The Secret of the Sands Part 14

By the time that breakfast was over there was a sensible diminution in the force of the wind, and by noon it cleared away sufficiently overhead to enable me to get an observation, not a particularly good one certainly--the sea was running far too high for that; but it enabled me to ascertain that we were at least sixty miles to the southward of Staten.

About four p.m. I got a very much better observation for my longitude, and I found by it that our drift had not been anything like so great as I had calculated it would be. This I thought might possibly arise from our being in a weather-setting current.

There was still rather too much of both wind and sea to make us disposed to get under way that night, but we managed to get the craft up to the buoy of our floating-anchor, which we weighed and let go again with five fathoms of buoy-rope.

This was to prevent as much as possible any further drift to leeward, and to take full advantage of the current, the existence of which we suspected.

Next morning, however, the weather had so far moderated that, tired of our long inaction, we resolved to make a start once more, so shaking the reefs out of the trysail, and rigging our bowsprit out far enough to set a small jib, we got our floating-anchor in, and stood away to the southward and westward, with the wind out from about west-nor'-west.

Volume One, Chapter X.

CHASED BY PIRATES.

The weather now rapidly became finer, and the ocean, no longer lashed into fury by the breath of the tempest, subsided once more into long regular undulations. The wind hauled gradually more round from the northward too, and blew warm and balmy; a most welcome change after the raw and chilly weather we had lately experienced.

We once more cracked on sail upon the little _Water Lily_; and on the morning following that upon which we filled away upon our course, finding by observation that we were well clear of the Cape, and that we had plenty of room even should the wind once more back round from the westward, we hauled close-up, and stood away on a nor'-west-and-by-westerly course.

Nothing of importance occurred for more than a week. The weather continued settled, and the gla.s.s stood high; the wind was out at about north, and sufficiently moderate to permit of our carrying our jib-headed topsail; and day after day we flew forward upon our course, seldom making less than ten knots in the hour, and occasionally reaching as high as thirteen.

We were perfectly jubilant; for having rounded the Cape in safety we now considered our troubles over and our ultimate success as certain. We were fairly in the Pacific, the region of fine weather; and our little barkie had behaved so well in the gale that our confidence in her seaworthiness was thoroughly established; so that all fear of future danger from bad weather was completely taken off our minds.

One morning, the wind having fallen considerably lighter during the preceding night, as soon as breakfast was over I roused up our square-headed topsail, with the intention of setting it in the room of the small one.

But when I proceeded to take the latter in, I found that the halliards were somehow jammed aloft, and I shinned up to clear them. No sailor, if he really be a _seaman_, and not a tinker or a tailor, ever goes aloft without taking a good look round him; so after I had cleared the halliards I clung to the slim spar for a minute or two whilst I swept the horizon carefully around.

"Sail ho!" shouted I, as I caught a glimpse of the royals of a vessel gleaming snowy white in the brilliant sunshine far away in the south-western board.

"Where away?" shouted Bob.

"Broad on our lee-bow," I answered, still clinging to the thin wire topmast shrouds.

"What d'ye make her out to be, Harry, my lad?" was the next question.

"Either a barque or a brig," answered I; "the latter I am inclined to believe, though he is still too far away for his mizzen-mast to show, if he has one."

"Why d'ye think it's a brig, Harry?" queried Bob.

"His canvas looks too small for that of a barque," replied I, as I slid down on deck, having seen all that it was possible to see at present.

"Then it's that--_Albatross_ again, for a thousand," e.j.a.c.u.l.a.t.ed Bob in a tone of deep disgust. "That's just the p'int where he might reasonably be looked for. He made sail long enough afore we did, a'ter the gale had blowed itself out, and consequently got a good long leg to the west'ard of us; but as we've been steering perhaps a couple of p'ints higher than he has for most of the time since, we've overhauled him; and now he's come round to go to the nor'ard, and we've fallen in with him once more."

I was inclined to take the same view of the matter that Bob did. It is true that when once a ship pa.s.ses out of sight at sea you can never be sure of her exact position afterwards; yet, under certain circ.u.mstances, taking the direction of the wind and the state of the weather as data upon which to base your argument, and, in conjunction with these, the course the vessel was steering when last seen, or the part of the world to which you have reason to believe she is bound, it is astonishing how near a guess may be and is not unfrequently made as to her whereabouts.

Now we knew that the _Albatross_ was bound to the Pacific when we last saw her, because she was then hove-to, evidently with the intention of maintaining as weatherly a position as possible. Had she been bound to the eastward, the weather was not so bad at that time as to have prevented her scudding before it, which she undoubtedly would have done under such circ.u.mstances, making a fair wind of it.

At the same time there was of course a possibility of our being mistaken as to the craft in sight being the pirate brig, it being by no means an unusual thing for vessels as small as she was, or even smaller, to venture round the Cape.

"Well," said I, "perhaps it will be safest, Bob, to a.s.sume for the present that this brig _is_ the _Albatross_. What, under such circ.u.mstances, is your advice?"

"Which of us has the weather-gage, d'ye think?" queried Bob.

"It is rather difficult to decide at present," I replied. "Much depends upon which of us is the fastest. If we are both going at about the same speed, I should say we shall pa.s.s extremely close to her."

"How is she heading, Harry?" was the next question.

"To the northward, rather edging down towards us, if anything," I thought.

"Ay, ay," chuckled Bob, "it ain't _every_ craft as can stick her bowsprit into the wind's eye like this here little barkie. Now I dare swear he's jammed hard up upon a taut bowline, and here _we_ are going as close to the wind as he is, and every thread ramping full. Take hold of her a minute, Hal, and let's see what these old eyes of mine can tell us about the stranger."

I took hold of the tiller, and Bob went aloft with the deliberation of the seaman who is in no particular hurry. Having reached the cross-trees, he stood upon them, with one hand grasping the peak-halliards to steady himself, whilst with the other he shaded his eyes.

"I see her, I see her," he exclaimed; "we're raising her fast, Harry, my boy; and in another half hour or so we shall see her from the deck."

He then went as high as the yard of the topsail, and clung there for a good five minutes, reading all the signs which a seaman sees in the almost imperceptible peculiarities of rig, shape of sails, etc. Having satisfied himself, he descended deliberately to the deck, evidently ruminating deeply.

"Now I'll tell ye what I think of the matter, Harry," said he, as he came aft and seated himself beside me. "There's a familiar sort of a look with that craft away yonder; I seems to recognise her as some'at I've seen afore; and I've no moral doubt in the world but what it's that villain Johnson, although we can't be _sartain_ of it until we gets a nearer look at her. And I've an idee that, if anything, it's _we_ that's got the weather-gage; and if so, by all means keep it, even if we has to run the gauntlet of her broadside for a minute or two. Once let's be to wind'ard, and in such weather as this I wouldn't fear the smartest _square-rigged_ craft that ever was launched. We could lead 'em no end of a dance, and then give 'em the slip a'terwards when we was tired of the fun. So my advice is to luff up as close as you can; not _too_ close ye know, lad; let her go through it; but spring your luff all as you can get, and let's try what our friend yonder is made of. As long as we're to _leeward_ of him the game is _his_; but let's get to _wind'ard_ of him and it's _ours_ to do what we like with it."

I had it in my mind to take in all the canvas and lie _perdu_ until the brig had crossed our course and was well out of our road to the northward; but that would still be leaving him the weather-gage; and I saw fully as clearly as Bob did the advantage of obtaining this, if possible; so on we stood, boldly, lying a good point higher than we had been before steering, yet keeping every sail a good clean full, and drawing to perfection.

The wind, however, was dropping fast; and by the time that the sun was on the meridian we were not going more than five knots. This made me extremely anxious; more particularly as the stranger proved a remarkably fast vessel; so much so, that it still remained a matter of doubt which of us would cross the other.

Bob, on the other hand, was delighted beyond measure, stoutly avowing that the falling breeze was little, if anything, short of a divine manifestation in our favour. He declared himself ready to stake all he was possessed of in the world (and if the brig should turn out to be the pirate, he actually _was_ staking his life) on our speed as against that of the stranger in light winds, and was already chuckling in antic.i.p.ation over that craft's discomfiture.

She was within about five miles of us, still maintaining her relative position of about four points on our lee-bow, when Bob served dinner on deck, as was our custom in fine weather.

We were very busy with the viands, keeping one eye always on the brig however, when we noticed something fluttering over her taffrail; and the next moment a flag of some sort floated up to her peak.

I was at the tiller; so Bob took the gla.s.s, and levelling it at the brig, gave her a more thorough scrutiny than we had bestowed upon her at all hitherto.

"The stars and stripes, and a pennant!" exclaimed he, with his eye still at the tube.

"Lord bless us for the two pretty innocents he takes us for, Harry; but there, of course he don't know as we've got his character and all about him at our fingers' ends. Well, anyhow, we won't be behindhand with him in the matter of politeness;" and therewith Master Bob dived below, returning in a moment with our ensign and club burgee in his hand, which he bent to their respective halliards and ran them up--the one to our gaff-end, and the other to our mast-head.

As we had by this time finished our meal, Bob cleared the things away, muttering something about having "plenty to do afore long besides eating and drinking."

Our colours had not been displayed above a minute, when four small b.a.l.l.s were seen ascending to the brig's main royal-mast-head, where they broke abroad and waved lazily out in the failing breeze as a signal.

Bob at once a.s.sumed the duties of signal-officer, by once more taking a peep through the gla.s.s.

"Commercial code pennant," said he; and then he read out the flags beneath it.

"Run down and fetch up the signal-book," said I.

He did so; we turned up the signal, and read, "Come under my lee; I wish to speak you."

"Thank 'ee!" e.j.a.c.u.l.a.t.ed Bob, "not if we can help it, Mister Johnson. I reckon 'twould be about the most onprofitable conwersation as ever the crew of this here cutter took a part in. We've got our own wholesome planks to walk, aboard here, when we wants any of that sort of exercise; and though there's not much to boast of in the way of room, I dare say there's more of _that_ than we'd find on the plank _you'd_ give us for a parade ground. Seems to me, Hal, as we're bringing him nearer abeam than he was a while ago; ain't it so?"

"You are right, Bob," I replied, glancing at the compa.s.s; "he is more than a point farther aft than he was a quarter of an hour ago; but is it not possible that we are giving ourselves needless uneasiness? That craft certainly has a look of the _Albatross_; but we are not sure that it is her after all."