by Oliver Optic
CHAPTER XI
THE BATTLE ALONGSIDE THE BELLEVITE
The signal lights at the bend of the river had burned out, and nothingcould be seen in that direction. The turn of the tide had carried thewreck of the Vampire, if she was a wreck, down the stream, and beyondwhat the steward had reported, nothing was known in regard to her. Mr.Watts possessed himself of the single fact that her walking-beam hadbeen carried away by the shot, and he had not waited to ascertainanything more. She was disabled, and he had been instructed to hasten upthe river as soon as he had assured himself of this fact, and made thesignal.
As the extent of the calamity to the enemy was unknown, the youngcommander began to have some painful doubts in regard to the immediatefuture. He had given the order to slip the cable, and he could hear therattle of the chain as it passed out through the hawse-hole. It wasevident enough to him that he had to run the gantlet of the party onboard of the Vampire in descending the river. As the shot had hit thewalking-beam of the steamer, it was not probable that she was seriouslyinjured in her hull, if at all.
Some of the enemy had doubtless been hurt by the fall of the pieces ofmachinery, but Christy could not believe that the conspirators weredisabled, as the vessel was. The enemy might make an attempt to boardthe Bellevite as she passed down the river, for the accident must haverendered the party more desperate than before. In the face of a failureto capture the Bellevite at her anchorage, which had seemed so easy amatter to the leaders of the expedition, they would be ready to take anychances of success that came in their way.
"Cable all out, sir," reported Boxie.
Not without some heavy doubts, Christy rang the bell to go ahead. Hehad no one in the pilot-house with whom he could consult except the twoquartermasters, for Paul was in charge of the engine, and he could nomore leave it than the midshipman could leave the wheel. The propellerbegan to turn, and the ship gathered headway. To add to theresponsibility of the young commander, his mother and sister had justcome on board, and were now seated on the sofa in the engine-room.
The Bellevite was moving down the river, and the only thing Christycould do was to brace himself up to meet whatever might happen on thetrip. He did this at once, and a moment later he rang to go ahead atfull speed. He was approaching the bend of the river, and in a minuteor two more he would be able to see the Vampire. But Captain Carboneercould no more see through the headland at the bend than he could, andhe hoped that the leader of the enemy had not yet discovered that theBellevite was under way.
The steamer increased her speed on the instant in response to thesignal, and she rushed forward at a velocity that would be fatal to theVampire if she happened to be in her path. But Christy was not disposedto make an issue with the enemy when they met; he intended to defend theBellevite, if she was attacked, to the extent of his ability and smallforce.
"There she is!" exclaimed Beeks, as the Bellevite began to change hercourse to go around the bend.
Christy saw the Vampire as soon as the quartermaster, and he was gladto find that she had drifted to the left bank of the river as far asthe depth of water would permit. As her engine was disabled, she hadno means of propulsion with which she could help herself. It was notimprobable that she was aground. She was not armed with a single heavygun, or with any gun, and she was entirely harmless.
Christy breathed more freely when he realized the situation of theVampire. Probably she was provided with one or more boats, and it waspossible that Captain Carboneer might attempt to board the Bellevite assoon as he discovered her. The deck of the steam-yacht was not very farabove the water, and if a boat full of desperate men could get alongsideof the ship, it would not be a very difficult matter for them to mountthe side.
"Port a little," said Christy to the quartermasters at the wheel. "Keepher well over to the west shore. Steady."
A moment later the steamer had her course for passing the Vampire, andChristy left the pilot-house to obtain a better view of the situationand movements of the enemy. It was not so dark as to prevent him fromseeing all that was going on upon her deck, for the Bellevite had topass within pistol-shot of her to avoid getting aground on the edge ofthe channel.
Sampson and the rest of the old ship's company gathered near him, wherethey could see over the rail. The oiler, as Paul Vapoor had instructedhim to do, had armed all these men with a cutlass and a revolver, andvery likely some or all of them would have been glad to make use ofthem.
"They are loading into a boat on the port side of the Vampire, sir, andit looks as though they intended to do something without delay," saidSampson; and, as the steamer had come about since she was disabled, thiswas the side nearest to the shore.
"I see that they are hurrying some movement with all their might,"replied the midshipman, watching with the most intense interest theoperations of the enemy. "Sampson, get out half a dozen sixty-pound,solid shot, and put them on the plankshear, twenty feet apart. Take allhands with you, and hurry up."
The oiler asked no questions, though he might have been excused forwondering what the young commander intended to do with shot withoutpowder. In a few minutes the shot were in place, as Christy haddirected. The midshipman was watching with all his eyes the movement ofthe enemy, and, as the Bellevite approached the position of the wreck,the boat darted out from the other side of her. It began to be excitingfor the middy, loaded with the responsibility of the safety of thesteamer, though he seemed to be as cool as Boxie himself, who had seensome sea fights in his day.
Christy leaped on the rail of the ship, where he could obtain a fullview of the situation. The boat was approaching with all the speed theoarsmen could command, and they seemed to be experienced hands. Therecould be no doubt of the intentions of the enemy, and the midshipmandrew his heavy naval revolver from his pocket.
"Stand by to repel boarders!" he called to the seamen. "Pass up one ofthose shot, Sampson. Have a hand mount the rail, each with a shot, atthe points where you have placed them."
"The ladies wish to know what is going on, Christy," said Paul, comingfrom the engine-room.
"I have no time to talk now," replied Christy impatiently, as he saw theapproaching boat within ten feet of the side of the steamer. "Tell themto stay where they are, and not come on deck!"
The boat was not a large one, and it did not contain more than a dozenmen; but the fine form of Captain Carboneer could be seen, as he stoodup in the stern sheets. Those who were not pulling the oars began todischarge revolvers at the men now mounted on the rail; but the motionof the boat and the ship seemed to defeat their aim, and no one was hitso far as was known.
"When the boat comes alongside, let the man who is in the right placefor it drop his shot into it. Be careful of it, and don't waste theiron," shouted Christy, when the decisive moment came.
"All ready, sir," responded the men along the rail.
"You are the man, Boxie! You are in the right place for the first shot,"added the midshipman.
Boxie was next to him, and it would be Christy's turn next if the oldman failed to do good work with his shot. The boat came alongside, anda bowman fastened his boathook at the side of the ship, and held it inplace. At the same moment Boxie let drive his sixty-pound shot; but heought to have waited an instant longer, for the missile droppedharmlessly into the river.
The bowman had not obtained a good hold, and he lost it, so that theboat began to drift astern. Captain Carboneer shouted his orders, andthe man got a new hold, and this time it was at the painter of the boatin which Sampson had brought off Mr. Watts and the ladies. It had beenforgotten in the excitement of the moment, but the rope afforded a goodhold to several men who had grasped it.
At this thrilling moment, a man wearing a frock-coat discharged arevolver at Christy, who was standing on the rail above him, and then,seizing the painter in the hands of the men, he climbed briskly to theaccommodation steps, which had been hoisted up, but not taken on board.
Christy was in the most dangerous position on board, for he seemed tobe the ta
rget for all who could use their revolvers. But the youngcommander was not asleep, though he had given no order for the lastminute or two. The boat was directly under him, and he had put hispistol in his hip-pocket, in order to take up the solid shot at hisfeet. It was heavy, but he lifted it over his head without anydifficulty, and launched it into the boat with all the force he couldgive to it.
"On deck, there! Let go that painter!" shouted Christy, as he pitchedhis missile from his hands.
He was in a position so favorable for the operation that he could notwell miss his aim, and the shot crashed through the bottom of the boat,carrying down one of the enemy with it. It did not make a round hole inthe bottom of the boat, it was afterwards ascertained, as it might ifit had been fired from one of the broadside guns, but it tore off theplanking, and made a hole as big as the head of a flour-barrel.
"Lay hold of that man on the accommodation ladder!" shouted Christy,without waiting to observe the effect of his shot, for the man who hadsucceeded in mounting the side was armed with a dangerous weapon, whichhe was likely to use as soon as he found the opportunity.
The men forward of the point where the boat had come alongside had beenordered aft, and a couple of them dragged the venturesome officer, ashis frock-coat indicated that he was, to the deck. Christy was almostsure this man was Haslett, who had certainly set a bold example to hiscompanions in the boat. He was quickly secured, and by no gentle hands.His hands were tied behind him, and he was made fast to the rail, wherehe was likely to be harmless during the rest of the trip.
It was no easy matter for a boat to make fast to a steamer going tenknots an hour at least, and if the painter of the boat had not beencarelessly left where it could be of service to the assailants, theaffair would have ended with Boxie's unsuccessful cast of the shot. Butas soon as the painter was let go, an order which Sampson hastened toexecute, the enemy's hold upon the ship was lost, though they were usingboathooks and other implements to make sure of their grasp. The boat wasleft behind by the ship, though not till the hole had been stove in herbottom.
"Beg pardon, Mr. Passford, for missing my heave with the shot," saidBoxie, on the deck; and the veteran's heart seemed to be almost brokenby his failure.
"You are very excusable, Boxie; one can't expect to hit every time,and you did very well," replied Christy, who had suddenly passed frompainful doubt and uncertainty to exultation and exaltation at thevictory achieved. "We are all right now."
"But the enemy are not," added Sampson, who had mounted the rail afterhe had secured the prisoner. "They are all afloat."
"They will get ashore in some way, or back to the Vampire," repliedChristy, and he descended to the deck, and hastened to the engine-room.