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The Pirate of the Mediterranean: A Tale of the Sea, a novel by William H. G. Kingston |
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Chapter 40 |
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_ CHAPTER FORTY. The _Ione_ had in vain chased the _Sea Hawk_. She had examined every island in her course, and searched in every bay and nook, and behind every rock and headland, but the pirate still evaded her, till captain, officers, and men were almost worn out with their labours. Fleetwood, it may be supposed, did not save himself, and it could scarcely be expected that he should allow his officers to do so; in truth, however, every man and boy on board was almost as eager in the pursuit as he was, and fatiguing as it was, never was any duty performed more willingly, though, as they could relieve each other, they were not so much exhausted with fatigue. Night and day he was on deck, and it was with difficulty he could be persuaded to take any food or rest, expecting, as he did, that the next few hours would place the _Sea Hawk_ in his power. Thus day after day passed away. Sometimes a sail hove in sight, and they stood after her in chase, but only to come up with her to find that she was some English trader to the Bosphorus, or Greek man-of-war, of perhaps little less doubtful character than the _Sea Hawk_ herself. The inhabitants of the islands either knew nothing about her, or would give no information, nor could any clue be obtained from any craft they fell in with; so at last Captain Fleetwood resolved to return south again, keeping close along by the Greek coast, to examine the dense group of islands and islets of which I have spoken. The wind had been light all night, and the _Ione_ had made little progress; but as the morning broke a breeze sprang up from the northward, and she hauled in a little to fetch the easternmost of the islands, among which she was about to cruise. A Greek pilot had been taken on board on the _Zone's_ first entering the Archipelago. He was a clever old fellow, and he undertook to carry the ship in safety through all the dangers with which she would be surrounded. Zappa had once plundered a ship of which he had charge, and he was doubly anxious to get hold of him. All the officers were on deck with telescopes in hand, sweeping the horizon, while the captain, as was his custom every hour, had just gone aloft with his glass to take a wider sweep, and to assure himself, with his own eyes, whether any sail was or was not in sight. "Poor fellow," said Linton, "I am afraid the captain will never live through it. He is worn almost to a skeleton, and he looks as if a fever were consuming him. Should anything dreadful have occurred, I am afraid it will kill him when he hears of it." "I fear so too, and it would be the last way I should wish to gain my commission," said Saltwell, with much feeling. "I wish to Heaven we could fall in with this phantom rover." "It takes a great deal of worry to kill a man," observed the doctor, who had no great faith in the effect of any but physical causes on the body, the consequences of a limited medical education, though he was a very fair surgeon. "If he persists in going without food and sleep, of course he will grow thin." "That's very well for you to say, doctor; but when a man's heart is sick he can't eat," answered Linton. "It is the uncertainty of the thing is killing him. Let him once find the young lady, and he will pluck up fast enough; or, let him know the worst, and, as he is a man and a Christian, he will bear his affliction like one, I'll answer for him." "Deck, ahoy!" hailed the captain, from aloft. "Keep her away one point more to the southward." "Ay, ay, sir," answered Saltwell, and every telescope was pointed in the direction the ship was now steering. Nothing, however, was to be seen from the deck; but the captain still kept at the mast-head with his glass, intently watching some object still below the horizon. At last he descended, and summoned the pilot, with the first lieutenant and master, into his cabin, where a chart was spread out on the table. "And we may stand safely on towards that island on our present course without fear of rocks or shoals, pilot?" he asked. The answer was in the affirmative. "There is a strong current setting from the eastward, you say, and you have known many vessels wrecked attempting the passage? Then, Mr Saltwell, pack all sail on the brig. There is a large boat, or a raft, with a square sail, to the south-east of us, which we will overhaul without delay." Royals and studding-sails, alow and aloft, were now set, and away the _Ione_ flew before the breeze. Now the wind fell, and now it freshened; but the brig gained rapidly on the chase, which, by the little way it made, was soon suspected of being a raft. Then came all the horrible doubts and fears, naturally suggested to Fleetwood's mind--but we will not dwell on them. "Sail, ho!" sung out the hand at the foremast-head. "A felucca-looking craft right under the land ahead of us," was the answer to the usual questions. Saltwell himself went aloft to ascertain more clearly her character, and soon returned with the report that she was a mistico beating up for the raft. "She will be up to it, too, sir, I am afraid, long before we can reach it," he observed. "Shall we get a gun ready to fire, sir?" "In mercy's name, no!" exclaimed Fleetwood. "We do not know what innocent people might be injured." "I meant to fire at the mistico, sir," said the lieutenant. "She is, I am certain, a piratical craft, and if those on the raft are of the same kidney, she will assist them to escape; or if not, her people will rob and murder them under our very eyes." "You forget, Mr Saltwell, that we cannot be certain of that craft being a pirate, and till we are, we have no right to fire," said the captain. "Besides, our shot might strike the raft, or the pirates, if such they are, might fire on it in revenge." The cry of "a sail on the larboard bow" interrupted the conversation, and, as the glasses were turned in the direction indicated, the sails of a lofty ship were seen appearing above a headland, which ran out from the east end of the small island which lay before them. The mistico could not yet see the stranger, so she stood on fearlessly towards the raft. The people on the raft were then seen to quit it, and to go on board the mistico, which directly kept away, and ran to the westward, evidently to avoid the stranger which she must have just then seen for the first time. The ship made the number of the _Venus_, and after standing on some little time, tacked and stood towards the _Ione_. The mistico, it must be understood, was now about a mile from the shore, and little more than the same distance from the west end of the island, while the _Ione_ was another mile to windward of her, so that if she sailed well, she might easily get round the point, and then by keeping away among the cluster of islands and rocks further to the south, very likely escape altogether. To avoid this, Fleetwood made the signal to the _Venus_ to bear up and run round to the south end of the island, to intercept the chase, trusting to his senior officer following his wishes. Old Rawson was not a man to stand on etiquette, and if a midshipman had signalised him he would have obeyed the order, and he instantly put up his helm, and ran back again out of sight, though the mistico was already too far to the westward to profit by the change by dodging round in the same direction. "We must leave the raft to take its chance, sir, while we chase the mistico, I suppose," asked Saltwell. "Yes, by all means--haul up a couple of points on the starboard tack." "Port the helm. Larboard fore braces. Starboard after braces," cried Saltwell. "Avast," exclaimed Captain Fleetwood, who had been looking at the raft through his glass. "Starboard the helm again. Keep her as she was. The _Venus_ will look after the mistico. There is some one on the raft. It is the figure of a female, and by heavens she is waving to us. It is, it must be--" His agitation was so great, that he was obliged to support himself on Saltwell's arm, who sprang to his side to catch him, thinking that he was about to fall to the deck. The brig ran on till she neared the raft, a boat was lowered--her captain threw himself into it. He was speedily alongside the raft; in another moment Ada Garden lay fainting in his arms, overcome with excess of joy and gratitude to Heaven, and love for him, who had rescued her. Thus he bore her up the side of his ship, and was about to carry her below when the report of a gun was heard booming along the water. It seemed to have the effect of arousing Ada; for at that instant she opened her eyes, and gazing into her lover's face as she pressed the hand which clasped hers, she whispered-- "Oh, do not let them kill him, Charles. For his sake, for he treated me well; for the sake of that poor girl--spare him--I promised him. Oh, hasten to save him!" Her earnestness might have made a less sensible man jealous; but Fleetwood knew her too well, and loved her too well, to have any other idea than the true one, that she was anxious to fulfil a promise to the letter, and in the spirit with which it was received. "I will do my utmost, dearest," he answered; "I will do all you can wish, but I know not whence that gun can have come; for the _Venus_ has gone round the other side of the island. Keep her after the mistico, Mr Saltwell, and hoist a white flag at the fore, to show her we mean her no harm. Fire a gun also away from her to draw her attention, and she will perhaps stand back towards us." These orders were given as he stood at the top of the companion-ladder before he conveyed Ada into his cabin, where little Marianna, almost out of her senses with delight, was arranging a sofa on which to place her. She again went off into a fainting fit, during which, while Marianna was searching for restoratives, and the surgeon was making his appearance, Fleetwood, as he knelt by her side, and called on her name, could not resist the temptation of bestowing many a kiss on her fair brow and lips, while he pressed her cold hands within his. The remedy was efficacious--perhaps Marianna thought it would be so, by the long time she was in procuring any other, as probably did the surgeon; for Ada had opened her eyes, and was able to sit up before he entered the cabin with the implements of his calling under his arm, which he had brought, not that he expected there would be any use for them, but as a plausible excuse for his dilatoriness. At length, however, Captain Fleetwood tore himself away from Ada's side, and left her to the exclusive care of the surgeon and her maid, while he hurried on deck to endeavour to overtake the mistico before she got under the guns of his consort, who, of course, was not likely to treat her with the leniency he had undertaken to do. A generous man, when he gets an enemy, especially a personal enemy, possessed of courage or any other noble quality, into his power, has a pride and satisfaction in pardoning him, and shielding him from punishment, and such was very much the feeling which animated Fleetwood, when he endeavoured to induce Zappa to return under the guns of the _Ione_. The pirate had certainly been, to him, a very great enemy, but he had been an open and bold one; he had caused him much misery and suffering, both bodily and mental, yet he had behaved with forbearance towards those in his power, and now that his beloved Ada was once more in safety, Fleetwood felt not only willing, but anxious, to preserve him. When he reached the deck he soon ascertained from whence the firing had proceeded, for another vessel had appeared on the scene. She was a brig, which had evidently come round the south side of the island, and was now rather more than three miles to leeward, standing up towards the unfortunate mistico, which she had just got under her guns. The mistico was by this time nearly two miles from the _Ione_, and with her sheets eased off, was standing along close in shore, with the hopes of getting round the west end of the island, and thus again away to the eastward, inside of her new enemy, not knowing that the _Venus_ had already gone round there to intercept her. "What brig is that, Mr Saltwell?" asked the captain, as he came on deck, his countenance expressing very different emotions from any which had appeared there for many a long day. "She carries the Greek colours, sir, and we make her out to be our old friend the _Ypsilante_. I think she can be no other," was the answer. "It is her, there can be no doubt," said Fleetwood; "but I wish my friend Captain Vassilato would understand our signal. I am afraid that he will destroy the mistico and kill those on board before we can get up to her." "There can be little to regret in that, sir," said Saltwell. "It will save the hangman some work, if he sends them all to the bottom together." "You would not say so, Mr Saltwell, I am sure, did you know that there is an unfortunate girl on board, the wife of the pirate, who has rendered great service to Miss Garden, as well as her brother, a young Italian, whom I am most anxious to save, as I am also the pirate himself," answered Fleetwood. "Then I am sure, sir, every one on board will be most anxious to second your wishes," said the first lieutenant. "And allow me, in the name of the officers and the ship's company, to congratulate you, Captain Fleetwood, on the fortunate issue of our adventures in the recovery of Miss Garden. We all feel as we ought to feel--the most sincere joy and satisfaction at your happiness, and, perhaps, you'll understand what we want to express without my making a longer speech about it, but the fact is, we haven't had time to cut and dry one, and I didn't like to put off saying this longer than we could help." "And I, on my part, must not lose a moment in thanking you, Mr Saltwell, and the officers and ship's company, for the zeal and perseverance you have exhibited on this very trying occasion," returned Captain Fleetwood, putting out his hand and pressing that of his first lieutenant, warmly. "You have all done me the greatest service any men could render another, and I am most sincerely grateful to you all. Pray say this to all hands, for I cannot now more publicly express my feelings. We must settle some way to mark the day as a bright one on board, but we shall have time to think about that by-and-by, and we must now see how the mistico gets on." It promised to fare badly enough with the unfortunate mistico. Either Zappa did not see, or did not comprehend, the _Ione's_ signal, for instead of attending to it, he continued running down the west shore of the island, directly into the jaws of the Greek; but he reckoned probably that he should be able to hug the shore so close that she could not come near him, and he then hoped, it seemed, to get away among the rocks and reefs to the southward, where she could not venture to follow. This the Greek was equally resolved to prevent her doing, and no sooner had she got her within range of the guns, than she opened the fire of her whole broadside on her. Though she had not seen the people getting on board from the raft, she had no doubt of her character, and seemed determined to award her the pirate's fate. The _Ypsilante_, it must be understood, was on the starboard tack, with her head about north-west, while the mistico was running about south, and about to haul up as soon as she could round the island on the larboard tack, so that the attempt to escape was not altogether so hopeless as might at first have appeared, had not the _Venus_ gone round to intercept her. Zappa, of course, recognised the _Ypsilante_, and, knowing that her gunnery was not first-rate, he probably hoped that, as she could not venture into the shoal water, where the mistico was, she would not knock away any of his spars, and that he might manage to escape clear of her. The wind, however, as the two vessels approached each other, came more from the eastward, and at the same time fell considerably, thus exposing the mistico much longer to the fire of the brig, which now opened upon her at the same time with musketry. Several of the shot had told with dire effect, and those on board the _Ione_ could perceive that many of the pirates had been killed or wounded. At last a round shot struck the mainmast, and down came the mainsail on deck. The pirates, seeing that all hopes of escaping in the vessel were gone, were observed to leap overboard in an endeavour to gain the shore by swimming, in which many of them succeeded, though some in the attempt were swept out by the current, which still set to the westward, and sunk to rise no more. The mistico, deprived of the guiding power of the helm, and without any after sail, ran off the shore before the wind, in the direction the current was likewise drifting her. She thus passed at no great distance from the _Ione_, which had reached her too late to prevent the catastrophe. Captain Fleetwood, and all on board, were anxiously watching her as she drew near them. On her deck two forms only were seen. Near the shattered mainmast lay the pirate Zappa; the hue of death was on his countenance, and his side, torn and mangled by a round-shot, told that he was beyond all human help. He was not deserted in his utmost need. The unhappy Nina, faithful even to death, knelt over him. His hand was locked in hers. Her eyes watched the last faint gleam of animation which passed over those much-loved features. She recked not of her own agony, for a purple stream issuing from her neck, told where a bullet had done its fatal work on her. In vain she tried to conceal it from her husband. It was the last sight he beheld, and it added to his dying pangs to know that she also had suffered for his crimes. Once more he opened his eyes, now growing dim with the shades of death. He beheld the look of unutterable love fixed on him, and in that, his last moment, he understood what he had before so little prized. He attempted to press her hand, but his strength failed him in the effort, his fingers relaxed their hold, and Nina, wildly calling on his name, received no answering look in return. Again and again she called, then with an agonised scream, which was heard even on board the ships of war, and which made the hearts of the rough seamen sink within them, so fearful did it sound, she fell prostrate across the lifeless body of the pirate. The _Ione_ soon ran close to the mistico, and a boat being lowered, Fleetwood leaped into it, and went on board her, accompanied by the surgeon, who had discovered that Miss Garden had very little occasion for the exercise of his skill. They lifted up poor Nina, but they had come too late to save, for death had kindly released her from the misery which would too probably have been her future lot. Fleetwood, believing that it would gratify Ada, had the bodies carried on board the _Ione_, to be interred on shore; and as no other had been found on her decks, the pirates had probably thrown their slain comrades overboard. He searched in vain for Paolo Montifalcone; he could scarcely believe that he would have deserted his sister at such a moment, and he was fain to conclude that he had been among those killed by the first broadside of the Greek brig. She had hove too close in shore, and had sent her boats in chase of the fugitive pirates, but none of them were overtaken. The two brigs then ran round to meet the _Venus_, when Captain Rawson ordered the _Zoe_ to be burnt in sight of the island, as a warning to its piratical inhabitants. It was proposed by Captain Vassilato to make an expedition inland, to hunt them up; but Captain Rawson considered that it would not be worth the loss of time, as their chief was killed, observing that, after all, they were, probably, not much worse than a large proportion of their fellow-islanders, and as their vessel was destroyed, they could do no more harm, for the present. The three vessels then made sail for the island of Lissa, where the _Vesta_ had just before arrived. The seamen and marines, who had formed the garrison, were then ordered to embark on board their respective ships, first having dismantled the rude fortifications, and tumbled all the guns over the cliffs. The bodies of Nina and the pirate chief were conveyed on shore, in two coffins, and buried, side by side, in a green spot, under the shade of the only remaining tower, which, to this day stands as a monument to their memory. The island, where so many of the stirring events I have described took place, is once more silent and deserted, except by a few harmless fishermen, among whom, however, the name and deeds of the famous pirate, Zappa, and his stranger bride, are not forgotten; and, as they point to their graves, they say her spirit may be seen in bodily form, on calm moonlight nights, standing on the summit of the cliff, watching for the bark to convey her to her distant home. Colonel Gauntlett's delight on getting on board the _Ione_, and finding his niece in safety, and with the hue of health once more returning to her cheek, showed the affection he felt for her. He wrung Fleetwood's hand warmly. "I have done you and your profession a wrong," he exclaimed, as he did so; "and I am not ashamed to own it. From what I have seen of you and your brother-officers since this work has been going forward, I am convinced that there are as fine fellows in the British navy as there are in the army; and while both remain firm and loyal to their sovereign and their country, as I am sure they ever will, we may defy the world in arms against us. But to the point--as you, Miss Ada, happen to prefer a blue jacket to a scarlet one, however much I might, when I was a youngster, have pitied your taste, egad, you have chosen so fine a fellow inside it, that I promise, when I slip my cable (as he would say), to leave you and him every rap I possess; for from what I have seen of him, I am very certain that he loves you for yourself (which, by the bye, shows his good taste), and does not care one pinch of snuff for the gold he knows that I am reputed to possess." Ada, on this, threw her arms round her uncle's neck, and thanked him over and over again for his kindness; while Fleetwood assured him, with a frank honesty which could not be mistaken, that he only spoke the truth, and that he intended to have done his best to marry her with or without his consent, though he expected to forfeit every chance of getting a penny with her. The _Ione_ touched at Cephalonia on her voyage to Malta, where the colonel found that, as he was supposed to be lost, another officer had been appointed to his post. This, however, was much to his satisfaction, as he was anxious to return to England to make arrangements for the marriage of his niece. On reaching Malta, the _Ione_ was ordered home; and as Ada was not yet his wife, Fleetwood was able to carry her and her uncle to England, where, without the usual vexatious delays, his happiness was soon after completed. Of our characters, all I can say is, that most of our naval friends got on in their profession, and that the greater number are now post captains. After the conclusion of the Greek war, in which he greatly distinguished himself, Captain Teodoro Vassilato paid a visit to England to see his old friends, Captain and Mrs Fleetwood, and he is now an influential person in his native country. Our honest friend, Captain Bowse, must not be forgotten. He returned to England in the _Ione_, and soon supplied the loss of the _Zodiac_ with an equally fine brig, in which he made numerous voyages to all parts of the world, and was able to lay by, for his old age, a comfortable independence, which, I am happy to say, he still enjoys. At the end of nearly every voyage, he used to run down to pay a visit to Captain and Mrs Fleetwood, at their place in Hampshire; and, on one occasion, he persuaded the lady to allow him to take her eldest boy, who was a little sickly, a short summer cruise. Young Charles was so delighted with his trip, that nothing would satisfy him till he was allowed to enter his father's noble profession, to which he promises to be an ornament, and is now a lieutenant of two years' standing. Among other accomplishments, he is a first-rate hand at spinning a yarn, and often amuses his shipmates with an account of his father's adventures in chase of the _Sea Hawk_. [THE END] _ |
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