MY SHIPMATES--TOM TUBBS THE BOATSWAIN--SIGHT A SUSPICIOUS CRAFT--ALTER
OUR COURSE TO AVOID HER--CHASED--A HEAVY SQUALL--A THICK MIST--WE HOPE
TO ESCAPE--THE STRANGER REAPPEARS--NIGHT COMES ON AND WE LOW SIGHT OF
HER--ONCE MORE THE STRANGER IS SEEN IN HOT CHASE--OPENS FIRE--DESPERATE
FIGHT--WE ATTEMPT TO RAKE THE ENEMY--HE FRUSTRATES IT--THE ENEMY HOISTS
THE PIRATE FLAG--BOARDS US--OUR CREW OVERCOME--THE CAPTAIN AND
BOATSWAIN, HARRY AND I, FIGHT DESPERATELY--CAPTAIN TRUNNION APPEARS--
SPARES OUR LIVES--DREADFUL STATE OF THE DECK--TOM, HARRY, AND I TAKEN ON
BOARD THE "VULTURE"--CAPTAIN MAGOR ORDERED TO NAVIGATE THE "ARROW" INTO
THE SHERBRO--THE VESSELS PART COMPANY.
Harry and I soon got our sea-legs, for although when we sailed the
weather was fine, before we were well clear of the Irish Channel it
began to blow fresh, and a heavy sea ran, which tumbled the vessel about
not a little. We both quickly made the acquaintance of the officers and
crew, for we did not consider it beneath our dignity as supercargoes to
talk to our ship mates of lower rank. We were well repaid by the
confidence they bestowed upon us, and the histories of their lives and
adventures which they narrated. Although rough in their ways, they
possessed many of the best qualities in human nature. The mates were,
as I before said, good steady men, fair navigators, who could be trusted
on all occasions, and had been chosen for these qualifications by
Captain Magor, to whom they had long been known. Our chief friend was
Tom Tubbs, the boatswain. Tom would have risen to a higher rank, but he
was destitute of the accomplishments of reading and writing, though
having to some purpose studied the book of nature, he possessed more
useful knowledge than many of his fellow-men. He, like Tom Bowling, was
the darling of the crew; for although he wielded his authority with a
taut hand, he could be lenient when he thought it advisable, and was
ever ready to do a kind action to any of his shipmates. He could always
get them to do anything he wanted; for, instead of swearing at them, he
used endearing expressions, such as "My loves," "My dear boys," "My
charming lads." Thus, "My darlings," he would sing out, "be smart in
handling that fore-topgallantsail," or "Take down two reefs in the
topsails, my cherubs," or when setting studding-sails, he would sing
out, "Haul away, my angels," or again, when shortening sail, "Clew up--
haul down, my lovely dears." He varied his expressions, however,
according to the urgency of the case. If more speed was required, the
more endearing were his words. I won't undertake to say that he did not
sometimes rap out words of a very different signification, but that was
only in extreme cases, when all others seemed to fail, or he had
exhausted his vocabulary; but the men did not mind it a bit, for it only
showed them that they must exert all their strength and activity if the
masts were to be saved or the ship preserved from capsizing, or any
other catastrophe prevented. The men were well aware of the motive
which induced him to use strong expressions. We had two black men, who,
having long served on board merchant vessels, spoke English pretty well.
One of them, called Quambo, acted as steward; the other, Sambo, being
ship's cook, spent a good portion of his time in the caboose, from which
he carried on a conversation on either side with the men who happened to
be congregated there. He, as well as Quambo, had to do duty as a
seaman, and active fellows they were, as good hands as any of the crew.
Sambo, besides his other accomplishments, could play the fiddle, and in
calm weather the merry tones of his instrument would set all the crew
dancing, making even Tom Tubbs shuffle about out of sight of the
officers; for it would have been derogatory, he considered, to have been
seen thus conducting himself in public. We had an Irishman, a
Scotchman, three Finns, and a Portuguese, who was generally known as
"Portinggall." The captain and the rest were Englishmen, two of whom
had seen better days. One had been a schoolmaster and the other a
lawyer's clerk. There was also a runaway from home of gentle birth, but
who had so long mixed with rough characters, that not a trace of the
good manners he once possessed remained by him.
We had got into the latitude of the Cape de Verde islands, and were
looking out for the African coast, the wind being about east, when about
two hours after noon the look-out at the masthead shouted, "A sail in
sight on the larboard bow."
On hearing this, the first mate, with a glass slung over his shoulder,
went aloft to have a look at the stranger. He was sometime there, and
when he returned on deck I thought by his countenance that he did not
like her appearance.
"She's ship rigged, going free, and standing this way, sir," he said to
the captain; "and if we keep on our present course she will be within
hail of us within a couple of hours at furthest. She may be a
man-of-war cruiser, or an enemy's privateer, or an honest trader; but
were she that, I don't see why she should be standing this way, unless
she thinks the wind will shift, and she wishes to get a good offing from
Cape de Verde. Or else she may be one of the picarooning craft which we
have heard of on this coast, although it has never been my ill luck to
fall in with them."
"But it has been mine; and though I had the good fortune to get clear of
the rascal, I never wish to meet with one of her class again; and so, in
case yonder craft should be of that character, or an enemy's privateer,
we shall do well to stand clear of her," said Captain Magor; "and
although we may lose a day or two, that will be better than running the
risk of being captured or sent to the bottom. All hands make sail--up
with the helm--square away the yards. Rig out the studding-sail booms,
Mr Sherwin," he added, addressing the first mate as soon as the ship
was before the wind.
The boatswain sounded his whistle. "Be smart there, my sweet lads," he
cried out. "Haul away, my lovely cherubs, on the starboard
studding-sail halyards. Belay all that, my charmers;" and so he went on
whistling and shouting, until we had studding-sails extended below and
aloft on either side, and both royals set, and were running along at the
rate of some seven or eight knots an hour before a light breeze.
Harry and I on all occasions lent a hand when we thought we could be of
use, and Tom did not fail to bestow his approving remarks upon us. The
first mate now went aloft to ascertain whether the stranger had again
altered her course, or whether she was standing on as before, in which
case we hoped to run her out of sight, when we could again haul on the
wind. He remained some time aloft. When he came down he looked even
grave than before.
"It is as I feared, sir. The fellow has clapped on all sail and is
standing after us. It is a question which has the fastest pair of
heels. If we can keep well ahead until nightfall, we may then alter our
course and get clear of her."
"Perhaps, after all, she is only a British man-of-war, which takes us
for a slaver, or perhaps for an enemy's cruiser; for the `Arrow,' I
flatter myself, doesn't look like an ordinary trader," observed Captain
Magor.
"That may be, sir," answered the mate, "but we are doing the wisest
thing to keep out of her way; and, as you said, it's better to do that
and lose a day or two, than be snapped up by an enemy." The captain
ordered all hands to remain on deck at their stations, ready to shorten
sail at a moment's notice. I saw him frequently look astern, not so
much at the stranger as at the appearance of the clouds.
"Do you think she is coming up with us, Captain Magor?" I asked.
"No doubt about that, though she is carrying less sail than we are. She
has got a stronger breeze, and I am watching lest the wind should come
down on us harder than our sticks can stand."
A few minutes afterwards, as I moved to the fore part of the
quarter-deck, where the boatswain was standing, the captain cried out,
"All hands shorten sail!"
In an instant Tom's whistle was at his mouth, and didn't he stamp and
shout.
"In with the studding-sails, my lovely lads; let fly topgallant sheets,
my sweet angels. Haul down, trice up, my pretty boys." Though what
between the orders issued by the captain and mates, and repeated by him,
with the howling of the wind and the whistling of his shrill pipe, the
rattling and creaking of the blocks, and the fluttering of the sails, it
was difficult for ears unnautical to comprehend the actual words
uttered. All to me seemed hubbub and confusion. The men flew here and
there, some going aloft, while others came tramping along the deck with
the ropes. Even Captain Magor and the mates were pulling and hauling.
Harry and I caught hold of the ropes they gave us, and ran along with
them to gather in the fluttering canvas, which seemed as if it would be
blown to shreds before it could be secured. As it was, a fore-royal was
carried away and a studding-sail boom was snapt off. Before we had time
to stow the lighter canvas the squall came down thick and strong on us.
The order was given to clew up the courses and take a reef in the
topsails. The wind, though coming off the land, quickly beat the ocean
into wild tossing waves, through which the brig dashed forward with
lessened sail, yet still with increased speed. A thick misty
appearance, caused by a fine impalpable sand brought off the land by the
squall, soon hid the stranger from sight. "It's an ill wind that blows
nobody good," observed the mate; "and I hope we shall be in luck, and
get out of the way of that fellow; I don't like his looks, that I
don't."
What Captain Magor thought about the matter he did not say. He kept the
brig away, running as before, which showed that he considered the
stranger was still in pursuit of us. Harry and I looked out for her,
but she was nowhere to be seen.
"Perhaps the squall took her unawares and carried away her masts; if so,
and she is an enemy, we may thank the wind for the service it has
rendered us," observed the first mate.
"There's little chance of that, I fear," said Captain Magor. "When it
clears up again we shall see her all ataunto, or I am much mistaken."
We all continued looking out anxiously over the taffrail, while the brig
ploughed her way through the fast rising seas, which hissed and foamed
around her.
The captain paced the deck, now looking aft, now aloft, waiting for the
moment when he could venture to make sail again. The men stood with
their hands on the halyard, ready to hoist away at the expected order,
for all on board knew the importance of keeping ahead of the stranger
should she be what we suspected. Still the atmosphere remained charged
with dust off the coast, which, as the rays of the sun fell upon it,
assumed a yellowish hue. At any moment, however, it might dissolve, and
already it had sunk lower than when it first came on. Before long we
had evidence that the captain's surmise was correct, for just over the
thick bank astern we caught sight through our glasses of a fine
perpendicular line against the sky, which he asserted were the royal
masts of the stranger, with the royals still furled. If he was right--
and of that there appeared little doubt--she must have gained rapidly on
us. The best we could hope for was that the mist would continue until
nightfall and shroud us from her sight. The setting sun, it should be
understood, cast its light upon her masts, while ours were still in the
shade. We were doomed, however, to disappointment; suddenly the mist
cleared off, and the bright rays of the sun exposed to view the topsails
and courses of our pursuer.
"We may still keep ahead of her, and when night comes on give her the
slip," observed Captain Magor; "if not, we will fight her. The men, I
hope, will stand to their guns, and show that they are British seamen.
It will be a disgrace to knock under to piratical villains, such as I
fear are the crew of yonder craft."
"The men are staunch, I'll answer for that," observed Mr Serwin.
"Tubbs has had a talk with them to try their tempers, and he is as true
a fellow as ever stepped."
"That he is; and if you and I and the second mate should be killed, he
will fight the ship as long as a stick is standing," answered the first
mate, showing his appreciation of the boatswain's character. Harry and
I, as we walked the deck, agreed that we would fight to the last, though
we heartily wished that we might escape the stern necessity. Before
long the captain shouted--
"Shake out the reefs in the fore-topsail, my lads."
The topmen flew aloft and the sail was hoisted. Soon afterwards the
captain gave the order to set the fore-topgallantsail.
"We must get preventer braces on it," he observed to the first mate; "it
won't do to run the risk of carrying away the spar."
The additional ropes were quickly secured by the active crew. As they
stood aft watching the sail, it seemed as if at any moment it would
carry away the mast and spar, as, bulging out with the strong breeze, it
strained and tugged in its efforts to free itself, but the sticks were
tough and the ropes which held them sound, and with increased speed the
brig flew before the gale. Two of the best hands were at the wheel, for
any carelessness in steering might in an instant have produced a serious
disaster. The effects of the additional sail were satisfactory, as the
stranger was no longer gaining on us, as she had hitherto done. Still,
as I felt the violent blows given by the seas, now on one quarter, now
on the other, the brig now pitching into a hollow ahead, now rising
rapidly over another sea, then rolling from side to side, I feared that
the masts must be jerked out of her. Harry and I found it scarcely
possible to walk the deck without being tossed about like shuttlecocks,
so that our only resource was to hold fast to the stanchions, or, when
we wanted to move, to catch hold of the bulwarks. As night approached,
however, the wind began to decrease, and the sea, having no great
distance to run, went down. Whether this was likely to be an advantage
to us or not was now to be proved. As the last rays of the sun ere he
set glanced horizontally across the ocean, they fell on the stranger's
canvas down to the foot of her courses. Still our stout-hearted captain
did not despair.
"We will do what we can to give the fellow the go-by, and may outwit
him, clever as he thinks himself," he said, laughing. "Aloft there, and
set the fore-royal," he shouted; and this being done, the foretopmast
studding-sails were again rigged out, thus exhibiting a broad sheet of
canvas to the eyes of our pursuer, which would probably make him suppose
that we intended to continue our course directly before the wind. The
sun had now sunk, but we could yet distinguish through the fast
gathering gloom the sail astern. Captain Magor now ordered the mainsail
to be hauled out, and the main-topsail and maintop-gallant-sail to be
set. By the time this was done, not even the outlines of the stranger
could be perceived astern.
"Take in studdin'-sails," cried the captain.
These by the united efforts of the crew, wildly fluttering, were hauled
down without a spar being lost. The fore-royal was then furled.
"Starboard the helm," was the next order given. "Haul on the starboard
fore and main braces," he then sang out, and the brig was brought to the
wind on the larboard tack. No sooner did she feel its power, as the
yards were braced sharp up, the tacks hauled down, and the braces and
bowlines sheeted home, than she heeled over to the force of the wind,
which was still considerable, although it did not appear to when we were
running before it. "If the stranger does not discover our change of
course, she will be well away to leeward before morning, and we shall
see no more of her," said Captain Magor, addressing Harry and me. "I
don't want to expose the lives of you young gentlemen to danger, or to
risk the loss of our cargo, I daresay you felt not a little anxious, but
you may turn in and sleep soundly, with the prospect of making the coast
of Africa in another day or two at furthest. We will have some food
first though, for you have been on deck ever since dinner; you'll be
hungry. Quambo!" he shouted, "let's have some supper on table as soon
as possible."
"Him dare 'ready, captain," answered the black steward, "only wait de
young gen'lemen to cut him."
The captain, leaving the deck in charge of the first mate, descended
with us, and did ample justice to the plentiful meal Quambo had spread
on the table. The captain, before going on deck again, advised us to
turn in. We were, however, too anxious to do so, notwithstanding his
assertions that all was likely to go well, and we therefore soon joined
him on deck. We found him looking out over the larboard quarter, the
direction in which the stranger was most likely to be seen. Although we
swept the ocean with our glasses round two-thirds of the horizon, she
was nowhere visible. At length, trusting that the captain really was
right, with our minds tolerably relieved, we went below and turned into
our berths. Still, though I slept, I could not get the thought of the
pirate out of my mind. I dreamed that I was again on deck, and that I
saw our pursuer, like some monster of the deep, her canvas towering high
above our own towards the sky, close to us. Then she poured forth her
broadsides, her shot with a crashing, rending sound passing across our
deck. Still we remained unharmed, and I heard the captain say, "Give it
them again, my lads--give it them again." Our crew sprung to their
guns; but there came another broadside from the enemy which carried away
our masts and spars, pierced our bulwarks, knocking our boats to pieces.
Still Harry and I stood on deck uninjured, and our crew appeared is
undaunted and active as before. I have often heard of people "fighting
their battles o'er again;" but in this instance I fought mine before it
occurred. I was awakened by the stamping sound of the feet of the watch
overhead as they ran along with the halyards; then came the cry, "All
hands on deck." I jumped out of my berth, and found Harry slipping into
his clothes. No one else was in the cabin. We hurried on deck, where
the officers and the watch below with the idlers had assembled. I was
surprised to find the brig once more before the wind and the crew
engaged in making all sail. The captain was standing aft issuing his
orders, while the mates and boatswain were aiding the men in pulling and
hauling. We joined them without asking questions. Some of the crew
were aloft setting the top-gallant-sails and royals. I wondered why
this was done, but there was no time to ask questions. At last, all the
sail the brig could carry was set. I then, having nothing further to
do, went aft and asked the captain the reason of the change of course.
"If you look astern you will see it," he said.
Shading my eyes with my hand, I gazed into the darkness, and there I at
length discovered what the more practised eyes of the captain had long
seen--the shadowy form of the stranger coming up under all sail towards
us.
"You see now why we have kept away," observed the captain. "Before the
wind is our fastest point of sailing, and I wish that we had kept on it
from the first. That fellow out there must have hauled his wind soon
after we lost sight of him."
"Do you think she will come up with us?" I asked.
"There is a great likelihood that she will," answered the captain; "but
a stern chase is a long chase, as every one knows. Perhaps we may fall
in with a man-of-war cruiser, when the tables will be turned; if not, as
I said before, we must fight her."
"With all my heart," I answered; and Harry echoed my words.
The stranger had by this time approached much nearer to us than before,
or we should have been unable to see her. We could thus no longer hope
for an opportunity of escaping by altering our course. "It is my duty
to stand on as long as I can, to give ourselves every chance of meeting
with another craft, which may take a part in the game," observed the
captain. "At all events, it will be daylight before we get within range
of her guns, and you young gentlemen may as well turn in in the meantime
and finish your night's rest."
Neither I nor Harry had any inclination, however, to do this. The dream
I had had still haunted my imagination, and I felt pretty sure that were
I to go to sleep it would come back as vividly as before. Stepping into
the waist, I found Mr Tubbs, the boatswain.
"Well, Tom, what do you think about the matter?" I asked. "Shall we
have a brush with yonder craft which seems so anxious to make our
acquaintance?"
"No doubt about it, Mr Westerton, and more than a brush too, I suspect.
That ship out there is a big fellow, and will prove a tough customer.
We shall have to show the stuff we are made of, and fight hard to beat
him off. I don't say but that we shall do it, but it will cost us
dearly; for his people, we may be sure, know how to handle their guns;
and from the height of his canvas I should say that he was twice our
size, and probably carries double as many guns as we do, and musters
three or four times more men."
"Then I'm afraid that we shall have but a poor chance of beating him
off," I observed.
"There are always chances in war, and one of them may be in our favour;
so it is our business to fight hard to the end. A happy shot may knock
away his masts and render him helpless, or enter his magazine and blow
him up; or we may send half a dozen of our pills between wind and water,
and compel him to keep all hands at the pumps, so that he will have no
time to look after us."
"But the same may happen to us," observed Harry.
"Granted; those belong to the chances of war," answered Tom. "I was
only speaking of those in our favour. We must not think of the others;
if the worst comes to the worst, we can but go to the bottom with our
colours flying, as many pretty men have had to do before."
On the whole, Tom's remarks did not greatly increase our spirits. Harry
and I walked aft together.
"One of us may fall, Dick," said Harry to me in a grave tone. "If I do,
you will carry my last fond love to my mother and sister and poor Lucy,
and say that my last thoughts were about them."
"That I will," I answered. "And should I fall and you escape, you will
see my parents, and tell your mother and sister Mary how to the last
moment of my life I thought of them--how grateful I am for all their
kindness to me."
The expressions we exchanged were but natural to young men who were
about to engage for the first time in their lives in a desperate
battle--for desperate we knew it must be, even should we come off
victorious, if the stranger astern was, as we supposed, a pirate. We
paced the deck together. The suspense we were doomed to undergo was
more trying than when we were engaged in making or shortening sail, and
the gale was blowing and the vessel tumbling about. Now we were gliding
calmly on, with nothing to do except occasionally to take a look astern
at our expected enemy. I began to long for daylight, and wished even to
see the stranger come up within shot, so that we might ascertain to a
certainty her true character. At length a ruddy glow appeared beyond
her in the east, gradually increasing in depth and brightness until the
whole sky was suffused with an orange tint, and the sun, like a vast
ball of fire, rose rapidly above the horizon, forming a glowing
background to the sails of our pursuer, who came gliding along over the
shining ocean towards us. Already she was almost within range of our
long gun, which the captain now ordered to be trained aft through one of
the stern-ports. The gun was loaded and run out. "Shall I fire, sir?"
asked Tom Tubbs, who acted as gunner as well as boatswain, running his
eye along the piece.
"Not until we can see her flag," answered the captain; "she may, after
all, be a man-of-war. If we fire she may take us for a pirate, and we
should get small credit for our bravery. We shall see her colours
presently if she yaws to fire at us. Wait until I give the word."
In the meantime the magazine had been opened and powder and shot brought
up on deck; the guns were loaded and run out, the arm-chest was also got
up, and Harry and I, as did all on board, girded hangers to our sides
and thrust pistols into our belts.
The captain shortly afterwards issued the order for all hands to be
ready to shorten sail as soon as no chance remained of escaping without
fighting. Even now there was a hope that we might get away, or that the
stranger might after all prove a friend instead of a foe; every rope was
therefore kept belayed. "Long Tom," as the boatswain called his gun,
was run out, it should be understood, under the poop on which Harry and
I stood. The captain had taken his post near the mizen rigging, so that
he could see all parts alike, and his voice could be heard by Tom and
the crew of the gun below him.
The mates were at their stations ready to shorten sail. I had my
spyglass turned towards our pursuer, endeavouring to get a glimpse of
her flag should she have hoisted one, which she very certainly would
have done were she a King's ship. As I watched her, I could see that
she was gaining upon us. Objects which at first appeared indistinct
were now clearly visible. I could make out the men on the forecastle,
but I saw no gun there with which she could return the compliment our
"Long Tom" was about to pay her. So far this was satisfactory.
"Were she a King's ship she would have fired a gun without altering her
course, as a signal for us to heave to," observed the captain.
Scarcely had he spoken than the stranger yawed--a gun was fired, and a
shot came towards us, striking the water and sinking close under our
counter. At the same moment, raising my glass, I caught sight of the
British ensign flying from the end of the peak.
"Hurrah!" I exclaimed; "she's a King's ship, and we are all right."
"We must not be too sure of that," observed Harry; "pirates can hoist
false colours. We want better proof of her honesty before we heave to.
Had she been well disposed, she would not have sent that iron messenger
after us."
For some time longer the "Arrow" stood on her course, while the
stranger, keeping directly astern, did not alter hers. I expected every
moment to hear our captain give the word to fire, but he refrained from
doing so. Suspicious as was the behaviour of our pursuer, still I
thought it possible that, after all, she might be a King's ship, and had
shown her proper colours. Presently, however, she yawed, her
studding-sails fluttering as she did so, being almost taken back. Two
spouts of flame, followed quickly by a couple of round shot, issued from
her bow-ports. That the shot were fired with evil intent was evident,
for one struck our larboard quarter close below where I was standing,
and knocked away the carved work, while the other, flying high, passed
close above our heads, and fell into the water not a dozen fathoms from
the ship. Before her helm could again be put up, Captain Magor shouted,
"Give it them, Tubbs," and our "Long Tom," with a loud roar, sending
forth a spout of flame, pitched a shot right through the fore part of
her bulwarks, and I could see the splinters fly as it struck them.
"Load and fire away as fast as you can," cried the captain; "if that's a
King's ship, she fired first, and must take the consequences."
I should have felt more satisfied had I been convinced that the captain
was right, but still I could not help fancying that she was a royal
cruiser, and that we might be committing a terrible mistake. Shot after
shot was now aimed at our pursuer. Tom Tubbs and his men hauling in and
loading the gun with a rapidity which only well-trained hands could have
done. Few of our shots--as far as I could judge--appeared to be so
successfully aimed as the first had been. Still I heard Captain Magor
shouting out, "Well done, my lads; never saw a gun better served. Wing
her if you can; knock away her foremast, and twenty golden guineas shall
be yours."
The stranger all this time did not return our fire, for she could not
bring her foremost guns to bear without yawing, and by doing so she
would have lost ground. She was still gaining on us, and I observed at
length that she had slightly altered her course, so as to be creeping up
on our starboard quarter, though so slightly, that at first the
alteration was not perceived. Captain Magor took two or three short
turns on the poop, then suddenly stopping, he shouted, "In with the
studding-sails, send down the royals," and presently afterwards, when
this was done, "Furl top-gallant-sails." He had evidently made up his
mind that escape was impossible, and was determined to fight the
stranger should she prove an enemy. Active as were our crew, some
minutes passed before sail was shortened, by which time the stranger had
crept up on our quarter. She had hitherto kept all her canvas standing.
We were still running before the wind. I saw the captain give a steady
look at her.
"I know her now. She is the `Vulture,' and we can expect no mercy if we
are taken," he exclaimed, turning to Harry and me, his countenance
exhibiting the anxiety he felt in the discovery, although the next
moment he spoke in the same firm tone as usual. "The men stationed at
the starboard guns be ready to fire," he cried out. "Brace the yards to
larboard."
Before, however, the words were out of his mouth, the stranger's crew
were seen swarming aloft. The yards and tops were covered with men, and
with a rapidity far excelling anything we were capable of, the
studding-sails were taken in, the royals and top-gallant-sails furled,
and just as our helm was put down, and we were about to luff across her
bow, she luffed up and let fly a broadside of ten guns in return for our
three. At the same moment, as I looked aft, expecting still to see the
ensign of Old England flying from her peak, I beheld a black piratical
flag with the death's head and cross-bones, which had evidently been
hoisted to strike terror into the hearts of our crew. At that instant I
heard the same crashing, rending sounds which had disturbed my slumbers,
as the shot tore their way through our bulwarks, some striking the
masts, others cutting away the shrouds and knocking a boat to pieces. I
saw one man fall at the after-guns, while two more were binding
handkerchiefs round their arms, showing that they had been struck either
by shot or splinters. Having missed the opportunity of raking the
enemy, we were now placed in a disadvantageous position to leeward.
Still Captain Magor was not the man to give in. He ordered "Long Tom"
to be dragged from its present position, and run through the foremost
port.
"If the enemy have more guns than we have, we must make amends by firing
ours twice as fast as she does," he cried out in a cheerful tone.
"Cheer up, my lads. Toss the pieces in, and give the villains more than
they bargain for."
Harry and I hastened to one of the guns, at which three of the crew had
already been killed or disabled, and we exerted ourselves to the utmost.
I confess that I have a somewhat confused idea of what now occurred. I
was thinking only of how I could best help in loading and running out
the gun at which I had stationed myself. All my thoughts and energies
were concentrated on that; but I remember hearing the cries and groans
of my shipmates as they were shot down, the tearing and crashing of the
shot as they struck our devoted craft, the blocks falling from aloft,
the shouts of the officers, and the occasional cheers of the men, and
seeing the ropes hanging in festoons, the sails in tatters, wreck and
confusion around us, with wreaths of smoke. Then I remember observing
the pirate ship, which had approached us closer and closer, come with a
louder crash than any previous sounds alongside. Grapplings were thrown
on to our bulwarks, then a score or more of ruffianly looking fellows
with hangers flashing leapt down on our decks. We fired our pistols and
drew our own blades, and for a few minutes fought with desperation; then
Harry and I, with Tom Tubbs and the captain, were borne back towards the
poop, where, as we stood for a few seconds, keeping our enemies at bay,
we saw that, overwhelmed by numbers, all hope of successful resistance
was vain. Captain Magor shouted to us to sell our lives dearly, but
just then I heard a voice exclaim, "Drop your weapons and you shall have
your lives, for you have fought like brave fellows." Gazing at the
speaker, whom I had not before recognised among the boarders, I beheld
one whose countenance I knew. Yes! I had no doubt about the matter, he
was Captain Roderick Trunnion. At his heels followed a huge mastiff,
who growled fiercely as his master was addressing us. Whether or not
Captain Roderick recognised Harry or me, we neither of us could tell.
"We had better make a virtue of necessity," said the captain, dropping
his sword; and I with the rest of the party did the same, for we could
not suppose that our captors intended afterwards to slaughter us. One
of the officers of the pirate, stepping up, took our weapons, which we
handed to him; and as our assailants now separated, apparently to
plunder the vessel, the fearful condition of our deck was exposed to
view. In every direction were our poor fellows dead or wounded,
including the two mates, one of whom had his head knocked off, while the
other was cut almost in two by a round shot. Planks were torn up where
the shot had ploughed their way along them; blocks, entangled ropes,
shattered spars, fragments of the bulwarks and boats, and pieces of
sails, were scattered about amid large splashes of blood. The pirates,
now masters of the vessel, began at once to heave the dead overboard,
several still breathing, who might have recovered, being treated in the
same way. Every moment I expected that the miscreants would compel us
to walk the plank, but for a wonder they appeared satisfied with their
victory.
Captain Trunnion did not appear to recognise us, though he fixed his
eyes on Captain Magor in a very ominous way.
"I know you," he said, approaching him; "you once did me a good turn by
picking me out of the water. I should probably otherwise have served
for a dinner to a hungry shark close at my heels; but you
counterbalanced that by the scurvy trick you endeavoured to play me at
Liverpool. However, as no harm was done, except that my brother was not
quite so affectionate as he might have been, I'll overlook that, and I
tell you I don't wish to have your blood or that of any other man on my
hands. Now, listen to me, and if you are a sensible person, you will
accept my offer and save your life. I happen to have no one on board
whom I can spare capable of navigating the vessel. I intend to put a
prize-crew on board this craft, and leave you some of your own men, and
if you take her and them safe into the Sherbro River, you shall have
your liberty and go wherever you like after the vessel has sailed. I
must send a man on board to act as mate who will stand no nonsense. If
you prove true, he'll be civil; but if not, you may expect to have your
brains blown out at a moment's notice. You understand me?"
I watched Captain Magor's countenance, to judge whether he would accept
the offer or not I hoped that he would do so, and that we should be
allowed to accompany him. He placed his hand on his brow as he paced
several times up and down the deck. "I accept your offer," he said at
length. He did not I remarked, address Captain Roderick by his proper
name. "You will, I hope, allow my two passengers to accompany me, and
the boatswain, who, although not a navigator, is a first-rate seaman,
and will be of great assistance to me."
"No, no, my friend. I intend these two young gentlemen, who, by the way
they fought, have shown themselves to be fine spirited fellows, to
accompany me; and the character you give of the boatswain makes me wish
to have him on board my craft, where, to tell you the truth, I have not
got too many able seamen. You may consider yourself very fortunate at
being allowed the privilege I offer you, so say no more about the
matter."
These remarks destroyed the hopes Harry and I had entertained that we
might get free of the pirate and ere long obtain our liberty. Poor
Tubbs looked very much cast down. Knowing him well, I was sure he was
not a man who would join with the pirates, although Captain Roderick
might employ every means to win him over. We were not long left in
suspense as to our fate.
"Now, my lads," exclaimed the pirate captain, addressing Harry and me,
"make your way on board my ship, and you follow them," he added turning
to Tubbs.
We had just time to shake hands with Captain Magor, whose countenance
showed the sorrow and anxiety he felt, when, at a sign from Captain
Roderick, several of his men seized us by the shoulders, and hurried us
on board the "Vulture." Tubbs then, giving an involuntary shrug of his
shoulders, as if resigned to his fate, followed us; the savage growls of
the dog making us dread that he would seize one of us by the leg, and so
I have no doubt that he would have done at a sign from his master. The
deck of the pirate presented much the same scene as did that of the
"Arrow." Our shot had done no little damage to the hull and rigging,
while several of her crew were dead or dying. Their shipmates were in
the act of heaving the bodies overboard, although they did not treat
those who were still breathing as they did our poor fellows. A few of
them, more compassionate than the rest, were endeavouring to staunch the
blood flowing from the limbs and sides of the wounded men. Harry,
Tubbs, and I, finding that no one interfered with us, knelt down beside
three of the men who were unable to move on the after part of the deck.
The wretched beings were crying out for help and mercy. Two of them
were evidently suffering fearfully from thirst. "I'll get some water;
it will do them good," said Tubbs, and making his way to a water-cask
which stood on deck, from which he filled a tin mug, he brought it back
to the men. They all drank eagerly, one of them, however, in the very
act, fell back and expired. The others cast a look at their shipmate.
Such might be their fate. "Take him away," groaned one of them. "I
cannot help casting my eyes on him, and he is terrible to look upon."
In truth, the man's countenance, distorted with pain, bore a horrible
expression. We dragged the body forward, that his shipmates might
dispose of it as they thought fit. We were so eagerly engaged in
attending to the wounded men, that we did not observe that the vessels
had been cast loose from each other, and that Captain Roderick had
returned on board. We were aroused by hearing his voice issuing orders
to his crew to make sail. We cast a look over the bulwarks, where we
saw the "Arrow," from which we were greatly increasing our distance, her
people busily employed in repairing damages, knotting and splicing the
running rigging, getting fresh yards across, and bending new sails. The
work was still going on when the "Vulture," having made sail and
steering to the south-east, ran her out of sight.