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Next, stores of all sorts were brought alongside anchors, and chain-cables, and coils of rope, and round shot, and sails, and canvas, and paint, and tools for the various departments, and muskets, and cutlasses, and pistols, and bullets. No powder, however, came; and Ben learned that that would not be brought on board till the ship was out at Spithead.
He coiled himself away on chain-cables in marine junk-shops, asking questions with cheerful, unslaked Western curiosity, till all the water-front wanted to know "what in thunder that man was after, anyhow."
It was half-past one o'clock p.m. on the eventful day of April 22 when Admiral Riveros hoisted a signal on the Blanco Encalada for the fleet to weigh anchor and stand over toward the batteries in readiness to engage; and a few moments later the clatter of chain-cables was heard, as the men-o'-war got their anchors.
Yet these vessels, built on such an excellent model, and supplied with chain-cables, had no sails but what were made of leather; and these sails were never furled, but only bound to the mast. Besides cables, the ancients had other ropes to fasten ships in the harbours: the usual mode was to erect stones for this purpose, which were bored through.
The crew of a lightship consists of about nine or ten men, each of whom does duty for two months on board, and one month on shore, taking their turn by rotation; so that the number of men always on board is about seven. While on shore, they attend to the buoys, anchors, chain-cables, and other stores of the Trinity House, which has charge of all the lights, buoys, and beacons in England.
Come on, boys!" sang out the old sailor in a higher key to Bob and Dick, who had been amusing themselves by trying to walk round the hull of the stranded steamer, now nearly high and dry on the beach; although the venturesome fellows had to clamber over all sorts of obstacles in the way of chain-cables and hawsers and other gear, besides wading through various pools of water to seaward, before they could congratulate themselves on effecting their object.
In the forts were discovered numerous evidences of the piratical character of the defenders; several chain-cables, two ships' bells, a ship's long-boat, and ships' furniture of various descriptions. Some piratical Illanun and Balagnini boats were burnt, and twenty-four brass guns and several iron ones captured. Thus this piratical nest was completely destroyed.
The two forecastle lamps were turned up high, and shed an intense hard glare; shore-going round hats were pushed far on the backs of heads, or rolled about on the deck amongst the chain-cables; white collars, undone, stuck out on each side of red faces; big arms in white sleeves gesticulated; the growling voices hummed steady amongst bursts of laughter and hoarse calls.
It was Black Dennis Nolan's intention to construct, by means of great iron rings, bolts and staples, chain-cables, hawsers and life-lines, a solid net by the help of which his people could extend their efforts at salving the valuables from a fast-breaking vessel to the outermost rock of that dangerous archipelago, even at the height of a storm with luck.
One strange propensity of his electrified the palace; but on account of his small size, and for variety's sake, and as a monster, he was indulged on it. In a word, he was let speak the truth. It is an unpopular thing. He made it an intolerable one. Bawled it. Happy the man who has two chain-cables: Merit, and Women. Oh, that I, like Gerard, had a 'chaine des dames' to pull up by.
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