Ronald Morton, or the Fire Ships Part 27

"I was coming to all that presently," persisted the old man. "It's of the past I want to speak."

"But, man, lately, what have you done?--what crimes have you committed?"

exclaimed Morton.

"None that I know of," answered the seaman. "I was always a wild blade, from the time I first set foot on a ship's deck. There was no mischief I was not up to, no crime I feared committing. I had done many bad things, but the worst was to come. I was still a lad, and so was my chum, Archy Eagleshay, and another, an older man, and older in crime, too, but he's gone to his account, as we must all go, great and small."

"You speak truth, my man," exclaimed Morton, now losing all patience.

"Again I ask you to pa.s.s over your early days, and to come to the latter events of your career. How did you happen to be on board this ship, among a set of Frenchmen and ruffians of all nations?"

"That was what I was coming to tell you, sir," giving a peculiar look at Morton, who was doubtful whether it was caused by stupidity or obstinacy. He saw, at all events, that there was no use in attempting to draw forth the information he required before the old man was ready to give it.

After a pause, seeing that Morton was not again going to speak, the old man continued: "Well, as I was saying, sir, he who is gone came to Eagleshay and me, and says he, 'Are you lads ready to gain more golden guineas than you ever set eyes on in your life?' Of course we were.

'It's nothing but carrying off a slip of a baby who can do little more than talk, and just leaving him in the plantations.' We didn't ask questions, but we went on board a little sloop he owned, and then we waited, cruising about, till one evening he told us to pull on sh.o.r.e, and there we found a nurse and child, and the woman gave us the child.

Away we went with it aboard the sloop, and made sail, and never dropped anchor till we reached the port of Dublin. Then our captain sold the sloop, and we all went aboard a ship and sailed for America. We didn't reach it though. We had done a cursed deed, and G.o.d's curse was to follow us. Our ship went down, and we were left floating on a raft; we were well-nigh starved, when a ship fell in with us, and we were taken on board. The captain was a kind-hearted man, and he said he would take care of the little fellow; and as our captain--he that's gone--had got the money for the deed he'd done, he didn't try to keep him; indeed, he could not have kept him if he'd wished; and so the good captain drew up a paper from what we'd told him, and he made us put our names to it, and he went and locked it up, and after that he never talked about the matter. We didn't know what he might do, so we ran from the ship at the first port we came to. From that day to this I never set eyes on the youngster, or heard of the good captain again. Well, one bad thing leads to another. We all then went out to the West Indies, and we shipped aboard some strange craft, and strange flags they sailed under.

It was difficult to know, when you came on deck, what was flying at the peak. There were many things done which sickened me, and some of my shipmates I saw hung up at Port Royal in a way I didn't like, and at last I got away back to England. I then took a wife. Many years, you'll understand, had pa.s.sed by. I thought I was going to remain on sh.o.r.e, and be quiet and honest. I'd one little chap born, and I began to be fonder of him than I had been of any living creature before; but I was short of money, and the old feeling came over me. When I wanted it out in the West Indies then I took it. I now did a thing or two which made me fly the country. From that day to this I have never set foot on the sh.o.r.es of old England."

Morton thought that he might now venture to interrupt the old man. He had been so anxiously waiting for the account he might give of the pa.s.sengers, that he paid little attention to the first part of the narrative.

The old man declared that he knew nothing particular about them. He was on the other side of the island when the Indiaman arrived. He knew that a number of people had been landed, and that huts had been built for them, and that they were living on sh.o.r.e; but sentries were placed in the neighbourhood of the spot, and no one was allowed to pa.s.s to communicate with them.

"But what is the character of the men who have possession of the islands? Are they men-of-war's men, privateers, or pirates?" inquired Ronald.

The answer the old man gave was not perfectly satisfactory. "They might be pirates, for they were a rough set; but then privateers were often rough enough, and little better. Then again some of the ships which came in wore pennants, and the officers had uniforms; but it was easy enough for a privateer or a pirate to fly a pennant, and any man could put on a uniform, as he had often seen done by villains who finished their career by being hung up in chains."

Morton took several turns on the deck. Could nothing satisfactory be made out of the old man? "Could you find your way back again to those islands you speak of?" he asked.

"Maybe I could tell the course we've steered; for when it has been my trick at the helm I marked it well--it has always been the same. Five days had pa.s.sed since we tripped our anchor before you fell in with us.

Nor'-west by west, half west; and we ran between seven and eight knots an hour--seldom less, I should say. There, sir, can you make anything out of that?"

"I hope so; and could you pilot us into the harbour from which you sailed?" asked the lieutenant.

"That I could, I am bold to say, seeing that I've been fishing over every spot of it for the last ten years, or more," said the old man.

"That will do, Mr Doull. Stay aft here, with your son, as you say he is; and I think you are right, for there is a likeness. I will trust to you, and I will do my best, if you prove true, to get you pardoned for any offence against the laws which you have committed."

Ronald called Glover and signalised the frigate. Both ships hove-to, and he went on board. His consultation with Captain Calder was soon over, and on his return both ships shaped a course in the direction indicated by the old man.

CHAPTER TWENTY THREE.

WHAT HAD BEFALLEN THE "OSTERLEY"--HAD BEEN TAKEN BY THE ENEMY AND CARRIED INTO PORT--Pa.s.sENGERS KEPT PRISONERS ON THE ISLAND.

When the "Osterley" left Calcutta she stood across the Bay of Bengal, and there appeared to be every prospect of a favourable commencement of the voyage. She had a good many pa.s.sengers, but not so many as she would have had, probably, had she been going home direct. They were chiefly married ladies, accompanying their children; or civilians, or military men returning after many years' service; or invalids, hoping to regain their health in the land of their birth.

Altogether, Miss Armytage did not expect to find much to interest her among the companions of her voyage, as they, one after the other, made their appearance on the p.o.o.p-deck of the Indiaman, on which she was seated. It is possible that, while the pilot vessel continued in sight, she might have taken an occasional glance to ascertain how the little vessel was performing her voyage, and afterwards it is certain that she was lost in a reverie, from which she was not aroused till her mother had several times addressed her with the inquiry whether she was not excessively hungry, and would go down and get ready for dinner. Mrs Armytage was a very good-natured woman, and not dest.i.tute of sense, but she had no romance in her composition. She was a great contrast to her unhappy sister, Hilda.

Edda aroused herself. "Yes, mamma; if it is necessary to appear at dinner, I will go down with you."

"Of course, dear; and here is Captain Winslow coming to offer you his arm."

However, he offered it to Mrs Armytage herself, and with his most polite of bows, begged that they would take their seats near him at table. Captain Winslow was courteous to all his pa.s.sengers, but he certainly paid more attention to the Armytage party than to all the rest.

After dinner, most of the pa.s.sengers were collected on the p.o.o.p, watching two vessels which appeared in the distance. One was evidently a native craft, a Dhow or Pattarmar, from her high stern, curiously-projecting bow, and lofty lateen sail. She had apparently communicated with the other stranger, which was a ship of some size, and was now working in towards the land.

The ship engrossed the chief attention of the pa.s.sengers. She was a flush-decked vessel or corvette--large for that cla.s.s of craft, with very square yards. Miss Armytage hoped that her mother would not overhear the observations which the appearance of the strange sail called forth. She was looked upon by all as a very suspicious craft.

Under what flag she sailed was a question, but it was very evident that she was a man-of-war, a privateer, or a pirate. She was an armed vessel--she was not a British man-of-war--she might be an English privateer, but she had the look of a foreigner.

By degrees the suspicions respecting the character of the stranger increased, till few had any doubt that he was an enemy. Captain, Winslow, however, was not to be intimidated by the appearance of the ship. Captain Winslow had probably made up his own mind as to what he would do, but, under the circ.u.mstances of the case, he judged it necessary to call his officers and the princ.i.p.al pa.s.sengers together, to ask their opinion as to what course should be pursued. Colonel Armytage was, of course, summoned to the consultation. The captain opened the proceedings.

"No one will doubt that, should the sail in sight prove an enemy--for that has not yet been ascertained--we should run for it," he observed.

"There is no disgrace in that; our business is to carry pa.s.sengers and cargo, and we shall do wisely to stick to our business as long as we can; but the question, gentlemen, which I have to submit to your consideration is, shall we fight and defend our ship, the pa.s.sengers and property confided to our care, or shall we yield to what may prove superior force?"

"Superior force or not, I say, sir, by the powers! let us fight it out to the last, and drive off the enemy," exclaimed the first mate. He spoke out of order, but his opinion was echoed by his brother officers, and by most of the pa.s.sengers, Colonel Armytage was in favour of fighting to the last.

"Should she prove a privateer, and we take her, we should do well to hang every one of her crew up to the yard-arm as pirates, for they are in no degree better," he exclaimed, in a tone which showed his annoyance at the prospect of so disagreeable an interruption to their voyage.

"We shall do well to take the enemy before we decide what is to be done with him," observed the captain.

Some few of the pa.s.sengers were for temporising measures; they proposed hoisting a flag of truce, and endeavouring to come to terms with the enemy.

"Not very likely, gentlemen, that if the enemy think they have the power to take the ship, and everything on board her, they will be content with a portion," answered the captain. "The majority are decidedly for fighting; we will prepare the ship for action."

The Indiaman was kept on her course, but all the sail she could possibly carry was set on her. The stranger was at this time to the south-east, her hull just rising above the horizon.

The Indiaman was before the wind, so was the stranger, but her courses were brailed up, and she was evidently waiting for some purpose or other; she certainly, at present, did not look like an object to be dreaded.

The alarm of the ladies gradually subsided, till they began to wonder why it should be thought necessary to make such preparations for fighting; why the shot was got up, the powder-tubs filled, and the guns loaded, and boarding nettings made ready for rigging.

For some time the stranger did not appear to alter her position. When, however, at length the Indiaman, under all sail, began to put forth her speed, giving evidence that she might be many leagues to the southward by nightfall, the ship in the distance let fall her courses, and her head coming round, she was seen to be steering a course which would intersect that of the "Osterley."

"It will come to a fight, sir, I suspect," observed the captain to Colonel Armytage.

"So much the better, for I suppose that there is but little doubt that we shall beat off the enemy," answered the colonel. "We have plenty of men, and some serviceable guns, and I trust your fellows will do their duty like men."

"I trust so, too, sir; but probably that ship out there has more men and longer guns than we have," said the captain, gravely. "We should not conceal from ourselves that the contest will be a severe one, at all events, and the termination doubtful. I would not say this to the crew, or to the pa.s.sengers generally, but in the event of disaster, how are we to protect the helpless beings committed to our charge--the ladies and children? Some of these Frenchmen, I have heard, are fiends incarnate in the moment of victory, and if we offer a stout resistance, and are conquered at last, what is to be done?"

"I should feel inclined to blow up the ship rather than run any risk of the ladies suffering violence," exclaimed the colonel, pacing the deck in an agitated manner.

"That were scarcely right in the sight of G.o.d, or wise in that of men,"

said the captain, calmly: "I had to propose that at a signal which the chief officer who survives shall give they all a.s.semble in the main cabin, and that then we rally round them, and refuse to yield till the enemy agree to terms."

"Your plan is good, but you look at the dark side of things," remarked Colonel Armytage.

"I look at both sides, sir," was the answer. "The 'Osterley' is a fast ship, and we may run away from our pursuer; if we are overtaken, we may beat her off, or after all she may prove to be no enemy at all. You see, sir, I turn the state of the case right round; I like to settle beforehand how, under all circ.u.mstances, I shall act."

"I see, Captain Winslow, you are a man of forethought--a useful quality in your profession," said Colonel Armytage, though he did not make the remark with the best possible grace. In truth, he was inclined to look down on the sea captain as a person of a very inferior grade to himself, though compelled under peculiar circ.u.mstances to a.s.sociate with him.

With one of his formal bows he said that he must go below to make the ladies understand the arrangements contemplated for them.