dripping off his forehead, but he could not get the refractory nut to
turn. The stout steel handle quivered under the strain, and Terry's
muscles stood out on his bare arms like whipcord, but still the nut
would not budge. In a second Jim threw his strength into the balance;
the spanner showed signs of slipping round the nut, but the next second
it flew round, and the nut gave at last.
It was then only a few seconds' work to take out the bent rod and
replace it with a new one; but the suspected torpedo-boat had by that
time drawn ahead of the launch. Jim, however, was not the sort of man
to say "die," and at his quick word of command the boat leaped forward
once more after the enemy, and under the increased pressure of steam due
to the stoppage, actually began to gain upon the chase. Douglas put his
hands to his mouth and sent a sharp challenge ringing across the water
toward her. This was immediately followed by a slight commotion aboard
the suspected Peruvian, which showed that the hail had been heard; but
there was no sign of her stopping; indeed, the next second a strong
volume of flame gushed up from her funnel, which proved that her
engineers had shovelled on more coal and turned on the forced draught.
Jim almost groaned in his agony of mind, for it seemed as though the
accident to the launch had doomed the flagship to destruction, and he
was just about to order his men to fire the Gatling gun at the dimly
seen shape, in the hope of hitting her, despite the fact that the smoke
would hide the chase from him, when he saw a long steel-coloured shape
glide past the bows of his own boat.
His heart gave a great thump at the sight, for he knew that he had had a
narrow escape from death. The torpedo-boat was not carrying a spar-
torpedo, but was towing the infernal machine, which she doubtless meant
to drag under the flagship's bows. It was one of the newly invented Lay
torpedoes, and a terrible weapon when effectively used. But alarm at
his own narrow escape was swamped in the feeling of relief for the
safety of the _Blanco Encalada_; for the torpedo-boat would be obliged
to manoeuvre a little to get her torpedo into place, and thus there was
just a chance that he might yet be able to intercept her. In a second
he had whirled the wheel hard over and was off along the Peruvian's
wake, telling the men to keep a bright look-out for the torpedo, and to
commence firing in the direction of the torpedo-boat.
Then the quick, metallic clatter of the Gatling broke out, mingled with
the whip-like crack of the rifles, and the darkness was illuminated by
the vivid flashes of flame. From the Peruvian a series of hoarse
screams, oaths, and yells told plainly enough that the Chilians had made
good practice, and that some at least of the hailing bullets had found
their billets; but the craft was all too surely drawing away, and it
became a question whether, even now, the launch would be in time to save
the _Blanco Encalada_.
Suddenly Jim perceived a speck of fire break out aboard the flagship,
which quickly broke into a great glow of flame, and he heaved a sigh of
relief which was almost a sob, for he knew that her people had taken
alarm from the firing and were prepared. In a few seconds the beacon-
fire spread a lurid glare wide over the waters of the bay, and the
Peruvian torpedo-boat was plainly disclosed to view, together with a
phosphorescent glimmer which indicated the position of the deadly
torpedo.
"Now, men!" cried the young Englishman, "now is your chance, while the
light lasts. Train the gun on the torpedo, and fire at it until you hit
it. Riflemen, do the same, and remember that the _Blanco's_ safety
depends upon your shooting."
"Ay, ay, sir!" responded the Chilians, and a second later the Gatling in
the bows began to chatter out its deadly message, while the seamen
rapidly loaded and fired their rifles, in the hope of destroying the
infernal machine before it could reach the _Blanco Encalada_. But, try
as they might, it seemed impossible to hit that fish-like object which
dashed through the water ahead of them. Twice the Chilians had hit the
torpedo-boat's helmsman, and twice he had been replaced, while the
shrieks that came from the boat itself testified to the execution
inflicted upon her crew. Still she was creeping nearer and nearer to
the flagship, the crew of which were vainly trying to depress the
muzzles of their great guns sufficiently to reach the Peruvian, and but
a few more short seconds were needed for the latter to complete her fell
work.
Then, all in a moment, the end came. Jim did not know how it happened,
whether it was due to his own men, or to those on board the flagship;
but a bullet struck the torpedo fair and square. The next instant there
was a stunning concussion, and the water between pursuer and pursued
seemed to be blown into a great hollow sphere, the sides of which then
rushed together again, while a tall column of water heaped itself up
fully thirty feet into the air, to collapse into spray which drenched to
the skin every man both in the torpedo-boat and in the launch.
A wild cheer broke out on board the Chilian launch and the _Blanco
Encalada_, and their men now turned all their attention to destroy the
wasp which had just been deprived of its sting. The moment that her
towed torpedo had exploded she was practically powerless for injury, and
she turned her nose seaward at once, hoping, by a desperate rush, to get
clear away. And so she doubtless would, had it not been for the launch
belonging to the _Almirante Cochrane_.
This craft had, like Jim's boat, several times made the circuit of the
bay; and she was away down at the south end of the harbour when her
lieutenant in charge first heard the sounds of firing. He immediately
guessed the cause and, putting his engines at full speed, raced along
toward the spot where he could see the rifles flashing, and before he
had gone very far he had the _Blanco Encalada's_ beacon-fire to help
him.
As the launch came rushing along toward her consort, Jim blew his steam-
whistle three times to attract her attention, and he was only just in
the nick of time, for the Peruvian would have been in front of the
_Cochrane's_ launch in another half-minute. But like a hawk upon its
prey the _Cochrane's_ boat dashed forward, her commander determining to
hazard all in one stroke, instead of using his guns. He aimed straight
for a point which the torpedo-boat must pass in a few seconds, and went
ahead full speed.
The impact was so violent that the Peruvian torpedo-boat collapsed like
an eggshell, the _Cochrane's_ launch driving right over the wreck
without doing herself any very serious injury. The torpedo-boat's
boilers exploded as she sank, and probably killed every remaining man
among her crew, for not a single living being was to be found when the
Chilians proceeded to search for the survivors.
This exciting little episode over, Jim and his consort resumed their
patrol of the harbour until daylight, when their long and trying vigil
ceased. The ships finished coaling by five o'clock in the afternoon of
the new day, and immediately stood out to sea, much to Douglas's relief,
for he felt that another night like the last would have been too much
for him. Once outside the harbour, the two ironclads turned their heads
to the south again; and Riveros made the signal that Antofagasta was to
be their next port of call.
It was 3:30 a.m. on the 8th of October when Jim was awakened by a
stentorian cry from the deck of "Two ships ahead!" Galvanised into
alertness he listened intently, and heard the officer of the watch
calmly reply, "Where away?"
There was a short pause, and then the seaman answered, "Three points on
our port bow. They are hull-down; but there are two columns of smoke
approaching at a great speed from the south-east. They are about twelve
miles away and, so far as I can make out, are just abreast of Point
Angamos."
Jim did not wait to hear the reply of "Very good. Keep your eye on the
smoke, and report any further developments," but jumped into his clothes
and hurried up on deck just in time to hear the bugles call "Hands on
deck. Clear ship for action." It was quite evident that the smoke
could not be coming from the second Chilian division; for, in that case,
there would have been three columns of smoke instead of two. Therefore
the strangers could scarcely be other than the long-sought-for Peruvian
ships the _Huascar_ and the _Union_.
A few seconds after the bugle had sounded the men came tumbling up on
deck, full of excitement at the idea of a fight; and with many a jovial
laugh and jest they hurried away to their quarters. Jim made the
rounds, saw that the men were at their stations, that the guns were
ready and run out, and that plenty of ammunition had been supplied to
the turrets, and then he reported to the first lieutenant that the ship
was "clear for action." The first lieutenant at once made his report to
the captain, who, in turn, reported to Commodore Riveros, who had
already entered the conning-tower. Several signals were made to the
_Almirante Cochrane_, which was steaming about a cable's-length astern;
and the two ships surged forward in silence to the encounter which was
to seal the fate of Peru, to destroy her sea-power, and to go down to
history as the battle of Angamos.
Jim was wandering from gun to gun, seeing that everything was in order,
and waiting for the action to commence, when he heard a roar of anger
and execration coming from the deck above, and, running up from below,
he saw that the ships were the _Huascar_ and the _Union_, and that they
had turned tail, having evidently discovered the proximity of the
Chilians, and were steaming to the southward as fast as they could go.
But Commodore Riveros had anticipated some such action, and as the
_Blanco Encalada_, owing to a foul bottom, could only steam about eight
knots, he sent forward in chase of the Peruvians the _Cochrane_, which
was capable of nearly eleven knots.
Latorre's ship instantly leaped forward at full speed upon the signal
being made, and Jim soon observed through his telescope that the
_Cochrane_ was a good deal faster than the Peruvians, and that she must
inevitably overtake them in a few hours' time. Riveros also sent word
down to his engine-room staff that the very last knot was to be got out
of his ship, and the effect of the increased steam-pressure was soon
observable on the _Blanco_.
At about a quarter to eight there was another change of tactics on the
part of the Peruvians. The corvette _Union_, which up to that time had
been keeping station on the _Huascar's_ port quarter, suddenly slowed
down and passed under her stern, turned to the eastward, and made for
Arica under a full head of steam.
Jim Douglas immediately reported the occurrence to Commodore Riveros,
who, after debating for a minute or two as to whether or not he should
follow the corvette, finally decided in favour of pursuing the
_Huascar_, as she was the more formidable craft of the two; and the
Chilian ironclad accordingly was kept on her previous course. Jim then
returned to his post, and kept his glass fixed upon the flying steamers
in front of him; and hardly had he taken up his position again when he
saw the _Huascar_ put her helm over and head to the northward, steaming
toward the _Cochrane_ and the Chilian flagship.
A second later he saw a brilliant flash of flame leap from the
_Huascar's_ turret; there was a huge cataract of spray as the shot
struck the water midway between herself and the _Cochrane_, and then a
cloud of greyish-green smoke spouted up on board the Chilian vessel,
showing that the shell had exploded on board her, somewhere about her
bows. The _Almirante Cochrane_ did not reply for several minutes, but
silent and grim as death itself, she held steadily on her course toward
the monitor.
Then, when she had approached to within a distance of a little over a
mile, she in turn opened fire with both her forward turret-guns on the
_Huascar_, and the battle of Angamos had begun in real earnest. The
effect of the projectiles on board the Peruvian was terrible; for both
shells struck her on the port bow, penetrated her armour, and exploded
inside her hull, and thus temporarily jammed her turret-tracks, and
covered the deck with debris.
Jim closed up his telescope with a snap, and made his way to the forward
turret of the _Blanco Encalada_ to ascertain how long it would be before
the gun captains thought they might effectively open fire; for he was
most anxious to share in the combat before all was over. At that moment
the officer in the fire-top shouted the news that the range had now
lessened to 3000 yards, and the word was immediately given to fire both
forward turret-guns.
A moment later there was a terrific gush of white flame, a cloud of
fleecy smoke, and a tremendous roar as both guns spoke simultaneously,
followed by a hoarse, screaming roar as the shells sped through the calm
morning air toward their mark. Both missiles struck on the unarmoured
portion of the _Huascar's_ bows, and pierced her through and through,
without exploding, however, as the thickness of steel penetrated was
insufficient to detonate the projectiles. The Peruvian at once replied
with a shot from her 300-pounder, which struck the _Blanco's_ navigating
bridge and blew it to pieces.
Meanwhile the _Cochrane_ had by this time circled round, and was running
on a course parallel to that of the monitor, and at the same time
driving her toward her consort, so that the unfortunate ship was now
between two fires. _Crash! crash_! roared the guns as the two Chilian
ironclads converged upon their quarry; and so excellent was their
gunnery that every shot told. Half an hour after the action had
commenced the _Huascar's_ tiller-chains were shot away, and she at once
yawed to starboard, almost in the track of the _Cochrane_. Captain
Latorre instantly saw that this was his opportunity to ram, and he
accordingly sent his ship straight at the helpless _Huascar_. But the
aberrations of the Peruvian ship's course introduced an element of
uncertainty which defied calculation, and the result was that the
_Cochrane_ dashed past her stern, missing her by a short five yards.
And now the _Blanco Encalada_ closed in on the other side of the doomed
ship, which was already on fire in several places from the disastrous
effect of the Chilian shells, and pounded her mercilessly; while the
Peruvians, on the other hand, fought their sorely pressed ship with a
desperate gallantry that excited the utmost admiration of their
opponents, and in the face of a perfect inferno of fire rove new tiller
ropes. But it was all to no purpose. A shell from the _Blanco_, fired
by Jim's own hand, exploded immediately afterwards in her stern, killing
every man at the relieving-tackles, and causing the now almost wrecked
ship again to fall out of control.
It was at this moment that a shell from the _Cochrane_ exploded right
inside the _Huascar's_ conning-tower, and blew the gallant Peruvian
admiral and one of his lieutenants to pieces. It was clear that the
Peruvians were beaten, yet several brave spirits strove desperately to
regain the control of their ship, and, if it might be, break away to the
northward and get clear. But it was too late; for a shell had already
exploded in the engine-room and had penetrated one of the boilers.
Lieutenant Garezon, the sole remaining Peruvian officer, then called a
brief council of war, at which it was resolved to sink the ship rather
than yield; and orders were accordingly sent to MacMahon, the chief
engineer, to open the injection-valves and thus flood the vessel; but
even as the Scotsman set about his task a number of Peruvian seamen ran
forward and waved white cloths and towels, in token of surrender.
The Chilian fire immediately ceased, of course, but the battle was even
yet not quite over, for down below, in the seclusion of the engine-room,
it was not known that the men on deck had surrendered, and the engines
were still kept moving. The Chilians therefore reopened their fire, and
the _Blanco Encalada_ rushed up close alongside the now fast-sinking
monitor, intending to ram her, but was stayed in her deadly purpose by
the exhibition of fresh signals of surrender.
At length a boat, manned by a lieutenant, an engineer, half a dozen
seamen, and four soldiers, was dispatched from the _Cochrane_ to go on
board and take possession of the _Huascar_. They met with no
resistance; and Jim, who, in a boat from the _Blanco_, had also boarded,
at once rushed below, just in time to prevent the Peruvian engineers
from sinking the ship. A little longer delay and he would have been too
late; for the _Huascar_ had already nearly two feet of water over her
engine-room floor when he rushed in, revolver in hand, and many of the
shot-holes in the hull were by that time all but flush with the water's
edge. At the point of his pistol he drove Macmahon and the other
engineers away from the valves and closed them. The battle of Angamos
was over at last. The _Huascar's_ men were then secured, a prize-crew
placed on board, and under escort of the _Almirante Cochrane_ and
_Blanco Encalada_ she went under her own steam into the harbour of
Mejillones, where she was temporarily patched up and rendered more or
less seaworthy.
Two days later the three ships left in company for Valparaiso, where
they arrived on the 14th of October, amid the salutes of the forts and
the frantic cheers of the populace, who were thankful beyond measure to
be freed from the menace of the _Huascar_, which, they had felt, might
attack any of their seaports during the absence of the Chilian fleet.
Commodore Riveros was promoted to be Rear-Admiral, Captain Latorre to be
Commodore, and Jim was made First Lieutenant of the _Blanco Encalada_.
CHAPTER TEN.
THE GUN-RUNNERS.
The ovation accorded to the victorious Chilians upon their return to
Valparaiso was enthusiastic in the extreme; the officers were everywhere
feted and made much of; and Jim Douglas and Terry O'Meara came in for a
very large share of attention owing to the fact that they were British.
The sympathies of Great Britain had been decidedly turned in favour of
Chili by the atrocities which had been committed by the Peruvian fleet
in its war against commerce, and by which English ships had suffered to
a very serious extent.
After the battle of Angamos Commodore--or rather Admiral as he was now--
Riveros had been greatly exercised in his mind as to what course he
should pursue with regard to the corvette _Union_. She had effected her
escape before the battle commenced, and when last seen was steaming in
the direction of Arica, the most southerly port which the Peruvians
possessed. She was a very heavily armed ship, and was nearly, if not
quite, as formidable as the _Huascar_ had been, and thus still
constituted a standing menace to the unfortified ports of Chili.
Riveros was in a quandary, for he already had more work on his hands
than he knew how to deal with; yet the Chilians resident in the coast
ports were clamouring for him to proceed to sea again and hunt down the
cruiser. But he did not in the least know where to look for her; nor
could he, by the most diligent inquiry, gain any intelligence of her.
She might be at any one of the numerous Peruvian ports; and were he to
go in search of her she would quite probably slip past him again in the
night, as she and the monitor had once before done.
The fleet had been lying at Valparaiso for nearly a month undergoing the
repairs and refit of which they so sorely stood in need, when one
morning Jim, from his station on the _Blanco Encalada's_ bridge, where
he was on duty, observed a signal flying from the official residence of
the Secretary for War. In a moment he had his glass to his eye, and
began to spell out the signal, which, when completed, ran as follows:
"_Blanco Encalada_. Admiral Riveros to call here without delay. I have
important orders for him."
"Hallo!" thought Jim, "what's in the wind now? More work for somebody,
I'll be bound. I wonder whether the _Union_ has been up to any fresh
tricks? She has kept remarkably--_suspiciously_--quiet for some time
now."
Then the young man made his way down to the admiral's cabin and
delivered the message, with the result that the admiral's barge was
piped away, and five minutes later Riveros was being pulled across the
sparkling blue waters of the bay, to learn what it was that Senor
Baquedano wanted to communicate to him.
Several hours elapsed before the gallant Chilian returned aboard, and
when he finally did so his first action was to send for Jim Douglas and
request him to accompany him to his cabin. Arrived there, the admiral
closed the door, locked it, and then leaning across the table toward
Douglas, remarked in a low tone:
"Senor Douglas, I am paying you no empty compliment, when I say that I
consider you a remarkably efficient and promising young officer. You
have carried out, with the utmost credit to yourself, several
exceedingly difficult pieces of work, and for that reason I am going to
detail you for a service which I suspect will prove even more difficult
than any which you have yet been called upon to perform."
Jim bowed, and did his best not to look too pleased.
"As you, of course, are aware," continued the admiral, smiling, "we lost
sight of the _Union_ corvette before the battle of Angamos, and as we
had more important business on hand at the moment, we were not able to
pursue her; consequently she got clear away. The Chilians in the coast
towns have for some time been living in mortal dread of her appearing,
some fine day, off one or another of their ports, and bombarding it; and
for some weeks past I have been daily expecting orders to sail in
pursuit of her and to hunt her down. We have, however, until to-day had
no definite news of her whereabouts upon which we could work. But this
afternoon I was summoned ashore and informed by his Excellency, General
Baquedano, that the Peruvians are expecting several cargoes of arms from
Europe, and he has been informed by one of our spies that the _Union_
has been dispatched to the mouth of the Straits of Magellan to convoy
those vessels to Callao, or whatever Peruvian port they are bound for.
If, then, we dispatch a vessel down to the Straits we are almost certain
to fall in with the corvette and bring her to action; and if we are
lucky we may also secure the arms-carrying vessels. That would of
course be in itself a service of inestimable value to our government,
since if our enemies cannot obtain arms and ammunition they will soon be
obliged to give up the struggle. To make a long story short, you, Senor
Douglas, are the man whom I have selected to perform this difficult,
arduous, and decidedly dangerous task. We have recently purchased a
steamer, which we have armed so powerfully that she is to all intents
and purposes a cruiser, and you will be given the command of her. Your
task is, as I have just explained, to hunt down and destroy the _Union_,
and if possible to capture the gun-running steamers which she has been
sent to convoy. This new cruiser of ours has been named the _Angamos_,
in honour of our recent victory; and I shall look confidently to you to
uphold the honour of her name. She is quite ready to sail, and you must
commission her to-morrow, and sail the same day. It is a very important
service for so young a man as yourself, but from what I have already
seen of you I am confident of your ability to bring your task to a
successful termination. That is all, I think, that I have to say to
you, Senor Douglas, except that, should you wish to do so, you have my
permission to number your friend, the young engineer, among your crew.
Now, good day, young sir, and the best of good luck to you."