BETWEEN TWO FIRES
The boat, pulled by six robust oarsmen, flew over the water. The fog
was growing dense, and it was with difficulty that James Playfair
succeeded in keeping to the line of his bearings. Crockston sat at the
bows, and Mr. Halliburtt at the stern, next the Captain. The prisoner,
only now informed of the presence of his servant, wished to speak to
him, but the latter enjoined silence.
However, a few minutes later, when they were in the middle of the
harbour, Crockston determined to speak, knowing what thoughts were
uppermost in Mr. Halliburtt's mind.
"Yes, my dear master," said he, "the gaoler is in my place in the cell,
where I gave him two smart blows, one on the head and the other on the
stomach, to act as a sleeping draught, and this when he was bringing me
my supper; there is gratitude for you. I took his clothes and his keys,
found you, and let you out of the citadel, under the soldiers' noses.
That is all I have done."
"But my daughter--?" asked Mr. Halliburtt.
"Is on board the ship which is going to take you to England."
"My daughter there! there!" cried the American, springing from his seat.
"Silence!" replied Crockston, "a few minutes, and we shall be saved."
The boat flew through the darkness, but James Playfair was obliged to
steer rather by guess, as the lanterns of the _Dolphin_ were no longer
visible through the fog. He was undecided what direction to follow, and
the darkness was so great that the rowers could not even see to the end
of their oars.
"Well, Mr. James?" said Crockston.
"We must have made more than a mile and a half," replied the Captain.
"You don't see anything, Crockston?"
"Nothing; nevertheless, I have good eyes; but we shall get there all
right. They don't suspect anything out there."
These words were hardly finished when the flash of a gun gleamed for an
instant through the darkness, and vanished in the mist.
"A signal!" cried James Playfair.
"Whew!" exclaimed Crockston. "It must have come from the citadel. Let
us wait."
A second, then a third shot was fired in the direction of the first,
and almost the same signal was repeated a mile in front of the gig.
"That is from Fort Sumter," cried Crockston, "and it is the signal of
escape. Urge on the men; everything is discovered."
"Pull for your lives, my men!" cried James Playfair, urging on the
sailors, "those gun-shots cleared my route. The _Dolphin_ is eight
hundred yards ahead of us. Stop! I hear the bell on board. Hurrah,
there it is again! Twenty pounds for you if we are back in five
minutes!"
The boat skimmed over the waves under the sailors' powerful oars. A
cannon boomed in the direction of the town. Crockston heard a ball whiz
past them.
The bell on the _Dolphin_ was ringing loudly. A few more strokes and
the boat was alongside. A few more seconds and Jenny fell into her
father's arms.
The gig was immediately raised, and James Playfair sprang on to the
poop.
"Is the steam up, Mr. Mathew?"
"Yes, Captain."
"Have the moorings cut at once."
A few minutes later the two screws carried the steamer towards the
principal channel, away from Fort Sumter.
"Mr. Mathew," said James, "we must not think of taking the Sullivan
Island channel; we should run directly under the Confederate guns. Let
us go as near as possible to the right side of the harbour out of range
of the Federal batteries. Have you a safe man at the helm?"
"Yes, Captain."
"Have the lanterns and the fires on deck extinguished; there is a great
deal too much light, but we cannot help the reflection from the
engine-rooms."
During this conversation the _Dolphin_ was going at a great speed; but
in altering her course to keep to the right side of the Charleston
Harbour she was obliged to enter a channel which took her for a moment
near Fort Sumter; and when scarcely half a mile off all the guns
bearing on her were discharged at the same time, and a shower of shot
and shell passed in front of the _Dolphin_ with a thundering report.
"Too soon, stupids," cried James Playfair, with a burst of laughter.
"Make haste, make haste, Mr. Engineer! We shall get between two fires."
The stokers fed the furnaces, and the _Dolphin_ trembled all over with
the effort of the engine as if she was on the point of exploding.
At this moment a second report was heard, and another shower of balls
whizzed behind the _Dolphin_.
"Too late, stupids," cried the young Captain, with a regular roar.
Then Crockston, who was standing on the poop, cried, "That's one
passed. A few minutes more, and we shall have done with the Rebs."
"Then do you think we have nothing more to fear from Fort Sumter?"
asked James.
"Nothing at all, but everything from Fort Moultrie, at the end of
Sullivan Island; but they will only get a chance at us for half a
minute, and then they must choose their time well, and shoot straight
if they want to reach us. We are getting near."
"Right; the position of Fort Moultrie will allow us to go straight for
the principal channel. Fire away then, fire away!"
At the same moment, and as if in obedience to James Playfair, the fort
was illuminated by a triple line of lightning. A frightful crash was
heard; then a crackling sound on board the steamer.
"Touched this time!" exclaimed Crockston.
"Mr. Mathew!" cried the Captain to his second, who was stationed at the
bows, "what has been damaged?"
"The bowsprit broken."
"Any wounded?"
"No, Captain."
"Well, then, the masts may go to Jericho. Straight into the pass!
Straight! and steer towards the island."
"We have passed the Rebs!" cried Crockston; "and, if we must have balls
in our hull, I would much rather have the Northerners; they are more
easily digested."
In fact, the _Dolphin_ could not yet consider herself out of danger;
for, if Morris Island was not fortified with the formidable pieces of
artillery which were placed there a few months later, nevertheless its
guns and mortars could easily have sunk a ship like the _Dolphin_.
The alarm had been given to the Federals on the island, and to the
blockading squadron, by the firing from Forts Sumter and Moultrie. The
besiegers could not make out the reason of this night attack; it did
not seem to be directed against them. However, they were obliged to
consider it so, and were ready to reply.
It occupied James Playfair's thoughts whilst making towards the passes
of Morris Island; and he had reason to fear, for in a quarter of an
hour's time lights gleamed rapidly through the darkness. A shower of
small shell fell round the steamer, scattering the water over her
bulwarks; some of them even struck the deck of the _Dolphin_, but not
on their points, which saved the ship from certain ruin. In fact, these
shell, as it was afterwards discovered, could break into a hundred
fragments, and each cover a superficial area of a hundred and twenty
square feet with Greek fire, which would burn for twenty minutes, and
nothing could extinguish it. One of these shell alone could set a ship
on fire. Fortunately for the _Dolphin_, they were a new invention, and
as yet far from perfect. Once thrown into the air, a false rotary
movement kept them inclined, and, when falling, instead of striking on
their points, where is the percussion apparatus, they fell flat. This
defect in construction alone saved the _Dolphin_. The falling of these
shells did her little harm, and under the pressure of her over-heated
boilers she continued to advance into the pass.
At this moment, and in spite of his orders, Mr. Halliburtt and his
daughter went to James Playfair on the poop; the latter urged them to
return to their cabins, but Jenny declared that she would remain by the
Captain. As for Mr. Halliburtt, who had just learnt all the noble
conduct of his deliverer, he pressed his hand without being able to
utter a word.
The _Dolphin_ was speeding rapidly towards the open sea. There were
only three miles more before she would be in the waters of the
Atlantic; if the pass was free at its entrance, she was saved. James
Playfair was wonderfully well acquainted with all the secrets of
Charleston Bay, and he guided his ship through the darkness with an
unerring hand. He was beginning to think his daring enterprise
successful, when a sailor on the forecastle cried:
"A ship!"
"A ship?" cried James.
"Yes, on the larboard side."
The fog had cleared off, and a large frigate was seen making towards
the pass, in order to obstruct the passage of the _Dolphin_. It was
necessary, cost what it might, to distance her, and urge the
steam-engine to an increase of speed, or all was lost.
"Port the helm at once!" cried the Captain.
Then he sprang on to the bridge above the engine. By his orders one of
the screws was stopped, and under the action of the other the
_Dolphin_, veering with an extraordinary rapidity, avoided running foul
of the frigate, and advanced like her to the entrance of the pass. It
was now a question of speed.
James Playfair understood that in this lay his own safety, Miss
Jenny's, her father's, and that of all his crew.
The frigate was considerably in advance of the _Dolphin_. It was
evident from the volumes of black smoke issuing from her chimneys that
she was getting up her steam. James Playfair was not the man to be left
in the background.
"How are the engines?" cried he to the engineer.
"At the maximum speed," replied the latter; "the steam is escaping by
all the valves."
"Fasten them down," ordered the Captain.
And his orders were executed at the risk of blowing up the ship.
The _Dolphin_ again increased her speed; the pistons worked with
frightful rapidity; the metal plates on which the engine was placed
trembled under the terrific force of their blows. It was a sight to
make the boldest shudder.
"More pressure!" cried James Playfair; "put on more pressure!"
"Impossible!" replied the engineer. "The valves are tightly closed; our
furnaces are full up to the mouths."
"What difference! Fill them with cotton soaked in spirits; we must pass
that frigate at any price."
At these words the most daring of the sailors looked at each other, but
did not hesitate. Some bales of cotton were thrown into the
engine-room, a barrel of spirits broached over them, and this expensive
fuel placed, not without danger, in the red-hot furnaces. The stokers
could no longer hear each other speak for the roaring of the flames.
Soon the metal plates of the furnaces became red-hot; the pistons
worked like the pistons of a locomotive; the steamgauge showed a
frightful tension; the steamer flew over the water; her boards creaked,
and her chimneys threw out volumes of smoke mingled with flames. She
was going at a headlong speed, but, nevertheless, she was gaining on
the frigate--passed her, distanced her, and in ten minutes was out of
the channel.
"Saved!" cried the Captain.
"Saved!" echoed the crew, clapping their hands.
Already the Charleston beacon was disappearing in the south-west; the
sound of firing from the batteries grew fainter, and it might with
reason be thought that the danger was all past, when a shell from a
gun-boat cruising at large was hurled whizzing through the air. It was
easy to trace its course, thanks to the line of fire which followed it.
Then was a moment of anxiety impossible to describe; every one was
silent, and each watched fearfully the arch described by the
projectile. Nothing could be done to escape it, and in a few seconds it
fell with a frightful noise on the fore-deck of the _Dolphin_.
The terrified sailors crowded to the stern, and no one dared move a
step, whilst the shell was burning with a brisk crackle.
But one brave man alone among them ran up to the formidable weapon of
destruction. It was Crockston; he took the shell in his strong arms,
whilst showers of sparks were falling from it; then, with a superhuman
effort, he threw it overboard.
Hardly had the shell reached the surface of the water when it burst
with a frightful report.
"Hurrah! hurrah!" cried the whole crew of the _Dolphin_ unanimously,
whilst Crockston rubbed his hands.
Some time later the steamer sped rapidly through the waters of the
Atlantic; the American coast disappeared in the darkness, and the
distant lights which shot across the horizon indicated that the attack
was general between the batteries of Morris Island and the forts of
Charleston Harbour.