The Pirate Island: A Story of the South Pacific

by Harry Collingwood

  CHAPTER ELEVEN.

  JOHNSON HOODWINKS A FRIGATE.

  Left to himself Lance sauntered aft, glanced first at the binnacle, thenat the sails, and finally essayed a conversation with the helmsman. Theman proved at first to be exceedingly surly, suspicious, and taciturn,but Lance Evelin was a man of consummate tact, and his manner was atonce so refined and so genial that there were very few who could for anylength of time withstand its fascinating influence. In less than halfan hour he had so won upon the man, who was by no means all bad, thateverything approaching to reserve had completely vanished, and whenJohnson came on deck after working out his sights he found the strangelyassorted pair conversing as freely together as though they had been oldshipmates. Lance was very careful to confine his conversation togeneralities, and religiously abstained from asking any questionswhatever; he quite realised that the party to which he belonged were ina position of great difficulty and danger, their escape from which, ifindeed they should ever escape at all, would certainly be a work oftime, demanding the utmost caution and patience; and his firstendeavour, therefore, was to create a favourable impression rather thanto risk suspicion by a too early attempt to acquire information. WhenJohnson saw the two in conversation he at once edged his way aft withthe evident intention of ascertaining what they were talking about; butalthough Lance at once noted the movement and made a mental memorandumto the effect that the pirate skipper was clearly a man of suspicioustemperament, he gave no outward sign of having observed any such thing,but simply continued the conversation as unrestrainedly as thoughJohnson had not been there.

  Lance remained on deck until dinner-time, which was 1 p.m. on board the_Albatross_, when he rejoined his friends below.

  "Well," said he, as he seated himself at the rough deal table which hadbeen knocked together for their accommodation, "I have spent a verypleasant, and, I hope, a very profitable morning on deck."

  "Have you?" remarked Captain Staunton, "I am glad to hear that. We werebeginning to wonder what had become of you. What have you been doing?"

  "Merely ingratiating myself with the skipper and the man whose trick ithappened to be at the wheel," answered Lance. "And I flatter myselfthat, for a first attempt, I have managed pretty well. I have beenobliged to blow my own trumpet a little, it is true; but by a judiciousperformance upon that instrument I have succeeded in showing our friendJohnson very clearly that it is in our power to be of the greatestpossible service to him, and I have secured an order to build a new shipfor him, and to fortify the harbour in which she is to be built."

  "To build a new ship for him!" exclaimed Captain Staunton.

  "To fortify his harbour!" ejaculated Rex and Brook together.

  "Precisely that, gentlemen," continued Lance. "I happened accidentallyto touch upon rather a sore point with him by disparaging the speed ofthe brig, which he evidently wished to persuade himself was almostmatchless; then I gently insinuated to him that he would be veryawkwardly situated if he happened to find himself in the presence of afrigate in heavy weather; and finally I mentioned to him in a casual waythe fact that I had designed and built a yacht of my own which couldsail round his brig in any weather, and also that I happened to be byprofession a military engineer. The results of which are as I havealready stated. There is one other result, by the bye, I have securedthe release of our friend Robert, and also the carpenter. I daresaythey will be allowed to join us some time to-day."

  "Well," remarked Captain Staunton, "that is an advantage certainly;every man we can secure makes us so much the stronger, and perhaps, ifwe could get one or two more, something might be done in the secondnight-watch. We might possibly be able to--"

  "Take the brig?" interrupted Lance with a laugh. "Not to be thought offor a single moment, my dear sir. Our friend Johnson is far toosuspicious a man, and has too much at stake to give us any suchopportunity, if watchfulness on his part can prevent it. Why, he hasalready anticipated the possibility of such an attempt on our part, andwas good enough to caution me that we should always find him ready."

  "Um!" ejaculated the skipper, meditatively, "that is bad news. We haveevidently a difficult man to deal with. I have heard it said, more thanonce, that the man who can circumvent a Yankee can circumvent the Fatherof Mischief himself. But about this ship-building and fortificationbusiness, do I understand that you regard Johnson's plans in thatrespect as favourable to us? Because, if so, I should be very glad ifyou would explain; I must admit that at present I can scarcely see howwe are likely to derive any advantage from it."

  "Well," remarked Lance, "you must understand that at present my plansare of the crudest description, they will require a great deal ofmaturing before they can be put into successful operation, and in this Ianticipate that you will all be able to afford me the greatestassistance. Roughly, however, my idea is this. We must choose, ifpossible, for the ship-building-yard a spot which is not only suitablefor the purpose, but which will also admit of being effectually defendedby the battery which is to be built. We must secure as assistants asmany as possible of our own men, and when the ship is built and launchedwe must contrive somehow to seize and make our escape in her. This planwill, I admit, involve many months' detention here, but it is the onlyfeasible way of escape which has, so far, presented itself to my mind;and my conversation with Johnson this morning has convinced me that wehave nothing to hope for from him. He is glad to have us, and willpossibly be civil to us because of our ability to be of service to him,but I can see that he is an unscrupulous rascal who will freely makepromises in order to secure our aid and co-operation, and unhesitatinglybreak them the moment that his ends are served."

  They were all busily engaged in the discussion of Lance's projects whena hail was heard from aloft. They did not quite catch the words, butthe gruff voice of the brig's chief mate ordering the crew to make sailcaused them to surmise that a ship had just been sighted. The firstimpulse of the males in the party was to rush on deck, but CaptainStaunton immediately resumed his seat again and requested the others todo so likewise, pointing out that too eager a curiosity on their partsrespecting the movements of the brig would possibly only provokesuspicion and resentment against them in the breasts of the pirates, andthat there would be ample opportunity later on for them to see howmatters stood. They accordingly resumed the discussion upon which theyhad been engaged, but were shortly afterwards interrupted by theappearance of Johnson's steward, who descended the hatchway-ladderbearing a couple of boxes of cigars and a dozen sticks of excellenttobacco "with the cap'ns compliments."

  This afforded them an excellent opportunity for going on deck in athoroughly natural way; those who smoked accordingly cut up a quantityof the tobacco, and, filling their pipes, adjourned to the deck in abody for the purpose of enjoying their post-prandial smoke Johnson wasstanding aft near the man at the wheel, "with one eye aloft and theother in the binnacle." He looked fierce and excited; he took no noticewhatever of the party who had just made their appearance on deck, andhis features wore so forbidding an expression that it was at once patentto everybody that the best plan just then would be to leave him entirelyalone.

  The first thing which they noticed was that the brig had been kept awayoff her former course, and was now running to leeward, with the wind onher quarter. The canvas had been rapidly packed upon her, and she wasnow slipping very fast through the water, with topgallant, topmast, andlower studding-sails set to windward, and all the rest of her canvas,fore and aft as well as square, tugging at her like cart-horses. This,as it afterwards appeared, was her favourite point of sailing.

  That a sail was in sight was perfectly evident, but nothing could beseen of her from the deck, though the horizon was perfectly clear allround; it was therefore rather difficult at first to ascertain herwhereabouts. But it did not long remain so, for in about five minutesthe mate came on deck with his sextant in his hand, and suspending theinstrument very carefully from his neck by a piece of stout marline, heat once made his way up the main-riggi
ng, and finally settled himselfcomfortably in the cross-trees, facing aft, and bringing the telescopeof the sextant at once to bear upon an object which seemed to lie abouta couple of points on the lee quarter. The craft in sight musttherefore be _astern_ of the brig, and the mate's movements clearlyindicated that she was in chase, and that he was very anxious toascertain which ship gained upon the other.

  The instrument, apparently after being carefully adjusted, was removedfrom the mate's eye and suspended from the cross-trees in such a mannerthat it should not strike against the mast or any of the rigging withthe roll of the ship, and then the observer drew forth a pipe, which hefilled and proceeded to smoke with the greatest apparent calmness andcontentment.

  The pipe was at length finished, and then the smoker, with the samedeliberation which had characterised his former movements, once moreapplied the sextant to his eye.

  "Well," shouted Johnson, "what news of the stranger aloft there?"

  "Gaining on us, hand over fist," was the reply.

  "That'll do then; you may as well come down," snarled the pirateskipper. "Your staying perched up there, like an owl in an ivy bush,won't help us any; come down and make yourself useful, d'ye hear?"

  "Ay, ay," answered the mate, "I'm coming, boss." And he forthwithproceeded to descend the rigging in a careless nonchalant manner whichevidently drove his superior almost to the verge of frenzy.

  Half an hour passed, and then there appeared far away on the horizon, onthe brig's lee quarter, a tiny white speck, which steadily thoughimperceptibly increased in size until the snowy royals of a large shipstood fully revealed.

  This was about half-past three in the afternoon, at which time the windshowed signs of failing.

  By half-past four o'clock the stranger had risen her topgallant-sailsabove the horizon, and it could clearly be seen, even with the unaidedeye, that she had royal as well as topgallant studding-sails set, andthere could not be a shadow of doubt that she was after the brig.

  The spirits of our friends rose to such a high pitch of exultation atthis agreeable sight that they found it difficult to conceal theirdelight when Johnson, abandoning his post near the helmsman, joinedthem.

  "Well, strangers," he remarked with a grim smile, "there's a chance foryou yet, you see. That's one of them cursed frigates you was talkingabout this morning, colonel, but she's a tarnation sight smarter'n Igave any of 'em credit for being. I tell you, cap'n, if this had beenthe forenoon-watch instead of the first dog-watch it would have been allup with this brig. But now I don't feel quite so sorter anxious as Idid. I reckon that unless the breeze freshens, which it ain't going todo, it will take that craft till midnight to get alongside of us; and ifshe can do it then, why she's welcome to the brig and all aboard of her,curse me if she ain't. See them clouds gathering, away there to thenor'ard? That's a thunder-storm working up, but it won't break for somehours yet, I calculate, and them clouds is going to do me a good turnbefore that. I reckon you'll have to make up your minds to go toAlbatross Island yet, strangers."

  And he dived below to his cabin, evidently in an easier state of mindthan he had enjoyed an hour before.

  By six o'clock the frigate's topsails had risen more than half theirheight above the horizon, and when Lance, Captain Staunton, and Bowlesreturned to the deck after the evening meal, the waning light justenabled them to see the stranger's lower yards fairly clear of thewater. Before they lost sight of her altogether half her courses hadrisen into view.

  The night closed down very dark, there being no moon, and the sky wasentirely overspread with heavy black murky-looking thunder-clouds whichcompletely hid the stars. The wind, too, had dropped to such an extentthat an occasional ominous flap was heard from the canvas aloft, thoughthe brig still slid through the water at the rate of about four knots inthe hour.

  Johnson was in high spirits again. He sat aft near the taffrail,attentively watching the frigate through his night-glass long after shehad disappeared from the naked eye; and when it at last became difficultto make her out even with the aid of the glass, he would lay it down,rub his eyes, take half a dozen turns along the deck, then pick up theglass again and have another spell at it. Finally he turned to themate, who was standing near him, and tendering the glass, said--

  "There, take a look, Ben, and tell me if you can pick her out."

  The mate peered long and attentively through the telescope, moving itvery slowly about that part of the horizon where he knew the frigate tobe, but without success.

  "It's no go, boss," he said, "my eyes are pretty good, but they're notgood enough to see through such darkness as this."

  Johnson chuckled. "Do you think," said he, "it looks any lighter ahead?Would our sails show against that cloud-bank in the wake of the fore-mast?"

  "Not they," answered the mate confidently. "Why, it's darker, ifanything, ahead than it is astern."

  "That's so," agreed Johnson with another chuckle. "Now, what," hecontinued, "what do you think was the last thing the skipper of thatfrigate did before the darkness closed down?"

  "Well," said the mate, "if he knew his business, I should say he wouldtake our bearings."

  "And you may take your oath that's exactly what he _did_," returnedJohnson. "Now, take a look round and tell me what you think of theweather."

  "The weather?" repeated the mate; "why, a child almost could tell whatthe weather's going to be. We're going to have thunder, which willbring a northerly breeze along with it while it lasts."

  "Capital!" exclaimed Johnson. "Do you think, now, that the captain ofthat man-o'-war astern is of the same opinion as you and I are about theweather?"

  "He's certain to be if he's a seaman," was the reply.

  "Now, once more," proceeded Johnson, "supposing you thought of givingthe frigate the slip, as we might very easily do this dark night, whatcourse would you steer?"

  "I should steer to the nor'ard," answered the mate, "so as to be towind'ard when the change comes."

  "I knew it," exclaimed Johnson delightedly; "I was dead certain of it.Now, we're going to give that frigate the slip by steering to the_south'ard_; because her skipper will argue as you do, and when he findshe's lost the run of us, he'll haul up to the nor'ard directly. Now,just pass the word for the carpenter to bring along that water-cask Iordered him to rig up this afternoon."

  The word was passed, and in a minute or two three men came aft bearingwhat appeared to be a water-cask with a pole passed down through thebung-hole, and right out through the other side, about six feet of thepole projecting on each side of the cask. To one end of this pole waslashed a short light batten, and to the other end the men now proceededto secure a small pig of iron ballast. This done, the whole waslaunched overboard from the taffrail, the cask floating bung up, withhalf the pole and the light batten standing perpendicularly above itlike a mast. To the upper end of this batten was lashed an old hornlantern with a lighted candle in it, after which the whole apparatus wassuffered to go adrift.

  "Now, in stunsails, and brace sharp up on the port tack," orderedJohnson.

  This was soon done; and the brig now feeling the full strength of whatlittle wind there was, seemed to slip along through the water quite asfast as before.

  Johnson looked away out over the weather quarter to where the beacon-lantern glimmered in the intense darkness.

  "There," said he; "that'll perhaps help to mislead 'em a bit. They'lltake it for our binnacle-light, and'll keep straight on till they runover it. Then, finding we've played 'em a trick, they'll haul straightup to the nor'ard, thinking we've gone that way too, and we shall soonbe out of sight of one another."

  Johnson kept his gaze intently fixed upon the tiny light as long as itremained visible to the naked eye, and when it could no longer be seenin that fashion he deliberately set himself to watch it through hisnight-glass. More than an hour had elapsed since the cask had been sentadrift before he manifested any signs of emotion, but at length he beganto chuckle audibly--

  "Now they're
nearing it," he murmured, with his eye glued to the tube."I can see the craft clearly now; they've cast loose the guns and openedthe ports; I can see the light of the lanterns shining through 'em.She's creeping up to it pretty fast; but I guess we've walked away fromit quite a considerable distance too. There! Now they've run aboard ofthat tarnation old water-barrel; they know what 'tis by this time, and Ireckon the skipper of that frigate is ripping and tearing and cussingand going on till the air smells of brimstone for a quarter of a mileall round. Ah! just as I expected. They've hauled up to the nor'ard;her stern's towards us, for I can see the lights shining out of hercabin-windows; and now every minute 'll take us further apart. Waal,I'm glad I thought of laying for 'em with that old lantern; it'll sortertell 'em that we're having a good laugh at 'em; won't it, colonel?"turning to our friends and addressing Lance in high good-humour.

  "Doubtless you have succeeded in greatly provoking them, if that wasyour object," replied Lance; "but if I were in your place I don't thinkI should feel quite easy in my mind yet. If that thunder-storm whichhas been brewing for so long were to break, as it may do at any moment,the flash of the lightning would be certain to reveal your whereaboutsto them."

  "I reckon we'll have to take our chance of that," remarked Johnson in amore sober tone; "but let it keep dark half an hour longer, and I don'tcare how much it lightens after that. Ah, tarnation! look at that."

  This last ejaculation was provoked by the sudden illumination of thenorthern heavens by a brilliant flash of sheet lightning, which revealednot only every detail of the vast bank of murky clouds which lay heapedup, as it were, upon the horizon, but also distinctly showed the frigateon its very verge, still holding steadily northward, her hull and sailsstanding out sharply like a block of ebony against the faint bluishgleam of the electric light.

  Another flash soon followed, then another, and another, the flashesfollowing each other with increasing rapidity, to Johnson's manifestdiscomfiture; but, though he was evidently unaware of it, the brig wasso far perfectly safe from discovery; for the lightning continued toflash up only in the northern quarter, leaving the remainder of thehorizon veiled in impenetrable darkness; so that, though the frigate wasdistinctly revealed to the brig, the brig was completely hidden from thefrigate.

  The lightning, however, though it had not yet shown the brig'swhereabouts, had enabled those on board the frigate to ascertain thatshe was not ahead of them, as they had supposed, for when the next flashcame the man-o'-war was seen nearly broadside-on to the brig, andheading about south-west, her captain having evidently come to theconclusion that the _Albatross_, after setting her lure, had doubledback like a hare upon her former course.

  Johnson waited until another flash came, revealing the frigate stillupon the same course, and then he gave orders for his vessel to be keptaway, steering this time to the southward and eastward, or about atright angles to the course of the frigate. Ten minutes later the latterwas hull-down.

  "_Now_ we're safe!" ejaculated the pirate skipper delightedly. "Clew upand furl everything, lads, and be smart about it, for in another fiveminutes we'll have the lightning flashing all round us; but under barepoles I guess it'll take sharp eyes to pick us out."

  "Waal, colonel," he remarked to Lance, shortly afterwards, "I reckonthat was a narrer squeak for us, that was. If I'd been fool enough togo to the nor'ard, they'd have had us for sure. That's a right smartfrigate, that is; and I guess she's a Yankee. You Britishers don'tbuild such smart boats as that. After this I'm bound more'n ever tohave that schooner you promised to build for me, for I don't mind owningup that I began to feel skeered a bit when I saw how we was bein'catched up. Do you think, now, colonel, you could build a schooner thatwould have walked away from that frigate?"

  "Oh dear, yes!" answered Lance, "I am quite sure I could; only,remember, I must not be interfered with in any way. I cannot havepeople troubling me with suggestions, or, worse still, insisting upon mygrafting their ideas on to my own. The ship must be exclusively my owndesign, and then I can promise you we will turn out a craft capable, ifneed be, of running away from the fastest frigate that ever waslaunched."

  "All right, colonel; don't you trouble about that," was the reply."Only say what you want, and it shall be done; and if anybody tries tointerfere with you, just point 'em out to me, that's all."

  "Very well," returned Lance. "Then I shall consider that a bargain; andnow I will wish you good-night, as I think there will be rain shortly,and I've no particular fancy for a drenching unless it comes in the wayof duty."

  The following morning dawned bright and fair, the thunder-storm of thepreceding night having broken and raged furiously for a couple of hourssoon after our friends left the deck, and then cleared completely away.When Captain Staunton went on deck he found a fine breeze blowing oncemore from the westward, and the brig dashing along at a slashing paceunder topgallant-sails, with her nose pointing to the northward. Theair was clear and transparent; not a cloud flecked the deep blue of thesky overhead; and a man, who had shinned aloft at Johnson's orders asfar as the main truck, was just in the act of reporting that there wasnothing anywhere in sight. So that any lingering hopes which CaptainStaunton may have entertained as to the possibility of the frigaterediscovering them were speedily dashed to the ground.

  The fine weather lasted; and three days afterwards, about two o'clock inthe afternoon, the look-out aloft reported, "Land ho! right ahead!"

  "What is it like?" hailed Johnson from his seat on the skylight.

  "It's Look-out Peak, sir; I can make out the shape of it quite well."

  "That's all right," returned Johnson. "Stay where you are, and let meknow if you see anything like a signal."

  In a couple of hours more the land was distinctly visible from the deck,the peak spoken of as "Look-out Peak" appearing first, and then the landon each side of it, rising gradually above the ocean's brim until it laystretched along the horizon for a length of some half a dozen miles. Asthey drew in towards the island, our friends (all of whom, excepting theladies, were on deck) half expected to be sent below in order that theymight not become acquainted with the navigation of the harbour-entrance;but this idea did not appear to have presented itself to Johnson, who,on the contrary, joined the group, and began chatting with them in whatwas evidently meant to be understood as an affable manner.

  When they had approached within a mile of the place, the pirate skipperturned to Lance and asked him what he thought of the harbour, andwhether he believed he could make it tolerably safe with a dozen guns orso.

  "Harbour!" answered Lance, "I see no harbour,--no sign even of one onthat part of the coast which we are now approaching. I can distinguishnothing but a rocky shore, against which the surf is breaking heavilyenough to dash to pieces the strongest ship that was ever built.Perhaps the harbour lies somewhere beyond that low rocky point whichforms the western extremity of the island? But if so, why not steerdirectly for it?"

  "The entrance to the harbour is exactly in line with our jib-boom-endjust now," explained Johnson in high good-humour; "but I guess you wouldnever know it unless you was told; would you, colonel?"

  "That indeed I should not," answered Lance; "and even now I scarcelyknow how to believe you."

  Lance might well say so, for the whole coast-line in front of thempresented an apparently unbroken face of rocky cliffs of variousheights, from about thirty to two hundred feet, backed by grassy slopesthickly dotted with dense clumps of trees of various kinds, many ofwhich glowed with the most brilliant tints from the flowers with whichthey were loaded. Immediately ahead, where Johnson had said theentrance to the harbour lay, a great irregular mass of low jagged rocksprojected slightly beyond the general face-line of the cliffs, andbehind it was a gap which had the appearance of being caused by theprojecting mass of rock having at some remote period broken away andslipped into the sea. The brig, however, continued to stand on boldly,and when she had arrived within about three cables'-lengths of theshore, it became apparent that
the large mass of rock ahead, or ratheron the lee bow by this time, the brig having luffed a trifle, wasentirely detached from the island, leaving a narrow channel of waterbetween it and the cliffs behind it. But it was not until the brig hadactually borne away to enter this channel that the entrance to theharbour revealed itself. Then indeed it was seen that the cliff behind,instead of preserving an unbroken face, curved inwards in the form of acove, the eastern and western arms of which consisted of two projectingreefs jutting out toward the mass of rock in front of them, which in itsturn now revealed its true shape, which was that of a crescent, thehorns of which overlapped the two projecting reefs forming the easternand western sides of the harbour-entrance, and acted as a perfectnatural breakwater, effectually protecting the harbour itself in allweathers.

  Winding her way through the short narrow channel between the rock andthe cliffs, the brig hauled sharply round the western point and shotinto the cove or harbour itself, which consisted of an irregularly-shaped expanse of water some two hundred acres in extent. At theentrance the rocks on both sides sloped steeply down into the deep bluewater; but further in they were fringed along their bases by a beautifulwhite sandy beach which widened as it approached the bottom of the bay,the land on each side sloping more gradually down to the water, andfinally spreading out, where the water ceased, into a broad and lovelyvalley which stretched inland some three miles, rising gradually as itreceded until it became lost among a group of hills which formed thebackground of the picture.

  At anchor in the bay were three hulks, no doubt the three prizes spokenof by Johnson as destined to be broken up for the building of the newcraft; and on the grassy plateau at the bottom of the bay and close tothe beach stood two large buildings and some half a dozen smaller ones,all constructed of wood. Behind these, a plot of ground, some two acresin extent, was fenced in to form a garden, and a very fruitful one itproved too, if one might judge by the luxuriant growth apparent in itsvarious products. Corn of two or three kinds waved on the easternslopes, half a dozen head of cattle and perhaps a couple of dozen sheepgrazed on the opposite side of the valley; cocoa-nuts reared their tallslender stems and waved their feathery branches by hundreds, and behindthem again as the ground sloped gently upward it became more and moredensely covered with palm, banana, and plantain groves thicklyinterspersed with various trees, some of considerable size and densefoliage, among which brilliant orchids and gaudy parasites of the gayesthues entwined themselves to the very summits.

  A light gig shot alongside the brig as her anchor was let go, and a tallswarthy man with the unmistakable classic features of a Greek stepped onboard. He would have been a strikingly handsome man but for theexpression of cunning and cruelty which glittered in his keen blackeyes.

  "Well, capitan," said he to Johnson as he joined the pirate skipper, "soyou have returned once more, and with a full hold, I hope. The peoplebegan to think you were gone for good, you have been away so long time."

  "Yes," returned Johnson, "back again, Alec, like a bad penny; and we'venot brought so _very_ much with us, either; but the little we have 'llbe useful, I daresay. The brig don't seem to sail so well as she usedto, and we fell in with over half a dozen fine craft that we couldn'tget near. They just walked away from us like we was at anchor. We'vecome in now to give the old hooker an overhaul--she wants it badlyenough--and then I think I shall try my luck further to the east'ard,away on t'other side of the Cape altogether. But if we haven't broughta whole ship-load of plunder, I guess we've brought what's most as good.We picked up boat-load of shipwrecked people, and among 'em there'sone--that tall soldier-looking chap over there on the larboard side ofthe skylight--who says he can fortify the place for us, and build us outof these old hulks a craft that 'll beat anything we're likely to meet,'cepting perhaps steamers."

  "_Says_!" ejaculated the Greek contemptuously.

  "Ay, and he can do it too," remarked Johnson. "He's one of them Englishsoldiers who does all the battery-building and fortifying business, andhe has a yacht which he designed himself, and which sails so fast thathe didn't think the brig's sailing amounted to shucks. I tell you,Alec, the way he talked about that yacht jest set me a longing, it did,sure as you're there. Now, I'm going to leave 'em here with you when Isail next time. They'll fortify the harbour so's it'll be safe if anyof them sneakin' men-o'-war comes pryin' about--and we was as near tookby one of 'em a few nights ago--as near as near--and they'll build us aregular flyer of a schooner, on condition that they're properly treated;so as long as the work's about I want you to act amiable to 'em, andafter we've got all the help out of 'em that we want, I don't care whatcomes to 'em. They've got some women with 'em--worst luck--and theyseem mighty particular about 'em, so I hope you'll see that the galsdon't come to any harm. You see, Alec, my boy, we _must_ be civil to'em if we want 'em to do their best for us; but after they've done theirwork you can have your own way with the whole lot."

  The Greek (whose name, by the way, was Alessandro Ralli) listened to hischief in sullen silence, and when Johnson had finished speaking beckonedhim to follow him down into the cabin.

  These worthies had been standing during this short conversation just atthe foot of the main-mast, and seemed to be either oblivious of orindifferent to the fact that a seaman was just over their heads stowingthe driver, and near enough to hear every word that passed. Theindividual referred to had been taking his time--a good deal of it too--over his task, but no sooner were the skipper and the Greek fairly outof sight down the companion than, with a few dexterous movements, herapidly passed the last turns of the lashing and slid down on deck.

  It was our old friend Bob.