Blue Jackets Part 22

I went up on deck again to find that our speed had been slightly increased, but we drew no nearer to the junk, which sailed on exactly in the same course as we were taking, and that seemed strange; but beyond watching her through the telescopes, and seeing that she had only about a dozen men on board--all blue-frocked Chinamen--no further notice was taken of her.

Ching was seated right forward, with his blue frock showing well up against the grey white of one of the hanging-down sails, and he had been furnished with a pipe, which he smoked slowly and thoughtfully; half-a-dozen men were in the fore-rigging, making believe to repair damages up aloft; and soon after four more were sent up to begin tinkering at the topmast, which they made great efforts to lower down on deck, but of course got no further.

They had orders from the first lieutenant to take it coolly, and coolly they took it, looking like a lazy, loafing set of Chinese sailors, whose intentions were to do as little as they could for their pay.

Mr Reardon, in a shooting-suit and straw hat, went about giving orders, and the captain and Mr Brooke had cane seats on the quarter-deck, with a bottle and gla.s.ses, and sat sipping beer and smoking cigars, as if they were pa.s.sengers.

Then came long hours of patient--I should say impatient--crawling along over the same course as we had followed the previous day, with no sail in sight but the big junk, which took not the slightest notice of us, nor we of it.

There was no doubt whatever, though, of her actions. She kept sailing on at about the same rate as we steamed, evidently for the sake of being in company, and to have a European vessel close at hand to close up to in case of danger from the sh.o.r.es of the mainland, or one of the islands we should pa.s.s, for it was an established fact that the pirates seldom attacked ships that were in company.

All through the early part of the morning the novelty of the affair interested the men, and there was a constant burst of eager conversation going on, but as noon came, and matters were in the same position, and we still far away from the spot where the barque had been burned, every one grew weary, and I fidgeted myself into a state of perspiration.

"It will all turn out wrong," I thought, "and then they will blame me."

With these fancies to worry me, I kept away from my messmates as much as I could; and when by accident I encountered either of my superiors, I saw that they looked--or I fancied they did--very stern.

"All these preparations for nothing," I said to myself, as I saw the guns all ready, but covered over with tarpaulins, cartridges and sh.e.l.ls waiting, and the crews armed and impatient.

Dinner had been long over, and I need hardly say that I did not enjoy mine. Some of the men were having a nap, and the heat below must have been very great, for it was scorching on deck.

At last we were abreast of the rocky islands dotted here and there, and upon the reef I could just make out a few pieces of the burned vessel.

But as I swept the rocky islets and channels and then the horizon, I could not make out a sail, only our companion the junk, with her bows and stern high out of the water, sailing easily along that fine afternoon.

Another hour pa.s.sed, and there were rocky islands on our starboard bow and two astern, but not a sign of inhabitant, only high bluffs, rugged cliffs, and narrow channels between reefs whitened by the constant breaking upon them of a heavy swell.

"Rather slow work, Reardon," said the captain, as they two came by where I was at the bulwark, using a small gla.s.s. "See anything, Mr Herrick?"

"No, sir," I said.

"No, sir, indeed; of course you don't," cried the captain impatiently.

"Nice trick you've played me, sir. Made me dress up my men and the ship in this tomfool way. There you are using your gla.s.s. What have you got to say for yourself, eh?"

I could not tell whether he was speaking banteringly or really angrily, and, keeping my gla.s.s to my eye in the hope of seeing something to report, I mumbled out some excuse about meaning it for the best.

"Best, indeed!" he said pettishly. "Nice objects we look. What do you think the First Lords of the Admiralty would say to me if they could see Her Majesty's gunboat--the finest clipper in the service--in this state?

Eh? Why don't you answer, sir?"

"I suppose, sir," I cried desperately, "that they would say you were doing your best for the sake of trying to catch the pirates."

"Humph! do you, indeed? Well? Anything to report? What's the use of holding that gla.s.s to your eye if you can't see anything? Anything to report, I say?"

"Yes, sir," I cried breathlessly, and with my heart throbbing heavily, "the junk has run up a little pennon to her mast-head."

"She has?" cried Mr Reardon excitedly, and he raised his own gla.s.s.

"Yes, you're right. Well done, Herrick! There, sir, I told you the lad was right."

"Right? when they are signalling to us for water or a bag of rice."

"When they have only to heave-to and let us overhaul them, sir," cried Mr Reardon, swinging his gla.s.s round and narrowly missing my head.

"No, sir, they're signalling to the sh.o.r.e; and before long we shall see another junk come swooping out from behind one of those headlands, to take us in the rear. If they don't, I'm a Dutchman."

"Then Dutchman you are, Reardon," said the captain, smiling. "I only wish they would."

"Here they come, sir," I cried excitedly--"one--two--yes, there are three."

"What? Where?"

"You can only see the tops of their sails, sir, over that flat, low island this side of the big cliffs."

"Eh! yes."

Only those two words, as the captain sighted the slowly-moving objects just indistinctly seen, but they were enough to send a thrill all through the ship.

For there was no mistaking the matter. The junk that had been hanging by us all night was a pirate after all, and she had signalled to companions on sh.o.r.e. I could see, too, that she was slightly altering her course.

The enemy was at last in sight.

CHAPTER ELEVEN.

THE FIGHT.

"Oh, if I only dared hooray!" I said to myself; and then a flush of pride rose to my cheeks, for the captain gave me a smart clap on the shoulder.

"Bravo, Herrick!" he said in quite a whisper. "I thought you were right, my lad, or I shouldn't have done all this. Mr Reardon and I will make a fine officer of you before we have done."

"Shall I pa.s.s the word down for the men to be on the _qui vive_?" said the lieutenant.

The captain laughed, and nodded his head in the direction of the hatches, which were black with peeping heads.

"No need, Mr Reardon; there is not a soul on board who does not know.

It is no time for making fresh arrangements. We'll keep exactly to our plans. Don't let a man show on deck, for depend upon it they will have a look-out aloft ready to give warning of danger, and we must not give them an excuse for signalling to their confederates to sheer off."

"Keep steadily on, then, sir?"

"Yes, steadily and stupidly. Let the men go on as before up aloft, and let the rest of the men show their white heads and pigtails at the bulwarks as if they were wondering who the strangers were. Good pressure of steam below?"

"Yes, sir, almost too much," said the lieutenant, after communication with the engine-room.

"Not a bit," said the captain, rubbing his hands. "We shall want it soon."

My heart began to beat as they pa.s.sed on, and I wondered what would be the first steps taken. But I did not forget my promise. My duties were about nil, and as soon as I had seen the men staring over the bulwarks, and noted that the sham repairs to the rigging were steadily going on, I ran down the companion-way, and breathlessly told Barkins and Smith.

"Then there are four of them, Smithy," cried Barkins. "Look here, Gnat; he stuck out that there were only three. But well done, old chap, you are a good one to come and tell us. Here, don't go yet; I want to--"

I never heard what he wanted to, for there was too much exciting attraction on the deck, to which, being as it were licensed, I at once returned.