Part 10 (1/2)
The cruiser immediately yawed wildly, and in another minute would have crashed into the gun-runner, probably sending both craft to the bottom, had not Jim seized the wheel, as it spun out of the dead man's fingers, and brought the _Angamos_ back to her course just in the nick of time.
At the same moment he saw the leading steamer circle round in a wide curve and head directly for him, evidently with the idea of helping her consort in the fight against the Chilian.
There was no time for any more palaver, thought Jim; the fellows meant to fight, and to disable him if they could, and he must be ready for them. In a voice hoa.r.s.e with anger at the useless slaughter of five of his men, he gave the order to fire; and immediately the guns of the _Angamos_ began to speak.
She was armed with several Gatling and Nordenfeldt guns, three 12- pounder breech-loaders, six 3-pounders, and one 8-inch breech-loading Armstrong gun, throwing a projectile weighing 170 pounds, which was mounted forward; and, immediately upon Jim's command her whole broadside crashed out, raking the foolhardy steamer from end to end, and making her fairly reel under the impact of the iron shower. Away forward, Manuel, the first lieutenant, had observed the approach of the second steamer; and he now laid the big 8-inch gun directly for her bows, firing when she had approached to within about four hundred yards of the cruiser. The gun's deep roar rang out loud above the din of the smaller weapons, and a brilliant flash of white light leaped out on board the steamer, the missile blowing a huge hole in her starboard bow, and setting her on fire forward; as was seen by the blaze which at once sprang up on board her.
At the same time the _Angamos_ pa.s.sed ahead of the first steamer, which, by the light of the beacon-fires now lighted aboard all three vessels, was seen to be named the _Miraflores_; and, running alongside the second, the _Huemul_, she delivered every gun of her starboard broadside, bringing down the steel foremast, riddling the funnel with rifle and machine-gun bullets, and killing every man on deck who was not under cover. At the same time a 12-pounder sh.e.l.l, which struck a heap of ammunition which had been placed on the _Huemul's_ deck to feed a 32- pounder breech-loader, blew up the whole lot, killing the unfortunate gun's crew, and lifting the gun itself bodily over the side into the sea. The _Angamos_ then slowed down a little, and a few seconds later the _Miraflores_ overtook her and discharged every available gun into the cruiser, killing several more men, and dismounting one 32-pounder and two 3-pounder quick-firing guns.
But the cruiser's people had meanwhile again loaded their guns on the port broadside, and were not slow in avenging the death of their comrades. They did not require the stimulus which Jim sought to impart to them, by urging them in his excitement to ”slap it into the beggars!”
for they worked their guns like demons, and, notwithstanding their rage and fury, made such excellent practice that the _Miraflores_ began to look more and more like a wreck every minute. At last, in desperation, her captain actually tried to run his s.h.i.+p aboard the _Angamos_, with the idea of boarding her; but the cruiser was several knots faster than the gun-runner, and Jim, perceiving the fellow's intention, turned the _Angamos_ to starboard and so avoided the collision, at the same time pouring in another broadside with all his undamaged guns.
Instantly there arose a dense cloud of steam on board the _Miraflores_, accompanied by a loud hissing noise; her speed suddenly slackened; and Douglas knew that one of the cruiser's sh.e.l.ls had penetrated a boiler; and he shuddered in spite of himself at the thought of the scene which was now probably enacting down in the gun-runner's engine-room. But, just as he was looking at the stricken s.h.i.+p through his gla.s.s, to see whether she had surrendered, he was deafened and well-nigh stunned by an appalling explosion which came from somewhere astern of the _Angamos_; and pieces of wood and iron, fragments of charred human bodies, exploding cartridges, and wreckage of all descriptions began to hurtle round his ears; while, from the shelter of the chart-house, to which he precipitately retreated, he saw an enormous column of black smoke hanging over the place near which he had last seen the _Huemul_; and he had little difficulty in accounting to himself for the disaster.
The steamer had been set on fire forward by one of the cruiser's sh.e.l.ls, which had exploded a quant.i.ty of ammunition on her deck; and this fire rapidly spreading, had communicated itself to some of the powder and cartridges which formed the greater part of her cargo. This had forthwith exploded, and, in its turn, blown up the remainder, causing a most terrible catastrophe; for, when the smoke of the explosion cleared away, there was not a trace of the _Huemul_ left upon the surface of the water. She and her gallant crew had been blown, literally, to atoms.
Appalled by the suddenness and extent of the disaster, both the _Miraflores_ and the _Angamos_ ceased firing for several minutes; and, by the light of the fires which were still burning on board both vessels, Jim could see the gun-runner's crew das.h.i.+ng wildly about, as though in the last extremity of terror, while the s.h.i.+p herself was almost shrouded from view by the dense clouds of steam, coloured ruddy yellow in the light of the braziers, which still gushed in volumes from her pierced boilers.
The cruiser's men quickly recovered their equanimity, however; and, running to their guns, poured in another broadside upon the demoralised crew of the _Miraflores_. This was more, apparently, than flesh and blood could endure; for Douglas saw several men immediately rush upon the captain, who was still inciting them to continue the fight, and cut the unfortunate man down. The crew then rushed aft in a body, hauled down the Peruvian flag, under which both s.h.i.+ps had been sailing, hailed at the same time that they surrendered, and begged for quarter. The men frantically waved handkerchiefs, towels, in fact anything white that they could lay their hands upon, to emphasise the fact that they had struck.
”I detest being obliged to give quarter to mutineers,” said Douglas to his young first lieutenant; ”and these fellows undoubtedly are such, for they murdered their captain, and surrendered against his wishes; but I must accept their surrender, I suppose, as it would simply be murder to continue firing into them now; they are all half crazy with fright.
Have the port and starboard quarter-boats manned and lowered, Senor Manuel, if you please, and bring off the crew of that s.h.i.+p; but take the precaution of first putting them all in irons. After you have transferred them to the _Angamos_ I will put a prize-crew aboard, under your command; and you shall keep me company until we return to Valparaiso. I have a little plan at the back of my mind which I hope to be able to put into execution and I will tell you what it is before you finally go aboard the _Miraflores_. Now, be as quick as you can, for there has been a good deal of firing during this action, and the _Union_ may put in an appearance at any moment; and I do not wish to see her-- just yet.”
Manuel saluted, and ran away aft to give orders about the boats, and, five minutes later, they were being pulled across the water toward the now motionless gun-runner. Jim saw Manuel climb up her tall sides; and then he went into his chart-house to await the lieutenant's return, and to think out the details of the plan about which he had spoken to Manuel. However, he first sent a man into the fore-topmast crosstrees, and one into the main, with orders to keep a bright look-out for the appearance of the Peruvian corvette.
Some two hours later Manuel returned, bringing with him the whole of the Peruvian s.h.i.+p's crew, most of whom consisted of ne'er-do-wells of almost every nationality under the sun: and a choice-looking lot of rascals they were. Jim wisely refused to accept the parole of any of them, placed them, still in irons, in the cruiser's punishment cells, and took the precaution to post a strong guard over them. He then received the report of his lieutenant, which was to the effect that the damage on board the _Miraflores_ was, with the exception of the sh.e.l.l in her boiler-room, mostly superficial, and could soon be repaired by the prize-crew. Several of her guns had been badly damaged; but the young man suggested that they could be replaced, together with the damaged weapons belonging to the _Angamos_, from the gun-runner's cargo, which consisted, in part, of a number of similar pieces.
Jim carefully digested the report, and then unfolded his latest plan to Manuel, which was to the effect that the _Miraflores_, with a prize-crew aboard, and the _Angamos_, should impersonate the two Peruvian gun- runners expected by the _Union_; and that they should hoist the enemy's flag and go in search of him; thus getting close enough to bring the elusive corvette to action. The lieutenant was therefore ordered to get aboard at once, with his prize-crew, execute the necessary repairs, re- arm the s.h.i.+p out of the cargo she carried, and, as the boiler was too badly damaged to admit of repair at sea, to cut off steam from it altogether, and fire up under the remaining three, which could, even then, give the _Miraflores_ a speed of about nine knots.
Manuel accordingly selected his crew, and again went aboard the gun- runner; where he and his men worked with such a will that by mid-day the repairs were complete enough to allow of a start being made. The remaining repairs were of such a nature that it was possible to execute them while the s.h.i.+p was under way. Steam was then raised in the three sound boilers, and, the water being quite smooth, the _Miraflores_ was brought alongside the cruiser, which then replaced her damaged guns, and hoisted fresh ones out of the gun-runner's hold with her own derricks.
At length, by five o'clock in the afternoon of the day after the battle, both s.h.i.+ps were in a condition to proceed; and, much to Jim's satisfaction, there had been no sign of the _Union_ to disturb them.
They were now ready to go in search of her; and, with two well-armed s.h.i.+ps under his command, Douglas swore that he would pay Captain Villavicencio in full for all the injury that he had done in the past to Chilian commerce. The Peruvian flag was then hoisted aboard both s.h.i.+ps, and each also arranged three lanterns upon her foremast, for use after dark, in the same manner as they had been previously arranged, as a signal, on board the gun-runners. Before starting Jim also questioned the captured crew as to what they knew of the plans of their skipper, and where he had expected to meet the _Union_. The men refused information at first, but, upon being told that they would be kept upon half-rations until they chose to speak, they said that they had expected to meet the corvette almost midway between the Falkland Islands and Cape Virzins, at the eastern mouth of the Straits; also that both captains had mistaken the _Angamos_ for the _Union_ when they first sighted her.
Jim could not understand how it was that in that case there were no signs of the corvette, but he determined not to leave the locality until he had found her and brought her to action.
With the _Miraflores_ steaming along in his wake, in the same formation as that adopted by the gun-running steamers, Jim started off on his search for the _Union_, heading west-south-west for the mouth of the Straits of Magellan, with a man at either masthead of each of the two vessels, and a prize of fifty _pesos_ to the seaman who should first sight her. He did not feel altogether happy at the idea of sailing under the Peruvian flag and adopting such a ruse, even for a short period; but his orders to capture or sink the _Union_ were precise and imperative, and he considered that, in this case at least, the end justified the means employed, for he knew that he would never succeed in getting alongside the corvette if her captain were once allowed to entertain the slightest suspicion that the two s.h.i.+ps were Chilians.
True, the _Angamos_ was a faster s.h.i.+p; but the _Union_ drew far less water; and, since she would probably be found--if found at all-- somewhere among the shoal waters of the Straits, she might be able to get away by dodging into shallow water among the numerous islands, where the _Angamos_, with her deeper draught, would be unable to follow.
Darkness fell very shortly after the two s.h.i.+ps had started on their run toward the Straits; and the lanterns on their foremasts were lighted after the same manner as on the previous night; while they surged along over the indigo-coloured water at the rate of about nine knots an hour, a sharp look-out being maintained meanwhile for the appearance of the _Union_. But to the great disappointment of everybody, that craft most persistently refused to put in an appearance; and when the next morning dawned the high, rocky cliffs of Tierra del Fuego and the Patagonian coast lay before them, and it became evident that the Peruvian had either retreated up the Straits, or that she was still behind them.
About nine o'clock the two s.h.i.+ps, still flying the Peruvian colours, entered the Straits, and immediately slowed down to half-speed, not only on account of the intricate navigation, but also to give the _Union_ a better chance of overtaking them if it should happen that she really was still astern. Catharine Point was pa.s.sed and left behind, and the two steamers crossed Lomas Bay into the ”First Narrows,” where Jim thought it possible that the _Union_ might be waiting; but she was not there.
They were steaming slowly across Elizabeth Bay, and Douglas was beginning to fear that the corvette had eluded him, after all, when a voice, hoa.r.s.e with excitement, hailed from aloft:--
”On deck there! I can see three mastheads showing above that hummock of rock at the entrance to the 'Second Narrows'; and there is a column of smoke visible, too, so the craft must be a steamer. We shall open her out in a few minutes now, and I think she must be that detestable corsair we are looking for.”
Jim was, as usual, on the navigating bridge when the hail floated down; and his first act was to seize a speaking-trumpet and shout the news to Manuel on the bridge of the _Miraflores_. His second was to spring up the ratlines, seat himself alongside the seaman in the crosstrees, and take a good look at what he could see of the stranger from that elevation. A prolonged scrutiny convinced him that the craft could be none other than the _Union_; and he hurried down to give his final orders, both s.h.i.+ps having been kept practically prepared for action ever since the moment on the evening before when they started in company to look for the corvette. There was consequently very little to do in the way of preparation; and a quarter of an hour after sighting the Peruvian's mastheads both Chilian s.h.i.+ps were ready for the fray.
They had not steamed another cable's-length when it became evident that a sharp look-out must also have been kept aboard the corvette; for her masts began to slide along the top of the ridge of rock, showing that she was under way; and a few minutes later the entire s.h.i.+p swept into view, flying the Peruvian ensign, and so leaving no room to doubt that she was the long-sought-for _Union_.