In the King's Name: The Cruise of the "Kestrel"

Hilary stood in the centre of the old chapel, gazing at the closed door, and listening to the rattle of the bolts. He was full of regrets, for, left early an orphan, he had been...

Morning on board the _Kestrel_, his Britannic majesty's cutter, lying on and off the south coast on the lookout for larks, or what were to her the dainty little birds that the l...

There was an attempt at flight on the part of the _Kestrels_, but there was no room to fly, though the general impression was that the smugglers were about to hurl down pieces o...

Hilary Leigh was only a boy, and he acted boyishly at that moment, for in his rage and mortification he first of all struck at the hatch with his fist, and then shouted to the p...

Tom Tully had marked down a towering portion of the cliff as being over the spot where they had lost sight of their young officer, and, as it happened, that really was pretty cl...

Hilary's first act on recovering himself was to creep back cautiously to the side, and lower down the stone over the open well, shivering still as he realised more fully the nar...

Hilary Leigh lay half awake, listening to the loud song of a thrush, full-throated and joyous, whistling away to his mate sitting close by in her clay cup of a nest upon four pa...

There was something ludicrous in the struggle that had taken place, especially as Hilary had so thoroughly won the day; but at the same time there was a very unpleasant side to...

Hilary breathed more freely as he silently let fall the latch, and then waited for a few minutes to recover his equanimity before making a farther trial. He had succeeded so far...

Appearances were against Hilary, and he saw that they were. In fact, so black was the lookout, that he half thought of finding a shallow place and standing there amongst the wat...

"Well, this beats everything I've had to do with," said Hilary, as the hours glided by, and he began to suffer acutely. Visions of delicious country breakfasts, for which he had...

Hilary knew that if he wished to escape he must achieve it with his brain perhaps as much as his heels. He could pretty well tell which way to go, but his knowledge of the count...

Hilary sat upon the window-ledge and listened, but he heard no further sound; so, coming to the conclusion that though he was extremely indignant he was also still uncommonly hu...

"Say, lads, I'm getting tired of this here," said Tom Tully, bringing himself to an anchor on a patch of sand; "I'm as hot as I am dry. Where's our orsifer?"

Fortunately for the little _Kestrel_ the morning breeze was soft and the sea as smooth as a mirror, and all the crew had to do was to await the tide to float them off from where...

"No," he said to himself, "if I go there I shall be tempted into giving my parole or joining the Pretender's party. Sir Henry seems to think he can win me over; so let us see."

Hilary felt the cold perspiration breaking out on his face, as he thought of the loneliness of the spot where he was, and of his helplessness here in the hands of these desperat...

Hilary felt his helplessness, and after another furious effort, during which he partly raised his captor from his position of 'vantage, he lay still and looked in the man's face.

Lieutenant Lipscombe made up his mind half a dozen times over that he would run into port and send in a despatch detailing Hilary Leigh's desertion; and each time that he so mad...

That blue stream of fire came gurgling and fluttering beneath the door, spreading rapidly over the floor, filling the chapel with a ghastly glare; and the prisoner saw that in a...

With his heart throbbing with joy Hilary now proceeded to reverse his performance, for, taking off his jacket once more, he enveloped the burning lantern, picked up the other th...

"Those sound to me like signals of recall," said Hilary to his companion, as gun after gun was fired, the last sending a shot skipping before the bows of the _Kestrel_.

In a moment Hilary mentally saw Sir Henry and the skipper enter his prison, fancied the shout of alarm, and seemed to see himself, cutlass in hand, making a dash for his liberty...

"Well," said Billy Waters, "of all the cowardly, sneaking tricks anybody could do, I don't know a worse one than staving in a man's boat. Yah! a fellow who would do such a thing...

Hilary Leigh felt very angry at being shut up in his prison, but the good breakfast with which he had been supplied went some way towards mollifying him, and as he sat upon the...

The lieutenant had a long look, and then, with a display of energy that was unusual with him, he exclaimed, "It is a signal for boats; there's a landing going on."

"Sir Henry!" ejaculated Hilary Leigh; and for the moment his heart seemed to stand still, for his duties as a king's officer had brought him face to face with a dear old friend,...

The man dropped the nets, and taking up his candle, which he had placed upon a chest, followed Allstone back along the narrow passage between the piled-up tubs and packages, and...

Three days of cruising up and down on the lookout for suspicious craft, some of which were boarded, but boarded in vain, for, however suspicious they might appear at a distance,...

In those moments of peril Hilary hardly knew how it all happened, but fortunately the men with him were men-of-war's men, and accustomed to prompt obedience. The helm was put do...

Hilary's burst of merriment was of very short duration. There is, no doubt, something very amusing to a young naval officer in the fact of his being made a prisoner, and carried...

The carpenter's four weeks extended to five, then to six, and seven had glided away before the cutter was pretty well ready for sea. Urgent orders had been given that her repair...

It would have been an ugly fall for the lieutenant, for according to the wholesome custom observed by most mechanics, the carpenter had turned the damaged hatchway into a very p...

The memory of that dinner and the words that he had heard filled Hilary's dreams that night. He was always waking up with a start, nervous and excited, and then dropping off aga...

During the excitement, the bustle of the attack, the lieutenant had seemed more himself, and he had given his orders in a concise and businesslike way; but now that they were le...

The men had been witnesses of all that took place, and had heard the officer's angry words, respecting which they talked in a low tone, Billy Waters more than once saying that h...

As the slow-match began to sputter Hilary drew back, closed the door of the lantern, and walked backwards aft, towards where the men were gathered. The desire was strong upon hi...

Lieutenant Lipscombe was so dissatisfied with the result of Hilary's expedition that he landed himself the next day with a party of the _Kestrels_ and went over and searched the...

Lieutenant Lipscombe's eye had grown rapidly better, and his temper rapidly worse. He had grumbled at Chips for being so long over his task of repairing the deck and hatchway, a...

How long Hilary had been asleep he did not know, but he was aroused suddenly by something touching his face, and he lay there wide awake on the instant, wondering what it meant.

It was with no little trepidation that Hilary entered the room where the admiral was waiting Captain Charteris' return, and as soon as he saw that he came with a young companion...

Did you ever suffer from that unpleasant bodily disorder--sleep-walking? Did you ever wake up and find yourself standing undressed in the cold-- somewhere--you can't tell where,...

"That's a boat-cloak, and the brute's sitting on me," said Hilary Leigh to himself as he vainly struggled to get free and shout for help. He did utter a few inarticulate noises,...

It was very tempting. The country looked so bright and beautiful from his prison window; the voice of his old companion brought up such a host of pleasant recollections, and it...

He knew what was his duty in such a case, though; and that was to run for Portsmouth with the papers, fighting only on the defensive; and this, to the great disappointment of hi...

Hilary Leigh's scratches were two severe wounds which kept him in bed for a couple of months, during which he learned that the despatches he had brought back after turning the t...