The Tiger of Mysore Part 5

"As soon as those fellows open fire, ladies, I must ask you all to go down into the hold. The sailors have already cleared a s.p.a.ce, below the waterline, large enough for you; and they will take down some cushions, and so on, to make you as comfortable as possible, under the circ.u.mstances. Pray do not be alarmed at any noises you may hear. You will be below the waterline, and perfectly safe from their shot; and you may be sure that we shall do our best to keep the scoundrels from boarding us; and I will let you know, from time to time, how matters are going."

The unmarried men at once went up on deck. The others lingered for a short time behind, talking to their wives and daughters, and then followed.

"The wind has strengthened a bit, Mr. Green," the captain said, "and I fancy we shall get more."

"I think so, too, Captain."

"Then you may as well get off the upper sails, and make her snug. Get off everything above the top gallant. Then, if the wind increases, we shall not want to call the men away from the guns."

The crew had, without orders, already mustered at quarters. The lashings had been cast off the guns, the boatswain had opened the magazines, and a pile of shot stood by each gun, together with cases of canister and grapeshot for close work. Boarding pikes and cutla.s.ses were ranged along by the bulwarks. The men had thrown aside their jackets, and many of those at the guns were stripped to the waist.

Some of them were laughing and talking, and d.i.c.k saw, by their air of confidence, that they had no doubt of their ability to beat off the a.s.sault of the privateers.

The latter were the first to open the ball. A puff of smoke burst out from the brig's bows, followed almost instantly by one from the schooner. Both shots fell short, and, for a quarter of an hour, the three vessels kept on their way.

"We have heavier metal than that," the captain said, cheerfully, "and I have no doubt we could reach them. But it is not our game to play at long bowls, for it is probable that both of them carry a long pivot gun, and if they were to draw off a bit, they could annoy us amazingly, while we could not reach them."

Presently the privateers opened fire again. They were now about a mile away, and the same distance from each other. Their shot fell close to the Indiaman, and two or three pa.s.sed through her sails.

Still no reply was made. The men at the guns fidgeted, and kept casting glances towards the p.o.o.p, in expectation of an order. It came at last, but was not what they had expected.

"Double shot your guns, men," the captain said.

Scarcely was the order obeyed when the brig, which was now on the port quarter, luffed up a little into the wind, and fired a broadside of eight guns. There was a crashing of wood. The Madras was hulled in three places; two more holes appeared in her sails; while the other shot pa.s.sed harmlessly just astern of her.

There was an angry growl among the sailors, as the schooner bore away a little, and also fired her broadside. Except that a man was struck down by a splinter from the bulwarks, no damage was done.

"Bear up a little," the captain said to the second officer, who was standing by the helmsman. "I want to edge in a little towards the brig, but not enough for them to notice it.

"Now, gentlemen," he went on, to the pa.s.sengers, "I have no doubt that most of you are good shots, and I want you, after we have fired our broadside, to direct your attention to the brig's helmsmen. If you can render it impossible for the men to stand at the wheel, we will make mincemeat of this fellow in no time. Directly I have fired our port broadside, I am going to bring her up into the wind on the opposite tack, and give him the starboard broadside at close quarters. Don't fire until we have gone about, and then pick off the helmsmen, if you can.

"Get ready, men."

The brig was now but a little more than a quarter of a mile distant.

"Aim at the foot of his mainmast," he went on. "Let each man fire as he gets the mast on his sight."

A moment later the first gun fired, and the whole broadside followed in quick succession.

"Down with the helm! Hard down, sheets and tacks!"

The men whose duty it was to trim the sails ran to the sheets and braces. The Madras swept up into the wind, and, as her sails drew on the other tack, she came along on a course that would take her within a hundred yards of the brig.

As she approached, three rifles cracked out on her p.o.o.p. One of the men at the helm of the brig fell, and as he did so, half a dozen more shots were fired; and as his companion dropped beside him, the brig, deprived of her helm, flew up into the wind.

Three men ran aft to the wheel, but the deadly rifles spoke out again.

Two of them fell. The third dived under the bulwark, for shelter.

"Steady, men!" the captain shouted. "Fetch her mainmast out of her!"

As they swept along under the stern of the brig, each gun of their other broadside poured in its fire in succession, raking the crowded deck from end to end. A moment later, the mainmast was seen to sway, and a tremendous cheer broke from the Madras as it went over the side, dragging with it the foretopmast, with all its gear.

"Down with the helm again!" the captain shouted. "Bring her head to wind, and keep her there!"

The first officer sprang forward, to see that the order was carried into effect, and a minute later the Indiaman lay, with her sails aback, at a distance of a hundred yards, on the quarter of the brig.

"Grape and canister!" the captain shouted, and broadside after broadside swept the decks of the brig, which, hampered by her wreckage, was lying almost motionless in the water. So terrible was the fire, that the privateer's men threw down the axes with which they were striving to cut away the floating spars, and ran below.

"Double shot your guns, and give her one broadside between wind and water!" the captain ordered.

"Haul on the sheets and braces, Mr. Green, and get her on her course again--the schooner won't trouble us, now."

That craft had indeed, at first, luffed up, to come to the a.s.sistance of her consort; but on seeing the fall of the latter's mast, and that she was incapable of rendering any a.s.sistance, had again altered her course, feeling her incapacity to engage so redoubtable an opponent, single handed. Three hearty cheers broke from all on board the Madras as, after pouring in a broadside at a distance of fifty yards, she left the brig behind her, and proceeded on her way.

"Then you don't care about taking prizes, captain?" one of the pa.s.sengers said, as they crowded round to congratulate him upon his easy, and almost bloodless, victory.

"No, taking prizes is not my business; and were I to weaken my crew, by sending some of them off in a prize, I might find myself short-handed if we met another of these gentlemen, or fell in with bad weather. Besides, she would not be worth sending home."

"The brig is signalling to her consort, sir," Mr. Green said, coming up.

"Ay, ay. I expect she wants help badly enough. I saw the chips fly close to her waterline, as we gave her that last broadside."

"They are lowering a boat," one of the pa.s.sengers said.

"So they are. I expect they haven't got more than one that can swim.

"I think she is settling down," the captain said, as he looked earnestly at the wreck astern. "See how they are crowding into that boat, and how some of the others are cutting and slashing, to get the wreckage clear of her."

"She is certainly a good bit lower in the water than she was," the first officer agreed. "The schooner has come round, and won't be long before she is alongside of her."

There was no doubt that the brig was settling down fast. Men stood on the bulwarks, and waved their caps frantically to the schooner. Others could be seen, by the aid of a gla.s.s, casting spars, hen coops, and other articles overboard, and jumping into the water after them; and soon the sea around the wreck was dotted with heads and floating fragments, while the wreckage of the mainmast was cl.u.s.tered with men.

When the Madras was a mile away, the schooner was lying, thrown up head to wind, fifty yards from the brig; and her boats were already engaged in picking up the swimmers. Suddenly the brig gave a heavy lurch.

"There she goes!" the captain exclaimed.

A moment later the hull had disappeared, and the schooner remained alone.

By this time, the whole of the ladies had ascended from their place of safety to the p.o.o.p, and a general exclamation broke from the pa.s.sengers, as the brig disappeared.

"The schooner will pick them all up," the captain said. "They must have suffered heavily from our fire, but I don't think any will have gone down with her. The boat, which has already reached the schooner, must have taken a good many, and the mainmast and foretopmast and spars would support the rest, to say nothing of the things they have thrown overboard. There is one wasp the less afloat."

No further adventure was met with, throughout the voyage. They had a spell of bad weather off the Cape, but the captain said it was nothing to the gales they often encountered there, and that the voyage, as a whole, was an exceptionally good one; for, even after the delays they had encountered at the start, the pa.s.sage had lasted but four months and a half.

They touched at Point de Galle for news, and to ascertain whether any French warships had been seen, of late, along the coast. A supply of fresh vegetables and fruit was taken on board, as the vessel, after touching at Madras, was to go on to Calcutta. A few of the pa.s.sengers landed at Point de Galle, but neither d.i.c.k nor his mother went ash.o.r.e.

"You will have plenty of opportunities of seeing Indians, later on, d.i.c.k," Mrs. Holland had said; "and, as the gigs will not take all ash.o.r.e, we may as well stop quietly here. I heard the captain say that he would weigh anchor again, in four hours."

d.i.c.k was rather disappointed, but, as they would be at Madras before long, he did not much mind.