Jack Tier; Or, The Florida Reef

by James Fenimore Cooper

  CHAPTER IV.

  But no--he surely is not dreaming. Another minute makes it clear, A scream, a rush, a burning tear, From Inez’ cheek, dispel the fear That bliss like his is only seeming.

  Washington Alston.

  A moment of appalled surprise succeeded the instant when Harry and Rosefirst ascertained the real character of the vessel that had entered thehaven of the Dry Tortugas. Then the first turned toward Jack Tier, andsternly demanded an explanation of his apparent faithlessness.

  “Rascal,” he cried, “has this treachery been intended? Did you not seethe brig and know her?”

  “Hush, Harry--_dear_ Harry,” exclaimed Rose, entreatingly. “My life forit, Jack has _not_ been faithless.”

  “Why, then, has he not let us know that the brig was coming? For morethan an hour has he been aloft, on the look-out, and here are we takenquite by surprise. Rely on it, Rose, he has seen the approach of thebrig, and might have sooner put us on our guard.”

  “Ay, ay, lay it on, maty,” said Jack, coolly, neither angry normortified, so far as appearances went, at these expressions ofdissatisfaction; “my back is used to it. If I did n’t know what it is toget hard raps on the knuckles, I should be but a young steward. But, asfor this business, a little reflection will tell you I am not to blame.”

  “Give us your own explanations, for without them I shall trust you nolonger.”

  “Well, sir, what good would it have done, _had_ I told you the brig wasstanding for this place? There she came down, like a race-horse, andescape for you was impossible. As the wind is now blowin’, the Mollywould go two feet to the boat’s one, and a chase would have beenmadness.”

  “I don’t know that, sirrah” answered the mate. “The boat might have gotinto the smaller passages of the reef, where the brig could not enter,or she might have dodged about among these islets, until it was night,and then escaped in the darkness.”

  “I thought of all that, Mr. Mulford, but it came too late. When I firstwent aloft, I came out on the north-west side of the lantern, and tookmy seat, to look out for the sloop-of-war, as you bade me, sir. Well,there I was sweepin’ the horizon with the glass for the better part ofan hour, sometimes fancyin’ I saw her, and then givin’ it up; forto this moment I am not sartain there is n’t a sail off here to thewestward, turning up toward the light on a bowline; but if there be,she’s too far off to know anything partic’lar about her. Well, sir,there I sat, looking for the Poughkeepsie, for the better part of anhour, when I thought I would go round on t’ other side of the lanternand take a look to windward. My heart was in my mouth, I can tell you,Miss Rose, when I saw the brig; and I felt both glad and sorry. Glad onmy own account, and sorry on your’n. There she was, however, and no helpfor it, within two miles of this very spot, and coming down as if shedespised touching the water at all. Now, what could I do? There was n’ttime, Mr. Mulford, to get the boat out, and the mast stepped, afore weshould have been within reach of canister, and Stephen Spike would nothave spared _that,_ in order to get you again within his power.”

  “Depend on it, Harry, this is all true,” said Rose, earnestly. “I knowJack well, and can answer for his fidelity. He wishes to, and if he canhe _will_ return to the brig, whither he thinks his duty calls him, buthe will never willingly betray _us_--least of all, _me_. Do I speak as Iought, Jack?”

  “Gospel truth, Miss Rose, and Mr. Mulford will get over this squall,as soon as he comes to think of matters as he ought. There ‘s my hand,maty, to show I bear no malice.”

  “I take it, Jack, for I must believe you honest, after all you have donefor us. Excuse my warmth, which, if a little unreasonable, was somewhatnatural under the circumstances. I suppose our case is now hopeless, andthat we shall all be soon on board the brig again; for Spike will hardlythink of abandoning me again on an island provisioned and fitted as isthis!”

  “It’s not so sartain, sir, that you fall into his hands at all,” putin Jack. “The men of the brig will never come here of their own accord,depend on that, for sailors don’t like graves. Spike has come in herea’ter the schooner’s chain, that he dropped into the water when he madesail from the sloop-of-war, at the time he was here afore, and is notexpectin’ to find us here. No--no--he thinks we are beatin’ up towardKey West this very minute, if, indeed, he has missed us at all. ‘T ispossible he believes the boat has got adrift by accident, and has nothought of our bein’ out of the brig.”

  “That is impossible, Jack. Do you suppose he is ignorant that Rose ismissing?”

  “Sartain of it, maty, if Mrs. Budd has read the letter well that MissRose left for her, and Biddy has obeyed orders. If they’ve followedinstructions, Miss Rose is thought to be in her state-room, mournin’ fora young man who was abandoned on a naked rock, and Jack Tier, havin’ eatsomethin’ that has disagreed with him, is in his berth. Recollect, Spikewill not be apt to look into Miss Rose’s state-room or my berth, to seeif all this is true. The cook and Josh are both in my secret, and knowI mean to come back, and when the fit is over I have only to return toduty, like any other hand. It is my calculation that Spike believes bothMiss Rose and myself on board the Molly at this very moment.”

  “And the boat--what can he suppose has become of the boat?”

  “Sartainly, the boat makes the only chance ag’in us. But the boat wasridin’ by its painter astarn, and accidents sometimes happen to suchcraft. Then we two are the wery last he will suspect of havin’ made offin the boat by ourselves. There’ll be Mrs. Budd and Biddy as a sortof pledge that Miss Rose is aboard, and as for Jack Tier, he is tooinsignificant to occupy the captain’s thoughts just now. He willprobably muster the people for’ard, when he finds the boat is gone, butI do not think he’ll trouble the cabins or state-rooms.”

  Mulford admitted that this was _possible,_ though it scarcely seemedprobable to him. There was no help, however, for the actual state ofthings, and they all now turned their attention to the brig, and to themovements of those on board her. Jack Tier had swung-to the outer-doorof the house, as soon as the Swash came in view through it, andfortunately none of the windows on that side of the building had beenopened at all. The air entered to windward, which was on the rear of thedwelling, so that it was possible to be comfortable and yet leave thefront, in view from the vessel, with its deserted air. As for the brig,she had already anchored and got both her boats into the water. Theyawl was hauled alongside, in readiness for any service that mightbe required of it, while the launch had been manned at once, and wasalready weighing the anchor, and securing the chain to which Tier hadalluded. All this served very much to lessen the uneasiness of Mulfordand Rose, as it went far to prove that Spike had not come to theDry Tortugas in quest of them, as, at first, both had very naturallysupposed. It might, indeed, turn out that his sole object was to obtainthis anchor and chain, with a view to use them in raising the ill-fatedvessel that had now twice gone to the bottom.

  “I wish an explanation with you, Jack, on one other point,” said themate, after all three had been for sometime observing the movements onboard and around the Swash. “Do you actually intend to get on board thebrig?”

  “If it’s to be done, maty. My v’y’ge is up with you and Miss Rose. Imay be said to have shipped for Key West and a market, and the market’sfound at this port.”

  “You will hardly leave us _yet,_ Jack,” said Rose, with a manner andemphasis that did not fail to strike her betrothed lover, though hecould in no way account for either. That Rose should not wish to beleft alone with him in that solitary place was natural enough; or, mightrather be referred to education and the peculiar notions of her sex; buthe could not understand why so much importance should be attached tothe presence of a being of Jack Tier’s mould and character. It wastrue, that there was little choice, under present circumstances, butit occurred to Mulford that Rose had manifested the same strangepredilection when there might have been something nearer to a selection.The moment, however, was not one for much reflection on the subject.

  “
You will hardly leave us yet, Jack?” said Rose, in the manner related.

  “It’s now or never, Miss Rose. If the brig once gets away from thisanchorage without me, I may never lay eyes on her ag’in. Her time isnearly up, for wood and iron wont hold together always, any more thanflesh and blood. Consider how many years I’ve been busy in huntin’ herup, and how hard ‘t will be to lose that which has given me so manyweary days and sleepless nights to find.”

  Rose said no more. If not convinced, she was evidently silenced, whileHarry was left to wonder and surmise, as best he might. Both quitted thesubject, to watch the people of the brig. By this time the anchor hadbeen lifted, and the chain was heaving in on board the vessel, by meansof a line that had been got around its bight. The work went on rapidly,and Mulford observed to Rose that he did not think it was the intentionof Spike to remain long at the Tortugas, inasmuch as his brig was ridingby a very short range of cable. This opinion was confirmed, half an hourlater, when it was seen that the launch was hooked on and hoisted inagain, as soon as the chain and anchor of the schooner were secured.

  Jack Tier watched every movement with palpable uneasiness. Hisapprehensions that Spike would obtain all he wanted, and be off beforehe could rejoin him, increased at each instant, and he did not scrupleto announce an intention to take the boat and go alongside of the Swashat every hazard, rather than be left.

  “You do not reflect on what you say, Jack,” answered Harry; “unless,indeed, it be your intention to betray us. How could you appear in theboat, at this place, without letting it be known that we must be hardby?”

  “That don’t follow at all, maty,” answered Jack. “Suppose I go alongsidethe brig and own to the captain that I took the boat last night, withthe hope of findin’ you, and that failin’ to succeed, I bore up for thisport, to look for provisions and water. Miss Rose he thinks on board atthis moment, and in my judgment he would take me at my word, give me agood cursing, and think no more about it.”

  “It would never do, Jack,” interposed Rose, instantly. “It would causethe destruction of Harry, as Spike would not believe you had not foundhim, without an examination of this house.”

  “What are they about with the yawl, Mr. Mulford?” asked Jack, whose eyewas never off the vessel for a single moment. “It’s gettin’ to be sodark that one can hardly see the boat, but it seems as if they’re aboutto man the yawl.”

  “They are, and there goes a lantern into it. And that is Spike himselfcoming down the brig’s side this instant.”

  “They can only bring a lantern to search this house,” exclaimed Rose.“Oh! Harry, you are lost!”

  “I rather think the lantern is for the light-house,” answered Mulford,whose coolness, at what was certainly a most trying moment, did notdesert him. “Spike may wish to keep the light burning, for once before,you will remember, he had it kindled after the keeper was removed. Asfor his sailing, he would not be apt to sail until the moon rises; andin beating back to the wreck the light may serve to let him know thebearings and position of the reef.”

  “There they come,” whispered Rose, half breathless with alarm. “The boathas left the brig, and is coming directly hither!”

  All this was true enough. The yawl had shoved off, and with two men torow it, was pulling for the wharf in front of the house, and among thetimbers of which lay the boat, pretty well concealed beneath a sort ofbridge. Mulford would not retreat, though he looked to the fasteningsof the door as a means of increasing his chances of defence. Inthe stern-sheets of the boat sat two men, though it was not easy toascertain who they were by the fading light. One was known to beSpike, however, and the other, it was conjectured, must be Don JuanMontefalderon, from the circumstance of his being in the place ofhonour. Three minutes solved this question, the boat reaching the wharfby that time. It was instantly secured, and all four of the men left it.Spike was now plainly to be discerned by means of the lantern whichhe carried in his own hands, He gave some orders, in his customaryauthoritative way, and in a high key, after which he led the way fromthe wharf, walking side by side with the Señor Montefalderon. These twolast came up within a yard of the door of the house, where they paused,enabling those within not only to see their persons and the working oftheir countenances, but to hear all that was said; this last the moreespecially, since Spike never thought it necessary to keep his powerfulvoice within moderate limits.

  “It’s hardly worth while, Don Wan, for you to go into the light-house,” said Spike. “‘T is but a greasy, dirty place at the best, and one’sclothes are never the better for dealin’ with ile. Here, Bill, take thelantern, and get a filled can, that we may go up and trim and fill thelamp, and make a blaze. Bear a hand, lads, and I’ll be a’ter ye aforeyou reach the lantern. Be careful with the flame about the ile, forseamen ought never to wish to see a lighthouse destroyed.”

  “What do you expect to gain by lighting the lamps above, Don Esteban?” demanded the Mexican, when the sailors had disappeared in thelight-house, taking their own lantern with them.

  “It’s wisest to keep things reg’lar about this spot, Don Wan, which willprevent unnecessary suspicions. But, as the brig stretches in toward thereef to-night, on our way back, the light will be a great assistance. Iam short of officers, you know, and want all the help of this sort I canget.”

  “To be sincere with you, Don Esteban, I greatly regret you _are_ soshort of officers, and do not yet despair of inducing you to go and takeoff the mate, whom I hear you have left on a barren rock. He was a fineyoung fellow, Señor Spike, and the deed was not one that you will wishto remember a few years hence.”

  “The fellow run, and I took him at his word, Don Wan. I’m not obliged toreceive back a deserter unless it suits me.”

  “We are all obliged to see we do not cause a fellow creature the lossof life. This will prove the death of the charming young woman who is somuch attached to him, unless you relent and are merciful!”

  “Women have tender looks but tough hearts,” answered Spike, carelessly,though Mulford felt certain, by the tone of his voice, that greatbitterness of feeling lay smothered beneath the affected indifference ofhis manner; “few die of love.”

  “The young lady has not been on deck all day; and the Irish woman tellsme that she does nothing but drink water--the certain proof of a highfever.”

  “Ay, ay, she keeps her room if you will, Don Wan, but she is not aboutto make a dupe of me by any such tricks. I must go and look to thelamps, however, and you will find the graves you seek in the rear ofthis house, about thirty yards behind it, you’ll remember. That’s a verypretty cross you’ve made, señor, and the skipper of the schooner’s soulwill be all the better for settin’ it up at the head of his grave.”

  “It will serve to let those who come after us know that a Christiansleeps beneath the sand, Don Esteban,” answered the Mexican, mildly. “Ihave no other expectation from this sacred symbol.”

  The two now separated, Spike going into the light-house, little in ahurry, while Don Juan Montefalderon walked round the building to itsrear in quest of the grave. Mulford waited a moment for Spike to get ashort distance up the stairs of the high tower he had to ascend, whenplacing the arm of Rose within his own, he opened the door in therear of the house, and walked boldly toward the Mexican. Don Juan wasactually forcing the pointed end of his little cross into the sand,at the head of his countryman’s grave, when Mulford and his tremblingcompanion reached the spot. Although night had shut in, it was not sodark that persons could not be recognised at small distances. The SeñorMontefalderon was startled at an apparition so sudden and unexpected,when Mulford saluted him by name; but recognising first the voice ofHarry, and then the persons of himself and his companion,surprise, rather than alarm, became the emotion that was uppermost.Notwithstanding the strength of the first of these feelings, heinstantly saluted the young couple with the polished ease that markedhis manner, which had much of the courtesy of a Castilian in it,tempered a little, perhaps, by the greater flexibility of a SouthernA
merican.

  “I _see_ you,” exclaimed Don Juan, “and must believe my eyes. Withouttheir evidence, however, I could scarce believe it can be you two, oneof whom I thought on board the brig, and the other suffering a mostmiserable death on a naked rock.”

  “I am aware of your kind feelings in our behalf, Don Juan,” saidMulford, “and it is the reason I now confide in you. I was taken offthat rock by means of the boat, which you doubtless have missed; andthis is the gentle being who has been the means of saving my life. Toher and Jack Tier, who is yonder, under the shadows of the house, I owemy not being the victim of Spike’s cruelty.”

  “I now comprehend the whole matter, Don Henriquez. Jack Tier has managedthe boat for the señorita; and those whom we were told were too ill tobe seen on deck, have been really out of the brig!”

  “Such are the facts, señor, and from _you_ there is no wish to concealthem. We are then to understand that the absence of Rose and Jack fromthe brig is not known to Spike.”

  “I believe not, señor. He has alluded to both, once or twice to-day, asbeing ill below; but would you not do well to retire within the shade ofthe dwelling, lest a glance from the lantern might let those in it knowthat I am not alone.”

  “There is little danger, Don Juan, as they who stand near a light cannotwell see those who are in the darkness. Beside, they are high in theair, while we are on the ground, which will greatly add to the obscuritydown here. We can retire, nevertheless, as I have a few questions toask, which may as well be put in perfect security, as put where there isany risk.”

  The three now drew near the house, Rose actually stepping within itsdoor, though Harry remained on its exterior, in order to watch theproceedings of those in the light-house. Here the Señor Montefalderonentered into a more detailed explanation of what had occurred on boardthe brig, since the appearance of day, that very morning. According tohis account of the matter, Spike had immediately called upon the peopleto explain the loss of the boat. Tier was not interrogated on thisoccasion, it being understood he had gone below and turned in, afterhaving the look-out for fully half the night. As no one could, or would,give an account of the manner in which the boat was missing, Josh wasordered to go below and question Jack on the subject. Whether it wasfrom consciousness of his connection with the escape of Jack, andapprehensions of the consequences, or from innate good-nature, anda desire to befriend the lovers, this black now admitted that Jackconfessed to him that the boat had got away from him while endeavouringto shift the turns of its painter from a cleet where they ought notto be, to their proper place. This occurred early in Jack’s watch,according to Josh’s story, and had not been reported, as the boat didnot properly belong to the brig, and was an incumbrance rather than anadvantage. The mate admired the negro’s cunning, as Don Juan relatedthis part of his story, which put him in a situation to throw all theblame on Jack’s mendacity in the event of a discovery, while it had theeffect to allow the fugitives more time for their escape. The resultwas, that Spike bestowed a few hearty curses, as usual, on theclumsiness of Jack Tier, and seemed to forget all about the matter. Itis probable he connected Jack’s abstaining from showing himself on deck,and his alleged indisposition, with his supposed delinquency in thismatter of the boat. From that moment the captain appeared to givehimself no further concern on the subject, the boat having been, intruth, an incumbrance rather than a benefit, as stated.

  As for Rose, her keeping her room, under the circumstances, was so verynatural, that the Señor Montefalderon had been completely deceived, as,from his tranquillity on this point, there was no question was the casewith Spike also. Biddy appeared on deck, though the widow did not, andthe Irish woman shook her head anxiously when questioned about her youngmistress, giving the spectators reason to suppose that the latter was ina very bad way.

  As respects the brig and her movements, Spike had got under way as soonas there was light enough to find his course, and had run through thepassage. It is probable that the boat was seen; for something that wastaken for a small sail had just been made out for a single instant, andthen became lost again. This little sail was made, if made at all, inthe direction of the Dry Tortugas, but so completely was all suspicionat rest in the minds of those on the quarter-deck of the Swash, thatneither Spike nor the Mexican had the least idea what it was. Whenthe circumstance was reported to the former, he answered that it wasprobably some small wrecker, of which many were hovering about the reef,and added, laughingly, though in a way to prove how little he thoughtseriously on the subject at all, “who knows but the light-house boat hasfallen into their hands, and that they’ve made sail on _her;_ if theyhave, my word for it, that she goes, hull, spars, rigging, canvas, andcargo, all in a lump, for salvage.”

  As the brig came out of the passage, in broad day, the heads of theschooner’s masts were seen, as a matter of course. This induced Spike toheave-to, lower a boat, and to go in person to examine the conditionof the wreck. It will be seen that Jack’s presence could now be all thebetter dispensed with. The examination, with the soundings, and othercalculations connected with raising the vessel, occupied hours. Whenthey were completed, Spike returned on board, run up his boat, andsquared away for the Dry Tortugas. Señor Montefalderon confirmed thejustice of Jack Tier’s surmises, as to the object of this unexpectedvisit. The brig had come solely for the chain and anchor mentioned, andhaving secured them, it was Spike’s intention to get under way and beatup to the wreck again as soon as the moon rose. As for the sloop-of-war,he believed she had given him up; for by this time she must know thatshe had no chance with the brig, so long as the latter kept near thereef, and that she ran the constant hazard of shipwreck, while playingso near the dangers herself.

  Before the Señor Montefalderon exhausted all he had to communicate, hewas interrupted by Jack Tier with a singular proposition. Jack’s greatdesire was to get on board the Swash; and he now begged the Mexican tolet Mulford take the yawl and scull him off to the brig, and returnto the islet before Spike and his companions should descend fromthe lantern of the light-house. The little fellow insisted there wassufficient time for such a purpose, as the three in the lantern hadnot yet succeeded in filling the lamps with the oil necessary to theirburning for a night--a duty that usually occupied the regular keeper foran hour. Five or six minutes would suffice for him; and if he were seengoing up the brig’s side, it would be easy for him to maintain that hehad come ashore in the boat. No one took such precise note of what wasgoing on; as to be able to contradict him; and as to Spike and the menwith him, they would probably never hear anything about it.

  Don Juan Montefalderon was struck with the boldness of Jack Tier’splan, but refused his assent to it. He deemed it too hazardous, butsubstituted a project of his own. The moon would not rise until neareleven, and it wanted several hours before the time of sailing. Whenthey returned to the brig, he would procure his cloak, and scull himselfashore, being perfectly used to managing a boat in this way, underthe pretence of wishing to pass an hour longer near the grave of hiscountryman. At the expiration of that hour he would take Jack off,concealed beneath his cloak--an exploit of no great difficulty inthe darkness, especially as no one would be on deck but a hand or twokeeping the anchor-watch. With this arrangement, therefore, Jack Tierwas obliged to be content.

  Some fifteen or twenty minutes more passed; during which the Mexicanagain alluded to his country, and his regrets at her deplorablesituation. The battles of the 8th and 9th of May; two combats that oughtto, and which will reflect high honour on the little army that won them,as well as on that hardly worked, and in some respects hardly used,service to which they belong, had been just fought. Don Juan mentionedthese events without reserve; and frankly admitted that success hadfallen to the portion of much the weaker party. He ascribed the victoryto the great superiority of the American officers of inferior rank; itbeing well known that in the service of the “Republic of the North,” ashe termed America, men who had been regularly educated at the militaryacademy, and who had reached the p
eriod of middle life, were serving inthe stations of captains, and sometimes in that of lieutenants; men who,in many cases, were fitted to command regiments and brigades, havingbeen kept in these lower stations by the tardiness with which promotioncomes in an army like that of this country.

  Don Juan Montefalderon was not sufficiently conversant with the subject,perhaps, else he might have added, that when occasions _do_ offerto bestow on these gentlemen the preferment they have so hardly andpatiently earned, they are too often neglected, in order to extend thecircle of vulgar political patronage. He did not know that when a newregiment of dragoons was raised, one permanent in its character, andintended to be identified with the army in all future time, that,instead of giving its commissions to those who had fairly earned them bylong privations and faithful service, they were given, with one or twoexceptions, to strangers.

  No government trifles more with its army and navy than our own. Soniggardly are the master-spirits at Washington of the honours justlyearned by military men, that we have fleets still commanded by captains,and armies by officers whose regular duty it would be to commandbrigades. The world is edified with the sight of forces sufficient, innumbers, and every other military requisite, to make one of Napoleon’s_corps de armée,_ led by one whose commission would place him properlyat the head of a brigade, and nobly led, too. Here, when so favourablean occasion offers to add a regiment or two to the old permanent lineof the army, and thus infuse new life into its hope deferred, theopportunity is overlooked, and the rank and file are to be obtainedby cramming, instead of by a generous regard to the interests of thegallant gentlemen who have done so much for the honour of the Americanname, and, unhappily, so little for themselves. The extra-patriots ofthe nation, and they form a legion large enough to trample the “Halls ofthe Montezumas” under their feet, tell us that the reward of those otherpatriots beneath the shadows of the Sierra Madre, is to be in the loveand approbation of their fellow citizens, at the very moment when theyare giving the palpable proof of the value of this esteem, and of theinconstancy of popular applause, by pointing their fingers, on accountof an inadvertent expression in a letter, at the gallant soldier whotaught, in our own times, the troops of this country to stand up to thebest appointed regiments of England, and to carry off victory from thepride of Europe, in fair field-fights. Alas! alas! it is true of nationsas well as of men, in their simplest and earliest forms of association,that there are “secrets in all families;” and it will no more do todwell on our own, than it would edify us to expose those of poor Mexico.

  The discourse between the Señor Montefalderon and Mulford wasinteresting, as it ever has been when the former spoke of hisunfortunate country. On the subject of the battles of May he was candid,and admitted his deep mortification and regrets. He had expected morefrom the force collected on the Rio Grande, though, understanding thenorthern character better than most of his countrymen, he had not beenas much taken by surprise as the great bulk of his own nation.

  “Nevertheless, Don Henrique,” he concluded, for the voice of Spike wasjust then heard as he was descending the stairs of the light-house,“nevertheless, Don Henrique, there is one thing that your people, brave,energetic, and powerful as I acknowledge them to be, would do well toremember, and it is this--no nation of the numbers of ours can be, orever was conquered, unless by the force of political combinations. Ina certain state of society a government may be overturned, or a capitaltaken, and carry a whole country along with it, but our condition is onenot likely to bring about such a result. We are of a race different fromthe Anglo-Saxon, and it will not be easy either to assimilate us to yourown, or wholly to subdue us. In those parts of the country, wherethe population is small, in time, no doubt, the Spanish race might beabsorbed, and your sway established; but ages of war would be necessaryentirely to obliterate our usages, our language, and our religion fromthe peopled portions of Mexico.”

  It might be well for some among us to reflect on these matters.The opinions of Don Juan, in our judgment, being entitled to theconsideration of all prudent and considerate men.

  As Spike descended to the door of the light-house, Harry, Rose, and JackTier retired within that of the dwelling. Presently the voice of thecaptain was heard hailing the Mexican, and together they walked to thewharf, the former boasting to the latter of his success in making abrilliant light. Brilliant it was, indeed; so brilliant as to giveMulford many misgivings on the subject of the boat. The light from thelantern fell upon the wharf, and he could see the boat from the windowwhere he stood, with Spike standing nearly over it, waiting for the mento get his own yawl ready. It is true, the captain’s back was toward thedangerous object, and the planks of the bridge were partly between himand it; but there was a serious danger that was solely averted by thecircumstance that Spike was so earnestly dilating on some subject to DonJuan, as to look only at that gentleman’s face. A minute later they wereall in the yawl, which pulled rapidly toward the brig.

  Don Juan Montefalderon was not long absent. Ten minutes sufficed for theboat to reach the Swash, for him to obtain his cloak, and to return tothe islet alone, no one in the vessel feeling a desire to interfere withhis imaginary prayers. As for the people, it was not probable that onein the brig could have been induced to accompany him to the gravesat that hour; though everybody but Josh had turned-in, as he informedMulford, to catch short naps previously to the hour of getting the brigunder way. As for the steward, he had been placed on the look-out asthe greatest idler on board. All this was exceedingly favourable to JackTier’s project, since Josh was already in the secret of his absence, andwould not be likely to betray his return. After a brief consultation, itwas agreed to wait half an hour or an hour, in order to let the sleeperslose all consciousness, when Don Juan proposed returning to the vesselwith his new companion.

  The thirty or forty minutes that succeeded were passed in generalconversation. On this occasion the Señor Montefalderon spoke more freelythan he had yet done of recent events. He let it be plainly seen howmuch he despised Spike, and how irksome to him was the intercourse hewas obliged to maintain, and to which he only submitted through a senseof duty. The money known to be in the schooner, was of a larger amountthan had been supposed; and every dollar was so important to Mexico, atthat moment, that he did not like to abandon it, else, did he declare,that he would quit the brig at once, and share in the fortunes of Harryand Rose. He courteously expressed his best wishes for the happinessof the young couple, and delicately intimated that, under thecircumstances, he supposed that they would be united as soon as theycould reach a place where the marriage rite could be celebrated. Thiswas said in the most judicious way possible; so delicately as not towound any one’s feelings, and in a way to cause it to resemble theannouncement of an expectation, rather than the piece of paternaladvice for which it was really intended. Harry was delighted with thissuggestion of his Mexican friend--the most loyal American may still havea sincere friend of Mexican birth and Mexican feelings, too--since itfavoured not only his secret wishes, but his secret expectations also.

  At the appointed moment, Don Juan Montefalderon and Jack Tier took theirleave of the two they left behind them. Rose manifested what to Harryseemed a strange reluctance to part with the little steward; but Tierwas bent on profiting by this excellent opportunity to get back to thebrig. They went, accordingly, and the anxious listeners, who watched theslightest movement of the yawl, from the shore, had reason to believethat Jack was smuggled in without detection. They heard the familiarsound of the oar falling in the boat, and Mulford said that Josh’s voicemight be distinguished, answering to a call from Don Juan. No noiseor clamour was heard, such as Spike would certainly have made, had hedetected the deception that had been practised on himself.

  Harry and Rose were now alone. The former suggested that the lattershould take possession of one of the little bed-rooms that are usuallyto be found in American dwellings of the dimensions and humble characterof the lighthouse abode, while he kept watch until the brig should sail.Un
til Spike was fairly off, he would not trust himself to sleep; butthere was no sufficient reason why Rose should not endeavour to repairthe evil of a broken night’s rest, like that which had been passed inthe boat. With this understanding, then, our heroine took possession ofher little apartment, where she threw herself on the bed in her clothes,while Mulford walked out into the air, as the most effective means ofhelping to keep his eyes open.

  It was now some time past ten, and before eleven the moon would rise.The mate consequently knew that his watch could not be long beforeSpike would quit the neighbourhood--a circumstance pregnant with immenserelief to him, at least. So long as that unscrupulous, and now nearlydesperate, man remained anywhere near Rose, he felt that she could notbe safe; and as he paced the sands, on the off, or outer side of theislet, in order to be beyond the influence of the light in the lantern,his eye was scarcely a moment taken away from the Swash, so impatientlyand anxiously did he wait for the signs of some movement on board her.

  The moon rose, and Mulford heard the well-known raps on the booby-hatch,which precedes the call of “all hands,” on board a merchant-man. “Allhands up anchor, ahoy!” succeeded, and in less than five minutes thebustle on board the brig announced the fact, that her people were“getting the anchor.” By this time it had got to be so light that themate deemed it prudent to return to the house, in order that he mightconceal his person within its shadows. Awake Rose he would not, thoughhe knew she would witness the departure of the Swash with a satisfactionlittle short of his own. He thought he would wait, that when he didspeak to her at all, it might be to announce their entire safety.As regarded the aunt, Rose was much relieved on her account, by theknowledge that Jack Tier would not fail to let Mrs. Budd know everythingconnected with her own situation and prospects. The desertion of Jack,after coming so far with her, had pained our heroine in a way we cannotat present explain; but go he would, probably feeling assured there wasno longer any necessity for his continuance with the lovers, in order toprevail on Rose to escape from Spike.

  The Swash was not long in getting her ground-tackle, and the brig wassoon seen with her topsail aback, waiting to cat the anchor. This done,the yards swung round, and the topsail filled. It was blowing just agood breeze for such a craft to carry whole sail on a bow-line with,and away the light and active craft started, like the racer that isgalloping for daily exercise. Of course there were several passages bywhich a vessel might quit the group of islets, some being larger, andsome smaller, but all having sufficient water for a brigantine ofthe Molly’s draught. Determined not to lose an inch of distanceunnecessarily, Spike luffed close up to the wind, making an effort topass out to windward of the light. In order to do this, however, itbecame necessary for him to make two short tacks within the haven,which brought him far enough to the southward and eastward to effect hispurpose. While this was doing, the mate, who perfectly understood theobject of the manoeuvres, passed to the side of the light-house that wasopposite to that on which the dwelling was placed, with a view to get abetter sight of the vessel as she stood out to sea. In order to do this,however, it was necessary for the young man to pass through a broad bitof moonlight but he trusted for his not being seen, to the active mannerin which all hands were employed on board the vessel. It would seemthat, in this respect, Mulford trusted without his host, for as thevessel drew near, he perceived that six or eight figures were onthe guns of the Swash, or in her rigging, gesticulating eagerly, andseemingly pointing to the very spot where he stood. When the brig gotfairly abeam of the light, she would not be a hundred yards distant fromit, and fearful to complete the exposure of his person, which he had soinadvertently and unexpectedly commenced, our mate drew up close tothe wall of the light-house, against which he sustained himself in aposition as immovable as possible. This movement had been seen by asingle seaman on board the Swash, and the man happened to be one ofthose who had landed with Spike only two hours before. His name wasBarlow.

  “Captain Spike, sir,” called out Barlow, who was coiling up rigging onthe forecastle, and was consequently obliged to call out so loud asto be heard by all on board, “yonder is a man at the foot of thelight-house.”

  By this time, the moon coming out bright through an opening in theclouds, Mulford had become conscious of the risk he ran, and wasdrawn up, as immovable as the pile itself, against the stones of thelight-house. Such an announcement brought everybody to leeward,and every head over the bulwarks. Spike himself sprang into the leemain-chains, where his view was unobstructed, and where Mulford saw andrecognised him, even better than he was seen and recognised in his ownperson. All this time the brig was moving ahead.

  “A man, Barlow!” exclaimed Spike, in the way one a little bewildered byan announcement expresses his surprise. “A man! that can never be. Thereis no one at the light-house, you know.”

  “There he stands, sir, with his back to the tower, and his face thisway. His dark figure against the white-washed stones is plain enough tobe seen. Living, or dead, sir, that is the mate!”

  “_Living_ it cannot be,” answered Spike, though he gulped at the wordsthe next moment.

  A general exclamation now showed that everybody recognised the mate,whose figure, stature, dress, and even features, were by this timeall tolerably distinct. The fixed attitude, however, the immovablestatue-like rigidity of the form, and all the other known circumstancesof Harry’s case, united to produce a common and simultaneous impressionamong the superstitious mariners, that what they saw was but the ghostlyshadow of one lately departed to the world of spirits. Even Spike wasnot free from this illusion, and his knees shook beneath him, therewhere he stood, in the channels of a vessel that he had handled like atop in so many gales and tempests. With him, however, the illusionwas neither absolute nor lasting. A second thought told him it couldscarcely be so, and then he found his voice. By this time the brig wasnearly abreast of where Harry stood.

  “You Josh!” called out Spike, in a voice of thunder, loud enough tostartle even Mrs. Budd and Biddy in their berths.

  “Lor’ help us all!” answered the negro, “what _will_ come next t’ingaboard dis wessel! Here I be, sir.”

  “Pass the fowling-piece out of my state-room. Both barrels are loadedwith ball; I’ll try him, though the bullets _are_ only lead.”

  A common exclamation of dissatisfaction escaped the men, while Josh wasobeying the order. “It’s no use.”

  “You never can hurt one of them things.” “Something will befall the brigon account of this,” and “It’s the mate’s sperit, and sperits can’t beharmed by lead or iron,” were the sort of remarks made by the seamen,during the short interval between the issuing the order for thefowling-piece and its execution.

  “There ‘t is, Cap’in Spike,” said Josh, passing the piece up throughthe rigging, “but ‘t will no more shoot _that_ thing, than one of ourcarronades would blow up Gibraltar.”

  By this time Spike was very determined, his lips being compressed andhis teeth set, as he took the gun and cocked it. Then he hailed. As allthat passed occurred, as it might be, at once, the brig even at thatmoment was little more than abreast of the immovable mate, and abouteighty yards from him.

  “Light-house, there!” cried Spike--“Living or dead, answer or I fire.”

  No answer came, and no motion appeared in the dark figure that was nowvery plainly visible, under a bright moon, drawn in high relief againstthe glittering white of the tower. Spike dropped the muzzle to its aim,and fired.

  So intense was the attention of all in the Swash, that a wink of Harry’scould almost have been seen, had he betrayed even that slight sign ofhuman infirmity at the flash and the report. The ball was flattenedagainst a stone of the building, within a foot of the mate’s body; buthe did not stir. All depended now on his perfect immovability, as hewell knew; and he so far commanded himself, as to remain rigid as if ofstone himself.

  “There! one can see how it is--no life in that being,” said one. “Iknow’d how it would end,” added another. “Nothing but s
ilver, andthat cast on purpose, will ever lay it,” continued a third. But Spikedisregarded all. This time he was resolved that his aim should bebetter, and he was inveterately deliberate in getting it. Just as hepulled the trigger, however, Don Juan Montefalderon touched his elbow,the piece was fired, and there stood the immovable figure as before,fixed against the tower. Spike was turning angrily to chide his Mexicanfriend for deranging his aim, when the report of an answering musketcame back like an echo. Every eye was turned toward the figure, but itmoved not. Then the humming sound of an advancing ball was heard, anda bullet passed, whistling hoarsely, through the rigging, and fell somedistance to windward. Every head disappeared below the bulwarks. EvenSpike was so far astonished as to spring in upon deck, and, for a singleinstant, not a man was to be seen above the monkey-rail of the brig.Then Spike recovered himself and jumped upon a gun. His first look wastoward the light-house, now on the vessel’s lee-quarter; but the spotwhere had so lately been seen the form of Mulford, showed nothing butthe glittering brightness of the white-washed stones!

  The reader will not be surprised to learn that all these events produceda strange and deep impression on board the Molly Swash. The few whomight have thrown a little light on the matter were discreetly silent,while all that portion of the crew which was in the dark, firmlybelieved that the spirit of the murdered mate was visiting them,in order to avenge the wrongs inflicted on it in the flesh. Thesuperstition of sailors is as deep as it is general. All those of theMolly, too, were salts of the old school, sea-dogs of a past generation,properly speaking, and mariners who had got their notions in the earlypart of the century, when the spirit of progress was less active than itis at present.

  Spike himself might have had other misgivings, and believed that he hadseen the living form of his intended victim, but for the extraordinaryand ghost-like echo of his last discharge. There was nothing visible, orintelligible, from which that fire could have come, and he was perfectlybewildered by the whole occurrence. An intention to round-to, as soonas through the passage, down boat and land, which had been promptlyconceived when he found that his first aim had failed, was as suddenlyabandoned, and he gave the command to “board fore-tack;” immediatelyafter, his call was to “pack on the brig,” and not without a littletremour in his voice, as soon as he perceived that the figure hadvanished. The crew was not slow to obey these orders, and in tenminutes, the Swash was a mile from the light, standing to the northwardand eastward, under a press of canvas, and with a freshening breeze.

  To return to the islets. Harry, from the first, had seen that everythingdepended on his remaining motionless. As the people of the brig werepartly in shadow, he could not, and did not, fully understand howcompletely he was himself exposed, in consequence of the brightnessof all around him, and he had at first hoped to be mistaken for someaccidental resemblance to a man. His nerves were well tried by the useof the fowling-piece, but they proved equal to the necessities of theoccasion. But, when an answering report came from the rear, or from theopposite side of the islet, he darted round the tower, as much taken bysurprise, and overcome by wonder, as any one else who heard it. It wasthis rapid movement which caused his flight to be unnoticed, all the menof the brig dodging below their own bulwarks at that precise instant.

  As the light-house was now between the mate and the brig, he had nolonger any motive for trying to conceal himself. His first thought wasof Rose, and, strange as it may seem, for some little time he fanciedthat she had found a musket in the dwelling, and discharged it, in orderto aid his escape. The events had passed so swiftly, that there was notime for the cool consideration of anything, and it is not surprisingthat some extravagances mingled with the first surmises of all these.

  On reaching the door of the house, therefore, Harry was by no meanssurprised at seeing Rose standing in it, gazing at the swiftly recedingbrigantine. He even looked for the musket, expecting to see it lying ather feet, or leaning against the wall of the building. Rose, however,was entirely unarmed, and as dependent on him for support, as when hehad parted from her, an hour or two before.

  “Where did you find that musket, Rose, and what have you done withit?” inquired Harry, as soon as he had looked in every place he thoughtlikely to hold such an implement.

  “Musket, Harry! I have had no musket, though the report of fire-arms,near by, awoke me from a sweet sleep.”

  “Is this possible! I had imprudently trusted myself on the other side ofthe light-house, while the moon was behind clouds, and when they brokesuddenly away, its light betrayed me to those on board the brig. Spikefired at me twice, without injuring me; when, to my astonishment, ananswering report was heard from the islet. What is more, the piece wascharged with a ball-cartridge, for I heard the whistling of the bulletas it passed on its way to the brig.”

  “And you supposed I had fired that musket?”

  “Whom else could I suppose had done it? You are not a very likely personto do such a thing, I will own, my love; but there are none but us twohere.”

  “It must be Jack Tier,” exclaimed Rose suddenly.

  “That is impossible, since he has left us.”

  “One never knows. Jack understood how anxious I was to retain himwith us, and he is so capricious and full of schemes, that he may havecontrived to get out of the brig, as artfully as he got on board her.”

  “If Jack Tier be actually on this islet, I shall set him down as littleelse than a conjuror.”

  “Hist!” interrupted Rose, “what noise is that in the direction of thewharf? It sounds like an oar falling in a boat.”

  Mulford heard that well-known sound, as well as his companion, and,followed by Rose, he passed swiftly through the house, coming out atthe front, next the wharf. The moon was still shining bright, and themystery of the echoing report, and answering shot, was immediatelyexplained. A large boat, one that pulled ten oars, at least, was justcoming up to the end of the wharf, and the manner in which its oarswere unshipped and tossed, announced to the mate that the crew wereman-of-war’s men. He walked hastily forward to meet them.

  Three officers first left the boat together. The gold bands of theircaps showed that they belonged to the quarter-deck, a fact that thelight of the moon made apparent at once, though it was not strong enoughto render features distinct. As Mulford continued to advance, however,the three officers saluted him.

  “I see you have got the light under way once more,” observed the leaderof the party. “Last night it was as dark as Erebus in your lantern.”

  “The light-house keeper and his assistant have both been drowned,” answered Mulford. “The lamps have been lit to-night by the people of thebrig which has just gone out.”

  “Pray, sir, what brig may that be?”

  “The Molly Swash, of New York; a craft that I lately belonged to myself,but which I have left on account of her evil doings.”

  “The Molly Swash, Stephen Spike master and owner, bound to Key West anda market, with a cargo of eight hundred barrels of flour, and that ofa quality so lively and pungent that it explodes like gunpowder! Ibeg your pardon, Mr. Mate, for not recognising you sooner. Haveyou forgotten the Poughkeepsie, Captain Mull, and her far-reachingPaixhans?”

  “I ought to ask your pardon, Mr. Wallace, for not recognising _you_sooner, too. But one does not distinguish well by moonlight. I amdelighted to see you, sir, and now hope that, with my assistance, a stopcan be put to the career of the brig.”

  “What, Mr. Mate, do _you_ turn against your craft?” said Wallace, underthe impulsive feeling which induces all loyal men to have a distaste fortreachery of every sort, “the seaman should love the very planks of hisvessel.”

  “I fully understand you, Mr. Wallace, and will own that, for a longtime, I was tied to rascality by the opinions to which you allude. But,when you come to hear my explanation, I do not fear your judgment in theleast.”

  Mulford now led the way into the house, whither Rose had alreadyretreated, and where she had lighted candles, and made other womanlyarrangements fo
r receiving her guests. At Harry’s suggestion, someof the soup was placed over coals, to warm up for the party, and ourheroine made her preparations to comfort them also with a cup of tea.While she was thus employed, Mulford gave the whole history of hisconnection with the brig, his indisposition to quit the latter, the fullexposure of Spike’s treason, his own desertion, if desertion it could becalled, the loss of the schooner, and his abandonment on the rock,and the manner in which he had been finally relieved. It was scarcelypossible to relate all these matters, and altogether avoid allusions tothe schemes of Spike in connection with Rose, and the relation in whichour young man himself stood toward her. Although Mulford touched onthese points with great delicacy, it was as a seaman talking to seamen,and he could not entirely throw aside the frankness of the profession.Ashore, men live in the privacy of their own domestic circles, and theirsecrets, and secret thoughts, are “family secrets,” of which it haspassed into a proverb to say, that there are always some, even in thebest of these communities. On shipboard, or in the camp, it is verydifferent. The close contact in which men are brought with each other,the necessity that exists for opening the heart and expanding thecharities, gets in time to influence the whole character, and a certaindegree of frankness and simplicity, takes the place of the reserve andacting that might have been quickened in the same individual, under adifferent system of schooling. But Mulford was frank by nature, as wellas by his sea-education, and his companions on this occasion were prettywell possessed of all his wishes and plans, in reference to Rose, evento his hope of falling in with the chaplain of the Poughkeepsie, by thetime his story was all told. The fact that Rose was occupied in anotherroom, most of the time, had made these explanations all the easier, andspared her many a blush. As for the man-of-war’s men, they listened tothe tale, with manly interest and a generous sympathy.

  “I am glad to hear your explanation, Mr. Mate,” said Wallace, cordially,as soon as Harry had done, “and there’s my hand, in proof that I approveof your course. I own to a radical dislike of a turncoat, or a traitorto his craft, Brother Hollins”--looking at the elder of his twocompanions, one of whom was the midshipman who had originallyaccompanied him on board the Swash--“and am glad to find that ourfriend Mulford here is neither. A true-hearted sailor can be excused fordeserting even his own ship, under such circumstances.”

  “I am glad to hear even this little concession from you, Wallace,” answered Hollins, good-naturedly, and speaking with a mild expression ofbenevolence, on a very calm and thoughtful countenance. “Your mess isas heteredox as any I ever sailed with, on the subject of our duties, inthis respect.”

  “I hold it to be a sailor’s duty to stick by his ship, reverend and dearsir.”

  This mode of address, which was used by the “ship’s gentleman” in thecant of the ward-room, as a pleasantry of an old shipmate, for the twohad long sailed together in other vessels, at once announced toHarry that he saw the very chaplain for whose presence he had been soanxiously wishing. The “reverend and dear sir” smiled at the sally ofhis friend, a sort of thing to which he was very well accustomed, but heanswered with a gravity and point that, it is to be presumed, he thoughtbefitting his holy office.

  It may be well to remark here, that the Rev. Mr. Hollins was not one ofthe “lunch’d chaplains,” that used to do discredit to the navy of thiscountry, or a layman dubbed with such a title, and rated that he mightget the pay and become a boon companion of the captain, at the tableand in his frolics ashore. Those days are gone by, and ministers ofthe gospel are now really employed to care for the souls of the poorsailors, who so long have been treated by others, and have treatedthemselves, indeed, as if they were beings without souls, altogether. Inthese particulars, the world has certainly advanced, though the wise andthe good, in looking around them, may feel more cause for astonishmentin contemplating what it once was, than to rejoice in what it actuallyis. But intellect has certainly improved in the aggregate, if not inits especial dispensations, and men will not now submit to abusesthat, within the recollections of a generation, they even cherished. Inreference to the more intellectual appointments of a ship of war, thecommander excepted, for we contend he who directs all, ought to possessthe most capacity, but, in reference to what are ordinarily believed tobe the more intellectual appointments of a vessel of war, the surgeonand the chaplain, we well recollect opinions that were expressed tous, many years since, by two officers of the highest rank known to theservice. “When I first entered the navy,” said one of these old Benbows,“if I had occasion for the amputation of a leg, and the question laybetween the carpenter and the doctor, d--e, but I would have tried thecarpenter first, for I felt pretty certain he would have been the mostlikely to get through with the job.” “In old times,” said the other,“when a chaplain joined a ship, the question immediately arose, whetherthe mess were to convert the chaplain, or the chaplain, the mess;and the mess generally got the best of it.” There was very littleexaggeration in either of these opinions. But, happily, all this ischanged vastly for the better, and a navy-surgeon is necessarily a manof education and experience; in very many instances, men of high talentsare to be found among them; while chaplains can do something betterthan play at backgammon, eat terrapins, when in what may be calledterra-pin-ports, and drink brandy and water, or pure Bob Smith.(1)

  “It is a great mistake, Wallace, to fancy that the highest duty a manowes, is either to his ship or to his country,” observed the Rey. Mr.Hollins, quietly. “The highest duty of each and all of us, is toGod; and whatever conflicts with that duty, must be avoided as atransgression of his laws, and consequently as sin.”

  “You surprise me, reverend and dear sir! I do not remember ever to haveheard you broach such opinions before, which might be interpreted tomean that a fellow might be disloyal to his flag.”

  “Because the opinion might be liable to misinterpretation. Still, I donot go as far as many of my friends on this subject. If Decatur everreally said, ‘Our country, right or wrong,’ he said what might be justenough, and creditable enough, in certain cases, and taken with the fairlimitations that he probably intended should accompany the sentiment;but, if he meant it as an absolute and controlling principle, it was notpossible to be more in error. In this last sense, such a rule of conductmight, and in old times often would, have justified idolatry; nay, it_is_ a species of idolatry in itself, since it is putting country beforeGod. Sailors may not always be able to make the just distinctions inthese cases, but the quarter-deck should be so, irreverend and dearsir.”

  Wallace laughed, and then he turned the discourse to the subject moreproperly before them.

  “I understand you to say, Mr. Mulford,” he remarked, “that, in youropinion, the Swash has gone to try to raise the unfortunate Mexicanschooner, a second time, from the depths of the ocean?”

  “From the rock on which she lies. Under the circumstances, I hardlythink he would have come hither for the chain and cable, unless withsome such object. We know, moreover, that such _was_ his intention whenwe left the brig.”

  “And you can take us to the very spot where that wreck lies?”

  “Without any difficulty. Her masts are partly out of water, and wehung on to them, in our boat, no later than last night, or this morningrather.”

  “So far, well. Your conduct in all this affair will be duly appreciated,and Captain Mull will not fail to represent it in a right point of viewto the government.”

  “Where is the ship, sir? I looked for her most anxiously, withoutsuccess, last evening; nor had Jack Tier, the little fellow I have namedto you, any better luck; though I sent him aloft, as high as the lanternin the light-house, for that purpose.”

  “The ship is off here to the northward and westward, some six leagues orso. At sunset she may have been a little further. We have supposed thatthe Swash would be coming back hither, and had laid a trap for her,which came very near taking her alive.”

  “What is the trap you mean, sir--though taking Stephen Spike alive, issooner said
than done.”

  “Our plan has been to catch him with our boats. With the greater draftof water of the Poughkeepsie, and the heels of your brig, sir, a regularchase about these reefs, as we knew from experience, would be almosthopeless. It was, therefore, necessary to use head-work, and someman-of-war traverses, in order to lay hold of him. Yesterday afternoonwe hoisted out three cutters, manned them, and made sail in them all,under our luggs, working up against the trades. Each boat took its owncourse, one going off, the west end of the reef, one going more to theeastward, while I came this way, to look in at the Dry Tortugas. Spikewill be lucky if he do not fall in with our third cutter, which is underthe fourth lieutenant, should he stand on far on the same tack as thaton which he left this place. Let him try his fortune, however. As forour boat, as soon as I saw the lamps burning in the lantern, I made thebest of my way hither, and got sight of the brig, just as she loosenedher sails. Then I took in my own luggs, and came on with the oars. Hadwe continued under our canvas, with this breeze, I almost think we mighthave overhauled the rascal.”

  “It would have been impossible, sir. The moment he got a sight of yoursails, he would have been off in a contrary direction, and that brigreally seems to fly, whenever there is a pressing occasion for her tomove. You did the wisest thing you could have done, and barely missedhim, as it was. He has not seen you at all, as it is, and will be allthe less on his guard, against the next visit from the ship.”

  “Not seen me! Why, sir, the fellow fired at us _t_wice with a musket;why he did not use a carronade, is more than I can tell.”

  “Excuse me, Mr. Wallace; those two shots were intended for me, though Inow fully comprehend why you answered them.”

  “Answered them! yes, indeed; who would not answer such a salute, and gunfor gun, if he had a chance. I certainly thought he was firing at us,and having a musket between my legs, I let fly in return, and even thechaplain here will allow that was returning ‘good for evil.’ But explainyour meaning.”

  Mulford now went into the details of the incidents connected with hiscoming into the moon-light, at the foot of the light-house. That he wasnot mistaken as to the party for whom the shots were intended, was plainenough to him, from the words that passed aloud among the people ofthe Swash, as well as from the circumstance that both balls struck thestones of the tower quite near him. This statement explained everythingto Wallace, who now fully comprehended the cause and motive of eachincident.

  It was now near eleven, and Rose had prepared the table for supper. Thegentlemen of the Poughkeepsie manifested great interest in the movementsof the Hebe-like little attendant who was caring for their wants. Whenthe cloth was to be laid, the midshipman offered his assistance, but hissuperior directed him to send a hand or two up from the wharf, where thecrew of the cutter were lounging or sleeping after their cruise. Thesemen had been thought of, too; and a vessel filled with smoking soup wastaken to them, by one of their own number.

  The supper was as cheerful as it was excellent. The dry humour ofWallace, the mild intelligence of the chaplain, the good sense ofHarry, and the spirited information of Rose, contributed, each in itsparticular way, to make the meal memorable in more senses than one. Thelaugh came easily at that table, and it was twelve o’clock, before theparty thought of breaking up.

  The dispositions for the night were soon made. Rose returned toher little room, where she could now sleep in comfort, and withoutapprehension. The gentlemen made the disposition of their persons, thatcircumstances allowed; each finding something on which to repose, thatwas preferable to a plank. As for the men, they were accustomed to hardfare, and enjoyed their present good-luck, to the top of their bent.It was quite late, before they had done “spinning their yarns,” and“cracking their jokes,” around the pot of turtle-soup, and the can ofgrog that succeeded it. By half-past twelve, however, everybody wasasleep.

  Mulford was the first person afoot the following morning. He left thehouse just as the sun rose, and perceiving that the “coast was clear” of sharks, he threw off his light attire, and plunged into the sea.Refreshed with this indulgence, he was returning toward the building,when he met the chaplain coming in quest of him. This gentleman, a manof real piety, and of great discretion, had been singularly struck, onthe preceding night, with the narrative of our young mate; and he hadnot failed to note the allusions, slight as they were, and delicatelyput as they had been, to himself. He saw, at once, the propriety ofmarrying a couple so situated, and now sought Harry, with a view tobring about so desirable an event, by intimating his entire willingnessto officiate. It is scarcely necessary to say that very few words werewanting, to persuade the young man to fall into his views; and as toRose, he had handed her a short note on the same subject, which he wasof opinion, would be likely to bring her to the same way of thinking.

  An hour later, all the officers, Harry and Rose, were assembled inwhat might be termed the light-house parlour. The Rev. Mr. Hollinshad neither band, gown, nor surplice; but he had what was far better,feeling and piety. Without a prayer-book he never moved; and he read themarriage ceremony with a solemnity that was communicated to all present.The ring was that which had been used at the marriage of Rose’s parents,and which she wore habitually, though not on the left hand. In a word,Harry and Rose were as firmly and legally united, on that solitary andalmost unknown islet, as could have been the case, had they stood upbefore the altar of mother Trinity itself, with a bishop to officiate,and a legion of attendants. After the compliments which succeeded theceremony, the whole party sat down to breakfast.

  If the supper had been agreeable, the morning meal was not less so. Rosewas timid and blushing, as became a bride, though she could not but feelhow much more respectable her position became under the protection ofHarry as his wife, than it had been while she was only his betrothed.The most delicate deportment, on the part of her companions, soonrelieved her embarrassment however, and the breakfast passed off withoutcause for an unhappy moment.

  “The ship’s standing in toward the light, sir,” reported the cockswainof the cutter, as the party was still lingering around the table, as ifunwilling to bring so pleasant a meal to a close. “Since the mist hasbroke away, we see her, sir, even to her ports and dead-eyes.”

  “In that case, Sam, she can’t be very far off,” answered Wallace. “Ay,there goes a gun from her, at this moment, as much as to say, ‘what hasbecome of all of my boats?’ Run down and let off a musket; perhapsshe will make out to hear that, as we must be rather to windward, ifanything.”

  The signal was given and understood. A quarter of an hour later, thePoughkeepsie began to shorten sail. Then Wallace stationed himself inthe cutter, in the centre of one of the passages, signalling the ship tocome on. Ten minutes later still, the noble craft came into the haven,passing the still burning light, with her topsails just lifting, andmaking a graceful sweep under very reduced sail, she came to the wind,very near the spot where the Swash had lain only ten hours before, anddropped an anchor.

  (1) In the palmy days of the service, when Robert Smith was so long Secretary of the Navy, the ship’s whisky went by this familiar _sobriquet_.