The Pilot by James Fenimore Cooper Read Free Book Online

voice:
    "Which way have you the wind, aloft?"
    "We feel a light catspaw, now and then, from the land, sir," returned
the sturdy captain of the top; "but our topsail hangs in the clewlines,
sir, without winking."
    Captain Munson and his companion suspended their discourse while this
question and answer were exchanged, and then resumed their dialogue as
earnestly as if it had received no interruption.
    "If it did wink, the hint would be lost on our betters," said the
officer of the marines, whose ignorance of seamanship added greatly to
his perception of the danger, but who, from pure idleness, made more
jokes than any other man in the ship. "That pilot would not receive a
delicate intimation through his ears, Mr. Griffith; suppose you try him
by the nose."
    "Faith, there was a flash of gunpowder between us in the barge,"
returned the first lieutenant, "and he does not seem a man to stomach
such hints as you advise. Although he looks so meek and quiet, I doubt
whether he has paid much attention to the book of Job."
    "Why should he?" exclaimed the chaplain, whose apprehensions at least
equaled those of the marine, and with a much more disheartening effect;
"I am sure it would have been a great waste of time: there are so many
charts of the coast, and books on the navigation of these seas, for him
to study, that I sincerely hope he has been much better employed."
    A loud laugh was created at this speech among the listeners, and it
apparently produced the effect that was so long anxiously desired, by
putting an end to the mysterious conference between their captain and
the pilot. As the former came forward towards his expecting crew, he
said, is the composed, steady manner that formed the principal trait in
his character:
    "Get the anchor, Mr. Griffith, and make sail on the ship; the hour has
arrived when we must be moving."
    The cheerful "Ay! ay! sir!" of the young lieutenant was hardly uttered,
before the cries of half a dozen midshipmen were heard summoning the
boatswain and his mates to their duty.
    There was a general movement in the living masses that clustered around
the mainmast, on the booms, and in the gangways, though their habits of
discipline held the crew a moment longer in suspense. The silence was
first broken by the sound of the boatswain's whistle, followed by the
hoarse cry of "All hands, up anchor, ahoy!"—the former rising on the
night air, from its first low mellow notes to a piercing shrillness that
gradually died away on the waters; and the latter bellowing through
every cranny of the ship, like the hollow murmurs of distant thunder.
    The change produced by the customary summons was magical. Human beings
sprang out from between the guns, rushed up the hatches, threw
themselves with careless activity from the booms, and gathered from
every quarter so rapidly, that in an instant the deck of the frigate was
alive with men. The profound silence, that had hitherto been only
interrupted by the low dialogue of the officers, was now changed for the
stern orders of the lieutenants, mingled with the shriller cries of the
midshipmen, and the hoarse bawling of the boatswain's crew, rising above
the tumult of preparation and general bustle.
    The captain and the pilot alone remained passive, in this scene of
general exertion; for apprehension had even stimulated that class of
officers which is called "idlers" to unusual activity, though frequently
reminded by their more experienced messmates that, instead of aiding,
they retarded the duty of the vessel. The bustle, however, gradually
ceased, and in a few minutes the same silence pervaded the ship as
before.
    "We are brought-to, sir," said Griffith, who stood overlooking the
scene, holding in one hand a short speaking, trumpet, and grasping with
the other one of the shrouds of the ship, to steady himself in the
position he had taken on a gun.
    "Heave round, sir," was the calm reply.
    "Heave round!" repeated Griffith, aloud.
    "Heave round!" echoed a dozen eager voices at