The Three Midshipmen Part 8

"Before the soup comes, Mr Pigeon, let me introduce our other guests-- Senor Don Bruno, who is on your right side, and Monsieur de Querkerie, whom you will find on your left. Manners makes the man, and as their manners are unexceptionable, I hope that you will consider them as men, and treat them, as men should men, with due civility."

The screens by the side of the berth were at this instant withdrawn, when Pigeon beheld a bear sitting on one side of him, and a monkey on the other, both dressed with huge shirt-collars, large ties, and broad ribbons across their b.r.e.a.s.t.s. Astonishment, rage, and fear struggled within for the mastery.

"Don't be alarmed at their looks, my dear sir," said Hemming. "There are no better behaved gentlemen on board. Allow me to help you to soup.

Rogers, you take care of Monsieur de Querkerie; Thompson, see to Don Bruno."

This was a necessary caution, for the monkey gave signs that he was about to thrust his paw into Pigeon's plate, which act would have belied the a.s.sertion just made in his favour, and would certainly not have been pleasant to the human guest. Bruin, who had a handful of hard biscuit before him to munch, was behaving himself very well. Hemming kept serving out the soup with the greatest gravity amid roars of laughter, not a little increased by Pigeon's perplexed countenance. What to do he could not decide. He felt that a joke was being played off on him, but he was too much afraid to resent it, or show his indignation, and therefore he did the very best thing he could have done under the circ.u.mstances, he went on eating his soup without speaking. All might have ended well had not Quirk, not understanding fully the proprieties of the dinner-table, darted out his paw and seized a lump of potato from the soup-plate. Pigeon could not stand this, but shoving the denied plate from him, he made a dash with his spoon at Quirk's face, almost knocking some of his teeth down his throat. The monkey retaliated, and not without Jack's utmost exertions could quiet be restored; I will not say peace or harmony, because that was out of the question.

"I beg pardon, Mr Pigeon, we thought you might like the companionship of our foreign guests, as you are supposed to have some qualities in common," said Hemming, in a grave tone. "But as you do not appear to admire their society, pray remove to the other side of the berth, where you will be more at your ease."

Pigeon was glad enough of an excuse to get away, but he was puzzled to settle whether it was safer to pa.s.s the bear or the monkey. At length he decided to get behind the former. At that moment Bruin took it into his head to lift up his huge back, and catching poor Pigeon between the legs, he sent him right into the middle of the table, with his head into the soup-dish, while Quirk, delighted at the opportunity, caught hold of his heels, and getting a kick, sprang in revenge on the part of his body most exposed to attack, which he bit till the wretched victim roared with pain, and Jack had by main force hauled him off. Hemming and Murray, with others, as soon as their laughter would allow them, dragged Pigeon off the table, apologising with tears in their eyes for the mishap which had occurred. Pigeon's first impulse was to roar out for a basin and towel to wash off the soup from his face; and when his features were made clean, though earnestly pressed to come back, nothing could persuade him to take his seat till Bruin and Quirk were removed from the berth. In truth the mess were not sorry to get rid of them, for to more than one sense they were somewhat unpleasant companions.

All things considered, it was voted that Pigeon had really behaved very well, and the lesson he had received did him a great deal of good, and while he remained on board he seemed to think very much less of himself.

I cannot defend the conduct of Hemming or Jack, or any one concerned in the affair, but my belief is, that had Pigeon not spoken disparagingly of Adair, whose memory Jack and Murray so fondly cherished, the trick would not have been played. Malta was visited, so were the Ionian Islands, and the frigate clove through the waters of the Levant.

"A sail in sight to leeward, sir," said Jack, entering the cabin, cap in hand, one afternoon, while the captain was at dinner.

"What does she look like?" asked Captain Lascelles, applying his table-napkin to his mouth, and finishing his gla.s.s of wine as a man does when he has to move in a hurry, while he fumbles in his waistcoat-pocket for his toothpick case.

"The first lieutenant thinks her a heavy frigate, or a line-of-battle ship," answered Jack, "and she is not English."

In a moment the captain was on deck, and taking an earnest look at the stranger through his telescope. At that period all captains of English men-of-war had received orders to be very circ.u.mspect with regard to their conduct towards French ships, for there was no doubt that France was seeking cause by which she might pick a quarrel with England. The _Racer_ had now been cruising for some time, and Captain Lascelles could not tell whether the stranger in sight might or might not prove an enemy with whom he might speedily be engaged in deadly strife. The wind was from the north, and the African coast, a thin blue line, was rising to sight in the horizon. The helm was instantly put up, and all sail made in chase.

"Hurrah!" exclaimed Jack, rushing into the berth, and throwing up his cap; "there's a chance of a brush this time and no mistake. The gun-room officers say that the French are certain to be at war with us by this time. They are going to help Mehemet Ali, so if the stranger is not a Frenchman, she is pretty certain to be an Egyptian, and either one or the other will do."

The information was received in the berth with general satisfaction.

Only one person heard it with dismay. That was Pigeon. He turned very pale.

"What shall I do? Where shall I go?" he exclaimed. "I didn't come here to fight. Couldn't I be put on sh.o.r.e?"

"No, but you can keep below and help the doctor, where you may be of use and out of harm's way, if we don't go down, or blow up during the action," said Murray, with no little disdain in the tone of his voice.

"Oh! oh!" groaned Pigeon. "Go down, or blow up! Oh, dear!"

CHAPTER SIX.

PADDY ADAIR, HURRAH!

The beautiful frigate looked like a vast cloud of snowy whiteness, as, with studding-sails alow and aloft, she swept proudly along over the blue waters of the Mediterranean in chase of the stranger. The latter had been standing to the eastward; but seeing herself pursued, she also altered her course, and ran off before the wind towards the land. Night was coming on, and it was very important to get up with her, near enough to ascertain her character, to prevent her escaping, should such be her design, in the dark. Every one was on deck or in the tops, looking out at the stranger, and those considered themselves fortunate who could command the use of a spygla.s.s. One person--bully Pigeon--was below, and he sat quaking on a chest in the orlop deck, where he had been told that he would be least likely to have his head shot away.

"I am a non-combatant, you know. It would be very wrong in me to expose my life," he observed with a trembling lip. "If I was one of you, of course I would do my duty as bravely as anybody; but as I am a civilian, and am come aboard for my health, I think it is my duty to take care of myself."

"Oh! of course," was the reply; "so precious a person should run no risk of losing his valuable life."

"Oh, I wish poor Adair were with us," exclaimed Jack. "He did so wish to see a real fight; and to have to go out of the world without having been in one was very trying." Jack spoke just as his feelings for the moment prompted him, without much consideration, I suspect.

"Do you know, Rogers, that since we escaped in so wonderful a way from drowning, I have more than once thought that perhaps some of the people of the _Onyx_ may have been saved," observed Murray. "I do not say that I have any great hopes on the subject, but still I cannot help thinking that it is possible."

"I'm afraid not, though; we should have heard of them before now,"

replied Jack. "But if anybody escaped, I would rather it were Paddy Adair than any one else."

Their conversation was cut short by that rolling sound of a drum which makes the heart of every true man-of-war's man leap with joy. It followed the captain's order to the first lieutenant, "Beat to quarters." What magic was there in the sound of those words! In an instant every one, from the first lieutenant to the smallest powder-monkey, was in full activity. Bulkheads were knocked away, firescreens were put up, the gallery fire was extinguished, the magazines were opened, powder and shot were handed up, the small-arms were served out, the men buckled on their cutla.s.ses, and stuck their pistols in their belts.

Although Captain Lascelles fully believed that he should gain the victory, he was too good an officer and too wise a man not to take every possible means to secure it. It was soon evident that the _Racer_ was coming up hand-over-hand with the chase, and before long it was clearly made out that she was, at least, a fifty-gun ship. She showed no colours, and as to her nationality opinions were divided. Some thought she was French; but then in opposition to this conjecture, it was a.s.serted that a French fifty-gun ship was not likely to run away from a frigate, whereas a Turk or an Egyptian was very likely indeed to do so.

The officers on board them were generally very inefficient, while a total want of discipline prevailed.

"That craft ahead must have a very bad conscience, or she would not be in such a hurry to get out of our way," observed Jack; "she's a Turk, or I am a Dutchman."

"So the captain thinks, which is fortunate, or you might have to turn into a Dutchman, or else break your word," observed Murray.

"I wish that he were a Frenchman. I should so like to have a tussle with him," said Jack. "Let people talk as they will about liberty, equality, and fraternity, I agree with my father, that the French never will like the English till they have taught us to eat frogs, and have thrashed us on a second field of Waterloo, and I hope that time may never come."

"I hope not either," said Murray. "But I have no wish to go to war with France or Frenchmen. If they are bad friends, they are worse enemies, and not to be despised, depend on that; no people could have fought better than they did during the last war."

"That is the reason I should like to fight them again," exclaimed Jack.

"What is the use of fighting with people who can't fight?"

Murray laughed at Jack's style of reasoning. He had not arrived at the conclusion which an older man might have reached, that fighting under any circ.u.mstances is a dreadful business, and that the person who gives the cause for the fight does a very wicked thing, utterly hateful in the sight of G.o.d. Never let that truth be forgotten.

Darkness was now rapidly coming on. The stranger could just be seen looming through it. Captain Lascelles felt pretty confident, however, that he should come up with her before she could make her escape. Night at last settled completely down over the ocean; still she could be seen, though very indistinctly. On the two ships flew before the breeze. At length the master, who had been examining the chart in his cabin, came up to the captain.

"We are drawing in very near to the coast, sir," said he. "It will be safer to keep the lead going."

"But where the ship ahead can float so can we," observed Captain Lascelles.

"She may manage to run in between reefs on which we may strike. Never let us trust to the leading of an enemy, sir," was the answer.

"You are right, master, you are right!" exclaimed Captain Lascelles, in a tone of warm approval. "Send a hand with the lead into each of the chains. We'll run no risk of casting the ship away."

Soon the voices of the leadsmen were heard through the still silence of night, as the gallant frigate clove her way through the calm waters.

"By the deep nine," sang out one on the starboard side.

"By the mark seven," was soon afterwards heard from the man in the port chains.

"Quarter less six," was the next shouted out.

"We are shoaling our water rapidly," observed Captain Lascelles to the first lieutenant. "Stand by to go about."

All eyes had been fixed on the dark ma.s.s ahead. Onward it seemed to glide through the darkness. Every one felt certain that their eyes did not deceive them. There still appeared, they all believed, the sails of the stranger, a huge towering pinnacle reaching to the sky. Yet so near the ground were they that it was dangerous for the frigate, though of course drawing much less water, to stand on.

"Was she a ship of mortal fabric?" some of the more superst.i.tious among the seamen began to ask.

As they looked, the tall pyramid seemed to rock, and then suddenly to dissolve into the air. A sound, at the same time, came from the southward, as if of breakers dashing on a rocky sh.o.r.e.

"Hands about ship," shouted the captain, with startling energy.