Chapter IX: Part 9

"They are ready for the dash," replied the soldier, "and think us unprepared."

"Creep forward and train the nine-pounder on them, Captain Hughes."

Sheltering under the bulwarks, Hughes obeyed. The gun was already loaded with rifle bullets, and heavily charged. The boats came leisurely on, for all on board the brig seemed buried in sleep. The dip of the muffled oars could hardly be distinguished even by those who were watching, consequently the noise could never have awoke men asleep. The wash of the wave made itself heard on the beach, and so still was the night that the quack of the ducks, and the call of the widgeon and wild geese feeding among the reeds, came on the air. On the forecastle the creaking of a gun-carriage told that Captain Hughes was not idle, and those in the boat heard it too. They stopped rowing, the three drawing closely together, apparently in consultation. This was the moment the captain chose, and the loud hail, "Boat ahoy!" rang out from the quarter-deck. A shrill yell and a musket-shot was the reply, followed by the boom of the forecastle gun, as it scattered its bagful of rifle bullets right among them. The aim had been deliberate and deadly. The loud scream of agony, the yell of vengeance, replied to by the cheer of the English seamen, rang out in the silent night. One boat had been sunk, and its crew apparently either killed or drowned, for not waiting to rescue them the other two dashed on with a wild scream for vengeance. Leaving the useless gun, for there was no time to load it again, Hughes and the three men on the forecastle made their way aft.

A spattering fire now ran along the brig's deck, replied to from the two boats, as they dashed on, the one for the bow, the other on the quarter. In a few seconds, the Malays were alongside. Grasping the rigging, their long knives between their teeth, they swarmed over the bulwarks fore and aft.

The deadly musketry struck them down, the pistol shots, at point blank range, shattered their heads, but still they came on. The English seamen cheered as they struck right and left with their short cutlasses, and there on the main deck stood Dom Maxara, a long curved sabre in his hand, dripping with blood, cheering on the men in a language they did not understand. The boat which had boarded on the quarter was beaten off, but joining the other the two had united their numbers, and some fifty maddened and nearly naked pirates came pouring over the bows, driving the crew before them.

Among the Malays, one tall, powerful fellow, nearly naked, seemed the leader of the rest; shouting, gesticulating, and striking right and left, he urged the assailants on. Once already had the crew been driven back to the break of the quarter-deck, but, led on by Captain Weber, had repulsed their enemies. Brandishing a jagged piece of broken spar, his hat having fallen off, and a streak of blood on the forehead showing him to be wounded, the old seaman fought like a tiger.

"Give it them, my lads, no quarter for the bloody pirates. Overboard with them!" he shouted, as he dashed full at the leader of the Malays.

A furious combat again ensued, shouts, oaths, execrations, mingled with the pistol shots. The groans of the wounded, the yells of the combatants, changed what had been a quiet, peaceful scene into one of riot and bloodshed.

Dona Isabel, it has been said, had retired into her cabin; a single lamp was burning, and, perfectly unconscious of danger, she was preparing for rest, when the heavy boom of the forecastle gun startled her, and then the silence of the night seemed to be suddenly at an end, and the shouts, yells, and groans told too terribly of what was going on above her head. The cabin was deserted, the steward having joined the combatants, and as she opened the door her father's voice was heard cheering on the men in her own tongue. She recognised the soldier's shout as the pirates were slowly driven back, while, alone and frightened, she dropped on her knees in prayer. Suddenly a loud report right over her head startled her still more; for a moment all was silent, the yells and shouts ceasing as by magic, then a wild cheer from the crew followed, and Isabel, unable to bear the terrible suspense, rushed up the cabin hatchway. The stars were shining brightly, but the brig's decks were slippery with blood. Her own boats had been veered astern, and close to her bows, two dark objects showed where the pirates had boarded.

The survivors of the boat which had been cut in two by the shot from the forecastle gun, had swum for the brig, scrambling over her bulwarks just as the captain so fiercely attacked the Malay leader. Both had grappled, and had rolled, struggling and fighting, into the chains, as the new comers, at once dashing forward, again bore back the crew. The forecastle was black with pirates.

"Lie down, men, shelter under the break of the quarter-deck!" shouted Hughes, as he jumped aft, and with nervous strength slewed round the second nine-pounder, pointing it so as to sweep the forecastle. "Down, down, for your lives!"

The next moment the loud report which had so startled Isabel rang out, and the rifle bullets swept in a storm of lead right among the black mass of men crowding the forecastle. Seizing the moment, with a loud cheer the now inspirited crew dashed on, over the dead and dying, and the broken pirates leaped madly over the bows. Many dropped into the sea, but swimming, were picked up; the boats shoved off, crippled, and pulling but few oars, a ringing cheer from the crew following them just as the frightened girl found herself on deck.

Hughes stood by the gun, his clothes torn, and his face black with the smoke; the peculiar smell of blood was perceptible, mixed with the odour of the gunpowder, and Isabel feeling it became sick and weak, just as a dark form, bounding from the main chains, leaped on to the quarter-deck. A loud shriek burst from her lips, as the Malay leader threw himself on Hughes. Partially overpowered, the soldier grasped his powerful foe by the throat. They swayed to and fro, struggling and fighting; the frightened girl rushed forward, the Malay striking wildly at her with his dagger. With a scream of pain Isabel fell on the deck just as a tremendous blow from the broken spar, given with a hearty good will, smashed in the Malay's skull, both he and the soldier, who was held in the death grasp, falling to the deck.

"Hurrah for Old England!" shouted the excited captain, as he flourished the jagged and blood-besmeared spar over his head with one hand, and dragged Hughes clear of the dead Malay with the other. "See if any of the miscreants are below. A short shrift and a pistol bullet if you find any, my lads. Here, Mr Lowe, lend a hand with this lubber; he nearly did for me just now, but we are quits."

A loud splash in the water told that the pirate had gone over the side, and every now and then a similar splash, with a "Yeo, heave ho!" from forward, marked the fate of a fallen Malay.

Carefully and gently Isabel was lifted from the deck and borne below by the steward and Hughes. Dom Maxara was forward, staunching a severe wound from a Malay creese in the shoulder. Wyzinski, who during the hand-to-hand combat had fought like a tiger, and received a stab in the leg, now remembered he was a missionary, and, though weak with loss of blood, was engaged smoothing the passage of one of the crew from the world his soul was quitting. Four men killed, and almost every one of the crew wounded, three severely, were the casualties on board the brig, while those among the pirates were never known, but must have been very severe.

The Malay had dealt his blow wildly, his intention being revenge, for Hughes's grip held him by the throat, and the savage pirate was choking as he struck. The creese had entered Isabel's arm above the elbow, making a nasty jagged wound.

They placed her on the crimson cushions in the cabin, Masters, the steward, bathing her head with water, while the wounded arm hung down, the soldier kneeling near her, and doing his best to bandage it. His was a curious figure as he knelt by her side, for both face and hands were nearly black with the powder and smoke, his dress torn in many places, and what had been a shirt showing very many tokens of the bulky pirate's terrible grip. All this was forgotten in the anxiety of the moment, and there the two were in the almost deserted cabin eagerly waiting for returning consciousness. Isabel's face was pale and bloodless, and her teeth firmly clenched. There was no doctor on board the brig.

"Masters, I wish you would step on deck," said Hughes, "and send Wyzinski here."

"Ay, ay, sir," replied the man, rising, and handing the basin and sponge to Hughes.

"And, Masters, just ask Captain Weber for some arnica."

The man disappeared up the hatchway. On deck all was bustle, the crew being busily engaged removing the traces of the late bloody affair. He found the missionary forward, but unable to leave a wounded seaman, so Masters knelt by his side and joined in the fervent but simple prayer over the dying man. An oil lamp gave out a feeble light in the fore-cabin, showing in one corner a large white sail. The heavy folds covered something, which bulging out here, falling in there, took the shape of the human form. The dead lay there, while, breathing heavily, his hand plucking at the coverlet, the dying seaman passed slowly away.

His shirt was open, showing the jagged, ragged hole made by the Malay creese in the broad, hairy breast.

The man spoke, but his tones were low. Masters leaned over him, and caught the faint eager tones.

"Tell the skipper to heave up the anchor, and get into blue water. I know these fellows, and they'll come back."

"Ay, ay, Sedley," answered the steward, "I'll tell him, sure enough."

"Trouble not yourself about the brig, my poor fellow," said the missionary. "Prepare to meet your God."

The man rolled restlessly from side to side, the hand ever plucking at the coarse blanket.

"I've done my duty," he said. "There's no one left to ask after me in the old house at home, so I may slip my anchor as soon as I like."

"Pray with me, Sedley," replied the missionary, and the faint light glanced and flickered over the dark cabin, making the white sail seem to take strange shapes, sometimes even to move; for the feeble daylight began to mingle with the yellow rays, and the dying sailor's lips parted in prayer, as he tossed wearily from side to side. It was a sad and solemn spectacle.

A heavy step was heard coming down the fore-hatchway, and a moment later Captain Weber stood by the man's berth. He was without the tarpaulin hat he usually wore, and his forehead seamed with a broad bloody gash.

"Ay, ay!" ejaculated the old seaman. "Four of them under yonder sail, and here goes a fifth."

On deck the tread of the men was heard, the splash of the water as it was dashed about the stained decks, the loud, careless laugh, and now and then the "Yeo, heave oh!" followed by a splash, as the dawning day showed some corpse, hitherto overlooked, lying stiff and stark among the spars and rigging with which the deck was strewn.

The dying man appeared to revive; he looked around him.

"Heave up the anchor, captain! Fourteen years of Jack Sedley's life has been passed off this here coast. Heave up the anchor, and make sail on the old bark! Them murderous beggars will--"

The man fell back heavily, a rattle was heard in the throat, the eyes became glazed, a long breath was followed by a deep silence; again the chest filled, as though by a laborious effort, the eyelids twitched nervously, a heavy sigh, and the seaman's course was run.

Captain Weber turned away, passing the sleeve of his coat over his eyes, and so smearing his face with the gore which still flowed from the wound in his forehead, as he slowly left the cabin.

The steward did not come back; but gradually the blood resumed its wonted course, and Isabel's consciousness returned.

"Where is my father?" she asked. "What has happened?"

"The brig has been attacked by pirates. They are beaten off, and your father is safe."

"Santa Maria! my arm, how stiff it feels! Ah, now I remember," she continued, half rising, and a look of honour overspreading her countenance.

"But for your scream," replied Hughes, "I should have been taken by surprise. The smoke of the gun was in my eyes, blinding me, and so I could not save you from the felon's blow."

The wounded arm, with its stained bandages, the kneeling figure, all begrimed with smoke, the certainty of her father's safety, and of the departure of the pirates, seemed to strike the girl's imagination. A smile passed over her face.

"Isabel," said the soldier with a sudden burst of passion, his emotion mastering him, "I have loved you from the first time I ever saw you!"

The black eyes had been gazing on him with a wild vacant look, as the girl lived over again, in imagination, the terrible scene she had witnessed on deck, when the bulky form of the Malay leader had so nearly borne her lover down; the day, too, when on the banks of the Zambesi he had stood between her and a terrible death; and now the tension of her nerves giving way, she sobbed deeply and convulsively.

"I have loved you ever since I saw you, Isabel, and strange to say it is the only love I have ever known," he continued, breaking the silence.

The heavy, convulsive sobs shook her slight frame, but she made no answer.

"Left an orphan when a mere child, joining my father's regiment when a youth, I have never known what even a parent's love may be, and it seems now as if the devotion of a whole life were concentred on you, Isabel."

Again the soldier paused, and the sobs of the girl were alone heard in the cabin. The grey light of dawn was showing itself down the hatchway, and through the ports. The same grey dawn which was lighting the dying seaman's long journey, was gradually creeping over the lover's dream.

He took her hand carefully, gently, for it was the injured arm; he looked up into her face.

"Isabel, can you return a soldier's love?" he asked, eagerly.

The head fell on his shoulders, the hot tears deluged his hand.

"Dearest Isabel, speak!" he urged, as he passed his arm round her waist.

"I can--I will!" whispered the girl. "But, oh, for pity's sake be silent now."

And he was silent, for his heart was full of sweet emotions, while Isabel sobbed on, and the grey light grew more and more perceptible.

"And your father, Isabel?" at last asked her lover.

"He never denied me anything; my happiness is his; and here he comes."

Dom Maxara and the missionary at this moment entered the cabin. The former had only just heard of his daughter's wound, and as it had been exaggerated, his face, pale from loss of blood, showed great anxiety. Rising, the girl threw herself into her father's arms.

"Oh, father, I am so happy!" she sobbed.

The old man's grey hair mixed with the dark tresses of his daughter, as he bent over and soothed her, Wyzinski standing for a moment as if astonished at the scene.

"Pardon me, Dom Maxara, you had better conduct the Dona Isabel to her cabin, and I will dress the wound. It is but slight, and I am a bit of a surgeon."

"I thank you, Senhor," replied the old Portuguese, again assuming all the stateliness of manner which usually characterised him. "Come, Isabel."

Isabel de Maxara turned, gave one look at her lover--a glance teeming with gratitude and love, even though the eyes were running over with tears, as she held out her hand. Hughes pressed it to his lips, and the next moment she was gone.

"The Dona Isabel might have a cleaner lover," observed Wyzinski, after a long silence.

It was the first time Captain Hughes had been conscious of his dirt-begrimed, ragged condition; would he have risked the confession he had made, had he been aware of it?

Volume 2, Chapter V.

THE DAY AFTER THE FIGHT.

The day was well advanced, and the fierce rays of the African sun were pouring on the "Halcyon's" decks, as she lay at anchor in Saint Augustine's Bay. On shore the parrots could be heard chattering and screaming, the long cry of the peacock sounded from the woods, while on board every sign of the late bloody fight had been removed. The "Halcyon's" crew had been reduced by five deaths, and many of the men were hardly able to work from the effects of weakness. Still everything was going on well. The fore-topmast was in its place, the main-topgallant-mast replaced, and the standing and running rigging nearly finished. A new jib-boom had been rigged out, and the only spar wanting was the fore-topgallant-mast, which could be easily done without. The mate had weighed the spare anchor, and the brig now rode to a single one, and that was hove short. The crew were busy bending new sails, and no one who had looked into St Augustine's Bay that afternoon could have imagined that the vessel which lay so quietly riding on the calm waters, had just escaped from shipwreck, and her crew from murder.

"I know where the rascals hail from," said Captain Weber to the missionary.

The old seaman had a broad bandage round his forehead, and Wyzinski walked with the help of a stick. Leaning over the taffrail at some little distance, Hughes and Dom Maxara were in earnest conversation, the blue smoke from the noble's cigarette rising in the air.

"I should not have believed in piracy in this age," replied Wyzinski.

"Ay, but several vessels have been closely followed by a low rakish black schooner, of small tonnage, but very swift. The `Dawn,' a full-rigged ship I spoke in the latitude of Cape St Andre, had some difficulty in getting away from her."

"Is she armed?" asked Wyzinski.

"The `Dawn's' people said not, but as the ship happened to be crowded with coolies, it is possible that the schooner would not show her metal."

"And you think that the Malays were part of her crew?"

"I feel sure of it. The schooner has run into some of the little bays of the coast, and is now doubtless lying within a few miles of us. This night she will make a second attempt."

"And will find the Bay empty."

"Certainly. In two hours I shall be ready to heave up the anchor, warp the brig well up with the entrance to the Bay, and profit by the breeze, which generally blows from the eastward after sunset."

"It would be necessary to move on another account, Captain Weber."

"Ay, ay; forty-eight hours would bring some of those fellows up from the bottom bobbing about us, the big chap whose skull I scratched, among the rest."

"He gave you some trouble, did he not?"

"I should have mastered him single handed," replied the old seaman, "if I had not been trampled on and crushed by both parties. I never quite lost consciousness, but I was very near it when the big villain dashed away on to the quarter-deck."

"Mr Lowe," continued the captain, "heave up the anchor, and let me know when you are ready for the warp."

"Ay, ay, sir," replied the mate, whose left arm was in a sling, going forward.

Captain Hughes, his arms folded, was leaning over the taffrail, when the clink of the capstan made itself heard, as the sailors shipped the bars, and to the merry tones of the flute began heaving up the anchor. Dom Maxara was standing erect beside him, his tall figure and noble bearing telling of a proud and haughty nature.

"Isabel has told me what has passed between you, Senhor Capitano," continued the noble; "but though I will never thwart her will, you must remember we know little of each other."

"Ours has scarcely been a ball-room meeting," returned the English officer, in a tone scarcely less haughty than that of the Portuguese.

"That I am willing to concede, and more, for on one occasion at least my daughter owed you her life, but even that is not a debt on which a noble caballero counts. Are you aware that Isabel, on her father's side, descends from the oldest dukedom of the land, that of the princely house of Cadaval?"

His listener bowed stiffly, and the proud noble continued--

"Are you aware also that her mother was of the race of the Guzmans of Castille, and that in her is concentrated the purest Spanish, with the oldest blood of Portugal?"

"Well, as to that," replied Hughes, who could not help smiling, though feeling very anxious, "I can count pedigree with any man, only instead of the Guzmans of Castille, I must refer you back to the rude hills of the Cymri and the chieftains, my ancestors, who wore their golden torques, when the Druids raised their altars in Britain, and before even the Romans knew the land."

The speaker's voice showed pride and dignity fully equal to that of the noble, though there breathed through the words a spirit of mockery and cynicism.

Dom Maxara bowed courteously. "I can hardly perceive the analogy between your skin-clad ancestors and the chivalrous barons of my land," he replied coldly.

"I regret to hear it, Senhor," said the soldier, with some show of humour, "and it yet remains for me to learn how as to birth and old lineage I am so immeasurably your inferior," he continued, sharply. "The boon I ask of you is great, so great that a lifetime of devotion will not pay my debt, but in other matters," and here the delicacy of the subject striking him, he paused. "In a word, Senhor Maxara, my fortune is small, very small, and resumes itself thus:--A captain's commission, an income of five hundred a year besides, and an old name, and old house in Wales. In worldly means I am not rich, but in love for Dona Isabel I will not yield even to a father."

"And she has told you that your love is returned, has she not?" asked the noble.

"She has led me to hope it may, and that hope is the loadstar of my existence; and one with which I will never part."

"Listen, Senhor Hughes. My father, Dom Antonio Mendez de Maxara," said the noble, speaking slowly and deliberately, "was a rich man. Added to a proud name, he enjoyed large estates. When I married into the noble house of the Guzmans of Castille, few had a brighter prospect than myself. My father mixed himself up with the political parties of the land. He was unfortunate, and, like many another, plunged more deeply into intrigue. Not content with that, he must needs join the Guzmans in their schemes against the Queen of Spain, thus not only rendering himself obnoxious to the Portuguese Government, but hated and feared by the cruel and treacherous Narvaez.

"Years passed on, Isabel was born, and her mother paid for the young life with her own."

The noble paused, and seemed buried in sad reflections as the cigarette smoke curled upwards.

"Run that warp forward, clap it on to the capstan," shouted the clear voice of the captain. "Heave with a will, my lads. The old barky knows her way out into blue water. Run the boats up to the davits, Mr Lowe."

The brig's head, now the anchor was clear of the ground, slowly fell off under the strain put upon the warp, and she moved through the water in the direction of the entrance.

"Keep all fast with the boats," called Captain Weber. "We may have to tow the hussy out. There's not a breath of wind, Mr Lowe. Look handy with that maintop-gallant sail, my lads. We shall need it before the moon rises. Send a hand to the wheel."

All was bustle on the brig's decks, while aloft the busy topmen were bending new sails, splicing the rigging, and completing their work, which had been hastily but effectually done. The creak of the oars in their rowlocks was heard as a boat pulled out for the entrance, to see that all was clear to seaward. Still the old noble seemed immersed in thought. At last he spoke again.

"The moment came," he said, "when Narvaez triumphed. A traitor was found who had been for many years my father's intimate friend, had shared his plans and his purse. Bribed with gold and promises, the man placed a long political correspondence in the hands of the minister. It became plain that my father had dreamed of freedom both of religion and of government. This might have been passed over, but he had gone further, and desired a federation of the two countries, Spain and Portugal, under a popular Republic. This was his crime, and the two parties then fighting for power became united against the common danger.

"Forced to fly, my father had nearly reached the French frontier, when he was struck down by the hands of hired assassins. A desultory and useless rising took place at different but isolated points. In these I had taken part, burning to revenge a father's death. I managed, with great difficulty, to escape; but my property and estates were lost, and I but retained sufficient to enable me to live, and to place Isabel with a relative, the Superior of the Convent of the Augustines, in Paris. Passing into the service of France, I won a commission in the Foreign Legion, serving in Algeria, in Italy, and Austria. I rose to the command of my regiment, when, some months since, I was enabled to return to my country, was received with favour, a small portion of our forfeited estates restored, and the mission I am now accomplishing given me.

"Ah! Isabel, my child!" continued the noble, as at that moment she appeared on deck, and he bent to kiss her high forehead; "I have been burthening our friend with the tale of our family misfortunes."

Dressed in a light muslin with a flowing skirt, her dark hair heavily braided, with the high comb, and mantilla, Dona Isabel would have looked beautiful enough; but with the left arm bound up and worn in a sling made with a crimson Andalusian scarf, and the air of fatigue and languor which late events had caused still hanging over her, Hughes thought he had never seen her look so lovely.

Nestling in between her father and her lover, Isabel passed her right hand through the arm of the old noble, who looked down fondly into her face.

The brig's stern was now no longer pointed towards the land, for she was moving slowly along parallel with it. The click of the capstan, as the sailors stamped round with a measured step, was heard, and the vessel was slowly drawing up with the entrance to the Bay. The parrots were screaming on shore and the gulls overhead, the last rays of the evening sun tinging the tops of the fan-like leaves of the ravinala trees, just as the "Halcyon" arrived abreast of the "Onglake" river, which here discharged itself into the sea.

"It is a beautiful scene," said Isabel, "and who could believe that it is the same quiet Bay which a few hours since rang with the demoniac yells of those horrible pirates!"

"If we have any wind it will come towards sunset, the captain says, and we shall shape our course for the Cape," said Dom Maxara. "What leave of absence remains to you, Senhor Enrico!"

The name seemed singular to Captain Hughes; it was the first time he had heard it used; but it was, after all, decidedly prettier than plain matter-of-fact Henry.

"About eighteen months," replied he, "which could easily be prolonged."

"And have you any plans for the future, Enrico mio?" asked Isabel, raising her large dark eyes to his face.

If "Enrico" seemed pleasant from the mouth of the stately old noble, what was that first "Enrico mio" from those ruby lips?

The noise of the boats as they were manned, the dropping of the oars into the water, the unshipping of the capstan bars, and the preparations for casting off the rope used to tow the vessel's head round, now told that the "Halcyon" had reached the entrance of the Bay.

"Set the fore-topmast-staysail, let fall the foresail, get the fore-topsail on her, Mr Lowe. Cast off the warp; give way, my lads, give way cheerily in the boats," shouted the captain, as he stood on the quarter-deck. "Starboard--hard--let her feel the helm. Steady! so."

The brig's head slowly payed off, as she felt the strain of the boats' towing, and her jib-boom pointed right for the entrance of the Bay. The horizon had been reported clear, nothing being in sight, and sail after sail opened its wide expanse, while the long breathings of the ocean began to be felt, and the idle canvas flapped to and fro in the calm.

"Have you any plans for the future, Enrico mio?" reiterated Isabel.

Hughes had been gazing steadily down into the deep blue water, totally regardless of all that was passing around him.

"I was thinking," he said, "of Wyzinski's tales, of the sad remembrances this place has for him; and contrasting them with the startling events, but bright memories, it will have for me. The name of Saint Augustine's Bay will ever be dear to me."

The blood mantled in Isabel's cheeks as she answered--

"When the Senhor has done with his pleasant memories of the past, perhaps he will deign an answer to a poor maiden's question."

The men had strained at the oars until the stout ash staves creaked and bent in the rowlocks. The dark hull of the brig had slowly forged ahead, and at the moment Isabel spoke, the "Halcyon" had passed the entrance of the harbour, and was rising and falling on the long gentle swell outside. She did not feel the wind, being under the shelter of the coast; but slight cat's-paws were playing on the water about half-a-mile ahead, and so the boats continued towing, while on board the main-topgallant and main-topsails were being sheeted home.

"There is our last sight of the Bay," said Hughes, sighing. "It must now live only in the memories of the past. Plans--no, dearest Isabel; I have been enjoying the present without care for the future."

"And now the fairy dream is over, what do you intend to do when we reach the Cape, Enrico? Surely I have a right to ask," said Isabel.

"If you have eighteen months' leave of absence, Senhor," said the noble, "come with us to Portugal for your answer; you can make your arrangements in England."

The Senhor Enrico could not have wished for a pleasanter invitation, and he eagerly closed with it.

"That topgallant sail is drawing, Mr Lowe; cast off the tow-rope, recall the boats, and hoist them in. Tell off the watch, and send the crew to supper. Let the steward give them an extra ration of grog. Take a pull at the starboard tacks and sheets. Lay her head to the west-south-west."

The wind, which was very light, was from the eastward, consequently the brig, her yards rounded in, was running free, the boom-mainsail was hauled out, the heavy folds of the mainsail let fall, and the jib hoisted. One by one the studding-sails were set, and the black hull once more supported a towering mass of white canvas. With all this the "Halcyon" only just held steerage way, the wind coming in hot puffs from the distant mountains of the Amboitmena range, at times filling the canvas and making the bubbles fly past as the "Halcyon" felt the breeze, then dying away, while the useless sails flapped heavily with the gentle roll of the waves.

Her captain seemed silent and anxious, and would not leave the deck. Dinner had been announced, but Captain Weber had only dived below to reappear again in a few minutes, and, telescope in hand, was sweeping the coast line with his glass. He bad evinced no signs of anxiety to his guests, but as he paced the lee gangway of the brig, he showed no such reticence to his mate.

"One hour's good blow from yonder mountains and we should be well clear of this coast," he said.

"Do you think, Captain Weber, the fellow dare attack us again after the taste he had of our quality last night?" inquired the mate.

"If the scoundrels could get possession of the brig, they would soon find the means to arm her," replied the captain; "and the west coast of Madagascar is one series of indentations, coves, and bays, fit refuges for these sort of craft."

"The clouds are resting on the top of the mountain range, sir; I fancy we shall have more wind just now. How far do you reckon we are from land?"

"About ten miles," replied the captain. "Turn the hands up on deck, Mr Lowe. Haul up the mainsail, the brig has hardly way on her, and send the men aft. We must bury our dead."

The moon was low on the horizon, shedding a dim light on the ocean, and making the long line of the Madagascar coast look black and indistinct as if seen through a haze.

Soon ranged, side by side, on a grating abaft the main chains, lay five forms covered with the ship's ensign. On the quarter-deck stood the passengers and the remainder of the crew, while the missionary, in a clear distinct voice, read slowly the impressive burial service. All were uncovered, and the tears streamed down Isabel's face, as she looked on the inanimate forms of the brave fellows who had died to save her from worse than death. The captain laid his hand on the Union Jack, the mate made a sign, and four sturdy men advanced, placing their shoulders under the grating. "We commit their bodies to the deep, in the sure and certain hope of resurrection to eternal life," and as the solemn words rang out on the night air, the splash of the falling bodies in the sea followed. A stillness seemed to gather around, and the service for the dead finished, the crew retired to their different duties, for the time, at least, saddened and depressed, and the quarter-deck was soon left to the captain and his mate.

Slowly they paced it to and fro in eager but low conversation. The puffs of wind came down a little steadier, and the "Halcyon" was moving through the water once more. The night was beautifully fine, the stars shining brilliantly, but the moon just sinking behind a distant spit of land broad on the larboard bow. From time to time the sound of the ship's bell, tolling the hour, was heard, the creaking of the blocks and ropes, and the mournful flap of the sails as the brig rolled lazily on the long swell. All at once the mate stopped suddenly in his walk, looked earnestly towards the coast line, and then, without speaking, raised his finger and pointed towards the setting moon. It was just sinking behind a patch of forest trees, their long tapering fan-like leaves distinctly marked against the light, while, sweeping past, the spars of a small vessel could be seen, the thin whip-like sticks plainly visible against the sky. Next, the long, low black hull drew clear of the land, and distinctly revealed against the light the spars and rigging of a small schooner. Not a rag of canvas was shown, and yet slowly and with a gentle caption the dark mass glided on into the night, right on the path which the brig was taking.

The two seamen looked at each other.

"I thought as much. It is the pirate!" ejaculated the captain, with a deep sigh.

"If they had chosen their weather, it could not suit them better."

Stepping aft, the captain glanced at the compass.

"Round in the weather-braces and sheets, Mr Lowe. Port, you may, Hutchins; keep her dead to the west."

"Ay, ay, sir," replied the man, as the spokes flew through his fingers; and the ship's head falling off, the wind was brought nearly aft, the two vessels thus moving on almost parallel lines.

"Can you make him out now?" asked the captain, as his mate rejoined him on the quarter-deck.

Long and anxiously did the officer addressed peer into the night. The missionary joined the group, and was made acquainted with what was passing.

"There she is," said the mate, "right on our quarter. Look! in go her sweeps, for she has made sail, and is standing on the same course as ourselves, keeping way with us under her foresail, mainsail, and jib. That craft could close with us any moment, sir. Shall I rouse the crew?"

The captain did not speak; but stood, his elbows leaning on the weather bulwarks, looking in the direction of the schooner.

"If it is the vessel you suppose, she knows we carry guns," remarked Wyzinski; "but does not know how many. She will wait for daylight."

"You are quite right," replied the captain. "Leave the men quiet, Mr Lowe. We will keep the watch together, and may God send us wind," and here the old seaman reverently lifted his cap, "for yonder is a dreadful foe."

The sound of the bell tolled out the hours, the wind, which had freshened, towards morning died away; but all night long the three anxious watchers paced the narrow limits of the brig's quarter-deck. Time after time did the captain turn to the compass and take the schooner's bearings. It was useless, for there, under easy sail, exactly where she had first been made out, on the brig's weather quarter, the white canvas of the pirate could be seen, never varying a point. It was evident she was waiting for daylight to close with her prey.

Volume 2, Chapter VI.

THE PIRATE SCHOONER.

Day dawned slowly, the breeze having slightly freshened towards morning, but still the long, low line of the Madagascar coast lay astern. The ocean was quite calm.

"Sail ho!" shouted one of the crew. On the quarter-deck, the captain, the mate, and Wyzinski still kept their anxious watch.

"What do you make her out, Williams?" asked Captain Weber.

"A schooner, sir, under easy sail, standing to the westward."

Again the captain took the bearings of the dangerous-looking vessel, but with exactly the same result. There she was still on the brig's weather quarter, and apparently in no sort of a hurry.

"The wicked-looking craft has the heels of us." remarked the mate; "but we shall have a cap full of wind before long, and then we may tell a different tale."

"She sees it too; there goes her fore-topsail. She is making sail," said the captain; then, addressing a man who happened to be passing at the moment, "tell Captain Hughes and the foreign Don I should be glad to speak to them," he added.

The schooner showed no flag, but setting her fore-topsail, edged a little nearer the wind, so as no longer to be running on a line parallel to the brig, but on one which would eventually bring them to the same spot. The two passengers soon stood on the deck.

"I have sent for you, gentlemen," said the captain, raising his tarpaulin as he spoke, "to decide on our course. You see yonder schooner?"

All eyes were turned to the long, low black hull and the white canvas.

"Well, I have every reason to suppose she is a pirate, whose crew have committed great ravages in these seas. Several vessels have been chased by her, and one or two having a great number of passengers on board, the little craft, which sails like a witch, has neared them sufficiently to make this out, and has then put up her helm and made sail. But several vessels which are over due at different ports have never been heard of, not a vestige of them and their crews ever having been found. They have simply disappeared."

"But we are armed," replied Hughes, "and are double yonder schooner's tonnage."

"I know nothing of her armament; no one does," replied the seaman. "The vessels she has boarded, whose crews could tell, have, I repeat, mysteriously disappeared from the face of the ocean. The captain of the `Dawn' told that when off the island of Mayotte, away to the northward here, a brig was in his company. The two sailed about equally. One night pistol shots were heard, and when morning broke there was no brig, but where she should have been a low, rakish-looking schooner was seen."

"But what had become of the other?" asked Hughes.

"The pirate had carried her, taken all that she wanted, and scuttled her, making the hull serve as a coffin for her crew."

"And this you think is the fate the wretches in yonder craft reserve for us?"

"No, I think that they are quite aware of the value of my cargo, which consists of ivory, gold dust, and ostrich feathers. If they can get the brig, they will doubtless fit her out as a sister scourge of the ocean, selling her cargo."

"And the crew?" asked Hughes.

"Will walk the plank one and all. For the lady, such a fate would be too great a mercy."

The captain's weather-beaten countenance looked pale and anxious; Hughes covered his face with his hands, and his strong frame shook as he thought of Isabel at that very moment quietly sleeping below. The missionary was explaining the situation to the Portuguese.

"And now, gentlemen, your advice. But this I must premise. Yonder piratical curs shall never have the brig. I have, several kegs of powder aboard for trading purposes, and so sure as my name is Andrew Weber, I blow her to pieces rather than she turns pirate."

The soldier dropped the hands which had shaded his face. He gazed long and earnestly at the white sails of the wicked-looking craft, which was now fast creeping up with them. His look was one of high determination and courage.

"There can be but one way, Captain Weber. Haul your brig up to her proper course, arm your crew, load your guns, and let us meet yonder pirate. We cannot fly. Your powder will be a last resource."

"And you, gentlemen," inquired the captain, "are of the same advice?"

"There can be no other course," was the reply.

"Mr Lowe, send the crew aft, one and all."

"Ay, ay, sir," said the mate, cheerily.

The captain paced his quarter-deck moodily and in silence. Dom Maxara went below, while Hughes and the missionary looked gloomily over the ocean.

"My lads," said the captain, "yonder schooner is a pirate. For months her people have plundered and massacred inoffensive ships and their crews. They are the same Malays we met in Saint Augustine's Bay, and we purged the old barky's deck of the rapscallions. We have lost five of ours, but their death was avenged. Yonder blackguard comes with murder and piracy in his hold. He has a full cargo of both, but so long as Andrew Weber lives, this brig shall never be his. We will fight to the last man, and that last man, mark me my lads well, that last man, or boy, no matter which, fires the powder in the magazine!"

A loud cheer burst from the crew.

"And now, my lads, to your arms! Mr Lowe, in with the studding-sails, take a pull at the lee sheets and braces, starboard you may, bring her head west-south-west!"

The wind at last was freshening, the sea was calm, and the "Halcyon" was making some four knots an hour; but the very smoothness of the ocean was against her, for her breadth of beam, rounded sides, and greater tonnage would have told in her favour hod the waves been rough; the schooner naturally labouring more in such a case.

As it was, everything favoured the latter, save that over the land hung a heavy cloud, which had been growing denser and denser. Its edges were ragged, and the captain often looked towards that quarter, conscious that in it lay his only hope.

The two vessels were now rapidly approaching each other, the black hull of the schooner becoming every moment more and more distinctly visible.

"Show our colours," said the captain, and the Union Jack streamed out from the peak halyards.

"She makes no reply," remarked the mate. "The bloody-minded villains have no flag to fight under."

"Look here, Mr Lowe," said the captain, "that craft is in no hurry; she is handing her fore-topsail again, and there goes her flag!"

"Fiery red, by George!--nothing less than blood will satisfy them."

Half an hour would bring the two vessels within hailing distance, and Captain Weber made all his dispositions. The arm-chest which had been sent below had been again hoisted up on deck, and placed under the charge of Captain Hughes.

The two nine-pounders were heavily loaded, and the men had breakfasted.

"Mr Lowe, I intend, if yonder villain will allow me, to pass under his stern, giving him the contents of our two guns, and then luff right up into the wind, and away on the other tack."

"Ay, ay, sir," replied the mate; "a stern chase is a long one."

"If we had the good fortune to cripple him, we should be safe; but have the men ready to run the two guns over, and fire as I go about. Send Adams to the wheel, and let the men stand by the sheets and braces."

Mr Lowe was a steady, cool, courageous officer, and his dispositions were soon made. All was quiet on board the brig as she slipped through the water; while the schooner, her decks literally covered with men, came up rapidly, evidently intending to board.

Captain Weber stood on the weather quarter, as the wicked little craft came sweeping up, her enormous mainsail well filled, and her sharp bows cutting the water like a knife. She had a flush deck fore and aft, and forward was built like a wedge. There appeared to be no ports.

"Schooner, ahoy!" shouted he, as the two craft neared each other.

A musket-shot was the reply, which missed. The captain raised his hand, and the roar of the two nine-pounders was heard. Down came the schooner's foresail, as she flew up into the wind, and a yell of vengeance, mingled with cries of pain, rose from her crowded decks.

"Run the guns over!" shouted the captain. "Man the starboard head-braces! Tend the boom-sheet! Haul on the weather-braces and jib-sheet! Hard a-port, Adams, hard a-port!"

Shooting up into the wind, the brig payed round on her heel, the two guns being again fired into the schooner's bows, as the sails filled, and the "Halcyon" stood on the other tack.

"Hurrah, my lads!" shouted the delighted captain. "We've given her a taste of our metal."

A spattering fire ran along the schooner's decks, the balls striking the brig's bulwarks, but without doing any damage.

All seemed confusion on board the smaller vessel, the halyards of whose foresail having been shot away, and nothing save the jib counteracting forward the overpowering pressure of the enormous mainsail aft, she had flown up into the wind, with her sails flapping and shivering. The crew were shouting, gesticulating, and running here and there.

The "Halcyon," on the contrary, stood steadily on her course, from time to time firing the nine-pounder from her quarter-deck, but, from want of practice of her crew, without doing any apparent damage.

The shot soon began to fall short, and the "Halcyon," tacking once more, lay her course with a gentle wind from the eastward, and a smooth sea. Three miles of salt-water were between her and her antagonist, before the schooner's foresail was again set, when the vessel once more made sail on a wind and with her gaff topsails, fore and mainsail, fore-topmast staysail, and jib, seeming to fly through the water, making three feet for the "Halcyon's" one, going well to windward. The glass, however, still showed a vast amount of bustle and disorder on her decks; and Captain Weber, rubbing his hands, dived down below into the cabin to breakfast.

"Call me at once if there is any change on deck, Mr Lowe; but I think that fellow's had enough of us," said the jubilant master.

"Ay, ay, sir," said the mate, taking charge of the deck.

"Keep a bright look out on yonder jagged cloud; it will take in our flying kites for us before sunset," were the captain's last words as he disappeared down the hatchway.

Below, the table had been laid for breakfast by the steward, who, with all a sailor's carelessness, had proceeded with his ordinary duty, just as though nothing out of the common way had happened. In the cabin the passengers were gathered, if such they may be termed, for the scenes of peril through which they had passed had so identified them with the brig, that they seemed to look upon her as their home, while the captain, quite unused to carry passengers, and having seen the men of the party fighting as if under his orders, and Isabel wounded on his decks, had got quite to consider them as part and parcel of his crew.

Captain Hughes appeared thoughtful and preoccupied; but the rest, the master included, revelled in the idea of danger past.

"We lie our course, and shall soon have plenty of wind," he remarked, drawing towards himself a massive English ham, which he proceeded to carve. "I only wish I had a few more guns, and I would not let that blackguard off so easily."

"You think we shall have a storm?" asked Wyzinski.

"It is just the season for it in these seas," replied the captain, "and yonder cloud over the land will make itself felt before long. The mercury is falling in the barometer rapidly."

"Do you think our guns did much damage among the Malays?"

"No. It was a lucky shot that brought the villains' foresail on deck; but even in this smooth sea it needs practice to make gunners, and my lads have had none."

"But you think the pirate has left us?" It was Captain Hughes who put the question, anxiously.

"The fellow is hugging the wind instead of running down to us; and as he completely outsails us, it is a proof that he does not wish to close."

"How do you account for the great confusion on board her? With so strong a crew, the foresail should have been hoisted directly."

"The lubbers can fight like savages, but can't sail their ship, that's all," said the captain, laughing.

Steps were heard coming down the hatchway, and the mate opened the cabin-door.

"The schooner is edging nearer us, Captain Weber," he said, "and there is some long black object on her decks I can't quite make out."

"I'll be on deck in a moment, Mr Lowe. Steward, give me a small glass of brandy to finish with."

"Well, gentlemen," said the seaman, as he raised the glass, "here's to our voyage, and--"

The word was never spoken, for a distant but loud report, followed by the rending of wood, interrupted him. For a moment the old seaman stood like a statue, the next he was on deck.

The first glance explained to him the reason of the continued confusion on board the schooner, which a moment before he had sneered at as a proof of incapacity. The pirate had gone to windward, and now lay on the brig's weather quarter, the tack of her mainsail hauled up, quite out of the reach of her fire. Her crew had been busy getting up from her hold a long eighteen-pounder, which was shipped amidships, and worked on a swivel. The first shot had struck the "Halcyon's" bulwarks, just abaft the foremast, leaving a long white strip, where the wood had been torn away.

Both captain and mate looked at each other, for here seamanship was powerless.

"The bloody-minded villains!" ejaculated the mate.

"They have us at their mercy," sighed the master. "Sailing more than three feet for our one, there they can stick and pound away at us as they like."

"Shall we try our range, Captain Weber?"

"Do so, but it is quite useless," was the reply, as the seaman leaned his elbows on the weather bulwarks, and gazed steadily at the schooner.

"Take good aim, my lads, and fire when you are ready."