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Title: The Wreck of the Nancy Bell
Cast Away on Kerguelen Land
Author: J. C. Hutcheson
Illustrator: W. S. Stacey
Release Date: April 15, 2007 [EBook #21085]
Language: English
*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE WRECK OF THE NANCY BELL ***
Produced by Nick Hodson of London, England
The Wreck of the Nancy Bell; or, Cast Away on Kerguelen Land
By John Conroy Hutcheson
___________________________________________________________
A well-written nautical novel by J.C. Hutcheson. The "Nancy
Bell" appears to be a well-found ship, on its way out from
the United Kingdom to New Zealand, but she is beset early
on by a severe storm which leaves her rudderless and
mastless. One of the passengers was an ex Royal Navy
Commander who, for some reason, was travelling incognito.
He had offered the Captain advice which was rejected as the
Captain thought it came from a landsman. Very possibly,
had he heeded that advice, the whole train of disasters
might not have occurred.
Hutcheson has a habit of introducing characters who speak
in their own form of English. In this case he has a
Jamaican, an Irishman, and a Yankee, all speaking with
their own native versions of the language. For good
measure there is also a Norwegian, who has to make himself
understood in a mixture of German and English. All this
makes for a rather difficult book to transcribe, but I hope
we have got it right.
Eventually the vessel is wrecked just off Kerguelen Island,
where the crew and passengers land and build themselves a
shelter to take them through the winter. There had been a
mutiny just before the wreck, and some of the crew had
landed elsewhere, but eventually one or two men who had not
been the actual mutineers, but who had got caught up in
events, make their way back to the main party.
When spring arrives they make their way to the other side
of Kerguelen Island, by a route which includes an overland
traverse by boat, portaging where necessary. Eventually a
vessel comes in, and they are saved.
Hutcheson is very good at getting his characters to appear
quite real, and for this reason he is a good author to
follow.
___________________________________________________________
THE WRECK OF THE NANCY BELL;
OR, CAST AWAY ON KERGUELEN LAND
by JOHN CONROY HUTCHESON
CHAPTER ONE.
OUTWARDS BOUND.
"How's her head?" exclaimed Captain Dinks, the moment his genial, rosy,
weather-beaten face appeared looming above the top-rail of the companion
way that led up to the poop from the saloon below, the bright mellow
light of the morning sun reflecting from his deep-tanned visage as if
from a mirror, and making it as radiant almost as the orb of day.
"West-sou'-west, sorr," came the answer, ere the questioner could set
foot on the deck, in accents short, sharp, prompt, and decisive, albeit
with a strong Milesian flavour, from the chief mate. He was the officer
of the watch, and was standing alongside the man at the wheel on the
weather-side of the ship, with a telescope under his arm and a keen look
of attention in his merry, twinkling grey eyes.
"Ha-hum!" muttered the captain to himself reflectively. "I wish the
wind would shift over more to the nor'ard, and we'd then be able to
shape a better course; we're going far too much to the west to please
me! I suppose," he added in a louder tone, addressing the mate again,
"she isn't making any great way yet since daylight, McCarthy, eh?"
"No, sorr, leastways, Captain Dinks," replied that worthy, a genuine
thorough-going Irishman, "from the crown of his head to the sole of his
fut," as he would have said himself, and with a shaggy head of hair and
beard as red as that of the wildest Celt in Connemara, besides being
blessed with a "brogue" as pronounced as his turned-up nose--on which
one might have hung a tea-kettle on an emergency, in the hope that its
surroundings would supply the requisite fire and fuel for boiling
purposes. "No, sorr, no way at all at all, sure! Not more'n five
knots, cap'en honey, by the same token, the last time we hove the log at
six bells, bad cess to it!"
"Everything drawing, too, slow and aloft!" said the captain, with just a
shade of discontent in his cheery voice, as he took in with a quick,
sailor-like glance the position of the ship and every detail of the
swelling pyramids of canvas that towered up on each mast from deck to
sky--the yards braced round sharp, almost fore and aft, the huge square
sails flattened like boards, the tremulous fluttering of the flying jib,
and occasional gybing of the spanker, showing how close up to the wind
the vessel was being steered. "You couldn't luff her a bit more,
McCarthy, could you?" he added, after another glance at the compass and
a murmured "steady!" to the steersman.
"Not a ha'porth, sorr," replied the mate sorrowfully, as if it went to
his heart to make the announcement. "I had the watch up only jist a
minit ago; an' if you'll belave me, Cap'en Dinks, we've braced up the
yards to the last inch the sheets will run, bad cess to thim!"
"Well, well, I suppose we'll have to put up with it; though it's rather
disheartening to have this sou'-wester right in one's teeth before we
have cleared the Chops of the Channel, after all our good luck in having
so fair a wind down with us from the Nore!"
The captain still spoke somewhat disconsolately; but, his temperament
was of too bright and elastic a nature to allow him long to look merely
on the dark side of things. Soon, he saw something to be cheerful over,
in spite of the adverse influence of Aeolus; and this was, as it
appeared to him, the wonderful progress the ship was making, although
sailing, close-hauled as she was, with the wind right before the beam.
"Now, isn't she a beauty, though, McCarthy," he said presently, with a
sort of triumphant ring in his speech, after gazing for a few moments in
silence over the taffrail astern at the long foaming wake the vessel was
leaving behind her, spread out like a glittering silver fan across the
illimitable expanse of greenish-tinged water. "Isn't she a beauty to
behave as she does under the circumstances! There are not many ships
laden like her that would make five knots out of a foul wind, as she is
now doing, eh?"
"That there ain't, sorr," promptly returned the other with hearty
emphasis, only too glad to have the opportunity of agreeing with his
skipper. "An' jist you wait, sorr, till we get into the nor'-east
trades; an' by the powers we'll say the crathur walk away from us, like
one of thim race-horses on the Skibbereen coorse whin you're a standin'
still and a watchin' thim right foreninst you."
"Aye, that we will, McCarthy," chimed in Captain Dinks, now all good
humour again, chuckling with anticipated pleasure and rubbing his hands
together gleefully. "I wouldn't wish for a better ship under me in fair
wind or foul than the _Nancy Bell_. Bless her old timbers, she's
staunch and sound from truck to keelson, and the smartest clipper that
ever sailed out of the London Docks--when she has anything like decent
weather!"
"That she is, sorr, plaze the pigs!" chorused the Irishman to this paean
of praise, which might have run on to an interminable length if it had
not been just then interrupted by the mate's suddenly raising his gilt-
banded cap in nautical salute to a new-comer, who now appeared on the
scene.
Captain Dinks, at once "cutting short" any further rhapsodical encomiums
he may have contemplated anent the merits of the _Nancy Bell_, turned
round.
"Ah, good morning, Mr Meldrum," said he in cordial tones, raising his
cap politely like his chief officer. "You are early on deck: an old
sailor, I presume!"
"Good morning, Captain Dinks," smilingly replied the gentleman
addressed, one of the few saloon passengers who patronised the cuddy of
the New Zealand clipper on her present voyage. He had only just that
moment come up from below, tempted to turn out by the genial brightness
of the lovely June morning; and, as he emerged from the companion
hatchway, he bent his steps along the poop towards the binnacle, by
which the captain and his aide-de-camp were standing. "Yes," he
continued, in answer to the former's question, "I have had a voyage or
two in my time, and one is accustomed to keep early hours at sea."
"Begorrah, ye're right, sorr!" ejaculated the Irish mate, with an
empressment that showed his earnestness. "An' a dale too airly for some
ov us sometimes. Sure, an' a sailor's loife is a dog's loife entirely!"
"Shut up, you old humbug!" said the captain with a laugh, turning to the
passenger; "Why, to hear him you would think McCarthy to be one of those
lazy lubbers who are never content unless they are caulking below,
snoozing their wits away whilst the sun is scorching their eyes out;
whereas, he's the most active and energetic seaman I ever met with in
all my experience at sea, man and boy, for the last thirty years. Look
you, Mr Meldrum, he never waits to be roused out by any chance when
it's his watch on deck; while, should the weather be at all nasty, you
really can't get him to go below and turn in--it is `spell ho' with him
with a vengeance, night and day alike!"
"Don't you belave his blarney, sorr," put in the mate eagerly, bursting
into a roar of merriment, although blushing purple with delight the
while at the skipper's compliment. "Why, sorr, whin I go to slape
sometimes, the divil himself couldn't wake me!"
"Ah!" rejoined Captain Dinks, "that may be when you're ashore, Tim, but
I know what you are when you're aboard ship and duty calls! I don't
forget, old man, how, under Providence," and this the captain added
reverently, taking off his cap and looking up to heaven as he spoke,
"you saved the _Nancy Bell_ on our last voyage home--no, Tim, I don't
forget!"
"Aye, aye, Cap'en Dinks," replied the other, not to be beaten, "true for
you, sorr; but, where was yoursilf the whilst, I'd like to know, and
what could I have done without your hilp sure, wid all your
blatheration?"
"Nonsense, Tim," returned the captain, giving the mate a slap on the
back which must have taken his breath away for the moment, as it made
him reel again, and then holding out his hand, which the other grasped
with a vice-like grip, in a paw that resembled more in size and shape a
leg of mutton than anything else--"Tip us your fist, my hearty, and let
us say no more about it!"
It would have done anyone's heart good to see the way in which these two
brave men--sailors both every inch of them--then looked each other
straight in the eyes, a smile of satisfaction illumining their faces, as
if each had reason to be proud of the other, their hands locked in a
friendly clasp that was true to the death!
As for Mr Meldrum, the passenger, who was a delighted observer of the
good feeling existing between the captain and second in command of the
vessel in which, like Caesar, he had "embarked himself and all his
fortunes," and was now journeying across the surface of the deep--a good
feeling that was fairly indicative of everything going well on the
voyage--he was so carried away by the spirit of the moment that he felt
inclined to ask that the general hand-shaking might be "passed round for
the good of the crowd." What is more, he immediately put his "happy
thought" into execution; whereupon, much fist-squeezing ensued between
the trio, the steersman looking on with a grin of complacency at the
fraternal exhibition, and gripping the spokes of the wheel more firmly,
as it were, out of a sort of fellow-sympathy, as he kept the ship "full
and by!"
"Tim McCarthy and I are old shipmates," said Captain Dinks presently, as
if apologising for the little ebullition of sentiment that had just
taken place, "and we've seen some rough times together."
"Pray don't mention it," said Mr Meldrum; "your friendly feelings do
you both honour! But, how are we getting on, captain," he added, to
change the subject, "the ship seems to be slipping along through the
water?"
"Pretty well, but not so well as I could wish. We've got an obstinate
head-wind against us, and cannot quite lay on our proper course; so I
don't think we'll be able to log much of a run when we take the sun at
noon. The wind looks like shifting now, however, so the next twenty-
four hours may tell a different tale."
As the captain spoke, the sails flapped ominously against the masts;
and, in obedience to a motion of the mate's hand, the steersman had to
let the vessel's head fall off a little more to the westward, in order
to fill the canvas again and make it draw.
"I think, cap'en, we'd better thry her on the other tack," said the
Irishman after a pause. "The wind's headin' us sure!"
"All right, McCarthy," answered the captain, "go forwards and call the
watch, and we'll see about getting her about."
Handing the captain the telescope, which he had retained until now under
his left arm, apparently regarding it as the badge of his authority as
officer of the watch--an authority which he now relinquished to his
chief--the mate was down the poop ladder and on the deck below in "a
brace of shakes;" and, in another moment, his voice was heard in
stentorian tones ringing through the ship fore and aft. "Hands 'bout
ship!"
The cry was like the wave of an enchanter's wand in the realms of Fairy-
land; for, where all had been previously quiet and easy-going, with only
the helmsman apparently doing anything on board so far as the vessel's
progress was concerned, there was now a scene of bustle, noise, and
motion,--men darting forwards to flatten the headsails and aft to ease
off the boom sheets, and others to their allotted stations, waiting for
the well-known orders from the captain, who stood in the centre of the
poop, with the passenger beside him, looking on with a critical eye at
the way in which the manoeuvre should be executed.
"All ready forward?" shouted the captain, as soon as he saw the crew at
their several posts.
"Aye, aye, sorr," replied Mr McCarthy.
"Ready, aye ready," repeated the captain--it was a sort of catch-word of
warning to prepare the men for the next word of command, like the
"'Tention!" of the drill sergeant to his squad of recruits--and he then
waved his hand to the man at the wheel to put up the helm.
"Helm's a lee!" was the next cry; and, instantly, the jib and foresail
began to shiver and shake as the ship's bows came up to the wind, and
the square sails flattened against the masts, while the boom of the
mizzen swung to and fro until the vessel should get out of stays and pay
off on the port tack.
"Raise tacks and sheets!" came in rotation, and the topgallant-bowlines
were let go, ready for the next move.
"Mainsail haul!"--and the ponderous mainyard was swung round, bringing
with it the maintopsail and topgallant yards with all their acreage of
canvas: the foreyards followed suit, when the captain shouted, "Haul of
all;"--and, after the final order, "Brace sharp!" the _Nancy Bell_ might
have been seen heading a sou'-south-east course in lieu of her former
direction to the westwards, and gaining more southing by the change.
The mate had just returned to the poop, after seeing the watch trim the
forward sails and curl down the slack of the ropes, while Captain Dinks
was wondering why the steward had not yet summoned them down to
breakfast, considering that it was past eight bells. He was just indeed
asking Mr Meldrum whether he felt hungry or not, when suddenly a great
commotion was heard down the companion hatch, as of voices in
altercation, a crash of crockery following in rapid sequence.
"I'd like to know what that stupid lubber is up to now," ejaculated the
captain. "He's an ignorant ass, and as slow as a mute at a funeral.
I'm sorry I had to ship him; but I had no alternative, for my old
steward was taken suddenly ill, and I had to put up with this substitute
whom he sent me just as we were leaving Plymouth."
"Perhaps," began the passenger, as if he were about to offer some good-
natured excuse for the man's awkwardness, but his observations were
drowned by a louder clatter below than ever; and, ere the captain could
descend to ascertain the cause, the new steward rushed up the companion
ladder, with his eyes half-starting from his head, his hair standing on
end, and his face pale with terror.
"Howly Moses!" exclaimed the mate. "Be aisy, can't ye. What's the
matter wid ye, you spalpeen, to be rooshin' on deck like a bull in a
china shop? Spake, you blissid omahdawn, or I'll shake the loife out of
ye!"
And the Irishman, putting his brawny hands on the terrified man's
shoulders, appeared about to carry out his threat, when the unfortunate
wight stuttered out in stammering accents, "Lor-ord, sir, do-oo-oo come
below. The-eer's a ghost in the cabin; an-an-and he wants to m-m-murder
me!" the man looking the while as if he was going to faint.
"A ghost in the cabin?" said the passenger, laughing; "and in daylight
to? Why, Captain Dinks, he must be a sort of _rara avis_--not _in
terris_, however, in this instance."
"A ghost in the cabin?" repeated the captain, in a serious tone of
voice, with a frown on his forehead that somewhat disturbed the usual
good-humoured expression of his countenance; "we must see about this. I
don't allow any ghosts aboard my ship!"
And, with these words he dived down the companion, followed closely by
the mate and passenger; the panic-stricken steward contenting himself
with remaining at the top of the hatchway at a safe distance from the
object that had alarmed him, although he could not help peering down
below and listening with bated breath as to what might ensue in the
cabin--heedless of the entreaties of the man at the wheel, in whom
curiosity had overpowered the sense of duty for the nonce and made to
speak in defiance of discipline, to "tell him all about it!"
CHAPTER TWO.
STOWED AWAY.
When the "party of observation" under the leadership of the captain
arrived at the foot of the companion way, nothing very alarming was
presented to their notices as there were no signs of disturbance to be
seen in the steward's pantry, which was close to hand on their right;
although, judging by the crashing sounds they had heard when on deck,
one and all would have almost sworn that a "free fight" had taken place
in that sanctum, causing its complement of crockeryware to come to
irretrievable grief.
Nor was anything wrong to be perceived, at first sight, on entering
within the cuddy.
On the contrary, everything there seemed in due order. The doors of the
cabins on either side, as well as those of the state-rooms at the
further end of the saloon, were closed in their ordinary way--with the
exception of one, which was opened for an instant, to allow of a night-
capped head, evidently of female ownership, peering forth for a
momentary peep round, and then immediately slammed to again; and, the
long table, which ran fore and aft the vessel the entire length of the
apartment from the foot of the mizzen mast, was neatly spread over with
a snow-white cloth, on which knives and forks were laid equi-distantly
with trim regularity, as well as other prandial paraphernalia, in
preparation for breakfast; while to complete the category, the swinging
trays above, that oscillated to and fro as the ship gave an occasional
lurch and roll to port or starboard, betrayed no lack of their proper
quota of wine-glasses, decanters, and tumblers. No, there was no trace
of any disorder here, nothing to account for that noise of a struggle
and of breakages below that had preceded the sudden uprush of the
steward to the poop. What could possibly have caused all that clatter
and commotion?
Evidently so thinking, the captain, mate, and passenger looked at each
other in a bewildered fashion, as if each were endeavouring to solve
some knotty conundrum, and had ultimately come to the conclusion to
"give it up!"
They had not long to wait, however, for an explanation to the mystery.
All at once, a deep, sepulchral groan came from abaft the mizzenmast, as
if some one was being smothered in the hold below; and, almost at the
same instant, there echoed from the adjacent cabin--that whence the
night-capped head before mentioned had popped out--a shrill scream, as
of a female in distress, succeeded by the exclamation, "Gracious
goodness, help us and save us! We shall all be murdered in our beds!"
"Be jabers," ejaculated the mate, following up the captain, who had
immediately rushed aft to the spot whence the groan had proceeded; "sure
and that's the Meejor's swate voice! I'd know it onywheres, aven in the
Bog of Allen!"
On the captain reaching the end of the cuddy table, which had, of
course, interfered with his view, the crash of crockery which they had
heard, and which had been hitherto inexplicable, became at once clear;
for, there on the floor of the deck was the debris of a pile of plates
and scattered fragments of cups and saucers which had been suddenly
dropped by the steward in his fright and were smashed to atoms; while,
in the centre of the scene of devastation, was the dungeon-like cavity
of the after-hatchway, the cover of which had been shifted from its
coamings by the man, in order for him to get up some of the cabin
provisions from the hold, whose gloomy depths were only faintly
illumined by the feeble rays of a lantern, which as it lay on its side
rolling on the deck, participated in the general upset.
Captain Dinks promptly took up the lantern, holding it over the open
hatchway; and, as he did so, a second groan came from below, more hollow
and sepulchral than before.
"Who's there?" shouted the captain down the hatchway.
There was no reply, save a fainter moan, apparently further away in the
distance, followed by a sort of gurgling sound, and then the fall of
some heavy object was heard in the hold.
"Who's there below?" repeated the captain, endeavouring to pierce the
cimmerian darkness by waving the lighted lantern about and holding it as
far down the hatchway as his arm could reach. "Speak or I'll fire!"
This was an empty threat of the skipper's, as he held no weapon in his
hand save the lantern; but it had the necessary effect all the same.
"It's only me, massa," said a thick guttural voice from below; "only
me," repeated the voice pleadingly. "Goramighty, massa, don't shoot!"
"And who's me?" interrogated the captain sternly, as the mate and the
passenger looked at each other inquiringly, a smile creeping over Mr
Meldrum's face, while the Irishman screwed up his left eye into a
palpable wink.
"Me, Snowball, sah--a 'spectable collud genleman from Jamaikey, massa,"
replied the voice in the hold.
"And what the dickens are you doing aboard my ship?" asked Captain Dinks
in an angry tone; but the others could see that he was half-laughing as
he spoke.
"Me want passage, sah, back home. Very bad peoples, sah, in Plymouth;
tieve all poah niggah's money and make him drunk. Snowball starbing; so
um see lubly fine ship goin' way and get aboard in shore boat wid um
last shillun: eb'ryting scramble and jumble when come on deck; so
Snowball go get in cabin, and den down in hold, where he see steward
stow um grub, and lie quiet till ship sail. When hold open, he try get
out, but can't; box fall on um foot, and Snowball holler wid pain;
steward tink um de Debbel and knock down tings. Snowball done no harm;
um bery bad wid um leg!"
"Sure, an' it's an impedent schoundrel he is, the spalpeen!" said the
mate. "Of all the cheeky stowaways I ever came across, he bates the lot
entirely. Shall I rouse him up with a rope's end, cap'en?"
"No, wait a bit, McCarthy," said the captain; "we'll try a little
persuasion first. Here, `Snowball,' or whatever else you call yourself,
just sling your hook out of that, and come up here. I fancy I shall be
able to accommodate you with something, besides a free passage at my
owner's expense!"
"Can't, massa," replied the stowaway, after making a movement, as they
could hear, below, succeeded by a suppressed cry of pain; "um leg jammed
'tween box and cask: Snowball feel bery bad--tink leg go squash: can't
move um nohow."
"Be jabers!" exclaimed the good-natured Irishman, "sure an' the poor
baste's hurt, and, by your lave, cap'en, I'll go down and say what's the
matther."
"Do," said Captain Dinks; but ere he could get out the word, the mate,
taking his consent for granted, had caught hold of the hatchway coamings
with his powerful hands and swung himself down on to the lower deck;
reaching up afterwards for the lantern, which the captain handed him,
and then disappearing from view as he dived amongst the heterogeneous
mass of boxes and casks, and bales of goods, mingled with articles of
all sorts, with which the place was crammed.
After a moment's absence, he came back beneath the hatchway.
"Plaze, git a blanket or two out of one of the cabins, cap'en, to hoist
him up," said he; "the unlucky beggar sames to be injured badly, and I
think his ribs are stove in, besides a heavy box having fallen on his
leg. He hasn't got such a chape passage this toime as he expected; for
he has been more'n half suffocated in the flour hogshead where he first
stowed himself away; and, begorrah, to look at him now, with his black
face all whitened, like a duchess powthered for a ball, and his woolly
hid, and the blood all over him, as if he had been basted wid a
shillelagh at Donnybrook Fair, why, his own mother wouldn't know him.
It's small blame to that fool of a steward to be afther taking him for
somethin' onnatural, sure!"
While the mate had been giving this explanation of the stowaway's
condition Captain Dinks had not been idle.
With an agility of which none would have thought him capable, looking at
his thick-set and rather stout figure, he had rushed in a second to his
own cabin, which was near aft; and, dragging out a couple of railway
rugs and a coil of rope had pitched them below to the Irishman,
concluding his operations by jumping down alongside him, to aid in
releasing the injured man from his perilous position--telling the
passenger as he quitted him to "sing out" for assistance.
"Steward!" shouted Mr Meldrum up the companion, in obedience to the
captain's injunction; but never a bit did that worthy stir in response,
nor did the ringing of a hand-bell, which the passenger saw in one of
the swing-trays above the cuddy table expedite the recalcitrant
functionary's movements, albeit it brought others to Mr Meldrum's aid.
"What is the matter, papa dear?" said a tall, graceful, nice-looking
girl, of some eighteen summers, as she emerged from the state-room on
the starboard side of the saloon and came towards Mr Meldrum. "Florry
and I heard a heavy crash which woke us up, and then a cry of alarm, and
a rush of feet along the deck which frightened us, for we could not tell
what had happened. I dressed as fast as I could, but I wouldn't have
come out if I had not heard your voice. As for poor Florry, she says
she won't get up, and is now hiding her head under the clothes, as she
thinks there's a mutiny going on or something dreadful!" and the girl
laughed merrily as she spoke, disclosing the while a set of pearly teeth
that were beautifully regular, and coral lips that would have put a
rosebud to the blush; but, when she came up beside her father, who
looked very young to be her parent, for he barely seemed forty years of
age, she placed her hand on his arm in a caressing way, looking up into
his face with a more serious expression, as if she had merely assumed
the laugh to disguise a fear that she really felt.
"Oh, there's nothing very dreadful happening, Kate," replied Mr
Meldrum; "only a stowaway in the hold whom the steward took for a ghost,
to the serious detriment of the breakfast things which you heard being
smashed; so, pray go back to your cabin, my dear, and soothe `poor
Florry's' alarms. We are just getting our unexpected guest up from his
temporary quarters under the saloon, and I'll call you when the coast is
clear." This he said that she might not be shocked at the sight of the
wounded man; and he felt far more comfortable when she had retired into
her state-room and shut the door of communication that opened from it
into the cuddy.
His comfort, however, was not of very long duration.
"I'd like to know what all this terrible hullabaloo is about?" exclaimed
a gaunt and elderly female with sharp features and a saffron-hued
complexion, coming out from the cabin on the opposite side of the deck,
where she had previously appeared for an instant when in deshabille, as
her night-capped head had evidenced. "It is positively scandalous,
disturbing first-class passengers like this in the middle of the night
and frightening them out of their wits!"
"My dear madam," said Mr Meldrum blandly; "why, it is just on the
stroke of eight o'clock, and we'll be soon having breakfast."
"Don't `my dear madam' me, sir," returned the lady indignantly; "my name
is Mrs Major Negus, and I insist on being treated with proper respect.
Where is the captain of the vessel, sir?"
"Down there," said Mr Meldrum laconically, pointing to the open
hatchway.
"And why is he not at his post, looking after the welfare of his
passengers?" demanded the lady sternly, with the voice of a merciless
judge.
"Really I think you had better ask him," replied Mr Meldrum laughing;
"it strikes me he is now looking after the welfare of one of his
passengers, unexpected though the sable gentleman may be!"
What Mrs Major Negus might have rejoined to this, cannot unfortunately
be told, for at that moment, just as she had drawn herself up to her
full height of some five feet ten inches, or thereabouts, and appeared
prepared to demolish Mr Meldrum for his temerity in laughing at her--in
laughing at her, forsooth; the wife of the deputy assistant comptroller-
general of Waikatoo, New Zealand--the captain called out to him to bear
a hand to raise the wounded darkey from out of his self-selected prison.
Mr Adams, the second mate, turning out of his cabin at the same time
to take his watch, the two managed to raise "Snowball"--the captain and
the Irishman easing the burden by lifting him from below. As for the
grand Mrs Major Negus, she had to content herself with looking on with
an undisguised contempt at the whole proceeding, wondering all the while
that they should dare to introduce a negro into the saloon in that
manner without having first asked her permission!
Help generally comes when it is not specially wanted; so, by the time
the stowaway had been lifted and placed on a berth in one of the vacant
cabins, having his wounds, which were somewhat serious, seen to and
bound up, some others of the passengers appeared on the scene.
Notably amongst these was Mr Zachariah Lathrope, of Providence, Rhode
Island, an American gentleman of a particularly inquisitive nature, but
who, professing some knowledge of medical craft, was really of some use
in this instance, as there was no regular ship surgeon on board; and,
secondly, young Master Negus, a "born imp of mischief," whose
acquaintance will be further improved as the voyage proceeds; while,
Llewellyn, the steward, summoned courage at last to descend the
companion, in company with his wife the stewardess, who had been forward
to the cook's galley in search of some early tea for the lady
passengers. Seeing her husband on the poop she had brought him below,
being, as Mr McCarthy observed, "twice the man" that her presumptive
"lord and master" could possibly have been supposed, even by his warmest
admirer.
The mystery being thus satisfactorily explained, and the stowaway made
comfortable for the while in a much more sumptuous lodging than he ever
expected--Captain Dinks waiting to call him to account until he should
have recovered from his injuries--the debris of broken crockeryware was
cleared away, and the saloon party piped to breakfast, throughout which
meal, it need hardly be added, Llewellyn got chaffed immeasurably anent
his supernatural visitor, never having a moment's peace about his
discovery of the "ghost in the cabin" and subsequent terrific fight
therewith.
And, all this while, the ship was tacking every now and then to make the
most out of the wind, which was shifting from the west to the south, and
veering occasionally from the east to the north; rising as it shifted
and blowing with an ever-increasing force, till the vessel was running
under reefed topsails and foresail, with her spanker half brailed up,
her spread of canvas having been reduced by degrees, in preparation for
the threatening gale that seemed coming from the south-west, that is, if
the appearances of the sea and sky were to be trusted.
CHAPTER THREE.
A NARROW SQUEAK.
During the forenoon watch, the deck was in charge of Mr Adams, the
second mate--a plain, steady-going, matter-of-fact sort of man, with
none of that buoyant spirit and keen sense of humour which characterised
hid senior shipmate McCarthy, although he was a thorough sailor to the
backbone, and believed the human race to be divided into two classes,
those who were seamen and those who weren't. The wind now took a more
favourable turn, settling itself in the south-east quarter as if it
meant to remain there, thus enabling the ship to steer a better course;
and, meanwhile, the sky clearing up a bit, the threatening clouds
drifted to leeward and the sun shone out again just as it did when the
captain first came on deck in the early morning.
Taking advantage of the change, the reefs were shaken out of the
topsails, the courses let fall again, the jib and flying-jib hoisted,
and the topgallants set; and soon, with her head steering south-west and
a half south, the _Nancy Bell_ was bounding over the waves under all
plain sail, as if anxious to make up for the time she had lost in
tacking about against the head-wind that had barred her southward
progress ever since she took her departure from the Lizard Point on the
previous day when she hauled out from the Channel.
The breeze was freshening, and there was a nasty sort of chopping sea,
when the captain came on the poop at noon to take the sun, in order to
ascertain his longitude--an operation which would have been much more
difficult in the hazy weather that had prevailed some few hours
previous, with the zenith every now and then overcast by the fleecy
storm wrack and flying scud that came drifting across the sky as the
wind veered; but the ship was making good running, and everything bade
fair for her soon crossing the boisterous Bay of Biscay, on whose
troubled waters she had now entered.
"She's slipping along!" said Captain Dinks to Adams, rubbing his hands
together gleefully, as he put down his sextant on the top of the saloon
skylight for a moment and gave a glance aloft and then over the side to
windward.
"Yes, sir," replied the second mate. "Going fine--eleven knots last
heave of the lead."
"Ah, nothing can beat her on a bowline!" said the captain triumphantly.
"She's a clipper and no mistake when she has the wind abeam: bears her
canvas well, too, for a little un!" he added, with another glance aloft,
where the sails could be seen distended to their utmost extent and
tugging at the bolt-ropes, while the topgallant-masts were bent almost
into a curve with the strain upon them and the stays aft were stretched
as tight as fiddle-strings.
"Yes, sir; she does," agreed Adams; "but, don't you think, sir, she's
carrying on too much now that the wind has got up? I was just going to
call the hands to take in sail when you came on deck."
"Certainly not," replied Captain Dinks, struck aghast by the very
suggestion of such a thing. "I won't have a stitch off her! Why, man
alive, you wouldn't want me to lose this breeze with such a lot of
leeway as we have to make up?"
"No, sir; but--"
"Hang your `buts'!" interrupted the captain with some heat. "You are a
bit too cautious, Adams. When you have sailed the _Nancy Bell_ as long
as I have you'll know what she's able to carry and what she isn't!"
With these pregnant words of wisdom, the captain resumed possession of
his sextant and proceeded to take the altitude of the sun, shouting out
occasional unintelligible directions the while through the skylight to
Mr McCarthy, who was in his cabin below, so that he might compare the
position of the solar orb with Greenwich time as marked by the
chronometer. Then telling Adams at the end of the operation to "make it
eight bells," whereupon the tinkling sounds denoting twelve o'clock were
heard through the ship, he himself also hurried below, to "work out his
reckoning."
On Captain Dinks coming up again, he reported that the _Nancy Bell_ had
done better than he expected for her "first day out," considering the
adverse circumstances she had had to contend with, for she had logged
more than a hundred and fifty miles; but he did not look quite so
jubilant as he had done before going below, nor did McCarthy, who now
accompanied him on deck to relieve the second mate, whose watch had
expired.
"What's the matter, captain?" asked Mr Meldrum, with a smile, "are you
not satisfied; or, did you expect the ship to have done more?"
The passenger was patrolling the poop, in company with his two
daughters, Kate and Florry--the latter a rompish little girl, some
twelve years old, with long golden-brown hair which the wind was making
wild havoc of, dashing it across her face as she turned, and streaming
it out to leeward behind her in picturesque confusion. The girls had
some little difficulty in walking along the deck, as it was inclined to
a considerable angle from the vessel's heeling over; but, by dint of
clutching hold of their father, which they did with much joking and
merriment and silvery laughter, each taking an arm on either side, they
managed to preserve their equilibrium, keeping pace in regular quarter-
deck fashion.
"No," replied Captain Dinks to Mr Meldrum's chaffing question, "I can't
say that I am satisfied, for I'm sorry to tell you that the barometer is
going down."
"Indeed!" said the other, "and with the wind from the south-east! I'd
advise you, captain, to take in sail at once."
"Why, you're as bad as Adams," returned Captain Dinks rather huffily; "I
suppose you'd like me to strip the ship just when we're getting the
first fair breeze we've had since leaving Plymouth! Excuse me, Mr
Meldrum, I know my business; and, I presume, you'll allow a sailor to be
better acquainted with his duties than any landsman can possibly be."
"Oh, certainly, Captain Dinks," said Mr Meldrum with a bow, "and I'm
sure I beg your pardon for interfering! Of course, as you say, a
landsman has no knowledge of these things and has no right to speak."
"Oh, papa!" exclaimed Kate Meldrum reproachfully, "how could you say
that?" while Florry pinched his arm and seemed convulsed with laughter,
which she endeavoured to choke down in vain, at some secret joke or
other; but Captain Dinks, quite restored to his usual good-humour and
politeness by Mr Meldrum's apology, did not notice the girls, and
presently all were chatting together with the utmost cordiality, the
captain enlarging on the excellent run he hoped to make to New Zealand,
and promising the young ladies that they should see Madeira ere the week
was out, for he anticipated that the south-easterly breeze they now had
would carry them well past the Spanish coast and into the north-east
trades, when their voyage would be all plain sailing down to the
Equator.
How true, however, is the old adage, "Man proposes and God disposes!"
While the captain was chatting gaily with his passengers, another change
was taking place in the appearance of the heavens. The heavy,
threatening clouds, which had risen up after breakfast and been swept
away to leeward by the south-east wind as it got up, were now slowly
being banked up along the horizon to the northward and westward, the
haze extending down to the south right ahead of the vessel's track,
while a lot of scud began to be seen flying aloft at a very considerable
rate--not from but towards the point from which the breeze was blowing,
a sign that betokened not merely another shift of the wind, but a
squall, and one not to be trifled with either!
The obscuring of the sun by the drift was the first thing that called
the captain's attention to the altered state of the weather, and he at
once gave the order--"All hands shorten sail!" the mate rushing forwards
to see the details properly carried out.
The order did not come an instant too soon.
All at once, in a moment, the wind, which had previously been blowing
strongly from the south-east, died away and it was dead calm; while the
sea--already rough enough with the short chopping waves of the morning--
began to run with those huge billows that seem to get up almost without
preparation on the advent of a gale, every second growing more
mountainous.
At the captain's word of command, re-echoed by Mr McCarthy, the crew
had sprung aloft immediately; and, working with a will, had furled the
topgallant-sails, taken in the flying-jib, hauled up the mainsail and
mizzen-trysail and squared the after yards, when the ship resembled a
gladiator, entering the arena of the prize-ring stripped for a fight, as
she thus awaited the approach of the storm.
In the south-east the sky was clear and cloudless, but in the opposite
direction dark heavy purple masses of vapour rolled over each other,
more unnatural in appearance owing to a lighter cloud covering the
curling, wreathing fluid as if with a veil. Shooting from this dark
pile of clouds, some few were detached and became separated, rising to a
higher region of the air, in which they were dissipated and blown out
like mares'-tails that passed rapidly across the zenith; whilst on the
water, and about a mile or so from the vessel, the sea appeared covered
with a thick white mist, before which ran a dark line of black.
Mr Meldrum had sent the girls below the moment Captain Dinks had given
his orders to shorten sail, in spite of their entreaties to be allowed
to remain on deck with him and "see the storm;" so, being now alone, he
stationed himself near the binnacle close to the captain.
As he stood watching the lull before the break of the squall, he felt a
hand touching his shoulder; and looking round he found his fellow
passenger, Mr Zachariah Lathrope, by his side.
"Jee-hosophat! mister," said the American; "I guess we're goin' to have
a blizzard, and no mistake!"
"What's a blizzard?" said Mr Meldrum, smiling at the other's nasal
intonation, which was more marked than usual, even for a citizen of the
land of the setting sun.
"Why, darn my moccasins, deon't yew know what a blizzard is?"
Mr Meldrum shook his head in the negative: he felt that he should laugh
outright in the other's face if he opened his mouth to speak, and he did
not wish to appear wanting in politeness.
"Waal," said the American, drawing himself up, as if proud of his
superior knowledge and ability in being able to enlighten a backward
Britisher. "A blizzard's a hurricane and a tornader and a cyclone, all
biled inter one all fired smash and let loose to sweep creation. We
have 'em to rights out Minnesota way; and let me tell you, mister, when
you've ten through the mill in one, you wouldn't kinder like to hev a
share in another. Snakes and alligators! Why, a blizzard will shave
you as clean as the best barber in Boston, and then friz the marrow in
your bones an' blow you to Jericho. It's sarten death to be caught out
on the prairie in one of 'em: your friends won't find your body till the
snow melts in the spring. I guess you wouldn't like to try one,
streenger!"
"No, I think not," said Mr Meldrum, shivering at the description, for
he had heard before of these "Northers" of the Far West; but, the next
moment, the thoughts of blizzards and all belonging to them were
banished from his mind by what he saw, for the storm was upon them.
It came with a blast that shook the ship from truck to keelson and
almost turned her over, the wind being accompanied by a shower of hail
and rain that pelted those on deck like grape-shot and completely took
their breath away.
"Let go everything!" shouted the captain. Fortunately, the halliards
being cast off in time, the ship was not taken aback; and the steersman
putting the helm down, she paid off from the wind and ran off for
sometime directly before it, tearing through the water at the rate of
twenty knots an hour, with everything flying by the run.
"Thank God!" exclaimed Mr Meldrum, in heartfelt thanksgiving to Him who
controls the winds and storms, as he sprang to aid the man at the wheel,
seeing that he had a hard task to keep the helm over.
"Ya-as, I guess that were a narrow squeak," said the American; "and I
kalkerlate I'll make tracks down south fore another of them snorters
come!" So saying, Mr Lathrope dived down the companion-way, his
departure being accelerated by a heavy sea which washed over the quarter
and floated him below.
"Way aloft there!" shouted the captain; and, although his words could
not be heard from the howling of the wind, which shrieked and raved like
pandemonium broken loose as it tore through the rigging, the men knew
what was wanted and scrambled up the shrouds as well as they could,
sometimes stopping for breath as a stronger blast than usual pinned them
to the ratlines, where they stuck as if spread-eagled for sport.
After a good half-hour's hard work, the courses were clewed up and
furled, the jib hauled down, and the topsails close-reefed, a staysail
being set to steady her, when the men came down from aloft pretty well
worn out with their exertions.
Hardly had they got below, however, than the captain, seeing a second
squall coming, ordered them up again, to strip the ship of her remaining
sail.
But, he was too late this time.
Before the men could ascend the shrouds the wind struck the vessel, like
an avalanche, on her starboard broadside, heeling her over to port as if
she had been canted by the caulkers in dock. Then, another following
sea pooped her and cleared the decks fore and aft, sweeping everything
loose overboard, the maintopsail being split to pieces at the same time;
while the foretop-mast stay-sail was blown clean away to leeward,
floating in the air like a white kite against the dark background of the
sky. Finally, the foretop-gallant mast was carried by the board to
complete the ruin, leaving the ship rolling like a wreck upon the
waters, though, happily, no lives as yet were lost.
CHAPTER FOUR.
SAVED!
While all this turmoil and confusion was going on above on deck--with
the ship labouring and straining through the heavy seas that raced after
her as she ran before the wind, one every now and then outstripping its
fellows and breaking over her quarter or stern-rail with a force that
made her quiver from end to end, and "stagger like a drunken man," as
the Psalmist has so aptly described it, the thud of the heavy waves
playing a sort of deep bass accompaniment to the shrieking treble of the
wind as it whistled and wailed through the shrouds and cordage, and the
ragged remnants of the torn topsail flapping against the yard, with the
sound of a stock-driver's whip, in a series of short, sharp reports--
those below in the cuddy were far from having a pleasant time of it;
for, they were almost in the dark, the captain having caused the
companion-hatch to be battened down, and a heavy tarpaulin thrown across
the skylight to prevent the tons of water that came over the poop at
intervals from flooding the saloon as the waves swept forward in a
cascade of foam.
This was just after Mr Zachariah Lathrope, the American passenger, had
so well illustrated Virgil's line, _facilus descensus averni_, in coming
down the stairway by the run, on the top of a "comber;" and, although
the steward had lit one of the swinging lamps over the cuddy table, it
only served, with its feeble flickering light, to "make the darkness
visible" and render the scene more sombre.
The _Nancy Bell was_ a wooden ship, clipper built and designed for the
passenger trade; but, being only of some nine hundred tons or so
burthen, she had not that wealth of accommodation below that some of the
first-class liners running to Australia and New Zealand possess,
especially in these days of high-pressure steamers and auxiliary screws,
which make the passage in half the time that the old-fashioned sailing
vessels used to occupy.
She was, however, as well fitted up as her size permitted; and, as her
list of passengers was by no means filled, there was plenty of space for
those who now had possession of the main saloon, most of whom have been
already introduced to notice. If she had had, indeed, as proportionate
an amount of cargo as she had passengers it might have been all the
better for her seaworthiness. Instead of this, however, she was, by
far, too deep in the water, having a lot of deadweight amid-ships, in
the shape of agricultural implements and other hardware, which she was
taking out to Otago, that seriously interfered with her buoyancy, making
her dip to the waves instead of rising over them, and depriving her of
that spring and elasticity which a good ship should always have.
Now, she was groaning and creaking at every timber, as if in the last
throes of mortal agony; and the manner in which she rolled when she got
into the trough of the sea, between the intervals of the following
billows, would have dispelled any idea one might have possessed as to
her proper angle of stability, and made the observer feel inclined to
treat it as "a vanishing point."
Added to this, she pitched every now and then as if she were going to
dive into the depths of the ocean; and, when she rose again in
recovering herself, it seemed as if she were going down bodily by the
stern, the surge of the sea along the line of ports in the cabin bearing
out the illusion as it swelled up above her freeboard.
With the glass and crockeryware in the steward's cabin rattling, as if
in an earthquake, and trunks and portmanteaus banging from side to side
of the saloon, or floating up and down in the water that had accumulated
from the heavy sea that had washed down the companion when Mr Zachariah
Lathrope so gracefully made his rapid descent below, the place was a
picture of discomfort and disorder such as a painter would have been
powerless to depict and words would utterly fail to describe.
Kate and Florry Meldrum had retired to their berths, having experienced
a slight suspicion of squeamishness which the unwonted movements of the
vessel had brought about. They thought in such case that "discretion
was the better part of valour," especially as they felt no alarm as to
the safety of the ship, having perfect confidence that their father
would look after them if there was any danger; but Mrs Major Negus, on
the contrary, was firmly convinced that the _Nancy Bell_ was going to
the bottom. She sat in the captain's seat at the head of the cuddy
table, tightly clutching on to the sides to preserve her equilibrium at
each roll of the ship, loudly bewailing her untimely fate; and between
the paroxysms of her grief she found time now and again to scold her son
Maurice, who was enjoying himself most delightfully amongst the floating
baggage, narrowly escaping destruction every moment from the wreck of
the debris on the cabin floor, as it banged to and fro with the swish of
the water and the roll of the ship.
During one of the lulls in the series of squalls that swept over the
vessel in rapid sequence, Mr McCarthy came below by the direction of
the captain--who, of course, could not leave the deck--to see how the
passengers were getting on, as well as to have the dead-lights put up in
the state-rooms, in case of the stern-ports being battered in by the
waves; for these had now swollen to an enormous size, and seemed
veritably mountains high, rising up far above the cross-jack yard
sometimes.
"And how are we getting on now, Mrs Meejor?" said he, good-humouredly
addressing the lady at the head of the table, as he made his way to the
aftermost end of the saloon, followed by a couple of sailors, who had
accompanied him to aid him in his task of barricading the ports.
"Sir," replied she, endeavouring to speak with as much dignity as her
insecure position and her qualmishness would allow, "I am surprised at
your asking me such a question and displaying levity when I feel as if I
am dying, and we are all going down to the bottom--stee-ured!"
"Yes, mum," said that worthy from the pantry door, to which he was
holding on, surveying the scene of desolation before him with the air of
a connoisseur.
"Bring a basin, please--oh, my!"
"Yes, mum; coming, mum."
"Maurice!"
"Yes, ma."
"Get up out of that mess there, and come to me at once!"
"What, ma?"
"Come to me here, im-mediately!"
"Sha'n't!"
"I'll--oh, Lord; oh, dear! Steward, send the stewardess to me, and help
me into my cabin. I'm dying, I know I am! Oh, gracious goodness, why
did I ever come to sea?"
"Faix, the ould lady has had to give in," said the mate to one of the
sailors with him. "I thought she wouldn't hould out much longer!"
whereat, of course, there was a general laugh from the men.
"The Major"--as everybody on board spoke of the lady, almost after a
day's acquaintance with her peculiarities and haughty airs--was just
then endeavouring to rise from the captain's chair, when the vessel,
after a deeper pitch forward than usual, settled down suddenly by the
stern, accompanying the movement by a lurch to starboard that carried
away the lashings of the chair; and, in an instant she and the steward
and stewardess, along with Master Negus, were rolling to leeward on the
floor amongst the dunnage, the whole quartette sputtering and splashing
in the sea-water, and vainly endeavouring for some time to rise, for the
"Major," first clutching one and then the other as they were scrambling
to their legs, hampered their efforts without improving her own position
in the least.
At last, by the aid of Mr McCarthy and the sailors, the good lady was
pulled up on to her feet and assisted into her cabin, where lying back
in her berth, she loudly inveighed against the conduct of everyone,
particularly selecting the Captain, in her outpour of indignation, for
putting to sea when he must have known, as she held, that a storm was
coming on; he had only done it, she was certain, in order to annoy her
and put her life in peril!
In the midst of her diatribe--which was listened to by no one, for the
mate and sailors had returned on deck after completing the job that had
brought them down in thorough ship-shape fashion, and the steward and
stewardess, now that they had got my lady to her bunk, were trying to
make matters more comfortable in the saloon--Mrs Major Negus suddenly
bethought herself of her young hopeful, of whose existence she had been
awhile oblivious while attending to her own woes.
"Maurice!" cried she, in accents whose shrillness rose above the roar of
the waves and the groaning of the ship's timbers, "Maurice, come here at
once, sir, I order you!"
But, lo and behold! no Maurice made his, appearance; nor did he respond
to his mother's heart-rending appeal. The young scamp had sneaked up
the companion, unperceived by the mate, and was now on deck in high glee
at his freedom from maternal thraldom, watching the battle of the
elements and the struggle of the ship against the supremacy of the wind
and waves, that were vying with each other to overwhelm her.
The boy stood on the lee side of the poop, and was looking over the side
at the wreck of the fore-topgallant mast, which was still attached to
the ship by the stay and braces of the yard, the men not yet having time
to cut it adrift--all hands being busy in doing what was possible to
save the main-topgallant mast, that had begun to show signs of giving
way.
Nobody knew he was there, or that he was on deck at all, till Mr
Meldrum happened suddenly to cast his eye in his direction, when he at
once motioned him to come away.
But, "the imp" took no notice of the warning, and Mr Meldrum was
hesitating whether he should leave his station by the binnacle, where he
had been doing yeoman's service in aiding the helmsman ever since the
first squall burst over the ship, when a heavy wave came over the
quarter to windward, and, dashing violently against the port bulwarks,
carried a large portion away into the sea; and, along with the broken
timber-work, away went young Master Negus!
Mr Meldrum hesitated no longer as to crossing the deck; but another was
sooner at the scene of action.
Frank Harness, the "third mate," as he was euphemistically called--a
dashing young fellow of nineteen, and just completing his sea-time as
midshipman before passing the Trinity House examination for his
certificate in seamanship--who had been aloft bearing a hand in making
the mizzen-topsail snug, the leech of the sail having blown out through
the violence of the gale, was just on his way down the rigging again to
see where he could be of use elsewhere, when he noticed the boy's peril
as quickly as the passenger; and, with one bound, he alighted on the
deck.
In a rapid eye-glance he took in the situation.
Raised on the top of a curling wave, the fragments of the broken
bulwarks and stanchions had got entangled with the wreck of the fore-
topgallant mast, some twenty yards or so to leeward of the ship; and,
clinging to the mass, Frank could see the boy holding on with a grip of
desperation and terror, drenched with his ducking and the surf that
washed over him, and with his mouth wide open as if yelling for
assistance--although never a sound reached those on board for the roar
of a giant could not have been heard against the wind.
Taking a turn of the signal halliards round his wrist, Frank Harness at
once leaped into the sea and struck out gallantly for the boy; those on
the poop cheering him as he cleaved through the foaming billows and
quickly neared the wreckage, forgetful for a moment of their own
immediate peril in the exciting scene before them, and waiting anxiously
for their turn to assist the rescuer and the rescued on board again.
In the meantime, Mrs Major Negus--alarmed at the disappearance of her
young hopeful from below, neither the steward or stewardess being able
to give any account of him after searching the cabins in vain--had
managed to scramble up the companion-way, nerved to desperation by the
divine power of a mother's love; and by some means or other she
contrived to slide back the hatch and step out on to the poop-deck,
where, holding on by the rail, she eagerly looked to the right and left
in quest of Maurice.
Seeing the group on the lee-side gazing steadfastly at the scene in the
water, she staggered towards them, clutching hold of the tarpaulin over
the skylight to steady herself.
"My boy! my boy!" she exclaimed frantically. "Where is he? Oh, he's
lost," she added with a piercing scream,--"fiends, monsters, are you
going to let him drown before your eyes?"--and she made an effort as if
to plunge overboard to where she could see the curly head of her darling
rising just above the waves.
"Hold!" cried Captain Dinks kindly, grasping her arm firmly and drawing
her back. "He's being saved, and we'll have him on board again in a
minute. There, don't you see, some one has plunged in after him and is
just gripping him; we'll have them up together as soon as he has made
fast!"
"Bless him, the brave fellow!" exclaimed the poor lady, whose
peculiarities and bad temper were now forgotten by all in sympathy with
her natural alarm and anxiety, for she spoke in a voice broken with sobs
and tears. "Who is he? I'll fall down on my knees and thank him for
saving my boy!"
"Frank Harness," said the captain; "but I'm sure the gallant fellow will
not want any thanks for doing a brave action! Look alive forward
there!" he called out to the men in the waist, "and ease off those
topgallant braces a bit and let the wreck drift alongside. So--easy
there--belay! Another minute, and we'll have them."
Frank had reached the wreckage while Maurice's mother had been speaking,
and without an instant's delay had looped the end of the signal
halliards round the boy's waist as he held on himself to the end of the
topgallant yard, to which the lee braces were attached. A quick motion
of his arm had then apprised Captain Dinks what to do, and in another
minute or two the wreckage had been floated in under the ship's quarter,
and a dozen hands were helping the brave lad and the boy whom he had
rescued up the side--Maurice, indeed, being hauled up by the bight of
the signal halliards first.
His mother almost went into hysterics when he was restored to her, as if
from the very gates of death; but her joy did not allow her to forget to
thank his rescuer, which she did far more enthusiastically than Frank
liked, with all the men looking on!
The gale continued raging with unabated force all that evening; but
towards midnight it lulled sufficiently for some sail to be set on the
ship, which was then kept more on her proper course.
CHAPTER FIVE.
A CALM.
It was a lovely dawn the morning after the storm in the Bay of Biscay.
Even Mr Adams, plain, matter-of-fact, simple, and unsympathetic sailor
as he was, without a particle of poetry or imagination about him, could
not but gaze with admiration at the glory of God's handiwork, as he
noticed the grand panorama of change that marked the progress from
darkness to light, from night to day!
Soon after his watch began, the twinkling stars had gone to rest,
putting out their tiny lanterns, as they had arisen, one be one; and
now, the violet blue of the firmament paled gradually into sea-green and
grey, soft neutral tints mixed on the great palette of Nature to receive
the roseate hue that presently illumined the whole eastern sky,
heralding the approach of the glorious orb of day. Next, streaks of
light salmon-coloured clouds shot across the horizon, their edges
decorated with a fringe of gold that gleamed brighter and more intense
each moment, the water glowing beneath the reflection as if wakening
into life: and then, the majestic sun stepping up from his ocean bed--
all radiant--"like a bridegroom out of his chamber," and moving with
giant strides higher and higher up the heavens, as if "anxious to run
his course," and make up for the lost time of the night--shone through
the transparent purple mist of the morning like a blush rose behind a
glittering veil of dewdrops!
By the time the breakfast hour arrived--"eight bells"--the blue sea was
dancing merrily in the sunshine, the waves calming down to only a
crisping curl of their foam-flecked summits, and the _Nancy Bell_ was
speeding along under a pile of canvas fore and aft from deck to truck,
Mr Adams having made good use of his time while others were sleeping to
get up the spare topgallant-mast forward and set all the upper sail he
could; so the passengers, roused up to new life by the cheery influence
of the bright summer day, coming after all the gloom and misery and
storm and tempest of the past, mustered round the cuddy table in full
force.
Mr Meldrum and the American were there as a matter of course; but, by
the side of her father, on the right of the skipper, appeared now for
the first time at the table since the ship had left port, the graceful
form of Kate Meldrum accompanied by the slighter figure of Florry,
supported on the other side of the table by Mrs Major Negus and her
young hopeful; while Mr Adams faced Captain Dinks--it being the chief
mate's turn of duty on deck--having brave Frank Harness close alongside.
They formed a very joyous coterie altogether, and enjoyed themselves all
the more from their natural revulsion of spirits after all the
discomfort and misery they had passed through, Captain Dinks himself
setting an example and provoking the merry laughter of the girls with
his absurd jokes, although the young ladies seemed brimful of fun,
especially Miss Florry, who the skipper said might make a good match for
mischievousness with Master Negus--whereat a grim smile was seen to
steal across the face of "the Major," lightening up her sallow
countenance and making her "come out in new colours."
As for Mr Zachariah Lathrope, he was too busy with the ham and eggs to
do much talking; although, like the monkeys, he probably thought the
more, for ever and anon he would pass encomiums on the viands and pass
up his plate for a fresh helping, the steward having enough to do in
supplying his wants quickly enough.
After breakfast, a visit was paid to "Snowball," the darkey Stowaway,
who was found much better and progressing so favourably that the captain
ordered his removal to the "fokesail," to complete his convalescence;
which it may be here added he satisfactorily accomplished in a few days,
when he was installed in the galley as cook, in the place of a Maltese
sailor who was glad to get forward again before the mast. The negro had
slept continually from the time he had been released from durance vile
in the after-hold, neither the racket below nor the turmoil on deck
during the storm having disturbed his slumbers. This, no doubt, had
hastened his recovery, for Mr McCarthy was positive that three of his
ribs at least had been broken.
"Why is Snowball like a worm, Miss Meldrum?" said Captain Dinks to Kate,
after telling her that he intended installing the darkey in the galley
as cook; "do you know, eh!"
"Oh, if that's a conundrum, captain," replied she with a piquant laugh
that lit up her whole face, making it quite beautiful, Frank Harness
thought, "I give it up at once. I'm a bad hand at guessing riddles."
"Well, you see," said Captain Dinks, with that cheery "ho, ho!" of a
laugh of his, which always preceded any of his good things, "the worm or
grub develops into the butterfly; but Snowball made the butter fly when
he tumbled over that cask in the steerage, and now he is going to
develop into the grub line and turn cook!"
"That's too bad!" said Kate laughing. "I never heard a worse sort of
pun in my life."
"Then it's all the better, my dear," replied he; and as everybody else
laughed too, they possibly shared the captain's opinion.
After this, there was a move on deck--not before it was needed perhaps!
At noon, Captain Dinks, after manipulating his sextant and adjusting the
sights, seemed to be much longer taking his observation than usual; and
when he went below to his cabin to work out the reckoning he certainly
remained a most unconscionable time.
By and by, however, he came up the companion again, his face beaming
with delight.
"What do you think, Mr Meldrum?" said he, somewhat excitedly, to that
gentleman, who, along with the remainder of the saloon party, was
standing on the poop leaning over the taffrail to windward, looking over
the apparently limit less expanse of water, that stretched away to the
horizon, and basking in the sunshine, which was tempered by a mellow
breeze that seemed just sufficient to keep the sails of the _Nancy Bell_
full--and that was all.
"I'm sure I can't say," replied Mr Meldrum good-humouredly. "Found
another ghost in the cabin, eh?"
"No, no; couldn't have two in one voyage," said the skipper.
"Made another conundrum?" again inquired the other slily, poking fun at
the captain's previous attempt in the riddle line.
"Oh, no," said Captain Dinks, laughing out at this. "That was too good
to be repeated: I've got better news than that, Mr Meldrum--something
really to surprise you!"
"I'm all attention," said Mr Meldrum, "but pray do not keep us long in
suspense. Don't you see we're all anxious!"
"Why," exclaimed Captain Dinks triumphantly, "the _Nancy Bell_ has made
nearly five degrees of latitude since I last took the sun, there!"
"Oh dear!" said Florry ruefully; "I thought you were going to tell us
something funny!" and she looked so disappointed that Kate laughed at
her and Master Maurice Negus grinned; whereupon Florry, in a pet,
smacked the young gentleman's face, for which she was reproved by her
father and ordered below, although the sentence of banishment was
remitted later on at Mrs Major Negus's especial request.
This little interlude over, the captain proceeded with his explanation.
"Yes," said he, "we're now in latitude 44 degrees 56 minutes north, and
longitude 9 degrees 42 minutes west; so that we've run pretty close on
four hundred miles since yesterday at noon. Just think of that, now!"
"A pretty good distance," said Mr Meldrum; "but, you must recollect we
had the gale to drive us on."
"Aye, sorr," said Mr McCarthy, joining in the conversation, "and didn't
it droive us too! Begorrah, there was some times that the wind tuck the
ship clane out of the wather and carried us along in the air like one of
them flying-fish you'll say when we gits down to the line!"
"It was fortunate it was in our favour," observed the captain
reflectively. "We couldn't have tried to beat against it; and, heavily-
laden as we are, it would have been madness to have tried to lay-to!"
"You're right," said Mr Meldrum, "and it was equally fortunate that the
gale carried us so far and no further! Another twelve hours of it and
we would have been high and dry ashore on the Spanish coast."
"I think you're not far out," replied the captain, scratching his head
and pondering over the matter, "for we'll only just shave past Cape
Finisterre now keeping our course; and if we hadn't made so much westing
when we got out of the Channel I don't know where we should have been!"
"Faix and it was grumbling at it you were all the toime, cap'en!" said
McCarthy with a knowing wink; "though you do now say it was all for the
best, as the man said when they buried his wife's grandmother!"
"Aye, you're right," said Captain Dinks more seriously, "all is for the
best, if we could only know it at the time!"
Thenceforward, the weather kept fine; and the fates seemed favourable to
the _Nancy Bell_ in her pilgrimage across the sea.
There was no lack of incident in the voyage, however.
One day, about a week after they had bidden farewell to the Bay of
Biscay with all its terrors and troubled waters, as the ship was
approaching that region of calms which lies adjacent to the Tropic of
Cancer, her rate of progression had grown so "small by degrees and
beautifully less," that she barely drifted southward with the current,
until at length she came to a dead stop, so far as those on board could
judge, lying motionless on the surface of the water "like a painted ship
upon a painted ocean," as the situation is described in Coleridge's
_Ancient Mariner_.
Round about the vessel, dolphins disported themselves, and "Portuguese
men-of-war" floated over the sea with their gelatinous sails unfurled,
and everything seemed lazy and enjoyable to the passengers--although the
captain and crew did not evidently relish the state of inaction which
the calm brought about, for they were looking out in all quarters for
the wished-for wind.
Not a ship was in sight--nothing happening to break the peaceful repose
of the deep for hours.
The captain was "having a stretch" below; the men snoozing away on the
deck forwards in all sorts of odd corners; the officer of the watch
blinking as he squinted aloft to see if the dog-vane stirred with any
passing breath of air; even the steersman was nodding over the helm, as
the wheel rotated round to port or starboard as it listed, according as
the ship rose or fell on the long heavy rolling swell that undulated
over the bosom of the deep; and most of the passengers were in the same
somnolent state--when all at once an event occurred that soon broke the
monotony of the afternoon, waking up the sleepy ones to fresh vitality,
for an object of interest had at last arisen in the uneventful day
sufficient for the moment to enchain their attention.
The listless lotus eaters had to thank Master Negus for the excitement,
in the first instance.
That young gentleman was possessed of a keen desire for knowledge, which
his more prosaic seniors were in the habit of misconstruing, deeming it
to arise, as they said, from an insatiable and impertinent curiosity
combined with an inherent love of mischief. Be that as it may, this
desire for knowledge on Master Maurice's part frequently led him into
places where, to put it delicately, his presence was undesirable in many
ways; his love for investigation taking him especially to certain
dangerous localities whither he was peremptorily forbidden to go both by
his mother and the captain.
Among such tabooed spots in the ship was the forecastle; and here,
consequently, as a matter of course, Master Maurice most delighted to
steal away when neither the maternal eye of Mrs Major Negus was upon
him nor any of the other people aft were watching him. He did not mind
the sailors, for they made a point of encouraging him forward and took
much pleasure in developing his propensities for mischief.
This afternoon, he was enjoying himself after the desire of his heart-
climbing about the rigging in a way that would have made his mother
faint, when, in one of his scrambles up to the foretop, he saw something
in the water which was hidden from the sight of the others on board,
through the head-sails of the ship shutting out their line of view.
"Oh, crickey," shouted out Master Negus at the top of his voice, at once
betraying his whereabouts in his excitement, "there's a fight going on
in the water, and two whales are leathering each other like fun!"
CHAPTER SIX.
THE BLACK FISH AND THE THRESHER.
"Good gracious me!" exclaimed Mrs Major Negus, jumping up in a fright
from the comfortable nap which she had been taking in a lean-back chair
on the poop; "where is that unhappy boy? He'll be the death of me some
day!"
"I'm here, ma!" shouted out Maurice from the forecastle. "Do come,
everybody. It's such fun! Ah, there, the big one has just got such a
whack and is in a terrible wax. He's hunting about for the little one,
who has dived away from him out of reach!"
"Fokesall, ahoy!" hailed Mr Adams, who had charge of the deck; "what's
the matter forward!"
"Only a fight, sir, between a black-fish and a thresher," answered Ben
Boltrope, the carpenter, an old man-o'-war's man, and one of the most
efficient hands of the _Nancy Bell's_ crew.
"A fit!" exclaimed Mr Zachariah Lathrope, drawing his long telescopic
legs together and rising into a sitting posture on the top of the cabin
skylight, where he had been taking his usual afternoon siesta instead of
putting himself to the trouble of going below and turning into his bunk,
as was his usual wont after luncheon. "A fit! Wa-al I guess I'm on. I
allers likes to hitch in with a muss!" and, so saying, the lanky
American was soon scrambling down the poop-ladder and making his way
forward, followed by all the remainder of the passengers--Mrs Major
Negus, of course, going to look after her darling boy, while Frank
Harness accompanied Kate Meldrum, as he said, to "take care of her,"
although, as her father was not far distant, it might have been supposed
that his protecting arm was not so absolutely necessary as he thought!
A very strange spectacle was seen, when the party, after diving beneath
the slackened sheets of the mainsail, that flapped about an inert mess
of canvas above their heads, and picking their way past the galley and
windlass, at last climbed up into the bows of the ship, where the
majority of the crew had already assembled and taken up vantage points
in the rigging, half-way up which was Master Maurice, waving his hat
wildly in a great state of excitement, and the master as it were of the
situation.
"There they are!" said he pointing to where the water was lashed up and
broken into foam, about half a mile ahead of the ship, amidst which a
couple of dark bodies could be seen tumbling about--one occasionally
jumping up high in the air and coming down on the other with a thud, and
a smack that sounded like the crack of a whip, or report of a rifle.
"There they are, Miss Meldrum, I saw them first!"
"Come down out of that, sir, at once!" screamed out his mother, with a
pant and a puff between each word, her breath having been almost taken
away by her unusually quick movements in getting forwards. "Have I not
ordered you never to go up those ropes?"
"Oh, bother, ma!" exclaimed the young hopeful, paying not the slightest
attention to his mother's command. He had been so spoilt, petted at one
time and scolded another, that all her authority over him was lost save
in name. "There! bravo, little one--oh, my, wasn't that a good one,
now?"
And so, Mrs Major Negus--abandoning any expectation of making Maurice
descend from his perch in the shrouds, where, however, she could see
that he was in no imminent danger, for he had one of the sailors on
either side of him who would catch him should he slip--was obliged
perforce to do as all the rest were doing and gaze at the thrilling
marine drama that was being acted out with such tragic earnestness on
the surface of the deep before their eyes.
A black-fish--which, it may be mentioned here, for the benefit of the
uninitiated, is a species of cachalot, although differing from the true
spermaceti family of whales in having the spout-holes placed on the top
of the head, in place of on the snout, and the pectoral fins shorter--
was being assailed by its bitter enemy the thresher or "fox shark."
This latter is one of the most peculiar fishes to be seen throughout the
length and breadth of the ocean, that world of living wonders; for it
has a most extraordinary face, or head, which is more like that of an
ape than of one of the piscine tribe; while its tail is divided into two
lobes or blades, one of which is small and insignificant, and the other
larger than the body of the animal, curling up at the end like the tail-
feather of a bird of paradise.
There could be no comparison between the two combatants, in respect to
size at least; for, while the whale was some fifty feet long--nearly a
third of the length of the _Nancy Bell_--the thresher could not have
exceeded thirteen feet; and as for girth, the former was in proportion
like a portly, Daniel-Lambert sort of man put by the side of a starving
street urchin of seven. The only advantage the thresher apparently
possessed was in its eyes, which, when one could get a glimpse of them,
looked like those of a hawk; while the unwieldy cetacean had little tiny
optics, not much bigger than those of a common haddock, which were
placed in an unwieldy lump of a head, that seemed ever so much bigger
than its body, with a tremendous lower jaw containing a row of teeth,
each one of which was nearly a foot long.
The thresher, seemingly, had only the advantage of his antagonist in the
proportionate size of his eyes; but, "just wait till you have seen him
use his long feather-like tail!" as Maurice Negus said, and you will
arrive at the conclusion that the combatants were not so very unequally
matched after all.
The very size of the black-fish militated against his chances for, while
it took him more than his own length to turn in the water, the thresher
darted, here, there and everywhere, like an eel--just getting out of his
reach when the other thought he had got him and had opened his ponderous
jaws to crush him. It was at this moment that his agile tormentor,
seizing his opportunity, would leap out of the water and give the whale
a "whack" on his side behind the fin, one of his tenderest spots, the
blow resounding far and wide over the water and probably leaving a weal
if not an indentation in the animal's side.
Mr Zachariah Lathrope got quite interested, bobbing from one side of
the topgallant-forecastle to the other, and trying to obtain the best
view he could of the contest.
"Bully for the little scorpion, marm!" he exclaimed to "the Major," as
he shoved his hands down into his trouser pockets and seemed to lift
himself up in his eagerness. "I'll bet my bottom dollar he'll fix that
air whale to rights! By gosh, that wer a sockdolager; I guess the big
varmint is kinder gettin' riled!"
The whale here spouted and fluked his tail, diving down for a moment
beneath the surface; but, he did not long disappear, and when he came up
shortly afterwards nearer the ship, the spectators could see that the
water around him was dyed with blood.
As the black-fish rose, the thresher, who evidently had been waiting for
him and knew the precise spot where he would reappear, threw himself up
in the air, turning a sort of summersault; and, "whack!" came his whip-
like tail round his victim's body, the whale seeming to writhe under the
blow as if driven half mad with pain.
"Look, look!" exclaimed Florry Meldrum, "the thresher isn't alone; what
are those long-nosed fishes swimming about under the whale? They seem
to be helping the other one!"
"You're right, Florry," said her father, "they are swordfish. What you
think are their noses are long projecting saw-like blades, and they are
the whale's deadliest enemy. I never saw them, however, attacking one
in company with a thresher before: they must have formed an alliance for
the express purpose, as they have really nothing in common."
"It reminds me, mister," said the American, putting a chew of tobacco in
his mouth pensively, "of a bull fit I once see in Carthagena when I was
to Spain some years ago. That air thresher is jist like the feller all
fixed up with lace and fallals called the Piccador, who used to stir up
the animile with squibs and crackers and make him fly round like a dawg
when he's kinder tickled with a flea under his tail; and the sword-fish,
as you calls them outlandish things, are sunthen' like the Matador that
gives the bull his quietus with his wepping. That air power of blood
that you see, I guess, is from them, and not from t'other's cow-hide of
a tail!"
"Golly, massa, you speaks for true," said Snowball, who formed one of
the party of lookers-on, abandoning his coppers in the galley in order
to see the fun. "Bress de Lord! see how dat long snout chap dere gib
him goss now!"
It really seemed an organised attack.
As soon as the back of the black-fish appeared above the surface, the
thresher, springing several yards out of the water, descended with great
violence on the object of its rancour and inflicted what sounded like a
hearty slap with its tail, the sword-fishes in their turn striking the
whale from below; so that, try how he might, the unhappy monster of the
deep could not escape his persevering foes.
"Sure and be jabers it bates Donnybrook Fair entirely!" said Mr
McCarthy, who had also come up from below, the news having also reached
him of what was taking place. "The poor baste will soon be bate into a
cocked hat with all them ragamuffins on to him at once! It's liking to
help him I'd be if I saw the chance!"
But the doom of the black-fish was evidently by this time sealed and
human aid was powerless to assist him: all could see for themselves that
the last act in the drama was close at hand!
Suddenly, the thresher gave another violent bound upwards into the air
from the surface of the ensanguined water, leaping almost over the
whale; and, as he fell back again into the sea, his tail, which was bent
like a bow, delivered a terrible lash, surpassing any of its previous
attempts. At the same time, as if by a concerted movement, those on
board could see--for the combatants were now so close alongside the ship
that the bight of a rope could have been easily hove over them--one of
the sword-fish made a dart at the exposed flank of the whale, burying
its ugly saw-like weapon almost up to the head and inflicting a wound
that must have been mortal.
The black-fish instantly emitted a sort of hollow muffled roar; and,
sending up a fountain of watery spray mixed with blood from its spout-
holes, splashed the sea violently with its formidable flukes, after
which it rolled over, rocking from side to side in its last dying flurry
or death agony.
"I guess he's a gone coon!" said the American, hitching up his trousers
again and turning over the quid of tobacco in his mouth. "It seems a
terrible pity to waste him though. There's a powerful sight of blubber
in that air animile!" and the speaker appeared to gaze sadly at the
carcase of the conquered cetacean as it floated by.
"It's all over," said Mr Meldrum, turning from the now pitiful
spectacle with disgust. "Come away, girls!" But Kate had long since
left the scene, the sight not having been of a nature to suit her tender
heart; and, she was now far away aft with Frank Harness, sitting in a
secluded corner of the poop, where she could see nothing of the
sanguinary ending of the contest. Florry, on the contrary, had remained
to the last, as well as Mrs Major Negus--who, it may be observed, had
watched the struggle from its commencement to its close with almost as
much interest as her enthusiastic son and heir; and Mr Meldrum had much
difficulty in tearing the little girl away from her rapt contemplation
of the dead whale.
"Stop a minute, papa," she urged when he took hold of her arm to draw
her from the rail. "Do look! they have all left him now they have
killed him. I wonder what they quarrelled about?"
"Sure, an' just for the same rayson, missy, that Christians hate sich
other," said Mr McCarthy, "just for no cause at all, but bekaze they
can't help it, alannah! And now that the little divils have kilt him,
sure they've swum off and left the poor crathur to die, just the same as
some ov us does to sich other, more's the pity, by the same token!"
It was true enough.
The thresher and his active allies had all at once disappeared, how,
when, or where, none of those looking on could tell; the lifeless body
of the black-fish only remaining in evidence of the battle that had
taken place.
There it was, floating sluggishly on the heavy rolling swell of the
ocean, in solitary grandeur; for the dolphins and "Portuguese men-of-
war" that had been seen earlier in the afternoon had taken themselves
off as soon as the light began--evidently preferring calmer scenes and
not relishing the proximity of such inveterate enemies of their several
species as the late combatants.
CHAPTER SEVEN.
FIRE!
The calm continued for four days, during which time not a breath of wind
came from any point of the compass to waft the ship on her way;
although, of course, she could not help drifting a few miles every
twenty-four hours southwards, under the influence of the great
equatorial current.
However, if there was no wind, there was no lack of novelty to those of
the passengers who had never been to sea before; for, from their being
now within the tropical region, the ocean around, albeit so still and
glassy, seemed to swarm with life. Thousands of flying-fish were to be
seen fluttering on either side of the vessel, while skipjacks and
bonetas also showed themselves occasionally; and the dreaded shark, with
his close attendant and valet the pilot-fish, was not an absentee, for
he was continually cruising about astern on the constant look-out.
"How funny those flying-fish look!" said Florry Meldrum, watching a
shoal of them that rose from the water just like a covey of white larks,
and which, after skimming past the _Nancy Bell_, again settled in the
sea, quite tired out with their short flight.
"You should see them nearer," said Frank Harness, who was between the
two girls, looking out over the gangway aft--"and then you would call
them funnier. Ah! here is one," he added, catching one of the little
fluttering creatures that had become entangled in the mizzen rigging;
"you see, it doesn't have wings as you think, but only a membrane
between its fins, just like what a bat has."
"Yes," said I "I see. It is curious, though, that they should look so
white at a distance, when their backs are dark and blueish, like a
mackerel!"
"Ah! that is because the under part of their wings is only then visible.
Look, now, at that lot there that have just risen to escape the boneta.
They seem exactly like a fall of snowflakes!"
"Poor things!" said Kate. "The boneta seems to be their inveterate
enemy, or rather consumer, as he appears to be in good condition on the
diet. It's a pity, though, that he's such a glutton; for he's a nice-
looking fish, all purple and gold, and he oughtn't to be so cruel!"
"Oh! he's not the only enemy of the flying-fish, Miss Meldrum," answered
Frank; "you should see the albatross after them down near the Cape. The
bird hunts them as soon as they rise in the air, and the boneta when
they're in the water; so, between the two, they have little chance of
escape--just like the fight, the other day, between the black-fish on
the one side and the thresher and sword-fish on the other."
"Ah!" exclaimed Kate with a shiver, "I couldn't look at that long! The
boneta hunt the flying-fish in a fairer way, and they do look so pretty
when they jump out of the water! How disappointed the boneta must then
feel when they see them take unto themselves wings and fly away?"
"They needn't be disappointed long," said Frank Harness, laughing, "for,
they must know that they're bound to catch them up in the long run.
But, look at that cloud there, Miss Meldrum, slowly creeping up the sky.
`I guess,' as our American friend says, that we're going to have some
rain."
"Do you think so?" she answered, smiling at Frank's rather good
imitation of Mr Lathrope's nasal intonation of voice; "I thought it
looked too bright for that."
"We'll have it soon; just you see," said Frank.
"All right, Mr Positive, I suppose we must bow to your superior
nautical skill."
"Oh, Miss Meldrum, don't laugh at me, if I am only a poor sailor," said
he reproachfully; "you always seem to taunt me with my profession!"
"I!" exclaimed Kate in surprise. "Why, I would not make fun of you, or
hurt your feelings, for the world!"
Frank seized her hand and pressed it, as if he were about to say
something in response; but, just at that moment, the rain, without
offering the apology of a warning drop or two to give notice of its
approach, came down in a perfect deluge, making them rush for shelter
beneath the poop awning.
This was just after lunch, early in the afternoon; and the rain lasted
until the dinner-bell sounded, coming down in regular sheets of water,
as if emptied out suddenly from some enormous reservoir above.
All sorts of tubs, buckets, kegs, and open casks, including the scuttle
butt, were ranged along the spar-deck, below the break of the poop, to
catch the welcome shower, tarpaulins being spread over the open
hatchways, where exposed, to prevent the flood from going below: while
the ends of the after awning were tied up in a sort of huge bag for the
rain to drain off into it, so that none of it might be wasted--the
canvas being let down, when the receptacle was pretty full, to empty the
contents into the water-puncheons--for the pure liquid was a precious
godsend, being an agreeable relief to the brackish supply which the ship
carried in her tanks.
As might have been imagined, Master Negus and Miss Florry watched all
these operations with the greatest interest, for they would have been
only too glad if their respective guardians had allowed them to take a
more active part in the watery campaign than that of merely looking on.
Mr Zachariah Lathrope, however, was his own master, and he made himself
very busy amongst the dripping sailors, who were hopping about on the
wet decks as if enjoying their ducking, much amusement being caused when
Mr McCarthy, for a joke, let the leach of the awning once go by the
run, when, the American passenger being off his guard, some hundred
gallons of water came down on him, giving the worthy gentleman an
impromptu shower-bath.
It was grand fun while the rain lasted, all the men folk paddling about
in it to their hearts' content and ducking each other when they had the
chance; while the ladies observed the sports from the shelter of the
poop, seeming to take equally as much pleasure in the skylarking. It
was amazing, too, to notice the amount of dirt and rubbish which the
downpour washed away into the scuppers. What with the continual
swilling and scrubbing and swabbing that the decks underwent every
morning, it ought to have been an impossibility for any dust or debris
to exist; but, there it was, to prove the contrary--the rain "exposing
the weakness of the land," and making a clean sweep of everything that
was dirty which lay about in the odd corners fore and aft the ship.
The day after the rain, just when all on board--sick of the calm, the
listless monotonous roll of the ship, the flapping of the idle sails
against the masts, and the sight of the same cloudless sky and endless
expanse of tumid sea, with surface unbroken by the tiniest ripple, save
when a dolphin leaped out of the water or a fairy nautilus glided by in
his frail shell craft--were longing for the advent of the north-east
trades, which Captain Dinks had expected them to "run into" ever since
they lost their first favourable wind, there came a visitor to the
_Nancy Bell_, the most dreaded of all the perils of the deep--Fire!
Eight bells had just been struck in the morning watch; and the
passengers were just preparing for breakfast--that is, such as were late
risers, like Mrs Major Negus and Mr Lathrope, neither of whom turned
out earlier than was necessary. Those who knew what was the healthiest
plan, like Mr Meldrum and his daughters, had been up and out more than
an hour before, walking up and down the poop and getting up a vigorous
appetite for the first meal of the day.
The captain had not long come up the companion; and, after looking aloft
and to the northward, scanning the horizon around, had stepped up to the
binnacle, where he stood contemplating the compass hopelessly, as if he
had given up all idea of the wind coming, while the hands of the watch
on duty were listlessly idling about the waist of the ship, dead weary
of having nothing to do.
The cook, apparently, was the only really busy person on board at the
time, for he could be seen popping in and out of his galley forwards,
handing dishes to Llewellyn, the steward, to bring aft for the cuddy
table. The darkey seemed bathed in perspiration, and looked as if he
found cooking hot work in latitudes under the constellation of the Crab,
whither the vessel had drifted.
All at once, however, a change came over the scene.
As the steward was passing the main hatch in his second journey aft to
the saloon, he noticed a thin column of smoke ascending from the main
hold, where the principal portion of the cargo was stowed. Like a fool,
although it might have been pleaded for him that he was constitutionally
nervous, he let fall the dishes he was carrying on a tray, in his fright
at the sight of this evidence of a conflagration below, instead of going
quietly up to the captain and telling him what he had seen; and, to make
matters worse, he called out at the same time in terrified accents, as
loud as he could bawl--"Fire! fire! the ship's on fire!"
Had a thunderbolt burst on board, or had the vessel struck on a rock in
the middle of the ocean, the alarm that was instantly spread on board
could not have been greater; and where all had been listless inactivity
but a moment before, was now all life, motion, and excitement.
"A fire! whar?" exclaimed Mr Zachariah Lathrope poking his head out of
the companion-way, judiciously concealing the remainder of his lanky
person, as he had not yet quite finished his toilet. "Snakes and
alligators, Cap'en, but I'm terrible skeart at fires! I hope it ain't
up to much chucks?"
"Oh, no!" said Captain Dinks, reassuringly, expressing what he wished
more than what he felt. He had remained aft in order to somewhat allay
the alarm which the outcry of the steward had excited; but he was
itching to get to the scene of action himself, although he had sent Mr
McCarthy there already, besides ordering the crew to their respective
stations, and having the hose-pump manned.--"Oh, no, nothing at all,
only one of that ass, Llewellyn's, happy discoveries, another sort of
ghost in the cabin! Here, Harness," he added aside to Frank, who had
just come up from below, dropping his voice to a whisper. "Just stop on
the poop a minute, and keep these people quiet. I must go down to the
hold myself to look after matters; don't say anything more than you can
help."
So saying, the captain scuttled down the poop ladder on to the spar-deck
in a jiffey, and in another second he was descending the main hatch,
whence the smoke could be now clearly seen, coming up in clouds.
Mrs Major Negus's voice was also heard at this juncture. The good lady
had ascended the companion behind the American, who still remained at
the spot where he had first made his appearance, and was just then
adjusting his braces; and almost at the same instant that her dulcet
accents reached the ears of those on deck she burst upon them, as it
were by storm, carrying Mr Lathrope along with her, still _en
deshabille_, it is true, as regarded his coat and waistcoat, but
fortunately now with his trousers, or as he called them "pants,"
properly arranged.
"Goodness gracious, man!" she exclaimed frantically--"do get out of the
way. Lord a mercy! where's the fire? Oh dear, oh my! We shall all be
burnt alive? Maurice, my darling boy! come to your mother's arms and
let us die together. Maurice! Where's my boy?"
"You'd better stop that screechin' and say your prayers, marm," said Mr
Zachariah Lathrope, sententiously. "The b'y is all right below,
sleepin' in the corner of the sofy, and I'd advise you to go and rouse
him up, instead of rushing up har like a mad bull in fly time, a
knocking folks down and hollerin'."
Mrs Major Negus took his advice; for, without withering up the American
with her scorn, as she would probably have done another time, she at
once rushed back below to the cuddy as quickly as she had come up, to
wake up Maurice; while Kate Meldrum, seizing the opportunity which the
diversion afforded, sidled up to Frank Harness unperceived.
"Is there any danger really?" she asked the young sailor in a low tone,
so that no one else could hear; and her face was pale, but composed and
resolute, as she looked into his.
"Could you bear to be told the truth?" said he hesitatingly.
"I could," she replied; and he saw that she meant it.
"Well, there certainly is danger, although it is best not to alarm
everybody, for when people get frightened they interfere and hinder what
is being done to save them. I wouldn't like to tell the crew, Miss
Meldrum, what I tell you; but I know you are brave, and see that you can
bear to be told the truth. A lot of woollen goods are on fire in the
main hold, and must, from the extent of the area already consumed, have
been smouldering for days. We are doing all that men can do to quench
it, and we may succeed, as there is no wind and nothing to fan the
flames; but the only thing that hinders us is our being unable to get to
the seat of the mischief, which is in the very centre of the cargo.
However, the men are now breaking in the deck above, and as soon as we
are able to get the end of the hose down and pass buckets, all may be
well. Keep a good heart, Miss Meldrum, there's no absolute danger yet;
when there is I will tell you. So, please, prevent that `Mrs Major'
from going into hysterics!"
"I will, for I trust you," said Kate with a somewhat sad smile on her
pale face. "Here, Florry, come below away from the smoke and sparks;
Mr Harness says the fire will soon be out and that there is no danger,
and I don't want you to spoil your new frock!"
So courageously speaking, the brave girl then went below with her
sister; and by her presence and example assuaged "the Major's" fears,
thus preventing that lady from going back on deck and spreading
consternation amongst the crew by her cries, as would otherwise have
been the case. Mr Zachariah Lathrope, too, came down to the cuddy,
attracted by the smell of breakfast, which the captain had directed the
steward to go on getting as if nothing had happened--thus to punish the
poltroon in a sort of way for his cowardly alarm; hence, the coast was
left clear for the officers and men to put out the fire without being
flurried by the fears and importunities of the passengers.
Meanwhile, Captain Dinks with Mr Meldrum, who was the first to
volunteer--their efforts well supported by the exertions of McCarthy and
the second mate and Frank Harness--were working like Britons in the
_Nancy Bell's_ hold.
The fire had broken out, as Frank had stated, almost in the centre of
the ship; for two bulkheads had to be battered down and the main deck
cut through, before the source of it could be reached. However, by dint
of arduously plying the axe and crowbar, an opening was at length made
whence the fire could be got at. Flames immediately burst forth the
moment air was admitted into the hold, but these were pressed down with
wet blankets, and, the fire-hose being carried down and the pumps manned
by the watch on deck, a copious stream of water was directed throughout
that portion of the ship where all the light woollen and textile goods
were stowed. The hose, too, was supplemented by a continuous relay of
buckets full of water passed rapidly along the lower deck and down the
hatchway by the starboard watch--whose turn it was below, but whom the
alarm of fire had caused to rouse out again to duty--so that in half an
hour from the discovery of the outbreak all danger was over and the last
spark quenched.
"Thank God!" said Kate Meldrum, with heart-felt earnestness, her lovely
eyes full of tears as she looked up into Frank's face when he came to
tell her the news. "I thought all hope was gone, you were so long in
coming!"
"But were you not certain I would come?" asked Frank anxiously.
"Yes, I had confidence in your promise."
"Thank you," was all he replied; but his look spoke volumes.
At the same time another mutual "confidence game" was being played in a
different part of the ship; but in this the understanding was between
Mr Meldrum and Ben Boltrope, the ship's carpenter and ex-man-o'-war's-
man.
"Aye, aye, sir," said the latter when the two were parting on the main
deck after the termination of their labours in the lower hold. "I
recognised your honour the moment you came on deck that morning of the
storm in the Bay of Biscay. I couldn't mistake the cut of your honour's
jib, sir, begging your pardon."
"Well, I'm sure I did not recognise you, or you may be sure I would have
spoken to you. Still, you need not blurt out my identity to everybody,
you know."
"Sartinly not, your honour. I'll keep mum, sir, never you fear, though
I don't forget the old--"
"Stop," said Mr Meldrum, changing the subject. "I've no doubt all
hands are pretty dry after all the heat we've been in down below, so,
with the captain's permission, I'll send something forward for them to
splice the main brace with."
"Aye, aye, your honour," replied Ben; "a nod's as good as a wink to a
blind horse."
And the two parted, the one going forward to the forecastle and the
other aft into the saloon.
CHAPTER EIGHT.
AN OCEAN WAIF.
"Wa-al, Cap," said Mr Lathrope after dinner that day, when he was
sipping his coffee on top of the skylight, which he had selected for his
favourite seat when on the poop, the "location," as he expressed it,
having the advantage of possessing plenty of "stowage room" for his long
legs--"I guess we've had a long spell o' calms, and a tarnation
slitheration of a del-uge, 'sides being now a'most chawed up by a fire;
so I kalkerlate its 'bout time we hed sunthen' of a breeze. Thunder,
mister, it's kinder gettin' played out, I reckon, knocking about in
these air latitoods, without nary going ahead even once in a blue moon!"
"Oh, the wind isn't far off now," replied Captain Dinks, "you see those
porpoises there, passing us now and playing astern? Well, they are a
certain sign of a breeze soon coming from the quarter towards which
they're swimming."
"Wa-al, I dew hope so," drawled the American, with a sigh and a yawn of
weariness, "guess I shall snooze till it comes;" and he proceeded to
carry his thought into execution.
Captain Dinks turned out a true prophet.
A little later on in the day a breeze sprang up, that subsequently
developed into the long-wished-for south-east trade-wind, thus enabling
the good ship to bid adieu to the Doldrums and cross the equator, which
feat she accomplished two days after the fire.
From the line--which Master Negus was able to see distinctly with the
aid of one of Mr McCarthy's fine red hairs neatly adjusted across the
object-glass of his telescope--the ship had a splendid run over to the
South American coast, following the usual western course adopted by
vessels going round the Cape of Good Hope, in order to have the
advantage afterwards of the westerly winds and get well to the south;
and, when she had reached the thirty-fourth parallel of longitude and
latitude 18 degrees 22 minutes south--that is, about midway between
Bahia and Rio Janeiro, her head was turned to the south-east with light
winds from the northward and eastward, and she began to make way towards
the "Cape of Storms," after getting to the southward of which she would
have a straight run due east to New Zealand.
The _Nancy Bell's_ bows, however, were not long pointed in the direction
of the rising sun, when another incident occurred to vary the monotony
of the voyage--although, fortunately, this time not a second fire, nor
any peril from the sea to those on board.
It was the second day of her south-easterly course; and from the wind
blowing fresh from the north-east, right on her port quarter, with fine
bright weather, the ship was running pretty free, all sail being set, at
the rate of over twelve knots an hour, leaving a wake behind her like a
mill-race.
"Arrah, sure, and I call, that goin'!" exclaimed the first mate
exultantly, as he walked up and down the poop quickly--just as if his
doing so helped the vessel along, in the same way as one sees the
coxswain of a boat bending backwards and forwards to keep time with the
rowers!
"Yes, like one o'clock!" chimed in Captain Dinks, showing an equal
enthusiasm. "The old girl is walking away with us at a fine rate,
McCarthy. I wouldn't be surprised if we logged three hundred by noon."
"And fifty more tacked on it, sorr," said the mate. "Why, we've done
twelve knots ivry hour of my watch; and Adams tould me she wor running
the same at eight bells. By the piper that played before Moses, it's a
beauty she is--she'd bate aisy the fastest tay clipper from Shanghai!"
"Aye, that she would!" chorused the captain. "What do you think of the
ship now, Miss Kate?" he added to that young lady, who was leaning
against the bulwarks to leeward, looking out over the sea. She was all
alone with her thoughts, Frank Harness being away forwards attending to
the cutting out of a new main-topgallant sail to replace the one they
had lost in the storm, the one they were now using being old and unable
to stand any further rough usage.--"You are not ashamed of the old
_Nancy_, now, eh?"
"Oh no, Captain Dinks," answered Kate, "I never was, even in her worst
moments when we were becalmed; and I'm sure I couldn't be now, when she
is sailing along so beautifully; but, what is that speck out there,
captain, away to the right--is it a bird, or what?"
"Eh, my dear?" said the skipper, looking in the direction the girl had
pointed--"a bird? no, by Jove, it looks like a sail of a boat well down
on the horizon. Here, McCarthy, hand me your glass."
Captain Dinks seemed even more excited than he had been a moment before
when he spoke of the vessel's progress; for, taking the telescope that
the mate handed him, he scrutinised eagerly the object Kate had noticed.
"Good heavens, it is a boat!" he exclaimed presently, "and I think I can
see a man in the stern-sheets, though I'm not quite sure: at all events,
I'll run down and overhaul it, for it would never do to abandon a poor
fellow in distress; no English sailor would think of such a thing! This
is all your doing, Miss Kate, you and your pretty eyes, which have the
best sight of any on board. We'll have to put the ship about,
McCarthy," he added to the mate; "we can't fetch that boat on this
tack."
"Hands 'bout ship!" roared the mate, in response to the captain's
implied wish; and, immediately, there was much running to and fro on the
decks, and a yelling out of orders and hoarse "aye ayes" in reply--a
striking difference to the quiet that had reigned a moment or two
before, when the ship was slipping along through the water with the wind
on her quarter, never a sail having to be shifted or a rope pulled, and
only the man at the wheel for the time being having anything to do out
of the thirty odd hands on board.
"Helm's a lee!" cried the captain, and the head-sheets were let go;
"raise tacks and sheets!" and the fore-tacks and main sheets were cast
off; while the weather crossjack braces and the lee main braces were
belayed, ready to be let go at a moment's notice, and the opposite
braces hauled taut. "Mainsail haul!" then sang out the captain when
these preparations were completed; when the braces being let go, the
yards swung round like a top. The after yards were subsequently braced
up and belayed, the main sheet hauled aft, the spanker eased over to
leeward, and the watch stood by the head braces.
"Let go and haul!" was the next word of command; upon which the weather
fore-braces were let go and those to leeward hauled in by the men
forward under the personal supervision of Mr McCarthy, after which the
men boarded the fore-tack and hauled down the jib-sheet, clapping a
tackle on it as it blew fresh; and the _Nancy Bell_, braced round on the
starboard tack and with the wind a little more aft than when she was
running eastwards just now, stood towards the boat that Kate had been
the first to perceive, drifting a bout upon the wild ocean so far away
from land.
At this juncture, Frank Harness sprang up into the fore cross-trees to
con the ship, by Captain Dink's directions; and presently his orders to
the steersman could be heard ringing out clear and distinct above the
creaking of the cordage and the wash of the sea alongside--those on the
poop, listening to all they could hear with intense eagerness, and
waiting for the moment when they could see for themselves the object of
the ship's quest.
"Keep her up a bit--steady!"
"Aye, aye, sir; steady it is!"
"Port!"
"Port it is!"
"Steady!"
"Steady it is!"
"Luff!"
"Aye, aye, sir!"
"Keep her so!"
"There is a man in her, sir!" Frank now called out in a different tone
of voice; "I can see him distinctly! He is trying to wave a
handkerchief or something. He looks almost dead, poor fellow!"
The excitement on board at hearing this piece of news became all the
more intensified.
"Are we nearing him?" shouted out Captain Dinks.
"Oh yes, sir; the boat bears now broad on the weather beam. Keep her
steady as she is, and we can round-to close alongside. Look out, we're
getting pretty close now!"
"Look out forward there!" cried the captain: but several hands were
there already with the first mate at their head, a coil of rope in his
hand, on the watch to heave it over the boat as soon as she was
approached near enough.
"Time to come about, sir," hailed Frank from the cross-trees; and,
"Hands 'bout ship!" roared out Captain Dinks, almost in the same breath.
During the bustle that ensued, those on the poop could not see what was
going on forward; but when the _Nancy Bell_ paid off again from the wind
on the port tack--thus resuming again what had been her previous course
before the boat had been sighted--it was found that the object for which
they had gone out of their way was safely alongside.
It was a shocking sight!
Four dead bodies were stretched, in every conceivable attitude of agony,
across the thwarts and in the bottom of the boat, which from its shape
had evidently belonged to some whaling vessel; while, sitting up in the
stern-sheets, close to the helm, which his feeble hands were powerless
to grasp, was the living skeleton of another sailor, whose eyes seemed
starting out from their deep sockets and whose lips appeared feebly
endeavouring to shape the syllables of "wa-ter!"
In a second, Mr McCarthy had leaped down into the floating coffin as it
towed alongside; and, lifting the body of the solitary survivor from
amidst the corpses of his dead comrades, handed the light load--for the
poor, starved creature did not weigh more than a child of ten, although
a man of over six feet in height--up to hands that as carefully received
him; and then, leaping back again on board himself, the whale-boat was
scuttled by a plank being knocked out of her bottom and cut adrift, to
sink with her mortal freight into the common grave of those who die on
the deep, the stench from the remains being horrible and permeating the
whole ship while the boat was in contact with her.
The rescued sailor was placed in a cot and given at first a small
quantity of thin soup which Snowball was busily concocting for the cabin
dinner, and after that, nourishment at intervals. By these restorative
measures, in a day or two, he recovered sufficiently to be able to tell
who he was and how he came to be in such a sad plight.
He was a Norwegian sailor, he said, and belonged to an American whaler
which had been on her voyage home after a three years' whaling cruise in
the South Pacific. On rounding Cape Horn, they had encountered a
fearful storm which had nearly dismasted the ship and washed the master
and five hands overboard. He and four others had launched the only boat
they had left over the side, trying to pick up their shipmates; but, the
sea was too heavy for them, and when they endeavoured to return, they
found they could not fetch their vessel again, which perhaps was just as
well, for soon afterwards they saw her go down stern foremost. After
that, they ran before the wind for several days and nights--how long he
could not tell--until his four comrades had died from exhaustion, and he
himself, he believed, was just on the point of giving up his life when
providence sent the _Nancy Bell_ to succour him.
"Ach der goot Gott!" said the man in his half German, half English way,
speaking brokenly and with tears in his eyes. "Der lieber Gott! I
shall nevare vergersen sie nevare!"
They had had, he said, a breaker of water in the boat when they quitted
the whaler, but this was soon drunk out, and although they had
occasionally something to eat, catching several fish, they suffered
terribly from thirst. It was that which had killed his comrades mainly.
As for him, he bore it better than them, but it must have been eight
days since a drop of liquid had passed his lips.
"Golly, dat am bad," said Snowball in the galley that evening, when some
of the hands gathered round the caboose to have a comfortable pipe and
talk over the events of the day. "Dat orful bad, eight day widout grub
or liquor! dis niggah not able 'tomach dat for sure!"
"Lor', Snowball, that's nothing when you are used to it," said Ben
Boltrope, the man-o'-war's-man, who was pretty well king of the
forecastle by reason of his service in the navy and general smartness as
a seaman. "What is eight days in a boat without grub, when you've got
to go ten, as I've done, besides wandering about on a sandy shore after
swimming for a day and night to save my life? Why, that's nothing!"
"Goramighty, Massa Boltrope, you no swim ten day widout habin' notin' to
eat, nor no water, hey?" said Snowball in astonishment.
"No, you blessed donkey, I didn't say that," replied the worthy Jack
tar. "I said as how I had gone without grub or water for ten days after
swimming for more than twelve hours."
"Dat berry rum for sure," said the darkey--"don't know how to belieb
dat, no how!"
CHAPTER NINE.
THE CAPE OF STORMS.
The steady nor'-east wind that was driving the good ship so gallantly on
her way when Captain Dinks put her about in order to rescue the
Norwegian sailor, continued for days, accompanied by such magnificent
weather, that the _Nancy Bell_ was enabled to make very rapid progress
down to those lower parallels it was necessary for her to reach before
she could stretch forward, in a straight line eastward towards her port
of destination.
"I guess, Cap," said Mr Zachariah Lathrope, noticing the quick change
of temperature in the air, day by day, as they left the tropics behind--
the mornings and evenings becoming gradually colder--"she air making as
straight tracks fur the south as them northern carpet-baggers did after
our little onpleasantness, what you folks called the civil war in the
States; when they used to rush down from Washington arter
postmasterships and other sich like offices, which wer to be hed, they
kinder thought, fur the asking! She air goin' slick, and that's a
fact!"
"Yes," replied the worthy captain, whose face beamed with good humour
and satisfaction at the splendid run the vessel was making; "we are
going ahead, working down our southing, and will soon be able to steer
for New Zealand. She does walk along, and no mistake!" And then he
would look aloft, perhaps, and give an order for a brace to be tautened
here, or a sheet slackened there--the hours thus flying by in halcyon
moments, as far as the wind and sea, and the course of the ship, and all
on board were concerned--collectively and individually.
The nights in these southern latitudes were simply beautiful beyond
compare.
The moon had no sooner died out than she revived again, as if gifted
with perpetual youth--not an evening passing without her presence,
sooner or later, on the scene--and appeared, too, to have more dignity
of position and greater size than in the frigid north, ascending right
up to the very zenith, instead of merely skirting the heavens, as she
sometimes does here, and shining down from thence like a midnight sun in
radiant splendour. The Scorpion, also, amongst the various
constellations, was similarly promoted, occupying a place nearer the
centre of the firmament; while the Southern Cross, quite a new
acquaintance, followed by Castor and Pollux, began to descend towards
the sea, becoming more diagonal as the days drew on than when originally
observed, and finally vanishing from view head foremost.
As for the North Star, it had long since entirely disappeared; and only
the horses in Charles' Wain yet remained above the horizon towards that
point of the compass.
To Kate Meldrum's eyes, the sunsets were especially grand; for, as soon
as the time came for the glorious orb of day to sink to rest in the
golden west, a series of light amber-tinted clouds would arrange
themselves all round the horizon, as if with a studied pictorial effect,
like the stage grouping in what theatrical people term "a set piece;"
and then, by degrees, these clouds would become tinged with the
loveliest kaleidoscopic colours, all vividly bright--while the far-off
heaven that lay between them was of the purest palest rose-hued gold,
and the sky immediately above of a faint, ethereal, blueish, transparent
green.
In the daytime, especially as the ship drew nearer to the meridian of
the Cape, there was more life in, on, and about the ocean; and on
passing the Island of Tristan da Cunha, which the _Nancy Bell_ sailed by
some three hundred miles to the northward, Master Maurice Negus was
greeted with the sight of a sperm-whale.
This fellow was much smaller than the black-fish which had come to such
an untimely end when assailed by the thresher, being scarcely longer
than thirty-two feet. Maurice was especially credited with the
cetacean's discovery, because, when he noticed the spout of spray the
animal threw up from his blow-holes in the distance, he surprised
everybody by calling out that he could see one of the Crystal Palace
fountains--getting much laughed at, as might have been expected, for the
naive announcement.
As those on board watched, they could see the whale every now and then
heave himself out of the water, half the length of his long dark body,
and fall "flop" down again, with a concussion that sent up the water
around him in white surf, like breakers. After this little diversion,
he amused himself with swimming backwards and forwards past the ship, as
if just showing what he could do, at a great rate; exposing only a thin
streak of his back and the fin and tail, but making the sea boil up as
if a plough were going through it, and leaving a wake behind him like
that of a paddle-wheel steamer--finally starting off suddenly due north,
as if he had all at once recollected an appointment in that direction,
when he soon disappeared from sight.
The flying-fish and dolphins, bonetas and sharks, like the "Portuguese
men-of-war," were long since all left behind; but their places were
taken by the albatross, the Cape pigeon, the shearwater, and a sea-bird
called the "parson," dozens of which flew about the ship every day.
The shearwater was a larger species of tern, or sea-swallow; the
"parson," so called for his sombre appearance and sedate manner, was a
kind of sable gull about the size of an English crow. His colour,
however, was not black, but a dusky brownish black, as if the reverend
gentleman's coat had got rusty from wear. These birds had a very odd,
"undertakerish" air about them, which amused Maurice and Florry very
much, and some having venerable white heads, which appeared as if
powdered with flour, like a footman's for a party, were so much more
eccentric looking, that even the grave Mrs Major Negus could not help
smiling at their appearance and queer ways.
"Do look, papa!" exclaimed Kate--who during the voyage would at one time
be in the highest spirits, and the next pensive, as if occupied by a
world of thought--"I declare if that one isn't the very image of Mr
Trotter, our curate at Allington! He has the same little tuft of hair
on top on his head; and, besides, he has the identical same way of
popping it on one side when he used to speak, and staring at you with
his little round eyes. Is he not like Mr Trotter, father?" and she
pointed out one especially jaunty little "parson" to his notice.
"Well, there is a little resemblance, certainly," said Mr Meldrum,
joining in Florry's laughter at the remark. "I don't suppose, though,
my dear, we'll ever see poor Mr Trotter or Allington again."
"Dear old Allington!" murmured Kate with a sigh; and, in a moment, her
memory flew back to the past, with all its sad associations.
The Cape pigeons were the prettiest of all the birds that visited the
ship, being very like the common wood pigeon in the shape of their head
and bill, but having webbed feet to suit their aquatic habits. They
were much plumper, too, than either the shearwaters or parsons--which
latter, by the way, unlike the fat cleric of popular opinion, were of
very slender and delicate proportions.
In the matter of plumage, the Cape pigeons were white and downy, with
the head and wings striped with brown like butterflies, a large species
of which they strongly resembled when flying away from the ship, with
their pinions spread.
But, of all the birds they saw, the albatross was the most wonderful to
observe. Not much larger than a goose in the size of its body, it had
enormous thin-edged wings, that enabled it to float about in the air, at
will apparently, without any perceptible motion, for hours at a stretch.
It seemed to direct its course by the slightest possible turning of its
body, so as to alter the inclination of its wings, which, extending out
straight and firm, bore the bird up or down, or away many miles off in a
second of time, in the most surprising manner.
The albatross floats, or skims along the air, but does not fly according
to our ideas, although it has an extraordinary power of launching itself
from enormous heights down to the level of the sea with the velocity of
lightning.
"Just like a white-winged messenger of light," as Kate Meldrum observed
in the hearing of Captain Dinks, "sent out from the angelic host above
on some divine mission to suffering humanity below!"
"Ah; that sounds very pretty, missy," said the captain; "but the
albatross' mission happens to be fish; and I fancy that spoils the
sentiment a bit!"
Eighteen days after passing the line, some seven weeks from her start,
the _Nancy Bell_ crossed the meridian of Greenwich, or longitude zero--
at which precise time her position could not be said to be either east
or west--in latitude 38 degrees south, a couple of degrees below the
Cape; and the wind, which had kept steadily from the north-east and
northward ever since the South American coast had been left astern, now
got well round to the south-west, enabling every stitch of canvas to
draw, from the spanker to the flying jib. Seeing this Captain Dinks
caused the upper yards to be squared a bit and the main and fore top-
gallant studding-sails set, thus helping the vessel on her way.
This sort of weather lasted for five days, the ship being steered east
by south, meeting the sun and losing an hour a day by the chronometer
and going twelve knots each hour out of the twenty-four; when on
reaching the longitude of the Cape "a change came o'er the spirit" of
the _Nancy Bell's_ "dream."
The wind shifted suddenly from the south-west to the north-east; and the
heavy rolling sea, peculiar to the Southern Ocean, set in, accompanied
by showers of rain, and hail, and snow. Soon, sail had to be reduced,
and the ship, with all her gay canvas stripped off her, had as much as
she could do to stagger along under reefed topsails and foresail, the
mizzen staysail being set to give her more power aft, her steering
becoming very wild after a bit although two men were at the helm.
From merely looking squally, the clouds gathering on the horizon grew
thicker and thicker, till they got as black as ink. The sea, also,
darkened to a dark leaden hue, and the swell increased so rapidly in
height that when the vessel sank down into the intermediate valley not a
glimpse could be obtained of anything beyond the watery mountains on
either side.
"I guess we're going to have it pretty rough, Cap, eh," said the
American to Captain Dinks; "it looks all-powerful squally, it dew!"
"You're right," said the captain. "We're now in the vicinity of the
Cape of Storms, and we've got to look out."
So saying, Captain Dinks showed his determination of "looking out," by
having all the lighter spars of the ship sent down from aloft, besides
causing everything to be made secure on deck and below for the expected
storm.
Not long after the _Nancy Bell_ was made snug the tempest burst upon
her. The high, smooth rolling waves were torn and wrenched asunder, as
it were; and their summits wreathed into masses of foam, which curled
over as they advanced against the wind, and, breaking away in fragments,
blew off in masses of snowy whiteness to leeward. The ship was meeting
this swell nearly head on; and as the rollers caught her fairly on the
bows she struck them with a sound as heavy as that with which the weight
falls in a pile-driving machine, taking in some of the sea over the
forecastle and carrying it aft as far as the break of the poop--washing
about everything in its course until the water finally found vent from
the deck through the scuppers.
One of these waves--a regular mountain of a sea, the water all green,
and standing up like a huge pellucid wall before it toppled over--coming
in over the bows, made a clean sweep of all that was movable lying
forward of the mainmast, carrying over the side all the hen-coops,
sheep-pen, water casks, as well as spare spars that had been stowed
along the deck, nothing being left to show that they had ever been
there! Even Snowball's galley was upset and rolled about in the waist
to leeward, the sea having not been quite strong enough to carry it
overboard, while its unhappy occupant, half drowned in the scuppers and
not able to extricate himself from his perilous position, was loudly
calling for aid.
Ben Boltrope--who had been having a confab with the darkey, and probably
a "drop of something hot," his special failing, in the galley when the
sea washed over the ship and fetched it away--was promptly at hand to
help his sable friend; when the galley was reinstated in its proper
place, and so tightly lashed down to the ring-bolts that a sea would
have had to carry away the deck itself to have lifted it again. But,
sad to relate, the sheep and the poultry had disappeared for ever from
human ken, along with their pens and coops, and the saloon passengers
would thenceforth have to fare without any such delicacies as roast
mutton and boiled fowl--a terrible piece of news for Mr Lathrope when
it was brought to his ears!
As the evening closed in and night came on, the force of the wind and
sea both seemed to increase, and it appeared incredible that a fabric
formed by human hands should have been capable of sustaining the rude
shocks and ponderous blows which the ship received again and again as
she battled with the waves; but the captain had in the end to let the
vessel fall off her course and scud before the gale, going whither the
elements listed.
"Oh, father," said Kate to Mr Meldrum, the two remaining on deck long
after the others had gone below, "what confidence sailors must have in
the qualities of their ship, not to be overcome with dread at such a
scene, especially if they direct a thought to the frail timbers that
only separate them from the watery abyss!"
"Aye, my child," replied he; "but, what greater confidence in God's
protecting power!"
"True, father," said Kate, and after that she remained silent until Mr
Meldrum declared it was time to go below. They did not retire, however,
until it was as dark as pitch, when nothing could be seen beyond the
wall of water on either side of the taffrail--the tumid mass looking
like a black avalanche about to overwhelm them, while the roaring of the
wind and rattling of blocks and creaking of cordage, in conjunction with
the groaning of the ship's timbers, and crashing sounds of the waves as
they broke against the quarter, as if trying to beat the vessel's sides
in, made such a discord and concert altogether that it drowned
conversation, even had either been inclined to talk in the presence of
such a display of the mighty power of Him who rules the waves.
Down in the cuddy, the scene was certainly more cheerful; and, what with
the bright light of the swinging lamps, and the well-spread table
comfortably arranged for tea, with the cups and saucers placed between
"fiddles" to prevent them from slipping adrift when the vessel pitched
or rolled, it afforded a strong contrast to the barren bareness and
gloomy discomfort of the deck, especially on such a cold night, with
suspicions of hail, and sleet, and snow at intervals. But, still, here
also everything was not quite so rose-coloured as might have at first
appeared; for stormy weather at sea discounts what might be called the
market value of the comforts and conveniences of everyday life to a most
surprising extent!
The cups and saucers were all right, or so they seemed at first sight in
their abnormal position; but, the moment those who sat down at the table
began to use them, they took to flying about like shuttles in a carpet-
loom. Bread-baskets and cake-dishes discharged their contents like
catapults against the panelling of the cabin doors, while jugs of
condensed milk--which was used not from any special liking for the
article, but through default of there being a cow on board--were emptied
most impartially on to the shirt-fronts and dresses of the gentlemen and
ladies who unfortunately sat opposite to them.
"Durn my boots!" ejaculated the American once; "but if them air sheep
hadn't gone overboard to feed the fishes, I guess we'd hev hed capers
enuff goin' on down har to sarve for sass to the biled mutton!"
All put up, however, with these petty annoyances gleefully enough, only
too glad to be able to joke and make capital out of them and pleased
that their present calamities were not too serious for laughter; and
when they separated at bedtime, it was with the cheerful wish that the
weather might be a trifle brighter on the morrow. No one seemed to
think for a moment of danger, or took heed of the bustle on deck, or of
the quivering and shaking of everything in the saloon, which seemed
suffering from what Mr Lathrope styled a "seaquake"--in
contradistinction to earthquake.
But, hardly had six bells been struck in the first watch when the order
"out lights" was given and the welcome gleam of the cuddy lamp
disappeared summarily, plunging all in darkness--than a sudden
stupendous shock assailed the ship startling the sleepers.
There came first a stunning blow, apparently from a wave, right
amidships; and then, the vessel seemed to go down to the very water's
edge on one side, heeling over as rapidly immediately afterwards to the
other.
Away went everything that was movable below, flung backwards and then
forwards right across the ship--the thumping noise made by the heavy
boxes falling in the cabins and state-rooms, combined with the crashing
and smashing of glass and crockeryware in the cuddy, where the table and
settle-seats had been carried away by the run, and the outcry of the
sailors yelling and stamping above, not to speak of the grinding and
groaning of the bulkheads and shuddering of the ship's timbers between
decks, all making up a babel of sound and confusion that was worse by a
thousand fold than what had previously occurred during the first storm
which the vessel, experienced in the Bay of Biscay.
Naturally, the majority of those below thought that all was over, and
piercing cries of terror and appeal for help resounded through the ship.
CHAPTER TEN.
CAUGHT IN A CYCLONE.
A storm at sea is bad enough in the daytime, but at night it is
terrible; for then, the peril unseen is so magnified by the terror-
stricken mind as to become far more appalling than a much greater danger
seen face to face and realised:-- the latter can be grappled with, but
the former, by its very intangibility and "unreachableness," daunts the
bravest heart and paralyses the strongest arm!
Llewellyn, the steward, managed to procure a light, which he did only
after much delay--the racket and uproar having apparently sent his
little wits wool-gathering--the cuddy looked the very picture of
desolation, almost leading to the belief that the sea had made a clean
breach through the sides of the ship in one of its rude onslaughts
dashing everything to pieces.
Fortunately, however, this was not the case, although the saloon
skylight had been carried away, gratings and all, and a considerable
amount of water had come down through the opening, which loomed now
above the semi-lighted space like a large hole broken in the deck; but,
by reason of the carrying away of the table and seats from their
lashings and ring-bolt fastenings and now being washed in a jumbled heap
to one side of the cuddy, the cabins to leeward were so completely
barricaded that their occupants were prevented from issuing forth. It
was from this quarter that the cries for help proceeded--the voice of
Mrs Major Negus, it need hardly be mentioned, predominating, although
the American passenger, who had a berth alongside that distinguished
lady, also sang out pretty loudly.
"Hullo, steward!" called out Mr Meldrum on seeing the light, having
already opened the door of his state-room, which had a sliding panel and
was undamaged as far as he could notice. "Why, what's the matter!"
"Only shipped a sea, sir," answered Llewellyn rather gruffly, for he was
annoyed at being roused from his sleep, "though from the row they're a-
making one would think we were all going to the bottom!"
"Much mischief done, eh?" asked Mr Meldrum, taking in at a glance the
havoc in the cuddy--"I mean on deck," he added.
"Can't say, sir," replied the other; "ain't had time to look about here
yet, much less to go up and see! It's a bad berth that o' steward to a
lot of bawling females on a passenger ship; I'd liefer--"
But, his grumblings were stopped for the moment by the renewed loud
screams of Mrs Major Negus--who was his pet aversion on board on
account of her giving him more trouble than all the rest combined, while
Master Maurice really was the plague of his life.
"Steward--stew-ard!" she cried, "Come here at once and get me out! I'm
all smothered and drowned, and nobody will help me! Stew-ard! I'm
dying--I'll tell the captain with my last breath. Stew-ard!"
"Sure I'm coming, mum, as fast as I can," sang out Llewellyn aloud,
adding _sotto voce_ for his own satisfaction, "Hang that Major Madam!
I'd never have shipped in the _Nancy Bell_ if I had a-knowed she was
coming aboard! Bless you, mum, I'm coming--everything is all right and
there isn't no cause for alarm!"
"Isn't there?" indignantly demanded the lady in a queer sort of half
suffocated voice from behind the barred door of her cabin. "If you were
jumbled in a pool of water, with all your luggage on top of you, I don't
think you'd think everything right. Help, man! release me at once, or
I'll be drowned and flattened into a pancake!"
"Say, you Mister Steward, you jest hurry up and git the lady out of her
muss, and come and fix me up," chimed in the voice of Mr Zachariah
Lathrope. "I guess I've had my innards a'most squoze out agin the
durned bunk, an' feel like a dough-nut in a frying-pan. If you leave me
much longer I kalkerlate this old boss'll be cold meat, you bet, and
you'll have the funeral to pay!"
Mr Meldrum coming to Llewellyn's aid, the steward managed at length to
clear away the wreckage from before the door of Mrs Major Negus' cabin,
and then from that of the American, when both the occupants were found
more seriously hurt than either of their rescuers had imagined, they
thinking that their outcries had proceeded more from alarm than any real
injury.
The wife of the deputy-assistant comptroller-general of Waikatoo was
lying, all purple in the face, with a heavy portmanteau on the top of
her, on the deck of her cabin in nearly a foot of water; and by the time
they got her up from her perilous position she fainted dead away in the
steward's arms.
"Here, Mary!" called out Llewellyn to his wife, the stewardess, who
quickly appeared on the scene half-dressed. "Attend to this lady, while
we go and see after Mister Lathrope."
The American was in a much worse plight; for, whereas Mrs Major Negus
had only swallowed a lot of sea-water and had been only nearly
frightened to death, Mr Lathrope's sallow face was so unearthly pale
that Mr Meldrum was certain he had received some severe injury; as he
was tightly jammed between his bunk and the washing-stand, while a heavy
packing-case had tumbled out of the top berth on to one of his
shoulders, preventing him from moving.
"I guess, mister, you jest come in time," said the poor fellow with a
sickly smile, as they pulled away the case and wash-stand, and helped
him into a sitting position on the bunk, "another minnit and it would
have been all up with Z Lathrope, Esquire!" And he gasped for breath,
putting his hand to his left side, as if feeling pain there.
"Oh, papa, are you there?" said Kate, coming out, in a charming state of
dishabille, from the state-room she shared with her sister on the
opposite side of the saloon, alongside to that of Mr Meldrum. "Is
anybody hurt?"
"Yes, my dear," answered her father, "you'd better bring some sal
volatile or something. Mrs Negus has fainted; and I'm afraid poor Mr
Lathrope is in a bad way."
The plucky girl did not delay, or exhibit any of that feminine weakness
or nervousness which might have been expected under the circumstances.
Retiring for a moment, to throw a shawl round herself and get what was
required in the emergency, she quickly reappeared again at the door of
the state-room,--which she closed behind her to prevent Miss Florry,
inquisitive as usual, from coming forth; and then proceeded to cross the
floor of the cuddy as well as she was able--a somewhat difficult task
considering the rolling and pitching of the vessel, and the fact that
the table and seats, which generally formed points of vantage for
holding on, had been swept away, so that there was nothing for her to
cling to.
Half running, half sliding, she, however, reached the opposite side and
was quickly engaged in the Samaritan task of bathing Mr Lathrope's
temples with Eau de Cologne.
"Don't you bother, miss," said the American faintly, "I guess I ain't so
much hurt arter all!" but he couldn't help groaning as he spoke,
whereupon Mr Meldrum laid him down gently and sent the steward for some
brandy, which revived him somewhat.
"I got a pretty considerable gouge in the ribs from that air wash-
stand," said he, pointing out the objectionable piece of furniture as he
uttered the words; "but I guess I'll be all right presently. How's
Madam Negus!"
"Oh, she was more frightened than hurt," said Mr Meldrum laughing; "she
was in a nice pickle on the floor of her cabin. You should just have
seen her. I really don't think she could ever be dignified to me any
more!"
"For shame, papa, to laugh at misfortune!" said Kate; "and now, as Mr
Lathrope seems better, I'll go and look after his fellow-sufferer." So
saying, the girl clambered along by the side of the saloon to where Mrs
Major Negus was ensconced in state, in the adjoining cabin--now revived
from her fainting fit and with Mary Llewellyn ministering to her wants,
although "the Major" could not help scolding the latter at intervals, as
if she were the cause of the disaster.
In the midst of all this, down came Mr McCarthy, the first mate, from
the poop.
"Be jabers and it's a foine time you are having of it, any way!" said he
by way of greeting, looking round with a quizzical cock of his eye at
the dismantled cuddy. "I only thought you'd have had a drop of wather
or two whin the skoilight got adrift, and we've rigged up tarpaulins
over it and battened it down comfortably, so that ye'll not be throubled
any more by the say washing down. But, how did the table git carried
away! It was fixed down so strong it's a puzzle to me entirely!"
"Goodness only knows," said Mr Meldrum; "there came a tremendous crash
amidships soon after midnight, and away it went!"
"Ah that was whin that gossoon Adams had howlt of the helm. The
omahdawn, he was looking up at the spars and tellin' the cap'en about
taking the topsails off her, as she was carrying too much sail, instead
of mindin' his own business and lookin' to the steering; and, faix, he
let the ship broach to, bad cess to him!"
"And how are you getting on now, on deck?" asked Mr Meldrum.
"Will, sorr," said the mate, speaking more earnestly than was his usual
wont, and dropping his voice so that no one else could hear him. "To
spake the truth and shame the divil--faix it's no lie I'm telling--we're
right in the centre of a cyclone, and the Lord only knows if we'll iver
git out of it!"
"I thought so," murmured Mr Meldrum; "my poor children!"
"Sure and be a man now!" whispered the mate as Kate came out of Mrs
Major Negus' cabin. "I wouldn't have tould you if I had thought
contrariwise!"
"I was not thinking of myself," said Mr Meldrum sternly; "what sail are
you carrying?"
"Sail!" exclaimed Mr McCarthy; "faix and its joking ye are! Ivery
stitch of canvas, sure, was blown to smithereens when the ship broached
to, and the foretop-mast was thin took out of her, too, by the same
token! The divil a hap'orth are we carrying, save a piece of tarpaulin
lashed in the weather rigging to kape her hid to the say, and that's all
we can do till daylight comes, if we iver say it, please God, for it's
as dark now as a blue dog in a black entry, and you couldn't say your
hand before your face to set any sail, if ever a man could git up the
rigging--but whist now about that! Steward," he added in a louder key,
"come, look alive here and git the cuddy to rights in shipshape fashion!
By the powers, but the skipper'd be in a foine rage if he saw it all
mops and brooms like this! Bear a hand, man, and be smart, and I'll
send the carpenter to help you as soon as the watch is relayed." With
these words he bustled on deck again, after changing his oilskin, which
was all knocked to pieces, for a rough pea-jacket, and saying to Mr
Meldrum that he thought the latter would be more handy, for it was
blowing enough to take one's hair off!
"Papa," said Kate as soon as the mate had ascended the companion, "what
was that Mr McCarthy was saying when he spoke so low to you?"
"Eh, my dear?" answered her father a little confusedly, with some
hesitation in his voice. "Oh, only that the storm was raging violently
and did not seem to lull at all yet."
"Did he say that there was any danger?"
"Danger, eh? no, I--I can't say. I think I'll just step up and see for
myself;" and, anxious to escape this cross-examination, as well as
really to judge whether the position of the ship was as precarious as
the chief mate had indicated, Mr Meldrum likewise went up on to the
poop, finding some trouble when he reached the top of the companion
stairs, in opening the hatch.
For a moment, after emerging on to the deck, all was terribly dark--as
black as ink, as Mr McCarthy had said; but, the next instant, the whole
awful scene was lit up by the most intense and vivid flash of lightning
Mr Meldrum had ever beheld--the electric fluid being quite
unaccompanied by any peal of thunder, although that might have been
drowned by the continuous roar and shriek of the howling wind which
appeared to have gone mad with the unbridled fury of a demon.
During the brief space of time in which the zigazag stream of fire from
the vault of heaven momentarily lit up the surroundings of the ship,
which it did with a brightness that eclipsed the light of day, Mr
Meldrum could see the vessel tumbling about amid a chaotic mass of
waves, which it was no exaggeration to term mountains high, as if she
were in the vortex of a whirlpool; while dense opaque black clouds
hovered over her, vomiting forth wind, apparently from every quarter of
the horizon, the gusts tearing at the ship with harpy-like clutches, as
if they would rend her to pieces--she, like a poor human thing racked
with pain, labouring and groaning, and bending this way and that to
escape the relentless wind, so well aided by the clutching billows from
below that leaped up to engulf the vessel when they themselves were not
absolutely flattened to the surface of the water, as they were
sometimes, by the force of the hurricane.
The scene was literally awful!
The next moment all was darkness again; with the night black as Erebus,
and Mr Meldrum unable, as the mate had said, to see his hand before his
face.
Captain Dinks, however, had noted his arrival on deck; and approached
him without being seen.
"I advise you to go below, Mr Meldrum," said he, "you can do no good
here, nor any of us, indeed, until morning, when I hope we'll have
better weather. It's a terrible night, the worst I have ever seen at
sea in all my time!"
"Aye, terrible," replied the other, shouting in the ear of the captain,
but, as he was facing the wind, his voice seemed to the latter only like
a whisper. "I'll take your advice, as I see I could be of no use;
still, if I can be of any service, mind you call me!"
"Aye, aye," said Captain Dinks, "you go down and go to sleep. We are
all in God's hands now, though I'll do all that man can--good night!"
"Good night," said Mr Meldrum; and he then went below again to give
what report he could to Kate, who was waiting anxiously for his expected
reappearance, as he had said he should not be gone long when he left
her.
She had been certain the ship was in great danger; and she now read the
confirmation of her worst fears in her father's face.
"Oh, papa!" she exclaimed, throwing her arms round his neck as soon as
he came down the companion, without waiting to hear a word from him. "I
thought so, I thought so!"
"Hush, my child!" said he soothingly, leading her towards her state-room
and opening the door, "go in to your cabin and pray!"
And thus the weary night passed away.
CHAPTER ELEVEN.
IN UNKNOWN LATITUDES.
When daylight came, through the exertions of Ben Boltrope, the
carpenter, and a couple of the crew sent to aid him, the cuddy offered a
more presentable appearance than it had done just immediately after the
midnight scare; for, the table and seats were fixed back in their
original positions, the debris cleared away, and a portion of the
skylight restored--all of which so brightened up the interior that what
had passed but a few hours before seemed but a dream, at first, to those
of the passengers who turned out early. The continuous sustained roar
of the wind and waves had so drowned the noise of the men hammering and
moving about that the repairs appeared to have been accomplished by
magic.
As soon as Mr Meldrum went on deck, however, he could see little
alteration for the better there.
The great rolling billows, as Maury has described them, were running
high and fast, tossing their white caps in the air, looking like the
green hills of a western prairie capped with snow, and chasing each
other in sport; while the wind was still blowing a hurricane, and the
ship, resembling a crippled bird with her foretop-mast gone, was running
now before the gale under a single storm-staysail, that looked no bigger
than an ordinary sized pocket-handkerchief, at a greater rate of speed
than she would have done in a stiff breeze with all her canvas spread.
The outlook around, too, was by no means cheering.
The horizon was piled up with masses of blue-black clouds, whose ragged
edges meant mischief, and scraps of greyish white scud were flying
across the sky in all directions--now towards the same point as the
wind, now against it, as if there were contending currents aloft and
they could not decide what precise course to travel.
Captain Dinks, who, with the other officers, had been on deck all night,
looked haggard and care-worn. The men, too, seemed worn-out, which
could not be wondered at, as no sooner had the watch whose turn it was
to be relieved, got below than they were roused up again at the call of
"All hands"--when, of course, they had to tumble on deck again, without
a moment's time for the rest and repose they needed after the exposure
they were subjected to in battling up and down the rigging in the
tempest of wind and rain and hail that had lasted through the livelong
night.
"Not a very bright look-out!" said the captain, trying to speak
cheerily, but failing miserably in the attempt. "Old Boreas, too, I'm
afraid, is going to put on a fresh hand to the bellows, for the
barometer has fallen again."
"Indeed?" answered Mr Meldrum.
"Yes," continued Captain Dinks; "it stood at 29.50 at three o'clock this
morning, and when I looked just now it was at 29.25."
"That's bad," said the other; "it shows we've not got the worst of the
cyclone yet."
"No," replied the captain; "we've got that all to come! Luckily, I sent
down the topgallant-masts yesterday evening, or we'd have had every
stick out of her by now:-- they would have been safe to go when the
foretop-mast went, if not before. However, there they are, all lashed
together by the longboat, not gone yet; and I hope we shall have some
use for them yet bye and bye."
"I only hope so," said Mr Meldrum sadly, the despondent way in which
Captain Dinks spoke affecting him too.
The ship seemed easier running before the wind than when lying-to,
although there was the risk of the heavy following seas pooping her, a
contingency that had already happened when a portion of the bulwarks
were carried away at the time the saloon skylight was smashed, leaving
an ugly gash in the ship's side; but a spare hawser had been triced up
and secured fore and aft to prevent the men being washed overboard
through the aperture, and life lines were rove and passed along the deck
for the same purpose.
"It's safer to carry on," observed Captain Dinks, seeing the anxious
glance Mr Meldrum bent to windward. "I've heard of a ship outrunning a
hurricane before; and so might we again."
"So have I," said Mr Meldrum; "but not a cyclone! Look there, ahead,
at that bank of storm-clouds; perhaps we're running into a worse gale
than the one we've got."
"Well, we can only act for the best," replied the captain curtly,
apparently not relishing this criticism of his seamanship from a
landsman--as he thought--who knew nothing about the matter; and he then
moved back to his post by the binnacle, leaving Mr Meldrum standing by
the head of the companion, where he was presently joined by Frank
Harness, the first and second mates being both forward, superintending
the bending of preventer stays to secure the masts, which seemed to be
ready to jump out of the ship from the leverage exercised even by the
little sail she was carrying.
By noon, when it was utterly impossible to take an observation, the
heavens being black all round, with showers of hail and snow coming down
at intervals, and the wind, blowing over the Antarctic ice-fields,
seemed to cut the face as with a knife--the temperature of the air had
become bitterly cold, while the barometer fell to 29 inches. The very
spirit of destruction appeared to brood over the ill-fated _Nancy Bell_.
Mr Meldrum, after a brief visit below to look after his daughters and
see how the American passenger was progressing since his accident, had
returned on deck, accompanied by Kate, who pleaded so earnestly to be
allowed to come that he could not resist her entreaties. She now stood,
sheltered behind him, in the mouth of the companionway, watching the
brewing of the fresh storm with which the vessel was about to be
assailed--Frank Harness close to her side as if for additional
protection, although the captain had told him he might go below and have
a spell off after being up all night. The young sailor, as soon as she
came up, had taken off his own monkey-jacket and fastened it round her
shoulders to protect her from the wind and hail, despite all Kate's
protests, to which he was obliged to turn a deaf ear by reason of the
force of the gale.
Suddenly, the dark looming mass of clouds in front of the ship appeared
to split asunder, showing gaping ragged edges fringed with white, just
like a shark's mouth.
Mr Meldrum at once rushed to where Captain Dinks was standing close to
the wheel-house, where two men had all they could do to control the
helm, although they were the strongest hands on board, the one being Ben
Boltrope, the ex-man-o'-war's-man, and the other Karl Ericksen, the
Norwegian sailor who had been rescued from the boat, and who was a
perfect giant now that he was restored to health and strength--standing
over six feet, and with long brawny arms that seemed as powerful as
those of a windmill when he threw them about.
"For God's sake, Captain," exclaimed Mr Meldrum, "round the ship to, if
you can! If that squall that's coming right forward catches her in the
teeth, she will go down stern foremost in a second!"
"Nonsense, Mr Meldrum!" answered Captain Dinks hotly. "Who are you? a
landsman, to give orders to a trained seaman! I don't allow passengers
to interfere with me in working my own ship."
"Considering I have been in the royal navy all my life, and left the
service with the rank of commander," said Mr Meldrum quietly, not a
whit angered by the captain's somewhat reasonable indignation, "I think
I am something of an authority on the point. But, don't let us argue
that matter now, Captain Dinks. I apologise for interfering; but I have
seen and been through a good many cyclones in the China seas, when I was
in command of a gunboat there, and I advise you to do as I've said."
"Trust his honour, Capting, sir," chimed in Ben Boltrope, for once
forgetting his sense of discipline, and speaking to his superior officer
without leave; "I've sarved with Commander Meldrum, and knows what he
is."
"I'm sure, sir, Mr Meldrum, I hardly know how to address you," said
Captain Dinks, his old polite sell again, and smiling as if there was no
storm near. "I beg your pardon for not recognising that you were of the
same craft; but what could I think, or how could I judge?"
"Oh, never mind that now," said Mr Meldrum eagerly. "Put her about at
once, as you value all our lives."
"All right!" replied Captain Dinks; "down with the helm there, sharp!"
The men strained every sinew to get the wheel round, the muscles on the
Norwegian's arms standing out in relief like wire ropes, and Ben
Boltrope using his utmost strength and assisting him with a will.
"Look out forward!" shouted the captain in the meantime, to warn
McCarthy and the men what was going to be done so that they might hold
on; "were going to 'bout ship." And although they could not hear a word
he said, they judged what he meant by his motions and prepared
themselves accordingly.
The manoeuvre was executed at last, but very nearly a moment too late.
As the ship came round, she met the sea full butt, and was for the
instant almost buried--the water coming in high over the forecastle and
falling like a cataract into the waist, engulfing the men there in a
well of green wave and foam; while, at the same moment, the squall ahead
struck her on the port bow, the vessel, between the two opposing forces,
being like a piece of iron 'twixt hammer and anvil. The concussion was
tremendous, knocking everybody off their feet just as if the ship had
struck on a rock.
Crash went the remains of the foremast over the side, carrying with it
the maintop-mast and the solitary scrap of sail that was set; and for a
moment the ship broached to, heeling over as if she were going to
founder.
However, the same expedient that had been tried in the night, that of a
tarpaulin in the weather-rigging, was again resorted to; and the helm
being kept down, the vessel's head was got to the sea, the wreck of the
foremast, which had swung clear of the ship although still kept attached
by the gear forwards, acting as a sort of breakwater, and tempering down
the strength of the waves, so that after a time she rode somewhat easy.
Meanwhile, Kate had a terrible fright.
As the shock came when the _Nancy Bell_ was put about, Frank Harness
threw his arm round Kate's waist to prevent her from being thrown down,
holding on himself at the same time like grim death to the rail of the
companion; and on the ship steadying, he released the girl and let go
his hold. At that moment, however, a wave came over the poop, and he,
being taken off his guard, was rolled over on the deck and washed
towards the opening in the broken bulwarks.
Kate instantly, without hesitating for a second, made a snatch at his
collar; and, clutching hold of it, in the very nick of time, saved him
by a miracle--had he been carried overboard, no earthly power could have
rescued him!
"Oh, Frank!" she exclaimed, "I thought I had lost you!" And, as he
scrambled to his feet, pale with the suddenness of his peril and her
effort to rescue him, the brave girl sank down, apparently lifeless, on
the deck--all of a heap.
"Good heavens, she is dead!" cried Frank. "She has been killed in
trying to save me!" and in the desperation of grief he looked as if he
were going to throw himself into the sea.
"No, no, my boy," said Mr Meldrum, who had witnessed the incident from
the wheel-house, and had now come to his aid; "she has only fainted from
revulsion of feeling and the strain on her nerves. Help me to carry her
below."
And, as the two descended the companion-way with their apparently
inanimate burden, the young sailor could not help furtively kissing the
floating tresses of dark brown hair that swept across his face as he
tenderly supported Kate's head on his shoulder, guarding it jealously in
the passage below. His anxiety was soon afterwards relieved by Mr
Meldrum coming out from the cabin where they had deposited poor Kate,
and telling him that she was getting better.
It was a bad case with the ship, however; worse than anyone thought.
Soon after Frank and Mr Meldrum had left the deck, Ben Boltrope, who
was still in the wheel-house with the Norwegian, called out to Captain
Dinks:-- "I think there's something wrong with the rudder, sir," he
said.
"Wrong with the rudder!" repeated the captain. "What do you mean?" and
he came nearer to look himself at the steering gear.
"Why; the wheel goes round either way, just as you please, without any
strain at all, as if the ropes were parted, or the rudder gone adrift!"
"Mercy on us! That would be a calamity!" exclaimed Captain Dinks; and,
watching his opportunity, when the stern of the ship rose up in the air,
he looked over the rail below. "It is really the case!" he said, in
grave accents. "The rudder and rudder-post have both been carried away.
What a blessing that they did not go before we got her about; if they
had, nothing could have saved us."
"True for you, sir," responded Ben in acquiescence; while the Norwegian
nodded his head and said, "Ja! ja!"
"Come away from there, my men," presently said the captain after a long
silence, as if he were thinking to himself what should be done; "it's no
use your stopping there any longer. But, stay, it is best not to alarm
the crew too soon. You stop, Norwegee," calling that sailor by the name
the men had dubbed him; "and you, carpenter, go and sound the well to
see what water we have taken in. Mind and do it quietly, now, so as not
to be seen; and you need not tell any of the hands about the loss of the
rudder, you know."
"Aye, aye, sir, I twig," said Ben, going forwards and then down the main
hatchway, slipping off the cover for the purpose.
Presently he returned aft, looking very serious.
"There's four feet water in the hold, sir," said he.
"Only four feet?" replied Captain Dinks, pretending to treat the matter
with great unconcern; "why, I thought she would have had ever so much
more in her, with all the straining she has gone through in the last
twenty-four hours, besides the lot of seas she took in before we had the
hatches battened. Still we'd better get rid of it, carpenter, as
there's no use our carrying more cargo than we are obliged, eh?"
"No, sir," said Ben somewhat dubiously, not taken in by the captain's
manner.
"Just what I think," said Captain Dinks. "Here, McCarthy," he cried out
to the first mate, who, ever intent on duty, was busily engaged in
trimming matters amidships, having the lashings of the longboat and
spare spars overhauled in readiness for the next sea that might flood
the decks--for nothing could be done about the wreck of the foremast
till the gale moderated, as to loose it now would be to lose their
sheet-anchor. "McCarthy, just have the chain-pumps rigged and pump out
the hold to get rid of all that water we have taken on board."
"Aye, aye, sorr," was the hearty response, and the "cling, clang" of the
pumps was soon heard resounding with a will through the ship, the men
encouraged by the mate to do their best.
Still, it was a bad look-out.
The ship had first been scudding due east, and then to the northward,
goodness only knew how many miles off her course; and now, here she was,
drifting southwards, dismasted and rudderless, a hopeless wreck in
unknown waters, at the mercy of the elements!
CHAPTER TWELVE.
ICE AHEAD!
Although the wind and sea had being doing their utmost, without, to
transform the previously trim ship, that had sailed from Plymouth so
gallantly, into the veritable semblance of a battered hulk, no further
damage had been done below: so that, in the cuddy, all was comparative
comfort--in contrast to the scene on deck.
Mr Zachariah Lathrope, who made light of his injuries, albeit his left
arm was in a sling--confessing, too, that his side "felt kinder painful,
as if some coon had given him a sockdolager in the ribs, or a grizzly
bar put his hug on"--was seated at the replaced table, pitching into a
sort of heavy lunch, to make amends for his missed breakfast, while the
steward was cutting up a plentiful supply of ham for him on his plate,
so that he could use his solitary hand with a fork and so feed himself.
Mrs Major Negus was busily engaged in her cabin, and with the
assistance of Mary Llewellyn, the stewardess, was rearranging all her
numerous goods and chattels that had been so ruthlessly banged about in
the night; and Master Maurice, whom the turmoil had not disturbed in the
least, was still sleeping in the top bunk as composedly as he had
continued doing all through the period of his mother's struggles on the
floor and narrow escape from suffocation, unawakened either by the noise
or her loud calls for help--the worthy lady as soon as she came to
herself having earnestly cautioned Kate and the stewardess not to arouse
her darling boy, for "he would be so frightened, you know, if he saw me
like this!"
Kate herself, recovered from her faint, but yet feeling weak and languid
from the effects of all she had gone through, was mechanically assisting
Florry to dress, wondering the while, in a dull apathetic way, whether
she would ever again have to tender the same offices to her little
sister, for she was prepared for the worst and believed that the ship
was in imminent danger--although she hoped still, with the ardent nature
of youth, that they might be delivered, trusting to the loving mercy and
watchful care of that God to whom she had prayed during the night, even
before her earthly father's counsel, and before whose footstool she had
already that morning bent the knee more than once.
As for Mr Meldrum--who had remained below from the consciousness that
he could not be of any service in the immediate present on deck and from
an unwillingness to having the appearance even of shoving himself
forward and interfering with the management of the ship after what
Captain Dinks had said--he had tumbled out a portmanteau in his state-
room in order to overhaul some old papers; and he presently came out
into the cuddy with a chart in his hand.
"Hillo, mister," said the American as soon as he noticed him, "jest
roused up, hey? I thought you wer havin' a bit of snooze, and wondered
when you were goin' to turn out!"
"Ah," said Mr Meldrum gravely, "it's no time for sleeping now for any
one on board. The ship is in far too perilous a position for that!"
"Is she?" asked Mr Lathrope, most unconcernedly apparently.
"She really is," replied Mr Meldrum.
"Wa-al, if she is," returned the other, lifting a huge morsel of ham on
the end of his fork, and surveying it critically with much relish of eye
before placing it in his capacious mouth, "why, it's a bad business,
that's all I ken say; and I'm right down sorry fur it, I am--things was
going on so slick and pleasant! But if we can't help it, mister, what's
the sorter use in grievin'? I don't see the good in cryin' over a spilt
petroleum can, I don't! Now, dew, mister, draw up har and make yourself
comf'able; you'll find this bacon prime, for I knows it's the gen-u-ine
Chicago brand and came out of the States."
"No, thanks," said Mr Meldrum, smiling at the other's imperturbable
philosophy and epicureanism that seemed proof against everything, even
the sense of mortal peril, "I had something to eat earlier, and do not
care about anything now."
At that moment, Captain Dinks came down the companion and looked into
the saloon, when, seeing Mr Meldrum, he beckoned to him.
"Would you mind coming on deck for a few moments," said he hurriedly, "I
want to speak to you about something?"
"Certainly," said Mr Meldrum, at once getting up from the table, on
which he had spread out the chart he had brought from his cabin and was
engaged with a pair of compasses in picking out the ship's possible
position.
"Say, mister--" commenced the American.
"Pray, excuse me," interrupted Mr Meldrum, "I'll speak to you when I
come down again; I must join the captain now, as you see;" and he
hurried to the companion-way, Captain Dinks standing aside and motioning
to him to go up first.
"Say, Cap--" called out Mr Lathrope, not to be baffled.
"Can't stop now," curtly replied Captain Dinks; and he, too, disappeared
in the rear of Mr Meldrum.
"Now, I do jest wonder what them two coons hev on hand?" said the
American, when they had thus left him with his curiosity unslackened;
"I'm durned if I don't go up myself and see: people must rise pretty
airly o' mornin's to take a rise out of this old hoss!"
A roll of the ship, however, coming as soon as he had risen from his
seat, settled his inquisitiveness. "I guess I'd better bide har," he
murmured to himself, uttering his thoughts aloud. "This air vessel's a
durned sight too skittish on her footing to please me, an' that air
ramshackly arm o' mine might git squoze agin if I went on deck! No, I
guess I'll bide har in the land of Gilead--Steward!" he added, raising
his voice.
"Yes, sir," answered Llewellyn, coming out of his pantry.
"Hev you got any coffee or tea fixins?"
"No, sir, that lazy nigger Snowball says he can't light the galley
fire."
"Does he? I'd make him smell fire if I'd got him out on the plantation
whar I was riz! Then, bring me a glass of brandy and water, and make it
stiff: I allers go in fur temperance drinks when I can get them, that is
before sundown; but if I'm obleeged to take pizen, why, I likes it
strong!"
When Mr Meldrum gained the deck, in company with the captain, he found
the wind still blowing with terrific force and a dangerous sea on,
although as the gale had not shifted during the last hour from the
north-west, to which quarter it had finally veered, there was some hope
that they had escaped from the worst of the cyclone and were now being
hurried along its outside edge. In one of the last onslaughts of the
wind, however, the mainyard truss had been carried away, and the yard
swung so violently to and fro after snapping the braces like pack-thread
that it seemed as if the main-mast would go; but, fortunately, in one of
its mad gyrations, as it moved about like the arms of a semaphore, the
yard-arm had caught in the standing rigging on the starboard side,
where, through the gallant exertions of Frank Harness and the Norwegian
sailor, who performed the task at the peril of their lives, it was
firmly lashed and secured from doing further mischief. This operation
eased the ship considerably, and certainly saved the masts.
The worst piece of news that the captain had to tell Mr Meldrum was
with reference to the manner in which the ship was leaking.
"We had four feet water in her when the carpenter sounded the well at
six bells," said Captain Dinks; "and after rigging the pumps we reduced
it considerably; but since then, she has made nearly two feet again--all
clear and clean without any bilge in it--which shows she's taking it in
fresh and fast."
"There must be a big leak somewhere," said Mr Meldrum, "and the sooner
we see about stopping it the better."
"Yes," said the captain, "we might keep it down certainly by an hour's
spell in each watch; but it tires out the men so. I think it is coming
in somewhere astern; the rudder-post must have started some of the
timbers when it got wrenched off."
"Very probably," said the other; "but then, the ship has had a good deal
of straining the last day or two, besides from the storm in the Bay of
Biscay."
"Ah! she felt that," replied Captain Dinks. "That's what, no doubt,
weakened the rudder and made it go so easily this morning; but I'll call
the carpenter."
The port watch had gone below with Mr Adams, to have a little rest, for
there was no need of all the crew being on deck, the ship riding out the
gale to leeward of the floating anchor which providence had sent them in
the shape of the broken foremast, and there being nothing to do; so, on
a hail from the captain, Mr McCarthy passed the word forwards for Ben
Boltrope, who soon made his appearance out of the fo'c'sle--scrambling
aft as well as he could by holding on to every rope in his way, for the
vessel rolled and pitched most uneasily, rendering upright walking along
the deck an utter impossibility.
"Sarvent, sir," said he, touching his hat to Mr Meldrum on coming up
the poop ladder; "glad to see you on deck."
"What about this leak, carpenter?" said Captain Dinks. "Please tell Mr
Meldrum all you know."
"Well, your honour," said Ben, "all that can be said lies in a nut-
shell! She's making water as fast as it can pour in; and if we don't
find the leak and stop it, she'll founder pretty soon."
"Have you any idea where it is coming in?" inquired Mr Meldrum.
"Well, sir, the cap'en say it's by the rudder-post; but I myself thinks
it's amidships or else forrud: I'd have looked, but I couldn't shift the
cargo without help."
"This must be seen to at once, Captain Dinks," said Mr Meldrum. "As
you have asked my aid, I would advise your calling the watch below; and
I'll go down with the carpenter and see whether we can spy out the
leak."
"Oh, by all means, if you think that will do any good, although I'm of
the opinion that the leak is in the stern. McCarthy, call the port
watch up to go below and break cargo!"
"All hands, ahoy!"
This cry soon brought up the weary sailors, who had only just retired
after more than twenty hours of duty, before they had had time to close
their eyes in their first sleep, but they came out of the forecastle
willingly enough, well knowing the peril the ship was in; and, down
below the main-hatch they bumbled after Mr Meldrum and the carpenter,
glad that it was not for another spell of pumping for which they had
been called up.
Ben Boltrope was found to be right. After tossing to one side the bales
and boxes and heavy masses of iron that filled the midship section of
the hold, they found a great gap between the timbers through which the
water was spouting in at the rate of some hundred gallons an hour--the
cause of the hole being apparent enough in a long iron girder which had
got jammed against the side of the ship, end outwards, and in the
working of the ship had made its way clean through the strakes and
planking--just as if it had been an auger, the hole had been bored so
round and neat!
This orifice was now carefully plugged and battened over; and when the
pumps were again rigged and the vessel cleared it was found that she had
ceased to make water to any appreciable extent.
"Thank God for that!" said Captain Dinks heartily. "I own I was wrong,
for I was certain that the rudder-post was the seat of mischief:-- the
ship was bound to leak there!"
"It was a very natural thought of yours," said Mr Meldrum, to soothe
his sense of defeat. "I would have held to the same but for the
carpenter."
"Ah! he's a roight good man, sorr," chimed in Mr McCarthy, "and a
cridit to the sarvice that brought him up. Sure, an' he's a sailor ivry
inch ov him, from the crown of his hid to the sole of his fut!"
The sky was still obscured by clouds and the stormy billows were tossing
about, striving to bear down the ship and beat her to pieces; but she
bravely held her own, head to sea, and rode out the gale all that day
and night, as if she had been at anchor, although drifting steadily the
while in a south-easterly direction, the impulse of the waves and the
force of the wind on her hull carrying her thither.
It was the same the next day; but, on the third morning, the gale
somewhat moderated, although still blowing with considerable force from
the northward and westward, and under Mr Meldrum's advice, which
Captain Dinks now eagerly sought on every occasion, sail was got upon
the ship and she was allowed to run before the wind, hoping that the
vessel might reach smoother latitudes and fine weather, when they would
be able to repair damages and continue their voyage.
It was but a poor pretence of making sail, however!
All they could set was a close-reefed mizzentop-sail and a fore
staysail, which latter was hoisted on a jury-mast rigged forwards in
place of the foremast; while the missing rudder was replaced by an
ingenious makeshift, the joint handiwork of Mr Meldrum and the
carpenter, composed of lengths of a spare hawser and some of the smaller
spars, sawn up, lashed together, and then planked over, so as to offer a
yielding surface to the sea, and secured under the stern by guys and
tackles leading from the quarter galleries, the steering gear being then
attached.
This contrivance was found to work admirably in guiding the ship before
the wind, although if they had tried to wear her or put her about by it,
there might have been some difficulty and danger in the operation.
Towards the evening of this day, while the crippled _Nancy Bell_, so
ruthlessly shorn of her fair proportions, was going along pretty
bravely, nevertheless, at some six knots an hour or more under the
little sail she was carrying, with the sea still rough and wintry and
the sky all clouded over, the thermometer was noticed to go down again
several degrees; and Mr Meldrum, who alone had made the discovery for
the wind having been bitterly cold for days past the feeling in the air
would not have specially attracted attention--at once warned Captain
Dinks that they had run so far southwards that he was certain they were
near ice, and consequently it would be best to keep a strict look-out.
"Ice?" exclaimed the captain aghast. "Why, we aren't much below the
latitude of the Cape, I take it!"
"You'll find you are wrong when we're able to get an observation,"
replied Mr Meldrum. "I wouldn't be surprised to find that we were far
below `the Forties,' with all that drift and leeway we've had! However,
wherever we are, we're not far from ice, take my word for it, whether it
be a wandering berg out of its latitude or the drift from the Antarctic
ice-fields."
"All right, sir," said Captain Dinks laughing, "I'll take your word for
it; though an iceberg hereabouts, to my thinking, is a rather rum
visitor this time of year, and I'll believe it when I see it!"
However, the captain was wrong again.
Just before dark, the look-out in the maintop reported something ahead,
which presently turned out to be an enormous iceberg, fortunately far
away to leeward out of the course of the ship. It was an immense
irregular mass several miles long and of great height, appearing to
reach up into the clouds above as it heaved up and down on the heavy
rolling sea; and its top and points, covered with snow, stood out
distinctly against the dark horizon.
"Ah, we are well away from that fellow!" said Mr Meldrum rubbing his
hands; but his congratulations were cut short in a moment by the look-
out man forward--the Norwegian sailor, who as an old whaler was
accustomed to Antarctic sights and sounds--shouting out that there was
field-ice ahead, and that from the crashing of the floes he thought the
ship must be near the pack.
"Take in sail at once," said Mr Meldrum, "and keep a sharper look-out
than ever. If the vessel runs against the ice woe betide us all!"
CHAPTER THIRTEEN.
"LAND HO!"
"Let go the mizzentop-sail halliards, and man the fore staysail down-
haul!" shouted out Captain Dinks the moment Mr Meldrum had spoken; and,
the helm being put down at the same time, the ship was again brought
head to wind, almost sooner than it has taken to describe the operation.
However, as it was observed after a little while that the vessel
drifted so rapidly to leeward, through the mere force of the wind on her
exposed hull and remaining spars, not to speak of the wash of the sea,
and thus ran in quite as great danger of colliding with the ice as if
she had been going ahead, the fore staysail, reefed into the most
attenuated proportions, was set again--so that the ship might be under
steerage way and be able to avoid, under judicious control, the numerous
small bergs that now hove in sight like miniature islands in every
direction, making the navigation perilous in the extreme.
As night came on, too, the dangers surrounding the _Nancy Bell_
increased tenfold; for, the wind not only blew with greater strength,
but it was accompanied by blinding showers of hail and snow, while a
thick fog rose from the freezing water, more like steam than anything
else, obscuring everything and preventing the floating ice from being
seen until it was immediately under the bows.
It was just about the beginning of the second dog-watch at four bells--
six o'clock in the evening--that the mist came; so, after a brief
consultation with Mr Meldrum, Captain Dinks told the chief mate to call
the hands aft.
"We are in as tight a hole, McCarthy," said he, "as the poor old ship
was ever placed in, and it will take us all our time to get out of it;
so, it's best to let all the hands know it, that each may do his best
for the good of all."
"Aye, aye, sorr," answered Mr McCarthy; "it's no sight o' use beating
about the bush when danger's under weigh. Till 'em the truth, Cap'en,
and shame the divil!" Soon afterwards, his ringing voice calling, "all
hands ahoy!" was heard forwards.
The crew were not long tumbling aft; and, when they had assembled on the
main deck, Captain Dinks addressed them from the break of the poop.
"Men," said he, "I'm sorry to say the _Nancy Bell_ is in a position of
the greatest peril. We are now, after fighting with a cyclone for five
days, being carried along by a rising gale into the midst of scattered
icebergs, any one of which may knock a hole in the ship; while if we
should run upon one of the bigger ones we must go to pieces at once.
You know how, throughout the bad weather we've had, I have tried, to
spare you as much as I could, conveniently with the proper working of
the ship, and I've always allowed the watches their regular spell below;
but to-night, and as long as we are surrounded by the ice, I can't allow
a man off duty! None of us can tell whether the _Nancy Bell_ will be
afloat and we alive by morning; so, no single hand must leave the deck
without special permission. You may be certain I sha'n't set the
example, and you can now go forwards. I am about to set fresh look-
outs, and each man will have his station."
The majority of the crew gave a cheer at this, Ben Boltrope's lusty
voice being conspicuously to the fore; but some, amongst whom was a lazy
lout named Bill Moody, who was the chief grumbler in the forecastle,
expressed their discontent audibly; saying that they "hadn't signed
articles to be worked like dogs!"
Captain Dinks' ears were pretty sharp, and he heard what was said; so he
called the men back.
"I know who spoke," said he, "and I wouldn't disgrace the rest of the
crew by supposing that they share his feelings; but I'll add this for
his benefit, that anybody who may be discontented will find me easy-
going enough when I am stroked the right way, but a pretty tough
customer when anybody falls athwart my hawse!"
While this little incident was taking place, of course, the usual look-
out was not neglected, the Norwegian being still aloft in the maintop,
with Frank Harness and Mr Adams on the forecastle; but now, extra men
were detailed for the duty. Karl Ericksen, called down from the maintop
where his range of view had become limited through the increasing
darkness and snowstorm, was placed between the knight-heads; a man on
each bow; Frank Harness on the fore scuttle; Mr McCarthy and Adams on
the port and starboard quarters; and Ben Boltrope at the wheel--Captain
Dinks being here, there, and everywhere to see that everybody was on the
_qui vive_, even ascending the mizzen rigging sometimes into the top, to
have an outlook from there and try whether his eyes could pierce the
misty vapour that hung over the sea by dint of looking down into it.
Thenceforward, throughout the weary night, there was little to do save
looking out and conning the ship.
When a large cake of ice or berg was seen drifting perilously near, or
bearing down upon the vessel, the word was passed along the deck from
forward to aft and her head turned one way or the other, the yards of
the mizzen-mast--now the only ones left on the ship, with the exception
of the fouled main-yard--being squared or braced up to help her
inclination to either side, which was also assisted by the loose
mizzentop sail. This latter had only been hauled up by the clewlines
and buntlines when sail was shortened, so as to be available to be
dropped and sheeted home at a moment's notice in any sudden emergency
when it might be necessary to get way on the ship to prevent her running
foul of some giant iceberg that was trying to overtake her. From
midnight the only break in the monotony of the silent watch, throughout
the anxious hours that elapsed before daylight, was the warning cry of
the look-outs' forward "Ice ahead!" or "Ice on the lee bow!" with the
sailing directions of the captain to the steersman, quickly following
the words of warning, "Hard up with the helm!" or else, "Keep her off a
little, my man!" or the single word,--sometimes the most important order
of all,--"Steady!"
In the cuddy, naturally, it was an equally anxious time throughout the
trying night; indeed, more so, considering the state of mind of those
concerned.
Mr Meldrum, on going below, had told of the course of things above,
explaining the perilous position of the ship without unduly alarming the
nervous susceptibilities of the women folk, and after his periodical
visits to the deck he brought back the cheering news that all was as yet
going on well; but still, the very fact of being unable to do anything
save watch and pray, was even more exhausting and wearying than in being
exposed to the bitter weather like the crew and officers of the ship
were--for the sense of duty and something constantly calling on their
attention prevented the latter from thinking, as those could only do who
had no cause or call for action.
The American passenger did not, however, appear in the least put out or
more than ordinarily impressed with the gravity of the situation, taking
it, as it were, as a matter of course.
"It's no use making a muss over what can't be helped," he said with the
utmost sang-froid. "The ship's in good hands, and as I can't do
anything, why I guess I'll let things ride and be as comf'able as I
ken." So he ate and drank with just as good an appetite as ever when
dinnertime came--though it was later than usual, through Snowball not
having been able to light the galley fire till nearly dark; and, on the
arrival, according to Mr Zachariah Lathrope's reckoning, of bedtime, he
curled himself up in his bunk, going to sleep as composedly as if he had
been safe and sound ashore, with the comforting assurance to the others,
as he said "good-night," that "if things should kinder turn out
onpleasant, why, I guess they'll rouse me up!"
Florry Meldrum, too, and Master Maurice Negus were not one whit the more
alarmed by the critical condition of the _Nancy Bell_ either; but,
neither Maurice's mother nor Kate closed their eyes for a moment the
livelong night.
When some feeble rays of light at length strayed down through the
skylight, causing the lamps over the cuddy table to burn more dimly,
when the scuttles in the cabins, seen through the half-opened doors,
became illumined by some reflection from without, showing that the long-
wished-for morning had broken at last, Kate, unable to endure the
suspense any longer, put on her cloak and went on deck.
The scene and all its surroundings had very much altered since she had
last been up the companion-way; so that when she got on the poop now, so
great a transformation had occurred that it seemed to her as if she were
in a species of nautical fairyland.
The ship herself was cased in ice--hull, spars, and standing rigging,
and all--with long pendulous icicles hanging from the main and mizzen
yards. The fog or mist having also cleared away and the clouds vanished
from the sky, every object glittered like jewels in the golden rays of
the rising sun.
But the _Nancy Bell_ was not the only object of attraction and interest.
She was surrounded by icebergs in every direction--to the right, to the
left, right in front, and astern--some little mites not bigger than
cockle-shells in comparison with the larger ones, baby bergs, so to
speak, and others as lofty as mountains, extending as far as the eye
could reach to the horizon; the ship racing by them and threaded her way
in and out between the moving masses with the dexterity of a Highlander
executing the sword-dance. The wind was still blowing more than half a
gale from the northward and westward, and the vessel was running before
it under the fore staysail and mizzentop-sail, which had been dropped
again with the reef points shaken out, making eight knots good, too, at
that.
Where there was no ice, the rolling sea was of an intense ultramarine
blue, reflecting the colour of the distant sky; while, as the sun came
up higher, different tints were displayed by the icebergs, whose shape
was as various as their sizes--bergs that in their gorgeous architecture
and fairy magnificence, with fantastic peaks and airy pinnacles, which
glittered now in the full light of day with all the varied colours of
the rainbow, flashing out scintillations and radiances of violet and
iris, purple and turquoise, and sapphire blue, emerald green and orange,
blush rose and pink and red--all mingled with soft shades of crimson and
carmine, and interspersed with gleams of gold and silver and a frosting
over all of bright white light.
"Ah!" ejaculated Kate, uttering her thoughts aloud, so carried away was
she by the vivid beauty of the scene, "those who haven't seen an iceberg
at sea at sunrise, have no idea of the grand loveliness of God's
handiwork in nature!"
"They look beautiful enough now, missy," said Captain Dinks, who had
come to her side unnoticed, and seemed much jollier than he had done the
night before, when he thought the ship in her last extremity; "but we
didn't think them so a little while ago, when it looked as if the poor
old _Nancy Bell_ would lay her old bones amongst them!"
"Ah! Captain Dinks," replied she, "there was One above looking after us
then, as he is now!"
"You are right," said he earnestly; "or we should never have escaped as
we did; once or twice, when we grazed a berg, I thought it was all up
with us."
"Oh!" exclaimed Kate with a shudder, "it was a terrible night; and you
and the poor fellows on deck must have found it bitterly cold."
"Not a doubt of that," said Captain Dinks laughing. "I was almost half-
frozen in the mizzen rigging; and as for poor Frank Harness, when he
came off the fore-scuttle, where he was stationed all night to pass the
word from the look-outs forward, he could hardly move his limbs! If it
hadn't been for the hot coffee our friend Snowball served out every two
hours to warm us up, I don't believe any of us would have been alive
this morning. But here comes your father. How sly your were all to
keep it so carefully concealed that he was in the navy; and I taking him
all the time for a lubberly landsman! I'll never forgive myself; for
you must all have laughed at me, especially you, Miss Kate, and your
roguish little sister. Ah! good morning, Mr Meldrum," added the
captain turning to that gentleman; "I was just thinking about you. I
wanted to have a consultation about our course. My dead reckoning is
all at sea, and I hardly can guess where we are now; but I trust we
shall be able to get an observation of the sun at noon, and then we will
be able to prick off our position on the chart."
"I sincerely hope so," said Mr Meldrum; "for I think we're going far
too much to the southward."
"Do you, still, eh?" replied Captain Dinks. "I don't quite agree with
you. I thought it best to keep the ship before the wind, not only
because it eases her but on account of the gale being bound to slacken
down soon; and if we run down to a lower latitude, as I have frequently
done in this part of the ocean before, we will probably get fine weather
and be able to tinker up the old craft and make her look all a taunto
again."
"Ah!" said Mr Meldrum, "you are just as likely to run on to something
else, not quite so pleasant as fine weather! Mark my words, Captain
Dinks, I am as certain, and more so now than I was three days ago, as I
told you then, that we are far down in the Forties; and what with the
easting we have made since passing the meridian of the Cape and the
leeway we have drifted, we must be pretty close to the Crozet Islands or
Kerguelen Land."
"Kerguelen Land!" ejaculated the captain; "nonsense, man; why we are
hundreds of miles to the westward of it."
"Are we?" replied Mr Meldrum. "Well, just wait till twelve o'clock and
we'll see who is right, you or I!"
Hardly, however, had the words escaped his lips than the look-out man in
the maintop--who had been replaced as soon as day broke, when the
prospect around the ship became more extended, thus rendering his
services useful--shouted out a cry that had almost been forgotten, and
which made every heart on board leap with mingled feelings of
overpowering joy, consternation, surprise, dismay! Every pulse stopped
for a second spellbound! The cry was--"Land ho!"
CHAPTER FOURTEEN.
SCYLLA AND CHARYBDIS.
"Land!" called out the captain. "Where away?"
"On the weather-beam," answered the man aloft, who still spoke in a
voice which sounded as if he had been greatly startled. "It's rising
rapidly every moment, sir, out of the water."
"The fellow must be blind!" exclaimed Captain Dinks. "There is no land
there in that direction, if I know it. He must be taking one of those
big icebergs for an island; that's about the matter. Hanged if I don't
go up and see for myself!"
Running down the poop ladder, the captain soon started up the shrouds on
the port side towards the maintop where the lookout man was stationed.
It was not Karl Ericksen this time, whose word he would have implicitly
taken, but Bill Moody, one of the worst of the crew, and who, it may be
remembered, had already evinced an unsailorlike spirit by his
insubordination on an occasion when the pluck and endurance of everyone
required to be tested. From this fact alone, Captain Dinks was the less
inclined to trust him.
The captain, however, found mounting the ratlines not so easy a task as
he might have imagined, for the rigging was all frozen hard and as
unbending as iron; but he persevered unflinchingly, and disdaining to
creep through the "lubber's hole," climbed over the top in the usual
sailor's way, although he puffed and panted a good deal when he got
there, which proved to him that the flesh he had gained on his plump
little person, since he had been a youngster and first shinned up the
rigging, had not improved his climbing powers.
"Now, where's this wonderful land of your's!" he asked, as soon as he
got alongside of Bill Moody, taking his glass out of his pocket and
adjusting the focus ready for action.
"There," answered the man surlily, pointing towards the north-east,
where a faint blue bank seemed to rise out of the ocean above and beyond
the ice-fields. It could be seen with the naked eye to be of a
different colour to even the most distant bergs, the distinction being
quite marked.
"By Jove, the man's right!" ejaculated Captain Dinks with surprise.
"I knew I were," said Bill Moody in a bragging sort of way. "I think I
can see a hole in a ladder as well as most people; and if that ain't
land, why, I'll eat it."
"There, that will do," interposed the captain to stop any further
remarks, while he proceeded to inspect the hazy object with keen
attention for some minutes, after which he replaced his glass in his
pocket and prepared to descend to the deck again.
"Keep a sharp look-out," he said to Moody as he disappeared over the
side of the top, "and sing out, as soon as we get any nearer, whether
you can see a line of breakers at the foot of the island; for island it
is, sure enough!"
"Aye, aye," grunted out the man; and Captain Dinks went down the rigging
even more carefully than he had ascended, finding great difficulty in
preventing his unaccustomed feet from slipping off the ratlines, which
were like rungs of the smoothest and most polished ice.
"You were right, and I was wrong," he said to Mr Meldrum, as soon as he
had regained the poop. "There is land in sight, sure enough, although I
can at present only see it faintly towards the north-east. It must be,
as you say, either the Crozet Islands or Kerguelen Land, for there's
nothing else between us and the Australian continent, as we haven't yet
got quite so far south as the Antarctic regions."
"It's probably Kerguelen Land," observed Mr Meldrum, "for you couldn't
see the Crozets nearly so far off; but I hope there's not going to be
another change of the weather. It seems clouding over again."
"Not before we get an observation, I trust," replied the captain; "I
don't like knocking about any longer without knowing where I am."
"Nor I, sorr," put in the first mate heartily. "Sure it's like goin' in
the dark to Bandon Fair, for all the worruld over."
"It's not what we like," interposed Mr Meldrum somewhat dryly. "We
have got to put up with what we can get."
"True for you, sorr," said Mr McCarthy, not to be beaten; "sure, but
isn't it best to make the best on it."
"That's incontestable," replied Mr Meldrum with a laugh; and there the
conversation ended, Kate and her father going below to breakfast.
The weather got thicker, with the wind coming in gusts and now and then
shifting a bit, so that the solitary mizzen-topsail of the _Nancy Bell_
had now again to be close reefed, and her course directed more towards
the land, which they did not seem to near so rapidly as they had thought
they would--owing probably to some current that was all the time
carrying them southwards while they were steering towards the east.
They were actuated, however, by no vulgar curiosity to inspect this
ocean land in thus seeking to approach it.
On an ordinary occasion they would most certainly have given it a pretty
wide berth; but now, should the sky cloud over so much as to prevent
their getting an observation of the sun by which to correct their
latitude and longitude, the identification of the land would at once
prove their position on the chart without further trouble. This was why
they wanted to near it.
After breakfast, when Mr Meldrum came on deck again, the wind had
freshened considerably, although still blowing from the north-west,
while the outlook was generally squally; but the sky above still kept
clear, with the sun shining down at intervals, when the scud, which was
beginning to fly about again, did not interpose to hide its beams. The
land, the while, was steadily rising to the northward and eastward.
"It's Kerguelen Land, sure enough," said Mr Meldrum, when, after
imitating Captain Dinks and paying a visit to the maintop to
reconnoitre, he returned to the poop. "I can see the outlying rocks
towards its north-west extremity called `The Cloudy Isles,' and away to
the east I noticed the snow-white peak of Mount Ross, which stands in
the centre of the island and is over six thousand feet high."
"Well, you've good eyesight to see that at the distance," observed
Captain Dinks in a chaffing way. "I wish my optics were as clear."
"I can see pretty well," replied the other; "and if you had had to look
out as sharply as I've had to do for pirate junks up the Gulf of
Tonquin, I fancy you would have had your eyesight improved!"
"All right, Mr Meldrum," said Captain Dinks frankly. "I'm sure I did
not doubt your word for a moment. I've never been so far south before,
and feel a little out in my reckoning. However, it will soon be time to
take the sun, and that will decide the point."
A few stray snowflakes came fluttering down on the deck just then, and
both he and Mr Meldrum looked aloft. No cloud was to be seen exactly
overhead, but a heavy bank of haze was creeping up from the south
towards the zenith that looked ominous.
"We shall have a repetition of yesterday again, I'm afraid," said Mr
Meldrum presently with much concern, after a long interval of silence
between the two.
"I'm afraid so," was Captain Dinks' reply; "but I hope it won't come for
another hour at least." He then hailed the steward down the companion-
way, telling him to bring up his sextant from the cabin.
Fortunately, it just kept clear enough for an observation to be taken;
and when Captain Dinks had worked it out, both he and Mr Meldrum acting
independently so as to test the accuracy of the reckoning, it was found
that the ship was in 48 degrees 50 minutes south latitude, and 68
degrees 40 minutes east longitude. Consequently, the land they were
approaching could be none other than Kerguelen Land.
"As we now know where we are," said Mr Meldrum, when the fact was
established, "we must give the island as wide a berth as we can, for the
coast is most dangerous; and in winter-time, as it is now, July being
the December of the antipodes, the most fearful storms are said to
spring up at a moment's notice in its vicinity. As the wind is still
from the north-west, and we are well up to the northward, I should try
to weather it if possible; and, if we can't do that, we must pass to the
south of the land."
"Very good," replied the captain. "Only, you know the poor old _Nancy_
cannot sail as well now, as she could when in full trim. I don't at all
like the look of the weather, though, Mr Meldrum. It seems to me that
ono of those coast storms you were speaking of is brewing up. The ice,
too, is getting thick round us again; and if a fog comes on again we'll
be in a worse position than yesterday, for then we'd plenty of sea-room
at any rate, while now, we have that blessed island almost dead to
leeward."
"We must trust in Providence," said Mr Meldrum, "and keep a sharp look-
out if the fog thickens; but try to beat to windward we must, if
possible!"
During the bright morning, the hands, working diligently under the
supervision and help of the first mate and Adams, the second, had been
trying to make the _Nancy Bell_ a little more shipshape, and, although
they had been greatly hampered through the ropes and running gear being
frozen so stiff that it was almost impossible to unbend or run them,
they succeeded finally in trussing the mainyard again and splicing the
braces, so that they now were able to set the mainsail reefed, a welcome
addition to the limited sailing power of the ship in working to
windward.
All things were proceeding very satisfactorily in the afternoon, by
which time they had got the land to bear well on the lee-beam, and it
looked as if they could weather it; when, suddenly, there came on a
thick snowstorm, mingled with showers of hail, and the same kind of mist
which had risen almost at a precisely similar hour on the previous day
again enveloped them in its folds, shutting out all view of the water at
even a short distance from the vessel's side.
The _Nancy Bell_ was then steering nor'-nor'-east and some ten miles off
the land, with the wind coming from the northward and westward in
squalls. Presently, it blew so fresh that the lately set mainsail had
to be taken in again, and next the mizzen, for the ship heeled over so
much that it was thought at one time she would not recover her
stability; but, even under the reefed fore staysail, which was still
retained to enable her to weather the land, she tore through the water
at such a rate, that, in spite of the continual watch, it was most
difficult to avoid the heavy masses of floating ice that seemed to
spring up on all sides again, and which she had appeared to have been
leaving behind her in the morning.
"Sure and it's a worse look-out than last night, sorr," said the first
mate to Mr Meldrum, who was peering out anxiously to windward, the gale
veering round just at the most critical time to the northward. "Faix,
and I don't think we can weather them islands now, with all this ice
about too."
"Nor do I," replied Mr Meldrum. "Captain Dinks, we'll have to run for
it. Do you think you can wear her?"
"If your rudder holds out," said the captain.
"I'll guarantee the rudder," answered Mr Meldrum. "The only thing is,
I fear the spars will go."
"We must risk those, my friend. It's a case of neck or nothing now.
Listen! Can you hear anything?" and the captain bent his ear to
leeward.
Yes, Mr Meldrum could hear something. They all could hear something
above the shrieking of the wind, and the roar of the waves, and the
crash of the cakes and bergs of ice tumbling against each other. It was
something that sounded like the death-knell of the _Nancy Bell_, and
made their faces blanch with fear. It was the noise of breakers,
distant yet, but still as plainly distinguishable as if quite near--
breakers breaking on a lee-shore, the most terrible sound of all sounds
to a sailor's ear!
"Stand by to wear ship!" shouted Captain Dinks, and he himself took hold
of the spokes of the wheel as he uttered the words, easing it round,
while the mate rushed forwards, calling the hands.
"Tumble up, men, tumble up!" cried Mr McCarthy; "don't stop for your
clothes. All hands wear ship."
Frank Harness and Mr Adams had already darted towards the braces; and,
the men soon joining them, the yards were braced round, the mizzen and
mainsail being again dropped and sheeted home to enable her to pay off
from the shore, which the vessel soon did on the other tack, although
the canvas made her bury her bows in the sea and almost heel over till
the mainyard dipped.
"Let her carry on, she'll bear it," said the captain. "We cannot do too
much to get away from those confounded breakers; I'd sooner hear
anything than them!"
"So would I," responded Mr Meldrum, still looking pale, for the _Nancy
Bell_ had had a narrow squeak of going to the bottom when wearing; "but
we are rushing into almost as terrible a danger as the lee-shore. If we
come in contact with one of these icebergs, going at the speed we now
do, the shock will sink us to a certainty."
"Well," said the captain, "of the two dangers that is the least. By
keeping a good look-out we may avoid the ice, which we could never do
with the lee-shore, save by getting away from it, as we are doing now.
By Jove, isn't she walking along--the beauty, crippled as she is--just
as if she knew the peril she was in!"
"Better not holler till yer out of the wood," observed Mr McCarthy; "as
for myself, I wish it was mornin' agin, sure!"
He'd no sooner uttered the words, however, than the look-out man forward
suddenly gave vent to a frightened exclamation, drawn from him by the
sight of something unexpected and terrible.
"Ice on the lee bow!" shouted he. "Port your helm hard!"
But the warning came too late.
Almost at the same instant as the cry reached the ears of those aft, the
_Nancy Bell_ struck full butt against a dark object that loomed up out
of the fog right ahead of the ship, and which had been unperceived a
moment before.
There was a grinding rending crash and sound of breaking timbers, the
vessel quivering from stem to stern; and then, the main and mizzen
masts, with all their yards and the sails which had so lately been
urging the ship on to her destruction toppled over the sides, whilst a
wave, washing back from the base of the iceberg and coming in over the
bows, swept the decks fore and aft.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN.
MAKING THE BEST OF IT.
All hands were on deck at the time of the collision; and, with one
concentrated cry of alarm which was more a yell than anything else, the
men rushed in a body amidships to where the long-boat was stowed.
Captain Dinks, however hesitating and undecided as he had shown himself
frequently of late in the navigation of the ship, now all at once
brought out in this emergency that courage and capacity for command
which he had really at bottom but which had been before dormant.
"Back for your lives, men, to your stations!" he shouted. "Although the
bows are stove in, the bulkhead forward will prevent the water from
flooding us beyond the fore compartment and give us time to run the ship
ashore, when we can all escape. No boat could live in the sea that's
now on; and if it did, it would run a worse chance of being stove in by
the ice than our poor vessel had!"
His words made the men hang back, all save Bill Moody and a couple of
others, who began casting off the lashings of the longboat; but Mr
McCarthy rushing down on the main deck and seizing a capstan bar with
which he threatened to brain the first man who resisted the captain's
authority, the unruly ones desisted for the time, slinking forwards
grumblingly.
"Carpenter," called out Captain Dinks, "sound the well and see what
damage has been done; and, Mr Adams, send the port watch aft to clear
away this top hamper. It is thumping away alongside and may make
another breach in our timbers!"
The captain's apparent calmness, combined with the sense of duty
paramount on ship-board, made the men set to work with a will; besides
which, they well knew that by acting together in harmony they had a
better chance of escape than by any mere individual effort. Mr
McCarthy, too, and Adams showed themselves equally as capable as Captain
Dinks in lending a hand and encouraging the crew--Frank Harness being
not one whit behindhand either; so that, within a very few minutes after
the consternation which the catastrophe had caused on its first
happening had passed away, all, recovering that equanimity habitual to
sailors in almost any predicament or calamity, were engaged in carrying
out the orders given them, as coolly as if the _Nancy Bell_ were snug at
anchor in some safe harbour. But, in what a sadly different position
was she now!
Battered as she had been by the storm in the Bay of Biscay and crippled
by the terrible cyclone off the Cape, which had left her tossing
rudderless and almost dismasted on the deep, her then condition was
favourable in comparison with her present state--that of a complete
wreck, with her bows stove in, her masts all carried by the board, and
her decks swept fore and aft of everything!
Fortunately, as the mainmast had fallen over the side, it had jammed
against the iceberg with which they had collided, so fending off the
vessel's head that she had sheered to starboard and thus passed by the
floating mountain; otherwise, probably, the poor _Nancy Bell_ would have
been ground down by the pressure of the ice below the surface of the
sea. Ben Boltrope, too, returning from forward after a survey of the
damage, in accordance with the captain's command, reported another piece
of good news. The bows had been stove in, it was true, and the bulkhead
smashed, filling the fore compartment and bringing the ship's head so
much down that it would be almost impossible to sail her even in a
smooth sea; but the jury-mast, which had been rigged forward in place of
the lost foremast, had gone over on the port bow, instead of falling to
the starboard side of the ship like the other masts, and the fore
staysail attached to it, dragging overboard, had got sucked into the
hole which the iceberg had made, thus stopping the inrun of water to any
appreciable extent Ben said that he believed they would be able so to
patch up the damaged place in the bows after a time, thanks to this
circumstance, that they might hope to make a shift of rigging up a sail
again to run the ship ashore with.
"Bravo!" said Captain Dinks on hearing this. "Take what men you like
and commence the repairs at once, for there's no time to be lost Mr
Meldrum, what say you to this?"
But, Mr Meldrum had gone below to his daughters, well imagining the
state of alarm they would be in and rather surprised that Kate had not
already made her appearance on deck. When he reached the cuddy, the
reason of her absence was explained.
Poor Florry had met with an accident, the concussion when the ship had
struck the iceberg having thrown her out of her berth, cutting her head
against the cabin door; and Kate, assisted by Mr Lathrope, was binding
up the wound and comforting the sufferer.
"I guess, mister," said the American, looking up as Mr Meldrum entered
the main saloon, "I've had to act the good Samaritan, same as your gal
did to me when I got jammed together t'other day in my innards agin the
wash-stand! We're fixin' up the little miss finely. 'Tain't much of an
injoory, I kalkerlate, missy, though thar be a sight of blood, and it'll
soon git closed up agin!"
"Thanks for your kind services," said Mr Meldrum. "I would have been
down before, but was too busy on deck."
"I know," replied the other, nodding his head--"helping the captain out
of the muss, eh? That wer an allfired smash, though! Done much hurt?"
"Yes," said Mr Meldrum guardedly, with a glance at the girls; "but the
mischief's over now for the present, though."
"I see, I see," whispered Mr Lathrope; "I don't need nary nother
explanation, mister. I hev shed my eye-teeth, I hev, and thar's no use
in skearin' folks. That madam the Meejur, now, has been going on tree-
men-jus, an' it has ben as much as your gal could kinder dew to get her
to quiet down. Jee-rusalem! but she wer goin' to have the cap'en up on
court-martial, an' the steward tarred and feathered, an' the Lord knows
what! Then, too, ther wer that b'y of hern, squalling like a frog in a
fit, the durned young imp, I'd lief have skinned him! If it hadn't been
for your gal, they'd have raised thunder aboard, they would: you oughter
be kinder proud, mister, to hev sich a sensible young woman fur yer
darter! She warn't a bit skeart when the shock came; but braced herself
up as cool as a cowcumber, and thar she's ben, keeping them noisy folks
quiet, and tendin' her little siss like a Christian!"
"Indeed I am proud of her," said Mr Meldrum, gazing at Kate fondly;
"but you say nothing about yourself. You've been making yourself of use
too."
"Snakes and alligators, mister, I ain't worth a corn-chuck alongside of
your gal! In course, I wer a bit flabbergasted when we collided just
now--with one of them hammocks of ice, I guess, hey!"
"Yes," said Mr Meldrum, "we ran against an iceberg, and a pretty big
one too."
"I thought so," continued the other. "But you knows me by this time. I
never gets upsot by no matter what happens, so I jest fixes on one of
them life-belts I always has handy whenever I travels on them high-
pressure steamboats we hev on the Mississippi--whar you run the chance
of getting busted up regular every trip--and thar I turned out of my
cabin slick for anything, so I wer able to help miss, har, in shaking
down that dreadful old screech-owl yander, and plaster up little missy
arterwards."
"How's your arm now?" asked Mr Meldrum kindly.
"Oh, the durned thing's all right, only a bit stiff. Madam gave it a
squoze jist now when I histed her off the floor, whar she got throwed
down and wer bellowin' like a mad bull in fly time. That made the pain
grip me agin; but I dessay it's all right now for a scrimmage if needs
be."
"And where's Mrs Negus, eh?"
"Thar she is, with that young imp clasped in her arms, sobbin' her heart
out in her cabin; and if you go fur to comfort her, as I did just now,
why, she bites your nose off like a crocodile, she dew! She sez we'll
all go to the bottom; and that the cap'en and everybody else have runned
the ship ashore just to spite her--she knows, she sez, it's ben only
done fur that!"
And the American laughed with a keen relish of the joke, which no sense
of his own peril could subdue.
"She isn't far out in thinking the ship going down," said Mr Meldrum
gravely. "The vessel has a hole knocked in her bows, through which you
might drive an omnibus, and her fore compartment is full of water.
We'll soon have to abandon her, although, I've no doubt, she'll keep
afloat for some hours yet. I advise you, Mr Lathrope, to put on the
warmest suit of clothes you've got, and get together any few little
things that may be of use in a boat, as I'm going to do. Kate, my
dear," he added, addressing his daughter, who had been listening
attentively while he had been talking to the American, at the same time
that she hushed and soothed Florry, who was moaning with pain from her
injured head, "you'd better do likewise; and see also to poor Mrs
Negus, who appears utterly helpless and unable to look after herself.
Where are the steward and stewardess?"
"The stewardess went on deck some time ago, papa, to try and get a cup
of tea for Mrs Negus from the galley, and she has not yet returned,"
answered Kate; "I think the steward is asleep in his pantry."
"I thought him too big a coward to keep so quiet when the ship was in
any danger," said her father. "However, he'll have to rouse up now,
whether he likes it or not."
"Hi, Llewellyn!" shouted he, going up to the door of the pantry, which
was closed, and rapping outside with his fist loudly several times.
But there was no answer; so, turning the handle of the lock
unceremoniously, he looked within and saw to his astonishment the object
of his quest coiled up in a corner of a locker that ran across one side
of the pantry, with a heap of blankets drawn tightly over his head.
Mr Meldrum entered and proceeded to shake the human bundle, calling the
man again by name; when, after a little while, he disinterred his
terrified face from amidst the folds of his coverings, looking as pale
as a Niobe in marble.
"Wha-wha-what do you want?" Llewellyn stammered out, with his usual
stutter when spoken to sharply.
"Rouse up, man, and turn out at once," said Mr Meldrum. "What do you
mean by hiding yourself here, cowering in a corner like a frightened
hound, when the ship's in danger and there's work for all hands to do."
"I thought she was going down, sir, and--and--"
"And you hadn't the pluck to face your fate like a man, eh!" continued
Mr Meldrum, finishing his sentence for him. "But you must know that
brave men don't allow cowards to hamper their movements! Get up at
once, sir, and see about raising up all the tinned meats and cabin
stores you can fetch out of the steerage. Now, look sharp!"
"Ye-e-es, sir," replied Llewellyn, crawling unwillingly out of his
corner; "but, Cap'en Dinks said--"
"No matter what Captain Dinks said," interrupted Mr Meldrum, "I've got
his authority for what I am doing, and order you at once to set about
getting the provisions up for the boats. We'll shortly have to abandon
the ship; and, if you don't obey my orders, you shall be left behind."
"I'll do it at once, sir," answered the steward with alacrity, the
threat of being abandoned in the sinking vessel being quite sufficient
to expedite his movements; and he at once made for the after hatch to
get down into the hold, Mr Meldrum satisfying himself that he had set
about the task before leaving him, and then, with a kindly word or two
to Kate and Mr Lathrope, going on deck again.
On gaining the poop, Mr Meldrum found that the snow had ceased to fall,
the gale having gone down a bit. There was also a clear sky overhead,
and a few stars were shining out; but the heavy misty fog still hung
over the water, like a curtain, preventing the view of anything beyond a
limited range from the sides of the ship, while the sea was extremely
rough, the waves being nasty and choppy, as if some current or tideway
was working against the wind, causing the rollers to break over the
battered bows every now and then in sheets of foam.
However, the outlook was better than he expected; and, besides, he could
see, on looking round, that no time had been lost by Captain Dinks and
the crew since he had been below.
The wreck of the main-mast and mizzen-mast, with the yards and sails
attached, which had been knocking about in the water alongside the
ship--bumping against the timbers and threatening a danger almost as bad
as the collision--had been cut adrift, the smaller spars being first
cast loose and hoisted on board in case of need for jury-masts. The
carpenter and some of the hands, meanwhile, had braced up the broken
bulkhead with stout beams placed across, so as to prevent it from giving
way under the strain and allowing the contents of the fore compartment
to flood the main hold; for, it was utterly impossible for the present
to clear it of water, although the pumps, which had been kept constantly
going, sufficed to keep the rest of the ship pretty free and avert the
danger of sinking for a time. It was only a question of time!
The captain was just then overhauling the longboat, which, with the
jolly-boat, that had been stowed inside of the former for safety and
convenience, were the only two boats that had been left, the others
having been washed off the beams at the time that the cook's caboose had
been carried away during the cyclone; and Mr Meldrum, going down on to
the main-deck, approached the skipper.
"We'll have to take to the boats soon," said the captain, turning round
as he came up, "that is, when the sea moderates a bit. I don't see
anything else that can be done--do you?"
"If I were you," suggested Mr Meldrum, "I would try and run her ashore
first and beach her. We're not far from Kerguelen Land, and though it
is now winter time on the island and desolate enough, it would be better
our stopping there than wandering about the ocean in the boats, trying
to get into the track of the Australian liners, or else making for the
Cape, the only place we could steer for."
"It's a bad look-out any way," said the captain despondently.
"Yes, I grant that," replied the other; "but, if we land there and
manage to hold out till September or October, only three months at the
outside, a lot of whaling craft generally put into Kerguelen for the
seal-fishery about that time, and I daresay we could get one of these to
take us to the Cape."
"Perhaps that would be the best," said Captain Dinks, reflecting a
moment--"but what would you advise now--how are we to get ashore, eh!"
"Why, rig up a jury-mast or two at once and make for the land!" answered
Mr Meldrum promptly. "The island must be close to us now to leeward;
and with this wind we ought to be able to reach the shore by daybreak,
when we would be able to look about us better. It is certainly not the
slightest good our remaining here doing nothing till then, for the
carpenter tells me, it is only just as much as the men can do to keep
down the water by constant pumping, so by the morning they'll be pretty
nigh exhausted and we be no better off. Besides, as you can observe for
yourself, it would be madness while that sea is on to try to launch the
boats, unless we are absolutely compelled to do so in order to save our
lives; whereas, if we run the old craft ashore, we will have the boats
for a last chance."
"I suppose you're right," said Captain Dinks, "though I can't say that I
like to leave the poor old thing's bones to bleach on this outlandish
coast. What say you, Mr McCarthy, eh?"
"I agree, sure, with Mr Meldrum, son. He spakes like a sailor; and as
he's a naval officer he ought to know best," answered the chief mate.
Mr Adams and Frank Harness, who were both also admitted to the "council
of war," having given a similar opinion, Mr Meldrum's advice was
immediately acted upon.
Without delay, a small jury-mast was rigged up aft, attached to the
stump of the mizzen-mast, and one on the main-deck, close to where the
main-mast bitts yet remained, as it was thought better not to step the
jury-masts too far forward, for fear of the vessel plunging her bows
under. After this, the mizzen-topsail and topgallant-sail, which had
been cut off from the yards and saved from the wreck, were hoisted on
roughly improvised yards; when, the _Nancy Bell_ being brought round
with the wind abeam, was cast loose from the wreckage and headed due
east towards the land--in the very direction whence had been heard the
sound of breakers, and which all on board had been so anxious to give a
wide berth to but so few short hours before. What had been her dire
peril was now looked on as a haven of safety!
CHAPTER SIXTEEN.
ALMOST A MUTINY.
Towards midnight, the slight surface fog, which had up to that time hung
over the sea, lifted, when it could be seen that the ice had almost all
disappeared--drifting towards the south, where some towering bergs,
amongst which probably was the one that had done all the mischief to the
ill-fated vessel, were conspicuous in the distance.
The wind, also, had diminished considerably in force, blowing now from a
point to the westward of north, although the waves were still rolling
heavily, as they always do for some time after a storm in the southern
ocean, setting in towards the land that was just faintly visible right
ahead of the _Nancy Bell_, and whither she was now proceeding steadily,
but, of course, making but very slow progress through being waterlogged
forwards and possessing such small sail-power.
There was no moon, to complete the description; but the heavens above
were twinkling with bright stars that gave sufficient light to illumine
the horizon for miles round, for they touched up the crests of the waves
with coruscations of silver, and made the broken spray gleam like jets
of flame above the dark expanse of water. Everything, in a word, looked
favourable for their enjoying a quiet interval on board after all the
anxiety and hard work of the preceding day and night.
Seeing that no pressing danger was imminent, and that nothing more could
be done for the present, Mr Meldrum tried to induce Captain Dinks, who
had been on deck for over forty-eight hours, to go below and have some
rest, as he had a good deal yet before him to go through, and looked
fagged and worn-out.
But the captain would not hear of the suggestion for a moment.
"No," said he; "I mistrust that mutinous chap, Bill Moody, and the lot
who sided with him in making a rush for the boats when we struck. I
know they would be up to some mischief or other as soon as my back is
turned."
"But there is McCarthy your chief mate," replied Mr Meldrum, "surely he
can take command of the vessel, as he has so often done before, while
you have a spell off?"
"Ah, McCarthy, though as good an officer as ever stepped a plank, isn't
myself, Mr Meldrum; and as for Adams, he wants backbone, while Frank
Harness is too young a lad for the men to obey him if any difficulty
arose. Besides, there are a lot of things to see to that want my
supervision, which must be given while I have this breathing time--the
boats have to be prepared and provisioned, for instance."
"Talking of that," interrupted the other, "I have roused up that lazy
steward of yours and set him to work collecting all the tinned meats and
cabin stores he can find, and getting them up out of the steerage."
"That's right," said the captain. "It was very thoughtful, and just
what I had intended doing myself, only I forgo it! I have got our old
friend Snowball, the cook, busy here in the same way, boiling as much
salt beef and pork as he can cram into his coppers, so that it may be
ready-cooked when wanted and save time. The darkey has got the galley
fire in full blast now."
"A good precaution," said Mr Meldrum; "but I do wish I could get you to
go below. If you like I'll remain on deck in your stead?"
But, no! Captain Dinks would not hear of leaving the deck until the
fate of the poor _Nancy Bell_ was settled for good or ill; and there he
remained amidships--the mates sticking by him and lending a willing hand
so as to inspire the crew with an equal energy--superintending the
constant pumping operations which were necessary to keep the water from
gaining, one watch at a time being engaged solely on the task. Others
were preparing the longboat and jolly-boat for service, which was a
tedious job, for the gunwales and bottom planking of both had been
damaged greatly by the knocking about they had sustained since leaving
England, even if they had been properly seaworthy then--a very
problematical point, for many of the boats of merchant ships which carry
passengers on distant voyages are never taken off the chocks or tested
from year's end to year's end, in spite of all marine codes and
Passenger Acts or Board of Trade ordinances to the contrary, and Mr
Plimsoll's effort notwithstanding!
When Mr Meldrum got below again he found that matters had quieted down
in the cuddy. Mrs Negus, persuaded at last that the ship was not
immediately going to engulf herself and her darling boy, had been
induced to take some refreshment--Snowball sending in a splendid hot
supper by the direction of the captain, as the regular routine of the
meals in the cuddy had been somewhat revolutionised through the
calamities of the vessel. If she had any scruples, Mr Lathrope set the
good lady a praiseworthy example in looking after the necessities of the
inner man.
"S'pose we air gwine down to Davy Jones's Locker," said the American,
with a comical twinkle in his cunning grey eyes; "thar's no reason why
we shouldn't go with a full stummick as well as one like an empty meal
sack, hey? Look at me, marm. I treats it philosopherically, I dew, fur
I find thars nothin' like feedin' to keep up a coon's grit."
Mrs Major Negus murmured something about "somebody" being "shockingly
vulgar," but, whether inspired by Mr Lathrope's "philosopherical"
remark or not, she could not resist a second helping of some capital
"lobscouse" which the darkey cook had dished up most appetisingly; after
which the good lady retired to her cabin for the night in much more
cheerful spirits.
Florry's cut head was easier, too, and by Mr Meldrum's directions she
and Kate turned in comparatively early. They really both wanted a good
night's rest, and their father was not long in following out his own
precept, advising Mr Lathrope to do likewise, to which he was nothing
loth; so that, soon after eight bells had struck, all the occupants of
the saloon were buried in repose and the ship quiet--with the exception
of an occasional tinkering sound from the main-deck, coupled with the
"clink-clank" of the chain-pumps and the wash of the waves past the
sides, all of which were almost inaudible aft.
About four bells in the morning watch, Mr Meldrum awoke; and, without
disturbing any of the others, he rose and went on deck.
He seemed to have a presentiment of something happening.
It was quite dark now, the stars having gone in and the sky become
clouded over; while the wind had changed and was blowing in short sharp
gusts from the southward, which, with the chopping sea, made the ship
labour a good deal, taking in lots of water forward. She seemed to bury
her head in every wave, her bows being so depressed from the fore
compartment being full; and this compelled the crew in consequence to
work double spells at the pumps, which caused much grumbling, for the
men were almost dead beat, although Captain Dinks still kept them hard
at it.
The disaffection had almost reached a head before Mr Meldrum came up,
on account of the captain keeping the port watch, in which was Moody and
two of his special chums--at the unpleasant task, without allowing them
a turn off below, as he had done the other watch, the members of which,
however, had had their spell of duty before "all hands" had been called,
and thus were fully entitled to the relief. But, the grumblers, in
considering their own grievance, did not recollect this, and the
appearance of the passenger, whom some of them were already inclined to
dislike from something Ben Boltrope had dropped of his being a naval
man, and the fact of his now ranging himself alongside of the captain,
as if to support his authority, brought matters to a crisis.
"Spell ho!" shouted Bill Moody defiantly, dropping his arms and striking
work. "I'm hanged if I pump another stroke! The blessed old hulk can
go to the bottom as soon as she likes."
"Nor I," exclaimed another, likewise leaving off. "Nor I!" chorused
half a dozen more; and, in a second, the pumps were at a standstill.
Adams, the second mate, who was in charge of the men on the main deck--
Mr McCarthy and Frank Harness having been sent below by Captain Dinks
along with the starboard watch--stood meanwhile, staring aghast at the
delinquents and not knowing what to do, "like a stock fish," as Mr
Meldrum thought, looking on the scene.
It was a critical moment.
Captain Dinks, of course, hearing the steady "clink, clank" of the pumps
stop, knew that something had occurred, and guessed the cause; but he
waited to hear what the second mate would say before he interfered,
nudging Mr Meldrum to call his attention, although the latter was
already listening with keen interest.
"Do, my men," they could hear Adams entreat the rebellious gang, "do put
your hearts into it and start work again! It won't be for long, you
know."
"A cursed sight too long for me!" said Moody, interrupting him with a
coarse laugh. "You aren't a going to come over us with your soft
sawder, nor the skipper neither! I, for one, ain't agoing to have any
more o' this slave-driving work! Why should we sweat our hearts out
trying to keep the old tub afloat and drive her to shore, when we can
reach there quite as well in the boats, without half the trouble? I
votes for quitting her at once--what say you, mates?" and he turned
round to the others, seeking their support.
"Aye, aye!" shouted several voices together with acclamation. "Let us
have no more pumping or slaving; but quit the ship at once and leave the
cussed thing to sink. To the boats! To the boats!"
Captain Dinks thought he had allowed the matter to go far enough. The
time for action had arrived, and he was ready.
"Hold!" cried he, in clear ringing tones that penetrated fore and aft
the vessel and which could be heard above every other sound, advancing
to the top of the poop ladder and drawing a revolver from his pocket as
he spoke. "The first man who touches either of those boats without my
orders, I'll shoot like a dog!"
At the first sound of his voice the men had stopped speaking, and now
there was a dead silence in which you could have heard a pin drop. Not
a movement was made by any of the men--all standing still as if turned
to stone.
"Do you know that what you are doing, men, is rank mutiny?" continued
the captain, taking advantage of the occasion. "Return to your duty at
once, however, and I'll think no more about it. What I am making you do
is for the good of us all, and I wouldn't give you a moment's
unnecessary work if I could avoid it!"
"But," interposed Bill Moody.
"Ah, I thought it was you, you scamp, ever trying to foment discord
amongst the crew--a lazy hound, always grumbling and skulking, you're
not worthy the name of a sailor--you are only a thing aboard a ship!
I'll soon settle your reckoning, my hearty!" And, little man as he was,
Captain Dinks sprang down the poop ladder in one bound; and, dashing up
to where Moody was standing, knocked him senseless to the deck with a
blow from the butt end of the pistol which he held in his hand right
across his temples.
"There!" exclaimed he, when the ringleader of the gang was thus disposed
of, kicking his body on one side and spurning it with his foot. "That's
the way I deal with mutineers! Now, man the pumps again, my lads, and
set to work with a will. As Mr Adams told you just now, it will not be
for long that you'll have to stick at it, for we'll soon be able to
beach the vessel, and then your task will cease!"
Cowed by his summary treatment of Moody, rather than encouraged by his
words, the men started pumping again, although without any heartiness,
clink-clanking till daylight, when they were relieved by the other watch
and went below, taking Moody with them--that worthy having regained his
consciousness after a time, in consequence of the water in the lee
scuppers, where he was lying, washing over him and acting more
efficaciously than the application of smelling-salts or sal volatile
would have done under other circumstances.
Before the mutineer went below, however, he turned his scowling face
towards the poop, the blood all streaming down from a rather ugly cut on
the left temple, and shook his fist in the direction of Captain Dinks,
although the latter did not see the gesture, for his face was turned at
the moment to the binnacle.
But, Mr Meldrum saw it.
"You'll have some more trouble yet from that fellow!" said he to the
captain, relating what he had seen and telling how Moody looked.
"Pooh!" exclaimed the captain. "He's only a bully and a lazy grumbler;
and all bullies and grumblers are curs at heart!"
"Ah," said the other, "but those sort of sneaking chaps are just as
likely to knife you as not when your back's turned, though they would be
afraid to face you pluckily, like a man."
"Let him knife away," replied Captain Dinks. "That is, if I give him
the chance! I fancy he'll remember that little tap I gave him just now;
and if he gives me any occasion for it he shall have another!" The
skipper then went away laughing, but Mr Meldrum, from the vindictive
look he had seen on the man's face did not think it a laughing matter at
all.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN.
THE BARRIER REEF.
As the light increased, the land in front could be seen more distinctly
rising steadily out of the seal with the high elevated peak in the
centre which Mr Meldrum had identified the day before as the Mount Ross
marked on the chart. The mountain, however, showed now on the port bow;
so, the ship must necessarily have run down a considerable portion of
the western coast, after they had abandoned the idea of weathering the
island on the port tack--which they had done as soon as they were
alarmed by the sound of breakers, letting her drive to leeward--before
the collision with the berg. This was a discovery which did not appear
to give Mr Meldrum much satisfaction.
"It's a great pity," he said to the captain, "that we could not get
round that northerly cape I pointed out to you, before the snowstorm and
sea-fog set in! There were one or two good bays there marked on the
chart, such as Christmas Harbour and Cumberland Bay, which have been
properly sounded and have the points laid down; but of this western
coast little appears known, and it has been only from surmise that the
outlines of the map have been sketched in. I really don't think any
exploring party has ever visited it since Monsieur Lieutenant de
Kerguelen-Tremarec briefly surveyed it in 1772--more than a hundred
years ago."
"And it might have changed a lot since then," observed Captain Dinks.
"Yes," continued Mr Meldrum; "for the French discoverer narrated all
sorts of wonders about a raging volcano, with geysers and hot springs
like those of Iceland; and if volcanic agency has been at work since
then, no doubt the place is very much altered."
"If there is a live crater there, it can't be so very cold then, eh?"
"I don't know about that," replied Mr Meldrum. "Away in the north, I
have seen boiling water freeze as soon as it was exposed to the outside
air; so I don't suppose it will be much warmer here than we can expect
from all accounts."
But, warm or cold, it was the only haven of refuge for the sinking ship,
which slowly, and more slowly still, by reason of the stormy sea and
shifting wind, the latter of which grew gustier as the morning advanced,
made her laboured way towards the land in crab-like fashion--half
sailing, half drifting, and burying her bows deeply every now and then
in the heavy rollers she was powerless now to ride over, and rising
again from the water so sluggishly that it sometimes seemed impossible
that she would recover herself, but must founder, whenever she took a
deeper plunge than usual.
Bye and bye, Mr Lathrope came on deck escorting Kate Meldrum; although
our heroine looked more like escorting him, for he was very pale and
appeared much thinner than before--if that were possible to one
belonging to the order of "Pharaoh's lean kine!"
It was the first appearance of the American outside the cuddy since the
accident that had crippled him, and he could not help noticing the
altered state of the ship--having last seen her just before she
encountered the cyclone.
"Snakes and alligators, Cap, but you hev hed it rough, and no mistake!"
said he to Captain Dinks, gazing with surprise at the broken bulwarks,
which had been torn away when the masts went by the board, the wrecked
forecastle, and the unsightly stumps to which the jury-masts had been
attached, which now occupied the place of the tall graceful spars and
neatly-braced yards, with the canvas smoothly stowed away in shipshape
fashion, that he had left so trim when he went below that stormy night.
"Why, you're busted up entirely, I guess!"
"Not quite yet, I hope," replied Captain Dinks, smiling mournfully as
he, too, looked around; "but, the old _Nancy_ has been sadly battered
about. Ah, Mr Lathrope, if she hadn't been a stout built one, she'd
have gone to the bottom before this!"
"You bet!" said the American, humouring this little remaining bit of
pride the old seaman had in the ship he had commanded for so many years,
a pride that was mingled with a sorrow at her approaching end, which he
could foresee and mourn over, as if the vessel had been a living
thing--"she's been a clipper in her time, and made a smart fit for it;
but, the winds and the waves have licked her at last, same as they done
me, when they squoze in my durned ribs t'other day."
But, the captain could not laugh at what the other had said as a joke
about himself, just in order to banish the poor skipper's gloom. It
seemed to him a sort of sacrilege towards the _Nancy Bell_ to liken her
mortal injuries to the mere temporary ones of the American; so he turned
the conversation.
"I hope you feel better now?" he said.
"Wa-al, I ain't downright slick and hearty agin, that's a fact; fur my
innards got a'most druv into smash! But I'm picking up, I guess, and
feed reg'ler; so I s'pose I'll do, Cap, for an old hoss, eh? Durned if
I don't feel kinder peckish now. Hullo, my lily-white friend," added
he, catching sight of Snowball, who was bustling about the galley close
to him, for Mr Lathrope had gone down on the main-deck along with
Captain Dinks, to inspect the damage to the ship more narrowly than he
was able to do on the poop. "Ain't it near breakfast-time? I hope
you've got something for us as good as that lobscouse last night: it wer
prime, and no mistake!"
"Golly, massa, no time for um 'scouse dis mornin'--too busy bilin' beef;
but breakfast in um brace of shakes," replied the darkey, grinning from
ear to ear and showing his white teeth and full lips to great advantage.
"I'm durned glad to hear it," said Mr Lathrope. "Look alive, Ivories,
fur I feels a kinder sinkin' in my stummick that tells me it's time to
stow in grub. You're a prime cook, let me tell you, darkey, and hev
done me a heap of good since I've ben aboard!"
"Glad massa like um cookin'," replied Snowball; and he bustled back into
his galley with the intention of continuing to deserve the high encomium
he had received from such an authority on eating as the steward had
reported the American to be, while the latter proceeded to remount the
poop ladder and join Kate. She, however, was not now alone, Frank
Harness having seized the opportunity of seeing her on deck to come up
and speak to her; and the two parted with some little embarrassment as
soon as Mr Lathrope approached.
Towards mid-day, the _Nancy Bell_ had closed with the land so much that
its features could be distinguished. A bare, inhospitable coast it
looked!
It seemed nothing but a series of abrupt cliffs and headlands, six to
eight hundred feet high--as well as could be judged from the distance
they were off--at the base of which the waves thundered, sending up
columns of spray, without any bay or opening into which they could run
the ship with any chance of getting ashore in safety.
There was, certainly, a projecting cape stretching far into the sea,
like an arm, to the southward, to which point the coast-line trended,
and beyond that there might probably be a harbour of some sort for it
was to the lee of the island; but then, the wind was now blowing from
the southward and westward--the very direction almost they ought to take
to give the point a wide berth--and thus, unless it chopped round, it
would be utterly impossible for the crippled vessel to round the
headland, save by a miracle.
Captain Dinks and Mr Meldrum looked at each other in blank dismay; for,
the gale seemed to be rising again, while the sea got rougher and
rougher every moment, and dark masses of cloud began to pile themselves
up along the horizon to seaward. If they were unable to beach the ship
soon it was but only too apparent that she would sink from under them in
deep water, when--God help those on board!
Suddenly, however, when hope abandoned them both, there was a break in
the dark sky just overhead and a bit of blue was to be seen, followed
presently by a gleam of sunshine which sent a ray of comfort into their
hearts and bid them not utterly despair. This caused one, at least, to
pluck up his courage again.
"It is close on noon now," said Mr Meldrum, speaking cheerfully, "we
had better take an observation, so as to see where we precisely are."
"And what good will that do us?" asked the Captain disconsolately; "no
amount of observations are of any use to us now."
But he fetched out his sextant all the same, as well for the mere sake
of doing "something" as to oblige Mr Meldrum; and taking advantage of a
favourable opportunity, he "took" the sun.
"We're in 49 degrees 10 minutes south latitude," he observed after a
short interval during which he had been calculating his reckoning, "and
68 degrees 45 minutes east longitude--if that information can help us!"
"I'll soon tell you," answered Mr Meldrum stretching out on the
binnacle a chart of Kerguelen Land which he had brought up from the
cabin, and marking on it the position of the ship with a pencil. "Yes,
it's exactly as I thought just now. You see that headland, there to
starboard? That is the promontory put down here as Cape Saint Louis;
and if we can get round it, there, as you see in the chart, we'll find
ourselves in a large sheltered bay, safe from the ocean swell, where we
can run her ashore with ease. Why, it is the very thing! how
providential it was that I put in this chart by accident along with some
others of the Pacific I had amongst my papers! I didn't know I had it
till the other day."
"Ah," said Captain Dinks, returning to the main question, "but how are
we going to weather the point, eh? That's the difficulty."
"We may do it yet," replied Mr Meldrum, whose hopes appeared to rise
the more the Captain seemed determined to look gloomily on the outlook.
"You can see for yourself that we are drifting equally as much to the
south as we are sailing towards the coast, and making about the same
progress each way. From this circumstance I have little doubt that
there is a considerable current running southwards; and if so, it may
carry us round the cape--especially should the wind shift to the
northward."
"Aye, if it should!" said Captain Dinks sarcastically.
"I do not really see why it should not," persisted Mr Meldrum, "it has
already veered about a good deal this morning; and, if you remember,
both yesterday afternoon and on the previous day it shifted shortly
after sunset to that very direction."
"Yes, I recollect," said the other with grim humour, "and the shift
brought a snowstorm and a fog with it on each occasion! I hope, really,
with all my heart, Mr Meldrum," he added more heartily, "that the
weather may be as accommodating as you seem to fancy; but, as a matter
of precaution, I will go and see that the boats may be ready, in case we
have to abandon the ship soon, which I think will be the end of it all.
They are both patched up now, so as to be pretty serviceable; and
fortunately, there'll be no difficulty in getting them over the side, as
the bulwarks have been swept away, and all we'll have to do will be to
launch them into the water. I am just going to superintend the stowage
of the provisions and water casks. They are piled on the main-deck
quite handy; and I will see, too, that the oars and sails are not
forgotten."
"Very good," answered Mr Meldrum. "But I hope we sha'n't want them
after all; and, while you are down there, I'll remain here and look
after the pilotage of the ship--that is, if you'll send some one below
in my place to see to my daughters and their arrangements. I have told
Kate already that she must only take the barest necessaries with her, in
case we have to embark in the boats, and above all, not to forget warm
clothing for herself and Florry; so you'd better advise whoever you send
down, to see that Mrs Major Negus does the same. Mr Lathrope is smart
enough to look after himself."
"Aye, aye," said Captain Dinks, as he turned to descend to the main-
deck, "I think I'll send down Frank Harness. He's the most of a ladies'
man on board the ship, and I imagine that he and Miss Kate will get on
pretty well together, eh, Mr Meldrum?"
But the other made no reply to this remark. He was too busily engaged
just then in looking out across the rolling sea astern, and watching a
haze which appeared to be creeping up over the water to the northward,
with a dark line of cloud hovering over it, both coming rapidly towards
the ship.
"Hurrah!" he exclaimed at last in an ecstasy of joy, when his faint hope
became confirmed into a certainty; "the wind's shifting, and chopping
round to the north in our favour!"
"You don't say so?" said Captain Dinks equally excited, abandoning the
provisioning of the boats and skipping up the poop-ladder like a young
two-year-old; "why, yes, really! It's the best piece of news I ever
heard! Put the helm amidships!" he added to the man at the wheel.
"We'll have to ease her round and run before it a bit for the last time;
and if the wind only holds to the northward for a short spell, we'll get
round the point yet and lay her old bones ashore decently. Steady,
Boltrope, steady!"
"Steady it is!" laconically answered the carpenter, whose trick it was
at the wheel, obeying the captain's directions implicitly.
"Look alive, McCarthy, and square the yards," was the captain's next
command; "but do it gingerly, my man, do it gingerly! If we lose the
jury-masts now it will be all up with us."
"Aye, aye, sorr," was the response of the chief mate, as he aided
himself in carrying out the order; and the vessel's head coming round
south by west, under the impulse of the helm and the shifting of the
sails, she began to exhibit some of her old powers and claw off the
land, bringing the cape now to bear upon her port bow well to leeward.
In addition to this, it was perceived that she made much better way
through the water than when she had been steering direct for the shore,
as, from the breeze being now well abeam, it made her heel over on her
side, thus elevating her broken bows somewhat and preventing her from
dipping her head so frequently in the waves.
It was a moment of intense interest and suspense, everybody being on
deck to witness the struggle the ship was making against the odds
opposed to her.
If she got round the point, they would be comparatively safe--at least
they thought so; whereas, if the wind failed, or a brace started, or the
rudder proved powerless to guide her at a critical period, the vessel
would be driven against the iron-bound cliff they were approaching in an
oblique line--against whose base the heavy rollers were now thundering
with a crashing roar that each instant became louder as they neared the
point, throwing their spray high up its precipitous face; and then--Why,
they were lost!
Frank Harness was at this time standing by the side of Kate and Florry
on the poop; but nearer to the former, who had just asked him to save
her little sister should the ship strike.
"I will," said he in a whisper close to her ear, "God helping me! and
you, too; but call me `Frank' again, Miss Meldrum. You did so once, you
know, when you caught me that time I was nearly washed overboard, and
saved me!"
"Do you remember that?" asked Kate.
"I do," said he; "how could I forget it? Do not fear, I'll save you and
Florry too!"
"Thank you, `Frank,' then for your promise," whispered she--in accents
so low that they were almost drowned by the noise of the waves dashing
against the cliff; but he heard her, and his face lightened up as
brightly as if he had been redeemed from all peril and saw heaven before
him.
Onward the ship sped, ever drawing closer to that terrible wall of rock
and yet gaining at the same time inch by inch on the promontory, that
jutted out into the sea like an arm stretched forth to stay her
progress; while, as the anxious moments flew by, the northerly wind
which had come so opportunely to their rescue gradually rose into a
gale, threatening to destroy them--the _Nancy Bell_ approaching the
cliff so closely, as she skirted by, that it seemed to those on board
that they might have touched it by merely stretching out their hands
over the side. The sky, too, was growing darker and darker every
moment.
They were now quite near the southerly point of the cape, and within
half a cable's length of its precipitous face: five minutes--three
minutes--one minute--would settle the question.
"Luff, man, luff!" shouted the captain, as all held their breath with
excitement.
It was a case of touch and go!
"Hurrah! down with the helm! she's done it!" called out Captain Dinks
again, as the vessel glided by the last spur of the promontory, and,
rounding to on the other side, she seemed to get into smoother water--a
fine beach stretching out in the distance a few miles away and no rocks
being apparent--"the old ship has conquered, and won the race after
all."
His triumph, however, was as short-lived as it was premature.
Hardly had the _Nancy Bell_ rounded the cape, than the air grew dense
around them, and snow began to fall heavily; while a thick fog rising,
shut out the shore and every object from view. Then, as Captain Dinks
and Mr Meldrum were deliberating whether it would be better under the
circumstances to run the ship straight for the beach--which they had
calculated to be some five miles in front of them to the south-east or
the cape they had just passed--or else to continue pumping until the
weather got lighter and they could see better where they were going, the
matter was settled for them, in a very unexpected manner, by the ship
running on to a sunken ridge of rock immediately under her forefoot;
and, in a moment, there she stuck hard and fast, bumping and scraping
her bottom, with a harsh, grating sound and a quivering and rending of
her timbers, as if every plank below the water-line was being torn out
of her piecemeal.
The _Nancy Bell_ had struck on some barrier reef, which guarded at a
distance the desolate and inhospitable shore, just at the very moment
everything was deemed secure and all danger past! And, as she stranded,
the thick-falling white snow which had already covered the decks seemed
to be busy wreathing a shroud for the ill-fated ship, while the surges
sang her requiem in their dull, heart-breaking roar--the sea-fog hanging
over the scene of the calamity the while like a sombre pall.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN.
A FOUL BLOW!
Every one was on deck at the time--the crew, the officers, the
passengers; but, with the exception of a slight scream from Mrs Major
Negus, which passed unnoticed, not a single exclamation of terror or
alarm was uttered. All seemed completely stupefied by the unexpected
shock, their consternation being too great for words--they stood as if
spell-bound!
Captain Dinks was the first to break the silence.
"God forgive me!" he cried out to everybody's surprise. "It is all my
fault!"
"Your fault!" repeated Mr Meldrum; "how--why?"
"I should have had a man forward, sounding with the lead, but I quite
forgot it--quite forgot it; and this has happened."
"Nonsense, man!" said the other to cheer him up--the captain appearing
to be more concerned at his own neglect, as he regarded it, than he was
at the actual fact of the ship's striking on the reef--"such a
precaution would have been utterly useless! We were probably in deep
water a minute before; and even if a man had been stationed in the
chains, he could scarcely have had time to have swung the lead and sang
out the marks, before she was on the rocks! It is one of those
unforeseen calamities that are inevitable and which can never be
prevented by any human foresight. I for one, and I've no doubt every
one else here agrees with me, entirely exonerate you from all blame."
The captain was endeavouring to make some broken reply, as far as his
deep emotion would allow, when Mrs Major Negus interrupted him.
"Speak for yourself, please, Mr Meldrum," she exclaimed, elbowing
herself forwards in front of the group, her shrill high-pitched voice
sounding almost like another scream, as she waved her arms wildly about
and addressed Mr Meldrum and Captain Dinks alternately. "Speak for
yourself, please, for I don't agree with you at all! I say it is the
captain's fault; and he knows it, though it's rather late in the day for
him to acknowledge it! And I'd like to know, sir, how I and my darling
boy are going to get on shore now in this blinding snowstorm--in such a
bleak and dreary outlandish place, too! A nice captain you are; and you
bargained to take us safe to New Zealand when you took our passage-
money. My poor Maurice, oh my dear boy, you'll never, never see your
father now, for we'll all be drowned, and Captain Dinks is the cause of
it!"
So shrieking, she proceeded to weep and wail in a way that made Mr
Meldrum lose all patience with her.
"Peace, woman!" cried he indignantly. "This is no time for hysterics
and such violent displays: you'd better keep them till the fine weather
comes, and remain quiet now! The best thing you can do if you hope to
escape, is to allow the captain to see about getting the boats ready to
take us off, for the ship will probably break up soon."
His latter remark, while it reduced "the Major" to a state of limp
collapse that made her silent and subdued, had the effect he intended,
of rousing the captain to action--thus causing him to forget for a time
his grief at the _Nancy Bell's_ disaster in having to exert himself so
as to provide for the safety of those on board.
"Main-deck ahoy there!" he shouted.
"Aye, aye, sorr," answered the first mate, who had remained there,
looking to the trimming of the sails while the ship was working up to
the cape.
"Have the men finished storing those things in the boats yet?"
"They're jist at it now, sorr. We were all a bit flabbergasted when the
poor crathur struck; but we're working hard now, sorr, and the boats
will soon be ready to launch into the wather."
"That's right, McCarthy, we've no time to lose. Send one of the hands
forwards to see how her head lies."
"Aye, aye, sorr. Mr Adams has gone already sure: an' I've sint the
carpenter, Boltrope, to sound the well."
"He'd better by far sound alongside, to see what depth of water we're in
and which would be the best side for launching the boats off!" replied
Captain Dinks. "But stay, Harness," he added, "you can do that. Heave
the lead aft here, and then amidships, telling me what soundings you
get."
On returning from his mission forwards, Mr Adams reported that the
vessel's bows were fixed hard and fast between two conical points of
rock, which were covered by about four fathoms of water; while Frank
Harness, who had been sounding round the ship as the captain directed,
stated that there were twenty fathoms of water aft and the same on the
port side amidships, but on the starboard, or right-hand side, the lead
only gave the same depth the second mate had found forward--
consequently, the ship's stern, being so much lighter than the flooded
fore-compartment, had slewed round with the sea towards the reef, on
which therefore the _Nancy Bell_ must have projected herself more than
half her length. Probably, had her bows not been so depressed, she
would have gone over it altogether with a scrape, merely taking off her
false keel and dead-wood without doing any material damage.
As it was, however, there she was; and the question now was whether the
tide was at the ebb or flow at the time she struck. If the former, the
likelihood was that as soon as the tide began to rise, the vessel would
float off and founder, Boltrope having reported that there were eight
feet of water in the hold and that it was gaining fast--the pumping
operations, of course, having long since been stopped, but, should she
have run on the reef at high water, there she was immovably fixed as
long as she held together; and in that case they would be able to get
ashore to the mainland in comfort, almost at their own convenience,
should the weather remain calm, in addition to saving many articles from
the wreck that would be of use to them, and a much larger proportion of
the ship's provisions and stores.
After the first bumping and scraping that had immediately succeeded her
stranding, the _Nancy Bell_ had remained quiet, as if the old ship was
glad to be at rest after all the buffeting about and bruisings she had
received from the boisterous billows. Hence, the natural alarm that had
been excited by the ship's striking had calmed down, there being nothing
in her present situation to heighten the sense of danger; for the vessel
was sheltered from the wind under the lee of the cape, and the sea, in
comparison with the rough water she had recently passed through and the
stormy waves she had battled with when beating round the point, was
almost calm. Everybody, therefore, inspired by the example set them by
Mr Meldrum and the captain, remained perfectly cool and collected, the
crew obeying the orders given them with alacrity and working as heartily
as if the poor old _Nancy Bell_ were still the staunch clipper of yore,
careering over the ocean in the full panoply of her canvas plumage and
prosecuting her voyage, instead of lying, a broke and battered hulk,
hard and fast ashore on an outlying reef of rocks at Kerguelen Land, the
"Desolation Island"--name of ominous import--of Antarctic whaling ships!
Even Bill Moody, mutinous as he had shown himself before and lazy to a
degree, now appeared metaphorically to "put his shoulder to the wheel,"
as if to make amends for the past, lending a willing hand to the
preparations that were being made by Mr McCarthy for equipping the
boats and laying down ways for launching them from the main-deck--there
being no davits now, nor any means for rigging a derrick to lift them
over the side. Indeed, when Mr Adams ordered a gang to man the pumps
again on the carpenter's reporting that the water was gaining in the
hold, the whilom mutineer was one of the first to step forwards for the
duty, although Captain Dinks at once countermanded the order, seeing its
inutility, and saying that there was no use in working a willing horse
to death!
"They could never clear her now, Adams," said he, "pump as hard as they
could; and if they did it would be useless, for she'll never float
again. However, if you want to give the men something to do, you can
set to work breaking cargo and lightening her amidships, for then we'll
swing further up on the reef and get fixed more firmly."
"Very good, sir," replied the second mate; and the hands were therefore
at once started to open the hatches, getting out some of the heavy goods
from the hold below, especially the dead-weight from just abaft the
main-mast, that had so deducted from the ship's buoyancy when sailing on
a wind during the earlier part of her voyage.
Moody's change of demeanour had not escaped the notice of the captain;
and he commented on it to Mr Meldrum, saying that he thought the lesson
he had given him had had a very satisfactory result. "There is
nothing," said he, "so persuasive as a knock-down argument!"
The other, however, did not believe in the rapid conversion.
"I've heard of shamming Abraham before," said he. "The rascal may have
something to gain, and wishes to put you off your guard by his apparent
alacrity and willingness to work. If you had seen the scowl he gave you
when your back was turned that time after you knocked him down, you
wouldn't trust him further than you could help! I believe all this good
behaviour of his is put on, and that you'll see the real animal come out
by and by."
"All right!" said Captain Dinks as cheerfully as if the matter were of
no moment to him; "we'll see! But we must first observe the tide and
the ship's position on the rocks; I think we'll be able to decide those
points before the other matter can be settled, by a long way!"
When the _Nancy Bell_ struck, it had been close upon six bells in the
second dog-watch--seven o'clock in the evening--the entire afternoon
having passed away so rapidly while those on board were anxiously
watching the struggle of the vessel against the wind and sea in her
endeavours to weather the cape, that, in their intense excitement as
they awaited the denouement which would solve all their hopes and fears,
they took no heed of the flight of time. It seemed really but a few
brief minutes, instead of hours, from the period when Captain Dinks had
taken the sun at noon to the terrible moment of the catastrophe.
Now, it was midnight, or approaching to it, the intervening period
having glided by much more speedily through the fact of everybody having
been engaged in doing something towards the common safety of all. Not
even the lady passengers had been exempted from the task, Mr Meldrum
having told Kate to go below and collect whatever she saw in the cabins
that might be of use to them on the island; while Mrs Negus, dropping
her dignity for once, cordially assisted. As for Florry and Maurice
they participated in the work with the greatest glee, looking upon the
wreck as if it had been specially brought about for their enjoyment,
like an impromptu picnic--it was the realisation of their wildest
childish dreams.
All this while the ship lay quiet, as has been stated, save that after a
time she took a slight list to starboard, as if settling down on the
rocks, a fact which confirmed the captain in his belief that it had been
high water when she went on the reef. This increased his satisfaction.
"She won't move now," said he to Mr Meldrum. "She's wedged as securely
forwards as if she were on her cradle; and, unless a storm comes, she'll
last for a week."
"How about when the tide flows again?" asked the other.
"Oh, she can't float off. That weight of water in the fore compartment
has regularly nailed her on the rocks, thus preventing the only danger I
feared--that of her slipping off into deep water as the tide ebbed. As
she struck when it was flood and jammed herself firmly then on the reef,
there she'll remain when it flows again; so, we have plenty of time
before us to transport the whole cargo ashore if we like!"
"I hope so, I'm sure," replied Mr Meldrum; "but you should recollect
that, from the experience we've already had, the weather is not to be
trusted for very long hereabouts. If it comes on to blow again from the
south and the sea should get up, we'll be in a nasty position."
"Don't croak," said Captain Dinks, who seemed to have quite recovered
his spirits as the others around him became despondent. "Look, the
snowstorm has ceased already and the sea-fog is rising and drifting
away. Why, we'll have a fine bright night after all!"
It was as the captain had stated. The fog had lifted up and the snow
stopped falling; but, his hopes of a fine night were doomed to be
disappointed, for, although the sky above cleared for a short spell and
allowed a few stray stars to peep out, while an occasional gleam of
moonshine lit up the ship's surroundings, the heavens were soon obscured
again with thick driving clouds, the wind shifting to the southward and
westward and blowing right into the bay behind Cape Saint Louis, where
the _Nancy Bell_ was aground.
Presently, a heavy rolling sea began to sweep in upon her from the
offing; and as the tide rose again, her stern swung more to the
starboard side, being driven up higher on the rocks, while her whole
frame became uneasy, rocking to and fro and quivering from abaft the
main hatch, the fore part of her grinding and working about in a way
that threatened to tear her soon to pieces.
"I'm afraid she won't last till morning," said Mr Meldrum, who had
never left the deck, but was watching the course of events. "We'd
better take to the boats while we can. By and by it may be too late!"
"Oh no," replied Captain Dinks, "she'll hold out all right, and it's
best for us to land by daylight. Besides, I've allowed the hands to
turn in, save two or three who are keeping a sort of anchor watch, and
I'm not going to rouse them out again unnecessarily--poor fellows,
they've had a hard time of it the last few days!"
"Not many of them have taken advantage of your permission," said Mr
Meldrum drily. "I fancy they feel like myself, too uneasy to sleep,
with this fresh gale springing up again and the ship rocking about so!"
As he spoke, he pointed to a group amidships, where at least half the
crew were gathered about the boats, while some others were standing by
Snowdrop's galley and having a warm, for the night was intensely cold.
"They can please themselves," replied the captain sententiously. "If
they don't choose to turn in, they needn't; but I'm not going to launch
the boats yet and leave the ship while it is safe. I'm considering what
is best for us all, Mr Meldrum; and, excuse me, but as long as the
vessel holds together I'm captain of her, and don't intend to give over
my duty to anybody else."
This was speaking pretty plainly, so Mr Meldrum had perforce to remain
silent and nurse his uneasiness; the two pacing up and down the poop on
opposite sides, without ever a word passing between them for some time,
just as if each ignored the other's presence.
At two o'clock in the morning, however, the wind increased and the heavy
waves began to break against the windward side of the ship, dashing over
her amidships in columns of spray. She also lurched more to starboard,
as if thrown on her bilge, the deck inclining to an angle of forty-five
degrees.
At the same time, too, the group of men forward could be dimly seen in
the half light moving about excitedly. They were evidently tired of
their forced inaction; for, their voices could be heard occasionally
between the lulls of the breaking waves and sound of the wind whistling
by. They were grumbling in tones of dissatisfaction.
The climax was put to the matter by the sudden rushing up on deck of Mr
McCarthy, whom Captain Dinks had told to go below until the morning
watch.
"Be jabers, cap'en," he exclaimed, "she's druv in her starboard streeks
against the rocks, and the wather is pouring in like winking. Faix, it
is breaking up she'll be before were out of her, sure!"
Thus urged, the captain at length gave the order to launch the boats.
This was, now, a very difficult task, for the water was boiling in
eddies round the ship to leeward even on her sheltered side, although a
couple of hours before it had been as calm there as a mill-pond, so that
a Thames outrigger might have been floated off in safety.
As soon as the men heard the tardy word of command, there was a tussle
and a rush towards the long-boat, seeing which Captain Dinks, who was
standing just over the break of the poop, ran down the ladder-way and
stood amongst the excited group, with his arm uplifted to enforce his
orders.
"Avast there!" cried he; "get away from that long-boat, and prepare to
run in the jolly-boat. I want that launched first for the ladies and
passengers, and I must see them all safely out of the ship before a man
Jack amongst you leaves her! Go down, McCarthy," he added to the first
mate, "and ask the ladies to come on deck, sharp; we'll have the boat
prepared by the time you come up with them."
The crew still hustled round the long-boat, however, and showed signs of
insubordination, whilst a voice called out, "Let the passengers be! I
say every man for himself now!"
"What is that I hear?" exclaimed the captain. "Are you men--are you
British seamen--to abandon women and children in time of peril and seek
your own safety?"
"My life's as good as anyone else's, passenger or no passenger," cried
out Bill Moody defiantly, pressing closer to Captain Dinks.
"Ah!" ejaculated the latter, "I thought it was you--what! you haven't
learnt your lesson yet, eh?" and he made a grab at the man's neck as if
to grasp it.
But, Bill Moody was prepared this time. The captain did not catch him
unawares, as he had done on the previous occasion when he had knocked
him down with the butt-end of his pistol.
Raising a sheath-knife, which he must have had ready drawn for the
purpose in his hand, the man plunged it with all his force into the
breast of the captain as he approached him.
Captain Dinks was borne back and half turned round by the strength with
which the blow was delivered. Then, staggering first on to his knees,
and exclaiming, "Murder! I'm a dead man! The villain has stabbed me!"
he fell forwards on the deck in a pool of blood.
CHAPTER NINETEEN.
DESERTED!
There was a cry of consternation from the men on seeing the captain
fall, for, although the majority of them evidently supported Moody in
the rush for the boats, none had dreamt of going to the lengths he did;
still, not a man stepped forward to seize the assassin, who, coolly
throwing overboard the bloody blade with which the foul blow had been
dealt, proceeded to carry out his original intention of casting loose
the lashings of the long-boat and launching it over the side, several
assisting him as he began the task.
However, Mr Meldrum had seen what had happened from the poop, not
having followed Captain Dinks too closely, for fear of being again
accused of interfering with the duties of the ship.
Now, single-handed as he was, he at once dropped on to the lower deck,
rushing to where Moody was standing, but the other men got in between
and hustled him away; so, seeing that he could do nothing towards
arresting the miscreant for the present, he bent over the poor captain
and lifted him on his knee to see whether life was quite extinct.
Happily he still lived! moaning faintly as Mr Meldrum raised him in his
arms; consequently, as it was too dark--for it was just under the break
of the poop where the wounded man was lying--for him to see what was the
extent of the injury he had received, Mr Meldrum called out loudly for
assistance, that he might be able to carry him below to the saloon and
bind up the wound properly. It was vitally necessary to staunch the
blood speedily, as it was flowing copiously and had already saturated
the coat-sleeve of Mr Meldrum's supporting arm.
"What are you calling out for?" shouted out the miscreant Moody in
derision. "None of them will hear you through the bulkhead. Let the
cursed brute bleed to death and be hanged to him! I'm sorry I didn't
settle him, right out, as I intended!"
Somebody did hear, however; for at that moment, Frank Harness--who had
been told to go below along with McCarthy and Adams at midnight by the
unfortunate captain, who said he would take the sole duty of the ship on
himself until the morning watch was called--rushed up the companion way
on to the poop.
"Did you call, Captain Dinks--Mr Meldrum!" he cried, looking about and
seeing nobody there. "I thought I heard someone call out for help!"
"I'm here below on the main-deck," shouted Mr Meldrum. "Call for
assistance and come and help me at once. Poor Captain Dinks has been
stabbed by one of the crew, and I fear he's dying!"
"Good heavens!" exclaimed Frank in startled surprise, staggered for the
moment; but he did not stop long to think or act.
"Mr McCarthy!--Mr Lathrope!" he called loudly down the companion.
"Come up here at once and leave the ladies for the present. Something
dreadful has happened!"
Then, without uttering another word, he jumped down alongside of Mr
Meldrum on the lower deck; where, catching up a marlinspike that was
handy, he rapped vehemently against the coamings of the hatchway, some
of the hands having gone to bunk down there since the cargo had been
partly removed, on account of the forecastle being quite untenable from
the water that had accumulated there, besides which the waves were now
washing over it freely.
"All hands ahoy!" sang out Frank. "Tumble up, men! Tumble up just as
you are! There's murder afloat!"
"Stow that yelling!" cried the group around Moody, who did not wish to
be interrupted yet awhile with their plans; but Frank took no notice of
their observations, save that a contemptuous smile passed over his face
as he compressed his lips.
"Who did it?" asked he of Mr Meldrum, looking down at the latter as he
bent over the poor captain, supporting his head and shoulders still on
his knee so that he might breathe more freely.
"That man there," was the answer, Mr Meldrum pointing to where Moody
was standing in the centre of some ten others of the same kidney. "The
same man whom Captain Dinks knocked down the other day for
insubordination, and whom I saw threaten him afterwards, as I can swear.
If the captain dies, he will be tried for wilful murder, and hung, for
it was no accidental blow, but a deliberately premeditated deed!"
"Oh, Bill Moody? I thought it was that scoundrel!" exclaimed Frank; and
in a moment he had leaped fearlessly amidst the throng--with the
marlinspike fortunately still in his hand, for he was otherwise
weaponless.
"Stand back!" shouted one of the men warningly, pushing him away--not in
any rough fashion, but as if to keep him out of harm's way. "We don't
wish to do you any hurt, Mr Harness, but I'd advise you to leave Moody
alone! He's desperate now and might cause you an injury; besides which,
he's one of us, and we don't intend to give him up!"
"Don't you?" exclaimed Frank, flaming up and struggling with the man who
held him back; while the would-be murderer, drawing another knife from
his belt, stood apparently at bay waiting for him to come on.
"Hillo! what's all this yere muss about?" called out Mr Lathrope,
appearing on the poop at this juncture; "whar's everybody!"
"Here, help!" said Frank. "The crew have mutinied and the captain has
been stabbed. I'm trying to get hold of the murderer; but they're too
many for me. Help, Mr Lathrope, help!"
"You will have it then, you young devil!" screamed out Moody savagely,
making a plunge at Frank with the formidable knife that he had now
drawn, which had a much longer blade than that with which he had
stricken down the captain. "I'll soon stop your cursed yelling, my
joker, and give you something better to cry for!"
"I guess not, sez Con," drawled out the American, the crack of his six-
shooter echoing through the air at the same time that the knife fell to
the deck from the miscreant's hand, which had been neatly perforated by
a bullet. The instant he raised it above his head to strike Frank, Mr
Lathrope catching sight of it, had "drawn a bead on it," as he would
have expressed it, without delay. "No, sirree, I guess not, as long as
old Zach hain't forgot to handle the shootin'-irons!" he continued. "I
fancy, mister, I've spiled your murdering little game; an' now we'll go
in for a rough and tumble, I opine!"
So saying, the American, not shooting again for fear of wounding Frank,
was down on the main-deck in a jiffey and by the side of the brave young
sailor who was tackling the mutineers so gallantly--Mr Meldrum also
joining in the struggle, first laying down the now nearly lifeless body
of the captain again on the deck, however, and drawing off his coat to
place it under his head so as to raise it up. The trio were shortly
afterwards reinforced by the arrival of Mr McCarthy, panting and out of
breath, with the side of his monkey-jacket half torn off by Major Negus,
who had caught hold of it in trying to prevent his rushing up the
companion ladder on hearing Frank's cry for help, the good lady
imploring him not to leave her to be murdered!
The first mate's brawny fists, hitting out right and left, did yeoman's
service in the melee that ensued, and so did Mr Lathrope, while Frank
and Mr Meldrum also fought well; but the four were powerless against
Moody's gang, who numbered a round dozen and had, by battening down the
main-hatch, prevented the loyal portion of the crew from coming to their
assistance--when, of course, the tables would have been turned.
Fortunately, there was no knife used in the fray, beyond the one which
Moody had so unceremoniously dropped, and thus further bloodshed was
prevented; but some hard knocks were given and received, and the party
from the poop did not come off scathless, Mr Lathrope having his rather
long nose somewhat flattened and almost turned to one side by a blow
from the sledge-hammer fist of one of the mutineers. Mr Meldrum had
also been considerably mauled about, and Frank had a splendid black eye.
As for the first mate, who had gone into the very thick of it, he
"hadn't a sound bone in the howl of his body from the crown of his head
to the sole of his fut"--that is, according to his version of it!
The struggle did not last very long, the opposing forces being so
unequally matched; so, as soon as Frank and his coadjutors had been
borne down by the sheer weight of numbers, their conquerors hustled them
into the corner of the deck under the break of the poop, where the
captain was still lying, throwing them down beside him and telling them
they had better keep quiet now they had had the worst of it, that is if
they valued their lives. It was no empty threat, either; for, the
mutineers emphasised the order by leaving two of their number on guard
over them, with belaying pins in their hands, with which they were told
to "knock them on the head" should they stir or call out--a command
which they looked quite capable of executing.
The gang then proceeded to drag the long-boat to the opening in the
broken bulwarks on the starboard side of the ship and launch her into
the water, for it was a little smoother there on account of being
inclosed like a sort of lagoon between the vessel and the reef. It was
a ticklish job, for an occasional roller swelled into the boat from
round the stern of the ship; while as the waves that broke over the
forecastle and weather quarter of the _Nancy Bell_ washed through the
vessel, they poured like a cascade from the inclined deck, threatened to
swamp the little raft as she lay tossing uneasily alongside until the
mutineers could complete their arrangements for embarkation.
There was not much to do, for, thanks to Captain Dinks' precautions,
provisions and small water casks, or barricoes, had already been stowed
in the bows and along the sternsheets of the long-boat; so, after
chucking in one or two articles which they had brought up from below
beforehand on the sly, amongst which was a good-sized barrel of rum,
they proceeded to drop down into the boat one by one, Moody going first
and the others following until the whole number, a round dozen in all,
had got in--the two who had remained as sentries over the poop party
being the last.
Then the little craft, which appeared loaded down to the gunwales, was
shoved off with a cheer of bravado from the side of the ship, and was
soon lost to the sight of those left behind. The latter, however,
eagerly looked after the boat as it was rapidly borne towards the shore
between the heavy rolling waves that raced after it, until it finally
disappeared in the night gloom.
"Sure an' it's a good riddance they are!" exclaimed Mr McCarthy, rising
to his feet and shaking out his legs to see how far they were capable of
movement after the mauling he had received. "May joy go wid them!"
"I hope the hull durned crowd will git swallowed up in Davy Jones'
Locker afore they git ashore, I dew!" said the American fervently,
stroking his nose tenderly and speaking more nasally than ever through
the injury the organ had received. "Of all the tarnation mean skunks I
ever kim across from Maine to California, I guess they're 'bout the
right down slick meanest--not nary a heathen Chinese would ha' done what
they hev! I'd tar and feather them, I would sure, if I hed the chance,
right away!"
"Never mind them," interposed Mr Meldrum, whose first care after the
mutineers had released him and gone over the side, was to raise up poor
Captain Dinks' head again and feel his pulse. "I have no doubt they
will meet with their proper deserts! Let us see to the captain now. I
think he had better be moved into the cabin, for this night air is doing
him no good; and, besides, we'll there be able to see to his wound
better. However I shall want some assistance."
"I'll hilp you in a minit, sorr," ejaculated Mr McCarthy, who, as soon
as he had satisfied himself that his limbs were pretty sound, had
devoted his energies to opening the hatchway--"that is as soon as I've
unkivered this limbo and let the other hands come up. Faix, an' if them
divils had not battened it down and Boltrope and the Norwegee could a
got at thim, it's too many for tbim we'd ha' been, I'm thinking!"
"I didn't see what they were after," said Frank, "or I would have
slipped the cover before they secured it; but I wonder where Mr Adams
is all this time? Surely he must have heard the row! He ought to have
come to our aid."
"By the powers," exclaimed the first mate, "I niver thought of him till
this blessid minnit! Where, in the name of Moses, can he be? I believe
he wint down and turned into his cot when I did."
"He ain't jined them copperheads and left us in the lurch, hey?"
inquired the American. "I didn't kinder think it on him, though he wer
sorter quiet and sly-like."
"No, sorr," replied Mr McCarthy, "Adams is a first-rate seaman and a
good officer too! He would be the last man to join a mutiny. Something
must have happened to him, I'm thinking."
"I wonder, too," said Mr Meldrum, "that my daughter Kate has not come
up before from the saloon! She must have known that something unusual
was taking place on deck from our calls for help and the report of your
pistol, Mr Lathrope?"
"I'm durned if I know! I'm all in a tangle, I guess," answered the
American; "but I'll go down and see, mister."
All this while, Mr McCarthy had been fumbling at the fastenings of the
hatchway, where the remainder of the crew were supposed to be
imprisoned; but when he and Frank Harness, who lent his assistance, had
at last got off the cover by a violent effort, not a soul appeared,
rushing up as they expected, nor was there any response to their
summons--"All hands on deck!"
What could have become of them all?
The mysterious silence below was a proof that something unforeseen had
happened!
CHAPTER TWENTY.
NOTICE TO QUIT!
The mystery, however, was soon solved.
Hardly had the strange disappearance of the crew from below been
discovered, than the whole of the missing men, with Mr Adams at their
head and Kate Meldrum bringing up the rear, rushed up the companion-
ladder on to the poop with a loud "hurrah," as if with the intention of
taking part in the contest with the band of mutineers:-- their
mortification may be imagined when they found that, as the first mate
expressed it in his happy Irish way, "they were jist in toime to be too
late, sure!"
But, had the mutineers not so rapidly abandoned the ship, the arrival of
his rescue party on the scene of action would no doubt have tended to
considerably alter the complexion of events; and the credit of
organising the force and bringing the men from such an unexpected
quarter with so great a dramatic effect had to be shared equally between
Miss Kate Meldrum and Snowball, the cook--Mr Adams being only admitted
as a partner in the scheme at the last moment.
It seems that Snowball, while in the galley about midnight, had heard
Moody talking to two or three of his especial "pals" in the port-watch;
and, thinking from his knowledge of the man that he was up to some
mischief, the darkey had listened--thereby indulging a propensity which
was Master Snowball's weak point, that of being inordinately curious
about other people's business!
He listened, however, to some purpose on this occasion, for he heard
enough to learn that a large proportion of the crew intended, as soon as
they saw a favourable opportunity, to seize the long-boat--which
contained nearly all the provisions that had been got up from the hold--
and desert the ship before morning.
What was their intention in doing this the cook could not guess, but he
imagined that they must have thought that they would perhaps have to
work to save the cargo if they remained on board, whereas if they went
off, as they planned, they would escape all supervision from the
officers and be under their own control. Besides, he knew that Moody
was anxious to pay off the grudge he had against the captain, for he
heard him specially chuckle over the fact that if they took away the
long-boat, the "old man" would never be able to leave the ship with all
the remaining hands and the passengers, and the rest of them would all
thus "sink together, and a good job too," as the bloodthirsty ruffian
said.
Primed with this news, Snowball at first hardly knew how to make use of
it for the benefit of those the mutineers intended to abandon; for, the
men were all hanging about the galley, where he pretended to be asleep,
and if he attempted to go aft then, where nothing was stirring and when
no one called him there, it would have at once aroused their suspicions
and, probably, precipitated matters.
Snowball was in a quandary. He could see no way of warning the
unsuspecting captain; and yet, even while he waited, the cowardly gang
who thus purposed to desert their shipmates might carry out their
intention!
Presently, he heard Captain Dinks tell the mates and starboard watch
that they might go below, and Mr McCarthy and the others went to their
cabins aft while the "star-bowlines" tumbled down the main hatchway, all
glad to have a spell of rest and be out of the bitter cold night wind
which almost seemed to freeze their bones and pierce them through and
through.
"Its just like the grinding old tyrant," he heard Moody mutter at this
to another of his gang, "to keep us here on deck when there ain't no
need for it!" But Snowball was quick to notice that, when the captain
subsequently called out that all the rest of the hands might turn in if
they liked, save two or three to keep an anchor-watch, not one of them,
in spite of all their grumbling at the hardship of having to stop on
deck previously, now stirred to go below. He also saw Moody and some of
the others, when the captain was not looking at them, stealthily shift
round the bows of the long-boat on to the top of the hatchway, in
addition to battening it down on the quiet, so that those who had gone
below could not easily get up again, and they would thus have things all
in their own hands.
Moody's gang evidently intended to carry out their nefarious plan; but
how was he to prevent it?
At last, while the mutineers were watching for their opportunity, he saw
his; and at once took advantage of it.
During the excitement that ensued when Mr McCarthy rushed on deck,
declaring that the vessel had bilged in to starboard--at which time
Captain Dinks at length gave his tardy order to launch the boats--
Snowball crept out of the galley; and making his way aft, entered the
saloon.
He was so frightened and confused, and full of what he had heard, that
he did not know what to do at first, and this had prevented his speaking
to the captain as he should have done; while, when he grew collected
again, there was Frank Harness shouting down the companion and Mr
McCarthy and the American passenger bolting up on to the poop, and no
one to speak to, that he could see, who could do any good. He called
out for the steward, but he had disappeared; and the darkey feared that
his plan for defeating the schemes of the mutineers would turn out
fruitless from his failing to find any one to help him in undertaking
it, when all at once he saw Kate Meldrum, for whom he had a profound
respect on account of her plucky behaviour during the storm and her
kindness to him when he was discovered as a stowaway and so injured in
the hold.
"Lor, missy," exclaimed he, "help me sabe ship and capting, and all; or
dey all go way and leab us drown on board!"
"Why, what do you mean?" said Kate, who was pale and excited, for she
could not help hearing Frank's call for assistance; and was just about
proceeding to ascend the companion ladder to see for herself what was
going on and if she could be of any aid, when Snowball thus ran against
her. "What is the matter on deck; and why do you come here?"
"Dat debbel Bill Moody, an' all him gang in port watch, say dey is goin'
murder capting and go way in long-boat, and leab us drown on board!"
"But won't the other men prevent them?" asked Kate anxiously.
"Dey can't, missy! Dey is down in main-hold; an' Moody shut um under
hatchway so dat dey can't get up."
Just then the report of Mr Lathrope's revolver sounded above, and Kate
almost screamed; but she controlled herself by a strong effort.
"And what can you or I do to help the captain and the others?" she said
as calmly as she could, longing all the while to go above, although her
presence there would be useless.
"Dat jus why I come here," replied Snowball eagerly. "We can get down
steerage, whar I'se stow away dat time--I knows de place well--clear way
traps in de way, and knock down bulkhead; starboard watch come troo de
openin' and up on poop; den Moody's gang knock all of a heap, catch it
hot, missy! But, really, poah Snowball not able do it all alone down
dere!"
Such were the darkey's spasmodic utterances, as they came out in gasps,
amidst the sound of the struggle going on on the main-deck and the
hoarse cries of those engaged, which could be plainly heard in the
cuddy. Kate at once comprehended the situation.
"I see," said she, as eagerly now as Snowball. "There's Mr Adams in
his cabin asleep. He was so worn out, I suppose, that he couldn't hear
Frank--I mean," she corrected herself blushing unconsciously--"Mr
Harness call! Rouse him up at once, and I'll get a light for you to go
below."
The darkey did as she told him, although he found it a difficult task to
awaken the second mate, who was so fast asleep that he had to be pulled
out of his cot before he opened his eyes.
He was already dressed, however, and would have rushed up on deck the
moment Kate told him what had occurred had she not laid her hand on his
arm and prevented him, pointing out how much better Snowball's plan
would result in bringing material assistance to the little party who
were still struggling with the mutineers, and fighting desperately, as
they could hear.
"Do be quick and go down at once," she pleaded. "A moment's delay may
sacrifice a valuable life; and then, it will be all your fault!"
So urged, Mr Adams consented against his will almost; and, following
Snowball down into the after hold with the lantern Kate had procured
from the steward's pantry, which she found tenantless, Llewellyn having
mysteriously vanished out of the saloon, the two proceeded as rapidly as
they could to work their way through the packing-cases and casks that
were stowed right under the cuddy floor, towards the bulkhead that
divided this portion of the ship from the main hold.
Arrived here, Snowball soon recognised the advantage of having Mr Adams
along with him; for, in addition to the fact that the second mate, as is
usual in merchant vessels, knew where each and every article of the
cargo was stowed, he also was acquainted with the circumstance of there
being a sliding door in the bulkhead, which the darkey was unaware of
and had thought they would have to break it down, which would have been
a rather long job.
Consequently, in far less time than either he or Kate had imagined, the
imprisoned crew, who had been long aroused by the trampling on deck and
the noise of the struggle immediately over their heads, and had been
knocking madly at the hatchway cover and trying vainly to lift it up,
were released. Eager for the fray, from which they had so long been
debarred from taking part, they rushed up through the cuddy and up the
companion to the poop, prepared to take summary vengeance on those who
had incarcerated them but with what result has been already described.
While Kate was giving this explanation to her father of the course of
events below and how the affair was planned--Frank Harness listening to
her the while with glistening eyes, and squeezing her hand furtively as
he pressed to her side--it was amusing to watch the demeanour of the
darkey cook.
His mouth was spread open from ear to ear in one huge grin at the
recital of his well-planned scheme for the defeat of the mutineers'
machinations and release of the imprisoned crew. His chest expanded,
too, with pride at the praise bestowed on him for his pluck and
perspicacity; and when, finally, Ben Boltrope, who, of course, with Karl
Ericksen, had remained loyal and been locked down below with the rest of
the starboard watch, proposed "three cheers for Snowball," the cook
could contain himself no longer, but burst into a loud guffaw, thus
taking a prominent part in the demonstration in his own honour.
In the meantime nobody had been idle.
Poor Captain Dinks had been carefully lifted into the saloon, where, on
removing his clothes, it was discovered that Moody's stab, although
inflicting a dangerous cut across the chest, had touched no vital part,
the sufferer's exhaustion proceeding more from loss of blood than from
any imminent risk. He was therefore placed in his own cot and the wound
strapped up, after which he sank into a feverish sleep, with Kate
watching by his side.
Mr Meldrum, who had been urgently asked by Mr McCarthy and Adams to
take command of the ship while the captain was incapacitated, a request
that the crew heartily endorsed and which Captain Dinks himself
confirmed as soon as he recovered consciousness proceeded in the interim
to devise the best means he could for saving all on board; and, in the
first place, he ordered the men to renew the lashings of the jolly-boat.
This was their sole remaining means of escape, and was now in danger of
being washed overboard by the heavy seas that were breaking over the
ship in cataracts of foam.
Immediately the mutineers had got away in the long-boat it had come on
to blow harder; and, shortly after they were out of sight in the haze
that hung over the land, a tremendous squall had swept over the water in
the direction they were last seen, the billows mounting so high as they
raced by the stranded vessel that it was very problematical whether the
boat would ever reach the shore. Mr Meldrum could not help observing
that those left on board had much greater chance of saving their lives,
in spite of the waves breaking over the ship, which trembled through her
frame with the repeated shocks she was subjected to as she was jolted on
the rocks as if coming to pieces every minute.
"The poor captain was right after all," said he to Mr McCarthy. "Those
scamps in the long-boat had better have waited till morning, as he said.
I don't think they'll ever get to land."
"Nor I, sorr," replied the first mate; "but it sarves them right, bad
cess to 'em!"
"Well," said the other, "if they have gone down, they've gone with all
their sins on their heads, for they certainly believed that they left us
to perish, and did so purposely, too!"
"Jist so, the murtherin' villins!" ejaculated Mr McCarthy.
Mr Lathrope at that moment came up from the cuddy.
"Whar's that sanctimonious cuss of a steward!" inquired he. "I've
shouted clean through the hull ship, and I'm durned ef I ken find him to
git some grub; for I feels kinder peckish arter that there muss. I
guess the critter has sloped with them t'other skunks!"
"We'll muster the hands and see," said Mr Meldrum.
This was soon done; but the steward did not answer to his name--nor
could he be found anywhere on board, although parties of the men hunted
through every portion of the ship fore and aft for him.
"Snakes and alligators, mister," said the American, "I guess it's jest
as I sed, and the slippery coon has skedaddled with the rest of the
varmint!"
"Perhaps so," answered Mr Meldrum; "but I think it far more probable
that he has accidentally tumbled over the side!" In this belief, it may
be added, the stewardess shared, bewailing her loss accordingly,
although she was not quite so much overwhelmed with sorrow as might have
been imagined to be proper on the loss of a helpmate by those
unacquainted with the domestic relations of the pair.
In addition to securing the safety of the jolly-boat, Mr Meldrum
ordered preparations to be made for constructing a large raft, upon
which an additional stock of provisions, which were brought up from
below to replace those taken away by the mutineers in the long-boat,
were stowed; but no attempt was made as yet to leave the ship, all
hoping that the sea would go down as the tide fell, besides which, they
thought that when daylight came they would be able, as Captain Dinks had
told them, to "see their way better."
And so they waited in hope till morning should come.
Just before four bells, however, and when the faint light of day was
beginning to streak the eastern sky, bringing out in relief the snow-
white peaks of some mountains on the mainland, which were a little
distance to the left of where the vessel was lying on the reef, a larger
wave than any of the rollers that had yet assailed her struck the ship
right amidships; and the timbers dividing under the strain, the poor old
_Nancy Bell_ broke in two. Still, the two sections of the hull did not
immediately separate, the seas apparently losing their force and
reserving their powers after delivering such a telling blow.
"I guess, mister," said Mr Lathrope, who took the catastrophe as coolly
as he did every other incident of his life apparently, "this air smash
is a kinder sort o' notice to quit, hey?"
But Mr Meldrum made no reply. He saw that the end was coming.
CHAPTER TWENTY ONE.
GETTING ASHORE.
Fortunately, the jolly-boat had been safely secured abaft the main
hatchway, the very point at which the ship parted amidships; and, being
lashed to ring-bolts athwart the deck, close to the break of the poop,
the little craft remained uninjured in the general rending of timbers
and splintering of planks that ensued when the beams gave way under the
strain upon them. The poor _Nancy Bell_, indeed, seemed to fall to
pieces in a moment; for, as soon as the keel broke in two and the lower
works of the vessel began to separate, the hold opened out like a
yawning gulf, dividing the bows and foremost sections from the stern by
a wide gap. Through this the sea made a clean breach, washing out the
cargo--the waves bearing away such articles as were floatable to
leeward, whilst the heavier portion of the freight, after being tossed
about and battered out of shape, quickly sank down to the bottom out of
sight.
Some of the men had been on the forecastle immediately before this
happened; but roused by Mr Meldrum's cry of warning they had just time
to escape the inrush of the sea and scramble aft to where the others
were grouped together on the poop, which was now considerably elevated
above the level of the water, the stern having been gradually forced up
more on the rocks as the fore part sank down, until it was now nearly
high and dry. This circumstance enabled all hands to proceed all the
more expeditiously with the construction of the raft that had been
already commenced, and which they had luckily begun here, instead of on
the main-deck that had just been broken up, where they would have lashed
it together but for the accidental fact of the mizzen jury-mast forming
the base of the raft, and their being unable to drag it forward before
the keel of the vessel began to give way. The extra quantity of
provisions, too, which had been got out of the hold had also remained on
the poop; and thus everything providentially was in their favour.
Certainly, their chances of escape now seemed more hopeful!
No time, however, was to be lost; for, although their haven of refuge,
the stern section of the ship, was high up on the reef and almost out of
reach of the remorseless waves that had already done such damage, still
there was no knowing what another tide would effect if the wind should
again get up. It behoved them all therefore to take advantage of the
opportunity afforded them and make their preparations for getting ashore
before it should be too late. Thus urged, the seamen, working with a
will under the supervision of Mr McCarthy and Adams, had completed a
substantial raft by eight o'clock, at which hour a spell was cried and
all hands piped to breakfast.
Meanwhile, the morning had advanced; and the sky being pretty free from
clouds, Mr Meldrum was able to obtain a good view of the land that
surrounded the bay in which the _Nancy Bell_ had come to grief.
The ship had, evidently, not merely been carried to leeward of the cape
by the strong current before striking, but had also been taken some
distance inshore as well; for the reef on which she was lying seemed
more than two miles to the eastward of the projecting point which she
had so much difficulty in rounding, close in to a range of rock-bound
coast similar to that which they had passed to the northward and
extending almost due east for from eight to ten miles--as nearly as Mr
Meldrum could judge--the line of the shore then trending off to the
south-west at an acute angle, as far as the eye could reach. High above
this latter stretch of coast rose a series of snow-crowned hills,
arranged in terraces the one above another, gradually increasing in
height until their peaks culminated in one that towered far beyond all,
like a giant amongst pigmies; while, to the right of this mountain, and
apparently much nearer, on a spur of the chain projecting into the sea
nearly south of the vessel's position, was one solitary peak, which
occasionally emitted thin columns of smoke and which, from the fact of
its summit being denuded of snow, most likely marked the site of some
volcanic crater in active operation.
Altogether, the prospect was sad and dispiriting in the extreme, for,
nothing was to be seen in the immediate foreground but the bare black
basaltic cliffs, against whose base the angry billows broke in endless
repetition, throwing up clouds of spray and tracing out their
indentations with lines of creamy foam; and, beyond the cliffs, were
high table-lands and hills all clad in the spectral garb of winter--with
never a tree or a single prominent feature to vary the monotony of the
landscape!
"We must endeavour to make for that curve in the bay to the north-east,
where the shore breaks off and leads southward," said Mr Meldrum to the
first mate, who, having seen the raft completed, had now come to his
side for further instructions. "It is only there, as far as I can see,
that there is likely to be any sort of harbour where we can land in
safety."
"Be jabers, I can't say, sorr," returned McCarthy; "sure an' it's
yoursilf that knows bist. I belave, however, it'll be the wisest
coorse; for the divil a harbour can anyone say ilsewhere; and, by the
same token, sorr, the current is setting shoreward in that very
direction. Look at thim planks there, sorr, sure an' if that's the case
it'll hilp the rhaft along foinely!"
"You're right," said Mr Meldrum, glancing in the direction to which Mr
McCarthy pointed, where some of the broken timbers of the ship, after
being carried away to leeward, were now steadily drifting past her
again--although now in an easterly direction and in a parallel line with
the cliffs to the left. "The sooner, too, that we take advantage of
that same current the better, as it will be hard work for the jolly-boat
to have to tow us all the way. Let us see about getting the raft over
the side at once, Mr McCarthy. The sea is much calmer now, and I think
we'll be able to launch and load it without much difficulty. The jolly-
boat won't give us half the trouble to float that the raft will, for the
deck forms an inclined plane with the water and we can run her in when
we please."
"Aye, aye, sorr," answered Mr McCarthy, and breakfast being now
finished--a cold one for all parties, Snowball and his galley having
parted company, and the waves now rolling between the two sections of
the ship--the tough job of floating the raft alongside was proceeded
with; purchases being rigged so as to lower it down easily, and prevent
it afterwards from breaking away when it had reached the surface of the
sea, which was still rough and boisterous.
The weather keeping calm and bright, and the wind lulling instead of
increasing in force as the sun rose in the heavens, the task was at
length satisfactorily accomplished.
It was not done, however, until after two hours of continuous labour, in
which all hands were engaged, even Mr Lathrope assisting as well as his
still injured arm would permit. By six bells in the forenoon watch,
too, the jolly-boat had also been lowered into the water safely. Now,
nothing remained but to get the provisions and whatever else they could
carry that was necessary on board; for, Mr Meldrum sternly negatived
any attempt at taking private property, thereby incurring Mrs Major
Negus's enmity, for he refused passage to three large trunks of hers
which she had declared were absolutely indispensable, but which, on
being opened, were found to contain only a lot of tawdry finery which
might possibly have helped to astonish the natives of Waikatoo, but was
perfectly useless, even to herself, on the inhospitable shores where the
passengers of the _Nancy Bell_ were about to seek refuge from the
sinking ship.
Kate Meldrum was far more sensible, taking only those articles of warm
clothing which her father recommended for the use of herself and Florry;
and, indeed, leaving behind many things that he would probably have
permitted as necessaries, in order that she should not overburthen the
raft with what would not be serviceable to all. Unlike the "Major,"
Kate thought that it would be selfish on her part merely to consider her
own and her sister's wants!
As for Mr Zachariah Lathrope, his luggage consisted chiefly of an old
fur cloak, in addition to the clothes he stood up in, besides his
inseparable "six shooter" and a rifle--which latter he stated had been
given to his grandfather by the celebrated Colonel Crockett of "coon"
notoriety, and was "a powerful shootin' iron." The rest of the men folk
took with them almost as little; but Mr Meldrum did not forget charts
and nautical instruments, besides a compass and the ship's log-book and
papers. These latter he removed from Captain Dinks' cabin, at his
especial request, that, should he ever see England again, he might be
able to give a circumstantial account as to how the vessel was lost, and
satisfy both his owners and Lloyd's.
In reference to the general provisioning of the raft, it may be briefly
mentioned that all the bread and flour that had not been washed out of
the after-hold had been collected, in addition to several casks of salt
beef and pork, and such of the tinned meats and other cabin stores that
had not been stowed in the long-boat--for the benefit, as it
subsequently turned out, of the mutineers.
Some casks of water were also embarked; but not many, for, in the event
of a fresh supply not being found on landing they could easily melt down
the snow and thus manufacture what they required from time to time.
While considering the important question of a proper supply of food, the
pertinent fact was not lost sight of, that they would be exposed to a
climate of almost arctic severity for, probably, many months to come;
and, consequently all the blankets in the ship were collected and put on
board the raft, besides spare bedding and some hammocks. Snowball also,
true to his culinary calling, took care to secure his cooking utensils,
clambering back into the dilapidated forecastle for the purpose, almost
at the peril of his life--the darkey subsequently bewailing much his
inability to remove the ship's coppers, which were too firmly fixed in
the galley for him to detach them from that structure.
Finally, one or two small spars and sails were added to the general pile
of heterogeneous articles that had been heaped up in the centre of the
raft, whose buoyancy had been much increased, since it was first made
and launched overboard, by the accidental discovery in the steerage of
some empty puncheons, which were carefully bunged-up so that no water
could get into them and lashed underneath the floating platform; the
catalogue of stores being then completed by heaving on the heap all the
cordage that could be got at and cut away, in addition to some blocks
and a few odds and ends--the tarpaulin from off the broken cabin
skylight, which was certain to be of the greatest use, being, like other
equally serviceable articles, only thought of at the last moment.
By the time all these things were stowed on board, and the raft immersed
as deeply as it was considered advisable with safety--as few things as
possible being put in the jolly-boat, which was kept light in order that
she might be more usefully employed in towing the other--it was close on
twelve o'clock.
This was the hour Mr Meldrum had fixed for abandoning the ship, as then
the tide would be at the half flood, and they would be able to utilise
not only that but the current as well, which would about that time set
inshore--at least, judging by its influence on the previous day in
carrying the _Nancy Bell_ in that direction of the reef. By these
various means Mr Meldrum thought the raft might be floated onward
towards the curve in the coast-line which he had pointed out to the
first mate as a probable place where they might expect to discover some
small bay or harbour to land at.
Besides this, Mr Meldrum believed that by starting on the half tide, in
the event of the stream turning before they were able to reach an
available beach in some sheltered cave--for the current which he had
noticed took a southerly direction with the ebb--the retiring tide could
not possibly drift them out to sea. At the very worst, it would only
sweep the raft down the coast in the direction of the volcanic peak that
had been observed to cap the spur of the mountain chain which stretched
out right into the water at an angle with the land; and, here, there was
every probability of their finally finding an opening in the breastwork
of adamantine rocks that ranged along the coast-line as if to prevent
any intrusive strangers like themselves from getting on shore!
Before Mr Meldrum gave the order for embarkation, however, he had one
last duty to perform on board the _Nancy Bell_.
It was just noon; and, the sun being for a wonder unobscured, he
determined to take a final observation to fix their position, or rather
that of the reef on which the ill-fated vessel was doomed to leave her
bones. This was an eventuality which evidently could not take long in
its accomplishment, for the forward portion of the ship was being
rapidly broken to pieces, and it would not be any great time before the
stern followed suit, some of the cabin furniture below having already
been shaken down, while the poop did not offer a very firm foothold,
trembling every now and then from the washing in and out of the waves
below, as if, the poor thing were seized with a submarine ague fit!
After a brief calculation, as briefly worked out, Mr Meldrum found that
the ridge of rocks, which bore north-west by south-east, was in
longitude 68 degrees 45 minutes east, and latitude 49 degrees 16 minutes
south. These facts indisputably settled the point of their being to the
southwards of Cape Saint Louis, put down on the chart as the westernmost
point of Kerguelen Land, and that the highest of the snow-covered
mountain peaks to the south-east was Mount Ross. The information, he
thought, might possibly be of much assistance to them hereafter in
directing their course, should such a step become necessary, to those
better known portions of the island on the eastern side which whalers
and seal-hunting craft were reported to be in the habit of frequenting
during the short summer season of that dreary region. This period,
however, would not come round for the next three or four months, as it
was now only the first week in August, the midwinter of antarctic
climes.
The last observation made, and the ship's ensign hoisted, upside down,
on the stump of the mizzen-mast--not so much for the very unlikely
chance of any passing vessel observing it, as from the special request
of Mr McCarthy, that, as he expressed it, the poor _Nancy Bell_ should
"have a dacent burial"--Mr Meldrum at length gave the word for all
hands to embark, an operation which occupied even less time than that of
his "taking the sun."
First, in due order of precedence, the ladies were lowered down in a
chair by a whip from a boom rigged out over the stern right on to the
raft, where a comfortable place had been arranged in the centre and
barricaded round with chests and barrels. Next, Captain Dinks was
lowered down in his cot, which had been removed bodily from its slings
in his cabin below, so that he might be shifted without disturbing him;
then, Mary Llewellyn, the now husbandless stewardess, followed suit;
and, after her, Mr Lathrope and the children. Eight of the remaining
sixteen men of the crew were then directed to take their places around
the ladies' inclosure, along with Mr Adams and Frank Harness, while the
other eight hands, under the command of Mr McCarthy, were told off to
the jolly-boat, which was provided with double-banked oars and attached
to the raft by a stout tow-rope--it being the intention of Mr Meldrum,
who remained on the raft as deputy commander-in-chief of the whole party
in poor Captain Dinks' place, to relieve the rowers every alternate
hour, so that all should have an equal share in the arduous task of
towing, a job which would tax all their strength.
Everything being ready, the signal was given to start, when, away went
the jolly-boat, smartly at first, but more slowly afterwards as soon as
the strain of the tow-rope was felt, moving gradually from the wreck of
the old ship, and tugging after her the unwieldy raft, which seemed
somewhat loath to go. But, not an exclamation was uttered, not a word
spoken, as the survivors of the wreck glided off through the water
towards the shore, leaving behind them the wave-scarred craft that had
so long been their ocean home.
It was like a funeral procession.
The thoughts of all were too deep for words.
Even the children were awed into silence by the seriousness of their
elders;--a seriousness that was as much owing to the uncertainty of
their own fate as to their regret at parting the last link that bound
them to their English home and civilisation, from which they seemed to
have been cut adrift for ever in casting off from the poor, old, ill-
fated _Nancy Bell_!
CHAPTER TWENTY TWO.
DESOLATION ISLAND.
Kate Meldrum was the first to break the melancholy silence that reigned
as they rowed away from the old ship, all looking back sadly at her
battered hull, whose crippled condition could now be better seen--the
bows all rent and torn by the violence of the waves, the gaping sides,
the gutted hold washed out by the water, and the sea around covered with
pieces of shattered planking from the 'tween-decks, besides the curved
knees and other larger parts of the timber work, that had been wrenched
off during the vessel's battle with the elements, and numbers of
packing-cases and empty casks and barrels that were floating about, the
flotsam and jetsam of the cargo.
"Papa," said she, speaking low in order that none of the others could
hear her, "did you see anything of the long-boat, or of the men who went
away in her, when you were looking round the coast this morning--I
forgot to ask you before."
"No, my dear," he answered. "There was not a trace of them, as far as I
could see with the glass; either along the shore in the direction in
which we are going now, or down to the southwards off there to the
right!"
"Do you think they have landed in safety, papa?"
"Hardly, Kate. There was a terrible squall which came on shortly after
they deserted us, and I believe they must have gone down in it. But,
why do you ask the question, my dear? I don't suppose you have much
sympathy with the treacherous scoundrels!"
"No, papa," said she; "but I thought that if we got on shore at the same
place that they did there might be a quarrel, or that something dreadful
would happen; and I'm sure we had enough of horrors on board the poor
old ship!" and Kate shuddered, as she spoke, at the recollection.
"You need not be afraid of that, my dear," replied her father kindly.
"If the mutineers have managed to run in the boat anywhere during the
frightful sea that was on at the time they deserted us, it must have
been miles away from any spot near here, for the wind was blowing in
quite the contrary direction. Besides, my child, only a few could have
saved their lives; so that, in case we should ever come across them,
they would be quite powerless against the strong force we have now to
oppose them, in the very impossible event of their trying to molest us.
I hope, however, that we may not meet."
"Isn't it shocking," observed Kate presently, as if reflecting over what
had happened, "to think that, companions in misfortune as we are, we
should be so anxious now to avoid them!"
"Yes," replied her father; "but the fact only exhibits a common phase of
human nature, and thus affords but another proof of the inherent
selfishness of the animal man. Wickedness, my child, ever begets
wickedness!" Mr Meldrum then lapsed again into silence.
The raft proceeded but very slowly, in spite of the exertions of the
towing party in the jolly-boat. This was on account of the current and
the tideway neutralising each other, instead of being both in their
favour, as Mr Meldrum had expected; so, in order to fight against the
drawback, he ordered Ben Boltrope to get up a sail on one of the
studding-sail booms which was rigged as a yard across the mizzen
topgallant mast that had been stepped in the centre of the platform.
However, the wind was so light from their low elevation in the water,
that the influence of this new motive power was only faintly
perceptible, the shore seeming almost quite as far off after an hour's
hard rowing as before, and the ship equally near.
This would never do.
At such a rate of progress, nightfall would probably still find them
afloat in the centre of the bay, in danger, should the sea again get up,
of being dashed to pieces against the precipitous cliffs to the left;
while, in the event of their escaping that peril, the raft might run on
to some hidden shoal or reef down southwards in the darkness, or else be
swept out into the offing, where they would be the sport of the waves,
and could never hope to reach the land again.
They had hitherto been keeping well out from the adjacent coast, by
reason of their seeing its inhospitable look, and the scanty chance
there was of their effecting a landing there. This fact, indeed, was
self-evident, for they could see the surf breaking in one continuous
line, as far as the eye could reach, against the steep rocky face of the
cliff. Besides, Mr Meldrum had thought it the best plan to take the
shortest course towards the curve he had selected, where the southern
shore branched off at an angle with the eastern one, in the hope of
there being some sort of a beach in that vicinity. Now, however, he
determined to try another way of gaining his end; and that was by going
"the longest way round."
"Pull in to the left," he sang out to Mr McCarthy, "and let us see how
the current will then affect us. I fancy we'll feel it all the more as
we get inshore."
"Aye, aye, sorr," replied the first mate, directing the head of the
jolly-boat right towards the face of the frowning cliff nearest to them;
but still, for some time, there was no increase in their rate of speed,
the short chopping waves that formed the backwater of the surges, which
had already expended their strength on the rocky rampart of the coast,
militating against any slight advantage they gained by the current
taking them along with it.
At last, however, after three hours' hard work, and when the fourth
relay of men had just begun to handle the oars in the jolly-boat, the
raft appeared all at once to move along more briskly and smoothly,
while, at the same time, the sea grew calmer.
Things looked promising.
They had approached close inshore to the rocky wall of the cliff; and,
if it had seemed formidable at a distance, it looked ten times more
imposing now that only a few hundred yards of sea divided them from it.
Its bold precipitous face appeared to ascend right up into the clouds,
while the counterscarp, or base, seemed to dive abruptly into the deep
without a slope. It was really just like a gigantic iron wall, straight
up and down and quite even in contour, without a fissure or break as far
as could be seen; and the surf made such a thundering din as it dashed
fretfully against the lower part of the cliff, that it was almost
impossible for the shipwrecked voyagers to hear each other speak.
Indeed, the whole scene could not but force their imagination to picture
what might be their fate should a storm arise just then and give them
over into the power of the billows. These were only in play now, so to
speak; but if their demeanour changed to one of dreadful earnest, the
mad waves would easily toss them as high and as savagely as they did the
yeasty fragments of spindrift, which circled up into the air like
snowflakes--flung off from the tops of the breakers after each
unsuccessful onslaught on the rocky barrier that balked their endeavours
to annihilate it.
However, there was little fear of such a catastrophe at present. Thanks
to the aid of the current, combined with the towing powers of the jolly-
boat's crew--the sail having been found useless in the little wind there
was and lowered again--the raft was proceeding steadily along at the
rate of some three miles an hour; keeping all the while at a safe
distance from the cliffs, in order to avoid any undertow, and rapidly
losing the hull of the _Nancy Bell_--albeit, the flag of the ship could
yet be seen distinctly far away astern to seaward, fluttering in the
slight breeze that expanded its folds.
Each moment, too, the coast on the starboard hand rose up nearer and
nearer, closing in sharply with that to port, thus showing that they
were approaching the embouchure which Mr Meldrum had marked out. Soon,
a little more exertion on the part of the rowers would decide whether
the naval officer had judged rightly or wrongly as to there being a bay
there--a veritable "harbour of refuge" it would be for them.
"I guess, mister," said Mr Lathrope, who had been for some time quieter
than usual, "that air animile ain't far off its roosting peg; and whar
he lands I kalkerlate we can dew too."
As he spoke, the American pointed out a species of black shag or
cormorant, which had evidently been on a fishing expedition and was
returning home with the fruits of his spoil in his bill for the
delectation of the home circle.
"You are very likely right," said Mr Meldrum. "That sort of sea-fowl
generally selects a flat shore for its habitat, in preference to high
places--just as the penguins do, so that they may the sooner tumble into
the water when desirous of taking to that element. I would not be
surprised to find a landing-place as soon as we round that further point
of the cliff, where the line of surf seems to end. Stretch out with
those oars, men," he added, speaking in a louder tone to those in the
jolly-boat. "One more long pull altogether and we'll be able to get
ashore."
"Aye, aye, sorr; go it, my hearties," sang out Mr McCarthy; and, the
hands, giving a responsive cheer and putting their backs into each
stroke, made the boat race along--dragging the raft behind it at a speed
that caused it to rock from side to side, and slightly startle the
ladies, while the boat, too, shipped a little water that came in over
the bows as it dipped forward from the jerk of the tow-rope.
At length the limit of the cliff line was reached. It terminated as
abruptly as it rose from the water; for, when the boat had pulled past
the last of the breakers, a long narrow fiord or inlet of the sea opened
before the eager eyes of the castaways, stretching far inland and
bordered on each side by shelving slopes of hills that from their shape
must have been composed of the same basaltic rock as that of the cliffs,
although now completely covered with snow. A sight that pleased them
more, however, was a broad beach of black sand--extending up to the
slope of the higher land--on which they could ground the raft in safety.
It was the very thing they sought!
"Hooray boys!" exclaimed the first mate, taking off his cap and waving
it round his head in excitement. "Sure an' we've rached the land at
last!"
A shout of joy came from all, in sympathetic response.
A few strokes more, and the jolly-boat had touched the shore; when, the
men jumping out, and those on the raft following suit, although the
water was icy cold and almost up to their arm-pits, the raft was quickly
hauled up close to the beach and everybody scrambled on shore. Even
Mrs Major Negus was so delighted to stand once more on _terra firma_
that she did not mind getting her feet wet for once, and was almost one
of the first to jump off the raft.
"Thank God!" exclaimed Mr Meldrum as he stood up in the centre of the
group, taking off his hat reverently in acknowledgment of the divine
mercy of that watchful providence which had guided them safely through
all the perils of the deep and now permitted them to land without harm--
the untaught seamen around him appearing to sympathise with his
heartfelt thanksgiving as they, too, bowed their heads in silence; while
Kate fell upon her knees also in an ecstasy of gratitude to Him who
ruled the wind and waves and had protected them to the last!
Then, all began to look about them. However, as they surveyed the
strange scene, they found to their surprise that they were not the only
inhabitants of "Desolation Island," as Captain Cook so aptly named, when
he first saw the place, the land which had been previously discovered by
Monsieur de Kerguelen.
From the beach, the land rose up on both sides of the fiord in a gentle
slope to the hills above, which latter were broken away in some places,
forming flat level tables of basaltic debris that had tumbled from the
tops of the cliffs; and, these stretches of table-land being under the
lee of the hills, were sheltered from the snow that otherwise covered
every place in sight, valley and mountain peak alike.
On these tables of bare black ground, numerous colonies of penguins had
established themselves--the tenants already in possession of the island,
to prove that it was not altogether deserted.
The birds were standing about in crowds in the queerest and most
ungainly attitudes in the world, croaking and barking, according to
their usual wont, at the unexpected visitors who had so unceremoniously
come to disturb the quietude of their island home. They looked
excessively funny, waddling about awkwardly on their short legs and
flapping their wings as if grumbling at the intrusion, much resembling a
lot of little dumpy old women with grey tippets on; and Maurice Negus
and Florry Meldrum went into fits of laughter at their appearance.
The penguins were not very busy at that time of year evidently.
They were simply idling about the beach and "loafing," as if they had
nothing particular to do but gossip with each other as to what meant the
outlandish creatures, who had invaded their territory. Occasionally,
two or three would proceed out together to fish in the quiet waters of
the creek, and these would pass another party coming back from the same
errand, when they would croak a greeting; but the majority did nothing
but strut about from one position to another in order to stare the
better at the intruders--an inspection which, it need hardly be told,
the latter returned with an equal interest.
However, the survivors from the _Nancy Bell_ had a good deal to do
besides watching the penguins, for it was now late in the afternoon and
growing dark, with the wind rising again. A few premonitory scattered
flakes of snow, too, that fell flutteringly down in a half hesitating
way every now and then, pointed out what the weather might be expected
to be bye and bye and reminded them that it would be just as well for
them to be under shelter of some sort before night came on to interrupt
their labours.
A word from Mr Meldrum was sufficient, the first mate then giving the
necessary orders for setting the whole party to work.
"All hands shift cargo!" he cried, stepping back upon the raft; when,
the men following him, he divided them into two gangs, the first of whom
he directed to carry out Mr Meldrum's instructions under Frank Harness,
while the second remained with him to remove the stores on to the beach,
where Mr Adams supervised their landing. But, before anything else was
done, the cot containing poor Captain Dinks--the only one who had not as
yet been ashore--was carefully lifted up from the raft and transported
to a spot high up from the water and shielded by a spur of the hills on
the right from the winds. This Mr Meldrum had selected as a favourable
place for their camp, and Snowball was already engaged there in building
up a fire with some wood that he had fortunately brought from the
wreck--for not a scrap of brush or twig, or the sign of any tree, could
be seen in the neighbourhood of the fiord, nor a single bit of drift on
the beach!
The stores being all landed and piled up on the shore some little
distance beyond high-water mark, Mr McCarthy's portion of the crew then
proceeded to take the raft to pieces and carry up the timbers of which
it was composed likewise to a place of safety, for fear lest the waves
should bear them away in the night-time when the tide again came in;
besides which, the material was wanted for other purposes--as Mr
Meldrum had foreseen when causing the raft to be constructed--although
it was now too late in the day to utilise it to that end, for, even
while they were landing the things, the evening had closed in and it was
nearly dark.
Meanwhile, the second body of men, working under Frank Harness's
direction and Mr Meldrum's personal supervision, were equally
industrious.
The site for the camp having been chosen, a couple of the largest spars
that had been brought ashore on the raft were erected as uprights, some
twenty feet apart, close under the scarp of the cliff; and a block and
running tackle having been previously attached to the top of each of
these, a third spar was hoisted up and lashed across them at right
angles. After this, a spare top-sail, which had been brought with them
in the jolly-boat, was pulled over the framework; and, the ends of this
being tied down by the reef points to stout pegs driven in the ground,
the structure formed a good sized tent which would do well for temporary
accommodation for a night or two. Of course, something more substantial
would be required if the shipwrecked people were forced to remain long
on the island--which, indeed, seemed more than probable, considering the
time of year, and the faint hope of their rescue by any whaling vessel
before the month of November.
"I guess it air prime," said Mr Lathrope, looking at the tent with much
satisfaction as he walked round it. He evidently took considerable
pride in the construction, in which, indeed, he had some share, his
experience "out west" having been of great use in suggesting the shape
and location of the shelter.
"Yes," replied Mr Meldrum, who was still busy at work on the details.
"I think it will do till we can rig up something better."
"Wa-ll, all you've got to do neow, I guess," said the other, "is to
stretch a rope across the hull consarn, and fix up a blanket or two to
screen off the femmels from the menfolk; and the thing's done slick and
handsome."
"Right!" responded Mr Meldrum, taking his advice and dividing the tent
across into two portions, one of which was reserved for the ladies;
when, the spare bedding and blankets having been brought up from the
raft, the improvised apartments were made to look as comfortable as
circumstances permitted. Really, the interior, on being lighted up by
the ship's lanterns, which had not been forgotten, appeared quite cosy,
especially when Snowball's fire, which was now burning up briskly from
the chips shovelled on to it, could be seen sparkling and leaping up in
spurts of flame through the open flap that had been left to serve for a
doorway.
"And now, I kalkerlate, it's time for grub," said the American when the
tent was finished and the ladies' comfort provided for--Captain Dinks,
still in his cot, being ensconced in a warm corner--"I hope that blessed
darkey has got something good, for I feel powerful holler, I dew!"
He need not, however, have been in any doubt as to Snowball's capacity.
That worthy allowed nothing to interfere with the exercise of his
culinary skill; so, when the first mate by Mr Meldrum's directions had
"piped down" all hands, he had ready a repast which appeared to the
hungry castaways more like a splendid banquet than an improvised meal,
and one as well cooked as if Snowball had all the facilities of the
galley on shipboard to prepare it. His chief dish was a well-seasoned
"Irish stew," compounded of salt beef and preserved vegetables, which
seemed on that cold evening a perfect _chef-d'oeuvre_, and would, as Mr
Lathrope "guessed" after a third helping, have "made a man leave his
grandmother for his wife's mother's aunt, any day!"
Soon after the meal was finished, night came on, when the snow began to
fall heavily and the wind to blow piercingly from the north'ard and
westward, just as it had done the evening before when the poor _Nancy
Bell_ was struggling round Cape Saint Louis and rushing on to her doom;
but the castaways happily were now sheltered from the inclemencies of
the weather, and as they one and all nestled into their blankets as soon
as bedtime came;--man and woman, Jack tar and landsman alike!--thanked
God fervently that they were now no longer on board ship.
Towards morning, a slight alarm was created by some of the melted snow
finding its way down upon the sleepers through the sail that served for
the roofing of their tent; but this was soon remedied by lashing over it
the old tarpaulin from off the cabin skylight, which, it may be
recollected, was only thought of at the last moment, although such a
useful article. The leak in the roof stopped, all turned to sleep again
with the greater zest, enjoying such a night's rest as they had not had
for the last week at sea--not a soul indeed waking up till long after
daybreak, all were so dead tired out with the fatigue and anxiety they
had undergone.
CHAPTER TWENTY THREE.
NEARLY A CATASTROPHE!
SLept till long after daybreak, did they?
Why, it was getting on for noon when Mr McCarthy roused the crew from
their unusually long caulk amongst the blankets in the corner of the
tent reserved for them with his cheery call of "All hands ahoy! Tumble
up there! tumble up!" coupled with the information that the sun was
"scorching their eyes out"--which latter observation, it may be casually
remarked, was a slight stretch of his imagination, considering the
feeble power of the solar orb at that time of the year on the snow-
covered wastes of Kerguelen Land!
Still, late or early as they might be in rising, the first point to
which everybody turned their gaze on getting out into the open, was the
little spot on the horizon to seaward where they had left the ship,
where she had been last seen on the previous afternoon just as the
evening was beginning to close in. Since they had quitted her, however,
the wind had been blowing pretty stiffly all night, although it had
calmed down again towards the morning; while the last thing they had
heard, ere they had sunk into the sound dreamless sleep all had enjoyed
through the complete exhaustion of their frames, had been the roaring
noise of the breakers thundering against the base of the cliffs beyond
their sheltering fiord. So, it was with but very faint hopes of
perceiving the remains of the poor old _Nancy Bell's_ hull still fixed
on the treacherous reef of her destruction, that they looked wistfully
out into the offing!
But, lo and behold! in spite of all their forebodings, there in the
distance they could yet dimly descry the stern section of the ill-fated
vessel still intact, as far as they could judge with the naked eye,
amidst the rocks; and about it the waves played and circled and the surf
showered its spray. Above the wreck, too, there still fluttered feebly
the flag which Mr Meldrum had attached to the stump of the mizzen-mast,
as if defying the powers of the wind and the waters to destroy the
gallant old ship and her belongings, strive how they might in all their
majesty!
Every heart felt glad at the sight.
"It does me ra-al good, mister, it dew!" said Mr Lathrope to the first
mate, who was intently watching the object of general interest, as if he
could not take his eyes off it. "When I riz just neow, I felt kinder
lonesome, a thinking we'd parted company with the old crittur fur ever
and wouldn't never see her no more; but thar she is still as perky as
ever, in spite of last night's gale, which I thought would ha' blown all
her timbers to Jericho!"
"Ah, sorr!" replied Mr McCarthy with a heavy sigh and a troubled look
in his usually merry twinkling grey eyes, "you'll never say another ship
the likes of her again! If you'll belave me, Mister Lathrope, sorr,
she'd sail ten knots on a bowline; and I'd like to know where you'd bate
that now?"
"I'll not deny she had her good pints," said the American
sympathisingly; "but I guess the poor thing'll soon be bruk up."
"Yes, son, more's the pity," responded the other; "sure an' I wish we
had her safe ashore here and we'd save ivory plank of her."
"It wouldn't be a bad notion," observed Mr Meldrum, who just then came
up to where the two were talking, "to take another trip out to the ship
in the jolly-boat and see whether we could not land some more things
that might be of use to us?"
"Sure the hould's gutted now enthirely," said the Irish mate sadly, "and
the divil a hap'orth we'd get by going. Look at the say that's running,
too; and considther the long pull out there and back again--not that I
wouldn't be afther going, sorr, if you were to say the word!"
"Oh, no, never mind," replied Mr Meldrum. "There's not the slightest
necessity for it, for I believe we brought away all the provisions that
were left in her, and we'd find little enough now! I only thought we
might secure some more of the timber work, as there doesn't seem to be a
particle of wood on the island."
"We'd better wait till she breaks up, sorr," said Mr McCarthy; "sure
and it'll float in thin to us, widout the throuble of fetching it."
"All right!" answered the other. So the contemplated last trip to the
stranded vessel would have been abandoned, had not Florry at that moment
rushed up to her father.
"Oh, poor puss!" she exclaimed, half-crying and almost breathless with
excitement as she clung to his arm and looked up into his face
entreatingly.
"Puss!" repeated Mr Meldrum in astonishment; "what puss?"
"The--the--poor pussy cat we used to play with in the cabin," sobbed
Florry. "It was shut up by the stewardess, and has been left behind in
the ship!"
"Yes, sir," said Mary Llewellyn, who with Kate had followed Florry. "I
clean forgot the creature in the flurry of coming away. I locked it in
the pantry, as it seemed frightened and was scurrying about the cuddy;
and when we went on deck, I didn't think to take it out, so there it'll
be starved to death, or drownded!"
"It was my fault as well," interposed Kate, looking quite as unhappy as
her sister and the stewardess. "I told Mary to lock it up."
"Be jabers!" ejaculated the first mate, "it'll never do to lave it
there. Sure and we'd be onlucky altogether if a cat came to harm in the
old ship! I didn't know it was aboord at all, at all. Sure an' there's
no knowing but what all our misfortunes have been brought about by the
same baste, bad cess to it?"
"Oh, Mr McCarthy!" exclaimed Kate, "how can you believe that?"
"Sure, and I mane it," answered the Irishman promptly, as if he put the
greatest faith in the superstition.
"Well," said Mr Meldrum, "I'm sorry for the poor animal; but it will
have to stop there now! The sea is very rough, and I would hardly like
to risk men's lives to save a cat!"
"I'll go back for it, sir," volunteered Frank Harness with a look at
Kate, which said as plainly as looks could speak that he was ready to do
a good deal more than that to please her. "You were speaking just now
of sending off the jolly-boat to fetch what we could from the wreck; so
we can bring the poor cat on shore at the same time."
"Yes, I certainly did suggest that just now," said Mr Meldrum; "but, as
Mr McCarthy pointed out, there is a good deal of sea on, and--"
"Sure, but I said, sorr, I'd go if you liked," interrupted the first
mate eagerly, not wishing to be behindhand when Frank had offered; "and,
faix, I'm ready at once."
"Let the durned animile slide," put in Mr Lathrope. "It ain't worth a
cent, much less such a tall price as yar life."
"No, we won't," said Mr McCarthy, all anxiety now to start. "Who'll
volunteer to go back to the wreck and save the cat!" he called out
aloud.
"I will," and "I," and "I," cried out several of the seamen, laughing
and passing all sorts of chaff about the expedition; and soon there were
more than enough offers to man the jolly-boat twice over if all had been
taken who offered.
Ben Boltrope was one of the first to stand out; but Mr Meldrum at once
motioned him back.
"You must not go," said he. "I shall want your carpentering aid very
soon, and can't spare you." It was the same with some others amongst
the hands, Mr Meldrum picking them out as they stepped forwards.
Before long, however, a crew was selected; when, the jolly-boat being
run down into the water by the aid of a dozen other willing hands,
besides her own special crew, she was soon on her way back to the scene
of the wreck of the _Nancy Bell_--McCarthy steering her, and Frank
Harness, who would not relinquish his privilege of going in her after
having been the first to volunteer, pulling the stroke-oar, no idlers
being wanted on board. Kate looked at him and waved her hand in adieu
as the boat topped the heavy rolling waves and got well out into the
offing; and, after that, Frank did not mind what exertion he had to go
through.
It was a long pull and an arduous one, although, in spite of Mr
McCarthy's warning to the contrary, there was nothing dangerous in the
accomplishment of the feat. The first mate had probably felt a little
lazy when he endeavoured to set Mr Meldrum at first against the
expedition, for after a couple of hours' hard work, having the tide to
contend with most of the way, they easily managed to approach the reef
and bring up the boat under the vessel's stern, where the side ropes and
slung chair, which they had omitted to remove on board the raft remained
just as they had left them, swinging about to and fro as the wind
brushed by, causing them to oscillate with its breath.
On climbing up to the deck, they found the poop pretty much the same,
but the forward portion of the ship had all broken to pieces, hardly a
timber being left, save part of the forefoot or cut-water, which had got
jammed in between the rocks along with the anchor-stock, the heavy mass
of iron belonging to which must have fallen down below the surface when
the topgallant forecastle was washed away.
Going down into the cuddy, Frank could hardly at first believe that its
former tenants had quitted it for good and all, for the cabin doors were
thrown wide open, and dresses and other articles of feminine attire
scattered about--one special shawl of Kate's, which he readily
recognised as the one she had on her shoulders the night they had
watched the stars together in the South Atlantic, being placed over the
back of the captain's chair at the head of the table, as if the owner
had just put it down for a minute and was coming back to fetch it. He
at once took charge of this, besides collecting sundry other little
articles which he thought Kate might want; but he was soon interrupted
in his quest of feminine treasure-hunting by a mewing and scratching at
the door of the steward's pantry, which made him recollect all at once
what had been the ostensible object of his mission on board the vessel.
"Gracious goodness!" he exclaimed, speaking to himself, for Mr McCarthy
was busy raking amongst his clothes in his own cabin, also oblivious to
the fate of the poor feline for whom they had come aboard the ship. "I
almost forgot the cat after all. Puss, Pussy, poor Puss!" and he
wrenched open the pantry door, setting the animal free.
If ever mortal cat purred in its life, or endeavoured to express its
pleasure and satisfaction by walking round and rubbing itself against a
person, raising and putting down its fore-feet alternately, with the
toes extended, as if practising the goose step or working on some feline
treadmill, why that cat did then. The poor animal could not speak, of
course, but it really seemed to utter some inarticulate sounds that must
have been in cat language a paean of joy and praise and thanks at its
deliverance; and, finally, in a paroxysm of affection and endearment, it
turned itself head over heels on the cabin floor in front of Frank.
"Poor Puss; poor little thing!" said the young sailor, taking it up in
his arms. "I believe I would have come back for you even if it hadn't
been to oblige Kate--my darling!" and he kissed the fur of the animal as
he held it in his arms, as if he considered it for the time being her
deputy.
Judging by several well-picked bones that could be noticed lying on the
deck of the pantry, Frank assured himself that Puss had not been starved
since she had been locked up; and, indeed, she could not have been in
any serious want, as there was a freshly-cut ham on one of the shelves
and a round of spiced beef, which she had not touched, both of which
Frank took the liberty of appropriating for the benefit of those on
shore.
Then, still in company with Puss, who would not leave his side, he
imitated the example of the first mate, and selected a coat or two and a
change of clothes from out of his own sea-chest. He did not forget the
others either, but gathered together various garments which he saw lying
about in the captain's cabin and that of Mr Meldrum, thinking that both
might perhaps be glad of them bye and bye.
Beyond what Frank had found in the pantry, however, neither he nor Mr
McCarthy could discover any provisions, or other things that might be
useful on shore, save the unbroken half of the cuddy skylight. This
they carefully lowered down into the jolly-boat, for the glass framing
would come in handy for the windows of any house they built--Mr Meldrum
having hinted on the previous evening of some more substantial structure
being necessary than the tent, which had been only put up for temporary
accommodation on their first landing on the island.
The several articles that had been collected being now put on board the
jolly-boat, in addition to the accommodation chair, which was cut from
the slings, at McCarthy's especial request, and lowered down on
board--"jest to plaze the meejor," as he said, alluding to Mrs Negus's
weakness for sitting in high places during the voyage. Frank then
descended with the cat in his arms and took a seat in the stern-sheets,
the first mate very good-naturedly pulling the stroke-oar on the return
journey in his place; and, all these little matters being thus arranged,
Pussy's rescuers started again for the shore. The tide, luckily, was
with them all the way; so they accomplished the distance back to the
beach inside the fiord in very nearly half the time they had taken in
rowing out to the ship--getting everything ashore and the jolly-boat
hauled up safely beyond high-water mark with none of the trouble they
had anticipated on setting out, the wind and sea having both calmed down
in the interim.
Kate's thanks to Frank need not be alluded to:-- they were simply
inexpressible; but, if Puss is described to have been pleased when she
was first released from captivity and an untimely end on board the
shipwrecked vessel, what can be said for her raptures now that she was
landed on _terra firma_--which she probably had never expected to see
again--especially when she recognised the bevy of old friends amongst
whom she found herself alive once more.
"I guess," said Mr Lathrope, as he watched her affectionate antics,
"the stoopid old cuss will purr herself to potato parings, and rub all
her darned fur inter a door-mat with joy!"
CHAPTER TWENTY FOUR.
AN AFTERNOON CALL.
"I'm glad you brought the skylight," said Mr Meldrum to the first mate
when the excitement attending the return of the boat's crew with Miss
Pussy had somewhat calmed down. "Its the very thing we'll want
presently!" He then proceeded to show Mr McCarthy what he and those
who had remained ashore had done during the absence of the others.
Adjoining the site of the tent, and under the lee of a sort of gable-end
of the cliffs, a piece of ground had been cleared of the snow close to a
freshwater tarn some little distance above the sea-shore, where it was
not affected by the tide; and here the land had been levelled in the
form of a parallelogram, some thirty feet long by twenty wide, round
which a trench had been dug about a foot deep.
At the four corners of this, stout posts, selected from some of the
deck-beams of the _Nancy Bell_ that had been secured for the under-
structure of the raft, were set up in holes excavated of such a depth
that they would firmly resist any lateral pressure brought to bear
against them by the wind; and, round the top of these uprights, a
scantling of deal had been nailed on, thus making the framework of a
good-sized cottage.
Mr McCarthy was quite surprised at the progress made.
"You've been pretty busy, sorr," he said. "Be jabers, you'll have a
cabin built in no time!"
"Yes," replied Mr Meldrum, "we have got along; but you must remember
we've had fourteen hands at work besides the carpenter, including Mr
Lathrope and myself; and such a number of men, when their labour has
been systematically divided, can accomplish a good deal in a short time.
I wish we had some more timber, though! We've got the roof yet to
make, and a partition or two in the inside for the proper division of
the building. I have planned out a separate room for the ladies, and
one for us men; in addition to a general sort of apartment, where we can
all have our meals together, and which will serve as a store-room as
well."
"Sure an' you don't think, sorr, we'll have to live here long!" said the
first mate, a little alarmed at the magnitude of the other's plans.
"Indeed I do," answered Mr Meldrum. "It is now only the beginning of
August, which is the worst season here, as I mentioned to poor Captain
Dinks; and the winter will probably last from four to five months;
during which time, according to all accounts that I've read of the
place, we may expect to experience the most bitter weather, and have to
depend entirely on our own resources; for, none of the whaling schooners
that go seal-hunting in these parts ever visit the island, as far as I
know, before November or December--and even then they go generally to
the eastern side and do not come here! Before that time, however, that
is as soon as the snow melts and the spring sets in, we'll have to try
and cross over the land to one of the harbours which the whalers
frequent, and which I've got marked on the chart. Until that period,
Mr McCarthy, as you must perceive, we will have to remain here; so it
is best for us to try and be as comfortable as we can under the
circumstances. Last night, as you know, it was cold enough in all
conscience; but that will be nothing to what we may expect later on when
the regular gales and sea-fogs and snowstorms set in, and they continue
for weeks, I believe!"
"Begorrah, it's a bad look-out!" said the mate,--"a bad look-out,
anyway!"
"It is; there's no good of our blinking the fact," replied the
other,--"but, still, other shipwrecked crews have borne worse hardships
than we'll have to contend with, and, you know, what men have done men
may do! I wish we had some more of the poor old ship's planks, however.
Besides their being necessary for completing our house properly, we
shall want a large supply of them for fuel during the next four months."
"Sure and they'll float ashore," said the mate.
"I don't know about that," responded Mr Meldrum. "You said just now,
when you returned in the jolly-boat, that all the bows and forward parts
of the vessel had been washed to pieces; and yet, of all that wreckage
not a single scrap came ashore here to tell the tale before you brought
the news:-- what do you think of that, eh!"
"Be jabers, it's all that blissid current that takes it back agin! Sure
an' I've sane it floating in foreninst the land myself."
"Well, we'll have to try and baulk the current, then," said Mr Meldrum.
"We must keep a good look-out on the ship; and, as soon as we see that
the stern has broken up, the jolly-boat will have to be manned and
cruise about to pick up and tow ashore whatever timber and stray planks
may be seen."
"Right you are, sorr," replied Mr McCarthy. "I'll say to that!"
"Say, mister," interposed the American, who had remained silent during
the deliberations of the other two, although he was supposed to be
present at the council and a deliberative member. "How'll the grub last
all that air time! Twenty-seven folks all told, as I've kalkerlated
'em, take a powerful lot of feedin' in four months!"
"Ah!" said Mr Meldrum, "that's a serious consideration. However, with
that lot of penguins there,"--and he pointed to the little colony of the
quaint birds, which were still croaking and grumbling at them, not
having yet become accustomed to their strange visitors,--"I don't think
we'll starve! Besides these gentry, too, there will be lots more sea-
fowl, and perhaps some land ones as well. Still, it will be advisable,
Mr Lathrope, as you have introduced the subject, to take stock of all
the stores we have, and Master Snowball must be instructed to be not
quite so lavish in his display at dinner-time as he was yesterday."
"Sorry I spoke," said Mr Lathrope, rather chop-fallen at the way in
which his suggestion had been taken. "I didn't want you to cut short
the vittles, but only to kinder kalkerlate!"
"I'm just doing that," replied the other, "and we'll see what we've got
to depend upon at once."
As the American had remarked, they were just twenty-seven souls in all:
_Imprimis_, Captain Dinks--whose wound evidently was progressing
favourably, for he had lost all those feverish symptoms that were
apparent the day previous and was now in a sound sleep, after eating
some thin soup which Snowball had concocted for him by Mr Meldrum's
direction--Mr McCarthy, Adams, Frank Harness, Ben Boltrope the
carpenter, and Karl Ericksen the rescued Norwegian sailor, besides
Snowball and thirteen others of the crew of the _Nancy Bell_, making
twenty of those belonging to the ship; while, of the passengers, there
were six--Mr Meldrum, Kate, Florry, Mrs Major Negus and her son and
only hope Maurice, and lastly, though by no means least, Mr Lathrope--
the grand total, with the stewardess, who must not be forgotten, coming
exactly to seven-and-twenty.
Now, to feed all this large family, they had brought ashore on the raft
three barrels of salt beef and four of pork, six hams uncooked, besides
the one which Frank had removed from the steward's pantry along with the
round of spiced beef on his visit to the ship in search of the cat; some
four dozen eight-pound tins of preserved meats and vegetables; about a
couple of hundredweight of flour; five bags of biscuit; a few bottles of
spirits; and sundry minor articles, such as pickles and salt, and one or
two pots of preserves--not a very considerable amount of provender,
considering the number of souls to be supplied, and the length of time
Mr Meldrum thought it wise to estimate that the provisions would have
to last.
Just as they were rolling back the casks under the shelter of the tent,
Maurice Negus rushed up to Mr Meldrum in company with Florry, both of
the children being intensely excited evidently about something they had
seen or heard.
"Oh crickey!" cried out the former before he had quite got up to the
party, so as to have the first voice in the matter,--"Do come! There's
an awful long thing just crawled out of the sea, and it is creeping up
to the tent as fast as it can!"
"Yes," chorussed Florry, "and it's like the seals we saw in the
Zoological Gardens; only it's twice as big and has a long trunk like an
elephant!"
"Jeehosophat!" exclaimed Mr Lathrope, feeling for his revolver. "It
must be a rum outlandish animile, if it's like that!"
"Zee-oliphant," said Karl Ericksen, the Norwegian sailor, in his broken
English. "He is not harmful:-- he good for man eat."
"Snakes and alligators! that's prime anyhow, I reckon," put in Mr
Lathrope. "I guess this air animile'll save your old stores, mister,
hey?"
"I hope so," answered Mr Meldrum. "Although I've never tasted seal
beef myself, I have heard it's very fair when you can't get the genuine
article; the whalers generally use it, at all events, some of them even
thinking it a dainty. But, let us go and see this sea-elephant that the
children have discovered!"
They did not have to go far; for, the queer-looking amphibious creature
had by this time crawled up on to the rocks close outside the tent, and
was quite near to where they were standing--the Norwegian sailor having
already seen and recognised its species before he spoke.
The animal was a gigantic sort of seal, some twenty-five feet in length
and quite five high. If big, it was certainly also most unwieldy, for
it appeared to waddle up from the shore with the greatest difficulty.
Its body was covered with a short brown fur, with lighter hair of a dun
colour under the throat; and, what gave it the singular appearance
whence its name of "sea-elephant" was probably more derived than from
its size, was the pendulous nostrils, which hung down over its mouth,
just like the proboscis or long trunk of the children's old friend,
"Jumbo."
Karl Ericksen had managed to rummage out a harpoon one day amongst the
odds and ends in the forecastle of the _Nancy Bell_, and the sailor
having been familiar with its use from long whaling experience, had not
forgotten to bring it ashore when they abandoned the wreck--looking upon
the weapon with almost as much veneration as Mr Lathrope regarded the
rifle he had inherited from the celebrated Colonel Crockett.
This harpoon Karl now brought forth, approaching the seal with the
obvious intention of despatching it summarily; when another evidence of
its elephantine character was displayed, well justifying its title.
As the sailor came up to it and raised the harpoon to strike, the animal
raised itself on its fore-flappers, snarling and emitting a hollow roar
which startled everybody near, causing them to jump away, and give it a
wide berth; while at the same time it erected its nose so that it stood
out quite stiff, more than a foot long, and, opening its mouth, it
exposed the bright scarlet palate and gullet, from the bottom of which
its hoarse bellow proceeded. Karl, however, was not frightened by the
sea-elephant's rage, but with a single swinging blow from his harpoon on
the snout stretched it lifeless on the ground, when all were better able
to appreciate its enormous size. Its girth alone exceeded sixteen feet,
and the animal appeared all the more imposing when dead than alive.
The Norwegian sailor cut out the tongue, telling Mr Meldrum that this
portion of the sea-elephant and the snout were considered great
delicacies by the whalers; but none of the party relished either,
although Snowball served up both at dinner in his most recherche
fashion. The flesh of the body, too, was of a blackish hue, and had an
oily taste about it, which made the sailors turn up their noses at it
and wish to fling it away; but this Mr Meldrum would not allow.
"We will probably be glad enough to get it bye and bye," he said; and he
then caused the despised seal "beef" to be cut up in pieces and salted
down in one of their spare casks in case of future need.
During the time Mr Meldrum had been taking stock of their stores,
before the coming of the sea-elephant--"to pay them an afternoon call,"
as Florry said--the carpenter, with a number of the hands working under
him, had been proceeding with the house-building operations; but he had
to stop at last, more from want of the proper timber wherewith to
complete the job than through the darkening of the afternoon on account
of the approach of night.
"I can't get along nohow," Ben explained to Mr Meldrum, who was now
regarded as the head of the party, and the one to look to in every
difficulty. "I'm at a standstill for planking, sir. I can manage the
roof part pretty well, by breaking up those old puncheons we brought
under the raft and using the staves for shingles; but the joists and
rafters bother me, sir."
"Well, we must hope to get some more to-morrow from the wreck," said Mr
Meldrum. "The ship cannot last much longer; but, recollect, we can't
get any ashore till she breaks up."
"Aye, aye, sir, I knows that," replied Ben. "Still, I hopes it won't
all drift away to sea when she do go to pieces."
"We'll try to prevent that, Boltrope," said the other. "Mind, Mr
McCarthy, and have a look-out stationed in the morning to keep an eye on
the ship, with a man to relieve him watch and watch, the same as on
board! She's all firm now, for I saw the flag still waving when I
looked before the light began to fail; but if the wind and sea get up
again, as they very likely will towards midnight, tomorrow will tell a
very different tale!"
"I'll have a look-out, never fear, sorr."
"And, McCarthy--"
"Yes, sorr!"
"See that the jolly-boat is ready and a crew picked for it to put off
the moment any wreckage is observed floating inshore. We must not
neglect any chance of securing all the timber we can for fuel, putting
the house out of the reckoning entirely!"
"Indade I will, sorr," answered the mate cheerily; and then, all struck
work for the day and retired into the tent, not sorry to have another
easy night's rest. Every one was anxious to turn in, for really there
was nothing else to be done.
CHAPTER TWENTY FIVE.
BREAKING UP OF THE VESSEL.
They did not sleep so soundly, however, on this occasion as they had
done the first night of their landing on the island; for, soon after
dark, the wind rose into a tempestuous gale, making the tent flap about
in such a way that it seemed as if it were about to be carried off
bodily!
As it was, indeed--through the blowing in of the sides, and the jumping
up and down of the tarpaulin on the roof every now and then as the
boisterous gusts got under it--a lot of snow, which had begun to fall
before they retired to rest and was now coming down in a regular storm,
as fast and furious as the flakes could succeed each other, managed to
find its way inside, not contributing much to their comfort; and this,
combined with the roar of the breakers against the base of the cliffs,
which seemed louder than ever now that the men were lying down with
their ears to the ground, tended to keep the majority of the castaways
awake and made them long for the morning to come again.
At last, the day broke; and, as the faint light gleamed through the
chinks in the tent, telling all that the dreary night was past, they
quickly bestirred themselves--Snowball being one of the first to turn
out, and at once hastening to kindle up the fire, which he had left
carefully banked up the previous evening, besides wisely hedging it in
with heavy pieces of stone so that the wind should not scatter it away,
as would otherwise probably have been the case.
"Soon get drop hot coffee, massa," said he to Mr Meldrum, who was an
early riser too and not far behind the darkey; "Um berry good for de
tomack fust thing in mornin'!"
But the other was too much concerned about the fate of the ship to think
of coffee then; and, long before Snowball had finished his remark, he
was actively ascending the highest rock near to get a good view out to
seaward. Here he was shortly joined by Mr McCarthy and Ben Boltrope,
who were also equally anxious in the matter; although the others, not
having been called, did not hurry themselves to leave the warm
atmosphere of the tent for the cold and raw air without.
The lookers-out, however, could not see much as yet; for the usual
surface fog--which in these regions generally creeps up in the evening
and hangs over the sea till broad daylight--had not yet completely
cleared away; and so, a curtain of haze shut out the offing from their
gaze. Still, as far as the eye could reach, the sea was very rough,
with heavy rollers rolling in landward. The gale of the night had not
abated much, albeit the wind was not so gusty as it had been, while its
force seemed to be lessening as the morning drew on.
"I'm afraid," said Mr Meldrum, after vainly trying for a long time to
peer through the impenetrable veil of mist which hid the reef from
sight, "that this last blow has settled the old ship."
"Faix, and I'm thinking just that very same," responded the first mate.
"It blowed tremenjus towards four bells, sorr, an' the poor crathur must
be clane smashed up by now!"
"It's very unfortunate if that has happened," replied the other. "The
sea is running too high for us to launch the jolly-boat, and so we'll
lose all chance of saving the wreckage."
"True for you, sorr, save and onless it drifts ashore."
"There's not the slightest hope of that," replied Mr Meldrum. "Nothing
has come up on the beach here yet, that I've been able to perceive!"
"But, sure an' the wind's bin blowing on to the land, sorr, all night.
P'r'aps that might make a difference!"
"Perhaps it might," said the other; "but I very much doubt it."
"Well, sorr, we'll say," retorted the mate. However, the argument was
settled offhand by Ben Boltrope, who had clambered up to a higher ledge
of rock from whence he could see further out to seaward over the fog,
which hung low on the water and did not extend to the upper regions of
the air.
"There she is, your honour, bless her old heart!" he exclaimed. "She's
still hard and fast on the reef, and never another plank sprung from the
starn, as far as I can see!"
This was good news; and Mr Meldrum, with the mate, hastened to join the
carpenter on his perch above.
Yes, there in the distance, rising out of the mist, could be seen the
upper portion of the poop of the _Nancy Bell_, although the wreck was
still occasionally obscured by a wave breaking over it; and, presently,
on the lifting of the fog, as the clouds cleared off from the face of
the sky and a gleam of sunshine stole out, lighting up the sea and
landscape around, it could be observed that the remains of the vessel
were nearly in the same condition, apparently, as when last noticed on
the evening before--save that the poor ship was now surrounded by a line
of breakers which dashed over the stern continually, looking as if they
meant to pull it in pieces before they had done with it!
"She's shifted more on to her side," said Mr Meldrum, who had taken out
a glass from his pocket and was now inspecting the remains of the old
ship more carefully. "I can see the deck clearly. The waves are
spurting up through the hole where the skylight was removed, so the
cabins must be pretty well washed out by this time."
"Ah! that's the rayson we couldn't say the flag, sorr," observed the
mate.
"It is there still," replied Mr Meldrum; "although it is now all to
port, instead of right amidships as it was when we left. This is on
account of the mizzen-mast stump leaning over into the water, for I
couldn't see it myself till I took the glass. She can't last much
longer, though. Those seas are breaking over her with frightful force,
judging by the amount of surf they send up, and they must soon make an
end of her!"
"I hope it'll calm down a bit, sir," said Ben Boltrope. "I'm nervous
about them timbers for the roof of the house."
"Be aisy with you, man," put in Mr McCarthy. "Sure an' all the anxiety
in the worruld won't dhrive a pig to market! If we're to have the
crathur's planks we'll have thim sure enough; and if we aren't, why we
won't, that's all about it!"
"The sea may run easier at low water, Boltrope," said Mr Meldrum to
console the carpenter; "and if she should be broken up by that time,
we'll send out the jolly-boat and pick up what we can."
"Begorrah, you won't have to wait long," cried the mate; and almost as
he spoke, a heavy roller was seen to lift up the wreck on the top of its
crest and roll it over, after which the dark body they had observed on
the reef with the little scrap of a flag fluttering over it was there no
longer!
The _Nancy Bell_, or rather the remaining fragments of her hull, had
disappeared at last beneath the waves!
"I'm afraid we sha'n't be able to save anything," said Mr Meldrum,
after a moment of silence, in which each of the three witnesses of the
vessel's end had drawn a deep breath, showing how affecting had been the
sight. "It is such a long distance out there, and the sea is running so
heavily besides, that I wouldn't like to risk the boat."
"Sure and we could thry, sorr," pleaded the first mate eagerly.
"No, Mr McCarthy, it would be hazardous in the extreme; and we ought
not to peril the men's lives unnecessarily! Still, if you want to do
something--"
"Bedad I do," interrupted the other, as if ready at once to dive into
the sea if required.
"Well," continued Mr Meldrum, "you can post a man on the watch here and
one or two other places along the cliff, to notice if anything floats
inshore; and then, of course, we'll make an effort to bring it to land
should the wreckage drift near."
"Aye, aye, sorr, you may dipind upon me that same," said Mr McCarthy;
and, rushing down from the rock, he was soon in front of the men's
compartment of the tent, rousing them out with a cry of, "Ahoy there!
All hands on deck to save ship! Tumble up, tumble up there, my
hearties, there's no time to lose!"
The men coming out with alacrity, half bewildered by such a hail under
the circumstances and surroundings, four were picked out and posted to
look out like sentinels--two on the beach and two on the ridge above--
and all with strict injunctions to report anything they saw at once,
just as if they were put to the same duty on board ship.
"Now, mind ye kape a good watch," said the first mate, as he left them
to their own devices, "and out if you say a single hincoop floating in
the say foreninst ye--though it's little enough of them you'll say,
sure, considerin' they were all washed overboard off the Cape!--I mane
if ye say any timbers or spars from the wrack drifting inshore, just you
hould your eye on thim, or the divil a mother's son ye'll have a roof
over his hid or a pace of foire to warm his-self! Faix, ye needn't
snigger, ye spalpeens; it's the truth I'm afther tellin' ye!" and Mr
McCarthy then went off, shaking his fist good-humouredly at those who
laughed at his quaint speech.
Four other men he selected as a crew for the jolly-boat, which was
hauled down on the beach in readiness to shove off as soon as any of the
wreckage was reported in sight; the remainder of the hands being
directed to place themselves under the orders of the carpenter until
their services should be required to relieve the look-out men at the end
of their watch. The duty of these latter, however, was for some time a
sinecure, as the breakers were still breaking angrily against the cliffs
and keeping up the hoarse diapason in which they expressed their
impotent rage; while the wind, though blowing with less force than
during the night time, was yet strong enough to sweep off the tops of
the billows when it caught them well abeam, carrying the spindrift away
to leeward and scattering the surge with its blast as it transformed it
into fairy-like foam bubbles and wreaths of gossamer spray.
Noon came before there was any change.
Then, soon after the end of the ebb and just as the tide began to flow
again, the wind died away into a dead calm; and the sea settling down
somewhat--the rollers still rolling in, but only breaking when they
reached the shore, instead of jostling one another in their tumultuous
rushings together and mimic encounters out in the open--every eye was on
the _qui vive_. It was either "now or never" that they might expect
anything coming inshore from the wreck!
"Sail ho!" at length shouted one of the look-out men on the ridge. The
sailor evidently could not help using the nautical term from old habit,
although he well knew that there was little chance of his seeing a
"sail" that quarter!
"Where away?" called out Mr McCarthy, who had the jolly-boat's crew
round her, running her into the water the moment he heard the cry.
"Right to leeward of the reef, sir, about a mile out," answered the
look-out, adding quickly afterwards, "it looks a pretty biggish bit of
timber, sir, and rides high in the water."
"All right, my man," said the mate; "mind you kape still on the watch,
and fix any other paces of planking you may say in your mind's eye! You
can till me where to look for thim whin I come back agin within hail.
Shove off, you beggars!" he then cried out to the boat's crew, as he
jumped in over the side. "Arrah put your backs into it, for we're bound
to save ivery scrap of the ould vessel we can come across, in order sure
to tow it ashore!"
Watching for an opportunity, the boat's head was shoved out on top of a
return wave, when, the oars being plied with sturdy strokes, the little
buoyant craft was soon well out of the broken water and making steady
progress in the direction that had been pointed out. No object,
however, could be seen as yet by Mr McCarthy; for the rollers were
still so high that when the boat was sunk in the hollow between them
nothing could be noticed beyond the curving ridge of the next wave and
the broken wash of the one just overtopped.
"Go it, boys, kape at it with a will," cried the mate, rising up in the
stern-sheets after a while to look round better, steadying himself by
holding on to the yoke-lines and leaning forwards. "Ha! I can say it
now, right in front! We'll soon have it--one more stroke, and we'll be
there, sure!"
"Aisy, now--avast--row of all!" he cried out in turn; and then, with a
sullen, grating sound the boat brought up against a large mass of broken
timberwork which the men had no difficulty in recognising as the larger
portion of the poop deck. It had the combings of the companion and
skylight still attached, as well as a part of one of the ladder-ways,
and was in every sense a treasure trove.
"Sure we're in luck, boys, anyhow," said Mr McCarthy joyfully. "Be
jabers, I niver expected to git so much ov it all at once without any
trouble!"
The first mate proceeded without delay to attach the small hawser which
they had used for towing the raft to a ring-bolt, left as if for the
purpose on the floating mass; and then the men, backing water on one
side, and pulling sharp on the other, soon had the boat on her way back
to the land, with the mass of broken timberwork trailing behind her. It
was in itself, without picking up another plank, more than sufficient to
supply all the carpenter's needs for the roof of the house, "besoides
making the ladies a prisint of a staircase for the front door," as Mr
McCarthy observed!
It was fortunate they came across this, for little more of the wreckage
was secured, the tide having evidently carried out the lighter portions
of the planking too far to sea for it to be brought back again by the
returning flood. It was probably only owing to the weight of the poop-
deck that they had been able to make certain of that.
Still, on making a trip out to the reef later on, to see whether any
more of the timbers remained there, a "find" was discovered which
greatly rejoiced Snowball's heart when it was brought on shore.
This was nothing less than one of the ship's coppers, which had become
detached from the galley framework and in falling on to the reef had
managed to get securely fixed between the rocks, just a little below the
surface of the water. A couple of the men were easily able to pull it
up into the jolly-boat, where, on being inspected, it was found
perfectly sound and as good as ever!
"Golly, massa," exclaimed the darkey, when Mr Meldrum presented him
with the recovered copper--which Snowball looked upon almost as the
apple of his eye--"me able cook pea-shoop now, sah, and bile de beef in
'spectable style, sah! Dat sospan, massa, no good for ship's company.
Um bile, and bile, and bile, and nebbah bile enuff!"
"Ah! mind you don't go cooking too extravagantly," said Mr Meldrum.
"If I see you wasting anything, I'll taboo the copper."
"Lor, massa, I'se too careful for dat," replied the negro cook, with a
grin which displayed his ivory-mounted mouth from ear to ear; "when de
men sing out for more thoop, why, sah, I just water um grog! Yah, yah!
ho, ho!" and he burst into a roar of laughter in which those around
could not help joining, the darkey's hearty merriment was so contagious.
CHAPTER TWENTY SIX.
KERGUELEN CABBAGE.
While Mr McCarthy and the jolly-boat's crew were thus trying to save
all the "flotsam and jetsam" they could from the wreck, Ben Boltrope and
those of the crew told off to help him, as "carpenter's mates," were as
busy as bees house-building, if running up the shanty which Mr Meldrum
had designed could be so designated; while the rest of the party were
lending all the aid they could in fetching and carrying what the actual
workers required.
It was only a rough wooden hut, or rather "composite" structure; but as
it was more than probable that it would have to be the home of the
shipwrecked people for some five months at the least, no trouble or
pains were spared in endeavouring to make it as substantial and
comfortable under the circumstances as Ben and his active assistants
could effect with the limited means at their command.
The gable-end of the cliff, under whose lee the hut was erected, so as
to gain shelter from the southward and westward winds, which seemed to
be the most prevalent on the coast, presented a flat and even face, just
like a slab of black slate standing up perpendicularly from the ground.
The wall of rock, which was of a hard volcanic material that was
evidently not porous, was made to serve for the back of the building, a
niche or groove being excavated along it, about ten feet from the
bottom, for the insertion of the ridge poles. This was a task of some
difficulty, owing to the toughness of the stone; but it was a necessary
one in order to prevent the moisture from above trickling down into the
interior between the roof and the face of the cliff. The lower ends of
the ridge poles, which sloped down from the top at an angle of some
fifteen degrees, were then firmly fastened to the posts placed in the
holes dug for them and lashed together with stout seizings of rope and
sennet, so strongly that it would almost have taken a hurricane to have
blown them away.
The next proceeding was to fix, at equal distances apart across the
rough framework of the roof, a series of slender scantlings cut from the
deck planks by splitting them with an axe, which Ben was forced to make
use of on account of his having no saw, that and other similar useful
instruments having been left in his tool-chest, which had been placed in
the long-boat when the first preparations were made for abandoning the
_Nancy Bell_.
The scantlings were secured to the ridge poles diagonally, not only for
greater security but on account of the shortness of some of the pieces
of timber they had and the necessity there was for their economising it;
and, over the scantlings were laid in due order, the one overlapping the
other to prevent any crevices in between, the shingles which the
ingenious carpenter had improvised out of the staves of the empty
casks--although, as the space to be covered amounted to some seven
hundred superficial feet or thereabouts, every one of the casks had to
be broken up save the six containing their beef and pork and the salted-
down flesh of the sea-elephant, Ben even then hardly having enough
shingles for his purpose.
However, casks or no casks, the roof of their house was a consideration
that stood at the moment before all others; and, being now properly
shingled, it was rendered additionally watertight by spreading over it
the old tarpaulin and sail that had already temporarily done duty above
their tent, and then giving them a good coating of pitch. A supply of
this article had been fortunately thrown on to the raft along with the
other odds and ends that had came in so usefullys and it was now melted
down in Snowball's recovered copper. The finishing touch was given to
the structure by piling several big boulders over the upper row of
shingles along the ridge pole, for greater stability and to prevent
boisterous Boreas from playing any of his rude tricks to its
disadvantage.
The roof done, all hands turned their attention to raising the sides of
the shanty. This was a much easier job, consisting in nailing rough
pieces of planking at intervals across the corner-posts from end to end,
both inside the building and without, and then filling up the
interstices, or intervening hollows, with the basaltic debris that was
scattered around--just as rubble is thrown in between skeleton brickwork
by what are termed "jerry-builders" to form party-walls of modern
tenements. The side walls were then carried up to within a foot or so
of the eaves of the roof, the sail-covering of which after being allowed
to lap over was now tucked in at the top, thus closing up the chinks and
making all snug.
The front of the shanty was afterwards finished off in the same way,
although more planking was employed as greater nicety of detail was
necessary in order to arrange for the doorway and windows, for which
latter the remains of the cabin sky-light Frank thought of bringing
ashore supplied the material; but it took a couple of days to complete
the building to the satisfaction of Ben and Mr Meldrum, notwithstanding
which drawback the whole party took possession of it the night after the
wreckage had been landed, the recovered timber enabling the carpenter
and his crew to proceed with the work--all declaring that the house was
perfect and ever so much better than the discarded tent, in spite of
many things being still wanting.
In the interior, of course, a flooring had been dispensed with, from the
simple fact of their having no wood to spare for such a luxury; but
otherwise it was made to look very comfortable.
Through the aid of canvas curtains suspended from the roof, it was
divided, as Mr Meldrum had originally planned, into three tolerably
commodious apartments, the cosiest and most sheltered of which, at the
extreme end of the building, was apportioned to the ladies some
sailcloth being spread on the bare ground to render it warmer; while the
middle and larger room was reserved as a store and place of general
assembly for eating and carrying on such avocations as were required
when the weather was too rough for out-of-door work.
The third apartment, at the beach end of the building, was devoted to
the dormitory accommodation of the men folk, who slept on the bare rock
below in their blankets--Mr Meldrum, with the American and the officers
of the ship swinging above the crew in hammocks.
They had a tight fit of it altogether, some one-and-twenty sleeping in a
space of not more than twenty feet by eight, according to the dimensions
of the floor; but Captain Dinks' cot was hung for the present in the
general compartment, on account of his wounded condition and the
necessity of his having free air and ventilation, lest there should be a
return of his feverish symptoms, which a confined atmosphere might have
brought about.
When all these arrangements were completed, and the stores neatly ranged
round the central division, which Ben Boltrope had further adorned with
a rough deal table and some settles placed in the centre, the place
presented quite a homelike appearance to the castaways. The children,
indeed, declared that it was like the cuddy of the poor old _Nancy
Bell_--that is, when things went well with the vessel. This resemblance
was especially apparent on the second night after taking possession of
the new house, when it was "declared open" in state, on which occasion
it was lit up by no less than two of the ship's lanterns as a sort of
house warming in honour of the event. Snowball was also allowed by Mr
Meldrum to spread the festal board with as luxurious a feast as their
scanty supplies permitted, a bottle of wine being subsequently produced
for the ladies and grog served out to the men.
"I guess, mister," said Mr Lathrope, who took quite as much pride as
Mr Meldrum in the building--indeed had an equal share in planning its
construction, although he did not work quite so hard in carrying out the
details--"I'd a sight rayther have this air shanty than a brown stone
front in Philadelphy--yes, sir!"
"Well, we've got a roof over our heads at all events!" replied Mr
Meldrum, "and I confess I was anxious about that point. We've had
exceptionally fine weather for the time of year here, however, and
there's no knowing how soon it will turn off; so, now that our house is
finished, the next thing to be considered is the state of our
provisions."
"Ah!" said the American, "I kalkerlate that's coming to hum."
"The food question is a vital necessity in most cases, and especially
now in ours,"--continued the other--"taking into account the many mouths
we have to feed."
"But the Lord filleth the hungry, we're told," said Mrs
Major Negus, who had developed, since landing on the island, what had
evidently been a strong religious trait previously dormant in her
character, if quoting Scripture texts were any proof of this
disposition.
"Ah ma'rm," responded Mr Lathrope, "don't you believe it, unless the
hungry work for it."
"And much you've done to earn your food!" said the lady tartly.
"Wa-al, ma'rm, if it warn't for me, as Mr Meldrum here will tell you,
I've no doubt yer wouldn't have a chimbley, nor nary fire to sot by
inside haar!"
"A fine smoky chimney it is too!" retorted Mrs Major Negus. "It is
quite suffocating, I declare."
"That's better nor bein' friz," said the American, with some little
heat. He was rather annoyed at having his special contrivance sneered
at, for it was only after repeated attempts and failures that the
building party had at last managed to rig up a fireplace against the
back wall of the shanty--running up through the roof of the "general"
room a chimney-shaft of loosely piled stones, enclosed within a
framework of planks to which was nailed on the sea-elephant's skin in
order to prevent the wood from catching fire. This served the purpose
of warming the whole of the interior, as the other apartments opened
into this room, which indeed also provided the only means of
communication with the outside of the hut, the principal and solitary
door of the establishment being here.
"I'd sooner be smoked any time fur chice, myself, than friz!" said Mr
Lathrope again, as if to provoke his opponent.
"No wonder," retorted the lady, eager to have the last word, "when
you're at it all day long, smoking your brains out with that vile
tobacco!"
"What were you going to say about the provisions, papa?" interposed Kate
at this juncture, in order to give a turn to the conversation, which
seemed to be getting a trifle too personal between Mr Lathrope and "the
Major."
"Well, my dear," said her father, glad of the interruption, "I was about
to call a council of war. What we have can't last us very long, at our
present rate of consumption. We shall have to eke it out, as far as it
is practicable, by the native products of the island."
"That's snow and pumice-stone, as fur as I ken see," put in Mr
Lathrope; "and I guess I must be durned peckish fore I tackle those!"
"You forget the seals and the penguins," said Mr Meldrum.
"Waal, mister," rejoined the American, "we've only seed one seal, as I
reckon. That was that air `Sea Olly-fant,' as the Norwegee called it,
and the animile's meat warn't 'zackly what this child ken stomach! As
for them penguins, I guess they're kinder fishy."
"My dear sir, we can't be squeamish," said the other. "Perhaps we'll be
only too glad to get anything we can presently! Besides the seals and
birds, however, there's something else I shall have to look after to-
morrow. It is what I should have thought of before, only we were so
busy about the house--some vegetable food to eat with our salt beef. We
must use some antiscorbutic; and we haven't a tin of our preserved stock
left, I think."
"And whar'll you find vegetables haar, mister?"
"Why, there's one specially distinctive of the island and I daresay
we'll not have to hunt far for it. From the accounts I've read it ought
to grow quite close to the seashore."
"And what's that, mister?" asked the American.
"Kerguelen cabbage," promptly answered Mr Meldrum.
"Snakes and alligators, mister! Do you expect to find sich kitchen
stuff haar?"
"I do," replied the other; "and intend to search for it to-morrow
morning, as soon as I turn out!"
"It was lucky we have poor puss, papa," said Florry just then. "We
would have had all our things eaten up by the mice only for her."
"Dear me!" ejaculated Mrs Major Negus, drawing her skirts closer to her
in alarm, "you don't say so? Mice! gracious goodness that I ever should
have come to such a place. Of all the things I hate, those nasty
creatures are the worst."
"Ah! ma'rm," put in Mr Lathrope, seeing his chance of revenge for the
lady's comments on his chimney; "if all Mister Meldrum kalkerlates comes
true about the shortness of our provisions, I guess you'll be glad to
eat 'em bye and bye! I've seed the Chinee immigrants gobble 'em up in
Californy often enough!"
"Disgusting!" ejaculated Mrs Major Negus, raising her nose in the air
with an expression of intense scorn. "I for one, sir, will never
descend to adopt Chinese fashions and live on rats and mice, whatever
you may have learnt to do in your travels."
"Pray, do not alarm yourself," interposed Mr Meldrum, laughing. "Can't
you see that Mr Lathrope is only joking! I do not dread our being
reduced to such a sad extremity as he pictures! Are you sure about the
mice, Florry?"
"Oh yes, papa," answered that young lady. "Pussy killed four not long
ago, and brought them purring, one after another, to Kate and me--as if
to show us what she had done! Besides, I'm sure I heard them squeaking
behind the boxes last night."
Florry's statement was true enough, for on hunting amongst the stores it
was found that the corners of the bags containing the small supply of
biscuits they had left had been nibbled through and their contents
scattered on the ground; in addition to which there were other evidences
of the presence of the little depredators. The mice must have been
originally introduced into the island by some whaling ship; and, they
had evidently multiplied considerably since then, for they were now very
numerous and puss would have all her work cut out for her in keeping
them down.
In spite of the mouse diversion, Mr Meldrum did not forget what he had
said about the "Kerguelen cabbage."
Instituting a search next day, it was not long before he came across the
plant in a little hollow, close to the fresh-water tarn adjoining their
hut and just peeping out from a thin covering of half-melted snow that
lay on the ground.
This peculiar vegetable production, which was first noticed by Captain
Cook a century ago and is indigenous to the island, is termed by
botanists the _Pringlea antiscorbutica_, and belongs to the order of
plants classed as the _Cruciferae_, which embraces the common cabbage of
every household garden, the radish, and the horse-radish--to the latter
of which the Kerguelen cabbage is the most closely allied, on account of
its hot pungent taste when eaten raw as well as from its habit and mode
of growth.
Mr Meldrum could not have failed to discover and recognise it at first
sight from the description he already had, for the leaves of the plant
grew thick about the root and put forth an upright stem, some two to
three feet high, from which proceeded shoots, like broccoli sprouts on
an enlarged scale, the outer petal-like leaves of which were six to
eight inches long, and of a dark olive-green hue and fleshy nature,
rounded and ciliated at the margin; while the inner leaves were of a
paler green that approximated to yellow in the centre, where they were
crumpled together, exactly like as in the "heart" of the well-known
cabbage, to which the vegetable bore a very close likeness on being
first seen.
"Begorrah, it's a cabbage, all the worruld over!" exclaimed the first
mate, who had accompanied Mr Meldrum in his quest. "Sure you'd hardly
know the hid ov the baste, if it was cut off, from one grown in
Connemara!"
"Not quite so strong a resemblance, perhaps," replied Mr Meldrum,
smiling. "Still, there's likeness enough to recognise its membership to
the general cabbage family; but, we have yet to try how it tastes!"
"Aye, aye, sorr," said Mr McCarthy. "The proof of the pudden's in the
aiting, sure!"
However, the Kerguelen cabbage stood this test well enough.
It was tried that very day at dinner; and, although tasting slightly
acrid and hot flavoured when raw, on being cooked in the same water in
the copper in which some salt pork had been boiled, it seemed not very
much dissimilar to the native home-grown article commonly known as
"greens."
"I guess, mister, it air downright prime, an' no mistake," said Mr
Lathrope, passing opinion on its qualities; "and more'n that, it fills a
feller up fine!"
"Begorrah, it's jist like bacon and greens!" observed Mr McCarthy.
The majority of the men, too, relished it greatly. It was a long time
since any of them had tasted fresh meat much less vegetables, by reason
of the _Nancy Bell_ not having stopped at any port on her way after
leaving England; so, thenceforth, both on account of its antiscorbutic
as well as from its "filling up" qualities, the plant invariably formed
a leading feature in the dietary scale of the castaways; Snowball never
failing to have a plentiful supply of "cabbage" to cook when meal times
came round, or else he or somebody else in fault for its absence, would
have to "tell the reason why!"
CHAPTER TWENTY SEVEN.
COLONEL CROCKETT'S RIFLE.
Captain Dinks was gradually getting better; but his recovery was so very
slow that it would be weeks before he would be able to quit his cot.
His wound had been a severe one, and had narrowly missed his heart.
Under these circumstances, therefore, Mr Meldrum still retained the
position of chief of the party--not only the first mate and Mr Adams
acquiescing in the arrangement, which the poor captain desired; but the
general bulk of the men themselves, who were prejudiced in his favour
from Ben Boltrope's frequent yarns of his ability when an officer in the
navy, requested his continuing to be their leader by acclamation, when
he expressed a wish of surrendering the command as soon as they had
landed safely from the wreck and things had been made comfortable for
them on the island. This was only a repetition of what they had done
when they were in peril of their lives on board the _Nancy Bell_, at
which momentous time, it may be remembered, Mr McCarthy, speaking on
behalf of all, had asked him to assume the direction of things and
endeavour to extricate them from danger, looking upon him as the most
competent person to guide them in the emergency.
Just so, now, on his speaking of relinquishing the leadership, he was
requested to retain it for the common benefit, at least until Captain
Dinks should be able to get about. This was the more desired from the
fact of Mr Meldrum having managed matters so well for them already that
they expected him to "see them through" all present difficulties.
As on the previous occasion, Mr Meldrum did not hesitate to retain the
post, believing from his training and experience in commanding bodies of
men that he really would be the best leader they could have, in default
of the captain; but, before consenting to the general wish, he addressed
all hands, impressing on them the necessity of implicit obedience to his
orders and a rigid attention to whatever duties he might set them--
adding that they might be certain he would not tell them to do anything
which was not, to the best of his impression, for their own good.
To this the men assented with a cheer of acquiescence, and he then
dismissed them with the assurance that he would endeavour to deserve the
confidence they had displayed in him. But, prior to separating from Mr
McCarthy and Adams, Mr Meldrum drew up a code of rules for their
guidance, premising that where a large party of seamen such as they had
under them were thus thrown ashore with no regular duties to perform,
such as they had on board ship, it was most urgently necessary that
employment of some sort should be made for them; not only to keep them
out of that mischief which the evil one is proverbially said to find
"for idle hands to do," but also to prevent them from dwelling on the
misery of their situation.
"We must keep watches, turn and turn about," Mr Meldrum explained,
"just the same as we did on board the ship; for, although there'll be no
sails to attend to, in the cold nights which we will shortly have the
fire will need careful looking after to prevent it from going out and
leaving us all perhaps to freeze to death, while, in the daytime, there
will be seal-hunting and water fetching to employ the hands, besides
seeing to keeping the rooms clean. These and such similar duties must
be performed regularly, so that through their aid the long hours will
pass the more rapidly, until we are able--as I trust we shall about
November, when the snow melts here, I believe, and we can travel--to
start towards the other side of the island, where I hope we'll fetch
some harbour where the whalers touch, and get taken on board and landed
at the Cape or some other civilised spot. But, mind, in order to do
this," he added in conclusion, "we must all work together in harmony;
and, to prevent discord, and all sorts of unpleasantness, we must keep
the men constantly employed--not too onerously, but so that they shall
always have something to do--in order that the weary time of waiting
shall not hang heavy upon them. However, my friends, to encourage them,
you must likewise find something to be busy at for yourselves, as I
shall find for myself! Excuse this little bit of a sermon, gentlemen,"
said Mr Meldrum at the end of his discourse; "but I thought it
necessary to say it, as I've seen the evil of having a lot of men about
me with nothing for them to do on a foreign station before now, and I've
learnt wisdom by experience!"
"True for you, sorr," replied Mr McCarthy, stretching out his brawny
fist; "and there's my hand on it to say I'll attind to your orders, if
it's to holystone the face of that ould cliff there."
"All right, my friend!" said Mr Meldrum, shaking the hand outstretched
cordially. "I see we understand each other; and, believe me, I'll not
be a hard taskmaster."
"I'm certain of that, sir," responded Mr Adams; and the trio then
parted company to carry these arrangements into effect, the first result
of which was that everybody looked more cheerful than they had been
since the completion of the house, after finishing which some dulness
and lassitude had been observable in the men, coupled with a tendency to
idle about and mope.
This soon disappeared now when the first mate and Mr Adams, in
pursuance of Mr Meldrum's directions, made them bustle about here and
there.
They did all sorts of jobs. They scraped the jolly-boat's planking, and
pitched her inside and out; after which they collected all the stray
blocks of basalt they could find and built a "shebeen," as Mr McCarthy
called it, to contain her, and then housed it and her over with all the
spare planks they could get hold of--marching miles along the black
sandy beach for the purpose of seeing what stray timber might be
stranded. In addition to this work achieved, they rigged up a flagstaff
on the head of the cliff and used to signal from thence at stated hours
of the day. In fact, they were employed in doing everything that could
be thought of to give employment to their minds and bodies, McCarthy and
Adams finding them fresh jobs continually.
Amongst all these various tasks, however, the very needful one of
replenishing their gradually diminishing larder was not forgotten.
"We've got some green-stuff," said Mr Lathrope--whom the question of
eating, or rather what to get to eat, seemed more materially to affect
than anyone else--"and I ain't a-going to gainsay but what it's fust-
rate green-stuff of the sort, and right down prime filling stuff too;
but, mister, we ain't all ben brought up to live on sauerkraut, like
them German immigrants as I've seed land at Castle Garden, New York. I,
fur one, likes a bit o' somethin' more substantial, that a feller can
chew. 'Spose we goes a-huntin', hey?"
"Very good," replied Mr Meldrum to this exordium; "but what shall we
hunt!"
"Anything you durned please, siree," said the other. "There's seals and
them penguins besides lots of cormorants and sichlike."
"Well, I don't think the seals will want much hunting or shooting," said
Mr Meldrum; "for, if we come across any, a stroke over the nose with a
stick will settle them, and the same can be said of the penguins--
although I don't want them to be disturbed yet, as it will soon be their
breeding season and I hope to get a lot of eggs from the little colony
adjacent to us. As for the cormorants, if you complained about the
former birds having a fishy taste, you'll find these fishier still.
However, to relieve your mind, I believe that there are a number of wild
rabbits on the island, so we'll try to shoot some of those."
"Bully for you!" exclaimed Mr Lathrope. "We'll go rabbit-hunting,
mister, as soon as you please. If there wer one thing I liked in the
old country it wer rabbit-pie, and it kinder made me lonesome to think
I'd never fix my grinders through another 'fore I got played out!"
"I've heard, too," continued Mr Meldrum, "that there's a very fine sort
of tern or duck here that is good eating; and I fancy I saw a brace fly
across the creek the other day. We might come across some!"
"If we dew," said the American complacently, tapping the barrel of the
old rifle he had brought ashore as his most valued possession, and
spoken of as the gift of his deceased grandfather, "I guess Colonel
Crockett haar ken give a sorter good account of 'em. When I draws a
bead with that thaar rifle, mister, what I shoot at's as good as a gone
coon!"
"I hope you'll have plenty of practice with it then, to the advantage of
our dinner-table," replied Mr Meldrum pleasantly, preparing for the
expedition by loading carefully a double-barrelled gun which he too had
saved from amongst the various goods and chattels he had left on board
the wreck. "You can have all the rabbits I kill if you let me have the
ducks."
"That's a bargain, mister," said Mr Lathrope; "though I guess you'll
gain by the swop."
"Sure and it sames to me you're both countin' your chickens afore
they're hatched," observed the first-mate with a huge grin at his own
joke.
"You're not far wrong, Mr McCarthy," said Mr Meldrum. "I, for one,
don't expect to come back overladen with game; but of course I can't
answer for my friend here, who may be another American `Deerslayer,' for
all I can tell, though he'll find rabbits his biggest quarry on this
island."
"Sir," retorted Mr Lathrope, "I ain't goin' to let out all I ken dew,
fur a leaky sieve's gen'rally bad for holdin' water, I guess; but, you
jest wait and see what you jest see!"
"Arrah sure and we will, sorr," said Mr McCarthy, bursting into a
regular roar of laughter, in which Mr Meldrum and the others joined--
Mrs Major Negus being especially prominent in her merriment, as she
always was when anything was said to the American's disadvantage, he
being apparently her direct antipathy. "But I hope, sorr, though it
goes agin my own counthry to say it, what you bring back won't be as
much as Paddy shot at."
"You slide along with your durned brogue," was all the retort that Mr
Lathrope condescended to make to this hit. It touched him, however, on
his tenderest point, for he certainly prided himself on his proficiency
in the use of "the lethal weapon;" so, when he turned round and observed
that Master Snowball had heard the remark and was indulging in a quiet
guffaw at his expense, he rounded on him a little more sharply. "I
guess you'd better stow that, you ugly cuss!" said he menacingly; "or
else I'll soon make you rattle your ivories to another toon!" Whereupon
the darkey reduced his grin to a proper focus and endeavoured to look as
grave as he could.
This appeased Mr Lathrope at once.
"Oh! durn it all, nigger, laugh away," he said, his wrath passing away
as quickly as it had risen. "I guess those ken laugh who win;" and he
handed Snowball a chaw of tobacco to show that he did not harbour any
ill-will.
Leaving their house on the creek--which, by the way, Florry had
christened "Penguin Castle," in consequence of its propinquity to the
colony of queer sea-fowl--Mr Meldrum and Mr Lathrope, with Frank
Harness, who was also of the shooting party as well as two men to help
in carrying back home the fruits of the sport, all pursued their way in
company up the valley in a north-easterly direction to the right of the
cliff against which the house was built.
The ground here rose gradually as they went along, and the walking
became rather heavy after a time, in consequence of the snow having
partly thawed and the soil beneath it being of some sort of peaty
substance, into which their feet sank deeply at each step.
Presently, Frank, to whom Mr Meldrum had lent a second gun he had
brought ashore, saw a bird just like a little bantam cock, which he at
once shot.
This bird was pure white, with strong yellowish feet, that were not
webbed like those of aquatic habits, rather short wings like those of a
game bird, a strong black bill, stout spurs, and a bold black eye, which
latter seemed to reproach Frank when he went to pick it up. Mr Meldrum
said it was what was called a sheathbill, and not good for eating, which
made Frank regret all the more having killed it, especially when its
mate hopped up to him presently--as if asking him why he had shot her
husband!
It was next Mr Lathrope's turn, a wild duck flying right over his head;
but, somehow or other, "Colonel Crockett's rifle" didn't happen to be
just ready in time, and the duck would have escaped but for Mr
Meldrum's bringing it down with his right barrel. It was really very
curious.
The same thing resulted when a second teal, or widgeon--the wild duck
appearing to partake of the characteristics of both varieties--came by.
Strange to say, the American's weapon again missed fire, and Mr Meldrum
had to kill the bird with his left barrel. These repeated failures to
bring down anything made Mr Lathrope use rather strong language anent
the rifle.
"Burn the old thing!" said he; "I can't make out what's come over it.
My old grandfather's shot scores of deer with the tarnation weppin, and
I guess it's jest cranky, that's all. I bet I'll shoot the next fowl
that comes across haar, or I'll bust it."
Unfortunately, however, no more ducks were to be seen; but as they
ascended a rather steep and bare hill at the back of their own cliff,
and somewhat sheltered, like that, from the ocean winds, they noticed
one or two little objects, jumping up and down out of holes in the
ground and then scuttling back again--not from any alarm at their
appearance, but as if only in play, for they did not interrupt their
pastime for a moment as the shooting party approached.
"By Jove! there are the rabbits," said Frank, levelling his gun.
"Jeerusalem! so they air," exclaimed Mr Lathrope. "Dew let me hev the
first shot!"
"All right; fire away!" replied Mr Meldrum, who was ready to aim at a
couple of the little creatures that were sitting up on a fragment of
rock right opposite the three sportsmen, apparently combing their
whiskers and eyeing them curiously the while. So near were they,
indeed, that the most unskilful marksman in the world could hardly have
missed them.
"Here goes, mister!" ejaculated Mr Lathrope, pulling the trigger of his
piece with as strong an effort as if he were wrenching back a gate-post.
"I guess you'll soon see the fur fly."
Instead of this, however, the phenomenon was witnessed of the fragments
of the rifle dispersing in all directions the moment it was discharged,
the American being at the same time knocked backward to the ground by
the kick of the weapon, which went off with a loud report.
"You're not hurt, I hope?" asked Mr Meldrum, who with Frank had at once
hurried to the American's side and taken hold of his hand to raise him
up.
"No, I guess not," replied Mr Lathrope slowly, getting up on to his
feet and proceeding to feel himself carefully all over. "No, I ain't
hurt; but I feels flummuxed by the durned old shootin'-iron. I
kalkerlate my grandfather was a fraud, and took me in on that job. I
would ha' betted my bottom dollar on the weppin, and now it ain't worth
a cent!"
There was a pretty good laugh round at "Colonel Crockett's rifle," and
what it had brought down, but the American took it all with very good
temper. After that, Mr Meldrum and Frank handing him their guns
alternately, so that they all three could have a fair number of shots
apiece, they managed to make a very good bag out of the rabbits, which
were not in the least dismayed either by the bursting of the rifle in
the first instance, or by the rapid disappearance of their companions
subsequently, although each discharge of the sportsmen's guns laid many
of them low.
Indeed, they might have shot the lot had not Mr Meldrum observed that
they had secured enough; besides which, the two sailors who accompanied
the party said they could not cram any more into the sacks they had
brought. Thereupon all set about counting the spoil, and found that
they had bagged no less than sixty-three brace.
These, with five wild ducks--Mr Lathrope bringing down a pair right and
left, on their way back, in a fashion which amply retrieved his
character as a shot, and Frank securing the odd one--were the nett
result of the day's sport, in addition to the little sheathbill; and the
shooting party returned to the house under the cliff as well satisfied
with their own prowess as the home party were to welcome them,
especially as they were now so plentifully provided with what all had
been longing for since the last sheep had been washed overboard the
_Nancy Bell_ when she was off the Cape--fresh-meat!
That very day Mr Lathrope had a pie made for his own special
delectation by Snowball as a sort of _amende honourable_ for the
darkey's laughter at Colonel Crockett's celebrated rifle, which had come
to such a deplorable and dangerous end; and, for some time after, the
entire community of "Penguin Castle," with the exception of the penguins
themselves, feasted upon bunnies _ad libitum_, until they could say, as
did the servants of that parsimonious nobleman who fed them without
change on similar fare:--
"Of rabbits young and rabbits old,
Of rabbits hot and rabbits cold,
Of rabbits tender and rabbits tough,
Thank the Lord, we've had enough!"
CHAPTER TWENTY EIGHT.
A CONFIDENTIAL COMMUNICATION.
In spite of the abundance of their supply of rabbits, however, Mr
Meldrum would not allow them to be prodigally wasted.
Wisely "providing for a rainy day," he caused a considerable quantity to
be split open and cleaned; and, after the skin was removed, had them
rubbed over with dry salt, of which fortunately they had plenty. The
carcasses were subsequently hung up on lines across the general room,
adjacent to the fireplace, the warmth of which in a short time cured
them like hams, so that they would keep for weeks, and even months if
not required for culinary purposes earlier--as, it eventually turned
out, they were.
It was a lucky thing that the shooting party went on their excursion
when they did. Had they delayed it, as might have been the case, until
they had turned their attention to the seals--which it had been Mr
Meldrum's intention first to have hunted, in order to obtain as many
furs as possible before the severe cold weather, that he expected soon
to set in--they might have starved; for, the very day that succeeded the
one on which they brought home the rabbits, a heavy fall of snow
commenced that completely blocked up all the approaches to the creek,
and compelled them to remain indoors during the ensuing week. The wind
blew so terribly keen and strong from the north-east, right over the
cliffs on the opposite side of the bay, during the whole time the snow
continued to fall, that it was painful in the extreme to be exposed to
it; while, if the door of the house happened to be left open but for a
few minutes, the driving snow-flakes made their way within and banked
themselves up like a heap of frozen drift in their midst.
"Ah!" said Mr Meldrum, "I told you that the fine weather we had was
very exceptional, and could not last. It was providential that we were
prepared for this, or we should have been in a miserable plight."
"You're right, boss," observed Mr Lathrope. "This air snow-storm is
jest like one of them blizzards I told you about when we were aboard the
old ship that I had noticed in Minnesota. I didn't kinder think then
that I should come across another o' them this side of the globe! I'd
ha' bet agin it any day."
"Aye," responded the other, "it is a fortunate thing for all of us that
we cannot foresee the future, and that our strength is apportioned by
degrees to the burdens sent us to bear. The great majority of us would
succumb at once if we only knew the struggle that lay before us, the
griefs, the trials, the mental weariness, the physical pain!"
"Oh, papa," said Kate, "don't speak so sadly! Let us rather think of
the joy and unlooked-for happiness which so frequently comes to our lot
when we have the least cause to expect them; and--and--" but here the
girl's voice faltered.
Kate well knew the reason of her father taking so sombre a view of life,
and she shared the sorrow that filled his heart, for her mother had but
died a short period before they left England.
"Think, papa," she added, after a pause, "of the glorious hope of
eternity, and the city within the golden gates, where we shall all of us
meet the loved ones who have gone before!"
"Thank you, my child," replied Mr Meldrum, drawing her fondly to his
side, and speaking as if they were alone together. "You have taught me
a lesson, and I will repine no longer about the immutable. It is best
to look forward, as you say. We ought to recollect that all our days
must not necessarily be gloomy because for the moment they may happen to
be overcast!"
"No, sirree," interposed Mr Lathrope, "and I guess this air blizzard
ain't going to last for ever:-- it looks now railly as if it wer' goin'
to leave off snowing."
"I think you are right," said Frank Harness, who had been sitting on the
other side of Kate, listening quietly to the conversation between her
and her father. "I don't see any flakes now coming through the chinks
of the door, as they were doing a short time ago. It is either leaving
off, or the wind has chopped round to the southward and westward again."
So saying, Frank got up and went to peer without the portal, the others
that were in the general room not stirring, for the greater number of
the seamen were asleep in their dormitory. It was getting towards
evening and most of the limited duties which it was possible to give the
men to do, now that they were continuously confined indoors, had been
already got through for the day.
Only Ben Boltrope and Karl Ericksen, amongst the hands, were up and
awake; and they were engaged in playing a game of chequers with a set of
counters which the Norwegian had skilfully carved out of black basalt
and white pumice-stone, both of which had been found lying close
together at the bottom of the creek. The board that they played on was
made by the carpenter, but it had been divided into proper squares
through the aid of Mr Meldrum's compasses and parallel ruler, wielded
by Mr Lathrope; so that all of them, so to speak, had a hand in the
construction of the complete article.
Both Mr Lathrope and Frank were right as to the weather, for, although
the snow-flakes came down more slowly and were much smaller than they
had been, the shifting of the wind had created the change. This was now
blowing into the bay straight from the sea; and while the gale was still
as high and fierce as at the beginning of the snow-storm, it was not
quite so cold.
The waves, however, were rolling against the cliffs just as they had
done when the _Nancy Bell_ struck on the reef, and the reverberation of
their roar was fearfully grand out in the open. The piled-up snow
against the sides of the house had so deadened the sound within, that
the party ensconced there could hear little beyond the whistling of the
wind round the eaves of the house.
Frank returned to those within, after carefully closing the door again
behind him, just like the dove messenger came back to Noah and his
imprisoned family in the ark!
Like the bearer of the olive branch, he too was a herald of glad
tidings.
"There is a change," said he, addressing himself to Mr Meldrum, "and I
think, sir, we'll soon be able to get out again."
"I'm glad to hear that," replied the other, getting up to look; but he
came back even sooner than Frank, and did not seem quite so jubilant.
"I'm afraid the shift of the wind will not do us much good, as far as
getting about is concerned," he said. "It will only tend to drift the
snow where it has not penetrated before; and may very probably shut us
in more firmly than ever. I notice one good thing, however, that the
snowstorm has done. It has covered over the house, and we will be all
the warmer should it start freezing again!"
"But won't it break down the roof?" said Mrs Major Negus, alarmed at
this.
"Oh, no!" replied Mr Meldrum, "the roof is too strongly built for that;
besides which, we're under the lee of the cliff that protects us from
this very wind. Still, I hope we'll have a chance of getting some more
Kerguelen cabbage before the snow commences to fall heavily again, as
I've no doubt it will. I ought to have laid in a stock when we went
rabbit shooting that time. In this sort of treacherous climate one
should take advantage of every fine day and provide for the next."
"You forget," said Mrs Major Negus, "sufficient for the day is the evil
thereof!"
"But it don't say the good, only the evil, ma'rm; mind that," put in Mr
Lathrope. "Some folks seem to take a pleasure in twisting Scripture
contrariwise, jest to suit theer own squintin'-one-eye-skimmin'-the-pot-
and-t'other-lookin'-up-the-chimbley sort of conscience!"
"Some people," retorted the lady, "never apply the parable of the mote
and the beam, because they can't see their own faults."
"We should live and let live," said Mr Meldrum, trying to put a stop to
a sort of argument which was endlessly going on between the pair of
combatants, much to his annoyance generally, when Florry created a
diversion.
"Look!" she exclaimed. "Puss has caught another mouse!"
"Thar, boss," said Mr Lathrope laughing, "is a case in pint, to
illustrate yer saying about lettin' folks be. I'm afeard me and Missis
Meejur is unkimmon like the mouse and the cat!"
"Speak for yourself, please," interposed the lady, thinking that he
meant to designate her as the feline animal. "If you've a mind to liken
yourself to one of those dreadful creatures that are always nibbling, I
don't choose to be called a cat."
"I aren't a bit pertickler what you call me, ma'rm," replied the
American very good-humouredly, "although I confess I am a bit partial to
nibblin' when thar's anything good to eat!"
"That's you all over," said Mrs Major with much satisfaction; when, as
she appeared pleased, Mr Lathrope allowed the conversation to rest
there, which satisfied Mr Meldrum also, as he did not like these
continual bickerings going on before the younger members of the party,
besides their being, as has been said, especially distasteful to
himself.
The next day it stopped snowing altogether; consequently a vegetable-
hunting expedition was organised, a small party which started up the
valley managing to bring back with some difficulty a few heads of
cabbage, which with the dried rabbits alone now constituted their daily
fare--both the beef and pork getting so low that Mr Meldrum had to stop
their issue, although the men were not so hard pressed yet as to take to
the salted sea-elephant.
Had the cabbage not been out of the line of drift, in a more secluded
portion of the creek, the vegetable-seekers would have been unable to
find it; for, the entire landscape was covered with a deep snow that was
evenly distributed over hollow and hill alike--the lower lying land and
the higher eminences so running into one another that they could not be
distinguished. The tops of the loftiest peaks, indeed, seemed to be
dwarfed down to the monotonous level of the plain; and, where elevated
at all, they resembled more a cluster of little round mounds like sugar-
loaves than anything else!
During the cessation of the snow-storm, the castaways contrived to
secure another sea-elephant which visited the bay, Karl Ericksen
harpooning him in the water. This time the men did not despise the
flesh, but appeared to relish it very much when Snowball fried it
fresh--a considerable portion of it being eaten in this way; while all
the fat and blubber was melted down, and the remainder of the meat
salted and packed in the cask with the other seal beef which was as yet
untouched.
On one of these days, too, Ben Boltrope went fishing from the lower
cliffs, just above the bay at the head of the creek--on account of the
sea there being calmer, and no breakers ruffling the water near.
This pursuit would have been tried before, only that amongst the various
articles that had been brought away from the ship there was not a single
fish-hook The old man-o'-war's man, however, had at length managed to
overcome the difficulty, manufacturing in his leisure moments a very
good substitute by beating out some small nails that he had previously
made malleable by putting them in the fire. After spending some hours
angling, Ben returned home with some half a dozen fish about the size of
a small haddock. These had their heads armed with stout strong spines;
but in spite of this peculiarity, they proved under Snowball's
manipulation to be very palatable, and Mr Lathrope, "for one," as he
himself said, regretted that the carpenter had not caught more; he
"guessed" he would have "gone for 'em!"
The interregnum of fine weather did not last long; for, soon the snow
set in falling again as if it would never stop. The days, consequently,
grew unutterably dreary, from the misfortune of all being perforce
confined, as before, to the house by the bitter cold wind; and, to make
matters worse, the snow-flakes now seemed to penetrate through the
tiniest crevices within the hut, so that the air in the interior of the
dwelling was of the temperature of freezing, no matter how great a fire
was kept up!
While this lasted, Mr Meldrum devised all sorts of amusements for the
men.
Amongst other things tried was music, one of the crew having made a
banjo, the strings of which were twisted from the smaller intestines of
the last sea-elephant they had killed; and by the aid of this instrument
harmonic meetings were organised in the evenings, Mr Lathrope
developing an almost forgotten talent he possessed, and coming out as a
comic singer. He absolutely bewitched even the "Major," with his
version of "Buffalo Gals," and the "Cackle, cackle, flap your wings and
crow," chorus of the Christy Minstrels, who certainly, in his person,
did perform on this occasion out of London!
It was at this period, when the days seemed as if they would never end
and the nights longer, that a memorable event occurred for two, at
least, of the party.
Ever since that night of the storm on board the _Nancy Bell_, when she
had, as he firmly believed, saved his life by catching hold of him as he
was on the point of being washed away by the sea, Frank had become
deeply attached to Kate; and the more he saw of the true-hearted girl--
her fond affection for her father, her anxious solicitude towards her
little sister, her kind sympathy for everybody--the more his affection
ripened, until at length he thought he could conceal his dawning love no
longer.
Then came the wreck; and, in the trying scenes which subsequently arose,
in which the two were each in their own way actors, the more Frank saw
to admire in his fairy ideal, the prompt courageous woman of action.
Subsequently they were thrown more closely together in the enforced
companionship of the castaway community on the desolate shores of
Kerguelen Land, when every moment increased their intimacy, while it
enabled him to study more closely those salient points of her character
which appeared to develop themselves as circumstances called them
forth--her filial love, her devotion to her sister, her unconquerable
faith, her unbounded hope and cheerfulness in the most despondent
situations--but, above all, her innate sense of religion, a feeling that
seemed to underlie her nature and yet which in no wise detracted from
her superabundant animal spirits, which harmonised themselves to the
moods and weaknesses of all. Seeing all this, and noting what he saw
and reverenced, Frank could not but love Kate Meldrum with all the
warmth and passion of his heart. So loving her, and dying for the want
of some response to the wealth of affection he had so long treasured up
in his breast, he could not refrain from seeking from her a word of
hope.
It was one evening when, save to him and her, it appeared to be the
dreariest of all the dreary ones they had already passed in their
extemporised dwelling--"home" they called it, as people will style any
shelter to which they can retreat from all the trials and exposures of
the outside world, "no matter how homely!"
The seamen had all retired to their dormitory, as had likewise Mr
McCarthy and Adams; while Mr Lathrope was nodding in one corner of the
general room by the fireplace, and Mr Meldrum immersed in thought in
the other.
Florry and Maurice Negus had both gone to sleep long since. Mrs
"Major," and the stewardess had also retreated to their sleeping
chamber; and thus, Frank and Kate were, so to speak, alone. The
opportunity was propitious.
They had been talking for some time in a low tone of voice, so as not to
interrupt the others. In a desultory way, they had thus chatted about
all sorts of things and had at last lapsed into silence--a silence that
remained for some time unbroken.
At length Frank spoke.
By a strong effort, he at once went to the point
"Kate," said he suddenly, in a voice rendered so thick by emotion that
she could not help starting, although she made no reply.
"Kate, do you remember you promised to call me `Frank' that night on the
wreck when we expected every moment that the _Nancy Bell_ would go down
with us and every soul aboard?"
"Ye-es," she murmured, very softly and in a hesitating way.
"Well, I want you to call me always so--that is to have the right--you
know what I mean."
Her tender blue eyes were raised to his inquiringly.
"I love you," he cried passionately, "and I want you to promise--"
"Hush!" said she, putting her hand over his lips; but he only kissed the
hand, and went on with what he was about to say when she had interrupted
him.
"I want you, Kate, my darling, to promise to be my wife!" he said. "I
love you more than I can tell--I have loved you since ever I first saw
you--and I shall love you till my dying day; will you promise, Kate, to
be my wife? but, if you can't yet do all I ask, will you try to love me
a little? Oh, Kate, I do love you so dearly!"
Her head bent lower and lower, so that he had to bend his too in order
to see what her face said, for she would not speak; and, as the
firelight danced upon the dear face and lightened up the blue eyes which
so shyly looked into his, Frank seemed to read an answer there that was
favourable to his hopes, for he passed his arm round her waist without
another moment's hesitation, and ventured to imprint a kiss upon her
lips.
"My darling, my darling!" he murmured in an ecstasy of joy; but just
then Mr Meldrum raised his head from between his clasped hands and
looked at the pair.
He evidently realised what had happened, and, as evidently, he was not
taken by surprise at the event. Nor, indeed, would anyone else have
been in the whole community; for Frank's love to Kate had been as
palpable to all as the famed ostrich of the story was when it hid its
head in the sand and imagined itself invisible to its pursuers!
"My children," said he kindly, coming over to them and holding out his
hand to Frank, who at once grasped it, "I expected this; and I cannot
say I am displeased. I know you have an affection for each other--"
We love each other," interrupted Frank eagerly.
"Well, you love each other, if you prefer it being so put; but you are
both very young, and you must wait for some time even after we are
released, as I hope we shall be by and by, from this desert isle. I
have seen enough of you, Frank Harness, to feel confident that I can
trust my daughter's happiness to your keeping; but you must first secure
a name and a competence for yourself before you can dream of asking her
to be your wife. You see, my boys I may perhaps have overheard more of
your whispered conversation than you thought! I can give Kate nothing,
for I am a ruined man, and was going out to New Zealand to try and
retrieve my lost fortune when this untoward disaster happened!"
"Mr Meldrum," said Frank respectfully, standing up by the side of the
other and facing him like a man, "I want nothing but Kate. She is the
greatest fortune I could ever crave! My father is a rich man, one of
the largest ship-owners in Liverpool, and my taking to the sea has been
strongly against his wish, although he consented to it when he saw how
bent I was upon being a sailor. He could make me independent to-morrow
if I asked him."
"I prefer you as you are, Frank," responded Mr Meldrum; "and I'm sure
so does Kate, eh?"
Yes," said she shyly, and blushing as she looked up for an instant.
"Then keep as you are, my boy,"--continued her father--"and as soon as
you are captain of a vessel of your own--and Mr McCarthy tells me you
are quite competent to pass the Trinity-House examination for a first-
mate's certificate; why, you may come to me and claim Kate's hand!"
"Is that a bargain?" asked Frank anxiously, looking from one to the
other.
"It is," replied Mr Meldrum, while Kate faintly whispered another
"yes."
"Then," said Frank triumphantly, "she shall be my wife before another
year goes over our heads; for, I can pass as soon as I go home for a
first officer's certificate, and get a ship to command immediately
afterwards if I like. Look out for me to make my claim within that
time, according to your promise!"
"And I guess I'm witness to that thaar agreement," exclaimed Mr
Lathrope, starting up.
The artful old fellow had been "playing 'possum," as he termed it, all
along; only waiting for the denouement of the little drama before
disclosing himself. However, he seemed so genuinely pleased with what
had taken place that neither of the principal performers could be angry
with him for listening.
"I'm downright real glad," said he after a bit, congratulating them both
and wringing poor Frank's hand well nigh off in the exuberance of his
delight. "Say, if yer don't believe me, may I never eat another clam
chowder agin--durn my boots if I ever will, thar!"
CHAPTER TWENTY NINE.
BLACK SNOW!
By the middle of September, the worst of the winter weather was over,
the snow gradually ceasing to fall and the drifts that had accumulated
in the valley up which the creek entered, and where the shipwrecked
people from the _Nancy Bell_ had built their house--beginning to melt
under the influence of the milder winds and increasing warmth of the
sun's rays.
But, everywhere the landscape still remained wrapped in the same white
mantle it had worn ever since the castaways had first taken up their
residence on the island, the bare spots then apparent in some places,
which was a circumstance owing to the shelter of the cliffs and crags in
the immediate vicinity of the sea, having been subsequently covered by
the heavy storms at the end of August.
It would take a long time, all saw, for the snow to clear away even if
the most rapid thaw were now to set in; and this the climate did not
permit of, the transition from winter to spring being carried through a
course of progressive stages that were as disagreeable as they were
prolonged.
There was balm in Gilead, however.
Not long after the last of the heavy snowfalls, and when the days began
to grow brighter, thus enabling the castaways to crawl out in the open
and have a little more exercise than they could obtain within doors, the
bird colony adjacent to "Penguin Castle" became largely increased, their
numbers swelling continually by fresh accessions; so that, in a short
time, it was impossible for any of the people to stir out of their
habitation without stumbling across a batch of penguins, ever
continually grumbling, croaking, chuckling, and otherwise expressing
their indignation at being, as they seemed to think, so unjustly
interfered with by the castaways.
It was evident that the building season of the birds had arrived; and it
could not certainly have come at a more auspicious time, for their
provisions were almost exhausted and Mr Meldrum was in great straits
how to supply the party with food. The despised flesh of the sea-
elephants, even, had by this time been consumed and all hands placed on
short allowance, it being impossible to go out hunting again as yet, or
to penetrate up the valley to the rabbit warren, on account of the snow
blocking the way and rendering the ascent of the hills impracticable.
The influx of the penguins, therefore, for which he had been looking out
for the last few weeks and had almost despaired of, was hailed by Mr
Meldrum with the deepest joy, for it solved his greatest difficulty at
once, taking away the fear of starvation that had been haunting him.
With such a plentiful supply of the birds, they might now hope to last
out until they could procure more palatable food; and those who were
"squeamish" in objecting to the fishy odour of the penguins themselves,
would _faut de mieux_ find plenty of sustenance in the eggs that there
was no doubt would soon be laid in much greater abundance than they
either required or could consume.
As the penguins mustered their forces, each day seeing some fresh
arrivals to fight for the occupation of the rookery, they were a
constant source of amusement to the snow-bound party, who, not being
able to stir far from the doorway of the "castle," had nothing hardly to
occupy their attention save the movements of the birds.
The penguins, they observed, were of four different classes or
varieties, although all belonged to the same family, partaking of the
common characteristics of such; but, even as they differed in size and
appearance, so they presented diverse modes of conducting their domestic
arrangements and varied in their habits.
Some were of the most retiring nature. These, isolating themselves in a
separate encampment, drew a strong line of demarcation between the abode
of their neighbours and their own retreat, as if they were of too
exclusive a temper to associate with the common herd; while others, of
quite a different species, appeared to have no false pride which
prevented them from associating with the rest, of whatever class they
might belong to, for they were "hail fellow well met" almost on their
arrival with every bird in the rookery.
"Them's republicans, I guess," said Mr Lathrope, noticing this trait of
character. "They don't care a cuss for social distinctions!"
Mr Meldrum, having had some previous acquaintance of the penguin family
when on board a ship which had been employed in surveying duties in the
Straits of Magellan and round the Falkland Islands, was able to give the
others a good deal of information about the birds.
There were four varieties, he said, on Kerguelen Land, as far as he
could see, namely:-- the "king penguin," the aristocrat of the
community, who kept aloof from the rest; a black-and-white species that
whaling men call the "johnny;" a third, styled the "macaroni penguin,"
which had a handsome double tuft of rich orange-coloured feathers on
their heads; and a fourth variety, distinct from the last-mentioned only
from its smaller size, and the fact of its plume or crest being single
instead of double, and of a pale sulphur yellow in lieu of orange.
Amongst the penguins, too, were to be seen numbers of little
sheathbills--just like small bantams, similar to the specimen Frank
Harness had shot, and which he was so sorry about. The little birds
went about in pairs and appeared to act as the scavengers of the larger
ones, for they haunted their breeding-places, scraping about the nests
and dung, clearing out the rotten eggs, and making free with the insects
that properly appertained to the penguins. Indeed, they were impudent
enough sometimes to seize upon the freshly-laid egg that some lady
macaroni had laid, right under the eyes of its owner, feloniously
appropriating it to their own use; while they thought nothing of giving
an occasional peck to one of the king penguins if he got in their way,
regardless of his exalted position!
Flocks of shags, or cormorants, also visited the bay at the same time.
These were found good eating, although not so fleshy as the penguins;
and, before the end of the month, there came a large family of seals,
which would probably have taken up their abode in the creek had not some
of the sailors frightened them away so effectually by their
indiscriminate slaughter that they never returned, nor did any others
come subsequently to the place.
The coats of these seals were of a fine iron-grey hue, something like
that of an otter, only with much more delicate hair. Mr Meldrum was
very anxious to secure as many of them as was possible, so he was much
chagrined when they disappeared and left him fur-less.
Another visitor was the pretty little Cape pigeon, which Kate recognised
as an old friend and was delighted to see. It reminded her, she told
Frank, of "old times," when they grew acquainted with each other on
board the _Nancy Bell_ and watched the stars at night--and all the rest
of it!
But the penguins were the great attraction.
They were "food for the mind and food for the body as well!" the
American would say, as he watched Snowball picking the feathers off some
scores of the birds when preparing the dinner. The darkey would persist
in putting himself to this trouble every day, in spite of Mr Meldrum
telling him that the easiest plan was to skin them, when the feathers
would come off in a lump in a quarter of the time; but Snowball would
not be persuaded to adopt this course, although the majority of the
sailors did so when preparing the penguins for storing up, and there was
consequently a large accumulation of skins, which came in very handy
presently for tailoring purposes.
Through constant wear, the trousers of the majority of the menfolk were
into such a dilapidated condition that it became absolutely necessary to
try and restore them--none of the entire party having a single change of
clothing with them, excepting the ladies; while the only material
available for their rehabilitation was sailcloth, which, besides not
being enough for all, was rather too stiff a material for either comfort
or warmth.
In this dilemma, the happy thought struck Mr McCarthy of fashioning a
pair of "unmentionables" out of penguin skins; and he had no sooner
"hatched the idea" than he carried it into practical effect by
instructing Ben Boltrope, who was by a long way the smartest and most
ready-witted of the men, to make him the trousers.
The deed was accomplished; and, really, the garments did not look at all
bad when finished, for, on the removal of the outside feathers, the skin
of the bird was found to be coated with a fine down like that of the
eider-duck, which lent an originality of appearance to the trousers that
could hardly be described.
"They're just like Barnum's woolly horse," said Mr Lathrope,
criticising them calmly. "If I were you, Mac, I wouldn't go nigh the
rookery with them on, or them birds will take you for a fledgeling,
mister, I guess!"
"Begorrah, I don't care, for they're worrum and comfortable," said Mr
McCarthy, "and it's raal white ducks they are, anyhow!"
They certainly looked it; but, as the first-mate would not be put out of
any conceit with the garments, in spite of their appearance, and as
others began to be similarly in need, they had perforce to follow his
example, when penguin trousers may be said to have "become the rage" on
the island--even Mr Lathrope, who had laughed at Mr McCarthy for
wearing them, having to follow the fashion and don the "ducks."
Owing to this new demand on the feathered colony it would seem like
exaggeration to state how many thousands came to an untimely end, in
addition to the numbers that were killed to supply the daily necessities
of the table and the large quantity which Mr Meldrum had caused to be
prepared and dried, like the rabbits, "for a rainy day;" while, as to
the eggs that were eaten--well, the least said about these the better!
From all of this it may be gathered that the penguins made a bad move
when they came back to their old breeding-place; but the stupid birds
never seemed to be aware that they could at any time save themselves by
flight if they liked, although they must have been somehow or other
acquainted with the deplorable fact--in a bird-like way--that their
rookery was becoming rapidly depopulated! No, notwithstanding that they
saw their friends and relatives repeatedly slaughtered before their very
eyes--their penguin parents, children, godfathers, godmothers, and first
cousins thus perishing at the hands of miscreants in human form, and
subsequently converted into food and clothing and to other "base uses"
by those who took their innocent lives--they never appeared to make an
effort in self-defence, either by executing a "strategical movement" or
otherwise!
The spirit of penguinism, so to speak, was dead, the bird colony
contenting themselves by grumbling, an infallible resource for all
similarly constituted creatures--in which respect, as Mr Lathrope was
pleased to put it, they resembled a class of modern politicians who need
not be alluded to here.
Amongst those included in the list of penguin slayers was one who
pursued them to the death--although rather through a desire for
malicious sport and self-gratification than from any actual necessity--
and this vindictive enemy was Master Maurice Negus.
The young gentlemen had developed many pleasing traits of character
during the comparatively short period during which he was brought into
public notice as one of the passengers of the ill-fated _Nancy Bell_;
but in none of these had he so well exemplified his natural and
ingenious bias of mind as in the little predilection, if it may be so
termed, for bird slaughter _in ovum_, which first saw the light in
Kerguelen Land.
Soon after the penguins came to breed there, Master Maurice noted them
carefully, and it pleased him much thereafter to go "bird-nesting," as
he called it. He would go by himself and remain away for hours, no one
knowing what "the imp," as all spoke of him, was up to; but one day it
was discovered that the fancy for "collecting eggs," according to his
own explanation, consisted in swallowing as many raw ones as he could
get hold of unseen--he being observed on the occasion in question to get
rid of a round dozen of the eggs deposited by the penguins, just as he
would have done so many oysters, saying afterwards when taxed with the
gluttony that he felt delicate, and had heard that eggs were recommended
by doctors for consumptive patients!
But, later on, the young gentleman "caught a tartar."
On his last bird-nesting excursion he happened, fortunately or
unfortunately, to shove a half-hatched egg down his throat; and, the
embryo bird nearly choking him, his poultry-fancying propensity was
transformed into an inveterate dislike towards the entire penguin
tribe--a slightly lucky mistake for the creatures in question, as
thereby the list of their enemies became decreased by one.
Time thus slipped by with the inhabitants of the house on the creek.
Melting by degrees, the vast piles of snow began to vanish from the
valleys and low-lying lands, although still clothing the distant hill-
sides and mountain-peaks, from the loftier ones of which it probably
never entirely cleared away even in the height of summer; but, the
ground around was naturally so damp and marshy, and had become so
soddened now with moisture, that it was almost as impracticable for Mr
Meldrum or any other of the party to get away from the vicinity of the
hut, as it had been during the heavy storms of August when the snow had
drifted up the gullies and levelled the country.
In fact it was more so, for, the accumulated water, proceeding from the
thaw and the rain, which came every now and then to aid it, had swelled
the fresh-water tarn near them so greatly that it had overflowed its
banks, which now extended on the right to the base of the furthest hills
at the head of the valley that penetrated the creek; while, to the left,
the water was pouring down, a foaming torrent, into the sea--the house
being almost surrounded and separated by the newly-made river from the
little building in which the jolly-boat had been housed on the beach.
They were thus threatened with a flood, for the water was rising every
moment and slowly creeping up to their feet, narrowing the little
peninsula on which their habitation stood.
That was not the worst either!
While they were pondering as to the best means for extricating
themselves from the danger of being washed away, a new one arose.
Through the melting of the snow on the mountains above, a sparkling
cascade commenced all at once to leap down the face of the cliff at the
back of the house, right on to the roof over their heads.
This was serious; for, should this peril not be guarded against and some
sort of pent-house put up as a shield, the slight timber work of the
roof would soon be crushed in and swept away by the ever-increasing
weight of the falling water.
In the midst of these imminent dangers, a phenomenon occurred which for
the moment appalled everybody, not even excepting Mr Meldrum--it was so
strange, so awe-inspiring!
It commenced snowing again; but there was nothing unusual in that. What
was unusual was, that the flakes which fell, instead of being white,
were as black as ink!
What could the awful portent foretell?
It was inexplicable.
CHAPTER THIRTY.
AN APPARITION!
"Goodness gracious me!" exclaimed Mrs Major Negus in accents of genuine
terror, "the world's coming to an end!" and she sank down in a heap on
the ground, close to the door of the general room, where she had been
standing uncertain whether to go out or in.
There was ample reason for the good lady's consternation, for danger
seemed staring her in the face in either direction.
On the one hand, the flood in the valley appeared approaching as if to
swallow up the hut and all its belongings; while, on the other, the
deafening noise of the water pouring down from the cliff above on to the
roof made everybody feel impelled to quit the house.
Mary Llewellyn, the stewardess, generally a quiet and retiring person,
was driven into a fit of hysterics by the concatenation of horrors that
all at once surrounded them.
As for the children, they shared the fright of their elders, Florry
clinging convulsively to Kate, who had dropped on her knees and was
praying in the corner--believing really that the last supreme moment was
at hand.
The men, too--they had been hastily called together the moment the
dangerous predicament of the roof was noticed, and had begun to knock
together a sort of wooden shield to interpose between the cliff and the
top of the house, so that the water might rim over it in the fashion of
a spout--stopped in their task with one accord, staring as if bewildered
at each other the moment the terrible black snow began to fall from the
sombre pall-like clouds which hung over the creek. This was immediately
after the cascade of water came down the cliff; and so frightened were
they, that not one of them uttered a word, nor did Mr McCarthy, who had
summoned them together, urge them on with their work. All remained
spell-bound and tongue-tied.
"It air orfull," said Mr Lathrope, drawing a deep breath, and looking
up at the sky as if to peer into its mysteries. "I guess I never seed
such a fall before--no, nor nobody else in the land of the living!"
No one answered him, however; for, at that moment, there was a strange
concussion in the air, the earth shaking beneath their feet, and they
were all thrown to the ground. At the same time, the black flakes
descended faster and faster as if to bury them, and some of the men,
imitating the example of the women, cried out in positive alarm.
Mr Meldrum was the first to recover his self-command.
"Silence!" he shouted, making his powerful voice heard above the chorus
of groans and shrieks that arose from the frightened men and screaming
women. "It's only an earthquake; and God will protect us here against
the perils of the land, the same as he did through the tempests of the
deep! Let us meet what may be in store for us with the courage of brave
men and faith of Christians!"
His words at once checked the tumult--even the stewardess and Mrs Negus
hushing down their wailing outcry to an occasional moan or faint muffled
sob, which they could not quite stifle; but the strange rocking motion
of the ground, which seemed as if they were again on shipboard,
prevented the yen from at once regaining their feet, only a few being
able to scramble up into an erect position by holding on to the supports
of the house, which fortunately stood the shock of the subterranean
commotion without giving way.
"The worst is past now," said Mr Meldrum presently, as the throbs of
the earthquake grew less and less potent and the quivering sensation,
which appeared to jingle through every nerve in their bodies, died away
into a faint rumbling in the distance, that finally disappeared a few
seconds afterwards--the whole thing not lasting longer than a minute
altogether, although it seemed more than an hour to the terror-stricken
people. "I don't think we'll have another shock."
He stood up firmly as he spoke; and those of the men who were still
lying on the ground rose too.
"But the snow, sir," said one. "What does that mean?"
"Why, look--can't you see!" replied he, drawing his hand over his face
and showing it to the speaker.
"Lor' bless us!" ejaculated the sailor. "It's only smut from the
chimbley."
"Ah! it came from a bigger chimney than we have here," said Mr Meldrum.
"There has been a volcanic eruption on the island; and what we all
thought was black snow was only the ashes thrown up from the crater, and
these have now been brought down from the higher air by the descending
ram."
"Snakes and alligators!" exclaimed Mr Lathrope, who was one of the last
to get on his long legs and when he did so appeared to touch the ground
as tenderly "as if he were a cat treading on hot eggs," as Mr McCarthy
said. "If I wurn't clean took in, and thought the outlandish thing wer
nat'ral, like the red rain I've heerd folks tell o' seeing in some parts
of the world! I guess you was startled, too, mister, and kinder frit!"
"I confess I was, at first," replied Mr Meldrum, "till I felt the
earthquake. Then I recollected about the volcano."
"Oh! the one down south, that we seed to leeward when the old ship poked
her nose on the reef?"
"The same," said the other. "It was smoking then; and we've just had
the eruption. It is pretty nearly over, I think, however, for the ashes
are not falling quite so thickly now."
"I'm glad to hear that," said Mr Lathrope. "Gin it didn't stop soon,
we'd all be transmogrified inter blacker niggers than the cook haar!"
"I ain't no nigger, massa!" interposed Snowball, feeling his dignity
insulted by the remark.
"My crickey!" ejaculated the American, emitting a shrill whistle of
astonishment at the naive assertion. "Then what, in the name of George
Washington and Abe Lincoln rolled into one, air you, sir-ree!"
"I'se a 'spectable collud genlemun," replied the darkey pompously.
"I guess you'll do," said Mr Lathrope laughing. "Jest hear that, now!
Waal, never mind, my Ethiopian serenader," he added good-humouredly.
"You're none the worse fur your colour, as fur as I ken see; and I will
say this fur you, that you're the slickest and smartest ship's cook I
ever came across from Maine to Californy; and that's saying something!"
"Tank you, massa," replied Snowball, much flattered by the compliment.
"I make you one good rabbit-pie next time I'se get rabbits."
"That's a bargain!" said Mr Lathrope; and there the incident ended.
"Rouse up there with that spout!" shouted out Mr McCarthy, who had at
once turned back to tackle the roof as soon as the alarm caused by the
earthquake had passed away. "Bedad, if you don't look pretty sharp,
there'll be no ruff to put it on, at all at all!"
"That's right!" said Mr Meldrum. "In the fear of a greater calamity, I
had forgotten the lesser danger! Do you think the roof will bear the
pressure on it?"
"Sure, sorr," replied the other. "It has borne it all this toime, and
the ould house has stood the airthquake; so, there's hopes that it'll
last out yit! It is more frightened of the flood coming up and swaping
it away I am, than that the wather'll do it any harm."
"Then we're safe, thank God!" said Mr Meldrum. "The river has not
swelled any more since I last marked it. It seems to have worn a
channel deep enough to carry off all the overflow from the valley,
without spreading further and threatening the house. I think we are out
of danger now."
"We've much to be thankful for, papa," observed Kate thoughtfully.
Frank had joined her within, after the last shock of earthquake, having
been engaged before in helping Mr McCarthy on the roof; so his prayers
had ascended to heaven along with hers, the two kneeling side by side in
silent worship and praise to Him who had watched over them.
Coming out of the house together, they had approached the spot where Mr
Meldrum was standing.
"Yes, my child, we have much to be thankful for," said he in answer to
Kate's observation. "You need not fear now, my dear," he added.
"I was not frightened, even when the earth trembled, papa."
"No!" said he inquiringly.
"No, not a bit," she answered quietly; "although, I confess, I thought
we should all be killed. I can't tell what sort of feeling seemed to
possess me; but I felt quite peaceful and happy, as if I were prepared
to die!"
"Ah!" said her father, "you had that peace which the world cannot give!
I--I--"
"I felt happy, papa," continued Kate, as if uttering her thoughts aloud,
"because I thought we would see mamma again--you, and I, and Florry."
"And didn't you think of me too, Kate; and wish me to be with you?"
asked Frank eagerly.
"Yes, you too," said she. "Don't you belong to me now?" Mr Meldrum
did not hear Frank's answer; for his attention was at that moment called
away by Ben Boltrope, who had come up to report that the roof had been
made snug, the water from the cliff now arching over it in a cascade,
and not pouring down directly on to it as it had done before, when it
fell with terrific force right upon the shingles, displacing some which
were now repaired as soon as the spout was put up.
The weather improved very much after this, the sun appearing and shining
with increasing power each day, while the snow disappeared entirely from
the valleys and lower portions of the hills. The water below, however,
did not drain off sufficiently to allow of any excursion for some days
towards the rabbit warren they had visited before, or of their going
anywhere, indeed, far from the little stretch of beach before the creek.
But, in spite of this drawback, the castaways' stock of provisions was
most unexpectedly added to, a very agreeable change of diet from penguin
fricassees being introduced, by the coming of large flocks of wild
ducks, which visited the valley a few days after they were all in danger
of being flooded out. The water evidently was the attraction, for,
previously, none of the water-fowl had ever come near the place--with
the exception of a solitary couple of teal that Mr Meldrum had noticed
flying over the creek shortly after they landed from the wreck.
The first day that they had roast duck for dinner, everybody thought
that Mr Lathrope would have said something about the unexpected treat;
but he did not, and Mrs Major Negus seemed somehow or other much vexed
at his silence in the matter.
"You generally speak a good deal about eating," said she at last
impatiently. "I wonder why you've nothing to say now!"
"Ah! marm," replied Mr Lathrope, "don't you be surprised at anything!
I'd advise you never to measure other people's corns by your own
chilblains! Because you happen to set your fancy on a thing, that's no
reason for other folks to do the same!"
"No," said she; "though I can't see the application of your remark about
chilblains, for I never had one in my life."
"Ah! that's a sort of metaphorical conundrum, which I leave you to find
out bye and bye! But, if you'd really like to know why I ain't
satisfied with having roast duck to dinner, I'll tell you; it makes me
feel kinder lonesome, it dew!"
"Why!"
"'Cause there ain't no green peas with it, marm," said Mr Lathrope,
with a melancholy smile. "I guess I'm a whale on peas, I am!"
It was now the end of September; but the month was not fated to pass
without another event happening to break the monotonous life of the
little party. On its very last day, something occurred which took them
all by surprise.
It may be remembered that when Mr Meldrum assumed the command of the
party in the place of Captain Dinks, who was still on the sick list and
recovering slowly but yet far from well, he established certain
regulations for the employment of the men.
Amongst the several duties they had to perform, in accordance with these
regulations, was the one of keeping watch, as if on guard, for a certain
stated number of hours at the foot of a short flagstaff which had been
erected on the top of a little eminence overlooking the beach in front
of the creek--a man being stationed here regularly to report anything
that might come in sight. This duty, it may be added, had been a
sinecure from the date of its institution, nothing having ever since
been seen.
On this last day of September, however, all hands were electrified by
the look-out man calling out, just about noon.
"Sail ho!"
"A sail!" cried Mr Meldrum, quite as much astonished as the rest; and
he hurried out to scan the offing. However, he could not see anything,
and thought the man must have been asleep at his post and dreaming. "Do
you know what you are saying?" he called out to the look-out. "Where
away is this sail, my man!"
"Far off on the port side of the reef, sir," answered the sailor,
speaking quite composedly.
"What do you make it?" asked the other, as he hastened to the look-out
station, which commanded a larger stretch of the coast than could be
seen from the house--Mr McCarthy and the others following after him
with anxious curiosity.
"Looks like a boat's sail, sir; but, it's so far to leeward, I can't
quite make it out yet."
"I see," said Mr Meldrum, who had now reached the man, taking his glass
from his pocket and looking in the direction pointed out. "Yes, there
is a small boat, sure enough. By Jove," he added presently, "I wouldn't
be surprised if it were the missing mutineers in the longboat turned up
at last! Look, McCarthy, and see if you don't recognise the _Nancy
Bell's_ boat by the white streak below the gunwale."
The first-mate took the telescope and gazed intently at the approaching
object for some few moments. He then turned round and stared at Mr
Meldrum.
"Be jabers, it is the longboat, sorr!" he exclaimed at length; "and
faix, sorr, I belave I can say that baste Moody lookin' out over the
gunwale, as if tellin' thim where to steer, with his long black hair and
ugly mug, and the cut across his hid which the cap'en giv him wid the
butt end of his pistol! The murtherin' villin! won't I be aven wid him
if iver he comes ashore, and pay him out--bad cess to him!"
"Are you sure," said Mr Meldrum, "that it is the long-boat?"
"As sartin as there's mud in a ditch, son--the divil a doubt of it!"
CHAPTER THIRTY ONE.
A TERRIBLE TALE!
By this time, the news having rapidly spread amongst the little
community that the longboat was in sight, every one--save of course poor
Captain Dinks, who could not yet move--had come out of the house.
The castaways were gathered together in little groups, some near Mr
Meldrum and the first-mate, who stood by the flagstaff, others along the
ridge which ran from thence above the beach, and the remainder on the
shore; but all were intent on one object, and looking down the bay at
the little speck in the distance that was said to be the boat, which was
steadily making its way towards the creek. The tide was on the ebb and
against its onward progress, although the wind was in its favour, so it
approached only very slowly.
Mr Meldrum's first intention on having his suspicions confirmed by the
mate's opinion, had been to haul down the flag--a little white ensign
made out of portions of some old silk handkerchiefs which had been
mustered amongst the party and sewn together by Kate; but, he dismissed
the idea as soon as the thought occurred to him.
"No," said he to Mr McCarthy, belaying the halliards again, "it is too
late now, for they must have seen it. Besides, what have we to fear if
they do come? We can easily prevent them from landing, if we like, for
we're nearly two to one against them in numbers should they try force;
and we are stronger by far in moral as well as physical courage!"
"True for you, sorr," replied the first-mate. "It's a good larrupping
they'd git, if they thried that on anyway. Bedad, I'd die aisy an' I
could only give that baste Moody the bating I've had in store for him
since he and his gang abandoned us, the dhirty schoundrels!"
"We must forget the past, considering we've been so mercifully
preserved," said Mr Meldrum. "Perhaps it was all for the best that we
were not able to leave the ship when they did."
"Maybe; but faix, they didn't have the dacency to ax us!"
"Well, we'll see what they have to say for themselves when we've a
chance of speaking to them," said Mr Meldrum. "The boat's coming on a
bit quicker now. It has got out of the set of the tide and has the wind
well abeam, just the thing for that lugsail she carries."
"Sure and she's a smart sailer, sorr," observed Mr McCarthy after a few
minutes' interval, during which time the longboat, which had been
heading up the coast, hauled her wind and was steered towards the
entrance of the little creek at the top of the bay, close by where the
flagstaff was erected and the Penguin Castle people were on the look-
out.
As she came nearer, however, it could be seen that Mr McCarthy's
imagination had been quicker than his eyesight, for there was no one
looking out over the gunwale--least of all Bill Moody, whose tall
herculean form and peculiar visage would have been easily recognisable
even at some distance off.
Indeed, there seemed to be very few persons in the boat at all, only two
being observed in the stern-sheets, one of whom was steering with an
oar, while a third was sitting on one of the forward thwarts attending
to the sheet of the lugsail, slacking it out as the wind came aft
occasionally, and hauling it in taut again when the sail jibed on the
boat's head falling off a point or two through the alteration of her
course now and again.
The castaways were all in a state of the greatest expectation and
surmise, as the longboat gradually grew more visible and the small
number of its occupants became noticeable; for, as she rounded the point
of the ridge, those on the beach could now observe her as well as Mr
Meldrum and the first-mate, who were by the side of the look-out man at
the signal station on the higher ground and were the only ones able at
first to see the boat.
"They look as if they'd had hard times," said Ben Boltrope, who was one
of those who could now have a look at the boat, "and some of them seem
to have lost the number of their mess."
"And a durned good job, too!" exclaimed Mr Lathrope; "the mean skunks,
to scoot away and leave a lot of wemmen and children to drown, as they
thought. They've well arned any troubles they've come by, I guess!"
"Poor creatures!" said Kate, who was standing near the American, with
Frank, of course, the inseparable, by her side; "please don't say that!
If all of us only just got what we deserved, we should have a sorry
reckoning!"
"Very proper, and just what I think," observed Mrs
Major Negus in a sort of condescending and approving way. "I do not
consider it right myself to condemn others, and never do it on
principle, for--"
"Thar you go agin, measurin' other folks' corns right away by your own
chilblains, marm," interrupted Mr Lathrope. "It's allers what you'd
do; and you never kinder give a thought to what t'other people would
have to say in the matter! I guess you're a bit narrow-minded, excuse
me, marm."
"Narrow-minded, humph!" snorted "the Major," highly indignant at the
accusation. "The idea of the thing! to be sure, Mr Lathrope, I ought
never to be surprised at anything you choose to say; your manners and
conversation are so very--ah, well--elegant!"
"Much obleeged, marm, I'm sure," said the other, chuckling at making her
angry. "I took fust-class when at school in the States for elegancy and
deportment."
"I'm sure I wish you had stopped there!" retorted the lady; but any
further amenities were arrested from passing between them by the nearer
approach of the longboat, and the fact of Mr Meldrum and those with him
coming down from the ridge so as to be on the beach when their
unexpected visitors got in to shore.
Closer and closer the boat came, until at last its keel touched ground,
when, slewing round broadside on, it was left stranded on the beach.
"Snakes and alligators!" exclaimed Mr Lathrope, the lugsail swinging
aside and enabling him and the others to see into the boat clearly, a
thing which had been previously impossible from the boat's coming up end
on. "They air a ruin lot, mister! Of all the starved, God-forsaken
critturs as I've ever seed they're 'bout the worst!"
They were.
Only the man who had been steering with the oar and the one who was on
the thwart amidships were apparently able to sit up, for three other
figures were observed stretched in the bottom of the boat in a lump
together; while one was by himself in the bows, doubled up in a
crouching posture, quite dead and with his ghastly eyes staring out
sightless from the retreating sockets. The closely-drawn features and
general appearance of this latter miserable object showed that he must
have expired in the last stage of starvation!
"Why, this is almost worse than you were when we picked you up off
Pernambuco," said Ben Boltrope to Karl Ericksen.
"Ja, ja!" replied the Norwegian. "It var sehr kalt, and we was expose
as mooch as starve; but it vor bad, very, and so is dese, it remind me,
oh! so much;" and he turned away his head, as Kate had already done,
from the hideous spectacle, quite unable to gaze any longer at it from
its association with his own rescue from a similar horrible death.
The men by Mr Meldrum's side, however--forgetting the past conduct of
the survivors of those in the longboat and the fact of their not only
having deserted them but even locked them below to drown in the hold of
the sinking ship--rushed into the water, eager, in the common exercise
of that humanity which is common to us all, but especially noticeable in
English sailors, to relieve the misery that was so apparent, and to
separate those who were living from those who had ceased to suffer; and,
of all these Good Samaritans, Mr McCarthy, who had been so bitter in
his denunciation of the mutineers, was the first to go forward, with
Frank and Mr Meldrum, you may be sure, not very far off.
"Only six out of the dozen that left the ship!" exclaimed Mr Meldrum to
the man in the stern-sheets, to whom he extended his hand to aid him in
getting out of the boat. "Where are the rest of your number?"
But the emaciated wretch--who seemed to have suffered considerable
bodily injury as well as want of food, for one of his arms hung down
powerless at his side, and there was a broad cut across his face from
some weapon--was as incapable of speech as he was apparently of moving.
His lips only worked feebly, without any sound coming from them, and he
stumbled and fell forwards on his face when he tried to rise by the aid
of Mr Meldrum's arm.
"Bedad, they're in a bad way, sorr," said Mr McCarthy sympathisingly,
coming up and helping Mr Meldrum to lift the man out and place him on
the beach, where he had already laid down the corpse that had been in
the bows, throwing a bit of the sail over it to hide it for the time
from observation. "The poor divil can't spake, sure. I wondther which
of them it wor? I'm blest if I can make him out, and I knew all the men
purty well, most of them being in my own watch, by the same token."
But just then, the stewardess saved him from puzzling over the man's
face any further.
"It's Llewellyn, my husband!" she cried out, pushing Mr McCarthy away,
and taking the almost lifeless figure he was supporting tenderly in her
arms, oblivious of everything save of her natural womanly pity and love.
"The poor fellow! the poor fellow!" and she burst into tears over the
miserable semblance of the man, who, coward and deserter as he had
proved himself to be, had yet once been dear to her as her husband.
"Ah! then he accompanied them too!" said Mr Meldrum reflectively to the
first-mate, as the last man was raised from the bottom of the boat and
carried as tenderly ashore as if he had been one of their own party and
a loved shipmate. "So there were thirteen of them altogether, instead
of twelve, as I thought! That makes seven unaccounted for. I wonder
what became of them!"
"Sure and the divil only knows," replied the first-mate laconically,
"for Bill Moody, the baste, must be along o' them, as he's not with
these here; and he was sartain to be will looked afther by the ould
gintleman in black down below!"
"Hush!" said Mr Meldrum. "If he is dead, let him rest in peace!"
"Aye, aye, sort; so say I," answered Mr McCarthy; "and may joy go with
him, for he was the broth of a boy!"
Bye and bye, when Llewellyn, the steward, recovered sufficiently to be
able to speak, he had a terrible tale to tell.
On the outbreak of the row on board the ship, he said, between Captain
Dinks and Moody, he was about to slip forward to join Snowball in the
galley to have a warm, for he found it cold in his pantry; and, besides,
he had no one to speak to there, and he felt dull and cheerless.
Frightened at the altercation and afraid of getting hurt in the scuffle
that arose, he hid himself in the bows of the longboat; and, as luck
would happen, he was there when the boat was launched and went away from
the side of the vessel with the mutineers, for he could not scramble out
in time.
Bill Moody, said the steward, wanted to chuck him over board when he was
discovered; but the rest of the men overruled him, and he was allowed to
remain.
The boat was carried far to leeward, and so pitched about by the heavy
sea which was running, that every moment they thought she would be
swamped. They had to bale her out continuously, for the waves broke
over her each moment, half-filling her on many occasions.
Fortunately, they were not dashed ashore in the darkness against the
cliffs, which they could faintly see through the haze to be quite close;
and towards daylight they were able to get up the fore-sail and steer
her along the land, which stretched far away down to the southward,
miles away from where they had left the ship. The mutineers tried all
they could to find some place where they could beach the boat without
risk of getting her stove in on the rocks; but their efforts were vain.
At last, they came past a mountain which was smoking, and as the shore
seemed to shelve down here, Moody determined to endeavour to land there,
saying that they would find the vicinity of the volcano warm and
comfortable--better than some frozen ice-glaciers which they had noticed
further north.
After many attempts and failures, they managed to run the boat on to a
black sandy stretch of beach which opened out beyond the smoking
mountain; and here, they unloaded her in safety.
They had then more provisions than would have lasted them for months
with care.
"All of ourn!" ejaculated Mr Lathrope, interrupting the steward at this
point of the narrative. "We would ha' swopped some o' them penguins and
Kerguelen cabbage fur the lot, I guess."
But, continued Llewellyn, the men wasted all the stores, recklessly
destroying much more than they ate; for they pitched away half-consumed
cans of preserved meat, opening fresh ones with the greatest
carelessness before requiring them.
Besides all this, there was the drink--a curse which followed them from
the ship.
Moody had contrived to secrete a cask of rum in the boat before quitting
the wreck, and this was opened soon after landing, he and most of the
mutineers drinking themselves drunk and indulging in the wildest orgies
whilst it lasted.
One evening, about a week after they had got ashore, in the middle of a
drunken debauch Moody set fire to a tent, which they had constructed out
of some of the spare sails placed in the boat. It was completely burnt,
many of the men being almost roasted alive before they could extricate
themselves and three dying subsequently from the injuries they had then
received.
This was not the worst, however; for, in addition to the tent, their
entire stock of provisions, which were stored inside, was consumed; and,
beyond a few of the half-eaten tins that had been previously thrown
away, they had nothing afterwards left to eat.
Starvation stared them in the face.
"Did you not search about and find the cabbage that we got here?" asked
Mr Meldrum.
"No," replied the steward; "the whole land thereabouts, before the snow
fell, was as bare as a brick-field, and just as black and burnt up
like."
"And did no seals or birds come?"
"Some animals swam in one day," said Llewellyn, "but the men were drunk
at the time and frightened them away; so they never came back again when
we needed them. Only a stray gull or two occasionally flew by, so far
out of reach that none of us could catch them."
"Well, go on to tell the story in your own way," said Mr Meldrum.
Their hunger got so great, the man proceeded to say, that they hunted
about for stray ham-bones, and even gnawed the soles of their boots; and
at last Bill Moody said they would have to cast lots and sacrifice one
of their number for the good of the rest.
"Oh, the dhirty cannibal!" interposed Mr McCarthy. "He'd be quite
capable of that; bad cess to the baste!"
There were now only ten of them left, with himself, continued Llewellyn,
and he could see that Moody wanted him to be killed, it being all a
pretence about casting lots. Some of the men saw through the plot, too,
as well as he did and took his part. It was then that a fight came
about, and in it he got that slash across his face which they had
noticed.
Moody's own particular adherents amongst the party were only four in
number; but they had all got pistols, which the others did not possess;
and Llewellyn's party would probably have got the worst of it had not an
awful thing happened.
Just at the moment the fight began, the smoking mountain blew up!
"An eruption of the volcano," said Mr Meldrum.
The steward did not know anything about that. He explained that, while
they were in the midst of the struggle, a lot of fire and stones came
down upon them, and Moody and some of the other mutineers were crushed
to death outright. The survivors, with himself, then managed to push
down the longboat into the sea again, and made off from the terrible
place--coasting back along the coast in the hope of coming across one of
the settlements of the whaling vessels, which some of them had heard
frequented the island.
When they were suffering the last extremities of hunger and thirst--the
latter being a fresh privation, for they had had plenty of water to
drink on the volcano beach, however much they had wanted food--they saw
the flag of the "Penguin Castle" settlers, and made towards it as well
as they were able.
"And, thank God, I'm here with you all!" concluded the steward when he
had brought his narrative to this point. "I have been saved from a
horrible death."
"Arrah, sure, all's well that inds will!" said Mr McCarthy; "but I'm
glad you weren't a desarter, as I thought you were; and I'm roight glad,
too, that that thafe of a Moody has mit with his desarts at last!"
CHAPTER THIRTY TWO.
PREPARATIONS FOR DEPARTURE.
It was a fortunate circumstance, not only for the surviving mutineers
who had turned up so strangely, but for the little community at Penguin
Castle as well, that they did not make their appearance on the scene
earlier; for, had they came at the trying period, when famine, so to
speak, reigned in the land, they certainly would not have been "welcome
guests!" Of course, even then, Mr Meldrum and the others would have
felt bound to do as much for them as they could; but as at that time the
castaways were almost near upon starvation, they could ill have afforded
to help others in the same predicament, however much charity might have
constrained them.
But, now, things were very different in regard to their larder, wild
ducks being plentiful enough and another heavy "bag" of rabbits having
been secured as soon as the road to the warren had become passable
through the partial subsidence of the flood in the valley; while, in
addition to those stores of substantial food, there was Kerguelen
cabbage _ad libitum_ at their disposal--all the fresher and more juicy
through being covered up by the snow and watered by the spring rains--
besides an abundance of the haddock-like, spike-headed fish to be had
for the catching in the bay, not to speak of the dried penguins as a
last resource, should the other articles of diet fail to suit or pall on
the palate after a time. Indeed, as Mr Lathrope observed frequently
when seated at the central table of their general room and disposing of
the savoury residue of some gipsy stew of Snowball's concoction, during
this period of plenty, which came in such pleasing contrast to their
recent scarcity of provender, they were "living like fighting cocks, and
no mistake!"
Such being the state of things at "Penguin Castle," it was not long
before the emaciated men, who arrived in the longboat almost at death's
door through want, were restored to health. Mr Meldrum, however, took
the precaution of binding them down by the most stringent conditions as
to their obedience and orderly conduct before admitting them on the same
terms as the rest to the common membership of the community--it being
clearly put before them that the least _lache_ or inattention to orders
would subject them to expulsion, when they would have to shift for
themselves and give a wide berth to those of the settlement.
Captain Dinks had recovered so far now that he was able to sit up for a
short time each day; but the length of his illness and the amount of
blood he had lost had so aged and pulled him down that he was
transformed, from the smart energetic sailor he had been, into a feeble
old man, utterly incapable of ever resuming his former position should
events ever place it in his power to take command of a ship again--at
least so it seemed from his general state of prostration.
Under these circumstances, therefore, Mr Meldrum was unquestionably
still looked upon as the head of the party, quite apart from any
appointment as such, from the simple reason that everybody recognised
that it would be only through his advice and forethought that they could
ever hope to escape from the island and see home once more.
Although he had as yet never spoken directly to the point on the
subject, all could gather, from stray hints and observations which
occasionally dropped from his lips, that this thought was ever before
him; and that, when he considered that the proper time for action had
arrived, he would lay his plans before them.
They were not mistaken.
One evening, about the third week in October and the third month of
their residence on Desolation Island, when all were assembled in the
general room after the principal meal of the day--gathered together for
a social chat over the little petty details of their life since the
morning and cogitating as to what was best to be done on the morrow, as
was their invariable custom each night before separating at bedtime--Mr
Meldrum unbosomed himself, just when they least expected it.
Mr Lathrope was having a spirited contest with the first-mate over the
chequer-board that he had assisted in making; Kate was reading out of a
little pocket Bible to the poor captain as he lay back in his cot; while
the others, grouped around, were talking and otherwise amusing
themselves--some of the men knitting a net, which it was intended to use
as a seine for catching fish some day when finished, and the steward
assisting Snowball in cutting up some cabbage which they were going to
pickle and lay by for emergencies--when Mr Meldrum, after a preliminary
"hem," to attract their attention, addressed the little gathering.
"Friends," said he, "it was my intention to speak to you some little
time back about our future prospects here, but I waited for the weather
to become more settled. Now that the spring has fairly set in, however,
it is better not to delay our preparations any longer, for time is
precious and we shall have to accomplish a great deal in the short
period which will be at our disposal."
"I 'spose," put in Mr Lathrope, "you mean about shifting our diggings,
mister, hey?"
"Precisely," replied the other. "The season was not sufficiently
advanced before; but now that it is, the rain having stopped falling
persistently and the weather showing signs of clearing up, why, the
sooner we are up and stirring, the greater chance we shall have of
getting rescued!"
"Waal," drawled the other in his usual nasal way, "you've only got to
say the word, boss, and I guess we're on the move!"
"All right! I'm coming to that, but I want you to understand the
situation. Here is a map of Kerguelen Land," and Mr Meldrum unrolled
the old admiralty chart which has been alluded to before, as he spoke.
"You will see, from the rough outline given of the island, that it is
formed of two peninsulas, running nearly north and south respectively
and both of nearly equal size, but divided by a comparatively narrow
neck of land. The whole island is, taking its outside limits, about
ninety miles long by sixty broad in its widest part, although at the
narrow point or neck which I have mentioned--see, just here where I
place my finger--the distance from sea to sea between the eastern and
western sides does not exceed fifteen miles."
"I say it clearly, sorr," said Mr McCarthy, all attention when his
especial element was mentioned.
"Well, it so happens," continued Mr Meldrum, "that our position here,
the correctness of which I have carefully ascertained from observations
that I have taken and worked out, is, very fortunately for us, on the
western side of this isthmus, and not at the extremity of the broader
portion of the island. Consequently, we shall only have to traverse the
short width of this neck of land in our endeavours to get across to the
eastern side, whither we must go if we hope for any vessel to pick us up
and take us to a civilised port--none ever touching here on account of
the dangerous character of the coast, which we already know to our
cost!"
"Bedad, I can't say how ye are going to get the boats over fifteen miles
ov solid ground, more or less," said the first-mate, scratching his head
vigorously, as he always did when puzzled by anything.
"I'll tell you," answered Mr Meldrum. "You may have noticed since the
snow melted and the rains came, how the waters of that originally small
lake at the bottom of the creek have become extended so that they now
reach up the base of the furthest hills in the valley?"
"Yis, sorr," said Mr McCarthy, stopping from disturbing his auburn
locks any further with his fingers and now all eagerness again, as if
only just then beginning to comprehend what the other was driving at.
"All right, then," continued Mr Meldrum, "so far, so good! Now, to-
day, I went prospecting up to the top of the cliff here, and I see that
the waters of the swollen tarn are united in the extreme distance--to
the left there on the map--with a river, or some other lake, which comes
round that further hill. Hence, this very width of fifteen miles which
we have to cross may be but half of it land and half water, so that,
really, in that case, we should have only to haul the boat, or boats,
over the intervening bits of _terra firma_ in passing from sea to sea."
"I guess, mister," said Mr Lathrope, "you mean what the lumber men on
the Susquehanna and Red River call `making a portage,' hey?"
"I don't quite follow you," observed Mr Meldrum.
"Why, when they come across a rapid in the river, they jest tote up
their canoes and carry 'em along the bank, or through the forest
sometimes, till they gits to whar the stream runs free agin, when they
floats 'em and sails along as slick as you please!"
"Exactly," said Mr Meldrum, "you have just hit what I wished to
describe. Well, friends, whether we have to carry the boat a short
distance or a long one, we shall have to cross this isthmus; and, the
sooner we commence making our preparations, the better."
"You sid only a boat, sorr; aren't ye going to take the pair ov 'em?"
asked Mr McCarthy.
"No," replied the other, "one will be about as much as we shall be able
to manage, and the smaller of the two at that."
"Be jabers!" exclaimed the first-mate in surprise; "and how, thin, will
you carry the lot ov us?"
"When we have to cross land," said Mr Meldrum, "of course we'll have to
walk, and can go in a body or not, just as we please; but when we have
to take to the water again, why the boat will have to do it in so many
trips--taking over a certain number first and returning for a fresh
load, until all shall be taken over; and repeating the process from
stage to stage."
"It kinder strikes me, mister," said Mr Lathrope, reflectively, "that
you'll find that thar jolly-boat a heap bigger and a pile heavier than
them birch-bark canoes of the lumber men and Injuns I was a talkin'
about; and yet, they're heavy enough to cart along fur any raal sort o'
distance, you bet, fur I've tried 'em!"
"I've already thought of that," said Mr Meldrum, "and to-morrow the
carpenter and I will have a talk about a little job which will, perhaps,
relieve your mind in the matter; but, take the boat we must, by hook or
by crook! Do you know that, after crossing the isthmus and getting into
the open sea on the other side, we shall have to coast along for another
fifty or sixty miles before we can expect to reach Betsy Cove, the
little harbour out of Hillsborough Bay or sound, which--you can see it
here on the chart--is the rendezvous of the whalers. Thither, I tell
you, we must go if we hope to meet any of these in order to be taken off
the island. Now, if we can't get there by water we should have to go by
land; and the distance, by the circuitous route we should have to adopt,
would exceed two hundred miles, the way, too, taking us across mountains
which the ladies at least would find impassable!"
"And when are you thinking of starting?" asked Captain Dinks, speaking
for the first time.
"As soon as possible. The whalers are said generally to arrive at Betsy
Cove about the beginning of the summer, that is in November; and, what
with the difficulties we may meet in traversing the isthmus here, and
the subsequent long distance we should have to go by water--for we may
have to make repeated trips in order to transport all the members of our
party to the point I am aiming at--it will take us all our time to reach
there in a month."
"All right!" responded the captain, who looked for the moment more
cheerful at the idea of moving away, "make all the arrangements you
like, Mr Meldrum; I'm only a useless old hulk now, and can do nothing
to help you."
"Bedad you'll be all right agin, cap'en," said Mr McCarthy. "That is,
faix, when you say the say on t'other side, sure. Cheer up, my hearty,
and niver say die!"
"Thank you, Tim," said Captain Dinks, actually smiling, which was the
best sign he had shown for weeks; "your face is as good as a tonic any
day, old friend, and you make me feel better already!"
The very next day all began to prepare for the contemplated shifting of
their quarters, Mr Meldrum so contriving that each had his quota of
work to perform in making ready for the start.
Ben Boltrope was commissioned to manufacture as speedily as he could,
out of what spare timber he could get hold of--and, if necessary, he was
empowered to break up the longboat in default of finding any elsewhere,
for they would not want to use it again--a small light carriage with
large broad wheels similar to those commonly used in transporting life-
boats from place to place along the coast, when their services are
suddenly required at some spot remote from their station and it would
take too long to send them round by sea.
This carriage, of course, was for the accommodation of the jolly-boat,
whenever it should be found necessary for it to abandon its more
congenial element the water, for the land; and as the wheels required
some delicacy of manipulation, it was a lucky thing that the mutineers
had forgotten to take Ben's tool-chest out of the longboat, and that it
had been restored to his possession. Otherwise, the old man-o'-war's
man would have been unable to have completed satisfactorily the
difficult task set him with only an old axe and a hammer for his
available tools, as had been the case when the house was being built.
Such of the party as were not assisting the carpenter were set to work
collecting and curing everything in the shape of food, or provisions of
any sort that came to hand--the rabbit warren being depopulated and wild
ducks slaughtered to such an extent that the latter abandoned the
valley; while, the last remaining birds in the penguin colony, old and
young alike, were sacrificed to appease the craving gods of the common
larder.
Neither were the ladies idle; for, Kate Meldrum and Mrs Major Negus
were employed making canvas bags for the stowage of all these good
things in proper ship-shape fashion. Even Master Maurice--the whilom
"Imp," who had almost been reformed by his experience amongst the
penguins--and Miss Florry, had their services requisitioned in one way
or other.
One and all, without exception, had each something to do!
"I guess, mister," said Mr Lathrope a week later on, when he and Mr
Meldrum were returning from an unsuccessful foray on the adjacent
marshes that had been the haunt of the wild fowl--without once getting a
shot, much less bagging a duck to reward their trouble,--"this'll be a
tall moving; and the sooner we make tracks the better now, since all the
game's skeart. I don't see nary a grasshopper to aim at!"
"The arrangements are all completed," replied the other, "and I have
determined to start to-morrow. As you say, there's nothing to be gained
by our waiting any longer; so, as we've now as much provision collected
as we shall either want or can carry, and as Ben has finished the boat-
carriage, I don't see any reason for delaying our departure a single
day!"
Mr Meldrum was as good as his word. He gave out an intimation of the
projected start on the morrow to the household the same evening, as soon
as the two reached the little dwelling by the creek which they were
about to abandon so remorselessly after the long shelter it had given
them in their adversity!
CHAPTER THIRTY THREE.
ACROSS COUNTRY.
It was a lovely morning, the loveliest that the shipwrecked people had
seen since their landing on Kerguelen Land, when the little party
started away from Penguin Castle, bidding adieu to the spot which for so
many long months had given them a shelter and a home.
The sun was shining out brightly, the sky without a cloud, and the air
felt quite warm, although with a freshness in it that just gave zest to
movement; while the atmosphere had that peculiar opalescent translucency
about it and an almost imperceptible colouring--in the faintest tints of
light mauve and amber, with a shade of tender apple-green--which is
rarely seen in more northern latitudes, excepting in those regions that
are well within the borders of the Arctic circle.
Out in the bay opposite the creek, the water was as smooth as glass,
undisturbed by the slightest breath of wind so as to cause a ripple; and
numbers of baby puffins and young penguins, their spruce little downy
bodies clad in bright new coats of silky feathers, were scattered in
groups over the mirror-like expanse, diving and coming up again in a
moment in the centre of a series of expanding circles that gradually
grew wider and wider in diameter, as when a stone is flung into a still
pond, only to disappear the next minute. Others were flitting along
over the surface with the pinions of their little wings just dipped in
the water, so that they flicked it up, in the short flights they took
now and then in play and mimic pursuit of each other, like as rowing men
do when they "feather" their oars too soon in lumpy water. Sometimes,
the generally restless birdlets would rest tranquilly for a brief while
on the bosom of the sea, chattering away like so many aquatic magpies in
miniature mottled flocks; but this was only for a very short spell.
To the right of the creek, rising abruptly out of the sea, the black
basaltic cliffs which formed such a bold headland to the bay stretched
far out to where the extreme point of Cape Saint Louis could be seen,
embracing within the compass of its arm the reef on which the _Nancy
Bell_ had been lost; and to the left, beyond the ridge at the back of
the castaways' dwelling, the higher ranges of the inland mountains,
which seemed to run down to the southwards and eastwards as far as the
eye could reach, stood up--towering in the distance above the hills
immediately near in the foreground and lifting their snow-clad summits
into the blue vault of the heavens.
The "travelling caravan," as Mr Lathrope had styled the jolly-boat when
he saw it first mounted on its broad-flanged, awkward-looking carriage,
had been packed the night before with all the impedimenta of the
pilgrims. Their few "goods and chattels and household effects" were
stowed in and about below the thwarts, with the canvas bags containing
the dried birds and Kerguelen cabbage which formed their stock of
provisions ranged round the gunwales and crammed in anywhere; while a
special place was kept clear and reserved in the stern-sheets for the
accommodation of poor Captain Dinks, who was deposited here in his cot.
Pussy, who had been so happily saved from the wreck at the last moment
and had since done such good service in demolishing the mice which
infested the house, was placed alongside of the captain to keep him
company, and he had also in charge a tame, or rather an educated
penguin, that Master Maurice Negus had displayed considerable ability in
training and which Mr Meldrum had allowed to be taken along with the
other things as a reward for the "imp's" services of late in assisting
at the preparations of the expedition.
For some days prior to this, Mr Meldrum had been very busy taking short
excursions in various directions, but all tending to the same point of
the compass. He was endeavouring to find out which route would be the
most practicable for reaching the eastern seaboard; and, after
collecting all his observations into one harmonised whole and
deliberating over the matter with Mr Lathrope and the first-mate, who
had severally accompanied him in his various prospecting tours, the
final course of the party was at length agreed on.
The bright morning appeared to all as an augury of success; so it was
with light hearts that they set out.
They abandoned Penguin Castle in all its entirety, Mr Meldrum saying
that possibly they might have to seek its shelter again; but, if happily
there should arise no occasion for that eventuality, the building might
still be of service to other shipwrecked men in a like extremity to
themselves. Thus it came to pass that the place was left "all
standing," with rooms, furniture--such as it was--Snowball's copper and
the cooking range all intact. Even the flagstaff with Kate's ensign at
the peak was left hoisted, as if to show, that if deserted now, the spot
had once been inhabited!
They were thirty-two souls in all now, reckoning the steward and the
other four men of the mutineers who had come back in the longboat--which
had to be broken up, by the way, after all, to form the jolly-boat's
carriage; and it was just "six bells in the forenoon watch" when they
started, a team of the sailors, tethered in traces like a pack of
Esquimaux dogs, hauling away at the boat-carriage and running it along
merrily with a chorus of "cheerily men, cheerily ho!" The others
tramped behind the queer vehicular conveyance, without respect of
persons; only poor Captain Dinks being allowed a seat in the boat, while
it travelled on land, and that only by reason of his helplessness and
inability to move without assistance. When they had to take to the
water, of course, the jolly-boat would have to carry more passengers.
On the way, sometimes, they had serious difficulties to encounter, for
the ground in many places was moist and spongy, causing the feet of the
men hauling to sink deeply into the soil as they tugged at the towing-
rope of the jolly-boat's carriage; but, as frequently Mr Meldrum
remarked, to rouse the seamen's energies, "difficulties were only made
for brave men to conquer," so at it they went with a will which soon
overcame the dead weight of the load they had to drag behind them--a
fresh towing team relieving the first at the expiration of every half
hour, so as not to weary the men out by a too prolonged strain at such
unusual exertion.
Bye and bye, they arrived at the end of their first "portage," the
shores of the little lake which Mr Meldrum had noticed trending in an
eastward direction. This water would now considerably aid their passage
across the isthmus by allowing the jolly-boat to take to its native
element, on whose bosom it would be borne some miles on the onward way.
Here a halt was called and a short luncheon taken, after which the
jolly-boat was safely launched on the water by backing it down on its
carriage. This plan was easy as well as expeditious; for, as soon as
the boat had reached its proper point of immersion, it floated off the
wheels.
The ladies then got into the stern-sheets, alongside of the captain,
accompanied by Mr Meldrum, while four of the seamen took their places
on the thwarts in order to row them across--the remainder of the party
stopping where they were, along with a portion of the packages that had
been removed from the boat so as to make room for Mrs Major Negus and
the others who went with her. The carriage belonging to the boat was
also left behind until the latter should have deposited its first cargo
on the other side of the lake and return to fetch a fresh load.
Three trips were taken before the whole party were thus transported over
the lake, the boat's carriage being then towed over at the last
crossing.
It would be needless repetition to recount in detail all the different
portages of the jolly-boat over the strips of land which lay between the
chain of lakes that were spread over the line of their route; or, to
tell the number of the trips by water that had to be made.
There were many unloadings of the little craft, and many packings-up
again.
Many weary miles the poor unaccustomed pedestrians had to tramp,
sometimes up-hill, sometimes down dale, through marshy lands and over
stony boulders that blistered their feet; and all the while they had to
drag after them that terrible Frankenstein-like monster, the jolly-boat
mounted on its carriage, which seemed to the worn-out men sometimes a
species of Juggernaut car, crushing out their spirits and sapping their
every energy.
Suffice it to say, that, at the end of a fortnight's time, they at
length reached a magnificent stretch of blue water, which Mr Meldrum
said was Hillsborough Bay, on the eastern side of Kerguelen Land.
Hurrah--they had crossed the isthmus, and arrived so far towards the end
of their destination!
As they toiled over this neck of land which united the two principal
peninsulas into which the island was divided, they could mark how, as
had been noticed along the coast, the country was composed of a series
of terraced hills, rising above a chain of lakes and lagoons that
indented it deeply on either side and forming an endless succession of
deep fords and harbours, the hills being almost invariably covered, from
their crests down to a certain altitude, with perpetual snow. Below
this line, their sides were clothed with green verdure, composed chiefly
of a species of azorella and a rough spinated grass; while, the
strangest feature of all was, that not a single tree, or plant
approaching to the dimensions of a shrub, could be seen on any portion
of the island!
The most charming characteristic of the scenery noticed, was the
profusion of cataracts, cascades, and waterfalls, which leaped and
sparkled from terrace to terrace of the basaltic net-work of peaks and
ridges that ran here, there, and everywhere across the isthmus,
enclosing the valleys and scarping the sea--the splashing of these
natural fountains making soft music everywhere as the water gurgled down
into tiny rivulets and brooks below, which stole their way along banks
bordered by chickweed and liverwort into the lakes, and from the lakes
into the ocean, only to be sucked up again by the clouds and deposited
on the hills in the form of rain, forming the cascades and cataracts
anew; and so on, _da capo_.
CHAPTER THIRTY FOUR.
RESCUED.
"Snakes and alligators, mister!" exclaimed Mr Lathrope when the whole
party were gathered together on the shore of Hillsborough Bay, united
once more after the boat-carriage had been lugged over its final
portage, and the boat itself had accomplished its last separate short
trip before adventuring again on the open waters of the sea--"I guess
your fifteen miles has come to a considerable sight more'n fifty, you
bet."
"Oh! please be a little more moderate in your estimate," laughed Mr
Meldrum. "I confess I somewhat understated the probable distance; but
really, now, fifty miles is a little too much."
"Wa-al, then, let us call it five-and-twenty," said the American with a
genial grin over his sharp-cut features, which were almost as elongated
as his legs. "You can't grumble at that anyway, I reckon, boss!"
"That's pretty much like the story of the five hundred cats which came
down, I believe, to two, if I'm not mistaken," slily put in Miss Kate,
smiling.
"Now, don't you be too rough on a feller, missy," said Mr Lathrope,
pretending to be very serious over the matter, in his humorous way. "I
cave in to the fifty, that's a fact, as I kinder wanted to pile on the
agony; but when I took my stand to be euchred on twenty-five miles, I
meant the distance we've tramped over, and nary a bit of the water
passage, for my old boots hev got busted up, I guess, and the sooner I
git a noo pair the better for this child."
"Bedad, that's the same case wid mysilf," interposed Mr McCarthy,
exhibiting the articles he wore as he spoke, which, from their repeated
patchings and general state of dilapidation, would certainly have
carried off the prize at a curiosity show. "Sure, and it's walkin' on
my fut I've bin the last foor days entirely."
"You'd have ben a smart coon to have done the contrary, I guess, mister,
anyhow," said the American drily.
"Sure, an' it's the sole of me fut I mane, sorr," explained the first-
mate in Hibernian fashion.
"Jest so," said Mr Lathrope, laughing at the blunder; "and it would
puzzle you to walk different, I kalkerlate, that is onless you tried the
sole of your head!"
"Well, here we are, no matter what distance we have travelled," said Mr
Meldrum, going back to business; while Frank and Kate, who had not been
able to get much conversation together of late, were having a very
interesting little _tete-a-tete_ confabulation in a corner, out of ear-
shot of the rest. "We shall, however, soon have to separate our forces
again, for we must make the next start on our journey by water, which
will now be our travelling medium all the way."
"Be jabers, and it's glad I am to hear that same!" exclaimed Mr
McCarthy, interrupting the speaker in his jubilation at not being forced
to walk any more, a means of locomotion to which, from his long life at
sea, the first-mate was strangely averse.
"As I was saying," continued Mr Meldrum, "we must now make up our minds
for a short separation, the rest of our journey having to be performed
by water. I'll tell you what I think will be the best plan, if you will
listen:-- From here to Betsy Cove, the harbour I have mentioned where
the whalers call every year, is in a bee-line just about thirty-five
miles right ahead across the stretch of sea there; but as we may have to
make a detour in order to avoid reefs and any rocks or islands which may
come within this straight line, we'd better call it fifty miles."
"Better say a hundred, mister, while you're at it," said Mr Lathrope,
with a wink to the others; "you kinder forget the fifteen miles you made
it across the isthmus 'fore we started, hey?"
"There's no fear of my making that mistake here," replied Mr Meldrum.
"This is all plain sailing, with correct latitude and longitude to go
by! It won't be more than fifty, indeed, even if we have to creep round
the coast of the bay all the way, instead of shaping a course right
across it, as I intend doing. Well, all things considered, it will be
best for the boat first to take half of us this distance to Betsy Cove,
going all the way in the one trip; and then to return for the other
portion of the party. We have lightened her considerably of the
provisions during the last ten days, and being able to carry twelve or
fourteen hands ordinarily, she will now easily take us across the bay in
two trips--that is, if some of you don't mind a little squeezing."
"Will--will--it be quite safe?" said Mrs Major Negus in a hesitating
way, looking at the bright, frisking little wavelets which covered the
blue sea of the bay with some slight alarm. She had imbibed a perfect
horror of the water and all pertaining to it ever since the wreck.
"Quite," answered Mr Meldrum. "We've had peril enough without my
seeking to endanger your safety now! I suppose," continued he, going on
to explain the arrangements, "the boat will take a day, say, in getting
to Betsy Cove, and another day coming back on the return voyage for the
rest.--We'll call it three days, to allow for contingencies; so that, we
shall not be apart more than four days at the outside, allowing due time
for the boat reaching the Cove again after her second trip hither."
"Fancy!" whispered Frank to Kate. "Four whole days that I may not be
able to see you! I know it will be just my luck that I shall have to
stay behind at the camp; for, your father will most probably take all
the ladies with him in the first trip, as he did at setting out."
"Oh, dear!" said Kate smiling, "that will be a terribly long separation,
won't it?"
"You darling tease!" exclaimed he; "I don't believe you care for me half
as much as I do for you!"
"Don't I!" she said softly; and her melting blue eyes would have
disclosed a secret if Frank had been looking into them at the moment--
which very probably he was!
However, the sad eventuality he had conjectured did not occur. Mr
Meldrum, knowing the condition of matters between the lovers, did not
have the heart to separate the two, even temporarily; and so Frank had
the supreme and unexpected felicity of accompanying Kate in the first
trip the jolly-boat took across the bay to Betsy Cove--Mrs Major Negus
and Maurice, Mr Meldrum and Florry, Mr Adams and Captain Dinks, of
course, besides six of the seamen, being their fellow-passengers.
Mr Lathrope remained at the head of the inlet, with Mr McCarthy, in
charge of the camp and the remaining hands until the jolly-boat came
back to fetch them; and it really seemed, from the many earnest "good-
byes" exchanged between those starting off and the ones left behind as
if the castaways were parting for ever, the separation seemed to cause
such a wrench after they had been so long together!
Thanks to the fine fresh breeze, and the fact of their being almost in
the open sea now--for the sides of the bay diverged so greatly after a
time that the opposite coasts could not be seen--the boat was under sail
instead of being pulled along; and the motion was ever so much more
pleasant than when it was oscillated to and fro by the sharp jerky
strokes of the rowers.
The weather still continued fine and clear, with the sun shining on the
water and a bright blue sky overhead; and as the boat glided along,
heeling over to the wind every now and then and tossing the spray from
her bows as she came down with a flop on the crest of some little wave
which got in her way, Frank wished that he and Kate could glide on so
for ever. Everything seemed so delightful around them after the dreary
winter they had so recently passed through.
Nature herself was smiling again upon them in the bright summer dawn!
Even the penguins seemed to enjoy the change of season, for they raced
after the boat as she pursued her way, moving through the water like a
shoal of albacore, and rarely showing more than their heads above the
surface for a little while. Then, all of a sudden, as if playing a game
of leapfrog amongst themselves, they would spring out of the sea in long
lines, one after another, showing their steel-grey backs and silvery
sides, so that Kate could hardly believe they were not fishes jumping up
in sport, like as she had frequently seen the bonito do when off the
African coast in the Atlantic.
The jolly-boat had such a spanking breeze from the north-west all the
way with her, right abaft the beam, that she accomplished the distance
between the head of the inlet and Betsy Cove before nightfall, Mr
Meldrum shaping her course so well by the old chart he had that she
fetched the harbour in a bee-line almost from their point of departure,
steering east by south.
There was no mistaking the place.
Betsy Cove was a second bay within a larger one, called "Accessible Bay"
on the chart and marked by a curious isolated mountain-peak which raised
itself on the very extremity of a low spit of land that ran out into the
sea, a long way out from the main shore.
On the beach were several old wooden huts and a large iron boiler that
had evidently been used for "trying out" seal and whale oil from the
blubber; while further up the shore was a small graveyard, a rather
melancholy-looking spot with a few wooden crosses and piles scattered
about it bearing dreary legends relating to the untimely end of
different seamen who had either died there on shore, or had lost their
lives at sea in the immediate vicinity. However, the most important
point to our little party, was the fact that there were no signs of any
vessels having recently visited the place; and, consequently, Mr
Meldrum had carried out his original plan to the letter, having
evidently arrived there in time before the annual coming of the whalers.
Early the next morning the jolly-boat was sent back to fetch the others,
and towards the evening of the day following the whole of the party were
once more together.
A week passed by without any event of note happening, during which
period the little community did not suffer from any want of food or
other necessaries, for they found a store of provisions in one of the
huts that had evidently been placed there in case of need similar to
their own; so, things jogged on evenly enough. Still, all were in a
state of high-strung suspense, looking out eagerly from morning till
night for the promised vessel that every one expected was coming to
deliver them.
"I guess they'd better look alive, mister, if they're coming," said Mr
Lathrope, "or else the summer'll be gone afore we git away, and then we
shall have to go back to Penguin Castle for another winter. I'd sooner
a durned sight be thar than haar if it comed on to blow!"
"Patience, my friend!" replied Mr Meldrum. "Don't you recollect that
old French proverb, `Everything comes to him who waits!'"
"Don't reckon I dew, mister," answered the other. "I guess, though, it
warn't a waiter at one of them hotels that said that, hey?"
"Perhaps not," said Mr Meldrum, smiling at the American's hit; "but
I've no doubt we shall be rescued this year, even if we have to wait."
He was not disappointed.
On the Monday morning of the following week the look out man--for they
had set up another signal station here at the head of the harbour the
same as at Penguin Castle--sang out the welcome call--"Sail ho!"
And, soon after, a large fore-and-aft rigged schooner was seen entering
the bay.
She proved to be the _Matilda Ann_ of New London. She was engaged in
the whale and seal fishery between Kerguelen Land and the neighbouring
Heard Islands; and as she was empty, having transferred her oil to a
homeward-bound whaler belonging to the same owners, her captain readily
accepted the offer made him by Mr Meldrum on behalf of Captain Dinks,
to charter the schooner to convey the survivors of the passengers and
crew of the _Nancy Bell_ to the Cape of Good Hope, whence they would
easily be able to get a passage back to England or to their original
destination in New Zealand.
"I guess that air prime," said Mr Lathrope; "but I've hed enuff v'yging
fur a spell, and I kinder kalkerlate I'll make tracks to hum. I don't
mind either, darkey, if I take you along o' me! I've got a fust-rate
brown-stone front in Philadelphy, and I'll chuck you in as cook, if you
like, hey?"
"Golly, massa, you don't mean dat, suah!"
"Guess I dew," said the American deliberately.
"Tank you, massa; den you ken take down de bill, I ain't no longer to
let--I'm on, yah, yah!" shouted Snowball, giving way to the most
obstreperous merriment, in order to testify his satisfaction at Mr
Lathrope's engaging him in his service, the darkey having always had a
hankering after the American from his thorough appreciation of his
cookery.
Mrs Major Negus was true to the last.
"What an extremely fishy smell!" she exclaimed as she went on board the
whaler which had so opportunely come to rescue them from the solitude of
Desolation Island. "I'm sure I wish Captain Dinks had secured a passage
for us in a more respectable ship after choosing to cast away his own!"
But little more remains to be added.
The whaling schooner reached Table Bay in safety, without encountering
any storms similar to that which had led to the loss of the _Nancy
Bell_, and all the rescued castaways were shortly afterwards landed at
Cape Town. Here, Captain Dinks, who had recovered much from his wound
since he was taken off the island, secured a passage home to England for
himself and officers and such of the passengers of the lost ship as
desired to go back thither, sending on to New Zealand, at the owners'
expense, those who preferred proceeding to their original destination.
Amongst these latter was Mrs Major Negus and her son, "the Major" being
extremely anxious to join her husband at Waikatoo as soon as possible.
Mr Meldrum and his family also went on; the ex-commander in the Royal
Navy having sold out the little property he had at home and capitalised
his pension with the object of settling in New Zealand, had now no
desire to return to England, or the means to live there if he had such a
wish.
Frank did not forget his engagement with Kate, however.
Although he was obliged to accompany Captain Dinks back to England, it
was not long after his arrival in London before he passed the Trinity
House Board, obtaining a certificate licensing him to act as chief mate,
in which capacity he went out to New Zealand on his very next voyage.
This will not be his last trip to the Antipodes either, for rumour has
it that, not improbably, Frank Harness, promoted to the rank of a master
in the mercantile marine, will proceed shortly again to Otago in command
of a ship of his own, when, possibly, he will have one especial item of
human freight to bring home with him on his own account!
CHAPTER THIRTY FIVE.
THE LAST OF THE OLD SHIP!
There is one thing more to tell.
It all arises from the unpardonable stupidity of that donkey of a
steward, Llewellyn, who forgot the memorandum concerning the
circumstance and left it down below in the cabin--and that, too, in
spite of Ben Boltrope's telling him to be certain to bear it mind,
besides his wife, Mary, having continually jogged his memory on the
subject! Had it not been for this, the omission would never have
occurred, as the matter would have been mentioned in its proper place
some time ago.
Shortly after the _Matilda Ann_ set sail from the little whaling station
at Betsy Cove with the rescued castaways of Kerguelen Land on board, and
just as she was weathering the Cloudy Islands, as they are called--a
group of rocks that lie to the north-east of the mainland--the look-out
man in the fore cross-trees, who was keeping a keen watch for breakers,
the navigation at this point being rather ticklish on account of the
treacherous reefs and stray currents that wander about there, suddenly
shouted down to the man at the wheel to put the helm down, which of
course he immediately did.
"What is it?" called out the steersman, who happened to be the master of
the schooner himself. He noticed no sign of breakers anywhere near and
wondered at this sudden alteration of the vessel's course--"Where's the
reef?"
"'Tain't no reef, sir," sang out the man aloft in answer, "but I see
something like a man in the water."
"Man be hanged!" exclaimed the schooner's skipper in a rage. "And was
it for such an absurd idea that you've nearly made me shiver the masts
out of her? If it be a body, it can only be a corpse; for no man could
swim out here from Kerguelen, and I'm blessed if he could live on those
rocks of islands beyond!"
"There!" shouted the look-out man again, taking no notice of the other's
upbraiding, and seeming to be very anxious about whatever he had seen in
the water. "It is quite close now on the lee bow."
"Well, just to oblige you," said the skipper, speaking loud enough for
all on board to hear, "and to let you see for yourself what a confounded
fool you are, I'll fetch her up to it!"
"Bully for you, cap'en!" exclaimed Mr Lathrope, who with the others of
the rescued party was on deck, not liking the rather fusty odour of the
schooner's cabin--which, to do justice to Mrs Major Negus, did smell
most abominably of seal-oil, and even worse scents!
The floating object was soon approached on the schooner's bearing away
towards it; and a man in the bows, who had a boat-hook ready in his
hand, quickly grappled it and pulled it alongside.
It was no man, however, as the look-out had thought; but only a piece of
square timber which had evidently once formed some portion of a vessel's
belongings, and it was carved out roughly on the uppermost side to
represent a female head and bust.
"I wasn't far out in thinking it were a man in the water," said the
look-out man, gazing down on the object from his perch above, as the
schooner's skipper, giving the helm in charge of some one else, came
forward to have a look over the side at the innocent cause of all this
unnecessary fuss, as he thought.
"You'd better say no more," replied the skipper, scornfully shouting
back up to the man. "I always thought you were a fool, and now I know
you are one! A drowning man, indeed! why, it's only the broken
figurehead of some old vessel or other!"
"Look, Mr McCarthy!" cried Mr Meldrum to the Irishman, who just then
came up to see what all the commotion was about. "Don't you see what it
is?"
"Be jabers, I do!" responded the ex-mate, quite as much excited as the
other. "Sure, an' it's the last of the ould ship! I wondther
howsomedever it iver floated all the way here?"
It was the figurehead of the ill-fated _Nancy Bell_.
End of Project Gutenberg's The Wreck of the Nancy Bell, by J. C. Hutcheson
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