CHAPTER NINETEEN.
A FIGHT WITH MALAY PIRATES.
At six o'clock in the morning, the tide suiting, the gun-boat crept outto sea, and steamed slowly along the coast to the southward, keeping agood look-out. They soon discovered sundry prows, but, after orderingthem to come alongside, found that they were legitimate traders. Thusthe day was spent in a vain search, and at night they returned to theiranchorage, as it was not possible to make any discoveries in the dark.
Next morning, at the same hour, they steamed out to sea again, intendingto keep about twelve miles off the coast, so as to be able to command abroad expanse of water in every direction; but before they had got twomiles from the anchorage, three prows were observed about four or fivemiles to seaward.
"That looks like the rascals," observed the captain, as he surveyed themthrough the glass.
"Indeed," said Mr Hazlit, who, rather pale and weak from his recentunwonted experiences, leaned in a helpless manner on the quarter-rails.
"Yes; they pull forty or fifty oars, double-banked," returned thecaptain, wiping his glass carefully. "They've got heavy guns on board,no doubt. We shall have to protect our boiler."
The gun-boat was so small that a portion of her steam-case wasunavoidably exposed above deck. A shot into this would have beendisastrous. Orders were therefore given to surround it with bags ofcoal, which was promptly done.
"And, one of you," said the captain, turning to the man who chanced tobe nearest him, "go into the cabin and bring up the sofa cushions; weshall want them to protect the legs of the men stationed on the poop."
Rooney Machowl happened to be the man who received this order. He atonce descended.
"By your lave, Miss," he said, with a bashful air; "I'm sorry to ask alady to git up, but it's the capting's orders--he wants the cushions."
"By all means," said Aileen, with a smile; "why does he want them?"
"Plaze, Miss, to protect our legs, savin' yer presence."
Somewhat puzzled, and not a little amused by the reply, Aileen rose andallowed the cushion on which she sat to be removed. These cushions wereplaced in the nettings on the poop, which was much exposed, to arrestthe enemy's bullets.
In a few minutes it was seen that the three prows were doing their bestto get into shoal water, where the steamer could not have followed them.In this effort one of them was successful, for although the gun-boat'scourse was changed in order to cut her off, she managed to run on shore,whence the pirates immediately opened fire. The other two, seeing therewas no possibility of accomplishing the same feat, ceased rowing, andalso opened fire, at a distance of about five or six hundred yards.
"We shall attack from our port side," said the captain to his chiefofficer; "let the guns be laid accordingly."
The armament of the gun-boat consisted of two nine-pounder guns, one onthe forecastle, and one on the poop; one twelve-pounder, just before thebridge; and four six-pound brass carronades. These were all soon ready,but the order was not given to fire till they had got to within ahundred yards of the pirates, who were now pelting them smartly withsmall arms.
The captain stood on the bridge, the most commanding and, at the sametime, the most exposed position in the vessel. He wore a cap, fromunder which his black eyes seemed to twinkle with fire and mischief.
He soon observed that the two prows, wincing under his fire, were edgingfor the shore. With that reckless resolution, therefore, to which alltrue heroes give way at times--not excepting Nelson himself--he resolvedto run them down.
The recklessness of this consisted in the fact that his vessel was not a"ram," but built of comparatively thin plates. The necessity for it layin the certainty that a few minutes more would enable the prows to gainshallow water and escape.
"Besides," thought the captain to himself, as he walked up and down thebridge with his hands in his pockets, while bullets whistled round hishead, "even a _thin_ plate can stand a good strain when struck end-on.Never venture, never win!"
Giving the order "full-speed" to the engineer, and "port your helm alittle--steady" to the man at the wheel, the captain quietly awaited theresult.
The result was most effective. The gun-boat went at the prow like awar-horse; her sharp bow struck one of the pirate vessels fair amidshipsand cut her in two pieces, launching her crew and captives into the sea!
She then backed astern, and made for the other prow, but she, laying toheart the fate of her companion, made for the shore as fast as possible.It was in vain. The gun-boat ran into her and sank her immediately,but so nearly had they succeeded in their intention, that there wereonly six inches of water under the steamer's keel when she backed out.
"Lower the boats," shouted the captain, the instant his object had beenaccomplished; and it was not a moment too soon, for the sea all roundwas alive with human beings, some of whom evidently waited to be pickedup, while others swam vigorously for the shore. In a short time, abouta hundred men were rescued, most of whom were slaves--only ten beingpirates. There was no difficulty in distinguishing between pirates andslaves, because the latter wore the "rattan" round their necks, inaddition to which their spitting on the pirates, and furiously abusingthem for past cruelty, and their falling down and kissing the feet oftheir deliverers, made the distinction abundantly clear.
Most of the other pirates gained the shore, but we may here finallydismiss them, and relieve the reader's mind by stating that they wereafterwards hunted down and slain to a man by the natives of thatdistrict, who entertained a deadly, and very natural hatred of them,having suffered much at their hands in time past.
While the rescued captives were going about excitedly telling of theshocking barbarities that had been practised on them, the captaindiscovered among them a Singapore native who could speak a littleEnglish. Taking this man aft, he questioned him closely.
"Are there any more pirate-junks hereabouts?" he said.
"Yis; tree more."
"Whereaway?"
"Hout seaward. Not know how far. Longish way off, me tink. We wassent off from dem last night, after all de goods an' money was tookedout of us. What for, no kin tell. Where tothers go, no kin tell."
"They've got lots of captives aboard, I suppose?" said the captain.
"Ho! Great lots," replied the Singapore man.
"And lots of treasure too, no doubt."
"Ho! Very greater lots of dat."
After obtaining all the information he could from this man and from theother passengers, the captain steamed out to sea in a westerlydirection, keeping a man at the mast-head to look out. The captiveswere in the meanwhile made as comfortable as circumstances would admitof, and the ten pirates were put in irons in the hold.
As the morning advanced, the sun increased in power and splendour. Nota breath of wind ruffled the sea, which shone like a mirror, reflectingperfectly the sea-birds that accompanied them. Everything was so calmand peaceful that the captain sent a message to Mr Hazlit and hisdaughter to request them to come up and enjoy the fresh air.
During the brief action described, they had been sent below to be out ofdanger. They obeyed the summons, and even Miss Pritty was induced byAileen to come on deck.
Poor Miss Pritty! Her hysterical fit was now quite over, but palecheeks and a trembling exhausted frame told eloquently of her recentsufferings. Mr Hazlit's limbs were also shaky, and his facecadaverous, showing that his temporary aberration of reason had toldupon him.
"Oh _how_ delicious!" exclaimed Miss Pritty, referring to theatmosphere, as she sank into an easy-chair which the captain placed forher. "Are these the pirates?" she added, shuddering, as her eyes fellon some of the rescued people.
"No, Miss Pritty," answered the captain, "these are the freed captives.The pirates are in irons in the hold."
"You had to fight, I suppose?" continued Miss Pritty, shutting her eyesand pursing her mouth with the air of one who braces herself to face theinevitable.
"Well, we could hardly call it fighting," answered t
he captain, with asmile, as he cleaned the glasses of his telescope and swept the horizoncarefully; "we had a round or two of the guns, and a few bulletswhistled about our ears for a little--that was all."
"Was any one wounded--k-killed?" asked Miss Pritty, opening her eyeswith an anxious look; "and oh!" she added, with a sudden expression ofhorror, as she drew up her feet and glanced downwards, "perhaps thedecks are--no," she continued sinking back again with a sigh, "they are_not_ bloody!"
At that moment the man at the mast-head reported three prows, justvisible on the horizon ahead.
"I suppose we must go below again," said Aileen, sadly, after thecaptain returned from the bridge, to which he had gone to examine theprows in question.
"Not yet, Miss Hazlit. It will probably be an hour ere we come up withthem. You'd better enjoy the morning air while you may. I'll warn youin good time."
Aileen therefore remained on deck for some time with her father, butpoor Miss Pritty, on the first intimation that more pirates were insight, got up hastily, staggered with a face expressive of the utmosthorror into the cabin, flung herself into the captain's berth, thrusther head under the pillow, piled the clothes over that, and lay there--quaking!
She quaked for full half an hour before anything happened. Then shefelt a hand trying to remove her superincumbent head-gear. This inducedher to hold on tight and shriek, but, recognising Aileen's voice, shepresently put her face out.
"Don't be so terrified, dear," said Aileen, scarce able to repress asmile.
"I _can't_ help it," answered her friend, whimpering; "are the--thepirates--"
"They are not far off now. But don't give way to needless alarm, dear.Our captain sent me below because he is going to fight them, and youknow he is sure to win, for he is a brave man. He says he'll run themall down in a few minutes."
"Oh!" groaned Miss Pritty, and with that, pulling her head in like asnail, she resumed quaking.
Poor Aileen, although talking thus bravely to her friend, was by nomeans easy in her own mind, for apart from the fact that they were aboutto engage three pirate-junks, manned by hundreds of desperate men, shecould not repress her shrinking horror at the bare idea of men talkingcoolly about shedding human blood. To one of her imaginative nature,too, it was no small trial to have to sit alone and inactive in thecabin, while the bustle of preparation for war went on overhead; we sayalone, because her father, although there, was too much exhausted to actthe part of companion or comforter in any degree.
Meanwhile the gun-boat approached close to the enemy, and it soon becameapparent that they meant to fight--trusting, no doubt, to their verydecided superiority in numbers.
"They mean mischief," said the captain, as he shut up his telescope.
"Faix, an' they'll git it too," replied Rooney Machowl, who chanced tobe near at the time, though the remark was not addressed to him.
To this the captain made no reply, save by a grim curl of his blackmoustache, as he once more ascended to his exposed position on thebridge. From this outlook he could see plainly that the pirates werelashing their three prows together, and training all their guns on oneside, where the attack was expected. As each prow mounted twelve guns,they could thus fire a broadside of thirty-six heavy pieces, besidessmall arms.
The men of the gun-boat were now all at their quarters, eagerly awaitingthe order to begin. The captain descended and went round among them, soas to inspect everything with his own eye.
"Now, lads," he said, in passing, "remember, not a single shot till Igive you positive orders."
He returned to the bridge. Although naturally disinclined to parleywith scoundrels, he felt that he had a duty to perform, and resolved togo close up, and, if possible, induce them to surrender. But he wassaved the trouble of attempting a parley, for while yet six hundredyards off, a regular volley burst from the sides of the pirate vessels.
Again the black moustache curled, but this time with a touch offerocity, for the shot partly took effect, cutting the rigging to someextent, killing one man of the crew, and wounding several. Amusket-ball also struck his own cap and knocked it off his head.
"Just hand that up," he said, pointing to the cap.
One of the men obeyed, and the captain, taking a look at the hole,replaced it. Still he gave no order to fire, although the pirates wereseen to be busily re-loading.
Hanging up to within a hundred yards, the captain looked quickly at hismen.
"Port, a little," said he to the man at the wheel.
"Are you ready?"
"Ay, ay, sur," from Rooney Machowl, in a deep bass undertone.
"Fire!"
As if but one piece had been fired the whole broadside burst from theside of the gun-boat, shaking the little vessel violently. MissPritty's voice came up responsive with an unearthly yell!
"Load!" was instantly ordered, and so quickly was it obeyed that beforethe enemy were ready with their second volley the gun-boat had chargedand fired again, doing great damage.
There being no wind, a dense cloud of smoke from the three volleyssettled down on the water and completely hid them and their enemy fromeach other.
"Steam ahead, full-speed," signalled the captain to Edgar Berrington.
The screw instantly whirled, and under cover of the dense veil, theactive little vessel moved away just in time to escape a murderousvolley of shot, shrapnel, and ball, which was poured into the smoke shehad left behind her! The pirates followed this up with a wild cheer anda brisk fire of musketry, which only ceased when, discovering theirmistake, they beheld the gun-boat emerge from the smoke, steer round theend of their line, and, slewing to port, deliver another volley of greatguns and small arms, that raked them all from stem to stern, doingterrible execution both to the prows and their crews.
Thus the gun-boat played round and round the enemy, always maintainingthe distance of about a hundred yards, and keeping up the action as fastas they could load and fire. The pirates, on their part, fought withthe courage of trained men of war and with the ferocity of tigers atbay--who ask and expect no mercy. And thus they fought for no less thanthree hours.
One reason why the pirates were able to hold out so long lay in the factthat their prows were surrounded by a thick matting made from a certainpalm-leaf, which, although it could not prevent shot from passingthrough, concealed the men who lay behind it, and so prevented theriflemen of the gun-boat crew from taking aim. In order to get thebetter of this difficulty, the latter fell into the way of watching forthe puffs of smoke that came through the matting, and firing at thesepuffs.
Conspicuous among the pirates for his coolness, daring, and utterdisregard of his life, was one tall, powerful fellow in a red jacket.Every one guessed him at once to be a chief among the pirates, and thisquestion was soon settled by some of the recently freed captives, whorecognised him as being the great chief of the fleet--Pungarin.
He went about the deck of his prow, which occupied the centre of theline, encouraging his men to rapid action, and often pointing the gunswith his own hands.
Many rifle-shots were fired at him, but in vain. He seemed to bear acharmed life.
"Can none of you pick him off?" said the captain of the gun-boat.
Twenty rifles replied to the words, and the man's red jacket was seen tobe torn in many places, but himself remained unhurt!
At last the pirate-guns were silenced in two of the prows, only thechief's maintaining an obstinate fire. This vessel would have been muchsooner silenced, no doubt, but for the ferocity of Pungarin. When hismen, driven at last by the deadly fire of the assailants, forsook a gunand sought refuge behind the matting, the pirate-chief would promptlystep forward and serve the gun himself, until very shame sometimesforced his men to return.
At last all the guns were disabled but one, and that one Pungarincontinued to serve, uninjured, amid a perfect storm of shot.
"The fellow has got the lives of twenty cats," growled the captain, ashe turned to give directions to the steersman, which brought t
hegun-boat still closer to the enemy. The effect of a well-deliveredvolley at this shorter range was to cut the fastenings of the threeprows, thus permitting them to separate.
This was precisely what was desired, the captain having resolved to runthe pirates down one at a time, as he had done before. He would notboard them, because their superior numbers and desperate ferocity wouldhave insured a hand-to-hand conflict, which, even at the best, mighthave cost the lives of many of his men. The instant, therefore, thatthe prows were cut adrift, he gave the order to back astern. At thesame moment Pungarin was heard to give an order to his men, whichresulted in the oars being got out and manned by the surviving piratesand slaves, who rowed for the land as fast as possible. Their escape inthis way, however, the captain knew to be impossible, for they were nowfully twenty-five miles from shore. He therefore went about his workleisurely.
Backing a considerable distance, so as to enable his little war-horse toget up full-speed, he took careful aim as he charged.
It was interesting to watch the swart faces and glaring eyeballs ofthose on board the first prow, as the gun-boat bore down on them. Someglared from hate, others obviously from fear, and all seemed a littleuncertain as to what was about to be done. This uncertainty was onlydispelled when the prow was struck amidships, and, with a tremendouscrash, cut clean in two. Simultaneous with the crash arose a yell ofmingled anger and despair, as pirates and prisoners were all hurled intothe sea.
Again the order was given to go astern. The steamer immediately backedout of the wreck. After gaining a sufficient distance the engines werereversed, and the little vessel bore down on another prow.
This one made violent efforts to evade the blow, but the captain hadanticipated as much. His orders were sharp; his steersman was prompt.The cut-water did its duty nobly, and in a few seconds another piratevessel was sent to the bottom.
The sea was now swarming with human beings in all directions, someclinging to any scrap of wreck they could lay hold of, some paddlingabout aimlessly and roaring for help, while others swam steadily in thedirection of the land. These last were chiefly pirates, who hadevidently made up their minds to escape or drown rather than becaptured.
As it was evident that many of those struggling in the water would bedrowned in a few minutes, the captain delayed his attack on the thirdprow, and ordered the boats to be lowered. This was done promptly, andmany of the poor victims captured by the pirates were rescued andbrought on board. A few of the pirates were also picked up. These hadjumped overboard with their "creases" and other weapons in their hands,and were so vindictive as to show fight furiously in the water when thesailors attempted to save them. Many of the men suffered from this.Poor Rooney Machowl was among the number.
He pulled the bow-oar of his boat, and hauled it in on drawing near toany one, so as to be ready to catch the hand of the swimmer, or make agrasp at him. As they approached one of the swimmers, Rooney observedthat he had a short twisted sword in his hand, and that he looked overhis shoulder with a fierce scowl. Nevertheless, as he leaned over tothe rescue, it did not occur to the worthy man that the swimmer meantmischief, until he saw the twisted sword leap from the water, and feltthe point of his nose almost severed from his face!
"Och! You spalpeen," cried Rooney, with a yell of intense indignationand pain.
He was about to follow this up with a blow from his powerful fist thatwould have sent the pirate at least a fathom of the way down to thebottom, but the sword again leaped upwards, causing him to start back asit flashed close past his cheek, and went right over the boat into thesea. At the same moment a Malay seized the pirate by an ear, anothergrasped him by an arm, and he was quickly hauled inboard and bound."Here, Joe Baldwin," cried Rooney to his comrade, who pulled an oar nearthe stern of the boat, "for anny favour lind a hand to fix on the pinto' my poor nose. It was niver purty, but och! It's ruinated now pastredimption."
"Not a bit, man," said Joe, as he bound up the injured member by thesimple process of tying a kerchief right round his friend's face andhead; "it'll be handsomer than ever. There was always too much of it.You can afford to have it reduced."
Rooney did not quite seem to appreciate this comforting remark; however,after his nose was bound he and the rest of the boat's crew continuedtheir work, and soon returned on board the gun-boat with a mixed lot ofpirates and captives. Of course the rescuers were more careful inapproaching the swimmers after Rooney's misfortune, but in spite of thismany of them were wounded by the pirates slashing at them with theirswords and knives, or flinging these weapons violently into the boats.
In a short time all were saved who yet remained above water. Then theboats were hauled up and the steamer gave chase to the prow in charge ofthe pirate captain, which was by that time far away on the horizon.