In Greek Waters Part 36

"They must be coming very slowly, Tarleton," Miller muttered impatiently. "They must be a mile away still."

"I expect the boats are crowded with troops, Miller, and I daresay they are rowing easily so as to keep well in a body."

"I suppose that is it; but I wish the beggars would make haste. I hate this waiting."

"So do I," Tarleton agreed. "Well, we shall give them a hot reception when they do come. If it were anyone but Turks, I should say we were going to have very hot work of it. The Turks are good fellows to fight on sh.o.r.e, but they are no good on the water, and I expect they will attack us pell-mell without the least plan or order. Well, we shall soon know; another ten minutes, and they will be near enough to begin."

CHAPTER XVI

FIRE-SHIPS

The time pa.s.sed slowly as they were waiting for the attack by the Turkish boats. The men muttered and growled to each other at the delay. In order to give them something to do, Miller sent all those who were not stationed at the guns down below to fetch up a number of 32-pound shot and place them in the racks, and some of the men were told off to jump up on to the rail as soon as the boats came alongside, and to throw the shot over the top of the boarding-netting down into the boats.

"I wish it was not so confoundedly dark, Miller, and that we could make the fellows out," Martyn said.

"I have got rockets and blue lights, sir. Shall I send a rocket up?

They are sure to find us, so we lose nothing by showing them where we are."

"Yes, they are sure to find us. I don't like their being such a long time in getting to us."

"They do come wonderfully slow," Miller agreed.

"Do you know, Miller, I have been thinking for some time that there must be some cause for it, and the only reason I can see is that they may be towing."

"By Jove, so they may! I did not think of that. It will be awkward if we have got a ship to fight as well as the boats."

"Very awkward. Send up a rocket, we may as well settle the question.

Pa.s.s the word round for the men to train their guns as nearly as they can in the direction in which we can hear the oars, and to fire when they get light."

A minute later a rocket shot up in the air. As it burst a number of boats were seen crowded together, towing behind them two large brigs.

There was a moment's pause while the men at the guns adjusted their aim, then the pivot-gun roared out, and the four on the broadside followed in quick succession. The distance was about six hundred yards, and the crashing of wood, followed by a chorus of shouts and cries, arose as the storm of grape swept down upon the boats.

"Load again, lads, as quick as you can," Martyn shouted. "Show a couple of blue lights, quarter-master. Boatswain, load the pivot with ball, and fire as fast as you can at the brigs; never mind the boats, we will attend to them."

The blue lights were lit and a rocket sent up, so as to burst over the enemy, and again a broadside of grape was poured in, while a shot from the pivot-gun crashed into the bows of one of the brigs; these had apparently been lashed together, so that the boats could tow them on a broad front. A confused din came across the water; shouts, cries, and orders mingled together. As far as could be seen everything was in confusion. Some of the boats had sunk, and the occupants were being pulled on board of the others. Some had thrown off their tow-ropes and were heading for the schooner, others lay helpless in the water.

[Ill.u.s.tration: REPELLING THE TURKISH BOARDERS]

"Keep the rockets going, quarter-master," Martyn said; "the more light we have the better. Horace, tell the men at the aft and forward guns to aim at the boats rowing towards us; let the two midship guns keep on at the crowd in front of the brigs. They have sent a pretty strong force against us. There must have been fully twenty of these boats at first; there are about sixteen of them now, and they are all large ones. Depress the guns on the other broadside as far as they will go, Mr. Tarleton, we shall have some of them round on that side presently.

Cant them down as much as you can."

Two more of the boats towing were disabled by the next broadside, and the rest, throwing off the ropes, rowed straight for the schooner.

"Aim steadily, men!" Martyn shouted. "Pick out your boats before you fire."

Two of the boats were sunk as they approached, three others fell behind crippled; but the others, with loud shouts, made straight at the vessel. As they approached her they opened a fire of musketry, which was answered by the rifles and muskets of the sailors. As they swept up alongside shots were heaved down into them, and the crashing of planks told that they had done their work. The guns on the starboard side were silent at first, as the first boats came up so close alongside that they could not reach them; but those that followed were further out, and two were instantly sunk.

As the Turks strove to climb up the side and cut their way through the boarding-netting, they were shot down by pistols or run through by boarding-pikes. A few managed to climb over or force their way through the netting, but these were cut down before they could obtain a footing on deck. For ten minutes the fight went on by the flare of the blue lights, and then eight Turkish boats, which alone floated, rowed away, crowded with the survivors from the others. A loud cheer broke from the schooner.

"Never mind them, my men," Martyn shouted; "load with ball now and aim at the brigs."

These had taken no part whatever in the fight. Left by the boats head on to the schooner, and almost without steerage-way, they had in vain endeavoured to get broadside on so as to bring their guns to bear. The lashings had been cut, and the rudders been put in opposite directions; they had drifted a little apart with their heads outwards, and as the boats rowed away from the schooner they opened fire with their bow-guns. The boatswain, with the men working the pivot-gun, had from the first continued steadily at their work regardless of the din around them, Horace taking his place beside them, in order to call them off to aid in repelling the Turks should they gain a footing anywhere on the deck. When the boarding-netting had been triced up, a gap had been left opposite the gun, and the fire at the brigs had been kept up without intermission, every shot raking one or other of them fore and aft.

As soon as the boats were fairly away, the guns from the starboard side were run across, the spare ports being thrown open, and the eight guns all brought into play to aid the pivot-gun. As soon as the boats reached the brigs they took shelter behind them, and in a short time both craft began to swing round, their guns firing as they were brought to bear.

"Eight guns a side," Miller said; "but it would not matter if there were twenty, if they did not aim better than that;" for not a single shot had struck the schooner. One or two pa.s.sed overhead, but the rest went wide.

Instead of the brigs being left broadside on as they had expected, their heads swept round until they were stern on to the schooner, then they began slowly to glide away.

"They have had enough of it," Miller exclaimed, and another cheer broke from the schooner.

"Cease firing!" Martyn said. "If they leave us alone we are content to leave them alone; they must have suffered tremendously as it is."

An examination was now made as to the casualties. Four men had been killed, all were shot through the head, as they had fired over the bulwark at the boats as they came alongside; six others were wounded more or less seriously, by pistol shots that had been fired by the Turks as they tried to climb on board--a small total indeed, considering the nature of the attack. When morning dawned the brigs could be made out near the opposite sh.o.r.e, they were still being towed by the boats; but as they were looking at them, sail was made as a light breeze sprang up. When the wind reached them, the mainmast of one was seen to go over the side, having doubtless been wounded by the raking fire, and carrying in its fall the fore top-gallant mast and topmast. A quarter of an hour later the breeze reached the schooner.

The decks had been already washed down, and everything had resumed its ordinary aspect, and before getting up the anchor the four men who had fallen, and who had already been sewn up in hammocks, were committed to the sea, Mr. Beveridge reading the funeral service over them. Mr.

Macfarlane reported that the wounded were all likely to do well.

As soon as the fight was over the women and children, who had been suffering agonies of terror while it had been going on, had been brought out from the hold and allowed to sleep as usual on the lower deck, which had been entirely given up to them; and when the schooner got under weigh they were permitted to come up on deck. Although they had been a.s.sured by Zaimes and his brother that all danger was over, their first action on coming up was to look round timidly, and they were evidently greatly relieved when they saw that the sea was clear of enemies. They looked much surprised at seeing everything going on as usual, and at the absence of any signs of the terrible conflict they had heard raging round them the night before--the bullet marks in the bulwarks being the only evidences of what had pa.s.sed. It had already been decided to sail for Greece in the course of a day or two, as they had as many fugitives on board as they could carry, and it was now determined to do so at once. As they sailed west they made out a large number of ships approaching, and were soon running through the Greek fleet.

"I am sorry we left now," Miller said; "we shall miss a fight."

"I expect we shall be back in time," Macfarlane remarked; "the Greeks are in no great hurry to fight. It is two months since they were sent for, when the landing was made at Chios; and after taking all this time to make up their minds about it, they are likely to take a few days before they make up their minds to have a tussle with the Turks.

The Greek mind, I observe, is full of contradictions; sometimes, especially if there is plunder to be got, their eagerness is just wonderful; but when it is a question of fighting, their caution is very remarkable."

Miller laughed. "I daresay you are right, doctor, and I don't feel at all confident that there will be a fight. So far the Greek fleet has done nothing, and their only idea of fighting a Turkish ship has been to launch a fire-ship against it."

"Fire-ships are no good against enemies who know what they are doing,"

Martyn said. "A couple of boats can always tow a fire-ship clear; but the Turks are lubberly sailors, and these fire-ships seem almost to paralyse them."

"I can't make it out," Miller put in, "why the Turks should manuvre their vessels so badly, considering that their sailors are for the most part Thessalians, drawn from the Mohammedan sea-side villages, Albanians by blood, just as the Hydriots are."

"They want British officers," the doctor said. "Officers are always the weak point with the Turks. There are no braver soldiers in the world when they are well led. But they never are well led now; their pashas seem to be chosen for stupidity and obstinacy. It is a great pity that we did not make up our minds to take Turkey instead of India. Eh, man! we should have made a grand country of it when we had once got it into order."

"We shall make a grand country of India some day, doctor. I have never been out there; but there is no doubt that just what you say about the Turks is true of the natives there, and they make very good soldiers when they have British officers to lead them."

"So they say, Captain Martyn: but you must remember that they have only fought against other natives without British officers to lead them. We must wait till we see them fighting against European troops of some other nation before we can say that they are fine soldiers."

"If we wait till then, we are likely to wait a long time, doctor.

Besides, you must remember they did fight well against the French troops under Dupleix."

"So they did, but not till they got the idea that our soldiers were better than the French. But, as you say, it will be a long time before they get the chance again. The French are no longer a power in India; nor are the Dutch; and the distance is too long for either ever to send out an army big enough to wrest India from us; and as to marching by land--well, it could not be done."

"The next day they reached the port of Athens, and got rid of their cargo of pa.s.sengers, and then, with every sail set, hurried back to Chios, touching at Psara on the way, as, from the direction in which the Greeks were steering, they thought it probable they might have made a stay there. A small Psariot vessel had just come in from the fleet, and Horace, who had gone ash.o.r.e with Marco, learned that Miaoulis, the Greek admiral, had coasted along the north of Chios, and that the Turks had at once weighed anchor and gone out to engage him.

The Greeks, not caring to fight in the narrow waters, where their power of manuvring would be thrown away, had stood out, and an engagement had taken place at the mouth of the Gulf of Smyrna."