12 - Blake of the "Rattlesnake" - More Troubles

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Chapter twelve of Blake of the Rattlesnake. This is a
LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain.
For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox dot org.
This recording is by Mark Smith of Simpsonville, South Carolina.

(00:21):
Blake of the Rattlesnake by Frederick T. Jane, Chapter twelve,
More troubles. We managed to slip back into harbor without
sighting anything hostile, but the signal that met us as
in the growing dawn we steamed to our billet told
us that we had returned none too soon. Large armed steamer,

(00:45):
flying British mercantile and blue ensigns making for harbor. Hornet
gone to reconnoiter. Came a semaphore from the speedy confound
it all everything seems conspiring against us, exclaimed Blake. Ten
to one. Some cruisers are after him. We presently made
out the British steamer, a large foremasted packet, and a

(01:08):
stern of her. Were three cruisers and some torpedo boats,
all in hot pursuit and firing as they came. The
plan of the British captain was evident. He hoped to
entice the enemy into the strange harbor, where likely enough
they would run aground, while he could escape at the
northern outlet, the one by which we had just returned

(01:30):
Willy nilly. Therefore we were in for a fight, and
it was of the last importance that none of the
enemy should escape. How to capture or destroy the lot
of them was, however, a problem beyond me. It was
not likely that all would enter the harbor, and the
destruction of a vessel inside would be the signal for
the others to make off. I quite gave it up

(01:53):
as hopeless, but Blake seemed confident enough, and gradually I
was reassured. The Merchantman was nearer, now almost over our minefield,
and the enemy, seeking to wing rather than destroy her,
fired continually. One of the cruisers and the two torpedo
boats went round to the northern entrance, with a view

(02:15):
of shutting her in, so we assumed, as they disappeared
behind Holy Island. All this time we had lain with
steam up, but making no move. The Hornet, which had
been recalled, lying quietly inshore by the island, the rest
of us and our usual billets. After a while, Blake
made a signal, whereupon the ferret and dasher were. The

(02:38):
torpedo boats moved gently away toward the northern entrance, and
disappeared round the corner to fall on the enemy in
that direction. Suddenly the oncoming merchantmen stopped. A shell had
hit her square in the engines, and she lay helpless
directly over our minefield like a flash. One of the

(02:59):
cruisers was a alongside her, and a rattle of musketry
told us that they were going to carry her by boarding.
This was an unexpected event, as the mine could not
now be exploded without destroying the English ship. So we
were rather in a hole what to do. But Blake
was not the man to overlook possibilities, and he allowed

(03:20):
for this one. The speedy and Hornet opened fire on
the French, who were evidently considerably startled. They had hitherto
taken us for trading craft, apparently, and at the same
moment there came the sound of rapid firing where our
torpedo boats were engaged to the northward. One good broadside
from either of the French cruisers would have sunk any

(03:42):
of our vessels, but we did not stay to receive it.
We made rapidly for the northern outlet, and so drew
one of them boldly after us. This vessel, the one
that had gone alongside the prize, had sent most of
her boats to tow that craft out to sea, a
proceeding for which we were exceedingly thankful, since it left

(04:04):
our mind field free and open. Cruiser number two, however,
seemed to dart off towards her other consort, with a view,
as we then supposed, of falling upon us as we
emerged from the shelter of Holy Island. As we came
round the island, whence the sound of firing still proceeded,
we found a battle royal in progress. The third cruiser

(04:27):
was firing broadside after broadside at our flotilla of torpedo boats,
which were coming on her from all sides, while some
distance away, the dasher was chasing one of the French
torpedo boats. Neither the ferret nor the other torpedo boat
were to be seen. As we learned later, our destroyer
had been literally blown out of the water while sinking

(04:49):
the other boat under the lee of the hostile cruiser.
Our six torpedo boats made short work of their quarry,
though two of them were sunk in the struggle. We
did not see to watch this. However, a matter of
far greater moment attracted our attention, for already getting small
on the horizon was the cruiser that had remained outside.

(05:11):
It was imperative to capture her at all hazards, and
we and the Hornet cracked on every ounce of steam
we could manage. A stern chase, however, is ever a
long one, and though her timidity at venturing down the
Irish Channel led her to seek the sea room of
the Atlantic, we still feared that the French vessel might

(05:31):
find friends before we could overhaul her. And overhauled and all,
it struck me that we'd have a pretty hard job
to tackle her. We estimated the speed of the runaway
at something like nineteen knots our own maximum, regulated by
that of the hornet, was twenty five. We were, therefore, theoretically,

(05:52):
at any rate, in a position to catch her up
in well under two hours, allowing for the start she
had obtained. Actually, however, our speed was soon much reduced
by the ocean rollers, and at the end of three
hours we had just got level with her, as near
as I can guess. We were then some five miles

(06:13):
away on her port quarter, the Hornet being in the
same position to starboard. It took us a good while
to forge much ahead of her. But this, however, was
not particularly necessary. It's no good attacking till night, said Blake.
We should only be blown out of the water for
our panes. The day wore on by the cherub. We

(06:36):
were now two hundred and ten miles from Limelash when
the Hornet signaled a strange sail on the starboard bow.
Blake ordered us to man an arm ship, and signaled
the same to the Hornet. If the newcomer were a
hostile warship, as indeed seemed only too probable, we would
have to risk it and do our best to sink

(06:57):
the Frenchman before he could join his friend. Carefully, we
examined the strange vessel, whose course lay across our own,
and at the speed we were going, she was soon
pretty visible through our binoculars. By all, that's wonderful, sir,
I cried to Blake. She's one of our first class cruisers,

(07:17):
flying the white ensign. All right, too well, he returned,
we must get in first shot so as to have
chief claim to the prize. If this cruiser gets hold
of her, she'll find out everything, and so far as
we are concerned, the Frenchman might then just as well
have escaped, for the cat will be out of the bag.

(07:39):
He edged the ratto in nearer, and we began to
blaze away with our twelve pounder, doing no particular damage
I expect, for the range was a very long one,
though it is doubtful whether we should have done much
more harm at close quarters. The twelve pounder is not
designed to attack armored cruisers. With the enemy she was.

(07:59):
The Shasso loup la Bas fired back at us, but
fortunately we escaped with little injury, our small size being
a great protection to us. Still, their aim was very
good for all that, and they would soon have settled
our hash. Could they have got us within range of
their Hutchkiss guns. We had a pretty uncomfortable time of

(08:21):
it as it was, and I for one, was heartily
thankful when we steamed back again to our former position.
It was rather a puzzle to us why the chasseloup
Labas did not turn as soon as she knew that
the coming vessel was English, but we fancied her skipper
was sick of running away and hoped that by trying

(08:41):
conclusions with our cruiser, he would manage to sink his
perdinacious followers by enticing them within range during the heat
of the action. Otherwise, as he must have well known,
it was merely a matter of waiting for night. So
soon as the knight should come, he would be torpedoed
by one of us. To a certainty, the British warship

(09:03):
was now steaming as hard as she knew how, and
in a very short time the cruisers were exchanging shots.
We have made our numbers to our friend as soon
as she was well in view, but she did not
reply for some little while, and when she did we
were not very easily able to distinguish the signal Union

(09:25):
am something, Sir reported the signalman, I can't make out.
The last flag must be the Crescent, sir, he continued,
after a pause during which he had consolted the signal book.
The Crescent was at that time flagship on the North
American station, so what she was doing off the coast

(09:46):
of Ireland was beyond us. Still there she was, and
fighting in fine style too. She had signaled to us
to keep out of the way, and Blake obeyed. Readily enough.
It's a rum hole in altogether. Beauvarie, he remarked to
me as we stood on the turtle back watching the fight.
If we'd been left to manage the Frenchman as best

(10:08):
we could, well, there we'd have been. And if I
lost the number of my messines sinking her, our chums
at Lamblash would still carry on. Now we are in
a fix all the way round. If the Crescent wins,
there'll be some pretty stiff diplomacy required to get hold
of the prisoners and keep the victors from finding out

(10:29):
about the Lamlash flotilla, both from the French and from us.
And if the Crapeaue comes off victorious, there'll be some
extra trouble that way. Really, it looks as though the
only solution of the problem would be for these two
ships to blow each other to pieces. So our predicament
isn't a pleasant one at all. The two warships seemed

(10:51):
to be well on their way to the mutual destruction
spoken of by Blake, but the vastly superior armament of
the Crescent told more more and more against our chase.
The Frenchman maneuver beautifully seeking, and indeed obtaining all the
advantages of his superior end on fire. But though every

(11:12):
now and again he could bring five guns to bear
against the crescents, four, these moments of superiority rapidly passed,
and a broadside of seven q F guns poured shells
into him at the rate of forty a minute. In
twenty minutes all was over, and the battered wreck of
the chassis Louplobas became an English prize. There goes a

(11:35):
plucky Frenchman, if ever there was one, said Blake, as
we watched the tricolor hauled down a plucky fellow for
all his mysterious running away at Lamblash. And now our
troubles begin. Well, we must take the bull by the
horns and try what bounce will do. He semaphored to

(11:55):
the Crescent a message of thanks for having rendered assistance
to him and the matter of capturing the Frenchman, and
wound up by saying that another Frenchman, a first class cruiser,
had slipped on a head and escaped him. I should
like to see the Admiral's face when he gets the message,
laughed Blake. However, it's our only chance. The arms of

(12:18):
our Semaphore had scarcely come to rest when the skipper
started another to the effect that he would send a
prize crew on board the Frenchman, and that he couldn't
think of occupying the Admiral's time or troubling him any
more in the matter. For answer came a request for
Blake to come on board the Admiral. The Hornet, I

(12:38):
should have mentioned, had got alongside the Chasseloup Labas almost
immediately after she struck, long before the only boat that
the Crescent seemed able to send could reach her, and
as afterwards transpired, Garron, the Hornet's skipper, had hastily divided
her crew into two portions, those who knew whereabouts they

(12:59):
had found us and those who did not, with a
view of sending the ignorant ones on board the Crescent first.
The Crescent's boat was, however, recalled ere she reached the Prize,
so the precaution turned out to be unnecessary. Blake was
back again in ten minutes with a radiant face. It's

(13:19):
all right, he cried as he climbed on deck. I've
fixed it up, so let's hurry to work before he
changes his mind. Take the gig Bovary and hang on
to the cruiser till I send you other orders. You
can get on board, of course, and tow the boat astern.
The hornet is to take the Frenchman into Londonderry with
what's left of her crew, and then join the flag

(13:41):
at a rendezvous. The Ratto has to cruise with the
flag for a day or two, or till the war ends.
I forget which, but no matter. Then, seeing how a
ghast I looked, he added, laughing, well never mind, now,
I'll tell you all about it in Lamblash Harbor tomorrow.
Hurry up at present and be sure and keep a

(14:03):
sharp eye on the prisoners. A few minutes later saw
me boarding the prize, and a terrible sight it was
that met my curious gaze. I had seen a fair
share of service during the war. I had taken part
in more than one fight, but all my battles had
to do with torpedoes or at the most small shell.

(14:25):
Here I saw before me the awful and devastating effect
of nine inch projectiles, and a sickening sight. It was
decks were torn and riven asunder guns hurled from their
mountings had sunk through the deck, breaking all before them.
Dead and wounded men were here, there and everywhere. Blood

(14:46):
and brains of men were splashed all over. The whole
ship was but one vast charnel house. And the marvel
to me was not that she had held out for
twenty minutes, but that anyone had survived twenty secondins for
she was riddled like a sieve where the quick firing
guns had hit her. Only one executive, a sub of

(15:08):
about my own age, was left standing, and very very
few of the crew were still alive. What damage the
Chasselouplobas had inflected on the Crescent I did not see.
I understood later, however, from Blake, that things were pretty
bad there. Curiously enough, little damage was done to the

(15:29):
engines of either of the combatants, and soon we and
the prize steamed away eastward again, though at about half
the speed the ship had made when steering to the west.
Smaller and smaller grew the great Hall of the Crescent,
as with the little Ratto following in her wake. She
continued her cruise towards the setting sun, and for the

(15:50):
first time during the war, I was embarked on a
duty in which Blake had no part. But if Blake
himself was not there in person, he was at least
watching over us in spirit, for garn of the Hornet
was his most able lieutenant. Looking back at it all,
now I realize, in a way that did not strike

(16:12):
me then, the tremendous genius of Blake, and the skill
with which he invariably thought out every possible emergency. I
am perfectly certain in my own mind that he had,
at lambleash arranged every detail of what was to be
done in the case of an event like that in
which we had just taken part. It was not so

(16:33):
obvious to me then, however, and I spent some anxious
hours in the darkness as I paced the bridge of
the Chasselouplobais, now dreading that the prisoners would attempt to mutiny,
now with a sickening fear that I should never see
Blake again. I was aroused from my half dreams by
a signal from the Hornet lie by and send a

(16:56):
boatload of prisoners on board me. I did, was ordered,
sending some seven wounded men, who had been attended to
by this time by the French doctors. A second boat
full of prisoners was now set unwounded men, this time
The boat was just returning when I heard a lookout
in the hornets sing out destroyer coming up astern, full speed,

(17:19):
signaling green over red. I looked aft, saw in the
darkness a dim white wave advancing. Heard the throb of
engines going at full power. Then like a flash, a
well known hull shot past me. It was the Rattlesnake
come back. End of chapter