you are smart we shall just have time to give another broadside, and
board in the smoke. Stand by, fore and aft, with your grappling-irons,
and heave as we touch. I will lead the boarders myself, Mr Bowen; so
be good enough to take charge of the ship--"
He was interrupted by another broadside from the lugger, which this time
crashed in through the bulwarks, and I immediately felt that I was hurt,
a sharp, stinging, burning pain just above my left elbow indicating the
locality of the injury. It proved to be a mere trifle, however, a large
splinter having been driven into the flesh. I quickly pulled it out,
and hurriedly bound up the wound with my pocket handkerchief, and as I
was doing so Captain Winter gave the word to the helmsman to "Up helm,
and run her aboard!"
"I see that you are hurt, Mr Bowen," said he, turning to me. "Nothing
very serious, I hope?"
"A mere scratch, sir, I thank you," replied I. "Nothing worth speaking
about."
"So much the better," answered the skipper. "Are you ready, there, with
the guns? Then fire as we touch, and then follow me everybody but the
sail-trimmers. Fire!"
The two vessels collided with considerably more violence than I had
anticipated, so much so, indeed, that the shock sent me reeling to the
deck, whereby I just escaped being shot through the head by the volley
of musketry with which the Frenchmen greeted our arrival; at the same
moment our broadside again crashed through and through the lugger's
bulwarks; and with a hearty cheer on our side, and a terrific hullabaloo
on the part of the French, our lads leapt aboard the lugger, and, taking
no denial, succeeded in clearing her decks after an obstinate fight of
about a minute, during which several rather severe hurts were given and
received on both sides.
CHAPTER SEVEN.
OUR ATTACK UPON ABERVRACH HARBOUR.
The unwounded prisoners were quickly secured below;--the wounded on both
sides being as quickly transferred to the _Dolphin_, in order that they
might the more conveniently be attended to by our worthy surgeon; after
which the prize was placed in charge of our second mate--a Portland man
named John Comben--and we made sail in company.
The brig was at this time about a mile distant on our lee quarter, while
the ship was about a mile and a half distant, just open of the brig's
stern. Captain Winter stood looking wistfully at the two vessels for a
long time; but at length turned away and said regretfully:
"I am afraid we shall have to be content with what we have got, George.
If there was only one of them, and I wouldn't care very much which of
them it was, I would tackle her unhesitatingly; but the two of them
together are rather too big a mouthful for us. So make sail and let us
get back to Weymouth as quickly as we can; if another Frenchman were to
heave in sight while those two are so close to us we might find it a
hard matter to take care of ourselves, to say nothing of the lugger."
The brig and the ship clung persistently to our skirts the whole of that
day, although we gradually drew away from them; but during the night we
lost sight of them, and late the next evening we arrived in Weymouth
harbour without further adventure.
Our prize--the _Cerf_, of Saint Brieuc--proved to be a very fine vessel,
and quite worth the taking; still the prize-money accruing from her
capture did not amount to very much, and Captain Winter came to the
conclusion that, with so many vessels of our own nationality already
swarming in the Channel, that locality could no longer be regarded as a
very profitable cruising-ground. He therefore determined, with Mr
White's full approval, to prosecute operations further afield; trying
the Atlantic first of all, and afterwards--if that did not yield
satisfactory results--pushing right across as far as the West Indies.
This decision arrived at, we pressed forward our preparations with all
speed, and a week later were once more ready for sea.
We sailed early on a Saturday morning with a moderate breeze at west;
and, having cleared the Bill of Portland, stretched away for the French
coast, close-hauled on the starboard tack, making the land near
Abervrach Harbour shortly after mid-day on the following Monday. We
stood in to within a mile of the land, and then tacked. We were about
ten miles off shore when our look-out reported a large sail on our
weather beam, coming down under studding-sails, and it being my watch on
deck I went up on to the topsail yard to have a better look at her.
She was about ten miles dead to windward of us at this time, and was
steering a course to take her between us and the land. She was
evidently a merchantman of about six hundred tons burden or thereabout,
floating pretty deep in the water, and had all the appearance of being
French. Having completed my observations, I went down and reported to
the skipper, who immediately gave orders to tack ship that we might get
a nearer view of her. This was done, and when we got round it was found
that the stranger bore broad on our weather-bow. We happened to be
under easy sail at the time, and Captain Winter at first decided not to
increase our spread of canvas, hoping by this means to impress our
neighbour with the belief that we were in nowise concerning ourselves
about him. But it would not do; he clearly distrusted us, for we were
no sooner round than he edged away toward the land, making for Abervrach
harbour; and an hour later we had the mortification of seeing the
craft--by this time determinable as a barque--enter the harbour and
anchor under the guns of one of the two batteries that guarded its
entrance. We hoisted French colours, and steered as though we, too,
were about to enter the harbour; but the skipper was altogether too wary
to venture inside, so when by observation we had ascertained all that we
could about the place without exposing the schooner to the fire of
either of the batteries, we tacked and stood off shore again as though
working along the coast. This was about six bells in the afternoon
watch, and as the breeze was light and the flood-tide against us, we
made very little progress, and of that little we wasted as much as we
thought we dared without exciting suspicion; our object being to remain
in the neighbourhood until after dark, and then attempt a cutting-out
expedition.
The harbour was a snug enough place, and excellently adapted for the
purpose of sheltering shipping from the attack of an enemy; the entrance
being guarded by two six-gun batteries--one on each headland--mounting
thirty-two pounders, the combined fire of both batteries effectually
commanding the entrance. These two batteries were apparently all that
we had to fear; but they were quite enough, nay, more than enough, for
they were capable of sinking a much bigger craft than the _Dolphin_ in
less than ten minutes. It was these batteries, therefore, that we had
to reckon with in the first place; and, after talking the matter quietly
over in the cabin, it was ultimately decided that, as soon as it was
dark enough to conceal our movements, the canvas should be taken off the
schooner, and she should be allowed to drive, under bare poles, along
the coast back to the eastward until once more abreast of the harbour
entrance, when the anchor was to be let go. Then a sharp look-out was
to be kept for the barque, and if there were no signs of her making an
attempt to slip out to sea again before two o'clock in the morning, the
boats were to be lowered, and the skipper and I, with all the hands that
could be spared, were to pull in, surprise the batteries, spike the
guns, and then dash aboard the barque and bring her out.
The night happened to be dark, with an overcast sky and a thick drizzle
of rain; it was therefore excellently adapted for our purpose, and
having arrived within about a mile and a half of the land, the first
part of our programme was carried out by furling everything and allowing
the schooner to drive up the coast until a deeper blackness in the
shadow that indicated the land revealed that we were off the harbour's
mouth. Here the anchor was let go; and as every precaution had been
taken to prevent any light from showing on board the schooner, we had
good reason for hoping that our presence in that particular spot was
unsuspected. An anchor watch was set, with instructions to keep a sharp
look-out and at once report to the skipper anything of an unusual or
suspicious character, when all hands turned in for the purpose of
securing as much rest as possible prior to the execution of the
important task that we had set ourselves.
Nothing having occurred during the earlier part of the night, all hands
were called at four bells in the middle watch, a cup of hot coffee and a
biscuit was served out to each man, and then those who were to go away
in the boats were told off and armed; after which the skipper made a
short speech, explaining the nature of the service upon which we were
about to engage, and how it was proposed to execute it, after which the
boats were got into the water, and we pulled away with muffled oars for
the shore.
It had been arranged that the skipper should tackle the battery on the
eastern side of the harbour mouth, while I was to deal with the one on
the western headland; and as it was deemed possible that, despite all
our efforts to mislead those on shore, our appearance during the
afternoon might have awakened a sufficient amount of uneasiness to cause
a watch to be set for us, it was further arranged that a landing should
be effected, if possible, on the outside beach; since if we were
expected, we should almost certainly be looked for somewhere along the
more sheltered shore inside the harbour.
Our expedition numbered sixty men, all told--thirty in each division,--
and upon shoving off from the schooner the two divisions at once
separated, the skipper bearing away to the eastward, while I hauled up
for a point about half a mile, as nearly as I could guess, to the
westward of the western battery.
The night was even thicker and darker than it had been when we brought
the schooner to an anchor off the harbour's mouth; there was a cold,
dismal rain persistently falling, and the breeze, having freshened up
considerably, was now sweeping over the sea with a dreary, wintry,
moaning sound that distinctly accentuated the discomfort of our
situation, while it had knocked up a sea that threatened to render our
landing a work of very considerable difficulty and danger. This became
increasingly apparent as we drew closer in with the land, the roar of
the surf upon the rocky beach and the ghostly white gleam and flash of
the fringe of breakers exciting within me a feeling of very lively
apprehension as to the safety of the boats. We pulled cautiously in to
within about fifty fathoms of the beach, and then turned the boats
round, bows on to the sea, while we looked anxiously about for a
suitable spot at which to beach them, allowing them to drift shoreward
meanwhile; but it soon became evident that, if we desired to land
outside the harbour's mouth, it would be necessary for us to seek a more
favourable spot for the purpose, the surf being so heavy and the shore
so thickly cumbered with rocks, just where we were, that any attempt at
beaching the boats would only result in their destruction, and possibly
the loss of several lives. We therefore hauled off again a short
distance, and directed our search somewhat further westward, when, after
traversing the line of beach for somewhere about half a mile, we found
ourselves in a sort of miniature harbour, about fifteen fathoms wide,
formed by a projecting reef of rocks, under the lee of which we
forthwith effected a landing without the slightest difficulty. I left
two men in each boat, to take care of them and keep them afloat, and
then, having satisfied myself as well as I could that our ammunition had
been kept dry and in serviceable condition, I led the rest of my party
up the steep, slippery face of the low cliffs beyond the beach. A
breathless scramble of some three or four minutes carried us to the top;
and all that remained was for us to follow the edge of the cliff to the
eastward, when we should in due time find ourselves at the battery which
was the primary object of our attack.
The result of our procedure amply demonstrated the wisdom of the
skipper's arrangements; for when we reached the battery--which we did
rather sooner than I had expected--we found it absolutely unguarded at
the rear, the sentinels, three in number, being so posted as to watch
the harbour entrance only. Where the rest of the garrison were we could
not at the moment discover, but, feeling certain that they were
somewhere close at hand, it became necessary to proceed with the utmost
caution; I therefore formed up my little band under the shelter and in
the deep shadow of a projecting angle, and, enjoining upon them the most
absolute silence, entered the battery alone for the purpose of
reconnoitring.
I gained the inside without difficulty--the gate having been carelessly
left unfastened--and at once found myself in a semicircular court-yard
formed by the gun platform of the battery and the sod revetment which
surrounded it. The platform was about eight feet high, and was
apparently case-mated, for immediately in front of me, as I entered, was
a door and two windows, through the latter of which streamed into the
blackness of the night the feeble rays of a barrack lantern. Pyramidal
piles of round shot were stacked here and there about the gravelled
court-yard; and upon approaching one of these and passing my hand over
the shot, I came to the conclusion that the five guns which I dimly made
out as shapeless masses of blackness upon the platform were thirty-two
pounders. The three sentries, wrapped in their greatcoats, stood
motionless, one in the centre and one at each extremity of the platform,
facing to seaward, but I judged from their listless attitudes that they
were anything but on the alert. Access to the platform was obtained by
two broad flights of stone steps, one at either extremity.
It was the work of but two or three minutes for me to ascertain these
particulars, having done which I returned to my men, gave them most
careful instructions how to proceed, and then led them into the battery,
where, while the main body silently divided and stole round, in the
shadow of the platform, to the guard-room door, about which they ranged
themselves, I and two others, whom I had especially picked for the
purpose, drew off our boots, and, in our stockinged feet, crept,
silently as shadows, up on to the gun platform, where each of us
crouched behind a gun waiting for a signal which I had arranged to give.
I selected as my victim the sentinel who mounted guard in the middle of
the platform, because he was the most difficult man to approach, the
other two being posted close to the head of the two flights of stone
steps, and I knew that by the time that I had reached him my men would
be quite ready.
The fellow stood close to the middle gun, on its lee side, and appeared
to be sheltering himself as well as he could from the wind and the rain
by crouching close to its carriage. His back was toward me. I
therefore had no difficulty whatever in approaching him, which I did in
a crouching attitude until I was near enough to touch the flapping
skirts of his coat. Then, drawing myself up to my full height and
taking a deep breath, I coughed loudly as a signal to my two men, at the
same instant clapping one hand over the sentinel's mouth and seizing his
musket in the other as I drove my knee into the small of his back and
bore him irresistibly to the ground.
"Utter no sound if you value your life!" I hissed in his ear, in
French; and whether it was that my caution was effective, or that the
poor fellow was too utterly surprised and astounded to speak, certain it
is that he lay perfectly quiet, with my knee on his breast and my hand
clutching his throat, while I carefully laid down the musket and drew a
gag and some line from my pocket wherewith to secure him. A subdued
scuffling to my right and left, scarcely audible above the rush of the
wind and the roar of the breakers on the outside beach, told me that the
other two sentinels were being similarly dealt with; but there was no
outcry whatever, and in less than five minutes we had all three of them
securely gagged, and bound hand and foot.
The next thing was to secure the remainder of the garrison, and this we
did without any difficulty, simply flinging open the guard-room door and
dashing in, cutlass and pistol in hand, upon the sleeping soldiers, and
seizing the muskets that stood neatly ranged in a rack along one of the
walls. There was a terrific outcry and jabber among the astonished
Frenchmen for a minute or two, with some show of a disposition to
resist; but I pointed out to them that there were only thirty of them to
twenty-six of us, that we were armed while they were not, and that we
were not in the humour to put up with any nonsense whatever; which, with
the resolute attitude of our men, had the effect of very speedily
reducing them to subjection.
I had brought a hammer and a handful of nails with me, and my next
business was to spike the guns. This occupied but a very few minutes,
and when it was done I returned to the guard-room with the intention of
withdrawing my men. As I glanced round the room, however, I caught
sight of a small bunch of keys hanging against the wall, and, thinking
that these might possibly belong to the magazine, the spirit of mischief
suggested to me the propriety of destroying the battery altogether,
instead of merely temporarily disabling it; so I took down the keys,
and, lighting another lantern, of which there were several, I proceeded
to investigate.
It was as I had anticipated. The keys were those of the magazine and
the store-room, and, entering the former, I soon found that there was an
ample stock of powder, in kegs and made up into cartridges, to wreck the
entire structure. There was also a coil of slow match, a piece of which
I cut off, and, taking it outside, lighted it for the purpose of
ascertaining the rate at which it burnt. This was soon done, whereupon
I cut off enough to burn for about twenty minutes, opened the kegs of
powder, and emptying one of them in a heap in the middle of the floor,
buried one end of the slow match in the pile, taking the other end
outside. I then returned to the guard-room and marched the prisoners,
surrounded by my own men, outside the battery, when, having assured
myself that all hands were safe, I informed the Frenchmen that I was
about to blow up the battery, and recommended them to run for their
lives, at the same time directing my own men to let them go. The
Frenchmen needed no second bidding. Away they went down the slope like
startled deer, tumbling over each other in their anxiety to escape from
the effects of the anticipated explosion, to the great delight and
amusement of our people, and in less than a minute they had vanished in
the darkness. The Frenchmen thus disposed of, I ordered my own men to
make the best of their way down to the boats, there to wait for me, and
then re-entered the battery. It had been arranged between the skipper
and myself that each of us should, after taking our respective
batteries, display a lantern or light of some sort, on the parapet, as a
signal to the other. And my first act, therefore, upon returning to the
battery, was to light a lantern and place it where it could be seen from
the other battery, and at the same time be shielded from the wind and
the rain. While doing this I noted with satisfaction that the captain's
signal was already displayed; so, comforted with the assurance that both
batteries were now rendered harmless, I descended to the court-yard,
and, with some difficulty, succeeded in igniting the slow match. I
waited only long enough to make quite sure that it was burning all
right, and then made a bolt of it for my life, overtaking my men just as
they reached the beach. We found the boats all right, and perfectly
safe, but the men in charge growing very uneasy, as the tide was rising
fast over the reef of rocks that sheltered the little cove in which they
were lying, and a very nasty, awkward sea was beginning to roll in,
occasioning the boat-keepers a great deal of trouble and anxiety in
their endeavours to prevent the boats being stove. "All is well that
ends well", however, the boats had thus far escaped, and we lost no time
in tumbling into them and shoving off. Just as we did so a terrific
glare lit up the sky for an instant, accompanied by a violent concussion
of the rocks upon which some of us were standing, and followed by a
deep, thunderous boom. Our battery had blown up, and presently, above
the seething roar of the sea and the moaning of the wind, we caught the
crashing sound of the falling fragments of masonry and earth, and the
thud of the heavy guns dislodged from their resting-places upon the
demolished platform.
Meanwhile the wind and the sea had both been steadily increasing until
it had grown to be what sailors expressively term "a regularly dirty
night", and we were no sooner clear of our sheltering reef of rocks than
we were struck by a comber that pretty nearly half-filled the boat that
I happened to be in, the other boat, which was astern of us, faring
little or no better. The men, however, bent to their oars with a will,
and in about ten minutes, by keeping the boats stem-on to the sea, we
forced our way out through the broken water and were enabled to head for
the harbour, toward which, wet to the skin, and half-dead with the cold
of the piercing bitter wind, we made the best of our way. Just inside
the harbour entrance, and about mid-channel, we fell in with the
skipper's two boats, which had arrived a few minutes earlier, and were
lying upon their oars, waiting for us. Thus reunited, the skipper and I
briefly exchanged details of the result of our respective efforts, after
which we gave way in line abreast for the spot where we expected to find
the barque. We pulled for a quarter of an hour but failed to discover
her, although the skipper and I were equally confident that we must be
close to the spot where we had seen her at anchor. Then, after a brief
consultation, it was agreed that the boats should separate and search
for her, a pistol-shot from the lucky boat being the signal arranged to
notify that the search had been successful. This plan, or rather the
first part of it, was at once put into execution, each boat pulling away
in a different direction from the others; but although we diligently
searched in every likely direction, frequently encountering one or
another of the other boats, the barque was nowhere to be found, and, not
to needlessly spin out this adventure, it may suffice to say that we
fruitlessly hunted all over the harbour until daylight, when it became
evident that in some mysterious manner the vessel had contrived to give
us the slip and make good her escape. It had probably occurred during
the time that the skipper and I had been busy with the batteries; but
the most curious part of it all was that Comben, our second mate, left
in charge of the schooner, declared that, although he had never relaxed
his vigilance for an instant, from the time of our leaving until our
return on board, neither he nor any of the men who shared his watch with
him had seen anything whatever of the craft. We thus had an arduous,
dangerous, and most trying night's work for nothing; for with the escape
of the barque our work upon the batteries became absolutely useless to
us. So, in no very good-humour, we all shifted into dry clothing,
weighed our anchor, shaping a course to the northward and westward, and
then went to breakfast.
CHAPTER EIGHT.
WE FALL IN WITH A CONVOY.