A Lad of Grit Part 8

Fortunately I was spared the ordeal of attending the trial, but I heard that the gallows or transportation to the West Indies accounted for the whole of the rascally crew, against whom the barbaric crime of wrecking, as well as smuggling, was proved right up to the hilt.

It was late in December, in clear, frosty weather, that we started on our homeward journey, proceeding by easy stages through Wimborne, Ringwood, and the New Forest to Southampton, and on the last day of December of the year 1663 I arrived at Portsmouth again, after an absence of over three years.

CHAPTER XIV.

--I Set Out to Fight the Dutch.

I must now pa.s.s over a s.p.a.ce of a year, there being but little of interest to record. All this time it must not be imagined that I had given up the quest for my father's murderer; indeed, as I grew older, my thoughts of bringing the villain to justice waxed hotter instead of waning. My uncle, Sir George Lee, and Lawyer Whitehead had each prosecuted vigorous enquiries, but all attempts to run the felon to earth had proved fruitless.

The loss of the mysterious metal box also caused me considerable misgivings, and the vague hints thrown out by my uncle at sundry times did much to increase my uneasiness on that score.

Meanwhile it seemed as if the earth had opened and swallowed both Increase Joyce and the box (for in my mind the two were inseparably a.s.sociated), though I had a presentiment that I should obtain satisfaction in the end.

But to resume my story. Twelve months sped swiftly by ere my physical condition became as good as before my malady, and with the lengthening days of January I entertained great hopes of going again to sea.

Rumours of a rupture with the States of Holland were in the air, and, taking the aggressive action of the Dutchmen in mercantile matters into consideration, the prospect of a war was hailed with delight.

One day early in February I went to call on my benefactor, Sir Thomas Middleton, in the hope that he would get me appointed to a ship.

He received me kindly, but held out little hope of my desire being fulfilled.

"Would that I could, Aubrey," he remarked sorrowfully. "My whole time is spent in writing to Master Samuel Pepys praying for money to pay the arrears of both seamen and workmen. G.o.d knows, the poor wretches are hard put; but the money that should go for the defence of the realm finds its way into the hands of His Majesty's favourites. There is a new ship to be launched this month, but there is not a man belonging to her except the officers, whose work is to look about them. Never did we require cordage and hemp more than we do now. Fifteen ships now in port are making demands for rope, and what we have in store signifies nothing. The blockmakers and joiners have gone away, refusing to work any longer without money; the sawyers threaten to do the same. I am even now going the rounds of the yard, so if you will bear me company you can see for yourself to what straits we are put."

So saying, the commissioner led the way to the dockyard, past the ropehouse to the building slips, where a tall vessel lay ready for launching, yet hardly a workman was to be seen. Instead, a mob of women and children followed Sir Thomas at a distance, reviling and cursing the king, the commissioner, and the navy in general by reason of the non-payment of their husbands' and fathers' wages.

"Faith, 'tis hard on them," remarked Sir Thomas; "but for foulness of tongue they out-vie the daughters of Billingsgate. Now, we'll make for yonder workshop, for there will be found the only reliable men working in the dockyard."

But alas for the commissioner's hopes! On entering the shop he found that, instead of being diligently employed, the men were listening to a heated discourse from a malcontent from another part of the dockyard. This last straw raised Sir Thomas's ire. Seizing a stout cudgel from one of the men, he struck out right and left at the astonished party till bruised and cut pates became the order of the day. Then, having thoroughly cowed the malcontents by taking more pains in the use of the stick than in any business for the last twelve months (as he afterwards expressed it), he sent for the guard and clapped three of the ringleaders in the stocks.

"You see, Aubrey," he exclaimed on our return to his house, "how I am put upon. Though I would gladly serve His Majesty in great and small matters, yet how can I when the lack of money hangeth like a millstone round my neck? As for you, the moment I can get you a vessel I'll do my utmost, but, as things are, I can hold out but little hope."

I thanked him and withdrew, feeling sick at heart at the prospect of a life of idleness when I might be serving the king at sea.

Towards the end of February news came that war had been proclaimed against the Dutch, and the beating of drums and the firing of cannons welcomed the announcement. What ships there were in the harbour weighed and sailed for the Downs, to join the fleet that lay there under the command of the Duke of York. Disconsolately I watched their departure, regretting the fact that I was unable to take a part in the coming struggle.

As time wore on, news of sanguinary naval engagements reached us, while occasionally a Dutch vessel would be brought into the harbour, her ensign hoisted beneath the cross of St. George, and her crew battened down in the hold.

The captives were invariably taken to Porchester Castle, a building of immense strength that lay on the sh.o.r.es of Portsmouth harbour, some four miles away by water.

Spring came and went, yet to my great mortification I was not sent to join a ship, though in the interval I engaged in a private venture--a few gentlemen of Hampshire having fitted out a small vessel to prey upon Dutch merchantmen. But the task was not to my liking; little renown was to be gained, and after three weeks I was glad to return home.

One evening in June I went down to the Sally Port, as was my wont, to look towards Spithead, in the hope of seeing part of our victorious fleet return. The guard had been doubled since the declaration of hostilities, and every vessel and boat that made for the harbour was vigorously searched.

"Ah, Master Wentworth," remarked the captain of the guard, who dwelt not far from us in St. Thomas's Street, and whose acquaintance I had made some time back, "our town hath other enemies to fight besides the Hollanders!"

"Oh!" I e.j.a.c.u.l.a.t.ed, in a manner that implied that I wanted to be further enlightened.

"Yes, 'tis true. The Dutchmen we can fight man to man in a straightforward manner, but our latest foe is not to be conquered by strength of arms--'tis the plague!"

"The plague?"

"Yea. From Southampton comes news that the plague is in that town, and eight houses are shut up. Sir Thomas Middleton hath given orders that the shipwrights who dwell there are not to be allowed to go home, and those already living there are not to be readmitted to the dockyard. Furthermore, the poor there will not suffer the rich to leave, neither doth our governor permit ships from Southampton to land their cargoes here."

Here was grave news. I hurried homewards and communicated the captain's information to my uncle. He shook his head sorrowfully.

"The plague is rampant in London. In Chichester eleven persons have died. At Newport there have been two cases, yet in this town we are free, though in dire straits. Still, Aubrey, let not a word escape to alarm your aunt. I must see that we lay in a goodly store of brimstone."

Throughout the long sultry summer we were mercifully preserved from the contagion; then, as autumn came, and still the plague did not appear amongst us, people began to think that with the approach of the cold weather all danger was past.

But this was not the case. Winter drew on, and with it the cold was intense, a sharp frost lasting for over six weeks.

Towards the end of December the Ess.e.x, man-of-war, came into port, and hardly had she moored alongside the jetty when the report spread about that she was infected with the dread disease. Immediately there was a panic amongst the workmen, and, throwing down their tools, they betook themselves off, vowing that neither the king nor the king's enemies would make them resume work till the Ess.e.x had gone.

Finding threats and entreaties useless, the commissioner ordered the Ess.e.x to moor in the centre of the harbour. This was done, but rumour had it that at midnight the bodies of eight men, victims of the plague, were taken ash.o.r.e and buried secretly in the Pest House fields.

Two days afterwards it was known that three more of her crew had died, and were buried on the foresh.o.r.e at Gosport; while, to disinfect the ship, great quant.i.ties of brimstone were burnt, but to no purpose.

Then, strange to relate, the plague broke out in Gosport town, whither some three hundred men pa.s.s over every day to work in the dockyard, so it was not surprising to learn that at length the dreaded scourge had appeared in our own town.

With fierce violence it spread. Many houses were shut up, their doors marked by a cross with the words "G.o.d have mercy upon us" written underneath. At first pa.s.sers-by would cross in fear and trembling to the other side of the street whenever this mournful sign met their eyes, but as the number of cases increased people became hardened to the danger.

Many put the cause of the disease, rightly enough, to the filthy habits of the poorer people, and hearing that salt water was a preventive, scores of the inhabitants repaired daily to the seash.o.r.e, plunging into the bitterly cold waves in the hope of staving off the malady.

Day and night large fires were lighted in the streets, while, to add to the misery, the silent watches of the night were broken by the hoa.r.s.e shout of the watchmen, who, ringing their bells, cried out in solemn tones: "Bring out your dead."

All the time the war with the Dutch was waged unceasingly, till it was reported that the French, apprehensive of our supremacy at sea, joined forces with the States of Holland and declared war against us.

Early in April, to my great joy, Sir Thomas Middleton informed me that I was to join the Prince Royal, a ship of 100 guns, then lying at Chatham with the rest of the fleet under the command of the Duke of Albemarle and Prince Rupert.

"As the pestilence rages in London town," said he, "it is not meet that a man should risk an inglorious death when he would serve His Majesty better by dying for his country while fighting the Dutch. Therefore, instead of going by coach to London, and thence to Chatham by river, we are sending a shallop to Dover, whence you can travel through the county of Kent to Chatham. Several officers and men are making the pa.s.sage, to bring up the crew of the Prince Royal to full strength, for she has had some hard knocks, and promotion is sure to be rapid should she again meet with the Dutch."

I thanked the commissioner heartily and withdrew. Having bade farewell to my friends, and gathered together my few personal belongings, I retired for the night, as the shallop was to sail at six the next morning.

On going aboard I found that not less than four officers and thirty men were packed in this little craft. To my surprise and delight Greville Drake was amongst the former, he having been promoted to lieutenant. There were also several of the old Gannets, and to me it seemed as if the glorious doings in the stout old craft would be worthily followed by the crew of the Prince Royal.

The shallop was but fifty feet over all, unarmed save for the muskets and swords carried by the men, and relied on her speed only for safety in case of attack.

With a fair wind the little craft tore eastwards, pa.s.sing through the Looe before nine o'clock. Then the wind fell lighter as the sun rose higher, and midday found us forging slowly along off Littlehampton, on the Suss.e.x coast.

Four hours later we had Brighthelmstone on our larboard bow, the master of the shallop keeping close insh.o.r.e for fear of being attacked by a French or Dutch man-of-war. Finding, however, that there was more wind offsh.o.r.e, he altered the helm and stood more to the south-east.

At sunset a thick mist came on, which caused our careful and anxious master to lose his bearings. Most of us remained on deck, though the weather was exceedingly cold. As darkness set in our position became still more uncertain, and even the oldest seamen began to look alarmed.

Drake and I stood side by side conversing in low tones as we clung to the weather rails, the lively motion of the little craft making it a difficult matter to keep one's feet.

Between the gusts of wind I thought I heard a sound. Drake listened, but could hear nothing. In a few minutes the noise was repeated, several of the crew hearing it besides myself. It was the roll of a drum.

Again the sound was heard, this time nearer; but almost immediately it was answered by another faint beating, another, and yet another, till the sea seemed to echo with the rapid roll of drums.

"Stand by, lads, to 'bout ship!" shouted the master, slacking off the tiller lines. "We are across the bows of a large fleet, if I mistake not."

"G.o.d forfend 'tis not the French!" remarked Greville. "'Tis not to my liking to see the inside of a French prison."

We peered through the mist and darkness of the night, but nothing could be distinguished. Sea met mist in an undefined blur at less than twenty yards from us.

Half an hour pa.s.sed in breathless suspense, then the noise broke out again, this time close ahead and far away on both quarters as well.

"'Tis no use to go about now," said I to my companion. "We are sailing right across the van of a great fleet."

The master was of the same mind, for in a few minutes he put the shallop's head more before the wind, so that she lay in the supposed direction of the invisible squadron.

Now we could hear the rush of the water from the vessels' cut.w.a.ters, the straining of the ropes and the creaking of the blocks, while the ships were continually hailing one another so as to keep in touch.

In what language they were talking we could not make out, but it did not sound like an English hail. Anxiety was stamped on all our faces, for we had to run the risk not only of collision with a vessel ten times our size, but of being taken by a French or Dutch man-of-war.

By this time the moon had risen, dispelling the darkness, though the fog hung around as thick as ever; but withal there was enough light to see the length of our craft.

Suddenly, with a swirl of beaten water, a huge vessel loomed out of the mist, her flying jibboom seeming to project right over our stern. Our master and one of the seamen flung themselves on the tiller and put it hard down. The shallop ran up into the wind and lost way, and as she did so the man-of-war thrashed by us so near that we could see the gunports of her lofty tumble-home sides, though her spars and sails were lost in the mist.

We were seen by those on board. Shouts followed the discovery, and every moment we expected to find some heavy weight crashing down upon us, or a discharge from some of her lower-deck guns; but beyond the shouting we were not molested.

We rubbed sides with the hulking ship as she shot past, and when clear of her quarter we read the name Jeanne d' Arc emblazoned on her stern gallery, with an elaborate embellishment of gilded eagles and fleurs-de-lis.

"Oh for a barrel of powder and a slow match lashed to her rudder pintle!" exclaimed Drake. "But stand by, here comes another!"

Such was the case, and before the Jeanne d' Arc was lost in the mist the bows of another vessel loomed up. By this time the shallop was wearing and gathering way, so the master ordered both sails to be lowered, a manoeuvre that was smartly executed, and as the second Frenchman pa.s.sed us our craft was lying motionless on the water.

This time fortune did not smile on us, for as the shallop was on the Frenchman's lee a spurt of flame burst from the man-of-war, immediately followed by a deafening roar, and with it our mizzen mast went by the board with a terrific crash.

The shot was replied to by the nearest Frenchman, and for the s.p.a.ce of a quarter of an hour a spirited pitched battle occurred between the various ships of the squadron, friend firing into friend in the confusion and excitement.

Though several shots pitched close to us, we escaped without further injury, and ere the echoes of the last report had died away we were far behind the now invisible fleet.

The anxiety of the master on account of the fog had vanished utterly on meeting with the Frenchmen, and with spirited promptness he set the crew to clear away the wreckage and parbuckle the broken mast.

"My men," he cried, "that fleet is none other than the forty sail of the Duke of Beaufort, who seeks to effect a junction with the Dutch! Yo ho! Straight for the nearest land we'll make now. Whether we beach the shallop on an exposed coast or bring her into port I care not, but land we must, and bear tidings hot-foot to His Grace the Duke of Albemarle."

So saying, he turned the shallop's head due north, and as daylight dawned the mist dispersed, and we found ourselves a few miles from the Kentish coast, with Rye plainly visible.

An hour later and the shallop was making her way cautiously into the sand-enc.u.mbered harbour, and, the moment we landed, the officers, myself included, obtained horses and set out for Chatham, leaving the men to follow afoot as best they might. Meanwhile the news that the Duke of Beaufort's squadron was really in the Channel had spread abroad, causing the timid inhabitants of Rye to make preparations for a hurried exodus, while the trainbands were called out by beat of drum, and had a.s.sembled in the marketplace.

Our journey to Chatham was performed without incident, though the heavy rains had made the roads a perfect quagmire in many places. Tenterden we reached in an hour, and two hours later we were clattering through the streets of Maidstone.

At four in the afternoon five weatherworn and mud-bespattered travellers arrived at Chatham, where a rowboat took us to Albemarle's flagship, which lay at anchor in Gillingham Reach.

Honest George, as the seamen still loved to call the gallant duke, was now getting on in years and weighed down by physical infirmity, yet in time of danger his energy and fearless determination would have put to shame many a younger man. If he had had but a free hand, I warrant the disgrace of the Dutch in the Medway would never have occurred; but the baneful influence of the court beauties drove His Majesty almost to poverty, so that when retrenchment had to come it was the fleet that suffered.

The admiral received us kindly, and on receipt of our news ordered a signal to be flown recalling all officers and men belonging to the fleet who were on sh.o.r.e, and ere sunset the English squadron was making its way towards the Nore to chase and destroy the Hollanders' ally.

On joining the Prince Royal I was surprised at her size, equipment, and smartness. Practically a new ship, she was commanded by the veteran Sir George Ascue, and her crew were all men who had seen active service against the Dutch, the Spaniards, or the Barbary pirates. Compared with the Gannet the Prince Royal was as a mastiff by the side of a lapdog, while the smallest of her 100 guns was larger than the heaviest piece of ordnance in my first ship.

With a favourable wind the fleet arrived off the Forelands and thence beat up for the Downs, where we were in a position to meet either the Dutch or the French squadrons; but off Dover we learned from a fishing boat that Beaufort was seen heading back towards Brest in order to refit some of his ships, so that for the time our chances of smelling powder were very remote.

CHAPTER XV.

--Of the Famous Sea Fight of Four Days.

During the whole of the month of May the English fleet remained cruising betwixt Gravelines and Dover, till Albemarle began to revile the Dutch for their cowardice in fearing to leave their harbours, while of de Beaufort we had neither signs nor tidings.

At length, on the last day of May, news was brought that the French fleet was actually in the Channel once more, and that de Ruyter and Van Tromp, with eighty sail, were already on the way to effect a union with de Beaufort.

A hurried council of war was held on board the flagship, and here Albemarle made the first great mistake of his life; for it is reported he held the Dutch so cheaply that he ordered Prince Rupert to take twenty vessels of our fleet and make to the westward to find and engage the French, while he relied on his remaining fifty-four ships to meet the formidable array of Dutchmen.

This counsel our captain, Sir George Ascue, ventured to oppose, but honest George in his wrath bade him hold his tongue, and Prince Rupert hastened on board his ship to detach the squadron of twenty ships in order to seek de Beaufort. Before nightfall we saw them hull down, and we set sail so as to arrive off the coast of Holland and destroy de Ruyter's craven fleet.

Craven we dubbed them; but when, on the morning of the 1st of June, we found the Dutch fleet lying at anchor, to our surprise they immediately slipped their cables and stood out to meet us, with a courage and determination that made Albemarle bitterly regret his lack of caution.

On board the Prince Royal all was bustle and excitement, yet our preparations were made without untoward confusion. Sir George made a stirring speech, the drums beat to quarters, and then came that irksome interval before opening fire that tells so acutely on the nerves of even the most hardened veteran.

The action began in a strong wind that, blowing athwart the tide, raised such a steep sea that most of our ships were unable to open their lee'ard lower-deck ports, a misfortune that more than outbalanced our advantage in having the weather gauge.

When within a mile of the enemy a signal was made to shorten sail, but the hot-headed vice-admiral, Sir William Berkeley, kept on till, half a mile ahead of the rest of us, he encountered the fire of over twenty of the Dutchmen.

We watched the gallant though unequal conflict. Unflinchingly his ship received the tremendous broadsides of the enemy, and, undaunted, Sir William returned the fire, till at length the combatants were lost in a heavy pall of smoke. Gradually the noise of the struggle ceased and the smoke cleared away. Then, to our dismay, we saw the gallant vessel a helpless, dismasted wreck in the possession of the Dutch.

Now came our turn, and before we were within a comfortable distance our spars and rigging began to fall on the deck in a manner that none of us had previously experienced. The solution of the mystery was afforded shortly afterwards by three seamen being cut in two apparently by one shot, which finished up its career of death by splintering the base of the mainmast.

The bos'n, who was standing close to me, hastened to where the missile lay, and lifting it up he exclaimed: "That's where they have us! 'Tis a chain shot--a new invention of that stubborn fiend de Wit!"

We were soon hotly engaged. Dead and wounded enc.u.mbered our decks, while the new and stately appearance of the Prince Royal altered till our ship resembled a butcher's shambles. Nevertheless, against tremendous odds, we kept up a hot fire, and had the satisfaction of seeing more than one of the towering sides of the Dutchmen crumbled into a shapeless ma.s.s of charred and splintered timbers.

With the approach of night both fleets withdrew; but for us there was little rest, as all hands were employed reeving fresh rigging, splicing spars, and plugging shot holes, while our dead were committed to the deep, and the wounded transhipped to one of the smaller vessels.