CHAPTER XIV
THE ATTACK ON PORT-AU-PRINCE
On mounting to the deck Nat was at once taken to the admiral's cabin.
"So you have been disobeying orders, Lieutenant Glover," he saidgravely.
"I hope not, sir. I am not conscious of disobeying orders."
"I fancy you were directed not to engage more heavily-armed craft thanyour own."
"I was, sir, but the circumstances were peculiar."
"I never knew a midshipman or a young lieutenant, Mr. Glover, who didnot find the circumstances peculiar when he wanted to disobey orders.However," he added with a smile, "let me hear the peculiarcircumstances, then I shall be able to judge how far you were justified.Give them in full. Have you a written report?"
"Yes, sir, I have brought it with me," Nat said, producing the document.
"Well, lay it down on the table. I don't suppose it is very full, and Iam somewhat curious to hear how you brought in a pirate brigantine and arecaptured merchantman--so I understood your flags."
Nat related how he had heard the sound of guns on rounding a headland,and had seen the brigantine lying by the side of the barque she hadevidently just captured; how he drew her off in pursuit of theschooner, partially crippled her, returned and retook the _Thames_,released her crew, placed Mr. Turnbull in command, and how, betweenthem, they had captured the brigantine.
"A very smart action," the admiral said cordially when he had broughtthe narrative to a conclusion. "It does you very great credit, and fullyjustifies my appointing you to an independent command. What metal doesthe brigantine carry?"
"Five guns each side, all twelve-pounders like my own."
"And you have only four?"
"Yes, sir."
"Very good indeed, very good! By the way, do you know any of thepassengers on board the _Thames_ personally? I observed three ladies onthe deck as you came in. I should have thought that they would have hadvery much better accommodation on the trader than on board your littlecraft."
"Yes, sir; but they were on board the _Arrow_ before our fight with thebrigantine, and although the first mate of the _Thames_ offered them astate cabin they preferred to stay on board, as it was such a short runhere."
"Who are they, then?"
"They are refugees, sir. I got them out of the hands of thenegroes--three ladies, the husband of the elder one, and seven otherwhite men."
"Is there any story attached to it, Mr. Glover? Let me see, what do yousay about it in your report?" and he opened it and read aloud:
_I have the honour, sir, to report that, learning there was a white family in the hands of the negroes, I landed with a party and brought them off. They consisted of Monsieur and Madame Pickard and their two daughters, and seven of their white employees. Casualties--eight seamen wounded, none of them seriously._
"Then comes the account of the other affair. Now, please give me thedetails of this rescue business as minutely as possible."
This Nat did.
"A very risky business, Mr. Glover, though I don't see how you couldhave acted in any other way. No British officer, I hope, could have beendeaf to such an appeal; but if those boats had found the schooner whenyou all were away, your position would have been well-nigh desperate."
"It would, sir, I quite felt that, but it seemed to me the only possiblething to do. Of course, if I had known that the boats would have comeearly in the evening, I should have remained on board and beat them offbefore making a landing, although our chances of success would then havebeen much smaller. The party who were to attack in the boats were tohave been composed of men from the plantation. Their comrades woulddoubtless have come down to the shore to see us captured, and when theysaw their friends beaten off they would have been on the watch, and notimprobably, in their fury and disappointment, have massacred all thecaptives in their hands at once. But I thought it likely that the boatswould not put off before they believed us to be asleep, and that Ishould therefore have time to go up to the plantation and fetch thecaptives down before they arrived. At any rate, by moving the schoonerclose inshore I hoped that the boats might not find her. There was nomoon, and under the shadow of the rock it was next to impossible to seeher, unless a boat happened to pass within a few paces. Having struckthe topmasts, the forest behind on steep ground prevented the masts fromshowing above the sky-line. It was, of course, the choice of two evils,and I took the one that seemed to me to give the greater promise ofsuccess."
"You did excellently, the oldest officer in the service could not havedone better. I shall be obliged if you will write as full and detailedan account of both affairs as you have given me. I shall send it homewith your official report, and with my own remarks upon them. And nowabout the merchantman; she looks a fine barque. What is her tonnage?"
"Six hundred tons, sir. She is a nearly new vessel, and sails fast for aship of that kind. Her first mate told me that she has a very valuablecargo on board, principally, I think, tobacco, sugar, coffee, wax,copper, mahogany, and cedar from Cuba. Her passengers are all Spanish."
"She seems to be a valuable prize, and as recaptured from the piratesthere will be a handsome sum to be divided, and it is fortunate for youand your officers that the little craft was commissioned independently,not as a tender to one of the frigates. As it is, except the flag'sshare, it will all fall to yourselves and your crew. How many men haveyou lost?"
"None at all, sir; though, as you will see by my report, in the twoaffairs the greater part of them received more or less severe wounds.Mr. Turnbull was somewhat severely wounded, Mr. Lippincott nearly lostan ear, and I escaped altogether."
"Well, it was your turn, Lieutenant Glover. You have come back threetimes more or less severely hurt already. You say that the brigantine isfast?"
"Yes, sir. She is not so fast as the schooner in a light wind, nor soweatherly, but in anything like strong winds I have no doubt that shewould overhaul us."
"Was there anything in her hold?"
"There are a good many bales and cases, sir. I have not opened them, butby their marks they come from three different ships, which she had nodoubt captured and sunk before we fell in with her. I questioned one ofthe prisoners, and he told me that it was only a month since she cameout, and he declared that they had not yet chosen any place as theirhead-quarters. As others questioned separately told the same story, Iimagine that it was true."
"Where did she hail from?"
"She came from Bordeaux. They said that she had taken out letters ofmarque to act as a privateer in case of war breaking out with us, but Ifancy that she was from the first intended for a pirate, for it seemsthat she had only forty hands when she started, and picked up the othersat various French ports at which she touched before sailing west. Ishould say, from the appearance of her crew, that they are composed ofthe sweepings of the ports, for a more villainous set of rascals I neversaw."
"Well, it is fortunate that you should have stopped their career sosoon. She might have given us a great deal of trouble before we laidhands on her. We have had comparatively quiet times since the _Orpheus_destroyed that nest of them, and if she had confined her work tohomeward-bound ships it might have been months before we had complaintsfrom home, and found that there was another of these scourges among theislands. I shall row around presently, Mr. Glover, and have a look atyour two prizes. When you see my gig coming I shall be obliged if youwill meet me on the deck of the brigantine."
At four o'clock in the afternoon the watch on deck reported that theadmiral's gig was being lowered, and Nat immediately got into his ownboat and was rowed to the brigantine, whose name was the _Agile_. Whenthe admiral approached, instead of making straight for the accommodationladder, he rowed slowly round the vessel, making a very carefulexamination of the hull. When he came on deck, he said:
"Except for a few shot that hit her low down, and the generaldestruction of her bulwarks, no damage has been done to her."
"No, sir, we aimed high, our great object being to knock away s
ome ofher spars. I don't think that her square sails will be of any use in thefuture, they are riddled with balls from our stern-chasers."
"A new gaff and bowsprit, a new suit of sails, new bulwarks, and a fewpatches, and she would be as good as ever. What damage have yousuffered?"
"The schooner has half a dozen holes in her bow, sir, and a dozen or soin her sails, nothing that the dockyard could not set right in afortnight."
He then went below. "Excellent accommodation," he said, after goinground, "that is for a fair crew, but she must have been crowded indeedwith eighty men. What should you consider to be a fair crew for her, Mr.Glover?"
"Twenty men, sir, if she were a simple trader; I should say fromthirty-five to forty would be none too much if she were going to fighther guns."
"Now we will have a look at your craft. You may as well take a seat inmy gig. Yes," he went on, as he rowed round her as he had done with thebrigantine, "now that the sails are furled she does not seem any theworse for it, except in the bow and those two holes in the bulwarks."
Monsieur Pickard and the ladies were seated on the deck, and rose as theadmiral came on board.
"Please introduce me to your friends, Mr. Glover."
Nat did so, and the admiral shook hands with them all.
"I think I may congratulate you on your escape from a very terribleposition."
"Yes, indeed," Madame Pickard said. "No words can express the gratitudewe feel to Monsieur Glover, his two officers, and the crew. Our positionseemed hopeless, the most terrible of deaths and the worst of atrocitiesstared us in the face."
"I have heard all about it, madame, and consider that Lieutenant Glovermanaged the whole business with great discretion as well as bravery. Hehas a bad habit of getting into scrapes, but an equally good one ofgetting out of them with credit to himself. This is the third time hehas rendered signal services to ladies in distress, and I suppose Ishould add that he has in addition saved the lives of the ladies onboard the barque lying astern. If there were a medal for that sort ofthing he would assuredly deserve it. He ought to have been born six orseven hundred years ago, he would have made a delightful knight-errant.
"What are the ladies like in the other ship, Mr. Glover?"
"I have no idea, sir. I only saw them for a moment when I ran into thecabin and cut their bonds. I have only seen the gentlemen for a minuteor two when they joined the boarders from the _Thames_ under Mr.Turnbull, and I was much too busy to notice them."
"Have you not gone on board since?"
"No, sir, I had nothing to go on board for, and I don't speak anySpanish."
"We tried to persuade him, Monsieur l'Amiral," Valerie said, "butmonsieur is modest, he has never let us thank him yet; and although hepretended that he only kept ahead of the other two because his ship wasa faster sailer, it was really because he did not wish to be thanked."
"But other people are modest too," the admiral said with a smile. "Ihave heard of two young ladies who came on board, and who would not stirout of their cabins until they had made themselves new dresses."
The two girls both coloured up at the allusion, and Monsieur Pickardlaughed. "Now I will go below, Mr. Glover. She is very small by the sideof the brigantine," he said, as he completed his visit of inspection. "Iam not surprised that the pirates chased you after your impudence infiring at them, and that they thought they could eat you at a mouthful.Now, we will pay a visit to the barque."
To Nat's great relief, he found that the passengers had all gone ashore.It was certain that they would be detained for some little time, asthere would be legal formalities to be gone through, and repairs to beexecuted, and additional hands to be obtained; and, all feeling terriblyshaken by the events that had taken place on board, and the loss in somecases of near relations, they had been glad to land until the ship wasagain ready for sea. The mate in charge handed to the admiral the ship'smanifest and papers.
"You have no seriously wounded on board?" the latter asked him. "Becauseif so, I should advise you to send them ashore to the hospital at once."
"No, sir. All who fell on the deck were thrown overboard by the piratesas soon as they obtained possession of the ship. I believe that theyfastened shot to their feet to make them sink at once."
The admiral nodded. "That is likely enough. Dead bodies drifting ashoremight cause inquiries to be made; their intention no doubt was to takeall the most valuable part of the cargo out of the ship, and then toscuttle her with all on board."
"Are we likely to be detained here long, sir?"
"Not as far as we are concerned. We shall require you to sign in thepresence of a magistrate here a formal document acknowledging that thevessel was absolutely captured, and in possession of the pirates, andthat she was recaptured by his majesty's schooner the _Arrow_, and tosign a bond on behalf of the owners to pay the legal proportion of thevalue of the ship and cargo to the admiralty prize court in London. Youwill, of course, take her home yourself, but I shall send a navalofficer with you, as the ship and its contents remain the property ofgovernment until the charges upon her are acquitted. If we were at warwith France we should retain her here until she could sail under convoyof a vessel of war homeward-bound, but there is no occasion for doingthat now. I do not suppose that you will find much difficulty inobtaining mates and enough sailors to make up your complement here.Scarcely a ship sails from the port without some of her men being leftbehind, either as deserters or through having been too drunk to rejoin.At any rate you had better be careful whom you pick, and if you shouldfind a difficulty in obtaining men whose discharge-books show that theyhave hitherto borne a good character, I should advise you to ship eightor ten stout negroes. They are good hands at managing their own craft,and although they might not be of much use aloft, they are as a rulethoroughly trustworthy fellows, and quite as good for work on deck asour own men. I will give you an order on the dockyard for any repairsthat you cannot get executed elsewhere. They will of course be chargedfor, but need not be paid for here, as they will go down in the accountagainst the ship."
Fortunately the dockyard was not busy, and the _Agile_ and the _Arrow_were the next morning taken into dock, and a strong gang of men at onceset to work upon them. Three days later a signal was made for Nat to goon board the flagship.
"I have received the report from the dockyard people, Mr. Glover," theadmiral said. "They confirm our opinion that the _Agile_ has notsuffered any serious damage; that she is a new and well-built vessel,and well fitted for our service, and she will therefore be retained atthe valuation they set upon her. Here is your commission as hercommander. Having done so well in the little _Arrow_, I have no doubt asto your ability and fitness for the post. She will carry forty hands. Ishall give you two petty officers, a boatswain's mate and a gunner'smate. I had thought of giving you another midshipman, but I think itwould be better that you should take a surgeon. Three or four assistantsurgeons came out last week, and I can very well spare you one.
"I shall not give you one of the new arrivals, for it is better thatthese for a time should serve on larger ships, get accustomed to navalwork, and learn the ordinary routine of duty on board. I shall,therefore, send you one from either the _Theseus_ or the _Limerick_, andfill up his place with a new-comer. Your duties will be precisely thesame as those assigned to you in the _Arrow_, except that I shall notimpress upon you the necessity for giving a wide berth to suspiciousvessels. You will cruise on the coast of Hayti, take off refugees,communicate, if possible, with chiefs of the insurgents, and see ifthere is any strong feeling among them in favour of annexation toEngland. You will be authorized, in case it is absolutely necessary inorder to save the inhabitants of any coast town from slaughter from theblacks, either to help the garrison with your guns or to land a portionnot exceeding half your crew to aid in the defence."
"I am indeed greatly obliged to you, admiral, and assure you that I willdo my best to merit your kindness and confidence."
"It is to yourself rather than to me that you are indebted for
what isvirtually a step towards promotion. Just at present I do not think thatyou are likely to have any opportunity of taking advantage of yourincreased force, as we have heard no complaints of pirates of late. Wemay hope that these scoundrels, finding that the islands are growing toohot for them, have moved away to safer quarters. At any rate, if thereare any of them in these waters, they are likely to be among thenorthern Cays, and are probably confining their depredations for a timeto ships trading between Europe and Florida, or to vessels from herewhich have passed beyond the general limit of the seas we patrol."
On Nat's return to the dockyard, he delighted Lippincott with the newsof the exchange that they were to make. Turnbull was in hospital, butthe surgeons had reported that his wound was not so serious as it seemedat first, and that a fortnight's rest and quiet would go far to renderhim convalescent. The sailors, too, were glad to hear that they weregoing to be transferred to a craft in which they would be able to meetan enemy with confidence. They were also pleased to hear that there wasto be no change in their officers, for they had unbounded trust in theiryoung commander, and had from the first agreed that they had neversailed in a more comfortable ship. After seeing Turnbull and acquaintinghim with the news, Nat paid a visit to the Pickards. They had landed onthe evening of their arrival, and, after stopping a day in an hotel, hadestablished themselves in a pretty house outside the town, whichMonsieur Pickard had hired from a merchant who was on the point ofsailing for England, and would be absent several months.
Monsieur Pickard had, on arriving, gone to a merchant with whom he hadbusiness connections, and to whom he had frequently consigned producefor shipment to England or France when there happened to be no vessel inPort-au-Prince sailing for Europe. He had obtained from him a loan onthe security of the season's produce, which had, fortunately, been sentdown to be warehoused at Port-au-Prince two or three weeks before theinsurrection broke out.
Nat's friends, too, heartily congratulated him on obtaining the commandof a larger vessel.
"After the troubles and anxiety we have of late gone through, MonsieurGlover, we feel the comfort of being under the protection of theBritish flag, and shall enjoy it all the more now that we know that youare not going to sea again in that pretty little vessel, for if you fellin with another large corsair you might not be so fortunate as you werelast time. As you have said, if an unlucky shot had struck one of yourspars, you would have been at her mercy, and we know what that mercywould mean. I intend to stay here for a short time, till madame and thegirls get quite accustomed to their new home, before sailing forPort-au-Prince; but whether I am at home or away you know how welcomeyou will be here whenever you happen to be in port. How long do youthink it is likely to be before you are off?"
"I was speaking to the superintendent of the dockyard before I came out,and he says that he will get the _Agile_ ready for sea in three weeks'time. He cannot possibly manage it before; the hull could be ready in aweek, but the suit of sails will require three times as long, though hehas promised to take on some extra hands if he can get them. Ordershave, however, been given by the _Thames_ to the chief native sail-makerof the place to patch some of the sails and to make several new ones,and he has taken up some of the best hands in the town. Then, no doubt,whoever gets the command of the _Arrow_ will be wanting her sails pushedforward, though that is not certain, for it is not unlikely that, nowthe _Agile_ has been bought into the service, the _Arrow_ will be sold.Indeed, one of the principal merchants here would be glad to buy her asa private yacht if he had the chance, as he often has business at theother islands, and she is just the craft that would suit him. He saidthat by putting up shorter topmasts twelve men would be enough to sailher, and that he would exchange the guns for eight-pounders, as fromwhat he had heard she could outsail almost any craft she was likely tomeet with, and small guns would be quite sufficient to prevent any ofthese little native piratical craft from meddling with her. However, Ithink the superintendent will keep his word, and that in three weeks'time I shall be off."
"I may possibly be at Port-au-Prince before you, then," Monsieur Pickardsaid. "I am thinking of chartering a small brig and going in her toPort-au-Prince, and bringing my goods back from there. Now that themulattoes are up in arms, the place cannot be considered as absolutelysafe; and as I calculate they are worth from eight to ten thousandpounds, I think it will be well to get them over as soon as possible."
"I quite agree with you, Monsieur Pickard, and should certainly adviseyou to lose no time. Unless I get instructions to the contrary, I shall,in the first place, cruise round the shore of the bay of Hayti."
Ten days later, indeed, Monsieur Pickard sailed in the brig that he hadchartered. Nat had called to say good-bye the evening before, and, tohis embarrassment, was presented by him with a very handsome gold watchand chain, the former bearing the inscription that it was a small tokenof the deepest gratitude of Eugene Pickard, his wife and daughters, forhaving saved them from the most terrible fate.
"It is only a little thing, Monsieur Glover," the planter said--"afeeble token of our gratitude, but something which many years hence willrecall to your memory the inestimable service that you have renderedus."
The superintendent of the dockyard kept his word, and in three weeks the_Agile_ was afloat again, and the next morning twenty men drafted fromthe war-ships in the port were transferred to her. Those of the _Arrow_,with the exception of five still in the hospital, had shifted theirquarters to her a fortnight previously. Turnbull had rejoined theevening before. His arm was still in a sling, but otherwise he was quiteconvalescent. Lippincott had that morning given up the bandage roundhis head, which had kept him almost a prisoner until now, for he hadrefused to go into the town until after nightfall with his head boundup, although Nat had many times assured him that an honourable woundwould not be regarded as any disadvantage by the young ladies atKingston. The assistant surgeon, James Doyle, a cheery young Irishman,also joined that morning.
"It is glad I am to be out of all the ceremony and botheration on boardthe frigate," he said as he shook hands with Nat, "and to be afloat onmy own account, as it were. Saunders, the surgeon, was enough to wearone out with his preciseness and his regulations; faith, he was a manwho would rather take off a man's leg than listen to a joke, and it putme on thorns to hear him speak to the men as if they were every one ofthem shamming--as if anyone would pretend to be ill when he had to takethe bastely medicines Saunders used to make up for them."
"I don't think you will find much shamming here, doctor, especially ifthe new hands are as good as the others; and I hope that your serviceswill not often be required except in the matter of wounds."
"No fighting means no wounds, and I am afraid that there is no hope offighting," the surgeon said, shaking his head mournfully; "you and the_Orpheus_ have pretty well cleared out the pirates, and it was a case ofpure luck that you came across this craft the other day. But there is nodoubt that the _Orpheus'_ men have had all the luck, and the big ships'turn won't come till we have war with France. However, it may be thatthe luck will stick to you for a bit yet, for, by my faith, I shallbefore long have forgotten how to take off a limb or to tie up an arteryfor want of practice. We all envied you when you came in the other daywith the two prizes behind you, both big enough to have eaten you up,and though we cheered, there was many a man who grumbled, 'Bad cess tothem, the _Orpheus_' men have got all the luck.'"
"But the _Orpheus_ had nothing to do with it," Nat laughed.
"No, I know that; but you had been one of their men, and had, as I haveheard, more than your share already of adventures."
Nat had received no further orders, and sailed that afternoon; two dayslater he was off the entrance of the great bay. He coasted along theshore as near as he could venture, always keeping a man on watch forsignals made by anyone anxious to be taken off. When it became dark theanchor was dropped, so that no part of the shore could be passed withoutthe ship being observed. It was on the seventh day after sailing that hearrived at Port-au-Pri
nce. Half an hour after he had anchored, MonsieurPickard came off in a boat.
"It is lucky that I lost no time," he said after the first greetingswere over; "I got my last bale of goods on board the brig an hour ago,and we are going to warp her out at once so as to be under shelter ofyour guns."
"Why, what is the matter?"
"There is news that a large force of mulattoes and negroes are comingdown from the hills and will be here probably to-morrow morning. Luckilya great part of the negroes were turned out of the town a fortnight ago.There are only two hundred soldiers here, and about as many whitevolunteers--little enough to defend the place if they attack us. Nodoubt they chose the moment because there is not a French war-ship ofany kind in port. However, I think that all the white women and childrenare on board the ships. They are all crowded. I have about twenty onboard the brig, and have rigged up a sail as an awning, and on such awarm night as this they will sleep better there than they would in acabin. I can assure you that there was the greatest satisfaction whenyou were seen coming in. Several of the captains had talked of towingtheir vessels out three or four miles into the bay, but as soon as itwas certain that you were an armed ship, the idea was given up, as manyof them were only half-laden; and it was felt that, of whatevernationality you were, you would prevent the negroes from coming off inboats to murder the women and children. Of course I did not know that itwas you until I made out your figure from the shore, but as soon as Idid so, I told all I knew that they need not trouble about the safety ofthose on board ship, for I could answer for it that you would nothesitate to turn your guns on any boats that went out to attack them."
"Well, Monsieur Pickard, I cannot believe that the town will be taken,but at any rate I congratulate you on having got all your produce anboard."
"Yes, it is a very important matter to us; we cannot calculate uponfinding a purchaser for our house at Cape Francois at anythingapproaching its value at ordinary times. I have a couple of thousandpounds lying at my banker's, and although six months ago I would nothave taken forty thousand for the estate and the slaves upon it, Isuppose I may consider myself fortunate if I get half that sum, or evenless, now. Anyhow, if I get my crop here safe to Jamaica, I need notworry myself as to the future."
"If the place is attacked in the morning, monsieur, I have the admiral'sauthority to land half my men to aid in the defence; and though twentymen is but a small number, they may render some assistance. I intend tohold them in reserve, and to take them to any spot at which theinsurgents may be pressing back the defenders. I shall be obliged if youwill inform the officer in command of the troops and the civilauthorities that they can count on my assistance to that extent. Willyou give them my advice to get all the available boats ranged along bythe quay opposite to us, so that in case of the worst all can retreatthere. I will cover their embarkation with my guns. Lastly, I shouldadvise the captains of all the ships in port to tow their vessels outand range them behind us, so that there may be nothing to interfere withour line of fire."
"I will inform the committee of defence directly I go ashore, and theywill doubtless send off at once to order the various ships to anchor atthe spot you indicate. It will be a relief, indeed, to them all to knowthat you have undertaken their protection."
"I will go ashore with you," Nat said; "though I have landed here morethan once I do not know the place well enough to be able to act quickly.I should like to see exactly where your batteries are placed, and whereit is most likely that the negroes will make their chief attack."
They went ashore and landed together, and walked to the house where theprincipal men of the town were assembled.
"Will you come in with me?" Monsieur Pickard asked.
"No, I will leave you to explain what I propose to do and what Irecommend that they should do. There is sure to be a lot of talk anddiscussion, and I do not wish to lose time. The sun will be setting inanother hour, so I will make my round at once."
Passing through the town, Nat visited the various batteries that hadbeen erected, and decided that if the blacks were well led they wouldwork round and attack the remains of the native town. The batteries hadprincipally been erected round the European quarter, as if any enemycoming from the hills would be certain to make a direct attack, whilethe native quarter was almost entirely undefended, although with thisonce in the possession of the enemy the whole town would lie open tothem.
"It is clear that this is the real point of danger," he muttered."Fortunately, from where we are lying our guns can sweep the wideststreet that runs down through this quarter. I shall mention my ideas toPickard. No doubt he is still talking away at the meeting."
He went back to the house. M. Pickard and half a dozen other gentlemenwere standing at the door. M. Pickard at once introduced them to him.
"My object in coming round here, gentlemen, is to tell you that in myopinion your defences, which are quite strong enough to protect the townagainst any body of negroes coming down on the easterly side, are whollyinsufficient to repel an attack if made on the native town. I trust,therefore, that when the troops man the defences a considerable numberof them at least will be so placed as to be ready to meet an attack fromthat side. There is practically nothing to prevent the negroes fromentering there, and, as many of the mulattoes with them must beperfectly aware of the position of the batteries, they are scarcelylikely to propose to make an attack upon them, knowing that the negroeswould not be able to face an artillery fire, but would lead them roundto attack the almost defenceless native portion of the town."
"We have always reckoned upon their coming upon us by one of the mainroads from the hills," one of the gentlemen said.
"So I see, monsieur; but some of the mulattoes with them are men ofconsiderable intelligence, and would be hardly foolish enough to try tobreak down the door that you have closed against them when they knowthat there is an open entrance at the back. If there is a man with thesmallest spark of military genius about him he will commence the attackby a feint in considerable force against the batteries, and then, undercover of the smoke of your guns and his own--for I hear from MonsieurPickard that they are said to have fifteen or twenty guns which theyhave taken at small places on the coast--will send round the main bodyof his force to fall on the native town. That is my opinion, gentlemen.I know very little of military matters, but it seems to me that is thecourse that any man of moderate intelligence would pursue, and Itherefore should strongly advise that at least half your volunteer forceshould take post to defend the native town, and so give time to theremainder to come up and assist in the defence. I shall post my sailorsin a position where they can best aid in the defence in this direction,and shall have the guns of my ship in readiness to open fire on thenative town if you are driven back."
"Thank you, sir. We shall have another meeting late this evening, and Ishall do my best to urge the committee to act as you suggest."
Nat returned on board the _Agile_. Already most of the ships in the porthad anchored a short distance outside the brigantine, and a few that hadkept on until the last moment taking their cargo on board were beingtowed by their boats in the same direction. Turnbull and Lippincott wereanxiously awaiting Nat's return. Retiring into the cabin, he told themthe result of his investigation of the defences and the position onshore.
"I think we shall have hot work to-morrow," he went on. "If the negroesare not absolute fools they will not knock their heads against thebatteries. There are twenty cannon in position, for the most part ships'guns, and as I hear that they have plenty of ammunition, and especiallygrape, they would simply mow the niggers down if they attacked them.There is only one battery with three guns covering the native town, andthe blacks ought to have no difficulty in carrying this with a rush. Wehave learnt by experience that, whatever their faults, they can fightfuriously, and are ready enough to risk their lives. Thus, this batterymay be taken in a few minutes. If a hundred of the volunteers held thehuts behind it they might check them for a time, but as the negroes areseveral thousands str
ong the resistance cannot be long. The best pointof defence will be that street facing us here. Our guns will come intoplay, and it is there that I shall join the French as they fall back.
"I shall get you, Mr. Lippincott, to row round this evening to all thesecraft near us, and to request the captains, in my name, to send all themen provided with muskets they may have, on board us, as soon as firingis heard. You will remain on board in charge, Turnbull; with your arm ina sling, you are not fit for fighting on shore. With your twenty men youought to be able to work the guns pretty fast. Between their shots themen with muskets would aid. Of course you would use grape. If theirattack lulls in the least send a few round-shot among the houses ontheir side. Pomp and Sam had better go ashore with us and act asboat-keepers. I will take the boat higher up than those of thetownspeople, for if a panic seizes them there would be a mad rush to geton board. We will go a couple of hundred yards farther, and the boatwill lie a short distance out, and not come in close till they see usrunning towards it. In that way we can make sure of being able to get onboard."
"I should certainly have liked to land," Turnbull said, "but I know thatI am not fit yet for hard fighting."
"I suppose you will be taking me along with you?" Doyle said.
"By all means come if you like, but I was not thinking of doing so."
"It is not often that we get a chance of taking a share in the fun. As arule, as soon as the guns are loaded and ready for action we have to gobelow, and to stop there bandaging and dressing wounds, with not achance of seeing what is going on. This is just one chance in a hundred.I should be no good here, for there is no one to look after. I will takewith me two or three tourniquets and some bandages, and perchance I maybe the means of saving some poor boy's life; and while not so engaged Imay have a slap at these murdering blacks. I am a pretty good shot, andwhen a man can bring down ten snipe out of every dozen, as I have donetime after time in the ould country, he ought to be able to put a bulletinto a black man's carcass."
"If you are bent upon going, by all means do so. As you say, atourniquet clapped on directly a man is wounded may save his life, andevery additional musket will be a valuable addition to our strength."