CHAPTER THIRTEEN.
Through the haze of the night a bright flash now appearing, "Oh, ho!" cried Will Watch, "the Philistines bear down; Bear a hand, my tight lads, ere we think about sheering, One broadside pour in, should we swim, boys, or drown." SEA SONG.
"Now, Willy, what do you think of _La Belle Susanne_?" said McElvina, asthey stood on the pier, about a stone's throw from the vessel, which laywith her broadside towards them. Not that McElvina had any opinion ofWilly's judgment, but, from the affectionate feeling which every sailorimbibes for his own ship, he expected gratification even in theadmiration of a child. The lugger was certainly as beautiful a model ofthat description of vessel as had ever been launched from a slip. Atthe distance of a mile, with the sea running, it was but occasionallythat you could perceive her long black hull--so low was she in thewater, and so completely were her bulwarks pared down; yet her breadthof beam was very great, and her tonnage considerable, as may be inferredwhen it is stated that she mounted sixteen long brass nine-pounders, andwas manned with one hundred and thirty men. But now that she was lyingat anchor in smooth water, you had an opportunity of examining, with theseverest scrutiny, the beautiful run of the vessel, as she sat gracefulas a diver, and appeared, like that aquatic bird, ready to plunge in ata moment, and disappear under the wave cleft by her sharp forefoot, andrippling under her bows.
"When shall we sail?" inquired Willy, after bestowing more judiciousencomiums upon the vessel than might be expected.
"To-morrow night, if the wind holds to the southward. We took in ourpowder this morning. Where were you stationed at quarters on board the---?"
"Nowhere. I was not on the ship's books until a day or two before Ileft her."
"Then you must be a powder-monkey with me; you can hand powder up, ifyou can do nothing else."
"I can do more," replied Willy, proudly; "I can roll shells overboard."
"Ay, ay, so you can: I forgot that. I suppose I must put you on thequarter-deck, and make an officer of you, as Captain M--- intended todo."
"I mean to stand by you when we fight," said Willy, taking McElvina'shand.
"Thank you--that may not be so lucky. I'm rather superstitious; and, ifI recollect right, your old friend Adams had that honour when he waskilled."
The name of old Adams being mentioned, made Willy silent and unhappy.McElvina perceived it; the conversation was dropped, and they returnedhome.
A few days afterwards, _La Belle Susanne_ sailed, amidst the shouts andvivas of the multitude collected on the pier, and a thousand wishes for"_succes_," and "_bon voyage_"--the builder clapping his hands, andskipping with all the simial ecstasy of a Frenchman, at the encomiumslavished upon his vessel, as she cleaved through the water with theundeviating rapidity of a barracouta. But the _vivas_, and the shouts,and the builder, and the pier that he capered on, were soon out ofsight; and our hero was once more confiding in the trackless andtreacherous ocean.
"Well, she _does_ walk," said Phillips, who had followed the fortunes ofhis captain, and was now looking over the quarter of the vessel. "Shemust be a clipper as catches us with the tacks on board! Right in thewind's eye too; clean full. By the powers, I believe if you were tolift her, she would lay a point on the other side of the wind."
"Get another pull of the fore-halyards, my lads," cried McElvina."These new ropes stretch most confoundedly. There, belay all that; takea _severe_ turn, and don't come up an inch."
The breeze freshened, and the lugger flew through the water, dashing thewhite spray from her bows into the air, where it formed little rainbows,as it was pierced by the beams of the setting sun.
"We shall have a fine night, and light weather towards the morning, Ithink," said the first mate, addressing McElvina.
"I think so too. Turn the hands up to muster by the quarter-bell.We'll load the guns as soon as the lights are out; let the gunner fillforty rounds, and desire the carpenter to nail up the hatchway-screens.Let them be rolled up and stopped. We'll keep them up for a _full due_,till we return to Havre."
The crew of the lugger were now summoned on deck by the call of theboatswain, and having been addressed by Captain McElvina upon theabsolute necessity of activity and preparation, in a service of suchpeculiar risk, they loaded the guns, and secured them for the night.
The crew consisted of about eighty or ninety Englishmen, out of the fullcomplement of one hundred and thirty men; the remainder was composed ofFrenchmen, and other continental adventurers. Although the respectivecountries were at variance, the subjects of each had shaken hands, thatthey might assist each other in violating the laws. The quiet andsubordination of a king's ship were not to be expected here,--loud andobstreperous mirth, occasional quarrelling, as one party, by accident orintention, wounded the national pride of the other. French, English,and Irish, spoken alternately, or at the same moment--created a degreeof confusion which proved that the reins of government were held lightlyby the captain in matters of small importance; but, although there was ageneral freedom of manner, and independence of address, still hisauthority was acknowledged, and his orders implicitly obeyed. It was aship's company which _pulled every way_, as the saying is, when therewas nothing to demand union; but, let difficulty or danger appear, andall their squabbling was forgotten, or reserved for a more seasonableopportunity: then they all _pulled together_, those of each nation vyingin taking the lead and setting an example to the other.
Such was the crew of the lugger which McElvina commanded, all of whomwere picked men, remarkable for their strength and activity.
As the first mate had predicted, the wind fell light after midnight, andat dawn of day the lugger was gliding through the smooth water, at therate of three or four miles an hour, shrouded in a thick fog. The sunrose, and had gained about twenty degrees of altitude, when McElvinabeat to quarters, that he might accustom his men to the exercise of theguns. The rays of the sun had not power to pierce through the fog; and,shorn of his beams, he had more the appearance of an overgrown moon, orwas, as Phillips quaintly observed, "like a man disguised in woman'sattire."
The exercise of the guns had not long continued, when the breezefreshened up, and the fog began partially to disperse. Willy, who wasperched on the round-house abaft, observed a dark mass looming throughthe mist on the weather beam. "Is that a vessel?" said Willy, pointingit out to the first mate, who was standing near McElvina.
"Indeed it is, my boy," replied the mate; "you've a sharp eye of yourown."
McElvina's glass was already on the object. "A cutter, right before thewind, coming down to us; a government vessel, of some sort or another,I'll swear. I trust she's a revenue cruiser--I have an account tosettle with those gentlemen. Stay at your quarters, my lads--hand upshot, and open the magazine!"
The powerful rays of the sun, assisted by the increasing wind, nowrolled away the fog from around the vessels, which had a perfect view ofeach other. They were distant about two miles, and the blue water wasstrongly rippled by the breeze which had sprung up. The luggercontinued her course on a wind, while the cutter bore down towards her,with all the sail that she could throw out. The fog continued to clearaway, until there was an open space of about three or four miles indiameter. But it still remained folded up in deep masses, forming awall on every side, which obscured the horizon from their sight. Itappeared as if nature had gratuitously cleared away a sufficient portionof the mist, and had thus arranged a little amphitheatre for theapproaching combat between the two vessels.
"His colours are up, sir. Revenue stripes, by the Lord!" criedPhillips.
"Then all's right," replied McElvina.
The cutter had now run down within half a mile of the lugger, who hadcontinued her course with the most perfect _nonchalance_--when sherounded-to. The commander of the vessel, aware, at the first discoveryof the lugger, that she could be no other than an enemy, who would mostprobably give him some trouble, had made every preparation for theengagement.
"Shall we hoist any co
lours, sir?" said the first mate to McElvina.
"No--if we hoist English, he will not commence action until he has madethe private signal, and all manner of parleying which is quiteunnecessary. He knows what we are well enough."
"Shall we hoist a French ensign, sir?"
"No; I'll fight under no other colours than those of old England, evenwhen I resist her authority."
A long column of white smoke now rolled along the surface of the water,as the cutter, who had waited in vain for the colours being hoisted,fired the first gun at her antagonist. The shot whizzed between themasts of the lugger, and plunged into the water a quarter of a mile toleeward.
"_A vous, monsieur_!" roared out a French quarter-master on board of thelugger, in imitation of the compliments which take place previously toan _assaut d'armes_, at the same time taking off his hat, and bowing tothe cutter.
"Too high, too high, good Mr Searcher," said McElvina, laughing;"depress your guns to her waterline, my lads, and do not fire until Iorder you."
The remainder of the cutter's broadside was now discharged at thelugger, but the elevation being too great, the shot whizzed over,without any injury to her crew; the main-halyards were, however, shotaway, and the yard and sail fell thundering down on the deck.
"Be smart, my lads, and bend on again; it's quite long enough. Up withthe sail, and we'll return the compliment."
In less than a minute the tie of the halyards, which had been dividedclose to the yard, was hitched round it, and the sail again expanded tothe breeze. "Now my lads, remember, don't throw a shot away--fire whenyou're ready."
The broadside of the lugger was poured into the cutter, with what effectupon the crew could not be ascertained; but the main-boom was cut inhalf, and the outer part of it fell over the cutter's quarter, and wasdragged astern by the clew of the sail.
"It's all over with her already," said the first-mate to McElvina; and,as the cutter payed off before the wind, another broadside from herwell-manned antagonist raked her fore and aft. The cutter hauled downher jib, eased off her fore-sheet, and succeeded in again bringing herbroadside to bear. The action was now maintained with spirit, but muchto the disadvantage of the cutter, who was not only inferior in force,but completely disabled, from the loss of her main-boom.
After an exchange of a dozen broadsides, McElvina shot the lugger ahead,and, tacking under his adversary's bows, raked him a second time. Thecommander of the revenue vessel, to avoid a repetition of a similardisaster, payed his vessel off before the wind, and returned the fire asthey came abreast of each other; but in these manoeuvres, the luggerobtained the weather-gage. It was, however, a point of littleconsequence as matters then stood. In a few more broadsides the cutterwas a complete wreck, and unable to return the fire of her opponent.Her fore-stay and halyards had been cut away, her fore-sail was down ondeck, and her jib lying overboard, under her bows.
"I think that will do," said McElvina to the first-mate. "We had betterbe off now, for our guns will be sure to bring down some of thecruisers; and if she surrendered, I could not take possession of her.Let's give her a parting broadside, and three cheers."
McElvina's orders were obeyed; but not one gun was returned by thecutter--"Starboard a little; keep her away now, and we'll close andstand ahead of her, that she may read our name on the stern. It's apity they should not know to whom they are indebted. They'll not forget_La Belle Susanne_."
The cutter had not been left a mile astern before the breeze freshened,and the fog began rapidly to disperse; and Phillips, who continued atthe conn, perceived, through the haze, a large vessel bearing downtowards them.
"High time that we were off; indeed, captain; for there's a cruiser, ifI mistake not. A gun here is the same to the cruiser, as a splash inthe water is to the ground sharks at Antigua; up they all come to seewhat's to be had. We shall have a dozen of them above the horizonbefore two hours are above our heads."
McElvina, who had his glass fixed upon the vessel, soon made her out tobe a frigate, coming down under a press of sail, attracted, as Phillipshad remarked, by the reports of the guns. What made the affair moreserious was, that she was evidently bringing down a strong breeze, whichthe lugger, although steering large, had not yet obtained. Moreover,the fog had dispersed in all directions, and the frigate neared themfast.
"Blast the cutter!" said the first-mate: "we shall pay dearly for our`lark'."
"This is confoundedly unlucky," replied McElvina; "she brings the winddown with her, and won't part with a breath of it. However `faint heartnever won fair lady.' Keep her away two points more. Clap everythingon her. We'll _weather_ her yet."
The breeze that ran along the water in advance of the frigate now beganto be felt by the lugger, who again dashed the foaming water from herbows, as she darted through the wave; but it was a point of sailing atwhich a frigate has always an advantage over a small vessel; andMcElvina having gradually edged away, so as to bring the three masts ofhis pursuer apparently into one, perceived that the frigate was rapidlyclosing with him.
The crew of the lugger, who had been all merriment at the successfultermination of the late combat (for not one man had been killed orseverely wounded), now paced the deck, or looked over the bulwark withserious and foreboding aspects; the foreigners, particularly, began tocurse their fate, and considered their voyage and anticipated profits atan end. McElvina, perceiving their discontent, ordered the men aft, andaddressed them:--
"My lads, I have often been in a worse scrape, and have weathered it;nor do I know but what we may yet manage to get out of this, if you willpay strict attention to my orders, and behave in that cool and bravemanner which I have reason to expect from you. Much, if not all,depends upon whether the captain of that frigate is a `_new hand_' ornot: if he is an old channel groper, we shall have some difficulty; but,however, we will try for it, and if we do not succeed, at least we shallhave the satisfaction of knowing, that we did our best both forourselves and our employers."
McElvina then proceeded to explain to his crew the manoeuvre that heintended to practise, to obtain the weather-gage of the frigate, uponwhich their only chance of escape would depend, and the men returned totheir stations, if not contented, at least with increased confidence intheir captain, and strong hopes of success.
As the day closed, the frigate was within a mile of the lugger, andcoming up with him hand over hand. The breeze was strong, and the waterwas no longer in ripples, but curled over in short waves to theinfluence of the blast. The frigate yawed a little--the smoke from herbow-chaser was followed by an instantaneous report, and the shot dashedinto the water close under the stern of the lugger. "Sit down under thebulwarks; sit down, my lads, and keep all fast," said McElvina. "He'llsoon be tired of that; he has lost more than a cable's length already."McElvina was correct in his supposition; the commander of the frigateperceived that he had lost too much ground by deviating from his course,and the evening was closing in. He fired no more. Both vesselscontinued their course--the smuggler particularly attentive in keepingthe three masts of her pursuer in one, to prevent her from firing intoher, or to oblige her to drop astern if she did.
Half an hour more, and as the sun's lower limb touched the horizon, thefrigate was within musket-shot of the lugger, and the marines, who hadbeen ordered forward, commenced a heavy fire upon her, to induce her tolower her sails and surrender; but in vain. By the directions of theircaptain, the men sheltered themselves under the bulwarks, and the vesselcontinued her course, with all her sails expanded to the breeze.
A few minutes more and she was right under the bows of the frigate, whonow prepared to round-to, and pour a broadside into her for hertemerity. McElvina watched their motions attentively, and as thefrigate yawed-to with all her sails set, he gave the order to loweraway; and the sails of the lugger were in an instant down on the deck,in token of submission.
"Helm hard a-lee, now--keep a little bit of the mizen up, Phillips--theywon't observe it."
"Marines, ce
ase firing-hands, shorten sail, and clear away the firstcutter," were the orders given on board the frigate, and distinctlyheard by the smugglers; but the heavy press of sail that the frigate wasobliged to carry to come up with the chase, was not so soon to bereduced as that of a small vessel--and, as she rounded-to withstudding-sails below and aloft, she shot past the lugger, and left heron her quarter.
"Now's your time, my men. Hoist away the jib-sheet to windward." Thelugger payed off as the wind caught the sail. "All's right. Up withthe lugs."
The order was obeyed as an order generally is by men working for theirescape from what they most dreaded, poverty and imprisonment; and,before the frigate could reduce her sails, which were more than shecould carry on a wind, the lugger had shot away on her weather quarter,and was a quarter of a mile in advance. The frigate tacked after her,firing gun after gun, but without success. Fortune favoured McElvina;and the shades of night soon hid the lugger from the sight of herirritated and disappointed pursuers. A long career was before _La BelleSusanne_: she was not to be taken that time.