CHAPTER XVII
A FRENCH FRIGATE
On arriving at Kingston Nat went on board the flag-ship, and reported tothe admiral the particulars of his visit to Toussaint.
"He is evidently a long-headed fellow," the admiral said, "and from hispoint of view his proposal is a fair one; but I am afraid our people athome would never give such an undertaking. It would be impossible for usto have one island where the blacks were free, while in all others theywould remain slaves. It would be as much as saying to them, 'If you wantfreedom you must fight for it;' and even if the people at home couldbring themselves to pay the immense amount of money that would berequired to emancipate the slaves by indemnifying their owners, it wouldnevertheless be the ruin of the islands, and all connected with them.However, I will take you ashore to the governor, after my clerk has madea copy of your report."
"I have made two copies, sir."
"All the better. Then we will go at once."
The governor heard Nat's story, and received his report.
"It is at least satisfactory," he said, "to have learnt from one ofthemselves what the views of the principal leaders are, and I considerthat you have performed your commission exceedingly well, LieutenantGlover, and, undoubtedly, at a great deal of risk to yourself. As to thematter of the communication, it will of course receive seriousattention. It is far too important a business for anyone to giveoff-hand an opinion upon it. I fancy, sir, that you are likely to havemore active work before long, for I think there is no doubt that warwill very shortly be declared with France, and her privateers will beswarming about these seas."
It was nearly six months before any special incident took place. Novessel had been missing since the capture of the _Agile_, and it wasevident that any pirates there might have been among the islands hadmoved to waters where they could carry on their trade with lessinterruption. The _Agile_ cruised about among the islands, and althoughshe had a pleasant time, officers and men alike grew impatient at theuneventful nature of their work. Things were but little changed inHayti. Biassou had been deprived of his command, and it was surmisedthat he had been murdered, but at any rate he was never heard of again.Francois and Toussaint commanded, but the former came to be so jealousof Toussaint's popularity that the latter was obliged to retire, and tocross the frontier into the Spanish part of the island. There he waswell received, and showed great ability in various actions against theFrench, with whom Spain was then at war. He and many other negroes haddeclared for Spain, upon the singular ground that they had always beengoverned by a king, and preferred to be ruled by the king of Spainrather than by a republic.
With only six hundred men Toussaint drove fifteen hundred French out ofa strong post which they occupied in the Spanish town of Raphaelita, andafterwards took several other posts and villages. It was for thesesuccesses that he gained the name of L'Ouverture, or opener, and theMarquis D'Hermona gave him the rank of lieutenant-general. The threeFrench commissioners had returned to France, and had been succeeded bytwo others, Santhonax and Poveren, the former a ruffian of the same typeas those who were deluging the soil of France with its best blood, andwho made themselves odious to both parties by their brutality and greed.At last, at the end of February, 1793, came the news of the execution ofthe king of France, and the certainty that war was imminent.
"Now we shall have more lively times," Turnbull said. "It has been dullenough of late."
"There has been nothing to grumble at," the surgeon said. "What wouldyou have? Haven't we been sailing about like gentlemen, with nothing todo but to drink and sleep, and look at the islands, and take things easyaltogether?"
"Don't you talk, Doyle," Turnbull said, laughing. "There is no one whohas grumbled more than yourself."
"That is in the cause of science," the Irishman retorted. "How can Iever become a distinguished man, and show what is in me, and make allsorts of discoveries, if there is never a chance that comes in my way?There are my instruments all ready for use, they might as well be at thebottom of the sea. I hone them once a week, and well-nigh shed tearsbecause of the good work they ought to be doing. It is all very wellfor you, Turnbull, you won't forget how to kill a man when the timecomes; but let me tell you that any fellow who doesn't know his A B Ccan kill a man, whereas it takes a man of science to cure him."
"There is a good deal in that, Doyle," Nat said, when the laugh hadsubsided, "though I don't know that I considered it in that lightbefore; but that, perhaps, is because I have tried one and never triedthe other."
"It's a fine thing," Doyle said, "to be a surgeon. There you see a manwith his legs shot off. If it was not for you he would die. You take himin hand, you amputate a bit higher up, you make him tidy andcomfortable, and there he is walking about almost as well as if he hadtwo legs; and although he is not fit for ship service again, he would beas good a man in a fight with a cudgel as ever he was. Now I ask youfairly, what is there that you can do to compare with that?"
"Nothing in that way, I must admit," Nat laughed, "Well, you may behaving an opportunity of showing your superiority before long. This isjust the ground the French privateers are likely to choose. There areplenty of French ports for them to put into, hundreds of bays where theycould lie hidden, and lots of shipping to plunder. No doubt they will bethick in the channel and down the straits, but our merchantmen will notthink of going there unless in large fleets or under convoy of ships ofwar; while here, though they might be guarded on their way across theAtlantic, they would have to scatter as soon as they were among theislands. Well, we must look out that we are not caught napping. Ofcourse, until we get news that war is declared we can't fire upon aFrenchman; while if one arrived with the news before we got it, he mightsail up close by us and pour in a broadside."
"At any rate we are likely to take some prizes," Lippincott said, "forthe instant we get the news we can pounce upon any French merchantman."
"Yes; those homeward-bound could hardly hear the news as soon as we do,while of those coming out many slow sailers will have left before war isdeclared, and may not be here for weeks after we hear of it. The greatthing will be for us to put ourselves on the main line of traffic. As wehave received no special orders we can cruise where we like. I shouldsay that coming from France, they would be likely to keep down the coastof Spain and on to Madeira before they strike across, as in that waythey would be altogether out of the line of the Gulf Stream. Then, ifthey were making for Hayti, they would probably be coming along west onor about the 20th parallel north; while, if making for Guadeloupe orMartinique, they would be some three or four degrees farther south.Probably privateers would follow the same lines, as before commencingoperations they would want to take in provisions and water, to learnwhere our cruisers are likely to be, to pick up pilots, and so on. So Ishould say that we can cruise about these waters for another fortnightsafely, and then go through the Caribbean Islands and cruise someseventy or eighty miles beyond them, carefully avoiding putting into anyof our own islands as we pass."
"Why should you do that?" Turnbull asked.
"Because the chances are that we should find, either at Barbados or St.Lucia or Dominica--or, in fact, at any of the other islands, one of ourfrigates, or at any rate, some officer senior to me; and in that case,as we have no fixed orders from the admiral, we might be detained orsent off in some direction that might not suit us at all."
"Good!" Doyle said. "It is always a safe rule to keep out of the way ofa bigger man than yourself. I have always observed that a captain of aman-of-war or of a frigate is sure to be down on small craft, if he getsa chance. It is like a big boy at school fagging a little one; he coulddo quite as well without him, but it is just a matter of devilment andto show his authority. Heaven protect us against falling in with afrigate. If she were a Frenchman she would sink us; if she were aBritisher she would bully us."
They reached the ground on which Nat had decided to cruise. Three dayslater the look-out at the mast-head shouted "Sail ho!" the words actinglike an electric shock to thos
e on deck.
"How does it bear?"
"About east by north, sir. There are three vessels; I can only see theirtopsails at present. Two of them are a bit bigger than the third. Theylook to me to be merchantmen. I should say the other, by the cut of hissails, is a Frenchman."
A low cheer broke from the men. "Now, if that fellow brings news thatwar is declared, we are in luck," Nat said. "Either he is convoying twoFrench merchantmen he has overtaken, or he has two British prizes he haspicked up. If they are English, we shall not get so much prize-money;but then we shall have less difficulty with the privateer, if privateershe is, because she must have put a good many of her hands an board theprizes. So we can in either case count upon doing well. At any rate theyare not likely to suspect that we are English, being French-built andFrench-rigged. Even if they have a doubt, they will be satisfied as soonas they see the name on our bows. We will not get up any more sail."
"I will go up and have a look at her," Turnbull said; and slinging hisglass over his shoulder he went aloft.
"I think," he called down, after a long look at them, "that the middleship is a good deal larger than she looks; and the others are carryingevery stitch of canvas, but she has neither royals nor topgallant-sails.Her yards have a wide spread, and I am inclined to think that she is afrigate or a large corvette--certainly a French one. As to the others, Icannot say with certainty, but I rather fancy they are English; in whichcase she has captured them on the way, and, being much faster than theyare, has to go under easy sail to keep with them."
"Well, I hope she is not too big for us," Nat said, as Turnbull rejoinedhim.
"What should you call too big, sir?" Turnbull asked with a smile.
"Well, I should say that a fifty was too big."
"I should think so indeed. A twenty-gun sloop would be a prettyformidable opponent."
"Yes, a twenty would about suit us, especially as she may have fifty ofher men on board the other craft--that is, if they are her prizes. It isthe men that I am more afraid of than the guns. Two to one are no greatodds in guns, especially as we generally work ours faster than theFrench do; but when it comes to a hundred and fifty men or so againstforty, it may be very unpleasant if we get a spar knocked away and theycome alongside of us. We may as well get the French flag up at once.With a good glass they could make it out a long way off. Let the menhave their breakfast, it is a bad thing to fight fasting."
The men were not long over their meal; by the time they came on deckagain the strangers were within five or six miles. The wind was in thenorth-east, and the _Agile_ was almost close-hauled, while the othershad the wind broad on their quarters. There was now no longer any doubtthat the outside vessels were two large British West Indiamen, and thefact that they were in company with what was undoubtedly a Frenchfrigate was regarded as absolute proof that war had been declared, andthat the French ship of war on her way out to the colonies with the newshad overtaken and captured the two British ships, which were probablysailing in company. As they approached, the _Agile_ was luffed up moreinto the wind in order to pass between the Frenchman and the prizewithin a few cables' length to starboard of him.
"How many guns do you make her out to be, Mr. Lippincott?"
"I think that she has eighteen guns on a broadside."
"The odds are pretty strongly against us," Nat said; "but we shall havethe weather-gauge, that counts for a good deal. Anyhow, we shall be ableto annoy her, and possibly, if we hang on to her, the sound of firingwill bring up one of our cruisers from Barbuda or Antigua."
An awning which was stretched over the quarter-deck had not been takendown, and as the brigantine approached the French frigate, there was nosign that her intentions were not of a peaceable nature. The Frenchensign floated from the peak, the sailors on deck were lounging about,some with their jackets on, others in their shirts, and only a few withhats on seemed to be watching with idle curiosity the approachingvessels. Nat and the officers retained their uniforms, for as only theirheads and shoulders showed over the rail, there was nothing todistinguish them from those of a fine French privateer, for thesegenerally adopted a regular naval dress. The two vessels were but fiftyyards apart as they met. Nat sprang on to the rail, and in reply to thehail from the Frenchman, "What ship is that?" raised his cap in saluteand shouted:
"The _Agile_ of Bordeaux. Have you any news from France, sir?"
"Yes, war has been declared with England."
NAT SPRANG ON TO THE RAIL.]
"Thank you, that is good news indeed," and he leapt down on to the deck.
The vessels were both travelling at a speed of about eight knots anhour, and were already passing one another fast, when, as Nat waved hishand, the French flag was run down, an English ensign already fastenedto the halyards was simultaneously run up, and a moment later the fiveguns, which had previously been trained to bear aft and double-shotted,poured their broadside into the quarters of the French frigate. Shoutsof surprise and fury rose from her; no thought that the little craft sofearlessly approaching her was an enemy had crossed the mind of any onboard, still less that if British she would venture to fire upon sovastly superior a foe.
"About ship!" Nat said, the instant the guns had been fired. Thesail-trimmers were at their places, the _Agile_ shot up into the wind,her head paid off, and she swept round on the other tack, crossing thestern of the Frenchman, her guns on the starboard side sending theirshot in through his stern windows, and raking his whole length as theywere brought to bear; then she wore round on her heel, the guns on thelarboard side were reloaded, and she again raked the Frenchman. So farnot a single shot had been fired in return. The din on board the frigatewas prodigious, as the guns had to be cast loose, magazines opened,powder and shot carried up, and the sails trimmed to enable her to bearup so as to show her broadside to her puny foe.
Before she could do so the _Agile_, true to her name, was again round.The Frenchmen, confused by the variety of orders issued, were slow attheir work, and as their opponent came up into the wind the brigantinewas again astern of them, and raked them this time with heavy charges ofgrape. A chorus of shrieks and cries from the frigate told how terriblewas the effect.
"By St. Patrick," the surgeon exclaimed to Lippincott, "it is grand! Butit looks as if the captain wasn't going to give me a chance, and all meinstruments laid out ready for action."
"Never mind, doctor, you will be able to practise on the Frenchmen,"Lippincott laughed.
But the French captain knew his business, and putting his helm overagain, ran off the wind, so that the two vessels were now on the sametack, with the _Agile_ on her opponent's quarter. Several of the Frenchguns were now brought to bear, but their discharge was too hurried, andowing to the brigantine lying so much lower in the water, the shot flewbetween her masts or made holes in her mainsail. In a moment she wasround again, and crossed her opponent's stern at a distance of somethirty yards, the word being passed along that the gunners were to aimat the rudder-post and to double-shot the guns. A loud cheer rose as twoof the shots struck the mark. The Frenchman replied with a volley ofmusketry from the marines gathered on her poop. Three of the sailorsfell, and several others were hit.
The Frenchman was, when the _Agile_ delivered her last broadside,running nearly before the wind, and it was speedily evident that theinjury to her rudder had been fatal, for although she attempted bytrimming her sails again to bear up, each time she fell off, though notbefore some of her shot had hulled her active opponent. Seeing, however,that he must now be easily outmanoeuvred, the Frenchman made nofurther effort to change his course, but continued doggedly on his way,the topmen swarming aloft and shaking out more canvas. The _Agile_followed the frigate's example, and placing herself on her sternquarter, kept up a steady fire, yawing when necessary to bring all herguns to bear, the French replying occasionally with one of their sternguns. Owing to the accelerated speed at which both vessels were nowgoing, the Indiamen had been left behind. Half an hour later thefrigate's mizzen-mast, which had been severe
ly wounded by the firstbroadside, went over her side. Cheer after cheer rose from the _Agile_;her opponent was now at her mercy. She had but to repeat the tacticswith which she had begun the fight. Just as Nat gave the order to do so,musket shots were heard in the distance. The crew of one of themerchantmen had been allowed to remain on deck, as, being under the gunsof the frigate, there was no possibility of their attempting tooverpower their captors. As soon, however, as it became evident that thefrigate was getting the worst of it, they had been hurried below, andthe hatches dropped over them. From the port-holes, however, they couldobtain a view of what was going on ahead of them, and as soon as theysaw the frigate's mast go by the board, they armed themselves withanything that would serve as weapons, managed to push up theafter-hatch, and rushed on deck. The prize crew were all clusteredforward watching the fight; a shout from the helmsman apprised them oftheir danger, and they rushed aft. They were, however, less numerousthan the British sailors, and no better armed, for, believing that thefrigate would easily crush her tiny assailant, they were unprepared totake any part in the fight.
The contest was a very short one. Knowing that the frigate was crippled,and that the brigantine would soon be free to return to them, theFrenchmen saw that they must eventually be taken, and the officer incommand being knocked senseless with a belaying-pin, they threw downtheir knives and surrendered. The other Indiaman at once put down herhelm on seeing that the British flag was being run up on her consort.
"We must not let that fellow get away," Nat said; "we can leave thefrigate alone for half an hour. We will give him two more broadsideswith grape through his stern windows, and then bear up after thatlumbering merchantman. We shall be alongside in half an hour."
In less than that time they were within pistol-shot of the WestIndiaman, and the prize crew at once hauled down their flag. The _Agile_went alongside, released the prisoners, who had been securely fastenedin the hold, and replaced them by the French crew. The Indiaman'sofficers had been allowed to remain on deck.
"Now, captain," Nat said to the English master, "please keep every sailfull and follow us. It will not be long before we settle with thefrigate, and we shall then run down to Barbados."
The master, who was greatly surprised at the youth of the officer whohad so ably handled his ship against an immensely superior foe, said:
"Allow me to congratulate you on the splendid way in which you havehandled your vessel. I could scarcely believe my eyes when you openedfire on the frigate. It seemed impossible that you should have thoughtof really engaging such an opponent."
"You see, we had the weather gauge of her, captain, and the brigantineis both fast and handy. But I must be off now before they have time toget into fighting trim again."
In another half-hour he was in his old position under the frigate'squarter, and was preparing to resume his former tactics, when the Frenchflag fluttered down amid the cheers of the _Agile's_ crew, which werefaintly repeated by the two merchantmen a mile astern.
"I am heartily glad that they have surrendered," Nat said to Turnbull;"it would have been a mere massacre if they had been obstinate. Now,will you go on board and see what state she is in. Do not accept theofficers' swords. They have done all that they could, but they reallynever had a chance after we had once got in the right position. Orderall unwounded men below. As soon as you return with your report as tothe state of things, I will send you off again with twenty men to takecommand. You had better bring the officers back with you. Mr.Lippincott, hoist a signal to the merchantmen to lie to as soon as theyget abreast of us."
Mr. Turnbull returned in twenty minutes.
"It is an awful sight," he said. "The captain and the two seniorlieutenants are killed, and it was the third lieutenant who ordered theflag to be lowered. Her name is the _Spartane_. She carried a crew ofthree hundred men, of whom fifty were on board her prizes. She has lostninety killed, and there are nearly as many more wounded, of whom atleast half are hit with grape, and I fancy few of them will recover; theothers are splinter wounds, some of them very bad. There are twosurgeons at work. I told them that ours would come to their assistanceas soon as he had done with our own wounded."
The third lieutenant and three midshipmen, who were the sole survivorsof the officers of the _Spartane_, soon came on board.
"Gentlemen," Nat said, "I am sorry for your misfortune, but assuredlyyou have nothing to reproach yourselves with. You did all that brave mencould do, and did not lower your flag until further resistance wouldhave been a crime against humanity."
The officers bowed; they were too much depressed to reply. Theirmortification was great at being overpowered by a vessel so muchinferior in strength to their own, and the feeling was increased now byseeing that their conqueror was a lad no older than the senior of themidshipmen. Turnbull's cabin was at once allotted to the lieutenant, anda large spare cabin to the midshipmen. Leaving Lippincott in charge,with ten men, Nat went with Turnbull and the doctor on board thefrigate, and the boat went back to fetch the rest of the crew. Themerchantmen had been signalled to send as many men as they could spareon board the frigate, and not until these arrived did Nat feelcomfortable. Of his own crew three had been killed and ten wounded;three of these were fit for duty, and formed part of Lippincott's party,and the twenty he had with him seemed lost on board the frigate.Although Turnbull had had hawsers coiled over the hatches, the thoughtthat there were nearly a hundred prisoners there, and that there wereenough comparatively slightly wounded to overpower the two men placed assentries over each hatchway, was a very unpleasant one. The arrival,however, of thirty of the merchant sailors, armed to the teeth, alteredthe position of affairs.
The first duty was to clear the decks of the dead. These were hastilysewn up in their own hammocks, with a couple of round shot at theirfeet, and then launched overboard. Those of the wounded able to walkwere then mustered, and one of the French surgeons bandaged all the lessserious wounds. After being supplied with a drink of wine and water,they were taken below, and placed with their companions in the hold.Then the wreck of the mizzen was cut away, and the frigate was taken intow by the _Agile_, her own sails being left standing to relieve thestrain on the hawsers. The two merchantmen were signalled to reducesail, and to follow, and on no account to lose sight of the stern lightof the frigate after it became dusk. Nat returned, with four of hiscrew, to the _Agile_, and four days later towed the _Spartane_ into theanchorage off Bridgetown, the chief port of Barbados, the two WestIndiamen following. The _Isis_, a fine fifty-gun frigate, was lyingthere. She had arrived on the previous day, having been despatched withthe news of the outbreak of war. As her captain was evidently thesenior officer on the station, Nat was rowed on board.
"Are you the officer in command of that brigantine?" the captain askedin surprise.
"Yes, sir; my name is Glover."
"Well, Lieutenant Glover, what part did your ship bear in the fight withthat Frenchman? I see by her sails that she was engaged. Whom had youwith you?"
"We were alone, sir."
"What!" the captain said, incredulously, "do you mean to say that, withthat little ten-gun craft, you captured a thirty-six-gun frigatesingle-handed?"
"That is so, sir."
"Well, I congratulate you on it heartily," the captain exclaimed,shaking Nat by the hand with great cordiality. "You must tell me allabout it. It is an extraordinary feat. How many men do you carry?"
"We have forty seamen, sir, and two petty officers."
"And what are your casualties?"
"Three killed and ten wounded."
"What were the casualties of the Frenchmen?"
"Ninety killed, including the captain and the first and secondlieutenants and five midshipmen, and eighty-three wounded."
"And how many prisoners?"
"In all, a hundred and thirty, sir, of whom five-and-twenty are on boardeach of those merchantmen, which had been captured by the frigate. Thecrew of one rose and mastered their captors as soon as they saw thefrigate's mizzen-mast fall,
and knew that we must take her. The prizecrew in the other struck their flag as soon as we came withinpistol-shot of her. I shall be glad to receive orders from you as to thedisposal of the prisoners. I have had thirty men from the merchantmenon board the _Spartane_, for I could spare so few men that the prisonersmight, without their assistance, have retaken her."
"I will go ashore with you presently and see the governor, and askwhether he can take charge of them. If he cannot, you can hand over thegreater part of them to me. I shall sail for Jamaica this evening. As tothe prize, I should advise you to see if you cannot get some spars andrig a jury-mast; there are sure to be some in the dockyard. While thatis being done you can go through the formalities of inspecting theIndiamen, for whose salvage you will get a very handsome sum. At anyrate, if I were you I should keep them here until I was ready to sail,and then go with them and your prize to Kingston. I should go in inprocession, as you did here. It is a thing that you have a right to beproud of."
"We need lose no time about the mast, sir. We stripped the gear off andgot it on board the _Spartane_, and towed her mast behind her, thinkingthat perhaps we might not get a suitable spar here. Of course the lowermast will be short, but that will matter comparatively little. What ismore serious is that her rudder is smashed."
"I doubt whether you can get that remedied here. I should advise you torig out a temporary rudder. I'll tell you what I will do--I will send acouple of hundred men on board at once under my second officer. Thatwill make short work of it, and I am sure that there is not a man onboard who would not be glad to lend a hand in fitting up a prize thathas been so gallantly won."
He called his officers, who had been standing apart during thisconversation, and introduced Nat to them, saying:
"Gentlemen, I never heard Lieutenant Glover's name until a few minutesago, but I can with confidence tell you that no more gallant officer isto be found in the service; and when I say that, with that littleten-gun brigantine and a crew of forty men, he engaged the Frenchfrigate that you see behind her and forced her to strike, after a fightin which she had a hundred and seventy men killed or wounded, that hetook a hundred and thirty prisoners, and recaptured those two WestIndiamen which were her prizes, I think you will all agree that I am notexaggerating. He is naturally very anxious to be off. The frigate'smizzen-mast is lying astern of her, and will make an excellentjury-mast, as all the gear is on board, and only requires shortening.Her rudder is smashed, and a temporary one must be rigged up; and,knowing that all on board will be ready and glad to help when they hearwhat I have told you, I am going to send two hundred men off at once tolend a hand. Will you take command, Mr. Lowcock? You will take with you,of course, the boatswain and his mates and the carpenters."
"I should be glad to go too, sir," the first lieutenant said.
"You and I will go together, Mr. Ferguson, after we have had a glass ofwine and heard from Mr. Glover the details of this singular action."
The order was at once given to lower the boats. The story that theFrench frigate and her two prizes had been captured single-handed by thebrigantine speedily circulated, and the men hastened into the boats withalacrity. With them went the surgeon and his assistant to see if theycould be of any help on board, while the captain, his first lieutenant,and Nat went into the cabin, and the latter related the details of theaction.
"Skilfully managed indeed, Mr. Glover!" the captain said when he hadfinished; "no one could have done better. It was fortunate indeed thatyour little craft was so fast and handy, for if that frigate had broughther guns to bear fully upon her she ought to have been able to fairlyblow you out of the water with a single broadside. May I ask if this isyour first action?"
"No, sir; I was in a tender of the _Orpheus_ frigate when she captured avery strong pirate's hold near the port of Barcela in Caracas,destroying the place and capturing or blowing up three of their ships."
"I remember the affair," the captain said, "and a very gallant one itwas; for, if I am right, the frigate could not get into the entrance,but landed her men, captured two of the pirates' batteries, and turnedthe guns on their ships, while a schooner she had captured a few daysbefore sailed right in and engaged them, and was nearly destroyed whenone of the pirates blew up. The officer in command of her was killed,and a midshipman was very highly spoken of, for he succeeded to thecommand, and gallantly went on board another pirate and drowned theirmagazine."
"Much more was said about it than necessary," Nat said.
The captain looked surprised.
"By the way," the lieutenant broke in, "I remember the name now. Are youthe Mr. Glover mentioned in the despatches?"
"Yes, sir; but, as I said, the captain was good enough to make more ofthe affair than it deserved."
"I expect that he was the best judge of that," the captain said. "Well,after that?"
"After that, sir, I had the command of a little four-gun schooner whichwas cruising along the coast of Hayti to pick up fugitives, when I cameacross the brigantine I now command in the act of plundering amerchantman she had just captured. She left her prize and followed me. Iwas faster and more weatherly than she was, and having had the luck tosmash the jaws of her gaff after a running fight of seven or eightmiles, was able to get back to the prize and recapture her before thepirate came up. The crew of the prize came up and manned their guns,and between us we engaged the brigantine and carried her by boarding. Ontaking her into Kingston the admiral gave me the command, and raised mycrew from twenty to forty. We have now been cruising for four or fivemonths, but not until we sighted the frigate and her prizes have we hadthe luck to fall in with an enemy."
"Well, sir," the captain said, "even admitting that you have had someluck, there is no question that you have utilized your opportunities andhave an extraordinary record, and if you don't get shot I prophesy thatyou will be an admiral before many officers old enough to be yourfather. Now, I am sure you must be anxious to get on board your prize assoon as possible, so we will take you to her at once."
In a few minutes they were on the deck of the _Spartane_. It was a sceneof extraordinary activity. The lower mast had already been parbuckled onto the deck, where sheer-legs had been erected by another party. Themast was soon in its place, and the wedges driven in, the shrouds hadbeen shortened, and men were engaged in tightening the lanyards. Thetopmast was on deck ready to be hoisted. The carpenters were busyconstructing a temporary rudder with a long spar, to one end of whichplanks were being fixed, so that it looked like a gigantic paddle. Assoon as this was completed, the other end of the spar was lashed to thetaffrail. Strong hawsers were then to be fastened to the paddle, andbrought in one on each quarter and attached to the drum of the wheel.
"Now, Mr. Glover," the captain said, after watching the work for somelittle time, "I will go ashore with you to the governor; you ought topay your respects to him. Fortunately you will not require anyassistance from him, for unless I am greatly mistaken these jobs will befinished this evening; the masts and rigging will certainly be fixedbefore dusk, and the carpenters must stick to their job till it is done.Like all make-shifts, it will not be so good as the original, but Ithink it will serve your turn, for there is little likelihood of badweather at this time of year. I suppose you intend to keep the merchantseamen on board? If not, I will spare you some hands."
"I am much obliged, sir, but I think we shall do very well. It is a finereaching wind, and we shall scarcely have to handle a sail between thisand Jamaica."
"Very well, I understand your feeling, you would like to finish yourbusiness without help. That is very natural; I should do the same inyour place."
"How about the merchantman's papers, sir?"
"I shall tell the governor that I have ordered them to be taken toKingston, where there is a regular prize court, and therefore it willnot be necessary to trouble with their manifests here."
"Then, if I have your permission, captain, I will row off to them atonce and tell them to get under sail now; we shall overhaul them longbefore they ge
t to Jamaica. They mount between them six-and-twenty guns,and, keeping together, no French privateer, if any have arrived, wouldventure to attack them, especially as they cannot have received news yetthat war is declared."
"I think that would be a very good plan," the captain said, "for if youwere to start with them it is clear that you would only be able to gounder half sail. It is evident by your account that you are faster thanthe frigate, but with a reaching wind I suppose there is not more than aknot between you, and if the wind freshens you would find it hard tokeep up with her."
The visit was paid. The governor agreed that it would be better that theIndiamen should sail at once. Indeed, they had already started, and weretwo or three miles away before Nat and the captain arrived at thegovernor's house. When on shore Nat ordered two or three barrels of rumto be sent off in another boat to the frigate, and on its arrival anallowance was served out to all the workers. Before nightfall, save thatthe mizzen-mast was some twenty feet lower than usual, and that herstern and quarters were patched in numerous places with tarred canvas,the _Spartane_ presented her former appearance. When the majority of thecrew had finished their work, the prisoners were transferred to the_Isis_. Two hours later the carpenters and boatswain's party hadsecurely fixed the temporary rudder, and at daybreak the next morningthe two frigates and the brigantine started on their westward voyage.