way of thanks, and marched out of the cabin, "as proud as a dog with two
tails." He had never anticipated anything like this when he entered the
Chilian service, and the news seemed almost too good to be true. Yet he
speedily pulled himself together and hurried off to find his friend
O'Meara, whom he came across in his cabin, smoking, and to whom he
promptly imparted the joyful news. And half an hour later the two lads
had packed up their slender stock of baggage and were quite ready for
their new adventure. Bearing in mind the admiral's order that he should
lose no time in getting his new command ready for sea Jim, accompanied
by his chum, went the rounds of the flagship, saying good-bye to their
numerous friends, who betrayed no little curiosity as to the reason of
the Englishmen's somewhat sudden departure. But Jim thought it best to
keep his own counsel, and only enlightened the Chilians so far as to say
that his friend and he had been selected for a special service, the
nature of which he was not at liberty to disclose.
A shore-boat was then signalled for, and upon her arrival alongside the
two lads got into her and had themselves and their baggage conveyed
ashore, where they chartered another boat in which they were rowed out
to the _Angamos_. The object of the double journey was to keep, as far
as possible, their movements secret.
Having arrived on board, Jim found that everything was in readiness for
a start, except for the fact that certain stores had not yet come off
from the shore. He mustered his crew aft, however, and proceeded to
read his commission to them. His appointment to the command was
received with cheers of delight, for the crew was made up, for the most
part, of men drafted from the other ships of the squadron, consequently
they either knew Jim personally or had heard something of his exploits.
They therefore knew what sort of commander they were sailing under, and
looked forward to a lively and adventurous cruise. Douglas then sent
the purser and a few men ashore to hurry up the belated stores; and by
midnight everything and everybody was on board--and the ship ready. But
remembering Admiral Riveros' orders as to sailing on the morrow, he
waited until daybreak, and then signalled that everything was in
readiness for his departure, and inquired whether it was the admiral's
pleasure that he should sail at once. The answer promptly came back
that the sooner he sailed the better; and Jim, ordering the saluting
guns to be manned and loaded, made his way with a proud step to the
navigating bridge, and rang his engines to half-speed ahead, the anchor
having already been got up.
There was a responsive tinkle from the bridge-telegraph, at which the
young commander smiled, for he recognised, in the long-continued
response, the hand of Mr Terence O'Meara. A slight tremor thrilled
through the hull as the screw began to revolve, and the shipping in the
harbour drifted slowly astern as the fine 1180-ton cruiser gathered way
and threaded her path out of the anchorage. Then, as she passed the
_Blanco Encalada_, the guns roared out their salute, and a tempest of
cheers burst out on board the flagship as her crew recognised who it was
that was standing on the cruiser's bridge; and Jim could see the glances
of astonishment and the questioning looks writ large upon the faces of
his recent companions. But the _Angamos_ was past the flagship in about
half a minute, and Jim then put his engines at full speed. The cruiser,
which had only very recently been built, was capable of steaming at the
rate of fourteen knots, consequently she was at least two knots faster
than the _Union_, the ship she was being sent to hunt down. She very
soon covered the length of the harbour and vanished from the sight of
the fleet beyond Punta Angeles.
Although from the information in Jim's possession it was to be supposed
that the _Union_ was by this time several days' steam ahead of him, it
was yet by no means certain where she really was; and it was quite
within the bounds of possibility that they might sight her at any
moment. Douglas therefore took the precaution to have a man in the
fore-topmast crosstrees, with instructions to keep his eyes wide open,
and to report any three-masted, one-funnelled steamer that might happen
to put in an appearance. A fresh man was sent aloft every two hours,
since the weather was hot, and it was distinctly irksome to be obliged
to remain aloft, exposed to the full glare of the sun for any length of
time; moreover, Jim kept a man at the masthead day and night. There was
therefore absolutely no chance of the _Union_ being missed should she
come within twenty miles from the _Angamos_, for a man with a powerful
telescope would be able to cover at least that distance from the
cruiser's fore-topmast head.
But despite the strict look-out maintained aboard the _Angamos_, the
days passed without any sign of the _Union_ making her appearance. The
gun-running vessels Jim did not expect to meet until several days after
his arrival off the Straits of Magellan; but he could not quite
understand not having yet sighted the Peruvian corvette. Past
Concepcion they swept, on the afternoon of the second day out from
Valparaiso; then past Valdivia, and still there was no sign of the
enemy; then Childe Island was dropped astern, and on the fifth day out
at about two o'clock in the afternoon Cape Pillar, at the north end of
Desolation Island and the entrance to the Straits, was sighted, but the
sea was still bare of the ship of which they had come in search.
Still, as Jim remembered, the _Union_ was a very fast boat, only two
knots slower than the _Angamos_ herself, and he thought it not
improbable that she might be found lurking somewhere among the numerous
islands which make the navigation of Magellan Straits so difficult and
dangerous. The young skipper therefore took his cruiser into every
little creek and inlet that he came to, in the hope of finding his
quarry there; or, if the water was too shoal, sent away boat expeditions
to explore. But still there was no sign of the _Union_, and a week
after leaving Valparaiso the _Angamos_ dropped her anchor off Punta
Arenas, and Jim went ashore to interview the governor of that port, in
the forlorn hope that he might have seen the Peruvian pass, or have
heard something of her whereabouts.
Then Douglas received a surprise which he little expected. He found
Senor Morales, the Governor, in a state of great perturbation. That
worthy man had a body of only forty men under his command to garrison
the place; and he gave Jim the astonishing news that the _Union_, with
brazen effrontery, had called in at Punta Arenas that very morning, and
that her skipper, taking an armed force ashore with him, had seized
Morales, and placed the town under contribution for a supply of coal and
a quantity of provisions which he needed.
There was no resisting him, averred the unhappy governor, for the
Peruvians numbered quite eighty men and were all fully armed, while the
corvette's guns were trained on the town, so that, in the event of
resistance being offered, she could have brought the place about their
ears.
To make a long story short, said the governor, the _Union_ had coaled
and taken in a supply of provisions--neither of which had been paid for,
by the way--and had steamed off down the Straits to the eastward not
three hours before the Chilian cruiser had hove in sight. He was quite
sure that _el Senor Capitan_ would catch the scoundrel if he sailed at
once. And, moreover, the _carnicero_ had had the audacity to boast that
he was going to convoy two cargoes of arms, which were coming from
Europe, back to Peru; that he should return through the Straits; and
that he should knock the town to pieces as he went past, as payment for
the articles that he had received.
Jim ground his teeth with anger upon hearing the recital of this
insolence, and he vowed that, could he but find the _Union_, he would
make Captain Villavicencio eat his words. But unfortunately the
_Angamos_ was herself short of coal and fresh water, and several hours--
very precious hours--were spent in getting these necessaries on board;
so that it was already dark before Douglas finally got away, having
promised the Governor that he would do all in his power to prevent the
Peruvian from carrying out his threat. But the _Union_ was by this time
a good many miles ahead, and the navigation of the tortuous and
intricate channel, with its furious currents, was not a thing to be
undertaken at any great speed at night. Consequently Douglas was
obliged to crawl slowly along at about five knots an hour, with two
leadsmen in the fore chains, at the very time when he wanted to be
steaming fourteen; and he feared that the _Union_ would have got such a
lengthy start, while daylight lasted, that it would be a very difficult
matter indeed to overhaul her. But there was just one hope for him; he
reflected that she would almost certainly wait at the eastern entrance
of the Straits for her convoy, and, if she were there, he would find
her, and bring her to action.
The moment that daylight dawned, Jim, whose nerves were by this time
torn to fiddle-strings by frequent necessary stoppages during the night,
put his vessel at full speed again, and, still with two leadsmen
sounding the whole time, the _Angamos_ swept along the narrow waters,
finally emerging at the Argentine end of the Straits. A fresh
disappointment was, however, in store for the young Englishman; for
still there was no sign of the corvette; and now he did not in the least
know in what direction to look for her. Finally, after cruising to and
fro off the entrance for some hours, in the hope of sighting the chase,
he determined to reach over toward the Falkland Islands, in the hope
that the _Union_ might have gone there to meet the convoy.
The _Angamos_ had, by about midnight on the next night, traversed close
upon half the distance to the Islands, and Jim was almost beginning to
despair of ever catching the elusive corvette, when a hail came down
from one of the men who were still stationed at the masthead: "Light
ahead! bearing about a point on our port bow!"
Douglas's heart jumped. Here, surely, must be the craft of which he was
in search. He had to wait a few seconds to control his excitement, and
then he replied: "How far distant is the light, and what does it look
like?"
"It's about eight miles distant," replied the seaman, "and looks like
the light at a ship's masthead; but I can now see two red lights, one
over the other, arranged just below the white one; and I should say that
the three of them, shown together as they are, mean a signal of some
sort; for I can see neither port nor starboard lights showing in their
usual places."
"Aha!" thought Jim, "this is not so bad, after all; this approaching
craft can hardly be our friend the _Union_, I should think; it is more
likely that she will prove to be one of the gun-running steamers, and if
so--well, her career as a gun-runner will close somewhat abruptly, I
think.--Masthead ahoy, what is it now?" he continued aloud, as the
seaman aloft gave an excited yell, which he immediately suppressed.
"Why, sir," the fellow answered, "I have just sighted a second set of
lights, almost dead astern of the first lot; we have just this moment
opened them. There are certainly _two_ steamers approaching, sir; and--
ah! one of them has just sent up a rocket--I expect it is because she
has sighted us."
"Then, by jingo!" soliloquised the Englishman, "they will be the gun-
runners, and no mistake about it. How I wish I knew what lights it has
been arranged for the _Union_ to show as a signal to them. However, I
don't; so that cannot be helped." Aloud, he went on, addressing the
excited Chilian at the masthead, "Keep your eye on those ships, Pedro;
and report any change to me at once."
"Ay, ay, sir!" replied the man, "they are still coming this way." Then
Jim called up his lieutenant, a young fellow named Manuel, and
instructed him to get the ship immediately cleared for action, and to
douse every single one of the lights on board at once. He then went
back to the bridge, and, as soon as every light on board had been
extinguished, ordered the quartermaster at the wheel to turn the ship's
head eight points to starboard; thus, a few minutes later, the _Angamos_
was running at full speed, on a course at right angles to her previous
one, and was leaving the gun-runners on her port quarter.
Douglas still continued to watch their lights intently, and soon
perceived that his failure to give them a signal of some sort had
occasioned quick suspicion to their skippers, for they gradually slowed
up; and presently the lights drew close together, by which Jim could
guess that the steamers had run alongside each other to permit of a
conference between the two captains.
A few minutes later Jim turned the _Angamos_ eight points to port,
bringing her back to her old course, but at a distance of about four
miles from the supposed gun-runners. He held on in this direction until
he was well astern of them, and then circled right round and headed
straight after them, immediately in their wake, at full speed. After a
pause of about a quarter of an hour the Peruvian skippers again went
ahead on their old course, doubtless much perturbed in their minds at
the sudden and extraordinary disappearance of the craft which, a short
time before, had seemed to be coming directly toward them. And so
simple were they that they did not suspect Jim's subsequent _move_, but
went straight ahead, keeping all their lights burning as before; thus he
was able to keep them in full view, although they could not see him.
Probably it never occurred to either of them to cast a single glance
astern!
Jim had reckoned on the suspected steamers being slower than his own
cruiser, and he soon saw that he was steaming about three knots to their
two, and overhauling them fast. The lieutenant had some time ago
reported the ship as cleared for action; and the look-out aloft stated
that there was no other sail in sight; consequently, Jim reckoned on
bringing the enemy to book in about half an hour's time, and dealing
summarily with him before the _Union_ could complicate matters by
putting in an appearance; a prospect which caused him no little
satisfaction, as he felt that he might have had all his work cut out to
deal effectively with the three, had the corvette been opposed to him at
the same time.
The _Angamos_, vibrating from stem to stern under the rapid revolutions
of her screw, plunged along through the black night, while, three miles
ahead, the guiding-lights shone out clearer and clearer every moment.
Half an hour passed and the cruiser was very, very near; so near,
indeed, that Jim could plainly hear the throbbing of the gun-runner's
machinery; and they must also have caught the sound of his, for he
suddenly saw another rocket rush up into the still night air, and
directly afterwards a red glow began to hover over the tops of their
funnels, showing that they were trying to increase their speed by
coaling up furiously.
But it was of no use. The gun-runners only gained a very few minutes'
grace. The _Angamos_ was much too fast a ship for them; and a few
minutes later she ranged up on the starboard side of the sternmost
steamer, while Jim, seizing a speaking-trumpet, hailed at the top of his
voice: "What ship is that? Heave-to! I wish to speak to you!"
CHAPTER ELEVEN.
CAPTAIN VILLAVICENCIO CATCHES A TARTAR.
For the space of quite half a minute there was no reply; and then, in
response to Jim's repeated summons, both steamers, as if by previous
arrangement, began to send blue rockets flying into the air; while both
set up a most unearthly shrieking on their steam-whistles. They had by
this time recognised that the suspicious stranger was not the _Union_;
but, knowing that she must be somewhere in the vicinity, they determined
to attract her attention by some means or other, should she be anywhere
within sight or hearing.
But Jim smiled grimly to himself as he saw and heard their despairing
efforts, for he had kept a man at the masthead for the express purpose
of ascertaining whether the Peruvian corvette was anywhere in the
vicinity, and the last report, received less than five minutes before,
assured him that she was nowhere to be seen.
He waited patiently, therefore, until the discordant blasts on the
sirens had ceased, and then hailed again for the skipper to heave-to,
vowing that he would fire into him if he did not do so. The young
Englishman had imagined that he saw, by the light of the rockets, a
number of men scampering about the decks, but he concluded that it was
merely the effect of terror and astonishment, and he was totally
unprepared for the gun-runner's next move. The fellow had, when he saw
that there was no hope of escape, hastily prepared his ship for action;
and the last words were hardly out of Jim's mouth when a perfect storm
of machine-gun fire broke out aboard the flying steamer, and the bullets
whistled round Douglas like hail, killing the quartermaster at the
wheel, and several other seamen who were not under shelter.
The cruiser immediately yawed wildly, and in another minute would have
crashed into the gun-runner, probably sending both craft to the bottom,
had not Jim seized the wheel, as it spun out of the dead man's fingers,
and brought the _Angamos_ back to her course just in the nick of time.
At the same moment he saw the leading steamer circle round in a wide
curve and head directly for him, evidently with the idea of helping her
consort in the fight against the Chilian.
There was no time for any more palaver, thought Jim; the fellows meant
to fight, and to disable him if they could, and he must be ready for
them. In a voice hoarse with anger at the useless slaughter of five of
his men, he gave the order to fire; and immediately the guns of the
_Angamos_ began to speak.
She was armed with several Gatling and Nordenfeldt guns, three 12-
pounder breech-loaders, six 3-pounders, and one 8-inch breech-loading
Armstrong gun, throwing a projectile weighing 170 pounds, which was
mounted forward; and, immediately upon Jim's command her whole broadside
crashed out, raking the foolhardy steamer from end to end, and making
her fairly reel under the impact of the iron shower. Away forward,
Manuel, the first lieutenant, had observed the approach of the second
steamer; and he now laid the big 8-inch gun directly for her bows,
firing when she had approached to within about four hundred yards of the
cruiser. The gun's deep roar rang out loud above the din of the smaller
weapons, and a brilliant flash of white light leaped out on board the
steamer, the missile blowing a huge hole in her starboard bow, and
setting her on fire forward; as was seen by the blaze which at once
sprang up on board her.
At the same time the _Angamos_ passed ahead of the first steamer, which,
by the light of the beacon-fires now lighted aboard all three vessels,
was seen to be named the _Miraflores_; and, running alongside the
second, the _Huemul_, she delivered every gun of her starboard
broadside, bringing down the steel foremast, riddling the funnel with
rifle and machine-gun bullets, and killing every man on deck who was not
under cover. At the same time a 12-pounder shell, which struck a heap
of ammunition which had been placed on the _Huemul's_ deck to feed a 32-
pounder breech-loader, blew up the whole lot, killing the unfortunate
gun's crew, and lifting the gun itself bodily over the side into the
sea. The _Angamos_ then slowed down a little, and a few seconds later
the _Miraflores_ overtook her and discharged every available gun into
the cruiser, killing several more men, and dismounting one 32-pounder
and two 3-pounder quick-firing guns.
But the cruiser's people had meanwhile again loaded their guns on the
port broadside, and were not slow in avenging the death of their
comrades. They did not require the stimulus which Jim sought to impart
to them, by urging them in his excitement to "slap it into the beggars!"
for they worked their guns like demons, and, notwithstanding their rage
and fury, made such excellent practice that the _Miraflores_ began to
look more and more like a wreck every minute. At last, in desperation,
her captain actually tried to run his ship aboard the _Angamos_, with
the idea of boarding her; but the cruiser was several knots faster than
the gun-runner, and Jim, perceiving the fellow's intention, turned the
_Angamos_ to starboard and so avoided the collision, at the same time
pouring in another broadside with all his undamaged guns.
Instantly there arose a dense cloud of steam on board the _Miraflores_,
accompanied by a loud hissing noise; her speed suddenly slackened; and
Douglas knew that one of the cruiser's shells had penetrated a boiler;
and he shuddered in spite of himself at the thought of the scene which
was now probably enacting down in the gun-runner's engine-room. But,
just as he was looking at the stricken ship through his glass, to see
whether she had surrendered, he was deafened and well-nigh stunned by an
appalling explosion which came from somewhere astern of the _Angamos_;
and pieces of wood and iron, fragments of charred human bodies,
exploding cartridges, and wreckage of all descriptions began to hurtle
round his ears; while, from the shelter of the chart-house, to which he
precipitately retreated, he saw an enormous column of black smoke
hanging over the place near which he had last seen the _Huemul_; and he
had little difficulty in accounting to himself for the disaster.
The steamer had been set on fire forward by one of the cruiser's shells,
which had exploded a quantity of ammunition on her deck; and this fire
rapidly spreading, had communicated itself to some of the powder and
cartridges which formed the greater part of her cargo. This had
forthwith exploded, and, in its turn, blown up the remainder, causing a
most terrible catastrophe; for, when the smoke of the explosion cleared
away, there was not a trace of the _Huemul_ left upon the surface of the
water. She and her gallant crew had been blown, literally, to atoms.
Appalled by the suddenness and extent of the disaster, both the
_Miraflores_ and the _Angamos_ ceased firing for several minutes; and,
by the light of the fires which were still burning on board both
vessels, Jim could see the gun-runner's crew dashing wildly about, as
though in the last extremity of terror, while the ship herself was
almost shrouded from view by the dense clouds of steam, coloured ruddy
yellow in the light of the braziers, which still gushed in volumes from
her pierced boilers.
The cruiser's men quickly recovered their equanimity, however; and,
running to their guns, poured in another broadside upon the demoralised
crew of the _Miraflores_. This was more, apparently, than flesh and
blood could endure; for Douglas saw several men immediately rush upon
the captain, who was still inciting them to continue the fight, and cut
the unfortunate man down. The crew then rushed aft in a body, hauled
down the Peruvian flag, under which both ships had been sailing, hailed
at the same time that they surrendered, and begged for quarter. The men
frantically waved handkerchiefs, towels, in fact anything white that
they could lay their hands upon, to emphasise the fact that they had
struck.
"I detest being obliged to give quarter to mutineers," said Douglas to
his young first lieutenant; "and these fellows undoubtedly are such, for
they murdered their captain, and surrendered against his wishes; but I
must accept their surrender, I suppose, as it would simply be murder to
continue firing into them now; they are all half crazy with fright.
Have the port and starboard quarter-boats manned and lowered, Senor
Manuel, if you please, and bring off the crew of that ship; but take the
precaution of first putting them all in irons. After you have
transferred them to the _Angamos_ I will put a prize-crew aboard, under
your command; and you shall keep me company until we return to
Valparaiso. I have a little plan at the back of my mind which I hope to
be able to put into execution and I will tell you what it is before you
finally go aboard the _Miraflores_. Now, be as quick as you can, for
there has been a good deal of firing during this action, and the _Union_
may put in an appearance at any moment; and I do not wish to see her--
just yet."