The Cruise of the "Esmeralda" Part 9

The baronet's head had scarcely vanished beneath the companion-slide when there came a flash and a puff of smoke, followed by a sharp, ringing report from the nearest proa--now directly astern of us, the barque having swung with her head once more pointing fair up the straits--and then the surface of the water was torn and lashed into momentary foam, some eight or ten fathoms away on our port beam, by the spattering of a heavy shower of bullets or slugs of some sort that had evidently formed the charge of the gun.

"That was well meant, at any rate," remarked Roberts, as he crossed the deck and placed himself at my side. "By the report of it I judge that it is a bra.s.s gun they are using, and they've got our range to a nicety, for a wonder."

"Yes," said I; "the men had better get under cover, Mr Roberts, for, if the next charge should happen to fall on board us, somebody may be hurt, and there are so few of us that we cannot afford to have any casualties before coming to close quarters. Be good enough to see to this, if you please, and while you are forward get one of the men to open and start a drum of petroleum into the tank of the fire engine, and put the nozzle of the hose into the tank to soak, so that our wick arrangement round the jet may get thoroughly saturated with oil against the time that we shall want to use it. At the same time you had better tell off two of the most reliable hands to attend exclusively to the working of the engine. And be pleased to remember that you and Mr Forbes are included among those who are to keep carefully under cover until otherwise required."

"All hands under cover," shouted the mate, as he made his way forward.

"Stow yourselves away where no shot can get at you, my lads, but hold yourselves ready to answer smartly to a call. Harry, I want you and Joe Martin to--"

I heard no more, being by this time halfway down the companion-ladder in quest of my rifle, for the time was now at hand when it would be needed.

As I entered my own state-room I heard Sir Edgar's voice speaking in rea.s.suring tones in his wife's cabin, and as I emerged again with my rifle in my hand, a cutla.s.s girt about my waist, and a pair of revolvers in my belt, he came into the saloon and from thence followed me on deck.

As I placed my foot on the bottom step of the companion-ladder I heard the report of another discharge from the proa mingling sharply with the deep, volleying roll of the thunder overhead, but as there was no accompanying patter of shot on the deck I concluded that they had again missed us.

I was heartily glad that the Malays had unmistakably declared their intentions by opening fire upon us, for, to be perfectly candid, I had been in some perplexity as to how I ought to act towards them, should they make no hostile demonstration towards us while approaching. For while, on the one hand, there had scarcely been a shadow of doubt in my mind, from the moment when my eye first fell upon them, that the proas were piratical craft, with sinister designs upon the barque, there remained, on the other hand, a bare possibility--until they absolutely declared themselves to be otherwise--that they might be perfectly honest traders bound upon their own lawful business, and we should hardly be justified in taking the initiative and opening fire upon them as they approached, merely because their movements happened to present to us a suspicious appearance, and because their respective courses happened to be in our direction. But now that one of them--the craft nearest us-- had actually a.s.sumed the offensive, we need entertain no further scruples, so far at least as she was concerned; and as for the others, now that the engagement might be said to have begun, we should soon discover, by their behaviour, what their intentions were.

"How is your rifle sighted?" asked Sir Edgar, as we stood together near the wheel, watching the approach of our antagonist.

"Up to a thousand yards," answered I. "And as that proa is now within half that distance, I shall take a shot at her without further ceremony.

When you fire, Sir Edgar, aim at her bows, and as near the level of her rail as possible; there is doubtless a crowd of the villains grouped forward there about their gun, and in the eyes of her, watching us, and it is to that part of her, therefore, that we must direct our attention at first. Here goes for the first shot."

I levelled my weapon carefully, but had to wait for what seemed quite a long time to get a good aim; two or three very vivid flashes of lightning just then following each other in quick succession, and so effectually dazzling my eyes that I could see absolutely nothing for some few seconds afterwards. Then I fired, but there was no answering sign or sound on board the proa to tell that my shot had been effective.

"What distance were you sighted for?" inquired the baronet.

"Five hundred yards," answered I; "but I believe she is nearer than that."

"I think so, too," agreed Sir Edgar. "You fired too high, captain. I shall sight for three hundred,"--going to the binnacle, and uncovering the hood for a moment to do so. He waited perhaps a minute; then raised the rifle to his shoulder, paused a second or two, and, taking advantage of a strong and prolonged gleam of sheet lightning, fired. A shrill scream from the proa told us that his bullet had found a mark, and almost immediately afterwards she fired her gun again, the shot this time striking somewhere aloft, for we distinctly heard the thud of the bullets against the spars.

"We score first blood, at all events," composedly remarked Sir Edgar.

"As for the enemy, it is evident that they have not altered the elevation of their piece since they first fired, and it is fervently to be hoped that they will still forget to do so. If that last shower of bullets had fallen on deck, captain, I am afraid it would have been bad for both of us."

"Very possibly," I agreed. "Still, those small, short guns, such as she appears to carry, scatter tremendously, and we might have the lead flying thick all round us, and still not be hit. Now, I wonder whether I shall have better luck this time."

I certainly had, for the sharp report of my weapon was instantly answered by quite an outcry on board the proa--a kind of compound yell made up of several distinct sounds, leading to the conclusion that my bullet had fallen in the thick of a group, and wounded several.

"Why, captain, you are improving," observed my companion approvingly.

"If I could but manage to do the same, now--"

_Crack_! went his rifle, and the sound was followed by two distinct cries--a scream and a howl--manifestly uttered by different voices, and we thought we heard the sound of a heavy fall on the deck, but a sharp peal of thunder at the same moment prevented our being sure of this.

While we were reloading they fired their bra.s.s gun once more, and again the charge flew high overhead--luckily for us, for the bullets seemed to be flying closer together this time. Then they began pelting at us with their _gingals_, first treating us to quite a respectable fusillade, and then blazing away, every man for himself, as fast as they could load and fire; some of their bullets singing past us so closely that I inwardly congratulated myself upon my wisdom in ordering everybody under cover.

And new, one after another, the remaining proas opened fire upon us with their bra.s.s guns, although certainly not more than two of the entire fleet were yet within range; while the vivid lightning flashed and tore athwart the heavens in continuous coruscations, and the thunder crashed and rattled and rolled and boomed overhead and all round the horizon in such terrific detonations that they absolutely caused the ship to perceptibly tremble and vibrate with the tremendous volume of sound.

At length the proa that had initiated the attack upon us closed to within a hundred yards, steering for our port quarter, with the evident intention of sheering alongside us somewhere about our mizzen-rigging.

They were working ten sweeps on board her--five of a side--and calculating that each sweep required at least four men to handle it (for they were very long and heavy), I concluded that she would have, all told, at least sixty men on her deck, a formidable number to oppose with our small force on board the barque. I was not much afraid of them so long as we could keep a few fathoms of water between them and ourselves, but should they once succeed in gaining a footing upon our decks, a very few casualties on our side would suffice to determine the issue against us.

It was, accordingly, to prevent this that I had set my wits to work in conjunction with those of the mate, when we had first seen reason to antic.i.p.ate an attack, my plan being to utilise our fire engine as a means of defence, and I had given instructions to have it prepared in a manner that I hoped would convert it into a really formidable weapon.

The time had now arrived, or at least was close at hand, when an opportunity would be afforded us to test its efficacy; I therefore ordered it to be run aft as far as the capstan, and cautioned the two men, who had been told off to work it, to stand by the brake-handles. I had already fully explained my idea to the mate, and he now took in his hand the long bra.s.s nozzle--the tow attachment round the jet of which was by this time thoroughly saturated with oil--and prepared to act as circ.u.mstances might demand. Meanwhile the pirates had ceased to fire their bra.s.s gun, and the fusillade from their _gingals_ had slackened considerably, thanks, no doubt, to the indefatigable manner in which the baronet and I had plied our rifles upon them.

The craft was now so near that, by the continuous flashing of the lightning, we could distinguish every detail, even to the most minute, of her hull and rigging, and we could see, too, that her deck was crowded with men, many of whom appeared to have tailed on, as extra hands, to the sweeps, which were now being worked with furious energy; for they lashed the water into a perfect swirl of luminous, phosph.o.r.escent foam, while quite a respectable little curl of luminous froth buzzed away on each side from her sharp bows. It was clear that they were giving her "way" enough to shoot alongside, prior to laying in the sweeps, in order that every man they had might be available for boarding purposes.

"Now, Sir Edgar," I exclaimed, "we will give her one more shot apiece; and then we must stand by with our cutla.s.ses in case our fire engine fails."

"There is a tall fellow standing at the helm who offers a very decent mark; shall I see whether I can pick him off?" inquired the baronet.

"By no means," I answered hurriedly. "Take especial pains to shoot wide of him, if you please. I look to him to afford us very effectual help presently."

My companion turned and stared inquiringly at me for a moment, apparently doubting whether I was in earnest; when, seeing that I evidently was so, he muttered--

"Oh, very well," and, taking aim, fired simultaneously with me; and I saw two pairs of arms tossed into the air as their owners went down.

At the same moment, in obedience to a command that we distinctly heard given, the sweeps were very smartly laid in and thrown clattering on to the deck, while every man on board, save the helmsman, sank under cover behind the proa's low bulwark.

"Now, Mr Roberts, stand by with your hose, and give them the benefit of it the moment they show themselves," I cried.

"Pump, boys, and fill the hose," exclaimed the mate, plunging the nozzle into the flame of a lighted lantern that he had brought aft with him for the purpose. The tow band instantly burst into a fierce flame, casting a broad yellow glare on everything within its influence, and dripping burning drops into a bucket of water with which Roberts had taken the precaution of providing himself.

While this was doing, the proa's helm had been ported, and she now came driving along toward our port quarter, as I had expected. When within fifty feet of us another order was given on board her, in response to which her crew--some eighty in number, at the very least, and as fierce and relentless looking a set of cut-throats as I ever desire to see-- rose to their feet, with their naked creeses grasped in their hands--the yellow glare falling strongly upon their keen steel and fierce gleaming eyeb.a.l.l.s--and lined her rail in readiness to spring on board us on the instant that the sides of the two craft should touch.

"Now is your time, Mr Roberts; let them have it, fore and aft!" I shouted.

"Pump _hard_!" cried Roberts to the men, excitedly. The handles clanked smartly; the mate turned the tap of the jet; and in an instant a long thin stream of oil, ignited by its pa.s.sage through the flame blazing round the orifice of the jet, poured in a flood of fire across the intervening s.p.a.ce of water, and struck the proa fairly in the bows. To raise the nozzle sufficiently to touch the men was an action quick as thought, when it was so manipulated as to cause the stream to travel deliberately right along the entire length of the vessel's rail, from the eyes of her to the taffrail. The effect surpa.s.sed my most sanguine expectations; that stream of fire, thin as it was, could not be withstood; and in less time than it takes to tell of it the deck of the proa was full of shrieking men, who, with clothes ablaze, and suffering Heaven only knows what extremity of torture wherever the fiery spray had touched them, were plunging headlong below out of the way of the dreadful missile. The helmsman had, as I expected, instinctively put his helm hard a starboard the instant that the jet began to play, with the result that the proa, instead of touching us, forged slowly past us to port, and so ahead, with little tongues of flame creeping here and there about her hull wherever the flaming oil had fallen; Roberts keeping the jet remorselessly playing upon her until she had shot quite beyond its reach.

"Thank G.o.d, we are well rid of that danger!" I e.j.a.c.u.l.a.t.ed; "and, unless I am greatly mistaken, we shall get a breeze before any of the others are near enough to attempt the same trick."

"Ay; and here it comes with a vengeance, too! Look there, sir, on our starboard beam," cried Roberts. "Avast pumping there, you two, and run the engine away for'ard, out of the way. Stand by the braces fore and--"

A terrific blaze of lightning at this moment enveloped the ship in a sheet of living flame, which was accompanied by a simultaneous crash of thunder that was indescribably dreadful and terrifying by reason of its awful intensity of sound. It literally stunned me for a few seconds, so completely that I knew not where I was; and when I recovered my senses I discovered that the tremendous shock of sound had rendered me stone deaf, so that I was utterly incapable of hearing anything. Fortunately for us all, this deafness pa.s.sed off again in a few minutes; but while it lasted I found it exceedingly inconvenient and unpleasant.

My first act, on coming to my senses, was to glance instinctively in the direction indicated by the mate, when a complete transformation in the appearance of the heavens in that quarter met my anxious gaze. The heaped-up ma.s.ses of cloud had there been rent asunder by the power of the imprisoned wind, revealing a large and rapidly widening patch of clear sky, with the stars brilliantly shining in the blue-black s.p.a.ce; while beneath it the water was all white with the foam of the approaching squall.

"Man the port fore-braces!" I shouted at the top of my voice--though not the slightest sound reached my ear--"round-in smartly, men; well there; belay! Stand by your topsail halliards, fore and main! Why, what is this?" as in moving I stumbled over something on the deck that felt like a human body. I stooped to feel for the object--for the lightning had entirely ceased since that last baleful flash--and found that it _was_ indeed a body. Had some one been struck by a bullet without our having noticed it? I hurriedly called for a lantern; but before it could be brought the squall burst upon us in all its fury; and though I could still hear absolutely nothing, I know that the Babel of sound must have been terrific, for the wind smote me as though it had been a solid body, jamming me hard against the larboard mizzen-rigging, while the staunch little barque bowed before it until her larboard rail was buried in the sea and her maindeck all afloat as far up as the coamings of the hatchways. I shouted an order to let go the topsail halliards, and signed to the man at the wheel to put the helm hard up; but he appeared to have already done so, for--the coat that had masked the binnacle light having gone to leeward upon the wings of the squall-- I could see him to windward of the wheel, holding the spokes in his grasp and bearing against it with all his strength. Catching my eye, the fellow pointed ahead and said something--at least, I saw his lips move--and, looking in the direction toward which he pointed, I saw the proa that had engaged us driving away to leeward, broadside-on, with tongues of fire clinging to her bulwarks and deck here and there, which, even as I looked, were fanned into a devouring flame by the furious strength of the blast that swept over her. It was evident that Roberts's flaming jet had set her on fire.

But the barque was paying off rapidly, and had risen to an even keel by the time that we had brought the blazing proa well on our starboard bow, when away she flew like a frightened seabird before the gale, leaving the unfortunate Malays to a fate that, however dreadful, they had certainly brought upon themselves. Meanwhile, the topsail halliards having been let go, the yards had slid down upon the caps, while the topsails--being patent-reefing--had close-reefed themselves; so that, running, as we were, dead before the squall, we were snug enough for the moment; although there was a lee-sh.o.r.e at no very great distance, the existence of which occasioned me considerable anxiety.

The first danger over, I again called for a lantern, which was quickly brought; and its first rays revealed the shocking fact that it was the body of the chief mate that lay at my feet. Stooping hastily, I turned him over on his back to search for the wound that had laid him low; but, to my great surprise, was unable to find one, or to discover the slightest trace of blood. The features were perfectly placid and composed, with just the ghost of a smile upon them, giving him the appearance of having fallen suddenly into a pleasant sleep. I laid my fingers quickly upon his wrist fearing I knew not what, and failed to detect any movement of the pulse. Sir Edgar, meanwhile, had joined me, and now thrust his hand inside the waistcoat, over the region of the heart. He held it there a moment or two, and then started up, horror-stricken. "Good G.o.d!" he e.j.a.c.u.l.a.t.ed, "the man is _dead_!"

It was so. There could be no doubt about it. Roberts's presentiment had actually been a true one; he had indeed been doomed to die that night. But it was no mortal bullet that slew him; G.o.d Himself had launched the bolt that had severed the thread of this staunch and faithful sailor's broken life. It was that last terrible flash of lightning that had killed him; and the poor fellow had died so instantaneously that he could scarcely have been conscious of the momentous change; certainly it must have been impossible that he could have experienced the least sensation of pain.

I was inexpressibly shocked and grieved at this terribly sudden death of my chief mate; not so much on account of the death itself--for, after hearing the poor fellow's sad story in the earlier part of the night, I could not for an instant doubt that death would be regarded by him as a thrice welcome friend--but it was the awful suddenness and unexpected character of it that appalled me. However, I had no time to dwell upon the matter just then, for, though perfectly safe at the moment, every fathom that the ship travelled carried her more nearly to a position of awful jeopardy. I therefore gave orders that the body should be taken below to Roberts's own state-room, and begged Sir Edgar to go below and see whether he could by any means restore vitality to it; hurriedly explaining the situation to him, and pointing out the impossibility of my leaving the deck until the safety of the ship should be a.s.sured. The kind-hearted fellow at once consented, and followed the men below, leaving me alone in the darkness and the turmoil of the storm to reflect on the words he had spoken on the night that witnessed the destruction of the _Northern Queen_: "How completely are we in the hands of G.o.d, and how absolutely dependent upon His Mercy!"

Our present situation was a further exemplification of this great truth, if indeed such were needed; for there was no sign whatever of any abatement of the strength of the gale; indeed, contrary to all my previous experience, the wind appeared to be increasing in violence with every fathom that we sped to leeward. True, the sky was clear away to windward and overhead, which was a good sign; but then I had before now known it to blow heavily for many hours on end out of a perfectly clear sky; while away to leeward, somewhere down in the thick blackness toward which the barque's bows were pointing, and in the direction toward which she was hurrying, lay the land--a rock-bound coast, for aught that I knew to the contrary, but, at all events, _land_--to touch which, under the circ.u.mstances, would certainly mean the loss of the ship, and, most probably, of all hands as well.

While I was meditating upon this, and debating within myself the possibility of bringing the ship to the wind without losing the masts, a cry arose forward--a shout of horror raised by many voices, as it seemed to me, but if any words were uttered I failed to catch them, so terrific was the uproar of the wind in the maze of rigging overhead. I sprang toward the break of the p.o.o.p, crying out at the same time to know what was the matter, when, as I did so, I caught a glimpse of a darker shadow against the blackness of the sky ahead, lying right athwart our hawse; there was another cry from our forecastle; and as I turned my head to shout an order to the helmsman to put the wheel hard over I felt a shock--not a very severe one by any means, but as though we had touched the ground for a moment--a loud scream uprose out of the dark shadow beneath our bows, and a grating, grinding sensation thrilled along the whole ship from her bows to her stern-post, as though she were forcing her way over something solid. I sprang to the rail and looked over the side into the water; and there, sliding swiftly past the ship, and p.r.o.ne upon the glittering, phosph.o.r.escent, milk-white foam, lay distinctly limned the black outline of a mast with a long, tapering latteen yard and a strand or two of rigging attached to it; while here and there, dotted upon the hissing froth, I caught a momentary vision of certain round black objects that I knew were the heads of drowning men, intermingled with fragments of wreckage, tossing arms, and writhing bodies.

Even as I gazed, horror-stricken, at this picture of sudden, swift destruction, it drifted astern and was quickly lost to view; but I had seen enough to know exactly what had happened. We had unwittingly run down one of the proas that had essayed to attack us.

CHAPTER TEN.