Half an hour afterwards, Ayrton, without having been either seen or heard, arrived at the ship and caught hold of the main-chains.  He took breath, then, hoisting himself up, he managed to reach the extremity of the cutwater.  There were drying several pairs of sailors’ trousers.  He put on a pair.  Then settling himself firmly, he listened.  They were not sleeping on board the brig.  On the contrary, they were talking, singing, laughing.  And these were the sentences, accompanied with oaths, which principally struck Ayrton:—­

“Our brig is a famous acquisition.”

“She sails well, and merits her name of the ‘Speedy.’”

“She would show all the navy of Norfolk a clean pair of heels.”

“Hurrah for her captain!”

“Hurrah for Bob Harvey!”

What Ayrton felt when he overheard this fragment of conversation may be understood when it is known that in this Bob Harvey he recognized one of his old Australian companions, a daring sailor, who had continued his criminal career.  Bob Harvey had seized, on the shores of Norfolk Island this brig, which was loaded with arms, ammunition, utensils, and tools of all sorts, destined for one of the Sandwich Islands.  All his gang had gone on board, and pirates after having been convicts, these wretches, more ferocious than the Malays themselves, scoured the Pacific, destroying vessels, and massacring their crews.

The convicts spoke loudly, they recounted their deeds, drinking deeply at the same time, and this is what Ayrton gathered.  The actual crew of the “Speedy” was composed solely of English prisoners, escaped from Norfolk Island.

Here it may be well to explain what this island was.  In 29deg 2’ south latitude, and 165deg 42’ east longitude, to the east of Australia, is found a little island, six miles in circumference, overlooked by Mount Pitt, which rises to a height of 1,100 feet above the level of the sea.  This is Norfolk Island, once the seat of an establishment in which were lodged the most intractable convicts from the English penitentiaries.  They numbered 500, under an iron discipline, threatened with terrible punishments, and were guarded by 150 soldiers, and 150 employed under the orders of the governor.  It would be difficult to imagine a collection of greater ruffians.  Sometimes,—­although very rarely,—­notwithstanding the extreme surveillance of which they were the object, many managed to escape, and seizing vessels which they surprised, they infested the Polynesian Archipelagoes.

Thus had Bob Harvey and his companions done.  Thus had Ayrton formerly wished to do.  Bob Harvey had seized the brig “Speedy,” anchored in sight of Norfolk Island; the crew had been massacred; and for a year this ship had scoured the Pacific, under the command of Harvey, now a pirate, and well known to Ayrton!

The convicts were, for the most part, assembled under the poop; but a few, stretched on the deck, were talking loudly.