The First Mate Part 7

"No," agreed Monroe; "she is all right, and on the whole a very sensible girl, despite her foolish pride. But let me give you a hint, Leigh. In the event of, as you say, such an exceedingly unlikely thing as an attack occurring, don't trust too much to my powers of persuasion, but act upon your own responsibility. Lock the door of the drawing-room, and Mrs Vansittart will be unable to get out on deck, however anxious she may be; and then slip down below and lock Master Julius into his cabin; that is all you will need to do. There will probably be a row afterward, but I will back you up by saying that what you did was done by my advice. And now, good night! I feel a trifle cooler than I did, and hope I shall be able to--Hallo! Listen! Did you hear anything?"

CHAPTER SEVEN.

ATTACKED BY PIRATES.

We both halted and listened intently, Monroe with one foot on the top step of the companion, on his way below.

"What did you think you heard?" I questioned in a half-whisper.

"Well, I can scarcely say," was the low-spoken reply. "As a matter of fact, I am not sure that I heard anything. I am beginning to think that Kennedy's stupid talk must have affected us all aft here, more or less, but it certainly seemed to me that while I was bidding you good night just now I caught the faintest suggestion of--Ah! by Jove! there it is again. Did you catch it?"

"Yes," I said, "unless--But no; I don't believe it was imagination. I thought I heard a sound like the groaning of an oar against a thole pin, some distance off in that direction," with a flourish of my hand toward the east.

"Yes," agreed Monroe; "that describes the sound exactly. Surely Kennedy's apprehensions cannot have been well-founded, after all, can they?"

"Don't know in the least," I returned; "but I guess we shall, very soon now. Meanwhile, since it must be obvious to you that I cannot possibly leave the deck at this juncture, perhaps you will have the goodness to slip down below and do that key-turning trick you suggested to me just now."

"Sure! I will," answered the parson. "It was my advice, and I will take the responsibility of carrying it out," and he vanished down the companion way.

As he disappeared I went down the p.o.o.p ladder at a run, hurried forward, and made my way to the forecastle head, where I found the look-out leaning against the guard rail with his arms folded and his chin sunk upon his chest. He was not asleep, for as he heard the light patter of my shoes upon the ladder he straightened himself and turned to see who was coming; but I had a very shrewd suspicion that the stillness of the night had induced in him a condition very much the reverse of alertness.

"Is that Johnson?" I demanded sharply.

"No, sir," he replied. "I'm Maguire."

"Then, Maguire," I said, "I am afraid you have not been keeping quite so wideawake as you ought, considering that it's your look-out. For instance, have you heard any unusual sounds, such as you ought to have reported, since you came on watch?"

"No, sir," replied the man. "And as to--"

"That will do," I interrupted. "Now, pull yourself together and listen."

We both set ourselves intently to listen, but before half a dozen seconds had pa.s.sed I heard loud voices--those of Monroe and the boy, and, almost immediately afterward, that of Mrs Vansittart--the parson's in remonstrance, the boy's in loud and angry protest, and that of the lady in anxious enquiry. It seemed as though Monroe had somehow mismanaged his rather delicate task, for as I started to go aft again I heard the lad shout, "I _will_ go on deck if I feel like it, and you, Monroe, aren't going to stop me. And as for the Britisher, do you think I care what he says?" But here Mrs Vansittart cut in with an injunction to Julius to hold his tongue, following it up with an enquiry as to what all the fuss was about. I felt that it was time I took a hand; so, cautioning Maguire to keep a bright look-out and listen for all he was worth, I sprang down the forecastle ladder on my way aft.

And as I did so I ran into a couple of men who had just crept out from beneath the launch, evidently curious to learn what the disturbance was about.

Halting for a moment, I ordered the two men to rouse the watch quietly, and stand by for an "All hands" call, and then continued on my way aft, meeting the trio just by the foot of the p.o.o.p ladder. Mrs Vansittart was evidently in something of a temper, for, as I joined the party, she turned sharply and demanded:

"Is that Mr Leigh?"

"It is, madam," I replied. "Hush, Julius!" I continued, for the boy also had turned angrily upon me. "Pray stop your outcry, for Heaven's sake! Silence is of vital importance to us all at this moment, for we may be on the very verge of a crisis. Mr Monroe and I are both of opinion that we very recently heard certain sounds that--"

"I know all about that," interrupted Mrs Vansittart; "Mr Monroe has already explained that to me. What I want to know now is by what right you presumed to instruct him to lock the door of the drawing-room, and so prevent me from coming out on deck?"

"Yes," added the boy, in that high-pitched, clamorous voice of his, which would carry so far over the water on such a night, "and what right have you to order me to be locked in my cabin? Who are you, I should like to know--"

"Craft on the port quarter--two of 'em--three--four--a whole fleet of small craft headin' dead for us!" yelled the look-out at this moment.

"Good heavens!" I e.j.a.c.u.l.a.t.ed, "then Kennedy's extraordinary premonition was right after all;" and, unceremoniously quitting the little group under the break of the p.o.o.p, I rushed forward, shouting:

"All hands to general quarters! Throw open the ports. Off with the gun covers; slew the guns, and point them out through the ports. Pa.s.s the word for the gunner, and send him aft to me." Then I turned and went aft again, once more encountering the saloon party, now made complete by the appearance of Miss Anthea, clad, like her mother, in a very becoming dressing-gown.

"Madam," said I, addressing Mrs Vansittart, "there is no time for explanation at this moment, for, unless I am very greatly mistaken, we are about to be attacked by a fleet of pirate craft. But I most earnestly beseech you to retire below, taking your son and daughter with you out of harm's way. If my suspicions are well-founded, none of you can be of the slightest a.s.sistance on deck, while at any moment we may have shot flying about our ears, and--"

"Yes," the skipper agreed, "you are quite right. Mr Leigh is perfectly right, Julius, therefore I order you to go to your cabin at once. And you too, Anthea. Mr Monroe, if Julius will not go quietly, I authorise you to use such force as may be necessary to compel him to go. And when you have seen him safe in his cabin, lock him in, and bring me the key.

Now, sir,"--very haughtily to me--"be good enough to accompany me to the p.o.o.p, and let us see what justification there is for all this sudden alarm and confusion."

It was very evident that the lady was tremendously indignant with me.

And at this, when I came to think of it, I was not greatly surprised, for it certainly was a tremendous liberty for a second officer to consent to, much less order, the locking of a skipper and owner in her own cabin. I therefore followed her, very much crestfallen, up the p.o.o.p ladder, and at once looked away out over the port quarter in search of the supposed pirate fleet.

It was at this time so very dark that for several seconds I could see nothing. The moon had set, and the bank of cloud already referred to had overspread more than half the sky; moreover, a mist had come creeping up from the eastward, not dense enough to merit the name of fog, yet sufficiently thick to dim the light of the stars still s.h.i.+ning in the western half of the heavens, while it added still more to the darkness which gloomed away to the eastward of us. But presently, down in the midst of the dusky blackness broad on our port quarter, I caught a glimpse of a small, indeterminate shape of still deeper blackness, then another, and another, and another, until I had counted ten of them; and concentrating my gaze intently upon them, I felt sure I could occasionally distinguish a small, evanescent, silvery gleam like that of sea fire stirred into brilliance by the slow pa.s.sage of a moving object through the water.

"Yes," I exclaimed, pointing, "there they come, ten of them, if not more. Have you any particular orders to give, madam, or will you leave the defence of the s.h.i.+p to Mr Kennedy and me?"

"Why, of course I leave it to Kennedy--and you--to do the best you can,"

replied Mrs Vansittart. "I know nothing at all about fighting tactics; and I shall not attempt to interfere. Further than that, I shall go below--although I do not like the idea of quitting the deck at the approach of an enemy--for I am sensible enough to recognise that I can do no good up here, and should only be in the way. But, Walter, never, under any circ.u.mstances whatever, again dream of turning a key upon me.

It was a most unwarrantable liberty, which not even such a crisis as this can justify; and for a few minutes I was really furiously angry with you. But I believe what you did was done with the very best of intentions, so I will say no more about it. Now, here comes Kennedy, so I will just say a word or two to him, and then go. Take care of yourself, my dear boy, and see that you do not get hurt."

There was no time for me to express my grat.i.tude to the lady for her exceeding kindness in thus overlooking what at best could only be described as a serious error of judgment--although, even so, I could not refrain from reminding myself that the fault originated with Monroe--for at that moment the first mate came bounding up the p.o.o.p ladder, struggling into his jacket as he came.

"Whoopee!" he shouted, as he reached the level of the p.o.o.p. "What did I tell ye, bhoy? Where are the shpalpeens? Show 'em to me--Oh! beg your pardon, ma'am; I didn't expect to find you here--"

"Where did you expect I should be, then, pray, Mr Kennedy?" demanded the skipper. "Hiding in the shaft tunnel, I suppose--"

"By the piper! ye might be in a worse place than that same, ma'am. Up here, for instance," interrupted Kennedy. But Mrs Vansittart was in no mood to discuss that unfortunate subject any further, just then at all events; she therefore cut in upon the first mate's remarks by saying:

"Now, that will do, Mr Kennedy. Please listen to me, for time is pressing. I have just been explaining to Mr Leigh that I know nothing about fighting, therefore I shall leave you and him to do the best you can for our defence, and go below out of the way, since I can be of no use up here. Good night, and take care of yourselves! And let me know when it is all over." With which the lady took herself off, to our intense relief.

"Now, then," exclaimed Kennedy, turning to me, "where are the cut-throat pirates that I'm afther hearin' about?"

"There they are, less than half a mile off," I replied, pointing. "They are coming along very slowly, hoping to catch us unawares, perhaps.

But, goodness knows, that young rip, Julius, was making noise enough just now to be heard at double that distance, and to show that some of us at least are broad awake." Then I briefly explained what orders I had so far given, and waited to hear what he had to say.

"Have the small arms been served out yet?" he demanded.

"Not yet," I answered. "But they are ready at a moment's notice."

"Right!" he approved. "Let them be served out at once; a cutla.s.s and a brace of fully loaded automatics to each man, not forgettin' our n.o.ble selves. With these Maxims we shall not need any rifles, I guess."

I turned away to issue this order, when I was met at the head of the p.o.o.p ladder by Bledsoe, the gunner.

"You sent for me, sir?" he asked.

"I did, Bledsoe," said I. "Come up. Mr Kennedy is here, and he may have some orders for you." Then I turned to Kennedy and said:

"Here is the gunner. I sent for him a few minutes ago, thinking you might wish to see him. Also, I had it in my mind to order him to send a few portfires up on deck. It occurred to me that if those fellows insist on closing with us, it would be a good plan to have a hand up in the maintop with some portfires; it would enable us to see what we are doing."

"It would that," agreed Kennedy; "and we'll do ut. See to it, Mr Bledsoe, if ye plaise. And ye may also send up some ammunition for the four-inches and Maxims. I guess we'll not need the Hotchkisses.

That'll do, gunner; let's have that ammunition quick. Mr Leigh, be good enough to attend to that matther of the shmall arms, and then come back here and take charge of the Maxims. It's about time we let those ginks know that we're awake, so I'll step down to the main-deck and see about throwin' a shot over 'em."