Held Fast For England Part 53

"It is bad news," the governor said. "However, I am extremely obliged to you, for the valuable service that you have rendered and, as I had the pleasure of before doing, when you brought in the oranges, I shall place your name in the orders of the day for having, as a volunteer, rendered signal service by carrying despatches, at great risk, across to the Barbary coast."

Bob then returned home. Captain Lockett had already been to the house, and informed the O'Hallorans of his arrival.

"There you see, Carrie," Bob said, after his sister's first greetings were over; "there was nothing to have been so terribly alarmed about."

"It isn't because you got through it safely, Bob, that there was no danger," his sister replied. "It was a very foolish thing to do, and nothing will change my opinion as to that.

"Captain Lockett tells me you brought Amy Harcourt back with you, dressed up as a boy. I never heard of such a thing, Bob! The idea of a boy like you--not eighteen yet--taking charge, in that way, of a young girl!"

"Well, there was nothing else to do, Carrie, that I could see. I went to Mrs. Hamber, who was Mrs. Colomb's most intimate friend, and asked her opinion as to what I had better do; and she advised me to get Amy away, if I possibly could do so. I can't see what difference it makes, whether it is a boy or a girl. It seems to me that people are always so stupid about that sort of thing."

Carrie laughed.

"Well, never mind, Bob. Amy Harcourt is a very nice girl. A little too boyish, perhaps; but I suppose that is natural, being brought up in the regiment. I am very glad that you have brought her back again, and it will be an immense relief to her father and mother.

Her mother has been here three or four times, during these two days you have been away; and I am in no way surprised at her anxiety.

They will be in here this evening, certainly, to thank you."

"Very well; then I shall be round smoking a cigar, with the doctor," Bob said. "I am very glad to have been of use to them, and to have got Amy back again; but I don't want to be thanked, and you tell them so. I hate being made a fuss about."

And so, beyond a warm grasp of the hand, on the part of Major Harcourt; and two or three words of hearty thanks, on that of his wife, the next time they met; Bob escaped any expression of grat.i.tude. But the occurrence drew the two families together more closely, and Amy often came round with her father and mother, in the evening; and there were many little confidential talks between Carrie and Mrs. Harcourt.

It was some time before the anxiety as to the fate of the English inhabitants, at Tangier, was allayed. They were, at the beginning of December, forced to remove to Marteen, a few miles from Tetuan--abandoning their houses and all their property, which was estimated at the value of sixty thousand pounds--and, three days afterwards, were handed over as prisoners to the Spaniards. They were then put on board a s.h.i.+p, and taken to Algeciras--where they were kept, for nearly a month, prisoners on board s.h.i.+p--but were, on the 11th of January, 1781, sent across to Gibraltar.

The next five months pa.s.sed slowly and heavily. Occasionally, privateers and other craft ran through the blockade of the Spanish cruisers, and succeeded in getting into port. Some of these brought wine and sugar--of both of which the garrison were extremely short--and occasionally a few head of cattle and other provisions.

All of these were sold by public auction, the governor considering that to be the fairest way of disposing of them.

On the 12th of April another great convoy, under Admiral Darby, entered the port. It consisted of about a hundred merchantmen, under the protection of a powerful fleet. The joy of the garrison and inhabitants was intense although, among the latter, this was mingled with a certain feeling of uneasiness. Deserters had at various times brought in reports that, should Gibraltar be again relieved, it was the purpose of the Spaniards to bombard the town.

Hopes were entertained that so wanton an act of cruelty would not be carried out, for the entire destruction of the town would not advance, in the smallest degree, the progress of the siege.

At a quarter to eleven, just as the van of the convoy came to an anchor off the New Mole, Fort San Philip opened fire upon the town and, at the signal, the whole of the batteries in the forts and lines followed suit. A hundred and fourteen guns and mortars rained their shot and sh.e.l.l upon the town, and the guns of the batteries of the garrison at once responded.

Several of the officers of the 58th, and their wives, had come up to Captain O'Halloran's to enjoy, from the terrace, the view of the great convoy entering the port. All were in the highest spirits, at the thought of the abundant supplies that would now be at their disposal; and in the belief that the Spaniards, seeing that the garrison was again amply provisioned, would abandon the siege, which had now lasted for twenty-two months. Suddenly there came upon the air the deep sound of the guns of San Philip, followed by a prolonged roar as the whole of the Spanish batteries opened fire.

The hum of shot could be heard, followed by the explosion of sh.e.l.ls, the fall of masonry, and screams and cries.

"The bombardment has begun, at last!" Captain O'Halloran exclaimed.

The greatest consternation reigned among the ladies. Several of them had left children in their quarters and, although the barracks were so placed as to be, to a great extent, sheltered from the enemy's fire from the land side, they were still terribly anxious as to their safety. Two of them had, like the O'Hallorans, quarters in the town itself; and the husbands of these ladies, accompanied by Captain O'Halloran and Bob, at once set out to bring the children up to the house, which was perfectly sheltered.

The scene in the town was a pitiful one. Men, women, and children were flying, in the wildest alarm, towards the gate looking south; and thence out to the huts that the more prudent ones had erected, many months before, near Europa Point. Shot and sh.e.l.l were raining down, while chimneys and portions of masonry fell clattering in the streets. Sick people were being carried out, on doors or planks; and most of the inhabitants were laden with what few articles of value they could s.n.a.t.c.h up, at the first alarm. The children were soon brought up to the O'Hallorans' and then, for a time, there was nothing to do but to listen to the roar of artillery.

The officers and Bob ascended the Rock, to a point near one of the batteries, whence they could command a view of the Spanish lines.

The flashes of smoke were bursting forth almost incessantly; but were answered shot for shot from the English batteries, which had already almost silenced the San Carlos Battery, which mounted a large number of mortars, and against which the fire of the English guns was concentrated.

Between one and two o'clock the Spanish fire abated, and soon ceased altogether. The inhabitants took advantage of the lull to hurry back to their houses, whence they removed the lighter and more portable articles; but the heavy stores--of which it now appeared many of them had large quant.i.ties concealed--they were, of course, unable to take away.

The discovery of these stores excited much indignation among the troops. The inhabitants had been constantly representing themselves as reduced to the last point of hunger, and had frequently received provisions from the scanty supplies of the garrison; and the soldiers were exasperated on finding that, all this time, they possessed great stores of wine, flour, and other articles; which they were h.o.a.rding to produce, and sell, when prices should rise to even more exorbitant heights than they had already reached.

At five o'clock the enemy's batteries opened again; and the firing continued, without intermission, all that night. As several casualties had taken place, in the barracks and quarters; marquees were, on the following morning, served out to all the officers whose quarters were exposed to fire, and these were pitched near Europa Point, as were also a large number of tents for the use of the inhabitants.

A considerable body of troops were kept under arms, near the northern gate, in case the Spaniards should attempt to make an a.s.sault under cover of their fire; and five hundred officers and men were told off, to a.s.sist in the work of getting the supplies up from the wharves, as fast as they were landed from the transports.

The bombardment continued during the whole of the next two days.

The mortars still poured their sh.e.l.ls upon the town; but the guns were now directed at our batteries, and their fire was remarkably accurate.

On the 14th the unloading parties were increased to a thousand men, and strong detachments of troops were told off to extinguish the fires in the town; as the enemy were now discharging sh.e.l.l filled with a composition that burned with great fury, igniting everything with which it came in contact. The troops engaged upon this duty were not long in broaching the casks of wine found, in such abundance, in many of the ruined houses. For two years they had been living almost entirely on salt provisions, and wine had been selling at prices vastly beyond their means. It was scarcely surprising, then, that they should take advantage of this opportunity.

The stores were practically lost, for the whole town was crumbling to pieces beneath the fire of the enemy's mortars, and was on fire in several places; and little, if any, of the liquor and stores consumed could, in any case, have been saved. However, for a time insubordination reigned. The troops carried off liquor to their quarters, barricaded themselves there, and got drunk; and it was two or three days before discipline was restored. Up to this time the conduct of the soldiers had been most exemplary, and they had borne their prolonged hards.h.i.+ps without a murmur; and this outbreak was due as much to a spirit of revenge against the inhabitants, for hiding away great stores of provisions and liquor, with a view to making exorbitant profits, as from a desire to indulge in a luxury of which they had been so long deprived.

On the 15th the enemy's fire was hotter than ever; and the guns were withdrawn from our batteries, as they produced but little effect upon the Spanish batteries, and the men working them suffered a good deal from the besiegers' fire. Two officers were dangerously wounded, in one of the casemates of the King's Bastion; and the fire was so heavy, around some of the barracks, that all the troops who could not be disposed of, in the casemates and bomb-proofs, were sent out of the town and encamped southward and, the next day, all the women and children who had gone with their husbands and fathers into the casemates were also removed, and placed under canvas. All this gave incessant work to the troops, for there was no level ground upon which the tents could be pitched and, as it was therefore necessary to level all the ground into terraces, it was some days before the camps were ranged in anything like order.

Each day the enemy sent out their gunboats to hara.s.s the merchantmen, but these were always driven back by the guns of the fleet. On the 17th the besiegers' sh.e.l.ls set fire to the Spanish church, which had been used as a storehouse. Strong parties were sent down to remove the provisions, which consisted largely of barrels of flour. These were carried up and piled, so as to afford protection to the casemates, which had been frequently entered by the enemy's shots--several men having been killed there. They proved a valuable defence; and afforded, moreover, great amus.e.m.e.nt to the soldiers who, whenever a barrel was smashed by a sh.e.l.l, carried off the contents and quickly converted them into pancakes, until so many casks had been emptied that the whole structure came toppling down.

On the 18th a sh.e.l.l came through the arch of one of the casemates, killing two and wounding four men and, in consequence, a good many more of the troops were sent under canvas.

On the 20th the work of unloading the greater portion of the transports was completed; and the admiral, who was most anxious to take advantage of the easterly wind, that was blowing, to sail out of the Straits, gave the signal for departure. Many of the merchantmen, whose cargoes were consigned to merchants and traders on the Rock, carried them back to England; as the merchants, having no place, whatever, in which to store goods--for the town was now almost entirely destroyed--refused to accept them. The transports, with ordnance stores, were brought in behind the New Mole to be discharged at leisure; while several colliers were run close in, and scuttled, so that their cargoes could be removed as required.

A great many of the inhabitants, and of the officers' wives and families, embarked on board the fleet before it left. The enemy's fire still continued very heavy; and their guns and mortar boats, on the 23rd, came boldly out and opened fire upon the working parties, who were stacking the barrels and stores at the south end of the Rock. The wife of a soldier was killed, and several men wounded.

On the 26th the governor determined sternly to repress the drunkenness that still prevailed, owing to the soldiers going down among the ruins of the town, where they occasionally discovered uninjured casks of wine. An order was therefore issued, on that day, that any soldier convicted of being drunk, asleep at his post, or marauding, should be immediately shot.

On the 27th a convoy of twenty s.h.i.+ps, in charge of the Brilliant and three other frigates, came in from Minorca; where the governor had ordered provisions to be purchased, in case the convoy expected from England did not arrive. The arrival of these s.h.i.+ps largely added to the stores at the disposal of the garrison.

Chapter 16: A Cruise In The Brilliant.

While the bombardment continued, Bob had been constantly occupied.

He had, some time before, put down his name as a volunteer for service, if required; and he and several others, who had similarly enrolled themselves, had been appointed to a.s.sist in looking after the removal of the soldiers' wives and children to the tents erected for them, and to seeing to their comfort there. He had also been in charge of bodies of labourers, employed by the governor in the work of levelling the ground and transporting stores.

Captain O'Halloran was constantly away on duty and, soon after the bombardment began, it was found necessary to drive the whole of the poultry into the lower part of the house; the Spaniards retaining only one room for their own accommodation. Had not this step been taken, the chickens would speedily have been stolen by marauders as, in the absence of Captain O'Halloran and Bob, there was no one to protect them. After the issue of the governor's proclamation, discipline was speedily restored, and there was no longer any occasion to keep them under shelter.

The bombardment was followed by heavy rains, which caused very great discomfort to the troops. The water, pouring in torrents down the face of the hills, swept away the newly raised banks; and brought down the tents, the soldiers having to turn out in the wet--and as the troops, owing to their heavy duties, were only one night out of three in bed, the discomfort and annoyance were very great. Great quant.i.ties of the provisions, too, were damaged; as these were all stacked in the open air, with no other covering than that afforded by the sails of the colliers, which were cut off and used for the purpose. Until the end of the month the downfall of rain was incessant, and was accompanied with heavy storms of thunder and lightning. The batteries required constant repair, and the labours of the troops were very severe.

Since the departure of Admiral Darby's fleet, the enemy appeared to have given up all hopes of compelling the place to surrender by hunger. The convoy from Minorca had not been interfered with and, on the 2nd of May, two native craft came in from Algiers with sheep, wine, and brandy, unmolested by the enemy's cruisers.

The enemy's fire had never entirely ceased, since the commencement of the bombardment, and now amounted to about fifteen hundred rounds, every twenty-four hours; the gunboats generally coming out, every day, and sending their missiles into the town and batteries--the latter being specially the mark of the enemy's land guns, which reached even the highest batteries on the Rock. All through May and June the enemy's fire continued; dropping, towards the end of the latter month, to about five hundred shot and sh.e.l.l a day. The gunboats were specially annoying, directing their fire against the south end of the Rock, and causing great alarm and distress among the fugitives from the town encamped there.

Occasionally they directed their fire towards the houses that had escaped the fire of the land batteries; and several shot and sh.e.l.l fell near the O'Hallorans' but, fortunately, without hitting the house.

The volunteers had now been released from duty, and Bob was free to wander about as he pleased. As, since his exploit in fetching in the fruit, he had become known to every officer in the garrison; he was a privileged person, and was able to enter any of the batteries, and to watch the effects of their fire against the enemy's forts and lines. He often spent the day on board the Brilliant. At the end of June the frigate went away for a fortnight's cruise, and the captain invited Bob to accompany them.

"We shall all expect great things from you, Mr. Repton. As you managed to capture some fifty thousand pounds' worth of prizes, when you were on board that privateer brig, you ought to put the frigate into the way of taking at least four times as much."

"It is easy to turn a brig into anything, Captain Langton; but there is no making one of His Majesty's frigates look other but what she is. The mere sight of your topsails is enough to send every Spanish craft into port."

For three or four days the frigate sailed along the coast; keeping well out during the day, and closing with the land in the evening.

Two or three small coasters were picked up by the boats, but they were scarcely worth sending into Gibraltar. On the fifth day a large barque was seen, making in from the south. All sail was made, but the barque had the weather gage and, crossing her, ran into the sh.o.r.e and anch.o.r.ed under the shelter of a battery.

"That would be a prize worth having, Bob," Jim Sankey said. "I wonder what she has got on board? Perhaps she is like that craft you captured, choke-full of lead and silver, from Lima."