CHAPTER FIVE.
WE FLY FROM THE FRENCHMAN.
When I went on deck again at the change of the watches, it was stillvery thick, but the breeze was freshening, and it and the sun togetherpromised soon to disperse the vapour. It was still so thick, however,that it was impossible to see more than three or four lengths away fromthe vessel, and the "Scourge" was consequently kept hove-to.
The skipper had made his appearance on deck for a few minutes beforesitting down to breakfast, and about nine o'clock he came up again, justas the fog had begun to clear away in earnest, opening up like a curtainevery now and then, and showing clear spaces of about half a mile or soin extent, then settling down again as thick as ever, but each timeclearing away more thoroughly, and revealing larger and still largeropen spaces. At length the mist lifted for a moment to such an extentthat it became possible to see to a distance of perhaps a couple ofmiles, and as it did so there was a simultaneous hail from the lookoutaloft and five or six of the hands on deck of "Sail ho!"
"Sail ho! sure enough," exclaimed the skipper and Mr Sennitt, as bothcaught sight of the stranger at the same moment. "A frigate! French,too, as I'm a living sinner," continued the first luff, taking a squintthrough his glass at the craft. "Ah! he is as sharp-sighted as we are,"he went on, with the telescope still at his eye. "Up goes his helm, andthere go the lads aloft to make sail, he's coming down to say `how d'yedo' to us, sir. And there goes the tricolour up to his peak."
"Hard up with the helm, my man," said Captain Brisac very quietly to thehelmsman. "Turn the hands up, and pack on her, Mr Sennitt; discretionis the better part of valour with us just now, and our only chance is toshow Johnny Crapaud a clean pair of heels." Our lads flew aloft likelightning, and away we went staggering to leeward, with stunsails alowand aloft on the port side, steering a course which would take us prettydirectly up Channel. So smart were the "Scourge" in making sail thatthey were all down on deck again, and every inch of our canvas draggingat us like a cart-horse, before the Frenchman had got his stunsail-boomsfairly rigged out.
As soon as we had got the canvas fairly set, ropes all coiled down, andthe decks generally cleared up, I slipped down into the berth for mytelescope, with which I returned to the deck, and proceeded to make adeliberate inspection of our unwelcome neighbour.
She was about a mile and a half distant from us, bearing a couple ofpoints on our weather quarter, and I thought I had never seen a morebeautiful sight than she presented, as she came foaming after us, withthe sun lighting up her snowy canvas and flashing brightly from herburnished copper as she rose on the crest of the swell, showing hercutwater half-way down to the keel. Her sails were evidently new--sonew, indeed, that they had scarcely had time to stretch to their properdimensions--and her paint looked fresh and clean; these circumstancesimpressing the acute Mr Sennitt with the conviction that the craft wasfresh out of the dockyard from an extensive overhaul, or that she was anew vessel. The beautiful and graceful model of her hull, and the smartappearance of her spars and rigging, induced him to incline verystrongly to the latter supposition.
It soon became evident that this beautiful craft was going nearly twofeet to our one, but she was steered so shamefully that she had notmaterially decreased the distance between us at the end of the firsthour; our hopes, therefore, which had sunk to zero with the imminentprospect of a French prison before our eyes, began once more to soarskyward as mile after mile slipped away beneath our flying keel, andevery minute increased the probability of our falling in with one of ourown cruisers. The skipper was dreadfully put out at being obliged torun away, but though the French frigate was very nearly dead astern sheyawed about sufficiently to enable us to count sixteen ports of a side,and even Mr Sennitt--who was accounted the greatest fire-eater onboard--was fain to acknowledge that this was just a gun or two too manyfor us.
By four bells every trace of the fog had cleared away, the sun shonebrilliantly in a cloudless sky, the air had a decided feeling of warmthin it, the westerly breeze blew freshly, and the waves curled crisplyand broke into foam at their crests under its enlivening influence;altogether it was a thoroughly delightful day, such as is occasionallyto be met with toward the end of March--a day when winter and summerhave fairly met to fight for the mastery, and summer is getting it allher own way. As time sped on, and still no friendly sail appeared,while the frigate astern drew more and more perceptibly up to us,anxiety once more resumed its sway, and frequent were the admonitions tothe lookout aloft to "keep his weather eye lifting."
At length the Frenchmen decided to try the range of their guns, andopened fire upon us from their lee bow-chaser. The shot flew wide, butit went far enough beyond us to show that we were fairly within range.Another and another followed, and still we were unscathed. An intervalof about a quarter of an hour elapsed before they again fired, and whenthey did the shot was somewhat better aimed, passing through the mainand fore-topsails and falling into the sea a considerable distanceahead.
"I think we are now near enough to venture upon a return of thecompliment, Mr Sennitt," said the skipper. "Let Tompion see what hecan do with the stern-chaser, in the way of knocking away some of thefellow's spars. It seems a pity to spoil so pretty a picture, butbetter that than for us to experience the delights of a French prison."
Tompion was accordingly summoned and bid do his best to "wing" theFrenchman, a task to which he devoted himself with great gravity and aconsiderable assumption of importance. The gun, after being carefullyloaded, was trained with the most scrupulous nicety, and then Tompion,trigger-line in hand, stood squinting along the sights until afavourable moment arrived, when--there was a concussion; the smokecleared away, and a shot-hole was seen in the frigate's foresail, verynearly in a line with the mast.
"Very prettily shot, Tompion," said the skipper; "try again. A fewinches nearer, and you would have buried that shot in his foremast.Wound the spars if you can; the breeze seems inclined to freshen; and ifyou can gouge a good substantial piece out of some of his lighter spars,the wind will do the rest for us by sending them handsomely over hisbows."
In a few minutes more away sped a second of the worthy Tompion'smessengers; it, too, passed through the foresail, close to the yard, butapparently without doing any further damage. In the meantime theFrenchmen were by no means idle with their guns, and our running-gearbegan to be somewhat cut up; luckily, however, the damage was of anunimportant character, and such as could be put right in a few minutes,with the aid of a marline-spike and a grease-shoe. The firing nowbecame more rapid on both sides; but though the spars on each side hadseveral narrow escapes, none had, so far, fallen, and the damage doneseemed in each case to be but of the most trifling description.
At length Mr Sennitt walked aft and said, "Let me try my hand, Tompion;I used to be considered rather a crack shot on board the old `Dido.'"
Tompion, of course, resigned his place to his superior officer, thoughit was evident from the expression of his phiz that he had no greatfaith in the first luff's shooting powers. But our worthy "first"speedily justified his boast; for his shot struck the boom-iron at theFrenchman's larboard fore-yard-arm, snapping it off, unshipping theboom, and creating a very pretty state of confusion with the topmast andlower stunsails and their gear.
A ringing cheer was raised on board the "Scourge" at this success, andSennitt was about to try his hand a second time, when the frigate wasseen to yaw broad off her course; a thin streak of flame flashed alongher side, a veil of white fleecy smoke started into view, and was waftedaside by the wind, and sixteen twelve-pound shot--the entire contents ofher starboard broadside--came whistling about our ears. I was standingaft, close to the taffrail, on the port side, at the moment, and one ofthe shot came crashing in at the stern-port nearest me, striking thestanchion heavily, and making the splinters fly in all directions, oneof them striking me on the left temple, ripping up the skin and baringmy poor unfortunate skull for a length of some four inches. The blowstunned me just for a moment, an
d I fell to the deck; but before any onehad time to pick me up, I had recovered and staggered to my feet again,feeling a trifle confused, and somewhat sick--if the truth may be told--at the sight of my own blood, which streamed down over my facecopiously, rendering me, I have no doubt, a truly ghastly spectacle; butotherwise I felt not much the worse.
The frigate was at this time scarcely half-a-mile distant, and had herguns been properly served, the broadside to which she had treated usought to have left us floating a helpless wreck on the water, andcompletely at her mercy; but, instead of this, the shot which damaged mewas the only one which could be said to have taken effect; the remainderof the broadside passing some through our sails, and some wide of theirmark altogether.
"A miss is as good as a mile," remarked the skipper to Sennitt, after hehad glanced round, and noted the trifling damage done. "Hillo, Chester,are you hurt, my lad?" he added, addressing me, as he observed my goryvisage. "Slip down to the doctor, and get him to clap a plaster overyour mast-head, and then turn in, if you like. What a set of lubbersthey are aboard that frigate!" he continued to Sennitt. "Had she beenEnglish, instead of French, that broadside would have blown us out ofthe water. I have been for the last ten minutes seriously thinking ofhauling down the colours, rather than risk a heavy sacrifice of life;but if that is the best they can do, we will hold on everything, at allevents for a short time longer. I wonder whether there would be anychance of--" and he said something in so low a tone that I did not catchit. Sennitt pondered deeply for a minute, then he looked up and said,"Upon my word, sir, I think it would. Our lads are rather raw, but theybehaved splendidly in the case of the privateer, and so, I believe, theywould now. Yes, I think it might have just a chance of success; a boldrush often does wonders."
"You are right, Sennitt. Call the hands aft, if you please, and let ussee how they take the proposal."
My head was beginning to ache most villainously, but curiosity got thebetter of me for the moment, and I determined to postpone my visit tofriend Bolus, until I had heard what the skipper had to say.
In a minute or two every man was on the quarter-deck, hat in hand, andexpectancy in every feature.
"My lads," commenced the skipper, "I have sent for you, because I have aproposition to make, and I wish to see for myself how you individuallytake it. When the frigate astern was first made out this morning, I wasin hopes that the little `Scourge' would prove active enough to keep usout of reach of the Frenchman's shot; but you have seen for yourselveshow completely fallacious that hope has been. The frigate goes two feetto our one, and were she being fought as so beautiful a craft ought tobe, all hands of us would, by this time, be fairly under way for aFrench prison. But you see how it is; there are a lot of tinkers andtailors aboard there; they are not seamen, and do not deserve the luckof being sent to sea in such a fine vessel; it is evident that, thoughthey may possibly know how to sail her, they cannot fight her. Theycannot possibly keep her long; the English are _certain_ to have hersooner or later, and since that is the case, why should not _we_ haveher? No, stay a moment; don't cheer, lads, until you have heard me out.Of course, anything like a regularly fought action between us and heris out of the question; she is a two-and-thirty twelve-pounder, againstwhich we can only show eight six pounders; a single broadside fromher--_well_ delivered--would send us to the bottom. But I think thereis just a possibility--by a little manoeuvring on our part--of gettingalongside her; and if that can be done, I am of opinion that, by a boldrush from all hands, we might secure possession of her. No doubt therewill be plenty of hard knocks to be had for the asking; but even that isbetter than a French prison. What say you, my lads?"
A hearty cheer was the first response; then there was a general puttingof heads together, and much eager talking for about a couple of minutes.Finally a topman--one Bob Adams--a magnificent specimen of the Britishtar, a perfect Hercules in build, and one of the prime seamen of theship, shouldered his way to the front, and, with an elaborate sea-scrapeand a tug at his forelock, addressed the skipper,--
"We hopes your honour will excuse us, if we've taken a minute or two towork out this here traverse, and reduce it to plain sailing; but thepurposal as your honour has laid athwart our hawse fetched us all upstandin' just at first, and it warn't until we'd had time to pay off,and gather way on t'other tack, as I may say, that we was able to getthe bearins of it. You see, sir, there's only about sixty on us alltold, now that we've sent away a prize crew, and we reckon that thereain't far short of 220 hands aboard of Johnny, yonder. Nevertheless andnotwithstanding, howsumdever, as your honour says, they're little betterthan so many tailors, and tailors was never worth very much that everany of us heard on at a good stand-up fight; so the long and the shortof it is this, sir; you put us alongside, and _we'll have her_ in thetwinklin' of a purser's lantern. Ain't that it, boys?"
"Ay, ay, that's it, Bob; you've paid it out without so much as a singlekink; we mean to have her," responded a voice in the crowd.
"Then three cheers for the skipper, and may he get us lots of prize-money," exhorted Bob, to the intense amusement of Captain Brisac; andthe cheers were given with such energy that I have no doubt they weredistinctly heard on board the Frenchman.
Captain Brisac briefly thanked the men for their plucky response to hiscall, and then sent them back to their quarters, all impatience for theeventful moment to arrive.
The frigate was rapidly nearing us, but I thought there would be time toget my head plastered up; so I rushed below, and found Bolus standing atthe table, with his coat off and his shirt-sleeves rolled up; aformidable array of long, narrow-bladed knives, sharp enough to cut oneif only _looked_ hard at, on one hand, and an equally formidable arrayof saws, tweezers, long needles, silken thread, etcetera, etcetera, onthe other.
"Here, doctor," I exclaimed; "the skipper's compliments, and will you`clap a plaster over my mast-head,' and bear a hand about it, please;the Frenchman will be alongside of us in less than five minutes, and weare going to board and carry him with a rush."
"And _you_, I presume, intend to head the boarders as usual," remarkedthe doctor, with a quiet grin. "What is the extent of the damage?Here, sit down and let me have a look at it; don't be impatient; I'llundertake to tinker you up as good as new in two or three minutes," hecontinued, as I seated myself, and he began to sponge the blood away."There is no great harm done, merely a simple laceration of the scalp.There, I think that will keep the top of your head from blowing off,until after you have demolished the Frenchman. I should dearly like togo with you, but what would my poor patients do, if I happened to get anunlucky knock on the head? No; I must remain where I am, I suppose,though it's too bad that I should be cooped up here, while others arehaving all the fun. Now you may go as soon as you please, but lookhere, my boy," he added in quite a different tone; "take care ofyourself; a knock on the head, such as you have had, is very apt to makeone giddy, and giddiness is an awkward mishap at a critical moment; takemy advice, and remain quietly below until all is over."