A Pirate of the Caribbees | Page 4

from the forecastle, a glimpse of
which I could just catch under the foot of the fore-topsail, and I could
see that the men were all alive down there with pleasurable excitement
at the prospect of a possible fight. Young Hudson--a smart little fellow,
barely fourteen years old, and the most juvenile member of our
mess--was soon on deck again with the second lieutenant's telescope;
but by this time the fog had shut the stranger in again, so, for the
moment, friend Hennesey's curiosity had to remain unsatisfied. Not for
long, however; the presumably French frigate had not been lost sight of
more than two or three minutes when I caught a second glimpse of the
other craft--the one first sighted--on our starboard quarter.
"There is the other fellow, sir!" I shouted. "You can see her distinctly
now. And she too is a frigate, and French, unless I am greatly
mistaken."
"By the powers, Mr Courtenay, I hope you may be right," answered
Hennesey. "Ay, there she is," he continued, "as plain as mud in a
wineglass! And if she isn't French her looks belie her. Mr Hudson, you
spalpeen, slip down below and tell the captain that there are a brace of
suspicious-looking craft within a mile of us. And ye may call upon

Misther Dawson and impart the same pleasant information to him."
Then, turning his beaming phiz up to me, he continued--
"Mr Courtenay, it's on the stroke of eight bells, but all the same you'd
better stay where you are for the present, until the fog clears, since you
know exactly the bearings of those two craft. And I'll thank ye to keep
your weather eye liftin', young gentleman; there may be a whole fleet
of Frenchmen within gun-shot of us, for all that we can tell."
"Ay, ay, sir!" I cheerfully answered, my curiosity having by this time
got the better of my keen appetite for breakfast; moreover, having been
the discoverer of the two sail already sighted, I was anxious to add to
the prestige thus gained by being the first to sight any other craft that
might happen to be in our neighbourhood.
My stay aloft, however, was not destined to be a long one, for the fog
was now clearing fast, and within ten minutes it had all driven away to
leeward of us, revealing the fact that there were but the two sail already
discovered in sight--unless there might happen to be others so far ahead
as to be still hidden in the fog-bank to leeward. But before I left the
royal yard I had succeeded in satisfying myself, by means of my
glass--which had been sent up to me bent on to the signal halliards--
that the two strangers were frigates, and almost certainly French. They
were exchanging signals at a great rate, but we could make nothing of
their flags, which at least proved that they were not British. To make
assurance doubly sure, however, we had hoisted our private signal, to
which neither ship had been able to reply. There was no doubt that they
were enemies; and this fact having been satisfactorily established, I was
permitted to descend and snatch a hasty breakfast.
And a hasty one it was, for I had scarcely been below five minutes
when we were piped to clear for action, and I was obliged to hurry on
deck again. But a hungry midshipman can achieve a good deal in the
eating line in five minutes, and in that brief interval I contrived to stow
away enough food to take the keen edge off my appetite, promising
myself that I would make up my leeway at dinner-time--provided that I
was still alive when the hour for that meal came round. This last
thought sobered me down somewhat, and to a certain extent subdued

my hilarious spirits; but they rose again as, upon gaining the deck, I
looked round and saw the cheerful yet resolute faces of the captain and
officers, and noted the gaiety with which the men went about their
duty.
The strangers had by this time shown their bunting,--the tricolour,--so
there was no further question of their nationality or of the fact that we
were booked for a sharp fight, for they had the heels of us and were
overhauling us in grand style; we could not therefore have escaped, had
we been ever so anxious to do so. And, had we made the attempt, we
should certainly have been quite justified, for it had now been
ascertained that they were both forty-gun ships, while we mounted only
thirty-six pieces on our gun deck. Escape, however, was apparently the
very last thought likely to occur to Captain Harrison; for although he
kept the studding-sails abroad while the ship was being prepared for
action,