Rowland Walker - Under Wolfe's Flag; or, The Fight for the Canadas

"Tell the men aloft to keep a sharp lookout. We may sight an English frigate at any moment, and then we shall see some fun, Mr. Rogers."

"Aye! aye! captain. That we shall," replied the mate.

Slowly the distant frigate gained upon the Duncan , and before noon it could be easily seen from the deck, though still some five leagues distant. Nearer and nearer she came, and every man aboard the Duncan had now made up his mind that a fight was the only possible ending, and the sooner it came, the better.

The second mate, Mr. Hudson, and Jamie were in the fore-top now, and just before dinner the captain hailed them, and said–

"Ho, there! Can you make out her armament yet?"

"Pretty well, sir."

"How many guns does she carry?"

"Twenty-six, I fancy, sir, for I can make out thirteen portholes on her starboard side."

The captain trod the deck impatiently, looking anxiously first at the approaching frigate, and then into the weather quarter, as though he anticipated a change.

"I fear the wind's dropping, Mr. Rogers," he said to the first mate, who paced the deck beside him. "We shall have a calm shortly," and within another half-hour the wind moderated, and shortly after that it blew spasmodically, and the frigate, now only two leagues away, was "laying on and off," trying to catch every breath of wind. The sails then flapped idly against the masts, and there followed a dead calm, when both ships lay helpless upon a mirrored sheet of glass.

A puff of blue smoke broke away from one of the starboard guns of the enemy, as she now lay broadside on towards the English ship, and then–

"Boom!" came a report, rumbling over the water.

At the same instant the French flag was broken at the mast-head.

"I thought as much, lads! Now we know who she is, and what she wants. That shot is a demand for surrender. What are those other flags he's hanging out, Mr. Hudson?"

"He's signalling, sir. Wants to know if we've struck. What shall I tell him, sir?"

"Tell him we haven't struck yet, but we'll do so as soon as he comes a little nearer, in the same way that Englishmen always strike."

At these words, which were heard all over the ship, a rousing cheer, which the Frenchman must have heard and wondered at, rang across the water, for it summed up the feelings of every man aboard. Shortly after this, the event which every one was expecting, from the captain down to the youngest cabin boy, happened.

"They're preparing to lower away the boats, sir. They mean to cut us out," came from the fore-top.

"Stand ready, my lads. Load every gun with grape-shot, lads, but don't fire till I give the order."

"Aye, aye, sir!"

One, two, three boats had been lowered, and filled with armed men. Each pulled ten oars, and there were at least thirty men in each boat, now pulling towards the Duncan .

Guns were run out; matches lit; cutlasses and pikes kept handy; but for the next half-hour a deep silence pervaded the ship's company. The men spoke not, for every order had been given, except that one for which they were all waiting; but the glow which was upon every cheek, and the sparkle which was in every eye, showed the tense feeling which animated the men. It was as though every man heard the words–

"In quietness and in confidence shall be your strength."

Jamie and Jack were both stationed at the same gun, one of the twelve-pounders on the port-side, amidships. This was their first action, and they had a strange feeling at this moment. It was not fear, for who could fear with the eye of that brave commander upon them from the quarter-deck. It was rather a feeling of mingled awe and suspense. Oh, how slowly the moments crawled! Five–ten–twenty minutes passed.

They could now hear the swish of the enemy's oars as they fell in measured strokes upon the water. Nearer and nearer they came. The first boat was now scarcely a cable's length away, when–

"Fire!" came in a voice of thunder from the poop.

Every gun that had been brought to bear belched forth its contents of flame and iron. The deadly missiles sped on their way, carrying death and destruction.

As soon as the smoke had cleared away, the awful effect of this concentrated fire could be seen. The first boat was literally blown to pieces; nothing was left of it but broken fragments, and the sea seemed full of struggling creatures, whose cries were pitiful. The second and third boats, however, were untouched, and while one went to the assistance of the first, the other dashed alongside, and with a wild cry of vengeance, the men clambered up the side and attempted to board.

"Repel boarders! Give it 'em, lads!" cried the captain, and seizing their pikes and cutlasses the men left the guns and attacked the enemy, who came on cheering, led by their brave officers. The third boat had stopped but to pick up a few stragglers, and then joined their comrades. There were now sixty or seventy men attempting to board the merchantman, but very few of them reached the deck, for the nets impeded their progress, and the stalwart defenders hurled them back into the sea.

The carnage was frightful. No quarter was asked, and none was given. The guns were silent now. It was hand-to-hand. Once the enemy succeeded in cutting away the nets, and an intrepid officer, followed by a few men, gained the deck, but in a trice Captain Forbes was amongst them, hewing his way with his long cutlass. A dozen men sprang to his assistance, and in less time than it takes to tell it, the intruders were stretched dead or wounded upon the deck.

At another time the alarm was given that the Frenchmen had gained the poop. Alas, it was only too true; some of them had clambered up and in at the stern windows, and had thus gained the upper deck. There was not a moment to spare, for already they were attempting to turn one of the brass swivels on the poop upon the crew.

"Follow me, lads!" cried the captain, as he sprang aft and up the companion ladder, and every man who could leave his post followed him, including Jamie and his chum.

A dreadful hand-to-hand fight took place. The men fought like tigers. Only two of the enemy escaped who had reached the poop, and these were glad to leap into the sea, to escape those avenging English, who fought like demons.

While this fierce scuffle was taking place, something happened that had passed unnoticed until it was too late. The wind, which had dropped to a dead calm, had sprung up and freshened rapidly from the nor'-east, and the frigate, receiving the first benefit of the breeze, had crept in nearer to the ship, and almost before Captain Forbes could get his vessel under way, the enemy poured in his first broadside of thirteen guns, with an awful, crashing effect. The ship staggered, and shook from stem to stern at this fearful impact. Down came the foremast, and went over the side, carrying with it a tangle of wreckage, torn sails and rigging, giving the vessel a heavy list to starboard, and killing several men on the spot. More than twenty men were killed or wounded within a few minutes, for broadside now followed broadside.

"Cut away that rigging, lads!" cried the captain.

They were almost his last words. As he seized a hatchet and sprang forward to cut away the wreckage, a cannon ball shattered his right arm, and even as he fell, a musket ball pierced his breast, and he fell upon the blood-stained deck. Jack rushed forward to support him, and tried to staunch his wounds, but the captain shook his head and lapsed into unconsciousness.

It was a most unequal fight, but the men still fought on stubbornly. Half the guns were dismantled, and there were not enough unwounded men to serve the rest, but every gun that could be manned was double-loaded and fired with such precision, that great havoc was worked upon the enemy's decks, which were much more crowded than those of the English ship.