A Middy of the Slave Squadron | Page 5

already about
their necks, resisted capture by every means which their ingenuity
could devise, whenever they had the chance, and often fought with
desperate valour.
As I hurried aft to attend to the lowering of the gig, which hung from

davits over the stern, a hand was suddenly laid upon my arm, and,
turning, I found myself confronted by Cupid, the Krooboy servant who
"did for us" in the midshipmen's berth. His eyes were aglow with
excitement, he carried a short-handled hatchet, with a head somewhat
bigger and heavier than that of a ship's tomahawk, in his hand, and he
was naked, save for a pair of dungaree trousers, the legs of which were
rolled up above his knees.
"Mr Fortescue, sar, I fit for go in dem boat wid you, sar," he whispered
eagerly.
"Yes, I quite believe it, Cupid," I replied. "But you know perfectly well
that I cannot give you permission to join the gig's crew. If the captain
had been anxious to have the pleasure of your company I feel sure that
he would have mentioned the fact. Besides, if you should happen to be
killed, what would become of us poor midshipmen?"
A suppressed chuckle, and a gleam of white teeth through the darkness,
betrayed Cupid's appreciation of the compliment subtly conveyed in the
suggestion that the budding admirals inhabiting the midshipmen's berth
aboard H.M.S. Psyche would suffer, should he unhappily be slain in the
impending conflict, but he hastened to reassure me.
"No fear, sar," he whispered. "Dem slaber no lib for kill me. I, Cupid,
too much plenty black for see in de dark; an' if dey no see me, dey no
kill. Savvey? Please, Mr Fortescue, sar. I no lib for fight too much
plenty long time."
"Look here, Cupid," I replied. "It is no use for you to ask me for
permission to go in the gig, for I cannot give it you. But,"--
meaningly--"if you were to stow yourself away in the eyes of the gig it
is just possible that the captain might not notice you until we had got
too far from the ship to turn back. Only don't let me see you doing it,
that's all."
"Dat all right, sar," answered the black, with a sigh of extreme content.
"If you no look for dem Cupid you no see um." And he turned and
ostentatiously walked away forward.

The boats having been gently and carefully lowered into the water
without a splash, or so much as a single tell-tale squeak from the
tackle-blocks--the pins and bushes of which were habitually overhauled
at frequent intervals and kept well lubricated with a mixture of melted
tallow and plumbago--the crews took their places, each man carefully
depositing his drawn cutlass on the bottom-boards between his feet,
and we shoved off with muffled oars, the three boats pulling abreast,
with about a ship's length between each; so that if perchance we should
happen to be seen, we should present as small a target as possible to
aim at.
We pulled slowly and with the utmost caution, for the twofold reason
that we had not yet caught sight of our quarry and only knew in a
general sort of way that she was somewhere to seaward of us, and
because we were anxious to avoid premature discovery from the splash
of our oars. It was of course perfectly right and proper that we should
observe all the precautions that I have indicated; for if we could but
contrive to creep up alongside the stranger without being detected, it
would undoubtedly mean the prevention of much loss of life. But,
personally, I had very little hope of our being able to do so; for the
night was so breathlessly still that, if any sort of look-out at all were
being kept aboard the stranger--and slavers usually slept with one eye
open--they must surely have caught some hint of our proximity, careful
as we had been to maintain as complete silence as possible while
making our preparations. Besides, as ill-luck would have it, the water
was in an unusually brilliant phosphorescent condition just then, the
slightest disturbance of it caused a silvery glow that could be seen a
mile away; and, be as silent as we might, the dip of our oars and the
passage of the boats through the water set up such a blaze as could not
fail to betray us, should a man happen to glance in our direction.
At length, when we had pulled about half a mile, as nearly as I could
judge, I detected a slight suspicion of a softening in the velvety
blackness of the sky in the eastern quarter. It brightened, even as I
looked, and a solitary star, low down in the sky, seemed to flicker,
faintly