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diff --git a/25058.txt b/25058.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..5da4ef9 --- /dev/null +++ b/25058.txt @@ -0,0 +1,1215 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Foster's Letter Of Marque, by Louis Becke + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Foster's Letter Of Marque + A Tale Of Old Sydney - 1901 + +Author: Louis Becke + +Release Date: April 12, 2008 [EBook #25058] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK FOSTER'S LETTER OF MARQUE *** + + + + +Produced by David Widger + + + + + +FOSTER'S LETTER OF MARQUE + +A TALE OF OLD SYDNEY + +From "The Tapu Of Banderah and Other Stories" + +By Louis Becke + +C. Arthur Pearson Ltd. + +1901 + + + + +I + +One by one the riding-lights of the few store-ships and whalers lying +in Sydney Harbour on an evening in January, 1802, were lit, and as the +clear notes of a bugle from the barracks pealed over the bay, followed +by the hoarse calls and shrill whistles of the boatswains' mates on a +frigate that lay in Sydney Cove, the mate of the _Policy_ whaler jumped +up from the skylight where he had been lying smoking, and began to pace +the deck. + +The _Policy_ was anchored between the Cove and Pinchgut, ready for sea. +The north-easter, which for three days had blown strongly, had now died +away, and the placid waters of the harbour shimmered under the starlight +of an almost cloudless sky. As the old mate tramped to and fro on the +deserted poop, his keen seaman's eye caught sight of some faint grey +clouds rising low down in the westward--signs of a south-easterly coming +before the morning. + +Stepping to the break of the poop, the officer hailed the look-out +forward, and asked if he could see the captain's boat coming. + +"No, sir," the man replied. "I did see a boat a while ago, and thought +it was ours, but it turned out to be one from that Batavian Dutchman +anchored below Pinchgut. Her captain always goes ashore about this +time." + +Swinging round on his heel with an angry exclamation, the mate resumed +his walk, muttering and growling to himself as elderly mates do +mutter and growl when a captain promises to be on board at five in the +afternoon and is not in evidence at half-past seven. Perhaps, too, the +knowledge of the particular cause of the captain's delay somewhat added +to his chief officer's ill-temper--that cause being a pretty girl; for +the mate was a crusty old bachelor, and had but little sympathy with +such "tomfoolery." + +"Why the devil couldn't he say goodbye to her and be done with it and +come aboard," he grumbled, "instead of wasting half a day over it?" + +But Mr. Stevenson did not consider that in those days pretty women were +not plentiful in Sydney, and virtue was even scarcer than good looks, +and Dorothy Gilbert, only daughter of the Deputy Acting Assistant +Commissary-General of the penal settlement, possessed all the +qualifications of a lovable woman, and therefore it was not wonderful +that Captain Charles Foster had fallen very much in love with her. + +Dorothy, of course, had her faults, and her chief one was the rather +too great store she set upon being the daughter of an official. Pretty +nearly every one in those days of the settlement was either an official +or a prisoner or an ex-convict, and the D.A.A.C.G. was of no small +importance among the other officials in Sydney. The girl's acquaintance +with the young master of the _Policy_ began in a very ordinary manner. +His ship had been chartered by the Government to take out a cargo of +stores to the settlement, and the owners, who were personally acquainted +with her father, had given Foster a letter of introduction. This he had +used somewhat sooner than he had at first intended, for on presenting +himself at the Commissary's office he had caught sight of Dolly's +charming face as she stood talking to a young man in the uniform of a +sergeant of the New South Wales Regiment who had brought a letter to her +father. . + +"Thank you, Sergeant," the young lady said with a gracious smile. "Will +you present my father's compliments to the Major and say we shall be +sure to come. He is not here at present, but cannot delay long, as he +will have much business to transact with the master of the ship just +come in, and who will doubtless be here very soon." + +Just at that moment Foster appeared at the open door, and the young +lady, divining at once that he was the person of whom she had just +spoken, bowed very prettily, and begging him to be seated whilst she +had search made for her father, left the office and disappeared in the +living portion of the house, followed by a look of very great interest +from Captain Foster. A minute later the Commissary entered the room, and +Foster was soon deep in business with Dolly's father, to whom he made +himself very agreeable--having a certain object in view. + +Their business concluded, the young man rose to go, and not till +then--being wise in his generation--did he allude to the fact of his +having a private letter of introduction from his owners--Messrs. Hurry +Brothers, of London--to Mr. Scars-brook. The stiff, official manner of +the D.A.A.C.G. at once thawed, and being at heart a genial old fellow, +he expressed his pleasure, shook hands again with the young man, and +inquired why he had not presented the letter or made allusion to it +before. + +Foster, who had pretty well gauged Mr. Scarsbrook mentally, modestly +replied that he did not care to obtrude private affairs at an +inopportune time. He knew that weighty affairs doubtless occupied Mr. +Scarsbrook's mind during his business hours, but had intended to do +himself the honour of presenting his letter later on, &c. + +This at once impressed the D.A.A.C.G., who asked him to dinner that +evening. + +"A most intelligent young man, my dear," he told Dolly shortly +after. "His attention to business before all else has given me a very +favourable impression of him." + +Dolly tossed her head. "I hope I shall not be disappointed in him. Is he +young?" she asked indifferently. + +"Quite; and in manners and appearance much above his position." + +Dolly did like him very much--'much more than she cared to confess to +herself--and their first meeting at dinner led to many of a less formal +character, and ere a week had passed Captain Charles Foster was very +much in love with his host's daughter, and not being a man who wasted +time, was only awaiting an opportunity to tell her so. + +Now Dolly, who had first flirted with and then flouted every one of +the bachelor officials in Sydney, military or civilian, who visited the +Commissary's abode, was, to do her justice, a girl of sense at heart, +and she felt that Captain Foster meant to ask her an all-important +question--to every woman--and that her answer would be "Yes." For not +only was he young, handsome, and highly thought of by his owners, but he +came of a good family, and had such prospects for his future as seldom +came in the way of men in the merchant service even in those days of +lucky South-Seamen and East India traders, who made fortunes rapidly. +And then 'twas evident he was very much in love with her, and this +latter fact considerably and naturally influenced her. + +The first week passed pleasantly enough, then, to his anger and disgust, +Foster found he had a rival; and before the end of the second week he +realised, or imagined so, that he was beaten in the field of love--by a +Dutchman! + +Sergeant Harry Burt was the first to give him warning, for he was often +on duty at or near the Commissary's quarters, and, indeed, had often +taken notes from Foster to the fair Dolly. He showed a warm interest in +the matter, for Foster was always polite to the sergeant, and did not +turn up his nose at "soldier men," as other masters of ships were but +too ready to do. + +It had so happened that the work of discharging his ship had kept Foster +very busy during the second week of his stay, and he had paid but one +evening visit to Dolly and her father, and was hurrying the cargo ashore +with feverish eagerness. Once that was accomplished, he meant to devote +himself (1)to proposing to the young lady, (2) gaining her father's +consent, and (3) getting to sea again as soon as possible, making a good +cruise at the whale fishery, and returning to Sydney within two years +as master and owner of a ship of his own. Consequently, Burt's news gave +him considerable disquietude. + +"Who did you say he was, Sergeant?" he asked gloomily; "a Dutchman?" + +"Yes, sir; he's the master of that Dutch Batavian ship that has brought +stores from Batavia. Mr. Scarsbrook seems to make a lot of him of late, +and he's always coming up to the Commissary's place. And if he sees Miss +Scarsbrook out in the garden he swaggers in after her as if he were an +admiral of the fleet Portveldt's his name, and--and----" + +"And what, Sergeant?" + +"Well, I think Miss Scarsbrook rather likes him, that's all. You see, +sir, you haven't been there for a week, and this young Dutchman is by no +means bad-looking, and even our Major says he's a jolly fine fellow--and +all that goes a long way with women, you know. Then you only visit the +house once in a week; the Dutchman goes there every day, and every time +he comes he brings his boatswain with him--a big, greasy-faced chap. +Last night he followed his master, carrying a cheese--a present for the +Commissary, I suppose." + +"Well, I shall soon see how the land lies, Sergeant I'm going ashore +presently, and I can promise you it won't be my fault if I let this +fellow get to windward of me." + +But Miss Dolly was not to be seen that day, nor yet on the following +one. She was vexed at Foster having thought of his work before herself, +and she had determined to punish him by not meeting him for some little +time, and amuse herself with the handsome young Dutch sailor meanwhile. +So, in no very amiable mood, Foster went back to his ship, finished +discharging, and delighted his old mate by telling him to get ready +for sea as quickly as possible. And on this particular evening when +our story opens the _Policy_ only waited for her captain--who had gone +ashore--so he told Stevenson--to say goodbye to the Commissary, with +parting instructions to the mate to begin to heave up as soon as he saw +his (Foster's) boat leave the Cove. + +After spending half an hour with the Commissary, Foster asked to see +Miss Dorothy, and was soon ushered into the sitting-room, where the +young lady welcomed him effusively, and her manner soon drove all +suspicious thoughts of his rival out of his mind. Her mother, a placid +lady, who was absolutely ruled by Dolly and her father, smiled approval +when Foster asked her daughter to accompany him to the garden and take +a look at the harbour. She liked him, and had previously given him much +assistance by getting out of the way whenever she suspected he wanted to +see Dolly alone. + +As soon as they had gained the screen of the shaded path leading to the +water's edge, Foster came to the point at once. + +"Dolly," he said, "you know why I have asked you to come with me here. +My ship is ready for sea, and it may be quite two years before I shall +have the happiness of seeing you again." + +"'Tis very kind of you to pay me so pretty a compliment, Captain +Foster--or I should say Mr. Foster," said Dolly, concealing a smile; +"but surely you need not have brought me out to the garden to tell me +this." + +Her pretended forgetfulness of some past passages in their brief +acquaintance, as her speech implied, ruffled him. + +"You are very particular with your _Mr_. Foster, Miss Dolly; and why not +'Captain'?" + +Dolly raised her eyebrows in surprise. + +"Captains hold the King's commission and fight for their country," she +said demurely. "The master of a horrid ship that goes catching whales +has no right to the title." Then she laughed and shook her long, fair +curls. + +"Upon my word, young lady, you are very complimentary; but, Dolly, no +more of this banter. My boat is waiting, and I have but a few minutes +to ask you to give me your answer. In all seriousness remember that my +future depends upon it. Will you marry me? Will you try to love me? +May I go away with the hope that you will look forward to my return, +and----" + +"In all seriousness, Mr. Foster, I will not." + +"Why, what have I done to offend you? I thought you--I thought that +I----" and then, getting somewhat confused and angry at the same time +at Dolly's nonchalant manner, he wound up with, "I believe that damned +Dutchman has come between us!" + +"How dare you swear at me, sir? I suppose, though, it is the custom for +captains in the merchant service to swear at ladies. And what right have +you to assume that I should marry you? Because I rather liked to talk to +you when I felt dull, is that any reason why you should be so very +rude to me? And once for all, sir, I shall never marry a mere merchant +sailor--a common whaling master. I shall marry, when I do marry, an +officer and a gentleman in the King's service." + +"Ah!" Foster snapped, "and what about the Dutchman?" + +Now up to this point Dolly had been making mere pretence. She honestly +loved the young seaman, and meant to tell him so plainly before he left +the garden, but at this last question the merriment he had failed to see +in her eyes gave place to an angry sparkle, and she quickly retorted-- + +"Mr. Portveldt, sir, is a Dutch gentleman, and he would never talk to me +in such a way as you have done. How dare you, sir!" + +Foster was really angry now, and smiled sarcastically. "He's but the +master of a merchantman, and an infernal Dutchman at that." + +"He is a gentleman, which you are not!" snapped Dolly fiercely; "and +if he is but a merchant skipper, he commands his own ship. He is a +shipowner, and a well-known Batavian merchant as well, sir; so there!" + +"So I believe," said Foster wrathfully; "sells Dutch cheeses and brings +them ashore with him." + +"You're a spy," said Dolly contemptuously. + +"Very well, Miss Scarsbrook, call me what you please. I can see your +cheese merchant waddling this way now, attended by his ugly pirate of +a boatswain. Doubtless he has some stock-fish on this occasion, and +as stock-fish are very much like Dutchmen in one respect and I like +neither, I wish you joy of him. Goodbye!" And Captain Foster swung on +his heel and walked quickly out of the garden gate. As he strode down +the narrow path he brushed past the Batavian merchant, who was on his +way to the Commissary's office. + +"Goot tay to you, Captain Foster," said Port-veldt, grinning amiably. + +"Go to the devil!" replied the Englishman promptly, turning round and +facing the Dutchman to give due emphasis to his remark. + +Portveldt, a tall, well-made fellow, and handsomely dressed, stared at +Foster's retreating figure in angry astonishment, then changing his mind +about first visiting the Commissary, he opened the garden gate, and came +suddenly upon Dorothy Scarsbrook seated upon a rustic bench, weeping +bitterly. + +"My tear yong lady, vat is de matter? I beg you to led me gomfort you." + +"There is nothing the matter, Mr. Portveldt I thank you, but you cannot +be of any service to me," and Dolly buried her face in her handkerchief +again. + +"I am sorry ferry mooch to hear you say dat, Mees Dorotee, vor it vas +mein hop dot you would dake kindtly to me." + +Dolly made no answer, and then Captain Portveldt sat down beside her, +his huge figure quite filling up all the remaining space. + +"Mees Dorotee," he began ponderously, "de trood is dot I vas goming to +see you to dell you I vas ferry mooch in loaf mid you, und to ask you to +be mein vifes; but now dot you do veep so mooch, I----" + +"Say no more if you please, Mr. Portveldt," said Dolly, hastily drying +her eyes. Then, rising with great dignity, she bowed and went on: "Of +course I am deeply sensible of the great honour that you do me, but +I can never be your wife." And then to herself: "I fancy that I have +replied in a very proper manner." + +"Vy, vat vas der wrong aboud me, Mees Dorotee?" pleaded Portveldt "I vas +feery yoyful in mein mind tinking dot you did loaf me some liddle bid. I +have mooch money; mein haus in Batavia is mosd peautiful, und you shall +have plendy servands to do all dot you vish. Oh, Mees Dorotee! vat can +be wrong mid me?" + +"There is nothing that I object to in you, sir, except that I do not +love you. Really you cannot expect me to marry you because I have seen +you half a dozen times and have treated you with politeness." + +"I do hobe, Mees Dorotee, dot id is not because of dot yong mans who vas +so oncivil to me yoost now dot you vill not haf me. He vas dell me to go +to der tuyvel ven I did say 'goot morning' yoost now." + +"It is no young man, sir. Mr. Foster is a person for whom I have a great +regard, but I do not intend to marry him. I will only marry a gentleman. + +"Oh, bud, Mees Dorotee, am I not a yentle-mans?" + +"I do not consider masters of merchantmen gentlemen," replied Dolly with +a slight sniff. "My father is an officer in the King's service, and I +have been taught to----" + +"Ha, ha! Mees Dorotee," laughed Portveldt good-humouredly, "dot is nod +so. Your baba is but a gommissary who puys de goots vich I bring me from +Batavia to sell." + +"How dare you talk like that, sir? My father _is_ a King's officer, and +before he came here he fought for his country." + +"Veil, Mees Dorotee, I do beg your pardon mooch, and I vill vight vor +mein country if you vil learn to loaf me on dot account." + +But Miss Dolly would listen no more, and, with a ceremonious bow, walked +away. Then the Dutch merchant went to the Commissary's office to +talk the matter over with her father, who told him that he would +not interfere in his daughter's choice; if he could not make himself +agreeable to her, neither her father nor mother could help him. + +Just after sunrise next morning, Dolly, who had spent the night in tears +and repentance, woke, feeling very miserable. From her opened window +she could see the morning mists hanging over the placid waters of +the harbour disappearing before the first breaths of the coming +south-easter. The _Policy_, she thought, could not have sailed yet, and +she meant to send her lover a note, asking him to come and see her again +before he left. Then she gave a little cry and sob, and her eyes filled +with tears. Far down the harbour she could see the sails of the _Policy_ +just disappearing round a wooded headland. + +An hour or so after breakfast, as Dolly was at work among her flowers, +the tall figure of Sergeant Burt stood before her, and saluted-- + +"The _Policy_ has sailed, Miss Scarsbrook," said the Sergeant, "and I +have brought you a letter." + +"Indeed!" said Dolly, with an air of icy indifference, turning her back +upon the soldier, and digging her trowel into a little heap of soil. "I +do not take any interest in merchant ships, and do not want the letter." +When she glanced round again she was just in time to see Sergeant Burt +standing in the roadway with a lot of tiny pieces of paper fluttering +about his feet. + +Something impelled her to ask: "What are you doing, Burt?" + +"Mr. Foster's orders, Miss. Told me if you would not take the letter I +was to destroy it." + +Dolly laid her trowel down and slowly went to her room "with a bad +headache," as she told her mother. + + + + +II + +Nearly two years went by, and then one morning the look-out at the South +Head of Sydney Harbour signalled a vessel to the north-east, and a few +hours later the _Policy_ was again at anchor in Sydney Cove, and Captain +Foster was being warmly welcomed by the residents generally and Dolly's +father in particular, who pressed him to come ashore that evening to +dinner. + +Among the first to board the _Policy_ was Sergeant Burt, who, as soon as +the others had left, was in deep converse with Captain Foster. "I'm sure +she meant to take your letter, Mr. Foster," he said finally, "and that I +was too quick in tearing it up." + +"I'll soon know, Burt; I'll try again this evening." + +At the Commissary's dinner that evening Dolly met him with a charming +smile and cheeks suffused; and then, after Captain Foster had narrated +the incidents of his successful whaling voyage, her parents discreetly +left them to themselves in the garden. + +"Dolly! I am a rough, uncultured sailor. Will you therefore forgive me +my rudeness when we last parted?" + +"Of course. I have forgotten it long ago, and I am very sorry we parted +bad friends." + +"You make me very happy, Dolly. I have been speaking to your mother, +and she has told me that she thinks you do care for me, Is it so? May I +again----" + +"Now, Captain Foster, why cannot we be friends without--without anything +else. I will not pretend that I do not understand your meaning, but I +tell you, once and for all, I don't want to be married. Really," and she +smiled brightly, "you are as bad as Mr. Portveldt." + +"Very well, Miss Dorothy," said Foster with annoying equanimity, "I +won't allude to the subject again. But what has the Dutchman been doing? +Where is he now?" + +Dolly laughed merrily. "Oh, Captain Foster, I really have no right to +show you this letter, but it is so very amusing that I cannot help doing +so," and she took a letter from her pocket. + +"Oh, he has been writing to you, has he?" + +"Now don't speak in that bullying manner, sir, or I shall not let you +hear its contents." + +"Very well, Dolly; but how came you to get the letter? We are at war +with the Dutch Settlements now, you know." + +"That is the amusing part of it. Now listen, and I will read it to +you;" and Dolly spread out a large sheet of paper, and read aloud in +mimicking tones-- + +"Mein dear Mees Dolly,--You did vant ein loafer who could vight vor his +coundry, and vould haf no man who vas yoost ein merchant. Very goot. I +mineself now command the privateer _Swift_, vich vas used to be sailing +in gompany mit _La Brave_ und _La Mouche_ in der service of der French +Republic, und did den vight und beat all der Anglische ships in der +Anglische Channel. Id is drue dot your _La Minerve_ did by shance von +tay capture der _Swift_, and sold her to the American beoples, but our +Batavian merchants did buy her from them, und now I haf god de command. +Und now dot your goundrymens do annoys der Deutsche Settlements in our +Easd Indies, ve do mean to beat dem every dimes ve cadgh dem in dese +zees. Und I do send mein ledder to you, mein tear Mees Dorotee, by der +greasy old vale-ship _Mary Ann_, yoost to led you know dot I haf +not vorgotten you mid your bride eye. Und ven I haf gaptured all der +Anglische ships in der East Indies I vill sail mein _Swift_ to Sydney +and claim you vor mein vrau, und do you nod be vrightened. I vill dake +care dot you und your beople shall not be hurt, because I do loaf you +ferry mooch. Der master of der _Mary Ann_ vill dell you I vas ferry goot +to him for your sake. I did but take his gargo, and did give him und his +grew liberdy to go to Sydney und dake this letter to you, mein vrau, +in der dime to gom, as I did dell him.--I remain your loafing Richard +Portveldt." + +Foster jumped to his feet "The rascally Dutch swab, to dare to----" + +"To dare to write to me," said Dolly laughingly. + +"To dare to write to you! To suppose for one moment that you--oh, d---- +the fellow! If I come across him, I'll----" + +"But all the same, he's very brave," said Dolly demurely; "he is +fighting for his country, you know." + +"The boasting fool!" ejaculated Foster contemptuously. + +"But he _is_ captain of the _Swift_, and the _Swift_ _did_ beat some of +the English ships. I have heard my father say that." + +"Oh, yes. Three privateers did manage to cut off some of our little +despatch vessels in the Channel; but this fat Dutchman, Portveldt, had +no hand in it." + +"But this 'fat Duchman, Portveldt, _did_ capture the _Mary Ann_, and her +master _did_ give me this letter, and--and I was _so_ angry." + +"The master of the _Mary Ann_ must have been a fool." + +"Why so--for merely executing a commission? But wait, there is a +postscript that will interest you particularly. Now listen while I read +it," and Dolly, again mimicking Portveldt's English, read-- + +"Dell dot oncivil yong mans Voster who vas dell me to go to ter tuyvel, +dot I vill sendt der _Bolicy_ und her master mit der grew to der tuyvel +if he gomes mein vay mit his zeep." + +"Now, Captain Foster, what do you think of that, pray?" + +"Very pretty talk; what do _you_ think of it?" + +"Well, I'm only a poor little woman; but if I were a man I would----" + +"Exactly so, Dolly. Well, I am a man, and the _Policy_ has brought a +letter of marque with her from England this time, and so I may meet----" + +"Oh, Captain Foster!" and Dolly's eyes brightened, "I _am_ glad; +but--but--_please_, for my sake, don't get killed." + +A fortnight later, when Foster bade Dolly goodbye for another six +months, she told him softly that she would be glad--oh, so very +glad!--to hear news of him. A whaling voyage was so very dangerous, and +he might get hurt or killed. + +And this time, as the _Policy_ sailed and Foster saw Dolly waving to him +from the steps of the Commissary's office, he felt pretty sure that the +letter of marque had advanced his suit considerably. + +***** + +Fourteen days out from Sydney the _Policy_ took her first whale, greatly +to the delight of old Stevenson and the crew, who looked upon such early +luck as a certain indication of a good cruise. After "trying-out" Foster +kept on to the northward to the sperm-whaling grounds in the Moluccas. +Three days later they spoke the _Endicott_, of Nantucket, whose captain +gave Foster a kindly warning not to go cruising further north, for there +were several Batavian privateers looking out for the English whalers +that were then due on the cruising ground. Then the American wished him +luck and goodbye. + +Old Stevenson's face fell; then he swore. "I suppose we have to turn +tail, sir, and try what we can do to the southward and I believe we'd be +a full ship in three months or less up in the Moluccas." + +"So do I, and I'm going there." + +"But it's dangerous waters, sir; we don't want to lose the ship and rot +in prison in Batavia." + +"Mr. Stevenson, I am an Englishman, and Hurry Brothers did not get a +letter of marque for this ship for nothing. You ought to know that +to turn back means an empty ship. It is our duty to go to our proper +cruising ground and cruise till we are a full ship; and all the infernal +Dutchmen in the world mustn't frighten us." + +"Very good, sir," said the old mate cheerfully, "but, all the same, +I don't want us to get served like that fellow Portveldt served the old +_Mary Ann_." + +Another five weeks passed. So far, "greasy" luck had attended the +_Policy_ for she had taken sixteen more sperm whales, the last of which +was killed in about 8 deg. S. and 120 deg. E., in the Flores Sea. But misfortune +had come upon the ship in other respects, and Foster was in no small +anxiety about his crew, nearly all of whom were ill from lead-poisoning. +This had been brought about by drinking water from leaden tanks in which +oil had once been stored. + +A bright look-out was kept, for the ship was now right in the spot where +it was likely she might meet with the Dutch privateers. + +It was Stevenson's watch, and as he walked the poop he stopped suddenly, +for the look-out reported a sail to the W.S.W. Foster came on deck at +once and went aloft In a quarter of an hour it was evident that the +stranger bore towards them. The wind was south-east, and very little of +it. + +"What are you going to do?" asked the mate. "I fancy this is one of the +Dutchmen who are on the look-out for us." + +"So do I," answered Foster, "I'll tell you what I am going to do: brace +sharp up on the larboard tack and run down to her. I am not going to run +away from _one_ infernal Dutchman, and I can only see one of 'em." + +"You're captain of the ship, and you can do as you please; but I am +hanged if I think you'll pull it off this time. Half the crew are sick, +and this fellow looks as if he meant fighting." + +"All hands on deck; starboard forebrace!" was all the answer Foster +made. Then he went to the signal locker, and getting out the American +ensign, with his own hands ran it up to the peak, hoping by this means +to get close enough to the other ship to prevent _her_ from running away +from a fight, if the captain should turn out not one of the fighting +sort. + +As soon as the sails were trimmed the skipper walked to the break of the +poop, and, with the air of a captain of a seventy-four, gave the order, +"Clear ship for action!" + +Then the mate ventured to remark that half of the guns were down below +on the 'tween decks, where they had been put out of the way for the +generally peaceful occupation of whaling. + +"Well, get 'm up. What the devil do you think I mean by clearing for +action?" + +Accordingly, the six-pounders were hoisted upon deck and quickly +mounted, what little powder and shot the _Policy_ carried was brought +into a handy place, and the mate, with something of a smile, reported, +"Ship cleared for action, sir." + +"Very good, Mr. Stevenson. Now, my lads, I reckon this ship is one of +the Dutch fleet sent to clear us whalers out of these seas. Well, as he +seems to be alone, I think we have a fair chance of turning the tables +upon him. Anyhow, I am going to try. I know some of you are pretty sick, +but I am sure that a crew of English sailors, even when they are sick, +can lick twice their number of muddle-headed Dutchmen any day." + +In those days, British ships were manned by British seaman, and Captain +Foster could talk like this without saying anything offensive to the +British merchant service. Nowadays such an observation about "Dutchmen" +would be a personal insult to four-fifths of the crew of a British +merchant ship. + +The men, including the mate, received the speech with a cheer, and one +of them sang out "Haul down the Stars and Stripes. We don't want to +fight under that." + +To which Captain Foster, who knew what he was about, merely replied, "I +am not a fool!" + +Towards the close of the afternoon the ships were within gunshot of each +other, and the Dutchman ran up his colours. As they drew closer, the +foreign skipper's glass showed him the nationality of the _Policy_ and +he at once opened fire upon her with one of his six eighteen-pounders. + +As the shot hummed overhead between the _Policy's_ fore and main masts, +down came the American colours and up went the British ensign, and at +the same moment Foster fired such of his guns as bore upon the enemy. + +As soon as the report of the guns had died away, Foster sprang into one +of his quarter-boats and hailed the other ship. + +"Ship ahoy!" he roared "why do you fire at me?" + +"Ha, ha! I know you," came back in mocking tones. "Now vill I sendt +you to der tuyvel, you greasy valer mans. I am Captain Portveldt, und +dis is der _Swift_. Vill you surrunder, or vill I smash you to beices?" + +For answer, Foster, who had now come very close to his enemy, fired his +tiny broadside, his men, sick as they were running cheerfully from the +guns to the braces to manoeuvre the Polity clear of the privateer's +fire, and then back again to the guns. + +The sun had now set, but far into the darkness of the tropical night the +running fight continued, Foster always out-manouvring the Dutchman, and +the crews of both vessels, when they closed near enough to be heard, +cursing and mocking at each other. Owing to the darkness and the +extremely bad gunnery on both sides, little blood was spilt, and the +damage done was mostly confined to the sails and rigging. Now and then a +eighteen-pound shot hulled the _Policy_, and one went clean through her +amidships. Suddenly, for some cause or other, about midnight, a light +was shown in the privateer's stern, and Foster's second mate at once +sent a lucky shot at it, with the result that the six-pound ball so +damaged the _Swift's_ rudder that she became unmanageable. And then, a +few minutes later, another shot dismounted one of her guns by striking +it on the muzzle, and ere the Dutchman's crew knew what was happening, +a final broadside from the whaler brought down her two topsails and did +other damage aloft. That practically ended the battle. + +So thought Captain Portveldt, who now hailed the _Policy_ in not quite +so boastful a voice as when the vessels met earlier in the day. + +"Captain Voster, I haf hauled down mein flag. Mein grew will vight no +more, and I must surrender." + +A cheer broke from the whaler's crew. + +"Very well, Captain Portveldt," called out Foster; "lower a boat, and +come on board with half your crew. But don't try on any boarding tricks, +or you will be the worse for it." + +The meeting between the two skippers, notwithstanding the cause, was +good-humoured enough, for Portveldt, apart from his boastfulness, was +not a bad fellow. + +"Veil, Captain Voster," he said as he stepped on board the _Policy's_ +deck, followed by his big boatswain (who was wounded in the face by a +splinter) and half his crew, "you haf broved der besd mans; und now I +suppose you vill lead me like a liddle dog mit a sdring, und dake me to +Sydney und make vun mit der young lady about me." + +"No, no," answered Foster, "I am not so bad as all that Come below and +have a glass of grog." + +***** + +At daylight one morning some weeks later two ships appeared in sight off +Sydney Heads. Those who were on the look-out were alarmed, for it was +seen that both vessels were armed, and it was conjectured that the ships +must be part of an enemy's squadron which had determined to make an +attack upon the settlement of Port Jackson. + +In a very short time an excited crowd gathered together along the line +of cliffs of the outer South Head, each one asking his fellow what was +to be done. Horsemen carried the news into Sydney, and every moment +fresh numbers arrived to swell the crowd of spectators on the cliffs. +A strange sight they must have presented, comprising, as they did, all +sorts and conditions of men--settlers, naval and military officers, +soldiers of the New South Wales Regiment, and a number of the better +class of convicts. + +Of course the Deputy Acting Assistant Commissary-General was among the +officers anxiously watching the ships from the heights that overlooked +the harbour, and with him were Dolly and her mother. + +Presently Dolly, catching sight of her father's anxious face, began to +cry, and turned to her mother. "Ah!" she said "it has all come true, and +he has come to destroy the settlement!" + +"What has come true, and who is going to destroy the settlement?" +said her father sharply. And then Dolly, feeling very frightened and +miserable, told him of Portveldt's letter, the receipt of which she had +concealed from every one but Foster. The D.A.A.C.G. laughed at first, +but then added, "but all the same, though 'twas but empty bluster, I had +better tell his Excellency about it; it is just possible that the Dutch +have planned an expedition against us." + +At half-past ten, in response to a signal made from the look-out at +South Head by the officer in charge there, his Excellency Governor King +sent Lieutenant Houston, of his Majesty's ship _Investigator,_ then +anchored in Sydney Cove, to the naval officer in command at South Head. + +The _Investigator_ was Flinders' ship, the gallant old tub of 334 tons +which surveyed a great part of the northern coast, and was at the time +of which we write lying rotting in Sydney, condemned after completing +her second voyage of discovery in June, 1803. + +Then the Governor was told of Dolly's letter, but he was not the man +to take fright at the approach of the enemy, although he had no +defence force as it is now understood in New South Wales, nor had he a +gold-laced staff of officers with elaborate "defence schemes" against +possible raids of Japanese or Russians by way of Exmouth Gulf or Port +Darwin. + +In that year Governer King's force did not take long to be marshalled. +The drums beat to arms, and the New South Wales Corps and the Loyal +Association immediately formed into line on the shores of the Cove. + +At eleven o'clock a trooper arrived at Government House with +intelligence that one of the vessels appeared under British colours, +and the other was flying a Union Jack triumphant over a Dutch Jack. +Following this message there soon came another, bringing the certain +intelligence that one of the ships was an English whaler bringing into +port her Batavian prize. So on receipt of this news, and just as the +word to march was about to be given, the officer in command ordered his +force to return to barracks. + +At two in the afternoon, with the whole of the settlement agog with +excitement, the two vessels sailed slowly up the harbour before a +light northeast breeze, and came to anchor in Sydney Cove, close to +the _Investigator,_ on board of which ship the Governor and a number of +naval officers awaited their arrival. For once discipline was relaxed, +and Captain King had good-naturedly permitted the townspeople to throng +on board to learn all the news about the _Policy's_ prize. As Captain +Foster made his way to the quarter-deck, he saw that behind the Governor +and his staff were Dolly and her parents and several ladies. + +In a very few minutes he made his report, and the Governor again shook +his hand warmly; but the look in Dolly's eyes and the pressure of her +hand were the young seaman's sweetest reward, for it told him that she +had surrendered. + +Then, returning to his own ship, he was warmly greeted by Sergeant Burt, +and for a few moments the two remained talking in the whaler's cabin. +Then, just as Foster was ready to go ashore, Mr. Scarsbrook, who had +been inspecting the captured privateer, came on board, bringing Dolly +with him. + +Whilst they were all chatting merrily together Captain Portveldt made +his appearance, and with the most perfect _sang-froid_ saluted Dolly and +her father. + +"Veil, Mees Dorotee, you see I have gome back, at der bressing +invidadion of mein goot friendt, Captain Voster here, und I do vish him +mit you blendy of habbiness." + +And Dolly, who at first meant to meet him with a sarcastic little +speech, felt her eyes fill with tears at the manly way in which he bore +his misfortune, and could only falter out some few words of consolation. +Then there was a Prize Court, and-- + +"Mr. Charles Sparrow Foster, commander of the whaler and letter of +marque called the _Policy_, presented to the Court a memorial stating +his capture of the _Swift_ on the 12th day of September, off the island +of Flores, she being under Dutch colours... and the property of subjects +of a Power at war with his Britannic Majesty, and praying also that the +Court would be pleased to grant an award of condemnation in his favour +in order that the said prize should be for the advantage of himself, his +owners, and his ship's company." + +and the Court having heard confirmatory evidence from Richard Portveldt, +a subject of the Batavian Republic, to the effect-- + +"That he commanded the _Swift_; that everything on board of her was +Dutch property, and she belonged to Messrs. Winy and Talman, of Batavia, +and himself, all of whom were residents of Batavia, who purchased her +for the sum of 18,000 dols.: that she was taken up by the Dutch East +India Company at Batavia; and was on her way thither when she was +captured by the _Policy_, &c."-- + +accordingly condemned the prize, which was advertised in the _Sydney +Gazette_ for sale by auction, Mr. Lord, the auctioneer, setting forth +that he would sell-- + +"At his warehouse, Sydney, at noon precisely, the 3rd of November, the +good ship _Swift_, prize to _Policy_, Charles Foster, commander. French +built in the year 1800. Was condemned a prize to his Majesty's ship _La +Minerva_, and sold in 1801 to the Americans, as appears by the bill of +sale, and by them sold to the Dutch at Batavia, where she was examined, +copper-bolted, and new coppered in August, 1802. It is unnecessary to +say anything respecting the properties of the _Swift_ further than that +she was the companion of _La Brave_ and _La Mouche_, which so very much +harassed the British in Europe, and set all our cruisers at defiance +until her capture, prior to which she was justly celebrated as the +fastest sailing-vessel the French Republic had." + +The prize was knocked down for L3,000, and Captain Foster's share was +spent in a handsome wedding present for Dolly, which, at her particular +request, took the form of a passage to Batavia and a hundred guineas +delivered to Captain Portveldt immediately after the marriage ceremony. + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's Foster's Letter Of Marque, by Louis Becke + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK FOSTER'S LETTER OF MARQUE *** + +***** This file should be named 25058.txt or 25058.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/2/5/0/5/25058/ + +Produced by David Widger + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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