 to get within range, and to cripple her so as to oblige her to 
 make a stand and fight. The natural obstinacy of his nature, 
 moreover, was not a little inflamed by the attempt that had 
 been made to board us, and that had failed entirely because of 
 the vigilance of the look-out we had kept and his sagacious 
 suspicions that something of the kind would be ventured. 
 
 The sight of the towering French cliff now lent a new signi- 
 ficance to the pursuit. This was the first time the Tigress had 
 been in sight of the enemy's coast, and one thought of the 
 wrongs done to humanity by the inhabitants of that soil, of 
 their hatred of England, of the scores of one's fellow-country- 
 men languishing in its gaols. Indeed no words can express 
 the bitter feelings excited by those lofty heights of chalk clad 
 with verdure that gleamed like silk in the sun. The faces of 
 our seamen darkened under the moods which the sight of the 
 French shore aroused. The children of the Englishmen of this 
 period will never be able to gauge the hatred of the French 
 that fired the hearts of their fathers, and made them the most 
 deadly and disastrous enemies the arms of France ever encoun- 
 tered. I noticed some of our men, after they had looked 
 awhile at the shore, feel the edge of their cutlasses and slap 
 the breeches of the guns with gestures of uncontrollable ex- 
 citement. No quarter-deck speech ever awakened such deep 
 and eager passions as were excited in our men by that line of 
 coast, growing whiter and taller and greener as we raced after 
 the brig, with the water flying in sheets over the forecastle, and 
 the air all around filled with the roaring of canvas. 
 
 The brig continued to fire at us, though her balls dropped a 
 long way short, but Shelvocke took no notice of this. It was 
 plainly her intention to seek the shelter of a fort that pro- 
 
128 AN OCEAN FREE-LANCE. 
 
 tected the entrance of a small bay at the base of a very noble 
 green and fertile valley, whose rich, deep verdancy beautifully 
 contrasted with the dazzling white of the chalk cliffs, and it 
 remained to be seen whether she would be able to reach that 
 shelter before we could get between her and the land. 
 
 The eyes of every man and boy in the schooner stared for- 
 wards at the brig, and it was strange to behold the set, lower- 
 ing expressions on their faces : how some stood with their 
 rugged, naked arms locked upon their breasts, and some leaning 
 with their hands upon the guns, and some crouching like 
 leashed hounds to gaze through the windward ports, and all of 
 them preserving a dead stillness ; for the end of this long 
 pursuit was at hand. It was a matter of time only whether 
 we should get to leeward of the Frenchman. If she reached 
 the protection of the fort, Shelvocke was the man to cut her 
 out ; if we passed her, and separated her from the land, we 
 were sure of a hot action. In either case warm work was 
 certain, and it was being led up to by as exciting a chase as 
 ever took place on broad waters. 
 
 All this while she kept hammering at us with a couple of 
 long eighteens, which they had trained through her after-ports, 
 and at every discharge the shot flashed up the spray nearer 
 and nearer. As she was now certainly within range of our 
 bow-gun, Shelvocke gave the order to peg away at her in 
 return ; but owing to the lively motion of the schooner I could 
 not swear that we did her any mischief. No sooner did we 
 begin to fire than the fort opened, by way, I suppose, of en- 
 couraging the brig. To judge by the volumes of smoke that 
 went pouring away towards the giant headland, this shore- 
 battery mounted heavy metal ; the boom of the ordnance 
 struck the ear with a ponderous note that sounded high above 
 the yelling of the wind and the roaring of the passing waters. 
 In ten minutes from this time the brig was not a mile ahead, 
 and her shot were flying over us. 
 
 1 I fear we shan't be able to round her, sir,' said I to Shel- 
 
CAPE ANTIFER. 129 
 
 vocke, who still stood on the gun, steadying himself with the 
 back-stay. ' Would it be worth while to luff and give her a 
 broadside V 
 
 1 They'll be in a mess in a moment or two if they don't mind 
 their eye,' he replied. ' I see something that looks uncommonly 
 like broken water a little ahead of them, and they're steering 
 for the thick of it. How far off is that coast, think you V 
 
 ' Four miles, sir/ 
 
 ' Just see what soundings the chart gives, Madison/ 
 , I ran below, overhauled the chart, and returned. 
 
 'Fourteen to eight close in shore, sir, but there's a shoal 
 with twelve feet at high-water mark, that bears W.N.W. from 
 the fort.' 
 
 He made no answer, but kept his eyes steadily fixed on the 
 brig. Now and again I could see the water spirt up under the 
 discharge from the fort, well to windward of the brig, which 
 the shot were more likely to hit than ourselves ; but the leap- 
 ing and glancing of the foam under the strong wind made the 
 surface of the water extremely confusing. 
 
 I levelled the glass at the battery that was situated on the 
 left of the bay, and that stood out in bold relief against the 
 deep green of the valley and the paler verdure of the further 
 inclines. It mounted six guns, three pointing seaward to the 
 north, and the others covering the mouth of the bay ; they 
 were being fired one after another, and .through the telescope 
 I could see the red tongues of flame flash out, and the white, 
 dense clouds of smoke roll sluggishly to leeward, and figures 
 moving on the outer walls and the sparkle of small arms and 
 military accoutrements. 
 
 There were a couple of small coasting sloops at anchor in 
 the bay, pitching and tossing consumedly on the troubled 
 waters ; the glitter of the high surf was visible all along the 
 coast, but with the exception of a small cluster of huts upon 
 the slope a long way behind the fort and on the confines of 
 the valley, I could perceive no sign of human habitation ; nor, 
 
 9 
 
i 3 o AN OCEAN FREE-LANCE, 
 
 away from the fort, was there any living creature to be 
 seen. 
 
 I was ogling the enemy's territory with active curiosity, 
 when a cry from Shelvocke made me dash down the glass and 
 spring to his side. 
 
 1 Hard aport ! in with that foresail ! let go the jib-halliards !' 
 he pealed through his trumpet : and as the schooner plunged 
 round into the wind, chopping the heavy seas which ran to 
 meet her, and with the canvas so furiously shaking overhead 
 that the shrouds and back-stays rattled like the contents of a 
 china warehouse to a passing van, he shouted : * Steady ! bear 
 a hand, men ! keep your stations at the larboard guns — you 
 have her under your muzzles — now you may physic her !' 
 
 And whilst thirty of the crew were brailing in, and clewing 
 up, and stripping the schooner of half her canvas, our larboard 
 broadside was fired, raising, what with the slatting of the sails, 
 and the stamping of the men, and the flinging down of coils of 
 rope, and the splashing of water, and groaning of timbers, and 
 hooting of the wind, such a hullabaloo as would have set an 
 inexperienced hand calling upon heaven to have mercy upon 
 his soul. 
 
 The moment I could find time to look about me I saw the 
 reason of this sudden change in our movements. Just as 
 Shelvocke had hoped or predicted, the brig's people had run 
 the unfortunate craft ashore on the shoal whose existence had 
 been observed by our captain's keen eye when two miles away 
 from it. The vessel lay on her larboard broadside ; the thump- 
 ing blow she had dealt herself had carried away both top- 
 masts, and * as she had a press of sail at the time — royals, 
 studding-sails, every cloth, indeed, that she could stretch — she 
 presented one of the most perfect images of confusion the 
 imagination could picture forth. 
 
 Her masts, however, did not go until after we had given her 
 our broadside, and when Shelvocke saw her deplorable condi- 
 tion, the word was passed to cease firing. They continued 
 
CAPE ANT1FER. 131 
 
 blazing at us from the fort, but whether because we were just 
 out of range, or because they guessed our humane motive in 
 not playing on the brig, they presently stopped their cannon- 
 ading, and their attention, as well as ours, was fixed on the 
 hapless chase. 
 
 Very fortunately for her people, she had fallen over so as to 
 expose her higher side to the sea ; had she slanted her decks 
 to the surges which broke against and burst in smoke over 
 her, she would have gone to pieces in ten minutes. The speed 
 with which she was travelling at the time she struck, had run 
 her high on the ridge : she lay with two-thirds of her copper 
 exposed and glowing like a furnace in the sun, her bow hove 
 high, and her wrecked spars and sails tossing and beating and 
 looking like a mass of tangled sea-weed alongside of her. 
 
 There was a whole swarm of people gathered aft, and ap- 
 parently utterly helpless, and another equally helpless crowd 
 in the bows. They made no effort to save themselves, nor was 
 there any appearance of a rescue from the shore. Shelvocke 
 beckoned me to him. 
 
 'Madison,' said he, € those people must be rescued, and by 
 us ; not only for the sake of our common humanity, but for 
 the sake of our reputation as generous enemies. I select you 
 for this task, as I should for any job requiring nerve and 
 judgment.' 
 
 I immediately sung out to the boatswain to pipe the crew of 
 the first cutter away. This was a large, powerful boat, pulling 
 twelve oars. A flag of truce was thrown into her and fixed in 
 the bows, and as we shoved off, a gun was fired to windward, 
 and a white flag hoisted at the main, which a few moments 
 after was answered by a white flag at the battery ashore. 
 
 The water was even more lively than I had supposed it At 
 one moment the boat would be thrown up to the summit of a 
 roaring sea, whose boiling crest foamed above the gunwales 
 and covered the knees of the men and the floor with hissing 
 spume, that crackled like pods of sea-weed under the tread, and 
 
 9—2 
 
132 AN OCEAN FREE-LANCE, 
 
 we seemed to look down, as from a hill-top, upon the surround- 
 ing plain of waters, where in one place lay the beautiful 
 schooner bowing to the surges like a noble steed, whose curved 
 neck and pawing forefoot betoken his eagerness to be gone, and 
 where in another place lay the dismantled and motionless brig 
 over which the sea was tossing a haze of spray, while her 
 hinder-part was black with human figures watching us ; and 
 then in another moment down we would sink between two 
 walls of bottle-green water, in whose translucent depths we 
 now and again could catch fleeting glimpses of a fragment of 
 marine vegetable torn from its sandy soil, or the horn-like 
 yellow of an immense jelly-fish, or a five-finger washed from its 
 home among the rocks, while not a breath of air reached us to 
 cool our cheeks, though the spray flew over our heads in wreaths 
 and clusters like masses of snow. 
 
 There was but one way of boarding the brig, and that was 
 on the lee-bow, the raffle that was overboard being chiefly on 
 the larboard quarter. The poor creatures raised a quivering 
 cheer when we were near enough to hear them ; they guessed 
 our errand, and really our country had furnished them with 
 some substantial grounds for believing in the humanity of 
 English sailors. 
 
 I steered the boat to leeward and made signs to the people 
 on the forecastle to coil down a rope ready to pitch to us ; and 
 when we had the rope's end aboard, the boat was hauled 
 cautiously towards the wreck. The hull of the brig acted like 
 a breakwater, and the sea was tolerably smooth under the lee 
 of her, though the moment we got within the range of it we 
 were drenched through with spray. She lay in about ten feet 
 of water, and, watching our chance, ten of us jumped aboard, 
 whilst the men left in charge of the boat veered out the line, 
 and the cutter went clear of the wreckage, and lay rising and 
 falling like a cork. 
 
 I never recall the scene of that brig's decks without feeling 
 how beggarly words are as reflectors of facts. Benjamin West- 
 
CAPE ANTIFER. 133 
 
 might have painted it, but even the artist could only show it 
 as it appeared at one instant of time ; the swift and endless 
 changes of posture, the despairing expressions of face, the 
 throbbing of colours supplied by a thousand passionate motions 
 and gestures, could only be conveyed by as many pictures. And 
 then the uproar ! the lamentations, the imprecations, the sup- 
 plications ! tumbling inboard that vessel was like dropping into 
 the infernal regions. 
 
 In the first place the vessel lay bilged at an angle of about 
 fifty degrees. The shooting of the seas over her side filled 
 the deck to leeward with water, and I was up to my armpits 
 the moment I got aboard. The guns had fetched away and 
 helped out the frightful mess of rigging, hen-coops, hatchway- 
 gratings, round-shot, pikes, muskets, splintered wood, and a 
 hundred things besides, which choked the lee-scuppers. At 
 least a dozen dead bodies lay floating or sunk in as many 
 postures in the water that extended like a small lake from 
 the main-hatch to the rail of the lee-bulwarks. At each end 
 of the vessel there was collected a dense crowd of men — 
 soldiers and sailors — indiscriminately mixed, and at least a 
 score of priests. I scanned the mobs eagerly, and was glad to 
 find no women. 
 
 I own I was amazed to observe how helpless these creatures 
 had been made by fear. There were two good boats hanging 
 at the lee davits, and a cutter on chocks amidships, big enough 
 to hold thirty persons. Yet no one had thought of getting 
 these boats afloat. 
 
 Clinging with my hands, and shoving with my feet, like a 
 dog on all-fours, I made shift to scramble clear of the water, 
 and steadying myself with my heels against the coamings of 
 the main hatch, I sung out in my native language to know if 
 there was anybody aboard who could speak English. Two or 
 three voices answered, and a priest (as white as wax) waved 
 his hand to engage my attention. 
 
 ' Do you speak English, sir f I shouted. 
 
i 3 4 AN OCEAN FREE-LANCE. 
 
 i Yes, I speak,' he replied, in a good accent. 
 
 1 Then please order silence to be kept. You may say I shall 
 make no effort to save them if they don't stop their shindy/ 
 
 He hollowed his hands and delivered my message with a 
 shriek like a woman's. It produced the effect I wanted ; the 
 people grew as silent as death, and nothing was to be heard 
 but the thunder of the seas striking the brig, and the sharp 
 artillery of the spray lashing the decks and the water beyond. 
 
 1 Where is the captain f I shouted. 
 
 The priest pointed to the water where the bodies lay with a 
 gesture inexpressibly mournful and pathetic. 
 
 ' Are there no officers aboard f 
 
 The priest glanced behind him, there was a movement 
 among a group of soldiers who stood wedged together and 
 holding on to one another, and a very small man, not above 
 five feet high, and looking more like a corpse than a living 
 mortal, was unceremoniously thrust forward ; but the moment 
 the hands which propelled him let him go, he fell down, and 
 would have rolled into the water in the scuppers, had not one 
 of my men caught him. 
 
 This poor little creature, who appeared to have been badly 
 wounded, proved to be the first lieutenant ; but, as he was in 
 a condition to be of no possible service, and as it was evident 
 that the other officers were too much ashamed or too much 
 alarmed to stand forward and offer to help, I resolved to waste 
 no more time in questions, and telling my men to turn to 
 smartly and cut away the wreckage that we might get the 
 boats overboard, I requested the priest to order the French 
 seamen to assist my crew, but at the same time to require the 
 soldiers to remain where they were so that the sailors might 
 not be hindered by crowding. 
 
 The sight of the Tigresses going to work on the laniards 
 and gear with knives and cutlasses, hacking away, some of 
 them with the water up to their throats, and laughing loudly 
 as the seas came foaming down upon them, heartened the 
 
CAPE ANTIFER. 135 
 
 Frenchmen, who, giving a cheer for the brave English, fell to 
 work like men. In ten minutes' time the wreckage was cut 
 away and floating free of the brig. The gangway was then 
 cleared, the boats lowered one after the other, and the soldiers, 
 priests, and twenty seamen crowded into them. 
 
 Before the first boat shoved off, the priest who had acted as 
 my interpreter stood up to ask whether they were to row for 
 the schooner or the shore, probably expecting that I should 
 claim them as prisoners \ but when I said the shore, every 
 man shouted Vivent les Anglais/ The soldiers waved their 
 hats, the sailors (out of compliment) huzzaed after our British 
 fashion of cheering, and my poor priest seemed to bless me 
 with his extended hands. It was a touching scene, and I was 
 heartily glad to be an actor in it. 
 
 We had great trouble to get the big cutter out ; happily the 
 main-stay stood, and by clapping tackles on to it and the fore- 
 yardarm, we managed to sway the boat out of her chocks and 
 drop her overboard without accident. The remainder of the 
 crew and soldiers were numerous enough to load her down to 
 the gunwales. I saw that she would be too full to go safely 
 through such a sea as was running, and therefore got our own 
 cutter alongside, and stowed fourteen Frenchmen in her. 
 This done, and having ascertained that nothing living was left 
 aboard, I jumped down the main-hatch, and with a flint and 
 steel set fire to the brig in three places, after which I got into 
 the cutter, and with the French boat in company pulled away 
 for the shore. 
 
 I do not believe the Frenchmen who were removed from 
 the brig cared twopence about our burning her ; indeed, the 
 soldiers, as we shoved off, exhausted themselves in impreca- 
 tions upon her, and again and again I burst into an uncon- 
 trollable fit of laughter over the extraordinary grimaces, the 
 shrugs, the extravagant gesticulations of the people we had 
 stowed away in our boat. They all spoke together, the open- 
 ing of one man's mouth being the signal for all hands to burst 
 
136 AN OCEAN FREE-LANCE. 
 
 out, and after a while the poor fellows actually began to sing, 
 and were joined by the others in the boat astern of us, though 
 the spray flew over us in sheets, and as we neared the bay the 
 popple grew ugly enough to demand the closest vigilance. 
 
 On the road it occurred to me that we ought to have 
 brought the body of the French captain with us, that he 
 might be buried with honours; but when I turned to the 
 Frenchmen, and in my broken way suggested that we should 
 return before the fire laid hold of the brig, and that I would 
 take the risk of procuring the corpse, they all to a man shook 
 their heads and flourished their hands with an air of passion- 
 ate contempt, and said — so far as I could gather from the rude 
 patois they spoke — that their captain had proved himself a 
 fainiant, a poor creature, and that his memory deserved no 
 respect. They might have said the same thing of the other 
 officers, naval as well as military (for I presume the soldiers 
 had officers to look after them), all of whom had behaved like 
 arrant cowards, neglecting their duty, and hiding among the 
 men when the brig was in danger, and skulking into the first 
 boat that came alongside. 
 
 However, I had not much time allowed me to think over 
 these matters, for the sea ran so high as we approached the 
 land, and both cutters were so deeply laden, that there were 
 moments when we were in real peril, and it was not until we 
 had got the southern fork of the bay between us and the 
 tossing surges that I drew an easy breath. Here, close in- 
 shore, the water was smooth, though the tumble opposite was 
 rough enough to keep the two coasters dancing like circus- 
 horses, and a heavy surf roared upon the white sand and flung 
 a hundred sparkling rainbows upon the deep summer foliage 
 that enriched the gradual slope down to within fifty feet of 
 high-water mark. 
 
 The whole spot, indeed, was a perfect paradise, and any 
 man would have thought himself upon a tropical coast, on 
 viewing the deep cool forest of trees which backed the bay, 
 
CAPE ANTIFER. 137 
 
 .and spread a broad surface of lovely green over the huge 
 hollow in the cliffs which rose on either hand from the margin 
 of the water until they attained an elevation of some hun- 
 dreds of feet of shining chalk, upon whose summits lay the 
 verdant plains of one of the most picturesque of the French 
 Departments, resembling at that distance an endless carpet of 
 embroidered green silk. 
 
 Immediately opposite the beach where the people were 
 landing from the boats which had first left the wreck was the 
 fort, built on a point of headland about sixty feet above the 
 sea ; the white flag still blew from the tall pole in the centre 
 of it, and the outer wall was lined with soldiers watching us. 
 Stumbling upon such a scene as this, set like a gem on the 
 breast of a towering range of cliff, was like falling asleep in 
 the middle of the sea, and dreaming of a beautiful land. 
 The uniforms of the garrison at the fort, mere spots of colour 
 upon the grim, coarse outer wall ; the satin-like flag streaming 
 against the green of the outer slopes ; the dazzling white of 
 the immensely high cliffs, stretching far away into the sea ; 
 the line of boiling surf that extended, like a pile of snow 
 which had been swept off the ocean, from the base of the 
 cliffs as far as the eye could reach, down to the northern curve 
 of the bay ; the tumbling waters blowing up in smoke, upon 
 the dancing greens and whites of which the sloops were leap- 
 ing, with the sunshine flashing in their streaming sides, and 
 kindling stars of blinding brilliance in the glass upon their 
 decks ; the shaggy mass of green stretching for miles up the 
 gigantic defile, and the glittering silver of the circle of white 
 sands, in the southernmost corner of which were collected the 
 crowd of soldiers and sailors and priests who had scrambled 
 ashore out of the boats — formed such a scene of unfamiliar 
 beauty, that to this day it never comes before me without a 
 disturbing sense of unreality. 
 
 I headed the cutter for the spot where the other boats had 
 grounded, and no sooner did her stem grate upon the sand 
 
138 AN OCEAN FREE-LANCE. 
 
 than my Frenchmen toppled over the sides and plumped up to 
 their waists in the water, and splashed ashore as fast as they 
 could wade. Immediately afterwards, the fourth boat grounded, 
 and the haste of her people to land was more diverting still, 
 for they sprang all together, and many of them tumbled on 
 their noses under water, whilst their shakoes and hats floated 
 away to sea in squadrons. 
 
 I had leisure now to cast my eye over the crowd, and noticed 
 an officer dressed out in full puff, in a fine blue coat laced with 
 silver, a cocked hat, glossy boots, white nankeens, and a long 
 sparkling sword. He was a handsome old gentleman, silver 
 haired, with dark, shining eyes, and heavily-thatched brows. 
 He proved to be the commandant of the fort, but I did not 
 know this until my priest — who, now that he was ashore, and 
 safe, had gathered a healthy complexion, and whose gentle, 
 pensive, intellectual cast of countenance made me in love for 
 a spell with the religion that could work so beautiful an 
 expression in the human face — stepped forward, and raising 
 his voice exclaimed in English : 
 
 ' Sir, I am desired by Monsieur le Colonel,' indicating the 
 figged-out officer with a graceful gesture, 'to express to you, 
 in the name of the French nation, his gratitude to you and 
 your noble seamen for your exertions in the cause of humanity. 
 It was in your power, sir, to make us captives by taking us on 
 board your ship ; but you have chosen to complete your 
 admirable mission, and to make it in all respects worthy of 
 your great and courageous, country, by giving us our liberty. 
 Sir, I thank you for myself, and for my comrades.' 
 
 And whilst I raised my hat to the colonel, whose cocked 
 headgear swept the ground as he returned my salutation, the 
 priest repeated his speech to me in French for the edification 
 of the people, who immediately murmured all manner of 
 thanks, though I caught one little chap, who, I believe, was 
 third lieutenant of the brig, scowling venomously at me 
 between the elbows of a couple of tall seamen. 
 
CAPE ANTIFER. 139 
 
 ' Monsieur le CureV said I, determined not to be outdone in 
 politeness, ' you will do me the favour to assure Monsieur le 
 Colonel that it has given us great pleasure to be of use to you ; 
 and — speaking for myself — I may add, I am heartily sorry 
 that the dreadful necessities of war should have brought about 
 the melancholy disaster that has befallen you.' He raised his 
 hands and looked up to heaven. ' Monsieur, I will not say 
 au revoir, I do not want to meet any of you again until peace 
 is declared between our two countries ; I am glad to have been 
 able to help you ; and so, monsieur, I wish you heartily adieu. 7 
 
 The priest translated this to the crowd while we were 
 shoving off, and as we pulled the boat's head round, they gave 
 us a loud cheer. I again raised my hat, the men squared their 
 elbows, and off we started for the schooner. 
 
 The brig was burning bravely on the shoal in spite of the 
 spray that dashed over her, and dense volumes of smoke 
 poured from her along the water, so that we had like to be 
 smothered as we passed by ; but this was a small matter com- 
 pared to the risk we ran from her guns, and the chance of her 
 blowing up before we should get well away from her. It is 
 true that several of her cannons were under water, but I had 
 noticed that some of her pieces were in a serviceable condition, 
 and we really did not require more than one shot to sink us. 
 
 However, we got past without accident, though soon after 
 the Tigress had sighted us and put her helm up to meet us, the 
 main-mast and gear of the brig being in flames, fell along the 
 deck, and I had turned my head to look at the astonishing 
 shower of sparks which fled in whole galaxies along the black 
 line of smoke, when the powder caught, and the vessel blew 
 up. We were to leeward of the wreck, and consequently got 
 the full force of the noise, and I never would have believed 
 that the explosion of a vessel of her size could have produced 
 so tremendous a concussion. The whole scene all around, to 
 a height of a hundred feet, was full of smoke and flame, of 
 exploding hand-grenades and bomb-shells, of huge beams of 
 
i 4 o AN OCEAN FREE-LANCE. 
 
 glowing wood and fragments of blazing canvas, and a 
 wonderful sight was the huge main-mast that darted upwards 
 on fire, like a flaming spear hurled from the hand of a giant, 
 described a curve like the boomerangs mentioned by Cook, 
 then rushed into the sea with the flames in the form of wings 
 all around it, and smiting the foaming surface of a wave, 
 vanished with a loud shrieking hiss, shooting midway its own 
 length again into the air after a short interval, when it lay 
 tossing upon the waters, a charred and blackened spar. 
 
 Scarcely had we brought the cutter alongside, and scrambled 
 aboard the Tigress, when the white flag was hauled down from 
 the fort, and they opened fire upon us. I have no doubt the 
 destruction of the brig maddened the old commandant. As 
 soon as the fort began, Shelvocke ordered the flag of truce to 
 be hauled down, and the English ensign hoisted at the peak ; 
 the hands were turned up to make sail, and before a fourth 
 round could be discharged at us, the Tigress, untouched by the 
 iron showers which fell all around her, was stretching her 
 noble form along the flashing waters, and dwindling the fort 
 into a thing no bigger than a pea upon the green of the 
 beautiful valley of the Seine coast. 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 AN OLD FRIEND. 
 
 Had the Tigress been a King's ship we should have got some 
 credit for this business. No particular heroism, it is true, had 
 been exhibited, though that was not our fault, for the brig 
 would not fight us ; but we had destroyed a fine vessel, and 
 this exploit quickly following our action with the corvette, 
 would, had we flown a pennant, have brought us some civil 
 letters from the Admiralty, the honour of a gazetting, and 
 better things still. But being only a private ship, the ad- 
 
AN OLD FRIEND. 141 
 
 venture yielded us neither glory, which we could have made 
 shift to do without, nor profit, which was one of the things we 
 wanted. 
 
 However, as Shelvocke said, in the speech he delivered to 
 the men an hour after we had got away from the fort, he had 
 chased the brig in the hope of capturing her, and he was 
 perhaps sorrier than any man aboard that the pursuit had 
 ended so unprofitably for his crew. Luckily, said he, the brig 
 was not the only fish that swam in the sea ; he meant to give 
 the Channel another chance or two, as, so far, he had no reason 
 to complain of his luck in these waters ; but he should extend 
 his field presently, and if a cruise in the West India latitudes 
 did not tassel their pocket-handkerchiefs with dollars, it would 
 not be for the want of laying the Tigress alongside rich ships. 
 
 We cruised for four days without anything particular 
 happening. On the morning of the fifth day we were off the 
 Casquets, a group of rocks to the westward of the clean and 
 tidy little island of Alderney, and we were feeling our way 
 towards the south, and indeed had worked as far as the Schole 
 Bank, when a sail hove in sight right ahead, standing north- 
 east by the compass, and closing the south horizon to us ; for 
 no sooner had her topsails risen than we pronounced her a 
 Frenchman. 
 
 This was disappointing, as Shelvocke had talked of looking 
 along the coast as far as Granville, where we might hope to 
 have found some business waiting for us. However, the tower 
 of canvas rising ahead advertized us of a great hull underneath, 
 and when we had lain to long enough to see the whole of her 
 (for Shelvocke was not the man to turn tail until he knew 
 what he was running away from) the stranger discovered herself 
 to be a ninety-four, her sides swarming with gun-muzzles, and 
 cannon bristling from her poop, gangways, and forecastle. 
 
 I searched the horizon around her, suspecting her to be the 
 van of a squadron; but no other sail was in sight, whence 
 Shelvocke inferred that the Channel fleet having put into 
 
142 AN OCEAN FREE-LANCE. 
 
 Cawsand Bay (as had been reported to us by a small English 
 collier that we had spoken two days previously), this French- 
 man had been detached to reconnoitre the island of Guernsey, 
 upon which fertile and pleasant piece of vantage-ground Buona- 
 parte had been casting a languishing eye for some considerable 
 time past. 
 
 There was a noble sailing-breeze blowing, and though the 
 monster astern, on sighting us, had braced up and triced out 
 her bowlines and headed for the weather-gage, neither her pre- 
 sence nor her movements gave us the least uneasiness. Guernsey 
 was within easy reach, and from Petit Bot Bay to St. Peter's 
 Point there was as much protection as we should need. The 
 schooner was put about, the English ensign hoisted, and every 
 stitch of fore and aft canvas set. In a few minutes we found 
 we could drop our friend, or keep her in one place, just as we 
 pleased; whereupon Shelvocke, who, like the old romancers, 
 loved to make his beauty coquet with the ogres, lowered his 
 gaff-topsail, hauled up the clew of the mainsail, and took in 
 his flying-jib, though even under this reduced canvas the 
 Tigress had to be luffed from time to time, and the wind shaken 
 out of her sails, to prevent her sinking the hull of the looming 
 hooker astern. 
 
 Yet I write in no disdain of this French ship, for she was a 
 noble-looking vessel, though dwarfed by distance and sur- 
 rounded by the deep, whose mightiness depresses the grandest 
 works of mortal hands into but a mean and little show. 
 Through one of the powerful glasses, which were among the 
 most useful of the Tigress's fittings, I beheld the French ship 
 as clearly as though she lay within a quarter of a mile from us, 
 and could have dwelt for hours upon the beautiful fabric peeling 
 the green seas with her metalled cutwater into two bright, oil- 
 smooth waves, which broke into glittering silver at her gang- 
 ways ; and upon the stateliness of her erect posture under the 
 weight of her. swelling canvas; and upon the snow-white line 
 of hammock-cloths topping the black bulwarks, pierced by the 
 
AN OLD FRIEND. 143 
 
 iron muzzles of heavy guns ; and upon the delicate black 
 shadows thrown by the stays and braces on the brilliant sails, 
 whose corners were softly shadowed. 
 
 By this time it must have been apparent to her people that 
 they might as well endeavour to chase a sea-gull as the schooner; 
 but they held on after us nevertheless, sailing full and bye, 
 probably provoked into continuing a useless chase by the sight 
 of our red flag. I believe they imagined we meant to fight 
 them when they saw us shorten sail, for a puff of smoke broke 
 out of her bows, and sailed away to leeward in a growing cloud, 
 and after a while the boom of the report reached our ears. But 
 as she was some miles distant, we did not trouble ourselves to 
 look where the ball dropped. 
 
 I was amused by young Peacock coming up to me, and 
 inquiring if I knew whether Captain Shelvocke meant to 
 engage the Frenchman. 
 
 1 Why, you young fire-eater !' I exclaimed, ' are you in a 
 hurry to die that you ask such a question ? One broadside 
 from that chap would blow us into dust.' 
 
 ' 1 should like to try that scheme I spoke to you about, sir, 
 and which Mr. Chestree ridiculed/ said he, fixing his large, 
 dark, melancholy eyes on mine with a look of earnestness in 
 them that would have set many a girl's heart palpitating. 
 1 With the captain's leave I'd undertake to board her aloft, and 
 douse her colours.' 
 
 * I dare say you would if she gave you time. But we should 
 have to get broadside on to her to enable you to gain her spars 
 from ours ; and how long, Mr. Peacock, do you suppose the 
 guns of that ship would allow us to lie alongside ? Never fear 
 but that you'll meet with something proper to practise your 
 ideas upon; but if you want to catch a shark you mustn't angle 
 with a gudgeon-hook.' 
 
 He walked forward, casting lingering glances at the French- 
 man over his shoulder. 
 
 Shelvocke looked at him as he left me, and crossing the 
 
i 4 4 AN OCEAN FREE-LANCE. 
 
 deck, asked me what he had been saying. I told him, and he 
 smiled. 
 
 * The lad has great spirit,' said he, with the softened voice 
 and suggestion of fondness I had often noticed in him when 
 addressing the young fellow, or speaking of him. ' I doubt if 
 he'd shirk the ugliest job you could put him into. What think 
 you of his face I He has a pretty look at times, I fancy.' 
 
 1 1 never met a handsomer nor a more interesting face in a 
 youth, sir. I question if he's purely English. There is a 
 southern tint in the skin, and a soft darkness in the eyes— — ' 
 
 ' Sail ho !' shouted a fellow on the forecastle. 
 
 There was no need to ask where away, for when I raised my 
 eyes they encountered the upper canvas of a vessel about two 
 points on the weather-bow. She was a full-rigged ship, and 
 making a due easterly course, and shortly after she had hove 
 in sight we raised another sail a little to windward of her, that 
 proved to be a brig. 
 
 We watched them anxiously, for if they turned out to be 
 Frenchmen we should, in all probability, find ourselves in a plea- 
 sant little quandary, as by wearing and standing down athwart 
 our hawse, they could not only foil our efforts to reach Guernsey, 
 but force us to bring the wind aft, in which case the line-of- 
 battle ship astern would have us at her mercy. 
 
 Suddenly the ship hoisted English colours, squared her yards, 
 threw out a couple of studding-sails, and followed by the brig, 
 stood for the Frenchman, whom she had probably only just 
 made out. We now saw that she was a frigate, of what weight 
 of metal it was not easy to guess, as a vessel pierced as she 
 was for forty guns, might carry more or less than that number ; 
 but though she was undoubtedly a crack ship of her class, she 
 looked no match for the huge liner whose soaring heights of 
 canvas seemed to sweep the very heavens, while the brig that 
 accompanied her had the air of an old collier with her badly- 
 stayed masts, dark sails and leaning bulwarks, which overhung 
 her decks like the flap of a Spanish sombrero. 
 
AN OLD FRIEND. 145 
 
 As they came along, the brig being about two-thirds of a mile 
 astern of her consort, the frigate threw out several signals : 
 each of them had her boarding-nettings triced up, and it was 
 clear that fighting was meant. The gallant, dashing manner 
 in which they bore down upon their vast opponent, shifting 
 their helm and running for her with no more hesitation or 
 swerving, as they bowled along under a press of sail, than the 
 slogster Mendoza exhibited when he stepped into the ring, set 
 our hearts beating quickly. 
 
 The magnificent intrepidity with which English seamen — 
 and I would speak particularly of the men of those times — 
 dashed into battle without stopping to reckon up the enemy's 
 strength and advantages, is a stirring thing even to read 
 about, but the seeing it even but once was enough to give the 
 heart the most inspiriting memory it must hope to get out of 
 this life. 
 
 I asked Shelvocke what he meant to do. 
 
 ' Why, stand by to windward, to help our people if they 
 want assistance. I would gladly give them a hand at once, 
 but those naval officers are as jealous as the very devil of us 
 privateersmen, and I remember the fable of the lion's treatment 
 of the jackass when the two went a-foraging.' 
 
 I had been watching the French ship, and doubting by her 
 keeping everything fast aloft whether she meant to fight. 
 Once she starboarded her helm and went away to leeward, a 
 manoeuvre that Shelvocke instantly took advantage of by 
 putting the schooner about. But the Tigress had not been ten 
 minutes settled down, and buzzing along a course that would 
 bring us close to the English brig, as she followed in the wake 
 of the frigate, when the Frenchman luffed, took in his royals 
 and two top-gallant-sails, and hauled up his courses ; and at 
 the same time let fly the whole of his upper tier of starboard 
 guns at us ; they were thirty-two pounders, and we had fallen 
 within range of them by tacking; half the balls hurtled 
 through the rigging high over our heads, and the rest flew 
 
 10 
 
i 4 6 AN OCEAN FREE-LANCE. 
 
 harmlessly astern : nobody was hurt, but a good many ropes 
 which had been taut enough before were flying about in 
 streamers, and the gaff-foresail came down with a run. 
 
 I saw by the expression in Shelvocke's face that he was about 
 to order the salute to be returned ; but he checked himself and 
 stood in silence watching the huge ship, whilst the crew sprang 
 here and there, repairing damages and making sail. 
 
 Almost immediately after the Frenchman had dosed us, the 
 frigate shortened sail, took a reef in her fore and mizzen top- 
 sails, and put her helm down, being about a mile to windward 
 of the enemy. The brig was coming down slowly, though 
 under a whole cloud of canvas, and as she neared us, Shel- 
 vocke wore the Tigress, shortening sail fore and aft, in order to 
 speak her. By this time the action between the frigate and 
 the ninety-four had commenced, and the hulls of the two ships 
 were enveloped in dense masses of smoke, streaked here and 
 there with ugly bluish tints, and above which and jutting out 
 like the spires of tall churches from a dense fog, might be seen 
 the lofty mastheads of the vessels, with their pennants stream- 
 ing against the pure limpid blue of the sky. The metal of the 
 combatants was the heaviest at that time afloat, and the 
 thunderous explosions of the guns resembled the raging of an 
 electric storm; the very wind was stilled by the hellish 
 uproar, and the waves appeared to have lost their buoyant 
 play. 
 
 My attention, however, was diverted by the approach of 
 the brig, and by Shelvocke springing on to the bulwarks and 
 hailing her. They were at that moment shortening sail, and 
 the rigging was dotted with men, whilst groups of half-naked 
 seamen stood quietly at the guns ; the suggestion of discipline 
 was perfect ; and the captain, a fine-looking young fellow, who 
 answered Shelvocke's hail, spoke with the ease and composure 
 of a man out on a holiday cruise. 
 
 'We are the English privateer schooner Tigress,' sung out 
 Shelvocke, * and I should be glad to receive instructions how 
 
AN OLD FRIEND, 147 
 
 to act in this engagement. I don't want to exceed what may 
 be thought my duty.' 
 
 ' You had better heave to and watch us, sir,' answered the 
 captain of the brig. ' I hope we may not require your help ; 
 but should the need arise, I will summon you by hoisting a 
 swallow-tail blue-and-yellow flag/ 
 
 Shelvocke waved his hand, and our helm was shifted ; for 
 by this time we had neared the frigate, over whom the balls of 
 the Frenchman were flying as thick as peas, and flashing up the 
 water to leeward of us. 
 
 By the time the schooner had been hove to clear of the 
 cannonading, the brig had tailed on to the enemy, and added 
 the thunder of her guns to the tremendous bellowing of the 
 others. It was difficult to see the manoeuvring, for the smoke 
 clung like white sheets to the spars and hulls of the ships, and 
 filled the whole theatre of the action with a fog that shut out 
 the very heavens for the space of a mile on either hand of the 
 combatants. The cannonading was furious — a man had hardly 
 time to draw breath between the explosions ; the glancing of 
 the flames from the guns upon the pall of smoke was so in- 
 cessant that one might have thought a great fire was burning 
 upon the water between the vessels, and the deck of the 
 schooner trembled like a house when a heavy waggon passes 
 the door. From time to time one could just catch a glimpse 
 of the English vessels twisting around the French ship as one 
 may have seen a couple of dogs snuffling and running round a 
 tree up which a cat has fled, while whole hurricanes of fire 
 belched forth in double and even in treble lines at a time from 
 the sides of the great liner, who reminded me — as she 
 manoeuvred so as to avoid being raked, whilst the spray 
 leaped about her bows and hung in trails from the stem — of a 
 huge boar brought to bay and turning upon its pursuers. 
 
 Presently I noticed the frigate put her helm up and head for 
 the Frenchman's quarter, with the evident intention of board- 
 ing ; at the same moment the brig was preparing to take up a 
 
 10—2 
 
14 8 AN OCEAN FREE-LANCE, 
 
 raking position right athwart the enemy's hawse. But the big 
 ship was admirably handled : I had never imagined that any- 
 thing approaching such seamanship was to be found in the 
 French navy. She drove ahead, dropping the frigate astern 
 as she did so, and gave her the whole strength of her broad- 
 side as she passed. The fore and main topmasts of the frigate 
 fell under the discharge, as though men had^been sent aloft to 
 saw them off. A few moments after, the Frenchman's jibboom 
 forged over the brig's forecastle under the topmast-stay ; the 
 brig had backed her yards for a stern-board, to escape the 
 collision that threatened to cut her down, and the enemy's 
 jib-boom, like a giant's hand upon the stay, bore down the 
 little vessel's fore-topmast with a crash and uproar of splintered 
 wood. The brig dropped to leeward, carrying the Frenchman's 
 jib-boom with her, and with her bow dead on end to the liner's 
 broadside that was let fly at her, with what effect I could not 
 imagine, though I judged it as deadly a raking as any vessel 
 ever received from another. With an alertness that would have 
 done credit to the best commander in our navy, the Frenchman 
 was got before the wind, flinging the fire of his port batteries 
 at the frigate as he passed her, and leaving her a mere confused 
 heap of wreckage aloft. Cloth after cloth was thrown out, and 
 with every spar standing save the mizzen top-gallant mast, the 
 enemy stood to the south-east, running up her studding-sails in 
 her eagerness to escape, and with crowds of men aloft splicing, 
 knotting, and in every practical way balsaming the rigging 
 that it might carry them home. 
 
 The two English vessels, like men who had been knocked 
 breathless and blind, hung uselessly upon the gleaming surges, 
 and it was a sight to see the smoke of the finished battle float- 
 ing in a huge wool-white cloud away ahead of the Frenchman, 
 whose canvas shone like marble against it. 
 
 I noticed Shelvocke pacing in short turns at the extreme end 
 of the quarter-deck. He beckoned me to him with a toss of 
 the head, and said hurriedly : 
 
AN OLD FRIEND. 149 
 
 i 1 should like to follow that ship. Her capture would 
 beautifully turn the tables on the epaulets,' his term for 
 naval officers, ' who cheated me out of the honour of beating 
 the corvette. But,' glancing at the huge square tower that 
 was fast drawing towards the horizon, * she is too strong for 
 us alone, and those vessels are as useless as cocked-hats now. 
 Starboard your helm/ he exclaimed to the fellow who was 
 steering, 'and let her drop under the frigate's stern. ' 
 
 As we approached the two vessels which lay within pistol- 
 shot of each other, we got a better notion of the mischief the 
 Frenchman had done them. There were some hands over the 
 side of the brig examining the shot-holes, her pumps were 
 working furiously, and streams of water, coloured crimson by 
 the carnage of the decks, gushed from every scupper-hole. 
 There were several dead bodies floating under her bows, their 
 arms and legs and their heads on the limber necks tossing with 
 horrible and extravagantly grotesque gestures on the wobbling 
 waters. Her port amidship bulwarks had been shattered to 
 fragments, leaving exposed the deck that exhibited a ghastly 
 spectacle of dead and dying and wounded men, mixed up with 
 splinters and spars, heaps of rigging, sails, timbers of boats, 
 and a hundred other things whose wrecked condition left them 
 unrecognisable and nameless. A small group of men, naked 
 to the waist, and bespattered with blood and black with the 
 grime of the guns, were working the chain pumps; others 
 were making some half-hearted efforts to clear away the raffle, 
 but I could not count above twenty living persons in all, 
 though her decks, God knows, had been full enough when we 
 hailed her on the way to the engagement. 
 
 On the other hand, whilst the frigate looked almost as com- 
 plete a wreck aloft, her hull was comparatively uninjured, nor 
 did she appear to have many men hurt. Her crew still made 
 a great swarm, and they were all hard at work repairing 
 damages and rigging up a pair of shears, and making ready to 
 sway a jury-topmast aloft ; while her officers ran to and fro 
 
150 AN OCEAN FREE-LANCE. 
 
 singing out orders, and the boatswain and his mates piped like 
 canaries in different parts of the vessel. 
 
 The captain, a tall, gaunt, yellow man, with a ring of hair 
 round his face that gave him very much the appearance of a 
 Madagascar ape, sat on a skylight rubbing the top of his left 
 knee, that had probably been grazed by a shot. As we glided 
 slowly past, Shelvocke hailed him to know if we could be of 
 any use, and was answered by a surly ' No f the fellow scarcely 
 deigning to glance at us as he replied. The blood flushed 
 Shelvocke's face, and with a quick gesture of the hand he 
 motioned the helm of the schooner to be put down. 
 
 1 Get all plain sail made, Mr. Madison t he sung out. ' The 
 play is over, and there is nothing more to keep us ;' and pre- 
 sently the Tigress, with her head to the north-west, was stealing 
 along the waters which were quieting down with the falling 
 breeze, and growing a deep pure blue, over which in the south 
 hung a sky of exqusitely delicate amber, that reddened into 
 purple where the sun was sinking without a cloud to obstruct 
 his lonely and regal descent. The red and slanting rays of 
 the glorious luminary seemed to be concentrated upon the two 
 vessels, and a whole constellation of ruby-coloured stars sparkled 
 in the streaming sides of the brig, whose hull had sunk low in 
 the water, and between whom and the frigate several boats 
 were plying. 
 
 1 How reluctantly a vessel goes to her death-bed/ said Shel- 
 vocke, watching with me the sinking brig, and speaking in a 
 low voice, as though subdued by the pathos of this ocean- 
 picture of the mutilated frigate and her slowly-vanishing con- 
 sort, the leagues of lonely water around, the red glare of sunset 
 that deepened the iinpressiveness of the scene by the lurid 
 colouring it imparted to the vessels, throwing them into strong 
 relief against the calm sweet amber of the heavens beyond ; 
 1 one thinks of a ship as of a living thing at such a time, and 
 the gurgling of the water in the hold is like the gasping sobs 
 of a drowning man.' 
 
AN OLD FRIEND. 151 
 
 1 There she goes, sir,' I exclaimed, as the little vessel cocked 
 her bows to the very fore-foot of her out of water and buried 
 her stern ; in a few moments the hull vanished, and as her 
 lower-masts stuck for a brief pause out of water, methought 
 that the sinking brig might have been likened to some veteran 
 sailor stretching his mutilated stumps to heaven in a last 
 prayer as he went down to his rest among the sands and shells 
 under the sea. 
 
 ! The action was bravely fought,' said Shelvocke, watching 
 the frigate, who had set a fore-topsail and hoisted her boats, 
 and appeared to be standing after us, ' though it has lost 
 England a vessel and the best part of a stout crew. The 
 frigate was badly handled at the last. If ever I have the 
 honour of meeting her monkey-faced captain I'll tell him so. 
 Nearly the whole brunt of the battle was borne by the little 
 brig, and had she been properly supported the Frenchman 
 would now be under British' colours. Did you notice the 
 frigate's name f ■ 
 
 ' Yes, sir ; the Andromache.' 
 
 'I will find out who her captain is. Ill-manners always 
 make me feel malignant. Some day I may chance to be in his 
 company, and I should be sorry to discover that I had missed 
 the chance of calling him a bad seaman to his face for the 
 want of knowing him.' 
 
 'He sails his ship large, sir. He has bore away four 
 points.' 
 
 1 Heading for Guernsey, and the best thing he can do,' said 
 Shelvocke, pulling out a cigar, a luxury that was rarely out of 
 his mouth. 
 
 As the twilight faded we lost sight of the frigate, but when 
 the night closed in the wind completely died away, and we 
 lay motionless on a dark and breathless surface of sea, with 
 an unclouded heaven over us full of stars whose light hung in 
 unblemished yellow flakes in the still water. 
 
 It remained calm all that night, and when the sun rose 
 
1 5 2 AN OCEAN FREE-LANCE. 
 
 next morning we saw the frigate almost in the same spot we 
 had sighted her in before the darkness fell. The sea was as 
 white as a cotton sheet under the thin, steam-coloured haze 
 that tarnished the blue sky, save in the east, where the reflec- 
 tion of the sun hung in the form of a gigantic silver cone. I 
 feared from the aspect of the weather that we were doomed 
 to spend another long inactive day, but shortly after breakfast 
 the water in the south darkened under a rushing wind that 
 crisped up the foam as a cook froths a syllabub, and it was 
 pleasant to see the swifter currents of air shooting along 
 the surface of the glassy water ahead of the dark line of 
 the approaching wind, like eels snaking off in a hundred 
 directions, and lengthening and contracting as they sped 
 along. 
 
 The breeze came dead on end from the French coast, and 
 this decided Shelvocke to quit that part of the Channel for 
 an English port where he might hope to hear news of a 
 French convoy. Accordingly the schooner's course was shaped 
 for Dartmouth, and we bowled along smoothly before the 
 warm strong wind that blew over our larboard quarter, until 
 five o'clock in the afternoon, when we made out a large ship 
 under easy canvas apparently standing up Channel ; but the 
 moment she sighted us she cracked on all the sail she could 
 set, though without altering her course. 
 
 It was my watch below, but I was on deck, lounging in the 
 waist, smoking a pipe and enjoying, as I stood in the shadow 
 of the foresail — the foot of which made a noble curve from 
 the foremast to the gangway — the cool blowing of the wind 
 that recoiled and breezed down vertically from the hollow 
 of the huge cloths. Chestree was examining the vessel 
 ahead with a glass, and I sung out to him to tell me what she 
 was like. 
 
 1 Why, sir, if she's not an English East Indiaman I'll eat 
 my head,' he answered. ' I believe I have seen that ship 
 over and over again, though for the. life of me I can't think 
 
AN OLD FRIEND, 153 
 
 of her name. Will you look at her, sir f and he handed me 
 the glass. 
 
 * Hang me,' I exclaimed after a short squint, * if I don't think 
 — God bless my heart ! — of course ! I see her now — she is 
 the old Bombay Castle f 
 
 'Ay,' shouted Chestree, 'that's her name, Mr. Madison.' 
 
 'I see the red capstan on her forecastle — and the black 
 hoops on her mizzen-mast, like the keys of a pianoforte — and 
 the galleries over the stern big enough for the Lord High 
 Admiral to take the air in !' I cried, much excited by this 
 sudden stumbling upon an old friend. ' Mr. Chestree, jump 
 below and tell Captain Shelvocke that his old ship is in 
 sight.' 
 
 And whilst he was gone I overhauled the flag-locker, where, 
 among a whole pile of bunting — for besides our mercantile 
 code we carried the colours of every nation that flew an 
 ensign — I found what I sought — Hannay's house-flag, a large, 
 square red flag with a yellow castle for a centre-piece, and a 
 white star at each corner, and told Peacock to bend it on the 
 main signal-halliards and hoist it. 
 
 In a few moments Shelvocke came tumbling up through the 
 companion, and seizing the glass, worked away at the ship 
 with it. 
 
 ' Ay, poor old hooker !' he exclaimed, in a soft voice, such 
 as a man speaks with when he stands looking at the house he 
 was born in, ' that's the Castle, true enough ; I'd know her 
 among a thousand. Lord, Madison, what memories she re- 
 calls ! I took my first voyage in her, and she's carried me 
 thirteen times to the East Indies and back. What capers have 
 I cut on her decks on moonlit nights to the tune of a fiddle 
 and a guitar ! How passionately have I adored certain ladies 
 — both married and single, alas ! alas ! — whom we have carried 
 as passengers in that tough old sea-chest ! What gales have 
 I weathered, what dinners have I eaten, what friends have I 
 made in her ! Old Peppercorn commands her now — he's 
 
154 ■ AN OCEAN FREE-LANCE. 
 
 commodore, and his broad pennant would be flying had she 
 any consorts in sight. Why, see, Madison ! she hoists her 
 house-flag ! has the old bucket got the scent of me I Bound 
 go her mainyards! Surely nobody aboard of her has ever 
 seen the Tigress before t 
 
 He was greatly amazed until I pointed to the house-flag I 
 had hoisted, and then the mystery of the Indiaman's man- 
 oeuvring was explained. 
 
 Eakish and piratical as our schooner looked, the exhibition 
 of Hannay's flag at the masthead abundantly satisfied the 
 Bombay Castle, who, with her main-yards aback, her courses 
 festooned in the buntlines, and her bulwarks radiant with the 
 red coats of a small army of soldiers, lay waiting for us to 
 come within hail. 
 
 She was one of those amazingly romantic, old-fashioned ships 
 which survive only in the paintings of the last century, with a sort 
 of castellated stern, and a round tower for a poop, and two tiers 
 of guns (half of the lower tier ' quakers '), a low-pitched fore- 
 castle terminating in bows absurdly complicated with huge 
 beams of decorative timber, out of which forked at an angle 
 of about thirty-five degrees an immense bow-sprit and jib- 
 boom, rigged with a couple of spritsail-yards, so that they 
 resembled a fourth mast that had fetched away, and was 
 suffered to lie in the position in which it had fallen. The 
 sight of her took one back to the days of Anson ; yet, as she 
 lay in the mellow afternoon light, with her sails swelling into 
 the blue heavens, and the line of red-coats topping the white 
 hammock-cloths, and the sunlight flashing in her windows, 
 while the green waters broke in foam against her tall sides 
 without stirring the ponderous hull, and her scarlet flags 
 soared at the peak and main like tongues of flame breaking 
 from these delicate points, she made a picture that even the 
 rudest and most ignorant of our crew stood staring at with 
 admiration. 
 
 As we rounded to, Shelvocke, who was on the bulwarks 
 
AN OLD FRIEND. 155 
 
 holding on to a backstay, was recognised by a silver-haired, 
 grey-faced old sea-dog — a real ancient in a broad-skirted George 
 the Second style of coat, that forked out all around him as 
 though expanded by a hoop, and long boots over jean tights, 
 and a frill that stuck out of his bosom like the back of a perch, 
 who bawled out to him in a cracked old pipe : 
 
 ' Glad to see ye, Shelvocke ; come aboard ! come aboard ! 
 plenty of travelled Madeery left, my boy !' 
 
 This was old Captain Peppercorn, whom I knew by sight, 
 having been aboard a ship he was in command of at Bombay. 
 A number of military officers and ladies — some sweetly pretty 
 faces among these last — stood around him, and the forepart 
 of the vessel swarmed with soldiers and sailors. Coming upon 
 such a scene as this suddenly, amid the solitude of the sea, so 
 gay with colour, and so charmingly humanized by the ladies 
 in radiant apparel, was like turning out of a dusty high-road, 
 and stumbling accidentally upon a brilliant garden-party. 
 Only darkness and music, and a few strings of coloured lamps, 
 were wanted to have made a kind of Eanelagh of that India- 
 man. 
 
 Shelvocke ordered the gig to be piped away, and asked me 
 to board the old hooker with him. 
 
 1 1 only left her t'other day,' said he, c but it seems twenty 
 years ago since I was in her. Come, Madison, we'll hear the 
 news and have a look at our old home.' 
 
 I was nothing loth; and, after diving into our respective 
 berths to change our coats and polish our faces, we jumped 
 into the gig, and pulled aboard the Bombay Castle. 
 
 Old Peppercorn stood at the gangway to receive us, and to 
 our amazement immediately congratulated Shelvocke on his 
 victory over the French corvette. 
 
 'Why, how in heaven's name got you that news, Pepper- 
 corn V exclaimed Shelvocke. ' Are you outward or homeward 
 bound t And he stared about him as I did. 
 
 Peppercorn had one of those dry, powdery faces which look 
 
1 56 AN OCEAN FREE-LANCE, 
 
 as if a gale of wind would blow the whole of the skin off in a 
 cloud of dust ; his widest grin never yielded a wrinkle, it was 
 like a miller's smile ; and bursting suddenly into an uproarious 
 laugh over Shelvocke's surprise that was certainly not par- 
 ticularly mirth-provoking, the sight of his face with his mouth 
 distended like the crumb of a loaf with a slice cut out of it, 
 and the tears hopping down his sandy, dry, unfurrowed skin, 
 out of his small, bleared, pale eyes, was so irresistibly funny, 
 that I burst into a shout which I was forced to humour and 
 give free vent to, lest in my effort to suppress it I should make 
 a complete fool of myself. 
 
 My laugh proved contagious, and Shelvocke joined in ; the 
 thing spread ; a stout old major let fly with a voice like a 
 crow ; some of the ladies hearing him, and seeing me, broke 
 into peals of laughter ; and in a minute everybody on board 
 the vessel was tossing about in uncontrollable fits of merriment. 
 
 1 Lord, Shelvocke, man !' piped old Peppercorn, drying his 
 eyes on a red cotton handkerchief as big as his main-royal, 
 * how you have made me laugh, to be sure ! I give you my 
 honour I have never laughed so heartily since I saw Munden 
 as Obadiah. But come along aft ! come along aft ! let me 
 introduce the captain of the Tigress to the ladies/ 
 
 And hauling at Shelvocke like a watchman carrying a thief 
 to prison, he dragged him up to the passengers, where he 
 scraped and flourished, and went through the business like a 
 dancing-master. 
 
 I kept close alongside, for I wanted to hear how Peppercorn 
 had got to know about our action with the corvette ; but he 
 would first send for wine, and ask a hundred questions about 
 Hannay, and the Tigress, and home-news : and though it was 
 no unfamiliar sight to me, yet I found myself watching with 
 great interest the faces of the passengers as Shelvocke told all 
 he could remember about home affairs, and the health of the 
 King, and what was doing in the House of Commons, and who 
 was dead, and so on. I had often, myself, made one of a 
 
AN OLD FRIEND. 157 
 
 party of eager listeners, after a year or eighteen months' 
 absence from home, and when the gruff voice of the pilot, 
 usually the first bearer of news from England, was as sweet as 
 music for the tidings it conveyed, and I could sympathize 
 with the attentive faces which thronged around Shelvocke. 
 At last a pleasant-faced, well-bred woman, thinking (very 
 wisely) that she could get more news out of me by asking a 
 few direct questions than by listening to old Peppercorn's 
 diffusive catechization of Shelvocke, artfully drew me aside, 
 and before long I was surrounded by a dozen ladies, among 
 them three of the sweetest girls I had seen for many a day, 
 whose eyes — I speak of the whole of them — being all fixed on 
 my face, were tolerably disconcerting, as may be supposed of 
 a bashful seaman. However, I did well enough to please 
 them, though I had never greater reason to deplore my social 
 ignorance than when one of the three darlings — the sweetest of 
 the three too, a creature whose violet eyes and auburn hair 
 filled my slumber for several nights with more dreams than 
 there are knots in a log-line — asked me if I could tell her 
 whether Lady Olivia (Thingummy — I forget the other name) 
 had married again. Alas ! I had never heard of her ladyship, 
 but there was so much agreeable flattery in the implication 
 that I might know, and the Beauty who asked the question 
 conveyed by her tone so complete a notion that anybody with 
 the least pretensions to breeding ought to know, that I blushed 
 to the roots of my hair when I looked at her, and answered in 
 a faint voice, ' I had not heard.' 
 
 Presently, seeing Shelvocke pull out his watch, I bowed to 
 the ladies and joined my captain, and after exchanging a few 
 final words with Peppercorn, we jumped into the gig and 
 shoved off for the schooner. On the way, Shelvocke, who 
 was in high spirits, and repeatedly waved his hat to the people 
 we were leaving, who returned his salutation with hat and 
 handkerchief, explained to me how Peppercorn had come to 
 hear about our action with the corvette. 
 
158 AN OCEAN FREE-LANCE. 
 
 He said that a few hours before the Bombay Castle had made 
 Scilly, she sighted a shallop that was tossing upon the water 
 without sails or oars. On coming up to her they discovered 
 five men, who by motions and gestures expressed great suffer- 
 ing and entreated to be taken aboard. They proved to be the 
 survivors of the crew of a French brig that had been fired into 
 by an English cruiser, but had managed to escape ; but, shortly 
 after losing sight of the enemy, the brig sprung a leak and 
 filled so fast that before the boats could be launched, she went 
 down. Five of the crew managed to reach the shallop that 
 had gone adrift when the vessel foundered, righted her, and 
 baled her out, and they had been in her fifty-five hours without 
 food or water, or any means of approaching the land, when the 
 Bombay Castle hove in sight. From them Peppercorn had 
 learnt the story of the Tigress's action with the corvette, and 
 out of gratitude to their preservers the poor fellows had 
 volunteered more news than Peppercorn had any interest in ; 
 one of the items being that a convoy of sixty-eight sail, bound 
 for one of the French West India settlements, was to start 
 shortly from Brest, under the protection of a line-of-battle 
 ship, two frigates, and four heavily-armed privateers. 
 
 It was this piece of intelligence that had put Shelvocke in 
 good spirits. 
 
 ' The old Bombay Castle was always a lucky ship to me t he 
 exclaimed, ' and this is a bit of news I am superstitious enough 
 to own I would rather have got from her than from any other 
 source. We have two clear days to run down to Brest in. I 
 shall give up Dartmouth. Only let that convoy get to sea, 
 and I'll warrant the British cruisers shall not bag our share of 
 the booty.' 
 
 * And what is going to baulk that charmer when once you 
 give her the scent, captain V said I, pointing with a glow of 
 pride to the Tigress, whose superb hull, topped by the towering 
 masts, and the folds of canvas tinged by the pink light of the 
 setting sun, and the red flashing of her copper as the green 
 
ANOLD FRIEND. 159 
 
 and foam-crested surges rose and fell against her sides, I had 
 never beheld in greater perfection. ' That hawse-hole is like 
 the dilated nostril of a swift and powerful beast, and the 
 muzzles of those guns are eyes which will look five hundred 
 Frenchmen in the face without winking.' 
 
 1 That's almost bad enough for the House of Commons !' 
 said Shelvocke, laughing. ' But bad as it is, I can make it 
 worse, by saying, that if those eyes did not wink when they 
 looked at Frenchmen, I'd pitch them overboard.' 
 
 ' So much for poetical imagery, captain, as the orator said 
 when he ducked his pate to a dead cat after a brilliant 
 metaphor !' 
 
 In another minute we had gained the deck of the Tigress. 
 
 We hung in the wind in order to see the Bombay Castle sail 
 away. Her people knew we were watching her, and went to 
 work like boys under the shadow of a birch. She swung her 
 main-yards, and, having the breeze abeam, ran up her studding- 
 sails ; and when I saw her heel over — with the water dark 
 with her shadow, and the tops of the waves crimson with the 
 evening glory, and all her passengers grouped aft and looking 
 at us over the taffrail, while her bulwarks flickered with the 
 red line of uniforms, and the churned water to leeward flashed 
 with a ruddy tinge along her depressed side that bristled with 
 the short, black muzzles of her guns — my heart went with 
 her : a hundred glad memories of the life I had spent in 
 the old frame rushed upon me. I recalled the silence of 
 the sleeping ship upon tropical seas; the thunder of the 
 hurricanes which filled her with groaning noises, and fogged 
 her decks with flying spume ; the toasts of the mess-table ; 
 the lonely night-watches ; the faces I had met aboard of 
 her, an 1 had forgotten until now ; the friendships and the 
 enmities begotten in her — and I thought of the fears and the 
 hopes which had vanished, the dreams which had been dispelled 
 and for the extinction of which my maturer life was thankful, 
 and of the unsuspected things which had come to pass. 
 
160 AN OCEAN FREE-LANCE. 
 
 Even that receding ship pointed a moral, and I felt myself 
 the better for letting my thoughts run loose upon her. 
 
 We waited until she had got well away, and then fired a gun 
 and dipped the ensign three times to her — a piece of maritime 
 courtesy that she immediately acknowledged with two guns 
 and her ensign. A few moments after the schooner's head 
 was pointing down Channel, and the news was whispered fore 
 and aft that we were bound for the neighbourhood of Brest, 
 and for the wake of a rich convoy that was to cross the 
 Atlantic. 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 THE DROIT MARITIME. 
 
 To fetch the latitude we wanted to make, we had about a 
 hundred and thirty miles to run ; we had therefore much more 
 time on our hands than we needed. At least that would have 
 been the notion, with the breeze that was blowing when we 
 parted with the Bombay Castle ; but about half an hour before 
 sunset the wind dropped, veered to the west, and expired after 
 a few faint puffs. 
 
 I was below in the cabin, talking with Shelvocke over the 
 old ship we had just left, and he was laughing over Peppercorn 
 and mimicking the way in which that tough-and-dry old chap 
 had bragged about his pluck in giving the slip to H.M.S. Gipsy, 
 that was convoying him and five other Indiamen home. 
 
 'As if there was anything particularly heroic in a man 
 risking a run without protection from the latitude of St. Helena, 
 with two hundred and eighty troops aboard, sixty seamen, and 
 fourteen long nine-pounders, not to speak of six quakers P said 
 Shelvocke. 
 
 ' He matches his ship well,' said I. \ His parched face and 
 old brown scratch and flapping skirts are in perfect keeping 
 
THE DROIT MARITIME. 161 
 
 with the hooker's mountainous stern and house-windows. 
 Captain Peppercorn doesn't look like a man who will die the 
 usual death ; he'll fossilize, sir : and should the old Bombay 
 ■Castle outlive him, his executors would do well to hand him 
 •over to Hannay and Co. as a figure-head for the ship.' 
 
 1 You don't fancy the old fellow thinks of dying, do you f 
 exclaimed Shelvocke, laughing heartily ; ' why, he's going to 
 be married as soon as he gets ashore. The lady was aboard, he 
 told me, but he wouldn't point her out. I begged hard for a 
 sight of her, but he only dug his elbow into my ribs, and 
 grinned until I thought his eyes were quenched for ever. 
 Imagine the rogue having the impudence to get married ! I 
 asked him what his age was : he reflected, and answered that 
 he believed he was the wrong side of fifty ; " but," said he, 
 " when I was born the registration of children's ages was a 
 very imperfect job, so perhaps I'm not so old as I suppose." 
 Now, I Jcnoiv he won't see his seventy-second year again. 
 " Eeally, Peppercorn," said I, " you look wonderfully young for 
 your age !" "D'ye think so, Shelvocke P said he, in his old 
 cracked fiddle. " Ay, wonderfully young ; and let me assure 
 you, Peppercorn," said I, "it comforts me to feel you are not 
 old enough to firmly believe that your sweetheart admires you 
 only for your beauty. That solace is reserved until you shall 
 be turned seventy !" " Ah ! there is no telling what I may 
 believe should I live to attain so great an age," quavered the 
 old hypocrite ; but for all that he wouldn't point me out his 
 affianced one. From which I suspect she's a chicken.' 
 
 1 Not one of the three beauties, I hope !' I exclaimed ; and 
 I was about to sing the praises of violet eyes and auburn hair, 
 when Chestree thrust his ugly mug into the cabin, and said that 
 the boatswain wished to speak to the captain. 
 
 * Well, Mr. Tiptree, what is it you want ?' inquired Shelvocke 
 of the fine, well-made fellow who stood at the door, cap in 
 hand, his face shining like the top of a mahogany dining-table, 
 while drops of perspiration, induced as much by nervousness as 
 
 11 
 
i62 AN OCEAN FREE-LANCE, 
 
 the heat, trickled down his cheeks into his enormous whiskers, 
 which extended from under his ears to the corners of his mouth, 
 and looked like a couple of door-mats slung by laniards athwart 
 his jowls. His silver pipe hung just below the point where his 
 open shirt disclosed his mossy breast and a throat whose massive 
 and muscular proportions might have been copied for a paint- 
 ing of a Eoman gladiator. Over his shirt he wore a short 
 jacket, braided at the sleeves, and breasted with double rows 
 of cloth buttons, while he occasionally plucked at the band of 
 a pair of white drill bags flowing down to his small, well- 
 polished shoes in expanding folds like a ship's wake, that 
 broadens the further it goes astern. He was, I think, as per- 
 fect a type as any seaman that ever I met, of the better class of 
 the mariners of that age, alert as a cat, tough as a spar of 
 upland spruce, fearless less from native resolution and force of 
 character than from what I have sometimes thought an instinc- 
 tive indifference to death, extremely fond of rum, capable of 
 doing the work of five men at a pinch, and hating the French 
 like poison. 
 
 ' If you please, sir,' said he, going through various prelimi- 
 nary manoeuvres in the shape of shifting his quid out of one 
 cheek into another, tricing up his trousers, looking into the 
 bottom of his cap, and wiping his heated forehead on the 
 sleeve of his jacket, ' the men have begged me for to come, 
 Captain Shelvocke, to ask if your honour 'ud object to their 
 having a bit o' toe-and-heelin' forrard — a kind o' all-round 
 tom-foolin'. They can muster two wiolins, sir.' 
 
 4 Why not put your real question straight, and ask for a can 
 of grog to shove some spring into the fellows' toes % You 
 know that is what the crew mean,' said Shelvocke, good- 
 naturedly, Tiptree being a great favourite of his. ' How's the 
 weather V 
 
 1 Quiet as the bottom of a well, sir,' answered Tiptree, 
 grinning broadly, and not without an expression of admiration 
 at the skipper's sharpness. 
 
THE DROIT MARITIME. 163 
 
 1 Well, you may tell the steward to serve out a glass of grog 
 to each man, and as it will be getting dark soon, you can get 
 the lanterns ready for slinging. See that the humour don't 
 get too boisterous, Tiptree.' 
 
 'Ay, ay, sir;' and evidently much gratified by the quick 
 success of his errand, the boatswain withdrew. 
 
 1 It's just this sort of sympathy with the crew that makes 
 Tiptree the valuable fellow he is,' said Shelvocke ; ' there's 
 not a man aboard that wouldn't risk his neck to serve him. 
 You had better get on deck, Mr. Madison, that your presence 
 may stop any excessive horse-play • and let the mates keep a 
 bright look-out around, for it won't do for an enemy's ship to 
 bowl down upon us with a breeze, and find us dancing.' 
 
 The sun was half immersed when I reached the deck, and I 
 stood a few moments watching the glorious sight, and think- 
 ing that if ever a glimpse of the Paradise of Christians — ' and 
 the building of the wall it was of jasper, and the city was 
 pure gold, like unto clear glass' — is obtained by us dwellers 
 on earth, it is when the semi-sunken sun flashes upon the 
 western sky a thousand heavenly hues— ruby and amethyst, 
 and opal and pearl, and violet, with the soft melting of the 
 warm orange into the pale amber — when the hovering clouds 
 make a vista of golden-edged porches which provoke the eye 
 into searching through them the infinite depths beyond, whose 
 light is ' like unto a stone most precious, even like a jasper 
 stone, clear as crystal' — when the blinding glory upon the 
 sea appears rather the reflection of the opening Paradise in 
 that mirror of Eternity, the Deep, than the flashing of a 
 luminary upon water. Such a sunset I was now witnessing, 
 and I stood fascinated by its magnificence, watching the upper 
 limb of the sun growing smaller and smaller, until but a tiny 
 fragment of it glowed upon the polished water-line, like a red- 
 hot cinder, while the radiant reflection shortened as though a 
 band of bright gold were being drawn away from us along the 
 
 11—2 
 
164 AN OCEAN FREE-LANCE. 
 
 water, until the last spark vanished, and the colours began to 
 
 fade. 
 
 * Beautiful !' I exclaimed, unconsciously speaking aloud. 
 
 'Beautiful indeed, sir !' echoed a melodious voice at my 
 side; 'who can look at such a sight as that and believe that 
 the bright home beyond the skies that has been promised to 
 men is a superstitious fancy V 
 
 1 Why, Mr. Peacock,' said I, struck by the peculiar melan- 
 choly in his large dark eyes, ' it is strange that you should 
 put my very identical musings into words. But I suppose 
 the thoughts bred in you and me by that sunset are not 
 peculiar to us two. What makes you even suggest that 
 heaven may be a superstitious fancy ! The most generous 
 and the best faiths a man has belong to his boyhood, and 
 though you are no longer a boy in years, let me advise you to 
 remain a boy in religion. You may take the word of wiser 
 men than I that you will want more brains than yours or any 
 mortal skull is likely to hold, to improve upon your mother's 
 creed.' 
 
 I My mother was a Catholic, sir,' he replied, as though he 
 fancied that would rather confound my reckoning. 
 
 ' And what of that I I hope you are not ashamed of your 
 mother's faith V 
 
 A dark blush came into his face, and a dangerous devil 
 into his eyes. I once saw such a look in a very handsome 
 young Spanish captive who was being twitted by an ill- 
 bred English officer for wearing a silver crucifix under his 
 shirt. 
 
 I I am ashamed of it, if I must speak the truth,' he ex- 
 claimed. 'I am ashamed of having been born a Catholic, 
 though I am a staunch Protestant now, sir. Perhaps you 
 may be a Catholic, Mr. Madison, but I shall not apologize for 
 what I have said; I hate — ' He seemed about to deliver 
 some mighty violent sentence, but checked himself, touched 
 his cap and walked over to the gangway, where he stood 
 
THE DROIT MARITIME. 165 
 
 watching the movements of the men, apparently with great 
 interest. 
 
 I thought all this very curious, and it was more so to my 
 mind than I can well make clear by the significance imparted 
 to every word and look of the youth by his beauty, his melo- 
 dious voice, and the refinement and breeding that was ex- 
 hibited in his person and manners. 
 
 The steward was on the main-deck serving out a gill of rum 
 to each of the crew from a huge can filled with the dark 
 liquor, and it would at any other time have amused me to 
 watch the men coming up with grave faces, some of them 
 tipping down the grog raw from the steward's pewter measure, 
 but most of them carrying the dose forward in tin pannikins, 
 whilst those who had been already served were busy in clear- 
 ing up the decks, slinging the lanterns for lighting, and 
 making ready for the dancing. But my mind was full of 
 young Peacock, and knowing that Chestree had been shipmate 
 with him in one voyage, if not two, and observing that 
 worthy standing near the launch gaping around the sea, with 
 his cap at the back of his head and his immense mouth open, 
 like a newly-landed fish, to catch every draught of air from 
 the occasional gentle flap of the main-sail, I went up to him, 
 and broke ground by telling him not to attend to the dancing, 
 but to help me to watch for any wind that might come, and 
 for any sail it might bring along with it. 
 
 ' I doubt if there'll be any wind this side of midnight, sir,' 
 he answered ; ' but let it come when it will, I'll report it fast 
 enough if I'm on deck.' 
 
 1 I've just been having a little talk with Peacock,' said I ; 
 — l now don't stare at him, Chestree — and I have been rather 
 surprised by a smart exhibition of prejudice. How comes a 
 young fellow like him, who has been half his life at sea, to 
 be troubled with long-shore antipathies of any kind 1 Who is 
 he ? or rather, what was he — do you know V 
 
 Here I thought, but it might have been my fancy, that 
 
1 66 AN OCEAN FREE-LANCE. 
 
 Chestree grew grave ; but it was difficult to interpret the 
 thoughts of a man from a face that, in consequence of the heat, 
 was nearly all mouth. 
 
 1 Why, sir, all that I know of Peacock is/ he answered, i that 
 he's a love-child. Who his mother was I can't say ; but she 
 wasn't English. I remember a big apprentice aboard the 
 Fattysalam smoking the poor little chap — he was a little chap 
 then, sir — and asking him what port his mother hailed from, 
 and if his father knew he was out, until all on a sudden the 
 boy seized a knife and sprang upon the bully; just as in 
 Bombay once I saw a little slip of a Hindoo Shylock fly at an 
 Englishman, and catch his throat in his teeth, and hold on in 
 that way until he was dragged off with a pound of bleeding 
 flesh between his lips. The apprentice roared murder, and fell 
 sprawling on his back, and that saved his life, for young 
 Peacock was seized with the knife poised ready for the heart 
 of the brute who had goaded him. I think little Peacock 
 was raving mad for some minutes, but his treatment of the 
 apprentice shut up all jokes after that. How we got to know 
 he was a natural child, and that his mother wasn't English, I 
 am sure I can't say. It's astonishing what lots of things, which 
 one can't ever remember particularly hearing, are known to one.' 
 
 At this point a fellow, seated like a tailor on the drum of the 
 forecastle-capstan, began to scrape a fiddle, and I crossed the deck 
 to see if the steward had finished serving out the grog to the men. 
 
 It was not yet quite dark, but the twilight obscured the 
 schooner, and the horizon of the sea was a dark, dream-like 
 shadow ; but the night was very calm and lovely, with a new 
 moon in the west that cast a faint trickle of silver upon the 
 sea, and a heaven overhead and in the east crowded with 
 stars, and meteors which glided like illuminated bombshells 
 through the air, and vanished in little puffs of bright smoke. 
 
 However, the mystery and beauty of this ' visible darkness ' 
 were speedily put to flight by the men lighting the lanterns, 
 and presently the deck was all aglow with the radiance of 
 
THE DROIT MARITIME. 167 
 
 three-score candles, and it was a pretty sight to see the light 
 nickering upon the small-arms in the racks, and in the brass 
 garnishings of the pumps, and giving a yellow colour to the 
 shrouds for about the height of a man above the bulwarks. 
 This dance by lantern-light was a very unusual departure from 
 the customary order of sailors' festivities, which are nearly 
 always celebrated in the dog-watches ; but the novelty of it 
 gave it nearly all its relish. The two fiddlers proved very 
 tolerable scrapers, and made the air resonant with their 
 miaulings ; one sat, as I have said, on the forecastle-capstan? 
 and the other atop of the galley ; they played the same airs, 
 kept good time, soon worked themselves into a fever of excite- 
 ment, and their elbows quivered like the reflection of a 
 stationary fish under a running stream, while the crew hopped 
 and sprang about in all directions in couples, making the deck 
 boom under their shuffling and toeing and scraping, laughing 
 uproariously the while. 
 
 One really good dance was a hornpipe performed by four 
 men, who had rigged themselves out in regular theatrical-Jack 
 fashion — flowing breeches, open breasts, jackets rounding over 
 their quarters like the foot of a tautly-set topsail, hats on nine 
 hairs, as they say, and shoes with heels which they rattled like 
 castanets. Their messmates knew their jigging qualities, and 
 stopped their own dancing to gather in a crowd, leaving an 
 opening so that we quarter-deck people might see. The cap- 
 stan fiddler scrambled alongside his brother-scraper on the 
 galley, that the music might be concentrated ; but finding the 
 four men waiting and all hands looking aft, I suspected the 
 reason of the delay, and went below to tell Shelvocke that the 
 crew wanted him to witness the hornpipe. He came on deck 
 at once, and drew close to the crowd, who raised a cheer when 
 they saw him that immediately started the fiddlers, and in a 
 moment the four sailors were quivering about in a fashion that 
 set me shouting out of hand, and I never stopped laughing until 
 the rascals ended their fooling. It was the best bit of dancing 
 
168 AN OCEAN FREE-LANCE. 
 
 that ever I saw, and the gravity of the fellows contrasting with 
 the crowd of grinning faces around and the shouts of mirth 
 which broke forth, would have made a saint split his sides. 
 
 I have seen many landsmen, actors and others, attempt the 
 hornpipe, and some have danced it very well indeed ; but the 
 landsman never yet was born that could give the real sailor's 
 shuffle in that dance — the swing and bend of the legs, as if the 
 flowing breeches covered a pair of springs — the whirring and 
 twinkling of the toes — the flashing of the feet as though, like 
 those of the god Mercury, wings grew at the heels. The lands- 
 man dances the hornpipe with his head, body and arms, as well 
 as his legs ; but when Jack dances, only the lower part of him 
 is concerned — from the band of his breeches up he might as well 
 be a torso mounted upon a pair of human shanks. 
 
 The four Tigresses trod the deck to perfection : with their 
 arms hanging like dead limbs down their hips, the fingers of 
 their horny hands partially curled as though they still grasped 
 a rope, their heads so steady that not so much as a streak of 
 hair was tossed over their forehead, their faces as immovable as 
 carved wood, they formed into a line, separated, danced at each 
 other, then back to back, then face to face, then in a circle, 
 then sideways, their heels keeping time to the fiddles like a 
 band of drummers, while shout after shout of applause broke 
 from their admiring shipmates, and Shelvocke clapped his hands 
 like a boy at a pantomime. 
 
 The four harmonious figures ; the swarm of excited faces, 
 all of one colour in the lantern-light ; the foreground full of 
 the grim details of heavy guns, and the huge main-mast soar- 
 ing into the darkness ; the two fiddlers in shadow sawing at 
 the catgut and rocking in their seats and threatening every 
 moment in their excitement to plump over the side of the galley 
 into the crowd; the silver horn of moon in the west; the 
 sparkling sky overhead, and the lonely leagues of water lying, 
 as breathless as a lake as far as the eye could pierce — formed 
 a beautiful and impressive picture. 
 
THE DROIT MARITIME. 169 
 
 This harmless revelry lasted until half-past nine ; and then, 
 tired and hot, but all in as high good-humour as if they had 
 been spending a merry time at Greenwich fair with their 
 Sukeys and Polls, the sailors one by one drew away to their 
 hammocks or for a quiet smoke, the fiddlers came down from 
 the top of the galley, the lanterns were extinguished, and by 
 ten o'clock the schooner lay wrapped in silence and darkness, 
 with nothing moving aboard of her but the figures of the look- 
 out men or the shadow of the great main-boom, as the oc- 
 casional roll of the vessel swayed the ponderous spar athwart 
 the luminous haze around the skylight. 
 
 It was my watch on deck, and, missing Shelvocke, I supposed 
 he had turned in j and so I paced to and fro with Tapping, 
 who, despite the pugnacious mould in which nature had cast 
 his figure and face, was an exceedingly good-tempered and agree- 
 able fellow, and, so far as I had opportunities of judging, an in- 
 telligent seaman and full of sterling pluck. Young as he was, 
 he had seen some strange things in his time — but what sailor 
 had not in that age of adventure and fighting ? — and was in- 
 teresting me with an account of a mutiny which, by the way, 
 he was relating with real dramatic power, when he suddenly 
 broke off, and went to the gangway, and, on looking around, I 
 perceived the glowing tip of a cigar near the figure of the man 
 at the tiller. 
 
 ' The cabin is like a bakehouse !' exclaimed Shelvocke, 
 whom I had approached on seeing. ' How the deuce Chestree 
 can sleep, I don't know ; but that he is sleeping you can hear.' 
 
 And certainly a most horrible sound of snoring came up 
 through the skylight. The fellow who was steering smothered 
 a laugh. 
 
 'It's like a church organ with something wrong in its in- 
 side,' I said, almost awed by a snore that could pierce through 
 a stout bulkhead and be audible so far aft as where we stood. 
 
 ' This won't do, Madison,' said Shelvocke, looking around 
 him at the darkly pure space of water that was only determin- 
 
i;o AN OCEAN FREE-LANCE. 
 
 able from the sky by the long tremulous white flakes of light 
 which the stars shed upon it. ' If this calm lasts we shall have 
 to give up our Brest scheme.' 
 
 ' 1 hope not, captain. It's about time to do something 
 again. There was a heap of luck in the first few hours of our 
 cruise, and if, as the French say, it's only the first step that 
 costs, the rest of our work ought not to make us grumblers.' 
 
 He quitted the spot where we had been standing, probably 
 not wishing the man at the helm to hear us, and we leisurely 
 patrolled the deck. Hearing Chestree snore as we passed the 
 skylight somehow brought young Peacock into my head, pro- 
 bably because the lad was in the second officer's watch. 
 
 1 What a very strange youth our fourth mate is, sir/ said I. 
 
 ' Young Philip Peacock, do you mean V he answered quickly. 
 * In what way strange 3 What has he been doing f 
 
 1 Why, nothing, sir ; I judge him by his talk — though, to 
 be sure, he gave me little enough of that to go by. I happened 
 to say that a man can never do better than stick to the reli- 
 gion his mother believed in, and he whipped out against the 
 Roman Catholic faith so passionately, with so much fire in his 
 eyes, that I was honestly surprised.' 
 
 Shelvocke remained silent. 
 
 I It seems queer that a young fellow like him, who has spent 
 all his life at sea, should have shore-going prejudices of that 
 kind. I suppose you know his history, sir V 
 
 He still kept silence. 
 
 I I asked Chestree, who was shipmate with him in an India- 
 man,' continued I, * who he was, and he told me that all he 
 knew was that Peacock was a love-child.' 
 
 1 Chestree knows that, does he V said Shelvocke coldly, after 
 two or three hard pulls at his cigar. l Has he spoken to Pea- 
 cock about it V 
 
 ' No, sir, nor is it likely he would.' 
 
 * He had better not. Be good enough, Madison, to tell him 
 from me he had letter not. 1 
 
THE DROIT MARITIME. 1 7 1 
 
 c Chestree has too good a heart to stand in need of such an 
 injunction, sir ; but of course I will tell him, since it is your 
 order/ 
 
 1 How comes a circumstance that concerns no living creature 
 but Mr. Peacock to be known to a man like Chestree f ex- 
 claimed Shelvocke in a tone of deep annoyance that he strove 
 ineffectually to disguise. 'Nevertheless,' added he, softening 
 his voice, ' it is true enough, Mr. Madison, though the boy is a 
 fool to allow his sensitiveness to challenge curiosity, as he 
 appears to have done in your case. Of course I do not sup- 
 pose there is the least unworthiness in the interest Peacock 
 appears to have excited in you.' 
 
 ' I should be sorry if you thought there was, sir. I have 
 all along been attracted by the lad's beauty and refined 
 manners, but I never should have dreamt of inquiring about 
 him, had not his sudden burst of temper on a subject that one 
 would have supposed a young sailor like him would not trouble 
 his brains about, induced me to speak to Chestree. However, 
 I shall be glad of your permission to change the subject.' 
 
 ' Nay,' answered he, with some of his old good-nature in his 
 voice, ' as he excites your interest there can be no harm in my 
 telling you what I know of his story. His mother was an 
 Italian, and a remarkably beautiful woman. An Englishman, 
 who was staying at Cantanzaro, where she lived with her 
 mother, fell in love with her, and they secretly betrothed 
 themselves. The priests got hold of the mother, and they 
 went to work to separate the girl from a heathen who did not 
 attend mass ; but their efforts, of course, only served to deepen 
 the girl's affection for the man, and so they had him poniarded 
 — but, malheureusement pour mademoiselle, not killed. He 
 was in bed a month, and his nurse was his sweetheart, who 
 left her mother's home to be with him. Our true Briton 
 requited the girl's adoration by ruining her. He promised 
 her marriage, but suspecting, I suppose, that he could get on 
 very well without marriage, he never kept his promise. There 
 
1 72 AN OCEAN FREE-LANCE. 
 
 is a romantic story of the girl wasting away and breaking her 
 heart over our faithless hero, and dying amid the fogs of Lon- 
 don, whither the Englishman had carried her. More likely 
 she died of bronchitis, or lung-inflammation; but those are 
 not diseases to adorn a tale with. At all events, she died — 
 but not having your curiosity, or, to put it more humanely* 
 not finding the lad so fascinating as he appears to be to you, 
 though I took great interest in him when he was brought to 
 me to be apprenticed to a maritime friend of mine, I asked 
 very few questions.' 
 
 It was my turn now to be silent. 
 
 1 So there !' he exclaimed, with a rather unpleasant laugh, 
 1 you have as much of Peacock's story as I can give you. But 
 what on earth there can be about a youth like that to excite 
 the curiosity of an old stager like you, you must really forgive 
 me for not being able to see. However, you can guess now 
 why the boy bounced out about the Eoman Catholic religion.' 
 
 * Because the priests had a hand in the stabbing of his 
 father, I suppose.' 
 
 1 No V he answered, with impetuous emphasis ; ' because he 
 hates his mother's memory and everything belonging to her — 
 like all natural children.' 
 
 ' Like all unnatural children, I should say, captain.' 
 
 1 It is no business of mine nor of any other person's,' he 
 replied, throwing the end of his cigar overboard ; * and so you 
 will oblige me by requesting Mr. Chestree not to talk about 
 Mr. Peacock. The boy is under my care, and I'll not have 
 him pained.' 
 
 Tired of the subject and regretting my folly for having 
 started it, I went to the side to look into the north, where a 
 haze was gathering, and felt a little draught of air upon my 
 hot face. It filled the lighter canvas, and a shower of dew 
 fell from the cloths. It died away, but a few minutes after, 
 a stronger breeze frosted the sea with broken starlight, the 
 sails grew steady, and the ear was refreshed by the bubbling 
 
THE DROIT MA RITIME. 1 73 
 
 of rippling water along the sides of the schooner. I called to 
 the watch to trim sail, and by the time this was done the 
 schooner's masts were sloping to a pleasant wind, and a line 
 of froth was whitening the black surface of the sea astern. 
 Before eight bells were struck it had breezed up into a fresh 
 wind with clouds sailing across the stars ; and when I left 
 the deck, the Tigress was smoking along the quick, short surges 
 with a single reef in her mainsail and foresail, and the decks 
 forward black with the flying spray. 
 
 At daybreak, however, as the deuce would have it, the 
 wind dropped again into mere light currents of air, and a hot 
 and dazzling morning threatened to dry up the small breeze 
 that remained, and leave us roasting on a surface of glass. 
 
 This was extremely disappointing, for putting aside our 
 chance of fetching Brest in time to catch the skirts of the 
 outward-bound convoy, this stagnant weather was holding 
 everything that swam upon the surface of the sea idle. Whilst 
 the water-line was as polished as the edge of a worn shilling, 
 there was nothing to watch for nor to hope for. 
 
 The calm, coupled with the heat, made us all surly. For- 
 ward the men were grumbling in their gizzards and whistling- 
 through their teeth as they hung over the bows, and we of the 
 after-part of the vessel could scarcely have been more dogged 
 had we passed the night in arguing on religion. Shelvocke 
 was particularly meditative, and sat smoking cigars the whole 
 morning, with a broad-brimmed straw hat over his nose, and 
 his feet on the skylight. He had a book on his knee, though 
 he seldom glanced at it ; but from a sheltered spot in the 
 waist where I had hidden myself to smoke a pipe, I noticed 
 that he constantly followed Peacock about with his eyes. 
 
 However, by dinner-time our tempers had been improved 
 by a pleasant little wind that hit the schooner's best sailing 
 point, and sent her cheeping through the water with rounded 
 sails and breezy decks. Added to this was the cordializing 
 influence of the wine. Shelvocke shed his scales, and ' stood 
 
i 7 4 AN OCEAN FREE-LANCE. 
 
 confest' the blunt and genial sailor nature had made him. 
 Corney was of our party, and favoured us, for the first time, 
 with an astonishingly clever imitation of two Frenchmen 
 quarrelling. We quitted the table more amiable if not wiser 
 men, and the sight of the waters playing to windward in quick 
 glancings of froth, as though shoals of mackerel leapt from the 
 cool green into the sunshine, sustained our good temper by 
 making us hopeful. 
 
 Shortly after we had come on deck, Shelvocke walked up to 
 me, and said in a low but pleasant voice : 
 
 1 1 forgot to ask you, Madison, if you spoke to Chestree 
 about Peacock, as I requested f 
 
 ' 1 did, sir, last night.' 
 
 * All right/ he answered, and went away ; much to my 
 relief, as I was afraid he would pursue the subject. 
 
 Half-past three had just been struck on the silver-clear bell 
 we carried on the main-deck. I was standing on a gun-carriage 
 looking over the side at the passing water. The soft creaming 
 of the foam, as it raced past with its outer edge sparkling blue 
 and green and yellow in the sunshine, like diamonds strown 
 upon snow, and beautifully defined by the luminous emerald 
 hue of the water beyond, mingled with the tinkling of large 
 bubbles as they exploded, and the cool plashing of the polished 
 arch of water curling from the stem, fell with a delicious 
 refreshment upon the senses ; and the rich warm wind pour- 
 ing out of the mainsail swept past the ear with a mixture of 
 vibratory sounds which seemed like the notes of a far-off band 
 of music. 
 
 Whenever the schooner had way on her, it was always our 
 custom to have a hand stationed aloft on one of the fore-yards. 
 This look-out startled me from a deep reverie I had fallen into 
 by hailing the deck. 
 
 1 Hallo P I exclaimed. 
 
 1 A sail on the larboard bow, sir !' he sang out. 
 
 ' Can you make out which way she is standing V 
 
THE DROIT MARITIME. 175 
 
 He shaded his eyes and had a long look, and answered that 
 he believed she was heading our way. 
 
 ' You had better take the glass aloft, Mr. Madison,' said 
 Shelvocke. 
 
 I did as I was ordered, and presently found myself alongside 
 the look-out on the top -gallant-yard. The sail was perfectly 
 visible from this great elevation, and on examining her through 
 the glass, I made her out to be a large three-masted lugger, but 
 her hull was still below the horizon. I called out to Shelvocke 
 to let him know what her rig was, and added that I would stay 
 aloft until I could command a better view of her. 
 
 1 She should be a lumping boat, to judge by the size of her 
 mainsail,' said I to the man at my side — a fellow of the name 
 of Wilkinson, one of the smartest men in my watch, so tanned 
 by long exposure to the sun that his face looked as if it had 
 been painted with iodine, and who sat on the yard (the sail of 
 which was furled) with his legs dangling down before it, and 
 his hands buried in his breeches-pockets, and taking his ease on 
 this eminence of a hundred and thirty feet above the sea-level 
 as coolly as a landsman in an arm-chair. ' But she has only 
 her mainsail set. I can't make out what she would be at. She 
 looks to be hove right up in the wind's eye.' 
 
 ' She'll crack on sail when she sees us, sir — leastways if she 
 is a Frenchman,' said the man, politely covering the weather 
 side of his mouth with his hand while he discharged some 
 tobacco-juice into the air. 
 
 I jammed the glass into the bunt of the top-gallant-sail, and 
 threw my leg over the yard to make me a comfortable posture 
 with my back against the mast. 
 
 I have often wondered, in reading that magnificent descrip- 
 tion of a giddy height of cliff in ' King Lear,' how the great 
 master would have described a view from the masthead of a 
 lofty vessel. Say what you will of a survey from a mountain- 
 top or from the edge of towering cliffs ; in my humble judg- 
 ment the most thrilling impression that great elevations can 
 
i 7 6 AN OCEAN FREE-LANCE. 
 
 produce is (leaving of course the balloon-car out of the ques- 
 tion) to be obtained from the slender yard of a tall ship in the 
 middle of the sea. 
 
 For here you get an element of isolation that, in spite of the 
 lonesomeness of craggy land, is qualified, if not extinguished, 
 when surveying a scene from any sort of height ashore, not 
 only by the sight of land all around you, but by land being 
 under your feet. But at the masthead of a ship you stand 
 upon a slender rope or bestride a spar that looks no stouter 
 than a knitting-needle from the deck, and you gaze around 
 upon a mighty surface of water ; for the narrow and familiar 
 horizon beheld from the deck is magnified into an immense 
 ocean, and a whole hemisphere of heaven leans away into the 
 prodigious distance, while below is the narrow shape of the 
 hull, on whose surface the seamen crawl in size no bigger than 
 flies, and you are amazed that so slender and tapering a fabric 
 should support the sky-searching height of mast and canvas 
 from the summit of which you look down. Here, I say, a man 
 gets that sense of isolation which no land-eminence can yield, 
 and it is complete enough even when the seas bask brightly and 
 calmly around, when the sails are gently drawing, when the 
 sweet wind blows softly, and the blue sky looks blandly upon 
 the deep in whose bosom it pictures its azure beauty. But it 
 is supreme when the tempest is around you, when the heavens 
 are full of sooty clouds, whirling in convolutions like the 
 smoke of a newly-fed furnace crowding in black, fat volumes 
 from a factory chimney ; when the torn sea spreads like a vast 
 surface of wool for leagues and leagues, and the huge surges 
 plash in sheets of blinding spray over the streak of hull that 
 races, far beneath you, like a shadow through the white haze 
 of storm-driven spume, and reels under the shocks with a 
 quivering that sets the mast on which you are poised trembling 
 like an old man's hand ; when the gale is roaring in thunder 
 out of the strip of sail stretched upon the yards a long distance 
 below you, and the din of clashing seas, and the yelling of the 
 
THE DROIT MARITIME. 177 
 
 tempest in the sky perfect through the ear the scene of gran- 
 deur and terror beheld by the eye. 
 
 ' Top-gallant-yard, there ! Mr. Madison, are we rising the 
 sail ahead V 
 
 1 Yes, sir, fast ; she's a very large lugger ; apparently not 
 far short of our tonnage,' I answered, bringing the glass to 
 bear upon the hull that was now hove up clear upon the 
 smooth water-line. ' She looks to me to be deserted,' I said to 
 Wilkinson. 'Watch her a bit, and you will see how she 
 comes to and falls off ;' and handing him the glass, I hailed 
 the deck and told Shelvocke to luff the schooner a point, as 
 the lugger was forging ahead, and would be to windward 
 of us. 
 
 ' She certainly don't look to me as if there was anybody at 
 her helm,' exclaimed Wilkinson. ■ But there ain't much doubt 
 as to her character, sir ; she's a large French privateer choke- 
 ful of men, I dessay, though it's surprisin' they don't appear to 
 see us coming, and wake up.' 
 
 I descended the rigging, and on making my report to 
 Shelvocke the order was given to see all clear. The great 
 mainsail and spars of the lugger were by this time visible 
 from the deck, and after working with the glass for some 
 moments Shelvocke turned to me with a puzzled expres- 
 sion. 
 
 I Eeally, by the look of her, Mr. Madison, I am disposed to 
 agree with you that she is abandoned,' said he. 'She is 
 neither hove to nor ratching. One might suppose she would 
 have made us out long before this — yet I cannot imagine there 
 is any trick meant.' 
 
 I I should say not, sir. She was in the same posture when 
 we first sighted her.' 
 
 Meanwhile the .Tigress was slipping through the water 
 quietly but very nimbly, and as the lugger lay athwart our 
 hawse, apparently shooting a few fathoms to windward as her 
 mainsail filled and then curving round into the wind again 
 
 12 
 
173 AN OCEAN FREE-LANCE. 
 
 and lying motionless, it was like running down to a stationary 
 object, and in less than half an hour her hull was distinctly 
 visible from the deck. 
 
 4 Seven guns of a side, by Jupiter f exclaimed Shelvocke. 
 f But I see no men.' 
 
 * Unless they are all at quarters on their hams under the 
 bulwarks, sir. You remember how the picaroon was caught 
 by the troop-ship who kept her soldiers hidden until the 
 privateer ranged alongside, and then discharged a broadside of 
 three hundred muskets and six rounds of grape into the thick 
 of the buccaneering crew V 
 
 \ Ay, we must mind what we are about,' he replied, glancing 
 along our decks at the men grouped at the guns, and at the 
 crows, handspikes, rammers, sponges, powder-horns, and train- 
 tackles which garnished the sides of the grim black pieces. 
 We watched the lugger with keen intentness, expecting every 
 moment to see some movement aboard of her. There could 
 be no doubt that she was a Frenchman. I thought it possible 
 that her people might have mistaken us for a consort for whom 
 they were waiting ; but though we were near enough to her 
 now to have her very clearly in the glass, nothing living could 
 be perceived. I watched her bulwarks with the closest 
 attention to see if anything moved, but she looked as dead as 
 a water-logged hulk. She was a very large and handsome 
 vessel, coppered to the bends, painted black, and heavily 
 sparred. She seemed to chafe like a tethered race-horse as 
 she filled and shook her cotton-white canvas, and, like a 
 creature of instinct, appeared to know her danger, and to 
 make short and ineffectual efforts to escape. 
 
 1 Do you notice that she has her tompions in, sir V I ex- 
 claimed; 'that does not look as if she meant to receive us 
 ungraciously. ' 
 
 1 She is evidently deserted/ answered Shelvocke. ' Get the 
 launch and the two cutters piped away, Mr. Madison. But 
 mind how you board. I have known a tempting gangway 
 
THE DROIT MARITIME. 179 
 
 rope explode a pistol in the magazine, and blow a ship and the 
 boats alongside her into staves.' 
 
 We held on with the boats towing, until we were within 
 half a mile of the lugger; a number of men heavily armed 
 then tumbled into the launch, of which I took command, and 
 we shoved off, followed by the other boats, each of which 
 contained ten men. 
 
 As we advanced I watched the lugger keenly. This was 
 not an ordinary boating expedition. When you are prepared 
 for resistance your nerves are braced up, you can pretty well 
 guess what is going to happen ; with a crew of Englishmen at 
 your back you foresee the spring of the men on to the sides, 
 the slashing at the nettings, the ugly thrusts of the boarding- 
 pikes, the clash of cutlasses, the fierce growling and wild 
 shrieks of the deadly scuffle, the deafening explosion of small- 
 arms at your ears, the murderous crash of tomahawks. But 
 here was a powerful vessel wrapped in the silence of death. 
 Her bulwarks hid the decks, and it was impossible to tell what 
 lurked under the tall shelter. A shower of grape would have 
 been a welcome relief to the highly-wrought feeling of ex- 
 pectation inspired by the grim and silent lugger. Our men, 
 who would have looked five times their own number unflinch- 
 ingly in the face, seemed almost scared by the unusual sight 
 of a long and heavily-armed craft, seemingly abandoned, and 
 suspecting some hellish design to underlie this spectacle of 
 helplessness and desertion, were continually glancing over 
 their shoulders at the vessel, as they rowed. 
 
 We had approached within a musket-shot of her, when I 
 saw a human head rise above the bulwarks and remain for 
 a few seconds gazing at us, during which it swayed to and fro 
 like the ball of a pendulum. It disappeared, and immediately 
 afterwards a man with his hair over his eyes, and with his 
 clothes in wild disorder, scrambled on to the rail, fired a pistol 
 at us and, with a laugh like a madman's, flung the weapon 
 towards my boat and vanished, falling backwards in such a 
 
 12—2 
 
180 AN OCEAN FREE-LANCE. 
 
 manner that the last we saw of him was his quivering legs. 
 At this extraordinary sight Tapping, who was in charge of the 
 cutter immediately astern of me, burst into a hoarse guffaw, 
 like the bray of an ass. 
 
 1 A strong pull, men t I shouted. ' There are people to re- 
 ceive us. Board her astern, cutters !' I cried, turning to 
 address the hinder boats \ 'her bows are my chance.' 
 
 We dashed alongside simultaneously, scrambled over her 
 bulwarks like a cloud of bluebottles swarming on a piece of 
 carrion, and in a trice had possession of her decks. 
 
 As strange and monstrous a scene as ever human eye en- 
 countered presented itself. So far as I could judge by hur- 
 riedly running my glance over them, there lay upon the decks 
 a number of men in the last stage of beastly intoxication. 
 Some reclined like logs upon their backs, with the full light 
 of the sun pouring upon their crimson faces, their mouths 
 open, snorting stertorously like persons in an apoplexy ; and 
 the glazed whites of their eyes looked like slips of blank 
 paper between their half-closed lids. Others nearly as help- 
 less, and quite as embrutalized as these, but still preserving 
 some dim glimmering of human reason as one might suppose, 
 faintly struggled to rear their bodies on their elbows, but 
 fell back with horrid smiles and a sputtering of inarticulate 
 words. There was only one man — he who had fired at us — 
 who appeared equal to the task of gaining his feet. He rose 
 from the side of the carronade slide where he had fallen, and 
 seizing a boarding-pike, gave a drunken shout, and reeled 
 towards us with the weapon couched in the posture of charging ; 
 one of our men sprang forward, but before he could grapple 
 him the brute tripped over a coil of rope, and fell with such a 
 mighty whack of his forehead upon the deck that I was quite 
 sure, even if he had not killed himself outright, he would give 
 us no further trouble. 
 
 Against the coamings of the main-hatch, that was covered 
 with a tarpaulin, was a tub half-full of undiluted rum. The 
 
THE DROIT MARITIME. 181 
 
 mere sniffing up of the ardent spirit with the fierce rays of the 
 afternoon sun beating upon my head and back made my brain 
 dizzy. A couple of tin vessels were sunk in the tub, and half- 
 a-dozen utensils of a similar kind lay scattered among the pros- 
 trate men. 
 
 Of all beastly pictures — I hope to be forgiven the violent 
 word — these intoxicated sailors made one of the worst — I 
 had almost written the worst — that ever shocked and pained 
 and disgusted human eyes. Some of them had evidently been 
 concerned in a scuffle, for their clothes were in rags, and 
 they lay half-naked. One dreadful-looking creature, with red 
 hair in a tangled mass over his forehead, and the whites of 
 his eyes giving an extraordinary character of horror to his 
 purple face, his gibbering, bluish-coloured lips churning out a 
 stream of froth that flowed down his chin, one hand under 
 his back, and the other across his breast with the fingers 
 working convulsively, like the antennae of a dying ' longlegs,' 
 and his legs doubled under him as though the bones of them 
 had been taken out, and his bare breast and a portion of his 
 shirt stained with a quantity of rum that appeared to have 
 been flung over him, was 1 a sight that even the horror-lov- 
 ing eye of Hogarth would have shunned, and alongside of 
 which Caliban would have looked a fair and pleasant crea- 
 tion. 
 
 1 1 believe there are more of them below, sir,' rattled out 
 Tapping, slewing his head about over a small closed skylight 
 in his efforts to see through the panes which the flashing of 
 the sun converted into a looking-glass. 
 
 'Mr. Chestree, capsize that tub of rum,' I exclaimed. 
 'Man the pumps, some of you, and drench these beasts — 
 there are buckets forward there; mind you don't drown 
 them.' 
 
 Whilst this was doing I threw open the skylight, first 
 taking care to group a number of men with loaded pistols 
 around it ready to fire down should any show of resistance be 
 
1 82 AN OCEAN FREE-LANCE. 
 
 made by the inmates of the cabin. The skylight was pitched 
 right amidships of the cabin ceiling, and on putting my head 
 down, I saw five figures in various postures upon the floor, all 
 motionless, and as dead drunk as the men on deck ; one of 
 them lying capsized backwards in his chair, his head on the 
 floor, and his heels on the table. A perfect stench of rum 
 came up in a cloud ; it was like holding one's nose over a dis- 
 tiller's vat. 
 
 I was in the act of descending the companion-steps, when I 
 was loudly hailed by Chestree, who stood forward. 
 
 1 Mr. Madison, will you step this way, sir 1 I believe there's 
 a whole cargo of men under the fore-hatch here.' 
 
 I immediately ran towards the forecastle. 
 
 1 Listen, sir !' exclaimed Chestree ; and standing close to 
 the small covered hatch, that was situated a few paces abaft 
 the foremast, I heard a noise of knocking accompanied by 
 sounds which resembled the moaning of a number of wounded 
 animals. 
 
 ' Belay that pumping !' I called out to the men, who were 
 dashing water over the senseless bodies with a glee that be- 
 tokened high enjoyment of the work. ■ Six of you keep watch 
 round the companion, and the rest come forward. Look to 
 your small-arms, men ; there seems a whole ship-load of human 
 beings under these decks.' 
 
 They immediately flung down their buckets, and formed 
 into a compact square round the fore-hatch, the cover of which 
 I now ordered them to lift. 
 
 Scarcely had this been done, when there arose a wild and 
 frightful din of agonized voices. May God spare me from ever 
 hearing the like again ! A rush of hot, fetid, suffocating air 
 followed the opening of the hatch, and made every man who 
 had bent forward to look down recoil. 
 
 * My God !' shouted Chestree, * they are French prisoners, 
 Mr. Madison ! Look ! there are a dozen suffocated bodies 
 under the feet of the living !' 
 
THE DROIT MARITIME. 183 
 
 He raised his voice into a shriek, and a deep groan broke 
 from the seamen who stood around. 
 
 The cabin or forecastle was about six feet deep ; the ladder 
 had been drawn up, and when I looked down into this black 
 and suffocating pit I beheld a whole surface of upward-gazing 
 faces, glimmering yellow amid the twilight, with dark prostrate 
 forms beneath them, while yell upon yell burst from the lips of 
 the miserable sufferers. ' Be Veau ! de Veau I de Veau /' this was 
 the one burden of the dreadful raving. 
 
 ' Silence !' I shouted in my bad French, that was made worse 
 still, just as my voice was rendered hoarse as a raven's, by the 
 agitation and horror I was under. ' We are here to succour you. 
 Tell me your numbers.' 
 
 ' We were forty. There rests but twenty-five living,' came 
 the answer. 
 
 1 Quick, men !' I shouted to my own brave fellows ; ' hand 
 up these poor creatures. Lean over as many of you as can find 
 room, and let them catch your hands. They'll scramble up 
 well enough with that help.' 
 
 Half-a-dozen of the strongest men flung down their weapons 
 and dropped on their knees, and as one by one the prisoners 
 were drawn up, they fled to the scuttle-butt and fought for the 
 dipper like famished dogs over a bone. 
 
 They had all the same semi-asphyxiated look, distended 
 eye-balls, whitish lips, and veins standing out like whipcord 
 upon their throats and temples ; whilst the perspiration had 
 drenched the very coats on their backs, and so slimy were their 
 hands that our men had to catch them by the wrists to get a 
 fair hoisting purchase. 
 
 Hardly had the first-comers on deck assuaged their thirst, 
 when they turned upon the bodies of the drunken seamen, 
 whose nationality I had not yet been able to determine, though 
 I was very much afraid that they were Englishmen. They 
 brandished their fists over them, howled at and cursed them, 
 and spat upon them, and were only restrained from tearing 
 
1 84 AN OCEAN FREE-LANCE. 
 
 the inanimate brutes to pieces by a determined movement aft 
 on the part of the men. One of the prisoners pulled a long 
 knife from his breeches-pocket and made a sneaking stride 
 towards the red-haired monster whose appearance I have de- 
 scribed, grasping the haft of the knife so that the blade forked 
 out of his shaking hand astern ; and by the look of his face he 
 would, I believe, have stabbed the intoxicated sailor to: the 
 heart before I could have had time to rush upon him, had not 
 one of his companions gripped his arm and muttered fiercely in 
 his ear, and dragged him violently back. 
 
 On the other hand, there were some among these wretched 
 captives who, after they had drank and recovered their minds, 
 appeared overcome with the horrors from which they had been 
 released. I saw three of them weeping like children, others 
 hiding their faces in their hands, and two on their knees cross- 
 ing themselves and praying. I glanced my eye over them as 
 they stood near the scuttle-butts in a group of twenty -five — 
 the number they had named, though how they had been able 
 to take stock in the black and stifling forecastle was and still 
 remains a great mystery to me — and noticed that they were all 
 seamen, dressed in the picturesque costumes of the French 
 buccaneers of that period, most of them with coloured caps, the 
 points of which fell over their ears, and red shirts, and. duck 
 or fine canvas breeches, and short sea-boots with overhanging 
 flaps. They were in general small men (though there were 
 three or four strapping fellows among them), with keen, dark, 
 savage, bearded faces, and many of them wore large earrings 
 and silver rings on their fingers. They were unarmed, it is 
 true : but there were pikes, cutlasses, and pistols in abundance 
 both upon the decks and in the racks, and these men, naturally 
 ferocious, had been converted into wild beasts by the shocking 
 treatment they had received. 
 
 To deprive the demons in them of any chance of an outbreak, 
 I divided them into four gangs, each one of which was guarded 
 by a number of my own men, and ordered Chestree to hail the 
 
THE DROIT MARITIME. 185 
 
 schooner and request Captain Shelvocke to send the pinnace to 
 me along with Mr. Corney. 
 
 The Tigress had ratched some way to windward of us under 
 her foresail only, but on perceiving the signals made by Chestree, 
 Shelvocke at once put his helm up, and ran down. Whilst the 
 schooner was approaching, I called to a couple of seamen and 
 entered the lugger's cabin. I found myself in a tolerably 
 roomy box-shaped place, pierced by the foot of the mizzen-mast, 
 with a couple of berths aft, the doors of which were open. 
 There was a row of shelves affixed to the foremast-bulkhead, 
 full of china plates, glasses, and things of that kind, and the 
 ceiling was garnished with a number of muskets, cutlasses, and 
 a weapon I had never before seen— a truncheon of the length 
 of a man's arm, terminating in a knob of spiked iron of about 
 the dimensions and weight of a four-pound round-shot. There 
 were three or four overturned chairs upon the floor, a quantity 
 of broken glass that crunched under every step I and my men 
 took, and the planks were slippery with rum, the smell of which 
 was quite intolerable in the close and muggy atmosphere ; and 
 the sides of the table, battened to the height of an inch to 
 prevent the crockery from sliding in rough weather, were 
 afloat with grog, like the scuppers of a ship in a gale of wind 
 that drained off first at one end and then at the other, as the 
 vessel swayed. 
 
 I now observed that there were six men in this cabin, the 
 man that had escaped the glance I had taken through the sky- 
 light being jammed up in a corner, where he sat upon his 
 haunches, with his arms hanging all abroad and his head fallen 
 over his knees. Some of them snored through their pipes like 
 men attacked by bronchitis ; but the fellow who lay capsized 
 in his chair made no noise and was motionless. A broad glare 
 of the lateral sunshine that streamed through the skylight fell 
 upon this recumbent figure, and I would not like to say that 
 the repulsive red-haired monster on deck made a more mon- 
 strous object than this man, whose face was black with suffoca- 
 
1 36 AN OCEAN FREE-LANCE. 
 
 tion, whose eyes protruded from their sockets, and over the 
 rim of whose tight jacket-collar the flesh had swelled into a 
 hard, puffed-out circle, of the colour and appearance of a gutta- 
 percha ring. 
 
 I ordered my men to raise him, but on seizing his arms they 
 found him stone-dead; so we let him lie on his back, and 
 I went on deck again, sick with the sight and dizzy with the 
 spirituous stench of the place. 
 
 By this time the schooner had floated to within speaking- 
 distance. I jumped on to the lugger's taffrail, and sung out 
 the particulars of the capture to Shelvocke, and recom- 
 mended that the prisoners should be divided between the 
 two vessels. 
 
 ' Very well/ he called out. ' You may send as many as you 
 think proper aboard the Tigress. Corney will be with you in 
 a few minutes.' 
 
 I waved my hand, and ordered Tapping to tell off five men 
 to hand up the bodies out of the forecastle. This was a most 
 ghastly and painful business, but humanity demanded that it 
 should immediately be executed, as it was just possible that 
 life was not extinct in some of them. I suggested that the 
 easiest and the quickest way to hoist out the dead was for one 
 man to descend and attach lines to the bodies, which the others 
 could then haul up. This was done, and before Corney arrived 
 we had removed the whole of the dead and ranged them in a 
 row under the bulwarks, and I shall never forget the groans 
 and cries which broke from the survivors of the miserable 
 French crew as, one by one, the corpses of their shipmates 
 were raised. The sight lashed them into a fury that nothing 
 short of the cocked and levelled pistols of our men could have 
 restrained. 
 
 Next to the expression on the face of a man who has been 
 killed by a pike-thrust, the most terrible that I know of is that 
 of death by asphyxia — at all events, when that kind of death 
 is produced by the slow operation that killed these most miser- 
 
THE DROIT MARITIME. 187 
 
 able creatures. All the horror and anguish of the slow approach 
 of extinction, the agony of the difficult breathing, the dreadful 
 despair following the mad and unavailing fight for life in dark- 
 ness and in the midst of a steamy and putrescent atmosphere, 
 were expressed in these men's half-closed eyes and parted blue 
 lips, from which a reddish froth was oozing, and in the greenish- 
 yellow of the puffy skin, and in their blackened finger-nails 
 buried in the palms of their hands. 
 
 On Corney's arrival, he immediately fell to an examination 
 of these bodies, one by one. The Frenchmen watched him 
 intently and in profound silence at first ; but as he passed 
 from one corpse to the other, shaking his head, half-smothered 
 execrations broke from the prisoners ; and when Corney had 
 inspected the last body, and glanced around at me with a look 
 on his face that was unmistakable, a wild chorus of yells and 
 curses broke from the Frenchmen ; they all cried out together, 
 and the sound of their voices was as much like the snarling of 
 wild beasts as the imagination could conceive : there was a 
 short rush from one group towards some of the intoxicated 
 men, and a few hard blows were exchanged between them and 
 the Tigresses ; one of the prisoners was knocked down, and a 
 pistol exploded in the scuffle. However, the poor devils stood 
 but a small chance with eight-and-thirty determined English- 
 men armed to the teeth. I ordered ten of them into the 
 pinnace, and the remainder I mustered aft, where they were 
 suffered to remain with a strong guard over them, whilst I 
 dealt with the drunken scoundrels who littered the decks and 
 the cabin. 
 
 Though I have dwelt at some length on the particulars of 
 this strange and ghastly adventure, yet not more than half 
 an hour had been expended from the moment of our board- 
 ing to the time when I sent away half of the prisoners. 
 Some of the drunken men were now beginning to show signs 
 of life j one or two of them struggled until they gained their 
 feet, but immediately fell down again, and lay looking at us 
 
1 83 AN OCEAN FREE-LANCE. 
 
 out of their bloodshot eyes and with sickly imbecile smiles. 
 Some made an effort to crawl on their bellies to the carronade 
 slides or the foot of the masts, out of the sun, where they sat 
 up with their backs propped by the spar, in which posture 
 they watched us with lolling heads, and their hands lying life- 
 less upon the decks, and their legs twisted into all manner of 
 drunken shapes under or around them. 
 
 I told Chestree to take some of our seamen below, and bring 
 the men who were in the cabin on deck. 
 
 1 Bundle the brutes up as they come/ said I; 'and Mr. 
 Tapping, get the pumps manned and give some of those 
 breathing logs there another drenching.' And while these 
 orders were being obeyed, I called to Corney and requested 
 his help to question the Frenchmen, whose story I was anxious 
 to hear. 
 
 Although, as I have said, I pronounced the French language 
 very ill, I was well enough acquainted with that tongue to 
 understand it fully when spoken by others. I had, therefore, 
 no difficulty in following the short and simple story that was 
 related to Corney by one of the prisoners, whom I suspected 
 to be a mate by the way in which he acted as spokesman for 
 the others and the respect that was suggested by their manner 
 towards him, though there was nothing to distinguish him in 
 his dress from the rest of his shipmates. 
 
 He said that the lugger was named the Droit Maritime, and 
 that her crew, when she left Granville that day a fortnight 
 previously, had consisted of a hundred and sixty men. Of 
 these, sixty were away in prizes when the lugger fell in with, 
 and engaged, a large English polacre brig, who, after killing 
 and wounding forty of the Frenchman's crew, hauled down her 
 colours. Of the Englishman's crew only fourteen or fifteen 
 remained unhurt, and these were put aboard the lugger, who 
 sent ten of her own men into the brig to carry her to the 
 Tregnier Eoads. But a few hours after this engagement a 
 small vessel hove in sight, which the French captain deter- 
 
THE DROIT MARITIME. 189 
 
 mined to pursue ; he chased her to the northward for thirteen 
 hours, but losing sight of her in the darkness, bore up again to 
 follow in the wake of the captured brig. 
 
 This brought the time down to two o'clock on the morning 
 of the day in which the adventure I am relating befell us \ at 
 which hour, a number of the Frenchmen being in the fore- 
 castle of the lugger, the English prisoners managed to break 
 out through the main-hatch, under which they had been con- 
 fined in the airiest and roomiest part of the vessel. The 
 attack was so sudden that the people on deck, being utterly 
 unprepared, were immediately overpowered, and flung over- 
 board, ' alive as they stood !' said the man who told the story, 
 and his face grew dark with passion as he added that the 
 hatch was put over the men who were sleeping in the fore- 
 castle, and that in that hole, without light, without air, with- 
 out water, forty human beings had been confined for fourteen 
 hours, while the ruffians who had become, not their gaolers, 
 but their murderers, had broken open the spirit-room, and drank 
 until they had reduced themselves to the condition in which 
 we found them. 
 
 1 And they are our countrymen !' I exclaimed in French, 
 looking with horror and shame at the brutes, whose contor- 
 tions were reptile-like as they endeavoured to roll away from 
 the buckets of water which the Tigresses were sluicing over 
 them, and snapped their teeth and gibbered in their drunken 
 passion. 
 
 ' Yes, they are English,' answered the Frenchman, ' but not 
 such English as I have been used to meet,' he added, with 
 more tact than I should have expected to find in such a 
 scowling, black and savage-looking creature ; and then with a 
 world of moving passion in his voice, and with wild and plead- 
 ing gesticulations, which amazingly increased the pity his dread- 
 ful tale provoked, he poured forth in rich dramatic accents an 
 account of the terrible sufferings they had endured; how 
 some of them had sucked the blood from their own arms to 
 
^9° AN OCEAN FREE-LANCE. 
 
 quench their raging thirst ; how one by one fifteen of them 
 had sunk down, dropping without a moan, until the living had 
 no space for their feet, and were forced to stand upon the soft 
 and soaking bodies of the dead. He described them tearing 
 the very nails off their fingers in their efforts to force the 
 hatch, so as to obtain, not liberty, but one little draught of 
 pure air; the horrible sound of the grinding of teeth, the 
 choked and husky hum of voices, the deadly struggle to keep 
 or obtain a place under the hatch, where a tiny crevice showed 
 a faint gleam of daylight. 
 
 I remembered the heat of the weather — the heat that had 
 rendered the well-ventilated cabin of the Tigress almost un- 
 bearable — whilst he was speaking ! 
 
 They could hear, he said, the Englishmen singing on deck 
 and afterwards fighting, until the silence assured them that 
 the wretches had drunk themselves senseless, on which they 
 abandoned all hope, for they knew that every miserable inmate 
 of the black and choking forecastle would be dead before the 
 Englishmen recovered their minds. 
 
 ' 1 do honestly believe, sir/ exclaimed Corney, drawing a 
 long quivering breath as the man ended, and turning to me 
 with a face as white as a ghost, ' that this is the most horrible 
 thing that has happened in my time, and I am forty-one this 
 month.' 
 
 At this moment I was hailed by Shelvocke, who had ranged 
 the schooner within a musket-shot of the lugger. 
 
 ' What are you doing now, Mr. Madison V 
 
 ' There's a whole mob of drunken Englishmen aboard of us 
 here, sir,' I answered ; ' and we are fishing the last of the tribe 
 out of the cabin. These scoundrels will want watching as well 
 as the Frenchmen, and I think you had better allow forty of 
 our men to remain in the lugger.' 
 
 'Very well, '.he replied. 'Dispose of the men as you think 
 best. How many of our seamen have you aboard now f 
 
 'Thirty-eight, sir.' 
 
THE DROIT MA RIT1ME. 1 9 r 
 
 \ I will send a couple more in the pinnace, and she can bring 
 the other boats back with her. Let Mr. Tapping and Mr. 
 Chestree return with them, and you can remain as prize- 
 master. Get sail made as soon as possible, for I want to be 
 off/ 
 
 'Ay, ay, sir.' 
 
 The disgust that had been excited in our men by the 
 drunkenness as well as the brutality of the English seamen, 
 was amusingly exhibited in their handling of the fellows whom 
 they hauled out of the cabin. They dragged them up the 
 companion-steps heels-foremost, some of them, and rolled them 
 along the decks like casks with their feet, and it was almost 
 impossible to keep one's gravity over the postures the drunken 
 fellows threw themselves into, and the imbecile expression of 
 their faces as they were bundled unceremoniously over the 
 hatch and dropped, one on top of the other, into the gloomy 
 hole from which we had liberated their captives ; but, more 
 merciful than they, we left the hatch open, and this made all 
 the difference between a black and noisome grave and an 
 ordinary forecastle. 
 
 The Frenchmen were now got under hatches and stowed 
 amidships of the lugger, where there was plenty of room and 
 light, and sentries posted at each hatchway ; and as nothing- 
 remained to be done but to bury the dead, I despatched a 
 number of men to get as many hammocks on deck as there 
 were corpses, whilst the rest made sail on the lugger. 
 
 By this time the sun was low upon the sea, but there was 
 the promise of a beautiful evening and a fine night in the 
 soft blue of the sky, and in the high shreds of white vapour 
 which mottled the heavens in the east, and there was a cool 
 wind blowing. The sixteen dead bodies — fifteen Frenchmen 
 and one Englishman — made a most repulsive and ghastly 
 spectacle of the deck, and I ordered them to be thrown over- 
 board as fast as the men could lace them up in the hammocks, 
 taking care, however, that some show of reverence attended 
 
192 AN OCEAN FREE-LANCE, 
 
 these precipitate burials. I felt easier in my mind when the 
 last body was gone, and when I could look along the wide 
 deck that sloped upwards like a smack's towards the bows, and 
 witness only the familiar sight of the rows of guns, and the 
 seamen at work, and the sentries standing with drawn cut- 
 lasses and loaded pistols in their belts by the open hatches. 
 Sailors are superstitious about the dead, and are always uneasy 
 while they are shipmates with a corpse. Besides, fifteen of 
 the unhappy creatures had died so horrible a death, that the 
 mere thought of their last sufferings turned the heart sick ; 
 and the depression of spirits the sight of them bred in us was 
 as reasonable an excuse as we needed to give them an informal 
 and hurried toss. 
 
 Next to a schooner, I think a lugger the usefulest if not the 
 handiest rig afloat. I had never sailed one before, and now I 
 was in charge of a lugger above two hundred tons, built and 
 owned at St. Malo, and as fast and powerful a boat as any 
 that ever hailed from that nest of privateers. Whatever 
 injury she had received from the guns of the polacre had been 
 made good, and when we had mastheaded her enormous gaffs 
 a whole ocean of canvas looked to be spread overhead. 
 
 Shelvocke sung out that he wanted to try the schooner 
 against her, but fast as the lugger unquestionably was, giving 
 one a sensation of skimming rather than sailing, she was no 
 match for the schooner, who walked away from her as though 
 she had her tow-rope aboard, and had no difficulty in keeping 
 her position abreast of us under her mainsail and jib only. 
 And how glorious she looked ! glancing her copper along the 
 dark green water with the red sunset levelling its warm rich 
 light at her over our mastheads and rosily tinting her grace- 
 ful sails and streaking her bright masts with lines of fire, and 
 giving a reddish tinge to the froth that rolled along her black 
 side like a line of wool unwinding from her bows ; whilst her 
 bristling guns and high and gleaming bulwarks, and the 
 massive though beautiful sheer of her from the gangway to the 
 
THE DROIT MARITIME. - 193 
 
 cathead, gave one such an idea of the formidable figure she 
 must make in the eyes of an enemy as I had never before 
 realised. 
 
 When we were fairly sailing along with the decks washed 
 -down, and the ropes coiled away, and the guns carefully looked 
 to, in the event of a sudden call to arms, and while the crisp 
 slice of moon was doing battle with the reddish twilight in 
 which the figures of the men, as they hung with pipes in their 
 mouths over the bows of the lugger, loomed large ; and the 
 sentries round the hatches were like statues seen within a 
 dimly-lighted museum ; and the form of the schooner about a 
 quarter of a mile away on the weather-bow might, at the first 
 glance, have passed for an optical illusion, and set one winking 
 to look again, so vague and airy was the shape of her on the 
 running water, and so spectral the pallid canvas that seemed 
 in the act of melting away on the indigo of the eastern sky ; 
 methought — for what should all this fine writing preface but 
 a rank bit of commonplace ? — that I would sup. And so 
 down I went into the cabin which, having been cleansed and 
 swabbed, had lost much of its rum-laden atmosphere, and 
 set a youthful Tigress (who counted as one of the forty men) 
 to hunt about for something to eat ; and presently he had 
 furnished out a very comfortable supper-table, on which I 
 beheld an excellent ham, a piece of cold brisket of beef that 
 looked to have been fattened on English grass, some capital 
 sea-biscuits, a cheese, and a bottle of wine — the fruits of a 
 well-stocked larder or pantry which I believe only a boy would 
 have stumbled on, for the door of it was a sliding panel in the 
 foremost bulkhead, and was as mysterious a closet as any 
 thing of the kind I ever read of in the Anna Maria and 
 Kosa Matilda romances. 
 
 I so little relished sitting down to this supper alone, that in 
 casting about me for a companion — Corney unhappily had 
 returned to the schooner with Chestree and Tapping — I 
 thought of the fellow who had acted as spokesman when we 
 
 13 
 
i 94 AN OCEAN FREE-LANCE. 
 
 questioned the Frenchmen and whom I took to be mate : 
 1 Come/ thought I, * the poor devil has suffered enough at the 
 hands of Englishmen ; I will ask him to sup with me.' 
 
 So I went on deck to speak to the Frenchmen down the 
 main-hatch, as I knew there was no man aboard who could 
 have delivered any message they would understand. 
 
 I called out, f Messieurs, I wish to speak to you f whereat 
 a whole crowd of them came and stood under the hatchway. 
 There was just twilight enough to enable me to distinguish 
 the faces of the poor creatures, for whom all my pity revived 
 as they stood gazing up at me, and among them I noticed the 
 man I wanted. So, addressing myself to him, I made shift to 
 let him know that I should be glad if he would join me at 
 supper. 
 
 He put his hand on his breast, and made me a bow full of 
 grace, though his dignity was somewhat fluttered by the sea- 
 men who guarded the hatch having to hoist him on deck by 
 the arms. Before I went aft I said to him in a voice I wished 
 his companions below to hear, that I was anxious the prisoners 
 should want for nothing it was in my power to give them : 
 and any reasonable desire they expressed to the sentries 
 should be attended to. It was my duty, I said, to atone 
 for the inhumanity of the monsters who were imprisoned in 
 the forecastle, and who would be delivered up to justice on 
 our arrival in England. He understood me, for I helped out 
 my meaning by the gestures which make up the better half of 
 the French language, and thanked me very gratefully, and 
 looking down the hatch, exclaimed : 
 
 1 You hear what this Ion monsieur says V 
 
 ' Yes, yes ; he is a comrade to be proud of — he has a French 
 heart — he is an honest man,' the poor fellows answered. 
 
 1 Here, Parell/ I called to the boatswain's mate, who headed 
 my detachment of the Tigresses, ' see that these Frenchmen are 
 well treated. I have told them to make their wants known 
 to the sentries, but of course if you have any doubts you will 
 
THE DROIT MARITIME. 195 
 
 come to me for instructions. As to the brutes in the forecastle, 
 if you hear any murmuring among them, tip them a few buckets 
 of salt water, will you f 
 
 The man grinned and touched his hat, and, followed by the 
 French seaman, who did actually prove to be the mate of the 
 lugger, I led the way to the cabin. I pointed to a seat, but 
 he looked at his hands and down his shirt with a half-apolo- 
 getic smile. 
 
 I nodded, as much as to say ' I see what you want,' and 
 motioned towards one of the after-cabins, in which I had 
 already taken care to assure myself the things he required 
 were to be found. I admired his tact in leaving the door wide 
 open whilst he bathed his face and passed a comb through his 
 long black hair. Although dressed only in a shirt and trousers 
 and a red sash round his waist, his brief and meagre toilet 
 appeared to have given him as much confidence and ease as a 
 new suit of clothes would have done ; there was even a well- 
 bred air in his manner as he stepped out of the berth smiling 
 and lightly humming a tune, with his hands clasped in front of 
 him, and his white teeth gleaming under his jetty moustache, 
 and his black eyes shining. 
 
 He insisted on my sitting first, and bowed to me when he 
 took his chair, and with the gayest air in the world told me 
 that yonder berth which I had been good enough to let him 
 enter, had been his own. 
 
 'But, monsieur,' said he, toying with his glass that I had 
 filled with wine, 'the corsair's toast should be always — La 
 guerre / His enemies are his friends, and he is an imbecile 
 who would grumble at the fortune who hates him to-day and 
 caresses him to-morrow.' 
 
 He chinked his glass against mine, and emptied it with a 
 fine theatrical flourish. But though I was amused and even 
 pleased with, I was not to be deceived by, this holiday polite- 
 ness. The wisdom of having a loaded pistol in the side-pocket 
 of the coat I wore had much weight given to it, not alone by 
 
 13—2 
 
196 " AN OCEAN FREE-LANCE. 
 
 the array of deadly weapons which glittered over the head of 
 my friend within easy reach of his hand, but by the inherent 
 fierceness and rascality in the fellow's face, which his smiles 
 only lighted up, and the peculiar prowling roll of his gleaming 
 eyes whenever he was silent for a few moments. 
 
 Indeed he was a complete realization of the popular idea of 
 the picaroon, privateersman, corsair, pirate, or buccaneer — the 
 world has never stinted the trade in titles — dark as a half- 
 caste, long, black, curling hair, thick eyebrows, which formed 
 an angle the point of which was in the indent betwixt the 
 brow and the nose, long moustaches, the ends of which over- 
 hung the short bristling beard, a thick neck and square throat, 
 which suggested the heaviness of the concealed jaws, with the 
 cheap exterior trappings of earrings, finger-rings, and an ebony 
 crucifix, the head of the silver figure on which glittered just 
 above the open shirt on his olive- coloured skin. His manners 
 were mild enough with me, but it was the amiability of a dog 
 whose ears are uncocked because you carry a thick stick, and 
 who wags his tail while he languishingly eyes your throat. 
 
 He ate very heartily, and enjoyed himself after the philo- 
 sophy of his countrymen. No outsider would have guessed 
 his situation from his manner, nor have supposed him other 
 than one of our men, or at least a passenger. The talking 
 was mostly on his side, for the very good reason that I had 
 not enough of the language to sustain a dialogue, and he did 
 not know a word of English except ' Yash,' which he meant for 
 6 Yes/ and which he repeatedly uttered. 
 
 Having supped, I pulled out a pipe and a paper of tobacco, 
 which I offered to him. He thanked me with a laugh, and said 
 that if I preferred a cigar he would be happy to fetch a box. 
 
 ' Where are they to be found V I asked. 
 
 He pointed under the table, and on peering at the deck, I 
 observed, close to my feet, a trap-door about four feet square 
 with an iron ring affixed to it. 
 
 ' There are not only cigars there,' said he, ' but you will 
 
THE DROIT MARITIME. 197 
 
 find some boxes, the contents of which would keep the whole 
 of the men in this lugger, and in your schooner too, supplied 
 with cigars, ay, and grogue also, monsieur, for a hundred years, 
 were they to live as long/ 
 
 I looked at him earnestly. 
 
 1 Monsieur does not know what his schooner has captured V 
 said he, with a bitter smile. 
 
 ' 1 should be glad to hear,' I answered. 
 
 1 What does it matter now t he cried, with a fierce shrug, 
 and apparently thinking aloud. ' But at least your crew will 
 have the booty — the monsters who would have destroyed us 
 Will not share.' 
 
 I was not very sure of this, so I made him no reply, merely 
 keeping an interrogative stare fixed upon him. 
 
 ' About these cigars V said he. ' Shall I fetch a box P 
 
 I I will not give you that trouble,' I answered. ' Eansom !' 
 I shouted. 
 
 The boy who was sitting on the top of the companion-steps 
 ran down. 
 
 ' Tell Parell to send a couple of men aft, here, with a lighted 
 lantern.' 
 
 Although I believed there was no treacherous intent in the 
 Frenchman's offer to procure the cigars, it was assuredly not 
 my business to trust him. The powder-magazine was, in all 
 probability, situated somewhere under our feet ; the ruffianly 
 Englishmen, who had killed fifteen and tortured the rest of 
 this prisoner's shipmates, were still aboard the lugger, and 
 the temptation to blow them as well as us into fragments 
 might prove stronger than the consideration that he would 
 also be destroying himself and his fellow-captives. Be this 
 as it may, I would not trust him; but my evasion of his 
 offer did not at all offend him. He merely said, and not 
 satirically either, ' Monsieur is very polite,' meaning that I 
 was polite not to allow him to take the trouble to fetch the 
 cigars. 
 
i 9 3 AN OCEAN FREE-LANCE. 
 
 1 Pray/ said I, whilst we waited for the men, ' will you have 
 the goodness to tell me what those cases which you have spoken 
 of contain V 
 
 'One hundred thousand Mexican dollars/ he answered 
 promptly. 
 
 I looked at him amazed ; in truth I believed the man was 
 joking, and the expression of my face must have said as much, 
 for he immediately added : 
 
 1 We found the money in one of the prizes we took this day 
 week, monsieur. My captain transferred the chests to the 
 Droit Maritime, as he believed the silver would be safer in our 
 charge than if left in the custody of the small prize crew whom 
 we sent to France in the captured vessel. One would have 
 thought/ he exclaimed, with his face darkening under a sudden 
 gust of passion that at least convinced me he was speaking the 
 truth, ' that the captain of a vessel with such a booty on board 
 would have made haste to land it. Instead, my captain, not 
 content with risking this sum of money in the encounter with 
 the polacre brig, must needs chase a small vessel, who carries 
 him within a few leagues of British waters. And for what ? 
 The chase escapes us ! our prisoners rise, murder my captain 
 and a number of men, and this rich lugger becomes your prey 
 without costing you a struggle ! I remonstrated — I cried out 
 against my captain for his madness in chasing that small vessel. 
 11 We are rich enough for this voyage," I exclaimed ; "let us at 
 least make for Granville, and start afresh with a swept hold." 
 He threatened me ! he called me boute-feu I mutin ! And now 
 behold us P 
 
 He dashed his clenched fist upon the table with all the 
 extravagance of an infuriated Frenchman ; but hearing the 
 footsteps of the men on the companion-ladder, he recovered 
 himself with an astonishing effort, and exclaimed in his 
 former light-hearted voice, taking the neck of the bottle in 
 his hand : 
 
THE DROIT MARITIME. 199 
 
 1 Monsieur, your glass is empty. I know this wine — it will 
 not hurt you/ 
 
 Before I could answer him the men sent by Parell entered 
 the cabin. One of them carried a lighted lantern, which I 
 bade him set down while he helped his mate to run the table 
 up the stanchions on which it slided, and to raise the trap- 
 door. When this was lifted I peered down, and noticed a row 
 of steps nailed to a narrow bulkhead, and the rays of the 
 lantern, piercing the blackness, faintly disclosed the outlines of 
 a number of chests, bales, casks, etc., carefully stowed and 
 apparently ranging forward past the narrow bulkhead on either 
 hand to a considerable distance. 
 
 The Frenchman approached and looked down the trap- 
 hatch for a few seconds, and then retired to the end of 
 the cabin, and seated himself with his arms locked upon his 
 breast. 
 
 * This man,' said I, addressing the seamen, £ tells me that 
 there are chests down there full of silver. Try the weight 
 of one of them, and also look about you for some boxes of 
 cigars.' 
 
 One of them dropped through the trap, and the other, after 
 lowering the lantern, followed. With their bodies curved so 
 that they looked on all-fours, and the lantern jerking the 
 shadows of their faces here and there as they crawled about, 
 the men rummaged as only sailors can, squeezing themselves 
 into narrow corners, and accommodating their bodies to all 
 manner of excruciating angles, puffing and blowing as they 
 groped, and squirting tobacco-juice right and left, while 
 through the stillness of the hold one could hear the gurgling 
 of the passing water and the sharp jar of the rudder on its 
 pintles. 
 
 ' Here be the seegars, sir, I think f presently shouted out 
 one of them; 'aye, dozens on 'em!' and prizing open the 
 batten of what looked like a crate, he forked up a box of 
 cheroots. 
 
200 AN OCEAN FREE-LANCE. 
 
 1 I can guarantee them fresh from the Manillas, sir/ said the 
 Frenchman from his corner. 
 
 1 Will you please help yourself V said I, giving him the 
 box. 
 
 He opened the lid with the prong of a fork, and lighted a 
 cigar, saying, as he resumed his seat, that tobacco was the best 
 remedy for despair. 
 
 1 It's blasted hot down here, sir !' bawled one of the men. 
 1 There's no moving of these cases, sir. Might as well try to 
 lift a first-rate's bower.' 
 
 However, I was determined to test the truth of the French- 
 man's statement, and told Ransom to send Parell aft with a 
 hammer and prizing-bar. 
 
 c What do you make in those canvas bundles, men f said L 
 1 Snip a bit of the lacing, but mind how you do it.' 
 
 This was done. 
 
 ' Why, what the deuce is it ? yellow bunting f I called. 
 
 They thumbed it, and peered at it, and smelt it, and then 
 rattled out : 
 
 1 It's yaller silk, your honour — like what you see in Chaney, 
 sir ( 
 
 And so it was, thousands of yards of it, packed (as only 
 the Chinese can pack) in fine canvas covers. I turned to 
 the Frenchman, who sat with his legs crossed and his head 
 thrown back, stroking his moustache and puffing out tobacco- 
 smoke. 
 
 * You have evidently the cargo of an East Indiaman in this 
 hold r 
 
 * The richest part of it, monsieur : silver, silk, some chests 
 of ivory, and about sixteen tons of tea. The rest we left in 
 the prize.' 
 
 ' A nice little haul for the Tigress f. thought I ; and I was 
 nearly shouting ' Hurrah !' 
 
 Presently appeared Parell with the implements I had directed 
 him to bring. The lamplight glistened in his perspiring face, 
 
THE DROIT MARITIME. 201 
 
 and I noticed the honest fellow bestow a distrustful scowl on 
 the French mate after letting his eyes rest on the grim decora- 
 tions of the cabin-ceiling. 
 
 I gave him the Frenchman's report of the contents of the 
 hold, and bade him jump below and open one of the heavy 
 chests, that we might prove the value of the capture by our 
 own eyesight. His face cleared when I talked of ivory and 
 silver and silk, and swinging himself down the trap, he fell to 
 work upon one of the heavy chests, and after some mighty 
 hard hammering — for the corners were strongly clamped with 
 iron — wedged open a split board. The lantern was raised, 
 and the light sparkled upon a surface of white coined 
 silver. 
 
 * That will do/ said I. ' Replace that board, Parell. ' 
 
 The three of them came out of the hold, the trap was closed, 
 and the table lowered. 
 
 ' Here, Eansom, give Parell and these two men a glass of 
 grog apiece. How does the schooner bear, Parell V 
 
 'Steady on the starboard bow, sir.' 
 
 ' We Tigresses are in luck, men. If you add this capture to 
 the corvette, our pockets won't hold our shares.' 
 
 ' Ay, sir,' answered Parell, ' and I reckon the gells have the 
 news already, for they've got the tow-ropes in their hands, and 
 the two wessels are giving 'em all they can do to haul in the 
 slack.' 
 
 Here they drank my health. 
 
 I sent the men forward to give the news of the value of the 
 prize to their shipmates. 
 
 1 And mind, Parell/ said I, ' to keep a strong guard at both 
 hatches, and on no account allow our men to converse with 
 the English prisoners — that is, when the brutes are sober 
 enough to talk.' 
 
 ' I hope monsieur is satisfied that I spoke the truth/ said 
 the French mate when the men had left the cabin. 
 
 1 Perfectly satisfied/ I responded, lighting my pipe in prefer- 
 
202 AN OCEAN FREE-LANCE. 
 
 <3nce to a cheroot, for, of all abominations, the flavour of 
 Manilla tobacco is to me the greatest/ 
 
 6 Were you ever in France, sir V 
 
 ' Never.' 
 
 ' Nor I in England. I would to God that my first visit to 
 your country were under other circumstances ! I have heard 
 that your prisons are detestable, though your gaolers are more 
 humane than ours.' 
 
 1 You must look forward to a speedy exchange, 7 said I. 
 
 1 Not as corsair t he exclaimed vehemently, with a sweeping 
 passionate gesture of the hand. ' Monsieur, who has a kind 
 heart, will doubly pity me when he hears that I have been 
 married but one little year. My poor wife called to me when 
 I was leaving the house the last time, crying, " Jean, our baby 
 is awake j come and kiss its eyes before thou goest." My 
 house is near the cathedral ; and when I was nearly swooning 
 in that abominable forecastle before your men admitted the 
 air, there were two sounds ringing in my ears — the cathedral 
 bells, which were chiming as I turned back and leaned over 
 my baby's cradle, and the cry of the little one as it was fretted 
 or frightened by this iron beard,' taking his chin in his hand 
 and looking at me with the tears in his eyes. 
 
 ' Are these crocodile tears V thought I, for truly, to behold 
 such sentimental drops on his dark fierce visage was as confus- 
 ing to all theories of ' fitness' as the association of the homely 
 sweetness of wife and baby — of the spiritual gentleness of 
 marital and paternal love, with the scowling, be-sashed and 
 be-ringed figure of the maritime bravo. 
 
 * Will monsieur listen to me f he suddenly exclaimed, drop- 
 ping his cigar on the deck, and clasping and extending his 
 hands with a gesture of moving energy. ' I have at my house, 
 at St. Malo, a sum of fifteen hundred pounds (livres), the whole 
 of which I would give for my liberty.' 
 
 I smoked my pipe in silence. 
 
 * Monsieur/ he continued, after a short pause, and speaking 
 
THE DROIT MARITIME. 203 
 
 with such intensity — to use the only word that expresses the 
 concentration of purpose in his voice — that, like a physical 
 effort, which indeed you may be willing to reckon it, it be- 
 dewed his forehead with large sweat-drops, and kindled an 
 extraordinary brightness in his black eyes — ' is it impossible 
 for you to enrol me amongst your crew — to exclude me from 
 the prisoners you will send ashore V 
 
 1 Impossible/ I interrupted with a sternness I did not care 
 to conceal, seeing what his entreaties were leading to, and 
 rising as I spoke. 
 
 He sprang to his feet, and flashed a look at the weapons 
 over his head. The menace was more than I could brook. I 
 whipped the pistol from my pocket, and pointing it towards 
 the companion-steps, I told him to be good enough to go on 
 deck. He made a stiff inclination of the head, and with a 
 light defiant swing of the body ascended the ladder, I at his 
 heels ; and it was with a feeling of real relief that I saw him 
 walk to the main-hatch and jerk himself down among his 
 fellow-captives. Such was the abrupt ending of my well- 
 meant kindness ; but in truth I was getting tired of the man, 
 and my stock of French was all but expended. 
 
 Calling Parell to me, I bade him increase the guard at the 
 main-hold by two men, and to train one of the smaller 
 carronades against the after-coaming, so that our friends 
 might understand that though we did not intend to stifle 
 them, we had no intention of giving them their own way 
 either. 
 
 1 Is there any movement among the men in the forecastle, 
 Parell V 
 
 ' There's a lot of snoring going on, sir, and one of 'em 
 shouted out just now, but I don't reckon he meant it, or knew 
 that he did it. Yet I fancy they'll be rallying soon, for they 
 seems to be growing oneasy. They'll be sure to wake up 
 parched thirsty, sir. If they ax for water are they to have it, 
 sir?' 
 
204 AN OCEAN FREE-LANCE. 
 
 ' Certainly ; and you had better get a breaker filled ready 
 for lowering down to them, along with some pannikins.' 
 
 I filled my pipe again and walked aft. The new moon was 
 hanging over the sea in the west, and the breeze had freshened 
 with the darkness. The black form of the schooner hung 
 steadily on the weather-bow ; they had fixed a lantern on her 
 taffrail, the import of which I thoroughly understood, and she 
 was leading me on a course from which I judged it was 
 Shelvocke's intention to fetch Plymouth. 
 
 It was a novel sensation to me to gaze around on the 
 unfamiliar deck of the lugger, and at the immense lugs which 
 swelled out overhead. She was sweeping through the water 
 in grand style, churning up twice as much foam as the 
 schooner threw up at her fastest, and to have looked over the 
 sides and the stern at the tremendous spread of rushing froth, 
 that widened away into the darkness like the tail of a comet, 
 one would have supposed our pace something unheard of. But 
 what were my feelings when, my sight having got used to the 
 gloom, I perceived that the Tigress was keeping her distance 
 and holding her station under her mainsail, jib, and staysail only ! 
 I never felt prouder of the beautiful craft than at that moment. 
 All the renown that the French luggers had obtained was almost 
 entirely centred in their speed, for their cowardice was a by- 
 word among English seamen ; they bolted from the sight of the 
 smallest cruiser, and limited their depredations to the badly- 
 armed merchantmen. But here was as powerful a lugger as 
 St. Malo had ever equipped and despatched, with all sail 
 crowded and with the wind right abeam, so that every cloth 
 was drawing, unable to keep pace with the Tigress, who showed 
 only a third of the canvas she could unfold. 
 
 Our prisoners filled the sleeping-quarters of the lugger, and 
 my men had therefore to take their rest upon deck ; but this 
 was no hardship on a fine warm night. Some of the seamen 
 had already disposed themselves near the guns and under the 
 bulwarks, with coils of ropes for their pillows, their cutlasses 
 
THE DROIT MARITIME. 205 
 
 upon their hips and pistols in their belts; whilst at least 
 twenty others kept watch at the hatches, or stumped the 
 sloping deck of the forecastle on the look-out. 
 
 I kept watch until midnight, during all which time the 
 breeze remained steady, and the schooner held her station 
 with remarkable precision ahead. I then aroused Parell, who 
 slept with enviable soundness in a sitting posture, with his 
 back against the skylight, and told him to take the look-out 
 whilst I lay down. But first I visited both hatches and 
 listened : all was still in the Frenchmen's quarters, though 
 once I fancied I heard the sound of a hoarse whisper; 
 but it might have been the chafing of the sheet of the great 
 main-lug, whose foot arched transversely across the wide deck. 
 From the forecastle, however, their arose various sounds of 
 gurgling and sleepy grumbling, with an occasional hoarse and 
 barking yawn, and two of the bestial inmates called to one 
 another, but in such drunken accents that I gave no heed to 
 what was said. 
 
 * Keep a smart eye upon these fellows, men/ I said to the 
 sentries. ' When they come to they will want closer watching 
 than the Frenchmen/ 
 
 And so saying, I went aft, and pitching on a spot near the 
 tiller, I spread a big French ensign for a mattress, and lay 
 down upon it, being much too anxious to bury myself in the 
 cabin. 
 
 It was this anxiety, I suppose, that put it into my head to 
 compare the interior of the lugger to a volcano, and assuredly 
 the comparison was sufficiently apt, seeing the mass of human 
 combustibles that filled it. But the fancy set me dreaming of 
 a volcano, to whose summit I had climbed with very great 
 labour, for no other object than to be able to say I had sat 
 upon it. I was enjoying the prospect of smiling country that 
 stretched around, and speculating upon the nature and causes 
 of volcanoes quite as cleverly, I daresay, as many wide-awake 
 philosophers, when I felt the mountain throb under me very 
 
2 o6 AN OCEAN FREE-LANCE. 
 
 much as though some imprisoned giant was hammering inside, 
 and I began to topple about in my seat. The smiling country 
 grew rather tipsy, and cut a variety of ornamental capers. I 
 held on in a high state of alarm, whilst I was jerked about like 
 a man astride of the hump of a terrified camel. ' Good Lord !' 
 thought I. A volume of smoke rushed up all around me, 
 accompanied by a tremendous explosion, that was no doubt 
 intended to drive me several miles high in the air, had I not 
 cheated my ingenious imagination by opening my eyes and 
 springing to my feet. 
 
 1 What was that ¥ 
 
 The whole of my men were standing in groups near the 
 hatches, but the crowd was densest at the forecastle, through 
 whose open hatch there issued the muffled but hellish din of a 
 fierce struggle. I rushed forward. 
 
 1 What is it, men f I shouted. 
 
 'The Frenchmen have broken into the forecastle, and are 
 killing the Englishmen !' was the answer. 
 
 The uproar that had reached me with a subdued note in the 
 after-part of the vessel was fearfully distinct here. But the full 
 horror of it did not strike me until my men had opened a 
 passage and enabled me to get close to the hatch, down which 
 I looked. Parell held a lantern, but the gleams penetrated 
 the gloom but a short distance, and merely revealed now and 
 again the glimmering figures of men tearing at one another 
 like wild beasts, while the whole interior of the lugger rang 
 with shrieks and drunken yells, and the crunching of bodies 
 flung against the massive bulkheads and sides of the vessel. 
 
 1 Madmen t I shouted, * back to your quarters, or, by heaven, 
 I will sweep the hold with grape ! Men ! train a carronade 
 forward — depress the muzzle into the forecastle !' 
 
 The slide roared along the deck as it was dragged up to the 
 hatch with a force that nearly ripped up the coaming. I had 
 hoped the sound would still the monstrous combat ; but, like 
 oil upon fire, it only appeared to make it rage more furiously. 
 
THE DROIT MARITIME. « 207 
 
 * Parell ! lower that lantern ! small-arms-men, take aim and 
 shoot every Frenchman you can distinguish. ' 
 
 The boatswain's mate bent a rope's-end on to the lantern, 
 and lowered it ; scarcely had it sunk three feet below the deck 
 when a blow shivered it into fragments, and the light was 
 extinguished. What was to be done ? It would have been 
 sheer and brutal murder to fire among the seething mass who 
 fought and yelled amid the blackness ; but the consideration 
 that the men whom the Frenchmen had fallen upon were half 
 of them stupefied with drink, so infuriated our seamen that 
 Parell and myself had to threaten them with loaded pistols to 
 stop them from leaping into the forecastle to aid the English. 
 
 ' Bring another lantern,' I shouted. ' Parell, take fifteen 
 men and get down the main-hatch, and carry a couple of 
 lanterns with you. You will take the prisoners in the flank, 
 and shoot every man who refuses to come out of the fore- 
 castle/ 
 
 This order was immediately executed. Meanwhile a second 
 lantern had been lowered down the fore-hatch by a seaman, 
 who covered the light with a pistol. The horrible struggle 
 still raged, and I thought it the more deadly because it had 
 become less noisy. The combatants had no other weapons 
 than their hands, but by the dim lantern-light I could per- 
 ceive that they fought with their teeth and feet as well as their 
 fists ; and what with the drunken ferocity of the Englishmen 
 on one side, and the mad revengeful spirit of the Frenchmen 
 on the other, the scene of grappling and twisting figures, of 
 motionless bodies stamped upon as a labourer beats down the 
 earth with his hob-nailed boots, of wrestling forms whirling 
 into the sphere of the rays and vanishing into the darkness 
 beyond, aided by the snapping of teeth, the groans of the 
 wounded, the fierce breathing, the sudden thrilling cries of 
 pain, was one of such abounding horror as no man could 
 imagine the like of who had not witnessed it. 
 
 * Let ten men follow me !' I sung out. ' Use the flat of your 
 
2 o8 AN OCEAN FREE-LANCE. 
 
 cutlasses only. Hold that lantern steady, my man, and jump 
 down with it as we drive the prisoners aft ! The rest remain 
 to guard the hatches.' 
 
 Snatching a cutlass from the hand of one of the seamen, I 
 sprang into the forecastle with a string of Tigresses after me. 
 It is impossible to describe the scene that followed. It was 
 one of those wild, impetuous, confused struggles which give a 
 man no chance of noticing what happens. My object was to 
 drive the prisoners out of the narrow forecastle into the 
 roomier 'tween decks, where we should at least find space to 
 swing our arms in. The instant I gained my feet I fell 
 sprawling over a body ; but quickly recovering myself, and 
 making a sweeping blow with the flat of my cutlass at the 
 arms of a ferocious Englishman who was probably still too 
 drunk to distinguish between friends and foes, and who was 
 levelling his huge claws at my throat, I formed the men into a 
 line, and by dint of thrusting with our hands and feet and 
 pricking with our cutlasses, we bodily drove the combatants 
 past the fittings of the bulkhead, where, as they arrived, they 
 were seized by Parell's men and pinioned with lines flung 
 down the hatchway for the purpose. The Frenchmen offered 
 no resistance, but the English fought like cats, and when their 
 arms were bound behind them and their legs secured they 
 snapped at my men with their teeth, and spat at them in the 
 impotence of their passion. In truth, they were rendered 
 perfect devils by the drink ; they took us to be a portion of 
 the Frenchmen who had broken in on their drunken sleep, 
 and their brute courage operating as an instinct, and being all 
 of them very powerful men, we had so much difficulty in 
 pinioning them that I was in momentary fear of the temper of 
 the Tigresses, and had several times to warn them not to use 
 their cutlasses. 
 
 The lanterns illuminated an extraordinary picture. On one 
 side of the deck were the Frenchmen, some of them bound 
 back to back, some singly pinioned, standing or sitting, their 
 
THE DROIT MARITIME. 209 
 
 quick savage breathing filling the hollow 'tween-decks with a 
 sharp rushing noise, many of them covered with blood, their 
 clothes half torn from their backs, and whole clouds of steam 
 issuing from their bodies, as you may have seen the smoke 
 rising from the hide of a driven horse on a winter's day. 
 On the opposite or starboard side were the Englishmen, 
 a small and brutal-looking band, writhing on their bellies, or 
 straining at their bindings as they lay prostrate on their backs, 
 but every man bound by turn upon turn of rope round his 
 limbs, so as to resemble a mummy, or, better still, a fly after 
 the spider has revolved him two or three times. 
 
 I do believe that a low inebriated Briton — this word gives 
 a place to Pat as well as John Bull — offers the ugliest picture 
 of intoxication that can be found ^the whole world over. 
 Frenchmen, Spaniards, Italians, Russians — I am speaking of 
 the lowest orders — may be more malignant and dangerous 
 in their cups; but for vileness, vulgarity, brutality of lan- 
 guage and conduct, and for a remarkable capacity of making 
 every hair on his head and every rag on his back, and the 
 very toes which peer out of his broken boots, look as drunk 
 as his eyes, face, limbs, and motions, the low-bred Briton, 
 who never will be a slave — except to the bottle — is without 
 a rival. There lay these reeking savages, shouting and curs- 
 ing, and rolling their horrid eyes about them, and working 
 themselves into white-hot fury as they struggled in vain to 
 free their arms and legs. Expostulations, entreaties, com- 
 mands, were of no earthly use ; like savage beasts they would 
 have continued yelling at us with the muzzles of our muskets 
 at their foreheads. 
 
 Some of them had received terrible injuries ; like the 
 Frenchmen they were covered with blood, and their clothes 
 were in ribands. I counted them and found the number 
 eleven, while three of the Frenchmen were missing. Fol- 
 lowed by Parell I entered the forecastle, observing as I did so 
 that the bulkhead consisted of stout panels (movable only 
 
 14 
 
210 AN OCEAN FREE-LANCE. 
 
 from abaft, owing to the character of the grooving), the 
 removal of which left a clear space from the main-mast to 
 the head of the vessel ; and here lay a number of bodies. I 
 never would have believed it possible that unharmed human 
 beings could mutilate their fellow-creatures to the extent 
 these prostrate figures indicated. To look upon the torn flesh 
 and broken limbs one would have imagined that half-a-dozen 
 jaguars had been at work. The curses and cries and barking 
 sounds uttered by the Englishmen beyond the bulkhead 
 added a new element of horror to the ghastly scene, and 
 the men who had followed us stood looking on with pale faces 
 and aghast expressions, as Parell, holding a lantern, moved 
 about this floating charnel-house, examining the countenances 
 of the bodies. 
 
 However, it was necessary for a second time to clear this 
 dismal and tragical forecastle, and the bodies were accord- 
 ingly handed up and placed in a row on the deck. A strong 
 muster of our seamen then seized the English prisoners, and 
 dragged them, howling and shouting, and bound as they were, 
 into the forecastle ; the bulkhead was replaced, and a guard 
 stationed to keep the two gangs of captives separated. 
 
 I went on deck with a reeling step and a giddy head. My 
 nerves had stood the carnage of the forecastle, the struggle, 
 the sight of the wounded men, the monstrous spectacle of the 
 bleeding and torn Englishmen ; but the scene of dead illumined 
 by the wavering rays of the lantern had nearly proved too 
 much for me, and I leaned against the mizzen-mast trembling 
 like a half-drowned poodle. But the cool night air braced me 
 up, and a glass of grog, which I ordered the boy to smuggle 
 through the skylight, gave me back my old strength. 
 
 * Well, Parell/ said I, as the honest fellow, catching sight 
 of me, came over to where I stood, \ what of those miserable 
 creatures ? Are they all dead V 
 
 1 Two of them are alive, sir,' he answered ; * but the rest 
 look to be clean done for.' 
 
THE DROIT MARITIME. 211 
 
 * Who could have supposed that a movable bulkhead divided 
 the men ! Why, this is ten times worse than an engage- 
 ment. How goes the time f I looked at my watch. ' Ten 
 minutes to two. I had a mind to signal the schooner and hail 
 her to send the surgeon ; but we shall be having daylight soon, 
 and meanwhile we will wait to see if more of those bodies there 
 show any signs of life.' 
 
 And when daylight at last broke, never was the dawning 
 grey of the east more gladly welcomed by me. I watched the 
 horizon darkening into a deep black line against the pallid 
 heaven, and the gradual unfolding of the waters away on the 
 port beam, and the slow shifting of the sky from the cold 
 indigo of night into a tender azure that was growing pink in 
 the east, until at last the whole surface of the restless and 
 creaming deep was exposed, with the sloping form of the 
 schooner ahead trailing a long line of snow astern of her, and 
 the foam falling away from her weather-side, and her cloud- 
 like canvas swelling from the tapering spars whose topmost 
 points presently caught the silver fire of the rising sun ; and 
 as the glorious luminary sailed above the sea, there flashed 
 star-like points of exceeding brilliance upon the schooner's 
 bright masts and in her streaming sides, and the sallow hue of 
 her canvas changed into a glossy whiteness, like the breast of 
 the albatross. * Ah, Master Shelvocke,' thought I, with some- 
 thing like a pang of envy, ' little wot you of the hideous night- 
 mare your prize crew and their officer have been forced to 
 dream this blessed night, now most mercifully gone !' 
 
 I called to one of the men : 
 
 1 Hoist this French flag at the main. So — let it blow out a 
 few feet below the truck.' 
 
 The signal was immediately answered on the Tigress by the 
 ensign at the peak ; the clew of her mainsail was hauled up, 
 her jib-sheet flowed, and presently the two vessels were side 
 by side. 
 
 ' Schooner ahoy !' 
 
 14—2 
 
212 AN OCEAN FREE-LANCE. 
 
 1 Hallo t shouted Chestree, who stood on the lee bulwarks 
 with his arm around a backstay. 
 
 1 There has been an affray between the French and English 
 prisoners. Eight men killed and wounded. Send Corney 
 aboard. I will heave to when you are ready.' 
 
 He tossed his hands with a gesture of amazement. Pre- 
 sently the boatswain's pipe sounded, and at the same moment 
 Shelvocke's fine figure upreared itself on the rail. 
 
 * You can heave to, Mr. Madison !' he shouted, his powerful 
 voice coming down upon the wind like a bugle-call. A boat 
 was lowered, and in a few minutes Corney stepped on board 
 the lugger. 
 
 I had no fancy to attend the surgeon whilst he examined 
 the bodies, and therefore stood leaning over the lugger's side 
 watching the Tigress as she lay with her sails quivering in the 
 wind, gently pitching upon the emerald-green seas. 
 
 After some time Corney came aft and told me that only two 
 of the men were alive. 
 
 'I never saw death in a more terrible form,' said he, 
 evidently much shocked. ' They must have fought like fiends. 
 Had a blue-light been burned in the forecastle when these 
 men were fighting, looking down the hatchway would have 
 been like peering into the infernal regions.' 
 
 1 It was like hell itself, Corney. It wanted no blue-light.' 
 
 1 I would recommend the bodies to be thrown overboard at 
 once, Mr. Madison.' 
 
 I gave the necessary instructions, and then proceeded to 
 acquaint Corney, for the information of Shelvocke, with the 
 value of the lugger ; whereat the consternation that the sight 
 of the dead had raised in him melted out of his face, and was 
 replaced by an extravagant grin of satisfaction. 
 
 1 One hundred thousand dollars !' cried he. ' And ivory and 
 tea, and silk, too ! God bless my heart ! If this goes on, I 
 shall be able to fling my surgical instruments overboard.' 
 
 He waited until the dead had been dropped over the side, 
 
THE DROIT MARITIME. 213 
 
 and then returned to the schooner, singing out to the boat's 
 crew, as he flopped into the stern-sheets, that the lugger 
 was full of minted silver and silk and ivory, and begging them 
 to give way, so that the news might be immediately given to 
 the captain. As soon as he had shoved off, the sails of the 
 lugger were trimmed, and we were once more pushing through 
 the sparkling waters. 
 
 It was an amazingly inspiriting morning, and my men, in 
 spite of their hard night's watching, were in high spirits as 
 they bustled to and fro, clearing up the decks, and cracking 
 marine witticisms on the guns and rigging of the lugger, and 
 peering into the hatchways, some of them stripped to their 
 waists forward, dashing buckets of water over one another, 
 while others lighted the fire in the little caboose for breakfast. 
 
 I watched the Tigress hoist in her boat, and fall off before 
 the wind and come tearing after us, with the bright surges 
 bursting away in smoke from her keen stem ; and as she tore 
 past us, her men sprang upon the bulwarks and gave three 
 hearty cheers, which their shipmates in the lugger instantly 
 responded to. 
 
 ' Keep her smoking, Madison !' roared Shelvocke ; ' both 
 anchors must be down in Cawsand Bay before sunset.' 
 
 And this actually happened ; for at four o'clock that after- 
 noon the Tigress, who headed us by about a mile, hoisted her 
 ensign and fired two guns, the meaning of which was presently 
 rendered apparent by our heaving up a blue film on the star- 
 board bow that proved to be Bolt Head. The sun was setting 
 as, under a press of sail and with a strong north-easterly wind 
 blowing, we swept along astern of the schooner, passed Mew- 
 stone Ledge, with Penlee Point on the larboard bow and the 
 shores of Cawsand Bay looming dark against the red evening sky, 
 and throwing into noble relief a fleet of eight large merchant- 
 men who were riding in groups upon the dark blue tumble. 
 
 Plymouth Sound lay open to us with lights springing up 
 ashore and flashing fitfully across the running waters, as the 
 
2i4 AN OCEAN FREE-LANCE. 
 
 air darkened and the stars sparkled and faded among the driving 
 clouds like the revolving lantern of a beacon. Swirling past 
 the merchantmen who occupied the Bay betwixt Cawsand and 
 the Broady Coves, and whose forecastles were crowded with 
 men, who watched the lugger much as a crowd of flies might 
 be supposed to stare at a captured spider, we rounded to under 
 the stern of a dashing frigate and let go our anchor, and never 
 before had the splash of iron flukes and the tearing of the 
 hemp through the hawse-hole fallen more gratefully upon my 
 ears. 
 
 Shelvocke boarded the frigate, and presently returned, fol- 
 lowed by her launch, pinnace, and first cutter full of seamen 
 and marines, who, to my inexpressible comfort, cleared the two 
 vessels of their prisoners, and carried them away to the port- 
 admiral's ship up Hamoaze ; and within an hour and a half of 
 our bringing up, I was in the cabin of the Tigress enjoying a 
 good supper, some excellent cold grog, and a lively chat with 
 my worthy captain. 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 LADY TEMPEST'S BALL. 
 
 The hope of reaching Brest in time to fetch the outward-bound 
 convoy could no longer be indulged, though, considering the 
 value of the lugger, none of us had any fault to find with the 
 cause that had stopped our project. Yet rich as the prize 
 proved — her cargo being actually assessed at thirty-five thou- 
 sand pounds — no capture ever gave more trouble than that of 
 the Droit Maritime, The owners of the polacre brig that had 
 been taken by the Frenchman and sent into Granville, claimed 
 the lugger and cargo on the ground that she was in possession 
 of a part of the crew of the brig when we boarded her. This 
 
LADY TEMPESTS BALL. 2 1 5 
 
 was true ; but our contention was that the said crew, at the 
 time we boarded the lugger, were drunk and incapable, and 
 that their condition was tantamount to the virtual abandon- 
 ment of the vessel. I cannot remember more of the arguments 
 of the lawyers than this ; but I know we were detained three 
 weeks at Plymouth, during which time I must have kissed the 
 Bible over not less than a dozen affidavits ; and I got so sick 
 at last of the visits of the attorney, that whenever I saw him 
 coming I used to hide myself. I may as well say that the case 
 was decided by Lord Stowell, some months afterwards, in 
 Hannay's favour ; but what became of the English seamen, 
 who in my opinion richly deserved to be hanged for the death 
 of the wretched Frenchmen, I did not inquire at the time, and 
 so cannot now say. 
 
 Whilst we lay at Plymouth the Tigress was visited by a 
 great number of persons ; for the value of the prize and the 
 lawsuit about it had made some noise, and the name we 
 had earned by our action with the corvette was not yet for- 
 gotten. 
 
 Among half-a-dozen invitations received by Shelvocke and 
 myself to as many different houses, was one to a ball given by 
 an old rich knight, in celebration of a remarkable victory 
 obtained by his son, who commanded an English sloop-of-war, 
 over two large French frigates. This ball dates the beginning 
 of as romantic an experience as was probably ever encountered 
 by a sailor. 
 
 Invitations to it had been sent out for the night preceding 
 the day on which we sailed : and as I was immensely fond of 
 dancing, I had eagerly looked forward to this chance of having 
 a regular sailor's frisk with a lively partner. 
 
 1 Rather unusual for privateersmen to be asked into select 
 companies,' Shelvocke had said to me drily. ' Hope we shan't 
 frighten the dandies/ 
 
 I hoped so too ; and to provide against any likelihood of a 
 scare, we took some trouble over our togs; and whatever 
 
2 1 6 AN OCEAN FREE-LANCE. 
 
 figure I may have cut, I will say that Shelvocke, with his 
 masculine rugged breadth of forehead, sunburnt face, tawny 
 beard, and noble stature, that was improved with the inimit- 
 able grace of the sailor's movements, impressed me, as he 
 stepped forth in full fig, as one of the handsomest and most 
 manly creatures it had ever been my fortune to behold. 
 
 It is so many years since I was at Plymouth, that I cannot 
 clearly recall the geographical position of our host's residence. 
 It was about a quarter of a mile out of the town, and was a 
 small but very nobly wooded estate, and the house like a castle. 
 The owner, Sir William Tempest, had caused the beautiful 
 avenue that led to the house to be hung with coloured paper 
 lanterns, a great number of which glimmered among the trees 
 which extended on either hand ; and the effect of these lights 
 twinkling in blues and greens and yellows among the deep 
 shadows, and the dense volumes of the lofty trees towering 
 against the bright stars, and the newly risen moon silvering 
 the upper stories of the castellated building and lying in 
 delicate jasper-like lines upon the lower walls which received 
 the pure beam through an opening here and there in the trees, 
 and the contrast of the mellow illumination of candles upon the 
 tall windows with the vista of coloured lamps along which the 
 eye roved to the house — formed a night-scene of soft and 
 peaceful beauty that was immensely heightened to the senses 
 by the rich smell of leaves and dew-moistened sward, and 
 great beds of lilies and roses and other sweet flowers. 
 
 We were among the late arrivals ; so that, when we entered 
 the long and lofty drawing-rooms, we found nearly all the 
 company assembled, and many persons dancing to a capital 
 band of music. Of course, two-thirds at least of the males 
 were naval officers ; and their sparkling epaulets and bright 
 buttons and laced collars, mingling with various military 
 costumes and black civilian coats, and the gleaming satins 
 and silks and the white shoulders and arms and the flashing 
 diamonds and the flowers of the ladies, made a brave and 
 
LADY TEMPESTS BALL. 217 
 
 brilliant show under the blazing candelabra and the rows of 
 sconces. 
 
 There were upwards of two hundred people present, but 
 the large rooms would have held another hundred without the 
 least crushing. The walls were hung with banners, and an 
 immense red English ensign drooped at each end of the room ; 
 and in a large recess opposite the beautifully carved old- 
 fashioned chimney-piece there was an emblematic contrivance 
 that was probably considered appropriate to the occasion, 
 though I did not much admire the taste that suggested it 
 It consisted of a small boat carronade, with a cleverly-con- 
 structed lay figure of an English seaman in the act of dis- 
 charging the gun, and a large number of projecting poles, on 
 which were suspended the flags of all nations, the whole 
 topped by a tall staff, upon which was midway hoisted a 
 mutilated French flag, and above it the English colours. This 
 piece of nonsense was meant to typify Britain's supremacy 
 over all the countries of the world, and more particularly over 
 Monsieur Crapeau. Some of the naval officers appeared to 
 admire it, but for my part, as I have said, I thought it a two- 
 penny affair, fit only to amuse little boys ; and as it stood 
 upon a fragile draped scaffold, I was vicious enough to hope 
 that some of the dancers would capsize it before the night was 
 out. 
 
 We were received with great kindness by Lady Tempest, 
 whose white hair, fresh complexion, motherly smile, soft eyes, 
 and winning confidentiality of manner, as though she had so 
 much to say and would so immensely enjoy a quiet chat with 
 you, made her one of the pleasantest-looking and nicest old 
 ladies a man could wish to meet. She kept us talking just 
 long enough to mention her son's name, and I could have 
 hugged Shelvocke for the pleasure he gave her by his hearty, 
 honest, generous applause of Captain Tempest's gallant con- 
 duct. Then her husband, a timid, gentle, little old man, in 
 black silk stockings and metal buttons on his long-tailed coat, 
 
2i8 AN OCEAN FREE-LANCE. 
 
 came up and welcomed us, and took Shelvocke over to a knot 
 of naval officers, while her ladyship, catching me with a pretty 
 gesture by the hand, led me up to a haughty young person 
 who was studying her fan under Jonathan's stripes and stars. 
 
 She was the handsomest-dressed woman in the room, and I 
 have no doubt the worst-tempered — quite insolent in her 
 questions; so that presently I grew resentful, and learning 
 from her that her father was a rear-admiral and a lord, I 
 recollected the learned Doctor Samuel Johnson's behaviour on 
 a like occasion, and said that although I was a sailor, I never 
 pretended to be anything better than a pirate, that I got my 
 bread by plundering merchant ships and despatching honest 
 men : that polite people termed me a privateer, but that I 
 liked to call things by their right names. 
 
 After this we danced like automatons, and she then asked 
 me to be good enough to take her to her papa, a puffed-out, red- 
 faced old man in an embroidered naval uniform, the breast of 
 which was covered with decorations. I made her a low bow, 
 which she returned with a sublime curtsey, the overwhelming 
 sweepingness of which was no doubt meant to cover me with 
 confusion and awe, and I believe that no couple ever got rid 
 of each other more rejoicingly than she and I. 
 
 Seeing Shelvocke standing alone, I joined him. 
 
 * I rather suspected,' said he, ' that when the epaulets found 
 me out they would serve me with the cold shoulder. " Give 
 privateersmen the stem !" is the cry, you know, among those 
 fellows. But heaven has blessed me with uncommon fortitude, 
 and success teaches patience.' 
 
 * Why don't you dance, captain 1 There are surely enough 
 pretty women in the room to console you for the neglect of 
 your own sex.' 
 
 ' The reason why I don't dance is extremely simple — I can't 
 dance. By the way, who, think you, makes one of yonder 
 group V indicating with a movement of his head the officers 
 to whom Sir William had introduced him. 
 
LADY TEMPESTS BALL, 219 
 
 I looked, and answered I could not imagine. 
 
 ' You remember the surly captain of the frigate who left the 
 little brig to do all the hard work, and missed the French liner 
 after all t 
 
 1 Perfectly well/ 
 
 1 Well, there he stands. His name is Monk — that ring-faced 
 man to the right of the tall grey-haired chap/ 
 
 'I see him, and now I remember his face/ 
 
 ' Singularly enough/ he continued, ' they were talking of this 
 very engagement when Sir William introduced me. I heard 
 one man say, "Monk, your Andromache was not up to the 
 mark : her Astyanax was not saved from the flames ; 'tis a bad 
 
 reading of your ' Iliad/ but " I lost the rest, but the 
 
 word Andromache made me look at my man, and I then recol- 
 lected him/ 
 
 I watched Captain Monk whilst Shelvocke spoke, and 
 noticed the ludicrously pompous airs he gave himself as he 
 stood, apparently engrossing all the conversation, in the midst 
 of a half-a-dozen naval men. 
 
 ' You remember how extremely rude the fellow was when I 
 proffered such assistance as was in my power V continued 
 Shelvocke. ' I thought of his impudent boorish manner as I 
 listened to him talking about his action with the Frenchman, 
 and determined to take him off his own peg and hang him 
 upon one considerably lower down. So addressing myself to 
 him, I said I had witnessed the action from the deck of a 
 privateer / had the honour to command — always put on a cocked- 
 hat, Madison, when you talk of your own calling ; if I swept 
 a crossing my broom should never lack importance from my lips • 
 — and that I was much impressed with the gallantry with 
 which the vessels swept down upon their huge opponent : and 
 having oiled him with this feather, I applied the clyster. I 
 praised the brig up to the skies : I said it was deplorable 
 that so much bravery should have been left unsupported by 
 the frigate ; I should have been only too glad, I continued, to 
 
220 AN OCEAN FREE-LANCE. 
 
 have brought the schooner into the conflict had not the 
 captain of the brig requested me to remain a looker-on, and I 
 explained my sensitiveness in the matter of interference by 
 relating the story of our engagement with the French corvette ; 
 there was no lack of courage on the part of the frigate, said 
 I, but she was so unskilfully handled as to make me hope in 
 the interests of the naval service that Captain Monk had not 
 omitted to represent the incompetency of the sailing-master 
 in his despatch to my lords. That was corrosive enough, wasn't 
 it, Madison V 
 
 I laughed and thought to myself, no wonder they have 
 given him the cold shoulder. 
 
 * You would have split your sides to see the man's face,' 
 said Shelvocke. ' One or two of the officers walked away, 
 either afraid of their gravity or of a " scene." But there was 
 no fear of the latter. I was much too courteous for a riot, and 
 passed my criticism so interrogatively that I believe the man 
 scarcely knew whether I talked to insult him or from an 
 honest thirst for information. ' 
 
 At this moment Sir William brought up a middle-aged 
 gentlemanly man, with whom Shelvocke immediately and 
 cordially shook hands, and who proved to be an East India 
 merchant who had twice sailed with Shelvocke to and from 
 Bombay. I was glad to see the captain in tow of an old 
 friend, and one I had already noticed as shaking hands and 
 appearing on very friendly terms with some of the highest 
 naval and military officers in the room ; but as I had come to 
 this ball to dance I hauled off from the quarter-deck yarn these 
 two men began to spout, and presently had the luck to obtain 
 an introduction to a young lady whose frank and beautiful 
 eyes had previously attracted my attention and won my admi- 
 ration as she executed a very dull and solemn dance hand-in- 
 hand with a glittering, jingling, youthful third lieutenant. 
 
 An English lady is the first woman in the world for 
 manners, and one hour of her spiritual elegance and bland and 
 
LADY TEMPESTS BALL, 221 
 
 soothing graces is worth whole years of the quilted dignities 
 and cultivated airs of foreign grand dames. I don't like to be 
 poetical — the popular idea of Jack is so intimately blended 
 with rum, tobacco, and vulgar bluntness, that a sailor is almost 
 afraid of appearing in any other character than the one which 
 novelists and actors have invented for him, lest he should not 
 only wound a deep-rooted prejudice, but even be snubbed as an 
 imposition; therefore I don't like to be poetical: but I scarcely 
 know how to convey the impression Miss Madeline Palmer — 
 for that was her name — produced upon me, if I may not say 
 that talking to her and looking into her face was like breath- 
 ing the fragrance of a beautiful flower. So there you have it. 
 She was young — not more than nineteen — with a rich con- 
 tralto laugh that had more melody in it than many a fine 
 singer's voice : yet fresh and womanly as was her face, with 
 its large, wistful, honest grey eyes, and soft, faintly-flushed 
 complexion — like the hue of clear flesh in a pink light — and 
 arched upper lip, and the nose slightly, but how slightly ! 
 turned-wp — have we no romantic definition in our vocabulary 
 of this delicious stroke in the face of beauty 1 — like the fasci- 
 nating organ of Lady Cleveland, as I have beheld it in the 
 portrait of that amorous romp ; and the square, snow-white 
 forehead, topped with a glorious thickness of golden-brown 
 hair divided on the right side, glittering with the gold-dust 
 that in those days ladies sprinkled over their heads with great 
 effect, and hanging with a breezy look, and sparkling in 
 golden threads over her brows, the starboard one of which 
 was decorated with a sweet little mole designed by nature to 
 contrast the exceeding whiteness of her skin ; while her plump 
 yet maidenly figure was dressed, as it should be, in white 
 satin with short sleeves, and a light green drapery of crape 
 fastened on the left shoulder with an amber brooch, folded so 
 as to conceal the left side of her figure in front ; and long, 
 white kid gloves, betwixt the top of which and the green 
 chenille trimming of the sleeves the white, firm, round flesh of 
 
222 AN OCEAN FREE-LANCE. 
 
 her arms looked like a carving in finest ivory ; and exquisitely- 
 fitting shoes of green silk j and around her throat a string of 
 pearls and a small cross of diamonds, concealing, but suggest- 
 ing too, the little hollow, of which the swelling satin that 
 rounded away from this point, and curved back again into a 
 tapering waist, was the reserved but sufficient expression ; I 
 say — but bless me, what was I saying f Ah ! I have it : that 
 sweet and womanly as were the face and form of this girl, yet 
 these outward and visible signs, as constituents of her fresh 
 and fascinating being, were as naught compared with the in- 
 describable graces of her cordial, tender, modest, and most 
 winning manners. No airs, no simpering, no stupid observa- 
 tions : we danced, and then sauntered into a brilliant ante- 
 room full of flowers, and tables covered with refreshments — 
 how true is Horace : 
 
 * Difficile est proprie communia dicere P 
 
 how is a man fresh from the study of a woman's beauty 
 to describe eatables/ — where we sipped wine and coquetted 
 with the jellies, while we fell into a talk that missed me two 
 dances. 
 
 She proved to be the daughter of a Colonel Palmer, whose 
 regiment had been for some time in Jamaica, but the last 
 letter she had received from him warned her that his health 
 was bad, and that it was probable he would be forced to return 
 home by the end of the year. Since the receipt of those 
 letters she had met a friend of the colonel, who had alarmed 
 her by saying that her father was looking seriously ill, and 
 that he ought undoubtedly to act upon the advice of his doctor 
 and return home. 
 
 ' But papa is a very obstinate man, Mr. Madison/ said she, 
 ' and is quite likely to linger on in that dreadful climate with 
 the idea that he is serving his country by ruining his health, 
 until it will be too late for him to receive any benefit from a 
 change of air. So I am going out to bring him home. I 
 
LADY TEMPESTS BALL. 223 
 
 am his only child, and his objection to my remaining in 
 the bad climate of Jamaica will be sure to induce him to 
 come home with me if I refuse — which I mean to do — to return 
 alone/ 
 
 I asked when she sailed, and she said in a day or two ; 
 the vessel in which she had taken her passage had that morning 
 arrived in Cawsand Bay. For the last fortnight she had been 
 Lady Tempest's guest, but her home was near Canterbury, in 
 Kent. 
 
 On my telling her that I had been mate of an Indiaman for 
 some years, she asked me many questions about the life on 
 board ship, and listened to me with such graceful, kindly 
 interest, that I was induced to prolong my conversation beyond 
 the warrant of good manners. I know not how it came about, 
 nor what there was in me to merit so high an honour, but she 
 talked to me with as little reserve as she could have shown 
 had I been an old friend, and seemed almost reluctant to leave 
 the comparative quietude of the refreshment-room when I 
 offered my arm to conduct her out of it. 
 
 I found other partners, and whisked through several dances; 
 but the moment I saw Miss Palmer alone again, I went to her, 
 and the rest of the night I spent almost entirely at her side. 
 I never passed a pleasanter, happier time. The room was full 
 of pretty women, the dancers among the men had no difficulty 
 in finding partners, love-making grew general as the night 
 advanced, and these little conditions of this delightful ball 
 enabled me to keep Miss Palmer very much to myself. I 
 talked to her about my privateering experiences, asked her if 
 she was not frightened to dance with a corsair, told her (when 
 she asked the question) that yonder tall, powerful, handsome 
 man was Captain Shelvocke, the commander of the vessel I 
 was first officer of, described to her our fight with the corvette, 
 and my experiences aboard the Droit Maritime ; and she chatted 
 to me about her Aunt Matilda, and her pretty home near 
 Canterbury, and her dear papa, whose name she pronounced 
 
224 AN OCEAN FREE-LANCE. 
 
 with exquisite fondness, and her mother, who had been dead 
 seven years. 
 
 Indeed no two people could have found more to talk about 
 than she and I. As the hours wore away, and the spirit of the 
 revelry grew strong, the scene of the ball-room was amazingly 
 brilliant with the glitter of uniforms among the gleaming 
 dresses of the ladies, the flash and play of white arms and 
 white necks, and gaudy turbans and stately feathers, and 
 medals and dress-swords, and sweet, fair faces looking one 
 way, and sunburnt, handsome faces looking another way; 
 while the banners swayed under the breezing of the sweeping 
 skirts, and here and there a picturesque background was 
 formed of grave dowagers nodding to the music and watching 
 the dancers, and stiff old sea-officers in costumes of a Eodney 
 pattern, figged-out old sea-monsters, one with an empty sleeve, 
 another with one eye ; and a sprinkling of military coats and 
 gold lace and bullion fringe and warlike whiskers. 
 
 The supper was a really magnificent affair, in a wing of the 
 house that was all one room, and as big as a church, and not 
 unlike the inside of a church either ; hundreds of candles, more 
 flags, flowers everywhere ; long tables crowded with silver and 
 crystal wherein the candles shone like the sun in a calm sea, 
 and dishes of things the mere sight of which would have kept 
 an alderman smiling in his sleep for years ; champagne fizzing 
 in all directions like the froth through the scupper-holes of a 
 wave-swept ship'; fellows in livery tumbling against each 
 other ; old gentlemen and old ladies eating, young gentlemen 
 whispering, young ladies giggling ; and, to crown all — bear me 
 witness, some Plymouth centenarian ! — speeches ! 
 
 The King's health was drunk. General A. quavered out 
 thanks for the army : ' It always had done its duty ; it always 
 would do its duty.' Admiral B., who rose with a napkin 
 pinned over his decorations, grumbled out his thanks in a 
 deep-sea note for the navy : ' Hearts of oak — Frenchmen 
 afraid of us— St. Vincent— the Nile — hurrah t But the toast 
 
LADY TEMPESTS BALL. 225 
 
 of the evening was Captain Tempest (at whose name we all 
 cheered until the vaulted room rattled to the cordial broad- 
 side), whose absence was explained by his having been 
 ordered to join the North Sea squadron with urgent de- 
 spatches. His health was proposed by the port-admiral — a 
 fine jovial-faced old man, with a head like Collingwood's — in 
 a bluff speech that set dear old Lady Tempest crying with 
 pride, and made her modest little husband blush like a purple 
 dahlia ; and when the port-admiral wound up by exclaiming, 
 with kindling eyes, and holding a full wine-glass over the 
 turban of a stout lady on his right as if he intended to pour 
 the libation among her feathers before he sat down, that the 
 fine young officer had given one more proof by the gallant 
 fight he had made that Nelson's immortal signal before the 
 battle of Trafalgar (Hip, hip, hurrah /) still flew wherever a 
 British man-of-war was to be found, we cheered again and 
 again, springing to our feet and shouting at the top of our 
 voices ; in the middle of which, and producing an effect that 
 raised our enthusiasm (backed as it was by champagne) to 
 fever-pitch, five twelve-pound guns (the concussion of which, 
 by the way, broke several windows) were discharged on the 
 lawn in front of the house, the ladies shrieked, dress swords 
 were jingled, and a military band outside struck up 'Kule 
 Britannia. ' 
 
 After all this we were invited on to the lawn to view the 
 fireworks ; there was a rush for shawls, and I had the happi- 
 ness to robe the beautiful shoulders of Miss Palmer, and to 
 follow the clanking, rustling, sparkling and nodding line of 
 guests with this delightful girl on my arm. 
 
 1 And 'twas pretty to see how, like birds of a feather, 
 The people of quality flock'd all together.' 
 
 The night was calm and cloudless. The moon, who, like 
 other middle-aged ladies, had risen late, floated with half her 
 silver disc obscured ; but her sweet beam was too mild to vex 
 the gaiety of the clusters of coloured lanterns which hung in 
 
 15 
 
226 AN OCEAN FREE-LANCE. 
 
 festoons all round the wide lawn where the cannons had been 
 fired, and where a military band (by kind permission of the 
 Roman-nosed colonel who had sat opposite to me at the supper- 
 table, and drank champagne enough to launch a bomb-ship 
 in) was rattling out martial music. Away beyond the lawn 
 was a magnificent denseness of towering trees, amid the intrica- 
 cies of which the lanterns glimmered like fire-flies. 
 
 Of all fine effects I never witnessed anything more striking 
 than the aspect of our numerous and vari-coloured assembly, 
 when all on a sudden, a number of red, blue, and green fires 
 were burnt, as a hint that the pyrotechnical drama was about 
 to begin. The sudden stopping of promenading groups ; the 
 quivering of the prismatic hues in jewels, buttons, bullion- 
 fringe, sword-hilts, and bright eyes ; the ghostly colouring of 
 faces ; the starlike sparkles of the dew-drops upon the grass ;. 
 the long double shadows cast by the mingled light of the 
 moon and the coloured fires upon the sward on which we 
 stood ; the boughs of the nearer trees which seemed to writhe 
 and twist like snakes forking out from the huge trunks, as the 
 fires waned and brightened; the sickly uniform pallor of the 
 flowers, as though some deadly breath had passed over their 
 petals, and extinguished their bright hues — it was the best part 
 of the fireworks. 
 
 ' Enough to make one think of the last day,' said I to Miss 
 Palmer, ' when some of our decorated braves will be wanting 
 to dodge the light that shows their stars and medals to be 
 fashioned out of human blood, when the biggest diamond 
 among us will not be reckoned half so beautiful as a pauper's 
 tear, and when all the feathers our turbans can muster shall 
 not furnish the lightest-weight lieutenant with a pair of 
 wings.' 
 
 'Rather profane, but true, Mr. Madison,' she answered; 
 1 and it only shows how wicked even the nicest people must 
 be when a little red and blue fire makes them look like — 
 imps.' 
 
LADY TEMPESTS BALL. 227 
 
 The fireworks were excellent, but a little of that sort of 
 buzzing and fizzing and banging goes a long way with me ; 
 and Miss Palmer being of my mind, we presently found our- 
 selves wandering after a few detached couples among the 
 flower-gardens to the right of the house, where the strains of 
 the band reached us with a softened note, and where we had 
 an excuse to pause often over the dewy fragrance of the beds of 
 dahlias, lilies, starworts, pinks, roses, pentstemons, and all the 
 rest of them — I never can remember the names of flowers, nor 
 the months in which they flourish — which lay in pale spaces on 
 either hand of us. 
 
 When the final rocket exploded, the band played ' God save 
 the King,' which was immediately followed by the drawing- 
 room fiddlers striking up a piece of dance music, for we had 
 not strayed so far but that these notes reached us as they 
 floated through the open windows ; so we returned to the 
 house, and for the rest of the night I danced with nobody but 
 Madeline Palmer, who seemed perfectly happy and satisfied 
 with her partner ; and when the ball broke up amid the 
 twittering of birds, and in the pink haze of the budding morn- 
 ing, before I parted from my sweet companion I begged a 
 flower from her as a memorial of the delightful hours I had 
 passed in her society, saying romantically, and, as I apprehend, 
 collectedly, having regard to the hour, and how redolent the 
 air was of champagne, that it would sweeten with its fragrance 
 the rough life I should be renewing in a few hours, and that 
 nothing would better emblemize the happiness she had given 
 me. 
 
 ' Because it will fade very soon, do you mean f she said, 
 with her rich laugh, but taking the flower from her bosom and 
 giving it to me cordially, and without the least embarrassment. 
 
 I bowed, she curtsied, and, as much in love as any fool could 
 well be at first sight, I went to look for Shelvocke. I found 
 him waiting for me outside the avenue, and the moment we 
 got under weigh he lighted a cigar. 
 
 15—2 
 
2 28 AN OCEAN FREE-LANCE. 
 
 1 Well, Madison, 7 said he, ' do you come away with a broken 
 heart f 
 
 1 Pooh, pooh ! my dear sir, when a man gets to my time of 
 life he doesn't allow a little harmless flirtation to affect his 
 happiness. I have danced, I have drunk, I have been alarmed 
 by the explosion of guns, I am immensely indebted to the most 
 hospitable of ladies for one of the most delightful of nights, 
 and to-morrow — nay, by George! this very blessed day, 
 captain, we go in quest of more booty.' Here I heaved a 
 deep sigh. 
 
 He took my arm, but as I imagined that he did so to steady 
 me, and as I did not consider I required any support, I 
 wriggled away from him, whereat he laughed, and offered me 
 & cigar. I halted to light it at the cigar in his mouth. 
 
 ' Would you kindly keep your cigar steady, captain f I ex- 
 claimed, as I found the glowing tip dodging first this side and 
 then that, and eluding all my efforts to fix it ; * or can it be the 
 effect of the dancing lingering in my feet ? Any man might 
 suppose that we are still shaking a leg ' — here I caught his 
 cigar, and at the same moment his eye, the expression in 
 which made me break into a shout of laughter. The laugh 
 did me good, and methought I took the ground with a steadier 
 stride. 
 
 He continued to rally me somewhat, saying that my partner 
 was the prettiest girl in the room, that he had watched me 
 flinging my nautical heels about with envy and admiration, 
 and wondered where the deuce I had got that trick of making 
 love, so to speak, with the part of my face that was turned to 
 the young lady, whilst the other part that was exhibited to the 
 public gaze expressed the utmost modesty and the most genteel 
 consideration for other people's feelings. 
 
 To caulk his banter I asked him if anything more had 
 passed between him and Captain Monk. 
 
 1 Why, yes,' he answered quietly. ' A good deal more. He 
 came up to me on the lawn during the fireworks — I was alone 
 
LADY TEMPESTS BALL. 229 
 
 — and asked me in the most impertinent manner in the world 
 what my object had been in cross-examining him on the sub- 
 ject of his action with the line-of -battle ship. He was rather 
 fou, as the Scotch say, for it was after supper you know. I 
 answered that I asked for information. " If that was your 
 motive," said he, " you might have saved yourself a great deal 
 of trouble by confessing your intention at once, and I should 
 have been glad to refer you to a three-and-sixpenny treatise 
 on the mariner's calling, which would have acquainted you 
 with all the professional duties — not manners, sir ; a book on 
 manners would cost you another three-and-sixpence — but the 
 professional duties of which you appear to be ignorant." "I 
 am surprised," said I, " that you should know of any such 
 treatise, after the specimen of seamanship I was a witness of." 
 After insulting each other in this fashion for some minutes he 
 walked away. Whilst I was waiting for you, a naval officer 
 sauntered up to me, said, with a bow, he believed he had the 
 honour of addressing Captain Shelvocke of the privateer 
 schooner Tigress, informed me that Captain Monk claimed satis- 
 faction for the affront I had put upon him, and desired me to 
 refer him to a gentleman who would act as my second. I begged 
 permission to waive all ceremony — the fact is, Madison, I had 
 not the heart to lug you from your charming companion into a 
 business of this kind — and assured the officer that if he would 
 appoint place and time I would very punctually attend upon 
 Captain Monk and bring a friend with me. " We sail at noon," 
 said I, " and I have therefore to request that the affair be des- 
 patched quickly." So it was arranged that I should meet Cap- 
 tain Monk at seven o'clock, at a secluded spot near Catwater. 
 I am to land at the flagstaff, and the officer will conduct me to 
 the shooting-place. I have to ask you to be my second, Madison. ' 
 
 1 Certainly, captain.' 
 
 ' I am not a vindictive animal, but there is something in this 
 Monk that is detestable, and if I can put a bullet into him I 
 will,' he said. ' I have ascertained that he has the character 
 
230 AN OCEAN FREE-LANCE. 
 
 of a tyrant, and to judge by his seamanship the service can 
 very well afford to lose him ; though, mind, I will always say 
 he brought his frigate into action gallantly.' 
 
 * Eather sharp work, sir/ said I, pulling out my watch ; ' it 
 is already past four. One moment toppling about with a 
 lovely partner through halls of dazzling light and amid 
 scenes of more than Eastern splendour, and the next — 
 Lord P 
 
 ' What's the matter with you V 
 
 1 Why, I have put the lighted end of my cigar into my 
 mouth, sir. By the way, captain, what about pistols f 
 
 ' I have the weapon I require on board.' 
 
 1 Eeally, sir,' I exclaimed, beginning to feel maudlin, ' this 
 is an unfortunate business. I hope the man's a bad shot. If 
 you should be winged, captain, or made a sheer hulk of like 
 poor Tom Bowline, whose face was of the manliest beauty, 
 what's to become of us Tigresses f 
 
 1 Steady, my friend, steady t he sung out, as I lurched up 
 against him. ' Here, take my arm, man ; nothing like a lee- 
 board for a craft that sails three sheets in the wind.' 
 
 I held on to him fondly, and felt so excessively sentimental 
 that I could have shed tears. 
 
 * If you have any commands, captain, if you have any last 
 injunctions, any dear ones you would like me to wait upon, 
 any sealed packets, pieces of hair ' 
 
 1 Thank you : if I fall, my lawyer will know what to do,' he 
 answered, with his face as grave as a judge's, and in a most 
 serious tone of voice. ' Being alone in the world is thought a 
 poor look-out by many people, and mothers with marriageable 
 daughters will paint the horrors of celibacy in lively colours. 
 But loneliness confers some fine privileges, and at this moment 
 I would not be a married man if my wife were Venus, and 
 Plutus had made his will in her favour.' 
 
 1 And yet it must be a pleasant thing to have a wife, sir ; to 
 feel that there is always a plump little goddess with grey eyes 
 
LADY TEMPESTS BALL. 231 
 
 and soft lips sitting at home and thinking of you — to be the 
 owner of a girl like Madeline Palmer for instance, or such a 
 beauty as that romantic young Italian girl you once told me 
 about — little Peacock's mother, captain, you know — eh % Pray 
 describe her to me, sir. I am in the mood to talk about pretty 
 women.' 
 
 * Come along, come along !' he exclaimed rather sternly and 
 very impatiently, nipping my wrist as though he held it in a 
 vice under his arm, and making my legs feel like corkscrews 
 as he hauled me over the ground. ' It will be eight o'clock 
 before we get aboard at this rate. I am sorry I did not 
 accept my friend's offer of a lift in his carriage — but he had 
 left before I was called ouV 
 
 The length and impetuosity of his stride effectually silenced 
 me, and we walked as if for a wager. The sun had risen, and 
 such a morning had broken as would have made a man in love 
 with a saunter along the country road we had taken in order 
 to fetch the place opposite which the Tigress was anchored, by 
 the shortest cut. After the heated rooms, the revolving 
 dances, the champagne and the flirting, the smell of the hay, 
 the sweet scents of the wild flowers, the breath of the full- 
 leaved hedges, were refreshing beyond all expression. How- 
 ever, the hard walking cleared my head, and by the time we 
 had reached Bottlenose Point (I think it was) I was collected 
 enough to regret the nonsense I had talked to Shelvocke. 
 
 Right opposite to us lay the schooner, calmly resting upon 
 the blue water that reflected her beautiful form, and gave 
 back the lustrous sheen of her copper. Shelvocke hailed her, 
 and was immediately answered by Tapping, and in a few 
 moments a boat was lowered. 
 
 The Sound was a beautiful picture with its verdant shores, 
 and a group of motionless ships at anchor in Jennycliff Bay, 
 and a few small creeping white- winged vessels taking advantage 
 of the land-breeze that was making the water tremble towards 
 the sea, though where we stood scarcely a blurr tarnished the 
 
232 AN OCEAN FREE-LANCE. 
 
 blue mirror ; whilst, on our right, we could see the mastheads 
 of the ships and the grouped town of Plymouth and the hills 
 to the north of it, and Catwater sparkling like quicksilver as 
 it rounded to the eastward past Catdown \ whilst the whole 
 glittering scene of still, blue water, and green and brown land, 
 and ships with their tall masts trembling in* the faint haze that 
 the sun was drawing from the shores, was made singularly im- 
 pressive by the night-silence which the young morning had not 
 yet broken, and by the lifelessness of the silver-bright and 
 beautiful picture which the crawling sails oh the water away 
 towards the sea, or the cry of some hidden workman hailing 
 a fellow-labourer, or the striking of a ship's bell, seemed rather 
 to heighten than disturb. 
 
 The water buzzed under the stem of the gig as she swept 
 towards us, and in a few minutes we were aboard the schooner. 
 Shelvocke was somewhat grave, otherwise his usual manner 
 was unchanged. He ordered the gig to remain alongside ; and 
 after giving a few instructions to Tapping respecting the pre- 
 parations for sailing shortly after noon, he went below and re- 
 mained in his cabin until it was time to be off. 
 
 A plunge over the side and a twenty minutes' swim com- 
 pleted the cure that my sharp walk with the captain had 
 commenced in me. I drank a cup of tea, and, pipe in mouth, 
 waited for Shelvocke's summons to start. I was depressed ; 
 for I thought it a monstrous pity that the life of a man like 
 Shelvocke should be risked in a pitiful and inglorious encounter 
 with a person whose surly reply to our hail from the deck of 
 his frigate might very well have been passed by with con- 
 temptuous indifference. However, regrets were of no use ; 
 and, at twenty minutes to seven, Shelvocke came on deck, 
 with his pistol-case concealed under a light cloak ; we jumped 
 into the gig, and started for the place of meeting. 
 
 The men looked inquisitively from Shelvocke to his cloak 
 that lay beside him, as though they suspected his errand, and 
 1 was heartily glad to see no signs of a man-of-war's boat in 
 
LADY TEMPESTS BALL. 233 
 
 waiting upon Captain Monk ; for, owing to the press-gangs 
 which (now that the war with America had added to our 
 numerous engagements of a similar nature) were bearing with 
 heavy severity on merchant-seamen, an epaulet in the eyes of 
 mercantile Jack was as bad as a crime in its wearer, and 
 collisions between *the crews of merchant ships and naval 
 vessels were repeatedly occurring, and often with lamentable 
 consequences. However, as I have said, nothing resembling a 
 boat was to be seen in the neighbourhood of the spot towards 
 which we were heading. The distance altogether was two 
 miles, and given any other errand, the row would have been a 
 delightful one. 
 
 My recollection of Plymouth has been greatly dulled by 
 time, yet I did then, and do still, think the view of the Sound 
 — the town, the forts and heights down as far as the eye 
 could reach, to Staddon Point, ay, and even to Eeny Point, 
 and the hilly shores of Penlee opening, as we rowed, far away 
 behind Drake's Island — the most romantic and beautiful bit 
 of coast scenery mortal eye could wish to look upon, even 
 low on the water as I was, when I turned my head and looked 
 over the stern towards the slip of Cornwall promontory, upon 
 whose green and yellow fields the soaring sun was pouring his 
 lustrous silver. 
 
 ' There's a flag-staff,' said Shelvocke. 
 
 ' And there's a man,' said I, pointing to a figure that was 
 walking by the margin of the water under cover of a tall 
 bank. 
 
 * Monk's second, I suppose,' said Shelvocke, looking at his 
 watch. 4 He is punctual enough ; it wants ten minutes to the 
 hour.' 
 
 The oars creaked and the boat flew along; every stroke 
 enlarged and sharpened the figure of the man. Presently we 
 could distinguish his face, and see the buttons glittering on 
 his coat. He stood watching us, and as we approached, 
 raised his hat and pointed to a ledge of soil or sand that 
 
234 AN OCEAN FREE-LANCE. 
 
 jutted into the water, as much as to say, * You had better land 
 here/ The stem of the boat grounded, she swung to the ledge, 
 and we stepped out. 
 
 I put the pistol-case under my arm, and wondered how far 
 a distance we should be taken by the naval officer, who had 
 the look of a free and hearty, yet well-bred man, when, again 
 raising his hat, he requested me to step aside with him. I did 
 &o at once, leaving Shelvocke standing with his back towards us, 
 and rolling a cigar between his thumb and fore-finger, as if 
 considering whether he should light it. 
 
 ' 1 am much concerned, sir/ said the officer, ' that it was out 
 of my power to save Captain Shelvocke and yourself from 
 undertaking a fruitless journey. The fact is, on my arrival 
 at the house where Captain Monk is staying, I found that he 
 had been struck down by an apoplexy. There were two 
 doctors in attendance on him. Of course, his presence here 
 is impossible. ' 
 
 I made him a bow, and walked over to Shelvocke, and 
 gave him this message. The expression on his face did not 
 alter in the least. He approached the officer with a cold in- 
 clination of the head. 
 
 * Unhappily,' said he, ' I sail to-day, and cannot possibly fix 
 or suggest a time for another meeting should your friend 
 recover. But if you will favour me with Captain Monk's 
 address, I will take care that he be kept furnished with such 
 accounts of my movements as the owner of the Tigress will 
 receive from me ; and you may tell him that I shall be willing 
 to fight him at the earliest possible opportunity that may offer, 
 in any part of the world, with any weapon he likes to name, 
 and at any hour in the whole circle of the twenty-four he may 
 take it into his head to fancy.' 
 
 The officer — I forget his name — replied with a haughty 
 bow 5 the half-suppressed contempt and chilling deliberateness 
 of Shelvocke's manner and voice were a behaviour in a priva- 
 teersman which our naval friend did not at ali relish. But there 
 
LADY TEMPESTS BALE 235 
 
 was nothing in Shelvocke's language that he could resent. 
 He named a place at which Captain Monk could be addressed, 
 and added : 
 
 1 1 will deliver your message, sir, and you may rely upon it 
 that nothing short of an apoplexy will cause Captain Monk to 
 disappoint you when the opportunity for another meeting does 
 occur.' 
 
 I had some difficulty to keep my face when he said 
 ' nothing short of an apoplexy/ — as if there were no other 
 illnesses calculated to stop a man from fighting a duel. We 
 again saluted one another, and there being nothing more to say, 
 he walked in the direction of the town and we returned to 
 the gig. 
 
 * Shove off, my lads ; give way now,' said Shelvocke 5 and 
 turning to me as he lighted a cigar, he exclaimed with a quiet 
 smile, ' I shall be able to smoke this out, after all !' 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 TO THE WEST. 
 
 The chimes of the church-clocks striking the hour of noon 
 came down upon the pleasant north-east wind ; and as the 
 ship's bells clanked out the time, it was like the tinkling you 
 hear among flocks of sheep. The piercing 'pipe of the boat- 
 swain summoned all hands to get the schooner under weigh ; 
 a strong gang manned the capstan ; some were aloft loosing 
 the square canvas, others out on the bowsprit and jib-booms, 
 and groups at the running rigging. 
 
 With ninety men and a small ship there was no excuse for 
 the least want of smartness \ besides, we lay full in sight of 
 
236 AN OCEAN FREE-LANCE. 
 
 Plymouth, and the shores all along were alive with critical 
 naval eyes, the mere notion of which nerved our seamen into 
 uncommon dexterous activity. The main throat-halliards 
 were taken through a snatch-block hitched to an eye-bolt 
 abreast of the tiller, so as to give the fellows who manned 
 them the whole run of the deck \ there were hands by the 
 topsail, staysail, and jib-halliards ; twenty men had the 
 handling of the square rigging, and so soon as ever the cable 
 was up and down, the boatswain chirped his pipe, the beautiful 
 schooner flashed as if by magic into a broad tall surface of white 
 canvas, another turn of the capstan raised the anchor, and the 
 Tigress was under weigh. 
 
 I strode about apparently full of business, singing out here, 
 shouting there, but all the time I was thinking of a green and 
 beautiful estate away beyond the red tiles and church tops, 
 and of the sweet and graceful girl who had stood with me in 
 those same grounds last night and watched the fireworks. I 
 cannot express the gloom that dropped upon me as I looked 
 again and again at the diminishing town and the country that 
 opened behind it as we drew away, and thought that it was 
 a thousand to one if ever I met Miss Palmer again, and 
 wondered how long a time would elapse before I should 
 gaze once more upon this noble space of blue and golden 
 scenery, the recollection of which in my heart would be 
 eternally associated with the cordial, melodious, sweet-eyed 
 Madeline. 
 
 Which of those three vessels in Cawsand Bay was her ship f 
 I wondered. They were all West Indiamen. In truth, senti- 
 ment was making a perfect fool of me. I felt that I should 
 have been quite content to become Madeline's ship's figurehead 
 for the whole voyage to Jamaica merely for the happiness of 
 being in the vessel she was aboard of. The duel, or rather the 
 programme of it, had given my mind so much occupation that 
 my sentiment had fallen into a mere smouldering condition ; 
 but it was forking up into a blaze now that there was nothing 
 
TO THE WEST 237 
 
 particular to distract my thoughts from the contemplation of 
 the girl I might never see again. 
 
 Long before we were abreast of Cawsand the ropes had been 
 coiled down and the decks cleared, and a number of seamen 
 (like myself) were leaning over the bulwarks watching the 
 passing shores, or gazing moodily with their faces turned 
 towards Plymouth, where they too, in all probability, had been 
 enjoying some ardent flirtations, though I dare say their 
 memory was busier with the grog-shops than with the Sukeys 
 and Sails who had sat on their knees. 
 
 I What are those vessels — West Indiamen V said Shelvocke, 
 coming to my side and pointing to the three ships in the 
 bay. 
 
 I I think they are, sir. Miss Palmer told me that the 
 ship she was to sail in for the West Indies had arrived off 
 Cawsand, and I suppose the three yonder are to make part of 
 a convoy.' 
 
 He pulled out his watch with a very grave face, and holding 
 it in his hand, asked me if I knew the hour when Lady Tem- 
 pest's ball broke up. 
 
 ' About four o'clock, sir,' I answered, wondering at his dis- 
 cursiveness. 
 
 1 Say five-and-twenty minutes past four, Madison,' said he ; 
 ' and that will make it exactly eight hours since you bade 
 good-bye to your pretty partner. Is it possible,' he added, 
 pocketing his watch, * that you remember her after all these 
 hours V 
 
 1 My dear sir ' I expostulated. 
 
 * Madison,' said he, ' you're a wonder ! What ! a sailor 
 remember a girl eight hours after he has left her ! Why, 
 man, do you know what you are doing 1 You are revolu- 
 tionizing our choicest professional traditions. You will be 
 leaving the Dibdinites nothing to rhyme about, and driving 
 poor Ben Incledon, a man who has never injured you, off the 
 stage ! Lord help us, Madison ! turn your quid and get rid 
 
238 AN OCEAN FREE-LANCE. 
 
 of this long-shore swash, or you will be writing verses before 
 you know where you are.' 
 
 'Ill tell you what it is, captain,' said I, manfully: { you 
 didn't dance with her, sir — you didn't see the sparkling of the 
 fireworks in her eyes — you didn't take a moonlight stroll with 
 her among the flowers. Must a night's rout end in battle, 
 murder, and sudden death \ Is duelling to take the place of 
 dancing % When a man is asked to a ball, must he limit his 
 enjoyments to the tweaking of surly naval captains' noses 1 
 Give me a beautiful companion, I say. Give me, in preference 
 to arguments on naval manoeuvring, impassioned murmurs up in 
 a corner, white shoulders before epaulets, and a moonlit trance 
 among lilies and roses before the cutting civilities of a conver- 
 sation with a bloodthirsty second !' 
 
 1 That will do, Madison. Kest your fame as a speaker of the 
 highest order upon that, and say no more. But, doubt my 
 good-nature as much as you please, I do now freely admit that 
 I did snatch a horrid enjoyment from the browbeating I gave 
 the surly Monk. That we shall fight yet, I do not doubt, 
 unless another fit of apoplexy comes between us. It is high 
 time that we merchantmen vindicated our titles as gentlemen 
 and seamen from the contemptuous usage every little snobling 
 in blue cloth and bright buttons thinks himself privileged to 
 give us. When there is a storm, cannot we meet it ? When 
 we are in danger, cannot we brave it 1 When we are con- 
 fronted by an enemy, do we wince 1 Is not the mercantile 
 officer as good a seaman as his cocked-hat despiser ? Is not he 
 sometimes a handsome man and a fine fellow 1 Play to him, 
 will he not dance % Pipe to him, will he not pull and haul % 
 Is not he beloved of sweet woman % Rogues ! if you say we 
 are not like you in the rest, we will resemble you in that.' 
 
 ' Worthy of Kemble !' 
 
 We were soon clear of Eame Head, with the blue waters of 
 the English Channel stretching before us, and after our three 
 
TO THE WEST. 239 
 
 weeks' spell of the ground-tackle, it was almost strange to feel 
 the heave of the sea under our feet. It was a pleasant day, 
 the wind cooled the sunbeams, and overhead was the finest sky 
 I ever beheld ; the high clouds lay in fine white veins — por- 
 tions resembled lace — from east to west stretched this lovely 
 exhibition of vapour ; indeed, it was like looking up at a dome 
 of marble. The blue lay with a lovely softness of colour amid 
 this vaporous spray ; and when I called Shelvocke's attention 
 to the beautiful appearance, he was so much struck that he 
 stood gazing like a man before a picture. 
 
 By dinner-time we had run the coast into a mere shadow. 
 The men had been mustered and divided into watches, and 
 our sea-life was fairly commenced. 
 
 ' After all, gentlemen !' exclained Shelvocke, addressing 
 Chestree, and myself, and young Peacock (who had been asked 
 to dinner), as we took our places at the table — which the 
 steward had equipped with flowers, and which was as radiant 
 as a looking-glass with the flashing of the sun's rays through 
 the skylight upon the plate and glass, and purple and yellow 
 wines in decanters — ' there is more real happiness to be got at 
 sea by the poorest sailor, than can be purchased ashore by the 
 wealthiest lord. Madison, a little of this soup ! First of all 
 there are no women to tease him. His sleep is never broken 
 by the cries of a baby. There is no post. There are no 
 tradesmen to vex him with their trifling accounts. Steward, 
 some bread for Mr. Peacock. Money is of no use at sea. 
 There are no shops — there is nothing to buy. Then again, 
 there are no troublesome next-door neighbours. And best of 
 all, there is no news.' 
 
 1 And a man needn't shave unless he pleases,' said Ches- 
 tree. 
 
 'And besides, sir, where are you going to get this beautiful 
 buoyant, up-and-down feeling ashore V exclaimed Peacock, 
 half closing one of his handsome eyes, and looking with the 
 other through a glass of sherry at Shelvocke. ' I never seem 
 
;>4o AN OCEAN FREE-LANCE. 
 
 to walk comfortably on dry land. There is no spring in the 
 earth/ 
 
 * Try dancing/ said I. 
 
 'Even then it's like having your boots soled with lead, sir.' 
 
 1 Give me dry land,' observed I. ' The sea is very well ; but 
 put me where I can humour my artless fancies, gentlemen. I 
 will at this moment pawn all the privileges the captain's 
 prodigal and beneficent sea yields the humble sailor for a 
 cottage and an acre of land — just out of Plymouth ; a cow ; 
 enough hens to give me as many eggs as will garnish two 
 rashers of bacon of mine own curing, and make me every day 
 
 a pudding ; a ten-ton yacht to scour the Sound, and ' the 
 
 rest was lost in an irrepressible gape, for which I immediately 
 apologized. ' We have neither of us been in bed, you know, 
 captain, since the night before last.' 
 
 Here Tapping's head darkened the skylight. 
 
 ' There's a sail right ahead, sir, coming down upon us.' 
 
 1 All right, Mr. Tapping. Get your colours ready for hoist- 
 ing,' said Shelvocke. ' Madison, your yawn interrupted your 
 sylvan discourse ; your cottage and your cows and your hens 
 are very well, but who's going to cook your bacon and make 
 your puddings f 
 
 ' A proper little maid, sir ; wages ten pounds a year, and 
 cold meat on Sundays to enable her to go to chapel,' I replied, 
 perfectly understanding the twinkle in his eye. 
 
 'Mr. Chestree, try a glass of that port,' said Shelvocke, 
 who was in high spirits. ' Pray, my friend — forgive my 
 inquisitiveness — were you ever in love f 
 
 The second mate's face looked like the rising moon on a 
 hot summer night, as he answered in a sort of cracked voice 
 that made Peacock burst into a laugh, ' Once, sir.' 
 
 1 Only once ! — surely you forget V 
 
 1 No, sir ; on my honour, only once,' repeated Chestree with 
 great gravity. 
 
 1 Did you marry her, Mr. Chestree f I asked. 
 
TO THE WEST 241 
 
 1 No, Mr. Madison/ answered Chestree, who was an extremely- 
 literal person, and the most accurate man in his statements 
 that ever I met : £ I didn't fall in love with her with the 
 intention of getting married, but for the sake of having some- 
 body to keep company with when 1 was ashore.' 
 
 1 That was a very unsettled view of life on your part, Mr. 
 Chestree/ said Shelvocke. ' Had she a mother V 
 
 ' No, sir ; she hadn't a mother, but she had a father. I 
 lodged in his house, and that was how I got acquainted with 
 the girl. He was a wooden-legged man, and very often in 
 liquor. He lived in Limehouse, sir, and kept a toy-shop. 
 When he was drunk, his behaviour was extraordinary. Im- 
 agine, sir — it was his habit, when he got intoxicated of a night, 
 to go into his shop and wind up all the spring toys and set 
 them running about the floor. He dealt largely in that kind 
 of goods. He would fling the india-rubber balls and dolls 
 against the walls, set the tops spinning, wag the babies 
 rattles ; in fact, he'd start everything that made a noise, sir — 
 cursing and swearing himself all the time at the top of his 
 voice, and rolling among the hoops, boxes of soldiers, and the 
 tambourines. The louder I'd knock overhead, the more things 
 he'd set going. I put up with him as long as I could for the 
 girl's sake, but I was driven away at last \ and you'll hardly 
 believe me, Mr. Madison, when I say that the moment I shifted 
 my lodgings the trollop passed me in the street as though I 
 had been a mile-post.' 
 
 1 A rent in the affections,' said I. 
 
 1 A week's rent,' exclaimed Shelvocke. ' A fine commentary 
 on tearing a passion into tatters.' 
 
 * She came to tatters at last, sir, I believe,' said Chestree ; 
 * for her father destroyed so many of his toys that at last he 
 had nothing to sell. They locked him up for debt, and Susan 
 
 went to ' He checked himself, drained his wine-glass, and 
 
 stared at Peacock. 
 
 'Pray, Captain Shelvocke,' said I, smothering another 
 
 16 
 
242 AN OCEAN FREE-LANCE. 
 
 yawn, * might I be so bold as to ask where the Tigress is 
 bound to V 
 
 'Certainly. I intend skirting the French coast as far 
 as d'Oleron, and then head for the West Indies. But how 
 is it possible for privateersmen to have a programme I To- 
 morrow may see us burnt, or sunk, or captured, or — a live- 
 lier fancy — convoying a noble prize back to that very 
 Plymouth you, Madison, are fretting over. By the way, 
 did not I understand you to say that Miss Palmer is going to 
 Jamaica V 
 
 'Yes/ said I, blushing a little in anticipation of some 
 banter. 
 
 1 And did not you endeavour to dissuade her by a picture, 
 such as your active and amorous genius should very well know 
 how to paint, of that hobgoblin the Yellow Jack, the Jamaica 
 Charon, the fugleman of the noisome battalion of snakes, 
 mosquitoes, bats, bloodsuckers of many kinds, sharks, guanos, 
 negroes, and Yankee skippers'? But no matter. Fill your 
 glass — and you and I, as eye-witnesses of her beauty, will 
 privately and in elegant silence toast her. That she and you 
 may meet again I ought not to hope : the feelings of a friend 
 should prompt the heart to kinder aspirations ; but still, here's 
 to your wish, Madison — as the good old song says : 
 
 1 " Here's to your wish ! let it run as it will, boy ! 
 Bad it carit be as it makes us both fill, boy ! ' 
 
 Honest Chestree stared at all this, for neither he nor I had 
 ever seen Shelvocke in such good spirits. No doubt the excite- 
 ment of the night, the release from an engagement which the 
 braver a man is the gladder he will be to get easily and 
 honourably quit of, and the glee which the prospects of a new 
 cruise raised in him, caused his present overflow. Be this as 
 it may, I never liked him in any mood better than in this. 
 His freedom gave no offence. The kindness that underlay his 
 joking was always apparent, and the worst-tempered wretch 
 
TO THE WEST 243 
 
 that an enlarged spleen and a congested liver ever exacerbated 
 would have been soothed into blandness by Shelvocke's hearty- 
 ringing laugh. 
 
 Tapping's pugnacious face again darkened the skylight. 
 
 1 Please, sir, the fellow ahead is a line-of-battle ship. She's 
 either lost or struck her top-gallant masts.' 
 
 ' How far distant is she ¥ 
 
 1 About three miles.' 
 
 * All right, Mr. Tapping ; I'll come and look at her presently. 
 What a very odd language sailors talk, Mr. Chestree. Did 
 your hear Tapping speak of the fellow ahead, and then call 
 him she t 
 
 ' Well, sir, now that you call attention to the contradiction, 
 I see it, captain. But what is a man to say 1 They corrupted 
 the sex of ships when they called Government vessels men-of- 
 war. You might as well christen a baby-girl Bill' 
 
 1 Very true, Mr. Chestree. Gentlemen, if you have finished 
 your wine, we will go on deck.' 
 
 I was excessively sleepy, and the Tigress's sherry had not 
 lightened my eyelids. However, I thought I would take a 
 squint at the liner before lying down, and followed the others 
 on deck. The breeze had slackened somewhat, and the 
 schooner was slipping through the water with the quick, 
 sinister, piratical, and sneaking motion that was one of her 
 distinctest qualities. The sail was right ahead, and looked 
 like a wreck under her double-reefed topsails, and thick top- 
 mast-heads. 
 
 She was a very large line-of-battle ship, with three tiers of 
 ports, the lower ones of which were closed ; and our impression 
 was that she had been partially dismantled by a gale of wind, 
 until she was near enough to show a whole constellation of 
 shot-holes in her bulwarks, her yards and masts fished in 
 numerous places, her lower rigging knotted, and many other 
 signs of a recent severe engagement. The most noticeable 
 thing about her was the streams of bright water spouting from 
 
 16—2 
 
244 AN OCEAN FREE-LANCE. 
 
 her sides, and trailing their lines of foam upon the sea as she 
 went slowly, and wearily, and heavily forward. 
 
 I once witnessed a prize-fight, and watched two muscular 
 savages pound each other for an hour and a quarter. It was 
 a disgusting sight ; but no part of the ferocious and unnatural 
 exhibition impressed me more than the appearance of the 
 victor after his blue, and blind, and bleeding opponent had 
 been carried away. The skin of the conqueror's face was in 
 rags, one eye was hermetically sealed, one arm broken : never- 
 theless, he made shift to flourish a large white and red pocket- 
 handkerchief ; and with a hoarse, spluttering cheer in his 
 throat, the wretched creature staggered round the platform to 
 let his backers see how gamely he endured his punishment. 
 
 The recollection of this maimed and heroic — brutally heroic, 
 no doubt, but still heroic — figure was in my mind as I 
 watched the battered, splintered, leaking, patched-up line-of- 
 battle ship go past us, *with English colours at the peak, and 
 the water rushing from her scupper-holes under the action of 
 the pumps like the gutters of a house after a thunder-shower. 
 She appealed to us as a human being might : it was the courage 
 of the broken and mutilated prize-fighter waving his hand- 
 kerchief, and limping to his home ; but how ennobled the 
 picture by the character of the tremendous struggle that had 
 driven this sinking and injured ship to the refuge of her own 
 ports ! We lowered our ensign, and in obedience to a signal 
 from Shelvocke, every seaman on deck sprang into the rigging, 
 and gave the ship three hurricane cheers. An officer with his 
 arm in a sling responded by raising his hat, but no other 
 notice was taken of us. 
 
 ' Is she one of the Channel squadron, I wonder V said Shel- 
 vocke, watching her with great interest. ' If so, there has 
 probably been a general engagement, perhaps off Finisterre, 
 where our fleet were last heard of. Mark how she lifts to the 
 swell ! Saw you ever such sickly rolling before ? She must 
 be half full of water, and it is strange there is no tender in 
 
r TO THE WEST 245 
 
 company. I would not undertake to navigate a vessel in that 
 condition twenty leagues. 
 
 Her rolling was made all the more impressive by the swell 
 being very light ; she swayed to and fro like a round-bottom 
 vessel, that being depressed on one side, continues its oscilla- 
 tions for a long time in the smoothest water. I stood watch- 
 ing her until she was a long way astern, and then went to my 
 cabin and slept for four hours like a top. 
 
 And now for many days not a single adventure of any 
 kind befell us. It seemed as if all the luck that was to 
 attend the Tigress had been squeezed into the first week of 
 her cruise, and that nothing more was to happen. We sailed 
 along the coast of France, as close in as we dared venture, 
 and on one occasion were so well inshore — this was off the 
 Pointe de Penmarch — that we could see a number of soldiers 
 and villagers looking at us from the top of the cliffs, and a 
 French man-of-war at anchor in the bay that opens the river 
 upon or near which the town of Quimper is situated. 
 
 Indeed, our audacity grew with our disappointments, and I 
 have often thought over the hundred chances we gave the 
 enemy of capturing us. The truth was, the numerous re- 
 verses that France had suffered at sea had almost emptied 
 the ocean of her merchantmen. I believe half the privateers 
 would have given up this year had we been concerned in no 
 other than the French war. Two-thirds and perhaps more of 
 the merchandise of France were being carried in neutral 
 bottoms, and, as Shelvocke had all along said, referring of 
 course exclusively to France, the only chances which the 
 English Channel offered to privateers were recaptures like the 
 Hanover, or the inglorious sport of hunting down small craft 
 like the lugger we chased and sank between Dunkirk and the 
 Goodwins. 
 
 At last came a morning when Shelvocke's patience gave 
 way. The Vendee coast was a clear green, and brown, and 
 
246 AN OCEAN FREE-LANCE. 
 
 white-streaked outline on our port-beam ; a fresh breeze was 
 blowing over our larboard-quarter, and the schooner was 
 chopping slowly through the surges which ran away ahead of 
 us in burnished surfaces a short distance before they broke 
 into sheets of sparkling foam, under her mainsail and jib 
 only. 
 
 1 Look around you, Madison/ exclaimed Shelvocke ; ' was 
 there ever such a wilderness ! There is not a sixpenny bit 
 to be found in these seas. Will any man believe that this 
 schooner has been coasting the best armed of the French 
 seaboards without encountering a single vessel of any kind or 
 description V 
 
 ' Ay, and without provoking a single Government ship to 
 come out and have a closer look at her/ 
 
 ' Where are the English blockaders, I wonder I where is 
 the Channel squadron 1 A month ago I know that the 
 offing for leagues swarmed with our cruisers. Has peace 
 been signed ? Why, this is worse than Churchill's Scotchmen 
 feeding 
 
 1 " Like half-starved spiders upon half-starved flies." 
 
 There is not even cold porridge for us here.' 
 
 He shaded his eyes with his hands, and bent a steady, 
 scrutinizing look upon the French coast and away around upon 
 the sea-line. 
 
 ' Not even a fishing-smack,' he said. 'And the men are 
 spoiling. All their old merchant-service instincts are budding 
 upon them like funguses upon trees. They'll lose their taste 
 for fighting if this lasts, and will forget how to load a gun. See 
 their idle, sprawling postures, like the boatman of a fashion- 
 able watering-place.' 
 
 He made a few quick turns along the deck. 
 
 'I have had enough of it,' he exclaimed. 'It's time to 
 give the Yankees a turn. So get all sail made, Mr. Madison. 
 Helm there ! let her go round, and keep her at south-west !' 
 
TO THE WEST. 247 
 
 1 Make sail, the watch t I shouted. l Crack on all, men ! 
 Jump aloft and loose the square canvas — every stitch of it !' 
 
 In a moment all was bustle. The great mainsail jibed as 
 the schooner swept round ; the froth spat and buzzed along- 
 side ; as cloth after cloth was extended to the strong breeze, 
 the slope of the deck grew a sharper angle. Presently the 
 schooner was a lofty, broad, and beautifully symmetrical sur- 
 face of canvas, the little snow-white skysail topping the great 
 column of canvas forward, the jibs curving from the jib-booms, 
 the main-boom over the quarter. The rush of the vessel was 
 felt in the thrilling of the deck, and with a mile of silver- 
 bright wake astern of her, and the smoke and flashing of 
 spray across the forecastle, the Tigress fled across the heaving 
 waters of the Bay of Biscay for the great Atlantic deep 
 beyond. 
 
 1 Where away now in such a hurry, sir V asked Tapping. 
 
 'For the West Indies — the latitudes of rich freights, 
 man !' I answered ; and in a few minutes the news that we 
 were bound for a long stretch of salt water was all over the 
 schooner. 
 
 CHAPTEE X. 
 
 THE STORM-FIEND. 
 
 The morning of the first of September broke with a lowering 
 and gloomy sky. We had left the coast of France a long 
 distance astern of us, but from a privateersman's wish to make 
 a beam- wind of the north-east trades when we should have 
 run into them, and with the hope of netting one of the 
 numerous contraband Guineamen crossing the Atlantic for 
 the Spanish Main, or some of the French Indiamen home- 
 ward bound, Shelvocke had made a much more southerly 
 course than was necessary for the run to the West Indies. 
 
243 AN OCEAN FREE-LANCE. 
 
 All through the night it had been so sultry as to drive the 
 men out of their hammocks under the decks, and force them 
 to take their rest alongside the guns and under the boats, 
 where they were kept rather uncomfortably cool by the showers 
 of dew which fell from the sails, and by the humidity of the 
 air that whitened the rigging and the fife-rails and every other 
 part of the vessel where the damp lodged in lines, with millions 
 of crystal globules which streamed away in water on being 
 touched. 
 
 I was on deck when the sun rose, and could scarcely credit 
 that the bleared, rayless, reddish disc that was hove out of the 
 broken and swelling deep was the familiar day luminary. 
 The sea was a dark, sallow-green heaving plain, of this one 
 gloomy and ugly colour on all sides, not a break of froth to 
 relieve the menacing monotony of its stormy and chafing aspect. 
 The sky was a mere space of leaden-grey, like the sea, un- 
 broken by a single point of light or relieved by the shadow of 
 darker clouds ; in a corner of which hung the newly-risen sun, 
 like a reddish ground-glass globe over a dull argand, shed- 
 ding a trickling reflection, as pale as the light of a crescent 
 November moon, on the sickly green swell beneath it. There 
 was a small draught of wind blowing from the east, but every 
 roll of the schooner shook the current of air out of the sails,. 
 and the tumblification was sometimes so furious that we had 
 to hold on with our hands to save ourselves from being dashed 
 from one side of the deck to the other. The water burst 
 through the scupper-holes in smoke, and poured through the 
 hawse-holes as the vessel pitched, and washed high as the 
 keel of the gig over the stern. One moment you could have 
 touched the water over the taffrail, the next it was like 
 looking down from the top of a mountain. Men who had 
 been to sea all their lives, and to whom a jumping deck of- 
 fered a securer footing than the steadiness of the land, went 
 sprawling in all directions, the moment they let go with their 
 hands. 
 
THE STORM-FIEND. 249 
 
 I had noticed Tapping uncommonly pale, but could not con- 
 ceive the cause until the Tigress giving a curtsey that dished a 
 green sea over the forecastle, and sent a number of fellows 
 racing aft, rolling and blowing, and laughing and shaking 
 themselves as they rushed floundering into the waist, I was 
 amazed to see my friend spring to the lee bulwarks — darting at 
 me, as he ran, a most woe-begone glance with his bilious, blood- 
 shot eyes — over which he hung as sick as a Frenchman, and, 
 like a Frenchman, groaning and convulsing his body, and 
 taking a squint along the deck, first on one side, and then on 
 the other, every time he sacrificed, to see if anybody was 
 watching him. 
 
 The strain aloft, however, was getting rather more than I 
 thought good; so I ordered the main-topmast to be struck, 
 and not having great confidence in our new hemp, I had the 
 lower rigging swiftered ; the mainsail was then lowered, as 
 it was of no use, and bade fair to chafe to pieces, and the 
 schooner was left to tumble about under her jib and gaff-fore- 
 sail. 
 
 And, indeed, it was the most uncomfortable experience of 
 the kind she had yet given us. Tapping was not the only man 
 she had nauseated. The cook was too sick to attend to his 
 duty, and the only thing hot we were promised for the cabin 
 breakfast was coffee ; but even this small luxury was denied 
 us by the cook falling head over heels down the companion- 
 ladder with the coffee-pot in his hand. So we had to make out 
 a meal with cold grog and a piece of salted brisket, and a 
 mighty unpleasant meal it was. The ledge of the table saved 
 the plates from sliding on to the deck, but there was nothing 
 to prevent the contents of one's plate from rolling into one's 
 lap ; and after forking up for a fifth time a piece of beef from 
 between my knees, I begged Shelvocke to excuse me from 
 using a knife and fork any longer, and finished the meal with 
 a bit of beef in one hand and a biscuit in the other. 
 
 ' Now,' said I, as Chestree crawled from under the table 
 
250 AN OCEAN FREE-LANCE. 
 
 with the mustard-pot, that had fetched away down his legs on 
 to the cabin floor, decorating his unmentionables in its passage 
 with a very tidy streak, as you may believe, * will any gentle- 
 man sneer at the preference I ventured to express at this same 
 table some time ago, for a garden and a cottage ashore, to a 
 heaving, sickening, muddling, tumbling, however beautifully- 
 constructed, machine like this schooner, that sends Tapping to 
 hang his face over the side, and starts Chestree to crawl upon 
 his knees after the breakfast things f 
 
 ' I have always looked for a dance of this kind whenever old 
 Neptune took a fancy for a frisk with the beauty whose home 
 is his bosom — there's a passage in your line, Madison !' said 
 Shelvocke. 'But how can any vessel of this tonnage help 
 rolling with such a top-hamper of iron as grins along our decks I 
 Go and build a tower atop of your little cottage, and I'll war- 
 rant you the first gale of wind will hoist you out of your bed, 
 and make you hungry for the safety of the sea.' 
 
 1 Do but listen to the groaning of the timbers, captain !' cried 
 Chestree. ' If one will but think of it, sir, man must be a 
 courageous animal to build a hollow ark and sit in the midst 
 of the sea and eat and drink and joke. You would not catch 
 a beast of the field adventuring such an exploit, sir.' 
 
 1 Excuse me, Mr. Chestree, there is a large blob of mustard 
 on the front of your shirt. Well, Mr. Madison, how is this 
 going to end ? In a gale, do you think V 
 
 ' I do, captain. As you judge of a man's temper by the 
 expression in his eye, so I look at the sun to observe what sort 
 of a mood Nature's in. That bleared bloodshot orb shows that 
 Nature's in a rage. Feel the panting of her mighty breast 
 under us, sir. Chestree, kindly catch my glass before it cap- 
 sizes over you.' 
 
 1 Where can this abominable swell be coming from f ex- 
 claimed Shelvocke. ' Either there must be a tempest close to 
 us, or a storm has very recently passed. It's as bad as one of 
 the lulls off Cape Horn.' 
 
THE STORM-FIEND. 251 
 
 The motion was made more impressive — I had almost written 
 startling — by the uproar it occasioned throughout the vessel, 
 and which we in the cabin could hear to perfection. The 
 swell, as it struck the schooner under the counter, boomed 
 through the hollow fabric as though a thirty-two pounder had 
 been fired under our feet, and one of these swells hove us up 
 to such a height that every movable article on the table went 
 clattering and jingling away to the foremost end of it, and 
 whilst the three of us swung with our arms round the 
 stanchions like drunken lords to lamp-posts, Shelvocke bawled 
 out : 
 
 1 Madison, you can now understand what Gulliver felt when 
 the eagle flew away with the poor little chap's cage P 
 
 The bulkheads strained as though they must burst asunder; 
 every timber, every plank, every bolt had something to say on 
 the subject of this crazy, walloping usage, and the small arms 
 rattled like a regiment of charging dragoons in the rack against 
 the foremost partition. Indeed, it was like being rolled down 
 a hill in a barrel into which a bucket of oyster-shells had been 
 flung. 
 
 I was not sorry when Shelvocke left the table. However, 
 instead of following him on deck, I entered my berth, as it 
 was my watch below, and I was too old a sea-bird not to turn 
 in whilst there was a chance of getting some rest, more especi- 
 ally in the face of a storm that threatened us with a long spell 
 of wakefulness. And, indeed, I do believe that only a sailor 
 or a baby could have slept amid such an uproar of groaning 
 beams and thumping and booming water as filled the cabin. 
 I left my door open ready for the first call, and lay down in 
 my boots ; and in a short time was, I dare say, contributing to 
 the general hullabaloo. 
 
 A loud cry sounding through the skylight aroused me. I 
 heard the whistling of the boatswain's pipe and the running 
 about of men. I looked at my watch and found I had been 
 asleep an hour and a quarter ; but it was so dark I had to 
 
252 'AN OCEAN FREE-LANCE. 
 
 bring the watch close to my nose before I could read the dial. 
 The motion of the schooner was much less violent than it had 
 been when I lay down, also it was evident to me that there 
 was no wind, though the activity of the watch on deck be- 
 tokened a change of some sort at hand. 
 
 Considering that it was ten o'clock in the morning, the 
 evening gloom that prevailed was not a little ominous and 
 alarming. It was like an eclipse of the sun, and though the 
 watch below had received no summons, I tumbled out of my 
 bunk and went on deck. 
 
 Never before in all my life had I witnessed such a sight as 
 it was now my fortune to behold. Stretched across the whole 
 surface of the sky, lay a dense dark cloud, the malignant 
 bluish hue of which as much resembled a quantity of ink 
 smeared across a sheet of paper with a^brush as anything I 
 can imagine to liken it to. But this was only the canvas or 
 ground upon which Nature had worked a most terrific piece of 
 cloud-tapestry. Eight round the horizon was stretched what 
 sailors would call a * grummet ' of sooty vapour — dense, motion- 
 less — like some gigantic chimney's outpouring that had settled 
 low upon the sea, and choked out of the heavens the very air 
 that should have scattered it. But in the east there hung, as 
 though poised upon the upper line of this horrible inky circle, 
 layer upon layer of huge clouds, each layer overhanging the 
 other like the scales of old armour, the lower tiers being of a 
 blackness that projected, by the sheer relief of the contrast of 
 hue, the portion of the sooty vapour upon which they leant 
 their ponderous and dreadful burdens. Under this sky, the 
 awful character of which no pen could express — for what 
 language could convey that reactive quality which informed it 
 with its peculiar horror, the awe, the amazement it excited in 
 the mind, the shock that the first sight of it gave to the 
 nerves % — under this sky, I say, the sea lay as dark as you 
 shall have beheld it in the twilight, the horizon swallowed 
 up in the gloom and the haze, so that the schooner appeared 
 
THE STORM-FIEND. 253 
 
 to be heaving on a small surface of water in the interior of a 
 globe of cloud. 
 
 Such indeed was the darkness that the eye could not follow 
 the run of the swell above half a mile distant from the vessel. 
 Every stitch of canvas had been furled with the exception of 
 the close-reefed gaff-foresail, and the men were employed in 
 snugging the decks, hauling taut the running rigging, looking 
 to the gun-gear, and making every preparation for the 
 coming tempest. I particularly noticed the manner in which 
 they glanced up at the sky and in the direction of the ponder- 
 ous cloud-layers. Probably no man among them had ever 
 witnessed such a sight ; and now that no more running about 
 was necessary, their subdued manner, their alarmed faces, their 
 voices toned into awed whispers, exhibited with singular im- 
 pressiveness the influence of the portentous heavens upon 
 them. 
 
 ' Did anyone ever see such a sight before f said Shelvocke, 
 who had noticed me the moment I came on deck, and now 
 joined me. ' I hope it may not cost us our guns. I thought 
 at first it would end in rain ; but the gathering of that ring, 
 and above all the upheaval of those giant clouds yonder, un- 
 deceived me. That black, horizontal circle is a real pheno- 
 menon. It has taken a whole hour to gather; but for the 
 last ten minutes, and even longer, it has not risen, I was going 
 to say, an inch. We are in the centre of a regular belt. I 
 believed it an atmospheric illusion whilst watching it at the 
 beginning. There must have been a swirl of wind to have 
 caused it; yet for the last hour it has been a dead calm 
 here.' 
 
 6 It has given us time, sir, and we are ready for it. That's 
 one good job. But it's enough to quail a man. Do you notice 
 the cowering attitudes of the crew, sir? The worst of this 
 sort of thing is, you never can tell what's coming. ' 
 
 1 Imagine a battle like Trafalgar amid this gloom !' exclaimed 
 Shelvocke. * See !' he added, as a flash of lightning sparked 
 
254 AN OCEAN FREE-LANCE. 
 
 out from the lower strata of the piled-up clouds and glanced a 
 dull blue glare across the sky, ' there's the first gun of a bigger 
 engagement than human enemies are ever likely to be con- 
 cerned in.' 
 
 Presently the boom of thunder came down slow and faint. 
 It grew gradually darker and darker; it was impossible to trace 
 the masts to their topmost points ; the binnacle-lamp was 
 lighted, and the candle-flame threw a haze upon the air just 
 as it did at night. The watch below had turned out alarmed 
 by this Egyptian darkness, and blackened the decks with their 
 figures as they stood whispering or shuffled uneasily from 
 place to place. 
 
 It is bad enough on land to find one's self under a dense 
 thunder-cloud and waiting for the first flash. At sea the 
 suspense is increased out of all comparison by the feeling that 
 one's vessel is, perhaps, the only point upon the ocean for 
 leagues and leagues for the lightning to aim at. When I first 
 went to sea, the ship I was in was becalmed one afternoon in 
 the Bay of Bengal, in company with a small trading vessel. 
 A storm gathered, there was a fierce flash of lightning, almost 
 instantaneously followed by an explosion — the whole air 
 seemed to be filled with live embers — and then came a crash 
 of thunder as though heaven were echoing back the deafening 
 explosion of the country- wallah. Such fatalities are, happily, 
 rare ; but I had witnessed one of them at a time of life when 
 the impressions a man gets are usually deep and lasting, and I 
 viewed with uncomfortable misgivings these sooty, stooping, 
 overburdened, masses of vapour, and the early night their 
 shadows had flung upon sea and sky. 
 
 * Is that you, Mr. Madison V exclaimed Shelvocke, who had 
 walked aft and stood near the binnacle. 
 
 'Yes, sir.' 
 
 4 Call all hands.' 
 
 ' All hands are on deck, sir.' 
 
 1 Then get the hatches on, and stand by to let the lee-fore- 
 
THE STORM-FIEND. 255 
 
 most and aftermost broadside guns go overboard should the 
 order be necessary.' 
 
 These were significant instructions. The hatches were 
 battened, and hands told off to stand by the guns. And now 
 we had not long to wait. 
 
 First came the rain ; it plumped down as though a travelling 
 waterfall had taken us on its way. The suddenness and weight 
 of the downpour were astounding, and the noise of the gush- 
 ing and cascading and sluicing of water was as bad as half-a- 
 dozen cataracts. A blinding flash of lightning streamed across 
 this water-veil and made hail of it, which pounded and 
 hammered and beat down upon us as though buckets of grape 
 and canister were being emptied on our devoted heads. The 
 roaring of this fall was scarcely silenced by the peal of thunder 
 that crashed immediately over us, and the lashed sea looked 
 like snow under the fierce and shattering discharge. 
 
 This ceased with the same alarming suddenness with which 
 it had begun, and the moment I could squeeze the water out 
 of my eyes and look about me, I saw the wind coming. 
 There was no need to sing out, for every eye was upon it. 
 The sea was like molten lead everywhere but in the east, 
 where the horizon appeared to be lifted into a bluish-white 
 ridge, immediately over which the black clouds were twisting 
 and flying like the rushing and eddying of a ship's wake, or a 
 fierce current full of whirlpools; while to right and left of 
 these tumultuous vaporous masses there was an opening, not 
 indeed of blue sky, but of the sky as it appears when dis- 
 coloured by a thin body of smoke, through each of which, but 
 for a brief while only, and travelling towards us like the spoke 
 of a revolving wheel, there slanted a sickly, yellow, unearthly- 
 looking sunbeam, the light of which seemed to blast the very 
 water over which it fled. It was a glimpse, and merely a 
 glimpse, of one of those spectacles of terrific, I had almost 
 said supernatural, grandeur which a man must go to sea to be- 
 hold. In an instant the tempest had changed the scene into a 
 
256 AN OCEAN FREE-LANCE. 
 
 heaven of flying black vapour and streaming lightning, and an 
 ocean as white as wool, the very swell of which was hurled 
 flat by the fury of the blast, amid which lay the Tigress, with 
 the mere shred of gaff-foresail she had exhibited in rags, her 
 lee bulwarks under the foam, her lee fore-topmast rigging 
 standing in circles like iron half-hoops, motionless upon the 
 level froth ; as you might paint a vessel stranded on her bilge 
 on an Arctic plain of snow. 
 
 I had posted myself near Shelvocke, in order to receive his 
 instructions, and we stood clinging to the back-stays watch- 
 ing the behaviour of the schooner. What angle her masts 
 made I could not guess ; but I know that for some time the 
 foaming sea to leeward was up to the main-hatch, and the 
 whole of the starboard guns and the bulwarks were out of 
 sight under the water, and the men up to their necks. 
 
 And this, be it remembered, with no other canvas exhibited 
 but the rags of the close-reefed gaff-foresail. 
 
 The helm was jammed hard over, and after an interval the 
 noble little vessel began to pay off, as though, like some 
 creature of instinct, she had been willing to test the strength 
 of her grappling enemy before running. I looked at Shelvocke 
 as the schooner, in wearing, righted, and he shouted, ' Magni- 
 ficent t And so it was, for had she been one jot less worthy, 
 the hurricane would have had her on her beam-ends, and her 
 masts along the water with the first blast. 
 
 As her jib-booms swept around her decks became level, and 
 with the water up to one's knees gushing overboard from 
 every part of her, and her guns like polished jet with the 
 wet, and huge flakes of spray flying over her stern and rip- 
 ping through the rigging like a storm of snow, and the men 
 clinging to whatever came to their hands with the conforma- 
 tion of their bodies ribbed and lined upon their soaking gar- 
 ments, the Tigress raced like an arrow along the seething sur- 
 face of the deep, piling the foam as high as her catheads, 
 while the hurricane yelled through her rigging and roared under 
 
THE STORM-FIEND. 257 
 
 the pitch-black sky that the lightning was tearing asunder from 
 horizon to horizon. 
 
 1 Get a new foresail bent/ cried Shelvocke with his mouth 
 close to my ear, and shouting at the top of his voice, ' and let 
 us heave the schooner to before the sea rises.' 
 
 I went forward to execute his orders, but at every step I 
 took I had to seize hold of a belaying pin, or a coil of rope, 
 or a gun-tackle, to prevent myself from being dashed down 
 upon the deck by the violence of the wind, and so prodigious 
 was the propulsion of the hurricane, that it required my 
 utmost strength to maintain a grasp of the object I seized. It 
 was as though half-a-dozen men were endeavouring to thrust 
 me forward, and by the time I reached the waist I was soaked 
 with perspiration. 
 
 With incredible labour a new sail was reefed and bent, and 
 a shred of it hoisted, and the schooner was brought to the 
 wind, and lay with her lee-bulwarks buried, straining upon 
 a sea that was every moment growing heavier, and almost 
 hidden by the showers of spume which flashed like feathers 
 over her. Meanwhile, the sky had grown a shade or two 
 lighter, there was no more lightning, and the huge layers of 
 clouds which had risen in the east had all gone away to leeward, 
 and lay in a pitch-black pile upon the horizon. 
 
 But never had mortal eye beheld a wilder, stormier, gloomier 
 picture of warring winds and waters watched by a more 
 scowling sky, than the scene that we surveyed from the deck 
 of the Tigress. The seas had grown into livid coils as high 
 and menacing as the combers which the westerly gales of the 
 Pacific heave in thunder upon the shores of that mighty deep. 
 Far as the eye could reach the ocean resembled a boiling 
 cauldron, and one could follow the huge lifting of the cream- 
 ing surges against the leaden sky of the horizon. The 
 schooner rode with wonderful buoyancy, with the most expert 
 helmsmen aboard of her at the tiller ; but ease her as they 
 would, from time to time the head of a towering sea would 
 
 17 
 
258 AN OCEAN FREE-LANCE. 
 
 strike her midway between the gangway and the bows, before 
 she could lift to it, and whole tons of glittering green water 
 would swoop through the rigging and fill the decks with a 
 foamy current which the next heavy send to leeward would 
 swirl like a cataract over the bulwark into the raging waves 
 beyond. 
 
 I was standing holding on to a rope's end near the after- 
 most gun, listening to the hooting and roaring of the gale, 
 and watching the frenzied ocean with awe and amazement, and 
 contrasting man's physical littleness with the astounding genius 
 that enabled him to live through, if not to defy, such a furious 
 combination of powers as were now hurling their full and 
 treacherous forces against us, when I was startled by a loud 
 and fearful shout from a group of men who had secured them- 
 selves to the main-mast ; and looking in the direction towards 
 which they pointed, I was horrified to observe a large ship with 
 her fore-topsail in rags, heading directly for us at a distance of 
 not more than half a league. 
 
 Scarcely had my eye rested on her when another loud cry 
 was raised, and the schooner soaring at that moment on the 
 summit of a huge sea, I saw to right and left of the approach- 
 ing ship no less than eight large vessels, some of them close 
 together, all of them tearing furiously before the gale. 
 
 * A convoy !' roared Shelvocke, who stood close behind me. 
 * See ! there's a line-of-battle ship — and look there ! and there !' 
 he pointed first towards the weather-bow, and then towards 
 the weather-quarter, and sure enough at each point the water 
 was studded with rushing ships, some barely visible in the 
 distance, some stretching like clouds of smoke athwart of 
 our hawse and away along the horizon astern. There were 
 sixty or seventy of them ; they looked as though the London 
 Dock had fetched away, and the ships in them blown out 
 to sea. 
 
 But no one thought of counting them then ; no one thought 
 of the wildly picturesque show they made. The great black 
 
THE STORM-FIEND. 259 
 
 ship that had been first sighted was swooping down towards 
 us with the velocity of the very hurricane itself. She did not 
 appear to see us, and as we watched her, utterly powerless 
 to help ourselves, there was not a man who did not reckon that 
 his life was to be counted by the few minutes which would 
 pass before the ship struck us. The horror and danger of the 
 hurricane was forgotten ; we only thought of the ship that 
 threatened to dash into and sink us. 
 
 I looked at Shelvocke. His eyes were on the vessel, and by 
 the expression on his face I knew he not only expected the 
 worst, but was ready for it. He had planted himself in one of 
 those set, determined attitudes which resolute men will in- 
 voluntarily fall into when a great danger is upon them ; his 
 teeth were locked — I could see that by the swell of the temple 
 over the brow — his arms were tightly folded, and his right leg 
 thrown forward. 
 
 In truth, there was nothing to be done ; there was no time 
 for the schooner to pay off even had we been willing to meet 
 the certainty of our decks being swept and run the imminent 
 hazard of the vessel foundering under our feet. The approach- 
 ing ship, upon which every eye was bent, and whose coming I 
 watched with suspended breath, dashing the spray from my 
 eyes as the raging wind hurled it against my face, was fully 
 eight hundred tons in burden, with a high keen stem that 
 divided the water into two hills of foam, each as high as her 
 forecastle-rail ; and every time her stern sank and her bows 
 were hove up, I could see the copper, streaming with white 
 lacings of spray, down to her forefoot ; and then the whole 
 broad, black, and massive hull would disappear behind a great 
 sea, and nothing be visible but her masts and her long black 
 yards, which swung from side to side as the gale struck the 
 slackly-braced spars first on one yardarm and then on the 
 other, while I could hear the flogging of her torn topsail 
 sounding like an endless succession of musket-firing ; and in a 
 few moments up she would be hove again, thrown towards 
 
 17—2 
 
2 6o AN OCEAN FREE-LANCE, 
 
 the scowling heaven like a little toy upon the summit of a 
 sea, until the whole fabric seemed to be flung out of water, and 
 we looked up at her with white faces as pinioned men would 
 gaze at some nodding rock about to fall upon them from a 
 mountain-top. 
 
 Some of the seamen who crowded the waist shrieked ; some 
 of them pulled off their boots and coats ; some watched and 
 waited with stony faces ; some, as I imagined, as if calculating 
 their chances should they leap for her bows. 
 
 I turned again to look at Shelvocke ; he tossed his hands 
 with a wild dramatic gesture. The motion instantly sent my 
 eyes towards the ship, and I saw that she had shifted her 
 helm, and that, although she was almost aboard of us, she 
 would clear us. 
 
 I sprang on to the bulwark, defying the hurricane, holding 
 on with both arms round a back-stay, and watched her go by. 
 There is no describing in words the impression her passage 
 produced. She was half as lofty again as we, and she swept 
 past our stern like a huge floating tower in a haze of spray and 
 froth, lifting when she was broadside on to our counter, so that 
 we looked up her sides as people on a beach look up a cliff, 
 j>assing so close to us that she hove half her bow wave over our 
 taffrail, that swept the men at the tiller off their feet, grazing 
 our main-boom with her fore-channel, and carrying away our 
 peak signal halliards with her cross-jack yardarm. Her decks 
 might have been crowded with people for all we knew, but her 
 bulwarks hid everything, and not a human being was visible. 
 Her gun-ports were closed, her boats slewed inboard, her 
 running-rigging as slack as a watch-guard ; the hooting of the 
 hurricane among the ropes was deafening : but it was just a 
 furious rush and the thing was over ; it was like seeing a cart- 
 load of snow flash from the house-top past the window through 
 which you are looking. 
 
 Scarcely had she travelled six times the distance of her own 
 length, when she put her helm down with the intention of 
 
THE STORM-FIEND. 261 
 
 heaving to. I got off the bulwarks, and, crouching under their 
 shelter, watched her. She was obviously acting in obedience 
 to a signal from the line-of-battle ship, who had rounded to, 
 and whose example many of the vessels were following, though 
 others, whether from helplessness or fear of broaching to, swept 
 wildly on, and were one after another swallowed up in the 
 spray and gloom of the near horizon. As her broadside came 
 up to the wind, she lay over to such a degree that I shouted to 
 Shelvocke she was foundering. The enormous seas which were 
 now running swept over her as though she had been a rock. 
 Every time the surges swung us giddily into the air I could see 
 the hull of her exposed to within a few streaks of her keel. I 
 believe that her cargo had shifted, for her lee lower-yardarms 
 were in the water, and she appeared to have no more buoyancy 
 than a water-logged vessel. 
 
 Meanwhile, astern and to windward there was to be seen 
 such a sight as few men have had the fortune to behold. The 
 whole ocean, all that way, was covered by vessels of various 
 rigs and sizes — ships, brigs, snows, tartans, schooners, pinks — 
 hove to, some under storm staysails, some under bare poles, 
 some with shreds of canvas streaming from the jack-stays. 
 The line-of-battle ship was astern of us ; near her were two 
 large Indiamen ; abreast of us was a small frigate, and beyond, 
 a whole squadron of vessels, wildly plunging upon the foaming 
 seas, some being buried while others were hurled towards the 
 sky, every vessel shrouded from time to time in vast veils of 
 spray, a few of them going to pieces aloft, and two with the 
 English ensign jack down in the rigging. It was enough to 
 scare a man to see all these ships appearing on a sudden amidst 
 a raging surface upon which our schooner was the only visible 
 object a few minutes ago. 
 
 ' I never remember a worse hurricane than this,' cried Shel- 
 vocke, squatting alongside of me under the bulwarks, in which 
 position we were not only sheltered from the weather, but 
 could command a windward view through the gun-port near 
 
262 AN OCEAN FREE-LANCE. 
 
 which we crouched, as well as survey the whole scene to lee- 
 ward. * These surely must be the May convoy from China and 
 the East, or what should they be doing here I I fear that some 
 of them are doomed ships/ 
 
 1 1 thought we should have been the first to go just now, 
 sir.' 
 
 1 Ay, there never was a narrower shave.' 
 
 Sheltered as we were, yet such was the hellish hooting 
 through the rigging and the roaring of the tempest through 
 the sky — a sound as distinct from the other as a clap of 
 thunder is from the moaning of wind through a window-case- 
 ment — that we had to yell out our words to make each other 
 hear; small wonder, therefore, that we did not talk much. 
 Indeed our thoughts were engrossed in watching the behaviour 
 of the schooner and the movements of the numerous ships 
 which, as if by a stroke of magic, had suddenly crowded the 
 waters around us. 
 
 As for the Tigress, she rose and fell like a cork, scaling the 
 watery acclivities as a sleeping albatross would, and freeing 
 herself with an alertness that resembled the instinct of that 
 bird from the falls of frothing water which, helped by the 
 wind, ran faster than she could rise, and tumbled like a scatter- 
 ing of thunderbolts over the forward deck. 
 
 But the poor ship — she that had nearly run us down ! 
 She lay sheer on her beam-ends with the seas flying over her, 
 as though she were stranded. Whether she was under- 
 manned, or her people were lubbers, or consisted chiefly of 
 Lascars, who at a time like this would, I knew from experience, 
 be skulking and praying in corners, I could not guess : but 
 apparently no efforts were made to right the vessel ; the braces 
 were slack, the hurricane had whipped the yards round, and 
 as not only her royal-yards were crossed, but all her sails were 
 very ill-stowed, the pressure aloft must have been enormous. 
 
 Presently a man swung himself into the mizzen-rigging, 
 holding a small red ensign. Hardly had he reached the second 
 
THE STORM-FIEND. 263 
 
 ratline, when a sea struck the ship just under her mizzen- 
 channel, and ran up to a height of twenty feet in a dark green, 
 sparkling column before the wind dashed it into smoke. The 
 man, clinging to the rigging, and looking more like a soaked 
 rag than a human being, climbed another foot or two, and then 
 attempted to seize the flag with the jack down to one of the 
 shrouds ; but he had no sooner secured one corner of the flag 
 than the seizing gave way, the bunting flashed from his hand 
 and was swept towards the clouds, resembling as it went a 
 flash of fire. 
 
 1 Why don't they cut away her masts f roared Shelvocke. 
 1 My God ! she can't last another five minutes in that posture t 
 
 As though the exclamation had been uttered on board the 
 ship herself, he had hardly spoken when several men climbed, 
 evidently with great difficulty, over the slanting, almost hori- 
 zontal bulwarks, and got into the channels, where they fell to 
 hacking and hewing the laniards of the shrouds and back- 
 stays. A blinding sea smothered the unhappy vessel : at the 
 same moment her fore and mizzen topmasts broke short off 
 under the topsail-yards, and hung with all their complicated 
 hamper down the lower rigging. I looked for the men who 
 had severed the rigging, but only two were struggling over the 
 forward bulwarks, and the main chains were empty. 
 
 The ship righted a trifle, but not to the extent she should 
 have done, and I was now sure that not only had her cargo 
 shifted, but that she was taking in water fast. It was a sight 
 to sicken the heart to see that she was doomed, to know that 
 she must founder, and to feel that no help could be given her. 
 It is bad enough to behold a vessel sinking under your guns, 
 even mitigated as the sin of destroying human life is to your 
 conscience at such a time by the intoxication of your triumph. 
 But to witness in cold blood a noble ship struggling with a 
 raging sea, gradually losing her buoyancy until she tosses with 
 the inelastic action of a dead body, settling lower and lower 
 until she suddenly vanishes, amid the ear-splitting yells of the 
 
264 AN OCEAN FREE-LANCE. 
 
 mass of human beings congregated on her decks, is a spectacle 
 calculated to give more anguish to the beholder than any 
 other picture of human suffering. 
 
 Except the men who had scrambled into the chains, no 
 living creature had been visible aboard of her, in consequence 
 of her high bulwarks and her tremendous list, that probably- 
 huddled her people into the* scuppers ; but now that she was 
 indubitably sinking, a sudden rush of figures blackened her 
 rail to windward, they clustered like flies along her side, and 
 in spite of the gloom and the fog of flying spray, the figures of 
 numerous women were clearly distinguishable. The shrieks 
 of the poor creatures rang through the thunder of the hurri- 
 cane ; we could see their frantic gestures, the passionately 
 lifted arms of the women, the mad beckoning of the men for 
 the help that could not be given. Some scrambled aloft, some 
 in tossing their hands lost their balance, and fell headlong into 
 the sea ; the wrecked masts, the yards swaying wildly with 
 every roll and harpooning the lee-side and shrouds of the ship ; 
 the crowds of miserable creatures raving and motioning upon 
 the bulwarks of the hull whose staggering movements were 
 like the reeling of a drunken man ; the ceaseless pouring of 
 the surges over her in whole acres of green water which broke 
 as they struck her decks, and were swept upwards by the 
 hurricane in clouds of spray, like the steam of water thrown 
 upon a burning house, and the black heavens overhead, under 
 which masses of sand-coloured scud-like cloud were driving 
 with incredible velocity, and the mountainous, seething, roar- 
 ing waters like ink in contrast with the foam of their breaking 
 summits, formed such a picture of wild devastation and enor- 
 mous fury, as not the oldest seaman among us could ever 
 remember hearing or seeing the like of. 
 
 She had sunk by this time as deep as the thin white line 
 that ran under the gun-ports, and I was watching with a 
 wildly-beating heart and difficult breath the blood-freezing, the 
 dismal, the most dismal spectacle of the crowds of men and 
 
THE STORM-FIEND. 265 
 
 women motioning to us, and shrieking in their horror as they 
 stood, so to speak, on the very brink of the tremendous and 
 appalling grave of boiling and roaring waters that was opening 
 under their feet, when a loud shout from Shelvocke caused me 
 to look to windward, where I beheld a monster sea — the Mont 
 Blanc of the liquid Alps around us — a whole league long, as I 
 should imagine, stooping its emerald-green unbroken crest as 
 though fearful of brushing the sky, and rushing at us at the 
 speed of a race-horse in full career. The men had barely time 
 to fling themselves down upon their breasts under the weather 
 bulwarks, when the schooner was on her beam-ends and running 
 up the watery steep. The sensation was that of being shot by 
 an irresistible power into the air — I mean, that one felt to be 
 disconnected altogether from the schooner, and to be soaring 
 alone through the gale. I never experienced anything like it 
 before nor since. The faculty of thinking was suspended ; one 
 could only hold on with a kind of dull amaze, and listen to the 
 roaring and feel the mighty upheaval and the more terrible 
 sensation of sinking. At one moment, namely, when the 
 schooner had been swept to the summit of this prodigious sea, 
 she seemed to be revolving so as to bring her keel up ; a 
 plummet dropped from the larboard would have grounded on 
 the starboard rail ; the deck was up and down like the side of 
 a house ; another instant and she was rushing down into the 
 black and howling valley that was scooped out by this astonish- 
 ing height of water, with her deck making a perpendicular line 
 with the zenith in the other direction. It was incredible that 
 any fabric made of human hands could have encountered such 
 a wave and lived through it ; yet such was our fortune, or such 
 the buoyancy of the beautiful vessel, that she did not ship so 
 much as a single drop of water, though assuredly had the 
 gigantic sea broken before it reached us, we should have been 
 overwhelmed, and in all probability gone to the bottom like a 
 lump of lead. 
 
 I watched it as it rushed towards the ship ; I saw the sodden, 
 
266 AN OCEAN FREE-LANCE. 
 
 helpless hull partially rise, as though making one struggle to 
 let it pass under her. In an instant she was rolled completely 
 over, and her copper bottom gleamed amid the ocean of foam 
 that broke round and about her ; the spray filled the air ; 
 there was just a glimpse of her dark spars lying aslant upon 
 the water ; the monstrous sea, uniting its mountainous green 
 ridge again where it had been divided by the hull of the ship, 
 rolled roaring along the sea, and its gigantic form might have 
 been traced for miles. The great track of snow-white foam 
 left behind was broken up by the howling surges, which leapt 
 into it like a band of wolves into a sheep-fold. I thought I 
 saw the hull of the ship glancing amid the hollows, but it was 
 only the outline of a dark wave. The ocean all that way was 
 a blank, and every vestige of the ship and her freight of human 
 lives had vanished. 
 
 And now, as though this dreadful sacrifice had partially pro- 
 pitiated the storm-fiend, the heavens in the direction whence 
 the hurricane blew lightened into a pallid sulphur colour, and 
 the horizon opened. But there was no lull in the wind ; on 
 the contrary, it seemed to come with a new edge, a fresh spite. 
 From time to time one of the windward vessels would put her 
 helm up, and, under a shred of canvas, rush like an affrighted 
 thing from the tremendous scene of warring sea and dark sky, 
 and vanish upon the waste of hurling waters to leeward in a 
 fog of foam. Most of the large ships had suffered terribly ; 
 one was totally dismasted, and in the most dire peril ; another 
 had only her fore-mast standing ; the line-of-battle ship had 
 lost her fore-topmast and jib-booms. She lay about a quarter 
 of a mile astern of us, and there was something sublime in the 
 spectacle of her large hull soaring and vanishing, glancing 
 through a storm of spray as she was hove up, until she stood 
 nakedly exposed against the leaden sky, poised on the summit of 
 a sea like a ball balanced on a finger, and then sinking until 
 nothing could be seen but her top-masts sloping out of the pea- 
 green ridges heaped about her. 
 
THE STORM-FIEND. 267 
 
 Strangely enough, the little vessels had proved the most 
 weatherly ; only one of the eight or nine that I counted 
 appeared to have suffered aloft, and she could scarcely have 
 exceeded eighty tons. It was like watching a wherry. I 
 never should have believed it possible that any vessel could be 
 so flung about and live. Every time she vanished, I could 
 have sworn she was gone for good, yet up she would come 
 again as regularly as a buoy. 
 
 A little after four bells in the afternoon this hurricane began 
 to slacken its fury ; the sooty pall of cloud that was stretched 
 like a carpet across the whole surface of the visible heavens 
 broke up into large masses of vapour with primrose-coloured 
 £>atches between them, and anon narrow spaces of watery-blue 
 opened and let down hazy beams of sunshine here and there, 
 which touched the dark surface of the mountainous waters 
 with a troubled yellow brightness. By four o'clock the wind 
 had decreased to a moderate gale, and quantities of smoke-like 
 scud were sweeping under a blue sky marbled with small pris- 
 matic oyster-shaped clouds, which were moving slowly and 
 bodily away to the northward, athwart the course of the gale, 
 and through which the windy sun was forcing his ardent beams 
 and giving a beautiful green sparkle to the tumbling seas, and 
 a flashing whiteness to their seething crests. 
 
 We hoisted a small English ensign to let the war-vessels 
 know our nationality, and watched the line-of-battle ship re- 
 pairing damages, and signalling to the convoy like a hen 
 calling around her the survivors of her brood after a hawk has 
 been among them. As for the Tigress, she was in the same 
 taut and uninjured condition as the hurricane had found her 
 in ; not a spar was sprained, not a rope had carried away ; 
 there was not an inch of water in the well ; under a close- 
 reefed foresail the noble little craft rose and fell upon the 
 gradually-subsiding seas, as sound in masts and hull as if she 
 had just come out of dock, with the decks whitening in all 
 directions as they were dried by the sun, and the crew busy 
 
268 AN OCEAN FREE-LANCE. 
 
 clearing up, seeing to the guns, swabbing down the scuppers, 
 opening the hatches, and so forth. 
 
 I stood with Shelvocke watching the vessels to windward. 
 
 ' Madison,' said he, 'this will, I fear, prove a memorable 
 gale. I should not like to be prevented from sleeping until I 
 had counted in guineas the value in ships and goods that has 
 gone to the bottom this blessed day.' 
 
 ' I would to God, captain/ said I, ' I had not seen that ship 
 founder. The yell of her people will ring in my head to my 
 dying hour. It is a horrible trial to be obliged to helplessly 
 watch one's fellow-creatures miserably perish.' 
 
 ' It is so ; but is it not monstrous that men who will shudder 
 over such a sight as we have witnessed would, without a 
 single compunctious visiting of remorse, make a holocaust of 
 whole ship-loads of human beings merely because the ambition 
 of one potentate thwarts or obstructs the ambition of another 
 potentate 1 We are aghast at an act of God ; we are horrified 
 by the visitation of that Being in whose mercy we declare our 
 faith upon our knees; but our own hellish wickedness, our 
 own unnatural, fiendish cruelties we exult over — we crown — 
 we behymn — we monumentalise !' 
 
 'My dear sir,' I exclaimed, much astonished, 'how, with 
 these sentiments, can you have the heart to command a 
 privateer — a vessel licensed by the authority of one of those 
 potentates you name, whose ambition covers mankind with 
 sin, to destroy, capture, burn, and the rest of it V 
 
 'Because, young man, being born of woman, I am incon- 
 sistent, weak, vain, and insincere,' he answered. ' Besides, I 
 am a sailor, and what the dickens have / to do with 'long-shore 
 moralities ? The turn of a spoke just saved our lives when 
 that foundered ship was rushing upon us. What is the use of 
 sentiment to men whose existence depends upon the angle 
 described by a piece of timber 1 When that great sea took 
 us, what premium do you suppose an insurance office would 
 have charged you for a policy on your life ? Could a diagram 
 
THE STORM-FIEND. 269 
 
 of the vessel as she hung on the crest of that Andean wave 
 be submitted to some of your scientific bodies, not a member 
 but would swear that she ought to have upset, and that, in- 
 stead of taking the liberty to discuss the subject, you and I 
 should be making love to the Atlantic mermaids, some thou- 
 sands of fathoms deep. Men who go about with a halter 
 round their necks, which at any moment may be hauled 
 taut, can't be bothered with philosophy. I am one of those 
 who go where the devil drives. Sometimes I may try to sneak 
 on a drag. Sometimes I may whip out a bit of morality and 
 expose it as a man might a flag to show that he sails under 
 honourable colours. But the devil keeps hold of the reins all 
 the same ; and it is in this fashion that a large number of us 
 are going virtuously to hell.' 
 
 A flash, followed by a loud report. 
 
 ' A gun from the liner, sir t I exclaimed. ' With whom is 
 she parleying with those flags V 
 
 Presently the frigate that lay abreast of us, but a long way 
 off, replied to the signal. Then came another gun from the 
 big ship, and more signals, which were evidently addressed to 
 the merchantmen, for every vessel that had masts hoisted the 
 answering pennant. The import of these signals was speedily 
 shown by the various ships making sail ; and a brave and 
 handsome show they made, as in twos and threes they sheeted 
 home the reefed canvas and came rolling and foaming down 
 towards us upon the swelling surges : the large Indiamen look- 
 ing like men-of-war with their square yards and tiers of ports, 
 and their lengths of white hammocks, and their tall poops 
 and forecastles crowded with men, and the little craft toppling 
 about like toy brigs and schooners, rolling their gunwales 
 under water as they buzzed along, while the rays of the sun 
 which streamed down in a mass of lateral lines, for all the 
 world like a heavy shower of molten gold, and seemed to veer 
 from one point of the compass to the other under the swarm- 
 ing of the flying scud, illuminated the various vessels in turns, 
 
270 AN OCEAN FREE-LANCE. 
 
 kindling red fires in their glossy sides, and veining their masts 
 with purple lines, and flashing up their decks like diamonds 
 on a motioning hand, as the brass-work and skylights caught 
 the rays, and making a perfect magic-lantern-show of the 
 windy, tumbling, and foaming scene, by the swift alternation 
 of violet shadows and yellow brilliance. 
 
 The line-of-battle ship set her main-topsail and foresail, 
 and advanced towards us with slow, ponderous, and lordly 
 movements, as much as to say, \ I have had my eye upon you, 
 my friend, and take the first opportunity to have a better 
 look at you/ Nor was her curiosity unreasonable ; in spite of 
 the small ensign at her peak the Tigress's low, long, powerful, 
 and heavily-armed hull, and piratical sweep of spars, were 
 hardly of a kind to reassure a commodore in charge of a rich 
 and numerous convoy. 
 
 She approached us within pistol-shot, and was indeed so 
 close that the recoil of a sea from her huge side sent a shower 
 of spray over our quarter-deck. Groups of officers stood with 
 glasses levelled at us, and gazing at them was like standing 
 in the pit of a theatre and looking up at the gallery. I re- 
 member noticing her gigantic cutwater as she ploughed the 
 green seas, curling an immense wave away from her with every 
 plunge of her heavy, enormously thick bows, and the vast 
 spread of her lower shrouds, terminating in tops as big as the 
 floor of a room, and the little figures of the men who looked 
 down at us from these platforms. 
 
 I thought they would hail us ; but I suppose they reckoned 
 us honest enough, and shifting her helm the huge fabric rolled 
 away from us, in the direction pursued by the merchantmen, 
 leaving the frigate to look after the injured ships. 
 
 ' 'Tis an ill wind that blows nobody any good,' said Shel- 
 vocke, after sweeping the weather horizon with the glass. 
 1 Yet this hurricane would have been more obliging had it 
 blown up any other convoy than an English one. However, 
 get a reef shaken out of the foresail, Mr. Madison, and 
 
THE STORM-FIEND. 271 
 
 set the standing and inner jibs. The course is west-sou'- 
 west.' 
 
 In half an hour's time we were foaming along on the strong 
 swell left by the hurricane, every vestige of the convoy 
 vanished, a bright sun shining over our starboard bow, and a 
 heaven out of which the smoke-like scud had vanished, leaving* 
 instead a sky of brilliant, small white cloud flecked with orange 
 in the west, and blue overhead, and violet in the east, as it 
 arched towards the sea whose tossing surface seemed to have 
 been purified into the most lovely and transparent green by 
 the hurricane that had ravaged it. 
 
 CHAPTER XL 
 
 A STRANGE VISION. 
 
 * What is all that smoke forward there, Mr. Tapping f I sung 
 out as I came on deck, after changing my wet clothes. 
 
 ' It's the cook bothering with some damp wood over the 
 galley fire, sir. I suppose you know the men haven't had any 
 dinner f 
 
 4 Then that accounts for the odd sensation just here,' said 
 I, laying my hand on my waistcoat, 'that has been be- 
 wildering me for the last two hours. Why, none of us has 
 dined.' 
 
 'No, sir, and the men are like wolves. It's a sight to see 
 them sharpening their knives on the soles of their boots. I 
 shouldn't like to be the cook if the water don't boil soon, sir.' 
 
 I went up to Shelvocke, who was puffing a cigar with a 
 thoughtful face on the grating abaft the tiller, and asked 
 him if he was aware that neither he nor any of the rest of us 
 had tasted food since breakfast — nine dismal hours of absti- 
 nence ? 
 
272 AN OCEAN FREE-LANCE. 
 
 1 Upon my word !' he exclaimed, throwing his cigar over- 
 board and jumping up, c the hurricane must have been strong 
 indeed to blow the very appetite out of a man. Call the 
 steward, Madison.' 
 
 The man came on deck. 
 
 ' What is there to eat, steward f 
 
 ' There's cold beef, sir, and cold 'am, and a piece of pickled 
 pork ' 
 
 1 No more words,' interrupted Shelvocke. ' Make the best 
 show you can with the cold provender — we can't wait for 
 the cook ; and take my compliments to Mr. Corney and the 
 third and fourth mates, and say I shall be glad to see them to 
 dinner.' 
 
 The steward bustled off, and presently we were all pegging 
 away at the substantial and plentiful sea fare that loaded the 
 table, whilst a boatswain's mate stumped the quarter-deck in 
 charge of the schooner. 
 
 But there was a gloom upon some of us that the wine, 
 freely bandied about as it was, could not lighten. I won- 
 dered at the depression of my own spirits almost remorsefully, 
 when I recalled the perils we had escaped and glanced up and 
 beheld the mild blue heaven beaming over the skylight, and 
 the golden evening sunshine streaming in rays upon the small- 
 arms rack, and flashing in the musket-barrels and cutlasses. 
 
 * You look as glum as a sick monkey, Madison,' exclaimed 
 Shelvocke. * Are you still haunted by the spectacle of that 
 foundering ship ? One would suppose you had a sweetheart 
 aboard of her. And you, Peacock, have you seen a ghost that 
 you sip your wine as solemnly as if you were drinking to the 
 memory of the dead V 
 
 4 There's nothing the matter with me, sir,' answered the 
 handsome young fellow, rousing himself apparently with an 
 effort ; but the unusually thoughtful and dejected expression 
 came into his face again a moment after, and he fixed his large 
 •dark eyes dreamily upon the table. 
 
A STRANGE VISION. ' 273 
 
 * Captain, what state of mind ought a man to be in after a 
 narrow escape V said Corney. ' Ought he to feel awed, and 
 wonder that such a rascal as he was thought worthy of another 
 chance of mending his life, or take his luck dispassionately and 
 conclude that his escape merely meant that his time hadn't 
 yet come V 
 
 ' Why Mr. Corney, that will depend upon whether he's a 
 Christian or a Mussulman.' 
 
 ' But how ought a Christian to feel, captain f 
 
 ' My good sir, do you suppose that Great Britain supports 
 four archbishops — Armagh counts for one, don't he, Madison 1 
 — four archbishops I say, and a whole squadron of dignitaries 
 from London to Sodor and Man, that such a question as yours 
 shall be answered by the skipper of a privateer % Give me 
 ten thousand a year and a palace, and I'll engage to reply "to 
 your inquiries.' 
 
 ' What is meant by a narrow escape, I wonder f observed 
 Chestree. 
 
 { When the toyman's daughter jilted you, that was a narrow 
 escape for you or Susan,' said I, feeling that I ought to say 
 something. ' You might have married her.' 
 
 c Why, that's very true, Mr. Madison,' replied Chestree 
 gravely. ' But was that a narrow escape because I knew it to 
 be an escape, or would it have been a narrow escape whether 
 I knew it or not t 
 
 1 Good Lord !' cried Tapping, ' what do you mean, sir V 
 
 1 Pray explain yourself, Chestree,' exclaimed Shelvocke. 
 
 1 As your proposition stands,' said Corney, ' it is the most 
 unintelligible thing that has come to my ears since my first 
 schoolmaster asked me if a bee was a fly would a bluebottle 
 make honey.' 
 
 1 Why, really, gentlemen,' said Chestree, blushing like a girl, 
 after staring at one and the other with his great mouth open 
 like a newly-landed cod, ' what I said is extremely sensible. 
 What is a narrow escape ? I asked. For instance, here we are 
 
 18 
 
274 AN OCEAN FREE-LANCE. 
 
 sitting in this cabin. At this very moment one of the boys 
 may have wriggled himself into the powder-magazine that is 
 almost under our feet, and be skylarking among the cartridges 
 with a lighted candle. A spark from the candle would blow 
 us into smithereens, but the candle is accidentally extinguished, 
 the boy sneaks away, and no harm is done. Is this a narrow 
 escape, captain V 
 
 ' Of course it is.' 
 
 ' Whether we know it or not V 
 
 'Certainly. What the deuce has your Jcnoivledge of the 
 danger got to do with the risk you run V 
 
 ' But, good heavens, sir,' pleaded Chestree, ' at this rate 
 every moment of our existence, more or less, involves a narrow 
 escape. I am sent aloft \ in my hurry I skip a ratline \ had I 
 footed that ratline, I should have tumbled overboard. But I 
 go up and I come down safe, and I know nothing of the risk I 
 have run. Do you mean to call that a narrow escape V 
 
 ' If by taking that ratline you would have been thrown 
 overboard, your skipping it would assuredly be a narrow 
 escape.' 
 
 ■ Whether I knew it or not f 
 
 ' Certainly,' said Tapping. 
 
 Chestree drew a deep breath. 
 
 ' It's no use, gentlemen ; I see you don't understand me.' 
 
 ' You don't understand yourself,' said Corney, wondering at 
 the blockhead. 
 
 'You'll excuse me, Mr. Corney,' replied Chestree, with a 
 wandering eye, ■ but I hope you don't think, because I'm not 
 able to amputate a man's leg, that I'm an ass, sir.' 
 
 'And I hope you don't imagine, because I can amputate a 
 man's leg, that I'm unable to tell when a man talks nonsense, 
 sir V said Corney. 
 
 Shelvocke gave me a faint wink, and glanced at Peacock. I 
 imagined that he was willing to encourage a quarrel between 
 Corney and Chestree, merely that it might awaken Peacock 
 
A STRANGE VISION. 275 
 
 out of his melancholy. At least I knew the real, if furtive, 
 interest he took in the lad, and his glance at him exactly con- 
 veyed the impression I have written. 
 
 1 "Nonsense" is rather a strong term to apply to a man's 
 opinion, Mr. Corney,' said I. 
 
 I What other word/ replied Corney warmly, ' will describe 
 the reasoning of a person who says, in effect, When I pulled 
 off my coat before going to bed, I found that somebody had 
 chalked " Fool " upon it ; but so far as I was concerned, no 
 such word was on my back until I pulled off my coat and read 
 the word, because I did not know it was there V 
 
 I I think he has you there, Chestree,' said Shelvocke. 
 ' That's a strong argument against Chestree, don't you think, 
 Madison f 
 
 ' Strong for its impertinence, sir ; but as a piece of reasoning 
 not worth that P shouted Chestree, with a loud snap of his 
 fingers, 
 
 4 Oh, pray don't talk of impertinence, Mr. Chestree !' ex- 
 claimed Corney rather hysterically, and cocking his nose in 
 the air, with the nostrils working like a pair of bellows. ' The 
 man who sneers at a gentleman's profession isn't the right 
 kind of individual to speak of impertinence. Impertinence !' 
 he continued, warming up, with Chestree's reference to the 
 amputation of legs evidently rankling ; ' why don't Mr. Ches- 
 tree refute me, captain ? My idea of the word " fool " ' 
 
 1 Your idea of the word " fool " ! My idea of the word 
 " fool," you mean, sir !' shouted Chestree. ' Ask me for a 
 definition of that word, my young friend, and no living artist 
 shall give you a neater portrait of yourself than I will.' 
 
 1 Gentlemen — gentlemen !' interposed Shelvocke ; * not so 
 personal, please.' 
 
 * Captain Shelvocke !' exclaimed Corney, { I desire, sir, to take 
 this opportunity, in the presence of the commander and officers 
 of this schooner, of stating that in my opinion Mr. Chestree is 
 a man of no origin.' 
 
 18—2 
 
276 AN OCEAN FREE-LANCE, 
 
 ' Here's a pretty surgeon ! here's a fine cutter and carver, 
 gentlemen !' burst out the literal Chestree, with a deafening 
 neigh that was meant for a laugh, ' not to know that every 
 human being born into this world must have an origin ! No 
 origin ! Ha ! ha ! And yet I dare say the fellow thinks him- 
 self qualified to argue on anatomy !' 
 
 There was no standing this acceptation of Corney's affront ; 
 the high convulsed features, the dancing eyes, the broad open 
 mouth of the second mate, and the purple countenance and 
 quivering nose of the surgeon were too much for our gravity. 
 Shelvocke, Tapping and I burst into a roar of laughter, which 
 Chestree joined in to his heart's content, evidently imagining 
 the joke to be on his side. 
 
 I Gentlemen,' said Shelvocke, ' we have had enough of this 
 discussion. Now that you are evidently both of one opinion, 
 you will oblige me by drinking each other's health. Mr. 
 Tapping, fill Chestree's glass. Corney, the decanter is at your 
 elbow.' 
 
 The apparent good-humour of this request did not make the 
 tone in which it was delivered less imperative ; but the look 
 that the two men gave each other as they grasped their glasses, 
 as if they intended to fling them at one another's heads, started 
 me off again. 
 
 Presently Chestree left the table to attend to his duty on 
 deck, and was followed by Peacock. The young fellow had 
 not spoken half-a-dozen words during the whole time we were 
 at dinner. 
 
 * What's the matter with the boy, Madison 1 — do you know V 
 asked Shelvocke. * Is he ill V 
 
 I I don't think so, sir. A little capsized, perhaps, by the sight 
 of the sinking ship, as I am — or was, I ought perhaps to say.' 
 
 1 That is it, no doubt,' remarked Corney : c and an awful 
 thing it was to see. I suppose if Chestree had been asleep 
 when she foundered, he would swear it couldn't have happened 
 because he knew nothing of it.' 
 
A STRANGE VISION. 277 
 
 ' Oh, pray don't get upon that subject again, Mr. Corney,' 
 said Shelvocke. ' Do you know, Madison, I think I have made 
 a mistake in coming so far south.' 
 
 'Why, sir, I always thought the contraband Guineamen 
 would give us more trouble than they're worth, should we 
 succeed in capturing one or two of them,' I answered. ' But 
 we are heading now for the Yankee tracks, I take it, and I 
 think the helm has been wisely shifted.' 
 
 1 The sea has dropped miraculously, considering the frightful 
 severity of the hurricane. Mr. Chestree !' he shouted, send- 
 ing his voice through the open skylight, ' how looks the 
 weather V 
 
 1 Very fine indeed, sir, and clear as glass in the north. The 
 breeze has shifted three points since I have been on deck, and 
 I reckon it will be failing us altogether at sundown.' 
 
 'Likely enough,' said Shelvocke, emptying his glass, and 
 glancing at the tell-tale compass that swung over his head. 
 
 We had more wine and sat chatting awhile, and then Shel- 
 vocke got up and went on deck, and I repaired to my cabin, 
 where I lay thinking over the hurricane, and the sinking ship, 
 and Corney's and Chestree's quarrel, and Miss Palmer and 
 Lady Tempest's ball, and many other such matters, until I fell 
 asleep ; but was awakened by the excessive heat, that bathed 
 me in perspiration and made the berth like a forcing glass-house 
 in the dog-days. 
 
 It was more than I could stand, so I filled my pipe and went 
 on deck. 
 
 The sun had set, and though there was a rich red flush in 
 the west, the night — as it does in these latitudes — had gathered 
 a few minutes after the luminary had vanished, and the effect 
 of this blood-red space upon the darkly-pure heavens, in which 
 the large yellow stars were shining like little moons, was ex- 
 tremely beautiful and strange. There was a faint breeze blow- 
 ing from the south, scarcely enough to steady the sails, and a 
 swell that would have kept the schooner rolling uncomfortably 
 
278 AN OCEAN FREE-LANCE. 
 
 enough but for the unusually long intervals between the watery 
 heavings. 
 
 The first person I noticed on arriving on deck was young 
 Peacock, who stood upon one of the guns, leaning over the bul- 
 warks, and looking into the black water alongside. He was so 
 utterly lost in thought that though I remained at his side for 
 some moments he had no knowledge of my presence, and when 
 I addressed him he started so violently that the light straw hat 
 he wore fell from his head into the sea. 
 
 Trivial as this incident was, I cannot express the effect it 
 produced on me. 
 
 ' It's gone for good,' said I, watching the pale circumference 
 glide astern, ' and you'll never wear that hat again this side of 
 the promised land. What caused you to jump so wildly f 
 1 Your voice startled me, sir.' 
 
 'Go fetch another covering,' said I; 'the dew falls like 
 rain.' 
 
 He went below and presently returned, and stationed him- 
 self alongside the gun on which he had been standing. 
 1 Aren't you well, Peacock V 
 
 ' Quite well, sir,' he replied, a little irritably ; ' what makes 
 you think I am not well, Mr. Madison f 
 
 ' Because you are so extremely glum, my boy. Nothing has- 
 annoyed you, I hope,' said I, thinking of Shelvocke's story 
 about him, and wondering whether Chestree or Tapping had 
 said anything to pain him. 
 
 'No, sir. A fellow can't always control his feelings. I 
 have felt dull — I shall wake up presently.' 
 
 'What should make a lad like you dull? 1 I exclaimed, rather 
 disposed to think him sentimental — a weakness that is bad 
 enough in men, but odious and disgusting in boys. ' You're 
 nineteen years old, I think you said ; and any man who can 
 be dull at that age must be cracked — nothing but a list in his 
 brains ought to excuse him. What were you looking for in 
 the water alongside just now V 
 
A STRANGE VISION. 279 
 
 He made no answer. I could not very clearly distinguish 
 his features in the starlight ; but I did see, and was astonished 
 to behold, his large dark eyes glittering with tears, as he 
 raised them towards the sky, and stood in that posture for 
 some time quite motionless, breathing quickly. 
 
 ' What ails ye, Peacock % — tell me, my boy/ said I, softening 
 my voice and addressing him very earnestly. 
 
 He suddenly threw his arm along the fiferail, and buried 
 his face in it and sobbed like a girl, yet very quietly ; indeed 
 so gently, that had I stepped back a pace I had not heard 
 him. 
 
 ' A touch of hysteria — highly delicate organization — deplor- 
 able sensibility I Poor boy ! quite unfit, as I have always 
 felt, for a rough sea-life,' thought I, watching him and 
 waiting until his emotion was spent before I addressed him 
 again. 
 
 Presently he looked up, and said, ' You see how it is, sir ; I 
 cannot control these moods of mine.' 
 
 * Go and ask the steward for a rummer of cold grog,' said I. 
 ' Nothing like a glass of grog to haul taut one's nerve-strings.' 
 
 ' No, thank you, sir. Give me a little time and I shall be 
 all right.' 
 
 However, what with the curiosity my knowledge of his 
 story had aroused in me, and the interest he had all along 
 excited, I was not in the temper to let him go without a little 
 probing. 
 
 'Look here, Peacock,' said I, 'why the deuce won't you 
 answer a plain question ? No man sheds tears without a reason. 
 If it's on the nerves, let him get the head-pump rigged and 
 stand under it until he's better ; if it's in the mind, let him un- 
 burden himself. What's the matter with you V 
 
 He folded his arms and tapped on the deck with his little 
 foot. 
 
 'What would be the good,' said he, in a low voice, 'of my 
 telling you, Mr. Madison 1 You will only laugh at me.' 
 
2 8o AN OCEAN FREE-LANCE. 
 
 'Not I, man.' 
 
 * I know you ridicule everything superstitious, sir.' 
 
 1 How do you know that, my friend f 
 
 ' Mr. Madison, I will tell you the truth if you promise me 
 to keep it secret.' 
 
 1 Of course it has no relation to what you would very well 
 know to he my duty as chief officer f 
 
 ' Oh dear no, sir.' 
 
 'Then, on my honour, I will keep your secret.' 
 
 He pulled off the cloth cap he had substituted for the head- 
 gear that had gone astern, and wiped his forehead ; but instead 
 of replacing it, he held it in his hand — and there can be no 
 doubt that he did this expressly, as though his story were too 
 solemn for him to relate with his head covered. The starlight 
 was in his eyes as he fixed them upon me, and he spoke in a 
 voice scarcely raised above a whisper, sometimes catching his 
 breath hurriedly like a person in pain. 
 
 1 It was in the morning- watch, sir ; half an hour after I 
 had come on deck this morning. It was very thick all around, 
 and black as pitch. The men had stowed themselves away 
 under the boats, and forward the decks looked deserted. Mr. 
 Chestree, who was right aft, told me to bring him a draught 
 of water from the scuttle-butt. It was so dark all about the 
 fore-mast that I had to walk slowly and pick my way for fear 
 of treading upon the men ; and when I reached the scuttle- 
 butt — the one just before the galley, sir — I stood groping 
 about for the dipper. I was feeling with my foot for it, as I 
 fancied that it might have capsized off the scuttle-butt, when 
 a pale, faint, yellowish light was thrown suddenly upon the 
 deck i and close up against the fore mast I saw a wavering 
 yellow outline that grew quickly into the likeness of a woman, 
 with hair all over her shoulders, of the colour of the light, 
 and large black eyes j and her hands were clasped like those 
 of a person's beseeching you, but all below her waist flowed 
 away in a sort of trembling yellow mist that faded into the 
 
A STRANGE VISION. 281 
 
 darkness when it was within a foot of the deck. As soon as 
 ever the phantom became distinct, it unlocked its hands and 
 made the sign of the cross with the first finger of its right 
 hand, and then pointed upwards ; and though no sound came 
 from it, yet I could see by the movement of its lips that it 
 pronounced the word Philip. It faded away, with its finger 
 pointing towards the sky ; and I stooped and picked up the 
 dipper that I had noticed when the light first broke, and filled 
 it and carried it aft to Mr. Chestree.' 
 
 At this point he was seized with a violent trembling, and I 
 could judge the extent of the fit by the shaking of his hand as 
 he raised his cap and placed it on his head. 
 
 I was never a superstitious man, although one of a class 
 who, as a body, are reckoned so ; but though I did not in the 
 least believe that any such spectre as Peacock painted had 
 appeared to him, yet what with his gleaming eyes and the 
 darkness, and the moan and wash of the water alongside, and 
 the solemn shining of the stars, added to the story itself, and 
 the horror that possessed the youth in relating it, and his diffi- 
 cult breathing and the quivering of his body, I do admit that 
 I was stirred and affected to a degree I could scarcely have 
 believed possible in a mind so healthily fixed and (in spite of 
 Shelvocke's good-natured ridicule) so purely prcsaical at bottom 
 as mine. 
 
 ' Did you tell Chestree what you had seen V I asked. 
 
 1 Oh no, sir. I have mentioned it to no one but yourself.' 
 
 ' Was it a dream, do you think ! dreams are sometimes so 
 lifelike, and so muddle one's waking experiences, that I have 
 often asked myself whether such and such a thing really hap- 
 pened, or whether I had dreamed it.' 
 
 'No, no, it was not a dream, Mr. Madison/ he answered, 
 shaking his head slowly, but with deliberate decision. 'I 
 saw the dipper by the light the figure threw, so that I 
 knew exactly where to put my hand upon it when the light 
 faded.' 
 
282 AN OCEAN FREE-LANCE. 
 
 1 Was the woman's face known to you f 
 
 1 No, sir ; I had never seen the face before.' 
 
 ' And pray, Peacock,' said I, knocking the ashes out of my 
 pipe with a sharp rap, and feeling a little irritated by the 
 involuntary sympathetic interest I had taken in this bit of 
 ghostly nonsense, ' why should this spectre give you any dis- 
 turbance f what do you want to pretend that a thing of this 
 kind signifies f 
 
 He made no answer. 
 
 ' See here, Peacock : suppose, after worrying yourself over 
 this matter until you felt inclined to hang yourself, you should 
 find out that, at the very moment you spied your vision, a 
 seaman had lighted a candle for one of the lanterns at some 
 point of the deck from which the flame would fling such a light 
 as you saw ; and suppose you could satisfy yourself that — the 
 cause of the light given — all the rest of the phenomena of 
 yellow hair and flame-coloured cheeks, and black eyes and 
 moving hands, was caused by your startled and morbid imagi- 
 nation working upon a coil of rope, a couple of belaying pins, 
 a background of bright mast, and a few twisting shadows ; 
 wouldn't you laugh at yourself for a donkey in allowing an 
 illusion, scarcely alarming enough to frighten a female cook, 
 to depress and agitate you f 
 
 He said he would be glad enough to find out that the thing 
 he had seen had been caused in the way I suggested ; and 
 perhaps it might be as I supposed, too : any way he had told 
 me the truth so far as he was concerned, and begged me to 
 remember my promise not to repeat his story. 
 
 ' Certainly you may trust me,' I replied. ' And now, my 
 lad, don't go hanging over this matter as though it were a 
 thing of consequence. Treat it as a mere waking dream ; one 
 of those visions which come before a man with his eyes open. 
 We're all of us dreaming, day and night ; and for my part, if 
 I had my choice of dreams, I would ask to see handsome 
 women with yellow hair and black eyes — a lovely combination, 
 
A STRANGE VISION. 283 
 
 Peacock : that is if the skin be fair — not sallow, like most of 
 the foreign fair-haired women, as though a brunette should 
 dye her hair golden — but whose native complexion is always 
 stamped on the back of her neck, you know.' 
 
 'Yes, sir, I know/ he answered, laughing a little, though I 
 don't suppose he did know ; but I was glad to hear the laugh, 
 and nattered myself my arguments had done him good. 
 
 At this moment eight bells were struck, and the watch 
 below called. I went aft to take Chestree's place, and Pea- 
 cock left the deck. 
 
 1 Chestree,' said I, as he was shambling rather sullenly to- 
 wards the companion ; his quarrel with Corney was not for- 
 gotten. 
 
 He stopped, and I drew near him. 
 
 ' Will your memory carry you so far back as half -past four 
 o'clock this morning V said I. 
 
 He tipped his hat over his forehead to scratch the back of 
 his head, and looked at me as if he thought I was going to 
 quiz him. 
 
 1 What now, sir 1 My memory's good for a few hours, I 
 hope.' 
 
 ' Shortly after you relieved me at four o'clock, you sent 
 young Peacock to get you a drink of water V 
 
 'Ay, that's right,' he replied, staring at me with surprise, 
 and his arms hanging alongside of him like a recruit being 
 drilled. 
 
 1 Did you see anything in the shape of a light betwixt the 
 galley and the fore-mast during the time the youngster was 
 forward V 
 
 1 A light V he exclaimed. ' What, do you mean a lantern- 
 light V 
 
 < Yes.' 
 
 ' Such a light, for instance, as a candle would throw, sir ¥ 
 
 'Yes, Chestree.' 
 
 1 No, sir, I didn't.' 
 
284 AN OCEAN FREE-LANCE. 
 
 1 When Peacock brought you the water did he seem at all 
 upset V 
 
 1 What do you mean by upset, Mr. Madison V 
 
 I What's the matter with you to-night, man 1 I ask, was 
 there anything peculiar in Peacock — anything odd — anything 
 to strike you as unusual in the lad's manner when he came 
 aft with the water f 
 
 ' No, sir.' 
 
 I'm a fool to ask these questions, thought I ; Chestree's an 
 honest [man, but a complete blockhead, and I was turning 
 away, when after screwing his head round to make sure that 
 Shelvocke was out of hearing, Chestree said : 
 
 ' Pray, Mr. Madison, have you any notion of what Corney 
 meant by saying that I was a man of no origin f 
 
 ' It was only like hinting that your forefathers were not all 
 of them probably members of the aristocracy. 7 
 
 ' I have been pondering over that observation, sir, and al- 
 though it is no doubt as stupid a thing as could be said of a 
 human being, yet there's sometimes a great deal of malice 
 even in stupidity, and I should like you to tell me, Mr. Madi- 
 son, whether you think I ought to accept that remark from 
 Mr. Corney as a reflection on my mother f 
 
 ' No, the man never thought of your mother. If any 
 member of your circle was in his mind at all it would be your 
 grandfather. A man without an origin — in England — is a 
 person who can only hope, without being able to prove, that 
 his father was born before him.' 
 
 ' Then you think, sir, there is nothing in Corney's remark 
 that I should be justified in accepting as a reflection on my 
 mother V he inquired, with much anxiety expressed in his 
 voice and posture. 
 
 * Nothing whatever.' 
 
 I I am very glad to hear you say so,' said he, and swung 
 himself with some briskness through the companion. 
 
 Although I readily admit that old ruins, and churchyards, 
 
. A STRANGE VISION. 285 
 
 and desolate moors, and such places, are fine nurseries for 
 human superstitions — shall I ever forget how the sight of a 
 tall white goat browsing one evening on the green hillocks of 
 an old churchyard made the sweat pour down my face, and 
 started my heels as if the grapnel of a balloon had got foul of 
 the hair of my head ! — yet, if I wanted to enjoy what old 
 midwives call the ' creeps and crawls ' to perfection, I would 
 choose for the liberation of my fancies a quiet night at sea, 
 with a reddish half moon in the sky, and a slow, dark swell 
 that is felt but not seen, as it rolls out of the mystical distances 
 where heaven and ocean are mingled into one deep shadow, 
 and when the illusion of the deep as a concavity in correspon- 
 dence with the sky that arches overhead is rendered more 
 impressive by the clear and unbroken sparkling of the stars 
 in the water. 
 
 I was in the midst of just such a scene as I walked quietly 
 to and fro the deck of the Tigress, thinking over young Pea- 
 cock's story ; and could I only have brought my mind to 
 admit the possibility of such a spectre as the boy had declared 
 he looked on, the gentle sighing of the light breeze aloft, the 
 sobbing of the water under the counter, the soft flapping of 
 canvas like the rustling and rushing of invisible wings over- 
 head, the silent deck, and the flitting figures of the look-out 
 men in the bows, whose shapes were only determinable by the 
 stars which they blotted out, would have supplied my fancies 
 with a more thrilling spirit than ever the ghostly windmill, 
 the rustling brake, the moonbeam shining through the embra- 
 sure of a ruin, or the shadow of a wind-tossed yew upon a 
 gravestone, furnished to the imagination of a belated plough- 
 man. 
 
 ' What a contrast with the scene of this morning, Madison !' 
 exclaimed Shelvocke, coming up to me as I stood watching a 
 white, gauze-like film creeping off the moon, and noticing how 
 the stars in the immediate neighbourhood of the pearly planet 
 waned and died in the silvery blue as she brightened. 
 
286 AN OCEAN FREE-LANCE. 
 
 I Ay, sir, to look around upon this quiet night-scene makes 
 the recollection of the foundered ship appear like a freak of 
 the fancy. There is very little air abroad, to judge by the 
 passage of that bit of haze across the moon.' 
 
 I I am prepared for a calm. I am prepared for a long spell 
 of inactivity. At least, I couldn't feel more despondent if I 
 knew for certain that no luck was to befall us for the next six 
 months. I exceedingly regret the southing we have made. 
 We really have no business down here, at least on this side. 
 How do the spirits of the men appear to you V 
 
 I They seem lively enough, sir.' 
 
 I I fancy this enforced idleness is telling upon the officers, 
 though. If it had not been for Corney and Chestree at 
 dinner, there would not have been a laugh heard aft to-day.' 
 
 ' I suppose the strongest-minded persons have their super- 
 stitious depressions at times, sir,' said I, my previous thoughts 
 taking my words that way. 
 
 1 Superstitious depressions !' he exclaimed. ' Who's super- 
 stitious ? Not you, surely f 
 
 ' Oh, not in the least, sir. But don't you think despondency 
 is always more or less superstitious f 
 
 1 I can't say I do. If I fret over the days passing without 
 running us alongside a prize, I'm not superstitious, am I f said 
 he, chipping away with a flint and steel for a light for his 
 cigar. 
 
 * Do you believe in ghosts, captain V 
 
 I expected a laugh for an answer, instead of which he 
 lighted his cigar, stowed the box away in his pocket, and after 
 a considerable pause said : 
 
 4 You put the question so seriously, that I'll give you a 
 serious answer— I do believe in ghosts. Not in hobgoblins : 
 not in your saucer-eyed, long-tailed figments. But I do most 
 firmly believe that the spirits of the dead revisit these cold 
 glimpses of the moon, and that many persons have beheld such 
 apparitions. Strange that you should have hit upon the 
 
A STRANGE VISION. 287 
 
 subject, Madison. It's a strong faith in me, and has been 
 with me as long as I can remember ; though,' said he, grasp- 
 ing his beard and slowly passing his hand down it, ' no one 
 would suspect a big, barbed fellow like me, who has been to sea 
 all his life, and knocked about in the rudest and most unsenti- 
 mental calling known to mortals, guilty of such a weakness.' 
 
 ' Your confession certainly surprises me, sir. / do not 
 believe in apparitions, but I really don't know why they 
 shouldn't be believed in.' 
 
 1 There are two reasons for my belief,' said he, seating him- 
 self with an air as though he relished the conversation. ' First of 
 all, from the very earliest times — so far as my reading goes — all 
 through scriptural, pagan, modern history, down to the present 
 hour, the idea that ghosts — incorporeal essences as the diction- 
 aries describe them — have appeared to living beings, and 
 that such existences are real has been deeply rooted ; the one 
 article of faith in which the votaries of all sorts of creeds are 
 agreed. There is hardly a country you can visit but that you 
 will find this belief a settled conviction. What stronger testi- 
 mony would you have \ I would to heaven there were the 
 same concurrence of faith in deeper matters which puzzle me 
 in the religion I belong to ! But I have another and surely a 
 very conclusive reason for my belief.' 
 
 * And what may that be, sir F said I, observing him 
 pause. 
 
 By the moonlight, that was now exceedingly clear and 
 bright, I saw him looking at me intently. He removed his 
 cigar from his mouth, and said in a low, grave, and steady 
 voice : 
 
 * Credit my words or not, as you please, Madison : I have 
 beheld a spirit with my own eyes.' 
 
 ' You, sir !' I shouted, and I was rather thankful that I was 
 too much astonished to laugh. 
 
 4 Yes, I, my friend. I have seen a spirit when my mind 
 was as calm and collected as yours is now, when my pulse was 
 
288 AN OCEAN FREE-LANCE. 
 
 as temperate and steady as health could make it, when my 
 brain had been tautened and set up by the luff-tackles of a 
 long and refreshing sleep, so that neither wine, nor a late 
 supper, nor any of the rest of the unpoetical causes to which 
 the sceptics assign the creation of ghosts, could have been at 
 the bottom of the tremendous visitation.' 
 
 ' Why, captain,' said I, impressed by the subdued energy of 
 his manner, ' if you tell me that you are serious, I will most 
 dutifully believe that you have seen a ghost, although any 
 other man's most solemn assurance on such a subject would 
 only set me laughing ; for if I know you at all, your are cer- 
 tainly not a person to be duped by your own imagination into 
 a conviction so opposed to common sense.' 
 
 ' I am speaking the sober truth, Madison. That I have seen 
 a spirit I do most solemnly declare.' 
 
 ' You amaze me, captain. May I ask what shape the spirit 
 appeared in V 
 
 He swung his leg and looked down. I was not sure that he 
 heard me. He had forgotten his cigar, and his posture was 
 one of deep self-engrossment. I never regretted anything 
 more in my life than the promise I had made Peacock not to 
 repeat his story ; as I should have amazingly liked to have had 
 Shelvocke's judgment on the lad's statement, the more especi- 
 ally as he himself was a believer in spirits, and took besides a 
 strong interest in the boy. 
 
 ' Who was it that described a ghost as something of a 
 shadowy being, captain ?' said I. ' I suppose that is as exact a 
 definition as could be ventured. But how can a shadow have 
 a sex 1 — and yet you hear of male and female spectres/ 
 
 * Oh, I can't follow you into the physiology of ghosts/ he 
 rejoined, pulling out his tinder-box again and hammering at it 
 as though he kept time to a tune. ' And now, let me ask how 
 happens it that so poetical a mind as yours should not believe 
 in the apparition of the dead ? Know you not those magnifi- 
 cent lines : 
 
A STRANGE VISION. 289 
 
 1 " To-morrow, and to-morrow, and to-morrow, 
 Creeps in this petty pace from day to day, 
 To the last syllable of recorded time ; 
 And all our yesterdays have lighted fools 
 The way to dusty death." 
 
 What are our yesterdays but tombs 1 — yet will you tell me 
 that out of those tombs the dead do not steal to stare you in 
 the face, taking such form and substance, gazing at you with 
 looks so full of pity or scorn or sorrow or reproach, that the 
 fleshly eye beholds nothing completer in skin and bone 1 
 Suppose that the vessel in which Miss Palmer sailed from 
 Cawsand Bay had foundered, and all aboard of her perished, 
 a few hours after she had left the Sound — the girl would be 
 dead as a nail now, wouldn't she ? Yet think of her, and 
 observe how her face shall shape itself out of the substance — 
 be it sunbright or dark as this water — upon which your eyes 
 rest as you muse. Is that so t 
 
 ' Yes, sir ; but ' 
 
 ' But me no buts ; I can guess your objection. You want 
 your spectres to turn out in the conventional costumes, do 
 you f he interrupted, in a lively, mocking voice. ' You seek 
 for your supernaturalism in scanty skirts, eh I Your spirit 
 must make its bow silvered over with a fine moonlike light, 
 like the theatrical angels I once saw hovering round a tragedy- 
 woman's death-bed at the Portsmouth Theatre. If that be 
 your theory of ghosts, Madison, you need never lard your 
 head to keep terror from stirring your hair. . . . Ay, our beau- 
 tiful luck f he muttered, as the mainsail flapped heavily ; ' let 
 us be becalmed for a fortnight, and then get a breeze to blow 
 us the news that treaties of peace have been signed by all the 
 Powers.' 
 
 And so saying, he got up with a yawn and a long stretch of 
 his arms, and, with a half -smothered laugh, lounged lazily over 
 to the binnacles, where he stood for some minutes courting the 
 wind by whistling through his teeth, and then went below, 
 leaving me so much in doubt as to whether his talk about 
 
 19 
 
2 9 o AN OCEAN FREE-LANCE. 
 
 spirits had not been mere banter, in spite of his declarations of 
 sincerity, that, to save myself a heap of idle speculations, I 
 let the subject fall from my mind. 
 
 The light air that had kept the water tinkling against the 
 sides of the schooner now died completely out, and the long 
 swell rolled in lines like liquid jet along the glassy sea, flash- 
 ing back the silver of the moon as they passed under her, and 
 sweeping onward in black ridges into the distant gloom. The 
 vessel lifted and sank upon these heavings as noiselessly as a 
 swing, unless now and again the canvas gave a smart flap, or a 
 block squealed like a rat among the swaying spars ; but the 
 water for the space of a fathom away all around was a beauti- 
 ful sight, with the phosphorescent fires which, as the hull sank, 
 shot out in tongues of flame, or in fibrine forms like the wreath- 
 ing of innumerable tendrils of plants, and which, as the vessel 
 was hove up, faded into green clouds like puffs of steam illumi- 
 nated by blue light. It was like looking into a kaleidoscope 
 to see the graceful writhings of these lovely though weird fires, 
 and never had I been in a better mood to watch the play of the 
 mysterious radiance and .to mark the wonderful luminous shapes 
 which were formed — flitting and fluctuating and nebulous 
 visions, whose astonishing configurations admirably harmonized 
 with the vast, unsearchable and ebony-coloured depths, on the 
 polished surface of which they sported like brilliant summer- 
 flies on some stream that runs darkling under the shadow of 
 trees. 
 
 However, some time before midnight sentiment had been 
 tired out of me. The dew lay so heavy on the decks that the 
 starlight sparkled in them as though a shower of rain had 
 fallen. I went right aft and squatted myself on the grating, 
 waiting with impatience for midnight to be struck. 
 
 Suddenly the man who held the tiller with both hands 
 astern of him, and lolled against the head of it as though 
 weary of standing, shifted his posture, and I saw him rear him- 
 self on tiptoe, and peer eagerly into the darkness right abeam. 
 
A STRANGE VISION. 291 
 
 ' What do you see, Andrews V said I. 
 
 ' Isn't that a sail away down yonder, sir V he exclaimed, 
 pointing with his long arm, so that with his projected head 
 and eager attitude he looked as if he were calling down a curse 
 upon some distant object. 
 
 I peered and peered. Presently I was sure, and went for 
 the glass, and as the swell threw the schooner up, I could 
 just make out a small dark shadow upon the gloomy water- 
 line ; but I lost it instantly, and before I could ' fix ' it again, 
 as the Yankees say, eight bells were struck. There was a 
 shuffling and snorting and yawning along the decks ; a mass 
 of human figures uncoiled themselves from behind the guns, 
 from the scuppers, from the front of the galley ; the deck was 
 heavily thumped, and a hoarse voice summoned the watch 
 below to turn out. 
 
 I went and roused up Chestree, and told him that we had 
 just sighted a sail away on the larboard beam, and desired 
 him to arouse Shelvocke on the first appearance of a breeze. 
 So saying, I entered my berth, undressed myself, and lay 
 down, leaving the door open that I might get the benefit of 
 the draught of air that circled through the open port-hole 
 each time the vessel rolled that way. 
 
 The wearing anxiety induced by the gale of the morning, 
 coupled with the long and decidedly tedious watch I had just 
 stood, had left me as sleepy as ever I had been in my life, and 
 having consoled myself with the belief that there was small 
 chance of a breeze springing up to close us with the vessel 
 abeam, at any rate for the next hour or so, I dropped my head 
 upon the pillow. 
 
 My senses were beginning to scatter, and I had lapsed into 
 the imbecile stage of slumber when a man is sufficiently awake 
 to hear a question asked, and sufficiently asleep not to know 
 what he answers. Suddenly I found myself, with my eyes 
 wide open, listening intently. 
 
 What was it ? 
 
 19—2 
 
29: 
 
 AN OCEAN FREE-LANCE. 
 
 A cry ! a thump, as though a heavy block had fallen from 
 aloft on to the deck ? 
 
 Some peculiar noise had unquestionably startled me. I lay 
 hearkening, but was too dead-tired to sustain that attention : 
 my eyes closed again, and I fell sound asleep instantly, like a 
 fortnight-old baby. 
 
 1 Hallo ! confound it — let go, will you P I shouted, dream- 
 ing ; and then sat bolt upright. ' What's the matter now f 
 
 The tall gaunt figure of Chestree stood beside my bunk ; he 
 held a lantern in his hand, and the yellow light shining upon 
 his face made it resemble the imperfect lineaments of some 
 ancient portrait glimmering out of a black background. 
 
 * A dreadful accident has just happened, sir. Mr. Peacock has 
 fallen from the fore-topsail-yard, and I am afraid he is killed.' 
 
 The news of a Frenchman or a Yankee being alongside 
 would not have awakened me more effectually than this piece 
 of intelligence. I jumped out of my bunk, and hastily clothed 
 myself. 
 
 I Where is he V I asked. 
 
 I I left him on deck, sir. Corney is with him. Shall I tell 
 the captain ?' 
 
 ' Wait till I hear what Corney says.' 
 
 I sprang up the companion-steps, followed by the second 
 mate, and ran towards a group of men who were assembled 
 abreast of the galley. One of them held a lantern, the light 
 of which shone upon the motionless figure of the poor lad 
 lying on his back on the deck, with his head resting on the 
 arm of a seaman, while Corney stooped over him. 
 
 Of all the dreadful, heart-breaking sights that ever I 
 beheld, none that I can remember equalled the spectacle of 
 mutilation exhibited by this lad. His face, so greatly admired 
 by me for the beauty of the large, spiritual, eloquent, dark 
 eyes, the square white forehead shaded by the clustering 
 auburn tresses, the straight nose and delicately carven nostrils, 
 was a crushed, shapeless, unrecognisable bloody mask. The 
 
A STRANGE VISION. 293 
 
 sickened and horrified eye sought in vain for any semblance of 
 humanity lingering amid the ghastly wreck And still he was 
 breathing ! Father of pity, that such an object should yet 
 have life in it ! 
 
 The seaman who held the lantern thrust it into the hand 
 of one of his mates, and covering his eyes, went reeling into 
 the darkness, unable to stand the sight. Not a word was 
 spoken. As I leant forward, Corney looked up at me, and 
 then fixed his eyes upon the boy ; and in perfect silence we 
 stood around, our ears tortured by the breathing of what 
 veritably looked but a sod, whilst the dimly burning lantern 
 kept the shadows dancing upon our aghast and pallid faces, 
 heightening by the capricious twitchings the expression of 
 horror in the eyes which peered around. 
 
 The breathing of the poor, crushed lad was as vigorous as 
 that of a healthy man : but all on a sudden it stopped — it 
 stopped so abruptly that every looker-on gave a start : and a 
 cry rose up from our feet, a short, thick, half-smothered cry, 
 and then a sputtering, suffocating cough ; a black stream that 
 glistened like ink in the lantern-light crept from the head an 
 inch or two along the deck ; there was a sharp quivering of the 
 limbs, and the boy lay dead. 
 
 Corney was the first to speak. 
 
 ' It's all over, sir, and the Lord be praised that it's quickly 
 over. The breathing of such a thing was shocking.' 
 
 * How did this happen, Chestree V I asked. 
 
 The poor fellow, who appeared quite broken down, looked 
 at me as if he had the lock-jaw. 
 
 ' I sent him aloft,' he answered, in a hollow voice, * to see 
 what he could make of yonder sail. He went briskly enough 
 forwards, and I watched him jump into the fore-shrouds. A 
 minute after I heard a crash, and a dark object rolled off the 
 top of the galley on to the deck. I rushed forward, and saw ' 
 — his voice failed him, and he hid his face in his hands, tremb- 
 ling from head to foot. 
 
294 AN OCEAN FREE-LANCE. 
 
 1 He struck the top o' the galley first, sir/ exclaimed a sea- 
 man. ■ I was lying just here, and his body rolled over with 
 the send o' the swell, and dropped close alongside o' me. He 
 spotted my face all over with his blood/ he added, passing his 
 hands over his bronzed cheeks with a gesture, half of disgust 
 and half of fear, and then slewing round to examine his palms 
 by the light. 
 
 A sheet was procured, the lad's hammock brought up from 
 the cabin in which it swung, the body placed in it, and a couple 
 of seamen were about to carry it below into one of the spare 
 after-berths, when Shelvocke arrived on deck. 
 
 ' What have you got there, men f he called out. ' What's 
 the meaning of that lighted lantern I Where's the officer in 
 charge J* 
 
 ' Here, sir/ responded Chestree, and sidling up to me, he 
 exclaimed, ' For God's sake, Mr. Madison, break the news to 
 him ! He was attached to that boy, sir. I'm an awkward fist 
 at such work.' 
 
 I immediately walked up to Shelvocke. 
 
 1 Is that you, Madison V he sung out, as I approached. 
 
 'Yes, sir.' 
 
 1 Why, what are you doing on deck in your watch below ? 
 What's going forward, eh f he cried sharply. 
 
 'A dreadful accident has just happened, sir. Mr. Peacock 
 has fallen from the fore-topsail-yard, where he was sent to get 
 a view of a strange sail, down yonder.' 
 
 There was a pause — it seemed to me a long one, though 
 at such moments as these impressions are always exagger- 
 ated. 
 
 'Fallen from the fore-topsail-yard!' he exclaimed, turning 
 his back upon the two men who had advanced as far as the 
 main-hatch with their burden, and stood there holding it be- 
 tween them and waiting for further orders. ' Is he — is he 
 much hurt V he asked, in the voice of a man who forces himself 
 to pronounce words he abhors. 
 
A STRANGE VISION. 295 
 
 'The fall, I deeply regret to say, has killed him, sir.' 
 
 1 Killed him !' he shouted fiercely, turning upon me with a 
 swiftness that might have passed for an action full of menace. 
 ' Do you tell me that Peacock is dead f 
 
 ' Yes, sir.' 
 
 Though the feeble starlight gave me no more of his face 
 than the shape and whiteness of it, I could guess its expression 
 as he stood for many moments like one transfixed ; stock-still, 
 as though by some magic he had been converted into marble. 
 A deep sigh broke from him, and his manner changed. 
 
 ' Who sent him aloft V he demanded. 
 
 * I did, sir,' responded Chestree, who had drawn near. 
 
 1 Then/ said he, lifting his clenched fist as though he in- 
 tended to strike the second mate, ' you are his murderer, sir ! 
 his blood is on your head !' and rearing himself to his full 
 height, he thundered out in a voice positively hoarse with 
 passion : < How dare you order a delicate boy like him into 
 that dark rigging !' 
 
 Chestree stood with his mouth wide open, utterly be- 
 wildered by this furious attack, and my own astonishment 
 was supreme. That Shelvocke had a liking, nay, that he had 
 even a fondness for the boy, furtively as it had been expressed, 
 at least in my presence, I knew ; and no reasonable expression 
 of sorrow on his part would have surprised me. But to hear 
 him attack poor Chestree as a murderer, and watch him wrest- 
 ling with sobs which appeared to rend his frame, was indeed 
 to be the spectator of an extraordinary exhibition, and I was 
 pretty sure from that moment that there was something 
 deeper in this matter than had met either my eye or my ear. 
 
 He seemed, however, to realize the insanity of his conduct, 
 or at least of his abuse of Chestree, for his hand fell to his 
 side, and he muttered apologetically : 
 
 1 Gentlemen, this is a dreadful blow — it is the unexpected- 
 ness of it that deprives me of the power to meet it as I should.' 
 
 1 Captain,' exclaimed Chestree, in a hoarse tremulous voice, 
 
296 AN OCEAN FREE-LANCE. 
 
 but very spunkily, ' you were not'fonder of that boy than I was, 
 sir ; and I would rather have lost my right arm than that this 
 accident should have happened through my agency. But if 
 you call me murderer for doing that which I have done a 
 score of times, not in this schooner only, but in the ship he 
 and I sailed in when he was a little fellow, you grievously 
 wrong me, Captain Shelvocke — by heaven, you do, sir ! and I 
 would rather lie in irons for the rest of the cruise, and forfeit 
 every penny of the prize-money I have earned aboard the 
 Tigress, than suffer such an attack, such an unjust attack, upon 
 my character at your hands again, sir.' 
 
 And the poor fellow sniffed and snuffled as though he were 
 shedding tears. 
 
 1 Say no more, Chestree,' answered Shelvocke in a broken 
 voice. ' I was hasty — I ask your pardon ; I know you were 
 fond of the boy ' — the rest of the sentence stuck in his throat. 
 And turning to me he said, ' Let the body be taken below, 
 Madison — placed in the spare berth [next to mine f and he 
 walked right aft, and stood with his back towards us, and 
 never stirred from that posture until the men returned from 
 depositing their melancholy burden, when he quitted the deck. 
 
 The calm was still as profound as when the watch below 
 had been called; the schooner probably had not drifted her 
 own length in that time. I took the glass to scrutinize the 
 strange sail in the north-east, but could make nothing of the 
 minute dusky patch. Some men were swabbing the deck 
 where the body had fallen, and as the lantern-light by which 
 they worked glanced upon the foot of the fore-mast, the 
 recollection of the apparition that had appeared to Peacock 
 rushed upon me, and one of those swift shudders which seem 
 to thicken the blood and make the senses cold passed through 
 me, though I promptly checked the feeling and recovered my- 
 self. 
 
 Observing me to remain on deck, Chestree came out of the 
 waist, moving with such a slow, bruised, and dejected air that 
 
A STRANGE VISION. 297 
 
 the most expert mute in advance of a hearse could not have 
 carried himself more dolorously. 
 
 * Come, Chestree, take heart/ said I. ' You could no more 
 have helped this terrible accident from befalling the poor boy 
 than you could have stopped a cannon-ball from killing him in 
 an action/ 
 
 1 1 know that, sir ; but it is a fearful thing to be called a 
 murderer, Mr. Madison, and I do feel that Peacock would be 
 alive now if I had not sent him aloft/ 
 
 1 For calling you a murderer, Captain Shelvocke has apolo- 
 gized, and his regret ought to satisfy you. You saw how 
 deeply affected he was, and a man in that state of mind should 
 not be held responsible for every word he utters. As to your 
 assertion that Peacock would still be alive had not you 
 ordered him aloft, all that I can say is you are the cleverest 
 man in the world if your foresight can provide against other 
 people's misfortunes. So forget Shelvocke's language, and 
 clear your conscience of all sense of the responsibility of the 
 lad's death.' 
 
 1 Well, sir, you are no doubt right ; but it will take me some 
 time to balance my mind afresh,' said he, in a sort of groaning 
 voice. * I've seen a number of accidents in my time, and some 
 dreadful deaths by wounds ; but nothing ever shocked me so 
 much as this. I wouldn't mind if he had been killed by a ball 
 or a pike at my side ; a brave or fair death like that wouldn't 
 make me feel that I would give ten guineas to be able to clear 
 the tears out of my throat. But to fall like a sack from that 
 fearful height,' he exclaimed, looking up at the yards towering 
 into the gloom ; * to see his beautiful face bashed like a ripe 
 pear chucked against the wall ; to think of his plucky little 
 soul being dismissed from this world by a mere rigger's acci- 
 dent — oh Lord ! oh dear ! it's enough to melt the heart of a 
 shark !' 
 
 His grief was so lively that it twisted him about on his legs 
 as though somebody were shaking him by the scruff of his 
 
298 AN OCEAN FREE-LANCE. 
 
 neck ; and he plucked at various parts of his garment with his 
 long claws, like a drunken man trying to undress himself. 
 
 * But who could have imagined/ he continued, ' that 
 Captain Shelvocke would take it so much to heart ? He 
 didn't know him so well as I. He never boxed an apprentice's 
 ears for saucing the poor little chap. He's never lain along- 
 side of him hammock to hammock, and listened to him yarn- 
 ing about what he'd do when he came to be a man, as I have. 
 But the Lord be praised ! he leaves no mother to break her 
 heart over his going. He's gone to a place where he'll hear 
 no jokes about his parents, and never be made to blush for 
 other people's sins, and where they'll not belay his singing, 
 nor prevent him from looking as glorified as the other angels 
 because he's a natural child.' 
 
 And burying his noise in a large pocket-handkerchief he 
 blew a loud and long blast, and, apparently relieved, looked 
 around to see if there was any wind coming. 
 
 There was nothing now to detain me on deck ; and though 
 I did not feel particularly sleepy, I went below with the 
 intention of lying down ; but on reaching the cabin I saw 
 Shelvocke issue from the berth in which the body had been 
 placed, holding a small hand-lamp, and he called to me in a 
 whisper. 
 
 I followed him into his own cabin. Apparently too over- 
 come to speak, he pointed to a chair alongside a table strown 
 with papers, charts, and nautical instruments ; and taking a 
 flask of brandy from a shelf over his bunk, he poured out a 
 full dram and swallowed it, though I was struck by the 
 trembling of his hand as he raised the glass. 
 
 I I have been to look at the body,' said he, speaking in a 
 low voice that his want of self-control might be the better con- 
 cealed : ' death must have been instantaneous.' 
 
 1 To all intents and purposes it was so, sir, no doubt.' 
 
 * What a wreck ! who could conceive that the missing of a 
 rope, the slipping of a foot, could crush God's most beautiful 
 
A STRANGE VISION, 299 
 
 image into such — into such an object F He passed his hand- 
 kerchief over his forehead. 
 
 ' Mr. Chestree is deeply affected,' said I, ' by this dreadful 
 misfortune. I believe he was really fond of the lad, though 
 one would not suppose that much tenderness could lie in so 
 uncouth a cover. He is also greatly pained by your grief, 
 as indeed I am, sir.' 
 
 * My grief !' he exclaimed, looking at me with a singular 
 expression. \ I dare say you are both surprised as well as 
 pained. It does seem strange, no doubt, that the captain of a 
 vessel should be stricken down by the death of one of his 
 junior officers. One does not look for such strong sensibility 
 among plain seamen.' 
 
 I made him no answer. 
 
 * But this boy had particular claims upon me,' he continued. 
 1 1 knew his mother, Madison. She died when he was a baby, 
 and as he had no knowledge of his father, he was but an 
 orphan, as you can see : and what is there under heaven more 
 appealing than a little helpless orphan 1 His story interested 
 me, and ever since his mother died I have watched over him, 
 and I know now — I know now that I loved him. Oh my God ! 
 what is there more detestable than moral cowardice 1 What 
 sort of a hero is he who, having the reputation of such bravery 
 as gunpowder and cutlasses inspire in a man, fears to do an act 
 of justice, shrinks from righting those whom he has wronged, 
 and suffers his wicked selfishness to cripple, ay, and to blast, 
 the happiness of innocent beings who love him 1 Ask me why 
 the death of young Peacock has prostrated me even as you 
 see : — he was my son.' 
 
 I looked at him steadily. 
 
 ' What ! you have guessed the secret all along V 
 
 ' No, sir.' 
 
 ' He was the son of a woman whom I adored, neglected, 
 and whose heart I broke. He never knew that I was his 
 father, though had he survived me, my will would have pro- 
 
3 oo AN OCEAN FREE-LANCE. 
 
 claimed the truth. No ! it was from no cowardly feeling that 
 I held my secret from him. I kept my counsel to save him 
 the shame of the discovery, hoping that I might be spared to 
 such an age that, when at last the truth was told him, he 
 would be a man in years, with a man's fortitude to meet and 
 despise those sneers and shrugs which are so killingly cruel in 
 boyhood, and with money enough to purchase that marketable 
 thing, the world's esteem. He was a bright lad, as clever as 
 he was handsome — he had his mother's eyes. God alone 
 knows the pride I took in him, and how keen that pride was 
 made by concealment.' 
 
 1 Yet it was certainly known to him that his mother was not 
 a wedded woman, sir.' 
 
 'I heard that from you first. The captain to whom I 
 apprenticed him — the only man to whom I told the story — 
 must have blabbed ; otherwise how should the boy have 
 known V 
 
 1 Unless,' said I, making the observation merely to introduce 
 the subject without violence, ' he had learnt it by the meta- 
 physical means of which Macbeth speaks.' 
 
 ' What do you mean V he inquired, staring at me fixedly. 
 
 1 Why, sir, I believe he was a ghost-seer, a quality in him 
 that your admissions last night and your confessions now 
 make intelligible.' 
 
 ' How do you know V he asked impatiently. 
 
 ' I asked him yesterday evening,' said I, speaking almost in 
 a whisper — for the mystery of that visitation, coupled with the 
 proximity of the dead body, subdued me in spite of myself — 
 ' what was the cause of his depression 1 I think you noticed 
 how dull he was at dinner. After some conversation I suc- 
 ceeded in getting him to confess that in yesterday morning's 
 watch, before daybreak, he had gone forward "on an errand, 
 and whilst standing near the fore-mast he beheld a light that 
 brightened into a human face, the lips of which pronounced his 
 name, while she pointed up after making the sign of the cross.' 
 
A STRANGE VISION. 3 or 
 
 1 His name /' he exclaimed in a long-drawn thrilling whisper. 
 ' What name f 
 
 < Philip.' 
 
 < Merely Philip ?' 
 
 1 That was all, sir.' 
 
 'Did he describe the vision?' he asked, whilst I saw the 
 sweat gathering upon his forehead in large gouts. 
 
 ' He did. He represented the face as pale, with black eyes 
 and yellow hair.' 
 
 ' Ay,' he muttered, * she appeared to me too.' 
 
 He clasped his hands tightly, and leant back, with his gaze 
 lifted to the cabin ceiling. I rose, thinking I had stayed long 
 enough. He looked at me with a lacklustre eye, and said : 
 ' Are you going, Madison V * 
 
 * Yes, sir.' 
 
 'Well, I thank you for your sympathy, And now from 
 this moment, please let no further words pass between us on 
 this subject.' 
 
 I bowed. He extended his hand, and I shook it ; but the 
 moment I liberated it he locked his fingers afresh, and lay 
 back in his chair with his eyes raised ; and this was his posture 
 when I left him. 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 THE SLAVER. 
 
 I TURNED in again, wondering how long I should be permitted 
 to rest this time, and mused over the events of the night, and 
 Shelvocke's confession, and ghosts, and the dreadful sight of 
 the corpse, until my brain simmered over my fancies, like a 
 saucepan on a hob. 
 The main source of my bewilderment was that Shelvocke as 
 
3 o2 AN OCEAN FREE-LANCE. 
 
 well as poor little Peacock should have been visited by the 
 same apparition. Peacock's seeing it I had attributed to an 
 hysterical and morbid nervous system ; but Shelvocke's evi- 
 dence — the evidence of a matter-of-fact, healthy, sound-headed 
 seaman like Shelvocke — proved that the spectral face that had 
 risen upon Peacock was no cozenage of the lad's fancy ; and the 
 poor fellow being killed a few hours after the vision had by its 
 motions prophesied his death, was such a confirmation of the 
 ghostly story as might have scared a man more sceptical than 
 I in such matters. 
 
 I was really not clever enough, however, to argue the subject 
 out. My reason went one way and my imagination the other. 
 Certainly the hull of a privateer seemed an odd theatre for a 
 ghost to act or threaten a tragedy on ; though if tradition 
 spoke the truth, the Tigress's was not the only deck upon 
 which a spirit had walked, to the dismay of forecastle Jack. 
 
 I lay for a whole hour thinking over supernatural things : 
 the Flying Dutchman, composants whose blue radiance had 
 blasted the life out of men, and left them hanging over the 
 yards like bolsters, drowned cats who had reappeared at mid- 
 night, and mewed up heavy contrary gales ; until, cursing 
 myself for an idiot, I shifted my position, screwed up my 
 eyes, and forcing my mind upon pleasant thoughts, at last 
 fell asleep. 
 
 I was aroused by the shrilling of the boatswain's pipe calling 
 all hands, and immediately jumped up and went on deck, 
 noticing that it wanted five minutes to four by the cabin clock, 
 so that my watch below was very near over. The first person 
 I encountered was Shelvocke, who was giving directions in his 
 usual voice to some men engaged in trimming the after canvas. 
 There was a light breeze blowing, and every stitch had been 
 set, and there was a very pretty little murmur of running 
 waters. 
 
 Guessing the meaning of this bustle, I stooped to look for 
 the sail I had descried some hours before. Shelvocke saw me, 
 
THE SLA VER. 303 
 
 and said, ' She is yonder/ pointing on the lee bow. ' See all 
 clear, Mr. Madison,' said he. ' She looks to me to be a large 
 brig, but I am not yet certain.' 
 
 His tone was perfectly collected. In a few minutes the 
 hands were all grouped at quarters, and I stationed myself aft 
 with a glass to examine the stranger as we approached her. 
 Shelvocke walked the weather side of the deck like a pendu- 
 lum, sometimes coming over to my side and peering into the 
 gloom ahead, and making some commonplace remarks about 
 the weather, and speculating upon the character of the stranger. 
 To judge from his present manner, no one would have credited 
 that a short time ago he had appeared crushed and half crazy 
 with grief. Such an instance of self-control I should hardly 
 have believed possible ; and this surprising exhibition of nerve 
 and will deepened the amazement with which I reflected upon 
 his belief in spirits, and his assurance that one had appeared to 
 him. 
 
 The southerly wind that had sprung up was very gentle, 
 and being on the quarter, the schooner's progress was slow ; 
 and when the dawn broke, making the horizon a line as black 
 as ink against the ashen sky, the vessel was fully five miles 
 distant. 
 
 As she stood hove up against the dawn, I never beheld a 
 more clearly marked object. She looked like a vessel cut out 
 of black paper, and pasted on a grey ground, and had all the 
 brilliantly-sharp minuteness you find on inverting a telescope 
 and looking through the big end of it. She proved to be, as 
 Shelvocke suspected, a large brig ; but of all puzzling sights, 
 the spectacle she submitted, when viewed through the glass, 
 was one of the most singular, at least to a sailor's eyes. 
 
 The dawn brightened so rapidly, and her outlines were so 
 beautifully clear, that her remarkable appearance was at once 
 apparent. Every yard upon her two masts was braced to a 
 different angle : she had both topsails set, each of them 
 twisted contrary ways, as far as the bolt-ropes would let them 
 
3 04 AN OCEAN FREE-LANCE. 
 
 go, through the canting of the yards ; her foresail hung in 
 rags which, in the brightening light, resembled long icicles 
 depending from the yard ; the outer jib (the halliards of which 
 had been let go or carried away) was trailing overboard ; 
 her spanker was split in halves, and the huge rent opened to 
 every swing of the boom, and looked, with the light sky 
 coming and going behind it, like an immense eye blinking. 
 Her hull was black and round-sided, somewhat low in the 
 water, and her bows were graced with a long, projecting, 
 finely-curved stem; and these signs, added to her short lower- 
 masts, and the raking stay of her lofty spars, strongly dis- 
 posed me to consider her a Yankee, and a fighting vessel too. 
 But, in the name of conscience, what doing in that trim % 
 ' Do you notice she is not sailing, sir V I exclaimed to 
 Shelvocke. ' Did any man ever see yards braced about as hers 
 are ! It must have taken her people a long time to achieve 
 such perfection of disorder. 
 
 * Can you make out any signs of life aboard of her f said 
 Shelvocke. 
 
 We both worked at her with our glasses. Presently I sung 
 out: 
 
 * Aren't those men's heads moving about near the wheel, sir V 
 i I believe they are/ replied Shelvocke ; ' yes — I am certain 
 
 now. Look all along her bulwarks, right away to the very 
 eyes of her. Why, Mr. Madison, she's full of men !' 
 
 We dropped our telescopes and stared at each other. This 
 was the first good view I had had of him by the daylight . 
 His eyes had an extremely worn look, and his general ap- 
 pearance was that of a man who had been confined for some 
 days to his bed by sickness. But there was nothing in his 
 manner to indicate even a lurking grief or agitation. He was 
 full of the strange brig now, and eyed me as if there, was 
 nothing else in the world to think of. 
 
 * She has the look of a slaver, sir,' sung out Chestree to us 
 from the other side of the deck 
 
THE SLA VER. 305 
 
 1 Thank you, Mr. Chestree ; I believe your suspicion to be 
 correct/ answered Shelvocke, with a marked accent of kindness 
 in his voice. * The crowds of heads along her side, Madison, 
 can't belong to her crew, or surely they would not suffer her 
 to remain in that condition.' 
 
 I levelled the glass and looked again. 
 
 ' She has six ports on this side, sir,' said I ; i but only three 
 of them are filled. Why, see ! is not that a naked black man 
 standing on the rail abaft the main rigging, or does he merely 
 look black against the sky V 
 
 ' Naked he certainly is/ exclaimed Shelvocke, steadying his 
 telescope against a backstay ; * and for that same reason black 
 no doubt. Why, surely she must be a filled slaver deserted 
 by her crew.' 
 
 By this time the sun had risen, and a league away to the 
 right of the brig the water was flashing back his blinding 
 beams and catching here and there a flecking of pink from 
 the gloriously-coloured sunrise ; the sparkling rays shone 
 broad on the sails and hull of the brig ; and the crowds of 
 negroes, whose heads swarmed above the straight black bul- 
 warks, were distinctly visible to the naked eye. 
 
 * Here's a dead body passing us, -sir,' suddenly shouted out 
 one of the men stationed at the forecastle gun, craning his 
 neck as he gazed over the side. 
 
 I put down the glass and looked over into the water ; and 
 sure enough, about a fathom's distance abreast of the port 
 cat-head there floated the corpse of a man on his breast, with 
 the head immersed in the water and the feet drooping, so as 
 to make a semicircle of the body. He was dressed in a blue 
 shirt and white duck trousers, the end of which were crowded 
 into a pair of high yellow-leather boots, and a long sheath- 
 knife rested on his hip, suspended by a broad belt that clasped 
 his waist. His hands being stretched right down under him 
 in the green water, and his face hidden, it was impossible to 
 tell his colour. He slided rapidly astern ; but veering into 
 
 20 
 
3 o6 AN OCEAN FREE-LANCE. 
 
 our wake, the eddying of the water twisted the body in such 
 a manner as to give one the impression that he was still strug- 
 gling for life. 
 
 I That should be one of the brig's crew,' said Shelvocke ; 
 1 and it looks uncommonly as though the slaves had risen upon 
 her people. If so, the job has been a recent one.' 
 
 This was evident enough from the proximity of the body to 
 the vessel. But another five minutes placed the matter be- 
 yond all question. We had floated to within musket-range of 
 the brig, and had rounded to, and there within speaking-dis- 
 tance lay this large and powerful slaver, her sides crowded 
 with black faces and naked figures, and looking as wobegone 
 and helpless an object as the mind can well imagine, with her 
 yards twisted in all directions, and her foresail in rags and her 
 gear in the utmost confusion. She was, in one sense, hove to, 
 if the slewing of her topsails into corkscrews could be so con- 
 sidered ; but in reality she was drifting, though softly enough, 
 dead to leeward, as could be seen by the short, broad, oily 
 wake that hung around her weather side from stem to stern. 
 
 So far as I could judge, there were at least two hundred and 
 fifty negroes, negresses, and piccaninies clustered along the 
 bulwark of the brig, many of them exhibiting their full figures 
 as they stood upon the rail holding on to the rigging. We 
 were near enough to see the glittering of their eyes in the 
 sunshine, and the flashing of their white teeth as they jab- 
 bered to one another and pointed at us, and, what was more 
 ominous, the sparkling of the cutlasses with which a great 
 number of them were armed. In spite of the wind being the 
 contrary way, we could distinctly hear the hum of their voices, 
 and now and again the shouting of one man — exceedingly 
 like the vociferation of some outdoor holy hullabalooist one 
 hears preaching in England on Sundays — as though they had 
 a chief or leader aboard, who kept up their courage by clamour- 
 ing at them. 
 
 I I suppose they don't understand the use of gunpowder,' 
 
THE SLA VER. 307 
 
 said I, turning to Shelvocke, { or surely they would have 
 given us a dose from their small- arms or guns by this time.' 
 
 1 1 think that may be taken for granted/ he replied. ' Fore- 
 castle, there ! keep your bow gun covering the brig ready to 
 fire.' 
 
 'Ay, ay, sir.' 
 
 'Put your helm up — ease off your main-sheet — steady; 
 keep at that, now.' 
 
 We ran down to within a biscuit's throw of her, and 
 rounded to again. The negroes imagined we meant to board 
 them, for they brandished their cutlasses, and squealed, and 
 yelled like pigs dragged along in sacks ; the very children 
 threatened us with their little black arms, and the thick line of 
 black woolly pates bubbled and poppled like boiling pitch, 
 while dozens of full-length black muscular figures, standing 
 upon the rail or the lower ratlines, frantically motioned to us 
 to keep off. 
 
 Their cries ceased when we put our helm down, but the 
 same thick, guttural voice that had before sounded, rose once 
 more, broken occasionally by a sort of deep acquiescent buzz, 
 and there was a constant quiver of gleaming cutlasses. 
 
 ' I see no signs of a white or even a yellow face among 
 them !' exclaimed Shelvocke, looking considerably puzzled. 
 He put his hand to the side of his mouth : ' Brig ahoy f 
 
 His voice produced the same effect that might have been 
 expected from a cannon-shot ; volleys of the most extraordinary 
 shouts and shrieks broke from the negroes, and the former 
 scene of brandished cutlasses, waving arms and bobbing heads 
 was repeated, this time with a little extra emphasis. 
 
 ' Can anybody speak English among you V sung out Shel- 
 vocke, when he could make his voice heard. 
 
 This second hail seemed to drive them mad outright ; what 
 they imagined we meant by calling to them I have no idea ; 
 but a broadside could not have thrown them into wilder antics. 
 They hopped on and off the bulwarks with the agility of 
 
 20—2 
 
3 oS AN OCEAN FREE-LANCE. 
 
 monkeys, slashing the air with their cutlasses, and menacing 
 us with boarding-pikes, pulling one another off the rail in their 
 eagerness to shake their fists or weapons at us, and making 
 such an extravagant uproar that you might have supposed the 
 noisiest denizens of one of their biggest forests were aboard of 
 the brig. 
 
 4 Main-deck, there ! throw a shower of grape over her spars — 
 but see that you don't hurt any of the blacks/ 
 
 The muzzle of one of the carronades was elevated, and the 
 piece discharged ; the iron hail swept through the main-topsail, 
 filled the air with chips of canvas, and brought down a whole 
 bucketful of blocks, and several rope's ends. The effect of this 
 explosion was comical ; the negroes who were standing on the 
 bulwarks sprang head over heels backwards ; there was a 
 universal ducking of black wool ; and above the rails not a 
 sign of a human being could be seen, though through the open 
 gun-ports we could spy the black bodies of some of the affrighted 
 creatures as flat as turtles on their stomachs. 
 
 1 All this may be very funny,' said Shelvocke, looking puzzled 
 and bothered ; ' but I wish I had not stumbled upon this ad- 
 venture. Common humanity won't suffer me to leave these 
 miserable savages floating wherever the winds of heaven may 
 waft them ; but our boarding them will cost us more blood 
 than I intend that my men shall lose or shed. See, nearly all 
 the blacks are armed, and there can't be less than a hundred 
 and fifty males. They have evidently risen and murdered 
 the crew, and I know what sort of spirit is put into slaves 
 who have once tasted white men's blood. They'll fight like 
 demons.' 
 
 He took another long squint at the brig. 
 
 * Why,' he continued, ' we should have to massacre half of 
 them before we could get the rest under. See the crowds of 
 women and children ! It would be sheer brutal murder to fire 
 into them. I cannot do it.' 
 
 ' It looks rather like a quandary,' said I. 
 
THE SLA VER. 309 
 
 * A few wounds would make fiends of the unhappy wretches. 
 You don't know what sort of foes kidnapped savages make 
 after they have successfully risen upon their captors. Besides, 
 the kidnappers themselves are destroyed, the vessel is no longer 
 a slaver, and we have no excuse to attack her/ 
 
 All this was quite true, but what was to be done 1 
 
 * It seems to me, sir, that either we must sweep her decks 
 with grape, or carry her, or proceed on our course and leave 
 her to her fate. I really don't see what other choice we 
 have.' 
 
 ' 1 have given you my reasons against firing into her,' he 
 answered ; * and I am not at all disposed to decimate my men 
 by an attempt to carry her. Leaving her to her fate is out of 
 the question.' 
 
 Then, thought I, what is to be done 1 
 
 1 How came she with that ragged foresail ¥ I exclaimed, 
 1 unless she were in yesterday's gale ? — if so, she must have 
 been tolerably well handled, for all her spars are sound. Aha ! 
 Massa Neger's courage is beginning to rise again,' I added, ob- 
 serving a head like the top of a chimney-sweep's brush rise 
 cautiously here and there along the line of the brig's bul- 
 wark. Presently the sides of the slaver pulsated with swarms 
 of black pates. ' I don't know anything that is likely to 
 bring them into our way of thinking but the want of water, 
 captain.' 
 
 ' Ay, but who's going to wait until their casks are empty V 
 he answered, combing down his beard in real perplexity. 
 ' Madison, suppose you take a boat and see if you can make 
 them understand you by signs.' 
 
 No sooner said than done. The second cutter was piped 
 away, and I jumped into her, along with eight men. 
 
 Just as we shoved off, the wind puffed into a bright, crisp 
 breeze ; the schooner bowed under it, and forged ahead by 
 twice her own length before they could shake the wind out of 
 her. It was always a difficult job to stop the Tigress, for I 
 
3 io AN OCEAN FREE-LANCE. 
 
 have known her to ratch with nothing on her but her standing 
 jib, with the sheet over to windward. To check her slipping 
 tendency every inch of canvas was taken in, and she lay floating 
 under bare poles. 
 
 Meanwhile the brig was slowly drifting to leeward like a 
 collier in ballast. The moment the negroes saw the boat ap- 
 proaching them their consternation and passion were startling 
 to watch. Their ceaseless and convulsive movements as they 
 jumped on and rolled off the bulwarks, the perpetual motion of 
 their dusky arms and legs, and the intricate writhings of their 
 naked bodies as they pressed to the sides of the brig, reminded 
 me of an ants' nest stirred up by a stick 
 
 But the noise ! the whooping, the yelping, the outpouring of 
 the thick and throaty African accents, through two hundred 
 and fifty pairs (as I reckoned) of blubber lips all at once — the 
 short, strange, infuriate screams, like sheaves of a block re- 
 volving on rusty pins, of the women — and the shrieking of the 
 children, might have made a man suppose he had lighted on a 
 vessel full of demons fresh from their Satanic port, and out on 
 an excursion after fugitive mariners' souls. 
 
 That we might not be left in doubt as to the reception they 
 intended should we attempt to board them, about thirty 
 negroes, strong, tall, and broad-chested men, some of them stark 
 naked, and others with cloths wrapped round their loins, 
 sprang on to the bulwarks, everyone of them armed with a. 
 boarding-pike which they held poised in their hands like 
 spears, and from time to time essayed our distance by letting 
 drive one of the pikes at us. Not only their agility, but their 
 strength was very unpleasantly illustrated by the space they 
 made these heavy missiles cover. I doubt if there was a man 
 aboard the Tigress who could have darted one of these boarding- 
 pikes half the distance they were hurled by these limber, mus- 
 cular, glistening negroes. 
 
 It was certainly a most disagreeably impressive scene : the 
 row of stalwart, almost coal-black figures poising the long 
 
THE SLAVER. \ 311 
 
 pikes, the whites of their eyes gleaming in their inky visages, 
 and their ivory teeth shining as they yelled at us with their 
 thick, purple lips rounded into immense holes ; the surging, 
 palpitating surface of black heads stretching astern of the 
 front guard of warriors ; the vessel heeling over, and drifting 
 fast to leeward ; the rags of her foresail flogging the wind ; 
 and the ropes' ends, which had been severed by our grape, 
 blowing away beyond the masts like serpents. 
 
 We hung on our oars, and I stood up in the stern-sheets of 
 the boat. 
 
 'Mind that they haven't got a loaded musket among 'em, 
 sir,' sung out the fellow who pulled bow : ' those niggers are 
 more artful than monkeys.' 
 
 I had thought of that when I stood up, and considered what 
 a capital target I made should some among them know how to 
 pull a trigger. However, I had to take my chance, and so I 
 began to gesticulate. 
 
 I made all the signs my imagination could invent. I pointed 
 to the schooner, and laid my hand on my heart to express our 
 friendship. I pointed to their masts, and then to the sky, and 
 then at the sea, to signify that if a gale arose they would 
 founder. I pointed to my throat, and pretended to drink and 
 eat, and pointed to their vessel and shook my head, as much 
 as to say when their water and food were expended they must 
 perish. I took a cutlass from one of the men, and imitated 
 the action of breaking it across my knee, and then held it up, 
 shaking my head again, to denote that we did not want to 
 fight. 
 
 But it was no good. The more I gesticulated the more 
 they roared and screamed. Every motion of my arms in- 
 creased their rage, which grew so lively by the time I had 
 come to the pantomime of breaking the cutlass, that not only 
 were several boarding-pikes launched at us, but the band of 
 negroes in the bulwarks were dragged down to make way for 
 their infuriate comrades behind, and the women sprang and 
 
3 1 2 AN OCEAN FREE-LANCE, 
 
 sprawled about as though executing some religious dance, tear- 
 ing their wool, dashing their fists towards us, and flinging 
 their very babies into the air in the paroxysms of their fury. 
 
 'I wouldn't mind making any man a bet,' said the fellow 
 who had cautioned me against exposing myself, * that the poor 
 devils think us the crew of the slaver come back to take charge 
 of 'em agin. I have sailed among kidnappers, sir/ said he, 
 addressing me, * and reckon I know something of the hignor- 
 ance of niggers in a savage state. They can't tell one white 
 man from another, and we'd have to cut 'em into bits afore 
 they'd let us get possession of the brig.' 
 
 I had shaken my head, and sawed with my arms, and con- 
 vulsed my body until I was bathed in perspiration and every 
 bone in me ached ; and it at last struck me rather forcibly that 
 I might gesticulate my limbs off and nod my head overboard 
 without producing the least impression upon these savages. 
 So I stood staring at them, and wondering what was the next 
 card to play, whilst they swarmed along the sides, some on all- 
 fours, many of them running to and fro — it was like a number 
 of apes endeavouring to get at you through the bars of a cage. 
 
 1 Hand me over that musket,' said I, wishing to try the 
 effect of another explosion. I pointed the piece at them and 
 kept it in that position, but they did not show the least alarm, 
 and I am persuaded that none of the poor creatures had any 
 knowledge of the character of the weapon that was aimed at 
 them. But the moment the musket was discharged (I fired 
 over their heads), down the whole mass of them toppled as if 
 they had all been shot dead. It would have taken months to 
 drill a company of white men into such celerity and con- 
 currence of action ; the black crowd vanished like smoke before 
 a sudden blast of wind, not a sound came from the vessel, and 
 she appeared utterly deserted. 
 
 Hardly had the small white puff from the musket blown a 
 dozen fathoms away, when, as though some distant mountain 
 had echoed the report, the sharp crack of a small-arm came 
 
THE SLAVER. 313 
 
 down to us upon the wind ; and looking towards the schooner, 
 that had managed to drift half a mile away from us, I noticed 
 a signal flying for our recall. 
 
 Before the men could ship their oars, a gun was fired. 
 
 1 That means urgency. Give way, men !' I sung out ; the 
 oars groaned in the thole-pins, and the foam flew scattering 
 past us. What the matter was I could not guess, but as I 
 watched the Tigress I could hear the piping of the boatswain's 
 whistle, and sail was made with a rapidity that was strong 
 evidence of danger being at hand. 
 
 We dashed alongside and sprang aboard ; the boat was 
 hooked on and run up. Shelvocke stood to windward, and 
 answered the inquiring look I gave him by pointing to the 
 horizon on the weather-quarter, where I immediately beheld 
 the canvas of what was apparently a large, full-rigged ship. 
 I levelled the glass at her, and at once saw by the spread and 
 hoist of her sails that she was a war- vessel ; but her hull was 
 still below water, and it was impossible to form an opinion of 
 her nationality. 
 
 ' I can make nothing of those negroes, sir,' said I to Shel- 
 vocke. * Either they don't or they won't understand signs.' 
 
 ' So I judged : but what made you fire at them ?' 
 
 ' I fired over them, sir. I wished to try the effect of another 
 explosion \ thinking that as noise appeared to terrify them 
 more than anything else, we might manage to get at them by 
 running the schooner close, letting fly a blank broadside, and 
 pouring in upon them whilst they lay flat upon their bellies.' 
 
 ' That might have answered,' said he : ' but let us see what 
 yonder vessel is going to prove before we trouble our heads 
 any further with those niggers.' 
 
 Every stitch of fore and aft canvas that the Tigress carried 
 had been piled upon her, but her way was checked by her 
 helm being kept down ; by this means we drifted sufficiently 
 to leeward to maintain to some extent our position with regard 
 to the slaver. 
 
314 R*- 'AN OCEAN FREE-LANCE, 
 
 The negroes had regained their courage on finding that our 
 boat had left their neighbourhood, and once more clustered 
 along the sides of the brig, and I fancy by the character of 
 their whooping, and the extraordinary postures into which 
 they flung themselves, that they were not only defying us, but 
 exulting over the imaginary victory. Of all striking objects 
 nothing that ever I saw exceeded that brig as she lay, slightly 
 heeling away from us, with the dark green water lapping and 
 creaming against her black hull, the upper line of which 
 was alive with the crawling, leaping, motioning, and dancing 
 figures of her sable freight, whose black skins were startlingly 
 relieved by the constant glittering of the cutlasses in their 
 hands. 
 
 However, I had not just now much leisure to admire effects 
 of this description ; my attention was quickly absorbed by the 
 vessel to windward, who, as she drew up out of the water 
 with tolerable rapidity, disclosed the broad, long, and solid 
 hull of a large frigate or sloop-of-war, with short but tremen- 
 dously broad courses, and unusually tall topsails. She was 
 swirling down upon us under a heavy press of canvas, with top- 
 gallant, top-mast, and lower studding-sails out, and her sails 
 shone like cotton. 
 
 Shelvocke and I kept our glasses fixed upon her, and I was 
 noticing the white line of hammocks along her side, and the 
 beautiful set of her canvas, and her short royal mastheads, 
 and, indeed, beginning to view her with serious misgiving — 
 finding something new and unusual in the aspect of her — when 
 Shelvocke dropped his glass, and exclaimed quickly, but in a 
 collected voice : 
 
 * Jonathan ! I suspected him from the first. I am sure 
 now. Mr. Tapping, get the American flag out, and hoist it at 
 the peak.' 
 
 The stripes and stars were run up. We watched to see if 
 he would answer. A couple of minutes elapsed, and then I 
 saw a tiny black ball creep like a fly up to the main royal mast- 
 
THE SLAVER, 315 
 
 head, until it was hard against the truck, when it broke into 
 the bright and beautiful American flag. 
 
 ' I am right, Madison, you see,' exclaimed Shelvocke. 
 
 1 Shall you fight her, sir V 
 
 1 Fight her !' he answered, laughing : ' do you know that 
 she may prove the Constitution, or worse still, the President? — one 
 of those vessels 111 swear she is ; in which case she will be 
 carrying over fifty guns and four hundred men. Fight her ! 
 what do you advise V 
 
 ' Why, sir, after our action with the Diane ' 
 
 'Ay, but that ship is not the Diane — cannot you see 
 that V he interrupted, watching the approaching vessel all 
 the time he was talking : ' and worse luck still, she is a 
 Yankee.' 
 
 A big ship she undoubtedly was, though, as she approached 
 us stem on, I could only form my judgment of her size by 
 the height of her masts, and the enormous spread of her 
 canvas. 
 
 ' Now, I'll make the slaver serve our turn,' cried Shelvocke. 
 ' Helm there ! keep her full ! — let her go F he shouted. 
 
 The helm was starboarded, the canvas rounded, and with 
 the muzzles of her lee guns trailing through the passing 
 foam, the Tigress snored through the water. In spite of his 
 flag at our peak, however, Jonathan instantly twigged us by 
 this manoeuvre. His studding-sails melted away from his 
 weather yard-arms like summer clouds upon the blue sky ; in 
 a few moments he was braced up on the starboard tack, 
 bowlines hauled out, main-tack boarded, a whole flight of flat 
 staysails between his masts ; and as he swept round in pur- 
 suit of us, with the water smoking over his forecastle as he 
 met the first of the sea, and his long, low, heavy black 
 hull sliding like a water-snake along the bed of glittering 
 froth churned up by his shapely bows, he let fly three guns 
 at us. 
 
 1 That shows you his calibre F exclaimed Shelvocke, as the 
 
316 AN OCEAN FREE-LANCE. 
 
 shot spurted up the water in three jets of foam within a few 
 cables' length of our quarter. ' Aim higher, old Doodle, next 
 time ; and look alive, or you'll lose our scent. Now, little 
 Tigress, show them your metal, sweetheart ! Mr. Tapping, haul 
 down the flag, and exhibit English colours.' 
 
 Then after a pause : * Are you ready f 
 
 1 All ready, sir.' 
 
 * Then hoist away !' and as our own glorious bunting soared 
 to the peak we slapped our two aftermost broadside long guns 
 at the enemy. 
 
 1 Now let us mind our eye !' shouted Shelvocke, flushed with 
 the excitement of the pursuit ; and sure enough, and as though 
 our guns had aggravated the insult of our flag beyond Jona- 
 than's endurance, he put his helm down, and as he brought his 
 broadside to bear, the long black hull flashed into a blinding 
 blaze, as though the whole ship had blown up ; a dense 
 volume of white smoke hid him ; the sea was lashed into a fury 
 of foam at precisely the same distance from the schooner where 
 the first shots had fallen, and at the same moment a dull 
 thud trembled through our vessel, as though she had grounded 
 an instant on a shoal. 
 
 ' Hulled, by Jupiter !' said Shelvocke ; ' confound him, what 
 metal the villain carries !' 
 
 Heavy, indeed ! and the worst of it was he was out of range 
 of our guns, so that it would have been merely wasting powder 
 to answer him. 
 
 4 1 hope that confounded slaver hasn't brought us into a 
 mess !' thought I \ and as I watched the towering canvas and 
 black hull of the heavy ship tearing through the water and 
 curling out a high green wave that broke into foam abreast of 
 the foremast, and swept aft to form the long wake that 
 glittered like a silver ribbon upon the tremulous green seas 
 astern of her, dismal fancies of American gaols, Yankee 
 hectoring, and an abrupt wind-up of our roving holiday 
 crowded my mind, and I thought that Shelvocke had shown 
 
THE SLAVER, 317 
 
 want of judgment in suffering the Yankee to draw so close to 
 us before he gave his schooner the reins. 
 
 Assuredly if the big enemy only managed to wing us, our 
 game would be up ; against a big ship with twenty-four ports 
 of a side — they could be counted now — her tops full of men, 
 and her decks bristling with marines, the Tigress would be 
 able to make but a very short stand indeed. Moreover, in 
 Jonathan we had a smart sailor to cope with ; not a French- 
 man who could not put his helm down without missing stays, 
 but a shrewd, bold, and determined seaman, who not only 
 knew what a ship can do, but had skill enough to make her 
 do it. 
 
 This particular Jonathan was sailing his ship magnificently : 
 intent on holding the weather-gage, and yet never choking 
 her ; making every shred of canvas do its work ; marking the 
 instant of his luff to fire at us, with an expertness that scarcely 
 lost him a fathom of way. Indeed, I never remember a ship 
 better sailed; and when I saw how purely British was the 
 science of her handling, and considered that her people were 
 talking and speculating about us in our own language, that in 
 all probability there were men bearing our own names aboard 
 of her — Shelvockes, Madisons, Peacocks, and a host of Smiths 
 and Browns, and Johnsons, as any man might warrant — and 
 that our own blood circulated in their veins, it seemed difficult 
 to conceive that she was a bitter enemy, chasing us merely and 
 solely to capture or destroy us ; difficult, I say, until — pouff ! 
 the glare of a broadside, and the lashing into foam of a small 
 circumference of sea, dispelled these peaceful fancies, and 
 made me wish these relations of ours at the devil. 
 
 She had started after us when she was about a league to 
 windward on our quarter ; for some time she held her position, 
 and there was a moment when my faith in the Tigress aban- 
 doned me. * She has more than her match yonder, both in 
 weight and bottom,' I thought, and my heart felt as heavy as 
 a deep-sea lead in my breast. Ay, it was galling to me to a 
 
3 i8 AN OCEAN FREE-LANCE. 
 
 degree beyond the power of any landsman's sympathy to com- 
 pass, to imagine that our beautiful schooner — she to whose 
 lovely lines and surpassing heels my faith was as purely com- 
 mitted as a lover's to the honour of his sweetheart — was going 
 to be out-sailed by a big, square-rigged man-of-war. 
 
 I glanced at Shelvocke. He was lighting a cigar, leaning 
 against the bulwarks, with his back turned upon the Yankee, in 
 the easy attitude of a yachtsman enjoying a pleasant cruise. 
 
 1 Is she not fore-reaching on us, sir t I exclaimed. 
 
 1 Fore-reaching !' he replied, with a contemptuous laugh. 
 * Did you ever see an old woman make sail in chase of a bad 
 boy?' 
 
 ' 1 hardly remember. But if the old woman had her agility,' 
 nodding towards the Yankee, ' I should not like to lay many 
 dollars on the bad boy's chance.' 
 
 ' Ay, but it is not all heels, my friend. Where's your stay- 
 ing power ? The old woman may have the longer legs, but 
 the boy has the lungs. But this is an illustration that will 
 not serve my views so patly as the fellow's paternity. If he 
 be the true Doodle I reckon him, his thoughts are with the 
 brig astern, and he draws a lengthening chain as he goes, the 
 end of which will bring him up presently with a round turn. 
 The imagination cannot figure the prodigious squint with 
 which the commander of that ship surveys us — one eye on the 
 Tigress, and t'other on the slaver.' 
 
 But the truth is, Shelvocke's keen eyes had noticed what 
 was not yet apparent to me, sharply as I watched : the schooner 
 was drawing ahead of the American, slowly indeed, for the 
 enemy was not only a fast ship, but she had a direct advantage 
 over us in having a long weather-gage that enabled her captain 
 to keep her choke-full, and force us out of that close luff which 
 would have thrown half her canvas aback had she attempted 
 to imitate it. 
 
 About once a minute they let drive at us with one of their 
 long thirty-two-pound guns, and it was the widening distances 
 
THE SLAVER. 319 
 
 between the fall of these shots that at last unmistakably 
 marked the superiority of our heels. 
 
 By this time the slaver was a mere dot upon the far horizon, 
 and I had put down the glass after looking\to see if the 
 negroes had sense enough to take advantage of their being left 
 alone, when Jonathan suddenly hauled up his mainsail, and 
 let fly his head-sheets. 
 
 1 There he goes !' shouted Shelvocke. 
 
 She rounded on her heel like a woman waltzing ; and with 
 a woman's spite, too, she gave us her parting blessing in the 
 shape of her whole broadside as she swept into the wind ; the 
 storm of iron fell a long way short. In another minute she 
 was on the larboard tack, showing us a back view of herself — 
 the most elegant part of her hull she could have submitted to 
 people in our state of mind — and foaming through the water 
 under royals and boarded tacks towards the distant and just 
 visible slave-brig. 
 
 'Luff you may, now!' sung out Shelvocke, and [the helms- 
 man brought the schooner close to the wind. c A really lucky 
 escape, Madison, and I give you my word I do not believe 
 there is another vessel belonging to an English port that could 
 have shaken off that fellow as we have.' 
 
 * 1 wish him joy of the brig, sir. Those niggers will avenge 
 us.' i 
 
 1 Oh, he'll not treat them so fastidiously as we have. The 
 nigger is only a man in the United States — not yet a brudder 
 — and if Jonathan can secure a hundred of them by massacring 
 a hundred and fifty, he'll reckon the bagging quite worth the 
 cost of the powder. However, I am very happy that he should 
 have taken so perplexing and unpleasant a job out of my 
 hands.' 
 
 He jumped into one of the boats which swung at the davits, 
 and examined the schooner's side. Only one shot had struck 
 the vessel, about a foot below the aftermost broadside gun- 
 port ; it had torn a thin strip of wood out, but the extent of 
 
3 2o AN OCEAN FREE-LANCE. 
 
 the injury was limited to this very trifling defacement. The 
 carpenter was sent for, and went to work to solder the wound ; 
 and performed his business so skilfully, that when, some time 
 afterwards, I looked over the side, I could not detect the spot 
 where the ball had hit us. 
 
 We had run the slaver out of sight, the hull of the Yankee 
 was low upon the water, and distance was giving an exquisite 
 daintiness to the colour and outline of her canvas ; the broad 
 and speckless ocean, with the morning sunshine streaming 
 gloriously upon it, lay stretched before us ; and last, and not 
 least, it was half-past eight, and time for breakfast. 
 
 As I put my foot upon the companion-steps, I thought of 
 poor young Peacock lying dead below. Alas ! how easily is 
 the saddest memory deposed ! I had not given the poor dead 
 boy a thought since I had been on deck. 
 
 Chestree and I took our seats at the table in silence, and in 
 a few moments Shelvocke came out of his cabin. Depressed 
 as I was by the sense of the proximity of the crushed and 
 broken remains of a youth who, only a few short hours ago, 
 was one of the fairest of God's creations, full of life and hope 
 and the generous ambitions of manly boyhood, yet such was 
 the hang- jaw and yellow lugubriousness of Chestree's face, as 
 he gazed fixedly with lustreless eyes at Shelvocke, that, after 
 the first glance at him, I did not dare look again for fear of 
 forgetting myself in a burst of laughter. I am sure the poor 
 fellow felt Peacock's death acutely as being, however innocently, 
 concerned in the cause of it j but it was impossible that his 
 distress could be half as acute as his dismal face expressed ; 
 the most hollow-cheeked mute that ever wept on the way 
 to the grave, and got drunk on the way home again, never 
 excelled Chestree's countenance of mourning on this occasion. 
 
 However, he made shift to stow away a large breakfast, 
 though he looked as if he must burst into tears every time he 
 drew his fork out of his mouth. 
 
 I was almost pained by the severity of the grip Shelvocke 
 
THE SLAVER. 321 
 
 had taken of himself. He could not keep his grief wholly out 
 of his face, but whether it was that he was ashamed to have 
 manifested so much emotion before me in the night, or that he 
 was resolved to conquer his new trouble, and to clear out of 
 his heart every memory of a painful and unhallowed romance, 
 he talked pleasantly, and at times even gaily, laughed over our 
 experience of the slaver and Jonathan's discomfiture, and as 
 greatly astonished Chestree by his apparent light-heartedness 
 as he had before astounded the poor man when he called him 
 Peacock's murderer. 
 
 Yet in spite of his manner — and he certainly carried it 
 admirably — I was sure, by the look of him, that it would have 
 done him good to talk of his dead boy, and hear us bemoan 
 him. Why any man should take the trouble to suppress or 
 conceal emotions of which only a swab could feel ashamed, I 
 do not understand. What sort of pride or conceit is that, I 
 wonder, which makes a man fancy that dignity is best asserted 
 by a wooden face ? I admired Shelvocke's self-control as a piece 
 of acting, but I did not think him the better man for doing 
 well what any provincial tragedy actor for half a guinea 
 would have undertaken to do better. 
 
 Before going to my berth to get some rest during my watch 
 below, I went on deck and had a look around me. The 
 Yankee was out of sight astern, the wind had freshened into a 
 glorious sailing breeze, and the brightest, gayest morning that 
 had broken upon us since we quitted English waters was 
 beaming over us. The heavens were full of steady-sailing 
 clouds blowing, like puffs of steam, athwart us from the north- 
 east ; and the schooner was sweeping magnificently along the 
 sparkling blue surges, with her hull careened by the warm 
 strong wind to an angle that scarcely varied to the extent of a 
 degree, so constant and uniform was the pressure. I stood for 
 some minutes admiring the sand-white decks and the groups 
 of men at work on different jobs in various parts of the vessel, 
 and the joyous scene of foaming waters, out of which from 
 
 21 
 
322 AN OCEAN FREE-LANCE. 
 
 time to time there would leap a swarm of flying-fish sparkling 
 out from the dark green arch of a wave, and scattering as they 
 flew like a handful of brand-new silver dollars flung broadcast 
 into the water ; and then observing Chestree to be looking at 
 me earnestly as though he meditated a conversation, I sidled 
 to the companion, gained my berth, toppled into the bunk, and 
 went to sleep. 
 
 I was awakened by Shelvocke, whose presence in my berth 
 was so unusual that I stared to see him. 
 
 * It is close upon eight bells/ said he, ' so I have not de- 
 frauded you of any rest. I wish you to oblige me. Peacock 
 will be buried at noon : I have given directions for all hands 
 to attend ; for as one of my officers — and on that account 
 mainly — all honour must be done his remains. I have to 
 ask you to read the service. I am capable of some self-control, 
 as no doubt you have remarked ; but this is a tax which, if I 
 know my strength, I ought not to impose on myself.' 
 
 His voice had slightly faltered when he mentioned the lad's 
 name, but he immediately mastered it. 
 
 I I shall be happy to do what you wish, sir/ I replied. 
 
 1 1 have not shown myself on deck since breakfast-time/ he 
 continued, ' expressly that my absence from this ceremony 
 may be explained by you to the men as owing to my indisposi- 
 tion. I do not wish to set them wondering.' 
 
 I bowed. He seemed to have more to say, but a sudden 
 rush of grief, that tossed his will aside as a current bursts 
 through a barrier, darkened his face; he seized and pressed 
 my hand, and went hastily to his own cabin. 
 
 The order had already gone forth, for when I reached the 
 deck the boatswain's pipe mingled with the strokes of the 
 ' bell eight/ and one by one the men, dressed as on Sundays, 
 came out of the hatchway and formed themselves in lines on 
 either side the gangway. After a few minutes the body, 
 stitched in the hammock in which it had swung in life, with a 
 twenty-f our-pound shot lashed to the clews of it, was reverently 
 
THE SLA VER. 323 
 
 handed through the companion, placed on a grating, and 
 covered with the English ensign. Four of the boys of the 
 ship's company then raised the grating, and stood with it at 
 the gangway. 
 
 Although I do not claim more pathos for a funeral at sea 
 than one ashore, yet one feature there is at sea that makes a 
 burial there more solemn than I have found it elsewhere; and 
 that is the crowd of silent seamen who are grouped around the 
 body and behold the launching of their dead shipmate into the 
 ocean, whose mightiness makes it a fit symbol of eternity. 
 Otherwise, I do not think a funeral at sea more affecting than 
 that ceremony ashore. You have certain elements of horror 
 ashore which do not enter into our service : the churchyard 
 weeds, crazy and crumbling old stones, a swarm of persons 
 (such as the undertaker's men), who attend as a matter of 
 business or curiosity, the ugly hearse, and, above all, the dark 
 new grave, with its mound of freshly-turned soil alongside of 
 it, amid which the attentive eye may often view the wriggling 
 worm. 
 
 We are spared all this at sea : our grave is the eternal and 
 boundless deep — our hearse is a grating or a board — our coffin 
 the white hammock ; no hired mourners in rusty black and 
 spirituous tears surround our poor remains — no parish-clerk 
 dodges us into the very Valley of the Shadow of Death for 
 fees ; we are plunged into the heart of that ocean whose 
 breast has often rocked us, the whole deep is our grave in 
 perpetuity, and our heirs have nothing to pay for our spacious 
 rights. 
 
 Short as had been young Peacock's association with the 
 men, they had got to like him as a kindly-hearted boy who 
 was always willing to do an obliging act, who was always 
 blind to little harmless defects of duty ; and besides, they 
 were drawn to him by his remarkable beauty. The feeling 
 was that a kind, brave, and handsome young officer had met 
 with a cruelly sudden and dreadful death ; that a familiar face 
 
 21—2 
 
324 AN OCEAN FREE-LANCE. 
 
 was missing ; that it was a pity — a great pity ; and the quid 
 stood out high in many a bronzed cheek, and there was a 
 heap of rough and homely moralizing at work in the eyes 
 dwelling upon the outline marked by the full hammock on the 
 graceful folds of bunting which covered the grating. 
 
 Yet how different the scene from the shore-going churchyard 
 theatre of man's last performance in this world ! There was 
 nothing here to make death dreadful. The sunshine was 
 bright in the hollows and foaming crests of the speeding 
 surges 5 the strong, glad wind swept through the rigging like 
 a spirit-hand upon a harp, and the taut hemp rang out merry 
 tunes; now and again a flake of foam would sweep like a 
 handful of snow over the forecastle and glitter frostily for a 
 few seconds ; and life, deep, full, and abounding, was suggested 
 to every sense by the rushing motion of the fabric on which 
 we stood, by the sound of the hoarse pouring of froth forward, 
 and by the steady streaming of the strong breeze out of the 
 white and gleaming concavities of the spacious sails. 
 
 I stood close to the body, prayer-book in hand ; and along- 
 side of me was Chestree, with his dismal face hanging down, 
 and close behind stood Tapping. On the other side of the 
 grating were the boatswain, the gunner, and the carpenter ; 
 and the men, with their faces turned to the gangway, filled 
 the decks down to the bulwarks, and from the companion to 
 the main-hatch. 
 
 I am partial, of course : as we grow old we look back upon 
 the past, and find that everything then was better than it is 
 now — the men taller and handsomer, the women prettier and 
 more honest, sailors and soldiers braver, religion a deeper 
 sentiment, our country more feared and admired by the 
 world, and so on. I do not myself share in such prejudices : 
 he must be a stupid old man who judges of the excellence of 
 things by his capacity of enjoying them, as if the most aged 
 swab now living would not find as many fine things flourishing 
 to-day as there were fourscore years ago, if he only had the 
 
THE SLAVER. 325 
 
 eyes, nose, ears, and appetite of fourscore years ago to bring 
 to the banquet ; but this I will say, that remembering the 
 ninety men who stood along the deck of the Tigress when we 
 buried Peacock, I do honestly doubt whether the present age 
 could match me such another ship's company — such a set of 
 seamen of the old, salt, hearty, bushy-whiskered, manly type — 
 so active, so sagacious, so determined. But let me remember 
 the period. It was a time that had produced the noblest set 
 of seamen our nation of sailors had ever given birth to. As, 
 after a long succession of gales, you will find the seashore 
 strown with beautiful polished stones wrought to that perfec- 
 tion by the turbulent seas, so the wars this country had been 
 engaged in had culminated, in the period I am writing of, in 
 the production of as perfect a race of tars as ever walked the 
 decks of English ships. That we shall never see such men at 
 sea again I do not say ; but it must cost us many years not 
 only of hard but successful fighting to produce the like of them. 
 
 The ceremony was soon over. I briefly explained to the 
 men the reason of the captain's absence, as he desired me ; and 
 when I began to read the Office, the flag was hoisted half-mast 
 high at the peak, the end of the grating was placed upon the 
 bulwark, and one of the bearers stood by to snatch off the 
 ensign. The signal was given, the grating tilted, and the 
 hammock sped from the side and clove the green water ; at the 
 same moment a gun was fired, the flag lowered, the white 
 powder-smoke blew across the deck and fled in a compact 
 gleaming cloud across the sea ; the boatswain tuned his pipe, 
 the crowd of seamen broke up, and in a few moments the decks 
 resumed their usual aspect. 
 
 When I went below, Shelvocke called me to his cabin, and 
 in simple words thanked me for discharging the duty he had 
 put upon me ; and there the subject dropped, nor did he ever 
 again mention the name of Peacock, nor in the most distant 
 manner allude to him during the short time I afterwards re- 
 mained in the Tigress. He took charge of the boy's effects, 
 
326 AN OCEAN FREE-LANCE. 
 
 which were brought to him by the steward shortly after the 
 funeral ; and I cannot but suspect that he came across some- 
 thing belonging to the poor fellow that moved him particu- 
 larly, for he remained in his cabin all the afternoon, leaving 
 Chestree and me to eat our dinner alone ; and when he came 
 on deck a little before sunset, he looked sorrowful and worn, 
 much more so than he probably supposed, or I question if he 
 would have shown himself by daylight. 
 
 And now, before I close this little incident of our cruise, I 
 should like to ask what is a man to think of such a story as 
 both Shelvocke and Peacock related I Is it reasonable to 
 believe that spirits do appear to men, or shall we explain the 
 declarations which people have made, and solemnly and cre- 
 dibly made, of having beheld such apparitions, by assuming 
 the possibility of an imagination powerful enough to dupe the 
 reason by its fancies I Fortunately, it is a matter of no great 
 consequence to human happiness, though I will not deny that 
 such beliefs make life picturesque, and have even served 
 directly useful ends, as, for instance, where an apparition has 
 stopped a man from committing a robbery, and, better still, 
 where a voice has caused a would-be murderer to take to his 
 heels. Be this as it may, my log-book contains Peacock's story, 
 and I have spun the yarn truthfully, and shall not attempt to 
 make more of it. 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 A SMART ENGAGEMENT. 
 
 Monday (such and such a day) 1812: latitude 24° 2' N. ; 
 longitude 54° 17' W. 
 
 The day had broken beautifully bright and clear upon an 
 ocean stretching like a swelling sheet of quicksilver to the 
 
A SMART ENGAGEMENT. 327 
 
 sharply-lined horizon. The wind that had carried us to this 
 point had suddenly failed us ; but we hoped it was coming 
 again when, shortly after the sun had risen, the sea away in 
 the north darkened into a deep and lovely blue under a glorious 
 breeze, the hoarse and rushing sound of which we could hear 
 long before it struck us. It held for an hour, driving us 
 smoking through the water ; then, to our deep disgust, hauled 
 round to the westward, and blew spitefully straight down the 
 course we were heading. Worse still, it worked up a hazy 
 atmosphere that narrowed the horizon with a driving mist 
 that put me in mind of the North Sea in November; only 
 the vapour was so exceedingly close and muggy, that by shutting 
 your eyes you would have imagined you were passing through 
 the steam of a hot tank. 
 
 'One almost seems to taste the presence of Yellow Jack, 
 even at this distance from his home,' said Shelvocke, sniffling 
 and snuffling and wiping the humidity from his face. 
 
 He had once spoken of Yellow Jack when talking of 
 Madeline Palmer, and I suppose the mention of the subject 
 recalled her to me. Strange, how widely different are the 
 thoughts which chase each other through the mind ! I was 
 surprised to find how vivid was my recollection of her. How 
 many weeks had rolled by since I had danced with her at 
 Lady Tempest's ball ! and yet my memory retained every 
 point of her as accurately as though I held a miniature of 
 her to my eyes : the dress she wore, the flower she had taken 
 from her bosom (I had it in my cabin), her soft gleaming hair, 
 the black fan by her side, the soft laugh in her eyes, her parted 
 lips and sweet gravity when I spoke. Such an impression was 
 surprising truly. I never would have believed that any woman 
 could, in a few hours, have left so clear and lasting an image 
 of herself on my memory. 
 
 ' 1 say, Mr. Madison, mind you don't tumble overboard ! 
 You had better lay hold of one of those backstays if you mean 
 to stop up there,' sung out Shelvocke from the weather-side of 
 
328 AN OCEAN FREE-LANCE. 
 
 the deck ; and wondering at the depth of the reverie that had 
 suffered me to clamber on to the rail of the bulwark, and stand 
 there holding on only with my feet, without knowing how I 
 got there, and why I was there, I jumped down with a red 
 face and walked aft. 
 
 Coming events cast their shadows before. Shakespeare 
 himself never wrote a truer line than that, thou prince of 
 lyrists, Thomas Campbell ! The shadow of a coming event 
 was assuredly upon me then, or why should I have stood 
 pondering and musing over a girl whom I had only met once, 
 whom I was quite sure I should never meet again, thinking 
 over the dances we had danced together, of the silver fires 
 which had sparkled in her eyes as she stood upon the moon- 
 lit lawn with me, and of the pensive little equivoke that had 
 slipped from her lips when she handed me the flower I asked 
 for? 
 
 Why, I say? Why on that day particularly? Why not 
 yesterday, or a week or fortnight before % Jamaica still lay a 
 long distance ahead of us ; my persistent thinking of her could 
 not have been owing to the neighbourhood of that island, 
 where by this time, I might take it, she was installed, and 
 viewing with accustomed eyes the black, brown, and yellow 
 population of that sweltering, verdant, mountainous possession, 
 and accepting the mosquito, the snake, the guana, and the 
 bald-headed noisome vulture, the sudden deaths, the prompt 
 funerals, as condiments specially provided by a bountiful 
 nature solely to increase the European's relish of tropical 
 happiness. 
 
 * How does she go, Mr. Madison V called out Shelvocke, 
 who was sheltering himself under the pinnace from the moist 
 blowing of the wind. 
 
 I started. She, thought I ! 
 
 1 West-nor-west, sir/ I answered, after creeping up the 
 greasy deck, and peering at the card. 
 
 'Turning wool-gatherer!' he exclaimed, as I approached 
 
A SMART ENGAGEMENT. 329 
 
 him. ' Are you sure it is west-nor-west 1 — or were you answer- 
 ing in Hamlet's vein f * 
 
 * No, sir/ I answered, laughing ; ' we are heading as I said.' 
 Before Peacock's death he would have probed me to know 
 
 what I was thinking of, and then have rallied me ; but his 
 spirits were low now compared to what they were, his joking 
 mild and exceedingly short-lived. 
 
 'It is very strange,' said he, after a short pause, 'that we 
 don't come across any vessels. Luck has been against us ever 
 since we quitted the Channel, so that Hannay's advice to stick 
 to those waters has, I am bound to say, down to the present 
 proved sound. I have made up my mind to run straight for 
 Kingston and fish for news. It is certainly remarkable that 
 nothing but that slaver should have hove in sight, considering 
 the vast extent of water we have traversed. 
 
 1 I believe we made a mistake in running south after leaving 
 the French coast,' I answered. 
 
 * I am sure of it. I ought to have stretched over into the 
 American waters and worked off my parallels on that side. 
 And here we are now, bothered by a head wind. You had 
 better get the outer jib stowed ; it will make her drier for- 
 ward.' 
 
 I gave the order, and the jib was hauled down, slatting 
 violently and rattling like a cart upon a stony road. The 
 wind was as strong as we needed, steady, and the sea 
 moderate ; the schooner was being sailed so close that the 
 weather-leeches were rippling like flags, and the seas running 
 almost straight at her, made her chop up and down so 
 viciously that her progress was marked by a surface of 
 foam as broad and wild as a line-of-battle ship would have 
 flung off. 
 
 The weather had certainly an odd look : a hazy blue sky 
 overhead, thin sheets of mist which closed and opened, some- 
 
 * ' We must speak by the card, or equivocation will undo us,' 
 
330 AN OCEAN FREE-LANCE, 
 
 times giving us a view of the natural horizon, sometimes 
 narrowing the visible circumference of the sea down to within 
 a league ; a fiery, confused sun, like the eye of a man angered 
 by drink, flinging down a wild white light upon a space of 
 leaping violet-coloured seas lustrous with breaking surges. It 
 was real tropical weather, however ; I knew it well ; the only 
 two bad points of it were, it obscured the view and headed us 
 out of course. 
 
 The morning crawled away. At dinner-time the sea was 
 still covered by the driving mist ; constant showers of spray 
 swept over the decks and made the planks smell like seaweed ; 
 but in spite of these cooling libations, the sun was so fiercely 
 hot that the pitch betwixt the seams was as soft as putty. 
 
 * Positively,' said I, as we seated ourselves at the dinner- 
 table, ' one might imagine that the sunlight to-day consisted of 
 an endless succession of vicious insects. It is one long sting.' 
 
 1 Not an hour ago,' exclaimed Chestree, ' I clapped my 
 hand on the back of my neck — the sun being behind me — 
 under the full belief that somebody had stuck a mustard- 
 poultice upon it. It was like having one's skin peeled off.' 
 
 1 Well, here is enough pricking — so let us hope that some- 
 thing wicked this way comes,' said Shelvocke. ' Pea-soup, I 
 perceive, and boiling hot, of course,' drawing hastily back as 
 the steward whipped off the cover of the tureen and let a cloud 
 of steam soar up. ' A nice drink for this temperature !' 
 
 It was death to me to look at it, but Chestree passed his 
 plate for a second helping. 
 
 * I am very fond of pea-soup,' said he ; and as he hung over 
 the steaming fluid, I thought of Miss Hawkins's description of 
 Samuel Johnson eating a veal-pie stuffed with * plumbs ' — the 
 perspiration, the veins standing in cords upon the forehead, 
 the slop, slop of the spoon. 
 
 'Phew, captain! the wind-sail wouldn't be amiss,' said I;, 
 'the atmosphere has been heated by twenty degrees since 
 Chestree began that second plate of soup :' and to my great- 
 
A SMART ENGAGEMENT. 331 
 
 comfort the order to hoist the wind-sail was given, and the 
 big canvas funnel breezed sweetly into the hot interior. 
 
 1 Happy is he/ said Shelvocke, looking earnestly at Ches- 
 tree, ' whose stomach is not impatient of the equinoxes. The 
 true Briton is a man who will eat anything anywhere ; calipash 
 in the West, curry in the East, pea-soup on the Equator. The 
 nearer he draws to the sun the hotter he likes his food. 7 
 
 'Pea-soup only makes you hot whilst you're eating it, sir,' 
 exclaimed Chestree, as if he thought an apology was wanted 
 from him. ' It cools you afterwards.' 
 
 1 Still, though I sneer,' said Shelvocke, ' I am looking for- 
 ward to my calipash. As you know, Madison, I am quite an 
 alderman in my veneration for the turtle. Strange that so 
 monstrous a comformation should enshrine such ecstatic fat. 
 The man who first tasted him must have been a courageous 
 creature. I should have required the experiences of at least 
 three generations of digestions to have dared such a feat.' 
 
 A step was heard on the companion-ladder, and Tapping, 
 hat in hand, put his head down. 
 
 ' There's a sail in sight, sir, about a point on the weather- 
 bow. She is only to be seen now and again when the mist 
 clears.' 
 
 'Go and see what you can make of her, Madison,' said 
 Shelvocke. 
 
 I jumped up and went on deck. 
 
 1 Whereaway is your stranger, Tapping f said I, staring into 
 the blank horizon ahead. 
 
 He pointed, and I peered, but nothing was in sight. 
 
 1 The mist has rolled down over her again, sir,' he exclaimed. 
 1 But you'll see her by keeping your eye on that part of the 
 sea for a few moments.' 
 
 I stood looking and looking. 
 
 1 Very strange, Tapping ; your ship is a long while heaving in 
 sight. Surely you haven't mistaken some dark patch of mist 
 — like that yonder — for a vessel,' said I, pointing to a small 
 
332 AN OCEAN FREE-LANCE. 
 
 circular shadow that I myself should have taken to be a sail 
 but for the speed with which the long struggling wreath of 
 vapour that held it was sweeping athwart our hawse. 
 
 ' Why, I don't think I could have been deceived/ said he, 
 looking rather puzzled, however. 'What I saw was uncom- 
 monly like a ship, and the mist opened her twice before I 
 reported her, sir.' 
 
 * Forward there !' I sung out ; ' did anyone sight a sail on 
 the starboard bow just now V 
 
 'No, sir.' 
 
 c Depend upon it, Tapping, you have been deceived by some 
 flaw in the vapour yonder. However, keep a bright look-out ;' 
 and so saying, I dived below to finish my dinner. 
 
 ' There's nothing in sight, sir/ I exclaimed, resuming my 
 knife and fork. ' The fog must have misled Tapping. It's as 
 thick as the lees of a bottle of loaded port. Chestree, kindly 
 pass me the brandy.' 
 
 * I thought the news of a sail being in sight was rather too 
 good to be true,' said Shelvocke ruefully. 
 
 At that moment I heard a voice on the forecastle hailing the 
 quarter-deck. Tapping made some answer that I could not 
 catch, and I saw Shelvocke prick up his ears. In a few seconds 
 the wind-sail was shoved on one side by the third mate poking 
 his head through the skylight. 
 
 'It was a ship I saw, sir,' he sung out. 'The fog's hidden 
 her again, but the look-out reported her this time, so there's no 
 mistake.' 
 
 'How did she seem to be heading, Mr. Tapping?' asked 
 Shelvocke. 
 
 ' She is on the starboard tack, sir, apparently going our way, 
 but not laying so close ; for she's right ahead now, rather to 
 leeward, if anything.' 
 
 We hastily finished dinner, and I followed Shelvocke on 
 deck, where we stood, armed each of us with a glass, ready for 
 the first glimpse of the stranger. 
 
A SMART ENGAGEMENT. 333 
 
 1 Now if this wind would only shift a point we should have 
 a clear horizon, ' said Shelvocke, impatiently biting the end off 
 a cigar, and clasping his glass betwixt his knees whilst he 
 irritably hammered at the flint of his tinder-box. 
 
 ' There she is at last, sir !' I cried, as the mist thinned away 
 on the horizon ahead, like the moisture of your breath upon a 
 looking-glass, and displayed the hull and spars of a large vessel 
 under easy canvas. 
 
 We both pointed our glasses. The ship was not more than 
 five miles off, and we had her plain. The sun, being behind 
 us, flung its misty radiance over our mastheads upon her, and 
 the light sparkled in the windows and gilt carving of the high 
 stern of what was seemingly a large West Indiaman. Her 
 masts were focussed into one from our point of view, but I 
 could tell by her yards that she was a full-rigged ship. She 
 had a single reef in her topsails, and a main-topgallant-sail set ; 
 but just before a whole cloud of mist blew over her and hid her, 
 she set her mainsail and fore and mizzen-topgallant-sails, and I 
 could see some hands crawling aloft to shake out the reefs — as 
 I surmised. 
 
 * Gone again, just as I was beginning to take her in !' cried 
 Shelvocke, making his glass ring as he angrily drove the tubes 
 into one another. ' What do you suspect her to be, Mr. Madi- 
 son ¥ 
 
 1 A West Indiaman without doubt, sir ; and an Englishman, 
 I am afraid.' 
 
 * Why English I deuce take her if she prove so ! I'm in the 
 mood for a change, man : I want to see a few foreigners.' 
 
 We waited and watched. Presently there was the ship 
 again heeling under all three royals, and foaming through the 
 water about three points on our lee bow. 
 
 1 Oh ho ! that's the time of day, is it V shouted Shelvocke. 
 ' Tiller there ! starboard your helm — starboard you may ! so — 
 keep her full now. Ease away that mainsheet. Lay aft some 
 hands and set the gaff-topsail. She wants to get quit of us, 
 
334 AN OCEAN FREE-LANCE. 
 
 does she ? Ease off those fore-sheets ! tail on to the outer jib- 
 halliards — loose the flying jib !' 
 
 He sprang over to the weather-side of the deck and cast 
 an eager look at the trim of the canvas, and, apparently 
 satisfied, came back to where I stood, and exclaimed with a 
 chuckle : 
 
 1 We'll talk to her, be she what she will t 
 
 Freed from the griping luff that had choked half the wind 
 out of her sails, and with many additional cloths upon her, the 
 Tigress rushed through the water like a comet ; the whirring, 
 crackling, sparkling foam fled past with a velocity that made 
 the eye that watched it reel again ; the wind boomed with 
 a thunder-note out of the immense hollow of the mainsail, and 
 every sail was as hard as stone under the pressure. The re- 
 lieving tackles were manned, for the tiller kept the two power- 
 ful men who grasped it dancing like a couple of monkeys on 
 the bough of a tree. The mist was blowing away fast, though 
 from time to time lines of it would sweep across the ship 
 ahead, and obscure her, but not so as to embarrass our pursuit. 
 Her press of canvas was dragging her channels under. It was 
 a sight to witness the foam fly out at right angles with her hull 
 in long glistening streams, like jets from a force-pipe, as the 
 chains ripped up the water, whilst to windward her black 
 side and the copper under it glanced against the white tops 
 of the deep green of the waves — ebony chased with gold and 
 ivory. 
 
 1 We are overhauling her fast t exclaimed Shelvocke, in a 
 voice ringing with excitement. ' Pipe the hands to quarters ■ 
 (there was no beating of drums aboard the Tigress) ; ' get the 
 nettings triced up, and close the hatches. Were she English 
 she would face us.' 
 
 As the crew were bustling to stations, I caught sight of a 
 spot of colour on the taffrail of the ship : it fluttered, struggled, 
 soared, and stood out like a board at the peak. 
 
 ' The American flag, as I am a man t cried Shelvocke. * But 
 
A SMART ENGAGEMENT. 335 
 
 we'll have no juggling this time ; so hoist away our ensign, 
 Mr. Tapping, and let them know the worst.' 
 
 ' In spite of that Yankee flag, sir,' I exclaimed, after narrowly 
 inspecting the ship with the glass, ' I will swear that she's 
 English. Indeed, I am greatly mistaken if I have not seen 
 the vessel before. If she prove to be what I suspect she is, 
 then we may suppose that she has hoisted the American 
 flag under the impression that we are one of Jonathan's 
 privateers.' 
 
 1 She has the truth now, anyway,' answered Shelvocke, with 
 a glance at our ensign ; ' but she's not English, I tell you, or 
 she'd shorten sail and receive us — she wouldn't run ; or if 
 she's an English vessel, she has a foreign crew aboard, of that 
 I'm certain.' 
 
 1 Time will prove,' said I, ogling the ship's stern shrewdly, 
 in the hope of finding her name ; but if any letters were there, 
 they were so involved in ornamentation as to be indistin- 
 guishable. 
 
 We gained on her foot by foot, and when within range 
 let fly a gun at her as a hint to heave to ; but she paid no 
 attention to this challenge. Nobody was visible board of her 
 but a fellow dressed in a white jacket and jean pantaloons and 
 a red cap, whose tall figure, as he stood upon the rail over the 
 weather quarter-gallery, with his arm round the vang watching 
 us, made a conspicuous object. 
 
 The dress of this man, however, went a long way to con- 
 firm Shelvocke's suspicion, that, if the ship was an Englishman, 
 she had fallen among thieves. 
 
 All at once they let go the royal and top-gallant halliards 
 and hauled up their courses, put their helm down, and, 
 throwing their vessel almost athwart our hawse, fired a broad- 
 side of seven guns at us. The manoeuvre — full of reckless 
 audacity, as it not only imperilled their spars, but very nearly 
 put the ship in irons — was executed with an abruptness that 
 would have taken away the breath of any man less alert 
 
336 AN OCEAN FREE-LANCE. 
 
 than Shelvocke : but almost simultaneously with the shifting 
 of their helm, he motioned to the men at the schooner's tiller. 
 The Tigress fell off, and the ship's broadside-discharge flew 
 wide of the mark to windward of us. There was a pause 
 of a minute or two, while we flew down upon the enemy, 
 who was slowly paying off. The instant she presented 
 her stern at us, we raked her with five guns. Heavy 
 as was the thunder of the explosion, we could hear the 
 grape and round shot tearing along her decks, the smashing 
 of glass, the splintering of wood, mingled with loud shrieks ; and 
 at the same moment that we fired, the sail-trimmers whipped 
 half the canvas off the schooner, and there were we to windward, 
 under jib and foresail only, and within hailing distance of the 
 ship. 
 
 So close, indeed, that we could clearly distinguish the faces of 
 the half -naked men surging about the gun-ports as they worked 
 the cannons. The man in the red cap, who had been watch- 
 ing us, was evidently in command \ flourishing an immense 
 pistol, he darted here and there, and his cap seemed to 
 twinkle in half-a-dozen places at once; he was a giant in 
 stature, and brandished his arms like a windmill. Through 
 the gun-ports we could see a number of mulattoes and negroes 
 among the crew, and some white men and negroes were clus- 
 tered in the main-top, and discharged muskets at our decks as 
 fast as they could load them, and a constant succession of tiny 
 white puffs of smoke blew away from among them through the 
 top-mast rigging. 
 
 It was as clear as the sun now that the ship was an 
 English West Indiaman, in charge of a prize crew — whether 
 Yankee, French, or pirate could not yet be known. But 
 there was no time for observation or conjecture. The moment 
 we took up our position to windward, the guns of each vessel 
 began their infernal din. How can any man describe such 
 a scene ! It was all crash and fury, the sparking out of 
 tongues of red flame, a smother of choking, sulphur-flavoured 
 
A SMART ENGAGEMENT. 337 
 
 smoke, a dull trembling throughout the length and breadth of 
 the schooner, the whistling of hurtling iron missiles, the crack- 
 ling of wood, and a roaring of human voices. The very 
 wind seemed awed by the fiendish hullabaloo, and the smoke 
 from our guns drove sluggishly down upon the enemy, and, 
 mingling with the white clouds which rose from her decks, 
 sailed in a large fog along the green waters to leeward. 
 
 'Aim at that red-capped fellow, some of you small-arms 
 men V shouted Shelvocke, pointing to the giant, who, re- 
 gardless of the danger of the exposed position, had jumped 
 on to the bulwarks before the mizzen-rigging, and stood 
 there yelling to his fellows, and pointing with his pistol to us. 
 
 Half-a-dozen muskets were levelled; they flashed at the 
 moment our two after-guns were fired ; the man leaped in the 
 air and vanished behind the bulwarks. Now, thought I, the 
 rascals are without a leader : when lo ! there was the cap 
 twinkling over the rail again, and presently the whole giant 
 forked up, and stood vociferating and motioning to his men 
 upon the identical spot from which I imagined we had shot 
 him down. 
 
 Crash ! down topples her main-topgallant-mast. 
 
 1 How come your shot to be flying so high ? Hull her, men 
 — hull her t roars Shelvocke. 
 
 What is that object swaying to and fro as it slowly soars to 
 the main-top ! A boat's gun, by heaven ! And see those 
 black rascals up there fling down their muskets to steady the 
 tackle, and make ready to sway the piece into the top ! I 
 notice the men stationed at our foremost carronade elevate 
 their gun : the live fuse touches the priming, and the gaping 
 muzzle belches forth an ocean of fire and smoke ; a ringing 
 cheer peals forth, and when I look, the boat-gun has vanished, 
 the tackle idly beats the mast in whips, and a wounded black, 
 shrieking in his agony, and lolling head down, and hands 
 hanging over the edge of the top, suddenly shoots heels 
 over head and whizzes through the air. A murderous dis- 
 
 22 
 
338 AN OCEAN FREE-LANCE. 
 
 charge is at this moment fired at us from three of the enemy's 
 forward guns : the shower of white splinters fly from our fore- 
 castle-rail, and the parted fore-topgallant-stay swings quickly 
 into the mast ; the gaff of the foresail floats down with the 
 white folds of the sail, and smothers a group of small-arms 
 men in the waist. 
 
 ' No matter, my lads ! The sail's a rag, and well doused. 
 Aft here, and rattle up this mainsail !' 
 
 By this time the two vessels had drawn close together. 
 There was not half a ship's length between them. Our shot 
 had already knocked two of the enemy's gun-ports into one, 
 her sides were studded with shot, and her bulwarks were like 
 a sieve. What the slaughter was we could not see. On the 
 other hand, our hull was badly hurt ; moment after moment 
 our men were being taken away ; and it was easily seen that, 
 if this battering was not soon terminated, the ship would fight 
 herself clear of us. 
 
 Indeed, such fierceness and obstinacy on the part of the 
 enemy was quite unexpected by us. They were fighting their 
 ship like demons. We could see the men flinging the dead 
 and wounded, as fast as they dropped down, out of the way, 
 as if they were sacks of biscuit. Though the vessels were so 
 close together that the flames of the enemy's guns scorched 
 our people away from their quarters at every broadside, the 
 men of the Indiaman never swerved from their stations, though 
 just before we boarded I saw a whole fathom of fire dart out 
 of one of our amidship guns into the thick of a cluster of the 
 Indiaman's crew, and blast and wither and shrivel up half-a- 
 dozen of the unhappy wretches into olive-coloured rags, yet the 
 survivors held their ground, and rattled their gun out again, 
 and exploded it with a derisive yell. Our metal was heavier, 
 but they had the advantage of elevation ; and resolving to 
 end the bloody and fiery business by a coup de main, Shelvocke 
 motioned for the helm to be put over, and the next moment 
 the two vessels were grinding their sides against each other. 
 
A SMART ENGAGEMENT, 339 
 
 A dozen blacks and white men, headed by the giant in the 
 red cap, succeeded in tumbling into the waist, where a furious 
 hand-to-hand struggle commenced. Aft, Shelvocke was the 
 first to spring aboard the enemy, I was next him, and behind 
 were thirty or forty of the Tigresses. 
 
 Of what followed I cannot pretend to give a close account. 
 I remember hacking and hewing with my cutlass at the net- 
 ting, clambering over and through it, and tumbling down on 
 my nose over the bulwarks of the ship ; gaining my feet and 
 seeing Shelvocke and a number of men making the air bril- 
 liant with the gleaming sweep of their cutlasses ; joining them, 
 and finding myself stabbing, thrusting, parrying, half-blinded 
 by blood, whether my own or other people's I did not know, 
 opposed by a furious mob of human beings, half of them 
 negroes, most of them naked to the waist : and yet in this 
 moment of wild excitement, stunned by the hideous yelling of 
 the blacks, and the fierce execrations of the whites who cursed 
 and raved at us in our own tongue, stumbling over corpses, 
 ropes, boarding-pikes, sliding about on grape-shot rolling over 
 the deck, stunned one moment by the weight of a heavy body 
 flinging against me in a headlong fall — even in this moment, 
 I say, certain minute occurrences and things were vividly 
 flashed upon my perception, just as a man takes note of objects 
 during a glare of lightning. I remember, for instance, the 
 demoniacal expression on the face of a herculean negro as he 
 let drive a boarding-pike at my breast, my momentary sense 
 of despair as I dropped my cutlass to catch and wrestle with 
 the weapon, and the joy that gave me back tenfold my strength 
 when he tossed up his hands, leaving the pike in my grasp, 
 and coughed and sputtered up a fountain of dark blood, and 
 fell backwards, shot through the lungs. I remember looking 
 at Shelvocke, though the glance must have been instantaneous, 
 and observing the prodigious strength expressed by his tower- 
 ing form, as, with his coat wrenched off his back, his massive 
 knotted arm bared above the elbow, his face dark with blood 
 
 22—2 
 
34 o AN OCEAN FREE-LANCE. 
 
 and the grime of powder, he mowed with his cutlass among 
 the writhing, struggling, hooting mob, whom foot by foot we 
 were driving forward. 
 
 1 Aloft, some hands f he shouted, ' and clear those vermin 
 out of the main-top ¥ 
 
 I turned to lead the way, but Tapping was before me ; he 
 was followed by half-a-dozen of our men, and I forgot them a 
 moment after, as I rounded again to the demons who opposed 
 us. A fierce-faced, bearded, white man, rendered ghastly 
 beyond description by a wound across his forehead, that had 
 let fall a flap of skin over his left eye, levelled a pistol at me ; 
 I ducked, and the shot flew over my head. I sprang at him, 
 and then — ' God V I remember crying, and consciousness 
 fled from me in a flash of fire. 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 THE NAMUR. 
 
 I opened my eyes, and the first object they rested upon was 
 the highly-whiskered, brown, and honest face of Parell, the 
 boatswain's mate who headed my watch. 
 
 \ Mercy on me, Parell, where am I V I exclaimed, as he 
 whipped his body erect with astonishment on finding me alive. 
 * Here, give me your hand, my good fellow ;' and seizing his 
 fist, I hauled myself on to my legs, staggered, reeled, was 
 caught by the man, and lodged safely on the step of a 
 carronade slide. 
 
 The fight was over ; the West Indiaman was ours : but great 
 heaven, what a sight were her decks ! Blacks and white men 
 — and alas ! alas ! among the latter I beheld many of our own 
 people — lay so thick, that a man on stilts could not have 
 pricked his way along the starboard side of the main-deck 
 without treading upon the corpses. 
 
THE NAMUR. 341 
 
 Directly facing me, and seated on a carronade slide that 
 corresponded with the one to which Parell had led me, was 
 Shelvocke, with his hands and face smeared with blood, sup- 
 porting his head on his arm, without a hat, his shirt in rags 
 upon his back, his naked arms black with powder, breathing 
 violently, and apparently terribly exhausted. Around the 
 fore-hatch were grouped a half-dozen of our men, armed to the 
 teeth ; a dead body hung across a ratline in the lower fore- 
 rigging ; ropes lay strewn across the deck and upon the sides 
 of the ship in bights ; portions of the bulwarks were crimson 
 with blood ; here and there a prostrate body quivered or 
 moved, and low thrilling murmurs from the wounded in their 
 agony, from the dying in their last struggle, broke upon the ear. 
 
 4 1 have a drop here, sir, that may pull you up abit,' said 
 Parell, producing a flask of brandy, how obtained I did not 
 inquire. I put my lips to it and swallowed a dram ; but it 
 was like pouring liquid fire down my throat. 
 
 * Water l' I gasped, half choked. He made his way to a 
 scuttle-butt near the main-mast, and brought me a tin pint- 
 measure full. Oh, the sweetness, the delicious coolness of that 
 blessed draught ! Topping the spirit, it made another man of 
 me. I got upon my feet and found I could stand. 
 
 A dull aching pain on the top of my head caused me to 
 raise my hand. I found I was without a hat, and my fingers 
 touched some hard stuff that felt likes pieces of mortar. 
 
 * Why, what in heaven's name have I here V cried I, bring- 
 ing my fingers away and looking at them. ' Blood ! ... to 
 be sure ! I was felled just now by some scoundrel, wasn't I V 
 
 ' It's only a little blood that's thickened your hair, sir,' said 
 Parell. ' A touch o' warm water '11 set that to rights.' 
 
 Ay, that is it : but the sun, though declining fast, had a 
 fierce bite, so I tied a pocket-handkerchief round my un- 
 fortunate pate, and walked over to Shelvocke. He looked up. 
 
 ' Good Lord, what a face, Madison f he gasped out. ' But 
 welcome back to life. I thought I saw you dead.' 
 
342 AN OCEAN FREE-LANCE, 
 
 1 And you, sir V 
 
 'Untouched, though almost despatched by my own exer- 
 tions. But see — but see what a number of our brave fellows 
 these murderous Yankee pirates have cost us t and he ran his 
 grieved eyes over the prone bodies. 
 
 1 And how long can I have been dead — do you know, sir f 
 
 ' Why, not above five minutes, I should think. We have 
 only just driven the last of the batch below. How they 
 fought ! Those blacks are fiends ! in their very death-agonies 
 some of them buried their teeth in the flesh of our wounded. 
 What enemies to oppose to white men !' he exclaimed, still 
 fetching his breath with labour. ' Has the schooner suffered 
 much 1 My eyes so smart with the powder-smoke that I can 
 hardly see out of them/ he added, nodding towards the 
 Tigress, who had drawn ahead of the ship by about a cable's- 
 length, and lay hove to with her canvas shaking. 
 
 1 So far as I can make out, her rigging is a good deal cut 
 up, and her mainsail is a perfect Milky-way of shot-holes,' I 
 answered ; ' but her spars look all right, sir.' 
 
 1 The Lord be praised for that !' said he, rising. ' Their 
 last two broadsides were ferocious enough to drive us out of 
 water. But heaven and earth, what a massacre t he cried, 
 clasping his hands with a vehement gesture as he ran his eye 
 over the deck. ' Look ! I can count seven of our men dead 
 between this and the main-hatch !' 
 
 1 Surely there cannot be many prisoners below, sir/ said I. 
 ' There is slaughter enough here to account for the whole of 
 the ship's crew.' 
 
 'We drove about a dozen or twenty of them under/ he 
 answered. ' There should have been two score at least when 
 we boarded, but they melted away as we slowly settled them 
 forward like a handful of sand through the fingers. You 
 had better take some men below, Madison, and explore the 
 cabin, while I signal the schooner. Have you seen anything 
 of Tapping V 
 
THE NAMUR. 343 
 
 ' There he is yonder, sir, near the fore-hatch.' 
 
 He hailed the third mate, who limped heavily as he made 
 his way aft. 
 
 In the meantime I called to Parell, and another seaman 
 named Bowman, to follow me ; and picking up a cutlass I 
 descended the companion-steps and entered the cabin. I 
 advanced cautiously, for there was no guessing who was 
 below, and what reception awaited the first explorer of those 
 regions. We found ourselves in a large deserted cabin, or 
 saloon, most luxuriously and handsomely fitted. Accustomed 
 as I was to the sumptuous cabin-trappings of Indiamen, I 
 was astonished by the beauty and taste exhibited in this place. 
 The bulkheads were furnished with tall mirrors ; rich curtains 
 hung in front of the doors of the berths which were par- 
 titioned off from the cabin ; trays of flowers and globes of 
 fish swung from the ceiling; the mizzen-mast, that pierced 
 the two decks, was painted and decorated so as to resemble 
 a column of elaborately-carved marble : and what with velvet 
 chairs and sofas, sparkling brass-lamps, skylights enriched 
 with ferns, dark and lustrous oak-panelling, and a tall, 
 picturesquely - ornamented pianoforte at the back of the 
 mizzen-mast, the cabin seemed like a drawing-room in a royal 
 residence. 
 
 There were some decanters of wine, glasses, plates, a dish 
 of biscuits, and a cold ham on the table, where they looked 
 to have been hastily placed and hastily left; there was a 
 fork with a piece of ham stuck on it upon a plate, and a bis- 
 cuit alongside of it with the mark of a bite, and a wine-glass 
 lay on its side amid a little pool of sherry. 
 
 All these things were noted by me ^as I advanced, but on 
 facing a mirror I came to a dead stop, aghast at the monstrous 
 figure reflected in it. 
 
 1 Good heavens, Parell !' I muttered, observing the two 
 fellows grinning behind me. * Can that fearful thing be 
 MBf 
 
344 AN OCEAN FREE-LANCE. 
 
 My face was covered with grime and blood that had har- 
 dened into a black mask over my eyebrows and on my left 
 cheek ; but shocking as this discolouration and the character 
 of it made my countenance, the whole expression was rendered 
 inexpressibly hideous by the stained white pocket-hankerchief 
 I had tied around my head and knotted under my chin, so 
 as to cause my beard to project like a frill, or the dorsal fin 
 of a shark. In addition to this, my shirt, like Shelvocke's, 
 hung in several rags from my shoulders, and the left leg of 
 my trousers had been split up as high as my knee. My horror 
 of my own aspect so heightened the ghastly appearance of my 
 face, that the proverbial extremes met. I looked, turned away, 
 and burst out laughing. 
 
 1 Lord, what a ghost I should make f I shouted. c What 
 a Banquo — what a Hamlet's father — what a Witch of 
 Endor ! 
 
 f " Approach thou like the rugged Russian bear, 
 The arm'd rhinoceros or the Hyrcan tiger, 
 
 Take any shape but that- 
 
 I stopped short, petrified by the apparition of a long yellow 
 face projected beyond one of the curtains that quivered like a 
 blowing flag in the shaking hand of the individual who had 
 drawn it aside. The face was as yellow as butter, and had 
 the moist shine of butter, too ; it had a long aquiline nose, 
 perfectly round, black, bloodshot eyes, and was crowned with 
 a mat of intensely black hair. It looked at me, and I looked 
 at it ; it dodged once or twice, like the head of a person who 
 makes a feint of hiding ; it then forked out, slowly drawing 
 after it a long, thin figure, dressed in black, supported upon a 
 pair of knock-kneed legs, cased in stockings like a bishop's, 
 and terminating in a pair of square, flat shoes, freighted with 
 enormous silver buckles. 
 
 c Gracious goodness !' he ejaculated, looking at me from top 
 to toe. ' Are you a man or a walking corpse 1 God have 
 
THE NAMUR. 345 
 
 mercy upon us ! Such horrors, one after another, might turn 
 the brain of the unthinking beast of the field f 
 
 I immediately perceived that he was a passenger, and as 
 there was no time for parleying, I explained who I was, and 
 the character of the vessel that had captured the ship. I never 
 saw any human face more agitated than his when I told him 
 that we were Englishmen, and that the ship was our prize. 
 He rushed at me with extended arms, clasped his hands round 
 my neck, and sobbed out the wildest exclamations of joy like 
 any woman in hysterics. 
 
 'And you tell me that the American pirates have been 
 vanquished, and that this ship is in possession of honourable 
 Englishmen f he shouted, breaking away from me and shoot- 
 ing about on his long, thin legs ; and then darting aft, he drew 
 back the curtains hanging in front of the berths, one after the 
 other, with a vehemence that made the rings rattle again on 
 the brass rods, and flung open the doors, shouting as he turned 
 the handles : 
 
 1 Colonel Bray, we are saved, sir ! Mrs. Montague and 
 family, we are in the hands of Englishmen and friends ! Miss 
 Palmer, Mr. Johnson, Mr. and Mrs. Solomons, come forth, 
 come forth ! We are saved, I tell you ! The pirates are de- 
 feated ! We are under British colours once more ! Hooray f 
 
 He uttered three distinct and vigorous cheers ; and such was 
 the contrast between his extravagant joy and his solemn cos- 
 tume, the carnal raptures expressed by his legs and their 
 spiritual structure, that nothing but the reflection of my person 
 in one of the looking-glasses, and my annoyance that ladies 
 would be among the spectators of my deplorable figure, could 
 have restrained my laughter. Indeed, I had never contem- 
 plated the possibility of ladies being below when I undertook 
 to explore the cabin, nor, until a mirror confronted me, had I 
 any idea of the frightfulness of my appearance. 
 
 However, it was too late to escape, though when the yellow- 
 faced man fell a-bawling to the others to come forth, I cowered 
 
346 AN OCEAN FREE-LANCE. 
 
 behind Parell and his mate, who, grimy as they were, looked 
 civilized and Christian men alongside of me. 
 
 A number of ladies and gentlemen came running out of the 
 berths until the cabin seemed full of people. I bobbed behind 
 the seamen, looking at the passengers as they emerged, all talk- 
 ing at once'; but my eye lighting on a face — pale, grey-eyed, full 
 of sweetness, sorrow and fear — my heart seemed to stop beat- 
 ing, the blood tingled through me until my fingers felt as if 
 buried in an ants' nest. 
 
 ' Merciful powers !' thought I, ' it is Madeline Palmer t I 
 could scarcely believe my eyes — but there she stood, to the 
 right of the mast, the outermost figure of the little crowd, 
 gazing at me and my men, with eyebrows arched with horror. 
 My stupefaction passed quickly. 4 Pish !' I said to myself, 
 ' she'll never know me in this figure ;' and parting the two 
 fellows who had stood right in front of me, I stepped forth. 
 
 The ladies screamed, and there was a general recoil, more 
 especially on the part of Mrs. Solomons — an immensely fat 
 West- Indian Jewess — who backed so violently into the waist- 
 coat of a slightly-built gentleman, who turned out to be Colonel 
 Bray, that she pinned, crushed, and nearly suffocated him 
 against the bulkhead. 
 
 1 1 am sorry,' said I, ' to be obliged to appear before ladies 
 in this trim ; but the engagement has been a severe one, and I 
 have really had no time to change my clothes. However, 
 ladies and gentlemen, pray do not be alarmed. We are 
 Englishmen, and have regained this vessel, which we supposed 
 was captured by an American privateer. Your persons and pro- 
 perty are safe, and you will be under weigh for Kingston, Jamaica, 
 as soon as the decks are cleared and the vessels refitted.' 
 
 I looked hard at Miss Palmer as I spoke, to see if she 
 * twigged ' me, but, though there was plenty of speculation in 
 her beautiful eyes, there was no recognition. All horror had 
 left her, however, and she was one of the first to press forward 
 to grasp my hand. 
 
THE NAMUR. 347 
 
 And then began one of those ordeals I abominate. In all, 
 there were eleven passengers, including a baby; and I was 
 nearly suffocated by them as they pressed around me. Such 
 sobbing ! such short peals of hysteric laughter ! — everybody 
 shaking hands ; women kissing ; the baby taking fright and 
 squalling ; Mrs. Solomons swooning away and recovering, at 
 the expense of her gown, that had to be cut off her back ; 
 Mr. Johnson, a bald-headed, fat little man, bouncing up to 
 me again and again to grasp my hands and thank me for 
 his life and liberty ; Colonel Bray forcing wine upon me and 
 my men ; the yellow-faced man cutting capers around me, and 
 calling me his guardian angel — it was more than I could stand. 
 
 1 Gentlemen, we have our work on deck ; meanwhile I will 
 ask you to remain below with the ladies, and on no account to 
 suffer them to leave the cabin until the ship is cleared :' and so 
 saying I made a bow, and mounted the companion-steps, thank- 
 ful to heaven to have escaped Miss Palmer's recognition, and 
 horribly distressed that any woman's eye should have beheld 
 my blood-stained face and torn garments. 
 
 I found Shelvocke watching Corney at work among the 
 bodies, separating the dead from the wounded ; and as fast as 
 he pronounced a body dead, some men attached a shot to its 
 feet and dropped it overboard. There was no time for cere- 
 mony : the sun was within an hour of his setting, the heat 
 increased as the wind failed, much work was needed aloft; but 
 it was necessary to clear the decks first, and cleanse the ship of 
 the ghastly relics of the struggle. 
 
 1 There are eleven passengers below, sir,' said I to Shelvocke. 
 
 * Ladies V he asked. 
 
 { Five ladies, a nurse and a baby, and four gentlemen. ' 
 
 * And what did they take you to be V said he, glancing at 
 me with a smile that the grime on his face made exceedingly 
 odd. ' You look like a portrait of old Mother Shipton with 
 that handkerchief round your head I hope you stopped them 
 from coming on deck f running his eyes over his own clothes. 
 
34 8 AN OCEAN FREE-LANCE. 
 
 1 Yes, sir ; and I have posted a man half-way up the com- 
 panion-steps, in case their curiosity should master them. 
 Whom think you makes one of the ladies f 
 
 * I have no idea.' 
 
 'Miss Palmer — the young lady I danced with at Lady 
 Tempest's.' 
 
 He looked hard at me to see if I was in earnest. 
 
 1 Strange indeed !' he exclaimed ; ' and yet not so very 
 strange either, considering that she was to sail for the West 
 Indies much about the time we quitted Plymouth. Did she 
 know you f 
 
 'I hope not.' 
 
 1 Anyway she couldn't have seen your blushes. Curious 
 things do happen in this world, which is much smaller than 
 people think, even at sea. Look at them tossing the dead 
 overboard ! So many of our men, too ! I dread the hour for 
 the muster-roll to be called. I am sorry to say that Chestree 
 is badly hurt — stabbed by the red-capped ruffian who boarded 
 the Tigress. 1 
 
 1 It has been a bloody business, captain.' 
 
 1 It has indeed. How does your head feel V 
 
 1 As though a little warm water would freshen me up, sir V 
 
 1 Then see here, Madison ; jump into that boat, and get 
 aboard the Tigress and dress your head. You can afterwards 
 return and relieve me. Be as quick as you can, as I want you 
 to take charge here.' 
 
 'Ay, ay, sir,' said I, mightily thankful for the chance of 
 boarding the schooner. I dropped into the gig that lay along- 
 side with three men in her, we shoved off, and in a few 
 minutes I was in my cabin. 
 
 The steward brought me a can of warm water and bathed 
 my head ; the wound was on the scalp, very sore indeed to 
 the touch, and I had evidently lost a great deal of blood : 
 however, I felt pretty hearty when I was washed and my 
 clothes changed. I told the steward to make up a small 
 
THE NAMUR. 349 
 
 bundle of linen and throw it into the boat ; and while he did 
 this, I peeped into Chestree's cabin. The poor fellow was 
 asleep, but looked so ghastly I thought he was dead, until I 
 put my ear to his mouth. I closed the door gently, bidding 
 the steward give an eye to him ; and as I went to the gangway 
 to get into the boat, I saw a pile of dead lying against the 
 galley, and some of the crew of the schooner swabbing the 
 deck, whilst others were at work aloft. I called to the boat- 
 swain and asked after the wounded. 
 
 ' There are eight dead, and nineteen down, sir ; and of them 
 I fear half a score'll never see the sun rise again. It's been a 
 murderous action !' he exclaimed sadly. 
 
 1 1 am glad to find you unhurt,' said I. ' The wounded 
 have been seen to, I hope f 
 
 1 Yes, sir, after a fashion. Mr. Corney has coopered 'em as 
 well as time allowed. I suppose there'll be a boatload aboard 
 the prize V 
 
 'Ay, the slaughter there has been dreadful. What are 
 those dead yonder V I asked, pointing to the bodies near the 
 galley. 
 
 ' Most of 'em the chaps who boarded us, sir. Not a man 
 escaped. But that red-capped cove must ha' been Satan him- 
 self. I don't know as ever I see or heerd of any man fighting 
 like him, nor giving so much trouble to kill. I shot him twice, 
 another stabbed him in the back, another cut him over the 
 shoulder, and I see the cutlass jammed there so as not to be 
 drawed out, and the man went on fighting some minutes after 
 that, and stabbed Mr. Chestree afore he dropped. As to the 
 niggers, they was like sharks. Had you cut 'em into twenty 
 bits, it's my belief that every piece would ha' gone on fighting 
 on its own account. Talk o' the 'Mericans not having spunk ! 
 they're bull-dogs in breeches, sir ; and jine 'em with British 
 sailors, and the whole world made into one fleet couldn't resist 
 them.' 
 
 1 No doubt, no doubt. Keep close to the ship, bo'sun ; the 
 
35 o AN OCEAN FREE-LANCE. 
 
 captain will be aboard of you shortly/ said I, and jumped into 
 the boat and was rowed back to the prize. 
 
 I found Shelvocke at the gangway waiting for me, and the 
 moment I stepped over the side he laid hold of the side-ropes 
 in his impatience to be gone, and stood talking to me with one 
 foot on the ladder. 
 
 1 All the dead are overboard,' said he, ' and you will now 
 send the wounded in charge of Corney to the schooner as fast 
 as you can. I find there are thirty of the Tigress's men aboard 
 here, of whom you will keep fifteen ; but let the whole thirty 
 turn to at once and solder your spars and rigging. There are 
 twelve prisoners whom you had better send to me. You may 
 also tell the passengers that they are at liberty to remain with 
 you or shift themselves into the schooner.' 
 
 I touched my hat, and he dropped into the boat. 
 
 The evening that had insensibly stolen around us was as 
 lovely and clear as the morning had been thick and unsettled. 
 The wind had slackened into a gentle breeze that was just 
 brisk enough to cool one's face and keep the water twinkling. 
 The setting sun was filling sea and sky with heavenly colours, 
 purple in the west and amber in the east, and a haze of pink 
 that left the water-line sharp as the rim of a glass lens all 
 round the horizon, and overhead a deep, unspeakable tropical 
 blue, and under us a sea of melting green. 
 
 My first and pressing duty was to despatch the wounded in 
 the schooner's cutter, but the job of getting the poor creatures 
 into her was one of the most painful I had ever undertaken. 
 However, it was imperatively necessary that they should be 
 transferred to the Tigress, as there would be no one to doctor 
 them aboard the ship when Corney was gone. It was touch- 
 ing to see how tenderly their shipmates handled them, whisper- 
 ing soothing or encouraging words as they lowered them one 
 by one over the side. Nor were they one jot less humane in 
 their handling of the wounded whites of the ship's crew ; but 
 though they were merciful enough with, the blacks and mulat- 
 
THE NAMUR. 351 
 
 toes, their abhorrence of them was strongly expressed in their 
 faces and their sharp disgustful recoils when addressed or 
 touched by them. 
 
 1 You wouldn't believe how they fought, sir/ said Parell to 
 me. ( One of them was found dead with his teeth locked in 
 the hand of Jim Baines, and afore they could get the poor 
 fellow's hand out of the brute's mouth Mr. Corney had to lash 
 a couple o' marline-spikes together like a pair o' shears, and 
 even then it took two of us to prize the nigger's jaws open.' 
 
 A dismal boatload they made : to this day my memory is 
 haunted by the white men's low moans, the peculiar short 
 thick grunts of the negroes, the hollow suffering faces, the 
 blood-stained clothes, the rolling eyes of the blacks, and their 
 shining fangs gleaming betwixt their bulbous drawn lips and 
 giving a most unearthly character to the ashen-black of their 
 faces. Thankful enough I was when, the last man having 
 been lowered, I gave the order to the boat's crew to shove off. 
 I then turned up the rest of the men to refit, and went below 
 to offer a choice of vessels to the passengers. 
 
 My heart thumped as I descended the companion-steps. I 
 had not had much time to think of the strangeness of this 
 meeting of mine with Miss Palmer ; and though, as you know, 
 she had often been in my thoughts, the idea that in all human 
 probability we should never meet again had stopped me from 
 realizing the tenacity of the hold taken by the grapnel she had 
 flung into my heart, from the very first moment of our getting 
 alongside of one another at the Plymouth ball. I appreciated 
 the strength of that grip now, and understood its significance 
 by the uncomfortably nervous flutter that bothered my brain, 
 like an angry popple under a light craft. 
 
 But shove ahead, man — shove ahead ! So down I went, 
 wondering whether it was my nerves or the temperature that 
 made my face burn, and plumped headlong among the pas- 
 sengers, every one of whom — baby and all — was assembled 
 near the table, sitting or standing. 
 
352 AN OCEAN FREE-LANCE. 
 
 Hat in hand, I made them a polite bow, and immediately 
 perceived that not one of them recognised in me the ghastly 
 figure that had confronted them three quarters of an hour 
 before. Miss Palmer was standing near Colonel Bray, and 
 the moment I hove in sight she fixed her eyes upon me — that 
 much I saw — and I also noticed that she eyed me intently, 
 and that a little colour stole into her cheeks. 
 
 ' I am deputed by the commander of the schooner, ladies 
 and gentlemen/ said I, ' to inform you that both vessels will 
 be under sail shortly, and that if any of you would prefer to 
 occupy the schooner for the remainder of the journey, you 
 will be very welcome to such accommodation as she has to 
 offer.' 
 
 The gentlemen looked at one other, and then at the ladies. 
 
 ' We are extremely obliged for the offer,' said Colonel Bray. 
 'I have the pleasure, I presume, of addressing one of the 
 officers of the vessel to whose gallant crew we are indebted for 
 our rescue V 
 
 1 1 am her chief mate, sir,' I replied, with a bow. 
 
 'I have been examining your schooner through my cabin 
 window,' continued the colonel, ' and observe that she is a very 
 beautiful, powerful, and well-armed boat. After our disastrous 
 experience in this Indiaman, whose crew, I regret to say, struck 
 to the American privateer without firing a shot — without 
 firing a shot,' he repeated warmly and indignantly — ' I, for one, 
 am strongly disposed to accept your captain's polite offer to 
 use his vessel.' 
 
 1 But will the gentleman be pleased to tell us whether we 
 run any danger by remaining in this vessel?' exclaimed a 
 dusty-looking, big-nosed, black-eyed old man, whose yellow 
 fingers were brilliant with rings, and under whose highly 
 flowered waistcoat there hung, by the bight of a chain, enough 
 seals and gewgaws to furnish out a jeweller's shop. 
 
 * Mr. Jonas Solomons, sir,' said Colonel Bray, introducing the 
 old fellow to me with a wave of the hand. 
 
THE NAMUR. 353 
 
 * Why, Mr. Solomons,' I replied, ' the schooner is not only 
 the better-armed, but she will be the better-manned vessel. 
 But as she will convoy us, and as the run to Kingston cannot 
 prove a very long one, I do not see, as regards the security 
 offered, that there will be much to choose between the two 
 vessels.' 
 
 ' You hear what the gentleman says, Jonas,' said Mrs. 
 Solomons, fanning her fat, treble-chinned face, and resembling 
 an inflated balloon in the green silk dress she had substituted 
 for the gown that had been ripped off her back. ' Mind, I 
 leave it to you !' 
 
 1 Who will command this ship, sir V asked Mr. Solomons. 
 
 1 I,' I replied. 
 
 * What do you say, Mr. Culpepper V observed Colonel Bray, 
 addressing the yellow-faced man in gaiters. 
 
 ' Why, I am certainly for placing myself under the guardian- 
 ship of our brave rescuers,' replied Mr. Culpepper. ' In 
 simpler language,' he added, pulling out a snuff-box, ' I'm for 
 the schooner.' 
 
 1 And so am I,' said Mrs. Montague, a red-faced, rather un- 
 tidy-looking woman, slackly-rigged about the bosom and with 
 her cap awry, as if most of her time was spent in nursing the 
 baby and fighting with it. ' When I think of the risk my 
 blessed tootle-torums has run, I vow I would rather finish the 
 voyage on a bare raft in company with our brave rescuers than 
 in this dreadful ship ;' and here she snatched her baby from 
 the nurse, threw her spare arm round the neck of a girl of 
 about fourteen years old, was clasped round the waist by 
 another daughter who looked a full-grown woman, and a most 
 pathetic tableau was formed, the effect of which was consider- 
 ably heightened by both daughters sobbing and the baby 
 screaming. 
 
 1 You will please understand that some of the men belong- 
 ing to the schooner will act as prize-crew under me in this 
 ship,' said I, when the baby had done crying, and looking as I 
 
 23 
 
354 AN OCEAN FREE-LANCE. 
 
 spoke at Miss Palmer : there was a little smile in her eyes, 
 and I saw that she knew me. ' I merely say this in order that 
 those among you who decide to remain in this vessel may 
 know that they will be under the guardianship of a portion of 
 the people whom Mr. Culpepper is good enough to call your 
 brave rescuers.' 
 
 * I should prefer the schooner,' said Colonel Bray. 
 
 ' And that is my choice,' exclaimed Mr. Culpepper. 
 
 1 Ladies and gentlemen,' said I, ' I have to ask that those 
 among you who wish to be transferred to the schooner will be 
 good enough to immediately collect such articles as they may 
 wish to take with them. Darkness will be upon us shortly, 
 and time presses.' 
 
 Colonel Bray, Mr. Johnson, Mr. Culpepper, Mrs. Montague 
 and family, rushed into their cabins. Mr. Solomons flung 
 himself down upon a chair, and was immediately attacked by 
 his wife. 
 
 1 Now, what do you mean to do, Jonas V 
 
 ' I am very comfortable here, and I shall stop, my dear.' 
 
 1 Mind what you say ! The pirates that's been turned out 
 of this ship aren't the only ones on the sea !' 
 
 ' I don't care about other pirates. All my goods are in this 
 ship, and here I stop.' 
 
 ' Was there ever such a man ! He thinks of his goods as if 
 he hadn't got a life to lose. Do you hear what I tell you, 
 Jonas V 
 
 Here Tapping, limping heavily from a wound in his foot, 
 came stumping down the companion-steps like a wooden-legged 
 man. 
 
 1 The boat has returned, 'sir, from taking the wounded to the 
 schooner.' 
 
 'Very well, Mr. Tapping. Arm the men, and get the 
 prisoners on deck. They are, to be transferred to the Tigress 
 at once.' 
 
 1 Right, sir V and he went up the steps again. As I 
 
THE NAMUR. 355 
 
 looked around Miss Palmer came up to me with her hand 
 extended. 
 
 ' Do not you remember me, Mr. Madison f she exclaimed. 
 
 1 Indeed I do, Miss Palmer,' I answered, holding her hand. 
 'I saw and knew you when you saw but did not know 
 me.' 
 
 ' No, do not say that. I recognised you the moment 
 you entered the cabin, though I was too much surprised to 
 speak.' 
 
 * Surely you did not recognise me when I had a handker- 
 chief over my grimy face f I exclaimed, laughing. 
 
 1 Was that you !' she answered, much astonished. ' Why, it 
 looked like a dying man ! You are not wounded V 
 
 ' Very slightly — nothing worth mentioning. Miss Palmer, 
 you cannot imagine how proud and glad I am that the little 
 Tigress should have been the instrument of saving you from 
 a voyage to America, and God knows how long a detention 
 there. But tell me now — for time presses — which vessel would 
 you prefer to remain in V 
 
 1 I would like to be guided by you, Mr. Madison,' she 
 replied. 
 
 4 As I am to take command here,' said I, feeling that I 
 blushed a little, but talking on pretty bravely, ' you may guess 
 what my wish would be. But I should not like to influence 
 you. 1 may say, however, that as the Tigress will hold us in 
 sight, and as the journey to Kingston will not occupy much 
 time, you may believe that you will be as safe with me as with 
 Captain Shelvocke.' 
 
 She turned to the couple who were arguing at the table. 
 
 4 Mrs. Solomons, do you intend to stop in the Namur f she 
 asked. 
 
 * Yes, yes, miss, we shall stop,' responded Mr. Solomons. 
 
 ' Listen to the man ! he thinks only of his goods !' rattled 
 out Mrs. Solomons. ' Does he know what he means ? Be 
 pleased to tell him, mister, what he risks by stopping !' 
 
 23—2 
 
356 AN OCEAN FREE-LANCE. 
 
 1 He really risks nothing that I know of,' I answered, seeing 
 the importance of prevailing upon these people to stay where 
 they were, as it would be out of the question that Miss Palmer 
 could stop unless some other lady remained also. 
 
 1 You hear him, my dear : now don't bother me any more,' 
 remonstrated Solomons, shrugging his shoulders, and extend- 
 ing his hands, and looking very worried. 
 
 ' Mind, then !' exclaimed Mrs. Solomons, ' this is your doing. 
 I have left it to you. It's you as decides. If harm comes, it'll 
 be your fault, Jonas : so mind !' 
 
 And she bustled into Mrs. Montague's cabin, where I heard 
 her abuse her husband to that lady as a weak-minded old man. 
 
 ' As they have decided to remain, I too will take my chance 
 with you,' said Miss Palmer, addressing me with a smile. ' I 
 am sure I shall be as safe here as in the Tigress, and certainly 
 more comfortable, as I do not suppose your schooner will have 
 a cabin like this.' 
 
 1 No, indeed,' I replied, overjoyed by the prospect of her 
 company. 
 
 She must have remarked my delight, for she looked away 
 with a little tremor of the eyelids — not a smile, and yet with 
 more significance in it than a smile could have held, which so 
 confused me, that to remedy my embarrassment I went the 
 round of the berths, bidding their inmates make haste and join 
 me on deck, and then quitted the cabin. 
 
 I was in great spirits ; my heels never felt lighter ; I would 
 have foregone all my prize-money sooner than this meeting 
 with Miss Palmer. And yet, what was she to me { Worse 
 still, what was I to her ? Could I be ass enough to suppose 
 that she had ever given the young fellow she had danced with 
 at Plymouth a single thought from the moment I had said 
 good-bye to her down to this particular hour ? What on earth, 
 then, was there in her arranging to stop on board the ship that 
 was like to set me whistling for happiness as any schoolboy 
 would I 
 
THE NAMUR. 357 
 
 Here I knocked my hat against the top of the companion, 
 and crushed it over my nose, and when I raised it I was on 
 deck confronting the American privateersmen, who had been 
 brought up from below, and stood in a group near the gangway, 
 and their lovely countenances speedily clapped a stopper on my 
 romancing. 
 
 There were twelve of them — two coal-black Africans, a few 
 mulattoes, and the rest white men ; and of all the rascally 
 creatures I ever beheld, I think these were the worst. Tapping 
 had taken the precaution to pinion their wrists behind them as 
 they emerged one by one from the fore-hatch, and it was im- 
 possible to see their scowling, gleaming eyes wandering upon 
 the weapons in our men's hands without applauding his dis- 
 cretion. The blacks and mulattoes were nearly naked ; the 
 white men wore shirts ; they were all of them exceedingly 
 powerful men, especially the negroes, upon whose naked flesh 
 the muscles stood out as you may see them on the shoulders 
 and haunches of straining cart-horses. They were handed 
 over the sides like carcases, and deposited in the boat, half 
 of them aft and half forward, a number of armed seamen 
 stood over them, and presently they were alongside the 
 schooner. 
 
 By this time the passengers had arrived on deck, and I sent 
 some men below to bring up the parcels and cases which they 
 desired to take with them to the Tigress, They appeared to 
 realize their rescue here more completely than in the cabin. 
 I saw Mr. Culpepper look around him with strong emotion 
 expressed in his face; Mr. Johnson grasped my hand and 
 held it, without speaking ; indeed, by a hundred nice tokens 
 which cannot be expressed in words, they all of them appeared 
 deeply affected by the sudden and happy change that had been 
 wrought in their condition. 
 
 Miss Palmer went to the rail and leaned upon it, watching 
 the schooner. The sun was still above the sea, but he would 
 vanish in another ten minutes ; the great and peaceful glory 
 
358 AN OCEAN FREE-LANCE. 
 
 in the west, the calm soft blue of the sky overhead, the grace- 
 ful shape of the schooner rolling gently on the swelling green 
 of the water that was gradually transmuted into a sheet of 
 flashing gold as it neared the sun, formed a scene that must 
 have given a particular richness to the sense and relish of 
 the liberty that had come to these people who, a short time 
 ago, were prisoners on their way to a bitter exile in an enemy's 
 country. 
 
 ' Is that the vessel, mister, that fought this ship?' asked 
 Mrs. Solomons of me, pointing to the schooner. 
 
 'Yes, that is she, madam,' I replied, accepting the inquiry 
 as a preface to something laudatory. 
 
 1 Well, when I looks at her,' says she, ' I don't know but 
 what Jonas is right after all. She's but a little ship, mister, 
 and I dare say rolls fearful.' 
 
 1 Ah, she rolls fearfully, Mrs. Solomons ; you'd never be 
 able to keep your footing in her. However, I'll say nothing 
 about the smallness of her cabins, and the heat of them, and 
 the cockroaches, ma'am, for they cannot concern you now that 
 you have been clever enough to decide on remaining in this 
 large, roomy, cool, and beautifully-furnished ship,' said I, 
 determined to disgust out of her any lingering wish she might 
 have to accompany the others — for, as I have said, if she went, 
 Miss Palmer would have to go too. 
 
 She nodded cunningly, and I rather think she winked. 
 
 ' Ah,' she whispered, ' Mr. Solomons is no fool. He knows 
 what's good. Are you the captain of this vessel, sir V 
 
 4 1 shall have charge of her, as I think I informed you.' 
 
 'Well, I'm pleased to hear it. You looks a good sailor. 
 Lor', to think of our being rescued from them savages, and me 
 calling upon death this very day sooner than be carried off to 
 Ameriky along with two thousands o' pounds' worth of goods 
 belonging to Mr. Solomons, and which he was only saying to 
 me just before your ship took to firing at us— " Rachel," he 
 says ■ 
 
THE NAMUR. 359 
 
 The interesting creature's confidences were interrupted by a 
 fellow in the main-top bawling out ' From under t and I had 
 just time to trundle her out of the road before the larboard- 
 mizzen topsail brace, the end of which had been accidentally 
 let go, unrove itself and fell heavily in a heap where she had 
 been standing. Uttering various exclamations of alarm, and 
 fanning herself violently, my porpoise-shaped beauty waddled 
 or rolled to the companion, and disappeared in search of her 
 Jonas. 
 
 Presently the cutter returned from the schooner, and the 
 passengers entered her, shaking hands with me as they went 
 over the side. The sun sank as they put off, and the darkness 
 came rolling down upon us like a curtain out of the east. But 
 by this time most of the refitting aloft was completed ; the 
 running-gear had been rove afresh, new fore and mizzen top- 
 sails bent, tackles got on to the injured standing rigging, and 
 the decks so effectually cleared that, beyond sundry dark 
 stains here and there and splashes upon the paint of the bul- 
 warks, no relic of the dreadful carnage that had made a very 
 shambles of the Indiaman was visible. 
 
 Once more the cutter returned, with orders from Shelvocke 
 to me to keep fifteen men and Parell, making sixteen, as a 
 prize crew, and to send the rest of the Tigresses back to the 
 schooner. At the same time some written instructions from 
 Shelvocke respecting day and night signals, etc., were placed 
 in my hand. The men were mustered, a prize crew singled 
 out, and the remainder repaired on board the Tigress, who 
 fired a gun as a signal for us to brace round the main-yards ; 
 and in a few minutes the ship was gliding slowly through the 
 water, with the dark shadow of the schooner blotting out the 
 stars to windward, and a thin, greenish, fiery wake trailing 
 slowly away under our taffrail into the dark waters of the east. 
 
3<5o AN OCEAN FREE-LANCE. 
 
 * 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 MY PASSENGERS. 
 
 The night came down very dark but clear, and the sky was so 
 crowded with stars that scores of them were blotted out by the 
 meteors as they broke and vanished in clouds of silver dust. 
 The men had come from aloft, and were in the forecastle, 
 swinging their hammocks and taking a spell of rest after the 
 heavy exertions of the day ; the ship was under three topsails, 
 courses, and fore-and-aft canvas, in deep shadow, save where a 
 bright light burning in the galley threw a glare across the 
 deck — a yellow beam that floated upon the darkness like an 
 elongated ignis fatuus — and threw up a short length of the 
 rusty links of the chain-cable, and glanced upon the half of a 
 large water-cask, and a coil of rope slung over a belaying pin, 
 and a space of the perpendicular bulwarks heavily fractured by 
 a cannon-shot. 
 
 ' Is that you, Parell V I called out. 
 
 ' Yes, sir ;' and as he emerged from the darkness and passed 
 through the glare from the galley, he looked like a figure cut 
 in ebony. 
 
 ' What sort of a job have the men made of it aloft V I asked. 
 
 ' As good a job as can be expected, sir. I rather think 
 there's a spare topgallant-mast among the booms, and if it's 
 fine weather to-morrow we might make shift to rig him up 
 and cross the yards.' 
 
 ' Yes, that and other jobs can be done to-morrow. Who's 
 that in the galle}^ there V 
 
 * Peter Larkins, sir; he's getting the men's supper for them.' 
 
 ' He's a bit of a cook, Pve heard, and you had better appoint 
 him to the galley. Also let young Eansom wait upon us aft. 
 Have you heard what has become of the officers and crew of 
 this ship V 
 
M Y PASSENGERS. 361 
 
 ' Why, sir, I believe Mr. Corney fished out some news from 
 one of the wounded, and it was this : The wessel that attacked 
 this ship was a large Yankee privateer brig, and the Namur's 
 skipper struck to her without firing a shot. The 'Mexican 
 captain came aboard and ordered the whole of the crew as 
 well as the officers to be shifted into his brig, no doubt in the 
 hope of getting 'em to sarve under the stripes and stars, which 
 was likely enough they'd do without much persuading, seeing 
 what curs they proved theirselves when they was called on to 
 surrender. He likewise took out three passengers — males — 
 one of 'em a chap with a title. In the room of the Namur's 
 crew he put in fifty of his own beauties, twenty-five of 'em 
 negroes and coloured men, and gave command to the chief 
 mate — him with the red cap — and ordered him to make 
 the best of his way to Chesapeake Bay, which they calculated 
 they wos doin', when the Tigress stepped in and altered their 
 course.' 
 
 This information was no doubt accurate, and it explained 
 away one source of puzzlement that had pretty considerably 
 bothered me since I had found time to look around ; I mean 
 the total disappearance of everybody barring the passengers, 
 who were in the ship before she was taken by the privateer. 
 
 1 Very well, Parell \ keep a look-out whilst I go below and 
 get something to eat. Send Eansom aft, and be careful to 
 keep the schooner's light well in view ;' and after taking a 
 peep at the compass I made my way into the cabin. 
 
 The lamps had been lighted some time before, and the 
 cabin looked amazingly brilliant with its tall sparkling mirrors, 
 and the gleaming marble-coloured mizzen-mast, and the 
 shimmer of the lights in the rich, dark panelling. The table 
 was still littered with the ham, plates, decanters and biscuits ; 
 but the disorder of these homely articles did not impair the 
 drawing-room elegance and charming air of refinement that 
 characterized this richly- cushioned, carpeted, and delicately- 
 coloured interior. Miss Palmer, who had left the deck shortly 
 
362 AN OCEAN FREE-LANCE. 
 
 after dusk, was seated in a low arm-chair, with her hands 
 folded upon her lap, and apparently lost in thought. Oppo- 
 site her, in another chair, with his feet cocked up, lay- 
 Mr. Solomons, fast asleep, and snoring with a noise like a 
 straining timber. Mrs. Solomons was in her berth, and I 
 could hear her talking to herself as she shambled about. 
 
 Miss Palmer looked heartily pleased to see me. Her face 
 brightened up, and she warmed quickly and gracefully into 
 life out of her reverie like a flower under the rising sun. 
 (Rather poetical, this, for a nautical man ; but I never can 
 think of her without drifting into garden fancies.) 
 
 ' I am afraid you will find the rest of the voyage dull, now 
 
 that no society is left you but ' and I motioned with my 
 
 head to old Jonas. 
 
 1 Dull, Mr. Madison % Do you imagine I am dull because 
 you find me sitting here with my hands before me ? Were 
 you to ask me how I feel, I should not be able to tell you. I 
 can hardly believe that I am not dreaming. Last night I 
 nearly cried my eyes out in thinking of my father. I remem- 
 ber telling you he was ill, and that I was going to Jamaica in 
 the hope of inducing him to return with me. When I thought 
 of my being forced away into another part of the world, at a 
 time when our voyage was near its close, and that months 
 must pass before he and I could meet — if ever we met in this 
 world again — and that he might die without knowing what 
 had become of me — was it not enough to break my heart, Mr. 
 Madison \ And now that I am with friends again, and a 
 dreadful time — oh, how dreadful a time ! — past, and once more 
 on my way to my dear father — can you suppose me dull ? 
 Surely that is like charging me with cruel ingratitude : though 
 how grateful I am, to God first for His merciful providence in 
 bringing you to our ship, and to you next, and your brave 
 men, for your noble and heroic struggle, only my own heart 
 knows — no words could express my thankfulness.' 
 
 She rose from her chair with her eyes swimming, and grasped 
 
M Y PASSENGERS. 363 
 
 my hand with both hers and held it, unconsciously caressing 
 it in the plenitude of her gratitude and emotion. The touch 
 of her hands set my heart beating so furiously, that for the 
 life of me I could not immediately have spoken to her. For- 
 tunately she was as much moved as I, though in a different 
 way, and did not (as I believe) observe how consumedly upset 
 I was. 
 
 1 You told me you had been slightly wounded,' said she 
 presently, resuming her seat. ' I hope only slightly, and that 
 you are quite well again V 
 
 1 A little tap on the pate — just here, Miss Palmer,' I an- 
 swered, touching the top of my head. ' Not enough to let out 
 my foolishness, nor to admit some of the intellect I stand in 
 need of. Have you had anything to eat to-day f said I, struck 
 by an idea. 
 
 ' Nothing since breakfast — though I really should not have 
 known we had not dined but for your question,' she answered, 
 smiling. ' We were all too miserable to eat.' 
 
 I looked at the ham on the table. 
 
 1 Oh !' she exclaimed, following my glance, ' the odious man 
 in a red cap who took command here when our captain was 
 carried away, called for those things, and was beginning his 
 meal, when somebody came down to say that a sail was in 
 sight — your schooner, as it afterwards proved. He jumped 
 up, and left those things as you see them. Oh, Mr. Madison, 
 what a horrid — horrid — horrid creature he was !' she added 
 with a strong shudder, and putting an almost vicious energy 
 into the last ' horrid f ' so rude, so hideous, so gross !' 
 
 Here Mr. Solomons, as if sympathizing with her lan- 
 guage, gasped loudly in his sleep, wheezed, and gargled 
 through his nose, * Not them goods, sir ! they're mine : two 
 
 thousand pounds worth. Rachel was with me when ' 
 
 snore. 
 
 1 Happy old man that !' said I. ■ The one beautiful thing 
 about old age is its quality of indifference. Here, Kansom !' 
 
364 AN OCEAN FREE-LANCE, 
 
 I sung out, in so loud a voice that old Solomons woke up in a 
 fright, and stared at me with his eyes rounded like an owl's ; 
 and at the same moment Mrs. Solomons came bundling out 
 of her cabin : ' get the cloth laid here, my lad. I'll show 
 you how to place the knives and forks. Yonder's the pantry 
 — overhaul it, and make the best show you can, and bear a 
 hand.' 
 
 The youngster whom I had noticed flitting at the head of 
 the companion-ladder came trotting below, and went to work 
 with more adroitness than I had expected. It is true he set 
 the glasses upside down, and the plates in the middle of the 
 table, and the cold meats which he found in the pantry he 
 lumped together like a dozen colliers which had parted their 
 cables and gone adrift in a body ; but Miss Palmer and I 
 soon effected such a distribution of the crockery as made the 
 table very hospitable and glittering, and I presently had the 
 happiness of seeing my three passengers making a good 
 supper. 
 
 'Now, Rachel,' exclaimed Solomons, pegging away at a 
 cold fowl, and talking with his mouth full, 'isn't this com- 
 fort ? What more would you have ? Did you want to box 
 me up in the little wooden cabin of a butter-rigged schooner V 
 
 I Not butter-rigged, Mr. Solomons,' said I. 
 
 ' Well, well,' he said with a shrug, ' then she shan't be butter- 
 rigged ; but you won't pretend that she has such a cabin as 
 this, sir f 
 
 I I don't say I wasn't a little hasty, Jonas,' answered his 
 wife, whose enormous person, as she sat at the table, completely 
 overhung her plate, and obliged her to look at her fork every 
 time she lifted it to know what she was eating. ' Mister, might 
 I trouble you for a bit of that tongue ¥ 
 
 ' Miss Palmer,' said I, holding up a bottle of champagne 
 which Ransom had discovered in the pantry along with various 
 other bottles of wines and spirits, including two of Jamaica 
 nun, all which he had very faithfully and honourably put 
 
M Y PASSENGERS. 3^5 
 
 upon the table, where they stood in a lump like a wine-mer- 
 chant's * order * ready for delivery, ' when I last had the happi- 
 ness of drinking champagne with you, I little thought that 
 our next meeting would be on the high seas, and amid the 
 thunder of a sterner kind of cannon than those which Sir 
 William Tempest fired in honour of his son. Will you let me 
 fill your glass ? Such a triumph as ours over the Yankees 
 deserves to be drunk in an elegant wine.' 
 
 She smiled with a pretty colour in her face that made her 
 eyes sparkle ; but the poetry of drinking wine iD champagne 
 with this sweet girl was balked by Solomons calling for the 
 bottle. I verily believe the old fool thought I had proposed a 
 toast. The result was, we all drank to one another, and I 
 was nearly convulsed by the bow and the smirk Mrs. Solomons 
 bestowed on me. A bow did I call it 1 It was rather the 
 compression of a balloon, or like standing a feather-bed on end 
 and squeezing down the top of it. There was no inclination 
 forward : it was merely a lowering of the head, and a surpris- 
 ing increase of the rotundity of the body ; and her very gown 
 shone under the tightening effect of her laborious amiability. 
 
 1 I see that you have met Miss Palmer before, mister,' said 
 Solomons. Both he and his wife evidently thought the 
 ' mister' as polite a form of accost as the strictest good- 
 breeding required. 
 
 ' Yes, Mr. Solomons, I have had that pleasure,' I replied, 
 glancing at Miss Palmer, and receiving a smile from her. 
 
 'I met Mr. Madison at Plymouth a few days before the 
 Namur sailed, Mr. Solomons,' said Miss Palmer. Her voice 
 was so full of music, that it was a greater treat to hear her 
 speak than to listen to a good singer. 'It was but a short 
 acquaintance, Mr. Madison.' 
 
 'Acquaintances are always short when they're first made, 
 my dear,' said Mrs. Solomons, with an encouraging nod. ' But 
 I dare say, mister, you was very surprised when you saw her 
 here, wasn't you f 
 
366 AN OCEAN FREE-LANCE, 
 
 ' Sailors soon lose the faculty of surprise,' I replied coldly, 
 not relishing the direction the conversation was taking in her 
 hands. ' I have not yet looked into the berths, Miss Palmer ; 
 can you tell me if our shot have done much damage f 
 
 1 Damage !' cried Solomons ; ' Lord bless your heart, I should 
 say there's not less than twelve pounds worth of windies 
 broken.' 
 
 I Several windows are broken, Mr. Madison,' said Miss 
 Palmer, keeping her face with admirable breeding. ' The 
 window in my cabin was broken by one of the first shots the 
 Tigress fired, and a whole shower of glass fell over me.' 
 
 I I was sitting,' said Mrs. Solomons, in a well-soaped confi- 
 dential voice, and nodding her head at every other word until 
 her chins quivered over her collar like jellies to the tread of 
 dancers, ' talkin' to Mr. Solomons, and he was calculating how 
 much it would cost him to get us out of prison after we was in 
 Ameriky, when a cannon-ball hit the back of the ship just 
 against the wall where my cheer was. The blow was that 
 violent it throwd me on to the floor, and when I begged and 
 prayed of Mr. Solomons to help me up, where do you think he 
 was, mister V 
 
 ' 1 cannot guess.' 
 
 'Why, in bed, sir; with the counterpane pulled over his 
 head, and the toes of his boots sticking up at the other end.' 
 
 ' A very good place to be in,' said I, looking at Solomons, 
 who was pickiug the leg of a fowl with a dogged face. ' I 
 understand from one of my men, Miss Palmer, that the 
 privateersman carried off three of the passengers. Why was 
 that V 
 
 'I cannot imagine, Mr. Madison. The American captain 
 came into this cabin with a number of men, and ordered 
 Captain Salmon' (the skipper of the Namur) ' to produce his 
 passengers. We were desired to stand up in a row, as though 
 we were felons,' she said, with her face flushing with the 
 memory of the indignity, ' and were then asked our names.' 
 
MY PASSENGERS. 367 
 
 * True ; every word of it, mister,' interrupted Mrs. Solomons ; 
 'and Mr. Solomons was for calling himself Sloman.' 
 
 ' And wasn't I right to try to cheat 'em ¥ shouted Solomons. 
 ' Rachel, don't quote me any more, for God's sake. I'm sick 
 of hearing you.' 
 
 'After we had given our names,' continued Miss Palmer, 
 'the American captain ordered Captain Salmon and three of 
 the passengers — one of them Sir Sampson Jardine, a judge, 
 and the other two rich plantation-owners — to go on deck. 
 They did not return, and we saw no more of them. We were 
 afterwards told they had been sent to the privateer.' 
 
 ' Did not the Namur make one of the convoy when she left 
 England V I asked. 
 
 ' Yes ; but we met with a heavy gale of wind that dispersed 
 the other vessels ; and we had been alone for days when the 
 privateer attacked us.' 
 
 These answers put the story before me intelligibly ; and I 
 further learnt from Mr. Solomons that the freight of the Namur 
 consisted of a general cargo ; but he could not tell me the nature 
 of it, unless I except two thousand pounds worth of house- 
 furniture and other things belonging to Solomons. The ship's 
 papers had either been carried off or destroyed ; for I after- 
 wards searched high and low for them, but without success. 
 
 Supper being despatched, I looked into the cabin that had 
 been occupied by Captain Salmon ; and finding a cot swing- 
 ing in it and several other conveniences, I ordered Eansom to 
 prepare it for me. I also got Miss Palmer to shift her quarters 
 into a cabin which the Tigress's shot had left untouched, and 
 then went on deck to settle the watches. 
 
 The starlight had brightened somewhat, and the night was 
 clearer than it had been when I went below. The wind 
 was exceedingly soft and refreshing, and the sea quiet, black, 
 and gleaming; the dew kept the decks cool like constant 
 showers of rain ; and the slow passage of the ship through 
 the sea was appreciable to the ear alone of all the senses by 
 
3 6S AN OCEAN FREE-LANCE. 
 
 the soft purring and creaming of the water around her stem. 
 Ahead of us, broad on the starboard-bow, loomed the shadow 
 of the schooner, the bright light on whose stern baffled every 
 effort of the eye to determine her outline. That her people 
 were watching us like cats, I knew by the regularity of the 
 distance from us they maintained. And indeed, when I con- 
 sidered the value of the Namur, and the slenderness of her 
 crew, I was anxious enough, as you may believe, that the 
 Tigress should keep us well under her eye. 
 
 I told Parell to pipe the men aft ; thirteen grouped them- 
 selves on the quarter-deck, leaving one at the wheel and 
 Ransom in the cabin. I counted and divided them, making 
 seven in Parell's and eight in my watch. I then sent the 
 starboard watch below ; and lighting a pipe — the first bit of 
 tobacco I had tasted that day — I planted myself on a gun-car- 
 riage to enjoy a quiet smoke. 
 
 It was a true remark of mine to Mrs. Solomons that a 
 man who goes to sea as a sailor soon loses the power of being 
 surprised. Indeed, the whole life of a sailor is a chance, and 
 the unexpected is the only thing he can safely reckon on. 
 Consequently, my transfer from the Tigress to the temporary 
 command of this large West Indiaman did not in the least 
 astonish me. Her spacious decks, her lofty masts, the 
 numerous points of equipment which distinguish a full-rigged 
 ship from a topsail schooner, had grown familiar to me, I may 
 say, almost as soon as I had found myself amidst them ; and 
 had I sailed in the Namur from England I could not have 
 surveyed her with an eye more totally unimpressed by the 
 novelty of my surroundings. 
 
 But my professional incapacity of surprise ceased with the 
 ship. My astonishment began when I thought of Miss Palmer. 
 It was certainly amazing to find myself aboard the ship she 
 had taken her passage in, commanding that ship, intimately 
 associated with her who had occupied much of my thoughts, 
 in the happy position of having been one of the instruments of 
 
M Y PASSENGERS. 369 
 
 the rescue of a girl who had grappled my admiration — to say 
 no more — with hooks of steel, from the horror of a prolonged 
 exile from her father and her home. 
 
 The silence, broken only by the creaming of froth forward ; 
 the imponderable lower darkness, over whose topmost heights 
 the starry heavens were sparkling in wide-spread glory of 
 silver fires ; the hush upon the faintly breathing bosom of 
 the deep, in whose darkling surface a faint throbbing of phos- 
 phorescent radiance mingled with the white crystalline reflec- 
 tion of the greater stars ; the shadowy decks with here and 
 there the figure of a man standing still as a figure of bronze, 
 and the faint haze of a lantern slung on the fore-stay, throw- 
 ing up the coal-black pillar of the gigantic foremast — these 
 were influences to subdue me to a pensive mood ; and as my 
 thoughts strayed from Madeline Palmer to the events of the 
 hours which were passing away, my heart melted in gratitude 
 to my heavenly Father for the merciful protection He had 
 vouchsafed me throughout the fierce and murderous struggle of 
 the afternoon. 
 
 A footstep caused me to look round. 
 
 ' Is not that Miss Palmer f 
 
 1 Yes, Mr. Madison ; surely it is not so dark but that I am 
 to be distinguished from Mrs. Solomons f 
 
 1 Is she on deck V I asked, rising and gazing about me. 
 
 * No ; but her husband will be here in a minute. Pray do 
 not put down your pipe.' 
 
 1 Shall I fetch you a chair, or will you walk V 
 
 1 I would rather walk.' 
 
 In spite of the haze thrown upon the air from the lamps 
 under the cabin skylights, the outlines of our figures only were 
 visible. The occasional slight roll of the ship gave me an ex- 
 cuse to offer her my arm, and she took it. 
 
 * This has been a rare day of surprises, Miss Palmer,' said I. 
 1 It is strange that of all the convoy dispersed by the gale, the 
 Namur should have been the only one reserved for the Tigress 
 
 24 
 
37 o AN OCEAN FREE-LANCE. 
 
 to overhaul, and not a little astonishing that you and I should 
 meet again under conditions so extremely different from 
 what any prophet with the least regard for his reputation 
 would have dared to predict. But the most amazing part of 
 it all to me is, that this very morning you were so incessantly 
 in my thoughts that positively Captain Shelvocke noticed my 
 abstraction, and twitted me on it. Considering that your ship 
 must have been within a few leagues of us at that time, one 
 ought to be superstitious enough to suppose that there is more 
 in this than mere common sense can perceive.' 
 
 This very simple and candid speech ought perhaps to have 
 embarrassed her ; had she shown any embarrassment I should 
 probably have seen how very simple and candid it was ; instead, 
 she laughed pleasantly, and answered : 
 
 1 You have a wonderful memory, Mr. Madison, considering 
 you are a sailor.' 
 
 'At all events I don't forget Lady Tempest's ball,' I 
 answered ; ' and if we were aboard the Tigress I could prove 
 the sincerity of my memory by showing you the flower you 
 gave me.' 
 
 ' Yes, I remember,' said she. c The fire- works were very 
 pretty, and the night was even finer than this, for there was a 
 moon, was there not ? How peaceful and beautiful those 
 heavens seem !' she exclaimed, raising her face that looked 
 shadowy and vague as some lovely spirit's, with the starlight 
 gleaming in her soft large eyes : ' what a tranquil close to such 
 a day as we have gone through ! I should like to have seen 
 Captain Shelvocke — do you remember pointing him out to me 
 at the ball you have spoken of? He ought to know how 
 grateful I am— how grateful we all are to him and his brave 
 men. But I shall doubtless meet him at Kingston, where my 
 father will be able to add his thanks to mine.' 
 
 And then she talked of her father, and her anxiety about 
 his health, and the eagerness with which she looked forward 
 to their meeting. Indeed, the love she bore her father was 
 
MY PASSENGERS. 371 
 
 delightful to hear her talking about, and I listened to her voice 
 as a man listens to a nightingale. She conversed with the 
 same cordial well-bred candour that had fascinated me when 
 we first met, and it was the pleasanter to me to hearken to 
 because it implied the best compliment a girl can pay a man. 
 Yes, I own I am never better pleased than when a well-bred 
 woman bestows her home feelings upon me. Let her favour 
 Jones or Jenkins with her festive hopes and memories, and 
 chatter to them of dresses, lovers, balls, and Italian singers ; 
 she charms me most when she talks of baby's first tooth, her 
 boy's cleverness — when in short she takes me into the nursery, 
 ay, and into the kitchen, my boy, of her life ; passing over the 
 drawing-room, where those fine fellows, Jones and Jenkins, sit 
 in polished boots and gay waistcoats. 
 
 My sweet companion gave me a description of the red- 
 capped Yankee privateersman ; how he would come into the 
 cabin, fling himself into a chair with his cap on, and leaning 
 his long arms over the back of it, while his legs stuck out 
 like a pair of compasses, the points of which were riveted in a 
 couple of immense rusty boots, heap — through his nose, and 
 with his mouth full of tobacco— every possible abuse that could 
 be coined by an American ruffian upon the British people : 
 how, by way of giving emphasis to his contempt for the British 
 people, he would pull out a pistol and point it at those male 
 passengers whom he particularly addressed : how on one occa- 
 sion he invited a number of blacks to breakfast, and made the 
 ladies take their arms to the table, in order to show, as he 
 said, what an American citizen's notions of liberty were. Her 
 voice quivered as she told me these things ; and that grosser 
 affronts had been offered her than she knew how to tell me I 
 was sure by her suddenly withdrawing her trembling hand 
 from my arm, and burying her face, leaving me swelling with 
 helpless indignation, and passionately deploring that it had 
 not been my hand that struck Master Eed-cap down. 
 
 However, she rallied presently, as I did when I reflected 
 
 24—2 
 
372 AN OCEAN FREE-LANCE. 
 
 that the scoundrel was dead, and that of his fiendish crew only 
 a handful were preserved for the gallows; and after I had 
 soothed her a bit, she put her arm again into mine, and held 
 as though she clung to me — an unconscious action on her part, 
 though it moved me strangely ; and in a few minutes we were 
 once more talking quietly on cheerful matters, pausing now 
 and then to watch some bright meteor flash over our mast- 
 heads, or the quivering of the yellow light thrown by the 
 lantern on the schooner's stern into the visionary darkness of 
 the water under her, or the passage of the stars gracefully 
 sailing through the faint tracery of the rigging as the shadowed 
 and silent ship leaned gently with the swell. 
 
 There is no place in the world where a charming girl's 
 society is more enjoyable than on the deck of a vessel on a 
 quiet, starlight night, when there is just wind enough to keep 
 the sails asleep, and when the shaling of the water, broken by 
 the pushing stem, runs like a tune through your whispers and 
 the silences between, and when every sound seems muffled by 
 the darkness — the jar of the rudder, the murmur of men 
 talking forward, the creak of a block high up in the gloom. 
 
 Poets may sing of love-making in sylvan scenes, of Delia 
 listening to Strephon amid the twinkling shadows of leaves, of 
 Chloe hearkening to Damon blowing his pipe, while lambkins 
 skip in the distance and Zephyr wantons o'er the enamelled 
 mead ; by all means let Strephon enjoy himself sub tegmine 
 fagi, and let the lambkins shake a foot to Damon's oaten pipe; 
 but if Delia and Ghloe want to taste a bliss in flirtation beyond 
 all that the poets have told, let them choose for a theatre a 
 roomy ship's deck, a star-spangled night, a soft tropical air 
 sweetened to every sense by refreshful showers of dew falling 
 with every melodious flap of the alabaster-like sails, and a sur- 
 rounding space of mighty waters reaching down to the further 
 heavens, and yielding out of their vast and gloomy distances a 
 high and magical colouring to the thoughts. 
 
 Do not I speak from experience ? for a whole blissful hour 
 
MY PASSENGERS. 373 
 
 Madeline Palmer and I patrolled the spacious quarter-deck of 
 the Namur, and with but one brief interruption from Mr. 
 Solomons, who, with an immense cheroot in his mouth, asked 
 me if I could tell him how fast we were going. I looked over 
 the side and gave a guess at the speed, whereupon he got upon 
 the aftermost skylight, and pillowing his head upon his arm, 
 lay on his back and troubled us no more. 
 
 At last Miss Palmer said she must wish me good-night now ; 
 it was nearly ten o'clock ; she had much enjoyed her walk and 
 conversation. 
 
 ' Indeed I am afraid, Mr. Madison, I have tired you with 
 my incessant chatter.' 
 
 'Indeed you haven't, and I hope you don't believe you 
 have. Your society gives me so much happiness that I should 
 only make a fool of myself if I attempted to express my grati- 
 tude. You cannot imagine what a delightful break your com- 
 pany is to a poor sailor whose horizon has for weeks been sea 
 and sky.' 
 
 1 I believe you, Mr. Madison, as you must believe me/ she 
 exclaimed, pausing in the soft radiance that streamed through 
 the open skylight, whereby I beheld her eyes fixed earnestly 
 on me, and her sweet face pensive and thoughtful. ' Un- 
 meaning compliments would be a cruel pastime after our 
 experiences this day. When I think of what your presence in 
 this ship means, my escape from sufferings I dare not dwell 
 upon, I can only wonder that my full heart suffers me to speak 
 at all.' 
 
 1 Ay, but you mustn't let the past trouble you. If I chose, 
 I could make myself as sad as the ghost of a murdered man, 
 by reflecting upon the number of brave, hearty, kindly ship- 
 mates whom the rascally buccaneers have sent to their account 
 this day ; of my plucky messmate, the second mate of the 
 Tigress, tossing, with a dangerous wound in him, in the close 
 atmosphere of the schooner's little cabin ; of the narrow escape 
 I have had from sounding these dark and melancholy depths, 
 
374 AN OCEAN FREE-LANCE. 
 
 on whose surface you and I are exchanging our fancies. But 
 surely I am wiser in preferring to dwell upon the happiness 
 that has grown out of to-day's thunder — the happiness, I 
 mean, of having helped to rescue you from the Yankees, and 
 of passing a few days, at least, in your society.' 
 
 ' One cannot forget the past at will,' said she, shaking her 
 head ; * and I have not your power of fixing my attention on 
 things I ought to think of.' 
 
 However, she smiled as she said this ; and then, holding out 
 her hand, bade me good-night. 
 
 I God bless her !' thought I, watching her go down the 
 companion-steps; and when her bronze-coloured hair caught 
 the light as she descended, it sparkled as though she shook a 
 shower of gold-dust out of it. * A charming girl, indeed ! a 
 frank, womanly, affectionate lady !' 
 
 Here I went on tiptoe to the foremost skylight, and peered 
 into it to see her as she passed along the cabin. She stopped 
 at the table to fill a glass from a jug of water on one of the 
 swinging trays. The shawl she had over her shoulders dropped 
 off as she stretched forth her hand to take the jug, and her 
 wide sleeve slipped down below her elbow and exposed her 
 beautifully moulded arm that was as white as ivory, and 
 gleamed like bridal silk in the beams of the lamp that hung to 
 the right of her. Not being a linen-draper, I could not tell 
 you what material her dress was made of. It was white, and 
 bolted with black velvet, and fitted her like a glove ; and a 
 narrow, black, silver-mounted belt, to which her sandal-wood 
 fan was hitched, marked the circumference of her waist with 
 lovely precision against the swell of her bosom, as she leaned 
 across the table as flexibly as a sporting panther crouching for 
 a bound. 
 
 Suddenly she looked up, and saw me before I could dodge 
 my head. It was very annoying to be caught watching her. 
 
 I I was just going to advise you to put a dash of sherry into 
 that water, in case it shouldn't have been filtered,' said I, keep- 
 
M Y PASSENGERS. 375 
 
 ing the shadow of the skylight on my face that she might not 
 witness my confusion. 
 
 * The water is very clear,' she answered, looking into the 
 jug, and, for my satisfaction, poured out a glassful, and held 
 the glass up to the light for me to see ; and as she stood with 
 her face upturned, and her hair gleaming on her forehead, and 
 her lifted hand poising the sparkling glass to the lamp, and 
 giving her figure the sweetest posture it could have taken, 
 methought a fairer picture was never offered to mortal eyes 
 than that which this skylight framed. 
 
 She bowed and moved away, and to comfort myself for her 
 loss I pulled out my pipe and lighted it. I 
 
 ' I don't know if you are aware, Mr. Solomons/ said I, going 
 to the after-skylight, where the little man lay as quiet as a 
 suit of clothes, * that every time you suck your cigar the re- 
 flection of the glowing point sparkles in your face as though 
 it overhung a pool of water : strong proof that the dew falls 
 heavily ;' and I scooped along the top of the skylight with my 
 hand, and flung a cupful of water off it on to the deck. 
 
 1 I'm obliged to you for the hint, sir/ he answered, getting 
 up. ' I've been wondering what made my small-clothes feel 
 so heavy on my legs.' 
 
 'Let me advise you to change them — pray stand in this 
 light for one moment ; ha ! I thought as much : the dew has 
 turned your waistcoat into brown paper.' 
 
 1 Who ever would have thought it so damp !' he exclaimed, 
 smearing himself down with both hands. 'Is my wife on 
 deck, mister f 
 
 6 No ; she has been below all the evening.' 
 
 He went to the companion and stood staring around at the 
 dark sea. 
 
 * There is no danger of any kind about, is there, sir 1 
 nothing, I mean, to prevent me from going to bed properly V 
 said he. 
 
 1 Nothing more than you see,' I answered. 
 
37 6 AN OCEAN FREE-LANCE. 
 
 i 1 haven't worn a nightcap for two nights/ said he, ' and 
 sleeping in my clothes always makes me feel as if I was a man 
 in possession. 1 
 
 1 That must be rather a queer thing to feel like,' I observed. 
 
 1 Well, it isn't so much the clothes being on you, as their 
 obliging you to lie awake and listen, and to think every sound 
 that strikes your ear to be some one moving goods. How- 
 ever, I shall sleep comfortable to-night, thank God, and so I 
 wish you bong sivore, mister.' 
 
 He faded down the ladder, creeping with great caution, and 
 clinging fast to the hand-rail, and I was left in lonely posses- 
 sion of the deck. 
 
 I was no sooner alone than an unaccountable depression fell 
 upon my spirits. Whether it was due to the blow I had re- 
 ceived on the top of my head, or to the events of the day which 
 took advantage of my solitude to crowd upon my memory, 
 and to flash upon my mind's eye the dreadful picture of car- 
 nage these decks had exhibited after the fight, I know not ; 
 but I do remember that a most heavy sense of foreboding 
 weighed in me, a nervous apprehension of coming evil, that 
 my utmost resolution was unequal to combat. 
 
 I went aft to the man at the wheel and spoke to him ; but I 
 should have done better to remain alone ; for after exchanging 
 a few words, the poor fellow began to speak of our action with 
 the Yankee privateersman, and then told me that his brother — 
 whom he had sailed with, voyage after voyage, for fifteen years, 
 during which time they had always managed to be in the same 
 watch, and even to sling their hammocks alongside of each other 
 — had been run through by one of the men who had boarded 
 the Tigress, in the waist, and instantly killed. His head drooped 
 over the spokes of the wheel which he clutched, as in rough 
 and broken tones he told me of the affection that subsisted 
 between them, how neither of them had married, that their 
 wages might be wholly appropriated to the support of their 
 mother, and I saw the tears glance from his eyes past the 
 
MY PASSENGERS. 377 
 
 binnacle-lamp as he muttered that he did not know how he 
 should be able to break the news to the poor old woman, and 
 that it was a pity the Lord had not taken him instead of Joe, 
 who was ten times the better man, 'the finest sailor, your 
 honour, in the whole world, every finger a fish-hook, his 
 courage like a lion's, and his heart as soft as a girl's.' 
 
 I had no consolation to offer him ; indeed I was only fit to 
 make him more miserable ; so I left him and went to the side 
 and hung over it gloomily, watching the schooner and heartily 
 wishing it were an hour earlier that I might persuade Madeline 
 Palmer to come on deck again and cheer me up with her com- 
 pany. 
 
 All this time there was a light breeze gently blowing on the 
 quarter, and our progress was marked by the slow passage of 
 little eddies whose presence in the deep black water was 
 denoted by the phosphorus that circled in them. Indeed, but 
 for these tiny whirlpools and the soft moan of foam at the 
 bows of the ship, I should not have guessed that we were 
 moving, so imperceptible was the motion of the dark hull and 
 so deep the silence aloft. 
 
 There is nothing in the world that so heightens the mood 
 with which you survey it as the sea, be your mood what it 
 will. Had I been light-hearted, I should have doubtless be- 
 held in the spacious field of ebony waters gleaming down to 
 the stars upon the horizon, a symbol to quicken my pulse with 
 its magnificent suggestion of liberty ; I should have thought of 
 the fretful and feverish worries of life ashore, the baiting of 
 man by his fellow-man, the struggles of poverty, the pains and 
 fears of wealth, the unhallowed romance of 
 
 ' Loose life, unruly passions and diseases pale f 
 
 and contrasted some such a vision of populous human existence 
 with the broad and majestic amphitheatre upon whose dark 
 liquid floor our vessel hung, watched by a sky of silver stars 
 and fanned by an air fresh from heaven's own nostrils. 
 
378 AN OCEAN FREE-LANCE. 
 
 But my mood now found the deep a heavy shadow, haunted 
 by corpses, a ' thrilling region ' that deepened fancy until I 
 gazed spell-bound upon the visionary space, dreaming the 
 dreams which out of its prodigal sympathy it yielded to my 
 imagination. All the men who had been stricken down this 
 day swarmed in the void like the ghosts in Glover's ballad ; 
 and my material eye — sharpened no doubt into keen percep- 
 tion of fantasies by the loss of blood, and by the whack that 
 had given my senses a little interval of rest — did, and I will 
 swear it, behold their misty shapes visibly lined under the 
 black surface whose distance from the bulwark rail — for there 
 was no starlight in the sea alongside — would have been an un- 
 guessable thing but for the blue fires creeping past. 
 
 * Pish !' I cried, giving my cheek a slap in pure vexation of 
 my maudlin mood, whereby I dislodged a shower of red sparks 
 from the bowl of my pipe ; ' wake up, thou mutton-headed 
 dreamer f and I was going to take my own advice and wake 
 up, when lo ! the hands I had raised to remove the pipe from 
 my lips stiffened and remained forked up as though blasted by 
 a flash of lightning. I felt my eyes protrude from their 
 sockets, I held my breath, and a clammy dew gathered upon 
 the skin of my forehead. What is that ¥ I muttered. An 
 outline of pale blue smoke — like a small hill of illuminated 
 foam — passed swiftly through the water towards the bow of 
 the ship; my startled eye shaped it into the likeness of a 
 human figure — another and another sped after it — they looked 
 like a flight of spectres : and the puffs of blue vapour that 
 marked their passage through the pitchy water were like the 
 fires which kindle in your eyes when you close them after 
 looking at a bright light. Presently, and about a ship's length 
 ahead, the sea flashed up in foam that was radiant with the 
 magical colouring of the phosphorus. One would have said a 
 water- spout was forming, or that a dying whale was lashing 
 the sea in its agony. In a moment it was abreast of me ; I 
 looked at the luminous disturbance — there was a rush of blood 
 
M Y PASSENGERS. 379 
 
 to my head that was like to choke me. I shrieked out, and 
 springing backwards in an agony of horror, my foot struck 
 against the fake of a rope, and over I went, fetching the deck 
 a rousing thump with the back of my head. 
 
 ' Hi, help here !' I heard the fellow at the wheel sing out ; 
 ' the chief officer's swounded !' 
 
 Some men came tumbling aft ; but before they reached me 
 I had made shift to gain my feet, though I trembled from head 
 to foot, and the blood tingled in my extremities with the sensa- 
 tion a man feels when restored from drowning. 
 
 1 Get me some water, one of you : thanks ! there — that has 
 set me up again.' 
 
 I wiped a trickling line of perspiration from my forehead ; 
 but when I brought the handkerchief away, there was a deep 
 stain of blood upon it. 
 
 ' Oh, confound this wound ! Here — pour the contents of that 
 pannikin over this handkerchief.' I threw down my cap, 
 placed the soaked handkerchief on the wound on my head, and 
 walked to the skylight, where I seated myself, feeling uncom- 
 monly feeble and bewildered. The men were moving forward, 
 speaking in low tones one to another, when I called to them. 
 They drew near again. 
 
 ' Were any of you looking over the side just now t 
 
 I I was/ answered one of them, and another replied that he 
 was too. 
 
 * What did you see V I asked, bringing out the words with 
 difficulty ; for I was fool enough to be agitated by a misgiving 
 that my eyes alone had witnessed the sight that affrighted 
 me, and I feared their answer. I could see that the men 
 were as much surprised by the question as by the voice in 
 which I put it. One of them replied: 'Do you mean the 
 sharks, sir V 
 
 ' Sharks — were they sharks t I shouted. 
 
 'I saw a queer sort o' scrimmage betwixt three or four 
 large sharks, sir, as if they were wrestling for some kind of 
 
3 8o AN OCEAN FREE-LANCE. 
 
 food they'd come across, if that's what you mean, sir,' said the 
 man. 
 
 1 Sharks !' I muttered, passing my hand across my eyes, as 
 though by some such gesture I sought to cleanse my brain of 
 the fog that thickened it, ' why, when I come to consider, I 
 suppose they must have been sharks. Ah, I see now ! . . . 
 get me another drink of water, will you ? What a sight to 
 flash before a man on a sudden — illuminated by the horrible 
 light churned up by the monsters ! God have mercy ! people 
 have been driven mad by smaller things !' 
 
 I took a long pull at the cool water that had been brought 
 to me. 
 
 ' Men, I was standing yonder — looking over the rail there, 
 just abaft that shattered gun-port, and there shone amid the 
 gloom ahead, whither I had noticed some shapes of fire dashing 
 at full speed — sharks, of course — a big circle of lashed waters, 
 as big as this quarter-deck, men ' 
 
 ' That would be about it, sir,' interrupted the fellow who had 
 answered my first question. 
 
 i I was thinking of our poor shipmates whom the bloody 
 buccaneers sent to their account this day, and — as heaven is 
 my witness — I saw a crowd of their bodies in the centre of this 
 foaming circle, which, as you know — you, Jackson, who saw it 
 — was all on fire, and gleaming like moonlight streaming through 
 blue glass — wasn't it V 
 
 ' Yes, yes ; that's right, sir.' 
 
 1 And they held up, ay, so as to hoist two-thirds of him out 
 of the water, the figure — of whom, think you ? — the figure of 
 your second mate, Mr. Silas Chestree. Yes, by heaven ! men, 
 they held him as though they would drive me mad with the 
 dreadful sight, and his head wagged and his arms waved, and 
 there he was, swaying in the arms of the dead bodies around 
 him. I saw him as plainly as I do the outline of that topsail- 
 yard there against the stars !' 
 
 The men looked first at me and then at one another, as 
 
M Y PASSENGERS. 38 1 
 
 though (small blame to them) they believed me clean daft. 
 Suddenly the fellow named Jackson hooked the quid out of his 
 cheek with his forefinger, flung it into his cap, and exclaimed 
 with great emphasis : 
 
 ' I understand it now, sir, though I'm blowed if I wasn't 
 pretty well scared myself when I first see it. Wot we saw was 
 sharks.' 
 
 'Yes, I know that — I admit that !' I cried impatiently. 'But 
 what I saw was Mr. Chestree.' 
 
 ' Wot you saw, sir,' continued the fellow, deferentially but 
 firmly, ' was a dead body newly hove overboard from the 
 schooner, and we passed just in time to see a swarm 0' sharks, 
 that had been collected by the scent, a-fighting over it.' 
 
 A light broke in upon my brain. 
 
 'Jump forward, one of you, and fire a musket over the 
 bows.' 
 
 This was one of the preconcerted signals to be used by either 
 vessel wanting to speak the other, and down in Shelvocke's 
 written instructions to me. The musket flashed, and a small 
 sharp report rattled across the water. Presently the schooner 
 loomed near, proving that she had shortened sail, and we forged 
 abreast of her. 
 
 I had acted impulsively and without rational excuse to signal 
 her, but a feverish curiosity had mastered every consideration. 
 Yet now that she was abreast of us I felt ashamed of myself, 
 and was at a loss to know how to make my action appear 
 reasonable. 
 
 ' Ship ahoy !' shouted the familiar voice of Shelvocke. 
 
 ' Hallo, sir !' 
 
 ' Why have you fired a musket f 
 
 ' To report that all's well aboard of us,' I blurted out, taking 
 the first idea that came, ' and to ask how it is with you.' 
 
 ' Is that ALL V he cried gruffly ; and I could figure the sea- 
 blessings invoked on my head by the watch on deck, who had 
 been turned up to shorten sail. 
 
3 82 AN OCEAN FREE-LANCE. 
 
 'Did you fling a body overboard just now, captain V I 
 called, determined to satisfy my curiosity before the schooner 
 forged ahead. 
 
 ' Yes, Mr. Madison ; and sorry enough I am to have to tell 
 you/ answered Shelvocke, in a softened voice. ' Poor Chestree 
 died this evening, and we dared not keep the body through the 
 night.' 
 
 1 Did you throw him overboard as he was, sir f 
 
 ' Eh — what do you say f 
 
 I repeated the question. 
 
 ' Certainly not,' he answered indignantly. ' He had no ham- 
 mock, as you know, so he was stitched up in a pair of his 
 sheets and launched. But this is worse than idling, sir ! Do 
 you mean to tell me you fired that musket merely to ask these 
 questions f 
 
 ' Just listen a moment, captain,' I answered. ' We passed 
 his body just now, worried by half-a-dozen sharks. The weight 
 must have slipped from his feet, and the infernal fish had 
 stripped him naked. God help me ! when I saw him, I believed 
 I was mad, and I fired the musket in order that your replies 
 might assure me I still had my senses.' 
 
 I could hear him talking to some one alongside of him — 
 probably Tapping : the two vessels were indeed not a biscuit's 
 throw from each other, and the wind blew from the schooner. 
 I knew this information would shock him, as he was always 
 jealous of the honour due to his officers ; and I was sure that 
 nothing but the excessive closeness of the cabin, and the heat 
 of the temperature on deck, could have induced him to sanc- 
 tion a hurried and unceremonious burial of poor Chestree's 
 remains. 
 
 Presently he called out : 
 
 ' 1 am much grieved, but it cannot be rectified. The men 
 are tired, and the 'tween-decks full of wounded. The shot, I 
 fear, was hastily made fast ; but our hearts are with the dead, 
 and God knows there is no man of the Tigress's crew who 
 
M Y PASSENGERS. 383 
 
 would willingly do dishonour to the body of our brave and re- 
 gretted shipmate.' 
 
 He waited to hear if I had anything more to say, and finding 
 me silent, ordered sail to be made, and resumed his former 
 station ahead. 
 
 6 Chestree dead !' thought I. ' Alas ! alas ! what a day 
 this has been !' Yet, sharp as was the pang caused me by the 
 news, it yielded a feeling of relief too ; for I knew, at least, 
 that my eyes had not deceived me ; that the ghastly and 
 ghostly sight that had slid past was no phantasm of the brain ; 
 and I drew the same sort of comfort from the discovery that 
 Dr. Johnson may be supposed to have derived from the manu- 
 facture of Greek and Latin verses in bed to satisfy himself that 
 his intellect was still sound. 
 
 CHAPTEE XVI. 
 
 JONATHAN AGAIN. 
 
 Before my watch terminated, my nerves had recovered some- 
 thing of their old tone, and a four hours' deep sleep completed 
 the cure. Parell aroused me, and I presently followed him on 
 deck. I peered about for some moments before I caught sight 
 of the schooner's light ; indeed, this was the proverbial black 
 hour of the night, the stars languishing : it was like staring 
 into the bottom of a coal-pit to look over the ship's side. 
 There was a steady breeze, but unhappily it was blowing the 
 wrong way, having veered dead ahead during my watch below, 
 and the Namur was slightly heeling under it with her yards 
 braced hard up against the lee-rigging, and steering three points 
 south of the course given me by Shelvocke. 
 
 The profound darkness was not very comfortable, and I was 
 glad enough, on casting my eyes over the quarter, to behold 
 the sky taking that indescribable sallow, slate-coloured hue 
 
384 AN OCEAN FREE-LANCE. 
 
 which a tropical sunrise casts before it. I have always thought 
 the aspect of the sea just before the sun rises the most melan- 
 choly sight in the world. The universal cold grey, the stony, 
 chilly ash-colour of the dawn reflected in the uneasy deep, fills 
 the eye with a picture of desolation. On shore a hundred 
 cheerful signs herald the breaking day : the twittering of 
 birds, the blue smoke rising from the cottage-chimney, the 
 labourer's hearty voice, the cackling and crowing in the 
 poultry-yard. But at sea the dawn awakens no life : the 
 horizon becomes a hard dark line girdling a melancholy waste 
 of waters. But soon the rising sun, resting a dazzling silver 
 point upon the rosy sea-line, makes the scene joyous ; the 
 waters flash like a mighty prism, you behold the topmost sails 
 of the ship gleaming like porcelain, whilst the shadow of the 
 night still lurks along the decks ; anon the whole fabric is 
 steeped in the white radiance, and star-shaped brilliancies are 
 kindled in the brass-work, and the glass breaks into a hundred 
 flashing tints, and the decks glitter like fine dry sand. Another 
 day has begun, and the watch on deck uncoil themselves from 
 the nooks in which they have been dozing through the dark- 
 ness, and grumblingly rig the head-pump and get the scrubbing- 
 brushes and buckets along. 
 
 My eyes turned towards the schooner as the sun rose, and 
 there she lay about a mile and a half ahead of us, with a 
 narrow wake steaming a short distance astern of her, and the 
 green waters caressing her glossy sides as she pressed smoothly 
 and softly over them. A spark winked at her side, and a 
 white cloud broke away from her, and sailed slowly down 
 over her quarter, and before the report reached us a small red 
 flag was quivering at her main. 
 
 ' Lay aft here, Eansom !' I sung out, * and hoist the answer- 
 ing pennant t 
 
 They hauled down the flag aboard the schooner, and substi- 
 tuted a whole row of gaudy bunting, that made the vessel look 
 * dressed ' for a holiday. I worked away with the glass, con- 
 
JON A THAN A GAIN, 385 
 
 suiting the signal-book as I made the numbers : ' Get your top- 
 gallant-mast swayed up and the yards crossed. 9 
 
 ' Sensible advice, Captain Shelvocke ; but you might have 
 waited till eight bells, so as to give the watch below a couple 
 of hours more rest.' 
 
 1 All right, Eansom ; hoist your answering pennant again.' 
 The flags were hauled down, and another string of them 
 
 hoisted. 
 
 1 
 
 ' Will send help if required.' 
 
 I answered by signalling that we should not require help. 
 
 * Never mind about washing the decks down/ I said to the 
 men, ' Call all hands, one of you, and the rest turn to and 
 clear away that topgallant-mast among the booms there, ready 
 for swaying aloft.' 
 
 The thumping of a handspike on the fore-scuttle was fol- 
 lowed by a gruff cry. Parell was up in a trice : the rest of the 
 watch below followed, and in a few minutes the men were 
 springing about like cats to the tune of Parell's pipe. A 
 jack-block was sent aloft, and the mast-rope rove. I pulled off 
 my coat to give the men a hand. Slowly we swayed the mast 
 up, fitted the shrouds, stays and backstays, manned the mast- 
 rope, unbent the tripping-line, fidded, and then set up the 
 rigging. 
 
 In the midst of all this business Miss Palmer came on deck. 
 I raised my hat to her, and went on with my work \ but now 
 and again I would take a squint at her out of the corners of 
 my eyes, and notice how sweetly pretty her face looked, with 
 the varying expressions which entered it, as she watched our 
 complicated labours, and followed with her glances the fellows 
 aloft, who no doubt appeared to her to be astride of nothing 
 and holding on by their eyelids. 
 
 By the time breakfast was piped the yards were crossed and 
 the sails ready for bending. This, all things considered, was a 
 very smartly-rushed job, and I praised the men highly for 
 their activity. Aloft the ship now looked as taut and hand- 
 
 25 
 
86 AN OCEAN FREE-LANCE. 
 
 some as she had appeared when we first sighted her ; and feel- 
 ing exceedingly rough, dishevelled, and hot, I slung my coat 
 over my arm and walked aft to the companion. Miss Palmer 
 stood over it, and as I approached she exclaimed : 
 
 1 Perhaps you will find time now, Mr. Madison, to shake 
 hands.' 
 
 * I will shake hands with pleasure, but I am not in the trim 
 to talk. You don't know how hard it is for a sailor to make 
 himself agreeable to ladies when he is not what you call tidy.' 
 
 ' I hope I have not annoyed you by watching you at work,' 
 said she demurely, but with a movement of the eyelids that 
 gave an odd, coquettish expression to her face. 
 
 1 On the contrary ; nor am I annoyed that you should see 
 me in this rig,' said I, casting a look on my bare arms, and 
 recollecting that the collar of my shirt lay wide open, and 
 feeling that my hair was over my forehead, and my hat on the 
 back of my head. i Still, I hope you will not think me rude 
 if I ask you to excuse me until I have made myself ship-shape. 
 You wouldn't like to be caught in the state you find me in, 
 would you V 
 
 6 No, indeed,' she answered, laughing heartily, * so pray let 
 me keep you no longer,' and she struggled with another laugh 
 as she walked away. 
 
 When I came on deck again I found her talking to Mrs. 
 Solomons, who was dressed in rose-coloured satin, and an 
 immense cream-coloured silk handkerchief over her head ; at 
 each ear there hung a solid gold earring, shaped like a marlin- 
 spike and pretty nearly as long; a massive gold chain was 
 slung round her neck, and under her half-dozen chins was a 
 huge brooch containing Solomons in oils, with his right eye 
 partially closed, as though he had just completed a bargain 
 when he sat for this portrait. Against such a figure, Miss 
 Palmer in her white dress and sunny hair looked like a lily 
 alongside a peony. Her hat— I mean Miss Palmer's hat, for 
 I love to be particular — was a simple white chip with a lilac 
 
J ON A THAN AGAIN. 387 
 
 satin ribbon bow in front ; small pearl earrings, pale lemon- 
 coloured kid shoes. What sort of taste would this be con- 
 sidered nowadays ? I am old enough to think that well-dressed 
 women wore prettier clothes when I was a youth, than well- 
 dressed women do now. But, be this as it may, I never saw 
 a dress, a colour, a pair of gloves or shoes, or a piece of jewel- 
 lery on Madeline Palmer, that did not appear to have been 
 invented for her particular face, figure, and character of beauty 
 alone, and for nobody else, by an artist of high and impassioned 
 judgment. 
 
 I see her in my mind's eye now, sitting on the skylight with 
 Mrs. Solomons by her side, the sky as white as silver, with 
 the morning sun beyond her, her beautiful winning grey eyes 
 fixed upon me as I advance, threads of bronze hair stirring 
 under the chip hat to the soft wind blowing out of the hollow 
 of the great spanker, mittens as fine as cobwebs upon her hands 
 as high as the sparkling rings, the clasped white fingers gleam- 
 ing like new ivory upon the folds of her dress, the shadows of 
 the two women black upon the sand-white deck at their feet. 
 
 'I hope — speaking of you of course as a sailor, Mr. Madison — 
 that you now feel yourself equal to the task of making yourself 
 agreeable to ladies/ said she, with a grave face, and running 
 her eyes, with a laughing devil in them, over my clothes, as I 
 salute Mrs. Solomons, and ask after Jonas. 
 
 'My dear, the gentleman knows how to make himself 
 agreeable, 7 observes Mrs. Solomons, nodding at me amiably 
 and encouragingly. ' Will breakfast soon be ready, sir V 
 
 'By half-past eight, I hope, madam. Miss Palmer,' said I, 
 ' as I feel qualified to talk now, let me ask you what sort of a 
 night you passed V 
 
 ' A very good night, indeed.' 
 
 ' No nightmares, I hope — no shadows of long-legged, yellow- 
 faced Yankees flitting through your dreams f 
 
 ' No, I was too tired to dream.' 
 
 'Mr. Solomons was rather uneasy, or I should have slept 
 
 25-2 
 
388 AN OCEAN FREE-LANCE. 
 
 well too,' said Mrs. Solomons. ' He was snuffling all through 
 the night like a charity boy. He is still abed, sir. I think 
 he's took cold.' 
 
 1 Very likely,' I remarked. ' I routed him him out of a pool 
 of dew here last night.' 
 
 ' Now isn't that Jonas all over !' cried she. ' What does he 
 want to go and lie in a pool of doo for ? do you think he told 
 me what he'd been doing I when I asked him what made him 
 snuffle so, he said it was his nose. That's the thanks I got for 
 troubling myself. But all husbands are alike. They only get 
 took ill in my opinion to worry their wives. You never hear 
 of a man falling ill when he's a sweetheart — do you now I 
 No, he waits till he's a husband. But as my father, Mr. 
 Aarons, of the Minories — perhaps you may have heard of him, 
 mister 1 he has a picter-shop just opposite Wolf's, the whole- 
 sale clothier's — as my father used to say when anybody came 
 to him with a trouble : " What ! you think you're going to 
 mend matters by making a fuss ! Make a fuss and see what 
 I'll do for you !" There's a great deal in that, sir !' 
 
 1 A great deal, no doubt,' I replied, taking her word for it, 
 and exchanging a smile with Miss Palmer, as the fat old 
 woman took a squint down the skylight, to observe what pro- 
 gress Eansom's preparations for breakfast were making. 
 
 ' I have been admiring your schooner, Mr. Madison, as she 
 slides along yonder with that line of foam against the band 
 that looks like gold,' exclaimed Miss Palmer. 'What an 
 exceedingly beautiful vessel she is ! Do you notice the reflec- 
 tion of her sails in the green water, and how lovely her wake 
 looks upon the sea, like a streak of hoar-frost slowly melting 
 off a field 1 You can see her better from the bulwark.' 
 
 She crossed the deck as an excuse, I think, to get away 
 from Mrs. Solomons, whose vulgarity, I was beginning to dis- 
 cover, was of that unpleasantly candid sort that keeps the 
 fastidious listener in a constant state of suspense. 
 
 I followed her ; but, instead of looking at the schooner, I 
 
J ON A THAN A GAIN. 389 
 
 watched her large, wistful grey eyes, and coral-like ears, and 
 small, red-lipped mouth with the pearly teeth glancing like 
 snow, and the beautiful curve of her dimpled chin termi- 
 nating in a throat of white velvet with the blue veins faintly 
 marked ; her cheeks and forehead purely fine indeed, though 
 beheld in the searching light of the sun — whose microscopic 
 illumination what woman does not dread 1 Well, well ; this 
 is parish talk indeed ! But a woman is a rare bird to Jack, as 
 any man shall discover who will ship himself for a voyage ; 
 and when he meets with a girl like Madeline Palmer, he may 
 surely be excused for pitching his quid overboard and senti- 
 mentalizing for a spell. 
 
 And a word in your ear, mate, while I am on this tack. 
 Might I make so bold as to suggest that it is pretty nearly 
 time you dropped those notions of the typical sailor which you 
 have got from your 'long-shore literature, and begin to examine 
 the real man himself with your own eyes at first hand ? in 
 order that he may get a chance of convincing you that he is 
 not the wretched swab, the theatrical tar, the dummy in flow- 
 ing breeches he is represented to be by writers who are as 
 ignorant of the sea as any ploughman, and whose receipt for 
 the concoction of a British seaman is an hour's study of 
 Dibdin's songs for such nautical terms as may there be read, 
 a glazed hat and a junk of tobacco ; but (as merchant mate or 
 naval officer) a man who can act as a gentleman and converse 
 as a gentleman — who in a word is about as much like the 
 theatrical, poetical, and novelistic fresh-water mountebank 
 whom the credulous people of the greatest maritime country 
 in the world accept as a real sample of the men who fight 
 their naval battles and circumnavigate the globe for their 
 markets, as Punch is like Edmund Kean. Because a man is a 
 sailor, because his life is passed upon the greatest wonder of 
 the world, because he is driven by stress of profession to be- 
 hold by day and by night the majestic scenery of the heavens 
 and the deep — their glory, their terror, their beauty — must he 
 
390 AN OCEAN FREE-LANCE. 
 
 have a mind impatient of higher objects than salt-pork and 
 rum % — must his mouth be full of oaths, tobacco-juice, and 
 professional terms % — must he accept as his likeness any vulgar 
 wretch whom the theatrical dressers force into duck-trousers, 
 low shoes, and tarpaulin hat % Accept this low caricature as 
 his portrait, and surely you do the seaman an unmanly wrong 
 and a mean dishonour. Yet by such caricatures, literary and 
 dramatic, is Jack sung, acted, drawn (and quartered, shall I 
 .say ?) to the British public, who, in spite of leagues of after- 
 dinner speeches, of poetry, stage-plays and rant about meteor- 
 Hags, wooden walls versus wooden shoes, wet sheets and flowing 
 seas, and bunting that has braved the battle and the breeze — 
 know less about you, ye mariners of England ! your character, 
 habits, and conversation, than the very rudest of the savage 
 tribes, at whose distant isles ye have sometimes touched for 
 water ! 
 
 1 1 wonder how our friends like their new quarters V con- 
 tinued Miss Palmer, keeping her eyes fixed upon the Tigress. 
 1 1 dare say they miss the looking-glasses and gilt of the Namur, 
 but Captain Shelvocke's cannons and men will comfort them ; 
 at least I can answer for Colonel Bray.' 
 
 ' I guess by the smile that twinkles at the corners of your 
 mouth, Miss Palmer, that the gallant colonel is not a hero in 
 your eyes,' said L 
 
 1 Indeed he is not/ she answered. ' Why, you can't imagine 
 the cowardice that was shown on board this ship when the 
 Americans boarded her. Not the least resistance was made ; 
 the men yielded like a flock of sheep. Colonel Bray, from 
 whom much was to have been expected, after the numerous 
 anecdotes he had favoured us with during the voyage, of his 
 exploits on various battle-fields, turned as white as a sheet 
 when the American vessel came alongside, and rushed into his 
 cabin. The only person that showed the least spirit was Mr. 
 Solomons, who cried out to Captain Salmon, " Do you mean 
 to say you aren't going to fight P " No," answered Captain 
 
J ON A THAN AGAIN. 391 
 
 Salmon, with his knees knocking together. " Then you're a 
 disgrace to your profession," said Mr. Solomons, snapping his 
 fingers, " and the sooner the Yankees despatch you the more 
 obleeged English sailors ought to be to them !" ' 
 
 The contrast of her sweet face and her mimicry was very 
 entertaining, but very fascinating, too ; she burst into a laugh 
 like a song when she saw me laughing, exclaiming : 
 
 * One ought to be angry to be made to blush for one's 
 countrymen, but Mr. Solomons' face when he snapped his 
 fingers at Mr. Salmon was quite irresistible. I am sure the recol- 
 lection of it will outlive the memory of my own feelings of 
 horror and despair.' 
 
 ' I rather suspected the colonel's valiance by his eager accept- 
 ance of our offer of the schooner's accommodation,' said I. 
 ' Yet he may be a braver man than we suppose — courageous 
 ashore, perhaps : on the principle of an Irish major I once 
 knew, who terrified a house full of people one night by the 
 cries and yells he raised over a black-beetle he had found in 
 his bed. When twitted on his cowardice — "What do ye 
 mane V said he. " Had a regiment of Frenchmen entered me 
 room I'd have cut them to pieces, sir : such is me spirit. But 
 ivho's going to face a black-beetle P ' 
 
 1 Yes, that is always the excuse of the small-spirited men,' 
 she said, laughing. ' " Confront me with any other danger 
 than this, and you would see what a terrible fellow I am !" 
 Yet the English must be a brave race, or they never could 
 have won so many battles. But surely there are some dread- 
 ful cowards among them, Mr. Madison f 
 
 1 A few more than the country wants, I am afraid, though I 
 am astonished that the number should be so small, considering 
 the heaps of incompetent fellows who are poked into leading- 
 positions by private patronage. The best proof of the high 
 standard of English courage is, that centuries, I may say, of 
 departmental truckling, time-serving, neglect of conspicuous 
 merit, and bestowal of place, power, and honours on men 
 
392 AN OCEAN FREE-LANCE. 
 
 whose only significance lies among their relations, have not, 
 down to the present year, unfitted us for opposing, and some- 
 times beating, the arms of the countries who bid us defiance. . . . 
 All right, Eansom. Mrs. Solomons, breakfast is on the table. 
 I cannot offer you my arm, as the companion-steps are rather 
 narrow/ 
 
 ' Thank you, mister; I can manage without you.' 
 
 We bundled into the cabin, where I had the satisfaction of 
 perceiving that Eansom had considerably improved upon his 
 first notion of table-laying. The white damask table-cloth ; 
 the silver and crockery ; the ferns around the skylight ; the 
 bright sunbeams slanting into a tall mirror that redistributed 
 the light in warm ripples of radiance upon the glossy panelling 
 — the whole topped by the fragrance of coffee and other good 
 things — made the cabin appeal comfortably to the nose as well 
 as the eyes ; but the sweetest and fairest part of the whole 
 arrangement, to my mind, was the presence of Madeline 
 Palmer, who, after removing her hat, took a seat opposite me. 
 
 Mrs. Solomons came out of her cabin, and told us her 
 husband was still abed, but felt better; so we sent him his 
 breakfast by Eansom, who, at the old man's request, left the 
 door of the berth wide open. 
 
 * For I can listen to you talking, if I can't join in myself !' 
 Solomons shouted ; ■ and Eachel can hear me if I want any- 
 thing, for I can't get out of my cot without help !' 
 
 'That's the worst of them things,' observed Mrs. Solomons. 
 4 They're the orkudist inventions, and I only wonder that Mr. 
 Solomons has the courage to trust himself in 'em. He has to 
 get upon a cheer to reach it, and I've known him to be a 
 quarter of an hour dodging it when the ship rolls, like a horse 
 at the end of a bridle. He was as nigh killed as ever a man 
 was a fortnight ago, for he jumped at the wrong time, the 
 cheer upset, and there he was left clinging to the side of the cot. 
 " Push, Eachel P he says to me ; and push I did until the 
 puspiration flowed down my cheeks : but the more I pushed, 
 
J ON A THAN A GAIN. 393 
 
 the further the orkud thing went towards the ceiling, until the 
 vessel gave a heave the contrairy way, and his whole weight 
 came against me, which obliged me to let go, or I should have 
 been thrown down ; and then he says : " For the Lord's sake, 
 Rachel, spread a mattress under me, to let me drop soft, or I 
 shall break my neck — I know I shall !" and I had to pull my 
 bed to pieces to let him fall soft, as he called it. I'd as lief 
 sleep hung up on a hook as in one of them swinging beds.' 
 
 ' There she goes — giving all the family noose !' shouted 
 Solomons, with his mouth full, which, added to the cold in his 
 head, did not greatly improve the natural melody of his voice. 
 
 Mrs. Solomons made no answer, and I took advantage of 
 the silence to ask Miss Palmer if she had written to her father 
 to inform him of her intention to join him. 
 
 1 No ; I made up my mind to go out to him as soon as I 
 learnt the state of his health; therefore I supposed my 
 writing would have been to no purpose, as I counted on 
 arriving at Jamaica as soon as, if not before, my letter could 
 reach him.' 
 
 1 He will be greatly surprised to see you, I dare say.' 
 
 ' He will indeed, and a little angry too, I have no doubt,' she 
 answered, smiling; 'but I think the unexpectedness of my 
 appearance will produce the effect I want.' 
 
 I Your devotion should make him feel very proud of you,' 
 said I, admiring the thoughtful beauty her eyes had taken at 
 the mention of his name. 
 
 I I hope — if the movements of your vessel permit — to have 
 the pleasure of introducing you to him/ she said. ' I am sure, 
 after you have known him a little while, you will not wonder 
 at my devotion.' 
 
 'Kachel, another cup of coffee,' shouted Solomons. 
 
 A footstep on the companion-ladder caused me to look 
 round. Parell entered hurriedly. 
 
 ' The schooner has made a signal, sir, and shortened sail. 
 We are driving down upon her fast.' 
 
394 AN OCEAN FREE-LANCE. 
 
 With an apology to the ladies, I left the table and ran on 
 deck. My first glance was at the Tigress, at whose main was 
 blowing a long blue and yellow pennant, her sails were shiver- 
 ing in the light breeze, and she was almost stationary upon the 
 water ; we were approaching her quickly, and already I could see 
 Shelvocke's figure mounted upon the bulwark ready to hail 
 when we were within earscope. My second glance was around, 
 but the horizon was speckless ; indeed, the air was marvel- 
 lously transparent, and the water so brightly and beautifully 
 clear down to the remotest reaches of it, that it was like look- 
 ing at it through a lens. 
 
 As we neared the schooner they let her gather fresh way, 
 and then gave her a sheer that brought the two vessels close. 
 I immediately perceived that something unusual had happened 
 or was about to happen ; all the passengers who had been 
 transferred from the Namur were on the schooner's quarter- 
 deck, and the bulwarks were lined with the heads of the crew. 
 Two men were aloft on the topgallant-yard staring into the 
 west with their hands sheltering their eyes, and above them on 
 the royal-yard was Tapping with his eye glued to a telescope 
 that he was pointing into the quarter whither the men were 
 gazing. I lifted my hat, and waited for Shelvocke's hail. 
 
 'The royals and topgallant-sails of what is apparently a large 
 ship heading directly for us have just been reported by the 
 look-out men aloft,' he sung out. 'Should she prove an enemy, 
 I will bother her with my shot while you crack on every inch 
 of sail you can spread and get away.' 
 
 I Right, sir.' 
 
 I I will haul the wind for her, and meanwhile you can check 
 the weather main-braces. If she prove an enemy I will hoist 
 a small red square flag at the fore — if a friend, the ensign at 
 the peak.' 
 
 I held up my hand to betoken I heard him. 
 1 The instant you see the red flag at the fore, square away 
 and be off. I will worry the enemy until you are out of sight. 
 
J ON A THAN AGAIN, 395 
 
 Once clear, you will of course brace up sharp again, and make a 
 course for Kingston.' 
 
 I touched my hat. He then turned and addressed some 
 words to the passengers, and by the manner he pointed towards 
 us and then towards the horizon where the stranger had been 
 descried, I presumed that he was offering them a chance of 
 returning to their old quarters. Evidently they preferred to 
 remain where they were, for looking my way again, he ex- 
 claimed : ' Keep a bright look-out for my signal, Mr. Madison, 
 and try your craft on all points should I fail to draw the enemy 
 off. God speed !• 
 
 He waved his hand and sprang on to the deck ; the boat- 
 swain's pipe chirruped — jibs, topsails, and staysails poised their 
 swelling folds between the lofty masts, and the noble vessel 
 hauled away from us like a great white cloud. 
 
 I watched her, as she clove the bright green water, with a 
 strong feeling of melancholy. I cannot express how endeared 
 was the beautiful vessel to my mind, and how this adieu 
 saddened me. 
 
 ' Captain Shelvocke ought to be very proud of his Tigress, 
 said a sweet voice behind me. 'Surely, Mr. Madison, I cannot 
 be wrong in supposing her to be one of the most graceful vessels 
 ever built.' 
 
 1 What a marvellously quiet footstep you have, Miss Palmer ! 
 Your tread is as soft as the fall of a leaf. Ay, indeed, as you 
 say, the Tigress is a graceful vessel. Look how delicately her 
 side curves as she heels over, and how richly her copper shines 
 against the white foam ; and see how lovely is the swell of the 
 central cloths of her sails, while the leeches are as taut as harp- 
 strings ; and notice how the sun sparkles in the bright wood of 
 her masts and in the glass of her portholes and the burnished 
 brass of the binnacle-cover! Can you be surprised that a 
 sailor should sometimes love his ship as a sweetheart, and think 
 and speak of her with as deep a tenderness as if she were a 
 woman V 
 
396 AN OCEAN FREE-LANCE. 
 
 1 Not at all surprised, though I am unable to do full justice 
 to the beauties you have so glowingly pointed out, as I do not 
 quite understand all the terms you use,' she replied, looking 
 at me with a grave face, but with an arch expression in her 
 eyes : * I thoroughly sympathize with a sailor's love for his ship, 
 and think him a very wise man indeed to pin his affection to an 
 object so full of life, beauty, and fidelity.' 
 
 1 Yes, fidelity, certainly, whether beautiful or not/ said I, 
 searching her eyes for a deeper meaning than lay in her words, 
 and only getting puzzled for my pains. 
 
 1 Fidelity, of course, so long as she keeps afloat. If she sinks 
 and drowns her lover, she may be said, I suppose, to have 
 betrayed his confidence f 
 
 1 You push the allegory too far,' said I, laughing. 
 
 1 Will you tell me what the schooner wanted f 
 
 I explained. 
 
 * Where is the ship V she inquired, looking around her. 
 
 1 Yonder/ I replied, pointing ; ' she will heave in sight pre- 
 sently. Meanwhile I must watch the Tigress closely for her 
 signal.' 
 
 I fetched a telescope, and placed a chair alongside the gun 
 upon which I had been leaning. Miss Palmer seated herself 
 whilst I sighted the glass, Some hands were aloft bending 
 the royal and topgallant sails to the yards which had been 
 crossed before breakfast. I called to them to tell me if they 
 could see anything of the vessel beyond the schooner. 
 
 I Ay, plainly, sir,' replied one of them ; ' she's under a press 
 of sail, but she rises slow.' 
 
 I I am not sorry that Mr. Solomons is in bed, Miss Palmer ; 
 his wife will no doubt remain in his cabin, and I shall be spared 
 a worrying cross-examination. ■ 
 
 'Oh, they are very good-natured people,' she answered, 
 1 though more vulgar than I should have thought possible in 
 persons possessed of so much wealth as they are said to have. 
 Pray don't suppose I mean that money, refines, but one always 
 
JONATHAN AGAIN. 397 
 
 is astonished to find the airs and graces of cooks and dustmen 
 in people possessed of wealth. I did not greatly fancy the 
 Solomons at first, but as I grew used to their talk and manners, 
 I found them more endurable as acquaintances, until at last 
 they have really made me like them. , 
 
 1 For that they must surely be more indebted to your kind- 
 ness than to themselves/: 
 
 * Mr. Madison, as a sailor you ought to be a liberal-minded 
 man.' 
 
 ' I am,' I interrupted. 
 
 ' Prejudice is bad enough in a person like me, who has never 
 travelled out of England and is acquainted only with people in 
 my own sphere of life. But in men who have visited all sorts 
 of countries, and beheld all sorts of persons, prejudice is in- 
 comprehensible ; to call it intolerable would not express my 
 opinion of it.' 
 
 1 Eeally, Miss Palmer, I hope ' 
 
 1 I am not in the least personal in what I am saying !' she 
 exclaimed, with her rich, hearty laugh. 'When one meets 
 people like Mr. and Mrs. Solomons, one ought to think of 
 one's self as a traveller who has lighted on a new kind of flesh 
 and blood, that may be very vulgar, glittering, tawdry and 
 uncomfortable, [according to one's own ideas of correct be- 
 haviour, but that is flesh and blood for all that like one's self, 
 and that may be — unlike one's self — full of kindness, generosity, 
 and good feeling — even above the mark that one has been 
 used to find in fine ladies and gentlemen.' 
 
 ' Quite so, and I am thankful for a good idea.' 
 
 ' People like Mr. and Mrs. Solomons can no more help being 
 vulgar and tawdry than a negro can help being black, Mr. 
 Madison. But if the negro be a good man, shall his black 
 skin prevent you from acknowledging him to be what you 
 gentlemen call a good fellow, and liking him for that good- 
 ness 1 Mr. and Mrs. Solomons drop their /i's I know, and call 
 you mister, and say " you was," instead of " you were," and 
 
398 AN OCEAN FREE-LANCE 
 
 have a shocking bad taste in colours and jewellery. But if 
 they are a kind and friendly-disposed couple, willing to oblige 
 you in any way you may suggest, do not they deserve from 
 liberal-minded persons the esteem they would get from narrow- 
 minded persons were they polished, and only polished V 
 
 1 You reason so well that, to answer you like an Irishman, 
 you would persuade me to your way of thinking whether I 
 agreed with you or not. But I do agree with you, and that my 
 sincerity may be proved, I will ask you to observe the rever- 
 ence which the Solomonses shall henceforth receive from me.' 
 
 The effort of speaking had raised a charming flush on her 
 cheeks, and her fine eyes sparkled as she laid her head back on 
 the chair and looked, with a smile brightening her parted lips, 
 at the men at work aloft. 
 
 * I have done with Mr. and Mrs. Solomons,' said she. ' Let 
 us talk no more of them. 
 
 1 Very well, Miss Palmer/ 
 
 ' If that strange ship for which you are watching should 
 prove to be an enemy, will you be able to escape from her V 
 
 ' With the help of the Tigress I shall hope to do so.' 
 
 1 And if you fail V 
 
 ' We mustn't fail.' 
 
 ' How can you have the heart to coolly argue with me on 
 prejudice, Mr. Madison, when, for all you know, a serious 
 danger is at hand V said she, turning her eyes fully and search- 
 ingly upon me. 
 
 ' The danger — if danger there be — is as obvious to you as to 
 me ; yet you can argue on prejudice as coolly as I.' 
 
 1 Perhaps I am not afraid,' she exclaimed. ' You see we 
 have a new captain and crew ; and besides, Colonel Bray is 
 not here to dishearten me with his white face. However, do 
 not suppose I undervalue the risk we are going to run because 
 I find nothing to disturb me in your manner. I quite 
 understand from your explanation that the Tigress will en- 
 deavour to divert the strange ship, should she prove an enemy, 
 
J ON A THAN AGAIN. 399 
 
 from chasing us by firing at her ; but if the Tigress's tactics 
 fail, and the stranger sails faster than we — and I may tell you, 
 Mr. Madison, that the Namur is not a fast ship — we shall be 
 captured V 
 
 1 If — if ! But you know that where there's an "if " there's 
 a way. You have certainly construed my brief explanation 
 with surprising precison ; no sailor who had been to sea all 
 his life conld have put our possibilities in a more ship-shape 
 manner before me. And now I will ask you to let us talk no 
 more of the strange ship. You owe me that kindness for drop- 
 ping the subject of the Solomonses.' 
 
 1 Very well, Mr. Madison ; but you must allow me to help 
 you to watch for the vessel. What part of the sea will she first 
 appear in, did you say V 
 
 1 Yonder, to the left of the schooner.' 
 
 She shifted the position of her chair, and we watched to- 
 gether for some time without speaking. But though I did 
 not speak, I was full enough of thought — as the boy said of the 
 parrot that wouldn't talk. In writing of this girl I can only 
 set down, of her conversation, the few passages of it which I 
 recall — commonplace enough they are, too, you think ; and so 
 I should think myself, did they not come back to me in- 
 formed and illuminated by her rich melodious voice and laugh, 
 the varying expressions of her face, beautiful in every change ; 
 her deep, sincere grey eyes, now smiling, now wistful, now 
 searching, now inscrutable, as they looked inward or away 
 beyond where my imagination could follow ; and, above all, by 
 the permanent and picturesque quality of refined frankness, 
 sometimes warmly cordial, but always maidenly, that was as 
 active and as essential a part of her delightful character as her 
 heart was of her body. 
 
 ' Sail ho !' she presently sung out, imitating the nautical cry, 
 but in tones like the lower notes of a flute. 
 
 I looked at her and laughed, then peered ; but seeing 
 nothing, levelled the glass, and immediately made out a 
 
4 oo AN OCEAN FREE-LANCE, 
 
 quivering gleam of white, like a fragment of paper upon the 
 water-line. 
 
 All this while the schooner, under a whole cloud of canvas, 
 was drawing away from us fast, and by this time had 
 stretched well towards the stranger, lying up so as to bring 
 her about two points on the starboard bow. The wind had 
 breezed up somewhat, and deepened the green of the water, 
 and was making it twinkle under the brilliant sunshine 
 with glancing foam, and my crew were singing out as they 
 sheeted home the newly-bent royal and topgallant sails, and 
 tailed on to the halliards. The sails of the distant ship rose 
 out of the sea like the disc of the moon, with the silvery 
 whiteness of that planet, and with much of the effect of the 
 beauty of her slow and mild enlargement. I watched cloth 
 after cloth rise up, until the foot of her forecourse was an arch 
 upon the horizon ; but it was impossible to guess her character 
 or even to form an opinion of her size at that distance. 
 
 * Parell,' I called, keeping my eye all the time at the glass 
 that covered the schooner : ' turn all the hands up and stand 
 by to man the weather-braces, and see your stun'-sail gear 
 all clear.' 
 
 * Is it possible to tell what country a ship belongs to before 
 she shows her flag, Mr. Madison V asked Miss Palmer. 
 
 4 Sometimes, but we never can be sure. The Americans 
 mix so much cotton in their canvas, that their vessels may oc- 
 casionally be known by their sails. Yonder fellows are white 
 enough.' 
 
 1 They are like snow.' 
 
 'Yes; but the morning light streams broadly on her,' said 
 I, ' and it must be old and soiled canvas indeed that will not 
 gleam like swan's-down at that distance, and in such brilliant 
 sunshine.' 
 
 I shifted the glass as I spoke from the schooner to the 
 ship beyond. The upper portion of her hull was just visible, 
 and as she had studding-sails set on both sides, she looked 
 
JON A THAN A GAIN. 401 
 
 like the brow of a big white cloud projecting above the 
 horizon. 
 
 I put the telescope down and glanced aloft, mentally calcu- 
 lating the extra sail it was in our power to make. Some 
 minutes passed, the Tigress had fined down into a small but 
 clearly-marked shape upon the sea ; she looked like a toy, and 
 yet the atmosphere was so exquisitely transparent that even at 
 that distance her standing rigging was visible to the naked eye. 
 Beyond and ahead of her towered the form of the stranger, 
 heading so straight for us that her three masts were in one. 
 
 All at once I noticed a small black ball soar against the 
 schooner's foresail, and as it sped like a bird to the fore- 
 masthead, the canvas quivered as though viewed through a 
 haze of heat. 
 
 ' By Jupiter, she is going about !' I exclaimed — ' look out 
 now !' And I had scarcely said this, when the little dark 
 pellet at the masthead broke into a gleaming red flag, and 
 there was the schooner edging away on the port-tack. I dashed 
 down the glass, and sprang to my feet. 
 
 1 Round in the weather main-braces !' I shouted : l let go to 
 leeward — put your helm up there — cheerily now !' 
 
 For some minutes all was bustle ; ropes flung down, men 
 singing, yards creaking. 
 
 1 Steady — so ! keep her at that. Up aloft, some of you, and 
 get the lower and fore top mast stun'-sail booms rigged out. 
 
 The men, comprehending the position, rushed actively as 
 cats into the rigging. I ran aft to look at the compass. The 
 shifting of the helm had brought both the schooner and — as I 
 might now call her — the enemy a little abaft the beam, by 
 which manoeuvre I had got the wind into the quarter that 
 rendered every cloth we could stretch upon the Namur service- 
 able. Tearing off my coat, I sprang into the waist to help the 
 men to send the studding-sails aloft ; this done, the main top- 
 mast studding-sail boom was run out, and while we were 
 setting this sail, the top-gallant studding-sail was got ready. 
 
 26 
 
4 02 AN OCEAN FREE-LANCE. 
 
 We toiled like madmen ; and thirty men, working with ordi- 
 nary smartness, could not have made greater despatch with 
 the job of cracking on sail than we. The ship felt the increased 
 pressure, and a belt of foam, like newly drawn milk, hummed 
 pleasantly alongside. 
 
 Nothing more could be done for the present ; and, glass in 
 hand, I posted myself abreast of the main-brace bumpkin, and 
 watched the two vessels to windward. Miss Palmer came 
 quietly along the deck, and stationed herself at my side. 
 
 * The race has fairly begun,' said she ; ' of course, the ship is 
 an enemy ¥ 
 
 ' Yes ; that red flag on the schooner says so !' 
 
 ' She looks a very large ship, Mr. Madison f 
 
 'Apparently what sailors call a heavy corvette. I think 
 there can be no doubt of her being an American. ' 
 
 I was watching the enemy stedfastly through the glass, and 
 was a little more dismayed perhaps than I ought to have been 
 by the formidable appearance she presented, now that her hull 
 was hove up and the whole massive fabric, from the water-line 
 to the main-truck, visible. Suddenly she braced up her yards, 
 hauled the wind, and took in her lee studding-sails. The 
 whole manoeuvre was executed in a breath. 
 
 ' After us, by heaven !— and see, she tries her range !' 
 
 A mass of white smoke sailed out of her lee-bow from a gun 
 evidently aimed at the Tigress, who was in stays, having tacked 
 the instant the enemy put her helm down. But before the 
 report of the cannon rolled down to us, a red light flashed on 
 the schooner, and there blew from her side a cloud that 
 resembled a small ball of cotton-wool, which grew bigger and 
 bigger as it drove along the water. The two reports reached 
 us one after the other, like a double-knock on a door. 
 
 ' This won't do, Parell !' I sung out. ' We must make a 
 stern chase of it, or that fellow will be striking us at an angle. 
 So square away fore and aft, and get your port stun'-sail booms 
 rigged out, and the sails hoisted !' 
 
J ON A THAN AGAIN 403 
 
 The ship was now put dead before the wind; but a few 
 moments after our helm was shifted the enemy shifted his — 
 and there he was, dead in our wake, though, to be sure, a long 
 way astern, with studding-sails out on both sides. It was now 
 evident that he twigged our tactics, and that the Namur was 
 the particular game he aimed for. This indeed might have 
 been anticipated, for our character would be guessed by many 
 signs transparent enough to a nautical eye, and they would 
 reckon by the trim of our hull that we were a well-freighted 
 ship. 
 
 But they had yet to learn the sort of stuff the Tigress was 
 made of. 
 
 Shortly after she had discharged her first shot at the enemy, 
 she again tacked, and whilst in stays dosed the corvette with 
 a broadside. The salute was immediately answered by a 
 furious discharge that, to all appearance, did the schooner no 
 injury whatever. I saw her white sails gleaming unscathed 
 upon the towering withe-like masts as the noble little vessel 
 shot into the wind ; and as she luffed to meet the breeze she 
 fired single shots at the big enemy, one after another, as fast 
 as her guns could be loaded. 
 
 i They'll never be able to stand her if once they let her get 
 to windward !' I exclaimed, thinking aloud in my excitement. 
 1 Look how magnificently she holds her luff and crawls upon 
 the enemy's quarter, dosing her with shot which I Jcnoiv must 
 be heavily telling; and every foot of progress she makes 
 weakens the enemy by a gun whilst she keeps her helm amid- 
 ships ! Bravo, Shelvocke ! that was nobly managed !' I shouted, 
 as a line of flame belched from the schooner's side, and shrouded 
 her in a thick canopy of smoke. ' Will the fools let him rake 
 them ? See, he tacks again ! By heaven, he has the English 
 ensign hoisted ! Well done, little one ! Load again smartly — 
 but hold your shot a few moments longer, until you open his 
 stern P 
 
 In my excitement, and utterly unconscious of what I was 
 
 26—2 
 
4 04 AN OCEAN FREE-LANCE. 
 
 doing, I had seized Miss Palmer's arm by the wrist, and was 
 flourishing it as though I grasped a cutlass. 
 
 1 Dear me ! I most sincerely beg your pardon. I hope I 
 have not hurt you, Miss Palmer.' 
 
 * Not in the least — indeed, I did not feel your hand/ she 
 replied, laughing heartily, but with her eyes all aglow with 
 the excitement of the scene. ' Oh, Mr. Madison, what courage 
 your people are showing ! How splendidly your captain works 
 his vessel ! It makes one's heart leap to see such heroism ! 
 Contrast the sizes of the two ships — and see how manfully the 
 Tigress fights her enemy !' 
 
 By this time the men had done their work aloft, and, forget- 
 ful of the etiquette of ship-board in the deep interest of the 
 moment, had grouped themselves upon the quarter-deck to 
 watch the vessels astern of us ; and there we all stood, looking 
 intently one way, whilst from time to time exclamations broke 
 from the men as the cannonading between the schooner and 
 the corvette grew heavier and heavier. It was not always 
 easy, however, to see what the combatants were about, for the 
 smoke of the guns rolled down between them and us, and 
 floated like a dense fog upon the water, producing a very 
 remarkable appearance with the effect of the seas brilliantly 
 sparkling on either side of it ; but now and again the folds 
 would be rent asunder by the breeze and form a lane, through 
 which sometimes the ship and sometimes the schooner, some- 
 times both vessels together, were visible, gleaming like spectral 
 forms amid the snow-white convolutions of smoke which framed 
 their shining sails. 
 
 * She don't seem inclined to let us go, sir,' said Parell, chew- 
 ing his junk of tobacco in his excitement as earnestly as if he 
 were eating his breakfast. ' The little 'un can't divart her.' 
 
 * It certainly looks like it,' I replied gloomily, as, through a 
 break in the smoke, I noticed the towering form of the ship 
 heading dead for us and overhauling us slowly, but most 
 surely. Indeed the Namur was one of those fat, stumpy ships 
 
JONA THAN AGAIN. 405 
 
 which need a gale of wind to drive them. She was what old 
 women would call a safe boat, high and dry, very roomy and 
 very strong — a big, motherly, lubberly craft, but heavy to work 
 and heavy to sail ; and that the corvette gained but slowly 
 upon her was pretty good proof that she was by no means a 
 clipper either, and that if Shelvocke could only induce her to 
 tackle him, the field would soon be clear for us. 
 
 1 Now, what's the matter V wheezed a voice behind me. 
 ' What a wonderful thing it is people won't leave one another 
 alone. More powder wasting, and for what t 
 
 I turned and confronted Mr. Solomons, and behind him 
 stood his wife. 
 
 ' Good-morning, Mr. Solomons ; I am glad to see you on 
 deck. I hope your cold is better V 
 
 4 Good-morning, sir. Good-morning, Miss Palmer. No, 
 my cold is not better, I'm obliged to you. Will you be good 
 enough to tell me what's going on yonder V said he, extending 
 his shrivelled shining hand towards the two vessels. 
 
 1 The big chap is in chase of us, and the Tigress is trying to 
 claw him into turning upon her, so that we may escape. 
 That's all, Mr. Solomons.' 
 
 ' That's all, indeed !' cried Mrs. Solomons. ' A pretty big 
 all it looks to me, Jonas. What might the ship be, mister t 
 
 * An American, I suspect.' 
 
 ' What f squealed the poor woman, with a wild toss of her 
 hands, whilst her face turned to the colour of a blanc-mange, 
 and looked uncommonly like one too, with her chins quivering- 
 one on top of the other. ' Another American ! Now, Jonas, 
 what did I tell you ? didn't I beg and pray of you to change 
 into the schooner ? Here's a pretty mess ! no sooner out of 
 one trouble than into another. Why didn't you accept the 
 gentleman's offer to change your ship like the others did f 
 
 ' Don't bother met growled her husband. 'Blarst the 
 Americans t 
 
 1 You needn't alarm yourself, Mrs. Solomons,' said I, noticing 
 
4 o6 AN OCEAN FREE-LANCE. 
 
 the crew grinning as they ran their eyes over her figure. 'We 
 shall be able to give that fellow the slip, I have no doubt.' 
 
 ' Come and stand by me, Mrs. Solomons, and watch the 
 magnificent courage the little Tigress is showing ; such a sight 
 would give spirit to a mouse V exclaimed Miss Palmer, turning 
 her flushed face and flashing eyes towards the fat lady. 
 
 1 No thank you, miss ; I take no interest in such shows. I 
 only beg and pray that this gentleman will take us away from 
 that ship as fast as iver he can,' responded Mrs. Solomons. 
 
 1 Here, sit down, Eachel, sit down t shouted Solomons. 
 ' I'll not have the gentleman worried in the execootion of his 
 duty. Will one of you please to bring that cheer 1 — thank you. 
 Now, Eachel, sit down and make yourself comfortable, for 
 God's sake !' 
 
 The poor woman, convulsing her body in dumb-show after 
 the manner of her nation, seated herself. Solomons approached 
 me close, and with a slight droop in his right eye, as he jerked 
 his thumb over his shoulder in the direction of his wife, 
 whispered : 
 
 ' Joking apart, sir, what's the danger V 
 
 1 There is really no joking that I am aware of,' said I, draw- 
 ing away and answering in my usual voice, and by no means 
 relishing the cunning air he put into his accost, as though he 
 were a receiver addressing a pickpocket. ' Yonder are the two 
 vessels, and by looking at them you will know as much as I do.' 
 
 And to escape him I crossed the deck. 
 
 The breeze was scarcely noticeable as we drove dead before 
 it. The smoke of the guns was blowing in long, languidly- 
 moving lines past us, and the taste of burnt gunpowder was 
 strong in the mouth with every breath we drew. The Tigress 
 had got to windward, or, in other words, right astern of the 
 enemy, who was blazing away at the little vessel with her 
 stern-chasers, and receiving in return the whole fire of the 
 schooner's port and starboard broadsides alternately. I was 
 so certain that the corvette could not much longer endure 
 
JONA THAN AGAIN. 407 
 
 these fearful and repeated scarifications that I lost the fear of 
 her overhauling us in speculating upon the moment when she 
 would drop her pursuit to turn upon the schooner. 
 
 1 She's being raked every minute, sir t exclaimed Parell, 
 coming over to me. ' One 'ud think such an iron drenching 
 was more than flesh and blood could stand. And yet her 
 spars seem all right, sir/ 
 
 * Forward they are : Captain Shelvocke always aims low. If 
 the corvette lets him rake her like this, she'll soon have no 
 men to resist him. But it can't last ! why, good heavens, 
 Parell, the Tigress has it all her own way — look at her under 
 her jib and foresail, shifting her helm as she loads her guns — 
 how fiercely she fires ! what a burr for a ship's skirts ! . . . 
 Hillo ! is that for us V 
 
 A puff of smoke leapt as I spoke from the corvette's bow, 
 and a spurt of white foam sparkled like a bar of bright silver 
 about a hundred fathoms astern of us. 
 
 ' Heavy metal, sir !' grumbled Parell ; ' a thirty-two pound 
 ball, that, sir.' 
 
 ' There ! I knew it could not last ! — goaded at last into it, 
 are you, you villain !' I shouted, as the corvette took in her 
 studding-sails, and slowly swept round, bracing her yards sharp 
 up as she hauled her wind, whilst she discharged her weather 
 broadside at the schooner, who with splendid alertness had 
 covered her spars with canvas and was creeping dead away to 
 windward, peppering the corvette as she went with balls from 
 her stern-gun. ' Was there ever a finer fellow than Shelvocke !' 
 I cried, in a transport of admiration. < Look ! he brings the 
 enemy after him as though he had her tow-rope aboard.' 
 
 And assuredly the courage, the agility, the dashing and 
 audacious seamanship that had been shown by the Tigress in 
 this brief but decisive bit of work would have kindled en- 
 thusiasm in a heart of stone. But these qualities were im- 
 measurably deepened to us witnesses of Shelvocke's conduct 
 by the heaviness of the stake that depended upon the issue of 
 
4 o8 AN OCEAN FREE-LANCE. 
 
 it. Had the enemy been suffered to approach us within range, 
 one broadside would in aU probability have crippled us, and 
 left us at her mercy ; instead, there was the corvette stretching 
 away from us in pursuit of the schooner, whose heels gave her 
 about as much chance as Mrs. Solomons would have had in a 
 race with a boy. 
 
 1 One 'ud need read a good bit of history to come across any- 
 thing neater than that, sir/ exclaimed Parell, biting out another 
 piece of tobacco to replace the quid he had masticated and pro- 
 bably swallowed. ' She is a Yankee, sir ; you can see her flag 
 now/ he continued, handing me the glass, ' and you may like- 
 wise obsarve that she's lost her mizzen-topgallant mast/ 
 
 Yes ; the stripes and stars hidden from us whilst she had 
 been running could now be seen streaming from the mizzen- 
 peak as the corvette stretched her long, low, black hull broad- 
 side on to us, leaning under the volume of sail she carried, with 
 men swarming like bees upon her mizzen-rigging, and a sharp 
 throbbing and quivering of foam along her side. 
 
 6 There goes the enemy, Mr. Solomons/ said I, crossing the 
 deck and addressing the old man as he stood staring with 
 knitted brows at the vessels. ' You may very safely return to 
 your bed now, sir, and continue nursing your cold/ 
 
 'Thank ye, I think a cigar on deck'll do me more good, 
 mister/ answered the old fellow, slapping his breast-pockets in 
 search of a cheroot ; and then taking a look at the compass, he 
 bawled out, ' I say ! where are you carrying us, mister ? — this 
 here's the road to Europe, do you know V and as he stood 
 pointing at the compass he sloped his back in such a way that 
 the sleeve of his coat was drawn up his arm, and his hand and 
 wrist forked out like a skeleton's. 
 
 ' 1 am very well aware of it/ said I, in a voice that stopped 
 him from asking any further questions. He joined his wife, 
 and they sat talking together and gesticulating. 
 
 I stood near Miss Palmer, watching the lessening vessels* 
 whose increasing distance was denoted both to the eye and the 
 
JON A THAN A GAIN 409 
 
 ear by their dwindling shapes and by the lengthening intervals 
 between the flashes of the guns and the sound of the detona- 
 tions. They glided along the water that ran up to the beauti- 
 fully clear and blue horizon like a large and a small cloud sailing 
 across the sky, the schooner keeping well ahead of the corvette 
 so as to enable her to use only her bow-guns, and keeping 
 her station with the utmost ease under her mainsail, staysail, 
 and jibs. 
 
 1 1 was very much afraid, Mr. Madison,' said Miss Palmer in 
 a low voice, ' that you were going to reproach me for having 
 spoken well of Mr. Solomons. His remark just now was cer- 
 tainly very offensive. But you are too kind to make him a 
 topic of conversation — at all events for the present.' 
 
 ' I wish they would both take to their beds and stop there 
 until we arrived at Kingston,' said I. 
 
 1 Pray talk of the schooner, not of the Solomonses !' she 
 urged in a half-laughing manner, though the flush and sparkle 
 which the watching of the vessels had kindled in her cheeks 
 and eyes still lingered, and made her look so beautiful that it 
 needed all the forces of my good taste or good sense to prevent 
 me from staring her out of countenance. ' How wonderfully 
 Captain Shelvocke has drawn that ship away from us ! Mr. 
 Madison, the very first person you must introduce me to at 
 Kingston, should fortune permit us all to meet there, is your 
 captain. I should like to tell him with my own lips what 
 I have thought of his conduct, his skill, his admirable courage 
 this day.' 
 
 Hallo, my boy ! whence this palpitation, you fool 1 does the 
 lovely girl's praise of a brother sailor set your heart bounding 
 with professional enthusiasm 1 
 
 ' Why, Miss Palmer, as you say, the Tigress has been admir- 
 ably handled, no doubt, and it is quite natural that you should 
 give all the praise to her commander, although his judgment 
 would not have been of much use had he not had a number 
 of brave seamen under him to execute his orders without a 
 
4io AN OCEAN FREE-LANCE. 
 
 single thought of the perilous game their skipper was play- 
 ing. He will, I am sure, be immensely gratified by your praise, 
 and I heartily hope I may have an opportunity of introducing 
 him to you.' 
 
 This was not my usual style, nor my usual voice either. 
 She bent her clear searching eyes on my face, and a smile 
 twinkled through them like a sunbeam sailing betwixt two 
 clouds over a space of water. I suppose the conscience that 
 makes cowards of us all caused me to colour up under her 
 quick, penetrating glance. She was merciful enough to take 
 no further notice of my speech, in which I assuredly did my 
 heart a wrong, for I protest no living being could have had a 
 warmer admiration for Shelvocke than I, nor could have taken 
 a more critical delight in the genius with which he had 
 pestered and goaded into courting him the ugly baste whose 
 horns, but for him, would by this time have been goring the 
 Namur. But lord ! what a poor and twopenny affair the 
 human heart must be after all, when a pretty woman's praising 
 a man will fill his friend's mouth with pooh pooh's, meanly 
 intended to qualify the acquiescence he is too cowardly and 
 yet too honest to withhold ! 
 
 My thoughts went in this strain as Miss Palmer and I 
 stood looking across the sea, until at last I did feel so impatient 
 with myself for my self-misrepresentation, and was so worried 
 by the subacid significance taken by my words through Miss 
 Palmer's silence, that I could stand it no longer. 
 
 ' That was a mean speech of mine,' said I, c and not true in 
 spirit. What on earth could have made me want to shake 
 half the leaves out of your wreath for Shelvocke when only 
 just now 1 was shouting my applause of him, and when I 
 know him to be as intrepid and fine a seaman as ever swung 
 along a ship's deck V 
 
 And as I asked this question I looked at her steadily, being 
 at this time, for reasons I am unable to account for, in as ver- 
 dant and unsophisticated a humour as was my uncle Toby 
 
J ON A THAN AGAIN 41 1 
 
 when he explored the lambent and delicious fires of Mrs. 
 Wadman's eye for the bit of green that never yet lurked in 
 the de-flowered optic of a widow. 
 
 ' By proceeding just as we now steer, what part of the earth 
 should we come to, Mr. Madison f she inquired artlessly, 
 sidling to the compass, and looking at it stedfastly. 
 
 Well, if I was stupid enough not to know the cause, it was 
 not her business to hunt about for it. 
 
 ' I will repeat my question another day, as they say in the 
 House of Commons, ' said I, smiling at the sweet, grave 
 face she bent over the binnacle. 'And now, Miss Palmer, 
 let me conduct you to a seat in the shadow of the mast 
 yonder, out of reach of the sun, where I shall be happy to 
 answer every inquiry you wish to make touching the navi- 
 gation of the Namur.' 
 
 She put her fingers under my arm, and walked a few paces, 
 but stopped to look back at the vessels. 
 
 ' They will soon be out of sight/ said she. ' Already the 
 schooner resembles the white wing of a sea-gull, with just the 
 graceful curve of that bird's pinion when it sweeps suddenly 
 around against the wind.' 
 
 ' I cannot help fancying, Miss Palmer, that you are fonder 
 of the sea than you have yet deigned to admit.' 
 
 ' Deigned to admit ! pray speak naturally ; half the charm 
 of sailors lies in the sincerity of their conversation,' said she. 
 
 1 1 am glad you hear me so plainly,' said I, piqued by her 
 manner, and yet not displeased by it either. l When I asked 
 you a question, a short time ago, you did not answer me, by 
 which I was afraid that the cannonading yonder might have 
 slightly affected the organ of hearing.' 
 
 1 Ah, you are very plain now — almost rude, indeed,' said 
 she, laughing under her breath, as though she rather enjoyed 
 teasing me. ' I did hear your question ; but — unlike most 
 women — when I have nothing to say, I hold my tongue. As 
 to being fond of the sea — I am very fond of it ; not with a 
 
412 AN OCEAN FREE-LANCE. 
 
 young lady's fondness, which, you know, means reading and 
 writing verses about the bounding, the melancholy, the raging 
 main, in her bedroom, and screaming when on the water if the 
 vessel rolls. I like the sea because when on it I am happy, 
 and whatever makes me happy I love.' 
 
 How richly and sweetly this last sentence rolled out of her 
 mouth ! — ' Whatever makes me happy I love' 
 
 1 Now, I wonder if you are a coquette f thought I. And as 
 if she divined my thoughts, she cast up her soft, luminous, 
 spiritual, gentle, maidenly eyes, as though she would say, 
 * Look here — look as deep as the short scope of your optical 
 lead-line will let you sound these grey calm depths, and judge 
 for yourself, master !' 
 
 I placed a chair for her, and left her comfortably seated in 
 the shadow of the mizzen-mast and where the deck was cooled 
 by the breeze that buzzed like a thousand bees among the 
 folds of the cross jack which hung in festoons from the yard, 
 and went aft to watch the corvette. But I had not been look- 
 ing three minutes, when the sound of a voice humming a tune 
 made me turn my head, and there was Miss Palmer close be- 
 hind me. 
 
 I I want to see the last of the brave little Tigress,' said she ; 
 ' and will you tell me if there is the smallest probability of the 
 American ship catching her V 
 
 By way of answer, I poised the glass on my shoulder, and 
 bade her look at the schooner. 
 
 ' Only her sails are visible,' said she. 
 
 I shifted the glass, and asked if she saw the American. 
 
 1 Yes, quite distinctly.' 
 
 1 You can judge of the distance between the two vessels V 
 
 ' I can.' 
 
 I told her to take notice that the schooner had only half as 
 much sail set as it was in her power to carry, and that her 
 being able to hold her distance from the American under such 
 conditions proved that were the whole of her canvas to be 
 
JONATHAN AGAIN. 413 
 
 exposed she would be out of sight of her pursuer in four 
 hours. 
 
 ' And why does not Captain Shelvocke run out of sight V 
 she wanted to know, continuing to peer through the glass, and 
 to maintain a posture 1 was very willing and indeed decidedly 
 happy to endure in her so long as she chose to preserve it. 
 
 I replied that if the Tigress ran away, the American would 
 immediately bear away in chase of us again. 
 
 ' Shelvocke's object,' said I, 'is to put the widest distance 
 he can make the Yankee sail over, between us and the enemy. 
 Jonathan's quandary is this : he can't capture the Tigress 
 because he can't catch her, and he can't pursue us because the 
 Tigress won't let him.' 
 
 ' And how will it end as regards the schooner V said she 
 with her eye at the glass, and her face, in consequence, so 
 close to the hinder part of my shoulder that once or twice the 
 forepart of her straw hat tickled the back of my neck. 
 
 ' Why, Jonathan will follow Shelvocke as long as he remains 
 in sight,' I replied, 'putting his hopes, as all men must who chase 
 a vessel, in a slant of luck. But blow high or blow low, the 
 ship that can overhaul the Tigress is not to be seen within the 
 circumference of this horizon, and I shall be very much asto- 
 nished if the first person who boards the Namur on her arrival 
 at Kingston be not Massa Shelvocke.' 
 
 She lifted the glass from my shoulder, and while she slowly 
 closed the tubes, she said : 
 
 ' And now may I ask, Mr. Madison, what you mean to do ^ 
 
 'Certainly you may. I shall steer as we go until noon' — 
 I pulled out my watch and observed that it wanted twenty-five 
 minutes to eleven — ' by which hour the corvette, unless she 
 alters her course, will be some miles away behind the sea. 
 I shall then order the men to trim sail, the helm will be 
 shifted, and the good ship Namur headed as the wind will 
 best let her go for Jamaica.' 
 
 ' Thank you for your answers,' said she, giving me the glass. 
 
4 i4 AN OCEAN FREE-LANCE. 
 
 1 You have made my mind so easy that the very least I can do 
 is to unreservedly forgive you for pretending to believe that 
 my hearing had been affected.' 
 
 She dropped me a low curtsey, wonderfully graceful indeed, 
 and so playful, that the fellow who was steering turned his head 
 to hide a grin. I acknowledged the salute with a regular ball- 
 room flourish of the leg, to let those it concerned know that I 
 could bow as well as she ; then she tripped on her noiseless 
 little feet over to the Solomonses, flinging, as she went, a back- 
 ward glance at me that said, ' I am going to comfort these 
 poor creatures/ and forthwith repeated to them what I had said 
 to her, for which I was exceedingly obliged, as she saved me a 
 deal of trouble by doing so. 
 
 I stood watching the two vessels, not without anxiety, and 
 saw the topmost point of the schooner's canvas vanish like a 
 tiny wreath of steam. Although the corvette's hull had sunk 
 and half her courses were invisible, I observed by means of the 
 glass that she continued to fire at the chase, for every now and 
 again a shadow like that of a cloud passing over some distant 
 point blew athwart of, and temporarily obscured her, but as it 
 went clear it became white, and large, and quivering, and hung 
 like a burst of vapour from a steam boiler upon the sea, that 
 was as blue as the sky out there. Bit by bit the gleaming and 
 tapering height of canvas sunk lower and lower, until at last 
 nothing but a fluctuating brilliant shred, hove slightly above the 
 water-line by refraction, could be seen trembling like a sparkling- 
 dew-drop ; it disappeared, and the whole bright circle of the 
 horizon was a blank. 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 FIRE ! 
 
 Whilst the schooner was in sight my mind, so to speak, had 
 something to hold on by, and the sense of loneliness was not so 
 
FIRE! 415 
 
 sharply brought home to me ; but when at midday (the two 
 vessels having then been out of sight from our main-royal yard 
 for over an hour) I ordered the studding-sails to be hauled 
 down and the ship to be brought close to the wind, the responsi- 
 bility of my position weighed heavily upon me. Here was I 
 launched in charge of a large and apparently a richly-freighted 
 ship upon a sea that was infested with picaroons, Jamaica dis- 
 tant a good ten days' sail under favourable circumstances, and 
 with only fifteen men and a boatswain's mate to work the vessel 
 and to resist any attack that might be made upon us. 
 
 And yet Shelvocke was not to blame for the situation in 
 which he had placed or left me. I did not know what his loss 
 had been in killed and wounded through the engagement with 
 the prize crew of the Namur, but I easily guessed it so severe 
 as to prohibit him from weakening the available force of his 
 men by a larger draft than the sixteen seamen whom he had 
 placed under my command. That no one was to blame, how- 
 ever, and that what had happened could not be helped, did not 
 improve my case. I could only trust to chance, and live in the 
 hope of being lucky enough to carry the Namur to Kingston 
 without misadventure. 
 
 Although the breeze that was blowing was strong enough to 
 have driven the schooner eight or nine knots an hour, this 
 lumbering West Indiaman was barely doing four. Indeed, she 
 was the slowest sailer I had ever dealt with : a regular sugar- 
 box, built for carrying, with bows as round as the back view 
 of a Dutchman, and of a most massive scantling. She was 
 about six hundred tons burden, but her immense beam made 
 her look two hundred tons bigger than that ; and being very 
 heavily-rigged, with immensely thick lower masts and shrouds, 
 which appeared to have been shifted into her from a line-of- 
 battle ship, she would have passed very well, viewed length- 
 wise, for a man-of-war, though her stern was a strong indication 
 of her true character. Her weight and stubbornness made my 
 look-out about four times as formidable as it would have been 
 
4 1 6 AN OCEAN FREE-LANCE. 
 
 had she been a fast boat, and rigged with greater regard to the 
 laws of proportion. Her yards swung heavily, her running- 
 gear ' hung/ she was as hard to steer as a raft ; and when I 
 looked over her stern and observed her broad oily wake stretch- 
 away towards her weather-quarter, I easily guessed, as any 
 sailor will suppose, what her quality of weathering would prove 
 in a gale of wind. 
 
 However, it was my duty to put a good face on the matter, 
 as much for the sake of the men, whom the least air of 
 misgiving in me would speedily dishearten, as for the pas- 
 sengers who had entrusted themselves to my keeping. I left 
 Parell on deck, and employed myself for some time in over- 
 hauling the chart and working out the observations I had 
 taken at noon, and then lay down in my bunk and endeavoured 
 to snatch an hour's rest before dinner ; but I was too anxious 
 to sleep, and so to kill the time I took a book — I well re- 
 member it was a copy of the Edinburgh Review — and tried 
 to get interested. But it would not do. All the time I was 
 thinking of our defenceless condition in case of an attack, 
 and asking myself if I had done my duty to Miss Palmer to 
 suffer her to remain in the Namur after Shelvocke had 
 ranged alongside to report a strange sail in sight ; and I re- 
 called—not willingly, by any means ; the abominable memories 
 icould intrude themselves — various stories I had heard of the 
 barbarities practised by the pirates and privateersmen, towards 
 whose haunts we were hourly drawing nearer, upon the women 
 who fell into their hands. 
 
 In short, I suffered my fancies to make me very nearly as 
 miserable as the calamities I lay speculating upon would 
 themselves have done. But it is sometimes possible for a man 
 to go on thinking until he thinks himself clear of disturbing 
 thoughts. I lay reasoning so morbidly, that at last my 
 common sense found imagination insupportable, and I sprang 
 out of my bunk damning myself for a fool as heartily as Jona- 
 than Wild did his Tishy for being something else. 
 
FIRE! 417 
 
 1 Is dinner ready, Ransom?' I sung out as I entered the 
 cabin. 
 
 He answered that he was waiting for my orders to fetch 
 it from the galley \ and in a few minutes it was smoking on 
 the table, and the passengers and myself seated round it. 
 
 'Once more assembled, Mrs. Solomons/ said I, rather 
 boisterously, as men sometimes will be who determine to be 
 jolly in spite of themselves ; ' a most united and — shall I 
 say, Miss Palmer — a most picturesque family % A smooth 
 sea around us, fine weather over us, and a stout ship 
 under us V 
 
 1 A very stout ship indeed ! growled Solomons ; ' I wish she 
 was a little thinner— maybe she'd sail quicker.' 
 
 1 You must find sailoring a very risky business, mister f 
 said Mrs. Solomons, trying to catch sight of her plate by 
 peering over her bosom — and failing. ' There's always 
 something dangerous happening at sea ; isn't there ? Either 
 it's a leak, or it's wind, or lightning, or else it's a ship a- 
 chasing of one. If I had a son, he'd never go to sea with my 
 leave.' 
 
 1 Thank you !' interrupted Jonas ; ' a son of mine go to sea ! 
 he'd wait upon yer.' 
 
 ' For when all's said and done,' continued Mrs. Solomons, 
 1 there's little enough money to be aimed at it, they say.' 
 
 1 All very true, Mrs. Solomons,' said I ; ' give me a good 
 business ashore, I'd soon quit the sea.' 
 
 1 Did you ever hear of a thorough-bred sailor settling down 
 to business, Mr. Madison V asked Miss Palmer demurely. 
 ' Sailors abuse the sea heartily enough, I know, when at sea ; 
 but once put them on shore, and, like geese, they immediately 
 waddle to the water.' 
 
 ■ Pray say ducks,' said I. ' Ducks, as a word, is very much 
 prettier than geese, and, when applied to sailors, truer/ 
 
 ? What is your opinion of the sea, Mr. Solomons f she in- 
 quired, evading my point. 
 
 27 
 
4 i8 AN OCEAN FREE-LANCE. 
 
 i My opinion, miss ¥ answered the old man slowly. ' If 
 I was prime minister of England, I'd do away with gaols 
 and make all felons sailors. That would give the country 
 plenty of seamen, and save the pockets of the tax-payers.' 
 
 1 A neat compliment to the profession that has hoisted our 
 little island at the world's masthead !' I remarked. 
 
 Miss Palmer changed the topic by asking Mr. Solomons 
 questions about the West Indies. Perhaps she knew that 
 this was one of the subjects upon which the old man could 
 talk well ; and I suppose she had a personal interest in the 
 exhibition of his best paces after having spoken up for him 
 and his wife. He had lived in Jamaica thirty years, and 
 might therefore be supposed to know the country pretty in- 
 timately. He spoke with great intelligence, told two or three 
 stories which really had fine humorous points in them, and 
 gave me the impression, in spite of his lisping and his A's, that 
 he could talk like a man of education if he pleased, and that 
 he deliberately chose to be vulgar, either to keep his wife in 
 countenance or that he might not forge ahead of the sympathies 
 of his own sect. 
 
 There is always something interesting to me in an old man 
 of this kind who, cunning as he may be, makes you see he is 
 infinitely shrewder than he wants you to believe — whose eyes 
 steal up and down from the table to your face, and whose con- 
 versation is picturesque with grammatical lapses, keen observa- 
 tion, misplaced A's and the illumination — the lumen siccus — of 
 a mass of various, out-of-the-way, curious reading. He had 
 much to say about slavery, and the prospects of Jamaica, and 
 although I had not the least interest in the subject, he kept 
 me listening with steady attention. 
 
 I caught Miss Palmer watching me with a teasing expression 
 in her eyes. ' I'll make a large-minded man of you yet !' she 
 seemed to say with those bright and eloquent telegraphs: 
 ' You are beginning to lose your prejudice against this harm- 
 less old creature, are you?' A woman's heart is shown in the 
 
FIRE! 419 
 
 victories she likes to win. Miss Madeline took as much 
 pleasure in watching the favourable impression old Jonas was 
 making on me as any Mrs. Candour would have taken in at- 
 tending the funeral of a reputation. 
 
 The afternoon wore away j at six o'clock the breeze failed 
 us, and the sea lay heaving like a surface of molten glass. A 
 thin haze gathered round the horizon like the mist that rises 
 from the earth on hot summer mornings ; and the reflection of 
 the burning sun was as dark as Indian gold in the spacious 
 and polished folds of the water. Though it wanted but two 
 hours to sunset, the heat had at no other period of the day 
 been greater than now. A steam arose from the decks, through 
 which the lower masts quivered like the reflection of a tree in 
 a running stream : the smell of blistered paint and melting 
 pitch made the stagnant air sickly with the taste of it; I 
 placed my hand by accident on the brass hood of the binnacle, 
 and drew it away with an exclamation — it was like touching 
 the top of an oven. The languor of the heat crept into 
 one's very marrow. The men lolled about the decks with 
 their shirts open, feebly moving when called, and pulling off 
 their caps, and shaking their heads, to rid themselves of the 
 perspiration that fell in showers from their hair and fore- 
 heads. 
 
 I had caused an awning to be spread over the quarter-deck, 
 and under it lay Mr. Solomons in his shirt-sleeves, flat on his 
 back on the deck, with a rolled-up flag under his head, and a 
 long cigar stuck out of his mouth ; and Mrs. Solomons in an 
 arm-chair, with her mouth open, and her arms hanging down 
 her lap (her lap, do I call it ?), and her face as scarlet as a 
 powder-flag, nothing to show that she was alive but the 
 brightening and fading of her rose-coloured satin dress as her 
 enormous shape swelled and subsided in it with her respira- 
 tions ; and Madeline Palmer, with her hat upon her knees, 
 her slightly-lifted dress exposing an exquisitely-shaped foot, 
 her head lying back, leaving the snow of her throat revealed 
 
 27—2 
 
4 2o AN OCEAN FREE-LANCE. 
 
 from the chin to where the sparkling silver brooch connected 
 the small white collar, sometimes languidly lifting her hand to 
 stir the threads of hair upon her white forehead with a slow 
 motion of the sandal-wood fan, that wafted a perfume as 
 fragrant as jessamine through the air to where I stood leaning 
 against the skylight. 
 
 Happily the calm was but of short duration. Shortly after 
 one bell the haze in the north-east blew away, and a light wind 
 came down along the water like the shadow of a cloud over 
 the silver surface of a field of rye. The yards were squared, 
 a true course made, and with the light canvas swelling and 
 her courses softly lifting, the Namur was again pushing- 
 through the calm sea, with her stem in a line with the broad 
 deep-coloured gold band of sunshine that streamed from the 
 horizon down, as it seemed to the eye, to within a pistol-shot 
 of the ship's bows. 
 
 The breeze was as good as a cordial : every faculty was re- 
 freshed by the cool blowing, the bubbly tinkling of the passing 
 water, the diamond-like quivering of the whole sea. 
 
 4 If you want to see a noble sight, look yonder, Miss Palmer,' 
 said I, standing beside her, and pointing towards the sun. 
 ' But you must make haste.' 
 
 She instantly rose, and stood looking with me at the orb 
 whose lower limb rested upon the water-line like a wheel. 
 There was not a fleck of cloud to tarnish it ; the sky resembled 
 a wall of resplendent brass, and the sun, by the unusually 
 powerful refractive character of the atmosphere, was swollen 
 into gigantic proportions. I never saw the like of it before : 
 it was startling to behold ; the men stood in a group watching 
 it, looking aft from time to time hurriedly, as though to mark 
 the effect of this unusual appearance upon me. 
 
 ' See, Miss Palmer !' I exclaimed : * the blazing circle com- 
 passes the whole bow of the ship ! Look how the magnificent 
 circumference arches from one rail to the other on either side 
 the bowsprit like the glory around the head of a saint. One 
 
FIRE! 421 
 
 would suppose that some star was on fire, and was falling 
 close past the earth ! Did anyone ever see the sun so big 
 before ! How clean the circle is ! not a single ray shoots 
 from it — do you notice % And observe the colour of the sea 
 — one should be able to dip up gold enough to purchase a 
 kingdom.' 
 
 ' No wonder it's so hot, with such a sun as that to burn one 
 up !' cried Mrs. Solomons from her chair. 
 
 * Confound her !' I muttered. ' Her voice destroys the 
 charm, like a cry of " oranges " in a tragedy.' 
 
 ' One never sees a sunset like that in England,' said Miss 
 Palmer, almost in a whisper, so subdued was she by the sub- 
 limity of the spectacle. ' How the golden splendour runs up 
 out of the sea as the sun sinks !' 
 
 The last glowing fragment throbbed and vanished ; she 
 turned her eyes to the east, and looking up with her face like 
 alabaster in the brief pause of twilight, pointed towards the 
 sky. 
 
 1 Do you remember the sweet old hymn V she said : 
 
 * " Soon as the evening shades prevail, 
 The moon takes up the wondrous tale." ' 
 
 And there was the new moon like a thread of silver in the 
 light blue sky over the mizzen topsail yard-arm. 
 
 ' 1 have wished,' said I ; ' have you f 
 
 1 That our voyage may be speedy and safe, is my wish,' she 
 replied. 
 
 1 Amen to that for your sake,' said I. 
 
 At eight o'clock my watch came round. I was not sorry 
 that it should be so, as I had not only no inclination for sleep, 
 but no fancy for the sultry atmosphere of the cabin. 
 
 I was in anything but a cheerful mood. Something of the 
 despondency that had bothered me during the morning had 
 again visited me ; my nerves were irritable ; I was restless, 
 journeying here and there about the deck, staring into the 
 
422 AN OCEAN FREE-LANCE. 
 
 starlit distances, and vexed by the droning of old Solomon's 
 voice as he sat reading to his wife by the light of a little silver 
 hand-lamp. 
 
 I attributed my mood, which was certainly an unusual one, 
 to the blow I had received on the top of my head, and to the 
 weakness caused by the effusion of blood ; neither of which 
 things was calculated to rout out any remains which yet 
 lingered of the long illness that had prostrated me before join- 
 ing the Tigress. But this by the way, though I like to bear it 
 in mind, as the confession of the temper that then possessed 
 me does not quite give me the figure that the hero of a story 
 should make. 
 
 Miss Palmer, who had been chatting with the Solomonses 
 since supper, that was served at half-past seven, drew away 
 when old Jonas began to read, and carried her chair right aft. 
 where she sat leaning with her arms on the grating abaft the 
 wheel. I imagined by her turning her back on the deck, and 
 by her thoughtful pose, that she wished to be alone, so I did 
 not go near her — though perhaps not more for this reason 
 than because of my own peevish indisposition to talk. 
 
 Presently I sung out : ' Forward, there ! who is that on the 
 look-out V 
 
 1 Saunders, sir,' came back the answer. 
 
 ' Is Anderson there V 
 
 1 Yes, sir/ replied the man himself. 
 
 ' Take this glass, Anderson, and jump aloft and let me know 
 if there is anything in sight.' 
 
 I followed his dark figure as he ascended the shrouds. He 
 was remarkable for having the keenest eyes of any man aboard 
 the Tigress, and had been Shelvocke's favourite look-out. Miss 
 Palmer turned her chair round when I ordered the man aloft, 
 and Solomons stopped his reading to listen. After a while the 
 man hailed the deck; the sound of his voice floated down 
 through the darkness, and he seemed half a mile high in the 
 air. 
 
FIRE / 423 
 
 ' There's nothing in sight, sir.' 
 
 1 All right, my lad ; that will do. You can lay down.' 
 
 Solomon resumed his reading — mum, mum, mum. I went to 
 the side to judge the speed of the ship by the passage of the 
 bubbles which winked in the starlight as they slid along. 
 Heaven knows, it was slow enough, although there was suffi- 
 cient weight in the breeze to tauten the stay sail-sheets. 
 
 1 What makes you so restless, Mr. Madison V said Miss 
 Palmer. 
 
 Her lips seemed at my very ear, so clear and bell-like was 
 her articulation. 
 
 1 Upon my word, Miss Palmer, you have a famous knack of 
 taking me unawares. Do you carry a pair of invisible wings, 
 or have you the spirit-like quality of treading the viewless 
 winds, that you make no sound when you walk ? Small 
 wonder, with such a marvellously delicate tread, that you are 
 one of the finest dancers mortal man ever had the honour of 
 leading out. I can speak from experience, you know — of your 
 dancing, at all events ( 
 
 'I like your compliments very much,' said she; 'but I 
 should prefer to have my question answered.' 
 
 ' Unlike most men, Miss Palmer, when I have nothing to say 
 I hold my tongue,' I answered, quoting her. 
 
 She laughed, remembering her phrase ; but immediately 
 afterwards said, very gravely, ' Have you any cause to feel 
 uneasy ? You can answer me candidly, because you may trust 
 me implicitly.' 
 
 ' See here, Miss Palmer ; this is my first command. I am in 
 charge of a ship manned by sixteen men, instead of a crew of 
 four times that number, which a vessel of this tonnage needs. 
 I am answerable for the lives of three passengers, one of whom 
 has a stronger claim upon my protection than I should know 
 how to express in words were I asked to do so. Should I 
 be fit for the post I occupy if the responsibilities of it did not 
 make me anxious V 
 
424 AN OCEAN FREE-LANCE. 
 
 i Then you are uneasy only because of your responsibilities, 
 and there is nothing but the fear that something may happen to 
 worry you f 
 
 1 Why, yes ; that's about it,' said I. 
 
 ' 1 should like a walk, Mr. Madison. May I take your arm? 
 Thanks — the vessel rolls a little now and then, and the dew- 
 makes the deck slippery.' 
 
 She commanded me just as a helmsman governs his ship. 
 There was never anything very remarkable in her words, and 
 yet they acted upon me like a tonic. But it was not what she 
 said : it was her way of saying it — the beautiful song-like 
 charm of her voice — the firm but womanly decision of charac- 
 ter her manner expressed, that influenced me. Before we had 
 taken half-a-dozen turns, she had made me as cheerful as I 
 was before dull ; reasoned me out of my forebodings, and art- 
 fully drawn me into talking of pleasant things. And then — 
 what was a charming surprise — she had no sooner effected her 
 purpose of heartening me, than she changed her character. A 
 sweet, teasing, coquettish air replaced her grave demeanour ; 
 she had put herself in my place, so to speak, in order to advise 
 and inspirit me. This done, she became the woman again ; 
 and having got me into a condition of mind fit to be played 
 with, she played with me. 
 
 Heaven knows if she was conscious of what she was doing : 
 I was inclined to think she was. Anyway, it pleased me 
 better to imagine that her captivating posture-making was no 
 involuntary exercise, for I will say, at once — I was in love with 
 her. Ay, the admiration she had kindled in me in Lady Tem- 
 pest's ball-room had proved a rich soil ; besides, here we were 
 in latitudes proverbially favourable to speedy and luxuriant 
 growths. But she was the first girl I had ever fallen in love 
 with in my life, and, honest soul that I was — for my heart 
 esteems the man who is a greenhorn in his emotions — I was 
 not only persuaded that she had no suspicion of what was in 
 my mind, but I took, as I fancied, the utmost care, as we 
 
FIRE! 425 
 
 patrolled the Namur's quarter-deck, that no words of mine 
 should make her reflective in that direction. 
 
 ' It is much too early/ said I to myself, ' and perhaps she 
 may have left a sweetheart in England, or perhaps, in spite 
 of her professed admiration of the sea, she would shudder at 
 the notion of marrying a sailor, or perhaps ' — but my modesty 
 had a score of reasons which need not be catalogued for 
 throwing a veil over my heart, and though I believe I may 
 have unconsciously pressed her hand under my arm against 
 my side, and snatched every excuse to peer closely into her 
 face, I flattered myself when I bade her good-night that she 
 had as little suspicion that I was deeply in love with her, as I 
 had that she had any more romantic feeling for me than a 
 kindly friendship. 
 
 She had lingered to a late hour on deck — it was past eleven 
 — Mrs. Solomons had withdrawn half-an-hour before ; and Miss 
 Palmer would have stayed longer still, I believe, had not Mr. 
 Solomons gone below. There was no prudery in her, but her 
 notions of propriety were English ; and one of those notions 
 was, that there was no harm in remaining on deck with a young- 
 man so long as an old man sat near : though the old man might 
 have been asleep, or as good as asleep, with his thoughts 
 among his share of the ship's freight, or upon the bills that 
 would have matured before his voyage was ended. But every 
 nation must have its manners, and it is better to subject our 
 girls to a foolish than to a barbarous code of etiquette. 
 
 And yet it was annoying to hear Miss Palmer say, as she 
 stood upon the companion-steps : 
 
 1 1 am afraid I shall find it very hot in the cabin. However, 
 I don't feel at all sleepy, so I shall open the window and get 
 the air in that way, and watch the blue fires smouldering in 
 the wake of the ship ; there is nothing prettier, and nothing 
 that fills the mind with stranger fancies.' 
 
 'As though she couldn't remain on deck to keep me com- 
 pany,' thought I. But it would not do to suggest it, and for 
 
426 AN OCEAN FREE-LANCE. 
 
 three quarters of an hour I remained alone, thinking of her 
 sweet figure sitting at the great stern window of her cabin, 
 and wondering what form her musings took, and if I was as 
 much in her thoughts as she was in mine. 
 
 Eight bells were struck — midnight : a hoarse voice bawled 
 the hour down the fore-scuttle. 
 
 1 Star-bowlines, ahoy ! out with you, my hearties V 
 Presently a man came along the deck to relieve the wheel ; 
 he was followed by Parell. 
 
 ' Still very quiet, sir,' said he, gaping around at the sea and 
 taking an unpoetical squint at the stars. ' The breeze holds 
 though, and it's a mercy to feel the air ; for of all f ok'sles as 
 ever I slept in, I never knew the likes of this ship's for heat 
 and cock-roaches.' 
 
 'You will keep her as she goes,' said I, 'and see that a 
 bright look-out is kept. I heartily hope we may overhaul 
 some British cruiser, or stumble upon some friendly ship. A 
 crew composed of you and me and fifteen men is hardly 
 numerous enough for a ship of this size to make a man sleep 
 with an easy mind. However, there is nothing to be done 
 but to shove the old waggon along as fast as she will sail, and 
 to keep our weather-eye lifting as we go.' 
 
 Saying which, and ordering him to arouse me should a sail 
 heave in sight or the weather change, I wished him good- 
 night, and withdrew to my berth. 
 
 I went on tiptoe through the cabin, and listened a moment 
 or so at Miss Palmer's door to ascertain if she was still up : 
 all was silent, and I passed on. Roomy as my berth was, it 
 was as hot as an oven. I threw open the window, and pulling 
 off my shoes and coat, lay down in my bunk, leaving the 
 candle alight in the lamp that was hooked to an eye in the 
 bulkhead. My bunk faced the window, and I lay watching 
 the dark sea swelling to the stars upon the horizon, and the 
 dome of heaven that was covered with a glittering dust, amid 
 which the larger stars floated in bland, yellow, clearly-defined 
 
FIRE! 427 
 
 shapes. The vessel heaved slightly upon the ink-black in- 
 visible swell, and now and again the rudder drowsily jarred 
 or a beam under the floor creaked faintly, and occasionally I 
 could hear the flap of the mainsail against the shrouds, while 
 the refreshing bubbling of water under the counter was like 
 the tumbling of a fountain or the sound of rain among leaves. 
 
 What was that ? 
 
 A loud cry and a sudden rush of feet, and then another 
 shout and the splash as of a human body thrown overboard. 
 
 I was on my legs in an instant, my momentary impression 
 being that we had been surprised by some enemy's boats, 
 though another sense in me, so to speak, found this impossible, 
 as, even supposing every man on deck to have been asleep, no 
 boat could have approached the ship without my hearing her 
 through the open window. 
 
 I threw open my cabin door and ran out. It was dark — to 
 my eyes pitch-dark after the bright light in my own berth. I 
 felt for the end of the table, and sculled along the edge of it 
 as swiftly as the chairs in the road would permit me, and just 
 as I reached the foot of the companion-ladder, the starlight 
 above was blotted out by the interposition of a human body in 
 the act of descending. 
 
 ' Who's that f I exclaimed in a loud whisper. 
 
 1 Me— Parell ! Is that you, Mr. Madison ¥ 
 
 ' Yes, yes : what is the matter V 
 
 1 For God's sake, bear a hand and come on deck, sir. The 
 fok'sle lamp's been capsized, the oil set flaming, and the ship's 
 on fire !' 
 
 A man need not have been to sea to conceive the effect 
 these words produced in me. Of all the perils which beset 
 the sailor, fire is so incalculably the worst, that alongside of it 
 the direst horror you can pick out of the maritime catalogue 
 is mild as a benediction. The very word — ' fire !' — curdled 
 my blood. I drew a thick, half-suffocating breath, reached 
 the deck with a bound, and rushed forward. 
 
428 AN OCEAN FREE-LANCE. 
 
 A dense volume of smoke was pouring out of the fore-scuttle, 
 going up in a thick, black pillar, spangled here and there with 
 sparks to half the height of the fore-mast, where the wind 
 caught it and bent it into the shape of a bow, and, dark as the 
 sea was, I could see this hideous coil pouring slowly along it. 
 
 All the men were on deck, some of them only in their shirts ; 
 four or five of them were throwing buckets overboard, and 
 hauling them up full, and dashing them down the scuttle ; 
 others had rigged the head-pump ; others again, at their wits'- 
 end, darted here and there, hoarsely shouting out their notions 
 of what should be done. 
 
 ' Silence !' I roared. ' Where's the hose 1 get it along, and 
 keep that head-pump going. Some of you get that lower stun'- 
 sail clear, and souse it overboard. Parell, give me a hand here. ' 
 
 A spare flying-jib was lying on the forecastle : I bent a line 
 on to it, and flung it into the sea ; it was dragged up along 
 with the studding-sail, streaming wet, and bundled down the 
 scuttle. Instantly a fearful, suffocating volume of smoke 
 belched up in hideous convolutions, driving away the men as 
 though a giant's hand had pressed them back. 
 
 1 Keep that head-pump going, men !' I shouted, ' and form 
 you into a line for the side-buckets. Have no fear — keep cool. 
 If the worst comes to the worst we have good boats, and our 
 number is small. Stand to your duty, my brave fellows! 
 Eansom, come you along with me to the main hatch.' 
 
 I rushed aft, followed by the boy, but instead of descending 
 into the 'tween-decks, I scampered to the gig that was slung to 
 the stern davits, jumped into her, handed out the breaker to 
 Ransom, and ordered him immediately to fill it with water 
 and replace it in the bows of the boat. I then ran below to 
 my berth, unhooked the lamp, and flinging all thoughts of 
 propriety to the wind at such a moment, threw open Miss 
 Palmer's door. 
 
 She was standing by the side of her bunk, fully dressed — 
 even to her hat : precisely as she had quitted the deck. Her 
 
FIRE ! 429 
 
 eyes sparkled in the lamp-light as she turned them upon me, 
 but no exclamation escaped her, and I knew by her demeanour 
 that she was conscious of what had happened, and was waiting 
 for me to come to her. 
 
 ' The ship has taken fire forward,' said I. ' Give me your 
 hand — have no fear — it is fifty to one if we don't master the 
 flames. Meanwhile my business is to place you in a safe place. 
 Come !' 
 
 She ran tome; I grasped her wrist and hurried her through 
 the cabin. As I passed the Solomonses' door I flung it open. 
 
 ' Follow me on deck !' I cried. * We are in great danger ! 
 Ho, there ! are you awake f 
 
 I flashed the lamp into the cabin, and saw Mrs. Solomons 
 sitting up in her bunk, and Solomons' head over the side of 
 his cot. 
 
 ' 1 cannot stay !' I shouted. ' If the men miss me they will 
 think I have betrayed them, and abandon the ship. Follow 
 me on deck, I say. The vessel is on fire.' 
 
 A loud shriek broke from the poor woman, and the old man 
 threw himself out of his cot. Knowing they would follow 
 me, I hurried Miss Palmer on deck, and ran with her to the 
 
 gig- 
 
 ' Jump into that boat,' I said to her, ' and we will lower you 
 into the water. Ask no questions, and have no fear. Do as 
 I say.' 
 
 * I have no fear,' she answered in a steady voice, and slightly 
 raising her dress, she sprang on to the taffrail and seated her- 
 self in the boat. 
 
 I took a hurried glance forward ; the fire was gaining upon 
 the men fast, forks of flame like flashes of lightning glanced 
 upon the ponderous column of smoke, and lighted up the 
 half-naked figures toiling like demons round the mouth of the 
 fiery cavern. 
 
 I got into the stern of the boat, and took a turn with the 
 hauling end of the after-fall round a thwart. 
 
430 AN OCEAN FREE-LANCE. 
 
 1 Get your end of the fall round a belaying pin,' I said to 
 Ransom. 
 
 'Ready, sir.' 
 
 ' Then lower away.' 
 
 The boat sank to the water. I unhooked both falls, and, 
 making the painter fast around my waist, I clambered up the 
 larboard-fall, gained the deck, and hitched the end of the painter 
 to the starboard vang. The very slow way the ship had, 
 enabled me to perform this job without risk ; and the whole 
 business occupied very little more time than I have taken to 
 write this account of it. 
 
 ' You are perfectly safe there, Miss Palmer,' I shouted out, 
 peering over the taffrail at her as she sat in the boat, that 
 was now towing astern, and whose stem broke the water into 
 threads. 
 
 ' I know I am safe,' she replied. ' Do not forgot that there 
 are others.' 
 
 ' I will see to them,' I answered \ and rushed forward again 
 to let the men know I had not deserted them — marvelling 
 at the wonderful courage of this girl from whose lips not a 
 sound had broken when the boat sank into the water, nor when 
 she had seen me clamber on board again, and w^ho still pre- 
 served her heroic fortitude as she sat in the deej> shadow 
 thrown upon the sea by the high stern of the ship, alone, with 
 the black water within a few inches of her hand ! 
 
 But her being where she was made my heart lighter. I had 
 provided, at all events, for her safety — such as that provision 
 was — against the terribly sudden and unexpected occurrences 
 of a fire at sea, and, noticing that the Solomonses had not yet 
 arrived on deck, I plunged among the men. 
 
 Hardly had I reached the fore-scuttle, when an immense 
 body of flame soared up. The brilliance blasted the eyesight ; 
 the heat was scorching ; the fore-sail caught, and spanged into 
 a terrific blaze ; the men at the head-pump, fearing to be cut off 
 by the fire, darted aft, and there was a rush into the waist. 
 
FIRE I 431 
 
 From the moment my eye had caught sight of the smoke, 
 on my arrival on deck, I had no hope that my slender crew 
 would be able to save the vessel; but I never could have 
 imagined that the fire would have gained upon the ship so 
 fast and furiously. Already she was in a blaze forward : a 
 quantity of vapour was pouring out of the main-hatch, which 
 we had not had time to close ; her fore-mast was in flames ; 
 her canvas streamed in ruby-coloured trails ; the tar on the 
 standing rigging burned swiftly and dropped in flaming lumps, 
 which emitted a sooty smoke ; and yellow fire flickered along 
 her fore-stays, and worked its way among the jibs down to the 
 bowsprit and jib-boom ; and masses of smoke overhung the sea 
 like a huge thunder-cloud. 
 
 The men stood in the waist paralysed. I saw their eye- 
 balls rolling like red-hot cinders in the crimson radiance of 
 the flames, which darted up and coiled around the fore-mast 
 with the hoarse and rushing sound of a sweeping wind. 
 Their shadows lay like bronze effigies upon the dusky yellow 
 sheen on the decks ; their faces gleaming like quicksilver in 
 the overpowering light — and who could describe the anguish 
 and dismay expressed in some of their postures as they turned 
 towards the fire after their rush from the forecastle, and stood 
 — every one of them — motionless as images, as long as it would 
 have taken a man to count twenty 1 
 
 For the space of half a mile to leeward of the ship the 
 heavens were hidden by the smoke, and the stars replaced by 
 millions of fiery sparks, which sailed away in whole constella- 
 tions, for, among the other things I took notice of in this 
 awful time, was, that the smoke from the fore-hatch did not 
 go up steadily, but was vomited out in black, fat masses, like 
 a succession of discharges from a gun, and with every belch 
 of jetty vapour there rushed forth myriads of sparks, 
 whilst between the puffs the flames soared in a column, 
 the circumference of whose base was the aperture through 
 which the fire darted, but whose summit branched out like 
 
432 AN OCEAN FREE LANCE, 
 
 a palm-tree, slightly inclined over the ship's head by the light 
 breeze. 
 
 I was in the act of shouting to the men to clear away the 
 pinnace and get it overboard, when the wind was knocked out 
 of my body, and I was nearly thrown down by Mrs. Solomons 
 flinging her whole weight upon me. 
 
 ' Oh, Mr. Madison !' she shrieked, ' for God Almighty's sake 
 tell us what to do ! Make 'em put the boats over : it'll be too 
 late soon !' 
 
 And she recoiled from me with an ear-splitting yell, as the 
 flames, reaching a large pivot-gun on the forecastle, exploded 
 it with a violent concussion, while almost at the same instant 
 the foretop-mast fell — a huge glowing beam — sweeping the 
 blazing yards and rigging through the air in its descent over 
 the bows, amid a roaring like the breaking of a heavy surf. 
 
 ' By God, she is right, Parell !' I shouted. ' Get the pinnace 
 over, man. The ship will be on fire from stem to stern in 
 another five minutes. Take your wife's hand,' I exclaimed to 
 Mr. Solomons, who stood looking up at the blazing rigging so 
 phlegmatically, that I believed he was dazed by the sudden 
 calamity ; J and stand at this gangway whilst I haul the gig 
 round. Keep your presence of mind, Mrs. Solomons ; there 
 are boats enough to save ten times our number.' 
 
 I ran aft to loose the gig's painter from the vang to which I 
 had hitched it. Where was it I I rubbed my eyes furiously, 
 and looked again : the hitch had slipped, and the rope had gone 
 av:ay overboard. The blazing heights of mast and sail sent the 
 red glare broadcast over the sea, and to my horror and despair 
 I beheld the gig, with Madeline Palmer standing up in it and 
 waving her arms, floating a quarter of a mile astern. 
 
 The misery of a lifetime wrenched my heart at the sight : I 
 am sure it drove me mad for the moment. I whipped out my 
 knife, cut the laniards of a life-buoy that hung over the taffrail, 
 slipped the thing under my arms, and threw myself overboard 
 —a twenty feet fall. It was all sputter, giddiness, froth, and 
 
FIRE ! 
 
 433 
 
 splashing ; I was then on the surface with the life-buoy under 
 my arm-pits, and swimming with eager, feverish sweeping of 
 my limbs towards the gig. 
 
 The cold water gave me back my mind, or at all events the 
 capacity of understanding my actions. The life-buoy securely 
 floated me, and I merely needed to move my hands and legs to 
 propel myself towards the gig. My brain then became extra- 
 ordinarily active ; no drug could have produced so great and 
 violent a passage of thought, though without confusion : for 
 I was perfectly cool ; I reasoned collectively on the impression 
 my jumping overboard would produce on the men, and assured 
 myself that my action would immediately be justified to them 
 when they saw that the boat was adrift with Madeline Palmer 
 alone in her ; I also knew that they would launch the pinnace, 
 that there was room in her for twice their number, and that 
 I could have done no more for Mr. and Mrs. Solomons than I 
 could trust that intelligent seaman, Parell, to do. And then I 
 thought of the agony of mind the girl I was making for must 
 have suffered when she found the boat stationary, and the 
 flaming ship leaving her. 
 
 And then I wondered if there were any sharks in the neigh- 
 bourhood ! 
 
 At this thought the blood tingled in my system with the 
 violence of the cramp, and, setting my teeth, I swam with all 
 my might. The vision of Chestree's dead body in the midst 
 of the foam lashed up by the bloody worrying of the sharks, 
 rose with horrid vividness to my mind's eye, and a dreadful 
 expectation tortured every nerve in my body from the top of 
 my head down to the soles of my feet. God ! what agony 
 was there in this thought ! To this hour I marvel that I did 
 not clamber out of the water into the gig a white-haired man. 
 Do not call it cowardice, but rather consider the many sur- 
 rounding horrors whose whole forces contributed to exasperate 
 the poignant expectation that possessed me during my lonely 
 swim : the sea was coloured like sulphur by the blazing ship 
 
 28 
 
434 AN OCEAN FREE-LANCE. 
 
 down to many fathoms ahead of the boat, but beyond, it was 
 stone black, and the short horizon I commanded with my head 
 and shoulders above water, brought the stars down to the very 
 surface of the ebony space, and the mere unearthliness of the 
 effect of the colour of the water in which I swam against the 
 black sky and the stars which reeled upon the sea within the 
 distance of a few strokes of an oar, might have unstrung the 
 nerves of the most robust man living ; behind me I could hear 
 the roaring of the flames, the crash of falling spars, the hissing 
 of huge glowing fragments quenched by the sea as they 
 plunged over the side, the occasional boom of ordnance as from 
 time to time the loaded guns were exploded by the heat, and 
 the permanent undertone of crackling and spitting wood, of 
 huge timbers warping, of solid plates and bars and fastenings 
 of iron torn out of their holdings by the blasting and withering 
 hand of the fire-fiend, an uproar blended by distance into one 
 dreadful sound that lurked among and ran through the explo- 
 sions of the guns and the splintering of wood, as though it 
 were the moaning of the ship herself in her agony. 
 
 These things my consciousness took note of, in spite of the 
 pressing fear of having a shark in my wake, as I mowed through 
 the water with my hands and made the life-buoy splash up the 
 foam as though I were in tow of a boat. 
 
 I had but a quarter of a mile to swim — perhaps less, for at 
 that time I had no eye for the calculation of distance — and 
 already, in the clear yellowish radiance shed by the burning 
 ship, I could distinguish Miss Palmer's face, and see that she 
 was watching me. I continued swimming with all my strength 
 without once looking behind me until I reached the side of the 
 gig, and then telling Miss Palmer to sit lest she should be 
 thrown into the water by the swaying of the boat, I clambered 
 over the gunwale, threw off the life-buoy and lay back, spent 
 by my fierce exertions, and incapable of speech. 
 
 The moment I was in the boat, Miss Palmer knelt down, 
 took my streaming hands in hers and held them without speak- 
 
FIRE! 435 
 
 ing, looking eagerly into my face which, as it was turned to- 
 wards the ship, was distinctly visible to her. This was her 
 manner of showing her sympathy and the gladness my presence 
 gave her j but how am I to convey to you the tenderness, the 
 compassion of her posture % I raised her hands to my lips, and 
 then drew my own away to squeeze the salt out of my eyes 
 and to open the collar of my shirt that was half strangling me. 
 I drew a deep breath. 
 
 1 Are the others safe V was the first question she asked me. 
 
 ' Yes,' I replied, having no doubt of it ; ' by this time they 
 will have launched the pinnace.' 
 
 I stood up in the boat to see if I could make out any signs 
 of them. I was surprised to observe the distance the ship had 
 travelled from the gig. She had paid off dead before the 
 wind, and her helm being, as I might take it, amidships, she 
 was steering as straight as an arrow; the after-part of her 
 from her main-hatch was free from fire, but forward she was a 
 mass of flames, upon which the breeze acted as though they 
 had been sails, and the pall of smoke that was swept forwards 
 with her concealing the summits of the spikes and forks and 
 lancings of the fire, she resembled a sheet of flame as square as 
 her foreyards and as high as her tops driving along the sea. A 
 magnificent, an awful sight, though distance robbed it of some- 
 thing of its sublimity ; the sea was blood-red under her, and a 
 wide circumference of sky was illuminated by a ruddy glow 
 that was almost as vivid as a flush of sunset, but rendered un- 
 speakably impressive by the midnight gloom into which it 
 paled away on either hand. 
 
 ' 1 thought, indeed I was sure, that I could see the pinnace 
 towing at the ship's quarter, and I pointed it out to Miss 
 Palmer, saying that they ought to make haste to get into the 
 boat and cast her adrift, as the ship might explode at any 
 moment. 
 
 1 If they allow themselves to be dragged much further, we 
 shall lose sight of them/ she exclaimed. 
 
 28—2 
 
436 AN OCEAN FREE-LANCE. 
 
 1 Yes, I am thinking of that too,' I answered. ' What is 
 Parell about ? is he taking in some stores while time remains ? 
 Pray God he is !' I cried, remembering that there was nothing 
 in the gig but the small cask of water. ' But, great heaven, 
 let him be quick ! should the after-guns explode the pinnace 
 may be knocked into staves/ 
 
 I threw myself down on the thwart alongside of Miss Palmer. 
 I was giddy, my legs trembled under me ; my physical strength 
 was lamentably betraying me, and swift feverish shudders were 
 chasing through my body, to which my streaming clothes hung 
 like plaisters. 
 
 * What a frightful situation for you to be in !' I said : ' though, 
 heaven knows, you meet it with a most courageous heart.' I 
 clasped and held her hand as any child might have done, and 
 said, ' I hope the men will not believe I deserted them. The 
 sight of your drifting away alone in this boat drove me crazy ! 
 surely when they saw me making for you they would under- 
 stand my action, and know that I was doing my duty in leaving 
 them for you.' 
 
 ' Oh, they will not misjudge you,' she answered, in a low 
 but perfectly calm and sweet voice ; and she was about to 
 begin another sentence, but stopped with a little convulsive 
 breath that was like a sob, and her hand trembled in mine. 
 
 I See !' I cried. ' The mainsail has caught fire ! How the 
 blaze seems to gash the sky with a bloody wound ! Hark ! 
 that was a main-deck gun — another ! why do not they shove 
 off ! the fire will be into the magazine in a few moments ! the 
 main-topsail catches now — heaven and earth ! it is as though a 
 volcano were blazing in the midst of the sea. Can you see 
 anything of the boat 1 My eyes are dazzled with the light and 
 sore with the salt water !' 
 
 She held her hand to her brow and looked. 
 
 I I see the same small black object near the stern,' she 
 answered. * But how fast the ship goes ! She is no more than 
 a ball of fire now. Oh, what madness to remain in her !' 
 
FIRE ! 437 
 
 ' Madness indeed !' I cried passionately. * Is it the cursed 
 drink that keeps them ? Once adrift, will Parell be able to find 
 us amid the darkness V 
 
 I now, for the first time, noticed that there was but one oar 
 in the boat ; and for the moment this discovery gave a new 
 edge to the misery of our situation. ' But what does it matter V 
 I thought. Had we a dozen oars what would they profit us 1 
 Should the pinnace miss us, our only chance will lie in a passing 
 ship. 
 
 However, I held my peace on this point ; and we remained 
 gazing at the burning ship, and watching the illuminated water 
 astern of her for the black speck that would denote the libera- 
 tion of the pinnace from the side of the vessel. 
 
 The wind blew softly, but my hot cheeks found no refresh- 
 ment in it. From time to time a fit of terror, that no exertion 
 of my will could repress, seized me when I turned my eyes 
 from the scarlet glare ahead to the black water alongside, and 
 noticed how close we lay to the surface of it. At other 
 moments, I was sensible of an amazing lightness of my body; 
 and this feeling possessed me with a violent inclination to 
 laugh out, the vanquishing of which caused me an agonizing 
 struggle. 
 
 ' Why, how strangely things come about !' I exclaimed pre- 
 sently, in a voice so hoarse that, like Fear, in Collins's ode, I 
 started at the sound myself had made. ' Figurez-vous, as 
 Johnny Crapeau says, a gentleman and a lady meeting in a 
 ball-room — wax-candles sparkling over them — the polished 
 floor reflecting their figures as clearly as a looking-glass — 
 brilliantly-dressed people around — the flash of epaulets, dia- 
 monds, glass-clear scabbards dancing upon the eye with the 
 diamond-like playing of the waters of Plymouth Sound when 
 the high sun stands over them ! Now drop the curtain upon 
 the glittering scene. Hey, presto, pass ! — as the conjurors 
 say — the curtain rises again. Father of mercy, what is here ] 
 Two figures in a lonely boat : the outline of their faces ' — I 
 
438 AN OCEAN FREE-LANCE. 
 
 dropped my head on one side to peer at my companion — 
 ' faintly touched up with the sulphur-coloured radiance of 
 their ship, that blazes like a burning mountain on the mid- 
 night sea. Who are they ? Why — did not the curtain fall 
 upon them a moment ago ? my Grod ! spare one of them — 
 spare one of them for the sake of her beautiful nature and her 
 courageous heart !' 
 
 I raised my hand to the stars like a ranting tragedian, and 
 then covered my face with them. 
 
 Phew ! — it was like touching my cheeks with heated iron. 
 
 1 How horribly hot these hands of mine are f I exclaimed, 
 looking at them. ' And hark to the croak in my voice. Am 
 I going mad ? I would swear that there is a demon perched 
 on each of my eyeballs, hammering my temples here' — touch- 
 ing them — ' with a caulking mallet.' 
 
 ' Why not lie down, Mr. Madison ?' she said, so calmly that 
 I could clearly hear and feel the sympathy of the rich sweet 
 tones. ' You are exhausted and feverish. Take some rest, 
 and I will keep watch. For my sake, lie down. If harm 
 befalls you, what will become of me f 
 
 1 Harm shall not befall you, Madeline — why, what do I call 
 you 1 Oh, I cannot say Miss Palmer ' 
 
 ' Say Madeline. 7 
 
 'Madeline — what a tender name! Madeline — ' and I 
 lingered over the word, repeating it several times. 'What 
 was I saying I Ah, you wished me to lie down. But not 
 whilst that vessel lies flashing like a brand against the stars. 
 No, let me see her vanish, Madeline, and then we will consider 
 what is best to be done,' 
 
 I endeavoured to rise, but reeled like a drunken man, and 
 dropped heavily upon the thwart again, with my hand upon 
 her shoulder. Alas ! alas ! that I, who would have died for 
 this girl, should, in the insanity of the fever that was eating 
 into my brain, have refined the torments of her situation by 
 my language and conduct ! I was like a half-drugged man, 
 
FIRE / 439 
 
 inspired by some devil that made me say and do a hundred 
 extravagant things, of the imbecility, ay, and even of the 
 cruelty of which I was perfectly sensible, though I could no 
 more control my tongue and gestures than I could have ex- 
 tinguished the burning ship by blowing through my lips 
 at her. 
 
 From time to time I would look from the naming vessel to 
 Madeline, and by such feeble light as the distant glare and 
 the stars threw upon her, I saw that her face, pale as marble, 
 was as steady and tranquil as marble too. She let me take 
 her hand and hold and even kiss it without ever offering to 
 withdraw it, and sometimes she would dip a silk handkerchief 
 she had removed from her throat in the water alongside and 
 press it to my burning forehead, and whenever she saw me 
 rocking in my seat she would pass her arm round my back 
 to support me. 
 
 All this I noticed and tried in my delirious way to thank 
 her for ; but after a little while I found that speaking gave me 
 pain, not because of the effort of it, but because my tongue 
 seemed formed of molten lead, so heavy that the muscles of it 
 had scarce power to move it, and so burning hot that every 
 wag of it was like the red-hot end of a lighted cigar tossing in 
 my mouth. 
 
 There was the half of a cocoa-nut shell lying in the bottom 
 of the boat that had probably been used as a baler. Made- 
 line's foot striking against it called her attention to it ; she 
 picked it up, and I gave a strange laugh as she examined it. 
 It evidently put an idea into her head, for she rose and was 
 moving forward. I clutched her dress. 
 
 ' Madeline,' I cried, ' don't leave me ! sit where you are ! 
 Where would you go f 
 
 ' To get you some water,' she answered. 
 
 * Oh, that is what I want !' I exclaimed in my thick voice. 
 ' Ay, get me some water, Madeline j it will cool my red-hot 
 tongue, and I shall be able to talk to you. Yes, to be sure, 
 
44 o 'AN OCEAN FREE-LANCE. 
 
 water is what I want ;' and I mumbled this over and over until 
 she came out of the bows of the boat with the shell full of 
 water. 
 
 She held it to my lips, and I drank with terrible eagerness. 
 Strange as it will seem to you, I did not know — or shall I say 
 I did not feel ? — the craving of thirst until the water was at 
 my lips, and then the sense of thirst became a madness. Oh, 
 the deliciousness of that draught ! the blessed, though short- 
 lived relief it yielded me ! 
 
 1 It has made a man of me, Madeline !' I exclaimed, cover- 
 ing her head with kisses in my delirious gratitude. ' Let God 
 but give me strength and health to hold by you until you are 
 rescued, and I shall be ready to die !' 
 
 I hid my face in my burning hands, and felt the boiling 
 drops searing my face as they oozed like blood from my eyes. 
 
 1 Julian,' she whispered, putting her lips to my ear and 
 passing her hand round my neck, and pronouncing my name 
 with exquisite tenderness : and I knew as well as though my 
 pulse beat moderately and my head were cool and my brain 
 clear, that she called me by my Christian name for the greater 
 sympathy it would express and for the happiness it would give 
 me, speaking it out of her full tenderness and eagerness to 
 soothe and comfort me. 
 
 I removed my hands from my face and looked at her. 
 
 ' You are ill, Julian,' she whispered, * but rest will make you 
 well. Take that rest while you can. See how calm the water 
 is, and how clear the sky ! In such weather we are as safe in 
 this little boat as we were in the Namur. Don't let us 
 forebode until real danger threatens us. To-morrow a ship 
 may come and rescue us. God is our Father : His eye is upon 
 us ; my faith in His mercy was never greater than it is now.' 
 
 I grasped her hands, looking her steadily in the face. 
 
 ' Madeline — dearest girl — this fever is killing my mind, and 
 I shall die delirious. I love you, Madeline — kiss me before I 
 lose consciousness.' 
 
FIRE J 441 
 
 ' You shall not die t she cried, with an outburst of passion ; 
 then, controlling herself, she bent close to me, that I might 
 see she smiled, and pressed her lips to my forehead ; then 
 took the light shawl from her shoulders and rolled it up 
 to serve me as a pillow, and stood up : I rose too, but as I 
 did so the ship, that had driven at least three and a half to 
 four miles away from us, and rested upon the sea in what 
 resembled a circular shape of fire — a huge red-hot globe — 
 blew up. At that distance every glowing portion of the ill- 
 fated vessel looked but a mere spark, and the effect was as 
 though a ship-load of rockets had exploded. A large space 
 of sky in the south-west was filled with brilliant spangles ; 
 their radiance glanced with a pale yellow glare upon the air 
 and the water like a flash of lightning ; then the whole was 
 extinguished as though an impenetrable cloud had rolled be- 
 tween us and the flaming particles, and the crash of the ex- 
 plosion boomed past us along the smooth surface of the deep 
 like a short peal of thunder. 
 
 I looked around me, and rubbed my burning eyes furiously, 
 in the belief that I had lost the use of my sight. The heavens 
 and the sea were black as pitch ; I could see no stars, no swell- 
 ing gleam upon the water. 
 
 Well do I remember the fit of horror that seized me now. 
 
 ' Madeline !' I shrieked, * we are alone — give me your 
 hand — where are you ? — quick, your hand !' 
 
 I gasped for breath, and was suffocating : I felt her seize 
 my arm, and recollect muttering, ' This is death !' and feeling 
 my legs give under me as though they had shifted and dis- 
 solved like pillars of sand, and falling in a heap in the bottom 
 of the boat ; and that is all I remember. 
 
442 AN OCEAN FREE-LANCE. 
 
 CHAPTEK XVIII. 
 
 H. M. S. 'SPEEDWELL.' 
 
 When consciousness dawned on me again, the scene had 
 changed ; the night was past, the morning had come : but 
 where was 1 1 
 
 I tried to move my head, but I might as well have en- 
 deavoured to carry a sixty-four pound carronade on my back. 
 As I had not the power to turn my head to look, I thought I 
 would touch, and make discoveries with my fingers ; but here 
 I was baulked again, for my arms lay by my side as dead as a 
 pair of wooden legs. ' Good heaven !' thought I, ' what is the 
 matter with me, and what has been done to me ¥ That my con- 
 sciousness must have been tolerably active, however, I know by 
 recollecting that I said to myself, ' Gulliver must have felt like 
 this when he awoke from his first sleep in Lilliput.' I dwelt 
 upon this comparison with a species of mild and foolish com- 
 placency, and then tried to make out the character of the place 
 in which I lay. It might have very well passed for a coffin, 
 and had it been dark when my senses returned, and I had been 
 able to use my hands, no doubt I should have believed I was 
 between the boards, and either buried or ready to lower away. 
 
 I looked steadily at the sort of deck-covering over me, which 
 was all that I could see. ' This must be a bunk,' thought I, 
 * and — yes, I am on board a vessel. I feel the movement of 
 her, and hear the straining of bulkheads. What vessel f and 
 I fell into a vile quandary. Lord! the pitiable puzzlement 
 that afflicted me ! ' Pooh, pooh !' I said to myself, ' do you 
 ask what vessel, you fool ? What vessel but the Tigress can 
 this be, think you, poor simpleton V Ay, to be sure — what 
 vessel could I be aboard of but the Tigress ? Nevertheless, I 
 was not such an ass as I thought. ' This is not the Tigress for 
 all that,' said I, and I tried to shake my head ; it would have 
 been easier to make a turtle laugh by tickling its shell. 
 
HM.S. 'SPEEDWELL: 443 
 
 Presently I was sensible that some one was looking at me. 
 I wanted to apologize for not being able to turn my head : 
 some disjointed words rumbled in my throat, but no nervous 
 bridegroom, returning thanks, ever made a more terrible mess 
 of a speech. 
 
 1 Hush, pray ! do not attempt to speak : endeavour if you 
 can to sleep,' said a male voice very gently, almost in a whisper. 
 
 Some breathless talk went on, and a door was closed. Al- 
 most immediately I either lost my reason again or fell into a 
 profound sleep — which lasted, I was afterwards told, twenty 
 hours — and when I awoke, I discovered, to my great delight, 
 that I could move my head. 
 
 I was lying in a bunk in a small cabin lighted by a middling- 
 sized port-hole, that was wide open, and through which a 
 strong tide of warm sweet air was pouring. A cot swung near 
 the door, and I noticed not only the rude plainness of the 
 interior, but the thickness of the bulkheads and the prodigious 
 strength of the beams, and indeed of all the timbers and fit- 
 tings my eyes rested upon. A large plain black chest stood in 
 a corner, and after several attempts, I made out the white 
 marks upon the lid of it to signify the initials ' J. G. P.' A 
 military cloak, a military undress- jacket, and other wearing 
 apparel were hung upon hooks against the bulkhead near the 
 door, and a small gimballed lamp was affixed to a stanchion 
 in the centre of the cabin. 
 
 I lay dreamily watching these things as they swung with the 
 roll of the vessel, languidly wondering where I was, but with- 
 out, as yet, the faintest recollection of the experiences I had 
 gone through before my senses quitted me. 
 
 I had been awake about ten minutes when the door was 
 very stealthily opened ; a precaution that rather amused me, 
 considering that the straining sounds in the cabin were equal 
 to the creaking of a hundred rusty hinges all worked at once ; 
 and a tall, handsome, soldierly-looking man in a dark-blue 
 braided tunic and white nankeen trousers entered very 
 
444 AN OCEAN FREE-LANCE. 
 
 cautiously, stopping to peer at me, and holding on to the 
 open door as he balanced himself to the movement of the 
 ship. 
 
 On observing me to be lying with my eyes wide open, he 
 carefully closed the door, advanced to the side of the bunk, 
 and asked me in a very gentle voice how I felt. 
 
 ' Very weak, but beyond that I hardly know,' I answered 
 feebly, looking at him earnestly, however, for something in 
 his face — something in the expression of his eyes — fixed my 
 attention, and I stared at him like one fascinated. 
 
 He was, as I have said, an extremely handsome man, his 
 features high-bred, his forehead lofty, and his eyes dark and 
 thoughtful ; but he had a worn and suffering look, his cheeks 
 were hollow, his complexion an ashen-grey, and his fingers as 
 emaciated as those of a consumptive person's. 
 
 ' You have had a long sleep,' said he, ' and I was glad to find 
 your repose so sound, for the surgeon informs me that sleep is 
 the great remedy in illnesses of this description. I will go 
 and tell him you are awake.' 
 
 He was moving away. 
 
 ' Pray, sir, forgive me,' I exclaimed. ' Your voice has 
 broken a spell. I am recalling the past that was just now 
 as blank as death. I had escaped with a young lady from 
 a burning ship. Ah ! I have it ! I have been rescued- — 
 picked up, of course — and the lady ? for God's sake tell me of 
 her, sir !' 
 
 My eagerness to have his reply was so great that I suc- 
 ceeded in raising myself on my elbow, but I was too weak to 
 maintain that posture, and fell back with a heavy sigh. 
 
 He looked at me doubtfully, as if debating whether he 
 should answer my question ; but I suppose the wistful expres- 
 sion in my eyes was too strong an appeal for him to resist, for 
 he came back to my side, tenderly raised my hand in both his, 
 and answered : 
 
 1 The young lady is safe, Mr. Madison —safe, and, thank 
 
H.M.S. 'SPEEDWELL: 445 
 
 God, well ; and I may inform you that she is on board this 
 ship.' 
 
 ' Pray stay, sir/ I exclaimed, thinking because he let fall my 
 hand that he was going away. ' Your answering a few ques- 
 tions will really do me good. How long was the young lady 
 in the boat V 
 
 ' You and she were rescued the morning after the Namur 
 was burnt,' he replied, speaking as though reluctant to converse 
 with me, and yet not liking to refuse. 
 
 ' And I was ill through the night, I fear 1 Indeed I know 
 now that I must have been very ill — insane, perhaps, with 
 delirium ! No doubt I was, and my God ! what sufferings 
 must that noble girl have endured, alone — alone in a boat with 
 a madman ! She is well, do you say ? That is welcome news 
 to me. Had ill befallen her it would go desperately hard with 
 me now, indeed it would, sir !' and I felt the hot tears welling 
 into my eyes, a melancholy proof of the weakness both of my 
 mind and body. 
 
 He drew a chair to my side, being sagacious enough to per- 
 ceive that his leaving my curiosity unsatisfied would do me 
 more harm than talking. 
 
 ' You will also be glad to hear,' he said, ' that the boat con- 
 taining Mr. and Mrs. Solomons, and the crew of the Namur, 
 was picked up by this ship. Indeed, we sighted her first, and 
 it was owing to her report that our captain altered his course 
 to seek for your boat.' 
 
 1 So no lives are lost f 
 
 ' None ; all are safe in this ship.' 
 
 4 What ship is she, may I ask V 
 
 'An English ship-rigged sloop of war — the Speedwell, 
 homeward-bound from Kingston, Jamaica, with invalided 
 soldiers.' 
 
 1 From Kingston, Jamaica f I muttered, looking from him to 
 the initials on the black chest in the corner. ' May I inquire 
 your name, sir V 
 
446 AN OCEAN FREE-LANCE. 
 
 He gazed at me curiously ; then a slight smile passed over 
 his worn features. 
 
 ' My name is Colonel Palmer,' he answered. 
 
 « Yes — I might have thought so — she has your expression. 
 This is a most wonderful meeting. How strange are heaven's 
 ways !' and I lay looking at him so bewildered by the discovery 
 that I thought I was falling crazy again. 
 
 'If you are surprised/ he said gently, 'you may conceive 
 what my feelings were when on our coming up with the boat, 
 I saw my daughter in her ! It is an old story now, and I can 
 talk of it calmly. You are aware that I had no idea she was 
 coming out to join me, and even when I had her in my arms 
 I could not credit the reality of our most astonishing, and, I 
 may truly say, God-guided meeting.' 
 
 ' You speak of it as an old story. How old mighb it be t 
 
 £ It will be ten days to-morrow since we picked up the 
 Namufs boats.' 
 
 ' And where have I been all this while V 
 
 ' Here, in my cabin, Mr. Madison, upon the bed in which 
 you are now lying,' 
 
 ' God preserve us !' said I. 
 
 I had thought we had been rescued that morning ! 
 
 ' Ten days !' I went on : 'is it possible that I have been 
 without my mind all that time ? This is knowing what death 
 is, sir, and what fools men are to let it frighten them !' 
 
 I closed my eyes, for my brain was beginning to simmer 
 again ; and shutting my eye-lids seemed like clapping rolling- 
 tackles on to my wits. 
 
 He rose from his chair, and said he must go tell the surgeon 
 I was awake. I had a thousand more questions to ask him, 
 but he would not stay. However, he had left me enough, in 
 all conscience, to chew upon; and bit by bit I got all the 
 points together, until the whole story lay clear in my mind. 
 
 Astounded as I was by the coincidence of the meeting 
 between Colonel Palmer and Madeline, I made a greater 
 
H.M.S. 'SPEEDWELL' 447 
 
 wonder of my long unconsciousness. It stirred the hair upon 
 my head to consider that to all intents and purposes I had 
 been dead — not even a ghost, but a corpse — for nine days. I 
 tried to sit up to assure myself that my body was as much 
 alive as my mind, but could not manage it, though the plunge 
 I gave in the effort was tolerably reassuring. 
 
 About ten minutes after Colonel Palmer had left me, the 
 door of the cabin was boisterously flung open, and in walked a 
 short, thick-set, bow-legged, and wall-eyed man ; his busy, 
 bustling, bouncing movements, the hard blunt expression on 
 his face, the square heavy hands with red knuckles and red 
 finger-points — bah ! this sketching grows fantastic ; besides, if 
 the man were no better he was no worse than the average of 
 the leather-headed butchers — ill-paid, half-educated, and super- 
 latively coarse-fibred — who operated on the wounded lieges in 
 his Britannic Majesty's cock-pits in those times. 
 
 1 Hallo t he sung out ; ' awake at last, my man, are you ? 
 After such a spell of rest, by Jupiter, you should be able to 
 keep late hours for the rest of your natural days.' 
 
 He broke into a loud laugh, that earned him an indignant 
 scowl from the colonel who towered behind him. 
 
 ' Well, how do you feel now V 
 
 I told him, and then he felt my pulse, and put his great 
 hand, that felt like a warm beefsteak, on my forehead, and 
 said to Colonel Palmer : 
 
 ' He'll do, sir. He wants no physic — rest and time are the 
 only medicines for him. Are you hungry V 
 
 1 Yes,' said I, ' I am hungry.' 
 
 He winked at the colonel, and broke into another guffaw. 
 
 ' Ah !' said he, ' we naval men pretty well know what a 
 privateersman's maw is. However, you must belay your pro- 
 fessional instincts until you are stronger. Hearty eating won't 
 suit a stomach that's been empty nearly a fortnight. The 
 steward shall bring you a basin of broth presently.' 
 
 He was going, but the colonel stopped him and whispered a 
 question. 
 
44 8 AN OCEAN FREE-LANCE. 
 
 1 Why, yes,' answered the surgeon loudly. ' It'll do him 
 good, sir. He's had his sleep, and promises well. But he 
 ought to get shaved first.' 
 
 And with another noisy laugh he bounced out hurriedly, 
 leaving a dull flavour of rum in the air, though, mercifully for 
 me, it was quickly dispelled by the glorious rush of wind 
 through the port-hole. 
 
 ' I hope you will not let that man's manner vex you, Mr. 
 Madison,' said the colonel. 
 
 I smiled, and begged him to believe that low as my nerves 
 were, they were strong enough to support the surgeon's voice, 
 and even his face. 
 
 ' I whispered to him to tell me,' he continued with a fatherly 
 kindness in his manner of addressing me, ' whether there 
 would be any indiscretion in my daughter's seeing you. He 
 said — but of course you heard his answer. Madeline is anxious 
 to thank you for your devoted conduct to her when the fire 
 broke out in the Namur. She has watched by your side very 
 constantly during your illness,' he added, with a smile, ' and 
 it is reasonable enough that she should wish to be one of the 
 first to congratulate you on the happy turn your malady has 
 taken.' 
 
 There must have been a wonderful magic in the name of 
 Madeline to stir the blood of a man so prostrated as I was : 
 yet before the colonel had done speaking, I felt my face un- 
 comfortably hot. 
 
 1 It will be a happiness I should not have liked to ask for,' 
 said I. 
 
 Without another word he left the cabin, and in a few 
 minutes returned, and held open the door to let his daughter 
 enter. 
 
 There was a little hesitation in her walk, but none in her 
 manner when she took my hand. She may have rehearsed 
 a speech, she may have schooled herself to meet me calmly ; 
 but our glance meeting, the greeting faded upon her lips, the 
 
H.M.S. 'SPEEDWELL: 449 
 
 tears gushed into her eyes — we looked at one another without 
 speaking. 
 
 The colonel walked to the open port-hole and stood staring- 
 out of it with his back upon us. 
 
 She was the first to break the silence. 
 
 ' I have been waiting a long while for this,' she whispered. 
 ' You have been insensible ever since that dreadful night.' 
 
 ' Yes, your father told me so \ but I am sensible enough 
 now, thank God,' said I, speaking feebly, but noting her well, 
 and observing that she looked in good health, somewhat pale, 
 indeed, and a trifle dark under the eyes, but cheerful, and 
 gentle, and beautiful. ' Next to my having been dead for all 
 this while, the most astonishing part of our adventure, to me, 
 is this meeting of yours with your father. I know by the 
 amazement in my soul, that if I were stronger, my demonstra- 
 tions of wonder would be terrifying.' 
 
 ' We have much to talk about,' said she, 'but I promised 
 papa that I would only say a few words and go. To-morrow 
 yoii will be better able to converse.' 
 
 ' I can't let you leave me yet !' I exclaimed, holding her 
 
 hand. ' I know you have nursed me through this illness ' 
 
 Here I tried to press her hand to my lips. I was too weak to 
 raise it, but she helped me, and so I got the kiss : ' and that 
 you nursed me in the boat ' 
 
 'Do not speak of that now.' 
 
 ' and I dare not yet trust myself to think of the ter- 
 rible night you must have passed alone with a raving mad- 
 man ' 
 
 1 1 ask you not to speak of it now,' she pleaded. 
 
 Between us I kissed her hand again. 
 
 ' I should know better how to thank you and even to talk to 
 you if, before we say another word, you will renew your per- 
 mission to me to call you Madeline.' 
 
 ' Do you remember that V she asked, with just the shadow 
 of one of her coquettish smiles hovering on her lips. 
 
 29 
 
450 AN OCEAN FREE-LANCE. 
 
 'Indeed I do. I remember calling you Madeline; and 
 telling you,' I said, toying with her little hand, but keeping 
 my eyes on her face, ' that I loved you ' — I said this, squeez- 
 ing her fingers as tightly as my strength would permit, and 
 speaking in a whisper that obliged her to stoop her head to 
 my face to hear me. 
 
 Witness in this the power and the philosophy of impulse. 
 A moment before she entered the room I had no more idea of 
 making my first accost a love-address than I had of standing 
 on my head. One glance of her bland and beautiful eyes 
 awoke with its light the memory of my delirious love-speech 
 in the boat and the kiss she had given me. I could not call 
 her Miss Palmer after I had called her Madeline — I could not 
 renew my claim to call her Madeline without recurring to my 
 love-speech and her kiss. Out of my heart, like an owl out of 
 a hole, flew the awakened memory with a clumsy flapping and 
 a wild gyration. 
 
 * I remember calling you Madeline — I remember that and 
 more. One precious word from you now — nay, why not now ? 
 I shall never be saner — and you alone can give me the happi- 
 ness that makes strength and health. Whilst your hand is in 
 mine, one precious word ! Madeline, may I call you by that 
 name 1 — and say again, as I said when we were alone on the 
 wide midnight sea, and when I believed the hand of death 
 upon me—/ love you /' 
 
 Heavens ! when I look back and think of myself lying 
 black-bearded and sallow and gaunt in that bunk, and mouthing 
 in anything but a melodious voice, God knows, the twopenny 
 rant that passion will wag out of the most prosaic tongue, I 
 can only wonder that she looked at me without laughing. 
 
 Instead, she drooped her sweet face over mine, and I saw a 
 smile— not derisive, my friend — trembling among the tears 
 which sparkled upon the long lashes. 
 
 1 1 wish to make you happy,' said she. 
 
 A single word from me would have spoilt it. 
 
H.M.S. 'SPEEDWELL: 451 
 
 The colonel looked round. 
 
 1 Maddy, my love, this first visit was to be a short one, you 
 know.' 
 
 4 Not for my sake, Colonel Palmer,' said I. ' You can judge 
 by my voice what it is doing for me.' 
 
 1 It is certainly clearer. Who's there f 
 
 The steward in a camlet jacket, and burlesquing Atlas by 
 carrying his globe under his waistcoat instead of on his shoul- 
 ders — in all my life I never beheld so orbicular a belly — his 
 nose a fiery pimple, and his left cheek handsomely engraved 
 with a broad scrofulous scar, rolled into the cabin, bearing a 
 basis of broth and a jug of water, in which floated a small 
 squadron of cut-up lemons. 
 
 Madeline took the tray from him, propped my head with a 
 pillow, and fed me. No doubt by trying I might have made 
 shift to feed myself ; but it was pleasant to be fed by Made- 
 line; and had I been a street-artist, I could not have composed 
 my arms in a more helpless attitude upon the coverlet. 
 
 ' That will do you good, Mr. Madison,' said the colonel, 
 watching the operation with great interest. 
 
 I dodged the spoon to say, ' I am overpowered by your 
 daughter's goodness, sir.' 
 
 ' She is equally obliged to you. Your first thought was for 
 her when the fire broke out, Mr. Madison.' 
 
 ' But nothing that I tried to do or could do,' said I, again 
 dodging the spoon that had grown suddenly jerky and sloppy, 
 * could compensate her for the alarm and misery my delirium 
 in the boat ' 
 
 But a dexterous pop of the spoon now closed my mouth. 
 
 A long night's rest greatly invigorated me : I slept from 
 <eight in the evening until nine in the morning, and when I 
 awoke I sat up in my bunk, and cast my eyes around for my 
 clothes ; had I seen them I should have dressed myself. 
 
 My first visitor was the wall-eyed surgeon, who, after tell- 
 
 29—2 
 
45 2 AN OCEAN FREE-LANCE. 
 
 ing me I was very much better, prohibited me from rising, so 
 I plumped my head into the pillow again, and lay quiet and 
 full of thought for about half-an-hour, at the end of which 
 time the steward entered with another dose of the broth I had 
 swallowed on the previous day ; and he was no sooner gone 
 than Madeline came in. 
 
 I looked, suspecting her father was behind her ; but she was 
 alone. 
 
 There was a freshness and sweetness of complexion, manner, 
 smile, in this girl that gave the same sort of pleasure to every 
 sense in a man that the fragrance of a flower gives to the 
 sense of smell. The brown, plain, sturdy, solid cabin in which 
 I lay, took from her presence such a light and perfume as one 
 could only imagine it receiving from the flash of sunshine 
 upon white roses and gleaming lilies. 
 
 There are some women who waft a sweet and subtle odour 
 through the air with every wave of the hand, with every 
 movement of the head, with every sweep of the dress. It is 
 not a perfumer's fragrance ; it was never contained in a bottle 
 or a powder-box. Whether it is peculiar to certain types of 
 beauty — most auburn-haired girls have it, I have found — 
 whether it is a blessing bestowed by Nature upon such of her 
 creatures as delight her eyes ; whether it is peculiar to certain 
 complexions ; whether it emanates from sweetness of disposi- 
 tion, or is purely a physical quality, I have never yet had the 
 leisure to very carefully consider ; perhaps the subject has been 
 already treated. Any way, no girl that ever I met had this 
 gift of fragrance in greater perfection than Madeline Palmer. 
 As she leaned her face forward to wish me good-morning, it 
 was like holding a bouquet to my nose. 
 
 1 I have seen Mr. Cutler' (the surgeon), said she, c and he says 
 you are much better. But you are not to get up, and you will 
 require nursing for some time longer.' 
 
 So saying, she put my broth before me. 
 
 'I shan't want to get up,' said I, working at the broth, 
 
H.MS. 'SPEEDWELL: 453 
 
 ' whilst you are within hail, Madeline. Does your father know 
 that I am in love with you, dear V 
 
 'Why, yes — he did not require to be told, but I did tell him,' 
 says she quite simply. 
 
 ' But how could he guess what my feelings were when I was 
 without my senses, Madeline f said I, stirring the broth to 
 cool it. 
 
 1 Why, Julian, are you sure that all your wits have returned 
 to their home, that you ask me such a silly question ? Didn't 
 he see me nursing you, you foolish child ? And do you suppose 
 that I attended to you like a hired nurse so that no trace of 
 what was in my heart was visible in my face f and her rich 
 contralto laugh rang like a fine melody through the cabin. 
 
 6 Deuce take this broth ! I have burnt my mouth. Hand me 
 that lemon-water, like a darling. Well, do you know I am a 
 fool to ask such a question. But what does he think of it all V 
 
 1 He is quite satisfied ; besides/ said she, fixing her lustrous, 
 honest eyes full on me, ' he knows I would accept only the 
 love of a man whom I could trust and be happy with, and 
 when I told him I was silly enough to feel that it would make 
 me unhappy to lose you — why, I'm sure I don't know ' (a sigh) 
 — l he kissed me, and no more was said.' 
 
 1 Madeline,' said I, looking over my spoon at her — three 
 spoons in a line ! — ' I never thought it would come to this. I 
 never dreamt that I should have the luck to win you. I am 
 dreadfully happy, my precious one ! Who the deuce am I 
 that such a glorious gift as you should come to me V 
 
 1 Eat your broth, and don't disparage yourself. I am toler- 
 ably well satisfied with you, so don't try to weaken my good 
 impressions,' said she, with one of her sly glances. 
 
 1 How are the Solomonses f 
 
 1 Quite well, and so are all the men. Parell has been very 
 anxious about you, poor fellow, and begged leave to watch by 
 your side ; but I did not intend to give up my place. You 
 will be sorry to hear, however, that the whole of the men have 
 
454 AN OCEAN FREE-LANCE. 
 
 been impressed by the captain of this ship, and have become 
 men-of-warsmen.' 
 
 1 Parell too V 
 
 She nodded. 
 
 This did vex me very much ; so much so that I could hardly 
 speak for some minutes. But there was no help for it, though 
 I considered that impressment was a barbarous usage to give 
 to shipwrecked men. She watched my face, and changed the 
 subject by telling me that Mr. and Mrs. Solomons had been 
 very kind in their inquiries after me ; but it had cost her 
 several long arguments to convince them that I was not actuated 
 by any indifference to the value of their lives because I jumped 
 overboard when I saw the gig adrift. She added that Mr. 
 Solomons was exceedingly mortified and disgusted to find 
 himself carried back to England after the arduous and tragical 
 experiences he had passed through in his effort to reach 
 Jamaica ; and her description of the old man's rage with 
 Captain Lomax (who commanded the sloop) when he, the 
 captain, angrily refused to return to Kingston, made me laugh 
 so heartily as to pretty well clear out of my mind the annoy- 
 ance caused me by the impressment of my men. 
 
 She then spoke to me of her father, and, with much concern, 
 of his health, that had at last compelled him to invalid himself 
 and return to England ; and gave me the full particulars of 
 their meeting, her amazement when he rushed forward to re- 
 ceive her on her being handed over the side of the sloop, and his 
 blank bewilderment at finding her — of all places in the world 
 — in a small open boat at sea, when he had not the least doubt 
 but that she was with her aunt in his house near Canterbury. 
 
 She also described the night she had passed with me in the 
 boat : how she had had one dreadful struggle with me to pre- 
 vent me from throwing myself overboard ; how we had nearly 
 upset the boat between us in the frantic wrestle ; and how nothing 
 saved me — * for you had the strength of a giant, Julian,' said 
 she — but my tumbling backwards over a thwart and falling 
 
H.M.S. 'SPEEDWELL: 455 
 
 into the bottom of the boat ; and how she had taken the boat's 
 painter (of course she did not talk of ' painters ' and ' thwarts, ' 
 but I prefer to tell her story in my own tongue) and secured 
 my arms and legs with it. 
 
 ' May heaven bless you for your noble pluck f I cried, break- 
 ing into her story out of the fulness of my heart ; ' and for 
 your devotion to a man who has caused you so much misery.' 
 
 She silenced me by clapping her hand over my mouth, and 
 proceeded to relate how she sat watching all through that 
 terrible night, praying for strength and courage and for the 
 help that came at last. 
 
 ' I never knew what the horror of loneliness was before,' 
 said she. ■ It is past, and I can speak of it calmly ; yet I know 
 that my whole life will be haunted by the memory of that 
 dark sea and the frightful solitude of it, and of your moans 
 and cries as you lay bound, and the burning ship whose image 
 was in my eyes, turn them where I would, so that the spectre 
 of it, as it were, was constantly before me, until the sun rose 
 and showed me this ship, like a tiny cloud, a long, long way 
 off.' 
 
 * It is past, as you say, Madeline j and having given us the 
 love that we have exchanged, let the knowledge that it has 
 left us happier than it found us make us think generously of 
 that bitter time.' 
 
 I drew her towards me in a passion of love and gratitude — 
 as who will not understand in me that will but consider how 
 I had made this girl suffer ; how beautiful had been her 
 courage ; how faithful the affection it had been my unex- 
 ampled fortune to excite in her pure, gentle, and heroic heart I 
 — and kissed her with my arm round her neck ; and she had 
 barely time to release herself, blushing and somewhat discon- 
 certed by the ardency of my embrace, when her father walked 
 in. 
 
 ' Now,' thought I, ' I'll plump my thoughts into him at once. 
 The sooner we clear up and coil down the better.' 
 
456 ' AN OCEAN FREE-LANCE. 
 
 He shook my hand with great cordiality, and expressed 
 himself heartly rejoiced to observe the marked improvement 
 in my appearance (' Nothing like kissing to clear the com- 
 plexion,' said I to myself) ; and I glanced at Madeline, who 
 immediately arose and left the cabin, mistaking the look I gave 
 her, as she afterwards admitted, as a hint that I wished to 
 speak to her father alone. 
 
 I immediately opened upon him. 
 
 I Colonel Palmer,' said I, 'with your permission, I should 
 be glad to have a few words with you on the subject of your 
 daughter.' 
 
 He smiled and, with much kindness in his voice, said : 
 ' There is no occasion to approach the subject with formality, 
 Madison. I find you and her attached to each other, and I am 
 quite content that it should be so. You have been associated 
 in a singular misfortune, and your devotion in making her the 
 first object of your care, and hers in protecting you against 
 your own violence in the boat, are fitly rewarded by your 
 common affection. You will also see that her name, in conse- 
 quence of the burning of the Namur, is particularly identified 
 with yours — in such a way, indeed, that I will say your wish 
 to make her your wife exactly accords with my desire.' 
 
 I I am very glad to hear that, colonel, and thank you for 
 your candour. As I have some reason to believe Madeline 
 was not indifferent to me before she and I went adrift in the 
 gig, no excuse can be made for supposing that my good fortune 
 in winning the dear girl is entirely due to our having been 
 alone in an open boat.' 
 
 1 Certainly not,' he answered earnestly, and yet amused by 
 my plainness, too ; ' her happiness is my chief consideration. 
 I know she is attached to you ; still it is fit and even honour- 
 able that I should give you one of my reasons for readily 
 acquiescing in her engagement to a gentleman who, down to 
 yesterday morning, had never set eyes on me, and whose charac- 
 ter I could only admire in Madeline's stories about him.' 
 
H.M.S. 'SPEEDWELL: • 457 
 
 * Well, we are not arrived in England yet, Colonel Palmer. 
 I hope you'll get to know me better before the old home is 
 hove up.' 
 
 * Why, I may say I know you very well already,' he an- 
 swered ; ' but, as you suggest, we have four or five weeks 
 before us in which to improve our knowledge of each other.' 
 
 ' With regard,' said I, wishing to heaven I was dressed — for 
 lying in a ship's bunk, habited I knew not in whose bedgown, 
 my manly figure (the best part of me) concealed by the bed- 
 clothes, incapable of making a bow, and a little too weak to 
 help out my words by the graces of my hands — I was, as you 
 see, cruelly disadvantaged and made even more insignificant in 
 my own esteem than was fair to my gift of the gab, by the 
 towering, well-bred, well-dressed, dignified colonel — ' with 
 regard, colonel, to my position and prospects ' 
 
 ' We will discuss these subjects another time,' said he. 
 
 1 Still, I should like to say ' 
 
 1 My dear friend, there is no occasion whatever to discuss 
 your prospects and position with me now, or at any other 
 time, though I give you full permission to talk about them 
 with Madeline as long as you choose. For myself, I will take 
 advantage of this chat, that must be cut short for your health's 
 sake, to tell you that I am a widower, which, however, I 
 believe you know, and that Madeline is my only child. I am 
 afraid, indeed I am sure, my health will oblige me to quit the 
 army, and as you would not have me companionless during 
 the rest of my days, I will merely stipulate, as a return for the 
 gift of my child, that you and she live with me — that is, of 
 course, if you abandon the sea, which I believe,' said he with 
 a smile, 'she will insist upon your doing. My house at 
 Canterbury would be uninhabitable to me without Madeline, and 
 as I cannot be a mother-in-law, Madison, you will have nothing 
 to fear from my interference in your domestic affairs.' 
 
 ' Your programme, my dear sir, is an overpoweringly liberal 
 one ; but such one-sided ' 
 
458 AN OCEAN FREE-LANCE. 
 
 He would not hear me. 
 
 1 All that need be said at present has been said,' he exclaimed. 
 1 We have several weeks before us to discuss any other points 
 which may arise.' 
 
 I was so far recovered on the fifth day, dating from my 
 restoration to consciousness, that the surgeon gave me leave to 
 dress and take the air on deck for a couple of hours. As yet 
 I had seen no other faces than Madeline's and her father's, 
 and Cutler's, so that it was really like rising from the tomb to 
 go upon the breezy brilliant deck of the sloop, and find myself 
 among sailors again. 
 
 It was known among the officers that Madeline and I were 
 betrothed — I knew afterwards that the colonel had propagated 
 the news — he was mighty sensitive on the subject of that open 
 boat, and reported that his daughter and I were engaged 
 before the Namur caught fire — and therefore nobody was sur- 
 prised to find her busily preparing an arm-chair with cushions 
 for my reception, in the shadow of the mizzen-mast, round 
 which the cold wind blew refreshingly. Captain Lomax, a 
 stiff-backed old fellow, greeted me with a pompous shake of 
 the hand, and a gruff congratulation on my recovery, and I 
 was very civilly received by the first lieutenant, a young and 
 delicate-looking man, a thorough gentleman, between whom 
 and myself there sprung up during the voyage a friendship 
 that terminated only with his death a few years ago. 
 
 I had scarcely seated myself, and Madeline had got the 
 pillow at the back of my head in a ship-shape posture, when 
 Mr. and Mrs. Solomons came up to me. I know not from 
 what part of the deck they emerged ; I had not noticed them 
 when I arrived. 
 
 Mr. Solomons shook my hand rather slowly, but his wife 
 was somewhat demonstrative. 
 
 ' Bless my heart !' cried she, ' I thought to find you skin 
 and bone. To hear Miss Palmer talk, one would have swore 
 
//.m.s. 'speedwell: 459 
 
 you had fallen into a mere skiliton. Well, and how are you, 
 mister % You don't ask how I am after the fright of the fire 
 and your leaving of us to swim to your lady, not caring, I dare 
 say, if Mr. Solomons and me became cinders so long as the 
 sweets was saved. But I bear no malice, sir, and now that if a 
 all over, I'm not for saying you didn't show a proper feeling in 
 jumping overboard after Miss Palmer. It's more than Jonas 
 would have done for me. 
 
 1 I'm glad to see you pretty middling,' said Jonas. ' I can't 
 pretend Vm the thing, whatever my looks may say. Fancy 
 my being taken back to England again, after being almost 
 within sight of Jamaica, and suffering from pirates and fire ! 
 And my goods ! I suppose you know I was only insured for 
 two-thirds.' 
 
 'I am sorry to hear that,' said I ; ' but two-thirds are better 
 than nothing, and you'd have got nothing had the Yankees 
 walked off with the NamurJ 
 
 'There's Parell trying to catch your eye, Julian,' whispered 
 Madeline. 
 
 I looked, and saw the honest fellow upon the booms for- 
 ward, figged out in man-of-warsman's rig. He grinned and 
 touched his hat, and pointed significantly to his garb, and 
 would probably have expressed his feelings in further dumb- 
 show, had not the captain slewed round in his walk along the 
 quarter-deck, whereupon Parell toppled off the booms and 
 vanished. 
 
 Finding me indisposed to talk, Mr. Solomons left me after 
 a further bewailment of his misfortune in being forced back to 
 England, and was followed by his wife ; and with Madeline 
 at my side, and her father within earshot behind us, reading a 
 book, I lay back on my pillow, surveying with a sailor's de- 
 light, and with every sense in me exquisitely relishing the 
 sunshine and the breeze, the beautiful spectacle of the British 
 sloop's decks holystoned unto the very complexion of snow, 
 blackened at regular distances with the bronze-coloured sha- 
 
4 6o AN OCEAN FREE-LANCE. 
 
 dows of the heavy guns, with the brass-work flashing out red 
 hcams as the vessel rolled with a stately movement over the 
 long swell that under-ran the blue and frothing surface of the 
 windy, sparkling sea ; while the forecastle was covered with 
 the uniforms of groups of soldiers, and the heavy wide-spread 
 shrouds, soaring like bars of iron from the white line of the 
 hammock-cloths, led the eye to the broad and swelling canvas, 
 which floated like piles of vapour against the heavenly blue of 
 the sky. 
 
 I turned my eyes from the soft white of the towering sails 
 to Madeline. She was looking at me. 
 
 ' Already there is a little colour in your cheeks, Julian,' 
 said she. ' Your heart is with ships, I fear — there is no room 
 for me.' 
 
 * My heart is full of you, Maddy. Don't question that truth, 
 even in play. If my eyes are brightened by the sight of this 
 ship it is because she is showing by her pace that her instincts 
 are sound, and that we have her sympathy. Every minute of 
 this sailing carries us nearer home ; and home means so much 
 to me now, dearest, that this speeding vessel delights me with 
 a significance no other ship ever yet yielded, and the very song 
 of the foam as it rushes past has such a meaning in my ear 
 as any man would think me moonstruck to find in it.' 
 
 I I believe you, dear ; but don't ever let your poetical fancies 
 make you forget or regret your promise to me that you will 
 give up the sea for good as a profession when we are married.' 
 
 ' Trust me,' said I. 
 
 And will any blue- jacket doubt that of all the promises a 
 sailor could be warranted to keep, the promise of never going 
 to sea again would be the very easiest I 
 
 THE END. 
 
 BILLING AND SONS, PRINTERS, GUILDFORD AND LONDON. 
 
 G. C. &» Co. 
 
20 — 6—82. 
 
 BENT LEYS' FAVOURITE NOVELS. 
 
 Each work can be had separately, price 6s. , of all Booksellers in Town or Country. 
 
 By Mrs. HENRY WOOD. 
 
 East Lynne. (noth Thousand.) 
 
 TheChannings. (40th Thousand) 
 
 Anne Hereford. | Bessy Rane. 
 
 Court Netherleigh. 
 
 Dene Hollow. 
 
 Edina. | Elster's Folly. 
 
 George Canterbury's Will. 
 
 Johnny Ludlow. (First Series.) 
 
 Johnny Ludlow. (Second Series.) 
 
 Lady Adelaide. 
 
 Life's Secret, A. 
 
 Lord Oakburn's Daughters. 
 
 Master of Greylands. 
 
 Mildred Arkell. 
 
 Mrs. Halliburton's Troubles. 
 
 Orville College. | Oswald Cray. 
 
 Parkwater. 
 
 Pomeroy Abbey. 
 
 Red Court Farm. 
 
 Roland Yorke. 
 
 Shadow of Ashlydyat. 
 
 St. Martin's Eve. 
 
 Trevlvn Hold. | Verner's Pride. 
 
 Within the Maze. 
 
 By Miss AUSTEN. 
 
 {The only Complete Edition.) 
 Emma. 
 
 Lady Susan and The Watsons. 
 Mansfield Park. 
 
 Northanger Abbey and Persuasion 
 Pride and Prejudice. 
 Sense and Sensibility. 
 
 By ANTHONY TROLLOPE. 
 
 The Three Clerks. 
 By Miss FOTHERGILL. 
 
 The First Violin. I TheWellfields. 
 Probation. | Kith and Kin. 
 
 By MARCUS CLARKE. 
 
 For the Term of his Natural Life. 
 By Baroness TAUTPHCEUS. 
 
 The Initials. | Quits ! 
 
 By RHODA BROUGHTON. 
 
 Cometh up as a Flower. 
 Good-bye, Sweetheart ! 
 Joan. I Nancy. 
 
 Not Wisely but too Well. 
 Red as a Rose is She. 
 Second Thoughts. 
 
 By Mrs. RIDDELL. 
 
 Mystery in Palace Gardens. 
 
 By Mrs. PARR. 
 Adam and Eve. 
 Dorothy Fox. 
 
 By Mrs. ALEXANDER. 
 Her Dearest Foe. 
 The Wooing o't. 
 Which shall it be ? 
 Look before you leap. 
 The Freres. 
 
 By Mrs. ANNIE EDWARDES. 
 Leah : a Woman of Fashion. 
 Ought we to Visit Her ? 
 Susan Fielding. 
 Steven Lawrence : Yeoman. 
 
 By HAWLEY SMART. 
 
 Breezie Langton. 
 
 By HELEN MATHERS. 
 Comin' thro' the Rye. 
 "Cherry Ripe !" 
 
 By Mrs. CAMPBELL PRAED. 
 Policy and Passion. 
 
 By Miss CAREY. 
 
 Nellie's Memories. 
 
 By Mrs. NOTLEY. 
 Olive Varcoe. 
 
 By Lady G. FULLERTON. 
 Too Strange to be True. 
 Ladybird. 
 
 BENTLEYS' FOREIGN FAVOURITE NOVELS, 
 
 By Mrs. AUGUSTUS CRAVEN. By E. WERNER. 
 
 A Sister's Story. 
 By HECTOR MALOT. 
 
 No Relations. 
 
 No Surrender. 
 
 Success : and how he won it. 
 
 Under a Charm. 
 
 London: RICHARD BENTLEY & SON, New Burlington Street. 
 
At all Booksellers'. 
 THE 
 
 TEMPLE BAR MAGAZINE. 
 
 MONTHLY ONE SHILLING. 
 
 " One can never help enjoying * Temple Bar.' " — Guardian. 
 
 " Who does not welcome ' Temple Barf "—John Bull. 
 
 * ' This periodical may well be described as a magazine for the 
 million, for it aims at supplying excellent and instructive matter 
 which will attract, withotit troubling itself with any of the more 
 recondite pi'oblems that afflict or occupy the intellectual few.'''' — 
 Standard. 
 
 " ' Temple Bar'' is sparkling a?id brilliant. It might command a 
 constituency by its fiction alone, but it takes so mtich care of its more 
 solid matter, that if there were no stories at all, there is enough to 
 interest the reader." — English Independent. 
 
 One Shilling Monthly ', of all Booksellers hi the United 
 
 Kingdom. 
 
 Fourteen Shillings and Ninepence Yearly \ by post, in the 
 United Kingdo7n, or any part of Europe or North America, 
 
 LONDON: 
 RICHARD BENTLEY 6- SON, NEW BURLINGION ST. 
 
To be obtained at all Booksellers' and Railway Stations, 
 
 THEINGOLDSBYLEGENDS; 
 
 OR, MIRTH AND MARVELS. By the Rev. Richard 
 Harris Barham. 
 
 "Abundant in humour, observation, fancy; in extensive knowledge of books 
 and men ; in palpable hits of character, exquisite grave irony, and the most whim- 
 sical indulgence in point of epigram. We cannot open a page that is not 
 sparkling with its wit and humour, that is not ringing with its strokes of pleasantry 
 and satire. "--Examiner. 
 
 The Illustrated Edition. 
 
 With Sixty Illustrations by Cruikshank, Leech, and Ten- 
 niel. Printed on Toned Paper. Crown 4to., cloth, bevelled 
 boards, gilt edges, 2 is., or bound in the Ely pattern, same price. 
 Also in white cloth, in the Ely pattern, for presentation copies, 
 22s. 6d. 
 "A series of humorous legends, illustrated by three such men as Cruik- 
 shank, Leech, and Tenniel— what can be more tempting?" — Times. 
 
 The Carmine Edition. 
 
 In demy 8vo. With a carmine border line around each page. 
 With Twenty Illustrations by Cruikshank and Leech, with 
 gilt edges and bevelled boards, ios. 6d. 
 
 The Burlington Edition. 
 
 A Cabinet Edition, in 3 vols., fcap. 8vo., cloth, 10s. 6d. 
 
 The Edinburgh Edition. 
 
 Printed in large type, with Fifty Illustrations by Cruikshank, 
 Leech, Tenniel, and Du Maurier, especially Re-engraved for 
 this Edition by George Pearson. In crown 8vo., cloth, 6s. 
 
 The Popular Edition. 
 
 With Sixteen Illustrations. In crown 8vo., cloth, 3s. 6d. 
 
 The "Victoria" Edition. 
 
 A Pocket Edition, in fcap. 8vo., with Frontispiece, cloth, 2s. 
 
 The People's Edition. 
 
 In Sixty-four large quarto pages, with Forty Illustrations by 
 Cruikshank, Leech, and Tenniel, with wrapper, 6d. 
 
 " The publishers are doing a noble work in giving a people's edition of the In- 
 goldsby Legends. The edition is a miracle of cheapness, only sixpence, on good 
 paper, well printed, and containing the illustrations of Cruikshank, Leech, and 
 Tenniel. It is one of the cheapest books on record, and as it is a work still in 
 copyright reflects great credit upon the liberality of the publishers, and their desire 
 to place within the reach of all a work of very sterling merit. It is a collection 
 of legends in prose and verse, supposed to have been found in the family chest 
 of the Ingoldsby family, and related by Thomas Ingoldsby, the pseudonym 
 assumed by the Rev. Richard Harris Barham. They originally appeared in 
 Bent ley's Miscellany. Of the poetical pieces, it is not too much to say that for 
 originality of design and diction, piquant illustration, and musical verse, they 
 have few equals in the English language. From the days of Hudibras to our 
 own times, the drollery invested in rhyme has never been so amply or so felicitously 
 exemplified ; and if derision has been unsparingly applied, it has been to lash 
 knavery and expose imposture. It is a book which grows old asgood wine, every 
 year but adding to its spirit and flavour. The publishers have done wisely in 
 giving a people's edition at a price so low as to enable every one to keep in their 
 homes an admirable work." — Galignani's Messenger, 
 
 RICHARD BENTLP2Y & SON,NEWBURLINGTON STREET, 
 $ttl)lislm-s in ©rfcimirn in gjrr ittajrstu the djuccn. 
 
BENTLEYS' BURLINGTON LIBRARY. 
 
 Each Volume to be had separately ', with few exceptions, 
 in crown Svo., cloth, price 6s. 
 
 BARTON BAKER'S OUR OLD ACTORS. 6s. 
 
 ASHLEY'S LIFE OF LORD PALMERSTON. 2 vols. 12s. 
 
 STEPHEN'S LIFE OF DEAN HOOK. 6s. 
 
 THE LIFE OF THE REV. R. H. BARHAM. ("Thomas In- 
 
 goldsby.") 6s. 
 
 JONES'S HISTORY OF PRECIOUS STONES. 6s. 
 
 SIR E. CREASY'S HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH CONSTITUTION. 
 
 6s. 
 
 SIR E. CREASY'S HISTORY OF THE OTTOMAN TURKS. 6s. 
 
 SIR E. CREASY'S FIFTEEN DECISIVE BATTLES. 6s. 
 
 BARHAM'S LIFE OF THEODORE HOOK. 6s. 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES OF CELEBRATED VIOLINISTS. 6s. 
 
 THE DEAD CITIES OF THE ZUYDER ZEE. 6s. 
 
 GUIZOT'S LIFE OF OLIVER CROMWELL. 6s. 
 
 MIGNET'S LIFE OF MARY QUEEN OF SCOTS. 6s. 
 
 DR. McCAUSLAND'S SERMONS IN STONES. 6s. 
 
 DR. McCAUSLAND'S ADAM AND THE ADAMITE. 6s. 
 
 DR. McCAUSLAND'S BUILDERS OF BABEL. 6s. 
 
 LORD DALLING AND BULWER'S HISTORICAL CHARAC- 
 TERS. 6s. 
 
 TIMBS* LIVES OF PAINTERS. 6s. 
 
 TIMBS' LIVES OF STATESMEN. 6s. 
 
 TIMBS' WITS AND HUMOURISTS. 2 vols. 12s. 
 
 TIMBS' LATER WITS AND HUMOURISTS. 2 vols. 12s. 
 
 TIMBS' DOCTORS AND PATIENTS. 6s. 
 
 THE BENTLEY BALLADS. 6s. 
 
 GUILLEMIN'S THE SUN. 6s. 
 
 THE WIT AND WISDOM OF LORD CHESTERFIELD. 6s. 
 
 To be obtained at all Booksellers' . 
 
 RICHARD BENTLEY & SON, NEW BURLINGTON STREET, 
 gxtblislurs in ©rfchmrs to 2f)*r <Pajc$t]) the Oljucen. 
 
14 DAY USE 
 
 RETURN TO DESK FROM WHICH BORROWED 1 
 
 LOAN DEPT. 
 
 RENEWALS ONLY— TEL. NO. 642-3405 
 
 This book is due on the last date stamped below, or 
 
 on the date to which renewed. 
 
 Renewed books are subject to immediate recall. 
 
 EEB2 51970 85 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 ttECETV-r- -, 
 
 
 ; h~ I i 70 »9 PM 
 
 
 l-wAH pgpf a 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 LD21A-60m-6,'69 
 (J9096sl0)476-A-32 
 
 General Library 
 
 University of California 
 
 Berkeley