_THE SIEGE OF GHERIAH_
Hardly had the fleet taken up its position, when I saw on the land
side a great army of Indians march down to the edge of the river and
pitch their camp at the end of the sandy neck, so as to cut off all
chance of escape from the defenders of the fort.
These, as I found out, were Morattoes, the king of that country,
though not friendly to the English, having agreed to join them in this
enterprise. Indeed, it appeared that the pirates themselves were
revolted subjects of this king, having their origin in the treachery
of one Angria, the Morattoe admiral, who cast off his allegiance and
seized and fortified divers strong places along the coast, where he
set up an independent power. For this reason the Morattoes had
despatched an army under their principal general, Ramagee Punt, to
assist in extirpating the pirates and regaining their former
dominions.
As soon as the ships had swung to their anchors I saw a boat put off,
bearing a flag of truce, to summon the pirates to yield up their
fastness. But this proposal evidently miscarried, for the boat
returned shortly, without any motions being made towards a surrender.
At the same time I saw the gate on the landward side of the fortress
opened and a chieftain wearing a rich dress come forth, accompanied by
a train of attendants, and cross over the sand spit into the
Morattoes' camp, from which he did not return that night.
This looked to me like a piece of treachery, as though the pirates
were seeking to make terms with their fellow-countrymen behind the
backs of the English. No doubt this transaction bore the same look to
those on board the fleet, for when I came up on deck in the morning to
see if any change had taken place during the night, I was astonished
to see the space between the Morattoes' camp and the sand spit covered
with tents, in which were about two thousand troops newly landed from
the fleet, the last of the boats that had put them ashore being then
half-way back, and rowing right round the grabs and gallivats, which
were moored altogether close in under the walls of the fortress. It
was not difficult for me to guess that this bold exploit was the work
of Colonel Clive, who had thus placed himself between his treacherous
allies and the enemy, effectually putting a stop to all underhand
communications between them. And I learned afterwards that but for
this determined action on his part, the fortress would have been
delivered up to Ramagee Punt that very morning, and the English
excluded from all share of the prize.
I saw some messengers pass to and fro between the ships and the land,
but nothing seemed to come of it, and finally, about ten o'clock I saw
a signal run up on the _Talisman_, and immediately the side of every
ship drove forth a vast cloud of smoke across the water, and the air
was shaken by the discharge of at least three hundred guns.
Now the cowardice of the pirates was made manifest, for instead of
manning their own fleet, which might have given much trouble if well
handled, they left it exposed to the British fire, and withdrew behind
the walls of their fort, from which they made a feeble reply to the
broadsides of the squadron. The consequence was that before long one
of the shells from the fleet set fire to a large grab, and the whole
of the pirates' vessels, being made fast side by side, caught fire
together, and were burnt to the water's edge, amid a continual noise
of explosions every time the flames reached a loaded cannon or a
powder barrel. Thus was destroyed in a few hours a navy which had for
fifty years been the terror of the Malabar coast, and had preyed upon
the commerce of every nation trading in those seas.
So taken up was I in watching this scene of destruction that I did not
at first notice what was happening to the _Fair Maid_. Being anchored
some way off the other vessels, and further up towards the sand spit,
we escaped the damage that had been done to them, but now we attracted
the attention of the British Fleet, and those on board naturally
considering us as a prize captured by the pirates, one of the ships
began to open fire on us, and sent a ball clean through the deck.
Up to this time the crew had lain inactive, taking no part in the
fight. My cousin had gone ashore into the fort the night before,
taking a part of the ship's company with him, and had not returned.
The boatswain was left in command, with about twenty men under him,
and these now began to see that they were in a trap, being too few to
fight the ship to any purpose, while any attempt to land would expose
them to a destructive fire either from the fleet or from Mr. Clive's
troops, which would come along the sand spit to cut them off.
In this extremity old Muzzy took what was perhaps the boldest
resolution any man could have come to. He decided to set sail, and
pass right between the fort and the ships, running the gauntlet of the
whole squadron, and thus escape down the river and out to the open
sea. The breeze blowing out to sea, as it always does for the first
half of the day on this coast, the plan seemed a good one, if once
they could pass through the fire of the squadron.
This course commending itself to the crew, the sails were hoisted
accordingly, I lending a hand, for I had no desire either to take
refuge with the pirates or to be sunk where we were; and having
slipped our cable the _Fair Maid_ got under weigh. This proceeding
must have struck surprise into those who were watching us, for the
frigate which had commenced to bombard us at once stopped fire, and
waited to see what we would do. As we had no colours flying, it was
difficult for them to know what we would be at, or whether we did not
mean to surrender. Had we been only concerned with the fleet, our best
course might have been to hoist the Union Jack; but in that case we
had to fear the guns of the fort, close under which we meant to pass.
In this way we got along till we were right in the range of fire
between the ships and the fort, and here for a minute all seemed over
with us and I had fairly given myself up for lost. A whole broadside
of thirty guns was fired right across us, and the only thing that
saved us from being sunk instantly was our lying so low on the water
that the bullets, being aimed at the walls of the fort, passed over
our heads. As it was they did great damage to the rigging. The main
topmast was shot away, the shrouds were torn to threads, and the gaff
of the fore-topsail was badly wounded. Luckily for us the next vessel
of the squadron had discharged its broadside just before we came into
the line of fire, and the third merely signalled to know if we would
surrender. Old Muzzy refused to answer the signal, and his conduct in
this, and in not using the _Fair Maid's_ own guns, clearly puzzled
those on board the fleet.
By this time we had begun to round the corner of the rock, and paying
away before the wind to go down the river, presented our stern to the
remaining ships of the squadron. One of them gave us a broadside, but
it was ill-directed, and only three balls took effect. They had aimed
this time at the hull, luckily for the _Fair Maid_, as she could ill
have stood another discharge at her rigging, and though the tiller was
shot away, and some damage was done to the stern, it was not serious
enough to cripple her.
But just as we were beginning to breathe we were dismayed at suddenly
receiving a bullet from one of the guns of the fort, which ploughed
right into the deck within two feet of where I stood. I looked up
astonished, and beheld my cousin Rupert, with the match still in his
hand, looking over to watch the effect of his shot. The other men on
board caught sight of him at the same moment, and a howl went up at
this act of cold-blooded treachery. One of the fellows snatched up a
loaded musket which lay on the deck, and discharged it at him, and I
had the satisfaction to see him fall back swiftly, but whether
actually struck by the bullet or no I could not tell.
Distracted by this unlooked-for attack, we had not noticed a fresh
danger from the fleet. But now we perceived that the launch of the
Admiral's own ship, the _Talisman_, had been manned, and was bearing
right down on us, the men on board coming with great coolness and
daring right past the guns of the fort. In this they were fortunately
protected by the fact that the gunners were all engaged in replying to
the fire of the fleet, which lay anchored above, and we being now past
the direct line of fire, and out on the middle of the river, the
garrison paid no attention to us. However, the launch would have had
no chance of overtaking us but for the unlucky accident to the tiller,
which had made the _Fair Maid_ unmanageable for the moment, and caused
her to come up to the wind. They were thus able to draw very near us
before the man at the helm had contrived to rig up a makeshift tiller
out of a splinter off the gunwale. Just as he began to get the ship's
head round again the launch approached within hailing distance, and
bade us surrender.
Old Muzzy strictly forbidding any reply, they fired a bullet at us
from a small swivel gun in the bows. Thereupon one of the crew--the
same man who had fired at Rupert--wanted to discharge the _Fair
Maid's_ stern gun at them; but this the boatswain would not permit.
"If we're caught running away, they may let us off," he said
prudently; "but if we're caught after firing on the king's uniform,
it's hanging for every mother's son of us."
The men saw the wisdom of this, and now the sails began to draw
again, and give a fair chance of leaving the launch behind. No sooner
did this happen, than I experienced a keen feeling of regret. I had
aided heartily in our escape so far, believing it to be the only thing
I could do, but now I thought I saw a chance of being restored to my
ship I could not resist the temptation. I measured the distance
between the _Fair Maid_ and the launch with my eye, and, though a poor
swimmer, considered I might manage to keep afloat till the launch
should pick me up. I turned round, shook hands with old Muzzy, and
before he knew what I had in mind, plunged over the side into the
water.
I heard a cry go up from the crew, who at first thought it was an
accident, my zeal in helping to work the ship having put it out of
their minds that I was merely a prisoner. However, they had too much
to do in looking after their own escape to give much thought to me;
and in the end they got very fairly away, and disappeared outside the
river's mouth.
In the meantime the launch came on towards me, and then a thing
happened which I may truly say brought my heart into my mouth. For one
of the marines in her, looking on me no doubt as one of the pirates,
raised his musket and aimed it directly at my head. The sun was behind
me, but fell full upon his face, and I could see the narrowing of his
eye as he took aim, also the flash of the sunlight along the barrel. I
had made up my mind that I was a dead man, and was even hoping that
my death would be too swift for me to feel the pain of the wound, when
I saw the gun struck up and heard the voice of Irish Mick crying out
in a mixture of terror and laughter--
"Sure, don't you know him? It's the little purser!"
The recognition came almost as near killing as saving me, for in their
amazement the men of the launch ceased rowing, and as in my expectancy
of death I had lost all power of motion I was like to have been
drowned. However, they rescued me just in time, and welcomed me on
board with a heartiness which did much to make amends for the
suffering I had gone through since I had left their company.
I told them my story, and had to tell it again to Mr. Griffiths and
the purser when I reached the ship. Mr. Sanders received me coldly,
and pronounced that I had been rightly served for hankering after my
former evil companions, but the lieutenant spoke to me more kindly,
and praised me for my refusal to join myself to the privateers, or
rather pirates, for such they were now openly become.
I claimed his promise to let me take part in the fighting, to which he
willingly consented; though, indeed, there was but little glory to be
gained, as the pirates were now so cowed as to have pretty well ceased
to return our fire, and before night they had made some fresh attempts
towards a capitulation.
It fell through, however, and our bombardment was renewed the
following day. The castle was so strong, the walls being hewn in many
places out of the solid rock that we were unable to make much
impression, but luckily if their walls were strong, the hearts of the
pirates were too weak to prolong the defence, and it became merely a
question of whether they should surrender to us or to Ramagee Punt.
The Morattoes struggled hard, but Colonel Clive stood at his post like
a wall between them and the fort, and after two days the pirates saw
that they had met their master, and opened the gates to him.
As soon as I knew that Mr. Clive's force would be the first to enter,
I took Mr. Griffiths aside, and explained to him that there was an
Englishwoman, in whom I was interested, inside the fortress, and after
I had related the whole story to him he sent me ashore to the camp to
lay the case before Mr. Clive.
That brave man--who was good enough to express his pleasure at seeing
me safe again--heard me with great attention. As soon as I had told my
story he turned to his secretary.
"Mr. Scrafton, you have heard what this young man says. I desire you
will send at once for Angria's envoy, and tell him that if I find one
hair of this girl's head has been injured I will hang him from his own
walls."
He spoke this in a stern and terrible manner, which imparted some fear
even to me. Within an hour the message came back from the pirates'
chief that the Colonel's orders should be strictly obeyed.
This was while the negotiations for the surrender were still in
progress. By the end of the second day's bombardment all was over, and
Colonel Clive marched into the place at the head of 800 English and
1,000 Indian soldiers, who formed his whole army. I was allowed to
enter at the same time.
We found the pirates drawn up inside to the number of several
thousands. In so vast a crowd I could not distinguish the faces of any
of the _Fair Maid_ men, nor was there a sign to be seen of my cousin
Rupert. Out of a feeling of shame I had concealed from Colonel Clive
that this villain was among the pirates, but I made a strict search
for him presently all through the place, without any result. I could
only conclude that he must have been killed during the siege, unless
he had made his escape in some way not easy to guess.
As soon as we had passed through the ranks of the pirates, whom Mr.
Clive ordered to be disarmed and handed over to their Morattoe
countrymen, we came into the inner court of the place, where we found
Angria himself, surrounded by his chief men. He was a tall, handsome
Indian, with a fierce, threatening countenance, surmounted by a
crimson turban, which blazed with rich gems. His whole treasure lay
beside him, and amounted, when it came to be reckoned up, to L120,000,
which was divided among the fleet and army, I getting L6 for my own
share. It was considered a paltry booty by the men, and some hinted
that the officers had taken more than their portion. There was also a
dispute between the two services as to the amount of Mr. Clive's
share, which the army insisted should be equal to a rear-admiral's,
while the navy would not allow it to be more than a post-captain's. In
order to settle the matter Admiral Watson very handsomely offered to
make up the difference out of his own share, which the Colonel with
equal handsomeness declined; and so the affair passed off.
But the greatest prize we gained in that action, to my thinking, was
the woman whom I found crouched in terror upon the floor of a dark,
stifling hut, built against one of the walls of the castle, and
expecting every moment to find herself in the clutches of some savage
enemy. For Rupert had cruelly forborne to tell her that the fortress
was besieged by an English fleet, and when I entered the place where
she was confined, she no doubt believed me to be some marauder of the
same stamp as those among whom she had been kept a prisoner.
I stepped up beside her with a bursting heart, and laid a hand upon
her shoulder.
"Marian," I said, "I am Athelstane Ford, who has come to set you
free."
She trembled all over as she gave a quick look up at me, and then rose
tottering on to her feet. And when I saw her face, how it was all
shrunken from its former roundness, and the colour had gone from her
cheeks, and the brightness from her eyes, as she stood there before
me, with her dress all dishevelled, and her beautiful long hair ragged
and wild, the tears started to my eyes, and I swore a deep oath that
if my cousin Rupert ever met me face to face again he should not
depart alive.
"Athelstane," she said presently, when we had stood gazing at each
other like that for above a minute, "that detestable villain who is
your kinsman has cruelly used me and betrayed me; but I believe you
are a true man. Take me to my father, and I will bless the day that I
ever saw you first." And before I knew what she would be at, she had
knelt down and kissed my hand, with a passion of weeping, that proud,
beautiful creature whom I had last seen in all the glory of her youth
and loveliness, the jewel of her native town.
I raised her up tenderly, and drew her forth out of that vile place. A
week later the Admiral carried his fleet back to Bombay; but I had got
my discharge, and was with Marian on board the sloop _Thetis_, of
twenty-six guns, bound for the river Hooghley with despatches.