The Three Lieutenants Part 39

"While Norris was carrying on this conversation, the Spanish crew looked so bent on mischief, and the moustaches of the marines curled so fiercely that he expected every moment to be attacked, and he saw his own men put their hands on the hilts of their cutla.s.ses as if they thought the same. They would have had to contend with fearful odds, but I have not the slightest doubt that they would have made a good fight of it, and perhaps have got off scot free, though they had not a pistol among them.

"The Spanish captain considered a moment, and Norris heard him order his gig to be manned.

"'Well, remember that my superior officer expects you,' he said, and having no inclination to remain longer on board than was necessary, ordering his men into the jollyboat, he came back as fast as they could pull to the brig.

"He had just time to give me an account of what had occurred, when we made out a Spanish boat coming towards us.

"I should have said by-the-bye that alongside the captain was an Englishman, or a man who spoke English perfectly, and interpreted for Norris--or at all events, helped him out with the conversation.

"I stood with my men ranged behind me, their shirt-sleeves tucked up and their cutla.s.ses in their hands, ready to receive my visitor. I determined to show him that I was not to be trifled with. After his impudent behaviour, he had no right to expect any courtesy from me, so I let him find his own way on deck.

"'Well, senor,' I asked when he appeared, followed by his interpreter, 'how did you dare to fire at my boats?'

"Instead of stamping and swearing as he had done when on board his own vessel, he was in a moment an altered being. Taking off his hat, he stood before me humbly bowing, and with his hand on his heart, declared that he much regretted what had occurred.

"'Indeed, senor, I had no notion that the boats I fired at were English, and took you for pirates, about to attempt the recapture of the brig.'

This was said by means of the interpreter.

"'That's as big a bouncer as ever was spoken,' I heard some one behind me growl out. I don't know whether the interpreter thought fit to explain the polite remark to his superior.

"'As to that I have no means of judging, but how comes it that I find one of your officers on board this vessel? She is evidently fitted for the slave-trade, and as such she will most certainly be condemned,' I observed.

"'Of course! no doubt about it,' answered the Spanish captain, quite coolly, 'she is not only a slaver but a pirate, and discovering such to be the case I captured her, and I give you my word of honour that I am about to take her into Saint Jago da Cuba for adjudication.'

"'Of course I cannot doubt the word of honour of a Spanish officer,' I replied. 'I must consequently leave you in possession, and I only hope you will take care that she is condemned and her piratical career stopped.'

"'Oh, of course, senor. I will take good care of that,' he answered, again bowing, and putting his hand to his heart.

"I fancied that by the light of the lantern which fell on his countenance, I could see a twinkle in his eyes as he said this, and I felt strongly tempted to pitch him and his crew into their boat, cut the brig's cable and make sail. However, as I was compelled to take his word for the truth of what he a.s.serted, I had nothing to do but to trundle with my men into our boats, and pull back to the frigate.

Hemming approved of what I had done, though he agreed with me that it was all humbug, and that the Spanish captain pretended to have captured the brig for the sake of saving her from our claws. He determined therefore to watch the two vessels, and we accordingly hove-to to see what they would do.

"It was not till nearly dawn that the breeze came off the land, when we saw the brig stealing out, followed by the man-of-war schooner. The latter, by the bye, was a magnificent vessel, one of the largest schooners I have come across, requiring the numerous crew she carried to handle her enormous canvas. We at once made sail and followed them into Saint Jago, which is about thirty miles west of Guantimo. We there found that the Spanish captain had actually brought the brig to trial as a pirate, though, as he well knew, there was not the slightest proof that she was one. As the trial was likely to last some weeks, or, at all events, till we were out of the port, Hemming considered that it would be useless to remain, so we sailed again, and were on our pa.s.sage round to Havannah when we sighted you."

Such was Adair's account of his adventure.

A breeze soon afterwards springing up, the _Plantagenet_ proceeded on to her destination, while the corvette and brig, with the prizes, continued their course to Jamaica. It was not till the return of the _Plantagenet_ to Port Royal, that Jack heard of the full rascality of the Spanish captain. On the arrival of the frigate at Havannah Captain Hemming laid a complaint before the Admiralty Court for the adjudication of slavers. He then discovered that the brig belonged to Pepe, or, as he was now called, Don Matteo, who had bribed the Spanish captain to keep by his vessel and to pretend to have captured her should an English man-of-war appear. On the acquittal of the brig for piracy at Saint Jago, the Spanish captain who had pledged his honour on the subject escorted her through the windward pa.s.sage as far as seventy degrees of longitude, when she was out of the range of West India cruisers. Jack afterwards heard an account of her from a friend on the African station.

She had then really become a pirate. She used to watch for the slavers after they had run the gauntlet of the British cruisers, and would then capture them, take their slaves out, and give them her cargo of coloured cottons in exchange. When she did not manage to fall in with slavers she occasionally took a run in on her own account, and her captain being well informed of the movements of the blockading squadron, she invariably managed to pick up a fresh cargo and get clear off again.

Being, however, in no ways particular, if she had no cargo of coloured cloths, she would sink the slavers she took, with their crews, so as to leave no trace of the transaction behind.

Being armed with a long gun amidships and six long nines, not a slaver had a chance with her. It was not till long afterwards that Jack became acquainted with the last-mentioned particulars. She at length disappeared from the coast, and he could never hear what ultimately became of her. She was probably either burnt, or driven on sh.o.r.e, or, still more likely, she was capsized and went down with her living freight of eight hundred human beings.

CHAPTER NINETEEN.

THE TUDOR AND SUPPLEJACK AT TRINIDAD--JACK'S ACCOUNT OF HIS TRIP UP THE ORINOCO--THE VICE-CONSUL AND HIS BELONGINGS--A KNOWING PILOT--TOM BIT BY A TURTLE--TORTOISES--THE BRIG AMONG THE TREES--SPIDER'S ATTEMPT TO ESCAPE--THE MIDSHIPMEN GO IN CHASE AND LOSE THEMSELVES--BOARDED BY ANTS--NEARLY TAKE THE BRIG--SEARCH FOR THE MIDSHIPMEN IN THE FOREST--A NATIVE HABITATION--ANGOSTURA AND ITS PEOPLE--LAND THE CONSUL AND HIS BETTER HALF--RETURN.

The _Tudor_ once more came to an anchor off Port of Spain, in the beautiful island of Trinidad. Terence Adair had been appointed to her as first lieutenant, and Higson as second; she was accompanied by the Supplejack, of which Rogers still retained the command, with Bevan as his senior officer, Jos Green as master, and Needham as boatswain.

The old shipmates were thus, much to their satisfaction, still employed together. As soon as the sails were furled, Murray went on sh.o.r.e, accompanied by Jack and Terence, taking with them Tom and Gerald.

Higson had insisted on doing Adair's duty.

"Of course you will want to go and call on your fair cousins, and I never have been nor ever shall be a lady's man, so they would not be well pleased to see me in your stead," he said as he made the offer which Terence very readily accepted.

After Murray had delivered his despatches to the governor, he rejoined the two lieutenants, who had in the meantime gone to pay a visit to Antonio Gomez. They found the Don just starting out for his country house, and he, as they expected, at once ordered horses, and insisted that they should accompany him.

"Donna Caterina and her daughters will be delighted to see you, and would not pardon me if I did not bring you along with me," he said in a warm, hearty tone. "They will be anxious to hear all about their sweet friend Stella, and what you have been doing since you were here last.

We some time ago received an account of Colonel O'Regan's death. Well!

well! poor man, I confess it was only what I expected, he seemed determined to court such a fate; and I could never make out why a person who could honourably live at his ease at home should be so eager to knock his head against stone walls--however, the tastes of people differ."

The horses having arrived, the philosophical Don led the way, with Murray by his side.

The party received a hearty welcome, as before, from Donna Caterina and her fair daughters, and Terence as usual had a long conversation with the old lady about Ballymacree; he had, however, not much news to tell her; he had only occasionally heard from home, and the letters he had received were brief, stating simply that things went on as usual; Gerald, however, pleased her much by showing her the letter from his mother, in which she expressed her grat.i.tude for the kindness he had received from his West India cousins.

Though they had not been informed of Murray's engagement to Stella, they very quickly guessed the truth, and by adroitly questioning the midshipman, ascertained all particulars as far as they were known.

Jack and Terence very nearly lost their hearts, as the young ladies were thus able to concentrate all those efforts to attract them, which might have been expended in vain on the young commander, but as they returned to their ships early the next morning they quickly recovered their usual serenity of mind.

"I am afraid they would be very miserable at Halliburton, and I somewhat doubt whether Mary and Lucy would quite like them as sisters-in-law,"

observed Jack to Terence while they were freely discussing the young ladies.

"May be, the dear creatures wouldn't be quite as happy as I should wish them to be at Ballymacree, seeing that they mightn't take altogether to our ways," said Terence. "So I don't think that I'll make the promise I was meditating, of coming back some day or other, when I am a commander for instance, and carrying one of them over to Ireland with me."

On returning to town Murray again called on the governor, who told him that he had received a communication from a certain Senhor Bernado Guedes, acting as British consul at Angostura, up the Orinoco, complaining of outrages inflicted on certain British subjects as well as on himself, and requesting that a man-of-war might be sent to punish the offenders.

"As the navigation of the river is, however, very difficult, I doubt whether a ship of any size could get up it, though, perhaps, the smallest of your vessels would be able to do so," he added.

Murray, of course, said that he should be happy to send the _Supplejack_ up, should her draft of water not be too great, and that he could perfectly trust her commander, Lieutenant Rogers, to act with discretion in the matter. Senhor Bernardo soon afterwards made his appearance. He had not only come himself to make his complaint, but had brought his wife with him, without whom, he observed, he never moved from home.

He was not a very favourable specimen of a British consul, and it was difficult to say how he had attained the post. He was a short, dark-skinned personage, with apparently a mixture of negro blood in his veins. With considerable volubility, though in somewhat broken English, he repeated all his complaints, and finished up, requesting that he might be conveyed, with his wife, back to his home.

"But as we are not acquainted with the navigation, it would be impossible for the brig to go up without a pilot," observed Murray.

"Oh! dat sir, I will provide," he answered. "I will obtain the services of Anselmo; he knows ebery inch of de way up to Angostura, each sandbank and ebery snag, I might almost say."

"You saw the brig-of-war in the harbour, do you think she will be able to get up so far?" asked Murray.

"Oh yes, captain; your big ship even would get up as the waters are rising at present, sure. She might, to be sure, stick coming down, though," answered the consul.

"Thank you, I should prefer then not attempting to take her up," said Murray, laughing.

"Well, Captain Murray, I will leave you to make arrangements with the consul, and I conclude that Lieutenant Rogers will be ready to give this gentleman and his wife a pa.s.sage?" observed the governor.

"I can answer for that," answered Murray, as he took his leave, accompanied by Senhor Guedes.

He returned to the quay.

"I conclude, Mr Consul, that you and your lady will be ready to go on board the brig this evening, as she will sail tomorrow morning by daylight," said Murray. "Where is Senhora Guedes residing?"