With Cochrane the Dauntless Part 3

"'I will give no orders,' the captain said. 'In the morning I will have you put in irons.'

"Purvis, giving a short laugh, turned on his heel. 'My lads,' he said, 'you have heard the sound of the oars, and know as well as I do that we shall shortly be attacked, and shall have to fight hard for our lives. The captain is of opinion that we are all mistaken, and wants us to turn in again. What do you say?! Will you have your throats cut or not?'

"There was an angry growl from the sailors.

"'Very well, then, set to work and load the guns-ball at first, but keep your grape handy, we shall want it before we have done. Do it quietly; it is as well these fellows on sh.o.r.e should not know what we are up to. As soon as you have loaded, rig up the boarding-nettings.'

"In a moment all was bustle. There was no need to run the guns in, for that was already done, the captain insisting upon our always having the ports closed, in order, as he said, that the natives might see that our intentions were perfectly friendly. Consequently, the men were enabled to load the guns without noise, moving about the deck on their naked feet like shadows. Then the boarding-nettings were triced up, arms distributed amongst the men, each having a boarding-pike, a cutla.s.s, and a brace of pistols. By the time that this was done, we judged by the sound of the sweeps that the pirates were not more than a mile away. Lanterns were got up on deck and placed in readiness to be lighted and run up to the yard-arm, so as to throw some light down on the water.

"'Now, we will call the old man again. Obstinate as he is he can't help hearing the oars now, and I know that he is plucky enough, and will fight the ship well as soon as he is once convinced that there is danger.'

"We went together to the skipper's.

"'Captain,' Purvis said in a loud voice, 'Pinder and I have come to tell you that the proas are within a mile of us, and to ask you to take the command and fight the ship.'

"We heard the skipper tumble out of his bunk again with an angry exclamation. He opened the door without a word and went straight up on to the p.o.o.p. He listened a moment, and then ran down again.

"'I beg your pardon, Mr. Purvis,' he said hastily, 'but I have been wrong, and there is no doubt we are going to be attacked. I am heartily sorry for what I have said, and I thank you for your watchfulness.'

"'Say no more about it, captain. We are ready to begin as soon as you give the orders.'

"'I will throw on some things and be out again in a minute;' and in less than that time he turned out again.

"'You have the guns loaded?' he asked.

"'Ay, ay, sir, and the boarding-nettings up.'

"'Can you make them out yet?'

"'No, sir. By the sound, they are keeping close in to the sh.o.r.e. I have got the kedge anchor in a boat. Shall I lower it and row a couple of ship's-lengths and drop it there, then we can warp her round, so as to bring all our guns to bear? I deferred doing that to the last, so that the fellows on sh.o.r.e should not know we were on the alert.'

"'Yes; do so at once, Mr. Purvis.'

"The boatswain and two hands were at once called to the boat, which was then lowered and rowed off in the direction the mate pointed out. The anchor was let drop, and the boat returned to the ship, paying out the hawser over the stern. The captain had taken his place on the forecastle, and was looking anxiously ahead.

"'I see them,' he exclaimed at last; 'they are coming out from behind that low point half a mile away. Haul on the hawser and bring her broadside to bear on them. Get the guns across to the starboard side, Mr. Pinder.'

"The ship was pierced for eight guns a side, and by the time the ship was swung round, they were all in position. The proas, now no more than a quarter of a mile away, were heading straight for us.

"'Take a steady aim, lads,' the captain said, 'and fire as soon as you are sure of your shot.'

"In quick succession the guns spoke out. At the reports wild yells broke from the proas, and from the sh.o.r.e, now astern of us.

"'Load as quick as you can with grape,' the captain shouted.

"There had been five proas when the first gun was fired, but before we had reloaded one had disappeared, and there was shouting and confusion in one of the others. It was evident that she also was in difficulties.

"'Don't fire until I give the word.'

"The three proas were within fifty yards of us when he gave the order, and the eight guns poured their contents into the crowded decks. The effect was terrible. Two of the proas ceased rowing altogether, and some of the oars of the other dropped into the water and hampered the efforts of those who still continued to row.

"'The port watch will repel boarders. The starboard watch will load again,' the captain ordered.

"There was way enough on the proas to bring them all alongside, but either the men at the steering oars were all killed or they had lost their heads, for, instead of bringing them up alongside, they simply came up bows on.

As they struck the side the Malays tried to climb up, but, attacking as they did only at three points, our men had little difficulty in keeping them off, thrusting through the nettings with their boarding-pikes, and giving the Malays no time to attempt to chop down the nettings with their creases.

"'Are you all loaded?' the captain shouted.

"'Ay, ay, sir,' came from the guns.

"'Train them so as to take the proas between wind and water,' the captain said; 'then run the port guns back to their places; we shall be attacked on that side directly.'

"The sea indeed was sparkling with phosphoric fire, as a crowd of canoes from the sh.o.r.e paddled out towards us. The steward now lit and ran up half a dozen lanterns. We got the guns over in time, but before we could load them the Malays were swarming up the side.

"'Take three men, Pinder, and load the guns,' cried the captain; 'we will keep these fellows off.'

"The same order was given to the boatswain with regard to the guns on the starboard side. It was exciting work, for spears were flying in showers, stink-pots were hurled over the nettings, and the yelling and shouting were deafening. Our men were sticking to their pikes, for they had been ordered to keep their pistols in reserve in case the pirates obtained a footing on deck. There were two little guns on the p.o.o.p, and when I had loaded the guns on the port side the captain sent me up to load these. I crammed them with bullets up to the muzzle, and then ran them to the p.o.o.p railing, and placed one of the hands there with a lighted match. We had a tough ten minutes of it, and if the canoes had come up at the same time as the proas it would have gone hard with us; but the last broadside that had been poured in had sunk two of the big craft, and the other had drifted away, so that, in fact, we had only the sh.o.r.e canoes to cope with. We had hard work to keep them back, but none of the natives managed to cross the netting along the waist of the ship, though a few shoved themselves through holes that they hacked with their creases.

"Some managed to swarm up by the cable on to the bows, but three men who were stationed there disposed of them before enough could gain a footing to be dangerous. The captain had been keeping the guns in reserve in case the proa that had dropped behind at first should come on, but he now saw that she was low in the water, and that many of the Malays were jumping overboard. He therefore shouted out:

"'Give them both broadsides. Aim into the thick of them.'

"That broadside settled it; seven or eight of their big canoes were smashed up; several of the others turned and paddled to the sh.o.r.e; and a moment later, the men who were attacking us leapt into the boats alongside and followed their example.

"'Load as quickly as you can,' the captain cried, 'and give them a parting salute.' We ran the two little quarter-deck guns over and peppered them with bullets, and the other guns joined in as soon as they were reloaded.

"That finished the matter. Our loss was not heavy, considering what a hard fight it had been. We had but two killed, and seven or eight wounded by their spears; while they must have suffered frightfully. In the morning the captain called the crew aft, and made a speech thanking them for their conduct, and saying that they owed their safety and that of the ship to the first mate and myself, and that the night's work would be a lesson that he should never forget. He privately said the same thing to us, and there was no doubt that it was the first mate who saved the ship.

"This and the other affair were a lesson to me as well as to the captain.

No matter how friendly the natives might appear, from that day I have never anch.o.r.ed among the islands without having half my guns double-shotted, and the other half loaded with grape; and there is always an officer and half a watch on deck, so that, whatever happens to us, it will not be because I have been caught napping. On both those occasions the captains well-nigh lost ship and crew by their carelessness."

For several weeks they cruised among the islands bartering goods with the natives of sea-coast villages. At most of these the captain had touched on previous voyages, and as soon as the ship was recognized the canoes came off freely. Stephen gradually got rid of the goods he had purchased at Calcutta. Knowing nothing of the respective value of the bird skins, he was guided simply by their rarity. Of skins of which numbers were brought on board, he bought none, however brilliant the plumage; but whenever he saw one that was new to him he at once made an offer for it. But as this was seldom, his box filled but slowly, until one day he went ash.o.r.e with the captain, the first mate, and twelve sailors armed to the teeth, to pay a visit to the chief. On the few occasions on which he had landed he always carried with him a hand-bag filled full of trade goods. On the present occasion, after the feasting had gone on for some time, he stole out from the chief's hut. The men were sitting down in front drinking palm wine, but keeping a vigilant eye upon the movements of the natives.

Presently one of the Malays came up to him and touched his bag, as if to ask what were its contents. He brought out two or three small looking-gla.s.ses, some large bra.s.s necklaces, and a few of the cheap bangles and rings set with coloured gla.s.s, used by the Hindoo peasant women. The native pointed to a hut near, and beckoned to Steve to follow him.

"Jim, you may as well come with me," Stephen said to one of the sailors.

"I think this fellow wants to trade with me; but they are treacherous beggars, and I don't care about going with him by myself."

The sailor got up and followed him across to the hut. The Malay was evidently a chief of some importance, and Stephen thought that he might be possessed of articles of a better cla.s.s than those usually offered. In one corner of the hut stood a seaman's chest with several small cases round it. It needed but a glance to show that the latter were two chronometers and three quadrants.

"The scoundrels have been plundering a ship, Jim."

"Ay, ay, your honour, there is not much doubt about that. I should like to knock the black villain on the head."

The chief caught the tone of anger, and made a variety of signs to the effect that there had been a great storm, and that a ship had been driven ash.o.r.e and wrecked.

"Ay, ay, that is all very well," the sailor growled; "but that won't do for us. Those chronometers would never have floated, and them polished cases have never been in the water."

"Never mind, Jim; it won't do to look suspicious." He pointed to the chronometers, and asked by signs how much was wanted for them. He took out four looking-gla.s.ses, two bra.s.s chains, and three or four bead necklaces.