Фредерик Марриет
The Three Cutters
“You may do what you please,” observed Mr Stewart, “but the revenue boats are coming up, recollect.”
“Look you, sir, do you see the revenue-cutter?” said Pickersgill.
Stewart looked in that direction and saw that she was hidden in the fog.
“In five minutes, sir, the boats will be out of sight also, and so will your vessel; we have nothing to fear from them.”
“Indeed, my lord, we had better return,” said Mr Stewart, who perceived that Pickersgill was right.
“I beg your pardon, you will not go on board your yacht so soon as you expect. Take the oars out of the boat; my lads, two or three of you, and throw in a couple of our paddles for them to reach the shore with. The rest of you knock down the first man who offers to resist. You are not aware, perhaps, my lord, that you have attempted piracy on the high seas?”
Stewart looked at Lord B—. It was true enough. The men of the yacht could offer no resistance; the oars were taken out of the boat and the men put in again.
“My lord,” said Pickersgill, “your boat is manned, do me the favour to step into it; and you, sir, do the same. I should be sorry to lay my hands upon a peer of the realm, or a king’s officer even on half pay.”
Remonstrance was vain; his lordship was led to the boat by two of the smugglers, and Stewart followed.
“I will leave your oars, my lord, at the Weymouth Custom-house, and I trust this will be a lesson to you in future to ‘mind your own business.’”
The boat was shoved off from the sloop by the smugglers, and was soon lost sight of in the fog, which had now covered the revenue boats as well as the yacht, at the same time it brought down a breeze from the eastward.
“Haul to the wind, Morrison,” said Pickersgill, “we will stand out to get rid of the boats; if they pull on they will take it for granted that we shall run into the bay, as will the revenue-cutter.”
Pickersgill and Corbett were in conversation abaft for a short time, when the former desired the course to be altered two points.
“Keep silence all of you, my lads, and let me know if you hear a gun or a bell from the yacht,” said Pickersgill.
“There is a gun, sir, close to us,” said one of the men; “the sound was right ahead.”
“That will do, keep her as she goes. Aft here, my lads; we cannot run our cargo in the bay, for the cutter has been seen to chase us, and they will all be on the look-out at the preventive stations for us on shore. Now, my lads, I have made up my mind that, as these yacht gentlemen have thought proper to interfere, that I will take possession of the yacht for a few days. We shall then outsail everything, go where we like unsuspected, and land our cargo with ease. I shall run alongside of her—she can have but few hands on board; and mind, do not hurt anybody, but be civil and obey my orders. Morrison, you and your four men and the boy will remain on board as before, and take the vessel to Cherbourg, where we will join you.”
In a short time another gun was fired from the yacht.
Those on board, particularly the ladies, were alarmed; the fog was very thick, and they could not distinguish the length of the vessel. They had seen the boat board, but had not seen her turned adrift without oars, as the fog came on just at that time. The yacht was left with only three seamen on board, and should it come on bad weather, they were in an awkward predicament. Mr Hautaine had taken the command, and ordered the guns to be fired that the boat might be enabled to find them. The fourth gun was loading, when they perceived the smuggler’s cutter close to them looming through the fog.
“Here they are,” cried the seamen; “and they have brought the prize along with them! Three cheers for the Arrow!”
“Hilloa! You’ll be on board of us?” cried Hautaine.
“That’s exactly what I intend to be, sir,” replied Pickersgill, jumping on the quarter-deck, followed by his men.
“Who the devil are you?”
“That’s exactly the same question that I asked Lord B— when he boarded us,” replied Pickersgill, taking off his hat to the ladies.
“Well, but what business have you here?”
“Exactly the same question which I put to Lord B—,” replied Pickersgill.
“Where is Lord B—, sir?” said Cecilia Ossulton, going up to the smuggler; “is he safe?”
“Yes, madam, he is safe; at least he is in his boat with all his men, and unhurt: but you must excuse me if I request you and the other ladies to go down below while I speak to these gentlemen. Be under no alarm, miss, you will receive neither insult nor ill-treatment—I have only taken possession of this vessel for the present.”
“Take possession,” cried Hautaine, “of a yacht.”
“Yes, sir, since the owner of the yacht thought proper to attempt to take possession of me. I always thought that yachts were pleasure-vessels, sailing about for amusement, respected themselves, and not interfering with others; but it appears that such is not the case. The owner of this yacht has thought proper to break through the neutrality and commence aggression, and under such circumstances I have now, in retaliation, taken possession of her.”
“And, pray, what do you mean to do, sir?”
“Simply for a few days to make an exchange. I shall send you on board of my vessel as smugglers, while I remain here with the ladies and amuse myself with yachting.”
“Why, sir, you cannot mean—”
“I have said, gentlemen, and that is enough; I should be sorry to resort to violence, but I must be obeyed. You have, I perceive, three seamen only left: they are not sufficient to take charge of the vessel, and Lord B— and the others you will not meet for several days. My regard for the ladies, even common humanity, points out to me that I cannot leave the vessel in this crippled condition. At the same time, I must have hands on board of my own, you will oblige me by going on board and taking her safely into port. It is the least return you can make for my kindness. In those dresses, gentlemen, you will not be able to do your duty: oblige me by shifting and putting on these.” Corbett handed a flannel shirt, a rough jacket and trousers, to Messrs Hautaine, Ossulton, Vaughan, and Seagrove. After some useless resistance they were stripped, and having put on the smugglers’ attire, they were handed on board of the Happy-go-lucky.
The three English seamen were also sent on board and confined below, as well as Ossulton’s servant, who was also equipped like his master, and confined below with the seamen. Corbett and the men then handed up all the smuggled goods into the yacht, dropped the boat, and made it fast astern, and Morrison having received his directions, the vessels separated, Morrison running for Cherbourg, and Pickersgill steering the yacht along shore to the westward. About an hour after this exchange had been effected the fog cleared up, and showed the revenue-cutter hove to for her boats, which had pulled back and were close on board of her, and the Happy-go-lucky about three miles in the offing; Lord B— and his boat’s crew were about four miles in shore, paddling and drifting with the tide towards Portland. As soon as the boats were on board, the revenue-cutter made all sail after the smuggler, paying no attention to the yacht, and either not seeing or not caring about the boat which was drifting about in West Bay.
Chapter Five
The Travesty
“Here we are, Corbett, and now I only wish my venture had been double,” observed Pickersgill; “but I shall not allow business to absorb me wholly—we must add a little amusement. It appears to me, Corbett, that the gentleman’s clothes which lie there will fit you, and those of the good-looking fellow who was spokesman will, I am sure, suit me well. Now let us dress ourselves, and then for breakfast.”
Pickersgill then exchanged his clothes for those of Mr Hautaine, and Corbett fitted on those of Mr Ossulton. The steward was summoned up, and he dared not disobey; he appeared on deck, trembling.
“Steward—you will take these clothes below,” said Pickersgill, “and, observe, that I now command this yacht; and during the time that I am on board you will pay me the same respect as you did Lord B—: nay, more, you will always address me as Lord B—. You will prepare dinner and breakfast, and do your duty just as if his lordship was on board, and take care that you feed us well, for I will not allow the ladies to be entertained in a less sumptuous manner than before. You will tell the cook what I say; and now that you have heard me, take care that you obey; if not, recollect that I have my own men here, and if I but point with my finger, overboard you go. Do you perfectly comprehend me?”
“Yes,—sir,” stammered the steward.
“Yes, sir!—what did I tell you, sirrah?—Yes, my lord. Do you understand me?”
“Yes—my lord.”
“Pray, steward, whose clothes has this gentleman put on?”
“Mr—Mr Ossulton’s, I think—sir—my lord, I mean.”
“Very well, steward; then recollect, in future you always address that gentleman as Mr Ossulton.”
“Yes, my lord,” and the steward went down below, and was obliged to take a couple of glasses of brandy to keep himself from fainting.
“Who are they, and what are they, Mr Maddox?” cried the lady’s-maid, who had been weeping.
“Pirates!—bloody murderous, stick-at-nothing pirates!” replied the steward.
“Oh!” screamed the lady’s-maid, “what will become of us, poor unprotected females?” And she hastened into the cabin, to impart this dreadful intelligence.
The ladies in the cabin were not in a very enviable situation. As for the elder Miss Ossulton (but perhaps, it will be better in future to distinguish the two ladies, by calling the elder simply Miss Ossulton, and her niece, Cecilia), she was sitting with her salts to her nose, agonised with a mixture of trepidation and wounded pride. Mrs Lascelles was weeping, but weeping gently. Cecilia was sad, and her heart was beating with anxiety and suspense—when the maid rushed in.
“O madam! O miss! O Mrs Lascelles! I have found it all out!—they are murderous, bloody, do-everything pirates!”
“Mercy on us!” exclaimed Miss Ossulton; “surely they will never dare—?”
“Oh, ma’am, they dare anything!—they just now were for throwing the steward overboard; and they have rummaged for all the portmanteaus, and dressed themselves in the gentlemen’s best clothes. The captain of them told the steward that he was Lord B—, and that if he dared to call him anything else, he would cut his throat from ear to ear; and if the cook don’t give them a good dinner, they swear that they’ll chop his right hand off, and make him eat it without pepper or salt!”
Miss Ossulton screamed, and went off into hysterics. Mrs Lascelles and Cecilia went to her assistance; but the latter had not forgotten the very different behaviour of Jack Pickersgill, and his polite manners, when he boarded the vessel. She did not therefore believe what the maid had reported, but still her anxiety and suspense were great, especially about her father. After having restored her aunt she put on her bonnet, which was lying on the sofa.
“Where are you going, dear?” said Mrs Lascelles.
“On deck,” replied Cecilia. “I must and will speak to these men.”
“Gracious heaven, Miss Ossulton! Going on deck! Have you heard what Phoebe says?”
“Yes, aunt, I have; but I can wait here no longer.”
“Stop her! Stop her!—she will be murdered!—she will be—she is mad!” screamed Miss Ossulton; but no one attempted to stop Cecilia, and on deck she went. On her arrival she found Jack Pickersgill and Corbett walking the deck, one of the smugglers at the helm, and the rest forward, and as quiet as the crew of the yacht. As soon as she made her appearance Jack took off his hat, and made her a bow.
“I do not know whom I have the honour of addressing, young lady; but I am flattered with this mark of confidence. You feel, and I assure you, you feel correctly, that you are not exactly in lawless hands.”
Cecilia looked with more surprise than fear at Pickersgill. Mr Hautaine’s dress became him; he was a handsome, fine-looking man, and had nothing of the ruffian in his appearance; unless, like Byron’s Corsair, he was half savage, half soft. She could not help thinking that she had met many with less pretensions, as far as appearance went, to the claims of a gentleman, at Almack’s and other fashionable circles.
“I have ventured on deck, sir,” said Cecilia, with a little tremulousness in her voice, “to request, as a favour, that you will inform me what your intentions may be with regard to the vessel and with regard to the ladies!”
“And I feel much obliged to you for so doing, and I assure you I will, as far as I have made up my own mind, answer you candidly: but you tremble—allow me to conduct you to a seat. In few words, then, to remove your present alarm, I intend that the vessel shall be returned to its owner, with every article in it as religiously respected as if they were church property. With respect to you, and the other ladies on board, I pledge you my honour that you have nothing to fear; that you shall be treated with every respect; your privacy never invaded; and that, in a few days, you will be restored to your friends. Young lady, I pledge my hopes of future salvation to the truth of this; but, at the same time, I must make a few conditions, which, however, will not be very severe.”
“But, sir,” replied Cecilia, much relieved, for Pickersgill had stood by her in the most respectful manner, “you are, I presume, the captain of the smuggler? Pray answer me one question more—What became of the boat with Lord B—? He is my father.”
“I left him in his boat, without a hair of his head touched, young lady; but I took away the oars.”
“Then he will perish!” cried Cecilia, putting her handkerchief to her eyes.
“No, young lady; he is on shore, probably, by this time. Although I took away his means of assisting to capture us, I left him the means of gaining the land. It is not every one who would have done that, after his conduct to us.”
“I begged him not to go,” said Cecilia; “I told him that it was not fair, and that he had no quarrel with the smugglers.”
“I thank you even for that,” replied Pickersgill. “And now, miss—I have not the pleasure of recollecting his lordship’s family name—”
“Ossulton, sir,” cried Cecilia, looking at Pickersgill with surprise.
“Then with your permission, Miss Ossulton, I will now make you my confidant: excuse my using so free a term, but it is because I wish to relieve your fears. At the same time, I cannot permit you to divulge all my intentions to the whole party on board. I feel that I may trust you, for you have courage, and where there is courage there generally is truth; but you must first tell me whether you will condescend to accept these terms?”
Cecilia demurred a moment; the idea of being the confidant of a smuggler rather startled her: but still, her knowledge of what his intentions were, if she might not reveal them, might be important; as, perhaps, she might dissuade him. She could be in no worse position than she was now, and she might be in a much better. The conduct of Pickersgill had been such, up to the present, as to inspire confidence; and, although he defied the laws, he appeared to regard the courtesies of life. Cecilia was a courageous girl, and at length she replied:—
“Provided what you desire me to keep secret will not be injurious to any one, or compromise me in my peculiar situation, I consent.”
“I would not hurt a fly, Miss Ossulton, but in self-defence; and I have too much respect for you, from your conduct during our short meeting, to compromise you. Allow me now to be very candid; and then, perhaps, you will acknowledge that in my situation others would do the same, and, perhaps, not show half so much forbearance. Your father, without any right whatever, interferes with me and my calling: he attempts to make me a prisoner, to have me thrown into jail, heavily fined, and, perhaps, sent out of the country. I will not enter into any defence of smuggling; it is sufficient to say that there are pains and penalties attached to the infraction of certain laws, and that I choose to risk them. But Lord B— was not empowered by Government to attack me; it was a gratuitous act; and had I thrown him and all his crew into the sea, I should have been justified; for it was, in short, an act of piracy on their part. Now, as your father has thought to turn a yacht into a revenue-cutter, you cannot be surprised at my retaliating, in turning her into a smuggler; and as he has mixed up looking after the revenue with yachting, he cannot be surprised if I retaliate, by mixing up a little yachting with smuggling. I have dressed your male companions as smugglers, and have sent them in the smuggling vessel to Cherbourg, where they will be safely landed; and I have dressed myself, and the only person whom I could join with me in this frolic, as gentlemen in their places. My object is twofold; one is to land my cargo, which I have now on board, and which is very valuable; the other is, to retaliate upon your father and his companions for their attempt upon me, by stepping into their shoes, and enjoying, for a day or two, their luxuries. It is my intention to make free with nothing but his lordship’s wines and eatables—that you may be assured of; but I shall have no pleasure if the ladies do not sit down to the dinner-table with us, as they did before with your father and his friends.”
“You can hardly expect that, sir,” said Cecilia.
“Yes, I do; and that will be not only the price of the early release of the yacht and themselves, but it will also be the only means by which they will obtain anything to eat. You observe, Miss Ossulton, the sins of the fathers are visited on the children. I have now told you what I mean to do and what I wish. I leave you to think of it, and decide whether it will not be the best for all parties to consent. You have my permission to tell the other ladies that, whatever may be their conduct, they are as secure from ill-treatment or rudeness as if they were in Grosvenor-Square; but I cannot answer that they will not be hungry, if, after such forbearance in every point, they show so little gratitude as not to honour me with their company.”
“Then I am to understand that we are to be starved into submission?”
“No, not starved, Miss Ossulton; but recollect that you will be on bread and water, and detained until you do consent, and your detention will increase the anxiety of your father.”
“You know how to persuade, sir,” said Cecilia. “As far as I am concerned, I trust I shall ever be ready to sacrifice any feelings of pride to spare my father so much uneasiness. With your permission, I will now go down into the cabin and relieve my companions from the worst of their fears. As for obtaining what you wish, I can only say that, as a young person, I am not likely to have much influence with those older than myself, and must inevitably be overruled, as I have not permission to point out to them reasons which might avail. Would you so far allow me to be relieved from my promise, as to communicate all you have said to me to the only married woman on board? I think I might then obtain your wishes, which, I must candidly tell you, I shall attempt to effect only because I am most anxious to rejoin my friends.”
“And be relieved of my company,” replied Pickersgill, smiling ironically,—“of course you are; but I must and will have my pretty revenge: and although you may, and probably will, detest me, at all events you shall not have any very formidable charge to make against me. Before you go below, Miss Ossulton, I give you my permission to add the married lady to the number of my confidants; and you must permit me to introduce my friend, Mr Ossulton;” and Pickersgill waved his hand in the direction of Corbett, who took off his hat and made a low obeisance.
It was impossible for Cecilia Ossulton to help smiling.
“And,” continued Pickersgill, “having taken the command of this yacht instead of his lordship, it is absolutely necessary that I also take his lordship’s name. While on board I am Lord B—; and allow me to introduce myself under that name; I cannot be addressed otherwise. Depend upon it, Miss Ossulton, that I shall have a most paternal solicitude to make you happy and comfortable.”
Had Cecilia Ossulton dared to have given vent to her real feelings at that time, she would have burst into a fit of laughter; it was too ludicrous. At the same time, the very burlesque reassured her still more. She went into the cabin with a heavy weight removed from her heart.
In the meantime, Miss Ossulton and Mrs Lascelles remained below, in the greatest anxiety at Cecilia’s prolonged stay; they knew not what to think, and dared not go on deck. Mrs Lascelles had once determined at all risks to go up; but Miss Ossulton and Phoebe had screamed and implored her so fervently not to leave them that she unwillingly consented to remain. Cecilia’s countenance when she entered the cabin, reassured Mrs Lascelles, but not her aunt, who ran to her crying and sobbing and clinging to her, saying, “What have they done to you, my poor, poor Cecilia?”
“Nothing at all, aunt,” replied Cecilia, “the captain speaks very fairly, and says he shall respect us in every possible way, provided that we obey his orders; but if not—”
“If not—what, Cecilia?” said Miss Ossulton, grasping her niece’s arm.
“He will starve us, and not let us go!”
“God have mercy on us!” cried Miss Ossulton, renewing her sobs.
Cecilia then went to Mrs Lascelles, and communicated to her apart, all that had passed. Mrs Lascelles agreed with Cecilia that they were in no danger of insult; and as they talked over the matter they at last began to laugh; there was a novelty in it, and there was something so ridiculous in all the gentlemen being turned into smugglers. Cecilia was glad that she could not tell her aunt, as she wished her to be so frightened as never to have her company on board the yacht again; and Mrs Lascelles was too glad to annoy her for many and various insults received. The matter was therefore canvassed over very satisfactorily, and Mrs Lascelles felt a natural curiosity to see this new Lord B— and the second Mr Ossulton. But they had had no breakfast, and were feeling very hungry now that their alarm was over. They desired Phoebe to ask the steward for some tea or coffee. The reply was, that “Breakfast was laid in the cabin, and Lord B— trusted that the ladies would come to partake of it.”
