"On deck, there! The barque has cast off, and is standing down towards
us. They're busy getting the stunsails upon her now, sir."
"All right; stay where you are, and let's hear, if you see anything
worth reporting," replied Bowen.
A few minutes later another report was made to the effect that the other
sail--a full-rigged ship--had filled, and was standing to the northward
under all plain sail. That was the last news from either of the
vessels, and, the barque shortly afterwards becoming visible from the
deck, orders were given to clear the brig for action, and the lookout
was ordered down on deck.
There was a capital working breeze, and not much sea; it was,
consequently, not very long before the barque had raised her hull above
the horizon. As soon as she was fairly in view, George brought his
telescope to bear upon her, and ten minutes' careful scrutiny sufficed
to satisfy him that, though her spars were heavier, and she now showed a
wider spread of canvas than of old, she was undoubtedly, as he had
suspected, his own old ship, the _Aurora_. He further noted that she
was not very deep in the water, being in fact just in her very best
sailing-trim; and, remembering her former capabilities, he was not long
in making up his mind that, if her present crew happened to become
suspicious of the character of the _Virginie_, and shunned an
engagement, it would be a very difficult matter to bring the _Aurora_ to
action.
But if those in possession of the barque entertained any misgivings,
they certainly gave no visible indication of them: on the contrary, they
came sweeping down upon the _Virginie_ under a perfect cloud of canvas,
and in a manner so obviously threatening, that, in order to maintain the
illusion to the last, George thought it advisable to exhibit some slight
signs of uneasiness, and he accordingly ordered the royals to be loosed
and set, and edged away a point or two off his course, at the same time,
however, checking his weather braces to such an extent that the brig's
speed was not very greatly improved by the manoeuvre. In the meantime
the decks had been cleared, the guns loaded, and the crew fully armed
with cutlass, pike, and pistol. The port-lids however, were kept
carefully closed, so that the presence of the guns on board might not be
revealed until an action should have become inevitable.
Mr Bowen had, in the midst of all his work, been watching the approach
of the _Aurora_ with grim satisfaction, gradually developing into a
condition of supreme exhilaration. He rubbed his hands gleefully,
laughed softly to himself, and exhibited, in short, all the outward
characteristics of a thoroughly gratified man. Then he would draw a
pistol from his belt, and carefully inspect the priming, pass his thumb
meditatively along the edge of his cutlass, or casually test with his
finger the sharpness of a pike-head, and at these times the expression
of his countenance boded no good to the approaching enemy.
The _Virginie's_ crew were kept carefully out of sight, except some
three or four hands, who were ostentatiously posted on the forecastle,
with orders to assume an appearance of deep interest in the approach of
the barque; but Bowen had carefully placed each man exactly where he
wanted him, and as the _Aurora_ came sweeping down upon the brig,
invisible hands on board the latter gradually tautened up halliard,
brace, tack, sheet, and bowline, until by the time that the two ships
were within a mile of each other, every trace of slovenliness on board
the _Virginie_ had vanished, every sail was standing as flat as a board,
and the brig was once more in a condition to be worked to the best
advantage. This done, the men were ordered to their guns, and all was
ready for the commencement of the struggle.
When within a distance of about three-quarters of a mile from the brig,
the studding-sails of the _Aurora_ were seen to suddenly collapse, and
in a few seconds they had entirely disappeared, being taken in, all at
once, man-o'-war fashion. This showed George, not only that his old
craft was heavily manned, but also that she was in the command of a man
who knew how to handle her. But the sight did not greatly disturb him;
he had had time to discover that his own crew was a good one; he had
studied the brig, and mastered her little peculiarities; and he awaited
with perfect calmness the conflict which was now inevitable.
As the _Aurora's_ studding-sails fluttered out of sight, she sheered
broadly to port; a flash, accompanied by a puff of white smoke, issued
from her side, and in another instant a nine-pound shot skipped along
the water and across the _Virginie's_ bow.
George decided to take no notice of this hint, and the brig held
steadily on her course. Another shot followed, with a like result; and
the pirates then decided apparently to waste no more powder and shot
upon so contumacious a craft, but to make short work of the affair by
simply running alongside and taking possession. The _Aurora_ was
accordingly steered in such a way as would admit of her making a wide
sweep and shooting up alongside on the brig's weather quarter. She was
handled magnificently, there was no doubt of that; and presently, with a
graceful sweep, she came surging up alongside, with the water spouting
up in a clear transparent sheet under her sharp bows, her yards swinging
simultaneously to meet her change of course, her white canvas gleaming
in the brilliant sunlight, six long nine-pounders grinning through her
bulwarks, and her deck crowded with men, as fair, yet as evil, a sight
of its kind as the eye of man ever rested upon. At the same moment a
blood-red flag streamed out over the taffrail and soared away aloft,
until it fluttered out from the gaff-end--a fit emblem of rapine and
murder.
"Red this time, by way of a change," remarked Bowen to George, in
allusion to their encounter with the pirate schooner, which fought under
a _black_ flag. "Well, a change is good sometimes," he added
philosophically. "Shall we give her a taste of our quality now, cap'n;
she's just shooting into the right position to get the full benefit of
the dose of `round' and `grape' I've prepared for her?"
"Yes, give it her," answered George, drawing his cutlass with one hand,
and a pistol with the other.
"Throw open your ports, lads!" commanded Bowen; and at the word the
port-lids flew apart, six twelve-pounders were run out on each side,
and, as the barque was in the very act of sheering alongside, the
_Virginie's_ starboard broadside was poured into her with murderous
effect, as was evidenced by the frightful outburst of yells, groans, and
imprecations which at once arose on board her. The broadside was
returned, but without inflicting much damage, the pirates evidently
having been taken completely by surprise by the sudden and unexpected
unmasking of the brig's guns.
The next moment the two vessels collided with a crash.
"Now look alive with your grappling-irons, and _heave_! Boarders,
follow me!" cried George, dashing to the rail, and making a spring
thence in upon the _Aurora's_ deck, Mr Bowen at the same time leading
his detachment on board by way of the fore-rigging.
The Englishmen were met by a very formidable party, which had evidently
been told off to board the brig, and in an instant a fierce and
sanguinary _melee_ arose on the _Aurora's_ deck. The Spaniards--for
such they proved to be--though taken by surprise, and greatly
disconcerted by the unexpectedly warm reception which they had met with
from the brig, fought with the fury and desperation of demons, and for
perhaps five minutes the crew of the _Virginie_ had all their work cut
out to maintain their position on the deck of the barque. The pirates,
with that sanguinary symbol floating over their heads, and believing
that they had been entrapped into attacking a man-o'-war, felt that the
halter was already about their necks, and that there was literally no
alternative but victory or death for them; and they pressed forward with
such recklessness and ferocity that the deck speedily assumed the aspect
of a human shambles, and the planking grew so slippery with blood that
it became difficult to retain one's footing upon it. There was one
Spaniard in particular who appeared to possess the gift of ubiquity; he
seemed to be in all parts of the ship at the same time, notwithstanding
the crowded state of the confined space wherein the fight was raging,
and in him George speedily recognised the truculent-looking individual
who had led the pirates on the eventful night of the _Aurora's_ capture,
and who had so brutally ill-used poor Bowen on the morning of the sale
in the square at Havana. There could be no possible doubt as to his
identity. There was the same ferocious cast of countenance, the same
mahogany-brown skin, even the same filthy red handkerchief--now more
filthy than ever--bound about his ragged locks, apparently the same
broad-brimmed straw hat, in short, every mark of identification; nothing
was wanting. This individual dashed from point to point, apparently by
a mere effort of his will, encouraging here, chiding there, and helping
everywhere. The mere fact of his presence, the mere sound of his voice,
appeared to endue the pirates with renewed life and courage, and George
speedily saw that there would be little hope of victory until this man
could be placed _hors de combat_. He therefore pressed in toward him,
plying his cutlass vigorously with one hand, and laying manfully about
him with the butt of his empty pistol with the other, and calling upon
the fellow by every despicable epithet he could think of to turn and
meet him. He had very nearly reached him--there were only some
half-a-dozen people between the two--when another voice, that of Bowen,
was heard, and the next instant the chief mate, his eyes literally
blazing with fury, appeared, forcing his way into the thickest of the
throng. With the strength of a madman he seized and dashed aside all
who ventured to bar his path, and in a single moment, so it seemed to
George, forced himself within reach of his especial enemy.
"At last--at last--you bloodthirsty scoundrel--you white-livered
coward--you who were not ashamed to strike a chained man--at last we
meet again, as I told you we should!--and the time has come for me to
pay off part of the debt I owe you--no, you don't,"--skilfully guarding
a savage down-stroke from the Spaniard's cutlass, "and take that," he
added, launching out a terrific blow with his left fist, catching the
Spaniard fairly between the eyes, and felling him to the deck senseless,
as neatly as a butcher fells an ox. In another moment George was at
Bowen's side, and, placing themselves back to back, these two managed to
successfully defend themselves until the crew of the _Virginie_,
inspired by their leader's example, had pressed in to their assistance,
when the pirates, becoming scattered, were driven irresistibly to
opposite ends of the ship, and some were actually driven overboard.
Then recognising that they were defeated, and suddenly losing heart,
they threw down their weapons, and cried for quarter. But the worst
passions of the _Virginia's_ crew were by this time fully aroused; they
thought of nothing but the fact that their enemies _were pirates_, men
steeped to the lips in crime of the vilest description, and guilty of
unnumbered deeds of blood-curdling atrocity, and many of the Spaniards
were ruthlessly slaughtered before George and Bowen could induce them to
stay their hands. Then, when order and authority were once more
restored, heads were counted, and it was found that, out of a crew of
over eighty, twenty-three pirates only--their leader included--remained
alive, and these were promptly clapped in irons and bundled
unceremoniously below. Strange to say, notwithstanding the desperate
character of the fighting, the _Virginie's_ crew had suffered but
slightly in comparison--nine killed and thirteen wounded being the total
of the casualties. A short breathing-space was allowed the men to
recover themselves after their extraordinary exertions, and then all
hands set to work to clear the decks of the sickening evidences of the
contest; the crew were next divided equally between the two ships, and,
with Mr Bowen in command of the _Aurora_, both craft then made sail to
windward in company.
The third craft--the full-rigged ship--meanwhile was still in sight from
aloft, dodging about under easy canvas, and evidently waiting for the
_Aurora_ to rejoin. There could be little doubt, therefore, that she
was in the possession of a prize-crew of the pirates, and George
earnestly hoped he might be able to reach her in time to save the lives
of some at least of those to whom she rightfully belonged.
A couple of hours later they were alongside--the _Virginie_ on the
weather and the _Aurora_ on the lee quarter--with ports open, guns run
out, and the English ensign flying at the peak, the red flag having been
allowed to remain aloft on board the _Aurora_ until ranging alongside
the strange ship, when it was hauled down, and the English flag run up
on board the barque and the brig simultaneously.
The pirates in possession were completely paralysed by the turn events
had taken; they had evidently been under the impression that the
_Aurora_, and not the _Virginie_ had proved victorious; and now that
they found themselves under the guns of both ships their mistake was
past rectification.
Accordingly, at George's order, they backed the main-yard and hove-to
the ship, upon which a strong party, armed to the teeth, proceeded on
board and took possession.
The ship proved to be the _Vulcan_, of and from Liverpool, bound to
Kingston with a valuable general cargo and several passengers. She was
a noble ship, being of nearly a thousand tons register, and a regular
clipper.
On boarding her, George found the state of affairs pretty much what it
had been on board the _Aurora_ after her capture by these same pirates,
her crew and the male passengers being discovered scattered about the
deck, lashed helplessly neck and heels together, or chained to
ring-bolts in the deck and bulwarks, whilst the pirates had taken
possession of the cabin and had held a regular saturnalia there, in the
progress of which the unfortunate lady passengers had been subjected to
the vilest outrages, and one poor little child had been cruelly murdered
before its distracted mother's face. The captain and the chief mate of
the ship were both found in the cabin in a dying condition, they having
been mutilated in a most cruel and horrible manner in an ineffectual
effort to wring from them the secret of the hiding-place of a large
amount of specie which the pirates had somehow ascertained was on board.
A tall and burly negro, the identical one who had acted as lieutenant
to the Spaniard in charge of the _Aurora_ on the occasion of her first
capture, was at the head of the gang, and had been the instigator and
chief perpetrator in the many outrages which had followed the capture of
the _Vulcan_.
No time was lost in freeing the passengers and crew from their
exceedingly unpleasant situation; and this done, the pirates, ten in
number, heavily ironed, were transferred to the _Virginie_ and stowed
carefully away below. The _Vulcan_ then proceeded on her voyage, in
charge of her second mate, by whom George forwarded a letter to the
admiral at Jamaica, informing him of the capture of the now notorious
_Aurora_.
George now felt that, with two ships and so many desperate men to look
after, he had his hands full, and he therefore decided to make the best
of his way to England forthwith. He accordingly hailed Bowen,
requesting him to give the _Aurora's_ stores an overhaul, and to
ascertain whether her provisions and water were sufficient in quantity
to justify them in making a push across the Atlantic. In about an hour
an answer was returned to the effect that not only was there an
abundance of everything, but that the ship herself was more than half
full of a varied and very rich cargo, the spoils, doubtless, from many a
missing vessel. Upon the receipt of this intelligence, orders were at
once given for both ships to fill and make the best of their way to the
northward in company, and by nightfall they were clear of the Caycos
Passage and standing to the northward on a taut bowline under a heavy
press of canvas.
The _Virginie_ and _Aurora_ made an excellent passage across the
Atlantic. They stood to the northward until the Trades were cleared,
when they fell in with fresh westerly winds, which carried them all the
way across; and, as the weather was fine, they had no difficulty in
keeping each other in sight during the whole passage, the two craft
regulating their spread of canvas so that neither should outsail the
other.
The passage was consequently an uneventful one, nothing worthy of note
occurring until they were in the chops of the Channel. Then, indeed, an
adventure befell them, which proved George to have been wise in his
determination that the two vessels should make the voyage in company.
It was the last week in October. They had just struck soundings, when
the two craft ran into a dense, raw fog, which compelled all hands to
seek warmth and comfort in their thickest jackets, and necessitated, as
a matter of prudence, the immediate shortening of sail.
The fog lasted a couple of hours, and when it cleared up the _Aurora_
was discovered about two miles astern of the brig, and a large ship was
at the same moment made out directly ahead. The stranger was hove-to
under single-reefed topsails, with her head to the northward, her
topsail-yards being just visible from the deck. The fact of her being
hove-to in such a position seemed to point to the conclusion that she
was a man-o'-war, and this supposition was confirmed when George took a
look at her through his glass from the fore-topgallant-yard. She was a
frigate, and French apparently, from the cut of her canvas; but of
course it was quite possible that she might be in English hands, the
English often taking French prizes into their own navy, and sending them
to sea again with little or no alteration. Still, George thought it
best to be on the safe side, and he accordingly at once ordered the
_Virginie_ to clear for action, the _Aurora_ being signalled to do the
same, his intention being to attack the frigate, if an enemy, since, as
far as he could make out, she carried only twenty-four guns.
In the meantime, however, the brig and the barque had been discovered by
the frigate, which at once made sail, and manoeuvred in such a manner as
to intercept them.
Bowen, on the other hand, guessing at once what was in the wind, crowded
sail upon the _Aurora_, and soon recovered his position alongside the
_Virginie_, approaching the latter vessel within hailing distance, in
order the better to concert plans for the possible coming engagement.
These were soon arranged, but not before it had become pretty evident,
from the comparatively clumsy handling of the stranger, that she was
indeed French. Their doubts, such as they were, were set at rest when
the frigate had approached within a mile of them, by her hoisting a
tricolour at her gaff-end, and soon afterwards she sent a shot across
their fore-foot as a polite intimation that they would oblige her by
heaving-to.
They, however, did nothing of the kind; a piece of discourtesy which
_so_ preyed upon the French captain's mind that, without more ado, he
bore down upon them, and opened fire from his starboard broadside.
The three ships at that moment formed the three angles of a nearly
equilateral triangle, the sides of which measured each about a quarter
of a mile; the _Virginie_ and the _Aurora_ occupying, as it were, the
two ends of the base, and the Frenchman being at the apex. This allowed
both English ships to attack their enemy on the same side--the
starboard--and compelled the Frenchman to fight them both with only half
his battery. He soon saw how great a disadvantage he laboured under by
this arrangement, and did all he could to get between them. But it was
all to no purpose; George and Bowen were fully as wide-awake as he was,
and they successfully defeated every effort of his in this direction,
principally, it must be confessed, by some lucky shooting on their part,
whereby the Frenchman's spars and rigging were so cut up that the craft
soon became practically unmanageable. At length, after a brisk fight of
about twenty minutes, the Frenchman's fore and main-topmasts both went
simultaneously over the side, the frigate luffed into the wind, and
obstinately remained there, and she was at George's mercy. The
_Virginie_ at once made sail and took up a position across the enemy's
bows, the _Aurora_ placed herself across his stern, and from these two
advantageous positions a raking fire was opened, which, in less than
five minutes, caused the Frenchman to haul down his flag and surrender.
The prize--which proved to be the twenty-four-gun frigate _Cigne_--was
at once taken possession of by boats from both the _Virginie_ and the
_Aurora_, her crew secured, and her damages repaired; and about midnight
the three vessels made sail in company, arriving without further
adventure at Spithead on the day but one following.