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Updated: May 27, 2025
This enormous ship now laid the Revenge aboard; while she was thus becalmed, the ships under her lee luffing up, also laid her aboard, one of them the Spanish admiral's ship, mighty and puissant, two on her larboard, and two on her starboard side. The fight, which began at three o'clock in the afternoon, continued very terrible all that evening.
"But Commodore Montague is up to all those dodges." "I know he is; but in the other race, he lost half his time by luffing up in a squall." "But don't you expect a fellow to luff up in a squall?" demanded Rodman. "If necessary, yes; but the point is, to know when it must be done. If you let off the main-sheet or spill the sail every time a puff comes, you lose time," replied Donald.
The main-topsail yard of the brig was shot away. "Another such shot, and she will be ours," I exclaimed. Onward came the dark cloud. The pirates seemed to think it time to stop us; and, luffing up, they let fly their broadside at us. We returned it with a will.
We now ranged up within musket-shot, on the starboard side of our big antagonist, and thus we kept running parallel to each other, sometimes on a wind and sometimes nearly before it we trying to prevent her from luffing again across our bows or under our stern, and she not allowing us to perform the same manoeuvre. Never in a single combat was there a fiercer fight.
Carried beyond his habitual submission by the impulse of a great thought, and unburdened by the ultimate responsibility which must remain with the admiral, the Captain of the Fleet not only urged luffing through the enemy's line, but so the story runs in the excitement of the moment, and seeing the chance slipping past, even under the then sluggish breeze, he ordered the helm down.
But sail was necessary to carry the ship safely through the channel ahead, and Mark called to Bob to lash the helm a-midships after luffing up to his course, and to spring to the main-topmast staysail halliards, and help him hoist the sail. This was soon done, and the new sail was got up, and the sheet hauled aft. Next followed the mizen staysail, which was spread in the same manner.
French Pete luffed straight into it, and the Dazzler mounted the steep slope with a rush, poised a moment on the giddy summit, and fell into the yawning valley beyond. Keeping off in the intervals to fill the mainsail, and luffing into the combers, they worked their way across the dangerous stretch.
"She was a good quarter of a mile away from me, and I thinks as how I might still have a chance of fetching her ag'in, if she gets to luffing into the wind, and losing her way, so I strikes out a'ter her. "But, Lord bless ye! Harry, you've no idea how the little hussy slips along, until you comes to be overboard, swimming in her wake.
This suited my plans to a nicety; so we filled upon the schooner and followed the ship closely, luffing up for her lee quarter as we did so; and so well had everything worked with us that I believe none of the Frenchmen had the slightest suspicion that anything was wrong until we had actually run them aboard and thrown our grappling-irons.
I heard Mr Dunning, as he passed me, apostrophising the night as dark as Erebus. The quarter-master, who was conning the ship, was continually exclaiming, "No higher," as I kept her luffing up into the wind, unable to see the shaking of her canvas, which rose dark and towering above me, till it seemed to be lost in the clouds.
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