Under the Meteor Flag Part 36

"Is that you, Ralph, sitting there? It is so dark I can scarcely make you out."

"Yes, it is I," I answered cheerfully. "How are you now, Six-foot? You have had a bit of a snooze, have you not?"

"I believe I _have_ been dozing," he replied. "I seem _very_ weak, Ralph, and I have scarcely any feeling left in my legs. I fancy I shall not last many hours longer."

"Oh, nonsense!" I returned. "What has put that idea into your head?

Why, we shall be in Carlisle Bay by sun-rise to-morrow; and then, if you are strong enough to bear removal, you can have your wish as to going on sh.o.r.e, you know. And once there, you will _soon_ pull round, old fellow. No more rolling and knocking about then, Harry; no more groaning bulkheads; but the quiet and coolness that you have been longing for, with the sea-breeze, and trees, the birds and b.u.t.terflies, and tender women to nurse and pet and make much of you, instead of us clumsy people. Only think of it! Why, by this time to-morrow you will feel so much better for the change that you will be wanting to sit up in bed--or even to turn out, perhaps."

"Oh, no, no," he replied. "I am far worse than you seem to think, Ralph. Still, I believe I _might_ pull round even yet, if I could but get ash.o.r.e."

"Well, look here," said I. "If you are to be moved to-morrow, it is of the greatest importance that you should have a _good_ night's rest to- night, so try, like a dear good fellow, to get to sleep again, will you?

Do you feel thirsty?"

"Rather," he replied. "But I seem to want something different from that stuff that the doctor has mixed for me. If I could only get a little fruit now--a bit of one of those pines you brought on board at Kingston, for instance--I believe it would refresh me more than anything else."

"Would it?" said I; "then you shall have it; that is, if the doctor will allow it; for now that you speak of it, I know the skipper has one or two pines left, and I am certain you will be heartily welcome to them.

Do you mind being by yourself for a minute or two, while I run to the doctor, and speak to him about it? All right; I will be back in a second."

The doctor saw no objection, so we soon had a splendid pine sliced up, and I held a thin piece to the poor little sufferer's lips. It refreshed him greatly, and after another draught of the acid mixture he settled down more comfortably than he had been at all. When I turned him over to the doctor at last and left the cabin, there seemed to be some slight improvement in his condition.

In the early dawn of the following morning we anch.o.r.ed in Carlisle Bay, Barbadoes, and by noon poor little Fisher had been safely conveyed on sh.o.r.e and lodged in the colonel's residence near Needham Point, where he would have all the ladies belonging to the garrison to nurse him, and be conveniently situated for frequent visits from the staff-surgeon.

CHAPTER TWENTY SIX.

A GOOD MORNING'S WORK.

Our prizes of course had not arrived, so, having seen little Fisher comfortably bestowed, landed our silver at the dockyard, and handed over our prisoners to the proper authorities, we weighed again that same evening, and proceeded northward upon our cruise.

When off Martinique, which had fallen into our hands in the early part of the preceding year, we spoke the British frigate "Blanche," steering towards Barbadoes. Her skipper came on board the "Astarte," and, in reply to Captain Annesley's inquiries, reported that they had done nothing since the capture of the French frigate "Pique" in January, on which occasion Captain Faulkner, the former skipper of the "Blanche" and a most promising officer, was killed. Her present captain, (Watkins, acting) expressed great disgust at the state of affairs, and, rather cynically, ventured to hope we should have better luck than he had met with.

Nothing worthy of mention occurred until we arrived off Guadaloupe. We had made a thorough inspection of all the neighbouring islands, beginning with Mariegalante, and had looked into Point-a-Pitre Harbour on the Grand Terre without making any discovery, when, one evening, while beating up under the south side of Desirade, we espied a schooner at anchor near the sh.o.r.e and directly under the guns of a fort.

Preparations were immediately made for cutting her out; the frigate tacking meanwhile, and reaching off the sh.o.r.e again in order to lull any suspicions the Frenchmen may have had as to our intentions.

We worked up round the north-east end of the island, and it being by that time as dark as it would be, the frigate hove-to, and the boats, properly manned and armed, were despatched under sail. I took no part in this expedition, as I had shared in the other, and the skipper was anxious to give all his "young gentlemen" as far as possible equal opportunities of distinguishing themselves. The boats sent away on this occasion were the first cutter, under Mr Woods, the second lieutenant, the second cutter, under Gimbals, the quarter-master, with little Smellie to lend a hand, and the jollyboat, under the command of no less a personage than Mr Robert Summers.

We allowed them an hour and a quarter to get down to the schooner, at the expiration of which time we filled and stood after them.

As we rounded the end of the island I slipped up as far as the fore- topmast crosstrees, to see if I could make out anything of what was going on. All was perfectly dark and quiet to leeward, however, for the first ten minutes of my stay, and then I saw a bright flash--another--a third--then two more in quick succession, and presently the distant _boom_ of heavy guns came rumbling up to windward.

"Ah!" thought I. "That is the battery playing upon our people, I expect."

The fire was kept up pretty briskly for about ten minutes, and then it ceased. Shortly afterwards a red light appeared insh.o.r.e of us (the preconcerted signal of success), and almost immediately after its appearance I could make out the schooner, on board which it was displayed, coming out from under the land. A quarter of an hour afterwards she was hove-to on our lee quarter.

Mr Woods' report was to the effect that he had got on board without much resistance and without any casualties, but that the schooner had been anch.o.r.ed so close in under the battery that its garrison had heard the sounds of the scuffle, and had, upon the schooner's weighing, opened fire upon her with effect, hulling her several times, inflicting rather severe injuries from splinters upon four of our people, breaking Master Bob Summers' right leg below the knee, and cutting poor old Gimbals in two.

The schooner was a French privateer mounting eight long-sixes, and a long-nine upon her forecastle, with a crew of forty men.

Arrangements were being made for the transfer of the prisoners to the frigate when the French skipper sent a message begging that, before anything else were done, he might be favoured with an interview with Captain Annesley. The request was granted; he was brought on board the "Astarte" in the gig, and conducted below into the skipper's cabin.

He was there for about half an hour, and when he at length returned to his own ship, orders were sent to Mr Woods to secure the schooner's crew below and make sail in company with the frigate. We both accordingly bore up, and running round the south-west end of the island, hauled up for North-East Bay in the Grand Terre, which we reached by daylight next morning.

Here a fine frigate was found snugly anch.o.r.ed in the south-east corner of the bay, in a sheltered bight, and under the protection of a battery mounting ten heavy guns.

It now came out that this frigate, a French craft of forty guns named "L'Artemise," had arrived at the islands on the previous day, and, hearing of our being in the neighbourhood, had immediately made her way to the spot where we had found her; whether to be in wait for us, or to hide from us, could not yet be said. The skipper of the schooner had picked up this piece of news, and had bargained with our captain to pilot him to the place where the French ship lay on condition that he, with his ship and crew, should be allowed to go free. The bargain was struck; our skipper insisting, however, upon the total disarming of the schooner.

The "Astarte" and her prize now hove-to; and, being still in deep water, orders were sent on board the schooner, to flood her magazine, and to throw her guns and all the small-arms into the sea, leaving weapons only in the hands of the master and his two subordinates, for the maintenance of proper discipline. This done, and all our people being taken out of the schooner, Captain Annesley wrote out a challenge to the captain of the French frigate and sent it in by the schooner. We then hoisted our colours and fired a gun. The French frigate and the battery on sh.o.r.e hoisted the tricolour soon afterwards; but though we watched the schooner into the anchorage, and saw a boat go from her to the frigate presumably with our challenge, no farther notice was taken of our presence; the frigate remaining all day obstinately at anchor in her secure position.

Of course everybody on board the "Astarte" was on the _qui vive_ during the whole of that day. Our three tops were permanently occupied by relays of officers; and every telescope, good, bad, or indifferent, was kept constantly levelled at the n.o.ble craft insh.o.r.e.

As for Captain Annesley, he never left the deck a moment as long as daylight lasted, except to s.n.a.t.c.h a hasty mouthful at meal times; and he that day exhibited the nearest approach to ill-temper that I ever saw in him.

At length night fell; and still no sign had been made by the Frenchmen.

Dinner had been postponed for an hour in the cabin, in hopes that the frigate would yet come out; and when at last all hope had been given up, the whole of the officers were invited to dine with the skipper.

At sunset we wore round and stood away to the southward.

The conversation round the captain's mahogany that night was naturally upon one topic only, namely, how to get hold of the frigate.

Captain Annesley listened with exemplary patience to all that was said; and, at last, when every possible suggestion, practicable and impracticable, had been made, he said,--

"Thank you, gentlemen, one and all, for your very valuable suggestions, none of which, however--if I may be excused for saying so--strike me as being so simple as the one I have myself thought upon. It is this. I propose returning during the night to a spot near where the French frigate lies--I marked it particularly to-day, while we were lying off and on--and sending a boat's crew ash.o.r.e about an hour before daybreak to-morrow morning, to see what can be done with that battery. They will, of course, be kept upon the tiptoe of expectation all night to- night, antic.i.p.ating an attempt to cut the frigate out, or something of that sort. Toward morning, however, hearing nothing of us, and being fatigued moreover by their night's watch, they will relax their vigilance; and then I think perhaps something may be achieved in the nature of a surprise. I say a _surprise_, because, whatever is done, I should like done without giving the frigate the alarm. The battery once in our possession, be it only for five minutes, those heavy guns, of which I so much dislike the look, may be spiked; and _then_ we shall have nothing to do but run into the bay, lay the frigate alongside, and help ourselves. Now, what do you think of my plan?"

"Capital! Excellent! The very thing!" was the verdict, and everybody applauded to the echo, as of course in duty bound to do. But, apart from that, it really was an excellent proposal, and far better than any of the previous suggestions.

"Very well, then," resumed the skipper. "Now as to details. The surprise and silencing of that battery is, as you must all see, a matter of the last importance, and will need a cool and steady hand as leader of the expedition. I cannot spare many men, as we are short of our complement already; and I have an idea that the French craft, ill- disposed as she seems to come out to us, will make a gallant defence when we go in to her. For the same reason, I can ill spare any of my officers. Under such circ.u.mstances, who, in your opinion, should be sent to deal with the battery?"

There was a dead silence for a minute. Then up spake Paddy Flinn.

"Bedad thin," said he, his eyes sparkling with animation, "it's myself would like to take the job in hand if it wos _shtorrrming_ the battery that was wanted, captain, darlint; but since it's a surprise, for your own sake and that of iverybody else, don't send me; for I _know_ I'd be puttin' me fut in it and raising no end of a dis...o...b..nce before I'd done wid it."

There was a hearty laugh at this frank speech, in which the skipper joined until the tears rolled down his cheeks.

"No, no, Flinn," said he. "You are the last man I should think of sending upon such a business. Besides, I shall want you to lead one of the boarding-parties, where I know you will be in your element. Mr Woods, I shall also want _you_; and I really don't see how I can well do without you, Mr Martin. So that we now come down to the midshipmen; and to tell the candid truth, young gentlemen, I have great qualms about entrusting so important a business to any of _you_. What do you say, Ralph, do you think you could manage so delicate a business without making a hash of it?"

"Yes, sir," said I, "I believe I could. At all events, I'll _undertake_ to _silence_ the battery; and if care and patience will enable me to do so without alarming the frigate, it shall be done."

"Very well, then," said the skipper; "you shall conduct the enterprise; and remember that a surprise is eminently desirable, but that the spiking of the guns is _an imperative necessity_."

We sat a little while longer, and then, rising and making our bows, retired in a body.

We stood on until within an hour and a half of midnight, when we wore ship and began to retrace our steps.

By three o'clock next morning we were off the spot which Captain Annesley had selected for the landing (a small strip of sandy beach, distant about a mile to the southward of the southernmost end of North- East Bay); and the frigate was once more hove-to.

The first cutter, which was the boat selected for the service, was lowered, and at four a.m. left the ship, having on board twenty picked men, in addition to the c.o.xswain and myself, all fully armed.

On approaching the sh.o.r.e, we found ourselves to all appearance with a rock-bound coast under our lee, upon which the sea was breaking with considerable violence. As we drew closer in, however, I made out the point behind which the landing-place was situate, and in five minutes afterwards we slid round the projection and found ourselves in smooth water, with the beach close aboard. Giving the boat good way, we ran her well up on the sand, and all hands jumped out except two, who were to remain in her as boatkeepers. She was then shoved off again; the two men in charge being instructed to keep a bright lookout, and to be prepared to back in and receive us at a moment's notice, in the event of anything going wrong.