"Sir, it is
A charge too heavy for my strength; but yet
We'll strive to bear it for your worthy sake,
To the extreme edge of hazard."
All's Well That End's Well.
The vessel, which appeared so inopportunely for the safety of the
ill-manned British cruiser, was, in truth, a ship that had roved from
among the islands of the Caribean sea, in quest of some such adventure as
that which now presented itself. She was called la belle Fontange, and her
commander, a youth of two-and-twenty, was already well known in the salons
of the Marais, and behind the walls of the Rue Basse des Remparts, as one
of the most gay and amiable of those who frequented the former, and one of
the most spirited and skilful among the adventurers who sometimes trusted
to their address in the latter. Rank, and influence at Versailles, had
procured for the young Chevalier Dumont de la Rocheforte a command to
which he could lay no claim either by his experience or his services. His
mother, a near relative of one of the beauties of the court, had been
commanded to use sea-bathing, as a preventive against the consequences of
the bite of a rabid lap-dog. By way of a suitable episode to the long
descriptions she was in the daily habit of writing to those whose
knowledge of her new element was limited to the constant view of a few
ponds and ditches teeming with carp, or an occasional glimpse of some of
the turbid reaches of the Seine, she had vowed to devote her youngest
child to Neptune! In due time, that is to say, while the poetic sentiment
was at the access, the young chevalier was duly enrolled and, in a time
that greatly anticipated all regular and judicious preferment, he was
placed in command of the corvette in question, and sent to the Indies to
gain glory for himself and his country.
The Chevalier Dumont de la Rocheforte was brave, but his courage was not
the calm and silent self-possession of a seaman. Like himself, it was
lively, buoyant, thoughtless, bustling, and full of animal feeling. He had
all the pride of a gentleman, and, unfortunately for the duty which he had
now for the first time to perform, one of its dictates caught him to
despise that species of mechanical knowledge which it was, just at this
moment, so important to the commander of la Fontange to possess. He could
dance to admiration, did the honors of his cabin with faultless elegance,
and had caused the death of an excellent mariner, who had accidentally
fallen overboard, by jumping into the sea to aid him, without knowing how
to swim a stroke himself,--a rashness that had diverted those exertions
which might have saved the unfortunate sailor, from the assistance of the
subordinate to the safety of his superior. He wrote sonnets prettily, and
had some ideas of the new philosophy which was just beginning to dawn upon
the world; but the cordage of his ship, and the lines of a mathematical
problem, equally presented labyrinths he had never threaded.
It was perhaps fortunate for the safety of all in her, that la belle
Fontange possessed an inferior officer, in the person of a native of
Boulogne-sur-Mer, who was quite competent to see that she kept the proper
course, and that she displayed none of the top-gallants of her pride, at
unpropitious moments. The ship itself was sufficiently and finely moulded
of a light and airy rig, and of established reputation or speed. If it was
defective in any thing, it had the fault, in common with its commander, of
a want of sufficient solidity to resist the vicissitudes and dangers of
the turbulent element on which it was destined to act.
The vessels were now within a mile of each other. The breeze was steady,
and sufficiently fresh for all the ordinary evolutions of a naval combat;
while the water was just quiet enough to permit the ships to be handled
with confidence and accuracy. La Fontange was running with her head to the
eastward, and, as she had the advantage of the wind, her tall tracery of
spars leaned gently in the direction of her adversary. The Coquette was
standing on the other tack, and necessarily inclined from her enemy. Both
vessels were stripped to their top-sails, spankers, and jibs, though the
lofty sails of the Frenchman were fluttering in the breeze, like the
graceful folds of some fanciful drapery. No human being was distinctly
visible in either fabric, though dark clusters around each mast-head
showed that the ready top-men were prepared to discharge their duties,
even in the confusion and dangers of the impending contest. Once or twice,
la Fontange inclined her head more in the direction of her adversary; and
then, sweeping up again to the wind, she stood on in stately beauty The
moment was near when the ships were about to cross each other, at a point
where a musket would readily send its messenger across the waiter that lay
between them. Ludlow, who closely watched each change of position, and
every rise and fall of the breeze, went on the poop, and swept the horizon
with his glass, for the last time before his ship should be enveloped in
smoke. To his surprise, he discovered a pyramid of canvas rising above the
sea, in the direction of the wind. The sail was clearly visible to the
naked eye, and had only escaped earlier observation in the duties of so
urgent a moment. Calling the master to his side, he inquired his opinion
concerning the character of the second stranger. But Trysail confessed it
exceeded even his long-tried powers of observation to say more than that
it was a ship running before the wind, with a cloud of sail spread. After
a second and a longer look, however, the experienced master ventured to
add that the stranger had the squareness and symmetry of a cruiser, but of
what size he would not yet presume to declare.
"It may be a light ship, under her top-gallant and studding-sails, or it
may be, that we see only the lofty duck of some heavier vessel, Captain
Ludlow;--ha! he has caught the eye of the Frenchman, for the corvette has
signals abroad!"
"To your glass!--If the stranger answer, we have no choice but our speed."
There was another keen and anxious examination of the upper spars of the
distant ship, but the direction of the wind prevented any signs of her
communicating with the corvette from being visible. La Fontange appeared
equally uncertain of the character of the stranger, and for a moment there
was some evidence of an intention to change her course. But the moment for
indecision had past. The ships were already sweeping up abreast of each
other, under the constant pressure of the breeze.
"Be ready, men!" said Ludlow, in a low but firm voice, retaining his
elevated post on the poop, while he motioned to his companion to return to
the main-deck. "Fire at his flash!"
Intense expectation succeeded. The two graceful fabrics sailed steadily
on, and came within hail. So profound was the stillness in the Coquette,
that the rushing sound of the water she heaped under her bows was
distinctly audible to all on board, and might be likened to the deep
breathing of some vast animal, that was collecting its physical energies
for some unusual exertion. On the other hand, tongues were loud and
clamorous among the cordage of la Fontange. Just as the ships were fairly
abeam, the voice of young Dumont was heard, shouting through a trumpet,
for his men to fire. Ludlow smiled, in a seaman's scorn. Raising his own
trumpet, with a quiet gesture to his attentive and ready crew, the whole
discharge of their artillery broke out of the dark side of the ship, as if
it had been by the volition of the fabric. The answering broadside was
received almost as soon as their own had been given, and the two vessels
passed swiftly without the line of shot.
The wind had sent back their own smoke upon the English, and for a time it
floated on their decks, wreathed itself in the eddies of the sails, and
passed away to leeward, with the breeze that succeeded to the
counter-current of the explosions. The whistling of shot, and the crash of
wood, had been heard amid the din of the combat. Giving a glance at his
enemy, who still stood on, Ludlow leaned from the poop, and, with all a
sailor's anxiety, he endeavored to scan the gear aloft.
"What is gone, Sir?" he asked of Trysail, whose earnest face just then
became visible through the drifting smoke. "What sail is so heavily
flapping?"
"Little harm done, Sir--little harm--bear a hand with the tackle on that
fore-yard-arm, you lubbers! you move like snails in a minuet! The fellow
has shot away the lee fore-top-sail-sheet, Sir; but we shall soon get our
wings spread again. Lash it down, boys, as if it were butt-bolted;--so;
steady out your bowline, forward.--Meet her, you can; meet her you
may--meet her!"
The smoke had disappeared, and the eye of the captain rapidly scanned the
whole of his ship. Three or four top-men had already caught the flapping
canvas, and were seated on the extremity of the fore-yard, busied in
securing their prize. A hole or two was visible in the other sails, and
here and there an unimportant rope was dangling in a manner to show that
it had been cut by shot. Further than this, the damage aloft was not of a
nature to attract his attention.
There was a different scene on deck. The feeble crew were earnestly
occupied in loading the guns, and rammers and spunges were handled, with
all the intenseness which men would manifest in a moment so exciting. The
Alderman was never more absorbed in his leger than he now appeared in his
duty of a cannoneer; and the youths, to whom the command of the batteries
had necessarily been confided, diligently aided him with their greater
authority and experience. Trysail stood near the capstan, coolly giving
the orders which have been related, and gazing upward with an interest so
absorbed as to render him unconscious of all that passed around his
person. Ludlow saw, with pain, that blood discolored the deck at his feet,
and that a seaman lay dead within reach of his arm. The rent plank and
shattered ceiling showed the spot where the destructive missile had
entered.
Compressing his lips like a man resolved, the commander of the Coquette
bent further forward, and glanced at the wheel. The quarter-master, who
held the spokes, was erect, steady, and kept his eye on the leech of the
head-sail, as unerringly as the needle points to the pole.
These were the observations of a single minute. The different
circumstances related had been ascertained with so many rapid glances of
the eye, and they had even been noted without losing for a moment the
knowledge of the precise situation of la Fontange. The latter was already
in stays. It be came necessary to meet the evolution by another as prompt.
The order was no sooner given, than the Coquette, as if conscious of the
hazard she ran of being raked, whirled away from the wind, and, by the
time her adversary was ready to deliver her other broadside she was in a
position to receive and to return it. Again the ships approached each
other, and once more they exchanged their streams of fire when abeam.
Ludlow now saw, through the smoke, the ponderous yard of la Fontange
swinging heavily against the breeze, and the main-top-sail come flapping
against her mast. Swinging off from the poop by a backstay that had been
shot away a moment before, he alighted on the quarter-deck by the side of
the master.
"Touch all the braces!" he said, hastily, but still speaking low and
clearly; "give a drag upon the bowlines--luff, Sir, luff; jam the ship up
hard against the wind!"
The clear, steady answer of the quarter-master, and the manner in which
the Coquette, still vomiting her sheets of flame, inclined towards the
breeze, announced the promptitude of the subordinates. In another minute,
the vast volumes of smoke which enveloped the two ships joined, and formed
one white and troubled cloud, which was rolling swiftly before the
explosions, over the surface of the sea, but which, as it rose higher in
the air, sailed gracefully to leeward.
Our young commander passed swiftly through the batteries, spoke
encouragingly to his people, and resumed his post on the poop. The
stationary position of la Fontange, and his own efforts to get to
windward, were already proving advantageous to Queen Anne's cruiser. There
was some indecision on the part of the other ship, which instantly caught
the eye of one whose readiness in his profession so much resembled
instinct.
The Chevalier Dumont had amused his leisure by running his eyes over the
records of the naval history of his country, where he had found this and
that commander applauded for throwing their top-sails to the mast,
abreast of their enemies. Ignorant of the difference between a ship in
line and one engaged singly, he had determined to prove himself equal to a
similar display of spirit. At the moment when Ludlow was standing alone on
the poop, watching with vigilant eyes the progress of his own vessel, and
the position of his enemy, indicating merely by a look or a gesture to the
attentive Trysail beneath, what he wished done, there was actually a wordy
discussion on the quarter-deck of the latter, between the mariner of
Boulogne-sur-Mer, and the gay favorite of the salons. They debated on the
expediency of the step which the latter had taken, to prove the existence
of a quality that no one doubted The time lost in this difference of
opinion was of the last importance to the British cruiser. Standing
gallantly on, she was soon out of the range of her adversary's fire; and,
before the Boulognois had succeeded in convincing his superior of his
error, their antagonist was on the other tack, and luffing across the wake
of la Fontange. The top-sail was then tardily filled, but before the
latter ship had recovered her motion, the sails of her enemy overshadowed
her deck. There was now every prospect of the Coquette passing to
windward. At that critical moment, the fair-setting top-sail of the
British cruiser was nearly rent in two by a shot. The ship fell off, the
yards interlocked, and the vessels were foul.
The Coquette had all the advantage of position. Perceiving the important
fact at a glance, Ludlow made sure of its continuance by throwing his
grapnels. When the two ships were thus firmly lashed together, the young
Dumont found himself relieved from a mountain of embarrassment.
Sufficiently justified by the fact that not a single gun of his own would
bear, while a murderous discharge of grape had just swept along his decks,
he issued the order to board. But Ludlow, with his weakened crew, had not
decided on so hazardous an evolution as that which brought him in absolute
contact with his enemy, without foreseeing the means of avoiding all the
consequences. The vessels touched each other only at one point, and this
spot was protected by a row of muskets. No sooner, therefore, did the
impetuous young Frenchman appear on the taffrail of his own ship,
supported by a band of followers, than a close and deadly fire swept them
away to a man. Young Dumont alone remained. For a single moment, his eye
glared wildly; but the active frame, still obedient to the governing
impulse of so impetuous a spirit, leaped onward. He fell, without life, on
the deck of his enemy.
Ludlow watched every movement, with a calmness that neither personal
responsibility, nor the uproar and rapid incidents of the terrible scene,
could discompose.
"Now is our time to bring the matter hand to hand!" he cried, making a
gesture to Trysail to descend from the ladder, in order that he might
pass.
His arm was arrested, and the grave old master pointed to windward.
"There is no mistaking the cut of those sails, or the lofty rise of those
spars! The stranger is another Frenchman!"
One glance told Ludlow that his subordinate was right; another sufficed to
show what was now necessary.
"Cast loose the forward grapnel--cut it--away with it, clear!" was
shouted, through his trumpet, in a voice that rose commanding and clear
amid the roar of the combat.
Released forward, the stern of the Coquette yielded to the pressure of her
enemy, whose sails were all drawing, and she was soon in a position to
enable her head-yards to be braced sharp aback, in a direction opposite to
the one in which she had so lately lain. The whole broadside was then
delivered into the stern of la Fontange, the last grapnel was released and
the ships separated.
The single spirit which presided over the evolutions and exertions of the
Coquette, still governed her movements. The sails were trimmed, the ship
was got in command, and, before the vessels had been asunder five minutes,
the duty of the vessel was in its ordinary active but noiseless train.
Nimble top-men were on the yards, and broad folds of fresh canvas were
flapping in the breeze, as the new sails were bent and set. Ropes were
spliced, or supplied by new rigging, the spars examined, and in fine all
that watchfulness and sedulous care were observed, which are so necessary
to the efficiency and safety of a ship. Every spar was secured, the pumps
were sounded, and the vessel held on her way, as steadily as if she had
never fired nor received a shot.
On the other hand, la Fontange betrayed the indecision and confusion of a
worsted ship. Her torn canvas was blowing about in disorder, many
important ropes beat against her masts unheeded, and the vessel itself
drove before the breeze in the helplessness of a wreck. For several
minutes, there seemed no controlling mind in the fabric; and when, after
so much distance was lost as to give her enemy all the advantage of the
wind, a tardy attempt was made to bring the ship up again, the tallest and
most important of her masts was seen tottering, until it finally fell,
with all its hamper, into the sea.
Notwithstanding the absence of so many of his people, success would now
have been certain, had not the presence of the stranger compelled Ludlow
to abandon his advantage. But the consequences to his own vessel were too
sure, to allow of more than a natural and manly regret that so favorable
an occasion should escape him. The character of the stranger could no
longer be mistaken. The eve of every seaman in the Coquette as well
understood the country of the high and narrow-headed sails, the tall taper
masts and short yards of the frigate whose hull was now distinctly
visible, as a landsman recognizes an individual by the distinguishing
marks of his features or attire. Had there been any lingering doubts on
the subject, they would have all given place to certainty, when the
stranger was seen exchanging signals with the crippled corvette.
It was now time for Ludlow to come to a speedy determination on his future
course. The breeze still held to the southward, but it was beginning to
lessen, with every appearance that it would fail before nightfall. The
land lay a few leagues to the northward, and the whole horizon of the
ocean, with the exception of the two French cruisers, was clear.
Descending to the quarter-deck, he approached the master, who was seated
in a chair, while the surgeon dressed a severe hurt in one of his legs.
Shaking the sturdy veteran cordially by the hand, he expressed his
acknowledgments for his support in a moment so trying.
"God bless you! God bless you! Captain Ludlow;" returned the old sailor,
dashing his hand equivocally across his weatherbeaten brow. "Battle is
certainly the place to try both ship and friends, and Heaven be praised!
Queen Anne has not failed of either this day. No man has forgotten his
duty, so far as my eyes have witnessed; and this is saying no trifle, with
half a crew and an equal enemy. As for the ship, she never behaved better!
I had my misgivings, when I saw the new main-top-sail go, which it did, as
all here know, like a bit of rent muslin between the fingers of a
seamstress. Run forward, Mr. Hopper, and tell the men in the fore rigging
to take another drag on that swifter, and to be careful and bring the
strain equal on all the shrouds.--A lively youth, Captain Ludlow, and one
who only wants a little reflection, with some more experience, and a
small dash of modesty, together with the seamanship he will naturally get
in time, to make a very tolerable officer."
"The boy promises well; but I have come to ask thy advice, my old friend,
concerning our next movements. There is no doubt that the fellow who is
coming down upon us is both a Frenchman and a frigate."
"A man might as well doubt the nature of a fish-hawk, which is to pick up
all the small fry, and to let the big ones go. We might show him our
canvas and try the open sea, but I fear that fore-mast is too weak, with
three such holes in it, to bear the sail we should need!"
"What think you of the wind?" said Ludlow, affecting an indecision he did
not feel, in order to soothe the feelings of his wounded companion.
"Should it hold, we might double Montauk, and return for the rest of our
people; but should it fail, is there no danger that the frigate should tow
within shot!--We have no boats to escape her."
"The soundings on this coast are as regular as the roof of an out-house,"
said the master, after a moment of thought, "and it is my advice, if it is
your pleasure to ask it, Captain Ludlow, that we shoal our water as much
as possible, while the wind lasts. Then, I think, we shall be safe from a
very near visit from the big one:--as for the corvette, I am of opinion,
that, like a man who has eaten his dinner, she has no stomach for another
slice."
Ludlow applauded the advice of his subordinate, for it was precisely what
he had determined on doing; and after again complimenting him on his
coolness and skill, he issued the necessary orders. The helm of the
Coquette was now placed hard a-weather, the yards were squared, and the
ship was put be fore the wind. After running, in this direction for a few
hours, the wind gradually lessening, the lead announced that the keel was
quite as near the bottom as the time of the tide, and the dull heaving and
setting of the element, rendered at all prudent. The breeze soon after
fell, and then our young commander ordered an anchor to be dropped into
the sea.
His example, in the latter respect, was imitated by the hostile cruisers.
They had soon joined, and boats were seen passing from one to the other,
so long as there was light. When the sun fell behind the western margin of
the ocean, their dusky outlines, distant about a league, gradually grew
less and less distinct, until the darkness of night enveloped sea and land
in its gloom.