THE CRUISE OF THE FLYING FISH

Auckland Star, Volume XXXVIII, Issue 255, 25 October 1907, Page 6

THE CRUISE OF THE FLYING FISH

CHAPTER XII. . HOW WE MET CAPTAIN BEGNIBK. The expression on the Frenchman's face was enough to show that his knowledge of English hardly extended to a full comprehension of Cap'en Bill's dialect. "Better tip him the parley-vous, sonny," he remarked in a tone of disappointment, "I dunno as he's so much ahead o' the rest, after all." I proceeded to interpret, and the puzzled face of the prisoner lighted up as I explained our errand. He turned, with all the courtesy of a French gentleman .to our leader: "And this so good giant—it is that he shall command the expedition?" he asked in his best English. "A thousand thanks, Monsieur; yet I might have known." Not a moment was wasted on explanations. It was the work of but a minute or two to fetch the chief gaoler, from whom we had already got the key, and one grim look from Cap'en Bill was enough to enforce my demand, that he should provide us with the means of unfastening the chains by which the men were shackled to the iron bar. There was something wonderful in the change that came over the prisoners when thfiy stood on their feet once more, and moved their limbs as though to make certain they were free, but it was Pierre only who spoke. "Ah B " he muttered fiercely, "Now, Monsieur le Capitane!' 'I translated the words, and my companion looked at him "Well jjpw, come to that," he remarked, "I ain't a-sayin' but what that's natrel an' ship-shape, neither, but I ain't not rightly sure as how it can be managed, nohow." I explained, by Cap y en Bill's order, that our only reasonable prospect of success la}' in going back at once as we had come. Pierre's face fell. "And that dog. Is it that lie shall escape? But it is just. Proceed, Monsieur; it is that I obey your orders." In a minute more we had locked both guards into the hut with a warning that they would be shot if they attempted to give the alarm; then we were ready. Cap'en Bill led the way, with the single remark: "I ain't a-sayin' but what it's time we were movin', lads." I kept close beside him, and I noticed that he cast frequent glances at the commandant's house, in which lights seemed to be moving about, and as he moved on I could see that he was listening for something he expected to hear. Then I listened too, and after a minute or two I heard a sound that grew more distinct every moment —it was the tramp of feet. Our leader halted for a moment to listen, and Pierre whispered in my ear: "It is the hour of the patrol; they approach." I translated the words to my companion, who nodded, as he replied by a question: '"How many men?" "Ten soldiers besides the sergeant." "And at the guardhouse how many?" he asked again. "It is that there are fifteen there." For an instant Cap'en Bill seemed to consider, while the tramp came nearer. Then a shout that was almost a yell came from the prison hut we had left: ;"A moi!- A moi, camarades! Les enemis. A moi!" Like ourselves the imprisoned guards had heard the tramp of the patrol. Our leader let fall one deep oath: "We've got to risk it now lads," he said. "Fifty yards more and we'll be in the plantation. Bend low, and follow mc." lie dashed forward across the open ground as he spoke, with the rest of us at his heels. It was a close shave. The night was clear, though dark, and our eyes had grown so used to the shadows that I could make out the line of the Toad where it crossed the open land. We were likely to be caught in a bad place, for it seemed from the sounds that we should almost meet the patrol before we could reach the slope, where I could fancy I already saw the moving shadows of the palm trees. As I hurried on I could hear the dull tramp of the coming feet grow louder each instant in the darkness. We had nearly reached the bottom of the slope, and already I felt that a few more springs would bring mc within the shelter of the trees, when suddenly there came a quick loud challenge in a harsh voice: "Who goes?" "Le Capitaino," Pierre exclaimed in a fierce whisper, and next moment he had answered the challenge in a loud, clear "Now," he whispered again, "it is of the desperation: one moment they will fire." At a single bound Cap'en Bill sprang across the whiter lino of road, followed by the rest of our party. As we did so the harsh voice rang out again: "Stand." It was followed in an instant by the order. "Fire!" There was a moment's delay, which probably saved some of our lives, and the next the sharp reports of ten rifles rang out, and the bullets shrieked over our heads. "Now, lads," our leader exclaimed, with a short laugh.'TJp the hill, under the trees. Let 'em follow us there, an' I aint a-sayin' but what it might be our turn." He must have known the ground well, for he never hesitated for an instant, dark as it was under the shade, and in a minute or two we passed the spot where we had halted for supper. He uad deliberately slackened his pace, and every time I paused to listen I could hear voices, and even the footsteps of the patrol coining after us through the grove. It didn't take long, though it seemed to mc to be an age. When we had reached the highest point of the plantation we went faster on the slope towards the shore, and very soon I could see the glimmer of the glassy water in the lagoon where we leio the boat. Cap'en Bill halted suddenly. "Now, Mounseer," he said, as we came up, "I ain't a-sayin' but what you've a chance now. If so he's you've got anything for to settle wi' this 'ere Captain, get it over, polite an' ship-shape, afore we goes aboard." As he spoke he handed the cutlass he had carried to Pierre, and added: "You stop here, Mounseer, an' I'll fetch him in a brace o' shakes, if I ain't mistook." He listened for a moment to the tramp of the footsteps in the darkness behind us, which wert rapidly coming nearer; then he said to the men: " i\ow's yer chance, lads; scatter under the trees an' lie low. Wait till they come alongside, then each of yer pick yer man, an' fire when I give the word." It -was done, as far as the scattering ■went, in a minute, and the men disappeared. The steps in the wood grew louder each moment; then the same harsh voice we had heard before called

BY OWEN HALL, i

on the soldiers to shoot down every man they saw, and give no quarter. Then dark shadows came through the trees in straggling order, headed by a figure with a flrawn sword. Cap'en Bill waited till he had passed us into the twilight of the open beach, then with a shout: "Now, lads, give it 'em at close quartefs," he sprang forward and telled the soldier nearest him with a blow of his fist, snatching the rifle from the man's hand as he fell. For the next minute or two Pandemonium seemed to mave broken loose. The wood was filled with a confusion of shots, cries, and oaths French and English, that rang through the trees. It was only for a minute or two, after all, for the suddenness of the attack created a panic amongst the few soldiers who were left unwounded, and after a short resistance they dashed back again into the wood followed by the shouting soldiers. Captain Regnier and two of his men had rushed headlong to the beach, and before they could get back again the ment he halted under the trees that fight was practically over. For a mofringed the shore, but his two soldiers who seemed to take in the position of affairs more quickly than himself, dropped their rifles and dashed into the wood. In another moment the Captain was surrounded. "Who are you?" he demanded,' in French, glancing through the darkness from one shadowy figure to another in bewilderment. "Ah, monsieur, it is I—le pauvre Pierre!" As he spoke, Pierre stepped forward and confronted the Captain, cutlass in hand. The answer was a fierce oath, and the next moment the weapons met with a sharp clash. Both men seemed to be good swordsmen, and it was impossible in the dim half light of the stars to follow their movements as they met, disengaged, and met again, with sharp, jarring sounds. More than once an exclamation, or a quickly drawn brea—., told the excitement of our little group of onlookers, when it seemed as if our man—for, of course, we looked on Pierre as our property—was in danger of getting the worst of it; or, again, a half shout would proclaim our delight when he appeared to gain an advantage. The result appeared doubtful still, when suddenly the Captain dropped on his knee and made a desperate thrust upward at Pierre under his guard. It was impossible in the faint light to sehow it was done, but it looked, as if the sword must have pierced Pierre's side. His body shrank away from it with a quick movement, as if by instinct; but next moment he sprang forward, the cutlass flashed, and the Captain fell back with a choking sound, rolled over on his side, his eyes staring up at the dark sky, and lay still. "Well, now, Mounseer," Cap'en B.n remarked composedly, as he turned and led the way to the beach, "I ain't asayin' but what that was done polite an , ship-shape—not mc." CHAPTER Kin. HOW WE WERE CHASED. Not another word was said till we reached the boat. Then Cap'en Bill told Tom to cut the lashings that bound the legs of our prisoner and put him ashore. As the man rose I saw the Frenchmen look fiercely into his face, as if they had a grudge to satisfy against him too. Our leader shook his head. "No," he said, "I ain't a-sayin' but what it's natrel, neither, for come to that, I s'pose Froggies has their feelin's same as Christians. But 'taint to be done—not this time, leastways. Free I said he'd go, if so be as he didn't tell no lies; an' free it is he goes, an' don't you forget it." We set the man ashore, and before we had taken our places and shoved off he had disappeared into the wood. We rowed off to the schooner in almost complete silence. The end of anything very exciting makes you inclined to be quiet for a while, I think, and my own mind had gone back to that duel on the beach, and the look of surprise that had rested on Captain Regnier's face as we left him staring up into the blue-blade sky above him. The sea was even smoother than when we came ashore as we passed through the shallow gap in the reef, and even when we got farther off shore not a breath of wind was stirring. It was pleasant enough at the time,' but I noticed that Cap'en Bill looked round him a little anxiously, and even whistled a few low notes, as I had often heard the sailors do ■when the wind was light. The Flying-Fish lay like a schooner in a picture, just moving and no more, with the soft sway of the water. Her tall masts and loosely hanging sails cast blacker shadows on the glassy surface of the dark water as we drew alongside, and we could see the heads of the mate and the four sailors we had left on board peering eagerly at us over the bulwarks. "Right ye was, lads," Cap'n Bill shouted as we came up. I ain't a-sayin' but we've made a job of it. We've fetched him off, an' don't you forget it." The announcement was greeted with a cheer as the boat scraped alongside. Pierre was accommodated in one of the berths that opened off the cabin, and places were found for the other two Frenchmen on the lower deck where the skipper and his companion had been imprisoned, and in a little while the excitement had subsided sufficiently to allow of the cook preparing supper for

all who had taken part in the expedition. Carrying dishes and waiting at table was tame work after acting as chief interpreter ashore, and I was glad when it was over, and I had a chance to get to bed, and go over again in dreams the most exciting scenes of the day's experience. It was good daylight when I went on deck, but when I looked round mc it seemed as if we must have lain at anchor all night. The sea was like a huge looking-glass, in which the shore, with its palms and bluffs, lay softly reflected, while near at hand our own masts and sails just trembled on the mirror-like surface. Away to the north, almost on the horizon, there were little cat's-paws of wind, to judge by the darker look of the sea, and as I looked, I fancied I could see, low down on the sea-line, something like a small white sail, but I couldn't be sure, and when I looked again ii was gone. The sailor whose attention I called to it laughed at my fancy, so I held my tongue, though the idea had flashed acrosr, my mind that it might be a boat carrying news to the mainland. It mattered nothing, after all, for we could have done nothing. Whatever wind they might have there none of it came to us. Hour after hour we lay becalmed, with sails that hung ' from the yards but neither moved nor flapped. Ihe afternoon was far advanced before any sign of life appeared on shore, where the struggle that ended so fatally for Captain Regnier had taken place. Then a file of soldiers marched out of the wood and halted under the palms. The little dark heap on the beach, from which I had. seemed unable to withdraw my eyes whenever I looked ashore, was lifted from the glowing sand and carried to the shelter of the trees, and then, by way of a funeral salute, I suppose, the soldiers fired three volleys at the schooner. We must have been farther from shore than I had thought, or perhaps we had drifted off in the calm, for none of the bullets reached us. For another night, and most of another day we remained becalmed, and drifted slowly to the north till we had lost sight of the bay in which we landed. The island was still in sight—a hazy outline, floating in a setting of sea-mist—when I came on deck on the afternoon of Ihe second day. I could see at once, however, from the appearance of the crew, that a change of some kind was expected. Instead of the lazy look they h%ri worn fer the last two days, their faces looked alert and eager. A new feeling too was in the air, and there was a clouded lock on the water all around, but espeeiaDy to the north. "A breeze, youngster, and none too soon, neither," the man at the wheel growled, in answer to my look of inquiry when I had cast a look around mc. "I began to think as how that theer dead Frenchy were agoin' to keep tts here till a bloomin' man-o'-yar could come arter us, I did." The breeze took longer to come up than he expected. Time after time 011 that long afternoon the dark line on the horizon grew darker, and seemed to come our way. Once or twice the sails quivered as if they felt the touch of the wind, then it died away again, and they hung as loose as ever. Like every soul on board I was looking to the north for the breeze, when my eye rested on a white spot that seemed to rise slowly from the sea and hover like a sea-gull just above the horizon. In five minutes half the crew were staring eagerly at the spot; it was a sail. I was gazing with the others, and listening to the remarks of the of Cap'en Bill's tread—ponderous and sailors, when my ear caught the sound yet elastic— on deck behind mc. He stopped, and for a minute or more examined the strange sail through his glass; then he closed the telescope and glanced quickly round the horizon. " Right ye was," he remarked in his usual cheerful tone, "the breeze'll come up quicker"n what she will, an' the Flying Fish ain't well named if she don't show her heels to a Froggie; blowed if she is." The eyes of the crew were fixed on him as he spoke, and after a moment's pause the mate asked the question that was in everybody's mind. " Can ye make out what she is wi' the glass, Cape?" " Well, Sam, I ain't a-sayin' but what she looks like a Froggie, an' armed too, at that, but I s'pose you don't expect to earn a hundred pounds apiece a-catching of niggers, lads. ■ The risk's allowed for in the pay, boys, if I ain't mistook, which is ■ ship-shape an' fair, an' don't you forget it." Cap'en Bill's experience was right about the breeze, though for a time ib looked as if the stranger would bring it with her. Ljttle by little she loomed up large above the horizon till, we could see that she was heading for us directly; and still our sails hung motionless, and we lay like a log on the glassy water. And all the time Cap'en Bill stood motionless at the wheel, his eye glancing from the sails to the ocean, where the new-comer—a large three-masted ship— was growing larger and more threatenevery minute. At hist it came. There was a stir and a rustle. The sails moved and swelled, the ropes rustled and grew tight. The Flying Fish fell away before the breeze, and in another instant the guTgle of water at her bows told us the welcome news that she had begun her flight. I looked anxiously at the vesel behind us. As I looked I saw a jet of white smoke spring suddenly from her bow; the sullen boom of a cannon came heavily over the water. (To be continued daily.)