"What countryman, I pray?"
"Of Mantua."
"Of Mantua, Sir?--marry, God forbid
And come to Papua, careless of your life?"
_Taming of the Shrew_.
During the momentous five minutes occupied in these private movements,
Raoul affected to be gaping about in vulgar astonishment, examining the
guns, rigging, ornaments of the quarter-deck, etc.; though, in truth,
nothing that passed among those near him escaped his vigilant attention.
He was uneasy at the signs of the times, and now regretted his own
temerity; but still he thought his incognito must be impenetrable. Like
most persons who fancy they speak a foreign language well, he was
ignorant, too, in how many little things he betrayed himself; the
Englishman, _cateris paribus,_ usually pronouncing the Italian better
than the Frenchman, on account of the greater affinity between his
native language and that of Italy, in what relates to emphasis and
sounds. Such was the state of mind of our hero then, as he got an
intimation that the captain of the ship wished to see him below. Raoul
observed as he descended the ladder, to comply with what sounded very
much like an order, that he was followed by the two Elban functionaries.
The cabin-lamp was trimmed, and the privateersman found himself under a
strong light as soon as he had crossed the threshold of the apartment.
Cuffe and Griffin were standing near the table, where the
vice-governatore and the podestà took their stations also; giving the
whole arrangement a most uncomfortable air of investigation and justice.
For an instant Raoul wished that it was a portion of the Holy
Inquisition, rather than the tribunal before which he now found himself
so unexpectedly arraigned.
"You must be cool," said Griffin, as the other moved slowly up to the
table, maintaining the outward signs of steadiness, but cursing in his
heart the severe ordeal which he felt he was undergoing; "do me the
favor to put this silk handkerchief about your neck."
"S'nore, your eccellenza is pleased to joke; we men of Capri think
little of the nights at this season of the year--still, as it seems to
be your wish, I will honor myself so much."
In that age a black silk kerchief was the certain mark of a military
man. The old-fashioned stock had gone out with all but old-fashioned
people, and the new-fashioned substitute did not make its appearance
until many years later; the present usage, indeed, having come in from
an imitation of the military mania which pervaded Christendom at the
close of the last general war. Black around the neck, properly relieved
by the white of the linen, was then deemed particularly military; and
even in the ordinary dress, such a peculiarity was as certain a sign as
the cockade that the wearer bore arms. Raoul knew this, and he felt he
was aiding in unmasking himself by complying; but he thought there might
be greater danger should he refuse to assume the kerchief.
"Your eccellenza is making a prince of a very humble boatman," he said,
when his neck was fairly enveloped; "and my wife will think some great
general is coming, when I enter the door."
"To help the delusion, friend, wear this also," continued Griffin,
throwing the other one of his own undress uniform coats, his stature and
that of Raoul being very nearly the same.
The true state of the case was now getting to be somewhat unequivocal;
nevertheless, as steadiness and compliance were his only hopes, Raoul
did as desired and stood with all his upper man decorated in an English
naval undress uniform, while the nether remained à la lazzarone.
"What say you now, vice-governatore," resumed Griffin, "here are lights
and the dress!"
"I say that this gentleman has done me the honor of several visits in
my poor residence at Porto Ferrajo," returned Andrea; "and that never
has he been more welcome than he is at this moment. Signor Smees, you
are a great lover of masquerades and make a carnival of the whole year.
I trust your distinguished countryman, Sir Cicero, will have it in his
power to convince these brave Inglese that all is done in pure
pleasantry and without a crime."
"Messieurs," said Raoul, stripping himself of his borrowed plumes, "it
is too late to feign any longer. _If_ I am Raoul Yvard, as you say, I am
certainly _not_ le Feu-Follet."
"Of course you are aware, Monsieur," observed Griffin, in French, "that
you are a prisoner to His Britannic Majesty?"
"Sa Majesté Britannique has not made a conquest equal to his success at
the Nile," returned Raoul, ironically; "but he has me in his hands. It
is not the first time that I have had the honor to be a prisoner of war,
and that, too, in one of his own ships."
"You are not to suppose that such will be your situation now, Monsieur
Yvard. We arrest you in a totally different character."
"Not as a friend, I trust, Monsieur; for, I protest, I have not the
smallest claim to the character; as witness a short interview off Porto
Ferrajo and an interesting incident at the mouth of the Golo."
"Your taunts maybe spared, sir; fortune favored you then, we allow; but
now we arrest you as a spy."
"Espion!" repeated Raoul, starting; "that is an office I never
contemplated, Monsieur, on coming on board your ship. You will do me the
justice to acknowledge that it was only at your own invitation that I
came on deck. 'Twould be an infamy to pretend differently."
"We will endure the infamy of our acts, Monsieur Yvard. No one accuses
you of having come on board the Proserpine as a spy; but, when an enemy
is found rowing about our fleet, which is anchored in a hostile bay,
and this in a disguise like yours, it most be a very scrupulous
conscience that hesitates to pronounce him a spy and liable to the
punishment of one."
This was so true that the unfortunate young man now felt the exceeding
delicacy of his situation. In coming into the bay he had certainly been
led by no other intention than to find Ghita; and yet he could not but
confess to himself that he should not have hesitated about profiting, in
his public character, by any information incidentally obtained. He had
subjected himself to the severest penalties of military law by yielding
to his passion for Ghita; and he could not discover a single available
excuse to plead in mitigation.
"What does the poor devil say, Griffin?" asked Cuffe, who felt regret
that so brave an enemy should be reduced to so desperate a strait,
notwithstanding his determined hostility to all Frenchmen; "do not bear
too hard upon him, at the first go off. Has he any excuse for his
disguise?"
"The usual apology, no doubt, sir--a desire to serve his one and
undivided republic! If we should believe all such chaps tell us, Captain
Cuffe, we might go home and send deputies to the National Convention;
if, indeed, they would do us the favor to admit them to seats."
"Gentlemen," said Raoul, in English, "there is no longer any occasion
for an interpreter between us; I speak your language sufficiently well
to make myself understood."
"I am sorry for your situation, Mr. Yvard," said Cuffe, "and wish with
all my heart you had fallen into our hands in open battle instead of in
this irregular way."
"In which case, Monsieur le Capitaine, le Feu-Follet would have been in
your power also!" returned Raoul, smiling ironically; "but, messieurs,
words are idle now; I am your prisoner and must take my chance with you.
There is no necessity, however, for causing others to suffer for my
indiscretion. I shall esteem it a favor, messieurs, if you will let the
good people in the boat alongside pull ashore, without molestation. It
is getting late, and we must now be nearly or quite abeam of the place
where they wish to land, which is the marina grande of Sorrento."
"Do you wish us to understand that your companions are not French,
Monsieur Yvard?"
"Oui, Monsieur le Captaine; there is not a Frenchman among them, I give
you _my parole d'honneur_"
"Of that fact it may be well to satisfy ourselves by an examination,
Captain Cuffe," put in Griffin, dryly.
"I have sent up to beg Mr. Winchester would get these people on board--"
"There is a young woman in the boat who is unaccustomed to entering
ships," interrupted Raoul, hastily, "and I implore your tenderness in
her behalf. Let the men come on board, if you think it necessary; but
the signorina can never climb this frigate's sides!"
"We will see to that, more especially, Monsieur Yvard, as you appear to
be so much interested in the lady's comfort. At present it will be my
duty to put you under a sentry's charge; and that it may be done in a
way the least offensive to yourself, your prison, for the night at
least, shall be this cabin. Mr. Griffin, give orders to the marine
officer accordingly."
In a few minutes a soldier was introduced into the forward cabin, and
Raoul was regularly placed under his charge. Not till then did the
officers return to the quarter-deck. All this time Ithuel and his
companions in the yawl were left to their own reflections, which were
anything but agreeable. Matters had been conducted so quietly inboard,
however, that they possessed no clew to what had actually occurred;
though Ghita, in particular, was full of forebodings and apprehensions.
The frigate towed them along at a rate which, as Raoul said, had brought
them quite abreast of their landing and within a league of it; and yet
she showed no signs of an intention to abate her speed, nor did any one
appear at the gangway to speak to them. At length a hoarse call was
heard on deck, and the ship began to shorten sail. Her fore-course was
hauled up, and the spanker was brailed; then the royals were clewed up
and furled; the topgallant-sails followed; and presently the Proserpine
was reduced to her three topsails and jib. All this, finished just as
Cuffe reappeared on deck, was done by the watch and in about five
minutes. As soon as sail was thus taken in the helm was put to port, the
ship came up to the wind on the starboard tack, and the main-topsail was
laid to the mast, bringing the yawl under her lee and close alongside of
the ship. This manoeuvre was no sooner executed than a seaman ran
lightly down the vessel's side and entered the yawl. After examining
forward and aft he called out, "All right, sir," and shoved the boat off
to a little distance from the frigate. The yard and stay-tackles fell,
at the next instant were overhauled down and hooked by the man in the
boat. The boatswain's mate, in the gangway, piped "haul-taut," and the
slack of the tackle was pulled in; then followed a long, steady blow of
the call, piping "sway-away," and the boat, with all in her, rose from
the water, and ascended as high as the hammock-cloths in the waist, when
the stay-tackles took the strain, the yard-tackles "eased-off," and the
boat was landed in the waist of the ship as gingerly as if it were made
of glass, and as steadily as if it had no more weight than a seaman's
hammock. Ghita uttered a faint scream when she found herself rising into
the air, and then she hid her face, awaiting the result with dread. As
for Carlo Giuntotardi, the movement aroused him a little from his
customary apathy, and that was all; whereas Ithuel bethought him
seriously of leaping into the water and striking out for the land. He
could swim a league, he thought; but there was the certainty of being
followed by boats and overtaken; a consideration that effectually curbed
his impatience. It is not easy to describe the sensation with which this
man found himself once more standing on the deck of his old prison, with
the additional danger of being detected and treated as a deserter. It
may sound revolting at the present day to suppose a case in which a
foreigner was thrown by violence into the military service of a nation,
and then was put in jeopardy of his life because he used a privilege of
nature to fly from such persecution as soon as circumstances placed the
means in his power. The last age, however, witnessed many scenes of
similar wrongs; and, it is to be feared, in despite of all the mawkish
philanthropy and unmeaning professions of eternal peace that it is now
the fashion to array against the experience of mankind, that the next
age will present their parallels, unless the good sense of this nation
infuse into the federal legislative bodies juster notions of policy,
more extended views of their own duties, and more accurate opinions of
the conditions of the several communities of Christendom than has marked
their laws and reasoning for the few past months[8]. In a word, the
subject of all these tribulations felt an intimate conviction that his
rights, legal and moral, would avail him but little on the present
occasion. Then a man never does wrong, even in defence of that which is
inherently his due, without the secret consciousness that "evil may not
be done, that good may come of it"; and Ithuel had a certain inward
monitor to remind him that, much as he had in the way of justifiable
complaint, he had carried the war into the enemy's country.
[8] The question of impressment is now settled forever. The United
States have now a mortgage on the Canadas to secure the good behavior of
Great Britain.
The boat had no sooner touched the deck, than its cargo was handed out
by the boatswain, who, keeping no watch, had not yet turned in; and who
was almost as important a functionary on board the Proserpine, as was
Vito Viti in the town of Porto Ferrajo. He examined each individual, as
he or she landed, as he called it; Ghita attracting so much of his
attention as completely to eclipse her companions. The soft air and
manner of the girl appeared so winning, indeed, by the light of the
moon, which now fell clear upon the decks, that all near her, including
the officers, submitted to very much the same influence.
"So, so, Master Yvard," said Cuffe, in English, "if you do come into an
enemy's camp incog., it is in reasonably good company. That girl is
Italian, Winchester; and she even seems modest!"
"Little Ghita!" exclaimed Vito Viti, "as I hope one day to lie in the
bosom of Father Abraham! Bellissima Ghita, what has brought thee here,
and in such evil company?"
Ghita was in tears; but, uncertain how far Raoul was committed, she
struggled for self-command, and did succeed in suppressing emotions that
might otherwise have rendered his situation more dangerous. Drying her
eyes, she curtsied to the vice-governatore and the podestà and then
answered the question.
"Signori," she said, "it is a relief to meet countrymen and old
acquaintances on board this strange ship; and I look to you for
protection. I do not call it strange or evil company for an orphan niece
to be on the water with her uncle and one that has ever been a father
to her."
"Ah--sure enough, vice-governatore, this is Carlo Giuntotardi, the
uncle; and the man who dwells so much with the saints, even on earth,
that he seldom speaks to a sinner. But thou knowest, little Ghita, that
one of thy watermen is no less a person that Raoul Yvard, the wickedest
corsair that sails out of France, and the pest and persecution of the
whole Italian coast? Did the church condescend to notice such an
unbelieving republican, it would be to command all its faithful to unite
in their prayers for his destruction."
"Raoul Yvard!" repeated Ghita, with sufficient astonishment in her
manner to satisfy any reasonable amount of wonder on the part of the
other. "Are you certain, Signor Podestà, of the truth of what you say?"
"As certain as the confession of the party himself can make us."
"Confession, Signore!"
"Si, bella Ghita; confession--your boatman--your man of Capri--your
lazzarone confesses himself to be neither more nor less than the
commander of that worker of iniquity, le Feu-Follet."
"Does le Feu-Follet do more than other cruisers of the enemy?"--but
Ghita felt she was getting to be indiscreet, and she ceased.
"I do believe, Winchester," said Cuffe, "that this is the very girl, and
yonder is the very old man who came into Nelson's cabin to-day with
something to say about the poor prince who was executed this afternoon!"
"What could such people have in common with the unfortunate Caraccioli?"
"Sure enough--yet these are the people. The Queen of the Fleet--our Lady
Admiraless--had it all to herself; and what passed between them, in
Italian, I know no more than if it had been in Greek. She never told
_me_, you may rest assured; and, from the look of her eye, I question a
good deal if she ever told Nelson."
"I wish to heaven his lordship would cut adrift from his moorings
alongside that craft, Captain Cuffe. I do assure you, sir, the fleet
begins to talk loudly on the subject;--was it any other man, there'd be
the devil to pay about it--but we can all stand a good deal from Nelson
and Bronté."
"Well--well--let every man father his own children: you ought to be
quiet, Winchester, for he asked very kindly about your hurt to-day, and
would have sent you aboard some knick-knack or other for the stomach,
but I told him you were all a-tanto again and at duty. What between his
head and his arm and his eye, he's got to be such a hulk himself that he
thinks every wounded man a sort of a relation. I should not complain,
however, if the small-pox could lay hold of that beauty."
"This has been a bad day's work for England, depend on it, Captain
Cuffe!"
"Well, if it has, St. Vincent and the Nile were _good_ days' works; and
we'll let one balance the other. Inquire of this young woman, Mr.
Griffin, if I had not the pleasure of seeing her to-day on board the
Foudroyant?"
The question was put as desired, and Ghita quietly but unhesitatingly
answered in the affirmative.
"Then ask her to explain how she happened to fall into the company of
Raoul Yvard?"
"Signori," said Ghita, naturally, for she had nothing to conceal on this
point, "we live on Monte Argentaro, where my uncle is the keeper of the
Prince's towers. You know, we have much to fear from the barbarians
along all that coast; and last season, when the peace with France kept
the Inglesi at a distance--I know not how it is, signore, but they say
the barbarians are always hardest on the enemies of Inghilterra--but,
the past season a boat, from a rover had seized upon my uncle and myself
and were carrying us off into captivity, when a Frenchman and his lugger
rescued us. From that time we became friends; and our friend has often
stopped near our towers to visit us. To-day we found him in a boat by
the side of the English admiral's ship; and, as an old acquaintance, he
undertook to bring us to the Sorrentine shore, where we are at present
staying with my mother's sister."
This was told so naturally as to carry with it the conviction of its
truth; and when Griffin had translated it, he did not fail to assure his
superior that he would pledge himself for the accuracy of the statement.
"Aye, you young luffs, Griffin, are never backward with your vows _for_
or _to_ pretty girls," answered Cuffe. "The girl does seem honest,
however; and, what is more extraordinary, for the company she is in, she
seems modest too. Tell her she shall not be harmed, though we cannot
deprive ourselves of the pleasure of her company immediately. She shall
have the larboard stateroom in my cabin until morning, where she and her
uncle may live a great deal more comfortably than in one of their
out-of-door Neapolitan rookeries. Monte Argentaro, ha!--That's a bluff
just beyond the Roman coast, and it is famously besprinkled with
towers--half a dozen of them at least within as many miles, and who
knows but this Jack-o'-Lantern may be extinguished some fine morning,
should we fail of laying our hands on it now?"
"We can hardly fail of the last, Captain Cuffe, having her commander in
our possession."
Orders were then given to dispose of the prisoners, leaving the boat on
deck. Raoul was sent below and put in a canvas stateroom, the arms
having been removed, even to the razors, and a sentinel placed at the
door. Escape from such a situation was impossible; and as for
self-violence, when _that_ point was considered, Cuffe had coolly
remarked: "Poor devil; hanged he must be, and if he should be his own
executioner, it will save us the discomfort of having a scene on board.
I suppose Nelson will order him to our fore-yard-arm as a jewel-block. I
don't see why he cannot use a Neapolitan frigate for this job, too; they
are good for nothing else."
"I rather think, Captain Cuffe, he will swing on board his own lugger,
should we succeed in catching her," answered the lieutenant.
"By George, you're right, Griffin; and that's another inducement for
looking out sharp for the Few-Folly. How much better it would have been
had we burnt them all in a bunch off the Golo!"
Then followed the arrangement by which the prisoner was put into the
gun-room, as mentioned. Ghita and her uncle were shown into the empty
cabin state-room, and mattresses were provided on which they might
repose. Then the captain and his two guests retired to the after-cabin,
whither Griffin was invited to accompany them. Here the captain
recollected that there had been a fourth individual in the boat, and he
sent an order on deck for him to come down for examination. Ithuel,
observing the attention of the officers occupied by Ghita and her
uncle, had stolen back toward his own yawl, of which he had taken
possession, stretching himself out at length, with the apparent design
to sleep, but in reality to keep himself "out of mind," by remaining
"out of sight"; reserving, in petto, an intention to jump overboard,
should the ship go near enough to the land to give him a chance for his
life, after the moon set. In this situation he was found, aroused from
his lair, and led into the cabin.
It has been mentioned that Ithuel would not consent to trust himself
near the Proserpine without disguising his person. Raoul being well
provided with all the materials for a masquerade, this had been effected
by putting a black curling wig over his own lank, sandy hair, coloring
his whiskers and eyebrows, and trusting the remainder to the
transformation which might be produced by the dress, or rather undress,
of a Neapolitan waterman. The greatest obstacle to this arrangement had
been a certain queue, which Ithuel habitually wore in a cured eel-skin
that he had brought with him from America, eight years before, and both
of which, "queue and eel-skin," he cherished as relics of better days.
Once a week this queue was unbound and combed, but all the remainder of
the time it continued in a solid mass quite a foot in length, being as
hard and about as thick as a rope an inch in diameter. Now, the queue
had undergone its hebdomadal combing just an hour before Raoul announced
his intention to proceed to Naples in the yawl, and it would have been
innovating on the only thing that Ithuel treated with reverence to undo
the work until another week had completed its round. The queue,
therefore, was disposed of under the wig in the best manner that its
shape and solidity would allow.
Ithuel was left in the fore-cabin, and his presence was announced to
Cuffe.
"It's no doubt some poor devil belonging to the Few-Folly's crew,"
observed the English Captain, in a rather compassionate manner, "and we
can hardly think of stringing _him_ up, most probably for obeying an
order. That would never do, Griffin: so we'll just step out and overhaul
his log in French, and send him off to England to a prison-ship, by the
first return vessel."
As this was said, the four in the after-cabin left it together and stood
before this new prisoner. Of course Ithuel understood all that was said
in English, while the very idea of being catechized in French threw him
into a cold sweat. In this strait the idea suddenly crossed his mind
that his greatest security would be in feigning dumbness.
"_Écoutez, mon ami_" commenced Griffin, in very respectable
English-French, "you are to tell me nothing but the truth, and it may be
all the better for you. You belong to the Feu-Follet, of course?"
Ithuel shook his head in strong disgust and endeavored to make a sound
that he intended to represent a dumb man struggling to utter the
word "Napoli."
"What is the fellow after, Griffin?" said Cuffe. "Can it be he doesn't
understand French? Try him a touch in Italian, and let us see what he
will say to that."
Griffin repeated very much what he had said before, merely changing the
language, and received the same gagging sounds for an answer. The
gentlemen looked at each other, as much as to express their surprise.
But, unluckily for Ithuel's plan, he had brought with him from the
Granite State a certain propensity to pass all the modulations of his
voice through his nose; and the effort to make a suppressed sound
brought that member more than usually into requisition, thereby
producing a certain disagreeable combination that destroyed everything
like music that commonly characterizes the Italian words. Now, Andrea
had been struck with this peculiarity about the tones of the American's
voice, in the interview at Benedetta's wine-house; and the whole
connection between Raoul and this singular person being associated in
his mind, the truth flashed on him, as it might be, at a glance. His
previous success that night emboldened the worthy vice-governatore, and,
without any remark, he walked steadily up to Ithuel, removed the wig,
and permitted the eel-skin queue to resume its natural position on the
back of its owner.
"Ha!--What, veechy," exclaimed Cuffe, laughing--"you unearth them like
so many foxes to-night. Now, Griffin, hang me if I do not think I've
seen that chap before! Isn't he the very man we found at the wheel of la
Voltigeuse, when we boarded her?"
"Lord bless me, Captain Cuffe--no, sir. This fellow is as long as two of
that chap--and yet I know the face too. I wish you'd let me send for one
of the young gentlemen, sir; they're worth all the rest of the ship at
remembering faces."
The permission was given, and the cabin-steward was sent on deck to
desire Mr. Roller, one of the oldest midshipmen, and who was known to
have the watch, to come below.
"Look at this fellow, Mr. Roller," said Griffin, as soon as the
youngster had taken his place in the group, "and tell us if you can make
anything of him."
"It's the lazy-rony, sir, we hoisted in a bit ago when we struck the
boat on deck."
"Aye, no doubt of that--but we think we have seen his face before;--can
_you_ make that out?"
Roller now walked round the immovable subject of all these remarks; and
he, too, began to think the singular-looking object was no stranger to
him. As soon, however, as he got a sight of the queue, he struck Ithuel
a smart slap on the shoulder and exclaimed:
"You're welcome back, my lad! I hope you'll find your berth aloft as
much to your mind as it used to be. This is Bolt, Captain Cuffe, the
foretop-man, who ran from us when last in England, was caught and put in
a guard-ship, from which they sent us word he stole a boat and got off
with two or three French prisoners, who happened to be there at the
moment on some inquiry or other. Don't you remember it all, Mr.
Griffin--you may remember the fellow pretended to be an American."
Ithuel was now completely exposed, and he at once perceived that his
wisest way was to submit. Cuffe's countenance darkened, for he regarded
a deserter with a species of professional horror, and the impressed
deserter, to whose services England had no other right than that of
might, with an additional degree of resentment, that was very fairly
proportioned to the inward consciousness he felt that a great wrong was
done in detaining the man at all. There is nothing extraordinary in
these feelings; a very common resource, under such circumstances, being
to imagine delinquencies that justify us to ourselves, by endeavoring to
believe that the subject of any act of our oppression at least merits
the infliction.
"Do you dare to deny what this young gentleman has just said, sirrah?"
demanded the captain. "I now remember you myself; you are Bolt, the
foretop-man, that ran at Plymouth."
"You'd a-run, too, Captain Cuffe, had you been in my place, had the ship
been at Jericho."
"Enough--no impudence, sir. Send for the master-at-arms, Mr. Griffin,
and have the fellow ironed: to-morrow we'll look into the affair."
These orders were obeyed, and Ithuel was removed to the place where the
master-at-arms usually reigns on board ship. Cuffe now gave the
lieutenant his congé, and then withdrew to the inner-cabin, to prepare a
despatch for the rear-admiral. He was near an hour writing a letter to
his mind, but finally succeeded. Its purport was as follows: He reported
the capture of Raoul, explaining the mode and the circumstances under
which that celebrated privateersman had fallen into his hands. He then
asked for instructions as to the manner in which he was to dispose of
his prisoner. Having communicated this important fact, he ventured some
suggestions as to the probable vicinity of the lugger, and the hopes he
entertained of being able to find out her precise situation, through the
agency of Bolt, whose condition he also explained, hinting at the same
time the expediency of bringing both delinquents to as speedy trials as
possible, as the most certain manner of using their apprehensions in
seizing le Feu-Follet. The letter concluded with an earnest request that
another frigate, which was mentioned, her captain being junior to Cuffe,
and a fast-sailing sloop that was lying off Naples might be sent down to
assist him in "heading off" the lugger, as he feared the latter was too
swift to be overtaken by the Proserpine alone, more especially in the
light winds which prevailed.
When this letter was written, addressed, and sealed, Cuffe went on deck
again. It was now nine o'clock, or two bells, and Winchester had the
quarter-deck nearly to himself. All was as tranquil and calm on the deck
of that fine frigate as a moonlight night, a drowsy watch, a light wind,
and smooth water could render things in a bay like that of Naples.
Gleamings of fire were occasionally seen over Vesuvius, but things in
that direction looked misty and mysterious, though Capri loomed up, dark
and grand, a few miles to leeward, and Ischia was visible, a confused
but distant pile on the lee-bow. An order from Cuffe, however, set
everybody in motion. Yard and stay-tackles were overhauled and hooked
on, the boatswain's-mate piped the orders, and the first cutter was
hoisted over the waist cloths, and lowered into the water. "Away, there,
you first cutters," had been hoarsely called on the berth-deck, and the
crew were ready to enter the boat by the time the latter was lowered.
The masts were stepped, Roller appeared, in a pea-jacket, to guard
against the night air, and Cuffe gave him his instructions.
"Set your sails and stretch over under the north shore, Mr. Roller,"
said the captain, who stood in the lee-gangway, to give a last word.
"You will fetch in about Queen Joan's Palace. There, you had better take
to your oars and pull up along the land. Remember, sir, to join us by
the first ship that comes out; and, if none is sent, to come down with
the morning breeze in the boat."
Roller gave the customary "Aye, aye, sir"; the boat shoved off; as soon
as from under the lee of the ship the lugs were set, and half an hour
later the night had swallowed up her form. Cuffe remained an hour
longer, walking the deck with his first-lieutenant; and then, satisfied
that the night would prove propitious, he went below, leaving orders to
keep the ship lying-to until morning.
As for Roller, he pulled alongside of the Foudroyant just as the bells
of the fleet were striking eight, or midnight. Nelson was still up,
writing in his cabin. The despatch was delivered, and then the secretary
of the admiral and a clerk or two were called from their berths, for
nothing lagged that this active-minded man had in charge. Orders were
written, copied, signed, and sent to different ships by two o'clock,
that the morning breeze might not be lost; and not till then did the
employés think of rest.
Roller left the flag-ship at two, having eaten a hearty supper in
Nelson's own cabin, and repaired on board the Terpsichore, a smart
little frigate of thirty-two guns, twelve pounders, with instructions to
her captain to receive him. Two hours later this ship, in company with
another still smaller, the Ringdove, 18, left her anchorage, under a
cloud of canvas, and stood down the bay, carrying studding-sails on both
sides, with a light wind at northwest, heading toward Capri.