That was an anxious night; and after a sort of council of war at the
hospital, in which the lieutenant, Roylance, and Strake took part with
Syd, it was determined to have all ready for a retreat to the upper
battery, and in case that should be taken, provisions and water were to
be carried at daybreak up to the flagstaff, where a breastwork had
already been made, plenty of broken masses of rock lying about to
strengthen it, so that it would be a fresh position for the crew of the
French frigate to attack.
Syd was not at all surprised soon after daybreak--when the men were busy
strengthening the empty battery, and others were building up the
breastwork about the flagstaff and conveying up stores--to see the
frigate coming back in full sail.
There was plenty of excitement as the enemy was seen, and the men
thoroughly realised the fact that the day's work before them would be no
light task.
"Seems to do one more good, though, Master Syd, sir," said Strake, as
they were together alone. "Lying down, and bein' helped, and strapped
and lashed 's all very well, but the sight o' one's nat'ral enemy 'pears
to spurt you up like, and if it had only been a month longer, strikes me
as we should have had the lufftenant helping of us again."
"Have you seen Mr Terry about?"
"No, sir; 'pears to have struck work like. Beg pardon, sir; but seeing
as some on us may be gone to Davy Jones's locker 'fore night--not
meaning you, o' course, but him--wouldn't it be handsome-like to go and
make friends, and offer him your hand?"
"I have done so more than once, Strake," said Syd, sternly, as he
recalled the midshipman's action on the previous day, "but I can't do it
again."
"All right, sir, you knows best, o' course," said the boatswain, and he
went off to his duty.
The men worked hard, and by the time the frigate was close in there were
the provisions and water in the upper battery, and a good supply in the
works about the flagstaff.
"You can do no more, Belton," said Mr Dallas. "I don't want to
discourage you, but without help from sea we can only manage to hold out
as long as possible, and give the enemy a tough job, for Old England's
sake. Are the colours flying well?"
"Yes, sir, splendidly."
"That's right, then. Now, one word of advice; don't fire a shot at the
frigate. With your two guns you can do her very little harm. Save your
powder for the boats--round shot when they are coming to the shore, and
grape as they are landing. Keep your men cool, and only let them fire
when there is a good chance."
_Bang_!
The first shot from seaward followed by a crash, and the sound of stones
falling as the frigate tried her range, and sent a heavy ball against
the side of the gap.
"Did not know she was so near," said the lieutenant.
"But about you, sir? Shall I have you carried up to the flagstaff?"
"Certainly not, my lad, never mind me. Go and do your duty. God save
the King!"
"God save the King!" echoed Syd, as he shook hands with the lieutenant,
and hurried down to the little battery, to find that the frigate had
drawn as close in as she could, but dared not come right in front of the
gap, for her boat out sounding had discovered a reef right opposite. So
after firing a few shots obliquely, all of which struck the north side
of the gap, she made sail and went round to the other side of the reef,
where disappointment again awaited her captain; for here again he could
only fire obliquely, and send the stones rattling down on the south side
of the gap.
But he went on firing for about an hour before shifting his position
once more, and then feeling his way in exactly opposite, but quite out
of range.
This was an unexpected change in favour of the defender, for though when
they were freshly come it had been noticed that the sea ran high a
quarter of a mile out from the lower end of the gap, the existence of a
reef was not suspected, and it was some time before the defenders could
thoroughly believe that the frigate could not get into position for
sweeping the little gully from end to end.
Again the frigate's position was changed, and fire opened.
"We ought to shake hands on this," cried Roylance. "Fire away,
Monsieur, knock down the rocks; it's all good for the powder and ball
trade."
"And doesn't frighten us a bit," added Syd, who for the moment forgot
his important position, and its seriousness. "Haven't you seen Terry
yet?"
"No."
"And I arn't seen my boy Pan, gen'lemen," said the boatswain--"My word,
that was a good one," he interpolated, as a heavy shot struck the rock
about twenty feet below the flagstaff, and a good ton of stones came
rattling down--"strikes me as that boy's a-showing the white feather,
gen'lemen, and it goes home to my 'art."
"The boy's wounded, Strake; don't be too hard on him."
"Not so bad but what he might ha' done powder-monkeying with one hand.
But there's a deal o' vartue in rope's-ends arter all, and if I gets
through to-day--"
"You'll forgive him. What are they doing now?" Syd shouted to the man
at the look-out, for the frigate was once more close in, south of the
little pier, and had for half an hour been blazing away, but doing not
the slightest harm.
"Getting her boats out, sir."
"Preparing to board, sir," cried Strake. "Round shot first as they come
on?"
"But the boats will be close in before we can get a shot at them, and
there will not be time to reload," said Syd. "It is not as if they were
going to row straight in, so that we could see them for some time first.
It must be grape."
"Grape it is, sir. Right," cried Strake, and the guns were charged
accordingly.
The men's orders were that they should wait till the enemy were well in
by the little pier, then to fire, and as there would not be time to
reload, they were to seize their cutlasses and pikes and be ready for
the attacking party, who would undoubtedly swarm up to the foot of the
rock wall, provided with spars, or something in the way of tackle, to
enable them to scale the place, when the desperate fighting must begin.
They were not long kept in waiting after the guns had been depressed,
and their muzzles brought to bear well upon the only spot where the
boats could land their men--the wreck moored close in limiting the
space. And it turned out as Syd had imagined: the boats--three--came as
close in as the submerged rocks would allow, and they were still out of
sight when the defenders heard a shout, and first one and then another
rowed into sight, making for the landing-place. Then came the third,
as, thinking it a pity to have to give so terrible an order, Syd shouted
"Fire!" with the result that the closely-packed charge from the first
gun went right through one boat, leaving her crew struggling in the
water; and the shot from the second gun completely tore off the bows of
the third boat, but not until her crew was so near land that they were
able to pilot the boat a few yards farther before she sank, her men
literally tumbling one over the other into the deck-less hull of the
water-logged wreck.
The other boat got up to the pier in safety after her crew had held out
oars and boat-hooks to their drowning comrades, and so all got to shore;
the rush and beating of the water, and its churning up by the grape-shot
having scattered the sharks for the moment.
All this gave the occupants of the battery more time than they had
anticipated, and this was utilised in reloading, which was almost
completed, when there was a word of command, a shout; and armed with
cutlass, pistol, and boarding-pike, the Frenchmen dashed up gallantly to
the wall, some stopping back to fire at the defenders, who were,
however, too well sheltered to be hurt.
"Be ready with your arms, my lads," cried Syd, as he recalled stories of
fights he had heard his father relate.
"Ay, ay, sir."
"Throw them back as fast as they get up."
"Ay, ay, sir!" came again heartily; but the enemies' heads did not
appear above the edge, and though the loud buzzing and shouting of
orders came up, there was no adversary.
It was not the men's fault, for they were at the bottom of a vast
natural wall, which towered up from fifteen to twenty feet, and so
smooth that there was not the slightest foothold to enable them to
climb.
The officer who had come up to it before with a flag of truce had in his
excitement omitted to notice the difficulty, and consequently neither
rope nor spar had been brought; and though the men clambered and shouted
and made brave efforts to mount upon each other's shoulders, fortunately
for them they were not able to get up far enough to be sent down with a
cut on the head.
The shouting and confusion lasted for some time, during which the
defenders crouched in safety behind their breastwork, and waited.
At last, just as the officers were deciding upon withdrawing their men,
and asking themselves what their fate would be if the English began to
play upon them during their retreat to the one boat which was left,
there was another cheer, and a reinforcement from the frigate appeared.
Strake sprang up to alter the level of the gun and take aim, but Syd
stopped him.
"This one hasn't come to attack," he said, as he saw that the boat was
only half manned; the captain having seen the misfortunes that had
befallen his other boats, and sent this one on to afford his men a means
of retreat.
For the attack was hopeless, and the officers gathered their men
together, and despatched them in two parties to the little pier, the men
moving with the greatest of regularity; and while a few kept up a
running fire against the battery, the others embarked.
"Now then, sir, give the word," whispered Strake, who was hoarse with
excitement; "I can send a shot right through that there boat."
"What for?" said Syd, coldly. "They are retreating, and we don't want
to stop them and make them prisoners."
"But they're our mortial enemies, sir," cried the boatswain, aghast.
"Let them go," said Syd; and as the boats pushed off, with the frigate
recommencing its useless fire to cover the retreat, the defenders of the
little natural fort gave a hearty cheer.
"We don't want a lot of bloodshed, Roy," said Syd, as they congratulated
one another over the refreshment they were glad to take.
"No; but I suppose we ought to have slaughtered a lot of them. We
could."
"My father used to tell my uncle, the admiral, that he was the greatest
commander who could achieve a victory with the smallest loss of life."
"Yes, sir," said a gruff voice behind him; "but I've know'd your father
send some awful broadsides and rakings into the enemy's ships. Why,
when we've gone aboard arter to take the furren captain's sword, I've
seed their deck all slippery with blood."
"And I'm glad those stones are not."
"Very well, sir, if you're satisfied, I am; but I want to know what's
gone o' my Pan. Hasn't hidden hisself in that water-cave, has he?"
"I have not seen him," said Syd, and with Roylance he climbed up to the
flagstaff to see the enemy's two crowded boats return to the frigate's
side, after which the French captain made a slight change in his
position; and as they watched they saw two fresh boats lowered and row
away, and then they were recalled.
Then came a long spell of waiting in miserable inaction till toward
sunset, when the two boats put out again, spent a little time sounding
close up to the rocks where Roylance was rescued, and were again
recalled.
"What does that mean, sir?" said Syd, as he told all this to the
lieutenant, who, as he lay helpless, eagerly listened to every word.
"I don't quite see, my lad," he said. "A trick, probably, to take off
your attention. But be well on your guard, for, depend upon it, they
will try to surprise you to-night, and come prepared with ladders of
some kind for the escalade."