[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
"and, see! he has thrown away his false paint, and shows the well-known
bloody side, from which he gets his name. Stand to your guns, my men! the
pirate is getting earnest."
Page 273
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
He was still speaking, when a sheet of bright flame glanced from out that
streak of red which was so well adapted to work upon the superstitious awe
of the common mariners, and was followed by the simultaneous explosion of
nearly a dozen wide-mouthed pieces of artillery. The startling change,
from inattention and indifference, to this act of bold and decided
hostility, produced a strong effect on the boldest heart on board the
King's cruiser. The momentary interval of suspense was passed in unchanged
attitudes and looks of deep attention; and then the rushing of the iron
storm was heard hurtling through the air, as it came fearfully on. The
crash that followed, mingled, as it was, with human groans, and succeeded
by the tearing of riven plank, and the scattering high of splinters,
ropes, blocks, and the implements of war, proclaimed the fatal accuracy of
the broadside. But the surprise, and, with it, the brief confusion,
endured but for an instant. The English shouted, and sent back a return to
the deadly assault they had just received, recovering manfully and
promptly from the shock which it had assuredly given.
The ordinary and more regular cannonading of a naval combat succeeded.
Anxious to precipitate the issue, both ships pressed nigher to each other
the while, until, in a few moments, the two white canopies of smoke, that
were wreathing about their respective masts, were blended in one, marking
a solitary spot of strife, in the midst of a scene of broad and bright
tranquillity. The discharges of the cannon were hot, close, and incessant.
While the hostile parties, how ever, closely mutated each other in their
zeal in dealing out destruction, a peculiar difference marked the
distinction in character of the two crews. Loud, cheering shouts
accompanied each discharge from the lawful cruiser, while the people of
the rover did their murderous work amid the deep silence of desperation.
The spirit and uproar of the scene soon quickened that blood, in the veins
of the veteran Bignall, which had begun to circulate a little slowly by
time.
"The fellow has not forgotten his art!" he exclaimed as the effects of his
enemy's skill were getting but too manifest, in the rent sails, shivered
spars, and tottering masts of his own ship. "Had he but the commission of
the King in his pocket, one might call him a hero!"
The emergency was too urgent to throw away the time in words. Wilder
answered only by cheering his own people to their fierce and laborious
task. The ships had now fallen off before the wind, and were running
parallel to each other, emitting sheets of flame, that were incessantly
glancing through immense volumes of smoke. The spars of the respective
vessels were alone visible, at brief and uncertain intervals. Many minutes
had thus passed, seeming to those engaged but a moment of time, when the
mariners of the "Dart" found that they no longer held their vessel in the
quick command, so necessary to their situation. The important circumstance
was instantly conveyed from the master to Wilder, and from Wilder to his
superior. A hasty consultation on the cause and consequences of this
unexpected event was the immediate and natural result.
"See!" cried Wilder, "the sails are already banging against the masts
like rags; the explosions of the artillery have stilled the wind."
"Hark!" answered the more experienced Bignall: "There goes the artillery
of heaven among our own guns.--The squall is already upon us--port the
helm, sir, and sheer the ship out of the smoke! Hard a-port with the helm,
sir, at once!--hard with it a-port I say."
Page 274
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
But the lazy motion of the vessel did not answer to the impatience of
those who directed her movements nor did it meet the pressing exigencies
of the moment. In the mean time, while Bignall, and the officers whose
duties kept them near his person, assisted by the sail-trimmers, were thus
occupied, the people in the batteries continued their murderous
employment. The roar of cannon was still constant, and nearly
overwhelming, though there were instants when the deep ominous mutterings
of the atmosphere were too distinctly audible to be mistaken. Still the
eye could lend no assistance to the hearing, in determining the judgment
of the mariners. Hulls, spars, and sails were alike enveloped in the
curling wreaths which wrapped heaven, air, vessels, and ocean, alike, in
one white, obscure, foggy mantle. Even the persons of the crew were merely
seen at instants, labouring at the guns, through brief and varying
openings.
"I never knew the smoke pack so heavy on the clerk of a ship before," said
Bignall, with a concern that even his caution could not entirely repress.
"Keep the helm a-port--jam it hard, sir! By Heaven Mr Wilder, those knaves
well know they are struggling for their lives!"
"The fight is all our own!" shouted the second lieutenant, from among the
guns, stanching, as he spoke, the blood of a severe splinter-wound in the
face, and far too intent on his own immediate occupation to have noticed
the signs of the weather. "He has not answered with a single gun, for near
a minute."
"'Fore George, the rogues have enough!" exclaimed the delighted Bignall.
"Three cheers for vic----"
"Hold, sir!" interrupted Wilder, with sufficient decision to check his
Commander's premature exultation; "on my life, our work is not so soon
ended. I think, indeed, his guns are silent;--but, see! the smoke is
beginning to lift. In a few more minutes, if our own fire should cease,
the view will be clear."
A shout from the men in the batteries interrupted his words; and then came
a general cry that the pirates were sheering off. The exultation at this
fancied evidence of their superiority was, however, soon and fearfully
interrupted. A bright, vivid flash penetrated through the dense vapour
which still hung about them in a most extraordinary manner, and was
followed by a crash from the heavens, to which the Simultaneous explosion
of fifty pieces of artillery would have sounded feeble.
"Call the people from their guns!" said Bignall, in those suppressed tones
that are only more portentous from their forced and unnatural calmness:
"Call them away at once, sir, and get the canvas in!"
Wilder, startled more at the proximity and apparent weight of the squall
than at words to which he had been long accustomed, delayed not to give an
order that was seemingly so urgent. The men left their batteries, like
athletae retiring from the arena, some bleeding and faint, some still
fierce and angry, and all more or less excited by the furious scene in
which they had just been actors. Many sprung to the well-known ropes,
while others, as they ascended into the cloud which still hung on the
vessel became lost to the eye in her rigging. [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
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"and, see! he has thrown away his false paint, and shows the well-known
bloody side, from which he gets his name. Stand to your guns, my men! the
pirate is getting earnest."
Page 273
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
He was still speaking, when a sheet of bright flame glanced from out that
streak of red which was so well adapted to work upon the superstitious awe
of the common mariners, and was followed by the simultaneous explosion of
nearly a dozen wide-mouthed pieces of artillery. The startling change,
from inattention and indifference, to this act of bold and decided
hostility, produced a strong effect on the boldest heart on board the
King's cruiser. The momentary interval of suspense was passed in unchanged
attitudes and looks of deep attention; and then the rushing of the iron
storm was heard hurtling through the air, as it came fearfully on. The
crash that followed, mingled, as it was, with human groans, and succeeded
by the tearing of riven plank, and the scattering high of splinters,
ropes, blocks, and the implements of war, proclaimed the fatal accuracy of
the broadside. But the surprise, and, with it, the brief confusion,
endured but for an instant. The English shouted, and sent back a return to
the deadly assault they had just received, recovering manfully and
promptly from the shock which it had assuredly given.
The ordinary and more regular cannonading of a naval combat succeeded.
Anxious to precipitate the issue, both ships pressed nigher to each other
the while, until, in a few moments, the two white canopies of smoke, that
were wreathing about their respective masts, were blended in one, marking
a solitary spot of strife, in the midst of a scene of broad and bright
tranquillity. The discharges of the cannon were hot, close, and incessant.
While the hostile parties, how ever, closely mutated each other in their
zeal in dealing out destruction, a peculiar difference marked the
distinction in character of the two crews. Loud, cheering shouts
accompanied each discharge from the lawful cruiser, while the people of
the rover did their murderous work amid the deep silence of desperation.
The spirit and uproar of the scene soon quickened that blood, in the veins
of the veteran Bignall, which had begun to circulate a little slowly by
time.
"The fellow has not forgotten his art!" he exclaimed as the effects of his
enemy's skill were getting but too manifest, in the rent sails, shivered
spars, and tottering masts of his own ship. "Had he but the commission of
the King in his pocket, one might call him a hero!"
The emergency was too urgent to throw away the time in words. Wilder
answered only by cheering his own people to their fierce and laborious
task. The ships had now fallen off before the wind, and were running
parallel to each other, emitting sheets of flame, that were incessantly
glancing through immense volumes of smoke. The spars of the respective
vessels were alone visible, at brief and uncertain intervals. Many minutes
had thus passed, seeming to those engaged but a moment of time, when the
mariners of the "Dart" found that they no longer held their vessel in the
quick command, so necessary to their situation. The important circumstance
was instantly conveyed from the master to Wilder, and from Wilder to his
superior. A hasty consultation on the cause and consequences of this
unexpected event was the immediate and natural result.
"See!" cried Wilder, "the sails are already banging against the masts
like rags; the explosions of the artillery have stilled the wind."
"Hark!" answered the more experienced Bignall: "There goes the artillery
of heaven among our own guns.--The squall is already upon us--port the
helm, sir, and sheer the ship out of the smoke! Hard a-port with the helm,
sir, at once!--hard with it a-port I say."
Page 274
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
But the lazy motion of the vessel did not answer to the impatience of
those who directed her movements nor did it meet the pressing exigencies
of the moment. In the mean time, while Bignall, and the officers whose
duties kept them near his person, assisted by the sail-trimmers, were thus
occupied, the people in the batteries continued their murderous
employment. The roar of cannon was still constant, and nearly
overwhelming, though there were instants when the deep ominous mutterings
of the atmosphere were too distinctly audible to be mistaken. Still the
eye could lend no assistance to the hearing, in determining the judgment
of the mariners. Hulls, spars, and sails were alike enveloped in the
curling wreaths which wrapped heaven, air, vessels, and ocean, alike, in
one white, obscure, foggy mantle. Even the persons of the crew were merely
seen at instants, labouring at the guns, through brief and varying
openings.
"I never knew the smoke pack so heavy on the clerk of a ship before," said
Bignall, with a concern that even his caution could not entirely repress.
"Keep the helm a-port--jam it hard, sir! By Heaven Mr Wilder, those knaves
well know they are struggling for their lives!"
"The fight is all our own!" shouted the second lieutenant, from among the
guns, stanching, as he spoke, the blood of a severe splinter-wound in the
face, and far too intent on his own immediate occupation to have noticed
the signs of the weather. "He has not answered with a single gun, for near
a minute."
"'Fore George, the rogues have enough!" exclaimed the delighted Bignall.
"Three cheers for vic----"
"Hold, sir!" interrupted Wilder, with sufficient decision to check his
Commander's premature exultation; "on my life, our work is not so soon
ended. I think, indeed, his guns are silent;--but, see! the smoke is
beginning to lift. In a few more minutes, if our own fire should cease,
the view will be clear."
A shout from the men in the batteries interrupted his words; and then came
a general cry that the pirates were sheering off. The exultation at this
fancied evidence of their superiority was, however, soon and fearfully
interrupted. A bright, vivid flash penetrated through the dense vapour
which still hung about them in a most extraordinary manner, and was
followed by a crash from the heavens, to which the Simultaneous explosion
of fifty pieces of artillery would have sounded feeble.
"Call the people from their guns!" said Bignall, in those suppressed tones
that are only more portentous from their forced and unnatural calmness:
"Call them away at once, sir, and get the canvas in!"
Wilder, startled more at the proximity and apparent weight of the squall
than at words to which he had been long accustomed, delayed not to give an
order that was seemingly so urgent. The men left their batteries, like
athletae retiring from the arena, some bleeding and faint, some still
fierce and angry, and all more or less excited by the furious scene in
which they had just been actors. Many sprung to the well-known ropes,
while others, as they ascended into the cloud which still hung on the
vessel became lost to the eye in her rigging. [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]