--"But now lead on;
In me is no delay; with thee to go,
Is to stay here: with thee here to stay,
Is to go hence unwilling; thou to me
Art all things under heaven, all places thou."
MILTON.
The intelligence communicated by Ithuel essentially altered Raoul's
views of his actual situation. An active man might go from the
Marinella, at the foot of the Scaricatojo, or the place where the crew
of the felucca had landed, to the Marina Grande of Sorrento in an hour.
At the latter beach boats were always to be found, and two hours more
would carry the messenger, by water, to the ships off Capri, even in a
calm. The first of these important hours had now elapsed some time; and
he could not doubt that vigorous aims were already employed in pulling
across the few leagues of water that separated the island from the
shores of Sorrento. The day was calm, it is true, and it would be
impossible to move the ships; but two frigates and a heavy sloop-of-war
might send such a force against him in boats as, in his present
situation, would render resistance next to hopeless.
Raoul ceased eating, and, standing on the taffrail, he cast anxious
looks around him. His sturdy followers, ignorant of all the dangers by
which they were environed, were consuming their morning's meal with the
characteristic indifference to danger that marks the ordinary conduct of
seamen. Even Ithuel, usually so sensitive on the subject of English
power, and who had really so much to apprehend should he again fall
into the hands of the Proserpines, was masticating his food with the
keen relish of a man who had been hard at work the whole morning. All
appeared unconscious of their critical condition; and to Raoul it seemed
as if the entire responsibility rested on his own shoulders.
Fortunately, he was not a man to shrink from his present duties; and he
occupied the only leisure moment that would be likely to offer that day,
in deliberating on his resources and in maturing his plans.
The armament still remained in the lugger, but it was doubtful if she
would float without removing it; and, admitting this necessity, the
question arose of what was to be done with it, in order to render it
available, in the event of an attack. Two or even four of the light guns
might be worked on the decks of the felucca; and here he determined they
should be immediately placed, with a proper supply of cartridges and
shot. Twenty men thrown into that light craft, which Ithuel reported as
sailing and sweeping well, might prove of the last importance. Then one
of the islets had a ruin on it, of what was believed to be an ancient
temple. It is true, these ruins were insignificant, and scarcely visible
at any distance; but, on a close examination, and by using some of the
displaced stones with judgment, it was possible to entrench a party
behind them, and make a stout resistance against light missiles, or such
as boats would most probably use. Raoul got into the yawl, and sculled
himself to this spot, examining the capabilities with care and judgment.
After this, his mode of proceeding was matured to his own satisfaction.
The usual time had been consumed, and the hands were "turned to"; each
officer receiving the orders necessary to the discharge of the duty
confided to his particular superintendence. As Ithuel had captured the
felucca, Raoul felt it right to intrust him with the command of the
prize. He was directed to take on board the armament and ammunition
necessary to a defence, to mount the guns in the best manner he could,
and to make all the other fighting preparations; while another gang
struck into the felucca's hold such articles from the lugger as it was
desirable to save.
Another party, under the first lieutenant, landed the remainder of the
light carronades, pieces of twelve pounds only, with the proper stores,
and commenced the arrangements to place them in battery among the ruins.
A small supply of food and water was also transferred to this islet.
While these dispositions were in progress, Raoul himself, assisted by
his sailing-master, prepared to heave the lugger off the rocks. To this,
at present the most important duty, our hero gave his personal
inspection; for it required skill, judgment, and caution. The physical
force of the crew was reserved to aid in the attempt. At length
everything was ready, and the instant had arrived when the momentous
trial was to be made. The lugger had now been ashore quite four hours,
and the sun had been up fully three. By this time, Raoul calculated that
the English, at Capri, knew of his misfortune, and little leisure
remained in which to do a vast deal of work. The hands were all summoned
to the bars, therefore, and the toil of heaving commenced.
As soon as the cable got the strain, Raoul felt satisfied that the
anchor would hold. Fortunately, a fluke had taken a rock, a circumstance
that could be known only by the result; but, so long as the iron held
together, there was no danger of that material agent's failing them. The
last part of the process of lightening was now performed as rapidly as
possible, and then came the trial-heave at the bars. Every effort was
fruitless, however, inch being gained after inch, until it seemed as if
the hemp of the cable were extending its minutest fibres, without the
hull's moving any more than the rocks on which it lay. Even the boys
were called to the bars; but the united force of all hands, the officers
included, produced no change. There was an instant when Raoul fancied
his best course would be to set fire to the hulk, get on board the
felucca, and sweep off to the southward, in season to avoid the
expected visit from the English. He even called his officers together,
and laid the proposition before them. But the project was too feebly
urged, and it met with too little response in the breasts of his
auditors to be successful. The idea of abandoning that beautiful and
faultless little craft was too painful while the remotest hope of
preserving it remained.
Raoul had measured his hours with the accuracy of a prudent general. It
was now almost time for the English boats to appear, and he began to
hope that the Neapolitans had made the great mistake of sending their
information to the fleet off Naples, rather than carrying it to the
ships at Capri. Should it prove so, he had still the day before him, and
might retire under cover of the night. At all events, the lugger could
not be abandoned without an enemy in sight, and the people were again
called to the bars for a renewed effort. As water might be obtained at a
hundred points on the coast, and the distance to Corsica was so small,
the last gallon had been started and pumped out, during the
recent pause.
Our hero felt that this was the final effort. The hold of le Feu-Follet
was literally empty, and all her spare spars were floating among the
rocks. If she could not be started now, he did not possess the means to
get her off. The anchor held; the cable, though stretched to the utmost,
stood; and every creature but himself was at the bars. The ground-swell
had been lessening all the morning, and little aid was now to be had
from the rising of the water. Still, that little must be obtained;
without it, the task seemed hopeless.
"Get ready, men," cried Raoul, as he paced the taffrail, "and heave at
the word. We will wait for a swell, then strain every nerve till
something part. _Pas encore, mes enfans--pas encore!_ Stand by!--Yonder
comes a fellow who will lift us--heave a strain--heave harder--heave,
body and soul!--heave, altogether!"
The men obeyed. First they hove a gentle strain; then the effort was
increased; and, obedient to the order, just as the ground-swell rolled
under the lugger's bottom, they threw out their utmost strength, and the
hull started for the first time. This was encouraging, though the
movement did not exceed six inches. It was a decided movement, and was
made in the right direction. This success nerved the people to an
increased effort. It was probable that, at the next strain, they would
throw a tenth more impetus into their muscles. Of all this Raoul was
aware, and he determined not to let the feeling flag.
"_Encore, mes enfans!_" he said. "Heave, and get ready! Be
watchful--now's your time! Heave, and rip the planks off the lugger's
bottom--heave, men, heave!"
This time the effort answered the emergency; the swell rolled in, the
men threw out their strength, a surge was felt, it was followed up by a
strain, and le Feu-Follet shot off her bed into deep water, rolling, for
want of ballast, nearly to her hammock-cloths. She soon lay directly
over her anchor.
Here was success!--triumphant success; and that at a moment when the
most sanguine had begun to despair. The men embraced each other, showing
a hundred manifestations of extravagant joy. The tears came to Raoul's
eyes; but he had no opportunity to concealing them, every officer he had
pressing around him to exchange felicitations. The scene was one of
happy disorder. It had lasted two or three minutes, when Ithuel, always
cold and calculating, edged his way through the throng to his
commander's side, and pointed significantly in the direction of
Campanella. There, indeed, was visible a division of the expected boats.
It was pulling toward them, having that moment doubled the cape!
Ithuel's gesture was too significant to escape attention, and every eye
followed its direction. The sight was of a nature not to be mistaken. It
at once changed the current of feeling in all who beheld it. There was
no longer a doubt concerning the manner in which the news of the
accident had travelled, or of its effect on the English at Capri. In
point of fact, the padrone of the captured felucca, with a sole eye to
the recovery of his vessel, had ascended the Scaricatojo, after landing
at the Marinella, at its foot, as fast as his legs could carry him; had
rather run, than glided, along the narrow lanes of the piano and the
hill-side to the beach of Sorrento; had thrown himself into a boat,
manned by four lusty Sorrentine watermen--and Europe does not contain
lustier or bolder; had gone on board the Terpsichore, and laid his case
before Sir Frederick Dashwood, ignorant of the person of the real
commanding officer among the three ships. The young baronet, though
neither very wise nor very much experienced in his profession, was
exceedingly well disposed to seek distinction. It immediately occurred
to his mind, that the present was a fitting opportunity to gain laurels.
He was second in rank present, and, in virtue of that claim, he fancied
that the first could do no more than send him in command of the
expedition, which he rightly foresaw Cuffe would order against the
French. But there arose a difficulty. As soon as Sir Frederick reported
the nature of the intelligence he had received to his senior captain,
and his own wish to be employed on the occasion, the rights of
Winchester interposed to raise a question. Cuffe was prompt enough in
issuing an order for each ship to man and arm two boats, making six in
all, and in giving the necessary details, but he lost some precious time
in deciding who was to command. This was the cause of delay, and had
given rise to certain hopes in Raoul, that facts were subsequently to
destroy. In the end, Sir Frederick prevailed, his rank giving him a
decided advantage; and the division of boats that was now approaching
was under his orders.
Raoul saw he had rather more than an hour to spare. To fight the
felucca, unsupported, against so many enemies, and that in a calm, was
quite out of the question. That small, low craft might destroy a few of
her assailants, but she would inevitably be carried at the first onset.
There was not time to get the ballast and other equipments into the
lugger, so as to render her capable of a proper resistance; nor did even
she offer the same advantages for a defence, unless in quick motion, as
the ruins. It was determined, therefore, to make the best disposition of
the two vessels that circumstances would allow, while the main
dependence should be placed on the solid defences of stone. With this
end, Ithuel was directed to haul his felucca to a proper berth; the
first lieutenant was ordered to get as much on board le Feu-Follet as
possible, in readiness to profit by events; while Raoul himself,
selecting thirty of his best men, commenced preparing the guns on the
rocks for active service.
A single half-hour wrought a material change in the state of things.
Ithuel had succeeded in hauling the felucca into a berth among the
islets, where she could not easily be approached by boats, and where her
carronades might be rendered exceedingly useful. Much of the ballast was
again on board the lugger, and a few of her stores, sufficient to render
her tolerably stiff, in the event of a breeze springing up; and Raoul
had directed the two inside guns of the felucca to be sent on board her
and mounted, that she might assist in the defence with a flanking fire.
The great difficulty which exists in managing a force at anchor is the
opportunity that is given the assailant of choosing his point of attack,
and, by bringing several of the vessels in a line, cause them to
intercept each other's fire. In order to prevent this as much as in his
power, Raoul placed his two floating-batteries out of line, though it
was impossible to make such a disposition of them as would not leave
each exposed, on one point of attack, in a degree greater than any
other. Nevertheless, the arrangement was so made, that either a vessel
or the ruins might aid each craft respectively against the assault on
her weakest point.
When his own guns were ready, and the two vessels moored, Raoul visited
both the lugger and felucca, to inspect their preparations, and to say
a cheerful word to their men. He found most things to his mind; where
they were not, he ordered changes to be made. With the lieutenant his
conversation was brief, for that officer was one who possessed much
experience in this very sort of warfare, and could be relied on. With
Ithuel, he was more communicative; not that he distrusted the citizen of
the Granite State, but that he knew him to be a man of unusual
resources, could the proper spirit be aroused within him.
"_Bien_, Etooelle," he said, when the inspection was ended, "much will
depend on the use you make of these two guns."
"I know that, as well as you do yourself, Captain Rule," answered the
other, biting off at least two inches from half a yard of pig-tail;
"and, what's more, I know that I fight with a rope round my neck. The
spiteful devils will hardly overlook all that's passed; and though it
will be dead ag'in all law, they'll work out their eends on us both, if
we don't work out our eends on them. To my mind, the last will be the
most agreeable, as well as the most just."
"_Bon!_--Do not throw away your shot, Etooelle."
"I--why, Captain Rule, I'm nat'rally economical. That would be wasteful,
and waste I set down for a sin. The only place I calculate on throwing
the shot, is into the face and eyes of the English. For my part, I wish
Nelson himself was in one of them boats--I wish the man no harm; but I
_do_ wish he was in one of them very boats."
"And, Etooelle, I do _not_. It is bad enough as it is, _entre nous;_ and
Nelson is very welcome to stay on board his Foudroyant; _voilà!_--The
enemy is in council; we shall soon hear from them. Adieu, _mon ami_;
remember our two _Républiques!"_
Raoul squeezed Ithuel's hand, and entered his boat. The distance to the
ruin was trifling, but it was necessary to make a small circuit in order
to reach it. While doing this, the young mariner discovered a boat
pulling from the direction of the marinella, at the foot of the
Scaricatojo, which had got so near, unseen, as at first to startle him
by its proximity. A second look, however, satisfied him that no cause of
apprehension existed in that quarter. His eye could not be deceived. The
boat contained Ghita and her uncle; the latter rowing, and the former
seated in the stern, with her head bowed to her knees, apparently in
tears. Raoul was alone, sculling the light yawl with a single hand, and
he exerted himself to meet these unexpected and, in the circumstances,
unwelcome visitors, as far as possible from the rocks. Presently the two
boats lay side by side.
"What means this, Ghita!" the young man exclaimed; "do you not see the
English, yonder, at this moment making their preparations to attack us?
In a few minutes we shall be in the midst of a battle, and thou here!"
"I see it all, now, Raoul," was the answer, "though we did not on
quitting the shore; but we would not turn back, having once come upon
the Bay. I was the first in St. Agata to discover the evil that had
befallen thee; from that moment I have never ceased to entreat my uncle,
until he has consented to come hither."
"With what motive, Ghita?" asked Raoul, with sparkling eyes--"at length
thou relentest--wilt become my wife! In my adversity, thou rememberest
thou art a woman!"
"Not exactly that, dear Raoul; but I cannot desert thee, altogether, in
this strait. The same objection exists now, I fear, that has ever
existed to our union; but that is no reason I should not aid thee. We
have many friends along the heights, here, who will consent to conceal
thee; and I have come to carry thee and the American to the shore, until
an opportunity offer to get thee to thine own France."
"What! desert _ces braves_, Ghita, at a moment like this!--Not to
possess thy hand, dearest girl, could I be guilty of an act so base."
"Thy situation is not theirs. The condemnation to death hangs over thee,
Raoul; shouldst thou again fall into English hands, there will be no
mercy for thee."
"_Assez_--this is no moment for argument. The English are in motion,
and there is barely time for thee to get to a safe distance ere they
begin to fire. Heaven bless thee, Ghita! This care of thine draws my
heart to thee closer than ever; but we must now separate. Signor
Giuntotardi, pull more toward Amalfi. I see that the English mean to
attack us from the side of the land--pull more toward Amalfi."
"Thou tellest us this in vain, Raoul," Ghita quietly but firmly
answered. "We have not come here on an unmeaning errand--if thou
refusest to go with us, we will remain with thee. These prayers, that
thou so despisest, may not prove useless."
"Ghita!--this can never be. We are without cover--almost without
defences--our vessel is unfit to receive thee, and this affair will be
very different from that off Elba. Thou wouldst not willingly distract
my mind with care for thee, at such a moment!"
"We will remain, Raoul. There may come a moment when thou wilt be glad
to have the prayers of believers, God leadeth us hither, either to take
thee away, or to remain, and look to thy eternal welfare, amid the
din of war."
Raoul gazed at the beautiful enthusiast with an intensity of love and
admiration that even her truthful simplicity had never before excited.
Her mild eyes were kindling with holy ardor, her cheeks were flushed,
and something like the radiance of heaven seemed to beam upon her
countenance. The young man felt that time pressed; he saw no hope of
overcoming her resolution in season to escape the approaching boats; and
it might be that the two would be safer in some nook of the ruins than
in attempting to return to the shore. Then, that never-dying but latent
wish to have Ghita with him aided his hasty reasoning, and he decided to
permit the girl and her uncle to come upon the islet that he was to
defend in person.
Some signs of impatience had begun to manifest themselves among his
people, ere Raoul made up his mind to the course he would follow. But
when he landed, supporting Ghita, that chivalry of character and homage
to the sex, which distinguish the southern Frenchman, changed the
current of feeling, and their two acquaintances were received with
acclamation. The act of self-devotion seemed heroic, and that it always
enough to draw applause among a people so keenly alive to glory. Still,
the time to make the necessary dispositions was short. Fortunately, the
surgeon had taken his post on this islet, as the probably scene of the
warmest conflict; and he had contrived to make his preparations to
receive the hurt, in a cavity of the rock behind a portion of the ruin,
where the person would be reasonably safe. Raoul saw the advantages of
this position, and he led Ghita and her uncle to it, without pausing to
deliberate. Here he tenderly embraced the girl, a liberty Ghita could
not repel at such a moment; then he tore himself away to attend to
duties which had now become urgently pressing.
In point of fact, Sir Frederick Dashwood had made his disposition, and
was advancing to the assault, being already within the range of grape.
For the obvious reason of preventing the French from attempting to
escape to the shore, he chose to approach from that side himself--an
arrangement that best suited Raoul; who, foreseeing the probability of
the course, had made his own preparations with an eye to such an event.
Of boats, there were eight in sight, though only seven were drawing
near, and were in line. Six had strong crews, were armed, and were
evidently fitted for action. Of these, three had light boat-guns in
their bows, while the other three carried small-arms-men only. The
seventh boat was the Terpsichore's gig, with its usual crew, armed;
though it was used by the commanding officer himself as a sort of
_cheval de bataille_, in the stricter meaning of the term. In other
words, Sir Frederick Dashwood pulled through the line in it, to give his
orders and encourage his people. The eighth boat, which kept aloof,
quite out of the range of grape, was a shore craft, belonging to Capri,
in which Andrea Barrofaldi and Vito Viti had come, expressly to witness
the capture or destruction of their old enemy. When Raoul was taken in
the Bay of Naples, these two worthies fancied that their mission was
ended--that they might return with credit to Porto Ferrajo, and again
hold up their heads, with dignity and self-complacency, among the
functionaries of the island. But the recent escape, and the manner in
which they had been connected with it, entirely altered the state of
things. A new load of responsibility rested on their shoulders; fresh
opprobrium was to be met and put down; and the last acquisition of
ridicule promised to throw the first proofs of their simplicity and
dulness entirely into the shade. Had not Griffin and his associates been
implicated in the affair, it is probable the vice-governatore and the
podestà would have been still more obnoxious to censure; but as things
were, the sly looks, open jests, and oblique innuendoes of all they met
in the ship, had determined the honest magistrates to retire to their
proper pursuits on terra firma, at the earliest occasion. In the mean
time, to escape persecution, and to obtain a modicum of the glory that
was now to be earned, they had hired a boat, and accompanied the
expedition, in the character of amateurs. It formed no part of their
plan, however, to share in the combat; a view of its incidents being
quite as much, as Vito Viti strongly maintained when his friend made a
suggestion to the contrary, as was necessary to vindicate their conduct
and courage in the judgment of every Elban.
"Cospetto!" he exclaimed, in the warmth of opposition--"Signor Andrea,
your propositions are more in the spirit of an unreflecting boy than in
that of a discreet vice-governatore. If we take swords and muskets into
the boat, as you appear to wish, the devil may tempt us to use them; and
what does either of us know of such things? The pen is a more befitting
weapon for a magistrate than a keen-edged sword or a foul-smelling
piece of fire-arms. I am amazed that your native sensibilities do not
teach you this. There is an indecency in men's mistaking their duties;
and of all things on earth, heaven protect me from falling into such an
error! A false position is despicable."
"Thou art warm, friend Vito, and that without occasion. For my part, I
think men should be prepared for any emergency that may happen. History
is full of examples in which civilians and scholars--aye, even
churchmen--have distinguished themselves by feats of arms, on proper
occasions; and I confess to a philosophical curiosity to ascertain the
sensations with which men seek and expose life."
"That's your besetting weakness, Signor Andrea, and the emergency drives
me so far to lose sight of the respect that a podestà owes to a
vice-governatore, as to feel constrained to tell you as much. Philosophy
plays the very devil with your judgment. With about half of what you
possess, the Grand Duke couldn't boast of a more sensible subject. As
for history, I don't believe anything that's in it; more especially
since the nations of the north have begun to write it. Italy once _had_
histories, but where are they now? For my part, I never heard of a man's
fighting who was not regularly bred to arms, unless it might be some
fellow who had reason to wish he had never been born."
"I can name you several men of letters, in particular, whose fame as
soldiers is only eclipsed by that earned by their more peaceful labors,
honest Vito; Michael Angelo Buonarotti, for instance, to say nothing of
various warlike popes, cardinals, and bishops. But we can discuss this
matter after the battle is over. Thou seest the English are already
quitting their ships, and we shall be in the rear of the combatants."
"So much the better, Corpo di Bacco! Who ever heard of an army that
carries its brains in its head, like a human being? No, no, Signor
Andrea; I have provided myself with a string of beads, which I intend to
count over, with aves and paters, while the firing lasts, like a good
Catholic. If you are so hot, and bent on making one in this battle, you
may proclaim in a loud voice one of the speeches of the ancient consuls
and generals, such as you will find them in any of the old books."
Vito Viti prevailed. The vice-governatore was obliged to leave the arms
behind him, and this, too, without making any great difference in the
result of the day's fighting, inasmuch as the boatmen employed, in
addition to asking a triple price for their time and labor, obstinately
refused to go nearer to the French than half a league. Distant as this
was, however, Raoul, while reconnoitring the enemy with a glass,
detected the presence of the two Elbans. He laughed outright at the
discovery, notwithstanding the many serious reflections that naturally
pressed upon his mind at such a moment.
But this was not the time to indulge in merriment, and the countenance
of our hero almost immediately resumed its look of care. Now that he
felt certain of the manner in which the English intended to assail him,
he had new orders to give to all his subordinates. As has been said, the
principal point was to make the different guns support each other. In
order to do this effectually, it became necessary to spring the lugger's
broadside round more obliquely toward the felucca; which accomplished,
Raoul deemed his arrangements complete.
Then followed the pause which ordinarily prevails between preparation
and the battle. This, in a vessel, is always a period of profound and
solemn stillness. So important to concert, order, and intelligent
obedience, in the narrow compass, and amid the active evolutions of a
ship, does silence become at such moments, that one of the first duties
of discipline is to inculcate its absolute necessity; and a thousand men
shall be seen standing in their batteries, ready to serve the fierce
engines of war, without a sound arising among them all, of sufficient
force to still the washing of the gentlest waves. It is true, the
French were not now strictly arrayed for a naval action; but they
carried into the present conflict the habits and discipline of the
peculiar branch of service to which they belonged.