A NIGHT OF TERROR.
Captain Staunton"s first act, after suitably acknowledging d.i.c.kinson"s expression of fealty, was to inquire how the crisis had been brought about. The explanation made his eyes flash fire; he ground his teeth and clenched his fists with rage as he thought of how he would have punished the ruffian who had laid such brutal hands upon his little pet.
And when the explanation was complete, he wrung Bob"s hand until it fairly ached as he thanked him for what he had done. Meanwhile poor May still lay in her mother"s arms moaning with pain; and when the skipper took her on his knee the little creature once more screamed out, and complained that it hurt her shoulder. Upon this Lance, thinking that something must be wrong, made a careful examination of the child, when it was found that Ralli"s brutal violence had resulted in the dislocation of her shoulder. It was of course at once pulled back into place, but the poor little creature"s screams at the pain of the operation were terrible to hear; and Captain Staunton in the hastiness of his anger registered a solemn vow that if he ever again met Ralli he would make the wretch pay dearly for his brutality.
How little he dreamed of the terrible circ.u.mstances under which he would next see this miserable man.
The two whale-boats sped swiftly across the gla.s.sy surface of the bay, propelled by six stalwart oarsmen each, a little jet of phosph.o.r.escent water spouting up under their sharp stems, a long ripple spreading out and undulating away on either side of them, and half a dozen tiny whirlpools of liquid fire swirling in the wake of each as their crews strained at the stout ash oars until they bent again. The night had grown black as pitch, not a solitary star was visible, and the heat was so intense as to be almost insufferable; but the men thought nothing of this in their eagerness and zeal now that they had taken the decisive step of throwing up their old life of crime and had fairly enrolled themselves once more on the side of law and order.
In a very short time the boats had made the pa.s.sage across the bay and were brought with an easy graceful sweep alongside the landing at the shipyard. The occupants quickly disembarked; and while the ladies proceeded at once under the care and guidance of Rex and Bob to safe and comfortable quarters in the schooner"s s.p.a.cious cabin, Captain Staunton gave orders that two large fires should be immediately lighted, one on each side of the landing, for the double purpose of affording them a light to work by and of enabling them to perceive the approach of their enemies.
"For," he remarked to Lance, "you may depend upon it that their suspicions are thoroughly aroused by this time, and it will not be long before they are after us to see what it all means."
A couple of huge heaps of shavings, chips, and ends of timber were speedily collected and ignited, the blaze soaring high in the motionless air and throwing a strong ruddy light for a considerable distance round.
Then Lance, with Bowles, d.i.c.kinson, Poole, and three or four other reliable hands armed with torches, went carefully round the schooner, inspecting the cradle. It was unfinished; but Lance thought that a couple of hours more of energetic labour expended upon it would make it sufficiently secure to enable them to effect the launch. Time was now of immense value to them; they could not afford to be very particular, and so long as the cradle would serve its purpose that was all they cared about.
They accordingly set to with a will, and very soon the yard resounded with the harsh rasping of saws and the heavy blows of mauls wedging the timbers into their places.
In the meantime Captain Staunton with the rest of the party went on board the schooner, and, after fully arming themselves with cutla.s.s and revolver, opened the magazine, pa.s.sed a good supply of ammunition on deck, cast loose the guns, and carefully loaded them, cramming them almost to the muzzle with bullets, spike-nails, and anything else they could lay hold of. This done, the skipper, unwilling to leave the ship himself, called for a volunteer to go to the battery, spike the guns there, and lay a fuse in the magazine. Bob at once stepped forward, and, being accepted, provided himself forthwith with a hammer and a sufficient length of fuse, and set out upon his errand.
He had scarcely disappeared in the gloom when Dale, who had volunteered to keep a look-out, gave warning of the approach of two boats--the launch and the pinnace--full of men.
They were observed almost at the same moment by Lance, who hailed:
"Schooner ahoy! Do you see the boats coming?"
"Ay, ay," answered Captain Staunton. "We see them, and we"ll give them a warm reception presently."
"Very well," returned Lance; "we shall stick to our work and leave you to do the fighting. If you require any a.s.sistance, give us a call."
"All right!" answered the skipper. Then turning to the men on the schooner"s deck, he shouted:
"Run those two guns out of the stern-ports there, and train them so as to sweep the boats just before they reach the landing. So! that"s well.
Now wait for the word, and when I give it, fire."
The boats, however, were meantime lying upon their oars, their crews apparently holding a consultation. The fire-light which revealed their approach revealed to them also the fact that the occupants of the shipyard were fully prepared to emphatically dispute any attempt on their part to land; and the sight brought vividly to their minds the aphorism that "discretion is the better part of valour."
At length, after some twenty minutes of inaction--during which the workers underneath the schooner"s bottom plied their tools with a skill and energy that was truly astounding--the two boats were once more put in motion, their crews directing their course toward the landing, each boat having a rude subst.i.tute for a white flag reared upon a boat-hook in the bow.
The moment that they were near enough for their occupants to hear him Captain Staunton hailed them with an imperative order to keep off or he would fire into them.
They at once laid upon their oars, and a man rising in the stern-sheets of the launch returned an answer, which was, however, quite unintelligible. Meanwhile the boats, still having way upon them, continued slowly to approach.
"Back water!" shouted the skipper, seizing the trigger line of one of the guns, whilst Brook stood manfully at the other. "Back water, all of you, instantly, or we will fire."
The man in the stern-sheets of the launch waved his hand; the oars again flashed into the water, and both boats dashed at the landing-place.
"Wait just a moment yet," said the skipper, raising a warning hand to Brook and squinting along his gun at the same time. "Now, fire!"
The report of the two bra.s.s nine-pounders rang sharply out at the same moment, making the schooner quiver to her keel, and severely testing the construction of her cradle. A crash was heard, then a frightful chorus of shrieks, yells, groans, and execrations; and as the smoke curled heavily away, both boats were seen with their planking rent and penetrated here and there, and their occupants tumbling over and over each other in their anxiety to get at the oars--many of which had been suffered to drop overboard--and withdraw as quickly as possible to a somewhat safer distance.
A hearty cheer was raised by the party in possession of the shipyard.
Those on board the schooner reloaded their guns in all haste, and the hammering down below went on with, if possible, still greater energy.
The boats were suffered to retire unmolested, and nothing further was heard of them for over half an hour. Then Dale, who was still maintaining a careful look-out, suddenly gave notice that they were again approaching.
The two aftermost guns were accordingly once more very carefully pointed and fired, Captain Staunton giving the word as before. But by some mischance the muzzles were pointed a trifle too high, and both charges flew harmlessly over the boats, tearing up the water a few yards astern of them. The pirates, upon this unexpected piece of--to them--good fortune, raised a frantic cheer of delight, and, bending at their oars until they seemed about to snap them, dashed eagerly at the landing- place.
There was no time to reload the guns, so, seizing his weapons and calling upon all hands to follow him, the skipper hastily scrambled over the schooner"s bulwarks, and, making his way to the ground, rushed forward to meet the enemy, who had by this time effected a landing.
The two opposing forces met within half a dozen yards of the water"s edge, and then ensued a most desperate and sanguinary struggle. The pirates had by this time pretty nearly guessed at the audacious designs of those to whom they were opposed. They had seen enough to know not only that an escape was meditated, but that it was also proposed to carry off the schooner--that beautiful craft which their own hands had so largely a.s.sisted to construct, and in which they had confidently expected to sail forth upon a career of unbounded plunder and licence, in full reliance that her speed would insure to them complete immunity from punishment for their nefarious deeds. Such unheard-of audacity was more than enough to excite their anger to the pitch of frenzy, and they fought like demons, not only for revenge, but also for the salvation of the schooner. But if these were the motives which spurred them on to the encounter, their adversaries were actuated by incentives of a still higher character. They fought for the life and liberty, not only of themselves, but also of the weak defenceless women, whose only trust under G.o.d was in them; and if the pirates rushed furiously to the onset, they were met with a cool, determined resolution, which was more than a balance for overpowering numbers. Captain Staunton looked eagerly among the crowd of ruffianly faces for that of Ralli, determined to avenge with his own hand the mult.i.tudinous wrongs and insults which this man had heaped upon him and his dearest ones; but the Greek was nowhere to be seen. On the skipper"s right was Lance, and on his left d.i.c.kinson, the former fully occupying the attention of at least three opponents by the marvellous play of his cutla.s.s-blade, whilst the latter brandished with terrible effect a heavy crow-bar which he had hurriedly s.n.a.t.c.hed up on being summoned to the fight. Rex and Brook were both working wonders also. Bowles was fighting as only a true British seaman _can_ fight in a good cause; and Dale, with a courage which excited his own most lively surprise, was handling his cutla.s.s and pistol as though he had used the weapons all his life. Steadily, and inch by inch, the pirates were driven back in spite of their superior numbers; and at last, after a fight of some twenty minutes, they finally broke and fled before a determined charge of their adversaries, rushing headlong to their boats and leaving their dead and wounded behind them.
Captain Staunton did not follow them up, although the two whale-boats still lay moored at the landing as they had left them. He was anxious to avail himself of the advantage already gained in making good the escape of his own party rather than to risk further losses by an attempt to inflict additional punishment upon his adversaries. Besides, that might possibly follow later on when they had got the schooner afloat.
His first act, therefore, after the flight of the pirates, was to muster his forces and ascertain the extent of the casualties.
The list was a heavy one.
In the first place, nine of the little band were missing at the muster.
Bowles presented himself with his left arm shattered by a pistol bullet; Brook was suffering from a severe scalp-wound; and every one of the others had a wound or contusion of some sort, which, whilst it did not incapacitate them for work, was a voucher that they had not shrunk from taking their part manfully in the fight.
This first hasty examination over, an anxious search was inst.i.tuted for the missing. The first man found was d.i.c.kinson, dead, his body covered with wounds, and a bullet-hole in the centre of his forehead. Near him lay Dale, bleeding and insensible, shot through the body; and a little further on Bob was found, also insensible, with a cutla.s.s gash across the forehead. Then d.i.c.k Sullivan was found dead, with his skull cloven to the eyes; and near him, also dead, one of the seamen of the _Galatea_. And lastly, at some distance from the others, Ned Masters, with another seaman from the _Galatea_, and two of the escaped prisoners, were found all close together, severely wounded, and surrounded by a perfect heap of dead and wounded pirates. These four, it seemed, had somehow become separated from the rest of their party, and had been surrounded by a band of pirates. This made a list of three killed and six severely wounded.
The latter were gently raised in the arms of their less injured comrades and taken with all speed on board the schooner, where they were turned over for the present to the care of the ladies; while those who were still able to work resumed operations underneath the ship"s bottom.
Another quarter of an hour"s hard work, and then Lance"s voice was heard ordering one hand to jump on board the schooner and look out for a line.
"All right!" exclaimed Bob"s voice from the deck; "heave it up here, Mr Evelin."
"What! you there, Robert? Glad to hear it, my fine fellow. Just go forward; look out for the line, and, when you have it, haul taut and make fast securely."
"All right," answered Bob with his head over the bows; "heave!"
The line, a very slender one, was thrown up, and Bob, gathering in the slack, and noticing that it led from somewhere ahead of the schooner, bowsed it well taut and securely belayed it. He knew at once what it was.
"Hurrah!" he shouted joyously. "That means that we are nearly ready for launching."
Bob"s unexpected reappearance, it may be explained, was due to the fact that he had been merely stunned, and had speedily recovered consciousness under the ministering hands of his gentle friends in the cabin, upon which, though his head ached most violently, he lost no time in returning to duty.
Lance now made a second careful inspection of the cradle; and upon the completion of his round he p.r.o.nounced that, though the structure was a somewhat rough-and-ready affair, it would do; that is to say, it would bear the weight of the schooner during the short time she was sliding off the ways, and that was all they wanted.
"And now comes the wedging-up, I s"pose, sir?" remarked Poole interrogatively.
"Wedging-up?" returned Lance with a joyous laugh. "No, thank you, Poole; we"ll manage without that. Do you see these two pieces of wood here in each keel-block? Well, they are wedges. You have only to draw them out and the top of the block will be lowered sufficiently to allow the schooner to rest entirely in the cradle. Get a maul, Poole, and you and I will start forward, whilst you, Kit, with another hand, commence aft. Knock out the wedges on both sides as you come to them, and work your way forward until you meet us. The rest of you had better go on board and see that everything is clear and ready for launching."
"When you"re quite ready to launch, let me know, if you please, Mr Evelin, and I"ll go and light the fuse that"s to blow up the battery,"
said Bob.
"Ah! to be sure," answered Lance, "I had forgotten that. You may go up now if you like, Bob, and I"ll give you a call when we"re ready."