A Middy in Command Part 14

This signal I acknowledged in like manner as the first, and, while doing so, saw that the brig had taken in her studding-sails and hauled her wind. I noted the time, and found it to be close upon seven o'clock.

Half an hour later, while Keene and I were below at dinner, the faint boom of a distant gun came floating down the open skylight to our ears, and Simpson, who had charge of the deck, poked his head down through the opening to make the report:

"Commodore signalling again, sir!"

s.n.a.t.c.hing the signal book from the locker upon which it had been thrown, I dashed upon deck, and presently, by the light of the binnacle lamps, deciphered the signal as follows:

"Tack to south-east."

"Right!" said I, "answer it. In studding-sails, Mr Simpson, and then heave about on the port tack. Keep your eye on the commodore, and also keep a bright look-out to windward for any sign of the chase."

By the time that I got below again, and was once more seated at table, the schooner was in stays, and immediately afterwards the long, easy, floating and gliding movement of a vessel running off the wind was exchanged for the quick, violent, jerking plunge and heavy lee lurches of the same craft driven under a heavy pressure of canvas into a high and steep head-sea. Ten minutes later I was again on deck.

"I was just thinkin', sir, of takin' in the to'garns'l," remarked Simpson as I joined him on the weather side of our tiny quarter-deck, where he was engaged in a futile endeavour to avoid the heavy showers of spray that were now flying over our weather bow and as far aft as the mainmast. "She's got a good deal more than she can comfortably carry, and there's nothin' to be gained by whippin' the sticks out of her. I believe she'd travel quite as fast, and a good deal easier, if that to'garns'l was stowed, sir."

"Any sign of the chase yet, Mr Simpson?" said I.

"No, sir, not when I looked last, there wasn't," answered the carpenter.

"The mischief of it is that there's no knowin' where to look for her, and it's as much as a man can do to make out the commodore in this murk."

"Where is the commodore?" demanded I.

"Out there, dead to wind'ard of us, and about four mile away," answered Simpson. "Better take in the to'garns'l, hadn't we, sir?" he continued, c.o.c.king his eye aloft to where in the dim light the spar could be faintly seen whipping and buckling like a fishing rod at every mad plunge and heave of the sorely-overdriven little vessel. That she was being overdriven was perfectly evident, not only from the tremendous quant.i.ty of water that she was shipping forward at every furious dive into the head-sea, but from the steep angle of her decks, which sloped at an inclination of fully forty-five degrees with every lee roll, and from the cataracts of green water that poured in over her lee rail upon every such occasion; her decks, indeed, to leeward were so flooded that no man could have pa.s.sed along them to leeward without imminent risk of being washed overboard.

"Yes," said I at last, "clew up your topgallant-sail, Mr Simpson, and the topsail also while you are about it. You are right, the ship is being over pressed, and I believe that what we may lose by taking the square canvas off her will be more than made up to us by our gain in weatherliness. She will look up nearly a point higher under her fore- and-aft canvas only, and go along very nearly as fast."

Simpson needed no second bidding. He thought as I did on the matter, and the result proved us correct, for while there was no perceptible diminution in the schooner's speed due to the loss of her square canvas, she looked higher and went along much more easily and comfortably than she had done before, "Now for a look at the commodore," said I, when we had snugged down the little vessel, and I took the telescope from the beckets in which it hung in the companion way.

Yes, there she was, dead to windward of us, driving along, as I could just make out, under her main topgallant-sail; but all was perfectly dark on board her, and there was no sign of the slaver that I could see.

But I presumed that they had her in sight from the brig, or we should have heard something from the latter. For it was at this time very dark, and blowing strong, and the conditions generally were such that the matter of as little as even two or three miles might make all the difference between seeing and not seeing the stranger.

Eight bells came, the watch was called. Jones, the boatswain, relieved Simpson, and the latter, bidding me good-night, went below. I explained to Jones our reasons for taking the square canvas off the ship, and he was graciously pleased to express his approval.

"Yes, sir," he said, "I believe you've done the right thing. Even now the little hooker have got all that she can comfortably carry, and if you was to pile more on to her you'd do no good, but only strain her all to pieces, and open her seams. The fact is, Mr Grenvile, that these here shallow, beamy craft ain't intended to sail on their sides; bury 'em below their sheer-strake and they begins to drag and to sag at once.

We're doin' quite as well as can be reasonably expected in such a sea as this, as is proved by the way that we're keepin' pace with the commodore. I'll just take his bearin's, for the fun of the thing, and see how much he head-reaches on us durin' the next hour." Saying which he trotted aft to the binnacle and very carefully took the bearings of the brig, which we both made to be exactly east-south-east.

The hour sped, with no sight or sign of the chase to cheer us, and then Jones and I went to the binnacle to take the bearings of the _Dona Inez_ once more. The boatswain was a long time getting the bearing to his satisfaction, for the little vessel was leaping and plunging most furiously, and the compa.s.s-card was none too steady in the bowl; but at length he stepped back from the binnacle with an air of triumph, exclaiming:

"There, Mr Grenvile, what d'ye make of that, sir?"

Whereupon I, in turn, stepped up to the binnacle, and with equal care took the bearing.

"I make it east and by south, half south," said I.

"And east and by south, half south it is!" answered Jones exultantly.

"Which means, sir, that we've head-reached on the brig to the extent of half a p'int within this last hour, and that, too, in a breeze and a sea so heavy that the brig ought to walk away from us hand over hand. Well, I wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't seen it myself; but seein' is believin', I have heard say. And more than that," he continued, taking up the gla.s.s and levelling it at the _Dona Inez_, "I'm blest if I don't believe as we're weatherin' on her too. Take this gla.s.s, Mr Grenvile, and tell me whether you don't think as we've drawed up a bit closer to the commodore since eight bells struck."

To humour the fellow I took the telescope, as requested, and certainly when I got the brig focused in the lens her image appeared to be more distinct and also perceptibly larger than it had been when I last looked at her.

The hours sped on without change of any sort, except that when at length midnight arrived there was no longer any room to doubt that, since we had taken in our square canvas, and thus relieved the overdriven little hooker, we had steadily, if somewhat slowly, head-reached and weathered upon the commodore; and then, as there seemed to be no prospect of any further news from our consort that night, I went below and turned in, leaving instructions that I was to be called at once, without fail, should anything occur to render necessary my presence on deck, or should the commodore exhibit any further signals. In less than five minutes I was fast asleep.

I was awakened next morning by the loud knocking of the steward at my state-room door.

"Six bells, Mistah Grenvile, sah; and here is your coffee," announced San Domingo, as he stood balancing the cup and saucer in his hand and swaying to the still lively movements of the schooner, although it struck me at once that she was not nearly so lively in her motions as she had been when I turned in at midnight. I raised myself in my bunk and peered through the closed scuttle that was let into the side of the ship. The little craft was still lying over far enough to cause the sea to wash up over the gla.s.s and obscure the view occasionally, but there were nevertheless intervals of quite long enough duration to enable me to note that the morning was overcast and lowering, with a decided thundery look in the sky, and that the sea had gone down very considerably while I had been lying asleep.

"Well, San Domingo," I said, "are there any signs of the chase? And where is the commodore?"

"De chase, sah, am about four mile to wind'ard ob us, bearin' about half a point abaft de beam, and de commodore am 'bout a mile and a half astern of us."

"Astern of us--the commodore astern of us, did you say?" exclaimed I incredulously.

"Yes, sah," answered the black, quite unmoved, "dead astern ob us. We hab both weadered and head-reached on him durin' de night."

"Has he made any signals since I came below?" asked I.

"Not dat I am aware ob," answered the fellow. "But, if ma.s.sa wish, I will go on deck and ask Mistah Simpson."

"No, never mind," said I. "No doubt Mr Simpson would have called me had such been the case. What canvas are we under?"

"All plain sail, to de royal, sah."

"Very well, that will do," said I, taking the cup and draining it.

"Find me my bath towel, San Domingo, and then you may go."

A minute later I was on deck, still in my sleeping rig, and looking about me. The weather was pretty much as I had judged it to be from the glimpse that I had caught through my state-room port. As San Domingo had said, the _Dona Inez_ was about a mile and a half so dead astern of us that her two masts were in one, while, in the precise position which the negro had indicated, there lay a fine, spanking brigantine thrashing along under a perfect cloud of canvas to her royal, which, by the way, appeared to have as much hoist, and nearly as much canvas on it, as our topsail.

"Nothing to report, sir," said Simpson, coming up to me as I emerged from the companion. "We made out the chase about two bells this morning; but I did not call you, sir, as she showed no signs of shiftin'

her helm. And the commodore haven't said a word all night. I reckon he'll be a bit surprised when he sees where we are."

"To tell you the truth, Simpson, I am 'a bit surprised' myself," said I.

"She is a wonderful little craft to have beaten the _Inez_ as she has done, and that, too, in a strong breeze." And, turning away, I went forward and took my usual salt-water bath.

"Now," I meditated, as I took up a position beneath the spout of the head-pump, and signed to the man in charge to get to work, "the rule in chasing when one is abreast, but to the leeward of the chase, is to tack. I don't like to tack without instructions from my superior officer, because I don't know what his plans may be, and he may have some scheme of his own for the circ.u.mventing of our friend yonder; but if I do not hear anything from him by the time that I am ready to go below and dress I will just take the small liberty of asking for instructions. For of course the brigantine is quite aware by this time that the brig and we are running in couples, therefore there need be no further squeamishness on my part as to an interchange of signals between the brig and myself."

My douche at an end, I walked aft again, and, pausing at the head of the companion ladder, said to Simpson:

"Mr Simpson, be good enough to get out the flags and--"

The carpenter was balancing himself upon the dancing deck as I spoke, with the telescope at his eye, looking at the brig, and I had got so far in my speech when he interrupted me with the exclamation:

"Signal from the commodore, sir!"

"What is it?" I asked.

He read out the flags to me, and I said:

"All right! acknowledge it." And I dived below into my cabin, where I at once turned up the signal in the code book. It consisted of the one word "Tack!"

Hastily closing the book again, I dashed up the companion ladder and shouted to Simpson: