possibilities which she affords to a determined captain backed by a
strong and courageous crew. If, however, Your Excellency chances to be
ignorant as to those possibilities--which I can scarcely believe--her
captain, who, as I understand, is at present in your city, will
doubtless inform you that her armament is sufficiently powerful and
complete to destroy Panama in the course of a few hours. To prevent any
such unpleasant contingency as that, I therefore have to request that
Your Excellency will do me the honour to visit me on board the ship
before the hour of noon this day, to treat with me respecting the
immediate surrender of the seventeen Englishmen already referred to.
"Failure to comply with this request will be followed by an immediate
bombardment of the city, greatly as I shall regret the unnecessary
sacrifice of life and property.
"I kiss Your Excellency's hands and feet,--
"And have the honour to be
"Your Excellency's most humble and obedient servant,--
"George Saint Leger."
Having read over this letter and _come to_ the conclusion that it pretty
clearly expressed all that he at that moment desired to say to the
Governor of Panama, George made a further rummage of the cabin and,
having at length found a sheet of paper large enough for his purpose, he
took a pen and, dipping the feather of it in ink, proceeded laboriously
to print upon it, in Spanish, a proclamation to the citizens of Panama,
informing them that he, George Saint Leger, having certain differences
to settle with His Excellency the Governor of the city, had, as a
preliminary, captured the _Cristobal Colon_, to which ship he had
summoned the Governor, before the hour of noon, for the purpose of a
conference; and that, failing obedience on the Governor's part, the city
would be bombarded. He therefore exhorted all citizens who were anxious
to escape the horrors of a bombardment to use their influence with the
Governor in order to persuade him to attend on board the galleon before
the hour named.
This done, the young captain extinguished the lamp, the rays of which
were already being dimmed by the daylight pouring down through the
skylight and in through the side ports, and ascended to the poop to take
a look round. As he stepped out on deck through the companion he
perceived that the weather had again changed; the dark clouds which had
been sweeping athwart the sky while he and his followers were making the
passage from the shore to the ship had vanished, leaving a sky of deep,
rich, stainless blue, brightening into clear primrose to the eastward
over the summits of the sierras which stood out purple, sharp, and
clean-cut against the delicate yellow that was changing, even as he
looked, to a clear, warm orange before the approach of the risen but as
yet invisible sun. The fresh breeze of a few hours before had dwindled
away to a mere breathing, while inshore it had fallen a flat calm,
leaving five small craft--probably bound for the Pearl Islands, some
forty miles to the southward and eastward--idly swinging upon the low
ground swell in the midst of the reflected image of the town and the
hilly country behind it. A few pale blue wreaths of wood smoke were
rising straight up into the clear morning air here and there over the
roofs of the houses, showing that the early cup of chocolate was already
in course of preparation for the luxury-loving Panamans, or possibly it
might indicate that the working portion of the population were preparing
their breakfast; and, peering through his perspective glass, George
could see that the quay was already the scene of a considerable amount
of animation. The young man laughed quietly to himself as the thought
occurred to him that possibly some at least of the animation might be
due to the fact that certain persons were busily engaged in an attempt
to discover what had become of their missing boats. Then the upper limb
of the sun throbbed suddenly into view over the ridge of the sierras,
flashing like white-hot gold, a beam of golden light shot down the
wooded slopes, a multitude of hitherto invisible objects sprang suddenly
into view, and a new day had come to Panama. Meanwhile the calm had
imperceptibly spread outward from the shore until it extended a good
mile beyond the galleon, where it ended abruptly against a dark blue
line showing where the sea-breeze was struggling to conquer the calm and
force its way shoreward.
George now turned his attention to matters nearer at hand, and allowed
his gaze to wander over the galleon's spacious decks. They were
disgracefully dirty, speaking of the lax discipline that had been
permitted to prevail by the easy-going officers of the ship, and he gave
a sharp order which presently brought all hands on deck, considerably
refreshed, as he could see, by even the short spell of rest which they
had enjoyed. Scrubbing brushes, mops, and buckets were searched for and
found; and a few minutes later the decks were undergoing such a vigorous
process of cleansing as they had not known for many a day. Then, as the
planking rapidly dried in the hot rays of the sun, the baggage which the
adventurers had brought with them across the isthmus was unpacked and,
as the hour of eight boomed out from the Cathedral, Saint George's Cross
was run up on the ensign staff of the galleon! A few fishing-boats were
by this time returning to the harbour, and one of these George hailed
and ordered alongside. The crew were negroes, and they gaped in open-
mouthed astonishment as they passed through the entry port and beheld
the decks alive with lithe, active seamen, florid-faced beneath the
bronze of their skins, and most unquestionably foreigners. They
hazarded no remarks, however, nor--to do them justice--did they exhibit
any very great amount of alarm; they were doubtless slaves, animated by
a whole-hearted hatred of their Spanish masters, and if the truth could
been have arrived at they were probably by no means sorry to find that
so fine a ship had fallen into the hands of men who were obviously
enemies of the hated Spaniard. They took, with extravagant thanks, the
gold which George offered them, and vowed to faithfully perform the
service which the young captain demanded of them in return, which was,
first to affix, in the most prominent position they could find in the
market place, the Proclamation which he had prepared; and, secondly, to
deliver at the Governor's house the letter addressed to that
functionary, with which he entrusted them. Then, as soon as the
fishermen had departed, all hands except the anchor watch went to
breakfast.
Breakfast over, the sail-trimmers, under the boatswain, were sent round
the decks to inspect and acquaint themselves thoroughly with the running
rigging of the galleon, some of which was rove and led in a fashion
different from that in vogue in English ships of the time, in order that
they might know exactly where to lay their hands upon any required
halliard, sheet, tack, brail, or downhaul in the darkest night; and
while this was being done the guns' crew, under Barker, the gunner,
carefully overhauled all the ordnance, great and small, and satisfied
themselves that every piece was ready for immediate service. This done,
the ordnance was loaded with a full powder charge, and a considerable
quantity of shot of various kinds was sent up on deck, ready for
immediate use; for George knew not how his message might be received by
the Governor, and he was determined to be prepared for anything and
everything that could possibly happen.
While these things were being done, Dyer the pilot, for want of
something better to do, amused himself by studying the city generally
through George's perspective glass; and after he had done so pretty
thoroughly he approached his young captain with a suggestion.
"Cap'n," he said, "while you've been busy wi' Barker, there, about the
ordnance, I've been starin' at the town through thicky glass o' yours,
and the thought have comed to me that if we're goin' to be obliged to
bombard, we're anchored in the wrong place. We ought to be lyin'
somewhere over there, a bit more to the east'ard, and a li'l bit closer
inshore. So far 's I can make out, there's a gurt wide street runnin'
right down to the shore yonder, just in a line wi' thicky big white
house atop of the hill; and if we was anchored in line wi' thicky
street, our shot 'd sweep un from end to end and, unless I be greatly
mistaken, would play havoc wi' some of they big buildin's, the tops of
which you can see over t'other houses, and which I thinks may be
Gov'ment buildin's of some sort--ay, and I be right, too, for, look 'e
there, dashed if they ain't hoistin' the Spanish flag upon the biggest
of 'em now."
George took the glass and carefully studied the buildings indicated by
Dyer, and soon came to the conclusion that the pilot was correct in
surmising them to be Government buildings, for as Dyer had said, there
was the golden flag of Spain floating from a flagstaff surmounting the
most imposing of the group, which was undoubtedly Government House. But
why had the flag only just now been hoisted? Had the fact any
significance, or was it merely due to the neglect or forgetfulness of
some subordinate official? For it was now close upon ten o'clock, and
if the flag was hoisted daily, as of course it should be over a
Government building, it ought to have been hoisted nearly two hours ago.
And if the Spaniards had grown into the lazy habit of not hoisting it
every day, why had they taken the trouble to do so on this particular
morning? Was it done to indicate the defiance of George's threat?--for
the latter had no doubt that his letter had by this time reached Don
Silvio's hands.
He considered the matter for a few moments, and presently came to the
conclusion that if the hoisting of the flag was intended to convey Don
Silvio's defiance, it could do no harm to reply to it by shifting his
berth to a spot more convenient than the present one for the purpose of
a bombardment; he had very little doubt that the significance of the
movement would be fully understood not only by Don Silvio, but also by
the townsfolk generally; and he held the belief that in dealing with an
antagonist it is always well to make it clear to him at the outset that
you are in deadly earnest and mean every word you say. He had known
cases where quarrels had assumed a most serious and irreconcilable form
simply because each party had believed the other to be pretending to be
more in earnest than he really was. Therefore, since the men were now
doing nothing particular and it would be an advantage to them to acquire
a working knowledge of their new ship as early as possible, George
issued an order for the canvas to be loosed and the cable to be hove
short preparatory to getting the galleon under way.
This was done with very commendable celerity by the men, considering
that they were quite new to the ship; and in about twenty minutes the
great hempen cable was "up and down," and the sail-trimmers were sent to
the sheets and halliards to sheet home and hoist away. Five minutes
later the anchor was out of the ground and the _Cristobal Colon_ was
adrift and canting.
It was at this moment that Basset, the captain of soldiers, who had in
turn been amusing himself with George's glass, shouted:
"Do 'e see that. Captain? Thicky galley that we passed in harbour last
night, her be comin' out. Do 'e think she'm comin' to attack we?"
"Maybe," answered George. "I can't tell. But whether she be or not, we
must be ready for her. For she must not be allowed to escape. If she
is not sent to attack us, she must be going in search of assistance; and
we must not allow her to slip past us if we can possibly help it. Let
me have that glass, if you please, and, Mr Basset, get your men under
arms forthwith."
Basset handed over the glass and ran down the poop ladder, shouting as
he went for the soldiers to don their armour, take their weapons, and
proceed to their several fighting stations. Meanwhile George took the
glass and carefully inspected the galley. She was coming out under the
impulse of her oars alone, which looked very much as though she had been
dispatched to re-take the galleon, since the wind was fair for her out
of the Gulf, and she would at once set her sail if she were bound upon a
long voyage. He saw that her forecastle was crowded with soldiers, and
that on that same forecastle she carried a culverin round which were
grouped the gun's crew, while behind it stood the gunner with linstock
in hand. Then, looking beyond these, he descried upon the vessel's poop
other soldiers, in the midst of which stood a group of some ten or
twelve officers in complete armour, with their drawn swords in their
hands. The galley was steering as though to intercept the galleon,
which had by this time gathered way and was moving somewhat ponderously
through the water.
"She means to attack us," muttered George to himself as he lowered his
glass from his eye. Then he flung a quick glance round his own decks,
and saw that every eye was anxiously fixed upon him, awaiting his next
order. He turned to the helmsman.
"Keep her away a point and get good way upon her," he ordered. "I may
want to tack presently, and it will not do for us to miss stays, with
that galley watching for a chance to dash in upon us."
Then he faced about to his crew and shouted for the gunner. "Mr
Barker," he said, "I am of opinion that yonder galley intends to attack
us. But if she does not, we must attack and take her. I do not want
her sunk, if it can be helped, for some of those for whom we are seeking
may be aboard her; therefore our endeavour must be to sweep her decks
clear of soldiers; and in order to do that I will have every piece of
ordnance, both great and small, loaded with bullets, bags of nails, and
any langrage that you can most readily lay hands upon. See to it at
once, for in less than ten minutes she will be alongside. Sail-
trimmers, to your stations! And archers, be ready to pour in a flight
of arrows at short range."
The galley, with the flag of Spain fluttering at her ensign staff, and a
banner, bearing some emblazonment which George could not very well
distinguish, streaming from her masthead, suddenly ceased pulling, the
slaves resting upon their oars and raising the dripping blades high
above the water; and a few seconds later a puff of white smoke burst
from her bows, the report of her culverin boomed across the water, and
the shot flew whirring athwart the galleon's bows, striking the water
some twenty yards to leeward. Then, as George brought his glass to bear
upon her, her oars once more dipped, while the gun's crew could be seen
upon the forecastle busily engaged in reloading their piece.
Saint Leger heaved a sigh of relief. "Thank God!" he murmured. "That
shot clears up the last shred of doubt as to her intentions; and now we
know where we are, and what we have to do."
The chaplain appeared at his elbow and touched him lightly on the arm.
"She's going to fight us, isn't she, Cap'n?" he said. "Is it your
pleasure that the crew go to prayers?"
"To prayers?" reiterated George. "With that galley within a quarter of
a mile of us? There is no time for that, now, Sir Thomas. We shall be
engaged within the next two minutes, therefore you must e'en go to
prayers on behalf of all hands, while we do the fighting."
"I'll do both," retorted the chaplain; "I'll pray first and fight
a'terwards!" And therewith he removed his cap, sank down upon his
knees--those of the crew who happened to see him also uncovering--
murmured a few words, and then, rising to his feet, calmly seized a long
bow and a quiverful of arrows, drew a shaft from the quiver, fitted it
to the string, and prepared to do his part manfully in the impending
fight.
Meanwhile those in the galley seemed somewhat undecided as to what to
do. Like the rest of her class she was fitted at the bow with a
powerful beak or ram, just level with the surface of the water, the
office of which was to pierce an enemy's ship about the water-line and
so cause such a serious leak as to effectually distract the attention of
the defenders. But in the present case there appeared to be some
hesitation with regard to the adoption of this mode of attack, and
George soon came to the conclusion that the galleon's cargo--the nature
of which he had not yet found time to investigate--must be so enormously
rich that the Spaniards were unwilling to risk its loss by ramming her.
Certainly they did not at the moment appear to contemplate such a
manoeuvre, for instead of pulling with all their strength, in order to
get good way upon the galley, so that she might strike an effective
blow, the slaves were doing little more than just give her steerage way.
And seeing this, George suddenly determined upon a bold step. To cross
a galley's bows was, under ordinary circumstances, simply to invite
disaster, but noting the apparent hesitation of the galley's captain,
Saint Leger determined to risk it in the present case; therefore, first
signing to the helmsman to keep the ship away a trifle more, he turned
to his crew and shouted: "Gunners, depress the muzzles of your pieces
sufficiently to sweep yonder galley's deck, and fire just so soon as you
can be sure to hit her. I am going to risk crossing her bows. Archers,
stand ready to discharge your shafts. And let the waits play up `Ye
gallant sons of Devon.' If so be that there are any English among the
galley-slaves, 'twill hearten the poor souls up a bit to know that some
of their own countrymen be close at hand."
And therewith the waits--some half a dozen instrumentalists--launched
forth with an air that was at that time as familiar to every Devon man
as his own name, though it is nearly if not quite forgotten now. Ten
seconds later, every man on the galleon's decks, from George downward,
was shouting the fine old song at the top of his voice, the melody going
far out over the water and causing the haughty Dons on the galley's poop
to stare in amazement.
Almost at the same instant the galley's culverin spoke again. This time
the piece was aimed to hit, and it did so, piercing the galleon's
larboard poop bulwark and passing so close to George's head that he
distinctly felt the wind of it, while a big splinter from the bulwark
not only knocked off his steel headpiece, but also scored his scalp so
shrewdly that in a moment he was almost blinded by the blood that
streamed down into his eyes. The force of the blow caused him to
stagger for a moment, and three or four men stationed at the smaller
ordnance on the poop rushed toward him, fearing that he was badly hurt.
But with a smile he ordered them back to their stations as he wiped the
blood out of his eyes with his kerchief, and the next instant a loud
twanging of bowstrings told that the archers had got to work. A final
glance at the galley showed George that her oarsmen were still pulling
slow and that there was ample room for the galleon to cross her bows; he
therefore signed to the helmsman and the great ship went surging past,
while her ordnance, great and small, belched forth a perfect tornado of
bullets, nails, jagged fragments of iron and what not upon the deck of
the devoted craft. When the smoke cleared away it was seen that the
oars were drooping motionless in the water, and that of all that great
crowd who a moment earlier stood upon her deck, scarcely a paltry dozen
still remained upright. That terrific storm of missiles had most
effectually done its work.
On the after deck but one solitary officer, clad in a complete suit of
splendid armour, and with the hilt of his broken sword in his hand,
stood among a heap of slain, and, seeing him, George sprang up on the
rail of the galleon and hailed him:
"Do you surrender, senor, _a buena guerra_?" he demanded.
"What else can I do, senor, seeing that you have slain the whole of my
crew with your infernal broadside?" he demanded. "Yes, senor," he
continued, "I surrender the ship, but I am disgraced for ever, and I
will not increase my humiliation by becoming your prisoner."
And therewith he calmly walked to the side of the galley and
deliberately sprang overboard, sinking instantly, of course.
The Cruise of the "Nonsuch" Buccaneer--by Harry Collingwood
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN.
HOW GEORGE FOUND HIS BROTHER.
"So much for Spanish pride!" muttered George to himself as he gazed
thoughtfully at the little ring of foam and the few bubbles which alone
marked the spot where the officer had disappeared. Then he stepped down
off the rail and gave orders for the galleon to be hove-to.
Next came the order to "Out boats"; and when four of them had been
lowered and brought to the gangway, George instructed Basset to take
command of one, the boatswain of another, the armourer of the third, and
announced his intention to himself command the fourth, leaving Dyer, the
pilot, in temporary command of the ship. Every man told off to go in
the boats of course went armed to the teeth, for the galley-slaves were
known to be, as a rule, desperate characters, and George was already
beginning to feel not a little puzzled as to how he was to deal with
this batch, now that he had them. A few strokes of the oars sufficed to
carry the boats alongside the galley, the long sweeps of which had
meanwhile been laid in, and in another moment the Englishmen had
scrambled up the craft's low sides and stood upon her deck.
She was a vessel of about forty tons measurement, very long and shallow
in proportion to her beam, with full deck forward and aft, and narrow
wash-boards on either side connecting the two, the remainder of her
being open, the open portion protected from the sea by coamings all
round about a foot high. And down in this open portion of the vessel
were the galley-slaves, naked as the day they were born, and each
chained to the bench upon which he sat. A gang-plank ran fore and aft
of this space along the centre line of the ship, for the accommodation
of the boatswains, usually two in number, whose duty it was to
continually walk fore and aft, while the ship was under way, keeping a
watchful eye upon the slaves, and stimulating them to exert themselves
to the utmost, when working the sweeps, by free and unmerciful
application of the whip to their naked bodies. The slaves were kept
chained to their benches for days, and often for weeks, at a time; they
toiled, ate, drank, and slept thus chained; and their condition and that
of the interior which contained them may therefore be left to the
imagination of the reader.
A moment's glance along the galley's deck sufficed to reveal to the
Englishmen the devastating effect which that single broadside of
langrage had wrought upon the unfortunate craft's crew. It had been
fired at such close range that the missiles had only spread just
sufficiently to include the entire range of the deck in its destructive
sweep, and as the new arrivals gazed in amazement at the deep scores
ploughed in the deck planking by the storm of iron and lead, running in
a general direction fore and aft, and so close together that in some
cases it was scarcely possible to lay a finger between them, the wonder
was not that so many of the crew had been smitten down, but that there
were any survivals at all. A glance down into the well, however,
revealed the fact that the slaves, seated well below the level of the
deck, and further protected by the stout coamings, had escaped almost
scot-free.
Hastily directing Basset to see to the securing of the few unhurt
prisoners, and to separate the wounded from the dead, George ran along
the wash-board to the after deck and from this descended by a short
flight of steps to the gang-plank running fore and aft the length of the
well.
"Are there any Englishmen aboard this galley?" he demanded.
"Ay, that there be; eleven of us--or was, avore you fired upon us,"
answered a voice. "I'm afeared you've a-killed one or two of us down
here, but what do that matter so long as you've a-comed to deliver the
rest of us out of this here floatin' hell, as, thanks be to God
Almighty, you have, I do suppose."
"You are right, lad, we have," answered George, cheerily. "And who may
you be?" he continued, a slight twang of his Devonshire dialect creeping
into his speech in his excitement.
"I? Why I be Joe Cary, to Plymouth; and I was took a year ago at San
Juan de Ulua, along wi' some others, when we put in there, under Admiral
Hawkins, to refit. We've--"
"Tell me, quick, man," interrupted George. "Do you know anything of the
whereabouts of a Mr Hubert Saint Leger, who was with Captain Drake in
that affair?"