Part 8 (1/2)
These arrangements having been made, the captains returned to their respective s.h.i.+ps, the anchors were raised, and the fleet separated into two divisions--one going south direct, and the other going west in the first instance.
CHAPTER NINE.
THE BATTLE OF ANGAMOS.
Although somewhat disappointed at their failure to find the Peruvian fleet lying in Arica Bay, the men on board the _Blanco Encalada_ looked forward, with all the pleasure of antic.i.p.ation, to the time when they should overtake the marauding wars.h.i.+ps, bring them to action, and destroy them. And Commodore Riveros' offer of a hundred _pesos_ to the man who should first sight the enemy, only increased the anxiety of the flags.h.i.+p's crew to fever-heat, and men were to be found aloft upon the look-out at all hours of the day and night. It had been made known, too, that Captain Latorre, who had been promoted to the _Almirante Cochrane_, had also offered a similar reward; and every man aboard the _Blanco_ made up his mind that _his_ s.h.i.+p should have the honour of bringing the Peruvians to action.
Leaving Arica on the 4th of October, the insh.o.r.e squadron, with the flags.h.i.+p leading the way, steamed slowly down the coast, exploring every nook and cranny where the enemy might by any possibility be lurking--for it was evident that they must have been hiding somewhere when the Chilians had steamed northward a few days before. But no sign of an enemy was seen during that day, nor during the next, in and on the 6th the fleet steamed into the harbour of Mejillones de Bolivia, in order to coal.
Commodore Riveros, bearing in mind his own attempt on the Peruvians at Arica, and feeling convinced that their fleet must be somewhere close at hand, gave the strictest orders that no men should be allowed to go ash.o.r.e, and that a patrol of steam-launches should ply up and down the harbour the whole night through, in order to prevent the attempt of similar tactics on the part of the enemy. He had also seen fit to express approval of the manner in which Jim Douglas had carried out the task a.s.signed to him in Arica Bay, and he therefore sent for him to his cabin and informed the young man that he was to take command, in the _Blanco Encalada's_ launch, of the flotilla which was to do patrol-duty during the night--a circ.u.mstance which afforded Jim the utmost satisfaction, and emboldened him to ask as a favour that Terry O'Meara should again be allowed to accompany him; to which request Riveros immediately acceded.
Night came on with no sign of the enemy; but as Mejillones was in Bolivia, and had only very recently been occupied by the Chilians, the danger was almost as likely to come from the direction of the sh.o.r.e as from the sea, as the port was full of Bolivian and Peruvian refugees who would stop at nothing to effect the destruction of part of the Chilian fleet. As soon as the dusk began to fall, the launches of the two ironclads were hoisted out, their crews picked, and at half-past six Jim and his friend Terry took their places in the flags.h.i.+p's boat, which steamed off slowly in one direction round the harbour, while that of the _Almirante Cochrane_ started, under easy steam, in the opposite direction. Both launches were provided with a Gatling gun in the bows, and their crews were armed with rifles and revolvers, and orders had been given that any strange craft upon failing to answer a challenge should be fired into immediately.
It occupied the launches about an hour, running under easy steam, to circ.u.mnavigate Mejillones harbour, and Jim's boat had already made her round five or six times without any suspicious circ.u.mstance occurring, and he himself was beginning to feel very tired and sleepy, when about a mile and a half away, at the northern extremity of the bay, he fancied he saw a spark of light flare up for a moment and then go out suddenly, as though hastily quenched.
He was broad awake immediately, with every sense on the alert, and he strained his eyes into the darkness--for there was only a very thin crescent moon s.h.i.+ning--in order to try to make out where the light had come from and what had caused it.
”Terry,” he whispered to his chum, who was sitting drowsily over the little engines, with the starting lever loosely clutched in his hand, ”did you catch sight of a glimmer of light away there to the northward just now?”
”Light? No; I saw no light,” replied Terry, suddenly pulling himself together. ”Did you? Whereabouts was it, old boy? This continual going round and round has become rather monotonous, and I am afraid that I was very nearly asleep.”
”Well, it was over in that direction,” explained Douglas, pointing, ”and it looked as though some one had suddenly opened the slide of a dark lantern, and as quickly closed it again. However, it _may_, of course, only have been my fancy--for I, like you, have been frightfully sleepy for the last two hours; and in any case it could hardly have been an enemy, for the light was quite two miles away from the ironclads. No, I must have been-- Hallo! though, there _is_ the light again, and, by jingo! how quickly it is travelling over the water, too. Here, Terry, man, wake up! There is something amiss, after all. Go full speed ahead, for all you are worth. That light is heading straight for the _Blanco Encalada_, and if it should be an enemy's boat which is carrying it we shall have all our work cut out to intercept her before she reaches the flags.h.i.+p. I wonder whereabouts the _Cochrane_ launch is.
She would be of great a.s.sistance to us now. Get every knot you can out of your engines, old man, for I fear foul play.”
Terry O'Meara needed no second bidding, for he also had caught sight of the swiftly moving point of light, and the circ.u.mstance reminded him very forcibly of their own attempt to torpedo the Peruvian fleet lying in Arica Bay. He pushed over his regulator to its top notch, and started the weary stokers to the task of shovelling on coal with all possible dispatch. The tiny screw revolved faster and faster, churning and frothing the water up astern, and the launch darted away like a greyhound slipped from the leash. The seamen handled their rifles and revolvers, to make sure that they were loaded, opening and closing the breaches with a smart click, while the men in charge of the Gatling gun moved up forward, close to their weapon, and trained it up and down, and from side to side, to a.s.sure themselves that the mechanism was in perfect working order.
For a few seconds Douglas's heart seemed to stand still with anxiety, for it appeared as though the launch would not be able to intercept the rapidly moving spark of light--which he was now convinced belonged to a torpedo-boat--before it reached the _Blanco Encalada_, for which s.h.i.+p the boat was undoubtedly heading. But little by little, as soon as the engines got into their swing, the launch drew ahead, and after about ten minutes' steaming Jim saw that he would, all being well, cross the stranger's bows before she reached the flags.h.i.+p.
The launch was showing no lights, and the torpedo-boat--if such she was--was still too far away for a hail to reach her. Jim was therefore in hopes of taking her by surprise, and ordered the men to maintain perfect silence, but to be ready to open fire directly he gave the word.
Closer and closer the two converging craft swept toward each other, until barely a quarter of a mile separated them, and then, just at the critical moment, when Jim was about to shout his challenge across the water, an accident happened which had well-nigh proved disastrous for the Chilians. A seaman who had remained behind in the c.o.c.kpit was ordered to go forward and join the crew of the Gatling gun, which it was now discovered was one man short, and in clambering along the narrow strip of deck which ran round the little steamer the man stumbled and dropped his rifle. Unluckily, the weapon fell muzzle downward, and the fixed bayonet dropped edgewise into the tiny crank-pit. There was a sudden shock and a noise of cracking metal, and the screw ceased revolving with a jerk that shook the launch from stem to stern, while her way, of course, fell off immediately.
”_Caramba_!” e.j.a.c.u.l.a.t.ed Jim, keeping one eye fixed upon the spark of light which was now rapidly travelling past them, ”if we can't put that machinery right in two minutes, then--good-bye to the _Blanco_! Quick, Terry, is there any hope, do you think?” he asked, dropping on one knee beside his chum, who had already shut off steam and was crouching over the machinery.
”Wait a bit, Jim,” replied Terry, working away like a madman with spanner and screw-wrench; ”if I can but loosen this nut I can disconnect this bent rod and replace it in half a jiffy.”
The young man heaved and strained at the spanner, with the perspiration dripping off his forehead, but he could not get the refractory nut to turn. The stout steel handle quivered under the strain, and Terry's muscles stood out on his bare arms like whipcord, but still the nut would not budge. In a second Jim threw his strength into the balance; the spanner showed signs of slipping round the nut, but the next second it flew round, and the nut gave at last.
It was then only a few seconds' work to take out the bent rod and replace it with a new one; but the suspected torpedo-boat had by that time drawn ahead of the launch. Jim, however, was not the sort of man to say ”die,” and at his quick word of command the boat leaped forward once more after the enemy, and under the increased pressure of steam due to the stoppage, actually began to gain upon the chase. Douglas put his hands to his mouth and sent a sharp challenge ringing across the water toward her. This was immediately followed by a slight commotion aboard the suspected Peruvian, which showed that the hail had been heard; but there was no sign of her stopping; indeed, the next second a strong volume of flame gushed up from her funnel, which proved that her engineers had shovelled on more coal and turned on the forced draught.
Jim almost groaned in his agony of mind, for it seemed as though the accident to the launch had doomed the flags.h.i.+p to destruction, and he was just about to order his men to fire the Gatling gun at the dimly seen shape, in the hope of hitting her, despite the fact that the smoke would hide the chase from him, when he saw a long steel-coloured shape glide past the bows of his own boat.
His heart gave a great thump at the sight, for he knew that he had had a narrow escape from death. The torpedo-boat was not carrying a spar- torpedo, but was towing the infernal machine, which she doubtless meant to drag under the flags.h.i.+p's bows. It was one of the newly invented Lay torpedoes, and a terrible weapon when effectively used. But alarm at his own narrow escape was swamped in the feeling of relief for the safety of the _Blanco Encalada_; for the torpedo-boat would be obliged to manoeuvre a little to get her torpedo into place, and thus there was just a chance that he might yet be able to intercept her. In a second he had whirled the wheel hard over and was off along the Peruvian's wake, telling the men to keep a bright look-out for the torpedo, and to commence firing in the direction of the torpedo-boat.
Then the quick, metallic clatter of the Gatling broke out, mingled with the whip-like crack of the rifles, and the darkness was illuminated by the vivid flashes of flame. From the Peruvian a series of hoa.r.s.e screams, oaths, and yells told plainly enough that the Chilians had made good practice, and that some at least of the hailing bullets had found their billets; but the craft was all too surely drawing away, and it became a question whether, even now, the launch would be in time to save the _Blanco Encalada_.
Suddenly Jim perceived a speck of fire break out aboard the flags.h.i.+p, which quickly broke into a great glow of flame, and he heaved a sigh of relief which was almost a sob, for he knew that her people had taken alarm from the firing and were prepared. In a few seconds the beacon- fire spread a lurid glare wide over the waters of the bay, and the Peruvian torpedo-boat was plainly disclosed to view, together with a phosph.o.r.escent glimmer which indicated the position of the deadly torpedo.
”Now, men!” cried the young Englishman, ”now is your chance, while the light lasts. Train the gun on the torpedo, and fire at it until you hit it. Riflemen, do the same, and remember that the _Blanco's_ safety depends upon your shooting.”