“Certainly I will,” replied Decatur, laughing at the boy, who was evidently a victim of fok’sl wit, but who had the spirit to ask for what he thought his due. “What is your name?”
“Very well, Jack Creamer, apprentice boy, you shall be regularly entered in the ship’s books, and you’ll get your share of whatever goes round.”
The wind had been rising for some little time, and just then it blew violently from the southwest. The sky became overcast, and suddenly darkness seemed to envelop them. This Decatur thought rather favorable to his scheme; but Catalano, the pilot, who knew every foot of the harbor, came up at that moment.
“Sir,” he said in fluent English, but with a strong Italian accent, “it will be impossible to take the ketch in to-night. The water is no doubt now breaking clear across the reef of the western passage, and even if I could get in, there would be no chance of getting out. I know this harbor well, sir, and the water must be moderately smooth before it is safe to go near the reefs.”
Decatur was of too impetuous a nature to accept all at once this decision.
“I will have the cutter lowered, and I desire you, with Mr. Morris, to go and examine the entrance, and, if possible, the ketch shall go in to-night,” he said.
The cutter was lowered and manned, and pulled away in the fast gathering darkness. They could see at a little distance that the Siren’s boats were hoisted out and manned and only awaited the signal to advance. But every moment the wind increased, and at last Decatur began to feel seriously uneasy regarding the absent cutter. It was obviously impossible to attempt the attack that night, and the Intrepid accordingly so signaled the Siren. After a while the cutter was seen approaching, tossed about on the great waves, and every man in her drenched to the skin. The storm was now on them, and the cutter was brought up with difficulty, and her company clambered into the ketch; but in hoisting the boat in she was dashed violently against the ship, and her side completely stove in. This was a trifle; but when the anchor was weighed it was found to be broken in three pieces. The wind had now become a roaring gale, and soon the Intrepid was stretching out to sea. It was observed, though, that the Siren was having trouble with her anchor, too. She was rolling her gunwales under water, and the anchor held firmly on the bottom.