could see the fishswimming about, far down below the surface. At length the land breezecame off the shore, the anchor was hove up, and we once more made sail.I may as well say that this sort of work continued for several days.Mr. Ormsby was gradually recovering, so that he did not require much ofmy attendance. Dicky Plumb met me one day.
"Jack," he said, "I have been making interest, in case there is anyboat-work, that I may be employed, and I have asked, if I go, that youmay go also. Of course the old _Roarer_ herself is never likely to gethold of any of these fellows. They can see her coming, and hide awaywithout difficulty, but with the boats it may be a very differentmatter."
The very day after this we brought up as usual in a sheltered bay, thehigh points on either side covered with trees completely concealing theship. It was dusk before we came to an anchor, so that, unless thepeople on shore had been expressly looking for us, we were very likelyto have escaped observation. As soon as the sails were furled, thecaptain issued an order for five boats to be got ready, and armed withprovisions for a couple of days, and it soon became known that hehimself intended to lead our expedition in search of the pirates. Thecaptain went in one of the boats, the second-lieutenant with the masterand two mates in the others. Dicky told me he was going with Mr. Mason.
"And you are to take an oar in the boat, as Barket, who belongs to her,is ill. Depend upon it, we shall see some fun. The captain would nottrouble himself, unless he felt pretty sure of bagging a few pirates."
There was a thin crescent moon in the sky, just sufficient to enable usto see the land, but not affording light enough to betray our approachto any of the people on shore. I should say that two days before we hadfallen in with a trading junk proceeding northward. Captain Sharpe hadquestioned the master, and having treated him very liberally, obtained,I fancy, a good deal of information from him. As the Chinaman sailedaway to the northward, there was no danger of his carrying theinformation of our being on the coast to the pirates, had he been sodisposed. He, however, was probably very thankful to us forendeavouring to put an end to the career of those "ocean gatherers ofblackmail."
The men, having had their suppers, got ready for the expedition. We allhad pistols in our belts and cutlasses by our sides, while in each boatthere were several muskets besides those carried by the marines. In thebow of the launch, as also in that of the pinnace, there was a longbrass gun, which could throw a shot well able to send a pirate prow tothe bottom in the course of a few discharges. The captain gave theorder to shove off, and following him closely, the flotilla of boatspulled away to the southward. I could not help looking every now andthen at the big ship, as her dark hull, and masts and yards rose upagainst the clear sky. Our oars had been muffled, so that the piratesmight not be warned of our approach. The only sound heard was the lightsplash of the blades, as they clove the calm surface of the water, andthe light ripple caused by our stems as we glided through it. We had toround a high wooded point, which in a short time hid the ship from oursight. We now coasted along at some distance from the land, butsufficiently near to discover any prows which might be at anchor. Hourafter hour we pulled on, but no suspicious craft were seen which mighttempt us to overhaul them. Not a word was exchanged between thedifferent boats, for sound is carried at night over a calm sea--especially in that clear atmosphere--to an immense distance, and had welaughed or talked, we might easily have betrayed our approach.
"Slow work this, Mason," whispered Mr. Plumb. "I hope, however, weshall have our reward before long."
We soon after this saw behind us a high wooded point, very like the onenear which the _Roarer_ lay. Just then the captain dropped alongsideeach boat, and told the officers to be prepared, as he fully believed weshould find a fleet of piratical prows on the other side. This put usall on the look-out. Each man might be seen tightening his belt, andfeeling to ascertain that his pistol was ready at hand. Keeping closetogether, we followed our brave leader round the point. Scarcely had weopened the bay, when we made out a large fleet of prows at anchor, closein with the shore. It would have been difficult to count them.
"Lads," said the captain, as he again dropped alongside, "I expect youto be cool and obey orders. You are to attack each prow in succession.Two will attack one and two the other, and I will move on to wherever Iam most required. No cheering till we are actually on board and thevessel is our own. We must make sharp work of it, and I hope daylightwill see the pirate fleet either taken or destroyed. No cheering, lads,now. That is just what I expect you to do."
Saying this, the captain once more took his position at the head of thelittle squadron. How calm and quiet and peaceable looked that bay! Nota ripple broke the surface of the water, which reflected the stars thatglittered in the clear heaven. Like a snake springing on its prey, theline of boats advanced towards the prows. Our approach was notperceived, as far as we could judge. Probably the Malays, trusting intheir numbers, and not aware of the neighbourhood of the ship, kept nowatch. There was one awkward question, which I suppose our captain hadasked himself--Were the people we were going to attack really pirates orhonest traders? He, I conclude, had received information which made himsure that they were pirates; if not, that they had been, or would be, ifopportunity offered. If they were the gentry who had burned themerchant vessel and attacked the _Fawn_, they deserved punishment, therewas no doubt about that. Steadily we advanced, every moment expectingto have a fire of gingals opened upon us. The pirates slept soundly;not even a dog barked on board any of their vessels. As we got nearerwe saw the masts of a square-rigged vessel rising up in their midst.She was probably their prize. This made our captain more certain thatthey were the pirates he hoped to find. On we steadily went till theleading boat was within twenty yards of a large prow, two othersappearing close astern of her, while the others were anchored in line,the barque--for such she appeared to be--inside of all; indeed, from theway she heeled over, we judged that she was aground. There seemed to beevery probability of our getting on board unobserved, when suddenly ashout was heard from the deck of the nearest prow, and a bullet directlyafterwards whistled over our heads. Numerous other wild cries andshouts arose from the nearest vessel, quickly taken up by those asternof her.
"On, lads!" cried our captain. "Remember my directions?"
Scarcely had he spoken, when his boat dashed alongside the prow, twoothers following his example; we pushed on to the next. There was notime for thought before we were clambering up her side and engaged handto hand in a desperate conflict with her dark-skinned crew, lookingstill darker in the gloom of night, grinning, and shouting, and hackingaway at us with their sharp sabres, while others fired their matchlocksand gingals in our faces. Our pistols and cutlasses, were, however,well matched to them; I kept close to Dicky Plumb, who sprang on boardwith the greatest gallantry. The glitter of Dicky's uniform seemed toexcite the fury of the Malays; three big fellows making a dash at himtogether. I turned aside the sword of one fellow who was about to cuthim down; but it would have gone hard with him, had not Ned Rawlings,who was with us, sprung forward, and with a sweep of his cutlass settledthe other two; the remainder of the crew, finding that resistance wasvain, leaped overboard, and attempted to swim on shore. No quarter wasasked for; the pirates were not accustomed to give it themselves, andprobably expected none. In ten minutes not a Malay remained alive onboard. According to orders, as soon as we had captured one vessel, weleaped again into our boats, and pulled off to the next; in anotherinstant we were alongside her, with pikes being poked down at us, andmatchlocks and gingals fired in our faces. Though two of our men hadbeen wounded, no one as yet had been killed. In spite of the warmreception we met with, we managed to climb on board, and we went throughmuch the same scene as that before enacted; we found the Malays nodespicable enemies, for they fought with the greatest desperation, evenwhen all hope of victory had been lost. As on board the other vessel,no one would yield; and after a third of the crew had been killed, theremainder sprang overboard, some
being drowned, others, probably,reaching the shore in safety. It might have been wise if we had set thecaptured prows on fire immediately; but probably our captain wished torecover the cargo of the barque, which they might have got on board, andtherefore spared them till there was time to search their holds.
We went on from vessel to vessel, not always seeing what became of thosewho jumped overboard. We had captured eight or ten in this way, whenthe remainder were seen to be cutting their cables, and running onshore; at the same time, the first vessel we had captured was observedto be moving; there could be little doubt that the Malays who had jumpedoverboard from the other prows had contrived to reach her; as she wasthe largest, and had a considerable amount of cargo on board, theyprobably thought it worth while running every risk in the hope ofescaping with her. Mr. Mason was the first to discover what hadoccurred, and ordered us
Off to Sea: The Adventures of Jovial Jack Junker on his Road to Fame Page 18
