The boat was, as you may suppose, quickly ready. The order was given to
shove off, and away we pulled, with hearty strokes, in the direction of
the lugger. The fog for some time favoured our approach towards the
spot where we guessed she was to be found, for we could no more see her
than the people on board could us. Never, when roasting in the tropics
under a burning sun, have I wished more earnestly for a breeze than we
now did that the calm would continue till we could get alongside the
long-looked-for craft. Not a word was spoken above a whisper, though we
knew that the splash of our oars in the water would soon betray our
approach to the sharpened ears of the smugglers, even before they could
see us. We redoubled, therefore, our efforts to get alongside, when a
light air coming off the land much thinned the intervening mist, showing
us the _Polly_, with her largest canvas spread to catch the breeze, and
now, as she loomed through the fog, appearing twice her real size, while
her people clearly made us out. In a moment her sails were trimmed, her
long sweeps were run out, and she was moving through the water, though
not near so fast as we were pulling.
"Give way, my boys, give way," shouted our skipper, all necessity for
silence being now removed. "Give way, and the lugger is ours."
With a hearty cheer the men bent to their oars and sent the boat flying
through the calm blue water, casting aside the light sparkling foam
which bubbled and hissed round her bows, as the story books about
seagoing affairs say, such as you youngsters are so fond of reading.
Well, the breeze freshened, however, before long, and we found that,
though still decreasing our distance from the lugger, we were not
gaining on her as fast as when she first made us out. We had, however,
got within about a quarter of a mile of her, when we saw a man jump on
the taffrail, and wave his hat at us as if in derision. Even at that
distance, some of our people declared they recognised him as Jan
Johnson, whom all of us knew well enough by sight. The next instant a
skiff was launched from her decks, into which he jumped, and pulled as
hard as he could towards the shore, to which he was already nearer than
we were to him.
Here was a dilemma for our skipper. If we followed the outlaw, his
lugger would very likely get away; and if we made chase after her, he
would certainly escape, and she, probably, even if we came up with her,
would not be condemned. The thought of the murdered man decided our
commander, and in a moment the boat's head was turned towards the shore
in chase of the skiff. Away we went, as fast as six ash oars in stout
hands could send us through the water, while Johnson, still undaunted,
continued his course; yet, in spite of his audacity, he well knew that
it was with him a matter of life and death. It was indeed astonishing,
when putting forth all his vast strength, how fast he sent along his
light skiff; indeed, we gained but slightly on him in our six-oared
galley, and we soon saw that he would reach the shore before we could
overtake him.
"Give way, my lads, give way," shouted our skipper, though the men were
straining every nerve to the utmost. "Give way, and we shall soon be up
with him."
Talk of the excitement of a stag-hunt! it is tame in comparison with the
interest men take in the chase of a fellow-creature. There is something
of the nature of the bloodhound, I suspect, in our composition which
delights in the pursuit of such noble game. A few minutes more decided
the point, a cry of vexation escaping us as his boat touched the shore,
and, coolly drawing her up on the strand, he was seen to make towards
the woods.
"Shall I bring him down, sir?" asked the seaman who sat in the
sternsheets with a musket, marine fashion, between his knees.
"No, no," was the answer. "We must take the fellow alive; he cannot
escape us, if we put our best feet foremost."
Just as our boat's keel grated on the sand, Johnson disappeared among
the rocks and trees, and we could hear a shout of derisive laughter
ringing through the wood.
"After him, my boys, after him," shouted our skipper, as we all leaped
on shore. "A five-pound note to the man who first gets hold of him."
And, except a youth who was left in charge of the boat, away we all
went, helter-skelter, in the direction the outlaw had taken. He made,
it appeared, straight inland, for we could hear his shouts ahead of us
as we rushed on, hallooing to each other from among the trees. Not one
of the party seemed inclined to get before the other--not so much that
one was unwilling to deprive the other of the promised reward, but I
suspect that no one was anxious to encounter Johnson singlehanded, well
armed as of course he was, and desperate as we knew him to be. Our
commander, being a stout man and short-winded, was soon left far behind,
though, as he hurried on, puffing and blowing with the exertion he was
using, his voice, as long as we could hear him, encouraged us in the
pursuit. We had thus made good half a mile or more, when coming
suddenly to the confines of the wood, or copse it might rather be
called, a wide extent of open ground appeared before us, but not a trace
of the fugitive could be perceived. Some of the foremost ran on to a
spot of high ground near at hand, whence they could see in every
direction, but not a figure was moving in the landscape. In the
meantime our skipper came up, and ordered us to turn back and beat about
the wood.
We had been thus fruitlessly engaged for some time, when we were
recalled to the shore by a shout from one of our people, and, hastening
down to the beach, we beheld, to our dismay, our own boat floating some
way out in the bay, while Johnson, in his skiff, was pulling towards his
lugger, now creeping alongshore out of the reach of the cutter, which
still lay becalmed in the offing. What was most extraordinary, the lad
who had been left in charge of the boat was nowhere to be seen, and, as
far as we could make out, he was neither in her nor in Johnson's skiff.
You may just picture to yourself our rage and disappointment; indeed, I
thought, what from his exertions and excitement, our commander would
have been beside himself with vexation. After we had stood for a
moment, looking with blank astonishment at each other, he ordered us, in
a sharp voice, some to run one way, some another, along the shore, in
search of a boat by which we might get on board our galley, for she was
too far off for anyone to attempt to swim to her. At last, some way on,
we discovered, hauled up on the beach, a heavy fishing-boat, which with
some work we managed to launch, and, by means of the bottom boards and a
few pieces of plank we found in her, to paddle towards our gig. In our
course, we picked up two of our oars which had been thrown overboard,
and we were thus able to reach her sooner than we could otherwise have
done. What could have become of our young shipmate? we asked each
other; but not a conjecture could be offered. Johnson could not have
carried him off; he would not have ventured to have injured him, and the
lad was not likely to have deserted his post. At last we got alongside
the gig, and on looking into her we saw Jim Bolton, our young shipmate,
stretched along the thwarts, to which he was lashed. At first we
thought he was dead; but a second glance showed us that a gag, made out
of a thole-pin and a lump of oakum, had been put into his mouth. On
being released it was some time before he could speak. He then told us
that he was sitting quietly in the boat, when suddenly a man sprang on
him with a force which knocked him over, and before he could collect his
senses he found himself lashed to the thwarts with a lump in his mouth
which prevented him crying out, and the boat moving away from the shore,
and that was all he knew about the matter.
As Jim Bolton was very much hurt, we placed him in the fishing-boat with
a midshipman who volunteered to look after him, and anchored her to
await our return, while we with hearty goodwill pulled away in full
chase of the smuggler. By this time, however, a fresh breeze had come
off the land, which filled the sails of the lugger just as Johnson
sprang from his boat upon her deck, and before a breath of air had
reached the cutter he had run her far out of sight, winding his way
among those reefs yonder. Seeing there was no chance of overtaking him
in the gig, we pulled on board, and as soon as the uncertain air put the
vessel through the water, we made chase in the direction we calculated
the _Polly_ would take. For some time we cruised up and down over the
ground where we thought we might fall in with her, but could see nothing
of her, and we then returned to take out the midshipman and Jim, and to
restore the boat to the fisherman.
We, with several other cruisers, were employed for some weeks in looking
out for Johnson, but neither he nor the _Polly_ was ever again heard of
on this coast.
Ten years passed away, and I belonged to a brig in the West Indies, that
clime of yellow fevers and sugar-canes. In those days the slave-trade
flourished, for, as we had not become philanthropists, we did not
interfere with those whose consciences did not prevent them from
bartering for gold their own souls and the blood of their
fellow-creatures. There was, however, a particular craft we were
ordered to look after which had made herself amenable to the laws,
having gone somewhat out of the usual line of trade, by committing
several very atrocious acts of piracy. She was commanded, it was said,
by an Englishman, a villain of no ordinary cast, who never intentionally
left alive any of those he plundered to tell the tale of their wrongs.
He sailed his vessel, a schooner carrying twelve guns, under Spanish
colours, though of course he hoisted, on occasion, those of any other
nation to suit his purpose. We all knew both him and his schooner, for
before her real character was suspected, we had for some days laid
alongside her at the Havanna, and were in consequence selected by the
admiral to look out for her. We had been so employed for several weeks,
when, one day towards noon, we made out a sail to the southward, towards
which we ran down with a light northerly wind. As we neared her, which
we rapidly did, we saw that she was a lofty ship--a merchantman
evidently--and that she was not only not moving through the waters, but
that her braces were loose, and her yards swinging about in every
direction. Not a soul was looking over her bulwarks when we came within
hail, but the men in the tops sang out that they could see several
people lying about the decks either asleep or dead. We ran almost
alongside, when I was ordered to board her with one of the gigs. Never
shall I forget the scene which met my sight as I stepped on her decks;
they were a complete shambles: a dozen or more men lay about in the
after part of the ship, the blood yet oozing from deep gashes on their
heads and shoulders, not one of them alive; while on the steps of the
companion-ladder were two women, young and fair they appeared to have
been, clasped in each other's arms, and both dead.
On descending below, we discovered an old lady and a venerable, old
gentleman on the deck of the state cabin with the marks of pistol
bullets in their foreheads, while at the door of an inner cabin lay a
black servant with his head completely twisted round.
I will not mention all the sights of horror we encountered; the
murderers seemed to have exerted their ingenuity in disfiguring their
victims. There were several other dead people below, and at last,
searching round the ship, we found stowed away in the forehold a seaman,
who, though desperately wounded, still breathed. When brought on deck
and a few drops of spirits were poured down his throat, he after some
time came to himself, then told us that they had in the morning been
attacked by a pirate, who, after they had made a desperate resistance,
had carried them by boarding, when every soul in the ship was cut down
or thrown into the sea except himself; that he, having fallen down the
hatchway just before the pirates rushed on board, had stowed himself
away amongst the cargo, and there after some time had fainted from loss
of blood. While he lay there, he could hear the shrieks of his
shipmates and the shouts and execrations of their butchers, he
expecting, every instant, to share the fate of the rest. At last all
was silent, the pirates made an ineffectual attempt to scuttle the ship,
but were hurried off, probably, by seeing a sail which they mistook for
us, or for some other cruiser.
Scarcely had the unfortunate fellow given this account, when the man at
the mast-head of the brig hailed that there was a sail on the lee bow,
and we were ordered forthwith to return on board. We all hoped that
this might prove the pirate, for we were anxious to punish the
miscreants. Taking, therefore, the wounded man with us--for being,
thanks to the yellow fever, already short of hands, we were compelled to
abandon the ship--we made sail in chase. For some time we carried a
fresh breeze with us, while the stranger, which we soon made out to be a
large topsail schooner, lay almost becalmed; but before we got her
within range of our guns the wind also filled her sails, and away she
went before it with every stitch of canvas they could pack on her. We
also used every means of increasing our rate of sailing; but though our
brig was reckoned a remarkably fast vessel, we found that, since we had
both the same breeze, we had not in any way decreased our distance from
her.
It was, however, a satisfaction to find that she did not outsail us
before the wind, though there was every probability that, should she
haul her wind, she would be able to do so; we therefore kept directly in
her wake, to be ready to run down on her, on whichever tack she might
haul up. At last, as the breeze freshened, we gained somewhat on her,
when she hoisted Spanish colours: she had hitherto shown none, but this
did not prevent us from trying the range of our bow-chasers on her, to
bring her to. Several guns were fired without effect; at last a shot
struck her main boom and severely wounded it. I never saw a better aim.
After this, finding we lost ground by firing, we did not for another
hour throw a single shot, nor had the schooner as yet returned our
compliment, though she showed no inclination to heave to.
Away we bowled along before the breeze, throwing aside the now
white-crested waves from our bows as we tore through the water. Every
brace was stretched to the utmost, our spars bent and cracked, but not a
sheet was slackened, though our captain kept his glance anxiously aloft
to see how long he might let them bear the pressure. Again we
overhauled her, and got her within range of our long guns, when a shot,
directed more by chance, as the sea was running high, or, it might be
said, a just Providence weary of the miscreants, than by skill, killed
the man at the wheel, and lodged in the mainmast. Before another man
could run to the helm the vessel yawed to port; the boom, already
wounded, jibbed over and parted amidships, rendering the huge mainsail
of no use, and creating much confusion on board. There was now no fear
of her being able to haul her wind for some time, and coming up, hand
over hand, with her, we ranged alongside.
If we had before any doubts of her real character, we had now none, for
the Spanish ensign being hauled down, a black flag was hoisted at each
mast-head, and the accursed pirate was confessed. The outlaws,
doubtless knowing that victory or death alone awaited them, showed their
dark symbols in the hopes of intimidating our men, and made up their
minds to fight it out to the last. At the same moment they let fly
their whole broadside, which, though it did some damage, served to warm
up the blood of our people, and made them return it with a hearty good
will.
For half an hour or more, as we ran on, we thus continued exchanging
broadsides, considerably thinning their crowded decks; but as some of
our spars were wounded, our captain, fearing lest any being carried
away, the enemy might escape, determined without delay to lay him on
board, and to try the mettle of true men against their ruffian crew of
desperadoes.
After receiving her broadside and pouring in ours, we put our helm to
port, for she was, you must know, on our starboard side, when, running
our bow anchor into her fore chains, our grappling irons were thrown,
and we had her fast. With a loud cheer, our boarders sprang to the
forecastle, and on to the rigging of the enemy.
Never shall I forget, if I was to live as long again as I have done,
which is not very likely, the set of ferocious countenances which met
our sight as we rushed on board. It was fearful work we were about, but
our blood was up, and there was no quarter asked or given on either
side. We did not stop to think. The pirates knew that there was no
pardon for them, and seemed determined to sell their lives dearly. Our
onset was too furious to be withstood, and in a minute we had cleared a
small space on the schooner's decks abaft the foremast, but beyond that
every foot was desperately disputed.
We had gained some ground forward, when, from the after part of the
vessel, a determined band, led by the captain, pressed us hard. Twice
we were driven back almost to our own ship, many of our men losing the
number of their mess, but, finally, determined courage got the better of
desperation. Inch by inch we drove the pirates aft--the chief of them,
to do him justice, keeping always in the front rank, and I believe he
killed, with his own hand, more of our people than did all his crew
together, though he himself did not receive a scratch. During all this
time the marines kept up a hot fire, pikes and pistols were used through
the ports, and such guns as could be brought to bear were fired from
each of the ships. I have seen plenty of hard fighting, and let me tell
you, my boys, though it is very fine reading about, it is very dreadful
in reality; yet never in my life have I gone through hotter work, on a
small scale, than I did that day--the vessels, too, all the time rolling
and pitching tremendously, and tearing away each other's rigging;
indeed, it is surprising we did not both founder on the spot.
Well, we at last managed to clear the fore part of the schooner, by
cutting down some and driving others of the pirates overboard, but fifty
fellows still held the after part of the deck, uttering fearful oaths
and execrations--they continued fighting on--when the deck lifted;
fearful shrieks arose, a loud, dull sound was heard, and many of the
pirates were hurled into the air, their mangled remains falling among
us. For an instant every hand seemed paralysed, and we looked round to
see what would happen next; but the explosion had been only partial, and
during the confusion the remainder of the band making a rush forward, we
again set to at the bloody work, and drove them back. A second attempt
to fire the magazine was made, and failed. We were, by this time,
secure of victory, though the remnant of the pirates refused to yield.
Their captain, whom I have spoken of, I now saw leap into the main
rigging, when, waving his bloody sword above his head, he hurled it with
the fiercest imprecations among us, severely wounding one of our people,
and then, with a look of despair not to be forgotten, he plunged into
the raging ocean, where a troop of sharks were ready to devour him. At
that moment it struck me that I had seen his features in times long
passed, and I found afterwards I was right.
When their leader was lost, the rest of the pirates submitted, and we
had barely time to remove them, and to cut ourselves clear of the
schooner, when, with the dying and dead on board, she went down; and on
the spot where she had been, the hungry sharks were seen tearing their
bodies in pieces, while the sea was tinged around with a ruddy hue. We
afterwards fell in with the ship the pirates had attacked, for which we
got a good round sum as salvage money, besides other substantial marks
of the gratitude of the merchants in the West Indies, for having
destroyed one of the greatest pests their trade had for a long time
known.
The pirates were hung at Port Royal, in Jamaica, and the evening before
their execution, one of them, for reasons I will some day tell you,
desired to see me. I visited him in his cell, and from him I learned
that the chief of their band, whose dreadful death I had witnessed, the
man who had led them into crime and ruin, was, as I suspected, Jan
Johnson, the smuggler.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
The next morning Mr Clare and Captain Mugford went over to ---, where
they found Commander Treenail, to whom they gave all the information
they possessed about the smugglers' cave. He heard this account with
surprise, for he did not suppose it possible that any spot of ground had
remained in that neighbourhood unvisited by his people. However, he was
a man of action; and immediately that he comprehended the facts of the
case, he signalled from his residence to a cutter which lay off in the
bay to get under way, and to wait for him to come on board. "You will
accompany me, gentlemen," he said to our tutors; "and as soon as we can
get the lads on board who discovered the cave to show us its entrance,
we will lose no time in routing out these smuggling vagabonds."
The old lieutenant commanding the cutter was waiting with his gig for
Captain Treenail at the quay, and they, with our tutors, were quickly on
board the _Scout_.
How proud Harry and I felt when the _Scout's_ gig pulled up to the
wreck, and we were summoned to show the way to the smugglers' cave. We
jumped with alacrity into the gig, feeling as if we had the whole weight
and responsibility on our shoulders of leading some important
expedition. Captain Treenail received us very kindly, and
cross-questioned us minutely as to the whereabouts of the cave and the
various articles we had found within it. The cutter, when rounding the
cape, had kept some distance from the little bay near which the cave
lay, so that, even had smugglers been on the watch near it, they would
probably not have been alarmed; the captain had hopes, therefore, that
not only their goods but they themselves would be taken. To make the
matter more sure, it was arranged that one party, led by Walter, who
knew the cape as if he had been born on it, should go by land,
accompanied by Mr Clare; while our salt tutor, with the rest of us, was
to go in the cutter. Five seamen, with a petty officer, formed the land
party, all well armed. They were to proceed cautiously across the
downs, watching the movements of the cutter, and keeping themselves as
much as possible under cover, so as not to be seen by any smugglers who
might be on the lookout. As soon as the boat which took them on shore
returned, the cutter's foresail was let draw, and with a fresh breeze
she stood out of our cove. Our hearts beat quick as we glided rapidly
on towards the scene of our proposed exploit. We might possibly soon be
engaged in a scene of real fighting. There might be ten or perhaps even
fifty smugglers concealed in the cave, with large stores of silks, and
tobacco, and spirits; and if so, it was not likely that they would give
in without striking some hard blows for their liberty. The breeze
freshened, and our speed increased, though, as the wind was off the
land, the water was smooth. Every inch of canvas the cutter could carry
was clapped on her, that we might have the better chance of taking the
smugglers by surprise. She heeled over to the breeze till her lee
gunwale was under water, while we stood holding on to the weather
rigging, and looking out for the entrance to the little cove. We neared
it at last. Our hearts beat quicker than ever as we luffed up round a
point which formed one of the sides of the little cove. Sail was
rapidly shortened, the foresail hauled down, the jib-sheet let fly, and
in half a minute we were at anchor. The next instant the crew, already
fully armed and prepared, flew to the falls, and two boats were lowered,
into which they and we, with Captain Treenail, the commander, and one of
the mates of the cutter, and our own salt tutor, immediately jumped.
Literally, before a minute had elapsed, two boats were pulling as fast
as boats could pull for the shore. Harry and I now felt ourselves of
more consequence than we had ever been in our lives before. We were
expected to show the way to the cavern, and therefore, as soon as the
boats touched the shore, we leaped out, and, pointing to the spot where
the mouth of the cavern was to be found, ran towards it along the beach
at full speed, followed by the officers and men, who might have had
better sea legs, but certainly had not such good shore legs as we
possessed. We were some little way ahead of the rest, and our object
must have been very evident to any persons acquainted with the existence
of the cavern. Just then the report of a firearm was heard, and a
bullet whistled by us close to our ears. It did not stop us though, but
made us dart on still more rapidly; and as we did so we saw a man
climbing up the cliff above the cavern. Had any of the men with muskets
been with us, they might have shot him. He turned round for an instant,
and shook his fist at us; but before our companions came up he had
disappeared. It took some time before the seamen who volunteered to go
managed to climb up the slippery rock to the mouth of the cavern. When
once two or three had gained a footing, they let down ropes, by which
the rest easily got up. The forlorn hope, as the first party might be
called, then dashed into the cavern, expecting, perhaps, to meet with a
hot fire of musketry. Not a sound, however, was heard; no one appeared;
on they boldly went. The smugglers might have had still more deadly
intentions, and, it was possible, had prepared a mine to blow up anyone
venturing into their cave. They were capable, according to our salt
tutor's notion, of any atrocity. Still the forlorn hope went on without
meeting with any impediment. More seamen entered, led by Captain
Treenail, and others followed, till we were all inside; and torches
being lit, the cavern was thoroughly examined. Not a human being was
discovered, but the cave contained a far larger amount of bales of
silks, and ribbons, and tobacco, and kegs of spirits, than we had
supposed. It was, indeed, a far larger seizure than the coast guard on
that station had ever before made. They were proportionably delighted,
though they would have liked still more to have caught a dozen or two of
smugglers, though not quite so valuable a prize as they would have been
during the height of the war, when they would have been sent off to man
our ships, and to fight the naval battles of old England.
When we found that no one was inside we told Captain Treenail of the man
we had seen climbing up the cliff. He instantly ordered some of the
most active young men of the cutter's crew to go in chase; but after
hunting about for some time, they could find no possible way of getting
up, and therefore had to abandon the attempt. The next thing was to
convey the captured goods to the cutter. This occupied some time, as
there were literally several boatloads of goods, to the value, I fancy,
of a couple of thousand pounds. It must have been vexatious in the
extreme, to any of the smugglers witnessing our proceedings, to see
their property thus carried off before their eyes. It must have made
them vow vengeance against those who captured it, and against us
especially, who, they must have suspected, had given the information
respecting the cave.
Among the articles found in the cavern was a rusty old musket. The old
lieutenant, Mr Mophead, commanding the cutter, was a curiosity. I
should like to describe him. He was very fat and very short, and very
red-faced, which is not surprising, considering the hot suns which had
shone on that face of his, and the vast amount of strong liquor which he
had poured down his throat. Just as the last boatload had been got on
board, Walter and his party appeared, not having seen any smugglers.
Mr Mophead politely invited him on board. As soon as the boats were
hoisted up, and the cutter was once more under way, standing from
harbour, Mr Mophead took the musket in his hand, and, approaching
Walter, said, with great form, "Mr Walter Tregellin, with Captain
Treenail's leave--and I am sure that he will give me leave--I beg to
present to you this weapon, that you may hand it to your respected
father. He may like to possess it, to remind him how the cutter
_Scout_, Lieutenant Mophead commander, was the means of relieving his
property of a nest of smugglers, who would very soon, in my opinion,
have taken possession of it."
Walter took the musket respectfully, though he could not help smiling;
and our salt tutor blew his nose steadily for ten minutes. The same old
musket my father afterwards gave to Harry and me, the discoverers of the
smugglers' cave; and Harry relinquished all his rights in it to me.
It hangs now in my study, not far from the dog-collar--another memento
of those good old times. We got back to our own cove in a very short
time, and we landing, the cutter returned, with her valuable cargo, to
her usual port. Clump, who had remained to take care of the house,
informed us that he had been watching the downs above the cave, and that
he had seen several men pass across the downs, and, running quickly, go
towards the boat harbour often mentioned. They then jumped into a boat
and pulled across the harbour to the village, where they disappeared.
Such was the termination of the adventure for that day; but the romance,
unfortunately for us, had not come to an end.