CHAPTER IX.
Hildebrand Clifford had not (to borrow the nautical phrase ofhis lieutenant) “hove-to” above three hours, on the occasiondescribed in a former chapter, before he was called to the deckagain. On repairing thither, he found his lieutenant, Halyard,had been up for some time, and was waiting his approach at theafter-hatchway.
“A strange sail seen from the masthead, Sir,” he said, asHildebrand made his appearance.
“What like is she?” asked Hildebrand.
“A large vessel, Sir,” answered Halyard. “One of the Dons, nodoubt!”
“She must be a marvellous heavy sailer, then,” rejoinedHildebrand, “to be so far leeward of the fleet, which I see isnow out of sight. Are we bearing towards her?”
“Right ahead, captain,” replied Halyard.
“I will go have a look for her,” said Hildebrand.
Accordingly, he broke away from Master Halyard, and, with aquick but steady step, passed towards the forecastle. A crowd ofseamen, some score in number, were gathered in the bows, lookingahead; but they fell back directly he appeared, and thus openedto him a view of the remote horizon.
“Can ye see her from here, my lads?” he asked.
“Ay, Sir!” answered a half-dozen of voices:--“right ahead, Sir!”
Hildebrand, thus instructed, raised his hand over his eyes, andgazed in the direction specified with all his might. After abrief survey, he discerned a small slim object, like the trunk ofa tree, on the edge of the horizon, which he readily recognisedas the masts of a ship. On bringing it into view, he turned awayfrom the forecastle, and stepped back to the quarter-deck.
“Thou mayst see her from the deck, now,” he said to MasterHalyard, on coming up with that person. “Howbeit, I will evenoverhaul her from the mast-head.”
Without more words, he mounted into the shrouds, and proceeded,as on a previous occasion, to pass up aloft. He did not pauseon his way, but ascended right up, over the topmast, and thetop-gallant mast; and only stopped when he had gained themast-head.
He remained in his elevated position for several minutes, and, asit seemed from the deck, gazed intently for’ard the whole time.At last, his curiosity appeared to be satisfied; and, step bystep (yet not over-carefully), he descended to the deck again.
Master Halyard waited his return with some impatience.
“What cheer, Sir?” he inquired, as Hildebrand set his foot on thedeck.
“A large galleon, Sir, big enough to eat us,” answeredHildebrand. “By my troth, she will have a store of doubloonsaboard!”
Master Halyard involuntarily thrust his hands into his pockets;and, quite forgetful of his situation, began to hum a song.
“An’ she be well in the wake of the fleet,” observed Hildebrand,after a moment’s reflection, “methinks we might even venture it.”
“Let me perish else,” answered Halyard, whom the result of hissearch in his pockets, now that an attack on the galleon appeareduncertain, rendered desperate. “Hang me up, an’ I would notventure it in an old hen-coop.”
“We will see to ’t, then,” rejoined Hildebrand. “Let all thespare hands turn in, and take an hour’s rest. We will be up withher by ten o’clock!”
Reassured by a prospect so promising, Master Halyard thrust hishands into his pockets again; and hastened, in compliance withHildebrand’s instructions, to order all the men that were notrequired for the navigation of the ship to take an hour’s rest.Having seen his order obeyed, he returned to the quarter-deck;and there, with becoming gravity, but not with any dread orapprehension of the result, arranged with Hildebrand how theycould best realize their project of attacking the supposedgalleon.
Meantime, the ship, favoured by the wind, made good way ahead,and bid fair to fulfil her commander’s expectations. As the timeslipped by, the galleon became more distinct, and her hull,which hitherto had been invisible, or only distinguishablefrom the mast-head, was apparent from the forecastle by theevening. It was, however, far from being viewed by our friendswith satisfaction; for the hull of the galleon could not bevisible to them, unless their ship, and its hostile bearings,which were indicated by its course, were visible to her. Ondiscovering these particulars, she might alter her course; andso, under cover of the night, escape them altogether. But thoughHildebrand thought such a result was not unlikely, he determined,after deliberate reflection, to bear down on her still, andpursue the course he had entered on without deviation.
The issue justified his mode of proceeding. About three hoursafter nightfall, which (for it was now winter) was near the timethat he had predicted, the look-out man in the weather-bow gavethe anxiously-expected alarm.
“A large ship ahead, Sir!” he cried to Hildebrand, who, togetherwith Halyard, was still pacing the quarter-deck.
The announcement drew a low buzz from the crew, who, though manyof them were yet at liberty to remain below, had all assembledon the deck of their own accord; and a general rush, soundinglike the roar of a cataract, was made to the forecastle. Loud asthe noise was, however, the voice of Hildebrand, raised to itshighest tone, was heard above it.
“Silence there! fore and aft!” he cried.
All was still in a moment--so entirely and distinctly still, thatone would have thought it impossible, on observing their profoundsilence, that the crowd of men around could be living creatures,much less that they were on the eve of a fierce and deadlystruggle.
Hildebrand paused till his order was obeyed, when he resumed.--
“Pass the word for the drummer!” he cried.
While his command was being fulfilled, he quitted thequarter-deck, and ascended to the forecastle. Then, lookingright ahead, he distinguished the galleon, scarcely a gun-shotin his front, and on the point of veering to windward. From thepurposed change in her course, he was satisfied that, like him,she had suddenly become aware of the proximity of an enemy, andwas seeking to avoid him. All prospect of surprise, therefore,was at an end, and he returned to the quarter-deck with thedetermination of steering straight alongside of her.
On the quarter-deck, by the side of the capstan, he found Halyardand the drummer.
“Beat to quarters!” he said, to the latter.
The drummer obeyed; and while his spirit-stirring summons rolledthrough the ship, Hildebrand laid his hand on Halyard’s arm, anddrew him aside.
“Man the three boats,” he said. “I will run straight for thegalleon, and, as we come alongside, drop you all astern. WhenI think ye are fairly on your way, I will give the enemy abroadside, and, in the confusion, do you board her, all with onemind, on her nearer quarter. I will thereafter lend thee whatsuccour I can.”
“A right noble project!” observed Halyard, feeling his pocketswith both his hands. “How many men shall I muster, Sir?”
“Forty!” answered Hildebrand, “which, as thou knowest, is halfthe crew. Now,” he added, in a deeper tone, as he grasped Halyardby the hand, “give thee farewell!”
Halyard did not reply on the instant. His pause, however--onlythat the crisis rendered the briefest pause perceptible--washardly apparent, albeit, when he did speak, his voice wassomewhat shaken.
“Farewell, noble captain!” he said. “Life is but short; let uslive well on the road, says the gentle Shepherd of SalisburyPlain.”
During the short interval that the commander and his lieutenantthus conversed, the drummer had beaten his summons, which wasto lead so many to a bloody end, with unabated assiduity. Shortas the interval was--and it embraced but a few minutes--itsufficed to assemble on the deck the whole of the crew, and tocover every arrangement for entering into action. Each man’sbed, tied up taught in his hammock like a sack, was placed inthe hammock-nettings, along the top of the ship’s bulwarks; thedecks were cleared of all lumber; the guns were all manned; andthe powder, with the portfires, sponges, and other implements forcharging them, handed up the hatchways. Every man was armed;the flag of Old England was hoisted in the mizen; and nothingremained, for the furtherance and completion of the design t
heyhad in hand, but to come up with the enemy.
In this state of things, Hildebrand struck off the men who,according to his previous arrangement, were to accompany Halyard,and ordered them to the boats. There, by his directions, theywere all supplied with boarding-pikes, in addition to theircutlasses and pistols; and, though it was not quite likely thatit would be required, an extra allowance of ammunition. The othermen were ordered to their respective quarters of the ship.
So promptly had all these arrangements been conceived, determinedon, and executed, that, from the first alarm of the galleonbeing in sight, as given by the look-out man for’ard, up to themoment at which every preparation was completed, scarcely fivebrief minutes had elapsed. In the interim, the ship, with thewind still aft, advanced steadily towards the galleon, a littleto leeward of her bows, and drew close upon her. Hildebrand,standing at the helm, whence he could command a view ahead,observed that she had prepared to receive him, and would probablymeet him with a broadside. Expecting no less, he ordered thesails to be hauled up; and passed the word to the gunners, whowere all posted at their several guns, to count ten before theyanswered the salute, which would cover the auxiliary attack ofHalyard and the boarders. His orders had scarcely been delivered,when the ship, floating on the waves, came alongside of the enemy.
Scarcely a breath was exhaled on board the “Eliza” as she thusbreasted the galleon. The terrible pause, however, was butmomentary. As she came fairly alongside, looking like a littlepleasure-boat in comparison with her huge adversary, the latter,conformably to Hildebrand’s expectations, poured into her herwhole broadside. But the shot did little damage, and that, as itturned out, only to the ship’s hull--the crew having shelteredthemselves behind the bulwarks. Hildebrand alone had maintainedhis exposed position, and now, free from injury, looked anxiouslyround. The ship was enveloped in smoke; but sternwards, whitherhis glance first turned, the prospect was clearer; and heperceived that the boats had departed. He could distinguishnothing for’ard; but, with the aid of a speaking-trumpet, hecould reach the crew with his voice, and he delivered his orderswithout hesitation.
“For’ard there!” he cried. “Grapple on to the enemy’s stern; andprepare to board!”
As the order fell from his lips, the deck below him, conformablyto his previous order, opened its fire, and poured a broadsideinto the enemy. The report was yet booming over the water, when aloud “hurrah” broke on the ear, and afforded a cheering assurancethat the boats under Halyard had arrived at their destination.
Covered by the smoke of the galleon’s fire, Halyard had advancedtowards her near quarter, according to his instructions, withoutbeing observed; and, protected by the fire of his own ship,gained it unscathed. The broadside of the “Eliza” had caused amomentary confusion among the enemy, and, at this auspiciousjuncture, he pulled alongside, and led the way up her bulwarks.The crew on the lower-decks, at the several port-holes, observedhim instantly, but, taken by surprise, their opposition didnot impede him; and the disorder on the upper deck, where hewas not yet visible, prevented it from spreading further.Before the alarm became general, he and his men had gained thehammock-nettings; and there, with a loud hurrah, prepared to maketheir way on the deck.
It was a terrible moment. Amidst the volumes of smoke which stillrolled about, the stout little band, glancing quickly round,discerned hosts of grim adversaries, all armed to the teeth, andcrowding towards them with the most fixed determination. Butafter the one rapid glance mentioned, they hardly paused todraw a breath. Led on by Halyard, they sprang on the deck, andpressed forward in a mass. The charge was resistless; and thelong boarding-pikes, propelled at double quick time, and withthe whole force of each individual, swept over the quarter-decklike an avalanche. Nevertheless, the success, though so decided,lasted only a moment. As their small force became apparent,the Spaniards took courage; and joining together, under theguidance of one of their officers, pressed upon them bodily,front and rear. The English were forced together again in aninstant. Falling into two ranks, they backed to each other, andthus, by a ready evolution, fronted the enemy either way. Butthe force opposed to them was overpowering. No sooner had eachfile, pressing resolutely forward, cleared the deck in theirfront, than the Spaniards rushed in between them, and renewedthe struggle. The two files were now divided, and when, inobedience to a shout from Halyard, they sought to join again,the Spaniards pressed down behind them, and attacked them bothin front and rear. It soon became evident that they could nothold out much longer. Their ranks began to be thinned, and therewas hardly one of them, not excepting Halyard, but had receivedsome hurt. They still bore up, but, compared with their firstassault, their efforts were feeble, and were rather the resultof desperation, or a wild and reckless animosity, than genuinecourage. They fought singly, too--back to back; and seemed moredesirous to die hard, and, in their fall, to destroy as many ofthe enemy as they could, than to look for conquest. While alltheir energies were thus required for their defence, the Spanishcommander had mustered a strong force, composed of the flower ofhis crew, to rush upon them simultaneously, and so overwhelm themat a blow. The overpowering reinforcement was already in motion,and the fate of the heroic Englishmen, after all their efforts,and their noble and glorious resistance, appeared to be nowdecided, when a loud hurrah broke from the stern of the ship.
“Hurrah!” responded Master Halyard; and each of his comradescaught up the cheer.
The help that was approaching might well tend to reanimatethem. As the English ship approached the galleon’s poop, thehelmsman, under Hildebrand’s direction, ran her bowsprit againstthat vessel’s stern, and, pursuant to the orders they hadreceived, the sailors instantly fastened on to her with thegrappling-irons. Hildebrand joined them the next moment, and,led on by him, they sprang on to her poop. The resistance theyencountered was terrible, but, though they scarcely numberedthirty, they swept onward undaunted, driving all before them. Asthey became masters of the poop, a panic fell on the Spaniards,and they fled for’ard, past the little band of Halyard, withouta struggle. When they pushed by that weakened body, they forcedon with them, in one confused mass, those of the enemy with whomthey were contending, and so left Halyard at liberty. He hadhardly time to recover his breath, however, when he was joined byHildebrand.
“Now, then, my lads!” cried that person: “on them all at once!Now! Hurrah!”
“Hurrah!” answered his men.
But the Spaniards, now utterly disheartened, did not tarryfor the charge. As the tall form of Hildebrand was seen tospring forward, they pressed back, and made a rush for thefore-hatchway. Hildebrand loitered as he discerned their object,and, checking the impetuosity of his men, only gave the Spaniardsan impulse forward, without inflicting on them any hurt. Assuredby his forbearance, some of the rearmost Spaniards, after abrief interval, turned round to him, and offered him their arms.Hildebrand ordered them to throw them down, and, when they hadobeyed his injunctions, passed them behind him, and there placedthem under guard. He had scarcely seen them secured, when,following their example, the remainder of the galleon’s crewsurrendered, and he was now the undisputed master of the ship.
The Spaniards having thrown down their arms, the only care of theconqueror, in securing his victory, was to provide them a prison.The ready mind of Hildebrand quickly decided where they could bebest placed under restraint. After a moment’s pause, he orderedthem to be passed down the main-hatchway; and the hatch, whichwas of stout oak, and, consequently, could not be easily forcedup, to be well secured above them. When his directions werefulfilled, he posted a sentry over the hatchway, and felt thathis conquest was now secure.