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And meanwhile, as it was evident that a heavy downpour was imminent, I roused up Gowland, and we carried our mattresses below, I repeating to him, as we went, what Roberts had told me. By the time that we got back on deck again the gunner was aft, waiting for us, with the port-fire all ready in his hand, and I instructed him to go aloft as far as the fore-cross-trees and light it there.
Proper prize-crews were now told off to the three prizes Ryan being placed in charge of the Mercedes; Gowland, the master's mate, in charge of the Dona Hermosa; and Good, one of the midshipmen, in charge of the Felicidad and the order to weigh and proceed in company was given.
"Well aimed, but not quite enough elevation," exclaimed I to Gowland, who had charge of the deck, and who had called me a moment before. "Now, who is the fellow, and what does he mean by firing at us? Is he a Frenchman, think you, and does he take us for a slaver which, by the way, is not a very extraordinary mistake to make? We had better show him our bunting, I think.
In the course of the same morning, Anne and her father chancing to be alone together, he began to compliment her on her improved looks; he thought her "less thin in her person, in her cheeks; her skin, her complexion, greatly improved; clearer, fresher. Had she been using any thing in particular?" "No, nothing." "Merely Gowland," he supposed. "No, nothing at all."
Mr Dugdale, I want twenty men to arm themselves forthwith, and then creep into the waist under the lee of the starboard bulwarks, taking care that they are not seen; pick me out the best men in the ship, if you please. Ah, here is Gowland, the very man I wanted to see!
Poor Gowland was, unfortunately, one of the five who had been killed by the brig's murderous broadside of grape, and I was therefore deprived of the benefit of his advice and assistance in the choice of a port for which to steer; but I was by this time a fairly expert navigator myself, quite capable of doing without assistance if necessary.
When these were in position the recumbent block could easily be placed across the two and, all the trilithons being complete, the earth could be dug away, leaving the stones standing. Professor Gowland, however, does not favour this view in the light of his recent discoveries and is inclined to credit the builders with a greater knowledge of simple engineering.
True, there was some faint attempt at jocularity among a few of the occupants of the midshipmen's berth as we sought our hammocks, but it was manifestly braggadocio, utterly lacking the true ring of heartiness that usually characterised such attempts, and it was speedily nipped in the bud by Gowland, the master's mate, who gruffly recommended the offenders to "say their prayers and then go to sleep, instead of talking nonsense."
Parsons," to a man who was hovering close by, "bend on the ensign and run it up to the gaff-end." "There is no harm in doing that, of course," remarked Gowland; "but he is no Frenchman or at least he is not a French cruiser; I am sure of that by the cut of his canvas. Besides, we know every French craft on the station, and Johnny Crapaud has no such beauty as that brig among them.
This peremptory message, coupled no doubt with the experiences of the preceding night, had its desired effect; for while the sun was still a quarter of an hour distant from that part of the heavens that Gowland had indicated, we saw a procession issue from the fetish-house in the centre of the town, which our telescopes enabled us to make out as consisting of a group of white men, closely guarded by a body of some two hundred armed warriors, detailed, it would appear, for the purpose of guarding the whites from the fury of the witch-doctors, or priests, who were thus most unwillingly deprived of their prey, and who accompanied the party right down to the shore, doing their best to instigate the people to attack the escort and recapture the released prisoners.
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