In Greek Waters Part 34

"I can a.s.sure you that it is a fact," Horace said. "He first crippled her, and then set her on fire by firing red-hot b.a.l.l.s into her."

"Was that near Cyprus?" one of the young men asked.

"Yes; the rest of us were on sh.o.r.e there, and we brought off five hundred Christians from a village that was besieged by the Turks."

"Yes, that is true," the young fellow said. "I was told about it by one of the officers who lodged in our house. He said it was wonderful, and so it was; and the men you have here all look so quiet too."

"They are on their best behaviour now," Horace laughed; "but they are all picked men, and have all served in British men-of-war."

As eight bells rang out a party of sailors came along to the quarter-deck, bringing with them half a dozen mess tables, which they arranged together, according to the direction of Zaimes.

"But these are nothing like enough, Zaimes," Horace said, going over to him.

"We are not going to sit down, Mr. Horace. We shall have two meals--one at eleven and one at six. We shall put things on the table now, and let them eat standing."

The cloth was soon spread, and upon it were placed fruit, bread and b.u.t.ter, and eggs, a great tureen filled with coffee, and another with hot milk; the whole of the cabin tea and coffee cups, and a score of the men's mugs.

"Now, ladies and gentlemen," Mr. Beveridge said, "you must help yourselves. I am sorry to say that our breakfast service is quite insufficient for our needs, and that the gentlemen will have to put up with the sailors' mugs."

Everyone seemed to enjoy the meal; the women sat about on the deck in little groups, and the men waited upon them, the three officers making themselves very busy in this work.

"It is disgusting, Horace," Miller said, "to hear you jabbering away with these girls, while we poor beggars can't say a word to them."

"But you speak a little Italian, don't you, Miller?"

"Yes, I picked up a little when I was on the Mediterranean station."

"Oh well, a little will go a long way sometimes, Miller, and some of them are sure to know something of Italian. I will soon find out which they are, and introduce them specially to you."

Five or six of the girls knew a little Italian, and most of the young men could speak it, Italian being the general language of commerce in the Mediterranean, and Miller was soon engaged in conversation with some of them. Martyn had broken the ice for himself with a mixture of French and Italian; but Tarleton, who knew no language but his own, kept away from the quarter-deck.

"What's the odds," he said, when Horace tried to induce him to go aft.

"If they were going to be on board for a year, I would try to get hold of a few Greek words, and do what I could; but as it is, it is not worth while bothering one's self. It is no use my trying to make myself agreeable to girls when I haven't a word to say to them. On the whole I am rather glad I can't talk, to them. I never had any practice at that sort of thing; and if I ever do fall in love, I hope it will be with an Englishwoman. Look at Miller there," he laughed, "jawing away with five or six girls at once, and I don't believe one of them has the least idea of what he is saying, though they all try to look interested."

"They understand he is trying to make himself agreeable, Tarleton, and I have no doubt they are grateful and pleased. I daresay some of them don't understand any more Italian than he does. Still they are just as much amused, if not more, as if they understood him perfectly."

After the meal was over some chairs and benches were brought up, but the ladies all preferred sitting on the deck, and were much pleased when a number of the men's hammocks were brought up, unrolled, and laid down for them to sit upon. Mr. Beveridge chatted with the merchants, the younger men smoked and lounged about, Martyn and Miller and Horace devoting themselves to the ladies, until eleven o'clock, when two long tables were set. Zaimes arranged them tastefully with flowers and silver, and a very excellent meal was served. After the meal was finished, and the decks cleared, the men were exercised at cutla.s.s drill and in getting down and setting the sails, and the Chiots were astonished at their discipline and activity.

"I have seen vessels get up sail at Chios hundreds of times," one of the young men said to Horace, "and everyone shouts and bustles about; but with all the noise they take five or six times as long to get them up as your men do, and, except when the officer gives orders, there is no more sound than there would be if they were all dumb."

"Captain Martyn says that he will have gun drill to-morrow," Horace said, "and you will see that they are just as quiet at their work then as now. You see the three officers have all served in our navy as well as the men, and we have just the same discipline as there would be in a king's s.h.i.+p."

"One would scarcely think," Horace remarked to his father that evening as they were standing together looking at the groups scattered about the deck, "that these people were fugitives who have just left their native land, probably for life."

"I don't think they quite realize that at present, Horace. One or two of the men have been telling me what anxiety they have suffered at Chios since the revolution broke out. When the news came of some of the ma.s.sacres of the Greeks, they were in constant fear of a retaliation upon them by the Mussulmans, and they made sure that sooner or later, if the war went on, Chios would become involved in it. Of course they did not suppose that such a mad-brained expedition as that of Lykourgos would be undertaken, but supposed that a sufficient force would be sent to ensure the capture of the island, accompanied by a fleet that would protect it from that of the Turks; but even that was greatly dreaded by them.

"They knew that the Turkish provinces governed by Greek officials were much more heavily taxed and oppressed than those in which the Turks collected the taxation, and knew that the change would be, for them, very much for the worse. Except that they have the same religion, they have little in common with the Greeks in the mainland, and dreaded the thought of the Albanians, who would be sure to send over armed bands, who would hara.s.s and oppress them. Of course they have been for centuries under Turkish rule, and the island has certainly flourished exceedingly under it. Their trade has been almost entirely with Constantinople, and all their connections are Turkish. I can quite understand, therefore, their repugnance to a change which would ruin their trade and vastly increase their burdens; while, as to masters, I should imagine that no one in their senses could prefer Albanians to Turks.

"Seeing the storm coming, most of the wealthy Chiots have prepared in some way for it by sending much of their available capital, for safety, to correspondents abroad, or by investing in foreign securities. I believe that all these merchants have done so; and as the greater part of their money and valuables that remained are at present down in the hold, they will be able to live, if not in as great luxury as before, at any rate in comfort at Corfu, or wherever they may settle themselves; while several of them have told me that they intend again to embark in trade, and, if possible, under our flag. They have been asking me a good many questions about ourselves, and don't seem at all able to comprehend the interest that the Greek revolution has created in Europe; still less that an Englishman like myself, who could live comfortably at home, should come out here to take part in a struggle that in no way concerns him."

"What did you answer, father?" Horace asked with a slight smile.

"I told them that I was but half an Englishman, and that my mother was Greek, and that I was devoted to the study of the language and customs of the ancients."

"I suppose they knew nothing about the ancients, father?"

"No," Mr. Beveridge admitted reluctantly. "They had heard of the name of Homer, and had a vague sort of knowledge of the early history of Greece--about as vague as the ordinary Englishman has of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table. An English school-boy of twelve knows more about ancient Greece than do nineteen Greeks out of twenty; though, seeing the interest felt by civilized Europe in the matter, it is the fas.h.i.+on among them now to pretend to feel great enthusiasm on the subject. No; I am not surprised at these poor people being cheerful, Horace. They have escaped the risk of a terrible fate; and as to patriotism, it is a feeling of which people who have been under foreign masters hundreds of years know absolutely nothing. They may regret their easy, quiet life in Chios; but beyond that, I think they have little feeling in the matter."

The next morning, after breakfast, the sailors were exercised at the guns, three rounds being fired from each piece. Scarcely were the men dismissed from their quarters, and the guns secured, before the boatswain went up to Martyn.

"I beg your pardon, captain, but look over there. Do you see that white cloud?--how quick it rises. I know these seas, sir; and that is a white squall, or I am a Dutchman. We sha'n't have more than three or four minutes before it is on us."

"By Jove, you are right, Tom! All hands get off sail. Look smart, my lads; there is a bit of a squall coming down on us. Down topsails; in jibs. Miller, take six hands and get this awning off. Horace, get the ladies below at once."

As Martyn began to give his orders, Tarleton had run forward to see them carried out; but Miller and Horace had continued their conversation without paying much attention to them, believing that he was only giving the orders as an exercise to the crew, and to show the pa.s.sengers how quickly they could get off sail. His sharp, decided tone, however, soon showed them that he was in earnest. Horace looked round almost bewildered, for there was scarcely a breath of wind; the sky was a deep blue overhead. Miller's experience in the Mediterranean, however, told him which way to look.

"White squall, by Jove!" he muttered, as his eye fell on the cloud that had attracted the boatswain's attention. Springing forward he called six of the men, and ran aft with them again. Horace, still in ignorance of the reason for the order given him, at once proceeded to carry it out.

Calling out in Greek, "Please go below at once, ladies;" and then to the men, "Escort the ladies below as quickly as you can, please."

Then, running forward, he shouted to the Greek servants, "All below, all below! Take the children with you; you are in the way here. Hurry down."

His orders on the quarter-deck were more quickly obeyed than he had expected, for the Chiots, accustomed to these sudden and tremendous squalls of the aegean, glancing round when they heard the order, perceived the reason for it at once, and hurried the ladies below with all speed.

With so strong a crew it took but a minute to lower the gaff topsail from the mainmast and to get the foretop gallant sail and topsail down on the caps, and almost before the halliards had been let go a dozen men were aloft furling the sails. The foresail came down with a run, and the jibs flew in from the bowsprit. Martyn himself saw to the lowering of the mainsail.

"Belay there!" he called when it was half-way down. "Reef it down fully, Mr. Tarleton," as the young officer, with twenty men, sprang to the reef-points. "Now haul on the reef-earing. That is it. Well together, lads. Harden it down; that will do. Now a pull on the main halliards; that is enough. Belay. Lower the peak a bit more; that will do. Now we are ready for it. Boatswain!"

"Ay, ay, sir," came from forward.

"Lower that fore-staysail down, and reef it fully."

He looked to windward. A white bank of clouds extended half-way up the sky, in front of which were white streamers blown out ahead of it. The schooner had already been brought round with her head in the direction of the wind, and an extra hand had been placed at the wheel.

"Starboard a little," Martyn cried to the men at the wheel. "Slack off the mainsheet a bit, Mr. Miller. I don't want to be taken aback."

A minute later a white line was seen approaching them on the water with the speed of a race-horse, and then with a shriek the squall was upon them. Stripped as the vessel was of all her canvas, save the diminished fore-staysail, the mainsail being too far over to draw, she lay down until the water poured in over the lee gunwale from the pressure of wind on her masts and rigging. Her head payed off.

"Now haul on the mainsheet," Martyn shouted to a dozen sailors who had hold of it, and dragged it in hand over hand. As the sail fluttered in her head again came up into the wind. "That will do. Belay there!

keep her at that, lads," Martyn said, taking his place by the side of the men at the helm. "Keep the staysail full, but nothing more."

The schooner had now begun to move fast through the water as close-hauled to the wind as her sails would stand. Though still heeling over, her deck was now free of water, as that which she had taken on board had rushed out through the port-holes.

"She will do nicely now," Martyn said to his first lieutenant. "You can get the peak up again, Mr. Miller; she will stand it now."

The schooner was now retracing the course she had before been sailing on.

"It is lucky it came when it did, Miller. Another couple of hours and we should have been in the thick of the islands. As it is now, we have clear water, and at any rate, if we are obliged to change our course, we can run down south comparatively clear of everything. It is lucky we saw it coming in time. It was the boatswain warned me. If we had not got the sail off her we should have lost our spars, and perhaps been dismasted, and with all these islands down to leeward we should have been in an awkward fix."

"Yes, indeed;" Miller agreed. "We are all right now. Of course we shall get some sea soon, but these squalls don't last many hours. It is only the first blow that is to be feared."