whenthe surgeon, having made the rounds of his other patients, returned; andfeeling his pulse, advised that he should be left alone and in quiet.
Having finished their repast, the captain beckoned Don Luis to accompanyhim on deck, where they found that, during the short time they had beenabsent, a great improvement in the weather had taken place. The cloudshad entirely disappeared, leaving the sky pure and deeply blue,sparkling with myriads of stars: the sea, though still running, wasregular, shining, as far as the eye could reach, with bright flashes ofphosphorescent light, which rose and fell with the yet foaming waves,the ship seeming to float amid hillocks running with molten gold likelava down the sides of a volcano; a steady breeze also was blowing,which enabled them to steer a direct course for Lisbon.
The dead were collected together, and placed beneath the poop-deck,covered by the flag for which they had so bravely fought, there to awaittill the following morning the last religious duties which could be paidthem, ere they were committed to the sailors' grave--the boundless deep.Several had fallen; some killed by the cannon-shot of the Rover, andothers in the desperate struggle when the pirates rushed on board, amongwhom one officer only was numbered, the brave young Albuquerque, who thesurgeon came to announce had just then breathed his last, from severaldesperate sabre wounds he had received in the conflict. He was theofficer who fired the first successful shot at the rover's ship; and,elated with the praise he received from his commander, he was among thefirst to oppose the enemies, cutlass in hand, when they boarded. He wasnow brought on deck, wrapped in his bloodstained sheets, his once brighteye closed for ever; his features, lately playful with animation, nowghastly and fixed, as the pale light of the seamen's lanterns fell onthem. He had always been a favourite with his commander, who bentmournfully over him, as he was placed beside his more humble shipmates."Alas! poor youth," said Captain Pinto; "do thus end all thy brighthopes and aspirations? Yet why should I grieve?--Thy days, though few,have been joyous; and thou hast been removed ere sorrows anddisappointments had crowded round thee (as too surely they would havedone, except thy lot far differed from that of other mortals).Farewell, brave youth! Many a tear will be shed for thy fate in thehome of thy fathers; and gladly would I have died instead of thee: forthere are few to mourn for old Joze Pinto." Having given vent to hisfeelings, he covered the pallid features of the dead youth with a flag,and joined Don Luis, who stood near, watching this gentle trait in thecharacter of the seemingly rough and hardy seaman.
The most important repairs in the ship had been now accomplished; thedecks required no washing, for the heavy seas which had broken over themduring the terrific engagement, had performed that office; and the watchbeing set, she had assumed somewhat of her ordinary appearance. Gladlydid every one who could be spared from duty throw themselves into theirhammocks to seek repose, Don Luis dreaming that he still beheld theagonised features of the drowning pirates; and Pedro, that he was hewingaway at the head of the Moor who had attacked his master, but which,notwithstanding all his efforts, kept grinning at him with horridgrimaces.
The first pale streaks of morn called everybody into activity; for therewas still much to be done before the ship could be restored to order.
The melancholy duty of committing the slain to the deep was performedjust as the sun rose bright and warm above the waves; and many an honesttear was shed by the comrades of those who were never more to baskbeneath his genial rays; while many a vow was made to have massesoffered up for the repose of their souls.
The weather, as if to make amends to the voyagers for the ill-treatmentthey had experienced, continued serene and favourable, and the corvettebounded lightly over the now bright and laughing waters. The horrorsand dangers they had undergone fading gradually from their memories, asevents scarcely appertaining to themselves; for so are we constituted:the most acute pains, the greatest trials of nerve, which inanticipation we have dreaded, when past, are thought of withindifference; and the recollection of pleasure is, alas! still moreevanescent. It is crime alone, a stinging conscience, which is the onlylasting torment, and the remembrance of good deeds the only true durablehappiness, for of that none can rob us.
For many hours during the day after the engagement with the Salee rover,Senhor Mendez continued in a state of unconsciousness; nor towards theevening, when he appeared to revive, would Captain Pinto, by thesurgeon's advice, allow him to enter into conversation,--theextraordinary manner of his preservation, and the interest the captaintook in him, causing many surmises on board. Don Luis was also anxiousto learn somewhat of the stranger; but as his friend was notcommunicative, he did not think right to question him on the subject.
Two days had thus passed by, when, as the captain and his young friendwere seated in the cabin, the stranger awoke from a sound slumber, and,raising himself on his couch, looked around. "I have deeply to thankyou, Captain Pinto, for your care of a wounded prisoner," he said, "whohas caused you, I fear, much trouble, and who may cause you much more;but perhaps you already know more than I would have revealed; for, tellme, did I not ramble wildly in my speech the other night, when overcomeby fever?"
Captain Pinto assured him that he had in no way committed himself byanything he had said.
"I rejoice to hear it, for your sake, and for that of the youth I see byyour side; for though I would not deceive you, and feel assured that Imight confide in both, I would not willingly entrust you with a secretwhich might prove dangerous to the possessor."
"In what you say follow your own counsel," answered the Captain; "for Iwould not wish to influence you, though you may put as full confidencein the discretion of Don Luis d'Almeida, as in mine; and be assured thatwe shall be ever ready to aid you to the utmost of our power."
"His name is, I trust, a guarantee for his honour," returned SenhorMendez; "and though I have weighty reasons for concealing the early partof my history, I will narrate, in as brief a way as possible, some ofthe latter events of my life, which will account for my being on boardthe Salee rover which your gallantry sent to destruction; though farrather would I have sunk unknown amid those drowning wretches, whosedying shrieks yet ring in my ear, than risk the safety of one to whom Iam so deeply indebted. You see before you a man who has, throughoutlife, been constantly on the point of attaining, as he supposed, wealthand happiness; when, ere the cup reached his lips, it has been rudelytorn from his grasp, and he has been hurled back to poverty andwretchedness; yet ever, when least expected, fortune has again shed herdeceitful smile upon him. I was yet young, when, after passing throughmany vicissitudes of fortune, I arrived, poor and unknown, on the shoresof India; but I yet retained more than wealth can purchase, the greatingredient, the first principle of success, an unbroken spirit, full ofhope and confidence. I had learned, I thought, that wealth was the onlycertain road to power, and that with power alone could I attain my ends;for I had deep and bitter wrongs to avenge, and wealth, therefore, Idetermined to obtain by every means consistent with my honour. Thoughmany of the rank in which I was born, would have looked upon mercantilepursuits as wholly derogatory to their dignity, nameless and unknown, Ilaughed at such prejudices; and soon finding means to bring my talentsinto notice, I obtained an employment in which I was eminentlysuccessful; when one high in power, who had always borne me a deadlyenmity, arrived in Goa, and would, I felt confident, recognise methrough all the disguises I might assume. I well knew that, were Idiscovered, the civil and ecclesiastical power would be brought intoplay against me, and the Inquisition, with all its diabolical tortures,stared me in the face. I fled to China, from which country I wasobliged once more to migrate to the newly-acquired possessions of theBritish in India, where my intimate knowledge of the customs andlanguage of the natives, aiding my own perseverance, enabled me toacquire, at length, the fortune I sought. I transmitted it by degreesto England, and having wound up my affairs, I set sail for that country,intending from thence to make any further arrangements I might deemadvisable; but I was not destined to reach it. The ship which bore mew
as wrecked on the coast of Africa, and I, with the few who escapeddeath, was made prisoner by a tribe of savages, who retaliated on us afew of the cruelties their countrymen have experienced from those of ourcolour. For upwards of a year I remained in captivity, when I contrivedto get on board a vessel, trading on the coast for gold-dust and ivory,and bound for Cadiz. We had a prosperous run, and expected in two orthree days to have reached our destination, when a large vessel boredown upon us, crowded with men. Resistance was hopeless, and flightimpossible; and as she ran alongside, to our horror, we recognised thecostume of the implacable enemies of Spain, the Algerines. The cargobeing taken out of the vessel, she was sunk, the lives of the crew beingspared for the sake of their value as slaves, for which purpose theywere carried to Algiers, and there sold. Any fate appearing to mepreferable to that which they were doomed to suffer, I