fire ! ring the fire-bell \" These words, replete with
such a fell import, rang over the silent decks with
the sound as of the archangel's trump at the .last
day. For a moment it seemed to freeze the very
heart's blood of the three listeners, and to paralyze
their bodies, so that they could not move; but it was
The Autobiography of a Man-o'-War's Bell. 303
only for this brief space of time, for hardly had the
echoes of the dread announcement died away, than
they made a simultaneous rush at the lanyard
attached to my tongue (would that all tongues of
flesh had lanyards by which they could be effectually
held] and with might and main poured out on the
midnight air such a volume of sound as would have
roused the " seven sleepers/' or any number of them
(as it most certainly did on this occasion), had any
such incentive to wakefulness been requisite after the
stentorian tones of the aroused officer who gave the
alarm.
Responsive to the summons, there streamed up
from the lower deck a crowd of seamen, who repaired
each man to his post with most commendable disci-
pline, and with such promptitude that, before my
alarum tones had ceased to ring, every soul was
ready, and waiting for orders. Those told off as
firemen repaired to search for the site of the fire,
while " whips" were rove on the yardarms and
canvas buckets prepared for bringing water from
alongside, and the ordinary wooden buckets mar-
shalled in rows to pass the water along. It was
soon discovered that the fire was raging in the after
part of the orlop deck, and in dangerous proximity
to the powder-magazine. The captain first spoke of
304 T/te Autobiography of a Man-o'-lVar's Bell.
passing the powder up, and heaving it overboard;
but fearful of the imminent danger there existed of a
spark igniting the inflammable agent, he decided
upon the safer course of flooding the magazine,
which was accordingly carried out without a minute's
loss of time. This completed, the officers and crew
breathed with a feeling of comparative safety, and
every nerve was bent to extinguish the fire, which
was gaining ground with fearful rapidity. Very soon
volumes of dense smoke were seen issuing from the
after hatchways, and seen from the fore hatchways
also, as the smoke rolled along the maindeck, and
found vent anywhere.
The firemen were now obliged to come up on
deck, being driven away by the heat and suffocating
clouds of smoke. Orders were at once issued to
prepare and victual the boats, and as these had all
been kept by the late commander in a commendable
condition for immediate service, little delay ensued
before the respective officers reported every prepara-
tion made for abandoning the ship. Sorely against
his will, the captain, after a hurried consultation with
his two mates, decided upon adopting this course.
The maintopsail was (f laid to the mast," and the
ship being hove to, the boats were lowered alongside,
and quicky hauled forward, for the flames were now
The Autobiography of a Man-o '-War's Bell. 305
bursting through the maindeck ports, and it was im-
possible for the crew to lay into them from the after
part of the ship.
The sick and wounded were first carefully dis-
tributed among the boats, and then with a discipline
that would not have discredited a man-of-war, and in
silence, the prize crew of the ill-fated " Melpomene"
followed their comrades. The boats pushed off, and
none too soon, for the flames, spreading along the
maindeck with surprising celerity, leapt up the tall
masts and along the spars, setting fire to the sails,
and thrust their forked tongues out of all the ports,
licking the grim black muzzles of the guns, which,
though deprived of all human companionship, yet
defiantly frowned out upon the murkiness of night.
So had they sullenly gaped when the tempest raged,
when the storm-beaten waves lashed themselves into
a hideous frenzy, and the winds raved and howled
their loudest; so again when their iron throats
belched forth a destructive hail of shot, and grape,
and canister to the accompaniment of the lightning
that lit up the night with quickly-recurring flashes,
and of the thunder that shook every rib, and beam,
and bolt in the sturdy frigate's oaken frame. In like
manner now, when the last act of the drama of the
history of a gallant ship-of-war " from its cradle to
20
306 The Autobiography of a Man-o'- War's Sell.
its grave" was being enacted, the artillery stood their
ground sullenly, and glared out into the night, and
at the poor mortals, who, at length vanquished by
an element more powerful than even the winds and
the waves, abandoned their ship, and would no
longer stand to their guns.
Was it with an expression of grim pity or of
triumph that these mute iron sons of Mars, once
the proud custodians of England's honour, regarded
the men who had thus deserted them ? I thought
some such feelings must be theirs, for you must
remember I also was left to my fate, and, though
not gifted with powers of speech, could sympathize
with my dumb fellows in misfortune, and under-
stand their feelings.
CHAPTER XIII.
THE fire raged through the deserted ship with intense
fury, and lit up the horizon. It spread up the jury-
mast which had been lately sent aloft and rigged
with such trouble, and " laying " out along the yards
with the celerity of a smart seaman, " picked up "
the broad fields of canvas, and devoured everything,
until the heel of the lower masts burning through,
the masts and spars, together with all sails and
cordage, came toppling from their giddy height, and
crashed down on to the deck beneath, or over the
side into the peaceful sea, which, after they had given
vent to their fervid rage in a fierce hiss, finally ex-
tinguished them. The whole ship, from stem to
stern, and from truck to keelson, was involved in
the conflagration, as, unchecked by the resistance of
man, it swept over everything, and like a plague
of locusts in a fertile land, involved all alike in one
common destruction.. At length the fire, having
done its work, died out, and left the once handsome
3oS The Autobiography of a Man-o' -War's Bell.
frigate little more than a hollow and blackened shell.
The guns having their carriages all burnt to pieces,
fell, one by one, with a rattling noise like thunder
into the hold of the ship ; and almost the only piece
of wood-work the devouring element had spared was
singularly enough that from which I was suspended.
One end of this even had been destroyed, so that I
fell over on one side, and every time the hull of the
ship rolled on the long sullen swell that had now set
in, I gave forth a half-subdued and monotonous
sound. All day and all night this mournful knell
sounded over the solitary sea. Not a sail came near
us; and the once proud frigate that had been ever
noted for the swiftness with which she sped on the
wings of the wind, now lay motionless, as far as any
progress was concerned, and only rolled from side, to
side, or pitched occasionally with a slow lifeless
motion, as if conscious of the great calamity that
had overtaken her. So different all this was from
the saucy curtsey she would make preparatory to
starting on her way, when the sails first began to
draw, or when, under a cloud of sail, with a
smart topgallant breeze, she would dip her bows
merrily .and deep, sending the green seas flying;
over the forecastle to the intense admiration of
the blue jackets, who spoke of the " old gal "
The Autobiography of a Man-o'-War's Bell. 309
as a jockey would of his mare after winning the
Oaks.
I will not, however, descant on the painful theme,
but will pass over the dreary days as they lengthened
into weeks, until nearly a month passed away, when
one night as I was pealing forth the same melan-
choly strains, forced from me by the necessities ot
my undignified position, I heard a loud voice shout
in French, " Ship, ahoy !" No response came from
the deserted vessel.
" Ship ahoy \" again rung out.
" Pll send a boat on board," was the welcome
announcement the voice made when there was no
reply to the second hail, and very soon a boat did
come alongside, and an officer made his way up the
side, and stared with astonishment at the hollow and
blackened ruin of a fine ship. The French naval
officer, which the stranger _was, descended into his
boat, and directing his crew to pull round to the
bows, made his way by the head boards on to the
remains of the forecastle, and calling to some of
his men, removed me from my unpleasant position,
and, returning to his ship, reported the condition of
affairs, and informed the captain that with the ex-
ception of the bell which he had brought away, and
the guns, which of course he could not remove,
3io The Autobiography of a Man-o'-War's Bell.
there was nothing worth fetching away in the aban-
doned ship.
My new home was a line-of-battle-ship, but it
was only so temporarily, for on her arrival in France,
whither she was bound, I was made over to the
dockyard authorities, and placed in a storehouse at
Toulon. Here I remained in obscurity for some
years, until on a thorough overhaul being made by a
new storekeeper " New brooms/' we know, " sweep
clean " I was brought to light, and as some ships
were being fitted out for the purpose of prosecuting
the war with Great Britain, I was placed in a ten-
gun brig, and despatched to sea again, to my great
delight.
I will pass over my adventures for the next ten
years, and until I found myself, on my return to
France, transferred to an old frigate whose bell had
performed the suicidal act the poet conjures "Rude
Boreas," that " blustering railer," to consummate
in short, it (for I suppose my readers will not allow
that we bells have any sex) had " cracked its cheeks."
I was accordingly taken out of the brig, and placed
on board the "Artemise" frigate. It was during
the height of the war of independence waged by the
British Colonies in North America against the
mother country.
The Autobiography of a Man-o '- War's Bell. 311
The " Artemise " was the best ship I had yet
seen in the French navy in respect of those qualities
which are of the first necessity to a man-of-war.
She was well commanded, well officered, well
manned, and well found in every point of detail,
while all on board her were thoroughly drilled and
as smart a looking set of fellows as even an English
admiral would wish to see. She carried forty-eight
guns, distributed as 'follows: twenty-eight 18-
pounders on her main-deck, fourteen 32-pounder
carronades on her quarter-deck, and on her forecastle
four 32*5 and two long 9*5. Her crew, including
officers, consisted in all of three hundred and forty-
nine good men and true.
We sailed for the coast of America, and were
employed in active service, our duties chiefly con-
sisting in co-operating with the land forces, under
Washington and Lafeyette, or transporting troops
and stores. It was a difficult and dangerous duty,
as the English fleet was in great force on the coasts
of America, and blockaded most of the ports. On
one occasion we were blockaded under the guns of
some strong fortifications in the York Town penin-
sula for some weeks by a squadron of the enemy,
and though Captain Hamelin tried every ruse to draw
off their attention so as to effect his escape, his every
312 The Autobiography of a Man-o'- War's Bell.
effort was frustrated by the vigilance of the British
officers, and he was condemned to lie in inactivity.
This was most uncongenial to a man of his
spirited temperament, and as he could not elude the
British Navy, he determined to take advantage of
the enforced repose to refit his ship. American
officers often came on board from the fortress to
smoke a cigar, or wile away the tedium by an inter-
change of hospitalities. Many a yarn have I heard
from their lips and from those of the officers of the
"Artemise." There was one told by a Captain
Milligan, of the American Cavalry, which impressed
itself on my memory, and I will not apologize for
laying it before my readers, whom I hope it may
likewise interest.
" Six months ago," said Captain Milligan, " I
was taken prisoner while reconnoitring with a
detachment of cavalry in the neighbourhood of
Baltimorepwhere a strong force of the British w^re
encamped. I was sent with a number of the officers
(rebels they call us) to a prison at Quebec, and
as ill fortune would have it, I arrived a day or two
after the British Commander-in-chief had come to a
determination to retaliate in kind for the execution
of two of his own officers, who had been shot by
some one of our generals. It also happened that
The Autobiography of a Man-a? -War's Bell. 313
the rank of the two unfortunate officers was that of
captain, and hence it was ordered that the victims
were to be selected from those of the same standing.
The officer who was in charge of us prisoners of war
at this time, was a kind-hearted man, who strove all
in his power to make our captivity as little irksome
as possible, and was regarded by all the inmates
of the prison with feelings of gratitude and affec-
tion.
" On the morning in question, this officer entered
the room where the prisoners were confined, and
desired all the officers to walk out into another
room. I remarked that his face wore an expression
of anxiety and sorrow, but as the prisoners who were
daily expecting to be exchanged did not appear to
regard the change with apprehension, I concluded
that it must be habitual, although I had not remarked
it before. His orders were obeyed with particular
alacrity, for it was supposed the long-expected cartel
had at length arrived, and that they were about to
exchange their dreary prison quarters for home and
freedom. After they had all gathered in the room, their
countenances lit up with these agreeable anticipa-
tions, the officer came in among them, and with a
face that looked graver and more sorrowful than
ever, took a paper out of his pocket, and told them
314 The Autobiography of a Man-o'- War's Bell.
that he had a very unhappy duty to perform, the
purport of which he had just received from the
General Commanding-in-chief. He then, amidst
the breathless attention of his auditors, proceeded
to read an order for the immediate execution of two
of the number in retaliation for the hanging of two
English officers. It would be difficult to describe
the blank expression of dismay in the faces of the
astonished and horror-stricken group of officers, as
the words of the fatal mandate dropped from the
lips of the reader. When his voice had ceased to
echo through the apartment, the men looked at each
other with blanch faces, and a silence like death pre-
vailed for some minutes in the chamber. The
British officer seeing that his unfortunate prisoners
were bewildered by the suddenness with which the
terrible edict had come upon them, then suggested
that perhaps the better way would be to place a
number of slips of paper equal to the whole number
of officers from whom the victims were to be drawn,
in a box, with the word Death written ou two of
them, and the rest blank the two who drew the
fatal slips to be the doomed ones. This plan was
unanimously agreed to, and a chaplain was appointed
to prepare the slips.
" It was a study to watch the countenances df
The Autobiography of a Man-o'-War's Bell. 315
of my comrades in misfortune, and the different
methods by which they sought to kill time, ere the
drawing began that was to decide their destiny in
in this world. Some paced the room with rapid
steps, and closely-knit brows and lips; some stood
still, and gazed out of the window into the prison-
yard, and gloomily regarded the objects before them,
or the sentry with bayonet fixed, though these made
no impression on their minds, which were occupied
with far different thoughts of home, doubtless, and of
the dear ones they would, perhaps, never more see ;
some few again talked and laughed loudly, but it was
a forced gaiety, and almost more painful to behold
than the mood of the others of whom I have spoken ;
some (only two they were in number) were on their
knees, and were pouring out a passionate prayer for
mercy, or, should it be ordered that they were to
draw the fatal lot, then for fortitude from on high to
endure the last final pang. All, without exception,
bore the trying moments like brave men. These
were soon past> though to some of us (myself among
the number, I am not ashamed to say) they appeared
like hours, for I was filled with frenzied anxiety to
have it all over and know the worst, so that I might
prepare myself for the last great change, or have the
consciousness that I had returned to life once more.
3 1 6 The A utobiography of a Man-o '- War 's Bell.
" Presently the chaplain returned ; a great silence
for the second time reigned in the apartment, and
every eye was fixed on the clergyman and the bundle
of slips in his hand, in which it may truly be said at
that time that he ' held the issues of life and death/
" The modus operandi of conducting the drawing
was explained to us in a few words by the chaplain,
and at a signal from him it at once commenced ; the
officers advancing and taking out a slip, and, if it
proved to be a blank, taking their places in another
part of the room. How we whose turn had not
yet come watched the countenances of the drawers
as each man, according to his idiosyncrasy, tore open
or slowly unfolded the slip of paper that was to be
his death-warrant or his reprieve ; with what an in-
tense and painful anxiety we marked, as one after
another they defiled before the fatal box, and each
one drew out a slip, that more than one-third had
drawn blanks, and were restored to that dear life
which we unhappy wretches, who stood awaiting our
turn, under the dark shadow of the cloud of death,
felt we had never until now sufficiently valued. Each
man who drew a blank narrowed our chance my
chance of ever setting eyes on my wife, or clasping
to my breast again my little ones in my distant home
in Carolina, and I alternately prayed to God, or
The Autobiography of a Man-o' -War's Bell. 3 1 7
cursed my ill luck, while I stood there powerless to
avert the evil fate that was approaching me with such
rapid strides. One half of the captives there were
eighteen of us in all having drawn blanks, had ex-
changed gloomy looks of apprehension for a relieved
aspect they could ill disguise after escape from such
terrible peril, when an officer, Captain Thomas
Nattalie, drew a fatal death slip. Poor fellow ! I
pitied him, and yet I could not restrain a feeling of
relief as I reflected with a sentiment of satisfaction
that my chance of being equally unfortunate was
considerably diminished thereby.
; " My turn came next. I stepped forward, eagerly
seized a paper, when, oh horror ! there appeared
before my eyes, as I hastily opened the slip, the
single word Death ! I managed with difficulty to
retain sufficient command over myself to hide the
feelings of anguish that succeeded the first sensation
of blank dismay, and handing the slip to the chap-
lain he read the name out in full Captain Joseph
Milligan, of the First Connecticut Mounted Rifles.
" I sat down by my friend and brother in misfor-
tune without a word. We were removed from our
fellow-prisoners, and placed in a cell by ourselves, to
wait until the time fixed for our execution had
arrived. On finding myself comparatively free from
3i8 The Autobiography of a Mati-o' -War's Sell.
observation, I gave way to the full bitterness of my
heart, and so passed the first of the two hours
allowed us to settle our worldly affairs and our peace
with God. Within less than two hours then, and
before the sun went down, it would be all over for
us, and we should sleep in our lonely graves the
sleep that knows no waking. The thought was
maddening, but, after dwelling on it for some time,
it occurred to me that it was worth making an effort
to avert, or at least to postpone, our terrible doom ;
and straightway I fell to resolving all sorts of schemes
for delay, but dismissed them from my mind one
after another as impracticable or unpromising. At
length I thought of a plan, and hardly had I done
so than the officer in command made his appearance
with a guard, and ordered us out for immediate
execution. I at once demanded as a right conceded
by every civilized nation, that I might be permitted
to write to my wife and request her to come to me
at once, and bid me an eternal farewell. The com-
manding officer was at first taken aback, but unde-
cided as to what course to pursue; and, being a
humane man, he, after some cogitation, consented to
grant a respite for a day or two, for the purpose of
enabling me to communicate with the English Com-
mander-in-chief so as to obtain the necessary
The Autobiography of a Man-o' -War's Bell. 319
sanction to see my wife, and he promised to forward
the letter. This was done, and, to my great relief,
permission was accorded as requested. My prin-
cipal object, however, in petitioning for this respite
was to enable my wife to take immediate steps to
acquaint our Provisional Government with the
perilous predicament in which Captain Nattalie and
I were placed, and for them to secure hostages, and
threaten retaliation should the orders of the English
general be carried out. Everything was propitious,
and events turned out as I had hoped and expected.
My devoted wife did not let the grass grow under
her feet, but immediately on receipt of my letter
flew to the members of our Government, and so
enlisted their sympathies by her prayers and tears,
that they at once gave an English general high in
command to understand that, unless our lives were
spared, the capital penalty should be at once en-
forced on his son, a young aide-de-camp whom they
had in their hands, having luckily captured him a*
short time previously when carrying despatches from
his father.
"An order was at once forthcoming that our
lives were to be spared, and thus to a clever ruse,
and to the exertions of a true and loving wife, both
my companion in misfortune and myself escaped
32o TJie Autobiography of a Man-o'-War's Bell.
from an imminent and terrible doom. After a few
more months* confinement we were all exchanged,
but Captain Nattalie came out of the terrible ordeal
with his hair white as snow. He was a brave man,
and had often faced death unflinchingly on the
battle-field, but was not proof against the protracted
strain on his mind caused by the uncertainty of his
fate a strain harder to endure than the prospect of
immediate death."
To continue my biography : At length matters
looked brighter as regarded our prospect of effecting
our escape from the rigid blockade hitherto main-
tained. Two of the blockading squadron made sail
to Halifax, and the rest were driven out of sight of
land by a storm, or stood off desiring to make a
good offing. The coast was clear, and Captain
Hamelin, who had been fretting and fuming at his
enforced idleness, was glad enough to take advan-
tage of the opportunity, and put to sea as soon as
"the weather moderated. He had not wasted his
time, but had thoroughly overhauled and refitted his
ship, so that the " Artemise " looked as if she had
come out of dock, and was ready either to fight or
fly, just as the mood might take her or the fates
allowed. It was not long before her capabilities in
the former line were put to a severe test.
The Autobiography of a Man-o'-lVar's Bell. 321
Early in the morning of the third day after
putting to sea, we discovered a ship about eight
miles off to the south-east, which it required little
discernment to know was an English frigate, in all
probability one of the blockading squadron. Cap-
tain Hamelin and his officers were desirous of
engaging, but a calm that came on about eight bells,
kept both frigates stationary. Every preparation was
made for action, and the ship in her arrangements
seemed to strike me as more like an English man-of-
war than anything I had yet seen out of the service,
while the bearing of all hands, from the captain to
the cabin-boy, seemed to denote that they were
inspired with confidence in themselves, and each
other, a sure augury of victory, as I had come to
learn. At noon a light breeze sprang up from the
W.N.W., whereupon the English frigate stood
towards the " Artemise " on the port tack under a
crowd of canvas.
The " Artemise " kept on her course under all
plain sail, the captain being desirous of drawing the
enemy away a little, as he was afraid that some of