The night had grown somewhat darker within the last hour, a few light
clouds having come up to windward, spreading themselves over the sky and
obscuring a good many of the stars; so that by the time we had been away
from the ship about a quarter of an hour it was impossible to see
anything of her except the light which twinkled at her gaff-end, and
which might easily have been mistaken for a star.
We rounded the south-west angle of the island; and soon afterwards
found ourselves pulling up a narrow channel between the island and the
reefs, in perfectly smooth water, save for the slight undulations of the
ground-swell. We reckoned that the strangers were now about two miles
distant, so with muffled oars, and in the strictest silence, we paddled
gently on, Mr Flinn leading in the launch. After about half an hour of
this work, the launch ceased pulling, the other boats following suit;
and the word was passed for the gig--in which I had been bringing up the
rear--to pass ahead. We did so, and in another minute were alongside
the leading boat.
"We can't be far off them now, Ralph," said Paddy in a loud whisper, "so
just go aisy ahead, me darlint, and see what you can find out. And
don't be a month of Sundays about it, aither, you spalpeen, for we'll
soon be havin' the daylight upon us; indade it looks to me as if the sky
is lightin' up to the east'ard already, so we've no time to spare."
"Never fear," said I, "I'll not be a moment longer than I can help.
Give way, gigs, and pass the word for the bow oar to lay in and keep a
bright lookout ahead."
We swept silently away, the stroke oar having orders to keep his eye on
the boats as long as it was possible to see them; and he was just
reporting to me in a whisper that he had lost sight of them when the bow
man gave the word "oars," and said he could see something broad on our
port bow. The boat's head was sheered to port, and at the same moment I
caught sight of the brigantine's spars showing up black and indistinct
against the dark sky. She was not above fifty yards away from us, and I
had just given the word to paddle quietly ahead when a voice hailed us
in Spanish, ordering us to keep off or they would fire. Before we could
reply, _crash_ came a volley of musketry at us, tearing up the water all
round the boat, and one poor fellow dropped his oar and fell forward off
his seat.
"Give way, men!" I shouted. "Dash at her and get alongside before they
have time to load again. The other boats will be here to support us in
a moment."
The men required no second bidding, but, bending to their oars until the
stout ash bent like fishing-rods and the water flashed from the blades
in luminous foam, they sent the boat like an arrow in under the main
chains, dropping their oars and seizing their cutlasses as we sheered
alongside, and springing like grey-hounds slipped from the leash at the
craft's low bulwarks.
But we had been reckoning without our hosts. Instead of finding the
crew all below comfortably asleep in their hammocks, there they were at
quarters, with guns loaded and run out, boarding-nettings triced up, and
in fact everything ready to repel an attack, and it was only our
extremely cautious approach which had saved us from a broadside or two
of grape. Our people cut and slashed at the netting in a vain attempt
to hew a passage through it, and were either shot down or thrust back
with boarding-pikes; those who attempted to creep in at the ports
receiving similar treatment. And all the time the small-arm men were
playing briskly upon us with their muskets; so that at the end of five
minutes I found myself with all hands beaten back into the boat, and
every one of us, fore and aft, suffering from wounds more or less
severe.
"Come, lads!" I exclaimed; "take another slap at them; we _must_ get on
deck somehow. You Jones, give me a hoist up on your shoulders; I think
I can see a hole in the netting; here--a foot farther aft--so, that's
well. Now, _heave_."
And up I went, clear above the craft's gunwale and neatly in through the
hole which I had espied. I should have fallen on the deck on my head,
and probably dislocated my neck had not a brawny Spaniard happened to be
immediately beneath me. Taken by surprise at my abrupt appearance, he
had not time to get out of my way or even to strike at me, and before he
could recover himself my pistol was at his temple and he staggered
backward, shot through the head. In his fall, he forced back two or
three of those nearest him, creating a momentary confusion. One of the
gigs was at that instant struggling to get in through the open port near
me, and I bent down, seized him by the collar, and lugged him in on
deck, recovering myself just in time to ward off a savage cutlass-blow.
Jones--who happened to be the man I had dragged inboard--was on his feet
in an instant, and, placing himself alongside me, we both pressed a
little forward, so as to leave room for the rest of the gigs to follow
by the same entrance while we covered them.
At the same moment a ringing cheer was heard forward; there was a rush
of many feet, and Flinn with his party poured aft, having come quietly
in over the bows while the crew were engaged with us aft.
"Launches to the rescue!" he shouted; "Hurroo, me bhoys! lay it on thick
and heavy. Don't give them time to recover themselves; if the naygurs
won't go below or throw down their arrums, just haive them overboard."
The onslaught of the three other boats' crews--which, having stolen
quietly up in the confusion and slipped in over the bows without
molestation, were perfectly fresh--was irresistible. The brigantine's
crew were forced in a body right aft to the taffrail, when, to avoid
being cut down where they stood, or driven overboard, they threw down
their arms and begged for quarter.
Lights were procured; the prisoners were passed below and secured; and
we then had time to turn our attention to the other craft. Where was
she? During the skirmish I had caught a momentary glimpse of her at
about a cable's length on our port beam through the glancing of the
pistol-flashes on her spars and rigging, but now she was nowhere to be
seen.
"Matthews," said Mr Flinn, "take a blue-light from the launch into the
fore-top and burn it."
In less than a minute the glare of the blue-light illumined the scene
with a ghastly radiance; and there, about a quarter of a mile distant,
was the ship under way, standing to the northward and westward under jib
and spanker, with her topsails just let fall ready for sheeting home.
"Oh, ho! Is it that you're afther thin, me foine fellow?" exclaimed
Flinn, who always dropped into his native brogue under the influence of
excitement. "By the powers but we'll soon sthop that little game.
Fore-top there! That'll do with the blue-light. Jump on the topsail-
yard and cast off the gaskets. Lay out and loose the jib and fore-
topmast-staysail, some of you; and Mr Chester, kindly get this mainsail
set at once, if you please."
"All ready with the topsail, sir," sang out the man aloft.
"Then let fall, and come down, casting loose the foresail as you do so.
Sheet home the topsail, lads; that's well! man the halliards and up with
the yard. Hoist away the jib and staysail; fore-sheets over to
starboard. One hand to the wheel and put it hard-a-port. Cut the
cable, forward there. Round-in upon the starboard braces--ease off your
mainsheet, slack it away and let the boom go well out. Now she has
stern-way upon her. Capital. Now fill your topsail--smartly, lads!--
and haul aft your lee head sheets. Steady your helm. Now she draws
ahead. Hard up with the helm. There she pays off! Square the fore-
yard; gently with your weather-braces--don't round-in upon them too
quickly. Well there; belay!"
All this had passed almost as quickly as the description can be read,
and we were now under way and steering directly after the ship, which
had only succeeded in getting her topsails sheeted home and the fore-
topsail partially hoisted.
"Is that gun ready forward, Mr Vining?" asked Flinn.
"All ready, sir," answered Vining.
"Then burn another blue-light and throw a shot over him."
Up flared once more the ghostly light; the ship, like a vast phantom,
loomed out against the black sky directly ahead, and after a momentary
pause the sharp report of the brass nine-pounder rang out forward, the
flash lighting up the chase for an instant, and bringing every rope,
spar, and sail into clear relief, while the sound was repeated right and
left by the echoing cliffs of the island astern, and the startled sea-
birds wheeled screaming all round us.
No notice was taken by the ship of our polite request that she should
heave-to; on the contrary, every effort seemed to be put forth to get
the canvas set as speedily as possible.
But the brigantine was slipping through the water three feet to their
one, under the influence of the light baffling breeze which came down to
us from over the lofty cliffs astern, and we were soon within hailing
distance.
"Mr Martin, are the starboard guns loaded?" asked Mr Flinn.
"Yes, sir," was the reply. "Loaded with round and grape."
"Then elevate the muzzles of the guns as much as possible, if you
please. I am going to range up alongside on the ship's port quarter,
when we will pour in our broadside and board in the smoke. If we are
not smart, both ships will be ashore on the reefs. Mr Vining, kindly
take charge of the brigantine, with four hands; the rest prepare to
follow me on board the ship."
We were by this time close to the chase, on board which all was dark and
silent as the grave.
"Stand by to heave the grapplings, fore and aft. Now port your helm, my
man--Jones, isn't it? That's right, hard-a-port and run her alongside.
This way, lads, our cat-head is your best chance. Hurroo! boarders
away!" shouted Flinn, and away went the whole party swarming over the
ship's lofty bulwarks helter-skelter, like a parcel of school-boys at
play, our entire starboard broadside going off with a rattling crash at
the same instant.
And then uprose from the deck of the ship an infernal chorus of shrieks,
groans, yells, and curses from those of her crew who had been mown down
by our shot, mingling horribly with the cheers of our people, the oaths
of those who opposed us, the popping of pistols, and the clash of steel.
There were about forty men on board, chiefly Spanish desperadoes, who
fought like incarnate fiends; but they had no chance when once we were
on board, and after contesting every inch of the deck until they, like
the crew of their consort, had been driven aft to the taffrail, in which
obstinate resistance they lost more than half their number, the
survivors sullenly flung down their arms and surrendered.
The next business was to attend to the safety of both vessels, which
were now perilously near the reefs ahead. Half a dozen men were sent on
board the brigantine to assist those already there in working her, when
the grapplings were cast off, the brigantine starboarded her helm while
we ported ours, and the two ships separated, to haul up on opposite
tacks.
The ship's sails were not above half set, so as soon as we had hauled
her to the wind the halliards were manned and the topsail-yards got
chock up to their sheaves, the courses let fall, tacks boarded, and
sheets hauled aft, when we eased the helm down and threw her in stays.
Day was by this time beginning to break. The sky overhead was lighting
up, the stars paling out and fading away, while surrounding objects
began to loom ghost-like and indistinct in the first grey of the early
dawn. The brigantine was just visible about half a mile ahead and
inshore of us, apparently hove-to. As we drew up abreast of her she
filled her topsail and stood on in company, the ship by this time under
every stitch of canvas, up to topgallantsails, while the brigantine drew
ahead of us under mainsail, topsail, and jib, and was obliged to shiver
her topsail every now and then in order to avoid running away from us.
In twenty minutes more we rounded the point, and there lay the
"Astarte," a couple of miles off, rolling heavily upon the ground-swell.
On reaching her, both our prizes were hove-to as close to the frigate
and to each other as was consistent with safety, and Mr Flinn and I
jumped into the gig and went on board to report.
"Well, Mr Flinn," said the skipper, meeting us at the gangway, "glad to
see you back safe and sound; you too, Mr Chester," shaking hands with
us both. "But how is this? Are you hurt, Ralph?" as on my facing to
the eastward the light fell upon my face, and he saw blood upon it.
"A broken skull, sir;" I replied, "nothing _very_ serious though, I
believe."
"And what's the news?" continued the skipper. "I see you have brought
both vessels out with you. What are they?"
"To tell you the truth, sir," answered Flinn, "we have had no time yet
to find out _what_ they are. They are both Spaniards, however, and, if
I am not greatly mistaken, we shall find that the brigantine is little
better than a pirate."
"Um!" said the skipper, "likely enough; she has all the look of it. And
now, what about casualties? have you suffered much?"
"Rather severely, sir, I am sorry to say. Five killed, and eighteen--or
rather, nineteen with Mr Chester--wounded; eight of them severely. I
am afraid we shall lose little Fisher, sir."
"Lose little Fisher!" exclaimed the skipper. "Why, whoever was
thoughtless enough to let that poor child go upon so dangerous an
expedition?"
Flinn looked at me, and I at him; but neither of us could plead guilty,
so the matter dropped for the time.
The surgeon and his assistant now trundled down over the side, with
their tools under their arms, and went on board the prizes to attend to
the poor fellows who were wounded, Mr Flinn returning with them to
arrange the prize crews, and to anchor the prizes, the skipper having
come to the determination to remain in smooth water until the wounded
had all been attended to and placed comfortably in their own hammocks on
board the frigate.
In the mean time I trundled down into the midshipmen's berth, bathed my
wound--a scalp-wound about six inches long--in cold water, clapped on a
quarter of a yard of diachylon plaster, a sheet of which I always took
the precaution to keep in my own chest, snatched a mouthful or so of
biscuit and cold meat, and then returned to the deck to see if I could
be of use.
"Oh! I've been looking for you, sir," said the captain's steward, as I
put my head above the coamings. "The captain wishes to see you in his
cabin at once, if you please, sir."
"Is he there now, Polson? All right, then, I'll go down to him
forthwith," and away I went.
"Come in!" said the deep, musical voice of the skipper, in answer to my
knock. I entered.
"Oh! It's you, Ralph. Come in and sit down. I see you have been doing
a little patching up on your own account. Is it very bad?"
"Thank you, no; a mere breaking of the skin," I replied. "I shall be as
good as new in a day or two, I hope."
"That's well. Still you had better let Mr Oxley look at it when he is
at leisure. Very trifling wounds turn out badly sometimes in this hot
climate. And now--I want to speak to you about that poor lad Fisher. I
am told he was in the gig with you."
"In the gig with me!" I echoed taken thoroughly by surprise. "I assure
you, Captain Annesley, I was quite unaware of it, then. Indeed, I was
not aware that he had left the ship until Mr Flinn spoke of him as
being wounded. I haven't even seen him throughout the affair."
"I am glad to hear that," said the skipper, his brow clearing. "To tell
you the whole truth, Ralph, I have been feeling very angry with you; for
when I heard that the poor boy had gone in your boat, I quite thought it
must have been with your connivance. And I need scarcely point out to
you that I could not approve of such a child as that being allowed to
take part in an expedition of so dangerous a character, where he would
only be in the way, and could be of no possible assistance. However,
since you say that you know nothing about it, I suppose he must have
slipped down into the boat surreptitiously and stowed himself away.
Now, as there is nothing particular for you to do, you may as well--"
At this moment Mr Flinn entered.
"Sit down, Mr Flinn, sit down, man," said the skipper. "Well, how are
things looking on board the prizes by this time?"
"Capitally, sir, I am happy to say," replied Flinn, with a beaming phiz.
"The wounded have nearly all been attended to, and we may begin to
transfer them at once. Little Fisher seems in a somewhat more promising
condition now that his wounds have been dressed, and the others are also
doing well. As to the prizes, the brigantine has such a heterogeneous
assortment of goods in her hold that her cargo alone, which is very
valuable, is sufficient to betray her character. Her skipper was
killed--by you, Ralph, if I understand them rightly--early in the
attack, but the mate, or lieutenant as he calls himself, swears she is a
privateer. However, as he cannot produce anything like a commission, I
am very glad I am not in his shoes. The craft is called the `Juanita,'
and the mate says they were bound from Cumana to Cartagena, but his
papers look to me remarkably like forgeries. The ship is the `San
Nicolas,' bound from La Guayra to Cadiz, with a general cargo and--two
large boxes of silver bricks, which we found stowed away down in the
run. _Her_ papers are all perfectly correct, and she is evidently a
prize to the brigantine. The rascals on board her profess to be her
regular crew, and disown all acquaintance with the crew of the
`Juanita,' but there are twice as many men on board as are entered in
the ship's books, and altogether their tale is far too flimsy to hold
water. I have no doubt they are a prize crew from the `Juanita,' and
that the ship's crew have all been murdered. So that we have done a
very good-night's work, I think."
"Capital," said the skipper. "Couldn't well be better, except for our
losses in killed and wounded. Let the poor fellows be transferred at
once, if you please, Mr Flinn. When they are all stowed comfortably
away, we will shift the silver into the frigate also; then there will
not be much fear of its recapture. And lastly, we will shift the
prisoners over to the frigate; then the prizes will not require such
large prize crews."
We then went on deck together, and I went away in the launch to effect
the transfer of our killed and wounded. This was a long and painful
business, some of the wounded requiring the most careful handling; but
it was done at last, and by the end of the afternoon watch everything
was ready for us to weigh and proceed to sea again, which we at once
did; the prizes being ordered to rendezvous at Barbadoes.
Mr Vining, the third lieutenant, had charge of the "San Nicolas," while
the "Juanita" was entrusted to Carter, the master's-mate, who had strict
injunctions to stick close to and protect the ship.
We weighed in a body, and stood away to the southward, close-hauled on
the larboard tack; the frigate cracking on, and leaving her prizes to
follow at their best pace. Vining also carried on upon the "San
Nicolas," giving her every stitch of canvas she could show, while Carter
had to haul down a couple of reefs in his mainsail and topsail, reef his
foresail, and stow his flying-jib and fore-topmast-staysail in order to
moderate his speed to that of his consort.
At two bells in the first dog-watch, the crew were mustered, the men
having cleaned and shifted their rig for the occasion, while the
officers appeared in full-dress, sail was shortened, and the ship hove-
to. The bodies of the five poor fellows who had fallen in the attack of
the previous night were placed in the lee gangway, sewn up in their
hammocks, each with an eighteen-pound shot at his feet, and the ensign
spread over them as a pall. The skipper stationed himself at their
heads with the prayer-book in his hand, and, having looked along the
deck fore and aft to satisfy himself that everything was as it should
be, took off his cocked hat, the rest of us uncovering at his example.
"I am the Resurrection and the Life, saith the Lord. He that believeth
in Me, though he were _dead_, yet shall he live; and whosoever liveth
and believeth in Me shall _never_ die."
The words, in all their solemn beauty of promise, uttered in a voice
which quivered slightly with emotion, fell clearly and distinctly from
the captain's lips, and went straight to the hearts of the throng of
ocean warriors who had gathered to bid a last long, sad farewell to
their fallen comrades, and to consign them with all honour to a sailor's
grave. The bronzed and bearded faces of the listeners wore an
expression of gravity well suited to the most solemn ceremonial of the
Christian faith, and as the impressive service proceeded, more than one
of the stalwart seamen, who had a few hours before fought side by side
with those who now lay at their feet wrapped cold and stark in their
bloody shrouds, dashed with a hasty and furtive hand the unwonted tears
away.
Nor were the externals of the scene altogether inappropriate to the
occasion. The frigate, pausing in her rapid flight, swayed slowly and
majestically upon the bosom of the surges which would soon receive the
bodies of her dead heroes, and hung, as if in sentient grief, over the
spot which was to be their tomb. Her graceful hull, lofty spars, and
snowy canvas gleamed refulgent in the last rays of the setting sun as he
sank to his rest through a bank of rainbow-tinted clouds, and the rising
wind sobbed and moaned dirge-like through her taut rigging.
At length the glorious luminary touched the horizon, staining the bosom
of the waters to a deep rosy hue, and flinging a broad pathway of
glittering molten gold from the ocean's rim across the restless billows
clear up to the frigate's side. Slowly sank the broad disk behind the
purple horizon, as the solemn ceremony drew to an end. The ensign, that
meteor flag, beneath whose folds so many heroes have fought and died,
was gently raised, and at the words "Forasmuch as it hath pleased
Almighty God of His great mercy to take unto Himself the souls of our
dear brothers here departed, we therefore commit their bodies to the
deep,"--the inner ends of the gratings upon which the dead lay were
slowly elevated, the sullen plunge of the bodies smote upon the ear, and
the last ray of the departing sun flashed upon the swirling eddies where
they had disappeared, dyeing them deep in crimson and gold.
The ocean suddenly darkened, the gorgeous cloud-tints faded into tender
grey, and, as the service came to a conclusion, a gun boomed the
frigate's farewell to her lost ones; the main-yard was swung; and the
dead were left to their last long sleep deep within the sheltering bosom
of the ocean they had loved in life so well.
We stood on until midnight, when we tacked to the northward; in which
direction we steered during the whole of next day and the following
night, when we deemed ourselves far enough to windward to enable us to
pass between the Islands of Saint Lucia and Saint Vincent and fetch
Barbadoes on the other tack.
In the meantime all the wounded were doing well except poor little
Fisher. His injuries were of a very serious nature, a cutlass-blow
having cloven his right shoulder until it had nearly severed the arm
from the body, and his right lung was penetrated by a pike-thrust. The
skipper had ordered a cot to be slung for the little fellow in his own
cabin, and thither I went as often as I could, to sit beside him, help
him to the cooling drinks which our kind-hearted medico had concocted
for him, and cheer him up when his spirits drooped, as they too often
did. Exhausted by loss of blood and severe physical suffering, his
nervous system appeared to have completely broken down, and the
incessant heave and roll of the ship distressed him almost beyond his
powers of endurance.
"Oh! Chester," he said to me one day, "if I could but be on shore, I
believe I should get better. It tires me out to lie here, hour after
hour, watching the sway of the ship. And then it is so dreadfully hot
here, although the stern-ports are always open. What I should like is
to be on shore, in a nice large room, with the windows open and the sea-
breeze rushing in, laden with the odour of flowers, and to lie and
listen to the rustle of leaves, and watch the branches of the trees
swaying in the wind, with the birds and butterflies glancing to and fro,
and the sunlight glittering upon the water. I can't sleep now, with the
tramping of feet overhead, the creaking of the bulkheads, and the
everlasting wash of the sea sounding in my ears, but I believe I _could_
sleep then; and if I could sleep I feel that I should get better."
A day or two after he had said this, I went down to see him toward
evening, and at the cabin-door I met the doctor just coming out.
"How is he this evening, doctor?" I inquired.
"Worse; very much worse. I am beginning to despair of him now. He is
light-headed, and I question if he will recognise you," was the
discouraging reply.
I went in and found the skipper himself standing by the cot, holding one
dry burning hand in his, listening to the incoherent ramblings of the
poor lad, and endeavouring to soothe him. Home scenes and incidents of
school-days seemed to be uppermost in his mind at the moment that I
entered, but soon afterwards his thoughts wandered away to the night of
the attack.
"I must go, I _must_ go," he exclaimed in anxious tones; "if it be only
to prove whether I _am_ a coward or no. Chester spoke _very_ kindly to
me, but I believe he thinks I am afraid. It will be dreadful, I know--
the flashing cutlasses, the fierce thrust of pikes, and perhaps the fire
of grape and canister. And there will be gaping wounds, and blood--
blood everywhere; and oh! the suffering there will be; I have read of it
all--the burning, unquenchable thirst, the throbbing and quivering of
agonised limbs, and the upturned glance of unendurable torture. How can
I possibly bear to look upon it all? And perhaps _I_ may be one of the
wounded--or the slain. And if I am, what then? I do not care about
pain for myself, I can bear it; but it is the sufferings of others that
I dread to see. And if I am killed--why, I shall die doing my duty, and
I am not afraid of death; I have never done anything that I need be
ashamed of; I never did anything mean or dishonourable; I have always
tried to be kind to every one; and I have read the Bible regularly which
my poor dear mother gave me."
He paused a little. Then the tears welled slowly up into his eyes. "I
am dying--I know it, though none of them have said so. I wonder whether
my father will be sorry. He is a proud man and stern--very stern; I
cannot remember that he ever kissed me, and I have never been able to
tell whether he cares for me or no. But I believe he does--I _hope_ he
does; and at all events, he need not be ashamed of me, for I have proved
that I am no coward. My mother will grieve for me, though; it will
break her heart and--oh!"
Here a violent flood of tears came to the poor boy's relief, and he
sobbed as though his heart would break.
"Phew!" exclaimed the skipper. "This will _never_ do; he is too weak to
bear this, I am sure. Run for Oxley, and tell him to come at once,
Ralph; we must stop this at any cost."
I rushed out of the cabin, and returned in another minute with the
doctor.
The poor boy was still sobbing occasionally, but he was crying more
quietly now, and lying quite still in his hammock, instead of moving his
limbs restlessly about as he had been.
The doctor leaned over the cot, felt his pulse, and laid his hand upon
his patient's forehead.
"It is a dreadful tax upon his already exhausted strength," said the
medico, "but I believe in the present case it has done good rather than
harm. However, it will not do to risk a repetition of this sort of
thing, so I will give him a mild opiate, although I would much rather
not, in his present exhausted condition."
He leaned over the cot once more with his finger on the lad's pulse, and
gazed long and anxiously in the pale, upturned face, as though revolving
in his mind some weighty problem. Then, turning abruptly away, he left
the cabin, beckoning me to follow.