CHAPTER XIX
FORTUNE FAVORS THE BRAVE
Well might it be said that the good wishes and anxious thoughts of hundreds followed the gallant Hobson and the meager crew of the _Merrimac_ as she steamed towards Santiago. High hope of success, apprehension increased by the darkness and uncertainty as to her whereabouts, kept everyone in a fever. No one could sleep, and from the open ports, and from the silent and darkened decks of battleships, cruisers, and gunboats, a thousand and more pairs of anxious eyes stared into the gloom.
"Where was she? Had she run aground? Had she lost her bearings in the darkness? Hush! Did anyone hear that? What was it then? Oh, only escaping steam? What a relief to think of it!"
The questions were pa.s.sed along the decks, time and again, and for the most part left unanswered. Then, as each man became silent in despair of hearing anything, a faint, almost inaudible hail came across the heaving water.
"Hark! Huss-s-s-h! Did anyone hear that? What was it? Discovery?"
Almost instantly a spout of flame shot from a cliff beneath the Morro Castle, cutting the darkness in twain as with an arrow, while a deafening report set the air throbbing and reverberating. Another followed, and then a third, and within a few seconds a line of flaming dots cut along the dark hillside, while sh.e.l.ls flashed brilliantly red in the air as they shivered into a thousand pieces. Nor was this all.
The torpedo-boat _Pluton_ was patrolling the entrance, and at once added the sharp, angry snap of her quick-firers to the din, while guns from another battery ash.o.r.e, and from the _Reina Mercedes_, a battleship anch.o.r.ed within the harbor, played upon the black hull of the devoted _Merrimac_. Add to this a couple of torpedoes, which were discharged in her direction, and some idea can be obtained of the terrors that a.s.sailed her.
Meanwhile Hal had been by no means idle. No sooner had the moorings been dropped, than he opened the cabin door and went into the saloon.
"I"ll just stay here till I think we"re getting close insh.o.r.e," he murmured; "then I"ll get on deck. Let me think. The small torpedoes are placed to port; that means that I must get away to starboard to escape the explosion. Hobson stays on board for that, and so shall I. When she begins to sink, I shall go overboard, and swim straight for the sh.o.r.e.
By Jove! I forgot a life-belt, but perhaps there"s one in the cabin."
He ran back, and felt above his head for the racks upon which the belts are usually placed. A low cry of pleasure escaped his lips, for the very thing he wanted was there. Taking it down, he promptly slipped his arms through the slings and quickly buckled the belt on. Then he crept to the companion-way, and sat down upon the bottom step of the ladder, where he waited for what, in his overstrung condition, seemed to be hours.
Bang! The report made him start to his feet, and stand there holding to the rail, while the thump of his heart seemed to shake him from head to foot.
Bang, bang, bang! Crash! The _Merrimac_ shivered as a six-inch sh.e.l.l struck her true in the center, and piercing her thin plates as if they were sheets of tissue paper, exploded forward of the engines, blowing a big gaping hole through the saloon in which Hal sat.
"Another such as that, and I shall get caught down here," he thought.
"If I am to be hit, it will be better to receive the wound on deck, for then, when she sinks, I may have a chance, and not be drowned like a rat in a cage."
He felt his way up the ladder, and crawled silently across the deck to the starboard side, where he crouched close to the bulwarks. Above him the bridge appeared dimly, and behind that a circle of sparks flew into the air from the funnel. There, too, standing upon the frail support, was the hero of the hour--Lieutenant Hobson, the gallant officer who had devised the scheme, and begged, not in vain, to carry it out.
More than once, as the guns on the hillside flashed, Hal saw his figure silhouetted clearly against the light. He stepped from the side to the center of the bridge, and, placing his hands to his mouth, so that his voice should not be drowned by the din and uproar, shouted some order in stentorian tones to the man who was stationed at the wheel. Then Hal heard the tiller-chains rattling, and for an instant in the light of a brilliant flash, which had darted suddenly from the battery stationed on the frowning heights of Morro Castle, caught sight of the steersman bending to his work, and putting all his power into the spokes. But the _Merrimac_ kept steadily on, failing to answer to her rudder, which had been smashed to pieces by a sh.e.l.l. At the same moment steam was turned off, and the two men who had been stationed in the engine-room hastily quitted it, and tumbled up on deck as fast as their legs would carry them.
"It"s getting nearly time for the torpedoes," Hal murmured, "for I judge that we must now be approaching the entrance of Santiago harbor. Ah!
what was that?"
Two loud splashes reached his ear, coming from fore and aft, and a moment"s reflection told him that the anchors had been let go. But the Americans were not to have it all their own way, for ill luck again followed the _Merrimac_. A sh.e.l.l, unfortunate for them, but lucky for the Spaniards had crashed into her stern at a most critical moment, and had smashed her rudder into splinters; and now, when that defect might have been remedied by anchoring fore and aft, and afterwards floating her down to the entrance to Santiago, the anchors, in whose powers Lieutenant Hobson"s hopes were centered, failed to grip the bed of the ocean, and in consequence the long black hull forged slowly on through the water till it took the ground near Estrella Point. As it did so, there was a series of loud and deafening reports as her intrepid commander pressed the b.u.t.ton and exploded his row of miniature torpedoes.
"That will finish her!" thought Hal. "I"ll wait till she sinks lower, and then I"ll dive overboard. My best plan will be to swim away from her as far as possible, though there will be no great danger of being carried under as far as I can see, for the water here is very shallow, and will scarcely cover her upper works when the keel is resting upon the bottom. I"ll just creep to the bows, so as to make it as short a swim as possible."
He rose to his feet and stole forward. But, unfortunately for Hal, a strong tide was running, and floating the sinking _Merrimac_ free of the land, it swept her into deep water. An instant later, a Whitehead torpedo, discharged by the _Reina Mercedes_, which lay within the harbor, rushed seething through the water at more than thirty knots an hour, and struck the hull right forward almost directly beneath Hal"s feet. There was a terrific concussion, and a blinding sheet of flame seemed to envelop the _Merrimac_. A column of water started high into the air, while Hal was hurled overboard as if from the arms of a Hercules. Indeed, so great was the shock that he lost consciousness, and might very well have been drowned in that condition. However, the cold water surging about him brought him to his senses almost instantly. Then the instinct of self-preservation a.s.serted itself, and, without exactly knowing why, he commenced to strike out l.u.s.tily, swimming away from the sh.o.r.e, for he was almost too dazed to know what he was doing.
Suddenly the clatter of quick-firers behind attracted his attention, and, turning, he began to forge a way towards the sh.o.r.e. And now he had cause to congratulate himself upon the fact that he had donned a life-belt, for the shock of the torpedo explosion had sadly deprived him of his strength. Indeed, but for the support he received, he would have sunk there and then, and the name of Hal Marchant would have disappeared from this narrative. He was not, however, the sort of lad to give in without a struggle, so, clenching his teeth, he turned on his side, and struck out with all his power. Something touched his hand--something slimy and covered with weed--which he grasped with thankfulness. Then, having rested for a moment, he dragged himself on to a ma.s.s of rock, which jutted into the sea, and seated himself upon it, his head still throbbing painfully, while his brain was dizzy and overcome by the crash of the explosion.
"This won"t do," he said at last. "Dawn will be breaking before very long, and it is quite time that I looked for a hiding-place. On the appearance of the first ray of light I should at once be discovered if I were still seated here. Besides, I must not forget that, once the interest in the _Merrimac_ is gone, the sentries whose attention is attracted just now to the entrance of the harbor will become more vigilant in watching for the possible landing of enemies upon the particular part of the coast intrusted to each man"s care."
He rose from his seat with an effort, for he was feeling thoroughly done up. Then he groped his way across the rough surface of the rock, and, having waded through a deep pool, was in the act of climbing on to dry ground, when someone pounced upon him with a guttural exclamation of delight, and he found himself in the arms of a Spanish sentinel.
"Halt! cease from struggling, or I will kill you!" the man cried, clutching him by the shoulder and endeavoring to place his bayonet against Hal"s breast.
The point pierced the thin clothing he was wearing, and dug slightly into the flesh beneath.
"Halt, I say!" the sentry hissed. "The weapon points to your heart, and, by St. James, I will thrust it home if you do but move an inch!
Surrender, I say!"
"Never!" Hal answered hoa.r.s.ely. Then, shaking the sentry"s hand off, and pushing his weapon aside with a hasty movement, he stepped back a pace, and struck out blindly with all his might. His fist hit the Spaniard full on the chest, and sent him staggering backwards, and his rifle crashing to the ground. But he recovered himself in a moment, and threw himself upon his prisoner with an exclamation of fury.
"Pig! Villain!" he cried. "Yield, or I will toss you into the water, and drown you like a rat."
Clasped in each other"s arms, they swayed from side to side upon the rocks which fringe the margin of the sea. Then Hal"s foot twisted upon a stone, and both fell to the ground with a crash.
What followed was a blank to Hal. He remembered nothing, and lay upon the seash.o.r.e silent and apparently lifeless for the s.p.a.ce of more than ten minutes. Then a puff of cold air fanned his cheek, and he suddenly found himself lying with his eyes wide open, staring at the stars above.
"Hillo! What"s this?" he murmured vacantly. "Stars! A clear sky! Where is the cabin, then? Where is Billing?"
He stretched out a hand, and touched something that was wet. Then his fingers came in contact with a head of hair, and he withdrew them instantly, with an involuntary shudder. At once the struggle with the sentry flashed across his wandering mind, and brought him to his senses with a start.
"By Jove! I wonder whether he"s hurt?" he said. "I"ll see, and then cut away for safety, for it will never do to remain here."
He stretched out his hand again, and having discovered the sentry"s arm, placed the tips of his fingers on the wrist. But there was no movement of the pulse, though he longed to feel it. Struggling into a sitting position, he shuffled closer to the man, and listened to hear if he were breathing. But there was not a sound; not even a sigh rewarded his attention.
"Poor beggar! Dead!" he exclaimed. "Well, it is the fortune of war, for it was my life or his. I suppose he struck his head in falling."
This was, in fact, the case, and to it Hal no doubt owed his life. But he had no time to sit there and think. Dawn was dangerously near, and if he was to reach a safe haven, he must be moving at once.
"Ah, I"ve got it!" he exclaimed suddenly. "I"ll change into his clothes."
He started to his feet, and going to where the body lay, undid the b.u.t.tons, and tore tunic and trousers off. The boots and socks followed, and were rapidly transferred to his own person. Then he picked up the rifle, and prepared to move away.
"Supposing his comrades come in the morning and find him?" he suddenly asked himself. "They will suspect that someone has landed, and borrowed his clothes. I must tumble him into the water."
He bent over the limp figure of the unfortunate sentry once more, and carefully felt for a heart-beat. But there was none, and it was evident that the man was dead.
"It"s not nice, I know," Hal murmured. "But it"s for my safety, and therefore must be done. He won"t be any the worse off, poor fellow!"
It was indeed a trying act for any young man to carry out, and it was not without a fierce struggle that Hal at length overcame his compunction. War was war, he told himself, and this kind of thing was bound to happen. He must put aside all feelings of compa.s.sion and act like a man.
The thought braced his nerves, and dropping the rifle for a moment, he stooped, lifted the lifeless form in his arms, and tossed it into the sea.
Then the necessity for instant action a.s.serted itself, and picking up the rifle, he turned inland, and struck boldly for the town, leaving the _Merrimac_ sunk deep at one side of the channel leading to the harbor of Santiago.
Up and up the steep rocks he toiled, till he came to a deep gully, down which a tiny watercourse tumbled towards the sea. He could feel shrubs on either side, and thick gra.s.s beneath his feet. Then, as if fortune had determined to follow him, the sky in the east commenced rapidly to lighten, and so enabled him to see his whereabouts.
"There is a thick mist, which will lie on the land till the sun is up,"
he said with satisfaction. "That will give me time to hit upon a likely spot. Ah! what is this? This should suit me."