Part 13 (1/2)
”Digby,” said Julian, as they were walking out together, ”we must do it to-night. It will be dark, but it is perfectly calm and dry. Are you ready to do it?”
Digby answered that he was.
”Then to-night the affair shall come off,” exclaimed Julian. ”I've got the rope we knotted all ready; I'll get it out of my box, and stow it away under my bed. I wish the time was come; it will be glorious fun.”
How very demurely the two young gentlemen sat up that evening in the drawing-room, and pretended to be busily reading, though their thoughts were certainly not on their books; indeed, had Mr Nugent asked them what they were reading about, they would have been puzzled to give a satisfactory reply.
At last bed-time came, and the whole family retired to their rooms.
Mr Nugent made a practice of getting up early and never sat up late, except in a case of necessity, when he had some work of importance to finish. The boys, therefore, calculated that he would be asleep soon after eleven. The house was a large one, the elder boys had, therefore, rooms to themselves; but Julian and Digby slept in the same room on the first floor, and their window looked into the garden. All these circ.u.mstances were favourable to their design. Finding that there was a bolt on the door, they secured it. They did not undress, but, having put out their light, sat upon the foot of their beds whispering to each other till they thought everybody would be asleep. They then relighted their candle, and Julian, wetting some of their gunpowder, made a compound well known by the name of a Vesuvius; this he did up in a piece of paper. They then poured most of their powder into a pocket-handkerchief. It was a mercy that they did not blow themselves and indeed the house up. They stuffed their pockets full of paper, the rest of the powder, and some old handkerchiefs. Julian had not forgotten to provide a thick stick to serve as a rammer. The next thing they did was to fasten one end of their knotted rope to a bar across their window.
”Now all's ready. Come along, Digby,” exclaimed Julian.
Digby descended first at the request of his companion, who wanted to ascertain whether the rope was properly secured before he trusted himself on it; finding it was safe, he followed. They looked about them as if they had been young thieves, to ascertain that they were not watched, and then crossing the lawn, they scrambled over a high wall, and ran on as hard as they could go towards the old fort.
It was close upon midnight when they reached the walls. They clambered in, and having selected a gun which pointed down directly on the harbour, they commenced the operation of loading.
”We must put in the handkerchief and all,” whispered Julian.
This was done, taking care to allow the powder to escape sufficiently at the upper side to communicate with the touch-hole. Then they rammed in a quant.i.ty of paper.
”Now let's have some shot,” said Julian, ”saw yesterday a pile of large gravel-stones, they will do famously.”
Some gravel-stones, or rather some large lumps of flint were found and rammed in, and the remainder of their paper was rammed in after them.
Never before, probably, had the old gun been so fully charged. The nervous time was approaching. They filled the touch-hole with gunpowder, and on the top of it Julian placed his Vesuvius.
”We've got powder enough for another gun,” said he, feeling in his pockets; ”haven't you more?”
”Yes,” answered Digby, ”I've got enough to load a gun almost.”
So they poured nearly all that they had remaining into Julian's silk pocket-handkerchief, and rammed it into another gun. They filled it up with stones, and then rammed in what little paper they could collect, and as that was not enough, Julian insisted on Digby's sacrificing his pocket-handkerchief also. Digby did so without a murmur, though I do not know what Mrs Barker or Mrs Carter would have said to the proceeding. He filled up the touch-hole of that gun also, and placed a Vesuvius over it.
”Now's the time,” whispered Julian.
The church-clock began to toll forth slowly the hour of midnight. He lighted a lucifer match, and in another moment had ignited the Vesuvius of the gun they first loaded, while Digby taking a match lighted the other. The damp gunpowder fizzed, and spluttered, and flamed up, occasionally throwing a lurid glare over the interior of the fort, as well as on their countenances. Julian's face looked very pale and ghastly, for he already began to tremble for the consequences of what he had done. Little did he suspect what those consequences were to prove.
”We shall be seen if we stand here,” he exclaimed, ”let's get away, Digby, as soon as we can.”
Digby thought the advice too good not to follow it, so they both scampered off to one of the embrasures, and having just got within it were about to jump down into the ditch, when a loud roar was heard, the whole fort shook, a bright light burst forth, followed by a cras.h.i.+ng and clas.h.i.+ng noise, as if heavy bits of metal were falling on the ground.
”Oh, oh, oh!” cried Julian, in an agony of terror, ”what shall we do?”
”The cannon has burst,” said Digby, calmly; ”there's another to come, though.”
It did not occur to either of them that they had just been mercifully preserved from a most terrific danger. Digby looked out; the Vesuvius on the other gun being somewhat wetter than the first was still fizzing away.
”Oh, come along,” cried Julian, recovering somewhat from his fright; ”we must get home as fast as we can, or we shall be discovered to a certainty. The coastguard men will be up here directly to see what is the matter. Oh come along! come along!”
Even then they thought that they heard footsteps approaching the fort.
They sprang out of the embrasure, and slid down the bank into the ditch.
Just as they were sliding down, off went the gun with as loud a noise as the first, while the effects were no less disastrous; a lump of iron flew directly through the embrasure where they had been sitting, and just clearing their heads, fell at some distance beyond the ditch.