The Ocean Cat's Paw Part 30

"All right, uncle. Why, if one of those gusts sent us into the harbour we should be drowned."

"Come a little farther this way, then, and if the wind is too much for us, why we shall only go down into this barge."

At that moment, as they looked across and downward towards the mouth of the harbour, there were the flashes of bright light to illumine the gloom of the evening, and the reports of a ragged volley of musketry coming from one of the two boats which they could now make out being rowed hard after the brig, as it glided rapidly along in the direction where the watchers now stood.

Then for a short s.p.a.ce it pa.s.sed out of sight behind a group of four vessels which were safely moored. Then it was out again, and as the lookers-on excitedly watched, they made out dimly that the vessel answered her helm readily and was gliding round in a tack for the other side of the harbour, while the two boats in pursuit altered their direction, the men rowing with all their might, as if to cut the brig off during her next tack.

There was another ragged volley, this time from the second boat; but if they were firing to bring down the steersman, it was in vain, for the brig sailed swiftly on, gaining a little way, as she made for the mouth of the harbour.

This was far distant yet, and her chances of reaching it even in the shelter of the harbour, with such a gale blowing, were almost nil.

"She'll do it, though, uncle," shouted Rodd, with his lips close to Uncle Paul's ear.

"Yes, my boy, I expect she will," was the reply; "but they've got some daring people on board, and I shouldn't like to be the man at the wheel."

"Ah, why don't they shoot? Why don't they shoot?" cried the waiter.

"She is an enemy, and--"

The rest of his speech was unheard, for another flash cut the darkness, followed by the thud of a big gun, the shot coming as it were instantly upon the waiter's question; but it had no effect upon the brig, which came nearer and nearer to the pier-like wharves of the harbour, glided round again with the two stay-sails rilling upon the other tack, and then went off once more.

"She'll get away, uncle," cried Rodd excitedly, "and I don't know what they are, but one can't help admiring such a brave deed."

There was another report, this time from quite another direction.

"That must be from the fort up behind the town, Rodd," cried Uncle Paul.

"It's too thick to see any splash, but they must be in earnest now, and will not be firing blank charges. It looks as if they mean to sink her if she doesn't stop."

"They've got to hit her first, uncle," cried Rodd excitedly. "Oh, I can't help it, uncle," he continued, with his lips close to his uncle's ear so that the waiter should not catch his words, "but I do hope they won't."

"Well, my boy, I can't help feeling the same, though she's neither enemy nor friend of ours, and we don't know what it all means; for I don't suppose," he said, with a half-laugh, "that she has got Napoleon Bonaparte on board."

Uncle Paul had not taken his nephew's precaution, and as a heavy gust was just dying out, the excited waiter caught a part of his speech.

"Ha, ha!" he cried. "You sink so? You say le Pet.i.t Caporal is on board?"

"No, no," cried Uncle Paul; "I didn't say so."

"No, sare; you think so, and zat is it. He has escape himself from ze place where you English shot him up safe, and he come in zat sheep to burn down ze town. But ah-h-h, again they will sink him. Faith of a man, no!" he cried angrily, for there was a shot from another battery, this time nearer the harbour mouth. "They cannot shoot straight."

For onward glided the brig, making tack after tack, and zigzagging her way through the narrow entrance of the harbour, at times partly sheltered by the great pier to windward, then as she glided farther out careening over in spite of the small amount of reefed sail she carried, but all the while so well under control that she kept on gaining and leaving the two boats farther and farther behind.

"Oh, if it were only lighter!" cried Rodd, stamping his foot with vexation. "Why, she'll soon be out of sight."

"Before she gets much farther," said Uncle Paul gravely, "she'll be getting within the light cast by one or other of the harbour lights, and that will be one of her critical times."

"Why critical, uncle?" cried the boy earnestly. "Because the men in the fort will have a better chance of hitting her, I should say."

"Oh, I hope they won't," said Rodd beneath his breath. "Why, it would be horrible, uncle," he half whispered, with his lips close to his uncle's face. "She must have a brave captain to dare all this."

"A very brave captain," said Uncle Paul earnestly. "But you think she'll get away, uncle?"

"No, Rodney," said the doctor, laying his hand with a firm grip upon his nephew's shoulder. "She may pa.s.s through the harbour mouth without being hit by the gunners, for it would require a clever marksman to hit so swiftly moving an object, rising and falling as the brig does now that she is getting into the disturbed water near the mouth."

"But suppose she pa.s.ses through untouched, uncle? What then?"

"What then, boy? She will be out of the shelter given by the end of the jetty. It's too dim now to see, but once or twice I had just a glimpse of the waves was.h.i.+ng over the harbour light, and there must be a terrific sea out there. Why, you can hear it plainly even here."

"No, uncle; that's the wind."

"And waves, my boy. Why, trying to sail out there in the teeth of such a gale as this, it will be almost impossible for her to escape. It seems to me to be an act of madness to attempt such an escapade, and cleverly as the brig is handled I think it is doubtful whether she will ever clear the mouth. But if she does she will catch the full force of the storm and--"

"And what, uncle?"

"Be carried away yonder to the east somewhere and cast ash.o.r.e."

"Oh-h!" sighed Rodd; and it was almost a groan.

CHAPTER SIXTEEN.

ESCAPE.

Three more shots were fired at intervals, as the brig kept making short tack after tack, and with each report the flash appeared to be brighter, indicative of the increasing darkness, while now a pale lambent light seemed to be dawning at times and making the shape of the brig stand out more clearly at intervals, but only to fade away again quickly, while there were moments when the vessel quite disappeared.

"Why is that, uncle?" asked Rodd quickly, as he looked vainly now in search of the flying craft. "Ah, there she is again! I began to think she had gone down. Why is she seen so dimly sometimes?"

"Hidden by the flying spray, I think," said Uncle Paul.

"Oh yes, of course," cried the boy. "Ah, there she is, quite clear now, and still going on nearer and nearer to the harbour mouth. No--now it's getting darker than ever.--There, now she's coming into sight again quite clearly."

"Yes, she's getting out where the harbour lights are full upon her,"

said Uncle Paul.

As he spoke there were two more reports, almost simultaneous, and Rodd felt a peculiar sense of pain attacking him, for at one moment when the two guns flashed, the brig could be plainly seen; the next, as the boy strained his eyes, all was black darkness, and he caught at his uncle's arm with his hands trembling and an intense longing upon him to speak; but no words would come.

It seemed like some minutes before a word was uttered, and then it was the doctor who spoke.

"I haven't caught sight of the boats lately," he said. "It is evident that they have given up the chase."

"Oh, uncle, uncle," cried Rodd, "I was not thinking about them, but of those poor fellows in the brig. One of those last shots must have hit, and they have gone down."

"Oh no," cried Uncle Paul; "I saw her once again. Just now.--Yes, there she is, tossing wildly in the waves. She must be beyond the mouth of the harbour, and--"

"Yes, I see her! I see her!" cried Rodd wildly. "No, she's gone again; but she was pitching and tossing horribly."

"Yes," said Uncle Paul. "It's going to be hard work for them now, for the waves out there must be tremendous. Well, my boy, it was a daring attempt, and whoever they are let's hope they may escape, but--"

Uncle Paul was silent, and once more the boy uttered a low groan.