The Black Bar | Page 2

said the stroke oarsman; "me and my mates'll smuggle the young nigger gent aboard somehow, even if I has to lend him my duds."
"You leave off cutting jokes, Tom Fillot, and pull hard."
"Ay, ay, sir," cried the man, chuckling, and he and his fellows made the boat skim through the glowing water.
"Perhaps the letter is important," said the first middy, "and may mean business at last."
"I hope not," said the other. "I'm sick of it. Nothing but wild-goose chases after phantom ships. I don't believe there are any slavers on the coast."
"Oh, aren't there, Bob?"
"Don't seem like it. Where are they, then; and why don't we catch 'em?"
"I dunno."
"Fancy going off again to-night sneaking down to another of these rivers all among the mosquitoes and fever mists. Ugh! If I'd known, you wouldn't have caught me coming to sea."
"Oh, we shall catch one of 'em yet. A big Yankee schooner full of slaves; and then look at the prize-money."
"No catchee, no havee, Van. Oh, I say, I am hot. Why, I believe you could fry eggs in the sun."
"Dare say you might if you could get there, Bob."
"Oh, my! aren't we witty this morning! I say, I wonder what old Staples will say to the monkey, Van."
"So do I," said the first middy, uneasily. "I half wish we hadn't bought it. But it seemed such a chance."
"Well, we're in for it now. Staples will give it us pretty sharply, and then forget all about it."
"But then there's the skipper."
"Ah," said the second middy, thoughtfully; "I forgot about him. Bother the monkey! Phew! I am hot. I say, they may well call this Oily Bight. The sea looks just as if it had been greased. Oh, don't I wish I were in a good wet fog in the Channel. This is a scorcher."
The lads ceased speaking, and sat back watching the anchored vessel and relieving the tedium of the long row by scratching the monkey's head and pulling its ears, the animal complacently accepting both operations, and turning its head about so that every portion should receive its share of the scratching, till all at once the boat was run alongside, the coxswain took hold with his boathook, and while the falls were hooked on, an order was given above, and they were run up to the davits.
Directly after, Mark Vandean stepped on deck, touched his cap to a severe-looking officer, and presented a letter.
"Take it in to the captain," he said; and Mark marched off to the cabin, while the first lieutenant, who had turned toward the boat, out of which the men had sprung, suddenly raised one hand, and pointed at the boat's side, above which a head had been raised, and its owner was gazing round with wrinkled forehead as if wondering what was going to happen next.
Bob Howlett saw the first lieutenant's fixed stare and pointing hand, and glancing round, he caught sight of the head with its chin on the gunwale.
"Who's that?" cried the first lieutenant, sharply; and the men screwed up their faces and looked comically solemn on the instant, but no one spoke.
"Mr Howlett," cried the officer again, "I asked you who that was in the boat!"
"Beg pardon, sir; didn't know you were speaking to me. Which, sir?"
The lieutenant's lips were compressed as he took a couple of strides and brought himself alongside of the middy.
"If you are not careful, sir," he said severely, "trouble will follow this. You did know I spoke to you, sir. I said, `Who is that young black?' Why, it's an ape."
"Yes, sir; chimpanzee, sir."
"How dare you bring a monkey on board, sir?"
"Only a natural history specimen, sir; and I thought--"
"Oh, there you are, Staples," said the captain, coming up. "Look, I think this is right at last;" and he handed the letter to his second in command.
"Looks correct, sir," said the lieutenant, after reading the letter. "Shall you act upon it?"
"Act upon it, man! Of course."
The monkey was forgotten. The boatswain's pipe rang out, the men came tumbling up, and as fast as it could be achieved, the anchor was raised, sail after sail hoisted, and an hour after, with every scrap of canvas that could be set, the Nautilus was slowly gliding along right out to sea, with the palm and mangrove-lined shore slowly fading into the haze, while the men collected together in knots and discussed the possibility of catching a slaver that night.
"What's it to be, Van," said Bob Howlett, "fun or flam?"
"Tell you to-morrow morning," was the reply. "I say, I've fed the chim', and he's asleep."
"Wish I was too," said Bob Howlett, "Oh, I say, ain't it hot?"
CHAPTER TWO.
BLACKBERRYING AT SEA.
That night the Nautilus was pretty close inshore, as soon as she could approach without being seen. Every light was out, the sail