"Another shot, sir," cried Tailtackle, through the open cabin window.
All was now noise and confusion, and I hastened on deck. Our opponent
was a large brig of at least three hundred tons burthen, a low vessel
painted black. Its sides were as round as an apple, the yards were
unusually large, and it was evidently filled with men. I counted nine
guns on a side and prayed silently that they might not prove long
guns. I was not a little horrified to find, on looking through the
glass, that the deck was covered with naked negroes. That the vessel
was a slaver, I had not for a moment doubted, and I had also imagined
that its crew might number fifty men, but that the captain would
resort to such a dangerous expedient--dangerous to himself as well as
to us--as to arm the slaves, had never entered my mind, and it
startled me not a little to find that he had done so, as it showed
that I must expect the most desperate resistance.
Tailtackle had pulled off his jacket, and was standing by my side. His
belt was tightly drawn round his waist, and his cutlass hung from it.
The rest of the men were armed in the same manner; some of them had
also, muskets, and the others stood at their posts, near the guns. The
grapnels were loosened, and tubs of wadding, and boxes of cartridge
stood ready for use. In short, all was prepared for action.
"Master Tailtackle," said I, "your post is in the magazine. Lay aside
your cutlass; it is not your duty to lead the boarders."
"Master Timothy," said Bangs, "could you do without one of these
pikes?"
"Certainly, sir," replied Timothy, laughing, "but you do not intend to
lead the boarders yourself, do you, sir?"
"How do you know that?" returned Aaron, with a grim smile, "since I
have been fool enough to trust myself in this dancing cork of a
vessel;" as he spoke he laid aside his coat, unsheathed a cutlass, and
bound a red woolen cloth round his head.
The slaver, who was now hardly a cable's length from us, suddenly put
up his helm with the evident intention of running under our quarters,
but at this moment we poured a broadside into him. I could see the
white splinters fly from his side, and again there rang in our ears a
sharp piercing cry, followed by that long, melancholy howl already
described.
"We have hit some of the poor blacks again," said Tailtackle, who was
still on deck.
But we had no further time for observation, for the Spaniard returned
our broadside with the same cold-blooded precision as before.
"Down with the helm and let her swing round," cried I--"cross his
quarters--forward there--out with the sweeps, and hold her steady--that's
right--now run over a gun and let him have it--steady boys--aim
well--fire!"
We now lay directly across the stern of the slaver, hardly thirty feet
from him, and although he defended himself with great determination
and courage, pouring upon us a perfect shower of musket balls from
his rigging and cabin windows, yet I saw very clearly that in
consequence of the skill with which our helm was managed, enabling us
to retain a raking position, that our fire was making terrible havoc
on board of him.
"Hurrah! his foremast's down. Well done, boys; pepper him well, whilst
he is in confusion. There goes his gaff and flag, but don't stop
firing on that account; it did not come down with his consent. I told
you so--he has run it up again. Good, my lads; you have shot the main
yard away now, and he can't escape us."
Nimbly as monkeys, two sailors clambered up the rigging to repair the
injury done. Had they succeeded in their object, the slaver would
again have got under way and escaped from our fire. All this time,
Bangs and Gelid had been firing at the enemy with the most murderous
precision. They lay behind the bulwarks, and their black servants were
in the cabin busily engaged in loading their muskets for them.
Wagtail, who was not much of a shot, sat on deck and passed the
weapons up and down.
"For heaven's sake, Master Bangs," cried I, "pick off those two men in
the rigging. Down with them."
"What! those two chaps at the end of the long pole?" asked Bangs,
turning to me with the greatest coolness imaginable.
"Yes, yes--down with them."
He raised his musket as deliberately as if he were shooting at a
target.
"I say, Gelid, my boy, take the one this way, will you?"
"Certainly," replied Paul.
They fired, and the seamen fell, and after struggling in the water for
a moment like wounded birds, sank to the bottom, leaving on the
surface of the sea, pools of blood to mark their graves.
"Now," cried I, to the man at the wheel, "run her alongside of the
Spaniard. Out with the grapnels, men; that's right. Hurrah! she's
ours."
"Follow me, ye boarders!" I exclaimed as soon as I had collected my
people, and in the excitement of the moment I sprang on the slaver's
deck, followed by eight-and-twenty men. But the enemy was ready for
us, and we were received by a shower of musket balls that sent four of
our tars into the next world, and wounded three more. Spite of this
warm reception, however, we reached the quarter-deck, where the
Spanish captain with about forty men, armed with swords and pistols,
presented a formidable front. We attacked them; Tailtackle, who as
soon as he heard the cry of "boarders," had rushed out of the magazine
and followed us, split the captain's skull with his cutlass. The
lieutenant was my bird, and I had nearly finished him, when he
suddenly drew a pistol from his belt and shot me through the shoulder.
I felt no pain except a sharp twinge, and then a sensation of cold, as
if some one had poured water over my neck.
Our fellows fought with the accustomed bravery of British sailors, but
for some time the chances of the combat were doubtful. At last our
opponents began to waver, and finally gave way; but at this moment
some fifty blacks, armed with muskets, sprang suddenly upon deck, and
rushed to the aid of the Spaniards. I now gave up all as lost. My men,
disheartened at this accession to the number of their foes, began to
give way, whilst the Spanish crew fought with renewed courage.
Moreover, we found that we were now fighting not for glory, but for
life itself; for, on looking round, we saw to our horror that the
grapnels had been loosened, and thus all retreat cut off. Our vessel
was no longer lying alongside of the brig, but across its bows, so
that the bowsprit of the latter crossed its deck. We could not,
therefore, reach it, since the Spaniards had possession of the
forecastle of their own vessel. At this critical moment we received
unexpected aid in the shape of a shower of grape shot from our
schooner, which swept away many of the negroes, besides wounding a
large number of them, whilst at the same time a new party of
combatants sprang on deck to our rescue.