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Under the Meteor Flag: Log of a Midshipman during the French Revolutionary War

by Harry Collingwood · English · Gutenberg #21068 · 817,142 chars · public domain (US)

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Title: Under the Meteor Flag: Log of a Midshipman during the French Revolutionary War

Author: Harry Collingwood


        
Release date: April 13, 2007 [eBook #21068]
                Most recently updated: June 25, 2014

Language: English

Other information and formats: www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/21068

Credits: Produced by Nick Hodson of London, England


*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK UNDER THE METEOR FLAG: LOG OF A MIDSHIPMAN DURING THE FRENCH REVOLUTIONARY WAR ***




Produced by Nick Hodson of London, England




Under the Meteor Flag
Log of a Midshipman during the French Revolutionary War

By Harry Collingwood
________________________________________________________________________
This is well-written and full of action.  The formula is very much the
same as Kingston's--gales, shipwrecks, rafts, hand-to-hand battles, and
above all, a super-smart midshipman who doesn't even shave yet, but who
has influence in the Navy.

It is a good yarn, but there are a couple of things I do not like about
it.  One is the habit of giving people surnames that are also parts of
the ship.  I know that Marryat did it once or twice, and Kingston did
it, but it jars each time.  I suppose the virtue of doing this is that
you are unlikely to find anyone in real life with that surname, so
confusion with actual people is avoided.

The other thing I don't like is the bringing-in of descriptions almost
word for word from other books by the same author.  I suppose that's
better than bringing in descriptions by other authors.

A very strange thing is the title of the book.  The word "meteor" is
mentioned only once, and on that occasion the meteor flag was waving
while they committed someone's body to the deep.  I do think the title
ought to have something to do with the book, but at the time this book
was written there didn't seem to be a strong rule about it.

It is a longish book, and the audiobook is easy to listen to, but the
action goes so fast that you must not let your mind drift while you are
listening. NH.
________________________________________________________________________
UNDER THE METEOR FLAG
LOG OF A MIDSHIPMAN DURING THE FRENCH REVOLUTIONARY WAR

BY HARRY COLLINGWOOD



CHAPTER ONE.

On board the "Scourge."

On the 9th of March, 1793, his Britannic Majesty's gun-brig "Scourge"
weighed, and stood out to sea from the anchorage at Spithead, under
single-reefed topsails, her commander having received orders to cruise
for a month in the chops of the Channel.  The "Scourge" was a 16-gun
brig, but having been despatched to sea in a great hurry, after
receiving somewhat extensive repairs at the dockyard, she had only eight
long 6-pounders mounted, and, for the same reason, she was considerably
short-handed, her _crew_ amounting only to seventy men and boys, of whom
quite one half were eminently "green" hands.  War with France had just
been once more declared, the various dockyards were busy night and day
preparing and turning out ships for service, and the officers were glad
to get hold of almost any class of men for their ships, provided only
that they were strong and able-bodied.

In this dashing little brig, I--Ralph Chester--held the exalted and
responsible post of midshipman; my appointment, on the morning in
question, being exactly one week old.  I had only joined the ship,
however, three days before, and in the interval had been made the victim
of almost every practical joke which the ingenuity of my fellow-mids
could devise.  It is not my purpose to recount these tricks, for
stirring times were at hand, and adventures of a sterner and far more
interesting nature were to meet me at the very outset of my career,
crowding thick and fast upon each other's heels; and it is in the
recital of these adventures that I hope to excite and gratify the
curiosity of my readers.  A few--and _only_ a few--words are necessary
by way of personal introduction.  My father--the Reverend Henry
Chester--was rector of the parish of --, which, as everybody knows,
enjoys the advantage of being located in the heart of the loveliest
scenery in Hampshire.  Our family was not a large one; there were only
four of us--two boys and two girls--exclusive of my parents; which was a
decidedly fortunate circumstance, for if my father's family was
moderate, his income was still more so, and my poor mother's ingenuity
was often taxed to the utmost to make both ends meet, and at the same
time maintain for us all such outward tokens of respectability as became
the rector's family.

My elder brother, Henry, was destined to follow in the paternal
footsteps by entering the church.  My sisters Florence and Amy (my
juniors respectively by two and four years) would, it was hoped,
contract in due time suitable marriages, with the friendly aid and
countenance of some of our more wealthy relations; and, for myself, my
dear father was most anxious that I should devote the few abilities with
which I had been endowed by nature to the study of the law.  Personally
about the most unambitious man who ever lived, my father's ambition for
his children was absolutely boundless; and I believe, could the truth
have been arrived at, he quite hoped in course of time to see his sons,
the one Primate of England, and the other in possession of the woolsack.

But the prospect of spending my days in groping through musty law-books,
hunting up obscure precedents, convincing an enlightened jury, through
the medium of my persuasive arguments and impassioned eloquence, of the
innocence of rascals carrying the word "rogue" legibly imprinted upon
their countenances, and other operations of a kindred nature, had no
attractions whatever for me; my tastes and proclivities were all in
favour of an active outdoor existence; and, though I was prepared to
yield obedience if my father chose to _insist_ upon my following so
uncongenial an occupation, I felt that it was only due to myself to
point out to him that it would be utterly out of my power to infuse any
spirit or enthusiasm into my pursuit of it.

My father, on learning how utterly distasteful to me were his plans for
my future, at once waived his own inclinations, and came to the point by
inviting me to state specifically _what_ occupation I should prefer;
and, after taking a little time to give the question my most careful
consideration, I informed him that I had made up my mind to go into the
navy, if he saw no objection, and if I could get there.  My decision
gave great concern to both my parents, and indeed I may say to the whole
family; but as time went on and it became every day more apparent that I
had set my heart upon going to sea, it was at length decided to yield to
my wishes; and the only question which then remained was how to get me
afloat under the most favourable auspices.

This question, fortunately for me, admitted of an easy solution.  An
uncle of my mother--Sir Peregrine Portfire, K.B., Vice-admiral of the
Red, etcetera, etcetera--was applied to; and within a fortnight I was
directed to join the "Scourge" forthwith.  A letter arrived by the same
post from my great-uncle, containing an enclosure addressed to Commander
George Brisac, soliciting his good service in my behalf, which enclosure
I was instructed to present to the gentleman addressed on joining the
ship.

I will not detain my readers by introducing them to the officers of the
"Scourge;" my sojourn on board that ship was but a short one, so short,
indeed, that I scarcely had time to become acquainted with them myself;
and, as I never fell in with any of them again in after-life, what
little it is necessary for the reader to know concerning them he will
glean in the progress of the narrative.  And now to resume the thread of
my story.

The "Scourge," when we left her, was standing out to sea under single-
reefed topsails.  The wind was about W.N.W., blowing strong, with
frequent squalls of mingled rain and sleet.  The sky was entirely
obscured by dull, dirty, ragged-looking clouds, which hung so low that
they seemed to touch our trucks as they swept rapidly along overhead.
The sea under the shelter of the land was of course smooth, but as we
drew rapidly off the shore (the brig proving to be a wonderfully fast
little craft, to the intense satisfaction of all hands), we soon got
into rougher water; and then to the original miseries of rain and cold
were added the discomfort of frequent and copious showers of icy spray,
which, coming in over the weather bow, flew right aft and out over the
lee quarter, treating everybody, with the utmost impartiality, to a good
drenching on its way.  All hands, from the skipper downward,
disregarding appearances, carefully enwrapped their carcases from head
to foot in oilskin; and if anything had been needed to complete the all-
pervading aspect of cold and wretchedness which the scene presented, it
would have been found in contemplation of the wet and shiny appearance
of the crew, each with a little stream of water trickling off the flap
of his sou'-wester down his back, and with hair and whiskers blowing
drenched and bedraggled about his pinched and purple visage.

The crowning misery of all--sea-sickness--I was happily spared, and I
was thus enabled to go about my duty without experiencing a wish that
some kindly sea would wash me overboard and end my life and my
wretchedness together; but, as it was, the circumstances attendant upon
my first experience of active service were such as might well have
damped the ardour of one even more enthusiastic than myself.  My pride,
or my obstinacy, however, were such, that having once put my hand to the
plough, I was quite determined that nothing short of actual physical
incapacity should compel me to turn back.

We stretched off the land, close-hauled upon the starboard tack, the
whole of that day, and the greater part of the succeeding night; the
skipper's object being, as I gathered from a remark or two which I
overheard between him and the first lieutenant, to get well over toward
the French coast; where, if fortune favoured us, we might be lucky
enough to pick up a prize or two.

As the day wore on, the wind increased considerably in strength, and at
the end of the first dog-watch orders were given to take down another
reef in the topsails, and to stow the courses.  The topsail yards were
accordingly lowered down upon the caps, and the crew proceeded aloft to
execute this duty, some of the green hands evincing a very marked
disinclination to go more than half-way up the lower rigging; and when
at length, by dint of mingled force and persuasion, they were got as
high as the tops, two or three refused point-blank to lay out upon the
yards.  The first lieutenant raved at them, stamped furiously upon the
deck, and threatened unutterable things if they did not lay out
forthwith; and the captains of the tops, not to be behindhand, proceeded
vigorously to "freshen their way" with a rope's end.  This latter
persuasive appeared to have the desired effect; and, slowly and with
excessive caution, the men proceeded to lay out.  Suddenly the foot of
one of them on the main-yard slipped; he clung convulsively for a moment
to the yard, and then whirled off backwards, striking the main-rigging
on the weather side, and rebounding into the sea.

Instantly there arose the startling cry of "A man overboard!"  I know
not what possessed me, but in the excitement of the moment, and without
in the least thinking of what I was doing, I no sooner saw the man
strike the water than I rushed aft, leaped upon the taffrail, and,
pausing a single instant to mark the spot where he fell, raised my hands
above my head, and took a most scientific header into the boiling surge.
As I was descending toward the water I heard a hearty cheer from the
men, and then the icy cold waves closed over my head; there was a
rushing sound in my ears, and darkness all around me.

When I rose to the surface, I found myself close to the drowning man,
who was struggling feebly and in an aimless sort of way, apparently half
stunned, and lying face downwards in the water.  Swimming happened to be
one of the very few accomplishments in which I excelled, otherwise I do
not think it at all probable I should have leapt overboard so
unhesitatingly; be that as it may, though I had never been in rough
water before, and though, now that I was overboard, the sea seemed
incomparably more tempestuous than it had appeared to be from the ship's
deck, I felt perfectly at home.  Paddling cautiously up to the man, I
seized him by the hair, and turned him over on his back, then threw
myself upon my back, and dragged his head up high enough upon my breast
to lift his mouth out of water, supporting him and myself by vigorous
strokes with my feet.  Looking round, as we rose on the crest of a sea,
I could dimly descry the brig through the rapidly increasing gloom; and
to my horror she appeared to be a long distance away.  I had time only,
however, for a momentary glance, when we sank into the trough, and I
lost sight of her.  A few seconds afterwards I caught sight of her
again, and this time she was displaying in her rigging a lantern, the
sight of which I regarded (rightly, as it afterwards turned out) as a
sign and token that every effort would be used to recover us, and truly
the feeble gleam, appearing and disappearing as we rose and fell upon
the agitated surface of the sea, was to me a very star of hope and
encouragement.

My vigorous efforts to keep myself and the man afloat soon told upon me,
and I began to fear that I should be obliged to abandon my prize in
order to preserve my own life; luckily for us both, however, my
companion had ceased to struggle, and now lay supported within my arms,
to all appearance dead.  As the time dragged heavily away, I grew more
and more exhausted, and at length the man slipped from my relaxing grasp
and began to sink.  Happily at this instant I caught a momentary glimpse
of a small object standing out black and distinct against the narrow
belt of light lying along the western horizon, and I felt instinctively
that it was a boat coming in search of us; the sight imparted new energy
to my nerveless frame, and, recovering my grasp upon the man just as he
was sinking beyond my reach, I determined to keep him above water until
succour arrived, or go down with him.

How anxiously I kept watch upon the boat, and the desperate efforts I
made to keep afloat, it would be impossible to describe.  The dancing
craft appeared to be lying at anchor upon the water, though in reality
she was foaming down towards us before the wind and sea, propelled by
the strong arms of eight of the stoutest oarsmen in the ship.  At
length, however, she was near enough to enable me to discern the bow man
standing up, one hand shading his eyes, and the other grasping a boat-
hook.  Presently a hail came down upon the wind toward us from the boat,
and directly afterwards another.  I was by this time too weak to reply;
and could only hope that they would pull on until close enough to see
us; to my inexpressible horror, however, when some seven or eight
lengths away, the boat's head swerved sharply aside, and the craft
darted off upon a course at right angles to her former one.  Then indeed
I uttered a shriek loud enough to awake the seven sleepers, and
immediately went under.  I thought it was now all over with us both; but
the love of life is strong, especially in the young, and a convulsive
struggle brought us once more to the surface; but, blinded with salt
water, and with my senses fast leaving me, I no longer looked round for
the boat, but battled desperately, though more than half unconsciously,
for life; still retaining, with the tenacious grasp of the drowning, my
hold upon my companion.  I at length heard faintly, and as though in a
dream, a voice saying, "There they are! port, sir, hard!" and then all
became an utter blank.

The first indication of returning consciousness was the sound of the
surgeon's voice saying, "All right! he is coming to; and we shall save
him yet."

"Thank God for that!" presently exclaimed another voice, which I
recognised as the skipper's; "I would not have lost the lad for the
worth of all that I possess.  I never saw a more plucky thing in all my
life; and, if he lives, he will grow up to be an ornament to the
service."

At this point I opened my eyes, and found those of the speaker bent upon
me with an expression of deep solicitude.  I furthermore found that I
had been stripped of my wet clothing, and was lying in the captain's own
cot, with the doctor and one of the seamen rubbing my limbs and body so
vigorously with their bare hands, in the endeavour to restore a brisk
circulation, that I seemed to be in imminent danger of being flayed
alive.

"How do you feel now, my boy?" inquired the skipper, as he bent over the
side of the cot, and laid his hand kindly upon my own.

"Very much better, sir, thank you," I replied; though, to tell the
truth, I was at that moment enduring the most acute pain in every nerve
of my body--the physical suffering attendant upon the returning tide of
life being actually much greater than that experienced while I was
undergoing the process of drowning.

"That's right," returned he, in a cheery tone of voice; "I am glad to
hear it, as every man in the ship will be.  You have performed a right
gallant action, and I am sure you will be glad to know that your efforts
have not been in vain.  The poor fellow whom you rescued is alive, and
likely to do well."

I felt too weak to make any reply to this gratifying speech, a fact
which the doctor instantly perceived, for he turned to the skipper and
remarked, "With your permission, sir, we will now leave the lad in quiet
to sleep off his exhaustion.  I will just mix him a simple restorative,
while your steward tucks him in and makes him comfortable for the night;
after which I think we may safely leave the rest to nature, though, of
course, I shall look in upon both of my patients from time to time, so
as to make quite sure that they are going on all right."

If the worthy medico fulfilled his promise to "look in" upon me during
the night--and I feel quite sure he did--I was blissfully unconscious of
the fact, for under the soothing influence of the restorative draught,
and the warmth of the blankets liberally heaped upon me by the captain's
steward, I speedily sank into a deep, dreamless, refreshing slumber--a
delicious oblivion--from which I awoke in the morning to find myself
very little the worse for my exertions of the previous night.

When I opened my eyes I saw, through the open door of the state-room,
that the sun was streaming brightly down through the skylight, lighting
up the cosy little cabin, bringing out to the fullest advantage the
flowing tints of three or four well-executed pictures, which were
secured to the bulkheads, and altogether imparting a delightfully
cheerful appearance to the apartment.  The vessel, however, was in
violent motion; I could, from my position in the cot, look out through
the stern windows; and I saw that there was a heavy sea running, and the
roar of the wind through the rigging, which was distinctly audible above
the sound of creaking timbers, rattling doors, trampling feet, and the
_swish_ of heavy showers of spray upon the deck, told me it was blowing
hard.  I felt so greatly recovered, however, that I resolved to get up,
and, springing out of the cot, I proceeded to dress myself with as much
alacrity as the rolling and pitching of the ship would permit.  While
engaged in this occupation, the doctor entered the cabin.

"Hillo!" he exclaimed, "turning out, eh?  Well done, young gentleman.
Steady! you have not shipped your sea-legs yet, as our friend the first
lieutenant would say; you must be cautious, or you will be thrown
against something or other, and get a nasty knock.  Well, and how do you
feel this morning?"

"A trifle weak," I replied, "that's all.  I dare say I shall be better
when I have had breakfast."

"That's your sort," responded the jolly old medico; "if you are hungry,
there is not much wrong with you; but you mentioned breakfast.  Have you
any notion what time it may happen to be?"

"Not much," I replied; "but I fear it is rather late."

"That depends upon what you call late," he retorted.  "Some of your
town-bred dandies are only in their first nap about this time.  As a
matter of absolute fact, however, it has just gone eight bells, or noon;
so that you see, my young friend, breakfast is over long enough ago.
But I dare say Patterson can find something for you all the same."  He
rang a small hand-bell which stood on the table, and the captain's
steward made his appearance.  "Patterson," said the doctor, "this young
gentleman complains that he is hungry.  Have you any trifle, such as the
wing of a chicken, or something of that sort, in your pantry that you
could give him?"

"No, sir," replied the man, with a grin, "I'm afraid I've not.  But if a
nice rasher of bacon and a cup of coffee will do--"

"Splendidly," I interrupted.  "To tell you the truth, doctor, I am
hungry enough to eat a horse, harness and all; so I shall be very glad
to have either a rasher of bacon or anything else that is quickly
obtainable."

Patterson was not long in getting ready the promised repast, which I
cleared to the last morsel; after which I made my way on deck.  The
skipper was there, promenading the weather side of the quarter-deck, the
first luff jogging fore and aft alongside of him.  I was called up, a
few kind inquiries made, together with a eulogistic remark or two upon
my conduct of the previous evening; and the whole neatly finished off
with an intimation that, having begun so well, great things would be
expected of me in future, and that, having established a reputation for
zeal and gallantry, it was hoped I would do my utmost to maintain it;
after which I was dismissed.  I soon found that my exploit had placed me
upon quite a different footing in the ship from that which I had
occupied before.  The men treated me with real respect, instead of the
good-humoured burlesque thereof which they had accorded me hitherto; and
my fellow-mids at once received me into the berth upon a footing of
perfect equality with themselves, each one striving to do me some little
kindness or show me some little attention, in place of playing off
disagreeable practical jokes upon me.  They would not have been
midshipmen had they not had a jocular remark or two to make upon the
subject, but it was all said in good part.  The wind continued to blow
hard during the whole of that day, but toward sunset it moderated
somewhat, and veered a point or two to the northward.  The ship had been
under close-reefed topsails and fore-topmast staysail ever since
midnight of the night before.



CHAPTER TWO.

HOW WE LOST HER.

The sun was just sinking below the horizon, his parting beams lighting
up gorgeously a heavy bank of clouds which hung low down in the western
quarter, when the lookout man aloft hailed, "A sail on the weather bow!"

Everybody was instantly on the alert.

"What do you make her out to be?" hailed Mr Sennitt, the first
lieutenant; while the skipper turned to me and said,--

"Mr Chester, be good enough to slip down into my cabin, and bring up my
telescope, if you please."

As I made a dive down the companion, I heard the lookout hail again:
"She is a large lugger, sir; I can make her out quite plainly; she is
just in the wake of the sun."

"All hands make sail," was the next order, given as quick as lightning.

I got the glass, and hurrying on deck with it, placed it in the
skipper's hands.  The men were by this time lying out on the yards,
shaking a couple of reefs out of the topsails, and loosing the courses.
Captain Brisac slung the telescope over his shoulder, and, springing
into the rigging, made his way aloft to the crosstrees, where the
lookout still sat, with one hand grasping the topgallant shrouds, and
the other shading his eyes.  The skipper braced himself firmly against
the topmost head, raised the telescope to his eye, and took a good long
look at the stranger, closed the glass sharply, and descended to the
deck again with all the agility of a monkey--or a midshipman.

"She _is_ a lugger, sure enough; and a large one too," he remarked, as
he rejoined the first lieutenant.  "There can be no doubt that she is
French; and I have a strong suspicion that she is a privateer on the
lookout for some of our homeward-bound vessels.  I do not think they
have made us out yet; when I saw her she was jogging easily along under
her fore and mizzen lugs and a small jib.  If she does not see us within
the next five minutes, the chances are that she will not make us out at
all until the moon rises, which will not be for quite another hour; by
which time I hope we shall have drawn pretty close up to her."

The lookout was hailed from time to time, to inquire whether the lugger
had made any more sail or not; and each time the cheering reply was,
"Not yet, sir."  At length the reply was, "It is too dark to see her
now, sir; but she had not when I lost sight of her."

The brig was now tearing along under single-reefed topsails, courses,
fore-topmast staysail, jib, and spanker, her lee side buried deep in the
foaming brine, and the sea coming bodily in over her bows by tons at a
time.  She no longer rose lightly over the opposing waves, but dashed
headlong into them; rushing forward upon her way like a startled
courser.

Every night-glass in the ship was brought into requisition by the eager
officers, in their endeavours to catch an occasional glimpse of the
stranger; but the night had settled down pitchy dark, the sky having
rapidly become obscured by a thick veil of clouds immediately after the
disappearance of the sun below the horizon, so that not so much as a
solitary star was visible; all efforts to get a sight of the chase were
consequently quite in vain.  _So_ dark was it that, standing by the
taffrail, it was impossible to see as far as the bows of the ship.  Not
a light of any description was permitted on board the "Scourge;" even
the binnacle lights were carefully masked, and Captain Brisac soon began
to manifest a great deal of anxiety at the risk which he was undoubtedly
incurring in thus driving his ship at racing speed through the thick
darkness, without a warning light of any description to indicate her
presence to other craft.  He contented himself, however, with placing
five of the sharpest-sighted men on the lookout; namely, one on the
flying-jibboom-end, one on each cat-head, and one on each of the fore-
yardarms.

The bearings of the chase had of course been very accurately taken the
last thing before losing sight of her, when she was estimated to be ten
miles distant, and about two points on the weather bow, going along upon
an easy bowline.

The "Scourge" was an exceedingly smart little brig under her canvas; and
when the additional sail had been set and every brace, sheet, tack, and
bowline trimmed with the utmost nicety, it was the general opinion that
she was going a good honest eleven knots.  The chase was thought to be
travelling at the rate of four knots at most; it was hoped, therefore,
that when the moon rose we should find ourselves within three or four
miles of her.

The suspense, which we were compelled to endure as best we might, caused
the time to drag heavily on; at length, however, a brightening of the
sky in the eastern quarter proclaimed the welcome approach of the moon.
Slowly--very slowly--the brightness increased, the veil of cloud
breaking up before it, and revealing the sky beyond, all luminous with
silvery radiance.  A few more anxious minutes, and the round white disc
of the moon rose slowly upwards into view, flinging a broad path of
light across the tumbling billows, and gleaming pale and ghostly on the
sails of the lugger, which now appeared directly ahead of us, and about
five miles distant.

Instantly every glass in the ship was levelled at the chase; and a
general exclamation of annoyance arose, as, while still engaged in
taking their first long look at her, the pursuers observed a sudden
fluttering of canvas about the mainmast which speedily resolved itself
unmistakably into a lofty well-set mainsail.

"Ah!" ejaculated the skipper, stamping his foot impatiently on the deck,
"they evidently have sharp eyes on board yonder lugger; they must have
seen us the moment that the moon rose."

"Yes," returned the first lieutenant, with his eye still glued to his
glass; "and the sharp eyes appear to belong to an equally sharp crew;
they are shaking out their reefs fore and aft and shifting their jib,
all at the same time.  Depend upon it, sir, we shall have to work for
that craft before we get her."

"We shall catch her, Mr Sennitt, never fear," was the cheery response;
"she cannot be above half our size, and will have no chance with us in
such a breeze as this.  And I do not anticipate that she is any more
heavily armed than we are, though she may possibly carry a few more men.
Her skipper will of course escape if he can! and when he finds that
impossible, he will, equally of course, fight, and very likely fight
well.  Still, I do not think we shall have much difficulty in taking
him."

"In the meantime, however," remarked Sennitt, who had his glass
constantly at his eye, "unless I am greatly mistaken, he is gradually
creeping away from us; his rigging does not show out as plainly as it
did ten minutes ago, yet there is more light."

Another long and anxious observation of the chase by both officers
followed; and, imitating their example, I also brought my glass to bear
upon the flying craft.  Flying she literally seemed to be rather than
sailing.  At one moment her hull was completely hidden by an intervening
wave-crest, her sails only being visible; the next she would rush into
view, her low hull deluged with spray which glanced in the moonlight
like a shower of diamonds as it flew over her almost to the height of
her low mast-heads and dissipated itself in the sea to leeward; while
her masts bent like willow wands, inclining at what seemed to me a
fearfully perilous angle with the horizon.

"Upon my word, Sennitt, I fear you are right," at last said the skipper,
bringing his glass reluctantly down into the hollow of his arm.  "Let us
lay our glasses aside for half an hour, we shall then be better able to
judge which ship is gaining upon the other, and if we find that we are
losing ground, there will be nothing for it but to shake the remaining
reef out of our topsails, and get the flying-jib on her; our spars are
good, and the rigging new; both ought to be quite capable of standing a
little extra strain."

"It will be rather a risky business to increase the strain already laid
upon the spars," said the first lieutenant, glancing anxiously aloft at
the topmasts, which were springing and buckling at every plunge of the
ship, with the enormous pressure of the tightly distended topsails;
"still it is perhaps worth trying; it would be a fine feather in our
caps if we could send into port the first prize of the war."

The stipulated half-hour passed away; and at the end of that period the
unwelcome conviction forced itself upon every one that the lugger was
having the best of it.

"There is no help for it, Mr Sennitt," said the skipper, "shake that
reef out of the topsails, and set the flying-jib; she _must_ bear it."

Excited by the exhilarating influence of the chase, the hands sprang
aloft with the utmost alacrity, and in an incredibly short space of time
had the reel out and the topsails distended to their fullest extent; the
flying-jib flapped wildly in the wind for a moment or two, and then
yielded to the restraint of the sheet, at which it tugged as though it
would tear away the cleat to which it was secured.

The effect of these additions to the before heavy pressure of canvas
upon the ship was immediate, and, to my inexperience, highly alarming.
The brig now lay over upon her side to such an extent that it was with
the utmost difficulty I could retain my footing upon the steeply-
inclined and slippery plane of the deck.  The lee sail was completely
buried in the sea, which boiled in over the lee bow and surged aft along
the deck like a mill-race; while ever and anon an ominous _crack_ aloft
told of the severity of the strain upon the overtaxed spars.

Mr Sennitt kept glancing uneasily upward, as these portentous sounds
smote upon his ear; which Captain Brisac observing, he turned to the
first lieutenant and said,--

"Do not be alarmed, Sennitt; it is only the spars settling into their
berths; they--"

_Crash_!  I sprang instinctively aft to the taffrail, out of the way of
the wreck, and then looked up to see both topmasts, snapped off like
carrots just above the caps, go swooping over to leeward, to hang by
their rigging under the lee of the courses; while the ship, with a sharp
shock, as though she had touched upon some unseen rock, recovered
herself and floated once more upon an almost even keel.

Captain Brisac was much too gentlemanly to swear.  He simply turned to
the first lieutenant and said, "We have rather overdone it this time,
Sennitt; however, it is no use crying over spilt milk, so turn the hands
up, please, and let them clear away the wreck, and repair damages as
soon as possible."

The boom of a distant gun told us that the crew of the lugger had not
been unobservant of our misfortune, and that they were willing to expend
a charge of powder in acquainting us with their exultation thereat.

By daybreak next morning we had everything ataunt again; the chase,
however, had run completely out of sight, hours before, and was, at all
events for the present, hopelessly lost to us.

The wind had gone down very considerably during the night, and had
hauled round to about due north; the sea went rapidly down; the sky was
cloudless and intensely blue; the air became keen and frosty; and when
the sun rose, it found us standing to the westward under topgallant-
sails, without a single sail of any kind in sight.



CHAPTER THREE.

The "Sans-Culotte."

The adage that "it is an ill wind that blows nobody good" maintained its
reputation for truth, even in the case of the seemingly unmitigated
disaster of the previous night--that is to say, at least, as far as I
was concerned; inasmuch as the knowledge and experience which I acquired
of my profession during the operation of clearing away the wreck,
recovering the sails, rigging, and undamaged spars, fitting the new
topmasts into their places, and restoring the ship generally to her
former condition, gave me an advantage which I could scarcely have hoped
to secure in less than six months of the ordinary run of active service.
I watched with unflagging interest the progress of every operation as
the work went forward, with the result that I learned by actual
observation, coupled with the best use of my reasoning faculties, and
frequent questions to Mr Sennitt (who, I may say, heard and answered my
inquiries with quite astonishing patience), the position and use of
every rope that I saw fitted, the mode of working the yards, and much
other valuable knowledge.

It is surprising how speedily human curiosity becomes quickened and
aroused, if the individual devotes himself earnestly to the study of an
art or science.  The thirst for knowledge increases with its
acquisition--at least, such is my experience--and is not to be satisfied
until every mystery connected with such art or science has been
mastered, and made the inalienable property of the student.  It was so
with me in relation to everything connected with my profession.  Having
gained a certain amount of knowledge concerning the mysteries of
seamanship, I craved for more; and throwing all my energies into the
discharge of my daily round of duties, made such rapid progress as
astonished everybody, myself included.

The "Scourge," meanwhile, was slowly pursuing her course down channel;
the wind, after the recent blow, having fallen light and baffling; it
was not, therefore, until the morning of the 13th that she reached her
cruising-ground, Scilly bearing at the time about N.E., distant 26
miles.

The day broke clear and cloudless, with a light air of wind from the
southward; the water being smooth, save for the long, rolling swell of
the Atlantic, which at the spot in question made itself very distinctly
felt.  The air was mild and springlike, the unclouded sunbeams struck
with a perceptible sensation of warmth, and every one on board,
forgetting the recent misery of cold and wet, greeted the welcome change
with a corresponding flow of exuberant animal spirits.

The hands had just been piped to breakfast, when the lookout aloft
reported, "A sail right ahead!"

Recalling to mind the skipper's request on a previous occasion, I at
once ran down into the cabin for his telescope, which I brought on deck
and handed to him.

"Thank you, Mr Chester," said he.  "I have remarked with very great
pleasure your real in the discharge of your duties.  Go on as you have
begun, my boy, and you will soon become a valuable and efficient
officer."

Captain Brisac did not, however, himself go aloft this time; Mr
Clewline, the second lieutenant, happened to be on deck at the moment,
and the skipper handed him the glass, with a polite request that he
would "see what he could make of her."

Mr Clewline, I thought, seemed rather to resent the suggestion as an
affront to his dignity; he, however, made no demur, but proceeded aloft
with great deliberation, and, seating himself upon the fore-topsail
yard, took a very leisurely observation of the stranger.

Having devoted about a quarter of an hour to this occupation, he slowly
closed the telescope, and carefully slinging it over his shoulder,
descended to the deck with the same deliberation which had characterised
his ascent.  It was not until he had regained the skipper's side that he
condescended to make his report; when, handing back the glass with a
stiff bow, he said, "I make out the stranger to be, sir, a brig,
apparently French, of about our own size; she is standing directly
toward us, upon the starboard tack, under topgallant-sails."

"Thank you, sir," returned the skipper shortly; then turning upon his
heel he went below to his cabin, Patterson having come on deck a minute
or two before, to announce that breakfast was ready.

The news quickly spread through the ship that the sail in sight was
supposed to be a Frenchman; and as the two vessels were approaching each
other, and an action, in the event of Mr Clewline's supposition proving
correct, inevitable, a considerable amount of excitement prevailed.  The
men bolted their breakfast in less than half the time usually devoted to
that meal, and returned to the deck the moment they had disposed of
their last morsel; while the officers betrayed at least an equal amount
of eagerness, two or three of them hastily swallowing a cup of scalding
coffee, and munching up a biscuit, without giving themselves time even
to sit down.

"Old Sennitt"--as he was irreverently termed in the midshipmen's berth--
was one of the earliest to put in an appearance after breakfast, and his
first act was to go straight aloft with his glass.  He devoted more time
even than Mr Clewline to the examination of the stranger, and it was
not until Captain Brisac had returned to the deck and hailed him that he
made a move.

As he came aft and joined his superior upon the quarter-deck, exultation
was visible in his face, and in every movement of his body.

"It is all right, sir," he exclaimed; "she is French beyond all
possibility of doubt.  The cut of her canvas is alone sufficient
evidence of her nationality; but in order that there may be no room for
question of it, she has furled her royals, and has run up the tricolour
to her main-royal-mast-head.  She is a brig, as far as I can make out
her rig, coming end-on to us as she is, and seems about our size, or
perhaps a trifle larger.  I suppose we may as well clear for action at
once?"

"If you please, Mr Sennitt; and, not to be behindhand with them, let
them see the colour of our bunting before you do anything else."

The order to clear for action was received with enthusiasm; and the
little round ball which immediately soared aloft, breaking abroad and
displaying the naval ensign as it touched the main truck, was greeted
with a rousing cheer.  The "green" hands were by this time not quite so
verdant as they had been a few days before, Mr Sennitt having drilled
them most remorselessly at every available opportunity--and as they had
been very judiciously intermingled with the experienced "salts," in
appointing them to their various stations, the work went on with, as
Captain Brisac remarked, "very creditable celerity."  In little more
than half an hour, the yards had been slung, bulkheads knocked down, the
magazine opened, guns cast loose, loaded, and run out, and every other
preparation completed.

Meanwhile the two brigs had been slowly drawing together, and by 10 a.m.
were within a couple of miles of each other.  There had been a little
manoeuvring on each side to secure the weather-gage; but our skipper,
perceiving that the action was likely to be thereby delayed, speedily
yielded the point, and allowed the Frenchman to take the coveted
position.

"It will make very little difference, five minutes after we are
engaged," he remarked to the first lieutenant, who, after having gone
the rounds and personally seen that everything was ready, had rejoined
him aft, just as the order had been given to the helmsman of the
"Scourge" to "keep away."

"There is one thing which we have not yet done," he continued, "it seems
quite unnecessary, but we may as well avoid all possibility of mistake
by showing the private signal."

The private signal was accordingly shown but evoked, as was expected, no
response.  It was consequently hauled down again, and now everybody made
himself finally ready for the impending conflict.  My readers will
naturally feel curious to know whether on this, the first occasion of my
"smelling gunpowder," I experienced any sensation of fear.  I am old
enough now, and have seen enough of service, to have no misapprehension
of being misunderstood, or rather misjudged; I will therefore confess
the truth, and candidly acknowledge that, for a few minutes after the
completion of our preparations, I felt most horribly frightened.  I knew
that I was about to be involved in a scene of death and destruction, of
sickening slaughter, and of even more sickening physical suffering; I
anticipated seeing my fellow-men struck down right and left, their limbs
torn away, and, quite possibly, their bodies cut in two by the cruel
chain-shot; I looked round upon the order and cleanliness which
everywhere prevailed on board our ship, and contrasted the existent
condition of things with the picture which my imagination conjured up of
impending blood and carnage; and I admit that for a few minutes my heart
almost failed me.  That state of feeling, however, soon passed away, and
was succeeded by a condition of painful excitement and impatience, which
lasted until the first shot was fired, when it abruptly subsided,
leaving me as cool and collected as I am at the present moment.

I was not too frightened, however, to notice and admire the perfect
_sang-froid_ with which Captain Brisac and Mr Sennitt contemplated the
approach of our antagonist.  They stood side by side, just abaft the
main-rigging, scrutinising every movement on board the French ship, and
exchanging critical remarks upon the smartness of her crew in shortening
sail and executing the various manoeuvres usual on board a ship going
into action; and I gathered, with no very comfortable feelings, that,
from what they observed, they quite anticipated a hard fight.

When the ships had approached each other within a quarter of a mile, we
were able, for the first time, to ascertain the actual armament of our
foe.  Mr Sennitt was the first to seize the opportunity of counting her
ports, and he it was who announced, loud enough for everybody to hear,
that she showed six guns of a side, making her entire battery heavier
than our own by four guns.  "Which makes her a very fair match for us,"
he contentedly remarked.

"We will engage her at close quarters, Mr Sennitt," said the skipper;
"be good enough, therefore, to have every gun double-shotted.  Let no
man fire until I give the word; we will wait until we are fairly abreast
of her, and then give her our whole larboard broadside at once.  Luff,
you may!" to the master, who had taken the wheel.  "Luff, and shave her
as closely as you can, without actually touching her.  Steady--so; that
will do very nicely."

As the French ship came up, she fired every gun along her larboard
broadside, commencing from forward, the moment they could be brought to
bear; and the shot came tearing in through our bulwarks, making the
splinters fly in all directions.  In my ignorance I expected to see
about half our crew go down before that first discharge, but to my
unbounded surprise not a man was hurt.

The Frenchman was by this time so close that we could not only see with
the utmost distinctness the crew reloading their guns, but could hear
the confused jabber of excited conversation which appeared to be going
on unchecked on board.  What a contrast to our own ship, where every man
stood at his post, steady and silent as a statue!

At last the two ships came up fairly abreast of each other, and were
passing so closely that an active man might have jumped from the one to
the other, when the skipper uttered the word "Fire!"

The four guns of our larboard broadside rang out simultaneously, the
concussion of the air causing the two ships to heel outwards; and
through the noise of the explosion I distinctly heard the crashing of
timbers, and the piercing shrieks of the wounded.

"That's one to us; we draw first blood," chuckled a voice behind me; and
I looked round to observe young Harvey, a fellow-mid, rubbing his hands
with an air of great satisfaction.

"Hard up with your helm," exclaimed the skipper; "shiver your main-
topsail and let her wear short round; stand by your guns there on the
starboard broadside, and fire as you bring each to bear."

The effect of this manoeuvre was to lay our ship almost directly athwart
the stern of the Frenchman, and so smartly was it executed that we had
pretty effectually raked him before he was able to bear up, and give us
another broadside, the whole of which flew over us harmlessly, except
for a hole or two in our sails.

The fight now became a running one, both ships going off before the
wind, and the Frenchman rather evincing a disposition to keep us at a
distance.  He did not seem to like the taste he'd had of our quality, as
I heard the Irish captain of the after-gun, on the port side, remark.
But we possessed rather the advantage of him in the matter of speed, and
slowly edged down upon him until we were once more close alongside, when
the ships exchanged broadsides, both firing at the same moment.  We
could see the white marks in our antagonist's sides, where our shot had
struck, but either from defective aim, or because he wanted to shoot
away our spars, all his shot again flew high, with no worse result than
the severing of the starboard main-topsail-brace, a casualty which it
took but a minute or two to repair.

Two or three more broadsides were exchanged without visible effect, and
then an unlucky shot wounded our fore-topmast so badly that, after
tottering for a minute or two, it went over the bows, dragging the main-
topgallant-mast down with it.

Captain Brisac proved himself quite equal to the occasion.  He could not
prevent the "Scourge" from broaching-to, so, ordering the helm to be put
hard-a-port, he luffed us right athwart the Frenchman's stern, pouring
in the larboard broadside, which had been disengaged since our opening
fire, with such good effect that the French ship's main-yard was shot
away, and the mainmast-head badly wounded.

A strong gang was immediately set to work board on each ship to repair
damages; but as the Frenchman, by reason of the loss of his after-sail,
was unable to bring his ship upon a wind, he had no alternative but to
run dead before it, fully exposed, meanwhile, to the raking effects of
our larboard guns, which were kept playing upon him until he had passed
out of range, not one of his guns during that time being able to reply.

It took us rather over one hour to clear away the wreck, and get another
topmast on end, fully rig it, and make sail once more.  Mr Sennitt, who
personally superintended the work, insisted that it should be thoroughly
well done--as well done in fact as though we had not been in the
presence of an enemy.  The French had, in the meantime, been quite as
active as ourselves, and if their work was not so neatly done as our
own, still it _was_ done after a fashion, and they were ready to make
sail a few minutes before us, an advantage of which they availed
themselves with such alacrity that it became evident their chief anxiety
was to place, in the shortest possible time, the greatest possible
distance between us and themselves.

This project, however, by no means met the views of us "Scourges," and
the instant that it was possible, every available stitch of canvas was
packed upon our ship, with the view of closing with the enemy again as
promptly as possible.

Then began that most wearisome of all wearisome businesses, a stern
chase in a light breeze, during which the whole crew, from the skipper
downwards, whistled most devoutly for a wind.

Slowly--_very_ slowly we gained upon the chase, the master, who had
resigned the wheel at the cessation of the action, standing upon the
forecastle with his sextant, measuring, about once every five minutes,
the angle between the mast-head and the water-line of the chase, to
ascertain which ship gained upon the other.  At last "I think we are
within range now, sir; shall we try a shot from our bow-chasers?" said
Mr Sennitt.

"We can scarcely reach him yet, I am afraid," said the skipper; "but
there will be no harm in trying."

The order was given, and old Tompion, the gunner, undertook in person
the task of levelling the gun.  He went about the work with much
deliberation and a great display of science, and at length, watching a
favourable opportunity, fired.  In another moment a white sear started
into view near the Frenchman's rudder and close to the water's edge.

"Hulled him! by all that's clever," exclaimed the first luff, while the
gratified Tompion looked slowly round upon his messmates, with modest
pride beaming from every feature.

"Returned, with thanks," murmured young Harvey, who was stationed close
beside me, as a puff of smoke veiled for an instant the stern of our
antagonist; and then the shot was seen bounding toward us, its path
marked by the jets of water which flew up wherever the ball struck.  At
last it was seen to scurry along the surface for a short distance;
finally disappearing within about fifty fathoms of our bows.

"Try another shot there, forward," said the skipper, "and aim for his
spars.  A guinea to the first man who knocks away a spar big or little."

Every man in the ship was of course anxious to try his hand, and Mr
Sennitt was obliged to interfere, with the view of allowing the best
shots to have the first chance.

Some curiously indifferent shooting now ensued, the very eagerness of
the men seeming to render them unsteady.  I had strolled forward to
watch the game, and, after several most exasperating misses, exclaimed,
"I should like very much to try; I believe I could do better than that."

"Then try you shall, youngster," said Mr Sennitt; "the first shot a man
ever fires is often a very lucky one, and perhaps yours may be so.  You
shall fire the next shot."

While the gun was being loaded, Tompion availed himself of the
opportunity to deliver a short lesson on gunnery, for my especial
benefit, of which all that I remember was that he attached great
importance to the "trajectory," and was eloquent on the subject of the
"parabolic curve."

I had watched with much impatience the very scrupulous nicety with which
most of the men pretended to lay the gun, and I was strongly impressed
with the conviction that over-carefulness had much to do with their
repeated failures; I took very little trouble, therefore, beyond seeing
that the muzzle of the gun had a good elevation, after which I simply
waited, squinting along the sights, until I saw that the weapon was just
about to come in line with the Frenchman's masts, when I pulled the
trigger-line smartly, and was dragged forcibly backwards by the collar,
just in time to avoid a serious blow from the recoiling gun.

I turned angrily round to ascertain what reckless individual it was who
had thus dared to lay unholy hands upon me, when my thoughts were
diverted by a ringing cheer from all hands.  My shot had lodged in the
Frenchman's mainmast-head, just above the cap; and, while we still
looked, away went the main-topmast dragging the fore-topgallant-mast
down with it.  I received a vast amount of praise for my exploit, but of
course it was merely a lucky shot, with which skill had nothing whatever
to do.



CHAPTER FOUR.

THE FIRST CAPTURE.

After this we rapidly overhauled the chase, and by the time that her
crew had got the wreck cleared out of the way, were once more alongside.

The French crew had ceased firing their stern-chasers upon the fall of
their main-topmast, and it was the opinion of many that they had struck,
their flag coming down with their topmast, and not being re-hoisted; we
therefore ceased firing also, but before we were fairly alongside they
had rigged a small staff out over their taffrail, and had run their flag
up again.

We were approaching the Frenchman upon his starboard quarter, with the
intention of pouring in our larboard broadside directly the two ships
were fairly abreast, when our antagonist suddenly ported his helm, and
threw himself right athwart our hawse, the evolution being performed
exactly at the instant which rendered a collision unavoidable.  Our helm
was immediately put hard-a-starboard, with the intention of passing
under his stern if possible, but there was not sufficient room, and we
struck him just abaft his main chains, the shock bringing down his
mainmast, which had previously been badly wounded; while at the same
moment his starboard broadside came crashing in through our bows with
most destructive effect; one of our guns being dismounted, the foremast
struck in two places within a foot of each other, and the wheel smashed
to pieces.  Singularly enough the helmsman escaped without a scratch,
but one poor fellow fell forward upon his gun, disembowelled.

The wind being light, the shock of the collision was very gentle, and
did no damage to the hull of either vessel.  The two brigs dropped
alongside each other, head and stern, and would soon have scraped clear
again, but the French threw their grapnels into our rigging the instant
that we dropped alongside, and immediately boarded.

The whole thing was so sudden that Captain Brisac was for a single
instant confused; he rallied the next, however, and shouting "Boarders,
repel boarders!" put himself at the head of our men.

The French captain led on his boarding party with magnificent dash and
resolution, and for the first minute our men were driven irresistibly
back.  Then came the turn of the tide, the English, maddened at the
disgrace of being forced to yield their ground to their hated enemies,
recovered themselves, and in their turn pressed the French back again,
every inch of the deck being fiercely contested.  Captain Brisac and the
French captain soon singled each other out, and after a few unavailing
efforts succeeded in reaching each other and crossing swords.  Our
skipper was a slight man of middle height and no very great personal
strength, while the Frenchman was a perfect giant; the fight between
them therefore was a very unequal one, especially as Captain Brisac
possessed but little skill with the sword.  A few passes were made
without any effect on either side, and then the Frenchman made a
downward cut at his antagonist's head, with such tremendous force that
the skipper's guard was fairly beaten down, and had not his adversary's
cutlass turned its edge he would, in all probability, have been cloven
to the chin; as it was, he received a heavy blow on the head with the
back of the weapon which partially stunned him, and placed him
completely at the French captain's mercy.

The cutlass was instantly raised to repeat the stroke, when, in an agony
of apprehension at the imminent danger which threatened the man who had
shown me so much kindness, I drew a pistol from my belt, and, thrusting
its muzzle into the Frenchman's face, pulled the trigger.  The man flung
up his arms and fell backwards dead, his distorted features, all blood-
bespattered, presenting a hideous sight which haunted me for many a day
afterwards.  The sight of blood is said to madden some animals, and I am
sure it maddened me, for, furious with excitement, I forthwith dashed
headlong into the thickest of the _melee_, quite regardless of
consequences, using with such savage freedom a cutlass which I snatched
out of the hand of a wounded man, that the French recoiled on every side
with looks of dismay, while our own men, pressing forward with renewed
vigour, at length drove the enemy back to their own ship.

"Hurrah, lads! after them!"  I exclaimed, far too excited to give a
thought to the singularity of a newly-made midshipman presuming to
assume the leadership in the presence of his superiors.  Our men caught
my enthusiasm, responding with a ringing cheer; and after them we went,
helter-skelter, so rapidly that English and French tumbled over the
bulwarks together.  There was a momentary effort on the part of the
French to make a stand on reaching their own deck; but they were, as a
crew, now thoroughly demoralised, and our lads, their blood at last
completely roused, gave them no time to rally, but cut down every man
who offered the slightest opposition.  Seeing that their case was
hopeless, the French crew flung down their arms and cried for quarter,
and in less than two minutes from the instant of boarding, we found
ourselves masters of the "Sans-Culotte" privateer, mounting eight long
8-pounders and four 12-pound carronades, and with a crew originally of
eighty-one men, of whom nine were killed and twenty wounded; our own
loss being one man killed and one wounded.  The action lasted three
hours, and proved to be the first engagement of the war, much to the
gratification of Mr Sennitt, who was intensely anxious for the
distinction of sending in the first prize.

The first duty was of course to secure possession, after which, the
weather appearing likely to continue fine, the hands were piped to
dinner--such dinner, that is, as could be procured on the spur of the
moment, the galley fire having been extinguished at the time of clearing
for action.  Captain Brisac allowed an hour for this meal and a little
repose, at the expiration of which all hands were set to work to clear
away the wreck and repair damages, a task which kept us busy until
considerably after sunset.  By eight p.m., however, our preparations
were complete, a prize crew was placed on board the "Sans-Culotte," and
a nice little breeze having in the meantime sprung up from the westward,
we made sail in company, shaping a course for Plymouth, off which we
arrived about noon the next day.

The prize, now being safe from all chance of recapture, was sent in,
while the "Scourge," hauling her wind upon the starboard tack, reached
off the land on her way back to her appointed cruising-ground.

On the following day, about an hour before the time for serving dinner
in the cabin, Patterson, the captain's steward, popped his head in at
the door of the midshipmen's berth and announced,--

"Captain's compliments, and he will be glad to have the pleasure of Mr
Chester's company at dinner."

"Tell Captain Brisac with my compliments that I am much obliged for his
courteous invitation, which I accept with very great pleasure," I
responded, looking up from the "Day's Work" upon which I was busy with
my slate and pencil.

"You're a lucky dog, Chester!" exclaimed young Harvey; "you seem to have
dropped plump into the skipper's good books all at once.  It is not
often that we mids are honoured with an invitation to the cabin-table, I
can tell you."

"Oh! come now, Harvey, I protest against your imposing upon the
unfortunate Chester in that manner," interposed little Markham
(nicknamed "Goliath" because he measured exactly three feet, six inches
in his stockings).  "You know as well as I do that he is invited into
the cabin to-night, in order that the skipper may give him a good
wigging for that boarding business yesterday.  I hope he won't be _very_
hard upon you, old chap," he added, in a tone of deep sympathy, turning
to me, "for somehow I have taken quite a liking to you, and if _I_ had
been at your elbow yesterday, instead of that over-grown lout, Harvey, I
would have kept you out of the serape.  You must be very quiet and
submissive when he pitches into you, and plead ignorance--say you will
be a good boy and not do it again, you know."

"But have I really done anything very dreadful?"  I inquired, more than
half taken in by the young monkey's serious manner.

"Oh, Lord! hold me, somebody, while I faint!" he exclaimed, turning up
the whites of his eyes like a dying duck in a thunder-storm, and
flinging himself so suddenly backwards into the arms of Harvey that the
latter went down stern foremost, landing on the deck with one hand in
the beef-kid and the other in the blacking-box, while Markham rolled on
the top of him, kicking spasmodically, and simulating the feeble
struggles of an expiring person.

Luckily for "Goliath," it was the ludicrous side of this episode which
presented itself most strongly to his victim, or a sound thrashing
would, in all probability, have been his portion; as it was, the pair
scrambled to their feet again with a hearty laugh, as good friends as
ever.

"I declare, Chester, you'll be the death of me some day, if you go on
like this," resumed my would-be tormentor; "your touching innocence
would move a brass monkey to tears.  Why," he continued, looking round
and addressing in low, measured tones, intended to express overwhelming
astonishment, the fragment of glass which still clung to one corner of
its frame, and, hanging suspended against the bulkhead, did duty as a
mirror--"he asks if he has really done anything very dreadful!!  Is it
actually possible, my gentle infant, that you are ignorant of the fact
that you yesterday took the command out of your superior officers'
hands, and that the punishment for such a crime--when it happens to be a
first offence--is keelhauling, while a repetition thereof is visited
with the extreme penalty of the law?"

"And pray what is _keelhauling_?"  I inquired, beginning to perceive
that my mercurial friend was merely indulging in a joke at my expense.

"Keelhauling, sir," he replied, "is a form of punishment which consists
in being lashed to a stout rope which is passed under the ship's bottom,
and whereby the unhappy criminal is dragged along the keel from forward,
aft; he being required, during the journey, to gather a sufficiency of
barnacles off the ship's bottom to furnish a satisfying breakfast for
the captain next morning.  If the unfortunate wretch fails, the process
is to be repeated, with this addition, that on the second occasion the
quantity of barnacles provided is to be sufficient for both the captain
and the first lieutenant."

"Good gracious, how horrible!"  I exclaimed, assuming as well as I could
an expression of serious concern.  "I had no idea I was exposing myself
to the risk of such a fearful punishment.  What would you advise me to
do?"

"Well, that is by no means an easy question to answer," he replied.
"I'll tell you what I'll do, though.  I should like to help you out of
the scrape if I can, and I'll take an opportunity of speaking to the
skipper before he goes down to dinner, and asking him not to pass
sentence of punishment upon you for the present.  Then, if you'll keep
my watch for me to-night, I'll get another interview with him on the
quiet while you are doing so.  I have some little influence with him--my
modesty forbids me to say how I got it--and if I ask him _for my sake_
to forgive you, he may very possibly do so.  I expect he'll make some
reference to the affair while at dinner though, and if he does, your
only chance will be to keep him in a good-humour, which you can easily
do if you only know how."

"But unfortunately I _don't_ know how!"  I exclaimed, infusing as much
anxiety as I could into my tone and manner.

"No?" returned he.  "Well, I'll tell you, if you solemnly engage never,
under any circumstances, to divulge the source of your information."

I thought this extremely good, with Harvey sitting by, demurely
listening to the conversation, but, instead of saying so, I gravely
entered into the required engagement.

"That's all right," he remarked.  "Now listen attentively to me.  The
skipper has one overpowering weakness, and that is a fondness for a
comic song.  Let him be ever so exasperated, a comic song--_a good
comic_ song, mind you--never fails to soothe him.  Therefore, if he
should happen to-night, by any chance, to refer to your unfortunate
lapse of duty yesterday, listen patiently and respectfully to all that
he has to say, and when he has finished, even if what he says strikes
you as being of a laudatory character--he is a very curious fellow in
that respect, often beginning by praising a man, when he means to end by
blowing him up sky-high--just bow to him and say, `With your permission,
sir, I will now change the subject by singing a comic song,' and strike
up boldly at once.  I may safely venture to say you will be supremely
astonished at the effect you will produce, and if--"

"Mr Clewline wishes to see you on deck _at once_, please, Mr Markham,"
said a marine, popping his head in at the door.

"Oh! all right," returned Markham.  "I'll be up in a minute or two.
It's a great nuisance, but I assure you, my dear Chester, that poor, old
Clewline is positively at sea, unless he has me constantly at his right
hand to--"

"Mr Clewline said, if you didn't come at once, Mr Markham, I was to
just fetch ye," said the marine, introducing his head once more.

"Very well, lead on, fellow, I follow," ejaculated he of Gath in a voice
expressive of deep disgust, and he forthwith disappeared up the steep
ladder, followed by a hearty peal of laughter from us, his late
audience.

"What a fellow it is!" exclaimed Harvey presently.  "I am very glad to
see that you understand him, Chester.  Otherwise, I am afraid he would
have got you into no end of scrapes.  Not that he _means_ any harm, far
from it.  He is one of the best-natured fellows alive, but he is so
wedded to practical joking that I believe nothing will ever break him of
it.  He keeps the whole ship alive, as you will have seen by this time;
but he is always in disgrace, and during the last cruise may be said to
have taken up his permanent abode at the mast-head: I daresay he is
there now."

It was even so, for when I went aft to the cabin, in compliance with the
captain's invitation, a glance aloft revealed him comfortably perched on
the crosstrees, from which commanding position he reminded me
pantomimically of the potent charm to be found in a comic song.

The dinner-party, that evening, consisted of Captain Brisac, Mr
Sennitt, old Bolus the doctor, and myself.  The table was liberally
furnished, the wine good, and the party in excellent spirits, as was
natural after securing a prize so speedily.  Moreover, Captain Brisac
was a thorough gentleman, and knew exactly how to make his guests feel
at ease, which is not always the case where the superior is also the
host.  The conversation turned pretty frequently, as might be expected,
on technical matters, but there were frequent divergences in the shape
of laughter-provoking anecdotes, in which the doctor shone forth
conspicuously.

It was not, however, until after the cloth had been removed that the
skipper made any reference to the occurrences of the previous day.
Then, addressing himself to me, he said, "Let me take this opportunity,
Mr Chester, of thanking you for saving my life yesterday.  But for your
timely interposition, I must infallibly have been killed; and I thank
you very sincerely for the promptitude with which you acted.  Sailors
are not in the habit of making overmuch of such services; we perform
them for each other, and think very little about it; but the fact
remains, all the same, and I shall not forget it.  I have also to thank
you for the conspicuous gallantry you displayed in boarding the prize,
gallantry which evidently had a strong effect upon the men, and
contributed in no inconsiderable degree to our success.  So pleased am I
with your conduct that I have felt justified in making special mention
of you in the despatch which I sent in with the prize, and I think I may
venture to promise you that what I have said will be found to exercise a
favourable influence on your future prospects.  Go on as you have begun,
and you will do well.  Above all things, study hard; you will find it
uphill work at first, no doubt, but every step you take will make those
which succeed it easier, until you will at length find that you can
acquire naturally and without effort all the knowledge that is required
to make you proficient in your profession.  Of course I do not mean that
you should give your _whole_ time to study, a little recreation now and
then is not only allowable, but beneficial; but do not give your whole
thoughts to play, as I am sadly afraid your messmate Markham does."

This mention of my mercurial friend brought back so vividly to my mind
the recent scene in our berth that I was--as the newspaper reporters
say--"risibly affected," a circumstance which did not fail to attract
general attention.

Captain Brisac looked both disconcerted and annoyed.  "What is it, Mr
Chester?  What have I said to afford you so much amusement?" he asked.

"I beg your pardon, sir," I replied.  "I was not laughing at anything
_you_ said, but your mention of Mr Markham reminded me of something
ridiculous which _he_ said.  I hope you will be pleased to excuse me,
sir.  I should be extremely sorry to do anything having the appearance
of rudeness or disrespect."

"I feel quite sure you would," returned the skipper, his brow clearing
once more, and an amused look coming into his eyes.

"But let us hear what that jocular young gentleman has been saying; it
is not a state secret, I suppose, is it?"

"Oh dear no, sir; at the same time I know he would never have said it,
had he had the least idea it would ever reach your ears; it was only a
little bit of fun on his part--an attempt, in fact, to impose upon me."

"Out with it, Mr Chester," exclaimed the doctor, his eyes fairly
dancing with fun; "I'll be sworn he has been in some way taking your
name in vain, sir," he continued, turning to the captain.

"I think it more than likely, but it is quite impossible to feel
offended with the lad, he is always so utterly devoid of anything like
evil intention."

Seeing that my narrative would not be likely to do any harm, I thereupon
proceeded to tell my story, which proved productive of a great deal of
laughter.  At its conclusion the skipper said, "Pour yourself out
another glass of wine, Mr Chester, and then, I suppose, I must excuse
you.  Mr Sennitt will not easily forgive me, if I prevent you from
keeping your proper watch."

On reaching the deck I found that the wind had hauled round to about
W.N.W., bringing with it a raw and dismal fog, which speedily saturated
with moisture everything with which it came in contact.  As the night
wore on, it became more and more dense, and by midnight it had become so
thick that it was impossible to see from one end of the ship to the
other, and Captain Brisac gave orders for the "Scourge" to be hove-to.
The vessel was accordingly brought to the wind on the starboard tack,
with her head pointing in the direction of the French coast, and the
watch, with the exception of half-a-dozen of the smartest hands, who
were placed on the lookout, were allowed to dispose themselves about the
deck in the most sheltered spots they could find.

The fog lasted all through the first watch, and when I went on deck at
midnight to take my turn of duty, it was thicker than ever.  The vapour
came sweeping down upon the ship in great opaque masses, some of which
were so dense that it was barely possible to distinguish objects on the
opposite side of the deck, while the lower yards were only visible from
the deck at very rare periods.  The few men moving about loomed more
like gigantic shadows than human beings, and the binnacle lamps (the
only lights visible) emitted a feeble and ghostly glimmer which hardly
sufficed to render visible the features of the man who stood by the
wheel.  No lights of any kind were exhibited on board the "Scourge,"
Captain Brisac preferring to trust to a good lookout, and the
precautions adopted by other vessels, for our safety from collision,
rather than run the risk of betraying our presence to an enemy by the
exhibition of lights.  For the same reason he had given orders that the
ship's bell should on no account whatever be struck during the
continuance of the thick weather.

Somehow I could not help thinking that the skipper's precautions exposed
us to a great deal of danger.  Supposing, for example, that some other
ship, practising the same "precautions," happened to be in our immediate
neighbourhood and approaching us on the opposite tack, what would be the
result?  Why, in all probability the two craft would fall on board each
other, inflicting serious mutual damage, amounting perhaps to the
complete destruction of one or both.  The idea made me very uneasy, so
much so, indeed, that, my imagination at length becoming excited, I was
on the point of giving an alarm at least a dozen times, thinking every
now and then that I could discern the dim outline of a strange ship
sweeping silently down upon us like a gigantic ghost.  So strong,
indeed, did the illusion at length become, that I could have sworn I
caught a momentary glimpse of a light to windward, and, after hesitating
a few minutes, I became so convinced that I _had_ seen a light, that I
went up to Mr Sennitt and reported it.

"A light, Mr Chester.  Where away?" said he rather anxiously.

"Here, sir," I replied; "broad on our starboard quarter."

He gazed steadfastly in the direction I had indicated for two or three
minutes, and then turned away, saying,--

"You did quite right, my lad, to speak to me, but I really think you
must have been mistaken.  Why, if it had really been so, the stranger
must have been close aboard of us; it would be impossible to see an
ordinary light at a much greater distance than a hundred fathoms in such
a fog as this; why, it is thick enough to cut with a knife, the old
barkie can scarcely force her way through it."

As he finished speaking I seemed to catch another glimpse of the light,
just for a single instant, and I breathlessly exclaimed, "There it is
again, sir!"

"_I_ can see nothing," he returned somewhat impatiently, after taking
another long look.  "Here, let us go round and examine the lookout men."

Every man was found broad awake and keenly watchful, yet none of them
had seen anything resembling a light, or indeed anything at all of a
nature to lead them to suppose that there was another ship in close
proximity to ourselves.  I could not believe that my imagination had
been playing me a trick, yet it required no very great penetration on my
part to see that my superior thought but little of my assertion in
comparison with the reports of the lookout men.  We both returned to the
spot from which we had started, and stood intently gazing to windward,
until, for my part, I was almost ready to declare upon oath that the
atmosphere was full of faint twinkling lights.  The impression was
beginning to force itself upon me that I had been making a fool of
myself, and I was about to say so, when a faint and almost imperceptible
sound seemed to float down to us out of the thick folds of impenetrable
mist to windward.

"There, sir!"  I exclaimed; "did you hear nothing then?"

"Why, to tell you the truth, Mr Chester, I half thought I did," replied
Sennitt; "but after all I believe it is only fancy; your imagination has
infected my own, and if we stand here much longer we shall fancy a whole
French fleet there to windward.  Luckily it is eight bells," he
continued, consulting his watch by the light of the binnacle, "so we
will turn the ship over to the care of a fresh set of eyes and ears.
Let the watch be called as quietly as possible."

This was done, and so completely had I already acquired that confidence
which is conveyed in the expression "Let those look out who have the
watch," that, notwithstanding all my previous apprehensions, in another
ten minutes I was fast asleep.



CHAPTER FIVE.

WE FLY FROM THE FRENCHMAN.

When I went on deck again at the change of the watches, it was still
very thick, but the breeze was freshening, and it and the sun together
promised soon to disperse the vapour.  It was still so thick, however,
that it was impossible to see more than three or four lengths away from
the vessel, and the "Scourge" was consequently kept hove-to.

The skipper had made his appearance on deck for a few minutes before
sitting down to breakfast, and about nine o'clock he came up again, just
as the fog had begun to clear away in earnest, opening up like a curtain
every now and then, and showing clear spaces of about half a mile or so
in extent, then settling down again as thick as ever, but each time
clearing away more thoroughly, and revealing larger and still larger
open spaces.  At length the mist lifted for a moment to such an extent
that it became possible to see to a distance of perhaps a couple of
miles, and as it did so there was a simultaneous hail from the lookout
aloft and five or six of the hands on deck of "Sail ho!"

"Sail ho! sure enough," exclaimed the skipper and Mr Sennitt, as both
caught sight of the stranger at the same moment.  "A frigate!  French,
too, as I'm a living sinner," continued the first luff, taking a squint
through his glass at the craft.  "Ah! he is as sharp-sighted as we are,"
he went on, with the telescope still at his eye.  "Up goes his helm, and
there go the lads aloft to make sail, he's coming down to say `how d'ye
do' to us, sir.  And there goes the tricolour up to his peak."

"Hard up with the helm, my man," said Captain Brisac very quietly to the
helmsman.  "Turn the hands up, and pack on her, Mr Sennitt; discretion
is the better part of valour with us just now, and our only chance is to
show Johnny Crapaud a clean pair of heels."  Our lads flew aloft like
lightning, and away we went staggering to leeward, with stunsails alow
and aloft on the port side, steering a course which would take us pretty
directly up Channel.  So smart were the "Scourge" in making sail that
they were all down on deck again, and every inch of our canvas dragging
at us like a cart-horse, before the Frenchman had got his stunsail-booms
fairly rigged out.

As soon as we had got the canvas fairly set, ropes all coiled down, and
the decks generally cleared up, I slipped down into the berth for my
telescope, with which I returned to the deck, and proceeded to make a
deliberate inspection of our unwelcome neighbour.

She was about a mile and a half distant from us, bearing a couple of
points on our weather quarter, and I thought I had never seen a more
beautiful sight than she presented, as she came foaming after us, with
the sun lighting up her snowy canvas and flashing brightly from her
burnished copper as she rose on the crest of the swell, showing her
cutwater half-way down to the keel.  Her sails were evidently new--so
new, indeed, that they had scarcely had time to stretch to their proper
dimensions--and her paint looked fresh and clean; these circumstances
impressing the acute Mr Sennitt with the conviction that the craft was
fresh out of the dockyard from an extensive overhaul, or that she was a
new vessel.  The beautiful and graceful model of her hull, and the smart
appearance of her spars and rigging, induced him to incline very
strongly to the latter supposition.

It soon became evident that this beautiful craft was going nearly two
feet to our one, but she was steered so shamefully that she had not
materially decreased the distance between us at the end of the first
hour; our hopes, therefore, which had sunk to zero with the imminent
prospect of a French prison before our eyes, began once more to soar
skyward as mile after mile slipped away beneath our flying keel, and
every minute increased the probability of our falling in with one of our
own cruisers.  The skipper was dreadfully put out at being obliged to
run away, but though the French frigate was very nearly dead astern she
yawed about sufficiently to enable us to count sixteen ports of a side,
and even Mr Sennitt--who was accounted the greatest fire-eater on
board--was fain to acknowledge that this was just a gun or two too many
for us.

By four bells every trace of the fog had cleared away, the sun shone
brilliantly in a cloudless sky, the air had a decided feeling of warmth
in it, the westerly breeze blew freshly, and the waves curled crisply
and broke into foam at their crests under its enlivening influence;
altogether it was a thoroughly delightful day, such as is occasionally
to be met with toward the end of March--a day when winter and summer
have fairly met to fight for the mastery, and summer is getting it all
her own way.  As time sped on, and still no friendly sail appeared,
while the frigate astern drew more and more perceptibly up to us,
anxiety once more resumed its sway, and frequent were the admonitions to
the lookout aloft to "keep his weather eye lifting."

At length the Frenchmen decided to try the range of their guns, and
opened fire upon us from their lee bow-chaser.  The shot flew wide, but
it went far enough beyond us to show that we were fairly within range.
Another and another followed, and still we were unscathed.  An interval
of about a quarter of an hour elapsed before they again fired, and when
they did the shot was somewhat better aimed, passing through the main
and fore-topsails and falling into the sea a considerable distance
ahead.

"I think we are now near enough to venture upon a return of the
compliment, Mr Sennitt," said the skipper.  "Let Tompion see what he
can do with the stern-chaser, in the way of knocking away some of the
fellow's spars.  It seems a pity to spoil so pretty a picture, but
better that than for us to experience the delights of a French prison."

Tompion was accordingly summoned and bid do his best to "wing" the
Frenchman, a task to which he devoted himself with great gravity and a
considerable assumption of importance.  The gun, after being carefully
loaded, was trained with the most scrupulous nicety, and then Tompion,
trigger-line in hand, stood squinting along the sights until a
favourable moment arrived, when--there was a concussion; the smoke
cleared away, and a shot-hole was seen in the frigate's foresail, very
nearly in a line with the mast.

"Very prettily shot, Tompion," said the skipper; "try again.  A few
inches nearer, and you would have buried that shot in his foremast.
Wound the spars if you can; the breeze seems inclined to freshen; and if
you can gouge a good substantial piece out of some of his lighter spars,
the wind will do the rest for us by sending them handsomely over his
bows."

In a few minutes more away sped a second of the worthy Tompion's
messengers; it, too, passed through the foresail, close to the yard, but
apparently without doing any further damage.  In the meantime the
Frenchmen were by no means idle with their guns, and our running-gear
began to be somewhat cut up; luckily, however, the damage was of an
unimportant character, and such as could be put right in a few minutes,
with the aid of a marline-spike and a grease-shoe.  The firing now
became more rapid on both sides; but though the spars on each side had
several narrow escapes, none had, so far, fallen, and the damage done
seemed in each case to be but of the most trifling description.

At length Mr Sennitt walked aft and said, "Let me try my hand, Tompion;
I used to be considered rather a crack shot on board the old `Dido.'"

Tompion, of course, resigned his place to his superior officer, though
it was evident from the expression of his phiz that he had no great
faith in the first luff's shooting powers.  But our worthy "first"
speedily justified his boast; for his shot struck the boom-iron at the
Frenchman's larboard fore-yard-arm, snapping it off, unshipping the
boom, and creating a very pretty state of confusion with the topmast and
lower stunsails and their gear.

A ringing cheer was raised on board the "Scourge" at this success, and
Sennitt was about to try his hand a second time, when the frigate was
seen to yaw broad off her course; a thin streak of flame flashed along
her side, a veil of white fleecy smoke started into view, and was wafted
aside by the wind, and sixteen twelve-pound shot--the entire contents of
her starboard broadside--came whistling about our ears.  I was standing
aft, close to the taffrail, on the port side, at the moment, and one of
the shot came crashing in at the stern-port nearest me, striking the
stanchion heavily, and making the splinters fly in all directions, one
of them striking me on the left temple, ripping up the skin and baring
my poor unfortunate skull for a length of some four inches.  The blow
stunned me just for a moment, and I fell to the deck; but before any one
had time to pick me up, I had recovered and staggered to my feet again,
feeling a trifle confused, and somewhat sick--if the truth may be told--
at the sight of my own blood, which streamed down over my face
copiously, rendering me, I have no doubt, a truly ghastly spectacle; but
otherwise I felt not much the worse.

The frigate was at this time scarcely half-a-mile distant, and had her
guns been properly served, the broadside to which she had treated us
ought to have left us floating a helpless wreck on the water, and
completely at her mercy; but, instead of this, the shot which damaged me
was the only one which could be said to have taken effect; the remainder
of the broadside passing some through our sails, and some wide of their
mark altogether.

"A miss is as good as a mile," remarked the skipper to Sennitt, after he
had glanced round, and noted the trifling damage done.  "Hillo, Chester,
are you hurt, my lad?" he added, addressing me, as he observed my gory
visage.  "Slip down to the doctor, and get him to clap a plaster over
your mast-head, and then turn in, if you like.  What a set of lubbers
they are aboard that frigate!" he continued to Sennitt.  "Had she been
English, instead of French, that broadside would have blown us out of
the water.  I have been for the last ten minutes seriously thinking of
hauling down the colours, rather than risk a heavy sacrifice of life;
but if that is the best they can do, we will hold on everything, at all
events for a short time longer.  I wonder whether there would be any
chance of--" and he said something in so low a tone that I did not catch
it.  Sennitt pondered deeply for a minute, then he looked up and said,
"Upon my word, sir, I think it would.  Our lads are rather raw, but they
behaved splendidly in the case of the privateer, and so, I believe, they
would now.  Yes, I think it might have just a chance of success; a bold
rush often does wonders."

"You are right, Sennitt.  Call the hands aft, if you please, and let us
see how they take the proposal."

My head was beginning to ache most villainously, but curiosity got the
better of me for the moment, and I determined to postpone my visit to
friend Bolus, until I had heard what the skipper had to say.

In a minute or two every man was on the quarter-deck, hat in hand, and
expectancy in every feature.

"My lads," commenced the skipper, "I have sent for you, because I have a
proposition to make, and I wish to see for myself how you individually
take it.  When the frigate astern was first made out this morning, I was
in hopes that the little `Scourge' would prove active enough to keep us
out of reach of the Frenchman's shot; but you have seen for yourselves
how completely fallacious that hope has been.  The frigate goes two feet
to our one, and were she being fought as so beautiful a craft ought to
be, all hands of us would, by this time, be fairly under way for a
French prison.  But you see how it is; there are a lot of tinkers and
tailors aboard there; they are not seamen, and do not deserve the luck
of being sent to sea in such a fine vessel; it is evident that, though
they may possibly know how to sail her, they cannot fight her.  They
cannot possibly keep her long; the English are _certain_ to have her
sooner or later, and since that is the case, why should not _we_ have
her?  No, stay a moment; don't cheer, lads, until you have heard me out.
Of course, anything like a regularly fought action between us and her
is out of the question; she is a two-and-thirty twelve-pounder, against
which we can only show eight six pounders; a single broadside from
her--_well_ delivered--would send us to the bottom.  But I think there
is just a possibility--by a little manoeuvring on our part--of getting
alongside her; and if that can be done, I am of opinion that, by a bold
rush from all hands, we might secure possession of her.  No doubt there
will be plenty of hard knocks to be had for the asking; but even that is
better than a French prison.  What say you, my lads?"

A hearty cheer was the first response; then there was a general putting
of heads together, and much eager talking for about a couple of minutes.
Finally a topman--one Bob Adams--a magnificent specimen of the British
tar, a perfect Hercules in build, and one of the prime seamen of the
ship, shouldered his way to the front, and, with an elaborate sea-scrape
and a tug at his forelock, addressed the skipper,--

"We hopes your honour will excuse us, if we've taken a minute or two to
work out this here traverse, and reduce it to plain sailing; but the
purposal as your honour has laid athwart our hawse fetched us all up
standin' just at first, and it warn't until we'd had time to pay off,
and gather way on t'other tack, as I may say, that we was able to get
the bearins of it.  You see, sir, there's only about sixty on us all
told, now that we've sent away a prize crew, and we reckon that there
ain't far short of 220 hands aboard of Johnny, yonder.  Nevertheless and
notwithstanding, howsumdever, as your honour says, they're little better
than so many tailors, and tailors was never worth very much that ever
any of us heard on at a good stand-up fight; so the long and the short
of it is this, sir; you put us alongside, and _we'll have her_ in the
twinklin' of a purser's lantern.  Ain't that it, boys?"

"Ay, ay, that's it, Bob; you've paid it out without so much as a single
kink; we mean to have her," responded a voice in the crowd.

"Then three cheers for the skipper, and may he get us lots of prize-
money," exhorted Bob, to the intense amusement of Captain Brisac; and
the cheers were given with such energy that I have no doubt they were
distinctly heard on board the Frenchman.

Captain Brisac briefly thanked the men for their plucky response to his
call, and then sent them back to their quarters, all impatience for the
eventful moment to arrive.

The frigate was rapidly nearing us, but I thought there would be time to
get my head plastered up; so I rushed below, and found Bolus standing at
the table, with his coat off and his shirt-sleeves rolled up; a
formidable array of long, narrow-bladed knives, sharp enough to cut one
if only _looked_ hard at, on one hand, and an equally formidable array
of saws, tweezers, long needles, silken thread, etcetera, etcetera, on
the other.

"Here, doctor," I exclaimed; "the skipper's compliments, and will you
`clap a plaster over my mast-head,' and bear a hand about it, please;
the Frenchman will be alongside of us in less than five minutes, and we
are going to board and carry him with a rush."

"And _you_, I presume, intend to head the boarders as usual," remarked
the doctor, with a quiet grin.  "What is the extent of the damage?
Here, sit down and let me have a look at it; don't be impatient; I'll
undertake to tinker you up as good as new in two or three minutes," he
continued, as I seated myself, and he began to sponge the blood away.
"There is no great harm done, merely a simple laceration of the scalp.
There, I think that will keep the top of your head from blowing off,
until after you have demolished the Frenchman.  I should dearly like to
go with you, but what would my poor patients do, if I happened to get an
unlucky knock on the head?  No; I must remain where I am, I suppose,
though it's too bad that I should be cooped up here, while others are
having all the fun.  Now you may go as soon as you please, but look
here, my boy," he added in quite a different tone; "take care of
yourself; a knock on the head, such as you have had, is very apt to make
one giddy, and giddiness is an awkward mishap at a critical moment; take
my advice, and remain quietly below until all is over."



CHAPTER SIX.

OUR "DASHING EXPLOIT."

The doctor's advice was well meant, and no doubt good, but I was too
excited to think so at the moment, so I darted on deck just in time to
hear the skipper say,--"Now, lads, he is coming up on our port quarter.
Run the starboard guns over to port, and load fore and aft with a round
shot and a charge of grape on top of it.  Give the muzzles a good
elevation, and fire at the moment that the two ships touch, then away on
board for your lives, and recollect, the first blow is half the battle,
so let it be a good hard one.  Steady now, here she comes."

During my visit to the doctor's den, sail had been shortened on board
the "Scourge," down to the topsails jib, and driver; the stunsails being
stowed and the booms run in; while the courses, topgallant sails, and
royals were merely clewed up.  The Frenchman evidently had been a great
deal mystified by this manoeuvre and the cessation of firing on our
part; and now, while he was ranging up on our port quarter, and so close
that one might almost have hove a biscuit on board, all was confusion
with him; the hands being busy taking in their canvas in a slipshod,
lubberly way that would have disgraced a collier; while the babble of
tongues must have been deafening, judging from what we heard of it.

Our skipper was standing just abaft the main-rigging, conning the ship,
with one hand on the topmast backstay all ready for a spring, while he
signalled the helmsman with the other.  Sennitt was forward, also ready
for the rush; while Mr Clewline, who with a dozen hands was to remain
on board and take care of the ship, was in the waist.  The men stood at
their guns, with their cutlasses drawn, the captains with the trigger-
lines in their hands, ready to fire at the instant of collision.  Harvey
was forward with Mr Sennitt; while little Markham and I stood by to
follow in the skipper's wake.

As the frigate drew up abreast of us, her captain sprang into the mizen
rigging and hailed through a speaking-trumpet, "Mais, Monsieur le
capitaine, why you shall not haul down votre drapeau; Vous avez se
rendre, n'est pas?"

Captain Brisac raised his hand to his mouth as though to reply; waving
it at the same time for the helmsman to sheer us alongside; the men with
the grappling irons being crouched under the bulwarks all ready to
heave; and all hands fore and aft straining forward like hounds in
leash, waiting breathlessly for the coming shock.

"What ship is that?" hailed the skipper; not that he wanted particularly
to know, just at that moment; he hoped to find out for himself very
shortly; but the question served to fill up time until the moment for
action should arrive.

"`L'Audacieuse;' fregate de --," began the French captain; when an
officer sprang into the rigging beside him, and said something in an
excited manner, pointing at us and gesticulating with frightful
vehemence.

In the meantime our helmsman, touching the wheel as daintily as though
we had been sailing a match, brought us alongside so cleverly that the
two ships touched with a shock which was barely perceptible, just enough
in fact "to swear by," as the gunner remarked.

"Heave!" shouted Sennitt to the men with the grappling irons, "Fire!"
roared the skipper; and away went our double broadside crash into the
Frenchman, eliciting such a chorus of shrieks and yells as might lead
one to suppose that Pandemonium had broken loose.  Three or four of the
frigate's guns replied: and there was an ominous crashing among our
spars; but no one paused to ascertain the extent of the damage; and our
men had sprung like tigers into the frigate's rigging almost before our
own guns had exploded; they were, therefore, so far safe.  Captain
Brisac made a dash at the frigate's mizen rigging while giving the word
to fire; with Markham and myself close upon his heels; but before he had
fairly got a hold of the ratlines a sponge was thrust out of one of the
upper-deck ports, catching him in the face, and inflicting such a blow
that he fell back upon us unfortunate mids, and would have gone down
between the two ships had we not caught him unceremoniously by the
collar and steadied him on his feet again.

The sponge was the reverse of clean, and the blow had been delivered
with such hearty good-will just between the eyes that our venerated
commander's claret was very effectually tapped; he presented therefore a
somewhat alarming spectacle as he flung himself in upon the Frenchman's
deck; his face black from contact with the foul sponge, the dingy colour
being pleasantly relieved by bold streaks and dashes of crimson.

"Mille diables!" ejaculated the astonished French captain, as this
apparition appeared before him--he having jumped down on deck again as
we ranged alongside; and he placed himself on guard in the most approved
fashion.  Captain Brisac had no more knowledge of sword-play than he had
of flying, a circumstance which often proved exceedingly embarrassing--
to his adversaries, for he had a rough-and-ready way of handling his
weapon which, if not so scientific, was equally as effective as the
utmost refinements of the thoroughly accomplished swordsman.  Instead
therefore of engaging, as his antagonist evidently expected, he simply
bore down the guard by sheer strength of wrist, and rushing in upon his
astounded adversary, delivered a blow with his left hand straight from
the shoulder, which laid the unhappy Frenchman senseless upon his own
deck.  "Hurrah, lads!" he shouted; "give it them right and left; drive
the rascals below or overboard, and push forward to meet Mr Sennitt."
The division which had boarded with us, abaft, replied with a cheer,
which was responded to by Sennitt's party forward; and away we went,
driving the French along the deck before us until they were all huddled
up amidships between the two parties of boarders: and there they made a
most determined stand.

And now ensued a fierce and sanguinary hand-to-hand conflict; our men
still pressing impetuously forward; and the French opposing us with a
resolution which their previous conduct had given us no reason whatever
to expect, obstinately contesting with us every inch of the deck, and,
if they yielded for a moment, renewing the defence more actively than
ever; cutlasses and pikes were used with savage freedom; and the dead
and wounded encumbered the decks until they became almost impassable.

The fight had been raging thus furiously for some three or four minutes
without our gaining any perceptible advantage; our men were falling
fast; and it became evident that unless something decisive were speedily
done, we should be overpowered by sheer force of numbers.  The French
were congregated in a compact group amidships, our party being divided
into two, one of which had been led on board aft by the skipper, while
the other had followed Mr Sennitt forward; the French were consequently
between us and the lieutenant's party.  It occurred to me that if Mr
Clewline could pour a charge or two of grape into the crowd of
Frenchmen, it might have the effect of freshening their way; and I was
pushing towards the bulwarks intending to slip down on board the
"Scourge" and see what could be done, when I observed for the first time
that she was no longer alongside; and on looking farther I caught a
glimpse of her through one of the open ports, lying about a couple of
cables' lengths distant.

I called Markham's attention to this; at the same time mentioning what I
had thought about the grape.

"A capital notion, young-un!" he replied.  "Your infantile intellect is
really developing with marvellous rapidity.  Clewline can't be
communicated with, however, where he is; so we must just do the best we
can for ourselves.  And look here! here is a six-pounder cast loose and
all ready to our hands; watch the roll of the ship, and we can run it
right inboard--here you, Peters,"--to one of the seamen, "lend a hand
here to run in this gun and slew it round with its muzzle forward.  So!
that's just right; now then for a charge; do you see a--?  Oh, here's a
cartridge; in with it; ram it well down, Peters; and you, Chester, see
if you can find anything to put in on top of the powder;--marline-
spikes; tenpenny nails; empty bottles; blue pills and black draughts;
the cook's tormentors; or the skipper's best china tea
service--_anything_ will do that is obnoxious to the interior of the
human system--"

"Will this do?"  I inquired, fishing out from the scuppers a heavy
object of cylindrical shape, over which I had stumbled two or three
times.

"Bless your dear little innocent heart! yes," answered Markham, "it will
do berry nicey nicey.  Why, it's the very thing, greeny; it's
_cannister_; in with it; if this does not wake them up, call me a
Dutchman, that's all.  Now we're all ready.  You let the skipper know
what we're going to do, Chester; and I'll stand by to fire directly he
gives the word."

It was no very easy matter to secure the skipper's attention and make
him understand what we proposed to do; but I managed to accomplish it at
last.  As soon as he understood me, he hailed in a voice which rose
clear and high above the din, "Is Mr Sennitt there?"

"Ay ay, sir," came back in the well-known tones of the "first."

"We are going to try the effect of a charge of cannister," hailed the
skipper; "be good enough therefore to send your party into the fore
rigging; and you, my lads," to his own division, "stand by to rush aft
behind the gun.  Now!"

The first lieutenant's division sprang like cats into the fore rigging,
and scuttled away for their lives half-way up to the top; while our
party at the same instant made a dash aft and formed again in the rear
of the gun.  The movement was effected with such lightning-like rapidity
that the French could do nothing but stare at us open-mouthed.

Captain Brisac paused a single instant, to make sure that all our lads
were out of the way of the shot; and then he called upon the Frenchmen
to surrender.  Two or three flung down their arms; but the rest,
recovering from their momentary astonishment, started on a rush aft;
seeing which, the skipper sprang on one side and shouted "Fire!"

The charge took effect in the very thickest of the crowd, literally
mowing the French down in heaps.  At the same instant both parties of
the "Scourges" renewed their attack, and this time their rush proved
irresistible; there was a momentary attempt at a stand, but our lads
were no longer to be denied; and after another very short but very
fierce tussle the French threw down their weapons and cried for quarter.
I, however, did not witness the final _denouement_; for, being hurried
forward by the rest in the final rush, I found myself in the thick of
the _melee_ before I was quite prepared, and received a crushing blow on
the head which felled me to the deck.

The prisoners were immediately secured; and the bulk of the "Scourge's"
crew shifted into the prize, a sufficient number only being left on
board the brig to work her; the wounded also were retained on board the
frigate, where there was of course much better and more roomy
accommodation for them; our worthy medico shifting over, bag and
baggage, to look after us.  The damage to spars and rigging, which
turned out to be unimportant in both ships, was soon made good; and
about 3 p.m. we made sail in company, shaping a course for Plymouth,
where we arrived without mishap, late on the following evening.

We all received very great credit for what the papers were pleased to
term our "dashing exploit;" Captain Brisac being rewarded with post
rank, while Mr Sennitt was made a commander, and Mr Clewline moved a
step up the ratlines.  We midshipmen also received our reward in the
shape of "honourable mention;" nor were the warrant-officers forgotten;
so that, what with promotion and prize-money, the "Scourges" were for a
time the envy of the entire navy.  The war, however, had only just
begun, or rather broken out afresh; and everybody soon consoled
themselves with the reflection that our luck might any day become their
own.  The prize proved to be the frigate "L'Audacieuse," of thirty-two
guns and 230 men.  She was a bran-new ship, and had come out of Brest on
her first cruise only the day before we fell in with her.  Her loss in
the engagement amounted to forty-six killed and thirty-one wounded; our
own casualties amounting to fourteen killed and twenty wounded.

My own wound proved to be of a somewhat serious character, the blow
having been inflicted with some heavy blunt instrument, and producing
concussion of the brain; I was, however, well looked after, and as soon
as it was safe to move me, I was transferred to my own home, where I was
nursed, petted, and made much of to my heart's content, until I was in
the greatest danger of being spoiled, through the outrageous pampering
of my self-love and vanity to which I was subjected.

Luckily, my great-uncle, Sir Peregrine condescended to interest himself
in my welfare; the moment, therefore, that I was fairly convalescent he
swooped down on the vicarage, like a hawk upon a dove-cot, and carried
me off with him to London, where he treated me to a week's cruise among
the sights of the place.  At the end of that time he drove with me one
fine morning to the Admiralty, where I received my appointment to the
"Juno" frigate, then fitting-out at Portsmouth for the Mediterranean.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Note.  It may be necessary to explain to the uninitiated reader that the
terms "he" and "she" are indifferently used at sea, in reference to
craft, but when the masculine pronoun is applied it is understood to
refer more especially to the _commanding officer_ of the vessel; while
the pronoun "she" refers to the _vessel herself_.--H.C.



CHAPTER SEVEN.

ON BOARD THE "JUNO."

My short stay with my great-uncle, Sir Peregrine, proved to be a source
of very great mutual satisfaction.  He was a confirmed old bachelor,
with a perfect horror of women and children, and by his persistent
avoidance of both had gained for himself a character for moroseness and
ill-temper.  My mother, however, happened to be somewhat of a favourite
with him--if a man possessed of such an unpromising character could be
considered capable of so much warmth of feeling as to justify the
expression--and having, for her sake, interested himself so far as to
launch me in my profession, curiosity prompted him to keep me in view.
He was greatly gratified to see my name appear in connexion with the
capture of the "Sans-Culotte;" and when the "Scourge" arrived in
Plymouth so speedily with her second prize, and he heard of my being
wounded, he posted down from town, determined to see Captain Brisac for
himself, and ascertain by actual word of mouth how I had behaved.  My
kind skipper was so lavish with his praises that Sir Peregrine was in an
ecstasy of delight; and from that time he became a different man; in
consequence, I presume, of his having stumbled upon an object which
excited within him a genuine interest.  During the week of my stay with
him in town he went everywhere with me, though his normal condition was
that of martyrdom to gout; and on my receiving my appointment to the
"Juno" he insisted on presenting me with an entire new rig-out from stem
to stern; including a very fine and powerful telescope, the best sextant
that could be bought for money, and one or two other matters of use in
my profession.  It had been intimated to me that, in consideration of my
scarcely-healed wound, I need not join my ship until the last moment;
but Sir Peregrine insisted on my going down at once, in order that I
might not lose the chance which the fitting-out of the ship presented
for increasing my knowledge of practical seamanship.  "It is not that I
am tired of your company, Ralph: do not think that, my dear boy," he
earnestly said; "but you have now an opportunity which may perhaps never
occur again for acquiring knowledge which is only to be gained in this
way; and it is a species of knowledge which may at any moment be of the
utmost service to you.  You will have to endure a week or two of
discomfort, but that is a trifling matter compared with the lasting
advantage which you will thereby obtain, and you will live to bless the
day when your old uncle hurried you away from the pleasures of town to
the discomforts of a ship passing through the riggers' hands.  One word
more, my boy.  Your father cannot, I suppose, afford you a very liberal
allowance of pocket-money; I shall therefore supplement what he gives
you by an allowance of a hundred a year out of my own pocket for the
present, that being in my opinion quite as much as a lad of your age
ought to spend.  At the same time, understand me, if you should by any
chance be in difficulties and require a further sum, you may freely draw
on me; provided of course that the difficulty is not of your own making,
or of a dishonourable nature--but there, I do not think I need fear that
of you, Ralph."

This was on the day previous to my starting for Portsmouth.  It was
arranged that I should go down by the coach; Sir Peregrine at that time
strongly disapproving of midshipmen driving down in private carriages,
or even posting down to join their ships--"it would be quite time enough
for that sort of thing when I had a ship of my own," he considered.  We
were both accordingly on the move early next morning, the old gentleman
insisting on going with me to the coach-office, and seeing me fairly
under way.  While sitting at breakfast he handed me a letter for Captain
Hood, my new skipper, who it appeared was an intimate friend of Sir
Peregrine's--with the contents of which, however, I was not made
acquainted.  He ate very little, devoting the limited time at our
disposal to the bestowal upon me of such good advice as his knowledge
and experience of the service suggested--advice, the value and benefit
of which, I had frequent after occasion to acknowledge.  As we rose from
the table, he opened a drawer in his secretary, and drew from it a
sealed packet which he handed me, saying, "Slip this into your pocket,
Ralph, and take care of it; you may open it as soon as you like after
you have joined your ship."

We drove to the coach-office in his own carriage, both of us being
unusually silent on the way.  For my own part, I candidly confess I felt
the parting keenly, the dear old boy having completely won my heart by
his altogether unexpected kindness; and that organ was too full to
permit of my then entering upon a light and trivial conversation; while
false shame prevented my giving utterance to those feelings of reverence
and regard which were agitating my breast.  Just at the last moment Sir
Peregrine brightened up again, seeming to have a lot of things to say
which he had forgotten until then; his last injunction, however, was, to
stick by the ship until she should be "all ataunto;" when I might apply
with a clear conscience for leave to run home for a day, just to say
good-bye previous to sailing.

Punctual to the second, our coach weighed, and stood out of the inn-yard
in tow of four spanking bays, who rattled and jolted us over the stones
at the rate of a good honest twelve knots an hour.  The morning--early
in June--was brilliantly fine; the air delightfully warm and pleasant;
and as we left town behind us, mother earth, arrayed in delicate green,
was looking her loveliest.  The roads were in splendid condition, a
smart thunder-shower or two during the previous night having thoroughly
laid the dust, from which, therefore, we suffered no annoyance whatever.
The rain had also washed every particle of dust from the hedges and the
foliage of the trees, while it had refreshed the flowers in the villa
and cottage-gardens which were scattered along the roadside, causing
them to diffuse their sweets so bountifully that the atmosphere was
heavy with perfume.  The sun shone brilliantly; the sky was a dazzling
blue, flecked here and there with thin white fleecy clouds, the shadows
of which, chasing each other over the landscape, imparted additional
variety and charm to the scene.  My depression of spirits soon yielded
to the exhilarating influence of the day, and enabled me to enjoy
thoroughly the drive down, the pleasure of which left upon my mind an
agreeable impression, to which I often afterwards reverted with much
satisfaction.

We reached Portsmouth about 3 p.m., and the coach stopping at the
"George," I decided to stop there also, for that night at least; I
accordingly ordered dinner and a room; and then strolled down to the
harbour while the former was being got ready.  As, however, I had no
intention of reporting myself until the following day, I satisfied
myself with ascertaining the whereabouts of my new ship, and taking a
distant look at her; after which I returned to the hotel, sat down to
dinner, strolled as far as Southsea Common afterwards, and got back to
the hotel and turned in about ten o'clock, determined to make a good
long night of it, as I did not know when I should next have the
opportunity of taking a whole night's undisturbed repose.

I was on board the "Juno" by nine o'clock the next morning, and reported
myself to Mr Annesley, the first lieutenant, who, early as it was,
already appeared to have been hard at work for some time.

"So you are come down to join?" he said, on my presenting myself.  "I am
very glad to see you, Mr Chester; and I wish one or two more of the
young gentlemen would follow your example.  I am entirely alone here;
not a soul to help me, and I am wanted in half-a-dozen places at once;
so I shall really be glad of your assistance.  I suppose you are
prepared to commence duty at once?  That's right; then be good enough to
take the launch, and go to the dockyard with this order for stores, and
bring them off as quickly as possible.  Just give them an overhaul,
however, before taking them over, and satisfy yourself that they are
good, sound, serviceable stuff.  Those dockyard people have been trying
to palm off upon me a lot of old junk, which must have been in store for
the last twelve years at least.  It is simply rotten, and would go like
so much burnt thread in our first breeze of wind.  Of course I refused
to receive it, and have consumed a great deal of valuable time in
getting sound stuff in place of it.  Do not let them take you in; but
_insist_ on having everything of the best.  Now go; get back as quickly
as possible, and remember, I shall trust to you to do your very best for
the ship."

The boat was alongside, ready manned.  I accordingly slipped down the
side, and took command, with the feeling that I had suddenly become a
personage of considerable importance.

On reaching the dockyard I found that I was only one of many who were
there upon a similar errand to my own, and I had to await my proper
turn.  This occasioned a very serious loss of time; and when at length
my turn came, the stuff which they offered me was so unmistakably bad,
that even my comparative inexperience was not to be imposed upon, and I
refused point-blank to accept it.  I was thereupon told in a very off-
hand way that I was quite at liberty to please myself as to whether I
took or left it; but if I declined what was offered me, I should get
nothing else; and without waiting for a reply, the storekeepers coolly
left me, and began issuing to the midshipman whose turn came after mine.
So thorough a snubbing as this clearly showed me that my own unaided
efforts would be wholly insufficient to enable me to carry out my
instructions to Mr Annesley's satisfaction, and I was debating within
myself whether it would not be better to go on board again and report my
non-success, when an officer who was passing stopped, eyed me sharply,
and then held out his hand.  It was my old skipper, Captain Brisac.

"Ah, Chester!" he exclaimed; "I am glad to see you, my lad--glad too
that you are on your pins once more, though you are looking very thin
and pale about the gills.  How is the wound; pretty well healed up?
That's right; but you ought not to be standing about in this hot sun.
Are you here on duty?"

I told him I was, mentioning at the same time the annoyance and
inconvenience to which I had just been subjected.

"Where is the stuff they offered you?" said he; "I should like to have a
look at it."

It was still lying on the wharf, close at hand, and I pointed it out to
him.  It was a quantity of hemp cordage, for use principally as
standing-rigging.  He turned it over, inspecting it carefully, laying
open the strands here and there, and testing its quality both by sight
and smell.  Finally he turned upon one of the storekeepers who happened
to be passing, and said,--

"Here, you sir, is this the best stuff you have in store?"

The man hesitated and looked confused for a moment; then put a bold face
upon the matter, and replied, "Yes, sir, it is; and rare good stuff it
is, too; it's the best that's made."

"Oh! it is, is it?" retorted the skipper.  "Then I think it is about
time that the Admiral's attention should be directed to the quality of
the rigging upon which the safety of his Majesty's ships and the lives
of their seamen depend.  Just lay that coil aside for half an hour, if
you please; and if any one asks why you have done so, you may say it was
at the request of Captain Brisac of the `Audacious.'"

The man's visage lengthened out to a portentous extent.  He saw he had
brought his pigs to the wrong market for once, and he hurriedly
exclaimed,--

"Beg pardon, sir, I'm very sorry the stuff is not to your liking; but I
think we _can_ suit you, if you'll be so good as to step this way.
Perhaps that other _is_ rather old, but we've a lot of it in store, and
we're bound to get rid of it somehow.  Now here, sir, is some cordage
that was only brought in fresh last week from the ropemaker's; how'll
that do, sir?"

"Ah!" said the captain, examining it critically, "that is nearer the
mark, decidedly.  That ought to do for you, ought it not, Mr Chester?"
turning to me.

"Perfectly well, sir," I replied.  "I should be quite satisfied to be
served with rope of that quality."

"Have you your order with you?" asked Captain Brisac.

"Yes, sir," I replied; "here it is."

"Then serve this young gentleman at once," he said authoritatively to
the storekeeper; "and be careful what you are about with that old
`junk,' or you will be getting yourselves into serious trouble over it."

The storekeeper went away to get some assistance, and while he was gone,
I availed myself of the opportunity to thank the skipper for the service
he had just rendered me; after which he shook hands, saying he was in a
great hurry: but if I could get leave that evening, he would be very
happy if I would dine with him at the "George" at six, sharp.  I thanked
him duly for his kind invitation, but declined it, as I felt that my
absence might possibly be a source of inconvenience to Mr Annesley,
which I explained.

"Quite right, Mr Chester--quite right," returned he; "_never_ allow
pleasure to interfere with duty, if you wish to make headway in your
profession.  I shall perhaps be seeing Captain Hood--who is your new
captain, I believe--this evening, and if so, I will put a spoke in your
wheel for you.  Good-bye!"

I was alongside the "Juno" with my cargo, just in time to get it hoisted
out before the men went to dinner.  Mr Annesley met me at the gangway,
as I climbed up the side, and asked me how I had got on, and what sort
of stuff I had brought with me?  I related my morning's adventures, and
told him how Captain Brisac had helped me out of my difficulty with the
dockyard storekeepers, winding up by calling his attention to the
quality of the rope, which was just then being hoisted in.

"Capital!" he exclaimed; "nothing could be better.  This is by far the
best we have ever had served out to us; it is of first-rate quality, as
every inch of rope served out to the navy should be.  One can trust to
this upon a pinch, without much fear of being disappointed.  I am very
much obliged to you, Mr Chester, for the way in which you have executed
your first duty on board here.  I hope you will discharge all your
duties equally well; and if you do, I feel sure we shall get on
capitally together.  I believe I have rather a reputation for strictness
and severity, but no one who strives to do his duty well will find me
either strict or severe.  But are you the Mr Chester who was with
Captain Brisac in the `Scourge' during his last cruise?"

I replied simply that I was.

"Upon my word, young gentleman, I am glad to hear it," said Mr
Annesley; "for I shall have the satisfaction of knowing that I have at
least _one_ midshipman of promise under me, whatever the rest may be.
Now come down into the gun-room, and get something to eat; we are the
only officers on board, so I thought it was not worth while to lay out a
couple of tables.  And while we are eating, you may as well give me an
account of your action with, the French frigate, which, by the way, has,
I see, been purchased into our own navy, and given to Captain Brisac."

I, of course, gladly accepted so kind an invitation; and, as we ate, I
described as graphically as I could every incident of the action, being
frequently interrupted in the course of my narrative by questions which
showed how keenly interested my interrogator was in every detail,
particularly those relating to the handling of the two ships.

"Thank you, Mr Chester," said Mr Annesley, when I had finished; "you
have interested me much, and instructed me somewhat, also: one or two of
the evolutions which you have so clearly described were very cleverly
conceived, and as boldly carried out.  I hope you will remember then, as
most certainly _I_ shall, it is knowledge of this kind which is so pre-
eminently useful to a naval officer.  Courage is of course an
indispensable quality in every one who has to fight his Majesty's
battles, whether on sea or land; but the ability to manoeuvre a ship in
the heat of battle, so as to place her in the most advantageous
situation with regard to her antagonist, is of fully equal importance;
and without the knowledge necessary to effect this, the most conspicuous
courage, both of officers and crew, may become of no avail.  Remember
this, my lad, and lose no opportunity for perfecting yourself in the
science of practical seamanship.  Now let us go on deck again, as I hear
the hands have turned to."



CHAPTER EIGHT.

NEW COMRADES.

We were busy the whole of that afternoon, and up until nine o'clock in
the evening, the riggers working "overtime," as the admiral was most
anxious for us to go to sea at the earliest possible moment; and Mr
Annesley, during the time, was all over the ship, taking me with him,
and keenly watching the fitting of every spar and piece of rigging,
being fully determined that every part of the work should be well and
conscientiously done.  I thought him unnecessarily particular over what
then seemed to me to be trifles; but the time came, when I perceived
that no part of the rigging or equipment of a man-o'-war could be justly
regarded as of trifling importance.

The work being pushed forward thus energetically, we made rapid
progress; and on the day fortnight from my joining the ship, she was all
ataunto, with sails bent, stores of every kind, including powder and
shot, on board, fully manned, and, in fact, quite ready for sea.
Captain Hood had paid a couple of flying visits to the ship since I had
joined her, but I had not seen him, as I happened on both occasions to
be away at the dockyard; but on the morning in question he came on board
about eleven o'clock--his own gig having been sent on shore for him--
mustered the hands and read his commission, made us a short speech, and
then went on shore again, previously giving Mr Annesley instructions to
have everything ready for a start by three o'clock that afternoon.  As
soon, therefore, as the gig had left the ship's side, blue-peter was run
up to the fore-royal-mast-head, the fore-topsail was loosed, and
everybody not actually belonging to the ship was ordered to be out of
her in an hour's time.  Then came the men's dinner-time, after which
there was a general straightening and clearing up, fore and aft, the
boats were hoisted in and secured, and finally the messenger was passed,
and the anchor hove short-stay-a-peak.

And now, while all hands are supposed to be waiting with suppressed
impatience for the appearance of the man who, for a time at least, was
to exercise an almost omnipotent influence over the welfare and
happiness of our little community, upon whose skill and courage our very
lives were frequently to depend, and to whom we all looked up as our
future leader in every deed of enterprise or daring, an opportunity
occurs for me to say a descriptive word or two concerning the principal
individuals with whom I found myself brought into association.

To commence at the top of the tree and work my way downwards--Captain
Hood was, when he took command of the "Juno," a man of about two-and-
thirty years of age, of medium height and slight build, with a well-
formed figure, and a face which, though by no means handsome, was
strikingly agreeable to look at, chiefly because of its frank, easy,
good-natured expression.  He was always scrupulously well-dressed, even
in the vilest of weather; and there was just the faintest perceptible
trace of Bond-street dandyism in his air, conveying at first an
impression of slight mental weakness--an impression, however, which was
rapidly dispelled upon a more intimate acquaintance.  His manner was
quiet and imperturbable to an astonishing degree; and the more exciting
the circumstances in which he was placed, the more calm and placid did
his demeanour become.  But those who flattered themselves that these
characteristics indicated a lax disciplinarian found themselves
grievously mistaken.  He was strictness itself, in the matter both of
discipline and etiquette; was as brave as a lion, a perfect seaman, with
an eye which seemed intuitively to light at once and infallibly upon the
slightest fault, and with a will of iron concealed beneath the placid
suavity of his demeanour.  His influence, though it could scarcely be
said to be felt, was irresistible; and by its means he, in an incredibly
short time, wrought the ship's company into one of the smartest, if not
absolutely _the_ smartest, in the service.

Mr Annesley, the first lieutenant, was in many respects a strong
contrast to his superior.  A tall, dark, square-built and muscular-
looking man, with handsome features, dark, flashing eyes, and well-
proportioned figure, every nerve of which seemed a-quiver with
superabundant vitality.  His gesture, though restrained, was earnest and
emphatic; his language in conversation, refined and eloquent; in
carrying on the duty of the ship, short, sharp, and incisive.  His
manner to his superiors was quietly respectful, to his equals, somewhat
distant, though without any trace of hauteur, and to his inferiors,
gentle and sympathetic, or cold, stern, and repellant, accordingly as
they won his approval or incurred his displeasure.  He, like the
skipper, was also a prime seaman, with a dauntless courage which verged
very closely upon recklessness, though it never was allowed to actually
merge into that undesirable quality.

The second lieutenant, Mr Michael Flinn, was a rollicking, good-
tempered, good-natured young Irishman, careless and impulsive, as the
generality of his countrymen are, always ready to perform a service for
a friend, and still more ready to break the head of an enemy; a passably
good officer afloat, but possessed with a perfect genius for getting
into scrapes--and out of them again--on shore, with no consciousness
whatever of his own dignity as one of his Majesty's officers, and ever
ready to join heart and soul in any escapade of which he might happen to
get an inkling.  He was admirably adapted for such work as a cutting-out
expedition, or a dash ashore to spike the guns of an outlying battery;
but, when I first knew him, was utterly unfit for any service requiring
discretion or tact in its execution.

The third lieutenant, the Honourable Edward Plantagenet Mortimer, was
simply a useless, soft-headed dandy, who would as soon have dreamed of
throwing himself overboard as of soiling his hands; there was no harm in
him, he was good-natured enough, but he was emphatically _the_ idler of
the ship, never even making a pretence of performing any duty, but
simply dawdling about the deck in kid gloves, with an eye-glass
eternally screwed into his starboard top-light.  His one idea was that
he was a brilliant performer on the flute; and in his watch below he was
incessantly rendering the lives of his neighbours a burden to them by
the melancholy wailings which he evoked from that instrument.  It was
said that he could fight--when no other alternative was open to him--but
the bustle and confusion, and, above all, the exertion, he considered
such "a howwid boah," that he always most carefully avoided those
occasions for distinguishing himself, which other men are wont to seek
with avidity.  Why on earth he ever entered the navy was a puzzle which
utterly defied solution.

The master, Mr Rawlings, was a middle-aged man, quiet and unobtrusive
in manner, and with very little to say upon any subject unconnected with
his profession.  There, however, he was unapproachable.  He was simply
perfect as a navigator, seemed to have been in and out of every harbour
in the world, and was intimately acquainted with the position of every
rock and shoal which guarded their approach, together with the
distinctive features of every light, beacon, or buoy which announced
their vicinity; knew the direction and rates of the various currents,
and could tell, without referring to his chart, the depths of water over
bars and in channels, together with the bearings of the fairways in the
latter, how wide they were, and the hour of high-water in them at the
full and change of the moon; in fact, his information on such matters
appeared to be quite inexhaustible.  He was unquestionably the ablest
master in the entire British navy; and one of the first anxieties of a
captain, when in quest of a crew, was to get hold of "old Rawlings" as
master.

We midshipmen were six in number; four of my messmates being older, and
one younger than myself.  They were all good-tempered, agreeable lads,
and in other respects were about on a par with the average run of
midshipmen.  The master's-mate, Mr Percival, was berthed with us.  He
was a fine, gentlemanly, young fellow of about eighteen years of age,
with great ability and intense application, bidding fair to achieve
eventually a reputation equal to that of his chief, for whom he
entertained a profound admiration.

And now, having introduced my fellow-officers, let me say what it is
necessary to say respecting the ship.

The "Juno" was one of the old class of frigates, of which, however, she
happened to be an extremely favourable specimen.  She was very strong,
being oak-built throughout, and copper fastened; her timbers being of
the most solid description, and exceptionally heavy scantling.  She came
to us with the unenviable reputation of being a poor sailer, though she
was a very _good_ model, particularly under water; but Mr Annesley paid
her a visit while in the dry dock, and attentively studied her lines,
having done which he determined to alter her trim altogether, putting
her nine inches deeper down in the water aft, and reducing her ballast
to the extent of twenty tons.  The result answered his most sanguine
expectations; for while she still stood up well under her canvas, she
was steadier in a sea-way, lighter and drier forward, paid off quicker
in stays, and though still scarcely a clipper, her rate of sailing had
considerably improved.  Her accommodations were somewhat cramped, as
compared with the newer and larger class of frigates; but as far as I
was concerned, coming into her from the little "Scourge," there seemed
to be a positive superabundance of room.  She mounted thirty-two long
twelves, and mustered a crew of 190 men.

It had been my intention to act upon Sir Peregrine's suggestion, and ask
for a day or two's leave to run home and see my friends once more,
before finally quitting Old England upon a cruise of unknown duration;
but we had been so excessively busy that I really had not the conscience
to make such a request; and now that the ship was finally ataunto, it
appeared that we were to proceed to sea forthwith.  I was therefore
obliged to content myself with writing them a long letter, to which I
put the finishing touches while we were waiting for the captain, Mr
Annesley having kept a shore-boat alongside to take ashore a few letters
which he had hastily scribbled after the completion of the preparations
for unmooring, and by which he kindly intimated that any one who had
letters to send might send them.

At length, about 3:30 in the afternoon, the captain's gig was seen
approaching the ship, the side was manned, and in a few minutes more
Captain Hood stood upon his own quarter-deck.

"You may--ah--run my gig up to the davits, if you please, Mr Annesley,"
said he, "and then we will--aw--weigh at once if--ah--you have
everything ready."

"Quite ready, sir," replied the first luff, turning away to give the
necessary orders.  The gig was hoisted up and secured, the hands were
sent aloft to loose the canvas, the topsails were sheeted home and mast-
headed, the jib run up, and, simultaneously with this, the capstan-bars
were shipped, one of the ship's boys mounted the capstan-head violin in
hand, and to a merry air upon that instrument out stepped the men, the
anchor was quickly run up to the bows, and with the last drain of the
flood-tide the "Juno," under topsails and jib, with a light north-
easterly air of wind, glided with a slow and stately movement out of the
harbour, squaring away directly down through the Solent as soon as we
had cleared the anchorage at Spithead, instead of going out round the
island to the eastward, as was at that time usual with men-o'-war.  This
circumstance, trifling as it was, had a very exhilarating effect upon
all hands, as it seemed to foreshadow that our skipper, notwithstanding
his somewhat affected manner, had a habit of taking the shortest and
most direct road when he had an object to achieve.

There were several ships lying at Spithead as we passed through, and it
was observed that one of them--the "Boston," a frigate of about our own
size--was just getting under way, her destination being the east coast
of North America.  Her skipper, Captain Courtenay, and ours were, it
appeared, old friends, and having met that day at the Admirals' office,
there had been a little good-natured banter between them as to the
comparative sailing powers of the two ships, each being of course of
opinion that his own ship could beat the other; and it had been finally
arranged that, as both frigates were to sail that day, there should be a
friendly race down Channel, the stake being the time-honoured one--a new
hat.  Accordingly, as soon as we had room, the "Juno" was rounded-to
with the main-topsail to the mast, to wait until the other ship should
join us.

We were not detained very long.  Hardly were we hove-to when the
"Boston" was seen threading her way out through the fleet, and in a few
minutes more she was close abreast of us, the "Juno" bearing up at the
moment which would bring the bows of the two ships exactly level.
Captain Courtenay appeared at the gangway as the "Boston" drew up
alongside, and on our skipper showing himself, hailed "Juno ahoy! are
you ready?"

"Ay, ay," was the response, "we are--aw--quite ready."

"Then--_off_!" shouted the "Boston's" skipper, and at the word down came
his topgallant sheets, the yards going up at the same moment, and the
royal sheets fluttering down into their berths, as the yards rose to
meet them; then up went the royal yards to their respective mast-heads,
the courses dropped heavily down, the staysails and flying-jib slid up
their stays, and the driver was hauled out, the whole being done with
the regularity and rapidity of a well-oiled and easy-working machine.

In the meantime our own hands had not been idle, and under Mr
Annesley's able manipulation the "Juno" proved herself quite as smart as
her antagonist in spreading her snowy pinions.

From that moment all was pleasant excitement on board as the two ships
slid gently along side by side within hailing distance of each other.
Speculation was rife, and the most diverse opinions as to the issue of
the trial were expressed both on the quarter-deck and the forecastle.
The "Boston" had the name of being a tolerably smart craft, but during
the run down the Solent neither ship appeared able to claim any very
decided advantage over the other, sometimes one and sometimes the other
drawing a trifle ahead.  On arriving off "Egypt" we were able to edge
away a little, and then stunsails were set on the starboard side in both
ships, still, however, without altering our relative positions.

As the sun declined toward the horizon the wind gradually dropped,
finally dying away altogether, and leaving us absolutely motionless save
for the drift of the ebb-tide, which still swept us along to the
westward.  It was a magnificent evening, the water, smooth as glass,
reflecting on its glittering surface an absolutely unbroken picture of
our stately consort, with every snowy sail, every spar and rope, as
clearly shown as though she were reposing on the polished surface of a
gigantic mirror.  The western sky, glowing with tints of the clearest,
palest amber melting into a delicate rose, which merged in its turn
imperceptibly into a clear, deep, transparent blue as the eye glanced
from the horizon toward the zenith, was without a trace of cloud, and
against this pure and exquisitely tinted background the outlines of
Hurst Castle stood sharply out, the castle itself and the low spit of
land on which it is built appearing of a deep, rich, powerful, purple
hue, as though carved out of a giant amethyst, while the country further
inland exhibited tints varying from the deepest olive--almost
approaching black--through the richest greens, away to the most delicate
of pearly greys in the remote distance.  The Wight--about a quarter of a
mile distant on our port hand--presented a picture of exquisite and
almost fairy-like beauty, with its wooded slopes, waving cornfields, and
grassy dells, aglow with the rich purply-golden haze of sunset,
repeating their beauties in the waveless tide which washed its shores.
As I stood gazing entranced upon the varied beauties of earth, sea, and
sky, the scene gradually changed, a marvellous transformation was taking
place, the sky tints deepened into a warmer, richer glow, the colours of
the landscape slowly faded into sombre neutral, the castle stood out
black as ebony against the dying flush in the sky, the water blushed
crimson for a moment, then paled to a cold greyish purple as a faint
breeze began to ruffle its surface, the azure of the sky became
momentarily deeper and richer and more purple in tone, and presently,
out from the clear cerulean depths started into view the planet Venus,
beaming down upon us with a soft, silvery, lambent radiance, and tracing
upon the bosom of the darkening wave a delicate thread of quivering
liquid light--

"`Who can paint like Nature?'" said a voice at my elbow, while an arm
was slid quietly within my own, and I found myself joined by young
Raleigh, a fellow-mid--and by all accounts a scion of the same family as
the renowned Sir Walter--"what mortal brush could hope to emulate the
exquisite softness, delicacy, richness, and power of those tints which
have just faded out of the picture before us, or what artist could
adequately express the quiet, dreamy beauty of the present scene?  Dame
Nature has been kind in permitting what will probably be our last
glimpse for some time to come of our native land, to be one of such
surpassing loveliness.  We are bound to a region the beauty of which has
been for ages a favourite theme among poets, yet I fancy many of us will
look with yearning fondness upon the cherished memory of the parting
smile with which old England has bidden us a long good-night."

"I am sure _I_ shall, for one," said I, "I have heard and read much of
the beauties of the `sunny South,' but I find it difficult to imagine
anything more exquisitely beautiful than many scenes which I have
witnessed at home when Nature has been in her happier moods."

"Ah! that is because you have never been away from home," remarked
Raleigh.  "I have already been up the Mediterranean once, and without
for a moment attempting to decry the--"

"Hands, trim sails.  In with the stunsails on the starboard side; rig in
and secure the booms, ease up the larboard braces, and take a small pull
upon the starboard, rig out the booms on the port side and get the
stunsails on her again.  Be smart, my lads, or we shall have the frigate
alongside presenting us with a full view of her stern all the way down
Channel."

_So_ spake the first lieutenant, the boatswain's whistle chirped, and in
a moment the stillness on board gave place to a scene of bustle and
animation.  The breeze, after faintly ruffling the glassy surface of the
water with an occasional cat's-paw, came softly stealing out from the
E.S.E., and every sail was immediately trimmed with the most scrupulous
nicety to woo the gentle zephyr.  The lighter and more lofty sails first
acknowledged its welcome presence, alternately swelling out and
fluttering to the masts, like the gentle rise and fall of the breast of
sleeping beauty, then they filled out steadily, the lower and heavier
canvas also sullenly yielding to its influence; a soft, musical,
rippling sound arose beneath the frigate's bows, tiny whirlpools formed
in the wake of the rudder and trailed away astern, the pressure of the
spokes upon the helmsman's hand became firm and steady, a faint creak
was occasionally heard aloft as the strain upon the spars increased, the
sails "went to sleep," the sheets tautened out, the ripple under the
bows grew louder and louder, until it emulated the rush of a mountain
torrent, and the foam gathered round the cutwater, hissing along the
side, and swirling far away in our wake, as the "Juno," yielding to the
freshening breeze, swept out past the Needles, and hauled up a point or
two for Ushant.



CHAPTER NINE.

INTO A TRAP AND OUT AGAIN.

The "Boston" was still in company at breakfast-time the following
morning, but we had by that time contrived to leave her a good two miles
astern, a feat which in view of that frigate's reputation occasioned
general exultation to the "Junos," for, as little Summers sagely
remarked at the breakfast-table, "what was the use of going to sea in a
ship whose sailing powers were unequal to the task of taking her crew
alongside an enemy?"

"Well, the old tub has not done badly, so far," observed young Smellie.
"She turns out a good deal better than I had been led to expect.  I met
a mid who had formerly belonged to her, on the day that I came down to
join, and he said that the fastest he had ever known her to go was six
knots, and that it took her the length of a dog-watch to go about."

"Well, if she will stay at all, we shall not be so badly off as I was in
the old `Ajax,'" ejaculated Summers.  "We were always obliged to _wear_
her, and if we could get her round upon the other tack without running
more than three miles to leeward we considered we had done pretty well."

"Is it your _habit_ to exaggerate, or do you only indulge in it
occasionally, young 'un?" quietly inquired Percival, the master's-mate,
looking up from a book he was devouring with his breakfast.

"Exaggerate?  How do you mean?" returned Summers, flushing up very red
in the face.  "I thought it would be understood that I was only joking."

"And I have no doubt it _was_ so understood," remarked Percival, "but if
you are not above taking a bit of friendly advice, let me recommend you
not to deviate a single hair's-breadth _from_ the truth, even in joke;
it is a dangerous practice, and as easy an introduction to deliberate,
systematic lying as any with which I am acquainted.  Now don't look so
hurt, my boy, of course you meant no harm--you had no intention to
deceive us, it was merely a thoughtless speech, but be advised by me and
avoid that particular species of thoughtlessness as you would the
plague, nothing is much easier to acquire than a reputation for
untruthfulness, and certainly nothing is more difficult to get rid of."

Poor little Summers hung down his head for a few moments, dreadfully
abashed at this unexpected rebuke, then looking up, with the flush still
on his face, he said, "Thank you, Mr Percival.  You hit me rather hard,
but I believe you are right, I am afraid I _have_ yielded rather too
much to the bad habit of which you speak, but I don't think I shall be
likely to do it again.  And now, to change the subject, does anybody
know exactly where we are bound?"

"There was a vague rumour floating about Portsmouth, a few days ago,
that Lord Hood--by the way, I wonder if he is in any way related to our
skipper?--is to take a fleet to Toulon, though for what purpose nobody
seemed to know; I hope we shall not be ordered to join," said Smellie.

"I hope not!" remarked Percival.  "_I_ also heard the rumour to which
you refer, and I fancy there must be some truth in it, for it went so
far even as to specify by name several ships as having been selected to
form part of the fleet, and I know that there has been a pretty general
overhaul and refit going on with many of them.  There is a large French
fleet at this moment lying in Toulon harbour, and I am of opinion that
the expedition--if such there is to be--is for the purpose of getting
hold of a few of them.  It is said that there are no less than thirty-
four ships, many of them of large size, lying there ready for sea, while
they have one seventy-four, and two forties--all very fine vessels--on
the stocks and about ready for launching.  If Lord Hood can take the
pick of such a fleet as that, we should be able to lay up in ordinary
the old `Juno' and a few more like her.  But I do not think we need
distress ourselves much respecting the Toulon fleet.  If Lord Hood wants
any frigates, he will take them out with him.  _Our_ mission, I expect,
will be to cruise up and down the Mediterranean, doing the best we can
for ourselves; our skipper has, no doubt, influence enough to ensure
that he shall not be hampered by being attached to blockading fleets, or
anything of that kind, where you get a great deal of work and very
little prize-money."

Percival's assumption turned out to be correct.  We called at Gibraltar,
and remained a couple of days, giving some of us, of whom I happened to
be one--an opportunity of exploring this extraordinary fortress, from
whence we went on to Malta, remained there a week, and were then ordered
out to cruise.  We were told that the French had seventeen ships-of-war
cruising in the Mediterranean, but we seemed to be altogether out of
luck's way, for we never had the good fortune even to sight one, and,
beyond picking up some half-a-dozen insignificant French traders, we did
positively nothing for six entire months.

At length, about the middle of December, the ship requiring a slight
refit, we bore up for Malta, arriving there on the 23rd of the month--
just in time for the Christmas festivities.  We of the cockpit contrived
to get our full share of leave, and enjoyed ourselves immensely, but as
nothing occurred particularly worthy of note, I shall not enter into
details as to the pranks we played, and our several modes of seeking
enjoyment.

On the 4th of January, 1794, we received orders to take on board 150
supernumeraries for the garrison at Toulon, the rumour of the proposed
fleet under Lord Hood having in the meantime become an accomplished
fact, and that gallant officer having accepted the surrender of the port
from the Toulonese, in trust for Louis XVII.  We received these
supernumeraries on board early next morning, and sailed immediately
after the completion of the embarkation.

It took us a week to make the passage, the wind being fair but light,
and the weather beautiful during the whole time.  On the fourth day out,
poor old Rawlings, the master, complained of severe shooting pains in
the head, accompanied by giddiness and nausea, and the next day found
him confined to his berth in a high fever.

We arrived off the port at about 10 p.m.  It was a beautiful night, the
moon, just entering her second quarter, beamed softly down upon us from
the cloudless, star-spangled sky, and a light air of wind from the
southward just filled our sails and fanned us along at a rate of about
four knots.  When about five miles off, we hoisted lights for a pilot,
the skipper being anxious to get in that night, so as to discharge the
supernumeraries the first thing in the morning, the vessel being
somewhat crowded.  Three-quarters of an hour elapsed, during which we
looked in vain for a boat coming off to us, when, having approached
within a couple of miles of the entrance to the harbour, Captain Hood
gave orders for the ship to be hove-to.

Another half-hour passed away, and still no sign of a pilot.

"If poor Rawlings had not been in the sick-bay--aw--we should have been
snugly at anchor by this time," said the skipper to Mr Annesley.  "I'll
be bound to say that the--aw--old fellow has been in and out of the
place a dozen times at least, and he would have taken us in like a--ah--
like a shot."

"Quite likely, sir," returned Mr Annesley, with his telescope to his
eye; "I think it would be difficult to name a port which he has _not_
been into.  It is unfortunate that he should be laid up just at this
juncture.  They must be very early birds in Toulon, or surely somebody
would have made out our lights before this.  And,"--he lowered his
telescope--"it is very queer, but I cannot make out the British fleet in
there, surely we ought to see them from where we now are?"

"Not if they are in the inner harbour, which I--aw--suspect they are.
The Italian bwig which came in on the day we sailed was from Marseilles,
and her master weported a succession of stwong easterly winds
hereabouts, which would natuwally send the Bwitish fleet farther in; we
shall find them there all wight; where else could they be?" remarked the
skipper.

"Very true, sir," observed the first lieutenant.  "Shall we fill on her
and heave about?  I see no sign of a boat coming off."

"Yes, if you please," was the answer.  "By-the-bye, I wonder if young
Percival has ever been inside there; if he has, pewhaps he could take us
in."

"I scarcely expect he has ever seen the inside of the harbour, sir,"
said Mr Annesley; "still, we can ask him.  Shall I pass the word for
him?"

"Yes, do," said the skipper.  "I should like to get in to-night, if
possible."

"Pass the word for--oh! here he is," said the first luff, as Percival
strolled aft from the forecastle, whence he had been taking a good look
at the harbour.  "Mr Percival, Captain Hood wishes to know if you have
ever been into Toulon?"

"No, sir, I never have," replied Percival, addressing himself to the
skipper direct; "but I have just been having a look at the place, and I
feel sure I could take the ship in.  Mr Rawlings, on the first day that
he was taken ill, brought out his chart, and showed me the way in, with
all the marks and bearings of the fairway, and I have been able to make
out every one of them quite distinctly.  It is a fine, clear night, with
little wind and no sea, so that if we _did_ happen to touch anywhere we
should do no harm, but I think I could safely promise to take her in
without scouring her copper."

"Vewy well, then, Mr Percival, I'll wisk it.  Take charge, sir, and do
the best you can for us," said the skipper.

The main-topsail was filled, and as soon as the ship had way enough on
her, we hove about, and bore away for the harbour, with a hand in the
fore-chains on each side, taking frequent casts of the lead, and
Percival on the poop, conning the ship.  As we drew in towards the
harbour, sail was shortened, and we crept in under topsails and jib
only.

At length we safely entered the inner harbour, Percival's skill having
proved fully equal to the occasion, and there, as had been expected, we
found a number of ships lying snugly at anchor.

"Ah!" said the skipper, "here is the admiral, just as I expected.  Do
you see that bwig, Mr Percival?"

"Yes, sir," returned Percival, "I wanted to weather her, but we shall
not do it, the wind is too light, and the tide too strong; we must tack
under his stern, as there is shoal water not far to leeward of where he
is."

"Then, in that case, we'll give her a little more muslin," said Mr
Annesley.  "Haul out the driver, and down with the fore tack and sheet;
look sharp, my lads!  Now, Mr Percival, we are all ready."

We were now drawing up on the brig's starboard quarter, and almost
within hailing distance.  Captain Hood was preparing to hail the vessel,
when a figure was seen on the taffrail of the stranger, and the next
moment some indistinct words were hoarsely bellowed at us.

"_What_ does he say?" said the skipper, turning to the group of officers
standing near.

"Couldn't exactly make out," said one.  "Didn't hear very distinctly,"
said another.  "I thought it sounded like French," said Percival.

"Oh!" said the skipper, "he is of course asking who we are.  His
Bwitannic Majesty's fwigate `Juno,' from Malta, with supahnumewawies for
the garrison," he added, roaring back between his hands at the
motionless figure on board the brig.

"Viva!" was the reply, accompanied by the wave of a navy cap.

"He's Fwench," said the skipper; "one of the fellows who has suwendered
to our fleet.  Can any of you gentlemen speak Fwench well enough to ask
him which is the Bwitish admiral's ship?"

There was no one, it appeared, with quite sufficient confidence in his
knowledge of the French language to undertake this duty, so I stepped
forward and, with becoming modesty, offered to obtain whatever
information was required.  Permission being given, I approached the
side, and squeaked out, in the most manly tones at my command, the
proposed inquiry.

The figure gesticulated violently, then stooped down to commune with
three or four more, whose heads could now be seen just above the
taffrail; finally he raised himself to an upright position, and shouted
back, "Yesh, yesh!"

"I'm afraid he did not understand you, Mr Chester," said Mr Annesley.
"Try him again."

I did so, with even more confusing results than before.

"Ask him which is the Bwitish fleet," suggested the skipper.

I put this question also, and the confusion appeared to become worse
confounded; some half-a-dozen replies coming back to us all jumbled up
together, English and French words being so hopelessly intermixed, that
it was utterly impossible to make head or tail of what they were saying.

We were by this time passing close under the brig's stern, and Percival
was remarking to the first lieutenant that it was quite time to heave
about, as he was sure we must be close upon the shoal, when the voice,
which had hailed us first, shouted out for us to "Luff!"

"Hard down with your helm!" exclaimed Annesley; "over with it, my man:
tacks and sheets!  Ah! we have cut it too fine," as with a gentle surge
the frigate was brought up all standing on the shoal.  "Away aloft, men;
clew up and haul down; furl everything!"

The topsail and jib halliards were let run, the canvas was clewed up,
and in a minute or two more all was snugly stowed.  The men were just in
the act of laying in off the yards, when a little puff of wind coming
down the harbour caught the frigate's bow, and to our great
gratification paid her head round until her fore-foot scraped off the
bank.  The order was at once given to let go the anchor; the cable
smoked out through the hawse-pipe, and the ship swung round, head to
wind.  We found, however, that her heel was still fast on the shoal, and
the rudder immovable; it was therefore determined, as the tide was on
the turn, to hoist out the launch at once, and run away a kedge, in
order to haul the ship off while the operation was still possible.
Tackles were accordingly got up on the fore and main-yardarms, and in
less than five minutes the launch was in the water alongside.

"Where is Mr Chester?" said the first lieutenant, looking round.
"Here, sir!"  I replied, emerging from the shadow of the bulwarks, where
I had been taking a peep at things in general through an open port, from
which I had observed, among other things, a six-oared gig pull from the
brig, and make towards the town; but foolishly I failed to report the
circumstance, not at that moment attaching the slightest importance to
it.  "Jump into the launch, Mr Chester, and take charge," said Mr
Annesley.  "I want the kedge run away here, about two points on our port
bow.  You must not go farther to windward than that, or the tide will
take our quarter, when we float, and drive us down on the brig.  Now off
you go, and be as smart as you can."

"Ay, ay, sir!"  I replied, touching my cap, and away I scrambled down
into the launch, where I found the kedge already stowed, with hawsers
coiled down on top of it until the boat's stern was barely a couple of
inches out of water.

"Shove off and give way, men!"  I exclaimed, as my foot touched the
thwart; the bowman shoved the boat's head off, the oars dropped into the
phosphorescent water with a luminous splash, and we pulled down the
harbour in the direction indicated by Mr Annesley.  We pulled steadily
on until all the hawser in the boat had been paid out, when we let go
the kedge, and hailing the frigate to "heave in," paddled back
alongside.

While running out the kedge, I had observed a boat pulling toward the
"Juno," and when we reached the frigate, we found this craft alongside.
In the meantime the frigate had been hove off the bank without much
difficulty, and the tide acting strongly on her hull the moment that she
floated, she had drifted down to her kedge, which had been lifted, and
the anchor having been tripped as she drifted over it was once more let
go, just as we got alongside.  The launch, not being required any
farther at the moment, was passed astern, the crew being first ordered
out of her.  In order to regain the frigate's deck, it was necessary for
us to pass over the boat alongside, which was lying in the wake of the
gangway, and as we did so, I noticed that the eight men composing her
crew were unmistakably French, and that, strange to say, they were fully
armed.  This struck me as so singular a circumstance, that I resolved to
have a good look at the other individuals who had come off to us, and
who were doubtless on deck in confabulation with the skipper.  I found
them, as I expected, on the quarter-deck, talking to the captain and the
first lieutenant.  There were two of them, apparently French officers;
but the one who was talking spoke excellent English, and was, at the
moment when I drew near the group, explaining to Captain Hood that, in
compliance with a regulation of the port, and the commanding officer's
orders, it would be necessary for the ship at once to proceed higher up
the harbour to the quarantine ground, there to perform ten days'
quarantine, and that he, the speaker, was deputed to pilot the ship then
and there to her new berth.

"Phew!" ejaculated the skipper.  "Quarantine, eh? with all these people
on board; this is a pretty business, truly.  I can't understand it at
all; there is no sickness at present at Malta, and we carry a perfectly
clean bill of health.  Surely there must be a mistake somewhere.  Before
taking up a berth in this quarantine ground, I should like to
communicate with Lord Hood.  Can you point me out his ship, monsieur?"

"You cannot see her from here, Monsieur le Capitaine," replied the
Frenchman.  "Besides, an interview with the British Admiral will avail
you nothing; he is doubtless retired by this time, and, even if he were
not, he could not interfere; he has no authority whatever in the present
matter."

I thought I detected a covert smile of derision passing over the
speaker's face as he said this, and I turned to see whether I could
detect anything of the kind on that of his companion, but I found he had
withdrawn to the gangway, apparently to call his people up out of the
boat, for they were just coming up over the side, as I looked.  In
another moment he sauntered back, and rejoined the group from which he
had so quietly slipped away.

"Do you say that we cannot see the British flag-ship from here, sir?"
inquired Mr Annesley.  "Then pray where is she?  It seems to me that
every ship in the harbour is within view from here; yet, now I come to
look, I cannot see a single British ship among them all.  Does it not
strike you, sir, that there is something rather peculiar about this
business?" turning to the skipper.

I was sure I saw the two French officers start and glance quickly at
each other at this remark; and then, for the first time, I noticed that
they wore tri-coloured cockades in their hats.

"Why, those gentlemen have _national_ cockades in their hats!"  I
exclaimed involuntarily.

"By Jove! you are right, young gentleman, they have!" ejaculated the
skipper.  "What is the meaning of all this, monsieur?  Are you a
Nationalist, or are you a Royalist in disguise?  And I beg that you will
at once tell me the whereabouts of Lord Hood and his fleet.  Unless I
receive a distinct answer, I shall be forced to believe that treachery
is meditated, and shall take the necessary precautionary steps
forthwith."

The Frenchmen looked in each other's faces for an instant, and then the
one who had called his boat's crew on deck turned to the skipper and
said, in French,--

"Calm yourself, monsieur, I have the honour to inform you that you and
your ship's company are prisoners.  But the English are a good people,
and we will treat you all with the utmost kindness.  The English admiral
went away some time ago, and Toulon is now in the hands of the
Nationalists."

The expression of mingled horror and disgust which slowly overspread the
features of the skipper and the first luff, like a summer cloud sailing
slowly across the disc of the full moon, would have been irresistibly
laughable under other circumstances, but as matters stood nobody felt
the slightest inclination to laugh.

"_Prisoners_!!" ejaculated Mr Annesley.  He was apparently too full for
further utterance, but he had already said quite enough.  "We are
prisoners!" flew from mouth to mouth, like wildfire, and in less than
two minutes every man in the ship had become acquainted with our
position.  Every officer came crowding aft, to ascertain the truth of
the startling rumour, and a more disgusted and dejected-looking group of
mortals than we appeared, it would have been difficult to find.

The disagreeable announcement once made, the French officers hastened to
place matters upon a more agreeable basis, exerting themselves to the
utmost to get up a lively general conversation, and explaining how it
was that we had so easily run into the trap.  A very few words sufficed
for this, the matter was so excessively simple.

It appeared, from the French officers' statement, that Lord Hood, after
sustaining a long and harassing siege of nearly four months, had, on the
night of the 18th of the previous December, been at length compelled to
evacuate Toulon, he finding it utterly impossible to hold it any longer
with the small force at his command--barely 17,000 men--against the
overwhelming numbers of the besiegers, who mustered close upon 50,000.

But though unable to prevent the Republicans from obtaining possession
of this important place, the British admiral resolved that it should
pass into their hands, comparatively speaking, valueless.  Immediately,
therefore, that it was finally decided to retire from the place, he set
on foot preparations to destroy the arsenal, magazines, etcetera, and
such of the French ships as it was deemed inexpedient to take away with
him; and though he was unable to carry out in their entirety the whole
of his arrangements, it was pretty evident, from our informants'
account, that the destruction actually effected was something enormous;
the dockyard, with its various storehouses, the magazines, two powder-
ships, and two 74-gun ships of war--the "Heros," and "Themistocle"--
being burnt.

It must have been a magnificent and awe-inspiring sight to witness these
destructive operations, effected as they were during the darkness of the
night.  The conflagration of the stores, warehouses, and ships, the
explosion of powder magazines and powder vessels--the latter being _set
on fire_ by our lubberly allies, the Spaniards, instead of being
scuttled, as had been arranged--and the incessant flash of the cannon
and musketry--a hot conflict raging all the while between the British
and the Republican forces--could not fail of being an awfully impressive
sight; and such it had evidently proved to our informants, who described
the various scenes which they had witnessed on that memorable night with
a very considerable amount of graphic power.

So interested were we all, for the moment, in this narration, that every
one appeared to have completely forgotten our excessively unpleasant
position, until it was recalled to our minds by an exclamation from our
third lieutenant, the Honourable Edward Plantagenet Mortimer.

"Aw--excuse my intewupting this extwemely intewesting er--ah--
conversation," said he, in his usual dandified style, "but I should like
to diwect your attention, Captain Hood, to the--ah--important fact
that--ah--_the wind has changed_, and, if I may be allowed to expwess an
opinion, I would say that if we could get the canvas upon the ship, I
believe _we could fetch out of the harbour again_."

The effect was electrical.  The remark suggested such readiness of
resource, such consummate seamanship, and such dashing courage on the
part of the speaker, that, had it been uttered by Mr Annesley even, we
should probably have been somewhat surprised; but emanating from the
source it did, our astonishment simply beggars description.  There was a
dead silence for a moment, while we were ruminating upon and digesting
the possibilities involved in the suggestion, and then, as it became
apparent that a bold dash for freedom was still in our power, a ringing
cheer burst out, fore and aft.

In an instant the skipper was himself again.  "Silence, fore and aft!"
he exclaimed; "every sound you utter now may cost a man's life.  To your
stations, men, and let every order be executed with the rapidity and--
ah--silence of thought.  Mr Annesley, make sail, if you please.
Gentlemen,"--to the Frenchmen--"you will wegwet to learn that you have
made a slight--ah--mistake.  Instead of our _being your_ prisoners, you
are _ours_.  And--er--as your countwymen, with their chawactewistic
politeness, may possibly salute us as we pass the battewies, and as they
may, in their anxiety to do so, omit to dwaw the shot from their guns,
allow me to suggest that you wetire below.  Mr Carnegie--our lieutenant
of mawines--has, I see, been thoughtful enough to pwovide an escort for
you, and in his hands I have much pleasure in leaving you; you will find
him a twuly delightful companion.  Good evening, gentlemen, for the
present."

At first the Frenchmen appeared unable to believe their own ears.  Then,
as they began to realise that we were actually about to attempt our
escape, they rapidly threw themselves together, back to back, and began
to handle their sabres menacingly.  Carnegie, however, who upon hearing
the Honourable Mortimer's remark had grasped the situation in an
instant, had at once slipped off, returning in a very few minutes with
some five-and-twenty fully-armed marines, and with these he promptly
surrounded the chagrined Frenchmen, who found the way in which the
"jollies" handled their half-pikes so little to their taste that they at
length came to the conclusion that discretion was, in their case, the
better part of valour, and sullenly suffered themselves to be conducted
below.

In the meantime our lads had been anything but idle.  With the activity
of so many cats they had scuttled away aloft, laying out upon the yards,
and casting off the gaskets in a style which must have done Mr
Annesley's heart good, and which, to a moral certainty, considerably
astonished the Frenchmen on board the surrounding ships and in the
batteries.  There was no confusion whatever; everything was done with as
much method and precision as if we had been merely exercising the crew;
but, on the other hand, not one second of precious time was wasted, and
it really was a pretty sight to see all the canvas falling
simultaneously from the yards, the topsail sheets instantly going home
into their places, and the three topsail-yards directly afterwards
soaring away up to the mast-heads.  Then home came the topgallant
sheets, and up went the yards, the royals following, and being set
literally before the topgallant halliards were belayed.  The fore-and-
aft canvas was at the same time set, and the moment that the royals were
at the mast-heads the yards were braced for casting the ship.  The
carpenter and one of his mates were stationed at the hawse-pipe, armed
with their keenest axes, and stood ready to strike directly the word was
given.  In three minutes from the time that the order had been given to
make sail, Mr Annesley turned to the skipper and said, with the utmost
composure, "All ready, sir."

"Where is Mr Percival?" inquired Captain Hood.

"Here, sir!" replied Percival, stepping forward and touching his cap.

"Take charge, sir, if you please," said the skipper.  "And do not forget
that the safety of the frigate, and our chances of escape from a long
captivity are absolutely in your hands.  If we touch the ground and hang
for five minutes, we shall be simply blown out of the water."

"I will do my best, sir," quietly replied Percival taking up a
convenient position for conning the ship.

"I feel sure you will, sir," returned the skipper.  "Say when we shall
cut."

"At once, sir, if you please," was the reply.

"Cut, and cut with a will!" said Mr Annesley.  Three or four quick
strokes were heard, the frigate's head paid slowly off until her sails
filled, when the head-yards were swung, the fore-and-main-tacks were
boarded, the sheets hauled aft, and every sail trimmed as if for a
sailing-match.

The fact that our movements were closely watched became apparent the
moment that the hands appeared in the rigging to loose the sails, a very
perceptible stir taking place on board the brig, while lights rapidly
made their appearance in the several batteries.

"We are about to have a warm quarter of an hour," remarked the skipper,
who had been keenly noting these sinister indications, while the first
luff was getting the ship under weigh.  "Let the crew go to quarters at
once, if you please, Mr Annesley."

"Ay, ay, sir!" was the reply.  "If we only had a little more wind--and
there it comes--blow, good breezes, blow!  I believe we shall scrape
clear, after all.  Beat to quarters!"

A sharp roll of the drum immediately broke in upon the quietude of the
night; there was a momentary bustle--but only momentary the men having
already gone to quarters, as a matter of course--and then all was
profound silence once more on board, save for a gentle rippling sound
beneath the bows and along the sides, and the occasional creak of a
block aloft.

"Say when you wish to tack, Mr Percival," said the first luff,
stationing himself alongside the master's-mate.

"Not yet, sir," said Percival; "the wind is favouring us a little just
now--there it freshens a trifle, and she looks up better than ever.
Keep her a good clean full, quarter-master, and let her go through the
water.  I wish there was not quite so much tide, though it _is_ in our
favour; it is setting us bodily down towards the shoal water.  Keep the
lead going, there, in the fore-chains.  We should do none the worse,
sir, if the Frenchmen's boat were cut adrift."

"Cut it adwift at once," said the skipper, who was standing close by;
"cut it adwift at once, and the launch as well; we cannot afford to have
so much as a rope's end dragging alongside just now.  Ah!  I have been
expecting that," as the brig before referred to, having got a spring
upon her cable, and brought her broadside to bear, opened fire upon us.
"Never mind," continued the skipper, "we shall soon be out of harm's
way, as far as she is concerned; it is the fire of the battewies I dwead
most; they, no doubt, mount heavy metal, and if the guns are well served
a single bwoadside will unwig us.  This is an ugly looking fellow here,
on our starboard bow; they evidently mean mischief there, by the number
of lights they show.  Let the starboard bwoadside guns be twained for
the thwee ports where we see the most light, Mr Annesley, and let each
gun be fired, as it is bwought to bear."

At this juncture another broadside from the brig whistled overhead,
making a few eyelet-holes in our canvas and cutting one or two
unimportant ropes; and immediately afterwards a shot, quickly followed
by another, and yet another, came plunging at us from the fort.

The guns were evidently pointed with the intention of bringing down our
spars, but luckily we again escaped without any damage worth speaking
of.  Matters were beginning to assume a very lively aspect for us; for
as we glided down the harbour we could see the lights glancing in
battery after battery, on each side of us, until every one of them was
lighted up.

Still, on swept the frigate, silent as a ghostly ship, and without a
light of any kind visible on board her, the battle-lanterns being every
one carefully masked, the men standing silent and motionless as statues
at their guns; even the remarks interchanged between the officers were
expressed in low murmurs only loud enough to reach the ear for which
they were intended, the oppressive silence being intensified rather than
broken by an occasional "Luff! luff, you may, quarter-master," from
Percival.

Presently, _crash_ came a simultaneous discharge of five heavy guns from
the battery on our starboard hand, and four from another battery on the
opposite shore; the shot hissed overhead, there was a dull crushing thud
or two aloft, and a little rattling shower on deck as ropes and
splinters came clattering down.  Some of our spars had evidently been
badly wounded, and the carpenter and his mates were sent aloft to
ascertain the extent of the damage.  While they were ascending the
rigging, _bang_ went our foremost gun on the starboard side, followed by
the remainder of the broadside; and the moon happening to shine full
upon the stone walls of the fort which had just opened upon us, we saw,
as the smoke drove astern, a little cloud of dust rise about one of the
embrasures, a ragged patch of chipped and broken stone appeared to start
out upon the wall, and faintly borne down to us on the heavy night-wind
came the sound of shrieks and yells of agony.  It was perfectly evident
that our shot had told with severe effect.

As though the discharge of our broadside had been the preconcerted
signal for a general cannonade, every battery within range on each side
of the harbour now opened fire upon us, some of them, however,
fortunately for us, being unable to bring more than a single gun to
bear.  Had the guns on shore been served with only ordinary skill, we
should undoubtedly have been destroyed; as it was, though the shot flew
over and over us thick as hail, lashing the sea into foam all round us,
shredding our sails to ribbons, cutting up very badly our standing and
running rigging, bringing down our main-topgallant-mast, and severely
wounding several of our other spars, we still glided safely on, our hull
uninjured, and not a man hurt.  Orders were now sent down for the guns
on the main-deck to play upon every battery upon which they could be
brought to bear, and for each gun to be laid with the greatest possible
accuracy, precision rather than rapidity of fire being the skipper's
object.  An irregular fire from both broadsides accordingly now
commenced; and that it was not altogether without effect was
demonstrated by the speedy silencing of two or three out of the many
guns now playing upon us; but, as our object was to escape with the
least possible delay, Captain Hood would not allow the frigate's course
to be altered by so much as one single hair's-breadth in order to bring
our guns more directly to bear upon either of the batteries.

"We shall have to make a short board presently, sir," said Percival to
the skipper, as we drew down to within half a mile of the harbour
entrance; "there is shoal water directly ahead of us now, and we have
broken off a couple of points within the last ten minutes.  Shall we
heave about at once, or go on as far as we can?  If we stand on much
farther, we shall be exposed to the fire of yonder battery, which seems
to be preparing a warm reception for us."

"Go about at once, sir, by all means," replied the skipper.  "We have
got off wonderfully well so far; we will certainly not run any
unnecessary risks now.  Ready about, Mr Annesley."

"Ay, ay, sir.  Ready about!" repeated the first lieutenant.  The men
went to their several stations, the coiled-up braces, etcetera, were
thrown off the belaying-pins, and all was ready for the execution of the
proposed manoeuvre.

"Down with your helm, quarter-master," was the next order.  The tiller-
ropes creaked as the wheel was rapidly spun round by the brawny and
dexterous arms of the quarter-master, and the ship slowly luffed to the
wind.

"Hold on of all!" suddenly exclaimed Percival.  Then, turning to the
skipper, he continued.  "The wind is favouring us again, sir; she is
still clean full; and if the breeze keeps as it is for ten minutes more,
we shall fetch out clear of everything."

"So much the better," remarked the skipper.  "Our present course,
however, will take us unpleasantly close to that battery; so,"--looking
round until his eye lighted on me--"be so good as to step down to the
main-deck, Mr Chester, and request Mr Flinn to treble-shot his
larboard broadside and pour it into that battery as we pass.  Perhaps we
may be a second or so beforehand with them; and if so, a well-directed
broadside on our part may stop their fire altogether."

I soon found Mr Flinn; and, having delivered my message, returned at
once to the quarter-deck, anxious to see how we should fare with this
last battery, which, to judge by appearances, was the most formidable of
them all.  As I emerged through the hatchway.  Percival gave the word to
the helmsman to keep away a couple of points, the frigate having just
shaved past the most prominent part of the shoal.  This brought the
battery directly abreast of us, and less than a quarter of a mile
distant; and I was waiting for the concussion of our broadside, which I
momentarily expected would be poured into it, when the whole face of the
fort blazed out into a line of fire; there was a deafening roar, a loud
whirring sound in the air, a crashing among our spars aloft, two
distinct and heavy thuds, telling that some of the shot had struck our
hull; and then, as the mizen-topmast fell over the side, the fore-
topgallant-mast following--the topmast-head being shot away--our whole
broadside rang out at once, and we distinctly heard the crushing sound
of the shot as it struck the masonry.

The breeze had in the meantime freshened somewhat, and notwithstanding
our crippled condition, we were slipping through the water at the rate
of about five knots.  We had by this time run the gauntlet of all the
batteries on each side of the haven, and we considered that we had had
the worst that we were to have; our spirits accordingly began to rise,
as the prospect of escape became more hopeful.  The skipper expected
that we should have to sustain a couple more broadsides from the battery
with which we had just exchanged compliments, after which, if we escaped
further serious damage, we might consider ourselves safe.  Every eye--
excepting perhaps Percival's and the helmsman's--was accordingly
directed anxiously to the dark frowning mass which stood out
indistinctly from the dark background of land, and which every moment
grew more and more vague and undefined, expecting to see the lurid line
of fire blaze out from the darkness once more.  But minute after minute
passed by, the frigate drawing out from the land all the while, and the
breeze freshening with every fathom of additional distance, until
nothing could be discerned, even with the aid of our night-glasses, but
the feeble glimmer of the lanterns showing through the port-holes; and
presently these abruptly disappeared: the battery was shut in by a
projecting point of land and _we had escaped_.

The moment that this agreeable fact became known the crew with one
accord gave three hearty cheers, the skipper himself for the nonce
laying aside his usual _sang-froid_ and leading off.  The guns were
secured, a liberal allowance of grog served out, and then, late as it
was--about half an hour after midnight--all hands turned-to to repair
damages.



CHAPTER TEN.

AN IMPORTANT MISSION.

Once fairly at sea and out of reach of the enemy's shot, we had time to
take a look at ourselves and realise the extent of our damages.  When
passing over the same ground a few hours before, the "Juno" presented as
pretty a picture as a nautical connoisseur could wish to see, with her
hull recently painted, every spar in its place, and adjusted there to a
nicety, her rigging in perfect order, and her white sails--the new look
just worn off them, and barely stretched into their proper shape--
without a blemish or fault to mar their perfect appearance.  _Now_, she
passed out to sea with her fore and main-topgallant-masts and mizen-
topmast hanging over the side, the fore-topsail-yard down on the cap,
the spankerboom shot away in the jaws, the flying-jib-stay and halliards
cut through and the sail towing alongside, her canvas riddled with shot-
holes, ends and bights of ropes streaming out in the wind everywhere
aloft, and two 36-pound shot in her side.  Luckily, however, our
casualties ended here; for, notwithstanding the hailstorm of shot
through which we had passed, not a man on board was hurt.

We were busy the remainder of that night, and a good part of the
following day, making good the damages sustained.  By evening, however,
we were all ataunto once more; and as soon as the work was finished,
Captain Hood mustered the hands and made them a speech, thanking them,
both officers and men, for the courage and determination with which all
had co-operated with him in effecting the escape of the ship from an
enemy's port, wherein she actually lay aground surrounded by armed
ships, and with numerous heavily armed batteries opposing our departure.
Percival was specially referred to, his skill in piloting the ship in
and out again being dwelt upon in highly commendatory terms; and then--
the skipper being a rare hand at turning out a neat speech and rounding
it off with a compliment--the men were told that, having behaved so
exceptionally well, their officers would now have no hesitation about
engaging in any enterprise, however hazardous or hopeless it might
appear, confident that the men they led would support them as long as
they had strength to stand.

At the close of this speech the men, as in duty bound, gave three
cheers, the hammocks were piped down, and life on board the "Juno"
resumed once more its normal conditions.

The first question which suggested itself to the skipper, after getting
his ship once more into fighting order, naturally was what was to be
done with the supernumeraries which we had on board.  His instructions,
it appeared, made no provision whatever for the possibility of such a
_contretemps_ as had befallen us, and he was, in consequence, quite at a
loss what to do.  Finally, after talking the affair over with Mr
Annesley, he resolved to take them back to Malta, and a course was
accordingly shaped for that island.  We accomplished the passage in five
days, and landed the men, who were glad enough to plant their feet on
mother earth once more, after knocking about in their confined quarters
for nearly a fortnight.

During our absence, information of the evacuation of Toulon by Lord Hood
had reached the island, and it was taken quite for granted that, going
to the place in ignorance of this important fact, as we were, we should
inevitably fall into some trap and be made prisoners; when therefore we
put in an appearance once more, and the details of our escape were made
known, we immediately became the object of unbounded curiosity and
admiration.  Hundreds flocked to see the ship (many of them being
intensely disappointed at the almost entire absence of visible
indications of the peril through which she had passed), and officers and
men alike were pointed out and looked after in the streets, until we ran
the greatest risk of becoming inordinately vain of our exploit.  The
admiration of the islanders did not end here, however; for it being
deemed advisable to place the frigate in dry dock to examine her bottom
and smooth her copper, after having touched the ground, as well as to
make good a few defects which were beyond our own unaided powers, we
were balled, _feted_, picnicked, and generally made much of for three
days by the excitable and pleasure-loving inhabitants, at the end of
which time, our repairs being completed, we were hurried away to sea
with sealed orders, to be opened off Cape Spartivento.

We arrived off this headland on the 22nd of January, and Captain Hood
then learned that we were to remain on the spot until the evening of the
24th, when, if no farther instructions reached him, he was to open a
sealed paper which he found enclosed with his orders.  The ship was
accordingly hove-to and placed under reefed topsails, a private signal
was hoisted at the main-royal-mast-head, and in order that the time
might not be absolutely wasted, the crew were put through a special
course of drill.

A sharp lookout was maintained, in order that there might be no
possibility of our being passed unobserved by any craft bearing later
instructions; but though we saw plenty of feluccas passing along the
coast, the only craft which came at all near us was a magnificent 40-gun
frigate, which hoisted French colours and bore down towards us on our
showing our ensign; but having approached within four miles and lying
hove-to for half an hour, she resumed her original course to the
northward, leaving us in a most unchristian frame of mind towards the
admiral, whose orders tied us to the spot, and prevented our accepting
the challenge she had given.  We at first cherished the hope that if we
did not go out to her, she would come down and attack us, but such a
slice of good luck was not just then to fall to our lot.

The stipulated period of our stay off Cape Spartivento having at length
expired, Captain Hood broke open the packet to which reference has
already been made, and having acquainted himself with the farther
instructions therein contained, orders were forthwith issued to make
sail to the northward and westward.

We had a fine breeze from the eastward, to which we showed a heavy press
of canvas; the frigate accordingly made short miles of the trip along
the Sardinian coast, and on the following evening arrived off the Gulf
of Ajaccio in Corsica, the coast-line being about twenty miles distant,
and consequently "hull-down;" the mountain-chain, however, which forms
as it were the backbone of Corsica, was distinctly visible, lighted up
as it was by the gorgeous tints of sunset.  Sail was now shortened to
topsails, and the frigate hove-to.

While all hands were wondering more or less what the next move would be,
I was sent for by the skipper to go to him in his cabin.  On arriving
there, I found him and Mr Annesley seated at the cabin-table with a
decanter of port standing between them, glasses of the same at their
elbows, and a large map spread out in the full light of the cabin lamp,
which had just been lighted; the table being further littered with a
large number of official-looking documents.

As I entered the cabin, Captain Hood raised his eyes from the map, over
which both officers had been earnestly poring, and said,--

"Oh! come in, Mr Chester, and bwing yourself to an anchor.  Atkins! a
wine-glass for Mr Chester.  There, help yourself, young gentleman."

I poured out a glass of the port, wondering, as I sipped it, wherever
the skipper managed to pick up so very excellent a wine; and when the
steward had retired, closing the door after him, Captain Hood looked
across the table at me, and said,--

"Mr Chester, I have been gweatly gwatified at the continued good
weports which Mr Annesley makes of your conduct.  He speaks vewy highly
of your intelligence, persevewance, zeal, and couwage, and I--ah--may
say that--er--I have myself noted fwom time to time your possession of
those--ah--desiwable chawactewistics.  Partly on this account, and
partly because of your--ah--intimate knowledge of the Fwench language, I
have selected you for the performance of a service in which all the
qualities I have mentioned are--er--conspicuously necessawy.  You will
understand this more clearly when I explain that the service consists in
the safe conveyance of certain vewy important documents to the hands of
a Corsican gentleman on shore yonder, in the face of unknown but
possibly sewious difficulties from the numewous Fwench twoops occupying
the island, and into whose hands the documents in question must by no
means be allowed to fall.  I should hesitate vewy stwongly about
intwusting one so young with a mission so delicate but for Mr
Annesley's positive assuwance that I may safely do so.  Now, what say
you? are you willing to undertake the service?"

To say that I _jumped_ at the offer would but feebly express the
eagerness with which I answered in the affirmative.  Here was one of
those chances for distinguishing myself for which I had so ardently
longed, and here too was the prospect of at least temporary freedom from
the restraints of discipline and the monotony of shipboard, to say
nothing of the possibilities of excitement and adventure involved in the
performance of a secret service in the enemy's country.  It was with the
utmost difficulty I controlled my excitement sufficiently to listen to
the skipper's instructions, and to absorb and master the information
necessary to the successful conduct of the enterprise.

The map spread upon the table was a map of Corsica drawn to a large
scale, and showing every road, stream, mountain-path, wood, chateau--
indeed I might almost say _every house_ on the island; and upon it was
marked in red ink the various French posts, as far as they could be
ascertained, while crosses in blue ink indicated the posts of the
insurgent Corsicans.  Captain Hood produced also a skeleton map of the
island drawn to a very small scale, containing only such information as
was necessary for my guidance; and during the delivery of his
instructions frequent reference was made to both these maps, as well as
to a manuscript book of what would be called "sailing directions" if it
referred to a journey by water instead of by land, and from which I made
brief notes from time to time, by way of memory-refreshers, in a tiny
book with which Captain Hood furnished me.  The skipper kept me with him
for more than two hours--in fact until he had satisfied himself that I
not only thoroughly understood what was required of me--which was very
simple, being merely to find an individual, who was to be identified by
certain pre-arranged tokens, and to deliver my despatches, or whatever
they were, into his hands--but also that I had mastered every scrap of
information which he was able to give me.  When at length he found that
I was fully "posted up," he dismissed me to make my preparations,
cautioning me to dress in plain clothes, and to exercise the utmost care
that I carried no document or article of any description with me whereby
I might be identified as belonging to the English service, "otherwise,"
he grimly observed, "they will hang you without hesitation on the
nearest tree.  One thing more," he continued, as I rose to leave the
cabin; "as soon as you are landed, we shall proceed in search of
Commodore Linzee's squadron, which we are ordered to join; it is
therefore quite uncertain when you may have an opportunity to return to
the ship; but as I have reason to believe we shall operate somewhere at
the northern end of the island, as soon as you have accomplished your
mission you had better make for either Calvi or Bastia, and when you can
learn our actual whereabouts, seize the first opportunity which offers
to rejoin.  Here," handing me a packet, "is a sufficient amount of
Fwench money to cawwy you handsomely thwough the business if no hitch
occurs; if it does, you must exercise your ingenuity to get yourself out
of the difficulty.  Now go away and get weady, and--ah--er--I heartily
wish you success.  Good-bye."

He offered me his hand--with just the slightest perceptible touch of
stiffness in the gesture--which I seized and shook so heartily in the
excitement of the moment as to cause him to raise his eyebrows in
astonishment at my audacity.  The next minute I was on deck once more,
with the cool night-air fanning my flushed and burning cheeks, while it
urged the frigate through the water at a rate of about seven knots
toward the lights of Ajaccio, which glimmered on the horizon broad on
our starboard bow.



CHAPTER ELEVEN.

THE ROAD TO AJACCIO.

My descent to the midshipmen's berth for the purpose of making my few
preparations was the signal for a general fusillade of questions from my
inquisitive messmates as to the why and wherefore of my summons to the
cabin, and great was the disgust which each felt that _he_ had been
passed over in favour of so unimportant a personage as myself.  It was
quite true that no one of them could claim to possess more than the
merest rudimentary knowledge of French, yet each was prepared with what
he considered an amply sufficient reason why he should have been
specially selected for the service.

Mr Midshipman Raleigh maintained that the duty was his by right, in
virtue of his seniority; and as to his ignorance of French, that was a
mere trifle which he was quite satisfied would never have proved the
slightest impediment to his success.

Little Percy Neville--a blue-eyed, golden-haired lad whom not even a
blind man could well have mistaken for anything else than pure Anglo-
Saxon--flattered himself that "the cut of his jib" was so eminently
French as to deceive even the most practised eye; while as to language,
he could say _bonjour or bon soir_, and bow with the air of a born
Parisian.  These accomplishments were, he considered, amply sufficient
to ensure his perfect safety while travelling, and to enable him
triumphantly to accomplish his mission--if need were--in the full light
of day, and under the very eyes of unsuspecting thousands.

Mr Robert Summers was of opinion that that was all very well, and
_might_ do; but if _he_ had been entrusted with the duty, his first step
would have been to proceed straight to Ajaccio, and there disburse some
of the French coin in the acquisition of an organ and monkey, together
with a full suit of picturesque Italian rags, all of which he knew would
be easily procurable; and provided with these, he would have felt
prepared to face with the most unruffled nonchalance the severest
scrutiny of a whole regiment of French detectives--the acuteness of the
mere soldiery he considered would have proved simply beneath his
contempt.

Each of the other "young gentlemen" was equally ready to suggest an
infallible scheme for baffling the vigilance of the enemy; and if the
conversation had no other value, it at least served to amuse me while
making my preparations for the expedition.

The money was mostly paper, and my first act was to carefully secrete it
among the lining of the suit of "long togs" which I had decided to bend
for my cruise ashore.  I then packed a small leather bag with a shirt or
two, selecting such as--I say it with shame--I had been too lazy to
mark, a pair of socks, a brush and comb, a piece of soap--afterwards
rejected upon the urgent representation of Bob Summers that the French
_never_ used soap, much less carried it about with them--and a few other
necessaries of trifling bulk, together with a small sketch-book and a
box of colours; my idea being that the best way to elude inconvenient
attention was by neither courting nor avoiding it, and my intention was
to endeavour to pass as a young German artist student on a sketching
tour, a sufficient knowledge of German and drawing for such a purpose
being among my accomplishments.  Lastly, I summoned up courage to ask of
Mr Ann

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