The Phantom Ship

by Frederick Marryat

  CHAPTER NINETEEN.

  It appeared as if their misfortunes were to cease, after the tragicaldeath of the two commanders. In a few days, the Dort had passed throughthe Straits of Magellan, and was sailing in the Pacific Ocean with ablue sky and quiet sea. The ship's company recovered their health andspirits, and the vessel being now well manned, the duty was carried onwith cheerfulness.

  In about a fortnight, they had gained well up on the Spanish coast, butalthough they had seen many of the inhabitants on the beach, they hadnot fallen in with any vessels belonging to the Spaniards. Aware thatif he met with a Spanish ship of superior force it would attack him,Philip had made every preparation, and had trained his men to the guns.He had now, with the joint crews of the vessels, a well-manned ship, andthe anticipation of prize-money had made his men very eager to fall inwith some Spaniard, which they knew that Philip would capture if hecould. Light winds and calms detained them for a month on the coast,when Philip determined upon running for the Isle St. Marie, where,though he knew it was in possession of the Spaniards, he yet hoped to beable to procure refreshments for the ship's Company, either by fairmeans or by force. The Dort was, by their reckoning, about thirty milesfrom the island, and having run in until after dark, they had hove totill the next morning. Krantz was on deck; he leant over the side, andas the sails flapped to the masts, he attempted to define the line ofthe horizon. It was very dark, but as he watched, he thought that heperceived a light for a moment, and which then disappeared. Fixing hiseyes on the spot, he soon made out a vessel, hove to, and not twocables' length distant. He hastened down to apprise Philip and procurea glass. By the time Philip was on deck the vessel had been distinctlymade out to be a three-masted xebeque, very low in the water. After ashort consultation it was agreed that the boats on the quarter should belowered down, and manned and armed without noise, and that they shouldsteal gently alongside and surprise her. The men were called up,silence enjoined, and in a few minutes the boat's crew had possession ofthe vessel; having boarded her and secured the hatches before the alarmcould be given by the few who were on deck. More men were then taken onboard by Krantz, who, as agreed upon, lay to under the lee of the Dortuntil the daylight made its appearance. The hatches were then takenoff, and the prisoners sent on board of the Dort. There were sixtypeople on board,--a large number for a vessel of that description.

  On being interrogated, two of the prisoners, who were well-dressed andgentlemanlike persons, stepped forward and stated that the vessel wasfrom St. Mary's, bound to Lima, with a cargo of flour and passengers;that the crew and captain consisted of twenty-five men, and all the restwho were on board had taken that opportunity of going to Lima. Thatthey themselves were among the passengers, and trusted that the vesseland cargo would be immediately released, as the two nations were not atwar.

  "Not at war at home, I grant," replied Philip, "but in these seas, theconstant aggressions of your armed ships compel me to retaliate, and Ishall therefore make a prize of your vessel and cargo. At the sametime, as I have no wish to molest private individuals, I will land allthe passengers and crew at St. Mary's, to which place I am bound inorder to obtain refreshments, which now I shall expect will be givencheerfully as your ransom, so as to relieve me from resorting to force."The prisoners protested strongly against this, but without avail. Theythen requested leave to ransom the vessel and cargo, offering a largersum than they both appeared to be worth: but Philip, being short ofprovisions refused to part with the cargo, and the Spaniards appearedmuch disappointed at the unsuccessful issue of their request. Findingthat nothing would induce him to part with the provisions, they thenbegged hard to ransom the vessel; and to this, after a consultation withKrantz, Philip gave his assent. The two vessels then made sail, andsteered on for the island, then about four leagues distant. AlthoughPhilip had not wished to retain the vessel, yet, as they stood intogether, her superior speed became so manifest, that he almost repentedthat he had agreed to ransom her.

  At noon, the Dort was anchored in the roads, out of gunshot, and aportion of the passengers allowed to go on shore and make arrangementsfor the ransom of the remainder, while the prize was hauled alongside,and her cargo hoisted into the ship. Towards evening, three large boatswith livestock and vegetables, and the sum agreed upon for the ransom ofthe xebeque, came alongside; and as soon as one of the boats wascleared, the prisoners were permitted to go on shore in it, with theexception of the Spanish pilot, who, at the suggestion of Krantz, wasretained, with a promise of being released directly the Dort was clearof the Spanish seas. A negro slave was also, at his own request,allowed to remain on board, much to the annoyance of the two passengersbefore mentioned, who claimed the man as their property, and insistedthat it was an infraction of the agreement which had been entered into."You prove my right by your own words," replied Philip; "I agreed todeliver up all the passengers, but no _property_; the slave will remainon board."

  Finding their endeavours ineffectual, the Spaniards took a haughtyleave. The Dort remained at anchor that night to examine her rigging,and the next morning they discovered that the xebeque had disappeared,having sailed unperceived by them during the night.

  As soon as the anchor was up and sail made on the ship, Philip went downto his cabin with Krantz, to consult as to their best course. They werefollowed by the negro slave, who, shutting the door and lookingwatchfully round, said that he wished to speak with them. Hisinformation was most important, but given rather too late. The vesselwhich had been ransomed, was a government advice-boat, the fastestsailer the Spaniards possessed. The pretended two passengers wereofficers of the Spanish navy, and the others were the crew of thevessel. She had been sent down to collect the bullion and take it toLima, and at the same time to watch for the arrival of the Dutch fleet,intelligence of whose sailing had been some time before receivedoverland. When the Dutch fleet made its appearance, she was to returnto Lima with the news, and a Spanish force would be detached against it.They further learnt that some of the supposed casks of flour contained2,000 gold doubloons each, others bars of silver; this precaution havingbeen taken in case of capture. That the vessel had now sailed for Limathere was no doubt. The reason why the Spaniards were so anxious not toleave the negro on board of the Dort, was, that they knew that he woulddisclose what he now had done. As for the pilot, he was a man whom theSpaniards knew they could trust, and for that reason they had better becareful of him, or he would lead the Dort into some difficulty.

  Philip now repented that he had ransomed the vessel, as he would, in allprobability, have to meet and cope with a superior force, before hecould make his way clear out of these seas; but there was no help forit. He consulted with Krantz, and it was agreed that they should sendfor the ship's company and make them acquainted with these facts;arguing that a knowledge of the valuable capture which they had made,would induce the men to fight well, and stimulate them with the hopes offurther success. The ship's company heard the intelligence withdelight, professed themselves ready to meet double their force, and thenby the directions of Philip, the casks were brought up on thequarter-deck, opened, and the bullion taken out. The whole, whencollected, amounted to about half a million of dollars, as near as theycould estimate it, and a distribution of the coined money was made fromthe capstan the very next day; the bars of metal being reserved untilthey could be sold, and their value ascertained.

  For six weeks Philip worked his vessel up the coast, without falling inwith any vessel under sail. Notice had been given by the advice-boat,as it appeared, and every craft large and small, was at anchor under thebatteries. They had nearly run up the whole coast, and Philip haddetermined that the next day he would stretch across to Batavia, when aship was seen in-shore under a press of sail, running towards Lima.Chase was immediately given, but the water shoaled, and the pilot wasasked if they could stand on. He replied in the affirmative, statingthat they were now in the shallowest water, and that it was deeperwithin. The leadsman was ordered into the chains,
but at the firstheave, the lead-line broke; another was sent for, and the Dort stillcarried on under a heavy press of sail. Just then, the negro slave wentup to Philip, and told him that he had seen the pilot with his knife inthe chains, and that he thought he must have cut the lead-line so farthrough, as to occasion its being carried away, and told Philip not totrust him. The helm was immediately put down; but as the shipwent round she touched on the bank, dragged, and was againclear.--"Scoundrel!" cried Philip. "So you cut the lead-line? Thenegro saw you, and has saved us."

  The Spaniard leaped down from off the gun, and, before he could beprevented, had buried his knife in the heart of the negro. "Maldetto!take that for your pains," cried he in a fury, grinding his teeth andflourishing his knife.

  The negro fell dead. The pilot was seized and disarmed by the crew ofthe Dort, who were partial to the negro, as it was from his informationthat they had become rich.

  "Let them do with him as they please," said Krantz to Philip.

  "Yes," replied Philip, "summary justice."

  The crew debated a few minutes, and then lashed the pilot to the negro,and carried him off to the taffrail. There was a heavy plunge, and hedisappeared under the eddying waters in the wake of the vessel.

  Philip now determined to shape his course for Batavia. He was within afew days' sail of Lima, and had every reason to believe that vessels hadbeen sent out to intercept him. With a favourable wind he now stoodaway from the coast, and for three days made a rapid passage. On thefourth, at daylight, two vessels appeared to windward, bearing down uponhim. That they were large armed vessels was evident; and the display ofSpanish ensigns and pennants, as they rounded to, about a mile towindward, soon showed that they were enemies. They proved to be afrigate of a larger size than the Dort and a corvette of twenty-twoguns.

  The crew of the Dort showed no alarm at this disparity of force; theyclinked their doubloons in their pockets, vowed not to return them totheir lawful owners, if they could help it, and flew with alacrity totheir guns. The Dutch ensign was displayed in defiance, and the twoSpanish vessels again putting their heads towards the Dort, that theymight lessen their distance, received some raking shot, which somewhatdiscomposed them, but they rounded to at a cable's length, and commencedthe action with great spirit, the frigate lying on the beam, and thecorvette on the bow of Philip's vessel. After half an hour's determinedexchange of broadsides, the fore-mast of the Spanish frigate fell,carrying away with it the maintop-mast; and this accident impeded herfiring. The Dort immediately made sail, stood on to the corvette, whichshe crippled with three or four broadsides, then tacked, and fetchedalongside of the frigate, whose lee guns were still impeded with thewreck of the foremast. The two vessels now lay head and stern, withinten feet of each other, and the action recommenced to the disadvantageof the Spaniard. In a quarter of an hour the canvass, hanging overside,caught fire from the discharge of the guns, and very soon communicatedto the ship, the Dort still pouring in a most destructive broadside,which could not be effectually returned. After every attempt toextinguish the flames, the captain of the Spanish vessel resolved thatboth vessels should share the same fate. He put his helm up, andrunning her on to the Dort, grappled with her, and attempted to securethe two vessels together. Then raged the conflict; the Spaniardsattempting to pass their grappling-chains so as to prevent the escape oftheir enemy, and the Dutch endeavouring to frustrate their attempt. Thechains and sides of hot vessels were crowded with men fightingdesperately; those struck down falling between the two vessels, whichthe wreck of the foremast still prevented from coming into actualcollision. During this conflict, Philip and Krantz were not idle. Bysquaring the after-yards, and putting all sail on forward they contrivedthat the Dort should pay off before the wind with her antagonist, and bythis manoeuvre they cleared themselves of the smoke which so incommodedthem; and having good way on the two vessels, they then rounded to so asto get on the other tack, and bring the Spaniard to leeward. This gavethem a manifest advantage and soon terminated the conflict. The smokeand flames were beat back on the Spanish vessel--the fire which hadcommunicated to the Dort was extinguished--the Spaniards were no longerable to prosecute their endeavours to fasten the two vessels together,and retreated to within the bulwarks of their own vessel; and aftergreat exertions, the Dort was disengaged, and forged ahead of heropponent, who was soon enveloped in a sheet of flame. The corvetteremained a few cables' length to windward, occasionally firing a gun.Philip poured in a broadside, and she hauled down her colours. Theaction might now be considered at an end, and the object was to save thecrew of the burning frigate. The boats of the Dort were hoisted out,but only two of them would swim. One of them was immediately despatchedto the corvette, with orders for her to send all her boats to theassistance of the frigate, which was done, and the major part of thesurviving crew were saved. For two hours the guns of the frigate, asthey were heated by the flames, discharged themselves; and then, thefire having communicated to the magazine she blew up, and the remainderof her hull sank slowly and disappeared. Among the prisoners, in theuniform of the Spanish service, Philip perceived the two pretendedpassengers; this proving the correctness of the negro's statement. Thetwo men-of-war had been sent out of Lima on purpose to intercept him,anticipating, with such a preponderating force, an easy victory. Aftersome consultation with Krantz, Philip agreed, that as the corvette wasin such a crippled state, and the nations were not actually at war, itwould be advisable to release her with all the prisoners. This wasdone, and the Dort again made sail for Batavia, and anchored in theroads three weeks after the combat had taken the place. He found theremainder of the fleet, which had been despatched before them, and hadarrived there some weeks, had taken in their cargoes, and were ready tosail for Holland. Philip wrote his despatches in which he communicatedto the Directors the events of the voyage; and then went on shore, toreside at the house of the merchant who had formerly received him, untilthe Dort could be freighted for her voyage home.