Under the Chilian Flag Part 10

The cruiser immediately yawed wildly, and in another minute would have crashed into the gun-runner, probably sending both craft to the bottom, had not Jim seized the wheel, as it spun out of the dead man's fingers, and brought the _Angamos_ back to her course just in the nick of time.

At the same moment he saw the leading steamer circle round in a wide curve and head directly for him, evidently with the idea of helping her consort in the fight against the Chilian.

There was no time for any more palaver, thought Jim; the fellows meant to fight, and to disable him if they could, and he must be ready for them. In a voice hoa.r.s.e with anger at the useless slaughter of five of his men, he gave the order to fire; and immediately the guns of the _Angamos_ began to speak.

She was armed with several Gatling and Nordenfeldt guns, three 12- pounder breech-loaders, six 3-pounders, and one 8-inch breech-loading Armstrong gun, throwing a projectile weighing 170 pounds, which was mounted forward; and, immediately upon Jim's command her whole broadside crashed out, raking the foolhardy steamer from end to end, and making her fairly reel under the impact of the iron shower. Away forward, Manuel, the first lieutenant, had observed the approach of the second steamer; and he now laid the big 8-inch gun directly for her bows, firing when she had approached to within about four hundred yards of the cruiser. The gun's deep roar rang out loud above the din of the smaller weapons, and a brilliant flash of white light leaped out on board the steamer, the missile blowing a huge hole in her starboard bow, and setting her on fire forward; as was seen by the blaze which at once sprang up on board her.

At the same time the _Angamos_ pa.s.sed ahead of the first steamer, which, by the light of the beacon-fires now lighted aboard all three vessels, was seen to be named the _Miraflores_; and, running alongside the second, the _Huemul_, she delivered every gun of her starboard broadside, bringing down the steel foremast, riddling the funnel with rifle and machine-gun bullets, and killing every man on deck who was not under cover. At the same time a 12-pounder sh.e.l.l, which struck a heap of ammunition which had been placed on the _Huemul's_ deck to feed a 32- pounder breech-loader, blew up the whole lot, killing the unfortunate gun's crew, and lifting the gun itself bodily over the side into the sea. The _Angamos_ then slowed down a little, and a few seconds later the _Miraflores_ overtook her and discharged every available gun into the cruiser, killing several more men, and dismounting one 32-pounder and two 3-pounder quick-firing guns.

But the cruiser's people had meanwhile again loaded their guns on the port broadside, and were not slow in avenging the death of their comrades. They did not require the stimulus which Jim sought to impart to them, by urging them in his excitement to "slap it into the beggars!"

for they worked their guns like demons, and, notwithstanding their rage and fury, made such excellent practice that the _Miraflores_ began to look more and more like a wreck every minute. At last, in desperation, her captain actually tried to run his ship aboard the _Angamos_, with the idea of boarding her; but the cruiser was several knots faster than the gun-runner, and Jim, perceiving the fellow's intention, turned the _Angamos_ to starboard and so avoided the collision, at the same time pouring in another broadside with all his undamaged guns.

Instantly there arose a dense cloud of steam on board the _Miraflores_, accompanied by a loud hissing noise; her speed suddenly slackened; and Douglas knew that one of the cruiser's sh.e.l.ls had penetrated a boiler; and he shuddered in spite of himself at the thought of the scene which was now probably enacting down in the gun-runner's engine-room. But, just as he was looking at the stricken ship through his gla.s.s, to see whether she had surrendered, he was deafened and well-nigh stunned by an appalling explosion which came from somewhere astern of the _Angamos_; and pieces of wood and iron, fragments of charred human bodies, exploding cartridges, and wreckage of all descriptions began to hurtle round his ears; while, from the shelter of the chart-house, to which he precipitately retreated, he saw an enormous column of black smoke hanging over the place near which he had last seen the _Huemul_; and he had little difficulty in accounting to himself for the disaster.

The steamer had been set on fire forward by one of the cruiser's sh.e.l.ls, which had exploded a quant.i.ty of ammunition on her deck; and this fire rapidly spreading, had communicated itself to some of the powder and cartridges which formed the greater part of her cargo. This had forthwith exploded, and, in its turn, blown up the remainder, causing a most terrible catastrophe; for, when the smoke of the explosion cleared away, there was not a trace of the _Huemul_ left upon the surface of the water. She and her gallant crew had been blown, literally, to atoms.

Appalled by the suddenness and extent of the disaster, both the _Miraflores_ and the _Angamos_ ceased firing for several minutes; and, by the light of the fires which were still burning on board both vessels, Jim could see the gun-runner's crew dashing wildly about, as though in the last extremity of terror, while the ship herself was almost shrouded from view by the dense clouds of steam, coloured ruddy yellow in the light of the braziers, which still gushed in volumes from her pierced boilers.

The cruiser's men quickly recovered their equanimity, however; and, running to their guns, poured in another broadside upon the demoralised crew of the _Miraflores_. This was more, apparently, than flesh and blood could endure; for Douglas saw several men immediately rush upon the captain, who was still inciting them to continue the fight, and cut the unfortunate man down. The crew then rushed aft in a body, hauled down the Peruvian flag, under which both ships had been sailing, hailed at the same time that they surrendered, and begged for quarter. The men frantically waved handkerchiefs, towels, in fact anything white that they could lay their hands upon, to emphasise the fact that they had struck.

"I detest being obliged to give quarter to mutineers," said Douglas to his young first lieutenant; "and these fellows undoubtedly are such, for they murdered their captain, and surrendered against his wishes; but I must accept their surrender, I suppose, as it would simply be murder to continue firing into them now; they are all half crazy with fright.

Have the port and starboard quarter-boats manned and lowered, Senor Manuel, if you please, and bring off the crew of that ship; but take the precaution of first putting them all in irons. After you have transferred them to the _Angamos_ I will put a prize-crew aboard, under your command; and you shall keep me company until we return to Valparaiso. I have a little plan at the back of my mind which I hope to be able to put into execution and I will tell you what it is before you finally go aboard the _Miraflores_. Now, be as quick as you can, for there has been a good deal of firing during this action, and the _Union_ may put in an appearance at any moment; and I do not wish to see her-- just yet."

Manuel saluted, and ran away aft to give orders about the boats, and, five minutes later, they were being pulled across the water toward the now motionless gun-runner. Jim saw Manuel climb up her tall sides; and then he went into his chart-house to await the lieutenant's return, and to think out the details of the plan about which he had spoken to Manuel. However, he first sent a man into the fore-topmast crosstrees, and one into the main, with orders to keep a bright look-out for the appearance of the Peruvian corvette.

Some two hours later Manuel returned, bringing with him the whole of the Peruvian ship's crew, most of whom consisted of ne'er-do-wells of almost every nationality under the sun: and a choice-looking lot of rascals they were. Jim wisely refused to accept the parole of any of them, placed them, still in irons, in the cruiser's punishment cells, and took the precaution to post a strong guard over them. He then received the report of his lieutenant, which was to the effect that the damage on board the _Miraflores_ was, with the exception of the sh.e.l.l in her boiler-room, mostly superficial, and could soon be repaired by the prize-crew. Several of her guns had been badly damaged; but the young man suggested that they could be replaced, together with the damaged weapons belonging to the _Angamos_, from the gun-runner's cargo, which consisted, in part, of a number of similar pieces.

Jim carefully digested the report, and then unfolded his latest plan to Manuel, which was to the effect that the _Miraflores_, with a prize-crew aboard, and the _Angamos_, should impersonate the two Peruvian gun- runners expected by the _Union_; and that they should hoist the enemy's flag and go in search of him; thus getting close enough to bring the elusive corvette to action. The lieutenant was therefore ordered to get aboard at once, with his prize-crew, execute the necessary repairs, re- arm the ship out of the cargo she carried, and, as the boiler was too badly damaged to admit of repair at sea, to cut off steam from it altogether, and fire up under the remaining three, which could, even then, give the _Miraflores_ a speed of about nine knots.

Manuel accordingly selected his crew, and again went aboard the gun- runner; where he and his men worked with such a will that by mid-day the repairs were complete enough to allow of a start being made. The remaining repairs were of such a nature that it was possible to execute them while the ship was under way. Steam was then raised in the three sound boilers, and, the water being quite smooth, the _Miraflores_ was brought alongside the cruiser, which then replaced her damaged guns, and hoisted fresh ones out of the gun-runner's hold with her own derricks.

At length, by five o'clock in the afternoon of the day after the battle, both ships were in a condition to proceed; and, much to Jim's satisfaction, there had been no sign of the _Union_ to disturb them.

They were now ready to go in search of her; and, with two well-armed ships under his command, Douglas swore that he would pay Captain Villavicencio in full for all the injury that he had done in the past to Chilian commerce. The Peruvian flag was then hoisted aboard both ships, and each also arranged three lanterns upon her foremast, for use after dark, in the same manner as they had been previously arranged, as a signal, on board the gun-runners. Before starting Jim also questioned the captured crew as to what they knew of the plans of their skipper, and where he had expected to meet the _Union_. The men refused information at first, but, upon being told that they would be kept upon half-rations until they chose to speak, they said that they had expected to meet the corvette almost midway between the Falkland Islands and Cape Virzins, at the eastern mouth of the Straits; also that both captains had mistaken the _Angamos_ for the _Union_ when they first sighted her.

Jim could not understand how it was that in that case there were no signs of the corvette, but he determined not to leave the locality until he had found her and brought her to action.

With the _Miraflores_ steaming along in his wake, in the same formation as that adopted by the gun-running steamers, Jim started off on his search for the _Union_, heading west-south-west for the mouth of the Straits of Magellan, with a man at either masthead of each of the two vessels, and a prize of fifty _pesos_ to the seaman who should first sight her. He did not feel altogether happy at the idea of sailing under the Peruvian flag and adopting such a ruse, even for a short period; but his orders to capture or sink the _Union_ were precise and imperative, and he considered that, in this case at least, the end justified the means employed, for he knew that he would never succeed in getting alongside the corvette if her captain were once allowed to entertain the slightest suspicion that the two ships were Chilians.

True, the _Angamos_ was a faster ship; but the _Union_ drew far less water; and, since she would probably be found--if found at all-- somewhere among the shoal waters of the Straits, she might be able to get away by dodging into shallow water among the numerous islands, where the _Angamos_, with her deeper draught, would be unable to follow.

Darkness fell very shortly after the two ships had started on their run toward the Straits; and the lanterns on their foremasts were lighted after the same manner as on the previous night; while they surged along over the indigo-coloured water at the rate of about nine knots an hour, a sharp look-out being maintained meanwhile for the appearance of the _Union_. But to the great disappointment of everybody, that craft most persistently refused to put in an appearance; and when the next morning dawned the high, rocky cliffs of Tierra del Fuego and the Patagonian coast lay before them, and it became evident that the Peruvian had either retreated up the Straits, or that she was still behind them.

About nine o'clock the two ships, still flying the Peruvian colours, entered the Straits, and immediately slowed down to half-speed, not only on account of the intricate navigation, but also to give the _Union_ a better chance of overtaking them if it should happen that she really was still astern. Catharine Point was pa.s.sed and left behind, and the two steamers crossed Lomas Bay into the "First Narrows," where Jim thought it possible that the _Union_ might be waiting; but she was not there.

They were steaming slowly across Elizabeth Bay, and Douglas was beginning to fear that the corvette had eluded him, after all, when a voice, hoa.r.s.e with excitement, hailed from aloft:--

"On deck there! I can see three mastheads showing above that hummock of rock at the entrance to the 'Second Narrows'; and there is a column of smoke visible, too, so the craft must be a steamer. We shall open her out in a few minutes now, and I think she must be that detestable corsair we are looking for."

Jim was, as usual, on the navigating bridge when the hail floated down; and his first act was to seize a speaking-trumpet and shout the news to Manuel on the bridge of the _Miraflores_. His second was to spring up the ratlines, seat himself alongside the seaman in the crosstrees, and take a good look at what he could see of the stranger from that elevation. A prolonged scrutiny convinced him that the craft could be none other than the _Union_; and he hurried down to give his final orders, both ships having been kept practically prepared for action ever since the moment on the evening before when they started in company to look for the corvette. There was consequently very little to do in the way of preparation; and a quarter of an hour after sighting the Peruvian's mastheads both Chilian ships were ready for the fray.

They had not steamed another cable's-length when it became evident that a sharp look-out must also have been kept aboard the corvette; for her masts began to slide along the top of the ridge of rock, showing that she was under way; and a few minutes later the entire ship swept into view, flying the Peruvian ensign, and so leaving no room to doubt that she was the long-sought-for _Union_.

Directly she hove in sight Jim signalled to the _Miraflores_ to close up and come alongside him, at a distance of half a cable's-length away, and both ships quickened up their speed, by such small degrees as to be imperceptible, to nine knots, which was as fast as the cruiser's consort could steam. Presently a long, dismal wail came floating across the water from the _Union_, and Douglas saw that she wished to attract his attention to a signal which she had just hoisted.

He at once dived into the chart-house for the signal-book, and presently he and his second lieutenant were poring over it in an effort to read the communication. But, to Jim's intense annoyance, the signal, when translated, seemed to have no meaning, and he realised that the corvette was making a private and pre-arranged signal, which he was, of course, unable to read.

"Confound it, Aranjuez!" he exclaimed, angrily, to his second lieutenant, "what are we to do now? I did not antic.i.p.ate this; and if we are not careful he will take alarm and sheer off. I wish I had thought of looking among the papers of the _Miraflores_' captain; they might have contained the key to this private signal."

"Well, senor," replied the lieutenant, "we must delay making a signal of any sort until the very last moment. Then, when he shows signs of becoming suspicious and sheering off, we will hoist, very slowly, a string of flags meaning nothing in particular. It will take him some little time to decipher the flags; and we shall gain a few minutes while he tries to fathom their meaning from his own private signal-book. We ought, by that time, to be close enough to him for you to be able to open fire effectively if the men will only keep calm and shoot straight.

Should we fail to disable him with the first few shots, however, he will be off and we may be unable to catch him again."

"Precisely! This is the best--the only thing we can do, Aranjuez,"

replied Jim, gazing steadily through his telescope at the _Union_. "I am not afraid of being unable to catch him if he will stick to deep water; but I feel convinced that if he takes the alarm he will be certain to run for shoal water at once. Have you got that bunting ready?" he continued, "for, if so, we had better run up a string of flags; he seems to be slowing down, as though he didn't altogether like our looks. Quick! bend on and send them up. There, that's it--not too fast now; not too fast. Ah, he has begun to move again, Aranjuez.

Don't hoist that signal any farther; if he only keeps as he is going for another ten minutes he will be under our guns. Oh, good luck, good luck! he's coming along at full speed, or I'm a Dutchman!"

Jim was right; the _Union_ was coming along at full speed; yet her captain was not quite such a fool as the young man took him to be. He had seen the two Chilians from his mastheads before they had seen him; and he had been watching them closely ever since; with the result that he had arrived at the conclusion that some trick was being played on him. But he fell into the error of mistaking the cruiser for the _Huemul_, and of believing that the crews of both vessels, corrupted by Chilian gold, had seized the ships, after murdering their officers.

Villavicencio, therefore, promptly made up his mind to retake the gun- runners, which he felt certain were no longer in Peruvian hands, since his signals remained unanswered; and when he had approached to within a mile and a half of the two Chilian craft, he very much astonished Jim Douglas by opening fire upon him with his heavy 8-inch bow-guns.

Although he could not account for this sudden commencement of hostilities on the part of the _Union_, Jim on his own part had only been waiting for the proper moment to open fire himself, and now he, in turn, gave Villavicencio a most unpleasant surprise by returning his fire with a very much larger gun than the Peruvian imagined that the _Huemul_ carried. For a few seconds the skipper of the _Union_ hesitated as to whether he should not, even now, turn and run; for, taken altogether, matters seemed to be rather in the nature of an elaborately-laid trap.

But Villavicencio, now that Admiral Grau was dead, was the bravest man in the naval service of Peru; and his hesitation was but momentary. He continued to steam ahead at full speed, but put his helm over to starboard, causing the corvette to swerve slightly to port, and thus presented her whole starboard broadside to the approaching Chilians, who now hauled down the Peruvian flag and hoisted their own ensign. Then, as soon as his broadside guns bore on the enemy, Villavicencio fired, and a storm of shot and sh.e.l.l came flying round the _Angamos_ and her consort, hulling the latter badly, and dismounting two of the recently replaced 12-pounder breech-loaders.

Jim ground his teeth as he saw the terrible execution wrought by the _Union's_ broadside; and, exhorting his men to keep cool, ordered them to load and fire as fast as they could. Once more the cruiser's 8-inch gun roared out, sending its vengeful messenger shrieking toward the corvette. The sh.e.l.l struck right at the base of that ship's foremast, and there exploded, scattering death and destruction all round it. The huge spar remained upright for a second or two, then it swayed slightly forward and to one side; the rigging, which had been badly cut up by fragments of flying sh.e.l.l, suddenly parted; and the mast went over the side with a crash that was plainly audible aboard the Chilian ships; and high above the crash of rending wood rang, loud and painfully clear, the agonised shrieks of the poor maimed wretches who had been crushed by its fall.

"Now's your time," shouted Jim, "they are lumbered up with the wreck of the foremast, and will not be able to fire their big gun until they have cleared it away. Fire into her now with every gun that will bear, and keep at it until she strikes. _Miraflores_ ahoy! pa.s.s under my stern and take up a position on the _Union's_ port side when we come level with her; I will engage her to starboard. That's the style, lads," he continued enthusiastically, as a couple of 12-pounder sh.e.l.ls exploded, one on the corvette's navigating bridge and the other at the base of her conning-tower,--"that's the style! Keep it up, and show them how the Chilians fight."

The Peruvian skipper, however, was quicker in getting his wreckage cleared away than Jim had antic.i.p.ated, and the _Angamos_ had not fired many rounds before the c.u.mbersome spar was cut adrift and went floating astern, and Villavicencio got his guns to work again. Their recent disaster, moreover, had not disturbed their aim; for the next 8-inch sh.e.l.l fired by the _Union_ blew away the _Miraflores_' funnel, and killed her helmsman, with the result that she turned sharply to port, with smoke and flame sweeping along her deck from the cavity which the sh.e.l.l had blown in it, and very narrowly escaped ramming the _Angamos_.

The latter had by this time approached to within half a mile of the _Union_, and now got her machine-guns to work, mowing down the Peruvians who were not under cover as with a scythe, for the deck of the corvette was crowded with men.

After ten minutes of furious bombardment, and with the _Miraflores_ crawling slowly up to take part again in the encounter, Villavicencio, brave as he was, realised that he had walked into a trap and had caught a Tartar; for he now recognised the _Angamos_ for what she really was--a cruiser. Something had happened to the _Huemul_, that was perfectly clear, and the _Miraflores_ was also in Chilian hands; he therefore considered that he was not justified in risking the _Union_ any longer in an engagement which could have but one ending, considering the fact that the corvette was now the only effective ship which the Peruvians possessed in their sadly depleted navy. He consequently put up his helm and, describing a wide sweep to port, made off toward the entrance to the "Second Narrows," maintaining, however, a well-directed fire as he went with his 8-inch stern gun, which weapon dropped sh.e.l.l with remarkable precision aboard the cruiser and her consort.

Jim had just signalled the _Miraflores_ that he was going to chase the _Union_, and that the prize was to rendezvous at Punta Arenas, when an event occurred which made a rendezvous as unnecessary as it was impossible for the second gun-runner.

For, as though determined to do all the damage he possibly could before slipping away, Villavicencio had ordered a number of his broadside guns to be shifted aft, to enable him to maintain as heavy a fire as possible from that part of the ship; and so rapidly did he now fire from his stern ports that the series of explosions looked almost like a continuous sheet of flame, while the solid shot and sh.e.l.l fell round the Chilian ships like hail. The _Miraflores_ had by this time dropped about a quarter of a mile astern of the _Angamos_, and the latter was gaining rapidly on the corvette, when the _Union_ fired what was intended to be her last shot, a sh.e.l.l from an 8-inch gun. But that sh.e.l.l was the saving of her for, having pierced the unarmoured sides of the _Miraflores_ as though they had been paper, the explosion took effect right among the tightly packed ammunition-cases which const.i.tuted her cargo, and the next second she went into the air, as the _Huemul_ had done, with an appalling roar, followed by a tremendous shower of all kinds of debris.

From the very nature of the explosion Jim felt practically certain that no one could possibly be left alive out of her whole company, yet there was nevertheless just one chance in a thousand that there might be; and with a groan of disappointment at being obliged to abandon the chase of the _Union_, he turned his ship round and began to search for possible survivors.

But he found none. A few poor unrecognisable human remnants were all that rewarded him for his attempt at rescue; and after a precious hour lost in this way, he once more turned his ship's head and went off at full speed after the _Union_.

But that hour's start had been sufficient for the corvette, and had enabled her to evade pursuit among the numerous islands which dot the Straits. Douglas haunted the Straits for a whole week, searching every nook and corner of them for the Peruvian; but the _Union's_ captain had done his work well, and the fugitive was nowhere to be found. And at length, unwilling though he was to give up his search, but anxious not to lose time when the _Angamos_ might be required for other and more important work, he started back for headquarters, arriving at Valparaiso just a month after he had left it. He had carried out one part of his task, which was to prevent the two cargoes of arms from falling into the hands of the Peruvians; but the _Union_ still remained at large, and was destined to give the Chilians a great deal more trouble before they finally closed her brilliant and adventurous career.

CHAPTER TWELVE.

THE BOMBARDMENT OF CALLAO.

When Jim reported to the admiral he was greatly gratified to find that his chief was perfectly satisfied with the way in which he had carried out the task entrusted to him; and although the Chilian very naturally regretted that the young skipper of the _Angamos_ had not been able to bring the _Union_ to book, he fully recognised that Douglas had done all that was possible. And he commended the judgment he had displayed in bringing the cruiser back to Valparaiso, instead of waiting about in the Straits of Magellan on the off-chance of again encountering her, for, as he explained to Douglas, the fleet was even then on the point of leaving port to harry the Peruvian coast, and the _Angamos_ was required to take part in the work.

He was also informed that Captain Castello would take charge of the _Angamos_ on the coming expedition, and that Jim himself was, for certain particular reasons, to return to the _Blanco Encalada_, in his former capacity of first lieutenant of the flagship. Admiral Riveros also hinted that he had it in his mind to depute to him in the near future a difficult and extremely important piece of work, the character of which he would fully explain to him later, and this circ.u.mstance was quite sufficient to compensate the young man for any disappointment he may have temporarily felt at finding that he was not to retain the command of the cruiser.

Accordingly Jim returned to the flagship, where he was heartily welcomed by his old comrades, who informed him that the destination of the squadron was thought to be Callao, and that in all probability the Chilians would bombard the place, and then endeavour to take Lima, the Peruvian capital; so that there promised to be plenty of excitement and adventure in store for everybody.