Part 13 (1/2)

[B] Fict.i.tious name, the reader of history will note.

On the 1st of February Lord St. Vincent, then Sir John Jervis, was in the Tagus with only ten s.h.i.+ps; but as the great fleet of the Don sailed from Carthagena to effect a junction with the French fleet at Toulon, Jervis set sail after them. He meant to spoil some of the paint-work about that fine Spanish fleet. It was very brave of him, and quite British. Luckily on the 6th he was joined by Admiral Parker with five s.h.i.+ps, and on the 13th--hurrah!--by Commodore Nelson himself. Strangely enough, Nelson on the previous night seems to have sailed right through the Spanish fleet.

St. Valentine's Day 1797 will ever be memorable in the naval annals of this country, for, in a driving mist and fog, our fleet that morning forgathered with the might of Spain off Cape St. Vincent. The majestic appearance of the s.h.i.+ps of the Don could not but have impressed our officers and men, but it did not awe them. The bigger the s.h.i.+p the larger the target, our Nelson used to say.

Our fleet advanced in two beautiful lines. The Spaniards somehow had got divided into two groups--one of nineteen s.h.i.+ps, the other group some distance to leeward--and these two made haste to unite. But Jervis spoiled that move by getting between them and attacking the main body.

After the battle had fairly commenced, and each s.h.i.+p of ours had her orders, Nelson noted an attempt on the part of Don Josef de Cordova to pa.s.s round Jervis's rear and join the other portion of the fleet; and despite the fact that he was disobeying orders--”They can but hang me,”

he said to Captain Miller--he slipped back and threw his s.h.i.+p, the _Captain_, right athwart the mighty _Santissima-Trinidad_, thus driving the Don's fleet back. It was, as the reader knows, this daring action on the part of Nelson that decided the battle. But how terribly the fight raged after that; how pluckily Nelson, with his vessel a wreck, boarded and captured s.h.i.+p after s.h.i.+p; how the h.e.l.l of battle raged for three long hours, let history tell, as well as speak of cases of individual heroism. Suffice it for me to say that the battle was won and the Don was thrashed, among the captured s.h.i.+ps being the mighty _Trinidad_ herself, the Spanish admiral's castle.

The _Tonneraire_ suffered severely. Sixty poor fellows would never again see their native land, and many more were wounded.

Young Murray was among the severely wounded, but Jack himself, and Tom as well, escaped without a scratch.

”Oh dear me, dear me!” said M'Hearty, running up for a few moments from the heat and smoke of the stifling c.o.c.kpit, ”I am thirsty.”

Poor M'Hearty! he wasn't a pretty sight to look at, begrimed with smoke and blood. But he just had a drink, and a big one, and went back once more to his terrible work.

But the good doctor was washed and dressed and smiling again when he came to the captain's cabin that evening while the stars were s.h.i.+ning, to report, ”Everything tidy, and all going on well.”

”And poor Murray?” said Jack.

”He'll be all right--a bullet clean through the chest. That's nothing to a young fellow like him.”

”Well, stay and dine,” said Jack.

”Willing, sir. What a glorious day we've had! But I can a.s.sure you, Captain Mackenzie, I'd rather have had my head above the hatches, now and then, anyhow.”

”Be content,” said Jack, laughing; ”it might have been blown off, you know.”

CHAPTER XIV.

MUTINY.

”To be a hero, stand or fall, Depends upon the man; Let all then in their duty stand, Each point of duty weigh, Remembering those can best command Who best know to obey.”--DIBDIN.

It is terrible to think and to remember that about this time our country was in the greatest danger of being conquered and lost through mutiny.

Of all evils that can befall a navy this is surely the worst.

There was a mutinous spirit in the fleet of Sir John Jervis after the battle of St. Vincent, which the gallant knight used all his endeavours to quell. He was a brave and most energetic officer, and not only did he have the good of his country at heart, but he spared no effort to render those who served under him happy and comfortable. I do not refer to the officers only, but to the men as well. One would not be far wrong in saying that he knew almost every man in the fleet. He loved his people, and liked to have them happy, going among them, and even suggesting games and amus.e.m.e.nts. Those were the days of tossing cans, and of Sat.u.r.day nights at sea, and the drinking of the healths of wives and sweethearts. So long as the men kept sober, Jervis rather liked this, and was never better pleased than when, on the last evening of the week, he heard the voices of the men raised in song, or the squeaking of the merry fiddle and gleesome flute.

But Sir John would have discipline, etiquette, and dress.

Jack Mackenzie was never more honoured nor pleased than when he and M'Hearty were asked to dine with the admiral on board the flags.h.i.+p, the _Victory_. Sir John was jovial, nay, even jolly. Jack was shy, but he had to talk, and much to his own surprise soon found himself as much at home in the admiral's society as he would have been in that of his own father.