Farnham Bishop and Arthur Gilchrist Brodeur

“ Through a loophole in the wall of his castle he could see the great Manila galleon San Gregorio riding at anchor in Urado Bay. The flaming banner of Spain flew from her lofty poop, and beneath it sparkled the blue gleam of Western armor.
Ichio, the mask-faced secret agent of Hideyoshi, looked at the fighting eye and panther-like body of the Daimio—now fully recovered from the effects of his fever—and replied—
“Oh Lord of Tosa, he is even such a man as yourself!” ”

“ The scheme is desperate, but we have no other hope.”
“OH LORD OF TOSA,” protested Kurushima’s gray-haired second in command, “half our men are slain, the rest are weary and sorely wounded, and this devil-ship is as strong as ever! Whenever we win her deck and drive back her crew, their high-placed guns sweep us away as an angry chess-player sweeps the pieces from the board. Their weapons are too powerful; their captain, whose sword is everywhere, is no mortal but a demon—else how could he have flown over our castle-wall? ”

“ As the Japanese gazed with open eyes and mouths, the dragon’s jaws spat smoke and flame, and a heavy cannon-ball tore through the crowded waist of one of Kurushima’s junks. The shrieks of the wound ed rang piteously; but through and above them beat a thunderous yell of defiance from the whole Japanese fleet. Tall, narrow banners, bright with the insignia of a hundred fighting feudal chiefs, were waved on high. ”

“ A powerfully built man with commanding eyes rose from a padded mat at the further end of the hall, and approached him, bowing low. Though no word was said, Diego recognized that he was in the presence of the Daimio, so obviously was this Japanese the master of the place. Ichio, entering behind his captain, confirmed his impression by prostrating himself with marked humility. Diego looked his host over with frank, though courteous curiosity. Kurushima was still young, plainly an athlete and a soldier. His gaze was lion-like and frank, his gestures those of a born leader of men. ”

“ The Spanish musket-balls splintered their gunwales and tore through their armor, inflicting horrible, tearing wounds; but in spite of it, the sampans grappled the San Gregorio fore and aft, port and starboard, as many as could crowd alongside. The rest vomited their swordsmen over the side and into the already packed hulls of those that were at close grips. Trained to scale walls and surmount all obstacles, the gallant Samurai, burdened as they were with armor, swarmed up the sides of the galleon as easily as the naked men from the junks. ”

“ The low waist lay like a valley between them; to raise its sides and make them harder for a foe to scale, strips of stout canvas, painted with gay armorial devices, were stretched along the top of the bulwarks from poop to forecastle. These were the waist-cloths, ancestors of the nineteenth-century boarding-net.
Mounted at the break of poop and forecastle were the bases, minions and murderers; wicked little breech-loading swivels that could sweep any part of deck or rail with a storm of small shot.
“Boy, bring me my armor!” cried Diego; but the cabin-boy was below, sanding the gun-deck. ”

“ These you will try to take alive.
“The hulls of these Manila ships are of teak, thick enough to withstand stone or iron shot from the heaviest cannon in all Japan or Korea. That is why I wish for one to fight the tortoise-boat. If you succeed, you shall take the great ship into battle for the conquest of China. Nevertheless, stout as she is, I forbid you to use either cannon or fire-arrows when you capture her, lest mischance occur.”
“We of Tosa despise such cowards’ tools,” Kurushima answered scornfully. “The brave man knows no weapon but the sword.” ”

“ Reading the Daimio’s intention, as he was wont to read the minds of men, Hideyoshi raised two fingers in a gesture of restraint.
“You shall not slay yourself, Kurushima,” he commanded. “You are to kill the crew of the tortoise-boat instead, and sink their iron monster in the sea.”
“But how?” gasped the astonished Kurushima. “How can I do this, when I have already failed?”
“By returning to your province of Tosa and playing go in your castle at Urado,” Hideyoshi replied enigmatically, and sat on the floor beside the sleeping-mat. “Do not try to rise, for the fever has scarce left you. ”

“ I mean that he is no merchant, but a warrior—a caballero, which is to say, a Samurai of Spain. Born of the most ancient and impoverished house of de Torres, my captain, Don Diego, thinks never of gain, but always of honor. The Spaniards in his crew boast of the many battles he has fought with the English, the Moros and other pirates. So great is his skill and valor that he has never lost a ship entrusted to his care. ”

“ As soon as we had discharged our lading of Spanish goods and Mexican silver, Don Diego went to the governor and offered to sail the San Gregorio into the Sulu Sea, destroy the pirates, and re-open the China trade. This was a voluntary service on his part, for he is not an officer of the governor of the Philippines, but of the viceroy of Mexico. Overjoyed, the governor bade him name his own reward; and Don Diego asked for the hand of the Lady Ysabel. This was overheard by one of my comrades, a servant in the Palacio. Nothing is said or done in Manila that we servants of Japan do not know. ”

“ The ship’s captain will have no choice but to put into Urado, if he would keep his crew from perishing of thirst.
“Then you must get possession of the ship. If possible, do so without violence; for I do not wish to begin another war till this one is finished. If you give the Spaniards a fair opportunity, they may give up without a struggle. The Spaniards in Manila are few and fear us greatly; they are merchants, loving gain and hating to fight. Probably you can bribe the captain to sell the ship; Ichio has been told to study his weaknesses and report them to you. ”

“ Burning to come to hand-grips, the Japanese pressed up in their swarming open boats, striving to close and board. But one after another, they were shattered by crashing broad sides. Between broadsides, while the Korean gun-crews rammed home fresh charges, the bowmen beside them shot fire-arrows into the crowded vessels of Japan. The wooden hulls caught fire easily, and several were soon ablaze. ”

“ Let him keep ship and merchandise—you and I will go ashore in this strange land and live there forevermore!”
“Ysabel! You would stay in Japan, a hostile and a heathen land! You would spend your life among barbarians to be with me?”
“But there are thousands of Christians in Japan, so Ichio of the water-casks has told me,” the girl replied; “and good priests from Portugal, who—” her voice sank to a whisper, but she finished bravely, with crimson cheeks—“who would marry us, Diego.” ”

“ Kurushima, Daimio or Lord of Tosa, led the fleet with a picked squadron manned by his own hardy fishermen—veteran sea-fighters, every man. Their long, rakish craft, mere open rowboats though they were, were known and feared from Luzon to the China coast. The largest foe that sailed the seas shrank from encountering them ”

“ I regret exceedingly that I am unable to dispose of his Majesty’s ship without authorization.”
“But, Don Diego,” protested the voluble Ichio, “the crew will do whatever you bid them—you have but to order them ashore. None of those on board will be injured or deprived of anything: the cargo will be placed under seal and guarded by its owners and the soldiers of Lieutenant Gomez, till another ship can come from Manila to take everything away. And the great price that the Lord Kurushima is paying for the ship will surely compensate for the delay to those in authority in Mexico and Spain.” ”

“ Shrewd little Ichio glanced from one to the other, read their minds, and silently congratulated himself and his master, Hideyoshi.
“Tell the Lord Kurushima that I accept,” said Diego, rising, “for his service seems one in which a man may gain much honor. Now I must go to the ship and come back with a friend, before the galleon resumes her voyage to Acapulco. When she has returned to Japan* as my Lord Kurushima’s ship, then will I begin my duties as his admiral. Till then, I crave his hospitality lor myself and one other person now on board the San Gregorio.” ”

“ There was only one course for a beaten soldier, a dishonored Samurai. With hands that would scarcely obey the command of his brain, he fumbled for his dagger, fixed in the resolution to commit hari-kari, that he might not live continually reproaching himself for the stain of his defeat. ”

“ We must have a great, strong ship, carrying heavy guns, to sink the tortoise-boat; otherwise the war can not go forward. We build no such vessels of our own. I have tried to buy two from the Portuguese in Macao, but they will not sell. Only one other source remains.
“Every year, at this time or a little later, a huge ship like a castle in the sea sails northward past the coast of Tosa. This ship comes from Manila, richly laden, and goes to another Spanish city called Acapulco. The Spaniards in Manila have many such vessels ”

“ Swiftly Ichio translated this into Japanese, and presently put the Daimio’s next question into Spanish:
“Since you have captured one iron ship, Don Diego, could you not capture another? Could you fight the tortoise-boat with a galleon like the San Gregorio?”
“Yes, in the open sea. Galleys are good only in sheltered waters. With her overhanging topsides and narrow hull, this tortoise-boat would roll vilely in any sort of sea, so that good gunnery would be impossible. Her iron sheathing can not be more than quarter-inch plate ”

“ But a roar of musketry from the poop told him the soldiers were busy aft. Well they might be. The Japanese flotilla astern was closing in on the trapped galleon as-fast as oars could drive it. Trapped she was, but not defenseless—the San Gregorio’s stern-chasers, loaded with a solid-shot and a bag of bullets each, smashed one crowded rowboat and made fearful havoc aboard three more.
“Well done, Master-Gunner!” shouted Diego down the main-hatch. “Cease firing! Run in and secure your guns—the boats will be too close alongside to hit before you can reload. Close and make fast the port-shutters ”