Chapter Twenty One.The “Aurora” turns up again.That same day George waited upon the admiral and formally laid claim to theJeune 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 anticipated 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 theVirginiestarted 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 Passages 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 circumstance, 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, theAurora. 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 theVirginie, and shunned an engagement, it would be a very difficult matter to bring theAurorato 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 theVirginieunder 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 cutlass, 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 theAurorawith 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, pass his thumb meditatively along the edge of his cutlass, 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.TheVirginie’screw were kept carefully out of sight, except some three or four hands, who were ostentatiously posted on the forecastle, with orders to assume 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 theAuroracame 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 theVirginiehad 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 theAurorawere 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 theAurora’sstudding-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 theVirginie’sbow.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. TheAurorawas 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 ablackflag. “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 cutlass 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, theVirginie’sstarboard 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, andheave! Boarders, follow me!” cried George, dashing to the rail, and making a spring thence in upon theAurora’sdeck, 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 sanguinarymêléearose on theAurora’sdeck. 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 theVirginiehad 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 assumed 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 space 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 theAurora’scapture, 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 identity. 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 placedhors de combat. He therefore pressed in toward him, plying his cutlass vigorously with one hand, and laying manfully about him with the butt 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 cutlass, “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 theVirginie, inspired by their leader’s example, had pressed in to their assistance, 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 passions of theVirginia’screw were by this time fully aroused; they thought of nothing but the fact that their enemieswere 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, theVirginie’screw had suffered but slightly in comparison—nine killed and thirteen wounded being the total of the casualties. A short breathing-space 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 theAurora, 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 theAurorato 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—theVirginieon the weather and theAuroraon 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 theAurorauntil ranging alongside the strange ship, when it was hauled down, and the English flag run up on board the barque and the brig simultaneously.The pirates in possession were completely paralysed by the turn events had taken; they had evidently been under the impression that theAurora, and not theVirginiehad proved victorious; and now that they found themselves under the guns of both ships their mistake was past rectification.Accordingly, at George’s order, they backed the main-yard and hove-to the ship, upon which a strong party, armed to the teeth, proceeded on board and took possession.The ship proved to be theVulcan, of and from Liverpool, bound to Kingston with a valuable general cargo and several passengers. She was a noble ship, being of nearly a thousand tons register, and a regular clipper.On boarding her, George found the state of affairs pretty much what it had been on board theAuroraafter her capture by these same pirates, her crew and the male passengers being discovered scattered about the deck, lashed helplessly neck and heels together, or chained to ring-bolts in the deck and bulwarks, whilst the pirates had taken possession of the cabin and had held a regular saturnalia there, in the progress of which the unfortunate lady passengers had been subjected to the vilest outrages, and one poor little child had been cruelly murdered before its distracted mother’s face. The captain and the chief mate of the ship were both found in the cabin in a dying condition, they having been mutilated in a most cruel and horrible manner in an ineffectual effort to wring from them the secret of the hiding-place of a large amount of specie which the pirates had somehow ascertained was on board. A tall and burly negro, the identical one who had acted as lieutenant to the Spaniard in charge of theAuroraon the occasion of her first capture, was at the head of the gang, and had been the instigator and chief perpetrator in the many outrages which had followed the capture of theVulcan.No time was lost in freeing the passengers and crew from their exceedingly unpleasant situation; and this done, the pirates, ten in number, heavily ironed, were transferred to theVirginieand stowed carefully away below. TheVulcanthen proceeded on her voyage, in charge of her second mate, by whom George forwarded a letter to the admiral at Jamaica, informing him of the capture of the now notoriousAurora.George now felt that, with two ships and so many desperate men to look after, he had his hands full, and he therefore decided to make the best of his way to England forthwith. He accordingly hailed Bowen, requesting him to give theAurora’sstores an overhaul, and to ascertain whether her provisions and water were sufficient in quantity to justify them in making a push across the Atlantic. In about an hour an answer was returned to the effect that not only was there an abundance of everything, but that the ship herself was more than half full of a varied and very rich cargo, the spoils, doubtless, from many a missing vessel. Upon the receipt of this intelligence, orders were at once given for both ships to fill and make the best of their way to the northward in company, and by nightfall they were clear of the Caycos Passage and standing to the northward on a taut bowline under a heavy press of canvas.TheVirginieandAuroramade an excellent passage across the Atlantic. They stood to the northward until the Trades were cleared, when they fell in with fresh westerly winds, which carried them all the way across; and, as the weather was fine, they had no difficulty in keeping each other in sight during the whole passage, the two craft regulating their spread of canvas so that neither should outsail the other.The passage was consequently an uneventful one, nothing worthy of note occurring until they were in the chops of the Channel. Then, indeed, an adventure befell them, which proved George to have been wise in his determination that the two vessels should make the voyage in company.It was the last week in October. They had just struck soundings, when the two craft ran into a dense, raw fog, which compelled all hands to seek warmth and comfort in their thickest jackets, and necessitated, as a matter of prudence, the immediate shortening of sail.The fog lasted a couple of hours, and when it cleared up theAurorawas discovered about two miles astern of the brig, and a large ship was at the same moment made out directly ahead. The stranger was hove-to under single-reefed topsails, with her head to the northward, her topsail-yards being just visible from the deck. The fact of her being hove-to in such a position seemed to point to the conclusion that she was a man-o’-war, and this supposition was confirmed when George took a look at her through his glass from the fore-topgallant-yard. She was a frigate, and French apparently, from the cut of her canvas; but of course it was quite possible that she might be in English hands, the English often taking French prizes into their own navy, and sending them to sea again with little or no alteration. Still, George thought it best to be on the safe side, and he accordingly at once ordered theVirginieto clear for action, theAurorabeing signalled to do the same, his intention being to attack the frigate, if an enemy, since, as far as he could make out, she carried only twenty-four guns.In the meantime, however, the brig and the barque had been discovered by the frigate, which at once made sail, and manoeuvred in such a manner as to intercept them.Bowen, on the other hand, guessing at once what was in the wind, crowded sail upon theAurora, and soon recovered his position alongside theVirginie, approaching the latter vessel within hailing distance, in order the better to concert plans for the possible coming engagement. These were soon arranged, but not before it had become pretty evident, from the comparatively clumsy handling of the stranger, that she was indeed French. Their doubts, such as they were, were set at rest when the frigate had approached within a mile of them, by her hoisting a tricolour at her gaff-end, and soon afterwards she sent a shot across their fore-foot as a polite intimation that they would oblige her by heaving-to.They, however, did nothing of the kind; a piece of discourtesy whichsopreyed upon the French captain’s mind that, without more ado, he bore down upon them, and opened fire from his starboard broadside.The three ships at that moment formed the three angles of a nearly equilateral triangle, the sides of which measured each about a quarter of a mile; theVirginieand theAuroraoccupying, as it were, the two ends of the base, and the Frenchman being at the apex. This allowed both English ships to attack their enemy on the same side—the starboard—and compelled the Frenchman to fight them both with only half his battery. He soon saw how great a disadvantage he laboured under by this arrangement, and did all he could to get between them. But it was all to no purpose; George and Bowen were fully as wide-awake as he was, and they successfully defeated every effort of his in this direction, principally, it must be confessed, by some lucky shooting on their part, whereby the Frenchman’s spars and rigging were so cut up that the craft soon became practically unmanageable. At length, after a brisk fight of about twenty minutes, the Frenchman’s fore and main-topmasts both went simultaneously over the side, the frigate luffed into the wind, and obstinately remained there, and she was at George’s mercy. TheVirginieat once made sail and took up a position across the enemy’s bows, theAuroraplaced herself across his stern, and from these two advantageous positions a raking fire was opened, which, in less than five minutes, caused the Frenchman to haul down his flag and surrender.The prize—which proved to be the twenty-four-gun frigateCigne—was at once taken possession of by boats from both theVirginieand theAurora, her crew secured, and her damages repaired; and about midnight the three vessels made sail in company, arriving without further adventure at Spithead on the day but one following.
That same day George waited upon the admiral and formally laid claim to theJeune 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 anticipated 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 theVirginiestarted 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 Passages 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 circumstance, 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, theAurora. 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 theVirginie, and shunned an engagement, it would be a very difficult matter to bring theAurorato 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 theVirginieunder 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 cutlass, 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 theAurorawith 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, pass his thumb meditatively along the edge of his cutlass, 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.
TheVirginie’screw were kept carefully out of sight, except some three or four hands, who were ostentatiously posted on the forecastle, with orders to assume 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 theAuroracame 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 theVirginiehad 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 theAurorawere 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 theAurora’sstudding-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 theVirginie’sbow.
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. TheAurorawas 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 ablackflag. “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 cutlass 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, theVirginie’sstarboard 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, andheave! Boarders, follow me!” cried George, dashing to the rail, and making a spring thence in upon theAurora’sdeck, 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 sanguinarymêléearose on theAurora’sdeck. 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 theVirginiehad 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 assumed 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 space 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 theAurora’scapture, 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 identity. 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 placedhors de combat. He therefore pressed in toward him, plying his cutlass vigorously with one hand, and laying manfully about him with the butt 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 cutlass, “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 theVirginie, inspired by their leader’s example, had pressed in to their assistance, 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 passions of theVirginia’screw were by this time fully aroused; they thought of nothing but the fact that their enemieswere 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, theVirginie’screw had suffered but slightly in comparison—nine killed and thirteen wounded being the total of the casualties. A short breathing-space 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 theAurora, 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 theAurorato 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—theVirginieon the weather and theAuroraon 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 theAurorauntil ranging alongside the strange ship, when it was hauled down, and the English flag run up on board the barque and the brig simultaneously.
The pirates in possession were completely paralysed by the turn events had taken; they had evidently been under the impression that theAurora, and not theVirginiehad proved victorious; and now that they found themselves under the guns of both ships their mistake was past rectification.
Accordingly, at George’s order, they backed the main-yard and hove-to the ship, upon which a strong party, armed to the teeth, proceeded on board and took possession.
The ship proved to be theVulcan, of and from Liverpool, bound to Kingston with a valuable general cargo and several passengers. She was a noble ship, being of nearly a thousand tons register, and a regular clipper.
On boarding her, George found the state of affairs pretty much what it had been on board theAuroraafter her capture by these same pirates, her crew and the male passengers being discovered scattered about the deck, lashed helplessly neck and heels together, or chained to ring-bolts in the deck and bulwarks, whilst the pirates had taken possession of the cabin and had held a regular saturnalia there, in the progress of which the unfortunate lady passengers had been subjected to the vilest outrages, and one poor little child had been cruelly murdered before its distracted mother’s face. The captain and the chief mate of the ship were both found in the cabin in a dying condition, they having been mutilated in a most cruel and horrible manner in an ineffectual effort to wring from them the secret of the hiding-place of a large amount of specie which the pirates had somehow ascertained was on board. A tall and burly negro, the identical one who had acted as lieutenant to the Spaniard in charge of theAuroraon the occasion of her first capture, was at the head of the gang, and had been the instigator and chief perpetrator in the many outrages which had followed the capture of theVulcan.
No time was lost in freeing the passengers and crew from their exceedingly unpleasant situation; and this done, the pirates, ten in number, heavily ironed, were transferred to theVirginieand stowed carefully away below. TheVulcanthen proceeded on her voyage, in charge of her second mate, by whom George forwarded a letter to the admiral at Jamaica, informing him of the capture of the now notoriousAurora.
George now felt that, with two ships and so many desperate men to look after, he had his hands full, and he therefore decided to make the best of his way to England forthwith. He accordingly hailed Bowen, requesting him to give theAurora’sstores an overhaul, and to ascertain whether her provisions and water were sufficient in quantity to justify them in making a push across the Atlantic. In about an hour an answer was returned to the effect that not only was there an abundance of everything, but that the ship herself was more than half full of a varied and very rich cargo, the spoils, doubtless, from many a missing vessel. Upon the receipt of this intelligence, orders were at once given for both ships to fill and make the best of their way to the northward in company, and by nightfall they were clear of the Caycos Passage and standing to the northward on a taut bowline under a heavy press of canvas.
TheVirginieandAuroramade an excellent passage across the Atlantic. They stood to the northward until the Trades were cleared, when they fell in with fresh westerly winds, which carried them all the way across; and, as the weather was fine, they had no difficulty in keeping each other in sight during the whole passage, the two craft regulating their spread of canvas so that neither should outsail the other.
The passage was consequently an uneventful one, nothing worthy of note occurring until they were in the chops of the Channel. Then, indeed, an adventure befell them, which proved George to have been wise in his determination that the two vessels should make the voyage in company.
It was the last week in October. They had just struck soundings, when the two craft ran into a dense, raw fog, which compelled all hands to seek warmth and comfort in their thickest jackets, and necessitated, as a matter of prudence, the immediate shortening of sail.
The fog lasted a couple of hours, and when it cleared up theAurorawas discovered about two miles astern of the brig, and a large ship was at the same moment made out directly ahead. The stranger was hove-to under single-reefed topsails, with her head to the northward, her topsail-yards being just visible from the deck. The fact of her being hove-to in such a position seemed to point to the conclusion that she was a man-o’-war, and this supposition was confirmed when George took a look at her through his glass from the fore-topgallant-yard. She was a frigate, and French apparently, from the cut of her canvas; but of course it was quite possible that she might be in English hands, the English often taking French prizes into their own navy, and sending them to sea again with little or no alteration. Still, George thought it best to be on the safe side, and he accordingly at once ordered theVirginieto clear for action, theAurorabeing signalled to do the same, his intention being to attack the frigate, if an enemy, since, as far as he could make out, she carried only twenty-four guns.
In the meantime, however, the brig and the barque had been discovered by the frigate, which at once made sail, and manoeuvred in such a manner as to intercept them.
Bowen, on the other hand, guessing at once what was in the wind, crowded sail upon theAurora, and soon recovered his position alongside theVirginie, approaching the latter vessel within hailing distance, in order the better to concert plans for the possible coming engagement. These were soon arranged, but not before it had become pretty evident, from the comparatively clumsy handling of the stranger, that she was indeed French. Their doubts, such as they were, were set at rest when the frigate had approached within a mile of them, by her hoisting a tricolour at her gaff-end, and soon afterwards she sent a shot across their fore-foot as a polite intimation that they would oblige her by heaving-to.
They, however, did nothing of the kind; a piece of discourtesy whichsopreyed upon the French captain’s mind that, without more ado, he bore down upon them, and opened fire from his starboard broadside.
The three ships at that moment formed the three angles of a nearly equilateral triangle, the sides of which measured each about a quarter of a mile; theVirginieand theAuroraoccupying, as it were, the two ends of the base, and the Frenchman being at the apex. This allowed both English ships to attack their enemy on the same side—the starboard—and compelled the Frenchman to fight them both with only half his battery. He soon saw how great a disadvantage he laboured under by this arrangement, and did all he could to get between them. But it was all to no purpose; George and Bowen were fully as wide-awake as he was, and they successfully defeated every effort of his in this direction, principally, it must be confessed, by some lucky shooting on their part, whereby the Frenchman’s spars and rigging were so cut up that the craft soon became practically unmanageable. At length, after a brisk fight of about twenty minutes, the Frenchman’s fore and main-topmasts both went simultaneously over the side, the frigate luffed into the wind, and obstinately remained there, and she was at George’s mercy. TheVirginieat once made sail and took up a position across the enemy’s bows, theAuroraplaced herself across his stern, and from these two advantageous positions a raking fire was opened, which, in less than five minutes, caused the Frenchman to haul down his flag and surrender.
The prize—which proved to be the twenty-four-gun frigateCigne—was at once taken possession of by boats from both theVirginieand theAurora, her crew secured, and her damages repaired; and about midnight the three vessels made sail in company, arriving without further adventure at Spithead on the day but one following.
Chapter Twenty Two.“All’s Well that Ends Well.”The anchors were no sooner on the bottom than George found himself a busy man. There were certain authorities to be communicated with as to the disposal of the French prisoners, other authorities to be consulted as to the disposal of the pirates, and still others, again, to be seen and arranged with as to the disposal of the prizes. Then there were the owners of theVulcanto be dealt with in the matter of the salvage of that vessel, so that, altogether, he was kept going to and fro from morning until night.Then there was Lucy to be called upon. But knowing—or thinking he knew—that the sad news he had to communicate would go far toward breaking the heart of the poor girl, he eagerly availed himself of every excuse which offered, to defer his visit; and so it happened that whilst Lucy—who had heard, with astonishment and joy unspeakable, the news of his strange reappearance and good fortune—waited impatiently for the longed-for visit, George was postponing it day after day, until nearly a fortnight had passed.And in truth he was so worried and harassed with unexpected difficulties that, even if he could have found the time, he lacked the heart for such a call. To his intense surprise, he learned that, though he had arrived at Spithead with three ships, neither of them belonged to him. To begin with, theVirginie, having been captured whilst her captors were under the protection of a convoying squadron, was claimed as being actually the prize of that squadron, though not one of the ships belonging to it had fired a shot or struck a blow to aid in the capture. Then, as to theAurora, having not only bought and paid, butalso fought, for her, George was strongly of opinion thatsheat least was his. But, here again, it appeared that he was mistaken. She had been taken from him by pirates, and had been out of his possession more than twenty-four hours: she was therefore,de facto, a pirate, and the lawful prize of theVirginie, or rather, of theVirginie’sowners, namely, the convoying fleet aforesaid. And the same reasoning applied with equal effect to theCigne. The naval authorities certainly were good enough to admit that George and his crew were, in virtue of their having been the actual captors of these vessels, entitled to a certain moderate share of the prize-money accruing therefrom, but further than that they would not go.But if George found himself a busy man, he also found himself—outside the circle ruled by official jealousy—famous. The story, not only of his gallant achievements, but also of his misfortunes, leaked out, as such stories will; and he soon found himself a much-sought-after man, quite a lion, in fact. To such an extent, indeed, was this the case, that even the curiosity of royalty itself was aroused, and in the very midst of all his perplexities Leicester received a summons to present himself at court. This summons George of course dutifully and promptly obeyed, and whilst there not only told the whole story of his adventures, but also laid before his most gracious Majesty the grievances from which he considered himself to be suffering. He was well rewarded for his pains; for, when the king came to be fully informed of the details of the case, he took the matter in hand himself, with the result that a speedy and, on the whole, fairly satisfactory settlement was arrived at. He was also offered a commission in the navy, his Majesty sagely remarking that so good a man ought to be serving his country in some better way than by commanding a mere merchant-ship, and this time George was sensible enough to accept the offer. At his suggestion a commission was also offered to and accepted by Bowen.All this business being at length satisfactorily concluded, George had no further excuse for shunning Sea View, and accordingly, on the first opportunity, he set out with considerable perturbation of spirit for Alverstoke.It was about seven o’clock in the evening, and quite dark when George reached the house, and, passing through the gate, strode up the well-remembered pathway, and administered a soundingrat-tatat the door. A smart, fresh-looking maid-servant answered the summons, and, on his inquiry for Miss Walford, showed him into the familiar parlour, and asked for his name.“Captain Leicester,” answered George.“Yes, sir, certainly, sir,” said the girl, eyeing George with such undisguised curiosity and admiration as showed that she had undoubtedly heard some portion at least of his story. “Missus ’ll be down in a minute, sir. Please to take a seat, sir.”George settled himself comfortably in a chair near the fire, and, looking round at the well-remembered pictures and “curios” which still adorned the room, fell into a reverie in which his mind travelled backward and took him again in imagination through all that had happened to him since he last sat in that room. From this he was brought back abruptly to the present by the opening of the door and the entrance of Lucy.Ah! how George’s heart leapt within his bosom as he looked at her. She was just the same charming girl as when he had seen her last, and yet there was a subtle difference. She was a trifle more womanly, her form was more fully developed, and if she was a shade paler, it only made her loveliness more distractingly bewitching than ever.“Lucky Ned!” thought George. “To have been the chosen lover of such a woman as this—ay, though only for a few short hours, how willingly would I change places with you!”“So you have come at last, captain,” said Lucy, offering her delicate little hand. “I was beginning to think that, with all the honours which have been showered upon you, you had quite forgotten your former friends.”“No, Lucy, I have not,” answered George; “I have not forgotten one of them—least of all have I forgotten you. Forgotten! Why, I have never ceased to remember you; I do not believe a single waking hour has passed over my head since we last met, that I have not thought of you.”Lucy laughed blithely; she saw by the earnestness of his manner that he was speaking the literal truth; he hadnotforgotten her, and all would yet be well.“Fie, fie, captain,” said she, “it is easily to be seen that you have been to court; you have learned so thoroughly the art of flattery.”“Ha!” exclaimed George, “have you heard of my visit to his Majesty, then?”“Yes, indeed,” answered Lucy, “I have heard not only that, but, I believe, your whole story. Is it possible you are ignorant of the fact that your name is in everybody’s mouth, and that your story is public property?”“So you have heardallabout me?” remarked George. “Then I hope to Heaven that you have also already heard the sad news which I came over to break to you this evening. I see you are in black.”“Yes,” said Lucy, growing very grave at once, “I am in mourning for poor mother; she died nearly a year ago. But what is the sad news of which you have to speak to me?”“You havenotheard, then?” said George. “Well, it is about your cousin Edward. I regret to say that I bring you bad news of him.”“Are you referring to his death?” asked Lucy with just the faintest suspicion of a tremor in her voice. “Because, if so, I have already heard of it, and of all your noble, self-sacrificing behaviour on his behalf. And as a relative, as indeed hisonlysurviving relative, let me here and now thank you, George, in all earnestness and sincerity, for your devotion to my unfortunate cousin.”“By Jove, she bears it well; she can’t have cared soverymuch for him, after all,” thought George.“No thanks are necessary, I assure you,” was the reply. “I only did for him what I would have done with equal readiness for a stranger. But I had vowed that I would be a protector to him, and that I would—if God willed it—restore him to your arms; and I am grieved that I failed to keep my vow. Believe me, it was through no fault of mine that I failed, Lucy; I did the best I could, but God willed it otherwise.”“Yes—yes,” answered Lucy in a dazed sort of way; “yes, God willed it otherwise. But—whatever do you mean, George, by talking about restoring him to my arms? Any one would think, to hear you speak, that I was married to him.”“Well,” said George, “betrothalisa sort of marriage, is it not?”“Betrothal!” exclaimed Lucy, looking more bewildered than ever. “Pray explain yourself, Captain Leicester; I assure you I have not theslightestidea of what you mean.”It was now George’s turn to look mystified.“No idea of what I mean?” he stammered. “Why—why—you were engaged to your cousin, Edward Walford,were younot?”A new light suddenly flashed into Lucy’s mind. All along she had been convinced that there was some reason for George’s failure to visit her on the occasion of his previous arrival in port, and now the matter was assuredly on the eve of explanation. So she looked up into George’s face, and said quietly—“No, George, I never was engaged to my cousin. He proposed to me, but I refused him, explicitly and in most unmistakable terms.”“You did?” panted George, his heart throbbing tumultuously. “When was that?”“On the evening of the day when you last arrived in Portsmouth harbour in theIndustry.”Then, all in a moment, a suspicion of the truth dawned upon George.“And it was on that same evening that I met him out there, close to the church, and he confided to me, as a great secret, the circumstance that you had just accepted him.”“You were so near as that, and yet you never called? For shame, George!” exclaimed Lucy.“Well, you see—I—that is—in fact I could not. The—the plain truth is that I—I was on my way to you at the time, to try my own fortune with you, and when I was told that you had accepted your cousin, I—well, I felt that I couldn’t meet you just then,” stammered George with desperate energy.“Poor George!” murmured Lucy. “How well my cousin understood your unsuspicious character! Heknewit would never occur to you to doubt his word, and he told you that tale to keep you away from—from—”“From what? from whom?” asked George. “Oh Lucy! is it possible that, if I had carried out my original resolution that night, you would have accepted me?”“Yes, George, I would indeed,” was the murmured reply. “I have loved you, and you only, for a long time. But not longer than you have loved me,” she added roguishly, as George took her in his arms and—But, avast there! whither are we running? It is high time that we should ’bout ship and haul off on the opposite tack, if we would not be regarded as impertinent intruders. Love-making is a most delightful pastime, particularly when it comes in at the end of a long period of suffering, hardship, and misunderstanding; but it loses all its piquant charm if it has to be performed in the presence of strangers, no matter how sympathetic. So we will leave it to the lively imagination of the intelligent reader to picture for him, or herself, according to his, or her, particular fancy, the way in which the remainder of the evening was spent, merely mentioning that the lovers found time to come to a thoroughly and mutually satisfactory understanding, and that, when George left Sea View that evening, he was—to make use of a somewhat hackneyed expression—“the happiest of men.”My story is now ended, or nearly so, the intelligent reader aforesaid having doubtless already anticipated the little that remains to be told.The pirates were tried, found guilty, and executed, as a matter of course; the evidence of the crew of theVirginiealone being sufficient to insure their conviction. Captain Bowen went, at considerable personal inconvenience, to witness the execution, being desirous, as he said, of assuring himself with his own eyes that the wretches were so effectually dealt with as to render any further trouble from them an absolute impossibility.George Leicester did not accompany his friend, being, in fact, more agreeably engaged at the time in spending with Mrs Leicester—née; Walford—a brief honeymoon in London, prior to taking command of the frigateCigne, which had been purchased into the navy, and was then undergoing the process of refitting at Portsmouth.In this ship, and in others, George afterwards fought many gallant actions, greatly distinguishing himself, and eventually retiring from the service, at an advanced age, with a wooden leg, a baronetcy, and the title of rear-admiral. His wife Lucy, with most commendable liberality, presented him with no fewer than seven sons, all of whom grew up to be fine stalwart fellows, and, entering the navy one after the other, followed worthily in the footsteps of their gallant father.The End.
The anchors were no sooner on the bottom than George found himself a busy man. There were certain authorities to be communicated with as to the disposal of the French prisoners, other authorities to be consulted as to the disposal of the pirates, and still others, again, to be seen and arranged with as to the disposal of the prizes. Then there were the owners of theVulcanto be dealt with in the matter of the salvage of that vessel, so that, altogether, he was kept going to and fro from morning until night.
Then there was Lucy to be called upon. But knowing—or thinking he knew—that the sad news he had to communicate would go far toward breaking the heart of the poor girl, he eagerly availed himself of every excuse which offered, to defer his visit; and so it happened that whilst Lucy—who had heard, with astonishment and joy unspeakable, the news of his strange reappearance and good fortune—waited impatiently for the longed-for visit, George was postponing it day after day, until nearly a fortnight had passed.
And in truth he was so worried and harassed with unexpected difficulties that, even if he could have found the time, he lacked the heart for such a call. To his intense surprise, he learned that, though he had arrived at Spithead with three ships, neither of them belonged to him. To begin with, theVirginie, having been captured whilst her captors were under the protection of a convoying squadron, was claimed as being actually the prize of that squadron, though not one of the ships belonging to it had fired a shot or struck a blow to aid in the capture. Then, as to theAurora, having not only bought and paid, butalso fought, for her, George was strongly of opinion thatsheat least was his. But, here again, it appeared that he was mistaken. She had been taken from him by pirates, and had been out of his possession more than twenty-four hours: she was therefore,de facto, a pirate, and the lawful prize of theVirginie, or rather, of theVirginie’sowners, namely, the convoying fleet aforesaid. And the same reasoning applied with equal effect to theCigne. The naval authorities certainly were good enough to admit that George and his crew were, in virtue of their having been the actual captors of these vessels, entitled to a certain moderate share of the prize-money accruing therefrom, but further than that they would not go.
But if George found himself a busy man, he also found himself—outside the circle ruled by official jealousy—famous. The story, not only of his gallant achievements, but also of his misfortunes, leaked out, as such stories will; and he soon found himself a much-sought-after man, quite a lion, in fact. To such an extent, indeed, was this the case, that even the curiosity of royalty itself was aroused, and in the very midst of all his perplexities Leicester received a summons to present himself at court. This summons George of course dutifully and promptly obeyed, and whilst there not only told the whole story of his adventures, but also laid before his most gracious Majesty the grievances from which he considered himself to be suffering. He was well rewarded for his pains; for, when the king came to be fully informed of the details of the case, he took the matter in hand himself, with the result that a speedy and, on the whole, fairly satisfactory settlement was arrived at. He was also offered a commission in the navy, his Majesty sagely remarking that so good a man ought to be serving his country in some better way than by commanding a mere merchant-ship, and this time George was sensible enough to accept the offer. At his suggestion a commission was also offered to and accepted by Bowen.
All this business being at length satisfactorily concluded, George had no further excuse for shunning Sea View, and accordingly, on the first opportunity, he set out with considerable perturbation of spirit for Alverstoke.
It was about seven o’clock in the evening, and quite dark when George reached the house, and, passing through the gate, strode up the well-remembered pathway, and administered a soundingrat-tatat the door. A smart, fresh-looking maid-servant answered the summons, and, on his inquiry for Miss Walford, showed him into the familiar parlour, and asked for his name.
“Captain Leicester,” answered George.
“Yes, sir, certainly, sir,” said the girl, eyeing George with such undisguised curiosity and admiration as showed that she had undoubtedly heard some portion at least of his story. “Missus ’ll be down in a minute, sir. Please to take a seat, sir.”
George settled himself comfortably in a chair near the fire, and, looking round at the well-remembered pictures and “curios” which still adorned the room, fell into a reverie in which his mind travelled backward and took him again in imagination through all that had happened to him since he last sat in that room. From this he was brought back abruptly to the present by the opening of the door and the entrance of Lucy.
Ah! how George’s heart leapt within his bosom as he looked at her. She was just the same charming girl as when he had seen her last, and yet there was a subtle difference. She was a trifle more womanly, her form was more fully developed, and if she was a shade paler, it only made her loveliness more distractingly bewitching than ever.
“Lucky Ned!” thought George. “To have been the chosen lover of such a woman as this—ay, though only for a few short hours, how willingly would I change places with you!”
“So you have come at last, captain,” said Lucy, offering her delicate little hand. “I was beginning to think that, with all the honours which have been showered upon you, you had quite forgotten your former friends.”
“No, Lucy, I have not,” answered George; “I have not forgotten one of them—least of all have I forgotten you. Forgotten! Why, I have never ceased to remember you; I do not believe a single waking hour has passed over my head since we last met, that I have not thought of you.”
Lucy laughed blithely; she saw by the earnestness of his manner that he was speaking the literal truth; he hadnotforgotten her, and all would yet be well.
“Fie, fie, captain,” said she, “it is easily to be seen that you have been to court; you have learned so thoroughly the art of flattery.”
“Ha!” exclaimed George, “have you heard of my visit to his Majesty, then?”
“Yes, indeed,” answered Lucy, “I have heard not only that, but, I believe, your whole story. Is it possible you are ignorant of the fact that your name is in everybody’s mouth, and that your story is public property?”
“So you have heardallabout me?” remarked George. “Then I hope to Heaven that you have also already heard the sad news which I came over to break to you this evening. I see you are in black.”
“Yes,” said Lucy, growing very grave at once, “I am in mourning for poor mother; she died nearly a year ago. But what is the sad news of which you have to speak to me?”
“You havenotheard, then?” said George. “Well, it is about your cousin Edward. I regret to say that I bring you bad news of him.”
“Are you referring to his death?” asked Lucy with just the faintest suspicion of a tremor in her voice. “Because, if so, I have already heard of it, and of all your noble, self-sacrificing behaviour on his behalf. And as a relative, as indeed hisonlysurviving relative, let me here and now thank you, George, in all earnestness and sincerity, for your devotion to my unfortunate cousin.”
“By Jove, she bears it well; she can’t have cared soverymuch for him, after all,” thought George.
“No thanks are necessary, I assure you,” was the reply. “I only did for him what I would have done with equal readiness for a stranger. But I had vowed that I would be a protector to him, and that I would—if God willed it—restore him to your arms; and I am grieved that I failed to keep my vow. Believe me, it was through no fault of mine that I failed, Lucy; I did the best I could, but God willed it otherwise.”
“Yes—yes,” answered Lucy in a dazed sort of way; “yes, God willed it otherwise. But—whatever do you mean, George, by talking about restoring him to my arms? Any one would think, to hear you speak, that I was married to him.”
“Well,” said George, “betrothalisa sort of marriage, is it not?”
“Betrothal!” exclaimed Lucy, looking more bewildered than ever. “Pray explain yourself, Captain Leicester; I assure you I have not theslightestidea of what you mean.”
It was now George’s turn to look mystified.
“No idea of what I mean?” he stammered. “Why—why—you were engaged to your cousin, Edward Walford,were younot?”
A new light suddenly flashed into Lucy’s mind. All along she had been convinced that there was some reason for George’s failure to visit her on the occasion of his previous arrival in port, and now the matter was assuredly on the eve of explanation. So she looked up into George’s face, and said quietly—
“No, George, I never was engaged to my cousin. He proposed to me, but I refused him, explicitly and in most unmistakable terms.”
“You did?” panted George, his heart throbbing tumultuously. “When was that?”
“On the evening of the day when you last arrived in Portsmouth harbour in theIndustry.”
Then, all in a moment, a suspicion of the truth dawned upon George.
“And it was on that same evening that I met him out there, close to the church, and he confided to me, as a great secret, the circumstance that you had just accepted him.”
“You were so near as that, and yet you never called? For shame, George!” exclaimed Lucy.
“Well, you see—I—that is—in fact I could not. The—the plain truth is that I—I was on my way to you at the time, to try my own fortune with you, and when I was told that you had accepted your cousin, I—well, I felt that I couldn’t meet you just then,” stammered George with desperate energy.
“Poor George!” murmured Lucy. “How well my cousin understood your unsuspicious character! Heknewit would never occur to you to doubt his word, and he told you that tale to keep you away from—from—”
“From what? from whom?” asked George. “Oh Lucy! is it possible that, if I had carried out my original resolution that night, you would have accepted me?”
“Yes, George, I would indeed,” was the murmured reply. “I have loved you, and you only, for a long time. But not longer than you have loved me,” she added roguishly, as George took her in his arms and—
But, avast there! whither are we running? It is high time that we should ’bout ship and haul off on the opposite tack, if we would not be regarded as impertinent intruders. Love-making is a most delightful pastime, particularly when it comes in at the end of a long period of suffering, hardship, and misunderstanding; but it loses all its piquant charm if it has to be performed in the presence of strangers, no matter how sympathetic. So we will leave it to the lively imagination of the intelligent reader to picture for him, or herself, according to his, or her, particular fancy, the way in which the remainder of the evening was spent, merely mentioning that the lovers found time to come to a thoroughly and mutually satisfactory understanding, and that, when George left Sea View that evening, he was—to make use of a somewhat hackneyed expression—“the happiest of men.”
My story is now ended, or nearly so, the intelligent reader aforesaid having doubtless already anticipated the little that remains to be told.
The pirates were tried, found guilty, and executed, as a matter of course; the evidence of the crew of theVirginiealone being sufficient to insure their conviction. Captain Bowen went, at considerable personal inconvenience, to witness the execution, being desirous, as he said, of assuring himself with his own eyes that the wretches were so effectually dealt with as to render any further trouble from them an absolute impossibility.
George Leicester did not accompany his friend, being, in fact, more agreeably engaged at the time in spending with Mrs Leicester—née; Walford—a brief honeymoon in London, prior to taking command of the frigateCigne, which had been purchased into the navy, and was then undergoing the process of refitting at Portsmouth.
In this ship, and in others, George afterwards fought many gallant actions, greatly distinguishing himself, and eventually retiring from the service, at an advanced age, with a wooden leg, a baronetcy, and the title of rear-admiral. His wife Lucy, with most commendable liberality, presented him with no fewer than seven sons, all of whom grew up to be fine stalwart fellows, and, entering the navy one after the other, followed worthily in the footsteps of their gallant father.
|Chapter 1| |Chapter 2| |Chapter 3| |Chapter 4| |Chapter 5| |Chapter 6| |Chapter 7| |Chapter 8| |Chapter 9| |Chapter 10| |Chapter 11| |Chapter 12| |Chapter 13| |Chapter 14| |Chapter 15| |Chapter 16| |Chapter 17| |Chapter 18| |Chapter 19| |Chapter 20| |Chapter 21| |Chapter 22|