"TO BE, OR NOT TO BE," THAT IS THE QUESTION--SPLINTERS ON BOARD OF A
MAN-OF-WAR VERY DIFFERENT FROM SPLINTERS IN THE FINGER ON SHORE--TOM
PREVENTS THIS NARRATIVE FROM BEING WOUND UP BY MY GOING DOWN--I RECEIVE
A LAWYER'S LETTER, AND INSTEAD OF BEING ANNOYED, AM DELIGHTED WITH IT.
In the meantime, Tom had gone up to the fore-royal arm, and was looking
round for the five guineas, and just as the conversation was going on,
cried out, "Sail ho!"
"Strange sail reported."
"Where," cried the first lieutenant, going forward.
"Right under the sun."
"Mast-head there--do you make her out?"
"Yes, sir; I think she's a schooner; but I can only see down to her
mainyard."
"That's one of them, depend upon it," said the captain.
"Up there, Mr Wilson, and see what you make of her. Who is the man who
reported it?"
"Tom Beazeley, sir."
"Confound that fellow, he makes all my ship's company jump overboard,
and now I must give him five guineas. What do you make of her, Mr
Wilson?"
"A low schooner, sir, very rakish indeed, black sides. I cannot make
out her ports; but I should think she can show a very pretty set of
teeth. She is becalmed as well as we."
"Well, then, we must whistle for a breeze. In the meantime, Mr Knight,
we will have the boats all ready."
If you whistle long enough the wind is certain to come. In about an
hour the breeze did come, and we took it down with us; but it was too
dark to distinguish the schooner, which we had lost sight of as soon as
the sun had set. About midnight the breeze failed us, and it was again
calm. The captain and most of the officers were up all night, and the
watch were employed preparing the boats for service. It was my morning
watch, and at break of day I saw the schooner from the foresail-yard
about four miles to the North West. I ran down on deck and reported
her.
"Very good, my lad. I have her, Mr Knight," said the captain, who had
directed his glass to where I pointed; "and I will have her too, one way
or the other. No signs of wind. Lower down the cutters. Get the yards
and stays hooked all ready. We'll wait a little, and see a little more
of her when it's broad daylight."
At broad daylight the schooner, with her appointments, was distinctly to
be made out. She was pierced for sixteen guns, and was a formidable
vessel to encounter with the boats. The calm still continuing, the
launch, yawl, and pinnace were hoisted out, manned, and armed. The
schooner got out her sweeps, and was evidently preparing for their
reception. Still the captain appeared unwilling to risk the lives of
his men in such a dangerous conflict, and there we all lay alongside,
each man sitting in his place with his oar raised on end. Cat's-paws of
wind, as they call them, flew across the water here and there, ruffling
its smooth surface, portending that a breeze would soon spring up, and
the hopes of this chance rendered the captain undecided. Thus did we
remain alongside, for Tom and I were stationed in the first and second
cutters until twelve o'clock, when we were ordered out to take a hasty
dinner, and the allowance of spirits was served out. At one it was
still calm. Had we started when the boats were first hoisted out the
affair would have been long before decided. At last, the captain,
perceiving that the chance of a breeze was still smaller then than in
the forenoon, ordered the boats to shove off. We were still about the
same distance from the privateer, from three-and-a-half to four miles.
In less than half-an-hour we were within gun-shot; the privateer swept
her broadside to us, and commenced firing guns with single round shot,
and with great precision. They _ricochetted_ over the boats, and at
every shot we made sure of our being struck. At this time a slight
breeze swept along the water. It reached the schooner, filled her
sails, and she increased her distance. Again it died away, and we
neared her fast. She swept round again, and recommenced firing, and one
of her shot passed through the second cutter, in which I was stationed,
ripping open three of her planks, and wounding two men beside me. The
boat, heavy with the gun, ammunition chests, etcetera, immediately
filled and turned over with us, and it was with difficulty that we could
escape from the weighty hamper that was poured out of her. One of the
poor fellows, who had not been wounded, remained entangled under the
boat, and never rose again. The remainder of the crew rose to the
surface and clung to the side of the boat. The first cutter hauled to
our assistance, for we had separated to render the shot less effectual;
but it was three or four minutes before she was able to render us any
assistance, during which time the other two wounded men, who had been
apparently injured in the legs or body, exhausted with loss of blood,
gradually unloosed their holds and disappeared under the calm, blue
water. I had received a splinter in my left arm, and held on longer
than the others who had been maimed, but I could not hold on till the
cutter came. I lost my recollection, and sank. Tom, who was in the bow
of the cutter, perceiving me go down, dived after me, brought me up
again to the surface, and we were both hauled in. The other five men
were also saved. As soon as we were picked up, the cutter followed the
other boats, which continued to advance towards the privateer. I
recovered my senses, and found that a piece of one of the thwarts of the
boat, broken off by the shot, had been forced through the fleshy part of
my arm below the elbow, where it still remained. It was a very
dangerous as well as a painful wound. The officer of the boat, without
asking me, laid hold of the splinter and tore it out; but the pain was
so great, from its jagged form, and the effusion of blood so excessive
after this operation, that I again fainted. Fortunately no artery was
wounded, or I must have lost my arm. They bound it up, and laid me at
the bottom of the boat. The firing from the schooner was now very warm;
and we were within a quarter of a mile of her, when the breeze sprang
up, and she increased her distance a mile. There was a prospect of wind
from the appearance of the sky, although, for a time, it again died
away. We were within less than half-a-mile of the privateer, when we
perceived that the frigate was bringing up a smart breeze, and rapidly
approached the scene of conflict.
The breeze swept along the water and caught the sails of the privateer,
and she was again, in spite of all the exertions of our wearied men, out
of gun-shot; and the first lieutenant very properly decided upon making
for the frigate, which was now within a mile of us. In less than ten
minutes the boats were hoisted in; and the wind now rising fast, we were
under all sail, going at the rate of seven miles an hour; the privateer
having also gained the breeze, and gallantly holding her own.
I was taken down into the cockpit, the only wounded man brought on
board. The surgeon examined my arm, and at first shook his head, and I
expected immediate amputation; but on re-examination he gave his opinion
that the limb might be saved. My wound was dressed, and I was put into
my hammock, in a screened bulk under the half-deck, where the cooling
breeze from the ports fanned my feverish cheeks. But I must return to
the chase.
In less than an hour the wind had increased, so that we could with
difficulty carry our royals; the privateer was holding her own about
three miles right a-head, keeping our three masts in one. At sunset
they were forced to take in the royals, and the sky gave every prospect
of a rough gale. Still we carried on every stitch of canvas which the
frigate could bear; keeping the chase in sight with our night-glasses,
and watching all her motions.
The breeze increased; before morning there was a heavy sea, and the
frigate could only carry top-gallant sails over double-reefed top-sails.
At daylight we had neared the schooner, by the sextants, about a
quarter of a mile, and the captain and officers went down to take some
repose and refreshment, not having quitted the deck for twenty-four
hours. All that day did we chase the privateer, without gaining more
than a mile upon her, and it now blew up a furious gale: the topgallant
sails had been before taken in; the top-sails were close reefed, and we
were running at the speed of nearly twelve miles an hour; still so well
did the privateer sail, that she was barely within gunshot when the sun
went down below the horizon, angry and fiery red. There was now great
fear that she would escape, from the difficulty of keeping the glasses
upon her during the night, in a heavy sea, and the expectation that she
would furl all sail and allow us to pass her. It appeared, however,
that this manoeuvre did not enter into the head of the captain of the
privateer; he stood on under a press of sail, which even in day-time
would have been considered alarming; and at daylight, owing to the
steerage during the night never being so correct as during the day, she
had recovered her distance, and was about four miles from us. The gale,
if anything, had increased, and Captain Maclean determined,
notwithstanding, to shake a reef out of the topsails.
In the morning, as usual, Tom came to my cot, and asked me how I was? I
told him I was better and in less pain, and that the surgeon had
promised to dress my wound after breakfast, for the bandages had not
been removed since I had first come on board. "And the privateer, Tom,
I hope we shall take her; it will be some comfort to me that she is
captured."
"I think we shall, if the masts stand, Jacob; but we have an enormous
press of sail, as you may guess by the way in which the frigate jumps;
there is no standing on the forecastle, and there is a regular waterfall
down in the waist from forward. We are nearing her now. It is
beautiful to see how she behaves: when she heels over, we can perceive
that all her men are lashed on deck, and she takes whole seas into her
fore and aft mainsail, and pours them out again as she rises from the
lurch. She deserves to escape, at all events."
She did not, however, obtain her deserts, for about twelve o'clock in
the day we were within a mile of her. At two, the marines were firing
small arms at her, for we would not yaw to fire at her a gun, although
she was right under our bows. When within a cable's length we shortened
sail, so as to keep at that distance astern, and the chase, after having
lost several men by musketry, the captain of her waved his hat in token
of surrender. We immediately shortened sail to keep the weather-gage,
pelting her until every sail was lowered down: we then rounded to,
keeping her under our lee, and firing at every man who made his
appearance on deck. Taking possession of her was a difficult task: a
boat could hardly live in such a sea and when the captain called aloud
for volunteers, and I heard Tom's voice in the cutter as it was lowering
down, my heart misgave me lest he should meet with some accident. At
last I knew, from the conversation on deck, that the cutter had got safe
on board, and my mind was relieved. The surgeon came up and dressed my
arm, and I then received comparative bodily as well as mental relief.
It was not until the next day, when we lay to, with the schooner close
to us, that the weather became sufficiently moderate to enable us to
receive the prisoners, and put our own men and officers on board. The
prize proved to be an American-built schooner, fitted out as a French
privateer. She was called the _Cerf Agile_, mounting fourteen guns, of
nearly three hundred tons measurement, and with a crew of one hundred
and seventy men, of which forty-eight were away in prizes. It was
perhaps fortunate that the boats were not able to attack her, as they
would have received a very warm reception. Thus did we succeed in
capturing this mischievous vessel, after a chase of two hundred and
seventy miles. As soon as all the arrangements were made, we shaped our
course, with the privateer in company, for Halifax, where we arrived in
about five weeks. My wound was now nearly healed, but my arm had wasted
away, and I was unable to return to my duty. It was well known that I
wrote a good hand, and I volunteered, as I could do nothing else, to
assist the purser and the clerk with the ship's books, etcetera.
The admiral was at Bermuda, and the frigate which we were to relieve
had, from the exigence of the service, been despatched down to the
Honduras, and was not expected back for some months. We sailed from
Halifax to Bermuda, and joined the admiral, and after three weeks we
were ordered on a cruise. My arm was now perfectly recovered, but I had
become so useful in the clerk's office that I was retained, much against
my own wishes: but the captain _liked_ it, as Tom said and after that
there was no more said about the matter.
America was not the seat of war at that period; and, with the exception
of chasing French runners, there was nothing to be done on the North
American station. I have, therefore, little to narrate during the
remainder of the time that I was on board the frigate. Tom did his duty
in the foretop, and never was in any disgrace; on the contrary, he was a
great favourite both with officers and men, and took more liberties with
the captain than any one else dared to have done; but Captain Maclean
knew that Tom was one of his foremost and best men, always active,
zealous, and indifferent as to danger, and Tom knew exactly how far he
could venture to play with him. I remained in the clerk's office, and
as it was soon discovered that I had received an excellent education,
and always behaved myself respectfully to my superiors, I was kindly
treated, and had no reason to complain of a man-of-war.
Such was the state of affairs when the other frigate arrived from the
Honduras, and we, who had been cruising for the last four months in
Boston Bay, were ordered in by a cutter, to join the admiral at Halifax.
We had now been nearly a year from England without receiving any
letters. The reader may, therefore, judge of my impatience when, after
the anchor had been let go and the sails furled, the admiral's boat came
on board with several bags of letters for the officers and ship's
company. They were handed down into the gun-room, and I waited with
impatience for the sorting and distribution.
"Faithful," said the purser, "here are two letters for you."
I thanked him, and hastened into the clerk's office, that I might read
them without interruption. The first was addressed in a formal hand
quite unknown to me. I opened it with some degree of wonderment as to
who could possibly write to so humble an individual! It was from a
lawyer, and the contents were as follows:--
Sir--We hasten to advise you of the death of your good friend Mr
Alexander Turnbull. By his will, which has been opened and read, and
of which you are the executor, he has made you his sole heir,
bequeathing you, at the present, the sum of 30,000 pounds, with the
remainder of his fortune at the demise of his wife. With the
exception of 5000 pounds left to Mrs Turnbull for her own disposal,
the legacies do not amount to more than 800 pounds. The jointure
arising from the interest of the money secured to Mrs Turnbull during
her life is 1080 pounds per annum, upon the three per cent, consols,
so that at her demise you will come into 36,000 pounds consols, which
at 76, will be equal to 27,360 pounds sterling. I beg to congratulate
you upon your good fortune, and, with Mr Drummond, have made
application to the Admiralty for your discharge. This application, I
am happy to say, has been immediately attended to, and by the same
mail that conveys this letter is forwarded an order for your discharge
and a passage home. Should you think proper to treat our firm as your
legal advisers, we shall be most happy to enrol you among our clients.