Part 11 (1/2)
”I thought so!” exclaimed the old sea-captain, bringing his fist down on the table. ”What fools we were to be so caught! May I ask you, Captain Dupin, how long you have carried the British ensign at your peak?”
”Since I came in sight of Waterford harbour,” answered Captain Dupin.
”To confess the truth, I have practised a slight ruse on you; but be a.s.sured that I would not cause you or your friends, who are now so happily amusing themselves on deck, the slightest annoyance beyond the detention of a few hours--indeed, only until the stores you send for arrive.”
”Is this vessel, then, not a Jersey privateer, as we were led to suppose?” asked Mr Ferris, with some little trepidation in his voice.
”No, sir; I must own that she is the _Coquille_, belonging to Dunkirk, and that I am Captain Thurot, of whom you may possibly have heard,”
answered the captain.
”Thurot! the most daring smuggler that ever crossed the Channel,”
whispered Captain O'Brien, in a low voice, to his neighbour; ”we are caught like rats in a trap. He is as cunning as he is daring, and will keep us in durance till he gets what he wants.”
CHAPTER SIX.
CAPTAIN THUROT DEMANDS A SUPPLY OF PROVISIONS--THE MERCHANTS SEND, FOR THEM--CAPTAIN THUROT'S HISTORY--THE DISCOVERY--MOST OF THE GUESTS ALLOWED TO TAKE THEIR DEPARTURE--MR. FERRIS, WITH ELLEN AND CAPTAIN O'BRIEN, REMAIN AS HOSTAGES--THE CHAMPION APPEARS IN THE OFFING--CAPTAIN THUROT ALLOWS THE HOSTAGES TO GO ON Sh.o.r.e IN THE DINGHY.
The astonishment and dismay of the worthy burghers of Waterford, who had thus been so unsuspectingly entrapped on board the French privateer, can better be imagined than described. ”I am surprised, Captain Thurot, that since you are disposed to act so courteously towards us, you did not when on sh.o.r.e mention your wish, to have the stores sent on board, when I should have had no hesitation in procuring them for you,” said Mr Ferris.
”My good sir, I would have done so, but I thought it more than probable that the stores would be stepped on their pa.s.sage, and therefore, to make sure of getting them, I adopted my present plan,” replied Captain Thurot; ”besides which, I have enjoyed the opportunity of returning your hospitality, though in a very inadequate manner, I must confess. I have likewise recovered one of my officers, who, as he came on board with your consent, will not break his parole by remaining. I have also to request that you will send the men captured by the _Ouzel Galley_ in exchange for your people, who will be detained on board till their arrival.”
”But, sir,” exclaimed Captain O'Brien, who was by this time fuming with rage, ”how are we to return to Waterford without hands to man our boats?”
”Most of the young gentlemen on deck can pull, as I have no doubt can some of you, my friends,” answered Captain Thurot; ”and you may land at Pa.s.sage, from whence you can send over to Waterford for conveyances for the ladies, as we should be sorry to detain them against their will-- though we hope that they will continue on board and keep up the dance for some hours to come; it would be a pity to interfere with their amus.e.m.e.nt by telling them of the little ruse which we have been under the necessity of playing.”
Mr Ferris and the other gentlemen consulted as to what was to be done.
One thing was very certain, that they could not help themselves; and they finally agreed to send off privately for the stores and provisions which had been demanded without letting those on deck know of what had occurred. Writing materials were produced; each merchant was politely requested to send for what he could supply.
”Be under no apprehension of any loss,” said Captain Thurot; ”I promise to pay liberally for all the stores I may receive. Though a privateer, I am not a robber; indeed, being your countryman, and loving Ireland as the home of my ancestors, I should be sorry to treat any of you with want of courtesy.”
”A countryman of ours!” exclaimed Mr Ferris, looking up.
”Yes, sir,” answered the captain. ”I took the name of Thurot from my mother; my grandfather's name was O'Farrel--and proud I am of a name which has never been disgraced. But I must not interrupt you, gentlemen. Go on with your writing; I will by-and-by, if you wish it, entertain you with my history. I have nothing to be ashamed of.”
The merchants resumed their pens, and having consulted together, their orders were soon made out and despatched by one of the boats which had brought them on board. In the mean time the party on deck were footing it away right merrily, entirely ignorant of what had been taking place below; the officers of militia, notwithstanding their gay uniforms, finding themselves eclipsed by the superior terpsich.o.r.ean attainments of the Frenchmen. Lieutenant Vinoy seemed in high spirit, and efficiently performed the office of master of the ceremonies, apparently feeling himself quite at home. Some of the merchants, having finished their despatches, were about to go on deck.
”Stay, gentlemen,” exclaimed the captain; ”we will discuss a few more bottles of claret first. We will not interrupt the amus.e.m.e.nts of the young people by letting them know the character of my s.h.i.+p, for, depend on it, they will be treated with all due courtesy, and will not, I trust, regret having come on board.”
The claret, which had been p.r.o.nounced first-rate, was a temptation not to be resisted, and the guests, who had risen, making a virtue of necessity, resumed their seats, prepared to do justice to as many bottles as might be placed before them.
”Now, gentlemen,” said Captain Thurot, ”you shall, if it is your desire, hear my history; it will serve to occupy some of the time till the return of the boat.”
”By all means, captain; we shall be glad to have an account of the life of one whom none of us are likely to forget in a hurry,” said Mr Ferris. Others also expressed the same wish.
The captain laughed. ”It is pleasant to feel that there is no risk of being forgotten by one's friends,” he observed; ”and you will be still less likely to do so when I have narrated a few of the incidents of my life. I may remark that some of my acts may not be looked upon by you in the same light as that in which I regard them. I must be judged by a different code to yours. I have never owed allegiance to your sovereign, and therefore you must not blame me for breaking his revenue laws in the way which I shall have to tell you I have done. However, to my history. My grandfather, Captain O'Farrel, was an officer in the army of King James the Second, and fought at the battle of the Boyne, so fatal to the royal cause. When the king was compelled to leave the country and retire to France, Captain O'Farrel was among the loyal gentlemen who followed his fortunes and accompanied him to Saint Germain. Here my grandfather, having been appointed one of the gentlemen of the king's household, met with Mademoiselle Thurot, a beautiful and accomplished young lady of ancient lineage, whose uncle, with whom she lived, was at that time a member of the parliament of Paris. A penniless adventurer, as Captain O'Farrel was regarded, was looked upon with distrust by the young lady's relatives, who endeavoured to keep him at a distance. Love scorns difficulties, especially when burning in the breast of an Irishman, and that Irishman a handsome, das.h.i.+ng officer who has seen service. The captain carried off the young lady, and she became his wife. So angry were her uncle and her other wealthy relations in Paris that they discarded her, refusing to contribute a sou to her support. My grandfather had alone the stipend he received from his royal master, and when King James died he was left to his own resources--they were small indeed. He tried by various means to make an income, but the natives had in every way the advantage of him; and at last, with his young wife, and the remnant of his property contained in a valise, he retired to Boulogne, in the hope that some of his wife's relatives who resided in that town would have larger bowels of compa.s.sion than those he had left in the city. The once gay and high-spirited officer found himself mistaken: they could not give any encouragement to one who had set so bad an example to the younger members of their families; should they support Madame O'Farrel, their own daughters might be throwing themselves away on some of the Irish adventurers, with whom the country swarmed, and expect to be provided with houses and establishments.
”My poor grandfather, almost broken-hearted, was on the point of starvation, when he received a small pension allowed by the Queen of France to all those who had faithfully served their exiled sovereign.
Hard service, wounds, and disappointment soon terminated his life; and three months after he had been laid in his grave my father was born-- fatherless before he saw the light--and soon became motherless, for Madame O'Farrel survived her husband scarcely a year. The dest.i.tute condition of the orphan at length moved the compa.s.sion of some of his relatives of the Thurot family, who adopted him and brought him up under their own name. He was intended for the law, and studied for some years; but he had Irish blood coursing through his veins, and, under the expectation of obtaining a fortune with a wife, he fell in love and married. He was, however, disappointed in his hopes; but the lady soon dying, gave him an opportunity of again trying the lottery of matrimony.
His second wife was Mademoiselle Picard, the daughter of a wine-merchant, or, as some people might have called him, a vintner; but if, as I hope was the case, he sold good wines, why should I be ashamed of him? My father's second wife was my mother; but at the moment of my birth my father was deprived of her by death, and I lost the advantage of being nursed by a tender parent. My father was heartbroken, and when he looked at me, a poor frail infant, he believed that I should not survive. He had two duties to perform--to have my mother buried, and to carry me to the baptismal font. While the tears were streaming from his eyes, as he held me in his arms, a dignified and handsomely dressed lady approached, and, having inquired and heard the cause of his grief, offered herself as sponsor to the motherless child. She was Madame Tallard, a lady of high rank and fortune--it being the custom of the country for ladies of distinction to offer themselves at that period of the year as sponsors for the children of the poorer cla.s.ses. Madame Tallard did more; she sent my father a present for me, and desired that should I survive till her return I might be presented to her. She was as good as her word, and not only contributed to the expenses of my education, but I received much kindness from her and her family. When I was about fifteen, a stranger called on my father, and hearing whose son he was, announced that his name was O'Farrel, and claimed relations.h.i.+p.
He stated that he was the commander of an Irish trader, and so worked upon my father and me by the account of the success of his voyages, that he stirred up in my heart a strong desire to join him in his enterprises. As our cousin promised to introduce me to various members of the O'Farrel family, who were, he said, flouris.h.i.+ng in Connaught, and would be certain to welcome me cordially, my father, seeing also that there was but little chance of my pus.h.i.+ng my fortune in France, consented to my going; but as I at that time could not speak a word of English, I should have had considerable difficulty in making myself understood by my relatives or in understanding them.