Fitz the Filibuster

It was not many minutes later when, attracted by a group of the lovely insects playing about the shrubs that were in full bloom, Fitz had hung back, making them an excuse while...

"Of course he is, and he's getting better as fast as he can. What's more, he's a boy--in the depth of despair now, and in half-an-hour's time he'll be himself again, and ready t...

There was little sleep that night for those on board, for once his little cargo was discharged, the skipper had everything made snug and ready for putting to sea if necessary at...

"Here, you, Mr Burnett, you are a non-combatant," said the skipper, suddenly coming upon Fitz, after going round the walls of the hacienda with Don Ramon, and seeing that they w...

"Now we know," said Poole joyously, as they left the cabin and went forward to their old place to discuss their plans: "what we have got to do is to cut and run. Come on; let's...

The boat had stopped, and Fitz had heard the faintest of faint clicks as of iron against iron, for the hook in the carpenter's hands had lightly come in contact with the port an...

Neither Fitz nor Poole had felt any desire to pose as the heroes of the little night attack, which had resulted in the disabling of the armoured man-of-war, but it was with a st...

The next morning reconnoitring began once more, prior to the skipper giving his orders, and the schooner dropping down slowly towards the mouth of the river; for the mate had be...

Happily for them, the boys saw little more of the horrors of the petty war. Aboard the schooner what met their eyes were the triumphs of peace. The next day flags were flying, b...

It was the speaker's ultra caution spoken in a moment of intense excitement in which he hardly realised how far they had left the gunboat behind. But his orders were obeyed, utt...

As long as the excitement kept up, Fitz paced the deck with Poole, but for two or three nights past regular sleep and his eyelids had been at odds. The consequence was that all...

The mate and the boat's crew went below, and the skipper took a turn or so up and down the deck, thinking deeply, while the two lads went and settled themselves down aft to keep...

"Yes," said the skipper sternly, speaking in very fair Spanish, "you may say you are a friend, but a friend doesn't come crawling into a camp like a serpent. It seems to me you...

"Only this 'ere, sir--that it aren't no use to shout. I am wet and cold, and hollering like this is giving me a sore throat, and the rest of the lads too. There's Dick Boulter i...

"Why, in the name of thunder, did you come and tumble down my hatchway instead of stopping on the gunboat? I didn't ask you to come. Here, you are as bad as having a girl on boa...

Daybreak brought a blank look of amazement into the lads' countenances. The soft, sweet, bracing air of morning floated from the glorious shore, all cliff and indentation lookin...

The boarding-netting was partially drawn aside, and Fitz noted that more than ever the crew of the schooner looked like well-trained man-of-war's men, each with his cutlass belt...

"To get command?" cried the Don. "I have full command. Resistance to my rule is dead, and I have only to wait to be acknowledged by the Powers. But go on with what you were sayi...

The dim evening gave place to a dark night. The _Tonans_ had for some two or three hours been stealing along very slowly not far from land, and that something important was on t...

He would not even pause to consider whether his ideas were possible or impossible; everything was swallowed up in action, and with feverish energy he hurried back on deck to mak...

The brains of the other occupants of the boat had been as active as those of Fitz, and their owners had come to pretty well the same conclusion, as they all involuntarily lowere...

Every one seemed bent on celebrating that day as a festival. The fight was a victory, and all were rejoicing in a noisy holiday, while for some hours the crew of the schooner ha...

It was rather a queer position occupied by the two lads, seated astride the bowsprit like children playing at horses--sea- or river-horses, in this case, for the swift current w...

The little party strained their ears as they tramped silently on towards the boat; but not a sound was heard suggesting that the enemy grasped the fact that the strategy had bee...

The speed they were able to get out of the schooner, and the admirable seamanship of her commander enabled them to reach the sought-for shelter before the fury of the West India...

As the cabin-door closed Fitz lay back, trying to think about his position, but he felt too comfortable to trouble much. There had been something so soft and comforting about th...

It was either sunrise or sunset, for the cabin was full of a rich warm glow, and Fitz lay upon his back listening to a peculiar sound which sounded to him like _fuzz, whuzz, thr...

The silence and darkness made the lads' start for their venturesome expedition doubly impressive, the more so that the men were looking on in silence and wonder, and no light wa...

"Yes, yes, of course," said Fitz; "I meant you. But what will be done now? We are--you are regularly shut in this bay. The gunboat will keep guard, and her boats will begin patr...

Burgess the mate went forward, to stand for a few minutes looking into the offing, before going back aft to say a word or two to the man at the wheel, as the schooner was now gl...

"Shoal? Yes," growled the mate, his face growing sour again. "We've nearly scraped the bottom over and over again. I only wish they'd try it. They'd be fast on some of those jag...

Fitz Burnett felt the next moment as if it would be easier to do that which had never fallen to his lot--board with an excited crew an enemy's ship, as he stood there for a few...

An anxious look-out had been kept up all through those early hours on board both schooner and boat, for during the long delay caused by the accident, it seemed highly probable t...

But, on the other hand, the days grew into weeks in a climate that might be called absolutely perfect, and from his first coming on deck and helping in the capture of the bonito...

Fitz Burnett looked wonderingly at the skipper as if he did not comprehend the bearings of the question. "Where?" he faltered. "Yes; you asked me to set you ashore. I say, where?"

The distance back to the hacienda seemed short enough, and in anticipation of his mission proving successful, the skipper had his first boat's load told off ready for their start.

The middy did not say much, but a very short time later he proved that he shared his companion's feelings, both lads sleeping with all their might, and trying to make up for a g...

That evening, followed by a heterogeneous fleet of about twenty small vessels crammed with fighting men, the _Teal_ sailed again, and their time of arrival was so contrived that...

Fitz Burnett slept on during the greatest part of that day and most of the next; each time that he woke up he seemed better, and ready for the food that he had missed for so lon...

All doubts as to the character of the new-comers were chased away by the coming up of the skipper to welcome the Don, who had nothing but bad news to communicate.

Poole looked as solemn and calm as a judge as he raised the soup-basin and listened to his patient's words, while all at once a suspicious thought glanced through Fitz's brain,...

Fitz passed his time nearly always on deck with the skipper's glass in hand, every now and then close enough in to one of the islands to excite an intense longing to land, partl...

Another morning passed, and the schooner was once more sailing away through the beautiful calm blue see, heaving in long slow rollers which seemed to be doing their best to rock...

Two days passed, during which time Fitz kept to his cabin, and towards evening Poole came down, to find the middy seated with his back to the door gazing through the cabin-windo...

The skipper moved off into the darkness, and all was wonderfully still once more in the clearing. There was the dense jungle all round, but not a sound broke the silence, for it...

"What's wrong, father?" said Poole. "Why, it's close upon sundown, and it begins to look as if they are going to steal upon us in the dark, which will give them a lot of advanta...

"A trifle!" said the President. "Oh, how lightly you English boys do take such things. Your trifle, as you call it, has made me fast in the Governmental chair. I shall always th...

"Are we going to run right in, Poole?" asked Fitz, as he watched the excitement of the crowd on deck, where every one of Don Ramon's followers was busy polishing up his rifle, t...

The nets were soon mended and the slack places hauled up taut, while the _Teal's_ crew sauntered about the deck, waiting patiently for the next attack, and compared notes about...

"No more you did, my boy," said the skipper; "and we don't want to take the honour from Mr Burnett. We shall have to do this, sir, but it will be risky work, and I don't know wh...

As the minutes glided by in the midst of that profound silence, a fresh kind of feverish feeling began to steal over Fitz. There in the distance, apparently beyond the dome of g...

Strict watch was set, no lights were shown, and a quiet, uneventful night was passed, the boys sleeping so hard that it was with some difficulty that they were awakened, to star...

Very little more was said, and the preparations were soon finished, with the rest of the crew looking on in silence. It seemed to be an understood thing, after a few words had p...

Fitz had just finished his semi-apology when the fastening of the door clicked softly; it was pushed, and a peculiar-looking, shaggy head was thrust in. The hair was of a rusty...

"Yes," said Fitz dreamily, as he lay on one side in his berth with his hand under his cheek, gazing through the cabin-window at the beautiful glancing water; "it is very lovely."

"Now, my good boy, have I not told you always to speak out in a sharp, business-like way? How in the world do you expect to get on in your profession and become a smart officer,...

It is a curious sensation to be lying on your back you don't know where, and you can't think of the reason why it should be so, but with your head right off, completely detached...

But the skipper's forebodings were needless. As they sailed round the headland it was through a sea of golden light. There lay Velova with every window flashing in the late afte...