five minutes later, they were being pulled across the water toward the
now motionless gun-runner. Jim saw Manuel climb up her tall sides; and
then he went into his chart-house to await the lieutenant's return, and
to think out the details of the plan about which he had spoken to
Manuel. However, he first sent a man into the fore-topmast crosstrees,
and one into the main, with orders to keep a bright look-out for the
appearance of the Peruvian corvette.
Some two hours later Manuel returned, bringing with him the whole of the
Peruvian ship's crew, most of whom consisted of ne'er-do-wells of almost
every nationality under the sun: and a choice-looking lot of rascals
they were. Jim wisely refused to accept the parole of any of them,
placed them, still in irons, in the cruiser's punishment cells, and took
the precaution to post a strong guard over them. He then received the
report of his lieutenant, which was to the effect that the damage on
board the _Miraflores_ was, with the exception of the shell in her
boiler-room, mostly superficial, and could soon be repaired by the
prize-crew. Several of her guns had been badly damaged; but the young
man suggested that they could be replaced, together with the damaged
weapons belonging to the _Angamos_, from the gun-runner's cargo, which
consisted, in part, of a number of similar pieces.
Jim carefully digested the report, and then unfolded his latest plan to
Manuel, which was to the effect that the _Miraflores_, with a prize-crew
aboard, and the _Angamos_, should impersonate the two Peruvian gun-
runners expected by the _Union_; and that they should hoist the enemy's
flag and go in search of him; thus getting close enough to bring the
elusive corvette to action. The lieutenant was therefore ordered to get
aboard at once, with his prize-crew, execute the necessary repairs, re-
arm the ship out of the cargo she carried, and, as the boiler was too
badly damaged to admit of repair at sea, to cut off steam from it
altogether, and fire up under the remaining three, which could, even
then, give the _Miraflores_ a speed of about nine knots.
Manuel accordingly selected his crew, and again went aboard the gun-
runner; where he and his men worked with such a will that by mid-day the
repairs were complete enough to allow of a start being made. The
remaining repairs were of such a nature that it was possible to execute
them while the ship was under way. Steam was then raised in the three
sound boilers, and, the water being quite smooth, the _Miraflores_ was
brought alongside the cruiser, which then replaced her damaged guns, and
hoisted fresh ones out of the gun-runner's hold with her own derricks.
At length, by five o'clock in the afternoon of the day after the battle,
both ships were in a condition to proceed; and, much to Jim's
satisfaction, there had been no sign of the _Union_ to disturb them.
They were now ready to go in search of her; and, with two well-armed
ships under his command, Douglas swore that he would pay Captain
Villavicencio in full for all the injury that he had done in the past to
Chilian commerce. The Peruvian flag was then hoisted aboard both ships,
and each also arranged three lanterns upon her foremast, for use after
dark, in the same manner as they had been previously arranged, as a
signal, on board the gun-runners. Before starting Jim also questioned
the captured crew as to what they knew of the plans of their skipper,
and where he had expected to meet the _Union_. The men refused
information at first, but, upon being told that they would be kept upon
half-rations until they chose to speak, they said that they had expected
to meet the corvette almost midway between the Falkland Islands and Cape
Virzins, at the eastern mouth of the Straits; also that both captains
had mistaken the _Angamos_ for the _Union_ when they first sighted her.
Jim could not understand how it was that in that case there were no
signs of the corvette, but he determined not to leave the locality until
he had found her and brought her to action.
With the _Miraflores_ steaming along in his wake, in the same formation
as that adopted by the gun-running steamers, Jim started off on his
search for the _Union_, heading west-south-west for the mouth of the
Straits of Magellan, with a man at either masthead of each of the two
vessels, and a prize of fifty _pesos_ to the seaman who should first
sight her. He did not feel altogether happy at the idea of sailing
under the Peruvian flag and adopting such a ruse, even for a short
period; but his orders to capture or sink the _Union_ were precise and
imperative, and he considered that, in this case at least, the end
justified the means employed, for he knew that he would never succeed in
getting alongside the corvette if her captain were once allowed to
entertain the slightest suspicion that the two ships were Chilians.
True, the _Angamos_ was a faster ship; but the _Union_ drew far less
water; and, since she would probably be found--if found at all--
somewhere among the shoal waters of the Straits, she might be able to
get away by dodging into shallow water among the numerous islands, where
the _Angamos_, with her deeper draught, would be unable to follow.
Darkness fell very shortly after the two ships had started on their run
toward the Straits; and the lanterns on their foremasts were lighted
after the same manner as on the previous night; while they surged along
over the indigo-coloured water at the rate of about nine knots an hour,
a sharp look-out being maintained meanwhile for the appearance of the
_Union_. But to the great disappointment of everybody, that craft most
persistently refused to put in an appearance; and when the next morning
dawned the high, rocky cliffs of Tierra del Fuego and the Patagonian
coast lay before them, and it became evident that the Peruvian had
either retreated up the Straits, or that she was still behind them.
About nine o'clock the two ships, still flying the Peruvian colours,
entered the Straits, and immediately slowed down to half-speed, not only
on account of the intricate navigation, but also to give the _Union_ a
better chance of overtaking them if it should happen that she really was
still astern. Catharine Point was passed and left behind, and the two
steamers crossed Lomas Bay into the "First Narrows," where Jim thought
it possible that the _Union_ might be waiting; but she was not there.
They were steaming slowly across Elizabeth Bay, and Douglas was
beginning to fear that the corvette had eluded him, after all, when a
voice, hoarse with excitement, hailed from aloft:--
"On deck there! I can see three mastheads showing above that hummock of
rock at the entrance to the `Second Narrows'; and there is a column of
smoke visible, too, so the craft must be a steamer. We shall open her
out in a few minutes now, and I think she must be that detestable
corsair we are looking for."
Jim was, as usual, on the navigating bridge when the hail floated down;
and his first act was to seize a speaking-trumpet and shout the news to
Manuel on the bridge of the _Miraflores_. His second was to spring up
the ratlines, seat himself alongside the seaman in the crosstrees, and
take a good look at what he could see of the stranger from that
elevation. A prolonged scrutiny convinced him that the craft could be
none other than the _Union_; and he hurried down to give his final
orders, both ships having been kept practically prepared for action ever
since the moment on the evening before when they started in company to
look for the corvette. There was consequently very little to do in the
way of preparation; and a quarter of an hour after sighting the
Peruvian's mastheads both Chilian ships were ready for the fray.
They had not steamed another cable's-length when it became evident that
a sharp look-out must also have been kept aboard the corvette; for her
masts began to slide along the top of the ridge of rock, showing that
she was under way; and a few minutes later the entire ship swept into
view, flying the Peruvian ensign, and so leaving no room to doubt that
she was the long-sought-for _Union_.
Directly she hove in sight Jim signalled to the _Miraflores_ to close up
and come alongside him, at a distance of half a cable's-length away, and
both ships quickened up their speed, by such small degrees as to be
imperceptible, to nine knots, which was as fast as the cruiser's consort
could steam. Presently a long, dismal wail came floating across the
water from the _Union_, and Douglas saw that she wished to attract his
attention to a signal which she had just hoisted.
He at once dived into the chart-house for the signal-book, and presently
he and his second lieutenant were poring over it in an effort to read
the communication. But, to Jim's intense annoyance, the signal, when
translated, seemed to have no meaning, and he realised that the corvette
was making a private and pre-arranged signal, which he was, of course,
unable to read.
"Confound it, Aranjuez!" he exclaimed, angrily, to his second
lieutenant, "what are we to do now? I did not anticipate this; and if
we are not careful he will take alarm and sheer off. I wish I had
thought of looking among the papers of the _Miraflores_' captain; they
might have contained the key to this private signal."
"Well, senor," replied the lieutenant, "we must delay making a signal of
any sort until the very last moment. Then, when he shows signs of
becoming suspicious and sheering off, we will hoist, very slowly, a
string of flags meaning nothing in particular. It will take him some
little time to decipher the flags; and we shall gain a few minutes while
he tries to fathom their meaning from his own private signal-book. We
ought, by that time, to be close enough to him for you to be able to
open fire effectively if the men will only keep calm and shoot straight.
Should we fail to disable him with the first few shots, however, he
will be off and we may be unable to catch him again."
"Precisely! This is the best--the only thing we can do, Aranjuez,"
replied Jim, gazing steadily through his telescope at the _Union_. "I
am not afraid of being unable to catch him if he will stick to deep
water; but I feel convinced that if he takes the alarm he will be
certain to run for shoal water at once. Have you got that bunting
ready?" he continued, "for, if so, we had better run up a string of
flags; he seems to be slowing down, as though he didn't altogether like
our looks. Quick! bend on and send them up. There, that's it--not too
fast now; not too fast. Ah, he has begun to move again, Aranjuez.
Don't hoist that signal any farther; if he only keeps as he is going for
another ten minutes he will be under our guns. Oh, good luck, good
luck! he's coming along at full speed, or I'm a Dutchman!"
Jim was right; the _Union_ was coming along at full speed; yet her
captain was not quite such a fool as the young man took him to be. He
had seen the two Chilians from his mastheads before they had seen him;
and he had been watching them closely ever since; with the result that
he had arrived at the conclusion that some trick was being played on
him. But he fell into the error of mistaking the cruiser for the
_Huemul_, and of believing that the crews of both vessels, corrupted by
Chilian gold, had seized the ships, after murdering their officers.
Villavicencio, therefore, promptly made up his mind to retake the gun-
runners, which he felt certain were no longer in Peruvian hands, since
his signals remained unanswered; and when he had approached to within a
mile and a half of the two Chilian craft, he very much astonished Jim
Douglas by opening fire upon him with his heavy 8-inch bow-guns.
Although he could not account for this sudden commencement of
hostilities on the part of the _Union_, Jim on his own part had only
been waiting for the proper moment to open fire himself, and now he, in
turn, gave Villavicencio a most unpleasant surprise by returning his
fire with a very much larger gun than the Peruvian imagined that the
_Huemul_ carried. For a few seconds the skipper of the _Union_
hesitated as to whether he should not, even now, turn and run; for,
taken altogether, matters seemed to be rather in the nature of an
elaborately-laid trap.
But Villavicencio, now that Admiral Grau was dead, was the bravest man
in the naval service of Peru; and his hesitation was but momentary. He
continued to steam ahead at full speed, but put his helm over to
starboard, causing the corvette to swerve slightly to port, and thus
presented her whole starboard broadside to the approaching Chilians, who
now hauled down the Peruvian flag and hoisted their own ensign. Then,
as soon as his broadside guns bore on the enemy, Villavicencio fired,
and a storm of shot and shell came flying round the _Angamos_ and her
consort, hulling the latter badly, and dismounting two of the recently
replaced 12-pounder breech-loaders.
Jim ground his teeth as he saw the terrible execution wrought by the
_Union's_ broadside; and, exhorting his men to keep cool, ordered them
to load and fire as fast as they could. Once more the cruiser's 8-inch
gun roared out, sending its vengeful messenger shrieking toward the
corvette. The shell struck right at the base of that ship's foremast,
and there exploded, scattering death and destruction all round it. The
huge spar remained upright for a second or two, then it swayed slightly
forward and to one side; the rigging, which had been badly cut up by
fragments of flying shell, suddenly parted; and the mast went over the
side with a crash that was plainly audible aboard the Chilian ships; and
high above the crash of rending wood rang, loud and painfully clear, the
agonised shrieks of the poor maimed wretches who had been crushed by its
fall.
"Now's your time," shouted Jim, "they are lumbered up with the wreck of
the foremast, and will not be able to fire their big gun until they have
cleared it away. Fire into her now with every gun that will bear, and
keep at it until she strikes. _Miraflores_ ahoy! pass under my stern
and take up a position on the _Union's_ port side when we come level
with her; I will engage her to starboard. That's the style, lads," he
continued enthusiastically, as a couple of 12-pounder shells exploded,
one on the corvette's navigating bridge and the other at the base of her
conning-tower,--"that's the style! Keep it up, and show them how the
Chilians fight."
The Peruvian skipper, however, was quicker in getting his wreckage
cleared away than Jim had anticipated, and the _Angamos_ had not fired
many rounds before the cumbersome spar was cut adrift and went floating
astern, and Villavicencio got his guns to work again. Their recent
disaster, moreover, had not disturbed their aim; for the next 8-inch
shell fired by the _Union_ blew away the _Miraflores_' funnel, and
killed her helmsman, with the result that she turned sharply to port,
with smoke and flame sweeping along her deck from the cavity which the
shell had blown in it, and very narrowly escaped ramming the _Angamos_.
The latter had by this time approached to within half a mile of the
_Union_, and now got her machine-guns to work, mowing down the Peruvians
who were not under cover as with a scythe, for the deck of the corvette
was crowded with men.
After ten minutes of furious bombardment, and with the _Miraflores_
crawling slowly up to take part again in the encounter, Villavicencio,
brave as he was, realised that he had walked into a trap and had caught
a Tartar; for he now recognised the _Angamos_ for what she really was--a
cruiser. Something had happened to the _Huemul_, that was perfectly
clear, and the _Miraflores_ was also in Chilian hands; he therefore
considered that he was not justified in risking the _Union_ any longer
in an engagement which could have but one ending, considering the fact
that the corvette was now the only effective ship which the Peruvians
possessed in their sadly depleted navy. He consequently put up his helm
and, describing a wide sweep to port, made off toward the entrance to
the "Second Narrows," maintaining, however, a well-directed fire as he
went with his 8-inch stern gun, which weapon dropped shell with
remarkable precision aboard the cruiser and her consort.
Jim had just signalled the _Miraflores_ that he was going to chase the
_Union_, and that the prize was to rendezvous at Punta Arenas, when an
event occurred which made a rendezvous as unnecessary as it was
impossible for the second gun-runner.
For, as though determined to do all the damage he possibly could before
slipping away, Villavicencio had ordered a number of his broadside guns
to be shifted aft, to enable him to maintain as heavy a fire as possible
from that part of the ship; and so rapidly did he now fire from his
stern ports that the series of explosions looked almost like a
continuous sheet of flame, while the solid shot and shell fell round the
Chilian ships like hail. The _Miraflores_ had by this time dropped
about a quarter of a mile astern of the _Angamos_, and the latter was
gaining rapidly on the corvette, when the _Union_ fired what was
intended to be her last shot, a shell from an 8-inch gun. But that
shell was the saving of her for, having pierced the unarmoured sides of
the _Miraflores_ as though they had been paper, the explosion took
effect right among the tightly packed ammunition-cases which constituted
her cargo, and the next second she went into the air, as the _Huemul_
had done, with an appalling roar, followed by a tremendous shower of all
kinds of debris.
From the very nature of the explosion Jim felt practically certain that
no one could possibly be left alive out of her whole company, yet there
was nevertheless just one chance in a thousand that there might be; and
with a groan of disappointment at being obliged to abandon the chase of
the _Union_, he turned his ship round and began to search for possible
survivors.
But he found none. A few poor unrecognisable human remnants were all
that rewarded him for his attempt at rescue; and after a precious hour
lost in this way, he once more turned his ship's head and went off at
full speed after the _Union_.
But that hour's start had been sufficient for the corvette, and had
enabled her to evade pursuit among the numerous islands which dot the
Straits. Douglas haunted the Straits for a whole week, searching every
nook and corner of them for the Peruvian; but the _Union's_ captain had
done his work well, and the fugitive was nowhere to be found. And at
length, unwilling though he was to give up his search, but anxious not
to lose time when the _Angamos_ might be required for other and more
important work, he started back for headquarters, arriving at Valparaiso
just a month after he had left it. He had carried out one part of his
task, which was to prevent the two cargoes of arms from falling into the
hands of the Peruvians; but the _Union_ still remained at large, and was
destined to give the Chilians a great deal more trouble before they
finally closed her brilliant and adventurous career.
CHAPTER TWELVE.
THE BOMBARDMENT OF CALLAO.
When Jim reported to the admiral he was greatly gratified to find that
his chief was perfectly satisfied with the way in which he had carried
out the task entrusted to him; and although the Chilian very naturally
regretted that the young skipper of the _Angamos_ had not been able to
bring the _Union_ to book, he fully recognised that Douglas had done all
that was possible. And he commended the judgment he had displayed in
bringing the cruiser back to Valparaiso, instead of waiting about in the
Straits of Magellan on the off-chance of again encountering her, for, as
he explained to Douglas, the fleet was even then on the point of leaving
port to harry the Peruvian coast, and the _Angamos_ was required to take
part in the work.
He was also informed that Captain Castello would take charge of the
_Angamos_ on the coming expedition, and that Jim himself was, for
certain particular reasons, to return to the _Blanco Encalada_, in his
former capacity of first lieutenant of the flagship. Admiral Riveros
also hinted that he had it in his mind to depute to him in the near
future a difficult and extremely important piece of work, the character
of which he would fully explain to him later, and this circumstance was
quite sufficient to compensate the young man for any disappointment he
may have temporarily felt at finding that he was not to retain the
command of the cruiser.
Accordingly Jim returned to the flagship, where he was heartily welcomed
by his old comrades, who informed him that the destination of the
squadron was thought to be Callao, and that in all probability the
Chilians would bombard the place, and then endeavour to take Lima, the
Peruvian capital; so that there promised to be plenty of excitement and
adventure in store for everybody.
At length all preparations were completed, and on the 2nd of April 1880,
exactly a week after Jim had returned to Valparaiso in the _Angamos_,
the fleet, consisting of the _Blanco, Huascar, Angamos, Pilcomayo,
Mathias Cousino_, and the two torpedo-boats _Guacolda_ and _Janequeo_,
left that port and, steaming out of the bay, headed to the northward.
The ships, which had of course been coaled and provisioned at
Valparaiso, had no need to call in anywhere for stores, but headed
direct for Callao, which was openly stated to be their destination as
soon as they were out of the harbour; and on April 9 the squadron
arrived within a couple of hours' steam of the Peruvian port. At three
o'clock in the afternoon of the same day the two torpedo boats, under
convoy of the _Huascar_, went on ahead to scout; and, arriving off the
port just about dusk, Lieutenant Goni of the _Guacolda_ rashly
determined to make a raid on the Peruvian shipping on his own account,
and accordingly slipped away into the harbour toward the place where the
enemy's warships were known to be lying.
The _Union_ was soon identified as one of the ships lying at anchor, and
Goni promptly headed for her. But when about half a mile distant from
her quarry, the torpedo-boat accidentally ran down a fishing-smack,
drowning all the crew except three, and losing one of her own torpedo-
spars. It was by this time quite dark, and in the confusion the precise
position of the _Union_ had been lost; but Goni, having rescued the
three surviving fishermen, forced them to pilot him to the spot where
the corvette was lying, only to discover, when he got close to her, that
her skipper had surrounded her with a boom. But undismayed by this, the
gallant Chilian forthwith destroyed the boom, and then discovered that
he had lost his second spar, and consequently was unable to torpedo the
ship herself. The _Union_ then opened a smart machine-gun fire, and the
_Guacolda_ was compelled to beat a retreat, much to Lieutenant Goni's
annoyance.
Unfortunately, this ill-timed attack had put the Peruvians thoroughly on
the alert, and as soon as daylight appeared they hauled their fleet,
consisting of the _Union, Rimac, Chalaco, Oroya_, and _Atahualpa_ into
shoal water behind the breakwater of the stone docks, where were also
the _Talisman_ and two hulks, the _Apurimac_ and _Maranon_. They had
also several new torpedo-boats, as well as launches and tugs armed with
spar-torpedoes, with which they patrolled the harbour to prevent any
repetition of an attack like that of the _Guacolda_.
Admiral Riveros was extremely angry with Lieutenant Goni when upon his
arrival off Callao he saw that every possible preparation had been made
for his reception; that any further surprise was impossible; and that
the attack would now have to be made openly. He therefore called away
his barge and, under a flag of truce, visited the senior Peruvian naval
officer for the purpose of informing him that Callao was to be
blockaded, and that, since bombardment might at any moment become
necessary, all non-combatants should at once leave the town and seek a
place of safety. The Chilian also sent a notice to this effect to the
principal consular agent and to the senior foreign naval officer of the
neutral warships lying in the roads, eight days being the time allowed
for neutral shipping and foreigners generally to leave the place. Upon
the representation of the consuls, however, that eight days were not
enough, the admiral increased the period of grace to ten days, and then
set to work on the task of making his fleet ready for the bombardment
which he saw was inevitable.