Onward drove the sloop of war with the three midshipmen on board to
certain destruction. "Heave the guns overboard!" cried Captain
Hartland, on the discovery that the last cable had parted. Severe
indeed was the pang it caused him to give the order. As the ship
rolled, first the starboard, and then the guns on the other side, were
cut loose and allowed to run through the ports. With sullen plunges
they disappeared in the foaming seas.
"There go all our teeth," cried Paddy Adair, who even at that awful
moment could not refrain from a joke. Even Murray smiled.
"I wish that I were like you, Paddy," said Jack; "I couldn't have said
that sort of thing just now."
"Well, but I'm sure that I can't help feeling as if every tooth in my
mouth had been hauled out with a huge wrench," observed Adair. "There!
there goes the last."
"We must lighten the ship aft as much as possible, Mr Gale, and make
sail on the stump of the foremast, so as to force her up on the beach,"
observed the captain. "If we can find the beach," he added in a lower
voice.
These orders were promptly obeyed. Every man worked with a will. There
was no hurry, no confusion, though all were engaged in the most active
exertion. No one seemed to be conscious, while thus at work, that in a
few short minutes their fate might be sealed. Meantime, sail being set
forward, while the ship headed on towards the shore, Captain Hartland
and the master were engaged in looking out, in the hopes of discovering
some sandy beach between the rocks, on which they might run the ship.
Still they scarcely expected to find what they were seeking for; yet no
one on board would have guessed from their looks what very slight hopes
they entertained of success. The work was done; the ship hurried
through the raging surf. Still the most perfect discipline prevailed;
not a man quitted his station. Here and there a few might be seen
loosing their shoe-ties, or getting ready to cast off their flushing
coats; but no other sign was observable that an awful struggle for life
and death was about to commence.
"Where are we driving to, Jack?" asked Adair; "I cannot make out through
all this spray."
"I thought I caught a glimpse of a white patch not much bigger than my
hand when we were at the top of the last sea," answered Rogers. "I hope
it may be sand."
"Starboard, starboard!" shouted the captain. Three hands were at the
helm. The spokes flew quickly round. A little sandy bay appeared; it
seemed under the ship's bowsprit; then she was enveloped in a thick
cloud of foam; the terrific roar of the surf became deafening. On flew
the corvette; a concussion which sent all who had not a secure hold flat
on the deck was felt, and the seas came rolling up with tremendous
force, heaving her broadside to the beach, and about twenty fathoms from
it. Still they did not at first break completely over her; a rock,
inside of which she had been judiciously steered, somewhat broke their
force.
"We are ashore--we are ashore!" was the cry, but still every man waited
for the captain's orders. He stood calm and collected, with his
officers round him. His glass was in his hand; he was constantly
looking through it watching the shore.
"Some people are collecting on the heights, and will soon be down on the
beach," he exclaimed. "Hold on till they come, my lads, and we may be
able to send a line on shore." This exhortation was not unnecessary,
for the seas rolling in constantly struck the vessel with such terrific
force, that it appeared she could not possibly hold together, while two
or three men, who had incautiously relaxed their hold, were washed
overboard and drowned. A beaker or small cask was in the meantime got
ready with a line secured to it. The most important object was to form
a communication with the shore. It was evident that if a hawser could
once be carried between the ship and the beach, the crew might be
dragged along it and be saved. As soon as the people began to collect
on the beach, the cask with the line attached to it was hove overboard.
All watched its progress with intense anxiety, for all felt that no time
was to be lost in getting the hawser on shore. The cask neared the
shore, then the wave rolled on, but again coming thundering down the
beach, carried it back almost as far as the ship. Again and again the
attempt was made, and each time the cask, almost getting within the
grasp of the people on shore, was hurled back once more out of their
reach.
"I think, sir, I could manage to put the jolly-boat on shore, if you
will allow me," said Mr Wenham, the second lieutenant, addressing the
captain.
"The risk is very great, Wenham," said the captain, shaking him by the
hand; "but go if you think fit."
"Volunteers for the jolly-boat!" sang out the second lieutenant.
Several men sprang forward; he selected four. The boat was launched
into the raging sea, and they leaped into her, carrying a line. With a
cheer from their shipmates they shoved off. Rapidly the boat approached
the beach, borne onward with a huge wave. Intense was the anxiety of
all who watched her. She reached the spot where the sea curled backward
in a mass of raging foam. Down it came upon her. A cry was heard
uttered by the Greeks on shore, as well as by the seamen on board. Over
went the boat, and all her hapless crew were engulfed. Rolled over and
over among the seaweed and masses of the tangled rigging and pieces of
the wreck, they struggled in vain to gain the shore. One after the
other they were swept out to sea and lost. It was evident that none of
the other boats would serve to carry the line on shore. Again the
experiment was tried with a cask, but failed.
"I say, Murray--Adair," exclaimed Jack, earnestly, "do you know, I think
that I could do it. I was always a first-rate swimmer, you know, for my
size. I'll ask the captain's leave to try."
"No one in the berth is better able to do it than you are," replied both
his companions.
"Oh Jack, I wish that I could go with you," cried Murray, as he wrung
his hand.
"So do I," added Adair; "but I know that I could never swim through that
surf."
No time was to be lost, so Jack Rogers worked his way up to Captain
Hartland, and offered to swim on shore with the line. The captain
looked very much astonished, and replied that he thought the risk was
too great.
"Do let me try, sir," urged Jack. "I'm like a fish in the water, I am
indeed, sir; and if I don't reach the beach I can but be hauled back
again, you know. I've a notion that I could swim through all that foam.
I've done something like it before now."
"You are a brave fellow, Rogers," exclaimed Captain Hartland; "I will
not prevent you." Jack, delighted, began to throw off his clothes,
which he handed to Adair and Murray, to prepare for his swim.
"Mr Gale, tend the line carefully, and haul him in if he seems
distressed," said the captain to the first lieutenant. Jack had a belt
secured round his body, so that it could not slip off or cut him, and he
had the line made fast to it. Watching his opportunity as a wave rolled
in, he boldly sprang out on the top of it, and was borne onwards towards
the shore with little or no exertion to himself. He wisely reserved all
his strength for the last struggle at the end of the trip. Every one
watched him with intense interest. Not a word was spoken, but a hundred
hands were eagerly held out to him from the shore, to show him the
welcome he would receive on landing. Some of the strongest men among
the Greeks joined hands and formed a line into the sea, that the outer
man might clutch the bold young swimmer if he could get within his
reach. Meantime a boat's oar and some line had been cast on shore.
Some of the Greeks, more thoughtful than the rest, had secured the oar
to the line, and stood ready to let it float out as Jack approached. He
saw the aid prepared, and made towards it. He waited outside the place
where the sea which took him in broke into foam, and then, when another
sea rolled in, exerting all his strength he dashed forward; but in spite
of all his efforts, the undertow was carrying him out again; still he
bravely struggled on. He saw the men on shore holding out their hands
to him; could he but make head for a distance of two or three more
fathoms he would succeed. Another sea rolled in. "Hurrah, hurrah!"
resounded from all sides; "he has grasped the oar." He was almost
exhausted, still he clutched it with all his might. Cautiously they
drew him onward. He could not have held on many moments longer, but the
men who had formed the chain into the water seized him by the collar,
and he and the end of the line he had so gallantly conveyed through the
raging surf were carried up in safety on the beach. Murray and Adair
had watched his progress with an interest such as none but true old
friends can feel. Tears of gratitude sprang into Murray's eyes, and his
heart bounded with joy as he saw that Jack was in safety. Adair did not
feel less satisfaction, but he expressed it differently, by joining
heartily in the shout given by the rest of the ship's company. A hawser
was immediately attached to the line, by which it was drawn on shore,
and one end being made fast round the stump of the foremast over the
topgallant forecastle, the other was secured round the rocks. A
traveller with a line and slings being now fitted to the hawser, the men
were told off to be conveyed on shore, the boys and those of lowest
rating, being, as is customary, sent first. The traveller being hauled
backwards and forwards, one after the other the men were conveyed to the
beach. The operation, however, was a slow one, and not without danger,
as part of the hawser was completely at times submerged by the breakers.
Meantime the sea had made a breach over the afterpart of the ship,
carrying away portions of the bulwarks. A piece of the planking, as it
washed by, struck Adair on the leg, and knocking him down, the sea would
have swept him overboard had not Murray seized him by the arm, when Mr
Gale coming to his assistance they carried him forward. He was too much
hurt to move, and they were afraid his leg was broken. Murray sat with
him on the deck, holding on by a ring-bolt and supporting him in his
lap. Notwithstanding the accident, they both of them had held fast to
Jack's clothes. What was their surprise not ten minutes afterwards to
see Jack himself make his appearance on board.
"Why, Rogers!--why have you come back, my dear lad?" exclaimed Captain
Hartland.
"To look after my clothes, sir," answered Jack; "and besides, sir, I
didn't like to be going on shore out of my turn; none of the officers
have gone yet." The captain must have been puzzled what reply to make
to this reason, for he said nothing. Night was now coming on; still
many people remained on board.
"Come, bear a hand, my hearties; let us be getting on shore out of
this," cried some of those left on board to their shipmates. All who
had gone before had been landed safely, but it was necessary to be very
careful during the transit in keeping a tight hold of the slings,
especially in passing through the surf. One man, a fine young topman,
grasped hold of the traveller, and with a wave of his hat gave the sign
to haul away. He went on well for a few seconds, apparently thinking it
a good joke, till a roller overtook him. In an instant the poor fellow
was torn from his hold, and the raging waters rushing down again carried
him far away beyond human help.
"Now, Murray, it is your turn," said Mr Gale; "we will see by and by
how we can get Adair on shore."
"No, sir, thank you," said Murray calmly; "I would rather stay by Adair.
If he cannot be landed now, he will require some one to look after
him."
"Go, Alick, go," said Adair faintly. "Don't mind me."
"Come, Rogers, you must be off then," exclaimed the first lieutenant, in
a hurried tone. "See, the men are waiting to haul you on shore."
"Please, sir, Paddy Adair is an old schoolfellow of mine, and now he is
a messmate; and while he is in that state and unable to help himself I
cannot desert him, indeed I cannot, sir," said Jack very quietly. "I'm
very hardy; the cold and wet won't hurt me. I'd much rather Murray
went."
"No; I agreed to stay first," said Murray; "I cannot go."
"Then we'll both stay," said Jack. "That's settled, sir, isn't it?"
Mr Gale had not seen exactly how the seaman had been lost; and
believing that there was nearly as much risk in making the passage in
the dark as in staying, agreed to allow the youngsters to do as they
wished, resolving at the same time to remain by them himself. The
captain had gone forward; and before he was aware of it, believing that
everybody had left the ship, he was hurried by those in charge of the
hawser into the slings.
"We are coming sharp after you, sir," they exclaimed, anxious to secure
the life of their captain.
Such acts of devotion are too common in the navy, where the men have
officers they esteem, to be thought much of by them.
The three midshipmen, meantime, remained together, sheltered as much as
possible by the topgallant forecastle, but still the sea was continually
breaking over them. The night was very dark, and the wind bitterly
cold; the lightning too at times flashed vividly, revealing the horrors
with which they were surrounded. Mr Gale had seen the last of the
people off, they thinking that he was going to follow; but two other
unfortunate men demanded his care. One was a marine, whose arm had been
broken; the other the assistant-surgeon. The latter, never strong, had
become exhausted with the exertions he had gone through; and, when urged
to go on shore, he had declared his inability to venture on the rope.
He felt, poor fellow, that if he did, he should be washed off and
drowned. It was sad to hear the groans of the poor marine, as he lay
secured to the deck near them. Jack felt that he could have borne the
trial much better, had he and his friends been alone on the wreck. The
surgeon made no complaint, beyond the utterance now and then of a faint
moan. The horrors of death were encircling him around. Fortunately Mr
Gale had secured a flask of brandy, a few drops of which he occasionally
administered to the sufferers. He also succeeded in fishing out from
forward some of the men's clothing, which he distributed among the
party; and then, having done all that a man could do, he sat himself
down, almost overcome, to wait till the morning, when he might hope to
get the survivors on shore. Adair's leg gave him excruciating pain.
Rogers sat on one side of him, Murray on the other, supporting him in
their arms, and endeavouring, by every means they could think of, to
alleviate his suffering, by gently rubbing his legs, frequently changing
his position, and tightly grasping his hands.
"Thank you, Alick; thank you, Jack," said he faintly; "I'm better. I'd
not die this time, if it were not so bitter, bitter cold; but I wish you
two fellows were safe on shore. I should never forgive myself if any
harm was to come to you."
"Oh, nonsense, Adair, don't think about us. We are all very well, and
shall be very well, no fear," was the answer; but Jack spoke in a voice
very different to his usual tone. The exertions he had gone through had
been almost too much even for his well-knit frame; a sort of stupor was
stealing over him, and his senses began to wander. Murray discovered
his condition with great alarm. He called to him to arouse himself.
"Oh, Jack, don't give way," he exclaimed. "If you fall asleep, the cold
may overpower you."
Mr Gale, hearing Murray's exclamation, gave Jack a few drops of brandy,
which revived him. Murray gladly took a few drops. At the moment of
trial he was not found wanting. In spite of his more delicate frame, he
bore up as well as the strongest. Thus the night drew slowly on. How
earnestly did all on the wreck long for the blessed light of day. Three
of them had the consciousness that they had remained both from a high
sense of duty and from the call of friendship, and this undoubtedly
contributed to support them. They too well knew in whose right arm they
had to trust to save them. Jack had not forgotten the lessons he had
received at home, nor the counsel given him by Admiral Triton. But Jack
on no subject was much of a talker; he was a _doer_, however, which is
more important. The nearer a matter was to his heart, the less he
allowed it to come out on his tongue, except at the proper moment. By
some of his shipmates, who did not understand him, he was considered
rather a close fellow. The same might be said of Murray, even in a
greater degree. Few indeed guessed, when they saw his slight frame and
delicate features, how much he would both dare and do. The power of
passive endurance of all three was most fully tried during that awful
night. None of them flinched. Murray alone, however, never allowed
himself for a moment to lose his consciousness. The rain and sleet came
down with pitiless force; the bleak wind howled round them, the sea beat
over them, the ceaseless breakers roared in their ears all the night
through. Murray felt as if it would never come to an end. Every moment
too the ship seemed as if she was about to break up, when he knew that
death must be the lot of all remaining on board. How thankfully he saw
the first faint gleam of dawn breaking in the east, to him a sign, as he
afterwards said, that the moment of their preservation was at hand. He
shook Jack, and pointed it out to him.
"All right, old fellow," answered Jack; "I'm ready for a swim." But
Rogers did not know what he was saying, for he nodded off again. Adair
was with difficulty aroused to consciousness. He was utterly unable to
help himself or to move. Had he been left alone he must have perished.
Murray called loudly on Mr Gale. He sprang up; though, when he moved,
he found his limbs very stiff. They went to examine into the state of
their other companions. Both the poor fellows were dead. The survivors
felt that they had still greater reason for gratitude that they had been
spared while others had been taken.
When daylight increased sufficiently to enable them to discover objects
on shore, they found Captain Hartland and several of the men, with a
number of the Greeks, assembled on the beach to help them. Another pair
of slings on a second traveller was now fitted, and Adair being placed
in it, Mr Gale accompanied him on shore, helping him along through the
surf. Murray and Jack followed, several of the men, with ropes round
their waists, rushing out into the surf to help them, for no men more
than sailors know how to appreciate the act of devotion the two lads had
that night performed. The captain met them as they came dripping out of
the surf, and shook them heartily by the hand. He was one of those
doing men who do not expend many words in expressing their feelings.
The words he did speak were very gratifying to the young midshipmen. He
would not allow them, however, to remain on the beach, but had them all
carried up to the nearest house, and put to bed, when the doctor soon
arrived to attend to poor Adair's leg. The house where they were lodged
was of some size. It belonged to a Greek nobleman, who was absent at
the time of their arrival, but an old woman, a sort of housekeeper, and
her two daughters had charge of it, and took very good care of them.
Their attendants did not come very near the classic models they had read
about at school, but they were good-natured and kind, and evidently
anxious to please them. The three midshipmen did their best to talk
Greek, but though they summoned up all the choicest phrases they had
learned at school, they signally failed at first in making themselves
understood. At last they bethought them of putting all their previous
knowledge of the Hellenic tongue out of the question, and of pointing to
things and asking their names. Frequently they found a great similarity
between the modern and ancient Greek, which assisted them very much in
recollecting the names of the things they learned. They thus in their
turn rather surprised the natives by the rapidity with which they
acquired their language.
"I used to think it a great bore to have to learn Greek when I was
coming to sea," observed Jack; "but now I find that there is use for it
even here, besides helping one on wonderfully with one's own language."
The midshipmen were not left alone all this time to the care of their
Greek friends. The doctor and their shipmates used now and then to look
in on them. They found that an attempt was being made to get the ship
off, and of course all hands were engaged in the work. Jack wanted to
get up and help, but the doctor would not let him, thinking he would be
much better employed in helping Murray to look after Adair. They all
heard, however, with great interest of the progress of the undertaking.
But one night it came on to blow again harder than ever; a tremendous
sea rolled in, and the poor sloop was irretrievably bilged, and in a few
days broke up altogether. The three midshipmen were very sorry for
this, but they got over the loss of the ship with philosophical
resignation, as other midshipmen have under like circumstances done
before them; and with the rest of their shipmates amused themselves very
well in shooting snipe and red-legged partridges, in wandering about, in
trying to talk Greek, and in doing nothing, till a brig of war arrived
and carried them all back to Malta. Captain Hartland and his officers
were tried for the loss of his sloop, and honourably acquitted; and
Adair and Rogers rejoined the _Racer_, to which, to their great
satisfaction, a short time afterwards Murray was appointed. The
_Racer_, after a cruise to the westward, came back, and was ordered to
proceed to the Greek Islands to assist in repressing piracy, an
occupation to which the descendants of the heroes whose deeds were sung
by Homer of old have of late years been somewhat addicted.
"I wonder whether you will take another prize, Paddy," said Murray with
a quiet smile, in which he frequently indulged; but Jack and Terence
begged that the subject might not be alluded to.
The _Racer_, before long, fell in with an English merchant brig having a
flag of distress flying. The man-of-war hove-to, and the brig sent a
boat on board. The poor master who came in her was in a sad plight.
"I have been tricked, robbed, and cruelly treated, sir on the high
seas!" he exclaimed, as he appeared on the quarter-deck.
"What has happened? Tell me your story, and I will see what can be done
for you," answered Captain Lascelles.
"Why, sir, I was bound out of Liverpool with a cargo of manufactured
goods for Smyrna, when yesterday, as I was standing on my course with a
light wind, I fell in with a polacre brig with a signal of distress
flying. I hove-to, when her boat came alongside me with a dozen
cut-throat looking fellows in her, in red caps, and one very fine
gentleman with pistols in his belt, and a sword by his side. He was
very polite, and said that he was hard up for several things, but would
only trouble me for some biscuit and water. I was very glad to get off
so cheap, for I guessed what sort of a calling his was, so I gave him as
much as he wanted. He spoke a _lingua franca_, which he found I
understood. He said that he had known very unjust complaints being made
by merchantmen against his poor countrymen, and that, if I would be so
obliging, he would be very thankful if I would give him a certificate
that he had treated me and my people kindly, and had only taken a little
bread and water. Of course I was very willing, and thought him the
mildest and best-mannered of pirates; so I gave it to him at once.
Immediately he got it he put it in his pocket, and, turning to his
people, told them to knock down every one of my men who made any
resistance, and clapping a pistol to my head ordered me to hand out all
my cash. Meantime the polacre ran alongside, thirty or forty cut-throat
fellows jumped on board, and very quickly transferred the cargo of the
_Pretty Polly_ on board their vessel. When they had completely gutted
my brig, the pirate captain made me a polite bow, and thanking me for
the certificate, which, he said, he had no doubt would be useful to him,
wished me good-day, and returned on board his vessel, leaving all my
people with their hands lashed behind them. His followers had amused
themselves by painting my poor fellows' faces, and otherwise
ill-treating them. One had a tar-brush jammed into his mouth, another a
towel stuffed down his throat; and my mate they had almost beaten to
death because he had ventured to show fight."
"Which way did the polacre stand after she left you?" asked Captain
Lascelles.
"To the eastward, sir."
"You would know her again?"
"That I should, among a hundred like craft."
"Can you come with us?"
"No, sir, but I can let my mate go," answered the master to Captain
Lascelles' last query; "he knows every bale of the cargo too, and he'll
not forget our friend or his craft."
The mate of the merchantman, Mr Dobbin, came on board, and the frigate
continued her course. From the account given of him, Captain Lascelles
had little doubt that the pirate was the very man he was in search of,
and whose stronghold he had been directed to attack. Among the numerous
isles of Greece there are several of small size, with but little room on
their summits for cultivation, which have for ages past, from their
inaccessible character, afforded a secure retreat to the somewhat
piratically disposed inhabitants. The _Racer_ was now in search of one
of these respectable little strongholds of piracy.
"Will the Greeks show fight, I wonder?" said Jack. "I should like just
to have a sniff of gunpowder."
"It may blacken your face more than you expect, youngster," answered old
Hemming, who sat at the end of the berth; "however, we have not yet
found out where the fellows are hid."
"I hear that the captain has discovered their retreat, and that, if the
breeze holds, we are likely to be not far off them this very evening,"
said Murray, who had just come below. "It is said we are to attack them
in the boats."
"Hurrah! that will be fun!" exclaimed Adair. "I suppose the captain
will let some of us go."
"Be sure of that, youngsters; the expedition would never succeed without
you," said old Hemming in a sarcastic tone.
Murray's information proved to be right. The frigate stood on for an
hour after dark, and then dropped her anchors in a bay to leeward of a
rocky island, at no great distance from the one to be attacked. Captain
Lascelles' object was to take the pirates by surprise. The boats had,
therefore, a long way to pull. They were to proceed in two divisions.
One was to land a body of bluejackets and marines, so as to attack the
fort in the rear; the other was to approach it on the sea side, and to
endeavour to scale the heights. The second lieutenant and old Hemming
had charge of the two divisions; they had each a midshipman with them,
and a mate and a midshipman went into each of the other boats. Adair
was with the land party. The division to which Jack and Murray belonged
was to attack the fort in front. The men gave a suppressed cheer as
they shoved off, and then away they pulled as eagerly as if they were
going on a party of pleasure. They had a long pull; but many a joke was
cut, and many a suppressed laugh was indulged in, till they got so near
the spot that silence was imposed on every one. Hemming's party landed
at the back of the island. They were to lie concealed as near as they
could get to the fort, till the other division threw up a rocket as a
signal that they were attacking, and were discovered by the enemy. Jack
and Murray were in boats close together. The night was very dark. They
could just see that high, rugged, black cliffs towered up above them,
and that they were entering a little cove or harbour, through a narrow
entrance which put them in mind of a huge mouse-trap. The boats had
muffled oars; not a sound was heard; but had any one been on the
lookout, the phosphorescent flashes as the blades touched the water
would have betrayed them. The boats reached some black slippery rocks.
The crews, led by their officers, leaped out, leaving two boat-keepers
in each; and, holding their cutlasses in their teeth, away they
scrambled up the steep and rugged cliffs.