Looking Seaward Again | Page 6

chief officer, who, in a shameful moment
asked him to turn back after the first shot was fired. He had no time to
think of that senseless advice when it was given, but it may be taken for
granted the cautious mate did not add to his popularity with the crew.
He had commanded large sailing vessels in the Australian passenger
trade, and this was his first voyage in steam. The new life, with all its
varied sensationalisms, was a mystery to him, and this little incident
did not increase his belief in the wisdom of his change from sail to
steam. He explained that the thought of what he regarded as inevitable
disaster caused him to spontaneously call out that they were firing.
"Besides," he continued, "I don't like the business; so I'll resign my
position and go back to sailing vessels again, on the completion of the
voyage."
The captain reminded him of the fine spirit of enterprise that prevailed
amongst the crew; only in a lesser degree, perhaps, than that which
caused Nelson under different circumstances to say of his sailors,
"They really mind shot no more than peas."
"Nelson may have said that, and our crew may have a fine spirit of
wholesale daring, but I don't like to be mixed up with either the
enterprise or the shot," retorted the reflective officer; and I daresay if
the captain were asked for an opinion now he would be disposed to take
the mate's view.
The thought of being pursued kept up a quiet excitement. The vessel
was pressed through the water at her maximum speed and arrived at her
first destination without any mishap to herself or the deck cargo, which
was landed expeditiously. She then continued on her voyage. On arrival
at the discharging port, a letter was received from the owners
complimenting the captain on the success of an undertaking which
would contribute so considerably to the profits of the voyage, and at the
same time calling his attention to a newspaper cutting. An official
telegram to the English Press stated that "_A British steamer, name
unknown, in attempting to run out of ---- harbour over the torpedo lines,

was warned and fired upon by a Russian warship which was guarding
the harbour. The steamer refused to stop. She was shelled, and in
crossing the mine zone the vessel, with her crew, was blown to
atoms!_" This was a sensational piece of news to read of one's self.
Two years elapsed before the captain again steamed into ---- harbour.
He expected to meet his old friend the Admiral, and a few other
Russian gentlemen in whom his interest was centred; but they had
either gone to their rest or had been removed. It seemed as though the
incident that caused so much commotion at the time had passed out of
recollection. Indeed, there seemed quite a new order of things. New
officials were there. The gunboats were removed from their familiar
stations. The torpedoes that had been the dread of navigators had been
lifted, and it was commonly reported that many of them were loaded
with sand. No signs were visible of there having been war defences that
were meant to be regarded as impregnable--and it is not to be denied
the earthworks justified that opinion. There were whisperings that when
those in high places discovered what some of the mines were charged
with, the persons responsible for the laying of the mines were seized;
and tradition has it that an impromptu scaffold had been erected outside
the town, and every one of the suspects hanged without trial--and
merely on the suspicion that they knew of, even if they had not
contributed to, the treacherous act. In the light of the horrors that are
occurring in Russia at the present time, it is not improbable that there
was treachery; and that when it was discovered, suspicion centred on
certain persons, who were, in accordance with Muscovite autocracy,
dispatched without ceremony, guilty or not guilty.
"Ah!" said Mr. C---- to the captain, who had just finished describing his
last departure from ---- Harbour, "you may thank your stars that the
torpedoes were loaded with sand or some other rubbish, or you
wouldn't have been here this day. The officers were in a great fury at
the wires not operating when you were running out, and the
men--submarines, I think, they are called--who were behind the
earthworks were knocked about badly. They came to my place to get to
know the name of the vessel, but I bamboozled them, and gave them
cigars and vodka, and they weren't long in forgetting about what had
happened. I think there is no doubt about your being the cause of
having the mines raised, as, to my certain knowledge, they