The account of the destruction of the _Ruby_ soon spread among the
English prisoners. At first the two midshipmen especially would not
credit it; but the date of the alleged occurrence answered exactly with
that of the day when Johnny Nott parted with her and saw her standing
towards an enemy's ship, and heard the firing at the commencement of the
action.
"They do not even boast that they took her, or that she had hauled down
her flag before she blew up," he observed. "If they had done so, we
might have doubted them. I'm afraid their account is too true."
"I am afraid so, indeed," responded Elmore mournfully; "so many fine
fellows lost. Our brave skipper Garland, he is a public loss. They do
not say that a single officer was saved."
Thus the midshipmen talked on. They almost forgot their own misfortunes
and abominable ill-treatment while thinking of their friends. Some
coarse bread and cheese was handed to them in a dirty basket, and water
was the only liquid given them to drink; while at night no bedding nor
the slightest accommodation was afforded them. In vain the officers
pleaded. The men to whom they spoke only laughed and jeered at them,
and poor young Elmore only came in for a greater share of abuse when by
some means it was discovered that he was what they called an English
aristocrat.
"Ah, milord!" exclaimed one fellow with a horrid grin; "if we had you in
_la belle France_, your head would not remain long on your shoulders.
We guillotine all such. It's the best way to treat them. They have
trampled too long on our rights, to be forgiven."
The next morning the British seamen and officers were ordered up on
deck, and, being placed near the gangway, were surrounded by a guard of
marines with fixed bayonets. If they attempted to move from the spot,
they soon had notice to go back again.
The prize had parted company, and they supposed had been sent into port;
but the frigate herself stood away to the westward to continue her
cruise. In spite of the general want of discipline, a very bright
lookout was kept for any strange sail in sight. In the afternoon watch
a vessel was seen to the southward, and the frigate bore up in chase.
The stranger, on seeing this, made all sail to escape.
The French seamen pointed her out to the British. "Ah! ah! we shall
soon have her!" they exclaimed. "See, the cowards dare not wait our
coming up."
Meantime, Paul Pringle lay in his berth, pretty well cared for, and most
devotedly watched by True Blue. Billy was advised by the kind doctor to
show himself as little as possible, lest he should be ordered to join
the rest of the prisoners. He occasionally, however, stole out, that he
might ascertain for Paul in what direction the ship was steering, and
what was taking place. It was towards the evening that he came quickly
back and reported that he had seen all the prisoners hurried below on a
sudden, and that the wind being from the westward, all sail had been
made on the frigate, and that she had been put dead before it, having
abandoned the chase of the vessel of which she had been in pursuit.
"What it means I don't quite know," observed True Blue; "but there's
something in the wind, of that I'm pretty certain."
The tramping of feet overhead, the hurried passing of the crew up and
down, showed Paul also that such was the case. True Blue was standing
at the door of the berth when the surgeon came below, and, as he passed
him, whispered, "Keep quiet with your friend, boy. The crew may not be
in the humour to bear the sight of you." He did as he was advised for
some time; but, peeping out, he saw the powder-boys carrying up powder
and shot, and other missiles from the magazine, while the flurry and
bustle increased, and he felt sure that the frigate was going into
action.
"Paul, I must go and learn what it is all about," he said. "I suppose
that we are coming up with the chase."
Paul, not supposing there would be any risk, did not prevent his going.
He crept out quietly. Everybody was so busy that no one remarked him.
He looked out at one of the bow-ports; but nothing was to be seen ahead.
He glanced on the other side; not a sail was in sight.
He came back to the berth. "Paul!" he exclaimed joyfully, "it is not
that the frigate is chasing, but she is being chased. She seems to be
under all sail, and in a desperate hurry to get away."
"We've a chance, then, of not having to see the inside of a French
port," observed Paul Pringle. "That's a thing to be thankful for; but,
Billy, it's sad news we shall have to take home about Abel, and Peter,
and the rest. I must go and break it to Mrs Ogle and Mrs Bush, and
their children. It will make my heart bleed--that it will, I know."
Paul and True Blue talked on for some time, as very naturally they often
did, about their old ship and shipmates, till their well-practised ears
caught the sound of a distant gun.
"That's right aft!" exclaimed Paul. "It comes, I doubt, from the
leading ship of the pursuing squadron. I pray that the frigate may not
escape them."
"I must go on deck and see how many ships there are," said True Blue.
"The Frenchmen can but kick me down again, and I can easily jump out of
their way."
He had not gone long when down he came again, panting as if for want of
breath. "Oh, Paul!" he exclaimed, "I thought to have seen two or three
frigates or a line-of-battle ship at least; but, would you believe it,
there is but one frigate, more like the _Ruby_ than any ship I ever saw;
and if I didn't know for certain that her keel was at the bottom of the
Atlantic, I could have sworn that it was she herself. It quite took
away my breath to look at her, and then when the Frenchmen saw me
looking at the stranger, they hove their gun-sponges and rammers at me,
so I had to run for it to get out of their way."
"Billy, I wish that I could have a look at this stranger the Frenchmen
are so afraid of," said Paul. "If she is a frigate I have seen before,
I should know her again."
"I don't mind the Frenchmen. I will go and have another look at her,"
answered True Blue. "We shall soon be within speaking distance of her
guns."
As he spoke, he kept moving about the berth like a hyena in its cage;
and soon, unable any longer to restrain his impatience, out he darted
and unimpeded reached the deck. The pursuing frigate ran up the British
colours, and opened her fire with a couple of bow-chasers. She had good
reason to do so, for the Frenchman was steering to the southward and
land was ahead. One of the shot struck the counter of _La Ralieuse_,
the other passed a little on one side. True Blue gazed earnestly and
long at the English frigate. He was recalled in a disagreeable way to a
sense of where he was by feeling the point of a cutlass pressed against
his back, and, looking round, he saw a seaman with no pleasant looks
grinning at him and pointing below.
What the man said he could not make out. He got out of the fellow's way
and hurried below. "Paul, I am right!" he exclaimed. "She is either
the _Ruby_ or another frigate so like her that you couldn't tell one
from the other."
The next ten minutes were passed in a state of great anxiety, and when
True Blue again looked out, he reported that the Frenchmen were
shortening sail preparatory to commencing action. The crew were all at
their stations. An unusual silence reigned on board. The Captain was
making a speech. It was about liberty, equality, and fraternity, and
the _bonnet rouge_ was displayed.
The cheers were cut very short by a broadside from the English frigate,
the shot of which crashed through the Frenchman's sides, tore up the
planks, and carried off the heads of two or more of the cheerers.
"That was a right hearty English broadside!" exclaimed Paul. "I could
almost fancy I knew the sound of the shot. I wish that you and I were
with them, Billy, instead of being cooped up here."
The English had not the game all to themselves. The French almost
immediately replied with considerable spirit to the compliment they had
received.
"They are having a running fight of it--yardarm to yardarm, as far as I
can make out," said Paul. "Well, that's the right way to go about the
business. A brave fellow commands the English frigate, whatever she
is."
"She's no bigger than the Frenchman," said True Blue.
"Maybe not, Billy," observed Paul, lifting himself up on his elbow. "It
isn't the size of the ship--it's the men on board her makes the
difference. Depend on't, those in the ship alongside us are of the
right sort and properly commanded."
Presently there was a louder noise on deck than usual, and evident
confusion. True Blue could contain his curiosity no longer, and before
Paul could stop him, he had darted out of the berth.
"Heaven will guard him," said Paul to himself; "but he runs as great a
risk as any of these Frenchmen."
True Blue was soon back. "The English frigate has shot away the
Frenchman's fore-topmast and foreyard, and she's up in the wind, and the
Englishman is ranging ahead to rake her!" he exclaimed enthusiastically.
"We shall have it in another half minute. And do you know, Paul, the
more I look at the stranger, the more I fancy she is like our brave
little _Ruby_. Here it comes."
True enough, the shot did come, thick and fast--not one seemed to have
missed--right into the bows of _La Ralieuse_. Some seemed to be
sweeping her main, others her upper deck, or flying among her masts and
spars, while more than one struck between wind and water. At the same
moment shrieks, and cries, and groans, arose from all parts of the ship,
mingled with shouts and oaths, levelled at the heads of their enemies.
"Keep quiet, Billy," said Paul. "The French, if they saw you, might do
you an injury, boy. We shall soon have the flag of England flying over
our heads."
As True Blue peeped out as before from the berth, he saw numerous
wounded men brought into the cockpit, where the surgeons were already
busy at work with their instruments and bandages. More and more were
brought down. Further supplies of shot were being carried up, and the
rapid passing of the powder-boys to and from the magazine showed that
there was no expectation of bringing the contest to a speedy
termination.
Nearly all this time the Frenchman's guns kept up an incessant roar.
They ceased only now and then, when, as Paul conjectured, the English
frigate was passing either ahead or astern of them, so that they could
not reach her.
Now _La Ralieuse_ had to stand the effects of another raking broadside.
This time it was astern, and came in at the after-ports, tearing away
the head of the rudder, and sweeping both decks from one end to the
other. Thirty men or more were killed or wounded as they stood at their
guns by this one broadside. True Blue ran up on deck to take a look
round and saw them stretched on the decks in ghastly rows, pale and
still, or writhing in their agony. The mizen-topmast was also gone, and
the rigging of the mainmast seemed terribly cut up.
He rapidly again dived below to report what he had seen.
"That's enough, boy!" exclaimed Paul in a voice of triumph. "She cannot
get away from the English ship, and sooner or later our brave fellows
will have her. Ah, there they are at it again. Hurrah for Old
England!"
"Old England for ever!" shouted True Blue. He might have sung out at
the top of his voice, for amid the terrific din of battle the Frenchmen
could not have heard him.
Presently there was a loud crashing sound, a severe shock, and the
frigate heeled over with the blow, which made her quiver in every
timber.
"Oh, boy!" cried Paul, seizing True Blue's hand in his eagerness, "they
are going to board, and here I lie with my ribs stove in. If I could
but handle my cutlass, we could be on deck and join them; but no--stay
below by me, Billy. They'll make short work of it. Hark! those are
true British cheers. They have the Frenchman fast. There they come!
They are swarming over the side and through the ports! There's the
sound of the cutlasses! Cold steel will do it! Those are the
Frenchmen's pistols; our fellows know what's the best thing to use.
They've gained a footing on the deck--they'll not lose it, depend on
that. There! they shout again! The sounds are just above our heads.
Hurrah for Old England! The Frenchmen are crying out, too. It is--it
is for quarter! They'll get that, though they don't deserve it. On
come our brave fellows! There's the tramp of their feet--the clash of
the cutlasses! Nearer they come! They're overhead! They've gained the
main deck! Hark! Shut to the door and hold it tight, boy. Down come
the Frenchmen, helter-skelter! They're flying for their lives! They're
coming down by dozens, twenties, fifties! They've given way fore and
aft! All hands are shouting for quarter! Hurrah, boy! Hurrah, True
Blue! That cheer, I know it. The Frenchman's flag is down! Once more
we've the glorious British ensign above our heads! Here come our
fellows, open the door and hail them!"
True Blue did as he was bid; and at that instant who should appear,
cutlass and pistol in hand, but Abel Bush, Peter Ogle, and a dozen or
more, whose well-known faces proclaimed them part of the crew of the
_Ruby_. Great was their surprise at finding Paul and True Blue there,
and loud and hearty were the greetings which hurriedly passed between
them.
"And so you all escaped when the frigate blew up in action with the
Frenchman the day we left you?" said Paul after he had explained in a
few words how he and his companions had been captured by the Frenchmen.
"Blew up!" exclaimed Abel. "We never blew up; though we had a jolly
good blow-out that evening, after we had taken a thundering big French
frigate, which we must have begun to engage before you lost sight of our
mastheads. We should have taken her consort, too, before the sun went
down, if, like a cur, she hadn't turned tail and run for it; when, as it
took us some little time to repair damages, we could not follow."
"Hurrah!" exclaimed Paul. "Hurrah! I thought so. This is the very
craft herself, depend on it; and that is the reason the hounds have been
worrying our poor fellows, as if they had been mere brutes. You'll hear
all about it by and by. But I say, Abel, do you go and look after the
surgeon of this ship. He's a kind-hearted gentleman. Take care no one
hurts him. Billy will try and find him."
Paul Pringle never forgot those who had been kind to him. True Blue was
also very glad to show his gratitude to the French doctor, whom they
soon found in his cabin, where he had retired during the first rush of
the British on board.
Summoning his assistants, the surgeon returned to the cockpit, where he
was quickly occupied in endeavouring to mitigate the sufferings of his
wounded countrymen, who now, mangled and bleeding, were being collected
from all parts of the captured ship.
When True Blue got back to Paul, he found Tom Marline and Harry and Fid
with him. The prisoners had been released; but by the particular advice
of the officers, they had not yet mentioned the insults they had
received, lest, already heated with the excitement of battle, the
accounts should exasperate the crew of the _Ruby_ and make them
retaliate on the Frenchmen.
Paul, at his earnest request, was now removed back to his own ship while
she lay alongside the prize. He and True Blue were warmly received by
their shipmates, as were Tom and Fid and Harry. So also were the two
midshipmen. The Captain, especially, was delighted at getting back
young Elmore, who was an only son, and placed by his mother especially
under his care.
"Yes, sir; here I am!" said the middy after the Captain had greeted him.
"And, sir, I owe my life to the bravery of Freeborn, who leaped
overboard to save me, in a raging sea, when no other means could have
been employed."
"A noble, gallant young fellow. I will not overlook him, depend on
that, Elmore. You and I must settle what we can best do for his
interests," said the Captain warmly. But just then there was so much to
be done that he could say no more on the subject.
The _Ruby_ had suffered considerably both in hull and rigging, and in
killed and wounded. The Frenchmen had, however, lost between seventy
and eighty men in all. The second Captain was killed, and the first
desperately wounded. The frigates had got so close in with the French
coast that they were obliged to anchor to repair damages, so as to be in
a condition to make sail and stand off again. It was a very anxious
time for the English, for they were close enough in to be very much
annoyed, should guns be brought down to the coast to bear upon them, or
should any French ships be warned of their vicinity, and be able to get
up and attack them before they were prepared for another engagement.
These considerations made everybody on board work with a will, and all
night long the wearied crew of the _Ruby_ were putting their own ship
into fighting order, and getting up jury-masts so as to make sail on the
prize. A careful lookout was kept, however, so that they might be
prepared to meet danger from whatever quarter it might come.
The passengers taken in the packet were among the first removed from the
French frigate, and were accommodated as well as circumstances would
allow on board the _Ruby_.
The morning after the battle, the wind came off the shore, and a large
concourse of people assembled on the coast had the mortification to see
the _Ruby_ and her prize make sail and stand away to the northward.
A few hours afterwards, a fleet of gunboats and two frigates came to
look for them; but they were beyond reach of the former, and though the
frigates followed, they were driven back by the sight of an English
squadron, and both the _Ruby_ and _La Ralieuse_ reached Portsmouth in
safety.