I had just dismounted before the rather imposing main entrance to
Delamere Hall, situate close to the west Dorset coast, and had handed
over my horse to Tom Biddlecome, the groom who had accompanied me in my
before-breakfast ride down to the beach for my morning dip, when my
father appeared in the portico.
"Good morning, Dick," he greeted me. "I suppose you have been for your
swim, as usual. How did you find the water?"
"Grand, sir," I replied; "just the right temperature to put new life
into one. Another week, at this rate, ought to see me as well as ever I
was."
"Well, your present appearance is scarcely that of an invalid, I must
confess," he remarked laughingly. "If you were called upon to submit to
a medical examination, I fancy the verdict would be that there is not
very much the matter with you. And I am very glad that it is so; for I
have just received a letter from my friend Vavassour, in which he
informs me that he has been posted to the new frigate _Europa_, launched
last week at Portsmouth and now fitting-out; that he has entered your
name on her books; and that, if you feel sufficiently recovered to
resume duty, he would very strongly advise you to proceed to Portsmouth
at once and assist in the operation of fitting-out, as he is of opinion
that by doing so you will gain a considerable amount of knowledge that
will be of the utmost value to you when you come to sit for your
examination. Now, what is your opinion? Do you think you are
sufficiently recovered to do as Vavassour suggests; or should I write
and ask him to--"
"By no means, my dear father," I interrupted hastily. "I am quite well,
and perfectly fit for duty in every respect; indeed, I feel sure that,
having advanced so far along the road to recovery, a return to a life of
greater activity than that which I have been living of late will be
positively beneficial to me. Of course I shall be very sorry to leave
you again to a life of solitude."
"Do not think of that, Dick," interrupted my father in his turn. "I
assure you that my life here is not nearly so lonely as you seem to
imagine. True, there are not many neighbours, but what there are, are
eminently satisfactory; also I have my horses, my dogs, my gun, and my
rod for outdoor companions, and books to exorcise the loneliness of my
evenings; so that you see I am not at all badly off. No doubt I shall
miss you after you are gone, my son; but this is not the time to study
one's own feelings. Britain just now needs every one of her sons who
can strike a blow in her defence; and when I look at your empty chair I
shall at least have the pride and satisfaction of knowing that, wherever
you may be, you are upholding the honour of your country and your name.
Well, well," he sighed, "let us get indoors and to breakfast. There is
a letter also for you from Vavassour, and you will be curious to learn
what he has to say to you."
Whereupon, linked arm in arm, my father and I entered and made our way
to the breakfast room, where we seated ourselves, and were soon busy
with the viands placed before us. The letter to which my father had
referred lay beside my plate; and, having obtained his permission, I at
once broke the seal and glanced at its contents, for I was full of
curiosity to learn in detail the splendid news which my father had
outlined to me as he stood in the portico.
But before proceeding further with this veracious history it will be
well that I should say a word or two about myself, by way of formally
introducing myself as it were to the reader, in order that if he feels
inclined to follow my fortunes, as set forth in the following pages, he
may know just who I am and how matters were standing with me at the
moment when this story opens.
To begin, then, I was the only son of Sir Richard Delamere, of Delamere
Hall, in the county of Dorsetshire; Baronet, Justice of the Peace,
etcetera, etcetera, etcetera; and some sixteen and a half years before
the date at which this story starts I had received the name of Richard,
after my father, at the baptismal font in the fine old church in the
village of Delamere, that nestles snugly in the valley about a mile to
the north-eastward of the Hall.
I never knew my mother, for she died in giving me birth; and my father,
who adored her living, and revered her memory, was some years older
before he fully forgave me for being the unwitting cause of her
premature departure from this world. And in this I could sympathise
with him as soon as I came to years of understanding, for she was not
only, as everybody who had known her asserted, of a most amiable and
loveable disposition, but--as her portrait in the big library bore
witness--a most lovely woman.
But although I was unfortunate enough never to have known a mother's
love, I do not think I was actually very much the worse for the loss;
for upon my mother's death her place was most ably and conscientiously
filled by my aunt Griselda, my father's maiden sister, who faithfully
did her duty both by my father and me until she too passed away when I
was about eleven years old, by which time my father had completely
conquered his original resentment toward me, and we had become all that
father and son ought to be to each other.
Then, after receiving the best education that it was at that time
possible for a lad to receive, I had entered the navy as a midshipman,
at the age of fourteen, and had gone out to the Mediterranean in the old
_Colossus_, two-decker, under the command of Sir Percy Fitzgerald,
where, for some two and a half years, we spent our time partly in
chasing the French up and down the great inland sea, and partly in
blockading the port of Toulon, under Sir John Jervis. It was while
engaged upon this latter service that I was so seriously wounded in the
head by a flying splinter that I was invalided home to recover, the
_Colossus_ being opportunely ordered to England at the same time to
undergo a general overhaul and refit.
Of course I had not been in the navy for more than two years without
making a few friends, among the staunchest of whom I reckoned Mr Henry
Vavassour, the first lieutenant of the _Colossus_, and also a friend of
my father. This officer was a very dashing fellow, a prime seaman, and
a cool, courageous, resolute leader of men--he had frequently been
mentioned in dispatches--and I was therefore not at all surprised to
learn, as I now did, that he had gained his post rank and had been given
the command of a fine ship. His letter to me ran as follows:
"My dear Delamere--I think you will be glad to learn that their
Lordships have been pleased to promote me, bestow upon me post rank,
and give me the command of the new frigate _Europa_, just launched at
Portsmouth. She is an exceedingly fine ship of 1216 tons, mounting 38
guns; and, with smart officers and a good crew, I think she ought,
given ordinary luck, to render an excellent account of herself.
"I have been allowed to nominate all my own officers, and I have
therefore entered you on the ship's books, not only for your father's
sake, but also on account of your excellent behaviour while aboard the
_Colossus_; and if, as I hope, you have sufficiently recovered to
join, you will again meet one or two of your former shipmates on the
quarter-deck of the new ship.
"If you feel fit for duty I would very strongly advise you to join at
the earliest possible moment, as at present the _Europa_ has only her
three lower-masts stepped. She is in the hands of the riggers, and I
am of opinion that it would be of the utmost service to you if you
could be on the spot to witness the process of rigging; you would thus
obtain at first hand an insight into details, which will assuredly
stand you in good stead when you come to present yourself for
examination. I ought, perhaps, to inform you that in the event of
your deciding to act upon my advice it will be necessary for you to
take up your quarters temporarily aboard the receiving hulk, but this
inconvenience will be more than compensated by the knowledge that you
will gain. For myself, I am putting up at the `George' in the High
Street, and it will be well for you to report yourself to me there
upon your arrival. I have written to your father, explaining
everything; I need therefore add nothing to this beyond the expression
of the hope that you may be able to avail yourself to the fullest
extent of this splendid opportunity for gaining a great deal of most
useful knowledge in a very short time.--Yours sincerely, Henry
Vavassour."
When I had finished the perusal of this exceedingly kind and friendly
letter I passed it over to my father, who in his turn read it carefully
through, and then passed it back to me with the question:
"Well, Dick, my boy, what do you think of it?"
"Simply, sir, that if you approve I will at once write to Captain
Vavassour, thanking him heartily for his very great kindness, and
telling him that I will start for Portsmouth to-morrow," I said.
My father regarded me, rather wistfully I thought, for a few moments,
and then said:
"Very well; be it so. Write your letter, by all means, and I will
enclose a few lines in it. And,"--suddenly, in a much more cheerful
tone of voice, as an idea seemed to suggest itself to him--"I'll tell
you what I'll do, Dick, I'll run over to Portsmouth with you, and stay
for a few days. A little change will do me good; and I should like very
much to see this new ship of yours, as well as to meet Vavassour again,
whom I have not seen for quite a number of years. Yes, certainly, I
will go over with you."
Thus it was arranged. We wrote and dispatched our letters, spent the
remainder of the day in making our preparations, and started on our
journey soon after ten o'clock the next morning, posting it all the way
to Portsmouth, where we arrived at six o'clock the same evening, and put
up at the "George," where Captain Vavassour had established himself. Of
course, it was scarcely in accordance with strict naval etiquette for
me, a mere midshipman, to presume to quarter myself in the hotel that my
captain honoured with his patronage, but the circumstances were
exceptional in so far as that I was with my father; moreover, it was to
be for but one night, and the skipper was far too fine and manly a
fellow to take notice of so insignificant a breach of the unwritten law
as I was committing. My father and I dined with him that night,
incidentally making the acquaintance of Mr Malcolm Adair, the
_Europa's_ first lieutenant; and on the following morning, immediately
after breakfast, I proceeded on board the receiving hulk, reported
myself, then returned to the shore and made my way to Number 3 basin, in
which the frigate was undergoing the process of being rigged and
prepared for sea.
I had not served for two and a half years in the Mediterranean without
learning something of what constituted a good model of a ship, and I no
sooner set eyes upon the _Europa_ than I fell violently in love with
her. She had been launched flying light, and then had been hauled under
the masting-sheers to have her three lower-masts stepped, after which it
had been necessary to move her to another part of the basin in order to
make way for another ship. She had occupied her new berth five days
when I first saw her, during which the carpenters, joiners, and painters
had been busily employed in finishing off her internal fittings; and
when first I beheld her the dockyard people were in the act of warping
her across the basin to still another berth, where she was to receive
her ballast; thus when my eyes first rested upon her she was floating
high out of the water, and I was afforded an excellent opportunity to
view and criticise her lines. She was somewhat shallow of hull and flat
in the floor, to give her a light draught of water, but to compensate
for this she was extraordinarily "beamy," which had the twofold effect
of imparting great stiffness under canvas, and affording fine roomy
decks. Her sides were as round as an apple--not an inch of "straight"
anywhere in them--and, despite her unusual breadth, her lines were the
finest and most beautiful that I had ever seen. She carried a full
poop, the interior of which constituted the captain's quarters--roomy,
light, and airy; and as I noted the length and solidity of her
lower-masts the idea occurred to me that, if the remainder of her spars
were to be in proportion, her sail-spread, combined with her perfect
lines, ought to give her such exceptional speed as would enable her to
do just as she pleased with an adversary.
As soon as she was alongside and made fast I went on board and had a
good look at her interior, not forgetting to inscribe my name legibly on
the most conveniently situated locker in the midshipmen's berth, after
which I watched the operation of shipping and stowing her ballast.
There was not much of interest or instruction in this part of the work,
but when, on the following day, I witnessed the execution of the
apparently impossible task of getting the tops aloft and over the
mastheads, and was afterwards initiated into the mysteries of measuring
for and laying off rigging, getting it into position and setting it up;
and beheld the rapidity and assured certainty with which the three bare
lower spars were equipped with shrouds, stays, caps, etcetera; the
topmasts rose into place, were rigged and fidded; how the yards were
sent aloft and secured; and how, in short, the entire fabric became
rapidly converted from a mere empty shell into a complicated yet
marvellously perfect structure that needed but smart officers, a
well-disciplined crew, and the breathing of the winds of heaven to make
of her, not only the most beautiful and wonderful product of human
skill, but also a formidable self-contained engine of warfare, I
mentally confessed that not only was seamanship a most fascinating
science, but also that sailors were the most ingenious and adaptable
specimens of the entire human race.
The work of fitting-out was pushed forward with all possible expedition.
A bare three weeks, therefore, from the day of my arrival in
Portsmouth, saw the _Europa_ all ataunt, with royal-yards across, sails
bent, stores of all descriptions on board and stowed, water-tanks
filled, guns mounted, and, in fact, ready for sea in every respect,
except that her crew were not on board, and her magazines were empty.
Then she was warped out of the basin, her crew turned over to her from
the receiving hulk, and she was taken out to Spithead to receive her
powder. During all this time my father had remained at Portsmouth,
quartered at the "George," spending as much as possible of his time with
me in the dockyard; and after the work of the day was over I generally--
by favour of Mr Adair, the first lieutenant--dined and spent the
evening with him, the discipline of the receiving hulk not being very
severe, and nobody caring much at what time I went aboard at night so
long as I was present at muster next morning. But on the day that the
crew were turned over, and the ship was taken out to Spithead, these
little indulgences came to an end; for the frigate was no sooner at
anchor than, before the powder hoy arrived alongside, Captain Vavassour
came off, the crew were mustered, and he read his commission and hoisted
his pennant, from which moment the strictest naval discipline became the
order of the day. Nevertheless, when at the conclusion of the
above-mentioned ceremony the skipper ordered his gig and returned to the
shore, I obtained leave to accompany him, upon condition that I reported
myself on board again by eight o'clock. I therefore again, and for the
last time during that cruise, dined with my father, after which he
accompanied me to the Hard, bade me a most affectionate good-bye, and
stood watching the wherry which was conveying me off to the ship, until
the boat passed out of the harbour and we vanished from his sight. Not
until long afterward did I know that, instead of starting for home the
next morning, as he had talked of doing, he crossed over to Gosport the
first thing after breakfast, walked to Haslar, and stationed himself on
the beach at Gilkicker Point, watching the frigate until she had got
under way and passed out of sight to the southward and eastward.
The next morning, at daylight, Blue Peter was hoisted at the fore-royal
masthead and a gun fired as a signal that the ship was about to sail;
boats were hoisted in and stowed, stock was brought alongside, and the
order was given to clear the ship of strangers--sailors' wives and
sweethearts who had come off to say a last good-bye, bumboat women who
were making a final desperate effort to obtain a settlement of their
accounts, and tradesmen of all kinds engaged upon the same errand or
intent upon palming off upon the men otherwise unsaleable stock.
Shortly after ten o'clock Captain Vavassour came on board, immediately
after which the hands were piped to "up anchor"; and within half-an-hour
we were under way and standing out toward Saint Helens, under all plain
sail, before a light northerly breeze.
We had not been under way a quarter of an hour before it became apparent
to everybody on board that the _Europa_ was going to more than justify
the exceedingly favourable opinion that we had already formed of her;
for, light as was the wind, she slid through the water at a speed that
fairly astonished us, her keen stem cleaving the short Channel surges
cleanly and with very little noise or fuss, and leaving behind her a
wake so smooth and so little disturbed that at a distance of a quarter
of a mile it vanished altogether. And when, an hour or so later, having
made a good offing, the skipper ordered her to be hauled to the wind on
a taut bowline for a short time, to test her speed under those
conditions, and then put her about, she went to windward and tacked like
a yacht.
Our cruising-ground was a fairly extensive one, stretching from the
longitude of Cape la Hague on the one hand to longitude 10 degrees West
on the other, and from latitude 50 degrees North to Cape Finisterre; in
other words, it embraced the chops of the Channel and the whole of the
Bay of Biscay; and our duty was to protect British commerce on the high
seas, and harry the enemy generally. The wide limits of our
cruising-ground, and the fact that, for the moment at least, we were
free to go whither we pleased within those limits, was a source of the
keenest gratification to all hands, for it was just within that area
that the privateers of the enemy were then displaying the most activity
and doing the greatest amount of mischief; and we were all looking
forward hopefully to the prospect of making plenty of captures and
recaptures. But those of us who had been shipmates together in the old
_Colossus_ found an additional source of gratification in the speed of
our new craft; for whereas in the _Colossus_--which was possibly the
slowest ship ever launched--we had done plenty of chasing, we had never
been able to catch anything unless all the conditions were strongly in
our favour; while now we hoped to find the state of affairs very much
the opposite.
It was not only upon the speed of the _Europa_, however, that we built
our hopes of success; for not only was she an unusually fast vessel, but
she carried an exceptionally heavy armament for a ship of her class,
namely, twenty-four long 24-pounders on her main-deck, and fourteen long
8-pounders on her quarter-deck and forecastle; while, to crown all, her
crew consisted of two hundred and ninety-two men--every one of whom had
voluntarily entered. Furthermore, of those two hundred and ninety-two
men, no less than one hundred and sixty-five had been aboard the
_Colossus_, and had joined after being paid off from that craft; while,
on the quarter-deck, the skipper, Mr Galway the second lieutenant, Mr
Trimble the master, Maxwell the master's-mate, Gascoigne a midshipman,
Mr Purvis the gunner, and myself had all been shipmates together in the
same craft.
Having manoeuvred the ship for close upon two hours, with the view of
testing her speed and handiness in varying circumstances, so far as was
possible under the existing conditions of wind and sea, we bore up and
shaped a course for Cape la Hague, which we made just before nightfall.
Then, as the breeze seemed inclined to freshen a trifle, rendering the
ship more manageable in the strong tides that sweep that part of the
coast, the Captain determined to search the bight at the bottom of which
lies the French port of Saint Malo, just then notorious for the number
of privateers which it fitted out and sent to sea. We accordingly
passed in about half-way between Alderney and the mainland, maintaining
an offing from the latter of about eight miles, and took in our royals
and topgallantsails.
Passing inside the Chausey Islands, breakfast-time the next morning
found us off the town, in the harbour of which we saw a number of small
fishing and coasting craft, but nothing of importance; we therefore
hauled up to the westward, set our topgallantsails, and boarded the fore
and main tacks, in order to work out clear of Brehat and secure a good
offing; for the glass was dropping, the breeze freshening, there was a
"greasy" look about the sky to windward that seemed to portend a blow,
and we were on a lee-shore.
As the morning advanced the portents became more pronounced; the wind
increased to such an extent that we first had to stow our
topgallantsails again and then single-reef the topsails, and a very
nasty short, choppy sea quickly got up, into which the frigate plunged
viciously to the height of her figurehead, sending deluges of spray over
her weather cathead and into the hollow of her foresail until the canvas
was darkened with wet half-way up to the yard, while it thickened up
away to windward until it became impossible to distinguish anything
beyond the distance of a mile, and the wind backed on us until it was
out from about North-North-West, with the result that, when at length we
made the land, it stretched right athwart our hawse and reached away to
windward, as far as the eye could penetrate the mist.
There was nothing for it but to 'bout ship and haul off on the other
tack; the crew were therefore piped to stations and the helm eased down,
when the ship swept grandly up into the wind and went round like a top,
holding her way in a style that delighted as much as it surprised us,
and staying almost as quickly as the men could swing the yards.
Eight bells of the afternoon watch had just struck when, the weather
clearing suddenly, we made the island of Guernsey, some eight miles
ahead, and Jersey somewhat more distant, two points before our starboard
beam; and at the same moment two craft were made out, about six miles
away from us and broad on our weather-beam, coming down before the wind
under a heavy press of sail, and heading as though bound for Saint Malo.
They were within half a mile of each other, and appeared to be in
company.
The instant that they were seen there was a general rush for telescopes
on the part of all the officers on deck; and after a protracted scrutiny
of them the general consensus of opinion was that they were a French
privateer and a British merchantman which she had captured. Coming down
toward us, end-on as they were, it was not easy at first to determine
their rig, but both were large ships, one of them being of about six
hundred tons, while the other appeared to be fully as big as ourselves.
That their eyes were as sharp as our own very soon became evident; for
while we were still peering at them through our glasses, we saw a string
of flags go soaring aloft on board the smaller craft of the two, and
immediately afterward both vessels slightly altered their course, the
bigger of the two hauling up a couple of points to the southward and
shaping a course that would carry her across our stern at a distance of
about two miles, while the other very smartly clewed up her
topgallantsails, took a single-reef in her topsails, and slightly hauled
her wind, as though with the purpose of intercepting us. This action on
their part at once confirmed our suspicions as to their respective
characters, and at the same time enabled us to determine that they were
both full-rigged ships.
"The smaller will be the privateer, and, therefore, in all probability
the faster vessel of the two, Mr Adair," said the skipper. "We will
accordingly tackle him first; for I think we can polish him off in time
to catch the other fellow before he can get into port. Beat to
quarters, if you please, sir, and show our colours."
The first lieutenant gave the order, the drum rattled out its summons,
and the ship at once became a hive of activity; the decks were cleared
of everything that could possibly interfere with the efficient working
of the guns; the guns themselves were cast loose, the half-ports knocked
out, screens put up, the magazine opened, powder and shot passed up on
deck, cutlasses and pistols served out to the crew, and, in short, every
preparation made for battle. Our ensign was streaming out in the
breeze, as flat as a board, from the mizen peak, but neither of the
strangers had thus far condescended to show us the colour of their
bunting. They had now definitely parted company, the larger of the two
edging in for the land with the evident intention of reaching a port,
while the other, having hauled her wind, was as evidently preparing to
cover the retreat of her prize by engaging us in a running fight and
drawing us off-shore to the northward.