By Conduct and Courage Part 11

"Yes, that may be so, but I think we are pretty safe to lick them at either of these places if they will come out and fight us fair, whereas in the West Indies they are a good bit stronger. There are so many ports and islands that, as we are, so to speak, a good deal scattered, they might at any moment come upon us in double our strength."

"Have you ever been there before, Bill?"

"Ay, two or three times. In some respects it could not be better; you can buy fruit, and 'bacca and rum for next to nothing, when your officers give you a chance. Lor', the games them n.i.g.g.e.rs are up to to circ.u.mvent them would make you laugh! When you land, an old black woman will come up with a basket full of cocoa-nuts. Your officer steps up to her and examines them, and they look as right as can be. Perhaps he breaks one and it is full of milk; very good. So you go up to buy, and the officer looks on.

The woman hands you two or three, and when she gives you the last one she winks her eye. She don't say anything, but you drop a sixpence into her hand among the coppers you have to pay for the others, and when she has quite sold out the officer orders you into the boat to lie off till he comes back. And when he returns he is quite astonished to find that most of the crew are three sheets in the wind.

"Then they will bring you sugar-canes half as thick as your wrist, looking as innocent as may be; both ends are sealed up with bits of the pith, and when you open one end you find that all the joints have been bored through, and the cane is full of rum. But mind, lads, you are fools if you touch it; it is new and strong and rank, and a bottle of it would knock you silly. And that is not the worst of it, for fever catches hold of you, and fever out there ain't no joke. You eats a good dinner at twelve o'clock, and you are buried in the palisades at six; that's called yellow jack. It is a country where you can enjoy yourselves reasonable with fruit, and perhaps a small sup of rum, but where you must beware of drinking; if you do that you are all right. The islands are beautiful, downright beautiful; there ain't many places which I troubles myself to look at, but the West Indies are like gardens with feathery sorts of trees, and mountains, and everything that you can want in nature."

"It is very hot, isn't it, Bill?"

"It ain't, so to speak, cool in summer-time. In winter it is just right, but in summer you would like to lie naked all day and have cold water poured over you. Still, one gets accustomed to it in time. Then, you see, there is always excitement of some kind. There are pirates and Frenchmen, and there are Spaniards, whom I regard as a cross between the other two.

They hide about among the islands and pop out when you least expect them.

You always have to keep your eyes in your head and your cutla.s.s handy when you go ash.o.r.e. The worst of them are what they call mulattoes; they are a whity-brown sort of chaps, neither one thing nor the other, and a nice cut-throat lot they are. A sailor who drinks too much and loses his boat is as like as not to be murdered by some of them before morning. I hate them chaps like poison. There are scores of small craft manned by them which prey upon the negroes, who are an honest, merry lot, and not bad sailors either in their way. Sometimes four or five of these pirate craft will go together, and many of them are a good size and carry a lot of guns. They make some island their head-quarters. Any n.i.g.g.e.rs there may be on it they turn into slaves. There are thousands of these islands, so at least I should say, scattered about, some of them mere sand-spots, others a goodish size.

"Well, I hope it is the West Indies. There is plenty of amus.e.m.e.nt and plenty of fighting to be done there, and I should like to know what a sailor can want more."

There was a hum of approval; the picture was certainly tempting.

After a six days' run with a favourable wind they pa.s.sed through the Straits without touching at Gibraltar, and held west for twenty-four hours. Then the sealed orders were opened, and it was soon known throughout the ship that it was indeed the West Indies for which they were bound. The ship's course was at once changed. Teneriffe was pa.s.sed, and they stopped for a day to take in fresh water and vegetables at St.

Vincent. Then her head was turned more westward, and three weeks later the _Furious_ anch.o.r.ed at Port Royal. The captain went on sh.o.r.e at once to visit the admiral, and returned with the news that the _Furious_ was to cruise off the coast of Cuba. The exact position of the French fleet was unknown, but when last heard of was in the neighbourhood of that island.

"I must keep a sharp look-out for them," the captain said, "and bring back news of their whereabouts if I do catch sight of them; that is, of course, if we don't catch a tartar, for not only do the French ships carry heavier guns than we do, but they sail faster. We are as speedy, however, as any of our cla.s.s, and will, I hope, be able to show them a clean pair of heels. In addition to this, I am told that three piratical craft, which have their rendezvous on some island off the south coast of Cuba, have been committing great depredations. A number of merchantmen have been missed; so I am to keep a sharp look-out for them and to clip their wings if I can."

"What size are they?" asked the first lieutenant.

"One is said to be a cutter carrying eight guns and a long-tom, the other two are schooners, each carrying six guns on a broadside; it is not known whether they have a long-tom, but the probability is that they have."

"They would be rather formidable opponents then if we caught them together, as they carry as many guns as we do, and those long-toms are vastly more powerful than anything we have. I think it is a pity that they don't furnish all ships on this station with a long twenty-four; it would be worth nearly all our broadsides."

"That is so, Mr. Farrance, but somehow the people at home cannot get out of their regular groove, and fill up the ships with eight and ten-pounders, while, as you say, one long twenty-four would be worth a dozen of them. If we do catch one of these pirates I shall confiscate their long guns to our own use."

"It would be a capital plan, sir. Well, I am glad we shall have something to look for besides the French fleet, which may be a hundred miles away."

"Ay, or a thousand," the captain added.

Will had been standing not far from the captain, and heard this conversation. His heart beat high at the thought of the possibility of a fight with these murderous pirates.

For three weeks they cruised off the coast of Cuba. They saw no sign whatever of the French fleet, but from time to time they heard from native craft of the pirates. The natives differed somewhat widely as to the head-quarters of these pests, but all agreed that it was on an island lying in the middle of dangerous shoals.

One day they saw smoke rising some fifteen miles away and at once shaped their course for it. When they approached it they found that it rose from a vessel enveloped in flames.

"She is a European ship," the captain said as they neared her. "Send an officer in a boat to row round her and gather any particulars as to her fate. I see no boats near her, and I am afraid that it is the work of those pirates."

All watched the boat with intent interest as she rowed round the ship.

"I have no doubt whatever that it is the work of pirates," the officer said on his return. "Her bulwarks are burnt away, and I could make out several piles on deck which looked like dead men."

"Send a man up to the mast-head, Farrance, and tell him to scan the horizon carefully for a sail. I should say this ship can't have been burning above three hours at most."

No sooner had the man reached the top of the mast than he called down "Sail ho!"

"Where away?" Mr. Farrance shouted.

"On the port bow, sir."

"What do you make her out to be?"

"I should say she was a schooner by her topsails."

The ship's course was at once changed, and every rag of sail put upon her.

The first lieutenant climbed to the upper crosstrees, and after a long look through his telescope returned to deck.

"I should say she is certainly one of the schooners that we are in search of, sir, but I doubt whether with this light wind we have much chance of overhauling her."

"We will try anyhow," the captain said. "She is probably steering for the rendezvous, so by following her we may at least get some important information."

All day the chase continued, but there was no apparent change in the position of the two vessels. The _Furious_ was kept on the same course through the night, and to the satisfaction of all on board they found, when morning broke, that they had certainly gained on the schooner, as her mainsails were now visible. At twelve o'clock a low bank of sand was sighted ahead, and the schooner had entered a channel in this two hours later. The _Furious_ had to be hove-to outside the shoal. The sand extended a long distance, but there were several breaks in it, and from the masthead a net-work of channels could be made out. It was a great disappointment to the crew of the _Furious_ to have to give up the chase and see the schooner only some four miles off on her way under easy sail.

"This is an awkward place, Mr. Farrance," the captain said, "and will need a deal of examination before we go any farther. The first thing to do will be to sail round and note and sound the various channels. I wish you would go aloft with your gla.s.s and see whether there is any ground higher than the rest. Such a place would naturally be the point of rendezvous."

Lieutenant Farrance went aloft and presently returned.

"There is a clump of green trees," he said, "some ten miles off. The schooner is nearing them, and I think, though of this I am not certain, that I can make out the masts of another craft lying there."

"Well, it is something to have located her," the captain said. "Now we must find how we can best get there; that will be a work of time. We may as well begin by examining some of these channels."

Four boats were at once lowered and rowed to the mouths of those nearest.

The sounding operations quickly showed that in three of them there was but two feet of water; the other was somewhat deeper, but there was still two feet less water than the _Furious_ drew. The deep part was very narrow and winding.

"It may be this one that the schooner has gone up," the captain said. "I have no doubt she draws three or four feet less than we do, and, knowing the pa.s.sage perfectly, she could get up it easily. I hope, however, we shall find something deeper presently."

The next three days were spent in circ.u.mnavigating the sand-banks and in sounding the various channels, but at last the captain was obliged to admit that none of them were deep enough for the _Furious_, although there were fully half a dozen by which vessels of lighter draught might enter.

"I am ready to run any fair risk, Mr. Farrance," he said, "but I daren't send a boat expedition against such a force as that, especially as they have no doubt thrown up batteries to strengthen their position. They must have any number of cannon which they have taken from ships they have captured."

"It would certainly be a desperate enterprise," the first lieutenant agreed, "and, as you say, too dangerous to be attempted now."

"Gilmore," Forster said, as the midshipmen met at dinner, "you are always full of ideas; can't you suggest any way by which we might get at them?"

"I am afraid not," Will laughed. "The only possible way that I can see would be to sail away, get together a number of native craft, and then make a dash at the place."

"What would be the advantage of native craft over our boats," one of the others said scoffingly.

"The great advantage would be that, if we had a dozen native craft, the men would be scattered about their decks instead of being crowded in boats, and would therefore be able to land with comparatively little loss."

"Upon my word," one of the seniors said, "I think there is something in Gilmore's idea. Of course they would have to be very shallow, and one would have to choose a night when there was just enough breeze to take them quietly along. At any rate I will run the risk of being snubbed, and will mention it to one of the lieutenants. 'Pon my word, the more I think of it the more feasible does it seem."

After dinner was over the midshipman went up to Mr. Peters, who was now third lieutenant, and saluted.