The cutter did not, however, stand out for more than a few minutes, when
she hove to and repaired damages, evidently intending to renew the
action. I pointed this out to Bramble. "I see, I see," replied he;
"she intends to try and cut us off from Morlaix, which is to windward,
and oblige us to fight or run for St. Malo's, which is a long way to
leeward; in either case she will be able to attack us again, as she
outsails us: perhaps the fight is not over yet."
But the Frenchman also understood what he was about, and he now steered
a course. When we were about two miles from the land, and about the
same distance from the cutter, the latter kept away so as to oblige the
ship to come to action again before she reached Morlaix; but, before she
closed with us, we discovered that we were entering a small French port,
which had not been visible to us, called (I think) Lanion, situated
between Isle Bichat and Morlaix. When within a half a mile of the land,
French over English was hoisted at our peak, and a French pennant over
an English pennant at our main.
"I told you so," said Bramble; "they have made a man-of-war out of us,
and now there'll be no end to the lies that they will tell; for though
these French fellows do not fight quite so well as we do, at lying
they'll beat us hollow, any day of the week. Never mind, Tom, we must
keep a sharp look-out, and there's no saying--keep your eyes open as we
go into the harbour--I never was here before, but I suspect it's nothing
better than a poor fishing town."
In a quarter of an hour the ship and privateer were both made fast to an
old stone pier which ran out from the town; but there were no other
vessels in the harbour except two small coasting _chasses marees_, and
about a dozen fishing-boats.
The harbour was formed by the mouth of a small river, which ran down
through a very narrow alluvial flat, backed by precipitous rocks. On
the right side of the river on entering, and on the level ground above
mentioned, which extended back perhaps two hundred yards, until it was
met by the rocky cliffs, was situated the village which, centuries back,
must have been the town of Lanion. It consisted of perhaps one hundred
to one hundred and twenty houses, few of them of any size, the major
portion with walls built of mud and whitewashed over. The only remains
of the former town were a stone-built market-place, the portion of the
Hotel de Ville in which the mayor resided, and the old church, which,
although perfect in its walls, was sadly dilapidated in the roof. It
had long been deserted, and a small chapel had been built in lieu of it,
in which the only cure of the place performed the service. The massive
stones of which the now neglected pier had once been built proved that
at one time considerable expense had been incurred in the formation of
this small harbour.
A battery mounting two guns at the end of the pier protected the mouth
of the harbour; and there was a guard of a sergeant and twelve invalids,
who were stationed there to man the guns upon the approach of an enemy.
It would be difficult to describe the confusion which took place as soon
as the two vessels were fairly alongside the wharf, and made fast with
hawsers to the massive iron rings which had for centuries been fixed in
the ponderous stones of which the pier was composed. There was the
mayor with his cocked hat on, but his leather apron still tied in front,
for he had been working at his calling; there was the sergeant of the
invalids, who, perhaps, was a greater man than the mayor, all beard and
mustachios, but so thin in his person, that he looked as if a stout
breeze would have blown him away; and there were the soldiers leaning on
their muskets. These were the most important personages, but they were
backed by the whole population of the town, amounting to about three
hundred men, women, and children, all talking, jabbering, and screaming:
add to them the captain of the privateer, so important that he could not
attend to even the mayor or the sergeant; and the privateer's men,
dressed in every fashion, armed to the teeth, all explaining, or pushing
away, or running here and there obeying orders; then the wounded men--
for they had several men killed and others hurt in the conflict with the
cutter--handed up one by one, bandaged here and there, and exciting the
compassion and even screams of the women; the prisoners, who had been
ordered to come on deck, half dressed and chapfallen; the sails of the
vessels only dewed up, and still fluttering; ensigns and pennants
hoisted upon every mast, and waving over the heads of the crowd
assembled at the pier,--and you may have some idea of the confused and
bustling scene.
At last, as there appeared no chance of anything being arranged while
the people crowded round, the captain of the privateer ordered his men
to draw their weapons and drive back the crowd, which was soon effected,
notwithstanding many oaths, and more screaming on the part of the fairer
sex; and when the crowd had been thus driven the men were stationed so
as to keep them back. At first this gave offence to all parties--to the
crowd, because they didn't like to be driven away--to the mayor, who
remained with the sergeant and invalids in the area which had been
cleared by the privateer's people, because he thought that they had
interfered with his civil authority--and to the sergeant of invalids,
because he thought that the marine force had interfered with his
military authority; but the captain of the privateer having taken off
his hat and bowed, first to the mayor and then to the sergeant, and
saying how much he was obliged to them for their assistance, both
parties were satisfied; and now a consultation was held between them how
to proceed, while the privateer's men, who kept back the crowd, amused
them by giving a detail of the two desperate actions which had been
fought--no two accounts agreeing, certainly, but that was of no
consequence.
The first question to be canvassed was, what was to be done with the
prisoners? Morlaix was the nearest town in which they would be under
safe keeping, but that was twenty miles distant, and it would be
necessary to send over an express, so that a sufficient force might be
dispatched to Lanion to escort the prisoners there. This Mr Mayor
undertook to do immediately; a boy was summoned to take over the
communication, and the mayor went up to write his letter to the
authorities, while the wounded men were carried away, and by the
direction of the cure, who had just arrived and joined the consultation,
billeted upon different houses in the town. The express having been
dispatched, and the wounded safely housed and under the care of the
village Aesculapius, who never had such a job in his whole life, the
next point of consultation was how to dispose of the prisoners until the
force should arrive from Morlaix. Here the sergeant became the
principal person, being military commandant: forty-seven prisoners were
a heavy charge for twelve invalids; and as for the privateer's men,
there was no dependence upon them, for, as the captain said, they had
had enough to do to take them, and it was the business of the
authorities to look after them now, while the privateer's men made
merry.