We both halted and listened intently, Monroe with one foot on the top
step of the companion, on his way below.
"What did you think you heard?" I questioned in a half-whisper.
"Well, I can scarcely say," was the low-spoken reply. "As a matter of
fact, I am not sure that I heard anything. I am beginning to think that
Kennedy's stupid talk must have affected us all aft here, more or less,
but it certainly seemed to me that while I was bidding you good night
just now I caught the faintest suggestion of--Ah! by Jove! there it is
again. Did you catch it?"
"Yes," I said, "unless--But no; I don't believe it was imagination. I
thought I heard a sound like the groaning of an oar against a thole pin,
some distance off in that direction," with a flourish of my hand toward
the east.
"Yes," agreed Monroe; "that describes the sound exactly. Surely
Kennedy's apprehensions cannot have been well-founded, after all, can
they?"
"Don't know in the least," I returned; "but I guess we shall, very soon
now. Meanwhile, since it must be obvious to you that I cannot possibly
leave the deck at this juncture, perhaps you will have the goodness to
slip down below and do that key-turning trick you suggested to me just
now."
"Sure! I will," answered the parson. "It was my advice, and I will
take the responsibility of carrying it out," and he vanished down the
companion way.
As he disappeared I went down the poop ladder at a run, hurried forward,
and made my way to the forecastle head, where I found the look-out
leaning against the guard rail with his arms folded and his chin sunk
upon his chest. He was not asleep, for as he heard the light patter of
my shoes upon the ladder he straightened himself and turned to see who
was coming; but I had a very shrewd suspicion that the stillness of the
night had induced in him a condition very much the reverse of alertness.
"Is that Johnson?" I demanded sharply.
"No, sir," he replied. "I'm Maguire."
"Then, Maguire," I said, "I am afraid you have not been keeping quite so
wideawake as you ought, considering that it's your look-out. For
instance, have you heard any unusual sounds, such as you ought to have
reported, since you came on watch?"
"No, sir," replied the man. "And as to--"
"That will do," I interrupted. "Now, pull yourself together and
listen."
We both set ourselves intently to listen, but before half a dozen
seconds had passed I heard loud voices--those of Monroe and the boy,
and, almost immediately afterward, that of Mrs Vansittart--the parson's
in remonstrance, the boy's in loud and angry protest, and that of the
lady in anxious enquiry. It seemed as though Monroe had somehow
mismanaged his rather delicate task, for as I started to go aft again I
heard the lad shout, "I _will_ go on deck if I feel like it, and you,
Monroe, aren't going to stop me. And as for the Britisher, do you think
I care what he says?" But here Mrs Vansittart cut in with an
injunction to Julius to hold his tongue, following it up with an enquiry
as to what all the fuss was about. I felt that it was time I took a
hand; so, cautioning Maguire to keep a bright look-out and listen for
all he was worth, I sprang down the forecastle ladder on my way aft.
And as I did so I ran into a couple of men who had just crept out from
beneath the launch, evidently curious to learn what the disturbance was
about.
Halting for a moment, I ordered the two men to rouse the watch quietly,
and stand by for an "All hands" call, and then continued on my way aft,
meeting the trio just by the foot of the poop ladder. Mrs Vansittart
was evidently in something of a temper, for, as I joined the party, she
turned sharply and demanded:
"Is that Mr Leigh?"
"It is, madam," I replied. "Hush, Julius!" I continued, for the boy
also had turned angrily upon me. "Pray stop your outcry, for Heaven's
sake! Silence is of vital importance to us all at this moment, for we
may be on the very verge of a crisis. Mr Monroe and I are both of
opinion that we very recently heard certain sounds that--"
"I know all about that," interrupted Mrs Vansittart; "Mr Monroe has
already explained that to me. What I want to know now is by what right
you presumed to instruct him to lock the door of the drawing-room, and
so prevent me from coming out on deck?"
"Yes," added the boy, in that high-pitched, clamorous voice of his,
which would carry so far over the water on such a night, "and what right
have you to order me to be locked in my cabin? Who are you, I should
like to know--"
"Craft on the port quarter--two of 'em--three--four--a whole fleet of
small craft headin' dead for us!" yelled the look-out at this moment.
"Good heavens!" I ejaculated, "then Kennedy's extraordinary premonition
was right after all;" and, unceremoniously quitting the little group
under the break of the poop, I rushed forward, shouting:
"All hands to general quarters! Throw open the ports. Off with the gun
covers; slew the guns, and point them out through the ports. Pass the
word for the gunner, and send him aft to me." Then I turned and went
aft again, once more encountering the saloon party, now made complete by
the appearance of Miss Anthea, clad, like her mother, in a very becoming
dressing-gown.
"Madam," said I, addressing Mrs Vansittart, "there is no time for
explanation at this moment, for, unless I am very greatly mistaken, we
are about to be attacked by a fleet of pirate craft. But I most
earnestly beseech you to retire below, taking your son and daughter with
you out of harm's way. If my suspicions are well-founded, none of you
can be of the slightest assistance on deck, while at any moment we may
have shot flying about our ears, and--"
"Yes," the skipper agreed, "you are quite right. Mr Leigh is perfectly
right, Julius, therefore I order you to go to your cabin at once. And
you too, Anthea. Mr Monroe, if Julius will not go quietly, I authorise
you to use such force as may be necessary to compel him to go. And when
you have seen him safe in his cabin, lock him in, and bring me the key.
Now, sir,"--very haughtily to me--"be good enough to accompany me to the
poop, and let us see what justification there is for all this sudden
alarm and confusion."
It was very evident that the lady was tremendously indignant with me.
And at this, when I came to think of it, I was not greatly surprised,
for it certainly was a tremendous liberty for a second officer to
consent to, much less order, the locking of a skipper and owner in her
own cabin. I therefore followed her, very much crestfallen, up the poop
ladder, and at once looked away out over the port quarter in search of
the supposed pirate fleet.
It was at this time so very dark that for several seconds I could see
nothing. The moon had set, and the bank of cloud already referred to
had overspread more than half the sky; moreover, a mist had come
creeping up from the eastward, not dense enough to merit the name of
fog, yet sufficiently thick to dim the light of the stars still shining
in the western half of the heavens, while it added still more to the
darkness which gloomed away to the eastward of us. But presently, down
in the midst of the dusky blackness broad on our port quarter, I caught
a glimpse of a small, indeterminate shape of still deeper blackness,
then another, and another, and another, until I had counted ten of them;
and concentrating my gaze intently upon them, I felt sure I could
occasionally distinguish a small, evanescent, silvery gleam like that of
sea fire stirred into brilliance by the slow passage of a moving object
through the water.
"Yes," I exclaimed, pointing, "there they come, ten of them, if not
more. Have you any particular orders to give, madam, or will you leave
the defence of the ship to Mr Kennedy and me?"
"Why, of course I leave it to Kennedy--and you--to do the best you can,"
replied Mrs Vansittart. "I know nothing at all about fighting tactics;
and I shall not attempt to interfere. Further than that, I shall go
below--although I do not like the idea of quitting the deck at the
approach of an enemy--for I am sensible enough to recognise that I can
do no good up here, and should only be in the way. But, Walter, never,
under any circumstances whatever, again dream of turning a key upon me.
It was a most unwarrantable liberty, which not even such a crisis as
this can justify; and for a few minutes I was really furiously angry
with you. But I believe what you did was done with the very best of
intentions, so I will say no more about it. Now, here comes Kennedy, so
I will just say a word or two to him, and then go. Take care of
yourself, my dear boy, and see that you do not get hurt."
There was no time for me to express my gratitude to the lady for her
exceeding kindness in thus overlooking what at best could only be
described as a serious error of judgment--although, even so, I could not
refrain from reminding myself that the fault originated with Monroe--for
at that moment the first mate came bounding up the poop ladder,
struggling into his jacket as he came.
"Whoopee!" he shouted, as he reached the level of the poop. "What did I
tell ye, bhoy? Where are the shpalpeens? Show 'em to me--Oh! beg your
pardon, ma'am; I didn't expect to find you here--"
"Where did you expect I should be, then, pray, Mr Kennedy?" demanded
the skipper. "Hiding in the shaft tunnel, I suppose--"
"By the piper! ye might be in a worse place than that same, ma'am. Up
here, for instance," interrupted Kennedy. But Mrs Vansittart was in no
mood to discuss that unfortunate subject any further, just then at all
events; she therefore cut in upon the first mate's remarks by saying:
"Now, that will do, Mr Kennedy. Please listen to me, for time is
pressing. I have just been explaining to Mr Leigh that I know nothing
about fighting, therefore I shall leave you and him to do the best you
can for our defence, and go below out of the way, since I can be of no
use up here. Good night, and take care of yourselves! And let me know
when it is all over." With which the lady took herself off, to our
intense relief.
"Now, then," exclaimed Kennedy, turning to me, "where are the cut-throat
pirates that I'm afther hearin' about?"
"There they are, less than half a mile off," I replied, pointing. "They
are coming along very slowly, hoping to catch us unawares, perhaps.
But, goodness knows, that young rip, Julius, was making noise enough
just now to be heard at double that distance, and to show that some of
us at least are broad awake." Then I briefly explained what orders I
had so far given, and waited to hear what he had to say.
"Have the small arms been served out yet?" he demanded.
"Not yet," I answered. "But they are ready at a moment's notice."
"Right!" he approved. "Let them be served out at once; a cutlass and a
brace of fully loaded automatics to each man, not forgettin' our noble
selves. With these Maxims we shall not need any rifles, I guess."
I turned away to issue this order, when I was met at the head of the
poop ladder by Bledsoe, the gunner.
"You sent for me, sir?" he asked.
"I did, Bledsoe," said I. "Come up. Mr Kennedy is here, and he may
have some orders for you." Then I turned to Kennedy and said:
"Here is the gunner. I sent for him a few minutes ago, thinking you
might wish to see him. Also, I had it in my mind to order him to send a
few portfires up on deck. It occurred to me that if those fellows
insist on closing with us, it would be a good plan to have a hand up in
the maintop with some portfires; it would enable us to see what we are
doing."
"It would that," agreed Kennedy; "and we'll do ut. See to it, Mr
Bledsoe, if ye plaise. And ye may also send up some ammunition for the
four-inches and Maxims. I guess we'll not need the Hotchkisses.
That'll do, gunner; let's have that ammunition quick. Mr Leigh, be
good enough to attend to that matther of the shmall arms, and then come
back here and take charge of the Maxims. It's about time we let those
ginks know that we're awake, so I'll step down to the main-deck and see
about throwin' a shot over 'em."
We descended to the main-deck together, all hands being by that time on
deck and at stations; and while I went below to attend to the sending up
and distribution of the cutlasses and automatics, Kennedy planted
himself in rear of Number 2 gun of the port battery. A minute later the
deep, ringing report and jar of the discharge were heard and felt, but
with what effect I knew not, being on the deck beneath. A minute later
a second gun roared overhead, and while my ears were still ringing with
the report I heard the boom of a distant gun, and listened breathlessly
for the impact of the shot. I heard nothing, however, so concluded that
the missile had flown wide. By the time that our third gun spoke my
task below was completed; I therefore snatched at a cutlass, buckled the
belt round my waist, took a brace of automatic pistols from the man who
was loading them, thrust them into my belt, and rushed up on deck. I
encountered Kennedy near the foot of the poop ladder, reported to him
what I had done, and received from him the order to go up on the poop
and open fire with the Maxims forthwith.
"We've hit one of thim, and she seems to be sinkin'," he said; "but the
rest of the divvies are comin' for us like mad, wid their sweeps
churnin' up the wather like the paddles of one av your London tugs.
Shtop 'em from layin' us aboard, if ye can, bhoy. We want no
hand-to-hand fightin' wid thim, for they'll outnumber us ten to one, I
calculate." He added this last item in a confidential whisper.
I dashed up on the poop, and, to my great satisfaction, found both the
Maxims manned and well supplied with ammunition. But although it was
now easy enough to hear the grind and splash of the sweeps with which
the attackers were urging their craft through the water, ay, and even to
hear their shouts of encouragement to each other, the darkness and the
mist together still combined to render them too indistinctly visible to
permit of effective firing from our Maxims. I therefore shouted to
Kennedy a suggestion that he should order the man in the maintop to
light his portfires, so that we might have light to see what we were
about. And Kennedy was in the very act of giving the order when three
of the approaching craft fired upon us almost at the same instant; and a
_moment_ later I heard a sharp, splintering crash, followed by a dull,
crunching sound below me on the main-deck. One of the enemy's round
shot had got home through our port bulwark, so far as I could judge.
I was in a perfect fever of impatience to get additional light, though
it were ever so little, and had about made up my mind to open fire with
the Maxims without further delay, for the approaching craft were by this
time perilously close--not more than two cables' lengths distant, I
believe--when I caught a faint flicker of light from aloft, and the next
instant the baleful, blue-white glare of a portfire illuminated the
scene and revealed ten small sailing craft foaming down upon us under
the impulse of from twelve to sixteen powerfully-manned sweeps apiece.
Each craft carried a gun, which looked to be about the calibre of a
twelve-pound smooth-bore, mounted in the eyes of her; their decks were
crowded with Malays of most ferocious, malignant, and determined aspect,
and I caught the gleam and flash of the light from innumerable krisses
and rifle barrels as their owners waved them above their heads in savage
anticipation of presently getting to close-quarters with us.
It was evident that we were confronted with a most formidable and
dangerous situation, demanding the utmost promptitude of action, and I
at once turned to the crew of the port Maxim, with the command upon my
lips to them to open fire, when a cry of horror arose from the gun's
crew on the main-deck immediately below where I was standing, and a man,
looking up to me and pointing with his hand, shouted that the mate was
killed. Glancing down over the poop rail, I saw the body of poor
Kennedy stretched out on the deck in the midst of a pool of blood, with
the top of his head shot away, doubtless by the round shot that, a few
seconds earlier, I had heard crash through the bulwarks.
"Let them have the contents of every gun that will bear!" I shouted.
Then turning to the Maxim crews, I added: "Open fire upon them--the
nearest craft first; and clear their decks of men, if you can, before
they get alongside."
The light was the only thing that our lads--and the pirates too,
apparently--had been waiting for, for the next moment the guns of our
port battery crashed forth, one after the other, while our port Maxim--
the only one of the two that could be brought to bear--started its
savage thud-thudding tattoo, and in less than half a minute the ship was
enveloped in a cloud of acrid smoke which, hanging motionless in the
stagnant air, effectually cloaked the approach of the attacking force,
and as effectually prevented anything like accurate shooting.
Nor were the enemy one whit behindhand in availing themselves of the
assistance afforded by the light of the portfires; indeed, they had
rather the best of it, for although the hull of the yacht was speedily
enveloped in smoke, the portfire brilliantly illuminated our canvas, and
thus afforded them an excellent guide in aiming. And now the round shot
began to fly thick and fast, while bullets and slugs hummed and sang
about our ears like a swarm of angry hornets. Luckily for us, the aim
of the pirates was atrociously bad--probably the fire of our Maxim
disconcerted them--and although we afterward found that five round shot
had passed through our sails, only one struck our hull, while, by what
seemed like a miracle, the bullets all missed our bodies, though in many
cases by only the merest hair's-breadth. For perhaps half a minute the
fire of the pirates was maintained with the utmost fury, and then all in
a moment it died away to a few desultory shots, which presently ceased.
Putting my whistle to my lips, I blew a shrill blast upon it, which I
followed up with the order:
"Main-deck guns, cease firing!" And as I uttered the words I thought I
felt a faint draught of air upon my face. I was not mistaken, for at
the same moment the heavy pall of smoke which enveloped us began lazily
to shape itself into fantastic wreaths that slowly swept away to the
westward, while our lighter canvas rustled gently, and then filled to a
small air from the eastward. As it happened, our sails were correctly
trimmed, so that all that was needed was just to allow the ship to come
up to her proper course when she gathered way.
Meanwhile, with the dispersion of the smoke, we were able once more to
get a glimpse of the enemy, and that glimpse revealed them to be in full
flight. They must have suffered frightfully from our fire before their
courage gave way, for of the ten craft which constituted the original
attacking force only six were now visible, while every one of these
appeared to be more or less in difficulties--three of them, indeed, very
much more than less. I perceived that only one of the half-dozen
appeared to be working her full complement of sweeps, while another was
hobbling off under the impulse of but a single pair. Shells, though
they be of but four-inches diameter, are capable of inflicting serious
damage when they hit and explode.
The breeze, which at first came away as a mere breathing, gained
steadily in strength, until the yacht was sliding along at a six-knot
pace, and it would have been easy for us to have overtaken our audacious
attackers and sunk them out of hand. But I had my doubts as to whether
any of them would remain afloat long enough to get back to the small
hidden harbour from which they had emerged; while in any case it seemed
to me that the rascals had received so severe a punishment that it would
be long before they again attempted to attack a seemingly helpless ship.
I therefore allowed them to go their way without further molestation,
and, boarding the fore and main tacks, brought the ship to her course.
This done, I gave orders for the guns to be secured, the charges to be
drawn, the unused ammunition to be returned to the magazine, and the
small arms to the armourer, and the decks to be cleared up generally.
Meanwhile poor Kennedy's body had been carried forward and laid upon the
fore-hatch, covered over with a tarpaulin. Poor chap! I was sincerely
grieved at his loss, for he was both a first-rate seaman and a
thoroughly stanch messmate. And as, passing round the deck to satisfy
myself that all my orders had been satisfactorily executed, I paused for
a moment to gaze regretfully at the shrouded form under the tarpaulin, I
could not help wondering a little at the memory that he, the only
victim, should have been the one to have experienced a premonition,
practically amounting to certainty, not only of the encounter, but also,
as I now felt convinced, that it would prove fatal to him.
Having completed my inspection of the decks, and satisfied myself that
everything was all right, I called the boatswain aft to take temporary
charge, and then entered the drawing-room, intending to pass through it
to the door of Mrs Vansittart's cabin, to make my report. But on
entering the apartment I was surprised to find the lady seated there,
fully dressed, and evidently waiting with some impatience for news. As
I advanced she rose to her feet and held out her hand to me.
"Well, Walter," she exclaimed, "it is all over--the dreadful fighting, I
mean--and you are unhurt. Is it not so?" Then, as I briefly replied in
the affirmative, she continued: "But why are you looking so serious?
And why have you come to me instead of Mr Kennedy? I most sincerely
hope that nothing dreadful has happened."
"We have got off much more easily than at one moment I dared to hope," I
said. "But I grieve to inform you that the fight has cost us the life
of one man, and he the man whom we can least of all afford to lose. You
will guess at once that I mean poor Kennedy, who was killed by a round
shot--the only shot that did any damage worth mentioning."
For a moment Mrs Vansittart seemed scarcely able to credit my news. I
believe that up to then she had never quite realised the fact of our
peril; but now that one of our men had actually lost his life it was
suddenly brought home to her with startling vividness, and she was
correspondingly upset. She stared at me unbelievingly, gasped: "What?
Neil Kennedy killed? Oh, Walter, you cannot possibly mean it!" and
then, as I nodded my head, she sank back into her chair and burst into
tears. I thought it best to let her have her cry out in peace, for
tears seem to be the natural safety valve of a woman's emotions; and
while she sat there with her face buried in her hands and the tears
streaming through her fingers, Miss Anthea, Monroe, and Julius came up
from below. Of course they all wanted to know what was the matter, and
I was obliged to explain. In the course of the explanation, which took
something of the form of a brief narrative of the entire adventure, I
happened to remark:
"What puzzles me more than anything is how it happened that those
fellows were able to find us so accurately on so dark a night. I took
the greatest care to mask all our lights effectually; yet when we first
sighted them they were heading as straight for us as if we were in plain
sight."
"And so we were," remarked Monroe; "for which we have to thank our young
friend Julius, here. When, in obedience to his mother's command, I took
him below to his cabin before the fight began, I not only found the open
port of his cabin uncovered, but all three of the electric-lights
ablaze, so that the port must have shown up in the dark like a
lighthouse. The young gentleman explained to me that he couldn't sleep
because of the heat, and had therefore been reading in bed!"