CHAPTER XXXIII.
"Furious press the hostile squadron, Furious he repels their rage. Loss of blood at length enfeebles; Who can war with thousands wage?" _Spanish War Song._
We cannot detain the narrative to detail the scenes which busy wonder,aided by the relation of divers marvelous feats, produced among thecurious seamen who remained in the ship, and their more fortunatefellows who had returned in glory from an expedition to the land. Fornearly an hour the turbulence of a general movement was heard, issuingfrom the deep recesses of the frigate, and the boisterous sounds ofhoarse merriment were listened to by the officers in indulgent silence;but all these symptoms of unbridled humor ceased by the time the morningrepast was ended, when the regular sea-watch was set, and the greaterportion of those whose duty did not require their presence on thevessel's deck, availed themselves of the opportunity to repair the lossof sleep sustained in the preceding night. Still no preparations weremade to put the ship in motion, though long and earnest consultations,which were supposed to relate to their future destiny, were observedby the younger officers to be held between their captain, the firstlieutenant, and the mysterious Pilot. The latter threw many an anxiousglance along the eastern horizon, searching it minutely with his glass,and then would turn his impatient looks at the low, dense bank of fog,which, stretching across the ocean like a barrier of cloud, entirelyintercepted the view towards the south. To the north and along the landthe air was clear, and the sea without a spot of any kind; but in theeast a small white sail had been discovered since the opening of day,which was gradually rising above the water, and assuming the appearanceof a vessel of some size. Every officer on the quarter-deck in histurn had examined this distant sail, and had ventured an opinion on itsdestination and character; and even Katherine, who with her cousin wasenjoying, in the open air, the novel beauties of the ocean, had beentempted to place her sparkling eye to a glass, to gaze at the stranger.
"It is a collier," Griffith said, "who has hauled from the land in thelate gale, and who is luffing up to his course again. If the wind holdshere in the south, and he does not get into that fog-bank, we can standoff for him and get a supply of fuel before eight bells are struck."
"I think his head is to the northward, and that he is steering off thewind," returned the Pilot, in a musing manner, "If that Dillon succeededin getting his express far enough along the coast, the alarm has beenspread, and we must be wary. The convoy of the Baltic trade is in theNorth Sea, and news of our presence could easily have been taken off toit by some of the cutters that line the coast, I could wish to get theship as far south as the Helder!"
"Then we lose this weather tide!" exclaimed the impatient Griffith;"surely we have the cutter as a lookout! besides, by beating into thefog, we shall lose the enemy, if enemy it be, and it is thought meet foran American frigate to skulk from her foes!"
The scornful expression that kindled the eye of the Pilot, like a gleamof sunshine lighting for an instant some dark dell and laying bare itssecrets, was soon lost in the usually quiet look of his glance, thoughhe hesitated like one who was struggling with his passions before heanswered:
"If prudence and the service of the States require it, even this proudfrigate must retreat and hide from the meanest of her enemies. Myadvice, Captain Munson, is, that you make sail, and beat the ship towindward, as Mr. Griffith has suggested, and that you order the cutterto precede us, keeping more in with the land."
The aged seaman, who evidently suspended his orders only to receive anintimation of the other's pleasure, immediately commanded his youthfulassistant to issue the necessary mandates to put these measures inforce. Accordingly, the Alacrity, which vessel had been left under thecommand of the junior lieutenant of the frigate, was quickly under way;and, making short stretches to windward, she soon entered the bank offog, and was lost to the eye. In the mean time the canvas of the shipwas loosened, and spread leisurely, in order not to disturb the portionof the crew who were sleeping; and, following her little consort, shemoved heavily through the water, bearing up against the dull breeze.
The quiet of regular duty had succeeded to the bustle of making sail;and, as the rays of the sun fell less obliquely on the distant land,Katherine and Cecilia were amusing Griffith by vain attempts to pointout the rounded eminences which they fancied lay in the vicinity of thedeserted mansion of St. Ruth. Barnstable, who had resumed his formerstation in the frigate as her second lieutenant, was pacing the oppositeside of the quarter-deck, holding under his arm the speaking-trumpet,which denoted that he held the temporary control of the motions of theship, and inwardly cursing the restraint that kept him from the side ofhis mistress. At this moment of universal quiet, when nothing abovelow dialogues interrupted the dashing of the waves as they were thrownlazily aside by the bows of the vessel, the report of a light cannonburst out of the barrier of fog, and rolled by them on the breeze,apparently vibrating with the rising and sinking of the waters.
"There goes the cutter!" exclaimed Griffith, the instant the sound washeard.
"Surely," said the captain, "Somers is not so indiscreet as to scale hisguns, after the caution he has received!"
"No idle scaling of guns is intended there," said the Pilot, straininghis eyes to pierce the fog, but soon turning away in disappointment athis inability to succeed--"that gun is shotted, and has been firedin the hurry of a sudden signal!--can your lookouts see nothing, Mr.Barnstable?"
The lieutenant of the watch hailed the man aloft, and demanded ifanything were visible in the direction of the wind, and received foranswer that the fog intercepted the view in that quarter of the heavens,but that the sail in the east was a ship, running large, or before thewind. The Pilot shook his head doubtingly at this information, but stillhe manifested a strong reluctance to relinquish the attempt of gettingmore to the southward. Again he communed with the commander of thefrigate, apart from all other ears; and while they yet deliberated, asecond report was heard, leaving no doubt that the Alacrity was firingsignal-guns for their particular attention.
"Perhaps," said Griffith, "he wishes to point out his position, or toascertain ours; believing that we are lost like himself in the mist"
"We have our compasses!" returned the doubting captain; "Somers has ameaning in what he says!"
"See!" cried Katherine, with girlish delight, "see, my cousin! see,Barnstable! how beautifully that vapor is wreathing itself in cloudsabove the smoky line of fog! It stretches already into the very heavenslike a lofty pyramid!"
Barnstable sprang lightly on a gun, as he repeated her words:
"Pyramids of fog! and wreathing clouds! By heaven!" he shouted, "'tisa tall ship! Royals, skysails, and stud-dingsails all abroad! She iswithin a mile of us, and comes down like a racehorse, with a spankingbreeze, dead before it! Now know we why Somers is speaking in the mist!"
"Ay," cried Griffith, "and there goes the Alacrity, just breaking out ofthe fog, hovering in for the land!"
"There is a mighty hull under all that cloud of canvas, Captain Munson,"said the observant but calm Pilot: "it is time, gentlemen, to edge awayto leeward."
"What, before we know from whom we run!" cried Griffith; "my life onit, there is no single ship King George owns but would tire of the sportbefore she had played a full game of bowls with--"
The haughty air of the young man was daunted by the severe look heencountered in the eye of the Pilot, and he suddenly ceased, thoughinwardly chafing with impatient pride.
"The same eye that detected the canvas above the fog might have seen theflag of a vice-admiral fluttering still nearer the heavens," returnedthe collected stranger; "and England, faulty as she may be, is yet toogenerous to place a flag-officer in time of war in command of a frigate,or a captain in command of a fleet. She knows the value of those whoshed their blood in her behalf, and it is thus that she is so wellserved! Believe me, Captain Munson, there is nothing short of a ship ofthe line under that symbol of rank and that broad show of canvas!"
"We shall see, sir, we shal
l see," returned the old officer, whosemanner grew decided, as the danger appeared to thicken; "beat toquarters, Mr. Griffith, for we have none but enemies to expect on thiscoast"
The order was instantly issued, when Griffith remarked, with a moretemperate zeal:
"If Mr. Gray be right, we shall have reason to thank God that we are solight of heel!"
The cry of "a strange vessel close aboard the frigate" having alreadyflown down the hatches, the ship was in an uproar at the first tap ofthe drum. The seamen threw themselves from their hammocks, and lashingthem rapidly into long, hard bundles, they rushed to the decks, wherethey were dexterously stowed in the netting, to aid the defences of theupper part of the vessel. While this tumultuous scene was exhibiting,Griffith gave a secret order to Merry, who disappeared, leading histrembling cousins to a place of safety in the inmost depths of the ship.
The guns were cleared of their lumber and loosened. The bulkheads wereknocked down, and the cabin relieved of its furniture; and the gun-deckexhibited one unbroken line of formidable cannon, arranged in all theorder of a naval battery ready to engage. Arm-chests were thrown open,and the decks strewed with pikes, cutlasses, pistols, and all thevarious weapons for boarding. In short, the yards were slung, and everyother arrangement was made with a readiness and dexterity that wereactually wonderful, though all was performed amid an appearance ofdisorder and confusion that rendered the ship another Babel during thecontinuance of the preparations. In a very few minutes everything wascompleted, and even the voices of the men ceased to be heard answeringto their names, as they were mustered at their stations, by theirrespective officers. Gradually the ship became as quiet as the grave;and when even Griffith or his commander found it necessary to speak,their voices were calmer, and their tones more mild than usual. Thecourse of the vessel was changed to an oblique line from that in whichtheir enemy was approaching, though the appearance of flight was to bestudiously avoided to the last moment. When nothing further remained tobe done, every eye became fixed on the enormous pile of swelling canvasthat was rising, in cloud over cloud, far above the fog, and which wasmanifestly moving, like driving vapor, swiftly to the north. Presentlythe dull, smoky boundary of the mist which rested on the water waspushed aside in vast volumes, and the long taper spars that projectedfrom the bowsprit of the strange ship issued from the obscurity, andwere quickly followed by the whole of the enormous fabric to which theywere merely light appendages. For a moment, streaks of reluctant vaporclung to the huge floating pile; but they were soon shaken off by therapid vessel, and the whole of her black hull became distinct to theeye.
"One, two, three rows of teeth!" said Boltrope, deliberately countingthe tiers of guns that bristled along the sides of the enemy; "athree-decker! Jack Manly would show his stern to such a fellow t, andeven the bloody Scotchman would run!"
"Hard up with your helm, quartermaster!" cried Captain Munson; "thereis indeed no time to hesitate, with such an enemy within a quarter ofa mile! Turn the hands up, Mr. Griffith, and pack on the ship from hertrucks to her lower studdingsail-booms. Be stirring, sir, be stirring!Hard up with your helm! Hard up, and be damn'd to you!"
The unusual earnestness of their aged commander acted on the startledcrew like a voice from the deep, and they waited not for the usualsignals of the boatswain and drummer to be given, before they broke awayfrom their guns, and rushed tumultuously to aid in spreading thedesired canvas. There was one minute of ominous confusion, that to aninexperienced eye would have foreboded the destruction of all order inthe vessel, during which every hand, and each tongue, seemed in motion;but it ended in opening the immense folds of light duck which weredisplayed along the whole line of the masts, far beyond the ordinarysails, overshadowing the waters for a great distance, on either sideof the vessel. During the moment of inaction that succeeded this suddenexertion, the breeze, which had brought up the three-decker, fellfresher on the sails of the frigate, and she started away from herdangerous enemy with a very perceptible advantage in point of sailing.
"The fog rises!" cried Griffith; "give us but the wind for an hour, andwe shall run her out of gunshot!"
"These nineties are very fast off the wind," returned the captain, ina low tone, that was intended only for the ears of his first lieutenantand the Pilot; "and we shall have a struggle for it."
The quick eye of the stranger was glancing over the movements of hisenemy, while he answered:
"He finds we have the heels of him already! he is making ready, andwe shall be fortunate to escape a broadside! Let her yaw a little, Mr.Griffith; touch her lightly with the helm; if we are raked, sir, we arelost!"
The captain sprang on the taffrail of his ship with the activity of ayounger man, and in an instant he perceived the truth of the other'sconjecture.
Both vessels now ran for a few minutes, keenly watching each other'smotions like two skilful combatants; the English ship making slightdeviations from the line of her course, and then, as her movementswere anticipated by the other, turning as cautiously in the oppositedirection, until a sudden and wide sweep of her huge bows told theAmericans plainly on which tack to expect her. Captain Munson made asilent but impressive gesture with his arm, as if the crisis were tooimportant for speech, which indicated to the watchful Griffith the wayhe wished the frigate sheered, to avoid the weight of the impendingdanger. Both vessels whirled swiftly up to the wind, with their headstowards the land; and as the huge black side of the three-decker,checkered with its triple batteries, frowned full upon her foe, itbelched forth a flood of fire and smoke, accompanied by a bellowing roarthat mocked the surly moanings of the sleeping ocean. The nerves of thebravest man in the frigate contracted their fibres, as the hurricane ofiron hurtled by them, and each eye appeared to gaze in stupid wonder, asif tracing the flight of the swift engines of destruction. But the voiceof Captain Munson was heard in the din, shouting while he waved his hatearnestly in the required direction:
"Meet her! meet her with the helm, boy! meet her, Mr. Griffith, meether!"
Griffith had so far anticipated this movement as to have already orderedthe head of the frigate to be turned in its former course, when, struckby the unearthly cry of the last tones uttered by his commander, he benthis head, and beheld the venerable seaman driven through the air, hishat still waving, his gray hair floating in the wind, and his eye set inthe wild look of death.
"Great God!" exclaimed the young man, rushing to the side of the ship,where he was just in time to see the lifeless body disappear in thewaters that were dyed in its blood; "he has been struck by a shot! Loweraway the boat, lower away the jolly-boat, the barge, the tiger, the----"
"'Tis useless," interrupted the calm, deep voice of the Pilot; "he hasmet a warrior's end, and he sleeps in a sailor's grave! The ship isgetting before the wind again, and the enemy is keeping his vesselaway."
The youthful lieutenant was recalled by these words to his duty, andreluctantly turned his eyes away from the bloody spot on the waters,which the busy frigate had already passed, to resume the command of thevessel with a forced composure.
"He has cut some of our running-gear," said the master, whose eye hadnever ceased to dwell on the spars and rigging of the ship; "and there'sa splinter out of the maintopmast that is big enough for a fid! Hehas let daylight through some of our canvas too; but, taking itby-and-large, the squall has gone over and little harm done. Didn't Ihear something said of Captain Munson getting jammed by a shot?"
"He is killed!" said Griffith, speaking in a voice that was yet huskywith horror--"he is dead, sir, and carried overboard; there is more needthat we forget not ourselves, in this crisis."
"Dead!" said Boltrope, suspending the operation of his active jaws for amoment, in surprise; "and buried in a wet jacket! Well, it is lucky 'tisno worse; for damme if I did not think every stick in the ship wouldhave been cut out of her!"
With this consolatory remark on his lips, the master walked slowlyforward, continuing his orders to repair the damages with a singlenessof purpose that rendered h
im, however uncouth as a friend, an invaluableman in his station.
Griffith had not yet brought his mind to the calmness that was soessential to discharge the duties which had thus suddenly and awfullydevolved on him, when his elbow was lightly touched by the Pilot, whohad drawn closer to his side.
"The enemy appear satisfied with the experiment," said the stranger;"and as we work the quicker of the two, he loses too much ground torepeat it, if he be a true seaman."
"And yet as he finds we leave him so fast," returned Griffith, "he mustsee that all his hopes rest in cutting us up aloft. I dread that he willcome by the wind again, and lay us under his broadside; we should need aquarter of an hour to run without his range, if he were anchored!"
"He plays a surer game--see you not that the vessel we made in theeastern board shows the hull of a frigate? 'Tis past a doubt that theyare of one squadron, and that the expresses have sent them in our wake.The English admiral has spread a broad clew, Mr. Griffith; and, as hegathers in his ships, he sees that his game has been successful."
The faculties of Griffith had been too much occupied with the hurry ofthe chase to look at the ocean; but, startled at the information of thePilot, who spoke coolly, though like a man sensible of the existence ofapproaching danger, he took the glass from the other, and with his owneye examined the different vessels in sight. It is certain that theexperienced officer, whose flag was flying above the light sails of thethree-decker, saw the critical situation of his chase, and reasoned muchin the same manner as the Pilot, or the fearful expedient apprehendedby Griffith would have been adopted. Prudence, however, dictated thathe should prevent his enemy from escaping by pressing so closely on hisrear as to render it impossible for the American to haul across his bowsand run into the open sea between his own vessel and the nearest frigateof his squadron. The unpractised reader will be able to comprehend thecase better by accompanying the understanding eye of Griffith, as itglanced from point to point, following the whole horizon. To the westlay the land, along which the Alacrity was urging her way industriously,with the double purpose of keeping her consort abeam, and of avoidinga dangerous proximity to their powerful enemy. To the east, bearing offthe starboard bow of the American frigate, was the vessel first seen,and which now began to exhibit the hostile appearance of a ship of war,steering in a line converging towards themselves, and rapidly drawingnigher; while far in the northeast was a vessel as yet faintlydiscerned, whose evolutions could not be mistaken by one who understoodthe movements of nautical warfare.
"We are hemmed in effectually," said Griffith, dropping the glass fromhis eye; "and I know not but our wisest course would be to haul in tothe land, and, cutting everything light adrift, endeavor to pass thebroadside of the flag-ship."
"Provided she left a rag of canvas to do it with!" returned the Pilot."Sir, 'tis an idle hope! She would strip your ship in ten minutes, toher plankshears. Had it not been for a lucky wave on which so many ofher shot struck and glanced upwards, we should have nothing to boast ofleft from the fire she has already given; we must stand on, and drop thethree-decker as far as possible."
"But the frigates?" said Griffith, "What are we to do with thefrigates?"
"Fight them!" returned the Pilot, in a low determined voice; "fightthem! Young man, I have borne the stars and stripes aloft in greaterstraits than this, and even with honor! Think not that my fortune willdesert me now."
"We shall have an hour of desperate battle!"
"On that we may calculate; but I have lived through whole days ofbloodshed! You seem not one to quail at the sight of an enemy."
"Let me proclaim your name to the men!" said Griffith; "'twill quickentheir blood, and at such a moment be a host in itself."
"They want it not," returned the Pilot, checking the hasty zeal of theother with his hand. "I would be unnoticed, unless I am known as becomesme. I will share your Danger, but would not rob you of a tittle ofyour glory. Should we come to grapple," he continued, while a smile ofconscious pride gleamed across his face, "I will give forth the word asa war-cry, and, believe me, these English will quail before it!"
Griffith submitted to the stranger's will; and, after they haddeliberated further on the nature of their evolutions, he gave hisattention again to the management of the vessel. The first object whichmet his eye on turning from the Pilot was Colonel Howard, pacing thequarter-deck with a determined brow and a haughty mien, as if already inthe enjoyment of that triumph which now seemed certain.
"I fear, sir," said the young man, approaching him with respect,"that you will soon find the deck unpleasant and dangerous; your wardsare----"
"Mention not the unworthy term!" interrupted the colonel. "What greaterpleasure can there be than to inhale the odor of loyalty that is waftedfrom yonder floating tower of the king?--And danger! you know but littleof old George Howard, young man, if you think he would for thousandsmiss seeing that symbol of rebellion leveled before the flag of hismajesty."
"If that be your wish, Colonel Howard," returned Griffith, biting hislip as he looked around at the wondering seamen who were listeners, "youwill wait in vain; but I pledge you my word that when that time arrivesyou shall be advised, and that your own hands shall do the ignobledeed."
"Edward Griffith, why not this moment? This is your moment ofprobation--submit to the clemency of the crown, and yield your crew tothe royal mercy! In such a case I would remember the child of my brotherHarry's friend; and believe me, my name is known to the ministry. Andyou, misguided and ignorant abettors of rebellion! Cast aside youruseless weapons, or prepare to meet the vengeance of yonder powerful andvictorious servant of your prince."
"Fall back! back with ye, fellows!" cried Griffith, fiercely, to the menwho were gathering around the colonel, with looks of sullen vengeance."If a man of you dare approach him, he shall be cast into the sea."
The sailors retreated at the order of their commander; but the elatedveteran had continued to pace the deck for many minutes before strongerinterests diverted the angry glances of the seamen to other objects.
Notwithstanding the ship of the line was slowly sinking beneath thedistant waves, and in less than an hour from the time she had fired thebroadside, no more than one of her three tiers of guns was visible fromthe deck of the frigate, she yet presented an irresistible obstacleagainst retreat to the south. On the other hand, the ship first seendrew so nigh as to render the glass no longer necessary in watching hermovements. She proved to be a frigate, though one so materially lighterthan the American as to have rendered her conquest easy, had not hertwo consorts continued to press on for the scene of battle with suchrapidity. During the chase, the scene had shifted from the pointopposite to St. Ruth, to the verge of those shoals where our talecommenced. As they approached the latter, the smallest of the Englishships drew so nigh as to render the combat unavoidable. Griffith andhis crew had not been idle in the intermediate time, but all the usualpreparations against the casualties of a sea-fight had been duly made,when the drum once more called the men to their quarters, and the shipwas deliberately stripped of her unnecessary sails, like a prize-fighterabout to enter the arena, casting aside the encumbrances of dress. Atthe instant she gave this intimation of her intention to abandon flight,and trust the issue to the combat, the nearest English frigate also tookin her light canvas in token of her acceptance of the challenge.
"He is but a little fellow," said Griffith to the Pilot, who hovered athis elbow with a sort of fatherly interest in the other's conduct of thebattle, "though he carries a stout heart."
"We must crush him at a blow," returned the stranger; "not a shot mustbe delivered until our yards are locking."
"I see him training his twelves upon us already; we may soon expect hisfire."
"After standing the brunt of a ninety-gun ship," observed the collectedPilot, "we shall not shrink from the broadside of a two-and-thirty."
"Stand to your guns, men!" cried Griffith, through his trumpet--"not ashot is to be fired without the order."
T
his caution, so necessary to check the ardor of the seamen, was hardlyuttered, before their enemy became wrapped in sheets of fire and volumesof smoke, as gun after gun hurled its iron missiles at their vesselin quick succession. Ten minutes might have passed, the two vesselssheering close to each other every foot they advanced, during which timethe crew of the American were compelled, by their commander, to sufferthe fire of their adversary, without returning a shot. This shortperiod, which seemed an age to the seamen, was distinguished in theirvessel by deep silence. Even the wounded and dying, who fell in everypart of the ship, stifled their groans, under the influence of thesevere discipline, which gave a character to every man, and eachmovement of the vessel; and those officers who were required to speakwere heard only in the lowest tones of resolute preparation. At lengththe ship slowly entered the skirts of the smoke that enveloped theirenemy; and Griffith heard the man who stood at his side whisper the word"Now."
"Let them have it!" cried Griffith, in a voice that was heard in theremotest parts of the ship.
The shout that burst from the seamen appeared to lift the decks ofthe vessel, and the affrighted frigate trembled like an aspen with therecoil of her own massive artillery, that shot forth a single sheet offlame, the sailors having disregarded, in their impatience, the usualorder of firing. The effect of the broadside on the enemy was still moredreadful; for a death-like silence succeeded to the roar of the guns,which was only broken by the shrieks and execrations that burst fromher, like the moanings of the damned. During the few moments in whichthe Americans were again loading their cannon, and the English wererecovering from their confusion, the vessel of the former moved slowlypast her antagonist, and was already doubling across her bows, when thelatter was suddenly, and, considering the inequality of their forces,it may be added desperately, headed into her enemy. The two frigatesgrappled. The sudden and furious charge made by the Englishman, as hethrew his masses of daring seamen along his bowsprit, and out of hischannels, had nearly taken Griffith by surprise; but Manual, who haddelivered his first fire with the broadside, now did good service, byordering his men to beat back the intruders, by a steady and continueddischarge. Even the wary Pilot lost sight of their other foes, in thehigh daring of that moment, and smiles of stern pleasure were exchangedbetween him and Griffith as both comprehended, at a glance, theiradvantages.
"Lash his bowsprit to our mizzenmast," shouted the lieutenant, "and wewill sweep his decks as he lies!"
Twenty men sprang eagerly forward to execute the order, among theforemost of whom were Boltrope and the stranger.
"Ay, now he's our own!" cried the busy master, "and we will take anowner's liberties with him, and break him up--for by the eternal----"
"Peace, rude man," said the Pilot, in a voice of solemn remonstrance;"at the next instant you may face your God; mock not his awful name!"
The master found time, before he threw himself from the spar on the deckof the frigate again, to cast a look of amazement at his companion, who,with a steady mien, but with an eye that lighted with a warrior'sardor, viewed the battle that raged around him, like one who marked itsprogress to control the result.
The sight of the Englishmen rushing onward with shouts and bittermenaces warmed the blood of Colonel Howard, who pressed to the side ofthe frigate, and encouraged his friends, by his gestures and voice, tocome on.
"Away with ye, old croaker!" cried the master, seizing him by thecollar; "away with ye to the hold, or I'll order you fired from a gun."
"Down with your arms, rebellious dog!" shouted the colonel, carriedbeyond himself by the ardor of the fray; "down to the dust, and implorethe mercy of your injured prince!"
Invigorated by a momentary glow, the veteran grappled with his brawnyantagonist; but the issue of the short struggle was yet suspended, whenthe English, driven back by the fire of the marines, and the menacingfront that Griffith with his boarders presented, retreated to theforecastle of their own ship, and attempted to return the deadly blowsthey were receiving, in their hull, from the cannon that Barnstabledirected. A solitary gun was all they could bring to bear on theAmericans; but this, loaded with cannister, was fired so near as to sendits glaring flame into the very faces of their enemies. The strugglingcolonel, who was already sinking beneath the arm of his foe, felt therough grasp loosen from his throat at the flash, and the two combatantssunk powerless on their knees facing each other.
"How, now, brother!" exclaimed Boltrope, with a smile of grimfierceness; "some of that grist has gone to your mill, ha!"
No answer could, however, be given before the yielding forms of bothfell to the deck, where they lay helpless, amid the din of the battleand the wild confusion of the eager combatants.
Notwithstanding the furious struggle they witnessed, the elementsdid not cease their functions; and, urged by the breeze, and liftedirresistibly on a wave, the American ship was forced through the waterstill further across the bows of her enemy. The idle fastenings of hempand iron were snapped asunder like strings of tow, and Griffith saw hisown ship borne away from the Englishman at the instant that the bowspritof the latter was torn from its lashings, and tumbled into the sea,followed by spar after spar, until nothing of all her proud tackling wasremaining, but the few parted and useless ropes that were left danglingalong the stumps of her lower masts. As his own stately vessel movedfrom the confusion she had caused, and left the dense cloud of smokein which her helpless antagonist lay, the eye of the young man glancedanxiously toward the horizon, where he now remembered he had more foesto contend against.
"We have shaken off the thirty-two most happily!" he said to the Pilot,who followed his motions with singular interest; "but here is anotherfellow sheering in for us, who shows as many ports as ourselves, and whoappears inclined for a closer interview; besides, the hull of the ninetyis rising again, and I fear she will be down but too soon!"
"We must keep the use of our braces and sails," returned the Pilot, "andon no account close with the other frigate; we must play a double game,sir, and fight this new adversary with our heels as well as with ourguns."
"'Tis time then that we were busy, for he is shortening sail, and as henears so fast we may expect to hear from him every minute; what do youpropose, sir?"
"Let him gather in his canvas," returned the Pilot; "and when he thinkshimself snug, we can throw out a hundred men at once upon our yards,and spread everything alow and aloft; we may then draw ahead of himby surprise; if we can once get him in our wake, I have no fears ofdropping them all."
"A stern chase is a long chase," cried Griffith, "and the thing may do!Clear up the decks, here, and carry down the wounded; and, as we haveour hands full, the poor fellows who have done with us must go overboardat once."
This melancholy duty was instantly attended to, while the young seamanwho commanded the frigate returned to his duty with the absorbed air ofone who felt its high responsibility. These occupations, however, didnot prevent his hearing the sounds of Barnstable's voice calling eagerlyto young Merry. Bending his head towards the sound, Griffith beheldhis friend looking anxiously up the main hatch, with a face grimed withsmoke, his coat off, and his shirt bespattered with human blood. "Tellme, boy," he said, "is Mr. Griffith untouched? They say that a shot camein upon the quarter-deck that tripped up the heels of half a dozen."
Before Merry could answer, the eyes of Barnstable, which even while hespoke was scanning the state of the vessel's rigging, encounteredthe kind looks of Griffith, and from that moment perfect harmony wasrestored between the friends.
"Ah! you are there, Griff, and with a whole skin, I see," criedBarnstable, smiling with pleasure; "they have passed poor Boltrope downinto one of his own storerooms! If that fellow's bowsprit had heldon ten minutes longer, what a mark I should have made on his face andeyes!"
"'Tis perhaps best as it is," returned Griffith; "but what have you donewith those whom we are most bound to protect?"
Barnstable made a significant gesture towards the depths of the vessel,as he answered:
/> "On the cables; safe as wood, iron, and water can keep them--thoughKatherine has had her head up three times to----"
A summons from the Pilot drew Griffith away; and the young officers werecompelled to forget their individual feelings, in the pressing dutiesof their stations. The ship which the American frigate had now to opposewas a vessel of near her own size and equipage; and when Griffith lookedat her again, he perceived that she had made her preparations to asserther equality in manful fight.
Her sails had been gradually reduced to the usual quantity, and,by certain movements on her decks the lieutenant and his constantattendant, the Pilot, well understood that she only wanted to lessen herdistance a few hundred yards to begin the action.
"Now spread everything," whispered the stranger.
Griffith applied the trumpet to his mouth, and shouted in a voice thatwas carried even to his enemy: "Let fall-out with your booms--sheethome--hoist away of everything!"
The inspiring cry was answered by a universal bustle; fifty men flewout on the dizzy heights of the different spars, while broad sheetsof canvas rose as suddenly along the masts as if some mighty bird werespreading its wings. The Englishman instantly perceived his mistake, andhe answered the artifice by a roar of artillery. Griffith watchedthe effects of the broadside with an absorbing interest, as the shotwhistled above his head; but when he perceived his masts untouched, andthe few unimportant ropes only that were cut, he replied to the uproarwith a burst of pleasure. A few men were, however, seen clinging withwild frenzy to the cordage, dropping from rope to rope like woundedbirds fluttering through a tree, until they fell heavily into the ocean,the sullen ship sweeping by them in cold indifference. At the nextinstant the spars and masts of their enemy exhibited a display of mensimilar to their own, when Griffith again placed the trumpet to hismouth, and shouted aloud:
"Give it to them; drive them from their yards, boys; scatter them withyour grape--unreeve their rigging!"
The crew of the American wanted but little encouragement to enter onthis experiment with hearty good will, and the close of his cheeringwords were uttered amid the deafening roar of his own cannon. ThePilot had, however, mistaken the skill and readiness of their foe;for, notwithstanding the disadvantageous circumstances under which theEnglishman increased his sail, the duty was steadily and dexterouslyperformed.
The two ships were now running rapidly on parallel lines, hurling ateach other their instruments of destruction with furious industry, andwith severe and certain loss to both, though with no manifest advantagein favor of either. Both Griffith and the Pilot witnessed with deepconcern this unexpected defeat of their hopes; for they could notconceal from themselves that each moment lessened their velocity throughthe water, as the shot of their enemy stripped the canvas from theyards, or dashed aside the lighter spars in their terrible progress.
"We find our equal here!" said Griffith to the stranger. "The ninety isheaving up again like a mountain; and if we continue to shorten sail atthis rate, she will soon be down upon us!"
"You say true, sir," returned the Pilot, musing; "the man shows judgmentas well as spirit: but--"
He was interrupted by Merry, who rushed from the forward part of thevessel, his whole face betokening the eagerness of his spirit, and theimportance of his intelligence.
"The breakers!" he cried, when nigh enough to be heard amid the din: "weare running dead on a ripple, and the sea is white not two hundred yardsahead."
The Pilot jumped on a gun, and bending to catch a glimpse through thesmoke, he shouted, in those clear, piercing tones that could be evenheard among the roaring of the cannon: "Port, port your helm! we are onthe Devil's Grip! pass up the trumpet, sir; port your helm, fellow;give it them, boys--give it to the proud English dogs!" Griffithunhesitatingly relinquished the symbol of his rank, fastening hisown firm look on the calm but quick eye of the Pilot, and gatheringassurance from the high confidence he read in the countenance of thestranger. The seamen were too busy with their cannon and their riggingto regard the new danger; and the frigate entered one of the dangerouspasses of the shoals, in the heat of a severely contested battle. Thewondering looks of a few of the older sailors glanced at the sheets offoam that flew by them, in doubt whether the wild gambols of the waveswere occasioned by the shot of the enemy, when suddenly the noise ofcannon was succeeded by the sullen wash of the disturbed element, andpresently the vessel glided out of her smoky shroud, and was boldlysteering in the centre of the narrow passages. For ten breathlessminutes longer the Pilot continued to hold an uninterrupted sway, duringwhich the vessel ran swiftly by ripples and breakers, by streaks of foamand darker passages of deep water, when he threw down his trumpet, andexclaimed:
"What threatened to be our destruction has proved our salvation! Keepyonder hill crowned with wood one point open from the church tower atits base, and steer east by north; you will run through these shoals onthat course in an hour, and by so doing you will gain five leagues ofyour enemy, who will have to double their tail."
The moment he stepped from the gun, the Pilot lost the air of authoritythat had so singularly distinguished his animated form, and even theclose interest he had manifested in the incidents of the day became lostin the cold, settled reserve he had affected during his intercourse withhis present associates. Every officer in the ship, after the breathlesssuspense of uncertainly had passed, rushed to those places where a viewmight be taken of their enemies. The ninety was still steering bol'lyonward, and had already approached the two-and-thirty, which lay ahelpless wreck, rolling on the unruly seas that were rudely tossing heron their wanton billows. The frigate last engaged was running along theedge of the ripple, with her torn sails flying loosely in the air, herragged spars tottering in the breeze, and everything above her hullexhibiting the confusion of a sudden and unlooked-for check to herprogress. The exulting taunts and mirthful congratulations of theseamen, as they gazed at the English ships, were, however, soonforgotten in the attention that was required to their own vessel. Thedrums beat the retreat, the guns were lashed, the wounded again removed,and every individual able to keep the deck was required to lend hisassistance in repairing the damages of the frigate and securing hermasts.
The promised hour carried the ship safely through all the dangers, whichwere much lessened by daylight; and by the time the sun had begun tofall over the land, Griffith, who had not quitted the deck during theday, beheld his vessel once more cleared of the confusion of thechase and battle, and ready to meet another foe. At this period he wassummoned to the cabin, at the request of the ship's chaplain Deliveringthe charge of the frigate to Barnstable, who had been his activeassistant, no less in their subsequent labors than in the combat, hehastily divested himself of the vestiges of the fight, and proceeded toobey the repeated and earnest call.