CHAPTER XXXI
A CALL TO REPEL BOARDERS
It was a battle royal from the start and for some time neither side hadan advantage. Pistol shot was met by pistol shot, and a rifle gun placedon the upper deck of the Russian warship was balanced in execution by asimilar gun mounted on the _Shohirika_. The slaughter created by bothweapons was frightful, a dozen or more going down on either side eachtime a gun was discharged.
When Larry and Luke came out on desk the spectacle was enough to makethe blood of the youth run cold, and it was only his previous experiencein warfare which rendered him capable of doing what he knew was hisduty.
"Charge on them!" came the cry in Japanese. "Kill them, or drive themback to their ship! _Banzai!_"
"_Banzai! Banzai Nippon!_" was the yell. "Hurrah for Japan!"
The Japanese had not expected a hand-to-hand fight and the closing in ofthe enemy aroused them as they had never been aroused before. For thefirst time Larry saw the sailors and marines awakened to their fullfighting fury--a fury in which every Japanese scorns death and thinksthat to die is glory for himself, his family, and his emperor. Theyleaped on the Russians with a ferocity that was appalling, and thatfirst shock sent the Czar's men back to the deck from which they hadcome.
But the Russians were likewise aroused, and with cheers and yells theycame on once more, leaping over the bodies of those who had fallen, andmeeting shot with shot and cutlass stroke with cutlass stroke. Officersand men fought side by side, and many went down to a common death.
By instinct Larry and Luke kept close together, with the others fromLuke's gun near at hand, and Steve Colton and Bob Stanford not far away.Each used his cutlass as best he could, warding off the blows of theenemy and dealing cuts whenever a chance appeared. Larry was glad thathe had learned to use a cutlass so well, and soon found himself thematch of almost any Russian who challenged him.
The fighting was now spread over the decks of both vessels, which werehooked together tightly and pounding broadside at every swell of theocean. To attempt to blow up either ship would have been fatal probablyto both--one dragging down the other--so no such attempt was made.
While the fighting was at its height, Larry suddenly found himself faceto face with a Russian lieutenant of marines. The fellow had a pistol inhis hand, and as Larry raised his cutlass to strike, he dropped theweapon on a level with the youth's head and pulled the trigger.
Had the bullet sped as intended it is likely Larry would have beenkilled. But just as the trigger fell, Luke, who was at Larry's side,knocked the pistol to one side with his cutlass and the bullet merelygrazed Larry's hair. Then Larry leaped forward and gave the Russianlieutenant a thrust in the side which put the fellow out of the fightinstantly.
For fully fifteen minutes the battle had now raged and it was growinghotter each instant. All of the available men on each ship were in thefray, and the cries and yells which resounded were deafening.
"We certainly can't keep this fight up much longer!" panted Larry. Hehad a cut on his left hand and one in the shoulder, but kept on withdogged determination.
"Well, we ain't goin' to surrender!" grunted Luke. "It's fight or die, Iguess!" And he leaped forward once more.
Two tall Russians were directly in front of the old Yankee gunner, andboth fell upon him with their cutlasses at the same instant. Luke wascapable of warding off the weapon of one, but he was no match for thepair, and it speedily looked as if they would surely kill him.
"Back with ye!" he yelled, and swung his cutlass as rapidly as he could,but they crowded him still closer and then one made a thrust at his faceand another at his body.
It was at this critical moment that Larry, who had been engaged withsomebody else, saw his old war chum's predicament. With a leap he gainedLuke's side, and down came his cutlass with a sweeping blow on the wristof one of the enemy. The Russian dropped his cutlass to the deck andstaggered back, his hand almost severed from his arm. Then Luke slashedthe other Russian across the cheek, and both of the enemy hurried backbehind the other fighters.
"Good fer you, Larry!" panted Luke, when he could speak. "They had meabout cornered!"
"These fellows certainly know how to put up a stiff fight."
"You're wounded yourself. Better go below."
"No, I'm going to see it out. Why don't you go down yourself?"
"It ain't in me, thet's why," answered the old Yankee gunner.
Again came a fierce onslaught from the Russians. But the Japanese nowhad another rifle gun in place, and sharpshooters were crowding thefighting tops. The latter picked off the Russian officers, and thiscreated a momentary confusion. Then came a sudden order to unlock thetwo ships and this was done.
"The Russian ship is going down!" was the yell, and the news provedtrue. An explosion below decks had torn a hole in the Russian warship'sbottom and she began to sink rapidly.
The scene was now indescribable. Both the Russians and the Japanese onthe doomed vessel endeavored to reach the deck of the _Shohirika_. Inthis struggle the majority of the Russians received the worst of it, andfully fifty of them, including not a few wounded, remained on board whenthe doomed warship took her final plunge beneath the waters of the sea.Eighteen Japanese were likewise drowned, including two under officers.
"Surrender, or we will drive you over the side!" was the command fromthe Japanese, and utterly disheartened by the loss of their ship, theRussians threw down their arms; and the fierce and bloody contest was atan end. The common sailors were driven forward and chained together orbound with ropes, and the officers were grouped near the stern, where aformal surrender was made by the captain of the lost ship giving up hissword. This formality over, the Japanese set to work at once, cleaningup the deck and caring for the wounded as well as the hospitalaccommodations of the _Shohirika_ would permit.
"I never wish to see another fight like that," was Larry's comment, whenhe had washed up and had his wounds dressed. "It was simply aslaughter!"
"Right you are, lad," answered Luke. "An' I reckon I'm a-goin' to carrythe scars o' it down to my grave." The old Yankee gunner had receivedseveral severe wounds, and he was glad enough to have Larry swing hishammock for him and lie down to rest.
The battle over, the captain of the _Shohirika_ sailed away, to look forthe big brig once more and to report to the flagship of the fleet. Butthe brig had taken time by the forelock and left for parts unknown.
"I suppose that is the last of Shamhaven and Peterson and my money,"said Larry, when this news reached him. "I wish we had met that brig aweek ago."
"Oh, it's possible we may see her again," said Luke, cheerfully. "But itgets me that she ran away, unless she had something to run for."
"She must have been carrying some contraband of war, Luke."
"It ain't unlikely, lad. Well, she's gone, an' it ain't no use to cryover spilt milk. When you write to Captain Ponsberry you can tell him yesaw them two rascals an' thet's all the good it did."
"Do you know what I'm thinking?"
"Well?"
"I'm thinking that brig was bound for Port Arthur, and she'll slip intothat port some dark and misty night."
"It's a risky piece o' business. Either our ships or the mines arelikely to blow her up."
"That is true. But the Russians at the port must be getting desperate,and they'll most likely pay any kind of a price for supplies. A captainwho ran the blockade successfully could make a fortune," returned Larry.
The young gunner's mate was right in his surmise. The big brig was aRussian vessel in disguise and loaded to her fullest capacity withsupplies for the blockaded seaport. She had been fitted out atVladivostok, but had taken a wide sea course, so as to pretend to haveset sail from Nagasaki. Several Russian shipping merchants wereinterested in the venture, which was a private one, and among the numberwas Ivan Snokoff. From Captain Barusky, Snokoff had heard that fabulousprices could be obtained for needed commodities at Port Arthur, and hehad invested nearly every _ruble_ he possessed in the enterprise. If th
evessel succeeded in reaching Port Arthur, Captain Barusky was toundertake the disposal of the goods shipped in Snokoff's name, and thenthe two were to divide the profits.
The big brig had come close to being wrecked off the coast of Japan andduring a gale had run down a fishing smack containing Shamhaven,Peterson, and two Japanese. One Japanese had been drowned, and the threeothers from the smack had been made to join the crew of the big brig.This was agreeable to Shamhaven and Peterson, who did not wish to remainnear Nagasaki or at any place where Captain Ponsberry or Larry would belikely to discover them.