Part 6 (2/2)

The officer who had been put in charge of the _Manilla_ when she fell into the hands of the French privateers fellow nah-spirited, and as brave as a lion

We early took a fancy to each other, especially after I had offered hily friendly He possessed a rich fund of a a story well; he was refined in manner, excellently educated, and an accomplished pianist; he was, therefore, quite an acquisition to the cuddy, and now that the shi+p was no longer in his possession, was heartily welcoers I scarcely ever turned in until afterDu ar with ht; and upon one of these occasions our conversation turned upon the clever capture of the shi+p by himself and his countrymen This arousedfor some time about it, I said:

”But how in the world did you et aboard in such terrific weather? That is what puzzles h ”And how to e it was just what puzzled us for a ti the height of the gale; for if we had waited until the weatherafter us and instituting unpleasant inquiries which we should have found it exceedingly difficult to answer So, after considerable cogitation, poor Captain Lefevre--whose brains I understand you were unkind enough to beat out with a handspike--hit upon a plan which he thought ht succeed We had a few barrels of oil on board, and one of these he broached for the purpose of testing his idea He had a canvas bag allons of the oil, and this bag he filled, bent its closed end on to a rope, and threw the affair overboard, paying out the rope, as the brigantine drifted to leeward, until we had about a hundred fatho about that distance to ard

”We soon found that the oil, exuding through the pores of the canvas, had a distinctly marked effect upon the sea, which ceased to break as soon as it reached the fil Still the effect was by noin sufficient quantity to render the sea safe for a boat, so we hauled our bag inboard again, punctured it ith a sailain It now proved to be everything that could be desired; the oil oozed out of the bag in sufficient quantity to make a sth of our shi+p; and, after testing the h the whole afternoon, we all came to the conclusion that our boats would live in such a patch, and that the experis were th of line ht had set in, and the darkness had becos were filled and dropped overboard, the other end of the line being bolt in the stern of the boat for the use of which it had been destined A party of thirty men was told off--ten to each boat, with four additional to take the boat back to the shi+p in the event of our venture proving successful,--and the brigantine was then sailed to a position about a mile ahead and half-a- the shi+p that we had reat difficulty thatanticipated was that of unhooking the falls with certainty and promptitude the moment that the boats should reach the water; but our captain provided for that by slinging the boats by strops and toggles attached to the ordinary fall-blocks We were now all ready to put the matter to the test; but at the last moment the captain suddenly decided that it was too early, and that it would be better to defer the atteht This was done; and at the appointed hour the brigantine was once ard to the _Manilla_; the boats were antine without much difficulty

She remained hove-to upon the spot where we had left her, and to make matters as safe as possible for us, capsized overboard the contents of two of the oil-barrels This smoothened the sea to such an extent that, deeply as ere loaded, and heavily as it was blowing, we did not shi+p a drop of water We allowed the boats to drift down to leeward, with their oil-bags towing astern, and with only two oars out, to keep them stern-on to the sea; and so accurately had our distance been calculated that when the _Manilla_ came up abreast of us we only needed to pull a stroke or two to get comfortably under her lee We boarded her by way of the lee channels, fore, main, and mizzen simultaneously; and that, let me tell you, was the most difficult part of our work, for the shi+p rolled so heavily that it ith the ut the boats Each man kneever, exactly what to do, and did it without the necessity for a word to be spoken; and thus our desperate adventure--for desperate indeed it was, let oes eight bells; tiht, _mon cher_ Bowen, and pleasant dreams to you!”

CHAPTER ELEVEN

THE MANILLA IS STRUCK BY LIGHTNING

For a full week nothing occurred of sufficient iood headway before the fair wind that had coantine nor the schooner ever being more than three or four miles distant from us; while, in response to daily invitations from Captain Chesney, the skipper of the Indiaman, Captain Winter frequently ca with the cuddy passengers But on the ninth day after the recapture of the _Manilla_, the wind dwindled away to a light air, and then shi+fted out fro breeze, and breaking us off to an east-south-east course, close-hauled on the port tack We stood thus all through the night; and at daybreak the next e shi+p was discovered about tenalong under topsails, jib, and spanker, with her courses in the brails A single glance at her was sufficient to assure us that she was a round; and that her people were broad aas speedily made manifest, for we had scarcely made her out when she shi+fted her hel her topgallant-sails and royals as she did so

The discovery of this stranger was immediately productive of a very considerable a us all, for she was a powerful vessel, and, if an eneonist And there was very little doubt a us that she was an ene unmistakably French Such was also Captain Winter's opinion; for he presently ran down under our stern and hailedme to bear up and make the best of my way to leeward, while he and the _Dolphin_ would endeavour to cover ot clear off His orders were that I was to run to leeward until out of sight of the Frenchman, and then to haul my wind on the starboard tack, when he would do his ut to do so, I was totime in an endeavour to find hi his instructions, instantly wearing the Indiaate had by this time neared us to within seven miles; and the -sails on both sides in pursuit, while the brigantine and the _Dolphin_ stretched away to ard to intercept her There was scarcely a shadow of doubt now in h her studding-sails were set with a very co in the operation a certain element of smartness, very difficult to describe, yet perfectly discernible to the eye of a seaman, which I have observed to be almost the exclusive attribute of the British man-o'-war The difference, indeed, is so marked that, as in the present case, it has frequently been possible to decide the nationality of a shi+pbefore a sight of her bunting has been obtained The conviction that the noble craft to as an enereatest consternation on board the _Manilla_, particularly ae of Captain Winter's indoe, resource, and skill, could not but feel exceedingly anxious as to the result of his ireatly superior a force True, the ht with and brilliant capture of the _Musette_ frigate was still fresh in arded that affair rather as a piece of exceptional good luck than as the result of superior gallantry on our part, and it was quite on the cards that in the present case luck o over to the side of the eneht make all the difference between victory and defeat, and it was too ood fortune as had then attended us would always be ours Be it understood, I was in nowise fearful of personal capture I felt pretty confident that the skipper would be quite able to occupy the attention of the frigate long enough to enable the _Manilla_ to ood her escape; but, that accomplished, would he be able also to save hi of anxiety as I have indicated, it will not be wondered at that I had no sooner got the Indiaman before the wind, with every stitch of canvas spread that I could pack upon her, than I devoted my whole attention to the movements of the three craft which were about to take part in the forthcon of any hesitancy or doubt whatever in the ate had borne away into our wake theafter us in gallant style, with studding-sails set on both sides, fro up with us, hand over hand There was no question as to her intentions; she was after us, and antine and schooner, under all plain sail, were stretching away to ard, close-hauled on the larboard tack, with a space of only a hundred fatho It looked as though the two vessels were about to engage the frigate on the saht, as seeate to use only one broadside, and so virtually reduce her weight of metal by one-half The two craft continued to stand on this tack until the frigate was nearly abreast of them, when they hove about at the saate probably hoisted her colours in reply to this challenge, but, if so, we could not see what they were, her own canvas intervening to hide the flag from us; but she fired her whole broadside a few seconds later, andthe shot spouting up the water as they fleard the two craft which dared to dispute the passage of the sea with her They appeared to fall short; at all events no perceptible dae was done to either vessel; but a moment later the schooner fired, and the sound of the report toldThe shot struck the water about sixty or seventy fathoate, ricochetted, and appeared to pass over her, for presentlythe water spout up again well to starboard of the vessel This was enough for the saucy little _Dolphin_; she was beyond the range of the frigate's guns, but could reach her antagonist with her own Long Tom

She therefore i- sails, and,her distance, steered a parallel course to that of the frigate, while the brigantine stood on, with the now evident intention of taking up a raking position athwart the frigate's stern

The _Dolphin_ now opened a rapid fire upon the frigate with her long gun, and every shot showed that the latter ithin range The frigate replied frouns, but Coh to be hit, and so the fight went on for soe to either coantine had, as I had anticipated, placed herself athwart the frigate's stern, ithin range, and now traversed the French in a whole raking broadside every tiuns in reply All this, of course, was exceedingly pretty and interesting as an exhibition of Captain Winter's skill and acu an ene had been comparatively ineffective, a few holes here and there in the French the only visible result of the expenditure of a considerable quantity of gunpowder, while he had neared us to within fourus so rapidly that another hour, at uns

Mason, however--the man who had forhteen-pounder,--was still aboard the schooner, and I had great hopes of him, especially as I knew that he would be by this ti that it behoved hi remarkable if he would save his reputation Nor was I deceived in my expectations of him; for, very shortly afterwards, a shot froate's larboard lower studding-sail, and the sail dropped into the water, retarding the vessel's progress perceptibly until it was got in

It occupied the Frenchmen nearly a quarter of an hour to accomplish this, to splice the halliard, and to reset the sail Meanwhile the brigantine had not been idle; and even while the French-sail, she recrossed the frigate's stern, firing another broadside at that vessel's spars, with considerable success, it appeared; for although we could not make out exactly what had happened it was evident that so, Captain Chesney--who stood besidethat he had noticed an appearance strongly suggestive of the fall of the frigate's mizzen-mast I hardly believed that such could be the case, for, steering as the frigate then was, dead before the wind, had herso e to the spars and sails on the nisable even where ere I considered it far allant-mast had been shot away The next shot froly lucky one; it appeared to strike the frigate's fore-topmast about six feet below the cross-trees, and the nextby the topsail- sheets from the fore-yard down on to the shi+p's forecastle, with her jibs and fore-top under her bows This at once caused her to broach-to, and settled her business, so far as any hope of capturing us was concerned; but she had her revenge by pouring the whole of her starboard broadside into the brigantine, the sails and rigging of which were treate broached-tothat allant- been shot away, the latter in the slings

The three vessels noent at it, ha for the uns But Winter soon very cleverly got himself out of this aard situation, and,--while the Frenched in an endeavour to clear away the wreck and get their shi+p once more before the wind,--laid himself athwart their bows and, with his topsail aback, poured broadside after broadside into the helpless craft; while the _Dolphin_, gliding hither and thither, beyond the reach of the frigate's guns, sent hohteen- pound shot every two or three minutes, every one of which appeared to tell somewhere or other on the Frenchman's hull We now ran away froht of theether

But, when last seen, they were still haantine and schooner appearing to be getting rather the best of it

Once fairly out of sight of the co- sails, and hauled our wind to the northward, in obedience to Captain Winter's orders; and although I had a sharp look-out for the _Dolphin_ and her consort reatly surprised at their not heaving in sight I had not ht; but I believed that the brigantine at least would not get off without a rather severe , in which case the schooner would naturally stand by her until she could be again put into decent workable triing us a sight of our consorts, and I then began to feel rather uneasy; fearing that they had probably missed us, somehow, and that we should have to make our way holish Channel just then, unprotected, h the Indiauns were ”quakers”, while the others--ten in all--were only six-pounders; and it would need the whole of her creork her only, under her aard jury-rig, with no one to spare for fighting However, it was useless to meet trouble half-way; so I deter for the best Hitherto, ever since the day of ourwith the Frenchman, we had experienced moderate but steady breezes from the northward and eastward, but on the day of which I ae The wind gradually died down to a light, fitful air that came in flaws, first fro but a fewintervals of cal cloud gradually heaped up along the northern horizon until they had overspread the whole sky The barometer, too, exhibited a tendency to fall; but the decline was so slight that I was of opinion it meant no more than perhaps a sharp thunder-squall, particularly as there was no swellin the stagnating air, which increased as the day grew older It was not, however, until about an hour after sunset, and just as ere sitting down to dinner in the cuddy, that the outbreak cohtning that darted out of the welkin al crash of thunder that caused the India not unlike what one would expect to feel if the craft were being swept rapidly along over a sandy bottom which she just touched

This first flash was soon followed by another, not quite so near at hand, then by another, and another, and another, until the lightning was playing all about us in such rapidly succeeding flashes that the whole athastly blue- green light, while the heavens resounded and the shi+p trembled with the unbroken crash and roll of the thunder The spectacle wasto the nerves; the lightning being so dazzlingly vivid that it was positively blinding, while I had never heard such awful thunder before, even in the West Indies Several of the lady passengers, indeed, were so unnerved by the storm that they retreated fro Dumaresq, who had hitherto appeared to be irrepressible, was subdued by the awful violence of the tur to this effect tothat seemed to envelop the whole shi+p in a sheet of flaest that the Indiaman had coh ere fully aware that such a thing could not be, the weather at thestark caled with a strong sulphurous smell; and then ca a character that it ht have been the crash of a shattered world For a brief space ere all so thoroughly overpowered, so awed and overwhelmed by this tremendous manifestation of the Creator's power that we remained speechless and motionless on our seats; then, as the echo of the thunder ruradually recovered from the shock of that last dreadful detonation, we becaht, a confused rush and scurry of feet, and shouts of:

”Fire! fire! The shi+p's been struck, and is all ablaze!”

At the cry, Captain Chesney, Du to our feet and dashed out on deck Merciful Heaven! what an appalling scene aze! The foremast had been struck, and was cloven in twain froallant-mast-head to the deck; it had also been set on fire, and the blazing e, and canvas had fallen back upon theof thatfiercely as they writhed and coiled about the spars and darted hither and thither, like fiery serpents, through theBut that was by nothe deck, appeared to have darted hither and thither in the most extraordinary way, for we presently discovered that a considerable quantity of -pins, bolts, the chain topsail-sheets, and other such matters had been either wholly or partially fused by the terrific heat of the electric discharge; while several silent, prostrate figures on the deck, scorched black, and with their clothing burnt from their bodies, told that death had been busy in that awful instant when the bolt had struck the shi+p But there orse even than that; for there were other figures crouched and huddled upon the deck,piteously with pain; and one man stood erect, with his hands clasped over his eyes, and his head thrown back, shrieking to be taken below, for he had been struck blind!

It was a dreadful htful peril, and of horror indescribable; a ht well be excused if he found himself temporarily overs; but Chesney, the captain of the Indiale instant he stood aghast at the awful spectacle that ether and, instinctively assu the command--as, under the circu,--hefrom end to end of the shi+p as he ordered all hands to be called The order, however, was scarcely necessary, for by this ti-stroke, the shrieks of the injured, and that indefinable conviction of so that occasionally seizes people upon the occurrence of soh the fore-scuttle with reatly increased when they beheld theall ablaze By voice and exaet the was told off to convey the injuredaway to sued in the cabin, endeavouring to soothe soers, ere in hysterics,--the rest of the creere set to work to rig the pu the hose In a few minutes all was ready, the pumps were started, and the chief mate, with a line to which the end of the hose was bent, clian to play upon the fire But by this time the flames had acquired such a fir that the jet of water fro any visible effect whatever upon them; and the mate himself soon became so he to the deck when the flood-gates of heaven were opened, and the rain suddenly pelted down in such overwhelration aloft was couished; but not until the sails had been burnt to tinder, the spars badly charred, anddestroyed

With the outburst of rain that had rendered us such excellent service the violence of the storm sensibly abated, perhaps because it had nearly spent itself; at all events the lightning discharges now succeeded each other at steadily lengthening intervals as the storm passed away to the southward, the thunder died down to a distant booether in about an hour and a half fro beca the southern horizon

But ere now in a ht easily become disastrous should it come on to blow, as was by no means iht and eight -stroke, but our sails were gone, our fore so badly injured that our main and mizzen-masts stood practically unsupported; while we had too much reason to fear that the masts and spars themselves were so seriously weakened by the play of the flames upon them as to have become of little or no use to us And, to crown all, it was now so pitch-dark that it would be difficult, if not impossible, to ascertain the full extent of our disaster until daylight Our situation, however, was too critical to ad until then; it was of vital importance that immediate steps should be taken to secure what had been left to us; and, with this object, the carpenter and boatswain procured lanterns hich they proceeded aloft to make a critical exa They were thus engaged when the doctor, who had been down in the forecastle, attending to the hurts of the wounded ht of Captain Chesney and ether under the break of the poop, beckoned us to follow him into his cabin