Beadle's New York Dime Library No. 206 — page 7: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

watching the result through the g ee tee ee ee rr ten ee sidelong glances from the men at the guns, till the boatswain pointed over the bows and said: ‘* There it is, sir.” And this time Captain Wright was too much impressed to scowl and swear, he boatswain had told the truth. The figure-head of the frigate, a crowned fe- male, about ten feet high, had been decapitated by a shot, the head of the lady being knocked from the shoulders, along with some of the scroll-work around it. The captain looked at the lugger, and then at Harpin. ** That must have been a long gun,” he began: when, just. at that moment, a flash came from the distant vessel, a white cloud burst from her snowy hull, and another shot came over the sea, straight for the frigate. ** Luff!” shouted the captain, as he saw the missile skipping along, and the bows of the ship gave a wide sweep as she was thrown up into the wind—for a shot takes time to cross a mile and a half ef sea, and a moving target is pro- verbially hard to hit. But not the shifting of the Penelope saved her that time, as it happened. In fact, it turned out a bad move. In another moment the shot came in over the port cat-head and tore its way across the deck of the frigate, striking a gun-carriage on the starboard quarter, knocking it into splinters, killing four men and wounding several more as only such a shot can, happening to hit in such a lace. i The anger had all faded from Wright’s face, to be replaced by the cool keenness of a first- class officer. He ran aft, crying: ‘Keep cool, men. Fill away, quartermaster. Hands by the braces. Let her fall off. Port broadside, stand by. Now, boys, give her a British broadside! Fire!” The roar of the guns was followed by a thun- dering cheer from the men, as the captain gained the quarter-deck, The white cloud of smoke came back over the decks as the wind blew it in, and no one could see what had been the effect of the broadside till the vail drifted to leeward which it did in a few seconds. When it did, however, they saw the white sails of the lugger at the same dis- tance as before, the little vessel not seeming to be injured in the least. The captain called up to the mast-head. ‘* Did you see the shots up there?” ‘ Ay, ay, sir,” came down. ‘* Where did they go?” ‘* Fell short, sir. Were out of range.” The captain was astounded, “ Tl soon settle that,” he observed, and with the word he went up the mizzen shrouds into the top, with an activity. that his fifty years did not promise, and called down his orders. ‘“*Bout ship, Mr. Weatherston, and give him the starboard broadside, as soon as she fills on the other tack,” Obedient to her helm the Penelope. fiew up into the wind, her sails rattling like thunder, and pointed her head back toward, Havre, or the saucy little lugger under the other broadside, with the dark coast of France for a background to her white sails. ‘* Couldn’t be a fairer target,” muttered the captain; and then he set the glass to bis eye and watched the lugger with a fixed intensity noth- ing could disturb, till the starboard, broadside of the frigate went off beneath him, Thus if happened that he saw. with perfect distinctness the effect of the, second broadside, as the shot went skipping over the waves in lines of white foam, holding their course for the lugger with a precision that showed the British Toad not forgotten the lessons of ,the American war a year before, when their,gun- nery had been so wild... But, to hie intense mortification, not one reached the little vessel, = he bey note by the oy of re ray where ey finally dro and he shou own: 2 Load pred, We u again elevate two degrees. ou bit totpach er surely,” nd, as ke spoke, came another flash from the lugger, which vanished in a cloud of smoke, and a third shot came skimming over the white ca 7 a for the waist of the Penelope. ras It struck her just above the bends and tore through the ship’s hull under the deck, making a tremendous clatter, at which the captain roared down: ‘“Where did that shot strike, boatswain?” Harpin toddled to the main hatch, dived down and came up presently, just as the men got the guns loaded again. “Went through the ward-room, sir,” he yelled up. ‘‘ Officers’ crockery all gone but no one hurt” ‘Are those guus pointed?” cried the captain, not noticing the report. t Ay, ay, sir.” ‘Fire as they bear, then.” And away went asecond broadside, gun after gun firing at the will of its coe Wright ass as before. To his great joy he saw that his twenty-four- ounders carried up to and beyond the lugger, though not a shot struck her, —$ $$ LT TT ' One Eye, the Cannoneer. 7 ee The little clouds of white spray shot up eut of | easy cativas once more,” running down the the sea all round her, and he roared down: ‘‘ We’ve got the range now. Give it to her as carefully as you can. Ten pounds to the man that cripples or sinks her.” The men worked at the guns as hard as they could, while the captain watched the lugger through the glass, He saw that she was setting another sail, the small spanker or jigger, set over the stern, while a cloud of white duck was bellying out on either side of her lug:sails, showing that she had boomed out in racing guise. As he watched her through the glass, more- over, he saw that she was changing her course, | | | | | and running off wing and wing again, down the | | was the lugger, and it speedily appeared that channel, along the coast. ‘Aha! she’s had enough of it—has she?’ be rowled to himself, ‘‘ Now, my lady, | think 've got you.” The lugger was between him and the land, and he saw that she would have to pass wi. hin half a mile to scrape out to sea, when she would be dead under the lee of the frigate, instead of having the weather gage, as hitherto. Accordingly he shouted down his orders: ‘Hands ’bout ship, Weatherston, and then fill away with the wind on the’ port quarter. The hugger’s running, sir! Keep both broad- sides ready.” Obedient to the orders, the frigate luffed again, swung round her sails, and went rapidly off in pursuit of the little lugger, which was be- coming every moment more plain. To escape being chased into Havre by the frigate at a time when British influence was triumphant everywhere, the bold lugger was standing out to the open sea, regardless of the risk. True, England and France were nominally at eace, and the British ship had attacked the urger in sheer wantonness, but it made no dif- ference in that day of French humiliation, what the provocation. A French vessel stood no chance in law or battle, unless she had force to back her. The courses of the two vessels were therefore now on converging lines, the frigate going free to the northwest, the lugger wing and wing, heading due north, to avoid running into the coast, About a mile ahead of botb was a bold cape, that jutted out into the sea above a base fringed with sand, and it was the ‘hope of Captain Wright to foree the lugger ashore or get berun- der his broadside at point-blank range, before she could double the cape. But, todo so, he had to sail the fastest he knew and he had no time to fire. On dashed the frigate, on skimmed the lugger, coming closer every minute. The Belle Creole sailed two feet to the fri- gate’s one, now she was under her racing can- vas; but she had twice as far to go, and it was evident that before she doubled the cape; she would have to remain under the frigate’s broad- side for at least five minutes. Not long, but long enough to sink her. She couid not afford to take the blows that hardly stirred her huge antagonist. | Qn sailed both vessels till less than half a mile apart, when the big ship suddenly luffed ups and the captain was about to order a broad- side. At that very moment when they could plain- ly see the men on the lugger’s deck; clustered round along gun awidships, a fourth flash is- sued from that very gun, and a shot crashed into the Penelope’s quarter, raking the deck, knocking the wheel to splinters, killing the helmsman; and sending one of the quarter-deck carronades over in a complete summersetinto the sea, The effect of the shot was instantaneous. The vessel, released from the pressure of the helm, as the rudder flew round, — wildly to and fro, with her sails thundering in. the wind, as she drifted down on the lugger, and in the midst of the confusion attending the master- ing of the tiller and extricating the ship from the peril of a lee shore, the guns were abandoned, the lugger forgotten, and the crew of the frigate had enough to do to avoid running on shore themselves. When at last the tiller was grappled between decks, the ship worked off-shore, and holding a safe offing, the lugger was nowhere to be seen, and Tom Cbhumley remarked confidentially to his friend Duncomb: “I tell you what it is, Charley. The man that fired that shot is fit to be made first lord of gunnery practice to the King of England. He saved the lugger when nothing else would have done it. I wonder where she’s gone to?” ‘Round the cape, confound her,” was the sulky answer. ‘‘ They’ve only ten feet of water there for a good fifty miles, and she can laugh atus. Time we piped down, I’m beginning to think.” And the captain seemed to share the opinion at last; for he ordered the guns secured and sent the men below, his face the very picture of sullen rage, By the time the Penelope opened the white sails of the lugger again, she was on the other side of the cape, a good five miles alee, under channel ahead of the frigate, as if waiting for her to con.> up. eround his teeth and said to The capta.. Weatherston: ‘I’m going to my cabin. Keep that fellow in sight, but don’t appear to notice him, If he follows us inte deep water, I’ll have him yet.” | " ‘Then’ he went down into his cabin; and tried to distract bis ey by reading, while the ship’s company of the Penelope settled down to their usual avocations, and the boatswain piped to dinner. When the ward-room officers met at their meal, of course the leading topic of conversation diverse opinions’ were entertained as to her | performances, | me me eee ee ee eee SE ‘| think it served us right,” Charley Dun- comb observed. ‘‘ The lugger was not troubling us and we fired at her asif we were still at war with France.” ‘*7 hate a Frenchman anyhow,” retorted Tom Chumley. “It might not have been strictly according to law to fire at her, but we found out one thing: that she’s no business on the high seas. She’s nothing more nor less than a pirate.” ‘Why?’ asked Clapp, the purser. ‘“ That’s a pretty ’ard word, Mr. Chumley— pirate.” “Well, if he’s not a pirate, what is he doing with a thirty-two-pounder on his decks? He was able to outshoet this frigate, and she’s a twenty-four-pounder ship.” ‘‘But he may be a versel of the navy,” object- ed Duncomb, *‘ or coast guard. He had aright to return our fire. Any man has that. e made an attack that was illegal and unpro- voked.” ‘*T don’t think it was,” returned Chumley. “Why, what had she done to provoke it?” ‘* A good deal.” ‘But what?” =. ‘Well, in the first place that figure-head.” ‘“* Nonsense.” ‘You may call it nonsense, but the skipper didn’t think so.” ‘*Oh, the skipper be—” Duncomb ended with a cough. Like most officers of the ship, he hated the duty on which she was going and cordially disliked the com- mander who had volunteered to perform what he considered a degrading task. “The skipper’s soured,” he went on, present- ly ‘and allows his dislike to run away with im. | ‘* He didn’t this time,” returned Tom. ‘* How do ‘you know?” ‘“* By what I saw.” ‘* And what was that?’ “You know aswell as I. “We're not at ver with France under a king, but we are still with this Bonaparte. All Europe is his enemy. Le is a public foe,” | ** Bab he’s a prisoner,” objected Clapp." ‘“The poor rs shut up in St. ’Eleena, and likely -to stay there under Sir ’Udson Low. ’E’s a sharp chap. I used to know ‘ini when ’e was governor, down in the West Indies, Byes in thé back.of his ‘ead; as the saying is.” ~~ “But if he ever gets out,”said Chumley, ar- gumentatively, “* you'll all agree we'd have to lick him again.” . ‘Not necessarily,” said Duncomb. “He +h a go over among the Yankees, forexample, and stay there in peace. He could never hurt — us again.” . “ Be that as it may,” retorted Tom, “‘he and his friends are public enemies—at all events, our enemies. That lugger belongs to a bitter Bona- partist, who is not afraid to flaunt his likings in our face.” ‘“‘ Well, hasn’t he a right to his likes and dis- likes?” asked Duncomb, hotly. “Yes: and wev’e got a right to thrash him like blazes, if we can catch him. Do you know what I believe that fellow’s going to try on eae ‘Well, Ido. I’m sure of it.” . or what is it?” * He’s going to try and off the prisoner at St. Helena or Pas a Dutchman.” x There was a universal cry of surprise. ‘What makes you think so?” ** Ridiculous!” ‘* Oh, Tom’s found a mare’s nest.” ‘Come, tell us why?” ‘“* By Jove, that’s a good one.” ‘Give us your reasons, oracle,” Tom Chumley looked round at his jeering comrades, and said: “Very well. You can laugh, but I tell you this: We're going on guard at St. Helena, Tl bet any man at this table ten pound to five we see that hooker after we’re there.” There was a silence at this. No one cared to take the bet, and Tom went on: “You think you’re all very wise, but I'll ask you a question: What’s the present national flag of France?’ “White, with three gold fleur de lis,” was the prompt response of Lieutenant Lovell, the youngest in the ward room. ‘*'Very well. Did any of you see the flag the OOO) GOMIEE S (E(0)