Chapter SIXTEEN (1)

THE BELLONA PROCEEDS DOWN THE AFRICAN COAST--OVERHAULS A SUSPICIOUS DHOW--TOM FINDS HIS OLD ACQUAINTANCE PANGO ON BOARD, AND THE DHOW IS CONDEMNED--AFTER TOUCHING AT ZANZIBAR, THE BELLONA PROCEEDS TO SIMON'S BAY--TAKES TROOPS ON BOARD FOR CAFFRARIA--MAJOR BUBSBY AND HIS FAMILY--A STORM IN THE CABIN--BILLY IN LOVE--A HEAVY SURF ON THE COAST--MACHINERY GIVES WAY--SHIP ON A LEE SHORE--ATTEMPT TO BEAT OFF--BILLY AND ANGELICA FALL OUT--THE BELLONA ANCHORS--IN GREAT DANGER--HAS TO STAND OFF SHORE-- A MAN ON A RAFT PICKED UP--INTERESTING INFORMATION--A FIRE BREAKS OUT ON BOARD--THE MAJOR'S FAMILY LOWERED INTO A BOAT--HE IS DETAINED BY ANGELICA--THE BOAT DROPPED ASTERN--THE FIRE IS EXTINGUISHED--THE MAJOR COLDLY RECEIVED BY HIS OFFICERS--THE TROOPS LANDED--THE MAJOR BEGS TO RETURN IN THE BELLONA--JACK REFUSES, AND SENDS HIM ON SHORE--THE STRANGER PICKED UP REPORTS HAVING SEEN A SIGNAL ON A LONE ROCK--THE BELLONA REACHES SIMON'S BAY, AND SAILS IN SEARCH OF THE EMPRESS.

Jack had some hopes on touching at Aden that he might hear something of the _Empress_, but not a word had been received there of her. Taking in coal at that sandy and most unattractive of England's possessions, the _Bellona_ sailed for the Cape. She actually did sail, for the wind was fair, and Jack, in common with other officers, had received orders to consume as little coal as possible. A bright look-out was kept for slavers, and several suspicious-looking craft were overhauled, but as the black-looking individuals found on board appeared to be either part of the crew or passengers, they were allowed to proceed on their voyage.

Some time before Zanzibar was reached, a dhow was seen early one morning becalmed. Some hours previously the _Bellona_ had got up her steam, and was cleaving her way rapidly through the smooth water. By altering her course slightly she was thus able to pass close enough to the dhow to ascertain her character. As the sun rose, a breeze sprang up, and the dhow was seen to hoist her largest sail and to stand away for the coast. As this looked suspicious, a gun was fired, as a signal to her to heave to. The breeze was increasing, and she might lead the _Bellona_ a considerable distance out of her course. She took no notice of the signal, but continued standing on as before, her crew possibly ignorant of the rate at which the dark-looking stranger could go. Full speed was put on, and the steamer gained on the chase, while Captain Rogers continued throwing shot on either side of her, with no more effect, however, than at first. As, however, the _Bellona_ must ere long come up with the dhow, he refrained from firing a shot into her, which he felt very much inclined to do. At length, when the Arabs saw that they could not possibly reach the shore before they were overtaken, they lowered their huge sail, and the _Bellona_ was quickly up to them.

A boat being lowered, Tom and Alick soon pulled up alongside the dhow. As Tom had no interpreter, and knew as much about Arabic as he did about the ancient Chaldean, he could only judge of the character of the craft by the appearance of things. Her crew were very picturesque gentlemen, but, judging by their looks, cut-throats every one of them, and without any ceremony would have stuck their long daggers into the English officers had they dared. But the sight of the yardarm of a man-of-war, not to speak of her guns, has a wonderful effect in keeping such gentry in order. Along the decks were arranged a party of ladies and gentlemen, most of them jet black, dressed out in a variety of fanciful costumes. Some in pink and checked shirts, others with blankets over their shoulders, and others in loose trousers and vests, but it was easy to see that they were destitute of under garments.

Nearly a score of naked fellows, with clothes only round their waists, were standing round the halyards, to which they were holding on as if they were part of the crew.

Tom inquired of the savage-looking fellow who came forward in the character of captain, where they came from.

"Zanzibar," was the answer.

"And where bound for?"

The captain pointed to the north-east, and pronounced some name not on the chart.

"Of how many men does your ship's company consist?" asked Tom, making signs by hauling away with his hands, then pretending to be rowing, and then holding up his fingers and pretending to count.

The skipper pointed to the black fellows forward and then to the Arabs, who were, indeed, alone quite sufficient for navigating the craft.

"Who are these ebony-coloured ladies and gentlemen who sit so demurely about the deck?" asked Tom, pointing to them.

The Arab replied by signs that they had paid money into his hands for their passage, and by putting his head down, as if to sleep, that they had no work to do.

"So they are passengers," observed Tom. "I understand that, and now my fine fellow, we will have a look below."

In the cabin were seated nearly a dozen young women and girls, dressed up in somewhat more elegant costumes than those on deck.

"Who are these?" asked Tom.

The captain signified that they were his wives.

"What! all of them, you old wretch?" cried Tom.

The captain smiled in return, and pressed his hand on his heart, either to signify that he was speaking the truth or that they reigned there supreme.

"We will now have a peep into the hold."

Tom, telling Alick to look out on deck, descended with two hands below. As little light reached that region, it appeared at first to be entirely empty. The odour was not very pleasant. Tom was on the point of returning on deck when he heard a groan, and hurrying to the fore part, by the dim light which came down, he distinguished a human form lying on the deck. Blood was streaming from the poor fellow's head. Tom and his men lifted him up, and discovering no one else, they carried him under the main hatchway. He quickly revived in the fresher air, and gazed with astonishment at the lieutenant and his men.

"Who are you, my poor fellow?" asked Tom, not expecting an answer.

"Me Pango; served board English man-war."

"Pango!" exclaimed Tom, remembering the black who had been rescued at Zanzibar by the _Opal_, and who, after serving on board of her for some time, was lost sight of. "I recollect all about you, and if you wish it you shall come on board again, but I want first to know who all those people are."

"All slavy, slavy," answered Pango. "Dey jus' dress up, an' when I tell cap'n dat trick no do, he cut me down an' try to kill me."

"There is no time to be lost; take him up on deck, and we will soon show the skipper that you speak the truth," said Tom.

The Arab captain looked very much taken aback, while he cast savage glances at poor Pango; he saw, however, that the game was up, and that it was useless any longer to attempt deceiving the English officer.

Tom immediately ordered him and several of his crew to get into the boat, which conveyed them on board the _Bellona_, under charge of Alick. Another boat being lowered, Pango was taken on board, with the remainder of the Arab crew, that the surgeon might look to him. Tom then returned to the _Bellona_.

Jack decided on taking all the supposed passengers on board. As soon as Pango was sufficiently recovered to act as interpreter, they were examined, when they said that they had been forced to dress up, and threatened that should they not do so they would be thrown overboard. It was ascertained that most of them had been carried away from the coast not many days before, and that they had come a long journey from the interior. Pango had been picked up from a canoe while fishing off the shore, and carried away.

The evidence was so clear that Jack, without hesitation, destroyed the dhow, which could not be towed all the way to Zanzibar, resolving to risk all the consequences.

During the passage several other dhows were met with, but although there were blacks on board, there was not sufficient evidence to prove that they were slaves. It convinced Jack, however, that the abominable trade was still carried on, that thousands of Africans were carried off to Arabia, Persia, and other parts of Asia, to toil in hopeless slavery for the remainder of their lives, and that it would be necessary to make yet more strenuous efforts than before if it was to be effectually put down. He remembered, too, all the horrors he had witnessed and heard of in connection with the slave trade in the interior, when whole villages and districts were depopulated, and numbers were killed or perished from hunger, besides those captured by the Arabs.

Pango was of assistance in enabling him to condemn two dhows, besides those he was compelled to let escape. The black improved rapidly in English, or rather recovered what he had lost. Jack asked where he wished to be put on shore.

"Me no go shore 'gain," answered Pango. "May be slave fellow take me 'gain. Me go where ship go. Me stay board. Pango now sailor man."

He was accordingly entered as one of the crew, greatly to his delight.

Jack inquired for his brother Bango.

Pango's countenance became very sad. "Do slavy man take him. Me tinke cut him troat. Me not see him now five years;" and poor Pango burst into tears as he thought of the fate which had overtaken Bango, showing that some Africans, at all events, have as great an affection for their relatives as have white men for theirs.

On arriving at Zanzibar, Jack handed over the Arab crew to the authorities, to be dealt with for their infraction of the law; and the slaves were placed on board another man-of-war, to be carried to the Seychelle Islands, where they might enjoy liberty and a climate suited to their constitutions.

Jack was again disappointed at not gaining at Zanzibar any tidings of the _Empress_. Running through the Mozambique Channel, he continued his course for Cape Town, where he arrived without any further adventure. His first inquiry was for the _Empress_. No tidings, however, had been received, and serious apprehensions were felt for her safety.

"It is supposed that she must have foundered in a typhoon in the Indian seas, if she ever got there; or that she has been cast away and gone to pieces on some unknown rock," was the answer received.

"Poor Adair! is such your end?" exclaimed Jack, sorrowfully. "I won't believe it, however. I trust that Lucy will not hear these reports."

A day after his arrival the mail from England came in, bringing letters for him from Julia and Murray, who had just gained his rank as an admiral.

"As there are so many good officers seeking for employment, I conclude that I shall be virtually shelved, although for my boy's sake I would gladly have gone to sea again," wrote Murray. "His mother and I are looking out anxiously for tidings of him. His last letter gave us an account of the commencement of the Abyssinian expedition, and that he was to go up the country with the Naval Brigade. It is important that a youngster should see service on shore as well as afloat, although we naturally feel anxious lest he should have suffered from the hardships to which he must of necessity have been exposed. We are, therefore, eagerly looking forward to his next letter. Our girls are well, and we hear good accounts from Julia of yours; but Lucy is naturally in a sad state of anxiety. No tidings have reached England of the _Empress_, nor has anything been heard of Saint Maur. I am continuing to make all possible inquiries, and have written to agents at various seaports to ascertain from the masters of ships trading foreign to endeavour to find some clue to his fate."

The remainder of the letter referred to private matters. The _Bellona_ remained some time in Simon's Bay, and all on board were in hopes of being sent home, when, no transport being ready, Captain Rogers was requested to proceed with a wing of the --- Regiment to the coast of Caffraria, where they were immediately wanted to put down a serious outbreak of the natives. It was far from a satisfactory or pleasant task, for the _Bellona_ had no accommodation for officers or men; but Captain Rogers was not a person to throw difficulties in the way when a service could be rendered to the country. He had lately, during his constant intercourse with military men, got on without a dispute; and he hoped that such would be the case at present. All hands were busily employed in taking the baggage on board and embarking the men, so that neither he nor his officers had much time to attend to their guests. The last person to arrive on board was Major Bubsby, commanding the troops; and Jack was not a little taken aback when he found that he had brought his wife and two tall daughters on board. The lady was almost twice the height of her better half, and the daughters promised to grow into the same proportions. The major was undoubtedly a short man, although not a small one either in girth or in his own estimation. He had a rubicund countenance, huge mustachios, and small, ferrety eyes.

"I was not aware that we should have ladies, or I should have advised you not to bring them, although, as they have come, I will endeavour to provide the best accommodation I can for them," said Jack, with his usual politeness.

"You must understand, Captain Rogers, that I never move anywhere without Mrs Bubsby and my daughters. They are accustomed to camp life, and like it; and should I be wounded or fall sick, I should have them at hand to nurse me. I require care, for I am not so young as I once was, though still strong and active;" and the major twirled his mustachios and gave a loud "Ahem!"

"I am afraid that the ladies will be put to much inconvenience, both on board and on shore; for, should the regiment have to advance into the interior, I don't know what will become of them," observed Jack. "And if you will take my advice--though, as I have said, I am perfectly ready to accommodate them--you will leave them at Cape Town to await your return."

"Never! Captain Rogers, never!" exclaimed Major Bubsby. "If I do I shall not know what they are about."

"But should you be killed, and there may be some sharp fighting, what then will become of your wife and daughters?" observed Jack, eyeing the stout little major.

"Then, Captain Rogers, I must beg that you will have the kindness so far to oblige me as to take them back to Cape Town," answered the major, looking evidently as if he did not quite like the remark. "I have now been in the service thirty years, and have no intention that the Caffres or any other savages should take my life. They are a contemptible lot. Why, a glance from my eye alone would be sufficient to put a whole host of the niggers to flight!"

"As you please, Major Bubsby," said Jack. "I shall be ready to appropriate a portion of my after cabin to your wife and daughters, and I will direct the carpenter to put up a screen, that they may live in private if they wish to do so."

"Ah, that will do, that will do," answered the major.

This conversation took place out of earshot of Mrs Bubsby, who was not aware of Jack's kind intentions towards her. Jack, approaching with a bow, requested her and her daughters to remain on deck until the cabin was fitted up for their accommodation. "We do things rapidly on board, and shall not detain you long," he added.

"I am surprised that the major did not intimate his intention to bring us; but it is very like him," answered Mrs Bubsby. "He is a worthy man, and devotedly attached to me and my daughters. Allow me to introduce them. Eugenia, my eldest, and Angelica, my second daughter. They look forward with greater pleasure to the voyage and life in the bush than I do, I confess. They are good-hearted girls, and would be ready to follow their father into the field, if required."

"Ah, yes; we do not care where we go, or what we do," said Eugenia. "We are never so happy as when on horseback or living under canvas."

"I delight in the sea, and I love seamen," said Angelica, smiling sweetly at the captain.

She was not aware that Jack possessed a wife and family. He had now to quit the ladies to attend to the duty of the ship.

"Blue Peter" had been flying for some time, and a gun was fired to hurry off those on shore. The anchor was weighed, and the _Bellona_ with her living freight steamed majestically out of the harbour.

As soon as things had been got somewhat to rights, the baggage stowed away, and the soldiers berthed, Jack and his lieutenants had time to look after the officers.

Directly the ladies' cabin was ready, Jack escorted them below. Mrs Bubsby cast a somewhat indignant glance at the canvas screen which had been put up, but said nothing. But Eugenia exclaimed--

"How nice! we shall hear everything that is said outside, and you'll hear us, so we must take care what we talk about."

"I'm sure that we shall hear nothing but what is pleasant and sensible and right," said Jack, with less veracity than it was his wont to speak.

Mrs Bubsby gave a "hem!" and Jack, bowing, left the cabin in possession of his fair guests.

The major was pacing the deck, fussing and fuming. Something had gone wrong with him. Jack kept out of his way. He had already got hold of one of his own junior officers, to whom he was explaining what had happened. At last he came up to Jack.

"I must beg you, Captain Rogers, to put back. My dressing-case, with valuables to a large amount, has been left behind; and it will to a certainty be stolen. I cannot do without it while campaigning; and it will be a fearful inconvenience not to have it on board. I will give you a written request, if you think it necessary to have one."

"I cannot return to harbour for such a purpose, even with a written request from you," answered Jack, scarcely able to restrain his laughter. "Perhaps the case in question has been brought on board after all. If not, anything I possess I shall be happy to place at your disposal."

"You do not possess what I require, I am sure," answered the major.

"But tell me what it is that your case contains which I cannot supply!" said Jack.

The major took Jack by the arm and led him out of earshot of his officers. "My second set of teeth," he whispered. "I confide the fact to you; I shall never masticate my food without them; I shall die of indigestion."

Jack could not help giving way to his inclination to laugh. "I own, major, I do not possess a second set of teeth of any description, but we will try the doctor; he is a clever man, and although such things are not supplied among our medical stores, he may possibly have some."

"I shall be most grateful if he can furnish me," answered the major, in the same tone as before; "but if you will not return into port, I must request you to institute a search for the dressing-case. You will not speak of its contents?"

Jack promised to do as the major requested, and directed Tom to learn if any case belonging to one of the officers had been carried forward or stowed away by mistake.

The major having allowed his "woman kind," as he called them, time to shake into their berths, went below. He had not been there long before Jack, who had gone to his cabin, heard a low whispering from within. He caught the words--

"It was your fault!"

"It was yours!"

"I tell you it was not. I looked after everything entrusted to me. Sniggins should have kept a better eye on your baggage."

"No; he was not to blame. It was your business to look after the smaller articles; for what other reason do I carry you and your daughters about?"

"I'm sure I don't want to go. You and the girls made me."

"I made you? I never made you do anything in your life which you did not like. My beloved, you are losing your temper!"

"I tell you I am as cool as a cucumber!" answered the lady, the tone of her voice belying the assertion.

"Don't fall out about it, papa," said a younger voice. "You are inclined to be aggravating."

"My dear, I am as calm as your mamma," said the major.

"Then why do you come here and accuse me of doing what I didn't?" cried the lady. "I will not stand such treatment. It is all your fault!"

"It's your fault, I say! Why was that case left behind?"

"It was not my fault," exclaimed Mrs Bubsby. "I'll teach you not to repeat such falsehoods!" There was a slight scream from Eugenia, echoed by Angelica, while some sounds greatly resembling those produced when a person is having his ears boxed, proceeded through the canvas. Directly afterwards the major, with a flushed countenance and a bald head, rushed out at the door, followed by a wig sent as a missile after him. On seeing Captain Rogers reading at the further corner of the cabin, he tried to pick it up, but the vessel giving a gentle roll at the time, sent him flying into the middle of the cabin before he had succeeded in his object. Pulling out his handkerchief in a vain endeavour to conceal his shaven crown, he uttered a groan. Jack tried not to look at him, but believing that he had been hurt, was compelled at length to inquire what was the matter.

"I confessed to you, Captain Rogers, that I made use of some false teeth in addition to my own natural ones, and now you have discovered that I wear a wig. But you will not, I trust, make it known to my officers, or they may lose the respect they now entertain for me."

A scornful laugh from within showed that the major's last observation had been overheard, and that some one did not agree with it.

Jack, however, kindly rising from his seat, picked up the major's wig, and having handed it to him, helped him to get on his legs.

"Do you wish to return to your cabin?" asked Jack.

The major shook his head. "Not at present," he whispered; "I'll wait until the storm has blown over. She is a good woman," pointing with his thumb to where it might be supposed Mrs Bubsby was standing; "but she's a little hasty, as you see, at times. I would have left her behind, but I could not bring my girls without a chaperon, besides which she would come, whether I liked it or not. I am frank with you, Captain Rogers; but I am frank by nature."

"Would you like to walk on deck, Major Bubsby?" asked Jack, not wishing to make any remark in the presence of the lady, aware that every word he uttered would reach her ears.

"Yes, indeed, I would," answered the major; "a little fresh air would greatly restore me. These fits are apt to unman me for a time, but I quickly recover, and soon resume the command of my amazon forces."

Jack heard another scornful laugh from within, as the major hurried into the main cabin. The captain good-naturedly paced the deck with him for some minutes, listening to the account of his domestic woes, arising from Mrs Bubsby's somewhat uncertain temper.

"She is in the main, however, a charming creature, charming when I married her--a perfect angel. Still charming, though less angelic, I'll allow, at times."

Jack could not help smiling. The major observed him.

"You doubt my assertion! Wait until you have been married as long as I have, thirty years or more, and you'll understand what's what. You are not married, I conclude, Captain Rogers?"

"I have the happiness of being so, although we poor sailors are not allowed to carry our wives and families with us, as you military men have the privilege of doing."

"That will be a disappointment to Eugenia and Angelica," observed the major, apparently speaking to himself. "They fully speculated on your being a bachelor. You have some bachelor officers, however, captain?"

"Oh, yes," answered Jack laughing; "my three lieutenants are all unmarried, and so are the rest of the officers, with the exception of the doctor and paymaster."

"That's some consolation, at all events. If there's one thing I have at heart more than another, it is to see my charming daughters well married."

"I wish you every success in so laudable an object," said Jack, "but it is a matter in which I should decline to interfere with respect to my officers. Indeed they are all too young to take upon themselves the responsibilities of married life. In my opinion a naval officer should not venture to fall in love until he is thirty at least, if he intends to get on in the service, and it would be much better to wait a few years beyond that."

"Ah, but my daughters would not consider them too young," said the major. "Angelica once engaged herself to a young gentleman of seventeen, and would have married him too had not his father, who objected to the match, sent him off up the country, and the poor girl for a month at least could not hold up her head. It was not until a fresh regiment arrived that she in any way recovered her usual buoyant spirits, and had no less than three admirers at once dangling after her. One was so old that she could not make up her mind to accept him. Another was over head and ears in debt, and asked me to pay his bills, on condition that he would take my daughter off my hands, and a third had, I found out, an unacknowledged wife. So you see my sweet Angelica is perfectly free to give her heart and hand to the first person who asks her."

The major, as he made these revelations, did not appear at all aware of the effect they were likely to produce on his auditor, who, as may be supposed, found it difficult to offer any remark on some of them.

"I think I may now venture below, as time has been given for the storm which raged in a certain region to calm down," said the major, who was beginning to feel a little tired from so long pacing the deck.

Jack advised him by all means to return to his cabin. He wanted, indeed, to enjoy a good hearty fit of laughter by himself, as he felt every instant ready to explode. He somewhat astonished Tom, who was on deck, when he at length gave way to his feelings as the major's head disappeared below the deck.

Tom, on hearing the account of the major's expulsion from the cabin, as may be supposed, joined his brother Jack in his merriment, and it was with difficulty for hours afterwards that he could refrain from bursting into fits of laughter.

The _Bellona_ steamed on; not at full speed, however, for the engineer found something amiss with the machinery, and begged the captain, as soon as the wind should shift, to proceed under sail, that he might have an opportunity of repairing the defect.

The young ladies were constantly on deck, endeavouring to make themselves as charming as possible. Archie Gordon and Tom were respectfully polite, and took care not to commit themselves by any undue attentions. Billy Blueblazes was far less cautious. Whenever he could find a spare minute, he was sure to make his way to the side of the fair Angelica.

At last, one night, while Tom was on watch, he was surprised to find Billy walk up to him.

"I thought you'd turned in," remarked Tom.

"It wouldn't have been of any use; I couldn't have slept had I tried," answered Billy, with a sigh. "I want, Tom, to confide a secret to you."

"What is it?" inquired Tom. "You have had no quarrel with any of those military officers, I hope?"

"Oh, no, no," answered Billy. "I know, Rogers, that you were once susceptible of the tender passion, and I want to make you my confidant. I am in love, irretrievably, hopelessly in love, and the fair object of my affections returns it, she assures me, with the same ardour. But, you know, my income is small. At present I have nothing but my pay, and that will only keep me and allow me a few pounds to spend on tarts and jellies and ice creams, and I should have to give those up at all events, which would be a terrible sacrifice. And then the major, her father, is evidently a hard-hearted, stubborn old fogey, and the mother's a she-dragon. The adorable creature insists that I shall marry her on the first opportunity. She, indeed, proposes that the chaplain should perform the ceremony on board, but I am afraid the captain would not allow that, and I am in a fearful state of perplexity."

"Which of them is it?" asked Tom; "for you appeared equally attentive to both whenever I have seen you together."

"Ah! but you have not observed the glances Angelica has cast at me, nor the blush which mantles on her cheek when I approach. I thought that every one must have observed it, though I desired to keep the matter a secret in my own breast until I confided it to you. We have been shipmates for many years, so that I felt sure I could trust you."

"Indeed you can," answered Tom. "I'll give you the best advice I can. Don't say anything to any one else for a few days; at all events restrain your ardour, do not commit yourself while the lady remains on board. You can write to her, you know, at any time, when she's safe on shore, then the captain would not interfere. Perhaps, after a little absence, you may find your affection cool; for, from the way you describe her parents, I am, as a friend, bound to tell you that there are some objections to the match, and I am sure the captain would see them."

"I am sure that I shall never love her less than I do now," answered Billy. "I have been thinking of composing some verses to present to her. As you know, I am something of a poet, but I should like to show them to you before I give them."

"Didn't you once begin some to a young lady in Sydney?" asked Tom, slily. "I don't think you ever finished them."

"No, nor did I; still, I thought of completing them now. You must remember that the young lady there gave me no encouragement, but at present I know that they will be received, and my poetic genius will be stimulated. Oh, Tom! it is very delightful to be in love, but it sadly unhinges a man, you know that from experience."

"Bosh! If I ever was in love, it is so long ago and I was such a boy at the time, that I have forgotten all about it," answered Tom, not quits liking Billy's remark. "But what about the verses?" he asked.

"I have them in my pocket, as far as I have gone. I would read them by the binnacle lamp but that the helmsman would overhear me. I think, however, I can recollect them. They begin--

"`Angelica, my own beloved,
An earthly angel thou!'

"I forget the third line, but the fourth is--

"`Before thy shrine I bow.

"`The jasmine, lily, and the rose,
In thee are all entwined.'

"Those third lines bother me, but the fourth I thought of terminating with `combined.' Perhaps you can help me, Tom?"

"Couldn't you put in something about a sunflower or a poplar," suggested Tom. "The lady in question rather brings to my mind some of the taller productions of nature. You must have remarked she's a head and a half taller than you are, Billy, and Mrs Bubsby even more than that above the major."

"I might begin, `Tall art thou as the stately pine,' but I think I should be bothered if I had to introduce the sunflower," observed Billy.

"Give them to me," said Tom, "and I will look them over; perhaps I may get the paymaster to help me--he's a capital hand with his pen."

Billy, pulling a paper out of his pocket, gave it to Tom, and after pacing the deck for a few minutes longer went below to turn in, though, he averred, not to sleep. It should have been mentioned that Billy had been promoted before leaving England, and was now junior lieutenant of the ship.

Tom, however, had no opportunity of looking at the verses. The following night the ship was five or six miles from Waterloo Bay, but Jack deemed it prudent to wait until next morning to stand in.

Billy was very miserable at the thoughts of having so soon to part from Angelica.

"I say, Rogers, do you think the captain would let me go on shore just for a day or two? The ship is sure to remain here for some time."

"I'm not so certain of that, and you cannot be spared," answered Tom. "The captain would smell a rat; depend upon that. He's too sharp-sighted not to have observed what has been going on. I don't think he altogether admires the young lady as much as you do."

"Have you read the remainder of the verses?" asked Billy. "Some of the lines want endings, and some of the verses want lines and rhymes. My ideas are very grand, but I am apt to break down for want of appropriate rhymes."

"I'll find them for you," said Tom. "I've got a dictionary, and I'll run my eye down it, and select as many as you can want."

"I should like to have finished them before she goes on shore," said Billy.

"I don't see how that can be managed," observed Tom. "You can send them to her before we again put to sea; it will be a last tender mark of your affection, and she will appreciate it. If you will write the address on an envelope I will get it sent with the captain's letters."

Billy was contented with this proposal, and turned in until his watch on deck came round. At daylight the _Bellona_ slowly steamed in for the land, for it was very nearly a calm, though heavy undulations rolled on beneath the ship towards the shore. On approaching it the loud roar of the surf was heard. It soon became evident that it would be utterly impossible to land the troops. Jack made a signal to ask how long this state of things would last. The answer was unsatisfactory. It might be for a week or ten days. The troops were greatly wanted, but it would be impossible for them to land, and Captain Rogers was requested to keep close to the coast, that no opportunity might be lost in case the surf should unexpectedly cease. He accordingly put the ship's head round, and was steaming off, when suddenly the engines stopped.

The anchor, of course, was now the only resource, as there was not sufficient wind to enable the ship to claw off the land. As rapidly as possible the anchor was let go. No sooner had it caught the ground, and the cable run out, than the influence of the rollers began sensibly to be felt and the ship began pitching in a very unsatisfactory manner. Astern was the threatening, barren-looking coast, with a broad line of white breakers dashing savagely on it. On trying the current, it was found setting west by north at the rate of a mile and a half an hour, which, with the swell, would soon have placed the ship in a most dangerous position. Jack himself went below to ascertain the amount of damage to the machinery, and to urge the engineers to work with all speed. The chief engineer looked grave.

"We ought to be in harbour, with smooth water, to accomplish this work," he observed; "but we will do our best, sir."

"Should a breeze spring up, we will get under way, and the ship will be far more steady than she is now," answered Jack. "What was the cause of the accident?"

"A flaw, sir, which ought to have been discovered. It is only a wonder that it did not give way before, and I cannot account for its going now. However, as I said, sir, we will do our best."

"You can do no more, Mr Rivett," answered Jack. "Send for as many hands as you want, if they can assist you."

"Our own people are enough at present, but we may want them by-and-by," was the answer.

Jack returned on deck to find his principal guest looking rather pale. The major had been often enough at sea to know that a ship caught on a lee shore, with the chance of a heavy gale springing up, was not in a pleasant position. He felt also somewhat physically upset by the unusual motion. The ship was indeed riding uneasily, pulling at her cable as if at any instant she might haul the anchor from the bottom. Jack ordered another cable to be ranged in case of accident, for, should the bower anchor be carried away, there would be no time to lose in bringing up.

It is an ill wind that blows nobody good; and Billy was congratulating himself on the happiness of spending a few more days in the society of Angelica, but the motion of the ship had produced the same effect on her as it had on her papa, and when at length she did appear on deck, Tom remarked that she looked wonderfully yellow about the region of the mouth.

"I say, Billy," he observed, mischievously, "I think it would be very appropriate to compare her to the sunflower now."

In vain Billy tried to console her; she was too miserable to speak. He at length had to lead her below to the door of her cabin.

The calm continued all night, though the weather looked very threatening. In vain the engineers toiled on without ceasing. It might take two or three days even now before the damage could be repaired. The night came on. The captain, first lieutenant, and master felt too uneasy to turn in. Either the second or third lieutenant remained on the forecastle, ready to issue the necessary orders for letting go the other cable, should the first give way. It held on, however, until morning, but still the same heavy surf as before rolled on the shore, from whence, in answer to Jack's signals, the reply came, "Troops cannot yet land."

"I think, sir, before long, we shall have a breeze," said the master. "I hope it won't come due south; and from the look of the sky I should say that we shall have it from the south-west, or perhaps from the westward."

"I trust, if we do get it, that it will be from a quarter which will enable us to make sail," answered Jack.

Still hour after hour went by, and no breeze came. At length, towards night, a few ripples were seen on the water. They became more frequent. The dog vanes blew out.

"Hurrah! here comes a breeze!" cried the master. "We shall have it strong enough presently to make sail," he added. "We may then get that ironwork of ours to rights."

The capstan was manned. Scarcely had the men commenced tramping round than a loud report was heard. The messenger had given way, when the cable ran out to the clench, carrying away the stoppers, and running through both compressors. By great exertions, however, the messenger was again shackled together and the anchor hove up. No sooner did it appear above water than Tom, who was on the forecastle, exclaimed--

"Both flukes carried away, sir; nothing but the shank and stock remaining."

Sail was now made; but the ship was evidently drifting to the westward, by which she approached nearer and nearer the shore. Every stitch of canvas that could be set was hoisted. The wind shifted to the very worst quarter from which it could blow. The ship stood on, however, close-hauled, first on the starboard tack, and then, the wind shifting half a point or so, for the purpose of taking advantage of it, she was put about. Every sheet and brace was flattened aft; still, judging by the roar of the breakers, she was no further off the threatening coast than at first.

Many an eye was turned to leeward in an endeavour to discover the line of the coast, which, through the gloom, could dimly be distinguished below the bright sky.

"We still hold our own," said Jack to Archie Gordon, who was walking the deck. "If we can continue to do that until the sea goes down, we may still do well; and we must hope, if we should let drop an anchor, that it will prove sounder than the last. Probably the engineers will by that time have accomplished their task, and we shall be able to get steam on the ship. She doesn't sail close-hauled as well as I expected, and we never before have had an opportunity of testing her as we are now doing."

"I suspect that it is the current carrying her to leeward," observed Archie. "Possibly the wind may increase before daylight, and we shall then be better able to claw off the land."

All night long the captain, endeavouring to take advantage of every change of wind, frequently put the ship about, anxiously wishing for daylight, to be able to judge better than he could during the darkness of her distance from the land. The lead kept going showed no increase of depth, which ranged from thirty-five to forty fathoms. As morning approached, the water shallowed, showing that she was nearer than she had been when night closed in.

"By the deep, twenty," sang out the man in the chains. A short time afterwards, "fifteen fathom," then "twelve." Just at daylight she was in ten fathoms of water. As the sun rose, the marks denoting the entrance to Waterloo Bay were seen under the lee. The bay afforded no shelter with the wind blowing, as it then did, directly into it. Jack hoisted the signals, "Can the troops land?" The answer run up on shore was, "Not until the weather moderates."

In a short time a pilot came off in a surf-boat, and the ship was brought up in nine fathoms, about a mile and a half from the shore. A spring was also got on the cable, in case of requiring to slip, and a bow-rope for a slip-rope, while the spare anchor was shifted to the cathead, in lieu of the one carried away, that everything might be ready in case of necessity.

The pilot, on discovering that the machinery had given way, looked grave. He had been accustomed to sailing vessels all his life, and had no love for steamers.

"I hope your engineers will look sharp and get their work done," he observed to the master. "This is a queer place when the wind is as it is, though well enough when it's off shore."

After breakfast, the major and his family came on deck. Angelica, looking about her, inquired why they could not land.

"Because the boats would be upset and rolled over and over in these breakers, and you, my sweet girl, would be gobbled up by a shark!" answered Billy, to whom the question was put. "They would choose you first. I'm sure, if I was a shark, I shouldn't like to eat your papa or mamma!"

"Oh, what a dreadful idea!" exclaimed Angelica; yet she smiled at what she considered Billy's compliment.

Billy, who had recovered his verses from Tom, although he had not had time to look at them, thought this a good opportunity of presenting them; and, observing that the major's eyes were turned another way, took the paper out of his pocket and gave it to her.

"These lines, my dearest, will show you the depth of my affection," he said.

Angelica, with a blush, which she had the art of commanding at pleasure, took the paper. A frown, however, gathered on her brow as she read--

"`Tall as a poplar, sharp as a thorn;
I should never have missed you had you never been born.
Roses are sweet and lilies are fair,
But they lose their beauty when seen in your hair.'"

"Do you mean to insult me?" exclaimed Angelica, in an angry tone, as she continued to read on the doggerel which Tom had substituted for those Billy had given him. Just then the major, turning round, saw his daughter with a paper in her hand, and Billy standing by her side. He, supposing it to be a formal proposal which, in his paternal anxiety, he had carefully been looking for, approached with the intention of clinching the matter in the presence of witnesses, and allowing Billy no chance of escape. So convinced was he of this, that, without asking to look at the paper, he grasped Billy's hand.

"My dear fellow," he exclaimed, in his enthusiasm, "I am happy to congratulate you on your success and good taste. She will make you an admirable wife; and you will prove, I am sure, an affectionate husband. I accept your offer on my daughter's behalf and you shall have my blessing and that of Mrs Bubsby."

"But I have not made a downright offer," answered Billy.

"No, indeed he has not," exclaimed Angelica. "Look at these abominable lines he has just presented to me. What his object was I cannot divine."

The major took the paper and read the lines.

"Do you mean to insult my beloved child by putting such wretched trash as this into her hands?" exclaimed the major, with a sudden revulsion of feeling.

"I did not write them," answered Billy. "Indeed I did not. I had no wish to insult Miss Angelica; for I thought her a most charming person, and had got some beautiful lines almost ready, which I had intended to give her."

"This does not satisfy me, sir," answered the major. "The only apology you can make is to go down on your knees and beg the forgiveness of my innocent child, and offer to marry her forthwith."

"That I'll not," answered Billy, who had not at all liked the ominous frown which he had seen gather over the fair Angelica's brow, and still less the dictatorial tone of the irate major. Billy had a fair proportion of good sense, although he made a fool of himself sometimes; and was, when put on his mettle, as brave as any man. His good genius suggested to him the various remarks which Tom had made respecting the Bubsby family.

"I say that I did not intend to insult your daughter, and that I had not read the lines presented to her, nor did I compose them myself. I must beg that she will give them me back. I am ready to apologise for my unintentional mistake, and do so now."

At this juncture Mrs Bubsby and her other daughter joined the party, and at once set tooth and nail on poor Billy, not literally, but metaphorically. His spirit, however, was up. He positively refused to marry the fair Angelica, or to offer any further apology than he had already done.

"Then, sir, I must have satisfaction," exclaimed the major. "Your blood or mine must dye the soil of Africa ere many days are over!"

"Oh! my beloved husband, do not say that," exclaimed Mrs Bubsby. "He is beneath your notice. If he refuses to marry Angelica, the loss will be his. She will find ere long a far better husband."

"You wicked, deceitful, cruel, abominable young man!" exclaimed Angelica. "If you do not marry me you'll break my heart! It's not the first time I've been treated in this way. It shows me, however, more and more that you naval officers are not to be trusted."

Jack observed that something unpleasant was going on; but he was too much occupied with watching the position of the ship to interfere, as were the other officers. Billy himself also had presently to hurry forward to attend to his duties, while the major and his wife and daughters retired to their cabins to discuss the matter.

By this time heavy rollers were coming in, breaking within a cable's length of the ship on each quarter, making her position far from pleasant. There was but a light air from the southward, insufficient to enable her get under way.

Jack much regretted having come to the place, for it was evidently a far from satisfactory one for landing troops. The cutter was now lowered, and sent round the ship to sound. On her return on board the master reported only seven fathoms close to the breakers. The breeze now freshened from east-south-east, but the rollers increasing, the sea broke heavily half a cable's length from her. Everything was now prepared for making sail. On the cable being shortened in, it was discovered that it had swept over a rock about fifty fathoms from the anchor, and that at any moment it might give way.

"Stop heaving!" cried the captain. "Make ready to slip!" The sails were loosened; but as they were about to be sheeted home, the cable parted. Instantly the sheet anchor was let go. For some seconds it seemed doubtful, before it could reach the bottom, whether the ship would strike on the rocks; but it happily brought her up, though fearfully near them.

By this time it was again night; the rollers had greatly increased, and should the sheet anchor give way, it was clear that nothing could save the ship. Jack had seldom been in so anxious a position. All on board saw the danger they were in. The major's cheek lost its ruddy hue, and even Mrs Bubsby's countenance exhibited signs of alarm. Not far off lay a small vessel with both anchors down. Her master coming on board volunteered to make a hawser fast to her for the purpose of casting the man-of-war the right way.

The engineer stated that it would be some hours before steam could be got up.

"Then let me advise you, sir, to get under way forthwith," said the master of the merchantman. "Should the anchor fail to hold, the ship must inevitably strike on that reef of rocks where the surf is breaking so furiously, and where, strong as she may be, she will not hold together for an hour, while there will not be the slightest chance of saving a single human life."

Jack gladly accepted the worthy master's offer. The cutters were lowered, and hawsers carried to the vessel. The sheet anchor was then weighed, when, on its coming above water, it was found that both the flukes had gone. Her only hope of safety was on the remaining anchor. Would it hold until sail could be made? From the direction the beats were drifting it was soon seen that, in spite of all the efforts of their crews, it would be impossible to carry the hawsers to the merchantman. Jack looked anxiously at the compass and dog vanes. He knew full well that at any moment the cable might part, and, should the ship not cast the right way, she must be driven on the rocks and every soul perish.

"I would advise you to return on board your own vessel, my friend," he said to the master of the merchantman. "You will be safer on board her than here."

"Now is your chance, captain," exclaimed the master, as the wind veered a point well to the eastward.

The cable was slipped. The ship mercifully canted the right way under single-reefed topsails, topgallant sails, jib, and driver, and with a strong breeze stood out of the treacherous bay.