Cinquefoil

“ So well established is this principle that when a rook is espied on the ground to leeward, a whole party of mounted men will sometimes make a circuit of a mile in length, in order to make sure of getting the wind of him and giving the falcon a fair chance. ”

“ Micky and Red Landyard hung over the spokes of the almost useless wheel, and attempted to hold the ship's bow before the wind. A patch of sail, not much larger than a handkerchief, was drawing them on.
Ahead lay purple waters. Astern showed towering seas and a livid sky.
Weary from three watches at the helm, Micky remarked to his silent mate:
“What's th' use. This ocean is too bloomin' much for me.”
“You've got no ship—above th' deck. Th' crew are snug in th' fo'c's'le. They refuse to come out.” ”

“ We do not believe that the foil will ever die while swordsman- ship remains alive ; but it is a fact that the epee has given an impulse to English fencing of which the foil has never in its whole history been capable. ”

“ Down below was a ship; its sail flapped in rags, and the crew were laboring mightily at the oars to save themselves, looking with dread at the white breakers and the looming rocks. Now in the strength of their fear they held the vessel where she was; and by the broad light of the fire every man of them was visible to the Cragness-dwellers. To Rolf that was a dreadful sight. But the bit of a sail was set, and men ran to the steering-oar to hold the vessel stiff; and behold, she moved forward, staggered past the rocks, made clearer water, and wore slowly out into the firth. ”

“ For once Finley’s mind did not indulge itself in a comparison of some of those shining ships with the craft of his own early days in the air. King Forell was taking off, he noticed, in one of the new pursuit jobs.
As the stalwart flyer walked up the line, seat-pack parachute under his arm, he was searching for the ship he was to fly. There it was, its dope cracked and discolored with age, looking the veteran it was. In fact, a fit ship for a has-been to fly.
He forced his mind away from that subject. His eyes rested on the Barling triplane. There was a ship! ”

“ These centinels are instructed to make a fire when they discover the ship, which the captain is carefully to observe, for if, after this first fire is extinguished, he perceives that four or more are lighted up again, he is then to conclude that there are enemies on the coast, and on this he is immediately to endeavour to speak with the centinel on shore, and to procure from him more particular intelligence of their force, and of the station they cruize in ”

“ It seems absurd to compare a tugboat skipper to a centaur: but he reminded me somehow of an engraving in a little book I had as a boy, which represented centaurs at a stream, and there was one, especially in the foreground, prancing bow and arrows in hand, with regular severe features and an immense curled wavy beard, flowing down his breast. Falk’s face reminded me of that centaur. Besides, he was a composite creature. Not a man-horse, it is true, but a man-boat. He lived on board his tug, which was always dashing up and down the river from early morn till dewy eve. ”

“ Having now related what may appear to you rather a wonderful story, I must proceed to tell you the real names of the five giants, though it is by no means unlikely that you have already guessed them. The five giants, Flare, Roar, [32] Blow, Bounce, and Rush, are, then, neither more nor less than the five gigantic powers, Fire, Water, Wind, Gunpowder, and Steam; and, though I may have related their adventures and achievements somewhat fancifully, if you will examine them you will find that they are strictly true. The influence of these giant powers in the world has been very great ”

“ Mutzen and Putzen, having nothing to christen it with, beat on the sides with their oars and cried, “We name you Mannigfual!”
“Mannigfual!” echoed the other children. “The giants’ good ship Mannigfual!”
[41]
The children climbed in and took the oars. Wind-and-Weather took the tiller. And there they were, skipping along over the sea. When the wind blew against them, the children rowed and sang. When the wind blew with them, they set the sail and strained their eyes to find a running-place ahead across the water. As for Wind-and-Weather, no matter which way the wind blew, he sat and steered. ”

“ Two days after the departure of the Centaur the lookout on the top of the rock saw a frigate under a tremendous press of canvas endeavoring to run between the rock and the shore and make for Fort Royal. Far away, and coming along like a gigantic white cloud, was a ship which was presently made out to be the Centaur. A drummer-boy, not the least important member of the crew of the Diamond Rock, beat to quarters, the men sprang to their stations, and the huge guns were loaded and carefully trained on the unsuspicious French ship. ”

“ So, instead of cowering at the sight of the giants’ ship, he rushed back to the cave for his oars and a whole set of dirks and pikes.
“It will make our fortune,” he cried, “—our everlasting fortune!”
Catch-and-Kill headed off Fear-and-Fly, who was already making for the bushes, and dragged him down to untie the boat. Dare-and-Do took one oar, Catch-and-Kill the other; and, with Fear-and-Fly huddling astern, they set off at top speed. With every stroke of the oars the ship grew nearer and bigger. To Fear-and-Fly it seemed an unending stretch of wooden cliff ahead. ”

“ Captain Inglefield of the Centaur was about to make one of those momentous decisions which now and then confront a man as he stands at the crossroads of destiny. When he prepared his own case and submitted his defense, in the narrative written after his return to England, he stated it with a certain unconscious art which deserves to be quoted as follows:
As evening approached, the ship seemed little more than suspended in the water. ”

“ The course of the Falcon was altered so as to intercept the stranger. Suddenly, however, the latter was seen to wear ship, and, setting more sail, to stand away before the wind. The Falcon was already carrying as much as she could well stagger under; still, eager to overtake the fugitive the captain ordered the topgallant sails to be loosed, and on flew the Falcon, like the bird from which she took her name, in chase of her expected prey. A stern chase is proverbially a long chase. ”

“ Every man exerts himself to the utmost—what muscular power and activity is displayed! There is not one on board who is not as eager for victory as the owner. What a crowd of canvas each tiny hull supports. What a head to the gaff-topsail, as long as that of the mainsail itself! And then the jib, well may it be called a balloon; it looks as if it could lift the vessel out of the water and carry her bodily along; it can only be set when she is going free ”

“ The ship in which this famous voyage was made was of the middle size, then called the fourth-rate. She carried sixty cannon, and a crew of four hundred men. Her lower gun deck, a little above the level of the water, was about 140 feet long. She was of about a thousand tons burthen.
Though this seems small to us, it is not small for a wooden ship. It is not possible to build a long wooden ship. The Centurion, though short, was broad, bulky, and deep. She was fit for the sea. As she was built more to carry cannon than to sail, she was a slow sailer. ”

“ Uncle Podger, sitting with his head in his gramophone trumpet, could hear people talking in the conning-tower. "Signal to the Swiftsure to stop engines"—that was Captain Macfarlane's clear, incisive voice; then the Navigator's infectious laugh, "The trawlers are safe, sir; out of range, sir. They've had the fright of their lives, sir."—"Port it is, sir," came the gruff voice of the quartermaster at the wheel. "Steady it is, sir."
He rang up the fore-control top, where the China Doll was perched, and a bell at his side tinkled. "What's going on, China Doll?" ”

“ When we reached the trade wind, and it settled between the north and the east, yet it seldom blew with so much strength but the Centurion might have carried all her small sails abroad with the greatest safety, so that now, had we been a single ship, we might have run down our longitude apace, and have reached the Ladrones soon enough to have recovered great numbers of our men who afterwards perished. ”

“ A heavy sea broke across the starboard bow and swept every one from the forecastle—about sixty or seventy. During the whole time we were trying to wear and stay the ship, the captain was on board. I saw him frequently, and he was sober. I have been four or five voyages at sea. Considering the gale of that night, I do not think the captain could have done more than he did to save the vessel. I do not think I observed any change in the wind after we passed Point Lynas. I never mind the wind or the course of the vessel. The wind freshened and blew stronger and stronger. ”

“ The commodore therefore immediately sent an order to Captain Mitchel to put his people on board the Centurion as expeditiously as he could, now the weather was calm and favourable, and to take out such stores as he could get at whilst the ship could be kept above water. And as our leak required less attention whilst the present easy weather continued, we sent our boats with as many men as we could spare to Captain Mitchel's assistance. ”

“ Foul When a Ship has been long untrimmed, so that Grass, Weeds, or Barnacles stick, or grow to her Sides under Water, she is then said to be Foul; also a Rope is Foul when it is either tangled in its self, or hindered by another, so that it cannot run or be over hawled. Foul Water A Ship is said to make Foul-water, when being under Sail, she comes into such Shoal Water, that though her Keel do not touch the Ground, yet she comes so near it, that the Motion of the Water under her, raiseth the Mud from the Bottom. ”

“ The father looked. “I see a company of fine ladies and gentlemen,” answered the father, “and they are flying their falcons.”
“I will change myself into a falcon, and when you have come to where they are you shall loose me, and I will strike down a quail. Then they will want to buy me. Sell me for three hundred dollars, no more, no less. But whatever you do take off my hood and keep it, or misfortune will surely overtake us.”
The father promised he would do this, and then the lad turned himself into a falcon and perched upon his father’s hand. ”

“ The ships stood ready by the shores of the sea, bound ocean-coursers resting on the deep.
And the journey of the queen was plainly manifest when she sought the swell of the ocean with230 her company; many a noble stood there, near to the water’s edge, and from time to time crowds of men pressed across the way.
Then they loaded the ships with battle-dress, shields and spears; mail-clad warriors and men and235 women embarked thereon. And they let the steep ocean-speeders course over the foamy deep; often the hull bore the shock of the billows on the ocean-way, and the sea raised her song. ”

“ At half-past five of a peculiarly cheerless dawn we picked up the big cruiser (who had seen nothing) , stayed in her company till nearly seven, and ran back to rejoin the Fleet, whom we met coming out of Lough Swilly about 1 p.m. of Thursday, the 8th. And the weather was vile. Once again we headed W.N.W. in company at an average speed of between thirteen and fourteen knots on a straightaway run of three hundred and fifty miles towards the Rockal Bank and the lonely rock that rises out of the sea there. ”

“ Just before we let go our anchor, a small sloop, rather than submit to yield us an inch of way, ran foul of our ship, and carried off her bowsprit. This obstinate frolic would have cost those aboard the sloop very dear, if our steersman had not been too generous to exert his superiority, the certain consequence of which would have been the immediate sinking of the other. This contention of the inferior with a might capable of crushing it in an instant may seem to argue no small share of folly or madness, as well as of impudence ”

“ The leading ship has slowed a certain number of revolutions—say, from ten knots to nine and a half; but she has not changed her speed-lights in time. We slide out to the right of our next ahead, swiftly and quietly. And now we must all mark time, as it were, till our leader straightens herself. That which was a line has suddenly become a town on the waters; representing roughly three-quarters of a million sterling in value, ten thousand tons weight, and eight hundred lives. Our next ahead lies on our port bow, and—oh, horror!—our next astern is alongside of us. ”

“ No, Peg; but keeping them from hurting us isn't enough—we've got to capture 'em. And they'll have to be almost directly between Rovol's ship and ours to make that capture possible. You see, we'll have to send out from each vessel a hollow hemisphere of force and surround them. If we had only one ship, or if they don't come between our two ships, we can't bottle them up, because they have exactly the same velocity of propagation that our own forces have. ”

“ I was sitting with Dick forward, for as Mrs Podgers was sunning herself on deck, I was keeping out of her way. Miss Kitty was reading, and Mr Falconer was pacing up and down, as officer of the watch, taking care not to approach her till Mrs Podgers should dive below. Most of the crew were knitting and splicing, spinning yarns, or performing other work, of which there is always plenty to be done on board ship, while some few of them were lying lazily about, doing nothing. ”