"Out of the frying-pan into the fire," said Marcial, when they laid
him down on deck. "However, when the captain commands the men must
obey. _Rayo_ is an unlucky name for this cursed ship. They say she
will be in Cadiz by midnight, and I say she won't. We shall see what
we shall see."
"What do you say, Marcial? we shall not get in?" I asked in much
alarm.
"You, master Gabrielito, you know nothing about such matters," said
he.
"But when Don Alonso and the officers of the _Santa Ana_ say that the
_Rayo_ will get in to-night.... She must get in when they say she
will."
"Do not you know, you little landlubber, that the gentlemen of the
quarter-deck are far more often mistaken than we are in the fo'castle?
If not, what was the admiral of the fleet about?--_Mr. Corneta_--devil
take him! You see he had not brains enough to work a fleet. Do you
suppose that if _Mr. Corneta_ had asked my advice we should have lost
the battle?"
"And you think we shall not get into Cadiz?"
"I say this old ship is as heavy as lead itself and not to be trusted
either. She rides the sea badly and will not answer her helm. Why, she
is as lop-sided and crippled as I am! If you try to put her to port
off she goes to starboard."
In point of fact the _Rayo_ was considered by all as bad a ship as
ever sailed. But in spite of that, in spite of her advanced age--for
she had been afloat nearly fifty-six years--as she was still sound she
did not seem to be in any danger though the gale increased in fury
every minute, for we were almost close to port. At any rate, did it
not stand to reason that the _Santa Ana_ was in greater jeopardy,
dismasted and rudderless, in tow of a frigate?
Marcial was carried to the cock-pit and Malespina to the captain's
cabin. When we had settled him there, with the rest of the wounded
officers, I suddenly heard a voice that was familiar to me though for
the moment I could not identify it with any one I knew. However, on
going up to the group whence the stentorian accents proceeded,
drowning every other voice, what was my surprise at recognizing Don
José Maria Malespina! I ran to tell him that his son was on board, and
the worthy parent at once broke off the string of rodomontade that he
was pouring forth and flew to the wounded man. His delight was great
at finding him alive; he had come out of Cadiz because he could no
longer endure the suspense and he must know what had become of his boy
at any cost.
"Why your wound is a mere trifle," he said, embracing his son. "A mere
scratch! But you are not used to wounds; you are quite a mollycoddle,
Rafael. Oh, if only you had been old enough to go with me to fight in
Rousillon! You would have learnt there what wounds are--something like
wounds! Do you know a ball hit me in the fleshy part of the arm, ran
up to my shoulder and then right round the shoulder blade and out by
the belt. A most extraordinary case, that was. But in three days I was
all right again and commanding the artillery at Bellegarde." He went
on to give the following account of his presence on board the _Rayo_.
"We knew the issue of the battle at Cadiz, by the evening of the 21st.
I tell you, gentlemen--no one would listen to me when I talked of
reforming our artillery and you see the consequences. Well, as soon as
I knew the worst and had learnt that Gravina had come in with a few
ships I went to see if the _San Juan Nepomuceno_, on board which you
were, was one of them; but they told me she had been captured. You
cannot imagine my anxiety; I could hardly doubt that you were dead,
particularly when I heard how many had been killed on board your ship.
However, I am one of those men who must follow a matter up to the end,
and knowing that some of the ships in port were preparing to put out
to sea in hope of picking up derelicts and rescuing captured vessels,
I determined to set out without a moment's delay and sail in one of
them. I explained my wishes to Solano and then to the Admiral in
command, my old friend Escaño, and after some hesitation they allowed
me on board. I embarked this morning, and enquired of every one in the
_Rayo_ for some news of you and of the _San Juan_, but I could get no
comfort; nay, quite the contrary, for I heard that Churruca was killed
and that his ship, after a glorious defence, had struck to the enemy.
You may fancy my anxiety. How far was I from supposing this morning,
when we rescued the _Santa Ana_, that you were on board! If I had but
known it for certain I would have redoubled my efforts in the orders I
issued--by the kind permission of these gentlemen; Alava's ship should
have been free in two minutes."
The officers who were standing round us looked at each other with a
shrug as they heard Don José's last audacious falsehood. I could
gather from their smiles and winks that he had afforded them much
diversion all day with his vainglorious fictions, for the worthy
gentleman could put no bridle on his indefatigable tongue, even under
the most critical and painful circumstances.
The surgeon now said that his patients ought to be left to rest and
that there must be no conversation in their presence, particularly no
reference to the recent disaster. Don José Maria, however,
contradicted him flatly, saying that it was good to keep their spirits
up by talking to them.
"In the war in Rousillon," he added, "those who were badly
wounded--and I was several times--sent for the soldiers to dance and
play the guitar in the infirmary; and I am very certain that this
treatment did more to cure us than all your plasters and dosing."
"Yes, and in the wars with the French Republic," said an Andalusian
officer who wanted to trump Don José's trick, "it was a regular thing
that a _corps de ballet_ should be attached to the ambulance corps,
and an opera company as well. It left the surgeons and apothecaries
nothing to do, for a few songs, and a short course of pirouettes and
capers set them to rights again, as good as new."
"Come, come!" cried Malespina, "this is too much. You do not mean to
say that music and dancing can heal a wound?"
"You said so."
"Yes, but that was only once and it is not likely to occur again.
Perhaps you think it not unlikely that we may have such another war as
that in Rousillon? The most bloody, the best conducted, the most
splendidly planned war since the days of Epaminondas! Certainly not.
Every thing about it was exceptional; and you may believe me when I
say it, for I was in the thick of it, from the Introit to the last
blessing. It is to my experience there that I owe my knowledge of
artillery--did you never hear me spoken of? I am sure you must
recognize my name. Well, you must know that I have in my head a
magnificent scheme, and if one of these days it is only realized we
shall hear of no more disasters like that of the 21st. Yes,
gentlemen," he said, looking round at the three or four officers who
were listening, with consummate gravity and conceit: "Something must
be done for the country. Something must be devised--something
stupendous, to recoup us at once for our losses and secure victory to
our fleets for ever and ever, Amen."
"Let us hear, Don José," said one of the audience. "Explain your
scheme to us."
"Well, I am devoting my mind to the construction of 300-pounders."
"Three-hundred-pounders!" cried the officers with shouts of laughter
and derision. "Why, the largest we carry is a 36-pounder."
"Mere toys! Just imagine the ruin that would be dealt by a 300-pound
gun fired into the enemy's fleet," said Malespina. "But what the devil
is that?" he added putting out his hand to keep himself from falling,
for the _Rayo_ rolled so heavily that it was very difficult for any
one to keep his feet.
"The gale is stiffening and I doubt our getting into Cadiz to-night,"
said one of the officers moving away. The worthy man had now but two
listeners, but he proceeded with his mendacious harangue all the same.
"The first thing must be to build a ship from 95 to 100 yards in
length."
"The Devil you will! That would be a snug little craft with a
vengeance!" said one of the officers. "A hundred yards! Why the
_Trinidad_--God rest her--was but seventy and everybody thought her
too long. She did not sail well you know and was very difficult to
handle."
"It does not take much to astonish you I see," Malespina went on.
"What is a hundred yards? Why, much larger ships than that might be
built. And you must know that I would build her of iron."
"Of iron!" and his listeners went into fits of laughter.
"Yes sir, of iron. Perhaps you are not familiar with the science of
hydrostatics? There can be no difficulty in building an iron ship of
7000 tons."
"And the _Trinidad_ was of 4000! and that was too big. But do you not
see that in order to move such a monster you would want such gigantic
tackle that no human power could work it?"
"Not a bit of it!--Besides, my good sir, who told you that I was so
stupid as to think that I could trust to the wind alone to propel my
ship? If you knew--I have an idea.--But I do not care to explain my
scheme to you for you would not understand me."
At this point of his discourse Don José was so severely shaken that he
fell on all fours. But not even this could stop his tongue. Another of
his audience walked away, leaving only one who had to listen and to
keep up the conversation.
"What a pitching and tossing," said the old man. "I should not wonder
if we were driven on shore.--Well, as I was saying--I should move my
monster by an invention of my own--can you guess what?--By steam. To
this end I should construct a peculiar kind of machine in which the
steam, expanding and contracting alternately inside two cylinders,
would put certain wheels in motion; then...."
The officer would listen no longer, and though he had no commission on
board the ship nor any fixed duty, being one of the rescued, he went
off to assist in working the ship, which was hard enough to do as the
tempest increased. Malespina was left alone with me for an audience,
and at first I thought he would certainly cease talking, not thinking
me capable of sustaining the conversation. But, for my sins, it would
seem that he credited me with more merit than I could lay claim to,
for he turned to me and went on:
"You understand what I mean? Seven thousand tons, and steam working
two wheels, and then...."
"Yes señor, I understand you perfectly," I replied, to see if he would
be silent, for I did not care to hear him, nor did the violent motion
of the ship which threatened us with immediate peril at all incline my
mind to dissertations on the aggrandizement of the Spanish navy.
"I see," he continued, "that you know how to appreciate me and value
my inventions. You see at once that such a ship as I describe would
be invincible, and as available for attack as for defence. With four
or five discharges it could rout thirty of the enemy's ships."
"Would not their cannon do it some damage?" I asked timidly, and
speaking out of civility rather than from any interest I felt in the
matter.
"Your observation is a very shrewd one my little gentleman, and proves
that you really appreciate my great invention. But to avoid injury
from the enemy's guns I should cover my ship with thick plates of
steel. I should put on it a breastplate, in fact, such as warriors
wore of old. With this protection it could attack the foe, while their
projectiles would have no more effect on its sides than a broadside of
bread-pills flung by a child. It is a wonderful idea I can tell you,
this notion of mine. Just fancy our navy with two or three ships of
this kind! What would become of the English fleet then, in spite of
its Nelsons and Collingwoods?"
"But they might make such ships themselves," I returned eagerly and
feeling the force of this argument. "The English would do the same,
and then the conditions of the battle would be equal again."
Don José was quite dumbfounded by this suggestion and for a minute
did not know what to say, but his inexhaustible imagination did not
desert him for long and he answered, but somewhat crossly:
"And who said, impertinent boy, that I should be such a fool as to
divulge the secret so that the English might learn it? These ships
would be constructed in perfect secrecy without a word being whispered
even to any one. Suppose a fresh war were to break out. We should defy
the English: 'Come on, gentlemen,' we should say, 'we are ready, quite
ready.' The common ships would put out to sea and begin the action
when lo and behold! out come two or three of these iron monsters into
the thick of the fight, vomiting steam and smoke and turning here and
there without troubling themselves about the wind; they go wherever
they are wanted, splintering the wooden sides of the enemy's ships by
the blows of their sharp bows, and then with a broadside or two.... It
would all be over in a quarter of an hour."
I did not care to raise any further difficulties for the conviction
that our vessel was in the greatest danger quite kept my mind from
dwelling on ideas so inappropriate to our critical situation. In fact,
I never thought again of the monster ship of the old man's fancy till
thirty years after when we first heard of the application of steam to
purposes of navigation; and again when, half-way through the century,
our fine frigate the _Numancia_ actually realized the extravagant
dreams of the braggart of Trafalgar.
Half a century later I remembered Don José Maria Malespina and I said:
"He seemed to us a bombastic liar; but conceptions which are
extravagant in one place and time, when born in due season become
marvellous realities! And since living to see this particular instance
of the fact, I have ceased to think any Utopia impossible, and the
greatest visionaries seem to me possible men of genius."
I left Don José in the cabin and ascended the companion-way, to see
what was going forward, and as soon as I was on deck I understood the
dangerous situation of the _Rayo_. The gale not only prevented her
getting into Cadiz, but was driving her towards the coast where she
must inevitably be wrecked on the rocky shore. Melancholy as was the
fate of the abandoned _Santa Ana_ it could not be more desperate than
ours. I looked with dismay into the faces of the officers and crew to
see if I could read hope in any one of them, but despair was written
in all. I glanced at the sky--it was black and awful; I gazed at the
sea--it was raging with fury. God was our only hope--and He had shown
us no mercy since the fatal 21st!
The _Rayo_ was running northwards. I could understand, from what I
heard the men about me saying, that we were driving past the reef of
Marajotes--past Hazte Afuera--Juan Bola--Torregorda, and at last past
the entrance to Cadiz. In vain was every effort made to put her head
round to enter the bay. The old ship, like a frightened horse, refused
to obey; the wind and waves carried her on, due north, with
irresistible fury and science could do nothing to prevent it.
We flew past the bay, and could make out to our right, Rota, Punta
Candor, Punta de Meca, Regla and Chipiona. There was not a doubt that
the _Rayo_ must be driven on shore, close to the mouth of the
Guadalquivir. I need hardly say that the sails were close reefed and
that as this proved insufficient in such a furious tempest the
topmasts were lowered; at last it was even thought necessary to cut
away the masts to prevent her from foundering. In great storms a ship
has to humble herself, to shrink from a stately tree to a lowly plant;
and as her masts will no more yield than the branches of an oak, she
is under the sad necessity of seeing them amputated and losing her
limbs to save her life.
The loss of the ship was now inevitable. The main and mizzen-masts
were cut through and sent overboard, and our only hope was that we
might be able to cast anchor near the coast. The anchors were got
ready and the chains and cables strengthened. We were now running
right on shore, and two cannon were fired as a signal that we wanted
help; for as we could clearly distinguish fires we kept up our hope
that there must be some one to come to our rescue. Some were of
opinion that a Spanish or English ship had already been wrecked here
and that the fires we saw had been lighted by the destitute crew. Our
anxiety increased every instant, and as for myself I firmly believed
that I was face to face with a cruel death. I paid no attention to
what was doing on board, being much too agitated to think of anything
but my end, which seemed inevitable. If the vessel ran on a rock, what
man could swim through the breakers that still divided us from the
coast? The most dangerous spot in a storm is just where the waves are
hurled revolving against the shore, as if they were trying to scoop it
out and drag away whole tracts of earth into the gulfs below. The blow
of a wave as it dashes forward and its gluttonous fury as it rushes
back again, is such as no human strength can stand against.
At last, after some hours of mortal anguish, the keel of the _Rayo_
came upon a sand bank and there she stuck. The hull and the remaining
masts shivered as she struck; she seemed to be trying to cut her way
through the obstacle; but it was too much for her; after heaving
violently for a few moments, her stern went slowly down with fearful
creaks and groans, and she remained steady. All was over now, nothing
remained to be done but to save ourselves by getting across the tract
of sea which separated us from the land. This seemed almost impossible
in the boats we had on board; our best hope was that they might send
us help from the shore, for it was evident that the crew of a lately
wrecked vessel was encamped there, and one of the government cutters,
which had been placed on the coast by the naval authorities for
service in such cases, must surely be in the neighborhood. The _Rayo_
fired again and again, and we watched with desperate impatience, for
if some succour did not reach us soon we must all go down in the ship.
The hapless crippled mass whose timbers had parted as she struck
seemed likely to hasten her end by the violence of her throes, and
the moment could not be far off when her ribs must fall asunder and we
should be left at the mercy of the waves with nothing to cling to but
the floating wreck.
Those on shore could do nothing for us, but by God's mercy our signal
guns were heard by a sloop which had put to sea at Chipiona and which
now approached us, keeping, however, at a respectful distance. As soon
as her broad mainsail came in view we knew that we were saved, and the
captain of the _Rayo_ gave orders to insure our all getting on board
without confusion in such imminent peril. My first idea, when I saw
the boats being got out, was to run to the two men who most interested
me on board: Marcial and young Malespina, both wounded, though
Marcial's was not a serious case. I found the young officer in a very
bad way and saying to the men around him: "I will not be moved--leave
me to die here."
Marcial had crawled up on deck and was lying on the planks so utterly
prostrate and indifferent that I was really terrified at his
appearance. He looked up as I went near him and taking my hand said in
piteous tones: "Gabrielillo, do not forsake me!"
"To land!" I cried trying to encourage him, "we are all going on
shore." But he only shook his head sadly as if he foresaw some
immediate disaster.
I tried to help him up, but after the first effort he let himself drop
as if he were dead. "I cannot," he said at length. The bandages had
come off his wound and in the confusion of our desperate situation no
one had thought of applying fresh ones. I dressed it as well as I
could, comforting him all the time with hopeful words; I even went so
far as to laugh at his appearance to see if that would rouse him. But
the poor old man could not smile; he let his head droop gloomily on
his breast, as insensible to a jest as he was to consolation. Thinking
only of him, I did not observe that the boats were putting off. Among
the first to be put on board were Don José Malespina and his son; my
first impulse had been to follow them in obedience to my master's
orders, but the sight of the wounded sailor was too much for me.
Malespina could not need me, while Marcial was almost a dead man and
still clung to my hand with his cold fingers, saying again and again:
"Gabrielillo, do not leave me."
The boats labored hard through the breakers, but notwithstanding, when
once the wounded had been moved the embarkation went forward rapidly,
the sailors flinging themselves in by a rope or taking a flying leap.
Several jumped into the water and saved themselves by swimming. It
flashed through my mind as a terrible problem, by which of these means
I could escape with my life, and there was no time to lose for the
_Rayo_ was breaking up; the after-part was all under water and the
cracking of the beams and timbers, which were in many places half
rotten, warned me that the huge hulk would soon cease to exist. Every
one was rushing to the boats, and the sloop, which kept at a safe
distance, very skilfully handled so as to avoid shipping water, took
them all on board. The empty boats came back at once and were filled
again in no time.
Seeing the helpless state in which Marcial was lying I turned,
half-choked with tears, to some sailors and implored them to pick him
up and carry him to a boat; but it was as much as they could do to
save themselves. In my desperation I tried to lift him and drag him to
the ship's side, but my small strength was hardly enough to raise his
helpless arms. I ran about the deck, seeking some charitable soul; and
some seemed on the point of yielding to my entreaties, but their own
pressing danger choked their kind impulses. To understand such
cold-blooded cruelty you must have gone through such a scene of
horror; every feeling of humanity vanishes before the stronger
instinct of self-preservation which becomes a perfect possession, and
sometimes reduces man to the level of a wild beast.
"Oh the wretches! they will do nothing to save you, Marcial," I cried
in bitter anguish.
"Let them be," he said. "They are the same at sea as on shore. But you
child, be off, run, or they will leave you behind." I do not know
which seemed to me the most horrible alternative--to remain on board
with the certainty of death, or to go and leave the miserable man
alone. At length, however, natural instinct proved the stronger and I
took a few steps towards the ship's side; but I turned back to embrace
the poor old man once more and then I ran as fast as I could to the
spot where the last men were getting into the boat. There were but
four, and when I reached the spot I saw that all four had jumped into
the sea and were swimming to meet the boat which was still a few yards
distant.
"Take me!" I shrieked, seeing that they were leaving me behind. "I am
coming too!--Take me too!"
I shouted with all my strength but they either did not hear or did not
heed me. Dark as it was, I could make out the boat and even knew when
they were getting into it, though I could hardly say that I saw them.
I was on the point of flinging myself overboard to take my chance of
reaching the boat when, at that very moment, it had vanished--there
was nothing to be seen but the black waste of waters. Every hope of
escape had vanished with it. I looked round in despair--nothing was
visible but the waves preying on what was left of the ship; not a star
in the sky, not a spark on shore--the sloop had sailed away.
Beneath my feet, which I stamped with rage and anguish, the hull of
the _Rayo_ was going to pieces, nothing remained indeed but the bows,
and the deck was covered with wreck; I was actually standing on a sort
of raft which threatened every moment to float away at the mercy of
the waves.
I flew back to Marcial. "They have left me, they have left us!" I
cried. The old man sat up with great difficulty, leaning on one hand
and his dim eyes scanned the scene and the darkness around us.
"Nothing...." he said. "Nothing to be seen; no boats, no land, no
lights, no beach.--They are not coming back!"
As he spoke a tremendous crash was heard beneath our feet in the
depths of the hold under the bows, long since full of water; the deck
gave a great lurch and we were obliged to clutch at a capstan to save
ourselves from falling into the sea. We could not stand up; the last
remains of the _Rayo_ were on the point of being engulfed. Still, hope
never forsakes us; and I, at any rate, consoled myself with the belief
that things might remain as they were now till day-break and with
observing that the fore-mast had not yet gone overboard. I looked up
at the tall mast, round which some tatters of sails and ends of ropes
still flapped in the wind, and which stood like a dishevelled giant
pointing heavenward and imploring mercy with the persistency of
despair; and I fully determined that if the rest of the hull sank
under water I would climb it for a chance of life.
Marcial laid himself down on the deck.
"There is no hope, Gabrielillo," he said. "They have no idea of coming
back, nor could they if they tried in such a sea. Well, since it is
God's will, we must both die where we are. For me, it matters not; I
am an old man, and of no use for any earthly thing.--But you, you are
a mere child and you...." But here his voice broke with emotion.
"You," he went on, "have no sins to answer for, you are but a child.
But I.... Still, when a man dies like this--what shall I say--like a
dog or a cat--there is no need, I have heard, for the priest to give
him absolution--all that is needed is that he should make his peace
himself with God. Have you not heard that said?"
I do not know what answer I made; I believe I said nothing, but only
cried miserably.
"Keep your heart up, Gabrielillo," he went on. "A man must be a man,
and it is at a time like this that you get to know the stuff you are
made of. You have no sins to answer for, but I have. They say that
when a man is dying and there is no priest for him to confess to, he
ought to tell whatever he has on his conscience to any one who will
listen to him. Well, I will confess to you Gabrielillo; I will tell
you all my sins, and I expect God will hear me through you and then he
will forgive me."
Dumb with terror and awe at the solemnity of his address, I threw my
arms round the old man who went on speaking.
"Well, I say, I have always been a Christian, a Catholic, Apostolic
Roman; and that I always was and still am devoted to the Holy Virgin
del Cármen, to whom I pray for help at this very minute; and I say too
that though for twenty years I have never been to confession nor
received the sacrament, it has not been my fault, but that of this
cursed service, and because one always puts it off from one Sunday to
the next. But it is a trouble to me now that I failed to do it, and I
declare and swear that I pray God and the Virgin and all the Saints to
punish me if it was my fault; for this year, if I have never been to
confession or communion, it was all because of those cursed English
that forced me to go to sea again just when I really meant to make it
up with the Church. I never stole so much as a pin's head, and I never
told a lie, except for the fun of it now and then. I repent of the
thrashings I gave my wife thirty years ago--though I think she rightly
deserved them, for her temper was more venomous than a scorpion's
sting. I never failed to obey the captain's order in the least thing;
I hate no one on earth but the 'great-coats,' and I should have liked
to see them made mince-meat of. However, they say we are all the
children of the same God, so I forgive them, and I forgive the French
who brought us into this war. I will say no more, for I believe I am
going--full sail. I love God and my mind is easy. Gabriel hold me
tight and stick close to me; you have no sins to answer for, you will
go straight away to Heaven to pipe tunes with the angels. Ah well, it
is better to die so, at your age, than to stay below in this wicked
world. Keep up your courage, boy, till the end. The sea is rising and
the _Rayo_ will soon be gone. Death by drowning is an easy one; do not
be frightened--stick close to me. In less than no time we shall be out
of it all; I answering to God for all my shortcomings, and you as
happy as a fairy, dancing through the star-paved heavens--and they
tell us happiness never comes to an end up there because it is
eternal, or, as they say, to-morrow and to-morrow and to-morrow, world
without end...."
He could say no more. I clung passionately to the poor mutilated body.
A tremendous sea swept over the bows and I felt the water dash against
my shoulder. I shut my eyes and fixed my thoughts on God. Then I lost
consciousness and knew no more.