A few miles from the coast was established a farm, belonging to an Irishman, who offered hospitality to the travelers.
Lord Glenarvan made known to the Irishman the cause which had brought him to these parts, and asked if he knew whether a three-masted English vessel, the
‘Britannia,’ had been lost less than two years before on the west coast of Australia.
“The Irishman had never heard of this wreck, but, to the great surprise of the bystanders, one of his servants came forward and said,—
“‘My lord, praise and thank God! If Captain Grant is still living, he is living on the Australian shores.’
“‘Who are you?’ asked Lord Glenarvan.
“‘A Scotchman like yourself, my lord,’ replied the man; ‘I am one of Captain Grant’s crew—one of the castaways of the
“Britannia.’”
“This man was called Ayrton. He was, in fact, the boatswain’s mate of the ‘Britannia,’ as his papers showed.
But, separated from Captain Grant at the moment when the ship struck upon the rocks, he had till then believed that the captain with all his crew had perished, and that he, Ayrton, was the sole survivor of the ‘Britannia.’
“‘Only,’ he added, ‘it was not on the west coast, but on the east coast of Australia that the vessel was lost, and if Captain Grant is still living, as his document indicates, he is a prisoner among the natives, and it is on the other coast that he must be looked for.’
“This man spoke in a frank voice and with a confident look; his words could not be doubted.
The Irishman, in whose service he had been for more than a year, answered for his trustworthiness.
Lord Glenarvan, therefore, believed in the fidelity of this man and, by his advice, resolved to cross Australia, following the thirty-seventh parallel.
Lord Glenarvan, his wife, the two children, the major, the Frenchman, Captain Mangles, and a few sailors composed the little band under the command of Ayrton, while the
‘Duncan,’ under charge of the mate, Tom Austin, proceeded to Melbourne, there to await Lord Glenarvan’s instructions.
“They set out on the 23rd of December, 1854.
“It is time to say that Ayrton was a traitor.
He was, indeed, the boatswain’s mate of the
‘Britannia,’ but, after some dispute with his captain, he endeavored to incite the crew to mutiny and seize the ship, and Captain Grant had landed him, on the 8th of April, 1852, on the west coast of Australia, and then sailed, leaving him there, as was only just.
“Therefore this wretched man knew nothing of the wreck of the
‘Britannia’; he had just heard of it from Glenarvan’s account.
Since his abandonment, he had become, under the name of Ben Joyce, the leader of the escaped convicts; and if he boldly maintained that the wreck had taken place on the east coast, and led Lord Glenarvan to proceed in that direction, it was that he hoped to separate him from his ship, seize the
‘Duncan,’ and make the yacht a pirate in the Pacific.”
Here the stranger stopped for a moment.
His voice trembled, but he continued,—
“The expedition set out and proceeded across Australia.
It was inevitably unfortunate, since Ayrton, or Ben Joyce, as he may be called, guided it, sometimes preceded, sometimes followed by his band of convicts, who had been told what they had to do.
“Meanwhile, the
‘Duncan’ had been sent to Melbourne for repairs.
It was necessary, then, to get Lord Glenarvan to order her to leave Melbourne and go to the east coast of Australia, where it would be easy to seize her.
After having led the expedition near enough to the coast, in the midst of vast forests with no resources, Ayrton obtained a letter, which he was charged to carry to the mate of the
‘Duncan’—a letter which ordered the yacht to repair immediately to the east coast, to Twofold Bay, that is to say a few days’ journey from the place where the expedition had stopped.
It was there that Ayrton had agreed to meet his accomplices, and two days after gaining possession of the letter, he arrived at Melbourne.
“So far the villain had succeeded in his wicked design.
He would be able to take the ‘Duncan’ into Twofold Bay, where it would be easy for the convicts to seize her, and her crew massacred, Ben Joyce would become master of the seas. But it pleased God to prevent the accomplishment of these terrible projects.
“Ayrton, arrived at Melbourne, delivered the letter to the mate, Tom Austin, who read it and immediately set sail, but judge of Ayrton’s rage and disappointment, when the next day he found that the mate was taking the vessel, not to the east coast of Australia, to Twofold Bay, but to the east coast of New Zealand.
He wished to stop him, but Austin showed him the letter!...
And indeed, by a providential error of the French geographer, who had written the letter, the east coast of New Zealand was mentioned as the place of destination.
“All Ayrton’s plans were frustrated!
He became outrageous.
They put him in irons.
He was then taken to the coast of New Zealand, not knowing what would become of his accomplices, or what would become of Lord Glenarvan.
“The ‘Duncan’ cruised about on this coast until the 3rd of March.
On that day Ayrton heard the report of guns.
The guns on the
‘Duncan’ were being fired, and soon Lord Glenarvan and his companions came on board.
“This is what had happened.
“After a thousand hardships, a thousand dangers, Lord Glenarvan had accomplished his journey, and arrived on the east coast of Australia, at Twofold Bay.
‘No “Duncan!’