CHAPTER XIV
_A Surprise for the Juno_
The Ranger, a new and swift-sailing ship, and going free also, rapidlyedged down upon the slow moving convoy on the wind. The frigate, itwas noticed, was several miles ahead in the van; the other ships werecarelessly strung out in a long line, probably not suspecting theexistence of any possible enemy in those waters. The sloop of warappeared to be among the rear ships, while the nearest vessel to theRanger was a large schooner, whose superior sailing qualities hadpermitted her to reach several miles to windward of the square-riggedships; she appeared to be light in ballast also. All of the convoyshowed lights. The Ranger, on the contrary, was as dark as the night,not even the battle lanterns being lighted. She rapidly overhauled theschooner, and almost before her careless people were aware of it, shewas alongside.
"Schooner ahoy!" called out the captain of the ship, standing on therail, trumpet in hand.
"Ahoy, there!" came back from the schooner; "what ship is that?"
"His Britannic majesty's sloop of war Southampton, Captain Sir JamesYeo. I have a message from the admiral for this convoy, which we havebeen expecting. Send a boat aboard."
"Ay, ay, sir. Will you heave to for us?"
"Yes, swing the main-yard there, Mr. Seymour, and heave to."
In a few moments the splash of oars was heard, and a small boat drewout of the darkness to the starboard gangway of the Ranger. A manstood up in the stern sheets, and seizing the man ropes thrown to himclimbed up on the deck.
"Ah, Sir James," he commenced, taking off his hat, "how do you do? Howdark you are! Why, what's all this?" he exclaimed in surprise andterror, as he made out the strange uniforms in the dim light. Hehesitated a moment, and then stepped back hastily to the gangway,lifting his hand.
"Seize him," cried a stern voice, "shoot him if he makes a sound."
The captain of the unlucky schooner was soon dragged, struggling andastonished, to the break of the poop.
"Oh, Sir James, what is the meaning of this outrage, sir, on a Britishship-master? I shall report--"
"Silence, sir, this is the American Continental ship Ranger, and youare a prisoner," replied the same voice. "Answer my questions now atonce; your life depends on it. What are these ships to leeward?"
"Sixteen merchantmen from London, to Halifax, under convoy of twomen-of-war, sir."
"And what are they?"
"The Acasta, thirty-six, and the Juno, twenty-two, sir."
"Very good; is the transport Mellish among them?"
The man made no reply.
"Answer me."
"Ye--yes, sir."
"Which is she?"
"Oh, sir, I can't tell you that, sir; she is the most valuable ship ofthem all," he said incautiously.
"You have got to tell me, my man, if you ever want to see daylightagain; which is she?"
"No, sir, I can't tell you," he replied obstinately.
"Put the muzzle of your pistol to his forehead, Williams, and if hedoes not answer by the time I count ten, pull the trigger. One, two,three, four--"
"Mercy, mercy," cried the frightened skipper, as he felt the coldbarrel of the pistol pressed against his temple.
"Eight, nine--" went on the voice in the darkness, imperturbably.
"I'll tell, I'll tell."
"Ah, I thought so; which one is she?"
"The last one, sir."
"And the Juno?"
"The fourth from the rear; the frigate 's the first one, sir," hevolunteered. "Oh, don't kill me, gentlemen."
"Have you told me the truth, sirrah? Williams, keep your pistol there."
"Oh, sir, yes, so help me; oh, gentlemen, for God's sake don't murderme. I've a wife and--"
"Peace, you fool! We won't hurt you if you 've told the truth; youshall even be released presently and have your schooner again--we don'twant her; but if you have lied to me, you shall hang from that yard-armin the morning, as sure as my name is John Paul Jones."
"O Lord!" said the now thoroughly frightened man, looking up andmeeting the gaze of two eyes which gleamed in the dim light from thedeck above him, "I 've told you the truth, sir."
"Very well. Go call your boat's crew on deck. Stand by to capturethem as soon as they reach the gangway, some of you, then stow them allbelow; let their boat tow astern. And when that's done, you, sir, hailyour schooner and tell her to heave to until your return. Say justwhat I tell you to and nothing more--the pistol at your head is loadedstill. Watch him carefully, men, and then send him below with therest. Fill away again, Mr. Seymour."
The ponderous yards were swung, and the Ranger soon gathered way againand rapidly overhauled the last of the fleet. The first trick hadworked so well that it was worth trying again. As soon as she drewnear the doomed ship, she showed lights like those of the frigate andsloop of war. Ranging alongside the weather quarter of the transport,the captain again hailed,--
"Ship ahoy!"
"Ahoy, what ship is that?"
Again the same deluding reply,--
"His Britannic majesty's sloop of war Southampton, Captain Sir JamesYeo. What ship is that?"
"The transport Mellish."
"Very well, you are the one we want. I have a message for you. TheYankees are about, and the admiral has sent us to look up the convoy.Where is the Acasta?"
"In the van, Sir James, about two leagues ahead; the corvette is abouta mile forward there, sir."
"Very good. Heave to and send a boat aboard and get your orders. Looksharp now, I must speak the corvette and the frigate as well."
"Ay, ay, sir," replied the Englishman, as his mainyard was promptlyswung.
Immediately the Ranger was hove to as well, and on her weather side,which was that away from the transport, two well-manned boats, theircrews heavily armed, one commanded by Seymour, who had Talbot with him,and the other by Philip Wilton, accompanied by Bentley, had beensilently lowered into the water, and were pulling around the Rangerwith muffled oars; making a large detour not only to avoid the boat ofthe captain of the Mellish, but also to enable one of them to approachthe unsuspecting ship on the lee side. The night was pitch dark, andthe plan was carried out exactly as anticipated. The utterlyunsuspecting captain of the Mellish was seized as he came on deck andnearly choked to death before he could make an outcry, then sent belowwith the rest; his boat's crew were tempted on deck also by aninvitation to partake of unlimited grog, and treated in the same way,and the two boats of the Ranger reached the Mellish undiscovered. Thewatch on the deck of the transport, diminished by the absence of theboat's crew, were overwhelmed by the rush of armed men, from both sidesof the ship, and after a few shots from two or three men on thequarter-deck, some yelling and screaming, and a brief scuffle, in whichone man of the Mellish was killed, the ship was mastered. The hatcheswere at once secured, before the watch below scarcely knew of theoccurrence. A company of soldiers, about seventy-five in number, ofthe Seaforth Highlanders, found themselves prisoners ere they awakened,the only resistance having come from the mate and two or three of theirofficers, who had not yet turned in.
"Have you got her, Mr. Seymour?" hailed the Ranger.
"Yes, sir."
"What is she?"
"She 's the Mellish right enough, sir."
"Good. Anybody hurt?"
"One of the enemy killed, sir; all of ours are all right."
"What's her crew?"
"Fifteen men, they say, and seventy-five soldiers. We have the hatchesbattened down, and I think with the men we have, we can manage her allright."
"Very well, sir. I congratulate you. I am sending the second cutteroff to you with the men's dunnage and your boxes. You have yourorders. Present my compliments to General Washington, with that shipas a Christmas present, if you bring her in. God grant you get insafely. Good-by. Better put out that light; we will take your placein the fleet, and see what happens."
"Good-by, sir," cried the young lieutenant; "a prosperous cruise toyou."
In a moment the boat from the Ranger was alongside, the bags and boxeswere speedily shifted, and the cutter, with the other two boats in tow,dropped back to the Ranger, which by a shift of the helm had drawn muchnearer. Then the Mellish filled away, and presently wearing round onher heel went off before the wind, and, all her lights having beenextinguished, faded speedily away in the darkness. The boats werehoisted on the Ranger, she braced up on the port tack, and took theplace vacated by the Mellish. But these things had not happenedwithout attracting some attention.
The captain of the vessel next ahead of the Mellish had heard thepistol shots and shouting. Luffing up into the wind to check his ownheadway, he made out a second ship in the darkness alongside his nextastern. In doubt as to what was happening, but certain that somethingwas wrong, he acted promptly, and caused a blue light to be burned onhis forecastle; this was the agreed signal of danger, and itimmediately awakened the unsuspecting fleet into action. Several ofthe ships at different intervals in the long line repeated the signal,which was finally answered by the frigate, hull down ahead. Thecorvette, a half mile away perhaps, responded immediately, and wearingshort round came to on the other tack, and headed for the last of theline, beating to quarters the while.
A less audacious man might have thought that he had done enough incutting out with so little loss so valuable a transport from under theguns of two ships of war, either of greater force than his own, andtherefore would have taken advantage of the night to effect his ownescape. But this would not have suited the daring nature of CaptainJones, and he resolved to await the advent of the sloop of war,trusting that the advantage of a surprise might compensate for thegreat difference in the batteries of the two ships. Besides thenatural desire to fight the enemy, there was a method in the apparentmadness. If he could successfully disable the sloop before the arrivalof the frigate, he would ensure the escape of the captured Mellish, forthe sloop would be in no condition to pursue, and the frigate could notsafely leave her convoy. So with rather a mixture of ideas, he trustedto the God of battles and the justice of his cause, and also to thedarkness and his own mother-wit and great skill in seamanship, to makehis own escape after the battle, resolutely putting out of his head thefact that the loss of a spar or two would in all probability result inthe capture of his own ship. To sum it all up, Jones was not a man todecline battle when there was the slightest prospect of success, andthe very audacity of the present situation enchanted him. All thelanterns of the Ranger were again extinguished, therefore, and the mensent quietly to their quarters, with the strictest injunctions not tomake a sound or fire a gun until ordered, under pain of death. Everyother preparation had long since been made for action, so the officersslipped on their boarding caps, loosened their swords in their sheaths,and looked to the priming of their pistols; then receiving their finalcommands, departed quietly to their several stations,--Simpson, nowoccupying the position of first lieutenant, vacated by Seymour, havingcharge of the batteries, and Wallingford, on deck with the captain, incommand of the sail trimmers, who were clustered about the masts, thesloop being still heavily manned.
"Man the starboard battery," said the captain, in a low but distinctvoice; "men, we 've got our work cut out for us to-night. No cheeringuntil the first shot is fired, and no firing till I give the order, andthen, all together, give it to them. Do you understand?"
A chorus of subdued "Ay, ays" indicated that the orders were heard.
"Mr. Wallingford, do you stand ready to back the maintopsail when sheis alongside, though if she attempts to pass in front of us we 'll uphelm and take her on the port side. Two of you after-guards go belowand bring up the captain of the Mellish. Lively, we shall soon havethe sloop down on us."
In a few moments the unfortunate British skipper was standing on thepoop-deck beside Captain Jones.
"Now, my man, you are the master of the Mellish, are you not?"
"I was a few moments ago," replied the man, sullenly.
"Well, you are to stand right here, and answer hails just as I tellyou; do you understand?"
"Yes."
"Williams, you and another hold him, and if he hesitates to answer, oranswers other than I tell him, blow his brains out. Now we havenothing to do but wait. Keep her a good full at the helm there."
"Ay, ay, sir," replied the veteran quartermaster, stationed at the con.Meanwhile the Juno had come abeam of the vessel next ahead of theRanger, and the conversation which followed was as plainly audible inthe latter ship as had been the beating to quarters just after she wore.
"Providence ahoy there!" came from the Juno. "What is the matter?What are you burning blue lights for?"
"Nothing is the matter with us, sir, but we heard pistol shots andcries on the Mellish astern, and thought we saw two ships instead ofone. It's so beastly black to-night we could n't make out anythingvery well."
"All right; better keep off a little, out of the way. I will run downand see what's wrong."
The present course of the Juno would have brought her across the bowsof the Ranger, but the ships were nearing so rapidly that a collisionwould have resulted, so the Juno was kept away a little, and soon randown on the lee bow of the Ranger. The two ships were thus placed sideby side, the Ranger on the port tack having the advantage of theweather gauge of the Juno, which had the wind free,--an advantage thecaptain of the English ship would never have yielded without an effort,had he imagined the character of the ship opposite him. The battlelanterns of the Juno were lighted, the ports triced up, and shepresented a brilliant picture of a gallant ship ready for action. TheRanger, black as the night and silent as death, could barely bediscerned in dim outline from the Juno.
"Mellish ahoy."
"Ahoy, the Juno."
"What's wrong on board of you?"
"Nothing, sir."
"Pistol shots and screams were heard by the ship ahead; but whohails--where is Captain Brent?"
"Answer him," hissed Jones, in the ear of the British captain; "tellhim there were some drunken soldiers of the Highlanders in a row.Speak out, man," he continued threateningly.
"Why don't you answer?" came from the Juno. "I shall send a boataboard. Call away the first cutter," the voice continued. But theBritish seaman on the Ranger's deck was made of sterner stuff than theother. By a violent and unexpected movement he wrenched his arm freefrom the grasp of one of the men, struck the other heavily in thechest, and before any one could seize him he leaped upon the rail,shouting loudly, "Treachery! You are betrayed. This is a Yankeepirate." Then he sprang into the water between the two ships.Williams raised his pistol.
"Let him go," cried Jones, "he is a brave fellow;" then lifting hispowerful voice he shouted, "This is the American Continental shipRanger. Stand by!"--the port shutters dropped or were pulled up with acrash, a moment's hasty aim was taken at the brilliantly lighted shipfull abeam.--"Fire! Let them have it, men," he cried in a voice ofthunder. Instantly the black side of the Ranger gave forth a sheet offlame, and the startling roar of the full broadside in the quiet nightwas followed by shrieks and cries and the crashing of woodwork, whichtold that the shots had taken effect. Three hearty British cheers rangout, however, in reply, and the broadside was promptly returned, butwith nothing like the effect of that from the Ranger, for the firstblow counts for as much at sea as in any other contest.
The next moment the maintopsail of the Juno was gallantly laid to themast, that of the Ranger following suit, and the two ships, side byside, at half pistol-shot distance, continued the dreadful combat, bothcrews being encouraged and stimulated by their captains and otherofficers. A battle lantern or two, which had been hastily lighted hereand there, shed a dim uncertain light over the decks of the Ranger.The men, half naked, covered with sweat and dust and powder stains, orsplashed with blood from some more unfortunate comrade, some with headstied up, fighting though wounded, served the guns. Several bravefellows were arranged on the weather side of the deck, dead, theirbattles ended; one or two seriously
wounded men were lying groaning bythe hatchway, waiting their turn to be carried below to the cockpit tobe committed to the rough surgery of the period, while the fleet-footedpowder boys were running to and fro from the different guns with theircharges, leaping over the wounded and dying with indifference. Thecontinuous roar of the artillery, for the guns were served with thatsteady, rapid precision for which the American seamen soon becamefamous, the crackling of musketry, from the men in the tops, with theyells and cheers and curses and groans of the maddened men, completed ascene which suggested a bit of hell.
"This is warm work, Wallingford," said the captain, coolly, though hiseyes were sparkling with excitement. "Do we gain any advantage?"
"I think so; their fire does not seem to be so heavy. Does it notslacken a little, sir?"
"Ay, I think so too. I trust our sticks hold."
"I have not had any serious damage reported so far, sir."
"Well, we must end it soon, or that frigate will be down on us; in halfan hour at most, I should say. Ha! what was that?" he said, as a loudcrash from the Juno interrupted him.
"Their maintopmast 's gone by the board, hurrah!" shouted Wallingford,looking toward the ship, after springing on the rail, from whence amoment later he fell back dead, with a bullet in his breast.
"Poor fellow!" murmured Jones, and then called out, "Give it to them,lads, they have lost their maintopmast." A cheer was the answer. Butthe matter must be ended at once.
"Johnson," said Jones, to the young midshipman by his side, "runforward and have the main-yard hauled; give her a good full,quartermaster," he said to the veteran seaman at the helm, and thenwatched the water over the side to see when she gathered headwaythrough it. "Now! Hard up with the helm! Flatten in the head sheets!Round in the weather braces! Cease firing, and load all!"
The ship gathered way, forged ahead slowly, fell off when the helm wasput up, and in a trice was standing across the stern of the Juno, whichendeavored to meet the manoeuvre as soon as it was seen; but, owing tothe loss of the jib and maintopsail and the fouling of the gear, shedid not answer the helm rapidly enough to escape the threatening danger.
"Stand by to rake her! Ready! Fire! Stand by to board!"
The effect of this raking broadside delivered at short range was awful;the whole stern of the Juno was beaten in, and the deadly projectileshad free range the full length of the devoted ship, which reeled andtrembled under the terrible shock. A moment of silence followed,broken by shrieks and groans and a few feeble cheers from someundaunted spirits. Then the Ranger, still falling off, a rank sheer ofthe helm brought her beam against the stern of the Juno, when eagerhands hove the grapnels which bound the two ships together.
"Away, boarders!"
Certain of the men left their quarters at the guns, and cutlass andpistol in hand, led by Jones himself, swarmed over the rail and on thepoop of the Juno. Two or three men were standing there among the deadand wounded men, half dazed by the sudden catastrophe, but they bravelysprang forward.
"Do you surrender?" cried Jones.
"No, you damned rebel!" answered the foremost, in the uniform of anofficer, crossing swords with him gallantly; but in a moment the swordof the impetuous American beat down his guard and was buried in hisbreast. With a hollow groan, he fell dying on the deck of the ship hehad so gallantly defended, while his men, borne back by the determinedrush of the Rangers, after a feeble resistance, threw down their arms,crying, "Quarter, quarter!"
All this time the guns of that ship had been firing, one or two of themdepressed by Simpson's orders so as to pierce the hull below thewater-line, the rest sending their heavy shot ripping and tearingthrough the length of the Juno, which was unable to bring a single gunto bear in reply.
"Do you strike?" called Jones, from the break of the poop, his menmassed behind him for a rush through the gangways, to one or two of theofficers who were stationed there.
"Yes, yes, God help us," cried a wounded officer; "what else can we do?"
"Where's your captain?"
"Dead, sir," answered one of the seamen who had been seized by theboarders. "Him you killed when you boarded."
"Poor fellow, he was a brave man, and fought his ship well."
"Captain, the frigate is bearing down upon us!" cried one of theRanger's men.
"Ay, ay. Well, gentlemen, we cannot take possession, so we will haveto leave you to your consort," he said to the British officers. "Givethe captain of the Acasta the compliments of Captain John Paul Jones,of the American Continental ship Ranger, and say that he will find mein the British Channel. Thank him for our entertainment to-night," hesaid, bowing courteously, and then--"Back to the ship, all youRangers.--Let that man's sword alone, sirrah! He used it well, let itremain with him on his own ship; but first haul down and bring theJuno's flag with us."
The men hastily scrambled over the rails to their own ship, thegrapnels were cut loose, and none too soon the ship slowly gathered wayand slipped by the stern of the Juno, whose mizzenmast fell a momentafter, and she lay rolling, a ghastly shattered hulk on the waters,fire breaking out forward.
The frigate, coming down rapidly on the starboard tack, luffed up intothe wind, and fired a broadside at the rapidly disappearing Ranger,which, however, did no harm, and was only answered by a musket-shot incontempt, and then she ranged down beside her battered and shatteredconsort. As soon as she reached the side of the Juno she was hove to,and a boat was sent off at once. An officer stepped on board. He washorrified at the scene of carnage which presented itself. The shipaloft was a wreck, the decks were a perfect shambles, wounded and dyingmen lay around in every position. The masts were gone, the ship wasfull of shot-holes, the water was rushing and gurgling in through theshot-holes below the waterline, flames were breaking out forward.
"Where is Captain Burden?" cried the officer.
"Dead," replied the wounded first lieutenant, in a hollow voice.
"Did you strike?"
"Yes."
"What was the ship with which you fought?"
"The American ship Ranger, Captain John Paul Jones. He says he willsee you in the English Channel. Oh, God, Lawless, isn't this awful?Three-fourths of ours are dead or wounded! The cursed rebel capturedthe Mellish, we ranged alongside at quarters; they got in the firstbroadside; the maintopmast went, then the jib; they fell off, raked usthrough the stern, boarded; Jones cut down Burden with his sword; wecould not get a gun to bear, they were pounding through us. We couldnot keep the men at quarters, we struck; they took our flag too; thenyou came down, and he sheered off; then the mizzenmast went. I expectthe fore will go next."
"What's his force? Was it a frigate?"
"I can answer that," said the brave master of the Mellish, who hadgained the Juno and fought well in the fight; "she's a sloop ofeighteen guns."
"Less than ours! We have twenty-two. Oh, Lawless, what a disgrace! Ican't understand it. Our men did well. And she goes free, and look atus!"
"Ship is making water fast; we can't get at the fire forward either,sir," reported one of the Juno's officers.
"Good God, can't we save the ship?" queried Lieutenant Lawless, of theAcasta.
"No, it will be as much as we can do to get off the wounded, I fear."
"Back," cried Lawless, turning to the cutter in which they had come,"to the Acasta, and tell her to send all her boats alongside; this shipis a perfect wreck. She must sink in a few minutes. We have hardlytime to get the wounded off. Lively, bear a hand for your lives, men."
However, in spite of all that could be done by willing and able hands,some of the helpless men were still on board when the Juno pitchedforward suddenly and then sank bow foremost into the dark waters,carrying many of her gallant defenders into the deep with her. Amongthem on the quarter-deck lay the body of the dead captain, the swordwhich the magnanimity of his conqueror had left to him lying by hisside.
And this is war upon the sea!
For Love of Country: A Story of Land and Sea in the Days of the Revolution Page 15
