When London Burned : a Story of Restoration Times and the Great Fire

by G. A. Henty

  CHAPTER X

  HOW JOHN WILKES FOUGHT THE DUTCH

  After leaving Prince Rupert, Cyril returned to John Wilkes, who wasstanding a short distance away.

  "John! John!" he said eagerly, as he joined him. "Who do you thinkthose gentlemen are?"

  "I don't know, lad. It is easy to see that they are men of importanceby the way they order everyone about."

  "The one who went with us to the garden is Prince Rupert; the otheris the Duke of Albemarle. And the Prince has told me to call upon himto-morrow at Whitehall."

  "That is a stroke of luck, indeed, lad, and right glad am I that Itook it into my head to fetch you out to see the fire. But more thanthat, you have to thank yourself, for, indeed, you behaved rightgallantly. You nearly had the Prince for your helper, for just beforeI went up the ladder the last time he stepped forward and said to me,'You must be well-nigh spent, man. I will go up this time.' However,I said that I would finish the work, and so, without more ado, Ishook off the hand he had placed on my arm, and ran up after you.Well, it is a stroke of good fortune to you, lad, that you shouldhave shown your courage under his eye--no one is more able toappreciate a gallant action. This may help you a long way towardsbringing about the aim you were talking about the other night, and Imay live to see you Sir Cyril Shenstone yet."

  "You can see me that now," Cyril said, laughing. "My father was abaronet, and therefore at his death I came into the title, though Iam not silly enough to go about the City as Sir Cyril Shenstone whenI am but a poor clerk. It will be time enough to call myself 'Sir'when I see some chance of buying back our estate, though, indeed, Ihave thought of taking the title again when I embark on foreignservice, as it may help me somewhat in obtaining promotion. But donot say anything about it at home. I am Cyril Shenstone, and havebeen fortunate enough to win the friendship of Captain Dave, and Ishould not be so comfortable were there any change made in myposition in the family. A title is an empty thing, John, unless thereare means to support it, and plain Cyril Shenstone suits my positionfar better than a title without a guinea in my purse. Indeed, tillyou spoke just now, I had well-nigh forgotten that I have the rightto call myself 'Sir.'"

  They waited for two hours longer. At the end of that time fourmansions had been burnt to the ground, but the further progress ofthe flames had been effectually stayed. The crowd had already begunto scatter, and as they walked eastward the streets were full ofpeople making their way homeward. The bell of St. Paul's was strikingmidnight as they entered. The Captain and his family had long sincegone off to bed.

  "This reminds one of that last business," John whispered, as theywent quietly upstairs.

  "It does, John. But it has been a pleasanter evening in every waythan those fruitless watches we kept in the street below."

  The next morning the story of the fire was told, and excited greatinterest.

  "Who were the girls you saved, Cyril?" Nellie asked.

  "I don't know. I did not think of asking to whom the house belonged,nor, indeed, was there anyone to ask. Most of the people were toobusy to talk to, and the rest were spectators who had, likeourselves, managed to make their way in through the lines of thesoldiers and watch."

  "Were they ladies?"

  "I really don't know," Cyril laughed. "The smoke was too thick to seeanything about them, and I should not know them if I met them to-day;and, besides, when you only see a young person in her nightdress, itis hard to form any opinion as to her rank."

  Nellie joined in the laugh.

  "I suppose not, Cyril. It might make a difference to you, though.Those houses in the Savoy are almost all the property of noblemen,and you might have gained another powerful friend if they had beenthe daughters of one."

  "I should not think they were so," Cyril said. "There seemed to be noone else in the house but three maid servants and the woman who wasin the room with them. I should say the family were all away and thehouse left in charge of servants. The woman may have been ahousekeeper, and the girls her children; besides, even had it beenotherwise, it was merely by chance that I helped them out. It wasJohn who tied the ladders together and who carried the girls down,one by one. If I had been alone I should only have had time to savethe youngest, for I am not accustomed to running up and down ladders,as he is, and by the time I had got her down it would have been toolate to have saved the others. Indeed, I am not sure that we did savethem; they were all insensible, and, for aught I know, may not haverecovered from the effects of the smoke. My eyes are smarting evennow."

  "And so you are to see Prince Rupert to-day, Cyril?" Captain Davesaid. "I am afraid we shall be losing you, for he will, I should say,assuredly appoint you to one of his ships if you ask him."

  "That would be good fortune indeed," Cyril said. "I cannot but thinkmyself that he may do so, though it would be almost too good to betrue. Certainly he spoke very warmly, and, although he may nothimself have the appointment of his officers, a word from him at theAdmiralty would, no doubt, be sufficient. At any rate, it is a greatthing indeed to have so powerful a friend at Court. It may be that,at the end of another two years, we may be at war with some otherforeign power, and that I may be able to enter our own army insteadof seeking service abroad. If not, much as I should like to go to seato fight against the Dutch, service in this Fleet would be of no realadvantage to me, for the war may last but for a short time, and assoon as it is over the ships will be laid up again and the crewsdisbanded."

  "Ay, but if you find the life of a sailor to your liking, Cyril, youmight do worse than go into the merchant service. I could help youthere, and you might soon get the command of a trader. And, let metell you, it is a deal better to walk the decks as captain than it isto be serving on shore with twenty masters over you; and there ismoney to be made, too. A captain is always allowed to take in acertain amount of cargo on his own account; that was the way Iscraped together money enough to buy my own ship at last, and to bemaster as well as owner, and there is no reason why you should not dothe same."

  "Thank you, Captain Dave. I will think it over when I find outwhether I like a sea life, but at present it seems to me that myinclinations turn rather towards the plan that my father recommended,and that, for the last two years, I have always had before me. Yousaid, the other day, you had fought the Dutch, John?"

  "Ay, ay, Master Cyril; but, in truth, it was from no wish or desireon my part that I did so. I had come ashore from Captain Dave's shiphere in the Pool, and had been with some of my messmates who hadfriends in Wapping and had got three days' leave ashore, as the cargowe expected had not come on board the ship. We had kept it up a bit,and it was latish when I was making my way down to the stairs. Iexpect that I was more intent on making a straight course down thestreet than in looking about for pirates, when suddenly I foundmyself among a lot of men. One of them seized me by the arm.

  "'Hands off, mate!' says I, and I lifted my fist to let fly at him,when I got a knock at the back of the head. The next thing I knewwas, I was lying in the hold of a ship, and, as I made out presently,with a score of others, some of whom were groaning, and some cursing.

  "'Hullo, mates!' says I. 'What port is this we are brought up in?'

  "'We are on board the _Tartar_,' one said.

  "I knew what that meant, for the _Tartar_ was the receiving hulkwhere they took the pressed men.

  "The next morning, without question asked, we were brought up ondeck, tumbled into a small sloop, and taken down to Gravesend, andthere put, in batches of four or five, into the ships of war lyingthere. It chanced that I was put on board Monk's flagship the_Resolution_. And that is how it was I came to fight the Dutch."

  "What year was that in, John?"

  "'53--in May it was. Van Tromp, at that time, with ninety-eight shipsof war, and six fire-ships, was in the Downs, and felt so much Masterof the Sea that he sailed in and battered Dover Castle."

  "Then you were in the fight of the 2nd of June?"

  "Ay; and in that of the 31st of July, which was harder still."

&nb
sp; "Tell me all about it, John."

  "Lor' bless you, sir, there is nothing to tell as far as I wasconcerned. I was at one of the guns on the upper deck, but I might aswell have been down below for anything I saw of it. It was just loadand fire, load and fire. Sometimes, through the clouds of smoke, onecaught a sight of the Dutchman one was firing at; more often onedidn't. There was no time for looking about, I can tell you, and ifthere had been time there was nothing to see. It was like being in abig thunderstorm, with thunderbolts falling all round you, and asmashing and a grinding and a ripping that would have made your hairstand on end if you had only had time to think of it. But we hadn'ttime. It was 'Now then, my hearties, blaze away! Keep it up, lads!The Dutchmen have pretty near had enough of it!' And then, at last,'They are running, lads. Run in your guns, and tend the sails.' Andthen a cheer as loud as we could give--which wasn't much, I can tellyou, for we were spent with labour, and half choked with powder, andour tongues parched up with thirst."

  "How many ships had you?"

  "We had ninety-five war-ships, and five fire-ships, so the game wasan equal one. They had Tromp and De Ruyter to command them, and wehad Monk and Deane. Both Admirals were on board our ship, and in thevery first broadside the Dutch fired a chain-shot, and pretty wellcut Admiral Deane in two. I was close to him at the time. Monk, whowas standing by his side, undid his own cloak in a moment, threw itover his comrade, and held up his hand to the few of us that had seenwhat had happened, to take no notice of it.

  "It was a good thing that Deane and Monk were on board the same ship.If it had not been so, Deane's flag would have been hauled down andall the Fleet would have known of his death, which, at thecommencement of the fight, would have greatly discouraged the men.

  "They told me, though I know naught about it, that Rear-AdmiralLawson charged with the Blue Squadron right through the Dutch line,and so threw them into confusion. However, about three o'clock, thefight having begun at eleven, Van Tromp began to draw off, and we gotmore sail on the _Resolution_ and followed them for some hours, theymaking a sort of running fight of it, till one of their big shipsblew up, about nine in the evening, when they laid in for shore.Blake came up in the night with eighteen ships. The Dutch tried todraw off, but at eight o'clock we came up to them, and, afterfighting for four hours, they hauled off and ran, in great confusion,for the flats, where we could not follow them, and so they escaped toZeeland. We heard that they had six of their best ships sunk, twoblown up and eleven taken, but whether it was so or not I knew not,for, in truth, I saw nothing whatever of the matter.

  "We sailed to the Texel, and there blocked in De Ruyter's squadron oftwenty-five large ships, and we thought that there would be no morefighting, for the Dutch had sent to England to ask for terms ofpeace. However, we were wrong, and, to give the Dutchmen their due,they showed resolution greater than we gave them credit for, for wewere astonished indeed to hear, towards the end of July, that VanTromp had sailed out again with upwards of ninety ships.

  "On the 29th they came in view, and we sailed out to engage them, butthey would not come to close quarters, and it was seven at nightbefore the _Resolution_, with some thirty other ships, came up tothem and charged through their line. By the time we had done that itwas quite dark, and we missed them altogether and sailed south,thinking Van Tromp had gone that way; but, instead, he had sailednorth, and in the morning we found he had picked up De Ruyter'sfleet, and was ready to fight. But we had other things to think ofbesides fighting that day, for the wind blew so hard that it was asmuch as we could do to keep off the shore, and if the gale hadcontinued a good part of the ships would have left their bones there.However, by nightfall the gale abated somewhat, and by the nextmorning the sea had gone down sufficient for the main deck ports tobe opened. So the Dutch, having the weather gauge, sailed down toengage us.

  "I thought it rough work in the fight two months before, but it wasas nothing to this. To begin with, the Dutch fire-ships came downbefore the wind, and it was as much as we could do to avoid them.They did, indeed, set the _Triumph_ on fire, and most of the crewjumped overboard; but those that remained managed to put out theflames.

  "Lawson, with the Blue Squadron, began the fighting, and that sobriskly, that De Ruyter's flagship was completely disabled and towedout of the fight. However, after I had seen that, our turn began, andI had no more time to look about. I only know that ship after shipcame up to engage us, seeming bent upon lowering Monk's flag. ThreeDutch Admirals, Tromp, Evertson, and De Ruyter, as I heardafterwards, came up in turn. We did not know who they were, but weknew they were Admirals by their flags, and pounded them with all ourhearts; and so good was our aim that I myself saw two of theAdmirals' flags brought down, and they say that all three of themwere lowered. But you may guess the pounding was not all on our side,and we suffered very heavily.

  "Four men were hurt at the gun I worked, and nigh half the crew werekilled or wounded. Two of our masts were shot away, many of our gunsdisabled, and towards the end of the fight we were towed out of theline. How the day would have gone if Van Tromp had continued incommand of the Dutch, I cannot say, but about noon he was shotthrough the body by a musket-ball, and this misfortune greatlydiscouraged the Dutchmen, who fight well as long as things seem to begoing their way, but lose heart very easily when they think thematter is going against them.

  "By about two o'clock the officers shouted to us that the Dutch werebeginning to draw off, and it was not long before they began to fly,each for himself, and in no sort of order. Some of our lightfrigates, that had suffered less than the line-of-battle ships,followed them until the one Dutch Admiral whose flag was left flying,turned and fought them till two or three of our heavier ships came upand he was sunk.

  "We could see but little of the chase, having plenty of work, for,had a gale come on, our ship, and a good many others, would assuredlyhave been driven ashore, in the plight we were in. Anyhow, at nighttheir ships got into the Texel, and our vessels, which had beenfollowing them, anchored five or six leagues out, being afraid of thesands. Altogether we had burnt or sunk twenty-six of their ships ofwar, while we lost only two frigates, both of which were burnt bytheir fire-ships.

  "As it was certain that they would not come out for some time again,and many of our ships being unfit for further contention untilrepaired, we returned to England, and I got my discharge and joinedCaptain Dave again a fortnight later, when his ship came up theriver.

  "Monk is a good fighter, Master Cyril, and should have the command ofthe Fleet instead of, as they say, the Duke of York. Although he iscalled General, and not Admiral, he is as good a sea-dog as any ofthem, and he can think as well as fight.

  "Among our ships that day were several merchantmen that had beentaken up for the service at the last moment and had guns slapped onboard, with gunners to work them. Some of them had still theircargoes in the hold, and Monk, thinking that it was likely thecaptains would think more of saving their ships and goods than offighting the Dutch, changed the captains all round, so that no mancommanded his own vessel. And the consequence was that, as alladmitted, the merchantmen were as willing to fight as any, and borethemselves right stoutly.

  "Don't you think, Master Cyril, if you go with the Fleet, that youare going to see much of what goes on. It will be worse for you thanit was for me, for there was I, labouring and toiling like a dumbbeast, with my mind intent upon working the gun, and paying no heedto the roar and confusion around, scarce even noticing when onebeside me was struck down. You will be up on the poop, having naughtto do but to stand with your hand on your sword hilt, and waiting toboard an enemy or to drive back one who tries to board you. You willfind that you will be well-nigh dazed and stupid with the din anduproar."

  "It does not sound a very pleasant outlook, John," Cyril laughed."However, if I ever do get into an engagement, I will think of whatyou have said, and will try and prevent myself from getting eitherdazed or stupid; though, in truth, I can well imagine that it isenough to shake anyone's nerves to stand inactive in s
o terrible ascene."

  "You will have to take great care of yourself, Cyril," Nellie saidgravely.

  Captain Dave and John Wilkes both burst into a laugh.

  "How is he to take care of himself, Nellie?" her father said. "Do yousuppose that a man on deck would be any the safer were he to stoopdown with his head below the rail, or to screw himself up on theleeward side of a mast? No, no, lass; each man has to take his shareof danger, and the most cowardly runs just as great a risk as the manwho fearlessly exposes himself."