Salt Water | Page 9

to his wife. I loved her at once, for she was a thoroughly
genuine, graceful woman, young and pretty, with a kind, warm heart,
and a sweet expression of countenance, which her character did not
belie. My little cousins and I also became great friends, and I confess
that I felt I would much rather stay with her than have to go to sea and
knock about in all weathers in the cutter; but duty sent us both on board
again, and it was a long time before I had another opportunity of paying
a visit to Daisy Cottage.
But I have been going ahead of my narrative.
We were standing down Channel in the Serpent. Our cruising ground
was chiefly from Saint Helen's to the Start; but we were liable to be
sent elsewhere, or might go wherever our Commander had notice there
was a chance of catching a smuggler.

We had been out some days, keeping a sharp look-out off Portland
Point for a noted fellow, Myers by name, the owner of a fast lugger, the
Kitty, who was expected to try and run a cargo of tubs in that
neighbourhood.
The smugglers played us all sorts of tricks, and I must own we were
more than once taken in by them. On one occasion, while it was
blowing very fresh, a cutter hailed us and told us that she had just
passed over a number of tubs, pointing out the direction where we
should find them. While we were engaged in picking them up, she
made sail for the shore; and we afterwards learned, to our mortification,
that she had run a very large cargo of contraband goods.
Thanks to Larry's instructions, as I was very handy in a boat, and
understood the duties of a midshipman tolerably well, I was, to my
great delight, soon placed in charge of one of the gigs.
A few days after the occurrence I have described, when we were about
mid Channel, we observed a vessel whose appearance was suspicious.
It had just gone two bells, in the forenoon watch. It was blowing pretty
fresh from the south-west, and there was a lop of a sea, but not enough
to endanger a boat. We made sail towards the stranger, and as we
neared her we perceived that she was veering about, apparently under
no control.
"Her main-boom has gone," observed Hanks, "and there doesn't seem
to be a soul on deck; her crew have been knocked or washed overboard,
I suspect."
"I am afraid so," said the Commander. "She looks to me like a
pilot-boat. She was probably struck by a squall, with only a couple of
hands left in her."
"Lubberly work somehow, at all events," remarked Hanks.
In another ten minutes we were close to the pilot-boat, and the cutter
being hove-to, a boat was lowered, and Hanks and I were ordered to go
in her and see what was the matter. When we gained the deck, we

found that the boom had knocked away part of the bulwarks and
companion-hatch, and committed other damage. The first thing we did
was to lower down the mainsail and to secure the boom, which task,
after some difficulty, we accomplished. We next set about searching
the vessel, thinking that no one was on board. The main hatch was on,
but there was a little cabin aft, with a small stove in it, and six berths, in
which the crew lived. There was a table in the cabin, and on it were a
couple of tumblers, a thick-necked, square-sided glass bottle, on its side,
a broken pipe, and wet marks, and ashes of tobacco, as if people had
very lately been drinking there.
"What's wrong here?" said Hanks. "It could not have been long ago
since some one was on board."
Our eyes soon began to get accustomed to the sombre light of the cabin,
which was darkened by the mainsail hanging over it. I happened to
stoop down, and my eyes glanced under the table, where we had not
before looked.
"Hillo," I exclaimed, "why here are a man's legs."
"There seems to be two brace of them," said Hanks, laughing. "Come
out, my hearties, and give an account of yourselves."
Saying this, he began to drag towards the companion-ladder one of the
men; I following his example with regard to the other.
"Why, Jim, we ain't got in yet; so let us alone, will ye," grunted out one,
as he turned on his side, without opening his eyes.
The other was too drunk to speak; indeed, had we not loosened his
neckcloth, I believe he would have died of apoplexy, for he was already
getting black in the face. We placed them near the companion-ladder,
where they could obtain some air;