By Conduct and Courage

f the fingers of his left hand had been carried away, but he bore the loss with equanimity, as it would not compel him to leave the se

rence if it had been me," he said

ficer can get on very well without some of his fingers a sailor would be useless and would be turned adrift with some trifling pension. I shall do very well. I

l he was discharged as fit for duty. The Hawke was not in harbour, so he went to an hotel. On the following day he received an order to call upon

l not interfere much wi

fortnight longer than was absolutely necessary, lest in your anxiety to rejoin you might do yourself harm. Three days since a cutter of about a hundred tons was sent in by the Sylph. She was a pirate, and, lik

ge he could not have expected for a mom

ou will have forty hands before the mast. The Hawke is expected in in a few days, so you can pick five men from her. The rest I will make up from the other ships. The cutter will be furnished with four twelve-pounders, and the long

selecting me for this service, and wi

I believe, for the good of the service, and to some extent

obtain a separate command, and he could have shouted with joy at this altogether unexpected promotion. The first thing he did

when he said that it was only by chance that she was caught. I hope the fellow who is going with me is a good sort. It would be awkward if we did not pull well together. At any rate, as the admiral seems to ha

e, and had not been able to offer any resistance to a craft so much more powerful than herself, she was uninjured, and wa

one in the bow." He went to bed that night and dreamt of fierce fights and many captures, and laughed at himself when he awok

te incredulity, but when at last his messmates came to understand that he was not joking, he was heartily congratulated on his good fortune. Afterwards he was not a little cha

e-pounders, and a sixteen-pounder long pivot gun at the bow.

et a good deal more fun out of her than from a frigate or line-of-battle

men out of the Hawke, and you may be su

ship. He is very popular with all the men, and is full of life and go, and always the first to set an exam

hand, and indeed, though he still ranks as a boy, he is a big powerful f

ny of the men, and though perhaps not so active, q

ve small drafts from several of the ships, and i

looked surprised for a moment at the age of his new commander, but gravely reported himself for service. Will was plea

gether, and I hope both do well. We are to act as police on the coast of Cuba; it swarms with pirates, and it will be hard if we don't fall in with some of them. You will, of course, keep one watch, and the boatswain, who is a thoroughly good man, will take

erms, and I promise to obey your commands as rea

and I hope you will share it with me. W

that he was engaged they would have withdrawn, but Will called them in. "Sit down and join Mr. Harman and myself in a chat. This, Harman, is Bob Dimchurch, who is going to be our boatswain, and Tom Stevens, whom I have

nd, sir," Dimchurch said, "and should not have

e is no man whose congratulations can be mo

ght that it was you who had command of her, but I have [pg 143]no fear but that you will do her full justice. I c

rtune, Dimchurch; I can ha

s you who saved the first lieutenant's life; and it was you who suggested a plan by which we acc

was able to take an observation so soon after I had joined, a

urther talk both of the past and the future, Dimchurch sprang to his feet, saying: "Well, sir, I wish you

e on board with Mr. Harman directly after breakfast. I hav

ter-accommodation was exceedingly good; the cabin wa

uld wish for a better command. I must set to work to get

nd I believe we shall have our

her load to the cutter. In the course of the forenoon the remainder of the men came on board in twos and th

y be assured that if possible I will put you in the way of gaining prize-money. There are plenty of prizes to be taken, and I hope confidently that m

one large lateen sail. None of them were sufficiently strong to show fight; they were not intended to attack merchantmen, but preyed upon native craft, and were manned by from ten to twenty desperadoes. Most of them, when overhauled, pretended to be peaceful fishermen or traders, but a search always brought to light concealed arms, and in some cases captured goods. The boats were burned, and their cr

schooner was nearly as fast as she was, and at the end of a six hours' chase she was still two miles ahead. Suddenly she headed for the shore and disappeared among the trees. L'Agile proce

ch those two French frigates I have told you of ran into a

r view of the enemy, and observe as far as possible what preparation had been made for defence. He was absent for half an hour, and then returned, saying that the schoo

ll be plenty [pg 146]of room for us to man?uvre.

n each side; I should say they wer

s are of heavier metal than hers, and the long-

owers, and then headed for the mouth of the inlet. She was half-way through

er guns did not inflict much damage upon the cutter. Lying between the two batteries she engaged them both, her broadside guns firing with grape, while the long-tom sent

g guns, Dimchurch," Will said; "I d

and three wounded, all of them slightly. As she sailed up the inlet she replied with her pivot-gun to the fire of the enemy. At every shot the splinters were seen to fly from the schooner's side, much to the discomfiture of t

emerging from a side channel, which was so closed in with trees that it had been unperceived by anybody aboard the cutter. Her ai

othing to do but to fight it out. Take her head round," he said, "we will settle it with the cutter

ame time kept his other two guns playing upon the schooner, the crew of which were busy getting up sail. The long-tom was served by Dimchurch

ed for a moment and then fell over her side towards L'Agile, and the sails and hamper entirely prevented the crew from working her guns. For another five minutes the fire

o get away. Run her aboard!" In a minute the two vessels crashed together, and h

have killed him had not Tom Stevens sprung forward and caught the blow on his own cutlass. The sword flew from the man's hand, and Tom at once cut him down. Dimchurch engaged in a single-handed contest with the great mulatto captain. Strong as the sailor was he could with difficulty parry the ruffian'

er. The sail and wreckage were cleared away, and the boat proceeded to tow her out of the inlet. In the meantime a warp was taken from L'Agile to the schooner, the sails of the latter were lowered, and Will sailed proudly out with his second prize in tow. Once fairly at sea the crew began to repair damages. Five men in all had been killed and eleven were wounded. Several of the latter, however, were

a rough examination was made of the holds of the two vessels, and to the great satis

carried nearly a hundred men we should have been altogether overmatched. Well, they had certainly a right to count upon success; their arrangements were exceedingly good. No doubt they expected us to leave the batteries alone, and from t

t turned from the schooner and settled with the cut

mast out was the turning-point of the fight. It completely crippled her, and as

ed to the flagship, where he received a very hearty greeting. "You have not come empty-handed, I see, Mr.

time, sir," Will said, "as

manned by far heavier crews, besides the two batteries. It was an excellent idea to leave the vessel with which you were first engaged and turn upon the second one. If you had tried to fight them both at once you would almost certainly have been overcome, and you succeeded because you were cool enough to grasp the fact that the

e to examine them, but they certainly contain a number of bales

ith you myself and ascertain. I have nothing else to do this afternoon, and it will be a matter of

f the islands. "That is enough," said the admiral; "I don't think we shall be far wrong if we put down the value of those two cargoes at ￡10,000. The two vessels will sell for about ￡1000 apiece, so that the prize-money will be altogether about ￡12,000, and even after putting aside my portion you will all share to a handsome amount in the proceeds. That is the advantage of not belonging to a squadron. In that case your share would not be worth anything like what it wi

hough ￡250 would be a f

s that amount now. And as there are only the flag and one other officer to share with you, the men's portion wil

ws of the value of their captures. L'Agile remained another week in harbour, during which time all signs of the recent confl

imchurch ran down and reported that they had sighted two sails suspiciously near each o

" Will said, and, putting on

," he said, when he had examined them throug

ery large schooner,

y are, but there is very little doubt as to her

hile they are becalmed. By the look of the water I should say we

e two vessels rapidly. They were some four miles from them when the

; "but the cutter has light wings, so we

hip are all anyhow,

ing any effort to haul in her sheets and come to meet us is in itself a proof of it. I think it is our duty to board her an

efully through his telescope, "and either her cargo is of no value to the pi

imchurch said, "for she is certainly lowe

ease God we shall get to her before she founders! Oh for a stro

s the cutter, but the other boat wou

owering. Heaven only knows what tr

doubt now that she was getting deeper in the water every minute. When they got within a quarter

," Will cried, "ro

s he did so he gave an exclamation of horror, for the deck was strewn with dead bodies. Without stopping to look about him he ran aft to the companion and went down to the cabi

d, "and get into the boats alongside

girl was kneeling by the side of a sto

s a matter of life and death; we shall have the wa

ve her," the

the old lady, but she w

ruggled up against it, and managed to reach the deck; but before he could cross to the side the vessel gave a sudden lurch and went down. He was carried under with the suck, but by desperate efforts he gained the surface just as his breath was spent. For a moment or two he was unable to speak, but he was none the less ready to act. Lookin

RE

rn-sheets. She can't be dead, for she was sensible when

been laid down, W

e them all?

to the other boats to make off, for I saw that she could only float a minute longer, and as it was we had only just got clear when she went down. Indeed we had a narrow escape of it, and the men had to row. I was stand

bring this young la

rubbed her hands and feet and pressed gently at times on her chest. After five minutes of this treatment the girl heaved a sigh, and shortly afterwar

murmured. "Poor Miss Morr

e was. It was impossible to save her; for though I tried my best I could not l

a child, and has been a mother to me. Oh, t

id; "you certainly cannot require a governess many more years, and

teen," the

nd we will all do our bes

do you mean to say that you are in comman

e, "but for all that I am the commander of this vess