Chapter Twelve.A Strange Vessel.Five days after the stormy scene on the bridge, Frank Hume and Webster were lying forward, upon rugs, on the turtle-shell deck, in the full blaze of a hot sun. The sea was calm, even beyond the power of theSwiftto toss up spray, and stretched away, unbroken by so much as a single gleam of white, to the horizon, though astern there lay a long trail, slightly sinuous, over which, with many a sweep and soar, there hawked a pair of gulls. Now and again, from the heave of the water before the fast slipping foot of theSwift, there ripped out a flight of flying fish, who, after an unmistakable beat of their glittering wings, shot away to the right and left, to fall with an awkward splash into the sea.Here and there, propped up against some wide-mouthed ventilator, or stretched in the grateful shadows of the boats, were a few barefooted sailors engaged with needle and thread, while under an awning aft Mr Commins and Miss Anstrade reclined in deck-chairs. The harsh grating noise of the steering gear, and the ceaseless thud of the propellers, alone broke the silence, which, like the silence of vast stretches ashore, or of deep-wooded solitudes, hushes the voice of animals and kills speech in men. Out on the bosom of the sea, or on the summit of a mountain, the trifles which interest us among our fellows have little power against the subduing influence of vast unpeopled spaces.All the morning the steamer reached on, always remaining in the centre of the same wide circle, and it was only when the Quartermaster struck eight bells that there was any movement among the brooding men. Webster sat up, and with his hands on his knees, and his cap at the back of his head, looked over the shining waste, then yawned.“What an eloquent fellow you are, Hume!” he said; “you’ve got no more conversation and greater powers of observation than a bale of wool. There’s that fellow Commins still talking to the Commodore and oiling his jaw-tackle with iced champagne, the lubber; and to think you might be enjoying the same privileges if you only had the wit to make yourself agreeable.”“I don’t care for champagne iced.”“You don’t, eh? but maybe you’d care to be seated where he is, within the range of those lustrous eyes, or was it luminous you called them, for all the world as though you were speaking of a black cat in a coal-cellar? And such cigars as she smokes, too?”“She doesn’t smoke cigars!”“Man, I saw the glow of one last night, burning red, and lighting, by its reflection, the dark splendour of her eyes, as you magnificently put it.”“It was a cigarette, and you might know, if you were not always between waking and sleeping, that most high-bred Spanish women smoke them, and think no more of it than a dab of powder.”“Then you were smoking the cigar, and I was awake enough to see that the fierce light of the cigar was closer than the breadth of my hand to the tiny glow of the dainty cigarette. I’ve been thinking whether I ought to congratulate you or her first.”“Don’t be an ass, Webster; I was merely explaining to her the map of the stars.”“Then there’s nothing between you?”“Nothing but the length of the ship.”“Then that relieves my heart of a great pressure, which has sat there ever since I had salt junk for breakfast. I shall propose to the Commodore myself.”“The devil you will!” said Frank, rising to his elbow, and regarding Webster with anxiety.The Lieutenant sighed, and then winked solemnly.“Yes, my boy, for I’m sick to death of seeing that red-banded dandy flashing his teeth in the face of her as though he were the only man on board with courage enough to make love to a pretty girl.”“You are fooling.”“Not me. I’ve been thinking, and it occurred to me that I’ve lived long enough in a circle. I want to pass the remainder of my life in a square house with someone like the Commodore, who won’t obey orders. She would want to paint the walls yellow to match her complexion, and I would tell the Quartermaster to paint them blue to remind me of the sea. The house would have a flat roof with a flag-post on the weather quarter. I would hoist my colours in the morning, and she would bend on hers in the afternoon, for I’ve noticed that a woman grows more active as the day dwindles. It is a trait she enjoys in common with cats.”“My dear fellow,” said Frank earnestly, “all you have to do is to give her a sketch of that programme, and that will be enough in the way of wooing.”“Can you suggest any improvement?”“Well, you would do well to hint at the luxury of green blinds for the windows, and pictures on the walls.”“If there is one thing I detest more than soda with whisky, it’s satire; you should leave such weapons to that glass-eyed lubber aft, who always looks at me as if I were a monstrosity, and sets my muscles moving to catch him by the neck. Now, Frank, for the honour of all good men, sail in and win the prize. I mean it. You can see for yourself that the fellow is every kind of a rogue, and though the Commodore doesn’t answer well to the helm, it would be a wicked shame to see her taken in tow by that shark. Hang me if the fellow was not rattling dice last night with that black-hearted piccaroon, Juarez.”“Is that a fact?”“Ay, that it is; and it came across me that the two of them were too friendly for our safety. It was about four bells, and I had gone below to turn in, when I heard the unmistakable rattle, and peeping in through the ventilator above the door, saw the two of them hard at it, with the everlasting bottle at their elbows.”“Have you told the Captain?”“I did; and he scowled horribly. You know how pleasant he looks when he is put out; and he went down straightway and tumbled the gentle pirate into his cell, at the same time threatening to clap Commins in irons if he sought such congenial society again.”“And—?”“Commins swore most foully. I never thought the creature had such a command of language; but the skipper asked him if he would complain to the Commodore, when he calmed down rapidly into soft words and treacherous smiles. I tell you he is a plotter, and if anything goes wrong with the rebels—the National party, by compliment—he would sell us for a brass candlestick. Now, if you will dash in, cut him out as he lies at his moorings in the light of her friendship, I will not bring my fascination to bear upon her.”“I’m afraid it’s hopeless,” said Frank, with a sigh; “and don’t you think we are talking without book?—for we have no reason to suppose that she wishes to be freed from the attentions of Mr Commins, still less that she is in any danger from him.”“You’ve got too much of the calculating machine in you, Frank—a defect we sailors don’t possess. This is a matter not to be reasoned about I can feel in my marrow that the man is a scheming rascal.”The Quartermaster struck eight bells, and Webster went off to take a sight, the Captain having already entered upon that daily task.They were three days off Cape Verde, having made the islands to take in more coal, and were making across the Atlantic, in a south-westerly course, right out of the track of vessels. When Hume, who was looking forward listlessly, cried out, “Ship ahead!” there was unusual interest aroused, and glasses were brought to bear upon the distant speck.“A steamer!” cried Captain Pardoe, “and lying to, for there’s not so much as a stain of smoke against the blue of the sky beyond.”The men and officers, now thoroughly aroused from their drowsy torpor, stared at the distant ship which had so suddenly slipped from the horizon into this silent sea.“Do you make out any signals, Mr Webster?”“No, sir; but I can’t see a single boat, and it seems to me the tackle is hanging from the davits.”“Strange,” muttered the Captain; “for there have been no indications of storm. Maybe the boats are out for some business of life-saving.” And he swept his glass to right and left of the steamer, which was rapidly taking shape to the naked eye.“Bring her round a couple of spokes—so. Hold her at that.” TheSwiftbore down straight for the stranger, and for some minutes not a word was spoken on her, as every man eagerly searched the ship, and then the smooth water about her, for the first trace of any sign that would explain the mystery of her fixed and lonely state. The belt of sea beyond widened out, her straight bows rose higher; a sailor picked out the red band round her funnel, and now one, and then another, with a quick cry, averred they saw men on board; but yet there was no sign of her boats, or trace of smoke.“She has a slight list to starboard, Mr Webster.”“I marked that, sir; but she has not settled down, and can’t be making water.”“She looks over seaworthy for a castaway. Who is it can see a man on board?”The sailor Dick touched his cap. “There’s a chap swinging on the starboard side, sir, just below the forward davits, and there’s another lying on the booby-trap.”The other men looked at Dick, then, with knitted brows under the shade of their flat palms, gazed intently at the spots indicated; but, failing to make out any object so small at such a distance, they all turned to watch the Captain, and judged from the sharp inquiring glance he threw at the Lieutenant before taking a longer view that there was now some key to the mystery.“There certainly is a man up aloft, and another hanging at the side; but he is strangely still.”“It seems to me his legs move,” muttered Webster. “My God! what is that below him?”To the straining looks of the excited crew there flashed for a moment a speck of white at the side of the ship, followed by a faint toss of spray against the black hull.“’Tis a shark!” shouted Dick.Another pause succeeded, and from the doors there peered out the grim faces of half a dozen stokers, who had, down below, felt the contagion of excitement.“There has been foul play,” said the Captain; “no live man would remain within a yard of those gaping jaws and not struggle to escape.”“Fire a blank charge, Mr Webster.”The twelve-pounder roared its summons, loud enough to wake the dead, but no white face was lifted over the bulwarks of the vessel, and no movement came from the two still forms.“Make ready to launch the boat.”There was a rush of naked feet, four men tumbled into the boat with Webster; the ropes were loosened, and the davits swung out.“Captain, what is that dark cloud beyond the ship?” asked Miss Anstrade, who had been standing on the bridge with a look of wonder in her face.“A capful of wind, Miss Laura.”The steamer soon heeled over slowly to the breeze; then her stern, making a ripple on the water, came round, and she lay broadside on, showing the high poops, lofty bridge, and deep, well-like quarter-deck of the ocean tramp. The strange figure hanging over the swell of her bows swung to the lazy motion of the ship, his feet nearly touching the heave of the sea made by the list.Out of that swell there rose the gleaming belly of the great fish, the next moment the ropes hung limp against the ship!A murmur of horror rose from theSwift, and Miss Anstrade caught Frank convulsively by the arm. “O Sancta Sanctissima!” she cried, “what a fearful thing is the sea!”Yet it could not have been more peaceful, as it came with a soft caressing ripple against the grey sides of the catcher, its glossy surface belying the evidence of that ghastly tragedy, whose eddying ripples it had hastily smoothed away.And the derelict, lazily dipping, pointed her tall narrow bows once more at theSwift, and seemed to the sailor-men to appeal to them in her helplessness; so they pitied her as if she had been a living thing.“What is the matter with her?” asked Miss Anstrade, her face still white.“She has been abandoned, evidently; but I must find out why, for she appears to be seaworthy. Her rigging is uninjured; she cannot be making water, and if her steam-gear were damaged she could trust to her sails.”TheSwiftwas now within a few lengths of the derelict, and passing under her stern, turned to examine her port side.There, at last, was some evidence of violence, for one of her iron plates had been ripped open, the port side of the bridge had been completely swept away, and there were two jagged holes in her forward bulwark, the jagged ends projecting out, while fragments of a boat hung from her davits.“She’s been under fire!” said the Captain in astonishment.“Ay, ay, raked fore and aft by bow chasers,” was the comment of the men.“Stand by to lower the boat. Let go!” The boat sank to the sea, shipshape and even, and Hume, with a word to the Captain, slipped down into her.“Give way!” cried Webster, standing up in the stern-sheets. The men put their backs into it, and very soon an active tar, making use of his toes and hands, was on the quarter-deck. He took one quick look around, then let down a rope, up which the rest scrambled one after the other. An extraordinary spectacle met their gaze: the well was littered with splinters; the ladder reaching to the main-deck was smashed; the entrance to the alley-way blocked with the iron wall of the cabin, which had been torn away from its fastenings. On the starboard side, however, the deck was clear, and passing round, they went up the step to the main-deck. The starboard side here was free, but on the port side the deck was ploughed up, and hampered with a part of the bridge and portion of the boat, while the row of skylights were shattered into pieces.Sending a couple of men aloft to bring down the man on the booby, Webster and Hume went below to examine the state-room. The table was set for dinner, but the plates were clean, and the meal had not been served. Fallen over on the table was a—bottle of whisky, from which the spirit had run out over the cloth, still filling the room with a strong odour, and on the floor was a broken glass. The cabin door opening into the saloon was open, and an inspection showed that the contents had been overhauled, the boxes standing open, and the floors covered with clothing which had been hastily tossed out.On a small table, in the Captain’s room, was the log-book, the last entry broken off—“1 degree North latitude, 30 West longitude. Towards evening sighted a cruiser, which showed the Brazilian (National) colours, and held on. She signalled for our colours. Run up the National flag, when she hauled down her colour and ran up the Government flag, at the same time signalling us to lay-to. Expecting little mercy if she found out the nature of our cargo, made a run for it. She gave chase, and opened fire with her bow guns. Cruiser gave up the chase at dusk, just as a discharge from her bow guns severely mauled us.Irenemaking water fast, and resolved to take the boats and—”“That explains her state,” mused Webster, as he turned over the pages of the log, which showed that theIrene, 1,500 tons, had left Bristol for Rio in June, 1893, and had up to the last entry made an uneventful voyage.“It’s a monstrous thing,” said Frank, “that a peaceful merchant steamer should have been served in this way.”“She probably carries contraband of war, and navy men don’t go to much ceremony before playing bowls with a blockade-runner. Ask the skipper; he’s been at the game often, and by the same token I believe he took command of theSwiftto wipe off old scores. Let’s get below.”Calling two of the men, Webster lifted a hatchway, and, with a lantern from the storeroom, descended to investigate, and was not long in finding that the main hold contained a large shipment of rifles packed in cases. Returning to deck, they found the two men who had been sent aloft standing by the side of a young sailor who had been struck in the head, evidently by a fragment of iron. He was stiff in death, and Webster, with a gentle touch, drew the eyelids over the blue eyes.He then turned to the side to haul in the ropes, from which that other figure had swung. There was a loop in the end, in which the unfortunate man in launching the forward boat had probably been entangled, and overlooked by his comrades in the dark. Subdued and saddened by what they had seen, they returned to theSwift, and Webster made his report.“A blockade-runner,” said the Captain, his gloomy eyes lighting up; “and full of arms. What a prize she would be for the rebels!”“And for us, too,” said Mr Commins quickly. There was a long pause, and the Captain paced restlessly to and fro, casting quick glances at the derelict. “She would mean a fortune,” he continued slowly, “for I happen to know that the land forces of the National party are badly armed. Now, Captain, here is an opportunity that falls right into your mouth, and I would strongly urge you to accept the gift. I admit I was wrong about theEsperanza, but concerning the advisability of taking possession of this rich derelict there can surely be no two opinions.”“But I should have to place a crew on board, and that would weaken us,” said the Captain, with an air as though he liked the proposal.“I, myself, don’t see any bar to that arrangement,” said Commins, stroking his chin, and eyeing the Captain thoughtfully. “I dare say now, with half our crew, you yourself could undertake to run the blockade with that ship.”“I am not going to leave theSwift,” said the Captain roughly.“I should hope not,” laughed Commins. “I had in mind the history of some of your daring trips as blockade-runner, and, of course, as I presume, Mr Webster, and our young friend, Mr Hume, with as few men as you could spare, could be put on board. They could make for some port north of Rio, and after reporting her whereabouts and arranging for the reward, you could re-ship the crew previous to carrying out the object of this voyage.”“That would mean delay, and Miss Anstrade may object,” urged the Captain, who, nevertheless, was evidently pleased with the scheme.“You have heard the Captain’s suggestion, madam,” said Commins, turning to Miss Anstrade, “which seems to me very important, and which, if carried out, would have a most valuable bearing on our chance of success. With that ship and its cargo in our hands we could, with confidence, ask for every assistance from the national commanders ashore and afloat.”Miss Anstrade knitted her brows as she looked at the speaker.“You know my wish,” she said wearily, “is to reach Rio as soon as possible. I understand you to say that the cargo of yonder ship would realise a fortune, and it seems to me if I demanded from my struggling countrymen money in return for services, they would be under no indebtedness to me. If we are to weaken our strength to save that ship I would prefer to give it up without any question of reward.”“But you have no objection to the crew sharing in any prize money that may be offered,” said Commins quickly, with a side glance at the Captain.“None whatever,” she said coolly.“And you consent to our saving the ship?”“I suppose so, though I clearly see my opinion would not be considered if it were opposed to the step.”“Not so, madam,” said Captain Pardoe. “That ship and its cargo should realise 90,000 pounds, but if you say leave it, I will send her to the bottom, so that she shall not fall into the enemy’s hands.”“Do as you wish,” she said, with a sad smile, and turned away with a sigh.The Captain and Mr Commins continued eagerly to discuss the matter, while Hume, who had been standing near with Webster, plucked the latter by the sleeve to draw him aside.“Well, what do you think of this new scheme?”“I don’t know that I like it over well, but I judge the temptation would prove a strong one for the Captain. It is a big stroke of luck, after all.”“The Captain appears to be rather keen upon money making.”“I suppose he is,” said Webster slowly; “and so are most men when they have the chance. Would you say there was any sentiment about the skipper?”“As little as there is about that twelve-pounder.”“That’s where you lose your compass,” said Webster gravely. “For fifteen years the Captain’s dream has been to save money enough to make a home for his future wife, my sister, Hume. When I was a boy at school he was courting her—a fine, high-spirited fellow, with a way about him that won everybody’s goodwill. I have marked him grow more silent and stern as the years went by, and I have seen my sister’s gaiety grow into a sweet and tender patience; but never a word of marriage from him. He was waiting for his fortune, and twice he made it and lost it, once after ten years in the merchant service, when he was wrecked, and once after running a blockade, when he was captured and imprisoned by the Peruvians. ‘’Tis coming, love,’ he would say; ‘a house for you and a little farmyard for me, down in the old county.’ Poor little Loo! I think I see her now sitting, as sometimes she would when the housework was done, with her hands in her lap, looking wistfully into the future. God grant her wishes may be fulfilled!”“I say no more about the Captain,” said Frank warmly, “except to echo your prayer. For his sake I hope this plan will carry through well, but after what you said of Commins I am suspicious. He may have some design in dividing our strength.”“No doubt he has, but he might as safely light a cigar at a volcano as attempt to win over any of our men.”The Captain’s voice here rang out:“Mr Webster, we will lay by till morning. Take all the men on board and get it as shipshape as possible. Find, if you can, the supercargo’s manifesto, and if you can’t, then make a rough inventory of the cargo.”TheSwiftwas laid alongside theIrene, on her weather side, and moored fore and aft, the smoothness of the sea permitting this. In this position the low funnels did not rise above the lofty side of the steamer, and she was completely hidden from the view of any vessel coming up on the starboard side. Her fires were damped down, steam shut off, and the engineer and his staff were soon busy in the engine-room of theIrene, while the Quartermaster, with his men, smartly cleared away the litter in readiness for the carpenters.So the work went briskly on, and in the quiet of the evening, in the presence of all the crew, the body of the dead sailor lad, sewn up in a sail-cloth, was committed to the deep sea, the bass voice of the Captain ringing out solemnly in the impressive silence. And when the last eddy had died away the Captain shivered and drew his hand across his brow.Maybe the summons for him also had already sounded, and he paced the deck long into the night.
Five days after the stormy scene on the bridge, Frank Hume and Webster were lying forward, upon rugs, on the turtle-shell deck, in the full blaze of a hot sun. The sea was calm, even beyond the power of theSwiftto toss up spray, and stretched away, unbroken by so much as a single gleam of white, to the horizon, though astern there lay a long trail, slightly sinuous, over which, with many a sweep and soar, there hawked a pair of gulls. Now and again, from the heave of the water before the fast slipping foot of theSwift, there ripped out a flight of flying fish, who, after an unmistakable beat of their glittering wings, shot away to the right and left, to fall with an awkward splash into the sea.
Here and there, propped up against some wide-mouthed ventilator, or stretched in the grateful shadows of the boats, were a few barefooted sailors engaged with needle and thread, while under an awning aft Mr Commins and Miss Anstrade reclined in deck-chairs. The harsh grating noise of the steering gear, and the ceaseless thud of the propellers, alone broke the silence, which, like the silence of vast stretches ashore, or of deep-wooded solitudes, hushes the voice of animals and kills speech in men. Out on the bosom of the sea, or on the summit of a mountain, the trifles which interest us among our fellows have little power against the subduing influence of vast unpeopled spaces.
All the morning the steamer reached on, always remaining in the centre of the same wide circle, and it was only when the Quartermaster struck eight bells that there was any movement among the brooding men. Webster sat up, and with his hands on his knees, and his cap at the back of his head, looked over the shining waste, then yawned.
“What an eloquent fellow you are, Hume!” he said; “you’ve got no more conversation and greater powers of observation than a bale of wool. There’s that fellow Commins still talking to the Commodore and oiling his jaw-tackle with iced champagne, the lubber; and to think you might be enjoying the same privileges if you only had the wit to make yourself agreeable.”
“I don’t care for champagne iced.”
“You don’t, eh? but maybe you’d care to be seated where he is, within the range of those lustrous eyes, or was it luminous you called them, for all the world as though you were speaking of a black cat in a coal-cellar? And such cigars as she smokes, too?”
“She doesn’t smoke cigars!”
“Man, I saw the glow of one last night, burning red, and lighting, by its reflection, the dark splendour of her eyes, as you magnificently put it.”
“It was a cigarette, and you might know, if you were not always between waking and sleeping, that most high-bred Spanish women smoke them, and think no more of it than a dab of powder.”
“Then you were smoking the cigar, and I was awake enough to see that the fierce light of the cigar was closer than the breadth of my hand to the tiny glow of the dainty cigarette. I’ve been thinking whether I ought to congratulate you or her first.”
“Don’t be an ass, Webster; I was merely explaining to her the map of the stars.”
“Then there’s nothing between you?”
“Nothing but the length of the ship.”
“Then that relieves my heart of a great pressure, which has sat there ever since I had salt junk for breakfast. I shall propose to the Commodore myself.”
“The devil you will!” said Frank, rising to his elbow, and regarding Webster with anxiety.
The Lieutenant sighed, and then winked solemnly.
“Yes, my boy, for I’m sick to death of seeing that red-banded dandy flashing his teeth in the face of her as though he were the only man on board with courage enough to make love to a pretty girl.”
“You are fooling.”
“Not me. I’ve been thinking, and it occurred to me that I’ve lived long enough in a circle. I want to pass the remainder of my life in a square house with someone like the Commodore, who won’t obey orders. She would want to paint the walls yellow to match her complexion, and I would tell the Quartermaster to paint them blue to remind me of the sea. The house would have a flat roof with a flag-post on the weather quarter. I would hoist my colours in the morning, and she would bend on hers in the afternoon, for I’ve noticed that a woman grows more active as the day dwindles. It is a trait she enjoys in common with cats.”
“My dear fellow,” said Frank earnestly, “all you have to do is to give her a sketch of that programme, and that will be enough in the way of wooing.”
“Can you suggest any improvement?”
“Well, you would do well to hint at the luxury of green blinds for the windows, and pictures on the walls.”
“If there is one thing I detest more than soda with whisky, it’s satire; you should leave such weapons to that glass-eyed lubber aft, who always looks at me as if I were a monstrosity, and sets my muscles moving to catch him by the neck. Now, Frank, for the honour of all good men, sail in and win the prize. I mean it. You can see for yourself that the fellow is every kind of a rogue, and though the Commodore doesn’t answer well to the helm, it would be a wicked shame to see her taken in tow by that shark. Hang me if the fellow was not rattling dice last night with that black-hearted piccaroon, Juarez.”
“Is that a fact?”
“Ay, that it is; and it came across me that the two of them were too friendly for our safety. It was about four bells, and I had gone below to turn in, when I heard the unmistakable rattle, and peeping in through the ventilator above the door, saw the two of them hard at it, with the everlasting bottle at their elbows.”
“Have you told the Captain?”
“I did; and he scowled horribly. You know how pleasant he looks when he is put out; and he went down straightway and tumbled the gentle pirate into his cell, at the same time threatening to clap Commins in irons if he sought such congenial society again.”
“And—?”
“Commins swore most foully. I never thought the creature had such a command of language; but the skipper asked him if he would complain to the Commodore, when he calmed down rapidly into soft words and treacherous smiles. I tell you he is a plotter, and if anything goes wrong with the rebels—the National party, by compliment—he would sell us for a brass candlestick. Now, if you will dash in, cut him out as he lies at his moorings in the light of her friendship, I will not bring my fascination to bear upon her.”
“I’m afraid it’s hopeless,” said Frank, with a sigh; “and don’t you think we are talking without book?—for we have no reason to suppose that she wishes to be freed from the attentions of Mr Commins, still less that she is in any danger from him.”
“You’ve got too much of the calculating machine in you, Frank—a defect we sailors don’t possess. This is a matter not to be reasoned about I can feel in my marrow that the man is a scheming rascal.”
The Quartermaster struck eight bells, and Webster went off to take a sight, the Captain having already entered upon that daily task.
They were three days off Cape Verde, having made the islands to take in more coal, and were making across the Atlantic, in a south-westerly course, right out of the track of vessels. When Hume, who was looking forward listlessly, cried out, “Ship ahead!” there was unusual interest aroused, and glasses were brought to bear upon the distant speck.
“A steamer!” cried Captain Pardoe, “and lying to, for there’s not so much as a stain of smoke against the blue of the sky beyond.”
The men and officers, now thoroughly aroused from their drowsy torpor, stared at the distant ship which had so suddenly slipped from the horizon into this silent sea.
“Do you make out any signals, Mr Webster?”
“No, sir; but I can’t see a single boat, and it seems to me the tackle is hanging from the davits.”
“Strange,” muttered the Captain; “for there have been no indications of storm. Maybe the boats are out for some business of life-saving.” And he swept his glass to right and left of the steamer, which was rapidly taking shape to the naked eye.
“Bring her round a couple of spokes—so. Hold her at that.” TheSwiftbore down straight for the stranger, and for some minutes not a word was spoken on her, as every man eagerly searched the ship, and then the smooth water about her, for the first trace of any sign that would explain the mystery of her fixed and lonely state. The belt of sea beyond widened out, her straight bows rose higher; a sailor picked out the red band round her funnel, and now one, and then another, with a quick cry, averred they saw men on board; but yet there was no sign of her boats, or trace of smoke.
“She has a slight list to starboard, Mr Webster.”
“I marked that, sir; but she has not settled down, and can’t be making water.”
“She looks over seaworthy for a castaway. Who is it can see a man on board?”
The sailor Dick touched his cap. “There’s a chap swinging on the starboard side, sir, just below the forward davits, and there’s another lying on the booby-trap.”
The other men looked at Dick, then, with knitted brows under the shade of their flat palms, gazed intently at the spots indicated; but, failing to make out any object so small at such a distance, they all turned to watch the Captain, and judged from the sharp inquiring glance he threw at the Lieutenant before taking a longer view that there was now some key to the mystery.
“There certainly is a man up aloft, and another hanging at the side; but he is strangely still.”
“It seems to me his legs move,” muttered Webster. “My God! what is that below him?”
To the straining looks of the excited crew there flashed for a moment a speck of white at the side of the ship, followed by a faint toss of spray against the black hull.
“’Tis a shark!” shouted Dick.
Another pause succeeded, and from the doors there peered out the grim faces of half a dozen stokers, who had, down below, felt the contagion of excitement.
“There has been foul play,” said the Captain; “no live man would remain within a yard of those gaping jaws and not struggle to escape.”
“Fire a blank charge, Mr Webster.”
The twelve-pounder roared its summons, loud enough to wake the dead, but no white face was lifted over the bulwarks of the vessel, and no movement came from the two still forms.
“Make ready to launch the boat.”
There was a rush of naked feet, four men tumbled into the boat with Webster; the ropes were loosened, and the davits swung out.
“Captain, what is that dark cloud beyond the ship?” asked Miss Anstrade, who had been standing on the bridge with a look of wonder in her face.
“A capful of wind, Miss Laura.”
The steamer soon heeled over slowly to the breeze; then her stern, making a ripple on the water, came round, and she lay broadside on, showing the high poops, lofty bridge, and deep, well-like quarter-deck of the ocean tramp. The strange figure hanging over the swell of her bows swung to the lazy motion of the ship, his feet nearly touching the heave of the sea made by the list.
Out of that swell there rose the gleaming belly of the great fish, the next moment the ropes hung limp against the ship!
A murmur of horror rose from theSwift, and Miss Anstrade caught Frank convulsively by the arm. “O Sancta Sanctissima!” she cried, “what a fearful thing is the sea!”
Yet it could not have been more peaceful, as it came with a soft caressing ripple against the grey sides of the catcher, its glossy surface belying the evidence of that ghastly tragedy, whose eddying ripples it had hastily smoothed away.
And the derelict, lazily dipping, pointed her tall narrow bows once more at theSwift, and seemed to the sailor-men to appeal to them in her helplessness; so they pitied her as if she had been a living thing.
“What is the matter with her?” asked Miss Anstrade, her face still white.
“She has been abandoned, evidently; but I must find out why, for she appears to be seaworthy. Her rigging is uninjured; she cannot be making water, and if her steam-gear were damaged she could trust to her sails.”
TheSwiftwas now within a few lengths of the derelict, and passing under her stern, turned to examine her port side.
There, at last, was some evidence of violence, for one of her iron plates had been ripped open, the port side of the bridge had been completely swept away, and there were two jagged holes in her forward bulwark, the jagged ends projecting out, while fragments of a boat hung from her davits.
“She’s been under fire!” said the Captain in astonishment.
“Ay, ay, raked fore and aft by bow chasers,” was the comment of the men.
“Stand by to lower the boat. Let go!” The boat sank to the sea, shipshape and even, and Hume, with a word to the Captain, slipped down into her.
“Give way!” cried Webster, standing up in the stern-sheets. The men put their backs into it, and very soon an active tar, making use of his toes and hands, was on the quarter-deck. He took one quick look around, then let down a rope, up which the rest scrambled one after the other. An extraordinary spectacle met their gaze: the well was littered with splinters; the ladder reaching to the main-deck was smashed; the entrance to the alley-way blocked with the iron wall of the cabin, which had been torn away from its fastenings. On the starboard side, however, the deck was clear, and passing round, they went up the step to the main-deck. The starboard side here was free, but on the port side the deck was ploughed up, and hampered with a part of the bridge and portion of the boat, while the row of skylights were shattered into pieces.
Sending a couple of men aloft to bring down the man on the booby, Webster and Hume went below to examine the state-room. The table was set for dinner, but the plates were clean, and the meal had not been served. Fallen over on the table was a—bottle of whisky, from which the spirit had run out over the cloth, still filling the room with a strong odour, and on the floor was a broken glass. The cabin door opening into the saloon was open, and an inspection showed that the contents had been overhauled, the boxes standing open, and the floors covered with clothing which had been hastily tossed out.
On a small table, in the Captain’s room, was the log-book, the last entry broken off—
“1 degree North latitude, 30 West longitude. Towards evening sighted a cruiser, which showed the Brazilian (National) colours, and held on. She signalled for our colours. Run up the National flag, when she hauled down her colour and ran up the Government flag, at the same time signalling us to lay-to. Expecting little mercy if she found out the nature of our cargo, made a run for it. She gave chase, and opened fire with her bow guns. Cruiser gave up the chase at dusk, just as a discharge from her bow guns severely mauled us.Irenemaking water fast, and resolved to take the boats and—”
“That explains her state,” mused Webster, as he turned over the pages of the log, which showed that theIrene, 1,500 tons, had left Bristol for Rio in June, 1893, and had up to the last entry made an uneventful voyage.
“It’s a monstrous thing,” said Frank, “that a peaceful merchant steamer should have been served in this way.”
“She probably carries contraband of war, and navy men don’t go to much ceremony before playing bowls with a blockade-runner. Ask the skipper; he’s been at the game often, and by the same token I believe he took command of theSwiftto wipe off old scores. Let’s get below.”
Calling two of the men, Webster lifted a hatchway, and, with a lantern from the storeroom, descended to investigate, and was not long in finding that the main hold contained a large shipment of rifles packed in cases. Returning to deck, they found the two men who had been sent aloft standing by the side of a young sailor who had been struck in the head, evidently by a fragment of iron. He was stiff in death, and Webster, with a gentle touch, drew the eyelids over the blue eyes.
He then turned to the side to haul in the ropes, from which that other figure had swung. There was a loop in the end, in which the unfortunate man in launching the forward boat had probably been entangled, and overlooked by his comrades in the dark. Subdued and saddened by what they had seen, they returned to theSwift, and Webster made his report.
“A blockade-runner,” said the Captain, his gloomy eyes lighting up; “and full of arms. What a prize she would be for the rebels!”
“And for us, too,” said Mr Commins quickly. There was a long pause, and the Captain paced restlessly to and fro, casting quick glances at the derelict. “She would mean a fortune,” he continued slowly, “for I happen to know that the land forces of the National party are badly armed. Now, Captain, here is an opportunity that falls right into your mouth, and I would strongly urge you to accept the gift. I admit I was wrong about theEsperanza, but concerning the advisability of taking possession of this rich derelict there can surely be no two opinions.”
“But I should have to place a crew on board, and that would weaken us,” said the Captain, with an air as though he liked the proposal.
“I, myself, don’t see any bar to that arrangement,” said Commins, stroking his chin, and eyeing the Captain thoughtfully. “I dare say now, with half our crew, you yourself could undertake to run the blockade with that ship.”
“I am not going to leave theSwift,” said the Captain roughly.
“I should hope not,” laughed Commins. “I had in mind the history of some of your daring trips as blockade-runner, and, of course, as I presume, Mr Webster, and our young friend, Mr Hume, with as few men as you could spare, could be put on board. They could make for some port north of Rio, and after reporting her whereabouts and arranging for the reward, you could re-ship the crew previous to carrying out the object of this voyage.”
“That would mean delay, and Miss Anstrade may object,” urged the Captain, who, nevertheless, was evidently pleased with the scheme.
“You have heard the Captain’s suggestion, madam,” said Commins, turning to Miss Anstrade, “which seems to me very important, and which, if carried out, would have a most valuable bearing on our chance of success. With that ship and its cargo in our hands we could, with confidence, ask for every assistance from the national commanders ashore and afloat.”
Miss Anstrade knitted her brows as she looked at the speaker.
“You know my wish,” she said wearily, “is to reach Rio as soon as possible. I understand you to say that the cargo of yonder ship would realise a fortune, and it seems to me if I demanded from my struggling countrymen money in return for services, they would be under no indebtedness to me. If we are to weaken our strength to save that ship I would prefer to give it up without any question of reward.”
“But you have no objection to the crew sharing in any prize money that may be offered,” said Commins quickly, with a side glance at the Captain.
“None whatever,” she said coolly.
“And you consent to our saving the ship?”
“I suppose so, though I clearly see my opinion would not be considered if it were opposed to the step.”
“Not so, madam,” said Captain Pardoe. “That ship and its cargo should realise 90,000 pounds, but if you say leave it, I will send her to the bottom, so that she shall not fall into the enemy’s hands.”
“Do as you wish,” she said, with a sad smile, and turned away with a sigh.
The Captain and Mr Commins continued eagerly to discuss the matter, while Hume, who had been standing near with Webster, plucked the latter by the sleeve to draw him aside.
“Well, what do you think of this new scheme?”
“I don’t know that I like it over well, but I judge the temptation would prove a strong one for the Captain. It is a big stroke of luck, after all.”
“The Captain appears to be rather keen upon money making.”
“I suppose he is,” said Webster slowly; “and so are most men when they have the chance. Would you say there was any sentiment about the skipper?”
“As little as there is about that twelve-pounder.”
“That’s where you lose your compass,” said Webster gravely. “For fifteen years the Captain’s dream has been to save money enough to make a home for his future wife, my sister, Hume. When I was a boy at school he was courting her—a fine, high-spirited fellow, with a way about him that won everybody’s goodwill. I have marked him grow more silent and stern as the years went by, and I have seen my sister’s gaiety grow into a sweet and tender patience; but never a word of marriage from him. He was waiting for his fortune, and twice he made it and lost it, once after ten years in the merchant service, when he was wrecked, and once after running a blockade, when he was captured and imprisoned by the Peruvians. ‘’Tis coming, love,’ he would say; ‘a house for you and a little farmyard for me, down in the old county.’ Poor little Loo! I think I see her now sitting, as sometimes she would when the housework was done, with her hands in her lap, looking wistfully into the future. God grant her wishes may be fulfilled!”
“I say no more about the Captain,” said Frank warmly, “except to echo your prayer. For his sake I hope this plan will carry through well, but after what you said of Commins I am suspicious. He may have some design in dividing our strength.”
“No doubt he has, but he might as safely light a cigar at a volcano as attempt to win over any of our men.”
The Captain’s voice here rang out:
“Mr Webster, we will lay by till morning. Take all the men on board and get it as shipshape as possible. Find, if you can, the supercargo’s manifesto, and if you can’t, then make a rough inventory of the cargo.”
TheSwiftwas laid alongside theIrene, on her weather side, and moored fore and aft, the smoothness of the sea permitting this. In this position the low funnels did not rise above the lofty side of the steamer, and she was completely hidden from the view of any vessel coming up on the starboard side. Her fires were damped down, steam shut off, and the engineer and his staff were soon busy in the engine-room of theIrene, while the Quartermaster, with his men, smartly cleared away the litter in readiness for the carpenters.
So the work went briskly on, and in the quiet of the evening, in the presence of all the crew, the body of the dead sailor lad, sewn up in a sail-cloth, was committed to the deep sea, the bass voice of the Captain ringing out solemnly in the impressive silence. And when the last eddy had died away the Captain shivered and drew his hand across his brow.
Maybe the summons for him also had already sounded, and he paced the deck long into the night.
Chapter Thirteen.The Sea Fight.TheSwifthad been almost deserted, as the larger decks of theIreneoffered an irresistible attraction, and when the work was abandoned at dusk the crew took possession of the forecastle, while Miss Anstrade, with Hume and Webster, lingered on the poop, after surrendering the main-deck amidships to the Captain, who preferred his own company. Mr Commins, alone for choice, remained on the catcher, and for a long time the glow of his cigar could be seen under the small awning, while Juarez, over whom he had offered to keep strict watch, lay near, under the shadow of a lamp, smoking cigarettes. The Brazilian Captain had never been permitted to appear on deck when Miss Anstrade was there, and his close confinement below had not improved his naturally brutal nature, but he had tamed his temper down to the point of almost abject humility in imploring the Captain to let him on deck. Now the guttural tones of his voice could be heard as he made occasionally a few remarks to Mr Commins, the only man who cared to hold converse with him.The night was beautiful, the dark vault of the sky gloriously gemmed down to the dark belt of the horizon, while out of the intense black of the sea there gleamed, near at hand, swordlike flashes of phosphorescent fire from predatory fish, and between the sea and the sky there was no living thing to break the brooding silence. The men, glad of the opportunity to stretch their legs, were soon asleep, and, except for an occasional murmur of voices from the three on the poop and the rough burr of Juarez at intervals, there was no sound on board. The swell of the sea rising and sinking between the catcher and theIrenemade a soft ripple, followed by a deep sigh, having a power in its melancholy music to draw Miss Anstrade to the port side, where she had leant with her elbows on the rail, until at the dim sight of Juarez she started back with a shudder of revulsion and sought the remoter side.There the three of them leant, the efforts of the two men to talk to the girl between them gradually lessening to complete silence. She had changed greatly since the excitement of the wild rush to Madeira, had grown listless, the womanhood in her revolting against the strain and burden she had rashly imposed on herself, and at each sign of helplessness the two young men had felt more tender towards her, trying, each in his own way, to show their sympathy. They had talked often together about the object of the voyage, and, sanguine though they were with the ardour of youth, they could see nothing but disaster before them, while the desperate nature of the enterprise had also come home to her. Presently, with a moan, she thrust her hands forward:“There is nothing but failure before me, and perhaps death.”“You are over-worn,” said Frank gently; “and, indeed, theSwiftis too rough a boat for a lady.”“Ay, that it is, Miss Laura,” said Webster, “and, as for talk of failure or death, they are for us to prove, and not for you, who are made for better things. This steamer has been thrown across us by the mercy of Providence, and it is your duty almost to accept the gift, and embark in it for a safe port.”“I despise myself,” she said wearily; “but I have no courage and no hope, and shudder at the thought of remaining on theSwift. I cannot understand it.”“I think I can,” said Frank, in a low tone. “You have been mistaken in yourself, and your presence on board, in contrast with the grim ship, has seemed to me a sort of marvel. You are fitted for better things.”“You mean I have no strength of purpose,” she said slowly. “And do you expect me to relinquish this enterprise, to go back without striking one blow, to surrender to my weakness, and for ever be a victim of my cowardice, haunted by a memory, and lashed by my conscience? No—no—never!”She threw her head up proudly.“You may go to safety in this ship; but—I—I will do what I have said.”“You mistake us,” said Hume; “neither Mr Webster nor myself asks you to give up the enterprise. We have no thought of turning from it; but we do think strongly that you should not share in the work and worry of it. It is not fair to you; it is unjust to us.”“Unjust, sir—how?”“Madam, you may not know it, but every man on board theSwiftthinks more of you than of his own safety, and if they all knew you were ashore they would be happier in working out your purpose.”“You are right there, Frank,” said Webster. “We’d go into action with a laugh if you were not aboard, madam, but every shell would make our hearts beat with fear if you were with us.”“Ah! my friends,” she answered with emotion, “you make my sorrow all the greater to think I should have brought you to this, and be myself so fearful of the end. Forgive me, but I am proud and weak by turns. Oh, if I had the courage of a man!”“You are better as you are,” said Frank. “Your weakness has more power over us than if you never winced or wavered.”Suddenly she stood back and looked at them, laughing low.“What is it?”“It has occurred to me, gentlemen, that you are both to remain on theIrene.”“Yes, madam; but why does that amuse you?” said Frank helplessly.“And so you have been scheming to have my company. I am sure I am greatly charmed, and would be more if you had not pretended an anxiety for my safety.”“Pretended, madam!” gasped Webster. “I’ll see the Captain hanged before I leave theSwift. He can sail this old tub himself, so that he takes you with her.”“Thank you, sir,” she said, with another rippling laugh, “though you might have turned me over to the Captain more gracefully. And you, Mr Hume?”“We are plain men,” he began stiffly.“Yes, you are very plain, and very stupid.”At this unexpected retort the two men fell into a gloomy silence, being too much in earnest and too greatly surprised to laugh.“Ah, dear,” she said, “that I had one woman with me, then I could laugh, and rage, and weep upon her neck within a minute, and have no ill looks in return. Come, my friends, be not angry.”She gave each one a hand, and each raised it to his lips, which showed that they could express themselves well in deeds, though not in words.She placed both hands to her cheeks, and her fine eyes glowed as she looked at them.“It is the kiss of brave men,” she said in low, thrilling tones; “the pledge of your lives to me. Ah, my friends, I read that little act more clearly than what you could tell me in words, and see, for those who love you, for the mother who has treasured you, in return for the homage the strong and brave pay to woman, I kiss you.”She leant forward, and pressed her lips to their cheeks in turn.They stood back and straightened themselves with kindling eyes, feeling as the young knight who has received his spurs.“Out with all lights!” It was the Captain’s voice, ringing out loud and stern.There was a breathless pause, followed by a confused murmur of voices.“Silence, forward, there. Is that you, Mr Dixon?”—a quiet, grave man, whose heart was with his wife and child at home.“Yes, sir.”“Get up steam, but be careful with your fire.”“What can the matter be?” gasped Miss Anstrade, at the sound of men moving quietly from theIreneinto theSwift.Webster, at the first cry from the Captain, had sprung to the bulwark, holding to a wire rope-stay.“There’s a steamer’s lights away aft. I wonder she has escaped us.”The Captain’s dark form appeared on the poop.“Mr Webster, see the fires relit on this ship.”“Ay, ay, sir. What do you make her out to be?”“When did you mark her?”“When you called, sir.”“Ah! She appeared an hour since, and I judge from her movements and her lights she is a man-of-war, probably the same cruiser which surprised this ship before.”“Do you think she has seen us?”“I’m afraid so, though our lights must be very dim, for she altered her course and is bearing down. She may pass us, unless she brings the spars of theIreneagainst a star. I won’t leave this prize, however, until I am obliged.”Webster moved off, and the others, including the sailors on board, watched the approaching vessel; while Mr Commins, who could not, of course, see the stranger from the hidden catcher, hurried on board to find out the cause of the commotion.“You think she is the Brazilian steamer?” he said in a voice of alarm, listening to the explanation. “Curse it! Misfortune dogs us. I wish we were out of this!”“Speak for yourself,” answered the Captain in a growl.Mr Commins lingered awhile, and then went off to give the news to Juarez, who received it with a savage laugh.The red light rapidly approached through the black of the night, and it was evident she would pass very near. The excitement grew rapidly as the news was passed from mouth to mouth in rapid whispers.“Mr Hume, will you help Miss Anstrade to theSwift; pass the word to the men to get on board, and have them stationed at the guns.”In a few minutes Captain Pardee was the only man on board theIrene, with the exception of the stokers, who were busily preparing the fires.To those in theSwiftwho could see nothing there followed a long and anxious state of suspense, broken at last by the low voice of the Captain speaking from above.“Mr Hume, stand by to slip the fastenings.”They held their breath, listening, and to them came the regular beat of engines.Louder and louder grew the noise, but they could see nothing of the danger, and its imminence seemed to them the nearer. There was a movement in the air, the pulsation of the distant screw affected them so that they believed theSwiftitself was throbbing, and presently theIreneleant over towards them gently, and as gently rolled away.“’Tis the wave from her wake,” muttered the Quartermaster.The sound of the engines gradually lessened.The Captain’s figure appeared above. “She has passed,” he said.There was a rush for the tall sides of theIrene, and presently everyone was staring forward at a green light fast diminishing in the dark, now at its blackest before the dawn.“Thank God for His mercy,” murmured Miss Anstrade, who had stood near Hume silent and white, though without a sign of fear.“You may well say that, Miss Laura,” said the Captain.The green light sunk rapidly, and had almost disappeared, when suddenly a brilliant glare shot up, throwing a sickly light over the group on the poop.The Captain gave a bound to the side, and next minute there was a hoarse cry as his pistol rang out.“It is that villain Juarez; send his black soul to hell! Overboard with him!” roared the Captain.The black-bearded Quartermaster, balancing himself on the rail a moment, sprang to the iron deck below, and next minute there was a howl of mingled fear and rage, followed by a splash.“Launch the boat, and smother that light with a sail!”The Captain gnashed his teeth as he glared at the brilliant flare from a life-saving light floating on the quiet waters, and sending forth an appeal to the distant battleship. Mr Commins stood in the catcher near the spot where the slinking figure of Juarez had been shot down, seemingly without power to move, as he looked horror-struck at the dark waters.Without a second’s delay the boat was launched, and a strip of canvas thrown over the light, when the darkness settled down blacker than before. But the mischief had been done, and sullen looks were directed at the dim speck in the distance.“Ay, ay, there she comes round,” said the sailor Dick. In the distance a red light replaced the green, but as they watched it suddenly disappeared.“She has gone,” said Miss Anstrade, with an hysterical sob.The Captain shook his head.“She has put out her lights, and will hang about till morning.”“We’d better slip away, sir,” said Webster.The Captain lifted his fist, and banged it into his open hand.“By the Lord,” he growled, “I’ll not leave this ship without a fight for it!”The Captain, however, gave way so far to the urgent protestations of Miss Anstrade, that he abandoned any idea of placing a crew on board the derelict until daylight revealed whether there was any chance of getting clear away. Fires were kept going on board theSwift, a look-out was stationed on the larger vessel, and the men were sent to their berths. Miss Anstrade retired to snatch an uneasy sleep, and the Captain, leaving Webster and Hume in charge, went also to his cabin, falling almost immediately into a sound sleep. The small hours of the night passed anxiously to the two officers who patrolled the poop of theIrenein silence, listening for any sound that would indicate the whereabouts of the stranger. There was, however, no sign of her presence, and when the intense darkness of the night began to fade before the dawn, a thick, white, low-lying mist wrapped the ship as in an impenetrable cloak.Webster, to get a view over the mist, if possible, went aloft, his figure soon becoming blurred, and after a long stay, descended rapidly.“She is near us,” he said in an excited whisper to Hume. “Waken the Captain. We could slip away without being seen.”Very soon Captain Pardoe climbed on board, and heard what his Lieutenant had to say.“I should judge her position to be about a mile on the starboard beam, and she is steaming ahead at eight knots. If the mist doesn’t lift we could easily slip her by making a nor’-west course.”“Which way is the wind? Ah! blowing across to her. She would hear us getting under way. We’ll lie close awhile; but do you, meanwhile, Mr Hume, rouse the crew; see they have a nip to warm them up, and get them to their quarters quickly and in silence. Is all in readiness on board the ship, Mr Webster?”“Yes, sir—except the crew.”“I’ll take a look at her myself;” and the Captain went heavily into the rattlins.There was a movement on theSwiftas the men presently went to their stations, and a sound of murmuring voices, followed, presently, by the rush of escaping steam from both vessels as the fires were stirred. A few minutes more, and the stranger would put himself out of hearing. The engineer stood in readiness to set the screw in motion, and men were at hand ready to throw off the lashings which moored the catcher to theIrene. Suddenly, however, the mist began rapidly to melt, showing in an instant almost a wide stretch of grey water.The Captain reached the deck with a bound, just as the notes of a boatswain’s whistle came faintly over the still waters from beyond the melting mist.“She has seen us,” said the Captain hoarsely.As he spoke, there appeared the blurred outline of a big ship, about a mile and a half distant, over the starboard stern, and the next instant she stood out, broadside on, just as she came round, with tall masts, and lofty sides of gleaming white.“She has caught us, Captain,” said Webster quietly; “and we could easily have got away in the night.”The Captain turned on his heels with a stormy look on his face, and walked a few steps, when he stood with his eyes bent on the deck. Then he threw his head up, gazed keenly at the cruiser, and when he faced Webster again his mind was made up.“On board,” he cried, waving his hand to the catcher, and in a moment was on the deck of the smaller ship.“Madam and men,” he said in his deep tones, “the ship we saw last night is, I fear, a cruiser of the Brazilian navy. She is near us, and if she is an enemy we are in danger. The blame is mine. I should have kept on instead of remaining to save this vessel.”Miss Anstrade made as though she would speak, but the Captain waved his hand.“Madam—Miss Laura—no words you could say would add to the regret I feel. But there is no time. I have brought you into this peril, and please God I will deliver you. I want nine men to fight this ship. Who volunteers?”There was a moment’s pause as the men looked at one another, then the Quartermaster stood out.“We are all yours, Captain; to the last man.”“Ay, ay,” came the response.A dull flush crept into the Captain’s face. “Thank you, men,” he said quietly; “but I want nine only. Quartermaster, select eight. Mr Hume, help Miss Anstrade on board. Mr Webster, take command of theIrene, and make full steam as soon as I engage the cruiser.”The men lingered reluctantly, and Miss Anstrade, with heaving breast, stood looking at the Captain.“Quick, Mr Hume,” said the Captain, and at the same moment he took Miss Anstrade by the hand and led her to the ladder. “I am very sorry,” he said; then his hand was seized by a sailor, and all the men in turn wrung his hand as they passed.He looked round, and saw Webster standing by the engineer.“Come, Jim, my boy,” he said to the Lieutenant, “it is your duty to save Miss Anstrade.”Webster moved forward with a strange look in his face.“Remember Loo,” he said hoarsely, “and let me stay here.”“It cannot be, my lad. Good-bye, my boy, good-bye, and tell her I did what she would expect me to. Up.” He almost forced Webster to the ladder, then turned.“Mr Dixon,” he said, and looked at the engineer. “If I could spare you I would, for it’s death before us.”The engineer smiled softly.“I am not sorry, Captain,” he said, “for I understand.”He took one last look round at the wide sea and crimson heavens, then his lips moved, he turned to grasp the Captain’s outstretched hand, and the two men looked into one another’s eyes.A pale figure of a man slipped out of the door and made furtively for the steps.“Mr Commins,”—the Captain’s hand was laid upon his arm—“you will stay with me, for your scheming nature and coward heart have brought us to this.”Mr Commins trembled beneath the gloomy eyes turned upon him, cast one imploring look at the faces above, then, without a word, allowed the Captain to lead him to the cabin door.The sound of a gun broke with relief upon the strained nerves of the spectators.“Cut the moorings!”Silently the men on theIrenecut through the ropes, and theSwiftfloated free.There was another sullen report, and a shell tore through the tall rigging of theIrene.The big, white cruiser, with a cloud of smoke hanging about her sides, was leisurely steaming up about half a mile distant, and there was no question of her nature, nor of the ferocity of her commander, who could ruthlessly open fire for sheer devilment on a defenceless ship, for theSwiftwas up to the present completely hidden.What must have been the astonishment of her people when, following their last shot, there broke from the blockade-runner a murmur of cheering as every soul on board cracked his throat in sending up a loud hurrah for theSwiftand her gallant crew; and when, immediately afterwards, there shot out from the shadow of theIrenea long, low grey craft. When the hunter, coming upon the dead quarry he had wounded earlier in the day, suddenly discovers, crouching behind, the striped body of the tiger, his feeling of dismay, perhaps, would be the same.“Captain! Captain!” cried Miss Anstrade, “what are you doing? Ah, heaven, I see it now; may the saints preserve him!” She caught hold of a rope, and stood looking from the catcher to the towering battleship, with its broadside pierced for heavy guns, and its decks crowded with men.“Oh,” she said, “it is cruel!”Captain Pardoe stood on the bridge before entering the conning-tower, his glass to his eyes, and his feet braced apart. Then he turned and waved his hand to theIrene, bringing it to his mouth in a trumpet.“Steam away at full speed, and make for Cape Verde. Good-bye.”Another cheer, strangely hoarse, broke from theIrene, and was responded to by the men on the catcher, and a moment later the four-inch gun opened fire with a roar. The smaller guns spoke, and the whole five of them flashed out shot after shot, making such a volume of smoke that the low ship was at once completely hidden from those on theIrene.“My God,” murmured Webster, “why did I not stay with him?”“Don’t let his sacrifice be in vain,” said Hume, touching Webster on the shoulder. “He will be happier if he knows we can escape.”“It is terrible, Frank; I cannot give the order. Do so yourself.”Hume sadly went to the bridge and gave the order for full speed ahead, but theIrenehad not gone a mile when, as though by common consent, the steamer slowed down, and everyone on board, even to the stokers, crowded on to the stern poop to watch the unequal battle, letting the steamer drift as she liked.The cruiser had made not the slightest attempt to stop theIrene, for the storm of shot bursting in a sudden upon her, when she was in the full security of conscious strength, had plunged her into a state of wild confusion. At the first smash and yell of the missiles along her sides and through her tall rigging, there had been a wild rush from her decks as the terrified crew sought shelter from the mysterious enemy, and their panic was increased by the fierce bombardment which the catcher poured in from her five quick-firing guns at the rate of thirty shots a minute. They saw approaching a revolving cloud of smoke, out of which there flashed flames of fire, and the cruiser fairly turned and fled, pouring in a scattering broadside which went wide of the mark.When theIreneslowed down, the cruiser, about two miles distant, was steaming on a south-west course, and theSwiftwas turning under cover of her smoke, which hung low on the water. The men on the derelict raised cheer on cheer in a state of great exultation.“It is magnificent,” said Miss Anstrade, with shining eyes. “Why don’t you cheer, Mr Webster?” and she gave out a ringing cry.“It is too good to be true,” murmured the Lieutenant, as he anxiously watched the cruiser. “Ah, I feared so. See, he is coming round.”The stately white ship, making a wide sweep to port, came round, letting go her broadside of six guns and her two heavy bow chasers before she steadied on a course which would bring her very soon opposite theIrene. The water about theSwiftwas torn up, and she heeled over to the shock.“She is struck!”“Good God, she is sinking!”“No; hurrah! she is righting.”Miss Anstrade covered her face with her hands, then threw them from her with a passionate gesture, while Webster and Hume stood by with white, set faces.TheSwifthad pointed her bows at the cruiser, and was firing now only with her four-inch, at the same time steaming slowly astern, as though waiting for some opening.The contrast between the combatants was most striking, as theSwiftlay broadside on to theIrene, a long, low, grey line on the great waste, while, though further off, the high bows of the cruiser, her lofty decks and towering spars, loomed vast and terrible.“God’s truth!” cried one sailor, smashing his brawny fist against the bulwarks, in a fury; “it’s wrong; it’s a shame; they’re not matched!”“Watch him; he’s porting his helm.”The cruiser was now altering her course, and the water was piled up as she turned a few points to port, bringing her bow chasers to bear on theSwift.“They’ll rake theSwiftfore and aft; sweep her guns away,” muttered Webster, moistening his lips.“Look! there he goes! God bless the Captain! Hurrah for our mates!”TheSwiftsuddenly moved ahead, and gaining way from the tremendous power of her engines, leapt towards her huge opponent. That moment the heavy guns roared, but the shells missed their prey by a few feet. As it was the two funnels were sheered off as though they had been cut, and the fragments whirled aloft. Then the catcher’s guns maintained a furious fire as she swept on, but the cruiser, completing her manoeuvre, went round to port, and from her bow to her stern her broadside guns thundered one after the other.A shudder, a hoarse murmur of grief, ran round the group on theIrene.Out of the smoke theSwiftswept to leeward, rolling heavily. Her long gun had been torn away from its fastenings and thrown across the ship, the shields about the twelve-pounders were battered down, and the brave men who had served them were stretched motionless.Her guns were silenced. There remained yet her torpedoes, but were there any left to work them?The cruiser was still going round to bring her port broadside to bear, and it all depended now whether Captain Pardoe could turn theSwift, carry her under the stern of the enemy, and discharge his torpedoes.But theSwiftrolled heavily, and at the moment when she should have turned to starboard her bows went round.“Her steering gear has been injured,” said Webster, with a groan.Out of the raffle, forward by the conning-tower, a man appeared, and with a perceptible stagger reeled aft to the wheel, which had escaped uninjured.“’Tis the Quartermaster,” whispered the men.From the cruiser’s deck men fired at him, but he reached the wheel, and threw his strength into it.Then on the shattered portion of the bridge there stood the figure of the Captain. A moment he looked around him, then above his head to the summit of a single bare pole on board there mounted a black ball, and there streamed out the red and blue of the Union Jack!Both ships came round, theSwiftstem on, and the cruiser with her broadside.The six guns flashed together in one thunderous roar, theSwiftseemed to shrink at the shock, her decks were swept, the bridge torn to fragments; then she leapt forward and buried her ram in the body of her great enemy. Through iron and wood the spur of steel forced its way, and the splinters and crash could be heard above the fierce lashings of the screws and the wild cries of the crew.For a breathless pause the catcher battered at the wound she had made; then she was swept round against the side of the cruiser, and sunk stern foremost. Into the whirlpool made the cruiser dipped her wounded side, her decks came over at first slowly to the weight of rushing water; then, with a mighty smash her masts struck the sea and she turned bottom up; there was a flash of shining copper, and then the waves above her closed, with a rush, and there was nothing but tossing foam to mark where the two antagonists had gone down, almost locked together in their last deadly embrace.
TheSwifthad been almost deserted, as the larger decks of theIreneoffered an irresistible attraction, and when the work was abandoned at dusk the crew took possession of the forecastle, while Miss Anstrade, with Hume and Webster, lingered on the poop, after surrendering the main-deck amidships to the Captain, who preferred his own company. Mr Commins, alone for choice, remained on the catcher, and for a long time the glow of his cigar could be seen under the small awning, while Juarez, over whom he had offered to keep strict watch, lay near, under the shadow of a lamp, smoking cigarettes. The Brazilian Captain had never been permitted to appear on deck when Miss Anstrade was there, and his close confinement below had not improved his naturally brutal nature, but he had tamed his temper down to the point of almost abject humility in imploring the Captain to let him on deck. Now the guttural tones of his voice could be heard as he made occasionally a few remarks to Mr Commins, the only man who cared to hold converse with him.
The night was beautiful, the dark vault of the sky gloriously gemmed down to the dark belt of the horizon, while out of the intense black of the sea there gleamed, near at hand, swordlike flashes of phosphorescent fire from predatory fish, and between the sea and the sky there was no living thing to break the brooding silence. The men, glad of the opportunity to stretch their legs, were soon asleep, and, except for an occasional murmur of voices from the three on the poop and the rough burr of Juarez at intervals, there was no sound on board. The swell of the sea rising and sinking between the catcher and theIrenemade a soft ripple, followed by a deep sigh, having a power in its melancholy music to draw Miss Anstrade to the port side, where she had leant with her elbows on the rail, until at the dim sight of Juarez she started back with a shudder of revulsion and sought the remoter side.
There the three of them leant, the efforts of the two men to talk to the girl between them gradually lessening to complete silence. She had changed greatly since the excitement of the wild rush to Madeira, had grown listless, the womanhood in her revolting against the strain and burden she had rashly imposed on herself, and at each sign of helplessness the two young men had felt more tender towards her, trying, each in his own way, to show their sympathy. They had talked often together about the object of the voyage, and, sanguine though they were with the ardour of youth, they could see nothing but disaster before them, while the desperate nature of the enterprise had also come home to her. Presently, with a moan, she thrust her hands forward:
“There is nothing but failure before me, and perhaps death.”
“You are over-worn,” said Frank gently; “and, indeed, theSwiftis too rough a boat for a lady.”
“Ay, that it is, Miss Laura,” said Webster, “and, as for talk of failure or death, they are for us to prove, and not for you, who are made for better things. This steamer has been thrown across us by the mercy of Providence, and it is your duty almost to accept the gift, and embark in it for a safe port.”
“I despise myself,” she said wearily; “but I have no courage and no hope, and shudder at the thought of remaining on theSwift. I cannot understand it.”
“I think I can,” said Frank, in a low tone. “You have been mistaken in yourself, and your presence on board, in contrast with the grim ship, has seemed to me a sort of marvel. You are fitted for better things.”
“You mean I have no strength of purpose,” she said slowly. “And do you expect me to relinquish this enterprise, to go back without striking one blow, to surrender to my weakness, and for ever be a victim of my cowardice, haunted by a memory, and lashed by my conscience? No—no—never!”
She threw her head up proudly.
“You may go to safety in this ship; but—I—I will do what I have said.”
“You mistake us,” said Hume; “neither Mr Webster nor myself asks you to give up the enterprise. We have no thought of turning from it; but we do think strongly that you should not share in the work and worry of it. It is not fair to you; it is unjust to us.”
“Unjust, sir—how?”
“Madam, you may not know it, but every man on board theSwiftthinks more of you than of his own safety, and if they all knew you were ashore they would be happier in working out your purpose.”
“You are right there, Frank,” said Webster. “We’d go into action with a laugh if you were not aboard, madam, but every shell would make our hearts beat with fear if you were with us.”
“Ah! my friends,” she answered with emotion, “you make my sorrow all the greater to think I should have brought you to this, and be myself so fearful of the end. Forgive me, but I am proud and weak by turns. Oh, if I had the courage of a man!”
“You are better as you are,” said Frank. “Your weakness has more power over us than if you never winced or wavered.”
Suddenly she stood back and looked at them, laughing low.
“What is it?”
“It has occurred to me, gentlemen, that you are both to remain on theIrene.”
“Yes, madam; but why does that amuse you?” said Frank helplessly.
“And so you have been scheming to have my company. I am sure I am greatly charmed, and would be more if you had not pretended an anxiety for my safety.”
“Pretended, madam!” gasped Webster. “I’ll see the Captain hanged before I leave theSwift. He can sail this old tub himself, so that he takes you with her.”
“Thank you, sir,” she said, with another rippling laugh, “though you might have turned me over to the Captain more gracefully. And you, Mr Hume?”
“We are plain men,” he began stiffly.
“Yes, you are very plain, and very stupid.”
At this unexpected retort the two men fell into a gloomy silence, being too much in earnest and too greatly surprised to laugh.
“Ah, dear,” she said, “that I had one woman with me, then I could laugh, and rage, and weep upon her neck within a minute, and have no ill looks in return. Come, my friends, be not angry.”
She gave each one a hand, and each raised it to his lips, which showed that they could express themselves well in deeds, though not in words.
She placed both hands to her cheeks, and her fine eyes glowed as she looked at them.
“It is the kiss of brave men,” she said in low, thrilling tones; “the pledge of your lives to me. Ah, my friends, I read that little act more clearly than what you could tell me in words, and see, for those who love you, for the mother who has treasured you, in return for the homage the strong and brave pay to woman, I kiss you.”
She leant forward, and pressed her lips to their cheeks in turn.
They stood back and straightened themselves with kindling eyes, feeling as the young knight who has received his spurs.
“Out with all lights!” It was the Captain’s voice, ringing out loud and stern.
There was a breathless pause, followed by a confused murmur of voices.
“Silence, forward, there. Is that you, Mr Dixon?”—a quiet, grave man, whose heart was with his wife and child at home.
“Yes, sir.”
“Get up steam, but be careful with your fire.”
“What can the matter be?” gasped Miss Anstrade, at the sound of men moving quietly from theIreneinto theSwift.
Webster, at the first cry from the Captain, had sprung to the bulwark, holding to a wire rope-stay.
“There’s a steamer’s lights away aft. I wonder she has escaped us.”
The Captain’s dark form appeared on the poop.
“Mr Webster, see the fires relit on this ship.”
“Ay, ay, sir. What do you make her out to be?”
“When did you mark her?”
“When you called, sir.”
“Ah! She appeared an hour since, and I judge from her movements and her lights she is a man-of-war, probably the same cruiser which surprised this ship before.”
“Do you think she has seen us?”
“I’m afraid so, though our lights must be very dim, for she altered her course and is bearing down. She may pass us, unless she brings the spars of theIreneagainst a star. I won’t leave this prize, however, until I am obliged.”
Webster moved off, and the others, including the sailors on board, watched the approaching vessel; while Mr Commins, who could not, of course, see the stranger from the hidden catcher, hurried on board to find out the cause of the commotion.
“You think she is the Brazilian steamer?” he said in a voice of alarm, listening to the explanation. “Curse it! Misfortune dogs us. I wish we were out of this!”
“Speak for yourself,” answered the Captain in a growl.
Mr Commins lingered awhile, and then went off to give the news to Juarez, who received it with a savage laugh.
The red light rapidly approached through the black of the night, and it was evident she would pass very near. The excitement grew rapidly as the news was passed from mouth to mouth in rapid whispers.
“Mr Hume, will you help Miss Anstrade to theSwift; pass the word to the men to get on board, and have them stationed at the guns.”
In a few minutes Captain Pardee was the only man on board theIrene, with the exception of the stokers, who were busily preparing the fires.
To those in theSwiftwho could see nothing there followed a long and anxious state of suspense, broken at last by the low voice of the Captain speaking from above.
“Mr Hume, stand by to slip the fastenings.”
They held their breath, listening, and to them came the regular beat of engines.
Louder and louder grew the noise, but they could see nothing of the danger, and its imminence seemed to them the nearer. There was a movement in the air, the pulsation of the distant screw affected them so that they believed theSwiftitself was throbbing, and presently theIreneleant over towards them gently, and as gently rolled away.
“’Tis the wave from her wake,” muttered the Quartermaster.
The sound of the engines gradually lessened.
The Captain’s figure appeared above. “She has passed,” he said.
There was a rush for the tall sides of theIrene, and presently everyone was staring forward at a green light fast diminishing in the dark, now at its blackest before the dawn.
“Thank God for His mercy,” murmured Miss Anstrade, who had stood near Hume silent and white, though without a sign of fear.
“You may well say that, Miss Laura,” said the Captain.
The green light sunk rapidly, and had almost disappeared, when suddenly a brilliant glare shot up, throwing a sickly light over the group on the poop.
The Captain gave a bound to the side, and next minute there was a hoarse cry as his pistol rang out.
“It is that villain Juarez; send his black soul to hell! Overboard with him!” roared the Captain.
The black-bearded Quartermaster, balancing himself on the rail a moment, sprang to the iron deck below, and next minute there was a howl of mingled fear and rage, followed by a splash.
“Launch the boat, and smother that light with a sail!”
The Captain gnashed his teeth as he glared at the brilliant flare from a life-saving light floating on the quiet waters, and sending forth an appeal to the distant battleship. Mr Commins stood in the catcher near the spot where the slinking figure of Juarez had been shot down, seemingly without power to move, as he looked horror-struck at the dark waters.
Without a second’s delay the boat was launched, and a strip of canvas thrown over the light, when the darkness settled down blacker than before. But the mischief had been done, and sullen looks were directed at the dim speck in the distance.
“Ay, ay, there she comes round,” said the sailor Dick. In the distance a red light replaced the green, but as they watched it suddenly disappeared.
“She has gone,” said Miss Anstrade, with an hysterical sob.
The Captain shook his head.
“She has put out her lights, and will hang about till morning.”
“We’d better slip away, sir,” said Webster.
The Captain lifted his fist, and banged it into his open hand.
“By the Lord,” he growled, “I’ll not leave this ship without a fight for it!”
The Captain, however, gave way so far to the urgent protestations of Miss Anstrade, that he abandoned any idea of placing a crew on board the derelict until daylight revealed whether there was any chance of getting clear away. Fires were kept going on board theSwift, a look-out was stationed on the larger vessel, and the men were sent to their berths. Miss Anstrade retired to snatch an uneasy sleep, and the Captain, leaving Webster and Hume in charge, went also to his cabin, falling almost immediately into a sound sleep. The small hours of the night passed anxiously to the two officers who patrolled the poop of theIrenein silence, listening for any sound that would indicate the whereabouts of the stranger. There was, however, no sign of her presence, and when the intense darkness of the night began to fade before the dawn, a thick, white, low-lying mist wrapped the ship as in an impenetrable cloak.
Webster, to get a view over the mist, if possible, went aloft, his figure soon becoming blurred, and after a long stay, descended rapidly.
“She is near us,” he said in an excited whisper to Hume. “Waken the Captain. We could slip away without being seen.”
Very soon Captain Pardoe climbed on board, and heard what his Lieutenant had to say.
“I should judge her position to be about a mile on the starboard beam, and she is steaming ahead at eight knots. If the mist doesn’t lift we could easily slip her by making a nor’-west course.”
“Which way is the wind? Ah! blowing across to her. She would hear us getting under way. We’ll lie close awhile; but do you, meanwhile, Mr Hume, rouse the crew; see they have a nip to warm them up, and get them to their quarters quickly and in silence. Is all in readiness on board the ship, Mr Webster?”
“Yes, sir—except the crew.”
“I’ll take a look at her myself;” and the Captain went heavily into the rattlins.
There was a movement on theSwiftas the men presently went to their stations, and a sound of murmuring voices, followed, presently, by the rush of escaping steam from both vessels as the fires were stirred. A few minutes more, and the stranger would put himself out of hearing. The engineer stood in readiness to set the screw in motion, and men were at hand ready to throw off the lashings which moored the catcher to theIrene. Suddenly, however, the mist began rapidly to melt, showing in an instant almost a wide stretch of grey water.
The Captain reached the deck with a bound, just as the notes of a boatswain’s whistle came faintly over the still waters from beyond the melting mist.
“She has seen us,” said the Captain hoarsely.
As he spoke, there appeared the blurred outline of a big ship, about a mile and a half distant, over the starboard stern, and the next instant she stood out, broadside on, just as she came round, with tall masts, and lofty sides of gleaming white.
“She has caught us, Captain,” said Webster quietly; “and we could easily have got away in the night.”
The Captain turned on his heels with a stormy look on his face, and walked a few steps, when he stood with his eyes bent on the deck. Then he threw his head up, gazed keenly at the cruiser, and when he faced Webster again his mind was made up.
“On board,” he cried, waving his hand to the catcher, and in a moment was on the deck of the smaller ship.
“Madam and men,” he said in his deep tones, “the ship we saw last night is, I fear, a cruiser of the Brazilian navy. She is near us, and if she is an enemy we are in danger. The blame is mine. I should have kept on instead of remaining to save this vessel.”
Miss Anstrade made as though she would speak, but the Captain waved his hand.
“Madam—Miss Laura—no words you could say would add to the regret I feel. But there is no time. I have brought you into this peril, and please God I will deliver you. I want nine men to fight this ship. Who volunteers?”
There was a moment’s pause as the men looked at one another, then the Quartermaster stood out.
“We are all yours, Captain; to the last man.”
“Ay, ay,” came the response.
A dull flush crept into the Captain’s face. “Thank you, men,” he said quietly; “but I want nine only. Quartermaster, select eight. Mr Hume, help Miss Anstrade on board. Mr Webster, take command of theIrene, and make full steam as soon as I engage the cruiser.”
The men lingered reluctantly, and Miss Anstrade, with heaving breast, stood looking at the Captain.
“Quick, Mr Hume,” said the Captain, and at the same moment he took Miss Anstrade by the hand and led her to the ladder. “I am very sorry,” he said; then his hand was seized by a sailor, and all the men in turn wrung his hand as they passed.
He looked round, and saw Webster standing by the engineer.
“Come, Jim, my boy,” he said to the Lieutenant, “it is your duty to save Miss Anstrade.”
Webster moved forward with a strange look in his face.
“Remember Loo,” he said hoarsely, “and let me stay here.”
“It cannot be, my lad. Good-bye, my boy, good-bye, and tell her I did what she would expect me to. Up.” He almost forced Webster to the ladder, then turned.
“Mr Dixon,” he said, and looked at the engineer. “If I could spare you I would, for it’s death before us.”
The engineer smiled softly.
“I am not sorry, Captain,” he said, “for I understand.”
He took one last look round at the wide sea and crimson heavens, then his lips moved, he turned to grasp the Captain’s outstretched hand, and the two men looked into one another’s eyes.
A pale figure of a man slipped out of the door and made furtively for the steps.
“Mr Commins,”—the Captain’s hand was laid upon his arm—“you will stay with me, for your scheming nature and coward heart have brought us to this.”
Mr Commins trembled beneath the gloomy eyes turned upon him, cast one imploring look at the faces above, then, without a word, allowed the Captain to lead him to the cabin door.
The sound of a gun broke with relief upon the strained nerves of the spectators.
“Cut the moorings!”
Silently the men on theIrenecut through the ropes, and theSwiftfloated free.
There was another sullen report, and a shell tore through the tall rigging of theIrene.
The big, white cruiser, with a cloud of smoke hanging about her sides, was leisurely steaming up about half a mile distant, and there was no question of her nature, nor of the ferocity of her commander, who could ruthlessly open fire for sheer devilment on a defenceless ship, for theSwiftwas up to the present completely hidden.
What must have been the astonishment of her people when, following their last shot, there broke from the blockade-runner a murmur of cheering as every soul on board cracked his throat in sending up a loud hurrah for theSwiftand her gallant crew; and when, immediately afterwards, there shot out from the shadow of theIrenea long, low grey craft. When the hunter, coming upon the dead quarry he had wounded earlier in the day, suddenly discovers, crouching behind, the striped body of the tiger, his feeling of dismay, perhaps, would be the same.
“Captain! Captain!” cried Miss Anstrade, “what are you doing? Ah, heaven, I see it now; may the saints preserve him!” She caught hold of a rope, and stood looking from the catcher to the towering battleship, with its broadside pierced for heavy guns, and its decks crowded with men.
“Oh,” she said, “it is cruel!”
Captain Pardoe stood on the bridge before entering the conning-tower, his glass to his eyes, and his feet braced apart. Then he turned and waved his hand to theIrene, bringing it to his mouth in a trumpet.
“Steam away at full speed, and make for Cape Verde. Good-bye.”
Another cheer, strangely hoarse, broke from theIrene, and was responded to by the men on the catcher, and a moment later the four-inch gun opened fire with a roar. The smaller guns spoke, and the whole five of them flashed out shot after shot, making such a volume of smoke that the low ship was at once completely hidden from those on theIrene.
“My God,” murmured Webster, “why did I not stay with him?”
“Don’t let his sacrifice be in vain,” said Hume, touching Webster on the shoulder. “He will be happier if he knows we can escape.”
“It is terrible, Frank; I cannot give the order. Do so yourself.”
Hume sadly went to the bridge and gave the order for full speed ahead, but theIrenehad not gone a mile when, as though by common consent, the steamer slowed down, and everyone on board, even to the stokers, crowded on to the stern poop to watch the unequal battle, letting the steamer drift as she liked.
The cruiser had made not the slightest attempt to stop theIrene, for the storm of shot bursting in a sudden upon her, when she was in the full security of conscious strength, had plunged her into a state of wild confusion. At the first smash and yell of the missiles along her sides and through her tall rigging, there had been a wild rush from her decks as the terrified crew sought shelter from the mysterious enemy, and their panic was increased by the fierce bombardment which the catcher poured in from her five quick-firing guns at the rate of thirty shots a minute. They saw approaching a revolving cloud of smoke, out of which there flashed flames of fire, and the cruiser fairly turned and fled, pouring in a scattering broadside which went wide of the mark.
When theIreneslowed down, the cruiser, about two miles distant, was steaming on a south-west course, and theSwiftwas turning under cover of her smoke, which hung low on the water. The men on the derelict raised cheer on cheer in a state of great exultation.
“It is magnificent,” said Miss Anstrade, with shining eyes. “Why don’t you cheer, Mr Webster?” and she gave out a ringing cry.
“It is too good to be true,” murmured the Lieutenant, as he anxiously watched the cruiser. “Ah, I feared so. See, he is coming round.”
The stately white ship, making a wide sweep to port, came round, letting go her broadside of six guns and her two heavy bow chasers before she steadied on a course which would bring her very soon opposite theIrene. The water about theSwiftwas torn up, and she heeled over to the shock.
“She is struck!”
“Good God, she is sinking!”
“No; hurrah! she is righting.”
Miss Anstrade covered her face with her hands, then threw them from her with a passionate gesture, while Webster and Hume stood by with white, set faces.
TheSwifthad pointed her bows at the cruiser, and was firing now only with her four-inch, at the same time steaming slowly astern, as though waiting for some opening.
The contrast between the combatants was most striking, as theSwiftlay broadside on to theIrene, a long, low, grey line on the great waste, while, though further off, the high bows of the cruiser, her lofty decks and towering spars, loomed vast and terrible.
“God’s truth!” cried one sailor, smashing his brawny fist against the bulwarks, in a fury; “it’s wrong; it’s a shame; they’re not matched!”
“Watch him; he’s porting his helm.”
The cruiser was now altering her course, and the water was piled up as she turned a few points to port, bringing her bow chasers to bear on theSwift.
“They’ll rake theSwiftfore and aft; sweep her guns away,” muttered Webster, moistening his lips.
“Look! there he goes! God bless the Captain! Hurrah for our mates!”
TheSwiftsuddenly moved ahead, and gaining way from the tremendous power of her engines, leapt towards her huge opponent. That moment the heavy guns roared, but the shells missed their prey by a few feet. As it was the two funnels were sheered off as though they had been cut, and the fragments whirled aloft. Then the catcher’s guns maintained a furious fire as she swept on, but the cruiser, completing her manoeuvre, went round to port, and from her bow to her stern her broadside guns thundered one after the other.
A shudder, a hoarse murmur of grief, ran round the group on theIrene.
Out of the smoke theSwiftswept to leeward, rolling heavily. Her long gun had been torn away from its fastenings and thrown across the ship, the shields about the twelve-pounders were battered down, and the brave men who had served them were stretched motionless.
Her guns were silenced. There remained yet her torpedoes, but were there any left to work them?
The cruiser was still going round to bring her port broadside to bear, and it all depended now whether Captain Pardoe could turn theSwift, carry her under the stern of the enemy, and discharge his torpedoes.
But theSwiftrolled heavily, and at the moment when she should have turned to starboard her bows went round.
“Her steering gear has been injured,” said Webster, with a groan.
Out of the raffle, forward by the conning-tower, a man appeared, and with a perceptible stagger reeled aft to the wheel, which had escaped uninjured.
“’Tis the Quartermaster,” whispered the men.
From the cruiser’s deck men fired at him, but he reached the wheel, and threw his strength into it.
Then on the shattered portion of the bridge there stood the figure of the Captain. A moment he looked around him, then above his head to the summit of a single bare pole on board there mounted a black ball, and there streamed out the red and blue of the Union Jack!
Both ships came round, theSwiftstem on, and the cruiser with her broadside.
The six guns flashed together in one thunderous roar, theSwiftseemed to shrink at the shock, her decks were swept, the bridge torn to fragments; then she leapt forward and buried her ram in the body of her great enemy. Through iron and wood the spur of steel forced its way, and the splinters and crash could be heard above the fierce lashings of the screws and the wild cries of the crew.
For a breathless pause the catcher battered at the wound she had made; then she was swept round against the side of the cruiser, and sunk stern foremost. Into the whirlpool made the cruiser dipped her wounded side, her decks came over at first slowly to the weight of rushing water; then, with a mighty smash her masts struck the sea and she turned bottom up; there was a flash of shining copper, and then the waves above her closed, with a rush, and there was nothing but tossing foam to mark where the two antagonists had gone down, almost locked together in their last deadly embrace.