The Bravest of the Brave or, with Peterborough in Spain. Henty George Alfred

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СКАЧАТЬ his ship. We were pretty nigh full when one morning the lookout hailed that there were two vessels just coming out of an inlet in an island we were passing some three miles on the weather bow.

      “The captain was soon on deck with his glass, and no sooner did he make them out than he gave orders to clap every sail on her. We hadn’t a very smart crew, but there are not many British ships ever made sail faster than we did then. The men just flew about, for it needed no glass to show that the two vessels which came creeping out from among trees weren’t customers as one wanted to talk to on the high seas. The one was a brig, the other a schooner. They carried lofty spars ever so much higher than an honest trader could want; and quick as we had got up our sails, they had got their canvas spread as soon as we had.

      “The ship was a fast sailer, but it didn’t need half an hour to show that they had the legs of us. So the skipper called the crew aft. ‘Now, my lads,’ he said, ‘you see those two vessels astern. I don’t think it needs any telling from me as to what they are. They might be Spaniards or they might be French, or they might be native traders, but we are pretty well sure they ain’t anything of the kind. They are pirates—I guess the same two vessels I heard them talking about down at Rio. They have been doing no end of damage there. There were pretty nigh a dozen ships missing, and they put them all down to them. However, a couple of English frigates had come into Rio, and hearing what had happened had gone out to chase them. They hadn’t caught them, and the Brazilians thought that they had shifted their quarters and gone for a cruise in other latitudes.

      “‘The description they gave of them answered to these two—a brig and a schooner, with low hulls and tall spars. One of them carries ten guns, the other two on each side, and a heavy piece mounted on a swivel amidship. It was said that before they went down to Brazil they had been carrying on their games among the West India Islands, and had made it so hot for themselves that they had been obliged to move off from there. It was like enough that, now the hue and cry after them had abated, they would return to their old quarters.

      “‘Well, my lads, I needn’t tell you what we have to expect if they take us. Every man Jack will either get his throat cut or be forced to walk the plank. So we will fight her to the last; for if the worst comes to the worst, it’s better to be killed fighting like men than to be murdered in cold blood. However, I hope it won’t come to that. We carry twelve guns, and they are heavier metal than most merchantmen have on board. We are more than a match for either of them alone; and if we can manage to cripple one, we can beat the other off.

      “‘At any rate we will try our best. Thank God we have no women on board, and only ourselves to think of! Now, my lads, cast the guns loose and get the ammunition on deck; run two of the guns aft and train them over the stern. As soon as they come within range we will try and knock some spars out of them. Now, boys, give three cheers for the old flag, and we will swear together it shall never come down while there’s one of us to fight the ship.’

      “The men gave three cheers and then went off to their quarters at the guns. They were quiet and grave, and it was easy enough to see that they did not like the prospect. An Englishman always goes into action, as far as I have seen, with a light heart and a joke on his lips when he’s fighting against Frenchmen or Spaniards or any other foe, but it’s a different thing when it’s a pirate he has to deal with. Every man knows then that it’s a case of life or death, and that he’s got to win or die. The enemy made no secret of what they were, for when they got within a mile of us two black flags ran up to their mastheads.

      “The captain he trained one of the stern chasers hisself, and the first mate took the other. They fired at the same moment, both aiming at the schooner, which was getting the nearest to us. They were good shots both of them. The mate’s ball struck the water some twenty yards in front of her forefoot, and smashed her bow planking some three feet above the waterline; while the captain’s struck her bulwark, tore along her deck, and went out astern, doing some damage by the way, I reckon.

      “We could see there was some confusion on board. They hadn’t reckoned that we carried such heavy metal, and our luck in getting both shots on board must have surprised them. Then her bow paid off, there was a puff of smoke amidship, and a ball from the long swivel gun buzzed overhead, passing through our mainsail without touching mast or stay.

      “So far we had the best of it, and the men looked more cheerful than they had done from the first moment when the pirates showed from among the trees. After that we kept up a fire from the stern guns as fast as we could load. I could not see myself what damage we were doing, for I was kept hard at work carrying ammunition. Presently the broadside guns began to fire too, and taking the chance for a look round I saw that the pirates had separated, and were coming up one on each side of us.

      “So far they had not fired a shot after the first. I suppose they didn’t want to lose ground by yawing, but as they came abreast of us they both opened fire. Our chaps fought their guns well, and I expect the pirates found they were not getting much the best of it; for one of them made a signal, and they both closed in to board. We hadn’t had much luck after our first shot. We had hulled them over and over again and spotted their sails with shot. Many of their ropes were hanging loose, but we hadn’t succeeded in crippling them, although almost every shot had been aimed at the masts; for every man knew that our only chance was to bring them down.

      “As they came up close to us they poured in a volley of grape, and a minute later they grated alongside and a crowd of men swarmed on board over the bulwarks. Our fellows fought to the last, but the odds were five to one against them. The skipper had been killed by a grapeshot, but the mate he led the men; and if fighting could have saved us the ship would not have been captured. But it was no use. In two minutes every man had been cut down or disarmed. I had laid about me with a cutlass till I got a lick over my head with a boarding pike which knocked my senses out of me.

      “When I opened my eyes I was hauled up to my feet and put alongside the mate and six others, all of whom was bleeding more or less. The rest had all been chucked overboard at once. In a minute or two the captain of one of the pirates, a little dapper Frenchman, came up to us. ‘You have fought your ship well,’ he said to the mate, ‘and have killed several of my officers and men; but I bear you no malice, and if you are ready to ship with me I will spare your life.’ ‘I would rather die a hundred times!’ the mate said. The pirate said nothing, but just nodded, and four of his men seized the mate and flung him over the bulwarks. The same question was asked of each of the men; but each in turn refused, and an end was made of them. I was the last.

      “‘Now, my boy,’ the captain said, ‘I hope you won’t be stupid like those pig headed fellows. What do you say—good treatment and a free life on the sea, or the sharks?’

      “Well, lad, if my turn hadn’t been last I would have said ‘no’ like the others. I wouldn’t have shown the white feather before any of my shipmates; but they had gone—there wasn’t one to cast a reproachful look at me or to taunt me with cowardice. I just stood alone; there weren’t no one to back me up in choosing to die rather than to serve, and so I says, ‘I will join you, captain.’ I don’t say I was right, lad; I don’t say I didn’t act as a coward; but I think most young chaps with my bringing up, and placed as I was, would have done the same. There’s many as would have said ‘no’ if they had had comrades and friends looking on, but I don’t think there’s many as would have said ‘no’ if they had stood all alone as I did.

      “I can’t say as I blame myself much about that business, though I have thought it over many a score of times; but anyhow, from the first I made up my mind that at the very first chance I would get away from them. I knew the chance wasn’t likely to come for some time—still there it was; and during all the black scenes I took part in on board that ship I was always telling myself that I was there against my will.

      “It was the brig as I was to go in. And as soon as that little matter of the crew was settled all hands set to work to shift the cargo from the ship aboard СКАЧАТЬ