Sail Ho! A Boy at Sea

by George Manville Fenn

The rattle and clang of the tackle began, as the men turned with all their might, the catches on either side making sure of every foot they won, and by degrees the heavy boat rose slowly out of the water, and higher and higher, till she was above the bulwarks, when the men cheered, ceased turning, made all fast, and while two of us got hold of the painter and swung the boat’s head round, the crane-like spar, at whose end the iron wheel, hung, was slewed round till the boat was well on board.

Then Hampton and Barney ran back to the capstan and lowered away, till the boat lay on its side on the deck, when, with a rousing cheer, the gangway was closed, and I felt that I could breathe; for, as I looked over the bulwarks for our enemies, there they were, steadily rowing toward us, but still quite a mile away.

I breathed more freely then, for, in spite of their superior strength, I felt that our position was not unfavourable. The sides of the ship were high and smooth, and, without help from within, the only likely places for our enemies to be able to gain the deck were from under the bowsprit, where I had climbed up, or through the stern-windows. But we had a keen and thoughtful man in command. Mr Brymer soon rendered the stern-windows safe by having the dead-lights over them, while I was sent round to screw up the glazed-iron frame of every circular window. Then our principal vulnerable point was the stay beneath the bowsprit, where he stationed Dumlow, armed with a capstan-bar, which the big sailor prepared to use as a club; the other dangerous points being the chains, where it was possible for a man to climb up by means of a boot-hook.

These places Mr Brymer guarded as well as possible by stationing one or other of his forces ready for their defence, with the understanding that we were to act on our discretion, and run to help in the defence of the part most menaced.

All these arrangements were quickly made, and lastly, the saloon was reserved for our final stand, the cannon being wheeled just inside, pointed so as to sweep the entrance, though I failed to see how it was to be fired if we were driven there, when the red-hot poker was in the stove of the galley.

By this time they were all armed. Miss Denning was back in our citadel, the saloon, where we had all been refreshed with the provisions she had prepared for us. Mr Brymer had begged Mr Denning, too, to go into his cabin, out of the way of danger; but he had flushed up and insisted upon having a chair placed by the cannon, and being furnished with one of the guns and some cartridges.

“I am a good shot,” he said, “weak as I am, and I command a good deal of the bulwarks on either side of the ship.”

So he was placed as he wished, and sat with his gun across his knees, just at the breach of the cannon.

“And I can fire that if it becomes necessary,” he confided to me, as I said good-bye to him before I went to my place.

“How?” I asked,—“with a match?”