With Cochrane the DauntlessHenty, G. A. (George Alfred)
General
With Cochrane the Dauntless
Henty, G. A. (George Alfred)
Biographical fiction; Dundonald, Thomas Cochrane, Earl of, 1775-1860
One morning ten days later he saw the sun rise behind a broken outline
instead of the line of the horizon, and knew that this could be nothing
but the hills of the mainland. Lofty as these were he might be still a
hundred and fifty miles from them, but the weather was fair, the wind
fresh, the boat travelling at six knots an hour, and by mid-day to-morrow
he would be close to land. Whether it was Chili or Peru that lay ahead of
him he had no means of knowing, but he believed it was the former, for he
had headed rather to the south of east and felt sure that he should strike
the coast somewhere on the long seaboard of Chili. He was the more
convinced of this as two days before he had seen an island far to the
north of him and guessed it to be either San Felix or San Ambrose, and had
shaped his course rather more to the south in consequence. That night he
was too excited to turn in as usual, but held on his course. By morning
the land lay little more than twenty miles away, and he recognized at once
the outline of the hills that he had passed when sailing north, and knew
where Valparaiso lay, some fifty miles further south. He changed his
course accordingly, and at four o’clock in the afternoon dropped his stone
anchor a hundred yards off the quay of the Chilian port.
CHAPTER XIII.
PRIZE-MONEY.
Stephen busied himself in stowing away his sails. By the time he had done
so a small crowd had collected on the quay looking with surprise and
wonder at the little craft with its unpainted sides and rough appearance.
In a short time a boat with a port official rowed alongside, and stepping
on deck the officer looked round, in surprise at seeing only one person on
board. Stephen had, before arriving at the port, donned a clean suit of
linen trousers and jacket; his cap was out of all shape, and the badge on
its front had faded into a blur; he was barefooted, and his hair had grown
almost to his shoulders. The aspect of the boat was almost as surprising
as that of its solitary occupant. There were no signs of paint visible,
the work was rough, the stanchions of various sizes, some new in
appearance, and some blackened with age and sea-water.
“Who are you, señor?” the official asked, “and what craft is this?”
“The craft has no name, señor, though we who built her thought of naming
her the _Deliverer_. I myself am Stephen Embleton, flag-midshipman to
Admiral Lord Cochrane. May I ask if the admiral is now in port?”
“He is,” the official replied.
“May I beg you to send off a shore boat by which I may despatch a message
to the admiral?”
“Your story is a strange one,” the official said gravely. “I myself have
seen the young officer, you state yourself to be, in company with the
admiral, but I am bound to say that I do not recognize you.”
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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