Chapter 16: The Recapture Of The Pluto.
As soon as the hatch had been removed, and the bread and water lowereddown, and they heard heavy weights again laid on the hatch, two of theparty took one of the irons and began to bore a hole, while the othersproceeded to eat their food. Several times, the workers had to berelieved. The iron penetrated comparatively easily for a shortdistance, but beyond that the difficulty greatly increased; and it wasfully four hours before one of the workers, applying his eye to thehole, said that he could see a gleam of light through.
In another quarter of an hour, the orifice was sufficiently enlarged toenable a view to be obtained of the central hold. It was comparativelylight there, for the hatch was off, and they could see two men at work,opening a cask for some stores that were required.
"We must wait till it gets dark now," Francis said. "I do not thinkthat we shall make much noise, for the nails will be likely to drawquietly; but we had better choose the time between nightfall and thehour for the crew to turn in, as there will be a trampling of feet ondeck, and talking and singing, which would prevent any slight noise wemight make, being heard."
"The difficulty will be to force the ends of the iron down, between thebeams and the planks, so as to give us a purchase," Matteo said.
"I think we shall be able to manage that," Francis replied. "The beamsare put in in the rough, and if we hunt carefully, I think we shallfind a plank where we can get the irons in far enough, between it andthe beam, to give us a hold."
After a careful examination, they fixed upon a plank to operate upon,and, leaving one of the irons there, so that they could find it in thedark, they lay down to sleep, or sat talking until it was dark. Beforethis, a glance, through the peephole, showed them that the hatch hadbeen placed over the hatchway of the next hold, so that there waslittle fear of anyone coming down, unless something special wasrequired.
"Now I think we can begin," Francis said, at last. "Do you, PaoloParucchi, take one of the irons, I will take another, Matteo a third.We cannot possibly work more than three at the foot of a plank, thoughperhaps, when we have fixed them and put on the strain, two or threemore hands may get at the irons; but first we will try with three, and,unless the nails have got a wonderfully firm hold, we shall certainlybe able to draw them."
It took some time to fix the irons, to the best advantage, between theplanks and the beam.
"Are you both ready?" Francis asked at last. "Then pull."
As Francis had anticipated, the levers did their work, and the nailsyielded a little.
"It has sprung half an inch," Francis said, feeling. "Now you keep yourirons as they are, while I thrust mine down farther. I have got a freshhold. Do you shift yours."
Again the effort was made, and this time the nails drew fully twoinches. Another effort, and the plank was completely free at the lowerend.
"Now do you push against it as hard as you can," Francis said, "while Iget my iron in between it and the beam above."
The upper nails yielded even more easily than those below.
"No farther," Francis said, when they had fairly started them, "or theplank will be falling with a crash. We must push from the bottom now,until it gives sufficiently far for you to get an iron down each side,to prevent its closing again."
"Now," he said, "push the irons higher up. That is right. Now I willloosen a bit farther at the top, and then you will be able to get yourhands in at the bottom to steady it, and prevent its falling when thenails are quite drawn."
Another effort, and the plank was free, and, being drawn in, was laiddown. The delight of those who were standing in the dark, and couldonly judge how matters were going on from Francis's low spoken orders,was extreme.
"Can we get through?"
"No," Francis replied. "It will be necessary to remove another plankfirst, but perhaps one of the slighter among you might manage tosqueeze through, and hold the plank at the back. We shall be able towork with more freedom, if we know that there is no danger of itsfalling."
In a few minutes, the second plank was laid beside the first.
"What is to be done next?" Matteo asked.
"We must establish a communication with the sailors. I will take aworking party of four. Paolo Parucchi, with four others, will relieveme. You, Matteo, will with the rest take the last spell. When we haveentered the next compartment, we will put up the planks again, andpress the nails in tightly enough to prevent their falling. Should, bysome chance, anyone descend into the hold while we are working, weshall be hidden from their view. At the other end there are a number ofsacks piled up, and we shall be working behind them."
Francis, and the men he had chosen, made their way to the pile of armsthey had observed through their peephole, moving with great precaution,so as to avoid falling over anything. Here, with some trouble, theysucceeded in finding a dagger among the heap, and they then felt theirway on, until they reached the pile of sacks. These were packed towithin a foot of the deck beams, and there was but just room for themto crawl in at the top.
"Whatever you do, do not bump against the beams," Francis said. "Anynoise of that sort, from below, would at once excite attention. Now doyou be quiet, while I find a spot to begin upon."
Commencing at a junction of two planks, Francis began, with the dagger,to cut a hole of some three or four inches across, but tapering rapidlyas it went in. After waiting for some ten minutes, he touched the manlying next to him, placed his hand on the hole he had begun, and thenmoved aside to allow him to continue the work.
In an hour a hole was made in a two inch plank, and this was soonenlarged until it was an inch in diameter. Lying along the side of thebulkhead, so as to get his ear to the hole, Francis listened, but couldhear no sound within. Then he put his mouth to the orifice and asked:
"Are you all asleep there?"
Then he listened again. Some of the men were speaking, and asking eachother who it was that had suddenly spoken. No one replied; and some ofthem gave vent to angry threats, against whoever it might be who hadjust disturbed them from going off to sleep.
Directly the voices ceased again, Francis said:
"Let us have silence in there. Where is Rinaldo, the boatswain?"
"I am here," a voice replied; "but who is speaking? It sounds like thevoice of Messer Hammond."
"It is my voice, Rinaldo. We have worked through from the hold at theother end of the ship, having removed some of the planks of thebulkhead. Now it is for you to do the same. We will pass you somedaggers through, when we have made this hole a bit larger. You mustchoose one of the planks in the corner, as this will be less likely tobe observed."
"They will not observe us, Messer Hammond. They never come down here atall, but pass our food down in buckets."
"Nevertheless, begin at the plank next to the side," Francis said."Possibly someone may come down before you have finished. You will haveto remove two planks to get through. I will pass a javelin through. Youcan set to work with it, and bore holes through the plank close to thefloor; and then, with the dagger, cut away the wood between them. Whenyou have done them, set to at the top, close to the beams, and cut thetwo planks through there. There are sacks of grain piled up againstthem on this side, so that there is no fear of your being observed fromhere. The work must be carried on perfectly noiselessly, the menrelieving each other every few minutes.
"When the planks are cut through, replace them in their formerpositions, and wedge some small pieces of wood in, so that there shallbe no chance of their falling. You ought to finish the work bytomorrow. When you have done it, take no farther step until you getorders from me. It would not do to rise now, for we may be surroundedby other ships, and if we overpowered the crew, we should at once beattacked and recaptured by them. You will, therefore, remain quietuntil you have orders, whether it be one day or ten. All the arms theyhave taken from us are lying piled here, and when the time comes, weshall have no difficulty in overpowering the Genoese, and shall, Ihope, bring the Pluto safely to anchor in the
port of Venice beforelong."
There was a murmur of delight among the sailors, pent up in their closequarters. Francis listened a moment, and heard one of the men say:
"What did I tell you? Didn't I tell you that Messer Hammond got us allout of a scrape before, when our ship was captured by the Genoese, andthat I would be bound he would do the same again, if he had but theshadow of a chance."
"You did, Pietro, and you have turned out right. That is the sort offellow to have for a captain. He is not like one of those dainty youngnobles, who don't know one rope's end from another, and who turn uptheir noses at the thought of dirtying their hands. See how he lookedafter us through the winter. I wish we could give a cheer for him, butthat would never do. But when we are out of this, I will give him theloudest shout I ever gave yet.
"Now then, Rinaldo, let us set to work without a moment's delay.There's a chance we aren't going to rot in the dungeons of Genoa, afterall."
Convinced that the work would be carried on in accordance with hisorders, Francis withdrew his ear from the hole, and, crawling over thesacks again, made his way to the pile of arms, felt about until hefound two javelins, and taking these back, passed them one after theother through the hole.
"We have done our share now," he said to his comrades. "Paolo and hisparty will find it a comparatively easy task to enlarge the holesufficiently to pass the daggers through."
The party returned to the other end of the hold, removed the planks,and joined their friends. The next watch had arranged to lie down closeto the planks, so that they could be aroused without waking the others.
They were soon on their feet. Francis explained to Parucchi theprogress they had made, and the orders that had been given to thesailors as to what they were to do.
"When the hole is large enough, pass these five daggers in to the crew,and then come back again. I will guide you to the spot, and on myreturn will pick out half a dozen more daggers, in case we want themfor further work."
When daylight made its way into the hold, Matteo and his watch woke,and were astonished to find that all their comrades were quietlyasleep, and that they had not been awakened. Matteo could not restrainhis curiosity, but woke Francis:
"Has anything gone wrong, Francis? It is daylight, and Parucchi'sparty, as well as yours, are all asleep, while we have not beenroused!"
"Everything is going on well, Matteo, and we did not wake you, becausethere was nothing for you to do. We have already passed in knives andjavelins to the sailors, and they are at work cutting through twoplanks in their bulkhead; after which we shall be able to meet in thenext hold, arm ourselves, and fall upon the Genoese when theopportunity offers."
"That is excellent indeed, Francis; but I wish you had let us do ourshare of the work."
"It did not take us more than two hours, Matteo, to make a hole bigenough to pass the javelins through, and I should say Parucchi's partyenlarged it sufficiently to hand in the daggers in another hour; so yousee, it would have been useless to have aroused you, and the lessmovement we make after they get quiet at night, the better."
"And how long will the sailors be cutting it through, do you think?"
"I should say they would be ready by this time, Matteo, but certainlythey will be finished some time today."
"Then we shall soon be free!" Matteo exclaimed joyfully.
"That will depend, Matteo. We must wait till there is a goodopportunity, so that we can recapture the ship without an alarm beinggiven to the other vessels, which are no doubt sailing in company withus. And now, if you have nothing to say, I will go off to sleep again,for there is time for another hour or two. I feel as if I had not quitefinished my night's rest, and the days pass so slowly here that it isas well for us to sleep when we feel the least inclination.
"By the way, Matteo, put something into that peephole we made. It ispossible that they might see the light through it, and come to examinewhat it is. It is better to run no risk."
That day the captives were far more restless than they had been sincethey were taken prisoners. At first there had been a feeling ofdepression, too great to admit even of conversation with each other.The defeat of their fleet, the danger that threatened Venice, and theprospect of imprisonment in the gloomy dungeons of Genoa, combined todepress them on the first day of their imprisonment. On the second,their success in getting out the bolts had cheered them, and they hadsomething to look forward to and talk about; but still, few of themthought that there was any real prospect of their obtaining theirfreedom. Now, however, that success seemed to lie ready to hand; nowthat they could, that very evening, remove the sacks, effect a junctionwith their crew, arm themselves with the weapons lying in sight, andrush up and overpower the Genoese; it seemed hard to remain longer inconfinement. Several of them urged Francis to make the attempt thatnight, but he refused.
"You reckon only on the foe you see," he said. "The danger lies notfrom them, but from the foes we cannot see. We must wait for anopportunity."
"But no opportunity may occur," one of them urged.
"That is quite possible," Francis agreed; "but should no specialopportunity occur, we shall be none the worse for having waited, for itwill always be as open to us to make the attempt as it is tonight. Itmight succeed--possibly we could overpower the guard on deck beforethey could give the alarm--but the risk is too great to be run, untilwe are certain that no other way is open to us. In the daylight thehatch is open; but even could we free our comrades, and unite for arush, unobserved--which we could hardly hope to do--we should find thewhole of the Genoese on deck, and could not possibly overpower thembefore they had time to give the alarm to other vessels. At night, whenwe can unite, we cannot gain the deck, for the hatch is not onlyclosed, but would almost certainly be fastened, so that men should notget down to pilfer among the stores."
"But if we cannot attack in the daytime, Messer Hammond, without givingthe alarm; and cannot attack at all at night, what are we to do?"
"That is the next point to be seen to," Francis replied. "We must cut,either from this hold or from the other, a way up to the deck above. Itmay take us some days to do this, but that matters little. We haveplenty of time for the work before reaching Genoa. The difficulty isnot in the work itself, but in doing it unobserved."
"That is difficult, indeed," Matteo said, "seeing that the Genoesesailors are quartered in the forecastle above the forehold, while theofficers will be in the cabins in the poop over us."
"That is so, Matteo, and for that reason, it is clear that it is we,not the sailors, who must cut through the planks above. There are nodivisions in the forecastle, and it will be, therefore, absolutelyimpossible to cut through into it, without being perceived long beforea hole is made of a sufficient size to enable us to get out. Here wemay succeed better, for fortunately we know the exact plan of thecabins above us, and can choose a spot where we should not be likely tobe noticed."
"That is so," Matteo agreed, "and as they will not have as manyofficers as we had--that is, including the volunteers--some of thecabins will not be occupied. Perhaps, by listening to the footstepsabove, we might find out which are vacant."
"I thought of that, Matteo, but I doubt whether it would be well torely upon that. Many on board ship wear soft shoes, which make butlittle noise, and it would be fatal to us were we to make a mistake.After thinking it over, I have decided that we had best try to cut away up into the captain's cabin."
"But that is sure to be occupied, Messer Hammond," Parucchi said.
"Yes, it will be certainly be occupied; but it affords a goodopportunity of success. As you know, Parucchi, Carlo Bottini had been along time at Constantinople and the Eastern ports, and had a somewhatluxurious taste. Do you not remember that, against the stern windows,he had caused to be erected a low wide seat running across the cabin?This he called a divan, and spent no small proportion of his timelolling upon it. If I am right, its height was from ten inches to afoot above the deck, and it was fully four feet wide. It wouldtherefore be quite possible
to cut through the two planks at the back,without its being observed by anyone in the cabin."
There was a chorus of assent.
"Of course we must work most cautiously," Francis went on. "The woodmust be cut out with clean cuts with the daggers. There must be nosawing or scraping. The beams are two feet apart, and we must cutthrough two planks close to them. In that way there will be no nails toremove. Of course, we shall not cut quite through until the timearrives for us to make the attempt, but just leave enough to hold theplanks together. Half an hour's work will get through that, for if wewere to cut through it at once, not only would there be risk of thehole being discovered by anyone sweeping the cabin, but we should beobliged to remain absolutely silent, or we should be heardimmediately."
"We can begin at once, can we not?" Matteo asked. "Anything is betterthan sitting quietly here."
"Certainly, Matteo, if you wish. Two can work at once, one on eachline. Choose the two sharpest edged of the daggers, and be sure to cutclean, and not to make a scraping noise or to try to break out piecesof wood. The work must be done in absolute quiet. Indeed, howevercareful you are, it is possible that some slight sound may be heardabove, but, if noticed, it will probably be taken for the rats."
Matteo and another of the young men at once fell to work; but it wasnot until the evening of the following day that cuts were made as deepas was considered prudent. The depth of wood remaining was tested bythrusting the point of a dagger through, and it was decided that littlemore than a quarter of an inch remained.
Upon the following day the ship anchored, and remained for two days insome port. Provisions were brought on board and carried down into thehold, and the prisoners had no doubt that they were in harbour on thecoast of either Sicily, or the south of Italy. They had not set sailmany hours, when the motion of the ship told them that the wind wasgetting up, and by night the vessel was rolling heavily, the noise madeby the dashing of the water against her planks being so great, thatthose below could scarcely hear each other speak. Their spirits hadrisen with the increase of the motion, for the opportunity for whichthey had been waiting was now at hand. In a gale the vessels would keepwell apart from each other, to prevent the danger of a collision, andany outcry would be drowned by the noise of the wind and water.
Each night Francis had paid a visit to the sailors forward, to enjoinpatience until he should give them the order for making the attempt.They had long since cut through the planks, which were only retained intheir place by the pressure of the sacks behind them. He had bade thembe in readiness on the first occasion on which rough weather might setin, and knew that they would now be expecting the signal.
As soon, then, as it became dark, and the hatch over the middle holdwas closed; the planks were removed, and Francis and his party set towork shifting the sacks, in the corner where the sailors had cut theplanks. Each sack was taken up, and placed against the pile further on,without the slightest noise, until at last all were removed that stoodin the way of the planks being taken down. These were carried out intothe hold.
Francis entered the gap. The sailors had already been informed that theoccasion had come, and that they were to remain perfectly quiet untilbidden to move.
"All is prepared," he said as he entered. "Rinaldo, do you see that themen come out one by one. As each comes out a weapon will be placed inhis hands, and he will be then led to the starboard side of the hold,which is free from encumbrance, and will there stand until he receivesorders to move further. Remember that not the slightest noise must bemade, for if any stumbled and fell, and the noise were heard above, itmight be thought that some of the stores had shifted from their places,and men would be sent below to secure them. The alarm would be given,and a light or other signal shown the other ships, before we couldoverpower all resistance. After the men are all ranged up as I havedirected, they will have to remain there for some little time, while wecomplete our arrangements."
As soon as the sailors were all armed, and ready for action, Francisentered the after hold, where Matteo and another had been engaged incutting the planks quite through. They had just completed the task whenhe reached them, and had quietly removed the two pieces of plank.Francis had already given his orders to his companions, and each knewthe order in which they were to ascend.
A dim light streamed down from the hole. Two of his comrades liftedFrancis so that his head was above the level of the hole, and he wasenabled to see into the cabin. So far as he could tell, it wasuntenanted, but it was possible that the commander might be on thedivan above him. This was not, however, likely, as in the gale that wasnow blowing he would probably be on deck, directing the working of theship.
Francis now gave the signal, and the others raised him still further,until he was able to get his weight upon the deck above, and he thencrawled along underneath the divan, and lay there quiet until Parucchiand Matteo had both reached the deck. Then he gave the word, and allthree rolled out and leaped to their feet, with their daggers in theirhands, in readiness to fall upon the captain should he be on the divan.
As they had hoped and expected, the cabin was untenanted. The othervolunteers now joined them, the last giving the word to Rinaldo, whosoon passed up, followed by the crew, until the cabin was as full as itcould contain. There were now assembled some fifty men, closely packedtogether.
"That is ample," Francis said, "as they will be unarmed and unprepared.We can issue out singly until the alarm is given, and then those thatremain must rush out in a body. Simply knock them down with the hiltsof your swords. There is no occasion to shed blood, unless in the caseof armed resistance; but remember they will have their knives in theirgirdles, and do not let anyone take you by surprise."
Opening the door, Francis walked along a passage, and then through anouter door into the waist of the ship. The wind was blowing fiercely,but the gale was not so violent as it had appeared to them whenconfined below. The night was dark, but after a week's confinementbelow, his eyes were able easily to make out almost every object ondeck. There were but few sailors in the waist. The officers would be onthe poop, and such of the crew as were not required on duty in theforecastle. Man after man joined him, until some thirty were gatherednear the bulwarks. An officer on the poop caught sight of them by thelight of the lantern, which was suspended there as a signal to theother vessels.
"What are all you men doing down there?" he challenged. "There is nooccasion for you to keep on deck until you are summoned."
"Do you move forward with the men here, Parucchi. Knock down thefellows on deck, and rush into the forecastle and overpower them there,before they can get up their arms. I will summon the rest in a body,and we will overpower the officers."
He ran back to the cabin door, and bade the men follow him. As theypoured out there was a scuffle on the deck forward, and the officershouted out again:
"What is going on there? What does all this mean?"
Francis sprang up the ladder to the poop, followed by his men, andbefore the officer standing there understood the meaning of this suddenrush of men, or had time to draw his sword, he was knocked down. Thecaptain and three other officers, who were standing by the helm, drewtheir swords and rushed forward, thinking there was a mutiny amongtheir crew; but Francis shouted out:
"Throw down your weapons, all of you. We have retaken the ship, andresistance is useless, and will only cost you your lives."
The officers stood stupefied with astonishment; and then, seeing thatfully twenty armed men were opposed to them, they threw down theirswords. Francis ordered four of the sailors to conduct them to thecaptain's cabin, and remain in guard over them; then with the rest hehurried forward to assist Parucchi's party.
But the work was already done. The Genoese, taken completely bysurprise, had at once surrendered, as the armed party rushed in theforecastle, and the ship was already theirs. As soon as the prisonerswere secured, the after hatch was thrown off, and those whose turn tocrawl up through the hole had not yet arrived came up on deck.
"
Rinaldo," Francis said, as soon as the crew had fallen into theirplaces, "send a man aloft, and let him suddenly knock out the light inthe lantern."
"But we can lower it down, captain, from the deck."
"Of course we can, Rinaldo, but I don't want it lowered down, I want itput suddenly out."
Rinaldo at once sent a man up, and a minute later the light suddenlydisappeared.
"If we were seen to lower it down," Francis said to Matteo, "thesuspicions of those who noticed it would be at once aroused, for theonly motive for doing so would be concealment; whereas now, if it ismissed, it will be supposed that the wind has blown it out. Now we haveonly to lower our sails, and we can drop unobserved out of the fleet."
"There are sixteen lights, I have just been counting them," Matteosaid.
"These are probably the fourteen galleys captured with us, and twogalleys as guards, in case, on their way, they should fall in with anyof our ships.
"Parucchi, will you at once muster the men, and see that all are armedand in readiness for fighting?
"Matteo, do you and some of your friends assist the lieutenant."
In a few minutes, Parucchi reported that the men were all ready foraction.
"Rinaldo, brail up the sails, so that we may drop into the rear of thesquadron. Watch the lights of the vessels behind, and steer so thatthey shall pass us as widely as possible."
This was the order the men were expecting to receive, but they weresurprised when, just as the last light was abreast of them, Francisgave the order for the brails to be loosed again.
"Signor Parucchi, do you tell off fifty men. I am going to lay the shipalongside that vessel, and recapture her. They will not see us until weare close on board, and will suppose it is an accident when we runalongside. No doubt they, like the Pluto, have only a complement offifty men, and we shall overpower them before they are prepared tooffer any resistance.
"No doubt they have prisoners below. Immediately we have recapturedher, I shall return on board with the rest, leaving you with your fiftymen in charge of her. As soon as you have secured the Genoese, free anyprisoners there may be in the hold. I shall keep close to you, and youcan hear me, and tell me how many there are."
The Pluto was now edged away, till she was close to the other ship. Thecrew, exulting in having turned the tables on the Genoese, and at theprospect of recovering another of the lost galleys, clustered in thewaist, grasping their arms. The ship was not perceived until she waswithin her own length of the other. Then there was a sudden hail:
"Where are you coming to? Keep away, or you will be into us. Why don'tyou show your light?"
Francis shouted back some indistinct answer. Rinaldo pushed down thehelm, and a minute later the Pluto ran alongside the other vessel. Halfa dozen hands, told off for the work, sprang into her rigging, andlashed the vessels together; while Francis, followed by the crew,climbed the bulwarks and sprang on to the deck of the enemy.
Scarce a blow was struck. The Genoese, astonished at this suddenapparition of armed men on their deck, and being entirely unarmed andunprepared, either ran down below or shouted they surrendered, and intwo minutes the Venetians were masters of the vessel.
"Back to the Pluto," Francis shouted. "The vessels will tear theirsides out!"
Almost as suddenly as they had invaded the decks of the galley, theVenetians regained their own vessel, leaving the lieutenant with hisfifty men on board the prize. The lashings were cut, the Pluto's helmput up, and she sheered away from her prize. Her bulwarks were brokenand splintered where she had ground against the other vessel in thesea, and Rinaldo soon reported that some of the seams had opened, andthe water was coming in.
"Set the carpenter and some of the hands to work, to caulk the seams aswell as they can from the inside, and set a gang to work at the pumpsat once. It is unfortunate that it is blowing so hard. If the wind hadgone down instead of rising, we would have recaptured the whole fleet,one by one."
The Pluto was kept within a short distance of the captured vessel, andParucchi presently shouted out that he had freed two hundred prisoners.
"Arm them at once!" Francis shouted back. "Extinguish your light, andboard the vessel whose light you see on your starboard bow. I will takethe one to port. When you have captured her, lower the sails of bothvessels. I will do the same. You will keep a little head sail set, soas to keep them before the wind; but do not show more than you canhelp. I wish the rest of the fleet to outrun us, as soon as possible."
The Pluto sheered off from the prize, and directed her course towardsthe vessel nearest to her, which she captured as easily as she had donethe preceding. But this time, not only were her bulwarks stove in, butthe chain plates were carried away; and the mainmast, no longersupported by its shrouds, fell over the side with a crash.
This vessel had but a hundred prisoners on board. They were wild withastonishment and delight, when they found that their vessel had beenrecaptured. Francis told them to keep by him through the night, aspossibly he might need their assistance.
For some hours the gale increased. The Pluto lay head to it, her mastserving as a floating anchor. As soon as the lights of the Genoesesquadron disappeared in the distance, Francis hoisted a lantern on hismainmast, as a signal to the other vessels to keep near him.
As soon as day broke, the galley they had last recaptured was seen,half a mile away, while the two others could be made out some six milesto leeward. The gale died out soon after daybreak, and Francis at onceset his crew to work to get the mast on board, and to ship it by itsstump.
It was a difficult undertaking, for the vessel was rolling heavily. Itwas first got alongside, two ropes were passed over it, and it wasparbuckled on board. Shears were made of two spars, and the end wasplaced against the stump, which projected six feet above the deck. Bythe aid of the shears, it was hoisted erect and lashed to the stump,wedges were driven in to tighten the lashings, and it was then firmlystayed; and by the afternoon it was in readiness for sail to be hoistedagain.
By this time Parucchi, with the vessel he had captured, was alongside.The Lion of Saint Mark was hoisted to the mainmast of the Pluto, andthree similar banners were run up by the other vessels, the crewsshouting and cheering with wild enthusiasm.