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Charley Laurel: A Story of Adventure by Sea and Land, a fiction by William H. G. Kingston |
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Chapter 11. Attack On The Spanish Hidalgo |
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_ Chapter Eleven. Attack On The Spanish Hidalgo
"No, no, Charley," she answered. "They may again begin firing;" but I saw that she was very anxious herself to learn the state of affairs. "I will be back again in a minute," I said, and was just escaping from her, when once more the thundering sound of big guns, with the rattle of musketry, broke the silence, and she caught me and held me fast. The firing went on with redoubled vigour, and cries and shouts reached our ears. The alarm of Mrs Podgers increased. "O dear, O dear!" she cried out, wringing her hands. "If Podgers was to be hit, what would become of me?" Once more there was a cessation of the firing. "Do let me run up, Kitty," I said. "Some of those we care for may be wounded, and the rest too busy to bring them below." I knew my argument would prevail. "Let him go," said Mrs Podgers. "I do so want to know how the captain is." I broke from her and climbed up the ladder. I was as active as a monkey, and quickly reached the deck. The fighting lanterns which hung against the bulwarks shed their light across it, and showed me several human forms stretched out motionless. The crew, stripped to their waists, were at the guns, while the officers stood about here and there among them. I caught sight of the captain's stout figure, but I looked in vain for Mr Falconer. I ran forward in hopes of finding him. I had got nearly to the forecastle when the matches were applied to the guns, and as they were discharged a shower of shot came hissing across the deck. I made my way amidst the shower of shot and bullets and falling blocks, and the horrible din of battle, to the forecastle, where, to my great joy, I saw Mr Falconer directing the foremost guns. Dick at the same moment caught sight of me. "Charley," he exclaimed, "what business have you here? Go back, boy, and tell the ladies we are all right, and will make the pirate sheer off before long, if we don't take her." I hurried below with the satisfactory intelligence. Miss Kitty kissed me when I told her I had seen Mr Falconer, and I was somewhat afraid that Mrs Podgers would bestow the same reward upon me when I said that the captain was unhurt. "I wish he would make haste and sink the ship which has frightened us so much," she observed. "It is a shame that those sort of people should be allowed to live." Mrs Podgers did not consider that the Spaniards would probably have said the same of us. We heard our ship fire several broadsides in rapid succession; then all was silent. Supposing that the fight was over, I persuaded Miss Kitty again to allow me to run on deck. Reaching it, I caught sight, a short distance off, of the tall masts and sails of the enemy's ship. At that moment loud cheers burst from the throats of our crew. Gradually the dark sails of our antagonist appeared to be sinking, and wild shrieks and cries came across the waters towards us. Lower and lower the sails sank, and in another minute the spot occupied by the pirate was vacant--she had disappeared beneath the waves. No boat was sent to help the drowning wretches. Mr Falconer proposed going to their assistance. "No, no!" exclaimed the captain; "they would have robbed us or sent us to the bottom; they don't deserve our pity." "But they are fellow-creatures, and we should try and save their lives," exclaimed the mate. "You are too tender-hearted, Falconer; you should not have joined a privateer," was the answer; and the _Dolphin_ glided rapidly away from the spot where her foe had gone down. The surgeon was meantime busy with the wounded men, while five who had been killed were with little ceremony hove overboard. Mrs Podgers and Kitty returned to the cabin. The latter, as before, endeavoured to alleviate the sufferings of the wounded men, and often visited them, attended by Mr Falconer and me, notwithstanding the scoldings she daily got from Mrs Podgers for so doing. After this, we again stood in for the coast, capturing several Spanish merchant vessels. Mr Pyke declared that he wanted to find an enemy more worthy of his and his troops' prowess than he had hitherto encountered. "We will give you a chance," said the captain. "I have discovered from some of the prisoners that there is a town on the shores of a bay not far off, which is unprotected by forts. We may easily make ourselves masters of the place, and shall probably find in it a good store of wealth. But we must be quick about the business, or some troops stationed at no great distance may be down upon us and interfere with our proceedings." "You may depend upon me for doing my part," answered the lieutenant, drawing himself up. We made the land early in the day, but hove-to till night, when it was hoped the inhabitants might be taken by surprise. The weather was fine, and the entrance to the harbour broad and safe. We waited till past midnight, and then stood in and came to an anchor. Four boats were ordered to be got ready; Lieutenant Pyke and his marines went in one of them, the others were commanded by the sea officers, with a party of blue-jackets. I had heard the men talking of what they were going to do, and I thought that I should very much like to see the fun. I knew, however, that neither Dick nor Miss Kitty would approve of my going, and that Mr Falconer was also unlikely to take me, should I ask him to do so. The last boat which left the ship was commanded by the boatswain, a rough but good-natured man, with whom I had become somewhat of a favourite. I watched my opportunity, and slipped in directly after him, and the men, thinking that he intended I should go, allowed me to stow myself away in the bow before he saw me, the darkness favouring my design. The boats shoved off, and away we pulled, with muffled oars, towards the shore. We landed just outside the town, among wild rocks. No lights were moving about the place, only here and there a few glimmering from the windows. Lieutenant Pyke drew up his marines; the other officers arranged their men in a compact body, I following the rear. Daylight broke. When all was ready, the first mate ordered us to advance, and, stepping lightly over the ground, we made a rush into the town. There were no gates to stop us and no sentinels on the watch. A sort of town-hall and a church were first entered, and everything they contained, images, silver candlesticks, crucifixes, incense-pans, chalices, and several bags of money, with some silver-mounted guns and pistols, were taken possession of before the inhabitants were awake. We then attacked a large house in which lights were still burning, and where it was supposed the commandant of the place resided. The door yielded to the blows of the marines' muskets, and rushing into a good-sized hall, we saw seated at the end of a long table a thin, tall hidalgo, and on either side of him a fat priest, with two or three other personages. The table was covered with rich plate and numerous flagons and wine-flasks. The party gazed at us with open mouths and staring eyes, but were far too tipsy to utter anything beyond a few expressions of surprise and dismay. The commandant, rising, tried to draw his sword, but could not find the hilt, and tumbled back into his big armchair; while the fat friars, whose first impulse had been to make their escape, rolled over on the ground, upsetting the hidalgo's chair in their struggles, when all three began kicking and striking out, believing each other to be foes. The rest of the party at once yielded themselves as prisoners. Our men, bursting into loud fits of laughter, let the trio fight on for some time, till our commander, fearing, should we delay longer, that the inhabitants would make their escape, or perhaps assemble and attack us, ordered them to be lifted up and carried off, with their arms bound behind them. It was no easy matter to do this, for the friars were so heavy that it required three stout men to each to set them on their legs. While a party was left to guard them, the rest proceeded to break into the other houses. The inhabitants, now aroused from their slumbers by the hubbub, put their heads, with their nightcaps on, out of the windows in all directions, but quickly withdrew them, uttering loud shrieks and exclamations of dismay and surprise. After a little time Dick caught sight of me. "Charley," he cried out, "what has brought you here?" "I wanted to see the fun, Dick. I hope you are not angry." "But I am, though, Charley," he answered; "and though, to my mind, it's dirty work attacking sleeping people, who have never done us any harm, we may have some fighting yet, and you may get knocked on the head. Stick by me, however, and I'll look after you, though you don't deserve it." I felt ashamed of myself, and took good care to do as Dick told me. He, with about half the number of our party, now proceeded to one side of the town, while the other marched to the farther end, three or four armed men entering any of the large houses which appeared likely to contain booty worth carrying off. My party had accompanied the marines under Lieutenant Pyke, who was shouting out "he only wished he could see a foe worthy of his steel." As we went along, we came to a small square, at the other side of which a band of some twenty persons appeared, others coming up in the distance. I am not sure that all had arms, though they presented a somewhat military aspect. Our commander ordered the marines to charge them. "On, lads, on!" cried the lieutenant, waving his sword, but he did not move very fast. The Spaniards, however, seeing the invaders coming, ran off as fast as their legs would carry them, when the lieutenant doubled his speed, waving his sword still more vehemently, and shouting out: "On, brave lads! Death or victory!" By the time he got across the square, no foe was to be seen, and after looking round the corner to ascertain that they had not reassembled, he marched back his men in triumph. In a short time every house had been ransacked, and, with our booty and prisoners, we returned to the boats and regained the ship, not a shot having been fired nor a life lost. The commandant having agreed to pay five thousand dollars as his own ransom and that of his companions, one of the fat friars was sent on shore to collect the money, having orders to return by noon. He shook his head, and declared that this was impossible. "It might take four or five days, perhaps a week, to collect such a sum." "Very well," said the captain at last. "By sunset, if the ransom is not brought on board, we shall have a fine bonfire out there," and he pointed to the town. "Arra' now, captain, you may as well cook and eat us at once, for sorrow a dollar have ye left us, and all the crucifixes, and candlesticks, and beautiful images, which we might have pledged for the money, stowed away in your hold!" exclaimed the fat friar, betraying his Hibernian origin, and that he had understood every word which had been spoken. "Are you an Irishman, and living among these foreigners, and pretending to be one of them?" cried the captain. "If I had known that, I would have clapped on another thousand dollars to your ransom." "Sure, captain, dear, it would have been more charitable to have taken them off," observed the jovial friar. "However, just be after giving me four days, and ye shall resave the dollars all bright and beautiful, though not a quarter of one could all the blessed saints together collect in the whole of our unfortunate town and the circumjacent country." The friar's eye twinkled as he spoke. At last he proposed paying even a larger sum, provided that the captain would prolong the time to five days for its collection. Captain Podgers, eager to get more money, and not suspecting treachery, agreed to the proposal, and Fra Patricio, chuckling in his sleeve, prepared to take his departure. "Captain, dear," he said, turning round with a comical look as he reached the gangway, "ye haven't got a bottle of potheen, the raal cratur, have ye? It would just be after comforting me in my trouble." A bottle of Irish whiskey being handed to the friar, he tucked it away in his sleeve, and his boat pulled off towards the shore. Mr Falconer, who understood Spanish, shortly after this informed the captain that he had discovered, from the prisoners' conversation, that the object of Friar Patrick in asking for more time to collect the ransom, was that troops might be sent for to protect the town. The captain replied that he would hang his prisoners if any such trick was played. We remained two days longer, and no news came from the Irish friar. Our prisoners were well supplied with eatables and drinkables and tobacco, and appeared perfectly happy, talking freely among themselves, as they sat at table and smoked their cigarettes. Mr Falconer, though unwilling to be an eavesdropper, could not help hearing what they said, and as he had prudently not let them discover that he knew Spanish, they did not suspect that he understood what they said. He was sitting writing in his own cabin, which opened on the gun-room, when he heard one of them remark that, in a couple of days, at furthest, the tables would be turned, and that those who were now their masters would be prisoners, or hung up at the yard-arms of their frigate. "Which, pirates as they are, will be their just fate," observed another. On this, the rest of the party laughed grimly. "The ladies we cannot hang, though." "No; they can be sent to a nunnery, or perhaps you, Seignor Commandant, who are a bachelor, would wish to wed the fat widow." Some remarks were made about Miss Kitty, which Mr Falconer did not repeat. "How soon can the two frigates be here?" inquired another. "In two days, or three at most," was the answer. "But we shall be in no slight danger. I wish we could escape before then." "No fear about that," answered one of the former speakers. "The Englishmen won't attempt to fight against so overpowering a force, and will, depend on it, haul down their flag as soon as they see the two frigates enter the harbour." This idea seemed to make the whole party very merry. Mr Falconer, after sitting quiet for some time, went on deck, and informed the captain of all he had heard. Captain Podgers was not a little put out by the information he received. He was very unwilling to lose his dollars, but if he remained in harbour, he might lose his ship, and his own life into the bargain; for Mr Falconer did not fail to repeat the threat of the Spaniards, to have him hung up at the yard-arm as a pirate. He vowed that he should be ready to fight one Spanish frigate, but two were more than even the _Dolphin_ could venture to tackle. After pacing the deck two or three times, he summoned the officers into the cabin; and it was finally settled that the other fat friar should be at once sent on shore, with orders to make his appearance next day at noon at the landing-place, with all the dollars that had been collected, and should the amount not be sufficient, he was to warn the inhabitants that their town would be set on fire. That the _Dolphin_ might run no risk of being entrapped, she was at once to put to sea, while the boats alone were to go in the following day and bring off the ransom. The Spaniards were very much alarmed when they saw preparations going on for making sail. Fortunately, a Spanish merchant among our prisoners spoke a little English, so that Mr Falconer had not to betray to them his knowledge of their language. The fat friar shrugged his shoulders when he heard what he was to do. He seemed, however, not a little pleased to get out of the clutches of the terrible privateersman. As soon as he had been landed, the _Dolphin's_ anchor was hove up, and the land breeze still blowing, we sailed out of the harbour. We were standing on and off the island during the night. It was a calm and beautiful one. I had gone on deck to be near Dick, which I frequently did during his watch, when, the moon shining brightly from behind some light fleecy clouds which floated over the sky, we caught sight of an object gliding over the glittering waters. As it approached, Dick pronounced it to be a raft, with a small square sail set, and soon afterwards we distinguished two figures on it. He hailed. There came, in reply, a faint cry across the water. Directly afterwards the sail was lowered. Mr Falconer, who was officer of the watch, ordered the ship to be hove-to and a boat lowered, which quickly towed the raft and its occupants alongside. The men were hoisted on deck, for they were too weak to climb up by themselves. Dick and I, who had good reason to feel for them, hurried to the gangway. Dick, without asking questions, filled a cup of water and brought it to them; they both drank eagerly. Mr Falconer while by his orders a couple of hammocks were being got ready for them, inquired who they were and whence they had come. One, who appeared the least exhausted, answered that they had been ten days at sea, and for the three last they had been without food or water, with the exception of half a biscuit apiece, and that they were the survivors of six who had embarked on the raft. "I am the second mate of the _Juno_, armed whaler," continued the speaker. "Our crew mutinied, murdered the captain and several of the other officers; but the third mate and I, with four men who refused to join them, were turned adrift on this wretched raft, with but a scanty allowance of water and provisions, which the mutineers gave us, asserting that it was enough to support us till we could reach the shore. Calms and light winds prevailed, and we were almost abandoning hope, when, this afternoon, we made the land, though I doubt if we should have survived had we not fallen in with you." Mr Falconer treated the two mates with great kindness, and did his best to make them comfortable, not doubting the truth of their story. They had farther added, that as soon as they had been sent off from the side of the ship, the mutineers hoisted the black flag, with three cheers, announcing that they intended to turn pirates and attack ships of all nations. From their account, there remained no doubt that the _Juno_ was the ship which had lately engaged the _Dolphin_, and met with so awful, though well-deserved a fate. They also told us that the _Juno_ had been about to enter a harbour a short distance off, when two men-of-war were seen, with their lower masts only standing, that several boats had been sent out in chase of the ship, but, a breeze springing up, she had escaped. This confirmed what Mr Falconer had heard from the Spaniards, and made the captain thankful that he had listened to his advice. The next day we stood in to the mouth of the harbour, when the boats were sent on shore, each carrying half a dozen torches. Our prisoners were in a great fright on seeing this, saying that the friars would very probably be unable to collect the money, and earnestly urging that we would remain two or three days longer at anchor before setting fire to the town. "We are not to be so caught, seignors," answered the captain, laughing grimly. "If your friends bring the dollars, well and good; if not, we will make a bonfire which will light the two frigates you expect into the harbour." Away the boats pulled, one only being left alongside, in which the governor and his companions were ordered to seat themselves. We waited anxiously for some time, when wreaths of smoke were seen to ascend from various parts of the town, and the whole place was shortly in a blaze. The captain considered himself very humane, when he allowed his prisoners, after having been stripped of nearly every particle of clothing, to be put on shore on the nearest point. This he did to revenge himself for the loss of the expected dollars, which he knew, on seeing the town set on fire, had not been obtained. Scarcely had the boats returned and been hoisted up, when two large ships were seen steering for the entrance of the harbour. Every stitch of canvas the _Dolphin_ could carry was set. The strangers, on seeing her, made all sail in chase, and, from the way that they overhauled her, there appeared but little prospect of her escape. _ |
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