A Middy of the Slave Squadron | Page 2

to transport the unhappy
blacks across the Atlantic was simply a ghastly farce, and caused us,
her unfortunate crew, to be the laughing-stock of the entire coast. Yet,
considering all things, we had not done so very badly; for realising,
early in the commission, that we need never hope for success from the
speed of our ship, we had invoked the aid of strategy, and by dint of
long practice had brought the trapping of slavers almost up to the level
of high art. Consequently the Psyche, despite the disabilities arising
from her astonishing lack of speed, had acquired a certain reputation
among the slave-dealing fraternity, and was as intensely detested by
them as any ship on the station.
At the moment when the reader first finds himself a member of her
crew the Psyche was lying near the mouth of the Benin river, some two
miles off the shore and about twice that distance from the river's mouth,
at which point we had arrived at midnight; having made our way thither
in consequence of "information received," which led us to believe that
a large ship was at that moment in the river taking on board a full cargo

of blacks. We had drifted down to the position which we then occupied
under the impulse of the last of the land-breeze, which had died out and
left us becalmed some two miles short of the precise spot for which we
were aiming. Still, we were near enough for all practical purposes, or
believed that we were; for we thought that if a thoroughly smart look-
out were maintained--and we had grown to be adepts at that sort of
thing--it would be impossible for a slaver to attempt to slip out of the
river without our becoming cognisant of the fact. And now, to return to
my story.
Having first stolen forward and warned the watch that a craft of some
sort was within hearing distance of us, and that they were therefore
carefully to avoid crying out, or making any other sound that might
betray our presence, I returned aft, in the same cautious manner, and
was on the point of descending the companion ladder to call the captain,
when ting-ting came the soft chiming of a ship's bell, mellowed by
distance, from somewhere in the offing, evidencing--or so it seemed to
me--the fact that the stranger had not as yet discovered our proximity.
The skipper, accustomed to being disturbed at all hours of the night,
awoke at the first touch of my knuckles upon his cabin door.
"Yes!" he called; "what is it?"
"There is a strange craft not far from us, sir," I answered; "and Mr
Perry considered that you should be apprised of the fact. We know
nothing whatever about her, except that she is there; for the night is so
intensely dark that we have been unable to catch the faintest glimpse of
her, but we have just heard them strike two bells aboard her. We have
not struck our own bell, sir, thinking--"
"Yes, of course, quite right," interrupted the skipper, as he landed with
a soft thud on the floor of his state-room. "Tell Mr Perry that I'll be on
deck in a brace of shakes."
He followed close at my heels up the companion ladder, having paused
only long enough to slip into his nether garments, and came groping
blindly out on deck.

"Phew!" he muttered, as he emerged from the companion; "it's as dark
as the inside of a cow. Where are you, Mr Perry?"
"Here I am, sir; close alongside you," answered the first luff, stretching
out his hand and lightly touching the skipper's arm. "Yes," he continued,
"it certainly is dark, unusually so; so dark that I am in hopes of keeping
our presence a secret from the fellow out yonder until you shall have
decided what is to be done."
"Mr Fortescue tells me that you have not seen anything of him thus
far," remarked the captain. "Whereabout is he, and how far off, do you
reckon?"
"Somewhere away in that direction," indicated the lieutenant, with a
flourish of his arm. "As to the distance--well, that is rather difficult to
judge. Sound travels far on such a night as this; but I should say that the
craft is not more than half a mile distant, or three-quarters, at the
utmost."
"Um!" commented the captain meditatively. "I suppose it is not, by any
chance, the craft which we are after, which has slipped out of the river
in the darkness, eh?"
"I should scarcely think so, sir," answered Perry. "A man would
literally have to be able to find his way about blindfolded to attempt to
run out of the river on such a night as this. No, I am inclined to