CHAPTER X.
THE INFERNAL.
The midshipman, at the close of his letter, written in the mostaffectionate spirit, particular reference being made to his rescuers,Walter, Ned, and their companions in the boat, on that occasion, said,--
"You will recollect, my dear sir, that when you first hove in sight,on the day of the gale, it was not so thick as afterwards, and thena person in either vessel could, with a glass, easily make out theother; but, shortly after I fell overboard, it shut down thick of snow.During that time, our captain and first luff (lieutenant) recognizedthe Arthur Brown, knew her to be the same vessel that was almost underthe guns of the Lowestaff in a fog, some months ago, and that shegave chase to. The officers and crews of all the other vessels had agood chance to look at her, when you lay so long under the guns ofthe castle, after running the fire of the flag-ship. Her masts rakeso much, she carries such a cloud of canvas and is such a beautifulmodel, that there is no mistaking her, although you have altered herpaint since the last trip. The fleet has taken scarcely any prizes, sothat all are hungry for prize-money. Every one of us from the admiralto the powder-monkeys, feel chagrined at being thus bearded; that ourreputation as seamen will suffer if you should again escape us. There'sanother motive. We all know if we could take the Arthur Brown, andput a few light guns on board of her, she would catch everything onthe coast, and fill our pockets with prize-money. Add to this, yourslapping our captain in the face with your flag, the other day, andyou will perceive how matters stand between us. In short, while yournoble treatment of myself and shipmates has gained you the respect andgood will of every one,--and you would experience the utmost kindness,should you fall into our hands,--believe me, you have a difficult task,and one which will tax your resources to the utmost, for the fleet aredetermined to have the brigantine, or sink her. I could not do lessthan put those, to whom I owe my life, on their guard. But, from whatI have seen of yourself, the character of your crew, and the capacityof the brigantine, I should not be so much surprised as my shipmates,should you, by some of those chances which always seem to turn up infavor of your people, escape us, though it by no means becomes me, as aBritish officer, to express any such desire."
The ship's company of the brigantine being, with the exception ofJacques, all Americans, most of them having grown up together fromchildhood, and a good part of them shipmates on the last voyage, therelation between officers and crew was very different from that usuallyexisting on shipboard.
The communion was also more intimate from the fact that no one washired, each having a share in the risk and profits of the voyage, andthat they were bound together by a sense of common danger, cherisheda personal attachment to each other, and reposed perfect confidencein the ability of the captain, insomuch that Quesnard, who markedwith curious interest the manner in which things went on board thebrigantine, said that he "would vote for a king in France if they couldhave a government like the government of that vessel."
Upon receiving the letter, Captain Brown, calling his officers and crewtogether, read it to them, remarking, "You see, boys, what they arepreparing for us."
They received the communication without much emotion of any kind. HenryMerrithew observed, in his drawling way,--
"Yes, cap'n, I see what they calc'late; but they say 'a bird in thehand is worth two in the bush.' Me and George here, and Elwell, wasfigerin' up on our chists, with chalk, what each man's share of thiscargo of silks and other truck that we are taking in will come to. Ifit comes to as much as the one we've just discharged,--and Elwell,who's been in the trade afore, judges it will come pretty well up,cause sich stuff is high now on account of the blockade,--why, I, forone, think the game's worth the candle."
"It's my opinion, captain," said Sewall Lancaster, squirting thetobacco-juice through his teeth over the rail, "that it's a good thingfor us these English are making the blockade so close, as long as wekin run it; and I reckon we kin, because, as Henry says, it makes boththe cargo we fetch and the one we take away worth double; and I guess,as that youngster says,--not wishing any harm to him howsomever,--thatsomething'll turn up on our side."
This cool preference of greater risk, with the prospect of greaterprofit, was received with a universal murmur of assent.
"Well, boys," said the captain, folding up the letter, "I wanted toknow your minds, because we can't wait here a great while for a galeof wind to drive the fleet from their anchors. We have sold our cargo,and shall soon be short of provisions, and there are none to be hadhere. We must take our chance, the first suitable night, to run theirbattery, unless I can contrive some other way."
While the vessel was completing her lading, the captain seemed quitethoughtful, and spent the greater portion of his time alone on a highhill, called Viste, over which led the road to Paris, and commanding agood view of the fleet.
The port of Marseilles is completely land-locked, being a salt waterlake, of the shape of an egg, half a mile in length, and a quarter of amile in breadth. The entrance into it is not more than a hundred yardsin width, and defended by strong fortifications.
From his situation on the hill, the captain soon had ocular evidence ofthe accuracy of the statements contained in the letter he had received.He saw that not only had the number of vessels cruising outside beenreduced to two, but they had formed a complete cordon across theroad, effectually stopping all egress, except by encountering theirbroadsides at short range. The increased number of vessels also made itevident to him that the night patrols would be doubled.
As the young captain--after a careful scrutiny of the dispositionof the vessels--sat with the glass lying across his knees, an ideapresented itself, which, on his way to dinner, he more fully matured.
"Jacques," said he, while eating, "what was it you were saying theother day to a countryman of yours about a fire-ship? I can only catcha word or two, here and there, of your dialect."
"I was telling him, captain, that there were two condemned vesselslying here, one a privateer, and the other a Guineaman (slaver), andthe government was going to make fire-ships of them both, and send themdown among the blockading fleet, now that they are moored in such closeorder."
"Indeed," replied the captain; but, making no further allusion to thetopic, he asked, "How is the water along the shore, from the outlet ofthe port, as you go to the westward?"
"The shore is quite bold, captain, with a few shoal spots, for somemiles."
"Could you carry this vessel along shore, in the night, for two mileswithout getting aground?"
"Yes, captain. I can feel my way with the lead, or I can carry youthrough narrow passages, between islands and the main shore, where noman-o'-war can follow."
The captain said no more, but, rising from the table, sought hismerchants, who went with him to wait upon the authorities. From them helearned that the privateer only was to be fitted for a fire-ship; thatthe magazine was already made, and the powder would be put on boarddirectly.
Captain Brown bought the slaver for a trifle, as she was fit only tobreak up for her iron. He also bought some old sails, and then hauledher alongside his own vessel. She was not far from the tonnage of theArthur Brown; and there was so much resemblance between them, that, inthe night, one might easily be mistaken for the other. They were bothbrigantines, but the difference was this: the main boom of the slaverwas shorter, she had no royal-mast, and was painted differently.
The young captain now communicated his plans to his crew, who setto work with a will to execute them. The main-boom was lengthened,a royal-mast, royal-yard, and flying-jib-boom added, and she waspainted precisely like the Arthur. The old sails were limed to makethem conspicuous in the night, as, in this case, no concealment wasintended; ballast was put in, to give her the appearance of beingloaded; in short, even a close observer would not have distinguishedone from the other in the night. The two were now hauled near to theentrance of the harbor, awaiting the motions of the fire-ship.
The moment the captain told his plans to his officers and cre
w, Walterand Ned volunteered to take charge of the slaver.
"I don't believe," said the captain, "they will accomplish anythingwith their fire-ship, except a scare."
"Why so?" asked the second mate.
"Because they must have a northerly wind to get down to the fleet, and,with the wind that way, will not be likely to have a very dark night.The guard-boats will probably see them before they get very near, andgive warning. It cannot be very hard work to get out of the way of avessel steering herself."
"I should like very well," said Walter, "to have the fleet scattered,but have no desire that the young midshipman, whose life we labored sohard to save, should be blown to pieces."
"He won't be," said Jacques.
"Why not he as liable as another?"
"Because the Agamemnon, the vessel he belongs to, is the fastest vesselthey have, and is most always cruising."
In the hold of the old privateer, near the foot of the mainmast,was constructed a square room for a magazine, in which were placedeight hundred barrels of powder. From this to the stern a fire-proofpassage-way or trunk was made, in which the train was laid, that itmight not explode prematurely. The train was ignited by a port-fire,arranged to burn long enough to give those firing the train time toescape.
The deck was filled with barrels of tar, dry wood, shavings, liveshells, pieces of pot-metal, spikes, broken glass, and links ofchains, to act as missiles when the explosion took place, and the gunswere loaded with grape shot.
THE EXPLOSION.]
Men who had volunteered for the duty were to fire the mass ofcombustibles on deck in three places, and the train leading to themagazine, all at the same moment, whenever the approach of thefire-ship was discovered by the enemy. Then, the fire being applied,and the helm lashed, she was to be left to make her own way.
The night, so anxiously expected, came at last, hazy, with here andthere a star just visible; the wind moderate, but fair, and enough ofit to give the vessels good headway. It was half an hour past midnightwhen this infernal contrivance glided silently from the harbor andpassed the forts,--having the appearance of a blockade runner,--andsteered for the centre of the English fleet, followed by the slaverwith all her sails set. She, however, hove to, when a short distancefrom the port, leaving the infernal to proceed alone.
Moments seemed lengthened to hours, as the boys, hanging over the rail,gazed upon the dim outlines of the receding vessel, around which darkshadows were closing fast. Although the distance was not great whichseparated them from the fire-ship or the fleet, a thin haze, whichobscured the light of the stars, completely obstructed the view. Withbated breath they listened for some token from the bosom of that mistyshroud, which they strove in vain to penetrate.
No sound, save the occasional surge of the helm in the lee becket, orthe quiver of a sail, as the vessel came up to or fell off from thewind, disturbed the repose of the night.
"Walter," whispered Ned, "this silence is fearful; they must be almostthere."
A pressure of his arm was the mute response. A few moments more ofsuspense, when a stern hail broke the ominous silence so suddenly that,with a convulsive start, the boys sprang to their feet. There was noreply. Again the summons rose louder on the air, instantly followed bya shot.
"They are discovered," said Ned. But even while the words were issuingfrom his lips three spirals of bright flame, shooting up from thefire-ship, revealed to the boys--who were looking from darkness towardsthe light--a scene combining every element, both of the sublime andterrible, and which thrilled them to the heart's core.
The period of French history, during which the events here narratedoccurred, abounded in the most startling contrasts. Acts of utterselfishness and the most fiendish cruelty were relieved by othersmanifesting the purest philanthropy and noble self-sacrifice. The crewof the fire-ship, finding they were discovered, and foreseeing that ifthey left the vessel to drift down by herself no damage would probablybe inflicted upon the enemy, after saying to each other, "We will coverourselves with glory, lay her alongside an English ship, blow her toatoms, and die for France," kindled the mass of inflammable material ondeck in three places, and by this light, which constantly increased inintensity, the boys beheld the black hulls of the English ships, everyshroud and rat-line standing out in bold relief against the dark sky,and the boats' crews, who, supposing the vessel a blockade-runner, werepulling from different directions to "board" her; but, when the flamesrevealed her true character, there was an instinctive pause; they layupon their oars.
"Give way, my hearts of oak," shouted the officer of the leading boat;"we'll put out their fire and their slow-match."
With an answering shout they dashed the oars into the water again;but the flames burst from the port-holes and over the rail into theirvery faces, rendering useless all attempts to board, the very purposefor which this mass of material had been prepared and ignited. As,expecting explosion, they pulled rapidly away, a volley from thefire-ship killed the midshipman in charge and two men. The stern ofthat vessel, where stood the four men, was as yet clear of flame, thewind carrying the fire and smoke forward.
"Why, in the name of Heaven, don't they leave? There's a boat towingastern," cried Ned; "she must blow up soon."
"Ned, those men don't mean to leave."
"Don't mean to leave!"
"No; they know if that vessel is left to steer herself, ten to one ifshe strikes an English ship. They're going to sacrifice themselves."
Right ahead of the infernal, as near as they could swing at theiranchors, lay an eighty-gun ship and a sixty-four. It was evidentlythe intention of these desperate men to lay her between them, applythe match, and blow both themselves and their enemies into eternitytogether. It seemed most probable that they would accomplish theirpurpose; the breeze was light, and scarcely felt by the men-of-war,whose crews had cut the cables and made sail, while the infernal, byreason of momentum previously acquired, was coming down fast, bearingdestruction and death.
Now ensued an uproar impossible to describe. Blazing cinders and sparksfrom the fire-ship blew on to the main-topsail of the eighty, which wasinstantly in flames; but with that cool courage and perfect disciplineso characteristic of British seamen, the topmen cut the sail from theyard, and passed water in buckets; the boats' crews were towing theship ahead, while at the same time a hot fire was kept up upon thefire-ship from every gun that could be brought to bear; the otherships, that were out of her path, also poured in whole broadsides, inthe hope of either blowing up or sinking her before she should get nearenough to do execution.
"That ship is gone for't," said Ned, as the helmsman of the infernal,seeing the two ships were separating, and that he could hope todestroy but one, altered his course, and steered direct for theeighty. At this moment a well-directed broadside cut off the foremastof the fire-ship, that, with all the head sails, went over the side.This brought the vessel to the wind, and arrested her progress, theman-o'-war improving the fortunate moment to escape.
The scene now grew appalling. The air was filled with the roar ofhundreds of cannon, while, as the now unmanageable vessel came head towind, the flames ran up the rigging of the mainmast and swept over theplace where those self-devoted men stood.
In the midst of this horrid din, a shell exploded on her deck, a flashof blue flame illumined with its ghastly light the whole horizon,followed by an explosion that made every vessel quiver as though rackedby the throes of an earthquake. The blazing mast shot up to the skylike a rocket, followed by jets of water and torrents of flame, bearingbefore them countless missiles, legs, arms, and other portions ofthe dismembered bodies of that ill-fated crew, to which succeeded adarkness made more intense by clouds of smoke, and a stillness as ofdeath.
As the smoke gradually lifted and drifted away to leeward before thewind, the eyes of all in the fleet were naturally directed to the sceneof the explosion and the spot from which the infernal had disappeared,when they beheld what they supposed to be the Arthur Brown comingrapidly down before the wi
nd, her snow-white canvas conspicuous againstthe frowning sky. Instantly concluding that the shrewd Yankees hadimproved this moment of confusion and alarm to escape, "The brigantine!The brigantine!" rang out from many a boat's crew; and the water waswhite with the foam of oars, as from all directions they dashed upontheir prey.
The boys, excited by the roar of artillery, the smell of gunpowder, andthe examples of daring they had witnessed, were now perfectly reckless.
"This is glorious, Wal," cried Ned. "I'm going to stick her for sea,and give them a pull for it."
Notwithstanding a shot across their bows from the sixty-four, and avolley of small arms from the boats, they refused to heave to; and itwas not till the man-o'-war's men were climbing over the side, that,sliding down the painter, they cut the rope and pulled away with mightand main, the captors being too much occupied with their prize toconcern themselves about them.
Having put a good distance between themselves and the boats, they layupon their oars to breathe.
"Won't there be some swearing, Ned," said Walter, "when they come tolook over their prize, and find her a condemned slaver, full of rocks?"
"Yes; but I guess there will be more when they find what I have writtenon the companion-way."
In the afternoon, while waiting for the fire-ship, Ned had written withchalk on the slide of the companion-way the value of the Arthur Brown'scargo, showing the man-o'-war's men what a rich prize they had lost,closing with some reflections upon the disappointments to which mankindare liable, and leaving the best respects of himself and Walter.
In the mean time the Arthur Brown, without a single sail set to attractattention, propelled by muffled sweeps, and skilfully piloted byJacques, was creeping along under the shadow of the land in calm water,till, entirely beyond the reach of observation, a kedge was silentlylowered to the bottom, and she waited for her boat. Upon the arrivalof the boys, with every inch of canvas spread, the swift vessel, nowswifter than ever (for she had been coppered in Marseilles--a recentpractice, and at that time scarcely known in the States), turned herprow homeward.
Just as the sun rose above the horizon in the morning, the lookout atthe mast-head of the Agamemnon, sung out, "Sail, O!"
"Where away?"
"Right ahead, sir."
Mr. Reed beheld through the glass the well-known form of the ArthurBrown, bathed in sunlight, studding sails, alow and aloft, with thewind on her quarter making for the Straits of Gibraltar at a rate thatdefied pursuit. A smile of satisfaction--which he walked forward toconceal--passed over the fine features of the midshipman, as he tookthe glass from his eye.
When, having composed his features, he reported to his superiors thathe knew the vessel, and that it was the brigantine, it was considereduseless to chase her; and long before eight bells struck, she had fadedfrom their view.