In the Kings Name

In the King's Name, by George
Manville Fenn

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Title: In the King's Name The Cruise of the "Kestrel"
Author: George Manville Fenn
Release Date: November 6, 2007 [EBook #23386]
Language: English
Character set encoding: ASCII
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KING'S NAME ***

Produced by Nick Hodson of London, England

In the King's Name; or, The Cruise of the Kestrel, by George Manville
Fenn.
CHAPTER ONE.

ON BOARD THE "KESTREL."
Morning on board the Kestrel, his Britannic majesty's cutter, lying on
and off the south coast on the lookout for larks, or what were to her the
dainty little birds that the little falcon, her namesake, would pick up.
For the Kestrel's wings were widespread to the soft south-easterly
breeze that barely rippled the water; and mainsail, gaff topsail, staysail,
and jib were so new and white that they seemed to shine like silver in
the sun.
The larks the hover-winged Kestrel was on the watch to pick up were
smuggling boats of any sort or size, or Jacobite messages, or exiles, or
fugitives--anything, in fact, that was not in accordance with the laws of
his most gracious majesty King George the Second, whose troops had
not long before dealt that fatal blow to the young Pretender's hopes at
the battle of Culloden.
The sea was as bright and blue as the sea can look in the Channel when
the bright sun is shining, and the arch above reflects itself in its bosom.
The gulls floated half asleep on the water, with one eye open and the
other closed; and the pale-grey kittiwakes seemed to glide about on the
wing, to dip down here and there and cleverly snatch a tiny fish from
the surface of the softly heaving sea.
On the deck of the little cutter all was in that well-known apple-pie
order customary on board a man-of-war, for so Lieutenant Lipscombe
in command always took care to call it, and in this he was diligently
echoed by the young gentleman who acted as his first officer, and, truth
to say, second and third officer as well, for he was the only one--to wit,
Hilary Leigh, midshipman, lately drafted to this duty, to his great
disgust, from on board the dashing frigate Golden Fleece.
"Man-o'-war!" he had said in disgust; "a contemptible little cock-boat.
They ought to have called her a boy-o'-war--a little boy-o'-war. I shall
walk overboard the first time I try to stretch my legs."
But somehow he had soon settled down on board the swift little craft
with its very modest crew, and felt no small pride in the importance of

his position, feeling quite a first lieutenant in his way, and for the
greater part of the time almost entirely commanding the vessel.
She was just about the cut of a goodsized modern yacht, and though not
so swift, a splendid sailer, carrying immense spars for her tonnage, and
spreading canvas enough to have swamped a less deeply built craft.
The decks were as white as holystone could make them, the sails and
the bell shone in the morning sun like gold, and there was not a speck
to be seen on the cabin skylight any more than upon either of the three
brass guns, a long and two shorts, as Billy Waters, who was gunner and
gunner's mate all in one, used to call them.
Upon this bright summer morning Hilary Leigh was sitting, with his
legs dangling over the side and his back against a stay, holding a
fishing line, which, with a tiny silvery slip off the tail-end of a
mackerel, was trailing behind the cutter, fathoms away, waving and
playing about in the vessel's wake, to tempt some ripple-sided mackerel
to dart at it, do a little bit of cannibalism, and die in the act.
Two had already been hauled on board, and lay in a wooden bucket,
looking as if they had been carved out of pieces of solid sea at sunrise,
so brilliant were the ripple marks and tints of pink and purple and grey
and orange and gold--bright enough to make the gayest mother-o'-pearl
shell blush for shame. Hilary Leigh had set his mind upon catching
four--two for himself and two for the skipper--and he had congratulated
himself upon the fact that he had already caught his two, when there
was a sharp snatch, the line began to quiver, and for the next minute it
was