CHAPTER VI

[pg 119]CHAPTER VIA NARROW ESCAPEThey were hardly anchored before the gale showed signs of breaking, and in a few hours the sun shone out and the wind subsided. The destruction of the timber on the hillsides had been prodigious, and large spaces were entirely cleared.The captain and first lieutenant had an anxious consultation. Every boat had gone, and all the masts and rigging. They were in what was practically a hostile country, for although Spain had not declared war against us, she gave every assistance to the French and left her ports open to them. In a few weeks probably she would openly throw herself into the scale against us.“It is clear that we must communicate with Port Royal somehow,”the captain said,“but it certainly isn’t clear how we are to do it. Between this and the nearest port there may be miles and miles of mountain all encumbered by fallen trees, which it would be almost impossible to get through. Then again we have heard that there are always bands of fugitive slaves in the mountains, who would be sure to attack us. As to the sea, we might possibly make shift to build a boat. There is certainly no lack of timber lying round, and we have plenty of sail-cloth for sails, so we could fit her out fairly well. It would be a journey of fully a thousand miles, but that seems the most feasible plan. A small craft of, say, forty feet long might be built and got ready for sea in the course of a week.”[pg 120]“I should say so certainly, sir. With the amount of labour we have at our disposal it might be built even sooner than that. We have plenty of handy men on board who could give efficient help to the carpenter’s gang.”“I suppose you would build it rather as a ship than as a boat?”“Yes, I think so. We could build her of one-and-a-half-inch planks, fill the seams well with oakum, and give her a couple of coats of paint. Let her be of shallow draft with plenty of beam. She should, of course, be decked over, as she might meet with another tornado. The crew would consist of an officer and ten men. With such a vessel there should be no difficulty in reaching Port Royal.”The carpenters were at once told off to carry out the work.“You can have as many hands to help you as you wish,”the captain said to the head of the gang.“What will you do first?”“I shall get some planks from below, sir, and make a raft. By means of that we can get on shore and choose the trunks that would be most suitable for the purpose; we are sure to find plenty about. Then we will find a suitable spot for a ship-yard, and at once start on the work. I will set a gang of men with axes to square the trunks and make them ready for sawing. They need not be more than six inches square when finished, and as I have a couple of double-handed saws we can soon rip these into planks.”“How long do you think you will be?”“I should say, sir, with the help I can get, I ought to be ready to start in less than a week. Of course the ribs will[pg 121]take some time to prepare, but when I have them and the keel and stem- and stern-post in place the planking will not take us very long.”“She is to be decked, Thompson.”“All over, sir?”“Yes, I think so. She may meet with weather like that we have just come through, and if she is well decked we may feel assured that she will reach Port Royal. I will leave Mr. Farrance and you to draw out her lines.”“I think,”said the first lieutenant,“she should be like a magnified launch, with greater beam and a larger draft of water, which could, perhaps, best be gained by giving her a deep keel. Of course she must be a good deal higher out of the water than a launch, say a good four feet under the deck. There should be no need to carry much ballast; she will gain her stability by her beam.”“I understand, sir. The first thing to be done is to form the raft.”The ship’s crew were soon at work, and it was not long before a raft was constructed. A rope was at once taken ashore and made fast to a tree, so that the raft could be hauled rapidly backwards and forwards between the ship and the shore.The carpenter and his mates were the first to land, and while the chief selected a suitable point for a yard his assistants scattered, examining all fallen trees and cutting the branches off those that seemed most suitable. These were soon dragged down to the yard. Then strong gangs set to work to square them, and the carpenters to cut them into planks.[pg 122]The first lieutenant remained with them, encouraging them at their work, while the junior officers and midshipmen were divided among the various gangs. By six o’clock, when theFurioussignalled for all hands to come on board, they had indeed done a good day’s work. A pile of planks lay ready to be used as required. The carpenters had made some progress with a keel, which they were laboriously chopping out from the straight trunk of a large tree. By evening of the next day this was finished and placed in position. On the third day some started to shape the stem- and stern-posts, while the head-carpenter made from some thin planks templates of the ribs, and set others to chop out the ribs to fit.In two more days all was ready for fastening on the planks. A hundred and fifty men can get through an amazing amount of labour when they work well and heartily. The planks were bent by main strength to fit in their places, and as there was an abundance of nails and other necessary articles on board, the sheathing was finished in two days. The rest of the work was comparatively easy. While the deck was being laid the hull was caulked and painted, and the two masts, sails, and rigging prepared. The boat had no bulwarks, it being considered that she would be a much better sea-boat without them, as in case of shipping a sea the water would run off at once. The hatchways fore and aft were made very small, with close-fitting hatches covered with tarpaulin.The captain was delighted when she was finished.“She is really a fine boat,”he said,“with her forty feet of length and fifteen of beam. It has taken longer to build her than I had expected, but we had not reckoned sufficiently on[pg 123]the difficulties. Everything, however, has now been done to make her seaworthy, so those of us who remain here may feel sure that she will reach Port Royal safely. In case of a gale the sails must be lowered and lashed to the deck, and all hands must go below and fasten the hatchways securely. She has no ballast except her stores, but I think she will be perfectly safe; there is very little chance of her capsizing.”“With such beam and such a depth of keel,”said the first lieutenant,“she could not possibly capsize. In case of a tornado the masts might very well be taken out of her and used as a floating anchor to keep her head to it.”“Now whom do you intend to send in her, sir?”“I will send two officers,”the captain said.“Peters, and a midshipman to take his place in case he should be disabled. I think it is Robson’s turn for special service.”The next morning the boat started soon after daybreak, the ship’s crew all watching her till the two white lug-sails disappeared through the opening.“Now we will take a strong party of wood-cutters,”the captain said,“and see if we can make a way to the top of the hill and get some idea of the country round. I don’t expect we shall see much of interest, but it is just as well that we should be kept employed. By the way, before we do that, we will get hawsers to the shore and work the frigate round so as to bring her broadside to bear upon the opening; we ought to have done that at first. The French may know of this place, or if they don’t they may learn of it from the Spaniards. Those two ships astern of us probably got themselves snug before the tornado struck them, and weathered it all right, though I doubt very much if they did so, unless they knew[pg 124]of some inlets they could run for. If they did escape, it is likely that they will be taking some trouble to find out what became of us. They may have seen their companion’s fate, but they would hardly have made us out in the darkness. Still, they would certainly want to report our loss, and may sail along close inshore to look for timbers and other signs of wreck. I think, therefore, that it will be advisable to station a well-armed boat at this end of the cut, and tell them to row every half-hour or so to the other end and see if they can make out either sailing or rowing craft coming along the shore. If they do see them they must retire to this end of the opening, unless they can find some place where they could hide till a boat came abreast of them, and then pounce out and capture it.”“It would certainly be a good precaution, sir. I will see to it at once—but we are both forgetting that we have no boats.”“Bless me, I did forget that altogether! Well, here is that little dug-out the carpenters made for sending messages to and from the ship. It will carry three. I should be glad if you would take a couple of hands and row down to the mouth of the entrance and see if there is any place where, without any great difficulty, a small party with a gun could be stationed so as not to be noticed by a boat coming up.”“I understand, sir.”The lieutenant started at once, and when he returned, some hours later, he reported that there was a ledge some twenty feet long and twelve deep.“It is about eight feet from the water’s edge and some twelve above it, sir,”he said,“and is not noticeable until one is almost directly opposite it. If we[pg 125]were to pile up rocks regularly four feet high along the face, both the gun and its crew would be completely hidden.”“Get one of the hands on board, Mr. Farrance; I will myself go and see it with you.”One of the men at once climbed on deck, and the captain took his place in the little dug-out. When they reached the ledge he made a careful inspection of it.“Yes,”he said,“ten men could certainly lie hidden here, and with a rough parapet, constructed to look as natural as possible, they should certainly be unobserved by an incoming boat, especially as the attention of those in the stern would be directed into the inlet. Will you order Mr. Forster and one of the other midshipmen to go with as many men as the raft will carry, and build such a parapet. They had better take one of the rope-ladders with them and fix it to the ledge by means of a grapnel. There is plenty of building material among the rocks that have fallen from the precipices above. I must leave it to their ingenuity to make it as natural as possible.”When they returned to the ship the first lieutenant called Forster and gave him the captain’s orders.“You can take young Gilmore with you,”he said.“Your object will be to make it as natural as possible, so as to look, in fact, as if the rocks that had fallen out behind had lodged on the ledge. The height is not very important, for if a boat were coming along, the men would, of course, lie down till it was abreast of them, and the cannon would be withdrawn and only run out at the last moment.”“Very well, sir, I will do my best.”The raft was again brought into requisition, and it was[pg 126]found that it could carry twelve men. Dimchurch and nine others were chosen, and, using oars as paddles, they slowly made their way down to the spot.“It will be a difficult job to make anything like a natural wall there,”Forster said.“Yes,”Will agreed,“I don’t see how it is to be managed at all. Of course we could pile up a line of stones, but that would not look in the least natural. If we could get up three or four big chunks they might do if filled in with small stones, but it would be impossible to raise great blocks to that shelf.”The ladder was fixed and they climbed up to the ledge. When they reached it they found that it was very rough and uneven, and consequently that the task was more difficult than it had seemed from below.“The only way I see,”Forster said,“would be to blast out a trench six feet wide and one foot deep, in which the men could lie hidden. The question is whether the captain will not be afraid that the blasting might draw attention to our presence here.”“They were just starting for the top of the hill when we came away,”Will said,“and may be able to see whether there are any habitations in the neighbourhood. A couple of men in the dug-out would be able to bring us news of any craft in sight. I certainly don’t see any other way.”When Forster made his report the captain said:“I believe it will be the best plan. At the top of the hill we could see nothing but forests, for the most part levelled; we could make out no sign of smoke anywhere. The operation of blasting can be done with comparatively small charges, and[pg 127]occurring as it does at the foot of a gorge like that, the sound would hardly spread much over the surrounding country, and we could, of course, take care that there was no ship in sight when we fired the charges.“Well, you can begin to-morrow. I believe there are some blasting-tools in the store. Take the gunner with you; this work comes within his province.”On the following morning the raft went off again, and at midday a number of sharp explosions told that the work was begun. In the evening another series of shots were fired, and the party returned with the news that the ground had been broken up to the depth of two feet and of ample size to give the men cover. The next morning the rocks were cleared out, and a seven-pounder and carriage, with tackle for hoisting it up, were sent over.In the afternoon the captain went in the dug-out and inspected the work, and expressed himself as thoroughly satisfied with it. A garrison consisting of an officer and ten men was then placed in the fort. They remained there all day and returned to the ship as darkness fell, as it was thought pretty certain that no one would try to explore the inlet during the night. The next morning another party was told off to garrison duty, and so on, no man being given two consecutive days in the fort.On the fourth day the dug-out returned in haste to the ship from its post at the mouth of the gap, and reported that two men-of-war were to be seen in the distance cruising close inshore. Mr. Farrance landed, and with difficulty made his way up the hill to a point near the mouth of the opening, which commanded a view over the sea. From that point he[pg 128]could easily see the hulls of the ships with his telescope, and had no doubt whatever that they were the former antagonists of theFurious. After watching for some time he made out four little black specks very close to the shore. He examined them closely and then hurried down to the cove.“They are searching the coast with boats,”he reported,“as I feared they would.”The news had been given to the little party at the battery as the dug-out came in, and they were at once on the alert. The carpenters, who after the departure of their first boat had been employed in building a large gig to pull twelve oars, were at once recalled to the ship, and the magazines were opened and the guns loaded. All the guns from the larboard main deck had been brought up to the upper deck and port-holes made for them, and a boom of trees had been built from the bow and stern of the ship to the shore, so as to prevent any craft from getting inside her. Thus prepared, the captain considered that he was fully a match for any two ships of his own size, but he knew, nevertheless, that, even if he beat them off, he might be exposed to attack from a still larger force unless assistance arrived from Jamaica.But he did not think only of the ship. The dug-out, which had brought Mr. Farrance back with his report, was at once sent off with orders to the party at the battery that they must, if possible, sink any boat or boats that entered, but that if ships of war came in they must not try to work their gun after the first shot, as if they did so they would simply be swept away by the enemy’s fire. That one shot was to be aimed at the enemy’s rudder; then they were to lie down, and if they had not disabled the ship they were to keep up a heavy[pg 129]musketry fire, aimed solely against her steersman. It was hardly likely that they would be attacked by boats, as the enemy would be fully engaged with theFurious; but even if they should, the Frenchmen would have no means of climbing the eight feet of precipitous rock.The dug-out went to and from the entrance, bringing back news of the progress made by the enemy’s boats. About three hours from the time when they had first been made out by Mr. Farrance the little boat reported that they were only two or three hundred yards from the entrance. On board the ship all listened anxiously, for a slight bend in the narrow passage prevented them from seeing the battery. Presently the boom of a cannon was heard, followed by a cheer, which told that the little garrison had been successful; then for two or three minutes there was a rattle of musketry. When this stopped, the dug-out at once went out to the fort, and returned with the news that two boats had come up abreast, that one of them had been sunk by the cannon at the fort, and that its crew had been picked up by the other boat, which had rowed hastily back, suffering a good deal from the musketry fire under which the operation was carried on.“That is act one,”the captain said;“now we shall have to look for act two. I will go up with you, Mr. Farrance, to the place whence you saw them; we may be sure that there will be a great deal of signalling and consultation before they make any further step.”Accordingly they landed and went up to the look-out. The two vessels were lying close to each other with their sails aback. The more fortunate of the two boats which had attempted to explore the passage had just returned to them with[pg 130]its load of wounded and the survivors of its late companion, and boats were passing to and fro between the two ships.“It is an awkward question for them to decide,”the captain said.“Of course they know well enough that a ship must be in here, the gun shows them that, but they cannot tell that we are capable of making any defence beyond the single gun battery on the ledge.”It was an hour before there was any change in the position, but at the end of that time the sails were filled and the two vessels headed for the mouth of the inlet. They had evidently concluded that the English ship was lying there disabled. The two officers hurried back to theFurious, and gave orders to prepare for the attack. The men at once stood to their posts. Presently the gun of the fort boomed out again, and by the cheering that followed the sound it was evident that the shot had taken effect and smashed the rudder of one of the French ships. Several guns were fired in reply, but a minute later the bowsprit of the leading ship came into view. The men waited until they could see the whole vessel, then a crashing broadside from every gun on board theFuriouswas poured into her bow.The effect was tremendous; a hole ten or twelve feet wide was torn in her bow, and the ship was swept from end to end by balls and splinters, and the shrieks and groans that arose from her told that the execution was heavy. It was evident that the battle was already half-won as far as she was concerned. There was not room enough in the little inlet for her to manœuvre in the light wind so as to bring her broadside to bear on theFurious, and another crashing broadside from the latter vessel completed her discomfiture. The other vessel now[pg 131]came up by her side, but she had been disabled by the fort, and her helm would not act. Her captain at once lowered her boats and tried to get her head round, but these were smashed up by the fire of theFurious, and the two vessels lay together side by side, helpless to reply in any efficient way to the incessant fire kept up upon them. The Frenchmen did all that was possible for brave men to do in the circumstances, but their position was hopeless, and after suffering terribly for ten minutes, one after the other hauled down their flag.A tremendous burst of cheering broke from theFurious. She had lost but two men killed and four or five wounded by the bullets of the French topmen. She had also been struck twice by balls from the bow-chaser of the second ship; but this was the extent of her damage, while the loss of life on board the French frigates had been frightful. Some sixty men had been killed and eighty wounded on the first ship, while thirty were killed and still more wounded in the boats of the second vessel.Captain Harker went on board the captures to receive the swords of their commanders.“You have done your best, gentlemen,”he said;“no one in the circumstances could have done more. Had there been ten of you instead of two the result must have been the same. If your boats had got in and seen the situation you would have understood that the position was an impossible one. There was no room in here for manœuvring, and even had one of you not been damaged by the shot from that little battery of ours, your position would have been practically unchanged, and you could not possibly have brought your broadsides to bear upon us.”[pg 132]The French captains, who were much mortified by the disaster, bowed silently.“It is the fortune of war, sir,”one of them said,“and certainly we could not have anticipated that you would be so wonderfully placed for defence. I agree with you that our case was hopeless from the first, and I compliment you upon your dispositions, which were certainly admirable.”“You and your officers will be perfectly at liberty,”the captain said;“your crews must be placed in partial confinement, but a third of them can always be on deck. My surgeon has come on board with me, and will at once assist yours in attending to your wounded.”A considerable portion of the crew of theFuriouswere at once put on board the French frigateEclaire, and set to work to dismantle her. The masts, spars, and rigging were transferred to theFuriousand erected in place of her own shattered stumps, which were thrown overboard. Thus, after four days of the hardest work for all, theFuriouswas again placed in fighting trim.Preparations were immediately made for sailing. TheFuriousled the way, towing behind her the dismantled hull in which the whole of the prisoners were carried. A prize crew of sixty were placed on board theActif.When they were about half-way to Jamaica a squadron of three vessels were sighted. Preparations were made to throw off theEclaireif the ships proved to be hostile, but before long it was evident that they were English. They approached rapidly, and when they rounded-to near theFuriousthe crews manned the yards and greeted her with tremendous cheers. The officer in command was at once rowed to theFurious.[pg 133]As the boat neared the ship his friends recognized Mr. Peters and Robson sitting in the stern.“What miracle is this, Captain Harker?”the officer cried as he came on deck.“Your lieutenant brought us news that you were dismasted and lying helpless in some little inlet, and here you are with what I can see is a French equipment and a couple of prizes! I can almost accuse you of having brought us here on a fool’s errand.”“It must have that appearance to you; but the facts of the case are simple;”and he told the story of the fight.“The battle was practically over when the first shot was fired,”he said.“The two French ships lost upwards of seventy killed and over a hundred wounded, while we had only four men killed and two wounded. If the place had been designed by nature specially for defence it could not have been better adapted for us.”“I see that,”Captain Ingham said;“but you made the most of the advantages. Your plan of laying her broadside to the entrance, getting all your cannon on one side, and building a boom to prevent any vessel from getting behind you, was most excellent. Well, it is a splendid victory, the more so as it has been won with so little loss. The French certainly showed but little discretion in thus running into the trap you had prepared for them. Of course they could not tell what to expect, but at least, whatever it might have cost them, they ought to have sent a strong boat division in to reconnoitre. No English captain would have risked his vessel in such a way.”With very little delay the voyage to Jamaica was continued. Two of the relief party went straight on, the other remained[pg 134]with theFuriousin case she should fall in with a French fleet. When the little squadron entered Port Royal they received an enthusiastic welcome from the ships on the station. Both prizes were bought into the service and handed over to the dockyard for a thorough refit. Their names were changed, theEclairebeing rechristened theSylph, theActifbecoming theHawke. Lieutenant Farrance was promoted to the rank of captain, and given the command of the latter vessel, and some of the survivors of a ship that had a fortnight before been lost on a dangerous reef were told off to her. He was, according to rule, permitted to take a boat’s crew and a midshipman with him from his old ship, and he selected Will Gilmore, and, among the men, Dimchurch and Tom Stevens.The planters of Jamaica were celebrated for their hospitality, and the officers received many invitations.“You are quite at liberty to accept any of them you like,”Captain Farrance said to Will.“Till the vessel gets out of the hands of the dockyard men there is nothing whatever for you to do. But I may tell you that there is a good deal of unrest in the island among the slaves. The doings of the French revolutionists, and the excitement they have caused by becoming the patrons of the mulattoes has, as might be expected, spread here, and it is greatly feared that trouble may come of it. Of course the planters generally pooh-pooh the idea, but it is not to be despised, and a few of them have already left their plantations and come down here. I don’t say that you should not accept any invitation if you like, but if an outbreak takes place suddenly I fancy very few of the planters will get down safely. I mean, of course, if there is a general[pg 135]rising, which I hope will not be the case. Negroes are a good deal like other people. Where they are well treated they are quite content to go on as they are. Where they are badly treated they are apt to try and better themselves. Still, that is not always the case. There is no doubt that altogether the French planters of San Domingo are much gentler in their treatment of their slaves than our people are here. Large numbers of them are of good old French families, and look on their slaves rather as children to be ruled by kindness than as beasts of burden, as there is no doubt some, not many, I hope, but certainly some of the English planters do. With San Domingo in the throes of a slave revolution, therefore, it will not be surprising if the movement communicates itself to the slaves here. I know that the admiral thinks it prudent to keep an extra ship of war on the station so as to be prepared for any emergency.”“Very well, sir. Then I will not accept invitations for overnight.”“I don’t say that, Mr. Gilmore. In nine cases out of ten I should say it could be done without danger; for if a rebellion breaks out it will not at first be general, but will begin at some of the most hardly-managed plantations, and there will be plenty of time to return to town before it spreads.”As Will had no desire to mix himself up in a slave insurrection, he declined all invitations to go out to houses beyond a distance whence he could drive back in the evening. At all the houses he visited he was struck by the apparently good relations between masters and slaves. The planters were almost aggrieved when he insisted on leaving them in the evening, but he had the excuse that he was a sort of aide-de-[pg 136]camp to Captain Farrance, and was bound to be there the first thing in the morning to receive any orders that he might have to give. He generally hired a gig and drove over early so as to have a long day there, and always took either Dimchurch or Tom with him. He enjoyed himself very much, but was not sorry when the repairs on theHawkewere completed.As the admiral was anxious for her to be away, some men were drafted from the other ships; others were recruited from the crews of the merchantmen in the port by Dimchurch, who spoke very highly of the life on board a man-of-war, and of the good qualities of theHawke’scommander. The complement was completed by a draft of fresh hands from England, brought out to make good the losses of the various ships on the station. Within three weeks, therefore, of her leaving the dockyard theHawkesailed to join the expedition under Sir John Laforey and General Cuyler, to capture the island of Tobago, where, on 14th April, 1793, some troops were landed. The French governor was summoned to surrender, but refused, so the works were attacked and carried after a spirited resistance. But the attempt to capture St. Pierre in the island of Martinique was not equally successfully. The French defended the place so desperately that the troops were re-embarked with considerable loss.[pg 137]CHAPTER VIIAN INDEPENDENT COMMANDWill was hit by a musket-ball in the last engagement that took place, and was sent back with a batch of wounded to Port Royal. Three of the fingers of his left hand had been carried away, but he bore the loss with equanimity, as it would not compel him to leave the service. Tom, who went with him as his servant, fretted a good deal more over it than he himself, and was often loud in his lamentations.“It would not have made any difference if it had been me,”he said,“but it is awfully hard on you.”“What ridiculous nonsense, Tom!”Will said quite angrily, after one of these outbursts.“If it had been you it would have been really serious, for though an officer can get on very well without some of his fingers a sailor would be useless and would be turned adrift with some trifling pension. I shall do very well. I have been mentioned in despatches and I am certain to get my step as soon as I have served long enough to pass, so after a time I shall not miss them at all.”Tom was silenced, though not convinced. The wound healed rapidly, thanks to Will’s abstemious habits, and in six weeks after entering the hospital he was discharged as fit for duty. TheHawkewas not in harbour, so he went to an hotel. On the following day he received an order to call upon the admiral. When he did so that officer received him very kindly.“I am sorry,”he said,“to learn that you have lost some fingers, Mr. Gilmore.”[pg 138]“I hope it will not interfere much with my efficiency, sir?”“I think not,”the admiral said;“I have received the surgeon’s report this morning. In it he stated that your wound had from the first gone on most favourably, and that they had really kept you in hospital a fortnight longer than was absolutely necessary, lest in your anxiety to rejoin you might do yourself harm. Three days since a cutter of about a hundred tons was sent in by theSylph. She was a pirate, and, like all vessels of that class, very fast, and would most likely have outsailed theSylphhad she not caught her up a creek. I have purchased her for the government service, and I propose to place you in command.”Will gave a start of surprise. At his age he could not have expected for a moment to be given an independent command.“I have noted your behaviour here, and have looked through the records of your service since you joined, and I am convinced that you will do credit to the post. I shall give you a midshipman junior to yourself from theThetis, and you will have forty hands before the mast. TheHawkeis expected in in a few days, so you can pick five men from her. The rest I will make up from the other ships. The cutter will be furnished with four twelve-pounders, and the long sixteen as a bow gun, which she had when she was captured. Your duty will be to police the coasts and to overhaul as many craft as you may find committing depredations, of course avoiding a combat with adversaries too strong for you.”“I thank you most heartily, sir, for selecting me for this service, and will do my best to merit your kindness.”[pg 139]“That is all right, Mr. Gilmore. I have acted, as I believe, for the good of the service, and to some extent as an incentive to other young officers to use their wits.”Will went out with his head in a whirl. He could hardly have hoped, within a year of his term of service as a midshipman, to obtain a separate command, and he could have shouted with joy at this altogether unexpected promotion. The first thing he did was to take a boat and row off in it to his new command. She was a handsome boat, evidently designed to be fast and weatherly.“These beggars know how to build boats much better than how to fight them,”he said, when he had examined her.“Assuredlyin anything like a light wind she would run away from theSylph. The admiral was right when he said that it was only by chance that she was caught. I hope the fellow who is going with me is a good sort. It would be awkward if we did not pull well together. At any rate, as the admiral seems to have picked him out for the service, he must be worth his salt. Of course I shall have Dimchurch as my boatswain; he will take one watch and the youngster the other. It will be hard if we don’t catch something.”Having rowed round the cutter two or three times he returned to the shore. As the little vessel had been taken by surprise, and had not been able to offer any resistance to a craft so much more powerful than herself, she was uninjured, and was in a fit state to be immediately recommissioned. She was calledL’Agile, a name which Will thought very suitable for her.“Forty men will be none too strong for her,”he said,“for we shall have to work two guns on each side and that long[pg 140]one in the bow.”He went to bed that night and dreamt of fierce fights and many captures, and laughed at himself when he awoke.“Still,”he said,“I shall always be able to tackle any craft of our own size and carrying anything like our number of men.”Three days later theHawkecame in. Will at once rowed off to her and had a chat with his friends. When he mentioned his new command his news was at first received with absolute incredulity, but when at last his messmates came to understand that he was not joking, he was heartily congratulated on his good fortune. Afterwards he was not a little chaffed on the tremendous deeds he and his craft were going to perform. When at last they became serious, Latham, the master’s mate, remarked:“But what is your new command like?”“She is a cutter of about a hundred tons, carrying four twelve-pounders, and a sixteen-pounder long pivot gun at the bow. I am to have forty men and a young midshipman from theThetis.”“A very tidy little craft, I should say, Gilmore, and you will probably get a good deal more fun out of her than from a frigate or line-of-battle ship. You will want a good boatswain to take charge of one of the watches.”“I shall have one, for I am to take five men out of theHawke, and you may be sure I shall take Dimchurch as boatswain.”“You could not have a better man,”Latham said;“he is certainly one of the smartest fellows on board the ship. He is very popular with all the men, and is full of life and go, and always the first to set an example when there is any work[pg 141]to be done. I suppose we shall also lose the services of that boy Tom?”“I think so,”Will laughed;“I should be quite lost without so faithful a hand, and indeed, though he still ranks as a boy, he is a big powerful fellow, and a match for many an A.B. at hauling a rope or pulling an oar.”“You are right. He is as big round the chest as many of the men, and though perhaps not so active, quite as powerful. When will you hoist your pendant?”“I have to get the crew together yet. I am to have small drafts from several of the ships, and it may be a few days before they can be collected.”The next morning theThetisarrived, and the young midshipman came on shore an hour later to report himself to Will. He looked surprised for a moment at the age of his new commander, but gravely reported himself for service. Will was pleased with his appearance. He was a merry-faced boy, but with a look on his face which indicated pluck and determination.“You are surprised at my age, no doubt, Harman,”Will said,“and I cannot be more than a year older than yourself, but I have been fortunate enough to be twice mentioned in despatches, indeed have had wonderful luck. I feel sure that we shall get on well together, and I hope both do well. We are to act as police on the coast of Cuba; it swarms with pirates, and it will be hard if we don’t fall in with some of them. You will, of course, keep one watch, and the boatswain, who is a thoroughly good man, will take the other. I need hardly say that we shall have no nonsense about commanding officer. Except when on duty, I hope we shall be[pg 142]good chums, which means, of course, that when an enemy is in sight or the weather is dirty I must be in absolute command.”“Thank you, sir!”Harman said.“These are good terms, and I promise to obey your commands as readily as if you were old enough to be my father.”“That is good. Now I have dinner ordered and I hope you will share it with me. We can then talk over matters comfortably.”Before dinner was over, the lad was more than satisfied with his new chief, and felt sure that at any rate the cruise would be a pleasant one. Just as they had finished, Dimchurch and Tom came in to see Will. On finding that he was engaged they would have withdrawn, but Will called them in.“Sit down and join Mr. Harman and myself in a chat. This, Harman, is Bob Dimchurch, who is going to be our boatswain, and Tom Stevens, whom I have known since we were five years old, and although I have gone over his head we are as good friends as ever. Dimchurch took me under his wing when I first joined, and since then has fought by my side on several occasions.”“We came to wish you success in your new command, sir,”Dimchurch said,“and should not have intruded had we known that you were not alone.”“It is no intrusion at all, Dimchurch. There is no man whose congratulations can be more pleasing to me. Have you seen the cutter?”“Yes, sir. Tom and I noticed what a smart, likely craft she was when we came in and dropped anchor. I little thought that it was you who had command of her, but I have[pg 143]no fear but that you will do her full justice. I could hardly believe my ears when I was told this afternoon, and Tom was ready to jump out of his clothes with joy.”“It is wonderfully good fortune, Dimchurch; I can hardly believe it myself yet.”“I am sure you deserve it, sir. It was you who recaptured that prize in the Mediterranean; it was you who saved the first lieutenant’s life; and it was you who suggested a plan by which we accounted for those three pirates. If that didn’t deserve promotion, it is hard to say what would.”“I owe no small portion of it, Dimchurch, to the fact that I was able to take an observation so soon after I had joined, and that was due to the kindness of my good friend Miss Warden.”“Yes, sir, that goes for something, no doubt, but there is a good deal more than that in it.”After some further talk both of the past and the future, Dimchurch sprang to his feet, saying:“Well, sir, I wish you success. But it is time we were off. I am told we are to remove our duds on board the new craft to-morrow.”“Yes, we are going to start manning her at once; I shall be on board with Mr. Harman directly after breakfast. I have not put foot upon her yet, and am most anxious to do so.”The craft fully answered Will’s expectations. Her after-accommodation was exceedingly good; the cabin was handsomely fitted, and there were two state-rooms.“We shall be in clover here, Harman,”he said;“no one could wish for a better command. I must set to work to get stores shipped at once. How many of the crew are on board?”[pg 144]“Twenty-three, sir, and I believe we shall have our full complement before night.”As they spoke a boat laden with provisions came alongside, and all hands were at once engaged transferring her load to the cutter. In the course of the forenoon the remainder of the men came on board in twos and threes. After dinner Will called the crew together and read out his commission. Then he made his maiden speech.“My lads,”he said,“I wish this to be a comfortable ship, and I will do my best to make it so. I shall expect the ready obedience of all; and you may be assured that if possible I will put you in the way of gaining prize-money. There are plenty of prizes to be taken, and I hope confidently that many of them will fall to our share.”The men gave three cheers, and Will added:“I will order an extra supply of grog to be served out this evening.”On the following dayL’Agiledipped her ensign to the admiral and set off on her voyage. Will was well pleased with the smartness the crew displayed in getting under weigh, and more than satisfied with the pace at which she moved through the water. For a month they cruised off the coast of Cuba, during which time they picked up eight small prizes. These were for the most part rowing-galleys carrying one large lateen sail. None of them were sufficiently strong to show fight; they were not intended to attack merchantmen, but preyed upon native craft, and were manned by from ten to twenty desperadoes. Most of them, when overhauled, pretended to be peaceful fishermen or traders, but a search always brought to light concealed arms, and in some cases captured goods. The boats were burned, and their crews, mostly[pg 145]mulattoes, with a sprinkling of negroes—rascals whose countenances were sufficiently villainous to justify their being hanged without trial,—were put ashore; for the admiral had given instructions to Will not to burden himself with prisoners, who would have to be closely guarded, and would therefore weaken his crew, and, if brought to Port Royal, would take up prison accommodation.At last one day a schooner rather bigger than themselves was sighted. Her appearance was rakish, and there was little doubt as to her character. All sail was at once crowded onL’Agile. The schooner was nearly as fast as she was, and at the end of a six hours’ chase she was still two miles ahead. Suddenly she headed for the shore and disappeared among the trees.L’Agileproceeded on her course until opposite the mouth of the inlet which the pirate had entered. It was getting dark, and Will decided to wait until morning, and then to send a boat in to reconnoitre.“I have not forgotten,”he said to Harman,“the way in which those two French frigates I have told you of ran into a trap, and I don’t mean to be caught so if I can help it.”L’Agileremained hove to during the night, and in the morning lowered a boat, with four hands, commanded by Dimchurch, who was ordered to row in until he obtained a fair view of the enemy, and observe as far as possible what preparation had been made for defence. He was absent for half an hour, and then returned, saying that the schooner was lying anchored with her sails stowed at the far end of the inlet, which was about half a mile long and nearly as wide, with her broadside bearing on the entrance.“If it is as large as that,”Will said,“there will be plenty[pg 146]of room for us to manœuvre. Did you make out what number of guns she carried?”“Yes, sir, she mounted four guns on each side; I should say they were for the most part ten-pounders.”“I think we can reckon upon taking her. Our guns are of heavier metal than hers, and the long-tom will make up for our deficiency in numbers.”L’Agilewas put under as easy sail as would suffice to give her manœuvring powers, and then headed for the mouth of the inlet. She was half-way through when suddenly two hidden batteries, each mounting three guns, opened upon her.“Drop the anchor at once,”Will shouted;“we will finish with these gentlemen before we go farther.”The schooner at the same time opened fire, but at half a mile range her guns did not inflict much damage upon the cutter. Lying between the two batteries she engaged them both, her broadside guns firing with grape, while the long-tom sent a shot into each alternately. In a quarter of an hour their fire was silenced, three of the guns were dismounted, and the men who had been working them fled precipitately.“Take a boat and spike the remaining guns, Dimchurch,”Will said;“I don’t want any more bother with them.”In a few minutes Dimchurch returned to the cutter, having accomplished his mission. The anchor was then got up again, and she proceeded to attack the schooner.L’Agile’scasualties had been trifling; only one had been killed and three wounded, all of them slightly. As she sailed up the inlet she replied with her pivot-gun to the fire of the enemy. At every shot the splinters were seen to fly from the schooner’s side, much to the discomfiture of the pirate gunners, whose aim became[pg 147]so wild that scarcely a shot struckL’Agile. When within a hundred yards of the schooner the helm was put down, and the cutter swept round and opened fire with her two broadside guns.The shots had scarcely rung out when Harman touched Will on the shoulder.“Look there, sir,”he said. Will turned and saw a vessel emerging from a side channel, which was so closed in with trees that it had been unperceived by anybody aboard the cutter. Her aim was evidently to get between them and the sea. She was a cutter of about the same size asL’Agile, but carried six ten-pounders.“The schooner has enticed us in here,”Will said,“there is no doubt about that, and now there is nothing to do but to fight it out. Take her head round,”he said,“we will settle it with the cutter first. The schooner cannot come to her assistance for some minutes as she has all her sails furled.”Accordingly he ranged up to the new-comer, and a furious contest ensued. He engaged her with two broadside guns and the long-tom, and at the same time kept his other two guns playing upon the schooner, the crew of which were busy getting up sail. The long-tom was served by Dimchurch himself, and every shot went crashing through the side of the pirate cutter, the fire of the two broadside guns being almost equally effective.“Keep it up, lads,”Will shouted;“we shall finish with her before the other can come up.”As he spoke a shot from the long-tom struck the cutter’s mainmast, which tottered for a moment and then fell over her side towardsL’Agile, and the sails and hamper entirely prevented the crew from working her guns. For another five minutes the fire was kept up;[pg 148]then the crew were seen to be leaping overboard, and presently a man stood up and shouted that she surrendered. The schooner was now coming up fast.“Don’t let her escape,”Will shouted;“she has had enough of it, and is trying to get away. Run her aboard!”In a minute the two vessels crashed together, and headed by Will, Harman, and Dimchurch,L’Agile’screw sprang on board the schooner.The pirate crew were evidently discouraged by the fate of their consort and by the complete failure of their plan to captureL’Agile. The captain, a gigantic mulatto, fought desperately, as did two or three of his principal men. One of them charged at Will while he was engaged with another, and would have killed him had not Tom Stevens sprung forward and caught the blow on his own cutlass. The sword flew from the man’s hand, and Tom at once cut him down. Dimchurch engaged in a single-handed contest with the great mulatto captain. Strong as the sailor was he could with difficulty parry the ruffian’s blows, but skill made up for inequality of strength, and after a few exchanges he laid the man low with a clever thrust. The fall of their leader completed the discomfiture of the pirates, most of whom at once sprang overboard and made for the shore, those who remained being cut down by the sailors.When at last they were masters of the ship the crew gave three lusty cheers. But Will did not permit them to waste precious time in rejoicing. He knew that, though they had accomplished so much, there was still a great deal to be done, for the prizes might even yet be recaptured before they got them out to sea. Without a moment’s delay, therefore, he[pg 149]sent a boat to take possession of the cutter. The sail and wreckage were cleared away, and the boat proceeded to tow her out of the inlet. In the meantime a warp was taken fromL’Agileto the schooner, the sails of the latter were lowered, and Will sailed proudly out with his second prize in tow. Once fairly at sea the crew began to repair damages. Five men in all had been killed and eleven were wounded. Several of the latter, however, were able to lend a hand. The shot-holes inL’Agilewere first patched with pieces of plank, then covered with canvas, and afterwards given a coat of paint. Then the schooner was taken in hand, and when she was got into something like ship-shape order her sails were hoisted again, and ten men under Harman placed on board to work her. The cutter was taken in tow, only three men being left on board to steer.It was late in the afternoon before all the repairs were completed. Before sailing, a rough examination was made of the holds of the two vessels, and to the great satisfaction ofL’Agile’screw both were found to contain a considerable amount of booty.“It is probable that there is a storehouse somewhere,”Will said;“but as we have under thirty available men it would be madness to try to land, for certainly two-thirds of the scoundrels escaped by swimming, and as each craft must have carried nearly a hundred men we should have been altogether overmatched. Well, they had certainly a right to count upon success; their arrangements were exceedingly good. No doubt they expected us to leave the batteries alone, and from the position in which they were placed they could have peppered us hotly while we were engaged with the schooner;[pg 150]in which case they would probably have had an easy victory. It was a cleverly-laid trap and ought to have succeeded.”“And it would, sir,”Dimchurch said,“if you had not turned from the schooner and settled with the cutter before the other could come to her assistance.”“The credit is largely due to you,”Will said;“that shot of yours that took the mast out was the turning-point of the fight. It completely crippled her, and as it luckily fell towards us it altogether prevented them from returning our fire.”Very proud were Will and his crew when they sailed into Port Royal with their two prizes. Will at once rowed to the flagship, where he received a very hearty greeting.“You have not come empty-handed, I see, Mr. Gilmore,”the admiral said;“you were lucky indeed to take two ships of your own size one after theother.”“We took them at the same time, sir,”Will said,“as you will see by my report.”The admiral gave a look of surprise and opened the document. First he ran his eye over it, then he read it more attentively. When he had finished he said:“You have fought a most gallant action, Mr. Gilmore, a most gallant action. It was indeed long odds you had against you, two vessels each considerably over your own size and manned by far heavier crews, besides the two batteries. It was an excellent idea to leave the vessel with which you were first engaged and turn upon the second one. If you had tried to fight them both at once you would almost certainly have been overcome, and you succeeded because you were cool enough to grasp the fact that the schooner at anchor and with her sails down[pg 151]would not be able to come to her friend’s assistance for some minutes, and acted so promptly on your conclusions. The oldest officer in the service could not have done better. I congratulate you very heartily on your conduct. What are the contents of the cargoes of the prizes?”“I cannot say, sir. With three vessels on my hands I had no time to examine them, but they certainly contain a number of bales of various sorts. I opened one which contained British goods.”“Then no doubt they are the pick of the cargoes they captured,”the admiral said;“I will go off with you myself and ascertain. I have nothing else to do this afternoon, and it will be a matter of interest to me as well as to you. You may as well let your own gig row back and I will take mine.”Accordingly the gig was sent back toL’Agilewith orders for two boats to be lowered and twenty of the men to be ready to go to the two prizes. As soon as the admiral came on board the hatchways were opened, and the men brought up a number of the bales. These were found to contain fine cloths, material for women’s dresses, china, ironmongery, carpets, and other goods of British manufacture. The other vessel contained sugar, coffee, ginger, spices, and other products of the islands.“That is enough,”said the admiral;“I don’t think we shall be far wrong if we put down the value of those two cargoes at £10,000. The two vessels will sell for about £1000 apiece, so that the prize-money will be altogether about £12,000, and even after putting aside my portion you will all share to a handsome amount in the proceeds. That is the advantage of not belonging to a squadron. In that case your share would not be worth anything like what it will now[pg 152]be. By the way, since you have been absent I have received the account of the prize-money earned by theFuriousin the Mediterranean and by the capture of the French frigates. It amounts in all to £35,000. Of course as a midshipman your share will not be very large; probably, indeed, it will not exceed £250, so, you see, pirate-hunting in the West Indies, in command even of a small craft, pays enormously better than being a midshipman on board a frigate.”“It does indeed, sir, though £250 would be a fortune to a midshipman.”“Well, if our calculations as to the value of the cargoes and ships are correct, you will get more than ten times that amount now. And as there are only the flag and one other officer to share with you, the men’s portion will be something like £100 apiece. A few more captures like this,”and he laughed,“and you will become a rich man.”He then rowed away to his own ship, and Will returned toL’Agileand gladdened the hearts of Harman and the crew with the news of the value of their captures.L’Agileremained another week in harbour, during which time all signs of the recent conflict were removed, and he received a draft of men sufficient to bring his crew up to its former level. Then she again set sail.They had cruised for about a fortnight when one morning, just as Will was getting up, Dimchurch ran down and reported that they had sighted two sails suspiciously near each other.“One,”he said,“looks to me a full-rigged ship, and the other a large schooner.”“I will have a look at them,”Will said, and, putting on his clothes, he ran on deck.[pg 153]“Yes, it certainly looks suspicious,”he said, when he had examined them through his telescope;“we will head towards them.”“She looks to me a very large schooner, sir,”said Dimchurch.“Yes, she is larger than these pirates generally are, but there is very little doubt as to her character. How far are they off, do you think?”“Ten miles, sir, I should say; but we have got the land-breeze while they are becalmed. By the look of the water I should say we should carry the wind with us until we are pretty close to them.”Every sail the cutter could carry was hoisted, and she approached the two vessels rapidly. They were some four miles from them when the sails of the schooner filled and she began to move through the water.“It will be a long chase now,”Will said;“but the cutter has light wings, so we have a good chance of overhauling her.”“The sails of the ship are all anyhow, sir,”Harman said.“So they are, Mr. Harman; foul play has been going on there, I have not the least doubt. The fact that the crew are not making any effort to haul in her sheets and come to meet us is in itself a proof of it. I think it is our duty to board her and see what has taken place. Even if we allow the schooner to escape we shall light upon her again some day, I have no doubt.”“She is very low in the water,”he said, after examining the merchantman carefully through his telescope,“and either her cargo is of no value to the pirates, and they have allowed it to remain in her, or they have scuttled her.”[pg 154]“I am afraid it is that, sir,”Dimchurch said,“for she is certainly lower in the water than when I first saw her.”“You are right, Dimchurch, the scoundrels have scuttled her. Please God we shall get to her before she founders! Oh for a stronger wind! Do you think we could row there quicker than we sail?”“No, sir. The gig might go as fast as the cutter, but the other boat would not be able to keep pace with her.”“Well, make all preparations for lowering. Heaven only knows what tragedy may have taken place there.”After all had been got ready, every eye on board the cutter was fixed on the vessel. There was no doubt now that she was getting deeper in the water every minute. When they got within a quarter of a mile of the ship she was so low that it was evident she could not float many minutes longer.“To the boats, men,”Will cried,“row for your lives.”A moment later three boats started at full speed. The gig, in which Dimchurch and Tom were both rowing, was first to search the sinking ship. Will leapt on board at once, and as he did so he gave an exclamation of horror, for the deck was strewn with dead bodies. Without stopping to look about him he ran aft to the companion and went down to the cabin, which was already a foot deep in water. There he found some fifteen men and women sitting securely bound on the sofas. Will drew his dirk, and running along cut their thongs.“Up on deck for your lives,”he cried,“and get into the boats alongside; she will not float three minutes.”At the farther end of the cabin a young girl was kneeling by the side of a stout old lady, who had evidently fainted.[pg 155]“Come,”Will said, going up to her,“it is a matter of life and death; we shall have the water coming down the companion in a minute or two.”“I can’t leave her,”the girl cried.Will attempted to lift the old lady, but she was far too heavy for him.“I cannot save her,”he said, and raised a shout for Dimchurch. It was unanswered.“There,”he said,“the water is coming down; she will sink in a minute. I cannot save her—indeed she is as good as dead already—but I can save you,”and snatching the girl up he ran to the foot of the companion. The water was already pouring down, but he struggled up against it, and managed to reach the deck; but before he could cross to the side the vessel gave a sudden lurch and went down. He was carried under with the suck, but by desperate efforts he gained the surface just as his breath was spent. For a moment or two he was unable to speak, but he was none the less ready to act. Looking round he saw a hen-coop floating near, and, swimming to it, he clung to it with one arm while he held the girl’s head above water with the other. Then, when he had recovered his breath, he shouted“Dimchurch!”Fortunately the gig was not far away, and his hail was at once answered, and a moment later the boat was alongside the hen-coop.Illustration: THE RESCUETHE RESCUE“Take this young lady, Dimchurch, and lay her in the stern-sheets. She can’t be dead, for she was sensible when the ship went down, and we were not under water a minute.”After the girl had been laid down, Will was helped in.“Did we save them all?”he asked.“Yes, sir; at least I think so. They all came running on[pg 156]deck and jumped straight into the boats. I was busy helping them, and did not notice that you were missing. As the last seemed to have come up, I called to the other boats to make off, for I saw that she could only float a minute longer, and as it was we had only just got clear when she went down. Indeed we had a narrow escape of it, and the men had to row. I was standing up to look for you, and had just discovered that you were not in any of the boats, when I heard you call. It gave me a bad turn, as you may guess, sir, and glad I was when I saw you were holding on to that hen-coop.”“Now, let us try and bring this young lady round,”Will said.They turned her over first upon her face and let the water run out of her mouth. Then they laid her flat on her back with a jersey under her head, and rubbed her hands and feet and pressed gently at times on her chest. After five minutes of this treatment the girl heaved a sigh, and shortly afterwards opened her eyes and looked round in bewilderment at the faces of the men. Then suddenly she realized where she was and remembered what had happened.“Oh, it was dreadful!”she murmured.“Poor Miss Morrison was lost, was she not?”“If that was the name of the lady you were kneeling by I regret to say that she was. It was impossible to save her; for though I tried my best I could not lift her. As you call her Miss Morrison I presume she is not a close relation.”“No, she had been my governess since I was a child, and has been a mother to me. Oh, to think that she is dead while I am saved!”[pg 157]“You must remember that it might have been worse,”Will said;“you certainly cannot require a governess many more years, and will find others on whom to bestow your affection. How old are you?”“I am fourteen,”the girl said.“Well, here is my ship, and we will all do our best to make you comfortable.”“Your ship!”the girl said in surprise;“do you mean to say that you are in command of her? You do not look more than a boy.”“I am not much more than a boy,”he said with a smile,“but for all that I am the commander of this vessel, and this young gentleman is my second in command.”

[pg 119]CHAPTER VIA NARROW ESCAPEThey were hardly anchored before the gale showed signs of breaking, and in a few hours the sun shone out and the wind subsided. The destruction of the timber on the hillsides had been prodigious, and large spaces were entirely cleared.The captain and first lieutenant had an anxious consultation. Every boat had gone, and all the masts and rigging. They were in what was practically a hostile country, for although Spain had not declared war against us, she gave every assistance to the French and left her ports open to them. In a few weeks probably she would openly throw herself into the scale against us.“It is clear that we must communicate with Port Royal somehow,”the captain said,“but it certainly isn’t clear how we are to do it. Between this and the nearest port there may be miles and miles of mountain all encumbered by fallen trees, which it would be almost impossible to get through. Then again we have heard that there are always bands of fugitive slaves in the mountains, who would be sure to attack us. As to the sea, we might possibly make shift to build a boat. There is certainly no lack of timber lying round, and we have plenty of sail-cloth for sails, so we could fit her out fairly well. It would be a journey of fully a thousand miles, but that seems the most feasible plan. A small craft of, say, forty feet long might be built and got ready for sea in the course of a week.”[pg 120]“I should say so certainly, sir. With the amount of labour we have at our disposal it might be built even sooner than that. We have plenty of handy men on board who could give efficient help to the carpenter’s gang.”“I suppose you would build it rather as a ship than as a boat?”“Yes, I think so. We could build her of one-and-a-half-inch planks, fill the seams well with oakum, and give her a couple of coats of paint. Let her be of shallow draft with plenty of beam. She should, of course, be decked over, as she might meet with another tornado. The crew would consist of an officer and ten men. With such a vessel there should be no difficulty in reaching Port Royal.”The carpenters were at once told off to carry out the work.“You can have as many hands to help you as you wish,”the captain said to the head of the gang.“What will you do first?”“I shall get some planks from below, sir, and make a raft. By means of that we can get on shore and choose the trunks that would be most suitable for the purpose; we are sure to find plenty about. Then we will find a suitable spot for a ship-yard, and at once start on the work. I will set a gang of men with axes to square the trunks and make them ready for sawing. They need not be more than six inches square when finished, and as I have a couple of double-handed saws we can soon rip these into planks.”“How long do you think you will be?”“I should say, sir, with the help I can get, I ought to be ready to start in less than a week. Of course the ribs will[pg 121]take some time to prepare, but when I have them and the keel and stem- and stern-post in place the planking will not take us very long.”“She is to be decked, Thompson.”“All over, sir?”“Yes, I think so. She may meet with weather like that we have just come through, and if she is well decked we may feel assured that she will reach Port Royal. I will leave Mr. Farrance and you to draw out her lines.”“I think,”said the first lieutenant,“she should be like a magnified launch, with greater beam and a larger draft of water, which could, perhaps, best be gained by giving her a deep keel. Of course she must be a good deal higher out of the water than a launch, say a good four feet under the deck. There should be no need to carry much ballast; she will gain her stability by her beam.”“I understand, sir. The first thing to be done is to form the raft.”The ship’s crew were soon at work, and it was not long before a raft was constructed. A rope was at once taken ashore and made fast to a tree, so that the raft could be hauled rapidly backwards and forwards between the ship and the shore.The carpenter and his mates were the first to land, and while the chief selected a suitable point for a yard his assistants scattered, examining all fallen trees and cutting the branches off those that seemed most suitable. These were soon dragged down to the yard. Then strong gangs set to work to square them, and the carpenters to cut them into planks.[pg 122]The first lieutenant remained with them, encouraging them at their work, while the junior officers and midshipmen were divided among the various gangs. By six o’clock, when theFurioussignalled for all hands to come on board, they had indeed done a good day’s work. A pile of planks lay ready to be used as required. The carpenters had made some progress with a keel, which they were laboriously chopping out from the straight trunk of a large tree. By evening of the next day this was finished and placed in position. On the third day some started to shape the stem- and stern-posts, while the head-carpenter made from some thin planks templates of the ribs, and set others to chop out the ribs to fit.In two more days all was ready for fastening on the planks. A hundred and fifty men can get through an amazing amount of labour when they work well and heartily. The planks were bent by main strength to fit in their places, and as there was an abundance of nails and other necessary articles on board, the sheathing was finished in two days. The rest of the work was comparatively easy. While the deck was being laid the hull was caulked and painted, and the two masts, sails, and rigging prepared. The boat had no bulwarks, it being considered that she would be a much better sea-boat without them, as in case of shipping a sea the water would run off at once. The hatchways fore and aft were made very small, with close-fitting hatches covered with tarpaulin.The captain was delighted when she was finished.“She is really a fine boat,”he said,“with her forty feet of length and fifteen of beam. It has taken longer to build her than I had expected, but we had not reckoned sufficiently on[pg 123]the difficulties. Everything, however, has now been done to make her seaworthy, so those of us who remain here may feel sure that she will reach Port Royal safely. In case of a gale the sails must be lowered and lashed to the deck, and all hands must go below and fasten the hatchways securely. She has no ballast except her stores, but I think she will be perfectly safe; there is very little chance of her capsizing.”“With such beam and such a depth of keel,”said the first lieutenant,“she could not possibly capsize. In case of a tornado the masts might very well be taken out of her and used as a floating anchor to keep her head to it.”“Now whom do you intend to send in her, sir?”“I will send two officers,”the captain said.“Peters, and a midshipman to take his place in case he should be disabled. I think it is Robson’s turn for special service.”The next morning the boat started soon after daybreak, the ship’s crew all watching her till the two white lug-sails disappeared through the opening.“Now we will take a strong party of wood-cutters,”the captain said,“and see if we can make a way to the top of the hill and get some idea of the country round. I don’t expect we shall see much of interest, but it is just as well that we should be kept employed. By the way, before we do that, we will get hawsers to the shore and work the frigate round so as to bring her broadside to bear upon the opening; we ought to have done that at first. The French may know of this place, or if they don’t they may learn of it from the Spaniards. Those two ships astern of us probably got themselves snug before the tornado struck them, and weathered it all right, though I doubt very much if they did so, unless they knew[pg 124]of some inlets they could run for. If they did escape, it is likely that they will be taking some trouble to find out what became of us. They may have seen their companion’s fate, but they would hardly have made us out in the darkness. Still, they would certainly want to report our loss, and may sail along close inshore to look for timbers and other signs of wreck. I think, therefore, that it will be advisable to station a well-armed boat at this end of the cut, and tell them to row every half-hour or so to the other end and see if they can make out either sailing or rowing craft coming along the shore. If they do see them they must retire to this end of the opening, unless they can find some place where they could hide till a boat came abreast of them, and then pounce out and capture it.”“It would certainly be a good precaution, sir. I will see to it at once—but we are both forgetting that we have no boats.”“Bless me, I did forget that altogether! Well, here is that little dug-out the carpenters made for sending messages to and from the ship. It will carry three. I should be glad if you would take a couple of hands and row down to the mouth of the entrance and see if there is any place where, without any great difficulty, a small party with a gun could be stationed so as not to be noticed by a boat coming up.”“I understand, sir.”The lieutenant started at once, and when he returned, some hours later, he reported that there was a ledge some twenty feet long and twelve deep.“It is about eight feet from the water’s edge and some twelve above it, sir,”he said,“and is not noticeable until one is almost directly opposite it. If we[pg 125]were to pile up rocks regularly four feet high along the face, both the gun and its crew would be completely hidden.”“Get one of the hands on board, Mr. Farrance; I will myself go and see it with you.”One of the men at once climbed on deck, and the captain took his place in the little dug-out. When they reached the ledge he made a careful inspection of it.“Yes,”he said,“ten men could certainly lie hidden here, and with a rough parapet, constructed to look as natural as possible, they should certainly be unobserved by an incoming boat, especially as the attention of those in the stern would be directed into the inlet. Will you order Mr. Forster and one of the other midshipmen to go with as many men as the raft will carry, and build such a parapet. They had better take one of the rope-ladders with them and fix it to the ledge by means of a grapnel. There is plenty of building material among the rocks that have fallen from the precipices above. I must leave it to their ingenuity to make it as natural as possible.”When they returned to the ship the first lieutenant called Forster and gave him the captain’s orders.“You can take young Gilmore with you,”he said.“Your object will be to make it as natural as possible, so as to look, in fact, as if the rocks that had fallen out behind had lodged on the ledge. The height is not very important, for if a boat were coming along, the men would, of course, lie down till it was abreast of them, and the cannon would be withdrawn and only run out at the last moment.”“Very well, sir, I will do my best.”The raft was again brought into requisition, and it was[pg 126]found that it could carry twelve men. Dimchurch and nine others were chosen, and, using oars as paddles, they slowly made their way down to the spot.“It will be a difficult job to make anything like a natural wall there,”Forster said.“Yes,”Will agreed,“I don’t see how it is to be managed at all. Of course we could pile up a line of stones, but that would not look in the least natural. If we could get up three or four big chunks they might do if filled in with small stones, but it would be impossible to raise great blocks to that shelf.”The ladder was fixed and they climbed up to the ledge. When they reached it they found that it was very rough and uneven, and consequently that the task was more difficult than it had seemed from below.“The only way I see,”Forster said,“would be to blast out a trench six feet wide and one foot deep, in which the men could lie hidden. The question is whether the captain will not be afraid that the blasting might draw attention to our presence here.”“They were just starting for the top of the hill when we came away,”Will said,“and may be able to see whether there are any habitations in the neighbourhood. A couple of men in the dug-out would be able to bring us news of any craft in sight. I certainly don’t see any other way.”When Forster made his report the captain said:“I believe it will be the best plan. At the top of the hill we could see nothing but forests, for the most part levelled; we could make out no sign of smoke anywhere. The operation of blasting can be done with comparatively small charges, and[pg 127]occurring as it does at the foot of a gorge like that, the sound would hardly spread much over the surrounding country, and we could, of course, take care that there was no ship in sight when we fired the charges.“Well, you can begin to-morrow. I believe there are some blasting-tools in the store. Take the gunner with you; this work comes within his province.”On the following morning the raft went off again, and at midday a number of sharp explosions told that the work was begun. In the evening another series of shots were fired, and the party returned with the news that the ground had been broken up to the depth of two feet and of ample size to give the men cover. The next morning the rocks were cleared out, and a seven-pounder and carriage, with tackle for hoisting it up, were sent over.In the afternoon the captain went in the dug-out and inspected the work, and expressed himself as thoroughly satisfied with it. A garrison consisting of an officer and ten men was then placed in the fort. They remained there all day and returned to the ship as darkness fell, as it was thought pretty certain that no one would try to explore the inlet during the night. The next morning another party was told off to garrison duty, and so on, no man being given two consecutive days in the fort.On the fourth day the dug-out returned in haste to the ship from its post at the mouth of the gap, and reported that two men-of-war were to be seen in the distance cruising close inshore. Mr. Farrance landed, and with difficulty made his way up the hill to a point near the mouth of the opening, which commanded a view over the sea. From that point he[pg 128]could easily see the hulls of the ships with his telescope, and had no doubt whatever that they were the former antagonists of theFurious. After watching for some time he made out four little black specks very close to the shore. He examined them closely and then hurried down to the cove.“They are searching the coast with boats,”he reported,“as I feared they would.”The news had been given to the little party at the battery as the dug-out came in, and they were at once on the alert. The carpenters, who after the departure of their first boat had been employed in building a large gig to pull twelve oars, were at once recalled to the ship, and the magazines were opened and the guns loaded. All the guns from the larboard main deck had been brought up to the upper deck and port-holes made for them, and a boom of trees had been built from the bow and stern of the ship to the shore, so as to prevent any craft from getting inside her. Thus prepared, the captain considered that he was fully a match for any two ships of his own size, but he knew, nevertheless, that, even if he beat them off, he might be exposed to attack from a still larger force unless assistance arrived from Jamaica.But he did not think only of the ship. The dug-out, which had brought Mr. Farrance back with his report, was at once sent off with orders to the party at the battery that they must, if possible, sink any boat or boats that entered, but that if ships of war came in they must not try to work their gun after the first shot, as if they did so they would simply be swept away by the enemy’s fire. That one shot was to be aimed at the enemy’s rudder; then they were to lie down, and if they had not disabled the ship they were to keep up a heavy[pg 129]musketry fire, aimed solely against her steersman. It was hardly likely that they would be attacked by boats, as the enemy would be fully engaged with theFurious; but even if they should, the Frenchmen would have no means of climbing the eight feet of precipitous rock.The dug-out went to and from the entrance, bringing back news of the progress made by the enemy’s boats. About three hours from the time when they had first been made out by Mr. Farrance the little boat reported that they were only two or three hundred yards from the entrance. On board the ship all listened anxiously, for a slight bend in the narrow passage prevented them from seeing the battery. Presently the boom of a cannon was heard, followed by a cheer, which told that the little garrison had been successful; then for two or three minutes there was a rattle of musketry. When this stopped, the dug-out at once went out to the fort, and returned with the news that two boats had come up abreast, that one of them had been sunk by the cannon at the fort, and that its crew had been picked up by the other boat, which had rowed hastily back, suffering a good deal from the musketry fire under which the operation was carried on.“That is act one,”the captain said;“now we shall have to look for act two. I will go up with you, Mr. Farrance, to the place whence you saw them; we may be sure that there will be a great deal of signalling and consultation before they make any further step.”Accordingly they landed and went up to the look-out. The two vessels were lying close to each other with their sails aback. The more fortunate of the two boats which had attempted to explore the passage had just returned to them with[pg 130]its load of wounded and the survivors of its late companion, and boats were passing to and fro between the two ships.“It is an awkward question for them to decide,”the captain said.“Of course they know well enough that a ship must be in here, the gun shows them that, but they cannot tell that we are capable of making any defence beyond the single gun battery on the ledge.”It was an hour before there was any change in the position, but at the end of that time the sails were filled and the two vessels headed for the mouth of the inlet. They had evidently concluded that the English ship was lying there disabled. The two officers hurried back to theFurious, and gave orders to prepare for the attack. The men at once stood to their posts. Presently the gun of the fort boomed out again, and by the cheering that followed the sound it was evident that the shot had taken effect and smashed the rudder of one of the French ships. Several guns were fired in reply, but a minute later the bowsprit of the leading ship came into view. The men waited until they could see the whole vessel, then a crashing broadside from every gun on board theFuriouswas poured into her bow.The effect was tremendous; a hole ten or twelve feet wide was torn in her bow, and the ship was swept from end to end by balls and splinters, and the shrieks and groans that arose from her told that the execution was heavy. It was evident that the battle was already half-won as far as she was concerned. There was not room enough in the little inlet for her to manœuvre in the light wind so as to bring her broadside to bear on theFurious, and another crashing broadside from the latter vessel completed her discomfiture. The other vessel now[pg 131]came up by her side, but she had been disabled by the fort, and her helm would not act. Her captain at once lowered her boats and tried to get her head round, but these were smashed up by the fire of theFurious, and the two vessels lay together side by side, helpless to reply in any efficient way to the incessant fire kept up upon them. The Frenchmen did all that was possible for brave men to do in the circumstances, but their position was hopeless, and after suffering terribly for ten minutes, one after the other hauled down their flag.A tremendous burst of cheering broke from theFurious. She had lost but two men killed and four or five wounded by the bullets of the French topmen. She had also been struck twice by balls from the bow-chaser of the second ship; but this was the extent of her damage, while the loss of life on board the French frigates had been frightful. Some sixty men had been killed and eighty wounded on the first ship, while thirty were killed and still more wounded in the boats of the second vessel.Captain Harker went on board the captures to receive the swords of their commanders.“You have done your best, gentlemen,”he said;“no one in the circumstances could have done more. Had there been ten of you instead of two the result must have been the same. If your boats had got in and seen the situation you would have understood that the position was an impossible one. There was no room in here for manœuvring, and even had one of you not been damaged by the shot from that little battery of ours, your position would have been practically unchanged, and you could not possibly have brought your broadsides to bear upon us.”[pg 132]The French captains, who were much mortified by the disaster, bowed silently.“It is the fortune of war, sir,”one of them said,“and certainly we could not have anticipated that you would be so wonderfully placed for defence. I agree with you that our case was hopeless from the first, and I compliment you upon your dispositions, which were certainly admirable.”“You and your officers will be perfectly at liberty,”the captain said;“your crews must be placed in partial confinement, but a third of them can always be on deck. My surgeon has come on board with me, and will at once assist yours in attending to your wounded.”A considerable portion of the crew of theFuriouswere at once put on board the French frigateEclaire, and set to work to dismantle her. The masts, spars, and rigging were transferred to theFuriousand erected in place of her own shattered stumps, which were thrown overboard. Thus, after four days of the hardest work for all, theFuriouswas again placed in fighting trim.Preparations were immediately made for sailing. TheFuriousled the way, towing behind her the dismantled hull in which the whole of the prisoners were carried. A prize crew of sixty were placed on board theActif.When they were about half-way to Jamaica a squadron of three vessels were sighted. Preparations were made to throw off theEclaireif the ships proved to be hostile, but before long it was evident that they were English. They approached rapidly, and when they rounded-to near theFuriousthe crews manned the yards and greeted her with tremendous cheers. The officer in command was at once rowed to theFurious.[pg 133]As the boat neared the ship his friends recognized Mr. Peters and Robson sitting in the stern.“What miracle is this, Captain Harker?”the officer cried as he came on deck.“Your lieutenant brought us news that you were dismasted and lying helpless in some little inlet, and here you are with what I can see is a French equipment and a couple of prizes! I can almost accuse you of having brought us here on a fool’s errand.”“It must have that appearance to you; but the facts of the case are simple;”and he told the story of the fight.“The battle was practically over when the first shot was fired,”he said.“The two French ships lost upwards of seventy killed and over a hundred wounded, while we had only four men killed and two wounded. If the place had been designed by nature specially for defence it could not have been better adapted for us.”“I see that,”Captain Ingham said;“but you made the most of the advantages. Your plan of laying her broadside to the entrance, getting all your cannon on one side, and building a boom to prevent any vessel from getting behind you, was most excellent. Well, it is a splendid victory, the more so as it has been won with so little loss. The French certainly showed but little discretion in thus running into the trap you had prepared for them. Of course they could not tell what to expect, but at least, whatever it might have cost them, they ought to have sent a strong boat division in to reconnoitre. No English captain would have risked his vessel in such a way.”With very little delay the voyage to Jamaica was continued. Two of the relief party went straight on, the other remained[pg 134]with theFuriousin case she should fall in with a French fleet. When the little squadron entered Port Royal they received an enthusiastic welcome from the ships on the station. Both prizes were bought into the service and handed over to the dockyard for a thorough refit. Their names were changed, theEclairebeing rechristened theSylph, theActifbecoming theHawke. Lieutenant Farrance was promoted to the rank of captain, and given the command of the latter vessel, and some of the survivors of a ship that had a fortnight before been lost on a dangerous reef were told off to her. He was, according to rule, permitted to take a boat’s crew and a midshipman with him from his old ship, and he selected Will Gilmore, and, among the men, Dimchurch and Tom Stevens.The planters of Jamaica were celebrated for their hospitality, and the officers received many invitations.“You are quite at liberty to accept any of them you like,”Captain Farrance said to Will.“Till the vessel gets out of the hands of the dockyard men there is nothing whatever for you to do. But I may tell you that there is a good deal of unrest in the island among the slaves. The doings of the French revolutionists, and the excitement they have caused by becoming the patrons of the mulattoes has, as might be expected, spread here, and it is greatly feared that trouble may come of it. Of course the planters generally pooh-pooh the idea, but it is not to be despised, and a few of them have already left their plantations and come down here. I don’t say that you should not accept any invitation if you like, but if an outbreak takes place suddenly I fancy very few of the planters will get down safely. I mean, of course, if there is a general[pg 135]rising, which I hope will not be the case. Negroes are a good deal like other people. Where they are well treated they are quite content to go on as they are. Where they are badly treated they are apt to try and better themselves. Still, that is not always the case. There is no doubt that altogether the French planters of San Domingo are much gentler in their treatment of their slaves than our people are here. Large numbers of them are of good old French families, and look on their slaves rather as children to be ruled by kindness than as beasts of burden, as there is no doubt some, not many, I hope, but certainly some of the English planters do. With San Domingo in the throes of a slave revolution, therefore, it will not be surprising if the movement communicates itself to the slaves here. I know that the admiral thinks it prudent to keep an extra ship of war on the station so as to be prepared for any emergency.”“Very well, sir. Then I will not accept invitations for overnight.”“I don’t say that, Mr. Gilmore. In nine cases out of ten I should say it could be done without danger; for if a rebellion breaks out it will not at first be general, but will begin at some of the most hardly-managed plantations, and there will be plenty of time to return to town before it spreads.”As Will had no desire to mix himself up in a slave insurrection, he declined all invitations to go out to houses beyond a distance whence he could drive back in the evening. At all the houses he visited he was struck by the apparently good relations between masters and slaves. The planters were almost aggrieved when he insisted on leaving them in the evening, but he had the excuse that he was a sort of aide-de-[pg 136]camp to Captain Farrance, and was bound to be there the first thing in the morning to receive any orders that he might have to give. He generally hired a gig and drove over early so as to have a long day there, and always took either Dimchurch or Tom with him. He enjoyed himself very much, but was not sorry when the repairs on theHawkewere completed.As the admiral was anxious for her to be away, some men were drafted from the other ships; others were recruited from the crews of the merchantmen in the port by Dimchurch, who spoke very highly of the life on board a man-of-war, and of the good qualities of theHawke’scommander. The complement was completed by a draft of fresh hands from England, brought out to make good the losses of the various ships on the station. Within three weeks, therefore, of her leaving the dockyard theHawkesailed to join the expedition under Sir John Laforey and General Cuyler, to capture the island of Tobago, where, on 14th April, 1793, some troops were landed. The French governor was summoned to surrender, but refused, so the works were attacked and carried after a spirited resistance. But the attempt to capture St. Pierre in the island of Martinique was not equally successfully. The French defended the place so desperately that the troops were re-embarked with considerable loss.[pg 137]CHAPTER VIIAN INDEPENDENT COMMANDWill was hit by a musket-ball in the last engagement that took place, and was sent back with a batch of wounded to Port Royal. Three of the fingers of his left hand had been carried away, but he bore the loss with equanimity, as it would not compel him to leave the service. Tom, who went with him as his servant, fretted a good deal more over it than he himself, and was often loud in his lamentations.“It would not have made any difference if it had been me,”he said,“but it is awfully hard on you.”“What ridiculous nonsense, Tom!”Will said quite angrily, after one of these outbursts.“If it had been you it would have been really serious, for though an officer can get on very well without some of his fingers a sailor would be useless and would be turned adrift with some trifling pension. I shall do very well. I have been mentioned in despatches and I am certain to get my step as soon as I have served long enough to pass, so after a time I shall not miss them at all.”Tom was silenced, though not convinced. The wound healed rapidly, thanks to Will’s abstemious habits, and in six weeks after entering the hospital he was discharged as fit for duty. TheHawkewas not in harbour, so he went to an hotel. On the following day he received an order to call upon the admiral. When he did so that officer received him very kindly.“I am sorry,”he said,“to learn that you have lost some fingers, Mr. Gilmore.”[pg 138]“I hope it will not interfere much with my efficiency, sir?”“I think not,”the admiral said;“I have received the surgeon’s report this morning. In it he stated that your wound had from the first gone on most favourably, and that they had really kept you in hospital a fortnight longer than was absolutely necessary, lest in your anxiety to rejoin you might do yourself harm. Three days since a cutter of about a hundred tons was sent in by theSylph. She was a pirate, and, like all vessels of that class, very fast, and would most likely have outsailed theSylphhad she not caught her up a creek. I have purchased her for the government service, and I propose to place you in command.”Will gave a start of surprise. At his age he could not have expected for a moment to be given an independent command.“I have noted your behaviour here, and have looked through the records of your service since you joined, and I am convinced that you will do credit to the post. I shall give you a midshipman junior to yourself from theThetis, and you will have forty hands before the mast. TheHawkeis expected in in a few days, so you can pick five men from her. The rest I will make up from the other ships. The cutter will be furnished with four twelve-pounders, and the long sixteen as a bow gun, which she had when she was captured. Your duty will be to police the coasts and to overhaul as many craft as you may find committing depredations, of course avoiding a combat with adversaries too strong for you.”“I thank you most heartily, sir, for selecting me for this service, and will do my best to merit your kindness.”[pg 139]“That is all right, Mr. Gilmore. I have acted, as I believe, for the good of the service, and to some extent as an incentive to other young officers to use their wits.”Will went out with his head in a whirl. He could hardly have hoped, within a year of his term of service as a midshipman, to obtain a separate command, and he could have shouted with joy at this altogether unexpected promotion. The first thing he did was to take a boat and row off in it to his new command. She was a handsome boat, evidently designed to be fast and weatherly.“These beggars know how to build boats much better than how to fight them,”he said, when he had examined her.“Assuredlyin anything like a light wind she would run away from theSylph. The admiral was right when he said that it was only by chance that she was caught. I hope the fellow who is going with me is a good sort. It would be awkward if we did not pull well together. At any rate, as the admiral seems to have picked him out for the service, he must be worth his salt. Of course I shall have Dimchurch as my boatswain; he will take one watch and the youngster the other. It will be hard if we don’t catch something.”Having rowed round the cutter two or three times he returned to the shore. As the little vessel had been taken by surprise, and had not been able to offer any resistance to a craft so much more powerful than herself, she was uninjured, and was in a fit state to be immediately recommissioned. She was calledL’Agile, a name which Will thought very suitable for her.“Forty men will be none too strong for her,”he said,“for we shall have to work two guns on each side and that long[pg 140]one in the bow.”He went to bed that night and dreamt of fierce fights and many captures, and laughed at himself when he awoke.“Still,”he said,“I shall always be able to tackle any craft of our own size and carrying anything like our number of men.”Three days later theHawkecame in. Will at once rowed off to her and had a chat with his friends. When he mentioned his new command his news was at first received with absolute incredulity, but when at last his messmates came to understand that he was not joking, he was heartily congratulated on his good fortune. Afterwards he was not a little chaffed on the tremendous deeds he and his craft were going to perform. When at last they became serious, Latham, the master’s mate, remarked:“But what is your new command like?”“She is a cutter of about a hundred tons, carrying four twelve-pounders, and a sixteen-pounder long pivot gun at the bow. I am to have forty men and a young midshipman from theThetis.”“A very tidy little craft, I should say, Gilmore, and you will probably get a good deal more fun out of her than from a frigate or line-of-battle ship. You will want a good boatswain to take charge of one of the watches.”“I shall have one, for I am to take five men out of theHawke, and you may be sure I shall take Dimchurch as boatswain.”“You could not have a better man,”Latham said;“he is certainly one of the smartest fellows on board the ship. He is very popular with all the men, and is full of life and go, and always the first to set an example when there is any work[pg 141]to be done. I suppose we shall also lose the services of that boy Tom?”“I think so,”Will laughed;“I should be quite lost without so faithful a hand, and indeed, though he still ranks as a boy, he is a big powerful fellow, and a match for many an A.B. at hauling a rope or pulling an oar.”“You are right. He is as big round the chest as many of the men, and though perhaps not so active, quite as powerful. When will you hoist your pendant?”“I have to get the crew together yet. I am to have small drafts from several of the ships, and it may be a few days before they can be collected.”The next morning theThetisarrived, and the young midshipman came on shore an hour later to report himself to Will. He looked surprised for a moment at the age of his new commander, but gravely reported himself for service. Will was pleased with his appearance. He was a merry-faced boy, but with a look on his face which indicated pluck and determination.“You are surprised at my age, no doubt, Harman,”Will said,“and I cannot be more than a year older than yourself, but I have been fortunate enough to be twice mentioned in despatches, indeed have had wonderful luck. I feel sure that we shall get on well together, and I hope both do well. We are to act as police on the coast of Cuba; it swarms with pirates, and it will be hard if we don’t fall in with some of them. You will, of course, keep one watch, and the boatswain, who is a thoroughly good man, will take the other. I need hardly say that we shall have no nonsense about commanding officer. Except when on duty, I hope we shall be[pg 142]good chums, which means, of course, that when an enemy is in sight or the weather is dirty I must be in absolute command.”“Thank you, sir!”Harman said.“These are good terms, and I promise to obey your commands as readily as if you were old enough to be my father.”“That is good. Now I have dinner ordered and I hope you will share it with me. We can then talk over matters comfortably.”Before dinner was over, the lad was more than satisfied with his new chief, and felt sure that at any rate the cruise would be a pleasant one. Just as they had finished, Dimchurch and Tom came in to see Will. On finding that he was engaged they would have withdrawn, but Will called them in.“Sit down and join Mr. Harman and myself in a chat. This, Harman, is Bob Dimchurch, who is going to be our boatswain, and Tom Stevens, whom I have known since we were five years old, and although I have gone over his head we are as good friends as ever. Dimchurch took me under his wing when I first joined, and since then has fought by my side on several occasions.”“We came to wish you success in your new command, sir,”Dimchurch said,“and should not have intruded had we known that you were not alone.”“It is no intrusion at all, Dimchurch. There is no man whose congratulations can be more pleasing to me. Have you seen the cutter?”“Yes, sir. Tom and I noticed what a smart, likely craft she was when we came in and dropped anchor. I little thought that it was you who had command of her, but I have[pg 143]no fear but that you will do her full justice. I could hardly believe my ears when I was told this afternoon, and Tom was ready to jump out of his clothes with joy.”“It is wonderfully good fortune, Dimchurch; I can hardly believe it myself yet.”“I am sure you deserve it, sir. It was you who recaptured that prize in the Mediterranean; it was you who saved the first lieutenant’s life; and it was you who suggested a plan by which we accounted for those three pirates. If that didn’t deserve promotion, it is hard to say what would.”“I owe no small portion of it, Dimchurch, to the fact that I was able to take an observation so soon after I had joined, and that was due to the kindness of my good friend Miss Warden.”“Yes, sir, that goes for something, no doubt, but there is a good deal more than that in it.”After some further talk both of the past and the future, Dimchurch sprang to his feet, saying:“Well, sir, I wish you success. But it is time we were off. I am told we are to remove our duds on board the new craft to-morrow.”“Yes, we are going to start manning her at once; I shall be on board with Mr. Harman directly after breakfast. I have not put foot upon her yet, and am most anxious to do so.”The craft fully answered Will’s expectations. Her after-accommodation was exceedingly good; the cabin was handsomely fitted, and there were two state-rooms.“We shall be in clover here, Harman,”he said;“no one could wish for a better command. I must set to work to get stores shipped at once. How many of the crew are on board?”[pg 144]“Twenty-three, sir, and I believe we shall have our full complement before night.”As they spoke a boat laden with provisions came alongside, and all hands were at once engaged transferring her load to the cutter. In the course of the forenoon the remainder of the men came on board in twos and threes. After dinner Will called the crew together and read out his commission. Then he made his maiden speech.“My lads,”he said,“I wish this to be a comfortable ship, and I will do my best to make it so. I shall expect the ready obedience of all; and you may be assured that if possible I will put you in the way of gaining prize-money. There are plenty of prizes to be taken, and I hope confidently that many of them will fall to our share.”The men gave three cheers, and Will added:“I will order an extra supply of grog to be served out this evening.”On the following dayL’Agiledipped her ensign to the admiral and set off on her voyage. Will was well pleased with the smartness the crew displayed in getting under weigh, and more than satisfied with the pace at which she moved through the water. For a month they cruised off the coast of Cuba, during which time they picked up eight small prizes. These were for the most part rowing-galleys carrying one large lateen sail. None of them were sufficiently strong to show fight; they were not intended to attack merchantmen, but preyed upon native craft, and were manned by from ten to twenty desperadoes. Most of them, when overhauled, pretended to be peaceful fishermen or traders, but a search always brought to light concealed arms, and in some cases captured goods. The boats were burned, and their crews, mostly[pg 145]mulattoes, with a sprinkling of negroes—rascals whose countenances were sufficiently villainous to justify their being hanged without trial,—were put ashore; for the admiral had given instructions to Will not to burden himself with prisoners, who would have to be closely guarded, and would therefore weaken his crew, and, if brought to Port Royal, would take up prison accommodation.At last one day a schooner rather bigger than themselves was sighted. Her appearance was rakish, and there was little doubt as to her character. All sail was at once crowded onL’Agile. The schooner was nearly as fast as she was, and at the end of a six hours’ chase she was still two miles ahead. Suddenly she headed for the shore and disappeared among the trees.L’Agileproceeded on her course until opposite the mouth of the inlet which the pirate had entered. It was getting dark, and Will decided to wait until morning, and then to send a boat in to reconnoitre.“I have not forgotten,”he said to Harman,“the way in which those two French frigates I have told you of ran into a trap, and I don’t mean to be caught so if I can help it.”L’Agileremained hove to during the night, and in the morning lowered a boat, with four hands, commanded by Dimchurch, who was ordered to row in until he obtained a fair view of the enemy, and observe as far as possible what preparation had been made for defence. He was absent for half an hour, and then returned, saying that the schooner was lying anchored with her sails stowed at the far end of the inlet, which was about half a mile long and nearly as wide, with her broadside bearing on the entrance.“If it is as large as that,”Will said,“there will be plenty[pg 146]of room for us to manœuvre. Did you make out what number of guns she carried?”“Yes, sir, she mounted four guns on each side; I should say they were for the most part ten-pounders.”“I think we can reckon upon taking her. Our guns are of heavier metal than hers, and the long-tom will make up for our deficiency in numbers.”L’Agilewas put under as easy sail as would suffice to give her manœuvring powers, and then headed for the mouth of the inlet. She was half-way through when suddenly two hidden batteries, each mounting three guns, opened upon her.“Drop the anchor at once,”Will shouted;“we will finish with these gentlemen before we go farther.”The schooner at the same time opened fire, but at half a mile range her guns did not inflict much damage upon the cutter. Lying between the two batteries she engaged them both, her broadside guns firing with grape, while the long-tom sent a shot into each alternately. In a quarter of an hour their fire was silenced, three of the guns were dismounted, and the men who had been working them fled precipitately.“Take a boat and spike the remaining guns, Dimchurch,”Will said;“I don’t want any more bother with them.”In a few minutes Dimchurch returned to the cutter, having accomplished his mission. The anchor was then got up again, and she proceeded to attack the schooner.L’Agile’scasualties had been trifling; only one had been killed and three wounded, all of them slightly. As she sailed up the inlet she replied with her pivot-gun to the fire of the enemy. At every shot the splinters were seen to fly from the schooner’s side, much to the discomfiture of the pirate gunners, whose aim became[pg 147]so wild that scarcely a shot struckL’Agile. When within a hundred yards of the schooner the helm was put down, and the cutter swept round and opened fire with her two broadside guns.The shots had scarcely rung out when Harman touched Will on the shoulder.“Look there, sir,”he said. Will turned and saw a vessel emerging from a side channel, which was so closed in with trees that it had been unperceived by anybody aboard the cutter. Her aim was evidently to get between them and the sea. She was a cutter of about the same size asL’Agile, but carried six ten-pounders.“The schooner has enticed us in here,”Will said,“there is no doubt about that, and now there is nothing to do but to fight it out. Take her head round,”he said,“we will settle it with the cutter first. The schooner cannot come to her assistance for some minutes as she has all her sails furled.”Accordingly he ranged up to the new-comer, and a furious contest ensued. He engaged her with two broadside guns and the long-tom, and at the same time kept his other two guns playing upon the schooner, the crew of which were busy getting up sail. The long-tom was served by Dimchurch himself, and every shot went crashing through the side of the pirate cutter, the fire of the two broadside guns being almost equally effective.“Keep it up, lads,”Will shouted;“we shall finish with her before the other can come up.”As he spoke a shot from the long-tom struck the cutter’s mainmast, which tottered for a moment and then fell over her side towardsL’Agile, and the sails and hamper entirely prevented the crew from working her guns. For another five minutes the fire was kept up;[pg 148]then the crew were seen to be leaping overboard, and presently a man stood up and shouted that she surrendered. The schooner was now coming up fast.“Don’t let her escape,”Will shouted;“she has had enough of it, and is trying to get away. Run her aboard!”In a minute the two vessels crashed together, and headed by Will, Harman, and Dimchurch,L’Agile’screw sprang on board the schooner.The pirate crew were evidently discouraged by the fate of their consort and by the complete failure of their plan to captureL’Agile. The captain, a gigantic mulatto, fought desperately, as did two or three of his principal men. One of them charged at Will while he was engaged with another, and would have killed him had not Tom Stevens sprung forward and caught the blow on his own cutlass. The sword flew from the man’s hand, and Tom at once cut him down. Dimchurch engaged in a single-handed contest with the great mulatto captain. Strong as the sailor was he could with difficulty parry the ruffian’s blows, but skill made up for inequality of strength, and after a few exchanges he laid the man low with a clever thrust. The fall of their leader completed the discomfiture of the pirates, most of whom at once sprang overboard and made for the shore, those who remained being cut down by the sailors.When at last they were masters of the ship the crew gave three lusty cheers. But Will did not permit them to waste precious time in rejoicing. He knew that, though they had accomplished so much, there was still a great deal to be done, for the prizes might even yet be recaptured before they got them out to sea. Without a moment’s delay, therefore, he[pg 149]sent a boat to take possession of the cutter. The sail and wreckage were cleared away, and the boat proceeded to tow her out of the inlet. In the meantime a warp was taken fromL’Agileto the schooner, the sails of the latter were lowered, and Will sailed proudly out with his second prize in tow. Once fairly at sea the crew began to repair damages. Five men in all had been killed and eleven were wounded. Several of the latter, however, were able to lend a hand. The shot-holes inL’Agilewere first patched with pieces of plank, then covered with canvas, and afterwards given a coat of paint. Then the schooner was taken in hand, and when she was got into something like ship-shape order her sails were hoisted again, and ten men under Harman placed on board to work her. The cutter was taken in tow, only three men being left on board to steer.It was late in the afternoon before all the repairs were completed. Before sailing, a rough examination was made of the holds of the two vessels, and to the great satisfaction ofL’Agile’screw both were found to contain a considerable amount of booty.“It is probable that there is a storehouse somewhere,”Will said;“but as we have under thirty available men it would be madness to try to land, for certainly two-thirds of the scoundrels escaped by swimming, and as each craft must have carried nearly a hundred men we should have been altogether overmatched. Well, they had certainly a right to count upon success; their arrangements were exceedingly good. No doubt they expected us to leave the batteries alone, and from the position in which they were placed they could have peppered us hotly while we were engaged with the schooner;[pg 150]in which case they would probably have had an easy victory. It was a cleverly-laid trap and ought to have succeeded.”“And it would, sir,”Dimchurch said,“if you had not turned from the schooner and settled with the cutter before the other could come to her assistance.”“The credit is largely due to you,”Will said;“that shot of yours that took the mast out was the turning-point of the fight. It completely crippled her, and as it luckily fell towards us it altogether prevented them from returning our fire.”Very proud were Will and his crew when they sailed into Port Royal with their two prizes. Will at once rowed to the flagship, where he received a very hearty greeting.“You have not come empty-handed, I see, Mr. Gilmore,”the admiral said;“you were lucky indeed to take two ships of your own size one after theother.”“We took them at the same time, sir,”Will said,“as you will see by my report.”The admiral gave a look of surprise and opened the document. First he ran his eye over it, then he read it more attentively. When he had finished he said:“You have fought a most gallant action, Mr. Gilmore, a most gallant action. It was indeed long odds you had against you, two vessels each considerably over your own size and manned by far heavier crews, besides the two batteries. It was an excellent idea to leave the vessel with which you were first engaged and turn upon the second one. If you had tried to fight them both at once you would almost certainly have been overcome, and you succeeded because you were cool enough to grasp the fact that the schooner at anchor and with her sails down[pg 151]would not be able to come to her friend’s assistance for some minutes, and acted so promptly on your conclusions. The oldest officer in the service could not have done better. I congratulate you very heartily on your conduct. What are the contents of the cargoes of the prizes?”“I cannot say, sir. With three vessels on my hands I had no time to examine them, but they certainly contain a number of bales of various sorts. I opened one which contained British goods.”“Then no doubt they are the pick of the cargoes they captured,”the admiral said;“I will go off with you myself and ascertain. I have nothing else to do this afternoon, and it will be a matter of interest to me as well as to you. You may as well let your own gig row back and I will take mine.”Accordingly the gig was sent back toL’Agilewith orders for two boats to be lowered and twenty of the men to be ready to go to the two prizes. As soon as the admiral came on board the hatchways were opened, and the men brought up a number of the bales. These were found to contain fine cloths, material for women’s dresses, china, ironmongery, carpets, and other goods of British manufacture. The other vessel contained sugar, coffee, ginger, spices, and other products of the islands.“That is enough,”said the admiral;“I don’t think we shall be far wrong if we put down the value of those two cargoes at £10,000. The two vessels will sell for about £1000 apiece, so that the prize-money will be altogether about £12,000, and even after putting aside my portion you will all share to a handsome amount in the proceeds. That is the advantage of not belonging to a squadron. In that case your share would not be worth anything like what it will now[pg 152]be. By the way, since you have been absent I have received the account of the prize-money earned by theFuriousin the Mediterranean and by the capture of the French frigates. It amounts in all to £35,000. Of course as a midshipman your share will not be very large; probably, indeed, it will not exceed £250, so, you see, pirate-hunting in the West Indies, in command even of a small craft, pays enormously better than being a midshipman on board a frigate.”“It does indeed, sir, though £250 would be a fortune to a midshipman.”“Well, if our calculations as to the value of the cargoes and ships are correct, you will get more than ten times that amount now. And as there are only the flag and one other officer to share with you, the men’s portion will be something like £100 apiece. A few more captures like this,”and he laughed,“and you will become a rich man.”He then rowed away to his own ship, and Will returned toL’Agileand gladdened the hearts of Harman and the crew with the news of the value of their captures.L’Agileremained another week in harbour, during which time all signs of the recent conflict were removed, and he received a draft of men sufficient to bring his crew up to its former level. Then she again set sail.They had cruised for about a fortnight when one morning, just as Will was getting up, Dimchurch ran down and reported that they had sighted two sails suspiciously near each other.“One,”he said,“looks to me a full-rigged ship, and the other a large schooner.”“I will have a look at them,”Will said, and, putting on his clothes, he ran on deck.[pg 153]“Yes, it certainly looks suspicious,”he said, when he had examined them through his telescope;“we will head towards them.”“She looks to me a very large schooner, sir,”said Dimchurch.“Yes, she is larger than these pirates generally are, but there is very little doubt as to her character. How far are they off, do you think?”“Ten miles, sir, I should say; but we have got the land-breeze while they are becalmed. By the look of the water I should say we should carry the wind with us until we are pretty close to them.”Every sail the cutter could carry was hoisted, and she approached the two vessels rapidly. They were some four miles from them when the sails of the schooner filled and she began to move through the water.“It will be a long chase now,”Will said;“but the cutter has light wings, so we have a good chance of overhauling her.”“The sails of the ship are all anyhow, sir,”Harman said.“So they are, Mr. Harman; foul play has been going on there, I have not the least doubt. The fact that the crew are not making any effort to haul in her sheets and come to meet us is in itself a proof of it. I think it is our duty to board her and see what has taken place. Even if we allow the schooner to escape we shall light upon her again some day, I have no doubt.”“She is very low in the water,”he said, after examining the merchantman carefully through his telescope,“and either her cargo is of no value to the pirates, and they have allowed it to remain in her, or they have scuttled her.”[pg 154]“I am afraid it is that, sir,”Dimchurch said,“for she is certainly lower in the water than when I first saw her.”“You are right, Dimchurch, the scoundrels have scuttled her. Please God we shall get to her before she founders! Oh for a stronger wind! Do you think we could row there quicker than we sail?”“No, sir. The gig might go as fast as the cutter, but the other boat would not be able to keep pace with her.”“Well, make all preparations for lowering. Heaven only knows what tragedy may have taken place there.”After all had been got ready, every eye on board the cutter was fixed on the vessel. There was no doubt now that she was getting deeper in the water every minute. When they got within a quarter of a mile of the ship she was so low that it was evident she could not float many minutes longer.“To the boats, men,”Will cried,“row for your lives.”A moment later three boats started at full speed. The gig, in which Dimchurch and Tom were both rowing, was first to search the sinking ship. Will leapt on board at once, and as he did so he gave an exclamation of horror, for the deck was strewn with dead bodies. Without stopping to look about him he ran aft to the companion and went down to the cabin, which was already a foot deep in water. There he found some fifteen men and women sitting securely bound on the sofas. Will drew his dirk, and running along cut their thongs.“Up on deck for your lives,”he cried,“and get into the boats alongside; she will not float three minutes.”At the farther end of the cabin a young girl was kneeling by the side of a stout old lady, who had evidently fainted.[pg 155]“Come,”Will said, going up to her,“it is a matter of life and death; we shall have the water coming down the companion in a minute or two.”“I can’t leave her,”the girl cried.Will attempted to lift the old lady, but she was far too heavy for him.“I cannot save her,”he said, and raised a shout for Dimchurch. It was unanswered.“There,”he said,“the water is coming down; she will sink in a minute. I cannot save her—indeed she is as good as dead already—but I can save you,”and snatching the girl up he ran to the foot of the companion. The water was already pouring down, but he struggled up against it, and managed to reach the deck; but before he could cross to the side the vessel gave a sudden lurch and went down. He was carried under with the suck, but by desperate efforts he gained the surface just as his breath was spent. For a moment or two he was unable to speak, but he was none the less ready to act. Looking round he saw a hen-coop floating near, and, swimming to it, he clung to it with one arm while he held the girl’s head above water with the other. Then, when he had recovered his breath, he shouted“Dimchurch!”Fortunately the gig was not far away, and his hail was at once answered, and a moment later the boat was alongside the hen-coop.Illustration: THE RESCUETHE RESCUE“Take this young lady, Dimchurch, and lay her in the stern-sheets. She can’t be dead, for she was sensible when the ship went down, and we were not under water a minute.”After the girl had been laid down, Will was helped in.“Did we save them all?”he asked.“Yes, sir; at least I think so. They all came running on[pg 156]deck and jumped straight into the boats. I was busy helping them, and did not notice that you were missing. As the last seemed to have come up, I called to the other boats to make off, for I saw that she could only float a minute longer, and as it was we had only just got clear when she went down. Indeed we had a narrow escape of it, and the men had to row. I was standing up to look for you, and had just discovered that you were not in any of the boats, when I heard you call. It gave me a bad turn, as you may guess, sir, and glad I was when I saw you were holding on to that hen-coop.”“Now, let us try and bring this young lady round,”Will said.They turned her over first upon her face and let the water run out of her mouth. Then they laid her flat on her back with a jersey under her head, and rubbed her hands and feet and pressed gently at times on her chest. After five minutes of this treatment the girl heaved a sigh, and shortly afterwards opened her eyes and looked round in bewilderment at the faces of the men. Then suddenly she realized where she was and remembered what had happened.“Oh, it was dreadful!”she murmured.“Poor Miss Morrison was lost, was she not?”“If that was the name of the lady you were kneeling by I regret to say that she was. It was impossible to save her; for though I tried my best I could not lift her. As you call her Miss Morrison I presume she is not a close relation.”“No, she had been my governess since I was a child, and has been a mother to me. Oh, to think that she is dead while I am saved!”[pg 157]“You must remember that it might have been worse,”Will said;“you certainly cannot require a governess many more years, and will find others on whom to bestow your affection. How old are you?”“I am fourteen,”the girl said.“Well, here is my ship, and we will all do our best to make you comfortable.”“Your ship!”the girl said in surprise;“do you mean to say that you are in command of her? You do not look more than a boy.”“I am not much more than a boy,”he said with a smile,“but for all that I am the commander of this vessel, and this young gentleman is my second in command.”

[pg 119]CHAPTER VIA NARROW ESCAPEThey were hardly anchored before the gale showed signs of breaking, and in a few hours the sun shone out and the wind subsided. The destruction of the timber on the hillsides had been prodigious, and large spaces were entirely cleared.The captain and first lieutenant had an anxious consultation. Every boat had gone, and all the masts and rigging. They were in what was practically a hostile country, for although Spain had not declared war against us, she gave every assistance to the French and left her ports open to them. In a few weeks probably she would openly throw herself into the scale against us.“It is clear that we must communicate with Port Royal somehow,”the captain said,“but it certainly isn’t clear how we are to do it. Between this and the nearest port there may be miles and miles of mountain all encumbered by fallen trees, which it would be almost impossible to get through. Then again we have heard that there are always bands of fugitive slaves in the mountains, who would be sure to attack us. As to the sea, we might possibly make shift to build a boat. There is certainly no lack of timber lying round, and we have plenty of sail-cloth for sails, so we could fit her out fairly well. It would be a journey of fully a thousand miles, but that seems the most feasible plan. A small craft of, say, forty feet long might be built and got ready for sea in the course of a week.”[pg 120]“I should say so certainly, sir. With the amount of labour we have at our disposal it might be built even sooner than that. We have plenty of handy men on board who could give efficient help to the carpenter’s gang.”“I suppose you would build it rather as a ship than as a boat?”“Yes, I think so. We could build her of one-and-a-half-inch planks, fill the seams well with oakum, and give her a couple of coats of paint. Let her be of shallow draft with plenty of beam. She should, of course, be decked over, as she might meet with another tornado. The crew would consist of an officer and ten men. With such a vessel there should be no difficulty in reaching Port Royal.”The carpenters were at once told off to carry out the work.“You can have as many hands to help you as you wish,”the captain said to the head of the gang.“What will you do first?”“I shall get some planks from below, sir, and make a raft. By means of that we can get on shore and choose the trunks that would be most suitable for the purpose; we are sure to find plenty about. Then we will find a suitable spot for a ship-yard, and at once start on the work. I will set a gang of men with axes to square the trunks and make them ready for sawing. They need not be more than six inches square when finished, and as I have a couple of double-handed saws we can soon rip these into planks.”“How long do you think you will be?”“I should say, sir, with the help I can get, I ought to be ready to start in less than a week. Of course the ribs will[pg 121]take some time to prepare, but when I have them and the keel and stem- and stern-post in place the planking will not take us very long.”“She is to be decked, Thompson.”“All over, sir?”“Yes, I think so. She may meet with weather like that we have just come through, and if she is well decked we may feel assured that she will reach Port Royal. I will leave Mr. Farrance and you to draw out her lines.”“I think,”said the first lieutenant,“she should be like a magnified launch, with greater beam and a larger draft of water, which could, perhaps, best be gained by giving her a deep keel. Of course she must be a good deal higher out of the water than a launch, say a good four feet under the deck. There should be no need to carry much ballast; she will gain her stability by her beam.”“I understand, sir. The first thing to be done is to form the raft.”The ship’s crew were soon at work, and it was not long before a raft was constructed. A rope was at once taken ashore and made fast to a tree, so that the raft could be hauled rapidly backwards and forwards between the ship and the shore.The carpenter and his mates were the first to land, and while the chief selected a suitable point for a yard his assistants scattered, examining all fallen trees and cutting the branches off those that seemed most suitable. These were soon dragged down to the yard. Then strong gangs set to work to square them, and the carpenters to cut them into planks.[pg 122]The first lieutenant remained with them, encouraging them at their work, while the junior officers and midshipmen were divided among the various gangs. By six o’clock, when theFurioussignalled for all hands to come on board, they had indeed done a good day’s work. A pile of planks lay ready to be used as required. The carpenters had made some progress with a keel, which they were laboriously chopping out from the straight trunk of a large tree. By evening of the next day this was finished and placed in position. On the third day some started to shape the stem- and stern-posts, while the head-carpenter made from some thin planks templates of the ribs, and set others to chop out the ribs to fit.In two more days all was ready for fastening on the planks. A hundred and fifty men can get through an amazing amount of labour when they work well and heartily. The planks were bent by main strength to fit in their places, and as there was an abundance of nails and other necessary articles on board, the sheathing was finished in two days. The rest of the work was comparatively easy. While the deck was being laid the hull was caulked and painted, and the two masts, sails, and rigging prepared. The boat had no bulwarks, it being considered that she would be a much better sea-boat without them, as in case of shipping a sea the water would run off at once. The hatchways fore and aft were made very small, with close-fitting hatches covered with tarpaulin.The captain was delighted when she was finished.“She is really a fine boat,”he said,“with her forty feet of length and fifteen of beam. It has taken longer to build her than I had expected, but we had not reckoned sufficiently on[pg 123]the difficulties. Everything, however, has now been done to make her seaworthy, so those of us who remain here may feel sure that she will reach Port Royal safely. In case of a gale the sails must be lowered and lashed to the deck, and all hands must go below and fasten the hatchways securely. She has no ballast except her stores, but I think she will be perfectly safe; there is very little chance of her capsizing.”“With such beam and such a depth of keel,”said the first lieutenant,“she could not possibly capsize. In case of a tornado the masts might very well be taken out of her and used as a floating anchor to keep her head to it.”“Now whom do you intend to send in her, sir?”“I will send two officers,”the captain said.“Peters, and a midshipman to take his place in case he should be disabled. I think it is Robson’s turn for special service.”The next morning the boat started soon after daybreak, the ship’s crew all watching her till the two white lug-sails disappeared through the opening.“Now we will take a strong party of wood-cutters,”the captain said,“and see if we can make a way to the top of the hill and get some idea of the country round. I don’t expect we shall see much of interest, but it is just as well that we should be kept employed. By the way, before we do that, we will get hawsers to the shore and work the frigate round so as to bring her broadside to bear upon the opening; we ought to have done that at first. The French may know of this place, or if they don’t they may learn of it from the Spaniards. Those two ships astern of us probably got themselves snug before the tornado struck them, and weathered it all right, though I doubt very much if they did so, unless they knew[pg 124]of some inlets they could run for. If they did escape, it is likely that they will be taking some trouble to find out what became of us. They may have seen their companion’s fate, but they would hardly have made us out in the darkness. Still, they would certainly want to report our loss, and may sail along close inshore to look for timbers and other signs of wreck. I think, therefore, that it will be advisable to station a well-armed boat at this end of the cut, and tell them to row every half-hour or so to the other end and see if they can make out either sailing or rowing craft coming along the shore. If they do see them they must retire to this end of the opening, unless they can find some place where they could hide till a boat came abreast of them, and then pounce out and capture it.”“It would certainly be a good precaution, sir. I will see to it at once—but we are both forgetting that we have no boats.”“Bless me, I did forget that altogether! Well, here is that little dug-out the carpenters made for sending messages to and from the ship. It will carry three. I should be glad if you would take a couple of hands and row down to the mouth of the entrance and see if there is any place where, without any great difficulty, a small party with a gun could be stationed so as not to be noticed by a boat coming up.”“I understand, sir.”The lieutenant started at once, and when he returned, some hours later, he reported that there was a ledge some twenty feet long and twelve deep.“It is about eight feet from the water’s edge and some twelve above it, sir,”he said,“and is not noticeable until one is almost directly opposite it. If we[pg 125]were to pile up rocks regularly four feet high along the face, both the gun and its crew would be completely hidden.”“Get one of the hands on board, Mr. Farrance; I will myself go and see it with you.”One of the men at once climbed on deck, and the captain took his place in the little dug-out. When they reached the ledge he made a careful inspection of it.“Yes,”he said,“ten men could certainly lie hidden here, and with a rough parapet, constructed to look as natural as possible, they should certainly be unobserved by an incoming boat, especially as the attention of those in the stern would be directed into the inlet. Will you order Mr. Forster and one of the other midshipmen to go with as many men as the raft will carry, and build such a parapet. They had better take one of the rope-ladders with them and fix it to the ledge by means of a grapnel. There is plenty of building material among the rocks that have fallen from the precipices above. I must leave it to their ingenuity to make it as natural as possible.”When they returned to the ship the first lieutenant called Forster and gave him the captain’s orders.“You can take young Gilmore with you,”he said.“Your object will be to make it as natural as possible, so as to look, in fact, as if the rocks that had fallen out behind had lodged on the ledge. The height is not very important, for if a boat were coming along, the men would, of course, lie down till it was abreast of them, and the cannon would be withdrawn and only run out at the last moment.”“Very well, sir, I will do my best.”The raft was again brought into requisition, and it was[pg 126]found that it could carry twelve men. Dimchurch and nine others were chosen, and, using oars as paddles, they slowly made their way down to the spot.“It will be a difficult job to make anything like a natural wall there,”Forster said.“Yes,”Will agreed,“I don’t see how it is to be managed at all. Of course we could pile up a line of stones, but that would not look in the least natural. If we could get up three or four big chunks they might do if filled in with small stones, but it would be impossible to raise great blocks to that shelf.”The ladder was fixed and they climbed up to the ledge. When they reached it they found that it was very rough and uneven, and consequently that the task was more difficult than it had seemed from below.“The only way I see,”Forster said,“would be to blast out a trench six feet wide and one foot deep, in which the men could lie hidden. The question is whether the captain will not be afraid that the blasting might draw attention to our presence here.”“They were just starting for the top of the hill when we came away,”Will said,“and may be able to see whether there are any habitations in the neighbourhood. A couple of men in the dug-out would be able to bring us news of any craft in sight. I certainly don’t see any other way.”When Forster made his report the captain said:“I believe it will be the best plan. At the top of the hill we could see nothing but forests, for the most part levelled; we could make out no sign of smoke anywhere. The operation of blasting can be done with comparatively small charges, and[pg 127]occurring as it does at the foot of a gorge like that, the sound would hardly spread much over the surrounding country, and we could, of course, take care that there was no ship in sight when we fired the charges.“Well, you can begin to-morrow. I believe there are some blasting-tools in the store. Take the gunner with you; this work comes within his province.”On the following morning the raft went off again, and at midday a number of sharp explosions told that the work was begun. In the evening another series of shots were fired, and the party returned with the news that the ground had been broken up to the depth of two feet and of ample size to give the men cover. The next morning the rocks were cleared out, and a seven-pounder and carriage, with tackle for hoisting it up, were sent over.In the afternoon the captain went in the dug-out and inspected the work, and expressed himself as thoroughly satisfied with it. A garrison consisting of an officer and ten men was then placed in the fort. They remained there all day and returned to the ship as darkness fell, as it was thought pretty certain that no one would try to explore the inlet during the night. The next morning another party was told off to garrison duty, and so on, no man being given two consecutive days in the fort.On the fourth day the dug-out returned in haste to the ship from its post at the mouth of the gap, and reported that two men-of-war were to be seen in the distance cruising close inshore. Mr. Farrance landed, and with difficulty made his way up the hill to a point near the mouth of the opening, which commanded a view over the sea. From that point he[pg 128]could easily see the hulls of the ships with his telescope, and had no doubt whatever that they were the former antagonists of theFurious. After watching for some time he made out four little black specks very close to the shore. He examined them closely and then hurried down to the cove.“They are searching the coast with boats,”he reported,“as I feared they would.”The news had been given to the little party at the battery as the dug-out came in, and they were at once on the alert. The carpenters, who after the departure of their first boat had been employed in building a large gig to pull twelve oars, were at once recalled to the ship, and the magazines were opened and the guns loaded. All the guns from the larboard main deck had been brought up to the upper deck and port-holes made for them, and a boom of trees had been built from the bow and stern of the ship to the shore, so as to prevent any craft from getting inside her. Thus prepared, the captain considered that he was fully a match for any two ships of his own size, but he knew, nevertheless, that, even if he beat them off, he might be exposed to attack from a still larger force unless assistance arrived from Jamaica.But he did not think only of the ship. The dug-out, which had brought Mr. Farrance back with his report, was at once sent off with orders to the party at the battery that they must, if possible, sink any boat or boats that entered, but that if ships of war came in they must not try to work their gun after the first shot, as if they did so they would simply be swept away by the enemy’s fire. That one shot was to be aimed at the enemy’s rudder; then they were to lie down, and if they had not disabled the ship they were to keep up a heavy[pg 129]musketry fire, aimed solely against her steersman. It was hardly likely that they would be attacked by boats, as the enemy would be fully engaged with theFurious; but even if they should, the Frenchmen would have no means of climbing the eight feet of precipitous rock.The dug-out went to and from the entrance, bringing back news of the progress made by the enemy’s boats. About three hours from the time when they had first been made out by Mr. Farrance the little boat reported that they were only two or three hundred yards from the entrance. On board the ship all listened anxiously, for a slight bend in the narrow passage prevented them from seeing the battery. Presently the boom of a cannon was heard, followed by a cheer, which told that the little garrison had been successful; then for two or three minutes there was a rattle of musketry. When this stopped, the dug-out at once went out to the fort, and returned with the news that two boats had come up abreast, that one of them had been sunk by the cannon at the fort, and that its crew had been picked up by the other boat, which had rowed hastily back, suffering a good deal from the musketry fire under which the operation was carried on.“That is act one,”the captain said;“now we shall have to look for act two. I will go up with you, Mr. Farrance, to the place whence you saw them; we may be sure that there will be a great deal of signalling and consultation before they make any further step.”Accordingly they landed and went up to the look-out. The two vessels were lying close to each other with their sails aback. The more fortunate of the two boats which had attempted to explore the passage had just returned to them with[pg 130]its load of wounded and the survivors of its late companion, and boats were passing to and fro between the two ships.“It is an awkward question for them to decide,”the captain said.“Of course they know well enough that a ship must be in here, the gun shows them that, but they cannot tell that we are capable of making any defence beyond the single gun battery on the ledge.”It was an hour before there was any change in the position, but at the end of that time the sails were filled and the two vessels headed for the mouth of the inlet. They had evidently concluded that the English ship was lying there disabled. The two officers hurried back to theFurious, and gave orders to prepare for the attack. The men at once stood to their posts. Presently the gun of the fort boomed out again, and by the cheering that followed the sound it was evident that the shot had taken effect and smashed the rudder of one of the French ships. Several guns were fired in reply, but a minute later the bowsprit of the leading ship came into view. The men waited until they could see the whole vessel, then a crashing broadside from every gun on board theFuriouswas poured into her bow.The effect was tremendous; a hole ten or twelve feet wide was torn in her bow, and the ship was swept from end to end by balls and splinters, and the shrieks and groans that arose from her told that the execution was heavy. It was evident that the battle was already half-won as far as she was concerned. There was not room enough in the little inlet for her to manœuvre in the light wind so as to bring her broadside to bear on theFurious, and another crashing broadside from the latter vessel completed her discomfiture. The other vessel now[pg 131]came up by her side, but she had been disabled by the fort, and her helm would not act. Her captain at once lowered her boats and tried to get her head round, but these were smashed up by the fire of theFurious, and the two vessels lay together side by side, helpless to reply in any efficient way to the incessant fire kept up upon them. The Frenchmen did all that was possible for brave men to do in the circumstances, but their position was hopeless, and after suffering terribly for ten minutes, one after the other hauled down their flag.A tremendous burst of cheering broke from theFurious. She had lost but two men killed and four or five wounded by the bullets of the French topmen. She had also been struck twice by balls from the bow-chaser of the second ship; but this was the extent of her damage, while the loss of life on board the French frigates had been frightful. Some sixty men had been killed and eighty wounded on the first ship, while thirty were killed and still more wounded in the boats of the second vessel.Captain Harker went on board the captures to receive the swords of their commanders.“You have done your best, gentlemen,”he said;“no one in the circumstances could have done more. Had there been ten of you instead of two the result must have been the same. If your boats had got in and seen the situation you would have understood that the position was an impossible one. There was no room in here for manœuvring, and even had one of you not been damaged by the shot from that little battery of ours, your position would have been practically unchanged, and you could not possibly have brought your broadsides to bear upon us.”[pg 132]The French captains, who were much mortified by the disaster, bowed silently.“It is the fortune of war, sir,”one of them said,“and certainly we could not have anticipated that you would be so wonderfully placed for defence. I agree with you that our case was hopeless from the first, and I compliment you upon your dispositions, which were certainly admirable.”“You and your officers will be perfectly at liberty,”the captain said;“your crews must be placed in partial confinement, but a third of them can always be on deck. My surgeon has come on board with me, and will at once assist yours in attending to your wounded.”A considerable portion of the crew of theFuriouswere at once put on board the French frigateEclaire, and set to work to dismantle her. The masts, spars, and rigging were transferred to theFuriousand erected in place of her own shattered stumps, which were thrown overboard. Thus, after four days of the hardest work for all, theFuriouswas again placed in fighting trim.Preparations were immediately made for sailing. TheFuriousled the way, towing behind her the dismantled hull in which the whole of the prisoners were carried. A prize crew of sixty were placed on board theActif.When they were about half-way to Jamaica a squadron of three vessels were sighted. Preparations were made to throw off theEclaireif the ships proved to be hostile, but before long it was evident that they were English. They approached rapidly, and when they rounded-to near theFuriousthe crews manned the yards and greeted her with tremendous cheers. The officer in command was at once rowed to theFurious.[pg 133]As the boat neared the ship his friends recognized Mr. Peters and Robson sitting in the stern.“What miracle is this, Captain Harker?”the officer cried as he came on deck.“Your lieutenant brought us news that you were dismasted and lying helpless in some little inlet, and here you are with what I can see is a French equipment and a couple of prizes! I can almost accuse you of having brought us here on a fool’s errand.”“It must have that appearance to you; but the facts of the case are simple;”and he told the story of the fight.“The battle was practically over when the first shot was fired,”he said.“The two French ships lost upwards of seventy killed and over a hundred wounded, while we had only four men killed and two wounded. If the place had been designed by nature specially for defence it could not have been better adapted for us.”“I see that,”Captain Ingham said;“but you made the most of the advantages. Your plan of laying her broadside to the entrance, getting all your cannon on one side, and building a boom to prevent any vessel from getting behind you, was most excellent. Well, it is a splendid victory, the more so as it has been won with so little loss. The French certainly showed but little discretion in thus running into the trap you had prepared for them. Of course they could not tell what to expect, but at least, whatever it might have cost them, they ought to have sent a strong boat division in to reconnoitre. No English captain would have risked his vessel in such a way.”With very little delay the voyage to Jamaica was continued. Two of the relief party went straight on, the other remained[pg 134]with theFuriousin case she should fall in with a French fleet. When the little squadron entered Port Royal they received an enthusiastic welcome from the ships on the station. Both prizes were bought into the service and handed over to the dockyard for a thorough refit. Their names were changed, theEclairebeing rechristened theSylph, theActifbecoming theHawke. Lieutenant Farrance was promoted to the rank of captain, and given the command of the latter vessel, and some of the survivors of a ship that had a fortnight before been lost on a dangerous reef were told off to her. He was, according to rule, permitted to take a boat’s crew and a midshipman with him from his old ship, and he selected Will Gilmore, and, among the men, Dimchurch and Tom Stevens.The planters of Jamaica were celebrated for their hospitality, and the officers received many invitations.“You are quite at liberty to accept any of them you like,”Captain Farrance said to Will.“Till the vessel gets out of the hands of the dockyard men there is nothing whatever for you to do. But I may tell you that there is a good deal of unrest in the island among the slaves. The doings of the French revolutionists, and the excitement they have caused by becoming the patrons of the mulattoes has, as might be expected, spread here, and it is greatly feared that trouble may come of it. Of course the planters generally pooh-pooh the idea, but it is not to be despised, and a few of them have already left their plantations and come down here. I don’t say that you should not accept any invitation if you like, but if an outbreak takes place suddenly I fancy very few of the planters will get down safely. I mean, of course, if there is a general[pg 135]rising, which I hope will not be the case. Negroes are a good deal like other people. Where they are well treated they are quite content to go on as they are. Where they are badly treated they are apt to try and better themselves. Still, that is not always the case. There is no doubt that altogether the French planters of San Domingo are much gentler in their treatment of their slaves than our people are here. Large numbers of them are of good old French families, and look on their slaves rather as children to be ruled by kindness than as beasts of burden, as there is no doubt some, not many, I hope, but certainly some of the English planters do. With San Domingo in the throes of a slave revolution, therefore, it will not be surprising if the movement communicates itself to the slaves here. I know that the admiral thinks it prudent to keep an extra ship of war on the station so as to be prepared for any emergency.”“Very well, sir. Then I will not accept invitations for overnight.”“I don’t say that, Mr. Gilmore. In nine cases out of ten I should say it could be done without danger; for if a rebellion breaks out it will not at first be general, but will begin at some of the most hardly-managed plantations, and there will be plenty of time to return to town before it spreads.”As Will had no desire to mix himself up in a slave insurrection, he declined all invitations to go out to houses beyond a distance whence he could drive back in the evening. At all the houses he visited he was struck by the apparently good relations between masters and slaves. The planters were almost aggrieved when he insisted on leaving them in the evening, but he had the excuse that he was a sort of aide-de-[pg 136]camp to Captain Farrance, and was bound to be there the first thing in the morning to receive any orders that he might have to give. He generally hired a gig and drove over early so as to have a long day there, and always took either Dimchurch or Tom with him. He enjoyed himself very much, but was not sorry when the repairs on theHawkewere completed.As the admiral was anxious for her to be away, some men were drafted from the other ships; others were recruited from the crews of the merchantmen in the port by Dimchurch, who spoke very highly of the life on board a man-of-war, and of the good qualities of theHawke’scommander. The complement was completed by a draft of fresh hands from England, brought out to make good the losses of the various ships on the station. Within three weeks, therefore, of her leaving the dockyard theHawkesailed to join the expedition under Sir John Laforey and General Cuyler, to capture the island of Tobago, where, on 14th April, 1793, some troops were landed. The French governor was summoned to surrender, but refused, so the works were attacked and carried after a spirited resistance. But the attempt to capture St. Pierre in the island of Martinique was not equally successfully. The French defended the place so desperately that the troops were re-embarked with considerable loss.

They were hardly anchored before the gale showed signs of breaking, and in a few hours the sun shone out and the wind subsided. The destruction of the timber on the hillsides had been prodigious, and large spaces were entirely cleared.

The captain and first lieutenant had an anxious consultation. Every boat had gone, and all the masts and rigging. They were in what was practically a hostile country, for although Spain had not declared war against us, she gave every assistance to the French and left her ports open to them. In a few weeks probably she would openly throw herself into the scale against us.

“It is clear that we must communicate with Port Royal somehow,”the captain said,“but it certainly isn’t clear how we are to do it. Between this and the nearest port there may be miles and miles of mountain all encumbered by fallen trees, which it would be almost impossible to get through. Then again we have heard that there are always bands of fugitive slaves in the mountains, who would be sure to attack us. As to the sea, we might possibly make shift to build a boat. There is certainly no lack of timber lying round, and we have plenty of sail-cloth for sails, so we could fit her out fairly well. It would be a journey of fully a thousand miles, but that seems the most feasible plan. A small craft of, say, forty feet long might be built and got ready for sea in the course of a week.”

“I should say so certainly, sir. With the amount of labour we have at our disposal it might be built even sooner than that. We have plenty of handy men on board who could give efficient help to the carpenter’s gang.”

“I suppose you would build it rather as a ship than as a boat?”

“Yes, I think so. We could build her of one-and-a-half-inch planks, fill the seams well with oakum, and give her a couple of coats of paint. Let her be of shallow draft with plenty of beam. She should, of course, be decked over, as she might meet with another tornado. The crew would consist of an officer and ten men. With such a vessel there should be no difficulty in reaching Port Royal.”

The carpenters were at once told off to carry out the work.

“You can have as many hands to help you as you wish,”the captain said to the head of the gang.“What will you do first?”

“I shall get some planks from below, sir, and make a raft. By means of that we can get on shore and choose the trunks that would be most suitable for the purpose; we are sure to find plenty about. Then we will find a suitable spot for a ship-yard, and at once start on the work. I will set a gang of men with axes to square the trunks and make them ready for sawing. They need not be more than six inches square when finished, and as I have a couple of double-handed saws we can soon rip these into planks.”

“How long do you think you will be?”

“I should say, sir, with the help I can get, I ought to be ready to start in less than a week. Of course the ribs will[pg 121]take some time to prepare, but when I have them and the keel and stem- and stern-post in place the planking will not take us very long.”

“She is to be decked, Thompson.”

“All over, sir?”

“Yes, I think so. She may meet with weather like that we have just come through, and if she is well decked we may feel assured that she will reach Port Royal. I will leave Mr. Farrance and you to draw out her lines.”

“I think,”said the first lieutenant,“she should be like a magnified launch, with greater beam and a larger draft of water, which could, perhaps, best be gained by giving her a deep keel. Of course she must be a good deal higher out of the water than a launch, say a good four feet under the deck. There should be no need to carry much ballast; she will gain her stability by her beam.”

“I understand, sir. The first thing to be done is to form the raft.”

The ship’s crew were soon at work, and it was not long before a raft was constructed. A rope was at once taken ashore and made fast to a tree, so that the raft could be hauled rapidly backwards and forwards between the ship and the shore.

The carpenter and his mates were the first to land, and while the chief selected a suitable point for a yard his assistants scattered, examining all fallen trees and cutting the branches off those that seemed most suitable. These were soon dragged down to the yard. Then strong gangs set to work to square them, and the carpenters to cut them into planks.

The first lieutenant remained with them, encouraging them at their work, while the junior officers and midshipmen were divided among the various gangs. By six o’clock, when theFurioussignalled for all hands to come on board, they had indeed done a good day’s work. A pile of planks lay ready to be used as required. The carpenters had made some progress with a keel, which they were laboriously chopping out from the straight trunk of a large tree. By evening of the next day this was finished and placed in position. On the third day some started to shape the stem- and stern-posts, while the head-carpenter made from some thin planks templates of the ribs, and set others to chop out the ribs to fit.

In two more days all was ready for fastening on the planks. A hundred and fifty men can get through an amazing amount of labour when they work well and heartily. The planks were bent by main strength to fit in their places, and as there was an abundance of nails and other necessary articles on board, the sheathing was finished in two days. The rest of the work was comparatively easy. While the deck was being laid the hull was caulked and painted, and the two masts, sails, and rigging prepared. The boat had no bulwarks, it being considered that she would be a much better sea-boat without them, as in case of shipping a sea the water would run off at once. The hatchways fore and aft were made very small, with close-fitting hatches covered with tarpaulin.

The captain was delighted when she was finished.

“She is really a fine boat,”he said,“with her forty feet of length and fifteen of beam. It has taken longer to build her than I had expected, but we had not reckoned sufficiently on[pg 123]the difficulties. Everything, however, has now been done to make her seaworthy, so those of us who remain here may feel sure that she will reach Port Royal safely. In case of a gale the sails must be lowered and lashed to the deck, and all hands must go below and fasten the hatchways securely. She has no ballast except her stores, but I think she will be perfectly safe; there is very little chance of her capsizing.”

“With such beam and such a depth of keel,”said the first lieutenant,“she could not possibly capsize. In case of a tornado the masts might very well be taken out of her and used as a floating anchor to keep her head to it.”

“Now whom do you intend to send in her, sir?”

“I will send two officers,”the captain said.“Peters, and a midshipman to take his place in case he should be disabled. I think it is Robson’s turn for special service.”

The next morning the boat started soon after daybreak, the ship’s crew all watching her till the two white lug-sails disappeared through the opening.

“Now we will take a strong party of wood-cutters,”the captain said,“and see if we can make a way to the top of the hill and get some idea of the country round. I don’t expect we shall see much of interest, but it is just as well that we should be kept employed. By the way, before we do that, we will get hawsers to the shore and work the frigate round so as to bring her broadside to bear upon the opening; we ought to have done that at first. The French may know of this place, or if they don’t they may learn of it from the Spaniards. Those two ships astern of us probably got themselves snug before the tornado struck them, and weathered it all right, though I doubt very much if they did so, unless they knew[pg 124]of some inlets they could run for. If they did escape, it is likely that they will be taking some trouble to find out what became of us. They may have seen their companion’s fate, but they would hardly have made us out in the darkness. Still, they would certainly want to report our loss, and may sail along close inshore to look for timbers and other signs of wreck. I think, therefore, that it will be advisable to station a well-armed boat at this end of the cut, and tell them to row every half-hour or so to the other end and see if they can make out either sailing or rowing craft coming along the shore. If they do see them they must retire to this end of the opening, unless they can find some place where they could hide till a boat came abreast of them, and then pounce out and capture it.”

“It would certainly be a good precaution, sir. I will see to it at once—but we are both forgetting that we have no boats.”

“Bless me, I did forget that altogether! Well, here is that little dug-out the carpenters made for sending messages to and from the ship. It will carry three. I should be glad if you would take a couple of hands and row down to the mouth of the entrance and see if there is any place where, without any great difficulty, a small party with a gun could be stationed so as not to be noticed by a boat coming up.”

“I understand, sir.”

The lieutenant started at once, and when he returned, some hours later, he reported that there was a ledge some twenty feet long and twelve deep.“It is about eight feet from the water’s edge and some twelve above it, sir,”he said,“and is not noticeable until one is almost directly opposite it. If we[pg 125]were to pile up rocks regularly four feet high along the face, both the gun and its crew would be completely hidden.”

“Get one of the hands on board, Mr. Farrance; I will myself go and see it with you.”

One of the men at once climbed on deck, and the captain took his place in the little dug-out. When they reached the ledge he made a careful inspection of it.

“Yes,”he said,“ten men could certainly lie hidden here, and with a rough parapet, constructed to look as natural as possible, they should certainly be unobserved by an incoming boat, especially as the attention of those in the stern would be directed into the inlet. Will you order Mr. Forster and one of the other midshipmen to go with as many men as the raft will carry, and build such a parapet. They had better take one of the rope-ladders with them and fix it to the ledge by means of a grapnel. There is plenty of building material among the rocks that have fallen from the precipices above. I must leave it to their ingenuity to make it as natural as possible.”

When they returned to the ship the first lieutenant called Forster and gave him the captain’s orders.

“You can take young Gilmore with you,”he said.“Your object will be to make it as natural as possible, so as to look, in fact, as if the rocks that had fallen out behind had lodged on the ledge. The height is not very important, for if a boat were coming along, the men would, of course, lie down till it was abreast of them, and the cannon would be withdrawn and only run out at the last moment.”

“Very well, sir, I will do my best.”

The raft was again brought into requisition, and it was[pg 126]found that it could carry twelve men. Dimchurch and nine others were chosen, and, using oars as paddles, they slowly made their way down to the spot.

“It will be a difficult job to make anything like a natural wall there,”Forster said.

“Yes,”Will agreed,“I don’t see how it is to be managed at all. Of course we could pile up a line of stones, but that would not look in the least natural. If we could get up three or four big chunks they might do if filled in with small stones, but it would be impossible to raise great blocks to that shelf.”

The ladder was fixed and they climbed up to the ledge. When they reached it they found that it was very rough and uneven, and consequently that the task was more difficult than it had seemed from below.

“The only way I see,”Forster said,“would be to blast out a trench six feet wide and one foot deep, in which the men could lie hidden. The question is whether the captain will not be afraid that the blasting might draw attention to our presence here.”

“They were just starting for the top of the hill when we came away,”Will said,“and may be able to see whether there are any habitations in the neighbourhood. A couple of men in the dug-out would be able to bring us news of any craft in sight. I certainly don’t see any other way.”

When Forster made his report the captain said:

“I believe it will be the best plan. At the top of the hill we could see nothing but forests, for the most part levelled; we could make out no sign of smoke anywhere. The operation of blasting can be done with comparatively small charges, and[pg 127]occurring as it does at the foot of a gorge like that, the sound would hardly spread much over the surrounding country, and we could, of course, take care that there was no ship in sight when we fired the charges.

“Well, you can begin to-morrow. I believe there are some blasting-tools in the store. Take the gunner with you; this work comes within his province.”

On the following morning the raft went off again, and at midday a number of sharp explosions told that the work was begun. In the evening another series of shots were fired, and the party returned with the news that the ground had been broken up to the depth of two feet and of ample size to give the men cover. The next morning the rocks were cleared out, and a seven-pounder and carriage, with tackle for hoisting it up, were sent over.

In the afternoon the captain went in the dug-out and inspected the work, and expressed himself as thoroughly satisfied with it. A garrison consisting of an officer and ten men was then placed in the fort. They remained there all day and returned to the ship as darkness fell, as it was thought pretty certain that no one would try to explore the inlet during the night. The next morning another party was told off to garrison duty, and so on, no man being given two consecutive days in the fort.

On the fourth day the dug-out returned in haste to the ship from its post at the mouth of the gap, and reported that two men-of-war were to be seen in the distance cruising close inshore. Mr. Farrance landed, and with difficulty made his way up the hill to a point near the mouth of the opening, which commanded a view over the sea. From that point he[pg 128]could easily see the hulls of the ships with his telescope, and had no doubt whatever that they were the former antagonists of theFurious. After watching for some time he made out four little black specks very close to the shore. He examined them closely and then hurried down to the cove.

“They are searching the coast with boats,”he reported,“as I feared they would.”

The news had been given to the little party at the battery as the dug-out came in, and they were at once on the alert. The carpenters, who after the departure of their first boat had been employed in building a large gig to pull twelve oars, were at once recalled to the ship, and the magazines were opened and the guns loaded. All the guns from the larboard main deck had been brought up to the upper deck and port-holes made for them, and a boom of trees had been built from the bow and stern of the ship to the shore, so as to prevent any craft from getting inside her. Thus prepared, the captain considered that he was fully a match for any two ships of his own size, but he knew, nevertheless, that, even if he beat them off, he might be exposed to attack from a still larger force unless assistance arrived from Jamaica.

But he did not think only of the ship. The dug-out, which had brought Mr. Farrance back with his report, was at once sent off with orders to the party at the battery that they must, if possible, sink any boat or boats that entered, but that if ships of war came in they must not try to work their gun after the first shot, as if they did so they would simply be swept away by the enemy’s fire. That one shot was to be aimed at the enemy’s rudder; then they were to lie down, and if they had not disabled the ship they were to keep up a heavy[pg 129]musketry fire, aimed solely against her steersman. It was hardly likely that they would be attacked by boats, as the enemy would be fully engaged with theFurious; but even if they should, the Frenchmen would have no means of climbing the eight feet of precipitous rock.

The dug-out went to and from the entrance, bringing back news of the progress made by the enemy’s boats. About three hours from the time when they had first been made out by Mr. Farrance the little boat reported that they were only two or three hundred yards from the entrance. On board the ship all listened anxiously, for a slight bend in the narrow passage prevented them from seeing the battery. Presently the boom of a cannon was heard, followed by a cheer, which told that the little garrison had been successful; then for two or three minutes there was a rattle of musketry. When this stopped, the dug-out at once went out to the fort, and returned with the news that two boats had come up abreast, that one of them had been sunk by the cannon at the fort, and that its crew had been picked up by the other boat, which had rowed hastily back, suffering a good deal from the musketry fire under which the operation was carried on.

“That is act one,”the captain said;“now we shall have to look for act two. I will go up with you, Mr. Farrance, to the place whence you saw them; we may be sure that there will be a great deal of signalling and consultation before they make any further step.”

Accordingly they landed and went up to the look-out. The two vessels were lying close to each other with their sails aback. The more fortunate of the two boats which had attempted to explore the passage had just returned to them with[pg 130]its load of wounded and the survivors of its late companion, and boats were passing to and fro between the two ships.

“It is an awkward question for them to decide,”the captain said.“Of course they know well enough that a ship must be in here, the gun shows them that, but they cannot tell that we are capable of making any defence beyond the single gun battery on the ledge.”

It was an hour before there was any change in the position, but at the end of that time the sails were filled and the two vessels headed for the mouth of the inlet. They had evidently concluded that the English ship was lying there disabled. The two officers hurried back to theFurious, and gave orders to prepare for the attack. The men at once stood to their posts. Presently the gun of the fort boomed out again, and by the cheering that followed the sound it was evident that the shot had taken effect and smashed the rudder of one of the French ships. Several guns were fired in reply, but a minute later the bowsprit of the leading ship came into view. The men waited until they could see the whole vessel, then a crashing broadside from every gun on board theFuriouswas poured into her bow.

The effect was tremendous; a hole ten or twelve feet wide was torn in her bow, and the ship was swept from end to end by balls and splinters, and the shrieks and groans that arose from her told that the execution was heavy. It was evident that the battle was already half-won as far as she was concerned. There was not room enough in the little inlet for her to manœuvre in the light wind so as to bring her broadside to bear on theFurious, and another crashing broadside from the latter vessel completed her discomfiture. The other vessel now[pg 131]came up by her side, but she had been disabled by the fort, and her helm would not act. Her captain at once lowered her boats and tried to get her head round, but these were smashed up by the fire of theFurious, and the two vessels lay together side by side, helpless to reply in any efficient way to the incessant fire kept up upon them. The Frenchmen did all that was possible for brave men to do in the circumstances, but their position was hopeless, and after suffering terribly for ten minutes, one after the other hauled down their flag.

A tremendous burst of cheering broke from theFurious. She had lost but two men killed and four or five wounded by the bullets of the French topmen. She had also been struck twice by balls from the bow-chaser of the second ship; but this was the extent of her damage, while the loss of life on board the French frigates had been frightful. Some sixty men had been killed and eighty wounded on the first ship, while thirty were killed and still more wounded in the boats of the second vessel.

Captain Harker went on board the captures to receive the swords of their commanders.

“You have done your best, gentlemen,”he said;“no one in the circumstances could have done more. Had there been ten of you instead of two the result must have been the same. If your boats had got in and seen the situation you would have understood that the position was an impossible one. There was no room in here for manœuvring, and even had one of you not been damaged by the shot from that little battery of ours, your position would have been practically unchanged, and you could not possibly have brought your broadsides to bear upon us.”

The French captains, who were much mortified by the disaster, bowed silently.

“It is the fortune of war, sir,”one of them said,“and certainly we could not have anticipated that you would be so wonderfully placed for defence. I agree with you that our case was hopeless from the first, and I compliment you upon your dispositions, which were certainly admirable.”

“You and your officers will be perfectly at liberty,”the captain said;“your crews must be placed in partial confinement, but a third of them can always be on deck. My surgeon has come on board with me, and will at once assist yours in attending to your wounded.”

A considerable portion of the crew of theFuriouswere at once put on board the French frigateEclaire, and set to work to dismantle her. The masts, spars, and rigging were transferred to theFuriousand erected in place of her own shattered stumps, which were thrown overboard. Thus, after four days of the hardest work for all, theFuriouswas again placed in fighting trim.

Preparations were immediately made for sailing. TheFuriousled the way, towing behind her the dismantled hull in which the whole of the prisoners were carried. A prize crew of sixty were placed on board theActif.

When they were about half-way to Jamaica a squadron of three vessels were sighted. Preparations were made to throw off theEclaireif the ships proved to be hostile, but before long it was evident that they were English. They approached rapidly, and when they rounded-to near theFuriousthe crews manned the yards and greeted her with tremendous cheers. The officer in command was at once rowed to theFurious.[pg 133]As the boat neared the ship his friends recognized Mr. Peters and Robson sitting in the stern.

“What miracle is this, Captain Harker?”the officer cried as he came on deck.“Your lieutenant brought us news that you were dismasted and lying helpless in some little inlet, and here you are with what I can see is a French equipment and a couple of prizes! I can almost accuse you of having brought us here on a fool’s errand.”

“It must have that appearance to you; but the facts of the case are simple;”and he told the story of the fight.“The battle was practically over when the first shot was fired,”he said.“The two French ships lost upwards of seventy killed and over a hundred wounded, while we had only four men killed and two wounded. If the place had been designed by nature specially for defence it could not have been better adapted for us.”

“I see that,”Captain Ingham said;“but you made the most of the advantages. Your plan of laying her broadside to the entrance, getting all your cannon on one side, and building a boom to prevent any vessel from getting behind you, was most excellent. Well, it is a splendid victory, the more so as it has been won with so little loss. The French certainly showed but little discretion in thus running into the trap you had prepared for them. Of course they could not tell what to expect, but at least, whatever it might have cost them, they ought to have sent a strong boat division in to reconnoitre. No English captain would have risked his vessel in such a way.”

With very little delay the voyage to Jamaica was continued. Two of the relief party went straight on, the other remained[pg 134]with theFuriousin case she should fall in with a French fleet. When the little squadron entered Port Royal they received an enthusiastic welcome from the ships on the station. Both prizes were bought into the service and handed over to the dockyard for a thorough refit. Their names were changed, theEclairebeing rechristened theSylph, theActifbecoming theHawke. Lieutenant Farrance was promoted to the rank of captain, and given the command of the latter vessel, and some of the survivors of a ship that had a fortnight before been lost on a dangerous reef were told off to her. He was, according to rule, permitted to take a boat’s crew and a midshipman with him from his old ship, and he selected Will Gilmore, and, among the men, Dimchurch and Tom Stevens.

The planters of Jamaica were celebrated for their hospitality, and the officers received many invitations.

“You are quite at liberty to accept any of them you like,”Captain Farrance said to Will.“Till the vessel gets out of the hands of the dockyard men there is nothing whatever for you to do. But I may tell you that there is a good deal of unrest in the island among the slaves. The doings of the French revolutionists, and the excitement they have caused by becoming the patrons of the mulattoes has, as might be expected, spread here, and it is greatly feared that trouble may come of it. Of course the planters generally pooh-pooh the idea, but it is not to be despised, and a few of them have already left their plantations and come down here. I don’t say that you should not accept any invitation if you like, but if an outbreak takes place suddenly I fancy very few of the planters will get down safely. I mean, of course, if there is a general[pg 135]rising, which I hope will not be the case. Negroes are a good deal like other people. Where they are well treated they are quite content to go on as they are. Where they are badly treated they are apt to try and better themselves. Still, that is not always the case. There is no doubt that altogether the French planters of San Domingo are much gentler in their treatment of their slaves than our people are here. Large numbers of them are of good old French families, and look on their slaves rather as children to be ruled by kindness than as beasts of burden, as there is no doubt some, not many, I hope, but certainly some of the English planters do. With San Domingo in the throes of a slave revolution, therefore, it will not be surprising if the movement communicates itself to the slaves here. I know that the admiral thinks it prudent to keep an extra ship of war on the station so as to be prepared for any emergency.”

“Very well, sir. Then I will not accept invitations for overnight.”

“I don’t say that, Mr. Gilmore. In nine cases out of ten I should say it could be done without danger; for if a rebellion breaks out it will not at first be general, but will begin at some of the most hardly-managed plantations, and there will be plenty of time to return to town before it spreads.”

As Will had no desire to mix himself up in a slave insurrection, he declined all invitations to go out to houses beyond a distance whence he could drive back in the evening. At all the houses he visited he was struck by the apparently good relations between masters and slaves. The planters were almost aggrieved when he insisted on leaving them in the evening, but he had the excuse that he was a sort of aide-de-[pg 136]camp to Captain Farrance, and was bound to be there the first thing in the morning to receive any orders that he might have to give. He generally hired a gig and drove over early so as to have a long day there, and always took either Dimchurch or Tom with him. He enjoyed himself very much, but was not sorry when the repairs on theHawkewere completed.

As the admiral was anxious for her to be away, some men were drafted from the other ships; others were recruited from the crews of the merchantmen in the port by Dimchurch, who spoke very highly of the life on board a man-of-war, and of the good qualities of theHawke’scommander. The complement was completed by a draft of fresh hands from England, brought out to make good the losses of the various ships on the station. Within three weeks, therefore, of her leaving the dockyard theHawkesailed to join the expedition under Sir John Laforey and General Cuyler, to capture the island of Tobago, where, on 14th April, 1793, some troops were landed. The French governor was summoned to surrender, but refused, so the works were attacked and carried after a spirited resistance. But the attempt to capture St. Pierre in the island of Martinique was not equally successfully. The French defended the place so desperately that the troops were re-embarked with considerable loss.

[pg 137]CHAPTER VIIAN INDEPENDENT COMMANDWill was hit by a musket-ball in the last engagement that took place, and was sent back with a batch of wounded to Port Royal. Three of the fingers of his left hand had been carried away, but he bore the loss with equanimity, as it would not compel him to leave the service. Tom, who went with him as his servant, fretted a good deal more over it than he himself, and was often loud in his lamentations.“It would not have made any difference if it had been me,”he said,“but it is awfully hard on you.”“What ridiculous nonsense, Tom!”Will said quite angrily, after one of these outbursts.“If it had been you it would have been really serious, for though an officer can get on very well without some of his fingers a sailor would be useless and would be turned adrift with some trifling pension. I shall do very well. I have been mentioned in despatches and I am certain to get my step as soon as I have served long enough to pass, so after a time I shall not miss them at all.”Tom was silenced, though not convinced. The wound healed rapidly, thanks to Will’s abstemious habits, and in six weeks after entering the hospital he was discharged as fit for duty. TheHawkewas not in harbour, so he went to an hotel. On the following day he received an order to call upon the admiral. When he did so that officer received him very kindly.“I am sorry,”he said,“to learn that you have lost some fingers, Mr. Gilmore.”[pg 138]“I hope it will not interfere much with my efficiency, sir?”“I think not,”the admiral said;“I have received the surgeon’s report this morning. In it he stated that your wound had from the first gone on most favourably, and that they had really kept you in hospital a fortnight longer than was absolutely necessary, lest in your anxiety to rejoin you might do yourself harm. Three days since a cutter of about a hundred tons was sent in by theSylph. She was a pirate, and, like all vessels of that class, very fast, and would most likely have outsailed theSylphhad she not caught her up a creek. I have purchased her for the government service, and I propose to place you in command.”Will gave a start of surprise. At his age he could not have expected for a moment to be given an independent command.“I have noted your behaviour here, and have looked through the records of your service since you joined, and I am convinced that you will do credit to the post. I shall give you a midshipman junior to yourself from theThetis, and you will have forty hands before the mast. TheHawkeis expected in in a few days, so you can pick five men from her. The rest I will make up from the other ships. The cutter will be furnished with four twelve-pounders, and the long sixteen as a bow gun, which she had when she was captured. Your duty will be to police the coasts and to overhaul as many craft as you may find committing depredations, of course avoiding a combat with adversaries too strong for you.”“I thank you most heartily, sir, for selecting me for this service, and will do my best to merit your kindness.”[pg 139]“That is all right, Mr. Gilmore. I have acted, as I believe, for the good of the service, and to some extent as an incentive to other young officers to use their wits.”Will went out with his head in a whirl. He could hardly have hoped, within a year of his term of service as a midshipman, to obtain a separate command, and he could have shouted with joy at this altogether unexpected promotion. The first thing he did was to take a boat and row off in it to his new command. She was a handsome boat, evidently designed to be fast and weatherly.“These beggars know how to build boats much better than how to fight them,”he said, when he had examined her.“Assuredlyin anything like a light wind she would run away from theSylph. The admiral was right when he said that it was only by chance that she was caught. I hope the fellow who is going with me is a good sort. It would be awkward if we did not pull well together. At any rate, as the admiral seems to have picked him out for the service, he must be worth his salt. Of course I shall have Dimchurch as my boatswain; he will take one watch and the youngster the other. It will be hard if we don’t catch something.”Having rowed round the cutter two or three times he returned to the shore. As the little vessel had been taken by surprise, and had not been able to offer any resistance to a craft so much more powerful than herself, she was uninjured, and was in a fit state to be immediately recommissioned. She was calledL’Agile, a name which Will thought very suitable for her.“Forty men will be none too strong for her,”he said,“for we shall have to work two guns on each side and that long[pg 140]one in the bow.”He went to bed that night and dreamt of fierce fights and many captures, and laughed at himself when he awoke.“Still,”he said,“I shall always be able to tackle any craft of our own size and carrying anything like our number of men.”Three days later theHawkecame in. Will at once rowed off to her and had a chat with his friends. When he mentioned his new command his news was at first received with absolute incredulity, but when at last his messmates came to understand that he was not joking, he was heartily congratulated on his good fortune. Afterwards he was not a little chaffed on the tremendous deeds he and his craft were going to perform. When at last they became serious, Latham, the master’s mate, remarked:“But what is your new command like?”“She is a cutter of about a hundred tons, carrying four twelve-pounders, and a sixteen-pounder long pivot gun at the bow. I am to have forty men and a young midshipman from theThetis.”“A very tidy little craft, I should say, Gilmore, and you will probably get a good deal more fun out of her than from a frigate or line-of-battle ship. You will want a good boatswain to take charge of one of the watches.”“I shall have one, for I am to take five men out of theHawke, and you may be sure I shall take Dimchurch as boatswain.”“You could not have a better man,”Latham said;“he is certainly one of the smartest fellows on board the ship. He is very popular with all the men, and is full of life and go, and always the first to set an example when there is any work[pg 141]to be done. I suppose we shall also lose the services of that boy Tom?”“I think so,”Will laughed;“I should be quite lost without so faithful a hand, and indeed, though he still ranks as a boy, he is a big powerful fellow, and a match for many an A.B. at hauling a rope or pulling an oar.”“You are right. He is as big round the chest as many of the men, and though perhaps not so active, quite as powerful. When will you hoist your pendant?”“I have to get the crew together yet. I am to have small drafts from several of the ships, and it may be a few days before they can be collected.”The next morning theThetisarrived, and the young midshipman came on shore an hour later to report himself to Will. He looked surprised for a moment at the age of his new commander, but gravely reported himself for service. Will was pleased with his appearance. He was a merry-faced boy, but with a look on his face which indicated pluck and determination.“You are surprised at my age, no doubt, Harman,”Will said,“and I cannot be more than a year older than yourself, but I have been fortunate enough to be twice mentioned in despatches, indeed have had wonderful luck. I feel sure that we shall get on well together, and I hope both do well. We are to act as police on the coast of Cuba; it swarms with pirates, and it will be hard if we don’t fall in with some of them. You will, of course, keep one watch, and the boatswain, who is a thoroughly good man, will take the other. I need hardly say that we shall have no nonsense about commanding officer. Except when on duty, I hope we shall be[pg 142]good chums, which means, of course, that when an enemy is in sight or the weather is dirty I must be in absolute command.”“Thank you, sir!”Harman said.“These are good terms, and I promise to obey your commands as readily as if you were old enough to be my father.”“That is good. Now I have dinner ordered and I hope you will share it with me. We can then talk over matters comfortably.”Before dinner was over, the lad was more than satisfied with his new chief, and felt sure that at any rate the cruise would be a pleasant one. Just as they had finished, Dimchurch and Tom came in to see Will. On finding that he was engaged they would have withdrawn, but Will called them in.“Sit down and join Mr. Harman and myself in a chat. This, Harman, is Bob Dimchurch, who is going to be our boatswain, and Tom Stevens, whom I have known since we were five years old, and although I have gone over his head we are as good friends as ever. Dimchurch took me under his wing when I first joined, and since then has fought by my side on several occasions.”“We came to wish you success in your new command, sir,”Dimchurch said,“and should not have intruded had we known that you were not alone.”“It is no intrusion at all, Dimchurch. There is no man whose congratulations can be more pleasing to me. Have you seen the cutter?”“Yes, sir. Tom and I noticed what a smart, likely craft she was when we came in and dropped anchor. I little thought that it was you who had command of her, but I have[pg 143]no fear but that you will do her full justice. I could hardly believe my ears when I was told this afternoon, and Tom was ready to jump out of his clothes with joy.”“It is wonderfully good fortune, Dimchurch; I can hardly believe it myself yet.”“I am sure you deserve it, sir. It was you who recaptured that prize in the Mediterranean; it was you who saved the first lieutenant’s life; and it was you who suggested a plan by which we accounted for those three pirates. If that didn’t deserve promotion, it is hard to say what would.”“I owe no small portion of it, Dimchurch, to the fact that I was able to take an observation so soon after I had joined, and that was due to the kindness of my good friend Miss Warden.”“Yes, sir, that goes for something, no doubt, but there is a good deal more than that in it.”After some further talk both of the past and the future, Dimchurch sprang to his feet, saying:“Well, sir, I wish you success. But it is time we were off. I am told we are to remove our duds on board the new craft to-morrow.”“Yes, we are going to start manning her at once; I shall be on board with Mr. Harman directly after breakfast. I have not put foot upon her yet, and am most anxious to do so.”The craft fully answered Will’s expectations. Her after-accommodation was exceedingly good; the cabin was handsomely fitted, and there were two state-rooms.“We shall be in clover here, Harman,”he said;“no one could wish for a better command. I must set to work to get stores shipped at once. How many of the crew are on board?”[pg 144]“Twenty-three, sir, and I believe we shall have our full complement before night.”As they spoke a boat laden with provisions came alongside, and all hands were at once engaged transferring her load to the cutter. In the course of the forenoon the remainder of the men came on board in twos and threes. After dinner Will called the crew together and read out his commission. Then he made his maiden speech.“My lads,”he said,“I wish this to be a comfortable ship, and I will do my best to make it so. I shall expect the ready obedience of all; and you may be assured that if possible I will put you in the way of gaining prize-money. There are plenty of prizes to be taken, and I hope confidently that many of them will fall to our share.”The men gave three cheers, and Will added:“I will order an extra supply of grog to be served out this evening.”On the following dayL’Agiledipped her ensign to the admiral and set off on her voyage. Will was well pleased with the smartness the crew displayed in getting under weigh, and more than satisfied with the pace at which she moved through the water. For a month they cruised off the coast of Cuba, during which time they picked up eight small prizes. These were for the most part rowing-galleys carrying one large lateen sail. None of them were sufficiently strong to show fight; they were not intended to attack merchantmen, but preyed upon native craft, and were manned by from ten to twenty desperadoes. Most of them, when overhauled, pretended to be peaceful fishermen or traders, but a search always brought to light concealed arms, and in some cases captured goods. The boats were burned, and their crews, mostly[pg 145]mulattoes, with a sprinkling of negroes—rascals whose countenances were sufficiently villainous to justify their being hanged without trial,—were put ashore; for the admiral had given instructions to Will not to burden himself with prisoners, who would have to be closely guarded, and would therefore weaken his crew, and, if brought to Port Royal, would take up prison accommodation.At last one day a schooner rather bigger than themselves was sighted. Her appearance was rakish, and there was little doubt as to her character. All sail was at once crowded onL’Agile. The schooner was nearly as fast as she was, and at the end of a six hours’ chase she was still two miles ahead. Suddenly she headed for the shore and disappeared among the trees.L’Agileproceeded on her course until opposite the mouth of the inlet which the pirate had entered. It was getting dark, and Will decided to wait until morning, and then to send a boat in to reconnoitre.“I have not forgotten,”he said to Harman,“the way in which those two French frigates I have told you of ran into a trap, and I don’t mean to be caught so if I can help it.”L’Agileremained hove to during the night, and in the morning lowered a boat, with four hands, commanded by Dimchurch, who was ordered to row in until he obtained a fair view of the enemy, and observe as far as possible what preparation had been made for defence. He was absent for half an hour, and then returned, saying that the schooner was lying anchored with her sails stowed at the far end of the inlet, which was about half a mile long and nearly as wide, with her broadside bearing on the entrance.“If it is as large as that,”Will said,“there will be plenty[pg 146]of room for us to manœuvre. Did you make out what number of guns she carried?”“Yes, sir, she mounted four guns on each side; I should say they were for the most part ten-pounders.”“I think we can reckon upon taking her. Our guns are of heavier metal than hers, and the long-tom will make up for our deficiency in numbers.”L’Agilewas put under as easy sail as would suffice to give her manœuvring powers, and then headed for the mouth of the inlet. She was half-way through when suddenly two hidden batteries, each mounting three guns, opened upon her.“Drop the anchor at once,”Will shouted;“we will finish with these gentlemen before we go farther.”The schooner at the same time opened fire, but at half a mile range her guns did not inflict much damage upon the cutter. Lying between the two batteries she engaged them both, her broadside guns firing with grape, while the long-tom sent a shot into each alternately. In a quarter of an hour their fire was silenced, three of the guns were dismounted, and the men who had been working them fled precipitately.“Take a boat and spike the remaining guns, Dimchurch,”Will said;“I don’t want any more bother with them.”In a few minutes Dimchurch returned to the cutter, having accomplished his mission. The anchor was then got up again, and she proceeded to attack the schooner.L’Agile’scasualties had been trifling; only one had been killed and three wounded, all of them slightly. As she sailed up the inlet she replied with her pivot-gun to the fire of the enemy. At every shot the splinters were seen to fly from the schooner’s side, much to the discomfiture of the pirate gunners, whose aim became[pg 147]so wild that scarcely a shot struckL’Agile. When within a hundred yards of the schooner the helm was put down, and the cutter swept round and opened fire with her two broadside guns.The shots had scarcely rung out when Harman touched Will on the shoulder.“Look there, sir,”he said. Will turned and saw a vessel emerging from a side channel, which was so closed in with trees that it had been unperceived by anybody aboard the cutter. Her aim was evidently to get between them and the sea. She was a cutter of about the same size asL’Agile, but carried six ten-pounders.“The schooner has enticed us in here,”Will said,“there is no doubt about that, and now there is nothing to do but to fight it out. Take her head round,”he said,“we will settle it with the cutter first. The schooner cannot come to her assistance for some minutes as she has all her sails furled.”Accordingly he ranged up to the new-comer, and a furious contest ensued. He engaged her with two broadside guns and the long-tom, and at the same time kept his other two guns playing upon the schooner, the crew of which were busy getting up sail. The long-tom was served by Dimchurch himself, and every shot went crashing through the side of the pirate cutter, the fire of the two broadside guns being almost equally effective.“Keep it up, lads,”Will shouted;“we shall finish with her before the other can come up.”As he spoke a shot from the long-tom struck the cutter’s mainmast, which tottered for a moment and then fell over her side towardsL’Agile, and the sails and hamper entirely prevented the crew from working her guns. For another five minutes the fire was kept up;[pg 148]then the crew were seen to be leaping overboard, and presently a man stood up and shouted that she surrendered. The schooner was now coming up fast.“Don’t let her escape,”Will shouted;“she has had enough of it, and is trying to get away. Run her aboard!”In a minute the two vessels crashed together, and headed by Will, Harman, and Dimchurch,L’Agile’screw sprang on board the schooner.The pirate crew were evidently discouraged by the fate of their consort and by the complete failure of their plan to captureL’Agile. The captain, a gigantic mulatto, fought desperately, as did two or three of his principal men. One of them charged at Will while he was engaged with another, and would have killed him had not Tom Stevens sprung forward and caught the blow on his own cutlass. The sword flew from the man’s hand, and Tom at once cut him down. Dimchurch engaged in a single-handed contest with the great mulatto captain. Strong as the sailor was he could with difficulty parry the ruffian’s blows, but skill made up for inequality of strength, and after a few exchanges he laid the man low with a clever thrust. The fall of their leader completed the discomfiture of the pirates, most of whom at once sprang overboard and made for the shore, those who remained being cut down by the sailors.When at last they were masters of the ship the crew gave three lusty cheers. But Will did not permit them to waste precious time in rejoicing. He knew that, though they had accomplished so much, there was still a great deal to be done, for the prizes might even yet be recaptured before they got them out to sea. Without a moment’s delay, therefore, he[pg 149]sent a boat to take possession of the cutter. The sail and wreckage were cleared away, and the boat proceeded to tow her out of the inlet. In the meantime a warp was taken fromL’Agileto the schooner, the sails of the latter were lowered, and Will sailed proudly out with his second prize in tow. Once fairly at sea the crew began to repair damages. Five men in all had been killed and eleven were wounded. Several of the latter, however, were able to lend a hand. The shot-holes inL’Agilewere first patched with pieces of plank, then covered with canvas, and afterwards given a coat of paint. Then the schooner was taken in hand, and when she was got into something like ship-shape order her sails were hoisted again, and ten men under Harman placed on board to work her. The cutter was taken in tow, only three men being left on board to steer.It was late in the afternoon before all the repairs were completed. Before sailing, a rough examination was made of the holds of the two vessels, and to the great satisfaction ofL’Agile’screw both were found to contain a considerable amount of booty.“It is probable that there is a storehouse somewhere,”Will said;“but as we have under thirty available men it would be madness to try to land, for certainly two-thirds of the scoundrels escaped by swimming, and as each craft must have carried nearly a hundred men we should have been altogether overmatched. Well, they had certainly a right to count upon success; their arrangements were exceedingly good. No doubt they expected us to leave the batteries alone, and from the position in which they were placed they could have peppered us hotly while we were engaged with the schooner;[pg 150]in which case they would probably have had an easy victory. It was a cleverly-laid trap and ought to have succeeded.”“And it would, sir,”Dimchurch said,“if you had not turned from the schooner and settled with the cutter before the other could come to her assistance.”“The credit is largely due to you,”Will said;“that shot of yours that took the mast out was the turning-point of the fight. It completely crippled her, and as it luckily fell towards us it altogether prevented them from returning our fire.”Very proud were Will and his crew when they sailed into Port Royal with their two prizes. Will at once rowed to the flagship, where he received a very hearty greeting.“You have not come empty-handed, I see, Mr. Gilmore,”the admiral said;“you were lucky indeed to take two ships of your own size one after theother.”“We took them at the same time, sir,”Will said,“as you will see by my report.”The admiral gave a look of surprise and opened the document. First he ran his eye over it, then he read it more attentively. When he had finished he said:“You have fought a most gallant action, Mr. Gilmore, a most gallant action. It was indeed long odds you had against you, two vessels each considerably over your own size and manned by far heavier crews, besides the two batteries. It was an excellent idea to leave the vessel with which you were first engaged and turn upon the second one. If you had tried to fight them both at once you would almost certainly have been overcome, and you succeeded because you were cool enough to grasp the fact that the schooner at anchor and with her sails down[pg 151]would not be able to come to her friend’s assistance for some minutes, and acted so promptly on your conclusions. The oldest officer in the service could not have done better. I congratulate you very heartily on your conduct. What are the contents of the cargoes of the prizes?”“I cannot say, sir. With three vessels on my hands I had no time to examine them, but they certainly contain a number of bales of various sorts. I opened one which contained British goods.”“Then no doubt they are the pick of the cargoes they captured,”the admiral said;“I will go off with you myself and ascertain. I have nothing else to do this afternoon, and it will be a matter of interest to me as well as to you. You may as well let your own gig row back and I will take mine.”Accordingly the gig was sent back toL’Agilewith orders for two boats to be lowered and twenty of the men to be ready to go to the two prizes. As soon as the admiral came on board the hatchways were opened, and the men brought up a number of the bales. These were found to contain fine cloths, material for women’s dresses, china, ironmongery, carpets, and other goods of British manufacture. The other vessel contained sugar, coffee, ginger, spices, and other products of the islands.“That is enough,”said the admiral;“I don’t think we shall be far wrong if we put down the value of those two cargoes at £10,000. The two vessels will sell for about £1000 apiece, so that the prize-money will be altogether about £12,000, and even after putting aside my portion you will all share to a handsome amount in the proceeds. That is the advantage of not belonging to a squadron. In that case your share would not be worth anything like what it will now[pg 152]be. By the way, since you have been absent I have received the account of the prize-money earned by theFuriousin the Mediterranean and by the capture of the French frigates. It amounts in all to £35,000. Of course as a midshipman your share will not be very large; probably, indeed, it will not exceed £250, so, you see, pirate-hunting in the West Indies, in command even of a small craft, pays enormously better than being a midshipman on board a frigate.”“It does indeed, sir, though £250 would be a fortune to a midshipman.”“Well, if our calculations as to the value of the cargoes and ships are correct, you will get more than ten times that amount now. And as there are only the flag and one other officer to share with you, the men’s portion will be something like £100 apiece. A few more captures like this,”and he laughed,“and you will become a rich man.”He then rowed away to his own ship, and Will returned toL’Agileand gladdened the hearts of Harman and the crew with the news of the value of their captures.L’Agileremained another week in harbour, during which time all signs of the recent conflict were removed, and he received a draft of men sufficient to bring his crew up to its former level. Then she again set sail.They had cruised for about a fortnight when one morning, just as Will was getting up, Dimchurch ran down and reported that they had sighted two sails suspiciously near each other.“One,”he said,“looks to me a full-rigged ship, and the other a large schooner.”“I will have a look at them,”Will said, and, putting on his clothes, he ran on deck.[pg 153]“Yes, it certainly looks suspicious,”he said, when he had examined them through his telescope;“we will head towards them.”“She looks to me a very large schooner, sir,”said Dimchurch.“Yes, she is larger than these pirates generally are, but there is very little doubt as to her character. How far are they off, do you think?”“Ten miles, sir, I should say; but we have got the land-breeze while they are becalmed. By the look of the water I should say we should carry the wind with us until we are pretty close to them.”Every sail the cutter could carry was hoisted, and she approached the two vessels rapidly. They were some four miles from them when the sails of the schooner filled and she began to move through the water.“It will be a long chase now,”Will said;“but the cutter has light wings, so we have a good chance of overhauling her.”“The sails of the ship are all anyhow, sir,”Harman said.“So they are, Mr. Harman; foul play has been going on there, I have not the least doubt. The fact that the crew are not making any effort to haul in her sheets and come to meet us is in itself a proof of it. I think it is our duty to board her and see what has taken place. Even if we allow the schooner to escape we shall light upon her again some day, I have no doubt.”“She is very low in the water,”he said, after examining the merchantman carefully through his telescope,“and either her cargo is of no value to the pirates, and they have allowed it to remain in her, or they have scuttled her.”[pg 154]“I am afraid it is that, sir,”Dimchurch said,“for she is certainly lower in the water than when I first saw her.”“You are right, Dimchurch, the scoundrels have scuttled her. Please God we shall get to her before she founders! Oh for a stronger wind! Do you think we could row there quicker than we sail?”“No, sir. The gig might go as fast as the cutter, but the other boat would not be able to keep pace with her.”“Well, make all preparations for lowering. Heaven only knows what tragedy may have taken place there.”After all had been got ready, every eye on board the cutter was fixed on the vessel. There was no doubt now that she was getting deeper in the water every minute. When they got within a quarter of a mile of the ship she was so low that it was evident she could not float many minutes longer.“To the boats, men,”Will cried,“row for your lives.”A moment later three boats started at full speed. The gig, in which Dimchurch and Tom were both rowing, was first to search the sinking ship. Will leapt on board at once, and as he did so he gave an exclamation of horror, for the deck was strewn with dead bodies. Without stopping to look about him he ran aft to the companion and went down to the cabin, which was already a foot deep in water. There he found some fifteen men and women sitting securely bound on the sofas. Will drew his dirk, and running along cut their thongs.“Up on deck for your lives,”he cried,“and get into the boats alongside; she will not float three minutes.”At the farther end of the cabin a young girl was kneeling by the side of a stout old lady, who had evidently fainted.[pg 155]“Come,”Will said, going up to her,“it is a matter of life and death; we shall have the water coming down the companion in a minute or two.”“I can’t leave her,”the girl cried.Will attempted to lift the old lady, but she was far too heavy for him.“I cannot save her,”he said, and raised a shout for Dimchurch. It was unanswered.“There,”he said,“the water is coming down; she will sink in a minute. I cannot save her—indeed she is as good as dead already—but I can save you,”and snatching the girl up he ran to the foot of the companion. The water was already pouring down, but he struggled up against it, and managed to reach the deck; but before he could cross to the side the vessel gave a sudden lurch and went down. He was carried under with the suck, but by desperate efforts he gained the surface just as his breath was spent. For a moment or two he was unable to speak, but he was none the less ready to act. Looking round he saw a hen-coop floating near, and, swimming to it, he clung to it with one arm while he held the girl’s head above water with the other. Then, when he had recovered his breath, he shouted“Dimchurch!”Fortunately the gig was not far away, and his hail was at once answered, and a moment later the boat was alongside the hen-coop.Illustration: THE RESCUETHE RESCUE“Take this young lady, Dimchurch, and lay her in the stern-sheets. She can’t be dead, for she was sensible when the ship went down, and we were not under water a minute.”After the girl had been laid down, Will was helped in.“Did we save them all?”he asked.“Yes, sir; at least I think so. They all came running on[pg 156]deck and jumped straight into the boats. I was busy helping them, and did not notice that you were missing. As the last seemed to have come up, I called to the other boats to make off, for I saw that she could only float a minute longer, and as it was we had only just got clear when she went down. Indeed we had a narrow escape of it, and the men had to row. I was standing up to look for you, and had just discovered that you were not in any of the boats, when I heard you call. It gave me a bad turn, as you may guess, sir, and glad I was when I saw you were holding on to that hen-coop.”“Now, let us try and bring this young lady round,”Will said.They turned her over first upon her face and let the water run out of her mouth. Then they laid her flat on her back with a jersey under her head, and rubbed her hands and feet and pressed gently at times on her chest. After five minutes of this treatment the girl heaved a sigh, and shortly afterwards opened her eyes and looked round in bewilderment at the faces of the men. Then suddenly she realized where she was and remembered what had happened.“Oh, it was dreadful!”she murmured.“Poor Miss Morrison was lost, was she not?”“If that was the name of the lady you were kneeling by I regret to say that she was. It was impossible to save her; for though I tried my best I could not lift her. As you call her Miss Morrison I presume she is not a close relation.”“No, she had been my governess since I was a child, and has been a mother to me. Oh, to think that she is dead while I am saved!”[pg 157]“You must remember that it might have been worse,”Will said;“you certainly cannot require a governess many more years, and will find others on whom to bestow your affection. How old are you?”“I am fourteen,”the girl said.“Well, here is my ship, and we will all do our best to make you comfortable.”“Your ship!”the girl said in surprise;“do you mean to say that you are in command of her? You do not look more than a boy.”“I am not much more than a boy,”he said with a smile,“but for all that I am the commander of this vessel, and this young gentleman is my second in command.”

Will was hit by a musket-ball in the last engagement that took place, and was sent back with a batch of wounded to Port Royal. Three of the fingers of his left hand had been carried away, but he bore the loss with equanimity, as it would not compel him to leave the service. Tom, who went with him as his servant, fretted a good deal more over it than he himself, and was often loud in his lamentations.

“It would not have made any difference if it had been me,”he said,“but it is awfully hard on you.”

“What ridiculous nonsense, Tom!”Will said quite angrily, after one of these outbursts.“If it had been you it would have been really serious, for though an officer can get on very well without some of his fingers a sailor would be useless and would be turned adrift with some trifling pension. I shall do very well. I have been mentioned in despatches and I am certain to get my step as soon as I have served long enough to pass, so after a time I shall not miss them at all.”

Tom was silenced, though not convinced. The wound healed rapidly, thanks to Will’s abstemious habits, and in six weeks after entering the hospital he was discharged as fit for duty. TheHawkewas not in harbour, so he went to an hotel. On the following day he received an order to call upon the admiral. When he did so that officer received him very kindly.“I am sorry,”he said,“to learn that you have lost some fingers, Mr. Gilmore.”

“I hope it will not interfere much with my efficiency, sir?”

“I think not,”the admiral said;“I have received the surgeon’s report this morning. In it he stated that your wound had from the first gone on most favourably, and that they had really kept you in hospital a fortnight longer than was absolutely necessary, lest in your anxiety to rejoin you might do yourself harm. Three days since a cutter of about a hundred tons was sent in by theSylph. She was a pirate, and, like all vessels of that class, very fast, and would most likely have outsailed theSylphhad she not caught her up a creek. I have purchased her for the government service, and I propose to place you in command.”

Will gave a start of surprise. At his age he could not have expected for a moment to be given an independent command.

“I have noted your behaviour here, and have looked through the records of your service since you joined, and I am convinced that you will do credit to the post. I shall give you a midshipman junior to yourself from theThetis, and you will have forty hands before the mast. TheHawkeis expected in in a few days, so you can pick five men from her. The rest I will make up from the other ships. The cutter will be furnished with four twelve-pounders, and the long sixteen as a bow gun, which she had when she was captured. Your duty will be to police the coasts and to overhaul as many craft as you may find committing depredations, of course avoiding a combat with adversaries too strong for you.”

“I thank you most heartily, sir, for selecting me for this service, and will do my best to merit your kindness.”

“That is all right, Mr. Gilmore. I have acted, as I believe, for the good of the service, and to some extent as an incentive to other young officers to use their wits.”

Will went out with his head in a whirl. He could hardly have hoped, within a year of his term of service as a midshipman, to obtain a separate command, and he could have shouted with joy at this altogether unexpected promotion. The first thing he did was to take a boat and row off in it to his new command. She was a handsome boat, evidently designed to be fast and weatherly.

“These beggars know how to build boats much better than how to fight them,”he said, when he had examined her.“Assuredlyin anything like a light wind she would run away from theSylph. The admiral was right when he said that it was only by chance that she was caught. I hope the fellow who is going with me is a good sort. It would be awkward if we did not pull well together. At any rate, as the admiral seems to have picked him out for the service, he must be worth his salt. Of course I shall have Dimchurch as my boatswain; he will take one watch and the youngster the other. It will be hard if we don’t catch something.”

Having rowed round the cutter two or three times he returned to the shore. As the little vessel had been taken by surprise, and had not been able to offer any resistance to a craft so much more powerful than herself, she was uninjured, and was in a fit state to be immediately recommissioned. She was calledL’Agile, a name which Will thought very suitable for her.

“Forty men will be none too strong for her,”he said,“for we shall have to work two guns on each side and that long[pg 140]one in the bow.”He went to bed that night and dreamt of fierce fights and many captures, and laughed at himself when he awoke.“Still,”he said,“I shall always be able to tackle any craft of our own size and carrying anything like our number of men.”

Three days later theHawkecame in. Will at once rowed off to her and had a chat with his friends. When he mentioned his new command his news was at first received with absolute incredulity, but when at last his messmates came to understand that he was not joking, he was heartily congratulated on his good fortune. Afterwards he was not a little chaffed on the tremendous deeds he and his craft were going to perform. When at last they became serious, Latham, the master’s mate, remarked:“But what is your new command like?”

“She is a cutter of about a hundred tons, carrying four twelve-pounders, and a sixteen-pounder long pivot gun at the bow. I am to have forty men and a young midshipman from theThetis.”

“A very tidy little craft, I should say, Gilmore, and you will probably get a good deal more fun out of her than from a frigate or line-of-battle ship. You will want a good boatswain to take charge of one of the watches.”

“I shall have one, for I am to take five men out of theHawke, and you may be sure I shall take Dimchurch as boatswain.”

“You could not have a better man,”Latham said;“he is certainly one of the smartest fellows on board the ship. He is very popular with all the men, and is full of life and go, and always the first to set an example when there is any work[pg 141]to be done. I suppose we shall also lose the services of that boy Tom?”

“I think so,”Will laughed;“I should be quite lost without so faithful a hand, and indeed, though he still ranks as a boy, he is a big powerful fellow, and a match for many an A.B. at hauling a rope or pulling an oar.”

“You are right. He is as big round the chest as many of the men, and though perhaps not so active, quite as powerful. When will you hoist your pendant?”

“I have to get the crew together yet. I am to have small drafts from several of the ships, and it may be a few days before they can be collected.”

The next morning theThetisarrived, and the young midshipman came on shore an hour later to report himself to Will. He looked surprised for a moment at the age of his new commander, but gravely reported himself for service. Will was pleased with his appearance. He was a merry-faced boy, but with a look on his face which indicated pluck and determination.

“You are surprised at my age, no doubt, Harman,”Will said,“and I cannot be more than a year older than yourself, but I have been fortunate enough to be twice mentioned in despatches, indeed have had wonderful luck. I feel sure that we shall get on well together, and I hope both do well. We are to act as police on the coast of Cuba; it swarms with pirates, and it will be hard if we don’t fall in with some of them. You will, of course, keep one watch, and the boatswain, who is a thoroughly good man, will take the other. I need hardly say that we shall have no nonsense about commanding officer. Except when on duty, I hope we shall be[pg 142]good chums, which means, of course, that when an enemy is in sight or the weather is dirty I must be in absolute command.”

“Thank you, sir!”Harman said.“These are good terms, and I promise to obey your commands as readily as if you were old enough to be my father.”

“That is good. Now I have dinner ordered and I hope you will share it with me. We can then talk over matters comfortably.”

Before dinner was over, the lad was more than satisfied with his new chief, and felt sure that at any rate the cruise would be a pleasant one. Just as they had finished, Dimchurch and Tom came in to see Will. On finding that he was engaged they would have withdrawn, but Will called them in.“Sit down and join Mr. Harman and myself in a chat. This, Harman, is Bob Dimchurch, who is going to be our boatswain, and Tom Stevens, whom I have known since we were five years old, and although I have gone over his head we are as good friends as ever. Dimchurch took me under his wing when I first joined, and since then has fought by my side on several occasions.”

“We came to wish you success in your new command, sir,”Dimchurch said,“and should not have intruded had we known that you were not alone.”

“It is no intrusion at all, Dimchurch. There is no man whose congratulations can be more pleasing to me. Have you seen the cutter?”

“Yes, sir. Tom and I noticed what a smart, likely craft she was when we came in and dropped anchor. I little thought that it was you who had command of her, but I have[pg 143]no fear but that you will do her full justice. I could hardly believe my ears when I was told this afternoon, and Tom was ready to jump out of his clothes with joy.”

“It is wonderfully good fortune, Dimchurch; I can hardly believe it myself yet.”

“I am sure you deserve it, sir. It was you who recaptured that prize in the Mediterranean; it was you who saved the first lieutenant’s life; and it was you who suggested a plan by which we accounted for those three pirates. If that didn’t deserve promotion, it is hard to say what would.”

“I owe no small portion of it, Dimchurch, to the fact that I was able to take an observation so soon after I had joined, and that was due to the kindness of my good friend Miss Warden.”

“Yes, sir, that goes for something, no doubt, but there is a good deal more than that in it.”After some further talk both of the past and the future, Dimchurch sprang to his feet, saying:“Well, sir, I wish you success. But it is time we were off. I am told we are to remove our duds on board the new craft to-morrow.”

“Yes, we are going to start manning her at once; I shall be on board with Mr. Harman directly after breakfast. I have not put foot upon her yet, and am most anxious to do so.”

The craft fully answered Will’s expectations. Her after-accommodation was exceedingly good; the cabin was handsomely fitted, and there were two state-rooms.

“We shall be in clover here, Harman,”he said;“no one could wish for a better command. I must set to work to get stores shipped at once. How many of the crew are on board?”

“Twenty-three, sir, and I believe we shall have our full complement before night.”

As they spoke a boat laden with provisions came alongside, and all hands were at once engaged transferring her load to the cutter. In the course of the forenoon the remainder of the men came on board in twos and threes. After dinner Will called the crew together and read out his commission. Then he made his maiden speech.

“My lads,”he said,“I wish this to be a comfortable ship, and I will do my best to make it so. I shall expect the ready obedience of all; and you may be assured that if possible I will put you in the way of gaining prize-money. There are plenty of prizes to be taken, and I hope confidently that many of them will fall to our share.”The men gave three cheers, and Will added:“I will order an extra supply of grog to be served out this evening.”

On the following dayL’Agiledipped her ensign to the admiral and set off on her voyage. Will was well pleased with the smartness the crew displayed in getting under weigh, and more than satisfied with the pace at which she moved through the water. For a month they cruised off the coast of Cuba, during which time they picked up eight small prizes. These were for the most part rowing-galleys carrying one large lateen sail. None of them were sufficiently strong to show fight; they were not intended to attack merchantmen, but preyed upon native craft, and were manned by from ten to twenty desperadoes. Most of them, when overhauled, pretended to be peaceful fishermen or traders, but a search always brought to light concealed arms, and in some cases captured goods. The boats were burned, and their crews, mostly[pg 145]mulattoes, with a sprinkling of negroes—rascals whose countenances were sufficiently villainous to justify their being hanged without trial,—were put ashore; for the admiral had given instructions to Will not to burden himself with prisoners, who would have to be closely guarded, and would therefore weaken his crew, and, if brought to Port Royal, would take up prison accommodation.

At last one day a schooner rather bigger than themselves was sighted. Her appearance was rakish, and there was little doubt as to her character. All sail was at once crowded onL’Agile. The schooner was nearly as fast as she was, and at the end of a six hours’ chase she was still two miles ahead. Suddenly she headed for the shore and disappeared among the trees.L’Agileproceeded on her course until opposite the mouth of the inlet which the pirate had entered. It was getting dark, and Will decided to wait until morning, and then to send a boat in to reconnoitre.

“I have not forgotten,”he said to Harman,“the way in which those two French frigates I have told you of ran into a trap, and I don’t mean to be caught so if I can help it.”

L’Agileremained hove to during the night, and in the morning lowered a boat, with four hands, commanded by Dimchurch, who was ordered to row in until he obtained a fair view of the enemy, and observe as far as possible what preparation had been made for defence. He was absent for half an hour, and then returned, saying that the schooner was lying anchored with her sails stowed at the far end of the inlet, which was about half a mile long and nearly as wide, with her broadside bearing on the entrance.

“If it is as large as that,”Will said,“there will be plenty[pg 146]of room for us to manœuvre. Did you make out what number of guns she carried?”

“Yes, sir, she mounted four guns on each side; I should say they were for the most part ten-pounders.”

“I think we can reckon upon taking her. Our guns are of heavier metal than hers, and the long-tom will make up for our deficiency in numbers.”

L’Agilewas put under as easy sail as would suffice to give her manœuvring powers, and then headed for the mouth of the inlet. She was half-way through when suddenly two hidden batteries, each mounting three guns, opened upon her.

“Drop the anchor at once,”Will shouted;“we will finish with these gentlemen before we go farther.”The schooner at the same time opened fire, but at half a mile range her guns did not inflict much damage upon the cutter. Lying between the two batteries she engaged them both, her broadside guns firing with grape, while the long-tom sent a shot into each alternately. In a quarter of an hour their fire was silenced, three of the guns were dismounted, and the men who had been working them fled precipitately.

“Take a boat and spike the remaining guns, Dimchurch,”Will said;“I don’t want any more bother with them.”

In a few minutes Dimchurch returned to the cutter, having accomplished his mission. The anchor was then got up again, and she proceeded to attack the schooner.L’Agile’scasualties had been trifling; only one had been killed and three wounded, all of them slightly. As she sailed up the inlet she replied with her pivot-gun to the fire of the enemy. At every shot the splinters were seen to fly from the schooner’s side, much to the discomfiture of the pirate gunners, whose aim became[pg 147]so wild that scarcely a shot struckL’Agile. When within a hundred yards of the schooner the helm was put down, and the cutter swept round and opened fire with her two broadside guns.

The shots had scarcely rung out when Harman touched Will on the shoulder.“Look there, sir,”he said. Will turned and saw a vessel emerging from a side channel, which was so closed in with trees that it had been unperceived by anybody aboard the cutter. Her aim was evidently to get between them and the sea. She was a cutter of about the same size asL’Agile, but carried six ten-pounders.

“The schooner has enticed us in here,”Will said,“there is no doubt about that, and now there is nothing to do but to fight it out. Take her head round,”he said,“we will settle it with the cutter first. The schooner cannot come to her assistance for some minutes as she has all her sails furled.”

Accordingly he ranged up to the new-comer, and a furious contest ensued. He engaged her with two broadside guns and the long-tom, and at the same time kept his other two guns playing upon the schooner, the crew of which were busy getting up sail. The long-tom was served by Dimchurch himself, and every shot went crashing through the side of the pirate cutter, the fire of the two broadside guns being almost equally effective.

“Keep it up, lads,”Will shouted;“we shall finish with her before the other can come up.”As he spoke a shot from the long-tom struck the cutter’s mainmast, which tottered for a moment and then fell over her side towardsL’Agile, and the sails and hamper entirely prevented the crew from working her guns. For another five minutes the fire was kept up;[pg 148]then the crew were seen to be leaping overboard, and presently a man stood up and shouted that she surrendered. The schooner was now coming up fast.

“Don’t let her escape,”Will shouted;“she has had enough of it, and is trying to get away. Run her aboard!”In a minute the two vessels crashed together, and headed by Will, Harman, and Dimchurch,L’Agile’screw sprang on board the schooner.

The pirate crew were evidently discouraged by the fate of their consort and by the complete failure of their plan to captureL’Agile. The captain, a gigantic mulatto, fought desperately, as did two or three of his principal men. One of them charged at Will while he was engaged with another, and would have killed him had not Tom Stevens sprung forward and caught the blow on his own cutlass. The sword flew from the man’s hand, and Tom at once cut him down. Dimchurch engaged in a single-handed contest with the great mulatto captain. Strong as the sailor was he could with difficulty parry the ruffian’s blows, but skill made up for inequality of strength, and after a few exchanges he laid the man low with a clever thrust. The fall of their leader completed the discomfiture of the pirates, most of whom at once sprang overboard and made for the shore, those who remained being cut down by the sailors.

When at last they were masters of the ship the crew gave three lusty cheers. But Will did not permit them to waste precious time in rejoicing. He knew that, though they had accomplished so much, there was still a great deal to be done, for the prizes might even yet be recaptured before they got them out to sea. Without a moment’s delay, therefore, he[pg 149]sent a boat to take possession of the cutter. The sail and wreckage were cleared away, and the boat proceeded to tow her out of the inlet. In the meantime a warp was taken fromL’Agileto the schooner, the sails of the latter were lowered, and Will sailed proudly out with his second prize in tow. Once fairly at sea the crew began to repair damages. Five men in all had been killed and eleven were wounded. Several of the latter, however, were able to lend a hand. The shot-holes inL’Agilewere first patched with pieces of plank, then covered with canvas, and afterwards given a coat of paint. Then the schooner was taken in hand, and when she was got into something like ship-shape order her sails were hoisted again, and ten men under Harman placed on board to work her. The cutter was taken in tow, only three men being left on board to steer.

It was late in the afternoon before all the repairs were completed. Before sailing, a rough examination was made of the holds of the two vessels, and to the great satisfaction ofL’Agile’screw both were found to contain a considerable amount of booty.

“It is probable that there is a storehouse somewhere,”Will said;“but as we have under thirty available men it would be madness to try to land, for certainly two-thirds of the scoundrels escaped by swimming, and as each craft must have carried nearly a hundred men we should have been altogether overmatched. Well, they had certainly a right to count upon success; their arrangements were exceedingly good. No doubt they expected us to leave the batteries alone, and from the position in which they were placed they could have peppered us hotly while we were engaged with the schooner;[pg 150]in which case they would probably have had an easy victory. It was a cleverly-laid trap and ought to have succeeded.”

“And it would, sir,”Dimchurch said,“if you had not turned from the schooner and settled with the cutter before the other could come to her assistance.”

“The credit is largely due to you,”Will said;“that shot of yours that took the mast out was the turning-point of the fight. It completely crippled her, and as it luckily fell towards us it altogether prevented them from returning our fire.”

Very proud were Will and his crew when they sailed into Port Royal with their two prizes. Will at once rowed to the flagship, where he received a very hearty greeting.“You have not come empty-handed, I see, Mr. Gilmore,”the admiral said;“you were lucky indeed to take two ships of your own size one after theother.”

“We took them at the same time, sir,”Will said,“as you will see by my report.”

The admiral gave a look of surprise and opened the document. First he ran his eye over it, then he read it more attentively. When he had finished he said:“You have fought a most gallant action, Mr. Gilmore, a most gallant action. It was indeed long odds you had against you, two vessels each considerably over your own size and manned by far heavier crews, besides the two batteries. It was an excellent idea to leave the vessel with which you were first engaged and turn upon the second one. If you had tried to fight them both at once you would almost certainly have been overcome, and you succeeded because you were cool enough to grasp the fact that the schooner at anchor and with her sails down[pg 151]would not be able to come to her friend’s assistance for some minutes, and acted so promptly on your conclusions. The oldest officer in the service could not have done better. I congratulate you very heartily on your conduct. What are the contents of the cargoes of the prizes?”

“I cannot say, sir. With three vessels on my hands I had no time to examine them, but they certainly contain a number of bales of various sorts. I opened one which contained British goods.”

“Then no doubt they are the pick of the cargoes they captured,”the admiral said;“I will go off with you myself and ascertain. I have nothing else to do this afternoon, and it will be a matter of interest to me as well as to you. You may as well let your own gig row back and I will take mine.”

Accordingly the gig was sent back toL’Agilewith orders for two boats to be lowered and twenty of the men to be ready to go to the two prizes. As soon as the admiral came on board the hatchways were opened, and the men brought up a number of the bales. These were found to contain fine cloths, material for women’s dresses, china, ironmongery, carpets, and other goods of British manufacture. The other vessel contained sugar, coffee, ginger, spices, and other products of the islands.“That is enough,”said the admiral;“I don’t think we shall be far wrong if we put down the value of those two cargoes at £10,000. The two vessels will sell for about £1000 apiece, so that the prize-money will be altogether about £12,000, and even after putting aside my portion you will all share to a handsome amount in the proceeds. That is the advantage of not belonging to a squadron. In that case your share would not be worth anything like what it will now[pg 152]be. By the way, since you have been absent I have received the account of the prize-money earned by theFuriousin the Mediterranean and by the capture of the French frigates. It amounts in all to £35,000. Of course as a midshipman your share will not be very large; probably, indeed, it will not exceed £250, so, you see, pirate-hunting in the West Indies, in command even of a small craft, pays enormously better than being a midshipman on board a frigate.”

“It does indeed, sir, though £250 would be a fortune to a midshipman.”

“Well, if our calculations as to the value of the cargoes and ships are correct, you will get more than ten times that amount now. And as there are only the flag and one other officer to share with you, the men’s portion will be something like £100 apiece. A few more captures like this,”and he laughed,“and you will become a rich man.”

He then rowed away to his own ship, and Will returned toL’Agileand gladdened the hearts of Harman and the crew with the news of the value of their captures.L’Agileremained another week in harbour, during which time all signs of the recent conflict were removed, and he received a draft of men sufficient to bring his crew up to its former level. Then she again set sail.

They had cruised for about a fortnight when one morning, just as Will was getting up, Dimchurch ran down and reported that they had sighted two sails suspiciously near each other.“One,”he said,“looks to me a full-rigged ship, and the other a large schooner.”

“I will have a look at them,”Will said, and, putting on his clothes, he ran on deck.

“Yes, it certainly looks suspicious,”he said, when he had examined them through his telescope;“we will head towards them.”

“She looks to me a very large schooner, sir,”said Dimchurch.

“Yes, she is larger than these pirates generally are, but there is very little doubt as to her character. How far are they off, do you think?”

“Ten miles, sir, I should say; but we have got the land-breeze while they are becalmed. By the look of the water I should say we should carry the wind with us until we are pretty close to them.”

Every sail the cutter could carry was hoisted, and she approached the two vessels rapidly. They were some four miles from them when the sails of the schooner filled and she began to move through the water.

“It will be a long chase now,”Will said;“but the cutter has light wings, so we have a good chance of overhauling her.”

“The sails of the ship are all anyhow, sir,”Harman said.

“So they are, Mr. Harman; foul play has been going on there, I have not the least doubt. The fact that the crew are not making any effort to haul in her sheets and come to meet us is in itself a proof of it. I think it is our duty to board her and see what has taken place. Even if we allow the schooner to escape we shall light upon her again some day, I have no doubt.”

“She is very low in the water,”he said, after examining the merchantman carefully through his telescope,“and either her cargo is of no value to the pirates, and they have allowed it to remain in her, or they have scuttled her.”

“I am afraid it is that, sir,”Dimchurch said,“for she is certainly lower in the water than when I first saw her.”

“You are right, Dimchurch, the scoundrels have scuttled her. Please God we shall get to her before she founders! Oh for a stronger wind! Do you think we could row there quicker than we sail?”

“No, sir. The gig might go as fast as the cutter, but the other boat would not be able to keep pace with her.”

“Well, make all preparations for lowering. Heaven only knows what tragedy may have taken place there.”

After all had been got ready, every eye on board the cutter was fixed on the vessel. There was no doubt now that she was getting deeper in the water every minute. When they got within a quarter of a mile of the ship she was so low that it was evident she could not float many minutes longer.

“To the boats, men,”Will cried,“row for your lives.”

A moment later three boats started at full speed. The gig, in which Dimchurch and Tom were both rowing, was first to search the sinking ship. Will leapt on board at once, and as he did so he gave an exclamation of horror, for the deck was strewn with dead bodies. Without stopping to look about him he ran aft to the companion and went down to the cabin, which was already a foot deep in water. There he found some fifteen men and women sitting securely bound on the sofas. Will drew his dirk, and running along cut their thongs.

“Up on deck for your lives,”he cried,“and get into the boats alongside; she will not float three minutes.”

At the farther end of the cabin a young girl was kneeling by the side of a stout old lady, who had evidently fainted.

“Come,”Will said, going up to her,“it is a matter of life and death; we shall have the water coming down the companion in a minute or two.”

“I can’t leave her,”the girl cried.

Will attempted to lift the old lady, but she was far too heavy for him.

“I cannot save her,”he said, and raised a shout for Dimchurch. It was unanswered.“There,”he said,“the water is coming down; she will sink in a minute. I cannot save her—indeed she is as good as dead already—but I can save you,”and snatching the girl up he ran to the foot of the companion. The water was already pouring down, but he struggled up against it, and managed to reach the deck; but before he could cross to the side the vessel gave a sudden lurch and went down. He was carried under with the suck, but by desperate efforts he gained the surface just as his breath was spent. For a moment or two he was unable to speak, but he was none the less ready to act. Looking round he saw a hen-coop floating near, and, swimming to it, he clung to it with one arm while he held the girl’s head above water with the other. Then, when he had recovered his breath, he shouted“Dimchurch!”Fortunately the gig was not far away, and his hail was at once answered, and a moment later the boat was alongside the hen-coop.

Illustration: THE RESCUETHE RESCUE

THE RESCUE

“Take this young lady, Dimchurch, and lay her in the stern-sheets. She can’t be dead, for she was sensible when the ship went down, and we were not under water a minute.”

After the girl had been laid down, Will was helped in.

“Did we save them all?”he asked.

“Yes, sir; at least I think so. They all came running on[pg 156]deck and jumped straight into the boats. I was busy helping them, and did not notice that you were missing. As the last seemed to have come up, I called to the other boats to make off, for I saw that she could only float a minute longer, and as it was we had only just got clear when she went down. Indeed we had a narrow escape of it, and the men had to row. I was standing up to look for you, and had just discovered that you were not in any of the boats, when I heard you call. It gave me a bad turn, as you may guess, sir, and glad I was when I saw you were holding on to that hen-coop.”

“Now, let us try and bring this young lady round,”Will said.

They turned her over first upon her face and let the water run out of her mouth. Then they laid her flat on her back with a jersey under her head, and rubbed her hands and feet and pressed gently at times on her chest. After five minutes of this treatment the girl heaved a sigh, and shortly afterwards opened her eyes and looked round in bewilderment at the faces of the men. Then suddenly she realized where she was and remembered what had happened.

“Oh, it was dreadful!”she murmured.“Poor Miss Morrison was lost, was she not?”

“If that was the name of the lady you were kneeling by I regret to say that she was. It was impossible to save her; for though I tried my best I could not lift her. As you call her Miss Morrison I presume she is not a close relation.”

“No, she had been my governess since I was a child, and has been a mother to me. Oh, to think that she is dead while I am saved!”

“You must remember that it might have been worse,”Will said;“you certainly cannot require a governess many more years, and will find others on whom to bestow your affection. How old are you?”

“I am fourteen,”the girl said.

“Well, here is my ship, and we will all do our best to make you comfortable.”

“Your ship!”the girl said in surprise;“do you mean to say that you are in command of her? You do not look more than a boy.”

“I am not much more than a boy,”he said with a smile,“but for all that I am the commander of this vessel, and this young gentleman is my second in command.”

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