At the commencement of the fight the pirate vessel had been manned by a
crew numbering well over one hundred men.
But now her dead lay upon her decks literally in heaps; and, alas! there
were also many English bodies lying among them. Only seventeen of the
crew of the _Black Pearl_ remained alive, among the survivors being Jose
Leirya himself. It was not due to cowardice, or any shrinking from
death on his own part, that he had survived the fight; on the contrary,
he had exhibited a fine degree of courage, and it was only by an
accident, for which he was in nowise responsible, that he was still
alive, and was now standing, with hands lashed behind his back, scowling
heavily at his captors. They, on their side, had suffered almost as
severely as the pirates, having lost an enormous number of men.
The coming of the sailors from the _Tiger_ in the nick of time it was
that had saved the day, and turned the tide of battle in favour of the
English. Roger and Harry had both had their senses trampled out of them
by the headlong rush of the boarders from that ship; but, as the
circumstance undoubtedly saved their lives, they were not greatly
disposed to grumble at it. Both had soon recovered, and, after
examining themselves to discover whether they were badly wounded or not,
were now engaged in exchanging confidences and experiences, and relating
to each other all that had occurred since their parting prior to the
wreck on the sand-bank of Isla de Corsarios.
The captured pirate, having been bound securely, were now consigned to
the care of an armed guard, who conducted them below to the hold and
bade them make themselves as comfortable as they could on the ship's
ballast.
The commodore then called the roll of the three vessels of his squadron,
and found that he had lost no fewer than one hundred and eighty men,
killed and wounded, in the engagement. As for the ships, the _Tiger_
was untouched, and the flag-ship practically intact, but the _Elizabeth_
had been somewhat severely mauled. Captain Cavendish's first
instructions were that the vessels should at once proceed to execute
such repairs as were necessary, in order that they should not be at a
disadvantage in the event of a storm overtaking them. But before even
this business could be undertaken came the disposal of the dead.
With so many slain to deal with, this was necessarily a brief business,
and was accomplished by the simple process of tossing the lifeless
bodies over the side, to find a last resting-place on the sand below,
if, indeed, the multitude of sharks that were swimming round and round
the four vessels did not intervene and otherwise arrange matters.
This unpleasant duty ended, the decks were washed down with water pumped
up from alongside, and all sanguinary traces of the recent conflict
obliterated. Then Cavendish sent the men who had performed these duties
to aid their fellow-seamen in effecting the necessary repairs to those
vessels that required them, whilst he and his officers made a tour of
inspection of the _Black Pearl_, to acquaint themselves thoroughly with
the vessel, and to secure her papers, arms, and ammunition, and any
valuables that might be on board her. Roger and Harry, having had a
brief chat, followed Mr Cavendish down the companion-ladder, and found
themselves in the vessel's main cabin. This was most beautifully fitted
up, evidently with the spoils which had been taken out of her numerous
captures; but beyond the confines of the captain's cabin the entire
vessel was filthily dirty, eloquently testifying to the objectionable
habits of the pirates; and everywhere they went they encountered
significant traces of the recent furious combat, in the shape of
splintered timbers, riven planking, blood splashes, gashes in the
wood-work from sword and axe-blade, holes made by cannon-shot--havoc and
destruction reigned supreme. But even this could not disguise the
barbaric splendour of the fittings and furniture of the ship. Rich
silken curtains were hung anywhere and everywhere where they could be
fastened; thick carpets from Turkey and Persia and India were strewn
wholesale on the soiled planking. Every available space on wall or
bulkhead was ornamented with some trophy or another. Stars of pistols,
swords, hangers, boarding-axes, and pikes were hung wherever there was
room for them. Roger noticed some pieces of exquisite and priceless old
tapestry beside the carriage of one of the main-deck guns, that had
probably served as a curtain, but was now torn down, trampled upon,
smeared with blood, and blackened with powder smoke. The officers of
the vessel had evidently each enjoyed a cabin to himself, furnished
according to the occupant's taste; and in every one there were articles
of enormous value, while the silken cushions, thick-piled carpets, and
dainty coverlets to the bunks might have led one to suppose that the
cabins had been inhabited by delicate ladies rather than by savage
pirates, to whom murder was an almost everyday occurrence. They all
exhibited, however, as might have been expected from such a crew, the
most execrable taste in arrangement. All the colours of the rainbow
were combined together, and every article seemed totally out of place in
all the apartments save that belonging to Jose Leirya himself.
The cabin belonging to the captain was situated at the stern of the
vessel, and for windows had two large openings leading out on to a
little stern gallery, where Jose could walk in privacy and be in the
open air. This cabin had received the full benefit of the raking fire
from the flag-ship, and presented a scene of lamentable destruction.
Instead of the two windows leading out on to the gallery there was now
an enormous gaping hole, the lower edge of which was within a
hand's-breadth of the water, which occasionally rippled in as the
schooner rose and fell upon the swell. The rich hangings of silk and
tapestry were pierced and rent; long gashes had been gouged out of the
floor by the round-shot; fragments of silver and gold statues and
candlesticks lay here and there scattered in confusion, and it was
evident that had a single living thing been in that cabin at the moment
when the broadside was delivered it could not possibly have escaped.
Yet, strangely enough, there were three splendid pictures hanging still
upon the cabin-walls absolutely uninjured, and these Cavendish gave
orders to be at once removed and sent on board his ship.
In a magnificently inlaid and ornamented bureau there were found all the
private papers belonging to Jose, together with the ship's log, both of
which provided, later, the most gruesome reading.
Of valuables there were none to be found in the drawers, or hidden away,
and Roger mentally decided that the man, for his own safety, had never
allowed valuables to accumulate on board the _Black Pearl_, but had
always transferred them, at the first opportunity that presented itself,
to his hiding-place at Lonely Inlet. But he kept his surmise to himself
and Harry.
The vessel's hold, which was next investigated, contained nothing of any
importance or value, and, in fact, the whole vessel yielded but small
return for their careful search.
The officers now returned to the deck, to find that it was once more
broad daylight; and each went back to his own vessel for breakfast.
Roger, having said good-bye to the captain and officers of the
_Elizabeth_, and thanked them for their kindness in taking him off the
island and afterwards, pushed off to the flag-ship with Mr Cavendish
and Harry. Jake Irwin and Walter Bevan, poor fellows, would rejoin
their shipmates no more. They had both fallen, fighting bravely, and
were now lying fathoms deep in the blue waters of the Caribbean Sea.
Little did they imagine, when they left the Isla de Corsarios the day
before, that death was so close to them!
After breakfast Cavendish called a council of officers in his own cabin,
to discuss the fate of the surviving pirates and their schooner.
The decision was soon made as to the pirates, and it was that they
should be hanged, one and all, from the yards of their own vessel. As
to the vessel herself, it took somewhat longer to arrive at an
agreement; but in view of the fact that she was little better than a
shattered wreck, and that, even if she were to be repaired, they had
lost so many hands that they could not very well spare the men to handle
her, it was finally decided that she should be destroyed.
This business settled, the council broke up, and the members of it went
on deck. The flag-ship's boats were then manned, and the officers of
the fleet went on board the schooner. Orders had meanwhile been given,
on board the vessels of the squadron, that their crews should turn up to
witness the execution. The captives were then brought up on deck, and
Cavendish himself read the sentence over to them, and bade them prepare
for death. They met the announcement with the utmost callousness. One
or two of them exchanged remarks in a low tone of voice, and one man was
actually heard to laugh outright. As for Jose Leirya, he heard the
sentence with absolute indifference, and, when asked whether he had
anything to say, answered not a word.
A whip was now rove from each of the fore yard-arms of the _Black
Pearl_, and a gun on the forecastle loaded with a blank charge. A
number of men were then detailed to run aft with the tail end of the
whip as soon as the noose should have been fitted round each man's neck.
Mr Cavendish decided that he would hang the captain first, so that
every survivor of his crew might witness the death of their leader.
All being now in readiness, four seamen walked up to Jose Leirya and,
stooping, cut the bonds that secured his feet. The pirate stood still
for a moment to allow the blood to circulate once more freely through
his limbs, and then, bound though his arms were, he wrenched himself
free from the grasp of the four seamen and made a furious dash towards
the side of his ship, actually succeeding in scrambling on to her
bulwark, with the evident intention of drowning himself, and thus
evading the indignity of death by hanging.
The seamen, however, who had been hurled right and left by his herculean
effort, closed upon him promptly, and, with very little ceremony, hauled
him off with violence, hurling him to the deck and themselves falling on
the top of him and holding him down with their weight. Yet once again
he succeeded in wrenching himself free from the men's clutches and,
staggering to his feet, made another dart for the ship's side. But he
was pounced upon again, and once more they all fell upon the deck
together.
A taunting laugh rang out from the group of bound ruffians who were
awaiting their fate, and stung the English sailors to madness. That one
man, and he partly bound, should keep four stalwart seamen at bay was
too much for their temper. They rushed at the pirate again, and this
time seized him securely; then, tripping him up, they slipped a running
bowline over his ankles and hauled it taut, thus rendering the man
helpless. Yet even then they could scarcely keep their grip on him, so
enormous was the strength with which he turned and twisted in their
grip.
At length, after an infinity of trouble, they succeeded in dragging him
to the forecastle; the running noose attached to the whip was brought up
to the pirate and slipped over his neck; Cavendish then gave the signal,
the gun was fired, the men holding the end of the whip ran aft, the
seamen holding the man sprang aside, and the pirate's body, still
struggling and writhing, went flying aloft, to stop presently with a
jerk as it reached the jewel-block, and dangle at the end of the fore
yard-arm, still plunging and struggling with such violence that the yard
itself fairly shook. It was some considerable time before the struggles
ceased. The body was allowed to hang a little longer, and then the rope
was cut, and the corpse plunged downward into the sea among the sharks,
whose clashing teeth and noisy splashes gave conclusive evidence as to
the whereabouts of the pirate's last resting-place.
The remainder of the ruffians betrayed not the slightest emotion at the
terrible fate of their leader, but went silently and calmly to their
doom, without struggling as their captain had done; and very soon the
dread ceremony was over, and the pirates had met their deserts.
The only matter that now remained was the destruction of the notorious
_Black Pearl_.
Powder and shot there were in plenty, on board the squadron; so Mr
Cavendish decided to give his ships' crews a little practice in gunnery.
By this time also the necessary repairs to the vessels engaged had been
executed, and all was now in readiness for the resumption of the cruise.
Sail was therefore made, and the vessels drew off to a distance of
about three-quarters of a mile, when they hove-to and began to practise
on the pirate vessel with their guns. The flag-ship was the first to
make a hit, which she did between wind and water with her bow-chaser.
The other vessels then got the range, and hulled the _Black Pearl_ with
nearly every shot.
Harry and Roger, once more together on the flag-ship, had already
recounted in detail all their adventures during the time that they were
separated, the one on the sand-bank and the other on the ship driven
away to leeward of the island by the storm. They were both now standing
amongst the crew of the bow-chaser gun, watching the effect of every
shot with the utmost interest; and Roger presently asked the captain of
the gun to allow him to have a shot. The man, who was much attached to
the lad by reason of many little acts of kindness received, made no
demur. The gun was reloaded, and Roger, with the firing-match in his
hand, cocked his eye along the chase of the piece, watching until the
heaving of the ship should bring the sights to bear on the hulk.
Presently the _Good Adventure_ dipped to a large wave, and Roger, who
was watching like a cat, applied the match. There came the sharp report
of the discharge, and, as the smoke swept away, the young man had the
satisfaction of seeing his shot strike the vessel right between wind and
water, just at the side of a hole where two others had penetrated. This
shot of his, of course, much enlarged the already large hole, through
which the water of the Caribbean was now pouring like a sluice; and it
was seen that the pirate vessel was on the point of foundering. Even as
they watched, the craft seemed to settle visibly deeper in the water,
and she rolled heavily two or three times. A few seconds later her
stern was seen to lift high and her bows to point downward; steeper and
steeper became the angle of her decks and then, with a slow forward
movement that quickly became a diving rush, she plunged to the bottom,
vanishing from their sight in a whirl and froth of water.
Such was the end of the _Black Pearl_! For years she had been the
terror of all the seas around the West Indies and the coasts of New
Spain. She had been a floating den of vice, murder, and every
conceivable form of infamy, and now her lawless and adventurous career
had terminated in her becoming a target for the guns of the avengers of
the evil she had wrought, while her captain and surviving crew had swung
from the yard-arm of their own vessel before she herself was destroyed.
Her career of murder and terror and destruction was ended at last, and
the evil spirit of those seas was laid.
All now being over, and it being no longer necessary to carry out their
original intention of scouring the Mexican Gulf for the pirate--chance
having so fortunately thrown him in their way,--it was decided to carry
out the other part of their programme; which, it will be remembered, was
to run to La Guayra and see whether there were any plate ships lying
there, and, if so, to endeavour to cut them out and capture them. A
course was therefore set, and the little squadron bore away to the
southward and eastward in the direction of that port.
Roger and Harry had now a little time to themselves, and, having so
recently witnessed the destruction of the pirate vessel and the
execution of her notorious captain, the conversation naturally enough
turned to the cipher which Roger had in his possession. He had already
acquainted his friend with the news that the marooned man, William
Evans, had given him an exact duplicate of the cipher that he had in his
possession, taken from the _Gloria del Mundo_, and the two lads now
seriously turned their attention to its translation. But again it
foiled them; they could make nothing of it. They did not wish to
communicate the fact of it being in their possession to any third
person, and ask his advice, knowing that a secret shared with others is
usually a secret no longer. So he and Harry kept their knowledge to
themselves, and went over the remainder of the papers which Evans had
given Roger, as well as the cipher. These also proved to be of no
importance to anyone but their former owner, as they merely contained
notes from the log and diary of the pirate, and, indeed, consisted
mainly of a skeleton account of his many atrocities, recorded for who
knows what reason. The two lads could not see that any useful purpose
would be served by retaining these memoranda; they therefore tore them
up small, and consigned them to the deep. For this reason the history
of the doings and exploits of the pirate Jose Leirya has never been
written, and never will be.
As the two lads could make nothing of the cipher, they put it away,
deciding not to worry their heads about the matter until some time in
the future, when they should have nothing else to occupy them. The two
ciphers were therefore folded up into a neat packet, and, with the
assistance of a needle and thread, Harry sewed the little parcel into
the lining of his friend's coat, in such a position and manner that even
a rigorous search would probably fail to disclose the presence of the
papers.
"Now you have them quite safe, my friend," said Harry, "and so long as
you stick to your jacket you need never be afraid of losing that
cryptogram. And should anybody ever come, by any chance, to know that
you have the key to Jose's treasure, he will never be able to find it,
even if he attempts to rob you."
"No, Harry, I should say not," laughed Roger. "But I do not think I
need fear that any person will try to rob me of that cipher; for, so far
as I know, the only person now alive who is aware that one existed is
that evil-looking fellow Alvarez, and he will imagine, doubtless, that
the cryptogram went down with all the other papers in the Spanish
man-of-war. And he probably thinks, too, that I also went down with
her. At any rate it was not his fault that I did not."
"Well," objected Harry, "I am not so sure about his thinking you were
drowned on that occasion, for, when we sent him and the other Spaniards
ashore at Lonely Inlet, I saw him looking very hard at you, and I
believe he recognised you, for he spoke to another man beside him, and
tapped his own pocket. The other fellow then looked at you, as though
to make sure of recognising you again, and nodded to Alvarez as they
both went down the side. Yes, I am pretty sure that Alvarez recognised
you, and I think it not unlikely that he may have some idea that you saw
him looking for something in that cabin, and that when you were rescued
you took with you those papers that he left behind in his fright; and,
if so, he of course believes that you have that cipher in your
possession at this moment."
"Well, Harry, old lad," laughed Roger in reply, "I do not suppose I
shall ever see Alvarez again, and if I do I shall take care that I do
not fall into his power, you may be quite sure. There is one thing
certain. Now that Jose and his crew are dead, that treasure will never
be found except by us, and only by us if we can succeed in translating
the cryptogram, for there is no one else on earth now who knows even its
locality."
"Quite true, Roger, my friend," replied Harry. "But I do most sincerely
hope that the possession of that paper will not bring you to any harm."
The conversation between the two lads was at this moment interrupted by
the cry of "Land, ho!" from above, and both boys ran up on deck to catch
the first glimpse of it.
"Hurrah!" shouted Roger in great glee. "Hurrah! this shows that we are
not far from La Guayra now, and then for more fighting and adventure,
and perhaps we may be able to get ashore for an hour or two."
The land could be discerned fairly clearly from the fore topmast
cross-tree, to which Roger and his friend ascended. It showed as a bold
headland, apparently of great height and rocky in formation.
Having satisfied their curiosity, the two came down from aloft, and,
seeing one of the officers attentively looking at the fast-rising land,
asked him what it might be; if it was anywhere near La Guayra, and how
far away it was.
"You two youngsters seem very eager to sight land again," replied the
lieutenant, smiling. "I should have thought that you, Trevose, would
have had enough of land for a time, after being so very nearly left
behind on that sand-bank. But, to satisfy your curiosity, I will tell
you. That tall headland that you see yonder, and toward which we are
now steering, is called Cape Oruba, and is the north-north-west
extremity of the island of Oruba. We shall leave that island on our
starboard hand, and as we pass it we ought to see the island of Curazao
in the distance, which island we, of course, leave on our port hand.
Then we head into the Gulf of Triste, and so on to La Guayra. Now,
young men, I have posted you up in the different landmarks that we shall
pass, and you can look them up for yourselves, and see where we are,
from that Spanish chart that you were so thoughtful as to bring with you
from the _Gloria del Mundo_."
Roger and Harry thanked the lieutenant for the information, and went
below to see where was the ship's actual position.
Nothing of any interest happened here, and in three days from the time
when they first sighted Oruba Point they were as close in to La Guayra
as they dared venture without further investigation.
Once more a council of officers was held in Mr Cavendish's cabin, on
board the flag-ship, and a plan of campaign arranged. The squadron, it
was decided, was to lie-to in a little bay not many miles to the
north-westward of the Port of La Guayra. There was no danger of its
presence there being discovered, there being no town or port near; the
cliffs rose up almost perpendicularly from the water's edge, and the
little bay itself was practically landlocked, and thus hidden from
seaward. Then three boats were to be provisioned with food and water
for two days, and, leaving the ships early in the afternoon, were to
arrive off La Guayra about midnight or thereabout. They were to make as
close an investigation of the harbour, and any ships that might be in
it, as could be made with safety. They were to ascertain, if possible,
whether there were any plate ships in the roadstead, and, if so, the
precise positions in which they were lying. They were also to
determine, as nearly as they could, what the chances of a night attack
would be; whether likely to be successful or otherwise. In short, they
were to accumulate all the information they could, without being seen.
The little squadron--which had been hove-to during the consultation--
filled away once more, and carefully felt its way into the bay, and,
after many very narrow escapes of falling foul of the rocks and
sand-banks with which the entrance was encumbered, came to an anchor in
safety in the spot where it was to remain until such time as the boat
expedition should return. A boat was provisioned and manned by each
ship in the squadron, and Roger and Harry, who were always ready for any
adventure that promised a spice of danger, pleaded so eloquently to be
allowed to accompany the boat sent by the flag-ship, that Mr Cavendish,
after considerable demur, agreed to their going, at the same time
cautioning them that even a very slight indiscretion on their part might
easily involve the expedition in something nearly approaching disaster.
The next day, all being in readiness, the boats set off on their
dangerous errand about two bells in the afternoon watch, immediately
after the seamen had taken their mid-day meal. They were accompanied by
the prayers and good wishes for success from all in the fleet, but no
cheering was indulged in, lest perchance some wandering herdsman on the
heights should catch the sound, look for its source, discover the
lurking ships, and hasten away to the city to give it warning.
They kept as close under the huge cliffs that towered above the narrow
beach as they could with safety, in order to lessen the danger of being
seen to seaward, and after dark pulled slightly farther out to sea to
avoid the possibility of running on some rock which they might see and
avoid by daylight, but not after dark.
About nine o'clock, Roger, who was away up in the bows of the leading
boat, keeping a lookout, passed the word aft to the officer in charge
that they had just opened up a light, apparently on shore.
"That's our goal, then," said the officer; "that's La Guayra! And now
to find out whether there is anything in there that it may be worth our
while to attack."
He then made the signal for the other two boats to close, to give the
officers in command an opportunity for a final consultation. It was
presently arranged that, on entering the bay, they were to separate, and
each was to scour a certain part of the harbour, and join the others
again at three o'clock in the morning at the spot where they parted
company, the bearings of which were to be carefully and accurately
taken.
La Guayra lies in the hollow of an extensive but open roadstead, and is
built at the foot of a range of huge mountains, which tower up into the
clouds behind it, and at the back of which lies Caracas, now the capital
of Venezuela.
It was to the extremity of this roadstead that the three boats had now
come, and the twinkling lights of the town were clearly discernible at
some distance.
Anxiously they scanned the bay for any sign of ships lying there, and
after a few moments they were able to make out certain detached sparks
of light, which they felt certain were the riding-lights of a number of
vessels. It now remained for them to pull quietly and unobtrusively
shoreward, and ascertain what the vessels were, and, as far as possible,
discover their strength, and how they lay for protection from the shore
batteries.
The oars were therefore muffled with pieces of cloth that had been
brought for the purpose, and, orders having been given that no light was
to be shown in any of the boats for any purpose whatever, they
separated, all making for the several points agreed upon before
starting.
The boat belonging to the flag-ship had the position of honour, and
therefore of most danger. She was to take a middle course, and pull
down to the foot of the bay, close inshore, and right under the guns of
the batteries; a task so dangerous that, should they by any misfortune
be seen, there would be no hope or possibility of escape for them. In
dead silence they pulled slowly along, peering carefully about them, and
getting ever nearer and nearer to the town. The lights began to show
more clearly, and large objects ashore to assume a somewhat definite
outline. The dark background of the mighty mountains behind the town
could be made out towering far above them, their heads seemingly among
the few stars that were that night shining.
They were creeping on and inward, steering for a cluster of lights that
evidently betokened the presence of a large vessel at anchor about a
mile farther in, when those same lights were suddenly obscured, and a
little later there came plainly to their ears a swish of water, strongly
suggestive of some vessel moving at speed. At the whispered command of
the officer the boat's crew backed water simultaneously, and brought the
boat to a stand-still, just in time to avoid being run down by a dark
mass that came swiftly, and with no lights showing, out toward the open
sea. As she passed the boat, within oar's-length, they could hear quite
distinctly the sound of voices, and, to their utter amazement, the
speech of those voices was English. The vessel was moving so swiftly
that only a few words could be caught, and these were: "All is well so
far, John, my lad; in an hour from this we shall be out of this bay,
and, once on the open sea, it will take more than--" and the voice was
lost in the distance.
Roger had, some time before, come aft, and was now by the side of the
lieutenant.
He said in a hushed voice: "What does that mean, Mr Story? There is
some strange happening abroad this night. That ship had Englishmen
aboard her; yet, so far as we know, there are no English ships beside
ourselves in these seas just now. Besides, why was she carrying no
lights?"
"'Pon my word, Roger, I don't know," replied Story. "As you say, there
are no other English about here excepting ourselves; yet the people in
possession of that craft are undoubtedly English. Ah! can it be, I
wonder, that these people are English prisoners who are effecting their
escape from the Spaniards to-night of all nights; and, having managed to
get hold of a ship, are now clearing off? Zounds! I believe I am
right, and that is what has happened. This is doubly annoying. First,
because we are very short-handed ourselves, and if we could only have
got those fellows to join us it would have helped us to make up our
crews once more; and, secondly, because their escape will surely be
discovered before long, and a search made, which will render it very
awkward for us. I wish I could somehow contrive to communicate with
those other two boats, and let them know; for, this having happened, it
is high time for us to beat a retreat, or we shall be caught like rats
in a trap! But there is no way, so we had better make the best and most
of it, get what information we can, and then be off back to the
rendezvous to wait for the others, and start for the ships directly they
appear. Give way again, boys; but be silent for your very lives' sake."
Therewith they went swiftly and silently forward again, and shortly
afterward came close alongside a ship for which they had been cautiously
steering. They discovered that she was a Spanish war-vessel, and her
very presence there suggested a plate fleet, which she was probably
destined to convoy.
After pulling very cautiously round her, and ascertaining her strength,
they made off toward another group of lights, and, on arrival there,
found another war-ship. This craft was apparently a sister ship to the
first one they had seen, and of the same strength.
Having ascertained this, and seeing no more lights but such as lay in
the tracks of the other two boats, they turned the bows of the boat
seaward, and, finding that it was well-nigh time for them to be at their
rendezvous, pulled vigorously in that direction. They had taken but a
few strokes when, from somewhere behind them in the town, they heard a
distant clamour, suggestive of voices calling and shouting.
"Listen a moment," said Story. "Stop pulling, lads; I want to hear what
that is going on behind there."
The men lay on their oars, and all strained their ears, listening.
Presently the sound rose from a dull murmur to one of greater volume,
and a trumpet pealed out from the shore, answered almost immediately
afterwards by one from each of the warships; and suddenly, from one of
the batteries, a flash of fire rushed out, illuminating for a few
seconds, as does a flash of lightning, the whole bay, and then came the
dull report of the gun.
"Now, men," said the lieutenant, "give way; give way for your lives!
They have discovered the escape of those other fellows, and will find us
also, if we are not out quickly. Resistance to such overwhelming odds
as we should meet with would be hopeless; so pull, put your backs into
it and make her move!"
Lights now began to flash out from all parts of the bay, disclosing the
presence of vessels which they had not supposed to be there; and,
indeed, it seemed as though they were surrounded on all sides by craft
of all rigs and sizes. How they had threaded their way in without
falling foul of some of them now seemed a mystery. They prayed
fervently that the other two boats might be making their escape while
there was yet time to do so.
The men set their backs to the work and pulled like very Trojans, and
the boat shot through the water. Picking out a course that would take
them as far away as possible from the lights now shining all over the
roadstead, the lieutenant steered with the utmost caution, for he knew
that his life depended on it, together with those of the boat's crew.
At length, after what seemed an eternity, they passed out clear of the
encircling ships; nothing stood between them and the open sea; and in
another hour they took their bearings and pulled to the rendezvous.
Luckily, and to the joy of all hands, when they arrived there one boat
was already waiting, and even as they lay on their oars, the third came
up from the other direction.
News was now quickly and eagerly exchanged, and it was ascertained,
putting it all together, that a plate fleet consisting of three ships
was indeed there, and that it was guarded by the two warships. The
other craft in the bay were mostly coasting and other small vessels,
about which they need not very much concern themselves when they came in
to the attack. The positions of the land batteries had also been
ascertained, and now nothing remained but to return to the squadron with
all speed, acquaint the captain with the information obtained, and then
sail for La Guayra forthwith, so as to arrive there before the plate
fleet could effect its escape from the port. For, once out of sight
below the horizon, they could scarcely hope to find it again except
after a long and wearisome search.
Once more united, the boats began their return journey, pulling hard
while the darkness lasted, so as to make a good offing by daybreak, and
also to leave themselves less toil after the sun rose.
It was about four in the morning when they rounded the promontory that
shut in the roadstead, and they could not reckon on more than two hours
more of darkness. The men, although fatigued, held well to their work,
and the boats moved along at a very good speed.
Day broke with the suddenness usual in the tropics, and, the sun rising,
disclosed to their view, but a short half-mile in advance of them, the
identical vessel that had made such a hurried exit from the roadstead on
the previous night. This was excellent, and the English flag was at
once hoisted at the staves of the three boats, to show that they were
English, and not, as the people aboard the stranger would naturally
suppose, Spaniards in pursuit.
Seeing the English flag, the vessel hove-to, and the boats soon came
alongside. Arriving on deck, Story asked for the captain, and a man
stepped forward saying that he was an English seaman, who had originated
the plan of escape, and finally contrived it. There were nearly a
hundred Englishmen on board, who had been captured in small parties at
various times, and had been incarcerated in the prison at La Guayra.
They had nearly all been subjected to the tortures of the Holy Office,
and bore the most dreadful scars as mementoes of its attentions. Many,
under the influence of the torture, had recanted and abjured their own
faith in order to save themselves from being burnt alive.
It appeared that for some time past they had been considering plans of
escape, but the difficulties in the way were many and great, and had, of
course, been immeasurably increased by their numbers. The first
opportunity, therefore, had only come on the previous night, and they
had made the most of it, with what success the reader has seen.
Story then informed them of the reason of the boats' presence there,
and, telling them of the proposed attack on the plate fleet, invited
them, subject to Cavendish's approval, to join the squadron.
They all gladly acquiesced, without a single dissentient voice, and
expressed themselves as right glad of the opportunity to be revenged on
their enemies, the Spaniards.
With this understanding Story took charge of the ship, and, calling the
boats' crews on deck, made fast the boats themselves astern, and towed
them, as, with the freshening breeze that arose with the sun, they made
better progress sailing than pulling.
As a result of this arrangement they arrived sooner than they were
expected, and there was much joy throughout the fleet at the news of the
plate fleet, and also because of the valuable reinforcement to their
strength, which was very badly needed, and which now made the crews up
to almost their full complement.
The captured vessel, by means of which the prisoners had effected their
escape, was only a carrack of very small tonnage; and therefore, being
of no use, she was sunk.
The squadron weighed and made sail toward evening, Cavendish's purpose
being to arrive after dark and attempt a surprise attack, the odds being
so very greatly in favour of the enemy. Sunset, therefore, saw them
under easy sail, heading along the coast toward La Guayra.