Paddy Finn Part 19

The ladies clung to Mr Martin with looks of terror. Again there came that fearful shaking of the earth; many of the remaining buildings toppled over. Flashes of lightning, brighter than I had ever before beheld, darted from the sky and lighted up the sea. Even the night scarcely added to the horrors of those moments, as far as we were concerned, though it must have done so to the miserable people still within the precincts of the town. At one time the water seemed to recede altogether out of the bay, but presently, as if gathered up in a heap, it once more rolled over the land.

Hour after hour went by, till about midnight, almost as suddenly as it had commenced, the hurricane pa.s.sed away from us on its devastating course; and in a short time, excepting the roar of the surf upon the sh.o.r.e, scarcely a sound was heard. On this we set out for the barracks, hoping that they had withstood the tempest. Although they had suffered considerably, the larger portion had escaped.

Mr Martin and his wife and daughter warmly expressed their grat.i.tude to us for having rescued them from their perilous position, saying that they must have perished had we not come to their a.s.sistance.

"I wish that I had a home to which to invite you, said Mr Martin, with a melancholy smile; but I trust that my house may ere long be rebuilt, and that I may have the means of showing my grat.i.tude better than I can now."

"I shall be very happy to stay with you if I have the chance," I answered; "but I suspect it will be a long time before I again get leave."

The officers, as might have been expected, received us in the kindest way possible. Duffy was delighted to see us. He fancied I might have gone on board, and sailed before the hurricane came on.

Next morning the commanding officer marched the whole of the men down, to render such a.s.sistance as they could to the survivors among the suffering inhabitants. I have never since witnessed a more fearful scene of destruction than the town presented. Numbers were lying about in the streets, where they had been crushed to death by the falling ma.s.ses, many among them being the princ.i.p.al people in the place. In all directions the survivors were rushing about in quest of relatives or friends; while the larger number of the dead lay concealed beneath the ruins.

The appearance of the _Princess Royal_ was extraordinary. We had seen her cast on sh.o.r.e and left on her beam-ends. At present she was perfectly upright, the ground beneath her keel, during the earthquake, having given way: and there she lay, securely embedded, without the possibility of ever being set afloat again, about a quarter of a mile from the beach. Two other vessels had been driven higher on sh.o.r.e, but lay on their beam-ends. It was at once proposed to utilise the vessel, by making her the home of the houseless inhabitants; and forthwith the women and children, and men unable to labour, were collected on board her. As I surveyed the effects of the hurricane, I naturally felt very anxious about my ship, fearing that she might have been at sea, and been lost. I afterwards learned that it was only the eastern wing of the hurricane that had swept by the western end of Jamaica, but that its influence in a less degree had been felt over the whole island. As soon as the news reached Kingston, vessels were despatched with provisions, and such relief as could be afforded, for the sufferers. As I was anxious to get back, I took my pa.s.sage with Larry on board the _Rose_ schooner. The captain promised to land us at Port Royal in a couple of days; "always providing that we are not snapped up by the enemy, or that another hurricane doesn't come on," he observed.

As we sailed out of the harbour, I could see at one glance, more clearly than before, the destruction worked by the hurricane and earthquake.

The whole town appeared to be reduced to heaps of ruins, with here and there a few shattered walls standing up in their midst. The skipper of the _Rose_ could give me no information about the _Liffy_, There were a considerable number of men-of-war in the harbour, and he had not taken especial note of any of them.

"If she was at sea during the hurricane, it is a hundred to one that she escaped," he observed.

We made all sail, and kept in sh.o.r.e as much as we could, lest the enemy's privateers might spy us out, and carry us off to Saint Domingo, or elsewhere. We, however, escaped all dangers; and, to my great joy, on entering Port Royal I made out the _Liffy_ among the other men-of-war at anchor. The _Rose's_ boat took me alongside. Mr Saunders was on deck, so I went up to him.

"Come aboard, sir," I said, touching my hat.

"What, my lad! is it you?" he exclaimed. "I'm glad to see you. There was a report that you had perished during the hurricane at Savannah.

How is your leg? Able to return to your duty, I hope?"

"As able and willing as ever, sir," I answered.

"That's all right; there'll be work for us all, ere long."

As I entered the berth there was a regular shout, "Hurrah, Paddy Finn!"

"Glad to have you back, youngster," cried Nettleship.

Tom Pim grasped my hand, and seemed unwilling to let it go, though he didn't say as much as many of the others. I had to answer whole volleys of questions from my messmates, who were all eager to know what had happened to me. I described our narrow escape from the town, and modestly touched on the part I had taken in rescuing Mr Martin and his wife and daughter.

"Glad to see you uphold the honour of the cloth," said Nettleship; "we should never see anybody in danger, and not try to help them at the risk of our lives."

I was amply repaid by the praises my messmates bestowed upon me, for they knew that I had only told them the truth without exaggeration. I asked what they expected we should do next.

"Look out for the French and Spanish fleets, which have long been threatening to pay the island a visit, and take possession of it, if they can," answered Nettleship. "Why they have not come before now I don't know; but there's some reason for it, I suppose."

The sound of music, and the stamp of feet, as I went forward in the evening, showed me that Larry's fiddle had been taken care of; and there he was, sc.r.a.ping away in high glee, setting his messmates dancing merrily to his music, they not troubling their heads about the fierce work which was in store for them. He had received, he afterwards told me, a hearty welcome from all hands, who were delighted to get him back among them.

The next morning Nettleship went on sh.o.r.e. We were most of us in the berth when he returned.

"I have grand news, boys; not so much for us, though, as for the people of Jamaica. The governor has received information that the Spanish and French fleets were caught in the late hurricane, as they were cruising off Cape Francois. Two Spanish ships foundered, two more were driven no one knows where, and four were dismasted. Two Frenchmen were dismasted, one went to the bottom, and another was driven on sh.o.r.e, while the rest, considerably battered, had to bear away to Havanna."

"How do you know that it's all true?" asked several of the mess.

"I heard it from the captain himself, and, what's more, we're to sail forthwith to carry the information to Sir Samuel Hood, who is supposed to be at Barbadoes. He sent me on to direct Mr Saunders to get the ship ready for sea, so that we may sail the moment he comes on board."

The boatswain's call, summoning all hands on deck, prevented us from asking any further questions. It not being known at what moment the ship might be sent to sea, she was kept well provided with water and fresh provisions, so that we had nothing to wait for from the sh.o.r.e, except a few of the officers, who had gone to Port Royal.

Blue Peter was hoisted and a gun fired, as a signal for them to come off. The topsails were loosed, the cable hove short, and we were ready to start at the first puff of the land breeze that might come off the mountains. We were all anxiously looking out for the appearance of the captain. The moment his gig came alongside, she was hoisted up, the anchor hove in, the sails let fall, and we glided out of the harbour.

Under the influence of the land breeze, with studding-sails set below and aloft, we ran on at a rapid rate, expecting that we should reach Barbadoes in about a week at the furthest. When once away from the land, the wind dropped, and for hours we lay becalmed. The next morning we got a light breeze, which enabled us to steer our course. A constant look-out was kept for the enemy, for though the main body of the French fleet was said to be in harbour, it was likely that their cruisers would be met with.

Nettleship, Tom Pim, and I were in the morning watch. The first ruddy streaks, harbingers of the rising sun, had appeared in the eastern sky, when the look-out who had been sent aloft shouted, "A sail on the lee-bow."

CHAPTER THIRTEEN.

FRESH CAPTURES.

There had been a stark calm since the commencement of the middle watch.

The sails still hung up and down against the masts.

"What does she look like?" inquired Mr Bramston, the lieutenant of the watch.

"A ship, sir," was the answer.

Nettleship, with his gla.s.s at his back, sprang up the rigging to take a look at the stranger.

"She's a ship, sir, but appears to me to be a small one," he observed as he came down. The chances are that it's all we shall know about her.

If she gets a breeze before us she'll soon be out of sight.

Soon after, some catspaws began to play across the water.

"Hurrah! we shall get the breeze before the stranger feels it," cried Nettleship.

Now the canvas began to bulge out; now it again dropped. The royals and topgallant sails filled, and the frigate moved slowly through the water.

Her speed soon increased, however, as the breeze freshened. At length we could see the stranger from the decks, for, as she still lay becalmed, we were quickly coming up with her. Nettleship again went aloft, and I followed him.

"What do you think of her?" I asked.

"She's Spanish or French; I'm pretty certain of that. A flush-decked ship, probably carrying twenty to six-and-twenty guns."

"If she can't escape, will she fight, do you think?" I inquired.

"If her captain has any pluck in him, he may hope to knock away some of our spars, though he can't expect to take us," he said.

When we again came below, and Nettleship made his report, the drum beat to quarters. Every st.i.tch of canvas we could carry had been set, below and aloft. We were carrying down the breeze as we glided on towards the stranger. She also made all sail, though she still lay becalmed; but every moment we expected to see her canvas blow out, when, if she was a fast vessel, she might lead us a long chase before we could come up to her. As our object was to get down to Barbadoes with all speed, the captain might consider it his duty to let her go, rather than be led out of his course. As we approached, our bow-chasers were got ready, to send her an unmistakeable message that she must strike, or run for it.

Hitherto she had shown no colours. Presently the French ensign was run up at her peak. Immediately afterwards a flash issued from her stern, and a shot came bounding over the water towards us; but we were not yet within range.

"That's a long gun," observed Nettleship. "If she keeps ahead, she may do us some damage with it before we get alongside of her."