the distant sail was anxiously watched from the antelope. it closed in with them fast, running almost before the wind. in two hours, her hull could be seen from the deck.
efforts had been made, by slacking the ropes and altering the set of the sails, to give the brig as slovenly an appearance as possible. the guns had been run in and the portholes closed and, as the spaniard approached, the crew--with the exception of five or six men--were ordered to keep below the bulwarks.
the course that the spaniard was taking would have brought her just under the stern of the antelope when, suddenly, she was seen to change her course, and to bear up into the wind.
"too late, my lady," the captain said; "you have blundered on too long.
"there is something in our cut that she doesn't like. haul down that spanish flag, and run the union jack up.
"open ports, lads, and show them our teeth. fire that bow gun across her forefoot!"
the guns were already loaded; and as soon as they were run out a shot was fired, as a message to the spaniard to heave to. a minute later, as she paid no attention, a broadside followed. three of the shots went crashing into the side of the spaniard, and one of her boats was smashed.
a moment later the spanish flag fluttered down, and a hearty cheer broke from the crew of the antelope. the spaniard was thrown up into the wind and, in a few minutes, the brig ranged up alongside, within pistol shot. the gig was lowered; and the captain rowed alongside her, taking bob with him as interpreter.
the prize proved to be a brig, of about the same tonnage as the antelope. she was from cadiz, bound first to alicante, and then to valencia. she carried only six small guns, and a crew of eighteen men. her cargo consisted of grain and olive oil.
"not a bad prize," captain lockett said, as bob read out the items of her bill of lading. "it is a pity that it is not full up, instead of only half laden. still, it is not a bad beginning; and the craft herself is of a handy size and, if she won't sell at gibraltar, will pay very well to take on to england. i should say she was fast."
an hour later the two brigs parted company, the second mate and twelve hands being placed on board the spaniard. there was some discussion as to the prisoners, but it was finally agreed to leave them on board their ship.
"keep them down in the hold, mr. crofts. see that you don't leave any knives with them. keep a couple of sentries over the hatchway. if the wind holds, you will be in the bay by tomorrow evening. keep pretty well inshore, and slip in as close to the point as you can. if you do that, you need not have much fear of their gunboats.
"i don't suppose the authorities will want to keep the prisoners, but of course you will report them on your arrival; and can give them one of the boats, to land across the bay, if they are not wanted. if the governor wants to buy the cargo for the garrison, let him have it, at once. don't stand out for exorbitant terms, but take a fair price. it is just as well to be on good terms with the authorities. we might have to put in to refit, and want spars, etc., from the naval yard. if the governor doesn't want the cargo, don't sell it to anyone else till we return. there is no fear of prices going down. the longer we keep it, the more we shall get for it."
"hadn't i better bring the ship's papers on board with us, captain lockett?"
"what for, bob? i don't see that they would be any use to us, and the bills of lading will be useful for selling the cargo."
"i can copy them, sir, for mr. crofts.
"what i thought was this: the brig is just our own size and, if we should get becalmed anywhere near the shore, and a boat put off, we might possibly be able to pass, with her papers."
"that is a capital idea, bob; capital! i will have a bit of canvas painted 'alonzo, cadiz,' in readiness to nail over our stern, should there be any occasion for it.
"well, goodbye mr. crofts, and a safe journey to you. i needn't tell you to keep a sharp lookout."
"you may trust us for that, sir. we have no desire to rot in one of their prisons, till the end of the war."
the captain's gig took him back to the antelope. the weather sheets of the fore-staysail were eased off, and the square sails swung round. as they drew, the two brigs got under way, heading in exactly opposite directions.
before nightfall the captain pronounced that they were now abreast of alicante and, under easy sail, the vessel's head was turned towards the land; and the next morning she was running along the shore, at a distance of three miles. beyond fishing boats, and small craft hugging the land, nothing was met with, until they neared cartagena. then the sound of firing was heard ahead and, on rounding a headland, they saw a vessel of war chasing some five or six craft, nearer inshore.
"that is a british frigate," the captain exclaimed; "but i don't think she will get them. there is cartagena only three or four miles ahead, and the frigate will not be able to cut them off, before they are under the guns of the batteries."
"they are not above a mile ahead of her," the first mate said. "if we could knock away a spar, with our long eighteen, we might get one of them."
"we shouldn't make much prize money, if we did, joe; for the frigate would share and, as she has five or six times as many men and officers as we have got, it is not much we should get out of it.
"hallo!" he broke out, as a shot came ricochetting along the water, "she is trying a shot at us. i forgot we had the spanish colours up.
"get that flag down, and run up the union jack, joe."
"one moment, captain," bob said.
"well, what is it, bob?"
"well, it seems to me, sir, that if we keep the spanish flag up--"
"we may be sunk," the captain broke in.
"we might, sir, but it is very unlikely, especially if we run in more to the shore; but you see, if we are fired at by the frigate, it will never enter the minds of the spaniards that we are anything but what we seem and, if we like, we can anchor right under their batteries, in the middle of their craft. it will be dark by the time we get in, and we might take our pick of them."
"that is a splendid idea, bob!
"this boy is getting too sharp for us, altogether, joe. he is as full of ideas as a ship's biscuit is of weevils.
"keep her off, helmsman. that will do."
again and again the frigate fired, but she was two miles away and, though the shot went skipping over the water near the brig, none of them struck her. the men, unable to understand why they were running the gauntlet of the frigate's fire, looked inquiringly towards the poop.
"it is all right, lads," the captain said. "there is not much fear of the frigate hitting us, and it is worth risking it. the spaniards on shore will never dream that we are english, and we can bring up in the thick of them."
there was a good deal of laughing and amusement, among the men, as they understood the captain's motive in allowing the brig to be made a target of. as she drew in towards shore the frigate's fire ceased, and her course was changed off shore.
"no nearer," the captain said to the helmsman. "keep her a little farther off shore.
"there is not much water here, joe," for a man had been heaving the lead, ever since they had changed their course. "we have not got a fathom under her keel. you see, the frigate did not like to come any closer. she would have cut us off, if there had been deep water right up."
an hour later the brig dropped anchor off cartagena, at little more than a quarter of a mile from one of the batteries that guarded the entrance to the port, and close to two or three of the craft that had been first chased by the frigate. these, as they were going on in the morning, had not entered the harbour with their consorts; for it was already getting dusk.
"not much fear of their coming to ask any questions, this evening," joe lockett said. "the spaniards are not given to troubling themselves unnecessarily and, as we are outside the port, we are no one's business in particular."
at this moment a hail came from the vessel anchored ahead of them. bob went to the bulwark. the brig had swung head to wind, and was broadside on with the other craft.
"you have not suffered from the fire of that accursed ship, i hope?" the captain of the barque shouted.
"no, senor; not a shot struck us."
"you were fortunate. we were hulled twice, and had a man killed by a splinter.
"this is a rough welcome home to us. we have just returned from lima, and have heard nothing about the war till we anchored off alicante, yesterday. we heard some firing as we came through the straits; but thought it was only one of the ships, or forts, practising at a mark. it was lucky we put in at alicante; or we should have had no suspicion, and should have let that frigate sail up alongside of us, without trying to escape."
"you were fortunate, indeed," bob shouted back "we had, ourselves, a narrow escape of being captured by a ship of war, near malaga. the alonzo is only from cadiz, with grain and olive oil."
"do you think there is any fear of that rascally englishman trying to cut us out with his boats, tonight?"
"not the slightest," bob replied, confidently. "they would never venture on that. those batteries on shore would blow them out of the water, and they would know very well they would not have a shadow of chance of taking us out for, even if they captured us, the batteries would send us to the bottom, in no time. oh, no! you are perfectly safe from the frigate, here."
the spanish captain raised his hat. bob did the same, and both left the side of their ships.
"well, what does he say, bob?" the captain asked.
"i think you are in luck this time, captain, and no mistake."
"how is that, bob?"
"she is from lima."
"you don't say so!" the captain and joe exclaimed, simultaneously. "then she is something like a prize. she has got hides, no doubt; but the chances are she has a lot of lead, too, and maybe some silver.
"ah! he is getting one of his boats in the water. i hope he is not coming off here.
"if he does, joe, bob must meet him at the gangway, and take him into the cabin. as he comes in, you and i will catch him by the throat, gag, and bind him; and then bob must go and tell the men to return to their ship, that the captain is going to spend the evening with us, and that we will take him back in our boat."
"that would be the best thing that could happen," joe said, "for in that way we could get alongside, without suspicion."
"so we could, joe. i didn't think of that. yes, i hope he is coming, now."
they saw, however, the boat row to a large polacre lying next to the spaniard, on the other side. it remained there two or three minutes, and then rowed away towards the mouth of the harbour.
"going to spend the evening on shore," the captain observed. "i am not surprised at that. it is likely enough they have been six months on their voyage from lima. it is unlucky, though; i wish he had come here.
"well, bob, as you have got the best head among us, what scheme do you suggest for our getting on board that craft?"
"i think we could carry out joe's idea, though in a different way," bob said. "i should say we had better get a boat out; and put, say, twenty men on board. it is getting dark, but they might all lie down in the bottom, except six oarsmen. then we should pull in towards the mouth of the harbour, just as they have done, and lay up somewhere under the rocks for a couple of hours; then row off again, and make for the barque. of course, they would think it was the captain returning.
"then ten of the men should spring on board, and they ought to be able to silence any men on deck before they could give the alarm. directly the ten men got out, the boat would row across to the polacre; as there is no doubt her captain went ashore with the other. they would take her in the same way."
"you ought to be made lord high admiral of the fleet, bob! that will succeed, if anything will; only we must be sure to put off again before the spaniards do.
"well, joe, you had better take charge of this expedition. you see, however quietly it is done, there is almost sure to be some shouting; and they will take the alarm at the batteries and, when they make out three of us suddenly getting up sail, they will be pretty certain that something is wrong, and will open fire on us. that, of course, we must risk; but the thing to be really afraid of is their gunboats. they are sure to have a couple of them in the port. they may be some little time in getting out, but they will come out."
the wind has died away, now, but the land breeze is just springing up; but we shall hardly get off before the gunboats can come to us. they row a lot of oars, you know. you must clap on all sail, on the prizes; and i shall hang behind a bit, and tackle the gunboats. you will see what guns there are on board the prizes; and may, perhaps, be able to lend me a hand; but that you will see. of course you will take bob with you, to answer the hails from the two spaniards.
"be careful when you bring up ashore. let the men row very gently, after they once get away, so as not to attract any attention. let them take cutlasses, but no pistols. if a shot were fired the batteries would be sure, at once, there was some mischief going on. a little shouting won't matter so much; it might be merely a quarrel. of course, the instant you are on board you will cut the cables, and get up sail.
"you will remain on board the barque, joe. bob will have command of the party that attack the polacre. you had better take the jolly boat, and pick out twenty active fellows. tell them to leave their shoes behind them; the less trampling and noise there is, the better. tell them not to use their cutlasses, unless driven to it. there are not likely to be above four or five men on deck. they ought to be able to knock them down, and bind them, almost before they know what has happened."
in a few minutes the boat was lowered, and manned, and rowed away for the shore. as soon as they got well past the ships, the men were ordered to row as quietly and noiselessly as possible. joe had brought with him six strips of canvas; and handed these to the men, and told them to wrap them round the oars, so as to muffle them in the rowlocks.
this was done, and the boat glided along silently. keeping in the middle of the channel, they passed through the passage between the shore and the rocky island that protects the harbour; and then, sweeping round, stole up behind the latter and lay to, close to the rocks.
"so far, so good," joe said, in a low voice. "i don't think the sharpest eyes could have seen us. now the question is, how long to wait here. the longer we wait, the more of the spaniards will have turned into their bunks but, upon the other hand, there is no saying how long the captains will remain on shore.
"there is a heavy dew falling, and that will help to send the sailors below. i should think an hour would be about the right time. the dons are not likely to be off again, before that. it is some distance up the harbour to the landing place, and they would hardly have taken the trouble to go ashore, unless they meant to stay a couple of hours.
"what time is it now, bob?"
bob opened his watch case, and felt the hands.
"it is just a quarter past nine."
"well, we will move at ten," joe said.
the three-quarters of an hour passed very slowly, and bob consulted his watch several times, before the minute hand got to twelve.
"ten o'clock," he said, at last.
the oars had not been got in, so the boat glided off again, noiselessly, out through the entrance. there were lights burning at the sterns of the two spanish ships, as a guide to the boat coming off and, when the boat had traversed half the distance, joe ordered the oars to be unmuffled, and they rowed straight for the barque. there was no hail at their approach, but a man appeared at the top of the ladder.
as the boat came alongside, ten of the men rose noiselessly from the bottom of the boat, and followed the first mate up the ladder. as he reached the top, joe sprang on the spanish sailor, and seized him by the throat. the two sailors following thrust a gag into the man's mouth, bound his arms, and laid him down.
this was effected without the slightest noise. the other sailors had, by this time, clambered up from the boat and scattered over the deck. a group of seven or eight spaniards were seated on the deck, forward; smoking by the light of a lantern, which hung above the fo'castle. they did not notice the approach of the sailors, with their naked feet; and the latter sprang upon them, threw them down, bound, and gagged them, without a sound--save a few short exclamations of surprise being uttered.
illustration: they found the two spanish mates playing at cards.
three or four of the sailors now coiled a rope against the fo'castle door, to prevent its being opened. in the meantime joe, with two men, entered the cabin aft, where they found the two spanish mates playing at cards. the sudden apparition of three men, with drawn cutlasses, took them so completely by surprise that they were captured without any attempt at resistance; and were, like the rest, bound and gagged.
"you take the helm, halkett," joe said, and then hurried forward.
"have you got them all?" he asked, as he reached the fo'castle.
"every man jack," one of the sailors said.
"is there nobody on watch in the bows?"
"no, sir, not a man."
"very well. now then, to work.
"cut the cable, thompson.
"the rest of you, let fall the sails."
as these had only been loosely furled, when the vessel came to anchor, this was done in a very short time; and the vessel began to move through the water before the light breeze, which was dead aft.
the capture of the polacre had not been effected so silently. bob had allowed the boatswain, who accompanied him, to mount the ladder first; but the man at the top of the gangway had a lantern and, as its light fell upon the sailor's face, he uttered an exclamation of surprise; which called the attention of those on deck and, as the sailors swarmed up the ladder, shouts of alarm were raised. but the spaniards could not withstand the rush of the english, who beat them to the deck before they had time to seize their arms.
the noise, however, alarmed the watch below; who were just pouring up from the hatchway when they were attacked by the sailors with drawn cutlasses, and were speedily beaten below, and the hatches secured over them. bob had posted himself, with two of the men, at the cabin door; and as the officers rushed out, on hearing the noise, they were knocked down and secured. as soon as this was effected, bob looked round over the side.
"hurrah!" he said, "the barque is under way already. get the sails on her, lads, and cut the cable."
while this was being done bob mounted the poop, placed one of the sailors at the helm, and then turned his eyes towards the battery, astern. he heard shouts, and had no doubt that the sound of the scuffle had been heard. then lights appeared in several of the casements and, just as the sails were sheeted home, and the polacre began to move through the water, a rocket whizzed up from the battery, and burst overhead. by its light bob saw the antelope and the spanish barque, two or three hundred yards ahead; with their crews getting up all sail, rapidly.
a minute later, twelve heavy guns flashed out astern, one after another. they were pointed too high, and the shot flew overhead, one or two passing through the sails. the boatswain's voice was heard, shouting:
"never mind the shot, lads! look alive! now then, up with those topgallant sails! the quicker you get them up, the quicker we shall be out of range!"
another battery, higher up, now opened fire; but the shot did not come near them. then rocket after rocket was sent up, and the battery astern again fired. one of the shot cut away the main-topsail yard; another struck the deck abreast of the foremast, and then tore through the bulwarks; but the polacre was now making good way. they felt the wind more, as they got farther from the shore; and had decreased their distance from the craft ahead.
the boatswain now joined bob upon the poop.
"we have got everything set that will draw, now," he said. "she is walking along well. another ten minutes and we shall be safe, if they don't knock away a spar.
"she is a fast craft, mr. repton. she is overhauling the other two, hand over hand."
"we had better bear away a bit, boatswain. the captain said we were to scatter as much as we could, so as to divide their fire."
"all right, sir!" and the boatswain gave the orders to the helmsman, and slightly altered the trim of the sails.
"i suppose we can do nothing with that broken yard, boatswain?"
"no, sir; and it don't matter much, going pretty nearly before the wind, as we are. the sails on the foremast draw all the better, so it don't make much difference.
"look out, below!" he shouted, as there was a crash above; and the mizzenmast was cut in sunder, by a shot that struck it just above the topsail blocks; and the upper part came toppling down, striking the bulwark and falling overboard.
"lay aft, lads, and out knives!" the boatswain shouted. "cut away the wreck!
"it is lucky it wasn't two feet lower," he said to bob, "or it would have brought the topsail down; and that would have been a serious loss, now the main-topsail is of no use."
he sprang to assist the men, when a round shot struck him, and almost carried off his head. bob caught at the knife that fell from his hand, and set to work with the men.
"that is it, lads, cut away!" he shouted. "we sha'n't have many more of them on board. we are a good mile away, now."
just as the work of getting rid of the wreck was accomplished, one of the men said, as a rocket burst overhead:
"there are two of their gunboats coming out of the harbour, sir."
"we had better close with the others, then," bob said. "the brig will engage them, when they come up. we shall be well beyond reach of the batteries, before they do.
"now, lads, see what guns she carries. break open the magazine, and get powder and ball up. we must lend the captain a hand, if we can."
the polacre mounted eight guns, all 14 pounders; and in a few minutes these were loaded. the batteries continued to fire; but their shooting was no longer accurate and, in another ten minutes, ceased altogether. the craft had now closed to within hailing distance of the brig.
"hallo, the polacre!" captain lockett shouted. "what damages?"
"the boatswain is killed, sir," bob shouted back, "and we have lost two spars but, in spite of that, i think we are sailing as fast as you."
"what guns have you got?"
"eight fourteen-pounders, sir. we are loaded and ready."
"keep a little ahead of me," the captain shouted. "i am going to shorten sail a bit. we have got to fight those gunboats."
as he spoke, a heavy gun boomed out from the bow of one of the gunboats, and the shot went skipping between the two vessels. directly after, the other gunboat fired, and the shot struck the quarter of the brig. then there was a creaking of blocks as the sheets were hauled upon and, as the yards swung round, she came up into the wind, and a broadside was fired at the two gunboats. then the helm was put down, and she payed off before the wind again.
the gunboats ceased rowing, for a minute. the discharge had staggered them, for they had not given the brig credit for carrying such heavy metal.
then they began to row again. the swivel gun of the brig kept up a steady fire on them. two of the guns of the polacre had been, by this time, shifted to the stern; and these opened fire, while the first mate's crew on board the barque were also at work. a fortunate shot smashed many of the oars of one of the gunboats and, while she stopped rowing in disorder, the brig was again rounded to and opened a steady fire, with her broadside guns, upon them.
as the gunboats were now little more than a quarter of a mile away, the effect of the brig's fire, aided by that of the two prizes, was very severe and, in a short time, the spaniards put round and rowed towards the shore; while a hearty cheer broke from the brig, and her prizes.
there had been no more casualties on board the polacre, the fire of the gunboats having been directed entirely upon the brig; as the spaniards knew that, if they could but destroy or capture her, they would be able to recover the prizes. the polacre was soon brought close alongside of the brig.
"have you suffered much, captain lockett?"
"i am sorry to say we have had six men killed, and five wounded. we have got a dozen shot in our stern. they were evidently trying to damage the rudder but, beyond knocking the cabin fittings to pieces, there is no more harm done than the carpenter can repair, in a few hours' work.
"you have not been hit again, have you?"
"no, sir; none of their shots came near."
"well, examine the papers, and have a talk with the officers you made prisoners, and then come on board to report. i shall want you to go on board the barque with me, and see what she is laden with."
bob went below. the two spanish mates were unbound.
"i am sorry, senors," bob said, "that we were obliged to treat you rather roughly; but you see, we were in a hurry, and there was no time for explanations. i shall be obliged if you will show me which is the captain's cabin, and hand me over the ship's papers and manifesto. what is her name?"
"the braganza."
"where are you from? and what do you carry?"
"we are from cadiz, and are laden principally with wine. we were bound for barcelona.
"you took us in nicely, senor. who could have dreamt that you were english, when that frigate chased you under the guns of the battery?"
"she thought we were spanish, as you did," bob said.
by this time the other spaniard had brought the papers out of the captain's cabin. bob ran his eye down over the bill of lading, and was well satisfied with the result. she contained a very large consignment of wine.
"i am going on board the brig," he said, as he put the papers together. "i must ask you to give me your parole not to leave the cabin, until i return. i do not know whether my captain wishes you to remain here, or will transfer you to his own craft."
"well, master bob, what is your prize?" the captain asked.
"it is a valuable one, sir. the polacre herself is, as i see by her papers, only two years old, and seems a fine craft. she is laden with wine, from cadiz, to barcelona."
"capital, bob; we are in luck, indeed! how many prisoners have you got?"
"the crew is put down at eighteen, sir; and there are the two mates."
"you had better send them on board here, presently. where are they now?"
"they are in the cabin, captain. they gave me their promise not to leave it, till i return; but i put a man on sentry, outside, so as to make sure of them."
"well, perhaps you had better go back again now; and we will shape our course for gibraltar, at once. all this firing would have attracted the attention of any spanish war vessel there might be about. we must leave the barque's manifesto till the morning.
"as you have lost the boatswain, i will send one of my best hands back with you, to act as your first mate. he must get that topsail yard of yours repaired, at once. it does not matter about the mizzenmast, but the yard is of importance. we may meet with spanish cruisers, outside the rock, and may have to show our heels."
"yes, i shall be glad of a good man, captain. you see, i know nothing about it, and don't like giving any orders. it was all very well getting on board, and knocking down the crew; but when it comes to sailing her, it is perfectly ridiculous my giving orders, when the men know that i don't know anything about it."
"the men know you have plenty of pluck, bob; and they know that it was entirely due to your swimming off to that spanish ship that we escaped being captured, before; and they will obey you willingly, as far as you can give them orders. still, of course, you do want somebody with you, to give orders as to the setting and taking in of the sails."
as soon as the last gun had been fired, the three vessels had been laid head to wind but, when bob's boat reached the side of the polacre, they were again put on their course and headed southwest, keeping within a short distance of each other.
bob's new first mate, an old sailor named brown, at once set the crew to work to get up a fresh spar, in place of the broken yard. the men all worked with a will. they were in high spirits at the captures they had made; and the news which brown gave them, that the polacre was laden with wine, assured to each of them a substantial sum in prize money.
before morning the yard was in its place and the sail set and, except for the shortened mizzen, and a ragged hole through the bulwark, forward, the polacre showed no signs of the engagement of the evening before. two or three men were slung over the stern of the brig; plugs had been driven through the shot holes and, over these, patches of canvas were nailed, and painted black.
nothing, however, could be done with the sails, which were completely riddled with holes. the crew were set to work to shift some of the worst; cutting them away from the yards, and getting up spare sails from below. bob had put a man on the lookout, to give him notice if any signal was made to him from the brig; which was a quarter of a mile ahead of him, the polacre's topgallant sails having been lowered after the main-topsail had been hoisted, as it was found that, with all sail set, she sailed considerably faster than the brig.
presently the man came aft, and reported that the captain was waving his hat from the taffrail.
"we had better get up the main-topgallant sail, brown, and run up to her," bob said.
the sail was soon hoisted and, in a quarter of an hour, they were alongside the brig.
"that craft sails like a witch," captain lockett said, as they came abreast of him.
"yes, sir, she seems very fast."
"it is a pity she is rigged as she is," the captain said. "it is an outlandish fashion. if she were barque rigged, i should be tempted to shift on board her.
"we will leave the barque alone, at present, mr. repton. our curiosity must keep a bit. i don't want to lose any of this breeze. we will keep right on, as long as it lasts. if it drops, we will overhaul her."
the barque was the slowest craft of the three, and joe lockett had every stitch of canvas set, to enable him to keep up with the others. at noon, a large craft was seen, coming off from the land. bob examined her with the telescope, and then handed the glass to brown.
"she is a frigate," the sailor said. "it's the same that blazed away at us, yesterday. it's the brilliant, i think."
"you are sure she is the same that chased us, yesterday?"
"quite sure."
captain lockett was evidently of the same opinion, as no change was made in the course he was steering.
"we may as well speak the captain again," bob said, and the polacre closed again with the brig.
"brown says that is the same frigate that fired at us, yesterday, captain lockett," bob said, when they were within hailing distance.
"yes, there is no doubt about that. i don't want to lose time, or i would stand out and try our speed with her."
"why, sir?"
"because i am afraid she will want to take some of our hands. those frigates are always short of hands. still, she may not, as we have got twelve men already away in a prize, and ten in each of these craft."
"i don't think you need be uneasy, sir. i know the captain of the brilliant, and all the officers. if you like, i will keep the polacre on that side, so that they will come up to us first; and will go on board, and speak to the captain. i don't think, then, he would interfere with us."
"very well, mr. repton; we will arrange it so."
the polacre had now taken its place to leeward of the other two vessels, and they held on in that order until the frigate was within half a mile; when she fired a gun across their bows, as signal for them to heave to. the brig was now flying the british colours; her prizes the british colours, with the spanish underneath them. at the order to heave to, they were all thrown up into the wind.
the frigate reduced her sail as she came up and, as she neared the polacre, the order was shouted:
"send a boat alongside!"
the boat was already prepared for lowering. four seamen got into her, and rowed bob alongside the frigate. the first person he encountered, as he stepped on to the deck, was jim sankey; who stared at him in astonishment.
"hullo, bob! what in the world are you doing here?"
"i am in command of that polacre, mr. sankey," bob replied.
"eh--what?" jim stammered, in astonishment; when the captain's voice from the quarterdeck came sharply down:
"now, mr. sankey, what are you waiting for? bring that gentleman here."
jim led the way up to the poop.
bob saluted.
"good morning, captain langton."
"why, it's repton!" the captain exclaimed, in surprise. "why, where do you spring from, and what craft are these?"
"i am in command, at present, sir, of the polacre; which, with the barque, is a prize of the brig the antelope, privateer."
"but what are you doing on board, repton? and how is it that you are in command?"
"well, sir, i was out on a cruise in the antelope. the second mate was sent, with a prize crew, back to gibraltar, in a craft we picked up off malaga. we cut out the other two prizes from under the guns of cartagena. the first mate was in command of the party that captured the barque and, as there was no one else to send, the captain put me in command of the party that captured the polacre."
"but how on earth did you manage it?" the captain asked. "i see the brig has been cut up a good deal, about the sails and rigging. you don't mean to say that she sailed right into cartagena? why, they would have blown her out of the water!"
"we didn't go in, sir. we anchored outside the port. we were not suspected, because one of his majesty's frigates fired at us, as we were going in; and the consequence was the dons never suspected that we were anything but a spanish trader."
"why, you don't mean to say," the captain exclaimed, "that this was the brig, flying spanish colours, which we chased in under the guns of cartagena, yesterday?"
"it is, sir," bob said, smiling. "you did us a very good turn, although your intentions were not friendly. we were under spanish colours, when you made us out; and it struck us that running the gauntlet of your fire, for a little while, would be an excellent introduction for us to the spaniards.
"so it proved. we brought up close to those other two vessels, and i had a talk with the captain of one of them. the two captains both went ashore, after dark; so we put twenty men into a boat, and rowed in to the mouth of the port; waited there for a bit, and then rowed straight out to the ships. they thought, of course, it was their own officers returning; so we took them by surprise, and captured them pretty easily.
"unfortunately there was some noise made, and they took the alarm on shore. however, we were under way before the batteries opened. it was rather unpleasant, for a bit, but we got safely out. two gunboats came out after us; but the brig beat them off, and we helped as well as we could. the brig had five men killed, we had one, and there are several wounded."
"well, it was a very dashing affair," the captain said; "very creditable, indeed. i hope you will get a share of the prize money."
"i only count as a hand," bob said, laughing; "and i am sure that is as much as i deserve.
"but here comes the captain, sir. he will tell you more about it."
captain lockett now came on board; and bob, seeing that he was not farther required, went off with jim down to the cockpit. the captain had a long talk with captain lockett. when the latter had related, in full, the circumstances of his capture of his two prizes, he said:
"there is a spanish ship of war, sir, somewhere off alicante, at present. she is got up as a merchantman, and took us in thoroughly; and we should probably have been caught, if it had not been for mr. repton," and he then related how bob had swum on board, and discovered the supposed merchantman to be a ship of war.
"thank you, captain lockett. i will go in and have a look after her. it is fortunate that you told me for, if i had seen her lying at anchor, under the land, i might have sent some boats in to cut her out; and might, as you nearly did, have caught a tartar.
"he is an uncommonly sharp young fellow, that repton. i offered him a midshipman's berth here, when i first came out, but he refused it. by what you say, he must be a good officer lost to the service."
"he would have made a good officer, sir; he has his wits about him so thoroughly. it was his doing, our keeping the spanish flag flying when you came upon us. i had ordered the colours to be run down, when he suggested our keeping them up, and running boldly in to cartagena."
"i suppose you can't spare us a few hands, captain lockett?"
"well, sir, i shall be very short, as it is. you see, i have a score away in a prize, i have had six killed, and some of the wounded won't be fit for work, for some time; and i mean to take these two prizes back with me, to england. they are both valuable, and i should not get anything like a fair price for them, at gibraltar. i don't want to run the risk of their being picked up by privateers, on the way back, so i shall convoy them; and i certainly sha'n't have a man too many to fight my guns, when i have put crews on board them."
"no, i suppose not," the captain said. "well, i must do without them, then.
"now, as i suppose you want to be on your way, i will not detain you any longer."
bob was sent for.
"captain lockett has been telling me that you were the means of preventing his getting into a nasty scrape, with that spanish man-of-war, mr. repton. i consider there is great credit due to you. it is a pity you didn't come on to my quarterdeck."
"i should not have got the chances then, sir," bob said.
"well, no, i don't know that you would, lad; there is something in that.
"well, goodbye. i shall write and tell the admiral all about it. i know he will be glad to hear of your doings."
a few minutes later, the privateer and her prizes were on their way towards gibraltar; while the frigate was standing inshore again, to search for the spanish ship of war.
