The Log of a Privateersman Part 17

"There is no hurry, Tom," said I. "Keep her covered for another three minutes, and then you may do as you like. And you, my man," I continued, turning to the helmsman, "steer small for the next few minutes, and give Tom a chance."

"Ay, ay, sir; 'steer small' it is!" answered the man.

"They're at work upon that gun of theirs, sir," reported Hardy at this moment. "Shall I fire and stop 'em, sir?"

"Yes," said I; "she will do now. But don't fire until you are absolutely certain of her."

The galley was now within about a hundred and fifty fathoms of us, coming on at a tremendous pace, the water leaping and foaming and glancing about her bows, and her long length still pointed obstinately at us. There was a bra.s.s gun mounted upon her forecastle, the rays of the sun flas.h.i.+ng off it as though it had been made of gold; and about this gun some seven or eight figures could be distinctly seen busily moving; while aft upon her p.o.o.p were grouped four men in brilliant uniforms and with their swords drawn. And beyond her forecastle, grouped along either rail, could be just made out the heads and the flas.h.i.+ng weapons of a strong body of boarders, ready to spring in upon our decks at the instant when the two hulls should come together.

Despite the anxiety and suspense of the moment I could not help remarking to myself that, if they intended to carry us by boarding, the commander of the galley was conning his craft in a very lubberly, unseamanlike way.

As the thought pa.s.sed through my brain there was a bright flash, a stunning report, and a jarring of the whole frame of the schooner as our long gun again spoke out; and, so instantly following the report that it seemed to be almost a part of it, I distinctly heard a crash, immediately followed by a dreadful outcry of screams and yells and groans of mortal anguish, seeming all to start at the same instant out of a hundred throats. Our shot had evidently gone home, and it had as evidently told severely; but exactly how much damage it had done could not be guessed at for the moment until our smoke had blown away to leeward of the galley. And ere it had done this there came a flash and a report from her, and the next instant I was aware of a shot that came humming so closely past my head that the wind of it actually blew my cap off and all but overboard. I stooped, picked it up, and replaced it on my head.

As I again turned my gaze to leeward, there was the galley, with a clean, neat shot-hole in her starboard bow, so close to the water-line that the furrow ploughed up by her rush through the water was flas.h.i.+ng and leaping right over it; and--what was of at least equal importance to us just then--both banks of oars were trailing limp and motionless, as if suddenly paralysed, in the water alongside of her. And paralysed they certainly were, for the moment at least, because our thirty-two- pound shot had evidently raked the oarsmen's benches from end to end of the s.h.i.+p. Her way immediately began to slacken; and although I saw an officer dash aft and with his own hands jam the helm hard over to lay us aboard, her movements became so sluggish that we had no difficulty in avoiding her, she being fully ten fathoms distant when she went drifting slowly across our stern. As she did so, a heavy, confused volley of musketry was poured into us from the boarders that lined her gunwale, but although the bullets flew past us like hail, not one of us was touched; and immediately afterwards a loud outcry arose aboard the galley, upon which every man at once threw down his arms and jumped below.

"Ready about!" shouted I. "And you, Tom, load again, and stand by to give her another shot as we cross her bows. We must not leave her now until we have rendered it impossible for her to get up to windward again and tell of our whereabouts, and that of the galleon. If you could contrive to smash a good number of her oars with a raking shot it would be better even than hulling her; for, after all, it would be a terrible thing to destroy so much life. She must have at least two hundred and fifty people aboard her."

"Ay; all that--or more, sir. It'll take at least four men to handle one of them long, heavy sweeps, the way that they was handled just now.

But, as to smas.h.i.+ng of 'em, I don't know as I can do it; a man would have to be a very tidy shot to hit more'n one or two of 'em. But I'll do my best, sir; and no man can't do no more."

The schooner's helm was put down, and she was hove round upon the opposite tack, and at once kept away for the galley, which had by this time fallen broadside-on to the sea, her oars still remaining motionless. We steered a little to leeward of her, with the intention of luffing into the wind athwart her stern and throwing our topsail aback, so giving Hardy time to level and point his thirty-two-pounder; and we had gained our position and were in the act of backing our topsail, when the officer of whom I have already spoken reappeared upon the p.o.o.p and, hastily hauling down the galley's colours, hailed in very fair English:

"We surrender, senor; we surrender! In the name of the Blessed Virgin I pray you not to fire again! The galley is in a sinking condition; and unless we can quickly stop the leak she will go down and drown us all.

What is it you will that we shall do in the matter?"

"Where is the leak situated?" demanded I.

"In the bow, senor; so close to the water-line that the sea is pouring into the vessel like a river," was the answer.

"Then," said I, "you had better cut both your sails adrift and fother them over the leak; after which your only chance of safety will be to make for the nearest port--which I take to be Porto Bello. I will stand by you until you have choked the leak; but I can do no more for you, as my carpenter is aboard the galleon; and moreover he does not understand Spanish, and therefore could not direct your people."

"A thousand thanks, senor," answered the Spaniard, bowing low to me. "I will follow your instructions, and am in hopes that, by adopting the plan you have suggested, we may be able to reach the land."

Then, with another bow to me, which I duly returned, he disappeared; and a moment later I heard him shouting some orders to his people, some twenty or thirty of whom at once sprang on deck and began to cut the lateen sails away from the long, tapering yards. Meanwhile, I could now see that the galley was gradually filling, as she was perceptibly deeper in the water than when we had first encountered her; and thinking it possible that I might be of use, I ordered our people to launch the dinghy, in which, with one hand, I went under the bows of the galley.

The shot-hole which was the cause of all the mischief was now completely under water more than half the time, showing only when the bows of the vessel lifted over a swell. I saw that they had plugged it with canvas from the inside, and the officer informed me that two men were engaged in holding the canvas in place against the pressure of the water, while the rest of the crew were, as I could see, engaged in baling. I thought I could see my way to improve matters a little; so I directed the officer to launch his gun overboard, to lift the bows a little, and to s.h.i.+ft all his movable weight as far aft as possible. I then returned to the schooner, and procured a thin sheet of lead, a dozen nails, and a hammer, and with these I contrived, with some difficulty, to pretty well stop the leak, although I was careful not to stop it too effectually, lest the officer should decide to take the risk of making his way to windward instead of to the nearest land. But I do not think I had any real ground for apprehension, for I could see that the poor fellow was thoroughly frightened; and when I had patched up the hole, and had told him that there would be no need to use the sails, save to help him to reach Porto Bello as quickly as possible, he was overpoweringly profuse in his expressions of grat.i.tude for my help and what he was pleased to term my "generosity."

It was drawing well on toward noon when at length the galley was once more in a condition to get under weigh, which she did forthwith, heading to the southward under oars and sails; and inexpressibly thankful was I to see the last of her, and still more so to think that I had contrived to get rid of her without sending her and all her company to the bottom.

Before parting I contrived to elicit from her commander that two of his consorts had proceeded to search for us in the Gulf of Darien, while three more had made the best of their way to Point Gallinas, to intercept us there in the event of our trying to make our way to the eastward.

Having thus successfully shaken off our formidable foe, I crowded sail upon the schooner in pursuit of the galleon--which all this while had, in pursuance of my orders, been running off the wind to leeward,--and when at length we overtook her, the galley had long vanished in the south-eastern board. We consequently hauled up to the northward once more, and shaped a course for Jamaica, where,--not to make the story too long,--we arrived without further adventure on the fourth morning after our encounter with the galley.

As may be supposed, I lost no time in waiting upon my very good friend, the Admiral; whom I found up to the eyes in business in his office at Port Royal. Nevertheless, busy though he was, he gave orders for me to be admitted, and shook hands with me heartily as I presented myself.

"Good morning, Mr Bowen," said he. "I won't ask you to sit down, for I am so busy this morning that I positively don't know which job to tackle first. I merely consented to see you in order that I might congratulate you--for I hear that you have brought in a prize of some sort, and a big lump of a craft she is, too," casting his eyes toward her as she lay full in view of his office window. "Not the galleon, though, I suppose?

No such luck--What? is it really so? Upon my honour, I very heartily congratulate you, my dear sir, I do indeed. And my ears are tingling to hear your story, which I am certain will be well worth listening to; but I haven't the time for it just now. Come up to the Pen to dinner to- night, and tell it me then, will you? That's right; sharp seven, mind!

And now, good-bye until this evening, you lucky young dog!"

Upon leaving the Admiral, I proceeded up the harbour to Kingston in a boat manned by negroes. A large fleet of s.h.i.+ps of all sizes occupied the anchorage abreast of the town; and as we drew nearer two vessels seemed to stand out from among the rest and challenge my recognition. I looked at them more intently. Surely I could not be mistaken!

"Cuffee, what are the names of those two vessels--the brigantine and the schooner--that are moored close together there?" demanded I of the captain of the boat.

"My name not Cuffee, sah; my name am Julius Caesar Mark Anthony Brown, sah! And dem two vessels am called respectably de _Dolphin_ and de _Tiger_; bofe of dem privateers, sah," was the boatman's answer, given with great dignity and the utmost gravity.

"Thank you, Julius Caesar Mark Anthony Brown," retorted I, with equal gravity. "Have the goodness to shove me alongside the _Dolphin_, will you?"

"Certainly, sah; wid de utmost pleasure, sah," answered the negro, with a broad grin of delight at the unwonted receipt of his full cognomen.

And in a few minutes we ranged up alongside the old familiar schooner, and I recognised many old familiar faces looking curiously down into the boat.

"By the living jingo if it ain't Mr Bowen come back to life!" I heard one man say; and in a moment there was an eager rush to the gangway to meet me. The unexpected sight of so many well-known faces, most of them hailing from the same birthplace as myself, and all of them evidently glad to see me again, moved me strongly; and almost before I knew where I was I found myself on deck and heartily shaking hands all round.

Then, as soon as the excitement had abated somewhat, I inquired for Captain Winter.

"He is ash.o.r.e, Mr Bowen," answered the mate, who had caught my name and evidently appeared to be familiar with it, although the man was a total stranger to me. "He went ash.o.r.e directly after breakfast, and I don't much expect to see him aboard again until pretty late in the afternoon.

But I expect you'll find him and Cap'n Comben either at Anderson's store, or at Mammy Williamson's hotel. Or, if you don't find 'em, you'll be sure to get news of 'em at one or the other of them two places."

"Thank you," said I; "I will look them up. But in case I should not find them, please say that I will call aboard again to-morrow morning about nine o'clock."

So saying, I climbed down into Julius Caesar's boat again, and ten minutes later was landed upon the wharf.

It was by this time drawing well on toward noon, or "second breakfast"

time; so I shaped a course for Mammy Williamson's in the first place; and there, sure enough, I came upon my old skipper and Comben, seated at table among a number of other s.h.i.+p-masters and a sprinkling of civilians. As I entered I heard my name mentioned by Winter, and thought I also caught the word "galleon."

"Speak of an angel, Captain Winter, and--you know the rest," said I, as I stepped up to him with outstretched hand.

In a moment every man had started to his feet, and I was surrounded-- hemmed in--by an enthusiastic crowd, who, having somehow got wind of my lucky capture, were eager to congratulate me. Nothing would do but I must sit down and take breakfast with them and relate my adventure; and it was past two o'clock that day before any of us budged. For not only had I to tell the whole story of my doings from the day when I parted company in the _Manilla_, but I also had to hear Captain Winter's story as well. The latter I shall not relate here, as it would require a whole volume to do justice to it; but for the gratification of the reader's curiosity, I may say that the _Dolphin_ and the _Tiger_, after a protracted fight, in which both suffered severely, succeeded in beating off the French frigate. Since then they had both been knocking about in the Atlantic, with only moderate success, making Barbados their head-quarters; hence they had heard nothing of me save in a letter received from Mr White, in which he stated that, up to the time of writing, no news had been received of the _Manilla_, and that he greatly feared she must have been lost or captured.

Having at length transacted the business that had taken me to Kingston, I returned to the schooner pretty late in the afternoon, Winter and Comben accompanying me to have a look at the galleon and the _Sword Fish_; and later on I returned with them to Kingston to keep my dinner appointment with the Admiral.

I found my host, as usual, with his table full of company, among them being the captain of the _Triton_ frigate, and several other naval officers, all of whom were exceedingly civil to me, especially after I had related the particulars of the capture of the galleon. We spent a very pleasant evening; and when at length the guests rose to go, the Admiral whispered to me to remain as he had something to say to me.

Accordingly, when all hands but myself had left, my host conducted me to what he called his "snuggery", which was a comer of his s.p.a.cious verandah inclosed with large glazed part.i.tions, and fitted up as a smoking-room. His negro butler set out the table with gla.s.ses, decanters, a big crystal jug of sangaree, and a box of cigars, and left us.

As soon as we were alone and had made ourselves comfortable, the old gentleman turned to me, seemed to look me through and through for several seconds, so intently did he rivet his gaze upon me, and then he remarked:

"I dare say you are wondering what this important matter can be that has caused me to keep you behind in order that I may have an opportunity to talk it over with you. Well, my dear fellow, I am a poor hand at beating about the bush; if I have a thing to say, I like to say it outright; so tell me, now, has it ever occurred to you to wish that you were a king's officer, instead of being merely a privateersman?"

"Upon my word, Sir Peter, that is a strange question indeed to ask,"

said I; "but I do not mind confessing to you that I have over and over again regretted that circ.u.mstances did not permit me to enter His Majesty's service. Not that I have any real cause to complain, for I suppose I may now call myself a fairly rich man, with the division of the galleon's prize-money in prospect; much richer than I should have been by this time had I had an opportunity to enter the navy. At the same time I have been impressed over and over again with the honour and distinction attaching to His Most Gracious Majesty's service, and which are wholly apart from any question of the length of a man's purse; and it is impossible to shut one's eyes to the fact that, if a man happens to be ambitious, there is no service where his ambition has more scope for gratification than in the British navy."

"Precisely," agreed the Admiral. "And do you happen to be ambitious?"

"Yes," I answered frankly. "Every one of my successes, such as they have been, has been robbed of a very appreciable amount of its sweetness by the reflection of the far greater honour and glory that would have been mine had I happened to have been a wearer of the King's uniform."

"Then," said the Admiral, "may I take it that, if an opportunity were to offer for you to enter the King's service, you would accept it?"

"Undoubtedly you may, sir," answered I excitedly, as the drift of the conversation suggested itself to me for the first time. Then, in a flash, I qualified my statement by adding: "Of course I mean if I could enter as a commissioned officer. As a warrant-officer I fear I should be quite out of place. I have had so much liberty, and have been, so to speak, my own master for so long--"

"That you think you would find the discipline irksome?" interrupted the Admiral. "My dear boy, I have no doubt you would, and n.o.body but a fool would ever think of spoiling a fine, das.h.i.+ng, young fellow like yourself by attempting any such transformation. As you say, you would be woefully out of place in such a position. You would be wasted. But upon your own quarter-deck, with a good crew of thoroughly disciplined men to back you up, and the authority of the King's commission to give you confidence, you would soon make a name and a place for yourself.

Now, you did a very important and valuable service to the State when you brought timely intelligence of the approach of the combined French and Spanish fleets to West Indian waters, and you did a still more important and valuable service in watching that fleet, and afterwards communicating with Lord Nelson. In recognition of those services, therefore, it affords me very great pleasure to offer you a commission as lieutenant in His Majesty's navy. There it is, my boy," producing a large official-looking doc.u.ment from his pocket; "and I sincerely hope that you will not only accept it, but that also, with such friendly help as I may be able to afford you, you will rapidly distinguish yourself and do credit to my penetration in selecting you for so unusual an honour."

For the moment I was altogether too thoroughly overwhelmed to utter a word, which the old gentleman at once perceived, for he said hastily: