At the Point of the Bayonet: A Tale of the Mahratta War

by G. A. Henty

  Chapter 13: The Break Up Of The Monsoon.

  The night and early morning passed quietly. The chatter of manyvoices showed that a portion, at any rate, of the assailants werebeyond the stockade; but it was not until nine o'clock thatnumerous parties were seen coming from the forest.

  "I suppose they have been making ladders all night," Harry said toAbdool, who was with him on the wall; from which, owing to the factthat the house stood on a rising knoll of ground, which commanded agood view over the stockade, the assailants could be seen.

  "Well, I have no doubt we shall be able to beat them off. We haveas many men as we want for the circuit of the walls and, while weshall be partly sheltered, they will have to advance in the open."

  The Malays had, indeed, been busy since daybreak in manufacturingarrows from thin reeds and bamboos, used in the construction of thehuts demolished on the previous evening; tipping them with chips ofstone and winging them with feathers, of which plenty were found inthe houses and scattered about the yard. All felt that this wouldbe the decisive attack; and that the enemy, after one more repulse,would draw off. That the repulse would be given, all feltconfident. Already the slaughter of their assailants had been verygreat, while very few of their own number had fallen.

  An hour later, large parties of the enemy advanced to the stockade.This they did unmolested, as the distance was too great foranything like certainty of aim. The rajah again took his place byHarry's side. Presently, at the sound of a horn, a great flight ofarrows rose high in the air from behind the stockade.

  "They are fire arrows!" the rajah exclaimed. "I will send a hundredmen down, to help the women to extinguish them;" and he himselfdescended, an officer following, with the men.

  The women were all seated close to the platforms and, as the arrowscame raining down, they ran out; being joined by the rajah and hismen. Had the leafy roofs remained in their place, the whole wouldhave been in a blaze in two or three minutes. As it was, the vastproportion of the arrows stuck in the earth, and burnt themselvesout; while the few that fell among the debris that had not beencleared away were extinguished, immediately. For two or threeminutes the showers of arrows continued; and then ceased as, to thesurprise of the assailants, there were no indications of the palacebeing on fire.

  Then the signal was given for the attack and, exasperated by thefailure of the plan they had relied upon as being certain to causea panic, the Malays, with loud shouts, rushed forward. A largenumber of them carried ladders and, in spite of the many who fellunder the arrows of the defenders, the ladders were soon plantedagainst the walls; and the Malays swarmed up on all sides.

  A desperate struggle took place. Some of the ladders were highenough to project above the wall. These, with the men upon them,were thrown back. On others the Malays, as they climbed up, weremet by the spears of the defenders or, as their heads rose abovethe walls, with the deadly kris. Their leaders moved about amongthe throng below, urging the men forward; and Harry, seeing thatthings were going on well, all round, took the guns from the handsof the soldier who attended him, and directed his aim againstthese.

  Three fell to his first shots. As the soldier handed them to him,reloaded, his eye caught a group of chiefs, behind whom stood whatwas evidently a picked body of men. In the midst of the group wasthe rajah to whom Harry had recently been a prisoner. With afeeling of deep satisfaction, that his hand should avenge themurder of his four troopers, Harry levelled his gun between two ofthe defenders of the wall, took a steady aim, and fired.

  Without a cry, the rajah fell back, shot through the]head.

  As the chief was but some twenty-five yards away, there was littlefear of his missing and, without a cry, the rajah fell back, shotthrough the head. A yell of consternation rose from those aroundhim. Two more shots then rang out, and two more chiefs fell.

  The others shouted to their men, and a furious rush forward wasmade. Harry snatched up a spear, lying by the side of a native whohad fallen; shouted to the rajah's guard of twenty men--who were inthe yard below, as a reserve in case the enemy gained a footing atany point of the wall--to come up, and then joined in the fight.

  The assailants fought with such fury that, for a time, the issuewas doubtful. Several times, three or four succeeded in throwingthemselves over the wall; but only to be cut down, before theycould be joined by others. At last the Malays drew off, amid theexultant shouts of the defenders.

  In a short time, the attack became more feeble at all points. Thenews of the death of their leader had doubtless spread, and itseffect was aided by several other chiefs falling under Harry's fireand, ere long, not one of their followers remained inside thepalisade. Half an hour later, the lookout from the top of therajah's house shouted that the whole of the assailants wereretiring, in a body, towards the forest.

  Excited by their victory, the rajah's troops would have sallied outin pursuit; but Harry dissuaded him from permitting it.

  "They must have lost, altogether, over a thousand of their men; butthey are still vastly more numerous than your people, and nothingwould suit them better than that you should follow them, and givethem a chance of avenging the loss they have suffered."

  "But the rajah will come again. He will never remain quiet, underthe disgrace."

  "He will trouble you no more," Harry said. "I shot him myself, andsix or seven of his principal chiefs."

  "You are indeed my friend!" the rajah exclaimed, earnestly, whenthe words were translated to him. "Then there is a hope that I mayhave peace. The death of the rajah, and of so many of the chiefsthat have joined him, will lead to quarrels and disputes; and theconfederacy formed against me will break up and, while fightingamong themselves, they will not think of attacking, again, a placethat has proved so fatal to them."

  The rajah had some difficulty in allaying the enthusiasm of hismen; but he repeated what Harry had said to him, and added that,since it was entirely due to their white guest that they hadrepulsed the attack, there could be no doubt that his advice mustnow be attended to, since he had shown himself a master in war.

  "Be content," he said. "Wherever our language is spoken, the Malayswill tell the story of how three thousand men were defeated by fivehundred; and it will be said that the men of Johore surpassed, inbravery, everything that has been told of the deeds of theirfathers. There is no fear of the enemy returning here. The rajahand many of his chiefs have fallen, by the hand of our whitefriend. Henceforth, for many years, you will be able to rest inpeace.

  "In a month you will have rebuilt the houses, and sown again thefields that have been burnt. After that, we shall have leisure, anda treble stockade shall be built, stronger and firmer than thatinto which they forced an entry. Your first task must be to carrythe bodies of our enemies far out beyond the town, where theirskeletons will act as a warning as to what welcome Johore gives toits foes. A present of money will be given to each man, thisafternoon, to help him to rebuild his house, and make good thedamages that he has suffered."

  The interpreter had rapidly translated the speech to Harry as itwent on and, as the rajah ended, and the applause that greeted himsubsided, Harry said a few words to the interpreter, which herepeated to the rajah. The latter held up his hand, to show that hehad more to say.

  "My white friend warns me that, for a day or two, we must not leavethe town. It may be that the enemy have halted near the edge of theforest, in the hope of taking us unawares. This, however, can onlybe for a day or two, at most; for I have no doubt that theprovisions they brought with them are, by now, exhausted and, ifthey stop in the forest, they will perish from hunger; thereforelet no one go beyond the town, for two days. A watch shall be kepton the roof of my house and, if any of the enemy make theirappearance in the forest, a horn will summon all to retire withinthe walls."

  There was feasting that night at the rajah's house. All hisofficers and men of importance were present. Sacks of rice andother grain were distributed among the soldiers and women; somebuffaloes that had been driven inside the wall to serve as food
,should the siege prove a long one, were also killed and cut up; andvery large jars, containing the fermented juice of the pineapple,and other fruits, were served out.

  During the day the breaches in the palisades had all been repairedand, at night, the whole population were told to remain within itsshelter, while numerous guards were posted by the rajah. While themeal at the rajah's was going on, a party of native musiciansplayed and sang, the Malays being very fond of music.

  Harry sat at the rajah's right hand, and was the subject ofunbounded praise and admiration among the company. Speaker afterspeaker rose and addressed him and, afterwards, the interpretersaid a few words to them in his name, thanking them for thegoodwill they had shown, and praising them highly, not only fortheir bravery, but especially for the manner in which they hadcarried out the orders given to them. The proceedings did notterminate until a very late hour, and Harry was heartily glad whenat last he could retire to rest.

  In the morning, the rajah said to him:

  "Now, my friend, you have not told me why you have come here. Wehave been so busy that we have not spoken on other subjects, savethe war. The message you sent up to me was that you came from thegreat white lord of Calcutta, and desired to see me. You may besure that whatever you desire of me shall be granted for, were itnot for your coming, I should now be a hunted fugitive, and mypeople slain."

  "It is not much that I desire, Rajah. The tumangong is willing togrant to us a trading station, on the island of Singapore and,possibly, we may acquire from him the whole island; but we areaware that he is not the rightful lord of the island, and it may bethat, in time, you may recover possession of all Johore. Thus,then, I come to you to ask you if you are willing to consent tothis privilege being granted to us; which assuredly will benefityour kingdom by providing a market, close to you, at which you canbarter your produce for goods that you require, with us or withnative traders from the east. At present, we are not in a positionto plant this trading station in Singapore, being engaged inserious wars in India; and it may be a considerable time beforethings have so settled down that we can do so. I have, therefore,only to ask your assent to our arrangement with the tumangong,whenever it can be carried out; and we shall certainly be willingto recognize your authority, by a gift of money."

  "I willingly consent," the rajah said; "it is, indeed, but a smallthing. So long as I live, I shall be ready to enter into any treatywith you; and doubtless my successor, whoever he may be, knowingwhat you have done for us and our state, will also agree."

  [It was not, indeed, until the year 1819 that the British tookpossession of the island, paying sixty thousand dollars to thetumangong. Shortly after they had settled there the young prince,who had escaped from Johore, came down there. He was awarded apension and, at the death of the rajah, was placed on the throne bythe British, to the general satisfaction of the inhabitants.]

  The next day, a number of men came in from villages scattered amongthe hills, who had not heard of the approach of the enemy until toolate to enter the town, and take part in its defence. By this time,scouts had penetrated far into the forest, and brought back newsthat, although there were many dead there, there were no signs ofthe enemy. The work, therefore, of rebuilding the town wascommenced; every available man of the garrison, and those who hadcome in, being engaged in cutting wood and bringing it in.

  In the course of the next day or two several chiefs, whose attitudehad before been threatening, came or sent members of their familiesto congratulate the rajah upon the defeat that he had inflictedupon his enemies, and to assure him of their loyalty to his rule.

  Harry had stayed on, at the earnest request of the rajah; but henow declared that he must return to the coast. The rajah's approvalof the cession of a trading port, and of the island itself, waswritten both in the Malay and the English languages, and signed bythe chief. Copies were also made and signed, by Harry, to be keptin the palace, in order that on any future occasion they could beconsulted.

  A great number of presents, of krises and other articles of Malayanmanufacture, were offered to Harry; but he excused himself fromaccepting them, saying that, in the first place, it was notcustomary for commissioners of the Governor to accept presents; andin the second that, being constantly employed on service, he had noplace where these could be deposited, during his long absences.

  On the third morning after the retreat of the enemy Harry started,with his two companions, for the coast; attended by an escort oftwenty men of the rajah's own guard, commanded by a high officer.There was now no fear of molestation, but the escort was sent as amark of honour. Starting early, they reached the coast town in theafternoon.

  They were received with great joy by the inhabitants, who had beenin a state of abject terror. A runner, who was the bearer of amessage to the rajah from the headman, had left on the morningafter Harry's party had started; and had returned with the newsthat he had found the headless bodies of all the escort, but hadseen no traces of the white man nor his followers, who haddoubtless all been carried off by the enemy. The news causedterrible consternation, as it was thought that the town might beattacked, at any moment. Those of the inhabitants who possessedcanoes, took to them and paddled away down the coast. The othersfled to the mountains.

  Finding, however, from scouts who had been left, that four days hadpassed without the appearance of the enemy, most of them hadreturned, on the evening before Harry arrived there. On hearing,from his escort, of the defeat of the invaders and their enormousloss, the most lively joy was manifested; and Harry was treatedwith almost reverential respect, the men of the escort agreeingthat it was solely due to him that the victory had been gained. Hemade, however, but a very short stay in the village; and theheadman at once ordered the largest canoe to be prepared. This wasdecorated with flowers and flags and manned by twenty rowers who,as soon as Harry and his two companions took their seats in it,rowed off to the brig.

  "Welcome back, Lindsay!" Fairclough shouted, as the canoeapproached; "we could hardly believe our eyes, when we saw you comedown to the canoe. We have been in a terrible fright about you. Thenatives brought off news that the escort that had been sent down totake you to Johore were, every one, killed; and that, as there wereno signs of any of your party, it was certain that you had beencarried off. We sent a boat ashore, every morning, armed to theteeth; but they reported that the place was almost entirelydeserted, and the two or three men left there said that no news,whatever, had been received of you."

  By this time, Harry had gained the deck.

  "Where is your escort?" Fairclough asked.

  "I am sorry to say that they were all murdered. However, my storyis a long one and, although the rajah sent down some food with theescort he gave me, I am desperately thirsty, and will tell you allthat happened when I have wetted my whistle."

  Fairclough told Hardy to come with them below, and Harry's storywas told in full, over sundry cups of tea, which Harry preferred tostronger beverages.

  "That was an adventure, indeed," Fairclough said, when Harry hadbrought his story to an end. "I would have given anything to havebeen with you in that siege. I own I should not have cared aboutbeing a prisoner in that fellow's camp, especially as you weredisarmed, and could not even make a fight for it. That affair withthe leopard would have been more to my taste; though, if I had beenin your place, with nothing but your knife and Abdool's, I doubtwhether I should have come out of it as well as you did; but theother business was splendid, and those Malays of the rajah's musthave fought well, indeed, to beat off a force six times their ownstrength."

  "The great point is that I have obtained his ratification of thetumangong's grant, whenever it may be made."

  "That is satisfactory, of course; but it would not have, to mymind, anything like the importance of your series of adventures,which will be something to think over all your life. I wish I hadbeen there, with my crew, to have backed you up; though I am afraidthat most of them would have shared the fate of your Malay escort,in that sudden attack in the forest."r />
  "Yes; with all their pluck, they could scarcely have repulsed sucha sudden onslaught though, certainly, the killing would not allhave been on one side. I am glad, indeed, that Abdool also camesafely out of it; as I should have missed him, fearfully.

  "The interpreter showed himself a good man, and I hope that LordMornington will, when I report his conduct, make him a handsomepresent. If he had not got away with me, it is hardly likely Ishould ever have found my way to Johore and, if I had done so, Icould not have explained to the rajah that he was going to beattacked, or have got him to erect the stockade that was the maincause of our success. In fact, he would probably, in his anger atthe slaughter of his escort, have ordered me to be executed on thespot. As it was, he did not take either that, or the loss of hispresents, greatly to heart."

  "You saved his kingdom for him, there is no doubt. It is not likelythat he would ever have ventured to defend himself, had it not beenfor the confidence that he felt in you, and in the steps you took."

  "No; he told me, himself, that he would have taken flight at onceand, in that case, his kingdom would have been lost; and hehimself, sooner or later, hunted down."

  "And now, I suppose we can start as soon as we like?"

  "Certainly; the sooner the better. I shall be very glad to be backagain, for there is no saying what is going on there. Assuredly,the friendship of the Mahrattas cannot be relied upon. I know thatwe are not likely to make any fresh move, except in self defence,until Mysore is completely pacified, and a firm governmentestablished. Still, there is never any saying what will happen.Having been in the thick of the Mahratta business, all along, Ishould not like to be out of it, now."

  "Well, we will get up anchor at daybreak, tomorrow."

  All on board were glad, when the news that they were to sail forCalcutta, the next morning, was circulated through the ship. To thecrew, the voyage had been a monotonous one; the weather having beenuniformly fine, since they started; and they had had no adventures,such as they had hoped for, with hostile natives.

  Nothing was talked of that night, between decks, but Harry's story;which had been told by Lieutenant Hardy to the midshipmen, who hadretailed it to the petty officers, and it had rapidly spread.Abdool and the interpreter were made as much of as was possible,considering that neither could understand English; and deep werethe expressions of regret that none of the sailors had taken partin so tough a fight.

  By the time the sun was up, next morning, the vessel was underweigh and, with light breezes, sailed round Singapore, and thenheaded northwest. The winds, as before, were light and, as thenortheast monsoon was still blowing, the rate of progress was slow.

  "I wish we could have got into the Hooghly," Fairclough said, as hewalked impatiently up and down the quarterdeck, "before the monsoonbroke; but I don't see much chance of it. It generally changesabout the middle of April, and we are well on in the first week,now. At the rate at which we are sailing, we shall take at leastthree weeks before we get there. You see, we are only just clear ofthe northern point of Sumatra; and it is already a month since wegot up anchor."

  "But we shall have the wind almost behind us, Fairclough."

  "Yes, when it has settled down. It is the change that I do notlike. Of course, sometimes we have only a few days of moderatelyrough weather; but occasionally there is a hurricane at the breakup, and a hurricane in the bay of Bengal is no joke. I shall notmind, much, if we get fairly past the Andamans; for from there tothe mouth of the Hooghly it is open water, and I should be under nouneasiness as to the brig battling her way through it; but to becaught in a hurricane, with these patches of islands and rocks inthe neighbourhood would, to say the least, be awkward."

  "Are there any ports among the islands? I recollect hearing anofficer say that there was a settlement made there, some yearsago."

  "That was so. In 1791 an establishment was started in the southernpart of the island and, two years later, it was moved to a harbouron the northwest side of the bay. It was called Port Cornwallis;but was abandoned in 1796, being found terribly unhealthy. It was apity, for it afforded good shelter when the northeast monsoon wasblowing, and partially so from the southwest monsoon. No doubt itcould have been made more healthy, if the country round had beenwell cleared; but it was not found to be of sufficient utility towarrant a large outlay, and the natives are so bitterly unfriendlythat it would require a garrison of two or three hundred men tooverawe them. We should have been always losing life--not from openattacks, perhaps, but from their habit of crawling up, and shootingmen down with their arrows."

  A week later, they were some seventy or eighty miles to the west ofthe Andaman group. Directly the brig weathered the northernmostpoint of Sumatra, the course had been laid more to the west, so asto avoid the dangerous inside passage. When Harry went on deck, inthe morning, he found that the wind had dropped altogether.

  "There is an end of the monsoon," Fairclough said. "I am just goingto shorten sail. There is no saying which way the wind will come.The glass is falling fast but, of course, that is only to beexpected. I think, if you are wise, after breakfast you will takeoff that drill suit, and get into something better calculated tostand rough weather; for that we are sure to have, and any amountof rain. That is always the case, at the changes of the monsoon.

  "You see, it is a sort of battle between the two winds; thesouthwesterly will gain, in the end, but the other will die hard;and it is this struggle that causes the circular storms which, whenthey are serious, are called hurricanes, though at ordinary timesthey are simply called the break up of the monsoon, which generallycauses bad weather all over the Indian Ocean."

  Towards evening, low banks of cloud were seen to the south, and thesky looked dim and misty in the opposite direction.

  "They are mustering their forces, you see, Lindsay; and the glasshas fallen so far that I fancy the fight will be a hot one. At anyrate, we will make all snug for the night."

  Sail after sail was taken in, until only a storm jib, a small forestay-sail, and a close-reefed main top-sail were left standing. Thebank of cloud to the south had risen considerably and, whendarkness closed in, the upper edge was lit up by the almostincessant flicker of lightning. The upper spars were sent down ondeck and then, there being nothing more to be done, the crew, whohad all donned rough-weather clothes, awaited the outburst.

  That it would be more than ordinarily severe there could be nodoubt, and the men, clustered in little groups by the bulwarks,talked in low tones as they watched the slowly-approaching stormfrom the south; with occasional glances northwards, where indeed noclouds could be seen, but the sky was frequently lit up by thereflections of lightning below the horizon.

  "What do you think of it?" Harry asked the interpreter.

  "I do not like it," the Malay replied. "I think that there will bea great hurricane. I have seen many changes of the monsoon, butnever one that looked so threatening as this."

  "It does look bad," Harry said, "though, as I have never been atsea before, at the change of the monsoon, I am no judge at all; butit certainly looks as if we were in for a bad gale. At any rate, weshall be safer, here, than we were in that hut in the mountains."

  The Malay made no reply, for some time. Then he said:

  "Yes, sahib, but there was something to do, there. Directly we gotin, you began to prepare for an escape. It was not certain that weshould succeed. They might have come in and killed us, before youwere ready but, as we were busy, we had not much time to think ofthe danger.

  "Here we can do nothing."

  "No. But, as you see, everything has already been done. You and Ihave not been working, but the sailors have been busy in taking offsail, and getting down all the upper spars. We are ready for theworst, now; just as we were when we had opened the passage for ourescape, and we felt fairly confident--although we might meet withmany dangers, we had a good chance of getting safely away."

  "There are the danger signals, Lindsay," the captain said, as apale light suddenly shone out above.

 
Looking up, Harry saw a ball of fire on the main-mast head.Presently, this seemed to roll down the mast, till it reached thetop-sail yard; then it broke into two, and these rolled out untilthey remained stationary, one at each end of the yard. Harry hadnever seen this phenomenon before.

  "What is it?" he asked Fairclough, in an awed voice.

  "They are often seen, before the outburst of a severe tempest. Ofcourse, they look like balls of phosphorus; but in reality they areelectric, and are a sign that the whole atmosphere is charged withelectricity. Sailors have all sorts of superstitions about thembut, of course, excepting that they are signs of the condition ofthe air, they are perfectly harmless."

  He raised his voice.

  "Don't stand near the foot of the masts, lads; keep well away fromthem. There is nothing to be afraid of, in those lights; but if wehappened to be struck by lightning and it ran down the mast, someof you might be knocked over.

  "I don't know why," he continued, to Harry, "the first flash oflightning at the beginning of a storm is always the most dangerous.I can't account for it, in any way, but there is no question as tothe fact. I always feel relieved when the first clap of thunder isover; for I know, then, that we are comparatively safe from danger,in that way."

  Gradually the stars disappeared.

  "Mr. Hardy," the captain said to the lieutenant, who was standingnear, "will you go down to my cabin, and see how the glass stands?"

  Harry did not hear the answer, when Hardy returned, but Faircloughsaid to him:

  "It has gone down another quarter of an inch since I looked at it,half an hour ago; and it was as low, then, as I have ever seen it.

  "Mr. Hardy, you had better send the men aloft, and furl the maintop-sail, altogether; and run down the fore stay-sail. We can getit up again, as soon as the first burst is over. Put four men atthe wheel."

  There was still no breath of wind stirring. The stay sail was rundown, but the men hung back from ascending the shrouds of the mainmast.

  "They are afraid of those lights," Fairclough said, "but I do notthink there is the slightest danger from them."

  "I will go up, myself, sir," Hardy said; and he ran up thestarboard shrouds while, at the same moment, one of the midshipmenled the way on the port side. The sailors at once followed theirofficers.

  The latter had nearly reached the yard, when the two balls of firebegan to roll along it, joined in the centre, and then slowlyascended the topmast. The fireballs paused there for half a minute,and then vanished.

  "Now, Eden," the lieutenant said, "let us get the work done, atonce, before that fellow makes his appearance again."

  The men followed them out on the yard, and worked in desperatehaste, with occasional glances up at the mast head. In a couple ofminutes the sail was firmly secured in its gaskets, and all madetheir way below.

  "Thank goodness, here it comes, at last," Fairclough said; "thesuspense is more trying than the gale itself."

  A low murmur was heard, and a faint pale light was soon visible tothe south.

  "Get ready to hold on, all!" he shouted to the men.

  The sound momentarily increased in volume, and the distant lightbrightened until a long line of white foam was clearly discernible.It approached with extraordinary speed. There was a sudden puff ofair. It lasted but a few seconds, and then died away.

  "Hold on!" the captain again shouted.

  Half a minute later, with a tremendous roar, the wind struck thebrig. Knowing which way it would come, Fairclough had, half an hourbefore, lowered a boat and brought the vessel's head round, so thatit pointed north. The boat had then been hoisted up.

  In the interval of waiting, the ship's head had slightly driftedround, again, and the wind struck her on the quarter. So great wasthe pressure that she heeled far over, burying her bows so deeplythat it seemed as if she were going to dive, head foremost. Thewater swept over the bulwarks in torrents, and extended almost upto the foot of the foremast. Then, very slowly, as she gatheredway, the bow lifted and, in a minute, she was scudding fast beforethe gale; gathering speed, every moment, from the pressure of thewind upon her masts and hull, and from the fragment of sail shownforward. At present there were no waves, the surface of the waterseeming pressed almost flat by the weight of the wind.

  Then there was a deafening crash, and a blaze of light. Thefore-top mast was riven in fragments, but none of these fell on thedeck, the wind carrying them far ahead.

  "You had better make your way forward, Mr. Hardy," Faircloughshouted, into the lieutenant's ear, "and see if anyone is hurt."

  Fortunately the precaution which had been taken, of ordering themen away from the mast, had prevented any loss of life; but severalof the men were temporarily blinded. Three or four had been struckto the deck, by the passage of the electric fluid close to them;but these presently regained their feet. Hardy returned, andreported to the captain.

  "You had better send the carpenter down, to see that there is nofire below."

  In a minute the man ran up, with the news that he believed the footof the mast was on fire. Mr. Hardy went to a group of men.

  "Get some buckets, my lads," he said quietly, "and make your waydown to the hold. I will go with you. As was to be expected, thelightning has fired the foot of the mast; but there is no cause foralarm. As we have discovered it so soon, we shall not be long ingetting it under."

  The men at once filled the fire buckets and, led by Mr. Hardy, wentbelow. As soon as the hatchway leading to the hold was lifted, avolume of smoke poured up.

  "Wait a minute, till it has cleared off a little," the lieutenantsaid; and then, to the midshipman who had accompanied him:

  "Go to the captain, and tell him that there is more smoke than Ilike, and ask him to come below. Tell him I think the pumps hadbetter be rigged, and the hose passed down."

  Fairclough, who was accompanied by Harry, joined him just as he wasabout to descend the ladder.

  "I will go down with you, Mr. Hardy," he said.

  "Mr. Eden, will you go up and send down all hands, except those atthe wheel? Set a strong gang to rig the pumps, and pass the hosedown."

  He and the lieutenant then made their way along the hold. The smokewas very thick, and it was only by stooping low that they could getalong. They could see, however, a glow of light ahead.

  "We can do nothing with this," the captain said, "beyond trying tokeep it from spreading, until we have shifted all these stores. Thegang with buckets had better come down, empty them on the pile, andthen set to work to clear the stuff away, as quickly as possible."

  The men, who came along gradually and with difficulty, began toremove the barrels, coils of rope, and spare sails stowed there.Several of them were overpowered by the smoke, and had to becarried up again; and others came down and took their places.

  In three or four minutes the hose was passed down, and the clank ofthe pumps could be heard. Mr. Hardy took the nozzle and while themen, now a strong party, worked at the stores, directed a stream ofwater upon the flames.

  For a time, the efforts seemed to make no impression, and the steamadded to the difficulty of working. Another gang of men were set towork, forward of the mast and, after half an hour's labour, thestores were so far removed that the hose could be brought to playupon the burning mass at the foot of the mast.

  The lieutenant had been relieved by Harry, and he by the twomidshipmen, in succession. Changes were frequent and, in anotherquarter of an hour, it was evident that the flames were well undercontrol. The men engaged below relieved those at the pumps and, inan hour from the first outbreak, all danger was over, thoughpumping was kept up for some time longer.

  The captain made frequent visits to the deck. The vessel was stillrunning before the wind, and the sea had got up. The motion of theship was becoming more and more violent but, as there was nothingto be done, the men below were not disturbed at their work, andthis was continued until smoke no longer ascended.