The various spectators almost held their breath, for, though the ship they were watching was an enemy, no one wished her to meet that fate which it seemed probable would overtake her. Now again she rose almost to an even keel, but not a brace or a sheet was slackened. Already the sea was breaking with fearful violence over a dark reef under her lee, while she was sailing as close as possible to the wind.
"She will not weather it," cried the master. "They are attempting to go about. It"s too late, though. She"s lost--she"s lost!"
At that instant the gale with fresh force struck the devoted ship. Down she heeled, and a sea striking her before she had come round, drove her bodily on the reef. The following seas dashed wildly over her, almost concealing her dark hull from view. For a few moments her masts again came into view, but directly afterwards they fell over one after the other, and the vessel herself appeared to be melting away before the reiterated blows of the fierce waves, which seemed suddenly to rise for the purpose of effecting her destruction.
"We must be ready to offer help to any of the poor fellows who may be washed ash.o.r.e," exclaimed the commander; "though I fear that few will reach it alive."
Both officers and men were eager to carry out his suggestion. A number of long spars and coils of rope were got ready, and the greater number of the _Champion"s_ officers and crew set off towards the northern end of the island, the only point where it was at all probable that any of the Spaniards would be able to land. On reaching it, however, the desperate condition of the unfortunate crew was still more clearly seen.
To send them help was beyond the power of the English. No boat could possibly live in the sea already running round the reef on which the ship had struck.
Already a large portion of the hull had been knocked to pieces, while the greater number of her crew had been washed into the raging surf and drowned. A few wretches alone clung desperately to the forepart of the ship and the stump of the bowsprit. No a.s.sistance could be sent to them. Every instant the wind increased; the seas rolled up more wildly against the wreck, as if eager for their destruction. Still the commander and most of the officers and crew stood watching, on the bare possibility of the wind again shifting and driving some of the hapless Spaniards on the beach.
They waited in vain. The hurricane had only as yet been gathering strength. Suddenly it burst with terrific violence, which even the seamen on the firm ground could with difficulty face, as it drove ma.s.ses of spray and sand against them, the roar of the seas almost drowning the commander"s voice as he ordered them to retire to the shelter of some rocks a short distance from the sh.o.r.e. On getting under their lee, as they again looked towards where the wreck had been, scarcely a vestige of her remained, nor was one of her hapless crew seen alive. Still, while a hope remained that some poor fellow clinging to a piece of the wreck might be thrown on the beach, a look-out was kept to render him a.s.sistance; but some hours pa.s.sed by, and not a single human being of those who had lately formed the crew of the Spanish frigate could by any possibility have remained alive. The commander ordered the men to return to the fort. The hurricane continued raging with unabated violence for the greater part of the flight.
"I say, Nat, it is as well we had not started with Mr Foley," observed Gerald to his brother midshipman. "What would have become of us, I wonder?"
"We should have been in a bad plight, I suppose," answered Nat. "I can"t help thinking that the commander was right in not letting us go as soon as we wished."
The stormy weather continued for some time longer. Occasionally the wind ceased, but only again to blow with almost as much violence as before. Mr Foley and the master both acknowledged the commander"s wisdom in not allowing them to do as they had desired. The hurricane season must, however, come to an end, for it had apparently already lasted longer than usual, and the young lieutenant began to indulge in the expectation of soon returning to Jamaica.
CHAPTER NINETEEN.
TWO VESSELS APPEAR OFF THE ISLAND--ONE CHASING THE OTHER--THE STERNMOST SUPPOSED TO BE THE OUZEL GALLEY--FIRING HEARD AT NIGHT--A CALM--THE BOATS PUT OFF--A BREEZE--THE PIRATE ESCAPES--SOUND OF AN ENGAGEMENT HEARD--BELIEF THAT THE MERCHANTMAN HAS BEEN CAPTURED--A BOAT PREPARED FOR A VOYAGE TO JAMAICA--JUST AS SHE IS STARTING, A VESSEL IS SEEN AT ANCHOR INSIDE THE REEFS--THE BOATS PUSH FOR HER--THE STRANGER FIRES AT THEM--IS BOARDED AND CAPTURED--GERALD"S DISMAY ON DISCOVERING THE "LOG OF THE RESEARCH, CAPTAIN GERALD TRACY"--DILLON FOUND ON BOARD AS LEADER OF THE PIRATES--HE OFFERS TO PILOT THE RESEARCH INTO TIGER HARBOUR-- COMMANDER OLDING AND HIS WHOLE CREW EMBARK WITH GUNS, AMMUNITION, AND STORES--THE RESEARCH SAILS FOR THE NORTHWARD--A CANOE, WITH FIVE PEOPLE IN HER, SEEN.
One morning Gerald and his constant companion, Nat Kiddle, had gone down just at daybreak to bathe in a pool on the beach, into which no hungry sharks were likely to enter. It was the only place where the commander would allow the men to go into the water, and they naturally preferred getting their swim before the rest of the ship"s company. They were somewhat earlier than usual, and after swimming about for some time had landed and were dressing, when Gerald, looking to the north-east, caught sight of a sail just rising above the horizon.
"Hurrah! I do believe she is standing towards the island," he exclaimed, pointing her out to Nat. "She will see our signal and probably heave to, to know what we want. The chances are that she is a friend. No Spanish vessel would be coming from that direction, at all events, with the intention of attacking us. She is probably a man-of-war, or, if a merchantman, she is bound to one of the islands to the southward."
"But she is as likely to be a foreigner as an English vessel," observed Nat; "at all events, she must be greatly out of her course. If bound to Jamaica, she would have kept through the Windward Pa.s.sage, or if bound to one of the Leeward Islands, she would not have come near this."
The sun, now just rising above the horizon, cast a bright light on the topsails of the stranger, which must have discovered her to the look-out at the signal station, who immediately ran up the colours.
Gerald and Nat were soon after this joined by several other officers who had come down to bathe. Mr Foley, being among the last, had brought his telescope. The north-east trade-wind, which began blowing during the night, was now carrying the stranger steadily along before it. Mr Foley had lent Gerald his gla.s.s.
"Why, sir," he exclaimed, as he was looking through it--""It never rains but it pours"--there is another craft of the same rig as the first, under all sail. It appears to me that she is chasing the headmost one."
Crowhurst took the gla.s.s, and having glanced through it, agreed that Gerald was right. He then handed it to the master, who observed, "There is no doubt about it. The headmost vessel is a merchantman; by the cut of her canvas, I should say she was English. But the sternmost I can"t quite make out; she is probably a French or Spanish privateer. However, as they are coming on at a good rate, we shall know before long. In the mean time I intend to take my dip."
Gerald and Nat continued watching the strangers as they approached.
They had got considerably nearer by the time the master came out of the water.
"They must have encountered dark and heavy weather, and got out of their course, or they would not have been so close in to this dangerous coast," he observed. "Lend me the gla.s.s again, Foley," he added, turning to the second lieutenant. "Well, I can"t make out what she is,"
he continued. "Her sails have an English cut about them, too. We shall make out her colours before long, for if she is English she is sure to hoist them when she sees ours flying from the flagstaff."
Mr Foley and the rest of the party were as much puzzled as the master.
No one felt inclined to leave the spot, even though breakfast-time was approaching.
Gerald felt unusually interested; why, he could scarcely tell, except that he had been the first to discover the strangers. Now he threw himself down on the sand; then he got up and walked about, and again borrowed Mr Foley"s telescope.
The course the two vessels were steering would carry them within half a mile of the outer reefs that surrounded the island. The hull of the first could already be distinctly seen. She appeared to be either an armed merchantman or a privateer; but if the latter, it was not likely that she would run from a vessel not much, if at all, superior to her in size.
Nearer and nearer drew the leading vessel. Those on board must have been aware of the dangerous character of the coast. As it was, she was standing closer than, under ordinary circ.u.mstances, prudence would have allowed.
"Yes, she is English," exclaimed Gerald, who had been taking a long look at her through the gla.s.s. "I can see the people on her deck. They are looking, it seems to me, for some opening in the reefs, but they can find none on this side, and must see the surf breaking over the outer rocks. But what can the other craft be? If the first is English, I am sure she must be so, by the look of her hull and the cut of her sails, though I can"t make out her flag." His hand began to tremble as he held the gla.s.s to his eye--a very unusual thing for him. "Mr Foley, sir,"
he exclaimed at length, "will you take a look at yonder vessel, and say if you have ever seen her before? It seems to me that I ought to know her."
He handed the gla.s.s as he spoke to the lieutenant, who took a long look through it.
"I can scarcely believe it possible; yet, Tracy, she appears to me remarkably like the _Ouzel Galley_," observed Mr Foley.
"That is what I think she is, sir; but how she comes to be chasing another English vessel is mere than I can make out."
While the lieutenant was speaking a flash was seen, and a shot flew from the vessel they were looking at towards the one ahead. Another and another followed from her bow-chasers, but the range was a long one, and they fell harmlessly into the water, under the counter of the ship at which they were fired.
"They were well aimed, and had they been fired from longer guns and with better powder, they would have hit their mark," observed Lieutenant Foley.
"It won"t be long before the chase has some of those round shot aboard her," observed the master. "The sternmost vessel is gaining on her fast, and unless she can manage to knock away some of the spars of the other, she must be overtaken in a few hours at most."
Gerald had again got hold of the telescope. "I cannot make it out," he exclaimed again and again. "I have just caught sight of her flag. It is black, with the death"s head and cross-bones. There is no mistaking her character; she is a pirate, but still I never saw a craft so like the _Ouzel Galley_. She has the same new cloth in her fore-topsail which she had when she last sailed from Port Royal, and a patch in the starboard clew of her main-topgallantsail. Can anything have happened to Owen Ma.s.sey? He has not turned pirate; of that I am very certain."
"I am afraid, then, Tracy, if that vessel is really the _Ouzel Galley_, she must have been captured by pirates," observed Lieutenant Foley.
"I am dreadfully afraid that such must have been the case, sir,"
answered Gerald, almost ready to burst into tears. "All I hope is that, though she is wonderfully like the _Ouzel Galley_, she is not her, after all. If she is, poor Owen, his officers and crew must have been murdered. Dear, dear! what will become of Norah when she hears of it?"
The two ships were now pa.s.sing almost directly in front of the island; indeed, the chase had already got some way to the southward, the pirate ship--for that a pirate she was there could be no doubt--continually firing at her. Gerald walked up and down in a state of painful doubt and anxiety. Nat Kiddle remained with him, though getting very hungry and wishing to go back to the fort for breakfast. Mr Foley, who was almost as much interested as Gerald, was the only officer who remained with him.
Neither of the vessels appeared to have observed the flag flying from the fort; at all events, they took no notice of it. Both were too far off for the guns to reach them, or Commander Olding would not have allowed the pirate to pa.s.s unquestioned.
The wind, which had been blowing fresh in the morning, as the day advanced decreased, and by the time the two vessels were about three or four miles to the southward of the island it fell almost to a dead calm.
They were still, however, at some distance from each other, but their guns could be heard as they exchanged shots; the headmost vessel firing her stern guns, and the other her bow-chasers, but, as far as could be seen at that distance, without inflicting much damage on the other. No sooner did the commander perceive the state of affairs than, calling his two lieutenants and the master, he proposed attacking the pirate with their three boats.
"If you will allow me, sir, I will gladly take the command," exclaimed Mr Tarwig.
"I intended to have gone myself, but I will yield to your wishes,"
answered the commander.
Of course, all the other officers were ready to go. The commander selected the master and boatswain to take command of the other two boats. Gerald and Nat Kiddle were eager to accompany them, and greatly to their satisfaction obtained leave, Gerald to accompany the first lieutenant, and Nat the master. By keeping among the reefs, many of which rose considerably above the water, they would be able to get near the pirate without being perceived, and it was hoped, should the calm continue until nightfall, that they might take her by surprise. This, of course, was most desirable, as she might thus be captured without much bloodshed. No time was to be lost, for the wind could not be depended on, and it might soon again breeze up, when she would quickly get beyond their reach.
The three boats carried altogether thirty hands, armed with firelocks, cutla.s.ses, and pistols. The pirate"s crew was in all probability much more numerous, but that was not likely to deter British seamen from attacking them, either by night or day.
Mr Tarwig led his little squadron, threading his way among the rocks to the southward.
Gerald naturally felt an intense interest in the expedition. He was sure that the pirate was the _Ouzel Galley_, and he hoped from some of the prisoners they might take to gain information about Owen Ma.s.sey.
A considerable portion of the day had been spent before the boats, rounding the island, again came in sight of the two ships. They were still as before cannonading each other at a distance. The boats had met with a strong current, which had considerably impeded their progress.
It wanted a little more than an hour to sunset, while they were upward of two miles from the pirate.