CHAPTER NINE.
INTO A TRAP AND OUT AGAIN.
The "Boston" was still in company at breakfast-time the followingmorning, but we had by that time contrived to leave her a good two milesastern, a feat which in view of that frigate's reputation occasionedgeneral exultation to the "Junos," for, as little Summers sagelyremarked at the breakfast-table, "what was the use of going to sea in aship whose sailing powers were unequal to the task of taking her crewalongside an enemy?"
"Well, the old tub has not done badly, so far," observed young Smellie."She turns out a good deal better than I had been led to expect. I meta mid who had formerly belonged to her, on the day that I came down tojoin, and he said that the fastest he had ever known her to go was sixknots, and that it took her the length of a dog-watch to go about."
"Well, if she will stay at all, we shall not be so badly off as I was inthe old `Ajax,'" ejaculated Summers. "We were always obliged to _wear_her, and if we could get her round upon the other tack without runningmore than three miles to leeward we considered we had done pretty well."
"Is it your _habit_ to exaggerate, or do you only indulge in itoccasionally, young 'un?" quietly inquired Percival, the master's-mate,looking up from a book he was devouring with his breakfast.
"Exaggerate? How do you mean?" returned Summers, flushing up very redin the face. "I thought it would be understood that I was only joking."
"And I have no doubt it _was_ so understood," remarked Percival, "but ifyou are not above taking a bit of friendly advice, let me recommend younot to deviate a single hair's-breadth _from_ the truth, even in joke;it is a dangerous practice, and as easy an introduction to deliberate,systematic lying as any with which I am acquainted. Now don't look sohurt, my boy, of course you meant no harm--you had no intention todeceive us, it was merely a thoughtless speech, but be advised by me andavoid that particular species of thoughtlessness as you would theplague, nothing is much easier to acquire than a reputation foruntruthfulness, and certainly nothing is more difficult to get rid of."
Poor little Summers hung down his head for a few moments, dreadfullyabashed at this unexpected rebuke, then looking up, with the flush stillon his face, he said, "Thank you, Mr Percival. You hit me rather hard,but I believe you are right, I am afraid I _have_ yielded rather toomuch to the bad habit of which you speak, but I don't think I shall belikely to do it again. And now, to change the subject, does anybodyknow exactly where we are bound?"
"There was a vague rumour floating about Portsmouth, a few days ago,that Lord Hood--by the way, I wonder if he is in any way related to ourskipper?--is to take a fleet to Toulon, though for what purpose nobodyseemed to know; I hope we shall not be ordered to join," said Smellie.
"I hope not!" remarked Percival. "_I_ also heard the rumour to whichyou refer, and I fancy there must be some truth in it, for it went sofar even as to specify by name several ships as having been selected toform part of the fleet, and I know that there has been a pretty generaloverhaul and refit going on with many of them. There is a large Frenchfleet at this moment lying in Toulon harbour, and I am of opinion thatthe expedition--if such there is to be--is for the purpose of gettinghold of a few of them. It is said that there are no less than thirty-four ships, many of them of large size, lying there ready for sea, whilethey have one seventy-four, and two forties--all very fine vessels--onthe stocks and about ready for launching. If Lord Hood can take thepick of such a fleet as that, we should be able to lay up in ordinarythe old `Juno' and a few more like her. But I do not think we needdistress ourselves much respecting the Toulon fleet. If Lord Hood wantsany frigates, he will take them out with him. _Our_ mission, I expect,will be to cruise up and down the Mediterranean, doing the best we canfor ourselves; our skipper has, no doubt, influence enough to ensurethat he shall not be hampered by being attached to blockading fleets, oranything of that kind, where you get a great deal of work and verylittle prize-money."
Percival's assumption turned out to be correct. We called at Gibraltar,and remained a couple of days, giving some of us, of whom I happened tobe one--an opportunity of exploring this extraordinary fortress, fromwhence we went on to Malta, remained there a week, and were then orderedout to cruise. We were told that the French had seventeen ships-of-warcruising in the Mediterranean, but we seemed to be altogether out ofluck's way, for we never had the good fortune even to sight one, and,beyond picking up some half-a-dozen insignificant French traders, we didpositively nothing for six entire months.
At length, about the middle of December, the ship requiring a slightrefit, we bore up for Malta, arriving there on the 23rd of the month--just in time for the Christmas festivities. We of the cockpit contrivedto get our full share of leave, and enjoyed ourselves immensely, but asnothing occurred particularly worthy of note, I shall not enter intodetails as to the pranks we played, and our several modes of seekingenjoyment.
On the 4th of January, 1794, we received orders to take on board 150supernumeraries for the garrison at Toulon, the rumour of the proposedfleet under Lord Hood having in the meantime become an accomplishedfact, and that gallant officer having accepted the surrender of the portfrom the Toulonese, in trust for Louis XVII. We received thesesupernumeraries on board early next morning, and sailed immediatelyafter the completion of the embarkation.
It took us a week to make the passage, the wind being fair but light,and the weather beautiful during the whole time. On the fourth day out,poor old Rawlings, the master, complained of severe shooting pains inthe head, accompanied by giddiness and nausea, and the next day foundhim confined to his berth in a high fever.
We arrived off the port at about 10 p.m. It was a beautiful night, themoon, just entering her second quarter, beamed softly down upon us fromthe cloudless, star-spangled sky, and a light air of wind from thesouthward just filled our sails and fanned us along at a rate of aboutfour knots. When about five miles off, we hoisted lights for a pilot,the skipper being anxious to get in that night, so as to discharge thesupernumeraries the first thing in the morning, the vessel beingsomewhat crowded. Three-quarters of an hour elapsed, during which welooked in vain for a boat coming off to us, when, having approachedwithin a couple of miles of the entrance to the harbour, Captain Hoodgave orders for the ship to be hove-to.
Another half-hour passed away, and still no sign of a pilot.
"If poor Rawlings had not been in the sick-bay--aw--we should have beensnugly at anchor by this time," said the skipper to Mr Annesley. "I'llbe bound to say that the--aw--old fellow has been in and out of theplace a dozen times at least, and he would have taken us in like a--ah--like a shot."
"Quite likely, sir," returned Mr Annesley, with his telescope to hiseye; "I think it would be difficult to name a port which he has _not_been into. It is unfortunate that he should be laid up just at thisjuncture. They must be very early birds in Toulon, or surely somebodywould have made out our lights before this. And,"--he lowered histelescope--"it is very queer, but I cannot make out the British fleet inthere, surely we ought to see them from where we now are?"
"Not if they are in the inner harbour, which I--aw--suspect they are.The Italian bwig which came in on the day we sailed was from Marseilles,and her master weported a succession of stwong easterly windshereabouts, which would natuwally send the Bwitish fleet farther in; weshall find them there all wight; where else could they be?" remarked theskipper.
"Very true, sir," observed the first lieutenant. "Shall we fill on herand heave about? I see no sign of a boat coming off."
"Yes, if you please," was the answer. "By-the-bye, I wonder if youngPercival has ever been inside there; if he has, pewhaps he could take usin."
"I scarcely expect he has ever seen the inside of the harbour, sir,"said Mr Annesley; "still, we can ask him. Shall I pass the word forhim?"
"Yes, do," said the skipper. "I should like to get in to-night, ifpossible."
"Pass the word for--oh! here he is," said the first luff, as Percivalstrolled aft from the forecastle, when
ce he had been taking a good lookat the harbour. "Mr Percival, Captain Hood wishes to know if you haveever been into Toulon?"
"No, sir, I never have," replied Percival, addressing himself to theskipper direct; "but I have just been having a look at the place, and Ifeel sure I could take the ship in. Mr Rawlings, on the first day thathe was taken ill, brought out his chart, and showed me the way in, withall the marks and bearings of the fairway, and I have been able to makeout every one of them quite distinctly. It is a fine, clear night, withlittle wind and no sea, so that if we _did_ happen to touch anywhere weshould do no harm, but I think I could safely promise to take her inwithout scouring her copper."
"Vewy well, then, Mr Percival, I'll wisk it. Take charge, sir, and dothe best you can for us," said the skipper.
The main-topsail was filled, and as soon as the ship had way enough onher, we hove about, and bore away for the harbour, with a hand in thefore-chains on each side, taking frequent casts of the lead, andPercival on the poop, conning the ship. As we drew in towards theharbour, sail was shortened, and we crept in under topsails and jibonly.
At length we safely entered the inner harbour, Percival's skill havingproved fully equal to the occasion, and there, as had been expected, wefound a number of ships lying snugly at anchor.
"Ah!" said the skipper, "here is the admiral, just as I expected. Doyou see that bwig, Mr Percival?"
"Yes, sir," returned Percival, "I wanted to weather her, but we shallnot do it, the wind is too light, and the tide too strong; we must tackunder his stern, as there is shoal water not far to leeward of where heis."
"Then, in that case, we'll give her a little more muslin," said MrAnnesley. "Haul out the driver, and down with the fore tack and sheet;look sharp, my lads! Now, Mr Percival, we are all ready."
We were now drawing up on the brig's starboard quarter, and almostwithin hailing distance. Captain Hood was preparing to hail the vessel,when a figure was seen on the taffrail of the stranger, and the nextmoment some indistinct words were hoarsely bellowed at us.
"_What_ does he say?" said the skipper, turning to the group of officersstanding near.
"Couldn't exactly make out," said one. "Didn't hear very distinctly,"said another. "I thought it sounded like French," said Percival.
"Oh!" said the skipper, "he is of course asking who we are. HisBwitannic Majesty's fwigate `Juno,' from Malta, with supahnumewawies forthe garrison," he added, roaring back between his hands at themotionless figure on board the brig.
"Viva!" was the reply, accompanied by the wave of a navy cap.
"He's Fwench," said the skipper; "one of the fellows who has suwenderedto our fleet. Can any of you gentlemen speak Fwench well enough to askhim which is the Bwitish admiral's ship?"
There was no one, it appeared, with quite sufficient confidence in hisknowledge of the French language to undertake this duty, so I steppedforward and, with becoming modesty, offered to obtain whateverinformation was required. Permission being given, I approached theside, and squeaked out, in the most manly tones at my command, theproposed inquiry.
The figure gesticulated violently, then stooped down to commune withthree or four more, whose heads could now be seen just above thetaffrail; finally he raised himself to an upright position, and shoutedback, "Yesh, yesh!"
"I'm afraid he did not understand you, Mr Chester," said Mr Annesley."Try him again."
I did so, with even more confusing results than before.
"Ask him which is the Bwitish fleet," suggested the skipper.
I put this question also, and the confusion appeared to become worseconfounded; some half-a-dozen replies coming back to us all jumbled uptogether, English and French words being so hopelessly intermixed, thatit was utterly impossible to make head or tail of what they were saying.
We were by this time passing close under the brig's stern, and Percivalwas remarking to the first lieutenant that it was quite time to heaveabout, as he was sure we must be close upon the shoal, when the voice,which had hailed us first, shouted out for us to "Luff!"
"Hard down with your helm!" exclaimed Annesley; "over with it, my man:tacks and sheets! Ah! we have cut it too fine," as with a gentle surgethe frigate was brought up all standing on the shoal. "Away aloft, men;clew up and haul down; furl everything!"
The topsail and jib halliards were let run, the canvas was clewed up,and in a minute or two more all was snugly stowed. The men were just inthe act of laying in off the yards, when a little puff of wind comingdown the harbour caught the frigate's bow, and to our greatgratification paid her head round until her fore-foot scraped off thebank. The order was at once given to let go the anchor; the cablesmoked out through the hawse-pipe, and the ship swung round, head towind. We found, however, that her heel was still fast on the shoal, andthe rudder immovable; it was therefore determined, as the tide was onthe turn, to hoist out the launch at once, and run away a kedge, inorder to haul the ship off while the operation was still possible.Tackles were accordingly got up on the fore and main-yardarms, and inless than five minutes the launch was in the water alongside.
"Where is Mr Chester?" said the first lieutenant, looking round."Here, sir!" I replied, emerging from the shadow of the bulwarks, whereI had been taking a peep at things in general through an open port, fromwhich I had observed, among other things, a six-oared gig pull from thebrig, and make towards the town; but foolishly I failed to report thecircumstance, not at that moment attaching the slightest importance toit. "Jump into the launch, Mr Chester, and take charge," said MrAnnesley. "I want the kedge run away here, about two points on our portbow. You must not go farther to windward than that, or the tide willtake our quarter, when we float, and drive us down on the brig. Now offyou go, and be as smart as you can."
"Ay, ay, sir!" I replied, touching my cap, and away I scrambled downinto the launch, where I found the kedge already stowed, with hawserscoiled down on top of it until the boat's stern was barely a couple ofinches out of water.
"Shove off and give way, men!" I exclaimed, as my foot touched thethwart; the bowman shoved the boat's head off, the oars dropped into thephosphorescent water with a luminous splash, and we pulled down theharbour in the direction indicated by Mr Annesley. We pulled steadilyon until all the hawser in the boat had been paid out, when we let gothe kedge, and hailing the frigate to "heave in," paddled backalongside.
While running out the kedge, I had observed a boat pulling toward the"Juno," and when we reached the frigate, we found this craft alongside.In the meantime the frigate had been hove off the bank without muchdifficulty, and the tide acting strongly on her hull the moment that shefloated, she had drifted down to her kedge, which had been lifted, andthe anchor having been tripped as she drifted over it was once more letgo, just as we got alongside. The launch, not being required anyfarther at the moment, was passed astern, the crew being first orderedout of her. In order to regain the frigate's deck, it was necessary forus to pass over the boat alongside, which was lying in the wake of thegangway, and as we did so, I noticed that the eight men composing hercrew were unmistakably French, and that, strange to say, they were fullyarmed. This struck me as so singular a circumstance, that I resolved tohave a good look at the other individuals who had come off to us, andwho were doubtless on deck in confabulation with the skipper. I foundthem, as I expected, on the quarter-deck, talking to the captain and thefirst lieutenant. There were two of them, apparently French officers;but the one who was talking spoke excellent English, and was, at themoment when I drew near the group, explaining to Captain Hood that, incompliance with a regulation of the port, and the commanding officer'sorders, it would be necessary for the ship at once to proceed higher upthe harbour to the quarantine ground, there to perform ten days'quarantine, and that he, the speaker, was deputed to pilot the ship thenand there to her new berth.
"Phew!" ejaculated the skipper. "Quarantine, eh? with all these peopleon board; this is a pretty business, truly. I can't understand it atall; there is no sickness a
t present at Malta, and we carry a perfectlyclean bill of health. Surely there must be a mistake somewhere. Beforetaking up a berth in this quarantine ground, I should like tocommunicate with Lord Hood. Can you point me out his ship, monsieur?"
"You cannot see her from here, Monsieur le Capitaine," replied theFrenchman. "Besides, an interview with the British Admiral will availyou nothing; he is doubtless retired by this time, and, even if he werenot, he could not interfere; he has no authority whatever in the presentmatter."
I thought I detected a covert smile of derision passing over thespeaker's face as he said this, and I turned to see whether I coulddetect anything of the kind on that of his companion, but I found he hadwithdrawn to the gangway, apparently to call his people up out of theboat, for they were just coming up over the side, as I looked. Inanother moment he sauntered back, and rejoined the group from which hehad so quietly slipped away.
"Do you say that we cannot see the British flag-ship from here, sir?"inquired Mr Annesley. "Then pray where is she? It seems to me thatevery ship in the harbour is within view from here; yet, now I come tolook, I cannot see a single British ship among them all. Does it notstrike you, sir, that there is something rather peculiar about thisbusiness?" turning to the skipper.
I was sure I saw the two French officers start and glance quickly ateach other at this remark; and then, for the first time, I noticed thatthey wore tri-coloured cockades in their hats.
"Why, those gentlemen have _national_ cockades in their hats!" Iexclaimed involuntarily.
"By Jove! you are right, young gentleman, they have!" ejaculated theskipper. "What is the meaning of all this, monsieur? Are you aNationalist, or are you a Royalist in disguise? And I beg that you willat once tell me the whereabouts of Lord Hood and his fleet. Unless Ireceive a distinct answer, I shall be forced to believe that treacheryis meditated, and shall take the necessary precautionary stepsforthwith."
The Frenchmen looked in each other's faces for an instant, and then theone who had called his boat's crew on deck turned to the skipper andsaid, in French,--
"Calm yourself, monsieur, I have the honour to inform you that you andyour ship's company are prisoners. But the English are a good people,and we will treat you all with the utmost kindness. The English admiralwent away some time ago, and Toulon is now in the hands of theNationalists."
The expression of mingled horror and disgust which slowly overspread thefeatures of the skipper and the first luff, like a summer cloud sailingslowly across the disc of the full moon, would have been irresistiblylaughable under other circumstances, but as matters stood nobody feltthe slightest inclination to laugh.
"_Prisoners_!!" ejaculated Mr Annesley. He was apparently too full forfurther utterance, but he had already said quite enough. "We areprisoners!" flew from mouth to mouth, like wildfire, and in less thantwo minutes every man in the ship had become acquainted with ourposition. Every officer came crowding aft, to ascertain the truth ofthe startling rumour, and a more disgusted and dejected-looking group ofmortals than we appeared, it would have been difficult to find.
The disagreeable announcement once made, the French officers hastened toplace matters upon a more agreeable basis, exerting themselves to theutmost to get up a lively general conversation, and explaining how itwas that we had so easily run into the trap. A very few words sufficedfor this, the matter was so excessively simple.
It appeared, from the French officers' statement, that Lord Hood, aftersustaining a long and harassing siege of nearly four months, had, on thenight of the 18th of the previous December, been at length compelled toevacuate Toulon, he finding it utterly impossible to hold it any longerwith the small force at his command--barely 17,000 men--against theoverwhelming numbers of the besiegers, who mustered close upon 50,000.
But though unable to prevent the Republicans from obtaining possessionof this important place, the British admiral resolved that it shouldpass into their hands, comparatively speaking, valueless. Immediately,therefore, that it was finally decided to retire from the place, he seton foot preparations to destroy the arsenal, magazines, etcetera, andsuch of the French ships as it was deemed inexpedient to take away withhim; and though he was unable to carry out in their entirety the wholeof his arrangements, it was pretty evident, from our informants'account, that the destruction actually effected was something enormous;the dockyard, with its various storehouses, the magazines, two powder-ships, and two 74-gun ships of war--the "Heros," and "Themistocle"--being burnt.
It must have been a magnificent and awe-inspiring sight to witness thesedestructive operations, effected as they were during the darkness of thenight. The conflagration of the stores, warehouses, and ships, theexplosion of powder magazines and powder vessels--the latter being _seton fire_ by our lubberly allies, the Spaniards, instead of beingscuttled, as had been arranged--and the incessant flash of the cannonand musketry--a hot conflict raging all the while between the Britishand the Republican forces--could not fail of being an awfully impressivesight; and such it had evidently proved to our informants, who describedthe various scenes which they had witnessed on that memorable night witha very considerable amount of graphic power.
So interested were we all, for the moment, in this narration, that everyone appeared to have completely forgotten our excessively unpleasantposition, until it was recalled to our minds by an exclamation from ourthird lieutenant, the Honourable Edward Plantagenet Mortimer.
"Aw--excuse my intewupting this extwemely intewesting er--ah--conversation," said he, in his usual dandified style, "but I should liketo diwect your attention, Captain Hood, to the--ah--important factthat--ah--_the wind has changed_, and, if I may be allowed to expwess anopinion, I would say that if we could get the canvas upon the ship, Ibelieve _we could fetch out of the harbour again_."
The effect was electrical. The remark suggested such readiness ofresource, such consummate seamanship, and such dashing courage on thepart of the speaker, that, had it been uttered by Mr Annesley even, weshould probably have been somewhat surprised; but emanating from thesource it did, our astonishment simply beggars description. There was adead silence for a moment, while we were ruminating upon and digestingthe possibilities involved in the suggestion, and then, as it becameapparent that a bold dash for freedom was still in our power, a ringingcheer burst out, fore and aft.
In an instant the skipper was himself again. "Silence, fore and aft!"he exclaimed; "every sound you utter now may cost a man's life. To yourstations, men, and let every order be executed with the rapidity and--ah--silence of thought. Mr Annesley, make sail, if you please.Gentlemen,"--to the Frenchmen--"you will wegwet to learn that you havemade a slight--ah--mistake. Instead of our _being your_ prisoners, youare _ours_. And--er--as your countwymen, with their chawactewisticpoliteness, may possibly salute us as we pass the battewies, and as theymay, in their anxiety to do so, omit to dwaw the shot from their guns,allow me to suggest that you wetire below. Mr Carnegie--our lieutenantof mawines--has, I see, been thoughtful enough to pwovide an escort foryou, and in his hands I have much pleasure in leaving you; you will findhim a twuly delightful companion. Good evening, gentlemen, for thepresent."
At first the Frenchmen appeared unable to believe their own ears. Then,as they began to realise that we were actually about to attempt ourescape, they rapidly threw themselves together, back to back, and beganto handle their sabres menacingly. Carnegie, however, who upon hearingthe Honourable Mortimer's remark had grasped the situation in aninstant, had at once slipped off, returning in a very few minutes withsome five-and-twenty fully-armed marines, and with these he promptlysurrounded the chagrined Frenchmen, who found the way in which the"jollies" handled their half-pikes so little to their taste that they atlength came to the conclusion that discretion was, in their case, thebetter part of valour, and sullenly suffered themselves to be conductedbelow.
In the meantime our lads had been anything but idle. With the activityof so many cats they had scuttled away aloft, laying out up
on the yards,and casting off the gaskets in a style which must have done MrAnnesley's heart good, and which, to a moral certainty, considerablyastonished the Frenchmen on board the surrounding ships and in thebatteries. There was no confusion whatever; everything was done with asmuch method and precision as if we had been merely exercising the crew;but, on the other hand, not one second of precious time was wasted, andit really was a pretty sight to see all the canvas fallingsimultaneously from the yards, the topsail sheets instantly going homeinto their places, and the three topsail-yards directly afterwardssoaring away up to the mast-heads. Then home came the topgallantsheets, and up went the yards, the royals following, and being setliterally before the topgallant halliards were belayed. The fore-and-aft canvas was at the same time set, and the moment that the royals wereat the mast-heads the yards were braced for casting the ship. Thecarpenter and one of his mates were stationed at the hawse-pipe, armedwith their keenest axes, and stood ready to strike directly the word wasgiven. In three minutes from the time that the order had been given tomake sail, Mr Annesley turned to the skipper and said, with the utmostcomposure, "All ready, sir."
"Where is Mr Percival?" inquired Captain Hood.
"Here, sir!" replied Percival, stepping forward and touching his cap.
"Take charge, sir, if you please," said the skipper. "And do not forgetthat the safety of the frigate, and our chances of escape from a longcaptivity are absolutely in your hands. If we touch the ground and hangfor five minutes, we shall be simply blown out of the water."
"I will do my best, sir," quietly replied Percival taking up aconvenient position for conning the ship.
"I feel sure you will, sir," returned the skipper. "Say when we shallcut."
"At once, sir, if you please," was the reply.
"Cut, and cut with a will!" said Mr Annesley. Three or four quickstrokes were heard, the frigate's head paid slowly off until her sailsfilled, when the head-yards were swung, the fore-and-main-tacks wereboarded, the sheets hauled aft, and every sail trimmed as if for asailing-match.
The fact that our movements were closely watched became apparent themoment that the hands appeared in the rigging to loose the sails, a veryperceptible stir taking place on board the brig, while lights rapidlymade their appearance in the several batteries.
"We are about to have a warm quarter of an hour," remarked the skipper,who had been keenly noting these sinister indications, while the firstluff was getting the ship under weigh. "Let the crew go to quarters atonce, if you please, Mr Annesley."
"Ay, ay, sir!" was the reply. "If we only had a little more wind--andthere it comes--blow, good breezes, blow! I believe we shall scrapeclear, after all. Beat to quarters!"
A sharp roll of the drum immediately broke in upon the quietude of thenight; there was a momentary bustle--but only momentary the men havingalready gone to quarters, as a matter of course--and then all wasprofound silence once more on board, save for a gentle rippling soundbeneath the bows and along the sides, and the occasional creak of ablock aloft.
"Say when you wish to tack, Mr Percival," said the first luff,stationing himself alongside the master's-mate.
"Not yet, sir," said Percival; "the wind is favouring us a little justnow--there it freshens a trifle, and she looks up better than ever.Keep her a good clean full, quarter-master, and let her go through thewater. I wish there was not quite so much tide, though it _is_ in ourfavour; it is setting us bodily down towards the shoal water. Keep thelead going, there, in the fore-chains. We should do none the worse,sir, if the Frenchmen's boat were cut adrift."
"Cut it adwift at once," said the skipper, who was standing close by;"cut it adwift at once, and the launch as well; we cannot afford to haveso much as a rope's end dragging alongside just now. Ah! I have beenexpecting that," as the brig before referred to, having got a springupon her cable, and brought her broadside to bear, opened fire upon us."Never mind," continued the skipper, "we shall soon be out of harm'sway, as far as she is concerned; it is the fire of the battewies I dweadmost; they, no doubt, mount heavy metal, and if the guns are well serveda single bwoadside will unwig us. This is an ugly looking fellow here,on our starboard bow; they evidently mean mischief there, by the numberof lights they show. Let the starboard bwoadside guns be twained forthe thwee ports where we see the most light, Mr Annesley, and let eachgun be fired, as it is bwought to bear."
At this juncture another broadside from the brig whistled overhead,making a few eyelet-holes in our canvas and cutting one or twounimportant ropes; and immediately afterwards a shot, quickly followedby another, and yet another, came plunging at us from the fort.
The guns were evidently pointed with the intention of bringing down ourspars, but luckily we again escaped without any damage worth speakingof. Matters were beginning to assume a very lively aspect for us; foras we glided down the harbour we could see the lights glancing inbattery after battery, on each side of us, until every one of them waslighted up.
Still, on swept the frigate, silent as a ghostly ship, and without alight of any kind visible on board her, the battle-lanterns being everyone carefully masked, the men standing silent and motionless as statuesat their guns; even the remarks interchanged between the officers wereexpressed in low murmurs only loud enough to reach the ear for whichthey were intended, the oppressive silence being intensified rather thanbroken by an occasional "Luff! luff, you may, quarter-master," fromPercival.
Presently, _crash_ came a simultaneous discharge of five heavy guns fromthe battery on our starboard hand, and four from another battery on theopposite shore; the shot hissed overhead, there was a dull crushing thudor two aloft, and a little rattling shower on deck as ropes andsplinters came clattering down. Some of our spars had evidently beenbadly wounded, and the carpenter and his mates were sent aloft toascertain the extent of the damage. While they were ascending therigging, _bang_ went our foremost gun on the starboard side, followed bythe remainder of the broadside; and the moon happening to shine fullupon the stone walls of the fort which had just opened upon us, we saw,as the smoke drove astern, a little cloud of dust rise about one of theembrasures, a ragged patch of chipped and broken stone appeared to startout upon the wall, and faintly borne down to us on the heavy night-windcame the sound of shrieks and yells of agony. It was perfectly evidentthat our shot had told with severe effect.
As though the discharge of our broadside had been the preconcertedsignal for a general cannonade, every battery within range on each sideof the harbour now opened fire upon us, some of them, however,fortunately for us, being unable to bring more than a single gun tobear. Had the guns on shore been served with only ordinary skill, weshould undoubtedly have been destroyed; as it was, though the shot flewover and over us thick as hail, lashing the sea into foam all round us,shredding our sails to ribbons, cutting up very badly our standing andrunning rigging, bringing down our main-topgallant-mast, and severelywounding several of our other spars, we still glided safely on, our hulluninjured, and not a man hurt. Orders were now sent down for the gunson the main-deck to play upon every battery upon which they could bebrought to bear, and for each gun to be laid with the greatest possibleaccuracy, precision rather than rapidity of fire being the skipper'sobject. An irregular fire from both broadsides accordingly nowcommenced; and that it was not altogether without effect wasdemonstrated by the speedy silencing of two or three out of the manyguns now playing upon us; but, as our object was to escape with theleast possible delay, Captain Hood would not allow the frigate's courseto be altered by so much as one single hair's-breadth in order to bringour guns more directly to bear upon either of the batteries.
"We shall have to make a short board presently, sir," said Percival tothe skipper, as we drew down to within half a mile of the harbourentrance; "there is shoal water directly ahead of us now, and we havebroken off a couple of points within the last ten minutes. Shall weheave about at once, or go on as far as we can? If we stand on muchfarther, we shall be exposed to the fire of yonder battery
, which seemsto be preparing a warm reception for us."
"Go about at once, sir, by all means," replied the skipper. "We havegot off wonderfully well so far; we will certainly not run anyunnecessary risks now. Ready about, Mr Annesley."
"Ay, ay, sir. Ready about!" repeated the first lieutenant. The menwent to their several stations, the coiled-up braces, etcetera, werethrown off the belaying-pins, and all was ready for the execution of theproposed manoeuvre.
"Down with your helm, quarter-master," was the next order. The tiller-ropes creaked as the wheel was rapidly spun round by the brawny anddexterous arms of the quarter-master, and the ship slowly luffed to thewind.
"Hold on of all!" suddenly exclaimed Percival. Then, turning to theskipper, he continued. "The wind is favouring us again, sir; she isstill clean full; and if the breeze keeps as it is for ten minutes more,we shall fetch out clear of everything."
"So much the better," remarked the skipper. "Our present course,however, will take us unpleasantly close to that battery; so,"--lookinground until his eye lighted on me--"be so good as to step down to themain-deck, Mr Chester, and request Mr Flinn to treble-shot hislarboard broadside and pour it into that battery as we pass. Perhaps wemay be a second or so beforehand with them; and if so, a well-directedbroadside on our part may stop their fire altogether."
I soon found Mr Flinn; and, having delivered my message, returned atonce to the quarter-deck, anxious to see how we should fare with thislast battery, which, to judge by appearances, was the most formidable ofthem all. As I emerged through the hatchway. Percival gave the word tothe helmsman to keep away a couple of points, the frigate having justshaved past the most prominent part of the shoal. This brought thebattery directly abreast of us, and less than a quarter of a miledistant; and I was waiting for the concussion of our broadside, which Imomentarily expected would be poured into it, when the whole face of thefort blazed out into a line of fire; there was a deafening roar, a loudwhirring sound in the air, a crashing among our spars aloft, twodistinct and heavy thuds, telling that some of the shot had struck ourhull; and then, as the mizen-topmast fell over the side, the fore-topgallant-mast following--the topmast-head being shot away--our wholebroadside rang out at once, and we distinctly heard the crushing soundof the shot as it struck the masonry.
The breeze had in the meantime freshened somewhat, and notwithstandingour crippled condition, we were slipping through the water at the rateof about five knots. We had by this time run the gauntlet of all thebatteries on each side of the haven, and we considered that we had hadthe worst that we were to have; our spirits accordingly began to rise,as the prospect of escape became more hopeful. The skipper expectedthat we should have to sustain a couple more broadsides from the batterywith which we had just exchanged compliments, after which, if we escapedfurther serious damage, we might consider ourselves safe. Every eye--excepting perhaps Percival's and the helmsman's--was accordinglydirected anxiously to the dark frowning mass which stood outindistinctly from the dark background of land, and which every momentgrew more and more vague and undefined, expecting to see the lurid lineof fire blaze out from the darkness once more. But minute after minutepassed by, the frigate drawing out from the land all the while, and thebreeze freshening with every fathom of additional distance, untilnothing could be discerned, even with the aid of our night-glasses, butthe feeble glimmer of the lanterns showing through the port-holes; andpresently these abruptly disappeared: the battery was shut in by aprojecting point of land and _we had escaped_.
The moment that this agreeable fact became known the crew with oneaccord gave three hearty cheers, the skipper himself for the noncelaying aside his usual _sang-froid_ and leading off. The guns weresecured, a liberal allowance of grog served out, and then, late as itwas--about half an hour after midnight--all hands turned-to to repairdamages.