The Log of a Privateersman Read online

  CHAPTER FIVE.

  THE FRENCH FRIGATE.

  Our preventer back-stays--which, for the benefit of the uninitiated, Imay explain, were simply extra ropes intended to take a portion of thestrain and so relieve the ordinary back-stays whenever it becamenecessary to carry a very heavy press of canvas--were already cut andfitted; all that we had to do, therefore, was to send their upper endsaloft and attach them to their respective spars by shackling the eye toa stout iron collar on the spar, fitted especially for the purpose, setup the lower ends by means of runners to ring-bolts in the stanchions,and the thing was done. Five minutes sufficed for this job, and we thenreset our topgallant-sail and flying-jib, and shifted our gaff-topsail.The effect soon became apparent; for a few minutes after we hadconcluded our work the frigate fired another gun, the shot from whichonly reached to within about thirty fathoms of us. I was inclined toattribute this result, however, quite as much to our having eased theschooner away a trifle as to the extra canvas that we had packed uponher. I believed we should have done quite as well, if not better,without it; for the poor little craft seemed pressed down and buried bythe enormous leverage of the wind upon her sails. She was heeling overso much that it was difficult to maintain one's footing upon the steeplyinclined deck; the lee scuppers were all afloat, and at every lee rollthe white, yeasty seething from her lee bow brimmed to the level of herrail, sometimes even toppling in over it. She was a magnificent sea-boat; but we were now driving her so unmercifully that at every plungeinto the hollow of a sea she buried her sharp nose completely, takinggreen water in over both the lee and the weather-bow by tons at a time,so that it became necessary to close the fore-scuttle to prevent thewater from going below. As for the spray, it flew over us in clouds,coming right aft, and wetting our mainsail as high up as the secondreef-band.

  Another gun from the frigate served to conclusively demonstrate that wewere at least holding our own; but our topmasts were bending likefishing-rods, and at every savage plunge of the schooner I quiteexpected to see one or both of them go over the side. The skipper, too,was very uneasy, as I could see by the anxious glances that hecontinually flung aloft. At length, when the frigate had fired yetanother gun, the shot from which fell at about the same distance asternof us as the preceding one had done, he turned to me and said:

  "This is all very well, George, as far as it goes; and if the wind wouldonly drop a little we might snap our fingers at that fellow astern; butI don't at all like the way that those topmasts are whipping about, upthere. If so much as a rope-yarn parts we shall lose them, as sure asfate; and then we may bear up for a French prison as soon as we please.The frigate keeps popping away at us, in the hope, I suppose, that alucky shot may wing us; and I don't see why we shouldn't return thecompliment. We are just out of reach of her twelve-pounders, but Ithink our long eighteen ought to be capable of pitching a shot aboardher. Just bowse it up to wind'ard as far as it will go, and let us seewhat it will do."

  "Ay, ay, sir," answered I. "The gun ought to reach her; and if we canbut wing her, though ever so slightly, we may scrape clear after all.Lay aft, here, some of you, and get the tarpaulin off this Long Tom, andpass the word for the gunner."

  We soon got the gun into position, and the captain of it--a man who hadseen a great deal of service on board a man-o'-war, from which he haddeserted just before joining the _Dolphin_--tried a shot at the frigate.The gun was splendidly aimed, but it was fired just a second too late,as the schooner's stern was dipping; the result was that the shot, whichflew straight for the frigate, struck the water some distance ahead ofher.

  "Very good, Mason, for a first attempt!" remarked the skipperapprovingly. "Try again, my lad."

  The gun was sponged, loaded, and again fired, and this time the shothulled the frigate fair and square, striking her about a foot below thelarboard hawse-pipe.

  "Now," remarked the skipper, "try her again, my fine fellow. You oughtto do something worth the powder this time."

  The words were hardly spoken when the frigate bore almost square up fora moment, and let fly her whole weather broadside at us; but every oneof the shot fell short. The moment that she had fired she luffed upinto our wake once more.

  Again Mason pointed the long gun and fired, but this time--perhapsbecause he was too careful--the shot flew wide, striking the water somedistance to leeward and, as we all thought, astern of the frigate.

  "Keep cool, Mason, keep cool, my man," warned the skipper. "That shotwas well meant, and shows that you have got the range to a nicety; butyou were in too much of a hurry. Try again."

  Mason mopped his forehead with his handkerchief, although the wind waspiercingly cold; the gun was reloaded, and then Mason pointed andlevelled it with the utmost care. When this was done, taking thelanyard in his hand he stepped back to the utmost length of the line,and with arm outstretched, stood for more than a minute squinting alongthe sights of the gun. Suddenly he pulled the lanyard, the gun belchedforth a torrent of flame and smoke, and, as I stood looking at thefrigate through my own telescope, I saw a small round hole appear in thefoot of the fore-topgallant-sail, another moment and the topgallant-mastdoubled over and went, hanging down by its rigging, under the lee of thetopsail, with the topgallant-sail and royal attached.

  "Hurrah!" shouted I, in an ecstasy of delight; "winged her, by all thatis fortunate!"

  The men heartily echoed my cheer; one or two of them playfully pattingMason on the shoulder, by way of encouragement.

  "A most excellent shot!" remarked the skipper. "I owe you a glass ofgrog for that, Mason; and you shall have it, my lad, but by and by, notnow; you must keep your head perfectly clear until we have done withthat gun. Try her again!"

  They were certainly a very smart set of fellows aboard the Frenchman;for no sooner had the topgallant-mast fallen than the hands were in herrigging on their way aloft to clear away the wreck.

  Again Mason levelled the gun, taking a long and careful aim as before;and this time the shot struck the sill of the frigate's lee bridle port,entering the port, and no doubt raking the deck for a considerableportion of its length. That it did enough damage to greatly exasperatethe French captain seemed almost certain, for presently he bore awayagain and treated us to another broadside, the shot of which fell so farastern that it looked as though we were now creeping away from her.

  Mason now seemed to have got his hand in, for his next shot hit thefrigate's bowsprit-end as fair as though he had specially aimed at it,knocking the cap to pieces, and causing the jib-booms to go over toleeward. This completely disabled the frigate, so far as chasing towindward was concerned, as with the loss of her jib-booms she also lostthe use of her jibs; the pressure of her after-sail at once throwing herup into the wind until she was all aback. They at once went to work totake in all the sail upon her mizzen-mast, and presently boxed her offagain; but her captain knew that to think of catching us now was out ofthe question, and presently he wore round and hauled up to the northwardand eastward, on an easy bowline; his people swarming on the forecastleas they busied themselves in securing the jibs.

  Our lads gave three rousing cheers as they saw the frigate bear up; butit appeared that we had not quite done with her yet, for as the menceased cheering, the skipper very quietly remarked:

  "Now it is our turn! That fellow has given us some anxiety; and, nowthat we have the opportunity, we will return the compliment. I mean toteach him that he cannot bully us poor, hard-working privateersmen withimpunity. Take in your topgallant-sail, flying-jib, and gaff-topsail,Mr Bowen, and then stand by to 'bout ship."

  Our men responded to this with a cheer of rapturous delight. We had hadan opportunity to take a good look at the frigate as she wore round, andwe had made her out to be a vessel of thirty-six guns. The audacity ofthe idea of the _Dolphin_ actually chasing such a ship exactly suitedthe taste of our people; it was a stupendous practical joke to them, andthey entered into it with all the glee and spirit of so many overgrownschool-boys. Sail was quickly short
ened, and we then hove about andsteered after the Frenchman.

  The first thing to be done was to get the long gun over to windward.This was soon accomplished; and then Mason went to work once more. Hisfirst and second shots were misses; but the third one plumped slap inthrough the frigate's cabin windows. The next shot struck the gig thatwas hanging at the frigate's weather quarter, tearing her bottom out;and the next passed through her main-topsail. After this came fourmisses in succession, to the unspeakable disgust of all hands, whochaffed poor Mason so unmercifully that he almost lost his temper overit. The skipper thought the opportunity a good one to serve out a glassof grog to the gun's crew, which had the effect of restoring harmony;and presently Long Tom began to speak again. The shot struck fair uponthe frigate's stern; and almost instantly she flew up into the wind,with all the appearance of something having gone wrong with hersteering-gear. She remained head to wind for so long a time that atlength the skipper caused our own helm to be put down and the topsaillaid to the mast lest we should stand on too far and get within range ofher guns. And we were not a moment too soon; for as we rounded-to shefired the whole of her larboard broadside at us, the shot making thewater spout all round us, and one of them actually striking our hull; itwas, however, so far spent that it did no damage.

  Lying almost broadside-on to us, as the frigate now was, she presented avery pretty mark for target practice; and our long eighteen was broughtto bear upon her most effectively. Shot after shot we gave her, as fastas the men could load, and almost every one of them struck hersomewhere. Mason's blood was now thoroughly up; he was making areputation as a crack shot, and he knew it. I saw, by the increasingcare with which he every time sighted his piece, that he was striving todo something specially good; and presently he did it. Taking anunusually long and careful aim he at length gave a smart tug to thelanyard, and immediately sprang aside to watch the result.

  "Did it, by the great horn spoon!" shouted he delightedly; and even ashe spoke we saw the white splinters fly from the frigate's mainmast-head; the topmast swayed aft, tottered for a moment, and came down bythe run!

  The delight of our men--every soul of whom was by this time on deck--wasa sight to see! They cheered shouted, laughed, patted Mason on theback, and were in the midst of a variety of ludicrous antics, expressiveof supreme gratification, when another broadside rattled out from thefrigate, and this time the shot went humming close over our heads,drilling half a dozen holes in our canvas, and showing us that we haddrifted within range of her guns. We immediately filled on theschooner, and hauled off to a respectful distance; for we had no fancyfor being reduced to the same plight as the Frenchman. But the momentthat we considered ourselves safe from her guns we again hove-to, andresumed our attentions with the long gun.

  They were now in a very pretty mess on board the frigate; but theymanaged at length to box her off again; and this time they bore up forthe land; making as though they would run in behind the Saint Riomislands. We immediately bore up in chase, and, running parallel withher, and taking care to keep just beyond the range of her broadside,plied her with the long gun again so effectively that some twentyminutes afterwards her foremast went over the bows, and, broaching-toonce more, she lay completely at our mercy.

  "There," exclaimed the skipper, in a tone of great gratification, "thatwill do with the gun. We have done enough for honour, I think, and havegiven him a thorough good licking, so we may as well be off. We cannottake him," he continued, in answer to my exclamation of astonishment atthis decision on his part; "he is altogether too big a fish for our net.If he were to haul down his colours he would rehoist them directlythat, in running down to take possession of him, he had got us fairlywithin the range of his broadside; and at close quarters he would simplysink us in ten minutes. No; I am sorry, but I can see nothing for itbut to leave him--unless you have any plan to suggest, Mr Bowen."

  "I am really very much afraid that what you say is only too true, sir,"answered I mournfully. "I suppose we could compel him to haul down hiscolours, by pegging away at him with our long gun, as he is fairly inour power now; but, naturally, he would seize any opportunity that mightpresent itself to effect a recapture. At the same time it seems athousand pities to leave him now that we have given him such a terriblemauling. Why not keep pounding away at him a little longer? Perhaps wemay yet hit upon some plan by which to secure possession; and only thinkof what a feather it would be in our caps if we could but capture a finefrigate like that, and take her into port!"

  "That is very true," answered the skipper, and I could see that myreference to the credit of such an exploit had touched him in a weakspot. "Well," he continued, "we will not give up yet awhile. Thefrigate is unmanageable at present, and will continue so until they canget some sort of a jury-mast rigged for'ard; so we will fill on theschooner, and make a stretch to windward until we can get into a rakingposition, then drop down upon mounseer, and see what we can do with him.But it is a risky business; a lucky shot may cripple us at any moment,and we should then be done for. However, `nothing venture, nothinghave!' so fill your topsail, Mr Bowen, and we will make a bid forglory, although that is not our business."

  This decision was received with enthusiasm by the men, who at once wentto work with hearty good-will to execute the orders that the skipper nowrapidly issued. We filled upon the schooner, and reached away to thenorthward and eastward on an easy bowline, keeping just beyond reach ofthe frigate's guns, and making play diligently all the time with our ownlong eighteen, aiming for the stump of the foremast, so as to embarrassthe Frenchmen as much as possible in any attempt that they might make torig up a jury spar. But the French captain was game to the backbone,and, helpless as he was to retaliate upon us, omitted no effort toextricate himself from the difficulties by which he was surrounded.What would he not have given, at that moment, for a single gun powerfulenough to have reached us? As it was, he fired at us at frequentintervals, for the apparent purpose of ascertaining whether we hadinadvertently ventured within range; and I noticed that every shot fellfurther away from us. I could not at first comprehend this, as our ownshot continued to strike every time; but at length I thought I had hitupon an explanation of the mystery, which I mentioned to Captain Winter.My belief was that the French captain was gradually reducing hischarges of powder, in the hope that, by so doing, he would tempt us todraw nearer, under the impression that we were well out of range, when,perhaps, by a well-directed broadside, with a full powder charge, hemight succeed in unrigging us; when our capture, by means of his boats,would be an easy matter. We were not, however, to be so easily tempted.

  At length, by dint of great exertion, and probably at the cost of manymen, the Frenchmen succeeded in cutting adrift the wreck of theirforemast; when, by furling all the canvas upon their mizzen-mast, theymanaged to once more get the frigate before the wind and heading in forthe land. And now came our opportunity, for we were by this time deadto windward of our antagonist; and no sooner was she before the windthan we, too, kept away, gradually closing with her, and keeping ourlong gun playing upon her until there was a hole in her stern big enoughto have driven a coach through. As soon as we were near enough sheopened fire upon us with her two stern-chasers; and at the very firstfire both shots came in through our bows and raked us fore and aft,killing one man and wounding three others with the splinters that weresent flying about our ears. Finding that we had approached her tooclosely, we immediately hauled our wind, and began to sail to-and-froathwart her stern, keeping up a brisk fire upon her with our long gun,and raking her at every shot. This went on for about a quarter of anhour, during which she repeatedly returned our fire, but without effect;and then a lucky shot from us cut her main-yard in two in the slings,and she was once more helpless, broaching-to, and lying with her bowswell up to the wind. This reduced to nothing her hopes of escape byrunning in under the land and anchoring within the shelter of the gunsof a battery; and after receiving three or four more shots from us, sheactually hauled down he
r colours and surrendered, to the unmitigateddelight of our lads, who cheered themselves hoarse over their victory.

  And now came the delicate question of taking possession. We fullyrealised that it was only the superior power of our long eighteen thathad enabled us to accomplish the astonishing feat of compelling afrigate of thirty-six guns to haul down her colours to a schoonermounting less than a third of that armament; and we felt that our onlychance of securing peaceable possession of our prize, now that she hadsurrendered, was to maintain the advantage conferred upon us by thissuperiority. It was, therefore, at length decided that I should go onboard the prize with forty men to take possession, while the schoonerremained hove-to out of range of the frigate's guns, but near enough toopen fire again with the long gun, should we meet with any difficultyfrom the French crew. My instructions were, to go on board, secure thecrew, and then fire three blank cartridges in quick succession as asignal that I had obtained possession; upon which the schooner was toclose and render me all possible assistance.