*CHAPTER IV*
*THE WATCH IN THE FORE-TOP*
Soon they were down by the Mersey's bank, at a spot where the famouslanding-stage has since been erected. Then they passed along thewharves and docks, but recently constructed, where the big ships, withtheir towering masts and spars, came in to unload their valuablecargoes, for here were ships from the Levant and the EasternArchipelagoes, from Spain and the West Indies, from the Canadas and thenew colonies of America.
Never before had they seen such noble vessels, nor had they dreamt itpossible that such leviathans could be built. Never before had theygazed upon such a vast concourse of people, rushing hither and thither,shouting, pushing, loading and unloading, as though every ship mustcatch the next tide that flowed.
Their hearts swelled with pride as they stood and watched a statelybarque, fresh from the River Plate, being warped in to the bank and madefast. Some of her swarthy crew were aloft clewing up the sails, otherswere below, stowing away, making fast, or squaring the yards, singingsnatches of songs, but all of them eager and longing to get ashore andto set foot in Old England again.
Oh, how they envied these men, who had sailed those far-away seas andseen those lands with strangely-sounding names, and islands that gleamedlike gems set in the tropical seas. East, west, north and south met herewith all their charm and romance, for then Liverpool was rapidlybecoming an emporium for the sea-borne commerce of the world.
And so the lads forgot the toil and weariness of the past four days, forthey were bewildered by the strange and wonderful scenes which werebeing enacted before them. They were both romantic and imaginative, andnothing of it was lost upon them, for it all was so new.
They forgot that they were hungry and tired, homeless and friendless,and almost at the end of their tether. It was as though the very shipswere speaking to them of the places whence they came. They told them offar eastern seas, of dusky kings and princes, whose palaces, crownedwith minarets and towers, lined the golden shores of those far-offlands. They spoke of coral islands which shone like gems in an emeraldsea, of shining strands that were edged with fronded palms, of rich andspicy groves that were filled with new and luscious fruits, of thejungle, the prairie and the forest. All these things and more were outthere--in the west, beyond the lighthouse and the sunset.
The big ship from the River Plate was alongside now. The merchants weregoing aboard to see the lading, but the sailors, with merry hearts andother thoughts, were coming ashore, dancing and singing like hugeschoolboys set at liberty. One had a parrot that he carried in a cage,another had brought home a monkey, while some had strange curios workedby the natives, but each man seemed to have brought some present orkeepsake for those at home. They all seemed so jolly, too, that theboys made up their minds, there and then, that they would take the firstship that offered, whether eastward or westward bound.
'Twas getting toward evening, and in another two hours it would be dark,but they still wandered spellbound about the ships. Several times theyhad spoken to sailors and officers, and each time Jack had asked afterhis uncle, Captain Elliot of the _Ilawara_, but no one seemed to knowhim. They had now begun to wonder where they would have to spend thenight, if no one would take them aboard. They were beginning to feel alittle bit uneasy.
In their wanderings they had several times passed and repassed a fineship that was almost ready for sailing, and they now found themselvesclose by her again. The men were aboard, and several officers were onthe afterdeck, and they had wished very much to hail them, but so farthey had not had the temerity to do so.
"I wonder where she's going to, Jack?" said his chum, as they sat downupon a coil of rope just alongside.
"Out west, somewhere. To the Americas, I believe."
"She's going out on this tide. I heard one of the men aboard say so. Iwish they'd take us."
"Clear that gangway, lads! Here comes the captain, and the pilot, too!"cried one of the officers.
The lads looked around and saw a smart-looking officer in uniform comingalong the quay, accompanied by an older man--a veritable sea-dog, withhis arm full of oilskins and a sou'wester on his head.
"How soon do you hope to reach America, Captain Forbes?" the pilot wasasking.
"In five weeks, if this wind holds."
"Have you got a full crew aboard?"
"We're three hands short of a full complement, but I don't intend towait, with this wind blowing."
"Did you hear that, Jack? Three hands short, and sailing to-night,"whispered Jamie.
"Now is the time! Let's try our luck."
"Agreed!"
They boldly approached the captain, and Jack, acting as spokesman, begansomewhat nervously thus--
"If you please, sir, we want to go to sea."
"What's that?" snapped the captain. "Who are you? What do you want?"
"I heard you say, sir, just now, that you were three hands short aboardyour ship. If you will take us we will try hard to serve you in anycapacity."
"But, my little man," said the captain, stooping down, for he was verytall, "I don't take babies aboard my ship. You see, we haven't got anynurses to look after them when they cry."
The lads drew themselves up to their full height, and told the captainthat they were fifteen, and that they had walked sixty miles to reachLiverpool, and that they meant to go to sea, if not aboard his ship,then aboard some other vessel.
"Take an old sea-captain's advice, lads. Don't go to sea till you'retwenty, and then you'll never go at all. The sea's not exactly theplace for young gentlemen like you. Go home to your mothers."
"We've got no mothers, or perhaps we shouldn't have come here!" saidJack, flushing up a little at the captain's words.
"Oh, come now, my little bantams. If that's so it alters the case. Forthe boy who hasn't got a mother the sea's not a bad place. Just tell mewho you are, and where you come from?"
So they told him all, for there was a glint of kindness in that sternface, and a twinkle in those clear, grey-blue eyes that gained theirconfidence. They even told the story of Old Click and Beagle, and thelock-up. When they described the manner in which they had held thekeepers at bay with the wood-chunks, till they were burnt out, both thecaptain and the old pilot laughed heartily, and when they had describedtheir long, wearisome tramp to find Captain Elliot's ship, the skipperclapped them on the shoulder and said--
"Bravo! You've got grit and pluck enough to become admirals. CaptainElliot, did you say?"
"Yes, sir, Captain Elliot."
"Of what ship?"
"The _Ilawara_. He is my uncle, and he promised I should go to sea withhim when I was fifteen. Do you know him, sir?"
"Why, yes! We were boys together aboard the frigate _Monmouth_. We hadmany a fight with the French in those days, and many a close shave too.Fancy you being his nephew." Then turning to the old pilot, the captainsaid, "What say you, William? Shall I take the young gamecocks? I likethem, but the sea's a rough place for young lads."
The pilot brought a pair of kindly eyes to bear upon the youngsters, asthough he envied their youth and outlook upon life, and longed to beyoung again, and then said--
"Take 'em, Captain Forbes. A voyage will do them no harm. 'Tisn't asthough they were taken crying from their mothers. It'll larn 'em auseful lesson. 'Tis just the way I went to sea meself. Take 'em."
"Get aboard, youngsters, and report yourself to Mr. Rogers, the firstmate."
The youngsters did get aboard. Their hearts were thumping with prideand glee, for they had gained their hearts' desire, and before long theyhad cleared the Mersey bar and were standing out to sea, sailing outinto the sunset. When the pilot went overboard, he nodded to them, andhoped that they'd come home some day "Admirals of the Blue."
As soon as his duties permitted, Captain Forbes himself took them inhand and assigned them their work. He supplied them each with a middy'soutfit, enrolled their names on the ship's books, and
gave them a smallcabin near his own. Although the captain had taken a special fancy tothem, they were not to find it all honey, however. They were to helpthe men to take in sail, to share in the watches, to personally attendupon the captain, and to do much monotonous and arduous work, but theynever shied at it and never disobeyed a superior officer. Each day,however, several hours were set aside for study, and the captainprovided the books and set the lessons, which were in mathematics,navigation and seamanship.
Captain Forbes took a kind and fatherly interest in the lads, though henever relaxed for one moment that stern discipline which is so necessaryfor a headstrong youth. He taught them that the only way to learn howto command others was by first learning how to command themselves.Nevertheless, to set matters right at home he had sent a letter by thepilot, addressed to Jack's father, telling him where the lads were, andasking him not to be uneasy on their account, as one voyage would soonsettle whether their future was to be upon the sea or not. Under thesefavourable conditions our heroes soon got their "sea-legs," and maderapid progress in their new studies, though they never forget thedreadful fright they received the first time they were sent aloft in badweather.
One dark night, in a fierce gale off the Irish coast, they were orderedto assist the men in furling the main-top-gallant and main-royal sails.The vessel was creaking and straining beneath them; rolling uneasily inthe trough of the sea. Long before they reached the crosstrees theirhearts were thumping wildly and their teeth were chattering with fright,and for a moment Jack wished that he were safe ashore, even if in theold village lock-up again; but the worst was yet to come.
Far down beneath them the slippery decks seemed black as night, exceptwhen a huge green wave swept it from stem to stern. The captain wasshouting orders to the men aloft, as though the lives of all aboarddepended upon a ready compliance, and for a while the men in the riggingseemed helpless. The hoarse voice of the first mate was heard callingto the men who were struggling at the wheel, and all seemed confusion.
Still, the lads felt that the eyes of the captain were upon them, andthey did not come down till their work was done, although when theyreached the yards they thought their last moment had come, as the canvasfilled like a huge bladder, and nearly hurled them off into the boilingsurf and the destruction that threatened them below. They remained attheir posts, assisting the men, hanging on sometimes by their teeth,until the sails were dragged in and furled, and the gaskets made fastand true.
After that experience they soon acquired more confidence and were easilyat home, whether aloft or below, in fact, if anything, they preferred tobe aloft. 'Tis possible, even, that they might have adopted the sea asa profession, and that their names might have come down to us with someof the illustrious admirals of that period, but for an incident whichhappened when they had been about four weeks at sea, and which changedthe course of their lives once more.
They were within two hundred leagues of Cape Cod on the New Englandcoast, and they were congratulating themselves on having escaped thevigilance of the enemy's cruisers, for they had a valuable cargo aboard,destined for Boston, when the following incident happened. Seven bellshad just sounded in the middle watch, and both Jamie and Jack were onduty, perched on the crosstrees in the foretop. It was very cold upthere, and they were both longing for the end of the watch that theymight descend and warm themselves at the galley fire and appease theirravenous hunger before turning in for a sleep. Day was just breakingaway to the east, but ahead it was still dark and a little cloudy.Suddenly, through a rift in the clouds, over there in the north-west,towards the coast of the French Canadas, Jamie saw a tiny speck, lowdown on the horizon. He was about to hail the deck, but first pointedit out to Jack.
"What can it be?"
"Take the glass, Jamie. My hands are so numbed and cold I cannot keepit still."
Jamie took the telescope, and steadying himself for an instant, heleaned against the mast and held the glass to his eye. As he brought itto bear on that speck, the cry involuntarily burst from his lips--
"A sail! A sail!"
"Where away?" called the first mate from the deck.
"On the starboard bow, sir, north-west by west."
"What do you make of her?"
"Can't raise her hull yet, sir, but she must be a big ship, for shecarries a good head of canvas."
Almost instantly the mate was up in the fore-top, carefully examiningthe stranger. As he did so a grave look crossed his face.
"Anything wrong, sir?" queried Jamie.
"I don't like the look of her. I fear she's no friend. We may have torun." Again he examined her. Then, shutting up the glass with a bang,he said--
"Go down, Elliot, and call the captain."
"Aye, aye, sir."
While the captain was being called, eight bells sounded the end of thewatch, and though Jack had been eagerly longing for that blessed soundbefore, he would now willingly have remained aloft to watch that distantspeck, which seemed fraught with such danger.
As he reached the deck he met the captain coming up the companionladder. The latter immediately called out to the first mate, who hadremained aloft--
"Is she showing any colours, Mr. Rogers?"
"Not yet, sir!"
"What do you think she is?"
"She's a cruiser, sir. Of that I'm pretty certain, but whether Englishor French I can't yet say."
At this alarming news, the captain himself went aloft and keenlyexamined the movements of the stranger for a few minutes, and thensaid--
"She's a French cruiser, Mr. Rogers, and a fast one too. We must eitherfight her or show her a clean pair of heels."
In a few minutes the _Duncan's_ course was altered. Every stitch ofcanvas that she could carry was flung out. Royals and stuns'ls wereset, and with the foam surging under her bows she fairly bounded throughthe water, leaving a wake astern that was a mile long.
Under Wolfe's Flag; or, The Fight for the Canadas Page 4
