^
.:
THE WING-AND-WING;
OR,
LEFEU-FOLLET.
(THE J^CK O'LANTERN.)
VOL. II.
LONDON :
Printed by S. & J. BENTLEY, WILSON, and FLEY,
Bangor House, Shoe Lane.
THE
JACK O'LANTERN;
(LE FETJ-FOLLET;)
OB,
THE PRIVATEER.
BY
J. FENIMORE COOPER, ESQ.
AUTHOR OF
THE PILOT," " THE SPY," " THE TWO ADMIRALS," ETC.
IN THREE VOLUMES.
VOL. II.
LONDON:
RICHARD BENTLEY, NEW BURLINGTON STREET.
1842.
THE
JACK O'LANTERN
(LE FEU-FOLLET).
CHAPTER I.
! 'tis a thought sublime, that man can force
A path upon the waste, can find a way
Where all is trackless, and compel the winds,
Those freest agents of Almighty power,
To lend their untamed wings, and bear him on
To distant climes.
WARE.
THE situation of Ghita Caraccioli on board
the lugger was of the most unpleasant nature
during the fierce struggle we have just related.
Fortunately for her, this struggle was very
short, Raoul having kept her in profound
ignorance of the approach of any danger until
the instant Le Feu-Follet commenced her fire.
It is true she had heard the guns between
VOL. II. B
2 THE JACK O 1 LANTERN.
the felucca and the boats ; but this she had
been told was an affair in which the privateer
had no participation ; and the reports sounding
distant to one in the cabin, she had been easily
deceived. While the actual conflict was going
on, she was on her knees at the side of her
uncle ; and the moment it ceased she appeared
on deck, and interposed to save the fugitives
in the manner related.
Now, however, the scene was entirely changed.
The lugger had escaped all damage worthy of
notice ; her decks had not been stained with
blood, and her success had been as complete
as could be desired. In addition to these
advantages, the result removed all apprehen
sion from the only source of danger that Raoul
thought could exist, as between his own vessel
and the frigate, or a boat-attack in a calm,
for men who had just been so roughly handled
in an enterprise so well masked would not
be likely to renew the attempt while they still
smarted under the influence of the late repulse.
Affairs of this sort exact all the discipline and
resolution which a well-regulated service can
afford, and are not to be thought of under the
temporary demoralization of defeat. All in
LE FEU-FOLLET. 3
the lugger, therefore, considered this collision
with the Proserpine at an end, for the moment
at least.
Ghita had dined ; for the day had now turn
ed some time, and she had come on deck to
escape the confinement of a very small cabin,
leaving her uncle to enjoy his customary siesta.
She was seated under the awning of the quar
ter-deck, using her needle, as was her wont at
that hour on the heights of Argentaro. Raoul
had placed himself on a gun-slide near her, and
Ithuel was busy within a few feet of them,
dissecting a spy-glass with a view to clean its
lenses.
" I suppose the most excellent Andrea Bar-
rofaldi will sing a Te Deum for his escape
from our fangs," suddenly exclaimed Raoul,
laughing. " Par die ! he is a great historian,
and every way fit to write an account of this
great victory, which Monsieur P Anglais, la
bas, is about to send to his government. 1 '
"And you, Raoul, have you no occasion for
a Te Deum after your escape ?" demanded
Ghita, gently, and yet with emphasis : "is
there no God for you to thank, as well as for
the vice-governor ? "
B 2
4 THE JACK O* LANTERN
" Peste ! our French deity is little thought
of just now, Ghita. Republics, as you know,
have no great faith in religion is it not so,
mon brave American ? Tell us, Etooell ; have
you any religion in America ? "
As Ithuel had often heard Raoul's opinions
on this subject, and knew the prevailing state
of France in this particular, he neither felt
nor expressed any surprise at the question.
Still, the idea ran counter to all his own
notions and prejudices, he having been early
taught to respect religion even when he was
most serving the devil. In a word, Ithuel
was one of those descendants of Puritanism,
who, " Godward," as it is termed, was quite
unexceptionable, so far as his theory extended ;
but who, " manward," was " as the Scribes
and Pharisees." Nevertheless, as he expressed
it himself, " he always stood up for religion ; "
a fact which his English companions had com
mented on in jokes : maintaining that he even
" stood up " when the rest of the ship's com
pany were on their knees.
" I 'm a little afraid, Monsieur Rule," he
answered, " that in France you have entered
the rope of republicanism at the wrong end.
LE FEU-FOLLET. O
In Ameriky, we even put religion before dol
lars ; and if that isn't convincing I '11 give it
up. Now, I do wish you could see a Sunday
once in the Granite State, Signorina Ghita,
that you might get some notion what our
western religion raally is."
" All real religion all real devotion to
God is, or ought to be, the same, Signer
Ithuello, whether in the east or in the west.
A Christian is a Christian ; let him live and die
where he may."
" That's not exactly platform I fancy.
Why, Lord bless ye, young lady, your religion,
now, is no more like mine, than my religion
is like that of the Archbishop of Canterbury,
or Monsieur Rule here ! "
" La mienne!" exclaimed Raoul : "I pre
tend to none, mon brave; there can be no
likeness to nothing."
Ghita's glance was kind rather than
reproachful; but it was profoundly sorrowful.
" In what can our religion differ," she asked,
" if we are both Christians ? Americans, or
Italians, it is all the same."
64 That comes of knowing nothing about
Ameriky," said Ithuel, filled with the conceit
6 THE JACK O LANTERN.
of his own opinion of himself, and of the part
of the world from which he came. " In the
first place, you have a Pope, and Cardinals, and
Bishops, and all such things, in your religion ;
while we have none."
" Certainly, there is the Holy Father, and
there are cardinals ; but they are not my reli
gion," answered Ghita, looking surprised.
".Bishops, it is true, are appointed of God,
and form part of his Church ; and the Bishop
of Rome is the head of the Church on earth
but nothing more."
" Nothing more ! Don't you worship
images, and take off and put on garments at
your prayers, and kneel down in a make-be
lieve, profane, way ; and don't you turn every
thing into vain ceremonies ? "
Had Ithuel been engaged, body and soul,
in maintaining one of the propositions of the
Oxford Tracts' controversy, he could not have
uttered these words with greater zeal, or with
a more self-righteous emotion. His mind
was stored with the most vulgar accusations
of an exceedingly vulgar set of sectarian dis
tinctions ; and he fancied it a high proof of
Protestant perfection, to hold all the discarded
LE FEU-FOLLET. 7
usages in abhorrence. On the other hand,
Ghita listened with surprise ; for, to her, the
estimation in which the rites of the Romish
church were held by the great bulk of Pro
testants was a profound secret. The idea of
worshiping an image never crossed her inno
cent mind ; and although she often knelt be
fore her own little ivory crucifix, she had never
supposed that any could be so ignorant as to
confound the mere material representation of
the sacrifice it was meant to portray, with the
divine expiation itself.
" It is decent to use proper vestments at
the altar," she replied ; <c and its servants
ought not to be clad like other men. We
know that it is the heart, the soul, which must
be touched to find favour with God ; but this
does not make the outward semblance of re
spect which we show even to each other, the
less necessary. As to worshiping images, that
would be idolatry, and as bad as the poor
heathens themselves."
Ithuel looked mystified ; for he never doubt
ed in the least, that the worshiping of images
was a material part of Catholic devotion ; and
as for the Pope and the Cardinals, he deemed
8 THE JACK O' LANTERN.
them all as indispensable to the creed of this
church, as he fancied it important, in his own,
that the priests should not wear gowns, and
that the edifices in which they worshiped
should have square-topped windows. Absurd
as all this may seem to-day, and wicked as it
will probably appear a century hence, it formed
and form, no small part of sectarian belief;
and entered into the animosities and jealousies
of those who seem to think it necessary to
quarrel for the love of God. Could we but
look back at our own changes of opinion, it
would render us less confident of the justice
of our sentiments ; and, most of all, one would
think, that the American, who has lived long
enough to witness the summersets which have
been thrown in the practices and creeds of
most of the more modern sects of his own
country, within the last quarter of a century,
would have acquired something like a suitable
respect for the more stable and venerable divi
sions of the Christian world.
" Proper vestments ! " repeated Ithuel, with
contempt ; " what vestments are wanting in the
eyes of the Supreme Being ? No ; if I must
have religion and I know it 's necessary and
LE FEU-FOLLET. 9
whullsum', let it be a pure, naked religion,
which will stand to reason. Is not that think
ing, Monsieur Rule ? "
" Ma foi, oui. Reason before all things,
Ghita ; and, most of all, reason in religion."
" Ah ! Raoul, this it is which misleads and
betrays you," returned the girl, earnestly.
" Faith, and a meek dependence, are what
make a proper state of feeling ; and yet you
demand a reason of Him who created the
universe, and breathed into you the breath
of life ! "
" Are we not reasoning creatures, Ghita,"
returned Raoul, gently, and yet with a sin
cerity and truth, for the circumstances, which
rendered even his scepticism piquant and re
spectable ; " and is it unreasonable to expect
us to act up to our natures ? Can I worship a
God I do not understand ? "
" Couldst thou worship one thou didst ?
He would cease to be a deity, and would be
come one of ourselves, were his nature and
attributes brought down to the level of our
comprehensions. Did one of thy followers
come on this quarter-deck and insist on hear
ing all thine own motives for the orders given
B5
10 THE JACK O' LANTERN.
in this little felucca, how readily wouldst thou
drive him back as mutinous and insolent ;
and yet thou wouldst question the God of the
universe, and pry into His mysteries ! "
Raoul was mute, while Ithuel stared. It
was so seldom that Ghita lost her exceeding
gentleness of manner, that the flush of her
cheek, the severe earnestness of her eyes, the
impassioned modulations of her voice, and the
emphasis with which she spoke on this occa
sion, produced a sort of awe which prevented
the discourse from proceeding further. The
girl, herself, was so much excited that, after
sitting for a minute with her hands before her
face, the tears were seen forcing their way
through her fingers. She then arose, and
darted into the cabin. Raoul was too obser
vant of the rules of propriety to think of fol
lowing ; but he sat moody and lost in thought,
until Ithuel drew his attention to himself.
" Gals will be gals," said that refined and
philosophical observer of the human family,
" and nothing touches their natur's sooner than
a little religious excitement. I dare say, if it
wasn't for images, and cardinals, and bishops,
and such creaturs, the Italians (Ithuel always
LE FEU-FOLLET. 11
pronounced this word Ez/etalians) would make
a very good sort of Christians."
But Raoul was in no humour to converse ;
and as the hour had now arrived when the
zephyr was to be expected, he rose, ordered
the awning to be taken in, and prepared to
make himself master of the state of things
around him. There lay the frigate, taking her
siesta, like all near ; her three topsails stand
ing, but every other sail that was loose, hang
ing in festoons, waiting for the breeze. Not
withstanding her careless appearance, so close
ly had she been tended for the last few hours
however, and so sedulously had even the
smallest breath of air been improved, that
Raoul started with surprise when he found
how much nearer she was than when he had
last looked at her. The whole trick was ap
parent to him at a glance ; and he was com
pelled to acknowledge his own remissness when
he perceived that he lay within the reach of
the shot of this powerful foe ; though still so
distant as to render her aim a little uncertain,
more especially should a sea get up. The
felucca had burnt to the water's edge ; but,
owing to the smoothness of the water, her
wreck still floated, and was slowly setting into
the bay, there being a slight current in that
direction where she now lay. The town was
basking in the afternoon's sun, though hid
from view, and the whole island of Elba had
the appearance of being asleep.
" What a siesta ! " said Raoul to Ithuel, as
both stood on the heel of the bowsprit, looking
curiously at the scene, sea, land, mountains,
bourgeois, and mariners, all dozing. u Bien,
there is life yonder at the west, and we must get
farther from votre Proserpine. Call the hands,
Monsieur Lieutenant ! Let us get out our
sweeps, and put the head of Le Feu-Follet
the other way. Peste ! the lugger is so sharp,
and has such a trick of going exactly where she
looks, that I am afraid she has been crawling
up towards her enemy, as the child creeps into
the fire that burns its fingers."
All hands were soon in motion on board Le
Feu-Follet ; the sweeps were on the point of
being handled, when the jigger fluttered, and
the first puff of the expected western breeze
swept along the surface of the waters. To
the seamen it was like inhaling oxygen gas.
Every appearance of drowsiness deserted the
LE FEU-FOLLET. 13
people of both vessels, and every one was in
stantly busy in making sail. Raoul had a
proof into what dangerous proximity to the
frigate he had got by the sound of the calls
on board her ; and the stillness of the sea was
yet so great, that the creaking of her fore-
yard was actually audible to him as the Eng
lish rounded in their braces briskly, while
laying their fore-topsail aback.
At that moment a second respiration of the
atmosphere gave birth to the breeze. Raoul
whistled for the wind, and the lugger moved
ahead, gliding towards the frigate. But in
half a minute she had gathered sufficient way,
her helm was put down, and she came round
as easily and as gracefully as the bird turns
on his wing. Not so with the heavier frigate.
She had hauled in her starboard head-braces,
and had to get the fore-topsail aback, and to
pay well off with her head to leeward, in order
to swing her yards and fill her sails, while Le
Feu-Follet was slipping through the water,
going seemingly into the wind's eye. By this
single evolution the lugger gained more than
a cable's length on her enemy, and five minutes
more would have put her beyond all immediate
THE JACK O' LANTERN.
danger. But Captain Cuffe knew this as well
as his competitor, and had made his prepa
rations accordingly. Keeping his head-yards
aback, he knocked his ship round off, until
her broadside bore on the lugger, when he let
fly every gun of his starboard-batteries, the
utmost care having been taken to make the
shot tell. Twenty-two heavy round-shot com
ing in at once upon a little craft like Le Feu-
Follet was a fearful visitation, and the boldest
held their breath for a time as the iron whirl
wind whistled past them. Fortunately the
lugger was not hulled, but a grave amount
of mischief was done aloft. The jigger-mast
was cut in two, and flew upward like a pipe-
stem ; a serious wound was given to the main
mast below the hounds; and the yard itself
was shivered in the slings. No less than six
shot plunged through both luggs, leaving
holes in the canvass which made it resemble a
beggar's shirt, and the jib-stay was cut in
two half-way between the mast-head and the
end of the bowsprit. No one was hurt, and
yet, for a moment, every one looked as if
destruction had suddenly lighted on the lug
ger. Then it was that Raoul came out in his
LE FEU-FOLLET. 15
true colours. He knew he could not spare a
stitch of canvass just at that moment, but
that on the next ten minutes depended every
thing. Nothing was taken in, therefore, to
secure spars and sails, but all was left to stand,
trusting to the lightness of the breeze, which
usually commenced very moderately. Hands
were immediately set to work, to get up a new
stay ; a new main-yard and sail were got along,
and everything was prepared for hoisting both
as soon as it could be ascertained that the
mast would bear them. Nearly similar pre
parations were made forward, as the shortest
way of getting rid of the torn fore-sail, for
these it was the intention to unbend and bend,
the yard being sound.
Luckily, Captain Cuffe determined to lose
no more time with his guns; but swinging
his head-yards, the frigate came sweeping up
to the wind, and in three minutes everything
was trimmed for the utmost. All this time
Le Feu-Follet had not stood still. Her can
vass fluttered, but it held on, and even the
spars kept their places, though so much in
jured. In a word, the wind was not yet
strong enough to tear the one or to carry away
16 THE JACK O' LANTERN.
the other. It was an advantage, too, that these
casualties, particularly the loss of her jigger,
rendered Le Feu-Follet less weatherly than
she would otherwise have been, since, by keep
ing the frigate directly in her wake she was
less exposed to the chase-guns than she would
have been a little on either bow. Of this
truth Raoul was soon persuaded, the Proser
pine beginning to work both her bow-guns as
soon as she came to the wind, though neither
exactly bore, the shot of one ranging a little
to windward, and the other about as much on
the other side. By these shot, too, the young
Frenchman soon had the satisfaction of seeing
that, notwithstanding her injuries, the lugger
was drawing ahead, a fact of which the
English became so sensible themselves that
they soon ceased firing.
So far, things went better than Raoul had
reason at first to hope; though he well knew
that the crisis was yet to come. The westerly
wind often blew fresh at that period of the
day, and should it now increase he would re
quire all his canvass to get clear of a ship
with the known qualities of the vessel in chase.
How much longer his mast or his main-yard
LE FEU-FOLLET. 17
would stand he did not know ; but as he was
fast gaining, he determined to make hay while
the sun shone, and get far enough ahead, if
possible before the breeze grew fresh, to en
able him to shift his sails and fish his spars,
without being again brought within the reach
of visiters so rude as those who had so lately
come hurtling into his thin hamper. The
proper precautions were not neglected in the
mean 'time. Men were sent aloft to do what
they could, under the circumstances, with the
two spars; and the strain was a little relieved
by keeping the lugger as much away, as might
be done without enabling the frigate to set her
studding sails.
There is always something so exciting in a
chase, that seamen never fail to wish for more
wind ; forgetful that the power which increases
their own speed may also increase the speed of
the other party, and that, too, in an undue pro
portion. It would have been more favourable
to Le Feu-Follet to have had less wind than
even now blew, since her relative rate of sail
ing was greater in light than in strong breezes.
Raoul knew from Ithuel's statements that the
Proserpine was an exceedingly fast ship, more
18 THE JACK O* LANTERN.
especially when it blew fresh ; and yet it did
not appear to him that his lugger got along
with sufficient speed, though his enemy would
be certain to follow at a rate of sailing in a
just proportion to his own, did there come
more wind.
The wish of the young privateersman, how
ever, was soon gratified. The wind freshened
materially, and by the time the two vessels
opened the Canal of Corsica, as the passage
between that island and Elba is called, the
frigate was obliged to take in her royals, and
two or three of those light and lofty staysails,
which it was then the custom for ships to
carry. At first, Raoul had thought he might
fetch into Bastia, which lies due-west of the
southern end of Elba ; but though the wind
drew a little down through the canal, it soon
blew too fresh to allow any formation of the
land materially to alter its current. The
zephyr, as the afternoon's summer breeze of
southern Italy, in particular, was termed by
the ancients, is seldom a due-west wind, there
generally being a little northing in it, as sea
men say ; and, as one gets farther up the
coast, this same wind ordinarily comes round
LE FEU-FOLLET. 19
the head of Corsica, blowing from nearly west-
north-west. This would have enabled the lug
ger to lay her course for a deep bay on which
lies the town of Biguglia, could she have been
jammed up on a wind, as might usually have
been done; but, a few minutes of experiment
convinced Raoul that he must be more tender
of his wounded spars, and keep off for the
mouth of the Golo. This was a river of some
size into which it was possible for a vessel
of a light draught to enter; and, as a small
battery stood near the anchorage, he deter
mined to seek shelter in that haven, in order
to repair his damages. His calculations were
made accordingly, and, taking the snow-clad
peaks in the neighbourhood of Corte as his
land-marks, he ordered the lugger to be
steered in the proper direction.
On board the Proserpine scarcely less in
terest was felt in the result, than on board
Le Feu-Follet. If the people of the frigate
had nothing to apprehend, they had some
thing to revenge ; in addition to the antici
pated credit of having captured the boldest
privateer that sailed out of France. For a
short time, as the ship came up with the
20 THE JACK O' LANTERN.
west-end of Elba, it was a serious question
whether she would be able to weather it, the
lugger having gone past, within a cableV
length of the cliffs, on the very verge of the
breakers, and much closer in than the frigate
would dare to follow. But the last had taken
the breeze farther off the land than the first,
and might possibly fetch past the promontory
on the tack she was then steering. To have
gone about would have been to abandon the
chase, as it would have carried the ship off,
due north, while Le Feu-Follet was gliding
down to the southward and westward, at the
rate of seven knots. The distance across the
canal is only about thirty miles, and there
would not have been time to recover the lost
ground.
This uncertainty made a most feverish mo
ment on board the Proserpine, as she came up
fast towards the headland. All depended on
getting by without tacking. The appearances
were favourable for deep water close in; but
there is always the danger of rocks to be
dreaded near mountainous coasts. The pro
montory, too, was comparatively low ; and this
was rather an indication that it ought not to
LE FEU-FOLLET. 21
be approached too closely. Winchester was in
his berth, just beginning to feel the smart of
his wound; but Griffin was at the captain's
elbow ; both he and the third-lieutenant enter
ing keenly into all their commander's wishes
and anxieties.
" There she goes, into the very breakers ! "
exclaimed Cuffe, as they watched Le Feu-
Follet in her attempt to pass the promontory ;
" Monsieur Yvard must be determined to cast
away his craft rather than be taken. It will
be touch and go with him."
" I think not, Captain Cuffe," answered
Griffin ; " the coast is bold hereabouts, and
even the Proserpine would find sufficient water
there, where the lugger now is. I hope we
shall not be obliged to tack, sir."
" Ay, this is very well for an irresponsible ;
but when it got to a court, and punishment,
I fear that all the last would fall on my
shoulders, should his Majesty's ship happen to
lay her bones alongshore here. No, no,
Griffin; we must go a clear cables-length to
windward of that, or I go about, though Raoul
Yvard were never taken."
" There, he fetches-up, by George!" cried
22 THE JACK O' LANTERN.
Yelverton, the youngest lieutenant ; and for a
moment it was, in truth, believed in the frigate
that Le Feu-Follet, as a breaker actually
curled directly under her lee, was aground.
But this notion lasted a moment only, the
little lugger continuing her course as swiftly as