CHAPTER SEVENTEEN.
A SUSPICIOUS SAIL--AN EXPECTED VISIT FROM AN UNINVITED STRANGER--WEPREPARE TO RECEIVE HIM.
The Rock of Gibraltar was fading from our sight in the far distance, asthe sun in a blaze of glory went down into his ocean bed between thepillars of Hercules. The yacht lay in a dead calm, her canvas idlyflapping for want of more useful employment, while every spar and ropewas reflected in the mirror-like surface of the watery expanse; yet shewas not immovable, for the current which runs in at the mouth of theMediterranean was sending her on at the rate of some knots an hour, overthe ground pretty well in her direct course. We sat on deck and smokedour cigars, and spun many a yarn, and told many an adventure of bygonedays. It was with difficulty that we could persuade ourselves to turnin, so enjoyable was the cool sea atmosphere after the burnt-up, baked,oveny air of the old Rock.
The next morning, when we came on deck, although there had not been anair in all the heavens, as Snow informed us, we had sunk Gibraltarcompletely beneath the sea. That day passed much like the previous one.Now and then a light breeze from the westward filled the cutter'ssails, and made her step through the water at a speed which must haveastonished some of the ancient fish, which looked up at her from out oftheir caverned homes beneath the waves. As the day wore on we made out,away to the westward, the mastheads of a brig. As we gradually rosethem it appeared that she was a polacca-rigged brig, probably a Greekladen with corn, bound out of the Straits, perhaps to supply theinsatiable maw of old England with food. We had just made thisdiscovery when we were summoned to dinner. To people who have nothingto do, any small thing affords subject of interest. I remember a storyof two noblemen, shut up at a country inn on a rainy day, betting largesums on the speed of two small flies running over a pane of glass, andof others equally wise, staking larger amounts than many a naval andmilitary officer receives in his life-time, on two spots of rain, thebet being a drawn one by the drops uniting. When we returned on deckafter dinner no change had taken place. The canvas of the cutter gaveevery now and then an idle flap, while the sails of the Greek brigseemed very much in the same humour. We, however, were so far betteroff than the stranger, because the current was sweeping us, slowlyindeed, but still in the direction we wanted to go, while it wascarrying her away from it. Still we appeared by some mysteriousinfluence to near each other. It was not, however, for some time thatwe discovered that her crew were towing her ahead, and that she had alsolong sweeps out, which probably sent her through the water two or threeknots an hour.
"I thought those Greek seamen were idle dogs, who would not think oftaking so much trouble as these fellows appear to do, even to save theirlives."
"Oh, there's little enough to be said in their favour," repliedPorpoise. "These fellows want to get through the Straits, as they fancythey shall find a fair wind outside, so they take a little trouble nowin the hopes of perfect idleness by and by." Odd as it may seem, Icould not help fancying that there was something strange about thatbrig, yet what it was of course I could not tell.
"Well, I shall always think favourably of the industry of Greeks, afterwatching those fellows," said Carstairs.
The strange brig kept creeping up closer and closer to us; still, exceptan occasional glance which we took of her, as being the only object insight, she appeared in no way to excite the interest of my messmates.I, however, as I remarked, clearly remember to have had a strangefeeling of doubt and mistrust as I looked at her. It is impossible toaccount for similar sensations, experienced frequently by people onvarious occasions; had she been a rakish-looking, low, black schooner,with a wide spread of canvas, met with in the latitude of the WestIndies, I might very naturally have guessed her to be a pirate orslaver; but the brig in sight was a harmless, honest-looking trader, andstill I could not help frequently during the day looking at her, verymuch as I should have done had she been of the character of the craft Ihad described.
"Bubble!" exclaimed Hearty, "you know that you have promised us a taleof your own composition, and you have very frequently been missed fromthe deck and found pen in hand in the cabin, covering sundry sheets ofpaper, and when we have been wrapped in slumber you have been supposedto have sat up continuing your work. Come, man, have compassion on ourcuriosity, and give us the result of your lucubrations."
"Oh, no! spare my blushes," answered Will, with a comic sentimentallook: "I don't aim at the world-wide celebrity of an author: I amcontent to please a select circle of friends like yourselves. Who wouldread a story published under the signature of Will Bubble? No! I say,let me float on adown the quiet stream of insignificance. The post ofsafety is a humble station--hum!"
"Over-modesty, over-modesty, Will," answered Hearty. "Pluck up courage,man; you will do well if you try."
The best of the joke was, that the rogue, as I well know, had for many ayear past been dabbling in literature, and often had I enjoyed a quietlaugh when reading an article from his pen.
"Well, perhaps some day I'll try," said he, demurely.
"Hillo! what can the fellow be wanting?" exclaimed Porpoise,interrupting our talking (I won't call it conversation).
We all turned our eyes in the direction in which he was looking. Thebrig had lowered a boat, which with rapid strokes was pulling towardsus.
"She seems to have a good many hands in her," he added, holding hisglass to his eye. "I don't quite like the look of her."
"Nor do I either, I confess," said I. "There are some craft in this seanot altogether honest, we must remember, though they are generally metwith higher up towards the Levant."
"What ought we to do, then?" asked Hearty.
"Just serve out the cutlasses and pistols, and cast the guns loose,"said Porpoise. "Tell the people to keep an eye on the strangers, and ifmore than two or three attempt to come on board, to tumble them intotheir boat again. There's not the slightest danger if we put on a boldfront, but if we are caught napping, I would not be answerable for theconsequences."