Indiaman, it took us until past midnight to reach Weymouth roadstead,
where we anchored for the night, without communicating with the shore;
no one in the town, therefore, was aware of our quick return to port,
and our brilliant success, until the following morning; and as for Mr
Peter White, our owner, the first intimation that he had of the affair
was while he was dressing; when his servant knocked at his door to say
that Captain Winter had returned with three prizes, and was waiting
below to see him. The old gentleman, I was afterwards told, was so
excited at the good news that he would not wait to dress, but descended
to the parlour, where the skipper awaited him, in his dressing-gown.
The old boy was almost overwhelmed at the news of his good fortune;
insisted that Captain Winter should stay to breakfast with him; and
afterwards, despite the cold weather, came off to the roadstead and
visited each of the prizes in turn. It was as well, perhaps, that he
did so, as there was a considerable amount of business to be transacted
in connection with the recapture of the _Hoogly_, the captain of which
was anxious to resume his voyage up channel as soon as possible. This
important matter was arranged by noon; and about two o'clock, the wind
having hauled round from the southward, the Indiaman weighed and
proceeded, the passengers on board having meanwhile subscribed a purse
of two hundred and thirty guineas for the officers and crew of the
_Dolphin_, in recognition of what they were complimentary enough to term
our "gallantry" in the recapture of the ship. This nice little sum was,
however, only the first instalment of what was to come; there was the
salvage of the ship to follow: and over and above that I may mention
that the underwriters voted a sum of five hundred guineas to us; while
the Patriotic Fund Committee awarded the skipper a sword of the value of
one hundred guineas, and to me a sword of half that value, for our fight
with and capture of the two privateers, poor Lovell being left out in
the cold in consequence of his having been prize-master of the _Hoogly_,
and having therefore taken no part in either of the engagements. He got
his reward, however, in another way; for the _Etoile du Nord_ turned out
to be such a very fine vessel, quite new and wonderfully fast, that Mr
White purchased her on his own account, rechristening her the _North
Star_, and put Lovell in command. He was fairly successful in her, I
afterwards heard, but not nearly to such an extent as he ought to have
been with so fine a vessel under him. He declared that luck was always
against him. As for me, Mr White was so pleased with the report of my
conduct which Captain Winter had given him that, as soon as ever the
purchase of the _Etoile du Nord_ had been effected, and Lovell provided
for, he offered me the berth of chief mate of the _Dolphin_, which berth
I promptly and thankfully accepted. As for the _Belle Jeannette_, she,
too, was sold, fetching a very good price, and before we left port again
we had divided our prize-money, my share of which amounted to the very
respectable sum of two thousand six hundred and odd pounds.
The _Dolphin_ had received so severe a mauling in her fight with the
French privateer brig that, although the utmost despatch was used in
repairing and refitting her, it was not until the 24th of December that
she was again ready for sea, by which time news had reached us of the
declaration of war by Spain against Great Britain. This last
circumstance, of course, threw all hands of us into a fever of
impatience to get to sea again, in order that we might have an early
opportunity of picking up a rich Spanish prize; but when Christmas-eve
arrived, finding us still in harbour, our owner was generous enough to
say that we might, if we pleased, defer our sailing until the day after
Christmas-day, in order that the crew might have the opportunity to
spend Christmas at home, which opportunity we thankfully made the most
of. But all hands were on board by noon of the 26th, when we cast off
and stood out of the harbour once more before a fresh south-westerly
breeze, the day being, for a wonder--with the wind in a wet quarter--
brilliantly fine, and as mild as a day in early autumn; a circumstance
which most of our lads were willing to accept as the omen of a
prosperous cruise.
Captain Winter's object was to reach the French coast as soon as
possible, and then to work along it to the westward, right round to the
Spanish coast, and thence as far as Gibraltar, and perhaps into the
Mediterranean, hoping that somewhere on the way we might pick up
something worth having, or at least obtain information relating to a
homeward or outward-bound convoy; upon clearing Portland, therefore, we
stood across the Channel, on a taut bowline, on the starboard tack,
making Cape de la Hague, well on our lee bow, next morning at daybreak.
We then shortened sail to our fore-and-aft canvas only, and, taking in
our gaff-topsail, held on as we were going, with the French coast close
aboard, to leeward, until we reached Granville, when, having seen
nothing worthy of our attention, we tacked to the westward, and
eventually found ourselves off Cape Frehel, the easternmost extremity of
Saint Brieuc Bay. This was our third day out; we had seen nothing, and
the men, who appeared to think, from our past experience, that we ought
to take at least one prize every day, were beginning to grumble at our
ill-luck. Great, therefore, was their enthusiasm when, on the following
day,--the breeze being fresh at about north-north-west, and the time
about five bells in the forenoon watch,--a large ship was seen to emerge
from behind Chien Point, then about eight miles distant, a couple of
points on our lee bow. She was coming along under larboard studding-
sails. It was my watch on deck, and upon the ship being reported to me
I took the glass, and at once went up to the fore-cross-trees to get a
better look at her. So far as I could make out she was full-rigged; she
floated very deep in the water; and the exceeding whiteness of her sails
caused me to suspect that she was homeward-bound from a long voyage.
She had somewhat the look of a Dutchman, to my eye, and if so she would
probably afford very respectable pickings to a crew of hard-working
privateersmen like ourselves. When first seen she was steering a course
that would lead her about mid-way between the islands of Jersey and
Guernsey; but before I returned to the deck it seemed to me that she had
hauled up a point or two, and had braced her yards correspondingly
further forward. Our game, of course, was to get between her and the
land, if possible, before declaring ourselves, so that, if she happened
to be what I suspected, she might be prevented from running in and
taking shelter under the guns of one of the numerous batteries which the
French had thrown up all along the coast, to cut her out from which
might involve us in a heavy loss of men. I therefore gave no order to
make sail, or to alter our course, but at once went down below to the
skipper, who was lying down, his wounded head still troubling him a good
deal, and reported the stranger to him. He immediately followed me on
deck at the news, and took a good long look at the ship through the
telescope; and while he was doing so she took in her studding-sails and
hauled her wind.
"Ah!" remarked the skipper; "they have made us out, and evidently don't
quite like our looks. I suppose her captain thinks that, having hauled
his wind, we shall now make sail in chase of him if we happen to be an
enemy. But I know a trick worth two of that. You did quite right, Mr
Bowen, not to shift your helm. Let him stand on another three miles as
he is going, and then we will show him who and what we are. Just so;
there goes his bunting--Dutch, as you thought. He is beginning to feel
a little anxious. Perhaps it would ease his mind a bit if you were to
run the tricolour up to our gaff-end, Mr Bowen."
I did so, and we kept it flying for the next half-hour, by which time
the Dutchman had been brought well out on our weather beam, about six
miles distant, and his retreat cut off. We then hauled down the French
flag and made sail, still, however, holding on upon the same tack. By
the time that we had got our topsail, topgallant-sail, flying-jib, and
small gaff-topsail set the stranger was about two points abaft our
weather beam, and we at once tacked in chase. This was the signal for
an immediate display of confusion on board the Dutchman; which ship
immediately set her royals and flying-jib, and, when she found that that
would not do, bearing away sufficiently to permit of her setting all her
larboard studding-sails again. Of course, as soon as she bore away we
bore away too, steering such a course as would enable us to gradually
converge upon her.
But we had hardly been in chase half an hour when another large ship
appeared in sight ahead, steering toward us; and, approaching each other
rapidly, as we were, another quarter of an hour sufficed us to discover
that she was a frigate, and undoubtedly French. We stood on, however, a
few minutes longer, trying to devise some scheme for slipping past her
without being brought to, but it evidently would not do; her people
suspected us, and clearly intended to have a nearer look at us if they
could; so, as she was altogether too big a craft for us to tackle, we
were reluctantly compelled to abandon the chase, and heave about to
ensure our own escape. And now it became our turn to play the part of
the pursued; for as we went in stays the frigate fired a gun, to
ascertain whether we were within range, most probably, hoisted her
ensign, and made all sail in chase. The shot--a twelve-pounder, we
judged it to be by the sound of the gun--fell short; yet at the same
time it came near enough to satisfy us that we had not turned tail a
moment too soon.
Captain Winter at once jammed the schooner close upon a wind, the vessel
heading up about west-north-west for the chops of the Channel, in the
hope of both out-weathering and out-sailing the frigate. But the wind
had shown a disposition to freshen all day, and was by this time piping
up so spitefully that we had been obliged to furl our topgallant-sail
and haul down our flying-jib as soon as we hauled our wind; moreover
there was a nasty, short jump of a sea on, into which the _Dolphin_
plunged to her knight-heads every time. The weather was, therefore, all
in the frigate's favour, and very soon, to our extreme annoyance, we
discovered that the Frenchman was slowly but surely gaining upon us; for
when the frigate had been in chase about half an hour, she fired another
gun, the shot from which reached within twenty fathoms of us, and it was
capitally aimed, too.
"We must get the topgallant-sail and flying-jib on her again, Mr Bowen,
and shift our small gaff-topsail for the big one. This will never do;
we shall be within range in another half-hour; and then, if that fellow
happens to wing us, we shall be done for!"
"The sticks will never bear it, sir," answered I. "Look at our topmasts
now; they are bending like fishing-rods as it is; and unless we rig the
preventers pretty quickly we shall lose them, in my opinion."
"Then get up your preventers at once, my dear fellow," answered the
skipper; "and be as smart as you please about the job. One thing is
quite certain, and that is that unless we can drive the schooner a
little faster we shall be nabbed!"
"Perhaps, sir," said I, "if we were to keep the schooner away about half
a point she would go along more freely. We are looking a good point
higher than the frigate at present, but we are hugging the wind so
closely that we have no life in us, and are losing as much as we gain."
The skipper looked at the frigate astern, then up at the weather leech
of our own topsail, which was lifting at every plunge of the schooner.
"Perhaps you are right, George," said he. "At all events your
suggestion is worth trying. So, my man," to the helmsman, at the same
time peering into the binnacle, "keep her away to west-by-north; nothing
higher."
"West-and-by-north, and nothin' higher, sir," answered the man, easing
his weather helm a couple of spokes as I turned away to see to the
preventer back-stays being rigged.
CHAPTER FIVE.
THE FRENCH FRIGATE.
Our preventer back-stays--which, for the benefit of the uninitiated, I
may explain, were simply extra ropes intended to take a portion of the
strain and so relieve the ordinary back-stays whenever it became
necessary to carry a very heavy press of canvas--were already cut and
fitted; all that we had to do, therefore, was to send their upper ends
aloft and attach them to their respective spars by shackling the eye to
a stout iron collar on the spar, fitted especially for the purpose, set
up the lower ends by means of runners to ring-bolts in the stanchions,
and the thing was done. Five minutes sufficed for this job, and we then
reset our topgallant-sail and flying-jib, and shifted our gaff-topsail.
The effect soon became apparent; for a few minutes after we had
concluded our work the frigate fired another gun, the shot from which
only reached to within about thirty fathoms of us. I was inclined to
attribute this result, however, quite as much to our having eased the
schooner away a trifle as to the extra canvas that we had packed upon
her. I believed we should have done quite as well, if not better,
without it; for the poor little craft seemed pressed down and buried by
the enormous leverage of the wind upon her sails. She was heeling over
so much that it was difficult to maintain one's footing upon the steeply
inclined deck; the lee scuppers were all afloat, and at every lee roll
the white, yeasty seething from her lee bow brimmed to the level of her
rail, sometimes even toppling in over it. She was a magnificent sea-
boat; but we were now driving her so unmercifully that at every plunge
into the hollow of a sea she buried her sharp nose completely, taking
green water in over both the lee and the weather-bow by tons at a time,
so that it became necessary to close the fore-scuttle to prevent the
water from going below. As for the spray, it flew over us in clouds,
coming right aft, and wetting our mainsail as high up as the second
reef-band.
Another gun from the frigate served to conclusively demonstrate that we
were at least holding our own; but our topmasts were bending like
fishing-rods, and at every savage plunge of the schooner I quite
expected to see one or both of them go over the side. The skipper, too,
was very uneasy, as I could see by the anxious glances that he
continually flung aloft. At length, when the frigate had fired yet
another gun, the shot from which fell at about the same distance astern
of us as the preceding one had done, he turned to me and said:
"This is all very well, George, as far as it goes; and if the wind would
only drop a little we might snap our fingers at that fellow astern; but
I don't at all like the way that those topmasts are whipping about, up
there. If so much as a rope-yarn parts we shall lose them, as sure as
fate; and then we may bear up for a French prison as soon as we please.
The frigate keeps popping away at us, in the hope, I suppose, that a
lucky shot may wing us; and I don't see why we shouldn't return the
compliment. We are just out of reach of her twelve-pounders, but I
think our long eighteen ought to be capable of pitching a shot aboard
her. Just bowse it up to wind'ard as far as it will go, and let us see
what it will do."
"Ay, ay, sir," answered I. "The gun ought to reach her; and if we can
but wing her, though ever so slightly, we may scrape clear after all.
Lay aft, here, some of you, and get the tarpaulin off this Long Tom, and
pass the word for the gunner."
We soon got the gun into position, and the captain of it--a man who had
seen a great deal of service on board a man-o'-war, from which he had
deserted just before joining the _Dolphin_--tried a shot at the frigate.
The gun was splendidly aimed, but it was fired just a second too late,
as the schooner's stern was dipping; the result was that the shot, which
flew straight for the frigate, struck the water some distance ahead of
her.
"Very good, Mason, for a first attempt!" remarked the skipper
approvingly. "Try again, my lad."
The gun was sponged, loaded, and again fired, and this time the shot
hulled the frigate fair and square, striking her about a foot below the
larboard hawse-pipe.
"Now," remarked the skipper, "try her again, my fine fellow. You ought
to do something worth the powder this time."
The words were hardly spoken when the frigate bore almost square up for
a moment, and let fly her whole weather broadside at us; but every one
of the shot fell short. The moment that she had fired she luffed up
into our wake once more.
Again Mason pointed the long gun and fired, but this time--perhaps
because he was too careful--the shot flew wide, striking the water some
distance to leeward and, as we all thought, astern of the frigate.
"Keep cool, Mason, keep cool, my man," warned the skipper. "That shot
was well meant, and shows that you have got the range to a nicety; but
you were in too much of a hurry. Try again."
Mason mopped his forehead with his handkerchief, although the wind was
piercingly cold; the gun was reloaded, and then Mason pointed and
levelled it with the utmost care. When this was done, taking the
lanyard in his hand he stepped back to the utmost length of the line,
and with arm outstretched, stood for more than a minute squinting along
the sights of the gun. Suddenly he pulled the lanyard, the gun belched
forth a torrent of flame and smoke, and, as I stood looking at the
frigate through my own telescope, I saw a small round hole appear in the
foot of the fore-topgallant-sail, another moment and the topgallant-mast
doubled over and went, hanging down by its rigging, under the lee of the
topsail, with the topgallant-sail and royal attached.
"Hurrah!" shouted I, in an ecstasy of delight; "winged her, by all that
is fortunate!"
The men heartily echoed my cheer; one or two of them playfully patting
Mason on the shoulder, by way of encouragement.
"A most excellent shot!" remarked the skipper. "I owe you a glass of
grog for that, Mason; and you shall have it, my lad, but by and by, not
now; you must keep your head perfectly clear until we have done with
that gun. Try her again!"
They were certainly a very smart set of fellows aboard the Frenchman;
for no sooner had the topgallant-mast fallen than the hands were in her
rigging on their way aloft to clear away the wreck.
Again Mason levelled the gun, taking a long and careful aim as before;
and this time the shot struck the sill of the frigate's lee bridle port,
entering the port, and no doubt raking the deck for a considerable
portion of its length. That it did enough damage to greatly exasperate
the French captain seemed almost certain, for presently he bore away
again and treated us to another broadside, the shot of which fell so far
astern that it looked as though we were now creeping away from her.
Mason now seemed to have got his hand in, for his next shot hit the
frigate's bowsprit-end as fair as though he had specially aimed at it,
knocking the cap to pieces, and causing the jib-booms to go over to
leeward. This completely disabled the frigate, so far as chasing to
windward was concerned, as with the loss of her jib-booms she also lost
the use of her jibs; the pressure of her after-sail at once throwing her
up into the wind until she was all aback. They at once went to work to
take in all the sail upon her mizzen-mast, and presently boxed her off
again; but her captain knew that to think of catching us now was out of
the question, and presently he wore round and hauled up to the northward
and eastward, on an easy bowline; his people swarming on the forecastle
as they busied themselves in securing the jibs.
Our lads gave three rousing cheers as they saw the frigate bear up; but
it appeared that we had not quite done with her yet, for as the men
ceased cheering, the skipper very quietly remarked:
"Now it is our turn! That fellow has given us some anxiety; and, now
that we have the opportunity, we will return the compliment. I mean to
teach him that he cannot bully us poor, hard-working privateersmen with
impunity. Take in your topgallant-sail, flying-jib, and gaff-topsail,
Mr Bowen, and then stand by to 'bout ship."
Our men responded to this with a cheer of rapturous delight. We had had
an opportunity to take a good look at the frigate as she wore round, and
we had made her out to be a vessel of thirty-six guns. The audacity of
the idea of the _Dolphin_ actually chasing such a ship exactly suited
the taste of our people; it was a stupendous practical joke to them, and
they entered into it with all the glee and spirit of so many overgrown
school-boys. Sail was quickly shortened, and we then hove about and
steered after the Frenchman.
The first thing to be done was to get the long gun over to windward.
This was soon accomplished; and then Mason went to work once more. His
first and second shots were misses; but the third one plumped slap in
through the frigate's cabin windows. The next shot struck the gig that
was hanging at the frigate's weather quarter, tearing her bottom out;
and the next passed through her main-topsail. After this came four
misses in succession, to the unspeakable disgust of all hands, who
chaffed poor Mason so unmercifully that he almost lost his temper over
it. The skipper thought the opportunity a good one to serve out a glass
of grog to the gun's crew, which had the effect of restoring harmony;
and presently Long Tom began to speak again. The shot struck fair upon
the frigate's stern; and almost instantly she flew up into the wind,
with all the appearance of something having gone wrong with her
steering-gear. She remained head to wind for so long a time that at
length the skipper caused our own helm to be put down and the topsail
laid to the mast lest we should stand on too far and get within range of
her guns. And we were not a moment too soon; for as we rounded-to she
fired the whole of her larboard broadside at us, the shot making the
water spout all round us, and one of them actually striking our hull; it
was, however, so far spent that it did no damage.
Lying almost broadside-on to us, as the frigate now was, she presented a
very pretty mark for target practice; and our long eighteen was brought
to bear upon her most effectively. Shot after shot we gave her, as fast
as the men could load, and almost every one of them struck her
somewhere. Mason's blood was now thoroughly up; he was making a
reputation as a crack shot, and he knew it. I saw, by the increasing
care with which he every time sighted his piece, that he was striving to
do something specially good; and presently he did it. Taking an
unusually long and careful aim he at length gave a smart tug to the
lanyard, and immediately sprang aside to watch the result.
"Did it, by the great horn spoon!" shouted he delightedly; and even as
he spoke we saw the white splinters fly from the frigate's mainmast-
head; the topmast swayed aft, tottered for a moment, and came down by
the run!
The delight of our men--every soul of whom was by this time on deck--was
a sight to see! They cheered shouted, laughed, patted Mason on the
back, and were in the midst of a variety of ludicrous antics, expressive
of supreme gratification, when another broadside rattled out from the
frigate, and this time the shot went humming close over our heads,
drilling half a dozen holes in our canvas, and showing us that we had
drifted within range of her guns. We immediately filled on the
schooner, and hauled off to a respectful distance; for we had no fancy
for being reduced to the same plight as the Frenchman. But the moment
that we considered ourselves safe from her guns we again hove-to, and
resumed our attentions with the long gun.
They were now in a very pretty mess on board the frigate; but they
managed at length to box her off again; and this time they bore up for
the land; making as though they would run in behind the Saint Riom
islands. We immediately bore up in chase, and, running parallel with
her, and taking care to keep just beyond the range of her broadside,
plied her with the long gun again so effectively that some twenty
minutes afterwards her foremast went over the bows, and, broaching-to
once more, she lay completely at our mercy.
"There," exclaimed the skipper, in a tone of great gratification, "that
will do with the gun. We have done enough for honour, I think, and have
given him a thorough good licking, so we may as well be off. We cannot
take him," he continued, in answer to my exclamation of astonishment at
this decision on his part; "he is altogether too big a fish for our net.
If he were to haul down his colours he would rehoist them directly
that, in running down to take possession of him, he had got us fairly
within the range of his broadside; and at close quarters he would simply
sink us in ten minutes. No; I am sorry, but I can see nothing for it
but to leave him--unless you have any plan to suggest, Mr Bowen."