CHAPTER XVI.
A VISIT HOME.
The new purchase, which was named the _Suzanne_, was towed alongside the_Tigress_, and the crew began at once to get up the cargo and transferit to her hold. More method was observed in restowing the cargo than hadbefore been possible. The dried fruit, as the heaviest of the goods, wasplaced in the middle of the brig; the European goods, whose brands andpacking enabled them to be easily distinguished from the rest, wereplaced forward; and the Eastern bales packed aft. This was done underthe direction of the petty officers.
During the four days that it took to complete the work, Edgar boardedseveral of the Italian craft, and succeeded in inducing ten active youngsailors to join him, by the offer of a rate of pay several times higherthan that they earned in their native craft, and of a free passage backon the first opportunity. Condor was appointed to the command of the_Tigress_, as two supernumerary lieutenants and four midshipmen had beensent out from home to the _Tigre_, and two midshipmen received actingorders as his lieutenants. There was much satisfaction among the juniorofficers of the _Tigre_ when they heard from Wilkinson the nature of thespoil he had gathered, and all sorts of guesses were hazarded as to itsvalue.
"I cannot help you there in the least," he said. "I know that Turkishand Eastern carpets fetch a big price at home; and of course silk, andgold and silver embroideries, are valuable; but, as I only know thecontents of about a hundred bales, I have no more idea of what the totalis likely to come to than you have."
"You did not get any money, Wilkinson, or jewels?"
"Neither one nor the other. I suppose that the money was divided whencaptured, and the jewels either given to the women or sold. They werethings that might be disposed of anywhere. At any rate we found none ofthem, and the only cash is, as I told you, the twelve thousand fivehundred pounds that the prizes fetched, out of which our share is notlikely to be more than twenty or thirty pounds each. Still, that is notto be despised."
"It will come to more than that," one of the party said. "I havecalculated it up, and though I have not the exact rules--"
"Well, if you haven't got the exact rules, Macleod, your calculationsare not worth more than our guesses. It won't be much more than fortypounds anyhow, and I suppose a bit more than that for our share of theprizes captured here. Of course they were worth a good deal more, butthen there are all the ships-of-war to share. If our prize turns out aswell as I hope, it will come to a good bit more, as it is only to bedivided among the _Tigre's_ crew."
"You and Blagrove are going home in the prize, are you not?"
"Yes, I carry Sir Sidney's despatches; Blagrove gets three months'leave."
"Who is going to command the craft that you have bought for your father,Blagrove?"
"I have persuaded the captain of that store-ship that came in yesterdayto let me have his second officer for two or three months. She is likelyto be here some time; and if we have luck, and his mate gets a returnpassage soon after he arrives in England, he may be back again in sixweeks. From another ship of the same sort I got a young fellow for mate.The ships are chartered by government, and will likely enough be herefor months, as they will furnish stores not only to the ships on thecoast, but to any that may come down here from the fleet blockadingToulon. In fact they will act as general shore-ships, until they havecleared out their cargo."
"Then he will be your captain?"
"He will be entered on the ship's books as captain," Edgar replied witha laugh; "but I fancy that Wilkinson and myself will not care to be idleon the voyage."
Three days after the cargo was transferred, twenty invalids were placedon board. Two or three had lost limbs, but the rest were men who hadbeen pulled down by fever and could not shake it off so long as theywere on the coast. On the following morning the anchor was got up andthe _Suzanne_ sailed for England. The nominal captain was a smart youngsailor, who was glad indeed of the opportunity, for three or four monthsof enforced idleness on the Egyptian coast was not at all to his taste.The extra pay that he would receive was a consideration, but the factthat he was to be nominally--for Edgar had explained the situation tohim--in command was the great inducement.
He had fortunately passed his examination and obtained his certificateas captain before sailing on the present voyage. Had it not been forthis he could not have accepted Edgar's offer. The voyage was a rapidone. They stopped for two days at Gibraltar to take in water. They hadsome little trouble with the prize-agent there, for of course the ship'spapers showed that she had been a prize, and she should have been sentthere to be condemned and sold. Sir Sidney Smith, however, had written,saying that as the ships on the station were already short-handed, hecould not spare a prize crew, and that he had therefore only the choiceof burning the prize or of selling her there, and that a court ofofficers from the various ships-of-war had fixed her value at L850, anda purchaser having been found at that price, he had deemed it expedientto sell her, and now forwarded his bill for the amount, to be divided inthe usual course by the prize officials at Gibraltar, as if they hadsold her themselves. He stated that as she had been loaded withmunitions of war for the French army, no question could arise as to thelawfulness of her capture.
The officials shook their heads over the irregularity, but as thedefence of Acre had made a great sensation in England, and a vote ofthanks had been passed by both Houses of Parliament, and by many of thecorporate bodies in England, to Sir Sidney and those serving under him,they agreed to set the matter right; and thereupon, on the evidencegiven by Wilkinson and Edgar as to the circumstances of the capture,they formally condemned the ship and authorized the sale that had beeneffected. That point satisfactorily settled, they sailed at once, shapedtheir course, after issuing from the Straits, a hundred miles west ofthe usual ship track, and met with no suspicious sail until they enteredthe Chops of the Channel. Then one or two craft that looked like Frenchprivateers were observed; but the _Suzanne_ was a fast vessel and kepther distance from them, holding her course up Channel, and one morning,soon after daybreak, dropped anchor among a number of other merchantmenon the Mother bank off Ryde.
Directly the anchor was down the gig was lowered, and Wilkinson, Edgar,and the captain were rowed into Portsmouth, the brig being left incharge of the mate. The former went to the dockyard and reported to theadmiral that he had brought home despatches from Sir Sidney Smith forthe Admiralty.
"In what ship have you brought them?"
"As there was no ship of war likely to be sailing, a passage was takenfor me in a trader, a prize that had been sold, and was being broughthome."
"Very well, sir. You will, of course, post with it at once for London.Have any particular events happened there?"
"No, sir. Beyond the fact that a few prizes have been picked up there isnothing doing. But I understood from Sir Sidney that there had been noopportunity of sending home reports for a month, and that therefore hethought it best to take the opportunity of forwarding his despatches bya private ship. She is also bringing home some goods captured frompirates in the Levant by the _Tigre's_ tender, the _Tigress_, which Ihad the honour to command. There are also twenty men on board invalidedhome."
"Very well, Mr. Wilkinson. I have nothing further to say to you, and youwill doubtless wish to start without delay. I will send off for the sickmen at once."
The captain returned on board to take the brig round to London. The twofriends reached town late that night, and Wilkinson went straight to theAdmiralty with the despatches. He was at once taken to the room whereone of the junior officials was on duty.
"Despatches from Sir Sidney Smith, sir," Wilkinson said.
"Anything important?"
"I believe not. There was an opportunity for sending them, and SirSidney availed himself of it."
"Then it will not be worth while to wake up the admiral at this time ofnight?"
"I should say certainly not. But I thought it my duty to bring them hereat once."
The other nodded.
"Where do you put up, M
r. Wilkinson?"
"At the Golden Cross."
"Very well. If you are wanted you can be sent for in the morning. Youhad best call here about eleven, so that you can answer any questionsthat the admirals may ask."
In the morning the midshipman went across. Half an hour later his namewas called out, and he was at once shown into a room in which two of thenaval lords were sitting.
"You are the bearer of the despatches from Sir Sidney Smith, Mr.Wilkinson?"
"Yes, sir."
"He has sent us the report you gave him of your cruise in the brig_Tigress_ among the Greek and Turkish islands. There can be no doubtthat you did your work exceedingly well, as is shown by the long list ofprizes captured or destroyed. He mentions that he has received alsoreports from the Pasha of Smyrna and the Governor of Rhodes, speaking inhigh terms of the services that you have rendered, and saying that forthe time piracy appears to have entirely ceased and the seas to be opento peaceful traders. What time have you to serve?"
"I have another six months, sir."
"Well, I think, if you feel prepared, it would be as well for you totake advantage of your being at home to pass, and we will take care thatyou shall get your promotion as soon as you have served your full time.You would like a couple of months' leave, no doubt, before you return.Would you rather wait before going in to be examined, or would youprefer going in at once?"
"I would rather go in at once, sir. I should enjoy my holiday muchbetter if it was over."
"I do not think it will take very long," the admiral said with a smile."After having been in command of a ten-gun brig for six months youshould be able to satisfy the requirements of the examiners withoutdifficulty. You will be good enough to wait in the ante-room."
The delay was not long. In ten minutes the official messenger requestedhim to follow him, and took him to a room where three naval captainswere sitting. The one in the centre looked up from the papers that hewas examining.
"Good-morning, Mr. Wilkinson! I see by these papers that you have forsix months been in command of the ten-gun brig _Tigress_, cruising forpirates among the Turkish and Greek islands."
"Yes, sir."
"I suppose during that time you met once or twice with bad weather?"
"We had one tremendous squall, sir."
"It came suddenly upon you?"
"Yes, sir. Our first intimation of it was that we saw two native craftsuddenly lower their sails."
"Let us know exactly the measures that you took and the orders yougave."
Wilkinson described what had passed from the time that the first orderwas given until the violence of the squall abated.
"That will do as far as seamanship is concerned," the officer said.
Another now asked him a few questions as to navigation, and these beinganswered correctly, the president, after a word with the others, said:
"That will do, Mr. Wilkinson. You have answered creditably, and, indeed,the mere fact that Sir Sidney Smith should have considered you fit tocommand the _Tigress_ in so difficult and dangerous a work as cruisingamong those islands is in itself a better guarantee of your fitness forpromotion than the most rigid examination could be."
A few further questions were asked, and then Wilkinson was congratulatedupon having passed successfully. He then went to the prize court, sawthe President, and presented Sir Sidney Smith's note to him. He read itthrough, and then glanced at a copy of the bill of lading which had beentaken when the cargo was transferred.
"You do not know the contents of all those bales and casks, Mr.Wilkinson?"
"No, sir. The greater portion of them have never been opened. Some, ofcourse, one could recognize from the nature of the packing, and I putthem down as nearly as I could guess--Manchester goods, woollen,hardware, and so on; but, as we wanted to be off, and it was better thatthe things should remain in their original packing, we did not troubleto open them, and they were received as cargo consigned to you."
"The Eastern goods you know nothing about, I suppose?"
"Nothing whatever."
"Well, when the brig arrives in the river the captain will, of course,call here, and I will give him instructions where to land them."
"I understand," he went on, looking again at the letter, "that Mr.Blagrove, to whom Sir Sidney asks me to intrust the sale of these goods,is an expert in this special line?"
"Yes, sir; he has been for many years established as a merchant inAlexandria, and Sir Sidney thought that he would not only be able toestimate accurately the value of the goods, but would know exactly whereto place them, and would, by bringing them gradually forward, get farlarger sums for them than if they were thrown all at once upon themarket."
"I see the vessel is his property, Mr. Wilkinson?"
"It is so, sir, his son purchased it in his name. He is afellow-midshipman of mine in the _Tigre_, and was with me in the craftwith which we captured all these goods and the vessels that have beensold for twelve thousand five hundred. This I have brought up with me ingold, and will pay into the hands of anybody you may appoint, to beadded to the proceeds of the sales, for division by the court."
"Have you any idea of the value of these Eastern goods?"
"Not in the slightest, sir; only a few of the bales were opened in thepresence of Sir Sidney Smith. He himself said that it would be betternot to open more, as there were no facilities for repacking."
"I think that it was a very good idea of Sir Sidney's to suggest that itwould be for the advantage of all concerned to vary the usual course,and to place these goods in the hands of an expert instead of sellingthem by auction. I should like to see Mr. Blagrove. I suppose you knowhis address. Is he in town?"
"He is living in Dulwich, sir."
"Well, will you let him know that if he calls upon me to-morrow morningI will give him full authority to act in the matter, and then we cansettle whether to stow that portion of the cargo in our warehouses orwhether to make other arrangements. I will myself write to Sir SidneySmith to thank him for his suggestion with respect to the sale of thesegoods, and to say that I have so arranged it. The question of freightis, of course, a matter altogether separate, and I shall give Mr.Blagrove a cheque for the amount arranged between his representative andSir Sidney Smith at the rate of three pounds per ton when he brings methe receipt of the officer in charge of the warehouse of his havingreceived the stores in good order from the ship."
Edgar had, on reaching London, stopped at the Golden Cross for thenight, and the first thing in the morning taken a hackney-coach anddriven at once to Dulwich, where his father had taken a house close tothat of his brother. It was now the first week in December. Edgar droveup to the entrance to the garden in which the house stood, paid thecoachman, and then rang the bell. The servant opened it, and lookedsomewhat surprised at seeing a young naval officer standing there.
"Are Mr. and Mrs. Blagrove in?" he asked.
"Yes, sir, they are both in."
"All right!" he said; "show me to the room where they are. You need notannounce me; I am their son."
The girl at once led the way into the house, and Edgar walked into theroom, where the party were seated at breakfast. Mr. Blagrove was sittingwith his back to the door, and did not see him come in. His mother andsisters looked up in surprise as he entered unannounced. It was twoyears since they had seen him, and they scarcely recognized in the tallyoung officer the lad whom they had last seen at Alexandria on theirdeparture for England. Mr. Blagrove, on seeing their eyes fixed on thedoor, turned round, and leapt to his feet.
"My dear Edgar," he exclaimed as he warmly embraced him, "where have yousprung from? Your last letter was from Smyrna three months ago. Mother,"he went on, turning round, "let me introduce your boy to you."
For some minutes there was little coherent conversation.
"Now, sit down, Edgar," Mr. Blagrove said at last, "and let us hearwhat unexpected chance has brought you home. I suppose, as you are inuniform, that you have not left the service."
"Not at all, sir
; I am home on three months' leave, having come home inthe _Suzanne_, a brig belonging to yourself."
"Belonging to me!" Mr. Blagrove said in astonishment. "What on earth doyou mean?"
"I bought her in your name, father, and you will have a bill presentedin the course of a couple of months or so for eight hundred and fiftypounds. At any rate you will not be a loser by her. There will be fromsix to seven hundred pounds, I cannot say how much exactly, for thecargo was not weighed, but it is somewhat over two hundred tons at threepounds a ton, and there is, besides, a hundred pounds for thepassage-money of twenty invalid sailors, so you see you get the ship forpractically about a hundred pounds, to which there will have to be addedthe payment of a captain, mate, and ten Italian sailors. She was valuedby a court of naval officers at eight hundred and fifty pounds, thatbeing the price they considered that she might fetch if sold there. Ishould say that she is worth quite double that. She is about threehundred tons, and carried six guns, so at any rate you are likely tomake a thousand by the transaction.
"Then I have to inform you that, at Sir Sidney Smith's request, which Ihave no doubt will be complied with, you will be appointed, by thepresident of the prize court, agent for the sale of what Eastern goodsthere are on board her. The cargo is made up of European goods, driedfruits, and Eastern goods. They are what we captured from the pirates,and Sir Sidney Smith suggested that it would be as well to intrust toone who knew the value of the Eastern goods the work of selling themprivately, instead of putting them up to auction, and he requested thatthe agency should be given to you. Wilkinson, who has come home with me,is going to see the president of the prize court this morning, and he isto come up here afterwards. Of course Sir Sidney did it chiefly tooblige me, but he thought that the goods would really fetch more if soldin that way. He said, of course, that you would get a commission on thesale, and as you said in the last letter that I received that you weregetting very sick of having nothing to do, I thought you might like thejob."
"Certainly I should like it, Edgar, and that purchase of the ship seemsa very satisfactory one, though, of course, the profit will be yours andnot mine, as I had nothing to do with it."
"Oh, yes, it is your business, father; she is bought with your money,and I am glad that I have been able to do something for the firm. Ishall soon be getting my prize money, which will keep me in cash for avery long time."
"We won't argue about that now, Edgar. At any rate I shall be glad tosee to the sale of these Eastern goods, though, of course, it will bebut a small thing."
"I don't know, father. I think that it will be rather a large thing. Atany rate there is something between eighty and a hundred tons of them."
"Between eighty and a hundred tons!" his father replied. "You mean withthe dried fruits, of course."
"Not at all, father! The fruits will be sold in the ordinary way in theprize court."
"Then, what can these things be?"
"I should say the great proportion of them are carpets--Turkish,Persian, and Syrian."
"A hundred tons of such carpets as those, Edgar, would be worth a verylarge sum, indeed; surely you must be mistaken?"
"It's the accumulation of years of piracy, father; perhaps from hundredsof ships captured by those scoundrels. But, of course, they are not allcarpets. There are silks, muslins, embroidered robes, Egyptian scarvesand manufactures, and other sorts of things. We have not opened above adozen bales out of some twelve hundred, and have, therefore, no idea ofthe relative value of the others. We were a tender of the _Tigre's_, ourcraft being a prize taken by her, and all of us, officers and men, beingborne on her books, the whole ship divides. Still, if the things areworth as much as we think, it will bring us in a handsome sum. And thereis, besides, twelve thousand five hundred in cash, the proceeds of thesale of the vessels we captured; and we also share with the other shipsunder Sir Sidney Smith's command in the value of the vessels and cargoesthey have captured as they tried to reach an Egyptian port. They saythey were worth something like forty thousand, of which the _Tigre's_share will be about half."
"Well, Edgar, if there are a hundred tons of such goods as you describe,your cargo must be a valuable one indeed. Of course I can tell nothingabout it until I see them opened. At any rate it will give meoccupation, and I should say a good paying occupation, for some time."
"I suppose you got that letter, father, that I sent from Constantinople,from Mr. Muller?"
"Yes, and a very satisfactory one it was. It reconciled me to someextent to staying here. It was not pleasant to think that one was livingupon one's capital, but I found from his statement that my share of thebusiness he was doing would fully cover my expenses here. And now, letus hear something more about your doings. Your letter fromConstantinople told us about your adventures in Egypt; then we had onewritten the day after the French had retreated from before Acre, and theone that we received from Smyrna two months since; but that was a shortone, and beyond saying that you had been very lucky in capturing anddestroying a number of pirates, and that you were enjoying your cruisevery much, you did not give us any detail. You may as well tell us thatpart first."
Early in the afternoon Wilkinson arrived. As Edgar had spoken warmly ofhis kindness to him when he had first joined the _Tigre_, and of thefriendship that had sprung up between them, he was very cordiallyreceived by Mr. and Mrs. Blagrove. The former was well pleased when heheard the details of the interview with the president of the prizecourt, and said that he would go up and see him in the morning.
"I will hire a warehouse for a month or two," he said. "It will be muchmore satisfactory than working in a place where a lot of other businessis being transacted. The bales will all have to be opened and examined,the goods classed and assorted, and I shall have to bring people downthere to examine them. The expense will be nothing in comparison to theadvantage of having a quiet place to one's self."
On the following morning Mr. Blagrove went up and had a verysatisfactory talk with the president of the prize court. The _Suzanne_arrived four days later, having made a fast run from Portsmouth. By thattime Mr. Blagrove had engaged a warehouse, where, in a short time, thewhole of the goods of which he was to dispose were safely stored.Wilkinson went down on the day after his arrival to his people inDevonshire, and Edgar established himself as assistant to his father. Asbale after bale was opened, the latter was astonished at the beauty andvalue of some of the contents. A few only of the bales contained commoncountry cloths, and it was evident that such goods of this sort as hadfallen into the hands of the pirates had been sold at once, as there wasa ready market for them at the towns and villages of the islands and themainland. Many of the carpets were of great size. Some of the very largeones Mr. Blagrove valued at fully L500, and there were scores worth fromL50 to L100. Some of the silks and embroideries he pronounced to bealmost priceless.
"They must," he said, "have been specially woven and worked for theladies of the Sultan's harem."
When, after a month's stay, Edgar prepared to rejoin with his friendWilkinson, not more than one-third of the contents of the warehouse hadbeen sold, but these had fetched over L40,000, and his father had nodoubt that he should obtain a proportionate sum for the remainder. TheItalian sailors who had aided to bring the _Suzanne_ home had been sentoff a week after her arrival by a vessel bound for Naples, and the brigherself had, as soon as the cargo was all cleared out, fetched L1800 byauction, being almost a new vessel.
"I have no doubt," Mr. Blagrove said, "that ere long a British army willbe sent out, and the French compelled to leave Egypt. If I thought thatthe war was likely to go on for some time as at present, I should saythat you had better leave the service. As it is, you would not be doingmuch good if you stayed here, and so may as well hold on."
It was the first day of March, 1800, when the vessel with supplies forthe troops, in which Wilkinson and Edgar had taken their passage, joinedthe fleet off Alexandria, and until the beginning of December they tookpart in the somewhat tedious work of blockading the Egyptian co
ast. Inspite of their efforts the fleet were not always successful, for fromtime to time one or other of the ships was forced to sail to Cyprus toobtain fresh supplies, although quite a fleet of small vessels wasemployed in bringing water, fresh meat, and vegetables for the use ofthe fleet, as the health of the seamen would have suffered much fromliving for so long a period upon salt meat.
In November news was received that the army under Sir Ralph Abercrombie,which had for so long been engaged in watching Cadiz, was to sail uponan expedition for the reconquest of Egypt. It was stated that theexpedition would, in the first place, sail for Syria, there to join thearmy that the Sultan assured the English government was in readiness toadvance. Sir Sidney Smith was ordered to sail at once for that coast, toascertain the real state of things, and to decide upon the spot wherethe fleet had best assemble, for, from its long absence from England,there were many repairs needed, and it was desirable that the situationshould be such that the ships could be careened, and a portion at leastof the weeds that had accumulated be scraped off.
His absence was in one respect unfortunate, for some of the otherblockading ships were, after a very heavy gale, obliged to go to Cyprusto repair damages; and two French men-of-war heavily laden with troopsand ammunition managed to run safely in to Alexandria, therebyincreasing the strength of the French army by four thousand seasonedsoldiers, and by an ample supply of ammunition. It was a greatdisappointment to the crews when, on their return to their stations offthe coast, they found that the French had taken advantage of theirabsence, and that the result of their eighteen months of incessant vigilhad been wasted.
Wilkinson had by this time served his full time, and Condor having beenappointed to the _Theseus_, Sir Sidney Smith again gave the command ofthe _Tigress_ to him, with the rank of acting lieutenant, which would,he was sure, be confirmed.
"I suppose you would like to have Mr. Blagrove with you?"
"Certainly, sir. There is no one I would rather have."
"It is a pity that he has not served his time yet," Sir Sidney said. "Heis a most active young officer, and his knowledge of so many languagesis of immense advantage. I would gladly give him an independent command,but as there are so many midshipmen senior to him, I could not do so.You know the coast of Anatolia probably better than anyone else here.Which harbour would you recommend as the most suitable for the entry ofa large fleet? It must be well sheltered, and the shore should offerfacilities for heeling the vessels over as far as possible in order toclean them. I know that at Rhodes there is not enough water forfirst-class men-of-war."
"By far the best place I know, sir, is the Bay of Marmorice. It is onthe mainland almost opposite Rhodes, and within a day's easy sail. Wewent into it quite by accident, for the entrance might be passed withoutnotice, but we had been chasing a suspicious craft, and saw herdisappear, and, following her, found ourselves in a great landlockedharbour, big enough to hold a hundred ships-of-war, and absolutelysheltered. It is by far the finest harbour that I have ever seen."
"I am sailing for Rhodes in the first place. Lord Keith, who commandsthe fleet, has written to request me to meet him there; and if yourreport is correct, it will save me the trouble of examining the wholeline of coast between Rhodes and Acre."
Edgar was glad to be again on board the _Tigress_. The account of thesale of the goods she had captured had now been received; the totalamounted to L133,000, of which L110,000 had been paid in to the prizecourt by Mr. Blagrove, the other L23,000 had been the proceeds of thefruits and other goods. There were in addition the sums received forvessels sold. The astonishment of the officers of the _Tigre_ was greatindeed when they heard the result, for very little had been said aboutthe value of the cargo, and the sum realized was at least three times asgreat as the most sanguine had hoped.
"It was an excellent plan getting your father to undertake thebusiness," Sir Sidney Smith said to Edgar, when the latter informed himthat he had received a communication from his father saying how much thegoods he had sold had realized. "I don't suppose they would have fetcheda third of that amount had they been sold in the ordinary way by auctionby the prize court. I am sure that we must all feel greatly obliged tohim."
"And he must feel greatly obliged to you, Sir Sidney; for, as he toldme, his commission had been fixed at three per cent, so he has, afterpaying his expenses, done a fine stroke of business for himself."
"He has managed extremely well, Mr. Blagrove, and it has been afortunate affair for us all."