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diff --git a/old/tsotc10a.txt b/old/tsotc10a.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..72d16d7 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/tsotc10a.txt @@ -0,0 +1,6996 @@ +Project Gutenberg Etext The Survivors of the Chancellor, by Verne +#9 in our series by Jules Verne +This is from a different source than our previous edition [#1652] + +Copyright laws are changing all over the world, be sure to check +the copyright laws for your country before posting these files!! + +Please take a look at the important information in this header. +We encourage you to keep this file on your own disk, keeping an +electronic path open for the next readers. Do not remove this. + + +**Welcome To The World of Free Plain Vanilla Electronic Texts** + +**Etexts Readable By Both Humans and By Computers, Since 1971** + +*These Etexts Prepared By Hundreds of Volunteers and Donations* + +Information on contacting Project Gutenberg to get Etexts, and +further information is included below. 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Shipwrecks occur +in other of Verne's tales; but this is his only +story devoted wholly to such a disaster. In it +the author has gathered all the tragedy, the +mystery, and the suffering possible to the sea. All the vari- +ous forms of disaster, all the possibilities of horror, the +depths of shame and agony, are heaped upon these unhappy +voyagers. The accumulation is mathematically complete +and emotionally unforgettable. The tale has well been called +the "imperishable epic of shipwreck." + +The idea of the book is said to have originated in the cele- +brated French painting by Gericault, "the Wreck of the +Medusa," now in the Louvre gallery. The Medusa was a +French frigate wrecked off the coast of Africa in 1816. +Some of the survivors, escaping on a raft, were rescued by +a passing ship after many days of torture. Verne, however, +seems also to have drawn upon the terrifying experiences of +the British ship Sarah Sands in 1857, her story being fresh +in the public mind at the time he wrote. The Sarah Sands +caught fire off the African coast while on a voyage to India +carrying British troops. There was gunpowder aboard li- +able to blow up at any moment. Some of it did indeed ex- +plode, tearing a huge hole in the vessel's side. A storm +added to the terror, and the waters entering the breach +caused by the explosion, combated with the fire. After ten +days of desperate struggle, the charred and sinking vessel +reached a port. + +The extreme length of life which Verne allows his people +in their starving, thirsting condition is proven possible by +medical science and recent "fasting"' experiments. The +dramatic climax of the tale wherein the castaways find fresh +water in the ocean is based upon a fact, one of those odd +geographical facts of which the author made such frequent, +skillful and instructive use. + +"Michael Strogoff" which, through its use as a stage +play, has become one of the best known books of all the +world, was first published in 1876. Its vivid, powerful +story has made it a favorite with every red-blooded reader. +Its two well-drawn female characters, the courageous hero- +ine, and the stern, endurant, yearning mother, show how +well Verne could depict the tenderer sex when he so willed. +Though usually the rapid movement and adventure of his +stories leave women in subordinate parts. + +As to the picture drawn in "Michael Strogoff" of Russia +and Siberia, it is at once instructive and sympathetic. +The horrors are not blinked at, yet neither is Russian patri- +otism ignored. The loyalty of some of the Siberian exiles +to their mother country is a side of life there which is too +often ignored by writers who dwell only on the darker view. + +The Czar, in our author's hands, becomes the hero figure +to the erection of which French "hero worship" is ever +prone. The sarcasms thrown occasionally at the British +newspaper correspondent of the story, show the changing +attitude of Verne toward England, and reflect the French +spirit of his day. + + + + +The Survivors of the Chancellor + +by Jules Verne + + + + +CHAPTER I +THE CHANCELLOR + +CHARLESTON, September 27, 1898. -- It is +high tide, and three o'clock in the afternoon +when we leave the Battery quay; the ebb +carries us off shore, and as Captain Huntly +has hoisted both main and top sails, the north- +erly breeze drives the Chancellor briskly +across the bay. Fort Sumter ere long is doubled, the +sweeping batteries of the mainland on our left are soon +passed, and by four o'clock the rapid current of the ebbing +tide has carried us through the harbor mouth. + +But as yet we have not reached the open sea we have still +to thread our way through the narrow channels which the +surge has hollowed out amongst the sand-banks. The +captain takes a southwest course, rounding the lighthouse +at the corner of the fort; the sails are closely trimmed; the +last sandy point is safely coasted, and at length, at seven +o'clock in the evening, we are out free upon the wide At- +lantic. + +The Chancellor is a fine square-rigged three-master, of +900 tons burden, and belongs to the wealthy Liverpool firm +of Laird Brothers. She is two years old, is sheathed and +secured with copper, her decks being of teak, and the base +of all her masts, except the mizzen, with all their fittings, +being of iron. She is registered first class, A 1, and is now +on her third voyage between Charleston and Liverpool. As +she wended her way through the channels of Charleston +harbor, it was the British flag that was lowered from her +mast-head; but without colors at all, no sailor could have +hesitated for a moment in telling her nationality, -- for Eng- +lish she was, and nothing but English from her water-line +upward to the truck of her masts. + +I must now relate how it happens that I have taken my +passage on board the Chancellor on her return voyage to +England. + +At present there is no direct steamship service between +South Carolina and Great Britain, and all who wish to cross +must go either northward to New York or southward to +New Orleans. It is quite true that if I had chosen a start +from New York I might have found plenty of vessels be- +longing to English, French, or Hamburg lines, any of which +would have conveyed me by a rapid voyage to my destina- +tion; and it is equally true that if I had selected New Or- +leans for my embarkation I could readily have reached +Europe by one of the vessels of the National Steam Naviga- +tion Company, which join the French transatlantic line +of Colon and Aspinwall. But it was fated to be otherwise. + +One day, as I was loitering about the Charleston quays, +my eye lighted on this vessel. There was something about +the Chancellor that pleased me, and a kind of involuntary +impulse took me on board, where I found the internal ar- +rangements perfectly comfortable. Yielding to the idea +that a voyage in a sailing vessel had certain charms beyond +the transit in a steamer, and reckoning that with wind and +wave in my favor there would be little material difference +in time; considering, moreover, that in these low latitudes +the weather in early autumn is fine and unbroken, I came +to my decision, and proceeded forthwith to secure my pas- +sage by this route to Europe. + +Have I done right or wrong? Whether I shall have rea- +son to regret my determination is a problem to be solved in +the future. However, I will begin to record the incidents +of our daily experience, dubious as I feel whether the lines +of my chronicle will ever find a reader. + + +CHAPTER II +CREW AND PASSENGERS + +SEPTEMBER 28. -- John Silas Huntly, the captain of the +Chancellor, has the reputation of being a most experienced +navigator of the Atlantic. He is a Scotchman by birth, +a native of Dundee, and is about fifty years of age. He is +of the middle height and slight build, and has a small head, +which he has a habit of holding a little over his left shoulder. +I do not pretend to be much of a physiognomist, but I am +inclined to believe that my few hours' acquaintance with our +captain has given me considerable insight into his charac- +ter. That he is a good seaman and thoroughly understands +his duties I could not for a moment venture to deny; but +that he is a man of resolute temperament, or that he pos- +sesses the amount of courage that would render him, phy- +sically or morally, capable of coping with any great emer- +gency, I confess I cannot believe. I observed a certain +heaviness and dejection about his whole carriage. His +wavering glances, the listless motion of his hands, and his +slow, unsteady gait, all seem to me to indicate a weak and +sluggish disposition. He does not appear as though he +could be energetic enough ever to be stubborn; he never +frowns, sets his teeth, or clenches his fists. There is some- +thing enigmatical about him; however, I shall study him +closely, and do what I can to understand the man who, as +commander of a vessel, should be to those around him +"second only to God." + +Unless I am greatly mistaken there is another man on +board who, if circumstances should require it, would take +the more prominent position -- I mean the mate. I have +hitherto, however, had so little opportunity of observing his +character, that I must defer saying more about him at pres- +ent. + +Besides the captain and this mate, whose name is Robert +Curtis, our crew consists of Walter, the lieutenant, the boat- +swain, and fourteen sailors, all English or Scotch, making +eighteen altogether, a number quite sufficient for working +a vessel of 900 tons burden. Up to this time my sole ex- +perience of their capabilities is, that under the command of +the mate, they brought us skillfully enough through the +narrow channels of Charleston; and I have no reason to +doubt that they are well up to their work. + +My list of the ship's officials is incomplete unless I men- +tion Hobart the steward and Jynxstrop the negro cook. + +In addition to these, the Chancellor carries eight pas- +sengers, including myself. Hitherto, the bustle of em- +barkation, the arrangement of cabins, and all the variety of +preparations inseparable from starting on a voyage for at +least twenty or five-and-twenty days have precluded the +formation of any acquaintanceships; but the monotony of +the voyage, the close proximity into which we must be +thrown, and the natural curiosity to know something of each +other's affairs, will doubtless lead us in due time to an ex- +change of ideas. Two days have elapsed and I have not +even seen all the passengers. Probably sea-sickness has +prevented some of them from making an appearance at the +common table. One thing, however, I do know; namely, +that there are two ladies occupying the stern cabin, the win- +dows of which are in the aft-board of the vessel. + +I have seen the ship's list, and subjoin a list of the pas- +sengers. They are as follows: + + Mr. and Mrs. Kear, Americans, of Buffalo. + + Miss Herbey, a young English lady, companion to Mrs. +Kear. + + M. Letourneur and his son Andre, Frenchmen, of Havre. + + William Falsten, a Manchester engineer. + + John Ruby, a Cardiff merchant; and myself, J. R. Kazal- +lon, of London. + + +CHAPTER III +BILL OF LADING + +SEPTEMBER 29. -- Captain Huntly's bill of lading, that is +to say, the document that describes the Chancellor's cargo +and the conditions of transport, is couched in the following +terms: + +Bronsfield and Co., Agents, Charleston: + + I, John Silas Huntly, of Dundee, Scotland, commander +of the ship Chancellor, of about 900 tons burden, now at +Charleston, do purpose, by the blessing of God, at the earli- +est convenient season, and by the direct route, to sail for the +port of Liverpool, where I shall obtain my discharge. I +do hereby acknowledge that I have received from you, +Messrs. Bronsfield and Co., Commission Agents, Charles- +ton, and have placed the same under the gun-deck of the +aforesaid ship, seventeen hundred bales of cotton, of the +estimated value of 26,000 L., all in good condition, marked +and numbered as in the margin; which goods I do undertake +to transport to Liverpool, and there to deliver, free from +injury (save only such injury as shall have been caused by +the chances of the sea), to Messrs. Laird Brothers, or to +their order, or to their representatives, who shall on due +delivery of the said freight pay me the sum of 2,000 L. inclu- +sive, according to the charter-party, and damages in addi- +tion, according to the usages and customs of the sea. + +And for the fulfillment of the above covenant, I have +pledged and do pledge my person, my property, and my +interest in the vessel aforesaid, with all its appurtenances. +In witness whereof, I have signed three agreements all of +the same purport, on the condition that when the terms of +one are accomplished, the other two shall be absolutely null +and void. + + Given at Charleston, September 13th, 1869. + + J. S. HUNTLY. + +From the foregoing document it will be understood that +the Chancellor is conveying 1,700 bales of cotton to Liver- +pool; that the shippers are Bronsfield, of Charleston, and +the consignees are Laird Brothers of Liverpool. The ship +was constructed with the especial design of carrying cotton, +and the entire hold, with the exception of a very limited +space reserved for passenger's luggage, is closely packed +with the bales. The lading was performed with the utmost +care, each bale being pressed into its proper place by the +aid of screw-jacks, so that the whole freight forms one solid +and compact mass; not an inch of space is wasted, and the +vessel is thus made capable of carrying her full complement +of cargo. + + +CHAPTER IV +SOMETHING ABOUT MY FELLOW PASSENGERS + +SEPTEMBER 30 to October 6. -- The Chancellor is a rapid +sailer, and more than a match for many a vessel of the +same dimensions. She scuds along merrily in the freshen- +ing breeze, leaving in her wake, far as the eye can reach, a +long white line of foam as well defined as a delicate strip +of lace stretched upon an azure ground. + +The Atlantic is not visited by many gales, and I have +every reason to believe that the rolling and pitching of the +vessel no longer incommode any of the passengers, who are +all more or less accustomed to the sea. A vacant seat at +our table is now very rare; we are beginning to know some- +thing about each other, and our daily life, in consequence, +is becoming somewhat less monotonous. + +M. Letourneur, our French fellow-passenger, often has +a chat with me. He is a fine tall man, about fifty years of +age, with white hair and a grizzly beard. To say the truth, +he looks older than he really is: his drooping head, his de- +jected manner, and his eye, ever and again suffused with +tears, indicate that he is haunted by some deep and abiding +sorrow. He never laughs; he rarely even smiles, and then +only on his son; his countenance ordinarily bearing a look +of bitterness tempered by affection, while his general ex- +pression is one of caressing tenderness. It excites an invol- +untary commiseration to learn that M. Letourneur is con- +suming himself by exaggerated reproaches on account of +the infirmity of an afflicted son. + +Andre Letourneur is about twenty years of age, with a +gentle, interesting countenance, but, to the irrepressible +grief of his father, is a hopeless cripple. His left leg is +miserably deformed, and he is quite unable to walk without +the assistance of a stick. It is obvious that the father's +life is bound up with that of his son; his devotion is unceas- +ing; every thought, every glance is for Andre; he seems to +anticipate his most trifling wish, watches his slightest move- +ment, and his arm is ever ready to support or otherwise +assist the child whose sufferings he more than shares. + +M. Letourneur seems to have taken a peculiar fancy to +myself, and constantly talks about Andre. This morning, +in the course of conversation, I said: + +"You have a good son, M. Letourneur. I have just +been talking to him. He is a most intelligent young man." + +"Yes, Mr. Kazallon," replied M. Letourneur, brighten- +ing up into a smile, "his afflicted frame contains a noble +mind. He is like his mother, who died at his birth." + +"He is full of reverence and love for you, sir," I re- +marked. + +"Dear boy!" muttered the father half to himself. "Ah, +Mr. Kazallon," he continued, "you do not know what it is +to a father to have a son a cripple, beyond hope of cure." + +"M. Letourneur," I answered, "you take more than your +share of the affliction which has fallen upon you and your +son. That M. Andre is entitled to the very greatest com- +miseration no one can deny; but you should remember, that +after all a physical infirmity is not so hard to bear as mental +grief. Now, I have watched your son pretty closely, and +unless I am much mistaken there is nothing that troubles +him so much as the sight of your own sorrow." + +"But I never let him see it," he broke in hastily. "My +sole thought is how to divert him. I have discovered that, +in spite of his physical weakness, he delights in traveling; +so for the last few years we have been constantly on the +move. We first went all over Europe, and are now re- +turning from visiting the principal places in the United +States. I never allowed my son to go to college, but in- +structed him entirely myself, and these travels, I hope, will +serve to complete his education. He is very intelligent, and +has a lively imagination, and I am sometimes tempted to +hope that in contemplating the wonders of nature he forgets +his own infirmity." + +"Yes, sir, of course he does," I assented. + +"But," continued M. Letourneur, taking my hand, "al- +though, perhaps, HE may forget, I can never forget. Ah, +sir, do you suppose that Andre can ever forgive his parents +for bringing him into the world a cripple?" + +The remorse of the unhappy father was very distressing, +and I was about to say a few kind words of sympathy when +Andre himself made his appearance. M. Letourneur has- +tened toward him and assisted him up the few steep steps +that led to the poop. + +As soon as Andre was comfortably seated on one of the +benches, and his father had taken his place by his side, I +joined them, and we fell into conversation upon ordinary +topics, discussing the various points of the Chancellor, the +probable length of the passage, and the different details of +our life on board. I find that M. Letourneur's estimate of +Captain Huntly's character very much coincides with my +own, and that, like me, he is impressed with the man's un- +decided manner and sluggish appearance. Like me, too, he +has formed a very favorable opinion of Robert Curtis, the +mate, a man of about thirty years of age, of great muscular +power, with a frame and a will that seem ever ready for +action. + +While we were still talking of him, Curtis himself came +on deck, and as I watched his movements I could not help +being struck with his physical development; his erect and +easy carriage, his fearless glance and slightly contracted +brow all betoken a man of energy, thoroughly endowed +with the calmness and courage that are indispensable to the +true sailor. He seems a kind-hearted fellow, too, and is al- +ways ready to assist and amuse young Letourneur, who evi- +dently enjoys his company. After he had scanned the +weather and examined the trim of the sails, he joined our +party and proceeded to give us some information about those +of our fellow-passengers with whom at present we have +made but slight acquaintance. + +Mr. Kear, the American, who is accompanied by his wife, +has made a large fortune in the petroleum springs in the +United States. He is a man of about fifty, a most uninter- +esting companion, being overwhelmed with a sense of his +own wealth and importance, and consequently supremely +indifferent to all around him. His hands are always in his +pockets, and the chink of money seems to follow him +wherever he goes. Vain and conceited, a fool as well as an +egotist, he struts about like a peacock showing its plumage, +and to borrow the words of the physiognomist Gratiolet, +"il se flaire, il se savoure, il se goute." Why he should +have taken his passage on board a mere merchant vessel +instead of enjoying the luxuries of a transatlantic steamer, +I am altogether at a loss to explain. + +The wife is an insignificant, insipid woman, of about +forty years of age. She never reads, never talks, and I +believe I am not wrong in saying, never thinks. She seems +to look without seeing, and listen without hearing, and her +sole occupation consists in giving her orders to her com- +panion, Miss Herbey, a young English girl of about twenty. + +Miss Herbey is extremely pretty. Her complexion is +fair and her eyes deep blue, while her pleasing countenance +is altogether free from that insignificance of feature which +is not unfrequently alleged to be characteristic of English +beauty. Her mouth would be charming if she ever smiled, +but, exposed as she is to the ridiculous whims and fancies +of a capricious mistress, her lips rarely relax from their +ordinary grave expression. Yet, humiliating as her posi- +tion must be, she never utters a word of open complaint, +but quietly and gracefully performs her duties, accepting +without a murmur the paltry salary which the bumptious +petroleum-merchant condescends to allow her. + +The Manchester engineer, William Falsten, looks like a +thorough Englishman. He has the management of some +extensive hydraulic works in South Carolina, and is now on +his way to Europe to obtain some improved apparatus, and +more especially to visit the mines worked by centrifugal +force, belonging to the firm of Messrs. Cail. He is forty- +five years of age, with all his interests so entirely absorbed +by his machinery that he seems to have neither a thought +nor a care beyond his mechanical calculations. Once let +him engage you in conversation, and there is no chance of +escape; you have no help for it but to listen as patiently +as you can until he has completed the explanation of his +designs. + +The last of our fellow-passengers, Mr. Ruby, is the type +of a vulgar tradesman. Without any originality or +magnanimity in his composition, he has spent twenty years +of his life in mere buying and selling, and as he has gener- +ally contrived to do business at a profit, he has realized a +considerable fortune. What he is going to do with the +money, he does not seem able to say: his ideas do not go +beyond retail trade, his mind having been so long closed to +all other impressions that it appears incapable of thought +or reflection on any subject besides. Pascal says, +"L'homme est visiblement fait pour penser. C'est toute +sa dignite et tout son merite;" but to Mr. Ruby the phrase +seems altogether inapplicable. + + +CHAPTER V +AN UNUSUAL ROUTE + +OCTOBER 7. -- This is the tenth day since we left Charles- +ton, and I should think our progress has been very rapid. +Robert Curtis, the mate, with whom I continue to have +many a friendly chat, informed me that we could not be far +off the Bermudas; the ship's bearings, he said, were lat. +32 deg. 20' N. and long. 64 deg. 50' W. so that he had every reason +to believe that we should sight St. George's Island before +night. + +"The Bermudas!" I exclaimed. "But how is it we are +off the Bermudas? I should have thought that a vessel sail- +ing from Charleston to Liverpool, would have kept north- +ward, and have followed the track of the Gulf Stream." + +"Yes, indeed, sir," replied Curtis, "that is the usual +course; but you see that this time the captain hasn't chosen +to take it." + +"But why not?" I persisted. + +"That's not for me to say, sir; he ordered us eastward, +and eastward we go." + +"Haven't you called his attention to it?" I inquired. + +Curtis acknowledged that he had already pointed out +what an unusual route they were taking, but that the cap- +tain had said that he was quite aware what he was about. +The mate made no further remark; but the knit of his brow, +as he passed his hand mechanically across his forehead, +made me fancy that he was inclined to speak out more +strongly. + +"All very well, Curtis," I said, "but I don't know what +to think about trying new routes. Here we are at the 7th +of October, and if we are to reach Europe before the bad +weather sets in, I should suppose there is not a day to be +lost." + +"Right, sir, quite right; there is not a day to be lost." + +Struck by his manner, I ventured to add, "Do you mind, +Curtis, giving me your honest opinion of Captain Huntly?" + +He hesitated a moment, and then replied shortly, "He is +my captain, sir." + +This evasive answer of course put an end to any further +interrogation on my part. + +Curtis was not mistaken. At about three o'clock the +look-out man sung out that there was land to windward, +and descried what seemed as if it might be a line of smoke +in the northeast horizon. At six, I went on deck with M. +Letourneur and his son, and we could then distinctly make +out the low group of the Bermudas, encircled by their +formidable chain of breakers. + +"There," said Andre Letourneur to me, as we stood gaz- +ing at the distant land, "there lies the enchanted archipel- +ago, sung by your poet Moore. The exile Waller, too, as +long ago as 1643, wrote an enthusiastic panegyric on the +islands, and I have been told that at one time English ladies +would wear no other bonnets than such as were made of the +leaves of the Bermuda palm." + +"Yes," I replied, "the Bermudas were all the rage in +the seventeenth century, although latterly they have fallen +into comparative oblivion." + +"But let me tell you, M. Andre," interposed Curtis, who +had as usual joined our party, "that although poets may +rave, and be as enthusiastic as they like about these islands, +sailors will tell a different tale. The hidden reefs that lie +in a semicircle about two or three leagues from shore make +the attempt to land a very dangerous piece of business. +And another thing, I know. Let the natives boast as they +will about their splendid climate, they are visited by the +most frightful hurricanes. They get the fag-end of the +storms that rage over the Antilles; and the fag-end of a +storm is like the tail of a whale; it's just the strongest bit of +it. I don't think you'll find a sailor listening much to your +poets -- your Moores, and your Wallers." + +"No doubt you are right, Mr. Curtis," said Andre, smil- +ing, "but poets are like proverbs; you can always find one +to contradict another. Although Waller and Moore have +chosen to sing the praises of the Bermudas, it has been sup- +posed that Shakspeare was depicting them in the terrible +scenes that are found in 'The Tempest.'" + +I may mention that there was not another of our fellow- +passengers who took the trouble to come on deck and give +a glance at this strange cluster of islands. Miss Herbey, it +is true, was making an attempt to join us, but she had barely +reached the poop, when Mrs. Kear's languid voice was +heard recalling her for some trifling service to her side. + + +CHAPTER VI +THE SARGASSO SEA + +OCTOBER 8 to October 13. -- The wind is blowing hard +from the northeast, and the Chancellor, under low-reefed +top-sail and fore-sail, and laboring against a heavy sea, has +been obliged to be brought ahull. The joists and girders +all creak again until one's teeth are set on edge. I am the +only passenger not remaining below; but I prefer being on +deck notwithstanding the driving rain, fine as dust, which +penetrates to the very skin. We have been driven along in +this fashion for the best part of two days; the "stiffish +breeze" has gradually freshened into "a gale"; the top- +gallants have been lowered, and, as I write, the wind is +blowing with a velocity of fifty or sixty miles an hour. Al- +though the Chancellor has many good points, her drift is +considerable, and we have been carried far to the south; we +can only guess at our precise position, as the cloudy at- +mosphere entirely precludes us from taking the sun's alti- +tude. + +All along, throughout this period, my fellow-passengers +are totally ignorant of the extraordinary course that we are +taking. England lies to the northeast, yet we are sailing +directly southeast, and Robert Curtis owns that he is quite be- +wildered; he cannot comprehend why the captain, ever since +this northeasterly gale has been blowing, should persist in +allowing the ship to drive to the south, instead of tacking +to the northwest until she gets into better quarters. + +I was alone with Robert Curtis to-day upon the poop, +and could not help saying to him, "Curtis, is your captain +mad?" + +"Perhaps, sir, I might be allowed to ask what YOU think +upon that matter," was his cautious reply. + +"Well, to say the truth," I answered. "I can hardly tell; +but I confess there is every now and then a wandering in +his eye, and an odd look on his face that I do not like. +Have you ever sailed with him before?" + +"No; this is our first voyage together. Again last night +I spoke to him about the route we were taking, but he only +said he knew all about it, and that it was all right." + +"What do Lieutenant Walter and your boatswain think +of it all?" I inquired. + +"Think; why, they think just the same as I do," replied +the mate; "but if the captain chooses to take the ship to +China we should obey his orders." + +"But surely," I exclaimed, "there must be some limit to +your obedience! Suppose the man is actually mad, what +then?" + +"If he should be mad enough, Mr. Kazallon, to bring the +vessel into any real danger, I shall know what to do." + +With this assurance I am forced to be content. Matters, +however, have taken a different turn to what I bargained +for when I took my passage on board the Chancellor. The +weather has become worse and worse. As I have already +said, the ship under her large low-reefed top-sail and fore +stay-sail has been brought ahull, that is to say, she copes +directly with the wind, by presenting her broad bows to the +sea; and so we go on still drift, drift, continually to the +south. + +How southerly our course has been is very apparent; for +upon the night of the 11th we fairly entered upon that por- +tion of the Atlantic which is known as the Sargasso Sea. +An extensive tract of water is this, inclosed by the warm +current of the Gulf Stream, and thickly covered with the +wrack, called by the Spaniards "sargasso," the abundance +of which so seriously impeded the progress of Columbus's +vessel on his first voyage. + +Each morning at daybreak the Atlantic has presented an +aspect so remarkable, that at my solicitation, M. Letourneur +and his son have ventured upon deck to witness the unusual +spectacle. The squally gusts make the metal shrouds +vibrate like harp-strings; and unless we were on our guard +to keep our clothes wrapped tightly to us, they would have +been torn off our backs in shreds. The scene presented to +our eyes is one of strangest interest. The sea, carpeted +thickly with masses of prolific fucus, is a vast unbroken +plain of vegetation, through which the vessel makes her way +as a plow. Long strips of seaweed caught up by the wind +become entangled in the rigging, and hang between the +masts in festoons of verdure; while others, varying from +two to three hundred feet in length, twine themselves up to +the very mast-head, from whence they float like streaming +pennants. For many hours now, the Chancellor has been +contending with this formidable accumulation of algae; her +masts are circled with hydrophytes; her rigging is wreathed +everywhere with creepers, fantastic as the untrammeled ten- +drils of a vine, and as she works her arduous course, there +are times when I can only compare her to an animated +grove of verdure making its mysterious way over some +illimitable prairie. + + +CHAPTER VII +VOICES IN THE NIGHT + +OCTOBER 14. -- At last we are free from the sea of vegeta- +tion, the boisterous gale has moderated into a steady breeze, +the sun is shining brightly, the weather is warm and genial, +and thus, two reefs in her top-sails, briskly and merrily +sails the Chancellor. + +Under conditions so favorable, we have been able to take +the ship's bearings: our latitude, we find, is 21 deg. 33' N., our +longitude, 50 deg. 17' W. + +Incomprehensible altogether is the conduct of Captain +Huntly. Here we are, already more than ten degrees south +of the point from which we started, and yet still we are per- +sistently following a southeasterly course! I cannot bring +myself to the conclusion that the man is mad. I have had +various conversations with him: he has always spoken +rationally and sensibly. He shows no tokens of insanity. +Perhaps his case is one of those in which insanity is partial, +and where the mania is of a character which extends only +to the matters connected with his profession. Yet it is un- +accountable. + +I can get nothing out of Curtis; he listens coldly when- +ever I allude to the subject, and only repeats what he has +said before, that nothing short of an overt act of madness +on the part of the captain could induce him to supersede the +captain's authority, and that the imminent peril of the ship +could alone justify him in taking so decided a measure. + +Last evening I went to my cabin about eight o'clock, and +after an hour's reading by the light of my cabin-lamp, I +retired to my berth and was soon asleep. Some hours later +I was aroused by an unaccustomed noise on deck. There +were heavy footsteps hurrying to and fro, and the voices +of the men were loud and eager, as if the crew were agitated +by some strange disturbance. My first impression was, that +some tacking had been ordered which rendered it needful +to fathom the yards; but the vessel continuing to lie to star- +board convinced me that this was not the origin of the com- +motion. I was curious to know the truth, and made all +haste I could to go on deck; but before I was ready, the +noise had ceased. I heard Captain Huntly return to his +cabin, and accordingly I retired again to my own berth. +Whatever may have been the meaning of the maneuver, I +cannot tell; it did not seem to result in any improvement +in the ship's pace; still it must be owned there was not much +wind to speed us along. + +At six o'clock this morning I mounted the poop and made +as keen a scrutiny as I could of everything on board. +Everything appeared as usual. The Chancellor was run- +ning on the larboard tack, and carried low-sails, top-sails, +and gallant-sails. Well braced she was; and under a fresh, +but not uneasy breeze, was making no less than eleven knots +an hour. + +Shortly afterward M. Letourneur and Andre came on +deck. The young man enjoyed the early morning air, +laden with its briny fragrance, and I assisted him to mount +the poop. In answer to my inquiry as to whether they had +been disturbed by any bustle in the night, Andre replied +that he did not wake at all, and had heard nothing. + +"I am glad, my boy," said the father, "that you have +slept so soundly. I heard the noise of which Mr. Kazallon +speaks. It must have been about three o'clock this morning, +and it seemed to me as though they were shouting. I +thought I heard them say; 'Here, quick, look to the +hatches!' but as nobody was called up, I presumed that +nothing serious was the matter." + +As he spoke I cast my eye at the panel-slides, which fore +and aft of the main-mast open into the hold. They seemed +to be all close as usual, but I now observed for the first time +that they were covered with heavy tarpauling. Wondering +in my own mind what could be the reason for these ex- +tra precautions I did not say anything to M. Letourneur, +but determined to wait until the mate should come on watch, +when he would doubtless give me, I thought, an explanation +of the mystery. + +The sun rose gloriously, with every promise of a fine +dry day. The waning moon was yet above the western +horizon, for as it still wants three days to her last quarter +she does not set until 10:57 A. M. On consulting my al- +manac, I find that there will be a new moon on the 24th, +and that on that day, little as it may affect us here in mid- +ocean, the phenomenon of the high sygyzian tides will take +place on the shores of every continent and island. + +At the breakfast hour M. Letourneur and Andre went +below for a cup of tea, and I remained on the poop alone. +As I expected, Curtis appeared, that he might relieve Lieu- +tenant Walter of the watch. I advanced to meet him, but be- +fore he even wished me good morning, I saw him cast a +quick and searching glance upon the deck, and then, with a +slightly contracted brow, proceed to examine the state of +the weather and the trim of the sails. + +"Where is Captain Huntly?" he said to Walter. + +"I have seen nothing of him," answered the lieutenant; +"is there anything fresh up?" + +"Nothing whatever," was the curt reply. + +They then conversed for a few moments in an undertone, +and I could see that Walter by his gesture gave a negative +answer to some question which the mate had asked him. +"Send me the boatswain, Walter," said Curtis aloud as the +lieutenant moved away. + +The boatswain immediately appeared, and another con- +versation was carried on in whispers. The man repeatedly +shook his head as he replied to Curtis's inquiries, and then, +in obedience to orders, called the men who were on watch, +and made them plentifully water the tarpauling that covered +the great hatchway. + +Curious to fathom the mystery I went up to Curtis and +began to talk with him upon ordinary topics, hoping that +he would himself introduce the subject that was uppermost +in my mind; finding, however, that he did not allude to it, I +asked him point blank: + +"What was the matter in the night, Curtis?" + +He looked at me steadily, but made no reply. + +"What was it?" I repeated. "M. Letourneur and my- +self were both of us disturbed by a very unusual commotion +overhead." + +"Oh, a mere nothing," he said at length; "the man at +the helm had made a false move, and we had to pipe hands +to brace the ship a bit; but it was soon all put to rights. It +was nothing, nothing at all." + +I said no more; but I can not resist the impression that +Robert Curtis has not acted with me in his usual straight- +forward manner. + + +CHAPTER VIII +FIRE ON BOARD + +OCTOBER 15 to October 18. -- The wind is still in the +northeast. There is no change in the Chancellor's course, +and to an unprejudiced eye all would appear to be going on +as usual. But I have an uneasy consciousness that some- +thing is not quite right. Why should the hatchways be so +hermetically closed as though a mutinous crew was im- +prisoned between decks? I can not help thinking too that +there is something in the sailors so constantly standing in +groups and breaking off their talk so suddenly whenever we +approach; and several times I have caught the word +"hatches" which arrested M. Letourneur's attention on the +night of the disturbance. + +On the 15th, while I was walking on the forecastle, I over- +heard one of the sailors, a man named Owen, say to his +mates: + +"Now I just give you all warning that I am not going +to wait until the last minute. Everyone for himself, say I." + +"Why, what do you mean to do?" asked Jynxstrop, the +cook. + +"Pshaw!" said Owen, "do you suppose that longboats +were only made for porpoises?" + +Something at that moment occurred to interrupt the con- +versation, and I heard no more. It occurred to me whether +there was not some conspiracy among the crew, of which +probably Curtis had already detected the symptoms. I am +quite aware that some sailors are most rebelliously disposed, +and required to be ruled with a rod of iron. + +Yesterday and to-day I have observed Curtis remonstrat- +ing somewhat vehemently with Captain Huntly, but there +is no obvious result arising from their interviews; the cap- +tain apparently being bent upon some purpose, of which it +is only too manifest that the mate decidedly disapproves. + +Captain Huntly is undoubtedly laboring under strong +nervous excitement; and M. Letourneur has more than once +remarked how silent he has become at meal-times; for al- +though Curtis continually endeavors to start some subject +of general interest, yet neither Mr. Falsten, Mr. Kear, nor +Mr. Ruby are the men to take it up, and consequently the +conversation flags hopelessly, and soon drops. The pas- +sengers too are now, with good cause, beginning to murmur +at the length of the voyage, and Mr. Kear, who considers +that the very elements ought to yield to his convenience, lets +the captain know by his consequential and haughty manner +that he holds him responsible for the delay. + +During the course of yesterday the mate gave repeated +orders for the deck to be watered again and again, and al- +though as a general rule this is a business which is done, once +for all, in the early morning, the crew did not utter a word +of complaint at the additional work thus imposed upon them. +The tarpaulins on the hatches have thus been kept con- +tinually wet, so that their close and heavy texture is rendered +quite impervious to the air. The Chancellor's pumps afford +a copious supply of water, so that I should not suppose that +even the daintiest and most luxurious craft belonging to an +aristocratic yacht club was ever subject to a more thorough +scouring. I tried to reconcile myself to the belief that it +was the high temperature of the tropical regions upon which +we are entering, that rendered such extra sousings a neces- +sity, and recalled to my recollection how, during the night +of the 13th, I had found the atmosphere below deck so +stifling, that in spite of the heavy swell I was obliged to open +the porthole of my cabin, on the starboard side, to get a +breath of air. + +This morning at daybreak I went on deck. The sun had +scarcely risen, and the air was fresh and cool, in strange con- +trast to the heat which below the poop had been quite op- +pressive. The sailors as usual were washing the deck. A +great sheet of water, supplied continuously by the pumps, +was rolling in tiny wavelets, and escaping now to starboard, +now to larboard through the scupper-holes. After watch- +ing the men for a while as they ran about bare-footed, I +could not resist the desire to join them, so taking off my +shoes and stockings, I proceeded to dabble in the flowing +water. + +Great was my amazement to find the deck perfectly hot to +my feet! Curtis heard my exclamation of surprise, and be- +fore I could put my thoughts into words, said: + +"Yes! there is fire on board!" + + +CHAPTER IX +CURTIS EXPLAINS THE SITUATION + +OCTOBER 19. -- Everything, then, is clear. The uneas- +iness of the crew, their frequent conferences, Owen's mys- +terious words, the constant scourings of the deck and the +oppressive heat of the cabins which had been noticed even +by my fellow-passengers, all are explained. + +After his grave communication, Curtis remained silent. +I shivered with a thrill of horror; a calamity the most ter- +rible that can befall a voyager stared me in the face, and it +was some seconds before I could recover sufficient com- +posure to inquire when the fire was first discovered. + +"Six days ago," replied the mate. + +"Six days ago!" I exclaimed; "why, then, it was that +night." + +"Yes," he said, interrupting me; "it was the night you +heard the disturbance upon deck. The men on watch no- +ticed a slight smoke issuing from the large hatchway and +immediately called Captain Huntly and myself. We found +beyond all doubt, that the cargo was on fire, and what was +worse, that there was no possibility of getting at the seat of +the combustion. What could we do? Why, we took the +only precaution that was practicable under the circumstances, +and resolved most carefully to exclude every breath of air +from penetrating into the hold. For some time I hoped that +we had been successful. I thought that the fire was stifled; +but during the last three days there is every reason to make +us know that it has been gaining strength. Do what we +will, the deck gets hotter and hotter, and unless it were kept +constantly wet, it would be unbearable to the feet. But I +am glad, Mr. Kazallon," he added; "that you have made +the discovery. It is better that you should know it." I +listened in silence. I was now fully aroused to the gravity of +the situation and thoroughly comprehended how we were in +the very face of a calamity which it seemed that no human +power could avert. + +"Do you know what has caused the fire?" I presently +inquired. + +"It probably arose," he answered, "from the sponta- +neous combustion of the cotton. The case is rare, but it is +far from unknown. Unless the cotton is perfectly dry when +it is shipped, its confinement in a damp or ill-ventilated hold +will sometimes cause it to ignite; and I have no doubt it is +this that has brought about our misfortune." + +"But after all," I said, "the cause matters very little. +Is there no remedy? Is there nothing to be done?" + +"Nothing, Mr. Kazallon," he said. "As I told you be- +fore, we have adopted the only possible measure within our +power to check the fire. At one time I thought of knock- +ing a hole in the ship's timbers just on her water-line, and +letting in just as much water as the pumps could afterward +get rid of again; but we found the combustion was right in +the middle of the cargo and that we should be obliged to +flood the entire hold before we could get at the right place. +That scheme consequently was no good. During the night, +I had the deck bored in various places and water poured +down through the holes; but that again seemed of no use. +There is only one thing that can be done; we must persevere +in excluding most carefully every breath of outer air, so that +perhaps the conflagration, deprived of oxygen, may smoulder +itself out. That is our only hope." + +"But, you say the fire is increasing?" + +"Yes; and that shows that in spite of all our care there +is some aperture which we have not been able to discover, +by which, somehow or other, air gets into the hold." + +"Have you ever heard of a vessel surviving such cir- +cumstances?" I asked. + +"Yes, Mr. Kazallon," said Curtis; "it is not at all an +unusual thing for ships laden with cotton to arrive at Liver- +pool or Havre with a portion of their cargo consumed; and I +have myself known more than one captain run into port with +his deck scorching his very feet, and who, to save his vessel +and the remainder of his freight has been compelled to un- +load with the utmost expedition. But, in such cases, of +course the fire has been more or less under control through- +out the voyage; with us, it is increasing day by day, and I +tell you I am convinced there is an aperture somewhere +which has escaped our notice." + +"But would it not be advisable for us to retrace our +course, and make for the nearest land?" + +"Perhaps it would," he answered. "Walter and I, and +the boatswain, are going to talk the matter over seriously +with the captain to-day. But, between ourselves, I have +taken the responsibility upon myself; I have already +changed the tack to the southwest; we are now straight be- +fore the wind, and consequently we are sailing toward the +coast." + +"I need hardly ask," I added; "whether any of the other +passengers are at all aware of the imminent danger in which +we are placed." + +"None of them," he said; "not in the least; and I hope +you will not enlighten them. We don't want terrified +women and cowardly men to add to our embarrassment; the +crew are under orders to keep a strict silence on the subject. +Silence is indispensable." + +I promised to keep the matter a profound secret, as I +fully entered into Curtis's views as to the absolute necessity +for concealment. + + +CHAPTER X +PICRATE OF POTASH ON BOARD + +OCTOBER 20 and 21. -- The Chancellor is now crowded +with all the canvas she can carry, and at times her topmasts +threaten to snap with the pressure. But Curtis is ever on +the alert; he never leaves his post beside the man at the +helm, and without compromising the safety of the vessel, he +contrives, by tacking to the breeze, to urge her on at her +utmost speed. + +All day long on the 20th the passengers were assembled +on the poop. Evidently they found the heat of the cabins +painfully oppressive, and most of them lay stretched upon +benches and quietly enjoyed the gentle rolling of the vessel. +The increasing heat of the deck did not reveal itself to +their well-shod feet, and the constant scouring of the boards +did not excite any suspicion in their torpid minds. M. +Letourneur, it is true, did express his surprise that the crew +of an ordinary merchant vessel should be distinguished by +such extraordinary cleanliness; but as I replied to him in +a very casual tone, he passed no further remark. I could +not help regretting that I had given Curtis my pledge of +silence, and longed intensely to communicate the melancholy +secret to the energetic Frenchman; for at times when I re- +flect upon the eight-and-twenty victims who may probably, +only too soon, be a prey to the relentless flames, my heart +seems ready to burst. + +The important consultation between captain, mate, lieuten- +ant and boatswain has taken place. Curtis has confided the +result to me. He says that Huntly, the captain, is com- +pletely demoralized; he has lost all power and energy; and +practically leaves the command of the ship to him. It is +now certain the fire is beyond control, and that sooner or +later it will burst out in full violence. The temperature of +the crew's quarters has already become almost unbearable. +One solitary hope remains; it is that we may reach the shore +before the final catastrophe occurs. The Lesser Antilles +are the nearest land; and although they are some five or +six hundred miles away, if the wind remains northeast there +is yet a chance of reaching them in time. + +Carrying royals and studding-sails, the Chancellor during +the last four-and-twenty hours has held a steady course. M. +Letourneur is the only one of all the passengers who has re- +marked the change of tack; Curtis, however, has set all +speculation on his part at rest by telling him that he wanted +to get ahead of the wind, and that he was tacking to the west +to catch a favorable current. + +To-day, the 21st, all has gone on as usual; and as far as +the observation of the passengers has reached, the ordinary +routine has been undisturbed. Curtis indulges the hope +even yet that by excluding the air the fire may be stifled be- +fore it ignites the general cargo; he has hermetically closed +every accessible aperture, and has even taken the precaution +of plugging the orifices of the pumps, under the impression +that their suction-tubes, running as they do to the bottom of +the hold, may possibly be channels for conveying some +molecules of air. Altogether, he considers it a good sign +that the combustion has not betrayed itself by some external +issue of smoke. + +The day would have passed without any incident worth +recording, if I had not chanced to overhear a fragment of +a conversation which demonstrated that our situation, +hitherto precarious enough, had now become most appalling. + +As I was sitting on the poop, two of my fellow-passengers, +Falsten, the engineer, and Ruby, the merchant, whom I had +observed to be often in company, were engaged in conversa- +tion almost close to me. What they said was evidently not +intended for my hearing, but my attention was directed to- +ward them by some very emphatic gestures of dissatisfaction +on the part of Falsten, and I could not forbear listening to +what followed. + +"Preposterous! shameful!" exclaimed Falsten; "nothing +could be more imprudent." + +"Pooh! pooh!" replied Ruby, "it's all right; it is not the +first time I have done it." + +"But don't you know that any shock at any time might +cause an explosion?" + +"Oh, it's all properly secured," said Ruby, "tight enough; +I have no fears on that score, Mr. Falsten." + +"But why," asked Falsten, "did you not inform the cap- +tain?" + +"Just because if I had informed him, he would not have +taken the case on board." + +The wind dropped for a few seconds; and for a brief in- +terval I could not catch what passed; but I could see that +Falsten continued to remonstrate, while Ruby answered by +shrugging his shoulders. At length I heard Falsten say. + +"Well, at any rate, the captain must be informed of this, +and the package shall be thrown overboard. I don't want +to be blown up." + +I started. To what could the engineer be alluding? Evi- +dently he had not the remotest suspicion that the cargo was +already on fire. In another moment the words "picrate of +potash" brought me to my feet, and with an involuntary +impulse I rushed up to Ruby, and seized him by the shoulder. + +"Is there picrate of potash on board?" I almost shrieked. + +"Yes," said Falsten, "a case containing thirty pounds." + +"Where is it?" I cried. + +"Down in the hold, with the cargo." + + +CHAPTER XI +THE PASSENGERS DISCOVER THEIR DANGER + +WHAT my feelings were I cannot describe; but it was +hardly in terror so much as with a kind of resignation that +I made my way to Curtis on the forecastle, and made him +aware that the alarming character of our situation was now +complete, as there was enough explosive matter on board to +blow up a mountain. Curtis received the information as +coolly as it was delivered, and after I had made him ac- +quainted with all the particulars said, "Not a word of this +must be mentioned to anyone else, Mr. Kazallon. Where is +Ruby, now?" + +"On the poop," I said. + +"Will you then come with me, sir?" + +Ruby and Falsten were sitting just as I had left them. +Curtis walked straight up to Ruby, and asked him whether +what he had been told was true. + +"Yes, quite true," said Ruby, complacently, thinking that +the worst that could befall him would be that he might be +convicted of a little smuggling. + +I observed that Curtis was obliged for a moment or two +to clasp his hands tightly together behind his back to pre- +vent himself from seizing the unfortunate passenger by the +throat; but suppressing his indignation, he proceeded quietly, +though sternly, to interrogate him about the facts of the +case. Ruby only confirmed what I had already told him. +With characteristic Anglo-Saxon incautiousness he had +brought on board, with the rest of his baggage, a case con- +taining no less than thirty pounds of picrate, and had allowed +the explosive matter to be stowed in the hold with as little +compunction as a Frenchman would feel in smuggling a +single bottle of wine. He had not informed the captain of +the dangerous nature of the contents of the package, because +he was perfectly aware that he would have been refused per- +mission to bring the package on board. + +"Anyway," he said, with a shrug of his shoulders, "you +can't hang me for it; and if the package gives you so much +concern, you are quite at liberty to throw it into the sea. +My luggage is insured." + +I was beside myself with fury; and not being endowed +with Curtis's reticence and self-control, before he could in- +terfere to stop me, I cried out: + +"You fool! don't you know that there is fire on board?" + +In an instant I regretted my words. Most earnestly I +wished them unuttered. But it was too late -- their effect +upon Ruby was electrical. He was paralyzed with terror; +his limbs stiffened convulsively; his eye was dilated; he +gasped for breath, and was speechless. All of a sudden he +threw up his arms, and, as though he momentarily expected +an explosion, he darted down from the poop, and paced +frantically up and down the deck, gesticulating like a mad- +man, and shouting: + +"Fire on board! Fire! Fire!" + +On hearing the outcry, all the crew, supposing that the +fire had now in reality broken out, rushed on deck; the rest +of the passengers soon joined them, and the scene that ensued +was one of the utmost confusion. Mrs. Kear fell down +senseless on the deck, and her husband, occupied in looking +after himself, left her to the tender mercies of Miss Herbey. +Curtis endeavored to silence Ruby's ravings, whilst I, in as +few words as I could, made M. Letourneur aware of the +extent to which the cargo was on fire. The father's first +thought was for Andre, but the young man preserved an ad- +mirable composure, and begged his father not to be alarmed, +as the danger was not immediate. Meanwhile the sailors +had loosened all the tacklings of the long-boat, and were pre- +paring to launch it, when Curtis's voice was heard peremp- +torily bidding them to desist; he assured them that the +fire had made no further progress; that Mr. Ruby had been +unduly excited and not conscious of what he had said; and +he pledged his word that when the right moment should ar- +rive he would allow them all to leave the ship; but that mo- +ment, he said, had not yet come. + +At the sound of a voice which they had learned to honor +and respect, the crew paused in their operations, and the +long-boat remained suspended in its place. Fortunately, +even Ruby himself in the midst of his ravings, had not +dropped a word about the picrate that had been deposited +in the hold; for although the mate had a power over the +sailors that Captain Huntly had never possessed, I feel cer- +tain that if the true state of the case had been known, noth- +ing on earth would have prevented some of them, in their +consternation, from effecting an escape. As it was, only +Curtis, Falsten, and myself were cognizant of the terrible +secret. + +As soon as order was restored, the mate and I joined +Falsten on the poop, where he had remained throughout the +panic, and where we found him with folded arms, deep in +thought, as it might be, solving some hard mechanical prob- +lem. He promised, at my request, that he would reveal +nothing of the new danger to which we were exposed +through Ruby's imprudence. Curtis himself took the re- +sponsibility of informing Captain Huntly of our critical +situation. + +In order to insure complete secrecy, it was necessary to +secure the person of the unhappy Ruby, who, quite beside +himself, continued to rave up and down the deck with the +incessant cry of "Fire! fire!" Accordingly Curtis gave or- +ders to some of his men to seize him and gag him; and +before he could make any resistance the miserable man was +captured and safely lodged in confinement in his own cabin. + + +CHAPTER XII +CURTIS BECOMES CAPTAIN + +OCTOBER 22. -- Curtis has told the captain everything; for +he persists in ostensibly recognizing him as his superior +officer, and refuses to conceal from him our true situation. +Captain Huntly received the communication in perfect +silence, and merely passing his hand across his forehead as +though to banish some distressing thought, re-entered his +cabin without a word. + +Curtis, Lieutenant Walter, Falsten, and myself have been +discussing the chances of our safety, and I am surprised to +find with how much composure we can all survey our anx- +ious predicament. + +"There is no doubt," said Curtis, "that we must abandon +all hope of arresting the fire; the heat toward the bow has +already become well-nigh unbearable, and the time must +come when the flames will find a vent through the deck. +If the sea is calm enough for us to make use of the boats, +well and good; we shall of course get quit of the ship as +quietly as we can; if, on the other hand the weather should +be adverse, or the wind be boisterous, we must stick to our +place, and contend with the flames to the very last; perhaps, +after all, we shall fare far better with the fire as a declared +enemy than as a hidden one." + +Falsten and I agreed with what he said, and I pointed out +to him that he had quite overlooked the fact of there being +thirty pounds of explosive matter in the hold. + +"No," he gravely replied, "I have not forgotten it, but it +is a circumstance of which I do not trust myself to think. +I dare not run the risk of admitting air into the hold by +going down to search for the powder, and yet I know not at +what moment it may explode. No; it is a matter that I can- +not take at all into my reckoning; it must remain in higher +hands than mine." + +We bowed our heads in a silence which was solemn. In +the present state of the weather, immediate flight was, we +knew, impossible. + +After considerable pause, Mr. Falsten, as calmly as +though he were delivering some philosophic dogma, quietly +observed: + +"The explosion, if I may use the formula of science, is +not necessary, but contingent." + +"But tell me, Mr. Falsten," I asked, "is it possible for +picrate of potash to ignite without concussion?" + +"Certainly it is," replied the engineer. "Under ordinary +circumstances, picrate of potash although not MORE inflam- +mable than common powder, yet possesses the SAME degree +of inflammability." + +We now prepared to go on deck. As we left the saloon, +in which we had been sitting, Curtis seized my hand. + +"Oh, Mr. Kazallon," he exclaimed, "if you only knew +the bitterness of the agony I feel at seeing this fine vessel +doomed to be devoured by flames, and at being so powerless +to save her." Then quickly recovering himself, he continued: +"But I am forgetting myself; you, if no other, must know +what I am suffering. It is all over now," he said more +cheerfully. + +"Is our condition quite desperate?" I asked. + +"It is just this," he answered deliberately, "we are over +a mine, and already the match has been applied to the train. +How long that train may be, 'tis not for me to say." + +And with these words he left me. + +The other passengers, in common with the crew, are still +in entire ignorance of the extremity of peril to which we are +exposed, although they are all aware that there is fire in the +hold. As soon as the fact was announced, Mr. Kear, after +communicating to Curtis his instructions that he thought he +should have the fire immediately extinguished, and intimat- +ing that he held him responsible for all contingencies that +might happen, retired to his cabin, where he has remained +ever since, fully occupied in collecting and packing together +the more cherished articles of his property and without the +semblance of a care or a thought for his unfortunate wife, +whose condition, in spite of her ludicrous complaints, +was truly pitiable. Miss Herbey, however, is unrelaxing in +her attentions, and the unremitted diligence with which +she fulfills her offices of duty, commands my highest ad- +miration. + +OCTOBER 23. -- This morning, Captain Huntly sent for +Curtis into his cabin, and the mate has since made me ac- +quainted with what passed between them. + +"Curtis," began the captain, his haggard eye betraying +only too plainly some mental derangement, "I am a sailor, +am I not?" + +"Certainly, captain," was the prompt acquiescence of the +mate. + +"I do not know how it is," continued the captain, "but +I seem bewildered; I can not recollect anything. Are we +not bound for Liverpool? Ah! yes! of course. And have +we kept a northeasterly direction since we left?" + +"No, sir, according to your orders we have been sailing +southeast, and here we are in the tropics." + +"And what is the name of the ship?" + +"The Chancellor, sir." + +"Yes, yes, the Chancellor, so it is. Well, Curtis, I really +can't take her back to the north. I hate the sea, the very +sight of it makes me ill, I would much rather not leave my +cabin." + +Curtis went on to tell me how he had tried to persuade him +that with a little time and care he would soon recover his +indisposition, and feel himself again; but the captain had in- +terrupted him by saying: + +"Well, well; we shall see by-and-by; but for the present +you must take this for my positive order; you must, from +this time, at once take the command of the ship, and act +just as if I were not on board. Under present circum- +stances, I can do nothing. My brain is all in a whirl, you +can not tell what I am suffering;" and the unfortunate man +pressed both his hands convulsively against his forehead. + +"I weighed the matter carefully for a moment," added +Curtis, "and seeing what his condition too truly was, I ac- +quiesced in all that he required and withdrew, promising him +that all his orders should be obeyed." + +After hearing these particulars, I could not help remark- +ing how fortunate it was that the captain had resigned of +his own accord, for although he might not be actually in- +sane, it was very evident that his brain was in a very morbid +condition. + +"I succeeded him at a very critical moment," said Curtis +thoughtfully; "but I shall endeavor to do my duty." + +A short time afterward he sent for his boatswain and or- +dered him to assemble the crew at the foot of the main-mast. +As soon as the men were together, he addressed them very +calmly, but very firmly. + +"My men," he said, "I have to tell you that Captain +Huntly, on account of the dangerous situation in which cir- +cumstances have placed us, and for other reasons known to +myself, has thought right to resign his command to me. +From this time forward, I am captain of this vessel." + +Thus quietly and simply was the change effected, and we +have the satisfaction of knowing that the Chancellor is now +under the command of a conscientious, energetic man, who +will shirk nothing that he believes to be for our common +good. M. Letourneur, Andre, Mr. Falsten, and myself im- +mediately offered him our best wishes, in which Lieutenant +Walter and the boatswain most cordially joined. + +The ship still holds her course southwest, and Curtis +crowds on all sail and makes as speedily as possible for the +nearest of the Lesser Antilles. + + +CHAPTER XIII +BETWEEN FIRE AND WATER + +OCTOBER 24 to 29. -- For the last five days the sea has +been very heavy, and although the Chancellor sails with wind +and wave in her favor, yet her progress is considerably im- +peded. Here on board this veritable fire-ship I cannot help +contemplating with a longing eye this vast ocean that sur- +rounds us. The water supply should be all we need. + +"Why not bore the deck?" I said to Curtis. "Why not +admit the water by tons into the hold? What could be the +harm? The fire would be quenched; and what would be +easier than to pump the water out again?" + +"I have already told you, Mr. Kazallon," said Curtis, +"that the very moment we admit the air, the flames will rush +forth to the very top of the masts. No; we must have cour- +age and patience; we must wait. There is nothing whatever +to be done, except to close every aperture." + +The fire continued to progress even more rapidly than we +had hitherto suspected. The heat gradually drove the pas- +sengers nearly all on deck, and the two stern cabins, lighted, +as I said, by their windows in the aft-board were the only +quarters below that were inhabitable. Of these Mrs. Kear +occupied one, and Curtis reserved the other for Ruby, who, +a raving maniac, had to be kept rigidly under restraint. I +went down occasionally to see him, but invariably found him +in a state of abject terror, uttering horrible shrieks, as +though possessed with the idea that he was being scorched +by the most excruciating heat. + +Once or twice, too, I looked in upon the ex-captain. He +was always calm and spoke quite rationally on any subject +except his own profession; but in connection with that he +prated away the merest nonsense. He suffered greatly, but +steadily declined all my offers of attention, and pertina- +ciously refused to leave his cabin. + +To-day, an acrid, nauseating smoke made its way through +the panelings that partition off the quarters of the crew. At +once Curtis ordered the partition to be enveloped in wet tar- +paulin, but the fumes penetrated even this, and filled the +whole neighborhood of the ship's bows with a reeking vapor +that was positively stifling. As we listened, too, we could +hear a dull rumbling sound, but we were as mystified as ever +to comprehend where the air could have entered that was +evidently fanning the flames. Only too certainly, it was +now becoming a question not of days nor even of hours +before we must be prepared for the final catastrophe. The +sea was still running high, and escape by the boats was +plainly impossible. Fortunately, as I have said, the main- +mast and the mizzen are of iron; otherwise the great heat +at their base would long ago have brought them down and +our chances of safety would have been very much imperiled; +but by crowding on sail the Chancellor in the full northeast +wind continued to make her way with undiminished speed. + +It is now a fortnight since the fire was first discovered, +and the proper working of the ship has gradually become a +more and more difficult matter. Even with thick shoes any +attempt to walk upon deck up to the forecastle was soon im- +practicable, and the poop, simply because its floor is elevated +somewhat above the level of the hold, is now the only avail- +able standing-place. Water began to lose its effect upon +the scorched and shriveling planks; the resin oozed out from +the knots in the wood, the seams burst open, and the tar, +melted by the heat, followed the rollings of the vessel, and +formed fantastic patterns about the deck. + +Then to complete our perplexity, the wind shifted sud- +denly round to the northwest, whence it blew a perfect hur- +ricane. To no purpose did Curtis do everything in his +power to bring the ship ahull; every effort was in vain; the +Chancellor could not bear her trysail, so there was nothing +to be done but to let her go with the wind, and drift further +and further from the land for which we are longing so +eagerly. + +To-day, the 29th, the tempest seemed to reach its height; +the waves appeared to us mountains high, and dashed the +spray most violently across the deck. A boat could not live +a moment in such a sea. + +Our situation is terrible. We all wait in silence, some +few on the forecastle, the great proportion of us on the +poop. As for the picrate, for the time we have quite for- +gotten its existence; indeed it might almost seem as though +its explosion would come as a relief, for no catastrophe, how- +ever terrible, could far exceed the torture of our suspense. + +While he had still the remaining chance, Curtis rescued +from the store-room such few provisions as the heat of the +compartment allowed him to obtain; and a lot of cases of +salt meat and biscuits, a cask of brandy, some barrels of +fresh water, together with some sails and wraps, a compass +and other instruments are now lying packed in a mass all +ready for prompt removal to the boats whenever we shall be +obliged to leave the ship. + +About eight o'clock in the evening, a noise is heard, dis- +tinct even above the raging of the hurricane. The panels of +the deck are upheaved, and volumes of black smoke issue up- +ward as if from a safety-valve. A universal consternation +seizes one and all; we must leave the volcano which is about +to burst beneath our feet. The crew run to Curtis for or- +ders. He hesitates; looks first at the huge and threatening +waves; looks then at the boats. The long-boat is there, sus- +pended right along the center of the deck; but it is impos- +sible to approach it now; the yawl, however, hoisted on the +starboard side, and the whale-boat suspended aft, are still +available. The sailors make frantically for the yawl. + +"Stop, stop," shouts Curtis; "do you mean to cut off our +last and only chance of safety? Would you launch a boat +in such a sea as this?" + +A few of them, with Owen at their head, give no heed to +what he says. Rushing to the poop, and seizing a cutlass, +Curtis shouts again: + +"Touch the tackling of the davit, one of you; only touch +it, and I'll cleave your skull." + +Awed by his determined manner, the men retire, some +clambering into the shrouds, while others mount to the very +top of the masts. + +At eleven o'clock, several loud reports are heard, caused +by the bursting asunder of the partitions of the hold. Clouds +of smoke issue from the front, followed by a long tongue of +lambent flame that seems to encircle the mizzen-mast. The +fire now reaches to the cabin of Mrs. Kear, who, shrieking +wildly, is brought on deck by Miss Herbey. A moment +more, and Silas Huntly makes his appearance, his face all +blackened with the grimy smoke; he bows to Curtis, as he +passes, and then proceeds in the calmest manner to mount +the aft-shrouds, and installs himself at the very top of the +mizzen. + +The sight of Huntly recalls to my recollection the prisoner +still below, and my first impulse is to rush to the staircase +and do what I can to set him free. But the maniac has al- +ready eluded his confinement, and with singed hair and his +clothes already alight, rushes upon deck. Like a sal- +amander he passes across the burning deck with unscathed +feet, and glides through the stifling smoke with unchoked +breath. Not a sound escapes his lips. + +Another loud report; the long-boat is shivered into frag- +ments; the middle panel bursts the tarpaulin that covered it, +and a stream of fire, free at length from the restraint that +had held it, rises half-mast high. + +"The picrate! the picrate!" shrieks the madman; "we +shall all be blown up! the picrate will blow us all up." + +And in an instant, before we can get near him, he has +buried himself, through the open hatchway, down into the +fiery furnace below. + + +CHAPTER XIV +BREAKERS TO STARBOARD! + +OCTOBER 20. -- Night. -- The scene, as night came on, was +terrible indeed. Notwithstanding the desperateness of our +situation, however, there was not one of us so paralyzed by +fear, but that we fully realized the horror of it all. + +Poor Ruby, indeed, is lost and gone, but his last words +were productive of serious consequences. The sailors +caught his cry of "Picrate, picrate!" and being thus for the +first time made aware of the true nature of their peril, they +resolved at every hazard to accomplish their escape. Beside +themselves with terror, they either did not, or would not, see +that no boat could brave the tremendous waves that were +raging around, and accordingly they made a frantic rush to- +ward the yawl. Curtis again made a vigorous endeavor to +prevent them, but this time all in vain; Owen urged them on, +and already the tackling was loosened, so that the boat was +swung over to the ship's side. For a moment it hung sus- +pended in mid-air, and then, with a final effort from the +sailors, it was quickly lowered into the sea. But scarcely +had it touched the water, when it was caught by an enor- +mous wave which, recoiling with resistless violence, dashed +it to atoms against the Chancellor's side. + +The men stood aghast; they were dumbfounded. Long- +boat and yawl both gone, there was nothing now remaining +to us but a small whale-boat. Not a word was spoken; +not a sound was heard but the hoarse whistling of the wind, +and the mournful roaring of the flames. From the center +of the ship, which was hollowed out like a furnace, there +issued a column of sooty vapor that ascended to the sky. +All the passengers, and several of the crew, took refuge in +the aft-quarters of the poop. Mrs. Kear was lying sense- +less on one of the hen-coops, with Miss Herbey sitting pas- +sively at her side; M. Letourneur held his son tightly clasped +to his bosom. I saw Falsten calmly consult his watch, and +note down the time in his memorandum-book, but I was +far from sharing his composure, for I was overcome by a +nervous agitation that I could not suppress. + +As far as we knew, Lieutenant Walter, the boatswain, +and such of the crew as were not with us, were safe in the +bow; but it was impossible to tell how they were faring, be- +cause the sheet of fire intervened like a curtain, and cut off +all communication between stem and stern. + +I broke the dismal silence, saying, "All over now Curtis." + +"No, sir, not yet," he replied, "now that the panel is +open we will set to work, and pour water with all our might +down into the furnace, and may be, we shall put it out, even +yet." + +"But how can you work your pumps while the deck is +burning? and how can you get at your men beyond that +sheet of flame?" + +He made no answer to my impetuous questions, and find- +ing he had nothing more to say, I repeated that it was all +over now. + +After a pause, he said, "As long as a plank of the ship +remains to stand on, Mr. Kazallon, I shall not give up my +hope." + +But the conflagration raged with redoubled fury, the sea +around us was lighted with a crimson glow, and the clouds +above shone with a lurid glare. Long jets of fire darted +across the hatchways, and we were forced to take refuge +on the taffrail at the extreme end of the poop. Mrs. Kear +was laid in the whale-boat that hung from the stern. Miss +Herbey persisting to the last in retaining her post by her +side. + +No pen could adequately portray the horrors of this fear- +ful night. The Chancellor under bare poles, was driven, +like a gigantic fire-ship with frightful velocity across the +raging ocean; her very speed as it were, making common +cause with the hurricane to fan the fire that was consuming +her. Soon there could be no alternative between throwing +ourselves into the sea, or perishing in the flames. + +But where, all this time, was the picrate? Perhaps, after +all, Ruby had deceived us and there was no volcano, such as +we dreaded, below our feet. + +At half-past eleven, when the tempest seems at its very +height, there is heard a peculiar roar distinguishable even +above the crash of the elements. The sailors in an instant +recognize its import. + +"Breakers to starboard!" is the cry. + +Curtis leaps on to the netting, casts a rapid glance at the +snow-white billows, and turning to the helmsman shouts +with all his might, "Starboard the helm!" + +But it is too late. There is a sudden shock; the ship is +caught up by an enormous wave; she rises upon her beam +ends; several times she strikes the ground; the mizzen-mast +snaps short off level with the deck, falls into the sea, and the +Chancellor is motionless. + + +CHAPTER XV +SHIPWRECKED + +THE night of the 29th continued. -- It was not yet mid- +night; the darkness was most profound, and we could see +nothing. But was it probable that we had stranded on the +coast of America? + +Very shortly after the ship had thus come to a stand-still +a clanking of chains was heard proceeding from her bows. + +"That is well," said Curtis; "Walter and the boatswain +have cast both the anchors. Let us hope they will hold." + +Then, clinging to the netting, he clambered along the +starboard side, on which the ship had heeled, as far as the +flames would allow him. He clung to the holdfasts of the +shrouds, and in spite of the heavy seas that dashed against +the vessel he maintained his position for a considerable time, +evidently listening to some sound that had caught his ear +in the midst of the tempest. In about a quarter of an hour +he returned to the poop. + +"Heaven be praised! " he said, "the water is coming in, +and perhaps may get the better of the fire." + +"True," said I, "but what then?" + +"That," he replied, "is a question for bye-and-bye. We +can think now only of the present." + +Already I fancied that the violence of the flames was +somewhat abated, and that the two opposing elements were +in fierce contention. Some plank in the ship's side was +evidently stove in, admitting free passage for the waves. +But how, when the water had mastered the fire, should we +be able to master the water? Our natural course would be +to use the pumps, but these, in the very midst of the con- +flagration, were quite unavailable. + +For three long hours, in anxious suspense, we watched, +and waited. Where we were we could not tell. One thing +alone was certain; the tide was ebbing beneath us, and the +waves were relaxing in their violence. Once let the fire be +extinguished, and then, perhaps, there would be room to +hope that the next high tide would set us afloat. + +Toward half-past four in the morning the curtain of fire +and smoke, which had shut off communication between the +two extremities of the ship, became less dense, and we could +faintly distinguish that party of the crew who had taken +refuge in the forecastle; and before long, although it was +impracticable to step upon the deck, the lieutenant and the +boatswain contrived to clamber over the gunwale, along the +rails, and joined Curtis on the poop. + +Here they held a consultation, to which I was admitted. +They were all of opinion that nothing could be done until +daylight should give us something of an idea of our actual +position. If we then found that we were near the shore, +we would, weather permitting, endeavor to land, either in +the boat or upon a raft. If, on the other hand, no land +were in sight, and the Chancellor were ascertained to be +stranded on some isolated reef, all we could do would be +to get her afloat, and put her into condition for reaching the +nearest coast. Curtis told us that it was long since he had +been able to take any observation of latitude, but there was +no doubt the northwest wind had driven us far to the south; +and he thought, as he was ignorant of the existence of any +reef in this part of the Atlantic, that it was just possible +that we had been driven on to the coast of some portion of +South America. + +I reminded him that we were in momentary expectation +of an explosion, and suggested that it would be advisable to +abandon the ship and take refuge on the reef. But he +would not hear of such a proceeding, said that the reef +would probably be covered at high tide, and persisted in the +original resolution, that no decided action could be taken +before the daylight appeared. + +I immediately reported this decision of the captain to my +fellow-passengers. None of them seemed to realize the +new danger to which the Chancellor may be exposed by be- +ing cast upon an unknown reef, hundreds of miles it may be +from land. All are for the time possessed with one idea, +one hope; and that is, that the fire may now be quenched +and the explosion averted. + +And certainly their hopes seem in a fair way of being ful- +filled. Already the raging flames that poured forth from +the hatches have given place to dense black smoke, and al- +though occasionally some fiery streaks dart across the dusky +fumes, yet they are instantly extinguished. The waves are +doing what pumps and buckets could never have effected; +by their inundation they are steadily stifling the fire which +was as steadily spreading to the whole bulk of the 1,700 +bales of cotton. + + +CHAPTER XVI +SILAS HUNTLY RESCUED FROM THE WAVES + +OCTOBER 30. -- At the first gleam of daylight we eagerly +scanned the southern and western horizons, but the morn- +ing mists limited our view. Land was nowhere to be seen. +The tide was now almost at its lowest ebb, and the color +of the few peaks of rock that jutted up around us showed +that the reef on which we had stranded was of basaltic +formation. There were now only about six feet of water +around the Chancellor, though with a full freight she draws +about fifteen. It was remarkable how far she had been +carried on to the shelf of rock, but the number of times that +she had touched the bottom before she finally ran aground +left us no doubt that she had been lifted up and borne along +on the top of an enormous wave. She now lies with her +stern considerably higher than her bows, a position which +renders walking upon the deck anything but an easy matter, +moreover as the tide receded she heeled over so much to lar- +board that at one time Curtis feared she would altogether +capsize; that fear, however, since the tide has reached its +lowest mark, has happily proved groundless. + +At six o'clock some violent blows were felt against the +ship's side, and at the same time a voice was distinguished, +shouting loudly, "Curtis! Curtis!" Following the direc- +tion of the cries we saw that the broken mizzen-mast was +being washed against the vessel, and in the dusky morning +twilight we could make out the figure of a man clinging to +the rigging. Curtis, at the peril of his life, hastened to +bring the man on board. It proved to be none other than +Silas Huntly, who, after being carried overboard with the +mast, had thus, almost by a miracle, escaped a watery grave. +Without a word of thanks to his deliverer, the ex-captain, +passive, like an automaton, passed on and took his seat in +the most secluded corner of the poop. The broken mizzen +may, perhaps, be of service to us at some future time, and +with that idea it has been rescued from the waves and lashed +securely to the stern. + +By this time it was light enough to see for a distance of +three miles round; but as yet nothing could be discerned to +make us think that we were near a coast. The line of +breakers ran for about a mile from southwest to northeast, +and two hundred fathoms to the north of the ship an ir- +regular mass of rocks formed a small islet. This islet rose +about fifty feet above the sea, and was consequently above +the level of the highest tides; while a sort of causeway, +available at low water, would enable us to reach the island, +if necessity required. But there the reef ended; beyond +it the sea again resumed its somber hue, betokening deep +water. In all probability, then, this was a solitary shoal, +unattached to a shore, and the gloom of a bitter disappoint- +ment began to weigh upon our spirits. + +In another hour the mists had totally disappeared, and it +was broad daylight. I and M. Letourneur stood watching +Curtis as he continued eagerly to scan the western horizon. +Astonishment was written on his countenance; to him it +appeared perfectly incredible that, after our course for so +long had been due south from the Bermudas, no land should +be in sight. But not a speck, however minute, broke the +clearly-defined line that joined sea and sky. After a time +Curtis made his way along the netting to the shrouds, and +swung himself quickly up to the top of the mainmast. For +several minutes he remained there examining the open space +around, then seizing one of the backstays he glided down +and rejoined us on the poop. + +"No land in sight," he said, in answer to our eager looks. + +At this point Mr. Kear interposed, and in a gruff, ill- +tempered tone, asked Curtis where we were. Curtis replied +that he did not know. + +"You don't know, sir? Then all I can say is that you +ought to know!" exclaimed the petroleum merchant. + +"That may be, sir; but at present I am as ignorant of our +whereabouts as you are yourself," said Curtis. + +"Well," said Mr. Kear, "just please to know that I +don't want to stay forever on your everlasting ship, so I +beg you will make haste and start off again." + +Curtis condescended to make no other reply than a shrug +of the shoulders, and turning away he informed M. Letour- +neur and myself that if the sun came out he intended to take +its altitude and find out to what part of the ocean we had +been driven. + +His next care was to distribute preserved meat and biscuit +among the passengers and crew already half fainting with +hunger and fatigue, and then he set to work to devise meas- +ures for setting the ship afloat. + +The conflagration was greatly abated; no flames now ap- +peared, and although some black smoke still issued from the +interior, yet its volume was far less than before. The first +step was to discover how much water had entered the +hold. The deck was still too hot to walk upon; but after +two hours' irrigation the boards became sufficiently cool for +the boatswain to proceed to take some soundings, and he +shortly afterward announced that there were five feet of +water below. This the captain determined should not be +pumped out at present, as he wanted it thoroughly to do its +duty before he got rid of it. + +The next subject for consideration was whether it would +be advisable to abandon the vessel, and to take refuge on +the reef. Curtis thought not; and the lieutenant and the +boatswain agreed with him. The chances of an explosion +were greatly diminished, as it had been ascertained that the +water had reached that part of the hold in which Ruby's +luggage had been deposited; while, on the other hand, in +the event of rough weather, our position even upon the most +elevated points of rock might be very critical. It was ac- +cordingly resolved that both passengers and crew were saf- +est on board. + +Acting upon this decision we proceeded to make a kind +of encampment on the poop, and a few mattresses that were +rescued uninjured have been given up for the use of the +two ladies. Such of the crew as had saved their hammocks +have been told to place them under the forecastle where they +would have to stow themselves as best they could, their +ordinary quarters being absolutely uninhabitable. + +Fortunately, although the store-room has been consider- +ably exposed to the heat, its contents are not very seriously +damaged, and all the barrels of water and the greater part +of the provisions are quite intact. The stock of spare sails, +which had been packed away in front, is also free from in- +jury. The wind has dropped considerably since the early +morning, and the swell in the sea is far less heavy. On +the whole our spirits are reviving and we begin to think we +may yet find a way out of our troubles. + +M. Letourneur, his son, and I, have just had a long con- +versation about the ship's officers. We consider their con- +duct, under the late trying circumstances, to have been most +exemplary, and their courage, energy, and endurance to +have been beyond all praise. Lieutenant Walter, the boat- +swain, and Dowlas the carpenter have all alike distinguished +themselves, and made us feel that they are men to be relied +on. As for Curtis, words can scarcely be found to express +our admiration of his character; he is the same as he has +ever been, the very life of his crew, cheering them on by +word or gesture; finding an expedient for every difficulty, +and always foremost in every action. + +The tide turned at seven this morning, and by eleven all +the rocks were submerged, none of them being visible ex- +cept the cluster of those which formed the rim of a small +and almost circular basin from 230 to 300 feet in diameter, +in the north angle of which the ship is lying. As the tide +rose the white breakers disappeared, and the sea, fortunately +for the Chancellor, was pretty calm; otherwise the dashing +of the waves against her sides, as she lies motionless, might +have been attended by serious consequences. + +As might be supposed, the height of the water in the hold +increased with the tide from five feet to nine; but this was +rather a matter of congratulation, inasmuch as it sufficed +to inundate another layer of cotton. + +At half-past eleven the sun, which had been behind the +clouds since ten o'clock, broke forth brightly. The captain, +who had already in the morning been able to calculate an +horary angle, now prepared to take the meridian altitude, +and succeeded at midday in making his observation most +satisfactorily. After retiring for a short time to calculate +the result, he returned to the poop and announced that we +are in lat. 18 deg. 5' N. and long. 45 deg. 53' W., but that the reef +on which we are aground is not marked on the charts. The +only explanation that can be given for the omission is that +the islet must be of recent formation, and has been caused +by some subterranean volcanic disturbance. But whatever +may be the solution of the mystery, here we are 800 miles +from land; for such, on consulting the map, we find to be +the actual distance to the coast of Guiana, which is the near- +est shore. Such is the position to which we have been +brought, in the first place, by Huntly's senseless obstinacy, +and, secondly, by the furious northwest gale. + +Yet, after all, the captain's communication does not dis- +hearten us. As I said before, our spirits are reviving. We +have escaped the peril of fire; the fear of explosion is past +and gone: and oblivious of the fact that the ship with a +hold full of water is only too likely to founder when she +puts out to sea, we feel a confidence in the future that for- +bids us to despond. + +Meanwhile Curtis prepares to do all that common sense +demands. He proposes, when the fire is quite extinguished, +to throw overboard the whole, or the greater portion of the +cargo, including, of course, the picrate; he will next plug +up the leak, and then, with a lightened ship, he will take ad- +vantage of the first high tide to quit the reef as speedily as +possible. + + +CHAPTER XVII +M. LETOURNEUR IS PESSIMISTIC + +OCTOBER 30. -- Once again I talked to M. Letourneur about +our situation, and endeavored to animate him with the hope +that we should not be detained for long in our present pre- +dicament; but he could not be brought to take a very san- +guine view of our prospects. + +"But surely," I protested, "it will not be difficult to +throw overboard a few hundred bales of cotton; two or +three days at most will suffice for that." + +"Likely enough," he replied, "when the business is once +begun; but you must remember, Mr. Kazallon, that the very +heart of the cargo is still smoldering, and that it will still be +several days before anyone will be able to venture into the +hold. Then the leak, too, that has to be caulked; and, un- +less it is stopped up very effectually, we shall only be doomed +most certainly to perish at sea. Don't then, be deceiving +yourself; it must be three weeks at least before you can ex- +pect to put out to sea. I can only hope meanwhile that the +weather will continue propitious; it wouldn't take many +storms to knock the Chancellor, shattered as she is, com- +pletely into pieces." + +Here, then, was the suggestion of a new danger to which +we were to be exposed; the fire might be extinguished, the +water might be got rid of by the pumps, but, after all, we +must be at the mercy of the wind and waves; and, although +the rocky island might afford a temporary refuge from the +tempest, what was to become of passengers and crew if the +vessel should be reduced to a total wreck? I made no +remonstrance, however, to this view of our case, but merely +asked M. Letourneur if he had confidence in Robert Curtis? + +"Perfect confidence," he answered; "and I acknowledge +it most gratefully, as a providential circumstance, that Cap- +tain Huntly had given him the command in time. What- +ever man can do I know that Curtis will not leave undone to +extricate us from our dilemma." + +Prompted by this conversation with M. Letourneur I +took the first opportunity of trying to ascertain from Curtis +himself how long he reckoned we should be obliged to re- +main upon the reef; but he merely replied, that it must de- +pend upon circumstances, and that he hoped the weather +would continue favorable. Fortunately the barometer is +rising steadily, and there is every sign of a prolonged calm. + +Meantime Curtis is taking active measures for totally +extinguishing the fire. He is at no great pains to spare the +cargo, and as the bales that lie just above the level of the +water are still a-light he has resorted to the expedient of +thoroughly saturating the upper layers of the cotton, in +order that the combustion may be stifled between the mois- +ture descending from above and that ascending from below. +This scheme has brought the pumps once more into requisi- +tion. At present the crew are adequate to the task of work- +ing them, but I and some of our fellow-passengers are ready +to offer our assistance whenever it shall be necessary. + +With no immediate demand upon our labor, we are +thrown upon our own resources for passing our time. M. +Letourneur, Andre, and myself, have frequent conversa- +tions; I also devote an hour or two to my diary. Falsten +holds little communication with any of us, but remains ab- +sorbed in his calculations, and amuses himself by tracing +mechanical diagrams with ground-plan, section, elevation, +all complete. It would be a happy inspiration if he could +invent some mighty engine that could set us all afloat again. +Mr. and Mrs. Kear, too, hold themselves aloof from their +fellow-passengers, and we are not sorry to be relieved from +the necessity of listening to their incessant grumbling; un- +fortunately, however, they carry off Miss Herbey with them, +so that we enjoy little or nothing of the young lady's society. +As for Silas Huntly, he has become a complete nonen- +tity; he exists, it is true, but merely, it would seem, to +vegetate. + +Hobart, the steward, an obsequious, sly sort of fellow, +goes through his routine of duties just as though the vessel +were pursuing her ordinary course; and, as usual, is con- +tinually falling out with Jynxstrop, the cook, an impudent, +ill-favored negro, who interferes with the other sailors in +a manner which, I think, ought not to be allowed. + +Since it appears likely that we shall have abundance of +time on our hands, I have proposed to M. Letourneur and +his son that we shall together explore the reef on which we +are stranded. It is not very probable that we shall be able +to discover much about the origin of this strange accumula- +tion of rocks, yet the attempt will at least occupy us for +some hours, and will relieve us from the monotony of our +confinement on board. Besides, as the reef is not marked in +any of the maps, I could not but believe that it would be +rendering a service to hydrography if we were to take an +accurate plan of the rocks, of which Curtis could afterward +verify the true position by a second observation made with a +closer precision than the one he has already taken. + +M. Letourneur agrees to my proposal, Curtis has promised +to let us have the boat and some sounding-lines, and to allow +one of the sailors to accompany us; so to-morrow morning, +we hope to make our little voyage of investigation. + + +CHAPTER XVIII +WE EXPLORE THE REEF + +OCTOBER 31 to November 5. -- Our first proceeding on +the morning of the 31st was to make the proposed tour of +the reef, which is about a quarter of a mile long. With +the aid of our sounding-lines we found that the water was +deep, right up to the very rocks, and that no shelving shores +prevented us coasting along them. There was not a shadow +of doubt as to the rock being of purely volcanic origin, up- +heaved by some mighty subterranean convulsion. It is +formed of blocks of basalt, arranged in perfect order, of +which the regular prisms give the whole mass the effect of +being one gigantic crystal; and the remarkable transparency +of the sea enabled us plainly to observe the curious shafts +of the prismatic columns that support the marvelous sub- +structure. + +"This is indeed a singular island," said M. Letourneur; +"evidently it is of quite recent origin." + +"Yes, father," said Andre, "and I should think it has +been caused by a phenomenon similar to those which pro- +duced the Julia Island, off the coast of Sicily, or the group +of the Santorini, in the Grecian Archipelago. One could +almost fancy that it had been created expressly for the Chan- +cellor to strand upon." + +"It is very certain," I observed, "that some upheaving +has lately taken place. This is by no means an unfrequented +part of the Atlantic, so that it is not at all likely that it could +have escaped the notice of sailors if it had been always in +existence; yet it is not marked even in the most modern +charts. We must try and explore it thoroughly and give +future navigators the benefit of our observations." + +"But, perhaps, it will disappear as it came," said Andre. +"You are no doubt aware, Mr. Kazallon, that these volcanic +islands sometimes have a very transitory existence. Not im- +possibly, by the time it gets marked upon the maps it may no +longer be here." + +"Never mind, my boy," answered his father, "it is bet- +ter to give warning of a danger that does not exist than +overlook one that does. I dare say the sailors will not +grumble much, if they don't find a reef where we have +marked one." + +"No, I dare say not, father," said Andre, "and after all +this island is very likely as firm as a continent. However, +if it is to disappear, I expect Captain Curtis would be glad +to see it take its departure as soon as possible after he has +finished his repairs; it would save him a world of trouble +in getting his ship afloat." + +"Why, what a fellow you are, Andre!" I said, laugh- +ing; "I believe you would like to rule Nature with a magic +wand, first of all, you would call up a reef from the depth +of the ocean to give the Chancellor time to extinguish her +flames, and then you would make it disappear just that the +ship might be free again." + +Andre smiled; then, in a more serious tone, he expressed +his gratitude for the timely help that had been vouchsafed +us in our hour of need. + +The more we examined the rocks that formed the base +of the little island, the more we became convinced that its +formation was quite recent. Not a mollusk, not a tuft of +seaweed was found clinging to the sides of the rocks; not a +germ had the wind carried to its surface, not a bird had +taken refuge amid the crags upon its summits. To a lover +of natural history, the spot did not yield a single point of +interest; the geologist alone would find subject of study in +the basaltic mass. + +When we reached the southern point of the island I pro- +posed that we should disembark. My companions readily +assented, young Letourneur jocosely observing that if the +little island was destined to vanish, it was quite right that it +should first be visited by human beings. The boat was +accordingly brought alongside, and we set foot upon the +reef, and began to ascend the gradual slope that leads to its +highest elevation. + +The walking was not very rough, and as Andre could get +along tolerably well without the assistance of an arm, he +led the way, his father and I following close behind. A +quarter of an hour sufficed to bring us to the loftiest point +in the islet, when we seated ourselves on the basaltic prism +that crowned its summit. + +Andre took a sketch-book from his pocket, and proceeded +to make a drawing of the reef. Scarcely had he completed +the outline when his father exclaimed: + +"Why, Andre, you have drawn a ham!" + +"Something uncommonly like it, I confess," replied +Andre. "I think we had better ask Captain Curtis to let +us call our island Ham Rock." + +"Good," said I; "though sailors will need to keep it at +a respectful distance, for they will scarcely find that their +teeth are strong enough to tackle it." + +M. Letourneur was quite correct; the outline of the reef +as it stood clearly defined against the deep green water +resembled nothing so much as a fine York ham, of which +the little creek, where the Chancellor had been stranded, +corresponded to the hollow place above the knuckle. The +tide at this time was low, and the ship now lay heeled over +very much to the starboard side, the few points of rock that +emerged in the extreme south of the reef plainly marking the +narrow passage through which she had been forced before +she finally ran aground. + +As soon as Andre had finished his sketch we descended +by a slope as gradual as that by which we had come up, and +made our way toward the west. We had not gone very far +when a beautiful grotto, perfect as an architectural struc- +ture, arrested our attention. M. Letourneur and Andre, +who have visited the Hebrides, pronounced it to be a +Fingal's cave in miniature; a Gothic chapel that might form +a fit vestibule for the cathedral cave of Staffa. The basaltic +rocks had cooled down into the same regular concentric +prisms; there was the same dark canopied roof with its in- +terstices filled up with its yellow lutings; the same precision +of outline in the prismatic angles, sharp as though chiseled +by a sculptor's hand; the same sonorous vibration of the air +across the basaltic rocks, of which the Gaelic poets have +feigned that the harps of the Fingal minstrelsy were made. +But whereas at Staffa the floor of the cave is always covered +with a sheet of water, here the grotto was beyond the reach +of all but the highest waves, while the prismatic shafts them- +selves formed quite a solid pavement. + +After remaining nearly an hour in our newly-discovered +grotto we returned to the Chancellor, and communicated the +result of our explorations to Curtis, who entered the island +upon his chart, by the name Andre Letourneur had pro- +posed. + +Since its discovery we have not permitted a day to pass +without spending some time in our Ham Rock grotto. +Curtis has taken an opportunity of visiting it, but he is too +preoccupied with other matters to have much interest to +spare for the wonders of nature. Falsten, too, came once +and examined the character of the rocks, knocking and +chipping them about with all the mercilessness of a geologist. +Mr. Kear would not trouble himself to leave the ship; and +although I asked his wife to join us in one of our excursions +she declined, upon the plea that the fatigue, as well as the +inconvenience of embarking in the boat, would be more than +she could bear. + +Miss Herbey, only to thankful to escape even for an hour +from her capricious mistress, eagerly accepted M. Letour- +neur's invitation to pay a visit to the reef, but to her great +disappointment Mrs. Kear at first refused point-blank to +allow her to leave the ship. I felt intensely annoyed, and re- +solved to intercede in Miss Herbey's favor; and as I had +already rendered that self-indulgent lady sundry services +which she though she might probably be glad again to ac- +cept, I gained my point, and Miss Herbey has several times +been permitted to accompany us across the rocks, where +the young girl's delight at her freedom has been a pleasure +to behold. + +Sometimes we fish along the shore, and then enjoy a +luncheon in the grotto, while the basalt columns vibrate like +harps to the breeze. This arid reef, little as it is, compared +with the cramped limits of the Chancellor's deck is like some +vast domain; soon there will be scarcely a stone with which +we are not familiar, scarcely a portion of its surface which +we have not trodden, and I am sure that when the hour of +departure arrives we shall leave it with regret. + +In the course of conversation, Andre Letourneur one day +happened to say that he believed the island of Staffa be- +longed to the Macdonald family, who let it for the small +sum of L.12 a year. + +"I suppose then," said Miss Herbey, "that we should +hardly get more than half-a-crown a year for our pet little +island." + +"I don't think you would get a penny for it. Miss Herbey; +but are you thinking of taking a lease?" I said laughing. + +"Not at present," she said; then added, with a half-sup- +pressed sigh, "and yet it is a place where I have seemed +to know what it is to be really happy." + +Andre murmured some expression of assent, and we all +felt that there was something touching in the words of the +orphaned, friendless girl who had found her long-lost sense +of happiness on a lonely rock in the Atlantic. + + +CHAPTER XIX +THE CARGO UNLOADED + +NOVEMBER 6 to November 15. -- For the first five days +after the Chancellor had run aground, there was a dense +black smoke continually rising from the hold; but it grad- +ually diminished until the 6th of November, when we might +consider that the fire was extinguished. Curtis, neverthe- +less, deemed it prudent to persevere in working the pumps, +which he did until the entire hull of the ship, right up to the +deck, had been completely inundated. + +The rapidity, however, with which the water, at every re- +treat of the tide, drained off to the level of the sea, was an +indication that the leak must be of considerable magnitude; +and such, on investigation, proved to be the case. One of the +sailors, named Flaypole, dived one day at low water to ex- +amine the extent of the damage, and found that the hole was +not much less than four feet square, and was situated thirty +feet fore of the helm, and two feet above the rider of the +keel; three planks had been stove in by a sharp point of rock +and it was only a wonder that the violence with which the +heavily-laden vessel had been thrown ashore did not result +in the smashing in of many parts beside. + +As it would be a couple of days or more before the hold +would be in a condition for the bales of cotton to be removed +for the carpenter to examine the damage from the interior of +the ship, Curtis employed the interval in having the broken +mizzen-mast repaired. Dowlas the carpenter, with con- +siderable skill, contrived to mortise it into its former stump. +and made the junction thoroughly secure by strong iron- +belts and bolts. The shrouds, the stays and backstays, were +then carefully refitted, some of the sails were changed, and +the whole of the running rigging was renewed. Injury, to +some extent, had been done to the poop and to the crew's +lockers in the front; but time and labor were all that were +wanted to make them good; and with such a will did every- +body set to work that it was not long before all the cabins +were again available for use. + +On the 8th the unlading of the ship commenced. Pulleys +and tackling were put over the hatches, and passengers and +crew together proceeded to haul up the heavy bales which +had been deluged so frequently by water that the cotton was +all but spoiled. One by one the sodden bales were placed in +the boat to be transported to the reef. After the first layer +of cotton had been removed it became necessary to drain +off part of the water that filled the hold. For this purpose +the leak in the side had somehow or other to be stopped, and +this was an operation which was cleverly accomplished by +Dowlas and Flaypole, who contrived to dive at low tide +and nail a sheet of copper over the entire hole. This, how- +ever, of itself would have been utterly inadequate to sustain +the pressure that would arise from the action of the pumps; +so Curtis ordered that a number of the bales should be piled +up inside against the broken planks. The scheme succeeded +very well, and as the water got lower and lower in the hold +the men were enabled to r‚sum‚ their task of unlading. + +Curtis thinks it quite probable that the leaks may be +mended from the interior. By far the best way of repairing +the damage would be to careen the ship, and to shift the +planking, but the appliances are wanting for such an un- +dertaking; moreover, any bad weather which might occur +while the ship was on her flank would only too certainly be +fatal to her altogether. But the captain has very little doubt +that by some device or other he shall manage to patch up the +hole in such a way as will insure our reaching land in safety. + +After two days' toil the water was entirely reduced, and +without further difficulty the unlading was completed. All +of us, including even Andre Letourneur, have been taking +our turn at the pumps, for the work is so extremely fatiguing +that the crew require some occasional respite; arms and back +soon become strained and weary with the incessant swing of +the handles, and I can well understand the dislike which +sailors always express to the labor. + +One thing there is which is much in our favor; the ship +lies on a firm and solid bottom, and we have the satisfaction +of knowing that we are not contending with a flood that +encroaches faster than it can be resisted. Heaven grant that +we may not be called to make like efforts, and to make them +hopelessly, for a foundering ship! + + +CHAPTER XX +EXAMINATION OF THE HOLD + +NOVEMBER 15 to 20. -- The examination of the hold has +at last been made. Among the first things that were found +was the case of picrate, perfectly intact, having neither been +injured by the water, nor of course reached by the flames. +Why it was not at once pitched into the sea I cannot say; +but it was merely conveyed to the extremity of the island, +and there it remains. + +While they were below, Curtis and Dowlas made them- +selves acquainted with the full extent of the mischief that +had been done by the conflagration. They found that the +deck and the cross-beams that supported it had been much +less injured than they expected, and the thick, heavy planks +had only been scorched very superficially. But the action +of the fire on the flanks of the ship had been of a much more +serious character; a long portion of the inside boarding had +been burned away, and the very ribs of the vessel were con- +siderably damaged; the oakum caulkings had all started away +from the butt-ends and seams; so much so that it was little +short of a miracle that the whole ship had not long since +gaped completely open. + +The captain and the carpenter returned to the deck with +anxious faces. Curtis lost no time in assembling pas- +sengers and crew, and announcing to them the facts of the +case. + +"My friends," he said, "I am here to tell you that the +Chancellor has sustained far greater injuries than we sus- +pected, and that her hull is very seriously damaged. If we +had been stranded anywhere else than on a barren reef, that +may at any time be overwhelmed by a tempestuous sea, I +should not have hesitated to take the ship to pieces, and con- +struct a smaller vessel that might have carried us safely to +land; but I dare not run the risk of remaining here. We +are now 800 miles from the coast of Paramaribo, the nearest +portion of Dutch Guiana, and in ten or twelve days, if the +weather should be favorable, I believe we could reach the +shore. What I now propose to do is to stop the leak by +the best means we can command, and make at once for the +nearest port." + +As no better plan seemed to suggest itself, Curtis's proposal +was unanimously accepted. Dowlas and his assistants im- +mediately set to work to repair the charred frame-work of +the ribs, and to stop the leak; they took care thoroughly to +calk from the outside all the seams that were above low +water mark; lower than that they were unable to work, and +had to content themselves with such repairs as they could +effect in the interior. But after all the pains there is no +doubt the Chancellor is not fit for a long voyage, and would +be condemned as unseaworthy at any port at which we might +put in. + +To-day the 20th, Curtis having done all that human power +could do to repair his ship, determined to put her to sea. + +Ever since the Chancellor had been relieved of her cargo, +and of the water in her hold, she had been able to float in +the little natural basin into which she had been driven. The +basin was enclosed on either hand by rocks that remained +uncovered even at high water, but was sufficiently wide to +allow the vessel to turn quite round at its broadest part, and +by means of hawsers fastened on the reef to be brought with +her bows towards the south; while, to prevent her being +carried back on to the reef, she has been anchored fore and +aft. + +To all appearance, then, it seemed as though it would be +an easy matter to put the Chancellor to sea; if the wind +were favorable the sails would be hoisted; if otherwise, she +would have to be towed through the narrow passage. All +seemed simple. But unlooked-for difficulties had yet to be +surmounted. + +The mouth of the passage is guarded by a kind of ridge +of basalt, which at high tide we knew was barely covered +with sufficient water to float the Chancellor, even when en- +tirely unfreighted. To be sure she had been carried over +the obstacle once before, but then, as I have already said, +she had been caught up by an enormous wave, and might +have been said to be LIFTED over the barrier into her pres- +ent position. Besides, on that ever memorable night, there +had not only been the ordinary spring-tide, but an equinoctial +tide, such a one as could not be expected to occur again for +many months. Waiting was out of the question; so Curtis +determined to run the risk, and to take advantage of the +spring-tide, which would occur to-day, to make an attempt +to get the ship, lightened as she was, over the bar; after +which, he might ballast her sufficiently to sail. + +The wind was blowing from the northwest, and conse- +quently right in the direction of the passage. The captain, +however, after a consultation, preferred to tow the ship over +the ridge, as he considered it was scarcely safe to allow a +vessel of doubtful stability at full sail to charge an obstacle +that would probably bring her to a dead lock. Before the +operation was commenced, Curtis took the precaution of +having an anchor ready in the stern, for, in the event of the +attempt being unsuccessful, it would be necessary to bring +the ship back to her present moorings. Two more anchors +were next carried outside the passage, which was not more +than two hundred feet in length. The chains were attached +to the windlass, the sailors worked at the hand-spikes, and +at four o'clock in the afternoon the Chancellor was in mo- +tion. + +High tide would be at twenty minutes past four, and at +ten minutes before that time the ship had been hauled as +far as her sea-range would allow; her keel grazed the ridge, +and her progress was arrested. When the lowest part of her +stern, however, just cleared the obstruction, Curtis deemed +that there was no longer any reason why the mechanical ac- +tion of the wind should not be brought to bear and con- +tribute its assistance. Without delay, all sails were unfurled +and trimmed to the wind. The tide was exactly at its height, +passengers and crew together were at the windlass, M. +Letourneur, Andre, Falsten, and myself being at the star- +board bar. Curtis stood upon the poop, giving his chief +attention to the sails; the lieutenant was on the forecastle; +the boatswain by the helm. The sea seemed propitiously +calm and; as it swelled gently to and fro, lifted the ship +several times. + +"Now, my boys," said Curtis, in his calm clear voice, "all +together! Off!" + +Round went the windlass; click, click, clanked the chains +as link by link they were forced through the hawse-holes. + +The breeze freshened, and the masts gave to the pressure +of the sails, but round and round we went, keeping time in +regular monotony to the sing-song tune hummed by one of +the sailors. + +We had gained about twenty feet, and were redoubling +our efforts when the ship grounded again. + +And now no effort would avail; all was in vain; the tide +began to turn: and the Chancellor would not advance an inch. +Was there time to go back? She would inevitably go to +pieces if left balanced upon the ridge. In an instant the cap- +tain has ordered the sails to be furled, and the anchor +dropped from the stern. + +One moment of terrible anxiety, and all is well. + +The Chancellor tacks to stern, and glides back into the +basin, which is once more her prison. + +"Well, captain," says the boatswain, "what's to be done +now?" + +"I don't know," said Curtis, "but we shall get across +somehow." + + +CHAPTER XXI +THE "CHANCELLOR" RELEASED FROM HER PRISON + +NOVEMBER 21 TO 24. -- There was assuredly no time to be +lost before we ought to leave Ham Rock reef. The barom- +eter had been falling ever since the morning, the sea was +getting rougher, and there was every symptom that the +weather, hitherto so favorable, was on the point of breaking; +and in the event of a gale the Chancellor must inevitably be +dashed to pieces on the rocks. + +In the evening, when the tide was quite low, and the rocks +uncovered, Curtis, the boatswain, and Dowlas went to exam- +ine the ridge which had proved so serious an obstruction. +Falsten and I accompanied them. We came to the conclu- +sion that the only way of effecting a passage was by cutting +away the rocks with pikes over a surface measuring ten feet +by six. An extra depth of nine or ten inches would give a +sufficient gauge, and the channel might be accurately marked +out by buoys; in this way it was conjectured the ship might +be got over the ridge and so reach the deep water beyond. + +"But this basalt is as hard as granite," said the boatswain; +"besides, we can only get at it at low water, and conse- +quently could only work at it for two hours out of the +twenty-four." + +"All the more reason why we should begin at once, boat- +swain," said Curtis. + +"But if it is to take us a month, captain, perhaps by that +time the ship may be knocked to atoms. Couldn't we man- +age to blow up the rock? we have got some powder aboard." + +"Not enough for that," said the boatswain. + +"You have something better than powder," said Falsten. + +"What's that?" asked the captain. + +"Picrate of potash," was the reply. + +And so the explosive substance with which poor Ruby had +so grievously imperiled the vessel was now to serve her in +good stead, and I now saw what a lucky thing it was that +the case had been deposited safely on the reef, instead of be- +ing thrown into the sea. + +The sailors went off at once for their pikes, and Dowlas +and his assistants, under the direction of Falsten, who, as an +engineer, understood such matters, proceeded to hollow out +a mine wherein to deposit the powder. At first we hoped +that everything would be ready for the blasting to take place +on the following morning, but when daylight appeared we +found that the men, although they had labored with a will, +had only been able to work for an hour at low water and +that four tides must ebb before the mine had been sunk to the +required depth. + +Not until eight o'clock on the morning of the 23d was +the work complete. The hole was bored obliquely in the +rock, and was large enough to contain about ten pounds of +explosive matter. Just as the picrate was being introduced +into the aperture, Falsten interposed: + +"Stop," he said, "I think it will be best to mix the picrate +with common powder, as that will allow us to fire the mine +with a match instead of the gun-priming which would be +necessary to produce a shock. Besides, it is an understood +thing that the addition of gunpowder renders picrate far +more effective in blasting such rocks as this, as then the +violence of the picrate prepares the way for the powder +which, slower in its action, will complete the disseverment of +the basalt." + +Falsten is not a great talker, but what he does say is al- +ways very much to the point. His good advice was imme- +diately followed; the two substances were mixed together, +and after a match had been introduced the compound was +rammed closely into the hole. + +Notwithstanding that the Chancellor was at a distance +from the rocks that insured her from any danger of being +injured by the explosion, it was thought advisable that the +passengers and crew should take refuge in the grotto at the +extremity of the reef, and even Mr. Kear, in spite of his +many objections, was forced to leave the ship. Falsten, as +soon as he had set fire to the match, joined us in our retreat. + +The train was to burn for ten minutes, and at the end of +that time the explosion took place; the report, on account of +the depth of the mine, being muffled, and much less noisy +than we had expected. But the operation had been perfectly +successful. Before we reached the ridge we could see that +the basalt had been literally reduced to powder, and that a +little channel, already being filled by the rising tide, had been +cut right through the obstacle. A loud hurrah rang through +the air; our prison-doors were opened, and we were prison- +ers no more. + +At high tide the Chancellor weighed anchor and floated +out into the sea, but she was not in a condition to sail until +she had been ballasted; and for the next twenty-four hours +the crew were busily employed in taking up blocks of stone, +and such of the bales of cotton as had sustained the least +amount of injury. + +In the course of the day, M. Letourneur, Andre, Miss +Herbey, and I took a farewell walk round the reef, and +Andre, with artistic skill, carved on the wall of the grotto +the word Chancellor -- the designation of Ham Rock, which +we had given to the reef -- and the date of our running +aground. Then we bade adieu to the scene of our three +weeks' sojourn, where we had passed days that to some at +least of our party will be reckoned as far from being the +least happy of their lives. + +At high tide this morning, the 24th, with low, top, and +gallant sails all set, the Chancellor started on her onward +way, and two hours later the last peak of Ham Rock had +vanished below the horizon. + + +CHAPTER XXII +A NEW DANGER + +NOVEMBER 24 to December1. -- Here we were then once +more at sea, and although on board a ship of which the +stability was very questionable, we had hopes, if the wind +continued favorable, of reaching the coast of Guiana in the +course of a few days. + +Our way was southwest and consequently with the wind, +and although Curtis would not crowd on all sail lest the +extra speed should have a tendency to spring the leak afresh, +the Chancellor made a progress that was quite satisfactory. +Life on board began to fall back into its former routine; the +feeling of insecurity and the consciousness that we were +merely retracing our path doing much, however, to destroy +the animated intercourse that would otherwise go on be- +tween passenger and passenger. + +The first few days passed without any incident worth re- +cording, then on the 29th, the wind shifted to the north, and +it became necessary to brace the yards, trim the sails, and +take a starboard tack. This made the ship lurch very much +on one side, and as Curtis felt that she was laboring far too +heavily, he clewed up the top-gallants, prudently reckoning +that, under the circumstances, caution was far more impor- +tant than speed. + +The night came on dark and foggy. The breeze fresh- +ened considerably, and, unfortunately for us, hailed from the +northwest. Although we carried no topsails at all, the ship +seemed to heel over more than ever. Most of the passengers +had retired to their cabins, but all the crew remained on deck, +while Curtis never quitted his post upon the poop. + +Toward two o'clock in the morning I was myself prepar- +ing to go to my cabin, when Burke, one of the sailors who +had been down into the hold, came on deck with the cry: + +"Two feet of water below." + +In an instant Curtis and the boatswain had descended the +ladder. The startling news was only too true; the sea-water +was entering the hold, but whether the leak had sprung +afresh, or whether the caulking in some of the seams was +insufficient, it was then impossible to determine; all that +could be done was to let the ship go with the wind, and wait +for day. + +At daybreak they sounded again -- "Three feet of +water!" was the report. I glanced at Curtis -- his lips were +white, but he had not lost his self-possession. He quietly in- +formed such of the passengers as were already on deck of +the new danger that threatened us; it was better that they +should know the worst, and the fact could not be long con- +cealed. I told M. Letourneur that I could not help hoping +that there might yet be time to reach the land before the last +crisis came. Falsten was about to give vent to an expres- +sion of despair, but he was soon silenced by Miss Herbey +asserting her confidence that all would yet be well. + +Curtis at once divided the crew into two sets, and made +them work incessantly, turn and turn about, at the pumps. +The men applied themselves to their task with resignation +rather than with ardor; the labor was hard and scarcely re- +paid them; the pumps were constantly getting out of order, +the valves being choked up by the ashes and bits of cotton +that were floating about in the hold, while every moment +that was spent in cleaning or repairing them was so much +time lost. + +Slowly but surely the water continued to rise, and on the +following morning the soundings gave five feet for its depth. +I noticed that Curtis's brow contracted each time that the +boatswain or the lieutenant brought him their report. There +was no doubt it was only a question of time, and not for an +instant must the efforts for keeping down the level be re- +laxed. Already the ship had sunk a foot lower in the water, +and as her weight increased she no longer rose buoyantly +with the waves, but pitched and rolled considerably. + +All yesterday and last night the pumping continued, but +still the sea gained upon us. The crew are weary and dis- +couraged, but the second officer and the boatswain set them +a fine example of endurance, and the passengers have now +begun to take their turn at the pumps. + +But all are conscious of toiling almost against hope; we +are no longer secured firmly to the solid soil of the Ham +Rock reef, but we are floating over an abyss which daily, +nay hourly, threatens to swallow us into its depths. + + +CHAPTER XXIII +AN ATTEMPT AT MUTINY + +DECEMBER 2 and 3. -- For four hours we have succeeded +in keeping the water in the hold to one level; now, however, +it is very evident that the time cannot be far distant when the +pumps will be quite unequal to their task. + +Yesterday Curtis, who does not allow himself a minute's +rest, made a personal inspection of the hold. I, with the +boatswain and carpenter, accompanied him. After dislodg- +ing some of the bales of cotton we could hear a splashing, +or rather gurgling sound; but whether the water was enter- +ing at the original aperture, or whether it found its way in +through a general dislocation of the seams, we were unable +to discover. But, whichever might be the case, Curtis de- +termined to try a plan which, by cutting off communication +between the interior and exterior of the vessel, might, if only +for a few hours, render her hull more water-tight. For this +purpose he had some strong, well tarred sails drawn upward +by ropes from below the keel, as high as the previous leak- +ing place, and then fastened closely and securely to the side +of the hull. The scheme was dubious, and the operation +difficult, but for a time it was effectual, and at the close of +the day the level of the water had actually been reduced by +several inches. The diminution was small enough, but the +consciousness that more water was escaping through the +scupper-holes than was finding its way into the hold gave us +fresh courage to persevere with our work. + +The night was dark, but the captain carried all the sail he +could, eager to take every possible advantage of the wind, +which was freshening considerably. If he could have +sighted a ship he would have made signals of distress, and +would not have hesitated to transfer the passengers, and +even have allowed the crew to follow, if they were ready to +forsake him; for himself his mind was made up -- he should +remain on board the Chancellor until she foundered beneath +his feet. No sail, however, hove in sight; consequently +escape by such means was out of our power. + +During the night the canvas covering yielded to the pres- +sure of the waves, and this morning, after taking the sound- +ing, the boatswain could not suppress an oath when he an- +nounced, "Six feet of water in the hold!" + +The ship, then, was filling once again, and already had +sunk considerably below her previous water-line. With +aching arms and bleeding hands we worked harder than +ever at the pumps, and Curtis makes those who are not +pumping form a line and pass buckets, with all the speed +they can, from hand to hand. + +But all in vain! At half-past eight more water is re- +ported in the hold, and some of the sailors, overcome by de- +spair, refuse to work one minute longer. + +The first to abandon his post was Owen, a man whom I +have mentioned before as exhibiting something of a mu- +tinous spirit. He is about forty years of age, and altogether +unprepossessing in appearance; his face is bare, with the +exception of a reddish beard, which terminates in a point; +his forehead is furrowed with sinister looking wrinkles, his +lips curl inward, and his ears protrude, while his bleared and +bloodshot eyes are encircled with thick red rings. + +Among the five or six other men who had struck work I +noticed Jynxstrop, the cook, who evidently shared all Owen's +ill-feelings. + +Twice did Curtis order the men back to the pumps, and +twice did Owen, acting as spokesman for the rest, refuse; +and when Curtis made a step forward as though to approach +him, he said savagely: + +"I advise you not to touch me," and walked away to the +forecastle. + +Curtis descended to his cabin, and almost immediately re- +turned with a loaded revolver in his hand. + +For a moment Owen surveyed the captain with a frown +of defiance; but at a sign from Jynxstrop he seemed to +recollect himself, and, with the remainder of the men, he +returned to his work. + + +CHAPTER XXIV +CURTIS RESOLVES TO ABANDON THE SHIP + +DECEMBER 4. -- The first attempt at mutiny being thus +happily suppressed, it is to be hoped that Curtis will succeed +as well in future. An insubordinate crew would render us +powerless indeed. + +Throughout the night the pumps were kept, without +respite, steadily at work, but without producing the least +sensible benefit. The ship became so water-logged and +heavy that she hardly rose at all to the waves, which con- +sequently often washed over the deck and contributed their +part toward aggravating our case. Our situation was +rapidly becoming as terrible as it had been when the fire +was raging in the midst of us; and the prospect of being +swallowed by the devouring billows was no less formidable +than that of perishing in the flames. + +Curtis kept the men up to the mark, and, willing or unwill- +ing, they had no alternative but to work on as best they +might; but in spite of all their efforts, the water perpetually +rose, till, at length, the men in the hold who were passing +the buckets found themselves immersed up to their waists, +and were obliged to come on deck. + +This morning, after a somewhat protracted consultation +with Walter and the boatswain, Curtis resolved to abandon +the ship. The only remaining boat was far too small to hold +us all, and it would therefore be necessary to construct a +raft that should carry those who could not find room in her. +Dowlas, the carpenter, Mr. Falsten, and ten sailors were told +off to put the raft in hand, the rest of the crew being ordered +to continue their work assiduously at the pumps, until the +time came and everything was ready for embarkation. + +Hatchet or saw in hand, the carpenter and his assistants +made a beginning without delay, by cutting and trimming the +spare yards and extra spars to a proper length. These were +then lowered into the sea -- which was propitiously calm -- +so as to favor the operation (which otherwise would have +been very difficult) of lashing them together into a firm +framework, about forty feet long and twenty-five feet wide, +upon which the platform was to be supported. + +I kept my own place steadily at the pumps, and Andre Le- +tourneur worked at my side. I often noticed his father +glance at him sorrowfully, as though he wondered what +would become of him if he had to struggle with waves to +which even the strongest man could hardly fail to succumb. +But come what may, his father will never forsake him, and +I myself shall not be wanting in rendering him whatever +assistance I can. + +Mrs. Kear, who had been for some time in a state of +drowsy unconsciousness, was not informed of the immediate +danger; but when Miss Herbey, looking somewhat pale with +fatigue, paid one of her flying visits to the deck, I warned +her to take every precaution for herself, and to be ready for +any emergency. + +"Thank you, doctor, I am always ready," she cheerfully +replied, and returned to her duties below. I saw Andre +follow the young girl with his eyes, and a look of melancholy +interest passed over his countenance. + +Toward eight o'clock in the evening the framework for +the raft was almost complete, and the men were lower- +ing empty barrels, which had first been securely bunged, +and were lashing them to the woodwork to insure its +floating. + +Two hours later and suddenly there arose the startling +cry, "We are sinking! we are sinking!" + +Up to the poop rushed Mr. Kear, followed immediately +by Falsten and Miss Herbey, who were bearing the inan- +imate form of Mrs. Kear. Curtis ran to his cabin, instantly +returning with a chart, a sextant, and a compass in his hand. + +The scene that followed will ever be engraven in my +memory; the cries of distress, the general confusion, the +frantic rush of the sailors toward the raft that was not yet +ready to support them, can never be forgotten. The whole +period of my life seemed to be concentrated into that terrible +moment when the planks bent below my feet and the ocean +yawned beneath me. + +Some of the sailors had taken their delusive refuge in the +shrouds, and I was preparing to follow them when a hand +was laid upon my shoulder.. Turning round I beheld M. +Letourneur, with tears in his eyes, pointing toward his son. +"Yes, my friend," I said, pressing his hand, "we will save +him, if possible." + +But Curtis had already caught hold of the young man, +and was hurrying him to the main-mast shrouds, when the +Chancellor, which had been scudding along rapidly with the +wind, stopped suddenly, with a violent shock, and began to +settle. The sea rose over my ankles, and almost instinc- +tively I clutched at the nearest rope. All at once, when it +seemed all over, the ship ceased to sink, and hung motionless +in mid-ocean. + + +CHAPTER XXV +WHILE THERE'S LIFE THERE'S HOPE + +NIGHT of December 4. -- Curtis caught young Letourneur +again in his arms, and, running with him across the flooded +deck, deposited him safely in the starboard shrouds, whither +his father and I climbed up beside him. + +I now had time to look about me. The night was not +very dark, and I could see that Curtis had returned to his +post upon the poop; while in the extreme aft near the taff- +rail, which was still above water, I could distinguish the +forms of Mr. and Mrs. Kear, Miss Herbey, and Mr. Fal- +sten. The lieutenant and the boatswain were on the far end +of the forecastle; the remainder of the crew in the shrouds +and top-masts. + +By the assistance of his father, who carefully guided his +feet up the rigging, Andre was hoisted into the main-top. +Mrs. Kear could not be induced to join him in his elevated +position, in spite of being told that if the wind were to +freshen she would inevitably be washed overboard by the +waves; nothing could induce her to listen to remonstrances, +and she insisted upon remaining on the poop -- Miss Herbey, +of course, staying by her side. + +As soon as the captain saw the Chancellor was no longer +sinking, he set to work to take down all the sails -- yards and +all -- and the top-gallants, in the hope that by removing +everything that could compromise the equilibrium of the +ship he might diminish the chance of her capsizing alto- +gether. + +"But may she not founder at any moment?" I said to +Curtis, when I had joined him for a while upon the poop. + +"Everything depends upon the weather," he replied, in +his calmest manner; "that, of course, may change at any +hour. One thing, however, is certain, the Chancellor pre- +serves her equilibrium for the present." + +"But do you mean to say," I further asked, "that she can +sail with two feet of water over her deck?" + +"No, Mr. Kazallon, she can't sail, but she can drift with +the wind; and if the wind remains in its present quarter, in +the course of a few days we might possibly sight the coast. +Besides, we shall have our raft as a last resource; in a few +hours it will be ready, and at daybreak we can embark." + +"You have not, then," I added, "abandoned all hope +even yet?" I marveled at his composure. + +"While there's life there's hope, you know, Mr. Kazallon; +out of a hundred chances, ninety-nine may be against us, +but perhaps the odd one may be in our favor. Besides, I +believe that our case is not without precedent. In the year +1795, a three-master, the Juno, was precisely in the same +half-sunk, water-logged condition as ourselves; and yet, with +her passengers and crew clinging to her top-masts, she +drifted for twenty days, until she came in sight of land, +when those who had survived the deprivation and fatigue +were saved. So let us not despair; let us hold on to the +hope that the survivors of the Chancellor may be equally +fortunate." + +I was only too conscious that there was not much to be +said in support of Curtis's sanguine view of things, and that +the force of reason pointed all the other way; but I said +nothing, deriving what comfort I could from the fact that +the captain did not yet despond of an ultimate rescue. + +As it was necessary to be prepared to abandon the ship +almost at a moment's notice, Dowlas was making every +exertion to hurry on the construction of the raft. A little +before midnight he was on the point of conveying some +planks for this purpose, when, to his astonishment and +horror, he found that the framework had totally disap- +peared. The ropes that had attached it to the vessel had +snapped as she became vertically displaced, and probably it +had been adrift for more than an hour. + +The crew were frantic at this new misfortune, and shout- +ing "Overboard with the masts!" they began to cut down +the rigging preparatory to taking possession of the masts +for a new raft. + +But here Curtis interposed: + +"Back to your places, my men; back to your places. The +ship will not sink yet, so don't touch a rope until I give you +leave." + +The firmness of the captain's voice brought the men to +their senses, and although some of them could ill disguise +their reluctance, all returned to their posts. + +When daylight had sufficiently advanced Curtis mounted +the mast, and looked around for the missing raft; but it was +nowhere to be seen. The sea was far too rough for the men +to venture to take out the whale-boat in search of it, and +there was no choice but to set to work and to construct a +new raft immediately. + +Since the sea has become so much rougher, Mrs. Kear has +been induced to leave the poop, and has managed to join M. +Letourneur and his son on the main-top, where she lies in a +state of complete prostration. I need hardly add that Miss +Herbey continues in her unwearied attendance. The space +to which these four people are limited is necessarily very +small, nowhere measuring twelve feet across: to prevent +them losing their balance some spars have been lashed from +shroud to shroud, and for the convenience of the two ladies +Curtis has contrived to make a temporary awning of a sail. +Mr. Kear has installed himself with Silas Huntly on the +foretop. + +A few cases of preserved meat and biscuit and some +barrels of water, that floated between the masts after the +submersion of the deck, have been hoisted to the top-mast +and fastened firmly to the stays. These are now our only +provisions. + + +CHAPTER XXVI +MR. KEAR MAKES A BUSINESS DEAL + +DECEMBER 5. -- The day was very hot. December in lati- +tude 16 deg. N. is a summer month, and unless a breeze should +rise to temper the burning sun, we might expect to suffer +from an oppressive heat. + +The sea still remained very rough, and as the heavy waves +broke over the ship as though she were a reef, the foam flew +up to the very top-masts, and our clothes were perpetually +drenched by the spray. + +The Chancellor's hull is three-fourths immerged; besides +the three masts and the bowsprit, to which the whale-boat +was suspended, the poop and the forecastle are the only por- +tions that now are visible; and as the intervening section of +the deck is quite below the water, these appear to be con- +nected only by the framework of the netting that runs along +the vessel's sides. Communication between the top-masts is +extremely difficult, and would be absolutely precluded, were +it not that the sailors, with practiced dexterity, manage to +hoist themselves about by means of the stays. For the pas- +sengers, cowering on their narrow and unstable platform, +the spectacle of the raging sea below was truly terrific; +every wave that dashed over the ship shook the masts till +they trembled again, and one could venture scarcely to look +or to think lest he should be tempted to cast himself into the +vast abyss. + +Meanwhile, the crew worked away with all their remain- +ing vigor at the second raft, for which the top-gallants and +yards were all obliged to be employed; the planks, too, which +were continually being loosened and broken away by the +violence of the waves from the partitions of the ship, were +rescued before they had drifted out of reach, and were +brought into use. The symptoms of the ship foundering +did not appear to be immediate; so that Curtis insisted upon +the raft being made with proper care to insure its strength; +we were still several hundred miles from the coast of Guiana, +and for so long a voyage it was indispensable to have a struc- +ture of considerable solidity. The reasonableness of this +was self-apparent, and as the crew had recovered their as- +surance they spared no pains to accomplish their work effec- +tually. + +Of all the number, there was but one, an Irishman, named +O'Ready, who seemed to question the utility of all their toil. +He shook his head with an oracular gravity. He is an old- +ish man, not less than sixty, with his hair and beard bleached +with the storms of many travels. As I was making my way +toward the poop, he came up to me and began talking. + +"And why, bedad, I'd like to know, why is it that they'll +all be afther lavin' the ship?" + +He turned his quid with the most serene composure, and +continued: + +"And isn't it me myself that's been wrecked nine times +already? and sure, poor fools are they that ever have put +their trust in rafts or boats; sure and they found a wathery +grave. Nay, nay; while the ould ship lasts, let's stick to her, +says I." + +Having thus unburdened his mind he relapsed into si- +lence, and soon went away. + +About three o'clock I noticed that Mr. Kear and Silas +Huntly were holding an animated conversation in the fore- +top. The petroleum merchant had evidently some difficulty +in bringing the ex-captain round to his opinion, for I saw +him several times shake his head as he gave long and scrutin- +izing looks at the sea and sky. In less than an hour after- +ward I saw Huntly let himself down by the forestays and +clamber along to the fore-castle, where he joined the group +of sailors, and I lost sight of him. + +I attached little importance to the incident, and shortly +afterward joined the party in the main-top, where we con- +tinued talking for some hours. The heat was intense, and if +it had not been for the shelter afforded by the sail-tent, +would have been unbearable. At five o'clock we took as re- +freshment some dried meat and biscuit, each individual be- +ing also allowed half a glass of water. Mrs. Kear prostrate +with fever, could not touch a mouthful; and nothing could +be done by Miss Herbey to relieve her, beyond occasionally +moistening her parched lips. The unfortunate lady suffers +greatly, and sometimes I am inclined to think that she will +succumb to the exposure and privation. Not once had her +husband troubled himself about her; but when shortly after- +ward I heard him hail some of the sailors on the fore-castle +and ask them to help him down from the foretop, I began +to think that the selfish fellow was coming to join his wife. + +At first the sailors took no notice of his request, but on +his repeating it with the promise of paying them handsomely +for their services, two of them, Burke and Sandon, swung +themselves along the netting into the shrouds, and were soon +at his side. + +A long discussion ensued. The men evidently were ask- +ing more than Mr. Kear was inclined to give, and at one +time it seemed as though the negotiation would fall through +altogether. But at length the bargain was struck, and I saw +Mr. Kear take a bundle of paper dollars from his waistcoat +pocket, and hand a number of them over to one of the men. +The man counted them carefully, and from the time it took +him, I should think that he could not have pocketed anything +less than a hundred dollars. + +The next business was to get Mr. Kear down from the +foretop, and Burke and Sandon proceeded to tie a rope +round his waist, which they afterward fastened to the fore- +stay; then, in a way which provoked shouts of laughter from +their mates, they gave the unfortunate man a shove, and sent +him rolling down like a bundle of dirty clothes on to the +forecastle. + +I was quite mistaken as to his object. Mr. Kear had no +intention of looking after his wife, but remained by the side +of Silas Huntly until the gathering darkness hid them both +from view. + +As night drew on, the wind grew calmer, but the sea re- +mained very rough. The moon had been up ever since four +in the afternoon, though she only appeared at rare intervals +between the clouds. Some long lines of vapor on the hori- +zon were tinged with a rosy glare that foreboded a strong +breeze for the morrow, and all felt anxious to know from +which quarter the breeze would come, for any but a north- +easter would bear the frail raft on which we were to embark +far away from land. + +About eight o'clock in the evening, Curtis mounted to the +main-top, but he seemed preoccupied and anxious, and did +not speak to anyone. He remained for a quarter of an +hour, then after silently pressing my hand, he returned to +his old post. + +I laid myself down in the narrow space at my disposal, +and tried to sleep; but my mind was filled with strange fore- +bodings, and sleep was impossible. The very calmness of +the atmosphere was oppressive; scarcely a breath of air +vibrated through the metal rigging, and yet the sea rose with +a heavy swell as though it felt the warnings of a coming +tempest. + +All at once, at about eleven o'clock, the moon burst +brightly forth through a rift in the clouds, and the waves +sparkled again as if illuminated by a submarine glimmer. I +start up and look around me. Is it merely imagination? or +do I really see a black speck floating, on the dazzling white- +ness of the waters, a speck that cannot be a rock, because +it rises and falls with the heaving motion of the billows? +But the moon once again becomes overclouded; the sea is +darkened, and I return to my uneasy couch close to the lar- +board shrouds. + + +CHAPTER XXVII +THE WHALE-BOAT MISSING + +DECEMBER 6. -- I must have fallen asleep for a few hours, +when, at four o'clock in the morning, I was rudely aroused +by the roaring of the wind, and could distinguish Curtis's +voice as he shouted in the brief intervals between the heavy +gusts. + +I got up, and holding tightly to the purlin -- for the waves +made the masts tremble with their violence -- I tried to look +around and below me. The sea was literally raging beneath, +and great masses of livid-looking foam were dashing be- +tween the masts, which were oscillating terrifically. It was +still dark, and I could only faintly distinguish two figures +in the stern, whom, by the sound of their voices, that I +caught occasionally above the tumult, I made out to be +Curtis and the boatswain. + +Just at that moment a sailor, who had mounted to the +main-top to do something to the rigging, passed close be- +hind me. + +"What's the matter?" I asked. + +"The wind has changed," he answered, adding something +which I could not hear distinctly, but which sounded like +"dead against us." + +Dead against us! then. thought I, the wind had shifted to +the southwest, and my last night's forebodings had been +correct. + +When daylight at length appeared, I found the wind, al- +though not blowing actually from the southwest, had veered +round to the northwest, a change which was equally dis- +astrous to us, inasmuch as it was carrying us away from +land. Moreover, the ship had sunk considerably during the +night, and there were now five feet of water above deck; +the side netting had completely disappeared, and the fore- +castle and the poop were now all but on a level with the sea, +which washed over them incessantly. With all possible ex- +pedition Curtis and his crew were laboring away at their +raft, but the violence of the swell materially impeded their +operations, and it became a matter of doubt as to whether +the woodwork would not fall asunder before it could be +properly fastened together. + +As I watched the men at their work, M. Letourneur, with +one arm supporting his son, came out and stood by my side. + +"Don't you think this main-top will soon give way?" he +said, as the narrow platform on which we stood creaked and +groaned with the swaying of the masts. + +Miss Herbey heard his words and pointing toward Mrs. +Kear, who was lying prostrate at her feet, asked what we +thought ought to be done. + +"We can do nothing but stay where we are," I replied. + +"No," said Andre, "this is our best refuge; I hope you +are not afraid." + +"Not for myself," said the young girl quietly, "only for +those to whom life is precious." + +At a quarter to eight we heard the boatswain calling to +the sailors in the bows. + +"Ay, ay, sir," said one of the men -- O'Ready, I think. + +"Where's the whale-boat?" shouted the boatswain in a +loud voice. + +"I don't know, sir. Not with us," was the reply. + +"She's gone adrift, then!" + +And sure enough the whale-boat was no longer hanging +from the bowsprit; and in a moment the discovery was made +that Mr. Kear, Silas Huntly, and three sailors, -- a Scotch- +man and two Englishmen, -- were missing. Afraid that the +Chancellor would founder before the completion of the raft, +Kear and Huntly had plotted together to effect their escape, +and had bribed the three sailors to seize the only remaining +boat. + +This, then, was the black speck that I had seen during the +night. The miserable husband had deserted his wife, the +faithless captain had abandoned the ship that had once been +under his command. + +"There are five saved, then," said the boatswain. + +"Faith, an it's five lost ye'll be maning," said O'Ready; +and the state of the sea fully justified his opinion. + +The crew were furious when they heard of the surrepti- +tious flight, and loaded the fugitives with all the invectives +they could lay their tongues to. So enraged were they +at the dastardly trick of which they had been made the dupes, +that if chance should bring the deserters again on board I +should be sorry to answer for the consequences. + +In accordance with my advice, Mrs. Kear has not been in- +formed of her husband's disappearance. The unhappy lady +is wasting away with a fever for which we are powerless to +supply a remedy, for the medicine-chest was lost when the +ship began to sink. Nevertheless, I do not think we have +anything to regret on that score, feeling, as I do, that in a +case like Mrs. Kear's, drugs would be of no avail. + + +CHAPTER XXVIII +MRS. KEAR SUCCUMBS TO FEVER + +DECEMBER 6 continued. -- The Chancellor no longer main- +tained her equilibrium; we felt that she was gradually going +down, and her hull was probably breaking up. The main- +top was already only ten feet above water, while the bow- +sprit, with the exception of the extreme end, that rose +obliquely from the waves, was entirely covered. + +The Chancellor's last day, we felt, had come. + +Fortunately the raft was all but finished, and unless Curtis +preferred to wait till morning, we should be able to embark +in the evening. + +The raft is a very solid structure. The spars that form +the framework are crossed one above another and lashed +together with stout ropes, so that the whole pile rises a +couple of feet above the water. The upper platform is con- +structed from the planks that were broken from the ship's +sides by the violence of the waves, and which had not drifted +away. The afternoon has been employed in charging the +raft with such provisions, sails, tools, and instruments as we +have been able to save. + +And how can I attempt to give any idea of the feelings +with which, one and all, we now contemplated the fate be- +fore us? For my own part, I was possessed rather by a +benumbed indifference than by any sense of genuine resigna- +tion. M. Letourneur was entirely absorbed in his son, who, +in his turn, thought only of his father, at the same time +exhibiting a Christian fortitude, which was shown by no one +else of the party except Miss Herbey, who faced her danger +with the same brave composure. Incredible as it may seem, +Falsten remained the same as ever, occupying himself with +writing down figures and memoranda in his pocketbook. +Mrs. Kear, in spite of all that Miss Herbey could do for her, +was evidently dying. + +With regard to the sailors, two or three of them were +calm enough, but the rest had well-nigh lost their wits. +Some of the more ill-disposed among them seemed inclined +to run into excesses; and their conduct, under the bad in- +fluence of Owen and Jynxstrop, made it doubtful whether +they would submit to control when once we were limited to +the narrow dimensions of the raft. Lieutenant Walter, al- +though his courage never failed him, was worn out with +bodily fatigue, and obliged to give up all active labor; but +Curtis and the boatswain were resolute, energetic and firm +as ever. To borrow an expression from the language of +metallurgic art, they were men "at the highest degree of +hardness." + +At five o'clock one of our companions in misfortune was +released from her sufferings. Mrs. Kear, after a most dis- +tressing illness, through which her young companion tended +her with the most devoted care, has breathed her last. A +few deep sighs and all was over, and I doubt whether +the sufferer was ever conscious of the peril of her +situation. + +The night passed on without further incident. Toward +morning I touched the dead woman's hand, and it was cold +and stiff. The corpse could not remain any longer on the +main-top, and after Miss Herbey and I had carefully +wrapped the garments about it, with a few short prayers +the body of the first victim of our miseries was committed +to the deep. + +As the sea closed over the body I heard one of the men in +the shrouds say: + +"There goes a carcass that we shall be sorry we have +thrown away!" + +I looked round sharply. It was Owen who had spoken. +But horrible as were his words, the conviction was forced +upon my mind that the day could not be far distant when we +must want for food. + + +CHAPTER XXIX +WE EMBARK ON THE RAFT + +DECEMBER 7. -- The ship was sinking rapidly; the water +had risen to the fore-top; the poop and forecastle were +completely submerged; the top of the bowsprit had disap- +peared, and only the three mast-tops projected from the +waves. + +But all was ready on the raft; an erection had been made +on the fore to hold a mast, which was supported by shrouds +fastened to the sides of the platform; this mast carried a +large royal. + +Perhaps, after all, these few frail planks will carry us to +the shore which the Chancellor has failed to reach; at any +rate, we cannot yet resign all hope. + +We were just on the point of embarking at 7 A. M. when +the Chancellor all at once began to sink so rapidly that the +carpenter and men who were on the raft were obliged with +all speed to cut the ropes that secured it to the vessel, to pre- +vent it from being swallowed up in the eddying waters. + +Anxiety, the most intense, took possession of us all. At +the very moment when the ship was descending into the +fathomless abyss, the raft, our only hope of safety, was +drifting off before our eyes. Two of the sailors and an +apprentice, beside themselves with terror, threw themselves +headlong into the sea; but it was evident from the very +first they were quite powerless to combat the winds and +waves. Escape was impossible; they could neither reach +the raft nor return to the ship. Curtis tied a rope round +his waist and tried to swim to their assistance; but long be- +fore he could reach them, the unfortunate men, after a vain +struggle for life, sank below the waves and were seen no +more. Curtis, bruised and beaten with the surf that raged +about the mast-heads, was hauled back to the ship. + +Meantime, Dowlas and his men, by means of some spars +which they used as oars, were exerting themselves to bring +back the raft, which had drifted about two cables'-lengths +away; but, in spite of all their efforts, it was fully an hour -- +an hour which seemed to us, waiting as we were with the +water up to the level of the top masts, like an eternity -- be- +fore they succeeded in bringing the raft alongside, and lash- +ing it once again to the Chancellor's main-mast. + +Not a moment was then to be lost. The waves were +eddying like a whirlpool around the submerged vessel, and +numbers of enormous airbubbles were rising to the surface +of the water. + +The time was come. At Curtis's word, "Embark!" we +all hurried to the raft. Andre, who insisted upon seeing +Miss Herbey go first, was helped safely on to the platform, +where his father immediately joined him. In a very few +minutes all except Curtis and old O'Ready had left the +Chancellor. + +Curtis remained standing on the main-top, deeming it not +only his duty, but his right, to be the last to leave the vessel +he had loved so well, and the loss of which he so much de- +plored. + +"Now then, old fellow, off of this!" cried the captain +to the old Irishman, who did not move. + +"And is it quite sure ye are that she's sinkin'?" he said. + +"Ay, ay! sure enough, my man; and you'd better look +sharp." + +"Faith, then, and I think I will;" and not a moment too +soon (for the water was up to his waist) he jumped on to +the raft. + +Having cast one last, lingering look around him, Curtis +then left the ship; the rope was cut, and we went slowly +adrift. + +All eyes were fixed upon the spot where the Chancellor lay +foundering. The top of the mizzen was the first to dis- +appear, then followed the main-top; and soon, of what had +been a noble vessel, not a vestige was to be seen. + + +CHAPTER XXX +OUR SITUATION CRITICAL + +WILL this frail boat, forty feet by twenty, bear us in +safety? Sink it cannot; the material of which it is com- +posed is of a kind that must surmount the waves. But it +is questionable whether it will hold together. The cords +that bind it will have a tremendous strain to bear in resist- +ing the violence of the sea. The most sanguine among us +trembles to face the future; the most confident dares to +think only of the present. After the manifold perils of the +last seventy-two days' voyage all are too agitated to look +forward without dismay to what in all human probability +must be a time of the direst distress. + +Vain as the task may seem, I will not pause in my work +of registering the events of our drama, as scene after scene +they are unfolded before our eyes. + +Of the twenty-eight persons who left Charleston in the +Chancellor, only eighteen are left to huddle together upon +this narrow raft; this number includes the five passengers, +namely, M. Letourneur, Andre, Miss Herbey, Falsten, and +myself; the ship's officers, Captain Curtis, Lieutenant Wal- +ter, the boatswain, Hobart the steward, Jynxstrop the cook, +and Dowlas the carpenter; and seven sailors, Austin, Owen, +Wilson, O'Ready, Burke, Sandon, and Flaypole. + +Such are the passengers on the raft; it is but a brief task +to enumerate their resources. + +The greater part of the provisions in the store-room were +destroyed at the time when the ship's deck was submerged, +and the small quantity that Curtis has been able to save will +be very inadequate to supply the wants of eighteen people, +who too probably have many days to wait ere they sight +either land or a passing vessel. One cask of biscuit, an- +other of preserved meat, a small keg of brandy, and two +barrels of water complete our store, so that the utmost +frugality in the distribution of our daily rations becomes +absolutely necessary. + +Of spare clothes we have positively none; a few sails +will serve for shelter by day, and covering by night. +Dowlas has his carpenter's tools, we have each a pocket- +knife, and O'Ready an old tin pot, of which he takes the +most tender care; in addition to these, we are in possession +of a sextant, a compass, a chart, and a metal tea-kettle, +everything else that was placed on deck in readiness for the +first raft having been lost in the partial submersion of the +vessel. + +Such then is our situation; critical indeed, but after all +perhaps not desperate. We have one great fear; some there +are among us whose courage, moral as well as physical, +may give way, and over failing spirits such as these we may +have no control. + + +CHAPTER XXXI +FIRST DAY ON THE RAFT + +DECEMBER 7 continued. -- Our first day on the raft has +passed without any special incident. At eight o'clock this +morning Curtis asked our attention for a moment. + +"My friends," he said, "listen to me. Here on this raft, +just as when we were on board the Chancellor, I consider +myself your captain; and as your captain, I expect that all +of you will strictly obey my orders. Let me beg of you, one +and all, to think solely of our common welfare; let us work +with one heart and with one soul, and may Heaven protect +us!" + +After delivering these few words with an emotion that +evidenced their earnestness, the captain consulted his com- +pass, and found that the freshening breeze was blowing +from the north. This was fortunate for us, and no time +was to be lost in taking advantage of it to speed us on our +dubious way. Dowlas was occupied in fixing the mast into +the socket that had already been prepared for its reception, +and in order to support it more firmly he placed spurs of +wood, forming arched buttresses, on either side. While +he was thus employed the boatswain and the other seamen +were stretching the large royal sail on the yard that had +been reserved for that purpose. + +By half-past nine the mast was hoisted, and held firmly +in its place by some shrouds attached securely to the sides +of the raft; then the sail was run up and trimmed to the +wind, and the raft began to make a perceptible progress +under the brisk breeze. + +As soon as we had once started, the carpenter set to work +to contrive some sort of a rudder, that would enable us to +maintain our desired direction. Curtis and Falsten assisted +him with some serviceable suggestions, and in a couple of +hours' time he had made and fixed to the back of the raft +a kind of paddle, very similar to those used by the Malays. + +At noon, after the necessary preliminary observations, +Curtis took the altitude of the sun. The result gave lat. +15 deg. 7' N. by long. 49 deg. 35' W. as our position, which, on +consulting the chart, proved to be about 650 miles northeast +of the coast of Paramaribo in Dutch Guiana. + +Now even under the most favorable circumstances, with +trade-winds and weather always in our favor, we can not +by any chance hope to make more than ten or twelve miles +a day, so that the voyage cannot possibly be performed under +a period of two months. To be sure there is the hope to be +indulged that we may fall in with a passing vessel, but as +the part of the Atlantic into which we have been driven is +intermediate between the tracks of the French and English +transatlantic steamers either from the Antilles or the +Brazils, we cannot reckon at all upon a contingency happen- +ing in our favor; while if a calm should set in, or worse +still, if the wind were to blow from the east, not only +two months, but twice, nay, three times that length of time +will be required to accomplish the passage. + +At best, however, our provisions, even though used with +the greatest care, will barely last three months. Curtis has +called us into consultation, and as the working of the raft +does not require such labor as to exhaust our physical +strength, all have agreed to submit to a regimen which, +although it will suffice to keep us alive, will certainly +not fully satisfy the cravings of hunger and thirst. + +As far as we can estimate we have somewhere about 500 +lbs. of meat and about the same quantity of biscuit. To +make this last for three months we ought not to consume +very much more than 5 lbs. a day of each, which, when +divided among eighteen people, will make the daily ration 5 +oz. of meat and 5 oz. of biscuit for each person. Of water +we have certainly not more than 200 gallons, but by reduc- +ing each person's allowance to a pint a day, we hope to eke +out that, too, over the space of three months. + +It is arranged that the food shall be distributed under the +boatswain's superintendence every morning at ten o'clock. +Each person will then receive his allowance of meat and bis- +cuit, which may be eaten when and how he pleases. The +water will be given out twice a day -- at ten in the morn- +ing and six in the evening; but as the only drinking-vessels +in our possession are the teakettle and the old Irishman's tin +pot, the water has to be consumed immediately on distribu- +tion. As for the brandy, of which there are only five gallons, +it will be doled out with the strictest limitation, and no one +will be allowed to touch it except with the captain's express +permission. + +I should not forget that there are two sources from which +we may hope to increase our store. First, any rain that +may fall will add to our supply of water, and two empty +barrels have been placed ready to receive it; secondly, we +hope to do something in the way of fishing, and the sailors +have already begun to prepare some lines. + +All have mutually agreed to abide by the rules that have +been laid down, for all are fully aware that by nothing +but the most precise regimen can we hope to avert the +horrors of famine, and forewarned by the fate of many who +in similar circumstances have miserably perished, we are +determined to do all that prudence can suggest for hus- +banding our stores. + + +CHAPTER XXXII +WE CATCH A SUPPLY OF FISH + +DECEMBER 8 to 17. -- When night came we wrapped our- +selves in our sails. For my own part, worn out with the +fatigue of the long watch in the top-mast, I slept for several +hours; M. Letourneur and Andre did the same, and Miss +Herbey obtained sufficient rest to relieve the tired expression +that her countenance had lately being wearing. The night +passed quietly. As the raft was not very heavily laden the +waves did not break over it at all, and we were consequently +able to keep ourselves perfectly dry. To say the truth, it +was far better for us that the sea should remain somewhat +boisterous, for any diminution in the swell of the waves +would indicate that the wind had dropped, and it was with +a feeling of regret that when the morning came I had to note +down "weather calm" in my journal. + +In these low latitudes the heat in the day-time is so in- +tense, and the sun burns with such an incessant glare, that +the entire atmosphere becomes pervaded with a glowing +vapor. The wind, too, blows only in fitful gusts, and +through long intervals of perfect calm the sails flap idly and +uselessly against the mast. Curtis and the boatswain, how- +ever, are of opinion that we are not entirely dependent on +the wind. Certain indications, which a sailor's eye alone +could detect, make them almost sure that we are being +carried along by a westerly current, that flows at the rate +of three or four miles an hour. If they are not mistaken, +this is a circumstance that may materially assist our pro- +gress, and at which we can hardly fail to rejoice, for the +high temperature often makes our scanty allowance of water +quite inadequate to allay our thirst. + +But with all our hardships I must confess that our con- +dition is far preferable to what it was when we were still +clinging to the Chancellor. Here at least we have a com- +paratively solid platform beneath our feet, and we are re- +lieved from the incessant dread of being carried down with +a foundering vessel. In the day time we can move about +with a certain amount of freedom, discuss the weather, +watch the sea, and examine our fishing-lines; while at night +we can rest securely under the shelter of our sails. + +"I really think, Mr. Kazallon," said Andre Letourneur +to me a few days after we had embarked, "that our time +on board the raft passes as pleasantly as it did upon Ham +Rock; and the raft has one advantage even over the reef, for +it is capable of motion." + +"Yes, Andre," I replied, "as long as the wind continues +favorable the raft has decidedly the advantage; but sup- +posing the wind shifts; what then?" + +"Oh, we mustn't think about that," he said; "let us keep +up our courage while we can." + +I felt that he was right, and that the dangers we had +escaped should make us more hopeful for the future; and +I think that nearly all of us are inclined to share his opin- +ion. + +Whether the captain is equally sanguine I am unable to +say. He holds himself very much aloof, and as he evi- +dently feels that he has the great responsibility of saving +other lives than his own, we are reluctant to disturb his silent +meditations. + +Such of the crew as are not on watch spend the greater +portion of their time in dozing on the fore part of the raft. +The aft, by the captain's orders, has been reserved for the +use of us passengers, and by erecting some uprights we have +contrived to make a sort of tent, which affords some shelter +from the sun. On the whole our bill of health is tolerably +satisfactory. Lieutenant Walter is the only invalid, and +he, in spite of all our careful nursing, seems to get weaker +every day. + +Andre Letourneur is the life of our party, and I have +never appreciated the young man so well. His originality +of perception makes his conversation both lively and in- +teresting, and as he talks, his wan and suffering countenance +lights up with an intelligent animation. His father seems +to become more devoted to him than ever, and I have seen +him sit for an hour at a time, with his hand resting on his +son's, listening eagerly to his every word. + +Miss Herbey occasionally joins in our conversation, but +although we all do our best to make her forget that she has +lost those who should have been her natural protectors, M. +Letourneur is the only one among us to whom she speaks +without a certain reserve. To him, whose age gives him +something of the authority of a father, she has told the his- +tory of her life -- a life of patience and self-denial such as +not unfrequently falls to the lot of orphans. She had been, +she said, two years with Mrs. Kear, and although now left +alone in the world, homeless and without resources, hope +for the future does not fail her. The young lady's modest +deportment and energy of character command the respect of +all on board, and I do not think that even the coarsest of the +sailors has either by word or gesture acted toward her in a +way that she could deem offensive. + +The 12th, 13th, and 14th of December passed away with- +out any change in our condition. The wind continued to +blow in irregular gusts, but always in the same direction, +and the helm, or rather the paddle at the back of the raft, has +never once required shifting; and the watch, who are posted +on the fore, under orders to examine the sea with the most +scrupulous attention, have had no change of any kind to +report. + +At the end of the week we found ourselves growing ac- +customed to our limited diet, and as we had no manual exer- +tion, and no wear and tear of our physical constitution, we +managed very well. Our greatest deprivation was the +short supply of water, for, as I said before, the unmitigated +heat made our thirst at times very painful. + +On the 15th we held high festival. A shoal of fish, of +the sparus tribe, swarmed round the raft, and although our +tackle consisted merely of long cords baited with morsels of +dried meat stuck upon bent nails, the fish were so voracious +that in the course of a couple of days we had caught as many +as weighed almost 200 lbs., some of which were grilled, and +others boiled in sea-water over a fire made on the fore part +of the raft. This marvelous haul was doubly welcome, in- +asmuch as it not only afforded us a change of diet, but +enabled us to economize our stores; if only some rain had +fallen at the same time we would have been more than +satisfied. + +Unfortunately the shoal of fish did not remain long in +our vicinity. On the 17th they all disappeared, and some +sharks, not less than twelve or fifteen feet long, belonging +to the species of the spotted dog-fish, took their place. These +horrible creatures have black backs and fins, covered with +white spots and stripes. Here, on our low raft, we seemed +almost on a level with them, and more than once their tails +have struck the spars with terrible violence. The sailors +manage to keep them at a distance by means of handspikes, +but I shall not be surprised if they persist in following us, +instinctively intelligent that we are destined to become their +prey. For myself, I confess that they give me a feeling +of uneasiness; they seem to me like monsters of ill-omen. + + +CHAPTER XXXIII +MUTINY ON THE RAFT + +DECEMBER 18 to 20. -- On the 18th the wind freshened +a little, but as it blew from the same favorable quarter we +did not complain, and only took the precaution of putting +an extra support to the mast, so that it should not snap +with the tension of the sail. This done, the raft was carried +along with something more than its ordinary speed, and +left a long line of foam in its wake. + +In the afternoon the sky became slightly over-clouded, +and the heat consequently less oppressive. The swell made +it more difficult for the raft to keep its balance, and we +shipped two or three heavy seas; but the carpenter managed +to make with some planks a kind of wall about a couple of +feet high, which protected us from the direct action of the +waves. Our casks of food and water were secured to the +raft with double ropes, for we dared not run the risk of +their being carried overboard, an accident that would at +once have reduced us to the direst distress. + +In the course of the day the sailors gathered some of +the marine plants known by the name of sargassos, very +similar to those we saw in such profusion between the +Bermudas and Ham Rock. I advised my companions to +chew the laminary tangles, which they would find contained +a saccharine juice, affording considerable relief to their +parched lips and throats. + +The remainder of the day passed without incident. I +should not, however, omit to mention that the frequent con- +ferences held among the sailors, especially between Owen, +Burke, Flaypole, Wilson, and Jynxstrop, the negro, aroused +some uneasy suspicions in my mind. What was the sub- +ject of their conversation I could not discover, for they +became silent immediately that a passenger or one of the +officers approached them. When I mentioned the matter +to Curtis I found he had already noticed these secret in- +terviews, and that they had given him enough concern to +make him determined to keep a strict eye upon Jynxstrop +and Owen, who, rascals as they were themselves, were evi- +dently trying to disaffect their mates. + +On the 19th the heat was again excessive. The sky was +cloudless, and as there was not enough wind to fill the sail +the raft lay motionless upon the surface of the water. +Some of the sailors found a transient alleviation for their +thirst by plunging into the sea, but as we were fully aware +that the water all around was infested with sharks, none +of us was rash enough to follow their example, though if, +as seems likely, we remain long becalmed, we shall probably +in time overcome our fears, and feel constrained to indulge +ourselves with a bath. + +The health of Lieutenant Walter continues to cause us +grave anxiety, the young man being weakened by attacks +of intermittent fever. Except for the loss of the medicine- +chest we might have temporarily reduced this by quinine; +but it is only too evident that the poor fellow is consump- +tive, and that that hopeless malady is making ravages upon +him that no medicine could permanently arrest. His sharp, +dry cough, his short breathing, his profuse perspirations, +more especially in the morning; the pinched-in nose, the +hollow cheeks, of which the general pallor is only relieved +by a hectic flush, the contracted lips, the too brilliant eye +and wasted form -- all bear witness to a slow but sure de- +cay. + +To-day, the 20th, the temperature is as high as ever, and +the raft still motionless. The rays of the sun penetrate even +through the shelter of our tent, where we sit literally gasp- +ing with the heat. The impatience with which we awaited +the moment when the boatswain should dole out our meager +allowance of water, and the eagerness with which those +lukewarm drops were swallowed, can only be realized by +those who for themselves have endured the agonies of +thirst. + +Lieutenant Walter suffers more than any of us from the +scarcity of water, and I noticed that Miss Herbey reserved +almost the whole of her own share for his use. Kind and +compassionate as ever, the young girl does all that lies in +her power to relieve the poor fellow's sufferings. + +"Mr. Kazallon," she said to me this morning, "that +young man gets manifestly weaker every day." + +"Yes, Miss Herbey," I replied, "and how sorrowful it +is that we can do nothing for him, absolutely nothing." + +"Hush!" she said, with her wonted consideration, "per- +haps he will hear what we are saying." + +And then she sat down near the edge of the raft, where, +with her head resting on her hands, she remained lost in +thought. + +An incident sufficiently unpleasant occurred to-day. For +nearly an hour Owen, Flaypole, Burke and Jynxstrop had +been engaged in close conversation and, although their +voices were low, their gestures had betrayed that they were +animated by some strong excitement. At the conclusion +of the colloquy Owen got up and walked deliberately to the +quarter of the raft that has been reserved for the use of the +passengers. + +"Where are you off to now, Owen?" said the boatswain. + +"That's my business," said the man insolently, and pur- +sued his course. + +The boatswain was about to stop him, but before he could +interfere Curtis was standing and looking Owen steadily in +the face. + +"Ah, captain, I've got a word from my mates to say to +you," he said, with all the effrontery imaginable. + +"Say on, then," said the captain coolly. + +"We should like to know about that little keg of brandy. +Is it being kept for the porpoises or the officers?" + +Finding that he obtained no reply, he went on: + +"Look here, captain, what we want is to have our grog +served out every morning as usual." + +"Then you certainly will not," said the captain. + +"What! what!" exclaimed Owen, "don't you mean to +let us have our grog?" + +"Once and for all, no." + +For a moment, with a malicious grin upon his lips, Owen +stood confronting the captain; then, as though thinking bet- +ter of himself, he turned round and rejoined his companions, +who were still talking together in an undertone. + +When I was afterward discussing the matter with Curtis, +I asked him whether he was sure he had done right in re- +fusing the brandy. + +"Right!" he cried, "to be sure I have. Allow those +men to have brandy! I would throw it all overboard first." + + +CHAPTER XXXIV +A SQUALL + +DECEMBER 21. -- No further disturbance has taken place +among the men. For a few hours the fish appeared again, +and we caught a great many of them, and stored them away +in an empty barrel. This addition to our stock of pro- +visions makes us hope that food, at least, will not fail us. + +Usually the nights in the tropics are cool, but to-day, as +the evening drew on, the wonted freshness did not return, +but the air remained stifling and oppressive, while heavy +masses of vapor hung over the water. + +There was no moonlight; there would be a new moon +at half-past one in the morning, but the night was singularly +dark, except for dazzling flashes of summer lightning that +from time to time illuminated the horizon far and wide. +There was, however, no answering roll of thunder, and +the silence of the atmosphere seemed almost awful. + +For a couple of hours, in the vain hope of catching a +breath of air, Miss Herbey, Andre Letourneur, and I, sat +watching the imposing struggle of the electric vapors. The +clouds appeared like embattled turrets crested with flame, +and the very sailors, coarse-minded men as they were, +seemed struck with the grandeur of the spectacle, and re- +garded attentively, though with an anxious eye, the pre- +liminary tokens of a coming storm. Until midnight we +kept our seats upon the stern of the raft, while the lightning +ever and again shed around us a livid glare similar to that +produced by adding salt to lighted alcohol. + +"Are you afraid of a storm. Miss Herbey?" said Andre +to the girl. + +"No, Mr. Andre, my feelings are always rather those of +awe than of fear," she replied. "I consider a storm one of +the sublimest phenomena that we can behold -- don't you +think so too?" + +"Yes, and especially when the thunder is pealing," he +said; "that majestic rolling, far different to the sharp crash +of artillery, rises and falls like the long-drawn notes of the +grandest music, and I can safely say that the tones of the +most accomplished artiste have never moved me like that in- +comparable voice of nature." + +"Rather a deep bass, though," I said, laughing. + +"That may be," he answered; "but I wish we might hear +it now, for this silent lightning is somewhat unexpressive." + +"Never mind that, Andre," I said; "enjoy a storm when +it comes, if you like, but pray don't wish for it." + +"And why not?" said he; "a storm will bring us wind, +you know." + +"And water, too," added Miss Herbey, "the water of +which we are so seriously in need." + +The young people evidently wished to regard the storm +from their own point of view, and although I could have +opposed plenty of common sense to their poetical sentiments, +I said no more, but let them talk on as they pleased for +fully an hour. + +Meanwhile the sky was becoming quite over-clouded, and +after the zodiacal constellations had disappeared in the mists +that hung round the horizon, one by one the stars above our +heads were veiled in dark rolling masses of vapor, from +which every instant there issued forth sheets of electricity +that formed a vivid background to the dark gray fragments +of cloud that floated beneath. + +Sleep, even if we wished it, would have been impossible in +that stifling temperature. The lightning increased in +brilliancy and appeared from all quarters of the horizon, +each flash covering large arcs, varying from l00 deg. to 150 deg., +leaving the atmosphere pervaded by one incessant phos- +phorescent glow. + +The thunder became at length more and more distinct, +the reports, if I may use the expression, being "round," +rather than rolling. It seemed almost as though the sky +were padded with heavy clouds of which the elasticity +muffled the sound of the electric bursts. + +Hitherto, the sea had been calm, almost stagnant as a +pond. Now, however, long undulations took place, which +the sailors recognized, all too well, as being the rebound pro- +duced by a distant tempest. A ship, in such a case, would +have been instantly brought ahull, but no maneuvering could +be applied to our raft, which could only drift before the +blast. + +At one o'clock in the morning one vivid flash, followed, +after the interval of a few seconds, by a loud report of +thunder, announced that the storm was rapidly approaching. +Suddenly the horizon was enveloped in a vaporous fog, and +seemed to contract until it was close around us. At the +same instant the voice of one of the sailors was heard shout- +ing: + +"A squall! a squall!" + + +CHAPTER XXXV +TWO SAILORS WASHED OVERBOARD + +DECEMBER 21, night. -- The boatswain rushed to the +halliards that supported the sail, and instantly lowered the +yard; not a moment too soon, for with the speed of an +arrow the squall was upon us, and if it had not been for +the sailor's timely warning we must all have been knocked +down and probably precipitated into the sea; as it was, our +tent on the back of the raft was carried away. + +The raft itself, however, being so nearly level with the +water, had little peril to encounter from the actual wind; +but from the mighty waves now raised by the hurricane we +had everything to dread. At first the waves had been +crushed and flattened as it were by the pressure of the air, +but now, as though strengthened by the reaction, they rose +with the utmost fury. The raft followed the motions of +the increasing swell, and was tossed up and down, to and +fro, and from side to side with the most violent oscillations. + +"Lash yourselves tight," cried the boatswain, as he threw +us some ropes; and in a few moments with Curtis's assis- +tance, M. Letourneur, and Andre, Falsten and myself were +fastened so firmly to the raft, that nothing but its total dis- +ruption could carry us away. Miss Herbey was bound by +a rope passed round her waist to one of the uprights that had +supported our tent, and by the glare of the lightning I +could see that her countenance was as serene and composed +as ever. + +Then the storm began to rage indeed. Flash followed +flash, peal followed peal in quick succession. Our eyes were +blinded, our ears deafened, with the roar and glare. The +clouds above, the ocean beneath, seemed verily to have taken +fire, and several times I saw forked lightnings dart upward +from the crest of the waves, and mingle with those that +radiated from the fiery vault above. A strong odor of +sulphur pervaded the air, but though thunderbolts fell thick +around us, not one touched our raft. + +By two o'clock the storm had reached its height. The +hurricane had increased, and the heavy waves, heated to a +strange heat by the general temperature, dashed over us +until we were drenched to the skin. Curtis, Dowlas, the +boatswain, and the sailors did what they could to strengthen +the raft with additional ropes. M. Letourneur placed him- +self in front of Andre, to shelter him from the waves. +Miss Herbey stood upright and motionless as a statue. + +Soon dense masses of lurid clouds came rolling up, and +a crackling, like the rattle of musketry, resounded through +the air. This was produced by a series of electrical con- +cussions, in which volleys of hailstones were discharged +from the cloud-batteries above. In fact, as the storm-sheet +came in contact with a current of cold air, hail was formed +with great rapidity, and hailstones, large as nuts, came pelt- +ing down, making the platform of the raft re-echo with a +metallic ring. + +For about half an hour the meteoric shower continued +to descend, and during that time the wind slightly abated +in violence; but after having shifted from quarter to quar- +ter, it once more blew with all its former fury. The +shrouds were broken, but happily the mast, already bending +almost double, was removed by the men from its socket be- +fore it should be snapped short off.. One gust caught away +the tiller, which went adrift beyond all power of recovery, +and the same blast blew down several of the planks that +formed the low parapet on the larboard side, so that the +waves dashed in without hindrance through the breach. + +The carpenter and his mates tried to repair the damage, +but, tossed from wave to wave, the raft was inclined to an +angle of more than forty-five degrees, making it impossible +for them to keep their footing, and rolling one over another, +they were thrown down by the violent shocks. Why they +were not altogether carried away, why we were not all +hurled into the sea, was to me a mystery. Even if the cords +that bound us should retain their hold, it seemed perfectly +incredible that the raft itself should not be overturned, so +that we should be carried down and stifled in the seething +waters. + +At last, toward three in the morning, when the hurricane +seemed to be raging more fiercely than ever, the raft, caught +up on the crest of an enormous wave, stood literally per- +pendicularly on its edge. For an instant, by the illumina- +tion of the lightning, we beheld ourselves raised to an in- +comprehensible height above the foaming breakers. Cries +of terror escaped our lips. All must be over now! But +no; another moment, and the raft had resumed its horizontal +position. Safe, indeed, we were, but the tremendous up- +heaval was not without its melancholy consequences. + +The cords that secured the cases of provisions had burst +asunder. One case rolled overboard, and the side of one +of the water-barrels was staved in, so that the water which +it contained was rapidly escaping. Two of the sailors +rushed forward to rescue the case of preserved meat; but +one of them caught his foot between the planks of the plat- +form, and, unable to disengage it, the poor fellow stood +uttering cries of distress. + +I tried to go to his assistance, and had already untied +the cord that was around me; but I was too late. + +Another heavy sea dashed over us, and by the light of a +dazzling flash I saw the unhappy man, although he had +managed without assistance to disengage his foot, washed +overboard before it was in my power to get near him. His +companion had also disappeared. + +The same ponderous wave laid me prostrate on the plat- +form, and as my head came in collision with the corner of +a spar, for a time I lost all consciousness. + + +CHAPTER XXXVI +WE LOSE NEARLY ALL OUR PROVISIONS + +DECEMBER 22. -- Daylight came at length, and the sun +broke through and dispersed the clouds that the storm had +left behind. The struggle of the elements, while it lasted, +had been terrific, but the swoon into which I was thrown +by my fall prevented me from observing the final incidents +of the visitation. All that I know is, that shortly after we +had shipped the heavy sea, that I have mentioned, a shower +of rain had the effect of calming the severity of the hurri- +cane, and tended to diminish the electric tension of the +atmosphere. + +Thanks to the kind care of M. Letourneur and Miss Her- +bey, I recovered consciousness, but I believe that it is to +Robert Curtis that I owe my real deliverance, for he it was +that prevented me from being carried away by a second +heavy wave. + +The tempest, fierce as it was, did not last more than a few +hours; but even in that short space of time what an irrepar- +able loss we have sustained, and what a load of misery seems +stored up for us in the future! + +Of the two sailors who perished in the storm, one was +Austin, a fine active young man of about eight-and-twenty; +the other was old O'Ready, the survivor of so many ship- +wrecks. Our party is thus reduced to sixteen souls, leav- +ing a total barely exceeding half the number of those who +embarked on board the Chancellor at Charleston. + +Curtis's first care had been to take a strict account of +the remnant of our provisions. Of all the torrents of rain +that fell in the night we were unhappily unable to catch a +single drop; but water will not fail us yet, for about four- +teen gallons still remain in the bottom of the broken barrel, +while the second barrel has not been touched. But of food +we have next to nothing. The cases containing the dried +meat, and the fish that we had preserved, have both been +washed away, and all that now remains to us is about sixty +pounds of biscuit. Sixty pounds of biscuit between sixteen +persons! Eight days, with half a pound a day apiece, will +consume it all. + +The day has passed away in silence. A general depres- +sion has fallen upon all; the specter of famine has appeared +among us, and each has remained wrapped in his own +gloomy meditations, though each has doubtless but one idea +dominant in his mind. + +Once, as I passed near the group of sailors lying on the +fore part of the raft, I heard Flaypole say with a sneer: + +"Those who are going to die had better make haste about +it." + +"Yes," said Owen, "and leave their share of food to +others." + +At the regular hour each person received his half-pound +of biscuit. Some, I noticed, swallowed it ravenously; +others reserved it for another time. Falsten divided his +ration into several portions, corresponding, I believe, to the +number of meals to which he was ordinarily accustomed. +What prudence he shows! If any one survives this misery, +I think it will be he. + + +CHAPTER XXXVII +LIEUTENANT WALTER'S CONDITION + +DECEMBER 23 to 30. -- After the storm the wind settled +back into its old quarter, blowing pretty briskly from the +northeast. As the breeze was all in our favor it was im- +portant to make the most of it, and after Dowlas had care- +fully readjusted the mast, the sail was once more hoisted, +and we were carried along at the rate of two or two and a +half knots an hour. A new rudder, formed of a spar and +a good-sized plank, has been fitted in the place of the one +we lost, but with the wind in its present quarter it is in +little requisition. The platform of the raft has been re- +paired, the disjointed planks have been closed by means of +ropes and wedges, and that portion of the parapet that was +washed away has been replaced, so that we are no longer +wetted by the waves. In fact, nothing has been left undone +to insure the solidity of our raft, and to render it capable +of resisting the wear and tear of the wind and waves. But +the dangers of wind and waves are not those which we have +most to dread. + +Together with the unclouded sky came a return of the +tropical heat, which during the preceding days had caused +us such serious inconvenience; fortunately on the 23d the +excessive warmth was somewhat tempered by the breeze, +and as the tent was once again put up, we were able to find +shelter under it by turns. + +But the want of food was beginning to tell upon us sadly, +and our sunken cheeks and wasted forms were visible +tokens of what we were enduring. With most of us hunger +seemed to attack the entire nervous system, and the con- +striction of the stomach produced an acute sensation of +pain. A narcotic, such as opium or tobacco, might have +availed to soothe, if not to cure, the gnawing agony; but of +sedatives we had none, so the pain must be endured. + +One alone there was among us who did not feel the pangs +of hunger. Lieutenant Walter seemed as it were to feed +upon the fever that raged within him; but then he was the +victim of the most torturing thirst. Miss Herbey, besides +reserving for him a portion of her own insufficient allowance, +obtained from the captain a small extra supply of water with +which every quarter of an hour she moistened the parched +lips of the young man, who, almost too weak to speak, could +only express his thanks by a grateful smile. Poor fellow! +all our care cannot avail to save him now; he is doomed, +most surely doomed to die. + +On the 23d he seemed to be conscious of his condition, +for he made a sign to me to sit down by his side, and then +summoning up all his strength to speak, he asked me in a +few broken words how long I thought he had to live? + +Slight as my hesitation was, Walter noticed it immed- +iately. + +"The truth," he said; "tell me the plain truth." + +"My dear fellow, I am not a doctor, you know," I be- +gan," and I can scarcely judge --" + +"Never mind," he interrupted, "tell me just what you +think." + +I looked at him attentively for some moments, then laid +my ear against his chest. In the last few days his malady +had made fearfully rapid strides, and it was only too evi- +dent that one lung had already ceased to act, while the other +was scarcely capable of performing the work of respiration. +The young man was now suffering from the fever which is +the sure symptom of the approaching end in all tuberculous +complaints. + +The lieutenant kept his eye fixed upon me with a look of +eager inquiry. I knew not what to say, and sought to evade +his question. + +"My dear boy," I said, "in our present circumstances not +one of us can tell how long he has to live. Not one of us +knows what may happen in the course of the next eight +days." + +"The next eight days," he murmured, as he looked +eagerly into my face. + +And then, turning away his head, he seemed to fall into +a sort of doze. + +The 24th, 25th, and 26th passed without any alteration +in our circumstances, and strange, nay, incredible as it may +sound, we began to get accustomed to our condition of star- +vation. Often, when reading the histories of shipwrecks, +I have suspected the accounts to be greatly exaggerated; but +now I fully realize their truth, and marvel when I find on +how little nutriment it is possible to exist for so long a time. +To our daily half-pound of biscuit the captain has thought +to add a few drops of brandy, and the stimulant helps con- +siderably to sustain our strength. If we had the same pro- +visions for two months, or even for one, there might be +room for hope; but our supplies diminish rapidly, and the +time is fast approaching when of food and drink there will +be none. + +The sea had furnished us with food once, and, difficult +as the task of fishing had now become, at all hazards the +attempt must be made again. Accordingly the carpenter +and the boatswain set to work and made lines out of some +untwisted hemp, to which they fixed some nails that they +pulled out of the flooring of the raft, and bent into proper +shape. The boatswain regarded his device with evident +satisfaction. + +"I don't mean to say," said he to me, "that these nails +are first-rate fish-hooks; but, one thing I do know, and that +is, with proper bait they will act as well as the best. But +this biscuit is no good at all. Let me but just get hold of +one fish, and I shall know fast enough how to use it to catch +some more." + +And the true difficulty was how to catch the first fish. It +was evident that fish were not abundant in these waters, +nevertheless the lines were cast. But the biscuit with which +they were baited dissolved at once in the water, and we did +not get a single bite. For two days the attempt was made +in vain, and as it only involved what seemed a lavish waste +of our only means of subsistence, it was given up in de- +spair. + +To-day, the 30th, as a last resource, the boatswain tried +what a piece of colored rag might do by way of attracting +some voracious fish, and having obtained from Miss Her- +bey a little piece of the red shawl she wears, he fastened it +to his hook. But still no success; for when, after several +hours, he examined his lines, the crimson shred was still +hanging intact as he had fixed it. The man was quite dis- +couraged at his failure. + +"But there will be plenty of bait before long," he said +to me in a solemn undertone. + +"What do you mean?" said I, struck by his significant +manner. + +"You'll know soon enough," he answered. + +What did he insinuate? The words, coming from a man +usually so reserved, have haunted me all night. + + +CHAPTER XXXVIII +MUTINY AGAIN + +JANUARY 1 to 5. -- More than three months had elapsed +since we left Charleston in the Chancellor, and for no less +than twenty days had we now been borne along on our raft +at the mercy of the wind and waves. Whether we were +approaching the American coast, or whether we were drift- +ing farther and farther to sea, it was now impossible to de- +termine, for, in addition to the other disasters caused by the +hurricane, the captain's instruments had been hopelessly +smashed, and Curtis had no longer any compass by which +to direct his course, nor a sextant by which he might make +an observation. + +Desperate, however, as our condition might be judged, +hope did not entirely abandon our hearts, and day after +day, hour after hour were our eyes strained toward the far +horizon, and many and many a time did our imagination +shape out the distant land. But ever and again the illusion +vanished; a cloud, a mist, perhaps even a wave, was all that +had deceived us; no land, no sail ever broke the gray line +that united sea and sky, and our raft remained the center of +the wide and dreary waste. + +On the 1st of January, we swallowed our last morsel of +biscuit. The first of January! New Year's Day! What +a rush of sorrowful recollections overwhelmed our minds! +Had we not always associated the opening of another year +with new hopes, new plans, and coming joys? And now, +where were we? Could we dare to look at one another, +and breathe a New Year's greeting? + +The boatswain approached me with a peculiar look on +his countenance. + +"You are surely not going to wish me a happy New +Year?" I said. + +"No indeed, sir," he replied, "I was only going to wish +you well through the first day of it; and that is pretty good +assurance on my part, for we have not another crumb to +eat." + +True as it was, we scarcely realized the fact of there being +actually nothing until on the following morning the hour +came round for the distribution of the scanty ration, and +then, indeed, the truth was forced upon us in a new and +startling light. Toward evening I was seized with violent +pains in the stomach, accompanied by a constant desire to +yawn and gape that was most distressing; but in a couple +of hours the extreme agony passed away, and on the 3d I +was surprised to find that I did not suffer more. I felt, it +is true, that there was some great void within myself, but +the sensation was quite as much moral as physical. My +head was so heavy that I could not hold it up; it was swim- +ming with giddiness, as though I were looking over a +precipice. + +My symptoms were not shared by all my companions, +some of whom endured the most frightful tortures. Dow- +las and the boatswain especially, who were naturally large +eaters, uttered involuntary cries of agony, and were obliged +to gird themselves tightly with ropes to subdue the excru- +ciating pain that was gnawing their very vitals. + +And this was only the second day of our misery! What +would we not have given for half, nay, for a quarter of the +meager ration which a few days back we deemed so inade- +quate to supply our wants, and which now, eked out crumb +by crumb, might, perhaps, serve for several days? In the +streets of a besieged city, dire as the distress may be, some +gutter, some rubbish-heap, some corner may yet be found +that will furnish a dry bone or a scrap of refuse that may +for a moment allay the pangs of hunger; but these bare +planks, so many times washed clean by the relentless waves, +offer nothing to our eager search, and after every fragment +of food that the wind has carried into the interstices has +been scraped out and devoured, our resources are literally +at an end. + +The nights seem even longer than the days. Sleep, when +it comes, brings no relief; it is rather a feverish stupor, +broken and disturbed by frightful nightmares. Last night, +however, overcome by fatigue, I managed to rest for sev- +eral hours. + +At six o'clock this morning I was roused by the sound +of angry voices, and, starting up, I saw Owen and +Jynxstrop, with Flaypole, Wilson, Burke, and Sandon, +standing in a threatening attitude. They had taken posses- +sion of the carpenter's tools, and now, armed with hatchets, +chisels, and hammers, they were preparing to attack +the captain, the boatswain, and Dowlas. I attached myself +in a moment to Curtis's party. Falsten followed my ex- +ample, and although our knives were the only weapons at +our disposal, we were ready to defend ourselves to the very +last extremity. + +Owen and his men advanced toward us. The miserable +wretches were all drunk, for during the night they had +knocked a hole in the brandy-barrel, and had recklessly swal- +lowed its contents. What they wanted they scarcely seemed +to know, but Owen and Jynxstrop, not quite so much intox- +icated as the rest, seemed to be urging them on to massacre +the captain and the officers. + +"Down with the captain! Overboard with Curtis! +Owen shall take the command!" they shouted from time to +time in their drunken fury; and, armed as they were, they +appeared completely masters of the situation. + +"Now, then, down with your arms!" said Curtis sternly, +as he advanced to meet them. + +"Overboard with the captain!" howled Owen, as by word +and gesture he urged on his accomplices. + +Curtis pushed aside the excited rascals, and, walking +straight up to Owen, asked him what he wanted. + +"What do we want? Why, we want no more captains; +we are all equals now." + +Poor stupid fool! as though misery and privation had not +already reduced us all to the same level. + +"Owen," said the captain once again, "down with your +arms!" + +"Come on, all of you," shouted Owen to his companions, +without giving the slightest heed to Curtis's words. + +A regular struggle ensued. Owen and Wilson attacked +Curtis, who defended himself with a piece of spar; Burke +and Flaypole rushed upon Falsten and the boatswain, while +I was left to confront the negro Jynxstrop, who attempted to +strike me with the hammer which he brandished in his hand. +I endeavored to paralyze his movements by pinioning his +arms, but the rascal was my superior in muscular strength. +After wrestling for a few minutes, I felt that he was getting +the mastery over me, when all of a sudden he rolled over +on to the platform, dragging me with him. Andre Letour- +neur had caught hold of one of his legs, and thus saved my +life. Jynxstrop dropped his weapon in his fall; I seized it +instantly, and was about to cleave the fellow's skull, when I +was myself arrested by Andre's hand upon my arm. + +By this time the mutineers had been driven back to the +forepart of the raft, and Curtis, who had managed to parry +the blows which had been aimed at him, had caught hold of +a hatchet, with which he was preparing to strike Owen. +But Owen made a sidelong movement to avoid the blow, and +the weapon caught Wilson full in the chest. The unfor- +tunate man rolled over the side of the raft and instantly dis- +appeared. + +"Save him! save him!" shouted the boatswain. + +"It's too late; he's dead! " said Dowlas. + +"Ah, well! he'll do for --" began the boatswain; but he +did not finish his sentence. + +Wilson's death, however, put an end to the fray. Flay- +pole and Burke were lying prostrate in a drunken stupor, and +Jynxstrop was soon overpowered, and lashed tightly to the +foot of the mast. The carpenter and boatswain seized hold +of Owen. + +"Now then," said Curtis, as he raised his blood-stained +hatchet, "make your peace with God, for you have not a +moment to live." + +"Oh, you want to eat me, do you?" sneered Owen, with +the most hardened effrontery. + +But the audacious reply saved his life; Curtis turned as +pale as death, the hatchet dropped from his hand, and he +went and seated himself moodily on the farthest corner of +the raft. + + +CHAPTER XXXIX +A FATHER'S LOVE + +JANUARY 5 and 6. -- The whole scene made a deep impres- +sion on our minds, and Owen's speech coming as a sort of +climax, brought before us our misery with a force that was +well-nigh overwhelming. + +As soon as I recovered my composure, I did not forget to +thank Andre Letourneur for the act of intervention that +had saved my life. + +"Do you thank me for that, Mr. Kazallon?" he said; "it +has only served to prolong your misery." + +"Never mind, M. Letourneur," said Miss Herbey; "you +did your duty." + +Enfeebled and emaciated as the young girl is, her sense +of duty never deserts her; and although her torn and be- +draggled garments float dejectedly about her body, she never +utters a word of complaint, and never loses courage. + +"Mr. Kazallon," she said to me, "do you think we are +fated to die of hunger?" + +"Yes, Miss Herbey, I do," I replied, in a hard, cold tone. + +"How long do you suppose we have to live?" she asked +again. + +"I cannot say; perhaps we shall linger on longer than we +imagine." + +"The strongest constitutions suffer the most, do they +not?" she said. + +"Yes; but they have one consolation -- they die the soon- +est," I replied, coldly. + +Had every spark of humanity died out of my breast, that +I thus brought the girl face to face with the terrible truth, +without a word of hope or comfort? The eyes of Andre +and his father, dilated with hunger, were fixed upon me, and +I saw reproach and astonishment written in their faces. + +Afterward, when we were quite alone, Miss Herbey asked +me if I would grant her a favor. + +"Certainly, Miss Herbey; anything you like to ask," I +replied; and this time my manner was kinder and more +genial. + +"Mr. Kazallon," she said, "I am weaker than you, and +shall probably die first. Promise me that, if I do, you will +throw me into the sea!" + +"Oh, Miss Herbey," I began, "it was very wrong of me +to speak to you as I did!" + +"No, no," she replied, half smiling; "you were quite +right. But it is a weakness of mine; I don't mind what they +do with me as long as I am alive, but when I am dead --" +She stopped and shuddered. "Oh, promise me that you will +throw me into the sea!" + +I gave her the melancholy promise, which she acknowl- +edged by pressing my hand feebly with her emaciated fingers. + +Another night passed away. At times my sufferings were +so intense that cries of agony involuntarily escaped my lips; +then I became calmer, and sank into a kind of lethargy. +When I awoke, I was surprised to find my companions still +alive. + +The one of our party who seems to bear his privations +the best is Hobart the steward, a man with whom hitherto +I have had very little to do. He is small, with a fawning +expression remarkable for its indecision, and has a smile +which is incessantly playing round his lips; he goes about +with his eyes half closed, as though he wished to conceal his +thoughts, and there is something altogether false and +hypocritical about his whole demeanor. I cannot say that +he bears his privations without a murmur, for he sighs and +moans incessantly; but, with it all, I cannot but think that +there is a want of genuineness in his manner, and that the +privation has not really told upon him as much as it has +upon the rest of us. I have my suspicions about the man, +and intend to watch him carefully. + +To-day, the 6th, M. Letourneur drew me aside to the stern +of the raft, saying he had a secret to communicate, but that +he wished neither to be seen nor heard speaking to me. I +withdrew with him to the larboard corner of the raft, and, as +it was growing dusk, nobody observed what we were doing. + +"Mr. Kazallon," M. Letourneur began, in a low voice, +"Andre is dying of hunger; he is growing weaker and +weaker, and oh! I cannot, will not, see him die!" + +He spoke passionately, almost fiercely, and I fully under- +stood his feelings. Taking his hand, I tried to reassure him. + +"We will not despair yet," I said; "perhaps some pass- +ing ship --" + +"Ship!" he cried, impatiently, "don't try to console me +with empty commonplaces; you know as well as I do that +there is no chance of falling in with a passing ship." Then, +breaking off suddenly, he asked: "How long is it since my +son and all of you have had anything to eat?" + +Astonished at his question, I replied that it was now four +days since the biscuit had failed. + +"Four days," he repeated; "well, then, it is eight since I +have tasted anything. I have been saving my share for my +son." + +Tears rushed to my eyes; for a few moments I was unable +to speak, and could only once more grasp his hand in silence. + +"What do you want me to do?" I asked, at length. + +"Hush! not so loud; someone will hear us," he said, low- +ering his voice; "I want you to offer it to Andre as though +it came from yourself. He would not accept it from me; he +would think I had been depriving myself for him. Let me +implore you to do me this service; and for your trouble," -- +and here he gently stroked my hand -- "for your trouble you +shall have a morsel for yourself." + +I trembled like a child as I listened to the poor father's +words; and my heart was ready to burst when I felt a tiny +piece of biscuit slipped into my hand. + +"Give it him," M. Letourneur went on under his breath, +"give it him; but do not let anyone see you; the monsters +would murder you if they knew it! This is only for to- +day; I will give you some more to-morrow." + +The poor fellow did not trust me -- and well he might not +-- for I had the greatest difficulty to withstand the tempta- +tion to carry the biscuit to my mouth. But I resisted the +impulse, and those alone who have suffered like me can know +what the effort was. + +Night came on with the rapidity peculiar to these low lati- +tudes, and I glided gently up to Andre, and slipped the piece +of biscuit into his hand as "a present from myself." + +The young man clutched at it eagerly. + +"But my father?" he said, inquiringly. + +I assured him that his father and I had each had our +share, and that he must eat this now, and perhaps I should +be able to bring him some more another time. Andre asked +no more questions, and eagerly devoured the morsel of food. + +So this evening at least, notwithstanding M. Letourneur's +offer, I have tasted nothing. + + +CHAPTER XL +DEATH OF LIEUTENANT WALTER + +JANUARY 7. -- During the last few days, since the wind +has freshened, the salt water constantly dashing over the +raft has terribly punished the feet and legs of some of the +sailors. Owen, whom the boatswain ever since the revolt has +kept bound to the mast, is in a deplorable state, and, at our +request, has been released from his restraint. Sandon and +Burke are also suffering from the severe smarting caused in +this way, and it is only owing to our more sheltered position +on the aft-part of the raft, that we have not all shared the +same inconvenience. + +To-day the boatswain, maddened by starvation, laid hands +upon everything that met his voracious eyes, and I could +hear the grating of his teeth as he gnawed at fragments of +sails and bits of wood, instinctively endeavoring to fill his +stomach by putting the mucus into circulation. At length, +by dint of an eager search, he came upon a piece of leather +hanging to one of the spars that supported the platform. +He snatched it off and devoured it greedily; and, as it was +animal matter, it really seemed as though the absorption of +the substance afforded him some temporary relief. In- +stantly we all followed his example; a leather hat, the rims +of caps, in short, anything that contained any animal matter +at all, were gnawed and sucked with the utmost avidity. +Never shall I forget the scene. We were no longer human +-- the impulses and instincts of brute beasts seemed to +actuate our every movement. + +For a moment the pangs of hunger were somewhat +allayed; but some of us revolted against the loathsome food, +and were seized either with violent nausea or absolute sick- +ness. I must be pardoned for giving these distressing de- +tails; but how otherwise can I depict the misery, moral and +physical, which we are enduring? And with it all, I dare +not venture to hope that we have reached the climax of our +sufferings. + +The conduct of Hobart, during the scene that I have just +described, has only served to confirm my previous suspicions +of him. He took no part in the almost fiendish energy with +which we gnawed at our scraps of leather; and, although by +his conduct of perpetual groanings, he might be considered +to be dying of inanition, yet to me he has the appearance +of being singularly exempt from the tortures which we are +all enduring. But whether the hypocrite is being sustained +by some secret store of food, I have been unable to discover. + +Whenever the breeze drops the heat is overpowering; but +although our allowance of water is very meager, at present +the pangs of hunger far exceed the pain of thirst. It has +often been remarked that extreme thirst is far less endurable +than extreme hunger. Is it possible that still greater agonies +are in store for us? I cannot, dare not, believe it. For- +tunately, the broken barrel still contains a few pints of water, +and the other one has not yet been opened. But I am glad +to say that notwithstanding our diminished numbers, and in +spite of some opposition, the captain has thought right to +reduce the daily allowance to half a pint for each person. +As for the brandy, of which there is only a quart now left, +it has been stowed away safely in the stern of the raft. + +This evening has ended the sufferings of another of our +companions, making our number now only fourteen. My +attentions and Miss Herbey's nursing could do nothing for +Lieutenant Walter, and about half-past seven he expired in +my arms. + +Before he died, in a few broken words, he thanked Miss +Herbey and myself for the kindness we had shown him. A +crumpled letter fell from his hand, and in a voice that was +scarcely audible from weakness, he said : + +"It is my mother's letter; the last I had from her -- she +was expecting me home; but she will never see me more. +Oh, put it to my lips -- let me kiss it before I die. Mother! +mother! Oh, my God!" + +I placed the letter in his cold hand, and raised it to his +lips; his eye lighted for a moment; we heard the faint sound +of a kiss; and all was over! + + +CHAPTER XLI +HUMAN FLESH FOR BAIT + +JANUARY 8. -- All night I remained by the side of the poor +fellow's corpse, and several times Miss Herbey joined me +in my mournful watch. + +Before daylight dawned, the body was quite cold, and as +I knew there must be no delay in throwing it overboard, I +asked Curtis to assist me in the sad office. The body was +frightfully emaciated, and I had every hope that it would not +float. + +As soon as it was quite light, taking every precaution that +no one should see what we were about, Curtis and I pro- +ceeded to our melancholy task. We took a few articles from +the lieutenant's pockets, which we purposed, if either of us +should survive, to remit to his mother. But as we wrapped +him in his tattered garments that would have to suffice for +his winding sheet, I started back with a thrill of horror. The +right foot had gone, leaving the leg a bleeding stump. + +No doubt that, overcome by fatigue, I must have fallen +asleep for an interval during the night, and some one had +taken advantage of my slumber to mutilate the corpse. But +who could have been guilty of so foul a deed? Curtis +looked around with anger flashing in his eye; but all seemed +as usual, and the silence was only broken by a few groans of +agony. + +But there was no time to be lost; perhaps we were already +observed, and more horrible scenes might be likely to occur. +Curtis said a few short prayers, and we cast the body into the +sea. It sank immediately. + +"They are feeding the sharks well, and no mistake," said +a voice behind me. + +I turned round quickly, and found that it was Jynxstrop +who had spoken. + +As the boatswain now approached, I asked him whether +he thought it possible that any of the wretched men could +have taken the dead man's foot. + +"Oh, yes, I dare say," he replied in a significant tone, +"and perhaps they thought they were right." + +"Right! what do you mean?" I exclaimed. + +"Well, sir," he said coldly, "isn't it better to eat a dead +man than a living one?" + +I was at a loss to comprehend him, and, turning away, laid +myself down at the end of the raft. + +Toward eleven o'clock a most suspicious incident occurred. +The boatswain, who had cast his lines early in the morning, +caught three large cod, each more than thirty inches long, of +the species which, when dried, is known by the name of +stock-fish. Scarcely had he hauled them on board when the +sailors made a dash at them, and it was with the utmost dif- +ficulty that Curtis, Falsten and myself could restore order, so +that we might divide the fish into equal portions. Three +cod were not much among fourteen starving persons, but, +small as the quantity was, it was allotted in strictly equal +shares. Most of us devoured the food raw, almost I might +say, alive; only Curtis, Andre, and Miss Herbey having the +patience to wait until their allowance had been boiled at a +fire which they made with a few scraps of wood. For my- +self, I confess that I swallowed my portion of fish as it was +-- raw and bleeding. M. Letourneur followed my example; +the poor man devoured his food like a famished wolf, and it +is only a wonder to me how, after his lengthened fast, he +came to be alive at all. + +The boatswain's delight at his success was excessive, and +amounted almost to delirium. I went up to him, and en- +couraged him to repeat his attempt. + +"Oh, yes," he said; "I'll try again. I'll try again." + +"And why not try at once?" I asked. + +"Not now," he said evasively; "the night is the best time +for catching large fish. Besides, I must manage to get +some bait, for we have been improvident enough not to save +a single scrap." + +"But you have succeeded once without bait; why may you +not succeed again?" + +"Oh, I had some very good bait last night," he said. + +I stared at him in amazement. He steadily returned my +gaze, but said nothing. + +"Have you none left?" at last I asked. + +"Yes!" he almost whispered, and left me without another +word. + +Our meal, meager as it had been, served to rally our shat- +tered energies; our hopes were slightly raised; there was no +reason why the boatswain should not have the same good +luck again. + +One evidence of the degree to which our spirits were re- +vived was that our minds were no longer fixed upon the +miserable present and hopeless future, but we began to recall +and discuss the past; and M. Letourneur, Andre, Mr. Fal- +sten and I, held a long conversation with the captain about +the various incidents of our eventful voyage, speaking of +our lost companions, of the fire, or the stranding of the ship, +of our sojourn on Ham Rock, of the springing of the leak, of +our terrible voyage in the top-masts, of the construction of +the raft, and of the storm. All these things seemed to have +happened so long ago, and yet we were living still. Living, +did I say? Ay, if such an existence as ours could be called +a life, fourteen of us were living still. Who would be the +next to go? We should then be thirteen. + +"An unlucky number!" said Andre, with a mournful +smile. + +During the night the boatswain cast his lines from the +stern of the raft, and, unwilling to trust them to anyone +else, remained watching them himself. In the morning I +went to ascertain what success had attended his patience. It +was scarcely light, and with eager eyes he was peering down +into the water. He had neither seen nor heard me coming. + +"Well, boatswain!" I said, touching him on the shoulder. + +He turned round quickly. + +"Those villainous sharks have eaten every morsel of my +bait," he said, in a desponding voice. + +"And you have no more left?" I asked. + +"No more," he said. Then grasping my arm, he added, +"and that only shows me that it is no good doing things by +halves." + +The truth flashed upon me at once, and I laid my hand +upon his mouth. Poor Walter! + + +CHAPTER XLII +OXIDE OF COPPER POISONING + +JANUARY 9 and10. -- On the 9th the wind dropped, and +there was a dead calm; not a ripple disturbed the surface of +the long undulations as they rose and fell beneath us; and if +it were not for the slight current which is carrying us we +know not whither, the raft would be absolutely stationary. + +The heat was intolerable; our thirst more intolerable still; +and now it was that for the first time I fully realized how the +insufficiency of drink could cause torture more unendurable +than the pangs of hunger. Mouth, throat, pharynx, all alike +were parched and dry, every gland becoming hard as horn +under the action of the hot air we breathed. At my urgent +solicitation, the captain was for once induced to double our +allowance of water; and this relaxation of the ordinary rule +enabled us to attempt to slake our thirst four times in the day, +instead of only twice. I use the word "attempt" advisedly; +for the water at the bottom of the barrel though kept covered +by a sail, became so warm that it was perfectly flat and +unrefreshing. + +It was a most trying day, and the sailors relapsed into a +condition of deep despondency. The moon was nearly full, +but when she rose the breeze did not return. Continuance +of high temperature in daytime is a sure proof that we have +been carried far to the south, and here, on this illimitable +ocean, we have long ceased even to look for land; it might +almost seem as though this globe of ours had veritably be- +come a liquid sphere! + +To-day we are still becalmed, and the temperature is as +high as ever. The air is heated like a furnace, and the sun +scorches like fire. The torments of famine are all forgotten; +our thoughts are concentrated with fevered expectation upon +the longed-for moment when Curtis shall dole out the scanty +measure of lukewarm water that makes up our ration. Oh +for one good draught, even if it should exhaust the whole +supply! At least, it seems as if we then could die in peace! + +About noon we were startled by sharp cries of agony, +and looking round, I saw Owen writhing in the most horrible +convulsions. I went toward him, for, detestable as his con- +duct had been, common humanity prompted me to see +whether I could afford him any relief. But before I reached +him, a shout from Flaypole arrested my attention. The +man was up in the mast, and with great excitement pointing +to the east. + +"A ship! A ship!" he cried. + +In an instant all were on their feet. Even Owen stopped +his cries and stood erect. It was quite true that in the direc- +tion indicated by Flaypole there was a white speck visible +upon the horizon. But did it move? Would the sailors +with their keen vision pronounce it to be a sail? A silence +the most profound fell upon us all. I glanced at Curtis as +he stood with folded arms intently gazing at the distant +point. His brow was furrowed, and he contracted every fea- +ture, as with half-closed eyes he concentrated his power of +vision upon that one faint spot in the far off horizon. + +But at length he dropped his arms and shook his head. I +looked again, but the spot was no longer there. If it were +a ship, that ship had disappeared; but probably it had been a +mere reflection, or, more likely still, only the crest of some +curling wave. + +A deep dejection followed this phantom ray of hope. All +returned to their accustomed places. Curtis alone remained +motionless, but his eye no longer scanned the distant view. + +Owen now began to shriek more wildly than ever. He +presented truly a most melancholy sight; he writhed with the +most hideous contortions, and had all the appearance of +suffering from tetanus. His throat was contracted by re- +peated spasms, his tongue was parched, his body swollen, and +his pulse, though feeble, was rapid and irregular. The poor +wretch's symptoms were precisely such as to lead us to sus- +pect that he had taken some corrosive poison. Of course it +was quite out of our power to administer any antidote; all +that we could devise was to make him swallow something +that might act as an emetic. I asked Curtis for a little of +the lukewarm water. As the contents of the broken barrel +were now exhausted, the captain, in order to comply with my +request, was about to tap the other barrel, when Owen +started suddenly to his knees, and with a wild, unearthly +shriek, exclaimed: + +"No! no! no! of that water I will not touch a drop." + +I supposed he did not understand what we were going to +do, and endeavored to explain; but all in vain; he persisted +in refusing to taste the water in the second barrel. I then +tried to induce vomiting by tickling his uvula, and he brought +off some bluish secretion from his stomach, the character of +which confirmed our previous suspicions -- that he had been +poisoned by oxide of copper. We now felt convinced that +any effort on our part to save him would be of no avail. +The vomiting, however, had for the time relieved him, and +he was able to speak. + +Curtis and I both implored him to let us know what he +had taken to bring about consequences so serious. His reply +fell upon us as a startling blow. + +The ill-fated wretch had stolen several pints of water from +the barrel that had been untouched, and that water had +poisoned him! + + +CHAPTER XLIII +OWEN'S DEATH + +JANUARY 11 to 14. -- Owen's convulsions returned with in- +creased violence, and in the course of the night he expired +in terrible agony. His body was thrown overboard almost +directly, it had decomposed so rapidly that the flesh had not +even consistency enough for any fragments of it to be re- +served for the boatswain to use to bait his lines. A plague +the man had been to us in his life; in his death he was now +of no service! + +And now, perhaps still more than ever, did the horror of +our situation stare us in the face. There was no doubt +that the poisoned barrel had at some time or other contained +copperas; but what strange fatality had converted it into a +water cask, or what fatality, stranger still, had caused it to +be brought on board the raft, was a problem that none could +solve. Little, however, did it matter now; the fact was evi- +dent -- the barrel was poisoned, and of water we had not a +drop. + +One and all, we fell into the gloomiest silence. We were +too irritable to bear the sound of each other's voices; and it +did not require a word -- a mere look or gesture was enough +-- to provoke us to anger that was little short of madness. +How it was that we did not all become raving maniacs, I can- +not tell. + +Throughout the 12th no drain of moisture crossed our +lips, and not a cloud arose to warrant the expectation of a +passing shower; in the shade, if shade it might be called, the +thermometer would have registered at least 100 deg., and per- +haps considerably more. + +No change next day. The salt water began to chafe my +legs, but although the smarting was at times severe, it was an +inconvenience to which I gave little heed; others who had +suffered from the same trouble had become no worse. Oh! +if this water that surrounds us could be reduced to vapor +or to ice! its particles of salt extracted, it would be available +for drink. But no! we have no appliances, and we must +suffer on. + +At the risk of being devoured by the sharks, the boat- +swain and two sailors took a morning bath, and as their +plunge seemed to freshen them, I and three of my com- +panions resolved to follow their example. We had never +learned to swim, and had to be fastened to the end of a rope +and lowered into the water, while Curtis, during the half +hour of our bath, kept a sharp lookout to give warning of +any danger from approaching sharks. No recommenda- +tion, however, on our part, nor any representation of the +benefit we felt we had derived, could induce Miss Herbey +to allay her sufferings in the same way. + +At about eleven o'clock, the captain came up to me, and +whispered in my ear: + +"Don't say a word, Mr. Kazallon; I do not want to raise +false hopes, but I think I see a ship." + +It was as well that the captain had warned me; otherwise, +I should have raised an involuntary shout of joy; as it was +I had the greatest difficulty in restraining my expressions of +delight. + +"Look behind to larboard," he continued in an undertone. + +Affecting an indifference which I was far from feeling, I +cast an anxious glance to that quarter of the horizon of +which he spoke, and there, although mine was not a nautical +eye, I could plainly distinguish the outline of a ship under +sail. + +Almost at the same moment the boatswain who happened +to be looking in the same direction, raised the cry, "Ship +ahoy!" + +Whether it was that no one believed it, or whether all +energies were exhausted, certain it is that the announcement +produced none of the effects that might have been expected. +Not a soul exhibited the slightest emotion, and it was only +when the boatswain had several times sung out his tidings +that all eyes turned to the horizon. There, most undeniably, +was the ship, but the question rose at once to the minds of +all, and to the lips of many, "Would she see us?" + +The sailors immediately began discussing the build of the +vessel, and made all sorts of conjectures as to the direction +she was taking. Curtis was far more deliberate in his judg- +ment. After examining her attentively for some time, he +said, "She is a brig running close upon the wind, on the star- +board tack. If she keeps her course for a couple of hours, +she will come right athwart our tracks." + +A couple of hours! The words sounded to our ears like +a couple of centuries. The ship might change her course +at any moment; closely trimmed as she was, it was very +probable that she was only tacking about to catch the wind, +in which case, as soon as she felt a breeze, she would r‚sum‚ +her larboard tack and make away again. On the other hand, +if she was really sailing with the wind, she would come +nearer to us, and there would be good ground for hope. + +Meantime, no exertion must be spared, and no means left +untried, to make our position known. The brig was about +twelve miles to the east of us, so that it was out of the ques- +tion to think of any cries of ours being overheard; but Curtis +gave directions that every possible signal should be made. +We had no firearms by which we could attract attention, and +nothing else occurred to us beyond hoisting a flag of distress. +Miss Herbey's red shawl, as being of a color most distin- +guishable against the background of sea and sky, was run +up to the mast-head, and was caught by the light breeze that +just then was ruffling the surface of the water. As a drown- +ing man clutches at a straw, so our hearts bounded with hope +every time that our poor flag fluttered in the wind. + +For an hour our feelings alternated between hope and +despair. The ship was evidently making her way in the di- +rection of the raft, but every now and then she seemed to +stop, and then our hearts would almost stand still with agony +lest she was going to put about. She carried all her canvas, +even to her royals and stay-sails, but her hull was only +partially visible above the horizon. + +How slowly she advanced! The breeze was very, very +feeble, and perhaps soon it would drop altogether! We felt +that we would give years of our life to know the result of the +coming hour. + +At half past twelve the captain and the boatswain con- +sidered that the brig was about nine miles away; she had, +therefore, gained only three miles in an hour and a half, +and it was doubtful whether the light breeze that had been +passing over our heads had reached her at all. I fancied, +too, that her sails were no longer filled, but were hanging +loose against her masts. Turning to the direction of the +wind, I tried to make out some chance of a rising breeze; +but no, the waves were calm and torpid, and the little puff of +air that had aroused our hopes had died away across the sea. + +I stood aft with M. Letourneur, Andre and Miss Herbey, +and our glances perpetually wandered from the distant ship +to our captain's face. Curtis stood leaning against the mast, +with the boatswain by his side; their eyes seemed never for +a moment to cease to watch the brig, but their countenances +clearly expressed the varying emotions that passed through +their minds. Not a word was uttered, nor was the silence +broken, until the carpenter exclaimed, in accents of despair: + +"She's putting about!" + +All started up -- some to their knees, others to their feet. +The boatswain dropped a frightful oath. The ship was +still nine miles away, and at such a distance it was impossible +for our signal to be seen; our tiny raft, a mere speck upon +the waters, would be lost in the intense irradiation of the sun- +beams. If only we could be seen, no doubt all would be +well; no captain would have the barbarous inhumanity to +leave us to our fate; but there had been no chance; only too +well we knew that we had not been within range of sight. + +"My friends," said Curtis, "we must make a fire; it is our +last and only chance." + +Some planks were quickly loosened and thrown into a heap +upon the fore part of the raft. They were damp and +troublesome to light; but the very dampness made the smoke +more dense, and ere long a tall column of dusky fumes was +rising straight upward in the air. If darkness should come +on before the brig was completely out of view, the flames, +we hoped might still be visible. But the hours passed on; +the fire died out; and yet no signs of help. + +The temper of resignation now deserted me entirely; +faith, hope, confidence -- all vanished from my mind, and, +like the boatswain, I swore long and loudly. A gentle hand +was laid upon my arm, and turning round I saw Miss Herbey +with her finger pointing to the sky. I could stand it no +longer, but gliding underneath the tent I hid my face in my +hands and wept aloud. + +Meanwhile the brig had altered her track, and was moving +slowly to the east. Three hours later and the keenest eye +could not have discerned her top-sails above the horizon. + + +CHAPTER XLIV +THE DEPTHS OF DESPAIR + +JANUARY 15. -- After this further shattering of our ex- +cited hopes, death alone now stares us in the face; slow and +lingering as that death may be, sooner or later it must in- +evitably come. + +To-day some clouds that rose in the west have brought us +a few puffs of wind; and in spite of our prostration, we ap- +preciate the moderation, slight as it is, in the temperature. +To my parched throat the air seemed a little less trying; but +it is now seven days since the boatswain took his haul of +fish, and during that period we had eaten nothing; even +Andre Letourneur finished yesterday, the last morsel of the +biscuit which his sorrowful and self-denying father had in- +trusted to my charge. + +Jynxstrop, the negro, has broken loose from his confine- +ment, but Curtis has taken no measures for putting him +again under restraint. It is not to be apprehended that the +miserable fellow and his accomplices, weakened as they are +by their protracted fast, will attempt to do us any mischief +now. + +Some huge sharks made their appearance to-day, cleaving +the water rapidly with their great black fins. The monsters +came up close to the edge of the raft, and Flaypole, who was +leaning over, narrowly escaped having his arm snapped off +by one of them. I could not help regarding them as living +sepulchers, which ere long might swallow up our miserable +carcasses; yet, withal, I profess that my feelings were those +of fascination rather than horror. + +The boatswain, who stood with clenched teeth and dilated +eye, regarded these sharks from quite another point of view. +He thought about devouring the sharks, not about the sharks +devouring him; and if he could succeed in catching one, I +doubt if one of us would reject the tough and untempting +flesh. He determined to make the attempt, and as he had +no whirl which he could fasten to his rope he set to work +to find something that might serve as a substitute. Curtis +and Dowlas were consulted, and after a short conversation, +during which they kept throwing bits of rope and spars into +the water in order to entice the sharks to remain by the raft, +Dowlas went and fetched his carpenter's tool, which is at +once a hatchet and a hammer. Of this he proposed to make +the whirl of which they were in need, under the hope that +either the sharp edge of the adze or the pointed extremity +opposite would stick firmly into the jaws of any shark that +might swallow it. The wooden handle of the hammer was +secured to the rope, which, in its turn was tightly fastened +to the raft. + +With eager, almost breathless, excitement we stood watch- +ing the preparations, at the same time using every means +in our power to attract the attention of the sharks. As soon +as the whirl was ready the boatswain began to think about +bait, and, talking rapidly to himself, ransacked every corner +of the raft, as though he expected to find some dead body +coming opportunely to sight. But his search ended in noth- +ing; and the only plan that suggested itself was again to +have recourse to Miss Herbey's red shawl, of which a frag- +ment was wrapped around the head of the hammer. After +testing the strength of his line, and reassuring himself that +it was fastened firmly both to the hammer and to the raft, +the boatswain lowered it into the water. + +The sea was quite transparent, and any object was clearly +visible to a depth of two hundred feet below the surface. +Leaning over the low parapet of the raft we looked on in +breathless silence, as the scarlet rag, distinct as it was against +the blue mass of water, made its slow descent. But one by +one the sharks seemed to disappear. They could not, how- +ever, have gone far away, and it was not likely that any- +thing in the shape of bait dropped near them would long +escape their keen voracity. + +Suddenly, without speaking, the boatswain raised his hand +and pointed to a dark mass skimming along the surface of +the water, and making straight in our direction. It was a +shark, certainly not less than twelve feet long. As soon as +the creature was about four fathoms from the raft, the +boatswain gently drew in his line until the whirl was in such +a position that the shark must cross right over it; at the +same time he shook the line a little, that he might give the +whirl the appearance, if he could, of being something alive +and moving. As the creature came near, my heart beat +violently; I could see its eyes flashing above the waves; and +its gaping jaws, as it turned half over on its back, exhibited +long rows of pointed teeth. + +I know not who it was, but some one at that moment +uttered an involuntary cry of horror. The shark came to a +standstill, turned about, and escaped quite out of sight. The +boatswain was pale with anger. + +"The first man who speaks," he said, "I will kill him +on the spot." + +Again he applied himself to his task. The whirl was +again lowered, this time to the depth of twenty fathoms, +but for half an hour or more not a shark could be distin- +guished; but as the waters far below seemed somehow to +be troubled I could not help believing that some of the +brutes at least were still there. + +All at once, with a violent jerk, the cord was wrested from +the boatswain's hands; firmly attached, however, as it was +to the raft, it was not lost. The bait had been seized by a +shark, and the iron had made good its hold upon the crea- +ture's flesh. + +"Now, then, my lads," cried the boatswain, "haul away!" + +Passengers and sailors, one and all, put forth what +strength they had to drag the rope, but so violent were the +creature's struggles that it required all our efforts (and it is +needless to say they were willing enough) to bring it to the +surface. At length, after exertions that almost exhausted +us, the water became agitated by the violent flappings of the +tail and fins; and looking down I saw the huge carcass of +the shark writhing convulsively amid waves that were +stained with blood. + +"Steady! steady!" said the boatswain, as the head ap- +peared above + +The whirl had passed right through the jaw into the mid- +dle of the throat, so that no struggle on the part of the ani- +mal could possibly release it. Dowlas seized the hatchet, +ready to dispatch the brute the moment it should be landed +on the raft. A short sharp snap was heard. The shark +had closed its jaws, and bitten through the wooden handle +of the hammer. Another moment and it had turned round +and was completely gone. + +A howl of despair burst from all our lips. All the labor +and the patience, all had been in vain. Dowlas made a few +more unsuccessful attempts, but as the whirl was lost, and +they had no means of replacing it, there was no further +room for hope. They did, indeed, lower some cords +twisted into running knots, but (as might have been ex- +pected) these only slipped over, without holding, the slimy +bodies of the sharks. As a last resource the boatswain +allowed his naked leg to hang over the side of the raft; +the monsters, however, were proof even against this at- +traction. + +Reduced once again to a gloomy despondency, all turned +to their places, to await the end that can not now be long +deferred. + +Just as I moved away I heard the boatswain say to +Curtis: + +"Captain, when shall we draw lots?" + +The captain made no reply. + + +CHAPTER XLV +OUR THIRST RELIEVED + +JANUARY 16. -- If the crew of any passing vessel had +caught sight of us as we lay still and inanimate upon our +sail-cloth, they would scarcely, at first sight, have hesitated +to pronounce us dead. + +My sufferings were terrible; tongue, lips, and throat +were so parched and swollen that if food had been at hand +I question whether I could have swallowed it. So ex- +asperated were the feelings of us all, however, that we +glanced at each other with looks as savage as though we +were about to slaughter and without delay eat up one an- +other. + +The heat was aggravated by the atmosphere being some- +what stormy. Heavy vapors gathered on the horizon, and +there was a look as if it were raining all around. Longing +eyes and gasping mouths turned involuntarily toward the +clouds, and M. Letourneur, on bended knee, was raising +his hands, as it might be in supplication to the relentless +skies. + +It was eleven o'clock in the morning. I listened for dis- +tant rumblings which might announce an approaching +storm, but although the vapors had obstructed the sun's +rays, they no longer presented the appearance of being +charged with electricity. Thus our prognostications ended +in disappointment; the clouds, which in the early morning +had been marked by the distinctness of their outline, had +melted one into another and assumed an uniform dull gray +tint; in fact, we were enveloped in an ordinary fog. But +was it not still possible that this fog might turn to rain? + +Happily this hope was destined to be realized; for in a +very short time, Dowlas, with a shout of delight, declared +that rain was actually coming; and sure enough, not half a +mile from the raft, the dark parallel streaks against the sky +testified that there at least rain was falling. I fancied I +could see the drops rebounding from the surface of the +water. The wind was fresh and bringing the cloud right +on toward us, yet we could not suppress our trepidation +lest it should exhaust itself before it reached us. + +But no; very soon large heavy drops began to fall, and +the storm-cloud, passing over our heads, was outpouring +its contents upon us. The shower, however, was very +transient; already a bright streak of light along the horizon +marked the limit of the cloud and warned us that we must +be quick to make the most of what it had to give us. Curtis +had placed the broken barrel in the position that was most +exposed, and every sail was spread out to the fullest extent +our dimensions would allow. + +We all laid ourselves down flat upon our backs and kept +our mouths wide open. The rain splashed into my face, +wetted my lips, and trickled down my throat. Never can +I describe the ecstasy with which I imbibed that renovat- +ing moisture. The parched and swollen glands relaxed, +I breathed afresh, and my whole being seemed revived with +a strange and requickened life. + +The rain lasted about twenty minutes, when the cloud, +only half exhausted, passed quite away from over us. + +We grasped each other's hands as we rose from the plat- +form on which we had been lying, and mutual congratula- +tions, mingled with gratitude, poured forth from our long +silent lips. Hope, however evanescent it might be, for the +moment had returned, and we yielded to the expectation +that, ere long, other and more abundant clouds might come +and replenish our store. + +The next consideration was how to preserve and econo- +mize what little had been collected by the barrel, or imbibed +by the outspread sails. It was found that only a few pints +of rain-water had fallen into the barrel; to this small +quantity the sailors were about to add what they could by +wringing out the saturated sails, when Curtis made them +desist from their intention. + +"Stop, stop!" he said "we must wait a moment; we +must see whether this water from the sails is drinkable." + +I looked at him in amazement. Why should not this be +as drinkable as the other? He squeezed a few drops out +of one of the folds of a sail into a tin pot, and put it to his +lips. To my surprise, he rejected it immediately, and upon +tasting it for myself I found it not merely brackish, but +briny as the sea itself. The fact was that the canvas had +been so long exposed to the action of the waves, that it had +become thoroughly impregnated by salt, which of course +was taken up again by the water that fell upon it. Dis- +appointed we were; but with several pints of water in our +possession, we were not only contented for the present, but +sanguine in our prospect for the future. + + +CHAPTER XLVI +MY FAST IS BROKEN + +JANUARY 17. -- As a natural consequence of the allevia- +tion of our thirst, the pangs of hunger returned more vio- +lently than ever. Although we had no bait, and even if we +had we could not use it for want of a whirl, we could not +help asking whether no possible means could be devised for +securing one out of the many sharks that were still per- +petually swarming about the raft. Armed with knives, like +the Indians in the pearl fisheries, was it not practicable to +attack the monsters in their own element? Curtis ex- +pressed his willingness personally to make the attempt, but +so numerous were the sharks that we would not for one +moment hear of his risking his life in a venture of which +the danger was as great as the success was doubtful. + +By plunging into the sea, or by gnawing at a piece of +metal, we could always, or at least often, do something that +cheated us into believing that we were mitigating the pains +of thirst; but with hunger it was different. The prospect, +too, of rain seemed hopeful, while for getting food there +appeared no chance; and, as we knew that nothing could +compensate for the lack of nutritive matter, we were soon +all cast down again. Shocking to confess, it would be +untrue to deny that we surveyed each other with the eye +of an eager longing; and I need hardly explain to what a +degree of savageness the one idea that haunted us had re- +duced our feelings. + +Ever since the storm-cloud brought us the too transient +shower the sky has been tolerably clear, and although at +that time the wind had slightly freshened, it has since +dropped, and the sail hangs idly against our mast. Except +for the trifling relief it brings by modifying the tempera- +ture, we care little now for any breeze. Ignorant as we +are as to what quarter of the Atlantic we have been carried +by the currents, it matters very little to us from what direc- +tion the wind may blow if only it would bring, in rain or +dew, the moisture of which we are so dreadfully in need. + +My brain is haunted by most horrible nightmares; not +that I suppose I am in anyway more distressed than my +companions, who are lying in their usual places, vainly +endeavoring to forget their sufferings in sleep. + +After a time I fell into a restless, dreamy doze. I was +neither asleep nor awake. How long I remained in that +state of stupor I could hardly say, but at length a strange +sensation brought me to myself. Was I dreaming, or was +there not really some unaccustomed odor floating in the +air? My nostrils became distended, and I could scarcely +suppress a cry of astonishment; but some instinct kept me +quiet, and I laid myself down again with the puzzled sen- +sation sometimes experienced when we have forgotten a +word or name. Only a few minutes, however, had elapsed +before another still more savory puff induced me to take +several long inhalations. Suddenly, the truth seemed to +flash across my mind. "Surely," I muttered to myself, +"this must be cooked meat that I can smell." + +Again and again I sniffed, and became more convinced +than ever that my senses were not deceiving me. But from +what part of the raft could the smell proceed? I rose to +my knees, and having satisfied myself that the odor came +from the front, I crept stealthily as a cat under the sails +and between the spars in that direction. Following the +promptings of my scent, rather than my vision, like a blood- +hound in track of his prey. I searched everywhere I could, +now finding, now losing, the smell according to my change +of position, or the dropping of the wind. At length I got +the true scent, once for all, so that I could go straight to +the object for which I was in search. + +Approaching the starboard angle of the raft, I came +to the conclusion that the smell that had thus keenly ex- +cited my cravings was the smell of smoked bacon; the mem- +branes of my tongue almost bristled with the intenseness of +my longing. + +Crawling along a little farther, under a thick roll of +sail-cloth, I was not long in securing my prize. Forcing +my arm below the roll, I felt my hand in contact with some- +thing wrapped up in paper. I clutched it up, and carried +it off to a place where I could examine it by the help of +the light of the moon that had now made its appearance +above the horizon. I almost shrieked for joy. It was a +piece of bacon. True, it did not weigh many ounces, but +small as it was it would suffice to alleviate the pangs of +hunger for one day at least. I was just on the point of +raising it to my mouth, when a hand was laid upon my +arm. It was only by a most determined effort that I kept +myself from screaming out. One instant more, and I +found myself face to face with Hobart. + +In a moment I understood all. Plainly this rascal Ho- +bart had saved some provisions from the wreck, upon which +he had been subsisting ever since. The steward had pro- +vided for himself, while all around him were dying of +starvation. Detestable wretch! This accounts for the +inconsistency of his well-to-do looks and his pitiable groans. +Vile hypocrite! + +Yet why, it struck me, should I complain? Was not I +reaping the benefit of that secret store that he, for himself, +had saved? + +But Hobart had no idea of allowing me the peaceable +possession of what he held to be his own. He made a dash +at the fragment of bacon, and seemed determined to wrest +it from my grasp. We struggled with each other, but +although our wrestling was very violent, it was very noise- +less. + +We were both of us aware that it was absolutely neces- +sary that not one of those on board should know anything +at all about the prize for which we were contending. Nor +was my own determination lessened by hearing him groan +out that it was his last, his only morsel. "His!" I +thought; "it shall be mine now!" + +And still careful that no noise of commotion should arise, +I threw him on his back, and grasping his throat so that +he gurgled again, I held him down until, in rapid mouth- +fuls, I had swallowed the last scrap of the food for which +we had fought so hard. + +I released my prisoner, and quietly crept back to my own +quarters. + +And not a soul is aware that I have broken my fast! + + +CHAPTER XLVII +HOBART HANGS HIMSELF + +JANUARY 18. -- After this excitement I awaited the ap- +proach of day with a strange anxiety. My conscience told +me that Hobart had the right to denounce me in the pres- +ence of all my fellow-passengers; yet my alarm was vain. +The idea of my proceedings being exposed by him was +quite absurd; in a moment he would himself be murdered +without pity by the crew, if it should be revealed that, un- +known to them, he had been living on some private store +which, by clandestine cunning, he had reserved. But, in +spite of my anxiety, I had a longing for day to come. + +The bit of food that I had thus stolen was very small; +but small as it was it had alleviated my hunger; and I was +now tortured with remorse, because I had not shared the +meager morsel with my fellow-sufferers. Miss Herbey, +Andre, his father, all had been forgotten, and from the bot- +tom of my heart I repented of my cruel selfishness. + +Meantime the moon rose high in the heavens, and the +first streaks of dawn appeared. There is no twilight in +these low latitudes, and the full daylight came well nigh +at once. I had not closed my eyes since my encounter with +the steward, and ever since the first blush of day I had +labored under the impression that I could see some unusual +dark mass half way up the mast. But although it again +and again caught my eye, it hardly roused my curiosity, +and I did not rise from the bundle of sails on which I was +lying to ascertain what it really was. But no sooner did +the rays of the sun fall upon it than I saw at once that +it was the body of a man, attached to a rope, and swinging +to and fro with the motion of the raft. + +A horrible presentiment carried me to the foot of the +mast, and, just as I had guessed, Hobart had hanged him- +self. I could not for a moment doubt that it was I myself +that had impelled him to the suicide. A cry of horror had +scarcely escaped my lips, when my fellow-passengers were +at my side, and the rope was cut. Then came the sailors. +And what was it that made the group gather so eagerly +around the body? Was it a humane desire to see whether +any sparks of life remained? No, indeed; the corpse was +cold, and the limbs were rigid; there was no chance that +animation should be restored. What then was it that kept +them lingering so close around? It was only too apparent +what they were about to do. + +But I did not, could not, look. I refused to take part +in the horrible repast that was proposed. Neither would +Miss Herbey, Andre, nor his father, consent to alleviate +their pangs of hunger by such revolting means. I know +nothing for certain as to what Curtis did, and I did not +venture to inquire; but of the others, -- Falsten, Dowlas, +the boatswain, and all the rest, -- I know that, to assuage +their cravings, they consented to reduce themselves to the +level of beasts of prey; they were transformed from human +beings into ravenous brutes. + +The four of us who sickened at the idea of partaking +of the horrid meal withdrew to the seclusion of our tent; +it was bad enough to hear, without witnessing the appalling +operation. But, in truth, I had the greatest difficulty in the +world in preventing Andre from rushing out upon the can- +nibals, and snatching the odious food from their clutches. +I represented to him the hopelessness of his attempt, and +tried to reconcile him by telling him that if they liked the +food they had a right to it. Hobart had not been mur- +dered; he had died by his own hand; and, after all, as the +boatswain had once remarked to me, "It was better to eat +a dead man than a live one." + +Do what I would, however, I could not quiet Andre's +feeling of abhorrence; in his disgust and loathing he seemed +for the time to have quite forgotten his own sufferings. + +Meanwhile, there was no concealing the truth that we +were ourselves dying of starvation, while our eight com- +panions would probably, by their loathsome diet, escape that +frightful destiny. Owing to his secret hoard of provisions +Hobart had been by far the strongest among us; he had been +supported, so that no organic disease had affected his tissues, +and really might be said to be in good health when his +chagrin drove him to his desperate suicide. But what was +I thinking of! whither were my meditations carrying me +away? was it not coming to pass that the cannibals were +rousing my envy instead of exciting my horror? + +Very shortly after this I heard Dowlas talking about the +possibility of obtaining salt by evaporating seawater in the +sun; "and then," he added, "we can salt down the rest." + +The boatswain assented to what the carpenter had said, +and probably the suggestion was adopted. + +Silence, the most profound, now reigns upon the raft. I +presume that nearly all have gone to sleep. One thing I +do know, that they are no longer hungry. + + +CHAPTER XLVIII +HOBART'S BODY STOLEN + +JANUARY 19. -- All through the day the sky remained un- +clouded and the heat intense; and night came on without +bringing much sensible moderation in the temperature. I +was unable to get any sleep, and, toward morning, was dis- +turbed by hearing an angry clamor going on outside the +tent; it aroused M. Letourneur, Andre, and Miss Herbey, +as much as myself, and we were anxious to ascertain the +cause of the tumult. + +The boatswain, Dowlas, and all the sailors were storming +at each other in frightful rage; and Curtis, who had come +forward from the stern, was endeavoring to pacify them. + +"But who has done it? we must know who has done it," +said Dowlas, scowling with vindictive passion on the group +around him. + +"There's a thief," howled out the boatswain, "and he +shall be found! Let's know who has taken it." + +"I haven't taken it!" "Nor I! Nor I!" cried the +sailors one after another. + +And then they set to work again to ransack every quarter +of the raft; they rolled every spar aside, they overturned +everything on board, and only grew more and more incensed +with anger as their search proved fruitless." + +"Can YOU tell us," said the boatswain, coming up to me, +"who is the thief?" + +"Thief!" I replied. "I don't know what you mean." + +And while we were speaking the others all came up to- +gether, and told me that they had looked everywhere else, +and that they were going now to search the tent. + +"Shame!" I said. "You ought to allow those whom +you know to be dying of hunger at least to die in peace. +There is not one of us who has left the tent all night. Why +suspect us?" + +"Now just look here, Mr. Kazallon," said the boatswain, +in a voice which he was endeavoring to calm down into +moderation, "we are not accusing you of anything; we know +well enough you, and all the rest of you, had a right to +your shares as much as anybody; but that isn't it. It's all +gone somewhere, every bit." + +"Yes," said Sandon gruffly; "it's all gone somewheres, +and we are going to search the tent." + +Resistance was useless, and Miss Herbey, M. Letourneur, +and Andre were all turned out. + +I confess I was very fearful. I had a strong suspicion +that for the sake of his son, for whom he was ready to ven- +ture anything, M. Letourneur had committed the theft; in +that case I knew that nothing would have prevented the in- +furiated men from tearing the devoted father to pieces. I +beckoned to Curtis for protection, and he came and stood +beside me. He said nothing, but waited with his hands in +his pockets, and I think I am not mistaken in my belief that +there was some sort of a weapon in each. + +To my great relief the search was ineffectual. There +was no doubt that the carcass of the suicide had been thrown +overboard, and the rage of the disappointed cannibals knew +no bounds. + +Yet who had ventured to do the deed? I looked at M. +Letourneur and Miss Herbey; but their countenances at once +betrayed their ignorance. Andre turned his face away, and +his eyes did not meet my own. Probably it is he; but, if it +be, I wonder whether he has reckoned up the consequences +of so rash an act. + + +CHAPTER XLIX +THE NEGRO BECOMES INSANE + +JANUARY 20 to 22. -- For the day or two after the hor- +rible repast of the 18th those who had partaken of it ap- +peared to suffer comparatively little either from hunger or +thirst; but for the four of us who had tasted nothing, the +agony of suffering grew more and more intense. It was +enough to make us repine over the loss of the provision that +had so mysteriously gone; and if any one of us should die, +I doubt whether the survivors would a second time resist +the temptation to assuage their pangs by tasting human flesh. + +Before long, all the cravings of hunger began to return to +the sailors, and I could see their eyes greedily glancing upon +us, starved as they knew us to be, as though they were reck- +oning our hours, and already were preparing to consume +us as their prey. + +As is always the case with shipwrecked men, we were +tormented by thirst far more than by hunger; and if, in the +height of our sufferings, we had been offered our choice be- +tween a few drops of water and a few crumbs of biscuit, I +do not doubt that we should, without exception, have pre- +ferred to take the water. + +And what a mockery to our condition did it seem that all +this while there was water, water, nothing but water, every- +where around us! Again and again, incapable of compre- +hending how powerless it was to relieve me, I put a few +drops within my lips, but only with the invariable result of +bringing on a most trying nausea, and rendering my thirst +more unendurable than before. + +Forty-two days had passed since we quitted the sinking +Chancellor. There could be no hope now; all of us must die, +and by the most deplorable of deaths. I was quite con- +scious that a mist was gathering over my brain; I felt my +senses sinking into a condition of torpor; I made an effort, +but all in vain, to master the delirium that I was aware was +taking possession of my reason. It is out of my power to +decide for how long I lost my consciousness; but when I +came to myself I found that Miss Herbey had folded some +wet bandages around my forehead. I am somewhat better; +but I am weakened, mind and body, and I am conscious that +I have not long to live. + +A frightful fatality occurred to-day. The scene was ter- +rible. Jynxstrop the negro went raving mad. Curtis and +several of the men tried their utmost to control him, but in +spite of everything he broke loose, and tore up and down +the raft, uttering fearful yells. He had gained possession of +a handspike, and rushed upon us all with the ferocity of an +infuriated tiger; how we contrived to escape mischief from +his attacks, I know not. All at once, by one of those un- +accountable impulses of madness, his rage turned against +himself. With his teeth and nails he gnawed and tore away +at his own flesh; dashing the blood into our faces, he +shrieked out with a demoniacal grin, "Drink, drink!" and +flinging us gory morsels, kept saying "Eat, eat!" In the +midst of his insane shrieks he made a sudden pause, then +dashing back again from the stern to the front, he made +a bound and disappeared beneath the waves. + +Falsten, Dowlas, and the boatswain, made a rush that at +least they might secure the body; but it was too late; all +that they could see was a crimson circle in the water, and +some huge sharks disporting themselves around the spot. + + +CHAPTER L +ALL HOPE GONE + +JANUARY 23. -- Only eleven of us now remain; and the +probability is very great that every day must now carry off +at least its one victim, and perhaps more. The end of the +tragedy is rapidly approaching, and save for the chance, +which is next to an impossibility, of our sighting land, or +being picked up by a passing vessel, ere another week has +elapsed not a single survivor of the Chancellor will remain. + +The wind freshened considerably in the night, and it is +now blowing pretty briskly from the northeast. It has filled +our sail, and the white foam in our wake is an indication that +we are making some progress. The captain reckons that we +must be advancing at the rate of about three miles an hour. + +Curtis and Falsten are certainly in the best condition +among us, and in spite of their extreme emaciation they bear +up wonderfully under the protracted hardships we have all +endured. Words cannot describe the melancholy state to +which poor Miss Herbey bodily is reduced; her whole being +seems absorbed into her soul, but that soul is brave and +resolute as ever, living in heaven rather than on earth. The +boatswain, strong, energetic man that he was, has shrunk +into a mere shadow of his former self, and I doubt whether +anyone would recognize him to be the same man. He keeps +perpetually to one corner of the raft, his head dropped upon +his chest, and his long, bony hands lying upon knees that +project sharply from his worn-out trowsers. Unlike Miss +Herbey, his spirit seems to have sunk into apathy, and it is +at times difficult to believe that he is living at all, so motion- +less and statue-like does he sit. + +Silence continues to reign upon the raft. Not a sound, +not even a groan, escapes our lips. We do not exchange +ten words in the course of the day, and the few syllables +that our parched tongues and swollen lips can pronounce +are almost unintelligible. Wasted and bloodless, we are no +longer human beings; we are specters. + + +CHAPTER LI +FLAYPOLE BECOMES DELIRIOUS + +JANUARY 24. -- 1 have inquired more than once of Curtis +if he has the faintest idea to what quarter of the Atlantic +we have drifted, and each time he has been unable to give +me a decided answer, though from his general observation +of the direction of the wind and currents he imagines that +we have been carried westward, that is to say, toward the +land. + +To-day the breeze has dropped entirely, but the heavy +swell is still upon the sea, and is an unquestionable sign that +a tempest has been raging at no great distance. The raft +labors hard against the waves, and Curtis, Falsten, and the +boatswain, employ the little energy that remains to them in +strengthening the joints. Why do they give themselves +such trouble? Why not let the few frail planks part +asunder, and allow the ocean to terminate our miserable ex- +istence? Certain it seems that our sufferings must have +reached their utmost limit, and nothing could exceed the +torture that we are enduring. The sky pours down upon us +a heat like that of molten lead, and the sweat that saturates +the tattered clothes that hang about our bodies goes far to +aggravate the agonies of our thirst. No words of mine can +describe this dire distress; these sufferings are beyond human +estimate. + +Even bathing, the only means of refreshment that we +possessed, has now become impossible, for ever since Jynx- +strop's death the sharks have hung about the raft in shoals. + +To-day I tried to gain a few drops of fresh water by +evaporation, but even with the exercise of the greatest pa- +tience, it was with the utmost difficulty that I obtained +enough to moisten a little scrap of linen; and the only kettle +that we had was so old and battered, that it would not bear +the fire, so that I was obliged to give up the attempt in de- +spair. + +Falsten is now almost exhausted, and if he survives us at +all, it can only be for a few days. Whenever I raised my +head I always failed to see him, but he was probably lying +sheltered somewhere beneath the sails. Curtis was the only +man who remained on his feet, but with indomitable pluck +he continued to stand on the front of the raft, waiting, +watching, hoping. To look at him, with his unflagging +energy, almost tempted me to imagine that he did well to +hope, but I dared not entertain one sanguine thought, and +there I lay, waiting, nay, longing for death. + +How many hours passed away thus I cannot tell, but after +a time a loud peal of laughter burst upon my ear. Someone +else, then, was going mad, I thought; but the idea did not +rouse me in the least. The laughter was repeated with +greater vehemence, but I never raised my head. Presently +I caught a few incoherent words. + +"Fields, fields, gardens and trees! Look, there's an inn +under the trees! Quick, quick! brandy, gin, water! a guinea +a drop! I'll pay for it! I've lots of money! lots! lots!" + +Poor deluded wretch! I thought again; the wealth of +a nation could not buy a drop of water here. There was +silence for a minute, when all of a sudden I heard the shout +of "Land! land!" + +The words acted upon me like an electric shock, and, with +a frantic effort, I started to my feet. No land, indeed, was +visible, but Flaypole, laughing, singing, and gesticulating, +was raging up and down the raft. Sight, taste, and hear- +ing -- all were gone; but the cerebral derangement supplied +their place, and in imagination the maniac was conversing +with absent friends, inviting them into the George Inn at +Cardiff, offering them gin, whiskey, and, above all, water! +Stumbling at every step, and singing in a cracked, discordant +voice, he staggered about among us like an intoxicated man. +With the loss of his senses all his sufferings had vanished, +and his thirst was appeased. It was hard not to wish to be +a partaker of his hallucination. + +Dowlas, Falsten, and the boatswain, seemed to think that +the unfortunate wretch would, like Jynxstrop, put an end +to himself by leaping into the sea; but, determined this time +to preserve the body, that it might serve a better purpose +than merely feeding the sharks, they rose and followed the +madman everywhere he went, keeping a strict eye upon his +every movement. + +But the matter did not end as they expected. As though +he were really intoxicated by the stimulants of which he had +been raving, Flaypole at last sank down in a heap in a cor- +ner of the raft, where he lay lost in a heavy slumber. + + +CHAPTER LII +I DECIDE TO COMMIT SUICIDE + +JANUARY 25. -- Last night was very misty, and for some +unaccountable reason, one of the hottest that can be +imagined. The atmosphere was really so stifling, that it +seemed as if it only required a spark to set it alight. The +raft was not only quite stationary, but did not even rise +and fall with any motion of the waves. + +During the night I tried to count how many there were +now on board, but I was utterly unable to collect my ideas +sufficiently to make the enumeration. Sometimes I counted +ten, sometimes twelve, and although I knew that eleven, +since Jynxstrop was dead, was the correct number, I could +never bring my reckoning right. Of one thing I felt quite +sure, and that was that the number would very soon be ten. +I was convinced that I could myself last but very little +longer. All the events and associations of my life passed +rapidly through my brain. My country, my friends, and +my family all appeared as it were in a vision, and seemed +as though they had come to bid me a last farewell. + +Toward morning I woke from my sleep, if the languid +stupor into which I had fallen was worthy of that name. +One fixed idea had taken possession of my brain -- I would +put an end to myself; and I felt a sort of pleasure as I +gloated over the power that I had to terminate my suffer- +ings. I told Curtis, with the utmost composure, of my in- +tention, and he received the intelligence as calmly as it was +delivered. + +"Of course you will do as you please," he said; "for +my own part, I shall not abandon my post. It is my duty to +remain here; and unless death comes to carry me away, I +shall stay where I am to the very last." + +The dull gray fog still hung heavily over the ocean, but +the sun was evidently shining above the mist, and would, in +course of time, dispel the vapor. Toward seven o'clock I +fancied I heard the cries of birds above my head. The +sound was repeated three times, and as I went up to the cap- +tain to ask him about it, I heard him mutter to himself: + +"Birds! Why, that looks as if land were not far off." + +But although Curtis might still cling to the hope of reach- +ing land, I knew not what it was to have one sanguine +thought. For me there was neither continent nor island; +the world was one fluid sphere, uniform, monotonous, as in +the most primitive period of its formation. Nevertheless +it must be owned that it was with a certain amount of im- +patience that I awaited the rising of the mist, for I was +anxious to shake off the phantom fallacies that Curtis's +words had suggested to my mind. + +Not till eleven o'clock did the fog begin to break, and as +it rolled in heavy folds along the surface of the water, I +could every now and then catch glimpses of a clear blue sky +beyond. Fierce sunbeams pierced the cloud-rifts, scorching +and burning our bodies like red-hot iron; but it was only +above our heads that there was any sunlight to condense the +vapor; the horizon was still quite invisible. There was no +wind, and for half an hour longer the fog hung heavily +round the raft, while Curtis, leaning against the side, strove +to penetrate the obscurity. At length the sun burst forth in +full power, and, sweeping the surface of the ocean, dispelled +the fog and left the horizon open to our eyes. + +There, exactly as we had seen it for the last six weeks, +was the circle that bounded sea and sky -- unbroken, definite, +distinct as ever! Curtis gazed with intensest scrutiny, but +did not speak a word. I pitied him sincerely, for he alone +of us all felt that he had not the right to put an end to his +misery. For myself, I had fully determined that if I lived +till the following day, I would die by my own hand. +Whether my companions were still alive, I hardly cared to +know; it seemed as though days had passed since I had +seen them. + +Night drew on, but I could not sleep for a moment. To- +ward two o'clock in the morning my thirst was so intense +that I was unable to suppress loud cries of agony. Was +there nothing that would serve to quench the fire that was +burning within me? What if, instead of drinking the blood +of others, I were to drink my own? It would be all un- +availing, I was well aware; but scarcely had the thought +crossed my mind, than I proceeded to put it into execution. +I unclasped my knife, and, stripping my arm, with a steady +thrust I opened a small vein. The blood oozed out slowly, +drop by drop, and as I eagerly swallowed the source of my +very life, I felt that for a moment my torments were re- +lieved. But only for a moment; all energy had failed my +pulses, and almost immediately the blood had ceased to flow. + +How long it seemed before the morning dawned! and +when that morning came it brought another fog, heavy as +before, that again shut out the horizon. The fog was hot +as the burning steam that issues from a boiler. It was to +be my last day upon earth, and I felt that I should like to +press the hand of a friend before I died. Curtis was stand- +ing near, and crawling up to him, I took his hand in my +own. He seemed to know that I was taking my farewell, +and with one last lingering hope he endeavored to restrain +me. But all in vain; my mind was finally made up. + +I should have liked to speak once again to M. Letourneur, +Andre, and Miss Herbey, but my courage failed me. I +knew that the young girl would read my resolution in my +eyes, and that she would speak to me of duty, and of God, +and of eternity, and I dared not meet her gaze; and I would +not run the risk of being persuaded to wait until a lingering +death should overtake me. I returned to the back of the +raft, and after making several efforts, I managed to get +on to my feet. I cast one long look at the pitiless ocean and +the unbroken horizon; if a sail or the outline of a coast had +broken on my view, I believe that I should only have deemed +myself the victim of an illusion; but nothing of the kind +appeared, and the sea was dreary as a desert. + +It was ten o'clock in the morning. The pangs of hunger +and the torments of thirst were racking me with redoubled +vigor. All instinct of self-preservation had left me, and +I felt that the hour had come when I must cease to suffer. +Just as I was on the point of casting myself headlong into +the sea, a voice, which I recognized as Dowlas's, broke upon +my ear. + +"Captain," he said, "we are going to draw lots." + +Involuntarily I paused; I did not take my plunge, but +returned to my place upon the raft. + + +CHAPTER LIII +WE DECIDE TO DRAW LOTS + +JANUARY 26. -- All heard and understood the proposition; +in fact it had been in contemplation for several days, but no +one had ventured to put the idea into words. However, it +was done now; lots were to be drawn, and to each would be +assigned his share of the body of the one ordained by fate to +be the victim. For my own part, I profess that I was quite +resigned for the lot to fall upon myself. I thought I heard +Andre Letourneur beg for an exception to be made in favor +of Miss Herbey; but the sailors raised a murmur of dissent. +As there were eleven of us on board, there were ten chances +to one in each one's favor -- a proportion which would be +diminished if Miss Herbey were excluded; so that the young +lady was forced to take her chance among the rest. + +It was then half-past ten, and the boatswain, who had +been roused from his lethargy by what the carpenter had +said, insisted that the drawing should take place immediately. +There was no reason for delaying the fatal lottery. There +was not one of us that clung in the least to life; and we +knew that, at the worst, whoever should be doomed to die, +would only precede the rest by a few days, or even hours. +All that we desired was just once to slake our raging thirst +and moderate our gnawing hunger. + +How all the names found their way to the bottom of a +hat I cannot tell. Very likely Falsten wrote them upon a +leaf torn from his memorandum-book. But be that as it +may, the eleven names were there, and it was unanimously +agreed that the last name drawn should be the victim. + +But who would draw the names? There was hesitation +for a moment; then "I will," said a voice behind me. Turn- +ing round, I beheld M. Letourneur standing with out- +stretched hand, and with his long white hair falling over his +thin livid face that was almost sublime in its calmness. I +divined at once the reason of this voluntary offer; I knew +that it was the father's devotion in self-sacrifice that led him +to undertake the office. + +"As soon as you please," said the boatswain. + +M. Letourneur proceeded to draw out the folded strips of +paper, one by one, and, after reading out loud the name +upon it, handed it to its owner. + +The first name called was that of Burke, who uttered a +cry of delight; then followed Flaypole and the boatswain. +What his name really was I never could exactly learn. +Then came Falsten, Curtis, Sandon. More than half had +now been called, and my name had not yet been drawn. +I calculated my remaining chance; it was still four to one +in my favor. + +M. Letourneur continued his painful task. Since Burke's +first exclamation of joy not a sound had escaped our lips, +but all were listening in breathless silence. The seventh +name was Miss Herbey's, but the young girl heard it with- +out a start. Then came mine, yes, mine! and the ninth was +was that of Letourneur. + +"Which one?" asked the boatswain. + +"Andre," said M. Letourneur. + +With one cry Andre fell back senseless. Only two names +now remained in the hat -- those of Dowlas and M. Letour- +neur himself. + +"Go on!" almost roared the carpenter, surveying his +partner in peril as though he could devour him. M. Le- +tourneur almost had a smile upon his lips, as he drew forth +the last paper but one, and with a firm, unfaltering voice, +marvelous for his age, unfolded it slowly, and read the name +of Dowlas. The carpenter gave a yell of relief as he heard +the word. + +M. Letourneur took the last bit of paper from the hat, +and, without looking at it, tore it to pieces. But, unper- +ceived by all but myself, one little fragment flew into a +corner of the raft. I crawled toward it and picked it up. +On one side of it was written Andr--; the rest of the word +was torn away. M. Letourneur saw what I had done, and, +rushing toward me, snatched the paper from my hands, and +flung it into the sea. + + +CHAPTER LIV +MISS HERBEY PLEADS FOR ONE DAY MORE + +JANUARY 26. -- I understood it all; the devoted father hav- +ing nothing more to give, had given his life for his son. + +M. Letourneur was no longer a human being in the eyes +of the famished creatures who were now yearning to see him +sacrificed to their cravings. At the very sight of the victim +thus provided, all the tortures of hunger returned with +redoubled violence. With lips distended, and teeth dis- +played, they waited like a herd of carnivora until they could +attack their prey with brutal voracity; it seemed almost +doubtful whether they would not fall upon him while still +alive. It seemed impossible that any appeal to their human- +ity could, at such a moment, have any weight; nevertheless, +the appeal was made, and, incredible as it may seem, pre- +vailed. + +Just as the boatswain was about to act the part of butcher, +and Dowlas stood, hatchet in hand, ready to complete the +barbarous work, Miss Herbey advanced, or rather crawled, +toward them. + +"My friends," she pleaded, "will you not wait just one +more day? If no land or ship is in sight to-morrow, then +I suppose our poor companion must become your victim. +But allow him one more day; in the name of mercy I en- +treat, I implore you." + +My heart bounded as she made her pitiful appeal. It +seemed to me as though the noble girl had spoken with an +inspiration on her lips, and I fancied that, perhaps, in super- +natural vision she had viewed the coast or the ship of which +she spoke; and one more day was not much to us who had +already suffered so long, and endured so much. + +Curtis and Falsten agreed with me, and we all united to +support Miss Herbey's merciful petition. The sailors did +not utter a murmur, and the boatswain in a smothered voice +said: + +"Very well, we will wait till daybreak to-morrow," and +threw down his hatchet. + +To-morrow, then, unless land or a sail appear, the horrible +sacrifice will be accomplished. Stifling their sufferings by +a strenuous effort, all returned to their places. The sailors +crouched beneath the sails, caring nothing about scanning +the ocean. Food was in store for them to-morrow, and that +was enough for them. + +As soon as Andre Letourneur came to his senses, his first +thought was for his father, and I saw him count the pas- +sengers on the raft. He looked puzzled; when he lost con- +sciousness there had been only two names left in the hat, +those of his father and the carpenter; and yet M. Letourneur +and Dowlas were both there still. Miss Herbey went up +to him and told him quietly that the drawing of the lots +had not yet been finished. Andre asked no further ques- +tion, but took his father's hand. M. Letourneur's counte- +nance was calm and serene; he seemed to be conscious of +nothing except that the life of his son was spared, and as +the two sat conversing in an undertone at the back of the +raft, their whole existence seemed bound up in each other. + +Meantime, I could not disabuse my mind of the impres- +sion caused by Miss Herbey's intervention. Something told +me that help was near at hand, and that we were approach- +ing the termination of our suspense and misery; the chimeras +that were floating through my brain resolved themselves into +realities, so that nothing appeared to me more certain than +that either land or sail, be they miles away, would be dis- +covered somewhere to leeward. + +I imparted my convictions to M. Letourneur and his son. +Andre was as sanguine as myself; poor boy! he little thinks +what a loss there is in store for him to-morrow. His father +listened gravely to all we said, and whatever he might think +in his own mind, he did not give us any discouragement; +Heaven, he said, he was sure would still spare the survivors +of the Chancellor, and then he lavished on his son caresses +which he deemed to be his last. + +Some time afterward, when I was alone with him, M. +Letourneur whispered in my ear: + +"Mr. Kazallon, I commend my boy to your care, and +mark you, he must never know --" + +His voice was choked with tears, and he could not finish +his sentence. + +But I was full of hope, and, without a moment's inter- +mission, I kept my eyes fixed upon the unbroken horizon. +Curtis, Miss Herbey, Falsten, and even the boatswain, were +also eagerly scanning the broad expanse of the sea. + +Night has come on; but I have still a profound conviction +that through the darkness some ship will approach, and that +at daybreak our raft will be observed. + + +CHAPTER LV +FRESH WATER + +JANUARY 27. -- I did not close my eyes all night, and was +keenly alive to the faintest sounds, and every ripple of the +water, and every murmur of the waves, broke distinctly on +my ear. One thing I noticed and accepted as a happy omen; +not a single shark now lingered round the raft. The wan- +ing moon rose at a quarter to one, and through the feeble +glimmer which she cast across the ocean, many and many a +time I fancied I caught sight of the longed-for sail, lying +only a few cables'-lengths away. + +But when morning came, the sun rose once again upon +a desert ocean, and my hopes began to fade. Neither ship +nor shore had appeared, and as the shocking hour of execu- +tion drew near, my dreams of deliverance melted away; I +shuddered in my very soul as I was brought face to face +with the stern reality. I dared not look upon the victim, +and whenever his eyes, so full of calmness and resignation, +met my own, I turned away my head. I felt choked +with horror, and my brain reeled as though I were intoxi- +cated. + +It was now six o'clock, and all hope had vanished from +my breast; my heart beat rapidly, and a cold sweat of agony +broke out all over me. Curtis and the boatswain stood by +the mast attentively scanning the horizon. The boatswain's +countenance was terrible to look upon; one could see that +although he would not forestall the hour, he was determined +not to wait a moment after it arrived. As for the captain, +it was impossible to tell what really passed within his mind; +his face was livid, and his whole existence seemed concen- +trated in the exercise of his power of vision. The sailors +were crawling about the platform, with their eyes gleaming, +like the wild beasts ready to pounce upon their devoted prey. + +I could no longer keep my place, and glided along to the +front of the raft. The boatswain was still standing intent +on his watch, but all of a sudden, in a voice that made me +start, he shouted: + +"Now then, time's up!" and followed by Dowlas, Burke, +Flaypole, and Sandon, ran to the back of the raft. As +Dowlas seized the hatchet convulsively, Miss Herbey could +not suppress a cry of terror. Andre started to his feet. + +"What are you going to do to my father?" he asked in +accents choked with emotion. + +"My boy," said M. Letourneur, "the lot has fallen upon +me, and I must die!" + +"Never!" shrieked Andre, throwing his arms about his +father. "They shall kill me first. It was I who threw +Hobart's body into the sea, and it is I who ought to die!" +But the words of the unhappy youth had no other effect +than to increase the fury of the men who were so stanchly +bent upon their bloody purpose. + +"Come, come, no more fuss," said Dowlas, as he tore +the young man away from his father's embrace. + +Andre fell upon his back, in which position two of the +sailors held him down so tightly that he could not move, +while Burke and Sandon carried off their victim to the +front. + +All this had taken place much more rapidly than I have +been able to describe it. I was transfixed with horror, and +much as I wished to throw myself between M. Letourneur +and his executioners, I seemed to be rooted to the spot where +I was standing. + +Meantime the sailors had been taking off some of M. +Letourneur's clothes, and his neck and shoulders were al- +ready bare. + +"Stop a moment!" he said in a tone in which was the +ring of indomitable courage. "Stop! I don't want to de- +prive you of your ration; but I suppose you will not require +to eat the whole of me to-day." + +The sailors, taken back by his suggestion, stared at him +with amazement. + +"There are ten of you," he went on. "My two arms +will give you each a meal; cut them off for to-day, and to- +morrow you shall have the rest of me." + +"Agreed!" cried Dowlas; and as M. Letourneur held +out his bare arms, quick as lightning the carpenter raised +his hatchet. + +Curtis and I could bear this scene no longer; while we +were alive to prevent it, this butchery should not be per- +mitted, and we rushed forward simultaneously to snatch +the victim from his murderers. A furious struggle ensued, +and in the midst of the melee, I was seized by one of the +sailors, and hurled violently into the sea. + +Closing my lips, I tried to die of suffocation in the water; +but in spite of myself, my mouth opened, and a few drops +trickled down my throat. + +Merciful Heaven! the water was fresh! + + +CHAPTER LVI +NEAR THE COAST OF SOUTH AMERICA + +JANUARY 27 continued. -- A change came over me as if +by miracle. No longer had I any wish to die, and already +Curtis, who had heard my cries, was throwing me a rope. +I seized it eagerly, and was hauled up on to the raft. + +"Fresh water!" were the first words I uttered. + +"Fresh water?" cried Curtis; "why then, my friends, +we are not far from land!" + +It was not too late: the blow had not been struck, and so +the victim had not yet fallen. Curtis and Andre (who had +regained his liberty) had fought with the cannibals, and it +was just as they were yielding to over-powering numbers +that my voice had made itself heard. + +The struggle came to an end. As soon as the words +"fresh water" had escaped my lips, I leaned over the side +of the raft and swallowed the life-giving liquid in greedy +draughts. Miss Herbey was the first to follow my example, +but soon Curtis, Falsten, and all the rest were on their knees +and drinking eagerly. The rough sailors seemed as if by +a magic touch transformed back from ravenous beasts to +human beings, and I saw several of them raise their hands +to heaven in silent gratitude. Andre and his father were +the last to drink. + +"But where are we?" I asked at length. + +"The land is there," said Curtis, pointing toward the +west. + +We all stared at the captain as though he were mocking +us: no land was in sight, and the raft, just as ever, was the +center of a watery waste. Yet our senses had not deceived +us; the water we had been drinking was perfectly fresh. + +"Yes," repeated the captain, "land is certainly there, not +more than twenty miles to leeward." + +"What land?" inquired the boatswain. + +"South America," answered Curtis, "and near the +Amazon; no other river has a current strong enough to +freshen the ocean twenty miles from shore!" + + +CHAPTER LVII +LAND AHOY! + +JANUARY 27 continued. -- Curtis, no doubt, was right. +The discharge from the mouth of the Amazon is enor- +mously large, but we had probably drifted into the only spot +in the Atlantic where we could find fresh water so far from +land. Yet land undoubtedly was there, and the breeze was +carrying us onward slowly but surely to our deliverance. + +Miss Herbey's voice was heard pouring out fervent praise +to Heaven, and we were all glad to unite our thanksgivings +with hers. Then the whole of us (with the exception of +Andre and his father, who remained by themselves to- +gether at the stern) clustered in a group, and kept our ex- +pectant gaze upon the horizon. + +We had not long to wait. Before an hour had passed, +Curtis leaped in ecstasy and raised the joyous shout of +"Land ahoy!" + + . . . . . + +My journal has come to a close. + +I have only to relate, as briefly as possible, the circum- +stances that finally brought us to our destination. + +A few hours after we first sighted land the raft was off +Cape Magoari, on the island of Marajo, and was observed +by some fishermen, who, with kind-hearted alacrity picked +us up and tended us most carefully. They conveyed us to +Para, where we became the objects of unbounded sympathy. + +The raft was brought to land in latitude 0 deg. 12' north, so +that since we abandoned the Chancellor we had drifted at +least fifteen degrees to the southwest. Except for the in- +fluence of the Gulf Stream we must have been carried far, +far to the south, and in that case we should never have +reached the mouth of the Amazon, and must inevitably +have been lost. + +Of the thirty-two souls -- nine passengers and twenty- +three seamen -- who left Charleston on board the ship, only +five passengers and six seamen remain. Eleven of us alone +survive. + +An official account of our rescue was drawn up by the +Brazilian authorities. Those who signed were Miss Her- +bey, J. R. Kazallon, M. Letourneur, Andre Letourneur, +Mr. Falsten, the boatswain, Dowlas, Burke, Flaypole, San- +don, and last, though not least, + "Robert Curtis, Captain." + +At Para we soon found facilities for continuing our +homeward route. A vessel took us to Cayenne, where we +secured a passage on board one of the steamers of the +French Transatlantic Aspinwall line, the Ville de St. Na- +zaire, which conveyed us to Europe. + +After all the dangers and privations which we have under- +gone together, it is scarcely necessary to say that there has +arisen between the surviving passengers of the Chancellor +a bond of friendship too indissoluble, I believe, for either +time or circumstance to destroy; Curtis must ever remain +the honored and valued friend of those whose welfare he +consulted so faithfully in their misfortunes; his conduct +was beyond all praise. + +When we were fairly on our homeward way, Miss Herbey +by chance intimated to us her intention of retiring from the +world and devoting the remainder of her life to the care +of the sick and suffering. + +"Then why not come and look after my son?" said +M. Letourneur, adding, "he is an invalid, and he requires, +as he deserves, the best of nursing." + +Miss Herbey, after some deliberation, consented to be- +come a member of their family, and finds in M. Letourneur +a father, and in Andre a brother. A brother, I say; but +may we not hope that she may be united by a dearer and a +closer tie, and that the noble-hearted girl may experience +the happiness that she so richly deserves? + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg Etext The Survivors of the Chancellor, by Verne + diff --git a/old/tsotc10a.zip b/old/tsotc10a.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..b3207f4 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/tsotc10a.zip |