The Wreck Of The President

Page 7

Almost immediately the President shook again, and another cloud of smoke arose, this time on the other side. The ghurab on that side faired worse. The cannons had been pointing down and had fired straight through its deck and out through it’s hull on the far side – below the waterline. The stricken ghurab heeled over and began to sink, to the sounds of crashing and screaming from within. Its survivors had no choice but to scramble aboard the English ship.

This was no good.

There were more pirates on board than ever, and now they were angry too.

Another group of gunports opened, but this time the pirates were ready. Some shot arrows in through them or tried to force them shut again while others were held open as the attackers attempted to climb inside. So the guns could only be used one or two at a time after that.

Up on the deck Captain Hide was leading a gallant resistance, but against such numbers there was little hope of victory. They had retreated up onto the forecastle and were defending it much like a real castle on land besieged by an enemy army. The Captain ordered a few men to go below and fetch one last hope from the ship’s powder room.

It was a desperate hope indeed, but it was all they had left…

…grenades.

The men returned with arms full of the crude bombs. They formed a human chain passing the weapons along the lower deck, up through the gundeck and the covered section of the main deck under the forecastle. They were thrown up through the hatchway to those out in the open. At a command from Captain Hide the fuses were lit and the grenades thrown.

To start throwing explosives around on a sailing ship was a terrible risk, the timber, the ropes, the sails could so easily catch fire and the vessel be lost anyway. But there was nothing else to do - the pirates didn’t look as though they were likely to take any prisoners.

The attackers had not seen grenades before, and they just stared at the black balls with the burning string fuses sticking out as they rolled on the deck amongst them.

Bang!

As the bombs burst one by one the pirates panicked and scrambled frantically for the sides of the ship. But their retreat was difficult, although all the enemy vessels were now crowded around the President the nearest ghurabs were damaged by cannon fire. One had sunk by then and another was sinking.

The scene in the water all around was one of utter confusion. Hundreds of men swimming and struggling, almost climbing over each other to get to the four ships which were still in a condition to carry them away.

With a chorus of shouts, cheers and jeers, the President’s crew ran across the main deck and climbed up onto the quarterdeck assisting their visitors’ efforts to leave as quickly as possible. Some set to work stamping out any small fires that had been started by the grenades. Others ran to the sides and threw more grenades at the other ships.

But the enemy was recovering. While many were in the water, still more were in the surviving ghurabs. Once again the President was showered with gunfire and arrows as the pirate commanders led their men back towards her.

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