A Desperate VoyageKnight, E. F. (Edward Frederick)
General
A Desperate Voyage
Knight, E. F. (Edward Frederick)
Lawyers -- Fiction; Pirates -- Fiction
It was the perusal of this list that had suggested to the quick and
ingenious mind of the solicitor a scheme not difficult of execution, the
very thought of which made his heart beat quick with anticipation. Carew
shrank from the peril of forging cheques or letters of instructions to
Allen's bankers; but now that he knew exactly how the barrister's
account stood, a simpler and safer method of appropriating to himself a
large proportion at least of the dead man's fortune occurred to him.
Said this accomplished scoundrel to himself: "I have here a stout,
seaworthy boat, that can easily take me across the Atlantic. I will ship
a crew in Rotterdam, and sail for Buenos Ayres. By selling the watch and
chain and one or two other little things I shall have enough money to
buy stores and pay all other expenses of the voyage. Once in Buenos
Ayres, I will go to the agent of the ---- Bank. There is sure to be one.
I will show him my papers. I will prove to his satisfaction that I am
Arthur Allen, barrister-at-law, owner of the yacht _Petrel_. I will
explain that I have run short of money, and require a considerable sum
at once. The agent will telegraph to the bank, learn that I have there
securities to a large amount, and then he will be ready to advance to me
as much as I want; and I will want a good deal. I will say that I am
about to buy land, or tell some such plausible tale, get my money, and
away. Oh, most excellent plan! Who on earth is likely to suspect that
the yachting barrister is no other than Henry Carew, the defaulting
solicitor?"
He steered the vessel towards the Dutch coast, and soon the wind fell so
much that he was able to shake out all his reefs.
At ten he passed through a large fleet of fishing boats that were riding
to their nets. He hailed an English smack, asking her skipper if he
could tell him his position.
"You'll get hold of the land in an hour or so," shouted the man; "and,
as you are going now, you'll about fetch Goeree."
Carew, after consulting the chart, steered in a more northerly
direction. At midday he saw the loom of the land ahead of him; so, as
the sky was clear, he brought up the sextant and took an observation of
the sun, thus ascertaining his exact position.
"Lucky it is that I taught myself navigation," he thought; "it will come
in useful now."
At last he could plainly distinguish the features of the coast, which
was low and flat, with white sand-hills here and there that gleamed like
snow in the sunshine.
Then he saw a steeple, a lighthouse, and a group of cottages, with
bright red roofs, and he knew that he was off the village of
Scheveningen, which is a few miles to the north of the Maas. Sailing to
the southward, he soon reached the mouth of the river, and at once some
of the ever-watchful pilots pulled off to him in a small boat.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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