The Voyage of the Aurora Part 23

"Well, cap'n," was the reply, "I never once forgot the promise I made to you the day we were separated in Havana. I felt certain that you'd manage to get away somehow some day; and I felt just as certain that, sooner or later, you'd turn up here in Kingston. So, as soon as I was landed here, I made inquiries, and, not being able to learn that anything had been heard of you, I just looked about me a bit, and got a berth on board a little coaster, so's to be on the spot whenever you might happen to turn up. I'd told our story pretty freely here in Kingston, so that, even if I'd happened to have been at sea at the time, there's plenty of people that would have taken you in tow, and provided you with the needful until I came in again. Now that you've put in an appearance, of course I shall throw up my berth, and we'll all sink or swim together."

"Thanks, Bowen, thanks; that's just like your disinterestedness,"

answered George; "but what are we to do? The only thing I can see for it is to get berths, if possible, on board some homeward-bounder."

"Homeward-bounder?" exclaimed Bowen with contemptuous emphasis, "why-- but there, I suppose you don't know anything about it, or you wouldn't talk like that."

"About what?" asked George, completely mystified.

"Why, about our prize that we took that dark night on the pa.s.sage out-- the privateer brig--the _Jeune Virginie_. She's lying down there at Port Royal, safe and sound, with a British crew on board her; and all you've got to do, cap'n, is to make your claim, and establish your ident.i.ty, and the ship or her value will be handed over to you."

"Is it possible?" exclaimed George. "Then we are lucky indeed. But you must explain the whole affair to me."

"That's easy enough," answered Bowen. "The very first time I entered Port Royal harbour I saw the craft lying there, and knew her again at once. Thinks I to myself, 'Now, d.i.c.k Bowen, my lad, your first duty is to recover possession of that prize on behalf of the skipper.' So off I goes to the admiral, stated my case, and made my claim.

"'That's all very well, my fine fellow,' says he, 'and I don't doubt but what you're telling the truth; but, you see,' says he, 'you can't _prove_ it. Now I _must_ have something beyond your bare word before I give up possession of the brig. When you can bring me something in the shape of proof that what you say is true, come to me again, and I'll see what can be done in the matter.'

"Of course that was all right and straight-for'ard enough, so I went away, and troubled no more about it. The craft is safe enough; they've been using her as a cruiser, and taking care of her, and I don't doubt but what she's in just as good order as she was on the night when we took her. And now, all we've got to do is to go to the admiral again, and make our claim. There's _three_ of us this time, so that there'll be no difficulty at all in getting her delivered over to us."

CHAPTER TWENTY ONE.

THE "AURORA" TURNS UP AGAIN.

That same day George waited upon the admiral and formally laid claim to the _Jeune Virginie_. He was very well received, his statement patiently listened to, and--to make a long story short--in about three weeks afterwards the claim was actually allowed, and the vessel handed over to her rightful owners.

George was agreeably surprised, for--notwithstanding Bowen's implicit confidence--he fully antic.i.p.ated that there would be some trouble over the matter. Legal possession once obtained, Leicester had no difficulty in raising money by means of a bottomry bond, and with this he provisioned the brig for six months, intending to take out letters of marque, and endeavour to make good his losses--a resolution in which he was cordially seconded by Bowen.

But, though all this gave him plenty of occupation, he had not forgotten his old crew, and he found--or rather took--time, not only to prepare a complete list of the names and a full description of all those who were still--so far as he knew--in a state of slavery, but also to put it into the hands of the proper authorities, with such an urgent representation of their probable sufferings, that the matter was at once taken up; and he had the satisfaction of knowing, before he sailed, that negotiations were already in progress for their discovery and deliverance.

Considerable difficulty was experienced in obtaining a crew for the brig, good men being scarce; but at last this was overcome, and on a bright September morning the anchor was hove up, and the _Virginie_ started upon her cruise. The shoals outside the harbour were cleared in due time, the brig working like a top, and sailing like a witch, to the unbounded delight of all hands; and then George hauled sharp up on the port tack, his intention being to cruise for a few days in the Windward and Caycos Pa.s.sages before shaping a course for home.

For the first five days of their cruise they were singularly unlucky, seeing nothing but a man-o'-war schooner, which, on speaking, they found had been equally as unfortunate as themselves.

On the morning of the sixth day, however, being then in the neighbourhood of the Hogsties, the lookout aloft reported at daybreak a couple of sail dead to windward, hove-to close together. On the usual inquiries being made, the lookout further reported that one of the strangers was a barque; the rig of the other, which happened to be lying end-on, he could not clearly make out, but, from her size, he judged her to be a ship. Mr Bowen, whose watch it was, at once went below and informed George of this circ.u.mstance, and then, leaving him to don the most indispensable portions of his attire, returned to the deck, and proceeded thence aloft to have a look at the strangers for himself.

By the time that he had seen all that it was then possible to see, and had descended again to the deck, George was awaiting him there.

"Well, Bowen, what do you make of them?" was Leicester's first inquiry.

"Well, there's two of 'em there, sure enough, close together--a good deal too close together to be up to any good, to my thinking," was the reply.

"What do you think they are, then?" asked George.

"One of 'em is a privateer--or a pirate; and t'other is her prize, in my opinion," answered Bowen.

"Then we'll make their further acquaintance," said George. "Perhaps if we trim the canvas a bit slovenly, and act as though we had not seen these craft, we may coax down towards us the privateer, or whatever she is."

"That'll be the best plan, no doubt," acquiesced the chief mate; and he proceeded forthwith on a tour round the decks, easing up a brace here, and a halliard there, with a touch also at the sheets and bowlines, by way of insuring an agreeable and harmonious result. When he had finished, the brig looked like a collier, and her speed had decreased from eight to a little over five knots.

"There," said Bowen to George, with an admiring glance aloft at his own handiwork, "I think that'll do pretty well; we look helpless enough now for anything. Masthead, ahoy!"--to the lookout aloft--"what about the strangers now?"

"They've dropped alongside one another, sir," was the reply.

"Very well; keep your eye upon them, and let us know when you see any change in their movements."

The stereotyped "Ay, ay," by way of reply, was duly given, and then George and Bowen, side by side, and with hands folded behind them, began to trudge fore and aft, from the main-mast to the taffrail, patiently awaiting the course of events.

About a quarter of an hour elapsed, and then the lookout hailed again--

"On deck, there! The barque has cast off, and is standing down towards us. They're busy getting the stunsails upon her now, sir."

"All right; stay where you are, and let's hear, if you see anything worth reporting," replied Bowen.

A few minutes later another report was made to the effect that the other sail--a full-rigged ship--had filled, and was standing to the northward under all plain sail. That was the last news from either of the vessels, and, the barque shortly afterwards becoming visible from the deck, orders were given to clear the brig for action, and the lookout was ordered down on deck.

There was a capital working breeze, and not much sea; it was, consequently, not very long before the barque had raised her hull above the horizon. As soon as she was fairly in view, George brought his telescope to bear upon her, and ten minutes' careful scrutiny sufficed to satisfy him that, though her spars were heavier, and she now showed a wider spread of canvas than of old, she was undoubtedly, as he had suspected, his own old ship, the _Aurora_. He further noted that she was not very deep in the water, being in fact just in her very best sailing-trim; and, remembering her former capabilities, he was not long in making up his mind that, if her present crew happened to become suspicious of the character of the _Virginie_, and shunned an engagement, it would be a very difficult matter to bring the _Aurora_ to action.

But if those in possession of the barque entertained any misgivings, they certainly gave no visible indication of them: on the contrary, they came sweeping down upon the _Virginie_ under a perfect cloud of canvas, and in a manner so obviously threatening, that, in order to maintain the illusion to the last, George thought it advisable to exhibit some slight signs of uneasiness, and he accordingly ordered the royals to be loosed and set, and edged away a point or two off his course, at the same time, however, checking his weather braces to such an extent that the brig's speed was not very greatly improved by the manoeuvre. In the meantime the decks had been cleared, the guns loaded, and the crew fully armed with cutla.s.s, pike, and pistol. The port-lids however, were kept carefully closed, so that the presence of the guns on board might not be revealed until an action should have become inevitable.

Mr Bowen had, in the midst of all his work, been watching the approach of the _Aurora_ with grim satisfaction, gradually developing into a condition of supreme exhilaration. He rubbed his hands gleefully, laughed softly to himself, and exhibited, in short, all the outward characteristics of a thoroughly gratified man. Then he would draw a pistol from his belt, and carefully inspect the priming, pa.s.s his thumb meditatively along the edge of his cutla.s.s, or casually test with his finger the sharpness of a pike-head, and at these times the expression of his countenance boded no good to the approaching enemy.

The _Virginie's_ crew were kept carefully out of sight, except some three or four hands, who were ostentatiously posted on the forecastle, with orders to a.s.sume an appearance of deep interest in the approach of the barque; but Bowen had carefully placed each man exactly where he wanted him, and as the _Aurora_ came sweeping down upon the brig, invisible hands on board the latter gradually tautened up halliard, brace, tack, sheet, and bowline, until by the time that the two ships were within a mile of each other, every trace of slovenliness on board the _Virginie_ had vanished, every sail was standing as flat as a board, and the brig was once more in a condition to be worked to the best advantage. This done, the men were ordered to their guns, and all was ready for the commencement of the struggle.

When within a distance of about three-quarters of a mile from the brig, the studding-sails of the _Aurora_ were seen to suddenly collapse, and in a few seconds they had entirely disappeared, being taken in, all at once, man-o'-war fashion. This showed George, not only that his old craft was heavily manned, but also that she was in the command of a man who knew how to handle her. But the sight did not greatly disturb him; he had had time to discover that his own crew was a good one; he had studied the brig, and mastered her little peculiarities; and he awaited with perfect calmness the conflict which was now inevitable.

As the _Aurora's_ studding-sails fluttered out of sight, she sheered broadly to port; a flash, accompanied by a puff of white smoke, issued from her side, and in another instant a nine-pound shot skipped along the water and across the _Virginie's_ bow.

George decided to take no notice of this hint, and the brig held steadily on her course. Another shot followed, with a like result; and the pirates then decided apparently to waste no more powder and shot upon so contumacious a craft, but to make short work of the affair by simply running alongside and taking possession. The _Aurora_ was accordingly steered in such a way as would admit of her making a wide sweep and shooting up alongside on the brig's weather quarter. She was handled magnificently, there was no doubt of that; and presently, with a graceful sweep, she came surging up alongside, with the water spouting up in a clear transparent sheet under her sharp bows, her yards swinging simultaneously to meet her change of course, her white canvas gleaming in the brilliant sunlight, six long nine-pounders grinning through her bulwarks, and her deck crowded with men, as fair, yet as evil, a sight of its kind as the eye of man ever rested upon. At the same moment a blood-red flag streamed out over the taffrail and soared away aloft, until it fluttered out from the gaff-end--a fit emblem of rapine and murder.

"Red this time, by way of a change," remarked Bowen to George, in allusion to their encounter with the pirate schooner, which fought under a _black_ flag. "Well, a change is good sometimes," he added philosophically. "Shall we give her a taste of our quality now, cap'n; she's just shooting into the right position to get the full benefit of the dose of 'round' and 'grape' I've prepared for her?"

"Yes, give it her," answered George, drawing his cutla.s.s with one hand, and a pistol with the other.

"Throw open your ports, lads!" commanded Bowen; and at the word the port-lids flew apart, six twelve-pounders were run out on each side, and, as the barque was in the very act of sheering alongside, the _Virginie's_ starboard broadside was poured into her with murderous effect, as was evidenced by the frightful outburst of yells, groans, and imprecations which at once arose on board her. The broadside was returned, but without inflicting much damage, the pirates evidently having been taken completely by surprise by the sudden and unexpected unmasking of the brig's guns.

The next moment the two vessels collided with a crash.

"Now look alive with your grappling-irons, and _heave_! Boarders, follow me!" cried George, dashing to the rail, and making a spring thence in upon the _Aurora's_ deck, Mr Bowen at the same time leading his detachment on board by way of the fore-rigging.

The Englishmen were met by a very formidable party, which had evidently been told off to board the brig, and in an instant a fierce and sanguinary _melee_ arose on the _Aurora's_ deck. The Spaniards--for such they proved to be--though taken by surprise, and greatly disconcerted by the unexpectedly warm reception which they had met with from the brig, fought with the fury and desperation of demons, and for perhaps five minutes the crew of the _Virginie_ had all their work cut out to maintain their position on the deck of the barque. The pirates, with that sanguinary symbol floating over their heads, and believing that they had been entrapped into attacking a man-o'-war, felt that the halter was already about their necks, and that there was literally no alternative but victory or death for them; and they pressed forward with such recklessness and ferocity that the deck speedily a.s.sumed the aspect of a human shambles, and the planking grew so slippery with blood that it became difficult to retain one's footing upon it. There was one Spaniard in particular who appeared to possess the gift of ubiquity; he seemed to be in all parts of the ship at the same time, notwithstanding the crowded state of the confined s.p.a.ce wherein the fight was raging, and in him George speedily recognised the truculent-looking individual who had led the pirates on the eventful night of the _Aurora's_ capture, and who had so brutally ill-used poor Bowen on the morning of the sale in the square at Havana. There could be no possible doubt as to his ident.i.ty. There was the same ferocious cast of countenance, the same mahogany-brown skin, even the same filthy red handkerchief--now more filthy than ever--bound about his ragged locks, apparently the same broad-brimmed straw hat, in short, every mark of identification; nothing was wanting. This individual dashed from point to point, apparently by a mere effort of his will, encouraging here, chiding there, and helping everywhere. The mere fact of his presence, the mere sound of his voice, appeared to endue the pirates with renewed life and courage, and George speedily saw that there would be little hope of victory until this man could be placed _hors de combat_. He therefore pressed in toward him, plying his cutla.s.s vigorously with one hand, and laying manfully about him with the b.u.t.t of his empty pistol with the other, and calling upon the fellow by every despicable epithet he could think of to turn and meet him. He had very nearly reached him--there were only some half-a-dozen people between the two--when another voice, that of Bowen, was heard, and the next instant the chief mate, his eyes literally blazing with fury, appeared, forcing his way into the thickest of the throng. With the strength of a madman he seized and dashed aside all who ventured to bar his path, and in a single moment, so it seemed to George, forced himself within reach of his especial enemy.

"At last--at last--you bloodthirsty scoundrel--you white-livered coward--you who were not ashamed to strike a chained man--at last we meet again, as I told you we should!--and the time has come for me to pay off part of the debt I owe you--no, you don't,"--skilfully guarding a savage down-stroke from the Spaniard's cutla.s.s, "and take that," he added, launching out a terrific blow with his left fist, catching the Spaniard fairly between the eyes, and felling him to the deck senseless, as neatly as a butcher fells an ox. In another moment George was at Bowen's side, and, placing themselves back to back, these two managed to successfully defend themselves until the crew of the _Virginie_, inspired by their leader's example, had pressed in to their a.s.sistance, when the pirates, becoming scattered, were driven irresistibly to opposite ends of the ship, and some were actually driven overboard.

Then recognising that they were defeated, and suddenly losing heart, they threw down their weapons, and cried for quarter. But the worst pa.s.sions of the _Virginia's_ crew were by this time fully aroused; they thought of nothing but the fact that their enemies _were pirates_, men steeped to the lips in crime of the vilest description, and guilty of unnumbered deeds of blood-curdling atrocity, and many of the Spaniards were ruthlessly slaughtered before George and Bowen could induce them to stay their hands. Then, when order and authority were once more restored, heads were counted, and it was found that, out of a crew of over eighty, twenty-three pirates only--their leader included--remained alive, and these were promptly clapped in irons and bundled unceremoniously below. Strange to say, notwithstanding the desperate character of the fighting, the _Virginie's_ crew had suffered but slightly in comparison--nine killed and thirteen wounded being the total of the casualties. A short breathing-s.p.a.ce was allowed the men to recover themselves after their extraordinary exertions, and then all hands set to work to clear the decks of the sickening evidences of the contest; the crew were next divided equally between the two ships, and, with Mr Bowen in command of the _Aurora_, both craft then made sail to windward in company.

The third craft--the full-rigged ship--meanwhile was still in sight from aloft, dodging about under easy canvas, and evidently waiting for the _Aurora_ to rejoin. There could be little doubt, therefore, that she was in the possession of a prize-crew of the pirates, and George earnestly hoped he might be able to reach her in time to save the lives of some at least of those to whom she rightfully belonged.

A couple of hours later they were alongside--the _Virginie_ on the weather and the _Aurora_ on the lee quarter--with ports open, guns run out, and the English ensign flying at the peak, the red flag having been allowed to remain aloft on board the _Aurora_ until ranging alongside the strange ship, when it was hauled down, and the English flag run up on board the barque and the brig simultaneously.