The Red Rover Part 51

"We are in good condition for the alternative of flight or combat," the Rover at length observed, while he cast a rapid look over the preparations which had been unostentatiously in progress from the moment when the officers dispersed. "Now will I confess, Wilder, a secret pleasure in the belief that yonder audacious fool carries the boasted commission of the German who wears the Crown of Britain. Should he prove more than man may dare attempt, I will flout him; though prudence shall check any further attempts; and, should he prove an equal, would it not gladden your eyes to see St. George come drooping to the water?"

"I thought that men in our pursuit left honour to silly heads, and that we seldom struck a blow that was not intended to ring on a metal more precious than iron."

"'Tis the character the world gives; but I, for one, would rather lower the pride of the minions of King George than possess the power of unlocking his treasury! Said I well, General?" he added, as the individual he named approached; "said I well, in a.s.serting there was glorious pleasure in making a pennant trail upon the sea?"

"We fight for victory," returned the martinet. "I am ready to engage at a minute's notice."

"Prompt and decided, as a soldier.--Now tell me, General, if Fortune, or Chance, or Providence, whichever of the powers you may acknowledge for a leader were to give you the option of enjoyments, in what would you find your deepest satisfaction?"

The soldier seemed to ruminate, ere he answered,----

"I have often thought, that, were I commander of things on earth, I should, backed by a dozen of my stoutest bullies, charge at the door of that cave which was entered by the tailor's boy, him they call Aladdin."

"The genuine aspirations of a freebooter! In such case, the magic trees would soon be disburdened of their fruit. Still it might prove an inglorious victory, since incantations and charms are the weapons of the combatants. Call you honour nothing?"

"Hum! I fought for honour half of a reasonably long life, and found myself as light at the close of all my dangers as at the beginning. Honour and I have shaken hands, unless it be the honour of coming off conqueror. I have a strong disgust of defeat, but am always ready to sell the mere honour of the victory cheap."

"Well, let it pa.s.s. The quality of the service is much the same, find the motive where you will.--How now! who has dared to let yonder top-gallant-sail fly?"

The startling change in the voice of the Rover caused all within hearing of his words to tremble. Deep, anxious, and threatening displeasure was in all its tones, and each man cast his eyes upwards, to see on whose devoted head the weight of the dreaded indignation of their chief was about to fall. As there was little but naked spars and tightened ropes to obstruct the view, all became, at the same instant, apprized of the truth. Fid was standing on the head of that topmast which belonged to the particular portion of the vessel where he was stationed, and the sail in question was fluttering, with all its gear loosened far and high in the wind. His hearing had probably been drowned by the heavy flapping of the canvas; for, instead of lending his ears to the deep powerful call just mentioned, he rather stood contemplating his work, than exhibiting any anxiety as to the effect it might produce on the minds of those beneath him. But a second warning came in tones too terrible to be any longer disregarded by ears even as dull as those of the offender.

"By whose order have you dared to loosen the sail?" demanded the Rover.

"By the order of King Wind, your Honour. The best seaman must give in, when a squall gets the upper hand."

"Furl it! away aloft, and furl it!" shouted the excited leader. "Roll it up; and send the fellow down who has been so bold as to own any authority but my own in this s.h.i.+p, though it were that of a hurricane."

A dozen nimble topmen ascended to the a.s.sistance of Fid. In another minute, the unruly canvas was secured, and Richard himself was on his way to the p.o.o.p. During this brief interval, the brow of the Rover was dark and angry as the surface of the element on which he lived, when blackened by the tempest. Wilder, who had never before seen his new Commander thus excited, began to tremble for the fate of his ancient comrade, and drew nigher, as the latter approached, to intercede in his favour, should the circ.u.mstances seem to require such an interposition.

"And why is this?" the still stern and angry leader demanded of the offender. "Why is it that you, whom I have had such recent reason to applaud, should dare to let fly a sail, at a moment when it is important to keep the s.h.i.+p naked?"

"Your Honour will admit that his rations sometimes slips through the best man's fingers, and why not a bit of canvas?" deliberately returned the delinquent "If I took a turn too many of the gasket off the yard, it is a fault I am ready to answer for."

"You say true, and dearly shall you pay the forfeit Take him to the gangway, and let him make acquaintance with the cat."

"No new acquaintance, your Honour, seeing that we have met before, and that, too, for matters which I had reason to hide my head for; whereas, here, it may be many blows, and little shame."

"May I intercede in behalf of the offender?" interrupted Wilder, with earnestness and haste. "He is often blundering, but rarely would he err, had he as much knowledge as good-will."

"Say nothing about it, master Harry," returned the topman, with a peculiar glance of his eye. "The sail has been flying finely, and it is now too late to deny it: and so, I suppose, the fact must be scored on the back of Richard Fid, as you would put any other misfortune into the log."

"I would he might be pardoned. I can venture to promise, in his name, 'twill be the last offence"--

"Let it be forgotten," returned the Rover, struggling powerfully to conquer his pa.s.sion. "I will not disturb our harmony at such a moment, Mr Wilder, by refusing so small a boon: but you need not be told to what evil such negligence might lead. Give me the gla.s.s again; I will see if the fluttering canvas has escaped the eye of the stranger."

The topman bestowed a stolen but exulting glance on Wilder, and then the latter motioned the other hastily away, turning himself to join his Commander in the examination.

Chapter XXVI.

"As I am an honest man, he looks pale: Art thou sick, or angry?"

_Much ado about Nothing._

The approach of the strange sail was becoming rapidly more and more visible to the naked eye. The little speck of white, which had first been seen on the margin of the sea, resembling some gull floating on the summit of a wave, had gradually arisen during the last half hour, until a tall pyramid of canvas was reared on the water. As Wilder bent his look again on this growing object, the Rover put a gla.s.s into his hands, with an expression of feature which the other understood to say, "You may perceive that the carelessness of your dependant has already betrayed us!" Still the look was one rather of regret than of reproach; nor did a single syllable of the tongue confirm the meaning language of the eye. On the contrary, it would seem that his Commander was anxious to preserve their recent amicable compact inviolate; for, when the young mariner attempted an awkward explanation of the probable causes of the blunder of Fid, he was met by a quiet gesture, which said, in a sufficiently intelligible language, that the offence was already pardoned.

"Our neighbour keeps a good look-out, as you may see," observed the other.

"He has tacked, and is laying boldly up across our fore-foot. Well, let him come on; we shall soon get a look at his battery, and then may we come to our conclusion as to the nature of the intercourse we are to hold."

"If you permit the stranger to near us, it might be difficult to throw him off the chase, should we be glad to get rid of him."

"It must be a fast-going vessel to which the 'Dolphin' cannot spare a top-gallant-sail."

"I know not, sir. The sail in sight is swift on the wind, and it is to be believed that she is no duller off. I have rarely known a vessel rise so rapidly as she has done since first we made her."

The youth spoke with such earnestness, as to draw the attention of his companion from the object he was studying to the countenance of the speaker.

"Mr Wilder," he said quickly, and with an air of decision, "you know the s.h.i.+p?"

"I'll not deny it. If my opinion be true, she will be found too heavy for the 'Dolphin,' and a vessel that offers little inducement for us to attempt to carry."

"Her size?"

"You heard it from the black."

"Your followers know her also?"

"It would be difficult to deceive a topman in the cut and trim of sails among which he has pa.s.sed months, nay years."

"I understand the 'new cloths' in her top-gallant-royal! Mr Wilder, your departure from that vessel has been recent?"

"As my arrival in this."

The Rover continued silent for several minutes communing with his own thoughts. His companion made no offer to disturb his meditations; though the furtive glances, he often cast in the direction of the other's musing eye, betrayed some little anxiety to learn the result of his self-communication.

"And her guns?" at length his Commander abruptly demanded.

"She numbers four more than the 'Dolphin.'"

"The metal?"

"Is still heavier. In every particular is she a s.h.i.+p a size above your own."

"Doubtless she is the property of the King?"