Held Fast For England: A Tale of the Siege of Gibraltar (1779-83) by G. A. Henty (reading a book .TXT) 📗

us, but we can beat them off; and I should hardly think that they would try it, for they will be sure that, if we are a privateer, we have been playing the same game as they have, and hiding our guns, and will guess that we carry a strong crew."

"Send the crew aft, Joe. I will tell them how matters stand.

"We have had a narrow escape of catching a tartar, my lads," he said, when the men went aft. "You all know Mr. Repton swam off, an hour ago, to try and find out what the ship was like. Well, he has been on board, and brings back news that she is no trader, but a ship of war, disguised; and that she carries twenty-four guns--eighteen-pounders and thirty-twos. If we met while out at sea, we might make a fight of it; but it would never do, here, especially as her two consorts would be down upon us. She suspects what we are, although she is not certain; and everything is in readiness to repel a boat attack--her captain's intention being, if we tried, to sink or cripple the boats, and then to attack us with her guns.

"So you may thank Mr. Repton that you have had a narrow escape of seeing the inside of a Spanish prison.

"Now, what I propose to do is to tow her out. Get the four boats in the water, as quietly as you can. We have greased the falls, already. We will tow her straight ahead, at any rate for a bit. That craft won't be able to bring any guns to bear upon us, except perhaps a couple of bow chasers; and as she won't be able to see us, there is not much chance of our being hit. Pass the hawser along, from boat to boat, and row in a line ahead of her. The hull will shelter you. Then lay out heartily; but be ready, if you are hailed, to throw off the hawser and get back on board again, as soon as you can, for they may send their boats out after us. We shall get a start anyhow for, when they hear you rowing, they will think you are putting off to attack them; and it will be some minutes before they will find out their mistake.

"Joe, do you go in charge of the boats. I will take the helm. You must cut the cable. They would hear the clank of the windlass."

The operation of lowering boats was conducted very silently. Bob had taken his place at the taffrail, and stood listening for any sound that would show that the Spaniards had heard what was doing. The oars were scarcely dipped in the water, when he heard a sudden lull in the distant talking. A minute later, it broke out again.

"They have orders to pay no attention to the noises," Captain Lockett said, "so as to lead us to think that we shall take them unawares.

"There, she is moving now," he added, as he looked down into the water.

Four or five minutes elapsed; and then, in the stillness of the evening, they could hear a loud hail, in Spanish:

"What ship is that? Cease rowing, or we will sink you!"

"Don't answer," Captain Lockett said. "They have nothing but the confused sound of the oars to tell them where we are."

The hail was repeated and, a minute later, there was the flash of a gun in the darkness, and a shot hummed through the air.

"Fire away!" the captain muttered. "You are only wasting ammunition."

For some minutes the Spaniard continued to fire her two bow guns. Then, after a pause, there was a crash; and twelve guns were discharged, together.

"We are getting farther off, every minute," the captain said, "and unless an unlucky shot should strike one of her spars, we are safe."

The broadside was repeated four times, and then all was silent.

"We are a mile away from them now, Bob; and though, I daresay, they can hear the sound of the oars, it must be mere guesswork as to our position."

He went forward to the bows, and hailed the boats.

"Take it easy now, Mr. Lockett. I don't think she will fire any more. When the men have got their wind, row on again. I shall head her out, now. We must give her a good three miles offing, before we stop."

The men in the four boats had been exerting themselves to their utmost, and it was five minutes before they began rowing again. For an hour and a half they continued their work, and then Captain Lockett said to the second mate:

"You can go forward, and hail them to come on board. I think we have been moving through the water about two knots an hour, so we must be three miles seaward of him."

As soon as the men came on board, a tot of grog was served out, all round. Then the watch below turned in.

"You won't anchor, I suppose, captain?"

"No, there is a considerable depth of water here, and a rocky bottom. I don't want to lose another anchor, and it would take us something like half an hour to get it up again; besides, what current there is will drift us eastward.

"There is more of it, here, than we had inshore. I should say there must be nearly a knot an hour, which will take us a good distance away from those gentlemen, before morning.

"Now, Bob, you had better have a glass of grog, and then turn in. Joe will excuse you keeping watch, tonight."

"Oh, I feel all right!" Bob said. "The water was quite warm, and I slipped down and changed my clothes, directly they left off firing."

"Never mind, you turn in as you are told. You have done us good service, tonight; and have earned your keep on board the brig, if you were to stop here till she fell to pieces of old age."

When Bob went up in the morning, at five o'clock, the three Spanish vessels were still lying at anchor under the land, seven or eight miles away.

"There is a breeze coming," Joe said, "and it is from the south, so we shall get it long before they do. We shall see no more of them."

As soon as the breeze reached them, the sails were braced aft; and the brig kept as close to the wind as she would sail, lying almost directly off from the land.

"I want them to think that we are frightened," Captain Lockett said, in answer to a question from Bob as to the course, "and that we have decided to get away from their neighbourhood, altogether. I expect they are only going as far as Alicante. We will run on till we are well out of sight, then hold on for the rest of the day east and, in the night, head for land again, beyond Alicante. It would never do to risk those fellows coming upon us, again, when we are quietly at anchor. We might not be so lucky, next time."

An hour later the lookout in the top hailed the deck, and said that there was a sail in sight.

"What does she look like, Halkett?" Joe Lockett shouted, for the captain was below.

"As far as I can make out she is a two master--I should say, a brig."

"How is she heading?"

"About northeast, sir. I should say, if we both hold on our courses, she will pass ahead of us."

The captain was now on deck, and he and the first mate went up to the top.

"Starboard your helm a bit!" the captain shouted, after examining the distant sail through his telescope. "Keep her about east."

"What do you think she is, captain?" Bob asked, when the two officers came down again to the poop.

"I should say that she was a craft about our own size, Bob; and I fancy she has come through the Straits, keeping well over the other side, so as to avoid our cruisers from Gib; and is now heading for Alicante. Now we are on our course again, parallel to the coast, there is no reason why she should suspect us of being anything but a trader. If she doesn't take the alarm, I hope we shall be alongside her in a few hours."

Chapter 11: Cutting Out A Prize.

The distant sail was anxiously watched from the Antelope. It closed in with them fast, running almost before the wind. In two hours, her hull could be seen from the deck.

Efforts had been made, by slacking the ropes and altering the set of the sails, to give the brig as slovenly an appearance as possible. The guns had been run in and the portholes closed and, as the Spaniard approached, the crew--with the exception of five or six men--were ordered to keep below the bulwarks.

The course that the Spaniard was taking would have brought her just under the stern of the Antelope when, suddenly, she was seen to change her course, and to bear up into the wind.

"Too late, my lady," the captain said; "you have blundered on too long.

"There is something in our cut that she doesn't like. Haul down that Spanish flag, and run the Union Jack up.

"Open ports, lads, and show them our teeth. Fire that bow gun across her forefoot!"

The guns were already loaded; and as soon as they were run out a shot was fired, as a message to the Spaniard to heave to. A minute later, as she paid no attention, a broadside followed. Three of the shots went crashing into the side of the Spaniard, and one of her boats was smashed.

A moment later the Spanish flag fluttered down, and a hearty cheer broke from the crew of the Antelope. The Spaniard was thrown up into the wind and, in a few minutes, the brig ranged up alongside, within pistol shot. The gig was lowered; and the captain rowed alongside her, taking Bob with him as interpreter.

The prize proved to be a brig, of about the same tonnage as the Antelope. She was from Cadiz, bound first to Alicante, and then to Valencia. She carried only six small guns, and a crew of eighteen men. Her cargo consisted of grain and olive oil.

"Not a bad prize," Captain Lockett said, as Bob read out the items of her bill of lading. "It is a pity that it is not full up, instead of only half laden. Still, it is not a bad beginning; and the craft herself is of a handy size and, if she won't sell at Gibraltar, will pay very well to take on to England. I should say she was fast."

An hour later the two brigs parted company, the second mate and twelve hands being placed on board the Spaniard. There was some discussion as to the prisoners, but it was finally agreed to leave them on board their ship.

"Keep them down in the hold, Mr. Crofts. See that you don't leave any knives with them. Keep a couple of sentries over the hatchway. If the wind holds, you will be in the bay by tomorrow evening. Keep pretty well inshore, and slip in as close to the point as you can. If you do that, you need not have much fear of their gunboats.

"I don't suppose the authorities will want to keep the prisoners, but of course you will report them on your arrival; and can give them one of the boats, to land across the bay, if they are not wanted. If the governor wants to buy the cargo for the garrison, let him have it, at once. Don't stand out for exorbitant terms, but take a fair price. It is just as well to be on good terms with the authorities. We might have to put in to refit, and want spars, etc., from the naval yard. If the governor doesn't want the cargo, don't sell it to anyone else till we return. There is no fear of prices going down. The longer we keep it, the more we shall get for it."

"Hadn't I better bring the ship's papers on board with us, Captain Lockett?"

"What for, Bob? I don't see that they would be any use to us, and the bills of lading will be useful for selling the cargo."

"I can copy them, sir, for Mr. Crofts.

"What I thought was this: the brig is just our own size and, if we should get becalmed anywhere near the shore, and a boat put off, we might possibly be able to pass, with her papers."

"That is a capital idea, Bob; capital! I will have a bit of canvas painted 'Alonzo, Cadiz,' in readiness to nail over our stern, should there be any occasion for it.

"Well, goodbye Mr. Crofts, and a safe journey to you. I needn't tell you to keep a sharp lookout."

"You may trust us for that, sir. We have