gun-brigs about a mile and a half astern, heading straight up for us,
with the men upon her yards shaking out a reef from her topsails. There
was no time to lose, so I sang out to the men; and, the tone of my voice
probably indicating the urgency of the case, they sprang into the
rigging and came tumbling aft, and almost as soon as the brig had got
her topsail-halliards sweated up, we were under double-reefed topsail,
double-reefed mainsail, foresail, fore-staysail, and jib, leaving the
rest of the fleet as though they had been at anchor. The brig astern
now fired a gun as a signal for us to heave-to, but the shot never came
near us, and the only notice that we took of it was to hoist our
colours. This caused the brig to give chase in earnest, shaking out
another reef in her topsails, and firing again. It was perfectly clear
that we were looked upon with strong suspicion, and I had no doubt
whatever that, if we were caught, we should be detained until the
weather had moderated sufficiently for a boat to be sent aboard us. A
few minutes, however, proved sufficient to set our minds at rest with
regard to the brig astern; she was being pressed altogether too much--
for although the gale had certainly broken, it was still blowing
heavily,--she was careened almost gunwale-to, and was sagging away to
leeward bodily, as well as dropping astern of us. But unfortunately
there were two other brigs, one about a mile to leeward and another
about the same distance to windward, which now, in obedience to signals
thrown out by the frigate, took up the chase, and matters began to look
exceedingly awkward for us. The brig to leeward I cared nothing about;
I felt satisfied that we could outsail and out-weather her; but it was
the fellow to windward that caused me to feel anxious, for he was edging
down upon us, and in a comparatively short time would have us under his
guns. Luckily for us, there were a good many craft between us and this
vessel, and there was a whole crowd of them ahead, into the thick of
which we steered, in the hope that by threading our way among them we
should render it almost impossible for our pursuers to fire upon us for
fear of hitting some of the other vessels.
All three of the brigs in chase were now under double-reefed topsails,
and the way in which they drove along through the mountainous sea, now
soaring up to the crest of a wave in a smother of spray, showing the
whole of their fore-foot and some twenty feet of keel, and anon diving
furiously into a hollow, burying themselves to the windlass bitts, was a
sight worth seeing. The brig to windward had taken up the pursuit by
edging broad away for us, but her people were not long in discovering
that this would not do; the lively little _Dolphin_ was justifying her
name by almost flying through the water, and we fore-reached out so
rapidly that our friend quickly had to haul her wind again, and even
then we were bringing her fast upon our weather quarter, although she
was steadily decreasing the distance between us and herself. At length
she tried a gun, and the shot struck the water some distance ahead and
on our weather-bow. We were nearly, if not quite, within range. A few
minutes later she fired again, and this time the shot fell so close that
the spray actually wetted our jib-boom. But we were now close to a
straggling bunch of some thirty or forty vessels, and before the brig
could again fire we were among them, and for fully five minutes it
became impossible for her to fire without running the risk of hitting
one of them. This gave us a very handsome lift, of which we availed
ourselves to the utmost; and the brig to leeward being now well on our
lee quarter, Captain Winter thought he might venture to edge away a
point, which brought the brig to windward broad on our weather quarter.
The critical moment was now fast approaching, for the last-mentioned
vessel was now very nearly as close to us as she would be at all, and if
we could manage to weather out the next twenty minutes without mishap we
might hope to make good our escape. We were soon clear of the cluster
of shipping that had afforded us protection, and the moment that we were
so the brig to windward again opened fire, the conviction of her people,
no doubt, being by this time that we were an enemy, despite the British
ensign streaming from our gaff-end. We heard the shot go humming over
our mast-heads, and although it did no damage I could see that the
skipper was beginning to feel very uneasy, as he kept glancing from the
brig to our own sails, as though debating within himself the
desirability of hazarding the attempt to give the schooner a little more
canvas. Presently we saw the brig luff momentarily into the wind, a
line of flame and smoke burst from her lee broadside, and nine six-pound
shot came skipping along the water toward us. The broadside was
splendidly aimed, but, luckily for us, the moment of firing was badly
chosen, or the guns were too much depressed, for none of the shot
reached us. Almost at the same moment the brig to leeward began firing,
but her shot fell so far short that from that moment she gave us no
further concern whatever. The luffing of the brig to windward gave us a
slight advantage, as by so doing she fell astern several fathoms;
moreover, she had by this time settled so far away on our quarter that a
few minutes more would suffice to bring her almost directly into our
wake, and I felt that, once there, we should have very little more to
fear from her. This impression was quickly confirmed, for after her
late experience she fired no more broadsides, the only guns that she
could now bring to bear being her bow-chasers, and although the next
three or four shot came unpleasantly near to us, those that succeeded
fell short, and by the time that we were abreast of the most northerly
stragglers of the convoy we were practically safe, provided that none of
our gear carried away. Of this, however, we had but little fear, as our
rigging was all new and of the very best. Fortunately for us, none of
the big men-o'-war condescended to take part in the chase, or, from the
weatherly position which they occupied, there is very little doubt that
they would have cut us off. As it was, the brigs maintained the pursuit
for a distance of some sixteen miles altogether, when they were recalled
by signal from the commodore.
We were greatly elated at this escape, for although the utmost that we
had to fear was the loss, by impressment, of some of our men, the
maintenance of our crew intact was an important matter with us, the more
so now that we were bound upon what might prove to be a lengthened
cruise, during the progress of which many vacancies might be expected to
occur,--either by the necessity to send away prize crews or otherwise,--
which we should have little or no chance to fill up. But, over and
above this, our adventure with the gun-brigs had afforded us a brief but
sufficient opportunity to thoroughly test the powers of the schooner
under circumstances of about as adverse a character as could well be
imagined, and the triumphant manner in which she had more than justified
our most sanguine anticipations gave us unbounded confidence in her.
By noon that day the wind had moderated sufficiently to permit of our
shaking out another reef, and when the sun went down out of a clear sky,
shooting his last rays in a long trail of burning gold athwart the
tumbling waste of still tumultuous waters, the _Dolphin_ was once more
under all plain sail, and speeding to the westward in the direction that
we surmised had been taken by the brigantine and the ship. During the
night the wind dropped still further, and the following morning found
us, with our sails barely filled, creeping lazily along over a long, low
swell that had already begun to wear that streaky, oily appearance which
sometimes heralds the approach of a stark calm. Our calculations had
led us to hope that with the appearance of daylight on this particular
morning we should sight the brigantine and her prize, as we had grown to
consider the disabled ship; but, greatly to our disappointment, nothing
was to be seen in any direction, even from the lofty elevation of our
royal-yard. As the day wore on the wind died away altogether, and by
noon the schooner had lost steerage-way, her head boxing the compass as
she floated on the glass-smooth undulations that alone remained to tell
of the elemental fury that had raged over the spot but a few hours
previously.
We remained thus becalmed for fifty-four hours, so utterly devoid of
movement that the ash-dust and galley refuse hove overboard by the cook
during that time collected into an unsightly patch alongside, just abaft
the larboard fore-rigging, in the exact spot where they had been thrown.
The weather was now excessively hot, and those of us who could swim
took advantage of so favourable an opportunity for bathing by spending
most of our time off duty in the water alongside, until the appearance
of a shark's fin or two, at no great distance, warned us of the danger
of such a proceeding, and caused the skipper to issue an order that no
man was to go overboard without especial permission.
A few hours of such weather, after the gale, would have been an
agreeable change, affording us, as it did, an excellent opportunity to
dry our drenched clothing; but it was spun out so long that we were all
heartily glad when, toward sunset on the second day of the calm, a
delicate line of blue, betokening the approach of a breeze, appeared
along the northern horizon; and by the time that the sun had sunk out of
sight, the first faint breathings reached us. We had by this time
arrived at the conclusion that my surmise relative to the movements of
the brigantine of suspicious character was erroneous, and that she had
steered in some other direction. As soon, therefore, as our canvas
filled and the schooner gathered steerage-way, a course was shaped for
the south-west; the skipper and I having made up our minds that the West
Indian waters afforded the most promising field for the operations of
such enterprising privateersmen as ourselves.
The breeze that had come to us proved to be but a very languid zephyr
after all, a scarcely perceptible breathing, just sufficient to give the
schooner steerage-way, and to drift us along at the rate of a bare two
knots, to the south-west, through the soft, mysterious sheen of the
star-lit night. With the dawning of the new day matters improved
somewhat, our speed rising to nearly four knots. When I went on deck at
six bells, to get a salt-water shower-bath in the head, I found the
schooner gently stealing along over a smooth sea, softly wrinkled to a
most delicate azure hue by the light touch of the faint breeze that came
to us, cool, sweet, and refreshing, out of the north. The sky was a
deep, pure, cloudless blue overhead, merging, by a thousand subtle
gradations, into a warm, pinky, primrose tint along the horizon; and
away to the north, low down in the sky, there floated a few indefinite,
softly-luminous cloud shapes that gave us some reason to hope that we
might be favoured with a more robust breeze later on in the day,
notwithstanding the oily-looking streaks and patches of calm that
appeared here and there upon the ocean's surface. The watch were busily
engaged in swabbing the deck subsequent to a vigorous treatment with the
holystone; the freshly-polished brasswork and the guns flashed like gold
in the brilliant morning sunlight; the white canvas swelled and sank
gently, as the schooner curtsied upon the almost imperceptible heaving
of the swell; everything looked fresh and bright and cheerful, and a
thin wreath of smoke that floated lazily out of the galley funnel and
away over the lee cat-head to the melody of a rollicking sea-ditty
chanted by the cook, as he busied himself with the preparation of
breakfast, imparted that sense of homeliness and light-hearted happiness
which seemed to be all that was required to satisfactorily complete the
picture.
Breakfast was over, and I had just set the watch to work upon certain
jobs requiring the doing, when a boy, whom I had sent aloft to grease
down the topmasts, as a punishment for some trifling misdemeanour,
reported two sail, close together, broad on our starboard beam, and
steering the same way as ourselves. In reply to an inquiry respecting
their appearance, he furnished us with the further information that one
was a brigantine, but he could not quite make out the rig of the other,
although he thought she was a ship. I immediately suspected, from this
reply, that we had accidentally tumbled upon the identical two craft
that we were most anxious to find; and, the better to satisfy myself
upon this important point, I took the ship's telescope and journeyed up
to the royal-yard, from whence I should obtain the most satisfactory
view of them possible. They were at least twenty miles distant, and
therefore quite invisible from the deck, while even from the royal-yard
their upper canvas only, and the heads of their lower sails, were to be
seen; but I had not got them within the field of the telescope more than
a minute when I became convinced that the lost was found--that they were
the two vessels for which we had been looking. The ship was under quite
a respectable jury-rig, and was carrying topgallant-sails and jib, while
the brigantine seemed to be under double-reefed canvas, doubtless to
moderate her speed to that of the disabled ship. They were close
together, and steering to the south-west like ourselves. Having
thoroughly satisfied myself upon these points, I descended and made my
report to the skipper.
The old fellow chuckled and rubbed his hands. "What a lucky thing it
was that the breeze did not freshen during the night," he remarked.
"Had it done so we should have passed those two craft without seeing
them; whereas now, if all goes well, we will have the pair of them
before dark. And to think that we were grumbling about the light airs
during the night! Upon my word, I am beginning to believe that the
parsons are only speaking the simple truth when they say that we can
never tell what is really best for us. However, this is not the time to
discuss matters of that sort. How do you say the vessels bear from us?"
"Broad on the lee bow, sir, or as nearly as possible dead to leeward,"
answered I.
"Then, if we keep away a couple of points we shall just about hit them
off," remarked the skipper. He gave the necessary instructions to the
helmsman, and then, turning again to me, continued:
"We may as well get this business over as soon as possible, George; so
get the stunsails, big gaff-topsail, and main-topmast-staysail on her at
once, my lad, and give the little hooker a chance to go through the
water."
These additions to our canvas were soon made, and then the watch
returned to the work upon which they had been previously engaged, as we
did not expect to overtake the object of our pursuit for several hours.
It was just noon, and we were still engaged upon our observations of the
sun for the determination of the latitude, when the captain made out,
through the telescope of his sextant, the mast-heads of the brigantine
just peeping above the line of the southern horizon; and while we were
in the cabin getting our dinner, Comben, who had charge of the deck,
reported, through the open skylight, that the brigantine had apparently
just sighted us, for she had hauled her wind and was making sail.
"All right," remarked the skipper; "so much the better. That just suits
me, for we shall get to fisticuffs all the sooner, and get the whole
business comfortably over by dark. Let her go along as she is, Mr
Comben."
We finished our dinner comfortably, and then went on deck, to find that
the brigantine had reached out well across our fore-foot; and shortly
afterwards she tacked, heading well up to meet us. She was then about
nine miles off, and some four points on our starboard bow; the ship
being, perhaps, twelve miles distant, bearing a point on our port bow.
The wind had freshened a trifle during the forenoon, and was now blowing
a pretty little breeze that sent us along at about six knots; and if it
would but freshen a trifle more it would become a perfect working breeze
for a fight between two such craft as the brigantine and ourselves. As
it was, I was by no means dissatisfied, for there was just wind enough
to ensure the proper working of the schooner, while the water was smooth
enough to admit of our laying our adversary aboard without injury to
either vessel. The men were given plenty of time to finish their dinner
in peace and comfort; a tot of grog was served out to them, and then all
hands cleared the decks for action; the galley fire was extinguished,
the magazine opened, powder and shot passed on deck, cutlasses and
pistols served out, and the latter loaded; and then the crew went to
quarters. The brigantine was by this time within three miles of us; we
allowed her to close to within two miles, and then shortened sail to
mainsail, foresail, topsail, topgallant-sail, and jibs, hoisted our
colours, and fired a gun.
CHAPTER TEN.
THE AFFAIR OF THE TIGRE AND THE MANILLA.
The brigantine was at this time under all plain sail, to her royal and
main-topmast-staysail, standing toward us, close-hauled, on the port
tack; but we had no sooner shortened sail and hoisted our colours than
she did the same, displaying a very large tricolour at her peak.
"Very good," commented the skipper approvingly; "that settles the
question of her nationality, at all events, and shows that she is
prepared to fight for the prize yonder, that she has somehow managed to
secure. Well, I'm glad of it, George, for she is a wonderfully handsome
craft, powerful, fast, and half as big again as we are; she will be
quite worth the trouble of taking, I believe. A man ought to be able to
do good work with such a fine vessel as that under his feet. There she
comes round. Very pretty! very pretty indeed! Why, she works like a
top! And look at the beam of her, and the height and spread of her
spars! Upon my word it seems a pity to knock about such a beauty as
that with shot! I suppose it will be impossible to avoid doing her some
damage, but we must knock her about as little as possible. I tell you
what, George, I believe our best plan will be to make short work of her.
If we play the game of `hammer and tongs' we shall maul each other
fearfully before we compel her to haul down her colours; so let the men
clap a charge of grape and canister in on top of their round shot. We
will run her aboard at once, firing as we touch; board in the smoke, and
drive her people below, out of hand."
This was quite in accordance with my own fancy, for, as the skipper had
said, the brigantine was half as big again as the _Dolphin_; she mounted
fourteen guns to our eleven, and the chances were that, in a fair stand-
up fight, she might disable us to such an extent as to render her own
escape and that of her prize an easy matter. So I went round the decks
and personally saw to the execution of the skipper's orders, explaining
to the men his intentions, warning them not to fire until they got the
word, and cautioning all hands to be ready to follow the skipper and
myself on to the brigantine's decks the instant that the two vessels
were properly secured to each other.
The brigantine had gone about while the skipper was speaking to me, and
was now on our port bow, standing toward us on the starboard tack, and,
with the exception of our own gun of defiance, neither vessel had as yet
fired. It looked almost as if she were waiting for us to begin, in
order that she might ascertain our weight of metal; but when the two
craft were within about a quarter of a mile of each other our antagonist
suddenly yawed and gave us her whole starboard broadside of seven
twelve-pound shot. The guns were excellently aimed, the seven shot
flying close over our heads and passing through our sails. But the
seven perforations in our canvas represented the full extent of the
damage, not one of our spars being hit, or so much as a rope-yarn cut.
I could see that our lads' fingers were itching to return the fire, the
captains of the guns squinting along the sights of their pieces and
audibly remarking that the elevation was just right if the skipper would
but luff and give them a chance to show what they could do; but I
steadied them by passing along from gun to gun telling them that, if
they would but have patience, their chance would come in a few minutes,
in answer to which many of them clapped their hands to their cutlasses
to make sure that they were loose in their sheaths, while others drew
their pistols and carefully examined the priming.
The brigantine luffed again immediately that she had fired, and we were
now so close that I could see her people busily reloading. The two
vessels were rapidly nearing each other, and I was in hopes that we
should close before it would be possible for them to fire again. But
there was a man on board, who, by his gestures, seemed to be urging them
to expedite their work, and when we were only some twenty fathoms
distant, while the brigantine was crossing our bows, I saw the guns
again run out.
"Look out, sir," I shouted to the skipper; "they are about to fire
again! Luff, or they will rake us!"
The skipper signed with his hand, and the helmsman gave the wheel a
powerful whirl to starboard. The schooner swerved round, and almost at
the same instant crash came another broadside, slap into us this time.
There was a perceptible concussion as the shot struck, followed by a
crashing and splintering of wood, two or three piercing shrieks of
agony, and five men fell to the deck, with the blood welling out of the
dreadful wounds inflicted by the shot and flying splinters. Then, as we
bore down upon the brigantine, the skipper raised a warning cry. I drew
my sword and rushed forward to head the boarders from that part of the
ship. The skipper gave the word to fire, and, as our broadside rang
out, the two vessels crashed together. There was an indescribable
tumult of thudding shot, rending wood, groans, shrieks, and execrations
on board the Frenchman, and, with a shout of "Hurrah, lads; follow me,
and make short work of it!" I leaped on to the brigantine's rail and
down on deck.
The spacious deck of the French ship seemed to be crowded with men, as
far as I could see through the thick pall of powder smoke that wreathed
and twisted hither and thither in the eddying draughts of wind, but
there were great gaps among them filled with prostrate figures, heaped
upon each other, some lying stark and still, others writhing and
screaming with agony, bearing fearful witness to the havoc wrought by
our grape and canister, the discharge of which, at such close quarters,
seemed to have stunned and stupefied the Frenchmen, for not a hand was
raised to oppose me as I sprang down off the rail. I darted a quick
glance along the deck, noticed that the skipper was leading his party on
board, aft, and then made a cut at the Frenchman nearest me.
This woke him up. He hurriedly raised his cutlass to guard the blow,
and the next moment we were at it, cut, thrust, and parry, as hard as we
could go. Our attack being made upon the two extremities of the
brigantine's deck, we soon had her crew hemmed in between the skipper's
and my own party, and for the next ten minutes there was as pretty a
fight as one need wish to witness, the Frenchmen rallying gallantly to
the call of their captain. The hubbub was terrific, the clash of steel,
the popping of pistols, the shrieks, groans, and outcries of the
wounded, the execrations of the Frenchmen, the cheers of our own lads,
and the grinding of the ships together, creating a perfectly
indescribable medley of sound. The struggle threatened to be stubborn
and protracted, the Frenchmen at our end of the ship obstinately
disputing every inch of the deck with us. I therefore determined to
make a special effort, and see what the mere physical strength, of which
I possessed a goodly share, would do for us.