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Phillips had prepared, with a piece of whale line, a kind of lasso, and, stepping up behind him, threw it over his head, drawing it tight around his neck, before the astonished carpenter suspected any mischief. The end of the whale line was then hooked to the clewline of the fore-square-sail, which had been detached for the purpose.
The clewline gave way at the first pull; the cleat to which the halyards were belayed was wrenched off, and the sail blew round the spritsail yards and head guys, which gave us a bad job to get it in. A half hour served to clear all away, and she was suffered to drive on with her topmast studding-sail set, it being as much as she could stagger under.
"That's the spectacle that's hitting the yard." "Yus!" he shouted back, and went to get hold of the clewline. I ran to give him a hand. At the same moment, I caught the Second Mate's voice away aft, shouting. Then came the noise of running feet, and the rest of the watch, and the Second Mate, were with us almost at the same moment. In a few minutes we had the yard lowered and the sail clewed up.
He watched an opportunity until the captain had actually stepped into the post-chaise with his lady for Portsmouth, where his ship lay, and caused him to be arrested in the most public and shameful manner. Mrs. Clewline had like to have sunk under the first transports of her grief and mortification; but these subsiding, she had recourse to personal solicitation.
I called Markham's attention to this; at the same time mentioning what I had thought about the grape. "A capital notion, young-un!" he replied. "Your infantile intellect is really developing with marvellous rapidity. Clewline can't be communicated with, however, where he is; so we must just do the best we can for ourselves.
Mr Clewline, I thought, seemed rather to resent the suggestion as an affront to his dignity; he, however, made no demur, but proceeded aloft with great deliberation, and, seating himself upon the fore-topsail yard, took a very leisurely observation of the stranger.
It occurred to me that if Mr Clewline could pour a charge or two of grape into the crowd of Frenchmen, it might have the effect of freshening their way; and I was pushing towards the bulwarks intending to slip down on board the "Scourge" and see what could be done, when I observed for the first time that she was no longer alongside; and on looking farther I caught a glimpse of her through one of the open ports, lying about a couple of cables' lengths distant.
I may safely venture to say you will be supremely astonished at the effect you will produce, and if " "Mr Clewline wishes to see you on deck at once, please, Mr Markham," said a marine, popping his head in at the door. "Oh! all right," returned Markham. "I'll be up in a minute or two.
But he was mistaken for once, if by the term fun he meant a frigate action; for old Clewline, the skipper of the "Amethyst," was too seasoned a hand to do anything rashly. He ran down, his ship as dark as the grave, until he had attained a position about two miles dead to windward of our pursuer, when he hauled up and showed the private signal at his gaff-end.
They were trying to batter down the door leading into the steerage, but as yet with no success. "All ready!" shouted Perth. Phillips, who was the only one of the crew remaining on board, hastily belayed the clewline at the fife-rail, hauling it just taut enough to hold Bitts, without choking him to death.
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