“If he hold-on a minute longer, he will get more than he can bear, and away will go all his kites, like smoke from the muzzle of a gun!” muttered Trysail. “Ah! there come down his studding-sails–ha! settle away the mainsail–in royal, and top-gallant-sail, with topsail on the cap!–The rascals are nimble as pickpockets in a crowd!”
The honest master has sufficiently described the precautions taken on board of the brigantine. Nothing was furled; but as every thing was hauled up, or lowered, the squall had little to waste its fury on. The diminished surfaces of the sails protected the spars, while the canvas was saved by the aid of cordage. After a few moments of pause, half-a-dozen men were seen busied in more effectually securing the few upper and lighter sails.
But though the boldness with which the ‘Skimmer of the Seas’ carried sail to the last, was justified by the result, still the effects of the increased wind and rising waves on the progress of the two vessels, grew more sensible. While the little and low brigantine began to labor and roll, the Coquette rode the element with buoyancy, and consequently with less resistance from the water. Twenty minutes, during which the force of the wind was but little lessened, brought the cruiser so near the chase, as to enable her crew to distinguish most of the smaller objects that were visible above her ridge-ropes.
“Blow winds, and crack your cheeks!” said Ludlow, in an under tone, the excitement of the chase growing with the hopes of success. “I ask but one half-hour, and then shift at your pleasure!”
“Blow, good devil, and you shall have the cook!” muttered Trysail, quoting a very different author. “Another glass will bring us within hail.”
“The squall is leaving us!” interrupted the captain. “Pack on the ship, again, Mr. Luff, from her trucks to her ridge-ropes!”
The whistle of the boatswain was again heard at the hatchways, and the hoarse summons of ‘all hands make sail, ahoy!’ once more called the people to their stations. The sails were set, with a rapidity which nearly equalled the speed with which they had been taken in; and the violence of the breeze was scarcely off the ship, before its complicated volumes of canvas were spread, to catch what remained. On the other hand, the chase, even more hardy than the cruiser, did not wait for the end of the squall; but, profiting by the notice given by the latter, the ‘Skimmer of the Seas’ began to sway his yards aloft, while the sea was still white with foam.
“The quick-sighted rogue knows we are done with it,” said Trysail; “and he is getting ready for his own turn. We gain but little of him, notwithstanding our muster of hands.”
The fact was too true to be denied, for the brigantine was again under all her canvas, before the ship had sensibly profited by her superior physical force. It was at this moment, when, perhaps, in consequence of the swell on the water, the Coquette might have possessed some small advantage, that the wind suddenly failed. The squall had been its expiring effort; and, within an hour after the two vessels had again made sail, the canvas was flapping against the masts, in a manner to throw back, in eddies, a force as great as that it received. The sea fell fast, and ere the end of the last or forenoon watch, the surface of the ocean was agitated only by those long undulating swells, that seldom leave it entirely without motion. For some little time, there were fickle currents of air playing in various directions about the ship, but always in sufficient force to urge her slowly through the water; and then, when the equilibrium of the element seemed established, there was a total calm. During the half-hour of the baffling winds, the brigantine had been a gainer, though not enough to carry her entirely beyond the reach of the cruiser’s guns.
“Haul up the courses!” said Ludlow, when the last breath of wind had been felt on the ship, and quitting the gun where he had long stood, watching the movements of the chase. “Get the boats into the water, Mr. Luff, and arm their crews.”
The young commander issued this order, which needed no interpreter to explain its object, firmly, but in sadness. His face was thoughtful, and his whole air was that of a man who yielded to an imperative but an unpleasant duty. When he had spoken, he signed to the attentive Alderman and his friend to follow, and entered his cabin.
“There is no alternative,” continued Ludlow, as he laid the glass, which so often that morning had been at his eye, on the table, and threw himself into a chair. “This rover must be seized at every hazard, and here is a favorable occasion to carry him by boarding. Twenty minutes will bring us to his side, and five more will put us in possession; but–”
“You think the Skimmer is not a man to receive such visiters with an old woman’s welcome;” pithily observed Myndert.
“I much mistake the man, if he yield so beautiful a vessel, peacefully. Duty is imperative on a seaman, Alderman Van Beverout; and, much as I lament the circumstance, it must be obeyed.”
“I understand you, Sir. Captain Ludlow has two mistresses, Queen Anne and the daughter of old Etienne de Barbérie. He fears both. When the debts exceed the means of payment, it would seem wise to offer to compound; and, in this case, Her Majesty and my niece may be said to stand in the case of creditors.”
“You mistake my meaning, Sir;” said Ludlow, proudly. “There can be no composition between a faithful officer and his duty, nor do I acknowledge more than one mistress in my ship–but seamen are little to be trusted in the moment of success, and with their passions awakened by resistance.–Alderman Van Beverout, will you accompany the party, and serve as mediator?”
“Pikes and hand-grenades! Am I a fit subject for mounting the sides of a smuggler, with a broadsword between my teeth! If you will put me into the smallest and most peaceable of your boats, with a crew of two boys, that I can control with the authority of a magistrate, and covenant to remain here with your three topsails aback, having always a flag of truce at each mast, I will bear the olive-branch to the brigantine, but not a word of menace. If report speaks true, your ‘Skimmer of the Seas’ is no lover of threats, and Heaven forbid that I should do violence to any man’s habits! I will go forth as your turtle-dove, Captain Ludlow; but not one foot will I proceed as your Goliath.”
“And you equally refuse endeavoring to avert hostilities?” continued Ludlow, turning his look on the Patroon of Kinderhook.
“I am the Queen’s subject, and ready to aid in supporting the laws;” quietly returned Oloff Van Staats.
“Patroon!” exclaimed his watchful friend; “you know not what you say! If there were question of an inroad of Mohawks, or an invasion from the Canadas, the case would differ; but this is only a trifling difference, concerning a small balance in the revenue duties, which had better be left to your tide-waiter, and the other wild-cats of the law. If Parliament will put temptation before our eyes, let the sin light on their own heads. Human nature is weak, and the vanities of our system are so many inducements to overlook unreasonable regulations. I say, therefore, it is better to remain in peace, on board this ship, where our characters will be as safe as our bones, and trust to Providence for what will happen.”
“I am the Queen’s subject, and ready to uphold her dignity;” repeated Oloff, firmly.
“I will trust you, Sir;” said Ludlow, taking his rival by the arm, and leading him into his own state-room.
The conference was soon ended, and a midshipman shortly after reported that the boats were ready for service. The master was next summoned to the cabin and admitted to the private apartment of his commander. Ludlow then proceeded to the deck, where he made the final dispositions for the attack. The ship was left in charge of Mr. Luff, with an injunction to profit by any breeze that might offer, to draw as near as possible to the chase. Trysail was placed in the launch, at the head of a strong party of boarders. Van Staats of Kinderhook was provided with the yawl, manned only by its customary crew; while Ludlow entered his own barge, which contained its usual complement, though the arms that lay in the stern-sheets sufficiently showed that they were prepared for service.
The launch, being the soonest ready, and of much the heaviest movement, was the first to quit the side of the Coquette. The master steered directly for the becalmed and motionless brigantine. Ludlow took a more circuitous course, apparently with an intention of causing such a diversion as might distract the attention of the crew of the smuggler, and with the view of reaching the point of attack at the same moment with the boat that contained his principal force. The yawl also inclined from the straight line, steering as much on one side as the barge diverged on the other. In this manner the men pulled in silence for some twenty minutes,–the motion of the larger boat, which was heavily charged, being slow and difficult. At the end of this period, a signal was made from the barge, when all the men ceased rowing and prepared themselves for the struggle. The launch was within pistol-shot of the brigantine, and directly on her beam; the yawl had gained her head where Van Staats of Kinderhook was studying the malign expression of the image, with an interest that seemed to increase as his sluggish nature became excited; and Ludlow, on the quarter opposite to the launch, was examining the condition of the chase by the aid of a glass. Trysail profited by the pause, to address his followers: