Young Tom Bowling Part 23

Encouraged by his sympathising backers, of whom we allowed some five or six to enter the ring, wishing to play fair and not to have it all to ourselves, the mulatto shook himself as if he had just come out of the water; and, standing up in a proper manner now, he faced Mick, who smilingly beckoned him to come on.

"Hit 'im in de eyeball, Bim!" cried one of the dark ladies, who indeed was the cause of the fray, as generally is the case, I have been told, when menfolk fall out. "Yah, yah! Mash um face fo' um, de imperent man-o'-war buckra!"

"Go it, Mick!" cried we. "Land him one in his bloomin' bread-basket!"

A very pretty bit of sparring now ensued, the two being well matched; for, though the mulatto was the taller and had the longer reach of arm, Mick had a better guard, holding his right well out across his chest, and dodging in his left every now and then, keeping moving about on his pins as lightly as an opera-dancer.

Once 'Mr Bim' got in a roundabout blow that landed on Mick's left cheek, which drew blood, and sent him all of a stagger into the corner where the signalman and I stood officiating as bottle-holders.

This raised a wild yell of excited enthusiasm from all the a.s.sembled darkeys, both ladies and gentlemen alike.

"Golly, dat fetch um, Bim!" they shouted. "Gib um goss, Bim! 'Badian too brabe; um beat all de buckra sailor trash in de whole world, you bet!"

"Stow that, you ugly black devil!" interposed one of our men, fetching the mulatto's partisan a crack on the shins with the cutter's boathook, which he held in his hand, he being bowman and left in charge of the boat. "You just keep out o' the ring if ye know what's good for you!"

"By gosh!" cried the poor n.i.g.g.e.r, hopping about on one leg and rubbing his shin, writhing with pain at being thus a.s.saulted on his tenderest point; grabbing up some missile or other from the roadway, whither he retreated, "I'se crack yo' tam skull wid um rockstone, fo' suah!"

Mick did not 'come up smiling' as he advanced to meet his foe after the knock-down blow he had received; but, from the look on his face, with his lips tight set and his eyes fixed on the mulatto, I could see he 'meant business.'

He did.

Parrying another wild whirl of 'Mr Bim's' arms, which he swung out right and left, Mick dropped his; and with a step forward he grasped the mulatto round the waist, when, going down on one knee, he sent him flying over his shoulder completely outside the ring.

Fortunately for the poor beggar, his head went plump into one of the baskets of fruit, squashing its contents together into the semblance of jam, which probably saved the mulatto's life; for, had he fallen headlong on the stone jetty, his cranium would most likely have resembled the bananas and ripe melons in the black lady's basket that he had spoilt, and his neck, as likely as not, broken. As it was, 'Mr Bim' had enough of it, coming up quite dazed when he recovered his senses; then retiring from the combat without a single further word, either of apology or of defiance.

His compatriots bore no malice to Mick or ourselves, as might have been expected from their champion having got the worst of it.

On the contrary, they raised a cheer when we turned to leave the scene of action, accompanying us into the town, and dancing round us in their amusing way, and making quite a triumphal procession of our progress up Roebuck Street.

"Golly, Sambo!" one of them shouted out to another of their number, who evidently was the local poet of the party. "You makee singsong ob de lilly buckra sailor!"

Thereupon, the poet, who was clearly a man of vivid imagination and spontaneous genius, at once struck up a doggerel rhyme; all of them taking up the chorus as they marched along on either side of us:--

"Man ob war buckra, man ob war buckra, Jus' come ash.o.r.e, jus' come ash.o.r.e, Jus' come ash.o.r.e!

"'Badian gen'leman, 'Badian gen'leman, He make um roar, he make um roar, He make um roar!

"Man ob war buckra an' 'Badian gen'leman, Dey hab a shindy, dey hab a shindy, Dey hab a shindy!

"'Badian gen'leman, he mash um mout'; Man ob war buckra, um bash um snout; Golly, yah, yah, Um bash um snout!"

"Begorrah!" exclaimed Mick, none the worse for the fray, beyond a slight cut on his port cheek, which had been caused by the sc.r.a.pe of the mulatto's long nails and not by his fist, as he burst into a roar of laughter on the darkeys bringing out this impromptu musical account of the recent fight--in which all hands joined, making most of the pa.s.sers- by we met on our route to one of the hotels recommended by Mr Jones, who had been to Bridgetown before, look round to see what was the matter--"it bates Bannagher an' Donnybrook Fair all rowled into one, sure!"

It need hardly be said after this, that, on our presently reaching the favourite hostelry of our guide, the signalman, we stood treat to all the darkeys; and then, having had enough of their somewhat too marked attentions, we parted company, with the most friendly feelings on both sides.

The people altogether received us very kindly, all sorts of festivities being held in our honour, officers and men alike having b.a.l.l.s and dinners and picnics and cricket-matches all got up especially for their pleasure; so that our fortnight's stay at Barbados was one long holiday from the first day to the last, for, if we did not happen to be ash.o.r.e, parties of ladies and gentlemen used to come off to see the ship and be entertained in their turn.

We sailed from our anchorage, near the lighthouse at Needham Point to the north-east of the bay, somewhere in the second week of January, making first for Tobago, which lies more to the southward of the Windward Islands. After this we visited Trinidad and most of the other colonies, calling also at the French possessions of Guadaloupe and Martinique, before returning for a final look in at Barbados on our way home again to England.

After leaving Carlisle Bay for the second time, the squadron made for Bermuda, the commodore hoping to pick up the light westerly winds which are to be met with at this season of the year hereabouts; but, when to the south of the thirtieth parallel, we encountered a terrific gale from the north-west, which was as child's play in comparison to the one we experienced in the Bay of Biscay.

Up to then we had experienced very fair weather, being able to carry all our upper sail and stun'sails as well; but, all at once, without any warning, save that the heavens suddenly darkened overhead, obscuring the sun, and the barometer began to fall, as I heard the navigating officer say to the commodore, whom he pa.s.sed on his way on deck from the wardroom below, a storm broke over us!

The next moment, the whistles of the boatswain's mates were ringing through the ship, with the customary hoa.r.s.e hail down the hatchways--

"Watch, shorten sail!"

Then, as we tumbled up to our stations, it became a case of let go and clew up.

"Topmen, aloft!" sang out the commodore from the break of the p.o.o.p, in sharp, piercing accents that rose above the whistle of the wind through the rigging and the dull roar of the sea, which had a.s.sumed now a leaden appearance, instead of the bright blue which it boasted the moment before, while its surface began to work into short choppy waves that tossed their crests like horses champing the bit. "Take in the to'gallants and royals!"

Up we all raced aloft; but no sooner had these sails been furled and we reached the deck than the commodore was at us again.

"Watch, reef tops'ls!" he shouted even louder than before. "Away aloft--take in one reef!"

Mick and I scrambled up, almost out of breath, into the mizzen-top; which we hardly reached before we heard the commodore give the next order necessary to enable us to take in the reef--

"Weather tops'l braces, round in! Lower the tops'ls!"

Next followed our own especial order--

"Trice up and lay out!"

In obedience to this, we made our way out on the foot-ropes, Mick securing the weather earring, when we began knotting the points and reefing in earnest; after which, the topsail halliards were manned below and the yards run up again.

The wind now shifted from the northward to the north-east, coming on to blow pretty hard; so the courses were clewed up and furled and the jib hauled down, the ship presently running under her close-reefed topsails and fore-topmast staysail.

By Six Bells, however, the storm had increased to such an extent, that, after trying what treble-reefing would do, we had to take in our topsails altogether, laying-to under storm staysails and easy steam, the engine-fires had been lit and the screw lowered on the first break of the storm, so as to keep the ship-head to wind and provide for any eventuality that might come.

The sea at this time was a terrible sight, the big billows racing madly past us and jostling each other, tossing their spray and spent water right over the main-yard; while, anon, the corvette would be lifted bodily up on top of what seemed a high mountain, from whence we viewed the wide stretch of broken waves extending as far as the eye could reach; anon, plunging us down into a deep dark watery abyss, as if she were going to founder!

We rolled so, that preventer stays were rigged to make sure of our masts and the guns were secured with double lashings round the breech; while lifelines were rove fore and aft to a.s.sist us in keeping our footing along the deck.

So far, we had been all alone; the other ships of the squadron having parted company early in the afternoon, each making shift as best she could for herself.

Not a sail was in sight anywhere on the horizon.

But, presently, careering onwards before the heavy storm clouds ahead, out of which she emerged all in a moment like some spirit of the deep, a large full-rigged ship appeared, bearing down upon us at the rate of twenty knots an hour, I should think, judging by the way she rapidly rose out of the water. It looked as if she were going to run us down.

"Sail ahead!" roared out the lookout-man forwards, his voice borne back inboard by the wind and seeming all the louder in consequence. "She's a-coming down end on to us, sir!"

The commodore aft, however, had seen our peril, even before the lookout- man spoke; and almost at the same instant that his words of warning reached our ears--the while the hands on deck stared with horror at the surging ship, nearing us now closer and closer as we looked at her--the gallant, ready-witted sailor had taken effective measures to avoid the imminent danger threatening us.

CHAPTER NINETEEN.

"SAIL HO!"