A Middy in Command | Page 9

getting up tackles on their yard-arms. That means--unless I'm greatly mistaken-- that they're about to hoist out their longboat; and that again means that they'll stick a gun into the eyes of her, and attack us with the boats in regular man-o'-war fashion. But they ain't alongside of us yet, and won't be for another hour and a half if the wind don't die away altogether--and, somehow, I don't fancy it's going to do that. No, what I'm most afraid of is"--and he took a long careful look round--"that in this flukey weather the brig may get a breeze first, and bring it down with her, when--ay, and there it is, sure enough! There's blue water all round her, and I can see her canvas filling to it, even with my naked eye. And there she swings her yards to it. It'll be `keep all fast with the boats' now! If that little air o' wind only sticks to her for half an hour she'll have us under her guns, safe enough!"
It was as Pringle said. A light draught of air had suddenly sprung up exactly where the brig happened to lie; and by the time I had got my telescope once more focused upon her, she was again heading up for us, with her weather braces slightly checked, and quite a perceptible curl of white foam playing about her sharp bows. But it only helped her for about half a mile, and then left her completely becalmed, as before, while we were still stealing along at the rate of perhaps a knot and a quarter per hour. The skipper of the brig allowed some ten minutes or so to elapse, possibly waiting for another friendly puff of wind to come to his assistance, but, seeing no sign of any such thing, he hoisted out his longboat, lowered a small gun--to me it looked like a 6-pounder-- into her, and dispatched her, with two other boats, in chase of us. The dogged determination which animated our pursuers was clearly exemplified by their behaviour; they made no attempt to cross with a rush the stretch of water intervening between us and them, but settled down steadily to accomplish the long pull before them as rapidly as possible consistent with the husbanding of their strength for the attack when they should arrive alongside. As they pushed off from the brig she fired a gun and hoisted Brazilian colours.
"The affair begins to look serious, Pringle," I said, as I directed my telescope at the boats. "There must be close upon forty men in that attacking-party, and we do not mount so much as a single gun. Now, I wonder what their plan of attack will be? Will they dash alongside and attempt to carry us by boarding, think you; or will they lie off and pound us with their gun until we haul down our colours, or sink?"
"They may try both plans, sir," answered Pringle. "That is to say, they may begin by trying a few shots at us with their gun, and if they find that no good I expect they'll try what boarding will do for them. But they won't sink us; that's not their game. It's the slaves they believe we've got in the hold that they're after; so, if they bring their boat- gun into play you'll find that it'll be our top-hamper they'll aim at, so as to cripple us. They'll not hull us if they can help it."
"Well, they shall not set foot upon this deck if I can help it," said I. "Pass the word for the boatswain to come aft, Pringle, if you please. He will probably be able to tell us whether there are any boarding- nettings in the ship. If there are, we will reeve and bend the tricing lines at once, and see all clear for tricing up the nets."
"Ay," assented the gunner. "I think you'll be wise in so doing, sir; there's nothing like being prepared. Pass the word for the boatswain to come aft," he added, to the little group of men constituting the watch, who were busy on the forecastle.
The word was passed, and presently the boatswain came along.
"Boatswain," said I, "have you given the spare gear of this craft an overhaul as yet?"
"Well, sir, I have, and I haven't, as you may say," answered that functionary. "I knows, in a general sort of a way, what we've got aboard of us, but I haven't examined anything in detail, so to speak. The fact is, seeing that the trip was likely to be only a short one, and we've been kept pretty busy since we joined the hooker, I've found plenty else to do."
"Well, can you tell me whether there are any boarding-nettings in the ship?" I asked.
"Boarding-nettings!" answered