Part 37 (1/2)
”The pirates are fellows of some taste to choose this beautiful spot for their harbour,” observed Jack, looking round.
”Not they,” answered Captain Willock with a laugh. ”I guess now they choose it because it hides them pretty securely, and they can sweep out and pounce down on any unfortunate craft which they may catch unprepared for them in the neighbourhood. But here's our skipper; Fi Tan you call him, don't you? Well, he's a mild, decent, quiet old gentleman; don't look as if his trade was cutting throats. You'd better tell him about the ladies, or he will be finding it out himself.”
Jack and Alick agreed to this, and calling Jos, begged him to open the subject to the pirate captain, which he did with no little circ.u.mlocution; and very considerable departure from the real facts of the case, notwithstanding Jack's charge to him to adhere to them. The Malay had two reasons for this. In the first place, he had got so completely into the way of telling falsehoods, that he could scarcely speak the truth had he tried; and in the second place, he knew that, speak the truth or not, he should not be believed. Old Fi Tan having heard Jos to an end, and watched the dumb-show of the mids.h.i.+pmen and Americans, desired to have the cabin-door opened. The old lady, who had thrown herself into a bed, started up, and was going to shriek out, when Captain Willock's voice rea.s.sured her. Her daughter, who had been watching while she slept, stood trembling by her side, but tried to look as composed as she could. Captain Willock and the mids.h.i.+pmen soon made them understand what had occurred, and begging them to be no longer alarmed, promised that they would do their best, either to effect their escape, or to obtain their ransom.
”Oh! but our friends are all in Australia; we have no one at Canton to care for us,” cried the young lady, wringing her hands.
”Never fear, miss,” said Jack. ”I beg your pardon, but I don't know your name; but I don't doubt the merchants there will come down with all that is required; and if not, the mids.h.i.+pmen on the station would be delighted to pay your ransom, and take it out of the pirates afterwards, when we catch them.”
The young lady, who did not exactly understand who mids.h.i.+pmen were, or what taking it out of the pirates meant, nevertheless thought Jack a very polite young gentleman, and thanking him warmly, told him that her name was Cecile Dubois, and that her mother was Madame Dubois, but that she only spoke French, and as she was now too old to learn English, she hoped he would learn French to talk to her. Jack, with a flourish of his turban, which head-covering he and Murray wore instead of their caps, which they had lost, a.s.sured her that he should have unbounded pleasure in so doing, if she would undertake to teach him. ”But, Miss Cecile,” added Jack, ”now I know your name, it is pleasant to call you by it; before we begin, wouldn't you like a little food? You and your mamma must be peckish, I suspect, and she doesn't look as if she was accustomed to starve.” This want being made known to Jos, he in a short time procured an inexplicable sort of mess not altogether unattractive, to which, at all events, the old lady seemed perfectly ready to do justice, though the younger one, with a taste which Jack admired, only ate some of the rice, and the less oleaginous morsels.
Altogether the mids.h.i.+pmen were pretty well satisfied with the turn affairs had taken; but poor Captain Willock had to mourn over the loss of his s.h.i.+p and cargo, as also, probably, most of his crew. Some he had seen taken prisoners, and dragged off on board the junks. Whether their throats had been cut, or whether they were to be found among the pirate fleet, he could not tell; others he had too great reason to fear had been blown up. ”They were cowards some of them to be sure, or they would have stuck by us, and we should have beaten off the pirates; but still I cannot bear to think of them all being cruelly murdered,”
observed the captain to his mate.
”I guess you're not far wrong, captain,” answered Joe Hudson. ”If it hadn't been for these British officers, we should have been where they are, pleasant or unpleasant.”
”We only did for you what I am sure you would have done for us,”
answered Murray. ”We liked to see the brave way you met the pirates, and we are very glad to have a.s.sisted any Americans, whom we look upon as cousins, the next thing to our own countrymen.”
”Thank you, sir, thank you,” said Captain Willock warmly, taking Alick's hand. ”If the Britishers and Yankees were always together, we might flog all the world, I guess, who might try to oppose us.” Thus harmony prevailed among the captives.
For the next two days the fleet lay at anchor, those junks which had suffered by the explosion of the brig being engaged in repairing damages.
Jack got on very rapidly with his French, for, having nothing else to do, he studied very hard, and Mademoiselle Cecile happened to have a copy of _Paul and Virginia_ in her pocket when the vessel was attacked.
It served as a capital lesson-book.
As Murray already knew French, he did not require Miss Cecile's lessons, and so he was able to look philosophically on, and, like a wise monitor, he told Jack to take care what he was about, neither to take possession of the young lady's heart nor to lose his own. Whether he would have taken this advice, which was sage and sound, it is impossible to say; but other stirring events happened which put a stop to the French lessons.
One evening the mids.h.i.+pmen observed the pirates in a great state of commotion. Those who were on sh.o.r.e came off and armed themselves after their fas.h.i.+on, by sticking pistols and daggers in their belts, and hanging swords over their necks, and then all hands set busily to work to get their s.h.i.+ps into fighting order. Jos, who had been on sh.o.r.e, came off among the others, and informed them that another pirate fleet had hove in sight, and that it was expected that it would come into the bay to attack them for the sake of making them disgorge the booty they had collected.
”Pretty scoundrels,” said Jack; ”there is not even honour among these thieves themselves.”
”No, sare,” answered Jos quietly. ”Big man in dis country always cut little man's throat, if little man got any ting worth having.”
”Pleasant,” remarked Jack; ”I would rather be an English ploughman than a Chinese mandarin.”
While the mids.h.i.+pmen were talking to Jos, Captain Fi Tan came up, and intimated to the latter that he should expect his prisoners to take an active part in the battle, and to a.s.sist in defending the junk.
”A cool request,” remarked Jack; ”however, as fight we must probably to defend our own lives and those of the two ladies, we may as well make a virtue of necessity. You agree with me, Murray, and so do you. Captain and Mr Hudson? Well, then, Jos, tell Captain Fi Tan that we will fight for him, but that he must give us any recompense we may demand.”
Jos spoke to the pirate captain, and immediately said that he would agree to their terms.
”That's to say, he'll take the fighting out of us first, and then, if he finds it convenient, change his mind,” remarked Captain Willock. ”I know the way of the Chinese. You cannot trust them.”
”Perhaps when we have taught them to trust us they may learn to be trustworthy themselves,” observed Murray; ”besides, these fellows are professed pirates. What can you expect of them?”
”They are all alike, all alike; all rogues and vagabonds together,”
answered the skipper.
After this somewhat sweeping condemnation of a whole people, their conversation was interrupted by the pirates bringing them a heap of pistols, daggers, knives, and swords, with which to cover their persons in Chinese fas.h.i.+on to be ready for battle. Darkness now came on, and in a short time lights were seen in a pretty dense line, reaching across the entrance of the harbour. The dark outlines of a fleet of junks soon after this appeared through the gloom, and forthwith gongs and cymbals began to clash, and shrieks and shouts ascended, and guns, and jingalls, and pistols went off, while fire-b.a.l.l.s, and rockets, and stink-pots, and other Chinese devices for warfare, filled the air, and truly made ”night hideous.”