by G. A. Henty
CHAPTER XI
A FIRST COMMAND
For another couple of days no one was permitted to see Nat, but at theend of that time the wound assumed a healthy aspect, and he was allowedto receive visits. Captain Crosbie himself was the first to come down.
"I am very glad to hear so good an account of you, Mr. Glover," he saidcordially; "you have done us credit again, lad, and have rendered aninestimable service to Monsieur Duchesne and his family. Although it canhardly be considered as in your regular course of duty, I shallcertainly forward a narrative of your adventures to the admiral. Thenext time we go to Port Royal you had better go in for your examination,and if you pass I have very little doubt that acting rank will be givento you at once. Your aiding to carry down that lady, when yourselfwounded, was really a very fine action, for Doctor Bemish tells me thatyou must have suffered intensely. Monsieur Duchesne is most anxious tosee you, but the doctor has told him that it will be better for him towait until you are well enough to go ashore, when you can go and seethem all together."
"Thank you, sir, I would much rather do that. But really the person tobe thanked is the old negress who gave us warning in time to escape,went down and fetched food, despatched a message to Monsieur Duchesne,and got an answer back, and who did as much as I did in carrying hermistress down."
"Doubtless she behaved very well, Mr. Glover, but that does not alterthe fact that you did so also. And, as even you will admit, she had nohand in the fight in which you killed eight of these scoundrels."
"It was not much of a fight, sir. I had such an advantage in positionthat I really did not like shooting them, in spite of what I had heardof their doings; but it was our lives or theirs, and I knew that if oneof them got away he would bring down a score of others, and they wouldspeedily have starved us out."
"At the present time," the captain said sternly, "mercy to thesevillains would be misapplied; the lesson must be a terrible one, orthere will speedily be an end to white rule in the island. Another thingis, that were this revolution to succeed, we might expect similaroutbreaks in our own islands. Now I will leave you. Your comrades willcome in to see you, but their visits must, for the present, be short."
Nat progressed rapidly. In three days the water-dressings were given upand he was tightly bandaged, and over this, rather to his disgust, thedoctor insisted upon his wearing a pair of stays.
"It is all very well, Glover," Doctor Bemish said in answer to hisremonstrances, "but we know what you are. You are as active as a cat,and would be constantly forgetting yourself, and springing to dosomething; but these things laced tightly on will act as a reminder, andwill also bind you so closely together that, while you will have thefree use of your limbs, your ribs will be held as if in a vice. You willhave to keep them on until the bone has fairly knit, and you have everyreason to be thankful that this is the only inconvenience you have tosuffer from an expedition which might have cost you your life."
Four days later Doctor Bemish said:
"I think you can go ashore to-day. Of course you must be careful,especially, getting in and out of the boat, but if you do that and walkslowly, I do not think it will do you any harm. Madame Duchesne is upand going on nicely, and they are most anxiously expecting you, andindeed Duchesne said yesterday, that if I did not let you go on shoreto-day, he would come on board to see you."
"But I feel like a hog in armour in these stays, doctor."
"Never mind that, lad, you would be almost as bad if you took them off,for I should have to put on twice as many bandages, and to pull themever so much tighter. I have told the captain that I am letting you goashore, and have also told Mr. Philpot, so that is all settled. I shallbe going off myself in an hour, and will take you with me, and keep aneye over you until you get to their gate."
"One would think that I was a small boy going to be taken to school,"Nat laughed, stopping, however, abruptly.
"There! you see," the doctor said, "that gave you a twinge, I know; youmust be careful, lad, you must, indeed. There is no objection to yoursmiling as much as you like, but there is nothing that shakes one upmore than a hearty laugh. That is why at other times laughing is ahealthy exercise, but with a rib in the process of healing, it is betternot to indulge in it."
"Well, I shall be ready when you are."
Nat accomplished the journey without pain.
"Won't you come in, doctor?" he asked when they arrived at the gate.
"No, Glover; this will be a sort of family party. I have warned Duchesnenot to throw himself on your neck, and have told him that you are to belooked at and not touched."
With an uneasy smile Nat left him at the gate and walked up the drive.They were evidently on the watch for him, for the door opened almostimmediately, and Monsieur Duchesne ran down. "Mon cher!" he exclaimed,"the doctor has said that I must not touch you, but I can scarcerefrain from embracing you. How can I thank you for all that you havedone?"
"But, monsieur, I have done next to nothing. I shot some negroes who hadnot a chance of getting at me, and I helped Dinah to carry madame down.We owe our safety to Dinah, who was splendid in her devotion, makingjourneys backwards and forwards, to say nothing of giving us the warningthat enabled us all to escape in time."
"Dinah was splendid!" Monsieur Duchesne admitted. "But I can do nothingfor her. I have told her that she shall have a house and plenty to liveon all her days, but she will not leave us. I have made out her papersof freedom, but she says, 'What use are these? I have been your servantall my life, and should be no different whether I was what you call afree woman or not.' What pleased her most was that I have given freedomto her grandson who brought the message down here, and am going toemploy him in my stable, and that she has received a new black silkgown. She has got it on in honour of your visit, and if it had been aroyal robe she could not be more proud of it."
They had by this time arrived at the door, and Monsieur Duchesne led Natto the drawing-room, where his wife was lying on a sofa, and Myrastanding beside her. The yellow dye had now nearly worn off their faces.Madame Duchesne was still pale, but she looked bright and happy. Natwent up to her and took her hand.
"I am truly glad to see you up again," he said.
"It has all ended well," she replied with tears in her eyes. "It seemslike a bad dream to me, especially that journey. How good and kind youwere! and I know now how terribly you must have suffered."
"It hurt a bit at the time, madame, but one gets accustomed to beinghurt, and it all went on so well that it was not worth grumbling about."
"Ah, you look more yourself now, Myra!" and he held out his hand to her.
"Embrace him, my dear, for me and for yourself. Twice has he saved yourlife, and has been more than a brother to you."
Myra threw her arms round Nat's neck and kissed him heartily twice,while her eyes were full of tears. "I have not hurt you, I hope," shesaid as he drew back.
"Not a bit, and I should not have minded if you had," Nat said. Then hesat down, and they talked quietly for some time. "I am going outto-morrow again," Monsieur Duchesne said, "it is the duty of every whiteto join in punishing these ungrateful fiends. I hear that they have beenbeaten badly near Port-au-Prince. Some of the negroes are, we find,remaining quietly on the plantations, and these, unless they havemurdered their masters, will be spared. No quarter will be given tothose taken in arms. At any rate we shall clear all of them out of theplains near the bay, and drive them into the mountains, where we cannothope to subdue them till a large number of troops arrive from home."
So vigorously, indeed, did the whites pursue the negroes, that in afortnight after the outbreak it was calculated that no fewer than tenthousand blacks had fallen, many of them being put to death by methodsalmost as cruel and ferocious as those they had themselves adopted. Theywere still in such vast numbers that it was evident that it would beimpossible to overpower them until troops arrived from France; and,indeed, the farther the French columns penetrated into the mountains,the more severe was the resistance they met
with, and on severaloccasions the whites were repulsed with heavy loss. A truce wastherefore agreed upon, it being arranged that neither party shouldattack the other until its expiration. There being, therefore, nooccasion for the _Orpheus_ to remain longer at Cape Francois, she sailedfor Jamaica.
Nat's wounds continued to go on well. He was still stiff, and felt theadvantages of the encircling stays so much that he no longer objected towear them. As it was likely that, until matters were finally settled,the _Orpheus_ would be constantly cruising on the coast of Hayti, andthat he would ere long see his French friends again, the parting was nota sad one; and, indeed, Nat was by no means sorry to get under way againto escape the expressions of gratitude of Monsieur Duchesne and hiswife. Two days after arriving at Port Royal, Nat received notice that acourt, composed of three captains of vessels then in port, would, on thefollowing day, sit to examine midshipmen who had either served theirtime or were within a year of completing it. He at once sent in hisname. As he had read hard during the time he had been unfit for service,he had no fear of not passing the ordeal, and at the conclusion of hisexamination he was told by the president of the court that he had passedwith great credit.
On returning to the frigate, he found a note from the admiral requestinghim to call upon him on his return from the court, and he at onceproceeded to the flag-ship. "I have heard a great deal of you, Mr.Glover," the admiral said when he was ushered into his cabin. "First ofall I heard the story from your captain of the gallant manner in whichyou, at the risk of your own, saved a young lady's life at CapeFrancois, when attacked by a savage hound, and were seriously injuredthereby. Then I received Captain Crosbie's official report of the shareyou took in the attack upon that formidable nest of pirates, the reportbeing supplemented by his subsequent relation to me of the whole factsof the affair. Your conduct there also did you very great credit, and,had you passed, I should at once have given you acting rank. Now youhave again distinguished yourself, though scarcely in a manner whichcomes under my official knowledge. I should be glad to hear from you adetailed account of the affair."
When Nat had finished his narration, he said, "You have scarcely donejustice to yourself. Your captain and Dr. Bemish were dining with melast night, and the latter said that, wounded as you were, the work ofcarrying that French lady down to the coast must have been an intenselypainful one, as was shown by the state of your wound when he examinedit. In all these matters you have shown courage and conduct, and as Ihear that you have now passed, I shall take the first opportunity ofgiving you acting rank. You speak French fluently?"
"I speak it quite fluently, sir, but as I have only picked it up by ear,I cannot say that I speak it well."
"However, the fact that you speak it well enough to converse freely maybe useful. Hayti is likely to be in a very disturbed state for sometime. There can be little doubt that the negroes in the other islandsare all watching what takes place there with close attention, and thatthere is a possibility of the revolt spreading. At present there is nosaying what the course of events may be. Already the governor here hasreceived letters from several French residents expressing their desirethat we should take the island, as they believe that the Frenchrevolutionary government will make no serious effort to put down therising. Of course, at present, as we are at peace with France, nothingwhatever can be done. At the same time, it is important that we shouldobtain accurate information as to what is going on there, and what isthe feeling of the negroes and of the mulatto population, and we shallprobably have several small vessels cruising in those waters. The_Falcon_, under the command of Lieutenant Low, who also belonged to the_Orpheus_, has been for some weeks on the southern coast of the island.I intend to have three or four other craft at the same work soon, and onthe first opportunity I shall appoint you to one of them."
Nat expressed his warm thanks, and retired. Three or four days later hereceived an intimation that the prize _Arrow_, a schooner of a hundredand fifty tons, would at once be put into commission, and that theadmiral had selected him for her command. This was far more than Nat hadeven hoped for. From the manner in which the admiral had spoken, hethought that he would be appointed to a craft of this description, buthe had no expectation whatever of being given the command. With theintimation was an order for him to again call upon the admiral.
"It is a small command," the admiral said when Nat expressed his thanksfor the appointment. "We cannot spare you more than twenty-five hands, aquarter-master, and two midshipmen. You will have Mr. Turnbull of the_Leander_ as your first officer, and Mr. Lippincott of the _Pallas_. Shehas carried six guns hitherto, but you will only take four. These,however, will be twelve-pounders; before, she had only nines. Naturally,it is not intended that she shall do any fighting. Of course, if you areattacked you will defend yourself, but you are hardly a match for any ofthese piratical craft except quite the smaller class--native boatsmanned by bands of desperadoes. Your mission will be to cruise on thecoast of Hayti, to take off white fugitives should any show themselves,and to communicate if possible with the negroes, find out the objectthey propose to themselves, and report on their forces, organization,and methods of fighting. In all this great care will be necessary, forthey have shown themselves so faithless and treacherous that it isimpossible to place any confidence in their promises of safe-conduct. Insuch matters it is impossible to give any advice as to your conduct, youmust be guided by circumstances; be prudent and careful, and at thesame time enterprising. The schooner is a very fast one. She has been aslaver, and has more than once shown her heels to some of our fastestcruisers. Therefore, if you come across any piratical craft too big tofight, you will at least have a fair chance of outsailing her."
Greatly delighted, Nat returned to the _Orpheus_.
"So, you are going to leave us, Mr. Glover," the captain said when hecame on board. "I congratulate you, but at the same time we shall bevery sorry to lose you, and I hope that when there is a vacancy we shallhave you back again. You fully deserve your promotion, and have been acredit to the ship."
The next day Nat moved his effects ashore. There was but littleleave-taking between him and his comrades, for it was certain that theywould often meet at Port Royal. He spent his time for the next fortnightin the dockyard seeing to the refitting of the schooner. Thesuperintendent there had heard of the affair with the dog, and of themanner in which he had saved the lives of the French lady and herdaughter, Dr. Bemish being an old friend of his. He was, therefore, muchmore complaisant than dockyard officials generally are to the demandsmade upon them by young lieutenants in command of small craft. Indeed,when the schooner was ready for sea Nat had every reason to be proud ofher. She had been provided with a complete suit of new canvas, all herwoodwork had been scraped and varnished, the running rigging was new,and the standing rigging had also been renewed wherever it showed signsof wear. Her ballast, which had before been almost entirely of iron ore,was now of pig-iron, and in view of the extra stability so given she hadhad new topmasts ten feet higher than those she had before carried.
"I should advise you to keep your weather eye lifting, Mr. Glover,"Captain Crosbie said when Nat paid his farewell visit to the frigate;"that craft of yours looks very much over-sparred. If you were caught ina squall with your topsails up the chances are you would turn turtle."
"I will be very careful, sir," Nat said; "although, now she has ironballast, I think that even with the slight addition in the height of thespars she will be as stiff as she was before in moderate breezes, whileshe will certainly be faster in light winds."
"That is so," the captain agreed; "and of course it is in light windsthat speed is of the most importance. There can be no doubt that in thehands of a careful commander a large spread of canvas is a greatadvantage, while in the hands of a rash one a craft can hardly be toomuch under-sparred."
Turnbull, Nat's first officer, was a quiet young fellow, a few monthsjunior to Nat. He was square in build, with a resolute but good-humouredface, and Nat had no doubt that the admiral had select
ed him as beinglikely to pull better with him than a more lively and vivacious youngfellow would be. From the first day they met on board he was sure thathe and Turnbull would get on extremely well together. The latter carriedout his suggestions and orders as punctually as he would have done thoseof a post-captain, going about his work in as steady and business-like away as if he had been accustomed for years to perform the duties of afirst officer. One evening Nat had asked him and Lippincott to dine withhim at an hotel, and ordered a private room.
"I think," he said when the meal was over and the waiter had placed thedessert and wine on the table and had retired, "that we are going tohave a very pleasant cruise. I am afraid we sha'n't have much chance ofdistinguishing ourselves in the fighting way, though we may pick up someof those rascally little craft that prey on the native commerce andcapture a small European merchantman occasionally. With our small crewwe certainly cannot regard ourselves as a match for any of the regularpirates, who would carry vastly heavier metal, and crews of at leastfour times our strength. The admiral expressly warned me that it was notintended that the _Arrow_ should undertake that sort of business. Ourmission is rather to gain news of what passes in the interior, pick upfugitives who may be hiding in the woods, and act in fact as a sort offloating observatory. Any fighting, therefore, that we may get will beif we are attacked. In that case, of course, we shall do our best. I amsure we shall be a pleasant party on board. Of course in a small craftlike this we shall mess together. It is necessary, for the sake ofdiscipline, that when we are on deck we should follow the usualobservances, but when we are below together we shall be three mess-mateswithout any formality or nonsense."
The two juniors remained on their ships until the schooner was out ofthe hands of the dockyard men. According to custom, Nat did not joinuntil they and the crew had gone on board and spent a day in scrubbingthe decks and making everything tidy and ship-shape; then the gig wentashore to fetch him off. As he rowed alongside he could not help smilingat seeing the sentries at the gangway and the two young officersstanding there to receive him. However, with an effort he recovered hisgravity, mounted the short accommodation ladder, saluted the flag, andreturned the salutes of his officers and men. On board the frigate hehad been an inconsiderable member of the crowd, now he was monarch ofall he surveyed. Then the crew were formed up, and according to customhe read his commission appointing him to the command, and the articlesof war.
"Now, my men," he said when he had brought the meeting to an end, "Ihave, according to rule, read the articles of war, a very necessarystep when taking command of a vessel of war with hands collected fromall parts, and many of them coming on board one of his majesty's shipsfor the first time; but it is a mere formality to a crew composed of menlike yourselves, who will, I am perfectly sure, do your duty in stormand calm, and who will, should there be any occasion for fighting, showthat, small as our number is, we are capable of taking our own partagainst a considerably larger force. I and my officers, will do all inour power to make the ship a comfortable and pleasant one, and I relyupon you to show your zeal and heartiness in the service."
The men replied with a hearty cheer. Most of them belonged to the_Orpheus_. These had already told the others of their captain's doingsin Hayti and in the attack on the pirate island, and said how popular hewas on board.
"I think we are going to have a good time," one of the others said asthey went forward. "We ain't likely to capture anything very big in thiscockle-shell, and I look upon it as a sort of pleasure ship."
"You will see, if he gets a chance he will take it," one of the men fromthe _Orpheus_ said. "I was with him in that fight against the pirates,and I tell you I have never been in anything hotter. I was one of thosewho volunteered to go with him to drown the magazine of the brigantinenext to us, and I tell you I never felt so scared in my life. He wasjust as cool as a cucumber, though he had been knocked silly by thatexplosion a quarter of an hour before. He is the right sort, he is; andthough I expect he has got orders not to tackle anything too big forus--he is not the sort of chap to run away if he can find the smallestexcuse for fighting."
In the meantime Nat had gone below with the two midshipmen. Theaccommodation for officers was excellent. There was a large cabin aftwhich had been handsomely fitted up by the late captain. Off this onone side was his state-room, on the other those for the two officers;beyond these were the steward's cabin and pantry on one side, and aspare cabin which had been given to the quarter-master on the other. Nathad engaged a negro as cook, and his son, a lad of seventeen oreighteen, as cabin steward, and had sent on board a small stock ofwines. He ordered the boy to open a bottle and to put glasses on thetable, and they drank together to the success of the cruise. They hadjust finished when the quarter-master came down.
"The admiral is signalling for us to send a boat to him, sir."
"Lower the gig at once!" and he and the officers followed thequarter-master on deck. "Mr. Lippincott, you had better go with it."
In half an hour the midshipman returned with a despatch. Nat broke theseal. It had evidently been dictated by the admiral to his clerk, hissignature being at the foot.
_News has just arrived that the French Assembly has cancelled the act placing the mulattoes on the same footing as the whites, and the former have in consequence risen and have joined the blacks. The situation must be most precarious for whites in the island. Get up sail at once and make for Cape Francois. Cruise between that port and the south-eastern limit of Hayti. Do what you can to aid fugitives._
"We are to be off at once," he said to Mr. Turnbull. "Please get up theanchor and make sail. There is fresh trouble in Hayti; the mulattoeshave joined the blacks."
The quarter-master's whistle sounded, and the crew sprang into activity.The capstan was manned, and the men ran to loosen the sails, and in tenminutes the _Falcon_ was on her way.
"Matters were bad enough before," Nat said when, having seen that thesails were all set and everything in good order, his two officers cameaft. "A few mulattoes, overseers and that class, rose with the negroes,but the great bulk of them, having got what they wanted, joined thewhites or stood neutral; but now that they have thrown in their lot withthe blacks the prospect seems almost desperate. However it turns out,there is no doubt that the island is ruined, and the whites who werelucky enough to escape with their lives will find that instead of beingrich men they are penniless. It is a horrible business altogether. Ishall be glad when we get to Cape Francois and can get news of what isreally going on."
Nat was delighted at the speed shown by the schooner. The breeze waslight, and she felt the full advantage of her added spread of canvas.She was a very beamy craft of light draught, and scarcely showed aperceptible heel under the pressure of the wind, fully justifying hisopinion as to the improvement to be effected by the substitution of ironballast for that which she had before carried. Turnbull and Lippincottwere no less pleased, and the whole crew felt proud of their littlecraft.
"She can go, sir, and no mistake!" Turnbull said, as they stood aftlooking upwards at the sails and down into the water glancing past hersides. "It would take a fast craft indeed to overhaul her; her sails aresplendidly cut!"
"Yes, I tipped the man who is at the head of the sail-making gang afive-pound note to take special pains with them, and the money wouldhave been well laid out if it had been fifty times as much; for it willmake the difference of a point at least when she is close-hauled, andthat means getting away from a fellow too big for us, instead of beingoverhauled by him."
"Yes," Turnbull said with a smile, "and might enable us to keep out ofreach of his bow-guns, while we hammered him with our stern-chaser."
"Yes, it might have that effect," Nat replied with an answering smile."What is she going through the water now, quarter-master?"
"A good seven knots, sir."
"That is fast enough. The _Orpheus_ would not be making more than six insuch a light breeze as this."
Towards sunset the wind fell u
ntil it scarcely seemed that there was abreath on the water, but the schooner still crept along at two and ahalf knots an hour, although her sails scarcely lifted. The crew hadalready been divided in watches. Turnbull took the starboard, andLippincott the larboard watch.
"I hardly know myself," Nat laughed, as they sat together in the cabinafter dinner. "Except when I was on the sick list, this is my firstexperience of not having a night watch to keep. However, I expect Ishall be up and down, and at any rate call me if there is the slightestchange in the weather. We know what she can do in a light wind now, butwe won't risk anything until we have seen how she carries her sails in asharp blow."
Somewhat restless under the extent of his responsibility, Nat was ondeck several times during the night. There was, however, no sign ofchange. The _Arrow_ was still stealing through the water with the windabeam. The two midshipmen, equally impressed with the responsibility ofbeing in command of a watch, were on the alert, and the look-out wasvigilant. The wind freshened again when the sun rose. At noon there werewhite-heads on the water, and the schooner, heeling over a bit now, wasdoing nearly nine knots. The three officers all took an observation, andto their satisfaction found that they were within half a mile of eachother. At the present moment, however, there was no doubt as to theirsituation, for the high land near Cape Dame Marie lay clearly in sightover the bowsprit, while behind them the hills over Morant Point laylike a dim haze.
"If we had had this wind the whole way," Nat said regretfully, "weshould have been well in the bay by this time. Still, we must notgrumble; we have made a hundred knots. The mid-day gun fired just as wegot under way, and, considering that for twelve hours we had no windworth speaking of, I think we have done very well. Indeed, if the windwill hold like this, we shall be near port by noon to-morrow; but wecan't reckon on that, it is sure to fall before sunset, and besides, thewinds are generally baffling and shifty when we once get into the bay."
By three o'clock the wind had already begun to fall, and by five theywere lying almost becalmed off the westerly point of the island. For thenext two days the wind was very light, and it was late in the afternoonof the second when they dropped anchor off Cape Francois. Nat at oncewent ashore, and as usual received a warm welcome from the Duchesnes.Madame had now quite recovered from the effect of her adventure, as alsohad Myra.
"I did not know that the _Orpheus_ was in port, or else we should havebeen expecting you."
"She is not in port, madame. I arrived in his majesty's schooner_Arrow_, which I have the honour to command."
"Then you are Captain Glover now? I must be very respectful," and Myramade a deep curtsy.
"It will be a good many years before I shall have the right to beaddressed by that title. I have passed my examination as lieutenant, andhave now acting rank, which will no doubt be confirmed by theauthorities at home, and I may be addressed as lieutenant without anybreach of etiquette. Still, of course, it is a grand thing to get acommand, and so much greater chance of distinguishing oneself. However,as she is but a small craft, and carries only twenty-five men, we arenot in a position to do any great thing in the way of fighting, thoughof course we may overhaul and capture some of these native craft thatare nominally traders, but are ready to capture any small vessel theymay come across. My mission really is to obtain news of what is passingin the island. We have received word at Kingston that the mulattoes haverisen and joined the blacks, and I have been sent off at once to learnthe real state of things."
"Unhappily the news is true," Monsieur Duchesne said. "There havealready been several fights, in some of which we have got the best ofit, in others we have been driven back to the towns. It is impossiblefor the look-out to be darker than it is. It seems to us that our onlyhope is that England will consent to take over the sovereignty of theisland, and send a force large enough to put down the insurrection. Someof the planters here have already lost heart, and have sailed forJamaica, Bermuda, and other British ports. I have no intention offollowing their example at present. I am, as you know, a merchant aswell as a planter, and although, of course, all trade is at an end now,it must spring up again in time. Fortunately, we feel confident thatthis town can resist any assault. The French man-of-war that came inafter you sailed landed a dozen of her guns, and we have erected fourbatteries. There were, too, a good many old guns in the town, which havealso been put into position; and as we have half a French regiment here,and fully five hundred whites who can be relied on, we have small fearof being overpowered. I am glad to say that before the man-of-war left,the great majority of the negroes were expelled from the town and theirquarter burnt down, so that we have no fear of being attacked fromwithin as well as from without. That was really our greatest danger, andhas been hanging over us night and day ever since the beginning of therising."
"Are the mulattoes and negroes acting together?"
"In some cases, but as a rule they keep apart. There is no love lostbetween them, and the only bond of union is hatred of us. The blacks,curiously enough, have declared against the republic, and callthemselves the royalist army. They consider, and very naturally, thatthe republic, while giving rights to the mulattoes, has done nothing forthem, and therefore, as the republic has declared against the king, theyhave declared for him. Do you think that the English government willaccept our offer to transfer ourselves to British rule?"
"I do not see that they could do so, sir. At present we are nominally atpeace with France, although everyone sees that war must come beforelong, but until it is declared we could scarcely take over a Frenchpossession; nor do I think there are anything like troops enough in ourislands to undertake such a serious operation as this would be. Yourpeople could not give us much help. The negroes, though callingthemselves royalists, are fighting only for liberty, and would gainnothing by a mere change of masters, knowing as they do that the slavesare certainly no better treated in our islands than in those of France."
"That is what I thought," Monsieur Duchesne said. "Certainly nothingshort of an army of thirty thousand strong could hope for success, and Idoubt, indeed, whether in so large and mountainous an island even thatnumber could do much. Of course fully half of it is Spanish, whichcomplicates matters a great deal; but we may be sure that if the negroesof this end are successful, those under the Spaniards will very soonfollow their example. If the worst comes to the worst, I shall of courseleave the island. Whether I should settle in one of your islands ormake England my residence I cannot say. Some of my countrymen have goneto America, but I should put that out of my mind. I think I shouldprefer England to remaining out here, for there might be similar risingsin Jamaica and elsewhere; as to France, it is out of the question.
"France has gone mad. I know that many of our good families have soughtrefuge in England, and we should at least find society congenial to us.Happily, we are in a condition to choose for ourselves; my ancestorshave been wise men, and have long foreseen that what has actuallyoccurred might possibly take place. Each in succession has impressed hisviews upon his son, and it has become almost a family tradition amongus, and one upon which we have often been rallied. For with fewexceptions all here seem to have regarded the state of things as beingas unchangeable as Scripture says were the laws of the Medes andPersians. If this had been only a tradition, and had not been actedupon, it would not have benefited us now, but for six generations eachof my ancestors has regarded it as a sacred duty to set aside nearly atenth of his revenues as a provision when the troubles should come. Thismoney has been chiefly invested in England and Holland, and the intereston the accumulations of all these years has been reinvested. I believethat, although I regard such investments as were made in France as lost,we shall, when we reckon up matters, find that our income will be fullyas large as that which I have drawn from my property and trade here."
"I am very glad to hear it, Monsieur Duchesne. I have indeed, while Ihave been away, thought very often of what would happen to you and yourfamily if you were forced to finally abandon your estate and leave theisland."<
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"I have reason to be grateful indeed, Nat, to the forethought of thosewho have gone before me; it is strange that the same idea did not occurto others. One can see now that our people here have been living in afool's paradise, totally oblivious of the fact that a volcano might atany moment open under their feet. Are you going to remain here?"
"Oh, no! I am only making this a starting-place. My orders are to cruisealong the southern coast, to render any assistance I can to therefugees, and if possible, to open communications with some of thechiefs of the insurgents and endeavour to find out what their plans are,and, should it be decided to accept the cession of the island when warwith France breaks out, what the attitude of the blacks and mulattoeswould be."
"You will not be likely to pick up any refugees, for the whites areexterminated except in the towns; but should any of the smaller placesbe attacked you might render good service by receiving at least thewomen and children on board."
That evening Monsieur Duchesne asked his brother-in-law, the doctor, andseveral other leading inhabitants, to his house, in order that Nat mightgather their views. He found that these in the main agreed with those ofhis host, except that they were hopeful that France would, as soon asthe news arrived, despatch an army of sufficient force to put down theinsurrection. After the last of the guests had departed, MonsieurDuchesne shook his head.
"France will ere long require every soldier to defend her own frontiers;the saturnalia of blood in which she is indulging will cause her to beregarded as the common enemy of Europe. I hear that already the emigrantnobles are pressing the various European courts to march armies intoFrance to free the king and royal family from their imprisonment by themob of Paris, and ere long there will assuredly be a coalition whichFrance will need all her strength to resist. England is certain to joinit; and even had France troops to spare, she would find a difficulty insending them here. So you will not change your mind and stay with usfor the night?"
"It is already nearly eleven, and I ordered the gig to be alongside atthat hour. I certainly should not like to sleep out of the ship, thoughI have no doubt that my two young officers would see that everythingwent on right."
On reaching the schooner, Nat found that both Turnbull and Lippincottwere still up.
"It was such a lovely night that we have been smoking on deck until afew minutes ago; we were, of course, anxious to hear the news."
At Nat's order the steward brought hot water and glasses; three tumblersof grog were filled, and they sat for a couple of hours discussing thestrange situation in the island.
