The Pirate Island Part 15

"Well, captain," exclaimed Dale upon their entrance, "what news have you for us? Have you made arrangements for our conveyance to Valparaiso? I hope we are not going to be kept cooped up very long in this wretched little vessel."

"We are to leave her sooner than I antic.i.p.ated," replied Captain Staunton, "but I regret to say that I have been quite unable to make any arrangements of a satisfactory character. And, as to news, I must ask you to prepare yourselves for the worst--or almost the worst--that you could possibly hear. We are on board _a pirate_, and in the hands of as unscrupulous a set of rascals as one could well encounter."

The skipper then proceeded to describe _in extenso_ his interview with the pirate captain, throwing out such ideas as presented themselves to him in the course of his narrative, and winding up by pointing out to them that though the situation was serious enough it was not altogether desperate, the pirate leader being evidently anxious to escape from his present position, and as evidently disposed to look with friendly eyes upon all who might seem to have it in their power to a.s.sist him, either directly or indirectly, in the attainment of his purpose.

"Our first endeavour," he said in conclusion, "must be to impress upon this man that, though we are his prisoners, we are still a power, by reason of our numbers as well as of our superior intelligence and knowledge of the world, and that we can certainly help him if we have the opportunity; and this idea once firmly established in his mind, he will listen to and very possibly fall in with some of our suggestions, all of which, I suppose I need hardly say, must be made with a single eye to our own ultimate escape. Our future is beset by difficulties, very few of which we can even antic.i.p.ate as yet; but I think if each one will only take a hopeful view of the situation, it will be singular indeed if one or another of us does not hit upon a means of escape."

By the time that he had finished speaking the brains of his hearers were literally teeming with ideas, all, that is to say, except Mr Dale, who, with elbows on the table, his head buried in his hands, and his hair all rumpled, abandoned himself to despair and to loud bewailings of the unfortunate combination of circ.u.mstances which led to his venturing upon the treacherous ocean. The others, however, knew him thoroughly by this time; and none troubled themselves to take the slightest notice of him except Rex Fortescue, who exclaimed--

"_Do_ shut up, Dale, and cease making a fool of yourself. I wonder that you are not ashamed to behave in this unmanly way, especially before ladies, too. If you _can't_ keep quiet, you know, we shall have to put you on deck, where I fancy you would get something worth howling about."

This threat had the desired effect; Mr Dale subsided into silence, and the rest of the party at once, in low cautious tones, began an interchange of ideas which lasted a long time but brought forth no very satisfactory result; the council finding itself at the close of the discussion pretty much where it was at the commencement.

At one o'clock a thoroughly substantial dinner was served to them, followed by tea at six in the evening, at both of which meals the pirate captain did the honours with a manifest desire to evince a friendly disposition toward his guests, and about nine p.m. a quiet and un.o.btrusive removal from the cabin to their new quarters in the after- hold was effected; after which most of the party disposed themselves comfortably upon the bedding which they found had been provided for them, and enjoyed a night of thoroughly sound repose, such as they had been strangers to ever since the destruction of the _Galatea_.

When our friends awoke on the following morning they became aware, by the motion of the ship and the sound of the water gurgling along her sides, that a breeze had sprung up. Most of the gentlemen--all of them, in fact, except Dale--went on deck, and, finding the watch busy washing decks, borrowed of them a few buckets with which they gave each other a most hearty and refreshing salt water douche, much to the amus.e.m.e.nt of the crew.

As soon as breakfast was over, Lance, with that cool _insouciance_ characteristic of the man who has so often found himself environed by perils that he ceases to think of them, went again on deck, with the intention of mingling freely with the pirate crew, and, if possible, placing himself upon such easy terms with them as would give him an opportunity of acquiring whatever information it might be in their power to give. The first individual he saw on emerging from the hatchway was Johnson, the pirate captain, who was leaning moodily over the lee rail abaft the main-rigging, smoking a well-seasoned pipe.

"Good morning, captain," exclaimed Lance genially, as he sauntered up to the man. "What a delightful morning--and how good your tobacco smells!

I have not enjoyed the luxury of a pipe for the last fortnight; have you any tobacco to spare?"

"Help yourself, stranger," answered Johnson rather surlily, as he tendered his tobacco-pouch.

"Thanks," said Lance, returning the pouch after he had filled and lighted his pipe. "Ah! how good this is," as he took the first whiff or two. "You have a fine breeze after yesterday's calm; and the brig seems quite a traveller in her small way."

"In her small way!" exclaimed Johnson indignantly; "why, she's a _flyer_, stranger, that's what she is. I reckon you don't know much about ships, or you wouldn't talk like that. I guess you ain't a sailor, are you?"

"I am a soldier by profession," answered Lance, "but for all that I am not exactly an unmitigated land-lubber; on the contrary I am quite an enthusiastic yachtsman, and I flatter myself that I know a good model when I see one."

"And yet you don't take much account of the brig, stranger?"

"She seems a good enough little craft of her kind," admitted Lance, "and as a mere trader I have no doubt she would answer well enough. But it strikes me that, to gentlemen of your profession, a really fast and powerful vessel is an absolute necessity if you would insure your own safety. In weather like this I daresay you would manage tolerably well; but if a frigate were by any chance to fall in with you in a fresh breeze, or, worse still, in heavy weather, I fear you would find yourselves in a 'tight place;' she would have you under her guns in less than an hour."

"That's so, stranger; yes, I reckon that's so," conceded Johnson with evident reluctance. "There _are_ ships as can outsail us, I know, for we've fallen in with some half a dozen clippers, and we couldn't do nothing with 'em; they just walked away from us. And though I don't calculate that there's ever a frigate afloat as could get alongside them tea-ships if the tea-ships didn't want 'em to, yet I guess there's frigates as _could_ overhaul us in heavy weather. And so you're a yachtsman, eh? Then I reckon you know something about quick sailing.

How fast, now, do you calculate a yacht would sail in this breeze?"

"That depends entirely upon the build and model of the craft. If she were a racing schooner of, say the tonnage of this brig, I daresay her speed under such circ.u.mstances as these would be thirteen or perhaps fourteen knots; if, however, she were merely a cruising yacht, such as my own, I do not imagine she would average more than eleven."

"Eleven knots! Jeosh--I say, stranger, how many knots do you reckon we are making just now?" exclaimed Johnson.

Lance looked over the side for a moment, marked a piece of weed floating past, and then answered--

"About eight, I should think; certainly not more."

"I guess you're wrong, stranger," returned the pirate skipper with animation, "she's going ten if she's going an inch."

"You can easily test it by heaving the log," suggested Lance.

"Aft here, two of you, and heave the log," shouted Johnson.

Two men came sauntering aft, at the call; the line and gla.s.s were prepared; and Johnson himself made ready to test the speed of the brig.

"Turn!" he cried to the man who held the gla.s.s, as the last of the "stray" pa.s.sed out over the taffrail.

The gla.s.s was smartly turned; the reel spun rapidly round; the marks flew through Johnson's fingers, and his countenance brightened with exultation.

"Stop!"

The sand had all run out; and Johnson grasped the line just before the eighth knot reached his hand.

"Tarnation! you're right, stranger," he angrily exclaimed. "Waal, I swan I made sure she was going ten at the very least."

"You skippers very often make that kind of mistake," remarked Lance.

"Or rather, it is not so much a mistake as a self-deception; you would like your ship to have a speed of ten knots in such weather as this, and 'the wish is father to the thought.' Besides which, having formed an attachment for your ship, you are naturally anxious to give strangers also a favourable impression of her."

"That's so, stranger, sure as you're standin' there; you've exactly hit it I knew the craft wan't doin' over eight at the outside; but the way you talked about that yacht of yours sorter put my back up, and I 'lowed I wan't goin' to let you have all the big talk to yourself. About this yacht of yours, colonel; where is she now?"

"Where I left her, no doubt," answered Lance with a smile; "safe and sound on the mud of Haslar creek, inside Portsmouth harbour."

"I suppose, as she's such a flyer, that one of the crack English builders put her together?" inquired Johnson.

"No, indeed," said Lance. "She was built at Weymouth by an ordinary shipbuilder, who, for aught I know, had never in his life built a yacht before. I was stationed there at the time, and I designed her myself, and of course superintended her construction."

"You don't say. Waal, I knew that the soldiers did most everything; but I didn't 'low that they designed yachts!" exclaimed Johnson.

"Neither do we, professionally," admitted Lance; "but some of us, of whom I happen to be one, take up the study of naval architecture as an amus.e.m.e.nt; and those who, like myself, belong to the Engineer corps, are to some extent qualified by our technical education to achieve excellence in the art. I can a.s.sure you that some of the officers in my corps have turned out exceedingly creditable craft."

"Waal now, that beats ah," exclaimed Johnson. "So you're an Engineer, and can design yachts into the bargain! Stranger,"--laying his hand impressively on Lance's arm--"I'm real glad I took you all aboard.

About this schooner of yours--she _is_ a schooner, I reckon!"

Lance nodded an affirmative.

"Waal, about this schooner of yours, is she a pretty sea-boat?"

"She is as comfortable a vessel as I would ever wish to have under my feet," answered Lance with just a slight touch of enthusiasm. "She will face any weather a frigate would dare to look at; and in a gale of wind, such as once caught us in the Bay of Biscay, is a great deal drier and more comfortable than many frigates would be."

"Waal now, I call this real interesting," exclaimed Johnson with sparkling eyes. "And I s'pose she was tol'able weatherly?"

"About the same as other vessels of her cla.s.s. _All_ yachts, you know, if they are the least worthy the name, go to windward well; it is one of their strong points."

"Do you think now, colonel, you could recollect enough to design another yacht just like your own schooner?" asked Johnson eagerly.

"Well," said Lance, slowly, as he first began to perceive the direction in which Johnson's thoughts were tending. "I am by no means sure that I could. However," as a brilliant idea dawned upon him, "I am certain that, with the experience I have gained since I designed the _Fleetwing_, I could build one which should excel her in all respects."

"Waal now, this is what I call a real pleasant conversation," exclaimed Johnson, with enthusiasm. "Now, see here, colonel, I guess I'll get you to draw out that design right away."

"I am sure I shall be very pleased," said Lance. "But why do you wish for such a thing? You will surely not venture, after what you have already told us, to visit a civilised port and order a vessel to be built?"