by Oliver Optic
CHAPTER XIII
THE CATASTROPHE TO THE FATIME
If the strength of the little Maud was never fully tested before, it wasdone on the present occasion; and the construction and material of theFatime at the same time. The story of the manner in which theGuardian-Mother had run into and made a hole in the side of the Vikinghad been many times repeated on board of the ship while the "Big Four"were on board of her; for this affair had interested Scott more than anyother item of her voyage.
The young captain had done at this time precisely the same thing thatCaptain Ringgold had at another; and the blow had not been given byaccident on either occasion. When at the distance of sixty feet from theMaud, the pirate had swung to and discharged her starboard gun, the shotfrom which had passed through the galley. She was under full steam; herport gun was no doubt all ready, and another turn of the wheel wouldhave enabled her to send another shot through the Maud.
To Captain Scott it was the critical moment of the conflict. Anotherball from the enemy might go through the boiler or the engine, ordisable his beloved little craft in some other manner; and he did whatseemed to be the only thing he could do for the salvation of the Maudand his ship's company. He had disabled his vindictive enemy.
Up to the moment when the Maud struck the decisive blow, the five"sharpshooters," as Scott had called them, had used their rifles; butthe people of the Fatime had taken refuge under her top-gallantforecastle, or behind whatever would afford them shelter from thebullets, and not many of them appeared to have been hit. Besides, thesituation was altogether too novel and exciting for the party to actwith anything like coolness, and the smoke from the twelve-pounderconcealed the enemy at the most critical moment. They had discharged therifles at random, rather than with careful aim at each shot.
The moment the collision came, the voice of the captain called the partyto the main deck; for the battle appeared to him to be ended. The enemycould not board the Maud, for she had backed at least fifty feet fromthe disabled steamer; but all hands were needed there in case theyattempted to do so with their boats, of which she had one on eachquarter.
"Don!" shouted Scott, as soon as the rifle-party appeared on theforecastle, and while the little steamer was still backing.
"On deck, sir," promptly responded the second engineer.
"Go below forward, and see what damage has been done to us," added thecaptain. "Flix, heave the lead!"
However it may have been with the others on board of the Maud, the youngcommander was in full possession of all his faculties, in spite of thetremendous excitement which must have pervaded the minds of all on boardof the little craft. His first care was for the Maud, and he looked allabout him to ascertain what mischief had been done. He sent Pitts to thegalley to report on the effect of the shot there.
"And a quarter seven!" reported Felix.
This was the first mark on the chart outside of the shoal line from oneto two miles from the shore. The captain now turned his attention to thecondition of the Fatime. Louis had gone into the pilot-house to receiveany orders the commander had to give him. The collision had been asurprise to him. It had not occurred to him that Captain Scott wouldresort to such an extreme measure, though he had hinted at something ofthe kind early in the morning.
"I suppose we may consider the battle as ended, Louis," said Scott, asthe other took his place on the opposite side of the wheel, where hecould see out of the front window on the port.
"I should say that it was decidedly ended, and in the most decisivemanner," replied Louis, though his thoughts were not a little scatteredand confused by the exciting events of the last few moments. "Whatnext?"
"If the pirates undertake to board us with their boats, we must be readyto repel them," replied Scott.
"Board us! Why, the water is pouring into that hole in her side asthrough a mill-sluice!" exclaimed Louis.
"But they are lowering their boats; and it remains to be seen what theyintend to do with them."
All the hands on board of the Fatime appeared to be Moors, for they wereall dressed in Oriental costume. By this time she was letting off steamwith a tremendous racket. The crew were casting loose the boats at thequarter davits. If there was an English engineer on board of her, he hadclothed himself in Moorish costume, for no one in a European dress couldbe seen.
"She is settling in the water," said Louis, as he observed the conditionof the disabled vessel.
"In a word, Louis, she is going to the bottom!" exclaimed Captain Scott."Do you see anything of Mazagan?"
"I have been looking for him, but I can't make him out," replied Louis.
By this time one of the boats was in the water, and the men werecrowding into her without any order or method in their movements. No oneappeared to be in command, and every one was acting for himself. Theremust have been a couple of officers besides the captain; but no oneexerted his authority. The other boat was soon in the water, and allwho had not found a place in the first one crowded into her, some ofthem jumping overboard in their haste to save themselves.
The first boat shoved off from the side of the Fatime, and all thepeople of the Maud watched it, some of the firing party seizing theirrifles, and preparing to use them, to ascertain what the piratesintended to do. It contained ten men, as Morris counted them. The fourmen at the oars gave way as soon as it was clear of the vessel, but thehead of the boat was directed to the shore.
"Those villains have had fighting enough, and I don't believe they willgive us any more trouble," said Captain Scott, when the boat was fairlyin motion for the shore. It was evident enough that they could donothing to save the steamer, and they had abandoned her. The other boatpresently came out from the farther side of the vessel, and it containedonly seven persons, from which it appeared that the Fatime's ship'scompany consisted of only seventeen men, unless some of them had beenkilled or wounded, and left on board.
"This looks like the end of the Fatime, and I don't believe she willgive us any further trouble in our voyage, wherever we may go," saidCaptain Scott, while all hands were watching the passage of the twoboats to the shore.
"But why don't she sink?" asked Louis.
"Though that is a big hole in her side, the most of it was above waterin the first of it, and the brine did not flow in very rapidly; but sheis settling very fast now, and it is a question of only a few minuteswith her now," replied the captain, as he rang three bells upon the gongin the engine-room to back her. "We are rather too near her if she makesmuch of a stir-about when she goes down."
"Help! Help! Save me! Save me!" came in rather feeble tones from thewreck of the Fatime.
At the same time the form of a man was seen staggering to the end of thebridge.
"That's Captain Mazagan!" shouted Felix from the forecastle.
"Mazagan!" exclaimed Louis.
"Shall we do anything for that man, Captain Scott?" asked Don, coming tothe front windows of the pilot-house. "If we do, it must be done in ahurry, for that craft is going to the bottom in less than two minutes."
"Of course we shall save him," replied the captain, looking at Louis.
"Certainly, we must save him!" added Louis with an earnestness thatimpressed his companion. "Don't let us forget that we are Christians atsuch a moment as this! How shall it be done, Captain? Give your orders,and count me in as the first volunteer."
"Get the boat into the water, Morris! Be lively about it. Louis andFelix will go in it to save this man if they can," replied the captain.
The boat on the hurricane deck was a small and light one, and the firstofficer had it in the water almost in the twinkling of an eye. Louis andFelix leaped into it, and in another instant they were pulling for thewreck. It was a smooth sea, and the distance was not more than fiftyfeet; for the captain had rung to stop the backward motion as soon asthe cry from the survivor reached his ears.
"Mind your eye, Louis!" shouted Scott, as soon as they were in motion."She may go down at any moment! When I shout to you, back out as fast asyou can! I wil
l watch her, and let you know when she is likely to makeher last dive!"
"Ay, ay!" returned Louis.
"I beg you, Captain Scott, not to let them go any farther," said Donvery earnestly. "She is settling fast by the stern, and she will go downby the time they get alongside of her. She has settled so that the holeis more than half under water."
"That is so!" exclaimed Scott, as he glanced at the stern of the wreck."Hold on! Hold on!" he shouted with all the force of his lungs. "Backout!"
The two rowers obeyed the order promptly, and backed water with alltheir might; and it was fortunate that they did so, or they would havebeen caught in the swirl of the sinking vessel. Before they hadretreated twenty feet, the stern of the Fatime suddenly went down, witha mighty rush of the water around her to fill up the vacant space insideof her, and then she shot to the bottom, disappearing entirely from thegaze of the beholders, as well in the two boats of the ship's companythat had abandoned her, as of those on board of the Maud.
"That is the end of the pirate!" exclaimed Captain Scott, with a sort ofsolemnity in his tones and manner, as though he regarded the fate of thesteamer as a retribution upon her for the use to which she had beenapplied.
"Amen!" responded Don at the window of the pilot-house.
The burden of his responsibility began to weigh upon his mind as CaptainScott witnessed the last scene of the drama. But his thoughts wererecalled to the present moment when he saw Louis and Felix, thecommotion of the water having subsided, pulling with all their mightback to the scene of the catastrophe.
The little boat had not been far enough away from the turmoil of thewater to be unaffected by it; and for a moment the puny craft had rolledand pitched as though it would toss its passengers into the bay. Askilful use of the oars had saved the boat from being upset, and Louisand Felix began to survey the scene of the uproar as soon as the wavesceased the violence of their motion.
"Mazagan has gone to the bottom with her!" exclaimed Felix, as he lookedabout the various objects that had floated away from the wreck as itsank to the bottom.
"Perhaps not," replied Louis. "He was on the end of the bridge, and hemay have floated off and come to the surface. Give way again, Flix!"
"There he is!" shouted the Milesian, as he bent to his oar with hisboatmate. "His head just up out of the water, as though he had just comeup from the bottom."
A few more strokes brought the boat to the point where Felix had seenthe head just as it rose again. He rushed to the bow, and seized thedrowning man by the collar of his vest, for he wore no coat, and draggedhim to the middle of the boat. He seemed to be exhausted or insensible,for he did not speak. With a great deal of difficulty they labored toget him in; but the boat was so small that they did not succeed at once.
"All right, Flix; hold him where he is, if you can. The captain hasstarted the Maud, and she will be here in a moment," said Louis. "Passthe painter of the boat under his arms, and make it fast if he is toomuch for you, though it will be but for a moment."
"I can hold him in the water easily enough, my darling. I wonder whatmade him come up," replied Felix.
"I suppose he was lighter than the water. But here is the Maud."
The little steamer ran alongside the tender, and Don and Pitts leapedinto it. By the order of the captain they drew the insensible form intothe boat, which was then taken on board with the victim in it. It wasshoved aft to the cabin door, in which Morris had made up a bed for thesufferer.
The engineer and the cook proceeded to examine him. In his rightshoulder they found a bullet-wound, which he must have received while onthe bridge, doing his best for the destruction of the Maud. The cookdeclared that it was not a very bad wound, and not at all likely to befatal. Pitts brought some brandy from the medicine-chest, and gave him asmall quantity of it.
This stimulant revived him, and then he wanted to talk; but Pitts wouldnot permit him to do so. He remained with him, while Louis and Felixwent forward to report to the captain, and Don went to the engine-roomto tell Felipe the news.