Blue Jackets: The Log of the Teaser Read online

  CHAPTER TEN.

  THE ENEMY.

  "Oh, I say, do wake up and come on deck. It's such a lark."

  "What is?" I said, rolling out of the berth, with my head feeling allconfused and strange, to stare at Barkins.

  "Why, everything. You never saw such a miserable old rag-bag of a shipin your life."

  I hurriedly dressed and went on deck, to find the preparations complete,and I could not help thinking that, if the pirates mistook the _Teaser_for a man-of-war now, they must be clever indeed.

  For on the previous day I had only seen the alterations in bits, so tospeak, but now everything was done, even to having a quantity of coal ondeck, and the clean white planks besmirched with the same black fuel.The paint-pots had altered everything; the figure-head was hidden withtarpaulin; the rigging, instead of being all ataunto, was what Smithcalled "nine bobble square," and one sail had been taken down andreplaced by an old one very much tattered, so that up aloft we looked asif we had been having a taste of one of the typhoons which visit theChinese seas. These preparations, with the men's clothes hanging todry, the boats badly hauled up to the davits, and the fish hanging overthe stern (after the fashion practised in west-country fishing-boats),completely altered the aspect of everything. Then I found that theofficers were all in tweeds, with yachting or shooting caps; the bulk ofthe crew below, and my twenty men and lads all carefully got up withpainted heads and pigtails complete, under the charge of Ching, who wasbustling about importantly, and he came to me at once and beganwhispering--

  "Captain say, Ching takee care allee men, and show himself evelywhere."

  "Yes, of course," I said. "Yes. You wanted to say something?"

  "Yes, Ching want say something."

  "Well, what is it? Quick, I must go."

  "Ching want you tell sailor boy be velly careful. Take care of Chingwhen pilate come."

  "All right," I said; "but they haven't come yet."

  "Think big junk pilate."

  "Which one? where?" I said.

  He pointed forward to where, about five miles off the lee-bow, a greatjunk was slowly sailing in the same direction as we were.

  "Is that the one which passed us in the night?" I said.

  "Yes."

  "Why do you think she is a pirate?"

  "Ching tink why she no sail light away and not stop while man-o'-warclawl along velly slow. You tellee captain."

  I nodded, and found that there was no need, for the captain wascarefully observing the junk from where he was hidden by a pile ofcasks, and Mr Reardon was with him.

  "Here, Mr Herrick," he cried, "your eyes are young. Have a look atthat junk. Take your uniform cap off, my lad, and, as soon as you havedone, take off your jacket and put on a coloured suit."

  I had a good look through the glass at the junk, and made my report.

  "I think it's only a big trader, sir," I said. "Looks like the boats wesaw at Amoy, and as if she were going up to Wanghai."

  "Yes, that's it, I think," said Captain Thwaites to Mr Reardon. Thenhe sharply turned to me and gave me a dry look. "Well, Mr Herrick, yousee I have taken your advice, and put my ship in this disgracefulstate."

  "Yes, sir," I said eagerly; "and I hope it will prove successful."

  "So do I," he said drily. "That will do, Herrick. Now, Mr Reardon, Ithink we will keep on just as we are, just about four knots an hour. Itgives the idea of our being in trouble; and if we keep on close outsidethe islands, it may draw the scoundrels--that is, if they are there."

  "Yes, sir, if they are there," said the lieutenant.

  "How long do you reckon it will take us to get abreast of the reef wherethat barque lay?"

  "We ought to be there by noon, sir, I should say."

  "That will do. We shall seem to be making for Wanghai."

  I heard no more, but went below, and directly after breakfast reappearedin white flannels and a cricketing cap, a transformation which satisfiedthe first lieutenant, but displeased Barkins and Smith, who had ordersto keep below in uniform.

  "I hate so much favouritism," grumbled Barkins. "Who are you, Gnat?You're our junior; and here are we kept below, and my lord you paradingabout the deck, and seeing everything."

  "Why, you're in the reserve," I said banteringly, "and will have all thefighting to do."

  "Who wants all the fighting to do?" cried Smith. "I don't. I supposeif we do take a lot of pirate junks, you'll be promoted, and we shan'tget a word."

  "Stuff!" I said. "How can I get promoted?"

  "But I want to know why you're to be picked out," cried Barkins.

  "Go and ask the skipper," I said. "Now, look here both of you; ifyou're not civil, I won't come and report everything. If you are, I'llcome down as often as I can to tell you all that is going on."

  "Oh then, I suppose we must be civil, Smithy," said Barkins sourly, "butwe'll serve the beggar out afterwards."

  I went up on deck again to find that our speed had been slightlyincreased, but we drew no nearer to the junk, which sailed on exactly inthe same course as we were taking, and that seemed strange; but beyondwatching her through the telescopes, and seeing that she had only abouta dozen men on board--all blue-frocked Chinamen--no further notice wastaken of her.

  Ching was seated right forward, with his blue frock showing well upagainst the grey white of one of the hanging-down sails, and he had beenfurnished with a pipe, which he smoked slowly and thoughtfully;half-a-dozen men were in the fore-rigging, making believe to repairdamages up aloft; and soon after four more were sent up to begintinkering at the topmast, which they made great efforts to lower down ondeck, but of course got no further.

  They had orders from the first lieutenant to take it coolly, and coollythey took it, looking like a lazy, loafing set of Chinese sailors, whoseintentions were to do as little as they could for their pay.

  Mr Reardon, in a shooting-suit and straw hat, went about giving orders,and the captain and Mr Brooke had cane seats on the quarter-deck, witha bottle and glasses, and sat sipping beer and smoking cigars, as ifthey were passengers.

  Then came long hours of patient--I should say impatient--crawling alongover the same course as we had followed the previous day, with no sailin sight but the big junk, which took not the slightest notice of us,nor we of it.

  There was no doubt whatever, though, of her actions. She kept sailingon at about the same rate as we steamed, evidently for the sake of beingin company, and to have a European vessel close at hand to close up toin case of danger from the shores of the mainland, or one of the islandswe should pass, for it was an established fact that the pirates seldomattacked ships that were in company.

  All through the early part of the morning the novelty of the affairinterested the men, and there was a constant burst of eager conversationgoing on, but as noon came, and matters were in the same position, andwe still far away from the spot where the barque had been burned, everyone grew weary, and I fidgeted myself into a state of perspiration.

  "It will all turn out wrong," I thought, "and then they will blame me."

  With these fancies to worry me, I kept away from my messmates as much asI could; and when by accident I encountered either of my superiors, Isaw that they looked--or I fancied they did--very stern.

  "All these preparations for nothing," I said to myself, as I saw theguns all ready, but covered over with tarpaulins, cartridges and shellswaiting, and the crews armed and impatient.

  Dinner had been long over, and I need hardly say that I did not enjoymine. Some of the men were having a nap, and the heat below must havebeen very great, for it was scorching on deck.

  At last we were abreast of the rocky islands dotted here and there, andupon the reef I could just make out a few pieces of the burned vessel.

  But as I swept the rocky islets and channels and then the horizon, Icould not make out a sail, only our companion the junk, with her bowsand stern high out of the water, sailing easily along that fineafternoon.

  Another hour p
assed, and there were rocky islands on our starboard bowand two astern, but not a sign of inhabitant, only high bluffs, ruggedcliffs, and narrow channels between reefs whitened by the constantbreaking upon them of a heavy swell.

  "Rather slow work, Reardon," said the captain, as they two came by whereI was at the bulwark, using a small glass. "See anything, Mr Herrick?"

  "No, sir," I said.

  "No, sir, indeed; of course you don't," cried the captain impatiently."Nice trick you've played me, sir. Made me dress up my men and the shipin this tomfool way. There you are using your glass. What have you gotto say for yourself, eh?"

  I could not tell whether he was speaking banteringly or really angrily,and, keeping my glass to my eye in the hope of seeing something toreport, I mumbled out some excuse about meaning it for the best.

  "Best, indeed!" he said pettishly. "Nice objects we look. What do youthink the First Lords of the Admiralty would say to me if they could seeHer Majesty's gunboat--the finest clipper in the service--in this state?Eh? Why don't you answer, sir?"

  "I suppose, sir," I cried desperately, "that they would say you weredoing your best for the sake of trying to catch the pirates."

  "Humph! do you, indeed? Well? Anything to report? What's the use ofholding that glass to your eye if you can't see anything? Anything toreport, I say?"

  "Yes, sir," I cried breathlessly, and with my heart throbbing heavily,"the junk has run up a little pennon to her mast-head."

  "She has?" cried Mr Reardon excitedly, and he raised his own glass."Yes, you're right. Well done, Herrick! There, sir, I told you the ladwas right."

  "Right? when they are signalling to us for water or a bag of rice."

  "When they have only to heave-to and let us overhaul them, sir," criedMr Reardon, swinging his glass round and narrowly missing my head."No, sir, they're signalling to the shore; and before long we shall seeanother junk come swooping out from behind one of those headlands, totake us in the rear. If they don't, I'm a Dutchman."

  "Then Dutchman you are, Reardon," said the captain, smiling. "I onlywish they would."

  "Here they come, sir," I cried excitedly--"one--two--yes, there arethree."

  "What? Where?"

  "You can only see the tops of their sails, sir, over that flat, lowisland this side of the big cliffs."

  "Eh! yes."

  Only those two words, as the captain sighted the slowly-moving objectsjust indistinctly seen, but they were enough to send a thrill allthrough the ship.

  For there was no mistaking the matter. The junk that had been hangingby us all night was a pirate after all, and she had signalled tocompanions on shore. I could see, too, that she was slightly alteringher course.

  The enemy was at last in sight.