There was a brief interchange of questions and answers and on both parties ascertaining that all was well with the other Dan said to Roger, "Run, get thy bag, lad. We be goin' aboard her."
Roger hesitated. He had already given Dan the five pounds and he wondered unhappily if the smuggler, having been so averse to taking him in the first place, had later thought up some trick for getting his money but not taking him after all. He had now recognised the white schooner as the Albatross, out of Yarmouth, and suspected that he was to be put aboard her for shipment back to the island.
"What's toward, Dan?" he asked, striving to keep the uneasiness he felt out of his voice. "Why must I board her?"
" Tis not for 'e to ask questions," Dan replied gruffly. "Do as 'e's bid, an' smart about it, now."
Being in no position to argue, Roger turned away. If they intended to send him back there was nothing he could do about it, and no way in which he could recover his money from Dan, either. It was the first dealing he had had with lawless characters and he felt again how incompetent he was to hold his own outside the secure world he knew, in that where poverty made men unscrupulous.
The thought that he still had some fourteen pounds in cash upon him was some consolation. That was enough to get him to London and keep him for a week or two there. But suddenly it flashed upon him that the smugglers might rob him of the rest of his money before putting him ashore.
Hastening his steps he dived down into the cabin, pulled off his boots and poured his guineas and crowns into them, leaving only some small change in his pocket. In something of a panic now he pulled out the bulky packet of Georgina's jewels and wondered how he could possibly manage to conceal it. After a second he tore the silk scarf he was wearing from around his neck, spread it out on the table, undid the packet of jewels and poured them on to it. Rolling the scarf up he tied each of its ends in a knot and the middle with a strand of hemp that was lying handy; then he undid his clothes and arranged the long uneven sausage round his waist next his skin, in such a way that the leather belt of his breeches would keep it in position. He was still stuffing back his shirt over it when Dan's stentorian voice came to him.
"Below there! What the hell's keeping 'e?"
"Coming!" called Roger, and he stumbled up on deck again.
To his surprise he saw that several strange men from the schooner were now aboard the lugger and that her own crew were in the process of climbing over the schooner's counter. Evidently the two ships were exchanging crews and this, though queer, seemed somewhat reassuring; so, without further attempt to secure an explanation, he followed Dan aboard the Albatross.
The exchange having been made the two ships cast off. Amidst a chorus of muttered farewells from their crews the bumpers were hauled in and they drew apart.
When the Sally Ann had been swallowed up in the darkness Roger made his way down to the schooner's cabin. It was roomier and somewhat cleaner than that of the lugger, and it had eight bunks instead of only four. Depositing his satchel on one of them he went up again to seek out Dan, now feeling a twinge of remorse at his recent fears that the smuggler intended to cheat and rob him.
The crew were busy setting the sails and Dan was standing at the break of the shallow poop behind the big wheel.
"I've no wish to pry, Dan," Roger said as he joined him, "but
I'm all agog to know the reason for the exchange we've just made. Won't you tell me what lies behind it?"
The smuggler laughed. "Aye, why not. 'E'll find out for 'e's self soon enough. 'Tis this way. The Riding Officers be mighty spry these days roun' Mudeford and Bourne Heath; but the Isle o' Wight has quiet covers a plenty, so 'tis there we now run our cargoes. Then the Yarmouth lads bring 'em over piecemeal, a few kegs at a time, in the little boats that be always plyin' to an' fro from the island."
"So that's why 'tis done," murmured Roger. "But why couldn't you land your cargo on the island direct from the lugger?"
"I could, lad; an' always did in the good days. But as I've telled 'e Ollie Nixon's out to have my blood. 'Tis to fox he that we make the change o' craft. Come daylight should he sight the Sally Ann, 'tis her he'll keep his weather eye on, while she does a bit o' harmless fishin' an' we take the Albatross to France."
" 'Tis monstrous clever, that, Dan."
"Aye; 'tis a ruse that has worked twice afore, an' pray God 'twill work again."
For the best part of two hours Roger remained on deck, while the little schooner, lifting and falling gently to the swell, cleaved her way through the night; then he thought that he would turn in for a bit. The knobs and points of the jewel-filled bandage round his waist irked him somewhat but their weight was better distributed than it had been as a heavy packet in his pocket, so he decided to leave them as they were, and, adjusting them more comfortably, lay down on his bunk in his clothes. Youth can do with far more sleep than age, and, in spite of his long nap that evening, he had hardly closed his eyes before he dropped off.
When he awoke it was daylight and a strong smell of cooking assailed his nostrils. On sitting up he saw that Fred Mullins was busy cooking bacon, onions and pigs' fry in the tiny galley that formed the far end of the cabin. Tidying his hair as best he could in a cracked mirror nailed to the bulkhead, he joined the ex-naval jolly and helped lay up the table for breakfast.
The men came down for their meal in relays, Dan being last, and when he had eaten he turned in for a spell while Roger went on deck. The old fisherman, Simon Fry, was now at the wheel and the schooner was scudding along on a fine breeze. The weather promised well and on looking round the horizon Roger could see no sail except the Sally Ann, which apparently had kept them company all through the night, and now lay about a mile away on their port quarter.
There was nothing to do but laze in the sunshine and, making himself as comfortable as he could on a coil of rope Roger took his ease there all through the morning. At midday he joined the crew in another rough and ready meal and, after it, Dan took the wheel again.
As he did so he asked Roger how he was feeling, and Roger, having entirely forgotten the plea by which he had induced the smuggler to take him on the trip, replied cheerfully: "I never felt better, Dan. I'm as fit as a fiddle."
" 'Tis just as I told 'e," Dan laughed. "Tain't no different in mid-channel, here, than 'tis huggin' the coast in a bit o' a yawl. An' we's nigher to France than England now. Come six o'clock we should make a landfall."
The early hours of the afternoon drifted by uneventfully but soon after four o'clock Nick Bartlett, who was acting as lookout, called: "Sail astern, Cap'n."
Slipping a noose of rope over one of the spokes of the wheel to keep it in position Dan picked up a spy-glass and focused it on the speck that the surly longshoreman had reported.
After a few moments he lowered his telescope with a curse and added: " 'Tis the Revenue cutter Expedition; Ollie Nixon be after us again."
"Well, you've naught to fear," Roger said in an effort to reassure him. " 'Tis the Sally Ann that he'll be interested in, not us."
"Aye, let's hope so," Dan muttered, "may God rot his guts."
The captain of the Sally Ann had also evidently sighted the Revenue cutter, as she began to play her part as a decoy and draw away, while the Albatross held on her course.
All the crew had now assembled on deck and for the next half-hour they watched the Revenue cutter anxiously. She was considerably faster than either of the other ships, and soon began to overhaul them. In order to avoid arousing the Revenue men's suspicions the Sally Ann had not taken any drastic action that would have been immediately perceptible to them but only adopted a slightly divergent course a few more points to westward; so it was at first impossible to tell whether the cutter was in pursuit of the schooner or the lugger.
Then, to their dismay, the issue became certain. The Sally Ann was now a good two miles away and had dropped some distance astern; but the Expedition was ignoring her and, with all sail spread, coming up in the wake of the Albatross.
&
nbsp; "Darn his eyes!" Dan swore. "He've smelled our red herring once too often, an' he means to board us."
"What if he does?" said Roger. "You've not loaded your contraband yet, so he can't lay a finger on you."
"Nay," Dan muttered uneasily, "To-night we've naught to fear 'cept from the Frenchies. But Ollie Nixon havin' tumbled to our ruse bodes ill for our homeward run. Once he have satisfied hisself that 'tis me an' my lads is aboard the Albatross he'll patrol these waters for days to get us."
While they had been talking the cutter had come up to within hailing distance of the schooner and a faint but clear call came to them from across the water:
"Heave-to, there! In the King's name, heave-to!"
With another curse Dan gave the wheel a spin, bringing the schooner round within six points of the wind, so that her sails emptied and began to flop idly against her stays. Her crew scattered quickly to reef them in, and while they were still busy at it the cutter drew abreast. No sooner had she checked her way than some of her people began to get out a boat. It was easy to see that they were used to the business, from the despatch they used, and five minutes later a smart gig was making fast to the schooner's stern.
A heavy, red-faced man hauled himself aboard and his sharp black eyes swept the little group of sullen-looking sailors.
"Arternoon, Mr. Nixon," said Dan, with the best grace he could muster.
"So, 'tis you, Dan Izzard," Nixon muttered, "I guessed as much. What are you and your culleys doing aboard the Albatross?"
"Cap'n Cummings giv' me the loan o' her, Sir. 'E'll allow there's naught illegal in that."
Nay, naught illegal, but 'tis monstrous fishy seeing that I know you to have sailed from Lymington last night in the Sally Ann. What cargo are you carrying; or are you in ballast?"
"In ballast, may it please your honour," replied Dan sarcastically.
Nixon turned to a petty officer who had scrambled aboard after him. "Nip down into her hold, Higgins, and take a look-see."
As the man moved to obey Dan threw up a hand to restrain him and grumbled: "Easy, easy. If 'e must stick e's nose into other folks' business 'tis a cargo o* salt we have aboard, an' we're bound for Le Havre."
"So that's the lay, is it?" Nixon's heavy face broke into a sly grin. "All right, Higgins, we'll take his word for it."
"B'ain't naught illegal in that, neither," said Dan with a scowl.
"Not if you land your salt openly at Le Havre; but I'm not in King Louis's pay, so that's not my affair."
As Nixon turned to regain his boat he suddenly caught sight of Roger who, up till then, had been standing half-concealed from him by the big wheel. Halting, he exclaimed in surprise:
"Why, 'tis Master Brook! What would you be doing here?"
"I'm shortly going into the Navy, Sir," Roger replied promptly. "And I came on this trip to try out my sea legs."
" 'Tis strange company to find a young gentleman in," Nixon frowned. "I'll make no accusations I can't prove: but if there's contraband in the vessel next time I board her 'twill be my duty to take you, if you're among her crew, and charge you with the rest."
Roger flushed slightly as he lied: "I'm sure Dan Izzard and his men intend nothing illegal, Sir."
"I am entitled to my doubts of that, and if you're here for a lark it has lasted long enough. If 'tis no more than a sea trip you sought come with me, and I'll give you passage home."
"Thanks, Sir, but I've never been abroad and I'm all agog to see Le Havre, so, if you'll excuse me, I prefer to stay with Dan."
"Unless my wits deceive me, should you remain aboard the Albatross there's a chance of you finding yourself in a French galley instead of seeing Le Havre. Come now! Come home with me, and let me earn your mother's gratitude."
Roger did not fully take in the meaning of this allusion to a French galley and, even had he done so, it seemed to him now that so much depended on his being able to land in France, that it is doubtful if he would have allowed the warning to influence him. As it was he simply shook his head and said again: "Thanks, Sir, but I prefer to stay with Dan."
Nixon shrugged his broad shoulders. "So be it then; but I fear you'll have cause to repent of your folly before you're much older."
With a curt nod to Dan he went over the snip's side, followed by his man, and a moment later the gig's crew were giving way lustily as they pulled him back to the Expedition.
The sails of the Albatross were re-set and, leaving the Revenue cutter behind, she was soon skimming over the water towards the French coast once more.
A little belatedly, and uneasily now, Roger was thinking over Mr. Nixon's sinister remark, that he might find himself in a French galley instead of seeing Le Havre. If Dan had a cargo of Lymington salt aboard it was obviously destined for France. The French, so Roger had heard, were forced to pay an exceptionally high price for this simple commodity, owing to an exorbitant tax that their king had put upon it. The tax was called the gabelle, and was one of the French people's principle reasons for discontent against the monarchy. Since Dan had for years earned his living by smuggling illicit spirits into England it seemed most unlikely that he would willingly pay a heavy import duty in order to land a cargo of salt in France.
Having reached the conclusion that Dan contemplated making a big illegal profit at both ends of his trip, Roger was not particularly perturbed by the additional risk in which he had unwittingly involved himself, because Dan had for so many years proved himself a capable and canny smuggler, but he became extremely worried at the thought that the Albatross might both unload her cargo of salt and take on a new one of spirits in some secluded cove, and not enter the port of Le Havre at all.
Striving to conceal his new anxiety he went up to Dan and asked: "What time should we make Le Havre, Dan?"
"First light to-morrow morning, all bein' well, lad," Dan replied quite casually. "We've a rendezvous, as the Frenchies call it, wi' some friends o' mine farther down the coast to-night. Then we beats up channel to the port to pick up our nice drop o' liquor, an' sails for home at dusk."
This was highly reassuring, and Roger smothered a sigh of relief, as it now seemed clear that they were not only really going to Le Havre, but that he would have the whole day in which to go ashore and dispose of his jewels.
"Do the French Preventives give you much trouble?" he asked after a moment.
"Nay. They's nothin' nigh so smart as our chaps, nor so numerous. 'Tis good money for old rope so long as 'e don't fall foul o' one o' they's men o' war. Look, lad! Dq'st see the dark streak on the horizon, yonder? 'Tis the coast of France."
All else forgotten, Roger picked up Dan's spy-glass and, glueing his eye to it, endeavoured to make out the features of that strange land where lived England's traditional enemies, and of which he had heard so much.
Occasionally Dan glanced over his shoulder at Mr. Nixon's cutter. He had thought that after boarding him she would put back towards England, if only temporarily, but to his annoyance she continued to follow in the wake of the Albatross under three-quarter sail. Now, as he luffed and brought the schooner round on to a westward course so that she should run down the Normandy coast while still some miles distant from it, the cutter ignored his action and, somewhat to his surprise, continued on a course towards Le Havre.
Soon after this they took their evening meal, and when Roger came on deck again the cutter had disappeared from sight. But now they were considerably nearer the French coast and here and there could see small craft working their way along it.
About nine o'clock, just as the summer dusk was beginning to fall, they discerned twenty or thirty dots on the horizon astern, which Dan said were the Le Havre fishing fleet putting out to sea. Roger watched them idly through the spy-glass for a while. They too, seemed tu be on a westward course as, although they grew no larger, they did not drop from view; and one of them that seemed to be much larger than the rest even appeared to be gaining on the Albatross.
He was just about to draw Dan's attention to this bi
gger ship when he was distracted by the smuggler giving orders for the lowering of the main and fore sails; as they had now come opposite that part of the coast where he had his rendezvous and he intended to lay off there until full darkness would cover his landing operation.
When Roger looked through the glass again he saw that not one but two of the ships in the fishing fleet were of different build and, clearly now, much larger than the rest. Both had detached themselves from the scattered line of dots and were coming on ahead of them under full sail. Running over to Dan he pointed them out to him.
Dan took the glass and studied them for a moment. " 'Tis two traders, what have sailed out o' Le Havre on the tide, like as not," he declared. "But take the glass, lad, and keep 'e's eye upon they."
Again Roger focused the two oncoming ships for a few moments. There seemed something vaguely familiar about the rig of the smaller of the two, and suddenly he recognised her.
"The smaller one," he cried, " 'Tis Mr. Nixon's cutter."
Dan snatched the telescope from him. "Aye, lad, 'e's right!" he grunted. "What devil's work would he be up to now? And what be other craft? Hi! Fred Mullins! What make 'e of yon ship? The bigger o' the two."
The ex-naval rating took the glass and, steadying it against a stay, took a long look at the approaching ships. Identification was not easy, owing to the falling twilight and the fact that the stranger craft being dead astern only her bows and fore sails were visible.
"She's a Frenchie," he muttered. "And if I mistake not, a thirty-six gun frigate."
"God's death!" swore Dan. " 'Tis as I feared. That bastard Nixon has betrayed us. Just think on it. What sort o' Englishman is he who would bring the Frogs upon us, an' send we to a daily floggin' in they's galleys. Avast, there! Avast! Up sail an' away."
Instantly every member of the crew flung himself into feverish activity. To be caught smuggling contraband into England was one thing, except on overwhelming evidence no bench of magistrates would convict; to be captured by the French quite another—it meant a hideous and long drawn-out death, rotting in chains shackled to an oar, in one of the French war galleys. In a bare ten minutes every sail the schooner could carry was set and she was standing out to sea, their one hope now being to escape in the gathering darkness.
The Launching of Roger Brook rb-1 Page 11